Coffee Time

The Real Story of Thanksgiving and Socialism

Nixon With Lipsick

Et Tu Time Magazine?

PZ Meyers:  I Get Email

Did Glenn Beck Watch the Same Movie We Did?

Dumb as a Box of Rocks

Sunday Talk SHow Lineup

Meet the Press: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL); Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ); Roundtable: E.J. Dionne (Washington Post), Republican Strategist Ed Gillespie; [#10] Peggy Noonan (Wall Street Journal) and Mayor of Philadelphia Michael Nutter (D).
Face the Nation: Author Edmund Morris ("Colonel Roosevelt"); Author Ron Chernow ("Washington, A Life"); Bob Woodward (Washington Post); Arianna Huffington (Huffington Post).
This Week: Berkshire-Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett; Bill and Melinda Gates (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation); CNN Founder Ted Turner; Hedge Fund Manager Tom Steyer.
Fox News Sunday: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Sen. Claire MacCaskill (D-MO); Roundtable: [#17] Bill Kristol (Weekly Standard), Mara Liasson (NPR/FNC), Sociopath Liz Cheney and Juan Williams (Fox News).
State of the Union: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ); Former President George W. Bush (R); Former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL); Sen. Byran Dorgan (D-ND); Rep. David Obey (D-WI).
The Chris Matthews Show: John Heilemann (New York Magazine); Norah O'Donnell (MSNBC); Anne Kornblut (Washington Post); Reihan Salam (National Review).
Fareed Zakaria GPS: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen; Ronald Reagan's OMB Director David Stockman.

Lord Help Us.....

Well, election over. Republicans will chair the house committees.  Who better than a car thief and arsonist  to start investigations of the Obama administration. But honestly, it was just research for the car alarm company that would make him millions down the road.   It's party time for Darrell Issa!!  All I can say is.....you've got to be fucking kidding me. 

Back on Track

Back on  track.  I had to take some time to get back  in the swing after losing my  Mom. I've been enjoying life here in paradise and working through some issues.  So here we go.......

The Urban Politico:  Feds Up, Ho's Down: Ahmed Ghailani'sConviction and the Military Tribunal Myth

Market Watch: Kamikaze Capitalism: GOP out to destroy

Africana Online:  Kucinich Bracing For House Fight

Pushing Rope: Quote of the Day

In Honor of President Obama's Trip to India

In honor of President Obama's trip to India

Monday Monday......So Good to Me

Off to worky........ here's  to a good week on the road!

Governor Christie: Hey Kids, It's the Teacher's Union to Blame if You Don't Have School Supplies!

Laws and Policies of U.S. Now Up For Sale

About That Gulf Oil Spill

Minister to Flock:  Use the Word 'Fag'

The Worst Win in This Election for Floridians:  Rick Scott  Get A Load of Rick Scott's Allies

Populists Vs. Consumers

Sunday Talk Show Lineup

Wow.......it's a Wingnut Sunday!  No doubt the bullshit flying out of their pieholes will be about cutting spending by ......  destroying healthcare, tax cuts to  the rich, getting rid of those pesky bank regulations, privatizing social security, no more unemployment benefits extensions.  Meet the new Republicans..... just like the old ones.    

ABC's "This Week" — Sen.-elect Rand Paul, R-Ky.; Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind.
———
CBS' "Face the Nation" — Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.
———
NBC's "Meet the Press" — Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J.
———
CNN's "State of the Union" — Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas; Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn.; Sen.-elect Pat Toomey, R-Pa.; Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.
______

"Fox News Sunday" — GOP Reps. Eric Cantor of Virginia, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Darrell Issa of California.

Saturday Morning Read

It's a cool 52 degrees here in Paradise, and man this coffee tastes good this morning!

Election Clouds Future of High Speed Rails

White House Pushes START Ratification Before New Congress Arrives

Noam Chomsky:  Outrage, Misguided

Fishing For Trouble Far Out to Sea

Oh Happy Day!

Don't Forget America's Other Economy

Military Gay Ban Newly Tested

My Kind of Mom

A Little This, A Little That

I've been working like a dog this week.  First chance I've had to really read anything. Here's to a relaxing weekend!!  Gonna try and get some fishing in!


Reverand Manny asks John Boehner:  Where's the Jobs???

John Boehner is a Crybaby

I Won the Election, and Now I'm Going to........Israel!

Pittsburg Tells the Gas Industry:  No Fracking Way!

