Happy 4th of July!

The words of the President are so true from our founding fathers that all men are created equal and it is imperative that we all keep that in mind.  The color of a person's skin, their religious beliefs, their background of where they or their family came from should not matter -- what matters is that we are all Americans and time for racism to be sent packing once and for all from our political campaigns and government.  If someone wants to be a racist,  get out of politics and quit trying to tell the rest of us what to believe or what to do.  
From the Thomas Jefferson Memorial:

On the panel of the northwest interior wall is an excerpt from "A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, 1777", except for the last sentence, which is taken from a letter of August 28, 1789, to James Madison:

Almighty God hath created the mind free...All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens...are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion...No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion. I know but one code of morality for men whether acting singly or collectively.

Just maybe the SCOTUS needs a refresher course in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution since five of them seem to think that a business is a person and are taking the Court hard right into the land of religious right who have the common sense of a gnat.  With ruling that a Corporation is a person it opens up all kinds of scenarios and a for-profit can be a religious organization opens up even more.

Does that now mean that there will be no more corporate tax breaks since they are people just like us? If businesses are people then we can start sueing them as they are no longer protected as they are now just an individual person -- no more limited liability companies?  If a for-profit business is now a religious entity, then time to quit making religious organizations tax exempt.  This SCOTUS is opening up Pandora's Box like no other to pay back the benefactors and forgot  that SCOTUS is to rule on the law not overturn years of precedence and make new law in order to make the Court hard right.  

On this 4th of July we all need to pledge to return common sense to Congress and the Supreme Court and reject this nonsense we are seeing out of SCOTUS to protect the wealthy just like the House Republicans.  Hobby Lobby is not a Church or a religious organization -- it is a for profit company which the hard right on the SCOTUS cannot get through their heads.  Monsanto and Koch Industries are not people no matter how many times SCOTUS says a corporation is a person -- it is not!  People run corporations with board of directors but the corporation itself is not a living, breathing person. Koch's have gotten their money's worth with this SCOTUS since Scalia and Thomas attend their events and with Monsanto, Thomas used to be their attorney but none of them recuse themselves?  Why not?

Now we are discovering that Justice Alito lied during this hearings but so did Chief Justice Roberts. Worst part is that Jonathan Turley nailed the current Chief Justice for hiding (lying about) his hard right agenda but the Democrats led by Harry Reid wouldn't listen to the person most of us believe is the most honest commentator we have when it comes to the law.  Majority Leader Reid refused to call people who would have stated how far hard right Roberts was preferring to keep his head buried in the sand. What a mess Bush 41 and 43 made of their Supreme Court picks to make the Court despised instead of respected.  Like everything else Bush 43 touched, it is a mess.

We need to choose our candidates carefully because they hold the future of our Nation in their hands and right now we have a hard right SCOTUS making it up as they go and a hard right House GOP who are nothing but obstructions with a Speaker who now wants to sue the President for doing his job. You cannot make this stuff up.

If Democrats keep the Senate which I would bet they will, then Harry Reid needs replaced for a host of reasons starting with confirming Supreme Court Justices of Bush 43 without having real hearings and that beyond ridiculous filibuster that requires 60 votes to pass almost anything.  Reid let the American people down and time for him to step aside and let someone who has a backbone run the Senate because he seems to have a hard time finding his.  Wrong person for Democrats to have in charge of the Senate.  My question is does Harry Reid listen to the Mormon Church or fellow Democrats and American people because if he listed to us, he wouldn't have cut a deal with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on the filibuster where McConnell won.

It is the 4th of July and if you do only one thing this year for the Country, vote out the hard right who are supported by the Koch Brothers.  The Koch Bros "My Way or No Way" people in charge of the GOP across the Country want a Christian Nation where we have to worship at their churches and other religions are not recognized not to mention only white males should vote or be elected to office.  They have said it enough times I believe them.

Many Americans fail to realize that true believers, particularly religious true believers, are convinced it is their mandate from god to transform America into a religious state with forced compliance to biblical edicts. There is a strongly-held belief among evangelicals, and Republicans perpetuate the idea, that there is a war on Christianity because the religious right is prohibited by the Constitution from imposing their beliefs on the people. Americans must understand that until there is rigorous response to the religious right’s war on the Constitution, their relentless attacks will continue including passing legislation teaching creationism as science, legalizing discrimination against gays, and mandating public school teachers force Christian prayers on our children.

Time to end this nonsense in November with voting out the hard right all across America.  Our Nation and its people deserve better representation than what they are getting as more than 2% of the Nation do matter -- every citizen matters but the wealthy donors should not be allowed to try to buy elections. Time to show the Koch's and others they may have over $200M to spend, but we have the voters!

Happy 4th of July - pledge to turn this Nation back to We the People -- all the People not just white males!

 

Oklahoma GOP State Legislator Wants Oklahoma Science Teachers to Have the Freedom to Question Their Textbooks

Can I say I am tired of Baptist in our Legislature with their 6,000 year old earth and dinosaurs roamed the earth with humans theories?  Not saying that Rep Blackwell subscribes to these theories but know of plenty of Baptist in Oklahoma who won't allow their children to visit the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History on the OU campus because it dates the earth back millions of years.  They don't want their children to hear the truth preferring to feed them the hard right religious version of history of the world.

It is a fascinating place to visit and my children and now my grandchildren love visiting.  It is so well done making it easy to follow as the earth went from one age to the next.


Kids love going up in the elevator to the second floor to be greeted by the dinosaur head -- little kids get so excited. There is a workshop area for kids and on the second floor they cover the wildlife here in Oklahoma where you can hear the birds, see the buffalo, the snakes with their rattlers moving, roadrunners, and all kinds of animals on display that you have to look twice to see they are not real.  It gives a whole history of wildlife in this part of the Country.

Oklahoma used to be under water and today we have the Wichita Mountains which are actually 5,000 feet tall but have gradually been sinking into the ground.  Now the hard right comes along and wants to teach their version of science in our public schools -- how about confusing children or more important why are children of the non-hard right going to be forced to learn junk science that has been debunked. If my kids had not graduated and came home from school with a theory the earth was 6,000 year old from a a science teacher, that school principle would wish my kids were not in their school.  I value a good education and some things are not subject to interpretation and the junk science of the age of the of the earth being 6,000 years old is one of them.  It is mixing someone's religion and science no matter what Blackwell says as this has been part of the curriculum change in the Platform at the State GOP Convention for years.

Several years ago they demanded the Bible be taught in classrooms and made the mistake of asking which Bible and got told there is only one -- have a lot more then that in my home.  I find this bill goes against everything I believe about a public education and time the legislature got their noses out of the classroom.  If they don't like what public schools teach, then send their kids to a private Christian school.  This Country is not theocracy and was not founded on the Bible no matter how much the hard right wants to rewrite history.

Another example of a legislator in Oklahoma trying to tell schools what they can teach.

New bill gives Oklahoma science teachers the freedom to question their textbooks 

Posted on: 4:02 pm, March 27, 2014, by Paige Hill, updated on: 04:17pm, March 27, 2014

OKLAHOMA – The debate over how science should be taught in Oklahoma classrooms is back. 

Lawmakers say teachers need more freedom. 

The Scientific Education and Academic Freedom Act makes its way on the agenda every year. It gives teachers the freedom to editorialize hot button issues like evolution and climate change. 

The author, Representative Gus Blackwell believes science is wide open to a range of theories, while science educators disagree. 

“This bill really is misunderstood by a lot of people,” says Blackwell. 

Blackwell says the bill’s current language doesn’t mandate teaching creationism in the classroom, but instead gives teachers the right to talk about it and other scientific theories. 

“We just say a lot of people say it so it must be true and that’s it and you need to accept it,” says Blackwell. 

Blackwell says his law is needed to protect educators who want to explore what he calls controversial scientific issues, like evolution and climate change. 

“Many times they just say, ‘I don’t want to do anything that might rock the boat. I’m worried about it,” says Blackwell. “I think this bill says no you do have the academic freedom to explore.” 

The Oklahoma Science Teachers Association is concerned. They say current text-books describing evolution and climate change are more than wild theories that you can pick and choose. 

Board member Bob Melton says, “There is no doubt, or discussion, or controversy about evolution or climate change.” 

