HorsesAss.Org

Open Thread

by — ,

– Platinum!

– Some inclines are like that.

– Last week’s Parks and Recreation had me in stitches with what Tom calls foods. I’m so glad this exists.

– Will someone please run against Scott Brown?

– It’s nice to know that there is a bridge too far for racist Republicanism. Although, it’s true Barbour wasn’t going to be president anyway.

– Solar panels in roads?! Somebody get on this in America. (h/t)

Comments

  1. 1

    After 2 1/2 years, Obama finally produces his long-form birth certificate. Why did it take that long to create a forgery of a U.S. birth certificate?

  2. 2

    @1 (chortle!) You could have been present AT THE BIRTH in Hawaii and you couldn’t accept he was a US citizen.

  3. 3

    And we have a winner!! Troll (who else!) is the fist to come in with the insipidly stupid criticism of Obama for not releasing a “long form” birth certificate earlier. What he should said is “I/We feel really stupid for advancing this insipid “issue” for so long, and since there is nothing in the long form which is different than the short form, we will now excuse ourselves to commit hari-kari”.

    Watching the wingnut universe react is also entertaining. Everyone’s taking credit for the move, and trying to find some way to criticize Obama. Troll did the obvious, implying that everytime the wingnuts make some incredibly stupid claim without a shred of evidence, Obama should jump everytime they push the button.

    Trump is even getting into the act, claiming credit for “settling” the “controversey: – which was pretty much a dead fish until he brought up it’s decaying body and displayed it again.

    And for the died-in-the-wool birthers, don’t expect this to resolve anything. They will claim it’s a forgery, etc., anything to deny the evidence which is staring them right in the face.

  4. 4

    I still have the chorus from “Weed Card” running through my head from last Friday’s Multimedia Extravaganza. Damn you, Garfunkel and Oates.

    I’ve heard that the only way to neutralize a song on continuous play like this is to listen to Stan Getz’s “The Girl from Ipanema,” but that there is a risk of that getting stuck in your head as well.

    Ack.

  5. 5

    @1 Because there’s no legal requirement for a presidential candidate to produce a birth certificate, you fucking idiot.

  6. 6

    @1 Jesus Christ you’re stupid! Anti-science, anti-evolution, anti-reality.

    He DID release his “birth certificate” 2 years ago you wingnut crazy! That WAS his birth certificate. It’s what the STATE sends you when you say “give me my birth certificate”. End of story. You’re insane. Anti-reality. You like the other wingnuts just CHOOSE not to believe it’s real. Just like those crazies choose not to believe evolution is real…NO amount of actual facts can theoretically change their “belief system”.

    So then you said, where’s your LONG form, which isn’t the “birth certificate” the state sends you, or you use to get a passport (PROOF of citizenship). You can’t normally GET that. They don’t send it to you. It has NO other relevant information and is NO MORE proof of citizenship than the ACTUAL birth certificate he released 2 years ago. And if the birther wingnut anti-reality crazies didn’t believe THAT original birth certificate released 2 years ago was real, why would they believe THIS one is real either?

    You’re nuts.

    How did the Republican party, the party of William F. Buckley Jr., turn into the Flat Earth, fake Moon Landing, UFO, Bigfoot, conspiracy lunatic party?

  7. 7

    @5: Have to agree.

    The amount of media coverage lending legitimacy to this most-hilarious-ever non-issue really shows the extent to which cable news has let itself be gamed and wrecked to death, and by the most simple-minded utter morons on the right.

    Even the most basic legitimate reporting would have left this whole issue as the non-starter dud it is.

    Not clear why the fringe crank birfers are (still) getting this level of coverage, especially when the whole fluoridation issue, for example, is so far from being settled. So many other crackpot ideas that could be getting “both-sides” coverage.

  8. 8

    @6:

    How did the Republican party, the party of William F. Buckley Jr., turn into the Flat Earth, fake Moon Landing, UFO, Bigfoot, conspiracy lunatic party?

    They always get beat on real issues and real debate, and since everyone has grown bored with the culture wars and gay marriage, this is all they got left to shock and rally their base as they loot and ruin the public.

    My question, continuing on @7, is why the liberal class is playing along.

  9. 9

    @8 So where does the party of crazy go from here? Does Palin and Bachman and Trump demand a copy of his library card, his drivers license learning permit from when he was 16, his high school year book…what CRAZY is next? No matter how many times they’re proven wrong, you just can’t shake their “beliefs”. Crazy.

  10. 10

    Scott Brown becoming invincible? Massachusetts Democrats turning MA into a purple state?

