Friday, April 09, 2010

Newt Gingrich 2012

No question about it.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a potential presidential candidate in 2012, called Barack Obama on Thursday "the most radical president in American history" who oversees a "secular, socialist machine."

Gingrich reminded conservative activists why he was one of the nation's most polarizing leaders in the 1990s, opening the Southern Republican Leadership Conference with a biting assessment of Obama's policies.

"The most radical president in American history has now thrown down the gauntlet to the American people: 'I run a machine. I own Washington and there's nothing you can do about it,'" Gingrich said. He urged his fellow Republicans to stop what he called Obama's "secular, socialist machine." ...

Gingrich has not declared his intentions for 2012, but his appearances in New Orleans had all the trappings of a fledging presidential campaign, from an intimate meeting with tea party activists — his staff photographer took grip-and-grin pictures of Gingrich posing with every activist — to his wade-through-the-crowd entrance at the GOP conference, with the thumping beat of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" drawing the crowd to its feet.

He said Obama's policies — particularly health care and economic stimulus legislation — have put the United States on the road to socialism. The former speaker did not specifically explain why he thought Obama is a secularist, though he did say the GOP wasn't afraid of recognizing faith's role in American society.

The code word "secular" is designed to motivate evangelicals whom Newt hopes will be forgetful about his personal moral corruption. If the Lamestream Corporate Media can't bring itself to challenge his lies, then maybe he has a good chance to be the nominee.

Will he say yes to a presidential campaign?

"That will be up to God," he said, "and the American people."

Yes. Well Newt, I can't speak for God but on behalf of the American people would you kindly fall down a well or collapse of a heart attack or find some other less painful way to just go TF away?

Quintessential Fox

Via TPM and TNR.

Everything you need to know about Fox News is captured in this screenshot: the American flags, the fear-mongering image in the upper-right corner, the blond anchor with a facial expression that somehow combines sneering with absolute terror.

Please view it in context:



FOX News is a modern day, 24-hour "War of the Worlds" radio program made for teevee. It isn't a news channel, it is an entertainment channel dressed up like a news channel feeding its viewers the worst-case scenario for everything Democrats, liberals, and now Republican moderates do. It has the same mass-hysteria impact War of the Worlds had also; just less sudden and longer lasting.

The constant fear-and-loathing narrative is designed to keep an audience of dedicated viewers slightly on edge all the time, eventually stoking desperation and anger into violent action. Even its creator has deluded himself about what his creature has become.

FOX has become probably the most dangerous internal threat to the Republic.

What do you think should be done about it?

Update: Doctor Biobrain wonders why there haven't been more instances of FOX viewers taking the code words to heart and acting on them. I believe that there will be more such instances, and wonder myself why we should wait until someone dies to do something about the source of the instigation.

Monday, April 05, 2010

Opening Day Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance welcomes the start of the baseball season with another highlight reel of the week's political blogging activity.

Off the Kuff looked at how voting returns changed in Texas from 2004 to 2008 in the Presidential and judicial races.

Aruba Petroleum: The Epic Fail of the Barnett Shale. Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS brings you 55 posts to document this failure of epic proportions.

Marshmallow Peeps make sweeping endorsements of Democrats on The Texas Cloverleaf.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders why Republicans and Republican suck ups act like bleeping thugs? Perry appointee Nueces County DA Jimenez threw out the board certified attorneys to bring in her cronies, and HD 76 incumbent Norma Chavez channels Karl Rove.

At Texas Vox everyone is a-twitter about the upcoming appliance rebate program. Want to trade up your tired old appliances for shiny new energy-efficient ones? The guv'ment will send you a check for it...

The last chapter (?) in the sad saga of Stay Bailey Hutchison is read aloud by PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

Sure April Fools Day is over, but this was funny enough to share again. Sarah Palin to Replace Michael Steele as Chair of the GOP. Bay Area Houston continues to be full of wit.

This week on Left of College Station Teddy takes a first look at the Bryan mayoral candidates, and includes the candidates for College Station City Council Place 2 and Bryan City Council Single Member District 3. LoCS also covers the week in headlines.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the GOP's latest posturing, noting that it's time for Perry and the Texas GOP to put up or shut up.

