barack obama

Newsweek: Obama ‘The First Gay President’ of the United States

by on May 14, 2012

If Time is going to feature a woman breastfeeding on its cover to foment attention for its magazine, Newsweek apparently isn’t going to sit still and allow Time to get all the attention.

On this week’s issue of Tina Brown’s Newsweek magazine, President Barack Obama is adorned with a rainbow halo, with the headline “The first Gay President,” an obvious play off commentary that former President Bill Clinton was “the first black president.”

The cover promotes the story by Andrew Sullivan, who admitted on his Daily Beast blog and on this weekend’s “The Chris Matthews Show” that the announcement was a very emotional one for him.

“I do not know how orchestrated this was; and I do not know how calculated it is,” Sullivan wrote. “What I know is that, absorbing the news, I was uncharacteristically at a loss for words for a while, didn’t know what to write, and, like many Dish readers, there are tears in my eyes.”

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Newsweek: Obama ‘The First Gay President’ of the United States

Mourdock defeats Sen. Lugar in Indiana Republican primary

by on May 9, 2012

Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock defeated Sen. Dick Lugar in Tuesday’s Republican primary in Indiana, ending the career of the longest-serving Republican senator and putting the seat in play for Democrats in the fall.

NBC News projected Mourdock’s victory about 20 minutes after the polls closed. he will face Rep. Joe Donnelly, a centrist Democrat, in the general election.an emotional Mourdock cheered as his wife was presented flowers and choked up as he recounted how voters had told him they’d pray for him.

Quoting Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln in his victory speech, Mourdock promised he would not only “move the Senate to a more conservative place, but much more than that … move this country to a better place.”

“The supporters of Barack Obama are not going to win,” he said, his voice rising. “mr. Donnelly has been close to Barack Obama for the last several years. We’re going to make that record clear and it’s not going to be accepted by the voters of Indiana in November.”

In a statement to supporters, Mourdock thanked Lugar, saying he was “grateful” for Lugar’s 35 years of service.

Lugar thanked his family and supporters during his concession speech, and promised to continue to work on national security issues in his final months in Congress as well as push for a farm bill. “my public service is not concluded,” he said.

Lugar also said he hopes Mourdock “prevails” over Donnelly in the general election.

Republicans moved quickly to back Mourdock in the general election. Mourdock said the first call he’d received after he won was from Cornyn promising the NRSC would invest heavily in the race. Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-S.C.) Senate Conservatives Fund sent out an email Tuesday night asking his supporters to donate to Mourdock.

The White House put out a statement praising Lugar, an unusual move for a member of the opposing party,  showing how well-liked Lugar was on both sides of the aisle within Washington.

“as a friend and former colleague, I want to express my deep appreciation for Dick Lugar’s distinguished service in the United States Senate,” President Obama said in the statement. “While Dick and I didn’t always agree on everything, I found during my time in the Senate that he was often willing to reach across the aisle and get things done… Senator Lugar comes from a tradition of strong, bipartisan leadership on national security that helped us prevail in the Cold War and sustain American leadership ever since.”

Lugar, a six-term senator first elected in 1976, was the top target for national conservative groups, including the fiscally conservative Club for Growth, the National Rifle Association and the Tea Party-affiliated FreedomWorks. together, they spent more than $3 million against Lugar, double the amount Mourdock raised and spent on the race.

Many blamed Lugar’s weak campaign as much as the onslaught of outside spending for his loss. a number of GOP strategists friendly to Lugar were frustrated that the senator failed to take Mourdock seriously until it was too late, and argued that if he’d focused on renewing relationships with local party activists early on, he could have avoided a challenge.

“It’s unclear if he was in shape for any kind of campaign or fully cognizant of the challenge that awaited him, if he had a real strategy and whether it was efficiently executed,” said Ed Feigenbaum, the editor of the nonpartisan political newsletter Indiana Legislative Insight. “This was a referendum on Richard Lugar. it could have been him against ‘none of the above’ [an uncontested race].”

Conservatives in Indiana and Washington, D.C., were angered by Lugar’s support of the Troubled Asset Relief Program that bailed out Wall Street, votes in favor of President Obama’s Supreme Court justices and other political positions anathema to hardliners.

