The Good Democrat

Conservative Logic Is So Utterly Stupid

conservative logic is so utterly stupid.

Here are Republican Senators saying, “what’s the point of making laws restricting the ownership of guns, after all, criminals won’t follow the law in any case?” On the other hand, they have no problem creating laws to fight against terrorism, even though terrorists “won’t follow the law in any case?”

or hell, why make laws against abortion? Won’t “criminals” still abort whether there is a law or not? why make red lights? Won’t people who run red lights run red lights anyways?

It’s just so stupid.

No Guns Needed

it should be noted, aside from the original bombing, the only other people wounded or killed in this whole situation were people who had guns on them. The security guard at MIT, police officers, the two suspects.

NO UNARMED CIVILIAN was injured outside of the original bombing.

David Welch and Dennis Kucinich Meet With Qaddafi Officials to Undermine US on Libya

Wow, so this sure sounds like something treasonous here. It seems that David Welch, who was assistant secretary of state under George W Bush, and Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Congressman from Ohio, separately met with Qaddafi officials to find ways to undermine US and NATO involvement in Libya, and to help them find a way to keep Qaddafi in power!

Welch now works for Bechtel, a multinational American company with billion-dollar construction deals across the Middle East. The documents record that, on August 2, 2011, David Welch met with Gaddafi’s officials at the Four Seasons Hotel in Cairo, just a few blocks from the US embassy.

During that meeting Welch advised Gaddafi’s team on how to win the propaganda war, suggesting several “confidence-building measures”, according to the documents. The documents appear to indicate that an influential US political personality was advising Gaddafi on how to beat the US and NATO.

Minutes of this meeting record his advice on how to undermine Libya’s rebel movement, with the potential assistance of foreign intelligence agencies, including Israel.

The documents read: “Any information related to al-Qaeda or other terrorist extremist organisations should be found and given to the American administration but only via the intelligence agencies of either Israel, Egypt, Morroco, or Jordan… America will listen to them… It’s better to receive this information as if it originated from those countries…”.

The papers also document Welch advising the Gaddafi’s regime to take advantage of the current unrest in Syria. The documents held this passage: “The importance of taking advantage of the Syrian situation particularly regarding the double-standard policy adopted by Washington… the Syrians were never your friends and you would loose nothing from exploiting the situation there in order to embarrass the West.”

and

On the floor of the intelligence chief’s office lay an envelope addressed to Gaddafi’s son Saif Al-Islam. Inside, I found what appears to be a summary of a conversation between US congressman Denis Kucinich, who publicly opposed US policy on Libya, and an intermediary for the Libyan leader’s son.

It details a request by the congressman for information he needed to lobby US lawmakers to suspend their support for the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) and to put an end to NATO airstrikes.

According to the document, Kucinich wanted evidence of corruption within the NTC and, like Welch, any possible links within rebel ranks to al-Qaeda.

The document also lists specific information needed to defend Saif Al-Islam, who is currently on the International Criminal Court’s most-wanted list.

Yeesh! With friends like these, who needs enemies!!!

The Price of a Tea Party

The United States loses its AAA rating from S&P

The United States lost its top-notch AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor’s on Friday in an unprecedented reversal of fortune for the world’s largest economy.

S&P cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA-plus on concerns about the government’s budget deficits and rising debt burden. The move is likely to raise borrowing costs eventually for the American government, companies and consumers.

“The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government’s medium-term debt dynamics,” S&P said in a statement.

Tea really was meant to be thrown in the ocean…

Christian Terrorism

is alive and well. This is Norway’s Timothy McVeigh.

Barack Obama’s Birth Certificate Delay

Apology accepted.

Osama Bin Laden is Dead

Enjoy the afterlife mother fucker

Bush’s Tax Cuts Did NOT Spur Economic Growth

this graph from the New York Times shows it best:

Don’t anyone delude themselves. The Bush tax cuts did NOT spur economic growth and in fact, based on the previous 50 years, retarded economic growth, even if you remove the actual economic collapse at the end of Bush’s terms.

Paul Ryan Voted For Medicare Part D in 2003

don’t forget that while we’re playing up his “courage” today in cutting medicare. I will be amazed if any reporter actually does his homework and asks Mr. Ryan why he voted in favor of the unfunded Medicare Part D.

