Green Eagle

More of the finest in self-serving lunacy, from our counterparts on the stupid side of the aisle: Conn Carroll, Town Hall:  "Obama Celebrates Abortion on Anniversary of Roe v Wade" Because of course he did.  He danced in the streets.  Right after he celebrated Communism and Sharia law too, and had a picture of Satan tattooed on his chest. Matt Vespa, Town Hall:  "Bush To Romney: Hey, Let's Talk About How We Can Avoid A 2016 Bloodbath" Stay home.  That's about all I can think of. Jim Hoft, Gateway Pundit:  "WOW! Kid Rock Blasts Michael Moore and Seth Rogen" Wow!  Kid Rock!  Kid Rock blasts Seth Rogen!  I guess liberalism has finally died! Linda Kimball, Renew America:  "Evolution: anti-creation religion of secular atheism & the Green Dragon" The Green Dragon?  You mean the inn in Martin Chuzzlewit?  I didn't even know that was a real place.  And you think she calmed down after that? "The goal of ...

And you can't believe the idiotic explanations the mainstream press is trying to make to cover up the obvious reality:  he couldn't convince enough of his fellow rich sociopaths to finance his run.  That's it.  No other reason.  The rich sociopaths are already coalescing behind the figure that I have been saying is going to be the next Republican nominee- the Bush guy.  Despite Mitt's whole life having been consumed by greed, he never convinced the really heavy hitters that he could be trusted enough to do their bidding without question- something that they can count on with Bush.  So, Bush it is.  Nothing left to see here but a few rides around the circus tent by the Republican clown car, and then, the rich guys get their nominee, as they always do.  Then all that remains is for them to spend the next two years in the almost incomprehensibly difficult task of convincing anyone but the usual right wing zombies that they give a God damn about the m...

The notion of the "sleeper cell," a group of subversives planted in a country with orders to live anonymously like normal citizens until called on to do their damage, really grew into a popular idea during the cold war, promoted by the same sort of people who now talk about Sharia law in the Unites States, and Al Qaida troops coming across the Mexican border, to sow fear and panic among the American people.  We've heard such utterly unsubstantiated talk a lot, the last few years, about Muslims in the United States and Europe.  But curiously enough, the most malignant sleeper cell in the country, which has done damage so immense to the American people that Al Qaida or ISIS could never dream of such accomplishments, continues on its course of destruction with essentially no opposition.  This sleeper cell consists of the five corrupt "Conservative" Justices, carefully implanted on the Supreme Court by a concerted Republican campaign going back to Nixon's elevat...

Sometimes you just can't believe how brazen people can be. The Senate Republicans, now that they are in the majority, have changed the name of the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on the Constitution, civil and human rights.  It's now called the subcommittee on the Constitution, and the chairman has announced that its main activity in the coming Congress will be to "investigate" President Obama's alleged abuses of the Constitution.  I guess that's the most important thing on their agenda, now that the country's civil and human rights situation has improved so much that they don't need to worry about that any more.

Now that the execrable Benjamin Netanyahu has determined to spread some of his malice by interfering in American foreign policy, I want to say a little about him that I think Americans fail to realize. I first started encountering Netanyahu in the nineties, and he immediately had a familiar feel to me. He reminded me of nothing so much as the demagogic, lying, self-serving politicians that populate the Republican party in the United States. This was something that Israelis could not be expected to understand, of course, but for a more fundamental reason than the fact that they didn't live here.  Netanyahu was the first Israeli leader who had not participated in either the struggle for independence or the early years of the State of Israel. Israeli politicians before him, however awful some of them may have been, always had a commitment to the welfare of the State that came from their role in its founding, and which provided a sort of brake to their self-serving instincts. Somew...

I read in the New York Times this morning of the death of Joe Franklin, a New York TV personality who was perhaps the main creator of the TV talk show as we know it today.  He remained a local broadcaster, so most people never had a chance to listen to his show, but I wanted to remember him today, because he uttered one of the great quotations in American life: "Sincerity is everything.  Once you learn to fake that, you'v got it made."

The Disneyland measles outbreak has given a bit of negative publicity to the idiots in the anti-vaccine movement, so naturally it's an opportunity for Green Eagle to cast his cynical light on this movement. I have to first state one of my longest held beliefs: there is no one on earth easier to lie to than yourself.  That is because people believe lies, by and large, not because they are plausible, but because it suits their purpose to do so, and there is no one on earth that has a greater interest in believing your lies than you do.  So the line between deliberate lying and self-delusion is often a very fine one.  Still, I do not believe that the anti-vaccine movement is about health issues any more than I believe that, when Conservatives rail against higher taxes they are really trying to uphold some invisible passages in the Constitution. The popular conception of the anti-vaxxers is that they are predominantly liberal, and I have no reason to doubt that.  Nev...

