After getting walloped by the Parkland students Laura Ingraham decides to take a vacation. Might as well, it's not like she has any advertisers left.

David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it. (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA...totally predictable given acceptance rates.) https://t.co/wflA4hWHXY

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 28, 2018

 Courtesy of Variety:  

Laura Ingraham is taking avacation next week. Now the question is whether a controversy swirling around the host will go on hiatus as well. 

The popular Fox News Channel host – her “Ingraham Angle” was the fourth most-watched cable-news program in February – told viewers Friday night she would not appear on air next week as she took what she described as a pre-planned break around the Easter holiday with her children. Substitute hosts are expected to fill in for her on the program. 

She leaves in the midst of heightened scrutiny. Ingraham set off an imbroglio Wednesday with a Twitter post mocking Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student David Hogg, one of the students who has spoken out about gun control prominently since a February 14th shooting incident at the Parkland, Florida school left 17 people dead. Her tweet linked to a report noting Hogg had been rejected from four California colleges. Her tweet also said Hogg “whines about” the rejections. 

That extremely immature attack resulted in a call for a boycott of Ingraham's advertisers and as of right now these are the businesses that have turned their backs on her:

Atlantis Bahamas 

Expedia 

Hulu 

Jenny Craig 

Johnson & Johnson

Liberty Mutual 

Nestle 

Nutrish 

Stitch Fix 

TripAdvisor 

and Wayfair. 

Okay THAT'S a hell of a list.  And there will likely be even more by the end of the day.

Keep in mind that Ingraham is not the ONLY conservative who has been brought to their knees after attacking these Parkland students, and if I were a Right Wing asshole I would be thinking twice about getting on the wrong side of these kids.

They are moving us to the future, and woe be to those that try to stand in their way.

Under constant attack from the Parkland students and pro-gun law advocates, the NRA aggressively increases its advertising.Update!

Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune:  

Immediately after the horror of the February 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., the National Rifle Association halted all of its digital advertising, including ads on YouTube, banner ads on websites, and Facebook ads. 

Within four days, though, the NRA had returned in force, increasing its advertising aggressively on Facebook, and spending so widely and indiscriminately that its ads on YouTube showed up on videos for school-age kids. According to a previously unpublished review by Pathmatics, a company that scrapes data from online ads, the NRA spent more than six times as much on digital ads after the Parkland shooting than it did in the weeks before it. Its average daily spending in the 24 days before Parkland was $11,300, according to Pathmatics. In the 24 days after its silent period, that average jumped to $47,300.

Nearly all of the increase was on social media, primarily Facebook, where the NRA took its spending from an average of $4,400 a day in the three weeks prior to Parkland to $34,000 a day in the three weeks after the silence. Florida was heavily targeted in the post-tragedy ad burst. The state went from ninth most targeted in January to third between mid-February and mid-March. 

The NRA didn’t change its message – the ads were the same as before the shooting. The message was just pushed much harder. For the past year, the NRA had been ranked No. 706 by Pathmatics on its list of top YouTube video advertisers. In the period since Feb. 21, the gun-rights group jumped into the top 100 at No. 92.

The NRA did not stop with simple pro-gun advertisements, they also sent their spokespeople and Right Wing supporters out to attack the Parkland students.

In fact Laura Ingraham even went so far as to attack one of the student's grade point average.

David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it. (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA...totally predictable given acceptance rates.) https://t.co/wflA4hWHXY

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 28, 2018

Wait, seriously?

That seems like a rather pathetic attempt to undermine a teenager's credibility.

Hogg's sister, displaying far more maturity than Ingraham, responded with this:

How low are your ratings @IngrahamAngle that you have to start attacking my brother’s grades to get attention? If you ask me, he is more articulate than you and has far better character. Man, that’s real low even for you. Coming from a 14 year old, please grow up. #NeverAgain https://t.co/CgUVeGRfxP

— Lauren Hogg (@lauren_hoggs) March 28, 2018

For his part social media savvy David Hogg simply tweeted this:

Soooo @IngrahamAngle what are your biggest advertisers ... Asking for a friend. #BoycottIngramAdverts

— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) March 29, 2018

And yes that has started a boycott.

Now you might think that NRA members would be embarrassed by all of this and perhaps be less supportive, but you would be incorrect.

Courtesy of the New York Post: 

Contributions to the National Rifle Association’s political action committee tripled in February amid public attacks against the organization following the Feb. 14 high school shooting in Parkland, Fla. 

Supporters of the Second Amendment donated about $779,000 in February to the NRA’s political arm, the Political Victory Fund, according to recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) data. 

The figure marked a more than threefold increase compared to January, when the PAC received nearly $250,000 in donations, and was the fund’s second-best month over the last year.

Well I guess if you define your manhood by the size of the metal penis extender you have strapped to your body it is a little hard to shame you about anything.

P.S. Okay just like an hour after I wrote this post Laura Ingraham caved under pressure and apologized to David Hogg on Twitter.

