Different Day, Same Shit.

Today marks week two of the ongoing government shutdown, brought to you by the House GOP's refusal to sign off on a congressional budget that included funding for the Affordable Care Act, a legislative act that was already passed and signed into law way back in 2010. For some reason, the idea of mandated private health insurance with subsidies for the poor (which itself was downgraded from a far-superior publicly funded single-payer system) sends most conservatives into epileptic seizures. So much so that it's resulted in a crisis that's only gonna get worse, by all indications.

Everyone has a stake in this shutdown. For the political parties, this whole ordeal can end one of two ways: if the Democrats blink, that means the Tea Party element of the GOP can cherry-tap their way towards favorable legislative action through constant hostage-taking. The Democrat party ends up getting its electoral chains snatched and reverts to being the perpetual weak sister of the two parties.* If the Republicans blink, it'll cause an already-burgeoning schism between the moderate and extremist ends of the GOP to fully break open. It won't kill the party, but it will be a deservedly swift kick in the electoral jewels. Oh, and John Boehner faces the possibility of having his position snatched from under him by a vengeful Tea Party.

For President Obama, the stakes are much higher. If he doesn't bend and the GOP refuses to bend, the shutdown keeps on trucking towards yet another fiscal cliff and the president's own image gets tarnished. There'll also be plenty of fuel for an impeachment hearing, if the GOP so desires (a far-gone conclusion). If he bends, the GOP gains victory, adds cherry-tapping to its repertoire of effective legislative strategies and the president's own image gets tarnished. That means the president somehow has to force the extremist and moderate sides of the Republican party to have their own "come to Jesus" moment and pass a clean continuing resolution, preferably before October 17 rolls around.

For the average Joe working for various government agencies, the consequences of maintaining a government shutdown hit home and hit hard. Example? The United States Antarctic Research Program is the latest casualty of the shutdown, which not only affects the livelihoods and aspirations of the 500 or so people stationed at McMurdo, but also the integrity of various other international Antarctic programs that rely on the U.S. for various logistics and support. Meanwhile, NASA's down for the count, along with the Congressional Budget Office and countless other federal agencies. If things keep up beyond October 17, there's no guarantee of whether people will continue receiving their Social Security benefits.

For everyone else, it's a prime example of how a few actors within the government, led on by a large contingent of people who thinks that hamstringing the government's ability to function properly is the best way to make themselves and their agenda known. It's also an example of what happens when a small group of people with the government's worst interests in mind are able to hijack a party and force it to do its bidding or face total destruction.

Or when a party attempts to use a bunch of rabid extremists as its enforcer wing to effect legislative changes without getting their hair mussed.

Or perhaps when a party gerrymanders the living daylights out of its districts to hold on to as many seats and as much power as possible, only to watch that power slip into the hands of ideological fundamentalists with a hankering for a threadbare federal government and a possible subconscious desire to revive the concept of "state's rights," all with the relative consent of their constituents, most of whom regard "Obamacare" and other federal programs as a giveaway for blacks, illegals and the undeserving poor.

Either way it goes, current events are clearly showing folks around the world how not to run a country, because this way just ain't cutting it.

*But at least the perpetual underdogs will still be welcome in every cocktail party in D.C.

- One day, Glendon Scott Crawford came up with an idea straight from 1950s-era Sci-fi: build a "death ray" that would silently kill its targets with massive amounts of radiation. First, he tried to hock his wares to a local Jewish synagogue in hopes it would be used in defense of the Israelis. When the Ku Klux Klan came calling, Crawford thought he finally hit paydirt.

What he hit was a FBI sting operation and a possible 15-year stint for himself and accomplice Eric J. Feight:

The suspects had successfully tested the remote triggering system that could work from a little less than a half mile away from the weapon, the complaint states. On June 12, they planned to have a dinner where Crawford would be provided with the radiation system, which was not finished. When the men were meeting, the FBI was monitoring their activities, including using undercover informants who posed as members of a South Carolina Ku Klux Klan group interested in purchasing the device and financing the project.