Melton says this bill opens a door for teachers to stray far from accepted science.
“Established theories are that. They are explanations of how the world works and they’re based on solid evidence and that should be the focus of our science and structure,” says Melton. “Any controversy is actually a political controversy.” 

The bill will not allow teachers to teach their own opinion unless they use existing scientific theories. 

It also specifically states teachers do not have the freedom to promote a certain religion or religious doctrine. 

If passed, it will be in effect by next school year.

Freedom to the hard right I have discovered after living years in Oklahoma is freedom for them to say and do what they want and the rest of us have to follow along!

Won't be silenced nor will millions like me who have had it with the religious right and their version of history and now science.  The United States of America's Constitution says freedom of religion which means we are free to choose how we want to worship without state interference.   It would do Republicans some good if they remembered that but it would mean they would have to read and comprehend what something says which they have a hard time doing today.  Common sense has left the Republican Party.  We can thank President Reagan for that when he brought in the religious right types to win his primary and election.  The culture of the white male was  brought back to prominence -- we are paying a heavy price for that today.  Just ask women and minorities about the culture of the white male dominated society they want where they don't want any of us to vote.

We have a chance in Oklahoma to start to right the ship and bring some common sense back to our public schools instead of the nonsense from the heavy Republican Legislature and Governor.  Rep Joe Dorman is the person to get the job done -- he is going to need help of not only parents but all Oklahomans who value a good education.  Many of us have had it with the hard right school agenda they are trying to foster on our public schools!   Let's get behind Joe and take Oklahoma back Blue to Common Sense on November 4, 2014!

Note:  I am not paid or employed by any political campaign.  The views are my own. 

Forty-Three Ted Cruz Hard Right House Republicans Planning to Sue President Obama for Doing His Job as President

When I think it is impossible for the Republican Party to get any dumber, along comes some of the House Republicans to prove me wrong once again.  One of those jerks is running for the Oklahoma Senate seat being vacated by Senator Coburn at the end of the year -- Republican James Lankford of the 5th District.  BTW, when is he going to resign?  The Speaker of the OK House, TW Shannon, resigned to run for the seat but not heard a peep out of Lankford.  TW would make a much better Senator than Lankford any day of the week. Would bet TW is happy to be out of the OK House and having to deal with some of the hard right because he is not that hard right -- it must have driven him up a wall.    Will bring you more on the OK Senate races as it gets closer to our summer primary and probably gets nastier.

Some of the hard right House Republicans have jumped over the cliff with their latest attacks on President Obama for doing his job.  One of my favorite writers, Jason Easley, Politicususa had this to say:

Forty three House Republicans Want to Sue Barack Obama for Being President

Forty three House Republicans are sponsoring a bill that if passed would force the House to sue President Obama for behaving like a president. 

According to The Hill, “Forty-three Republicans have cosponsored the resolution since Obama’s State of the Union address, where he threatened to enact policies if Congress didn’t act. The “Stop This Overreaching Presidency (STOP)” measure, introduced by Rep. Tom Rice (S.C.), now has 104 co-sponsors, including Senate GOP hopeful Reps. Jack Kingston (Ga.), James Lankford (Okla.), Steve Stockman (Texas), Paul Broun (Ga.), Steve Daines (Mont.) and Phil Gingrey (Ga.).” 

The House Republicans are upset because Barack Obama had the nerve to act like a president. They are angry that he delayed the employer mandate, implemented the DREAM Act for the executive branch, let people keep their substandard health insurance policies, and ended work requirements for welfare recipients. 

Courts have ruled for decades that presidents have the constitutional power to delay the implementation of a law. Like all presidents, Obama’s executive orders only cover the executive branch. President Obama didn’t implement the DREAM Act for all of the country, just for the executive branch.  Read More

It dawns on you that these current hard right Republicans in the House and Senate could care less what the Constitution says about three equal branches of Government.  No place does it say the House is Supreme to all other branches but you would never understand that from the hard right rhetoric aka lies coming from the mouths of the Senator Ted Cruz Republicans in the House:

House Republicans are trying to sue the president for exercising his constitutionally granted powers. This is another attempt to delegitimize this president. Republicans are upset that the president is working around their obstruction, so they are taking him to court to try to get him to stop behaving like a president.

How much influence has Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) had on this current action of suing the Presiddent since he convinced the House to shut down the Government last fall?  My guess is a lot seeing some of the people involved.  In doing the research I found this 5 Feb 2014 article from the Houston Chronicle's, Texas on the Potomac Blog:

Cruz report accuses Obama of “assault on Texas”Posted on February 5, 2014 | By William T. Brown 

Sen. Ted Cruz has issued a report on “The Obama Administration’s Assault on Texas.”
The freshman Republican from Texas  is the ranking minority member of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee which deals with the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights. 

This report, the third in a series written by Cruz on what he sees as Obama overreach, “ goes through 10 cases where the Obama administration has advocated for overbroad views of federal power and has been over and over again repudiated by the federal courts,” Cruz said in a Fox News interview.  Read More

Question of the Day:  Can a sitting Senator can also be Speaker of the House since the Speaker does not have to be an elected House Member?   Seems that Ted Cruz is already the de facto head of the hard right in the House so why not be Speaker?  Cruz must be livid at Speaker Boehner for finally getting the courage to go against the House's hard right to pass a clean Debt Ceiling Bill as Cruz was determined not to let a clean bill pass.  Then Cruz lost in the Senate, when Minority Leader McConnell grew a backbone for a few hours and rounded up votes to stop a Cruz filibuster.  Now the hard right who has raised more money than the Chamber and middle of the road Republican groups are out for blood in the 2014 election wanting to elect hard right ideologues and don't care if they beat Democrats in November as long as they stand on principle.

These excerpts from the article at Alternet, Tea Party and the Right, basically say what many of us who were lifelong Republicans until 2010-2012 have been saying:

This week, the Tea Party aligned Senate Conservatives Fund called on House Republicans to force out Speaker John Boehner in an email that read, “Unless we install a new leader who will actually go on offense, Democrats will never fear us and we will never have any leverage.” 

We may be witnessing the genesis of another temporary or permanent fracture of the Republican Party, for what was once a happy coalition of secular and social conservatives, united to defeating Obama and liberalism, has turned into an openly hostile civil war for control of party, and by all measures the Christian Right/Tea Party faction are winning in their objective of purging what they believe are Republicans In Name Only. 

This is a war establishment Republicans cannot win for not only is the Christian Right/Tea Party faction the most reliable and agitated voting bloc within the party, but also they’re now out raising Chamber of Commerce-sponsored establishment candidates thanks to a cabal of hyper-religious organizations, the Club for Growth, and the Koch brothers. Since August, the Koch’s Americans for Prosperity has spent more than $27 million on ads, which puts it on pace to outstrip its overall $38.5 million spent on the 2010 election. 

It’s worth noting that there barely remain any open shirted “moderate Republicans.” Almost two-thirds of House Republicans voted against bipartisan efforts to reopen the federal government and prevent the U.S. defaulting on its loan obligations. The non-partisan Mann and Ornstein write in Its Worse Than it Looks, “The Republican Party has become an insurgent outlier – ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.”

Lost count of the number of times since 1998 that I have been in dust ups with the 'my way or no way' crowd on conservative websites for their stupid mantra of not caring if their candidate wins as long as they stand on principle.  My shock is that they are now in charge of the Republican Party.  According to everywhere I turn, the hard right have outraised the establishment types led by the Chamber who were attempting to wrest control of the Republican Party away from the hard right.  Looks like a dismal failure from establishment groups after what I am hearing from people I know in various locations.

Koch Bros are willing to let the hard right have their theocracy as long as they get what they want -- no Government rules and regulations so they are free to pollute at will and kill the vibrancy that has always been the hallmark of American ingenuity.   Koch Bros who want more money for themselves discovered they could get the hard right to be their puppets because it is obvious the hard right are more inclined to be puppets when you use the right mantra then think for themselves.  They have been sitting in hard right churches for years being told what to think and what to do.  Cannot fathom that.

