GOP Chair Jim Roddey Calls Obama Supporters "Mentally Retarded."

Pictured above is Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County GOP Chair, Jim Roddey.  It should come as no surprise to you that he is old or white, nor should you be shocked when I tell you that at an election party last night, he called Obama supporters "mentally retarded."  Old, white and ignorant: the base of the Republican Party.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Roddey was telling a joke in front of about 200 people, saying:

"There was a disappointment tonight. I was very embarrassed. I was in this parking lot and there was a man looking for a space to park, and I found a space for him. And I felt badly -- he looked like he was sort of in distress. And I said, 'Sir, here's a place.' And he said, 'That's a handicapped space.' I said, 'Oh I'm so sorry, I saw that Obama sticker and I thought you were mentally retarded."

And, in case you were wondering, yes, the crowd did indeed applaud and laugh at the joke.

I'm pissed at Roddey for a number of reasons, the biggest being that he just made light of the mentally handicapped.  I do, of course, have an Obama sticker on my car, so I'll just get this out of the way right now:

Fuck you, asshole.

Also, Right-Wing blogs and news outlets will now be talking about how us liberals are overreacting to a joke, and how Roddey meant nothing by it.  This is garbage, and I'll come back to it in a second.  He did apologize today, according to a separate article on the same news site:

In email today, Mr. Roddey called his remarks "regrettable," and added, "I have a long record of supporting people with disabilities and should have remembered that before I spoke. My remarks were inappropriate and I apologize."

I appreciate the apology, but obviously it's not up to me to accept it or decline it.  I am curious, however, as to why Sarah Palin didn't nose her way into this (here's the garbage I mentioned like four sentences ago).  A liberal says something about the handicapped (which I don't condone either) and she jumps all over it, but a conservative makes a distasteful joke and she's silent.  What the fuck, Palin?  Don't pick and choose your battles based on party lines.  That's a pretty strong indication that you don't actually have any moral fortitude on the subject.

Image found at The TexasFred Blog.  

I'm only mentioning that to cite the source.  Don't actually go there.

He's surprisingly quite conservative despite the picture.

Also, he sucks.

Political Spitfire - Two Week Round Up.

So I've been absent for a little while, as I'm sure my regular readers have noticed.  My fan page and special blog email have flooded with questions like, "Where are you?" and "Where the hell are you?" (Not really).  Well, I've been sick.  With the flu. 

And what a horrible time to be sick it was.  I missed so much and, because of that, you missed so much.  Because I'm your only source for news.  Right?

...Right?

Anyway, rather than make empty promises about how I'm going to catch up on all that stuff, I'm just going to quickly recap the things I would've written about had I not been sleeping away my illness.  Buckle your seat belts, people.

1.) Rush Limbaugh

Not 48 hours after my last post in which I criticized him for his remarks towards Danica Patrick, Rush Limbaugh dug himself a deeper grave when he called Sandra Fluke a "slut" and a "prostitute."  The day after that, he insisted that if women want the taxpayer's to pay for their contraception, then we (I assume he means himself there and not the taxpayers as a whole) "should get something out of it."  That something being internet videos of said women having sex.  As numerous groups, sites, and individuals have pointed out, Rush Limbaugh has absolutely no idea what he is talking about at any level.  I won't get into that myself, but I urge you to cross reference what he said with actual facts.  The results will surprise you.  Also, Limbaugh has since lost more than one hundred sponsors from his show.  I sincerely hope that this marks the end of Limbaugh's hold on shitty talk radio as well.

2.) James Inhofe

An actual living, breathing senator of the United States of America declared that global warming is a hoax, so sayeth the Lord.  "Well actually the Genesis 8:22 that I use in there is that 'as long as the earth remains there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night.' My point is, God’s still up there. The arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing in the climate is to me outrageous."  You know what's outrageous, senator?  The fact that you represent this country.  You're basically saying that science, as well as basic ideas like "cause and effect," are nonsense.  Seriously.  Who voted these fucking idiots in?

3.) Missouri House of Representatives Advances Anti-Discrimination Bill

...For gun owners.  Oh, good.  Because when I woke up this morning, I was thinking that people with guns have been discriminated against for far too long.

