2 years ago, a Dr. was murdered for performing a legal medical procedure.

May 31st marks the second anniversary of the murder of Dr. George Tiller in Wichita KS.

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Federal Judge J. Thomas Marten is a douchenozzle that thinks that Dr, Mila Means, who wanted to provide the legal procedure known as abortion in Wichita after Dr. Tiller's murder, is wrong when she says a threatening letter she rec'd was not protected political free speech, and she wanted an injunction against the wingtard that sent it to her.  The extremist rightwing anti-choice nutjob is Angel Dillard. Lets look at part of that letter and you decide if it's protected free speech or a friggin threat, from The Kansas Free Press:

"They (meaning all those peaceful, culture of life, law abiding citizens like Scott Roeder) will know your habits and routine. They know where you shop, who your friends are, what you drive, where you live". And, to be even further helpful, Dillard adds in the most sweet manner, " You will be checking under your car everyday-because maybe today is the day someone (hmmm, maybe Dillard?) places an explosive under your car."

This is the way these anti-choice extremists deal with Doctors who perform legal medical procedures known as abortions...regardless of the reason for getting one...like saving the life of the mother for instance, or rape, or incest. These anti-choice assholes have done it for decades and get away with it.  Angel Dillard is a piece of shit that thinks Scott Roeder is a wonderful man. Roeder is the sicko that killed Dr. Tiller with a bullet to the head at point blank range..in his church.

Dr. Means now is looking to move her practice that has been operating all along as an OBGYN clinic, without performing abortions. The reason she needs to move is her landlord has sued her. Her stupid ass landlord doesn't want abortions done on his property and his trying as hard as he can to get her the hell out. Other tenants are bitching about the daily slog of anti-choice protestors that continue to show up..pictures at the link in this paragraph, so everyone wants her out..they don't want no drama.

Fuck them all. May they all rot in the hell their god has created. To wish death upon someone is wrong in their religion and to actually kill someone, as Roeder did, is a sin..but these fuckers twist it all around so they don't have the guilt of creating such sin. It's pathetic and this shit was supposed to be made illegal by several laws created decades ago to protect abortion providers.

But we are talking about Kansas..a place where even the law enforcement fuckers don't bust their asses to get there when one of these nutjobs actually goes into a clinic and starts screaming obscenities and threats at the Doctors and their staffs.

You don't have to believe in abortion to know this kind of shit is wrong on every level. You don't have to support abortions or some one's right to get one IF they so feel they need one...to know that the tactics used by these sick fucks should be illegal and if they are federally illegal..the damn local law enforcement bastards should enforce said laws.

As someone that used to help women in San Diego get into clinics for their legal procedures that had to walk through the horrendous gauntlet of a screaming mob shoving pictures of dead fetuses in their faces and calling them murderers..I know what the hell I am speaking about. These people remind me the assholes at Westboro Baptist. They hide behind the law of free speech to pull this crap off daily.

But sending a letter like that asshole Angel Dillion did and then having a judge tell the receiver of the letter that you over reacted..it makes me physically ill. Especially after Dr. Tiller was killed in cold blood in the same fucking town.

Federal Judge J. Thomas Marten's agenda is now clear..he too supports those anti-choice assholes that use any means necessary to get their way. Again from the Kansas Free Press writeup:

History should not repeat itself in Wichita. For too many years public officials allowed threatening mailers, violent rhetoric, confrontational protests and other abuses to be hurled against Dr. George Tiller. This protected speech escalated until Dr. Tiller was murdered. One would hope that those same public officials would have learned how words can be the trigger to physical violence. As Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. stated: "Freedom of speech is not absolute." Dillard's irresponsible speech leaves little doubt that her words were not loaded with bad intentions.

It's wrong on every level..and a federal judge just gave his approval..disgusting fuck.  For me, he is even more disgusting than that deranged idiot that wrote the threatening letter. She is just nuts..he is a sitting judge. I hope his God has mercy on his soul..because I sure as hell do not.

TrashCan Annie opens her piehole again.

Thanks to Crooks and Liars we get the video of this nasty skank/publicity whore/wanna-be-author talking about about Olbermann. The group of rightwing nutters who go by the name of Media Research Center give out an award they call: Ode to Keith Olbermann. Their whole shtick has a name: Dishonor Awards Ceremony. They appear to be a school for rightwing lunacy...and Coulter must be one of their alums.

Evidently only they speak the truth..right..and Brad Pitt will be home shortly and I will make mad passionate love to him after we eat lunch. From Heather's piece at C&L's VideoCafe:

For anyone who's up to watching the entire thing it's posted on C-SPAN's site here -- Dishonors Awards Ceremony. Here's their description of the event:

The Media Research Center held its annual gala to roast media they feel show liberal bias with "DisHonor Awards." Ann Coulter, Neal Boortz, Andrew Klavan, and a Who's Who of national conservative leaders will participate in the 2011 Dis Honors awards roast hosted by Brent Bozell and the Media Research Center. The Outlaws will provide live entertainment and Cal Thomas will receive the William F. Buckley Award for Media Excellence.

And of course what would one of these events be without giving Ann Coulter a chance to pretend she's still relevant and to spend some time trashing Keith Olbermann. Ann's criticism basically boiled down to calling Olbermann a girl, stupid, getting in a fat joke on Michael Moore and trashing his new upcoming show at Current TV. She also gave him credit for contributing to Scott Brown being elected after he did one of his special comments about him, as though the terrible campaign run by Martha Coakley had nothing to do with that. Yes folks, Keith Olbermann apparently is presonally responsible for Scott Brown being elected in Massachusetts because he did a special comment on him at MSNBC if you live in Ann Coulter and The Media Research Center's world. 

Coulter of course couldn't get her stories straight has she said KO had the smallest audience on MSNBC.  Right again Annie..you dipshit.


There is also a video of the elected fuckwad Steve King running his piehole, but gawd knows I won't put that one up..the man is so far to the right he is off the charts..mentally and morally-speaking of course.

Gil Scott-Heron passes...

He was one of my heros, a great artist that led us as war protestor's during the Vietnam War , his music, which were poetry to me and others, said what needed to be said during the Vietnam War. His songs were our battle cries to a huge extent. I reworked his lyrics to The Revolution will not be Televised(his site)  here and  here during the Bush Administration to make them timely to those fuckwits and apply them to society and the present war, which was the Iraq War.

