Don’t know if I can do this . . .

. . . because Thanksgiving is already behind us, but there’s been a tradition around here of posting the Thanksgiving classic. And I forgot! Till now.

Boehner to America: drop dead

POSTED BY ORHAN

House Speaker John Boehner held his weekly press conference today and demanded Democrats outline their plan for spending cuts “to avert the fiscal cliff and help get the economy moving again”:

“…the president has warned about the dangers of going over the fiscal cliff, but his actions have not matched his public statements…despite claims that the president supports a ‘balanced’ approach, the Democrats have yet to get serious about real spending cuts…Listen, this is not a game…And this is a moment for adult leadership…the White House has to get serious…we’ve put real concessions on the line by putting revenues on the table right up front…Republicans have taken action to avert the fiscal cliff by passing legislation to stop all the tax hikes, to replace the sequester, and pave the way for tax reform and entitlement reform….But without spending cuts and entitlement reform, it’s going to be impossible to address our country’s debt crisis, and get our economy going again, and to create jobs.”

Now it may sound rather ironic to hear Boehner calling for “adult leadership”, yet he says that the Republicans did in fact make concessions; they put “revenues on the table right up front.” Why would the Democrats refuse to compromise?

The White House has a notion. According to the Administration, it’s because even though they say they put revenues on the table, the Republican leadership won’t agree to raise tax rates on the top 2 percent. And the fact that the American people elected Obama on a platform that states the rich should pay more appears to be simply irrelevant to Boehner.

Parsing the rest of what Boehner is calling for–stopping tax hikes, paving the way for tax reform and entitlement reform–is just the same old Republican dogma, tax cuts and social spending cuts. And the bill to “replace the sequester” (designed by Paul Ryan and passed in the House with zero support from Democrats) replaced fiscal cliff Defense cuts with cuts to the Food Stamp program.

So Speaker Boehner is making clear the Republicans intent to change not one iota; they intend to dig in and hold fast to their program of serving the rich and the rest of the people be damned, even if we made clear our intent through the electoral process. So much for democracy.

Lincon: casting mystery

Anyone who has read down the entire cast list of the movie Lincoln  bumped into this mysterious bit of casting trivia: Kevin Kline appeared in the film as a ‘wounded soldier’. The real Kevin Kline. (The headshot in the cast list at Imdb.com is indeed Kline and even his own Imdb page lists the credit. )

I’ve been googling about the interwebs but can find no reference to this odd and utterly delightful bit of information. (I just saw the movie, but didn’t know to look for him; there were, predictably enough, many many ‘wounded soldiers’. And a lot of dead ones. Splendid movie by the way.)

WalMart ought to try it

They’re up and running now and the Walton family own more wealth than 40% of the country combined.

(Via Brian from NYC, a once fellow-blogger and WW commenter, who now seems to have an actual life, so the only time I catch up on what he’s doing these days is on facebook which is where he posted this.)

Now I hear the pagans want their solstice tree back

Dare ya’!

One by one our American Christmas traditions have been falling into place – and right on schedule. Last week, the White House tree was delivered, then cyber-Thanksgiving went off with its now world-famous vulgar celebration of mindless consumerism, and tonight is the lighting of the Rock Center Tree. One thing has been missing though – until now.  Fox News has finally launched its traditional War on the War on Christmas. Sleigh bells ring.

I love these guys.

Okay, this is insignificant but honestly . . .

. . . does teh stupid never stop?

On yesterday’s edition of The Janet Mefferd Show, the host and her guest, Matt Philbin of the Media Research Center, took aim at an unlikely vector of liberal ideals: the world of sports. Reflecting on an MRC report, Mefferd said that ESPN and other sports broadcasters are “using their sports platforms really to push this liberal economic and social ideology.” Philbin asserted ESPN hires people with a “liberal pedigree” and its website includes content that is in “support of the gay agenda.”

. . .

Philbin later maintained that sports journalists, like other journalists, have “an antipathy toward conservatives and toward traditional Americans.” The two also took umbrage in particular to the sports network’s supposedly cozy relationship with President Obama: Mefferd was dismayed that ESPN is helping the President “show his softer side” by broadcasting his NCAA bracket selection.

Of course, President Bush, a former baseball franchise owner, previously appeared on ESPN to talk fishing and baseball.

Best part: ESPN’s antipathy toward traditional Americans. I guess then that  that’s their business model which explains why they’re such a failure.

Let us recall that the Media Research Center is considered a true source of the Lord’s truth by the conservative-entertainment complex, who repeat its findings ad nauseam.

From Right Wing Watch – unless they’ve been owned and it’s really from The Onion?

My way! My way!

So, Harry Reid wants to amend the filibuster rules and Mitch McConnell is shocked, shocked I tell you because Harry dares to propose that the majority should rule on this matter.

