Gingrich & Limbaugh Backtrack Grudgingly

Looks like someone high up (perhaps the Grand Wizard) has come down on Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh about calling Sonia Sotomayor a racist. First Newt backtracked on his remarks – almost, but not quite, renouncing the “r” word.  Then, yesterday, Limbaugh sorta-kind-of recanted his use of the word.

Now we all know that they truly love calling her a racist, and they mean it to the depths of their little sour souls. So what’s the deal? Why the backtracking? Well it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that calling Sotomayor names is going to upset the Hispanic community. Not being anything remotely close to rocket scientists, I guess Gingrich and Limbaugh didn’t get it. So someone with a brain had to get hold of them and say, “Listen, knuckleheads, knock it off!”

It’s a real dilemma! The boys need to keep spewing racist garbage to keep the core conservatives happy. But they do so at the risk of alienating the Hispanic voters that the GOP (Gasping Old Party) has tried so hard to woo the last decade or so. They need those votes if they are to survive as a party! But at the same time, the core conservatives don’t give a hoot about the Hispanics. Just the other day Pat Buchanan spoke out on TV and said the Party wasn’t interested in racial diversity, didn’t believe in racial diversity. Equality either, if the truth be known.

So now the Gasping Old Party is between a rock and a hard place, hating Sotomayor but having to watch what they say against her. If they had a leg to stand on, they would quietly attack her judicial record. But since she is one of the most qualified judges to come along in quite awhile, that won’t work. So it’s back to personal attacks from the fun folks who brought you such terms as “Family Values.”

Watching the disintegration of this group of idiots is certainly fun!

GOP’s Last Gasp

The Gasping Old Party just keeps getting more senile every day! They think that by accusing Sonia Sotomayor of racism – if they yell the word long enough and loud enough – that somehow it will attract new people to their party. Well, I suppose that works for folks who don’t THINK, folks who simply follow along behind whoever is spewing invective. But it doesn’t work with most of us.

For one thing, in accusing this woman of being racist, they are using almost the exact words that Justice Alito used when he was being confirmed. He told of how his parents were Italian immigrants, and that they had faced prejudice upon coming to this country. He then went on to say that it was their experiences that caused him to look at things differently, to be able to see cases in a different light from the other justices. That’s the same thing Judge Sotomayer said – that her background enabled her to view cases in a different light from the sitting justices. After all, we ARE the sum of our experiences – ALL of us.

This woman’s qualifications are not going to stop these old conservatives, no sir! That she is more qualified than anyone now sitting on the bench is apparently beside the point. Rush Limbaugh isn’t judging her on her qualifications. Neither is Newt Gingrich. They judge her harshly because she is a woman, a Hispanic, and because she is what they term a liberal. Their goal is to attack her in anyway they can, and they are using the old method of “Throw the —- up and when it falls, hope some of it sticks!” Limbaugh is positively drooling into his mike, and Limbaugh is scrambling to find a podium and someone to listen. Desperate times for desperate men.

It’s a shame that this once respectable party is now being led by old men who are full of fear and hate. And it’s a shame they don’t realize that the world has passed them by. Most of us will no longer tolerate the old corrupt ways of politics, when things were decided in smoke-filled back rooms by wealthy old men who had their private agendas, and could have cared less about what was good for the country.

The rest of us have grown up and moved on. Someone needs to tell Limbaugh, Gingrich, and the rest of the old boys that their time is up.

Gingrich and Pelosi

“She’s viciously using partisanship for the narrowest of purposes.” So says The Newt about Nancy Pelosi. Sorta like the pot calling the kettle black. Was there ever a more partisan Speaker of the House than Newt Gingrich???? Was there ever a man who flaunted his power more arrogantly? Such hypocrisy!!

Here was a conservative who preached Family Values ad-nauseaum, and who was finally laid low because of his infidelity to his wife. A man who viciously attacked the gay community, only to finally admit that his sister was gay. (One wonders why he didn’t rush her off to get “treatment and a cure!” which is the usual GOP philosophy.)