The Club for Growth was the biggest player against Lugar — they spent a whopping $1.5 million against him and helped Mourdock raise an additional $300,000, a significant portion of his campaign funds.

Club for Growth President Chris Chocola called Mourdock’s win a “historic victory” before thanking Lugar for his service.

“Richard Mourdock defeated a legend in Indiana politics because of his hard work, focus on the issues, and his conservative message,” he said.

Mourdock’s win is a much-needed boost to the Tea Party movement, which was disappointed that Mitt Romney won the GOP presidential nomination instead of a more fiscally conservative candidate. The conservative grassroots movement has far fewer opportunities this year than it did in 2010 to make a statement by beating a well-known centrist Republican.

Another problem for Lugar was how little time he spent in Indiana the last few years. Lugar has lived in Washington, D.C.’s suburbs for decades, and a residency battle stirred up by Indiana Democrats and outside groups drew much attention to that fact. Three-quarters of Indiana’s Republican county chairmen endorsed Mourdock shortly after he jumped into the race, a sign of how out of touch Lugar had grown with local activists.

Lugar, the longtime Senate Foreign Relations ranking member, also refused to back away or apologize for unpopular positions, and instead of hiring top Republican strategists to win the race he sent out a number of longtime Capitol Hill staffers with little campaign experience to run his reelection bid.

While Mourdock struggled early on with fundraising, he held his own against Lugar — outworking him on the ground and avoiding making any mistakes in a debate that focused largely on foreign policy.

He will now face Donnelly, a recruit Democrats are high on. Donnelly held onto his Republican-leaning House seat in the GOP wave year of 2010. The three-term lawmaker has the right profile for an Indiana Democrat: anti-abortion rights, pro-gun rights and relatively fiscally conservative.

Republicans have long maintained Donnelly can’t win in the GOP-leaning state, pointing to his weak fundraising numbers and his vote for Democrats’ health law. They also point to Sen. Dan Coats’s (R-Ind.) 15-point win in 2010 over former Rep. Brad Ellsworth (Ind.), a Democrat with a similarly centrist profile.

But Democrats strongly disagree and argue the seat is now in play, which could help the party keep control of the upper chamber.

On Tuesday the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee began a barrage of attacks against Mourdock, blasting him for questioning the constitutionality of Medicare and Social Security, ripping him for spending $2 million in state funds on a lawsuit challenging the federal government-backed bankruptcy of Chrysler and his calling the lawsuit his “Rosa Parks moment.”

Source THE HILL

Romney Camp Posts an Anniversary Web Kiss From Ann Romney

by on April 13, 2012

By Neil King Jr.

In yet another bid to win over women voters, the Romney campaign released an syrupy testimonial from Ann Romney to her husband, Mitt, on the occasion of their 43rd wedding anniversary.

Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, hug during a victory rally in Schaumburg, Ill., after mr. Romney won the Illinois primary, Tuesday, March 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Called

Trouble ahead for health-care overhaul?

by on March 27, 2012

WASHINGTON

Trayvon Martin: President Obama And Geraldo Rivera Comment, Plus George Zimmerman’s History Of “Suspecting” Black Men

by on March 23, 2012

“My main message is to the parents: if I had a son he’d look like Trayvon. I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves.”

– President Barack Obama comments on the death of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old Florida boy who was shot dead by George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain. The case has received national attention because Zimmerman was never detained or arrested for Trayvon’s death and law enforcement seemed determined to ignore pleas by Trayvon’s parents to investigate the circumstances of his death. Zimmerman pursued Martin even after calling 911 —  to report a “suspicious” person — and being told not to. You can read more about the case here and watch all of President Obama’s sobering remarks above. 

Meanwhile, on Fox News, Geraldo Rivera — who I cannot believe is still somehow considered relevant and worth listening to — had his own opinion on Trayvon Martin’s death. namely, that the hoodie Trayvon was wearing “is as much responsible” for his death “as George Zimmerman was.” 

So, you know, paranoid, trigger-happy racists don’t kill people, hoodies kill people. I can’t even with this guy.

