photos of the day – for the victims in AZ

If you are so inclined, say a prayer for the victims and their families.

Photos by Extreme Liberal

fresh photo of the day

Mere minutes old….I took a bunch in the back and side yards! Here’s one…

Photo by Extreme Liberal

Cognitive Dissonance On The Left!

Waaaaaa?? You mean Howard Dean thinks that Bill Daley was an excellent choice for Chief of Staff at the White House? How many on the “professional left” started banging their heads on their computer keyboards and saying “does not compute, does not compute.” I saw his interview with Rachel Maddow last night…watch it below. When I saw the first story about it, I thought myself, there has to be a reason why he was picked. Like maybe he would be good at the job or something. But those whiny, poutrage, firebaggers see it as just another betrayal, a slap in the face. Because you know, the whole damn world revolves around them now and anything the Obama administration does has to pass their new found litmus test…if you’ve ever worked for a corporations or Wall Street firm, you are not suitable to them and just have to be sending some mysterious smoke signals by doing it. And they like to demonize anyone who has ever sold their soul to Big Business. Every thing seems to have deeper meanings these days, all symbolic and shit. It wouldn’t possibly be that he is qualified, a good democrat, a good manager and as Howard Deans says, a reasonable man. Check out this exchange and watch as Rachel pouts and tries to make more out of the hiring than it really is…

Bill Daley, Chief Of Staff – Oh, The “Sanctimonious Left” Is Whining Again!

I penned this comment over at Crooks and Liars, which has gone “firebagger” with a few exceptions. It was in response to a John Amato post, who I used to really respect, but not so much anymore. He drank the Kool-aid that Janey Hamsher’s been serving up to fellow bloggers, I assume. I don’t know a hell of a lot about Bill Daley except that he is a democrat and has worked for President Clinton and chaired Al Gore’s campaign in 2000 and apparently he has worked for some major corporations, heaven forbid. I just thought I’d share my rant from over there at C & L…

I guess if anyone has ever worked in the private sector….for one of those EVIL corporations…then they are a “corporatist centrist”, right? The man has been a good democrat his whole life, worked for democratic presidents, chaired Al Gore’s campaign (I suppose you call him a corporatist too, he’s been on boards of corporations, you know?)….and yes, he’s a lawyer and businessman. Don’t you want liberals on the boards of some of these corporations? Do you know anything about the kind of input he gave at the corporations he’s been with? I personally want liberals to be in the business sector, maybe they can temper some of the greed from the damn conservatives who occupy all these boardrooms. But of course if anyone ever works for a corporation, they are shunned by people like you and your fellow whiners and so-called progressive egotists.

Under your standards and the other “firebaggers”, damn near anyone could be painted as a corporatist centrist. I’m a flaming liberal, but you know what, I too have worked for corporations and there is no way that I am whatever the hell a corporatist centrist is according to your’s and Jane Hamsher’s definition, which I suppose changes with whichever person you are trying to taint with your whiny bullshit.

I would also argue strenuously that President Obama has not lost any of his base. Your base are the people who stick with you, who support you, who are loyal liberals who vote democratic no matter what. I’m sorry, but it is always the lesser of two evils, deal with it and grow the hell up already. I am the President’s base and I fully support all the smackdowns of you selfish people who have been undermining our DEMOCRATIC president for your own whiny, selfish, petty reasons. Every single thing the President said in his presser after the tax cut deal was dead on. You are sanctimonious, you are selfish and you aren’t doing the common man any good by taking shots at our president from the left. There are better ways to express your displeasure or have input with a democratic president other than undermining him and helping Republicans destroy our country.

Get over yourselves already and start thinking about the people who need help in this country instead of whining about your bruised egos because someone calls you out on your bullshit.

Crooks and Liars has really gone down hill, it’s pretty sad to see really. I used to recommend this blog to people but really can’t do it in good conscience anymore. And based on your email response when I complained, I don’t see it getting any better.

End Rant!

I won’t even go over to FDL, I can just imagine how they are hyperventilating over there and taking sanctimony to a whole new level.

Helen Thomas Is Back, Welcome Back Helen!

I had the great privilege to meet Helen a few years back here in Michigan and have swapped emails with her a few times when she was the only voice asking tough questions in that White House briefing room, particularly during the Bush years but even into the Obama administration. Helen is awesome and I don’t believe at all that she is antisemitic. The comments that got her in deep shit were certainly “inartful” and reactionary, I too get pissed at the Israelis who bomb children (lovely cluster bombs…is that a toy, boom) and kill innocent people indiscriminately. I don’t blame her for lashing out, the Israeli government is fucking brutal.

In her first column back in the Falls Church New-Press, Helen writes about the recurring idea of privatizing Social Security and gives a great historical lesson for us. Here is an excerpt from her column…

The difference between the Great Depression and the current Great Recession is “spirit” – during the 1930s Americans cared about each other. They flocked to Washington – teachers, social workers, doctors and nurses – selflessly offering their services.

Next door to us, a family with six children lived on a $13 (equivalent to $163 today) per week welfare check. Somehow they survived and kept their faith. Along came FDR who told the stricken people, “You have nothing to fear but fear itself.” The power of hope restored confidence in the country and in its leadership.
We were happy to emerge from the depression, but many Americans at the time believed we rebounded economically because of the looming clouds of World War II. The world by this time was swept up by the “isms.” The U.S. was divided between the interventionists in World War II (on the side of the allies) and the non-interventionists – they were the isolationists – who disappeared at the start of the war on Dec. 7, 1941.

President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law in 1935 to cover the elderly, and eventually through amendments, widows, orphans and the disabled. Payments are split 50-50 by the employer and the worker. What has been missing in our current society is compassion and creativeness. Think of the bargains the President had to strike to renew the biggest (Bush) tax cut to the richest Americans, this in exchange for an extension of unemployment compensation for the millions who lost their jobs – some deal! That’s the compassion part.

I’ve long felt that the 1980′s and the Reagan revolution turned America into a land of selfish, I’ve got mine-you get yours-rat bastards. It became acceptable to be selfish, to stop caring about those less fortunate, to grab all you can get and fuck the rest. I know I’ve written this before but I had a great conversation with a very wise 17 year old exchange student from Germany back in the 1980′s and he said the difference between America and Europe (particularly when it comes to covering everyone with health insurance) was that the culture in Europe is one where people actually care about their friends, neighbors and fellow citizens. If someone is sick, they actually want them to be better. They don’t think only of themselves, but of the greater good of all in the society. He went on to say that because of everyone being taken care of, people are less stressed, friendlier and they live in a much nicer environment. Doesn’t sound very much like America now, does it?

Glad to have you back Helen. Still kicking ass at 90 years old.

H/T to the Raw Story

photo of the day

I absolutely love barberry bushes, I’ve posted another photo of this same one before. I just read that it has been used for medicinal purposes for 2500 years. I wish we had more sunlight on our property, we have thousands of trees all around us so shade is about all we have, with a few exceptions. This one was at our old house, where we had plenty of sun. I have this photo linked to the high resolution version, this plant is a work of art and is really beautiful close up. Download it (right-click and save) or click on it and zoom in, it’s amazing. At least to me, but I told you already…I absolutely love them.

Photo by Extreme Liberal

Too Much Fun For One Day!

These are the stories that I enjoyed reading today.

Michelle Bachmann in 2012…bring it on, how much fun would that be?

Robert Gibbs is out…I’m actually pretty glad about this even though I defended him when he lashed out at the firebaggers. I just don’t think he puts a good face to the president’s agenda. Sorry Robert, love ya man.

Put the filibuster back into the filibuster…but of course the Repugnant party has to make shit up, what else do they have?

And really, if you haven’t subscribed to the Bob and Elvis Podcast, you are just plain stupid….or maybe you don’t have an mp3 player, which is cool if that’s the case. But you can still listen to it. GO!

Balls As Big As Church Bells!

I always loved that line from the movie remake of Dragnet, Dabney Coleman was great in that movie. Republicans never cease to amaze me with their gall and in the last couple of years they exhibit it many times in a day, it seems. It is much easier for them since the Foxification of all cable news outlets has come to fruition. The latest example shows as good as any just how big those balls are. Once again, Steve Benen of The Washington Monthly breaks it down for us.

THE PREDICTABLE RECESS-APPOINTMENT COMPLAINTS…. With the White House announcing six new recess appointments late yesterday, it was only a matter of time before Republicans began complaining. What I was curious to see, however, is what they came up with.

The Washington Post‘s Jennifer Rubin took a crack at it this morning. (via Memeorandum)

On Wednesday, Obama shed any pretense of bipartisanship in making six recess appointments. As were his previous recess appointments, this batch included two individuals whose records are so controversial that they could not obtain confirmation even with 59 Democratic senators.