File this in single statements that make it utterly unacceptable that a person should even have a shot at running for President of the United States: "Former Fox News host Mike Huckabee said on Thursday that if he was elected president then he would have "God's blessing" to fight a so-called "secular theocracy" that had been imposed by atheists." And these are the guys who claim they are the only ones that care about the Constitution.

Who cares?  The next one will be just as big a pig as this one was.

Today's Wingnut Wrapup dedicated to Dinesh D'Souza, for the most piggish analogy I've heard lately: "AN INTERESTING PARALLEL: MLK was targeted by J. Edgar Hoover, an unsavory character; I was targeted by the equally unsavory B. Hussein Obama." Martin Luther King, of course, being targeted for his advocacy of equal treatment under the law; D'Souza found guilty of campaign finance fraud.  Exactly the same thing.  Just don't count on having a national holiday to remember your great sacrifice, Dinesh, at least not until Rand Paul or Rick Santorum is elected President. And how about this: Willard "Mitt" Romney:  "Under President Obama the rich have gotten richer, income inequality has gotten worse and there are more people in poverty in American than ever before." Run, Mitt, Run.  Say, ready to release those tax returns yet? Katy Kieffer, Town Hall:  "Why Orthodox Jewish Women are Happy" Why do you think?  It's...

The ever arrogant Ted Cruz decides to deliver an unscripted response to the State of the Union Address, because whatever Ted Cruz rattles off at any time is surely better than a speech weeks in the crafting from the President.  Ted then tried to remove it from the internet, showing that there is one more thing he knows nothing about. Well, here it is- the usual mixture of lies, delivered with the patented Ted Cruz smirking contempt for everyone but himself: Boy, aren't you glad that whoever ends up being President two years from today, it won't be this jerk?

Oh, who cares?

Here's a chart I cribbed from Daily Kos showing the current state of Obama's approval ratings: Before getting on to my main point, can I just point out how far from the norm delusional Republican voters are?  There is only a two point difference in disapproval between Democrats and independents.  The gap between independents and Republicans is 37 points. Well, here's a little of how the reporters at Daily Kos account for this change: "Imagine that! Obama decides he'll fight for people, approvals soar...So what could it be? I have a theory   * Obama issued executive order shifting immigration enforcement efforts away from deporting the undocumented parents of United States citizen children...   * Obama has called for free community college tuition...   * Obama has stood strong against Keystone XL...   * Obama announced actions to reform police departments nationwide...   * Obama normalized relations with Cuba... * Obama announces pl...

So, Obama announces a massive initiative to transfer the burden of paying for the country's needs marginally back to the rich, where it belongs. Yippee!!! Of course, he waited six years to do this, and then did it a few days after Republicans took over both houses of Congress, making it more likely that an asteroid will hit Disneyland than that this tax change will take place. Well, I'm sure that never occurred to him.  I'm sure that it is just an accident that he waited to make a proposal like this, until the very moment that he knew it would have zero chance of being passed by either house of Congress. I mean, we'd never ever suspect Obama of promising good things to the American people only when he will never have to explain to the rich why someone took him seriously and actually made them happen. Anyway, my prediction:  The Cubs will win the World Series before this becomes law.  Ten times.

Which most people will never see, because apparently this story is not important enough to make it into the mainstream press: "White ‘survivalist’ gunman shoots black Oklahoma police chief 4 times — and walks free   A Sentinel, Oklahoma man who shot the town’s police chief four times on Thursday morning was allowed to walk free after questioning.   According to NewsOK.com, Police Chief Louis Ross was shot in the chest three times and once in the arm while responding to a bomb threat at a private residence. He survived with only minor injuries thanks to a borrowed bulletproof vest that he had put on only moments before.   A caller reported that a bomb had been planted in Sentinel Community Action Center, home of the local Head Start program.   Chief Ross and deputies from the Washita County sheriff’s office traced the call to Horton’s residence on State Route 4. Officers entered the residence by breaking down the door.   Encountering no one in the f...

This edition of Wingnut Wrapup dedicated to the Republican party, for chosing Jodi Ernst, the most lunatic new member of Congress, to deliver their response to the State of the Union address.  Because of course they did.  Oh well, this "opportunity" basically destroyed the national hopes of Bobby Jindal and Marco Rubeo.  Here's my guess: it's going to happen again. And now on with the show: Matt Vespa, Town Hall:  "GOP Stand By Scalise, Waits For This Whole Thing To Blow Over" Because of course they do.  I mean, what's wrong with one of your top national party leaders hanging out with an ex-Klan leader and neo-Nazi, and stating that he agrees with a lot of the guy's positions?  The base loves that kind of talk. Jackie Gingrich Cushman, Town Hall:  "New Year Joy" Because we will still have the pleasure of being lectured to by Newt Gingrich's sister. Sarah Jean Seman (yes, that's really her name,) Town Hall:  "New ...

