Green Eagle

I'm just going to quote Atrios here, because he says it so concisely and so accurately that there is little left to add.  I hope he will forgive me for just reprinting his entire post:* "Nothing To Cheer But for the deficit fetishists, the 2013 deficit is $139 billion lower than Simpson-Bowles promised to deliver. That's actually bad news, and of course it won't even be seen as good news by people who claimed it was the most important thing ever. Because nobody cares about the deficit." Of course, Obama actually doing more than the deficit hawks demanded means nothing, while their shouts and demands that produced nothing prove that they are the sage, wise people who ought to be allowed to run the country. *Ha.  As if he even knows that I am alive. 

And Democrats fall for it, just like always.  This is something that I've been meaning to write about for a while.  The recent dog and pony show in Arizona concerning Jan Brewer's veto of a piggish anti-gay law pushed me over the edge, so here goes: Every time a Republican acts with the faintest shred of apparent decency, liberals fall all over themselves predicting that the fever has broken and Republicans are now going to return to sanity.  Even reliably left wing sites like Daily Kos and Crooks and Liars are acting as though this is true with the Brewer veto as well as with some other things the Republicans have said or done lately. Well, everyone knows that the average American voter has the memory of a small mammal, but we expect our liberal pundits to show a little more retention than that- enough, say, to remember the last election cycle.  Apparently, that is not a reasonable expectation.  So, from someone who does remember, here is a pattern that the...

...And expecting a different result.  From Travis Loller at TPM: "Three days after pastor Jamie Coots died from a rattlesnake bite at church, mourners leaving the funeral went to the church to handle snakes." No comment needed.  Here's another story from the article: "Coots' death was the second snake bite death at his church, which was founded in 1978. Melinda Brown, a 28-year-old mother of five, died in 1995, two days after she was bitten by a rattlesnake during a service. Brown's husband, John Wayne "Punkin" Brown, continued to handle serpents after his wife's death. He was killed by a snake in 1998, at the age of 34, while preaching at an Alabama church." Oh well, I guess God's will was that the human race is better off without these people.

Here comes the biggest asshole in America, Dick Cheney, to spread a little more venom, which will of course be spread far and wide by the press, which will pretend that he is an elder statesman, rather than the war criminal he obviously is. This time, he's attacking Obama (surprise!) for making long past due cuts in our vastly bloated military budget: "I've obviously not been a strong supporter of Barack Obama. But this really is over the top," Cheney said. "It does enormous long-term damage to our military" Of course it wasn't "over the top" to squander three billion dollars of our military budget in one of the greatest military blunders in human history. Here, just for your information, is a little map comparing military and education budgets in countries around the world: Here are the countries that have made a decision to spend more on their military than on education:  Russia, China, India, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, and ...

Coming fast on the news, reported here recently, that a snake handler found out the hard way that God wasn't really protecting him from rattlesnake venom, two more stories popped up today, with a lot to say about the mental character of the right wingers who seem to live among us. First, this rather sad story from the State of Washington: "US ‘faith healers’ sent to prison for death of second sick child   A judge in Philadelphia has imprisoned parents who allowed a second child to die from treatable illnesses because of their faith in the healing powers of Jesus.   Herbert and Catherine Schaible were convicted of withholding medical care from seven-month-old Brandon, who died of pneumonia and dehydration in April.   Another son, Kent, died under similar circumstances in 2009 at age two.   Sentencing them to three to seven years behind bars, judge Benjamin Lerner was unsparing in his condemnation of what he said had been their criminal neglect. “You’ve ...

Since around the time of the last Presidential election, the right wingers in the country have been on an absolute orgy of abuse directed toward the rest of us for allegedly not carrying our weight.  In this fantasy scenario, it's the patriotic Americans in the South and Midwest (and some rich people too) who produce all the economic value, while those of us in urban areas (you know who they are talking about) are spongers, dragging down the economy by living off of the hard work of white small town and rural people.  Well, here is an absolutely fantastic map, which I found in a post by David Atkins at Hullabaloo, which sets the record straight on this issue. As you can see, half of all of the economic activity in the country is produced in about 15 urban areas (inhabited, may I add, largely by a mixture of liberals and, well, you know who) and the other half by all of the misbegotten hellholes which make up the homes of the Republican base.  Mr. Atkins joins wi...

I have to admit that I'm having trouble wading through this garbage these days.  But first, this news: "A farm responsible for a five-mile-long manure spill in the waters in Allegan County is still working to clean up the mess." That's nothing compared to the manure Green Eagle sees every day compiling Wingnut Wrapup. Tom Coburn:   "My Relationship with Obama is 'Cooler' What do you expect, jackass, considering you're trying to impeach him for nothing.  But no, of course it's Obama's fault that he doesn't have a good relationship with one of the worst right wing racists in Congress, who hates him and constantly tells malicious lies about him. Conn Carol, Town Hall:  "How Obama Could Get Amnesty Passed In The House...if Obama is willing to force Senate Democrats to move on the House leadership's existing jobs agenda, then that would build enough trust so that Boehner would feel comfortable bringing amnesty to the floo...

