Tag Archives: president

Etiquette Question: Is it OK to call your (potential) President a Lying Piece of Shit?

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Terry| 3 Comments
Romney Snake Tongue

The sad thing is I didn't even have to photoshop this image. After the campaign he's run, this is now Romney's natural appearance.

Pardon my language, but I have an honest question regarding acceptable etiquette. I’m in a quandary.  It’s not like it’s a “new” development that’s causing the quandary, but there are recent events that have definitely exacerbated the situation.

Mitt Romney has never been one to, well, worry about the truth.  As his own campaign has stated “We won’t let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers!”  Of course not!  Why let a campaign for the most important job on the planet be dictated by something as silly as “fact”?  Mr. Romney has certainly shown that he takes his campaign slogan seriously, as there have been countless instances where “fact” has been, well, distorted a wee bit.

With a week to go in the election, Romney is getting increasingly desperate though, a fact bourne out by his increasingly desperate campaign tactics in the pivotal state of Ohio.  A few days ago, Romney put out an ad implying that because of Obama, Jeep was shipping Ohio auto manufacturing jobs out to China.  The claim is rather curious, given that Obama saved the auto industry, and thus, 1 in 8 jobs in the state of Ohio.  Chrysler, the company that manufactures Jeeps, immediately put out a rebuttal to Romney’s bullshit, with a website statement refuting all parts of Romney’s claim.  As Chrysler stated, not only are they not moving American jobs oversees, but Chrysler is investing over $500 million in a Jeep factory in Ohio, and are looking to EXPAND hiring by 1,100 workers.

The Romney campaign, NEVER one to admit how completely full of shit they are, doubled-down on the ad campaign today, releasing radio ads in which they continue the claim that Obama policies are resulting in Jeep shipping manufacturing capabilities to China.  This, despite Chrysler itself just rebutting the claim, and talking about expanding operations in America. This, despite a host of fact-checkers bashing Romney for the blatant lie.

THIS is how far the Republican party has sunk.  Not only does the Romney campaign think you, the voting public, are a bunch of complete imbeciles who will believe this crap, but the Republican operation backing Romney claims their own “fact checking” proves the Jeep commercials are kosher.   The Wall Street Journal and other “unbiased” entities have backed Romney’s ad campaign, claiming they are “correct”.

Romney knows he’s losing this race.  He knows he’s losing Ohio. So, as he’s done throughout this race, he once again is proving that he will say ANYTHING, take ANY position, or contradict his own previous positions, to try to fool people into voting for him.

Therefore, my quandary.  Is it acceptable to call a man who could possibly be your President a LYING PIECE OF SHIT???

I thank God that with one week to go, it’s looking like I won’t have to deal with a Romney presidency.  I won’t have to deal with a LYING PIECE OF SHIT as my president.  If something should happen a week from today, where Americans choose to vote THIS type of person to the most powerful position in the world?

Then I’ll know it’s not just Romney who is morally bankrupt.  It’s been QUITE obvious in this election that Republicans and Obama haters will stop at nothing in their quest to defeat him.  t’s been quite obvious that it’s not just Romney who has sold his soul, but so have one hell of a lot of “good” American citizens, who seem to believe that Republican tactics are perfectly acceptable.

Posted in Culture Wars, Politics

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Latest Election Odds – “Mittmentum” a myth

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Terry| Leave a comment

Eleven days until the election, and I’m battling an addiction. An obsession.  I’m ingesting every poll and either reacting with 1) instant heartburn every time a poll moves the slightest bit toward Romney, or 2) instant relief every time a poll bumps towards Obama.  But even more addictive than the polls is my obsession with looking at the betting sites for the election odds.

I’ve said out here before, that the more reliable source of information for who is going to win the election are the betting sites, rather than the polls.  Pollsters have it in their own best interest to get it right, and I do think polls are fairly accurate overall.  However, nothing drives “getting it right” more than having money on the line; hence, my trust of betting sites.