4.) Andrew Breitbart

To me, his death was irrelevant.  That's not to say that I feel sorry for his family's loss, as well as for a death that came far too soon.  But apparently Breitbart had in his possession video taped evidence that would connect President Obama to *insert scary group here*.  When he died, several right-wing groups immediately suspected foul play and accused the Obama Administration of having Breitbart killed.  Despite the fact that Breitbart's own family shared the cause of his death without too much hesitation.  Oh, and the video taped evidence that Breitbart assured us would bring down the Obama Administration?  It was released, despite his death.  It was of Obama hugging the first black tenured professor at Harvard.  Scary stuff.  As ThinkProgress reports, PBS's Frontline program aired the same "damning" footage days before the 2008 election.  Whoops.

5.) Sarah Palin

My favorite Alaskan girl.  We go way back, her and I.  She was one of the first posts I ever wrote on this blog.  I put forth the hypothesis that she is really Predator from the alien action movies.  I think it was to prove a point.  I'm not really sure.  What I am sure of is that Palin accused President Obama of wanting to "go back to before [the days of the Civil War] when we were in different classes based on income, based on color of skin."  First of all, we are in different classes based on income.  Two, really.  Poor and wealthy.  The middle class is pretty much gone at this point.  Second of all (and more importantly), if President Obama wanted to return us to the days where classes were based on the color of our skin, wouldn't that be a bit of a step back for him?  How does this rhetoric even make sense?  For the love of all that is right in this world, please shut the fuck up.

6.) Mitt Romney

He's still trying to get everyone to like him, and he's still showing that he can't relate to anybody but his wealthy friends.  I'd be more excited talking to a saltine and a gallon of off-white paint than I would be voting for Romney.  I'm sure it would be a stimulating conversation.  If he wins the delegates, Republicans will back him, but not enthusiastically.  It's obvious to a lot of people that Obama will be in the White House for four more years.

7.) Wisconsin GOP

After the wave of anti-governor sentiment washed through the capital, the state GOP made sure to let their constituents know that they were listening - by boarding up all the doors and windows.  The GOP in the state assembly voted to amend the state constitution in order to make it harder for officials to be booted out of their office.  This really pisses me off.  Instead of listening to what the voters were saying (i.e. "You aren't doing your fucking job and we don't want you making laws for us anymore"), the politicians in the capital changed the rules to keep their jobs and to continue doing their dirty business.  Hey.  Guess what?  You're there because people voted you in.  If they want you out, one way or another, you're coming out.

8.) Rick Santorum

Someone dug up an interview back from 1994 in which Santorum claimed that, "Moms raising children in single-parent households simply [breed] more criminals." He also, according to ThinkProgress, introduced legislation during his second term as congressman that would have denied welfare benefits to mothers who could not name their child's father.  Asshole.

Rick Perry Is An Asshole.

As most of you probably know, I am no fan of Governor Rick Perry.  If you didn't know that, well... I'm not a fan of Governor Rick Perry.  I'm glad that's out in the open.  Setting aside the fact that Texas found the one person in America that is a living, breathing caricature of George W. Bush (who was, on his own, an amalgam of every Southern stereotype), I can't stand Rick Perry for the following reasons:

1.) My cats could probably beat him in a debate, and I'm pretty sure one of them is mentally challenged.  Seriously - he runs into walls and tries to bite lit candles.

2.) He puts himself on this pedestal of righteousness that he doesn't deserve.  The man is a con artist, and any fifth grader with access to Google could tell you the same.  Roughly eight years ago, Perry tried to earn himself, the state of Texas, and Wall Street speculators money off of the deaths of retired teachers with a life insurance scheme.  Would the families get anything?  No.  And just the other day, my fellow blogger over at Jobsanger wrote a great post about how Perry "retired" in January- while still governor of Texas -and is now receiving both a salary and a pension.      

3.) Uhhhh.....uhmmmm.....I forgot.  Oops.

Roger Ailes And His Propaganda Machine.

There is an art to persuading people these days.  In a time when technology is advancing with each passing hour, only one man has been able to reach into millions of homes and turn fiction into fact with the same ease as he freezes water into ice: Roger Ailes.

While most know him as the creator and "Chairman" of Fox News, Ailes has a disturbing history of right-wing extremism and paranoia.  He was always drawn to television, even as a little boy, and rose quickly to the rank of executive producer on The Mike Douglas Show by the age of 25.  His big break came in 1967 when he met former Vice-President Richard Nixon backstage of the show, telling Nixon that "the camera doesn't like you."  Nixon responded, "It's a shame a man has to use gimmicks like television to get elected."  Ailes was passionate about TV, and shot back, "Television is not a gimmick.  And if you think it is, you'll lose again."  It was at that moment that Roger Ailes became Nixon's executive producer of television, in charge of recreating the man's image in order to appeal to voters.

