Knock Knock

Biden 2020

Blaspheme's quick review of the first two Democratic Debates these last two nights?

Winner - Donald Trump.

Roseanne Fired

ABC canceled Roseanne Barr’s revival of her show after she went bananas on Twitter. 

The star, previously known for pissing off most of the country by not singing the Star Spangled Banner correctly, apologized for calling Obama Administration adviser Valerie Jarrett a child of the “Muslim Brotherhood & Planet of the Apes.” Barr came back to Twitter about 5 minutes later to expand on her apology.

“I apologize to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans,” Barr tweeted. “I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks. I should have known better. Forgive me-my joke was in bad taste.” 

She has not tweeted anything since. Everyone (meaning I) is waiting for the President to weigh in on this one.

Dossier Issues

Five Former Presidents

Devin Nunes - No, No, Dig UP, Stupid

What's today's Daily Outrage? Republican Representative Devin Nunes. Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, made an allegation that he had viewed dozens of intelligence reports obtained through government eavesdropping that inappropriately included details about the Trump transition team.

Reports over the weekend said that Nunes went off the grid that night to meet a source and view dozens of intelligence reports, including accounts of meetings involving President Donald Trump's advisers.

Read more ....

He keeps digging deeper and deeper, not into the investigation, but the hole that he's digging. Sure Eli Lake made a great explanation to why Representative Devin Nunes had to go to a secure location (in this case, the White House grounds) to view the documents and records that his intel source told him that he had. Information that led him to make his announcement the next day, and his visit to the President. The fact that members of the committee will also get the same access to view the same documents/records that Representative Devin Nunes had seen should temper the outcry over what has happened.

Should have.

The question remains, is Nunes supposed to be a bloodhound, or is he a lap dog... either way, he's not a good dog.

Parting thought: He's the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

Obama listens in

The cartoon is taken from the film "The Lives of Others" which I recommend.


Meanwhile, the allegations that the Trump Tower was wire-tapped (how 20th century) seems to have some feet. Let's pretend that it's true, as a thought experiment.

If true (and as of this typing not a lick of evidence has been brought forth) this truly would be bigger than Watergate. Nixon's goons weren't (necessarily) spying on the DNC, but was looking to see where the leaks were in his White House - in which "the Plumbers" were much more concerned about the Brookings safe, and the evidence that Nixon's negotiations could have ended the conflict in Vietnam earlier - but yes, this would be worse.

If the sitting President, or anyone in his Administration, were wire-tapping the opposition party candidate? Okay, what could the wire taps have been legitimately been authorized for and who signs off on that?

To get a FISA warrant, first off the Executive Branch can request the order, but can't actually order anything. So that request has to come in independently. Then the Feds must demonstrate not just probable cause but that the phone lines are undermining US interests (AKA foreign powers, Boris Badenov). That's a tough one to get at Trump Tower because you might get third-party conversations. So IF those warrants were carried out, and all the requirements met the evidence that someone or people in the Trump campaign had enough ties to foreign powers...

...it's not Obama or Obama Administration officials that ought to be worried.

Either side of the aisle you look at this - it's probably the biggest scandal *since* Watergate, and we're only at the very beginning. Go to Costco and pick up some popcorn. This reality show just got a second wind.

Furguson MO

I was just scanning some news and thinking about stuff before heading out on a beer run (it's been a busy weekend). Then I saw the following picture of Furguson MO.

Well, I'll be damned if it didn't remind me of this publicity still from the original (and only IMHO) Red Dawn...

What's more striking, is that there's even more firepower on the streets of Missouri than there ever was in that fictional little Colorado town.

It's funny, how some folks are surprised by the weaponization of the local police forces in the last ten years - and how they're only just now starting to blink about it. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) stepped up to a microphone and yelled "Told you so!" for about a half an hour the other day. What's extra stupid is that Rand Paul is now in the center of both sides of the discussion. Center.

Hopefully folks will re-examine the policies and the politics that got us to Furguson right now. But I'll go on and keep hoping for that... meantime, when the President of the United States asks why citizens need AR-15's in their homes, we all now have a legitimate answer. Look out your backdoor.

Texan and the President at Dead Heat - no, the other Texan

Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul earns 38% of the vote to President Obama’s 39% in the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters. Fourteen percent (14%) like some other candidate, and eight percent (8%) remain undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

I would throw in something about 'electability' or something about his age... or the fact there's nothing short of a main stream media black out of this man... but a poll is considered 'news', and he's tied with Obama at this point.

