When Roger West first launched the progressive political blog "News From The Other Side" in May 2010, he could hardly have predicted the impact that his venture would have on the media and political debate. As the New Media emerged as a counterbalance to established media sources, Roger wrote his copious blogs about national politics, the tea party movement, mid-term elections, and the failings of the radical right to the vanguard of the New Media movement. Roger West's efforts as a leading blogger have tremendous reach. NFTOS has led the effort to bring accountability to mainstream media sources such as FOX NEWS, Breitbart's "Big Journalism.
Roger's breadth of experience, engaging style, and cultivation of loyal readership - over 92 million visitors - give him unique insight into the past, present, and future of the New Media and political rhetoric that exists in our society today.
What we are against:
Radical Right Wing Agendas
Incompetent Establishment
Donald J. Trump
Corporate Malfeasence
We are for:
Global and Econmoic Security
Social and Economic Justice
Media Accountability
THE RESISTANCE
Limbaugh: Student Denied Spot At Contraception Hearing Says "She Must Be Paid To Have Sex," So She's A "Slut" And "Prostitute"
Female law student Sandra Fluke, who was prevented from testifying at Darrell Issa’s anti-birth control hearing recently, spoke to a Democrat-sponsored hearing last week about the importance of reproductive health care for women, and the cost of contraception coverage.
Her testimony has provoked some shockingly ugly hatred from Reich-wingers, but Rush "the drugster" Limbaugh, the true leader of bigotry and hate - takes it another step into the gutter today, calling Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute.”
The Drugster:
What does it say about the college coed Susan Fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex.
She's having so much sex she can't afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex. What does that make us? We're the pimps.
The johns, that's right. We would be the johns -- no! We're not the johns. Well -- yeah, that's right. Pimp's not the right word.
OK, so, she's not a slut. She's round-heeled. I take it back.
As ThinkProgress points out, Fluke was actually going to testify “about a friend who is a lesbian and needed birth control for non-sexual medical reasons," so not only is the drugster wrong on all accounts - he is still remains a pungent, vile, nasty ball of lard.
The drugster is a racist pig, and a sterling representative of the modern radical teapublican.
There is little problem with this pig doing his daily dose of Negro bashing, Gay bashing, Women bashing, Indian bashing, Liberal bashing, Environmentalist bashing, or the raw unbridled hatred he expresses three hours a day toward President Obama, for after all, that hatred is what conservatives are most about. Neither is there much problem in him disallowing the airing of any opposition to anything he says; totalitarian fascism is also so indicative of the conservative mindset that he should not be castigated for just doing his job. But Rush goes beyond the standard fare of hate directed at the enemies of conservatives - the loathsome do-gooders and the dreaded others - by delving into a realm of sleaze and unfairness seldom witnessed outside the pages of the American Spectator.
The Virginia Senate voted Tuesday for a scaled-back version of a contentious proposal that would require women to undergo external ultrasounds before abortions, but not the transvaginal ones.
The 21-19 vote in the Republican-controlled Senate — mostly along party lines — came after Gov. Robert F. McDonnell asked legislators to soften the bill following protests on Capitol Square and mocking on national television, including “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “Saturday Night Live.’’
McDonnell, an abortion opponent who had said he would sign the bill, asked lawmakers to amend the measure after it became clear the original legislation would have required a vaginal ultrasound in most cases because abortions usually occur in the first trimester.
The Senate amended the bill to exclude women who have reported to law enforcement that they are victims of rape and incest. But women who know that their fetus suffers from birth defects would have to undergo an ultrasound.
Two Democrats — Sen. Charles Colgan (Prince William) and Phil Puckett (Russell) — voted with Republicans. One Republican, Sen. John Watkins (Chesterfield), voted with Democrats.
Because another amendment was added to the bill on Tuesday, the measure goes to the Republican-dominated House of Delegates for approval before it heads to McDonnell for his signature.
NASCAR TURNS RIGHT (Photo is a R. West Sim car 2009 all rights reserved)
Guys whom turn left for a living turn right in politics.
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney stopped by Daytona International Speedway Sunday for NASCAR’s season kickoff, the Daytona 500. (The race was postponed until tonight because of rain.) Romney made news when he stumbled into another car-related boast that reminded voters just how wealthy he is. Asked by an AP reporter if he is a NASCAR fan, Romney replied, “Not as closely as some of the most ardent fans. But I have some great friends that are NASCAR team owners.”
Two of the team owners Romney name-checked appear to be more than just friends, however. Both Richard Childress, owner of Richard Childress Racing, and John Morris, owner of perennial NASCAR sponsor Bass Pro Shops, have each given $2,500 to Romney’s campaign, the maximum contribution allowed during the primary. Childress’ wife, Judy Childress, is listed as a co-owner of her husband’s company and has also contributed $2,500 to Romney.
Two others NASCAR honchos who weren’t among the “friends” Romney mentioned have also donated to his campaign. Roger Penske, owner of Penske Racing, and NASCAR CEO Brian France both maxed out to Romney’s primary campaign.
This is what lawmakers in Virginia do when they get their asses handed to them in a handbag.
