New anti-abortion campaign features Christian men crying over the abortions they "allowed" their past lovers to get.

Courtesy of TPM:  

In a video entitled "The Apology," three Christian men apologize to women for allowing them to have an abortion and for not putting up a fight "for the opportunity to save a child." 

The video, released by the faith-based Heroic Media, begins with melancholy music and features three men who lament that women in their lives have had abortions. 

"I conceded to an abortion," Pastor Shane Idleman says. "That decision still haunts me today." 

Against a montage of giggling, joyful children and babies, the men discuss how much they regret the decision and take responsibility for letting down God, women and their unborn children. 

"I should've manned up and I should've fought for you and -- I didn't," John Blandford says. "I didn't." 

Then come the apologies to all women who have had an abortion, women who have been "subjected to such a terrible thing," women who "no one tried to rescue," and women who have "tried to hide this from everyone." 

You know as entertaining as it is to watch these men faking an emotional breakdown in order to pressure women into having babies that they are unable, or unwilling to care for, the part they seem to be forgetting is that unless they were married to these women there was no "conceding" to the abortion. That decision was up to the person who was pregnant, not the man too careless to even wear a condom.

And as for all that apologizing to women at the end for the fact that they were allowed to get abortions, are you kidding me?

I have known a number of women over the years who have had abortions, and I can honestly say that for the vast majority of them they don't even think about it anymore, and all went on to have healthy happy families when they felt they were ready to do so.

As I have written before I was once instrumental in helping a high school friend go to the clinic to get an abortion (It wasn't mine.), and I never once felt it was my right to suggest what she should do with her body, and the tiny life that was growing within.

And neither did these men. That is unless they were willing to marry the women and offer to help raise the as yet unborn the child. Which, it sounds to me, was not something they were willing to offer.

So essentially these men are faking emotional suffering over the fact that they did not force a woman they knocked up to give birth to their offspring before they skipped town and left her with all of the responsibilities.

If they really wanted to take responsibility for their actions, the time to have done that was BEFORE they had unprotected sex and put these women in a position where they had to make the choice of whether to have their little bastard or not.

Damn, there is some serious arrogance on display here.

Sony caves to cyber attacks, pulls "The Interview" from its Christmas release.

Courtesy of Variety:  

With theater chains defecting en masse, Sony Pictures Entertainment has pulled the planned Christmas Day release of “The Interview.” 

In announcing the decision to cancel the holiday debut, Sony hit back at the hackers who threatened movie theaters and moviegoers and who have terrorized the studio and its employees for weeks. 

“Those who attacked us stole our intellectual property, private emails, and sensitive and proprietary material, and sought to destroy our spirit and our morale – all apparently to thwart the release of a movie they did not like,” the statement reads. 

“We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees, and the American public,” it continues. “We stand by our filmmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome.” 

The studio did not say it would never release the picture theatrically. Insiders tell Variety Sony is exploring all options, including offering the picture on premium video-on-demand as a way to recoup at least some of its investment.

You know when I first saw the trailer for this movie I thought it sounded stupid.

But after seeing more footage, and hearing about how North Korea was losing its shit, I  put it on my "must see' list.

And now thanks to the fact that North Korea is the Scientology of nation states, essentially willing to destroy anybody who dares to criticize them or point out that they are full of shit, I don't get to.

Fuck North Korea!

You know what? I think in response to this that EVERY movie studio should make a movie where either Kim Jong Un is assassinated or North Korea is obliterated. 

I can see it now.

He could be the villain in the next James Bond movie, "Code Name: Fluffy Toddler."

Mike Myers could make another Austin Powers movies where Fat Bastard challenges Kim Jong Un to a sumo wrestling match and then crushes him into a fine Asian powder. Which they then sell in China as an aphrodisiac.

In the next "A giant comet is hurtling toward earth" movie they determine that it will only hit North Korea and everybody just relaxes and goes back to what they were doing before hearing the news.

And in the next Avengers movie North Korea develops doomsday device and they send Hulk to deal with it. I think we all know what happens then.

After all they can't hack everybody!

And let's face it North Korea is not even a real country, and allowing them, or whoever they may have hired to do this on their behalf, to have any impact on anything that happens in America is just bullshit.

What kind of a message does that send to other countries who hate us, hate our culture, and are jealous of James Franco's talent? It will be open season on America, you just wait and see.