Even if that poll was conducted on land line telephones....

A Warning to the Left

The Left is so busy making jokes, it has no idea about the tsunami that is about to wipe them out. They're not worried. They're barely aware. "Look, Michelle Bachmann is eating a corn dog! Rick Perry is a Nazi! *giggle*"

This time next year the movement to defeat Obama will reach evangelical proportions. Progressives have no sway, no ideas except "It's All Bush's Fault". Surely enough of the historic Independent, Young and Black Voter Bases will stay home this time. It will not matter if the GOP candidate says something stupid every day for a year or if they have no economic plan or if they get reamed by gotcha journalists or if they constantly get Elvis and Thomas Jefferson mixed up. People are too face-to-face with the reality of... reality. We're in a Depression.

Too many people are ready to do anything, accept anything other than the way things are now. The Fear and Jesus that the GOP is selling is exactly what will get them elected. Anyone who thinks otherwise is lost in some self-delusional Late-Night-Monologue American Apathy.

Right now I see the Left giggling over the oh-so-crazy antics of the GOP candidate until late Election Night when those one or two or three states that made all the difference in 2008 will flip to the other side and about 1:30am, and only then will those still awake at the balloon drop party will realize it's all over.

This is precisely the state of mind that bewilders me: The 'Progressive', "we're so full of our phony moral and intellectual superiority, but at least the other side is even more full of crap than we are..."

This Elizabeth Kubler Ross method of slow acceptance of the decline in quality of life that we twist around in our heads as amusing social insight.

The Rachel-Maddow-boy-isn't-it-funny-that-these-dumb-rightwingers-are-always-kicking-our-political-ass way of thinking. Somewhere Jon Stewart is already trying to pre-write an Election Night Obama Defeat into some self-serving all-night comedy special.

It is this way of thinking that puts people to sleep giggling over Bill Maher's don't-worry-be-happy political uselessness - and wake up the next day to find that the vampires got in and the virgins were handed over to them without as much as a loud fart - and who knows how long it will it take to look back and realize we all have no one to blame but -- wait for it -- ourselves.

How long do they intend to fool ourselves with this belief that the "crazy right-wing opposition" can be just shooed away by making fun of them? They started their re-emergence the day after Obama was nominated and, whether you know it or not or whether Seth Meyers says so or not, they own it all now.

The people who don't think the GOP will win are the same people who get screamingly hostile when you ask them how things are really better now, or how they will be better, or why Obama should win, or why he should want to win, or any real way they can actually change and help him make this a better country instead of treating him like an overworked, undertipped waiter who gives unsatisfactory service.

One Leaves, Another Enters

Tim Pawlenty, sensible candidate - and obvious VP choice for the primary winner, dropped out - sensing that moderates have no place in this race. And proving that point, Rick Perry came into it.

Which means that Mr. Obama got his birthday wish... he gets to run against George W. Bush in the general!

No Confidence

In a new poll [Washington Post] , "Nearly three-quarters of Americans polled said they have little or no confidence in Washington to repair the economy. Confidence is down 21 percentage points from October 2010 and is less than half its 2002 levels. Roughly four in 10 have no confidence at all in the federal government when it comes to dealing with the economy, the poll indicates." So, what? The other 25% in the poll thinks the government will get help from Jesus to fix everything? Or is that only Governor Rick Santorum?

Remember, polls aren't accurate and aren't news. They're only an attempt to see which way the wind is blowing. Right now, that wind is hot and swirling.

Who's this good for? No one. It surly isn't good for Mr. Obama - but I don't think he really wants the job anyway. I wouldn't. And at this point in the game, he can't blame Bush anymore... at least, it's a pretty weak sauce to campaign on for re-election. And the Congressional Democrats should be taken out on a rail -- by the faithful Democrats who elected them! They've turned out to be so completely ineffectual I'm wondering if they are keeping their jobs just for the good health care? And the Republicans aren't any better. I see them getting the Senate in the next election -- but after they are seen as limp and open up new trade routes to create loopholes for corporation donors who use the chance to export more jobs and get a tax break because of it -- the Democrats will be running back in. I see sweeps in the next couple elections. Anger and reactionary sweep back to the other team. Teeter-Totter Ballot Boxes.

