Stop Taking Bachmann Seriously!

The same people that follow and support the rather “loopy” Donald Trump for President, also support the likes of Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin.  Most people call them America’s right wing fringe groups (aka the crazies.)

The Daily Beast – Eric Alterman

Michele Bachmann is “reportedly” ready to form a presidential exploratory committee in early June. Shame on me (and this website) for paying the slightest bit of attention to this foolish and ridiculous spectacle, but here we are.

It’s a challenge to decide what, exactly, is silliest about this story. First is the generic issue, independent of Bachmann. “Ready to form a presidential exploratory committee?” What the hell does that amount to? Imagine, sitting down at a restaurant, calling the waiter over, and explaining that you may be ready, at some future point, to form an “exploratory committee” to discuss what you might like to order for dinner.   My guess is you might get a bottle of Perrier poured on your head.

OK, now let’s assume for the sake of argument, some actual content to this announcement. Let’s say Bachmann actually does, one day, form a presidential exploratory committee and even runs for the Republican nomination for president. After all, she has recently made multiple visits to key states like Iowa and New Hampshire and has been telling people that she will be filling out the necessary forms to be included in the party debates, which begin May 2 at the Reagan Library in California.

Bachmann has about as much chance of actually getting the nomination as Lindsay Lohan. Does anyone in the world, even Bachmann herself, sincerely believe that this would be anything other than an exercise in vanity and self-delusion?

But what is really craziest about the story of Bachmann’s candidacy—and most disturbing about the fact that it will be treated as an actual “hard news” story by so much of the media in the coming months—is the lady herself.  

Continue reading this article…

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Follow The Leader: Beck’s Rhetoric Has Infected Fox News

Media Matters has done some thorough research on this issue…

Media Matters

In the wake of Glenn Beck announcing he will end his Fox News show, Media Matters demonstrates how throughout Beck’s tenure at Fox News the false, incendiary, and even violent rhetoric he pushed on his television and radio shows spread throughout the network. Where Beck leads Fox follows … but who will they follow now?

Suggesting Obama Has A Problem With “The White Culture”

Spreading Violent Rhetoric

Smearing Acorn

Smearing Then-Green Jobs Adviser Van Jones

Smearing OIRA Administrator Cass Sunstein

Smearing Assistant To The President For Science And Technology John Holdren

Smearing Then-White House Communications Director Anita Dunn

Smearing George Soros

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Jon Stewart Calls Trump A Fu*kwad, Warns Romney ‘You’re Competing With Crazy’

Mediaite

Jon Stewart sized up some of the “crazy” Republican candidates, quickly taking down Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann before setting his comedic crosshairs on the “odd-headed reality show star” Donald Trump. After playing a clip of Trump questioning President Obama’s birth certificate, Stewart yelled in response, “his mother was American you fu*kwad!”

Stewart realized the Republicans have at least one plausible candidate in Mitt Romney, or as Stewart referred to him, “Captain Buzzkill.” Romney received some light comedic jabs from Stewart, but also a warning. Stewart advised, “you’re competing with crazy people Mitt. I’m a competent businessman is not going to cut through.” Instead, Stewart suggested that Trump’s “crazy” talk is just the type of “candy” that Romney might have to utilize so that he doesn’t fade from the media spotlight.

See video here…

 

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Fiancee Of Giffords Shooting Victim Works Hill As Gun Control Group Releases Chilling New Ad

Huffington Post

One of the nation’s most powerful gun-control advocacy groups is out with a new ad, and a symbolic new spokeswoman, in an effort to persuade Congress to outlaw magazines that allow up to 32 shots without reloading.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence put out the new spot on Tuesday morning calling directly on President Barack Obama to take a stand against high-capacity magazines — the clip used by Jared Loughner, the alleged shooter of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and 19 others in Tucson.

In conjunction with the ad’s release, the group is deploying a powerful new congressional liaison. Kelly O’Brien, fiancee of Gabe Zimmerman, the Giffords’ staffer killed by Loughner, will be on the Hill Tuesday to endorse legislation sponsored by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) banning high-capacity magazines.