Any student should be proud of a 4.2 GPA —incl. @DavidHogg111. On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland. For the record, I believe my show was the first to feature David...(1/2)

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 29, 2018

Really? If you think he should be proud of a 4.2 grade average than why did you say that nasty shit in the first place?

In my mind these Right Wing trolls attack these Parkland kids at their peril, because these teenagers know exactly how to use social media to deal with idiots like them.

Update: I think this belongs here.

"This kid's not scared. He's not scared of the NRA. He's not intimidated and scared by Laura Ingraham ... Half the Republican party is hiding under the table, under their bed. They're so scared ... Not these kids, though" - @SteveSchmidtSES w/ @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/QZE5I6zmv3

— Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) March 29, 2018

Very well said.

The NRA is losing business ties faster than Donald Trump switches positions on the issues.

Courtesy of CNN:

Before last week, membership in the National Rifle Association meant gaining access to a broad range of discounts. From special rates on auto insurance policies to cheaper flights when you booked through its website, the NRA's discount program offered a lot of perks. 

But in the wake of a massacre at a Florida high school on February 14, activists flooded social media with calls to end corporate partnerships with America's most powerful gun lobby. 

Since Thursday, more than a dozen brands severed ties with the organization. 

In a statement, the National Rifle Association called the decisions "a shameful display of political and civic cowardice."

"In time, these brands will be replaced by others who recognize that patriotism and determined commitment to Constitutional freedoms are characteristics of a marketplace they very much want to serve," the statement said.

Funny how cowardice is now defined as refusing to stand with an organization that helps to murder our children, rather than standing to defend them.

However their threats have not stopped business from fleeing like rats from a sinking ship.

Here is a list so far: 

• The First National 
• Bank of Omaha 
• Enterprise Rent-A-Car 
• Alamo Rent a Car 
• National Car Rental 
• Symantec 
• Hertz 
• MetLife 
• SimpliSafe 
• Avis 
• Budget Rent a Car 
• Allied 
• North American 
• TrueCar 
• Delta Air Lines 
• United Airlines 
• Paramount RX 
• Starkey

There actually may be more now.

Republican supporters of the NRA are not going down without a fight however. 

I will kill any tax legislation that benefits @Delta unless the company changes its position and fully reinstates its relationship with @NRA. Corporations cannot attack conservatives and expect us not to fight back.

— Casey Cagle (@CaseyCagle) February 26, 2018

Cagle is the current Georgia Lt. Governor, now running for the Governor's seat.

I wonder what his political chances would be if Delta suddenly decided to move their company headquarters to a more agreeable state?

An editorial from the The Atlantic that we should ALL read.

Courtesy of The Atlantic:  

The Republican Party, as an institution, has become a danger to the rule of law and the integrity of our democracy. The problem is not just Donald Trump; it’s the larger political apparatus that made a conscious decision to enable him. In a two-party system, nonpartisanship works only if both parties are consistent democratic actors. If one of them is not predictably so, the space for nonpartisans evaporates. We’re thus driven to believe that the best hope of defending the country from Trump’s Republican enablers, and of saving the Republican Party from itself, is to do as Toren Beasley did: vote mindlessly and mechanically against Republicans at every opportunity, until the party either rights itself or implodes (very preferably the former). 

Of course, lots of people vote a straight ticket. Some do so because they are partisan. Others do so because of a particular policy position: Many pro-lifers, for example, will not vote for Democrats, even pro-life Democrats, because they see the Democratic Party as institutionally committed to the slaughter of babies.

We’re proposing something different. We’re suggesting that in today’s situation, people should vote a straight Democratic ticket even if they are not partisan, and despite their policy views. They should vote against Republicans in a spirit that is, if you will, prepartisan and prepolitical. Their attitude should be: The rule of law is a threshold value in American politics, and a party that endangers this value disqualifies itself, period. In other words, under certain peculiar and deeply regrettable circumstances, sophisticated, independent-minded voters need to act as if they were dumb-ass partisans.

The title of this article is "Boycott the Republican party."

And that is exactly what the article is advocating.

For very good reason in fact.

As you can see from the article below, the Republican party is now the party of Donald Trump, and therefore also the party of Vladimir Putin.

This is NOT the Red Scare of the 1950's for which Joseph McCarthy was justifiably vilified.

Unlike that case there is overwhelming evidence that we are under constant attack from a foreign entity determined to turn us against each other, and to undermine our democracy.

If the Republican party is unable to recognize that, or protect us from that, they have no right to represent us in Washington, or even in local state offices.

Businesses are starting to turn on the NRA.

Courtesy of Vice: 

The National Rifle Association is getting burned by businesses after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, last week. 

So far, two business partners have dropped the NRA from their roster. The First National Bank of Omaha said in a tweet on Thursday that because of “customer feedback,” the bank will cease issuing its NRA Visa card after its contract with the pro-gun lobbying group expires. And Enterprise Holdings — which operates the car rental companies Enterprise, Alamo, and National — told reporters on Thursday that it would no longer offer a discount to NRA members. 

For many years, the powerful lobbying group has struck partnerships with companies to offer NRA members discounts on a variety of services. Some of its existing partners include Hertz, FedEx, and the anti-virus software maker Norton.

