Wednesday Open Thread
Happy Wednesday everyone! Welcome to your open thread. I’m excited because I’m traveling to Las Vegas today to attend the Netroots Nation conference. Expect updates from there this week!
I totally agree with Greg Sargent’s take on the Shirley Sherrod mess. Someone in the administration needs to explain what happened so we can avoid this happening again.
But it isn’t enough for Vilsack to reinstate her. People should demand that his review include an explanation for his own decision to fire her. We need to hear his justification for the decision to ax this woman before all the facts were in, on the strength of nothing more than an Andrew Breitbart smear.
Did Vilsack make any effort to learn more about her speech before giving her the push? If not, why not? Sherrod says she told top USDA officials that the full speech would vindicate her. Did anyone at USDA give her protestations even a passing listen? Did anyone try to obtain video of the full speech? If not, why not? Why was Breitbart’s word alone allowed to drive such a high-profile decision?
People should also demand that the White House weigh in publicly on what happened here. The White House has only discussed this via anonymous leaks, and this morning, officials are conveniently leaking word that the White House prodded Vilsack to reconsider Sherrod’s firing. That’s nice, but was the White House told in advance that the firing was about to happen, and if so, why did it allow the firing to proceed?
This decision made absolutely no sense. Most public servants are given the benefit of an investigation before they’re fired. Is Vilsack more afraid of what Breitbart might say rather than what is correct or true? If so, we have a real problem.
The Republicans war on the unemployed continues. Ben Stein writes that unemployed people are just bad people.
Writing at the American Spectator yesterday, former Nixon speechwriter and TV personality Ben Stein downplayed the suffering unemployed Americans are experiencing by writing that the people who are unemployed right now are “generally people with poor work habits and poor personalities.” He claims the unemployed are Americans with “unpleasant personalities…who do not know how to do a day’s work“:
The people who have been laid off and cannot find work are generally people with poor work habits and poor personalities. I say “generally” because there are exceptions. But in general, as I survey the ranks of those who are unemployed, I see people who have overbearing and unpleasant personalities and/or who do not know how to do a day’s work. They are people who create either little utility or negative utility on the job. Again, there are powerful exceptions and I know some, but when employers are looking to lay off, they lay off the least productive or the most negative. To assure that a worker is not one of them, he should learn how to work and how to get along — not always easy.
I think Republicans should write more op-eds on how the unemployed are lazy and how much rich people need their tax cuts. I think the Republicans’ premature November victory dance has made them arrogant. They shouldn’t believe their own hype. If they win it’s because of the poor economy not Republicans’ great ideas.
Tags: Open Thread
I’m sure Ben Stein is out surveying the unemployed.
When you live by the sword…. The left has lived off of allegations of racism true or not–mostly not. They understand that that the NBP has stirred up unease. They do not want to be anywhere near this. This is the type of thing that could take the administration down permanently in the polls like Katrina did Bush.
She got as much due process as they would give a Republican accused of saying the reverse. Maybe now you will all agree that we should look at the facts first. Racism is serious business and should be treated that way not be twisted into a political gotcha game of distortion.
She got as much due process as ACORN did with those retouched videos.
My other blogging demon is feeling like I have to respond to every idiotic thing Republican nit wits like David say. I’m getting over that one though.
She got less due process than Sotomayor’s equally context-reversed remarks. But the media covered it the same way.
She got more media coverage than the long term mistreatment of black farmers by the UDSA.
So, apparently the Obama administration does care about the small businessman. The next time some wingnut talks about repealing HCR, have a small business owner ask them why they hate small businesses.
So is anyone surprised by the members of this “caucus?”
“An embarrassed White House apologized on Wednesday…” Unfortunately, this is typical of this White House: acting without facts, showing no courage of conviction, and kowtowing to conservatives. Apologizing doesn’t cut it. Vilsack should be shown the door.
MJ, Nobody…not even the GOP, denies that the GOP is turning into a regional party.
Yes, MJ, I am suprised by seeing Walter Jones on that list.
Have a wonderful time at Netroots Nation U.I. Give a big whoot to Speaker Pelosi for all of us! And Representative Grayson and Senator Franken and all the other cool kids who are showing up. Can’t wait to hear about it.
Rush Limbaugh is going deaf, Glenn Beck is going blind… too bad they weren’t both struck mute instead.
If they do a joint show with Dick Cheney they can call it: “See No Evil, Hear No Evil, and Evil.”
More to hate about the HCR bill: “Starting Jan. 1, 2012, Form 1099s will become a means of reporting to the Internal Revenue Service the purchases of all goods and services by small businesses and self-employed people that exceed $600 during a calendar year.”
Talk about putting a new burden on small businesses! This is an utterly ridiculous provision that has nothing – repeat nothing – to do with HCR. It was put in the HCR bill to try to track gold purchases, but many other small businesses make hundreds and even thousands of purchases of goods and services that exceed $600 during a calendar year that have nothing to do with gold. Now we have to track and report each one?
The more the public learns about the bill and the lies we were told to get it passed, the more political blowback there is going to be from it.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/gold-coin-dealers-decry-tax-law/story?id=11211611
X – why are you surprised about Jones?
