Don't be a dick

Like this:

Diners at eight Gator’s Dockside casual eateries are finding a 1% Affordable Care Act surcharge on their tabs, which comes to 15 cents on a typical $15 lunch tab. Signs on the door and at tables alert diners to the fee, which is also listed separately on the bill.

The Gator Group’s full-time hourly employees won’t actually receive health insurance until December. But the company said it implemented the surcharge now because of the compliance costs it’s facing ahead of the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate kicking in in 2015.

“The costs associated with ACA compliance could ultimately close our doors,” the sign reads. “Instead of raising prices on our products to generate the additional revenue needed to cover the costs of ACA compliance, certain Gator’s Dockside locations have implemented a 1% surcharge on all food and beverage purchases only.”

Outsourcing my reaction to John Cole's disdain for this asshat restaurateur.

Holy Joe

This is an old link I never got around to but it's still relevant. In case you were wondering what Joe Lieberman is doing now:

This is what the political afterlife looks like for the 71-year-old Stamford native, who is starting his second month as a part-time senior counsel at the Manhattan commercial litigation firm of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman.

"This is Broadway. Right around the corner is `The Book of Mormon' and `Chicago,' " he says. 

Mother of God, please don't let this happen:

Going forward, Lieberman envisions playing a role similar to that of George Mitchell and the late Warren Rudman, former Senate colleagues who found second careers as independent investigators and strategic counselors. In Mitchell's case, he investigated steroid use in Major League Baseball. Rudman looked into the abuses at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

And sweet Jebus will this phony narrative never die?

"I think outside of the far left, he never stopped commanding great respect on both sides of the aisle and particularly among people who were serious policymakers," Gerstein says. "When he speaks, he still will have an impact and influence because he is known for being thoughtful and independent in his thinking."

"Independent" meaning go for the big grift and throw in with GOPers, like this:

Lieberman's ideology is reflected in some of his current endeavors, including serving as co-chairman of the American Internationalism Project with former GOP Sen. Jon Kyl. The program is run by the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank associated with neoconservatism.

Lieberman is also partnering with former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, another Republican, as co-chairs of the Bipartisan Coalition for American Security, a 501(c)4 advocacy group that expects to run television spots highlighting lawmakers' records on military spending. Asked if that could pit him against any of his former colleagues from Connecticut, Lieberman grins. "It's possible."

(Restrains impluse to fly to New York simply to bitchslap that smug smirk off his face)

Cult of irrationality

Dear "serious" news channel: This is not helping:

On Friday, CNBC anchor Joe Kernen described climate science as a “bona fide cult” of “enviro socialists” in an interview with the former CEO of Shell Oil.

The two of them yukked it up over this "foolishness." The CEO laments we're "not dealing with the real problems." I assume by that he means, his profit margin is simply not obscenely high enough yet. He'll never get that gargantuan bonus without it.

It's not surprising CNBC would be in the pocket of BigBusiness but ye gods, they're working against their own self-interest when they promote denialism like this. It's irrational.

CNBC has long-misrepresented climate change to its viewers, including Larry Kudlow and Rick Santelli. In fact, a study from Media Matters found that over half of CNBC’s climate coverage miscasts the science.

Meanwhile, that "cult" of climate scientists may not have all the solutions, but 97% of them sure as hell have identified the problems. So what do these short-sighted idiots on CNBC expect to do with all the money they make on fomenting denialism? By the time they extract every last penny of value from ravaging the enviroment, the planet won't be habitable anymore. They'll have nowhere to spend it.

Glenn Beck again

By Capt. Fogg

"We are going to be greatly divided as a nation in the next ten days and you are going to witness things in American history that have never been witnessed before" Said Glenn Beck yesterday despite his recent claim that his vocal cords no longer worked. I was hoping that might have been the one true thing ever to escape his mouth.

It's true -- you're going to witness the last half of June, 2013 -- a historical first.  I'm pretty sure you're going to witness another spell of embarrassment for Glenn Beck too, not that he'll necessarily notice or acknowledge it.  There's a document, he says, that will "take down pretty much the whole power structure, pretty much everything" and he's going to announce it sometime today.

