As Congressman Paul Ryan cracked a joke about him, Tom Nielsen found himself face down on the floor being handcuffed by police. The 71-year-old retired plumber from Kenosha was thrown to the ground, placed in handcuffs, and arrested for trespassing and resisting arrest after objecting to Ryan's plans to gut Social Security and Medicare during his congressman's only public appearance scheduled during the August recess -- a $15 Rotary Club luncheon in West Allis on Tuesday.
Nielsen repeatedly told police that he wasn't fighting them and that he didn't want to make any trouble. He also told them several times that he had a broken shoulder. Police officers ignored his comments as they wrestled him to the ground despite his howls of pain.
That would have made Ryan's heroine Ayn Rand so proud.
These people are not only nuts, they are a real threat to the very democracy they say they care about. This is not the first time Ryan's thugs have had people arrested for merely asking a question. I sincerely hope this gets wide attention so the people who think they want to vote Republican to 'save America' get a wakeup call. The only America Mitt and Ryan want is the one the rewards the rich and screws everyone else. I know Obama is not perfect, but compared to this far right crew, he comes off better than St, Ronnie.
ReplyDeleteTrue, Ayn Rand glorified rational self interest and gave the rich that moral justification. She also idolized Charlie's Angels (the original series), yet rejected the thought of a woman becoming President of the US, arguing that only a man was fit for that position. The kicker that led me to abandon her philosophy, was that she believed that the mentally and physically impaired should be kept out of sight, because they were imperfect.
ReplyDeleteFanaticism for ANY reason is dangerous! Period!
ReplyDeleteIt stifles. It intimidates. it KILLS!
Yep, Ryan is scum . . . Is anyone surprised?
ReplyDeleteThis needs to be played for every nice, white, republican senior, who against all the evidence, thinks that the only people upset by republican policies are "those" people, and that nice, white, Christian, heterosexual people have nothing to fear from the republicans.
ReplyDeleteIFYAR, the only amendment that counts is the Second. Another ready-made commercial. Thanks, GOP.
ReplyDeleteThe real Ayn Rand. Two additional things to read.
ReplyDelete"How Ayn Rand Became an American Icon
The perverse allure of a damaged woman."
By Johann Hari Posted Monday, Nov. 2, 2009, at 7:01 AM ET Slate.com
"Ayn Rand is one of America's great mysteries. She was an amphetamine-addicted author of sub-Dan Brown potboilers, who in her spare time wrote lavish torrents of praise for serial killers and the Bernie Madoff-style embezzlers of her day. She opposed democracy on the grounds that "the masses"—her readers—were "lice" and "parasites" who scarcely deserved to live."
Which has some interesting information from two recent biographies of Ayn Rand.
"Two new biographies of Rand— Goddess of the Market by Jennifer Burns and Ayn Rand and the World She Madeby Anne Heller—try to puzzle out this question, showing how her arguments found an echo in the darkest corners of American political life. * But the books work best, for me, on a level I didn't expect. They are thrilling psychological portraits of a horribly damaged woman who deserves the one thing she spent her life raging against: compassion."
www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2009/11
/how_ayn_rand_became_an_american_icon.html
The other article is by Mark Ames, posted on Alternet. It has more in depth information on Rand and her favorite serial killer.
"Ayn Rand, Hugely Popular Author and Inspiration to Right-Wing Leaders, Was a Big Admirer of Serial Killer
Her works are treated as gospel by right-wing powerhouses like Alan Greenspan and Clarence Thomas, but Ayn Rand found early inspiration in 1920's murderer William Hickman. "
By Mark Ames Alternet February 25, 2010
Concerning Rand's worship of a notorius serial killer who was executed for his crimes Ames states (warning EXTREMELY graphic and DISTURBING descriptions of the crimes-murder and dismemberment of a child and of delivering the ransomed girl dead and dismembered to her father- and links to crime scene photographs at the link below):
"The best way to get to the bottom of Ayn Rand's beliefs is to take a look at how she developed the superhero of her novel, Atlas Shrugged , John Galt. Back in the late 1920s, as Ayn Rand was working out her philosophy, she became enthralled by a real-life American serial killer, William Edward Hickman, whose gruesome, sadistic dismemberment of 12-year-old girl named Marion Parker in 1927 shocked the nation. Rand filled her early notebooks with worshipful praise of Hickman. According to biographer Jennifer Burns, author of Goddess of the Market , Rand was so smitten with Hickman that she modeled her first literary creation -- Danny Renahan, the protagonist of her unfinished first novel, The Little Street -- on him.