P.S. By the way there are some who are not convinced this hacking of Sony is the work of North Korea. However American intelligence officials say yes it most definitely was.

P.P.S. Here is the Sony hack timeline.

Conservatives are now modifying their diesel trucks into "coal rollers" which purposefully emit more pollutant in order to piss off liberals. WTF?

Courtesy of Business Insider:

"Coal Rollers" are diesel trucks modified with chimneys and equipment that can force extra fuel into the engine causing dark black smoke to pour out of the chimney stacks. These modifications are not new, but as Slate's Dave Weigel pointed out on Thursday, "rolling coal" has begun to take on a political dimension with pickup drivers increasingly viewing their smokestacks as a form of protest against environmentalists and Obama administration emissions regulations. 

Last month, Vocativ noted many coal rollers focus their fumes on "nature nuffies," or people who drive hybrids, and "rice burners," or Japanese-made cars. 

 "The feeling around here is that everyone who drives a small car is a liberal," a roller named Ryan told Vocativ. "I rolled coal on a Prius once just because they were tailing me." 

Here is how one salesperson explained it:  

"I run into a lot of people that really don’t like Obama at all," the salesperson said. "If he’s into the environment, if he’s into this or that, we’re not. I hear a lot of that. To get a single stack on my truck—that’s my way of giving them the finger. You want clean air and a tiny carbon footprint? Well, screw you." 

If that does not infuriate you enough take a look at one of these "cola rollers" in action.

Courtesy of Slate:  

At 23 seconds, the engine revs and the viewer finally learns what the arrows were pointing at. Smoke pours out of dual stacks, right in the path of the Prius, which retreats into the rear view. The truck’s passengers share a well-earned chortle. 

“Alright, enough!” says one of them. 

“You got ’im!” says another. 

“We got ’im!” says a co-conspirator.

Yep this is what the people who want to improve the planet for their children, and protect them from an environmental disaster, are up against. 

And they vote too.

Open carry promoting gun nut wants to desensitize the American public to gun nuts.

Courtesy of All Michigan:  

Speaking to a crowd of about 30 West Michigan residents Saturday, Tom Lambert described the ins and outs of openly carrying a gun, explaining how to handle encounters with police and find out where firearms can legally be taken. 

Lambert, assistant legislative director for Michigan Open Carry, Inc., said his organization’s aim is to educate the public about open-carry and “bring gun owners and gun carrying out into the open.” 

“We’re not some weird guy in a shack up in the mountains,” said Lambert, who has frequented Grand Rapids City Commission meetings to speak about gun ownership and the second amendment. “We want to show that we’re their neighbors, we’re their friends.”

Okay so giving these idiots that benefit of the doubt that they are not "some weird guy in a shack up in the mountains" they ARE still an armed individual suffering from some form of extreme paranoia or laboring under the delusion that that they are some version of John Wayne or Rambo.

Because unless you are employed as a security guard (Many of who are not allowed to carry guns), currently serving in a military capacity in Afghanistan or Iraq, or are in some type of law enforcement, the only reason to have a weapon openly displayed is to intimidate your fellow citizens or because you anticipate that you may be required to use that weapon to take a life.

If you are openly carrying the weapon to intimidate your fellow citizens then you are a douchebag. And a douchbag that most of us walking around unarmed would deem a coward.

However if you are carrying the weapon around in anticipation of using it to kill one of us, and remember some of these weapons being carried are full on assault rifles or semi-automatic weapons strung on some camouflage wearing idiot's shoulder, you present a potential danger to everybody you come into contact with.

So no we should NEVER become accustomed to seeing morons walking around our towns and cities carrying AR-15's on their backs, or sitting in restaurants with six-guns strapped to their hip, because then how will we be sure which one of these pencil dicks is simply a cowardly man child trying to prove their masculinity, and which one is the schizophrenic trying to determine which innocent bystander the voices in their heads are telling them to shoot in the face?

New study confirms that stricter ID laws are nothing more than a Republican attempt keep Democrats from voting. Tell me something I DIDN'T know.

Rick Perry, Governor of the state with many of the most egregious voter ID laws.

Courtesy of Salon:  

According to new research by University of Massachusetts Boston sociologist Keith Bentele and political scientist Erin O’Brien, the states that have enacted tougher voter ID laws in the past few years are also the same states where both minority and lower-income voter turnout had increased in recent years. 