Obama has stanched the bleeding that resulted from his pitiful 1st debate performance. All the BS in the media about “Mittmentum” is just that…BS.  Especially in the important swing states, polls and betting lines have stabilized, and starting to drift toward Obama in many cases.  National-level polls continue to show Romney with a slight lead, leading to some speculation that we may see a repeat of 2000 but with parties reversed, where Romney wins the popular vote, but loses the election.  Overall, here’s the odds some of the betting sites and pundits are providing for the election (As of Friday morning – click for links to the sites):

- InTrade – Obama 62.5%  Romney 37.6%

- Nate Silver’s Five Thirty Eight – Obama 73.1%  Romney 26.9%

- Iowa Electronic Markets – Obama – 61.0%  Romney 37.5%

- Betfair – Obama 68.9%  Romney 31.1%

“Mittmentum”?  Uh…no.  The numbers are certainly down from before the debates, as InTrade had Obama as an 80% favorite for reelection before Obama’s Denver debacle.  But overall…you’d certainly much rather be Obama than Romney right now, especially with the same sites above showing Obama with a 62% to 76% chance of winning Ohio.

There’s no way in hell Democrats are going to retake the House, but the other ‘race’ of most interest is who will control the Senate.  Before Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock offered their “wisdom” about rape, before Scott Brown revealed himself to be one cranky SOB, back in August, sites like InTrade had Republicans as favorites to retake the Senate.  Now, with the series of self-inflicted wounds by Republican Senate candidates, Democrats are solid favorites to maintain control of the Senate.  Odds for Democrats to maintain control of the Senate:

- InTrade – 65.6%

- Nate Silver’s Five Thirty Eight – 87.6%

- Iowa Electronic Markets – 77.1%

- Betfair – 78.1%

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Romney calls OBAMA a liar???

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment
Romney and Obama

Given the campaign over the last several months...which of these two men do YOU think is more likely to lie?

I couldn’t let this story go by without talking about it.  In an interview on Good Morning America, Mitt Romney was asked about the upcoming debates.  Romney stated that one of his “challenges” he’ll have in the debates “is that the president  tends to, how shall I say it, to say things that aren’t true.”

Are you KIDDING me?  The ROMNEY campaign, coming out on a popular morning TV show and saying THEY are worried about the lies of their opponent?   Is this part of a new Romney strategy?  Romney and Ryan have both been caught in blatant lies throughout the campaign.  Is this their way of getting the heat off their backs for their own lies, by trying to convince folks that it’s the OTHER candidate who is the liar??

Given that Romney’s campaign seems to have adopted the strategy of “say it enough, and people will think it’s true”…maybe they think if they call Obama a liar enough, it will stick enough that people will just think both sides are playing politics as usual, and lying through their teeth all the time.

It sure has the stench of a very desperate Romney campaign though.  After the debacle of Romney’s completely outrageous criticism of the Obama administration regarding the Embassy attacks, the odds makers have sharply increased the odds of an Obama reelection, with InTrade moving Obama’s chances up by nearly 10% this week, to over 66%.  Given that Romney appears completely incapable of actually discussing what he’ll DO if he’s elected, he’s been relegated to attacking Obama.

Pretty damned daring of him to straight out call Obama a liar though, given the free flowing garbage that’s come from the Romney campaign for the last few months.

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Romney’s “Perfect” VP pick

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Terry| 2 Comments
Mitt Romney

It's amazing how often you watch Romney and see just how damned uncomfortable, how unhappy, he looks. I would be too, if I had sold my soul. The man is a caricature of his former self.

With today’s announcement of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s running mate, Romney has again reminded us what today’s Republican Party stands for.  Following in the footsteps of John McCain, the last, failed Republican candidate, the once moderate, pragmatic Romney has completed his conversion to right-wing wacko.  The pick proves that it is the Rush Limbaugh’s of the world and corporate America who really runs the Republican party, not the everyday American voter.

I respected McCain before the last election.  He was indeed a “maverick”, someone who fought for what he thought was right, regardless of his party’s view on a particular issue.  That all went out the window once he ran for president, and it’s carried over into his bitter, post-election loss political life.  Now, McCain is a shell of of his former self, having been “assimilated” (Borg-style!) into the rest of the conservative, right-wing, wacko component of the Republican party.

It’s amazing how Romney has followed the same path.  Romney has somehow transformed from a moderate governor of a liberal state, from a champion of health care reform, into a sniveling wimp who kowtows to the most radical in the Republican Party.  The Ryan announcement is just verification of the transformation.  The architect of a budget plan so extreme, so completely unrealistic that even huge numbers of Republicans distanced themselves from it as much as they could, was strongly backed by the most radical and conservative people and institutions in th U.S.

