Bring Me The Head of Nate Silver

 

Trump's Approval Rating Drops to 39%

President Trump’s approval rating is at 39 percent, according to a new poll.

The latest Pew Research Center poll released Thursday shows Trump at a historic low compared with prior presidents in their first weeks in office.

The poll found just 39 percent approve of his job performance while 56 percent disapprove.

The quote in today's Blasphemes's cartoon is an actual quote from the POTUS in today's news conference.

If Ronald Reagan was the first TV President, then Trump is our first Reality TV President.

To which I believe I did say that quite a while ago.

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....

Straw In Iowa or Needle in a Haystack?

The Iowa straw poll is a vote by attendees of a fundraiser for the Iowa Republican party and dates all the way back to the pioneering days of 1979.

Anyone who can pay the $30 for the ticket and is over 18 can vote.

Participants do not need to be Republicans but they do have to be residents of the state or students attending university in Iowa. Or at least make up a good story first.

It is seen as a good indicator of who is in the lead to win the Republican nomination to become the party's candidate for the presidential election, except that, in fact it's only predicted the outcome in two out of five times. Other than that - this is big news!

So, with that knowledge - Holy Crap, Ron Paul came in Second! Bachmann's 4,823 votes narrowly defeatedt, Ron Paul, who had 4,671!

Oh, and Sarah Palin II got first... but RON PAUL, Dude!

And, George W. Bush, er, sorry, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, officially announced today to take the wind out of Michele's win. And Tim Pawlenty beat Mitt Romney who is playing Iowa like Rudy Giuliani did in 2007 -- meaning he isn't.

The GOP Front Runner is... Who?

Over the weekend, a straw poll by Republicans picked Indiana's Mike Pence the win over Palin, Romney, Huckabee and everyone else. Palin was on the bottom... there's a joke there somewhere.

He's chairman of the House Republican Conference and part of the congressional leadership, Pence, whose district sprawls across the eastern part of Indiana, remains unknown to many conservatives. He introduced himself in the speech:

"Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes,” said Pence. “All you really need to know is that I'm the father of three teenagers (hence the white hair), I have been married for 25 years to an elementary school teacher who is the love of my life -- Karen Pence -- and I'm a Christian, a Conservative and a Republican, in that order.”

Great. Just what we need.

While Pence, who first won election to Congress in 2000, criticized the Obama administration and Democrats in control of Congress, he also lashed out at policies backed by former President George W. Bush. Well, that's topical.

"Even Republicans in Congress are getting back to fiscal discipline and reform,” said Pence. “Let's be honest, four years ago Republicans in Congress didn't just lose their majority, they lost their way. When I opposed No Child Left Behind, when I opposed the Medicare prescription drug bill, and when I opposed the Wall Street bailout, I knew that if we kept acting like big government liberals, the American people were eventually going to go with the professionals. And they did.

"The truth is our party in Congress walked away from the principles that minted our national governing majority and the American people walked away from us,” added Pence.

"These are serious times,” continued Pence. “A nation conceived in liberty has come of age in bondage to big government. We've lost respect to the world. We are going broke. And our social and cultural fabric is unraveling. People are scared.”

And he's the guy to fix it?

So - in my opinion - he's a nice guy, and parrots Ron Paul? So he's the Ron Paul Lite?

A source to Blasphemes has revealed: "

His politics are terrible, but what a nice guy." I think being a nice guy gets you pretty far in politics, actually ... Palin seems to generate a lot of nasty comments from people who've interacted with her personally.