During Nixon's campaign, Ailes began to blur the line between journalism and politics.  Ailes knew that Nixon was a disaster on television.  He also believed that the media was anti-Republican.  So, he decided to go for the throat, as it were, and circumvent the press - go straight to the people.  By forcing reporters to watch the events of, say, a "town hall meeting" backstage, Ailes had found a way to subtly reduce the freedom of the press to a mere privilege.  Nixon was able to answer to voters with staged questions instead of on-the-fly "gotcha" questions from the media.  

Is Submission A Form Of Respect In A Christian Marriage?

The Iowa Straw Poll Debate came and went with nothing really turning up that hasn't been heard before.  The candidates stuck to their typical reality-bending, non-factual arguments (some of which have literally been debunked publicly by experts and analysts on their respective subjects) and, as always, their fearmongering.  But the award for "best shitty answer on-the-fly" has to go to Congresswoman Bachmann.  For some back story on her answer, let's turn to this quick, two minute video.  Pay really close attention from the 30 second mark on.  

"From there, my husband said, 'Now you need to go get a post-doctorate degree in tax law'.  Tax law?  I hate taxes.  Why should I go and do something like that?  But the Lord says, 'Be submissive.'  Wives, you are to be submissive to your husband... I was going to be faithful to what God was calling me to do through my husband."

Michele Bachmann Has A Hard Time Telling Fact From Fiction.

"Case in point: This week's Newsweek cover - which seems to have captured

Minnesota Congresswoman, Michele Bachmann, at the exact moment

she sees the 'Amazing Robalto' turn his hat into a dove.  'That's amazing. When

do we start the photo shoot?'" -Jon Stewart

In light of the Republican debate in Iowa tonight, I thought I'd take a moment to examine Representative Bachmann, seen above, and some of her recent statements as rated by Politifact.  If you haven't been to Politifact, I highly recommend checking it out.  Not only does it fact check statements made by politicians, it also has a counter that shows how President Obama is doing on his campaign promises (142 promises kept, 41 compromised, 208 in the works, 72 stalled, and 43 broken - check it out for the specifics), and another showing pledges made by the G.O.P. during their ramp up to the 2010 elections (7 kept, 1 compromise, 1 broken, 5 stalled, 11 in the works, and 32 not rated).

Fun stuff aside, you can also look at individual politicians for things they said, or things said about them. Okay, well, that's fun too, especially when looking at Michele Bachmann, who has an interesting track record for not knowing what she's talking about.  This will be, by the way, a rather long post that focuses on the pure insanity of a presidential candidate.  

Of her 29 statements on Politifact, only 3 of them are either mostly true, or true.  The other 26 range from  half true to Politifact's damning "pants on fire" rating.  Let's look at some examples.

Shocking News! Palin Criticizes President Obama!

You smug little troll, you.

In a rather interesting (albeit unsurprising) turn of events, Palin took to the internet on Monday the 8th to prove once again that she is the ultimate troller.  I attempted to visit her Facebook page for more concrete information but, to be perfectly honest, my mind couldn't bear all of the ignorant, racist word-crap that it was taking in.  Within seconds, I felt as though I had just gazed upon the Ark of the Covenant's disgusting, unholy twin.  

Luckily, I was able to find the filter button that showed only Palin's posts before my face melted.  In a "note" that she titled "Conquering the Storm", Sarah Palin bragged about how she saw the downgrade in the U.S.'s credit rating coming, and that the whole Obama-Reid-Pelosi spending binge got us to this point.  She then went on to talk about how we need to get off foreign oil and create more jobs here.  With alternative energy perhaps?  Nope!  She wants to drill here in America (forgetting all about the BP gulf disaster), and like a Natural Gas executive talking point, she listed all the reasons why natural gas is good and clean and blah blah blah.

"The Undefeated"... Unfortunately.

A lot of people that support Sarah Palin like to argue that those that do not support her are sexist, ignorant liberals that believe nothing but what the media tells them.  I am, however, under the belief that it isn't sexism or ignorance that guides us anti-Palinists; rather, it's the strong smell of bullshit and the overwhelming sense of stupidity that radiates from the emptiness of her skull that cause us to keep our distance.  

