Colbert mocks Rush Limbaugh, Steve Doocy’s criticism about Obama’s gun reform proposals: Limbaugh barked on his radio show about how sickening he found Obama’s display. “He brings these kids, supposedly who wrote letters to the White House after Newtown … to paint a picture of support [mocking voice] among the children!” Limbaugh said. He continued in a falsely sympathetic tone, “They don’t want to die. How can you not listen to them?” And Colbert dished it right back, adopting a similar voice. “Boo hoo! I want a pony, I want to go to Disneyland, I want to wake to see another day. Boo hoo!” After all, why would kids be terrified of accident-prone weaponry?
Raw Story: Conservative economist Ben Stein on Thursday seemed to know that he had wandered off message when he joked that the hosts of Fox & Friends might murder him for saying that it was not possible to balance the budget without raising taxes:
Ben Stein: “I hate to say this on Fox — and I hope I’ll be allowed to leave here alive — but I don’t think there is anyway we can cut spending enough to make a meaningful difference. We going to have to raise taxes on very rich people, people with incomes of like say, 2, 3 million a year and up, and then slowly move it down.”
Steve Doocy: “You do not think Washington just has a spending problem?
Stein: “I do not think they just have a spending problem. I think they also have a too-low taxes problem. And while all due respect to Fox, whom I love like brothers and sisters, the taxes are too low.”
The economist noted that even more revenue could have been brought in during President George W. Bush’s presidency if taxes had not been cut.
Stein: “The evidence is that there is no connection between the level of taxation and the level of economic activity. The biggest growth we’ve ever had in this country was roughly 1941 to roughly 1973, that was the best years we ever had and those were years of much, much higher taxes than we have now, during war time and during peace time. So, the economy can grow very fast, even with much higher taxes. And we’re going to have to do something.”
Doocy: “Taxes were like 70, 80 percent!”
Stein: “I know. And yet, we were very prosperous, we were extremely prosperous. I mean, the highest rate was in the 90s during parts of the 50s and, yet, we were very prosperous.”
When conservative jackwagons like Stein wander off-message and/or are uncharacteristically honest, it turns out that President Obama is correct and Mitt Romney is wrong.
But, ultimately, this will be Good News for Romney. Right, Gallup?
Paul Ryan has many in the media hot and bothered with his raw virility:
The Week Magazine gushes, “So dedicated is Rep. Paul Ryan to his body-sculpting workout program, P90X, that he leads a daily class for about a dozen fellow Congressional staffers.” The main article describes Ryan as “The ripped new GOP vice presidential candidate” who “catches catfish with his bare hands.“
Fox & Friends’ Steve Doocy can barely contain his passion:
“Paul Ryan does this workout everyday. And, subsequently, you know, number one: he used to be a personal trainer. But, number two, he could be the most ripped – Paul Ryan…And, when you talk about fitness in office, he could define it.” — Fox News Host Steve Doocy, who has a trackrecord of attacking Michelle Obama’s fitness initiatives, suddenly thinks fitness is praiseworthy. (via: dropfox)
It’s great that Ryan works out daily and leads a ‘class’ (your tax dollars at work?) of 12 fellow staffers. What would be ever greater is if Ryan also did this much work in his day job as a Congressman. No wonder he’s only passed two bills in his 13-years as a public servant.
communism-kills: In the real world, people get fired for this.
————————————WHAT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY STANDS FOR TODAY
ROMNEY WILL NOT APOLOGIZE for his ‘magnificent’ French vacations — “I have a lot of memories of France. I think the best memories were with my wife on vacations, from time to time in France,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said at a press conference here with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. “The last vacation we had there, walking around the city of Paris, not just in the Champs-Elysees, but also over to the Jardin of Luxembourg and around the city, as one of the most magnificent cities in the world and I look forward to occasional vacations again in such a beautiful place.” Romney just last week accused President Obama of “jetting around the world” and, asked by National Review about exorbitant spending by the General Services Administration that’s now under investigation, said Obama’s “elaborate vacations” set a bad example. [GovExec: Romney gushes over 'magnificent' Paris]
LEAKED STRATFOR EMAILS reveal anti-Obama predjudice. Embarrassing details continue to dribble out of the 5 million emails leaked from the private intelligence firm Stratfor, including the firm’s reference to President Barack Obama’s administration as the “Barry Hussein” White House. The remark, made by Stratfor Vice President Fred Burton, appears to be a racially-charged insult aimed at the President Obama’s middle name. [...] Burton, the firm’s VP of intelligence, was a distinguished counter terrorism agent in the U.S. State Department before joining the company. More recently, he’s held posts in the Texas government, advising on security issues. [...] In previously released emails, Strafor analysts discussed the White’s House “weakness and wimpiness” towards China, and speculated the president would lose support of a billionaire Democratic donor “unless Obama finds a spine.” The firm also closely monitored Mitt Romney’s views on international affairs, particularly his views on China. [Buzzfeed]