Those who remember back to last April, a set which obviously doesn't include his fans, might speculate that this new revelation will be as spurious and idiotic as his earthshaking revelation of a connection between Saudi Arabia and the Boston Marathon bombing.  Is anyone still waiting for an admission of error or a hint of humble retraction?

Of course to those folks who follow Beck in the way people used to mock dancing bears or court jesters, this is nothing new.  Students of buffoonery  and the charlatans who move their card tables and shells from one corner to the next in search of fresh idiots may not even notice this latest tantrum, but the clock is ticking Mr. Beck and there's not much time before the waitress brings you another plate of crow.  Do us a favor -- take a bite.

UPDATE:

Well days have gone by now and no whistles have been blowing and Beck has only some mumbling about immigration which is hardly the stuff of unprecedented division much less something to "take down the power structure."  

Do his faithful listeners remember as far back as a day or two or are they just so choked up on each new day's revelation that they don't care about yesterday?

So, want so fries with that crow Glenn?  Can I supersize it?

C is for clueless

I make it point to avoid the right wing crackpots as much as possible so I'm not exactly sure what the genesis of this particular bit of cluelessness is about. I gather it has something to do with the general pants wetting that went on among the crowd that sees evil Mooslim terrorists in every shadow. When they heard the Boston bomb kids were born in Chechnya, they apparently started calling for immediate retribution against the evel furriners. The problem being they were confusing Chechnya with the Czech Republic, or more probably the now defunct Czechoslovakia. Which led the Czech embassy to release this statement:

As more information on the origin of the alleged perpetrators is coming to light, I am concerned to note in the social media a most unfortunate misunderstanding in this respect. The Czech Republic and Chechnya are two very different entities - the Czech Republic is a Central European country; Chechnya is a part of the Russian Federation.

This of course launched a snark contest on the twitters. The winner being:

Atrios: time to invade chechnyaslovakia

So much of the fear of the far right extremists is based on pure ignorance, fostered and reinforced by the grifters who profit from manufactured terror. Helluva cruel way to make money.

Your daily jutxaposition - Updated

Unnamed sources and our useless establishment media edition. Compare and contrast. From (as Charlie Pierce calls them) Tiger Beat on the Potomac:

Obama to take corporate cash for inauguration

President Barack Obama will accept unlimited corporate donations for his Inauguration in January, reversing his position from his first Inauguration, according to two sources close to the planning.

From the White House itself:

Presidential Inaugural Committee unveils unprecedented limits on fundraising; Broadens public access

The Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) announced today that it will abide by an unprecedented set of limitations on fundraising as part of President-elect Obama’s pledge to put the country on a new path. Unlike previous inaugural committees, the PIC will not accept contributions from corporations, political action committees, current federally-registered lobbyists, non-U.S. citizens and registered foreign agents. The PIC will not accept individual contributions in excess of $50,000. Current law does not restrict the size of donations. In past inaugurations, contribution limits have run as high as $250,000.

In other words, Drudge's little minions at Politico either have the lousiest sources in all of DC or they're too lazy to check and find out if the scuttlebutt is real. Probably both. And people wonder why Americans are so hopelessly misinformed?

Update: Well I guess I owe the slackers at Tiger Beat an apology. Today we have a named spokesperson confirming the change in policy.

The 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee will accept unlimited money from corporate and individual sources but will not accept contributions from political action committees or lobbyists, according to spokeswoman Addie Whisenant. The committee also will not allow sponsorship agreements, she said.

Get offa Virginia Foxx's elevator

I knew before I even clicked the link on the twitter this morning, that this would be about my crazy Congresscreature. Virginia Foxx won't share her elevator dammit.

Some unfortunate staffer was trying to do her job. The other elevators were tied up with a furniture moving project so yes, she took the members-only elevator. She only made it one floor before my ill-tempered Congresscreature got on board.

Foxx said to the staffer, “This is a ‘members-only’ elevator; can you read?” She then demanded the staffer’s name before the elevator stopped after going just one more floor up. “Get out here,” Foxx supposedly commanded.