Bloomberg found some others:

On Friday, LifeLock owner Symantec, Hertz, North American and Allied Van Lines, and insurer MetLife announced they would break off from the NRA. “Symantec has stopped its discount program with the National Rifle Association,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement. A MetLife spokesman said “we value all our customers but have decided to end our discount program with the NRA.” Security systems maker Simplisafe Inc. also dropped the gun group today.

There are also some businesses that are not quite ready to bail on the NRA, but are putting them on notice.

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

The world’s largest asset manager put U.S. gunmakers on notice on Thursday that it is no longer business as usual in the wake of a shooting that killed 17 at a Florida high school. 

BlackRock Inc said it will speak with weapons manufacturers and distributors “to understand their response” to the second-deadliest shooting at a public school in U.S. history, putting pressure on companies such as Sturm Ruger & Company Inc and American Outdoor Brands Corp. 

BlackRock is the largest shareholder in both gunmakers and has more than $6 trillion in assets under management. It stopped short of saying it would divest its funds of gun companies, however.

Well I think it's time to push for even more boycotts, don't you?

Not only should we refuse to do business with any companies that have advertising deals with the NRA, but we should also refuse to vote for any candidates that accept NRA money.

That would almost strip them of their influence overnight.

Well after the elections this year at least.

Russian bots now flocking to support Sean Hannity in response to boycott of his show. Things that make you go, "Hmm."

Per @SecureDemocracy's Russian propaganda tracker (3pm):

-#BoycottKeurig is now the #1 overall hashtag & #1 trending hashtag in Russian-linked influence networks (20,300% increase in use).
-"Keurig" is the #1 topic in Russian-linked influence networks (35,600% increase in use) pic.twitter.com/f0VYzyZVhn

— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) November 12, 2017

Courtesy of Newsweek: 

Fox News’s Sean Hannity is getting support from Russian-linked social media accounts after they began amplifying a protest by the American far right against Keurig coffee machines when the company pulled advertising from Hannity’s show. 

Keurig is among five companies that removed ads from Fox's Hannity over the weekend following his coverage of sexual misconduct allegations against Roy Moore, who is running for U.S. Senate in Alabama. 

On Twitter the hashtag #BoycottKeurig is now number one in overall hashtags promoted by 600 accounts connected to Russian influence efforts tracked by the German Marshall Fund. The hashtag #standwithannity and the variant #istandwithhannity, #boycottkeurig, and #keurig are among the top trending hashtags promoted by these accounts.

Wow, it's almost as if the Russians and the conservative media were somehow in cahoots.

Nah, that's just crazy talk.

Right?

Despite numerous reports to the contrary, Sean Hannity showed up for work last night, and immediately started obfuscating for Donald Trump.

If you did not get through that entire fourteen plus minutes I don;t blame you, I did not make it through last night myself.

Thankfully TPM offers the low points:

“I have to start tonight on a personal note of something that happened last week. Now, I was asked by the family of the DNC staffer that was killed in July to pull back covering the story of the death because their son and their family was hurting,” he said on his show. “Now out of respect for the family’s wishes, well, I decided for the time being not to discuss it unless there were further developments.” 

“But I also promised you, my audience, my loyal audience, that I will not stop investigating. I will not stop asking questions,” he continued. “And at a very high level, the bottom line here is the family wants the truth and I think the country deserves the truth, because this impacts so much of what the narrative in this country is now about, which is the left and their conspiracy theory. Now I can report, I am making progress. We will have a lot more coming probably sooner than later.”

First off before his "vacation" Hannity was on the Seth Rich story like white on....on...well on the average Fox News viewer.

So for him to suddenly start considering the feelings of the family sounds more like he received an ultimatum and caved in order to keep his show.

Secondly Hannity, and his supporters, have come up with an interesting response to those calls for this advertisers to abandon his program.

He is joining with a group called #StoptheScalpings, formed by two Right Wing talk radio hosts Melanie Morgan and Brian Maloney, in calling for a similar attempt directed at Rachel Maddow.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

Stop the Scalpings is targeting Maddow because she “has been the biggest purveyor of lies and propaganda in the media today,” Morgan writes. She goes on to allude to Maddow’s regular coverage of the Trump campaign’s shady dealings with Russia, which she dismisses as a conspiracy theory despite an active FBI investigation and the appointment of a special prosecutor. 

“We will continue to announce the advertisers that finance these efforts and support these hosts who allow lies and conspiracy theories to permeate the airwaves,” she continues. “If Media Matters ceases these type of assaults, we will do the same… Until then, we will list every advertiser that supports hosts like Rachel Maddow, an outright liar, and someone who deceives the public and defames conservatives on a daily basis.”

In other words these idiots are now attacking actual journalism in an attempt to protect their right to broadcast fake news and conservative disinformation. 

100 eighth graders boycott picture with Paul Ryan during Washington field trip.

Courtesy of Common Dreams: 

One hundred eighth grade students refused to be photographed with Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan during a field trip to the nation's capital because they "didn't want to be associated with a person who puts his party before his country," as one student put it. 