Karl Rove: 'Climate is Gone'

Who's Heading Up Scott's Transition Team?

10 Things to Do Now

An email from Credo:

Dear Friend, What a truly brutal election. One rare exception was the crushing of Texas Oil's Proposition 23 in California (see CREDO's campaign at stoptexasoil.org), which proves that even unlimited corporate cash can be beaten back — if it is disclosed and fought by grassroots mobilization. At CREDO, we fight hard on the issues, but we don't take sides in partisan elections. As someone who cares about progressive issues, there is no doubt that Tuesday's results will make for even harder times for our country. It is crazy making to realize just how extreme and misinformed much of the new Congress will be. There is little reason to expect any useful legislation from the Tea Party-dominated House or the dysfunctional Senate. Swing votes in the Senate have really troublesome names: Lieberman, Nelson, Manchin, and Pryor. In fact, this Congress will do damage to anything even remotely progressive. So let's take a look at what happened and what we can do now. Bear with us as this is a bit longer than our usual missives. The media, unfortunately but not surprisingly, will be of no use in making sense of Tuesday's results, and even less so in helping chart a course for the future. There is a lot of evidence that the state of the economy, and employment in particular, drive the results of elections — and this one was no exception. As the saying goes, "If you think the economy is working, ask someone who isn't." We have an economy stuck in a deep ditch, with corporate profits and bank bonuses soaring while long-term unemployment is at near Depression levels. The Republicans shrunk the first "stimulus" package and filled it with tax breaks, even as corporate Democrats helped them along, blocking any effort to restructure mortgages in bankruptcies, freeze foreclosures or force banks to lend money. The election outcome was partially baked in early 2009, when the White House preemptively conceded on the scale and provisions of the stimulus package and chose to coddle the banks. To watch this unfold was simply maddening. Making matters worse were other factors. Among the most damaging were the actions of the conservative majority on the Supreme Court, which seemed energized by the new President, and took the radical step of rehearing a campaign finance case — now known forever asCitizens United. In ruling 5-4 that corporations have the right to spend unlimited amounts of money for and against candidates, the Court transformed the electoral landscape in a way potentially more profound than its 5-4 ruling that seated George W. Bush as president. As many predicted, the Citizens United ruling unleashed the greatest wave of corporate spending in history, though it's a safe bet to say that their spending in 2012 will make this year's outlay look modest. In an astonishing turn of events, the right wing was able to kill — essentially murder in public view — the organization that registered millions of poor and working class African-American and Hispanic voters in the last six years. I am speaking of ACORN, of course. By editing video completely out of context, and using the right-wing media machine to perfection, Andrew Breitbart was able to convince the mainstream media and eventually Congress, that ACORN was an election-stealing organization that had no qualms giving advice to pimps on how to increase revenues. Fulfilling Karl Rove's wildest dreams, Congress, including most Democrats, voted to block public funding for any of ACORN's laudable and effective housing or tax assistance programs, and ACORN died a quiet death. There would be no millions of new registrants. Traditions are important in the Senate, but almost always to the detriment of progressive change. The health care reform effort was a victim of Senate conventions. Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, who chairs the critical Senate Finance Committee solely due to his long tenure, stalled development of a health reform package for many months in order to "negotiate" with Republicans on his committee. They weren't interested in the least, and walked away from the discussions muttering bizarre comments about reforms "killing grandma" and setting up "death panels," because Sarah Palin says so. The behavior of Baucus would be laughable if it were not so utterly destructive. No matter what one thought of FOX News in the 2008 election, Murdoch's monster went on a rampage over the past two years. Serving as both an instigator and an amplifier for the craziest and most offensive pundits, FOX News misled and misinformed the American people on every issue, and effectively became the public face of the Republican Party. Glenn Beck's show became so toxic and spewed so much venom that one of his devoted fans took it upon himself to plot the execution of key leaders of the Tides Foundation and the ACLU, who had figured prominently in Beck's rants. Fortunately, the madman (the fan, not Beck) was stopped before he accomplished his mission. We could go on, of course, on all the missed opportunities, the cave-ins, the sell outs, and the unpopular and misguided war in Afghanistan. But the results are in. The House of Representatives is in the hands of the most corrupt Speaker-in-waiting ever, the Tea Party is ascendant, and the U.S. Senate, however dysfunctional it has been, is poised to be much worse. For those of us who had hopes that the Obama Administration could seize the moment and enact popular progressive changes, this is a bitter pill. And like many, we grieve at the lost opportunities. But now we need to brush off the dust, suck it up, and plunge back into substantive fights. Politics is not fair — indeed, U.S. elections are rigged in profound ways! But walking away is not an option at CREDO Action, and we hope you will join us in some of the actions below we think are strategic in the new political landscape: 1. Commit to Taking Down FOX News. So long as FOX News has any credibility within the Beltway, it will be a pipeline for malicious material that will poison our political culture. Join our friends at Color of Change: turnofffox.org/landing?credo. 2.Tell the Senate to pass the DISCLOSE Act during the lame duck session. We were able to defeat the Texas Oil Initiative, Prop 23 in California, in part because we knew who the enemy was — having disclosure of corporate contributions brings the enemy out in the open for us to take on and fight. The DISCLOSE Act passed the House and came within a single vote of passing the Senate. One vote. You can join this fight by taking action with Public Citizen atcitizen.org/disclose-act-action. 3. Keep fighting to end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. This issue will get resolved during the lame duck session. Take action atact.credoaction.com/campaign/bushtaxcuts. 4. Sign up for the fight for a constitutional amendment to reverse the Citizens United decision by declaring that corporations do not have the legal rights of humans. This may take years, if not decades, but we should start now. Please join Free Speech for People:freespeechforpeople.org/. 5. Tell the FCC to use its existing authority to establish and defend net neutrality. Our friends at Free Press are leading this charge: act2.freepress.net/sign/put_up/. 6. Demand that the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service investigate the political organizations set up by Karl Rove to launder millions of dollars in secret cash to change the outcome of elections. Act now atact.credoaction.com/campaign/investigate_crossroads. 7. Defend the EPA from castration by pro-coal interests in Congress. The EPA accomplished almost nothing during the Clinton years because the Gingrich-led Congress used the budget process to prohibit the agency from doing its work. This battle has already started. The Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign is a great way to join this fight: sierraclub.org/coal. 8. Convince the Obama administration to stop appealing progressive court rulings on matters like the Defense of Marriage Act, Don't Ask Don't Tell, and the state secrets defense against torture and wiretapping. Urge the Department of Justice to change its approach atact.credoaction.com/campaign/stop_appealing. 9. Urge Democratic senators to do away with lifetime tenure for committee chairs and open up all chair positions to majority vote elections. This will go a long way towards more progressive legislation. Take action with us atact.credoaction.com/campaign/end_seniority_system. 10. Demand that the Department of Justice enforce the provisions of the national voter registration law that require state governments to offer to register all voters at departments of public welfare and motor vehicles. Many state governments simply ignore these requirements and this is a cheaper and more inclusive way of registering voters than the campaigns of the now dead ACORN. Urge Attorney General Eric Holder to expand voter registration:credoaction.com/campaign/enforce_motor_voter. I suspect you are angry and exhausted at this point. I know I am. But let us not forget that the values and ideals we fight for are greater than any one election. They still endure, and so must our fight. We have a lot of work to do. Michael Kieschnick, CEO CREDO Action from Working Assets