Focusing further analysis on just 2011, when the vast majority of voter ID regulations were passed, the researchers found that states which passed the legislation were highly likely to have:

 - Republicans in control of both houses of the state legislature and the governorship 

- Strong probabilities of being swing states in the 2012 elections 

- Minority turnout which was higher in the 2008 election and with high proportions of African-American voters 

- Larger numbers of allegations of fraud in 2004, though these had a “much smaller substantive impact relative to partisan and racial factors” 

The authors note that the study’s results carry ominous implications and demonstrate voter ID laws have “an uncomfortable relationship to the political activism of blacks and the poor.” Their paper further situates voter ID within a realm of policies that “collectively reduce electoral access among the socially marginalized.”

That's the Republican mindset for you, pretend to protect the citizens from voter fraud, while all along working to take away the right to vote from anybody who might not vote the way you want them to.

Assholes!

Open Carry advocates attempt to intimidate "Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America," with, you guessed it, guns.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

On Saturday, nearly 40 armed men, women, and children waited outside a Dallas, Texas area restaurant to protest a membership meeting for the state chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a gun safety advocacy group formed in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. 

According to a spokeswoman for Moms Demand Action (MDA), the moms were inside the Blue Mesa Grill when members of Open Carry Texas (OCT) — an open carry advocacy group — “pull[ed] up in the parking lot and start[ed] getting guns out of their trunks.” The group then waited in the parking lot for the four MDA members to come out. The spokeswoman said that the restaurant manager did not want to call 911, for fear of “inciting a riot” and waited for the gun advocates to leave. The group moved to a nearby Hooters after approximately two hours. 

MDA later released a statement calling OCT “gun bullies” who “disagree[d] with our goal of changing America’s gun laws and policies to protect our children and families.” The statement added that the members and restaurant customers were “terrified by what appeared to be an armed ambush.” A member of OCT responded by tweeting, “I guess I’m a #gunbullies #Comeandtakeit.” 

So to be clear, this group of pro-gun nuts decided to state their case that Americans should be allowed to carry any gun they want to openly, and they did so by demonstrating EXACTLY why many of us feel that is dangerous and unwise to allow that without having comprehensive background checks and guidelines.

These individuals are pathetic excuses for men and should serve as an embarrassment to every responsible gun owner in the country.

This kind of thing literally makes me seethe with anger. 

Video of just how the House Republicans engineered the shutdown goes viral.

Courtesy of the Washington Post: 

The video — which has already attracted more than 702,000 views since being posted to YouTube on Saturday — shows Van Hollen engaging in a parliamentary inquiry with Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who was in the speaker’s chair at the time. The two men discussed why Democrats could not bring up a Senate amendment that would provide funding to return the government to normal operations. 

Normally an individual lawmaker would be able to force a vote on a bill where there is a dispute between the House and Senate, but on Oct. 1, House Republicans passed a resolution, H. Res. 368, altering the rules to make that impossible. 

“The Rules Committee under the rules of the House changed the standing rules of the House of the to take away the right of any member to move to vote to open the government and gave that right exclusively to the Rep leader, is that right?” asked Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee. 

“The House adopted that resolution,” Chaffetz replied. 

Pressing the point, Van Hollen asks, “Why were the rules rigged to keep the government shut down?” 

While House leaders of both parties have sometimes changed the rules of the House by a majority vote during pitched political battles, this particular procedural move is much more rare. 

At the end of the exchange, Chaffetz denies Van Hollen’s attempt to force a vote on the Senate measure, prompting Van Hollen to retort, “Well, Mr. Speaker, democracy’s been suspended.”

The next time one of your Right Wing relatives starts trashing the President over the government shutdown or if and when we default on our debt, you show them this video.

Because this entire  debacle is the SOLE responsibility of the Republican party, and grandstanding with vets ate the World War 2 monument, and continuing to try and shift the blame to the President is underhanded political hypocrisy.

I am literally seething after watching this.

Fuck these Republican assholes! It is time for a Democratic revolution to rid our country of this vermin and get our country back!

Missouri rodeo features clown with Obama mask. Spectator describes crowd reaction: "It was feeling like some kind of Klan rally you’d see on TV."

Courtesy of the Washington Post: 

A clown wearing a President Barack Obama mask appeared at a Missouri State Fair rodeo this weekend and the announcer asked the enthusiastic spectators if they wanted to see “Obama run down by a bull.” 

