Crazy Republican "Beeatch" Scares and Confuses Six Year Olds

Rep. Jean Schmidt (Republican) represents the congressional district covering Cincinnati, Ohio and its eastern suburbs.  This is the same crazy woman who, in her first year in Congress, called Representative John Murtha a coward for introducing a bill requiring re-deployment of the troops from Iraq. Trouble was, Murtha was a 38 year Marine Corp veteran and a hawk when it came to defense. More from Mean Jean as reported by the NY Daily News:

Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) ventured into the age-inappropriate territory during a speech at a Cincinnati Catholic school, where she addressed a room of students ranging from first to eighth graders.

"Unexpectedly, towards the end of her address, Congresswoman Schmidt brought up the topic of abortion," Prinicipal Dan Teller wrote in a letter to parents, obtained by Cincinnati's WLWT.com. "Your children may come home with questions, especially if this is a topic that has not been broached in your home."

Though the abortion-related portion of the speech was reported to last under two minutes, it may be the only part anyone will remember.

“She defined abortion as the taking of a child's life in the mother's womb,” Teller wrote in the letter. "She indicated that abortion involves the killing of a child before it is born."

Noting that Schmidt "was not invited to further any political agenda,” he apologized to parents "for any confusion or fear that this may elicit on the part of your child, and for the awkward position this may put you in of introducing a difficult issue at a time that may be premature for you."

Totally inappropriate.  This woman is not only crazy but lacks good judgment.  Would you want her representing your interests in Congress?

Political Advertising At Its Best

This excellent ad by Portland Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer is so positive! It gets the point across without negative comments about others! I wish that other Democrats had used similar ads-and done it early on. It might have gone a long way to quell the voter anger the press keeps talking about.

A Vote For a Tea Partier Is a Vote For-

This is what a Republican/tea party vote gets us:

• Privatization of Social Security.  All of these candidates want to privatize Social Security.  Had George W. Bush's efforts to do this been successful, there would be no Social Security today because all of the money would have been lost in the Wall Street crash of 2009.  Also interesting is that many who support these candidates also carried signs to the town hall meetings during the summer of 2009 that read, "Keep the government's hands off my Medicare!"  It makes no sense.
• Extremists with kooky fringe beliefs running our country.  We have Sharron Angle,  Republican and tea party candidate for Senate from Nevada, who claims that Dearborn, Michigan is governed by Shari'a Law.  Although there is a large population of Muslims there, it is not governed by Shari'a Law.  Then, there's Christine O'Donnell, Republican and tea party candidate for Vice President Joe Biden's Senate seat in Delaware.  First, she admits to having "dabbled" in witchcraft when she was younger.  Second, she falsely claimed to have studied at Oxford University, Princeton University and Claremont Graduate University.  Although she criticizes her opponent for opposing the teaching of creationism in the schools, she did not know that the establishment clause is in the constitution.  Ohio Republican House candidate Rich Iott dresses up like a Nazi officer.   Jan Brewer, Republican governor of Arizona insisted  that illegal-immigrants are responsible for a reign of terror in Arizona, including beheadings. And, don't forget those who claim that Barack Obama was not born in the United States and that he is a Muslim, with absolutely no evidence to support such claims.  Republican Congressman  and tp'er Trent Frank said, referring to Obama, "He has no place in any station of government and we need to realize that he is an ENEMY OF HUMANITY."   Tea Party member and Delaware congressional candidate  Glen Urquhart: "The exact phrase 'separation of Church and State' came out of Adolph Hitler's mouth, that's where it comes from. So the next time your liberal friends talk about the separation of Church and State, ASK THEM WHY THEY'RE NAZIS."   South Dakota tea party U.S. House candidate Kristi Noem on her 30 traffic and multiple arrest warrants for skipping court: "Obviously, I'm not proud of my driving record, but I've been working hard to be a better example to young kids and young drivers out there."    Carl Paladino, New York Republican gubernatorial candidate, said the following in support of  housing poor people in prisons: "These are beautiful properties with basketball courts, bathroom facilities, toilet facilities. Many young people would love to get the hell out of cities."  
• Unqualified leaders. When was the last time you applied for a job where having no experience or any other qualifications is a good thing?  A common sentiment in the tea party movement is first and foremost, the ideal candidate is a "Washington outsider" who is not a politician.  Why?  And the less educated, more below average intelligence the candidate the better.  Smart, intellectual people scare the tp'ers.  I don't know about you, but that goes against my grain.  I think it is important to have leadership consisting of people who are much smarter than I am and who have experience.