I imagine you've heard this story by now, but in case you haven't: "Reality-Show Snake-Handling Pastor Dies -- From Snake Bite   A Kentucky pastor who starred in a reality show about handling snakes during church services, died Saturday night after a fatal snake bite, police said.   Pastor Gregory Jamie Coots — the star of the National Geographic Channel’s “Snake Salvation” — died...after suffering a snake bite to his finger, Middlesboro police spokeswoman Jeannie Miller told NBC News on Sunday.   Coots was bitten at the church at 8:30 p.m. but died at his home two hours later, after refusing medical treatment “because of religious beliefs,” Miller said." Not our dead guy, just some other self-destructive moron  who thinks he knows more than all the rest of us. Listen, I have exactly as much sympathy for this subhhuman specimen as I have for the idiot who was teaching a suicide bomber class last week and managed to blow himself and his whole clas...

Driving home a couple of days ago, I had the misfortune to listen to an interview on NPR's  Fresh Air, until I couldn't stand it any more.  Let me state that this is not a particular criticism of Terry Gross, the  host of Fresh Air, who did in the end ask the right question- all she failed to do was to hit the guy she was interviewing with a baseball bat after getting his answers.  Anyway, the best way to deal with this is to jump right in to the transcript: "Eric Lipton, an investigative reporter for The New York Times...explains the revolving door between Congress and lobby groups, and how non-profit think tanks aren't always what they seem. GROSS: So one of the things you've been investigating is how corporate lobby groups are funding research that will influence both lawmakers and popular opinion. And one of the ways they're doing that is by funding think-tanks. And give us an example of a think-tank that is funded by a lobby group, although you wou...

So, yesterday there seems to have been a second disaster caused by the coal mining industry in West Virginia.  This time 100,000 gallons of coal slurry spilled into a river. Well, I'm sick of writing about this, so I only want to point out one thing.  The company that caused the latest spill is named the Patriot Coal Company.  The one that caused the last one was named Freedom Industries. What the hell is the matter with these people?  I mean really, do they think it's okay to cause criminal damage to hundreds of thousands of people, if you just name yourself with one of the teabaggers' favorite words.  You can poison anyone you want if you are a patriot, or if you are for freedom. This is a little thing, but it is just one more example of how sick this country is.

I'm not going to even bother repeating the latest bad news, which is the same as I've been reporting all along: like all nuclear power companies, TEPCO was interested in profits, not safety.  If you want to see the details, look here.

Evil.  Here's the sort of thing we normally think of when we hear the word: These days, I'm thinking of something else.  Here's what I think of these days when I hear the word "evil:" Recognize her?  It's Cokie Roberts, child of inside-the-beltway privilege, and the poster girl for horse-race politics in which everything is personality, nothing has anything to do with the issues. Well, I made a big mistake yesterday.  They took Stephanie Miller off the air so they could have a fourth right wing radio station in Los Angeles (with no left leaning ones,) so driving to work I made the bad decision to turn on to that bastion of "liberalism," NPR.  There, I had the experience of listening to Cokie Roberts explain the recent  CBO report on Obamacare to the American people.  Here's what she said: “Well, because the Congressional Budget Office said that the law would result in the loss of two million full-time workers over seven years. That’s...

This is in regard to the recent dumping of a massive quantity of coal ash sludge into the Dan river in North Carolina by a power company, Duke energy.  You may have never heard about this environmental disaster, as the press was far more focused on the Olympic ring that didn't light up in Sochi. "NC regulators shielded Duke's coal ash pollution...RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Over the last year, environmental groups have tried three times to use the federal Clean Water Act to force Duke Energy to clear out leaky coal ash dumps like the one that ruptured last week, spewing enough toxic sludge into a North Carolina river to fill 73 Olympic-sized pools. Each time, they say, their efforts have been stymied — by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The state agency has blocked the citizen lawsuits by intervening at the last minute to assert its own authority under the federal act to take enforcement action. After negotiating with Duke, the state proposed settle...

Well, here's the latest news about the lies and deception surrounding the Fukushima disaster: "TEPCO has revised the readings on the radioactivity levels at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant well to 5 million becquerels of strontium per liter – both a record, and nearly five times higher than the original reading of 900,000 becquerels per liter. Strontium-90 is a radioactive isotope of strontium produced by nuclear fission with a half-life of 28.8 years. The legal standard for strontium emissions is 30 becquerels per liter. Exposure to strontium-90 can cause bone cancer, cancer of nearby tissues, and leukemia. Tokyo Electric Power Co. originally said that the said 900,000 becquerels of beta-ray sources per liter, including strontium - were measured in the water sampled on July 5 last year. However, the company noted on Friday that the previous radioactivity levels had been wrong, meaning that it was also likely reading taken from the other wells at the disaster-struck plant...