Before our insider and the berated staffer exited, the politician exclaimed, “What does this sign say? It says, ‘Members of Congress only.’ ”

But that wasn’t it. The innocent staffer attempted to point out that the sign next to it stated, “during votes,” which is when, our tipster says, Foxx started yelling, “Members only!” as she pointed to signs.

“I’m just making sure we are hiring people who know how to read,” the lawmaker said.

It's so embarrassing to be represented by such a nutjob. Damned if I can figure out why this district, which is rife with working poor people, continues to re-elect her. If only there was some nice crackpot conservative "think" tank that would be willing to offer her enough money to quit. [graphic via Watauga Dems]

One less lunatic on Capitol Hill - Jim DeMint resigns

Surprising almost everyone, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-Crazytown) resigned the Senate today and announced his move to head up the Heritage Foundation. Which seems like the perfect fit. Heritage has become the HQ of conservative lunacy so the severely demented DeMint will fit right in.

Think Progress quickly came up with 11 reasons this should make sane people happy. All of them good and I could add one more. Jim DeMint is a batshit crazy, soulless sociopath whose life dream is to destroy governance by consent of the majority.

Not that he won't still be doing that as head of Heritage but now at least he'll be embarassing them instead of us. So there's that.

GOP to disabled humans: Screw you

[Jim Long photo]

Granted my memory isn't perfect but I have lived through many dozens of Congressional sessions. I honestly can't remember another time when the far fringe extremists took over the entire Republican party. I've lived to see Senate Republicans reject a UN disability treaty, based on our own ADA Act. By a vote of 61-38 which was completely premised on crackpot conspiracy theories.

This UN Disability Treaty was an easy vote. A mere formality to endorse a long established American value within the international community. It had wide support.

The treaty, already signed by 155 nations and ratified by 126 countries, including Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia, states that nations should strive to assure that the disabled enjoy the same rights and fundamental freedoms as their fellow citizens.

At this point you have to ask if the present day Republican party is simply hyper-partisan or truly crazy. Whichever it is, at least they had the decency to wait until they wheeled Bob Dole out of the room before they skulked to their desks to register their death verdict.

Cranky con wages war on White House Christmas trees

[White House tree 2012 - Jim Long photo]

I usually ignore Andrew Malcolm's idiotic hackery (and no, don't click his link). I wish I had resisted because you can't unsee this drivel:

Amazing how a reelection can reshape an incumbent’s thinking about many things. Now safely ensconced in the White House for 49 more months, the Obamas have decorated the place with 54 Christmas trees this year.

Even allowing for the usual Washington excesses with taxpayer money, that’s a whole grove of Christmas trees.

“We have 54 trees in the White House,” an excited Michelle Obama proudly told visitors the other day. “54! That’s a lot of trees.”

In fact, the Obamas’ 54 trees this year are almost 50% more Christmas trees than last year. That was during the campaign before Obama whispered a reminder to the Russians that he had to be careful until Nov. 6, when a victory would give him more “flexibility.”

Or shorter: Those trees are a communist plot. Or something. And how dare those people enjoy our holiday. Shouldn't they be celebrating Kwaanza? (And the crowd went wild!)

All of which brought up fond memories of the 2005 White House Christmas. Laura Bush only had 18 trees but she had hundreds of toparies made of fresh fruit and real roses. The Blue Room tree was decorated with fresh white lilies. There were thousands of cookies in the shape of White House dog Barney. Who also had his own Christmas video and a official White House web page. Between the topiaries and the swags, they used enough fresh fruit to fulfull the average nutritional requirement of a small town for a month. And all the trees and miles of swag were strung with crystals. Oh and Mister Malcom, about that 300 pound gingerbread house? Laura Bush did that in 2006.

Ye gods. Andrew Malcolm is talking about the home of our President. Where heads of state and other dignitaries are entertained to further our national interests. We're supposed to want to impress them with our national wealth and power by cheaping out on Christmas decorations?

