Gallup: Ryan Less Popular Than Palin. When a presidential candidate announces their running mate; they usually get a bounce in the polls. That is, unless it’s Paul Ryan. According to the USA Today/Gallup poll: Among adults, whether registered or not, Romney’s decision to choose Ryan is seen as “fair” or “poor” by 42% of those polled, compared to the 39% who rated the decision as “excellent” or “pretty good”.
The Romney campaign’s explanation for the numbers is that Ryan is relatively unknown. Well, the same was true of Sarah Palin, who had much better numbers, as shown in the chart below courtesy of Gallup. It’s more likely than not that once America gets to know Paul Ryan and his plan to gut the middle class, Medicare and Social Security to provide more corporate welfare and handouts to the rich, his numbers will go down faster than Palin’s did.
UPDATE: Gallup’s poll data coincides with the findings in an ABC/Washington Post poll. Ryan managed to do the unimanginable, by polling worse 20% less than Palin. Romney’s Implosion Triggers an Epic Rush Limbaugh Obama Hate Meltdown. As Mitt Romney’s campaign implodes right before his eyes, Rush Limbaugh had an epic meltdown that culminated with a speaking in tongues like reciting of Obama lies. Here’s the audio from Media Matters: Transcript from Rush Limbaugh: LIMBAUGH: Here’s Obama in Roanoke on Friday night…OBAMA: Look, i-i-if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own.FOLLOWERS: That’s right! OBAMA: You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, “Well, it must be because I was just so smart!” This temper tantrum from Limbaugh is the biggest sign yet that even the most brainwashed of conservatives can sense that 2012 is starting to slip away from them.
Mitt Romney sold himself to the right as their best chance to beat Obama, but that was never true. This is all so very 2008. Limbaugh is running out of defenses for Romney, so he had to double down on the Obama attacks. And even if the message does get out it will be irrelevant, if the messenger is proven to be untrustworthy. PoliticusUSA. Sorry Media, This Election Won't be About the Economy and Jobs. By: Jason Easley June 1st, 2012 see more posts by Jason Easley The mainstream media has constructed a storyline that the 2012 election is all about the economy and jobs, but what if it isn’t? Today’s news that the unemployment rate has ticked up to 8.2% has brought about the usual media howls about how this is total and comprehensive doom for Obama. Mitt Romney put out his usual daily statement about the president being a failure, and Republicans blamed Democrats, while Democrats blamed Republicans, but beneath all of this back and forth is an unproven premise that this election is all about the economy and jobs.
The problem is that this election probably won’t be about the economy and jobs, and the whole ball of wax is based on something that doesn’t exist. All of this chaos and courtship is designed to target a myth which dates back to the founding of our nation, the myth of the rational voter. Republicans win elections not by informing voters, but by confusing them. Florida Concocts Signature Test to Purge Democratic Voters. By: Adalia Woodbury May 30th, 2012 see more posts by Adalia Woodbury While voter suppression is nothing new, Rick Scott has taken it to the extreme with a variety of measures ranging from restricting registration, to voter purging and a signatures please law.
Among the people, the people on Scott’s list of ineligible voters is a World War II veteran. The restrictions on voter registration have clearly had the results Rick Scott wants. As NPR reports: Because of those rules, and their potential penalties, the League of Women Voters and some other groups have stopped conducting voter registration drives in Florida. The League is challenging the rules in federal court, but in the meantime, few nonpartisan groups aside from NCLR are registering voters in the state.
The purpose of the voter purge is to eliminate non-citizens from the voter rolls to solve the non-existent problem of voter fraud. - and sent letters informing them that they were ineligible to vote. - Of that group, - Another. Europe Has a Message for Mitt Romney - Politics. Have a Very Liberal Memorial Day (video) Memorial Day is about remembering the soldiers who fought for American values. There is a somber aspect to Memorial Day when we remember that people sacrificed their lives in the name of the freedoms that the far right mocks in its quest to establish an America that would have the Founding Fathers rolling in their graves.
At the same time, Memorial Day is a celebration of those very freedoms which the paranoid right wing mocks. This video makes the point so very well. Courtesy of lipstickliberalnet on youtube. Enjoy! Thanks redway! Image from Upper Valley Moms. Peaceful Protest against the Preacher Who Wants Concentration Camps for Gays and Lesbians. Earlier this week, I wrote an article for politicususa about Charles Worley, a pastor in North Carolina who called for putting gays and lesbians in concentration camp during one of his sermons. His “sermon” was in response to the President’s recent announcement that he supports same sex marriage. The content of his “sermon” was pretty graphic. But, if you want to confirm that this is for real and you have a very strong stomach, you can check out the video of Worley’s sermon here. What sort of person could possibly listen to the sort of rhetoric that is reminiscent of Nazi Germany, minus the pink triangles? Well, there is one and Anderson Cooper found her.