Those two post still gets hits daily from all over the world.

Scott-Heron died in a NYC hospital after touring to promote his first album in over 15 years. He is known by many as the Godfather of Rap. He never cared about the money he could make from his music, it was about the meaning of the lyrics for him, a man that truly was a poet, who shunned the 'trappings' of fame. It was about Speaking Truth to Power for him.  From The Guardian:

Gil Scott-Heron: music world pays tribute to the 'Godfather of Rap'

The poet and musician, best known for The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, leaves a legacy of incisive political comment

 
The music world was mourning Gil Scott-Heron, the troubled poet and musician whose ground-breaking The Revolution Will Not Be Televised became a beacon for emerging rap and hip-hop culture.

Scott-Heron, who last year released his first album in 16 years to critical acclaim, died in a New York hospital after returning from a European trip. He was 62.

Richard Russell, founder of the British label XL Recordings, who produced and published Heron's final work, said: "Gil was not perfect in his own life. But neither is anyone else. And he judged no one. He had a fierce intelligence, and a way with words which was untouchable; an incredible sense of humour and a gentleness and humanity that was unique to him."

Russell added that the Chicago-born artist, who never achieved chart success in spite of a loyal global audience for songs including the dance-floor favourite The Bottle, had shunned all the trappings of fame and success.

"He could have had all those things. But he was greater than that. He seemed wholly uninterested in money. His talent was immense. He was a master lyricist, singer, orator and keyboard player. His spirit was immense. He channelled something that people derived huge benefit from."

Scott-Heron was a gifted child, raised in Tennessee by his maternal grandmother, Lillie Scott, after his parents – a Jamaican father who became the first black footballer to play for Celtic and a talented teacher mother – separated.

Rest in Peace dear man. He was not perfect by any means, but who is? His lyrics were really poetry on a society, aimed at those in power, as well as calling out everyone that put greed and/or power before people and their survival and their basic needs. 

He was only 62. We are less because he is has left this world. We have lost a bonafide voice of the people.Below is his original song:

Memorial Day, The Military and Social Security

This seems like a good time to remind our..cough..beloved politicians that a whole shitload of military vets and disabled/deceased soldiers's families( wives and kids) live on and depend on Social Security, Disability and that pesky government health care  that all politicians get btw). Just a few facts for those dispshits in charge to ponder when taking an axe to entitlments and the like, thanks to VoteVets:

Some highlights of the report, which can be found here: http://strengthensocialsecurity.org/veterans-report

    Social Security currently pays benefits to over 9 million veterans-about 4 in 10 veterans.
  
Over one-third of America's 54 million Social Security beneficiaries are either veterans or family members living with them, such as their spouses.
  
Of the 13 to 14 million veterans-or 6 in 10-who are not Social Security beneficiaries, the vast majority will become beneficiaries in the future.
  
The vast majority of the Active Duty community's 1.4 million members, 700,000 spouses and 1.2 million children, and the Total Selected Reserve community's 1.1 million members, 400,000 spouses and 650,000 children, are eligible for Social Security's disability and life insurance benefits if a service member becomes severely disabled or dies.
  
Indeed, approximately 771,000 veterans receive Social Security disabled worker benefits, averaging $1,100-$1,200 per month.
  
Social Security's young survivors' benefits are particularly important to the 4 in 10 active duty members who are married with children and the 1 in 20 who are single parents.
  
As of January 16, 2011, the number of American servicemen and women killed on active duty in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was 5,860, leaving behind an estimated more than 4,000 children

After we help those brain-dead fucks in DC digest those facts, we can all enjoy the three day weekend we call Memorial Day Weekend.

State Judge voids WI anti-union law

A republican-appointed judge has ruled Scotty Walker and his henchmen fucked up when they tried to rush through the bill containing the anti-union clauses. From Reuters:

Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi said Republican lawmakers violated the state's open meetings law in rushing the legislation through during massive protests at the state Capitol earlier this year.

The Wisconsin proposal, championed by Republican Governor Scott Walker, eliminates most collective bargaining rights for public sector unions and requires them to pay more for pensions and health coverage.
 

The law has been on hold pending the legal challenge. Now that Sumi has ruled, the state's Supreme Court is expected to take up the issue. Although the Supreme Court judges pledge to be independent, a veteran judge backed by Republicans was just narrowly reelected to a state Supreme Court, giving Republican-leaning judges a majority on the court.

This is a procedural ruling only..it does not mean the fuckwads in the WI state legislature can't put this bill up again for a vote...after it goes through the states Supreme's. 

You know they will. It's a no-brainer for these union-hating bags o' batshit.

From our Dept of WTF: Rand votes AGAINST Ryan's Budget Plan.

I was sort of dozing...when I heard the talking head on tv say that the Senate voted down Paulie Ryan's heralded Budget Plan this afternoon...and five Republicans voted against it.

As in they voted w/the Dems to say no to it.

So I sat up, very gingerly, and waited to hear who the Republicans were that voted against Paulie's plan. 4 of the 5 votes I understood based on who they were...but when the talking head said Rand Paul...well...

I damn near shat myself.

How is that gonna play in KY, Senator Rand Paul, you teabagging jackhole?

As I googled the vote, I found this piece at the CSM that has a lovely quote from one of the Senate R's about the vote..please..note the asshole saying it:

“It’s a shocking display of irresponsibility,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) of Alabama, after the vote. “They have said: we’re not going to produce anything. We’re just going to attack what you’ve done.”

Isn't that all the fucking R's have done for the first two years of Obama's administration?

The answer is yes.

So fuck you very much Jeffy for having a shortass memory and being a bit of a hypocrite. How did you feel when it went down today and how did you feel about those five R's that voted against it as well, but you failed to acknowledge their votes against Ryan's bullshit budget Jeffy Sessions?

I don't expect an answer from the Senator..it just felt good to ask it. ;)

Eric Cantor, our F*ckwit of the week.

