McCain, Reagan, and bankers, oh my!

Just an assemblage of fuckery from right-wingers...that is to say, another day.

• And you think George W. Bush's Vietnam evasion was shameful. Well, Joe Conason highlights the insanity that was Saint Ronald of Reagan's belief that he was actually present at the liberation of Auschwitz when in fact he had been in Hollywood FOR THE DURATION of the Second World War. And yet this man is venerated by prominent Repubs. This is so completely delusional, as was his belief that he didn't trade arms for hostages and his belief not only in astrology but also in the occult.



• There's good ol' John McCain always wrong about everything. Here he says that we should crack down on the flow of illegal immigrants into the US-as he did in his goofy ad-but apparently once they've breached the border, well, I guess ol' Johnny thinks it's OK for employers to milk immigrants illegally for every penny they can get out of them. So to re-cap: illegal immigration=bad, illegal exploitation of Mexicans=meh. And now, ol' Johnny is soliciting comments from anti-gay groups condemning and fear-mongering the possible repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Really, he's just wrong about everything.



• Dean Baker on how there's one standard for most employees, but a totally different onefor the banksters. Dean Baker has been right about everything economically for the last 10 or so years-and perhaps longer, that's just as long as I've been reading his work, so if you're more interested in what he does, check out his Center for Economic Policy and Research.



• And just to cheer things up a bit, before you go off on BP too hard, just remember that there have been many seconds during the company's existence when oil has not been gushing into the ocean from one of their oil wells.

SB 1070 cartoon

Really, really funny cartoon mocking the racism of SB 1070.

the hypocrisy of supposed small-government "tea partiers"

I have no problems with conservatives. However, I don't believe the vast majority of Tea Partiers have much connection to lower-case "c" conservatism. Eisenhower, a Republican, warned the country about the dangers of the military-industrial complex, not about the threat posed to America by brown people, in his final speech as President in 1961. However, Tea Partiers have shown themselves not at all concerned with the expansion of the American empire-itself the elephant in the room regarding the ballooning debt which these so-called patriots claim to be concerned. Tea Partiers have a positive opinion of George W. Bush-a leader who had very little concern for keeping government's footprint small.

Regarding government regulation-we haven't heard much Tea Party criticism of the absence of regulation which allowed for the mining accident in West Virginia last month in which 29 people died. Indeed, the CEO of that company, completely not coincidentally, was recently at a rally in which he, Sean Hannity, Ted Nugent, and others railed at Obama, cap-and-trade legislation, supposed green "extremists", and regulation. Indeed, his company sponsored the rally. But apparently, hoping that workers don't die in industrial accidents is not a Tea Party value.

It just points out again, the absurdity of claiming that Tea Partiers are conservatives. Conservatives who truly believe in limited government would have an issue with the bill in Arizona which privileges state government over federal government on the issue of immigration. The fact that the Association of Arizona Police Chiefs opposes the bill on the grounds that immigration is better dealt with at the national than at the state level does not restrict Tea Partiers from offering empty praise to police.

As one pundit put it, Tea Partiers have an issue with small government until it interferes with "warring, wiretapping, or waterboarding."

Troubletown on the Arizona law

There are gradations of what is acceptable suspicious behavior in Arizona, according to Lloyd Dangle. Great stuff.

AZ law and conservatives

I SO love my libertarian/conservative friends supporting the Arizona monstrosity. The same people who claim that Obama is taking their freedom are endorsing a law that abridges fourth amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. Hypocrisy much?

new law in Arizona

Not at all surprising, but certainly instructive, how little Tea Partiers and libertarians, many of whom are supposedly interested in limited government seem to be concerned about the law in Arizona requiring people who the cops even suspect of being illegal, to show their papers.