I am not voting Republican on November 2nd!

Back to Work Monday

Happy November! 

Guns, Abortion and What Really Motivates the Tea Party

Fraud Caused the 1930's Depression and the Current Financial Crisis

Religious Right Attacks Federal Bullying Intervention

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Breakfast Read

Who's Whispering in DeMint's Ear?

Betty White's Lesson for People Against Gay Marriage

95 Reasons Not to Vote For Joe Miller

Right Wing Horror Show

Media Malpractice:  Karl Rove's Fraud Subpoena Not News?

Americans' Incomes Sank After Bush Tax Cuts

From Fight For Better US:

On Sunday, House Minority Leader John Boehner called Democrats' refusal to hold a pre-election vote on extending the Bush tax cut windfall for the wealthy the "most irresponsible thing that I have seen since I have been in Washington, D.C." And in one sense, he's right. After all, the national debt doubled during Bush's tenure. His was the worst eight-year economic record of any modern president. Worse still, by 2007 the U.S. reached levels of income inequality not since 1929. And now, it turns out, Americans' incomes dropped ominously after the tax cuts Bush bragged "meant people had more money in their pocket."

That latest indictment of the reckless Bush tax giveaway to the rich comes from tax expert David Cay Johnston. Just days after the Census Bureau reported a jump in poverty during even before the start of the December 2007 Bush recession, Johnston reported, "Total income was $2.74 trillion less during the eight Bush years than if incomes had stayed at 2000 levels."