After this douchenozzle's comments/statements about the tornado victims needing FEMA or federal help to overcome the horrific disasters that have been happening this month..we now have this week, if not this month's fuckwit..Eric Cantor. From the ThinkProgress link above:

President Obama pledged full support to the state Monday, telling survivors, “We’re here with you. We’re going to stay by you.”House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), however, said that before Congress approved federal funds for disaster relief, it had to offset the spending with cuts to other programs. The Washington Times reports:

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Monday that if Congress passes an emergency spending bill to help Missouri’s tornado victims, the extra money will have to be cut from somewhere else.
“If there is support for a supplemental, it would be accompanied by support for having pay-fors to that supplemental,” Mr. Cantor, Virginia Republican, told reporters at the Capitol. The term “pay-fors” is used by lawmakers to signal cuts or tax increases used to pay for new spending.

In 2005, Republicans criticized then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) for his willingness to fund relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina by adding to the deficit. “It is right to borrow to pay for it,” he said at the time, explaining that cuts could “attack” the economy. 

Even Hot-tub Tommy realized that help was needed when something this horrific happens to people where they live and by no fault of their own. 

Why the fuck doesn't Cantor?

Because for him, these people are political pawns in his game against Obama and the deficit and/or the budget. For him it's political.

Yo..asshole..this is a moral issue. It has nothing to do with party lines or economics. These tornado's hit people from all income levels, all walks of life for christs sake.

Besides being a fuckwit, Cantor is a clown..a disgusting clown. He has no moral high ground evidently. I just can not believe he would make such insensitive comments after such a horrific disaster that has so far taken the lives of 125 people in Joplin..on one afternoon in one town.

Tornado season has just begun and so far, it's looking like the worst since they started keeping stats..in 1950. It started in the friggin winter and it's only going to get worse. Today there are MORE of them landing..just turn on the weather channel or any 24/7 news channel and you can watch it live in living color Eric!

Denise at Pass the Doucheys has a good piece up on the same topic..but she also has photos and first person videos of the tornado, which btw, I could not watch. My son, who lives in tornado alley, has told me what these places look like after the tornado has passed through, the people standing next to what used to be their homes..even he was torn up and my kid doesn't get emotional easy...unlike his mom.

Enjoy this award Eric Cantor, no one deserves it as much as you do..no one..and gawd knows there are a shitload of fuckwits lately.

AP calling NY's 26th District for Hochul...the DEM!

Per Ed on his show..Associated Press is calling it for Kathy Hochul w/66% of the vote in. This district one of the most conservative in NY and has never gone Dem.

Suck on that Eric Cantor and John Boehner!

Hopefully Harold Camping sees this billboard

From a news station in Greensboro NC.

MSNBC hires former GOP head Michael Steele

I love Rachel Maddow, so I see Steele a lot..she evidently adores arguing w/him. She will get plenty of time for that evidently, from Time:

Fox News' Republican-professional commentator ranks have been thinning lately, with contributors Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum leaving to explore Presidential runs. So you'd think that Fox might be a promising perch for former GOP party chief Michael Steele. You would be wrong: the defenestrated RNC head is not an especially popular figure among the conservatives who make up much of Fox's viewership, and today it was announced that he will be joining MSNBC, of all networks, as a commentator. An actual human, non-puppet commentator.

Of course, it's not like MSNBC has no other Republicans in its pundit ranks, the chief example being Morning Joe's Joe Scarborough. But it will be interesting to see if Steele presents himself as a GOP analyst/loyalist, a la Fox's Karl Rove, or moves from his partisan past a la the TV version of Scarborough.

Meanwhile, a fascinating feature in New York magazine suggests that Fox News chief Roger Ailes has misgivings about some of the own political stars he's helped build.

It will be interesting. At least Steele isn't the usual walk in lock-step sort of Republican, which is why he would of never been hired by Faux News. He can hold an intelligent conversation and I actually find myself looking forward to the back and forth between him and O'Donnell and of course him and Maddow. An intelligent Republican is always welcome in my book, even though agreeing with him is a slim and none choice... for this leftwing nutjob bitch. ;)

His shit-canning reminded me of when the Red Sox canned a winning manager years back..I was like wtf?  Steele won a shitload of districts for the GOP turning the House into THEIR House..what the hell else did they, the idiots who voted for Steele's replacement want..the second coming of JC himself on video exclusively on Faux News? jeez.. whatever..it's MSNBC's victory and I do look forward to what he says..and hopefully it's not just their friggin talking points..please..not those.You do well up against Maddow..so keep it up..even if I DON"T agree with you Michael.

I hate to whine..but hell... I am gonna let it rip.

I knew going in that having major back surgery was gonna take a while to heal and that I would not be able to do most things that normal folks take for granted.

But...for the love of friggin christ...its a whole different world and I am not dealing with this shit very well..if at all.

The Ball n' Chain is a wonderful man, but with limits..so the fact that he has to do basically every-fucking-thing is hard not on only him...but me..because I am one impatient bitch and I scream and holler a lot when it takes forever to do regular everyday things or he can't do them properly, if at all.

So, yes I am a horrible bitch to the man that is doing his best to keep our life as normal as possible..all by HIMSELF.

So, I hate myself for being a mean nasty cunt to him. I hate myself for not being able to help him and I hate myself for just sitting around bitching and hollering about everything and anything in my personal life and our ongoing feline rescue.

But then..I see pictures and video of Joplin MO and I shut the fuck up and thank Buddha that all I have to deal with is a hosed up fucking back and have the patience level of a Diva who is used to getting everything she wants and suddenly she gets nothing she wants.

I just wanna cry all the time. So I take a couple pills and sleep a lot..is that bad? Cuz I don't know how the hell else to deal with this huge-ass change in my life and his life all our cat's lives..both the inside and the outside critters who depend on us..wait..depend on HIM to take care of them.

He is such a good man and he tries so hard. Why am I such a cunt w/eyes? Sure, I am in pain all the damn time but that ain't no excuse. 

So yesterday, I did a shitload of things that I never should of done but I knew he wouldn't have the time or the ability to do them. I am paying dearly for that streak of stubbornness..lemme tell ya.

I am so damn doped up today, trying to mange the pain.. it's pathetic. I am also afraid to go to the can because I might fall and hose up all the work done to my back. The Ball n' Chain says I am slurring my words like I am drunk off my ass..and I talk really friggin slow.

At least I ain't bitching at him. I am giving him hugs and thanking him for all that he does and for putting up w/me.

I am just so tired of this whole healing process..and evidently Buddha ISN"T going to give me more patience..so..it sucks to be me..or be around me..that last part is probably worse.

