COMPULSORY SECESSION ANYONE?

Sometimes the yahoo.com news is even better than "The Onion". Witness today's example, all about why South Carolina wasn't clamoring to oust Mark Sanford:


COLUMBIA, S.C. – When things looked their darkest for Gov. Mark Sanford — when he was in danger of being impeached for running off to Argentina to see his mistress — his best insurance policy may well have been South Carolina's lieutenant governor, Andre Bauer.

Lawmakers knew if they removed Sanford, they would end up with Bauer, a fiercely ambitious Republican with a reputation for reckless and immature behavior.

Now Bauer has folks shaking their heads again, after he likened government assistance to the poor to feeding stray animals.

At a town hall meeting Thursday, Bauer, who is running for governor in his own right now that Sanford is term-limited, said: "My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed! You're facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don't think too much further than that."

(See. "them people" are vermin, like rats.)

Democrats and others railed at him.

"I am disgusted by these comments. They show an unbelievable lack of compassion toward the unemployed workers in our state who are hurting during these hard times," said state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, a Democrat who is also running for governor. "His comments were immoral and out of line."

South Carolina schools Superintendent Jim Rex, another Democratic candidate for governor, called Bauer's comments "reprehensible" and said he should apologize.

Bauer said Monday that he regrets his choice of words


(How NICE of him! What a guy!)

but that government should expect welfare recipients to try to better themselves. He wants to require them to take drug tests and attend parent-teacher conferences if they have children in school.

A child of divorce who benefited from free lunches himself, Bauer insisted he wasn't bad-mouthing people laid off from work in the recession or advocating taking food from children, but rather emphasizing the need to break the cycle of dependency.


(Typical - the loudest shouters against something are usually shouting at themselves in some way, right, Senator Vitter? Reverend Haggard, anything to add here?)

"Do I wish I'd used a different metaphor? Of course I do," the 40-year-old said. "I didn't intend to offend anyone."


(You'll be sure to let us know when you are intending, now, right?)

Bauer has long been a love-him-or-hate-him figure in South Carolina politics. A nonstop campaigner and self-described workaholic, he was the youngest elected lieutenant governor in the country when he first won the No. 2 spot in 2002 at age 33.

Before his 2006 re-election, he shattered his heel when the single-engine plane he was piloting ran into power lines, crashed and caught fire. Bauer's office said the maintenance company that overhauled the engine botched the job. Court records show that a federal administrative law judge in June fined the company for returning the plane with incorrect bolts.


(hmm, wonder if Mr. Conservative values filed a civil lawsuit. Any guesses?)

During the campaign, it was also disclosed that Bauer had been stopped for speeding twice, but not ticketed, even though in one instance he was going 101 mph in a 70 mph zone. He said he didn't realize how fast he was going and never asked for preferential treatment.


(The speedometer in most cars is less than 18" away from the tip of the driver's nose. And he didn't know and couldn't tell the difference between 70 and 100 mph. Having received a CHP chit for a lesser discrepancy years ago on a deserted freeway at 3:30 a.m. these statements seem, ahem, disingenuous?)

Bauer almost ascended to the top office last summer, after Sanford disappeared from the state for five days to be with his mistress. But the Legislature stopped short of impeachment.

Politicians who had gubernatorial ambitions of their own, or were backing other candidates, knew that replacing Sanford with Bauer would have given the lieutenant governor a year-and-a-half tryout for the job and the benefit of running as an incumbent.

At least three other Republicans and five Democrats have said they are running for governor.

Neal Thigpen, a political scientist at Francis Marion University, said Bauer tends to speak so fast and enthusiastically ("It's almost like a Gatling gun") that he sometimes "gets his mouth in place quicker than his head."


(bless his white-pointy-cap-wearing little ditto-head)

Thigpen said the lieutenant governor's latest remarks could hurt him in the general election in the fall by allowing Democrats to portray him as "insensitive and downright cruel."

But as for the June Republican primary, "don't count him out. The kid's got a fanatical following,"

(as Gomer used to say "Surprise surprise!")

Thigpen said. "They're going to forgive him almost anything and stick to him like glue."

Similarly, Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon said Bauer's words "came out as condescending and insulting," but his overall message about government dependency and personal responsibility will appeal to his evangelical Republican base.


"Evangelical Republican" Is that someone who accepted Rush Reagan as his personal Savior?

REALLY? THAT'S HOW DISJOINTED WE ARE?

LOST has, as most people do, several friends in the community of Righties. Everybody eats, breathes and bleeds, so why would mere political disagreements keep us from reveling in common interests and cultivating friendships, right? You know, despite the fact that one of us would be disillusioned by the Massachusetts Special Election last Tuesday, and the other would be gleefully jumping up and down and chortling as if John the Baptist had just texted that the Second Coming was imminent, so everybody look happy and busy? But LOST digresses.

Yes, with the election of Scott Brown to the last 2 years of Ted Kennedy's seat - a move which ranks right up there with hiring Paul Reubens to film the final scenes of Lawrence Olivier's last, and sadly unfinished film - the mirth meter spiked among all of LOST's Righty friends, each doing the dance of liberation. Liberation from what? From any chance of passing even a horribly diluted bill to deal with the inequities of health care access? Enthralled by the continuation of the insurance carriers' unfettered right to double digit annual premium increases, or the unchecked ability to herd off the insurable populace into the ranks of the functionally uninsured - thanks to the scarlet letter "P" (as in Pre-existing Condition?) Was it nothing more than a vicarious chance to dance once more on the grave of the last Kennedy? What?