This video of Virginia state rep. Dave Albo joking about how his wife refused his overtures after seeing the contentious debate over that trans-vaginal ultrasound bill would be funny, except for the fact that it's kind of sick how light-hearted these conservative men are when discussing their efforts to punish and humiliate women seeking abortions in their state.
You're right {VA Representative} Dave Albo. Rape is hilarious. Its just so funny, legislate state mandated rape, and then joke about it!
My State lawmakers: a bunch of pasty white, racist, frat boys deciding what women can do with their bodies. Christ, this guy can't even say vagina
Maybe Albos' wife is just grossed out by his disgusting obese belly, pedantic intellect, and his belief that watching the Redskins and channel surfing is supposed to get her hot? She saw the "work" he had been doing and it just solidified what she was already thinking..."why did I marry this idiot"?
Like the Virginia "RAPE" bills, anti-miscegenation laws are really not about “morality” or “decency”, but about social order. They’re not about “personhood” but “humanity.” Sex, controlling other people’s private lives, dictating what they do with their bodies and controlling their “place” in society. The more “human” you perceive yourself to be Albo, the more you presume you have authority to tell others how to be and what to do.
And, like these laws, these bills are based on ignorance, entitlement and arrogance.
I am thinking, had Albo's mother been mandatorily subjected to a trans-vaginal ultrasound while she was pregnant with him, then perhaps she could have discovered way back then what most of the world recently discovered ... that he is an idiot of epic proportions!
New Rule: You need to be able to say the word "vagina" before you try to tell others what to do with it.
McDonnell: I Backpedaled On Ultrasound Bill After Cuccinelli Told Me It’s Unconstitutional.
Governor Bob McDonnell finally explained today what inspired him to soften that invasive ultrasound law in Virginia. He says he didn't really know what was in it!
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) disputed the notion that he’s spending too much time legislating social policy during this morning Politico forum, as he continued to distance himself from a measure that would have required women to undergo an invasive transvaginal ultrasound before receiving an abortion. Under the proposed policy, most women seeking seeking an abortion would have been forced to have a procedure, “in which a probe is inserted into the vagina, and then moved around until an ultrasound image is produced.”
The governor explained that he has focused on “getting our budgets under control” and “jobs,” not social policy, and claimed that he hadn’t read the original provision before publicly endorsing it. McDonnell also added that Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a conservative powerhouse within the Republican party, advised him that the measure was unconstitutional:
MCDONNELL: We realized there were different kinds of ultrasounds and so what I recommended to the General Assembly, and they adopted the other day, is let’s make the requirement for the abdominal ultrasound… I also got legal advice from various people, including my Attorney General, that these kinds of mandatory invasive requirements might run afoul of Fourth Amendment law. So those were the reasons…After talking to lawyers and doctors on my own, after we started hearing some concerns int he legislature, I personally looked at it. I mean, normally a governor would review these hundreds of hundreds of bills when they get to your desk. You’re so busy advocating your own agenda, you don’t read every legislator’s bill. But I was certainly supportive of that concept.
Until the bill attracted national media attention and frustrated some in the Republican party, however, “McDonnell and his aides had said the governor would sign the measure if it made it to his desk.” Since then, he issued a statement claiming that “Mandating an invasive procedure in order to give informed consent is not a proper role for the state” and offered an amendment that would not force women to receive the procedure. Studies have shown that viewing an ultrasound does not change a woman’s mind before an abortion and only adds to the cost of the procedure.
The Virginia House and a Senate committee have passed the ultrasound bill with the governor’s substitute language.
Even if he was telling the truth, shouldn't he actually know what's in a law before he endorses it? Is that blueberry pie around his mouth?
The tea bagger has been known to be cleaver with his/her sign making. Unfortunately the signs are often misspelled or unintentionally ironic.
Whats wrong with this sign?
Solidarity:
Though this modern tea party has little or nothing to do with the original, wearing tea bags on or around their foreheads gives them a sense of belonging and of brotherly camaraderie.
Blow Hard:
This is the tea baggers most effective weapon. This weapon has been known to yell racial and homophobic epithets at people who disagree with their ideology.
Religion:
The tea bagger not only clung to his/her gun when the "Kenyan" President stole power, but also to righteous indignant of his/her purpose driven Evangelical religion.
Liberty:
The tea bagger is typically conservative with libertarian ideals. The irony of this is that most receive a Government Social Security check every month, due to the fact 46% of the movement are 55 or older.
Faux News:
Although most of the tea baggers information comes from talk radio, the tea baggers always find time for "fair and balanced" reporting coming from the blow hard pundits at Faux News.
Patriot:
The tea bagger is the best kind of American there is, because every article of flag clothing and memorabilia they own comes from Wal-Mart and was made in China.
Caucasian:
The typical tea bagger is white and over 55. It is surprising that this demographic would have any problem with a black President.
Sig Sauer P228:
The tea bagger has a permit to always carry his/her hand gun. This is a special gun because its the same one their TV hero Jack Bauer uses.
Right-Wing Radio:
The tea bagger receives most of their inspiration from the white man's everyday heroes,
Dana Loesch, Glernn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage.