I'm okay with catty judgments on how the theme was executed but to challenge the right of this First Lady to follow the decades long tradition of showing her decorating style at Christmastime is a bit much. None of which I would bother to mention except they pay this guy way too much money on the premise that he's some kind of neutral observer instead of an ordinary, hardcore cranky conservative.

Donald Trump's October surprise

It's that The Donald is still batshit crazy. Oh wait. That's not a surprise. We already knew that and I blame the media for his obvious lapse into insanity and inanity. If they ignored his pathetic attention seeking, he might be convinced to seek the professional mental health help he so obviously needs.

After teasing it for the last couple of weeks, and amid a storm of media speculation and rumor mongering about divorce decrees and cocaine use, it turns out The Donald's big reveal is he thinks he's a character in a Godfather movie and offered President Obama a deal "he can't refuse." As if anyone believes The Donald would actually cough up the 5 million if POTUS took his rancid bait...

I'm too kind hearted to embed the sorry spectacle. If you want to see it, LGM has the youtube of Trump's latest public breakdown.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Mitt's mental health

Mitt chickened out on his appearance with the "sharp tongued wimmen" of The View but her Ladyship Ann deigned to appear in his stead and brought along some of their "boys." Far as I can tell the only thing new or interesting she had to say was to promise Mitt would never run for office again if he loses this race. But this little item is tweet of the day from someone apparently watching the show.

utaustinliberal: Josh Romney: "You leave my dad alone for too long, he starts to get crazy so we need my mom to stabilize him." O.M.G. #TheView

You'll recall it wasn't that long ago that Ann told us the thing she worried about the most if her darling hubby won is Mitt's mental health. The only thing crazier than this candidate is that anyone in their right mind would consider voting for him.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Conservatives crack up over unemployment drop

As I said earlier, there was a half-way decent jobs report this morning. Job growth was revised up to a fairly respectable number and more significantly, unemployment claims dropped to a four year low. So the cons went into a major meltdown. They just can't believe after all their hard work at sabotaging the economy, that damn lazy blah POTUS refuses to fail.

With former GE CEO (and apparently senile) Jack Welch leading the pack, the internets are swarming with distraught cons darkly muttering about the damned convenience of an emerging gleam of hope of real recovery on the horizon only five fking weeks before the election. It's a betrayal of everything they stand for dammit.

It would be funnier except this isn't confined to the usual fringes of Wingtopian fabulists. Major voices of the very serious people of respectable right (and their lapdogs in the media) are howling on the hilltops. Last I saw on the twitter even Steve Forbes is yowling with the hounds, sniffing around for signs of perfidy. Makes you wonder if their head really will "literally" explode if Romney loses. Who's going to clean up that mess?

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Crazy cons by any name are just as insane

Once they were called the Silent Majority. Then they were called the Moral Majority. Now they're called the Tea Party. None of them have actually been a majority and they're all the same loudmouth, self-entitled minority who believe the government doesn't work unless it caters to their whims.

The latest target of their self-righteous entitlement is Dana Roraback who drew their ire when he told the media he wasn't one of them.

MacGuffie said if Roraback won't fight for the principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility and free markets, then "just what are you doing in the Republican Party?"

"The truth of the matter is, I've always had the courage to be independent and I don't think compromise is a dirty word if that's what it takes to get results," [Roraback] said.

While MacGuffie said "anyone who holds those views belongs with the Democrats," another tea party advocate in the state, Tanya Bachand, of Wallingford, said many members of the movement have different views on social issues.

But Bachand, a founder of the New Haven Tea Party, said Roraback angered many people in the movement shortly after winning the primary when he said, according to her, "I am not a tea party Republican, I am a reasonable Republican."

"It was really a slap in the face to us," Bachand said. "He doesn't want to be associated with us, but he doesn't know any of us."

Hell, you know one of these groupthink cons, you know them all. But in that mob, one stray step away from their proscribed orthodoxy is a career ending death sentence. And that's the difference between the Tea Party and its previous incarnations. They're still not a majority, but this time around they focused on influencing elections and there are just enough of them to oust incumbents who don't toe their line during the primary process. As we saw in 2010, in heavily Republican districts, they can even win in the general race.

