Former Republican Senator, Jim Demint, does not believe the federal government had any role in ending slavery. History books, who needs them?

Jim Demint, embracing his ignorance.

Courtesy of Raw Story:

 Jim DeMint, the former Republican senator from South Carolina, told a religious broadcaster last week that liberals were fundamentally wrong about everything – even demonstrable historical facts. 

“No liberal is going to win a debate that big government freed the slaves,” DeMint said during an appearance on Vocal Point. 

In fact, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in the rebellious Confederate States of America, and Congress approved the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery originally permitted by the founding document. 

These federal government policies were enacted during and after federal troops fought and won the Civil War, which began in DeMint’s home state. 

“The reason that the slaves were eventually freed was the Constitution, it was like the conscience of the American people,” DeMint told host Jerry Newcombe, of Truth In Action Ministries. “Unfortunately there were some court decisions like Dred Scott and others that defined some people as property, but the Constitution kept calling us back to ‘all men are created equal and we have inalienable rights’ in the minds of God.” 

DeMint insisted the end of slavery was the result of a grass-roots movement driven by Christians.

I believe the grass roots Christian movement was typically referred to as the Rebel Army, and it was not exactly working to so much end slavery, as to fight against anybody who wanted to take the human beings they owned away from them.

Interesting that the guy born in the state that started the Civil War is now arguing that it was unnecessary.  It's almost as if he is in denial as to what crimes were committed by his people.

As for that whole Christian grass roots movement, well there WAS one, but it was not exactly how Demint is describing it.

This from Civil War Baptists:

In the South, meanwhile, many white Baptist leaders in the pre-war years defended slavery as ordained and blessed of God. Legally established as an explicitly slaveholding nation claiming God’s favor and guidance constitutionally (contrary to the secular constitution of the United States), the Confederate States of America from the beginning officially wrapped itself in the mantle of God’s chosen nation and people. The official motto of the CSA – Deo Vindice, translated “Under God, Our Vindicator” or “With God as [our] Champion” – reinforced the nation’s Christian identity.

Revisionist history, the only kind they teach in the South.

Speaking of Sarah Palin.

This photo showed up yesterday on the Saturday Night Live Facebook page.

Underneath it said: Excited? You betcha!

This is the clearest indication yet that Palin has successfully inserted herself back into the nation's consciousness. Her infrequent appearances on Fox only garnered an occasional ridiculing from blogs and a bored MSNBC host, but lately she has been impossible to ignore.

At first I thought that having Tina Fey mock her on television would irritate her, but of course that is the opposite of the truth. She will love it!

After all the worst thing that can happen to Snowdrift Snooki is for nobody to pay any attention to her, and this last week that certainly has not been the case.

My only hope is that SNL has figured out WHY Palin is back with such a vengeance and will make the connection that she is now nothing more than a sock puppet for Jim DeMint's Heritage Foundation.

I think seeing Tina Fey play a Sarah Palin with puppet strings controlling her mouth and movements would not only be quite humorous, it would also be quite accurate. As well as having the added benefit of actually pissing Palin off.

Hmm, perhaps I ought to submit a script?

Is Joe Miller really delusional enough to once again seek a Senate seat in Alaska? He just might be.

Courtesy of Politico:  

Joe Miller, the tea party favorite who was backed by Sarah Palin when he roiled GOP politics in the 2010 midterm elections, is seriously considering another bid at an Alaska Senate seat, a campaign that could prompt a bare-knuckled effort against a candidate pushed by the party establishment. 

The 45-year-old Miller has been testing the waters in meetings with influential social conservative activists and gun-rights groups in Washington. He’s quietly met with tea party senators, such as Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, as well as former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, the leader of The Heritage Foundation. Miller also told Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran — the new head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee — that he was weighing a run in 2014. 

So essentially Miller is seeking support from the fringiest of the fringe hoping that he can get their support to help him overthrow the Republican party in Alaska and become the nominee to run against Mark Begich in 2014.

And this is AFTER his handpicked Alaska GOP chairman got kicked to the curb.

And not only does Miller have NO hope of getting the backing of the Republicans up here in Alaska he also has to contend with the embarrassment of losing to a write in candidate in 2010, the fact that he was named in the trial of Schaeffer Cox as the man who introduced him to FBI informant Bill Fulton, and of course his ties to perhaps the most hated politician in Alaska

Apparently NONE of that seems to bother Miller in the least:

Miller appears unmoved by the criticism from some in his party who fear he’ll simply reopen old wounds and tarnish one of the party’s best pickup opportunities in the country if he decides to run, saying the “establishment” is quick to attack “reformers” like himself. 

