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Fox News was just jam-packed with fail yesterday, but here's one for the record book. Wingnut Allen West using the most vitriolic language ever while slamming the President's speech last week. To quote John Cole, it sounds like someone got his little fee-fees hurt.

Allen West's meteoric rise in a predominantly Democratic district is one of those things that disturbs me on a near-daily basis. His military background, his insanity, and the amazing amount of money put into his campaign makes it feel like a steal, not a win. Is it just me, or is it bizarro to slam another's 'statesmanship' while calling them pinko commie bastids?

Watch Greta try and rehabilitate some of the worst of what he said:

VAN SUSTEREN: Did you hear what Congressman Allen West said? Well, hold onto your seat. He compared President Obama to a dictator. The Congressman made those remarks during a recent appearance on the Laura Ingraham Show. And to be specific, Congressman West said President Obama showed "third-world dictator-like arrogance" during his budget speech. So, what did he mean? Let's ask him. Congressman Allen West of Florida joins us. Good evening Congressman, those are pretty tough words for the president. I know you have a lot of passion about your views, but the words. Any - uh - You want to do a do-over on that or you stand by those words?

WEST: Oh, good evening and Happy Easter, Greta. And I do stand by those words. Perhaps one of the things that many people need to understand is that the truth needs to be said. When I go around and I talk to people down near my district and we get phone calls -- That speech that was given Wednesday was absolutely beneath the statesmanship or the atmosphere or the aura or the personality that the president should show.

I am sick and tired of this class warfare, this Marxist demagogue-ic rhetoric that is coming from the President of the United States of America. It is not helpful for this country and it's not going to move the ball forward as far as rectifying the economic situation in our country. And I'm not going to back away from telling what the truth is.

Let's just stop right there. Is there some exemption that says members of the United States Congress have the absolute right to sling around meaningless loaded slanderous terms with abandon while setting a different standard for the President?

While I'm at it, I'd like to add that Allen West's authoritarian military "listen to me and STFU" attitude does nothing to make him look even a little bit authoritative. He just looks like a swaggering bully with a very small man-part that he's compensating for.

Picking it up, Greta is desperately working the rehabilitation angle. (Not really, but it provides contrast, I suppose)

VAN SUSTEREN: I understand your passion, I understand your politics. You've certainly -- you've been a passionate --

WEST: Greta, it's not about passion. But it's not about passion. It's about time people stop--

[crosstalk]

-- playing the games.

VAN SUSTEREN: And I'm in total agreement. I'm just curious as to whether calling him a 'low-level socialist agitator' or to compare him -- to use a reference to Reverend Jeremiah Wright that the 'chickens are coming home to roost' -- if that really is helpful to advance your, your -- the great depth of your conviction.

WEST: There's a great depth to my conviction. Part of my conviction is telling the truth. I don't think it's very presidential when Barack Hussein Obama refers to my colleague Paul Ryan as a simple little accountant either.

Breaking in here to point out the use of the President's full name with emphasis on the middle name while using Ryan's first and last names only. More "statesmanship"? Back to the action...

WEST: So I think that when you look what at a community organizer is turning out to be it does seem to be like a low-level socialist agitator. When you look at the economic situation that we have to have a gentleman in the White House who never has really run any type of business or organization -- I myself as a company commander, as a battalion executive officer and as a battalion commander have many time [sic] had to balance budgets and uh, take care of units and operate a budget. So I think it does come back to experience.

And when I talk about the chickens coming home to roost, when we continue to play this election cycle American Idol in the United States of America this is what we end up with -- with someone who is really not in tune with the American people.

Look, Greta, the bottom line is this. The people of North Carolina who have suffered all of these tornadoes are suffering. This President is out campaigning and raising money out there in California. This is not how we're going to turn the ship around in our country.

VAN SUSTEREN: And you know, I think those are fair, uh, fair criticisms of the President vis a vis North Carolina. And also whether he has the experience, you know, you make the lemonade stand reference, whether he has the experience to run. I think that's fair. It was the more sort of ratcheted-up rhetoric...

It goes on about Jeremiah Wright and lemonade stands, but you get the flavor from this.

There is something really cynical about Republicans using Allen West to flog the president. The message is "See, we're not racists. Even black guys criticize him. It really IS about policy."

To which I will leave the retorts in the hands of my African-American friends out there.

After this small dose of Allen West, I'm inclined to agree with those who think the wingnut bubble may be about to burst.

Yes, TSA procedures suck, and yes, they're heading toward a tipping point where there will be nearly unilateral support for getting rid of them. But make no mistake, the publicity was turned up by the right in order to leverage maximum political points for them. Had these procedures been in effect when Bush was in office, Rush most certainly would have extolled their value and reminded us all that it was in the name of "keeping us safe".