Here's a list of some of the things that our new Republican majority Congress has done in the last two weeks to carry out its pledge to work on behalf of the American people; Voted to cause a false crisis with Social Security and then force a reduction in benefits. Voted to end abortion. Voted to make a "technical" change that would kick millions out of the ACA. House GOP voted to ban  EPA from seeking expert scientific advice...While it forbids biologists from talking about biology, oceanographers from talking about oceans, and climatologists from talking about the climate, it does allow corporate CEOs and thier hired scientists to advise on any of those things. Introducing the Orwellian "Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act,"  which would do neither of those things, but would do away with many regulations on  private equity firms, allowing them to resume their destructive behavior which was a major factor in causing the 2008...

I know you've seen things like this before, but here's another one- from the Washington Post, via Daily Kos, a chart of the percentage of each State's revenues that come from the Federal government: By my count, 16 of the top 20 money-grabbing States are Republican, with two sort of inbetween States (New Mexico and Maine) and two Democratic ones (Oregon and Vermont.) Of course, real evidence like this will only increase the shrieking from Conservatives about how Democrats are taking all the money and giving it to you-know-whom, because you can't have a cherished Republican belief, on which they build their electoral strength, revealed to be a fiction. I'll tell you- I think it's high time that we have a real economic experiment in this country and give the Republicans what they claim to want:  Your State only gets back from the government what it paid in.  Let's see how all of those self-reliant patriots feel after a few years of that.

Yes, Hitler did go to Paris, but it was not to participate in a rally to promote understanding among the races. Perhaps that slipped your mind, or maybe they skipped that part of World War II in your Texas history classes, so they could spend more time discussing why Phyllis Schlafly and William F. Buckley were more important to our country than Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.

Proud that nothing in the world is more important than our fictional "second amendment rights." From The Economist , this news that will surely warm the hearts of our right wing fellow citizens: "ACCORDING to data gathered by the Centres for Disease Control (CDC), deaths caused by cars in America are in long-term decline. Improved technology, tougher laws and less driving by young people have all led to safer streets and highways. Deaths by guns, though—the great majority suicides, accidents or domestic violence—have been trending slightly upwards. This year, if the trend continues, they will overtake deaths on the roads." And here's the chart they provided: I am sure that the news of this milestone in our evolution as a country will be met by this guy and the people like him with tremendous rejoicing: Proud to be an American, Hooyah!!!

So is the black race, Chinese and French people, and every other racial or ethnic category. Since the development of world wide mass transportation, and since the apparently earth-shaking discovery that there are actually worse things than a mixed race couple, the disappearance of these visible but genetically insignificant differences has been inevitable.  The difference in appearance between people from, say, Norway and Nigeria has been maintained for centuries by their relative isolation, which enabled people to maintain the same status as purebread dogs.  Now that we can't keep people apart, and will never be able to do so again, it's inevitable that a certain percentage of white men are going to find a woman like this or this: more appealing than a woman like this: And the same can be said for men and women of all races. And so, bit by bit we are all going to become the same. Tough luck for you, hate filled people.  Your great grandchildren are probabl...

I want to recommend that you spend a few of your precious waking moments taking a look at the comments section of this article on Yahoo:  "Four Jews Killed in Paris To Be Buried in Israel Tuesday." I just don't have the heart to reproduce any of it here, but this seemingly unexceptional piece of news produced an absolutely frightening outpouring of hatred toward Jews.  And this is on a mainstream website, not the Vanguard News Service or Stormfront. You know that every single one of these subhumans will deny to their dying breath that they are haters- they are just telling the truth.  In this regard, of course, they are exactly of a piece with the millions of race baiting jerks in this country who will scream in outrage if you call them racists, but who feel free to engage in open hatred and threats toward Black Americans. I need hardly point out that the vast majority of these comments come from right here in the good old U.S. of A.  This country is in for so...

Ha Ha...Green Eagle got suckered by a satirical post about Sarah Palin.  No, I'm not going to leave it up and make a bigger fool out of myself than I already have, but at least I'll admit that I fell for it.

Green Eagle wants to interrupt his usual commentary to provide the following picture of terrorist Hayat Boumedienne, who is still at large, so that if anyone sees her, they will recognize her: There. wasn't that thoughtful of me?

No one seems to be interested in this story: "Nigeria: 2,000 feared killed in Boko Haram's 'deadliest massacre'   Hundreds of bodies – too many to count – remain strewn in the bush in Nigeria from an Islamic extremist attack that Amnesty International described as the “deadliest massacre” in the history of Boko Haram.   The five-year insurgency killed more than 10,000 people last year alone, according to the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations. More than a million people are displaced inside Nigeria and hundreds of thousands have fled across its borders into Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria." I guess the world just has its priorities. Oh well, now that the Palestinian Authority has been farcically allowed to join the International Criminal Court, I am sure we will soon see Boko Haram doing the same thing to prove their legitimacy as an upholder of the rule of law. Update:  I am now reading that Boko Haram did not in fact kill 2,000 people in this ...

