Believe it or not, House Republicans are looking to pass this resolution, honoring the millions, umm, hundreds of thousands, OK, fine, tens of thousands of people who marched on Washington on September 12 to protest whatever Fox News was telling them they were protesting.
Seriously. It reads as follows...
RESOLUTION
Expressing gratitude and appreciation to the individuals and families who participated in the Taxpayer March on Washington on September 12, 2009.
Whereas, on September 12, 2009, hundreds of thousands of American patriots, who refuse to sit idly by as the Federal Government advances skyrocketing deficits, taxpayer-funded bailouts, pork-barrel projects, burdensome taxes, unaccountable policy czars, command-and-control energy policy, and a government takeover of health care, came to Washington, DC, to show their disapproval;
Whereas individuals also wanted to convey their displeasure with the future tax increases that will be required to pay for deficit-financed spending;
Whereas these individuals understand that the fundamental American principles of limited government and personal liberty are under direct assault;
Whereas this dedicated group of freedom-loving Americans believe in open, accountable, responsible, constitutionally based government;
Whereas hundreds of buses, multiple caravans of cars from across the country, and many individually chartered flights, as well as thousands of lone-traveling cars and trucks, brought these patriots to Washington, DC, solely for this event;
Whereas these individuals endured considerable personal expense to get to the march, including transportation and lodging expenses, as well as lost wages in many instances;
Whereas estimates of the number of people who peacefully marched from Freedom Plaza to the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on September 12, 2009, range as high as 1,700,000 marchers;
Whereas all 50 States were represented in the march;
Whereas this event is considered to be the largest ever gathering of fiscal conservatives in Washington, DC;
Whereas special accolades are due to the grassroots citizens organizations across the country who helped individuals exercise their constitutionally protected First Amendment rights in the Nation’s capital; and
Whereas when the current trends of government expansion and freedom retrenchment are reversed, it will be due in large part to the efforts of the hundreds of thousands who marched on Washington, DC, on September 12, 2009: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives expresses its gratitude and appreciation to the hundreds of thousands of people who marched on Washington, DC, on September 12, 2009, to show their love of liberty and their grievance with recent government actions.
Really, Republicans? This is how you're spending your time? This is the legislation you're working on? An homage to the Beckians? Seriously? Wow.
To Hell with passing health care reform! The GOP would rather focus on giving kudos to their intellectually challenged and don't-call-us-racist-but-we-are-kinda-racist base. You remember: these people...
Ever the classy bunch, don't you know.
[h/t Jed at DK for the photo montage]
When I was a kid, my parents were regular suburban Chicago Republicans. So when I was old enough to vote, I started out that way too. There were things I thought (wrongly, in hindsight) were good about Ronald Reagan, and even GWH Bush.
As I became more politically aware, I realized that while there may have been some good things about the GOP, they were long gone. The Republican leadership recognized that too, and really turned up the volume on their "Southern Strategy" of building a base around mostly southern, mostly fundie-Christian voters. You know, the people who claim to put God and American first, but vote only on a narrow list of issues based on their creative interpretations of the Bible. They seem to generally be less educated, more bigoted, and tend to vote against their own best interests often. It seems that, unwittingly and without hesitation, they vote in favor of corporate America and against the people of America.
As anyone paying attention knows, that seemed to stop working for them in 2006, and really tipped over in 2008. And now, those who remain under the spell are freaking out. How else can you explain shit like this:
Or this:
Wow. I mean, WOW. These are the people who have taken over the Republican party. I am tempted to describe them like this...
JR at DK (who had a similar idea for a post while I was writing this one) collected a few photos that further tell the story in all it's scary and pathetic detail. As he said in his post, take a look in the mirror, Republicans:
Yes, as they showed us with Bill Clinton, hating someone is a reason enough to impeach them.
Not wanting to be Corporate America's lap dancer means you must be just like Hitler.
The words "sick fuck" as a modified noun come to mind. What an asshole.
But let's look at a root cause for this behavior. These people are racists.
And they are teaching their children to be racists too...
Teaching your kids to hate. How is that a family value? Oh, right. It isn't.