In Rushbo classic hyperbole, he instead suggests that the president should have his daughter "groped" by the TSA so he can show everyone how safe it is. These procedures are ridiculous, and the right argument to make on both sides is that they will not prevent an attack. They're a reaction, and one that actually hands a victory over to terrorists instead of dealing with the problem. But once again, instead of dealing seriously with an issue that garners agreements across partisan lines, Limbaugh ignores the real problem and goes after the president.

Sadder still, it works. People actually believe what this gasbag says, and how he says it. And so then we have surveys that indicate a majority of Americans believe President Obama's religion is somehow subversive, scary and different from most Americans, and "patriots" selling copies of Mein Kampf.

The tactic? Easy. Keep the noise level high and severe for 2 more years until everyone begs for it to stop, then offer up a nice, white, clean-cut Republican to turn down the volume.

Sometimes the pictures tell the story. Sarah Palin's latest Twitter favorite comes to us via Ann Coulter's tweets:

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What is Ann's new church that Sarah thought was so cool she saved it as a favorite (one of only three, by the way)?

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If you're having trouble reading that marquis, here's what it says:

The blood of Jesus against Obama
History Made 4 Nov 2008 A Taliban
Muslim illegally elected
President USA Hussein

And just to top it all off, pretend-President Palin dares to suggest that Obama is using the Pentagon for opposition research.

What a --- (you fill in the blank).

Infrastructurist: Conservative mag tells conservatives why they should care about public transit

The Mahablog: No cause, just movement

Climate Progress: Judge rules against Cuccinelli's witch-hunt aimed at Michael Mann and climate science

Blog of Rights: If the government thinks you should be dead, it should at least tell you why

Economist's View: Economists of all stripes will descend upon Robert Barro over the next 36 hours.

Vagabond Scholar: Engaging the opposition, and a wingnut checklist

What a dope. "I've since been studying, and Chile has done this..." During the time of Reagan, Chile's Social Security system was considered to be the wingnut Holy Grail. I guess Sharon didn't get too far in her "studying" and whatnot, or she'd know why the saner people just don't talk about Chile in much detail (of course, there's always the optimists at the Cato Institute):

Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Sharron Angle says the nation's Social Security system needs to be privatized, and she says it was done before in Chile.CBS affiliate 8 News Now reports on what the Tea Party-backed hopeful had to say on the matter in an interview on Thursday:

...Angle's new ads say she's out to save Social Security by protecting it from government raids.
But in the primary, she said that Medicare and Social Security needed to be phased out in favor of something privatized, saying, that it can't be fixed. 8 News NOW asked how is that not a flip flop.

"It is when we have a $2.5 trillion raid and pillaging going on and an empty trust fund and now we are upside down. As of last Friday, they said, (there was a) $41 billion shortfall in Social Security. $41 billion less going in than coming out. It's broken," she said.

Angle then referred to 1980s Chile -- then under a military dictatorship -- to explain her previous statements that the United States should phase out its current system.

"When I said privatize, that's what I meant," explained the Senate contender. "That I thought we would just have to go to the private sector for a template on how this is supposed to be done. However, I've since been studying and Chile has done this."

However, the pension system established in 1981 by right-wing Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is no longer a fully private system. Chile's system was revamped in 2008 to expand public pensions for groups left out of its system, including low-income seniors.

There are lots of reasons why, in the real world, a privatized system doesn't work.

For the first ten years, while Chile had high inflation, their investment funds did well, since about half was invested in government bonds that were indexed to inflation. But once the economy cooled down, returns fell and they now pay little in return.

Investors also pay very high fees, which hit the low wage earners harder. (Oh, and by the way? The funds are widely thought to be corrupt cartels, protected by the government. Of course, that would never happen here!) And low wage earners were notorious under-reporters of income. Another problem: the system isn't set up for short-term contract work, which is now a common form of employment.

The funds don't pay out much, especially for low wage earners. (Unlike our Social Security system.) Notice the stories the wingnuts quote all point to "average" return -- but that's artificially high due to the period of high inflation.

And it didn't pay, anyway. Because of transition costs and other factors, the Chilean privatized system costs three times as much to run.

But the regime knew what they were doing: They excluded the military from the private plans, members of which continue to receive pensions under the old, more generous system.

Open Left: Google goes "evil" - proposes killing Net Neutrality. Help fight back

Balloon Juice: Whining wingnut blames the Uncle he's in business with for the results of his poor management

OurFuture: Conservanomics: A Church Without Bishops (but its got Sarah Palin and invisible Tax Fairies!)

Attytood: "Pop" Poplawski, the high-def hucksters, and the downward cycle of violence

No More Mister Nice Blog: Hearts and Minds, GOP style

Shakesville:: The Dark Ages of America

Sorry for the picture, but you'll understand later in the post.

UPDATE: Pezzi is the King of the Internet!

When I did a panel with Breitbart, he got off on yelling the word "racist" over and over again because he felt that would weaken the meaning behind the word. Conservatives just hate being called racists for some reason. Hmmmmm, wonder why. Breitbart, after all, has only spent most of his time and resources attacking organizations that benefit African Americans and poor people -- all so he can prove that the real racists in post-racial America are black and brown people. Instead of waving the 'Bloody Shirt,' he should just be upfront about his loathing of nonwhites. You can read more about this in Chapter 4 of our book, Over The Cliff.