The antics led the state’s second highest-ranking official, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, to denounce the performance in a tweet Sunday. He said it was “disrespectful” to the president. 

“We are better than this,” the Republican tweeted. 

State Fair officials said the show in Sedalia was “inappropriate” and “does not reflect the opinions or standards” of the fair. “We strive to be a family friendly event and regret that Saturday’s rodeo badly missed that mark,” they said in a statement Sunday. 

Perry Beam, who was among the spectators, said “everybody screamed” and “just went wild” as the announcer talked about having the bull run down the clown with the Obama mask. 

“It was at that point I began to feel a sense of fear. It was that level of enthusiasm,” Beam, a 48-year-old musician from Higginsville, said Sunday, referring to the reaction from the crowd that filled the fair’s grandstand. 

He said another clown ran up to the one wearing the Obama mask, pretended to tickle him and played with the lips on the mask. About 15 minutes into the performance, the masked clown had to leave after a bull got too close, Beam said. 

Beam was at the rodeo with his wife and a student they were hosting from Taiwan. He said they were having a good time until the end of the rodeo. 

“It was the usual until the very end at bull riding,” he said. “As they were bringing the bulls into the chute and prepping them ... they bring out what looks like a dummy. The announcer says ‘Here’s our Obama dummy, or our dummy of Obama. 

“They mentioned the president’s name, I don’t know, 100 times. It was sickening,” Beam said. “It was feeling like some kind of Klan rally you’d see on TV.”

This, this is who now makes up the base of the Republican party.

By the way it should be noted that if Mr. Beam had NOT placed this picture on his Facebook page and described what had taken place that those of us who were not there would have NO idea that this kind of thing was going on.

But then again perhaps we have always known that this kind f thing has been going on, but just didn't want to believe it.

Personally I disagree with what the Lt. Governor and the State Fair officials had to say. Considering the description of the crowd response it seems to me that their state is not "better than this."

Is it any wonder that blocking everything that the President tries to do all but ensures the reelection of numerous southern Republicans back at home?

Second biggest broadcaster in the country to drop both Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity by the end of the year. Now THAT'S a reason to celebrate!

Courtesy of Politico:

 In a major shakeup for the radio industry, Cumulus Media, the second-biggest broadcaster in the country, is planning to drop both Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity from its stations at the end of the year, an industry source told POLITICO on Sunday. 

Cumulus has decided that it will not renew its contracts with either host, the source said, a move that would remove the two most highly rated conservative talk personalities from more than 40 Cumulus channels in major markets. 

Yep it is getting harder and harder to market Right Wing blowhards whose audience is dying out by the hundreds during station breaks.

Good riddance to bad trash is what I say.

Yep the future in this country is both bright and progressive.

Father of shooting victim heckled and harassed by pro-gun crowd. It does not get much uglier than this. Update!

Courtesy of the Examiner:  

"I'm here today as a father of a woman who was shot dead by her husband, here in New Hampshire,” Cantin began. “I'm here as a survivor who was injured in the same shooting, so I am a victim as well. 

"The person who did this was not a criminal,” he said. The remark was a reference to a standard rhetorical strategy used by the National Rifle Association, claiming that the focus of gun control should be in keeping firearms out of the hands of criminals. 

“I'm here as a proud veteran of the military who was trained in the responsible use of firearms. I'm here as a voter who supported Senator Kelly Ayotte and wants to see her [bring about common sense solutions to the problem]”.

 (Understanding all of Cantin’s words was complicated by the din caused by the guns rights activists, who did not relent in their verbal harassment.) 

"I'm here as an advocate for the victims of domestic abuse and improved mental health services. 

“It takes more than one program to control [ violence]. Everybody needs to work together and nobody is here to take rights away,” he told the gun owners, who began shouting the word “Freedom” over and over. 

“I was deeply disappointed when Senator Ayotte voted against federal legislation strengthening gun laws requiring background checks and making trafficking a federal crime," Cantin said. 

"We know that almost 90% of NH voter -- 90% of NH voters -- many of them gun owners, supported including all guns sales in background checks." 

As Cantin began to discuss the issue of domestic violence, he was interrupted by Daniel Musso, a 52-year old gun rights activist. Musso sported a T-shirt proclaiming HOMELAND SECURITY illustrated with pictures of famous Native American warriors like Sitting Bull holding rifles. Musso continued to interrupt him as he spoke. 