TAMPA STRIP CLUBS PREPARE for the Republican National Convention –Tampa Gold Club and Scores Gentlemen’s Club & Steakhouse … have been gearing up for the onslaught of normal, family-oriented, churchgoing, upstanding members of society. Club remodels are underway, with upgrades in everything from furniture, lighting and booze to higher end strippers with fewer thigh bruises. — TampaBayTimesvia Wonkette
FOX IS NOT NEWS: Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy will on Tuesday clarify a partially fabricated quote from President Obama. – TPM
AUSTERITY FOR THE REST OF US: Which state had the largest decrease in employment last year? That would be Scott Walker’s Wisconsin! — Think Progress
WHAT ARE THE GOP FRESHMEN up to today? …now our deficit hawks want to continue the Bush tax cuts, enact more tax cuts for the rich, expand our already bloated defense budget, and now they have even given up on their token issue to pretend they cared about spending: Hypocrisy alert: House Republican freshmen are begging their leaders to bring back a certain type of earmark so that they can help companies back home in an election year. – Balloon Juice
PRESIDENT OBAMA / DEMOCRATS—————————————————————-
Buzzfeed: President Barack Obama strikes the Heisman pose, while presenting the U.S. Air Force Academy football team seniors with the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy today. The Air Force beat the Army and Navy in 2011 to claim the trophy for the 18th time. (Getty Images / Chip Somodevilla)
THE YOUTH VOTE: MITT ROMNEY AGREES WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA on student loans.“…I fully support the effort to extend the low interest rate on student loans. There was some concern that would expire halfway through the year, and I support extending the temporary relief on interest rates for students, as a result of student loans, in part because of the extraordinarily poor conditions in the job market.” — Think Progress
THE LIBERAL MEDIA has consistently given more positive coverage to likely Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney compared to President Barack Obama, according to a new survey of media coverage from the Pew Research Center’s Excellence in Journalism Project. During the early weeks of 2012, Romney’s media coverage was slightly negative—between January 2 and February 26, 33 percent of the stories about the ex-Massachusetts governor were positive and 37 percent were negative, according to Pew’s analysis. But Romney has received mostly positive coverage since then (47 percent positive to 24 percent negative). By contrast, according to the report, President Barack Obama “did not have a single week in 2012 when positive coverage exceeded negative coverage.” The media’s overwhelming focus on “strategy” and Obama’s consistently negative coverage indicate that a preoccupation with public policy and an unwillingness to criticize the president are two afflictions the mainstream press is not suffering from. – Mother Jones
So much for that vast left-wing conspiracy – “There will be an effort by the quote ‘vast left-wing conspiracy’ to work together to put out their message and to attack me. Many in the media are inclined to do the president’s bidding.” — Mittens Romney, last week
SCOTT BROWN IS BAFFLED BY THE MEANING OF HYPOCRISY – Earlier this year, Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) began criticizing his main Democratic rival, Elizabeth Warren, for being a “hypocrite.” The argument went like this: Warren makes a fair amount of money, but she’s an advocate for struggling, working families. Ergo, she’s guilty of “hypocrisy.” — Maddow Blog
THE ARGUMENT DRIVING DEMOCRATIC OPPOSITION to Republican austerity cuts …high debt levels aren’t directly responsible for the economic slowdowns that typically accompany them. Instead, the economy can slow because high debt often prompts policymakers to impose fiscal austerity measures that can hamper the economy, particularly one that’s already in recession. — Suzy Khimm
BILL O’REILLY CALLS ROBERT REICH A COMMUNIST, Reich challenges O’Reilly to debate him ‘like a man‘– “It’s like being back in the 1950s,” he said. “This communist witch hunt that has suddenly been launched. The irony is that there are not even many communists left in the world today. It would be one thing if we were back in the 1950s, but there is not a communist threat. [...] Reich challenged O’Reilly to debate him “person-to-person, like a man.” “But he doesn’t have the guts to debate,” he added. — Raw Story
1) “MR ONE PERCENT”: YOUR 2012 GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
Mitt Romney is a Scumbag — This is inexcusable: The Romney campaign suggested Friday that President Obama should release notes and transcripts from his meetings with world leaders to prove that he is not promising world leaders to change his position after November, in a statement to National Journal. […] You do not get to demand transcripts of the president’s conversations with the leaders of other nations. You do not get to decide the merits of their conversations. You cannot demand to know what the leaders of other nations are saying to the president. This is disgraceful, and if a Democratic candidate were demanding a Republican president share transcripts of his conversations with other world leaders, the resulting media shitfest would be unparalleled.