“I think if the Republican Party is going to win, they really need to kick the likes of Karl Rove out,” Miller told POLITICO. “They are the ones that are pulling the party away from the foundation, which has a winning message.” 

Works for me. If this asshole wants to put himself out there for us to bitchslap his vaguely bearded ass all the way back to Fairbanks again, then I am all for it! I loved it last time and I have little doubt I will find this time any less enjoyable.

But I might be the least of Miller's concerns if he runs again.

Asked whether she could back Miller if he were to win the primary in 2014, Murkowski said flatly: “No.” 

“I just don’t see him becoming the nominee,” Murkowski told POLITICO. “I think all you have to do is go back to the elections. … Let’s just say that two years ago is a relatively short time in political life.” 

Let's face it if Murkowski wants to crush Joe Miller like a bug, then he is about to get splattered all over the damn place. Murkowski is essentially the queen of the Republican party up here, and she is certainly NOT going to sit idly by while Miller tries, once again, to take over.

Like I said, I hope he is stupid enough to run. It will be a blast to watch him getting the crap beaten out of him again.

Did Jim DeMint give up his Senate seat in order to prepare a run for the GOP Presidential nomination in 2016? Let's hope so!

You know after Joe Miller suffered that humiliating defeat in the 2010 he sort of disappeared for awhile. Well sure he gave a few speeches, went on a boat ride, and of course threw all of his talent into helping to defeat President Obama. (Sorry I had to take a break from typing until my laughter stopped. Back now.)

However since all of that he has been working behind the scenes helping to overthrow the Alaska Republican party and usually the only time we hear from him is when he blogs.

Yes you heard that right, just like his once powerful mentor, Joe Miller has also decided that if he can't beat them (And he essentially got his ass handed by us (He might as well join them, and is now a teabagging, conservative issue pimping, vaguely bearded blogger.

Usually I ignore his blog because it is just chock full of conspiracy theories, attacks on unions, lies about the President, and other completely useless typing tirades.

However.

The other day I happened to receive a link to a story that I just felt I HAD to pass along.

Here you go, courtesy of Miller's blog self importantly titled Restoring Liberty:  

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint’s surprise announcement that he will leave the U.S. Senate in January to take over leadership of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank has ignited speculation among grass-roots conservatives that DeMint may use the new post as a launching pad for a presidential bid in 2016. 

“Jim DeMint will have a bigger microphone than before,” conservative direct-marketing pioneer Richard Viguerie tells Newsmax. “If he wants to, this opens up a lot more opportunities for him. I think there’s a decent chance that he’ll be a serious presidential candidate in four years.” 

Viguerie called the move to Heritage “an intermediate step.” 

“It’s going to be a boon to the cause, to Heritage,” he said. “And it gives [DeMint] a major opportunity to run for president in four years. And if so, he would be the instant front-runner among most conservatives.” 

"The instant front runner among conservatives." Oh if EVER I wanted something to be true, I want this to be true! So according to Miller, DeMint is quitting the job he was elected to in order to run for President?

Well, gee it worked out so well for Sarah Palin, why the hell not?

You know right now the Republicans are licking their wounds and doing a little soul searching to see where they went wrong this cycle. Many believe they will have a "come to Jesus" moment and decide to make a few changes in their crazy ass political platform and kick loose a few of the fringe nutjobs in order to market themselves better.

But what IF they decide that the message is not the problem and that they simply did not select a batshit crazy enough candidate run? Then by God Jim DeMint would be their man!

Just imagine if you will the possibility of a 2016 match-up between Hillary Clinton and Jim "Unmarried pregnant women should not teach public school" DeMint.

Oh, could the comedians, bloggers, and pundits GET so lucky?

South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint pulls a "Palin" and leaves office halfway through second term. Well isn't THAT interesting?

So apparently Jim DeMint, conservative Senator and teabagger extraordinaire, has decided that he is done with actual policy making and instead wants to take a job with he Heritage Foundation, a conservative "think tank" that essentially bitches about policies that politicians SHOULD be making.

So this would mean that DeMint would go from actually having an impact on the direction the country is going to just complaining about the direction this country is going. Isn't that kind of a demotion?

This from the Wall Street Journal:

In an interview preceding the succession announcement, Sen. DeMint said he is taking the Heritage job because he sees it as a vehicle to popularize conservative ideas in a way that connects with a broader public. "This is an urgent time," the senator said, "because we saw in the last election we were not able to communicate conservative ideas that win elections." Mr. DeMint, who was a market researcher before he entered politics, said he plans to take the Heritage Foundation's traditional research plus that of think tanks at the state level and "translate those policy papers into real-life demonstrations of things that work." He said, "We want to figure out what works at the local and state level" and give those models national attention. 