    “House lawmakers voted overwhelmingly last night to strip police officers, teachers, and other municipal employees of most of their rights to bargain over health care, saying the change would save millions of dollars for financially strapped cities and towns.

    The 111-to-42 vote followed tougher measures to broadly eliminate collective bargaining rights for public employees in Ohio, Wisconsin, and other states. But unlike those efforts, the push in Massachusetts was led by Democrats who have traditionally stood with labor to oppose any reduction in workers’ rights.”

    http://www.boston.com/news/pol.....alth_care/

  12. 12

    Have you been following the BSkyB scandal (aka Rupert Murdoch’s Watergate) in Great Britain? Alexander Cockburn covers it (Beat the Devil) in the latest issue of the Nation (you can read the current content online on Thursday evenings if you don’t subscribe, which you should).

    It could draw in Rupert, his son and the heir apparent to News Corp, James, the CEO of Dow Jones & Co. (who worked for News Corp), Les Hinton & several of their employees (the plumbers, as it were). It may even entangle Cameron and the ex PM Brown at the top of the British government.

    Very juicy, indeed.

  14. 14

    @9: This is why we should stop getting baited into debating this as a serious issue, along with other non-issues like it.

    If you agree to treat this as a debate, you can make all the fact-based arguments you like, and it will just drag on, keeping the tinfoil Teahadists and their cartoon characters in the news.

  15. 15

    @14: Exactly. We see it here everyday. And right on cue, Trump, Faux, WND, FR, etc. continue the birfer crazy even after the long form release.

  16. 16

    @14: MikeBoyScout has the quip of news cycle:

    No document in the world can make the President white.

  17. 17

    @15, Which is also the reason Obama was displaying his weakness and capitulation streak again by playing along. He’s dragged the office of the presidency down to the Fox-food-fight-sitcom-clown car-cafeteria level. Who the hell is he playing to? Not the sane, obviously. I really wonder what kind of strategic fight this guy has in him. And what rank amateurs he’s surrounded himself with. Lefties often wondered if Obama was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers when in fact, he’s playing with crayons while 80% of everyone else is playing with Erector sets and Chemistry sets.

  18. 18

    11 – Oh my! Now check this out:

    No matter. What is truly disturbing is the game Trump has been participating in, the conspiracy thinking he was playing with. And here the polls—to the extent that they can be taken as hard fact—tell a disturbing story, in which no small part of the country has believed in a variety of tales about Barack Obama. There is the birther fantasy; the fantasy that Bill Ayers wrote “Dreams from My Father”; the fantasy that the President has some other father, and not Barack Obama, Sr.; the fantasy that Obama got into Harvard Law School with the help of a Saudi prince and the Nation of Islam. There is a veritable fantasy industry at work online and in the book-publishing industry; there are dollars to be made.
    The cynicism of the purveyors of these fantasies is that they know very well what they are playing at, the prejudices they are fanning: that Obama is foreign, a fake, incapable of writing a book, incapable of intellectual achievement. Let’s say what is plainly true (and what the President himself is reluctant to say): these rumors, this industry of fantasy, are designed to arouse a fear of the Other, of an African-American man with a white American mother and a black Kenyan father. Obama, as a politician, is clearly not a radical; he is a center-left pragmatist. If anything, he believes deeply in his capacity to lead with subtle diplomacy and political maneuvering, with a highly realistic sense of the possible; in fact, to many he is maddeningly pragmatic.

    Read more http://www.newyorker.com/onlin.....z1Kl2RRMxy

  19. 19

    @17: I think it remains to be seen what “game” O is playing.

    And he has hardly “surrounded himself with amateurs”, e.g., Daley, Messina, Summers, Geithner … Evil maybe, definitely not amateurs.

    I agree with Ezra Klein

  20. 20

    People Only Believe What They Want To Hear Dep’t

    Early results of an NBC online poll:

    “Now that you’ve seen Obama’s long-form birth certificate, are you convinced he’s a US citizen?”

    51% – I never questioned his citizenship in the first place.

    37.9% – No. There will always be doubt in my mind.

    11.1% – Yes. It is irrefutable proof he was born in Hawaii.

    In short, the birfers are still birfers. If they wanted to believe the moon is made of green cheese, and you took them up there and landed them on the moon and fed them a fistful of rocks and dust, they would still believe it’s cheese.

    Sheesh. These people put stupidity on a pedestal and worship it.

  21. 21

    @6 “And if the birther wingnut anti-reality crazies didn’t believe THAT original birth certificate released 2 years ago was real, why would they believe THIS one is real either?”

    They don’t. See #20.

    “You’re nuts.”

    Or a liar. Or both.