Ron Paul Lite

The Week In Review - Sunday Comics

The week that was...
Big wins for the Tea Party people. No one seems to think that their primary wins will carry over to wins in the general - and in certain races, like Delaware, I agree. However, lashing out with uber conservative ideas on how to run the country against the most liberal ideas on how to run the country seems to be the order of the pendulum. No one suspected it would swing so hard, so fast. The Democrats are banking on the idea that the far right fringe is distasteful to the larger audience in November.
BUT, the Democrats, continue to fail to understand that raising taxes when people are unemployed somehow raises anger and decreases their chances of coming back next cycle. I also think their class warfare tactic is limp, and no one is buying it anymore.
That said...
But what's going to happen when the Tea Party people figure out there's nothing left to do, and are just as corrupt and ineffectual as the morons that they're replacing? That's when it'll get really entertaining. We'll have about a week left to prepare for the Zombie Apocalypse once that happens. There's enough warning signs out there...
But like I said, it'll be entertaining to watch. Palin and Romney were out beating the Iowa bushels of corn this week.
And the Bush Tax cuts were the debate-du jour - keep them, lose them, how about just half? I have an idea, starve the beast - make the cuts, and then you'll see riots like in Greece.
Either way, these guys aren't going anywhere... Just ask Chicago after Daley leaves.
See you next week

A Spanking in November

The Democrats are sensing that they're going to lose the House in November. Mr. Obama, in full campaign mode, has already singled out Republican minority leader John Boner, er, Boehner (R-Ohio) in his attack speeches - you know, 'cause everyone knows who he is... and assumes that Nancy won't be running the chamber any longer. That's 39 chairs to 'flip' the house. The American Political Science Association predicts 50.

The dailybeast.com ran an article about how President Obama himself can make a difference between now and Election Day. Mellen looks at the impact of presidential campaign appearances on behalf of House candidates in midterm elections. (...) The improvement has to do with the so-called enthusiasm gap. The dire predictions for the Democrats in November don’t necessarily assume a defection of voters from the Democratic Party to the GOP. Rather, Republican voters, riled up by being out of power, are more likely to turn out in the midterms; Democrats, resting on their laurels after the 2008 landslide, are much more likely to sit this one out.

The Republicans and the Independents don't care about 'being out of power,' they're opposed to how the country is being run. It's a policy - not racial - or some ridiculous power grab. Typical, there's not one thought to why the Democrats are going to lose or why the TEA party exists, or even what they're saying. It's just easier to lift their fingers and laugh at them.

Sending Obama on the campaign trail will be the best thing they could do - for the Republicans. Sure he might spark a little more enthusiasm in the Democrat faithful, but it has historically gotten more Republicans to the polls.

But it's the independents who have been thrown under the bus by the Democrats - not the other way around. The electoral problem facing Democrats isn't that they won't vote, it's that independents have abandoned the Democrats wholesale.... because the Independents feel duped. Of course the Republicans could still lose their elections - especially if they offer no value or fail to recognize that the voters don't want a party of 'no' - but a party that would halt what angry voters see as a power grab by the remaining Democrats who are taking what they can off the sinking ship.

I'd like to see someone roll up their sleeves and start bailing.

Fringe Wins

Yesterday, on day 576 of his presidency - the Pew Research group decided to publish data that 18% of Americans believe their president is a Muslim.

On the surface - the study almost proves the Trey/Matt postulate that 1/4 of the population is batshiat nuts.

However, in my tiny mind, questions abound...

Why does such a poll take place? Why would they be asking the general population this question? Do we still not know who our President is? Is this because of the Birthers? Is it because he took a stand, then backed away from his stance on the mosque a couple blocks away from the WTC site? Is it because we see Mr. Obama on the golf course rather than a church Pew? Or is because the White House would rather remove the association with Mr. Obama and Rev. Wright? It worked great in Chicago - not so much the rest of the Nation.

So now we have pollsters that have to ask what religion the sitting president follows. Shouldn't we already know that -- that is, if we give a flitting care? Shouldn't that question been figured out before the Iowa Caucasus?

Is this poll more for the newsmakers to make news out of nothing, as most polls are?

Is this just troll bait for the fringe on both sides to kick up the dust - again - for no good reason? Is it a distraction to the equally useless mosque in New York debate? Is it to distract us from the terrible jobs numbers and the complete failure of Keynesian economic policies to help restart the economy's engine?