As for George Zimmerman? A 47-page document detailing the calls Zimmerman had made in the past to 911 shows he had a history of being suspicious about black men seen wandering through his “jurisdiction.” Neighbors noticed it too.

“I definitely think he had some kind of hangup with blacks,” said one male resident speaking to The Daily Beast. “He would follow and report anyone black who came in the complex, and it didn’t matter how old or young they were, or what they were doing. I just didn’t think he’d take it too far.”

Can someone please explain how this man continues to walk free? 

[Mother Jones]

[YouTube]

[The Daily Beast]

[Gawker]

HBO’s hurricane Sarah; princes and princesses of Persia

by on March 15, 2012

March 10, 2012 12:00 AM

The HBO movie adaptation of “Game Change” (9 tonight), the 2010 best-seller about the 2008 presidential election, offers a three-dimensional and often sympathetic look at Sarah Palin. Julianne Moore’s portrayal elevates the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate beyond the realm of Tina Fey punch line to show how exciting, attractive and breathtakingly original Palin seemed when she first emerged in the public limelight.

The folks who “discovered” Palin soon became weary and concerned, and then genuinely frightened, by her arrogant absence of curiosity and eagerness to resort to a brand of demagoguery that repelled her running mate, Sen. John McCain (Ed Harris).

Look for Woody Harrelson as Steve Schmidt, a hard- boiled strategist for McCain. eager to shake up a campaign all but eclipsed by Barack Obama’s momentum, Schmidt encourages a bold move, a course that leads to Palin’s selection after a very brief vetting process.

Moore’s performance as Palin during the early days of her campaign is electric. she reminds us how Palin connected to many voters, most notably mothers of children with special needs.

Sarah Paulson (“American Horror Story”) stars as senior adviser Nicolle Wallace, who grows increasingly exasperated by Palin’s inability to focus and her jaw-dropping lack of knowledge or interest in basic history, law and policy.

Speaking of focus, it’s often unclear if “Game Change” is supposed to be Harrelson’s movie or Moore’s. Harris’ portrayal of McCain is fairly two-dimensional. Ultimately, “Game Change” boils down to a meditation on celebrity and politics, and the difficulty in separating the two.

On the evening of their defeat, Schmidt shares a drink with McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis (Peter MacNicol), who suggests that Obama and Palin are the same thing — mere celebrities. “Except,” Schmidt counters testily, “one can’t name a single Supreme Court decision and the other taught constitutional law.” You have the sense that he’s been waiting months to get that off his chest.

“Game Change” will remind many of the 1957 Elia Kazan movie “A Face in the Crowd,” a film that is dominated by an outsized personality (Andy Griffith), but is really about a more thoughtful background character (Patricia Neal) traveling a cynical road on the way to discovering the limits of compromise and idealism. “A Face in the Crowd” remains a masterpiece and a touchstone. “Game Change” comes close.

Viewers looking for an unabashedly pro-Palin film can watch the 2011 documentary “The Undefeated” (8 p.m. Sunday on Reelz). It also features appearances by media critic and provocateur Andrew Breitbart, who died last week.

— A week dominated by a political debate over clamor for war with Iran concludes with “Shahs of Sunset” (10 Sunday on Bravo, TV-14), a reality-television look at young Persians living large in Los Angeles. Or, as one calls it, “Tehrangeles.”

Very much in the tradition of “Real Housewives,” “Jersey Shore” and “Russian Dolls,” “Shahs” doesn’t so much take an anthropological look at its subjects as let vulgar stereotypes run wild in revealing, often pathetic ways.

After the Islamic Revolution of 1979 toppled the pro-Western shah, many Iranians decamped for the United States with only the clothes on their backs. how these immigrants and refugees became the fantastically wealthy parents of the narcissistic characters seen here is hardly discussed. We’re told that the Persian community includes doctors, lawyers and entrepreneurs, but the characters on “Shahs” consist of real estate-brokering men and marginally employed women all endowed with a remarkable sense of entitlement and boundless materialism.