"We know that when there is a gun in the home of a domestic abuser, a woman is 500 times more likely to be killed,” he said when he finally was able to continue after addressing Musso. Musso continued to harass him as he went on with his speech. 

“We know that in the states where background checks are required for all gun purchases there is a 38% decrease in the rates of homicides from domestic violence. 

“That is why I stood with other fathers who lost their children in the Newtown shootings who asked Senator Ayotte to change her vote. This is why I delivered petitions to her office signed by hundreds of New Hampshire voters to support stronger laws ....” 

As Cantin began to discussing his deep dismay with Kelly Ayotte, the rowdy gun owners shifted their sloganeering to shouts of “Ayotte! Ayotte!” as they tried to drown out Cantin. Musso also began to say “Ayotte” as he stood at the dais with Cantin. 

“And it is why just an hour ago,” Cantin said, “I delivered a list of over 6,000 [victims of gun violence] to Senator Ayotte's office in Manchester. The names I delivered were the names of people like my daughter Melissa.” 

I had read about this exchange last week, but did not fully understand how aggressively Mr. Contin was harassed and to what limits they went to intimidate him u7ntil I happened across this video today.

That is a despicable display of antipathy toward this man who is simply trying to do right by his daughter.

According to the YouTube site the thug, a Daniel Musso, was arrested later for assault and resisting arrest. 

Good on Mr. Contin for continuing on with his speech.

Update: Here is the arrest of Daniel Musso. He is a big guy and he was not easy to take down.

He shouldn't have poked his finger at that officer though.

Upton Sinclair had the Republican party's number decades ago.

Not an honest or ethical man among them.

Like a who's who of "WTF?"

Even as they publicly disparage the Affordable Care Act, and repeatedly vote to repeal it, many Republicans are secretly sending letters soliciting funds from it to meet their state's healthcare needs.

Courtesy of The Nation: 

Now letters produced by a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that many of these same anti-Obamacare Republicans have solicited grants from the very program they claim to despise. This is evidence not merely of shameless hypocrisy but of the fact that the ACA bestows tangible benefits that even Congress’s most extreme right-wing ideologues are hard-pressed to deny to their constituents. 

As I reported here last September, Congressman Paul Ryan, who as Mitt Romney’s running mate in 2012 called for its repeal, sent a letter requesting ACA money for health clinics in his district two years earlier. The Nation has obtained documents revealing that at least twenty other Obamacare-bashing GOP lawmakers have similarly pleaded for ACA funds on behalf of constituents. Among them are Kristi Noem, a Republican lawmaker from South Dakota likely to run for the Senate next year, as well as Ohio Senator Rob Portman, who has been touted as a potential GOP presidential candidate in 2016. 

In one of two letters sent by Portman to the Department of Health and Human Services, the senator requested ACA funds to help a federal health center in Cleveland, where the money could help “an additional 8,966 uninsured individuals” to receive
”essential services,” in his words. In Noem’s case, the congresswoman requested ACA funds to construct a community health center in Rapid City to provide primary services to the uninsured. Both Noem and Portman won office in 2010 campaigning vigorously against the law and have since worked to repeal it. 

Though notably less transparent, the behavior of these GOP lawmakers parallels that of GOP governors like Arizona’s Jan Brewer, who blast the president’s health reform package while embracing the millions in Medicaid funds that it provides. 

The letter writers include GOP rank-and-file Congress members, leaders and committee chairs, all of whom have supported the repeal effort. David Valadao, for example, a freshman representative who campaigned last year on his opposition to Obamacare, requested funds in a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius two years ago for a program to improve “the general health” of the Fresno County area, which he then served as a California assemblyman. Congressman Jeff Denham, a two-term GOP lawmaker who won his seat with support from Tea Party activists, penned a letter recommending the same application for Fresno County. The county Department of Public Health won the grant. Valadao’s and Denham’s offices declined to comment. 

The Affordable Care Act authorizes an array of grants to local hospitals, community health clinics and doctor training programs, as well as public health initiatives to improve health and access to care. The billions of dollars in grants are awarded on a competitive basis, and lawmakers on the state and federal levels have sent letters endorsing applicants. 