We have had over 500k hits to our "Virginia approved rape law" blogs these last three days. NFTOS readers have been engaged - thank you for standing up for women! I am often asked why I started NFTOS and blogging. NFTOS' voice is much more powerful than any vote, and our stance on issues like this says "YES WE CAN DEMOCRATS"! I am a proud Democrat living in Virginia!
"The fetus is the property of the entire society."- Nicolae Ceausescu
Ceausescu made mockery of family planning. He forbade sex education, books on human sexuality and reproduction were classified as "state secrets," to be used only as medical textbooks. With contraception banned, Romanians had to smuggle in condoms and birth-control pills. Though strictly illegal, abortions remained a widespread birth-control measure of last resort. Nationwide, Western sources estimate, 60 percent of all pregnancies ended in abortion or miscarriage. ~ Wikipedia
Does the above sound remotely familiar? Yes, current teapublicans in general, more specifically the state of Virginia.
With "friends'" like American GOP'ers, whom needs enemies?
"Every sperm is sacred, every sperm is great, if a sperm is wasted, God gets quite irate" ~ Monty Python and The Meaning of Life
Guns have a Constitutional Amendment protecting them, women on the other hand, no such luck. The ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) has never been ratified, instead the equality of women is "implied". Does it look like women are being treated equally when we have bills being passed all over the country that are focusing only on women? Women make 77 cents for each $1 a man makes, is this truly equality?
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Only until we vote smart, will we rid ourselves of the radical pungent Reich - wingers.
Nothing says "big government" like the overreach of Virginia's HB one bill. This is a call to all progressives, get off your posteriors and vote in November.
Racism, sexism, homophobia – they go hand in hand with the GOP, and the people oppressed by them experience them in intersecting ways. Worldwide, women’s human rights are complicated by these intersections.
Like the Virginia bills, anti-miscegenation laws were really not about “morality” or “decency”, but about social order. They’re not about “personhood” but “humanity.” Sex, controlling other people’s private lives, dictating what they do with their bodies and controlling their “place” in society. The more “human” you perceive yourself to be, the more you presume you have authority to tell others how to be and what to do. And, like those laws, these bills are based on ignorance, entitlement and arrogance. After many years, the Loving's won their landmark case and succeeded in finally dismantling shameful government-sanctioned racism in regards to mixed-race marriages."
When will a woman's judgment be trusted, her autonomy be assured?
UPDATE: 2/22/12 18:02
State Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel (R) announced she will seek to strike her controversial “abortion informed consent” bill, rather than accept a watered-down version passed by the House of Delegates. Her original legislation would have required women to undergo unnecessary and invasive ultrasound procedures prior to obtaining abortions, but a House amendment weakened that requirement. The move comes on the heals of late night mockery, public protest, and Gov. Bob McDonnell’s (R) backtracking on his prior support of the measure. Vogel’s decision likely means that her bill won’t be considered this year.
Gov. Bob McDonnell said this afternoon Virginia lawmakers should not require a woman considering an abortion to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound.
"There is no need to direct by statute that further invasive ultrasound procedures be done" during abortion procedures, the governor said in a statement released this afternoon.
The governor said he will propose several amendments to a bill that would have required an internal ultrasound procedure in many cases for women seeking abortions.
Instead, McDonnell proposes that the decision concerning the internal procedure, known as a transvaginal ultrasound, be left to a woman and her doctor.
"Mandating an invasive procedure in order to give informed consent is not a proper role for the state. No person should be directed to undergo an invasive procedure by the state, without their consent, as a precondition to another medical procedure," McDonnell said in the statement.
"I am requesting that the General Assembly amend this bill to explicitly state that no woman in Virginia will have to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound involuntarily," McDonnell said in the statement. "I am asking the General Assembly to state in this legislation that only a transabdominal, or external, ultrasound will be required to satisfy the requirements to determine gestational age."
Virginia Democratic Party chair Brian Moran is already faulting McDonnell for not going far enough.
“Let’s be clear: the course of action that Governor McDonnell has advocated forces an unnecessary medical procedure on Virginia women whether their doctors think they need them or not,” Moran said in a statement. “Should Virginia women thank the Governor for giving them a choice over the type of procedure the state will force on them at his behest?”
While it's a step in the right direction, too little to late Einstein! Virginian GOP' ers have flown their true colors, America was watching Virginia, and they called your bluff, called you out, and you have proved yourselves to be truly outdated, pasty old white men - woman hating - racist!
Virginia Legislative teapublicans are jumping ship by the minute and they are trying to save what face they can, currently the dastardly bunch is in caucus, NFTOS will report back as soon as something breaks. ~ West
"Flat earth" teapublicans.............
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has decided to back off of the forced Ultrasound bill, and has said he'll review it once the final bill hits his desk.
Earlier, Govna Bob told ABC News he supports “the concept that a woman should have all of the information possible before she makes a decision about terminating a pregnancy.” Now, his office has clarified that he will “review” the bill if it passes the General Assembly:
“Our position is: If the General Assembly passes this bill the governor will review it, in its final form, at that time,” McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin said in a statement. He declined to explain the change in approach, but Virginia’s governors can sign, veto or amend legislation.