If that doesn't scare the bejeebers out of you, I don't know what will.  Think about it.  Please.  Before you vote.

ThinkProgress » Republican House Candidate Calls For Violent Government Overthrow If GOP Loses Election

ThinkProgress » Republican House Candidate Calls For Violent Government Overthrow If GOP Loses Election

What about ME??!

The Democrats are the party of  "we."
The Republicans, however, are the party of  "me. me. me. me. me. me. I don't care that these unemployed people have steadily worked hard all their lives, can't find jobs, have gone through their savings and are losing their homes to foreclosure.  I don't care that children don't have health care.   Who cares about these old people on Social Security?  What about me?!  Me, me, me??!  Screw everybody else, I want MY tax break!"

More Tea Party Shenanigans

From the Huffington Post:

Security guards for Alaska senate candidate Joe Miller handcuffed and detained the editor of the online magazine "Alaska Dispatch" on Sunday while he tried to interview the Republican nominee, according to multiple reports.  The Anchorage Daily News reports that Tony Hopfinger, who founded and edits "Alaska Dispatch," was arrested by Miller's private guards at an Anchorage school. The senate hopeful was on hand as part of a town hall event.  The firm that handles Miller's security says that Hopfinger shoved a man, but Hopfinger claims that he only pushed back at a guard after the guard began pushing him.  According to an article at the website for "Alaska Dispatch," Hopfinger was warned that he would be charged with trespassing if he did not cease asking questions and leave the premises:

"Hopfinger had been trying to ask Miller questions when two or three guards told him to leave or risk being charged with trespassing.  When Hopfinger continued to try to ask questions, one of the guards put the reporter in an arm-bar and then handcuffed him.  Hopfinger was released after police arrived.  The reporter was on public property where a public event was being held at the time of the incident."

The incident occurs one week after Miller, a Tea Party favorite who stunned incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the state's Republican Primary in August, abruptly announced that he would no longer answer questions from the press. "We've drawn a line in the sand. You can ask me about background, you can ask me about personal issues, I'm not going to answer them. I'm not," he said at the time.

Miller has recently faced accusations of an ethics breach. Last week, the former mayor of Fairbanks said that Miller nearly lost his job after a 2008 incident. Miller, Murkowski and Democratic nominee Scott McAdams are currently locked in a close three-way race for the seat.

Geezz Louise, these Republican/tea partiers have a lot of nerve don't they? They are lucky Hopfinger didn't have them arrested.  They think they are the law.  So typical.  I hope Hopfinger sues Miller for false imprisonment, violating his civil rights and whatever else will hold up in court.   

National Debt: Republican Hypocrisy

Republicans/tea partiers are screaming about the national debt.  Perhaps they should find this money first.  It is a crime that the Republicans got away with this.  How can we give these people the keys to the vault when they could not account for $2.3 trillion in one year alone?  And, how can they ask for the keys back with straight faces?  Because a sizable majority of American voters are lazy and uninformed, and would willingly go to their own slaughter if it is packaged right.  Anyway, here is a video with Rumsfeld's testimony about the missing money.  Looks like he was real concerned about the missing money.  Not! 

Another $1,000,000 from Fox to . . .

The New York Times reports:

The News Corporation, whose holdings include The Wall Street Journal and the Fox News Channel, has donated $1 million to the United States Chamber of Commerce, the business advocacy group that is among the heaviest anti-Democratic advertisers in this year’s elections.