This woman is an example why inbreeding should be forbidden, people. According to her logic, the Pastor didn’t mean he wanted a concentration camp for Gays and Lesbians. Obviously, she isn’t the only one who supports these ideas. It’s one thing to believe that homosexuality is wrong and oppose social recognition of their relationships. The Mitt Romney Ken Doll Interview Strategy: Look Good, Say Nothing.
If you haven’t already read Mark Halperin’s lengthy interview with Mitt Romney in the recent issue of Time magazine, you really should. I do believe a Ken doll could have given more substantive answers to Halperin’s questions, but then maybe that’s Romney’s intent. Maybe he’s counting on an American electorate whom he perceives to be remarkably stupid with memories the size of an amoeba. Just keep looking good and saying nothing. That’ll work. I know, I know. The polls keep saying this is going to be a reeeeally close race.
The Times even said it was going to be the closest since Bush v Gore when the Bush team (with a little help from the Supremes) stole the 2000 election. Then there is the Huffington Post’s 2012 Election Dashboard, which breaks the race down to who is most likely to win which states, and how many electoral votes are assigned to each of those states. Halperin: But you welcome scrutiny of your business record, is that right? Just sayin’. Satan Ate My Government! The Fundamentalist Addiction to Satan. Dominionist Rick Joyner of MorningStar Ministries and the Oak Initiative in all his prophetic wisdom is worried about his imaginary friend Satan using “useful idiots” to destroy America. I’m more concerned about useless idiots, to be quite honest, and fundamentalist Christians have proven time and again they don’t need any super(stitious) powers to screw things up; they’re quite capable of doing that on their own with very mundane levels of human intelligence, and I mean VERY mundane.
Watch the video from Right Wing Watch: This obsession with Satan is really unhealthy. I mean, it’s nice to have invisible friends when you are a kid but aren’t you supposed to grow out of it? Joyner is bad enough but how about that other useless idiot (I know, there are so many), disgraced Navy Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt, who thinks gay demons possess animals, explaining the thousands of animal species that exhibit gay behavior in violation of “Nature’s Law” and “God’s will.” Satan complex much? Oh! What? Media Bias Sunday is back again? And by “media bias” I mean GOP. | | The Political CarnivalThe Political Carnival. Hey kids! Tomorrow is Media Bias Sunday! Or as I like to call it, Librul Media My Ass Sunday. Let’s take a sneak preview of what’s coming up on the Big Sunday Talker Line-Up, per The Seattle Times, okay?
Okay. This is not a complete list; Paddy provides that to you tomorrow. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if the lists include panel members, so bear with me if sometimes those commentators are included… or not. And as you may have noticed, ClusterFox is not included, because, well come on, what’s the point? ABC’s “This Week” – John Boehner (R); Nancy Pelosi (D).
NBC’s “Meet the Press” - Dick Durbin (D); Paul Ryan (R). CBS’ “Face the Nation” – Mitch McConnell (R); Mark Warner ( D); Lindsey Graham (R). CNN’s “State of the Union” – Barbara Boxer (D); Kay Bailey Hutchison (R); David Axelrod (D); Reince Priebus (R); Anders Fogh Rasmussenm, NATO Secretary-General. It’s time to do the math: Red Rs + Red Rs, carry the pi, divided by D, times Bias, minus even-handedness… calculating… Total: 6 Rs, 5 Ds. Arizona Chases Birtherism While Ignoring Republican Voter Fraud. Arizona wants you to know that the Papers Please law is not racist, also, release the birth certificate! Birtherism is alive and well in Arizona, where Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett says President Obama may be left off their November ballot because he can’t validate the birth certificate. Ken, who is toying with the idea of running for Governor of Arizona (and honestly, who better to fill Jan’s trample-on-the-Constitution shoes?)
, says he is not a birther, but… The SOS Bennett told KFYI host Mike Broomhead yesterday, “I’m not playing to the birthers. I’m not a birther. I believe the president was born in Hawaii — at least I hope he was.” Oh, goody for Ken, he managed to get in that omnipresent “If the President says he isn’t a Muslim terrorist, then I take him at his word but there’s no harm in askin’ questions….” Watch here if you are still operating under the misinformed idea that Republicans have something worthwhile to say about the economy: It warms the heart.
For Profit Health Care Fails Patients; Corporate Medicine At Its Worst. What are the real, human costs of corporate medicine? Patients at Portsmouth Regional Hospital (PRH) are experiencing corporate medicine at its worst. These cancer patients lost their Oncologist because he had the audacity to defend their best interests. This story begins with Dr. Paul Poulin, the former head of Oncology at PRH. He expressed concerns about record keeping and pharmaceutical procedures that could place his patients at risk. He was fired “without cause” on March 30th. Seacoastonline reports that Dr. “Poulin said he wasn’t given a reason for his termination, but suspects it’s due to “conflict” with hospital administrators about “broad patient care issues.” Dr. The hospital informed the doctor’s patients, in some cases just hours before a scheduled chemotherapy, that he was no longer affiliated with the hospital and to choose a new oncologist.