The House and Senate have approved their versions of the bill. On Tuesday, the House postponed a final vote on the legislation…for the second day in a row. [...]
"Officials" with knowledge of Tuesday night’s teapublican meeting said GOP leaders hope to introduce amendments on Wednesday, but it is unclear whether the rank and file would support them.
Bob McDonnell, a Pat Robertson 'Flock U' graduate whose MBA thesis would give POTUS hopeful Rick Santorum an erection - couple McDonnell along with Bob Marshall [Virginia House of Representatives Delegate (R)] and you have "Sharia Law" disguised as teapublicans.
Perhaps Dana Loesch can demonstrate how this procedure is not "invasive" by subjecting herself to such an ultrasound as proof, or maybe the good "gentlemen" of Virginia should have a trans-rectal ultrasound to determine if he has any viable brain activity. Yet something tells me - I don't think either will subject themselves to either test!
Unfortunately, if and when this bill fails, teapublicans shall simply move on to some other radical attack on women's rights. Teapublicans have attacked American women for decades, how very "Sharia Law" of them.
Republican Religion/Politics circa 2012: the most dangerous cult mankind ever invented.
You have choices in life, follow reality, or follow fear and ignorance.
I truly believe that teapublicans really do take pride in being Galactically Stupid. Just consider all the things we've heard over the last few years. Some still believe there was WMD in Iraq or that Saddam was involved in the 9/11 attack, some believe hurricane Katrina hit because of the abortions conducted in America. Some are Galactically Stupid of science and believe that intelligent design or creationism is a valid alternative to evolution. Some also demonstrate their ignorance of science by believing that the scientific consensus on climate change can be ignored because they don’t like the findings. Some are so Galactically Stupid of our own history that they are unaware of the intent of the founding fathers to create a secular government with separation of church and state.
Teapublicans have a made a real effort to distort history as much as possible of late - to the point where they are now seeking to rewrite history again. The teapublican party has bent over backwards to present their own twisted version of history, and it’s starting to look like that one requirement to be a teapublican is to be Galactically Stupid on historical facts and events.
Galactically Stupid
Below is a list of the many historical facts that Teapublicans have either distorted or have just gotten plain wrong along with corrections of their errors.
Were The Founding Fathers A Group Of Right Wingers
Teapublicans have been crisscrossing the country trying to convince Americans that the Founding Fathers were conservatives. But were they really? The answer to this question is absolutely not. If the Founding Fathers were conservatives they would never have revolted against England. One can hardly call breaking away from the most powerful nation on Earth at the time a conservative act. Plus, the Founding Fathers supported a strong federal government, believed in civil rights, supported separation of church and state, despised corporations, and believed the government had the power to provide health care and levy taxes. This is why the Supreme Court throughout American history has rarely ruled laws unconstitutional using the Tenth Amendment.
Did The Founding Fathers Support A Strong Federal Government Or A Weak One
This is an easy one. Teapublicans are dead wrong when they claim that the Founding Fathers wanted a weak federal government. And that is simple to prove. Before we had the Constitution, America was a loose alliance of states under the Articles of Confederation. Under the Articles of Confederation, the federal government was weak. So weak in fact that it didn’t have the power to levy taxes, could not regulate commerce, and relied on the states to provide money for defense. The states had all the power and the federal government had virtually none. This was a chaotic system that threatened to tear apart the new nation. So the Founders wrote the Constitution which created a strong central government capable of levying taxes, regulating commerce, printing money, and forming a military. Most importantly, under the Constitution, the federal government was given the power to provide for the general welfare and the states were given far less power. Teapublicans will often cite the Tenth Amendment as proof of state supremacy but they’re wrong about that too. After the Constitution was ratified, some wanted to add an amendment limiting the federal government to powers “expressly” delegated, which would have denied implied powers. However, the word “expressly” ultimately did not appear in the Tenth Amendment as ratified, and therefore the Tenth Amendment did not reject the powers implied by the Necessary and Proper Clause. In other words, the federal government has the power to make laws about things that are not found in the Constitution such as health care.
Is Social Security A "Ponzi Scheme"
When Rick Perry called Social Security a “ponzi scheme” in the first GOP Debate, he not only made a political mistake of epic proportions, he was also dead wrong. Social Security was created to keep senior citizens out of poverty and it has done a wonderful job of doing just that. When people put money into a ponzi scheme, they don’t get it back. Social Security, however, gives the money back plus more to every person who puts money into the system. It’s far from being a ponzi scheme. The real ponzi scheme is the private health insurance business which takes money from you and then drops you when you need medical car
What Is The Constitutionality Of Federally Mandated Health Care
Is federally mandated health care unconstitutional? According to Teapublicans it is. But that’s not what the Founding Fathers thought. Congress passed and John Adams signed, a mandatory health care insurance law back in 1791. The mandate required sailors to pay a tax and in the event they needed care, they could get medical care from the government. If it was unconstitutional as Teapublicans claim, why didn’t Thomas Jefferson or James Madison repeal it? The fact is, they didn’t, and I’d say James Madison knew more about the Constitution than any Republican does, considering he’s the primary author of that sacred document.