Mr. DeMint, an active conservative partisan often at odds with his party's leadership, says he will "protect the integrity of Heritage's research and not politicize the policy component. Heritage is not just another grassroots political group."

Okay is anybody else picking up a strong scent of bullshit here?

WHY would somebody leave their job in the Senate to push and agenda that polls show the majority of Americans are no longer interested in anymore? That is kind of like quitting your job to head up advertising for New Coke after everybody started spitting it out and moving over to Pepsi.

So conspiracy theory time.

Is Jim Demint simply reading the writing on the walls and realizes that the Teabaggers are facing extinction, and that his influence in the Senate will be minimal at best?

Or, is he moving out of the way in a prearranged agreement to open the spot for South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley? (Though doing it now makes little sense.)

Or , and this is my favorite, is there a scandal brewing that DeMint is trying to avoid, and is therefore making himself a smaller target in the hopes that it will disappear?

Well right now I am not at all sure which one of these, if any, are the reason behind this surprising development. However I would be willing to bet that the reason provided is not even close to the actual reasons behind DeMint's decision.

Teabaggers FINALLY realize that Sarah Palin has just been using them. Everybody else on the planet goes "Duh!"

From The Hill:

Wary that some are joining the grassroots conservative movement merely to sell books and enhance their celebrity status, a Tea Party group is putting the heat on former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to make her presidential plans clear. In a Tuesday statement, Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots paints former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin as the prime example of that kind of behavior. 

The group, which consists of former military members, wants Palin to announce whether she will seek the White House or sit out the 2012 race. 

“If not we are at risk of having major Tea Party speeches and events used as political rallies for a selected candidate [versus] a citizen based movement that forces the legislative agenda and serves as a fundamental check to the current corrupt culture in Washington, D.C.,” the group said in the statement. 

In other news Teabaggers also just realized that the sky is blue, water is wet, and that people they see on television are NOT actually living inside of their television.

The bad news for the Teabaggers is that EVERYBODY has been using them all along, including the Koch brothers, Fox News, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Jim Demint, and probably every person whoever realized that they might be a group consisting of possibly most gullible people on the planet.

I don't expect much to come from this epiphany.  All Palin has to do is strap on the "Belmont boobs" and these morons will start throwing dollar bills at her feet like drunk horny members of a bachelor party hoping against hope that THIS time she will take them into the champagne room, and make all of their dreams come true...which in this case means announcing she will run for President.

Fox News contributor on Sarah Palin: "She's a joke even within her own party"

From Politico:

At the Roll Call/CQ election analysis session at the Ronald Reagan Building this morning, Roll Call Executive Editor and Fox News contributor Mort Kondracke blamed Sarah Palin and Jim DeMint for Republicans' failure to capture the Senate.

“The people who got slapped the hardest in this election — besides Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama — are Jim DeMint and Sarah Palin,” he said. “Jim DeMint and Sarah Palin are responsible for the fact that the Senate did not go Republican. They’re the ones who are responsible for Christine O’Donnell. They’re the ones who are responsible for Joe Miller in Alaska. They’re the ones who are responsible for Ken Buck in Colorado. They’re the ones who are responsible for Sharron Angle in Nevada.”

Then Kondrake discussed whether Palin could be the 2012 nominee: "She's a joke even within her own party," Kondrake said. "The idea that she would be the presidential nominee is unthinkable."

Uh oh!  There are Pee-bot heads exploding and poorly written e-mails being written all over Sarah-land.

"DEER MR. KON-MUNIST!

HOW DAR U CALL THE LUVLY SARAH PALIN A JOKE!  SHE IS THE BESTEST THING THAT EBER HAPENED TO THE REPBLICANS AND U NO IT!
OBVIOUSLY YOU R JUST JELLUS COS YOU CANT F**K HER!  OR BETER YET YOU R A GAY NAZI ADN YOU HATE YOUR YOURSELF AND BLAM IT ON PALIN!

SINSERLY ME!

PMS, WHY DON'T YOU JSUT DIE!

Personally I think we are going to see more, and more of this as the days go by.

Palin is an albatross around the neck of the Republican party and they are more aware of it now than ever before.

(P.S. If you think I was overly creative with the fake e-mail I posted up above, believe me I have received more of them than I can count that did not even make half that much sense.)

Alvin Greene's bizarre and confusing campaign comes to an odd and confusing end.

Yeah I know that Alvin's elevator does not quite make it to the top floor but I still think he would have been better for South Carolina than Jim Demint.