According to reporting, roughly half of the 200 students who traveled from South Orange Middle School in New Jersey protested the photo-op on Thursday, watching instead from a parking lot across the street. 

"It's not just a picture," eighth grade student Matthew Malespina told the local ABC News affiliate. "It's being associated with a person who puts his party before his country." 

Most recently, Ryan has come under fire for forcing through legislation that would strip healthcare from 23 million Americans.

Well look at that, we now live in a country where eighth grade students have more integrity than the entire Republican party. 

Looks like the future might be in good hands after all.

Stephen Colbert earns #FireColbert hashtag on Twitter after daring to mock Donald Trump.

🔥🔥🔥Genius! Thanks to #FireColbert it will be watched by many more 👍 pic.twitter.com/FxjcGHCO6F

— ⚓️Kevin Patrick (@vinkell) May 3, 2017

That brilliant bit of truth telling, did not go over well with the Trumpians.

#FireColbert
Sponsors@ProcterGamble 800-742-6253@Ford 800-392-3673@Pfizer 800-879-3477@Bayer 800-800-4793
Send an email AND make a call. pic.twitter.com/bwKiU6Ag6a

— Philip Schuyler (@FiveRights) May 3, 2017

There is a fine line between comedy and just plane insults..#FireColbert #stephencolbert

— Frederic Aboujaoude (@frederic_aj) May 3, 2017

Need to send a message to all sponsors to #FireColbert or lose business. That's the only way the left will listen. Follow the money.

— Lisa Benoist (@lisabenoist1959) May 3, 2017

However, as you might imagine, this has inspired those on the Left to openly mock the effort.

Now the little right wing mushrooms want to #FireColbert because he made fun of the Troll King. Waaaa! It'll go as well as #BoycottHamilton.

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 3, 2017

#FireColbert is the new #BoycottRogueOne. I'm sure it will be equally successful.

— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) May 3, 2017

#FireColbert WELL, HE JUST "SAYS IT LIKE IT IS"
Isn't that the platform that got President cheeto into office? #GiveColbertARaise

— Tif🕊️ (@PDXtif) May 3, 2017

I see #FireColbert is trending. I wonder if he'll suffer the same horrible fate that Starbucks and Hamilton suffered after their boycotts 😂

— Francis Maxwell (@francismmaxwell) May 3, 2017

Personally I think that any late night comedian who inspires this kind of anger from Trump supporters, is doing a hell of a job.

Just watch how quickly his ratings start going up. 

Breitbart still determined to destroy Kelloggs for daring to pull their advertising.

Breitbart declared "war" on Kellogg after company pulls advertising https://t.co/2sT23Ttlv8 pic.twitter.com/0oyybo7Q3N

— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) December 3, 2016

Courtesy of Mother Jones: 

Breitbart News, the inflammatory news site that hails itself as the platform for the "alt-right," is urging readers to boycott Kellogg after the food manufacturing giant announced it would no longer be advertising on the site because its content did not align with Kellogg's "values as a company." 

"For Kellogg's, an American brand, to blacklist Breitbart News in order to placate left-wing totalitarians is a disgraceful act of cowardice," Breitbart announced in a statement on Wednesday. "They insult our incredibly diverse staff and spit in the face of our 45,000,000 highly engaged, highly perceptive, highly loyal readers, many of whom are Kellogg's customers." (As Mother Jones previously reported, Breitbart is known to inflate its internal traffic numbers.)

Boy I hope they inflate their numbers.

I would hate to think that there are 45 million bigots and racists in this country.

Though I guess that WOULD help to explain how Donald Trump won the electoral college. 

And here is Breitbart attempting to prove that they are NOT a site populated by hate filled dimwits, by turning their dimwitted hatred toward a breakfast cereal company for exercising their right not to advertise with them.

I am sure it makes sense to them.

So now Sarah Palin wants you to boycott companies that support Planned Parenthood. You know, because they're evil or something.

Courtesy of Anti-Abortion Barbie's Facebook page:

Time to reconsider patronizing these companies directly supporting Planned Parenthood? Yep. Make your voice heard today, America. 

She does see the logo for ExxonMobil, right?

Is it possible that her hatred of reproductive rights supersedes her idolization of the fossil fuel industry?

Of course the idea to boycott companies supporting Planned Parenthood is certainly not a Palin's, but rather one put forward by conservative media.

No surprise, the woman has not had an original thought since she faked her last pregnancy. (Oh wait, that was the plot from a Desperate Housewives episode. So yeah no original thoughts.)

Fortunately in other, more fact based media outlets the videos are being treated like the hoaxes that we all know them to be.

Courtesy of the New Republic:

Just as there are people who believe the moon landing was faked, there are those who refuse to believe that the full scope of reproductive health care is grounded in medical evidence. As the facts are inconvenient, the only option is to circumvent them by any means possible. These videos are the kind of propaganda that only reinforces those fixed, false beliefs.

Some media outlets have even pointed out that these attacks against Planned Parenthood are no really about abortion, but about contraception.