    “How did the Republican party, the party of William F. Buckley Jr., turn into the Flat Earth, fake Moon Landing, UFO, Bigfoot, conspiracy lunatic party?”

    Because that’s who was left after all the reasonable people were driven out of the GOP.

  26. 26

    Well yay for the Democrats.

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants the full Senate to consider repealing oil and gas industry tax incentives next month.

    Reid is backing President Barack Obama’s effort to repeal roughly $4 billion in annual tax incentives for the industry — and potentially move that money toward renewable and clean energy projects.
    ….

    Reid referenced the attempt to curb the industry incentives in response to a question regarding his agenda to deal with gas prices. He did not reference anything else regarding gas prices as part of the agenda for the next congressional work period.

    Democrats have other ideas — including “use it or lose it” legislation that aims to force companies to use existing drilling leases or risk losing those and future leases. They are also highlighting alleged manipulation and excessive speculation in the financial oil markets.

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/s.....z1KlW0HLjI

  27. 27

    # 18: In other words, there really IS a vast right-wing conspiracy against a Democratic president.

    In my opinion, it’s not just that this President is black. That’s just one of the factors they use to try to get the racists in the party stirred up. They would still be running their lie machine at full tilt if the President were George Washington, as long as he wasn’t owing allegience to the financial interests which control the Republican Party.

    “Well, George wasn’t really born in this country, you know? I mean, how can he prove it? He hasn’t produced a birth certificate. And he’s admitted serving under the British in the war with the French, how can we respect his full allegience? I mean, it took him almost seven years to win the war – he should have been able to get it done in one! I suspect he was shaving some points there, hoping that the British would win and he’d get a reward from them, a dukedom or something. What’s he been trying to hide all these years???”

  28. 28

    Troll at 1: That was funny. Well done. One short sentence and the rest of the board is getting all excited or should I say nuts.
    Well played

  30. 30

    Every wonder what Saudi does with all that oil money?

    Saudi Arabia, with 20 percent of the world’s oil reserves, is targeting renewable energy and nuclear power in a $100 billion spending drive aimed at meeting a jump in electricity demand and curbing its dependence on crude.
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....-plan.html

    Oil, my friends, is a finite resource.

  31. 31

    @30 Trust me, the oil companies are on top of this, too. They’re the only ones with enough money to own whatever will replace oil. That’s why I own their stock.

  32. 32

    In Observance Of A Centennial

    This is a couple months tardy, but I’m posting it anyway, under the “better late than never” principle.

    “On the 100th Anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth … let us remember: Reagan was a con-man. Reagan was a coward. Reagan was a killer.

    “[W]hen Hezbollah terrorists struck and murdered hundreds of American marines in their sleep in Lebanon, the TV warrior ran away like a whipped dog …

    “Reagan’s boys called Jimmy Carter a weanie and a wuss although Carter wouldn’t give an inch to the Ayatollah. Reagan … went begging like a coward cockroach to Khomeini, pleading on bended knee for the release of our hostages. … Then the Reagan roaches mixed their cowardice with crime: taking cash from the hostage-takers to buy guns for the ‘contras’ — the drug-runners of Nicaragua posing as freedom fighters. …

    “All week you’re going to hear about how Reagan restored America’s sense of patriotism – as if heartless slaughter, Club Med wars and making racism respectable are patriotic.”

    http://www.gregpalast.com/reag.....#more-4407

    Roger Rabbit Commentary: The latest I’ve heard from my sources Upstairs is that Saint (pending) Ronnie’s beatification has been held up by a bureacratic glitch. No, they didn’t lose his paperwork — but they can’t find him. It seems he never made it to Heaven. After his initial records review, he was consigned to the Other Place.

  33. 33

    I just happened to be browsing Palast’s website tonight, saw that article, and couldn’t resist taking a poke at the Patron Saint (pending) of Assholes.

  34. 34

    Ronnie Raygun didn’t invent prolifate defense spending, he merely elevated it to high art.*

    * “High” as in astronomical.

  35. 35

    I mean, the guy was gonna spend a trillion dollars on a weapons system that doesn’t even work.

  36. 36

    Extreme Court Screws Consumers

    “Fine print in everyday consumer contracts can include provisions that require Americans to surrender their rights to file class-action lawsuits, the U.S Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, overturning a lower court ruling.”

    “Consumer advocates roundly criticized the decision. ‘(The ruling) is a devastating and far-reaching betrayal of the most fundamental principles of American justice,’ said Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, a civil rights advocacy organization. ‘(The court) has effectively removed any incentive for corporations to behave within the law.'”

    http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_.....tion-suits

    Roger Rabbit Commentary: Numerous state courts have struck down similar contract provisions as “unconscionable” but that didn’t stop the CONSERVATIVE majority (this was a 5-4 decision) from coddling their business buddies — after all, that’s what REPUBLICAN presidents appointed them for.