It is worth noting, at this moment, the first sentence in the hospital’s Mission Statement: Dr. Certainly, firing Dr. Mrs. As Dr. Swiss Miss Bachmann is Swiss No More. Less than 24 hours after Politico broke the news that Michelle Bachmann was granted Swiss citizenship, in March, she changed her mind. As reported by the Huffington Post, Bachman wants to make it perfectly clear that she was born in the U.S.A. and is proud of it. To prove it, she renounced her recently discovered Swiss Citizenship. “I sent a letter to the Swiss Consulate requesting withdrawal of my dual Swiss citizenship, which was conferred upon me by operation of Swiss law when I married my husband in 1978,” she said.
“I took this action because I want to make it perfectly clear: I was born in America and I am a proud American citizen. I am, and always have been, 100 percent committed to our United States Constitution and the United States of America. As the daughter of an Air Force veteran, stepdaughter of an Army veteran and sister of a Navy veteran, I am proud of my allegiance to the greatest nation the world has ever known.” According to the L.A. Ding! Romney’s Foreign Policy: A Cruel Joke on Humanity. According to Pierre Prosper, Obama’s “Czechoslovakia” policy is harming America. This is a painfully embarrassing statement coming from Romney’s foreign policy adviser.
“You know Russia is another example where we give and Russia gets and we get nothing in return. The United States abandoned its missile defense sites in Poland and Czechoslovakia, yet Russia does nothing but obstruct us, or efforts in Iran and Syria.” The conference call, in which Prosper was one of 3 Romney advisers participated, said a few more things about what a Romney foreign policy would look like. Listen here courtesy of Think Progress: Romney’s desire to take us back to the Bush Administration’s foreign policy is a reminder that politics plays cruel jokes on humanity.
For all the flaws in the Bush Administration, one that remains blight on our national soul is its torture policy. “There’s a statute that says it is a federal crime to engage in torture or to authorize torture abroad. Bullying the Courts. To hear the Republicans speak about the President’s comments regarding the SCOTUS and its anticipated ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Health Care Act, you would think that Obama said he would arrest Supreme Court Justices who disagree with him.
Oh wait, that was Newt Gingrich. According to the right wing, the President’s comments about judicial activism in conjunction with the anticipated ruling on the Affordable health Care Act were the comments of a bully. Here is what the President said. “Ultimately, I’m confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress.
And I’d just remind conservative commentators that for years what we’ve heard is, the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint — that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law. 1. 2. Fox News Accuses Obama of Using Trayvon Martin to Provoke Racial Confrontation. Fox News continues to demonize Trayvon Martin and President Obama by claiming that Obama is using the shooting to provoke a racial confrontation. Here is the video from Media Matters: Here is the transcript of Sean Hannity and Dick Morris: Morris: He can’t give Spike Lee’s money back, because his whole goal is to provoke a racial confrontation. That’s why he intervened in this.Hannity: Whoa, stop for a second. According to Fox News, the Trayvon Martin shooting is being made racial by President Obama who is using the killing of a seventeen year old kid to increase African American turnout for the general election.
What is really going on here is that the right is using the Trayvon Martin shooting and Obama’s comments as a racial wedge issue and as a reminder to white voters that they shouldn’t trust the African American president. Morris’s whole theory is based on the fraudulent premise that African Americans and Latinos need extra motivation to come out and support this president. SCOTUS Rules In Favor of Equality of Humiliation.
The Polite Conference Rooms Where Liberties Are Saved and Lost. Trayvon Martin Case: Enhanced Police Video Shows Injuries On George Zimmerman's Head. UNC-Chapel Hill Publicly Disassociates from Rush Limbaugh But Pays $18,500 in Speaker Fees to Hateful Homosexual Cyber-Bully Dan Savage. Cop Gets Suspended After Comments About Trayvon Martin. Money Doesn’t Change Everything: The Impact of “Citizens United” is Exaggerated | Politics & Media. Bobby Rush, Illinois Congressman, Thrown Off House Floor For Wearing Hoodie. 10 Reasons The U.S. Is No Longer The Land Of The Free. Liberties_in_the_way.gif (GIF Image, 500 × 344 pixels)
Annual Ann Arbor Hash Bash Rally To Feature Legalization Campaign Tribute to Drug War Victims. Speckled Axe. WE ARE THE 99%: 10 Stories of Americans living on the verge of collapse (10 Pic. Inequity That Must Be Changed.
Faux Noise Hoody Hypocrisy.