Green Eagle

Here's a very nice chart from Digby.  She uses it to make a very worthwhile point, but I want to use it for another purpose: I added the red line to point this out:  The growth of corporate profits since World War II has been very consistent.  But look at the George W. Bush era.  Here we find a massive surge of corporate profits, i.e. money going to the top of the economic scale, followed by a total collapse.  Obama, the "Communist" did little more than restore enough rationality to our economy to allow corporate growth to get back on its historic track.  Once again, Republican slavishness to the rich massively disrupted our economy, at which point the Republicans took to the hills and left Democrats to clean up the mess, which they dutifully did.  That's the historical pattern in this country, and if the Republicans go the way of the Whigs, in the end it will be because of this.  They will not protect us from economic disaster if it stands...

I talked about this within a day of the Supreme Court Citizens' United decision, and here it is.  You would have to be oblivious to think it was not going to happen, although as usual, that's exactly what the mainstream press amounts to, when it comes to threats emanating from the "job creators."  From Lee Fang at The Nation, this all too predictable story: "Saudi-Led Oil Lobby Group Financed 2012 Dark Money Attack Ads The “American” in American Petroleum Institute, the country’s largest oil lobby group, is a misnomer. As I reported for The Nation in August, the group has changed over the years, and is now led by men like Tofiq Al-Gabsani, a Saudi Arabian national who heads a Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) subsidiary, the state-run oil company that also helps finance the American Petroleum Institute. Al-Gabsani is also a registered foreign agent for the Saudi government. Last year, API gave nearly half a million to...dark money groups running political a...

Oh yes, to listen to the idiots on the right and most of the mainstream press, there is tremendous scientific controversy about the reality of man made global warming.  Well, here, thanks to what I am sure was a very painful slog through all 13,950 (!) peer reviewed scientific papers on the subject that were published between 1991 and 2012, is a wonderful graphic presentation of that "controversy." Yes, a grand total of one sixth of one percent of the papers questioned the facts on global warming.  If the recent Presidential election had been that lopsided, Mitt Romney would have gotten about 204,000 votes out of 120 million cast.  Which, in fact, is about what he would have gotten, if the mainstream press told the truth about the lies Republicans tell about subjects like global warming, and the price we will all have to pay if this pandering to energy companies isn't stopped. Thanks to Desmog Blog, and James Lawrence Powell for carrying out a difficult task that w...

Articles We Won't Be Reading: Matt C. Abbot, Renew America:  "Noted priest weighs in on Israeli-Palestinian conflict" Boy, I bet that guy has a lot of helpful suggestions.  Maybe he thinks things would be better in Palestine if they had a lot more child rape- give those youngsters something to do in their spare time.  Well, at least you can go on to the rest of Wingnut Wrapup today, secure in the knowledge that nothing you read below could possibly be more worthless than Matt's article. Tim Dunkin, Renew America:  " It would appear that my predictions for election night were quite a bit off. I know that at this point, I'm supposed to write out a big mea culpa for being off so badly...But I'm not going to.  This is because I don't think I was wrong." Of course not, Tim.  You were right, right, right!  It's the universe that was wrong. Jen Schroder, Renew America:  "Peaceful warning to U.S. government & guide to petitions to secede by...

That sure was one short democracy. From the New York Times: "With a constitutional assembly on the brink of collapse and protesters battling the police in the streets over the slow pace of change, President Mohamed Morsi issued a decree on Thursday granting himself broad powers above any court as the guardian of Egypt’s revolution, and used his new authority to order the retrial of Hosni Mubarak.  Mr. Morsi, an Islamist and Egypt’s first elected president, portrayed his decree as an attempt to fulfill popular demands for justice and protect the transition to a constitutional democracy. But the unexpected breadth of the powers he seized raised immediate fears that he might become a new strongman. Seldom in history has a postrevolutionary leader amassed so much personal power only to relinquish it swiftly. “An absolute presidential tyranny,” Amr Hamzawy, a liberal member of the dissolved Parliament and prominent political scientist, wrote in an online commentary. “Egypt is facing...

John McCain's current pack of rage over the nonexistent Benghazi scandal: "I am somewhat surprised and frustrated to read reports that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was responsible for removing references to Al-Qaeda from the unclassified talking points about the Benghazi attack that Ambassador Susan Rice and other officials used in the early days after September 11, 2012. I participated in hours of hearings in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last week regarding the events in Benghazi, where senior intelligence officials were asked this very question, and all of them – including the Director of National Intelligence himself – told us that they did not know who made the changes. Now we have to read the answers to our questions in the media. There are many other questions that remain unanswered. But this latest episode is another reason why many of us are so frustrated with, and suspicious of, the actions of this Administration whe...

