Author Archives: MJ

About MJ

A rabble-rousing bureaucrat living in Sussex County

Thursday’s Asshat of the Day

She’s been mentioned and viewed on today’s Open Thread and she is deserving of today’s Asshat of the Day award.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, seen here (on the left) with two of her aides, not only showed Arizona how unprepared she is to continue in office, but she also has some serious ethics issues.

As Rachel Maddow pointed out on her show on Wednesday, her campaign manager, Chuck Coughlin, who also owns the company doing all of Brewer’s media work, is also a lobbyist for Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), which runs private prisons in Arizona and elsewhere in the US. According to an investigation by KPHO, the CBS affiliate in Phoenix, CCA stands to gain financially from HB 1070, the anti-immigration bill Brewer signed into law. Hmmm, you’re a sitting governor, you sign into law a bill that could financially benefit two of your advisers and your campaign manager. And in retaliation for asking these questions, Brewer’s campaign (read Coughlin) has canceled all campaign advertising on KPHO.

Here’s the segment from Maddow’s show: Rachel Maddow Questions Brewer’s Ethics.

I don’t know about you, but it seems as though the Delaware Way has taken a cross-country journey to the desert Southwest.

Jan Brewer Thursday’s Asshat of the Day.

An honorable mention goes to Curly from WGMD for his comment yesterday that the severely disturbed man who terrorized the Discovery Channel headquarters yesterday was “a lefty.”

Wednesday’s Asshat of the Day

Today’s award goes to Bill Keller, the unordained “pastor” and “brains” behind LivePrayer.com. Seems Bill, a convicted felon (insider trading) has decided to open a 9/11 Christian Center near Ground Zero. No problem there – the more, the merrier. But Keller’s ministry is one of hate. He hates gays. He hates Muslims. He hates the President. He hates Oprah. He hates Glenn Beck. Wait, so maybe he isn’t all that bad.

Here’s a clip from Countdown with Keith Olbermann talking about Billy’s Christian Center in NYC:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuY_5_69m_4[/youtube]

A real piece of work, if you ask me. His pleas for cash to support his “ministry” and his “Christian Center” smack of the same snake oil Oral Roberts sold to his followers in 1987. If you’re old enough, you might remember Roberts claim that if his followers didn’t send him $8 million for his Oral Roberts University, “G-D was going to call [him] home.”

Keller is not preaching the Gospel of Jesus (yeah, you’re probably thinking what does this Jewish guy know about the Gospel), he is spewing a ministry of hate. And for this and the BS he is giving to his followers, Bill Keller is our Asshat of the Day.

WARNING: If you go to Keller’s website, be forewarned that some of his videos are very graphic.

Monday’s Asshat of the Day

I’m going out on a limb here today with my award (and maybe facing “excommunication”), for I am going to be taking on the former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel.

First some background. Judaism, unlike other religions, does not have a political hierarchy. Rabbi’s do not report to a senior rabbi, who reports to more senior rabbi, who reports to a rabbi sitting in a city-state in Israel. There are two Chief Rabbis in Israel, the Ashkenazi (European) and Sephardic (Eastern/Arabic countries). Basically the Chief Rabbis are the final say in matters for their very religious followers. Then of course, you have other Orthodox movements who have their own leaders. What’s that old joke – put 3 Jews in a room, ask them a question and you’ll get 5 answers.

It seems that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who is a very learned man, and the head of the Shas party in Israel, decided to use his Shabbat sermon to ask G-D to “remove all nasty people who hate Israel, like Abu Mazen (Abu Abbas),” from the face of the Earth. “May G-D strike them down with the plague along with all the nasty Palestinians who persecute Israel,” he said.

Not very rabbinic, if you ask me. I’ve been pilloried on this site many times for my support of Israel and her right to exist. I don’t back away from any of that. But Rabbi Yosef’s comments are just as bad as those of the religious wingnuts we have right here in the US, especially the ones who are so vocal in their opposition to the Park 51 Cultural Center. And I would be wrong for not calling him out for this evil statement as I do the so-called moral majority-types we have in our midst.