At least Mr. Greene is not an arrogant homophobic misogynist.

Joe Miller's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week continues.

The Alaska Dispatch (The bane of Joe Miller's existence) has all that you need to know about Miller's personnel file.  I would cut and paste it here, but they did such a good job that I will simply post the link, and encourage you to head on over there for the 411 on this guy's unethical and bizarre behaviors while working with the North Star Borough in Fairbanks.

However I will post what might possibly be the most damning portion, just because I find it so incredibly juicy:

Miller's scheme was revealed by his own attempts to cover his tracks. When he erased each computer's cache he also erased important passwords and IDs that the other attorneys needed to access legal research websites. Miller's co-workers knew something was wrong when they couldn't log on after lunch.

In the short span of time the employees were trying to get to the bottom of what had happened, Miller lied no less than four times:

--He told them he'd had to use another computer because he couldn't access the website he needed to get to on his.
--He claimed he had to clear the cache or the website might block his access.
--He initially denied being on more than one computer
--And he claimed he was visiting a professor's website at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Just imagine if you were looking to hire somebody, and read THAT on their resume.  Would you give them the job?

Wickersham's Conscience also has a very interesting take on the revelations.

For those who have not had a chance to read the documents for yourself the ADN makes them very accessible to the public.

Not only is Miller having the week from hell, but those associated with him are having their own problems.

Commanders at Fort Richardson, Alaska are investigating two soldiers who were involved in a highly publicized altercation with a reporter at an event for Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller, a base spokesman said.

I imagine that as the rest of the week unfolds the bad news for Joe Miller will keep right on coming. I just hope I can keep up with it all as I am winging my way to D.C.!

Obviously Miller has become so overwhelmed by the constant flood of bad press that he has broken down and called on the Grizzled Mama herself to help him out of the jam:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and other big names in the GOP will appear with U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller of Alaska at a free public event Thursday at the Dena'ina Center in Anchorage.

A Miller campaign worker confirmed to Alaska Dispatch the event starts at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m. The event will include appearances via video from 2008 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, and South Carolina's Sen. Jim DeMint, the campaign worker said.

The Twitter Quitter, the bat-shit crazy lady from Minnesota, AND the guy who wants to look into the bedrooms of school teacher's are now rushing to show their support to help Joe Miller? 

Damn, exactly WHICH Alaskan voters does Miller believe this terrible trio will convince to vote for him?  I thought the wingnuts and lunatics were ALREADY in his corner!

Sarah Palin fantasizes that President Obama actually reads her ghostwritten Facebook rants and demands that he cut Federal funding to NPR over firing of Juan Williams.

Let's get one thing out of the way first.

Sarah Palin does not give two shits about Juan Williams.

He has called her out multiple times for being ignorant and nothing more than a Republican centerfold.

To put it bluntly, Sarah Palin would not have pissed on Juan Williams if he had spontaneously combusted right in front of her.

However the Right Wing has had a hard on for NPR for years, and this is their excuse to go after them en masse.  Which is why we hear exactly the same mantra from Mike Huckabee, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Jim Demint (Who is actually introducing a bill to defund NPR), and of course Sarah Palin.

From the depths of Palin's Facebook page:

NPR says its mission is “to create a more informed public,” but by stifling debate on these issues, NPR is doing exactly the opposite. President Obama should make clear his commitment to free and honest discussion of the jihadist threat in our public debates – and Congress should make clear that unless NPR provides that public service, not one more dime.

Mr. President, what say you?

- Sarah Palin

"Mr. President, what say you?"  I believe this was the President's response.

Listen up you whackjob, the President is a busy man!  He does not have time to visit your Facebook page and see what pretty pictures you colored with your crayon set. He has a country to run!

So obviously the right wing is going to try and do to NPR what they successfully did to  ACORN.  However this time they run into a slight problem.  Number one the White House is much better prepared to deal with this crap this time around, but more importantly NPR does not really rely on federal dollars.

Public broadcasting reported total income of $2.3 billion in FY2003 (the most recent data available). The federal contribution made up about 15% of the system’s total income. The remaining 85% was raised from non-federal sources (individuals, businesses, foundations, state and local governments, and educational institutions). The largest single income source (26% in FY2003) came from membership. Neither PBS nor NPR receives operating funds from the CPB; only the local member stations receive these funds directly.

Hmm well THAT is going to make it a little difficult to shut down a news organization that regularly reports those left leaning facts simply by cutting off Federal funds.  Even if the Republicans throw themselves onto the floor of the Senate kicking and screaming it is unlikely they will be able to achieve their desired effect in this situation.

Might be kind of fun to watch however.