What Did The Founding Fathers Think About Corporations
Corporations are people according to Teapublicans. They even believe the Founding Fathers loved corporations. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The truth is that the Founding generations distrusted corporations with a passion. That’s why corporations were regulated rather harshly compared to the pampering Teapublicans give them today. Corporations were limited to an existence of 20-30 years and could only deal in one commodity, could not hold stock in other companies, and their property holdings were limited to what they needed to accomplish their business goals. And perhaps the most important facet of all this is that most states in the early days of the nation had laws on the books that made any political contribution by corporations a criminal offense. If the Founding Fathers were still alive and reinstated these regulations, Teapublicans would be accusing George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the rest of the founders of being evil, un-American socialists.
Did 9/11 Happen On George Bush’s Watch
How many times have we heard a Republican or right-wing talking head on Fox say that no terrorist attacks happened when George W. Bush was President? In July, Fox News host Eric Bolling said “we were certainly safe between 2000 and 2008 — I don’t remember any terrorist attacks on American soil during that period of time.” Other Teapublicans such as Rudy Guiliani and Dana Perino also “misremember” that period of time. I seem to recall sitting in a 20th Century History course at my high school on September 11, 2001 when terrorists struck the World Trade Center in New York City. And as I also recall, George W. Bush was President at the time.
Who Signed The Smoot-Hawley Act
Many Teapublicans still have anti–New Deal views. Michele Bachmann blamed FDR for turning a recession into a depression by passing the “Hoot-Smalley Tariff”. Except that FDR didn’t pass it. Hoover did, three years before FDR took the oath of office. Oh, and it’s Smoot-Hawley, NOT “Hoot-Smalley”.
Was Martin Luther King Jr. A Republican
Teapublicans claim that Martin Luther King was a Republican. So they can explain this part of a speech by King, right? In one speech, he stated that “something is wrong with capitalism” and claimed, “There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.” So, by claiming King as one of their own - you can assume teapublicans are also adopting his philosophy?
Was Joseph McCarthy A Hero
Another idol of the teapublican party is Joseph McCarthy. Teapublicans are now rewriting school books to present McCarthy as a hero who did no wrong. In reality, where the rest of us live, Joseph McCarthy was nothing more than a witch hunter who accused innocent Americans of being communists. He had no real evidence that people were communists and he should have recognized that people have the right to be part of any political party they choose. He violated the Constitution and ignored the values of freedom that we hold dear. Just like teapublicans today.
Did Ronald Reagan Only Lower Taxes
Worshiping Ronald Reagan means you also have to believe that Reagan never raised taxes during his Presidency, but this constant right-wing claim is false. While he did cut taxes in 1981 and again in 1988, Reagan actually raised taxes every year from 1981 to 1987 including The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 which, at the time, had been the largest peacetime tax increase in U.S. history, the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984, a higher gasoline levy, a higher payroll tax, and a 1986 tax reform deal that included the largest corporate tax increase in American history.
Was D-Day All About Health Care
Teapublicans have been very vocal about the Affordable Care Act and Rick Santorum is no exception. He has made the claim that Americans stormed the beaches at Normandy on D-Day because they opposed Obamacare. He said, “Almost 60,000 average Americans had the courage to go out and charge those beaches on Normandy, to drop out of airplanes who knows where, and take on the battle for freedom … Those Americans risked everything so they could make {their own} decision on their health care plan.”
This is absurd. The men that stormed the Omaha and Utah beaches were fighting to liberate Europe from Nazi rule. They weren’t thinking about health care 67 years into the future. They were thinking of their families and whether they’d ever see them again. Santorum also fails to realize that military personnel and their dependents have government-run health care. And the soldiers aren’t complaining about it either. And as a matter of fact, many World War II veterans and their families also have Medicare which is also run by the federal government. That blows Santorum’s claim out of the water.
Do States Have The Right To Secede
After President Obama took office, many teapublican legislators and governors, particularly in the South, began threatening secession. They say secession is a right but is it really? The answer is absolutely not. Not only did the Civil War settle this dispute, James Madison and Andrew Jackson (both Southerners) also rejected this claim. Nowhere in the Constitution will you find the right to secede. The Constitution was created by the people “in order to form a more perfect union” and by seceding, a state breaks up the nation, thus breaking a legally binding contract. And Andrew Jackson once threatened to march an army to South Carolina after that state threatened to secede. In fact, Jackson felt that secession was treason. The Supreme Court has also weighed in on this issue. In Texas v White, the court held that the Constitution did not permit states to secede from the United States, and that the ordinances of secession, and all the acts of the legislatures within seceding states intended to give effect to such ordinances, were “absolutely null”.