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

Planned Parenthood combines two things that conservatives hate: 1) It provides services that allow low income people to live better lives and improve their economic opportunities.* 2) It promotes the idea that women should be able to have sex on their own terms. 

Allowing women to have sex on their own terms is threatening because it really disrupts the system that keeps men in power over women in personal relationships. It’s not just that it makes it harder to trap a woman with pregnancy, though that is part of it. But it’s more that, as long as unwanted childbearing is a threat hanging over women’s head, it injects a major power imbalance into sexual relationships. The woman has to live with the “consequences” for having sex, but the man can walk away. So that helps keep up cultural norms that make women placating and submissive. But the more that women can have sex on their own terms without fear of unintended childbearing, the more leverage they have in relationships with men. Is he a domineering dick? Well, good thing you didn’t have kids with him! Just walk away. You can experiment, date around more, just generally live your life. 

It also, needless to say, removes a lot of men’s economic power over women. Now that women can complete college and get a career going before having kids, they compete with men on more equal footing.

And hopefully people will pay attention to this fact, because apparently the group  behind these highly edited tapes, says there are many more coming.

But at least we have one presidential candidate speaking out in support of Planned Parenthood.

Hillary Clinton: 

“I think it is unfortunate that Planned Parenthood has been the object of such a concerted attack for so many years,” the Democratic front-runner said at an event in Greenville, South Carolina. “And it’s really an attack against a woman’s right to choose, to make the most personal, difficult decisions that any woman would face, based on her faith and the medical advice that she’s given.”

Good for her. And once she's elected, good for us.

CEO decides to boycott Indiana over controversial new law that allows businesses to discriminate against gays.

Today we are canceling all programs that require our customers/employees to travel to Indiana to face discrimination. http://t.co/SvTwyCHxvE

— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) March 26, 2015

Courtesy of Fortune:  

CEO Marc Benioff and other business leaders are outraged over the state’s “religious freedom” law. 

Business leaders on Thursday spoke out against a controversial law passed in Indiana Thursday that could give businesses the green light to deny service to same-sex couples. 

The loudest opposition so far has come from Marc Benioff, founder and CEO of business tech company Salesforce, who declared on Twitter that his company would boycott the state altogether. 

The outcry is in response to Indiana’s Republican Gov. Mike Pence signing into law a “religious freedom” bill that will free individuals and business owners from abiding by state and local laws that “substantially” burden their exercise of religion, unless the government can prove that it has a compelling interest and is doing so by the least restrictive means. 

Supporters of the measure say it will protect people and business owners with strong religious convictions from government intrusion. 

Opponents, meanwhile, claim it paves the way for discrimination, especially against gays and lesbians. 

In addition to Salesforce’s boycott of Indiana, the state’s hot-button law also received condemnation from other folks with business ties to the state.

Funny thing about laws that support discrimination based on religion, they can end up casting certain religions as hateful, and costing those hiding behind those laws their livelihoods.

Personally I would love to see this spread so far and wide that business leaders all over the country simply remove Indiana from their business plans and simply treat it as some backwater, uncivilized part of the country that is simply not advanced enough to appreciate their products.

Not really that far from the truth if you think about it.

Perhaps that could be extrapolated out at some point to simply "If you have a Republican governor we do not feel we can safely conduct business within your borders."

Might be a costly decision at first, but just imagine the ultimate benefit to the country.

Virginia residents threatening to boycott shopping area in response to Open Carry Ammosexuals.

Courtesy of Americans Against the Tea Party:  

Open carry “activists” have been terrorizing the retail district of Careytown, VA. Recently, three armed men paraded through the busy Carey street and downtown areas, causing residents and shoppers to grow concerned about the safety of the area — and are threatening a boycott of the shopping area if open carry ammosexuals are permitted to continue to parade their penile enhancements around in public. Dozens of e-mails, phone calls, and Facebook posts have rolled in complaining about the actions of the public blasturbators that are making residents feel uneasy. 

“It was something about seeing, large guns, with three people carrying a flag that made it a little scary,” said Teresa Cerully, who works in Carytown. 

“A few weeks ago, they were standing in front of our store, talking to people about their cause and my customers were actually afraid to leave the store because they have small children and didn’t know exactly what their cause was,” said Sheri Doyle, a Carytown shop owner. 

One mother, a member of Moms Demand Action, said, “My belief is that no one should be normalized to the site of these weapons in public,” she said. “There is no way to know if the person carrying one of these down Cary Street is a good guy or a bad guy.” 

The group has asked the Carytown Merchants Association to see if Carytown would consider a gun-free zone. The group defends its actions, saying the people the group frightens are the ones it needs to reach the most. “The people who are choosing to stay away, because of that, are the people we are trying to reach the most, because they are the ones that need the education of the firearms,” said Scott Royle, one of the men who regularly parades around with his boomstick.

Yeah you know I think these parents are already quite well educated when it comes to firearms.

They realize that the more there are of them, the more dangerous it is for both them and their families.

Especially when the spokesperson for the group promoting open carry posts crap like this to Twitter.