On Tuesday, the FBI seized a vehicle of Crawford's at Shorty's, an out-of-business auto body shop Schaghticoke, where Crawford had allegedly planned to conduct a test-run of the triggering system. A law enforcement official said the auto business had nothing to do with the plot.

Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney John Duncan said Crawford was arrested at 3 p.m. Tuesday as he was "in the process of attempting to assemble various components of this device. Again, the entire operation was under very close control of the JTTF and, as a result he did not have the opportunity to do that. This device was never going to be capable the way it was set up of emitting any dangerous X-ray radiation."

Any chance of these guys getting sent down to Gitmo as "enemy combatants"? Not a chance.

- Paula Deen's been outed as a racist and an all-around terrible human being:

Paula, 66, admitted to using the N-word and wanting black waiters to play the role of slaves at a wedding party she was putting together, a new bombshell report from the National Enquirer claims.

“The personal disclosures uncovered have stunned Paula’s family and could mark the collapse of her entire empire,” a source told the tabloid.

When asked by Lisa’s Atlanta-based attorney if she’d ever used the N-word, Paula responded, “Yes, of course,” and gave examples of times she used the offensive term.

In terms of telling racist jokes, Paula said, “It’s just what they are — they’re jokes…most jokes are about Jewish people, rednecks, black folks…I can’t determine what offends another person.”

And when asked if she wanted black men to play the role of slaves at a wedding she explained she got the idea from a restaurant her husband and her had dined at saying, “The whole entire waiter staff was middle-aged black men, and they had on beautiful white jackets with a black bow tie.

“I mean, it was really impressive. That restaurant represented a certain era in America…after the Civil War, during the Civil War, before the Civil War…It was not only black men, it was black women…I would say they were slaves.”

There's nothing new here. The idea of guilt-free indulgence in a romanticized variant of the antebellum experience has always been with us in one form or another. For example, Aunt Fanny's Cabin.

- The Farm Bill died an ignoble death in the House, 195-234. And good thing it did, too - Republicans added provisions within the bill that would have stripped $20 billion from the food stamp program and added  work requirements for eligibility. Considering how it's low-income women, children and the elderly who benefit most the food stamp program, it's easy to see how well this would turn out.

Thanks to the bill's defeat, John Boehner looks less like a leader and more like stir-fried shit in a suit. Fingers are pointing everywhere - the GOP's accusing the Dems of sandbagging the bill by withdrawing votes at the last second, while the Dems accuse the GOP of loading the bill with several petty bullshit amendments that wound up fracturing Republican support. Throwing in things like an amendment to ax a dairy supply management program just to fuck over legislators from dairy-producing states will do that to a bill.

- To prove a point about the food stamp cuts in the recently-defeated Farm Bill, 26 House Democrats tried their hand at keeping themselves fed on $1.50/day, or $31.50/week:

Rep. Johnson explained how little $31.50 actually bought. He detailed his diet for the week. Johnson said that he would only be eating two meals a day. His meat for the day will be bacon. He got lucky, and found a buy one get one free sale. He also will subsist on oatmeal, Ramen noodles, hot dogs, waffles, syrup, bananas, and he “splurged” on some tea.

Rep. Johnson said that Republicans would never pass these cuts if they had to live on $31.50 a week, but, “The problem is that we have so many millionaires on the other side of the aisle that they will never have to worry about where their next meal is coming from, or trying to stretch dollars so that they can eat for the period of time that they have the finances to pay for.”

Last up:



It starts out with doors. Then doors with knobs. Next thing you know, they'll master crude hand tools and simple machinery.

Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

James 3:5, King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)

Right about now, Alabama State Rep. Joe Mitchell of Mobile probably wishes he had exercised a bit of decorum, now that a comment of his has turned into kindling for opportunistic GOPers and the idiot masses. So what happened? I'll leave that to Redeye:

Let's recap. Retired coal miner and Jefferson County resident Eddie Maxwell sent a mass email to all Alabama Legislators "warning them that even attempting to introduce a gun control bill was, in his opinion, a violation of state law." Oh really?

Instead of ignoring Maxwell's email, or, sending out the standard thank your for contacting my office blah, blah, blab, blab auto reply, Rep. Mitchell chose to respond in the following manner;

"Your folk never used all this sheit (sic) to protect my folk from your slave-holding, murdering, adulterous, baby-raping, incestuous, snaggle-toothed, backward-a**ed, inbreed (sic), imported criminal-minded kin folk."

He's speaking truth to power, no matter how many people would admit otherwise. Lots of people would dismiss the above as a wild, crazy outburst from a race card-waving black guy who needs to sit hisself down somewheres. But Rep. Mitchell's entitled to be as pissed as he wants - as far as I'm concerned, given the history of the Great State of Alabama and elsewhere in the Deep South and its collective track record for racial discrimination and wanton violence, he's earned that right and then some.

However, in an age where saying the wrong things could have a team of Breitbart's best ratfuckers gnaw through your image and reputation like field mice through Australian farmland, something like the above could cost you dearly. I imagine Rep. Mitchell's from the old school, where he's never had to deal with that kind of crap. Until now. He's already being cast as "eccentric," which is about a step and a half away from "crazy" and two from "insane."

Already is his outburst being equated with that of State Senator Scott Beason's "aborigine" remarks. Just part and parcel of the ongoing drive to prove that blacks can be just as racist as white folk. For a brief moment, whites can take refuge from the burning spotlight and show those blacks how it feels to be under scrutiny for racism, for once.

Saying the wrong things at the wrong time has its consequences, as an unnamed commissioner and then-manager Thomas Andrews of the Fulton County Department of Human Services shortly realized during a discrimination lawsuit launched by a former employee. Having fellow colleagues say that there were "too many white boys" on the staff was one of the things that cinched a settlement for the white ex-employee.

I doubt Rep. Mitchell will step down from his position, although state GOPers wouldn't mind one bit if he does. Just another slot for the Grand Old Party to slide a conservative candidate into. I also doubt his constituents would throw him under the bus like his own party is doing. It seems the Alabama Democratic Party is doing more than its fair share to ensure that Alabama remains a defacto one-party state under GOP dominance for decades to come.

H/T to Redeye for his continuing reports on the shenanigans going down back in my home state.

Mitt Romney is America's gift that keeps on giving, day after day. First off, the following video footage unearthed by Mother Jones dating back to 1985, detailing Bain Capital's goal of identifying companies with "potential and hidden value," purchasing significant stakes in said companies only to "harvest them at a significant profit."


The fruits of Mitt Romney's profit harvest:


Unlike the former steelworker interviewed in the second video, at least Romney does not have to worry about being strapped for cash. From 2005 to 2010, he made a sizable $25,000,000 from his foreign investments and income. The idea of a businessman making a tremendous amount of money from strategic investments and well-placed financial bets isn't a bad thing in of itself, as long as it isn't done in a capricious manner that's directly hostile to American interests...


Being out of touch and out of tune with the financial interests of ordinary Americans, what Mittens himself termed as the "47 percent," is a clear indicator of how unfit this man is for the position of the nation's chief administrator.

Meanwhile, recent polls from the Huffington Post show President Obama comfortably in the lead for electoral votes, 332 to Romney's 191. The president is also on track to sewing up critical swing states including Florida, Ohio, Colorado and North Carolina. At this point, the election might turn into a cakewalk for Obama and an absolute blowout for Romney. That doesn't mean Democrat voters should be complacent and coast as they've done in 2010. There's still plenty of work to be done between now and November 5.

