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Showing posts from September, 2013

The Long Game

I am now ready, based on my experience, to predict what the Republicans are really up to in Washington.  What is going on this week is just a trial run, to refine their strategy for shutting down the government.  The real action is going to come in a few weeks, with the debt ceiling fight. The Republicans will know after tonight that they indeed do have a way to stop anything from happening in Congress.  They will use this power to refuse to allow a raising of the debt ceiling.  At that point the economy of the United States and the entire world will stand at a precipice, ready to plunge into chaos. Obama will be forced to use whatever power he has to avert this catastrophe.  No matter what he does as President, it will be alleged by Republicans to be a violation of the Constitution, based on the totally fictitious argument that he has no right to do anything without Congressional approval.  This will serve as the basis for them to institute impeachment...

Green Eagle is Stunned

Well, here is a right wing smear that has even Green Eagle reeling from the sheer audacity of it.   Wingnut talk show host Erik Rush is pushing the following theory:  The recent killing spree by a psychotic individual at the Washington Navy Yard was actually ordered by Barack Obama as "retaliation" because the Navy was about to arrest Obama. Let's just leave aside for the moment what it is usually called when a branch of the military "arrests" the legal head of state (that part of it seems just fine with Erik,) and ask why, in Erik Rush's opinion, the Navy was about to arrest Obama.  Well, because Obama, facing a failed vote to let him attack Syria, was so committed to war that he was about to detonate a nuclear bomb in the middle of Washington D.C. and then claim that the Syrians had set it off, all to force Congress to let him go to war.  Yes, he was going to kill millions of Americans and destroy our Capitol in order to win a vote in Congress.  That i...

Bill O'Reilly Explains the Bible

That highly respected biblical scholar and all-around great guy, Bill O'Reilly, has graced us with a book explaining what the bible is really about. Well, here is Bill's revelation of what the life of Jesus was all about: "Bill O'Reilly's new book says Jesus died to free the Jews from taxation The basic argument of the book is that Jesus died because he interfered with the taxation-heavy Roman revenue stream. The reason the Jews eagerly anticipated the Messiah, writes O’Reilly, is, “When that moment arrives, Rome will be defeated and their lives will be free of taxation and want.” Over the years, I have made the claim that all Conservatism in this country is about is "cut my taxes."  Right wingers don't want to pay their share to run the country, and that is the whole story.  The rest is nothing but window dressing designed to distract attention from the overwhelming greed of Conservatives, the nation's true bloodsucking welfare class. ...

Extortion, Explained

I think it is a good idea to take a look at the extortionate demands the Republican party is now making in return for not crashing the global economy.  If you haven't looked at them in a little detail, you probably have little idea just how piggish and extreme they are.  So here, from a list compiled by Ezra Klein , are some of the details, along with Green Eagle's comments: a yearlong delay of Obamacare- An attempt to destroy legally enacted legislation through brute force financed by the rich. Rep. Paul Ryan’s tax reform plan- A massive giveaway to the rich, financed by cutting programs for the poor and middle class, and a total non-starter when it was proposed as actual legislation.  Now, they will try to blackmail the country into accepting it. the Keystone XL pipeline- A giveaway to the energy industry, with no appreciable benefit for the American people. more offshore oil drilling- A giveaway to the energy industry more drilling on federally protected ...

How It Starts

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And how it ends: And if you think I'm kidding, you're not paying attention to things.  I've just about had it with pretending that the United States is just going through some sort of normal swing.  Ted Cruz is now the leading choice to be President among Republicans.  It sure makes you understand how so many jackasses could have supported Hitler and Mussolini back in the day.  I never did understand that until the last few years, but I do now.