MJ, a strenuously single woman, works in real estate with Reza, who struggles with his identity as an openly gay Persian male. but this is merely a speed bump on his superhighway of self-regard. Plump, arrogant Sammy also flips buildings and surrounds himself with female admirers, generously described as “hookerish.” GG does little of note except talk about her new nose and shop. she expects that any husband will spoil her as her parents have done. Asa fancies herself a singer and a bohemian and decries the less than “soulful” life of her contemporaries. but this doesn’t stop her from attending their parties, where she is considered an outsider. Her greatest act of rebellion is allowing her eyebrows to flourish, unplucked.

At a time when insight into Iran, its people and its exiles might be welcome, Bravo offers more of the same, a gaggle of vain exhibitionists who appear willing to do anything to get on television.

— “Must Love Cats” (8 p.m., Animal Planet) enters a new season.

— the musical gang from “Big Time Rush” saves the world in 2012′s “Big Time Movie” (8 p.m., Nickelodeon).

— A woman makes a home for her mentally disturbed sister in the 2012 drama “Of Two Minds” (8 p.m., Lifetime), starring Kristin Davis and Tammy Blanchard.

— Damian Lewis, Gerard Depardieu and Olly Murs appear on “The Graham Norton Show” (10:15 p.m., BBC America, TV- 14).

— Jonah Hill hosts “Saturday Night Live” (11:30 p.m., NBC, TV-14), featuring musical guest the Shins.

— Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (7 p.m., CBS): A former Israeli spymaster discusses tensions with Iran; a radical approach to teaching algebra; a profile of Aerosmith.

— Scheduled on “Dateline NBC” (7 p.m.): clerks who pilfer winning lottery tickets.

— Little Red Riding Hood gets itchy feet on “Once Upon a Time” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).

— “Real Fear: the Truth Behind the Movies” (8 p.m., Chiller) examines some of the news accounts behind classic horror films.

— “America the Wild” (8 p.m., National Geographic Wild) offers improbable footage of wilderness creatures.

— Alicia takes on Colin’s case on “The Good Wife” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14).

— A horse named Niagara Falls looms large on “Luck” (9 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).

— the farm feels insecure on “The Walking Dead” (9 p.m., AMC, TV-14).

— Warwick’s divorce and finances look ugly on “Life’s Too Short” (10:30 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).

Romance and advertising get shaken and stirred in the 1961 comedy “Lover come Back” (6 p.m. Sunday, TCM), starring Rock Hudson, Doris Day and Tony Randall.

Death in the antiques trade on “NCIS: Los Angeles” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … Swinging from branches on “Harry’s Law” (8 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14) … the search continues on “Q’Viva! the Chosen” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … “Wipeout” (8 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG).

Kansas mayhem on “Criminal Minds” (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV- 14) … Too much publicity on “The Firm” (9 p.m., NBC, TV- 14) … A Romanian boy vanishes on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).

“The Amazing Race” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … Taking on tobacco on “Harry’s Law” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14) … Guilt dampens Homer’s spirits on “The Simpsons” (8 p.m., Fox, TV- PG) … A treasure hunt to remember on “Bob’s Burgers” (8:30 p.m., Fox, TV-14).

“Celebrity Apprentice” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14) … Fat camp on “Family Guy” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … the usury suspects on “Desperate Housewives” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Roger acts as a therapist on “American Dad” (9:30 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … A killer’s mother on “CSI: Miami” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … Carlene plots revenge on “GCB” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).

Kevin McDonough can be reached at kevin.tvguy@gmail.com.

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HBO’s hurricane Sarah; princes and princesses of Persia

Top 10 Most Remarkable 2010 Midterm Election Results

by on January 31, 2012

My, what a difference two years make

Namely, a 50% jump in the unemployment rate, a tripling of the federal budget, and a tenfold increase in the annual deficit. but who’s counting?

Behold the 10 most remarkable outcomes from yesterday’s historic midterm elections:

1. Illinois Senate:

This one says it all. amidst allegations of corrupt and incompetent business dealings and public program administration, Democrat Alexi Giannoulias couldn’t stave off the GOP tsunami and retain Senator Barack Obama’s former seat. Fiscally conservative, socially moderate Representative mark Kirk ran on his votes against the stimulus bill and ObamaCare and eked out the most important symbolic victory of the evening.