And here we go again- another plunge into the insanity that is today regarded as political opposition in the United States.  It would be a little funnier if it weren't destroying us all. Let's just start with the grand Republican lie of the week.  I have already written about this, but it bears repeating: Guy Benson, Town Hall (and about a million other similar stories):  "CBO: Obamacare Driving Millions Out of Work Force" Here is what the report actually said: "The estimated reduction stems almost entirely from a net decline in the amount of labor that workers choose to supply, rather than from a net drop in businesses' demand for labor, so it will appear almost entirely as a reduction in labor force participation and in hours worked relative to what would have occurred otherwise rather than as an increase in unemployment (that is, more workers seeking but not finding jobs) or underemployment (such as part-time workers who would prefer to work more ho...

From the International Business Times website:

Some of you may have seen stories about the release yesterday of the CBO report on Obamacare.  Twisting a sentence to imply something that it was never meant to, Republicans immediately started crowing about an alleged (and nonexistend) loss of two million jobs because of Obamacare. Numerous people were quick to rebut this belligerent nonsense, but did that stop Conservatives?  At the end of the day, I started looking for how this matter was reported in wingnut world.  Here are a few things I found before I couldn't stand it any more: Town Hall "Democrats Spinning Madly on Devastating CBO Report" "Thanks Obama! Care- Now with 25% Fewer Jobs!" Red State "The NYTimes Touts 2.5 Million Full Time Job Losses as a Win" "ObamaCare Will Cost America More Than Two Million Jobs" PJ Media: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the Congressional Budget Office report that shows Obamacare will make the labor force lose 2.3 million full-...

Not this bad: "Florida 'Superhuman' Cannibal Shot Dead After Eating Boy's Face" Florida.  If the cannibal had lived, he would have pled "stand your ground" and been let go. And I hate to tell you this, but it isn't the first time: "A similar case of 'face-eating' occurred in December 2012 when Rudy Eugene, renamed Miami Cannibal, ate the face of homeless Ronald Poppo in Florida. Poppo underwent intensive medical treatment as 80 per cent of his face was eaten by Eugene as he was under the influence of drugs. Eugene was shot dead by the police following the attack." Like I said, Florida.

So, I thought it was about time to check in on Operation American Spring, the sponsors of the forthcoming May 16th March on Washington to Overthrow the Communist Government. In case you're interested, they are now predicting a turnout of 10,000,000.  The last March on Washington to Overthrow the Communist Government, you may remember, drew 130, but they are expecting 9,999,870 more to turn up this time.  Well, anyway, while on the site, I found this video featuring one Joseph S. Perna, who is apparently one of the leaders of the upcoming march.  I have to say that Mr. Perna's demeanor and what he has to say exemplify the American right more than almost anything I have ever seen in my decades of following them.  If you really want to know what they are all about, you could do no better than to watch a little of this video.  I am serious about this- here they are, openly displaying their nature.  Give it a try and see how much you can take: Well, there it...

 So, the CBO releases a report on Obamacare, and Republicans immediately begin telling a phenomenal lie about it.  What's the reaction of the mainstream press? Here's a wonderful comment from the White House reporter from the New York Times: "Tho much reporting & GOP response to new CBO report on ACA is inaccurate/false, problem for Dems: If you're explainin', you're losin'" If you're explainin' you're losin'.  And I guess if you're lyin' you're winnin'. Of course, maybe the liars would have a little more trouble winning if the press, whose responsibility it is to report the truth, pointed out the lies.  But no, that would never do.  Driving to work this morning, I made the mistake of listening to an NPR segment about the CBO report.  They allowed three Repubicans to come on and repeat the absolute lie that the report said that Obamacare would cost 2 million jobs- something so false that even the normally o...

Because everything is good news for Republicans, right?  Here's a map, courtesy of Daily Kos, showing when population peaked by county in the United States.  The palest yellow counties are at essentially peak population now, with successively darker counties having peaked earlier, the violet ones peaked in the 19th century: Here's another map I found, showing the vote in the 2012 Presidential election by county: Notice that the areas shown in red or darker in the first map, counties which have declined in population for quite a good while now, are almost entirely in Republican areas.  Democratic areas are mostly near maximum population today.  There are Republican areas that are experiencing relatively stable population, but a lot of them are out West, where there is minimum population.  Other than Florida and the upper South into Ohio and Indiana, most Republican areas are well past their prime. This does not bode well for the chances for Republicans ...

And boy were they prescient!  I don't know if any of you clicked on the link at the bottom of the last Wingnut Wrapup which contained a list of Obama's murder victims stretching back to before he was ten years old, but if you did, you would have found at the bottom of the story a list from 2008 of what would have happened by 2012 if we elected Obama.  I thought you would all like to see this absolutely magnificent list of predictions of what life under the Black Man would be like: "Projections of what will happen before November 6, 2012: •  Major, widespread terrorist attack campaign throughout the United States   •  Martial law   •  Use of concentration camps – FEMA camps   •  Major tactical nuclear war in the Middle East   •  Assassinations of top political leaders and military generals   •  Civil war   •  Major election fraud will occur – big surprise there    •  European Union ...