Greg Sargent wonders how Mitt Romney (and the Republican Party) can see the Paul Ryan Jump Off The Cliff economic plan as some kind of political prize:Nonpartisanobservers say Ryan’s plans amount to a huge giveaway to the rich at the expense of exploding the deficit. Polls suggest that huge majorities favor preserving Medicare’s traditional function, and reject Ryan’s reforms. And yet the amount of influence Republicans have accorded to Ryan over the GOP’s fiscal policies, worldview, ideology, vision, priorities and direction is really kind of extraordinary. They’re going for it.
Dazed And Confused – They’re going for it Greg because they’re counting on your employers at Kaplan, Inc. and the other Village media outlets to sell the Ryan Plan as not only morally desirable but absolutely necessary economically over the next several months and well beyond. It worked for the Bush tax cuts and Medicare drug benefit giveaway. It worked for Afghanistan and especially Iraq. Those cost us trillions but were sold as the right thing to do. The Ryan/Romney Austerity Plan will be no different. It will be the reason why, should the GOP gain control of the Senate, that the filibuster will be done away with and the President will get a nice shiny austerity budget. Selling that Romney will sign such a budget into law will be the big talking point.Meanwhile, austerity is destroying the EU and UK right now. All indications are they are back into a recession with no real hope of getting out. These guys want to make sure we’re next.
Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney: The Committee to End Medicare – These guys really believe that campaigning on a platform of turning Medicare into a voucher system is a stroke of political genius. Despite all evidence that it’s actually a political death wish, they are plowing forward undeterred. Purely on substantive grounds, it’s a terrible idea—but as they will learn in November, it’s also a political miscalculation of epic proportions. No wonder Democrats are so happy he endorsed Mitt Romney.
Paul Ryan Endorses Romney – Ryan and Romney: A Marriage Made of Our Insane Times– Nevertheless, and god knoweth how, Ryan remains such a sufficient force in our politics that his endorsement of the Romneybot 2.0 on Friday is considered to be a big deal, even though — and, Lord knows, we realize we are repeating ourselves here — if the Romneybot had endorsed anything like zombie-eyed granny-starving early in his career, he wouldn’t have received 11 votes in Massachusetts and we might never have heard of him again…. [...] There was a time in his life, and I’m old enough to remember it, when Willard Romney wouldn’t have given 15 minutes consideration to this kind of supply-side fever-dreaming. The “Ryan budget” shoves the country’s wealth upwards, decimates the social safety net, relies on a new form of mathematics that seems to have been developed by Bighorn sheep, and doesn’t do any more toward reducing the deficit than it does toward re-aligning the teams in the American Football Conference. The Romney who produced the Massachusetts health-care reform — Thanks, Mitt! — wouldn’t recognize the Romney that is such a fan these days of zombie-eyed granny-starving. Paul Ryan’s career as a “budget guru” is as much a miracle of media smoke-and-mirrors as was Newt Gingrich’s long career as a Man Of Ideas, both of them pure products of a culture of media timidity that is unable to confront the fact that one of our two major political parties has gone barking mad. That is the party that is about to nominate Willard Romney. A man is known by the company he keeps.
Fox News host urges viewers to ‘vote Republican’ – It’s no secret that Fox News leans to the right, but one host may have crossed the line on Friday when he actively encouraged viewers to “vote Republican” if they didn’t like big government. During an interview with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy seemed to endorse the congressman’s “Path to Prosperity” budget. “This really is kind of a campaign document because it draws a bright line between what the Republicans stand for and what the Democrats stand for,” he explained. “If you want big government, then the Democrats are your party.” Doocy added: “Whereas, if you want a party that’s making some hard choices, vote Republican.”
Oinkbama — I try not to nutpick too much, but this is just too fucking funny: The game is to see how many comments in a foxnews.com article that has nothing to do with President Obama do you need to read before somebody says something bad about President Obama. I call it “how many comments in a foxnews.com article that has nothing to do with President Obama do you need to read before somebody says something bad about President Obama”. Not one article goes past 22 comments before they start bashing Obama. The best part is the names they make for Obama, such as “Oinkbama”.
Hewitt Award Nominee — “In other words, [Obama]’s a racist hatemonger. Just to be clear. So much for hope and change. Hope is what he promised. Hate is what he’s delivering,” – Glenn Reynolds.The post is given extra nutball juice from having been written at 3.18 am.
Michele Bachmann Thinks People ‘Choose’ To Not Have Health Insurance– “[Health insurance is] still an opportunity that some people choose to engage in, but 40 million people do not. And the premise was made that people don’t buy insurance because they can’t afford it. That’s not true. There are people who just decide they want to roll the dice and take their chances that they won’t need insurance.“Bachmann’s assumption that 40 million people “choose” to not have health insurance downplays the plight that people can face trying to find affordable health insurance in the face of rising costs. For the past decade, the number of people uninsured has risen each year, and working families make up 80 percent of those who have no health insurance. And young adults make up the largest share of those who are uninsured. Instead of acknowledging this growing problem, Bachmann has attacked the Affordable Care Act, the very thing that could help slow these costs and expand access to health care.