The American Civil War, Fought Over Slavery, Begun by South Carolina

From the Archives, I offer the following post. In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War

With that shot on the Union ship “Star of the West” the Civil War officially began. The causes of the Civil War are complex and deep, however one word describes the heart of the division of America that led to actual fighting: slavery. Continue Reading The American Civil War, Fought Over Slavery, Begun by South Carolina…

Barack Obama’s SOTU Speech

I love this part:

Our schools share this responsibility. When a child walks into a classroom, it should be a place of high expectations and high performance. But too many schools don’t meet this test. That’s why instead of just pouring money into a system that’s not working, we launched a competition called Race to the Top. To all fifty states, we said, “If you show us the most innovative plans to improve teacher quality and student achievement, we’ll show you the money.”

Race to the Top is the most meaningful reform of our public schools in a generation. For less than one percent of what we spend on education each year, it has led over 40 states to raise their standards for teaching and learning. These standards were developed, not by Washington, but by Republican and Democratic governors throughout the country. And Race to the Top should be the approach we follow this year as we replace No Child Left Behind with a law that is more flexible and focused on what’s best for our kids.

You see, we know what’s possible for our children when reform isn’t just a top-down mandate, but the work of local teachers and principals; school boards and communities.

Take a school like Bruce Randolph in Denver. Three years ago, it was rated one of the worst schools in Colorado; located on turf between two rival gangs. But last May, 97% of the seniors received their diploma. Most will be the first in their family to go to college. And after the first year of the school’s transformation, the principal who made it possible wiped away tears when a student said “Thank you, Mrs. Waters, for showing… that we are smart and we can make it.”

Let’s also remember that after parents, the biggest impact on a child’s success comes from the man or woman at the front of the classroom. In South Korea, teachers are known as “nation builders.” Here in America, it’s time we treated the people who educate our children with the same level of respect. We want to reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones. And over the next ten years, with so many Baby Boomers retiring from our classrooms, we want to prepare 100,000 new teachers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.

In fact, to every young person listening tonight who’s contemplating their career choice: If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child – become a teacher. Your country needs you.

well done, Mr. President. Here is the whole text of his 2011 State of the Union address

Conservatives Require Mass Bloodshed

In their own words:

Here at RedState, we too have drawn a line. We will not endorse any candidate who will not reject the judicial usurpation of Roe v. Wade and affirm that the unborn are no less entitled to a right to live simply because of their size or their physical location. Those who wish to write on the front page of RedState must make the same pledge. The reason for this is simple: once before, our nation was forced to repudiate the Supreme Court with mass bloodshed. We remain steadfast in our belief that this will not be necessary again, but only if those committed to justice do not waiver or compromise, and send a clear and unmistakable signal to their elected officials of what must be necessary to earn our support.

In other words, if the Supreme Court does not overturn Roe V Wade, conservatives will see it necessary as before to repudiate the Supreme Court with mass bloodshed. Whose blood do you think they’re talking about shedding?

Forget Jobs, Forget Fixing Budgets, Stop Abortion!

No one should be surprised that this is where Republicans choose to go once in power. Forget actually solving the problems facing states or the federal government.

Barack Obama

The face of a father of a nine year old contemplating the death of another father’s nine year old.

Sarah Palin’s Blood Libel

It’s not her that is saying it, it’s a concerted effort from the conservative “intellectual” crowd as well. They think they have a winner, that associating their ugly, charged violent rhetoric with the assassination attempt on Representative Giffords is equal to charging Jews with killing Christian children to use their blood for Jewish rituals. Yeah, I see the connection as well….in Bizzarro world. Where are the sensible conservatives to denounce such ugly rhetoric?

Glenn Beck Promotes Violence

Why does Glenn Beck need to be holding a gun while wearing a suit? Is he a policeman? An FBI agent? Secret Service agent? Nah, he’s just a radio and TV personality. So why exactly does he need to promote an image of himself carrying a gun as if in action?

Of course, the obvious is the contrast in the image with his text saying “we must stand together against all violence.”

You’ve Got To Stop This War in Afghanistan

Richard Holbrooke’s last words. Let’s honor the man’s dying wish.

What Has Israel Done For The United States?

The United States does a lot for Israel. Provides Israel with billions and billions of dollars to aid their economy. Billions and billions of dollars to aid their military. Holding back UN Security Council resolutions that would be severely detrimental to Israel. With all of this, we see evidence of Israel getting what it wants from the US. For example:

That’s rather arrogant for Israel, whose existence relies strongly on the support of the United States. So a question for anyone reading this blog: what has Israel done for the United States? Or is this supposed to be a one way street, and we’re subservient to the whims and demands of the Israelis?

Budget Deficit Graph

This one says it all

Courtesy of Ezra Klein and James Fallows

Seems pretty darn clear where our current deficits come from. Republicans.