What did Rand admire so much about Hickman? His sociopathic qualities: "Other people do not exist for him, and he does not see why they should," she wrote, gushing that Hickman had "no regard whatsoever for all that society holds sacred, and with a consciousness all his own. He has the true, innate psychology of a Superman. He can never realize and feel 'other people.'"
www.alternet.org/story/145819/ayn_rand%2C_hugely_popular_author_and_inspiration_to_right-wing_leaders%2C_was_a_big_admirer_of_serial_killer
Maybe this explains why Paul Ryan claims he has thrown Ayn Rand under the bus for Thomas Aquinas. Much of the right wing wants to hide the Ryan Rand connection now. All except the Ron Paul squad.
Why do the rw religious fanatics love her so? I thought she was an atheist?
DeleteThom Hartmann started talking about the Rand/Hickman connection when Paulie first came on the scene a couple of years ago. Truly horrific and haunting. If you can stand it, read the story and at least pass this knowledge around. I'm sure Mr. Ryan is aware of this if he's that much of a Rand fanatic.
DeleteThere's a really good novella by Tobias Wolff called Our School. Read it. It totally made me realize why all these politicians love Ayn Rand. They're nerdy, socially alienated pre-teen who never matured mentally.
DeletePick and choose, make shit up as you go. That's the xtian way as practiced by the Talibangelicals.
DeleteSee Gryphen's new post here on IM, also, too.
I think this is pretty indicative of most Christians that argue for their religion
http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2012/08/i-think-this-is-pretty-indicative-of.html
They've never actually read Ayn Rand. They've just been told that Jesus would like her, and they should too.
DeleteI hope this shows up in a commercial
ReplyDeleteIts like palin crying about gun rights but not allowing any guns at her functions
ReplyDeleteHell, gun shows do not allow personal carry!
DeleteYou are correct that even if the people who buy into Rand's warped and inhumane ideas knew this about the woman, they'd still follow them. It is human nature that once you invest heavily in anything, you are loathe to disentangle yourself from it. It has to do with pride and, in some cases, stability. Several of the pilots my husband flies with are Mormon. They've said even if they KNEW their religion was BS, they'd still follow it. Now these are not stupid people, they fly large, passenger filled aircraft and many have been officers flying planes in the military. Yet even these intelligent people would continue to invest their time, energy and money in something proven dead wrong.
ReplyDeleteI can't decide whose smirky, lying, disgusting pie hole I hate more, romney's or ryan's
ReplyDeleteSince you didn't mention Ann Romney, I have to go with Ryan's.
DeleteThe more I see how these Republicans act as to 'free speech' DISGUSTS me. (Taking away voters rights too!)
ReplyDeleteThis poor, elderly man. How dare they hurt him when he said he had an arm problem. 71 years old for christ's sake! Cops across the nation assuredly are getting nastier and nastier. Plus, they shoot to kill more often than they ever did just twenty years ago.
Get these Republicans out of office!! They are a HORRID plight on our nation!
OBAMA/BIDEN 2012
1. While I understand frustration, It's impolite to interrupt any speaker with shouting.
ReplyDelete2. It's a little much for police to throw anyone, unless they're dangerous, to the ground.
3. When I think of entitlement programs, I don't think of medicare and SS, because people DO pay into those (I personally choose private investments because the government isn't responsible.) Naturally, I think of actual welfare programs (and the fraudulent assholes who lie in their forms) when I think of entitlement programs.
The only people I feel bad for in life are the elderly and disabled, the ONLY people who DESERVE tax-payer welfare benefits. There really is no sense of respect for them anymore. And the older we get as humans, the more helpless we become.
I disagree with your definition of "actual" welfare programs. We all pay taxes; state, local, federal (yes, even if you get a refund, the federal government has the use of your money for a year), sales taxes, etc. States and local governments get their operating money from a variety of federal, state, and local sources and entities.
DeleteAnyone can fall on hard times through no fault of their own, and applying for and accepting assistance to feed their families and keep a rook over their heads does not automatically make them "fraudulent assholes who lie in their forms."
It means that if all goes well for us, we put into the system that keeps our society civilized, and if things go wrong, we have something to fall back on until we are back on our feet and putting into the system so that someone else can survive.