Source

Well you knew it was coming, Now that openly gay football player Michael Sam has been drafted by the NFL, here comes the Right Wing outrage.

Courtesy of Christian Post: 

Jack Burkman, head of the Washington, D.C. lobbying firm J.M. Burkman & Assoc. who is seeking to ban gays from the NFL, says he intends to build a national coalition to boycott any football franchise that picks openly gay football player Michael Sam in the NFL Draft, which starts Thursday at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. 

In a release issued Thursday, Burkman said he would "leverage his political clout" to ensure that the franchise that selects the 6-foot-2, 260-pound defensive end from Missouri would get "roughed up financially." 

"We shall exercise our First Amendment rights and shall not stop until the drafting NFL franchise cannot sell a single ticket, jersey or autographed football," said Burkman. "In short, we shall be relentless."

Threatening financial ruin for a football team that drafts a gay player, how Christian of them.

Miami Dolphins safety Don Jones took to Twitter to express his outrage over Sam's recruitment, including the hug and kiss which accompanied it, and has now been fined and forced to undergo "educational training."

Other conservatives are just pissed that Michale Sam is getting all kinds of love, while openly Christian Tim Tebow was mocked for his faith.

"@livinglegend_44: Y'all praise Michael Sam for being gay but y'all mocked Tim Tebow for being a Christian. Smh #Society" the realest spoke
— Brandon J White (@OvaTimePodcast) May 11, 2014

Of course the fact that you are born gay, and you choose to be a Christian, seems to be lost on this crowd. As is the that there are tons of openly Christian football players, but most are not as obnoxious at Tebow was about it.

Of course some, like our good friend Andrew Sullivan, had an entirely different take:

Here’s what that embrace and kiss meant to me. It meant that Sam is not afraid, and neither is Vito, his boyfriend. There are no double standards here or special exceptions. If Sam were with a girlfriend, the scene would be utterly banal, if still beautiful. It helps that they are so young – because they are not yet old enough to have their minds clogged with qualifications, warnings, worries. They just respond as two people in love. In that moment, the hug matters more than the kiss; and the faces more than the hug. Look at Vito in the video as he waits for and absorbs the news. The anxiety, the trepidation, the concern for his partner: this is what love looks like.

We must remember that there was a time when the first African American played on a white team. A first time a woman was able to vote in an election. And the first time that a non-Christian was elected to public office in America. There is an ideological thread which connects all of those who spoke out against each of these landmarks.

I am sure you can identify it quite easily.

Alaskans to give Duck Dynasty the cold shoulder.

Courtesy of TMZ:  

Life's not always fair if you're part of the "Duck Dynasty" brood. We've learned they've been invited to the Alaska State Fair ... but there are already cries of boycott. 

The Robertsons were hired to do a town hall of sorts, telling stories about their lives and their beliefs. But those beliefs include Phil's views on homosexuality ... including his observation that a man's anus is no match for a woman's vagina ... and therefore the boycott. 

We're told there's a groundswell from people who want to either get the Fair to cancel the gig or -- if necessary -- disrupt the gig. 

State Fair officials tell us ... they don't endorse all of Phil's views ... but they believe his core value is family ... something near and dear to Alaskans ... so the appearance WON'T be cancelled. 

Yeah you know I think the Robertson clan might want to watch their P's and Q's while visiting Alaska.

First off Alaskans do not take well to phonies.

The REAL Robertson family

Second, we have a rather proud gay community up here who would dearly love to disrupt this event and make national headlines while doing so.

And third it might be worth noting that while the rest of the country was still trying to get a handle on Sarah Palin, we ran her ass out of office. 

So we have no problem playing hardball.

You know, now that I think about it, perhaps August 30th would be the best day to go to the fair.

Rush Limbaugh losing advertisers at an increasingly accelerated rate.

Courtesy of Liberals Unite:  

Yes, over 50 substantial Limbaugh sponsors have not been heard in months. This number is in addition to the thousands of national and local sponsors who have already pulled ads from radio’s most hateful talk show host, Rush Limbaugh. The boycotts, petitions, and protests continue to kick his ad revenue, as well as the assets of the radio networks that carry him. More and more consumers and activists are jumping into the protest via BoycottRush, StopRush, and FlushRush. 

According to the StopRush Database, here are some of the major sponsors that have not been heard on Limbaugh’s show for at least 60 days. As of April 12, 2014, they include: 

No Ads Heard For 2 Months 

Dish Network 
Discovery Channel 
Arizona Western College 
Comcast Business 
Comcast Xfinity 
Papa Murphy’s 
LA Dodgers 
Blue Emu 
St. Louis Rams 
Anaheim Ducks 
Pearl Vision 
Boise State University 
Vermont Teddy Bear 
Kent State University 
Michigan State University 
Advance Auto 
Tulsa Hurricane University 
NFL Monday Night Football 
Carl’s Jr. 
Cleveland Browns 
Miami Dolphins 
Pajamagram

Here are the advertisers who have not been heard on the Limbaugh program for 3 months:  