Just keep those poor folks in Joplin, MO in your hearts and minds..they did not deserve the hell on earth they got..but of course its just mother nature, according to the R's and has nothing to do w/climate change. right...Worst damn tornado season ever on record this year.

And Joplin is 70 miles from my mother. My son in southern OK, thank Buddha, says the tornado's are going around where he lives..and for that I am so fucking glad and happy because he lives in a house without a friggin basement and no one close by to run to if a tornado shows up. Mom on the other hand lives on the third story of a senior complex and is walking w/a walker and of course her botle of oxygen since she refuses to quit smoking cigs. Even though she just got out of a month at the hospital and NEVER HAD A DAMN CIG that whole time.

OK, I promise..next bitchfest will be our regularly scheduled political one. I can't bare my soul publicly very often or I would stick the handgun in my piehole and pull the friggin trigger. But then..the poor Ball n' Chain would have to clean up the damn mess.

At least I ain't Harold Camping..who is now exposed for what he is..and I don't have to tell you what he is..you know it.

Pelosi has a set of balls..at least on occasion.

The topic du jour was Medicare. From The Prospect:

Finally, however, Democrats look to be stepping up to the plate to match Republicans’ fury to gut Medicare with an equal fury to save it, a position likely to have far more sway with the 84 percent of voters who oppose changes to the program. This afternoon, Nancy Pelosi drew the line in the sand the left has been clamoring for, promising “no benefit cuts.” Democrats have also enlisted Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to spread the message on Capitol Hill today that proposals within Ryan’s plan will cut the benefits of current seniors, despite the fact that full Medicare privatization only begins in 2022. For instance, by undoing the prescription doughnut-hole benefits of the Affordable Care Act, the plan would leave seniors to cover a huge tab on their medication. For the 150,000 seniors in Rhode Island, this would amount to an additional $9.5 million annually.

Democrats are also circulating disturbing projections from the Center for Economic and Policy Research that projects an adult currently between the ages of 45 and 55 will have to pay $182,000 extra for health insurance under Ryan’s plan, despite having paid into Medicare for a half decade or more. This extra burden won’t just stretch budgets. $180,000 is more than a minimum-wage earner would make in five years, let alone save. It shows once and for all that the Ryan plan doesn’t save Medicare, it ends it, and it doesn’t help the seniors of today or the next generation.(emphasis mine)

Anyone that thinks doing away w/traditional Medicare is a good thing must be either rich or uninformed in my humble yet vocal opinion.  From the CEPR press release on their own report:

“The Ryan plan does nothing to control private-sector waste in health care costs,” said David Rosnick, an author of the report.  “As a result of the waste in the private system, beneficiaries will end up paying substantially more for Medicare, in effect paying a hefty new tax on their health care.”

The report, “Representative Ryan’s $30 Trillion Medicare Waste Tax,” documents the potential effects of replacing Medicare with a system of vouchers or premium supports and raising the age of eligibility from 65 to 67 as suggested in the Ryan plan, which was passed by the House of Representatives with almost unanimous support from Republicans and no votes from Democrats. The authors note that each voucher under the plan will initially be worth $6,600, but would be frozen at this amount over the program’s 75-year planning window, paying less and less of a beneficiary’s health care costs over time.

In addition to comparing the costs of Medicare to the government under the current system and under the Ryan plan, the authors also show the effects of raising the age of Medicare eligibility. The paper also demonstrates that while Ryan shifts $4.9 trillion in health care costs from the government to Medicare beneficiaries, this number is dwarfed by a $34 trillion increase in overall costs to beneficiaries that is projected based on the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis.

More and more of the R's seem to be backing away from Paulie's Medicare Plan, so the D's need to make hay out of this boondoggle now and continue to use it as one of their main examples of how the R's want to 'do business' and cut entitlements, the EPA, Dept of Education and other federal departments so they can continue to provide tax breaks and/or lower the tax rate for the uber rich if they run thewhole  show..aka the House, The Senate and the Oval Office.

Bush wants to keep a low profile? Jackass Please!

I am calling bullshit on Bush and his excuse for not attending, what I consider, Obama's politically helpful appearance at Ground Zero recently (Pres.Clinton was also invited and cited conflicting events). Seems the man has been quite busy lately making some cold, hard cash (estimates are $15 million total since leaving office)..in a very public way. For starters, The Shrub made three speeches shortly following Obama's Ground Zero request. One was to his buddies at a hedge fund, another at a golf event and the third was to a Swiss bank that got slapped around for keeping secret bank accounts after that was considered a big no-no. 

The DailyBeast has IWatchNews.org's Peter Stone's recent piece. A short blurb:

David Sherzer, a spokesman for the former president, told iWatch News that since Bush left office he has delivered almost 140 paid talks, at home and abroad. Those speeches have earned Bush about $15 million, a conservative estimate, following in the golden path blazed by his predecessor, Bill Clinton.

Almost all of Bush’s speeches are closed to the press. Bush uses the Washington Speakers Bureau to arrange his paid speaking gigs.

To some presidential historians, Bush’s numerous high-priced speaking engagements don’t sit well. “I find it puzzling,” said Stanford University historian Robert Dallek in an interview with iWatch News . “He says he wants to keep a low profile. What is he doing except enriching himself? It sounds like it’s self-serving. It’s following the good old American adage to make as much as you can.”

Other historians say Bush’s ride on the lecture circuit has become somewhat commonplace for former presidents, but is still troubling.

“It’s one thing to stay out of the public realm, which George Bush has said he wants to do,” Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University, said. “But then he goes on the speaking circuit and makes enormous amounts of money giving lectures mostly to corporate groups and other select audiences. Some Americans can find this distasteful.”

Zelizer added, “We’re in an era where there are countless fears about money and politics. I think former presidents have to be careful about what they’re doing with their speeches. For some people it’s another version of the revolving door between Capitol Hill and K Street.”

I love the last quote...it's another version of the revolving door between Capitol Hill and K St.  Bush43 and his cronies adored K street. Still do.

WI Rethugs ram through another winner. Voter ID bill.

Thanks to the wonderful folks at Crooks and Liars, specifically David, we have video of this fuckery below..but first..my bitchfest on the subject.