There are many people who are just a paycheck away from disaster. This is not because they are lazy or "takers." They may well be performing the low paid work and services that we all demand but don't want to do ourselves. They work hard and are contributing members of society.
You are sitting in judgment on a lot of people to make such a blanket statement of how undeserving everyone who is not disabled or elderly is.
What amazes me is to see Republican friends of mine talk about all the entitlement programs negatively. They are retired and on SS and Medicare!!!
DeleteYet, they'll vote for Ryan and Romney who will change the program. I just shake my head when talking w/them!!
OBAMA/BIDEN 2012
When I think of entitlement programs I think of churches that don't pay taxes and corporations that get tax waivers then move their companies after the waivers are gone.
DeleteWhen I think of entitlement programs, I think of Governors who get paid per diem's for their entire family's travel, housing and food on the backs of taxpayer's hard earned tax dollars. Governors who ride state police heelycopters to watch their son's pee wee league baseball games. I think of politicians who use information not available to the public on which companies to invest in and when. I think of capitalists who join a club and feel it's perfectly acceptable to buy a company, saddle it with debt, fire the workers, then sell for a profit.
DeleteRarely, if ever, do I think of the "welfare princess" myth. We're all one paycheck, one divorce, one catastrophic illness, unexpected loss or twist of fate from needing to go on welfare. No one in America should go to bed hungry, or go to school hungry. No one in America should be homeless.
What does this say about us collectively as a society?
You blog about this but not pretty careless statements from your political hero. Fair. NOT.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous1:53 PM
DeleteGibberish! Put down the alcohol and get some sleep Baldy! Your 15 minutes are over and now the pitbull can rest! Nighty night now LOL!!
What a stupid thing to say. This is a blog, not a news site. Understand? If you want to see negative information about the President, start your own blog or turn on Fox Lies.
DeleteOh, and please give specifics. Vague statements like yours are a waste of everyone's time.
In what respect, Charlie?
DeleteAnd yet, your comment got on here somehow.
DeleteThe man said he paid into the system, and now Paul Ryan wants to take it away. That clip was frightening and heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteThere's really no politician (national) today who actually feels empathy. our President certainly doesn't, though he's good at faking like the rest. I like in the SW and see celebs everyday giving random homeless and underprivileged folks food or money or even a weekend stay at a hotel. I've seen Sarah Palin donate clothes and necessities to orphanages and give to food banks. I personally know and have worked with local politicos in helping those in need.
ReplyDeleteNOW why friggin can't our other highly known leaders do such things? DC is just a cesspool of underpaid recent college grads and greedy, selfish aholes.
So--you have seen Sarah do these things, huh? Most people are very private when they give to their personal charities. If you see someone doing it they are probably doing it for the effect or a camera.
DeleteAnonymous2:01 PM
DeleteI've seen Sarah Palin donate clothes and necessities to orphanages and give to food banks. I personally know and have worked with local politicos in helping those in need.
_______________________________________________
Uh Krazy Krusty....did you see this from your bedroom or was this something one of the voices in your head told you about Baldy? Either way...get some help Stalker and clean out your bedpan...I can smell it from here! LOL!!
I don't believe you 2:01 PM that Sarah Palin donates clothes and food. Nothing like that appears on any of her financial information. Plus, she's known to be tight as a tick!!!
DeleteI'll wager many, many politicians in D.C. do give donations galore - it's a great tax write off for them!!! That is a great incentive!!!
Sarah Palin is plain greedy!!! Check her background.
Oh go take your stupid lies elsewhere. You are incoherent and don't make any sense. "Random" weekends in a hotel don't do anything to help anyone long-term, you silly dolt.
DeleteYou saying no politician feels empathy is a stupid blanket indictment of millions of people. How the hell would you know? And then you say that you have worked with "politicos" helping those in need. Which is it, you lying dolt?
And reading your little diatribe and praise of a terrible person like Palin makes it clear that you would never in a million years help anyone in need.
Examples of recently witnessed philanthropy from celebrities in the SW? Enquiring minds would love to know!
DeleteSarah? You lie.
DeleteSorry, it's the Obama family that gives to charity and does service work for the poor. President Obama has even sent struggling families money out of his own pocket. The Palin family aren't doing shit for anybody unless there's a check in it for them. Lie all you want, it doesn't change reality.