And, as usual nowadays for the Republican Party…the radical wing of the party “won”, and got their man as the VP candidate.  I really wonder how men like McCain and Romney can look in the mirror in the morning, knowing how they’ve completely sold their souls for the sake of winning an election.  There’s really no word to describe it other than….pathetic.

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Brian Brown – Scum of the Week

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Terry| 4 Comments

Scum of the WeekCongrats North Carolinians.  Thanks to your perceived need to specifically alter your constitution just to discriminate against a certain class of human beings, whenever I think of your state, I will think of backwoods, rednecked bigots. 

Is North Carolina really SO full of homophobic, insecure, hate-mongoring losers that the “issue” of gay marriage became a hot-button topic for the state?  I will NEVER understand how people can be so incredibly insecure about their own beliefs and place in the world, that they feel the need to lash out and bash or discriminate against another class of human beings with a different lifestyle.

A special congratulations goes out to Brian Brown – president of the “National Organization for Marriage”, as I’m giving him the coveted “Scum of the Week” award.  How proud he must be to lead an organization whose sole purpose is to effectively preach intolerance towards gays.  But PLEASE, Mr. Brown, do us all a favor and give your organization a PROPER name. Your group isn’t about “defending” marriage, as you claim.   “Marriage” between a man and woman doesn’t need “defending”.  My marriage to my wife is affected in NO way by the legal or personal relationship of a pair of human beings somewhere else on the planet.  Gay marriage in NO way “threatens the institution of marriage” as your organization claims.

Hence the call for a name change for your organization.  How about “Organization of Homophobic Bigots”?   Or “Insecure Rednecks of America”?  Something along those lines, Mr. Brown?  If you’re going to preach intolerance and hatred, you might as well be honest with America, and with yourselves, about what your true motivations are.

Posted in Culture Wars

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Sen. Grassley – Crossing a Line

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment

On the blogosphere, partisanship and strong language are generally the norm.  As normal every day citizens, bloggers venting about a topic certainly aren’t averse to using harsh, abusive language.  I certainly have done my share of that from time to time.  Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, Mitch McConnell, Rick Santorum, and John Boehner have all felt my verbal wrath at times.  Rush Limbaugh has CERTAINLY felt my verbal wrath, given the very public, hate-filled messages he spouts from his radio show every day.  Given some of my past posts, I suppose it could be viewed as a wee bit hypocritical to say what I’m about to say, but Senator Chuck Grassley from Iowa has DEFINITELY crossed a line with a tweet he made over the weekend.

The Senate USED to be the place of “gentlemen” (and women) Senators, where partisanship took a back seat to civility and cooperation, at least in a MUCH stronger sense than civility and cooperation has been a cornerstone of the House.  Those days are gone.  Republicans in general have followed Rush down into the gutter, increasingly relying on stirring up hatred to drive their politics.  Evidently the Senate is no longer immune to that trend either.

In Sen. Grassley’s tweet yesterday, he said “Constituents askd why i am not outraged at PresO attack on supreme court independence. Bcause Am ppl r not stupid as this x prof of con law.”  When Grassley’s staff were asked about the tweet, the Grassley contingent took full ownership of the statement, stating that the tweet did indeed come from Grassley himself, and that he wasn’t backing down on anything he said.   

It’s one thing for a sitting Senator and the President of the United States to disagree with each other.  It’s QUITE another for an active Senator to personally attack the office of the President of the United States, and call the President “stupid“.   What bothers me the most about the current crop of Republican Senators and Representatives is that there seems to be absolutely NO respect for the President of the United States.   It’s damned hard to have a functioning government when basic disagreement on policy has morphed into a complete lack of respect, and a complete unwillingness to even LISTEN to the other side of a story, much less cooperate and compromise to reach a solution on an issue.

It’s one thing for bloggers or every day Americans to call out a politician.  I don’t like the messages of pure hatred that have permeated political discussion, but hey, it’s America, we all have the right to have our voices heard.   However, having our highest elected officials hurl personal insults at each other crosses a line, and damages the structure and functioning of our political and governmental framework.  Senator Chuck Grassley, congratulations…you have won my “Scum of the Week” award.