And how am I coming to that conclusion -- I look to the past to forecast the future. 2006 - Nancy and Harry come in to neuter Bush. 2008, Democrats sweep and take it all - rack up a huge bill with Stimulus One Slush Fund for Re-election and ObamaCare, and piss off so many people, you birth the Tea Party and get a hard swing to the right with the John Boehner House, and damn near lost the Senate. 2012 -- The Republicans can put anyone up against Mr. Obama right now. The Jimmy Carter comparison whispers aren't coming from the GOP - they're coming from Mr. Obama's biggest supporters!

Let me add a question that is swirling around the internet - "You come home from work and find there has been a sewer backup and you have sewage up to your ceilings. What do you do……raise the ceilings, or pump out the crap?"

They're all crap - and they need to go. All of them! Here's the solution -- You get rid of YOUR incumbent, and I'll get rid of mine. And the bonus is, if you're a Democrat or Republican you can still vote with your heart by voting in something only the AARP crowd does: Vote in the Primary.

Go On, Call His Bluff

When Mr. Obama walked out on the debt crisis session #32, he yelled to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, "Don't call my bluff." Mr. President, you're not much of a poker player, are you?

Charles Krauthammer for one, thinks the GOP should "call his bluff."

President Obama is demanding a big long-term budget deal. He won’t sign anything less, he warns, asking, "If not now, when?"

How about last December, when he ignored his own debt commission's recommendations? How about February, when he presented a budget that increases debt by $10 trillion over the next decade? How about April, when he sought a debt-ceiling increase with zero debt reduction attached?

All of a sudden he's a born-again budget balancer prepared to bravely take on his own party by making deep cuts in entitlements. Really? Name one. He’s been saying forever that he’s prepared to discuss, engage, converse about entitlement cuts. But never once has he publicly proposed a single structural change to any entitlement.

Hasn't the White House leaked that he's prepared to raise the Medicare age or change the cost-of-living calculation?

Also, at today's press conference, Mr. Obama went off on, "corporate jet owners' unnecessary tax breaks," again. Again? Come on. The class warfare nonsense really needs to go, especially since you're the one with the world's largest executive airplane.

How about the spending?

I mean, let's just quit kidding ourselves. They didn't ever plan on the Baby Boomers making it this long, and draining the Social Security all at once. That's obvious. Maybe they had higher hopes for nuclear war or the Swine Flu? I don't know, but the Boomers are rushing the gate just like it's the first day of Woodstock - and they're not taking no for an answer.

[Super special thanks to John Ruberry for the cutnpaste]

Debt Debate Roundup

Okay gang. This is it - Eat your peas.

Americans, you deserve better from your 'leaders'. Both sides are morons. But I'll tell you ALL this - if you raise taxes or move that debt ceiling by one dollar more - I don't care who you are, I'm going to actively campaign so that you lose your job.

Biden Flushed for Cuomo?

Obama to ask Cuomo to be 2012 running mate?

A Prominent Republican is joining a prominent Democrat in predicting that Gov. Cuomo will become President Obama's running mate for vice president next year.

Former New York GOP boss William Powers, credited with playing a key role in electing Rudy Giuliani mayor and George Pataki governor, was effusive in his praise of Cuomo's successes in the just-ended legislative session, and in his prediction of the freshman governor's political future. "Andrew had a fabulous session. It was fabulous. A property-tax cap, ethics reform and, for Democrats, gay marriage," said Powers. "I don't think there's any doubt Obama is going to pick him as his running mate. The president is in trouble and [Vice President Joseph] Biden doesn't bring anything to his ticket.

Read More

Biden didn't bring anything last time - except 6 years over John McCain's tenure in the Senate. Really, how much Change is that? And only now is there a lot of talk about dumping Joe?

And my first response to the headline was - Mario Cuomo, of course... not his butthead kid who inherited the NY Gov chair. Oh, really, you want the butthead?

I swear that Andrew would have been a fantastic addition to the WWE had he not been in line to take over his daddy's business in the oligarchy.

Protester Believes Obama is an Alien. No, the other kind.

Taking the birther movement to a whole other category...
Richard McCaslin discusses his theory about President Barack Obama's reptile origins with Savannah Holmes, 14, of Provo Utah., as the two wait for the presidential motorcade Tuesday June 28, 2011 near the entrance of Alcoa Davenport Works in Riverdale.

Photo: Rashah McChesney/Quad-City Times

Read more:

News of the Day

News of the Day...

or what I'm tracking.