In their willingness to pander to the most uneducated, stupid and vicious of their few remaining followers: "LANSING - Today Lansing Republicans held a hearing on House Bills 5684 and 5685 in the Tax Policy Committee, which would give a tax credit for unborn fetuses past 12 weeks of gestation...Lansing Republicans eliminated a state tax credit for parents with children last year" These are not just ideologues or craven liars (they are that, of course,) but truly evil people who will stoop to anything to serve their rich masters and preserve their place of power, no matter how much damage it does to others.  The single comfort we can take as we are forced to watch this sickening display is that, if the recent election is any sign, there is no prospect any time soon that they can actually regain power with this strategy.  Unfortunately, that does not mean that they cannot do horrible damage to millions before they are finally consigned to the dustbin of history. 

Let's just start out with the dumbest fucking thing ever said in the entire history of the human race: Jane Chastain, World Net Daily:  "Evangelicals put Obama over the top" Man.  That's all I can say.  Jane probably thinks the Cubs won the World Series, too. Now, the Free Market At Work: You go, guy.  We'll buy our P226's from someone else. Michael Reagan, Town Hall:  "But the most important Republican who didn't turn out to support Romney this fall was George W. Bush.  You can make an honest argument that G.W. was as much to blame as anyone else for our being unable to defeat an incompetent incumbent of historic proportions...He didn't show up at the GOP convention. He didn't become an enthusiastic surrogate for Romney in a handful of swing states where a few hundred thousand more Republican voters could have changed history. He didn't stump for senatorial candidates in contested states such as Virginia and Montana.  G.W., the ex...

Three little quotes from that great American, John McCain, courtesy of a post at Daily Kos: "The facts on the ground are we went to Afghanistan and we prevailed there."  (April 1, 2004)  "Could I add, it was in Afghanistan, as well, there were many people who predicted that Afghanistan would not be a success. So far, it's a remarkable success." (March 2, 2005.) "Afghanistan, we don't read about anymore, because it's succeeded." (October 31, 2005.) How in the name of God does this brain dead, vengeful idiot continue to be regarded by so many as an authority on anything? And now, unable after four years to get over his rage after losing to Barack Obama, he is engaging in absolutely groundless attacks on Obama, turning the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi into a partisan circus, without a shred of concern for the consequences.  So, at this un-American jerk's instigation, Republicans in the Senate forced congressional hear...

I have always viewed General Petraeus as a self-promoting egomaniac without real achievements to justify the hagiography that has surrounded him.  Here is a magnificent opinion piece from the New York Times , by Lucian K. Truscott IV, which sets forth the truth about a man who is, in the end, little more than a mountebank: Oh, wait, that's not the guy I meant, it's this guy.  All those ribbons fooled me: "A Phony Hero for a Phony War ...And now comes “Dave” Petraeus, and the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. No matter how good he looked in his biographer-mistress’s book, it doesn’t make up for the fact that we failed to conquer the countries we invaded, and ended up occupying undefeated nations. The genius of General Petraeus was to recognize early on that the war he had been sent to fight in Iraq wasn’t a real war at all. This is what the public and the news media — lamenting the fall of the brilliant hero undone by a tawdry affair — have failed to see. He was...

Yes, Green Eagle, as much of an authority on the Mideast as he is on everything else (except, of course, complaining, on which he truly is an authority) has what seems to him to be the only viable step forward in the Gaza mess. Here is something that I bet very few people know:  Before the 1967 war, Gaza was not part of Israel; it was part of Egypt.  In 1967, when Israel seized the Sinai peninsula, Gaza was part of the package.  Here is a map showing the territories which Israel ended up with: Sorry about the colors there.  As you can see, Gaza is shown as an occupied territory, not as a part of pre-1967 Israel.  Now, when Israel agreed to give the Sinai- an area larger than the whole state of Israel- back to Egypt in return for a peace deal, the Egyptian government  knew perfectly well what kind of mess Gaza was, and so they refused to take Gaza back, leaving Israel holding the bag. Funny, isn't it, that when Arab countries demand the return ...

So, it has become a generally accepted meme on the right that Mitt Romney lost because Obama "gave" people "stuff."  Bill O'Reilly summed it all up with this remark: "And there are 50 percent of the voting public who want stuff. They want things. And who is going to give them things? President Obama. He knows it. And he ran on it." Yeah, those greedy bastards want "stuff."  Stuff like medical care when they are sick, or a chance at a decent job, or an education for their kids, or a chance to retire after working their whole lives without ending up living on a street corner.  How dare they? Well, no one is surprised with piggish behavior on the part of Bill O'Reilly.  He gets paid very well to be a pig.  But when the Republicans nominate an even bigger pig to run for President and then spend billions trying to con people into voting for him, that's another matter. Yesterday, Mitt gave a speech to his donors, trying to "e...