Wingnut Wrapup

Respectfully dedicated today to Allen West, who, after being kicked out of the army for torturing prisoners and barely surviving one term in Congress before getting booted by the voters, has now been fired by PJ Media, one of Wingnut Wrapup's main sources for right wing piggishness, for some sort of violent anti-Semitic outburst which we all know has to go far beyond the details that have emerged.  Bye Allen- again. Leah Barkoukis, Town Hall:  "Samuel L. Jackson to Obama: Stop Dropping Your G’s, “Be F***ing Presidential” Barack Obama to Samuel L. Jackson:  "I got Osama Bin Laden.  You got some snakes.  On a plane.  In a movie.  Listen, when I can use your advice, I'll get back to you. Jonah Goldberg, Town Hall:  "Ted Cruz, the GOP's Obama" Ha.  What next, "Green Eagle, the GOP's Kobe Bryant"?  That makes just as much sense. Daniel J. Mitchell, Town Hall:  "Is Defending the Second Amendment akin to Supporting Slavery?" It...

Dead Man Walking

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I hope Ted Cruz is having a real good time throwing his tantrum in the Senate, because Green Eagle is able to announce that TED CRUZ'S POLITICAL CAREER IS OVER.  Ted and his true peer as a conscienceless demagogue What we've just seen the last couple of weeks is this guy Ted Cruz, a freshman Senator, making life holy hell for Republican Congressional leaders, all in pursuit of his own fame and power.  Do you think they will ever forget that? Here's something I learned long ago, from my brief experience with Republican insider politics:  Henchmen who are willing to do anything can be useful for a time, but you have to remember that if they will stab someone else in the back for you, they will be willing to stab you in the back when it suits their purpose.  You may use them for a time, but it is essential that you get rid of them as soon as they have served their purpose; otherwise you have taken a wolf into your house.  Well, Ted has now shown the Re...

Ted Cruz Explained At Last

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Of course we have been wondering how a person that allegedly went to Princeton and Harvard could possibly believe the things Ted Cruz says, which do nothing but make us laugh uncontrollably.  Well, after seeing the following picture of this "Ted Cruz," Green Eagle has finally solved this deep mystery: That's not Ted Cruz- it is clearly Bill Murray, who has done his fellow South Carolina resident Steven Colbert one better by actually becoming a U.S. Senator, to give himself a national platform to tell his jokes. There, isn't that a lot more believable than the notion that a jerk this out of control is actually in the Senate?  I bet you feel much better now, knowing that it is nothing but a Saturday Night Live skit.  You had us all scared there for a while, Bill.

Asymmetry

A few stories from the New York Times this morning: "Mall Becomes War Zone As Gunmen Kill Dozens In Nairobi Terror Attacks" Muslims killing non-Muslims at a facility partly owned by Israelis. "Israeli Soldier Lured Off and Killed" By a Palestinian hoping to use his dead body to manipulate Israelis into releasing his brother, convicted of a gun attack, from jail. "3 Coalition Soldiers Shot Dead in Afghanistan" By Islamic forces, needless to say. "Suicide Attack Kills Scores in Baghdad" A Sunni killing at least 72 people at a Shiite funeral And of course, this one: "Claiming the Heart of Jerusalem...Small groups of Jews are increasingly ascending the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City..." Now, just guess which one of these stories, involving over a hundred forty murders, is described as: "...a provocation that could undermine the fragile peace talks started this summer....Palestinian leaders say the...

Do Not Call Up That Which You Cannot Put Down

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-The famous maxim of Howard Lovecraft. Here is something I've believed about Lovecraft, which has been largely ignored by his devoted readers (I am one too).  Lovecraft's work was actually very prophetic and politically significant.  From the early 1920's Lovecraft was virtually the only writer to envision a rapidly approaching time when one person or a small cabal would have the power to destroy humanity.  Nuclear science made this a reality militarily within ten years of his death, but advances in communication and propaganda technology, coupled with the concentration of previously inconceivable wealth in the hands of a few, have now made it possible politically. Over the last half century, and with ever increasing intensity, the Republican party has set about creating in the United States a cadre of living zombies, people filled with rage and hunger, and immune to any kind of introspection or critical thinking.  Like any Lovecraft villain, the leaders of ...