    As frustrated as we may get with Obama’s pandering to Wall Street and cave-ins to Republicans, it’s important to think about this: Who would you rather have appointing Supreme Court justices, Obama, or … (pick one) [ ] Sarah Palin, [ ] Newt Gingrich, [ ] The Donald?

    If you vote Republican you deserver what you get; and what you get is what you deserve.

  37. 37

    What you have to do now is READ contracts before you sign them; and if something in there says you give up your right to sue if it turns out the business delivered shoddy products, didn’t keep its promises, or defrauded you, politely inform the salesperson “this provision is a dealbreaker,” refuse to sign, and walk out.

    What the court is saying to you is that courts will not protect your legal rights from sneaky or overreaching businesses, it’s up to competition in the free market to do that, so act accordingly — let salespeople know you’ll continue shopping around until you find a contract that doesn’t require you to surrender your legal rights.

    Hint: A business that wants you to surrender your legal rights probably won’t respect your legal rights.

  38. 38

    Obama Cabinet Shakeup

    In case you missed it in today’s news, Robert Gates will be replaced by Leon Panetta at Defense and David Petraeus will fill the CIA director position being vacated by Panetta.

  39. 39

    @31

    Yup!

    Chevon used to own a bunch of farms in Mexico as well, don’t know if they still do. Ya gotta eat and ya gotta drive. Now all they have to do is buy a couple of mills that make toilet paper…

  40. 40

    @36
    That kinda crap is going to get someone shot. Really. Someone’s going to go “Oh yeah? Well fuck you!” and their going to look up who the CEO’s are and their going to look up where they’re registered to vote and they’re going to show up at the house with a rifle.

  41. 41

    @38

    That shakeup looks pretty meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Which could be good or bad, depending on what kind of job you thought the old bosses did. I haven’t decided yet.

  42. 42

    Not so long ago there was this……
    Remember?

    http://www.rasmussenreports.co.....in_advance

    Seems to me there are turds and crazies in any large organization.
    I have to laugh at how sanctimonious some are in the comments here…casting stones and kettles calling pots and all…..

    Unfortunate that the POTUS lowered himself to this..Shame on the media for perpetuating the story and not calling out anyone who “birfed” about Obama….Trump is a clown, he could turn around and run as a Democrat tomorrow…If he thought he could gleen free press/coverage for his shows…

  43. 43

    @38 and 41

    All I see here is a fine General Officer is being marginalized..He has far more influence now than he would at CIA. The DCI position doesn’t even report directly to the POTUS..

    Panetta? POTUS wants a yes man in the pentagon. I would expect deep cuts are coming.

  44. 44

    @43 “I would expect deep cuts are coming.”

    I sure hope so. The Pentagon budget exploded under Bush from a bit over $400 billion a year to well over $700 billion, so defense spending is ripe for deep cuts. And Republicans will have NO credibility on deficit reduction unless they go along with resizing Pentagon spending.

    I don’t see DCI as a “marginalizing” position. That job helped propel Bush Sr. to the presidency. And if you think the CIA director doesn’t talk to the president on an almost daily basis, you’re nuts.

  46. 46

    @44
    Hey Roger, with all due respect, the era of the CIA during GHWB and now were totally different animals…
    The DCI used to be a direct pipeline to the president. Now as D/CIA he reports to DNI who then is the direct pipeline to the president and NSC.
    Still a powerful position, but nowhere near as influential as where he is now…
    Good political move, as in, the general would be a formidable opponent if he chose to run…

    On a positive note however, it could be a precursor to POTUS unleashing all kinds of CIA ops in the ME theatre…

    With regards to cutting at the Pentagon.
    Absolutely, there are no sacred cows…

  47. 47

    @45
    Yes but who is going to put up a more vigorous fight when it comes time to justify programs? Gates or Panetta?
    Panetta is the anvil POTUS will use to hammer the pentagon. IMO..

Can’t Bring Yourself to Type the Word “Ass”?

Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!

Follow Goldy

[iire_social_icons]

HA Commenting Policy

It may be hard to believe from the vile nature of the threads, but yes, we have a commenting policy. Comments containing libel, copyright violations, spam, blatant sock puppetry, and deliberate off-topic trolling are all strictly prohibited, and may be deleted on an entirely arbitrary, sporadic, and selective basis. And repeat offenders may be banned! This is my blog. Life isn’t fair.