Took me years but finally found out my trouble here in Oklahoma from the time we moved to Norman was with the hard right Republicans who make up most of the GOP in Oklahoma.  I am an independent thinker and that falls outside the norm for loyal GOP party members who are told which candidates to support. Here is an example:  In 2006 in the GOP primary for Governor, a nasty hit piece went out around the state by some County Chairs in support of Ernest Istook for Governor.  I was supporting another candidate.  When I got sent the letter as the Vice Chair of the County, the nitwits at OK GOP had left in faint grey lettering - Paid for by the Ernest Istook Campaign for Governor.  OK GOP and some County Chairs had sent out an obvious partisan Istook document and the worst part is a good many Republicans believed the document.  You cannot fight stupidity.

I can think of a few others that had the same trouble with the hard right who is now firmly in charge the OK GOP and calling the shots in the Governor's office.  The allegiance to ALEC and the Koch Bros in this state by some of the Republicans in the Oklahoma Legislature along with some statewide elected officials is mind boggling.  Cannot fathom being led around by some ideological group -- guess that is why I gave up Rush Limbaugh years ago -- found myself yelling at my radio in the car -- very seldom listened at home since the early 90's when he had all the parodies which were funny -- my all time favorite was the one on Ross Perot, "They are coming to take me away."  It was hilarious but Limbaugh hasn't been funny in years -- now he is just a shrill hard righter spouting lies and hate.

In 2007/2008 after supporting Rudy in the primary and getting clobbered by so many people on conservative websites, I started backing off posting where I had posted for years.  The Washington Post even had me as part of the purge of the GOP in the fall of 2006 from a website but I was in FL not posting.  It took awhile but almost immediately after the mid terms, I realized that the Republican Party had left me a long time ago and I just wouldn't admit it.  Was never a hard right ideologue -- always considered their 'my way or no way' mantra stupid and still do.  No way to run a Government.

Meeting more and more Republicans who live in the hard right red states who have had it and are changing parties or supporting Democrats in 2014.  This hard right takeover that leaves no room for independent thinking is my last straw.  Wish I could say it has been fun to be a Republican in Oklahoma but I would be lying.  At times it has been horrible, terrible, and nasty with attacks from the hard right that I cannot fathom toward more centrist GOP.  First time in my life to be considered a liberal Republican is in Oklahoma.  When you meet the Tea Party/Religious Right here you understand why.  You finally wake up one morning and realize I cannot deal with these people any longer.  Mine came in the spring of 2012 when I decided to support President Obama and drive my neighbors nuts. Never regretted it for a moment.  The words I use are 'Freedom, Liberated, and Relief'  as I can now express my feelings and not be called names by those on the progressive side.

Finished Reading Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist's new book, The Party's Over -- How the Extreme Right Hijacked the GOP and I Became a Democrat.  Enjoyed the book from start to finish and found myself agreeing with the current Democrat candidate for FL Governor over and over again. Gov Crist speaks my language.  You understand when someone as high profile as the former Governor can write a book like this that you are on the right track with supporting Democrats across America in 2014 and telling the GOP to 'Shove It!"

Hard Right Republicans Get Angry, Boycott Coke Over Diversity Ad While Giving Common Sense Americans a Laugh!

Outstanding ad second only to one of my favorite Coke ad, "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" which I have started singing around my home again with my dog's tail wagging to the beat.  I am also partial to the Coke Polar Bears and actually have a cookie jar of one of the Coke Bears.


Anyone who knows me knows I am a Coke drinker.  Before it became cool to drink Coke with breakfast, I was drinking Coke with breakfast.  Have had problems with the orange juice served in restaurants breaking me out on my arms and don't particularly care for the taste.  Never drank coffee and just happen to like the taste of Coke.  Sit here at my computer and sip it during the day but have learned at night it is probably a good idea to drink water flavored with lemon.

One time in Boerne, TX, Pepsi was so sure their new concoction tasted like Coke, they did a taste test -- found out my son and I could tell the taste of Coke over Pepsi.  I am much more likely to go to a fast food or restaurant that serves Coke not Pepsi.  Still not a fan of Pepsi.

Watched the new commercial and thought how neat as almost all of us have ancestors from different parts of the world many who do not speak English when they arrived on our shores.  Boy was I wrong -- the hard right went over the edge of the cliff with their "English Only" nonsense.  Republicans today are getting to be an embarrassment with some of their agenda and this ranks right up there with some other strange attacks.


I am like stunned when I go on Twitter and discover the hard right Republicans want to boycott Coke for the ad because in their small minds patriotic songs should only be sung in English.  What?  English is not our official language and would bet some of the most rabid most likely have ancestors in their background who couldn't speak English when they came here.  I hope they are more articulate then some of the comments I saw -- would be embarrassed to post anything if I wrote that poorly.

My own family is diverse -- my Dad's family on his Dad's side came to the US from England to Virginia over 100 years before the Revolutionary War while on his Mom's side her parents came from southern France toward the end of the 1800's.  My Mom's side came from Ireland in the early 1800's while some others came from Germany in the mid 1800's.

My children's great grandparents on their Dad's side came the region around Naples, Italy, through Ellis Island, into New York City's Little Italy and eventually into Upstate New York for jobs.

My Grandmother on Dad's side used to get mad and speak in French -- didn't have a clue what she said but I knew not to say a word.  My Mother-in-Law on more than one occasion would let her rip in Italian -- once again didn't have a clue what she was saying but was louder then my Grandmother and actually more scarey when got mad.

They are all Americans just like many other families across this great Country.  I would rather live in a Country where people are trying to get into the Country not one where everyone wants out although I am willing to chip in to see some of the hard right go find an island somewhere that they can tell each other how to live and leave the rest of us alone.  Somewhere the hard right lost the part 'mind your own business' and want to tell the rest of us how to live as we are just to sit down and shut up.  Not working and they are going over the edge more by the day.

Got into a dust-up on YouTube with a member of the hard right who first blamed the commercial on President Obama and then said it was a 'comunis' comercal -- take it he meant communist but spelling and grammar were not his forte.  Seems to be a symptom of the hard right in many areas -- lack of spelling and bad grammar.  When I see it now, I just automatically assume if someone is posting with such bad spelling and grammar, they are conservatives.  Probably shouldn't judge but have seen it for years on sites as I shake my head at why would they post and not learn the rules of English.  Told the jerk that I had been waiting for over four years to tell the hard right to 'shove it' and this was perfect opportunity so 'shove it' and he came right back asking who I was telling to 'shove it' -- gave up -- you cannot deal with people like that.

These same people who have trouble with the English language when writing demand 'English' as the official language.  On Twitter they used the non-classy hashtag #fuckCoke and another one for #BoycottCoke.  See examples of these non classy conservatives at Deadspin who copied their Tweets.  Then there are the copied tweets at Crooks and Liars which all added together along with seeing them live show a hard right bent out of shape at Coke because of diversity.  Abject Stupidity IMHO!

Funniest tweet I have seen is David Plouffe asking if the RNC was going to ban Coke products from their Convention.

With bad weather coming into Norman this week, made sure that I was well stocked with Coke and when I bought the Coke the guy at the checkout thought it was hilarious at how much Coke they were selling.  First thing I thought after I saw the nutcase posts against Coke was go buy some more Coke!

Raise a toast with the Coke sitting here beside me to the great diversity that has always been a hallmark of this great Country!

Republican House GOP/TP Own the Shutdown of the Government

“Speaker John Boehner won’t even let the bill get a yes-or-no vote because he doesn’t want to anger the extremists in his party,” the president said. If the speaker allows a vote, Mr. Obama added, within minutes “we can get back to the business of helping the American people.” President Obama, 10/03/2012

I am so proud of my vote for Barack Obama for President last November as I have watched him stand up to the hostage takers in the Republican Party and not budge.  This was my first vote for a Democrat for President.  Today I feel like I hit the jackpot in getting the kind of President I have wanted for years who puts the people of America first.  I have been privileged to be on conference calls with OFA and have listened to some of the most articulate and knowledgeable people I have ever heard on a conference call.  It is a 180 from previous times on conference calls with the GOP.

This just in from Politicususa.com:

An open mic and camera caught Rand Paul discussing shutdown strategy with Mitch McConnell. Paul admitted that Republicans don’t want to be there, and their only hope is to look reasonable.