Then, as if by infernal Kismet, the Supremes released their latest single last week, and no, it was not a Motown 2:30 in length. Try "novella" on for size. The majority opinion alone flirted with the 100 page mark, the dissent exceeded it, and the whole thing tossed in at just under 190 pages. One court opinion, conferring the right upon corporations to spend lavishly on any and every political campaign of their choosing - so long as they don't give the $$ directly to a candidate. In this Teevee age, does it really matter? What seems to win is the slickest ad campaign; at least this is true far more often than not, which is why everyone should be pissed and frightened over the holding of "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission." At its worst, it clears the way for functional representation; no longer will Senators "hail" from and "represent" States - they will represent economic sectors, or even individual companies. Since most of those larger players tend to favor the Republican side of things, rest assured that the already-gawky distance between progressive liberal thinking people and the Democratic party will only get more ponderous, as the Dems lurch further rightward in the forlorn hope of courting campaign coffer cash.

Which brings LOST back to his righty friends. One of LOST's Fox News watchin' pals loves to forward e-mails. Political diatribes mainly - although they are often times mixed and mingled with glurgy Christian ones, too. Offensive on occasion because of the intermingling - suggesting that Jesus was the #1 man in the GOP or the Good Teabag Shepherd, or something like that. But LOST digresses. This week, the buddy sent over a political e-mail; it wasn't rejoicing over the Brown victory, or in praise of "Citizens United," though. Here it is, in all its glory.


Subject: ANYBODY HERE LOOK FAMILIAR??


According to Snopes this is TRUE http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/photos/crashers.asp


-----ANYBODY HERE LOOK FAMILIAR?
I knew there had to be a “Paul Harvey” version to this story. See the white guy in the white suit? Now see the blond in the white dress? See the guy in the middle…hmmm-m-m. This picture was taken June 9, 2005.. It seems Obama has known these two phonies for awhile, at least from the time he was a Senator. They’re getting all the press now as being “party crashers” and the secret service is taking the fall. Funny how this hasn't come out in the press, don'tcha think?



No wonder the couple who crashed Obama’s State dinner last week keep insisting they were invited guests. They know Barry from way back when he was still an Illinois Senator. Is Obama trying to throw the Secret Service under the bus?
Tareq and Michaele Salahi snapped the pic above with Obama at a “Rock The Vote” event on June 9, 2005 (also attended by John McCain…with whom the Salahi’s also took a pic). McCain won an award for his work on campaign finance reform. Obama won an award for “forming a multiracial coalition in winning his seat.”
Michaele Salahi is getting quite a ribbing in the press for lying about being a Redskins cheerleader, but Tareq is the more interesting of the two to me. He has ties to Palestinian terrorists. Tareq is a board member of the ATFP- American Task Force on Palestine , which has quickly scrubbed it’s site of the fact. Thank the Lord for Google cache.

And just who are the ATFP? The ATFP has ties to Chicago , ties to Muslim radicals, ties to Hamas, and ties to Saudi Wahhabists. It is arguably the American wing of Hamas. The group’s co-founder is Rashid Khalidi, the guy purported to have helped finance Obama’s Harvard education and who was also instrumental in getting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at Columbia University . During the Beruit war, Khalidi was a PLO spokesperson. After the war, he came back to teach at the University of Chicago . He is a virulent critic of Israel, and [was] a strong supporter of Fatah terrorist Yassar Arafat. Obama has referred to Khalidi as someone who challenges his “own biases.”

Why do the same dubious tentacles seem to continually surround Obama?
The fact that the ATFP is scrubbing information on Salahi from their website suggests possible damage control coordination between the ATFP and the White House. If the ATFP was acting independently, there would be no reason to scrub Salahi’s name from their site. It looks like Salahi was an invited guest to the dinner, that he was “outed,” and the administration had to come up with a rational excuse for his presence. Now the Salahis want to sell their story…they’re a little broke these days, but they still live VERY high on the hog.

The Secret Service has already apologized for the incident, but they may clear their names if the Salahis start singing... If someone with ties to the American wing of Hamas can get face to face with the President without the Secret Service realizing it…that is a major security lapse. However, if Obama’s people knowingly allowed Salahi in and are now throwing the Secret Service under the bus to cover themselves, that would be a major scandal. Some in Congress are calling for an investigation.
Something is VERY fishy in this White House, AND THE SMELL GETS WORSE EVERY DAY!

The points from this are legion. NO criticism of the President about policies. Nothing about continuing the wars, flagging stimulus, or watering down the healthcare bill. Nothing about the continued velvet glove treatment for the banks and Wall Street. No, we're still talking about him being a Chicago Gangsta terraist, and now a basher of the Secret service, because the same two D.C. wannabes crashed another event in 2005, and got a photo snapped with then Senator Obama. Stupid? Beyond argument.

What's even funnier is that the very attempt to cloak this one with legitimacy - the reference to snopes.com at the outset. Yes, snopes says the picture is legit, and then goes on to point out who else is in the picture - as in music industry people at a "Rock the Vote" event in 2005. Hence, Randy Jackson, and the Black-eyed Peas are surrounding the Senator, with the Hamas-tied Salaheis on the periphery. Undaunted, the author of the original e-mail is convinced this photo means (1) Obama has ties to Hamas - beause Salahei does. and (2) he threw the Secret Service under the bus because the same couple - one he obviously knew well - "crashed" a State Dinner last Fall.

So, what's the funniest? What's the real Paul Harvey moment? Look at the other picture from the same snopes.com entry. Using the same astute logic as the e-mail originator, this picture - taken from the same event (see the outfits on the "crashers"), was obviously snapped to show the Salahei's cavorting and conspiring with Hamas' #1 mole in the U.S.




You can't make this stuff up. This is the histrionics of the nutty right embodied in one e-mail that has no doubt dropped into millions of tea-bagger inboxes this week. This is what the right was focused on this week.