More Irresponsible Lying from the Mainstream Press

Today's example from Reuters via this execrable article at Yahoo: "In the short term, the White House's decision to strike a deal with Russia over Syria's chemical weapons bailed President Barack Obama out of a Syria use-of-force vote that he was likely to lose. But in the medium term,  what has transpired after the  August 21 chemical weapons attack  in Damascus has clearly favored Assad, Russia, Iran. Assad The most significant change in the White House position is that it now seeks to "transition" Assad out of power only after his chemical weapons are destroyed. That means Assad is no longer a "dead man walking." And he immediately used his newfound standing to demand that the U.S. stops threatening to strike Syria and ceases arming Syrian rebels or else Syria won't fulfill the deal." So, let me get this straight.  A couple of weeks ago, Assad denied he even had chemical weapons, and the Soviets backed him up.  Now, he has admitt...

An Absolutely Amazing Discovery

"Places with higher gun ownership rates also have higher firearms-related deaths, a new study finds." Who could have ever guessed that?

Tom DeLay's Wife: 'He Was Being Punished By The Liberals'

And?  What's your point, lady?  Tom DeLay is and has been for years a monstrous criminal sucking the life out of the government and the American people.  Are you trying to tell us that he doesn't deserve to be punished for that? Forget it.  He and all of his Republican friends deserve far more punishment than we will ever be able to dole out to them.  That's one of the reasons this country continues down the slope to hell.

A Plea to Republicans

Shut the damned country down, already, and get your tantrum over with.

More Nothing on Guns

From the Washington Post this morning, the following useless comment on the state of gun control in this country: "Everything was supposed to change after a man with a semiautomatic weapon mowed down 20 elementary school children in their classrooms last December. But for the politicians, nothing changed." Supposed to change.  Saying "I told you so" is little consolation, but by the day after the Sandy Hook shooting, I said that nothing was going to change, because that is what was "supposed" to happen- supposed by the rich people who own the country today, whose attitude is that nothing will come between them and their grotesque profits. This time, the tone is different.  I don't even hear anyone even suggesting that things are going to change this time around, regardless of the fact that 90% of Americans favor those changes.  Everyone knows that nothing is going to change, unless gun manufacturers figure out a way to make even more money b...

Abominable Monsters

The people that many Americans have turned their government over to.  Case in point today:  Detroit.  Here's a story that came out of this sad city in the last couple of days: "Major Detroit Power Outage Stretches Into Second Day...- The power is still off in Detroit.  Parts of the city’s downtown and midtown districts were knocked offline Wednesday when the public lighting system experienced an overload due to excessive heat.   “Some institutional public lighting customers are experiencing service interruption caused by extreme heat, cable failure, and routine maintenance — all combining causing system overload,” said Robert Warfield, a spokesman for the Detroit Mayor’s Office.  The outage is affecting Wayne State University’s main campus, the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, the City-County building, the Detroit Historical Museum, and the People Mover — all of which are closed until further notice.   Gary Brown, the city’s chief compliance offic...

Wingnut Wrapup

I've been pretty lax about this lately.  Here's a load of nonsense for those who care: Alan Sears Town Hall: No City of Man Without the City of God...Compromising religious beliefs should not be the cost of citizenship. These beliefs are essential to prompt man's consciousness and help society flourish." Unless you are a Muslim.  Or a Buddhist or a Hindu or anything but a right wing "Christian." Charles Krauthammer, Human Events:  "A president doesn’t commit soldiers to a war for which he has zero enthusiasm." We just had eight years of a President with all sorts of enthusiasm for war.  How did that work out?  Personally, I'm looking for calm decision making in a President, not "enthusiasm" for killing people.  Just call me crazy, I guess. Jim Hoft, Gateway Pundit:  "Obama Calls Syria Presser… Shows Up 35 Mins Late" The Horror!  Impeachment! Madeline Crabb, Renew America:  "Believe it or not, the United Sta...