No matter the intended purpose - the White House stepped in it. They should have kept their mouths shut. They didn't. They now look stupid. Well, more than usual.

Personally, I think he is agnostic and doesn't dare tell anyone. Shhhh.

BP Better than the US Gov

Even after yesterday's congressional grandstanding, most still think that BP is more capable than the U.S. government when it comes to managing the Gulf disaster.

Which means a few people are paying attention.

The Federal government is not built to move quickly on anything, nor do they have the expertise that an oil company has. The governments job should be to set rules, boundaries and provide oversight and even to punish when something like this occurs.

Believing that someone wearing a black suit and $2.00 aviator sunglasses will step off a black helicopter, come in, take over, and plug up the leak is misguided and as goofy as believing the government caused it in the first place. In fact, more government involvement will only slow an already slow process down even further.

Just ask the folks who participated in 'helping' after Katrina.

Specter is D.U.N. Done.

Joe Sestak Wins Democratic Senate Nomination in Pennsylvania

Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who bolted the Republican Party 11 months ago in a bid to salvage his Senate career as a Democrat, was defeated in a primary for his new
party's nomination on Tuesday, as Democratic primary voters turned against him and selected Representative Joe Sestak for the nomination.

Mr. Specter, 80, lost his bid for a sixth term despite the backing of a wide swath of the Democratic political establishment -- starting with President Obama in the White House and continuing with Ed Rendell, the governor of Pennsylvania.

Let's review -- bolted the Republicans and is 80 years old. If you can't stick with your convictions when you're 80, it's time to give up your Senator card.

Immigrants, legal and not

That's great and all, but before I give you a Taco Bell Choco Taco Ice Cream Dessert, let me just say that this whole thing isn't about LEGAL immigration, but in fact - ILLEGAL immigration. I cannot stand by when illegals are referred to as immigrants; It's downright insulting to those individuals that waited and followed the rules... including millions of folks ancestors who played by the rules and also the folks from your country who had to wait six or seven years to be granted legal status.

And frankly, I'm getting sick of the debate about what's going on in AZ, especially by people who haven't read the bill or cared to follow what's been going on there for years, without any action by ineffectual leadership.

But, but, you can get deported for "looking reasonably suspicious".

But you have to break the law first... I suggest you read the actual law and quit quoting journalists who never read it prior to formulating an opinion on it.

Now of course if Rosco P. Coltraine in Phoenix tails you until you perform your typical rolling stop, or have a Mexican flag blocking your rear windshield -- yeah, he's going to take advantage of that and find a legal reason to interact with you. If, after your minor traffic stop, you've come into the country illegally, well, Jésus, you're going to have to go back home.

And this also applies to Polish, and Eastern Europeans, and folks who 'accidentally' over stay a work or academic visa.

Now, the Pew Hispanic Center notes that while the number of legal immigrants (including LPRs, refugees, and asylees) arriving has not varied substantially since the 1980s, the number of illegal aliens has increased dramatically and, since the mid 1990s, has surpassed the number of legal immigrants.

Dear Campaign Managers

Robo-calls piss me off. And in some cases, such as my own, are detrimental to your candidate.

Your annoyances announce many things to me, the voter, about your candidate. You're too cheap to purchase air on radio or television. As campaign manager, you already realize that all those negative ads on the local news just swim together in the muck. You know that the radio spots on AM radio are particularly useless when there's no baseball on. Fine, I understand you don't want to waste money. I get that. That's the allure of the Robo-Caller. Just set that soulless machine up with a message to call me at inconvenient times. It's even funnier when your machine talks to my machine.

You're also too lazy to canvas the neighborhoods and meet me in person. A knock on my bunker door vs a Robo-Call at dinner time... let's see? You know, actually, I prefer neither. But I do enjoy meeting the candidate, and having him look me in the eye when he's lying about what an 'outsider' he/she is, even though they're the incumbent.