This crap passed on a 19-5 vote. The five were of course Democrats, many of the other Dem's refused to vote for this bullshit bill that jackass extraordinaire Gov. Scott Walker says will prevent voter fraud...like they really have any cases of individuals using other individuals names to vote, because in the entire history of WI They. Do. Not. From the WI State Journal:

Amid chants of “Shame!” and “Recall!” from the gallery, the state Senate on Thursday gave final approval to a controversial bill requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. The measure now heads to Gov. Scott Walker, who said he plans to sign it next Wednesday.

“Requiring photo identification to vote will go a long way to eliminate the threat of voter fraud,” Walker said. “If you need an ID to buy cold medicine, it’s reasonable to require it to vote.”

Republicans in the state Assembly passed the bill in a late-night session last week. Debate in the GOP-controlled Senate began Tuesday, running until after 1 a.m. Wednesday, when Democrats used a procedural move to delay final passage.

On Thursday, Senate GOP leaders limited floor debate to one hour. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, defended the time limit saying the topic “has received a lot of debate,” and Democrats had had plenty of chances to speak on the floor.

These Wisconsin rightwing nutters really are disgusting fucks. And you know they are trying to prevent certain types of people from voting..its a no brainer, fer christs sake.

When do those recall votes start up? Come WI. residents..get a move on and toss these fuckwads out!

Obama wants us to cut him some slack...believe me dude..we have..until now.

Filched from PulitzerPrize.org

Perhaps not as much as he would like, but I know that I have let a lot of things he hasn't done or has done just slide right out of my mind. I could sit here and name them all for you folks..but you would probably change the channel and I really don't want that.

I only got a few of you reading these bitchfests and frankly I want to keep you. It's a pain in the ass to think I am only talking/writing to myself...and all those damn cats laying on my bed at this moment.

So, lets let Cornel West and Harry Belafonte say it for me. They are far wiser and more eloquent than moi, take my word for it. Plus, they don't drop a dozen f-bombs in every paragraph like I do. That is always a plus.

Chris Hedges over at TruthDig tells us why Cornel West went ballistic. I like and trust Mr. West. I might not always agree w/thim but I do more times than naught. From the writeup, which I start mid-paragraph:

West would warn Obama that the quality of a life is defined by its moral commitment, that his legacy will be determined by his willingness to defy the cruel assault by the corporate state and the financial elite against the poor and working men and women, and that justice must never be sacrificed on the altar of power.

Perhaps there was never much of a struggle in Obama’s heart. Perhaps West only provided a moral veneer. Perhaps the dark heart of Emanuel was always the dark heart of Obama. Only Obama knows. But we know how the play ends. West is banished like honest Kent in “King Lear.” Emanuel and immoral mediocrities from Lawrence Summers to Timothy Geithner to Robert Gates—think of Goneril and Regan in the Shakespearean tragedy—take power. We lose. And Obama becomes an obedient servant of the corporate elite in exchange for the hollow trappings of authority.

No one grasps this tragic descent better than West, who did 65 campaign events for Obama, believed in the potential for change and was encouraged by the populist rhetoric of the Obama campaign. He now nurses, like many others who placed their faith in Obama, the anguish of the deceived, manipulated and betrayed. He bitterly describes Obama as “a black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a black puppet of corporate plutocrats. And now he has become head of the American killing machine and is proud of it.” (emphasis mine)

Head of the American killing machine. Jesus H. Christ...I wonder how he feels about that title. And he might like it or plain not give a shit, who the hell knows anymore? It's not a positive statement unless you are The Shrub, aka George Bush or his BFF The Big Dick Cheney..or my personal favorite Donald Rumsfeld. I thought Obama wanted more than to kill people and continue Bush's bullshit 'War on Terror'...I thought he wanted to talk it out, to solve it w/words and good deeds not bullets and bombs..to be better than the previous man that occupied the Oval Office, his staff of warmongers and his hired henchman aka federal contractors, who btw, Obama continues to employ many of the same War Profiteers.

Because I am friggin sick and tired of dead and/or maimed soldiers, or those that will eternally suffer the mental effects, like PTSD, for the rest of their lives. I am sick and tired of American, Pakistani and Afghanistan families coping with the carnage of our forever wars. Wars that will never 'be won' in the traditional sense, just in some happy horseshit that gets spewed during a presser in DC, or a high-ranking military mind grinning, like he just won the fucking lottery, for the embedded journalists. One war has lasted us just short of TEN-FUCKING-YEARS m'dear reader.The second one not far behind in time and soon...in soldiers deaths and permanent maiming and emotional scars that will also last them forever.

I hope that you will read Hedges writeup..its great and its also sad as hell at the same time. It's about an intelligent, good, kind  man, Cornel West, that believed in the change Obama talked about in all his campaigning last time around and so far, Professor West has been let down like a kid who's dad forgets his birthday and comes home drunk to boot. Many of us have been let down by Obama and those he hired to surround himself with whilst he made the hard decisions. 

Now, on to Harry Belafonte. A man that has been through the civil rights and equality wars here in the good ole US of A for decades, long before many of us were born, or became politically active. A man that knows his shit, who knows what is what is not and he also knows who is full of shit. From Bruce A. Dixon @ TheBlackAgendaReport, a small blurb of Belafonte's DemocracyNow Interview, with the wonderful and talented Amy Goodman.... both pieces are well worth listening and/or reading:

Belafonte was asked by host Amy Goodman whether he'd used his occasional access to directly share his many critical and valuable public policy insights with the White House. Belafonte replied that his only access to the president has been for a few seconds at a time, not long enough for any substantive discussion. But, he said, at one such event President Obama approached him to inquire when Belafonte and Cornel West were going “to cut me some slack.”

“What makes you think we haven't?” Belafonte replied to the president? At this point the brief encounter was over.

Let's pause to think about that. When President Obama cusses out Cornel West and personally demands that historic stalwarts of the movement for peace and justice “cut him some slack” on black unemployment, on foreclosures and the prison state, on torture and the military budget, on unjust wars and corporate welfare, on fulfilling the just demands of those who elected him, our first black president is revealing his real self. Far from saying “make me do it,” President Obama is saying how dare you pressure me to do what you elected me to do.

What say you m'dear reader? Do you think we expect too much from our President? Do you think that all politicians say most anything to get elected and therefore we should take it has standard procedure that 'not everything they promise to do, will be done'? Do you think we haven't cut Obama enough slack? Tell me..tell me if I am the only one that thinks the time to cut him slack is way the hell over.

