A story this morning by The Associated Press announced the murder of an abortion provider, Dr. George Tiller. He was recently acquitted on misdemeanor charges related to his practice. But, this morning he was murdered at his church in Wichita.
Terrorism in the name of god isn't only perpetrated by members of Islam.
51 year old Scott Roeder is the suspect held by Wichita Police. While Operation Rescue has denounced the attack, Roeder is an active member. He posted this on their website in 2007:
Bleass everyone for attending and praying in May to bring justice to Tiller and the closing of his death camp. Sometime soon, would it be feasible to organize as many people as possible to attend Tillers church (inside, not just outside) to have much more of a presence and possibly ask questions of the Pastor, Deacons, Elders and members while there? Doesn't seem like it would hurt anything but bring more attention to Tiller.
Why this may not be the second coming of the New Deal after all. By David Sirota In These Times
With stagecraft defining so much of contemporary politics--and with such a powerful media machine behind the image of conservative teabaggery--the truth doesn’t really matter. When Time editors fused Barack Obama’s head on the famous parade photo of Franklin Delano Roosevelt for a November 2008 cover, comparisons between 1932 and the present day were already a shopworn cliche.
If you were a working journalist in Washington worth your weight in banality, you had made at least 10 giddy references to “nothing to fear but fear itself” and the prospects for a “new New Deal.”
The FDR-Obama comparisons seemed so appropriate—here was another Democrat elected during an economic emergency created by decades of conservative mismanagement. But to make such a direct comparison in 2008 meant you didn’t know your ass from your teabag, or, more precisely, the difference between a teabag and a douchebag, and how that difference explains why all the New Deal nostalgia may prove foolish.
Teabaggery takes its name from the Boston Tea Party of 1773. Mythologized high-school history texts tell us that colonists tossed British tea into Boston Harbor in America’s first populist revolt. Today, as evidenced by the April 15 protests, the original Boston Tea Party has become a transcendent icon of pugilistic radicalism—a symbol of patriotic resistance against unresponsive government and elite douchebags.
Which brings us to douchebaggery, defined by the Urban Dictionary as a philosophy “holding that no one other than [oneself] matters in the least bit, and thus that others can and should be treated like excrement for little or no reason.” In Washington, douchebaggery has become synonymous with milquetoast political platforms, soulless candidates and anti-populist Establishmentarian politics. To wit, Comedy Central’s South Park substituted an oversized douchebag (named “Giant Douche”) for John Kerry in an episode about the 2004 presidential campaign.
As expected, President Obama announced Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his nominee for The Supreme Court vacancy left by the retirement of Justice David Souter.
Judge Sotomayor has an extensive record for Republicans to scour in their "Politics of NO" strategy to block anything done by this President. But, it will be more difficult as Judge Sotomayor was first appointed to the bench by Republican President George H. W. Bush. They will also be loathe to alienate their Hispanic base any more than they have already.
Sonia Sotomayor will be confirmed with only lame objections.
First, the former Governor of Minnesota confirms water boarding is torture to Larry King. "Give me Dick Cheney on a water board and one hour and I'll have him confessing to the Sharon Tate murders."
That wasn't enough so he eats Elizabeth Hasselbeck for lunch (or would that breakfast?) on The View. "It seems we only water board Muslims."
Faux News wants a shot at him so he graciously eviscerates Brainless Kilmeade. "Why don't you serve then?", he asked the bumbling sidekick.
And, of course never seeing a parade he could jump in front of, Joe Scarborough talks tough as long as Jesse's not around.
The Wrong Wing will keep up the attack until the are convinced the public has been successfully duped or until the public lets them know it's not working. With the Republican Party's poll numbers at the lowest since 1983, may the public is starting to let them know.
Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi said the CIA "misled congress". The CIA said, "The CIA doesn't mislead congress".
"The CIA doesn't mislead congress" is interestingly different than "The CIA didn't mislead congress". While it may certainly be the policy of the CIA to not mislead or lie to congress, it is not improbable that the CIA Director under the direction of the "already proven liars in the Bush/Cheney" White House did mislead congress.
As previously noted in The Whirlpool, Judge Sonia Sotomayor is still on a conviently leaked short list of those under consideration for the upcoming SCOTUS seat.
The leaked list includes 5 women and one Hispanic male. They include Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Appeals Court judges Sonia Sotomayor and Diane Pamela Wood, as well as California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno.