As we approach the start of the Jewish High Holy Days next Wednesday night, beginning at sundown with Rosh Hashonah and ending with Yom Kippur on September 18, I urge Rabbi Yosef, and all of those who have this hate in their hearts to look deep inside and ask G-D for forgiveness for harboring such thoughts.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef – our Asshat of the Day.

This is What August 28 Will Always Mean to Me

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk&feature=player_embedded#![/youtube]

I still get chills whenever I listen to this speech. I only wish those “patriots” gathering on the Mall tomorrow would do the same, and actually LISTEN to what Dr. King was saying.

Friday’s Asshat of the Day

I woke up this morning, looked at the calendar, and could have sworn that we were still in 2010. But it seems that school officials in Nettleton, MS have gone back in time, all the way back to the early 1960’s.

In a memo to students the races for class officers are to be apportioned according to race. Only “white” students will be allowed to run for class president in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades, while only “black” students will be allowed to run for 4 of the other 9 offices available.

Can’t really add to much to this except SHAME!!!

Thursday’s Asshat of the Day

While I could award this to the Potters for their lousy handling of contract-gate and the ethical questions it has raised, enough is being said about it on another thread.

So, in preparation for this weekend’s public teabagging event on the National Mall, today’s winner is Glenn Beck.  Not for organizing his rally to self-aggrandizement, but for his ad promoting it where he compares himself to Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King, Jr, and Frederick Douglas, to name a few.

Seriously, the only people he should be comparing himself to are P.T. Barnum (because he sure has suckered a lot of people) or Joseph Goebbels.  I’m not saying Beck is a Nazi, but he emulates everything that Goebbels did in the 1920’s and 1930’s.

Here’s a link to the video, thanks to Media Matters – http://mediamatters.org/blog/201008260017

Wednesday’s Asshat of the Day

It seems that a day doesn’t go by when some politician somewhere compares a foe to either a communist or Hitler.

Today’s asshat, Carl Paladino, who is running for the Republican nomination for Governor in New York, doesn’t like Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.  He considers Silver to be “the most corrupt and incompetent human being ever to serve in state government in the state of New York.”  Fair enough, that’s his opinion.  Many of us feel the same way about some of the people who occupy chairs in Leg Hall.

But Paladino decided to take it one step further.  After Erie County Executive Chris  Collins called Silver “the anti-Christ” at a fundraising dinner last fall, a comment that short-circuited Collins’ own run for governor, Paladino defended him, saying “If I could ever describe a person who would fit the bill as the anti-Christ or a Hitler, this guy (Silver) is it.”  Silver, by the way, is an Orthodox Jew.

This is the very same schmuck who suggested that New York turn some of its unused prisons into dormitories for welfare recipients, where they could take classes on “personal hygiene.”  He defended his remarks on hygiene by saying that he had “trained inner-city troops in the Army and knows their needs.”  Huh?  Let’s see – Paladino saying “me, big, rich white man.  Me know how to wash under armpits.  You do same.”

Ah, Carl Paladino, our asshat of the day.

h/t to both Huffington Post and the Albany Times Union

Tuesday’s Asshats of the Day

Another day, another group award.  It seems as though the Urquhart and O’Donnell camps have a plan for illegals.  Both campaigns decided to show their lily-white faces at a Hispanic festival this past weekend down here.  Good for them – seems they were seeking votes outside of their usual supporters.  But appearances can, and were, deceiving.  A source of mine contacted me after talking to campaign representatives at this event. They thought my source was one of theirs – I guess because they are white – but they weren’t a supporter.

First, it seems that good old Glen wants to microchip illegals, or those he think might be illegal (can we say racial profiling?) so it would be easier to track them down, deport them, and then be able to prevent them from re-entering the country.  When asked if that also meant any children who were born here or even those who came to the US when they were young and think of themselves as Americans, Glen wants them deported, too.  Think about it, you’re 2 years old and your parents cross over to the US to make a better life for themselves.  They get jobs, pay taxes and send you to school.  You know nothing of your homeland and are as American as your friends in the neighborhood.  But since you crossed the border illegally, even though you weren’t old enough to know what was going on, Glen Urquhart wants to tag you and release you back to Mexico, or wherever you came from.  Way to go there, Glen.