  Well, after a couple of days of relative quiescence, the Wingnuts seem to finally be whipping themselves up into a frenzy again; and once again, Green Eagle was there: Jim Hoft, Gateway Pundit:  "Catholic Leaders: If Obama Pursues HHS Mandate, There Is 100% Chance There Will Be Civil Disobedience" So fucking what, Jim?  Unless Catholic "civil disobedience" consists in raping a few thousand more children, which, really, wouldn't surprise anyone. Grover Norquist:  “Republicans have passed a real budget in writing in legislative form, not some essay and haiku in what they think might be done which is what the president has done.” Of course, it is a real budget that will economically destroy the country.  Grover forgot to mention that.  But it is real- really stupid and evil. Leo Linbeck, PJ Media"  "now (Obama) will reap what he sowed. His pretense of being a uniter, someone who can reach across the aisle and work together to solve pressing p...

An excellent post from David Atkins at Hullabaloo: "The fact that everyone in the Village Media has bought into the deficit obsession as it were a real thing rather than simply the latest iteration of a decades-long tactic designed to further enrich the wealthy shows not just herd mentality and willful blindness. It shows a craven willingness to go along with direct economic sabotage and shameless lying in the guise of politics as usual. It's moral tragedy on a grand scale." It's well worth clicking through and reading the whole thing, which sums up very concisely the details of the decades-long Republican enterprise to steal the assets of the nation and turn them over to the rich, and the collaboration of the mainstream media in the whole process.  I highly recommend clicking through and taking a look.

Paul Ryan, for some incomprehensible reason, still being touted as a possible President of the United States: "The surprise was some of the turnout, some of the turnout especially in urban areas, which gave President Obama the big margin to win this race." I see.  "Urban" voters. I have heard about the early Soviet Union, where Jews were referred to as "rootless cosmopolitans."  I guess we can all figure out who Ryan is referring to here.  And it ain't fat, stupid old white guys who listen to Fox. Well, luckily, the likelihood of a failed vice presidential candidate  getting nominated to run for President is vanishingly small, because I would hate for us to waste our time again reminding the world that this great Republican inellectual is nothing but one more racist lying dick.

I worked on Army Wives.  I thought it was a soap opera.  Turns out it was a reality show.

With the meteoric career of Paul Ryan hitting an unexpected (by Republicans) speed bump, my wife pointed something out to me that is most interesting, and that I had never thought of.  Look at the miserable record that Republican candidates have had at choosing vice presidents since World War II: Eisenhower- Nixon- forced from office later for corruption. Nixon- Agnew, forced from office for corruption. Goldwater- Bill Miller, a lunatic (for the time- today he would probably be too liberal for Republicans) right winger whose only real contribution to the nation's politics was being the father of talk show host Stephanie Miller. Reagan- Bush 1, the only reasonably justifiable choice in decades. Bush 1- Dan Quayle, an intellectually challenged clown. Dole- Jack Kemp, a merciless supply sider; the '90's Paul Ryan Bush- Cheney.  Need I say more? McCain- Sarah Palin, Dan Quayle on steroids. Romney- Paul Ryan. Note:  I leave Gerald Ford's choice of Bob Dole off th...

I hope you are not done gloating over Tuesday, because Green Eagle sure isn't.  Here is a collection of some of the right wing responses to Obama's victory.  I have to say, they seem to have been so shell-shocked by the results that they have been a little slow off the mark with their insanity, but it's coming.  A few more days, and they will be right back where they started from- a pack of losers.  Well, let's get going: Let us start out with this wonderful video, courtesy of Digby: Isn't that just adorable?  Now, on with the show: Katie Pavlich, Town Hall:  "Obama Claims Victory With Collectivist Message" Twenty four hours hadn't even passed, and they were already calling Obama a Communist.  That will really help them come to grips with reality. Brent Bozell, Town Hall:  "Throughout the very long presidential election cycle, two trends remained consistent. The media lauded Obama no matter how horrendous his record, and they savaged O...