The fact that she is a woman means nothing.  I could care less if she were androgynous, transgender, male, or even a hermaphrodite.  Sex aside, what remains a constant is her blinding lack of knowledge and her idiotic, misinformed statements that pander to the right.  Liberals don't like Palin not because she is a woman, but because it is sickeningly obvious that she has absolutely no fucking clue what she is talking about.  If you want examples, you don't have to look far.  Palin's now infamous story of Paul Revere was the laughing stock of the American History departments in schools country-wide for weeks. She claims that she has more experience running government than the incumbent president, yet her resume consists of a half term as governor, some city council work, and a "correspondent/pundit" for Fox News.  Oh, shit, someone hire that woman immediately.  She sounds like she could really fix the economy with all that pundit training.  

Republican Presidential Candidates And You.

So many good choices... how could we possibly just

choose one?!

Before I get into the meat of this article (or, more appropriately, the gristle and fat), I want to acknowledge something that I'm willing to bet everyone was expecting me to write about.  Representative Anthony Weiner has caught a lot of deserved flak for tweeting pictures of his... weiner... and having some very strange contact with young women.  He is a married, is a Democrat and, while he did nothing illegal to my knowledge, is still responsible for creating a media sideshow full of obvious puns that lasted far longer than it should have.

I didn't mean to ignore this whole scandal.  I wanted to write about it.  The thing is, I have a habit of watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, both of which covered this thing extensively.  Hell, Jon Stewart went to high school with the guy.  They said so much about the incident, I decided that I wouldn't write about it in order to avoid accidently copying a joke or two.  I wasn't trying to dodge it because Representative Weiner is a Democrat.  He deserves just as much hell as anyone else, regardless of what political party he is in.  Truth be told, I think it's more appalling that he lied about it.  "I cannot say with certainty that that is a picture of me"?  Really?  C'mon.  No one bought that.  You should know your own junk shot if you saw it, particularly at your age.  You should be able to pick yours out of a line up of 1,000 by the time you're 40 years old.  

Ugh.  Moving on.

Michele Bachmann. Tea-bagged.

Continuing my trend of showing all of you, my readers, the dumb things politicians say, I examine the top ten quotes of the Tea Party's own Mad Hatter (as if there were just one), Michele Bachmann.  Many of you know her as Minnesota's House Representative, but all of you know her as the bat-shit crazy, stick-up-her -ass conservative that is (potentially) running for....

... you guessed it: President in 2012!  So before you all start jumping for joy at the prospect of a woman other than Sarah Palin getting elected into the commander-in-chief seat, let's take a look at some Michele's little quips.  By the way ladies, can you stand someone up that isn't completely psychotic?  I would really love to have a woman in the white house, but I would prefer it to be someone that isn't out of their mind.

1.) This is her way of saying that the American culture (if one could call our mashed up society a "culture") is the best in the world without actually saying it.  A politician's work-around.  Guess what, Michele?  I can't count on my hands how many cultures in this world are more interesting, or more rich than ours because I don't have enough fingers.  If our culture is the epitome of them all, then humanity is in serious trouble.  Try leaving your limo and security once and awhile.  You'll see what I mean.

Sarah Palin. Again.

Now, now, Sarah.  If anyone is awesome, it's me.

I don't feel like I can ever leave this woman alone.  You probably want to know why.  Let me be honest- I am aware that by continuing to acknowledge her existence, I'm doing nothing but throwing water on a grease fire.  Sure, the water is just making the flame larger but goddamn it, doesn't it just make sense to try and douse it with good ol' fashion H2O?  The problem is, more and more people are saying to ignore her (or, to throw sand on her) and hope that she'll go away.  But... she won't.  She is a fire that simply cannot be snuffed.  

That's why I propose that we try the one option that no one has dared to speak of- deprive Sarah Palin of oxygen.  Ever put a cover on a candle?  The fire burns off all of the oxygen and then just puffs out of existence.  And yes, I will indeed keep going with this metaphor because I think it's fantastic.

An Educated Hypothesis About Sarah Palin.

Ever since John McCain announced that Sarah Palin was his nomination to be his Vice President for the 2008 election, I've been wondering something. How is she so fucking stupid?  I've cleaned smarter things out of my cat's litter box.

But today I had a realization: maybe she isn't stupid at all.  Maybe there is something hidden here.  Something that she doesn't want us to know.  So I did some digging on the interwebz and I have come to a startling conclusion.

The First Post.

This should be the sign out front of Fox News.  I swear, their viewers

wouldn't even notice it.

Ever wonder why people do the crazy shit they do?  Or say?  I know I do.  I've been roaming this beautiful planet of ours for almost 21 years now, and I can easily say that the majority of humankind is psychotic.  I have to admit, sometimes I enjoy it.  There is a special place in my heart reserved for people that ask stupid questions, and say stupid things.  But there is, I think, a fine line between those people, and the others.