But it gets better.  O’Donnell’s reps were asked about her stance on illegal immigrants.  They cited the strain on the health care system as one reason we should deport the estimated 12 million-14 million illegal immigrants already here.  When asked what an illegal immigrant was supposed to do if they needed emergency care, the O’Donnell rep responded that they should be denied treatment.  So according to O’Donnell, if you’re here illegally and you need emergency medical attention, you should just die in the streets.  Whatever happened to being a “compassionate conservative?”

One wants to microchip you and the other wants to deny you medical treatment.  We can only hope that these two win their primaries – it will make for easy pickings come Election Day.  Glen Urquart and Christine O’Donnell – Tuesday’s Asshats of the Day.

On another note, don’t get me started on Delusional David and the asshats over at Delaware Politics.  How can one honestly defend someone putting up a comment about getting 5 guys in a pickup truck to go around shooting illegals?  Seriously, David, don’t you remember that that is exactly what happened to countless African-Americans in the South as shortly as 12 years ago (remember James Byrd)?  Your “it’s freedom of speech” excuse is bullshit, David, pure, unadulterated bullshit!

Monday’s Asshats of the Day

Without a doubt, today’s co-winners are doing everything they can to stoke the misinformation about President Obama’s religion.

Franklin Graham and Mitch McConnell do themselves or our country any great service by questioning the President’s religion.  They only add fuel to the fire of the anti-Islamic movement that seems to be growing in this country.  And it is shameful.

Question – who appointed these two yahoos to sit in judgment over anyone and their faith?  Graham is an Elmer Gantry wannabe, selling snake oil under the guise of saving souls.  He is only “famous” because his daddy was a preacher, having tent meetings around the country and gathering a following.  Franklin doesn’t hold a candle to his father, in terms of faith or compassion.  His comments about Obama “being born a Muslim,” and having “the seed of Islam” passed on to him from his father are just plain nonsense, and none of his business.

Problem here is that in Western society, many believe that the parents’ religion is passed from the mother to the children.  It’s been a question for eons that has caused problems in some families of mixed marriages – how do we raise the kids.  I have many friends who are raising their kids both as Christian and Jew, so that their children will get some sense of what both religions stand for.  But we have Franklin Graham, self-appointed judge of who is what religion, telling the world that Obama’s “problem” is that he was born a Muslim, even though his father had become an atheist by the time he met Obama’s mother.  Graham should just STFU.  Seriously, who does he think he is?

McConnell doesn’t help matters much by saying that he has to “take the President at his word” that he is a Christian.  Wow, let’s be a skeptic and play into the hands of all those teabaggers and Muslim haters and continue a non-story.  I’m sure the nutjobs at the anti-mosque rallies this weekend loved hearing all of this.  Senator, take some advice and just STFU.

I’d hate to see what these two experts would say if a Jew were elected President.  My guess is that we would hear stories about how we kidnap Christian children around Passover so we can make matzah, along with being responsible for killing Jesus.

This just reminds me that every time we mix politics and religion, someone gets burned at the stake.

Friday’s Asshat of the Day

Sorry for missing yesterday – got busy with work and a thank you reception for the former chair of the Board of Governors of the Sussex Family YMCA who is battling terminal bone marrow cancer.

Our awardee today is a joint award – Senator David Viter and his aide, Brent Furer.  I’m sure all of us know by now Vitter’s problems with prostitutes and the late DC Madam.  But of course, all he had to do was apologize and say a few Hail McConnels, the Republican version of a Hail Mary, and all was forgiven.  So another family values Republican who likes his ladies of the evening. Plus, he opposed the Lily Ledbetter Act and even voted against coverage for mammograms.  Guess he just wants his women barefoot and pregnant, unless he’s paying for them to spank him while he’s wearing a diaper.