I remember one small incident that reflects the Speaker’s arrogance. A reporter stopped in at Gingrich’s Senate office, and found his secretary smoking. The reporter commented that the entire building was “Non-Smoking.” The secretary, a man whose name escapes me, glared at the reporter and replied, “I work for the Speaker of the House. He’s the most powerful man in Washington, and those rules don’t apply here!”

Suddenly this old politician is rising to defend Truth, Justice and the American Way of Life by jumping onto the band wagon of a sure thing – criticising a self-wounded Pelosi. I agree that Pelosi probably isn’t a person to be taken at her word. But then, if she’s to be condemned for trying to cover up the fact that she kept quiet on the torture issue, then shouldn’t Gingrich be giving equal time to condemning those Republicans who actually initiated the torture in the first place? Is that too logical??????

One wonders why, after years of  absence, Gingrich is suddenly jumping into the limelight . . . Oh, is it because he plans to run for president?

Another tired old man in a final grasp for power. That’s today’s GOP.

Limbaugh vs. Pelosi

I am no fan of Nancy Pelosi. She’s certainly no asset to the Democrats. But once again, Rush Limbaugh has shown that he’s incapable of adult thought or debate.  His criticism of Nancy Pelosi  is because she’s a woman. You don’t hear him say: “John Boehner wears his suits fashionably. John Boehner puts on his tan fashionably. John Boenher uses his hairspray fashionably. John Boehner approves of waterboarding.”

All the above statements are true – but Limbaugh wouldn’t dream of commenting that way. I bet Boehner even has his nails done! To paraphrase Arnold, Boehner is a girly-man. But that has nothing to do with his ability (or lack of it) to do his job. And Nancy’s suits, complexion, and hair have nothing to do with her ability (or lack of it) to do her job.

Limbaugh personifies what’s wrong with the Republican party today. A bunch of desperate OLD men grasping to hold on to a world that is rapidly passing them by. If it wasn’t so disgusting, it would be sad.

Obama Not Christian Enough!

This morning the TV was at it again: President Obama isn’t CHRISTIAN ENOUGH!

Let’s all beat a dead horse, shall we?

I guess this is what happens to a party (the GOP) when you haven’t any issues, and you haven’t a clue. You pick one thing and figure if you’re shrill enough, someone will listen. And having listened, those who haven’t hit the mute button might just believe you!

I mean, this is serious stuff, people! It says IN GOD WE TRUST on our money! Our founding fathers, having left Europe to escape religious persecution, surely intended to found a country that was tied to religion. And not just any religion, it had to be Christianity -  right-wing Evangelical Christianity! (No matter that they didn’t think it was important enough to mention THAT in the Constitution.)

Let’s look at the facts, here. 1. Obama bent way too far when greeting the Saudi prince. 2. His middle name is Hussein. 4. His father was foreign. 5. In his speech in Turkey, the President stressed that we don’t hate ALL Muslims. 6. (And this is by far the most damning) The First Family has not chosen a church yet!!!! I see the devil in the details, don’t you?

No matter that this man has only been in office a couple of months and that his plate is far fuller than any other incoming president in my lifetime. No matter that he’s trying to handle critical situations the likes of which we haven’t seen – ever. LET’S CRUCIFY HIM! Not for what he’s doing to solve our problems – but for NOT being Christian enough! Remember, our flag salute says, “One nation under God” – no matter that the phrase was only added in the 50’s.

All I can say is that the GOP needs to get real! I’m sorry they lost the election and are losing their following. But is it any wonder?? I’m an independent who looks closely at every candidate and party I vote for. Am I going to support a group of lose cannons who are spraying buckshot in every direction, hoping some of it hits something? Am I going to support a group that says NO to everything, instead of rolling up their sleeves and trying to help us all?? Am I going to vote for folks who think the most important issue is whether or not you’re wearing an American flag in your lapel?

Perhaps instead of blaming Obama for everything, it’s time for the GOP to take a good look at themselves. Not an easy task, but they could do it if they put aside their pettiness. And instead of screaming things that have nothing to do with the problems at hand, couldn’t the party leaders start steering this once GRAND old party back into the mainstream?