2. Florida Senate:

George Hamilton lookalike Charlie Crist disingenuously switched parties in May to become an Independent, rather than risk facing a primary loss, and after the primaries promised to caucus with Senate Democrats. Marco Rubio was an early Tea Party darling the mainstream media labeled unelectable; Rubio overcame a last-minute race-baiting dirty trick by bill Clinton and received nearly as many votes as his Independent and Democratic opponents combined.

3. Kentucky Senate:

Jack Conway stooped almost as low as Florida’s Alan Grayson by cutting last-minute ads implying his opponent wasn’t a true Christian because of a college prank 27 years ago. Rand Paul unapologetically espoused radically libertarian, small-government positions, wisely endorsed more aggressive and active foreign policy positions than his isolationist father Ron Paul, and was brave enough not to back down from saying government should not interfere with private hiring decisions.

4. Pennsylvania Senate:

Arlen Specter swayed back and forth with the political winds for two years until he was uprooted and blown into retirement. Democrat Joe Sestak not only didn’t hide from his embarrassing support for the lethal Big Three signature Obama policies-the stimulus bill, cap-and-trade, and ObamaCare-but argued all should have been bigger and more government-heavy. In contrast, Club for Growth President Pat Toomey was an unabashed fiscal conservative and Tea Party favorite who won despite an unfavorable blue-state climate.

5. Wisconsin Senate:

Russ Feingold was a long-term incumbent and influential, far-left scourge of conservatives in the Senate, due to his cosponsorship of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act and solitary losing vote in the Senate’s initial 98-1 vote on the PATRIOT Act. Businessman Ron Johnson was a Tea Party conservative, unapologetic global warming skeptic, and ardent offshore drilling supporter who fought long odds and an opponent with a massive campaign war chest to achieve another important symbolic victory.

6. Ohio Governor:

Six-term former Representative and incumbent two-term governor Ted Strickland couldn’t hold his seat due to his support for Obama policies and his role in Ohio’s miserable economic conditions. Former Representative and House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich ran on his conservative record in Congress and took over an office that will be crucial in managing campaign finance operations in the 2012 presidential election.

7. Arkansas Senate:

Blanche Lincoln paid for her support for ObamaCare and couldn’t extend her long-term incumbency despite her Blue Dog Democrat status. John Boozman hammered home his opponent’s ideological similarity to Obama, reiterated his opposition to ObamaCare and cap-and-trade legislation, and destroyed Lincoln by a whopping 20 points.

8. Florida House 22:

Ron Klein defeated Republican Colonel Allen West in 2008 and voted with Democrats 98% of the time in the 111th Congress. This year West got his revenge by defending himself against smears about his service in the Iraq War and fearlessly fighting back claims of Uncle Tomism to become the nation’s most prominent black Tea Party elected official.

9. South Carolina Governor:

State Senator Vincent Sheheen tried to hide his liberal record but couldn’t sway South Carolina voters, even after Governor mark Sanford’s sex scandal. Nikki Haley came back from last place in the Republican primary, fought disgusting allegations of extramarital affairs, and rode the Sarah Palin/Jim DeMint/Tea Party wave to become the nation’s second Indian American governor.

10. Colorado House 4:

Incumbent Representative Betsy Markey floundered after her support for ObamaCare, cap-and-trade, and the stimulus bill. Young Gun State Representative Cory Gardner defeated Markey due to his vocal support of Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan’s radical, fiscally austere Roadmap for America.

As for dear Christine O’Donnell, Sharron Angle, Linda McMahon, John Raese, Carly Fiorina, Carl Paladino, Meg Whitman, Charles Baker, and Sean Bielat: better luck next time

Top 10 Most Remarkable 2010 Midterm Election Results

Gabrielle Giffords attends speech in a bittersweet farewell

by on January 26, 2012

Yesterday at 1:10 AM The presence of the congresswoman injured by a would-be assassin provides an element that transcends politics.

The associated Press

WASHINGTON — in a bittersweet farewell, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords accepted bags of chocolates and a big presidential hug as she claimed her seat one last time in the House of Representatives Tuesday night.