(snip) 

Rand Paul admitted to the world the Republicans only hope of getting out of the government shutdown is if Democrats didn’t focus group test their talking points enough. It is nice to see Mitch McConnell confirm that there isn’t going to be a secret deal. Obama is telling Republicans privately the exact same thing that he is saying publicly. They are going to get nothing. 

However, Republicans are saying something publicly that they don’t believe privately. Publicly, the Republicans are talking tough. Privately, they are desperate for a way out of the shutdown that allows them to claim some little symbolic or token victory. 

After saying no to everything since Obama took office, Republicans aren’t going to be able to fool people into thinking that they are the party of compromise with a few well tested shutdown talking points. Paul has the mood of the country wrong. The American people want these games to stop. The Democratic message is a call for the American people to take a stand against these partisan games. Republicans don’t have a counter message to the actual mood of the country. 

Rand Paul is delusional if he thinks that Republicans are going to win this. They’ve already lost. The only things left to be determined are the size of the loss, and whether or not this will cost them control of the House in 2014. 

Rand Paul basically admitted that the Republican tough talk is empty. Paul probably thought he was being clever by speaking to McConnell in front of the camera and mic, but all he did was dig the hole a little deeper for the Republican Party.

Even now GOP are looking for words to dig them out of this hole they are in thanks to the hard right of which Rand Paul is a member.  Senate GOP wants to put pressure on the House GOP/TP, then vote unanimously in the Senate for a clean CR which the GOP Senators are refusing to do.  Backbones missing in today's Koch funded GOP.

My email today to my Congressman about this GOP/TP House Shutdown of the Government:

Tom
"Seventy-two percent of respondents overall disapprove, including 76 percent of independents and 49 percent of Republicans. Even among respondents who disapprove of the president's health care law, 59 percent disapprove of shutting down the government to force changes to it. More Americans blame Republicans for the shutdown than blame President Barack Obama and the Democrats, by a margin of 44 to 35 percent. Seventeen percent blame both parties." 

Would love to have seen the breakout of Republican women because most women I know believe there is a Republican War on Women.  You are the ONLY member of the OK delegation who voted for the VAWA so it shows you are not afraid to break ranks. 

The very fact that Boehner won't bring the clean CR to the floor for a vote to end the shutdown makes zero sense to the people who I know who have been around politics.  It also makes no sense that the GOP is lying when they say only 30-40 are keeping this from happening.  Even with the Hastert Rule  they could not keep it from coming to the floor.  I watch the video of the Saturday night GOP Conference going out in the hall and you were all giddy knowing you were going to be on the losing end by shutting down the government unless all the drinking made you all delusional and refusing to face reality.  I didn't see one Republican face that was sad but I saw you with thumbs up and talking about a good bill. 

ACA is NOT a bill, it is a law which some Neanderthal Republicans cannot seem to get through their heads.  Because you don't like a like law, you cannot pick and choose.   

Anyone with a brain knew the GOP tactics were going to fail and polls are starting to show that.  You and your buddies are putting our Nation's economy at risk for what? Trying to hold the debt ceiling hostage on October 17 since you have held the budget hostage.

When you attached a conference committee on the budget to the clean CR, you looked like fools as you have refused 18 times to send GOP Reps to a Conference Committee on the Budget.  I hear your members talking about the Senate didn't pass a budget but they passed one in March.  American people should be asked why the GOP stalled until the end of the fiscal year when the Democrats agreed to take your numbers.  It doesn't take a genius to know you did this on purpose thinking the President would cave but he didn't because he has the support of the American people like me to stand up to hostage takers. 

Over 10,000,000 Americans hit the site for ACA which crashed the site including a lot of them from red states which is ignored.  The very idea the GOP supports uninsured going to emergency rooms for care is stupid but then your lack of caring about the poor is even worse.  Talk farm and oil subsidies and the GOP/TP House is right there voting to keep which destroying food stamps.  Now in OK if you don't have a job, are single, and cannot find work, you cannot get any food stamps.  I would rather see one instance of fraud and feed thousands then be the judge and jury to make someone go hungry.

Passing a Veterans budget bill that calls for less funding then agreed to is nothing but a PR stunt and thankfully the Democrats have woken up to how underhanded the GOP has become over the years.  GOP/TP House is not dealing with a full deck and as the hours tick by you have lost the Chamber plus 251 organizations, Wall Street, and now CEO's but somewhere missing is the Koch Brothers and their vast minions of wanting to take down the Government. 

When I heard the voices of the hard right in the media and see them on line talking about an overthrow of the President, it is scary.  We elected him -- it wasn't any fraud and it wasn't ACORN which is out of business even if some members of Congress try to defund -- it was the American people.  Now the hard right refuses to acknowledge the results of the election and acknowledge without gerrymandering this would not have happened as votes for Democrats for the House were over one million more for the Democrats.  Yet your Conference decided to play with the continuing resolution for what?  It makes no sense to go down this path against the American people.  What is there to gain?  More money from the Koch's?

You have some of the dumbest people in the House I have ever heard talk but they follow instructions well as they came to DC to shutdown Government and that is what the members of the GOP in the House have allowed to happen.  You let Freshman takeover knowing full well they were loyal to Bachmann who is one of the worst members of Congress ever and right down there with stupidity and instead of working pulling stunts like the WWII Memorial.

Stop the stunts and pass a clean CR and a clean debt ceiling.  Start helping mold the ACA instead of acting like spoiled brats who lost the game.  As one person said on Twitter maybe Notre Dame should have asked for a redo so they could add 15 points to the score after they lost (to OU). 

One group is thanking you, the fundraisers of the Democrats because the GOP/TP House has handed them a bonanza of donations from small donors who all have votes something the GOP has forgotten while going after big donors. 

Pass a clean continuing resolution and debt ceiling or that number of 72% is going to continue to climb as ordinary people (those ones that the GOP ignores today) are starting to lose money and resources they count on to live.

Regards,
Sharon

Republican big donors have shut up their checkbooks to the GOP yet the House GOP continues down this road and ignore many of the big donors who have underwritten GOP campaigns -- makes no sense:

“I have been in politics for 45 years,” said Georgette Mosbacher, a cosmetics CEO in New York whom The Washington Post once called “the eccentric grande dame of GOP fundraising.” “Every time something does not work, it has to be blamed on an entity ‘out there.’ Well, I am sorry, but the Tea Party isn’t that powerful, and anybody who stopped to think about it long enough would know that.”

House GOP/TP could end the shutdown right now by bringing to the floor and passing a CLEAN CR but Boehner refuses to do that so the shutdown continues while spin that it is the Democrats fault for negotiating wears thin.  There never should have been any negotiation on the continuing resolution. Pass a CLEAN CR -- no negotiation.

Right now, Democrats and Republicans remain at loggerheads over financing the federal government. Some Republicans have suggested that a broader bargain, including changes to entitlement programs, might be one path forward. But the White House has insisted that Republicans not include the debt ceiling in any negotiations. 

Nearly 190 Democrats, including all members of the party’s House leadership team, have signed a letter circulated by Representative Peter Welch of Vermont supporting a “clean” debt-ceiling extension. 

Republicans “view the health care bill as an existential threat to the country, and they are willing to use all tactics, including blowing up the economy, to get rid of Obamacare,” Mr. Welch said in an interview. “If shutdown and default become legitimate tactics, any Congress in the future could use those tactics to get their way.” 

Wall Street “should be concerned,” President Obama told CNBC on Wednesday. “When you have a situation in which a faction is willing to potentially default on U.S. government obligations, then we’re in trouble.” 

He added that it was “important” for Wall Street “to recognize that this is going to have a profound impact on our economy and their bottom lines, their employees and their shareholders.”

After the meeting late yesterday at the White House, it is obvious that the Republicans are not budging from their hard right stance in shutting down the Government.  We were warned when the GOP came to Congress they wanted to shut down the Government.  What did the House GOP leadership do, bow down to the new Tea Party Representatives and put them on leadership and major committees.  They are now reaping the results of the stupid move and because of their lack of backbones, they have shutdown the government costing 800,000+ their jobs and income.  

WASHINGTON — An impassioned President Obama on Thursday kept up the pressure on House Republicans to end the three-day-old government shutdown, appearing at a small construction company outside the capital to challenge Speaker John A. Boehner to quit blocking a vote on federal spending. 