Texas Senator John Cornyn, the Republican whip, wrote to the Centers for Disease Control to recommend a grant for Houston and Harris County. Congressman Michael McCaul, a Republican and the chair of the Homeland Security Committee, wrote a letter praising the same grant request, calling the effort a “crucial initiative to achieve a healthier Houston/Harris County.” Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Mark Kirk of Illinois and Thad Cochran of Mississippi also recommended grant request approval for public health or health clinic funding. 

There are many more examples of this kind of hypocrisy available to view at the link, including the letters themselves, who sent them, and what they are asking for.

Of course their is also rationalization for this seeming hypocrisy:Some GOP lawmakers have balked at the charges of hypocrisy. “Sen. Chambliss voted against the Affordable Care Act, just as he did the stimulus package. But the bill passed, and if the money is available, we want Georgians to be able to compete fairly with folks from other states for it,” wrote Lauren Claffey, the senator’s press secretary, in an e-mail. 

Hey if you're going to provide funds to help provide affordable health care, which I am totally against, I don't see why MY constituents can't get access to it as well!

You know the thing that really burns my ass is that IF the Republicans were to welcome this program with open arms rather than use it as a political football, we would see an almost magical reboot of our health are system. And with bi-partisan support to work out the kinks and to tweak it where it needs tweaking, it could have benefited EVERY politician, both Democrat and Republican, who helped iron out the wrinkles.

But since the GOP decided the minute that President Obama was sworn in to oppose EVERYTHING he tried to do we all have to suffer for their short sightedness and obstructionism.

With virtually no advertisers left Rush Limbaugh is now surviving on "Wingnut Welfare."

'Hey I'll insult liberals and women for cash. Do you have any cash? How about change? Do you have any change?"

Courtesy of Media Matters:  

As numerous members of the conservative movement flee from the Heritage Foundation's flawed immigration study, conservative talker Rush Limbaugh has maintained a stalwart defense of the organization. 

Not a surprise considering Rush Limbaugh's syndicator, Premiere Radio Networks, is the single largest independent contractor to the Heritage Foundation according to their latest 990 filing with the IRS, receiving $2,236,555 from the think tank. 

With advertisers fleeing his show, and as a result radio companies suffering major losses, the fiscal sponsorship of the conservative movement is now fiscally critical. A "very high ranking" official at Cumulus, the owner of Rush and Sean Hannity's flagship station WABC, told Radio Ink, "Forty-eight of the top 50 network advertisers have 'excluded Rush and Hannity' orders. Every major national ad agency has the same dictate." 

Without wingnut welfare, which has also included sponsorships from FreedomWorks, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity's shows would not be financially viable.

I'm sorry, perhaps this is a little evil of me, but the idea that Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, two individuals who attack people who need help from the government every chance they get, are now reduced to nothing more than the Right Wing windbag version of welfare queens, is VERY gratifying to me.

I believe the term for this is Schadenfreude.

And it has rarely tasted so sweet.

NRA asks vendor to take down "zombie" target designed to bleed when you shoot them, because it looks suspiciously like the President of the United States.

Courtesy of Buzzfeed:  

The National Rifle Association has asked a vendor at its convention to remove a target that resembles Obama from its booth, a worker told BuzzFeed. 

The company, Zombie Industries, sells a range of three-dimensional "life sized" targets that "bleed when you shoot them." The Obama likeness has been on display for two days, but was notably absent on Sunday. 

"Someone from the NRA came by and asked us to remove it" a Zombie Industries booth worker told BuzzFeed in hushed tones. "They thought it looked too much like President Obama." 

When asked if the Obama likeness was intentional the worker said, "Let's just say I gave my Republican father one for Christmas." 

"They are just scared some liberal reporter will come by and start bitching" another booth worker said to men gathered around the booth. "But ya know, he does look very familiar." 

The model, named "Rocky" is still available for purchase at the booth but is hidden from sight, leaving a gap among the targets on display which range from Osama bin Laden to a Nazi soldier.

 Personally I am surprised that the NRA even bothered to have this taken down. After all the fact that they are fomenting another civil war and encouraging people to take up arms against any new federal regulations that might limit gun ownership has been fairly well reported.

I am deeply disturbed, by the way that any company would sell targets that bleed. Is that to prepare murderers for the sight of blood?

NRA First VP claims that they are fighting a "culture war." Apparently they think a culture war involves actual bullets.