President Obama still has a lot of time left. But my pov is that most of that time will be spent squeezing money out of supporters at fancy, expensive dinners and speaking engagements for his next campaign to be our President after the 2012 elections. He will have little precious time left to do the things he promised us during his last campaign for the 2008 Presidency. 

To understand the phrase "make me do it", you have to read Dixon's entire but short article. But the following paragraph really grabbed the hell out of me:

Harry Belafonte has done a great public service in helping us distinguish the imaginary Barack Obama of “make me do it” from the real Barack Obama, who demands our support, but expects us to “cut him some slack.” Rather than agitating and organizing in our communities to “make him do it” all the real President Obama wants of movement activists is for us to sit down and shut up, until it's time to help chase everybody out to vote for him in 2012.

I don't know about you all, but I have been getting daily emails about 'organizing for Obama' and how important it will be to get out the vote for him, from our President himself or his campaign people. It's almost at spam level if you want my personal opinion.  I actually unsubscribed last week, but I am still getting them.

Because I won't be doing any organizing or getting out the vote for President Obama this time around. I don't feel the man has earned my vote much less my shoe leather and hours and hours of phone calls like I did for him last time, the week before the election.

When he took office and Holder continued to support many of the legal cases that were started against President Bush for spying, lying and all sorts of shit..I really went batshit crazy. Then, not only did Gitmo not close, but they seem to be keeping everyone there that was there before Obama took office, not to mention starting up those kangaroo courts known as Military Tribunals again.

Also, if you will notice on my right sidebar, I keep track of how many of our soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan under Bush and under Obama. The numbers are staggering but what really chaps my ass is that the number of dead soldiers under Obama has almost doubled, to 924..and he has only been in office a couple of years. Bush had eight years to kill 575 soldiers. Now, I know that Bush pretty much put Afghanistan on the back burner...but still..a dead soldier is a dead soldier to me. It's someone's brother, father, son, nephew or husband (or the female equivalents). My niece was there, so I can talk to this subject, I don't give a shit who it pisses off. I am just happy as hell that she got out before it got real bad over there, although I worried daily about her safety..both on the battlefield and when she was alone in her tent..but that former one is for another day and time. She was never raped or physically attacked thank goodness, and far too many of our female soldiers were..but like I said..I digress.

So now I will let Mr. Belafonte, say for me, why I believe we must now speak out about the shortcomings of the Obama Presidency. It's not to undermine him or his second run for the Office of the President..its to speak truth to power in the hope that he hears us and changes his course which looks more and more like he represents the powerful, or as I call it, The Corporatocracy:

    AMY GOODMAN: And to those who say, "If you want President Obama re-elected, you will undermine him if you criticize him; and consider the alternative"?

    HARRY BELAFONTE: I think we will not only undermine him, but undermine the hopes of this nation, if we don’t criticize him. Absence of protest in the times of this kind of national crisis—Theodore Roosevelt once says, "When tyranny takes over the national agenda, it is that time that the voices of protest must be awakened. And if you don’t raise your voice in protest, you are a patriotic traitor." And I believe that patriotism is betrayed by those voices that are not heard. Those who would detract you from that fact are those who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Nothing will happen but good for Barack Obama and the United States of America, and indeed the world, if everybody stepped to the table and said, "This is the course we must be on."

Thank You Mr. Belafonte. Thank You Mr. West. Thanks to both of you for speaking the truth to the most powerful man in this hemisphere, if not the world.  Lets hope for change...this time...real change. Change on immigration, the forever wars, financial changes aka accountability of the greedy Wall Streeters as to how they do 'business', jobs and not bailouts for the corporations shipping their jobs outside our borders and finally... education opportunities for everyone regardless of race or station in life without the fear of being in debt for decades or even worse, not getting the loans or grants needed to better themselves and contribute to our nation and make us once again number one in all areas and issues.

GOP eats it own Presidential candidate, the one closest to the center of course.

Eye of Newt was trying to be less rightwing nutter and more centrist, or even....gasp..moderate when he was on Meet the Press (transcript here) this past weekend. The money quote that is getting more press than anything else I think he said Sunday:

"I don't think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering."

According to most if not all political pundits, his run for the Presidency is over, less than a week after he started. That was all that was talked about today on the MSNBC political shows and probably all other news network shows. At least it was the prime story of the day for Tweety, Cenk. O'Donnell, Maddow, Ed and all the rest of the early day/evening shows on MSNBC. The biggest video of the day was Eye of Newt doing a handshake campaign and a rightwing nutter holding on to his hand as Newt tried to escape..all the while, the guy was tearing into Newt. Of course he was an Iowa voter, the most rightwing nutter group of all Republican voters:



I actually feel sorry for the fuckwit I call Eye of Newt. He sounded like more of a centrist Republican than ANYONE else running or threatening to run for President in that party of Corporate Ass-kissers. He sounded sane and logical, for a Republican...which of course pissed off the teabaggers and anyone else that wants to take the Republican party as far right as possible...like just about everyone with an R behind their name lately or that is a mouthpiece for the extremist rightwing ideology..aka Limbaugh and the all the rightwing pundits on tv, radio and in print. Fox News went batshit over it all day I believe..since I don't watch than non-news, Republican talking points only, station I can't say for absolute certainty..ok? For a catch-all of everyone that took a shot at Eye of Newt, including the dipshit emeritus Charles Krauthammer check out this link from this morning's FirstRead or just Google  Republican reaction to Newt Gingrich on Meet the Press.

His other big boo-boo? Taking Paul Ryan's bullshit idea of ending Medicare as we know it, and calling it " too big a change". All the rightwing fuckwits are of course taking this phrase as heresy. So, when he said, and I quote:

I don't think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for a free society to operate.

All the nutters took it personal and said he was calling Ryan's entire plan radical.

Well, it fucking IS radical and not to the good..Christ, you don't have to be a damn rocket scientist to see that in Ryan's budget 'plan' as he slashes programs that help the sick, poor, elderly, etc and then actually gives another tax break to the uber rich.

They, the rightwing elected and the rightwing pundits, were probably pissing down both legs I suspect when they either read or heard Eye of Newt say both sets of phrases above.