What is worse is that his aide, Furer, has had his own run-ins with the law, including DUI’s, cocaine possession, and beating the crap out of former girlfriend, so bad that she needed stitches to close up a wound on her face.  Wow, big man, beating up a woman.  But let’s did that hole a bit deeper, Brent.  It appears that Furer used taxpayer money to fly back to Baton Rouge to appear in court.  Taxpayer money for his expenses to appear in court.  That takes some really big balls.  I guess Furer forgot that all of that information is public and it would be easy to connect the dots between his “official” travel and his court dates.

So, a “family values” Rethuglican and his aide who likes to beat up women – I think they’re deserving of being today’s Asshats of the Day.

Enjoy the video.

The Ballad of David Vitter

Wednesday’s Asshat of the Day

These awards are getting easier each day. We here at DL already skewered today’s winner earlier this week for his one-on-one with Anderson Cooper regarding terror babies. But Congressman Louid Gohmert is even crazier than we thought. Check out this video from The Daily Show:  www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-august-17-2010/jon-stewart—anderson-cooper-look-at-gaping-holes—security.

But Louie, Louie, Louie, Looooeeeeee, you keep digging that hole deeper (h/t Huffington Post) – The Lufkin Daily News reports on what Gohmert had to say about the exchange at the opening of the Angelina County Republican Party campaign headquarters in Texas over the weekend:

Gohmert briefly spoke about his CNN interview with Anderson Cooper this past week in which “terror babies” — children born for the purpose of having American passports that can later be used for terrorism — were discussed.

“Cooper spent his time attacking my integrity in that interview because I would not give away the names of my sources,” Gohmert said. “One of my sources said if anyone knew who she was that she would be killed. He did not need to know my sources and I was not going to put people’s lives in danger.”

OMG.  His source, who I believe was sitting next to him on an airplane and had never met Louie before, is going to be killed by a terror baby’s diaper bomb if Louie releases her name.  I have to call FAIL, Congressman.  You’re just a fear-mongering jerk.

Now mind you, Gohmert’s election was a direct result of Tom DeLay’s gerrymandering of congressional districts in 2003.  Texas District 1 had always been a rural district, with Texarkana as it’s anchor and hadn’t been represented by a Republican since 1871.  The incumbent in 2004, Democrat Max Sandlin, was on DeLay’s hit list (as was Martin Frost and Chet Edwards) and went from winning the seat comfortably in 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002, to only taking 39% of the vote against Gohmert.

Between terror babies, hate crimes legislation leading to beastiality, and trying to draw some parallel between Obama supporters and Hitler, Rep. Louie Gohmert is our Asshat of the Day.

Tuesday’s Asshat of the Day

Without a doubt, today’s recipient deserves it for many, many things he’s said.  But Bill Colley of WGMD, the self-proclaimed “Talk of Delmarva,” has totally lost it.  He’s lost all claims to being a voice for even those who call themselves conservative in our state.  He has exposed himself as the jingoist and demagogue that he is.

During Monday’s show, Colley, or Curly as I like to call him, since he reminds me of one of the Three Stooges (and he’s as fat as his namesake), lost it.  I mean he totally lost it.  Curly was droning on about the “Ground Zero Mosque.”  He related that a friend of his sent him an email about St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which was destroyed when the second tower collapsed on 9/11.  Curly’s friend went on and on about how the Park 51 Cultural Center (renamed from the Cordoba Center) “was fast-tracked for approval, yet nothing is being done to rebuild St. Nicholas.”  Well, if Curly or his “friend” would have bothered to do any research, they would have come across this – http://www.goarch.org/special/september11/stnicholaschurch/stnicholas, which is the official site of the Greek Orthodox Church in America and explains what is going on with St. Nicholas.  Curly ranted about how the government was not doing enough to help this church but was instead bending over backwards to help Muslims.  Hmmm, let’s see – a private, charitable, Islamic organization, that has Christians and Jews on its board of directors, raises money to build a community center in lower Manhattan, but Curly wants the government to pay to rebuild a church.  FAIL!