We'll keep watching the President in this most critical of dances he'll do early in his Presidency.
Democratic Congress Slogs for Corporate America Again!
When the going gets tough... it seems the Democrats in the Senate get going.
American Credit card companies are taking consumers for a ride. They are slashing limits; skyrocketing rates; adding fees; anything for a buck and to make their bottom-line look a bit better for stock holders. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I)of Vermont was trying to deal with the issue with legislation limiting credit card interest to 15%. The bill failed 33-60.
Those joining the nay-sayers include our own Democratic Senators: Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell. Sadly, these two have become a vote Corporate America can count on.
Given that Joe (not really his name) the Plumber (not really his profession) dumped the Republican Party, they are now looking for a new face... a new front man... a new savior.
In an article in The Daily Beast, Nicolle Wallace speculates on the subject. She writes:
Republicans agree that it must be someone who can move the entire discussion into the future and away from the past. This leader must convey our party’s most essential beliefs in a way that is meaningful to all Americans: young and old; straight and gay; black and white; Spanish-speaking and Chinese-speaking; people living in cities, suburbs, and rural America, and people from coast to coast and every inch in between. Our next leader must be able to articulate a belief in America’s unique role in the world that is as relevant today as it was when our nation was founded. He or she must make clear that when the men and women of our military are on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other fronts as well, our entire nation is at war, and we must live as a nation at war.
Who is among those rising to the top of Nicolle's list? Hollywood actor, Gary Sinise. We loved him in Forest Gump. We hated him in Ransom. But, we haven't been able to get into CSI: NY. We know Ms. Wallace is just speculating, think this well will come up dry. Just because the Republicans made a bad President out of a bad actor, doesn't mean they can make a good President out of a good actor. And Gary Sinise is a good actor that should stay one.
Obama Laughed at a joke about Limbaugh?!?! Oh, my!
Breitbart, Drudge, and most of the other Wrong Wing Pundants have their knickers in a knot because President Obama "may" have laughed at Wanda Sykes' joke about Limbaugh's kidneys failing.
First, our President is expected to be able to solve any problem, fight any foe, deal with any obstacle that may befall his constiuents, AND cure all illness. Now, we find out the President always needs to also monitor all jokes for appropriateness when told by a professional comedian. Even when that comedian is Wanda Sykes and know for some of her raucous and even raunchy jokes.
Did Breitbart get in a snit when President Bush insulted the troops regarding WMD.
Limbaugh can say, "I hope the President's policies fail" during Obama's first weeks in office, but a raunchy comedian can't say, "I hope America fails... I hope his kidney's fail!" Or, if she happens to say it, the President better not giggle, snort, or guffaw, for fear the media will think him unsensitive.
Don't invite comedians to a function with the President if he can't laugh.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney crawled out from under his rock to take a shot at Dubya's former Secretary of State, Colin Powell. He said he thought Powell has already left the Republican Party.
On Face the Nation, he was asked about General Powell's suggestion that the Republican Party needed to move more to the center.
"I think my take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn't know he was still a Republican," Cheney said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
Vice President Cheney, of course, is merely following the lead of the Republican Party's Fearless Leader, Rush Limbaugh who in a recent radio address told Powell to "close the loop and become a Democrat".
Wanda Sykes was the comedic entertainment at the Press Club Dinner Saturday night. There were a couple groans out of the audience, but overall she was quite funny. She took cheap shots at Limbaugh's oxycontin addiction, and Cheney shooting friends in the face, but got a lot of laughs from the politicians and media folk in the crowd.
When she blasted Limbaugh and got a groan, Sykes bantered with President Obama, "Too much?", she asked. "Ok, but you're laughing on the inside, right? You know you are!"
Judge Sonia Sotomayor - the next member of SCOTUS?
It appears a wager placed on Judge Sonia Sotomayor as President Obama's pick to fill Justice Souter's upcoming vacancy would be well placed.
Being able to check off the "female" and "minority" box at the same time is a good thing. But, all accounts point towards a very good Judge as well. She has the distinction of being nominated by both George H.W. Bush, a Republican; and William Jefferson Clinton, a Democrat.
On the litmus test that no one is allowed to talk about or ask, she is Pro Choice. We'll keep watching.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I)of Vermont was trying to deal with the issue 