The donation, first reported by The Politico last night and confirmed by a person with knowledge of the transaction, is News Corp.’s second known contribution to a group that is advertising heavily to support Republicans this year. In August, News Corp. confirmed that it had donated $1 million to the Republican Governors Association.

Must we still continue to treat Fox as if they were a legitimate news organization?

In Defense of Barack Obama

First, let me say that I did not support President Obama in the primary, but I did vote for him in the general election. So, I was not one of those starry-eyed Obama supporters. But I was so relieved when he was elected. Finally, a smart, analytical, well-spoken president! He is still all those things. Unfortunately, he has been under siege by the Republicans since day one and Obama was naive enough to believe he could obtain bi-partisan support on issues such as health care. I don't know why he was so naive about that, perhaps his inexperience. Anyway, the Republicans have manipulated the media brilliantly to cast doubt in the minds of the American people regarding almost every Obama proposal. They create controversy using false indignation and lies. They hide behind all of these little special interest groups, which are funded by conservative Republicans. The news media (except, of late, NBC's David Gregory) does not challenge any of the Republicans' misstatements of the facts, even the most outrageous ones. Thus, we are left with stories about people claiming that Obama was not born in the U.S., that Obama is a Muslim that Obama was going to take away all the guns that the health care reforms will result in death panels and people going to jail if they did not buy insurance. The news media did not do their own research on the health care reform bill. These were all unsubstantiated claims. It didn't matter that, 25 years ago, we would have recognized that the people making these claims were mentally unbalanced, lying or just plain stupid. Their friends and neighbors would have walked away, laughing and shaking their heads and ignored them. It never would have made it to the news. Instead, the news media treats these claims as "legitimate points of view" and gives these "fingers" a national forum from which to proselytize, thus legitimizing these groundless claims. Now, they are seeking office.

Then, there are the spineless and spin-less Democrats in Congress, who, with some exceptions, are scared of their own shadows. They deserted Obama on the health care reform bill and on the issue of the Bush tax cuts. They acted in pure self-interest, choosing to please corporate donors rather than improve the lives of their constituents. Instead of being out there on Meet the Press, Face the Nation or The Situation Room, enthusiastically and aggressively supporting the president's legislative proposals, they went into hiding. How is President Obama expected to pass any effective legislation without his own party spinning it?

Now, progressives, many of whom were those starry-eyed Obama supporters, are upset at Obama's performance because he hasn't done enough. The progressives are disappointed that he increased the troops and stepped up the fighting in Afghanistan. However, he said he was going to do this in many campaign speeches and during the debates. I was disappointed that he did not repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy too, but I realize that Congress is filled with homophobes who are laden with testosterone. One can just do so much.

Let's review the good things President Obama has done: he picked Hillary Clinton for his Secretary of State; his Justice Department filed a brief urging the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act as discriminatory; he supported/passed/signed the health care reform bill, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Small Business Jobs Act and Wall Street reform. He signed an Executive Order revoking President Bush’s Executive Order that limited federal funding of research involving human embryonic stem cells. President Obama's intelligence and demeanor immediately restored much of the international admiration and respect for this nation that had been corroded down to nothing under Bush.

Barack Obama has been President only twenty months. He came into office with his own agenda, but he has also had to contend with two wars and an economic crisis the extent of which this country had not seen in almost 80 years. During the primary and election season, I opined that many of the most ardent progressives had unrealistic expectations of Obama. Clearly, they did. Recall his words from his November 2008 victory speech:

This is your victory. And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. . . The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. . . There will be setbacks and false starts.

 To expect President Obama to solve all of the problems facing this nation in twenty short months, particularly considering the incredibly effective Republican interference, lies and propaganda machine, as well as the spineless, spin-less Democrats of the House and Senate, is unrealistic and unfair. This nation gave George Bush eight years to bring us to the eve of destruction. We should give President Obama more than twenty months to mop up Bush’s mess and we should support him in his efforts.