From Reuters, this news, which I find a little disturbing: "Saudi man ordered to leave U.S. over Texas army base incident... A Saudi national who prompted a four-hour lockdown at a U.S. Army post in Texas in November when he claimed to have a bomb in his car pleaded guilty to two federal charges on Thursday and agreed to leave the country in a deal to avoid more prison time.   U.S. District Judge Fred Biery agreed not to sentence Mutasim Abdul-Aziz Alati, 24, to prison on condition he leave immediately and not return for the rest of his life." We have people sitting in Guatanamo who have been incarcerated for twelve years without even having charges brought against them.  Here's a note about what can happen to people who make terrorist threats: "Depending on the state and the nature of the threat, a conviction for making a terrorist threat can result in a prison sentence of 40, and even 100 or more years in prison." And let us not forget that Saud...

From the L. A. Times: PAGE 1:  12 FRENCH PEOPLE KILLED BY TERRORISTS Page 3:  Over 50 Yemenis blown up by terrorists Page 7:  10 bodies and 11 severed heads found in Mexico -Just to keep things in perspective.

So, the NYPD slowdown, in which New York police are making 90% less arrests in many crime categories, is now about two weeks old, without much of a change in peoples' lives. I just want to express my sincere appreciation to the New York Police Department for unselfishly agreed to conduct this massive experiment.  I think we can already see that it demonstrates that there are far too many policemen employed by the City of New York, and in an act of budgetary discipline, it is only right to stop this waste by cutting several thousand police jobs. And a little agreement:  I've been thinking about this for a few days,and I'm glad that others seem to be doing the same.   This, from Daily Kos: "perhaps the NYPD could continue this style of policing with a lot less resources and manpower! Why have a bunch of bums sitting around doing nothing on the taxpayer's dime? Especially when crime is still under control and falling. Especially when the work stoppage has ha...

In case you've never seen it, here it is, the Danish cartoon of Mohammed that started such a vicious tantrum on the part of his followers, which has now claimed ten more lives: If the Western press had not been so cowardly, and had reproduced this around the civilized world, these ten French journalists would be alive today.  I really can't do anything about this tragedy except take the minuscule risk of letting people see what is, to Islamists, sufficient justification for mass murder.

While I'm thinking about religion,  I'd like to get this other thing out there.  It has to do with evolution and the left wing confusion about what the fight against evolution is really all about. I started reading the writings of the anti-evolution people back in the Sixties, initially by digging up a number of the books on the subject mentioned in the chapter on evolution in Martin Gardner's seminal Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, and then visiting Christian bookstores to find more.  This was not too long into the rebirth of opposition to the notion of evolution, which forms a significant part of my account. Attacks on evolution from religious people, and their associated denial of the geological evidence that the world is very old, actually predate Darwin; these people could see the direction that science was going, and almost from the time they first realized how out of joint scientific discovery was with biblical doctrine, they were attempting to refut...

Remember about three hundred thousand Republicans running for election last fall swearing at every step that they never, never, NEVER would ever cut Social Security?  Well, that didn't last long: "With a little-noticed proposal, Republicans took aim at Social Security on the very first day of the 114th Congress.   The incoming GOP majority approved late Tuesday a new rule that experts say could provoke an unprecedented crisis...The largely overlooked change puts a new restriction on the routine transfer of tax revenues between the traditional Social Security retirement trust fund and the Social Security disability program.   House Democrats are sounding the alarm. In a memo circulated to their allies Tuesday, Democratic staffers said that that would mean "either new revenues or benefit cuts for current or future beneficiaries." New revenues are highly unlikely to be approved by the deeply tax-averse Republican-led Congress, leaving benefit cuts as the obviou...

It's been a really slow news time the last couple of weeks, and honestly, I didn't feel like ruining everybody's Christmas season with my usual mean-spirited carping, so I've let things slide for a little while, but I guess it's time to get back on my hobby horse and ride it to death again. Today's rant was inspired by an article in the Sunday New York Times, which has given me an opportunity to complain about one of my pet notions- the explanation for the fact that the Republican party has totally let go of any responsibility to deal with reality, and just seems free to blab out whatever suits their purpose at the moment.  Most people in the media who even dare mention this startling development seem to treat it, as the Times does, as some sort of mass attack of hypocrisy; I think they are wrong about that.  But first, let me present some of the Times' argument to set the stage: "G.O.P. Turns to the Courts to Aid Agenda WASHINGTON — As Republica...