“This isn’t happening because of some financial crisis. It’s happening because of a reckless Republican shutdown in Washington,” he said, to cheers and calls of “That’s right!” from the assembled construction workers at M. Luis Construction, a company formed by Portuguese immigrants in Rockville, Md., a suburb north of Washington. 

“Remember, it was just five years ago that our economy was in a free fall,” Mr. Obama said, speaking on the fifth anniversary of Congress’s vote to bail out the nearly collapsed financial system. Since then, he said, businesses have added more than 7.5 million jobs, an improving housing market has helped construction companies recover, and auto sales have continued to grow. “We can’t afford to threaten that progress right now.” 

Mr. Obama’s appearance came just after the Treasury Department released a report arguing that a default could provoke a recession “comparable to or worse” than the one deepened by the financial crisis of 2008, which was the worst since the Depression.
Besides the well-publicized disruption of the shutdown for tourists, veterans, older people and children in Head Start, Mr. Obama added, “Companies like this one worry that their businesses are going to be disrupted.” The federal government provides $1 billion a month in loans to small businesses that now cannot be processed, he said.

Time for the Republican Party to stop all the hate rhetoric as anything that goes down is not going to be good if the chatter on line is any indication.

Sen Cruz (R-TX) Hurls Insults Minutes After Starting his Speech on the Floor of the Senate

Within minutes, he had compared President Barack Obama’s health care reform law to slavery during the Civil War and Nazis during World War II.  Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), 24 Sep 2012, Floor Speech, US Senate

When are the spineless Republicans in Senate leadership going to admonish Cruz for such a nasty performance on the floor of the US Senate?  I am not holding my breath because I don't see McConnell having the backbone to do a thing.  That is the problem with today's Republicans in Congress -- lack of a backbone to stand up to extremists except for a few like Senator McCain.  What happened to civility in the Senate where they used to fight like cats and dogs and go out to eat that night?  Looks like with the hard right takeover of the GOP, civility has gone out the window as we are left with a lot of malcontents who don't know when to shut up like Cruz.

If you want to see how far the hard right GOP House has gone, just take my word for it when I do a post from a Senator Schumer email.  Four years ago I would have bet that never would have happened but with the Republican Party moving to the extreme hard right, I find myself agreeing with Schumer not any Republicans.  

Conservatives today have jumped the shark and have going into the water to be eaten if they follow Senator Ted Cruz and the other Tea Party members of the Senate and House: 

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Tuesday announced that he would give a very long speech to oppose the the government budget over Obamacare “until I am no longer able to stand.”
Within minutes, he had compared President Barack Obama’s health care reform law to slavery during the Civil War and Nazis during World War II. 

Update (4:05 p.m. ET): Cruz’ speech cannot be officially considered a “filibuster” unless it delays Senate business. In this case, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has already locked in a vote for Wednesday morning. That can only be stopped if 41 senators object, which is highly unlikely.

Cruz took the floor at 2:40 vowing to talk until he cannot stand but has now yielded to Sen Lee (R-UT).  That didn't take long.

Cruz may be one of the despised Senators ever from both sides of the aisle.  Anyone want to ask Senator John McCain what he thinks of Cruz?  Better have earmuffs on because the language could get pretty salty.

“He fucking hates Cruz,” one McCain aide told the magazine. “He’s just offended by his style.” 

At the time, McCain had publicly referred to Cruz and other Republicans as “wacko birds.”

Agree 100% with John McCain -- he is right on when talking about the Tea Party people in the Senate who are a disgrace to the Senate.  Have never seen so many junior senators act like they own the Senate as I have with the Tea Party elected Senators -- doing the same thing in the House where they have backed leadership into a corner to do their bidding as they are took weak to fight.  These two men below are symbolic of a larger problem in the Republican Party -- Tea Party and wealthy donors have moved the Party too far hard right.

The unappeasables have all joined together to take down any common sense left in the Republican Party and installed their own brand of obstruction it its place.  You cannot deal with these people whose supporters are some of the nastiest people I have witnessed.  These two men below need to be held responsible for caving to the Tea Party immediately to keep their jobs.  They have zero backbone and helped speed the takeover IMHO!

Senator Schumer is correct about the hard right Republicans who don't care about damaging the economy as they just want to get their way even though the American people don't support defunding Obamacare or they will shut down Government threat.  Vast majority of the American people want some common sense in DC as we are seeing none from the GOP leadership.  This email from Senator Schumer says it all:

Sharon, In all my time in the House and Senate, I have never seen a group of people more bent on damaging the American economy than the hard-right Republicans in the House right now.
Not only did House Republicans just pass an extreme spending bill that would defund Obamacare, but they've said if we don't go along, they'll shut down the government or even default on the bills our country owes -- either of which would be devastating for our economy. 

But the hard right doesn’t have the numbers to run the show on its own. That means House Republican leadership's refusal to stand up to them is what's opened the door to gridlock and potential economic disaster. 

As these fiscal deadlines approach, we Democrats are standing strong, we’re standing together, and we will not blink. We will not let House extremists' "my way or the highway" approach strip 30 million people of health insurance or deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions. 

We are not going to be held hostage. Help show House leadership the American people are standing strong with Democrats and against defunding Obamacare. Sign my petition today. 

A clear majority of supporters voted earlier this week to use any damage Republicans cause to the economy against them in the 2014 midterm elections. But if enough moderate Republicans will work with Democrats in the next several weeks, we can show the hard right in the House for what it really is: a small number of obstructionists. 

Democrats want that, the White House wants that, and in their heart of hearts, Republican leadership wants it too. They know this is a fight that's bad for their party, a fight that's dangerous for the country, and a fight they will not win. 

But Republican leadership will take the path of least resistance. 

The hard-right House members are standing strong, so we must stand even stronger. We need to go beyond elected officials in Washington -- we need voters throughout the country to pledge their support for this stand, too. 

Sign my petition today. Pledge your support for Senate Democrats' stand against House Republican efforts to defund Obamacare or devastate our economy with a shutdown or default. 

Extremists are playing politics by trying to defund Obamacare when they should be focusing on protecting our economy. We must take a stand. 

Thank you for your support, 

Chuck Schumer

There are a lot of us who have never seen a group like these hard right Republicans who are now in Congress.  Koch Bros picked a real bunch of nasty people  to support.  How much do the Koch's hope to gain off of a shut down of Government which is what we should all be asking.  

Head of Texas Department of Safety Needs Removed after Vaginagate on Texas Highways

Advice to women planning a trip by vehicle to The Lone Star State of Texas -- don't travel alone or with another woman -- only travel with a man in the car

Texas Highway Patrol has sunk to a new low - Governor Perry needs to replace the head of the department like yesterday.  First it was deplorable actions at the State Capitol during debate on their egregious abortion bill.  Now women are subjected to body searches in traffic stops.  Texas is leading the Country now in being anti-women yanking it away from North Carolina.   Is this what having a state turn hard right looks like.  Pretty soon all those companies with jobs Perry loves to brag about are going to think twice before relocating to the State of Texas.  Looks like the swagger of Texas men has gone over the top with the latest:

Texas Police Pull Over Three Women And Search Their Vaginas For Marijuana 

BY IAN MILLHISER ON AUGUST 5, 2013 AT 5:00 PM 

A pair of videos posted online show police probing the genitals and anal regions of three women they claim to suspect of possessing marijuana. In one video, a woman is seen bent over and grimacing as an off camera police officer conducts the search. Shortly before this search, a male officer explains to the woman that he is calling a female officer over “because I ain’t about to get up close and personal with your woman areas.” 

The videos depict two vehicle stops, one for speeding and another for littering. In both videos, a male officer asks the women if they have any marijuana in the vehicle, suggesting that the purpose of their search is to find evidence of this drug. At one point, immediately before conducting her search of a woman’s genitals, a female officer warns the woman that if she “hid something in there, we’re going to find it.”

These searches almost certainly violate the Constitution. Although police do have broad latitude to search a vehicle when they have probable cause to believe that they will uncover contraband within, it is quite a stretch to extend these precedents to this most intimate of searches. As the Supreme Court explained in a 2009 decision regarding a student who was strip searched by school administrators, “both subjective and reasonable societal expectations of personal privacy support the treatment of such a search as categorically distinct, requiring distinct elements of justification on the part of school authorities for going beyond a search of outer clothing and belongings.”