The Robo-Caller also tells me your candidate is too lazy or bored to understand the district that your machine is calling. It also shows me that you have no real interest in any issues. You probably are wasting good dollars calling Democrats to vote in the Republican primary. Thank goodness I don't make any money, or you might actually call me in person to ask for cash.

It's to the point where your opponent could use the Robo-Caller in your name to annoy me into voting against you... now that would be an effective strategy. Luckily, someone in the Statehouse realized that in crafting the laws about how Robo-Calls are allowed. Come on, there's got to be a loophole in there somewhere?

I also think its hilarious that the Robo-Caller has impunity over the Federal statute of the No Call List, which I am on. I also giggle that my caller ID sees that you're calling from other states. You can't even hire an in-state Robo-Caller? With all the unemployment in my State, there's a poor local Robo-Caller collecting dust, while you hire a Robo-Caller from another state? And if you're pinching pennies, why would you use at&t long-distance? They'll kill you in the taxes!

I'd also like to ask your candidate what they're going to do about the 80 million dollars of un-funded pension issues. Robo-Caller doesn't take questions. Nice. No, I get it. It seems like a fantastic idea at the beginning of the campaign.

But Mr. Campaign manager, just so you know, when your candidate annoys me, or wakes up the baby - I write down who your candidate's name, and make a point to vote AGAINST him in the ballot box.

3 Democrats — 2 senators, 1 governor — to Retreat, er, Retire

With the 2010 election year barely under way, two senators and one governor — all Democrats — ditched plans to run for re-election in the latest signs of trouble the Democrats. My guess is that, like every heist movie, they've decided that the bags are heavy enough and it's time to run.

Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota were seen running for the exits with their bags of money, saying their work was done. Plus, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter bailed for the lifeboat as Democrats see a struggle to defend themselves. They must be amazed that the people are actually paying attention?

Dodd's political problems started when he ran for president, which doesn't really play well at home, and further compounded later in 2008 when it was revealed that he had been included in a special VIP mortgage loan program by Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo. Dodd insisted he was unaware of his inclusion and he was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Senate Ethics Committee. "Oh, was that sweetheart .01% mortgage deal wrong? Really?" He was playing around with the Healthcare bill, was right in the middle of the AIG situation, and who knows what else he's done behind closed doors? Luckily, the political damage has been done. His constituents are finally paying attention. Well - Bye!

Like the folks who think that Dick Cheney and his cohorts should stand trial for their actions, I say, if you're going to pursue Cheney, you have to go after Dodd too. Dodd's done more damage to the American people than anyone in the Al Queda organization. But like every politician in DC, they take their cash, and ride off in a limo waving their middle finger at the rest of us 'little people'. That is, all except for Nixon. They had to airlift his ass out.

But get off your chairs, my Democrat friends, there are six Republican Senators retiring as well. Florida, Ohio, Missouri, New Hampshire, Kansas and Kentucky, are not running for re-election in 2010. Apparently they're either making way for the newly branded "libertarian" styled Republicans?

Either way, I'm fairly certain I have proclaimed that they would come in, take as much as they possibly could, announce retirement - sit on their 196 foot yachts and sip martinis as the Zombie Apocalypse begins. I guess they figured out that zombies don't surf? I, for one, am all for giving those Zombies Ski-Doos to right that which is wrong.

Polls

Barack Obama sees worst poll rating drop in 50 years

The decline in Barack Obama's popularity since July has been the steepest of any president at the same stage of his first term for more than 50 years.

Gallup recorded an average daily approval rating of 53 per cent for Mr Obama for the third quarter of the year, a sharp drop from the 62 per cent he recorded from April.

His current approval rating – hovering just above the level that would make re-election an uphill struggle – is close to the bottom for newly-elected president. Mr Obama entered the White House with a soaring 78 per cent approval rating. (MORE)

But here's another poll...

Obama leads Mike Huckabee 47-43,
Mitt Romney 48-40,
Sarah Palin 52-40,
and Tim Pawlenty 50-30.