Sodastream 
Club Glove 
Fin Electric Cigarettes 
Mannheim Steamroller 
Kars4Kids 
Sears 
Olivet Nazarene University 
Taco Bell 
Jewelry Exchange 
National Association of Realtors 
Frontier Communications 
SweetJack 
New Vitality 
Greenlight Financial Services 
Stanley Steamer 
Chrysler

And for the last six months these advertisers have been MIA:

Midas 
San Diego University 
University College-Washington 
Oregon State University 
Income At Home 
Verengo Solar 
Taste Of Home 
San Diego State University 
Gold Bond 
Reagan.com 
University of Iowa 
Blue Bell Ice Cream 
Hammermill Paper

As the Liberals Unite page points out many of these were long time, hard core, Limbaugh supporters, and yet the boycott and barrage of negative attention forced them to jump ship, and stay overboard.

It has been a few months since I have caught part of a Rush Limbaugh radio broadcast (In fact I thought for awhile he was off the air, but according to KENI 650 he is still around.), but when last I did it seemed that ALL of his advertisers were talking about home security, internet safety, and aluminum siding for your home.

It was not long ago that Rush Limbaugh seemed to be the de facto head of the Republican party, now it seems his influence has diminished greatly. Of course so has that of the Republican party itself. 

Maybe if we keep up the pressure we can make them both go away.

Religious woman threatens restaurant staff with hell if they make her pay bill, gets arrested, and now her church is picketing them. Man I wish I was making this up!

Courtesy of Raw Story:

A Florida woman and her mother have been arrested for skipping out on a restaurant check after the daughter told the cashier that she would go to heaven if the meal was free, or go to hell if she insisted on charging the meal to her credit card. 

According to NewsChief.com, Willie “Mother” Lewis, 78, and her daughter Ruthena Lewis, 44, ate breakfast at the A&G Restaurant in Winter Haven, Florida, with the bill coming to $18.46.

After finishing, Ruthena Lewis took her mother out to the car and then returned to the restaurant to pay her bill. Lewis presented A&G cashier Crystal Henson with her credit card which was subsequently declined. According to the restaurant staff, Lewis held the cancel button down as the Henson attempted to process the charge. 

According to the police report, “(Ruthena Lewis) stated to (Henson) that if she gave them the meal for free she would go to heaven. If she ran the credit card again, she would go to hell.” 

Lewis then handed the cashier a business card with the name of her church pastor , Bishop Joseph Lewis of the Church of God the Bible Way, on it, saying to call him and he would pay the bill. Lewis is not related to the two women. 

Ruthena Lewis then left the restaurant, got into her car with her mother and drove off, however a restaurant employee got her license number and turned it over to Winter Haven police, who arrested the pair soon after. 

The mother, Willie Lewis, who was in the car and couldn’t see what had transpired, had $80 cash in her purse at the time of her arrest. 

Following the arrest Bishop Joseph Lewis went to the restaurant and paid the women’s bill, getting assurances from owner George Paragios that he would ask police to drop charges against the women. 

According to police reports, officers arrived at the restaurant to have Paragios sign a waiver of prosecution and Paragios declined. 

Since that time, members of the Church of God the Bible Way have been picketing A&G Restaurant urging customers to stay away.

Let's see, so you threaten that people who make you pay for food will burn in hell, drive off without paying even though you have the money, and then have your church members try to bankrupt the restaurant for holding you accountable.

This must be an example of the kind of morals that one can only get through religion. 

Anti-choice groups decide to boycott Girl Scout cookies because the Girl Scouts don't hate Wendy Davis.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

Toward the end of December, Girl Scout USA’s official Twitter account tweeted out a Huffington Post story about the inspiring individuals who should be considered to be 2013′s “women of the year.” The article included figures like Beyonce, Malala Yousafzai, and Wendy Davis — and the organization asked its followers who else should be added to the list of “incredible ladies.” That was enough for anti-choice activists to call for a national boycott of the organization’s popular cookies, claiming the Girl Scouts have endorsed “pro-abortion politician Wendy Davis.” 

“We’re asking you to boycott Girl Scout cookies in 2014,” reads a new site dedicated to the boycott, explaining that Davis should not be lifted up as a “worthy role model for our children.” The same accusation is being leveled against the group in regards to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who was included in a different news article about influential U.S. women that the Girl Scouts shared on its Facebook page. 

The controversy has been building for several weeks. At the beginning of this month, Fox News’ Megyn Kelly hosted a panel discussion about the organization’s tweet. Panelists suggested that sharing any material related to Davis violates the Girl Scouts’ policy to remain uninvolved in politics.

I'm confused, I didn't know the LAST Girl Scout cookie boycott was over, that was launched in response to their supposed ties to Planned Parenthood.

And we all know how well THAT worked out.

Well I for one am going to purchase several boxes of Girl Scout cookies to go along with my donation to the Wendy Davis for Governor campaign.

President Obama chooses openly gay delegates to send to the Olympic games in openly homophobic Russia. We'll call this "Putting it to Putin."