Whether they can sustain that momentum much longer remains to be seen. I don't think they can now that the damaging effect of their extremism on governance has been demonstrated in office. But it may last through the 2012 cycle. Certainly the GOP establishment believes it will, which explains Romney's desperation to keep them in the fold.

Of course, predicting political outcomes is a fool's game but at the moment it appears catering to their vicious whims will destroy Romney's campaign and perhaps even the entire Republican party. While I'm not one to wish ill even on my enemies, in this case I'm not so sure that would be a bad thing. The ultimate demise of these amoral monsters could only benefit the greater good of society.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

The bottomless cesspool of the cons

There is no peak wingnut. There is no depth beyond which conservatives cannot sink as they wallow in the stink of their blind and mindless hate:

After four years of invective, four years during which the right has called President Obama a traitor, a communist, a fraud, an affirmative-action case, a terrorist-sympathizer, and a tyrant, its shrillest voices have been reduced to the most primal insult of all. They are calling Obama’s mother a whore.

For a while now, pictures purporting to show Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, modeling in 1950s bondage and fetish porn have been floating around the darker corners of the Internet. Now, though, they’ve made their way into a pseudo-documentary, Joel Gilbert’s Dreams From My Real Father, which is being mailed to voters in swing states, promoted by several Tea Party groups and by at least one high-level Republican. At the same time, Dinesh D’Souza’s latest book, Obama’s America—the first of all his works to hit the top spot on The New York Times bestseller list—has a chapter essentially calling Dunham a fat slut. If Obama is reelected, it’s hard to imagine where the right goes from here.

Some unknown benefactor is funding the free distribution of hundreds of thousands of this video to the voters in the swing states. It's being aired at "conservative churches." Such good Christians. May they reap what they sow.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Romney's fools

This is worth a 1000 words on deluded Romney supporters. Taken today at a Romney rally in Florida where there was a sizeable crowd of anti-Romney protesters. Old, fat Romney man who is most probably on Medicare and who knows what other government programs manhandles a protester for daring to exercise his free speech rights. Because, free speech only applies to them, not anyone who disagrees with them.

Tragic really, how much these old fools just radiate blind, mindless hate. [BuzzFeed photo by Zeke Miller]

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

And the award for most craven misrepresentation of the First Amendment goes to...

The willfully obtuse Perfessor Instypundit who allegedly teaches law at some obviously negligent University that continues to employ him even though he dishes out this absolute bullshit on the internets. (No, don't click that link, I'll tell you what he said):

WHY BARACK OBAMA SHOULD RESIGN. Just for the record, this is what it looked like for a man who made a film that made the Obama Administration uncomfortable:

“Just after midnight Saturday morning, authorities descended on the Cerritos home of the man believed to be the filmmaker behind the anti-Muslim movie that has sparked protests and rioting in the Muslim world.”

When taking office, the President does not swear to create jobs. He does not swear to “grow the economy.” He does not swear to institute “fairness.” The only oath the President takes is this one:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

By sending — literally — brownshirted enforcers to engage in — literally — a midnight knock at the door of a man for the non-crime of embarrassing the President of the United States and his administration, President Obama violated that oath. You can try to pretty this up (It’s just about possible probation violations! Sure.), or make excuses or draw distinctions, but that’s what’s happened. It is a betrayal of his duties as President, and a disgrace.

Of course what the mighty deceiver Insty doesn't bother to tell his deluded fan base is Nakoula was taken in for a voluntary interview with probation officials and has not been arrested or detained. And law enforcement waited until midnight to spare him the media mob camped outside of his home. And Nakoula was subsequently released and has since disappeared.

Neither did Perfessor Deluder tell his "Army of dumbed down Davids" that:

The man, who served 21 months in prison on fraud and identity theft charges, could face more prison time if it is determined his involvement in the film was a violation of his probation, which barred him from either owning or using devices with access to the Web without prior approval from his probation officer.

In other words, this was a criminal matter where the creep's free speech was not even an issue.