O’Brien’s entrance into the debate over gun control legislation carries the same type of emotional undertones that accompanied the founding of the Brady Campaign itself. Once titled Handgun Control Inc., the group evolved into its current incarnation and namesake after James Brady, a top aide to President Ronald Reagan who was permanently disabled during an assassination attempt on Reagan.

O’Brien isn’t the only deliberately heart-tugging symbol of the new Brady campaign. The ad includes the silhouette of a young girl on a gunman’s printable, target practice sheet — riddled, after 32 shots, with bullet holes in the heart and head.

“A magazine that allows a gun to fire 32 shots in 16 seconds is good for only one thing: killing a lot of people fast; and that’s something we can live without. Assault clips: they make everyone a target,” the script reads.

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Daniel Hernandez, Gabrielle Giffords’ Intern, Says He’s Talked To Congresswoman

This is excellent news for AZ Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her family…

Huffington Post

The man who won praise for going to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords aid immediately after she was shot says he has spoken to the injured congresswoman several times on the phone and is amazed by her recovery.

Daniel Hernandez tells the Arizona Republic that their most recent conversation was Wednesday.

He says the calls have included “short interactions and long interactions” but declined to be more specific out of respect for her privacy.

Giffords was critically wounded by a gunshot to the head 12 weeks ago during a shooting rampage in Tucson. Six people died and 12 other people were wounded.

Her doctors say she is making significant advances in speech, motor skills and life skills.

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150 Years Later, Tea Partiers Still Aren’t Over The Civil War

I suppose there will always be a sizeable number of folks who believe that “the south shall rise again”…

Think Progress

[Tuesday] was the 150th anniversary of the Civil War’s beginning, when secessionists fired on Union troops at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. According to a new poll from CNN, the Civil War’s legacy remains unresolved. The poll finds that Republicans and Tea Party supporters are more likely to support the Confederacy and confederate leaders than Democrats or Independents.

According to the poll, nearly one in four Americans sympathize with the Confederacy more than with the Union. That number grows to nearly four-in-ten among white Southerners. Among Tea Party members, 26 percent sympathize with the Confederacy more than the Union, and that number grows to 28 percent among Republicans.

Meanwhile, while respondents overall viewed slavery as the main reason for the war by a 54-42 margin, Tea Partiers and Republicans held different views. Fifty-two percent of Republicans believed slavery was not the main reason, and that number rose to 54 percent among Tea Partiers.

Continue reading here…

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On Budget Deal, House Republicans Once Again Prepare To Break Their Own 72-Hour Rule

I’m wondering why the GOP in the House and Senate keep breaking their promises to “The American People”.  That phrase, “The American People” is tossed around by each and every one of them when discussing legislation or Obama’s policies.

The problem is, the GOP (and a lot of Blue Dog Dems) in congress care nothing about ALL of “The American People”. Their main concern is about corporate interest and military spending.

Think Progress 

When Republicans took over the House in January, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) promised the public, “I will not bring a bill to the floor that hasn’t been posted online for at least 72 hours.”

House Republicans are set to break that promise tomorrow afternoon when they push through a vote on the budget deal reached last Friday with Senate Democrats and President Obama. The agreement, which has been criticized by both progressive and Tea Party members of Congress, was posted online last night at 2 am, and is set to be voted on tomorrow at 2 pm — leaving less than 36 hours for public review.

It’s not the first time Republicans have waived the transparency rules they passed in January to move contentious legislation through the House. Last month, House Republicans debated and voted on a bill defunding NPR more than twenty hours before the review period had even ended.

The violation prompted an outcry from Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), forcing then-presiding speaker Ted Poe (R-TX) to insist the GOP’s 72-hour rule actually meant only three calendar days:

Two weeks later, Republicans again waived the rule while considering another piece of radical right-wing legislation, the Government Shutdown Prevention Act, which would have implemented HR 1 without the Senate’s assent.

As Minority Leader, Boehner repeatedly said that a 72-hour review period was necessary to allow lawmakers to read the bills they were voting on and keep the public informed about pending legislation:

As Paul Blumenthal notes, the GOP House majority is evading their pledge — and their commitment to public involvement in the legislative process — “for nothing other than the pursuit of quick political wins and message control. This is very disturbing.”

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