He also suggested, but didn’t outright advocate, that whoever works on the building should sabotage it by “spilling pigs blood on the door post” or by doing less than good workmanship.  “Oh, don’t be surprised if something happens to that building,” wink, wink.

But Curly wasn’t done.  He goes on about how those of us who support the building of Park 51 “don’t like our country and thought we had this (9/11 attacks) coming to us.”  His next caller compares the building of Park 51 to putting a Wal-Mart at Ground Zero (huh?) and Curly goes off on a rant about how Disney wanted to build a theme park near Manassas in 1992 and how it was opposed “because of the sensitivity issue,” and compared that proposal to the Disney cartoon Pocahontas, calling it a movie.  Curly – which part of cartoon don’t you understand?  The cartoon was not promoted as being factual.  But then again, Curly doesn’t deal in facts.

Here’s where it gets good, for this is when Curly lost any shred of decency he had left.  A caller named Collins was next on the line.  Now mind you, Curly’s M.O. is to ask the caller’s name and where they’re from.  When Collins gave his name, Curly lets out with a “oh, this ought to be good.”  Collins starts by saying that, using Curly’s “logic,” Catholic churches shouldn’t be built anywhere near kids because of pedophile priests and what they’ve done to kids. Curly, of course, rejects that.  Collins then asks him why he hates the First Amendment, stating that Islam is a “recognized” religion.  This sets Curly off.  Screaming at the top of his lungs, Curly shouts “Why don’t you just shut up pal!” before hanging up the phone.  “Why is it that I have to put up with you pimply-faced pukes day in and day out, you self-loathing liberals?  Why do you run down the flag and our traditions?  Go over to taxpayer supported communist radio NPR if you don’t like what I have to say. You and your kind are going to ruin this country and get the rest of us killed.”  He then went into some nonsensical rant about how Mayans used to sacrifice men and how that was once a “recognized religion,” I guess before the Europeans came over and brought everyone the love, joy and peace of the mother church – at the end of a gun muzzle.

Yes, Curly, those of us who are progressives, yea liberals, are planning and hoping that our country gets destroyed.  You rant about how we hate our country and trample on our traditions.  Which traditions are those, fat boy?  Did you ever wear the uniform?  I doubt it.  I did and I volunteered to do it!  Shaun Fink had it right (no pun intended) when he told you that the endless name calling by both sides, but especially on the right, showed a lack of leadership for the conservative movement in Delaware.  And by telling you this truth, you “fire” him.

If you don’t believe any of this, go to the WGMD website and you can listen to Curly’s entire show from yesterday.  Pay attention to the 4:00 PM hour.

My friend, Collins, wrote this on Curly’s blog page at WGMD and I use it with his permission:

“Bill, we are not at war with Islam. You go on about our liberties, but want to deny these liberties to anyone who does not think like you, agree with you and walk in lock step behind your banner of 2nd Amendment gun rights and child molesting catholic religious beliefs. You claim to be a patriot, but your words betray you. You only want to support the rights that you like & only in regards to people that are like you. Your xenophobic view will tear our country apart faster than anything that the Muslim extremist (sic) could ever do. Your hate filled diatribes are the fuel that lead to church burnings and killing of people out of fear. Your inability to have an intelligent and honest discussion with someone of differing views only high-lights the weakness of your argument & character.  You try to defend catholicism, but hide from the evil they allowed to exist & fostered. You ignore the deaths that the catholic church (sic) caused & even celebrated.

Please let us know when you are willing to have an honest & reasoned discussion.”

Alas, dear Collins, that day will never come, because an asshat like Curly has been drinking too much of the poisoned kool-aid that was first concocted by Father Coughlin in the 1930’s, then perfected by Joe McCarthy in the 1950’s, and finally reformulated by Beck-Palin-Limbaugh-O’Liely in the last few years.  And don’t misinterpret this, Billy Boy – even with your vile, ugly, hate, you don’t compare with the aforementioned fanatics.  You’re a mediocre version, stuck at a small radio station, in a county you’re so desperately trying to flee for greener pastures, and a bigger pay check.

Curly Joe Colley, you’re our asshat of the day!