The Real Threat

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Do you need to be reminded why our country has gone from the strongest economy and society in the world to little more than a third world nation?  No, it's not Bashir Assad with his poison gas, or a few dozen Al Qaida murderers in Benghazi.  It's not the imaginary bands of black criminals roving our cities, or the welfare chiselers who are consuming less than 1% of our national budget.  Here is what is really destroying us: "An almost completely unknown group with strong ties to the Koch brothers has identified itself as the secret source of almost a quarter of a billion dollars received by conservative political groups in 2012. The group, Freedom Partners, raised $256 million in the year following its creation in November 2011, and made grants totaling $236 million to conservative groups...“a totally unknown group was the largest sugar daddy for conservative groups in the last election, second in total spending only to Karl Rove’s American Crossroads and Crossroads ...

And Another Right Wing Fail

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The wingnut marches on Washington have been coming thick and fast these days.  Today, on the first anniversary of BENGHAZEEEEEE!!!! a right wing march was called to assemble by the Capitol. Here's a photo of the magnificent turnout: Nothing to say about this, really, except that the press will go on pretending that there is massive American support for pursuing these endless Conservative phony outrages, so they need to receive lots of coverage.

Intelligent Discourse, Wingnut Style

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From one of our favorites, World Net Daily, this screen capture, illustrating the sophisticated level of analysis we have come to expect from Republicans: And no, I did not play the video.  Really, enough is enough.

No End to the Lying

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In the post below, I covered the utter failure of the million man march on Washington this week, organized by Police Chief Kessler and an alleged cohort of other law enforcement officials, as a result of which Obama was going to be driven from the country. Well, as usual, right wingers seem to live in another world than we do.  Here is a photo from the march's facebook page today showing the monumental success of the march: / Man, that is impressive, isn't it?  I guess there really are a lot of people out there who want to destroy the country.  Even God seems to have shown up. Well, just for comparison of what a left wing crowd might look like, here is a photo of the recent ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's march on Washington, obtained from PBS coverage of the event.  I'm sure it will be pitiful compared to the above: Wait just a minute here...there is something frighteningly similar about these two photos, the second of ...

Oh, the Humanity

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As you know, Green Eagle has specialized over the years at bringing you the latest news about the many  massive  pathetic marches and demonstrations constantly planned and carried out by the teabaggers and their ilk. Just a couple of days ago I posted about the latest one, planned by many patriotic groups, most notably the police chief from Pennsylvania who has distinguished himself lately as a world class jackass. Here's a sample of the publicity for this great patriotic gathering of the American people, furious that our President is black a Communist Muslim foreign-born traitor: Why, look!  September 9th- that's today!  Is Obama still running our country or have these patriots succeeded in their righteous demands and packed him off to Kenya, where he came from? How lucky we are to be living in an age when we can almost instantaneously witness such a massive, historic event! Here is a picture of the National Mall taken in the middle of this afternoon, wh...

Another Baby Step Toward Fascism

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I've written before about Pennsylvania police chief Mark Kessler, who has taken to threatening the lives of any politicians who oppose him, and Democrats in general.  I have noted how his showing up at local government meetings with an armed, and very hostile gang of like minded right wingers is totally reminiscent, except in scale, of the tactic for which the SA was created, and which Hitler used right up until the 1933 action that did away with all other political parties. A couple of pictures of Kessler's armed idiots showing up to intimidate opponents at open government meetings.  This is the way the United States should be run, right wing style. Well, here is another sort of behavior by Kessler and his followers that bears comparison to some historical events: "The real story is Kessler’s call for a military coup.  Kessler has called for a massive march to be held next week in Washington, where he hopes the military will join with the people to “give...