He called Paul Ryan and begged for forgiveness. Eye of Newt is now pulling a Palin saying it was a 'Gotcha' question and taken out of context. He is blaming those damn liberals too.

No jackass, it wasn't. Read the fucking text of your little sitdown w/ David Gregory. You couldn't shut the fuck up. You didn't answer in sentences, you answered in paragraphs you friggin moron.  You have been on that show 35-fucking-times..I am quite sure you are used to how it works and how questions are framed.

You, Mr. Eye of Newt Gingrich, are a liar and a pussy. A pussy in the fact that you refuse to stand up to the racists, the Corporate ass-kissers and the haters of your own party. A pussy in the fact that you refuse to stand by Your Own Words.

And that makes you a pathetic fuck in my book.

Say Good Bye Newt, your campaign is over according to pretty much anyone that has an opinion on you and your 5th run or 10th run for President of the United States..its been so many, I forget the total number.

GOP loses a few clowns in their circus.

As Lawrence O'Donnell predicted, on the exact day mind you, Trump pulled out as soon as NBC renewed his stupid show Celebrity Apprentice. O'Donnell has been saying this for months and months..giving the exact day and under the exact conditions that it would happen. The man was spot on..watch:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

As an added bonus, Huckabee, the 'religious' extremist's favorite biblethumping liar, bowed out as well...although the asshole never really announced. This means the rightwing nutters that make up the majority of Iowa voters won't have Ole Huck to vote for this season..oh the agony! What the hell will they do? Santorum boys and girls..Ricky Santorum if he ever collects enough cash to actually announce his candidacy. If if Ricky doesn't announce..those rightwing nutters in Iowa are screwed..YAY!

What will the GOP do without two of their biggest male clowns running for President? I say male because Batshit Bachmann (still testing the waters) and the Palinator are the two big time female clowns and they haven't announced yet. Oh please....please..let them announce soon! Both are pure comedy gold. But i digress...

Mitch Daniels is still waiting for his first and now second wife's permission to run.She will really help him out as she walked out on his ass and left him holding the bag along with all the kids. She eventually returned after the guy she left Mitch for divorced her. Mitch remarried her. Mitch might let her wear the pants in the family but he hates unions and he really hates Planned Parenthood and will do anything to kill them both so long as the moves don't fuck up his run for President..that is if the wife lets him.

We do still have the fuckwit Rick Santorum to kick around. That dipshit actually showed up to the Faux Rethug debate.

The GOP Candidates for President

A plea to help a fellow blogger who REALLY needs it.

An unusual plea for help. From the fine folks at The Greanville Post.

May 14th, 2011

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From the editors of The Greanville Post

Dear Friends:

Rowan Wolf

The reason for this most unusual appeal is a sad and compelling one. One of our closest friends and invaluable comrades in this struggle to move human society, and especially America, toward a better future, is literally dying for lack of financial resources to cover her enormous medical expenses. Probably many of you know that The Greanville Post (TGP) and Cyrano’s Journal Today (CJT) are sister sites created by a tightly-knit cooperative of committed citizens journalists and animated with the same spirit. Rowan Wolf—editor-in-chief of Cyrano’s Journal— is a critical member of this community.

Now, however, a whimsical destiny has dealt her an awful card, and she finds herself in dire straits (pulmonary heart disease), with a heart-lung transplant from Stanford as her only hope.  The major hurdle is that she lacks the necessary funding, and although I know most of you—like us—have only limited resources, we are endeavoring to create a dynamic on the Internet so that  an ever-growing number of people can become apprised of her desperate situation.  Her prospects are brutally simple: she lives if she raises the money, and dies in two years or so if she doesn’t.  In effect, the American health care system has transformed a beautiful person, a tireless, exemplary ecoanimal defense and all-round political activist and accomplished sociology professor into a “beggar” and she is forced to depend on us for a possible solution. This at a time in which just breathing is an effort for her. (Characteristically, she has refused to leave her editorial functions at CJT, and thanks to her effort that resource sails on.)

So what we are asking here is not in any way a donation to TGP or CJT, but a direct assist to a comrade whose luck is dangerously close to running out.

If you would be so kind as to spread the word to all of your colleagues and friends, we would be profoundly grateful.  If they can’t contribute themselves, they can make a significant difference just by passing on the information below until the number of her supporters can grow exponentially.  Any donations, by the way, are fully tax deductible, as they go through the National Transplant Assistance Fund (NTAF).  Rowan is family to the entire progressive community, and I needn’t tell you the depth of her commitment to other beings.

Anyway, the details follow, expressed in her own words. We are sorry to be the bearers of such tragic news, but, as already mentioned, we are doing all we can to get the word out, and remain confident that many others will do what they can once they learn of her circumstances.  Many thanks to you all for your time, and may better days finally grace our horizons.

Incidentally, do forgive us if you already received one of our appeals.  Chalk it up to our sense of urgency and mounting desperation.

Please don’t fail us on this one.

PATRICE GREANVILLE, Editor in Chief & Publisher
The Greanville Post

ED DUVIN, Editor at Large & Cofounder
The Greanville Post
Cyrano’s Journal Today

GAITHER STEWART,
Senior Editor & Foreign Correspondent
The Greanville Post
Cyrano’s Journal Today

_____________________________________________________________________________

[Note: Please forgive the impersonal nature of a mass email, but I don't have the strength or energy to contact everyone separately.  I have also included this as an attachment for your convenience.]

Dear Friends,

I am writing you at this time to ask for your help. Those of you who know me well, know how difficult such an appeal is.

In January 2010 I was struck down by what was thought were pulmonary emboli. This took me out of teaching for the rest of the year. My heart and lungs continued to fail, with each day leaving me weaker than the last until July. Then a new pulmonologist, Maxine Dexter, went over my case with a fine-toothed comb and determined that I actually had pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH or PH). This is a rare condition that increases the pressures in the lungs making them unable to function properly. This puts tremendous strain on the heart, and has seriously damaged mine. PH is a progressive and irreversible disease.  My doctor started the long process of getting me evaluated for a heart-lung transplant, as this is the only cure for PH. Stanford Hospital has almost approved me and I will soon be on the transplant list. One of the hurdles in my path is being able to financially address the costs of transplant when I will be out of work for many months, and perhaps the rest of my life.