Giffords, who has regained much of her ability to speak and walk after a gunshot wound to the head Jan. 8, 2011, will leave Congress this week to focus on her recovery. but first, she wanted to attend the State of the Union she was forced to miss last year in the uncertain days after the shooting.

Just before President Barack Obama was to speak at 9 p.m., Giffords quietly entered the chamber under her own power and made her way the few steps to a seat that had been reserved for her. Hug No. 1 came from friend Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida. Giffords’ colleagues stood and gently applauded her.

"Gabby! Gabby!" some of them chanted.

Limping a little, Giffords beamed around the chamber and raised her left hand to wave. Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas, approached with two bags of chocolate, which Giffords took, grinning.

She looked to the gallery to wave at her husband, astronaut mark Kelly. When First Lady Michelle Obama took her seat next to him, she waved, too.

The president himself swooped in with a big bear hug around Giffords’ tiny frame, grinning widely before climbing to the rostrum for the speech.

She has inspired gestures of bipartisanship. Last year in the tender days after the shooting, members of both parties sat together across the chamber, rather than Democrats to the president’s right and Republicans to his left. many lawmakers did the same this year.

Throughout the speech, Republican Rep. Jeff Flake, sitting at Giffords’ side, repeatedly helped her stand as her fellow Democrats applauded Obama.

Giffords’ presence may be the only element about the event above politics.

Obama used the highest-profile pulpit in the land to reclaim the spotlight from Republicans battling for the right to face him in the general election. he was speaking to a Congress cranky after a year of the most bitter partisan fighting in recent memory and the public’s widespread disapproval.

He’s weaving a narrative about economic fairness and zeroed in on the richest Americans who pay a lower tax rate than those who bring home a regular paycheck. Obama didn’t say it, but Republican hopeful Mitt Romney, a multimillionaire who released his tax return for 2010 and an estimate for 2011, is one of the nation’s wealthiest in this category.

Billionaire Warren Buffett has said it’s unfair that his secretary pays a higher tax rate than he does. Emphasizing the point, Buffett’s secretary, Debbie Bosanek, attended the address in Michelle Obama’s box.

Republican leaders pre-labeled Obama’s blueprint a "pathetic" rehash.

The political subtext seems trivial compared to the real and wrenching journey Giffords has traveled from the "Congress on your Corner" event a year ago in Tucson that turned violent and changed everything for her to the House chamber Tuesday night. the shootings left six dead, Giffords recovering from a bullet wound to the head and 12 others injured.

The prospect of the Arizona Democrat taking her seat Tuesday night is an emotional milestone for many on Capitol Hill. Last year, her colleagues left it empty in her honor, a visual symbol of the difference between real tragedy and Washington melodrama.

Much rehabilitation awaited Giffords.

She has since regained a halting ability to speak and walk on her own. she was so disgusted about the way Congress was handling the debate over whether to raise the nation’s debt ceiling in August that she made a surprise appearance in the House chamber to cast her vote.

The House gave her a standing ovation and sustained applause, one of the rare bipartisan moments in Congress last year.

Circling back to the beginning of her ordeal, Giffords was in Tucson Monday finishing the meeting she started on the morning she was shot, and bidding farewell to constituents who have supported her through her recovery.

She met in her office with other survivors of the shooting rampage, including Suzi Hileman, who was shot three times while trying to save her young friend and neighbor, 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green. the little girl died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

And in her last act in Tucson as a congresswoman, Giffords visited one of her favorite charities, the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.

The food bank established the Gabrielle Giffords Family Assistance Center with $215,000 it received in the wake of the shooting. the center has helped 900 families get on food stamps in the last year and offered guidance to needy families seeking assistance with housing, insurance, clothing and other basic needs.

Giffords and Kelly then jetted Monday night to Washington, her spokesman said, and spent a quiet day before the big speech and her farewell.

She is expected Wednesday to vote on one last bill, a measure she co-authored to impose tougher penalties on smugglers who use small, low-flying aircraft to avoid radar detection and bring drugs across the Mexican border.