Breitbart's latest hire, Kevin Pezzi, represents what this man is all about. You know the old cliche, Be all that you can be? Well, he's everything a wingnut could be. And he's even cured cancer!

(corrected) Ben Dimiero & Eric Hananoki: Meet Breitbart's Sherrod writer: Racist sexual "expert" and inventor (who cured cancer)

In two posts on Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment website, Dr. Kevin Pezzi smears Shirley Sherrod as a racist, claiming that "if someone deserves to be put on a pedestal for overcoming racism, it isn't Sherrod." The racism criticism is ironic coming from Pezzi, who has repeatedly used racial epithets like "Japs" and "Chinks," and claimed Native and African Americans should have been grateful for their subjugation by whites.

Pezzi, who says that "Breitbart asked me to write for BigGovernment.com," has a peculiar self-described history. Pezzi claims to be responsible for "over 850 inventions" and schemes such as a "magic bullet" for cancer, a "robotic chef," and sexual inventions like "penile enlargement techniques" and "ways to tighten the vagina" (because "men like women with tight vaginas"). Pezzi has started multiple websites, from term paper helpers to a sexual help site that answers "your questions about sexual attraction, pleasure, performance, and libido" (Pezzi is qualified to do so because "No doctor in the world knows more about sexual pleasure than I do").

Pezzi also claims to have "beaten Bill Gates" on a math aptitude test, turned down a blind date with Katie Couric, and says he's "bigger than some porno stars."...read on

Read all about him in Eric's post, it's almost unbelievable. And for the kicker, he's a major league sock puppet to boot.

Continue reading »

Kind of funny when the GOP is so extreme, they're pushing NJ Gov. Chris Christie (a real wingnut) to be more of a right-winger!

Gov. Christie says he has not decided whether to sign on to a 20-state lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the health-care law signed in March by President Obama. That makes New Jersey one of seven Republican-led states that have not joined the largely partisan fight.

Interest groups on both sides of the debate are lobbying the governor, but some of his advisers say he should not join the suit. Capping property taxes and managing a difficult budget have rightly been his top priorities, they say, and New Jersey residents are more open than people in other parts of the country to health-care regulation.

With 16 of 23 states led by GOP governors fighting the new law, at least one national expert said Christie faced the risk of becoming an "outlier through inaction."

"He's going to have to explain why he has stood out among his colleagues in his own party by not doing something they've all done," said Michael Franc, vice president for government relations at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy group in Washington.

Can you imagine? When Christie goes to the men's room, does he have to say "Mother, may I?"

Hoffmania!

Wow. Bill Frist is getting a lesson on what happens to a wingnut who decides to take just one independent stand on just one issue. They're turning on him like a rabid dawg. If it's not becoming painfully obvious to Frist now, it will. When he runs for preznit in 2008 (and he will - it explains his jumping on this populist issue), how many of his GOP opponents will sic the 527s on him? You can hear it now.
"Bill Frist supports the mutilation of human embryos for speculative science. Human embryos which are completely capable of becoming a son or daughter to a good Christian family like your own. Is this the sort of man YOU want making YOUR moral and ethical decisions for your country? Bill Frist. Wrong on embryos. Wrong for America."

Frist won't tolerate losing this valuable hillbilly vote. And the flip-flop clock is counting down. 
Read on...

Yet Another Question For Judge Roberts         Old Fashioned Patriot

The Supreme Court will soon be asked to rule on the legality of depriving brown men with beards who aren't Christian or Jewish the legality of suspending constitutional guarantees like trial by jury, habeas corpus and other long standing American judicial principles. What are your thoughts on this issue?
If it's not becoming painfully obvious to Frist now, it will. When he runs for preznit in 2008 (and he will - it explains his jumping on this populist issue), how many of his GOP opponents will sic the 527s on him? You can hear it now.
"Bill Frist supports the mutilation of human embryos for speculative science. Human embryos which are completely capable of becoming a son or daughter to a good Christian family like your own. Is this the sort of man YOU want making YOUR moral and ethical decisions for your country? Bill Frist. Wrong on embryos. Wrong for America."

Frist won't tolerate losing this valuable hillbilly vote. And the flip-flop clock is counting down.
Read on...

Wingnut Watch

This is what passes for commentary on some wingnut blogs...

Support the Fallujah Marine

The Marine who killed the wounded insurgent in Fallujah deserves our praise and admiration. In a split second decision, he acted valiantly.

On the otherhand, the traitor, Kevin Sites of NBC News deserves our scorn. Sorry hippie, terrorists don't deserve the benefit of the doubt. Terrorists don't deserve the benefit of the doubt. This Marine deserves a medal and Kevin Sites, you deserve a punch in the mouth.
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