I have been tremendously lucky to have insurance and a job that has allowed me to continue to work part time and blessed to have my partner Kelly and a very supportive family. Transplants are tremendously expensive procedures, and the costs beyond transplant are large and some go on for the rest of one’s life. For example, I will have to go to Stanford at least once a year for follow-up care, and take anti-rejection medications costing in excess of $5000 a month for the rest of my life.  Even with my health insurance coverage, it is estimated that I may have over $25,000 in transplant related costs for the first year and over $10,000 for every year thereafter.

To help alleviate the financial burden of transplantation, a fundraising campaign has been established in my honor with National Transplant Assistance Fund (NTAF) for my uninsured medical expenses. NTAF is a nonprofit organization that has been providing assistance to the transplant community for more than 25 years. 

Your tax-deductible contribution is greatly appreciated.

Please make check payable to:
NTAF Northwest Heart/Lung Transplant Fund,  In honor of Rowan Wolf

Send to:  NTAF, 150 N. Radnor Chester Road, Suite F-120, Radnor, PA  19087

To use a credit card, please call 800-642-8399 or visit http://www.ntafund.org and enter Rowan Wolf in the “Find A Patient” box on the homepage.  Or go to my tribute page if you are getting the letter by email, and select “Contribute Now.”

If you are unable to help financially but still wish to assist with my fundraising efforts, I’d be so appreciative.  Please pass on my information to others or call or email  me or Rebecca rcarr@ntafund.org (800.642.8399 )  to volunteer as we move forward with planning fundraising events.

It is my hope that I will receive a transplant, heal and return to teaching and activism. I have been active in the environmental, animal rights, and social justice movements for most of my life and my goal is to continue my efforts to make this world a better place for all living creatures.

Kelly, and our four-legged ones (our three dogs and two adopted feral cats), and I are tremendously grateful for your positive thoughts, prayers, contributions, and help.

With kind regards and love,

Rowan Wolf | Phone: 503.261.9488
rowanstransplant@gmail.com

Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. This campaign is administered by the National Transplant Assistance Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing fundraising assistance to transplant and catastrophic injury patients. Information: 800.642.8399

ADDENDUM

I attach below a draft outlining and clarifying in more detail what you might be able to do if monetary assistance is out of the question. Thank you so much for your patience:

Dear Friends and Friends of Friends,

As you know now from the preceding, this is an appeal for your help in meeting the uninsured medical expenses of a heart-lung transplant for me. That help can take a variety of forms.

This appeal focuses on monetary contributions and those are extremely important. If you are giving a check make sure that in the memo section you put “In honor of Rowan Wolf” otherwise the money will go as a donation to NTAF’s general operating fund and not to the regional restricted fund in my honor.I realize that many of you are financially stretched, but there are other contributions that are also important and helpful:-

Pass this appeal on to others you know and ask for their help. For example, “Rowan is my friend and needs your help.”—

Volunteering to do fundraising from a garage sale to making an appeal in your place of worship, community organization, or place of business. If you do plan to raise funds, please contact Rebecca Carr at NTAF for the information you need. Her number  is 800.642.8399 and her email is

rcarr@ntafund.org

 

IF YOU HAVE A WEBSITE, or belong to a social networking site, put up a link to my page at

NTAF: https://www.ntafund.org/find-a-patient/profile/index.cfm/patient/E0F54FD8-C5F5-8B8D-0546303FF41A1F15

I have also started a series of sites called Rowan’s Heart. The purpose of these sites is to share the journey I am on. I am posting the story in multiple places because the network is wider that way. They are “mirrors” of each other, but different people use different services. Here are the links:

Blogspot http://rowansheart.blogspot.com/

Main Domain http://www.rowansheart.com/

Posterous http://rowansheart.posterous.com/

WordPress site http://rowansheart.wordpress.com/

As you pass this appeal along, please pass along this part as well.

Thank you for all of your care and support.

Bill Maher- extremists can not call themselves Christians.

 Bill Maher's new rules were pretty good last night. The good part on christian crazies starts at 2:42 and he also takes a potshot at Obama's 60 minutes interview about 'getting our head examined' if we don't believe Osama should of been killed on the spot. The video below is courtesy of our friend Heather at CrooksandLiars


Heather's money quote on the so-called christians of the extreme right:

I think Maher makes some great points here and on a regular basis about what has become of the Christian right these days where there are way too many of them lauding violence and with no regard for the poor and the downtrodden and that seem to love the Old Testament while ignoring pretty much all of the New Testament and the message of nonviolence and social justice.

Spot on Woman! Jesus won't be welcoming those fucks into heaven, he will have the detour sign up I am quite sure. The following graphic is from Rook.

 

Newt's daughter tries to clear his name w/regard to his FIRST divorce.

Newt has had more than his share of divorces and philandering's for such a self-righteous prick who dreams of one day sitting his ass in the Oval Office as President. He has ridiculous reasons for both issues. But to see that his daughter is now taking to writing in defense of her fathers version of the hospital incident, well... it smacks of political timing to me. From the Salon link above:

Regular readers will remember a few months ago I researched the story of Newt and his cancer-stricken first wife, also named Jackie. The anecdote has dogged Newt ever since Mother Jones first reported it -- and extensive evidence of his philandering -- in 1984. Cushman's column is likely part of a conscious inoculation effort. Cushman writes a syndicated conservative political column and recently co-authored a book with her father.

Cushman doesn't offer much in the way of details, besides saying that she was present during that 1980 hospital visit and that the media has repeated unspecified "untruths"

*snip*

The question becomes: Should we believe Gingrich's wife from  five years after the incident, or what his daughter claims 30 years later when Newt is gearing up for a presidential run?

Any way you slice or dice this issue, Eye of Newt runs on the 'Family Values Platform'. He was a philanderer and a two-faced bag of batshit as he went after Clinton for something he was far more guilty of than the President.

He now uses the extreme right's favorite line that his god will forgive him his transgressions because Newt asked him to in an interview w/religious channel CBN on March 9th of this year. The video is available on their site but I haven't the stomach to post his fuckery here.

And the reason Eye of Newt didn't attend the Faux republican debate? Well, there are most likely at least two reasons: He was busy making money speaking of course. Plus, he technically had not announced his candidacy by that date, even though Faux had marketed that Eye of Newt would be on hand for their...cough..extravaganza..