The woman whose improbable recovery has captivated the nation hinted that her departure from public life might be temporary. she promised in a tweet: "I will return & we will work together for Arizona & this great country." 

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Is America Ready For Real Change In 2012?

by on January 25, 2012

The voters will decide who will govern them in the near future. the American electorate will be voting to determine who the next President and the Congress will be in 2013. the Democrats hold a slight margin in the Senate while the Republicans maintain a very slim lead in the House of Representatives. Both of the major political parties have a right to be excited about the 2012 elections. Nancy Pelosi is the current minority leader in the House of Representatives and she recently stated that she believes due to the shape of the overall economy that the Democrats have an excellent opportunity to retake the leadership role in the House. the Republicans can be excited about their chances to regain the Senate. the Democrats currently maintain a three seat lead in the Senate but about two-thirds of the seats that will be up for election in 2012 will be Democratic seats.

President Barack Obama will certainly represent the Democrats in the upcoming Presidential election race. the Republicans have several candidates that are in the mix to be their party’s nominee for President. Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are two of the most well-known candidates. Some of the other candidates are Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, and Jon Huntsman.

Three of the candidates are really interesting prospects. Herman Cain is a Republican who has campaigned on the 999 tax-rate plan. he suggests a nine percent income tax for business, a nine percent tax-rate for individuals and a nine percent sales tax to replace the current federal income tax. Critics of the 999 tax plan suggest that the plan would help the upper classes while doing harm to the lower-income people. the most amazing thing that would occur should Herman Cain get the nomination would be having both of the major political party’s candidates running for the presidency being Afro-Americans. This would show the world how much America has changed over the last hundred years. Michele Bachmann, a favorite candidate of the Tea Party, would make history if she is the Republican candidate for the 2012 Presidential race. She would be the first woman to be the official representative by either of the two major parties for the top spot on ticket.

Ron Paul has run for President before. Ron appears to have a viable opportunity to being the nominee. he presents an intriguing option from the other major candidates. Paul suggests that the President should follow the Constitution rather than acting as a power merchant. the Constitution states that Congress shall make the laws and the President carries out the laws that Congress passed. American Presidents have unlawfully grabbed powers that were the rights of the Congress. Ron Paul states that as President he would dismiss many of the Cabinet officials and return to Congress the responsibilities that the Constitution granted the Congress. Paul would also restrict the use of the American military unless the Congress formally declared war against another nation. Ron Paul suggests that America should follow Switzerland’s example of remaining neutral when other nations go to war. No one refers to Switzerland as being an isolationist country. Some people call Paul an isolationist because of his neutrality stance. Ron Paul needs to ask his critics why they don’t also call Switzerland isolationist. What is the difference between Ron Paul’s views and Switzerland concerning nonintervention.

America will soon have to decide who will lead this nation in the coming years. President Obama would commit us to the same the course. most of the Republican candidates would suggest making small changes in America’s political path. Ron Paul is the only major political candidate that would create real change in America’s economic and foreign policies.

The leaders of our country have steadily held three disgusting views. First, it is better to deceive than to tell the truth. Second, it is better for the people to be ignorant than to know. Lastly, it is better to have the people be slaves to government policies than to have the people be free of government intervention. it will be interesting to see what direction the American voters choose for us in the 2012 elections. What do you think America?

It’s something for you to ponder over.

2012 blues

by on January 9, 2012

Sometime during the break I decided that I might want to purchase a gun. Some variety of pump action 12-gauge mangler, the kind that I would clean in the living room if I had a daughter and her boyfriend were coming to dinner for the first time.

I’m not certain where this sudden yen for a firearm came from. I don’t typically find myself in situations where a gun makes for a handy tool. Even calling a gun the same thing that we call a hammer or a Phillips head screwdriver is amusing, in a really macabre sort of way. as if having to brandish a Glock 9mm at someone is as commonplace an occurrence as having to hang a picture or put together a bookshelf from Ikea.

On New Year’s Day, I found myself in the foothills southwest of Payson with my girlfriend’s father Jay. Her brother Justin drove. Clanking around in the back of the Forerunner were enough guns to make Ted Nugent salivate.