We report, you decide.  As a last little look into the pre-election world of delusion that the Republicans were living in, here is the final election prediction of the now-infamous Conservative site Unskewed Polls: "Big Romney Election Day Turnout: QStarNews Election Day Exit Poll: Romney by 5.4 percent in popular vote The FINAL Definitive Projection of the race: Romney wins 51% and 275 EVs (new 11/5) "Basically, in reality, Romney is cleaning up in the swing states and might just win every single one of them including Pennsylvania and Ohio. The liberal alternative fantasy is that we're going to get a Romney wins the popular vote, Obama wins the electoral college because they still believe this fantasy that Obama is going to win most of the key swing states...in fantasy land for liberals with their beloved skewed media polls, it's all Obama. The latest Rasmussen poll of Wisconsin has the race tied at 49 percent each. That means Mitt Romney wins with almost 51 percen...

The torturer and disgraced former soldier Alan West, whose loss to Patrick Murphy is by enough votes to obviate legal requirements for a recall, has sued to  try to overturn the election. "West, the south Florida Republican who has made headlines nationally for his fiery tea party rhetoric, filed motions asking a judge to require elections officials to impound ballots and voting machines. Separately, his campaign alleged "disturbing irregularities" at the polls and called for a recount." There is nothing that happened on Tuesday that should give us more pleasure than having managed, despite West having more corporate funding than any other Congressional candidate in the country, in turning this vicious subhuman monster out of congress.  If he succeeds in this shameful effort, it will be nothing more than one more Congressional election bought by the rich.  And of all of their pet candidates, none brings as much shame on the country as West. West is going ...

Yes, we dodged a bullet last night, but don't forget that their gun is still loaded.  After a few days of self pity and irrational anger (which Green Eagle fully intends to document in his unique fashion,) the Republicans will be right back out there doing everything they can to sell the same old pack of lies they have been peddling for the last hundred years, and once again, they will have vast pools of corporate money to back them up. But, at least for now, we can take comfort in some results of yesterday's election.  First of all, the vast avalanche of rich people's money was not quite enough to buy the Presidency.  Nor did it succeed in purchasing a number of Senate races.  Linda McMahon, in particular, has now spent (so I have read) $77 million of her own money with exactly nothing to show for it.  Forty million was not enough to persuade the people of Ohio to abandon the best Senator in the nation, Sherrod Brown.  And a vicious and well financed cam...

Don't forget- today is Guy Fawkes day.  Almost as important a world-wide holiday as Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Here's a n article from Firedoglake describing the inevitable reaction to Hurricane Sandy from Republicans: "Rebuilding the East Coast after Superstorm Sandy will be an expensive proposition. A new estimate of the cost of the storm now reaches $50 billion, and just protecting New York City from future disasters through the use of a seawall and other barriers would tack on another $15 billion, though that money would be as well spent as any you can devise... in the aftermath of a life-changing event like a hurricane and flood, the shock doctrine starts to factor in. All of a sudden, developers see their chance to hollow out the undergrowth and remake cities and towns in an image that means more private profits for them... The right-wing governors in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and the pro-business New Democrat Andrew Cuomo in New York will be all too happy to facilitate privatization in these projects. There could be billions of dollars sloshing around in these different pr...

From the AP: "As 2012 campaign nears finish, 2016 lurks" God, it will never end.

Nate Silver, much maligned these days for using actual numbers to analyze the Presidential race, has this to say in the New York Times today: "(The polls) represent powerful evidence against the idea that the race is a “tossup.” A tossup race isn’t likely to produce 19 leads for one candidate and one for the other — any more than a fair coin is likely to come up heads 19 times and tails just once in 20 tosses. (The probability of a fair coin doing so is about 1 chance in 50,000.)Instead, Mr. Romney will have to hope that the coin isn’t fair, and instead has been weighted to Mr. Obama’s advantage. In other words, he’ll have to hope that the polls have been biased in Mr. Obama’s favor. ...There are essentially three reasons that a poll might provide an inaccurate forecast of an upcoming election.  The first is statistical sampling error...(the second) is that a poll is a snapshot in time — even if you’re sampling the voters accurately, their opinions could change again ...

Here's David Frum giving the real Republican argument for electing Romney, and in fact the whole argument the last four years for letting Republicans run things: "The question over his head is not a question about him at all. It's a question about his party - and that question is the same whether Romney wins or loses. The congressional Republicans have shown themselves a destructive and irrational force in American politics. But we won't reform the congressional GOP by re-electing President Obama. If anything, an Obama re-election will not only aggravate the extremism of the congressional GOP, but also empower them: an Obama re-election raises the odds in favor of...very possibly a seventh-year impeachment. A Romney election will at least discourage the congressional GOP from deliberately pushing the US into recession in 2013."  So, this is what we have come to in the United States:  One political party feels that it is okay to threaten to destroy t...