Neil at Texas Liberal wrote about undersea volcanoes in the Gulf of Mexico that shoot out asphalt. Who knew?

WhosPlayin says that animal welfare actvists in North Texas are claiming a victory in their fight against puppy mills. After months of weekly picketing by Texans Exposing Petland, the Lewisville, Texas Petland store is closing down.

Sunday, April 04, 2010

More Funnies

April fools every day of the year

"Tea Party Survey: Old, Conservative, Hate Obama, Like Fox News".

I think they must have left out "Caucasian, obese, and lacking a high school education".

The individuals who make up the Tea Party movement are largely conservative and get their news from Fox; they're generally old and of moderate to low income; and they're fairly convinced that their taxes are going to rise in the next few years, even though they likely won't.

Those conclusions are part of a new study put together by The Winston Group, a conservative-leaning polling and strategy firm run by the former director of planning for former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. And they provide a telling new window on the political force that has revamped the Republican Party and altered the landscape of the 2010 elections.

Quick: what was the percentage of those who voted for Debra Medina a month ago?

In the course of conducting three national surveys of 1,000 registered voters, Winston was able to peg the percentage of the public that identifies itself with the Tea Party at roughly 17 percent. (Emphasis mine.) The group pledges that it is independent of any particular party (indeed 28 percent of Tea Party respondents in the Winston survey labeled their affiliation as such). But on pretty much every defining political or demographic issue, the movement lines up with the GOP or conservative alternatives.

Sixty-five percent of Tea Party respondents called themselves "conservative" compared to the 33 percent of all respondents who did the same. Just eight percent of Tea Party respondents said they were "liberal."

Forty-seven percent of Tea Party respondents said that Fox News was either the top or second source of news they turn to, compared with 19 percent of the overall public who said the same thing.

More than 80 percent (81 percent) of Tea Party respondents expressed very little approval of Barack Obama's job as president, which exceeded disapproval levels held even by Republicans (77%) and conservatives (79%).

The GOP has even funded paraphernalia at TeaBagger rallies, but don't pay any attention to that. What's important is that TeaBaggers say they aren't Republican.

All these data points suggest that the Tea Party crowd is comprised predominantly of conservatives. And, not surprisingly, the demographics of the movement seemingly align with those who traditionally vote for the conservative candidate as well. Fifty-six percent of Tea Party respondents are male; 22 percent are over the age of 65 (compared with just 14 percent who are between the ages of 18 and 34); and 23 percent fall in the income range of $50,000 and $75,000.


It's the type of group that would likely benefit the most from Democratic governance, with commitments to Social Security, Medicare, and middle-class job creation. But the Tea Party crowd is decidedly sour on the Democratic agenda. Fifty-six percent of Tea Party respondents said they believe cutting spending will create jobs. And while a huge chunk won't see their taxes affected if the Bush tax cuts expire for those making over $250,000, 82 percent think they will, in fact, go up.

You used to have to go deep into the bowels of Appalachia to find ignorance this powerful, but now it is spread far and wide throughout the South, and of course we have our particularly rancid strain prevalent here in Deep-In-The-Hearta.

Update: Geoff Berg of Partisan Gridlock has more on this "oppressed" minority.

Sunday Funnies





Friday, April 02, 2010

A little secular teasing for Good Friday

If the Jews hadn't killed Jesus, then there would be no Easter. And that means no Easter Bunny, no Easter chocolate ... and no Peeps.

So thanks, Chosen People! (I'm certain the potential retail sales bonanza was merely an unintended consequence.)

Another observation, this one thanks to Gary Wright: do you think -- had Jesus been capitally punished in, say, the 1960s -- that Christians would be wearing miniature electric chairs around their necks?

It's long been my perception that Christians are only slightly less easily offended by aspersions cast against their Savior than Muslims, who will death-panel a person simply for drawing a cartoon or writing a book. It's those damn Zen Buddhists whose feathers don't easily ruffle.