After asking, "So how did the tax cuts work out?" Johnston paints a grim picture of economic failure:

Even if we limit the analysis by starting in 2003, when the dividend and capital gains tax cuts began, through the peak year of 2007, the result is still less income than at the 2000 level. Total income was down $951 billion during those four years.

Average incomes fell. Average taxpayer income was down $3,512, or 5.7 percent, in 2008 compared with 2000, President Bush's own benchmark year for his promises of prosperity through tax cuts.

Had incomes stayed at 2000 levels, the average taxpayer would have earned almost $21,000 more over those eight years. That's almost $50 per week.

And to be sure, the Bush tax cuts which have already drained the Treasury of $2.3 trillion were a major contributor to the record U.S. income gap:

In only two of the eight Bush years, 2006 and 2007, were average incomes higher than in 2000, but the gains were highly concentrated at the top. Of the total increase in income in 2007 over that in 2005, nearly 30 percent went to taxpayers who made $1 million or more...

One of every eight dollars of the tax cuts went to the 1 in 1,000 taxpayers in the top tenth of 1 percent, the annual threshold for which was in the $2 million range throughout the last administration.

The horror story hardly ends there. Despite Republican supply-side mythmaking that "every major tax cut we've had in history has created more revenue," Johnston revealed that despite a 10.1% increase in the number of taxpayers, inflation-adjusted individual income tax revenues declined by 11.8% between 2000 and 2008. By then, average adjusted gross income slumped to $58,005 from $61, 517 eight years earlier when, you guessed, the top Clinton-era tax rate was the same 39.6% to which Barack Obama wants to return.

And as Congress - and voters - ponder the Republican pledge to deliver another $700 billion, 10-year windfall for the richest 2% of taxpayers, Johnston highlights the free ride President Bush already gave them:

The number of people reporting incomes of $200,000 or more but legally paying no federal income taxes skyrocketed in the second Bush term. A decade ago it was fewer than 1,500 taxpayers; in 2000 it was about 2,300. This high-income, tax-free group jumped to more than 11,000 in 2007 and then doubled in 2008 to more than 22,000.
In 2008 nearly 1 in every 200 high-income taxpayers paid no federal income tax, up from about 1 in 1,500 in 1998.
The share of high incomes that were untaxed increased more than sevenfold to one dollar of every $166.
As should be clear, the side winning the class war is the only one fighting it. To quote would-be Speaker Boehner, to perpetuate that massive upward redistribution of income is indeed "irresponsible." Or, as David Cay Johnston rightly concluded:

This is economic madness. It is policy divorced from empirical evidence. It is insanity because the policies are illusory and delusional. The evidence is in, and it shows beyond a shadow of a reasonable doubt that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts failed to achieve the promised goals.

Original article from Perrspectives

Sunday Talk Show Lineup

Sunday's Talk Show Lineup from the NY Times:

Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, and his Democratic counterpart, Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, appear on ABC’s “This Week.”
On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” David Gregory interviews Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, and former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

There is Hope.......

Haven't figured out how to embed videos yet........ copying and pasting embed code doesn't work.  Anywho.... this is from Rachel Maddow's page.  The most hopeful thing I've seen today.

http://vimeo.com/16294950

Saturday Morning Coffee Time

I do love my coffee

Karl Rove:  Election Racketeer

By the Numbers

Obama's Former Senate Seat Draws Most Hidden Money

Would You Like Fries With That?

Another Crossroads GPS Lie

Facing Foreclosure?  You Can Still Vote

Experts Warn: Adapt to Climate Change or Face Infrastructure Crisis

Friday Night Reading Roundup

66 Reasons Not to Vote for Pat Toomey

"Quarter Billion Spent" Club Not Doing Well in Polls

Mr. "I'm Sorry, BP"  Wants to  reclaim his position as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee

The Peaceful Many and theViolent Few

Jointheteaparty.us Connected to Data Mining Firm

Pay No Attention to Marco Rubio Behind the Curtain, Making Deals in the Back Room

The Macaca Awards: Outstanding Achievement in Race Baiting

Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig.....