Posted in Politics, Scum Of The Week

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Santorum Supporters: He’s just like us

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Terry| 4 Comments
Rick Santorum

Santorum, pointing out his complete lack of understanding of world affairs. However, according to Santorum supporters, he's "just like them". Sadly...I couldn't agree more.

Call me crazy, but when I need to get my car worked on, I go to an auto mechanic.  For my son’s education, I put my trust in teachers.   If I have a leaky pipe, I go to a plumber who has been trained to deal with the issue.  In other words, when I need to deal with an issue, I go to those most qualified to deal with it.

So, when it comes to the presidency of the United States, when it comes to positioning one man to be the most powerful man in the world, call me crazy, but I want someone who is actually qualified for the position.  I want someone INTELLIGENT.  I want someone who knows the issues.  For many people though, actual qualifications for the presidency of the United States seem to be secondary to “folksiness”, other personality traits, or even appearance.  As this story notes, many of those who have come to support Rick Santorum have done so because he seems like “one of them”.   Sure, he’s a millionaire!  He made $923,000 last year.  But…he did his own taxes!! He’s “one of us”!  As people in this story put it, Santorum is “down-to-earth” and “more like us”. 

And sadly, that IS true.  Santorum is a dinosaur of a human being, someone who puts more trust in a book written by a bunch of guys 2,000 years ago than what he sees with his own eyes.  He cares little for future generations, with a complete focus on current economic gain over all other concerns.  Look at the Santorum philosophy noted in this story: “The bible says we don’t need to be worried about these environmental concerns that President Obama is concerned about.” (Holy CRAP is that a scary statement).   He has a view about the place of women in society that is something out of the 1700s. 

In other words…Rick Santorum IS “just like us”, given how many Americans have the same misguided views.  Qualifications to be president?  Unimportant to these folks.   He’s “just like them”.  In other words he’s ignorant, uncaring about those who are less fortunate, and completely uninformed on most world affairs. 

You wouldn’t let your dunderhead, mechanically inept friend fix your car if it’s broken.  Why the HELL would you not worry about actual qualifications when voting to fill the slot of the most powerful man on earth?

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Thanksgiving Thanks

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Terry| 1 Comment
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert using humor to point out the ridiculousness of American conservatism...the perfect antidote for the lies and hate coming from the right.

On a Thanksgiving weekend, what better topic than to post what you’re thankful for.   To stay on topic with the blog focus, here are some things I’m thankful for, from the birding, environment, and political world.

- Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert – In a world where half the U.S. thinks Fox is a real source of news, in a world where right-wing, hate-mongering wackos like Rush Limbaugh and Anne Coulter spew lies and use hate to pit American against American, Jon Stewart and the Daily Show, and Stephen Colbert and the Colbert Report are the perfect antidote to the ever increasingly radical conservative agenda.  SOMEONE needs to point out how incredibly ridiculous the right sounds, SOMEONE needs to call out the right for their take-no-prisoners, our-way-or-the-highway, hate-mongering approach to politics and America’s social structure, and the Daily Show and the Colbert Report are perfect for putting the right’s own soundbites in perspective.

SkepticalScience.com – SkepticalScience.com is a site that focuses on debunking climate change skepticism, and the lies perpetuated by those attempting to undermine climate change science.   Scientists often aren’t very effective at communicating with the general public, and using the mainstream media as the primary pathway to communicate with the public simply isn’t effective, not when the media often seems more interested in generating controversy than focusing on the facts.  I’m specifically highlighting Skeptical Science, but I’m thankful for ANY website, ANY blogger, or ANY news organization that recognizes the science behind climate change and vehemently counter industry-sponsored groups that have attempted to politicize and undermine that science.

National Public Radio - It can be depressing to go online and read what passes as news on most websites.  Money makes the world go around, and since Americans seem more interested in the latest pop culture icon than they do in real issues, “news” seems to sometimes focus more on entertainment or cultural fluff pieces than on the real news of the day.   The other trend in U.S. news that REALLY bothers me is a pervasive slant to news stories that focuses on the negative or controversial side of a story.  There always needs to be someone to blame, there always needs to be a target that stokes anger, there always seems to be a need to pit American against American, right against left, etc.  With politics AND the media both taking that same approach, it’s no wonder we often seem to be a divided America.  Against that pervasive, negative, and biased news background, it is SO refreshing to get in the car in the morning and hear REAL news stories on NPR while driving to work.  You want “fair and balanced” reporting, you go to NPR.  While those on the right launch unfair attacks on NPR as being too liberal, it only takes a few minutes of listening to realize that NPR bends over backwards to try to provide “both” sides of the story, particularly on sensitive political issues.