Courtesy of ABC News:  

NRA First Vice President James Porter, who will take over the top job Monday, issued a full-throated challenge in the opening hours to President Barack Obama after the NRA's major victory on gun control and a call to dig in for a long fight that will stretch into the 2014 elections. 

More than 70,000 NRA members are expected to attend the three-day convention amid the backdrop of the defeat of a major gun control bill in the U.S. Senate that was introduced after December's mass shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. 

Porter's remarks came in a short speech to about 300 people at a grass-roots organizing meeting and set the tone for a "Stand and Fight"-themed convention that is part gun trade show, political rally and strategy meeting. 

"This is not a battle about gun rights," Porter said, calling it "a culture war." 

"(You) here in this room are the fighters for freedom. We are the protectors," said Porter, whose father was NRA president from 1959-1960.

Let me get this straight, these idiots think they are "fighters for freedom" in the middle of a "culture war?"

What "culture" are they "fighting" for?

Could it be the culture that allows a room full of kindergarteners to be gunned down in their elementary school with an assault rifle?

Or perhaps a culture that allows a man to purchase an Uzi, without background checks, in the parking lot of a Babies-R-Us?

Or perhaps a culture that allows a five year old boy to kill his two year old sister with a gun made specifically for him to handle more efficiently?

Or perhaps one that makes sure that a boy who attempts to rape his one mother can then riddle her body with bullets from his 22 caliber?

Is that it? Is that the "culture" they are trying to protect?

And by the way it is not lost on me that the NRA has usurped evangelical talking points in order to make their case.  There is no more fertile ground to plant your seeds than that tilled by a lifetime of exposure to religion.

And Christians are tailor made for those who want to convince a constituency that they are being persecuted. I would suggest that if somebody were to walk around this NRA meeting and ask each person their religious affiliation, almost ALL of them would self identify as Christians. Most likely Fundamentalist Christians.

And the hypocrisy of worshiping a man of immense peace and acceptance while arguing for access to weapons designed for murder would be completely lost on them.

Gee I wonder how many more bodies will pile up while these "patriots" fight for their freedoms? Personally I think the death toll is too fucking high already!

When the 2nd Amendment bullies the 1st Amendment into submission. NRA brings 20 armed gunmen into National Press Club to intimidate reporters. Update!

Cover me guys, these reporters are armed with dangerous looking pens.

Courtesy of the Washington Post:  

The gun-lobby goons were at it again. 

The National Rifle Association’s security guards gained notoriety earlier this year when, escorting NRA officials to a hearing, they were upbraided by Capitol authorities for pushing cameramen. The thugs were back Tuesday when the NRA rolled out its “National School Shield” — the gun lobbyists’ plan to get armed guards in public schools — and this time they were packing heat. 

About 20 of them — roughly one for every three reporters — fanned out through the National Press Club, some in uniforms with gun holsters exposed, others with earpieces and bulges under their suit jackets. 

In a spectacle that officials at the National Press Club said they had never seen before, the NRA gunmen directed some photographers not to take pictures, ordered reporters out of the lobby when NRA officials passed and inspected reporters’ briefcases before granting them access to the news conference. 

The antics gave new meaning to the notion of disarming your critics.

I just saw Dana Milbank talking about this on Hardball and I almost could not believe my ears. (I will link to that interview when it become available.)

I almost don't know how to respond to this, but I am so angry I am spitting nails!

The idea that these NRA assholes would use their 2nd Amendment rights to bully reporters into NOT being able to exercise their 1st Amendment rights, demonstrates the seriousness of what is going on in this country right now.

And by the way if you are so paranoid that you find yourself terrified to face a roomful of unarmed reporters without a phalanx of armed guards around you, perhaps you are not the best person to be telling schools how to keep our children safe.

Update: As promised here is the interview with Dana Milbank on Hardball.

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Cover of magazine that the NRA sends to its new members.

"Only you can save your guns from King Pinocchio."

Disrespectful assholes!

I think it is time to send the NRA the message that their day is done, and let our lawmakers know that if they do not stand up to them they will soon find themselves out of a job.

(H/T to TPM.)

Men armed with loaded assault rifles show up to intimidate group of mothers who are protesting for more gun control laws. The very definition of manly.

Courtesy of Think Progress:

Several men with assault rifles and hand guns crashed a Mayor’s Against Illegal Guns National Day to Demand Action event in Indianapolis, Indiana on Thursday and stood silently as the state chapter of Moms Demand Action held a rally in favor of limiting the availability of military style weapons and universal background checks. 