In his Wonkblog at The Washington Post today, Ezra Klein takes a look (great read) and notes that while McConnell weeps upon the sacred steps of the Senate decrying any changes to the rules (as did the Dems before him) and claims the filibuster to be a historical sacrament . . . well, here’s some real history:

The American system of government was built to protect minority voices, but the Founding Fathers explicitly rejected designing the Congress around a supermajority requirement. In Federalist 22, Alexander Hamilton savaged the idea of a supermajority Congress, writing that “its real operation is to embarrass the administration, to destroy the energy of government and to substitute the pleasure, caprice or artifices of an insignificant, turbulent or corrupt junta, to the regular deliberations and decisions of a respectable majority.”

Tried to see Lincoln today. Fail!

It seems my local movie emporium has discounted tickets on Tuesdays, something of which I was unaware. This is what it looked like when a friend and I got there – and this even though  staff had been walking the line telling people that if they hoped to see Lincoln, it was sold out. Turned right around – I don’t do lines. Fandango next time, but this may be the first time this place sold out. Ah, the irresisitable pull of a good movie plus a $5.00 ticket.  

We’ll try again later in the week.

Vote for Malala . . .

. . . for Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, here. The actions and courage of this single 14-year old girl may change the world.

Time for Rush and Grover to head for . . . well, there are a few societies out there where government isn’t intrusive. Freedom, you know. (Somalia comes to mind.)

Even I was taken aback by these numbers. Encouraged yes, and surprised as well. I’ll reserve comment right now, but want to toss this stuff out. It’s fascinating and obviously very important.

These are outtakes from the final post in Thomas Edsall’s NYT blog Campaign Stops, in which he reports on what’s being called the ‘Rising American Electorate”. It’s quite remarkable. The youth vote is pretty important in these numbers which, to me, means our future will be very different than our present.

Not only does a plurality (49-43) of young people hold a favorable view of socialism — and, by a tiny margin (47-46), a negative view of capitalism — so do liberal Democrats, who view socialism positively by a solid 59-33; and African Americans, 55-36. Hispanics are modestly opposed, 49-44, to socialism, but they hold decisively negative attitudes toward capitalism, 55-32. . . .  When voters were asked whether cutting taxes or investing in education and infrastructure is the better policy to promote economic growth, the constituencies of the new liberal electorate consistently chose education and infrastructure by margins ranging from 2-1 to 3-2 — African Americans by 62-33, Hispanics by 61-37, never-married men by 56-38, never-married women by 64-30, voters under 30 by 63-34, and those with post-graduate education by 60-33.

Keep voting kids.

What, did He make the gravy or something?

Taking silly to a whole new level:  from Tucker Carlson’s Daily Caller:

Gobble, gobble y’all

This year I feel especially fortunate. More of my family is here in town – in fact, another brother and a nephew have become neighbors.  The young’un and his wife have been visiting since they were children to see grandparents So this has always been a part of ‘home’ to them.

I’m also grateful that both David Frum and David Brooks have begun using – and not in a nice way – the phrase ‘conservative-entertainment media complex’. 

(Pictured is one of the two pumpkin pies I made this morning. Came out pretty good I think; there’s an apple/cranberry yet to go.)

Happy T’day and please, please, stay away from Black Friday. I worry about injuries. 

 

In which Joe Biden makes people laugh, and why do I always do a flurry of posts on days when no one has time to read them?

A few reality checks

1. An observation from David Frum on Krugman here – from a few months back:

Imagine, if you will, someone who read only the Wall Street Journal editorial page between 2000 and 2011, and someone in the same period who read only the collected columns of Paul Krugman. Which reader would have been better informed about the realities of the current economic crisis? The answer, I think, should give us pause. Can it be that our enemies were right?

Frum’s full post here.

2. Here’s a story about another blogger who got it right –  Calculated Risk  (CAUTION: lefty favorite!) – from Business Insider (here).

The Genius Who Invented Economics Blogging Reveals How He Got Everything Right And What’s Coming Next

3.  And finally, from Investors Business Daily (here):

US Deficit shrinking faster than at any time since WWII

I didn’t know we were THIS far behind . . .

Or more accurately, I didn’t realize how much of the developed world has surpassed us in the expansion of universal human rights. To wit: dark blue indicates where same sex marriage is expressly forbidden by law. Do you see dark blue anywhere but in the US???

I hope they’re grateful too . . .

I know I am very grateful that my enlightened government refuses to officially allow elderly and ill to be impoverished.

A factoid: where are the largest percentages of the Mr. Romney’s 47%? You already knew I’m sure. Remember also that those blue states are largely donor states, getting back less than a dollar for every dollar into the kitty and those red states are largely recipient states. Whoops, I meant ‘takers’.

So it makes perfect sense that they mostly voted for the guy who holds them in contempt. And says so.

Great moments in television . . .

http://www.drunkronswanson.com/

Something entirely new

Looks like the southern coast of France? A bit of pure poetry starts at 2:26. (h/t friend Jane). UPDATE: I’ve learned in comments here that I should have said “entirely new to me.”

I got off your lawn John; now what do you want?

Miss Graham’s dream of advancing to chief scold are foiled again, as current and senior scold Sen. John McCain abandons Arizona altogether and takes up permanent residence on the floor of the US Senate.

Benghazi forevah!

