The Debt Ceiling – Someone Wake Me When It’s Over!

How many times are they going to say the same thing over and over on the Republican manufactured crisis and game of chicken they are playing with our economy? I’m tuned out, here are some photos from my iPhone from the last few weeks. Happy Sunday, enjoy the summer while it is still here, I’ve gotten notices of fall semester faculty meetings already. Ugh!

This first one is a panoramic photo of the sky on Thursday night. It is made up of 6 different shots on my phone. Click on it for a larger version.

This next shot is through the screen of a window at a Panavision 35mm film camera, ahhhhhh, real film.

This one is my granddaughter floating in a pool.

Here is another nice sky from last week.

It’s pretty cool working on a college campus, you see things like this on professors doors.

Photos by Extreme Liberal

A Saturday Link-O-Rama For Lefties!

Here are some links for your reading pleasure, culled from my reading list over the last week. Please come back and comment here if you are so inclined.

• When you hear people make the statement that over half of Americans don’t pay any income tax, you will have this information to throw in their selfish faces.

• If you ever wondered where Bill Maher is coming from and where he has been rhetorically over the years, this is a must read.

• The Baltimore Orioles recorded an “It Gets Better” video. Go watch it!

• The most excellent Matt Osborne reminds all the people screaming about Elizabeth Warren not being appointed to the CFPB that she didn’t even want the damn job. Oh, and click on Matt’s donate tab while you are over there and give generously.

• You have to check out The Grio’s latest auteur, Imani Gandy, as she tells us about the “South Central” tea partiers.

• What sort of country do we live in where the Speaker of the House can go on television and lie his ass off?

• Dennis G. at Balloon Juice has a great piece on a subject I’ve ranted about before, that dreaded “C” word….compromise.

Have a most excellent Saturday people. Do your part to neutralize the false information floating around about our President. The forces aligned against him are many and we all need to help beat back the misinformation and hatred.

A Chart Is Worth A Thousand Words!

It’s amazing how the deficit got so big, the Bush tax cuts take up a huge portion of our recent debt and of course Bush’s wars.

Let’s call this an open thread, what are you all doing this weekend. Anything fun? I have my 30 year High School reunion. Yeee haaa!

President Obama At Work – A Role Model For All

President Barack Obama meets with his National Security Staff in the Situation Room of the White House, June 21, 2011. From left, are: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; National Security Advisor Tom Donilon; Chief of Staff Bill Daley; General David Petraeus, Commander, U.S. Central Command; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen; Secretary of Defense Robert Gates; and Vice President Joe Biden. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama talks with Puerto Rican Senator Alejandro Garcia Padilla during a lunch stop at Kasalta, a restaurant in the Ocean Park neighborhood of San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 14, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama fist-bumps Make-a-Wish child Diego Diaz after reading a letter he wrote, during his visit in the Oval Office, June 23, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama talks backstage with Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett before a reception at the Hyatt at the Bellevue in Philadelphia, Pa., June 30, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama tours Cree, Inc., a manufacturer of LED lighting, in Durham, N.C., June 13, 2011. Taking part in the tour are Chuck Swoboda, CEO and Chairman of Cree, Inc., left, and Jeff Immelt, CEO, General Electric and Jobs Council Chairman, center. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama talks with Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., in the Grand Foyer of the White House following a meeting with the Republican House Conference, June 1, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

The President Is Not Your Boss!

Deaniac83 over at The People’s View has yet another excellent piece that I highly recommend you read. It goes a long way towards explaining a lot of the whining and hand wringing on the left over President Obama’s performance as President. The President is not the CEO of the country, contrary to what you might have heard.

Despite our strong belief that the government does not and should not operate like a business, many on the so-called “Left” seem to be suffering from the delusion that the President is a unitary executive, and can do whatever he pleases. If he really wants to do something, he can do it, the argument goes, thereby attributing anything that does not get done to the President’s unwillingness to do it, rather than legislative reality or any other extraneous factor. It allows people to flat out ignore the fact that the President is but the head of one branch of government, restrained by the other branches, as well as the Constitutional limits on his power. But the same people are also always the first to scream that any use of legitimate executive power is itself abusive!

You have heard it all before. A, B, C didn’t get done because President Obama didn’t really want to do it. Or he didn’t fight for it. He didn’t pound podium enough. He didn’t twist enough arms. He didn’t do this. He didn’t do that. If only he had gone to Maine and verbally beat the Maine Republican senators over the head, we would have the public option in health reform. If only he had issued an executive order rather than go through the legislative process, DADT would be history on Day 2 of his presidency. And I suppose he was supposed to bullypulpit and podium-pound into submission all 90 senators and the overwhelming majority of the House who voted to block the closure of Guantanamo.

Go read it and while you are there, take a look at the other great posts at The People’s View.

The GOP’s Double-D Summer – Destruction And Distraction!

   The Potomac Shore

For the last few summers, Republicans have produced summer replacement shows for our enjoyment. Like last summer, this years script was written to do as much damage to President Obama politically as possible. The plot revolves around sabotaging the economy, causing higher unemployment and distracting us all from the fact that the Republican controlled House hasn’t done a goddamn thing since taking over in 2010.  It’s one big reality show with roles for everyone. And the media is more than willing to help produce it.

Last year we had the summer of “Muslim Bashing and Gulf Oil Surfing.” The summer before that we had the “Death Panel and Koch-funded Tea Party dances” and of course in the summer of 2008, during the election, we watched the “Rev. Wright and William Ayres Summer Spectacle.”

Since the election of Barack Obama, the Professional Left has had roles in this Republican non-reality show. They are playing the role of the “supposed” friend who ends up stabbing the lead in the back, all the while claiming to be his friend – who is just trying to help. In the current debt ceiling crisis, when Democrats and liberals need to rally together to fight the Republicans who are clearly trying to do harm to our country, instead, the Professional Left is attacking the mere idea of compromise and demanding completely unrealistic outcomes.

The Professional Left are running around screaming about every proposal and leak from an anonymous source and lamenting the fact that their newly found sacred cows are on the dreaded “table.” And they do it with absolutely no acknowledgement of the dire nature of the situation or the environment that the President is negotiating in. And of course, they don’t understand that the President is using reverse psychology. The President knows that if he is for something, the GOP is against it and he’s been using it to his advantage. Idiots like Jane Hamsher and Ed Schultz don’t quite grasp that idea or simply refuse to.

The media just eats that shit up too. The story has a hostage — our economy. It has drama — we could fall into a depression. It has grandstanding and heightened rhetoric – coming out of people’s asses. It has fighting within each faction AND even a ticking time bomb. Damn, you would have thought this whole thing was manufactured for our enjoyment. And it was — except it really isn’t that enjoyable.

Anyone who is paying attention knows that the debt ceiling has never been used as a hostage in the history of our country and the Republicans have created this crisis where none existed before. This is new folks.

John Boehner told many lies the other night in his response to the Presidents address. The one that proved to me that he either doesn’t understand what the fucking debt ceiling is, or he doesn’t care about the truth was when he referred to giving the President a “blank check”. Hey moron, the check has already been filled out, we just have to mail the damn thing. Any person in the media who doesn’t call him out on that one lie should be run out of fucking town. This very purposeful attempt to mislead his ignorant supporters proves that Speaker Boehner has no moral compass and will say anything to sway his mindless followers.

This big summer distraction certainly took the media and the public’s eyes off the fact that the Republicans in the House haven’t done a single thing to help get people back to work. And it threw gasoline on the fires burning on the Professional Left and is fueling their relentless attacks on our Democratic President. I have to give the GOP credit for playing the media on both sides of the political spectrum like a cheap fiddle. Anyone who thinks the “media” cares if they were played is fooling themselves.

Cross-posted at Angry Black Lady Chronicles

Photo Break From The Madness!

Photo by Extreme Liberal

Carry on!

Need A Break From Politics?

I have been sick to my stomach for the last week over all the crap going on in our political world. I’m serious. It is depressing the hell out of me seeing this “Lord of the Flies” bullshit happening in Washington. I’ve attempted to write about it, but gave up. Here are some lovely photos to heal the wounds. Enjoy!

Photos by Extreme Liberal

The Huffington Post Leaves Readers Unsatisfied!

I stopped reading The Huffington Post over a year and a half ago. One of the reasons was the misleading headlines that lured me into clicking on a piece and then when I read it, it wasn’t anything like the screaming headline that sucked me in. I was also sick of the tabloid style gossip and “celebritainment” that polluted the site. If I wanted that crap, I would go to TMZ.

But the main reason I quit reading is because this once touted “liberal” website began a turn to the right, where Arianna started of course — working for Newt Gingrich. After the merger with AOL, my thoughts were confirmed as Arianna took to the airwaves and proclaimed that “Huffpoo” isn’t liberal or conservative and how she and Tim Armstrong, the CEO of AOL, shared a vision. Tim Armstrong calls himself a libertarian but has given a lot of money to conservatives over the years. I’m sure they shared a vision.

So you can imagine my satisfaction when I read that The Huffington Post ranks last in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). I’m not the only one who thinks that website sucks, apparently. When you build a website on the backs of liberals, trading on anger and outrage towards President George W. Bush and then turn your sights towards liberals and our Democratic president, what do you expect?. The word on the street these days is that the merger isn’t going so well and the entire deal is at risk of falling apart. I wonder what Arianna’s next scam will be?

Lawrence O’Donnell Schools Jane Hamsher and Adam Green – A Blast From The Past

This is a must see, vintage smackdown of the “firebaggers.” Lawrence O’Donnell and Ezra Klein educate the foaming at the mouth “progressives” Jane Hamsher, Adam Green and some other firebagger wanna-be named Mike Roger Hodge. Watch and enjoy!

H/T to grantinhouston!

Saturday Morning Leftie Linkage!

Well guess what folks, the Tavis and Cornel sideshow is taking a cue from Sarah Palin and going on a bus tour. The Raw Story has the clip where Cornel West doubles down on his stupidity. And I’m sorry, but these two jokers are stupid.

For all those people saying the President should have just asked for a clean raising of the debt ceiling….uh, he did many times — kindly STFU, will you?

President Obama put the final nail in the coffin of DADT, fulfilling one more promise in an environment in Washington where ANYTHING that actually gets done is a fucking miracle. Bravo Mr. President, Bravo. Oliver Willis has the President’s statement.

If you want to read a nice piece that shows how monumentally stupid and dangerous the Republican’s game playing with the debt ceiling is, go over to Stonekettle Station and check this out. It’s long, but Jim Wright is always good, IMO.

The title of Milt Shook’s latest piece should tell you exactly what it’s about. “Jane Hamsher — Are you nuts?“

The one and only Joy Reid at The Reid Report has the story on Grover Norquist’s flip-flop this week. Grover, of course, is the real leader of the Republican Party and strikes fear into the hearts of any Republican who doesn’t do his bidding. And a huge congratulations to Joy on her new job(s) at The Grio and MSNBC.

The Republican Party is a fucking joke. These children need to be put in time-out or sent to there rooms for the rest of there terms.

President Obama did a townhall this week and The Obama Diary has the video and photos. Ignore all the bullshit coming from the Professional Left and watch our excellent President get real with real people.

President Obama Wins The Battle – Press Conference

If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, go to 25:00 on the timeline.

Senior Citizens Are So Cute!

A very good friend of mine and fellow professor produced this “lipdub” with the help of former and current students in the film program where I work. I’m not a huge fan of this new genre, to be honest, but this is really cool. Here are a couple of behind the scenes stories I heard from students. In the week before they shot it (it is one continuous camera move), they were at the retirement home for planning and staging and there was a woman who every day asked them what they were doing. She would forget from one day to the next. And she was one of the leads.

Another woman, I think it was at the pool, couldn’t hear a thing. So a student was set there to cue her, but he kept getting in the shot. They realized that if he winked at her, she would start. So that’s how they got her to do it after several takes. She later said something like, “This handsome kid kept winking at me all day long.” Enjoy!

By the way, you may have seen it on Good Morning America, The Today Show, Inside Edition or many other national newscasts. I guess Youtube is having trouble keeping up with all the hits. There is a backlog, right now it has 512,000 views. It’s a Michael Buble song and he loved it.

The PCCC – Stealing People’s Money By Any Means Necessary!

Angry Black Lady Chronicles has the story. Here is a clip from it, go read the whole thing, it’s really good…

Adam Green is desperate for your money. So desperate that he is willing to lie, cheat, and steal to get it.

You see, a couple weeks ago, Adam Green (PCCC’s Treasurer and Grifter-in-Chief) registered the domain name “ColberSuperPAC” in an attempt to bleed donations and membership from Colbert’s Super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow (which can be found at tSuperPac.com>):

“Progressive Change Campaign Committee Treasurer Adam Green purchased the URL ColberSuperPAC.com, omitting the t in Stephen Colbert’s name, and then redirected that URL to his own PAC web site in an apparent attempt to steal critical membership and donations away from Colbert’s PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow. Colbert announced Friday night on his show, The Colbert Report, more than 100,000 previous ABTT members need to sign up a second time because the organization is now a super-PAC.”

President Obama’s Rock Solid Base And Why Pollsters Look Confused!

I’ve seen this story in several places and felt the need to add my two-cents — maybe three. The Christian Science Monitor is the original source for the story that is titled “Gallup’s chief puzzled by Obama’s poll numbers”.

I’ll get to why I think the President has consistent poll numbers in the face of a slowly growing economy and many other issues that plague our country in the wake of 8 years of mismanagement. But first, I want to point out some disturbing trends in the media and amongst polling firms.

The mere fact that Frank Newton of Gallup would be puzzled by any poll number raises the question, why? Does he really think that the political world, or the world in general, operates in a pattern where it really doesn’t matter who the individual players are or what they say or do, it should just follow a predetermined pattern. I guess it’s the problem with statisticians in general. They use numbers to help order their worlds and depersonalize things so it is easier for them to understand. When you actually deal with real people and personalities, it isn’t quite as easy for them to understand.

Here is a passage from the CSM piece that illustrates this…

Looking at history, particularly Clinton and Reagan, it is somewhat surprising that [Obama] has never yet fallen into the 30 percent range in our approval rating,” Newport said. “And yet both Reagan and Clinton, in their first terms when the economy was perceived as bad … both fell into the 30s.”

I guess I need to point out to Frank that President Obama is not Clinton or Reagan and it is currently 2011, not the 80′s or 90′s.

The tendency to force everything that happens today into a model from the past is a common phenomenon. I’m my younger days of self discovery, I read a “philosopher” named J. Krishnamurti who wrote extensively on this idea. One of the things he said was that all thought is based on the past, it is formed from our memories and the mind filters everything through what it has known before and therefore it isn’t new. He encouraged people to live in the moment, and learn to listen with a still mind. I highly recommend his readings and lectures, if you Google J. Krishnamurti, you will find a lot of information about him and there are many Youtube clips of him speaking.

Back to the numbers game in politics! One of the worst offenders is Chuck Todd of NBC/MSNBC. The man lives for his numbers and especially the “horse-race” numbers. It may be that he perceives them as being impartial. We often here the phrase, numbers don’t lie. When I hear that phrase, my instinct is to say, “yeah, they are fucking numbers, how the fuck can they lie”. What that phrase accomplishes when uttered is to present the numbers as being impartial, as if the interpretation or spin of them doesn’t matter, because they don’t lie. It’s very similar to the phrase “the fact of the matter is” which is then followed by person’s interpretation of the “fact”.

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