Precious few people manage to survive a gunshot wound to the head, but Gabby Giffords did just that. She survived, recovered and now stands before us today as positive proof of God's grace, self-determination and the marvels of modern medicine and advanced healthcare.*

This woman exudes class, unlike this comment from your average low IQ YouTube commentator:

Obama is getting desperate he had to roll out the freak! I wonder if Clinton Shoved a cigar up fer ass first ? 

A comment like this would prompt a juvenile retort involving his/her father's "cigar," but fighting morons on their own turf is like strangling a piranha in a fishbowl. The GOP faithful have been hitting the comments of each DNC video like clockwork, but no amount of poorly thought-out commentary will paper over how the Republican National Convention was a farce bordering on tragicomedy.

Meanwhile, check out these full speeches from Jennifer Granholm, Joe Biden and President Obama himself.




*Crippling debt and HMO fuckery notwithstanding, when it comes to severe trauma care and rehabilitation, the U.S. healthcare system can't be touched.

I've been told that Mitt Romney's been putting Bill Clinton on a pedestal while attempting to knock down President Obama by calling him "a welfare queen king president." Apparently, the plan was to drive some sort of wedge between moderate Democrats and those of a more liberal bent. It was a stupid, stupid plan:

Regardless of the fact that the differences between Clinton and Obama are effectively non-existent, what exactly is Romney's plan when Clinton starts campaigning aggressively on Obama's behalf, delivering a major primetime address in support of Obama during the Democratic National Convention?

Or more to the point, if Romney is spending much of 2012 telling voters that Clinton is reliable and worthy of respect, won't that be a problem when the Big Dog is urging voters to rally behind Barack Obama and reject Romney's candidacy?

Oh yes, that's most definitely a problem. As Jamison Foser points out, the Dems tried this whenever John McCain stumped for a GOP candidate and in those cases, the plan never worked out the way they thought it would:

Just about the best the Democratic campaigns could hope for as a result of these tactics was a line or two deep in a newspaper writeup of the GOP campaign event noting an area of disagreement between McCain and the Republican candidate. Meanwhile, they’re enhancing the credibility of someone who is endorsing and campaigning for their opponent. And, as an added drawback, they’re building up the credibility of someone who was widely seen as the best future presidential candidate the Republican Party had to offer.

If such tactics have little potential payoff, and obvious unintended consequences, why do campaigns seem to like them so much? In part because it’s the kind of superficially smart thing that wins political operatives praise from their colleagues and reporters. And because a lot of people don’t know the difference between superficially smart things that win praise from political reporters and operatives and things that are actually smart.

But leave it to Romney's campaign to not do their homework and learn from the mistakes of others. Now the RMoney team has to sit and watch as the Big Dog not only gives President Obama his endorsement, but poor Mitt has to take a trip to the hospital so the doctors can remove that size 13 wingtip from his narrow orifice and unwedge that bit of magic underwear it took with it. Don't worry - he's got pretty good health insurance for those sorts of things.

Meanwhile, Artur Davis is now heading up Mitt's new Black Leadership Council, a collection of 18 black conservative politicians and leaders trying their damnedest to figure out why other blacks simply won't vote for poor Mitt. Here's a clue: as long as people assume that black Americans vote for black Democrat leaders out of racial solidarity, the BLC and their GOP paymasters will always remain, pardon, in the dark.

The only DNC highlight you're getting today is Michelle Obama's heartfelt speech, in its entirety. It was the speech that lit up the crowd, electrified viewers and took over Twitter.

By the way, President Obama held an "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit a few days ago. POTUS is proving to be more in touch with these here interwebs than anyone realizes. This is how you earn votes if you're not a GOP candidate coasting atop the flab and hot air of "Real American" Tea Party voters.

I can't see Mittens doing one of these. He'd probably host an "Ask One of My Aides to Ask Me Something I'll Willingly Give a Canned Non-answer to (except if it involves my tax returns)" session that lasts for a few minutes before it gets cut short for "privacy concerns" or some other nonsense.