Read More at Think Progress

Texas couldn't even complete a Mission Statement for the Texas Highway Patrol:

The mission of the Highway Patrol Service is:

• To secure and maintain order in traffic on highways of assigned responsibility within existing regulations to make the use of those highways safe and expeditious;
• To educate the citizens of Texas in matters of public safety, crime prevention and detection and law observance; and  (? - my question mark)

What is with the hard right white males - they think rape rarelyy exists except in rare instances and now believe that cops have a right to to a body cavity search on women.  What I want to know why the women highway patrol were fired and not the men.

Texas is turning out to be a State out of control thanks to the hard right who has now taken over with Attorney General Abbott, Governor Perry and Lt Governor Dewhurst trying to outdo each other to be hard right.

Time for Texas to turn blue and oust the hard right Tea Party from office as they don't reflect the values of most Texans who are as appalled about this as the rest of us are.

Groundswell Members in Collussion with Republican Leadership in House on Scandals Against President Obama

(Groundswell) Group members are the water-carriers and action arm of the billionaires' tea party. Listen to the full 20 minutes of that audio (below), or read the transcript here to see just how destructive they intend to be.

After hearing the audio and reading the transcript, my breath is taken away at how far this group of hard right will go to win elections and hurt this President along with the Country.  I knew it was bad from the comments we have been witnessing out of what used to be some fairly sane people but today sound like hard right nutcases.  The transformation has been stunning to those of us who know some of these elected officials.  Now the picture is becoming clearer.  Groundswell which is made up of various individuals and groups seem to have no conscience, empathy, or ethics as anything goes in their world to win.  They have bought and paid for Republican officials at the highest levels and have access that only most people dream about because of their alliance with the wealthy billionaire donors of the Republican Party. 

This investigative piece of journalism by Crooks and Liars will have Part II tomorrow: 

Covering Ginni Thomas' involvement to see whether Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas engaged in unethical conduct or colluded with his wife and her associates.

Crooks and Liars was able to obtain the audio of the Groundswell meeting on 8 May which shows this group, Groundswell, plotting with leaders of Congress to take out the President via scandals.  Isn't there a law against this?  If not, there should be.  Must have been really bad in the meeting for someone to leak this audio recording showing the collusion between Groundswell and Congressional leadership:

When David Corn broke the Groundswell story last week, the general reaction among the politerati was a shrug and a giggle. Even influential NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen called it "no big deal." 

But audio of a May Groundswell meeting obtained by C&L from a source who wishes to remain anonymous reveals Groundswellers met with top Congressional leaders to lobby for a select committee endowed with subpoena power to investigate the White House. Lobbying may be too mild a term, since they really are plotting with those same leaders to invent very real scandals with very real investigations in order to sink the country into a mire of inaction and sabotage the remaining years of President Obama's term. 

Messaging is a part of their activity, but there is also an entire set of marching orders and demands made by this group and granted by Congressional leadership. It isn't limited to the Benghazi 'scandal', and it may not be limited to Congress.

By and large the mainstream media have become complacent and lazy for the most part reporting talking point papers instead of actual investigation.  The slack fortunately has been picked up by places like Crooks and Liars, Mother Jones, Politicususa, Talking Points Memo, Think Progress, Raw Story, and others who work hard to get to the bottom of the story making sure they have the facts not spin.  

Media Matters is one of the best sites for showing the facts when it comes to broadcast news.  One of my first stops every morning to see how badly Fox News blew it from the night before.  When Murdoch or should I say Roger Ailes took Fox News so hard right, most people were not prepared.  Some of the hard right still watch, but most people I know don't turn on Fox.  My line in the sand with Fox News was actually lines drawn in the sand by Geraldo during the Gulf War to show where our troops were at on his map he drew.  Haven't watched since - Fox News was never any good a breaking news so no reason to turn them on and get irritated.  

When I looked at Mother Jones to find out who the members of the Groundswell group are, I was shocked at some names like Blackwell, former Ohio Secretary of State, Mark Tapscott, Editor of the Washington Examiner from Moore, OK, just north of me, and the wife of Justice Thomas.  What didn't shock me was having a former (?) aide to Sen Cruz involved.  Rand Paul needs to take note that Cruz has one-upped him.   The meetings of Groundswell are held at Judicial Watch in Tom Fitton's office.  Am sure you don't want to know my real feelings about Fitton from years ago on a website.  If he said the sky was blue, go check.

One of the influential conservatives guiding the group is Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, a columnist for the Daily Caller and a tea party consultant and lobbyist. Other Groundswell members include John Bolton, the former UN ambassador; Frank Gaffney, the president of the Center for Security Policy; Ken Blackwell and Jerry Boykin of the Family Research Council; Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch; Gayle Trotter, a fellow at the Independent Women's Forum; Catherine Engelbrecht and Anita MonCrief of True the Vote; Allen West, the former GOP House member; Sue Myrick, also a former House GOPer; Diana Banister of the influential Shirley and Banister PR firm; and Max Pappas, a top aide to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). 

Among the conveners listed in an invitation to a May 8 meeting of Groundswell were Stephen Bannon, executive chairman of Breitbart News Network; Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent who resoundingly lost a Maryland Senate race last year (and is now running for a House seat); Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society; Sandy Rios, a Fox News contributor; Lori Roman, a former executive director of the American Legislative Exchange Council; and Austin Ruse, the head of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. Conservative journalists and commentators participating in Groundswell have included Breitbart News reporters Matthew Boyle and Mike Flynn, Washington Examiner executive editor Mark Tapscott, and National Review contributor Michael James Barton.Catherine Engelbrecht "facilitated" the May 8th Groundswell meeting. Engelbrecht is the president and founder of True the Vote, a Texas group dedicated to challenging voting rights among the poor, students, and minorities. In addition to their regular work attacking sections 4 and 5 of the Voting Rights Act via lawsuits, Engelbrecht was the media go-to person for the media on the phony IRS scandal. That story broke on May 9th, after the Benghazi hearings had more or less fizzled out the previous day. 

There was wave after wave of headlines about these so-called scandals. Some people wrote about what an awful week the White House had. It wasn't coincidence. It was orchestrated and planned by this group of people, who had the will and the power to secure the participation of people like Darrell Issa, John Boehner and more.
True the Vote led the charge to sue the IRS and serve the highest-profile plaintiff among the "aggrieved" groups. Yet this audio recording shows their president "facilitating" a clearly partisan, right-wing activist group meeting of people who claim to be fighting a "30-front war." No big deal? When is the last time anyone you know could ring up the Speaker of the House and the Chairman of the House Oversight Committee and take a face-to-face meeting in the wee hours of the evening with approval from the wife of a sitting Supreme Court justice?

Meet the members of Groundwell at Mother Jones. 

Speaker Boehner and Chair Issa need to be removed IMHO after hearing this report on the two of them from Jerry Boykin and Frank Gaffney in the 8 May meeting.  They are nothing but sellouts.  All you have to do is listen to Boehner on the Northern Keystone Pipeline he is pushing and understand he stands to make millions off his investment to know honesty and John Boehner do not fit in the same sentence:

At 3:45, Jerry Boykin advises the group of the meetings he and Frank Gaffney had with Speaker John Boehner and Rep. Darrell Issa concerning Benghazi on the evening of May 7th about how the Benghazi investigation is progressing. This was the night before the last Congressional Oversight Committee hearing was held on Benghazi, where the so-called whistleblowers were to testify. 

In the late-night meeting with Gaffney and Boykin, Boehner advised both that they needed to allow the regular order of committee meetings to play out before he would push for a select committee. Issa told him the same thing. Boykin and Gaffney reported this to the group, along with a promise that there "would be answers." Both reiterated that they and former Rep. Allen West were very concerned about the lack of a military response and assured the group that "what we'll find today is that Hillary Clinton made some egregious decisions and the president was basically absent from his post and did not make the decisions that as the Commander-in-Chief he should have been making...because he was focused on some other things." 