No End to Right Wing Gun Idiocy

Or the nearly unbelievable stupidity of the majority of people who live in the center of the country: "Iowa Debates Permitting Blind People To Carry Guns In Public...As lawmakers across the country debate gun safety laws, law enforcement officials in Iowa are split on whether the state should continue issuing guns to blind people." A note:  Iowa is not issuing guns to blind people, just permits to carry them in public where, if there is, say, a shooting at a mall or a school, they will be easily able to zoom in on the bad guys and shoot them without hitting any innocent bystanders.  Because, freedom!  This article is illustrated with a picture which has the following caption: "Michael Barber of Altoona, Iowa, examining a gun with his hands. Barber is blind and doesn’t believe eyesight is necessary to fire a weapon effectively." Unless, of course, you mean by firing a weapon effectively, hitting an appropriate target.  If all you mean is shooting your gun...

The Curse of Bush

So, we've all been forced to listen to a couple of endless weeks of the meaningless idiocy that is all that comes anymore from the Very Smart People and our miserable excuse for a mainstream press.  And we have also seen that our abused populace is still so traumatized by the nation's adventures in Iraq that they are incapable of judging any foreign policy issue except through the lens of the recent military disaster brought to us by the last administration. Bush and Cheney, sad to say, still largely rule this country.  Their willful plundering of the economy has left us with virtually no maneuvering room to remedy the financial collapse they caused, and now we see that their unimaginably incompetent management of our foreign policy and our military has left the vast majority of the American people incapable of reacting rationally about any assertion of our role in the world, no matter how minor. We expect nothing, of course, but blind opposition from Republicans, who can ...

I Can't Stand This Much Longer

I cannot take the soul-crushing boredom of the absolutely inane national "discussion" we are having over Obama's potential launching of a couple of missiles into Syria. Obama and his people (including the more-than-usually-hapless John Kerry) on the one hand, cannot articulate a single target for their potential attack that would change a thing in Syria if it were eliminated.  And the Republicans and many liberal Democrats too are resorting to a pack of meaningless, foolish arguments to oppose Obama, squandering whatever chance this country has to have a meaningful discussion about foreign policy, and what we can and cannot achieve. Other than the fact that this idiotic argument is largely drowning out the Republicans' last minute campaign to get Americans to cut their own throats rather than give themselves medical care, it is already clear that this whole sordid affair is going to do nothing but leave our national decision making process even more irrelevant and...

More Bad Reasoning on Syria

This time mainly from the left, typified by this headline from Daily Kos today: "We can't be spectators to slaughter, except for all those other slaughters" The essence of this argument is that, because we did nothing about Rwanda, nothing about the slaughter in the Congo and next to nothing about the endless series of ethnic wars perpetrated in Sudan, we don't have the right to do anything about Syria. Put this baldly, the argument seems (I hope) idiotic.  But like the claim that we can't trust Obama because we couldn't trust Bush and Cheney, it is a principal refuge of liberals who don't want to see the United States do anything in Syria. Well, I guess if you buy the notion that, once you have done the wrong thing, you are never allowed to do the right thing, this might make sense.  But I don't think that many of us believe that people can never change.  In fact, when I hear either one of these arguments, what it makes me suspect is that p...

The Nuclear Power Industry- Our Friend

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Here is a horrible story from the BBC that would be shocking if it weren't all too predictable: "Radiation levels around Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant are 18 times higher than previously thought, Japanese authorities have warned...Last week the plant's operator reported radioactive water had leaked from a storage tank into the ground. It now says readings taken near the leaking tank on Saturday showed radiation was high enough to prove lethal within four hours of exposure." This nuclear disaster took place two years ago, and of course we are just learning the truth about it today.  How could a massive leak of radiation gone unreported all that time? "The Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) had originally said the radiation emitted by the leaking water was around 100 millisieverts an hour.   However, the company said the equipment used to make that recording could only read measurements of up to 100 millisieverts.  The new recording, using a m...