Friday night oldie

It seems Led Zeppelin is up for Kennedy Center honors. Okay. Absolutely. Seeing Jimmy Page and Robert Plant on the BBC on my teevee tonight reminds me of, well of course … here’s the full thing from the 1985 Live Aid reunion performance. The second video is an instrumental version I’ve never come accross before, featuring Page with Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. Cool

This is what citizenship looks like

For many years now, Red State dot com has been the online launching pad for a  good deal of the looniness that’s worked its way into our national conversation. Red State is not WND or NewsMax; it’s far too literate for that kind of comparison. It’s not quite Glenn Beck world either,  but no doubt they share a readership.

Today, founder and editor  Eric Erickson wrote this:

Barack Obama won the election.

He did not win by stealing the election. Voter irregularities always happen. It is one reason we support voter ID rules. But even in the worse scenario of reports out there, there were not enough tales of voter irregularities to matter nationwide. This is another benefit and built in safeguard of the electoral college.

Barack Obama won. He won by turning out the most people in a well run campaign. In other words, he won fair and square.

We here at RedState are American citizens. We have no plans to secede from the union. If you do, good luck with that, but this is not the place for you.

We have a place for you here if you wish to continue the fight against Republicans in Washington like John Boehner and Mitch McConnell who’d be happy to sell us down the river to keep their power, no matter how devoid of principle or sound policy. You have a place here if you’d like to keep fighting the Democrats who are intent on further stifling economic growth, pushing forward with Obamacare, bankrupting the nation, and siding with teachers unions against kids who deserve better.

Too many people have spent the past four years obsessed with birth certificates. Now they are obsessed with voter fraud conspiracies, talk of secession, and supposed election changing news stories if only we had known.

So let’s add dabblers in this latest nuttiness to birthers as a category of people we do not welcome at RedState. Our aim is to beat the Democrats, not beat a retreat to a Confederacy that Generals Grant and Sherman rent asunder well over a hundred years ago.

Even here at RedState, while we may not much care for him, President Obama is still our President and we are still quite happily citizens of the United States. If we must drain this fever swamp that’s taken hold of a few people on the right over this past week before we can drain the swamp in Washington, so be it.

All others need not apply.

Good for him.

Friday night oldie

We all saw Meatloaf this week at the Romney rally.  So very sad. I honestly wish I’d never seen that awful bit of video, so I’m going to work at forgetting it. These should help.

What does one thing have to do with the other?

David Petraeus is resigning as head of the CIA because he had an affair. Perhaps it’s not as simple, but if it is – why does an affair mean he has to resign?

It puzzles me.

UPDATED:  Chuck Todd  on MSNBC just answered my question. The CIA culture has a zero tolerance policy on stuff like this for field agents. Given that, and because he’s an honorable man, Petraeus probably refused to exempt himself from the rule.

From Glenn Beck’s ‘Blaze’: whuddaya think?

Elected.

I’m happy to post this for the second time.

Warren. McCaskill. Baldwin.. Maybe even Duckworth.

The ladies in my family and circle are very pleased.

Teh blacks are gonna get us this time fer sure!

In case you can’t see it, the cryon reads:

VOTER INTIMIDATION CONCERNS: Member of Black Panther Party at PA voting site. (Got it? One member. And he is present. I’d say case closed.)

• Doocey at 0:16: “That looks like intimidation. Like in 2008.”  No question. Being black is quite enough proof.
• Video at 0:50: OMG, the intimidator in chief just opened the door for a lady!! I’ll bet she’s a Kenyan commie!
• Other guy at 0:54: “It appears to be intimidating. It is intimidating!” Oh dear, I hope that guy doesn’t open any more doors or we all might die!

This keen bit of reporting ought to earn those FOX fellows the Great Hero of the Electoral Restoration of 2012 badge.

Expect that tonight enough underwear will be tied into knots to bring everyone home from the Space Station and shuttles be damned!

 

 

My Romney peeps will pull the Romney lever anyway, but . . .

I’m not listening, I’m not listening . . .

. . . do note that Romney’s constant campaign rhetoric has been “Obama promised to cut the debt/deficit in half but instead he’s doubled it (debt/deficit)!”

He uses the terms carelessly and interchangeably. The debt is not the deficit. The deficit is not the debt.

Obama promised to cut the deficit in half. He did. Actually, he said his ‘proposed budget’ would cut the deficit. I can’t even remember if that budget ever passed the House.

But this is just political trivia – there’s not a conscious Romney voter to whom that fact will make a difference.

 

All dressed up but nowhere can I vote

Not because some fool is trying to stop me (not recommended that anyone try to stand between Moe and her vote) but because I already voted. I’m told that twice is not permitted.

I mailed in my ballot this year; since then, I confirmed that it was properly recorded at the County office. And that’s nice. But today I feel lost. I want to stand in that booth and I want to get my ‘I Voted!’ sticker.

Maybe if I stop by they’ll give me one of those anyway. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.

 

Pop quiz: which are the anti-Americans

I understand that seven of these guys just voted for that black President again. You’d better go ask your Limbaugh admiring neighbor if he would kindly identify them for you. Can’t be too careful.