OK, I checked. Every single member of the Tea Party Caucus is also a member of the Republican Study Committee (the conservative caucus in the House) except for Walter Jones. And not surprising, almost all of the crazies joined (Bachmann, King, Barton, Franks, Lamborn, Pence, Burton). Surprisingly, though, they failed to get anyone from Alabama, Utah, Kentucky, Tennessee, Nebraska or Oklahoma, and Jones was the only North Carolinan. Not sure why they missed out on the likes of Chaffetz, Blackburn, Foxx, Sensenbrenner, Hensarling, Issa, Mack, and Schmidt. Doubly weird that with Bachmann running the show, she only got one other woman to join (Lummis, the freshman from Wyoming). Seriously, Bachmann, you couldn’t get Jean Schmidt and Virginia Foxx to join your tea party? FAIL.
Anyway, point is, the Tea Party Caucus is just the cream of the Republican Study Committee with a new name. It’s just a transparent attempt by the GOP establishment to brand themselves as outsiders.
Jones is all over the map. Supported raising the minimum wage, opposed the Iraq War, supported censuring Joe Wilson, although with a lifetime record that is very conservative. He’s there only to win back the conservative support he lost.
Of course, crickets around here in regards to Obama/Holder’s Department of Justice giving a pass to everybody involved in the US Attorney firings by the Bush/Cheney Administration.
One more sign this executive cares nothing for the rule of law.
Ever since Jason gave up on The REVEAL, nobody has wanted to write a post on the Obama’s failing presidency. Everybody ready to just go down with the ship?
Posting on conservative web sights is way more fun, just had a conservative blogger blame the entire Iraq war fiasco on the policies of Jimmy Carter, wow what a dummy, anybody with half a brain knows Billy Carter engineered the whole thing to try and market Billy Beer, talking stoopid sure is fun, Sarah Palin must be having a ball.
Jud Bennett just reported this morning that WGMD’s blowhard-in-chief, Bill Colley, has “fired” contributor Shaun Fink of CRI. The litmus test bloodletting continues!
Thanks to Colley blatantly taking sides – he’s working with Urquhart’s campaign, was the one who labeled Rollins a gate-crasher and was originally part of the SCCOR group – that radio station is going to singlehandedly self-destruct the southern Delaware conservative movement.
Liberals rejoice!
Here’s some fuel for the inciting-idiots fire: Some right-wing jackass in Oakland got into a shootout with police on his way to shoot up the San Francisco ACLU and the Tides Foundation — an otherwise obscure lefty group that just happens to be a favorite target of Glenn Beck.
ignore the NAACP audiance lauging and aplauding her story about sending away the white farmer…
like the right wing ignores cries of “kill him” and “terrorist” at a Saint Palin rally? (in reference to Obama)
Dont bring up what audience members say at a rally Ish. The Right wing is a million times more vile and terrible.
Also, having a hint of anger toward someone because for 200 years their ethnic group oppressed your ethnic group… (her father was also murdered by the Klan) is NOT the same as 200 years of slavery, jim crow, etc. If we are going to hold her, and Obama responsible for what someone said at a really, (because i know you people will try any way you can to tie this to Obama) than we can arrest Glenn Beck right now for this terrorist who went to San Fran to kill ACLU members.
Fair and balanced right?
If the right wing wants to be oppressed so badly, i say why not. How great would it be to go into a nice restaurant and not have to worry about any Palin supporters rearing up on their hind legs and acting like a grizzly bear.. or whatever they do.
Or how nice would it be to drink from a water fountain and know conservative lips havent sullied it with their fear of vaccinations.
It would also give tripe like Glenn Beck and Rush actual journalistic integrity. When they say they are being oppressed it wont be from their multi million dollar a year life, but it will be from their illegal underground radio show. It would really be the best for everyone.
Fink’s sin – he told Curly and his listeners on Monday that if the only things that conservatives continue to do is call names and vilify Obama/Reid/Pelosi without offering any solutions, then the conservative movement will die. He’s not happy with the anonymous anti-Pete Schwartkopf asses and Fink see their moves as self-defeating.
He wouldn’t drink Curly’s kool-aid anymore, and for that he got fired. I’m sure Shaun is crying his eyes out.
Curly hates being in DelMarVa. He’s been making tapes of all of his shows and sending them around the country to conservative radio stations in the hope that he can find a gig in a “real city.” He’s a fraud!
“Woolsey to introduce ‘robust public option’ bill” Good for her. She has has 121 co-sponsors in the House. We’ll see if she gets one in the White House.
Hope Woolsey’s ‘public option’ kicks in before Obombacare.
First Woolsey has to get it past Pelosi in an election year. Good luck with that. Maybe somebody can grill Pelosi on that at NN10?
“Creating a public option that all Americans could choose would save $68 billion through 2020, according to a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.” (link)
Hey, at this point I’m not even sure if they will introduce the tax bill before the election to extend the middle class tax cuts. The usual turncoat Dems are already saying they want to extend the tax cuts for the rich.
Would Obama have the balls to make Republicans filibuster middle-class tax cuts during an election year? I hope so.
And if the tax cuts for the rich get added back in, would Obama have the balls to veto it? It would be far preferable to do nothing than to reimplement the tax cuts for the rich.
Actually, Republicans would be kind of screwed if Obama’s tax bill doesn’t pass: Obama’s plan is to raise capital gains and dividends only to 20%. But if the tax cuts expire, then dividends go back to being taxed as regular income at 39%, and capital gains goes back up to 20% anyway.
Some Republicans might even support Obama’s plan solely for extending the dividend cuts.
I would be OK with giving up the middle-class tax cuts in exchange for the dividend increases, if it came to that.