DeleteIf anyone wants to see what a Ryan/Rand based society would look like, watch Fritz Lang's "Metropolis".
ReplyDeleteJoe Miller's goon squad would have just shot the man.
ReplyDeleteand then claimed they were "standing their ground"
I fully support letting current retirees feel the pain that would have inflicted on others. My parents support every single douchebag conservative they can. Why shouldn't they have their socialism cut out from under them? They don't care that my son needs a knee surgery, works full time, and has no medical coverage. They didn't care when I was in that boat either. Most, not all, of our current older generation support every single program that benefits them while opposing anything that would benefit anyone else. I think it's high time they start practicing what they think the rest of us should.
ReplyDeleteMy parents get mor and more progressive the older they get.
DeleteMy mother is also pretty liberal too. She used to be a Republican way back in the 70's, but hasn't been since the 80's. She's too sensible to be like the old folks you described.
DeleteM from MD
Now HERE'S a load of horseshit and Newt KNOWS IT, but still he's desperate to spin this...
ReplyDeleteNewt Gingrich: Romney/Ryan Lack Of Foreign Policy Experience An ‘Advantage’
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/newt-gingrich-romneyryan-lack-of-foreign-policy-experience-an-advantage/
Well, remember that this is the same guy who claimed that he only had affairs because he loved America so much and thus worked too hard.
DeleteI bet when he was a kid the dog ate his homework EVERY SINGLE DAY.
Just read where Ryan only introduced two Bills that passed (idiotic ones too!) this past session.
ReplyDelete(Naming a Post Office Branch was one!) Amazing!
Isn't it interesting that Romney required income tax returns from the guys he was looking at for the second place on his ticket, but won't release his to the American citizens. He is a first class jerk, is all I can say! He appears to be so unethical.
He will lose this race because of it and also due to President Obama being much more of an outstanding gentleman and President of the United States!
Debunking the Myth of Paul Ryan Policy Wonk
ReplyDeleteThe right is heralding Paul Ryan as a policy wonk, but a closer look at his ideas and where they come from reveals that he is anything but.…
http://www.politicususa.com/media-elite-favorite-paul-ryan-deficit-hawk.html
Rachel Maddow Kills the Romney/Ryan Medicare Lie Dead In its Tracks
Rachel Maddow delivered a quick knock out punch to the Republican lie that Mitt Romney doesn't support Paul Ryan's Medicare voucher plan on Meet The Press.…
http://www.politicususa.com/rachel-maddow-kills-romneyryan-medicare-lie-dead-tracks.html
The Romney campaign argues that Paul Ryan brings “deficit-cutting credibility” to the ticket. But on Sunday, the Obama campaign countered that Paul Ryan voted for Bush-era policies that added trillions to the national debt.
ReplyDeletehttp://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/dems-try-to-discredit-ryans-deficit-cutting-clout.php?ref=fpa
A poster's response on Huffington Post Article:Paul Ryan Only Passed 2 Bills Into Law In More Than A Decade
ReplyDeleteSunday, August 12, 6:52 PM
fbhfour said:
I love this guy.
He wants to cut the safety net becuase we need to be self reliant although he lived off of social security as a teenager and all through college.
He wants to cut government spending even though he voted to increase the deficit by 5 trillion dollars with Bush (and) lived off of the government his whole adult life.
He wants to get rid of "Obama care" even though his medical benefits are paid for by the taxpayer.
He wants to cut VA benefits by 13% even though he never wore the uniform.
This is a guy only a republican could be proud of.
Cut taxes. Raise defense spending. Balance the budget. That, in a nutshell, is the promise of Mitt Romney's 162-page, 59-point economic plan. But if that refrain sounds hauntingly familiar, it should. After all, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and the leading lights of the Republican Party have been repackaging that same formula for over three decades.
ReplyDeleteBut repeating the same falsehood—even for 30-plus years—doesn't make it any truer. As it turns out, that patron saint of small government Ronald Reagan tripled the national debt during his tenure, while Bush nearly doubled it again by January 2009. While their supply-side snake oil did not match the economic growth and job creation of periods of higher (even much higher) taxation, it did produce staggering increases in income inequality.
Now, Mitt Romney and his Republican allies are counting on Americans having short memories and bad math skills. For today's Party of Lincoln, the message for 2012 is clear: You can fool some of the people all of the time, and that's our target market.