They further assured the group that they weren't backing away from their demands, but instead they "kind of have a pledge from...Issa and the Speaker." 

I am sitting here in shock about Groundswell and how they have bought and paid for members of Congress as the go-between with the wealthy donors.  Wondered who was the go-between and looks like Mother Jones and Crooks and Ladders have scored a direct hit - Groundwell.  Their group includes Ginny Thomas, wife the Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who IMHO should resign if his wife is going to be part of this extremely partisan group because it has the appearance of impropriety of a sitting Supreme Court Justice based on some of his writings.

During the meeting, True the Vote made a presentation (document below) about their plan to attack groups who are actively working to protect voting rights around the country, particularly after the Supreme Court gutted most of the protections. Code-named "Hydra", True the Vote argues that the left is undermining voting rights, and must be stopped, by hook or by crook.

Crooks and Liars was able to obtain True the Vote's Plan to Attack Voting Rights which brings me right back to Clarence Thomas who was one of the five votes to destroy a portion of the Voting Rights Act and his wife works with the head of True the Vote trying to suppress voting rights of minorities with their Hydra Plan.  If that is not a conflict of interest, I don't know what the words mean.

The efforts of this group (Groundswell) should not be marginalized, given that what they are saying is repeated in the halls of the House and the Senate on a daily basis. It isn't just right-wing crazy people being crazy. These are activists with contacts in high places who are using those contacts to strip people of their rights, to invent scandals to undermine the President at every turn, and to marginalize Hillary Clinton if she should choose to run in 2016. Those are just a few of their goals. They have power and they're not afraid to use it.

Hydra Plan - Plan to Attack Voting Rights

What will Crooks and Liars reveal tomorrow?  

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on the Ropes After SCOTUS Hearing Today

With DOMA on the ropes after arguments were heard by the US Supreme Court, hard right is in meltdown mode

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) pertinent provisions:

The main provisions of the act are as follows: 

Section 2. Powers reserved to the states
No State, territory, or possession of the United States, or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or tribe, or a right or claim arising from such relationship. 

Section 3. Definition of marriage
In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.

Americans are finally waking up to the fact they are sick and tired of being told how to live their lives by the evangelical hard right as they are trying to do once again this time on DOMA.  Used to ask on websites who made them the judge and jury of anyone which would infuriate the hard right to no end.  You cannot imagine how disgusted I am at the 'my way or no way' crowd who wants to govern how you live your life every day based on their agenda.  'Narrow minded' are two words that come to mind today to describe the hard right evangelicals who are now opposing the right of two gays to marry.  Would someone please tell me what difference it makes to the hard right evangelicals because frankly it is none of their business.

Still have not recovered from the fact that the US House of Representative Republicans in this time of austerity has spent $3M of our tax dollars to defend  the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which I never understood.  What right did the House Republicans have to spend out money on a social issue?

Huffington Post reports: 

House Republican leaders took over the legal defense of DOMA in the spring of 2011, when Attorney General Eric Holder announced the Obama administration would no longer defend it on the grounds that they found it unconstitutional. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders hired attorneys at the law firm Bancroft LLC to represent the House in court cases involving the federal ban on gay marriage — all with taxpayer dollars. 

On Jan. 4, Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.), who chairs the House Administration Committee, signed a revised contract with Bancroft LLC that increases the spending cap to $3 million to allow Bancroft attorneys to keep defending DOMA in court. The revised contract also bears the signatures of Bancroft partner Paul Clement and Kerry Kircher, general counsel for the House of Representatives.

Personally think the House should take $3M out of their budget and return it to the US Treasury.  IMHO they had no right to spend our tax dollars on DOMA.  House Republicans by all accounts are about to lose the war not just the battle when it comes to overturning DOMA at the Federal level:

A majority of the Supreme Court justices delivered a beating to the Defense of Marriage Act during oral arguments Wednesday, signaling a positive outcome for marriage equality.

The four liberal-leaning justices and Justice Anthony Kennedy appeared deeply skeptical that the federal government has legal justification for treating gay and straight couples unequally. They seemed inclined to overturn Section 3 of the 1996 law, which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriage and thereby denies benefits to gay and lesbian couples even if they are legally wed in their states. 

In his line of questioning, Kennedy, who has a track record in favor of gay rights, repeatedly contended that the federal government had exceeded its constitutional authority.

“You are at real risk of going in conflict … with federal police powers,” he told Paul Clement, the lawyer arguing in favor of upholding DOMA. When Clement tried to argue that it was a valid exercise of federal power and does not infringe on states’ rights, Kennedy responded, “I see illogic in your argument.” He wondered why Congress could deny marriage benefits in states “where the voters have decided” that same sex marriage ought to be legal.

Some of the reaction on the right to the possibility that DOMA may be overturned has made me laugh as they see one of main issues going down in flames.  Never has made sense to oppose gay marriage when it is an individual matter.  No one is telling churches they have to marry gays or anyone else so I don't see a problem.  There are a lot of gays in a relationship that is more enduring then heterosexuals IMHO.

Personally have thought it was a state's rights issue for years up to a point.  If a gay couple has been married in a state recognizing gay marriage, then I think their marriage should be recognized wherever they move.  Think it is shortsighted for states to oppose gay marriage but it should be up to voters.  In Oklahoma I would have bet a lottery never would have been passed but it did.  Once you get in the voting booth, no one can see your vote and from reaction I have seen locally not sure DOMA would be upheld here today. Thought I would include some comments from the hard right to show some examples of how out of touch today's Republican Party has become:

Former Governor Mike Huckabee:

Huckabee:  Evangelicals Will Walk if GOP Backs Gay Marriage

Mike Huckabee warns that Republicans risk losing the vote from evangelical Christians if they back away from their opposition to gay marriage. 

Last week, Ohio Sen. Bob Portman announced he has reversed his position and now supports gay marriage. 

In an exclusive interview with Newsmax TV, former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee — and ordained Southern Baptist minister — was asked if he sees the GOP ever pivoting and backing gay marriage.  

“They might. And if they do, they’re going to lose a large part of their base because evangelicals will take a walk,” he responds.

Governor Rick Perry (R-TX):

Rick Perry Warns Of 'Unsettling Time In Our Nation's History,' Says Gay Rights Activists Lack 'Tolerance' 

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) stood before conservatives gathered at a Faith and Family Rally in Austin on Tuesday and spoke about what he perceives as a sustained attack on their values by gay rights activists. 

“This is a very unsettling time in our nation’s history,” Perry said, according to the Associated Press. “These are the days when a person is vilified when they state that they believe fundamentally that marriage is between one man and one woman.” 

Perry spoke just hours after the Supreme Court heard arguments on Proposition 8, California's gay marriage ban. On Wednesday, the justices will consider a case challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act. 

Perry went on to suggest that the decision by LGBT rights advocates to fight for equal treatment was proof that they were themselves intolerant. 

“The underlying problem is that there is this very vocal, very litigious minority of Americans willing to legally attack anybody who dares utter a phrase or even a name that they don’t agree with,” he said. “In a twisting of logic, they insist on silencing the religious in the cause of tolerance. Now I ask you, where is the tolerance in that?”

Guess Perry doesn't see himself as being intolerant which shows how far his head is buried in the sand.  His comments are the height of intolerance.

Red State's Erick Erickson:

Erick Erickson Pretty Certain Gay Marriage Is Step One Of Leftist Holocaust Against Christians

What [libertarians] ignore is that the left will never take marriage out of the hands of the government. The left cannot. But it goes beyond that. The left cannot take marriage out of government because for so long it has been government through which marriages were legitimized to the public and the left must also use government to silence those, particularly the religious, who refuse to play along.

We would be remiss if we didn't include Rush Limbaugh's comments since he seems to speak for the hard right GOP today:

Limbaugh: High Court’s ‘Exalted’ Lawyers Should Not Decide Gay Marriage

Conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh said on Tuesday that the Supreme Court’s “nine exalted lawyers” should not validate gay marriage because it is against the will of the American people. 

“The court could issue a narrow ruling that would create a right to gay marriage in California only, maybe a few other states, or it could announce a constitutional right to gay marriage everywhere,” Limbaugh said on his afternoon radio show. “Do you realize what the problem is with all of this? The problem is that, once again, nine exalted lawyers are determining something that has been a tradition since beginning of time. Nine exalted lawyers.