Adding, I would be somewhat less disgusted by Insty's perfidy if these creepy cons raised the free speech alarm when say Code Pink is arrested for protesting. Or when YouTube took down videos created by lefties which were damaging to their own endless trumped up outrages. But they applaud those because in wingnut world free speech applies only to them. If anyone criticizes them, that's a suppression of their free speech too.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Just a little humor among cretins

As usual, TBogg has the definitive post on Rmoney's stupid, racist, birther "joke" yesterday.

Congratulations Mitt Romney, you are now just as funny as short fingered TV vulgarian Donald Trump but without having to lower yourself by wearing a comical fright-wig which, most comedians agree, is kind of a cheap way to get a laugh.

Definitely click through to find out how Peggy Noonan made Mitt do it.

I did my longer form post at the Detroit News. Comments over there would make you retch, but it's good. Let the world see the "moral" code under which these knuckledraggers operate. Apparently hit a nerve with the editorial team too. I see Henry buried it deeper on the blog by throwing a late post over it, even after it was already buried by my "wannabe Limbaugh" co-blogger.

Meanwhile, the Rombot swears it was in good fun:

"No, no, not a swipe," Romney said. "This was fun about us, and coming home. And humor, you know -- we've got to have a little humor in a campaign. ...[T]he crowd loved it and got a good laugh."

Seriously folks, that crack about the birth certificate could have been about anyone. Rmoney's five grandmothers are surely laughing themselves silly in the grave.

Yep, that Willard M. Romney is such a card. Hell he's been the king of comedy since he was a kid. Too bad us libtards don't have his superior sense of humor.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Somebody owes the Dixie Chicks a big apology

What is it about wingnut country music stars that makes them such asshats? You know, like the flaming idiot Hank Williams, Jr.:

Country legend Hank Williams Jr. played to a crowd of nearly 8,500 at the Iowa State Fair Grandstand Friday night.

Following the song “We Don’t Apologize For America” a chant of “USA, USA” broke out amongst the crowd. Williams smiled, telling the crowd that he was their mouth piece and adding:

“We’ve got a Muslim president who hates farming, hates the military, hates the US and we hate him!”

The cheers that followed were loud and enthusiastic.

These would all be the same asshats that were burning Dixie Chick CDs for the cardinal sin of mentioning they were embarrassed that George Bush was living in their home state of Texas. And of course, as Steve M. points out, this isn't even the worst or most stupid remark good ole Honty Tonk Hank Jr. has ever made. But Hank's proud gun-clinging, real 'Murkin fans, are just cheering this crap because they're the only true patriots in the USA.

And by the way, they ain't the racists here. Hell, they got a black friend to prove it. The "real" racist is Joe Biden for saying "y'all" and "chains" in the same sentence. And of course, Hank just speaking the truth. Nothing hateful about it. The real hater is President Obama for making a dog joke. Now that be some real politics of "division and anger and hate."

Swear to the gods, I really try not to broadbrush demographic groups, but if these knuckledraggers could be any bigger morons, I don't want to live to see how. Just send the fucking meteor already.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Repeal everything

The poster boy for the GOP's "governing" strategy, that being "if Obama is for it, we're against it," Steve King has a brilliant idea. And by brilliant I mean, batshit crazy.

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), an outspoken critic of just about everything President Obama supports, is considering introducing a bill that would repeal everything Obama has signed into law.

King put forward this suggestion to an Iowa audience on Tuesday, when he also reiterated his threat to sue the Obama administration for its June decision not to deport younger illegal immigrants. Under that policy change, illegal immigrants who are in school or have served in the military would get a two-year deferral from deportation.

Sure. Just wipe out all the work Congress has done in almost four years and litigate any executive decisions, no matter how sensible. What a wise use of time and the taxpayers money.

If mid-westerners wonder why the rest of the country think they're dumb and /or crazy, I'd point out they re-elected this guy several times and each time by a wider margin. I'm sure the most of the voters of Iowa are probably otherwise nice people who contribute to society, but seriously, repeatedly electing this lamebrain makes you all look like idiots.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]