Pathetic GOP Presidential Candidates - I’m not all that thrilled with many of the decisions Obama has made in his first term.  He’s proven to be a very poor negotiator with a GOP that refuses to compromise, and he’s been much less effective than hoped for with regarding to environmental issues.   However, given the incredibly difficult hand he’s been dealt, I think he’s been able to do some nice things.  There’s VERY little Obama can do to turn the economy around, given the situation in Europe and a GOP-controlled House that automatically is against ANYTHING Obama proposes.   The GOP is heavily counting on that poor economy to drive Obama out of office, and given that poor economy, normally, Obama wouldn’t have much of a chance to win a 2nd term.  This isn’t a normal situation though, in that the best and the brightest the GOP has to offer include a dimwit like Rick Perry, a sleazy Hermann Cain who also has absolutely no clue about politics, the economy, or world affairs, a set of wackos in Bachmann, Santorum, and Paul, an admittedly intelligent Newt Gingrich with a lot of skeletons in his closet, and the bland politician in Mitt Romney that nobody seems to want to support except by default.   It’s damned scary to think where America would be headed if Republicans controlled the House, Senate, and had the presidency.  I thank god that Republicans have fielded the most laughable slate of presidential candidates America has ever seen.

South Dakota Winter – A wonderful South Dakota winter is here!  Reason to celebrate?  Well, uh…no.  I HATE winter.  I HATE the cold. I HATE the snow. I HATE leaving work and pretty much only seeing the sun on weekends.   But one thing I treasure about South Dakota winters…birding and taking photos on the grasslands in the central part of the state.  Gyrfalcons!!  Prairie Falcons!! Snowy Owls!! SCADS of Rough-legged Hawks!  Ferruginous Hawks!! Golden Eagles!! Bald Eagles!!  A single day of birding and photography in the central part of the state typically provides dozens and dozens of raptors, and quite often, some good views at birds that are typically very rare in the conterminous U.S.  Given the otherwise bleakness of a South Dakota winter, the explosion of life on the grasslands in the winter, with raptors “dripping” off telephone poles and fence posts, is a very welcome sight.

Posted in Birding, Birds, Climate Change, Deep Thoughts, Politics, Uncategorized

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Lady Gaga decides not to run; GOP field relieved

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Terry| Leave a comment
Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga, announcing that she will not seek the presidency of the United States

In a much anticipated statement that rocked the political landscape, Lady Gaga today offered suggestions on her top political priorities, but also stated she had no desire to become president. Reaction across the political world ranged from disappointment, to obvious relief.

“That Lady Gaga, she’s a real firecracker”, drawled an elated Texas governor Rick Perry.  “I sure as shootin’ wasn’t lookin’ forward to runnin’ against someone with that kind of brainpower.  World Peace as one of her three top priorities…genius, sheer genius that is….never would a thought of that one myself.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stated he had mixed emotions about Gaga’s decision.  “It certainly wouldn’t have made life easy for President Obama in the general election”, said Bernanke, “but today she said she’d do everything she could with the debt crisis.  Please, Mz. Gaga…for the good of America, give me a call.  I need your help.”

Immediately after the conclusion of Mz Gaga’s press conference, Michele Bachmann’s camp released a statement, pledging to offer the vice-presidency to Gaga if she were to win the GOP nomination.  Later in the day on an interview on Fox News, Bachmann stated, “Bachmann and Gaga will restore America to its rightful place as the dominant world power.  Only with Bachmann and Gaga will America return to the days of $2.00 gasoline.”

The political figure who seemed to enjoy Lady Gaga’s announcement the most was none other than former president Bill Clinton.  “I for one am glad Gaga decided not to run”, said a grinning Clinton.  “I’m lookin’ forward to spendin’ a little more time with her to talk about her statement today about ‘finding alternative uses for energy’.  I got some energy that needs some alternative use.”

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