Was The Civil War Fought Over State’s Rights
Teapublicans claim that it was all about state’s rights and not about slavery. The truth is, state’s rights only played a small role. The South feared that President Lincoln would end slavery, so they took preemptive measures by seceding from the Union and attacked Fort Sumter without any provocation. Slavery was, without a doubt, the main cause of the war between the states. Without slavery, white plantation owners would have to pick their own cotton, or, pay people to do it for them. They also believed Africans to be inferior and would not tolerate their freedom. We should all keep that in mind as the South/teapublican home base continues to make claims that they aren’t racist. Was The American Revolution Fought To End Slavery
Yet another claim that David Barton makes in an attempt to present the founding generation as perfect, is that the American Revolution was waged to end slavery. Once again, Barton makes a claim that is completely false. The American Revolution was fought to win American independence from Great Britain. Slaves were certainly not freed before, during, or after the war. They remained as slaves and would be slaves until the Civil War. Did Benjamin Franklin Reject Evolution
We continue with the lack of knowledge of the Founding Fathers among the reich-wing. Many teapublicans have been making the claim that Benjamin Franklin rejected evolution. There are two problems with this claim. First, the theory of evolution wasn’t around until Charles Darwin published the theory in 1859, nearly 70 years after Franklin died in 1790. And secondly, Franklin was a man of science above all else. It is unlikely that he would have rejected a scientific theory in favor of creationism. Franklin in fact, rejected the dogma and divinity of Christianity. Was America Founded As A Christian State
Ever heard of David Barton? He’s the guy that Glenn Beck goes to when he wants to distort history. David Barton claims that the Founding Fathers intended the United States to be a Christian state. Many teapublicans have since picked up on this claim and have been shamelessly using it to court the Christian reich-wing, and as a reason to end the separation of church and state that has been part of this country since its founding. His claim can be trounced with one question. If the Founding Fathers wanted America to be a Christian state why did they not say so in the Constitution? Instead, the Founders placed this in the document.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
~First Amendment, Bill of Rights of the Constitution
In other words, there is to be absolutely NO state religion.
Did The Founding Fathers End Slavery
Michelle Bachmann isn’t through yet. During a speaking event she once claimed that the Founding Fathers were the ones who ended slavery. That’s a surprise to me since George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe all owned slaves. In fact, 12 of the first 16 American Presidents owned slaves. But Bachmann’s attempt to paint the Founding Fathers as saints is also a denial of past Republican Party history since early teapublicans rose to prominence by fighting against slavery and the first teapublican President, Abraham Lincoln, ended slavery altogether.
Was John Quincy Adams A Founding Father
Michele Bachmann evidentially failed American History in school. Because she has absolutely no knowledge of early American history. She once claimed that John Quincy Adams is a Founding Father of America when in fact, JQA was just a child when the Revolution began. He was born in 1767 and was just 14 when the war ended. And like Palin’s supporters, Bachmann fans proceeded to edit the Wikipedia page of John Quincy Adams in an attempt to make her claim viable. Galactically Stupid!
Was The Shot Heard ‘Round The World Fired In New Hampshire
Did you know that Lexington and Concord are located in New Hampshire? I didn’t. And the people in New Hampshire and Massachusetts didn’t either. When Michele Bachmann exclaimed to a New Hampshire crowd that “the shot heard ’round the world” occurred in their state, I’m sure that Massachusetts let out a roar of laughter. The sad but hilarious thing is that most American children know that the first shot of the American Revolution occurred in the state of Massachusetts.
Did Paul Revere Ride To Warn The British
Sarah Palin made the dubious claim that Paul Revere actually warned the British instead of the American colonists. Her supporters even made attempts to edit the Paul Revere Wikipedia entry to make her claims sound correct. If she had taken the time to read Longfellow’s poem, Paul Revere’s Ride, she would not have made this error, as the great majority of school children know that Revere made his midnight ride to warn Americans, not the enemy.
Teapublicans understand that the lack of education is the key to controlling their base. All they need to do is distort and re-write history in their favor to win the votes of the Galactically Stupid.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
~George Santayana
Its no wonder that Mary and Joseph rode into Bethlehem on a donkey instead of an elephant.Words seriously fail me at this point. Without ignorance we couldn’t even have the current teapublican party. Everyone tries to rewrite history, or at least put their own spin on it, but the teapublicans have taken it to an Orwellian level.
Two-thirds of the teapublicans think POTUS is a socialist, 57 percent a Muslim—and 24 percent say "he may be the Antichrist." HUH
Teapublicans define themselves largely by the worthiness of their objectives and the sincerity of their motives. The teapublican party is abysmally ignorant about its country, abysmally!
I often rail against the teapublican party, and for good reason - their ideology is socially destructive. Teapublicans use xenophobia (damn those illegal's) and religion (praise Jesus, who hates pro-choicers) to substantiate the mentality, the mentality of the Galactically Stupid!
What the f**k is wrong with teapublcians and the total demoniac agenda theyembrace and advocatefor? Every day brings on a new statement or proposal that goes against everything civilized nations have come to understand as being rational and decent. We have pointed out that Dana Loesch who pathetically defended a bill which was approved by my state - Virginia state House requiring any woman seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound.
Please help me understand- there is something seriously wrong with anyone (in this case, a so called woman) who equates consensual sex with a state-mandated act which involves inserting a probe inside the vagina of a woman who has not requested the procedure.
These radical people have literally lost their freaking minds.
If your on the Dana Loesch cruise liner, abandon ship while there is still time, this is truly one FUBAR chick!