At least two or three men showed up at the rally site before the event began and engaged in a discussion about gun regulations with the group, two participants in the action told ThinkProgress. The armed men — who were later joined by another man carrying a hand gun and a woman who runs Indiana Moms Against Gun Control — insisted that they had a right to carry the loaded weapons.

A member of Moms Demand Action said that she felt unsettled by their presence and said that the organizers would have to think twice before holding another event, particularly one where children could be present.  

“It is my right to have this firearm, and I don’t have to defend, or show a need for, this firearm to own it.” What brilliant reasoning for showing up at a peaceful rally with an assault weapons strapped to your chest to intimidate mothers and their young children.

What kind of pathetic excuse for a man shows up to a rally at which children might be present carrying a weapon designed specifically to murder human beings?

Fucking POS!

John McCain tweets racist remarks about Iran's President Ahmadinejad. Not even remotely surprised.

So a little less than a week ago we received word that Iran had sent perhaps the most frightened looking monkey ever into space.

Now there is some controversy as to whether or not this even happened, but let's put that aside for now. More importantly for the purposes of this post is that even more recently Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said the following:

"I'm ready to be the first Iranian to sacrifice myself for our country's scientists."

Now of course that statement is rife with opportunities for ridicule, especially considering the frightened look on that monkey's face. However John McCain eschewed any good natured ribbing or sarcastic bon mots, and instead decided that racism was the way to go.

So he tweeted the following:

So Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian in space - wasn't he just there last week? "Iran launches monkey into space" news.yahoo.com/iran-launches-…
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) February 4, 2013

When Twitter went crazy in response, John McCain, always such a reasonable fellow, doubled down:

Re: Iran space tweet - lighten up folks, can't everyone take a joke?
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) February 4, 2013

Yeah nothing says racist old coot like comparing a Middle Eastern man with brown skin, to a monkey and then lecturing your detractors to "lighten up."

You know I think perhaps now we know why John McCain never had any official response to this supporters representation of candidate Obama during the 2008 presidential race.

 Yep it certainly makes more sense now. and it also perhaps helps to explain McCain's absolute disdain for this President and the constant challenging of his abilities to do the job.

However as truly disgusting as those are, they cannot hold a candle to yesterday's tweets from former South Carolina GOP executive director Todd Kincannon:

 Gee WHY do we think the Republican party is full of racist assholes again? Oh, that's right because we are paying attention to them.

Certain loud mouthed restaurant owner's anti-Obama rhetoric has resulted in negative perception from consumers.

Courtesy of Brand Index:

Anti-Obamacare rhetoric from Papa John’s CEO and a major Applebee’s franchise owner appear to have driven down both chains’ consumer perception with casual dining eaters in the US, and are still impacted two weeks after those remarks were made. 

Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter’s post-Election Day comments about passing on health care reform costs by reducing worker hours and raising prices coincides with a swift negative reaction among casual food diners seemingly accelerated by the November 13th class action lawsuit accusing Papa John's of sending unsolicited text messages to customers. 

Despite Schnatter’s Huffington Post op-ed on November 20th claiming his words were twisted, Papa John’s perception levels continued to experience one of its sharpest drops of the year, sending it well below rival Pizza Hut. 

Zane Tankel, the CEO of Applebee’s franchisee Apple-Metro, appeared on Business News and made similar comments, saying Obamacare would force him not to hire any more workers and consider cutting their hours. Applebee’s perception had dropped since his TV appearance. 

One exception to these two examples is Denny’s. Franchisee John Metz, who runs 40 locations, said in mid-November that he would add a 5% surcharge to customers' bills and reduce his employees' hours. Denny’s perception with casual diners declined afterwards, but much less so than Papa John’s and Applebee’s. However unlike those two chains, Denny’s has since rebounded close to where they were before Metz’s remarks, potentially due to CEO John Miller’s apologetic statement a few days later.

You know personally I really don't want to know what the political opinions are of the  owners of the restaurant or businesses I visit, but if I know they are assholes, like these guys, I will avoid them like the plague. Which by the way is not very hard in this case because I don't like ANY of these three restaurants and have not eaten at one of them in over fifteen years.

What I think these idiots are learning the hard way is that people like President Obama. And just because their personal Fox News driven opinion is negative, they are in fact in the minority.