You know, in case you were wondering.

Meanwhile, taking a poll and reporting it as news isn't news. Even though, it most certainly is on a slow news day on Friday.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Ballot Box Bunny

Clunkers

The White House Says 'Clunkers' Rebate Plan Will Go On

The White House said Friday that the "cash for clunkers" program was still alive even though the $1 billion that
Congress had appropriated for it has already been snapped up. Read More:

Cash For Clunkers was doomed just like Oprah's KFC free chicken. It was a pile of paperwork and ever-changing rules. There was only $1 Billion put in the plan. So, at a max of $4000, that's oh, let's pretend about 12 per dealership nationwide.

My guess there were over 100 people banging on the dealership glass window lookin' for theirs.

Okay, let me get my score card out here...

Bail Out - fail
North Korea - fail
Iran ending their nuclear ambitions - fail
Cash for Clunkers - fail
Government Health Care ... oh, hold on! That'll be a win!

What the hell, folks? What HAS worked from this gang of Idiots in Congress and the Obama Administration?

Can anyone give me a Win here?

Death to Iran

Death to Iran!

That's right. Death to Iran! That's how I begin all my prayers.

Well, if the Iranians can do it, why can't I?

The President was celebrated for not taking sides on Iran. Yesterday, after a press conference he's celebrated for condemning the regime's violence.

It's kind of a damned if you do-damned if you don't situation, right?

Not so fast.

There is nothing at all that any Western country can do to avoid the charge of intervening in Iran's internal affairs. The Iranians have a rich tradition of blaming absolutely everything that goes wrong —especially anything in English— on the West. There was even a hit sitcom about the absurdity of blaming the British for everything, My Uncle Napoleon, that is, until it was banned by the clerics.

Also, like assuming that Milton Bradley will play well for the Cubs -all year- it's faulty logic to assume that the ayatollahs, cynical and corrupt as they may be, are acting rationally.

Another thing, our own media, which seems to be blindsided with the events in Iran, seems to be falling all over itself to understand what's going on. Perhaps they wouldn't have been if they had they paid attention to the events going on there before the election? A strong majority of Iran's population is young and unemployed... and don't remember or weren't old enough for the revolution. They're the Gen X of Iran. There's a lot of them. And they're pissed off.

What's Obama, or any other so-called leader in this country going to say to the people of Iran when this is over? What are they going to say to those people who are standing up and getting their skulls cracked and tear gassed, when America doesn't come to their aid? Hey kids, you should have read your history books. America, land of the free, didn't stand up for the protesters in Tiananmen Square either. And don't bother Googling that event if you're in China. It didn't even happen.

But there's one other minor issue that no one else seems to have brought up...
It's not okay for America to meddle in Iranian affairs, but it's perfectly okay for Iran to meddle in American affairs? It's okay for Iran to act completely innocent when there is a slaughterhouse of blood and guilt on their hands?

Iran was the most active player trying to thwart American efforts in Iraq. Iran exports violence, guns and influence to Lebanon and Palestine. And they stick their middle fingers up and wave them in the face of the UN, the EU and Hans Blick on the nuclear issue.

Look, they're not just everyone's misunderstood neighbors. They're a totalitarian nuclear theocracy that begins their prayers with 'Death to America.' I sincerely hope that they get the Change they're looking for.

This says it all

Hypocrite of the Week!

Iran's supreme leader has put his foot down.

He's said that his country's disputed presidential vote had NOT been rigged, and warned protesters of a skull crackdown if they continue their demonstrations demanding a new election.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sided with hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and offered no concessions to the opposition. Chances for a new vote have been shut down by him calling the June 12 election an "absolute victory."

"If the difference was 100,000 or 500,000 or 1 million, well, one may say fraud could have happened. But how can one rig 11 million votes?"

That's easy! You rig the vote by not bothering to COUNT the votes. How else do you think the election was decided by a hand count in two hours? Not even Chicago does that!