For more comments from the right, please visit Media Matters.  The hard right with their comments is in a total meltdown that DOMA will be overturned.  From Pat Robertson, to Focus on the Family James Dobson, to Pat Buchanan, Michael Savage, Mark Levin, Mark Davis on Rush, and others, the meltdown mode is picking up steam - waiting now for the usual it is the end of the world comments.  Just think the conservatives have several more months before a SCOTUS ruling comes down.  They may totally implode by then.

From all reports it looks like that DOMA passed by Congress and signed into law by President Clinton on Sep 21, 1996, may be history in June.  Today Bill Clinton opposes DOMA and has come out in favor of gay marriage saying it was a mistake to sign the original bill and now wants DOMA overturned.

Stay tuned as the meltdown on the right continues!

When it Comes to GOP, Facts are Stranger than Fiction

Some of what comes out of the mouth's of today's Republicans is truly shocking but today's winner of dumb comments goes to Henry Barbour, author of the latest reboot fot the Republican Party.

The latest from RNC confirms what I have been saying for years that they are in a bubble hiring friends and family of donors, Governors and other elected officials.  RNC Chair Priebus made headlines yesterday with his voluminous report on what went wrong with the Republican Party in 2012 starting at the top with the Presidential race and then Congress.  Still haven't recovered that the GOP actually believed Romney was going to win.  More of inside the bubble telling each other what is happening.  Thought his comments about the report shows a general lack of understanding why the GOP is in such trouble.

On Monday, RNC chairman Reince Priebus rolled out his party's Growth and Opportunity Project plan, aimed at identifying the mistakes the GOP made in 2012 and fixing them before 2016

The person who wrote the plan to reshape the GOP, Henry Barbour, is the nephew of the former MS Governor and RNC Chair Hailey Barbour so this all stayed in the RNC family.  It gets better as "Henry" called President Obama a "Socialist" yesterday after the report was released - you cannot make this stuff up as the stupid party gets more stupid by the day:

Henry Barbour, the nephew of the former governor of Mississippi and author of the RNC’s plan to reboot the party and broaden its appeal, thinks President Obama is a “socialist.” 

“We all want to make America strong economically and militarily and every other way but you can’t do that if you’re not in office,” he told The Hill. “We’ve got a socialist in office right now — how’s that working for us?” 

When pressed on his choice of words, Barbour said: ”I don’t care. I mean, look, I think he’s a socialist. I’m not saying he doesn’t love our country,” he said. “No, I don’t care.”

The RNC is spending $10M to get make sure their message gets out but the problem is with the 'message' not delivery which they don't seem to understand even a little. What Priebus and others fail to realize that the old grassroots who were not hard right are totally disgusted with hard right lunge and no amount of messaging (rhetoric) is going to change that.  A lot have moved on to becoming Independents or Democrats.  Then there are those of us in states with a State Democrat Party that leaves a lot to be desired so we joined Republicans for Obama, are now part of Organizing for Action after being part of Obama's Organizing for America during the campaign.  We will helping Democrats win in 2014 because have had enough of today's hard right GOP to last a lifetime.

One thing I will admit is the Obama campaign was much more effective at getting at the message out to supporters through email and social media then the snail mail of the RNC/Romney campaign that didn't even make it into my home as I stopped by the trash barrel to deliver the snail mail which sometimes was 3-4 letters in one day asking for money.  Still cannot believe they send $1 in snail mail for you to make a donation.  Obama was much smarter sending out emails asking for small donations which I clicked on numerous times.

As a woman, there is no amount of packaging/rhetoric that is going to convince me that today's RNC/GOP isn't in a War Against Women:

"The 'we need women and Hispanics to stop thinking we hate them' message belies a core set of policies that are hostile to these demographics and can't be papered over by some rhetorical reboot," said Kelly Steele, a longtime Democratic operative who helped Sen. Harry Reid win another term in 2010. "Look at the fact [Sen.] Marco Rubio didn't utter a single word about immigration at CPAC, and that its audience was openly hostile to any reform."

The White Press Secretary, Jay Carney, sums up perfectly what is wrong with today's Republican Party.  It does not look to be changing anytime soon after what was witnessed at CPAC:

"I think it's important to note that the best way to increase support with the public for your party is to embrace policies the public supports. And embracing policies the public does not support or aggressively rejects makes it more difficult to earn the public's support," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said at the briefing Monday. 

"And when it comes, again, to matters like how we grow our economy and, as we grow our economy, how we deal with our deficit and debt challenges," Carney said, "the public overwhelmingly supports a balanced approach to that challenge." 

When you stop and realize how many issues today the GOP is on the wrong side, ways to deliver your message are not the answer:

• NO on Sequestration offer by President Obama to cut spending while closing loopholes for the wealthy
• NO on Violence Against Women's Act by the vast majority of GOP in Congress including Republican women voting NO.  Some GOP were trying to say after voting NO they voted YES 
• NO Contraceptives Provided by Prescription Plans
• NO Money for Women's Health provided by Planned Parenthood
• NO on Abortions for any reason including Rape
• NO on Gun Background Checks (Over 90% want checks)
• NO on Assault Weapons Ban (Over 60% want new ban to also include magazine clip limits)
• NO Budget Deal unless Affordable Healthcare Act (AHA) is repealed by Obama
• NO on Implementation of AHA as OK Congressman Bridenstine & OK Legislature consider it 'unconstitutional' even though SCOTUS ruled it was Constitutional but John Birch Society now recognized by the GOP is for state nullification of Obamacare
• NO on Gay Marriage
• NO on True Immigration Reform that eventually gives path to citizenship 

These are just a few items from the Republican Party of NO which is a perfect name for the GOP as anything that President Obama recommends, they automatically say NO.

Now learning there is push back from the hard right on the Priebus/Henry Barbour RNC plan to win over voters.  This was a given the day Priebus was reelected and now has come out with this plan.  Most longtime Republicans think Priebus is the worst chair ever who is owned by the Koch Brothers after what we saw in Wisconsin.  Now Priebus who catered to the hard right during the election now has a problem with the hard right when he tries to go back more to the center.  Please pass the popcorn:

The 'nutters' push back against RNC blueprintBy Steve Benen  -
Tue Mar 19, 2013 11:08 AM EDT 

Reflecting on the Republican National Committee's "Growth and Opportunity Project," Dave Weigel noted that the blueprint "is less a program of reform than a rough blueprint about how to marginalize the nutters." 

That's clearly true. The structural reforms are intended to "marginalize the nutters" in terms of their electoral influence; the rhetorical reforms are intended to "marginalize the nutters" in terms of public perceptions of the party; and the policy reforms are intended to "marginalize the nutters" who are pushing Republicans to embrace an even more radical policy agenda. 

At times, Reince Priebus and his report aren't subtle on this, specifically criticizing "third-party groups that promote purity." 

With this in mind, the simmering intra-party "civil war" between the Republican base and the party establishment is intensifying, right on cue:

"It looks like a system of the establishment, by the establishment, and for the establishment," said conservative P.R. executive Greg Mueller, a veteran of Pat Buchanan's campaigns. [...] 

Davie Bossie, head of the conservative group Citizens United, fretted that the proposals would mean conservative grassroots candidates, already outmatched organizationally and financially against the GOP establishment on the presidential level, "even less opportunity to break through." 

"I don't think that is a good thing for the party and I definitely don't think it's a good thing for the conservative movement," said Bossie. 

Rush Limbaugh wasn't happy, either, saying Republican leaders have been "bamboozled" by focus groups. "They think they've gotta rebrand and it's all predictable," the radio host said. "They gotta reach out to minorities. They gotta moderate their tone here and moderate their tone there. And that's not at all what they've gotta do. The Republican Party lost because it's not conservative." 

As this excerpted article form MSNBC shows, it is a total mess and what happens to a political party when they go too far to the extreme either way.  In this case it is made worse with the very idea that the wealthy loopholes have to be protected at all costs leading to a lot of longtime GOP grassroots telling the GOP to "Shove It!"

No wonder Democrat strategists are not that worried as they know the plan is DOA in Los Angeles during the Spring Meeting of the RNC when it has to be approved.