3) SUNDAY REVIEW OF THE RIGHTWING BIBLE-THUMPERS AND THEIR IDEAS OF ‘CHRISTIANITY’
Pat Robertson says homosexuality is a result of “demonic possession” — On “The 700 Club” this week, viewers were shown a segment about a man who tried to “change” his sexuality by marrying a woman, but nevertheless kept having gay affairs. TV preacher Pat Robertson said of the story, “I think it is somehow related to demonic possession.” He wasn’t kidding. It’s the 21st century; I just thought I’d mention that. [re: quote in image: see video]
…
Suit alleges financial fraud at TBN ministry – The Trinity Broadcasting Network, which bills itself as the world’s largest Christian network, is embroiled in a legal battle involving allegations of massive financial fraud and lavish spending, including the purchase of a $100,000 motor home for family dogs. Brittany Koper, a former high-ranking TBN official and the granddaughter of its co-founder, Paul Crouch Sr., was fired by the network in September after discovering “illegal financial schemes” amounting to tens of millions of dollars, according to a lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court. [...] The lawsuit alleges that Paul Crouch Sr. obtained a $50-million Global Express luxury jet for his personal use through a “sham loan,” and that TBN funds paid for a $100,000 motor home for dogs owned by his wife, Janice Crouch, a network director. [...] TBN directors received about $300,000 to $500,000 in meal expenses and the use of chauffeurs, and oversaw “fraudulent donation and kickback schemes involving third party ‘ministries’”the network controlled, the suit claims. The directors also misused funds to cover up sexual scandals, the suit claims. [image: wonkette]
4) ZIMMERMAN KILLING OF TRAYVON MARTIN
Bill Maher calls Zimmerman a big, fat fucking liar (VIDEO) – On Friday night’s “Real Time,” Bill Maher asked a pointed question based on the tape of Zimmerman at the police station after his alleged “fight” with Martin: “Aren’t we all convinced from that tape that this guy is a big, fat, fucking liar?” But Maher’s criticism wasn’t limited to Zimmerman and the people who have failed to bring him to justice. On the heels of his hilarious “new rules” segment, Maher went on to implicate liberal politicians in shooting deaths like Martin’s: We can go on and on about hoodies and the neighborhood watch guy who looks like Chaz Bono, but it’s not really a discussion until you save some blame for the liberal politicians who unconditionally surrendered in the fight for sensible gun laws. When are they going to stand their ground?
…
Trayvon Martin George Zimmerman 911 call analysis: Two forensic experts say it’s not George Zimmerman crying out for help – ”I took all of the screams and put those together, and cut out everything else,” Owen says. The software compared that audio to Zimmerman’s voice. It returned a 48 percent match. Owen said to reach a positive match with audio of this quality, he’d expect higher than 90 percent. “As a result of that, you can say with reasonable scientific certainty that it’s not Zimmerman,” Owen says, stressing that he cannot confirm the voice as Trayvon’s, because he didn’t have a sample of the teen’s voice to compare. [...] He relies instead on audio enhancement and human analysis based on forensic experience. After listening closely to the 911 tape on which the screams are heard, Primeau also has a strong opinion. ”I believe that’s Trayvon Martin in the background, without a doubt,” Primeau says, stressing that the tone of the voice is a giveaway. “That’s a young man screaming.”
Colbert mocks Rush Limbaugh, Steve Doocy’s criticism about Obama’s gun reform proposals: Limbaugh barked on his radio show about how sickening he found Obama’s display. “He brings these kids, supposedly who wrote letters to the White House after Newtown … to paint a picture of support [mocking voice] among the children!” Limbaugh said. He continued in a falsely sympathetic tone, “They don’t want to die. How can you not listen to them?” And Colbert dished it right back, adopting a similar voice. “Boo hoo! I want a pony, I want to go to Disneyland, I want to wake to see another day. Boo hoo!” After all, why would kids be terrified of accident-prone weaponry?
THE 
Mitt Romney is a Scumbag
Greg Sargent wonders
Dazed And Confused
Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney: The Committee to End Medicare
Paul Ryan Endorses Romney – Ryan and Romney: A Marriage Made of Our Insane Times
Fox News host urges viewers to ‘vote Republican’ 
Oinkbama
Michele Bachmann Thinks People ‘Choose’ To Not Have Health Insurance 
Pat Robertson says homosexuality is a result of “demonic possession”
Suit alleges financial fraud at TBN ministry
Trayvon Martin George Zimmerman 911 call analysis: Two forensic experts say it’s not George Zimmerman crying out for help