MSNBC fired Pat "Racist" Buchannan the other day for being......racist ("the end of white America") All the GOP ers are in uproar, not because this pasty white old man is racist, but because MSNBC knew Pat was a repugnant POS well prior to hire, so then it's ok to be a racist, and Pat is just evoking his right to "freedom of speech".
This is the thing with teapublicans, they defend everything vile in our society, it doesn't matter what the content is, "it's a violation of freedom of speech". So, Pat's blatant nasty snide remarks are right up the GOP's alley.
GOP ers are well versed with two amendments of the US constitution, after one and two, it's a toss up or stretch to say they could get past three without scratching their heads and saying, "how many amendments are there? (twenty seven).
Freedom of speech and toting guns, after that, the hell with the constitution!
GOP Constitution
SIDEBAR: A funny thing happened on the way to the forum, and how quickly teapublicans forget, weren't they the very ones screaming and chanting union busting laws in Wisconsin, and hyping the fantastic idea of "Right to Work" laws?
I own two corporations in Virginia, which is a right to work state, which means in essence, both employee and employer have the right to leave, fire, at will, without cause. Hence, bye-bye Pat.
Be careful what you ask for I say. Pat was fired because MSNBC wanted to rid itself of this pungent nasty old man. Nothing more be said, what irritates the right is that it's one less nasty foul mouthed radical to be heard from.
Those on the right ask what was wrong with Buchannan's book, exactly? Its critics have labeled it racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic. It doesn't matter WTF it was, you have served your purpose as "useful idiot", now take your pink slip and hit the curb!
A little history on Pat Buchannan:
1. Wanted to close the borders to protect white dominance. As he wrote in his 2006 book State of Emergency: “If we do not get control of our borders, by 2050 Americans of European descent will be a minority in the nation their ancestors created and built.”
2. Blamed lower test scores on minorities. In his most recent book Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?, he blames minorities for dragging down the country’s test scores. “[T]he decline in academic test scores here at home and in international competition is likely to continue, as more and more of the children taking those tests will be African-American and Hispanic.
3. Claimed Jerry Sandusky’s atrocities are because of “Homosexual marriage.” Buchanan appeared on a right-wing radio show on November 15 to make some convoluted comparisons: “Let’s take this Penn State thing…these horrors, there’s an organization that marches in the gay pride parade in New York called—used to—called the North American Man Boy Love Association, which advocated voluntary sex along the lines of exactly what was going on at Penn State. Many of our political icons have marched in that parade right behind that NAMBLA float […] This is now, homosexual marriage is now the civil rights cause of the decade.”
4. Said the Jewish population in the United States dropped in the 90s because Jews aborted all their babies. Buchanan explains that the decline in the American Jewish population during the 1990s (a decline that a Brandeis study says never occurred), “is a result of the collective decision of Jews themselves. From Betty Friedan to Gloria Steinem in the 1970s to Ruth Bader Ginsburg today, Jewish women have led the battle for abortion rights. The community followed.”
5. Asserted Anders Breivik, who murdered 77 people including 69 teens in Norway, “may have been right.” Buchanan called Breivik a coward, evil, and cold-blooded, and then proceeded to defend his twisted rationale for the killings: “As for a climactic conflict between a once-Christian West and an Islamic world that is growing in numbers and advancing inexorably into Europe for the third time in 14 centuries, on this one, Breivik may be right.”
6. Claimed that all great nations punish the gays. In a Human Events column, Buchanan attacked California’s 9th Circuit Judge Vaughn Walker after his ruling of Proposition 8 as unconstitutional as a “judicial tyrant,” before going on to explain that “through history, all the great religions have condemned homosexuality and all the great nations have proscribed or punished it. None ever placed homosexual liaisons on the same plane as traditional marriage, which is the bedrock institution of any healthy society.
7. Penned “The Affirmative Action Nobel.” That’s the title of Buchanan’s October 13, 2009 column on Townhall.com in which he claims that President Obama’s Nobel Prize was simply the result of affirmative action. And the column only got worse from there: “They have reinforced the impression that Obama is someone who is forever being given prizes — Ivy League scholarships, law review editorships, prime-time speaking slots at national conventions — he did not earn.”
8. Argued that Poland and the United Kingdom had it coming in World War II. Buchanan seems to suggest in a 2009 column that World War II—and all the atrocities that accompanied it—was really the fault of Poland and Britain, for refusing to engage in diplomacy with Germany. “Why did Warsaw not negotiate with Berlin, which was hinting at an offer of compensatory territory in Slovakia? Because the Poles had a war guarantee from Britain that, should Germany attack, Britainand her empire would come to Poland’s rescue.”
9. Dabbled in Holocaust denial. Pat Buchanan danced alarmingly close to denying key facts of the Holocaust. In a 1990 column for the New York Post, he defended convicted Nazi war criminal Ivan Demjanjuk (whom he later compared to Jesus Christ) against charges from Holocaust survivors that he was guilty of murder by accusing the survivors of misremembering all of it: “This so-called ‘Holocaust Survivor Syndrome’ involves ‘group fantasies of martyrdom and heroics.’ Reportedly, half of the 20,000 survivor testimonies in Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem are considered ‘unreliable,’ not to be used in trials[…]The problem is: Diesel engines do not emit enough carbon monoxide to kill anybody.”
