“We’re the only nation in the world,” Phil Gramm once said, [...]]]> Every once in a while, I come across a column that is so well done I feel the need to share. In the NY Times, Bob Herbert, was spinning old Republican quotes, the way K-tel, spins classic rock.

“We’re the only nation in the world,” Phil Gramm once said, “where all of our poor people are fat.”

Once we had Dick Cheney telling us that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and belligerently asserting that deficits don’t matter.

Representative Darrell Issa, the California Republican who is now chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said recently on the Rush Limbaugh program that Mr. Obama was “one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times.”

I remember President Bush going on television in September 2008, looking almost dazed as he said to the American people, “Our entire economy is in danger.”

Have we forgotten already who put us in such grave peril? Republicans benefit from the fact that memories are short and statutes of limitations shorter. It was the Republican leader in the House, Tom DeLay, who insisted against all reason and all the evidence of history that “nothing is more important in the face of war than cutting taxes.”

But that’s all water under the bridge. The Republicans are back in control of the House, ready to run interference for the rich as recklessly and belligerently as ever.

The full article is here.

“If the Latino community decides to sit out this election, then there will be fewer votes and it will be less likely to get done,” Obama said on the “Piolín por la Mañana” program on Univision Radio….

[...]]]> The most recent case of republican fake outrage was this quote from before the election:

“If the Latino community decides to sit out this election, then there will be fewer votes and it will be less likely to get done,” Obama said on the “Piolín por la Mañana” program on Univision Radio….

“And if Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, we’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us, if they don’t see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it’s gonna be harder – and that’s why I think it’s so important that people focus on voting on November 2,” he said.

Of course with Arizona enacting
sb1070, he was correct in his statement(but I digress). The Fox News echo chamber rung so loud that he unfortunately apologized.

Then the day after the election, Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell, let it be known where his priorities for the next two years were:

“the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

Hmmmmm why would he ever consider republicans enemies?

Then came
this story about Young Gun Eric Cantor.
It seems Mr. Cantor met privately(and unsanctioned) with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu where he let the Israeli Prime Minister know where he and the republican party stood:

“Eric stressed that the new Republican majority will serve as a check on the Administration and what has been, up until this point, one party rule in Washington,” the readout continued. “He made clear that the Republican majority understands the special relationship between Israel and the United States, and that the security of each nation is reliant upon the other.”

As was also pointed out in the story:

Veteran observer of U.S.-Israeli relations Ron Kampeas said he found that statement “an eyebrow-raiser.”

“I can’t remember an opposition leader telling a foreign leader, in a personal meeting, that he would side, as a policy, with that leader against the president,”

Can you imagine if the democrats met with a foreign leader without the presidents knowledge and consent? Well, luckily we have an example of more fake outrage from the right!

In 2007, Nancy Pelosi and a group of invisible republicans, visited Syria to massive fake outrage from the right. So much so that 2012 republican presidential front-runner felt the need to weigh in!

In the past, Republicans have been sharply critical of Democratic trips abroad that could be seen as undermining the official foreign policies of the U.S. president. For example, in 2007, both the Bush White House and its Republican supporters lashed out at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cali.) for visiting Syria, saying that she was trying to circumvent President Bush (never mind that Republican lawmakers were also in Syria and Pelosi didn’t criticize the Bush administration).

“It has long been the established principle of this country that the president of the United States leads our foreign policy,” said former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. “And if you don’t like the president, then you change him. But you don’t have the two parties each conducting foreign policy in the way they think it ought to be conducted.”

Very interesting indeed! Maybe President Obama, should not of used the word enemies, when speaking of republicans. It sure would be alot easier to not call them enemies if they did not act like it!

If the policy is approved in [...]]]> I caught this on Boots and Sabers, and thought it was a very interesting case study of the new millenium. It seems the West Bend School district is considering a new board policy on social networking. A key takeaway from the article:

If the policy is approved in West Bend, teachers will be prohibited from using personal social accounts to connect with students, which to some staff members seems extreme.

“What is the difference between Facebooking a student and running into them at a coffee shop?” said Jason Penterman, president of the West Bend Education Association, which represents the district’s teachers. “The reason this policy was adopted is because nationally some teachers made bad choices.”

Valley Elliehausen, administrator of human resources, noted that the limitation to social networking does not apply in cases when a staff members are parents connecting with students who are their children.

The question is how much influence does the school district have over the teachers personal life? It is one thing to ban it from the school computers and quite another to dictate what they do at home(although it was nice of them to allow the teachers to “friend” their own kids). Finally, if I am not mistaken, the West Bend School District was recently taken over by a new right wing board, how will that play in the picture.

My take on this is, teachers are professionals and can “friend” whoever they choose to “friend.” I do not think the school/board has any business telling them who to socialize with after hours or who they can talk to. It is none of their business what a teacher does when not in school. That being said, if the West Bend District recently elected a right wing board, I fully expect them to pass the strongest social networking policy that they can. The Republican nanny-staters in action.

That being said, nothing could [...]]]> I am going to do something I have never done before and use a Democratic party press release as a source. With our corporate press I was not able to confirm and ROJO has not denied, so I am going to assume this press release is based in fact.

That being said, nothing could compare/contrast the two people running to be the next Senator from our great state of WI. There is the incumbent, our Junior Senator Russ Feingold who has only missed on vote in 18 years of serving Wisconsin. Yesterday, despite the echo chamber saying otherwise, Senator Feingold flew flew in to meet President Obama.

His challenger, Ron Johnson, was in Washington DC, at a $1,000 per plate fundraiser, hosted by true Washington insiders Jon Kyl and Paul Ryan.

So while the supposed Washington “insider” was flying to Wisconsin to be with the citizens of Wisconsin, the Washington “outsider” was flying to DC to have the ultimate career politician(Jon Kyl), help him raise outside money to influence the Wisconsin election.

Looks like the choice is clear to me. If you can afford a $1000 lunch, vote ROJO, if you can’t then lets send Russ back to represent us. He has earned it!