The best part in Ali's rant was this little jem...

"It must be determined at the ballot box what the people want and what they don't want, not in the streets," he said. "I call on all to put an end to this method. ... If they don't, they will be held responsible for the chaos and the consequences."

What?

Look, the people of Iran are protesting because they voted and the election was blatantly rigged - not stealthfully. But the best part was that the theocracy that he leads came to power through a violent revolution that began with people taking to the streets!. Now he's rejecting that “method.” Awesome hypocrisy Ayatollah!

That's why Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, you're our Blasphemes Hypocrite of the Week!

Iran like Chicago

Looking back to the Al Gore/George Bush contest I remember the chaos and bloodshed that followed. Now if you want to see how to steal an election badly I simply encourage you to look to Iran.

Today candidates and clerics requested an annulment of the election, but Mr. Ahmadinejad hinted that his challenger risks punishment for questioning the result.

Ah, the 'free' elections in 'democratic' Iran.

There is no actual transparency or accountability in Iran. However, if it looks like fraud, smells like fraud, well my guess is fraud. Transparency by default. And given the government’s even more than usually thuggish reaction, it certainly points to fraud. As long as you remember that the religious Mullahs run everything behind the curtain, you know that the election is meaningless, and is simply a fun activity to give the folks something to pretend means something. I'm getting pretty cynical, and I'm sure you're waiting for me to say that 'Hey, just like the States, right?' No, more like Chicago....

What Iran hasn't figured out is that they need to emulate Chicago - Don't get me wrong, they're extremely close. They have the first part down perfectly. Iran is close as they have the policy of giving back to one class of people and having them vote. It's the other class, the middle class who are having to deal with huge taxation and inflation because of those bribes - er - government assistance programs to the under served - and the middle class has no chance of relief.

So when they bring it up for a vote, there's a chance for 'Change'. But there isn't any real chance for opposition. Iran is Chicago.

But let's review what happened with the election...

Many Iranians found that impossible to believe. Mr. Moussavi had drawn hugely enthusiastic crowds to his campaign rallies, and opposition polls suggested that he, not Mr. Ahmadinejad, was the one with the commanding lead. Even more improbably, and cynically, authorities claimed that Mr. Ahmadinejad carried all of his opponents’ hometowns — including Mr. Moussavi’s — by large margins. My guess is that the polling data was incorrect. Imagine, for a second, if the Conservatives hadn't thrown in the towel and showed up to elect McCain. Impossible! Well, Mock-Mood Im'aDinnerJacket contends that's exactly what happened. Can you imagine how pissed the Obama crowd would have been?

When protesters took to the streets in the fiercest demonstrations in a decade, the police beat them with batons. The government also closed universities in Tehran, blocked cellphones and text messaging and cut access to Web sites. That's not totalitarian or draconian, is it? Again, imagine an Obama fanatic without their Facebook or Twitter for an hour, let alone a couple days?

As the protests continued, authorities detained more than 100 prominent opposition members and ordered some foreign journalists to leave the country. According to news reports, Mr. Moussavi remained in his home but was being closely watched. In a triumphalist press conference, Mr. Ahmadinejad seemed to threaten his rival, declaring that the former prime minister “ran a red light, and he got a traffic ticket.”

Look, if the election were truly “real and free” as Mr. Ahmadinejad insisted, the results would be accepted by the voters and the government would not have to resort to threats, detentions and baton wielding skull crushers.

So - they dropped the ball at the ballot box phase. What Richie and the Toddler know, is that you keep it closer, or just have no opponents. I am not suggesting the Richie and Todd would lock down the city or county and have Chicago police beating the hell out of the mobs of Republicans or folks who want to get rid of the 10.25% sales tax -- what I'm suggesting is that they won't ever have to.

Oh, and the best part, the Nation elected Chicago.

One final note - at least the Iranian people are standing up to their tyranny. I wish them a prayer and the best of luck.