From the beginning, even some of Ronald Reagan's water carriers were skeptical of his campaign pledge to balance the federal budget and cut personal taxes by 30 percent in three years. As William Kristol later admitted, "I was not certain of its economic merits but quickly saw its political possibilities."
Kristol was proven right on both counts. But as most analysts predicted, Reagan's massive $749 billion supply-side tax cuts in 1981 quickly produced even more massive annual budget deficits. Combined with his rapid increase in defense spending, Reagan delivered not the balanced budgets he promised, but record-setting debt.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/12/1118685/-You-can-fool-some-of-the-people-all-of-the-time
These charts are STAGGERING!!!
ReplyDeleteLooking for answers on the jobs crisis? Look at businesses, not workers.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/12/1118556/-Looking-for-answers-on-the-jobs-crisis-Look-at-businesses-not-workers
"Mitt Romney appears to have picked Paul Ryan as his running mate over the objections of top political advisors, offering a glimpse into the Republican nominee in the most important decision of his campaign.
ReplyDeleteRomney's aides have stressed publicly in the 24 hours since Romney electrified conservatives with his choice that the pick was the governor's alone. They have been less forthcoming on the flip side: That much of his staff opposed the choice for the same reason that many pundits considered it unlikely — that Ryan's appealingly wonky public image and a personality Romney finds copasetic will matter far less than two different budget plans whose details the campaign now effectively owns.
"Everybody was against [Ryan] to start with only Romney for," said one top Republican, who is skeptical of the choice and griped that Romney's top advisors have "been giving Mitt everything he wanted in this campaign."
http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/romney-picked-ryan-over-advisors-early-doubts
O/T but Baldy related...apparently Baldy has released some kind of statement about the Convention on Greta VanManFace's blog....uh it's so confusing that even her bot's aren't sure what she's trying to say! Here's what "Greg" posted..
ReplyDelete"STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR SARAH PALIN ABOUT THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION — YOU SEE IT FIRST RIGHT HERE
by Greta Van Susteren
AUG 12 2012 - 6:07 PM ET
“…Everything I said at the 2008 convention about then-candidate Obama still stands today, and in fact the predictions made about the very unqualified and inexperienced Community Organizer’s plans to “fundamentally transform” our country are unfortunately coming true. This year is a good opportunity for other voices to speak at the convention and I’m excited to hear them. As I’ve repeatedly said, I support Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in their efforts to replace President Obama at the ballot box, and I intend to focus on grassroots efforts to rally Independents and the GOP base to elect Senate and House members so a wise Congress is ready to work with our new President to get our country back on the right path. This is imperative. As President Clinton said in 2008 while candidate Obama and lapdogs in the media were thrashing his wife’s record and reputation, this is “…the biggest fairy tale.” For the sake of America’s solvency and sovereignty we must close this nonsensical book in November…”- Sarah Palin
AHA! Thanks for the confirmation, Sarah.
Delete"This year is a good opportunity for other voices to speak at the convention and I’m excited to hear them."
Translates into "Romney called me and said Fuck off Bitch, Mc Cain told me things, things you don't want the public to know"
And:
"As I’ve repeatedly said, I support Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan". When did you repeatedly say that? In your dreams?
Thanks, Gina! I don't follow Greta Van Mush Mouth, so I'd have never read this "gem". This is a totally different "ghostwriter" than her facebook manifesto endorsement of Rom Ry. Maybe Greta wrote it for her because it's closer to how Granny's mind is wired.
So, just to recap:
ReplyDeleteDouchetards showing up at Obama appearances wearing assault rifles as fashion statements = no problem
71 year old guy peacefully expressing his opinion to a Republican = thrown to the ground and handcuffed while said Republican mocks him.
Wow This clip should go viral: mocking the elderly and the sick for a laff. Another Romney.
ReplyDeleteHis quick wit is what floored me "I hope he took his blood pressure medicine". Tells me all I need to know about the content of this man's character. Ryan and Romney, perfect together!
ReplyDeleteImagine for a moment (bear with me because this would never ever happen), if President Obama had done a similar thing when he was campaigning or fundraising?
And they're outraged over an ad depicting him tossing gradmom from a cliff? Does it matter if he does it himself, has police to do it for him or policies that guarantee the same result?
Obama/Biden 2012 The only adults in the room.
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."
ReplyDeletehttp://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2009/03/ephemera-2009-7.html
Ha! Love it.
DeleteM from MD