Sweet Lord!  Barack Obama signed The 2012 National Defense Authorization Act. It’s effectively turned the military into a goon squad that can detain anyone they want indefinitely without trial. The Senate rejected an amendment to the NDAA that would have explicitly forbidden the indefinite detention of American citizens. The dream is writhing on its back like a freshly-gassed cockroach.

The shooting spot we picked was littered with broken bottles and mangled computer monitors. The last half hour of dying sunlight bounced off the spent casings. it looked like a cult of poorly assembled robots threw a Mardi Gras and then a mass suicide.

A cop zip tied a 5-year-old boy’s hands and feet together and tried to charge him with battery.  This April, we’ll witness the trial of the two troopers who shot and killed Jason Kemp in his own home after he asked them for a standard entry warrant! during protests at Occupy Oakland, Marine veteran Scott Olsen was shot in the head with a projectile gas canister. Footage shows Olsen standing peacefully, minding his own business seconds before getting his skull caved in. This is the thanks we give a guy for serving two tours of duty in Iraq. Semper fi.

Jay handed me a .44 caliber revolver. Just looking at it makes my bowels curdle a little bit.  “Be careful of the recoil,” he said.

Regular old civilians are getting cagey and stupid also. In Wisconsin this summer, mobs attacked State Fair attendees as they exited the fair grounds.  a man let a pack of exotic animals loose in Zanesville, Ohio before trying to swallow a bullet. An eighth grader in Texas was shot last Monday by police officers. He punched a fellow student and then brandished a pellet gun that, according to reports, looked very much like a real pistol. He was told multiple times to put the gun down and, for some reason he didn’t care that two cops had a bead on him. He’s dead now.

The revolver kicked like a mule. After six rounds, my hands started to sweat and ache.

It’s easy to insulate oneself from the outside world. John Donne tells us that no man is an island. But the Internet is a really good place to get completely buried beneath your own social networking solipsism and a long Netflix queue. On the rare occasion when we pull our heads out of own navels and take a look around, planet earth in the year 2012 can be a pretty terrifying place.

According to certain interpretations of the Mayan long-count calendar, we have a little less than 350 days before some kind of cataclysmic extinction-level-event. it is widely accepted that the Mayan people were real whiz kids when it came to numbers. But it should also be acknowledged that being good at math doesn’t make you an expert on the end of all existence. And yet there are some people that legitimately believe that the final curtain is nigh upon us. I personally know someone who broke up with his live-in girlfriend of more than three years. “I really believe that the Mayan prediction for 2012 is true,” he told her. “And between now and then, I just want to have sex with as many people as possible.” This is the brand of bad craziness we may have to deal with as the days count down.

My girlfriend’s brother pulled out a single barrel 12 gauge pump action shotgun. “We call it The Zombiekiller”, he said. It’s beautiful, in the same way that all dangerous things are. In the way the world is. But it also looked totally ridiculous in my hands.

Maybe I’m being optimistic, but haven’t we done this before? Don’t we know this routine already? I’m rounding second and heading into my dirty thirties and off-hand I can count probably six or seven raptures, apocalypses and doomsdays that were supposed to come and tear my world asunder and did not. We’ve lived through the end a thousand times and we’ll do it a thousand more. as a species, we’ve done genocides and droughts and wars and plagues and, collectively, we’ve come out each time bruised, but intact. That’s what humans do – they solider on.  At the dawn of this year, the world looks like one giant rotating riot. But the world is scary all the time. Some years are simply scarier than others.

I thanked Jay for the expo and quietly decided that shooting TVs in the desert is awesome, something I want to do again. I’ll probably end up getting some sort of gun. But I’m betting that I’ll never have to fire it, unless I find some more busted televisions.

My girlfriend’s father took the shotgun from me, reloaded it and loped up the hill, randomly firing it into an imaginary unruly mob. The sight should have made me wet my pants. His footing was steady and his aim sharp. He fired off 9 shells in a matter of seconds. But we all just had a laugh. it was a silly thing to watch him aggressively empty his gun into the hard dirt. Here’s hoping that it stays silly. Here’s hoping that the unruly mob stays imaginary. Cheers.

2012 blues

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