Courtesy of HuffPo:

President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced his delegates to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. And, in what may be a thumb in the eye to Russian President Vladimir Putin over his crackdown on gay rights, two of Obama's delegates are openly gay. 

Billie Jean King, the tennis legend, and Caitlin Cahow, an Olympic medalist in women’s ice hockey, are both part of the U.S. delegation. Both are out lesbians. 

Another member of the U.S. delegation, figure skating Olympic medalist Brian Boitano, routinely declines to answer questions about his sexuality, saying "everybody's got their own path" to discovering who they are. 

Others in the delegation include University of California President Janet Napolitano, the former Homeland Security secretary; U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul; White House Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors; Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, and speed skating Olympic medalists Bonnie Blair and Eric Heiden. 

In what may be another slight to the Russian president, Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and first lady Michelle Obama will not attend the opening ceremony. This marks the first time since the 2000 Summer Olympic Games that a president, vice president, first lady or former president won't be part of the opening ceremony.

God I love this President!

My daughter and I had quite the giggle about this yesterday. 

However she said that a lot of her friends were simply planning to boycott watching the Olympics and wish the US had done the same.

I argued that by doing so all we do is punish our own athletes who have been training for years to compete, and reminded her of my own personal frustration as a young gymnast when our incredible male gymnastic team of 1980, was denied their shot at the gold due to the Russians invading Afghanistan. (Ironic isn't it?)

I also reminded her that in1936, when Adolph Hitler was attempting to use the games to demonstrate the supremacy of the Aryan race, that America did not boycott, but rather sent their best, whihc resulted in this iconic photograph.

I said that showing up and forcing Russia to deal with their prejudice during an event heavily covered by the national media was far better than simply hiding at home, and cowering in fear while LGBT Russians were being attacked on the streets.

She asked what would happen if gay athletes, or their supporters, were assaulted while in Russia, and I said then they would tell the world and that is how change is brought to a society that does not want to be left behind by the rest of the world.

In the best news of the day Rush Limbaugh may be leaving Cumulus Media due to loss of advertisers.

Courtesy of Politico:  

The Rush Limbaugh Program is considering ending its affiliation agreement with Cumulus Media at the end of this year, a move that would bring about one of the biggest shakeups in talk radio history, a source close to the show tells POLITICO. 

Should the move take place, 40 Cumulus-owned radio stations would lose the rights to the most popular talk radio program in the country. In addition, the show might be picked up by competing regional radio stations in Washington, New York, Chicago, Dallas and other major markets. 

According to the source, Limbaugh is considering the move because Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey has blamed the company's advertising losses on Limbaugh's controversial remarks about Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown law student. In Feb. 2012, Limbaugh referred to Fluke as "a slut" because she had called on congress to mandate insurance coverage of birth control. The subsequent controversy over those remarks resulted in a significant advertising boycott. 

The true extent of Limbaugh's effect on Cumulus's advertising revenue is not known. In an August 2012 earnings call, Dickey said Cumulus's top three stations had lost $5.5 million, in part because of the boycott. In a March 2013 earnings call, Dickey said the company's talk radio side had "been challenged... due to some of the issues that happened a year ago." Nevertheless, Limbaugh remains the most highly rated talk radio host in the country. 

Cumulus Media, which has a contract with Limbaugh through 2013, declined to comment for this report: "Cumulus owns the premier talk radio distribution platform in the United States and doesn't comment on negotiations with talent under contract," Davidson Goldin, a Cumulus spokesman, told POLITICO. Clear Channel, which distributes the Rush Limbaugh Program through its Premiere Radio division, also declined to comment.

You know I rarely listen to the radio anymore,  but when I am out running errands my car radio is tuned to a talk radio station that features Limbaugh, so I hear bits and pieces of his lunacy every couple of days or so.

Lately I have noticed that the companies advertising with him seem very fly-by-night.

There are companies selling identity theft protection, funeral services, financial aid,  and one guy, and I swear this is true, who is selling his house in, I think it's Florida.

Just a guy buying up advertising time for his pal Rush, to sell a house for millions of dollars that probably NONE of Limbaugh's listeners could ever hope to afford. Nothing desperate about that.

Not only that but Limbaugh is voicing a large number of these ads himself which means that the ONLY way they would advertise with him is if he played their little prison bitch and did the voice over for their crappy "nobody has ever heard of this" product. Sometimes I have a hard time differentiating between when he is a radio host and when he is pimping aluminum siding.

So I can say with some confidence that the Boycott Limbaugh movement has had a REAL and lasting effect.

However before we all dance around the bonfire screaming in victory we need to remember the lesson of Glenn Beck. Glenn Beck who left Fox News in virtual disgrace, only to pop back up on radio, and who is now supposedly worth at least 80 million dollars.

So I have little doubt that Limbaugh will find another place to spew his vitriol and hatered, but remember this....at one time Beck was a CONSTANT presence on cable news and was quoted and talked about in all kinds of places. Today the only way he can get any attention is by accusing the President of the United States of covering up for the "real" culprits behind a terrorist attack.

Someday soon we may also be saying "Rush Limbaugh? You mean that guy is still on the radio someplace?"