10. Argued Hitler was an individual of “great courage.” That’s just one of the quotes that the Anti-Defamation League attributes to Buchanan in their compendium of offensive remarks from Buchanan over the years. In 1977, he qualified his labeling of Hitler as racist and anti-semitic by adding that “he was also an individual of great courage, a soldier’s soldier in the Great War, a leader steeped in the history of Europe, who possessed oratorical powers that could awe even those who despised him[…]His genius was an intuitive sense of the mushiness, the character flaws, the weakness masquerading as morality that was in the hearts of the statesmen who stood in his path.”
"So now MSNBC tries to take the moral high ground. Too little, too late. They shouldn’t have hired him; firing him now just shows how opportunistic they are. He finally became inconvenient to them. Too little, too late."
"In the end, those perpetuating this abridgment of speech are the biggest losers."
Teapublicans and any other "conservative" always play the blame game, "woe-is-me", take responsibility for your actions.
What a breath of fresh air, this racist, racist, racist, racist, racist now has time to reflect and research why racism will not be tolerated circa 2012.
Bye - bye Pat, you nasty old racist!
Teapublicans have:
Pissed off Gays and lesbians - check
Pissed off African Americans - check
Pissed off Latino Americans - check
Pissed off Female Americans - check
Pissed off the remaining non-teabaggers in America - check
UPDATE: 2/18/12 17:36 Despite the nonsense of Loesch Va. personhood bill sparks outrage. I guess Loesch is the only 'female" [sarcastic] to be against Virginia's Government "Overreach"!
Loesch in her infinite wisdom to remain radical and delusional tries to justify Virginia's "forcible rape law" as:
"Furthermore, the greatest number of abortions are obtained by women who already have a child/children, so they know how anatomy and physiology works. A lack of planning on the woman’s part doesn’t constitute a mandate for legalized (and in the case of Planned Parenthood, publicly-funded) murder."
"Cases of rape and incest account for around less than 1% of abortions [bold my emphasis]:"
"The pro-abortion progressive lobby has worked extensively this past week to classify Virginia’s straight-forward law as “rape,” even though the law doesn’t dictate what sort of ultrasound should be used before a woman murders her child. The easiest and most reliable way is the transvaginal ultrasound, more common in the first trimester. Progressives act as though there are no other options available to avoid becoming pregnant, prior to getting pregnant, and that the consequence from their choice prior to sex is the problem."
Inserting something into the vagina of an unwilling woman is a violation in every sense of the word. But not to Dana Loesch. Evidentlypissing on the dead Taliban is not enough for this reich- winger [woman] [sarcastic]! Classy lady huh, nothing says class like Loesch!
The ultrasound requirement may evoke images of the abdominal sonograms standard in most pregnancies, fuzzy black and white pictures conjured by a wand passed across a woman's stomach.
But those ultrasounds are ordinarily done fairly late in pregnancy. In the beginning, particularly the first weeks, an abdominal ultrasound may not be sensitive enough to detect anything.
That's why doctors in many cases use a transvaginal ultrasound. In plain speak, they insert a condom-covered probe into a woman's vagina to obtain an image.
In order to satisfy the goals of the legislation - which includes a requirement that a doctor determine the gestational age of the pregnancy- a transvaginal ultrasound may be the only reliable course.
The bill, among the most invasive ever passed in Virginia, is the result of frustration by lawmakers opposed to abortion. Unsuccessful in making abortion illegal and unwilling to be frank about their goals, they have tried by technicality and obfuscation to make it harder for a woman to terminate a pregnancy.
And now this. In addition to the ultrasound, the bill mandates a waiting period of at least 2 hours and as long as a day before a woman can have an abortion. That waiting period has no medical necessity at all - which Loesch fails to mention in her diatribe.
This isn't about whether abortion is right or wrong.
This is about the scope of government. Even those opposed to abortion should have qualms about the government mandating medical procedures and waiting periods.
Under any other circumstances, forcing an unwilling person to submit to a vaginal probing would be a violation beyond imagining. Requiring a doctor to commit such an act, especially when medically unnecessary, and to submit to an arbitrary waiting period, is to demand an abrogation of medical ethics, if not common decency.
Loesch's real intent was to, as always, support the rhetoric of her boss - by spinning her justification to this diabolical bill, she manages to intertwine this bill with occupy rapes:
Staus quo with Loesch, instead of being dazzled with brilliance, we are baffled with bullshit. Why didn't she just continue Breitbart's "Narrative", which is, occupy rape? Why, because the "Narrative" is convoluted with lies and half truths. Lesson's learned Breitbart et al, manipulating videos, and ranting "rape", and "freaks" for a "stunt" is not a way to garner a following or to posture a position!
Hence the "false narrative" by Loesch.
I would suggest to Loesch that she learn the "facts" on abortion and murder! Maybe, had she stayed in college in stead of being a "dropout" - that she could have been able to discern the difference between the two.
Just for reference Dana:
"Murder" is defined as "illegal killing with malice aforethought." Abortion is NOT illegal in this country and therefore does not fit the definition of 'murder.'