Mr. Obama is expected to announce Afghanistan troop drawdown today. No doubt this will make some people happy and make a few others, like those fighting there, and the non-Taliban folks get kind of jumpy. Well, mission accomplished, and there's no more money. Besides, we've got Syria to stick our junk into. No, not kidding. It looks like Senator Graham is beating the drum to start a SIXTH war in Syria. Come on.

I wonder how our new Secretary of Defense feels about this? Yeah, Gates is leaving, if you didn't see his farewell tour the last couple months. Leon Panetta was unanimously confirmed as new Secretary of Defense.

Back to politics, Newt Gingrich's hilarious new political comedy continues to lose team members faster than Chef Ramsey expunges game-show contestants. Newt's team just lost his fundraising director and consultant. Now that's a reality show I'd watch on C-Span Ocho!

Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman enters race for Republican presidential nomination. For some reason, excuse me if I barely noticed. Am I supposed to be excited, angry, or meh about this? I'm going with meh.

And the story that pretty much writes itself Half-term Gov. Sarah Palin Packs In Her Bus Tour...Halfway Through. It really was a short bus.

Oh and Ai Weiwei was supposedly released. That's cool. They nabed him for tax evasion.

And finally, Wisconsin has passed right-to-carry legislation, leaving Illinois as the only one where only the bad guys are allowed to possess firearms. Guess it's going to be a summer of flash mobs in Chicago?

Permission to Bomb Libya

Shaping the Narrative

Bin Laden’s Daughter Confirms Her Father Shot Dead By US Special Forces In Pakistan
-- Al Arabiya News

Senior Pakistani security officials said Osama bin Laden’s daughter had confirmed her father was captured alive and shot dead by the US Special Forces during the first few minutes of the operation carried out at the huge compound in Bilal Town, Abbottabad. 
 


Besides recovering four bullet-riddled bodies from the compound, Pakistani security agencies also arrested two women and six children, aged between 2 and 12 years, after American forces flew toward Afghanistan. Some reports suggest 16 people, including women and children, were arrested from the house, most of them Arab nationals.
Read more

Sure, not the most un-biased person in the world to quote. But, for the Muslim world, this will become the narrative of what happened to Osama Bin Laden. He will be treated as a martyr who was murdered by American crusaders. Which was probably inevitable anyway. At least there's no doubt what happened, right? Right?

Hold on, the White House is changing the "official story" again --

The Slippery Story Of The Bin Laden Kill
-- Garance Franke-Ruta, The Atlantic

The early narrative of the assault on Osama bin Laden had him using his wife as a human shield and firing from behind her. Now we learn he wasn't armed.

The White House Tuesday blamed "the fog of war" for conflicting statements in its recounting of the events surrounding the Abbottabad raid that killed Osama bin Laden, but the history of misstatements from U.S. government officials about various combat operations raises questions about whether briefers also were subjecting us to a counter terrorism strategy and not just completely confused in their initial statements.
Read more

Hold on, weren't they WATCHING it, LIVE? Perhaps, and this is not just my own opinion here, perhaps the White House shouldn't politicize things that should not be politicized? Ooops. Too late on that one. The general politic out of the Obama Administration has been incompetent, and that's on their best day. If they don't get a handle on this quickly, it's going to spin out of their control. (Pun noticed, and moving on)

Meanwhile, the Secret SEAL Team will likely be honored in Secret for their Secret Raid. No ticker tape parade for the GI Joe Team.

The team that killed Osama bin Laden will likely be honored in the only way such a covert group can be: in private with nobody but themselves and their commanders in the know.

Quietly recognizing heroic actions for clandestine operations is not new in the military. Some service members wear war decorations but refuse to talk about how they earned them. Others stash away their medals, either because they've been ordered to hide them or they have chosen to for their own security.
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It's not over. It's the end of the beginning.

War Room Photos

The White House photo of Obama and his national security team following events in the Bin Laden operation

Very serious. Look at Mrs. Clinton.

Caption from the official photo by Pete Souza: "President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011. Please note: a classified document seen in this photograph has been obscured."

EDIT to point out interesting detail: the man sitting center-stage in this photo is Brigadier General Marshall B. "Brad" Webb

Now look a little closer, and you'll see a little image enhancement... you'll see a burn bag next to Mr. Obama, and Hillary's secret code word. And something else...

Good Shooting, Sir.

Here's a Link to the official White House flickr photostream with the original photo and others from that day.

And, gang, do you think we can all pitch in so that the White House Situation Room can look a little more like this: