Featured Posts
  • “We the Rich…”

    We the Rich...

    Few would argue the fact that Citizens United has been a major player in the Republican primary...and many if not most would concede that none of it has been healthy ...

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  • A Romney Victory Is Ensured With Trump’s Endorsement ()

    A Romney Victory Is Ensured With Trump's Endorsement ()

    As if you needed another reason to not vote Romney. Celebrity business magnate Donald Trump endorsed Mitt Romney for president Thursday, telling reporters he will not mount an independent campaign if ...

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  • Why I Love Newt Gingrich

    Why I Love Newt Gingrich

    In a perfect world, the Republican contest to find a nominee to face Barack Obama would go on forever...or at least until August. You cannot attach a number to the ...

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  • Republican Cannibalism

    Republican Cannibalism

    I suspect there are a ton of conservatives secretly agreeing with Begala and while it's too early in the game for Dems to get cocky, it's difficult to not smile ...

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  • Romney Hood

    Romney Hood

    One of our readers sent me an email with an idea for an illustration - Mitt Romney as Romney Hood. I thought it was brilliant and came up with the ...

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  • Why Do People Take an Instant Dislike To Newt Gingrich?

    Why Do People Take an Instant Dislike To Newt Gingrich?

    Quotes don't get much better than this one by Bob Dole. "Why do people take such an instant dislike to me?" asked a perplexed Gingrich, to whom Dole bluntly ...

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  • Gingrich Takes A Thrashing

    Gingrich Takes A Thrashing

    After the beating Gingrich took last night, it's hard to imagine under what scenario he can make a comeback.  Florida is going to Romney and for Gingrich to regain the ...

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  • SOTU

    SOTU

    There's a lot out there on the President's SOTU, so I'll keep my thoughts short and sweet. The speech did what it had to do which was target liberals and independents ...

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  • Just Another GOP Debate

    Just Another GOP Debate

    The highlights from last night's debate. - Newt Gingrich can't wait to become president so he can revisit the early 60s and overthrow Castro in Cuba. War, baby, war. - Santorum, who ...

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  • No More Mister Nice Guy for Mitt Romney

    No More Mister Nice Guy for Mitt Romney

    It appears that the South Carolina verdict is forcing Romney to start taking Gingrich seriously. “We’re not choosing a talk show host, we’re choosing a leader,” Romney said, saying that their ...

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  • Mike Huckabee Solidifies His Birther Creds

    Mike Huckabee Solidifies His Birther Creds

    Mike Huckabee offers advice to Mitt Romney concerning his unreleased tax returns. Let him [Romney] make this challenge: "I'll release my tax returns when Barack Obama releases his college transcripts and ...

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  • Late Night Political Humor

    Late Night Political Humor

    Via Political Humor... "Mitt Romney is coming under fire because even though he is a multimillionaire, he only paid 15 percent in taxes. That's not a tax, that's barely a tip." ...

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  • The Last Word On Jon Huntsman

    The Last Word On Jon Huntsman

    Good line. My guess is that after Romney fails to beat Obama in the general, Huntsman will be back in 2016.  The most electable guy in the field and he could ...

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  • Does Romney Urinate Straight Down His Leg?

    Does Romney Urinate Straight Down His Leg?

    I found this pretty funny...and accurate. It comes from a reader over at Balloon Juice. So, let’s review. The contenders for the GOP nomination are A vulture capitalist who believes that any ...

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  • The Constitution – Libertarian’s False Idol

    The Constitution - Libertarian's False Idol

    Lively little debate going on at one of last week's posts with Libertarianism put under the microscope. ocLiberal: I know I am in sketchy territory here, (start the indignant shouting now) but ...

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  • Gingrich’s Delusional Politics

    Gingrich's Delusional Politics

    In the contest to determine the winner of the Far-Right Politics gold medal, rack up a few more points for Newt Gingrich. “I think an intelligent conservative wants the right federal ...

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  • Late Night Political Humor

    Late Night Political Humor

    Via Political Humor... "Congratulations to Mitt Romney. He won the New Hampshire primary last night. See, this is proof that even the multimillionaire son of a multimillionaire can beat the odds ...

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  • What Do North Korea and Indiana Have In Common?

    What Do North Korea and Indiana Have In Common?

    Story 1: North Korea punishing those who 'didn't display enough sadness over Kim Jong Il's death' North Korean authorities are reportedly punishing citizens who did not display enough sadness over the death ...

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  • The Pope’s Hate Speech

    The Pope's Hate Speech

    In case you missed the story, Pope Benedict made headlines this week by doing what it is popes do best - putting the irrational fear of God into his followers. The ...

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  • Mitt Romney’s Idiot Quote of the Day

    Mitt Romney's Idiot Quote of the Day

    Romney was asked whether questions dealing with distribution of wealth and power were a matter of jealousy or fairness. You know, I think it’s about envy. I think it’s about class ...

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Obama’s Afghanistan Strategy

Obama's Policy on Afghanistan/Pakistan

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It appears a decision has been made on Afghanistan.

President Obama has conducted a final meeting on his military review for Afghanistan, administration officials said, and he is planning to explain his decision in an address to the nation next Tuesday.

“After completing a rigorous final meeting, President Obama has the information he wants and needs to make his decision, and he will announce that decision within days,” Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said Tuesday morning.

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The conversation settled around sending about 30,000 more American troops, two officials said, the first of which would deploy early next year to be in place in southern or eastern Afghanistan by the spring. The troop reinforcements would most likely be sent in waves, according to an official speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss war strategy.

The entire Afghanistan situation is a lose-lose situation for Obama.  History as well as the last eight years tells us that this war is almost impossible to win.  Yet pulling out leaves Afghans in the hands of the Taliban. As well it would weaken the president’s national security credentials and leave him open to claims that he is not fighting the war on terror.

Sending in more troops will only extend the war and put more American soldiers in harms way.  There is no immediate clear way out of this disastrous war and there probably never will be.

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On Sheep and Fools – President Sarah Palin?

President Sarah Palin -moose   http://mariopiperni.com/

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Matthew Dowd, a former Bush strategist, makes the case that while not likely, a President Palin (I just shuddered at the sight of those last two words side by side) is a possibility.

Polls show that Palin’s favorability numbers are a mirror image of those of Obama. She is respected and loved by the Republican base, while Democrats despise her. Granted, independent voters have significant reservations about her capability to be president, and this would be a hurdle in the general election. But to win the Republican nomination, Palin needs only to get enough support from the base to win early key states. Already, in nearly every poll today, she has a level of support that makes her a viable primary candidate. Just look at the crowds and the buzz her book tour is drawing.

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Like it or not, if Sarah Palin decides to seek our nation’s highest office, she has a shot. The probability of her success depends on her ability, and that of President Obama, to admit and learn from their mistakes as we head into 2012.

At first thought, I’d laugh at any possibility of Palin ever making it to the White House…and then I remember George W. Bush.  I have a clear recollection of the first time I heard Bush being interviewed and thinking, nah, never in a million years could this dolt draw enough votes to become president. There aren’t enough sheep in the country that this jackass could ever possibly fool. I was wrong. Not once, but twice.

As we are all painfully aware, there are more than enough fools out there who were willing to put the welfare of their country into the hands of a complete imbecile.  I can sort of understand the first time with the Clinton mess still stinking the joint…but a second time?

Enough sheep, fools and misguided simpletons out there to vote Sarah Palin into office? Perhaps. Here’s some of ‘em.
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Obama – The Independents Factor

With so much talk of health care reform, the economy and Afghanistan,  many are concerned that President Obama is losing support among independents. Polling indicates that things have stabilized nicely over the last three months.

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As Pollster.com notes…

But support for Obama has not plummeted among independents, and that needs to be clarified before it becomes erroneous conventional wisdom. It especially makes no sense to compare independent support in January with independent support now, and conclude there has been a collapse of support. The pattern this fall, since Sept 1, has been quite stable among independents. Depending on which polls you use, a shade up or a shade down, but overall, not a huge trend either way over the past 3 months.

Ok. Everyone take a deep breath.

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The Impure Need Not Apply

GOP Pure  http://mariopiperni.com/

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This is rich.

Conservative members of the Republican National Committee are circulating a new resolution that calls on party members to stand up to President Obama’s “socialist” agenda and would prohibit RNC funds from going to GOP candidates who disagree with elements of a proposed ten plank ideological platform.

The chief sponsor of the resolution,  Jim Bopp, Jr., an RNC committee member from Indiana explains.

“This would establish standards for candidates and hold them accountable to RNC’s conservative platform. We are open to diverse views, but you do have to agree with us most of the time.”

Idiots.

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Joe Lieberman – Show Me The Money

Joe Lieberman money  http://mariopiperni.com/

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Political Animal runs an interesting timeline of the rationale and mindset of a health care reform denier.

That Joe Lieberman would rather kill health care reform than let some consumer choose between competing public and private plans isn’t exactly new. I continue to find it fascinating, though, to see his evolving explanations.

In June, Lieberman said, “I don’t favor a public option because I think there’s plenty of competition in the private insurance market.” That didn’t make sense, and it was quickly dropped from his talking points.

In July, Lieberman said he opposes a public option because “the public is going to end up paying for it.” No one could figure out exactly what that meant, and the senator moved onto other arguments.

In August, he said we’d have to wait “until the economy’s out of recession,” which is incoherent, since a public option, even if passed this year, still wouldn’t kick in for quite a while.

In September, Lieberman said he opposes a public option because “the public doesn’t support it.” A wide variety of credible polling proved otherwise.

In October, Lieberman said the public option would mean “trouble … for the national debt,” by creating “a whole new government entitlement program.” Soon after, Jon Chait explained that this “literally makes no sense whatsoever.”

Well, it’s November. And guess what? We’re onto the sixth rationale in six months. I actually like the new one.

“This is a radical departure from the way we’ve responded to the market in America in the past,” Lieberman said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press.” “We rely first on competition in our market economy. When the competition fails then what do we do? We regulate or we litigate…. We have never before said, in a given business, we don’t trust the companies in it, so we’re going to have the government go into that business..”

What a pleasant change of pace. Lieberman is moving away from practical and policy arguments — that’s a good move, since he’s totally wrong on the merits — and shifting towards opposition based on traditions.

That’s at least creative. We haven’t set up public plans to compete with dysfunctional private models before, therefore we shouldn’t in the future.

So what’s the deal with Joe?  Rachel Maddow informed us a couple of weeks back.

I think clearly what it’s about is primarily that fact that the industry that he’s serving by doing this—by preventing competition with the public option—is an industry from which he receives very substantial benefits. He’s drowning in campaign contributions from the insurance industry, the health care industry, the pharmaceutical industry—more than $2.5 million.

In early 2005 his wife was hired by a large P.R. firm, Hill & Knowlton, in the pharmaceutical division, which at the time was representing the health care giant Glaxo in major legislation before the Senate. And several months later Joe Lieberman was on the floor of the Senate offering legislation that would directly steer huge amounts of incentives to that company in order to develop vaccines.

So I think what you’re seeing here is the kind of legalized corruption, legalized bribery that runs the United States Senate; only in this case it’s particularly sleazy and transparent because Lieberman is ready to gut the major initiative of the Democratic Party.

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