Oh, I forgot. Rush Limbaugh is leading the party, so no chance of that.

Where are our priorities?

This morning the news was all over Obama for either bowing or bending or perhaps kissing the Saudi prince’s ring. We’re in the middle of a huge economic crisis, folks! We’re involved in two wars! The country is going to hell in a handbasket, and people are concerned with the degree to which Obama bent while greeting the prince?

Talk about the dumbing down of America!

Well, we can be grateful for one thing: at least this President didn’t hold hands with the prince!

The Beverly Hillbillies are alive and well . . .

Sarah Palin, Bristol, Levi Johnson, Trigg . . . The Beverly Hillbillies are alive and well – in Alaska!  Talk about Family Values . . .

Perhaps they can all get spots on the Octomom’s new TV show???

Taxing soft drinks – or pounds?

I just heard on the news that someone has proposed taxing soft drinks because they cause obesity. Nonsense! People cause obesity. If you’re eating and drinking too much, you increase your risk of obesity. Simple as that. If they want to tax drinks, they need to start with alcohol, as I said the other day.

Meanwhile, instead of taxing soft drinks, let’s tax people. It’s simple. Your income tax would be based on your poundage! You would be exempt if you had a medical condition and your doctor verified your condition. The rest of us would have a real incentive to slim down!

Cigarette Tax vs. Alcohol Tax?

The recent increase in the tax on cigarettes is a good thing. Smoking kills a lot of people every year, and not just smokers. It’s a terribly painful death, both for the smoker and for those who care about him or her. I know, because I quit smoking over 25 years ago – but the effects of all those cigarettes are killing me slowly.

However, I find it curious that another killer, alcohol, seems to be off limits when it comes to taxes or other controls. Many people die from alcohol each year. Many innocent people are killed as a result of drunk drivers each year. And millions of families suffer terribly because of living with an alcoholic.

We gleefully go after big tobacco, yet we won’t touch big alcohol. Is it because so many politicians and lawmakers are drinkers??

McCain on Earmarks

This morning on “Meet the Press” John McCain again blasted earmarks in the stimulus package. John needs to read the package!

Here in central Arizona is a beautiful  5 mile stretch of cottonwood-willow forest along the Hassayampa River. It is a rare riparian woodland in the middle of the desert, and it is being preserved for all of us.  There is a small preserve and several miles of hiking trails along the river, and a small lake. There are numerous natural springs.

This year, because of heavy winter rains, the preserve is incredibly beautiful and green. The wild grasses are knee-high. The wildflowers have already started. But the down side of this is that the amount of fuel for wildfires is  higher than it has been in many years. Once started, a wildfire would be impossible to stop, and it would wipe out the woodland, composed of cottonwood and willow trees that are very old. The effect on the wildlife (mountain lions, bobcats, javelina, gray foxes, coyotes, deer) would be devastating. Nearby homes would be threatened!

What has this to do with the stimulus package and John McCain? Well, the stimulus package includes money earmarked for wildfire prevention. The Bureau of Land Management, working with the preserve, is slated to receive some of that money. Money that will be spent to eradicate the undergrowth – the grasses that are fuel for a wildfire. This is just one small area of John’s state that will benefit from earmarks in the stimulus package!

Although only about 45 minutes from John’s Phoenix home (one of his 7 homes), he apparently has never visited the Hassayampa River Preserve. And he’s so busy spouting the Republican Party Line that he hasn’t read about the wildfire earmarks, or doesn’t care about the wildfire threat throughout Arizona. He’s too busy blasting earmarks that are desperately needed by his state. Just who is he representing?????????

Yes, there are earmarks that sound pretty silly to all of us. But perhaps, on closer inspection, many of them are needed. I think that’s the key – closer inspection! Instead of just branding all earmarks as a bad thing, which is the easy way to go, how about really sitting down and reading through them, and choosing carefully what you pass judgement on. That’s being a responsible leader.