If you are a Republican, and you don't like what you see, you can do something about it. Work to retake your party. Or, like many already already have: run away. Run far, far away from these hateful, narrow-minded troglodytes. If you do like what you see, well, keep it up. I'd like nothing more than to see the GOP continue to shrink away.
What's so amazing to me is how these "real Americans" are played for the patsies they seemingly are happy to be. They don't even realize that the so-called grass roots efforts going on right now to disrupt town meetings held by Congressman across the country are bought and paid for by Big Insurance and Big Pharma, and being organized and implemented by lobbying firms. They even have detailed instructions (leaked memo pdf) on how to disrupt meetings and act like asshats...
– Artificially Inflate Your Numbers: “Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half. The objective is to put the Rep on the defensive with your questions and follow-up. The Rep should be made to feel that a majority, and if not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the socialist agenda of Washington.”
– Be Disruptive Early And Often: “You need to rock-the-boat early in the Rep’s presentation, Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early.”
– Try To “Rattle Him,” Not Have An Intelligent Debate: “The goal is to rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda. If he says something outrageous, stand up and shout out and sit right back down. Look for these opportunities before he even takes questions.”
Talk about being corporate tools. But these people are too ignorant to even get that.
You know... morons.
[props to JR for some of the links. Great minds think alike.)
Too funny. From Vanity Fair.com...
, together with representatives from the 
and 
departments, to whip it into publishable shape. Here is the colorful result.
Here's the first two pages. It goes on, but I think you'll get the point.
Ugh. Pity the poor sap who has to edit that book she's "writing."
Jeez, you'd think after five runs at four schools for that journalism degree, she's be able to do a little better. Or hire someone who could do better. What a fucking laughably ignorant train wreck this woman is. I can only hope she remains a Republican standard-bearer, along with Rush, Newt and Joe the Plumber.
Read the rest, if you can stand it, here.
Yes, ma'am. Although when it comes to head-cases with guns, there are a lot more of them than one or two that may show up at your rally. All the more reason to NOT arm everyone. And those responsible for local public safety seem to think guns are not the answer to increased violence...
How'd things work out with an armed citizen just this week?
According to the warrant, Sharmarisa A. Hammonds, 21, told police
she went to [Perry E.] Lucas’ apartment at 3309 Leopold Way with her boyfriend,
Detarius Martin, along with Martin’s brother and a woman identified by
[Fitchburg Police Lt. Todd] Stetzer as Danyelle Dalbec, who was Lucas’ former girlfriend.
After an argument broke out between a man and woman in the apartment, she and the Martin brothers walked away with Hammonds in the lead. She said she saw Lucas standing in the doorway with a handgun and got out of the hall. Within seconds she heard gunshots, the warrant states, and Chukarius and Detarius Martin ran to her saying they had been shot.
In a phone call to 911, the warrant states, Lucas told a dispatcher that he had taken out a gun and shot some people who had come to his apartment and “attacked me.”
But Stetzer said the contact between the people in the apartment had ended and they were walking away when Lucas came out of the apartment and fired at them. [Wisconsin State Journal]
The article points out that under a search warrant, police removed items including an assault rifle, vials of testosterone and anger management materials from the shooter's residence. This from a guy who, from police reports, allegedly shot his victims as they were walking away. So his gun didn't head off violence; it created it. Even if the other guys had been carrying guns, this jerk seems to have shot them, at least figuratively, in the back. The altercation appeared to have ended, but the coward with the gun shoots people as they walk away. How in the hell would more armed people not resulted in more people getting shot?
In fairness, this is still under investigation, the shooter is an Iraqi war veteran, and reportedly has PTSD. And guns. He had guns. As the sheriff said, talk about a recipe for disaster.
Meanwhile, Ms. Dainty -- who ironically, in that picture with her hand-held cannon, looks anything but dainty -- things guns should be everywhere. In church. In schools. In the Pick 'n' Save. At McDonald's. On the front seat of your car while you motor down the highway. At your mom's funeral. In the mall. Sitting behind you in the movies. I'd be feeling safer already just thinking about it... if I was batshit crazy.
Everyone carries guns everywhere. I'm sorry, but that's fucked up.