According to Benen, and he knows a lot more than I do about this, the “too controversial” sentence is simply a lie. All six of them passed through committees and each was expected to get 60 or more votes for confirmation. So there’s that lie, but oh so much more. That lie is simply a mask that tries to hide the real face of what happened which was summed up by Benen in this excerpt…

Knowing this, conservative Republicans, who’ve engaged in obstructionist tactics unseen in American history, placed anonymous holds on the nominees. They could have simply voted against the nominees and urged their colleagues to follow suit, but that wasn’t good enough — Republicans had to shut down the advise-and-consent process altogether.

[...]

I am intrigued, though, by the notion of “partisanship” as a criticism from a partisan. Let me see if I have this straight — when Republicans engage in obstructionism, breaking down the confirmation process, that’s fine. When the president exercises the power available to him to circumvent this obstructionism, that’s “shedding any pretense of bipartisanship”?

It’s almost as if Obama is allowed to be affected by institutional abuses, but he’s not allowed to respond. There’s nothing wrong with political pugilism, just so long as Obama realizes he’s not supposed to punch back.

That’s quite a standard.

I remember a day when the media (not including opinion pages) was a check on such hypocrisy and in some ways, prevented this kind of tactic from either party because of it. These days, the media is complicit in the charade with no shame. For the most part, they just parrot the GOP talking points which at Fox News come in the way of daily memos. The other media outlets have just been infiltrated by people like David Gregory, who when confronted with blatant lies, just lets them float around out there with no challenge. And remember, Meet the Press is supposed to be legitimate journalism, fair and balanced…cough, spit, choke. I actually miss Tim Russert, who at least did his homework and did challenge people when they showed up with a silver plate of bullshit.

I’m not exactly hopeful that the corporate media is going to change anytime soon. They clearly benefit from Republican rule in many ways. And when I hear folks on the right talk about the liberal media I can’t help but think of Dabney Coleman saying…

photos of the day

I think I’ve posted this one before, but here it is again…call it an oldie but goodie. Another photo taken on that fall morning I wrote about in the previous photo post.

And this one was taken nearby the one above. I haven’t been back to that spot in many years

Photos by Extreme Liberal

A New Year Of Crazy From Republicans!

Steve Benen, one of my favorite bloggers, found this gem from one of the incoming GOP congressmen. This crop of idiots that was voted in are keeping up the traditions of the GOP, acting like complete idiots and being proud of it. From Benen…

The NYT‘s Deborah Solomon asked West about President Obama’s relationship with the military. The right-wing Republican, a scandal-plagued Army veteran, replied, “I don’t know, you gotta ask guys in the military, but I will tell you this: I think that going in in the middle of the night doesn’t show leadership.”

It led to this exchange:

Solomon: Are you referring to that recent three-hour trip to a base in Afghanistan? He needs to consider his own safety, doesn’t he?

West: Leaders lead by example, and if I’m asking my young men and women to go out there and put their lives on the line, I should be willing and able to do the exact same thing. As I told my soldiers when I was commander in Iraq in 2003, the most expendable person in our battalion was me.

[...]

As a substantive matter, this is incoherent. West is effectively suggesting the commander in chief in a time of two wars is “expendable” and should therefore take unnecessary risks in order to “show leadership.” None of this makes a lick of sense.

But I’m also fascinated by what unhinged conservatives can come up with when it comes to whining about the president. I’ve seen the right launch some pretty odd salvos at President Obama over the last two years — remember when they were apoplectic for a week because Obama urged kids to work hard in school? — but this is a new one.

West isn’t complaining that the president visited U.S. troops in Afghanistan; he’s complaining about the time of day the president’s plane landed.

The level of Republican silliness continues to reach new depths.

Happy New Year And Happy One Year Anniversary Of This Blog!

It’s been exactly one year since I launched this blog and started spreading my thoughts around the “internets” a little more efficiently. It’s been a lot of fun and I have enjoyed being able to put my spin on the stories of the day. I will continue to blog as much as I can in the new year, but my success as a documentary producer and director has created some bigger and higher profile opportunities for me and the amount of time I will have to blog during certain points of production may be less. Here is a photo I had to get up very early for – on a brisk fall morning here in Michigan. Notice the deer checking me out in the background. That morning of photo taking yielded me many great shots and of course when a couple of deer walk into your shot as if on cue, it’s a good day for a nature photographer.

I wish all of you, even the trolls, a peaceful, loving and prosperous New Year.

Photo by Extreme Liberal