I worked out of town this week.  I stayed in a beautiful new motel. My  room had a view of the waterway leading out to the ocean.  Beautiful.  One problem. The hotel just opened and they're still working out the bugs, including their wireless connection.  OH MY GOD.......    I think I need rehab for internet junkies.  Of course, I could have gone down and used the computer in their business center, but my traveling the internet  reading newspapers and blogs from coast to coast is a very private thing for me.  I like to do it in my jammies.  Or ratty shorts and a tank top.....and it's against my religion to wear a bra or shoes after work unless absolutely, positively necessary. Glad to be back home, where the laptop works anywhere I want it to and undergarments not needed.  Some whackadoodle Rand Paul campaign worker stomps on a woman's head, wants an apology from her........ and I have no access to the internet.  Oh the pain of it......Back to it now...... much catching up to do.  Hope you all had a good week. 

P.S.  The house still seems soooooo odd without my Mom in it.  Picked her ashes up today. Kind of a sad day.

Sunday Morning Hot Links and Coffee

IAVA 2010 Congressional Report Card

Massive Stretches of Oil Found by Fishermen

Someone Show This to Juan Williams

The Apprentice:  Jeb Bush, the Man Behind Marco Rubio

Wingnut of the Day

Glenn Beck Fundraises for Chamber,  Chamber Buys Ads

Republicans Ramp Up Sexist Attacks on Debbie Wasserman-Schultz

Just......WTF?

 UN Calls For Probe on US Inaction on Torture

Sunday Talk Show Lineup

• ABC, This Week: DNC Chairman Tim Kaine, Retired Army Gen. Hugh Shelton
• CBS, Face The Nation: Karl Rove, DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).
• CNN, State Of The Union: Florida Senate candidates Marco Rubio (R), Kendrick Meek (D), Charlie Crist (I).
• Fox News Sunday: Senate candidate Pat Toomey (R-PA), Senate candidate Joe Manchin (D-WV).
• NBC, Meet The Press: RNC Chairman Michael Steele.

Rise and Shine

$1 Billion Fucked Up Fence

Stimulus Facts

Stimulating Hypocrisy

Daily Disclosures

How to Steal an Election Using Nuts, Money and Lies

We Don't Need That Kind of Safety

Weekend Talk

Wingnut of the Day

This is just too easy........ there must be alot of really ignorant people in this country, because otherwise they would have figured out who the party of nuts is and stop electing them.

Texas Republican  congressional candidate Stephen Broden stunned his party Thursday, saying he would not rule out violent overthrow of the government if elections did not produce a change in leadership.
In a rambling exchange during a TV interview, Broden, a South Dallas pastor, said a violent uprising "is not the first option," but it is "on the table." That drew a quick denunciation from the head of the Dallas County GOP, who called the remarks "inappropriate."

And really.......they are stunned?  Really?  I think not.....

Friday Morning Wake Up Call

Afghanistan: Digging in for the long haul

Wall Street's tea party

NPR's Fed Funding Questioned After Firing

Voters Don't Seem to Care That Auto Bailout Worked

What Was Really Going on With the Anita Hill Story?

American Crossroads Rakes in Half It's Haul From a Single Donor

Why Won't Obama Take on the FEC?

Wingnut of the Day........

 GOP congressional candidate Vicky Hartzler:  “We just want the government to leave us alone here in Missouri’s 4th."

Problem is......  Hartzler and her husband’s farm outside Harrisonville, Missouri, has “received $774,325 in federal subsidies from 1995 to 2009.

I'm so sick of these whacked out hypocritical assholes.  And there's certainly no lack of them.  

Lulu & Jeff Beck - Cry me a river

Coffee Time

Rove Does Arkansas

Rightwing Billionaire Sponsers Sterilization For Drug Addicts

Follow the Money That's Anti-Health Care Reform

Do You Know Who Rick Scott Is? Really?

Chicago Sheriff Refuses to Enforce Bank Evictions

Sharron Angle:  First Asian Legislator 

Wingnut of the Day

The prize goes to Republican Cory Gardner.  Of course, it's very early in the morning. .... we'll see what the day brings! From Emily's List:

If Republican Cory Gardner hadn't already heard that knowing thy opponent is a significant piece of any good campaign strategy, I thought he might be best served with a little note from this Betsy Markey fan. Gardner's latest attack ad is a desperate attempt to hit Betsy, but he completely missed the mark -- or Markey. Gardner's ad confuses our Congresswoman Betsy Markey with the Congressman from Massachusetts with whom she happens to share a last name.

Mr. Gardner, I'm sure that in the many months since you announced your campaign, you have learned all the amazing things that Betsy Markey is: a small business owner; an advocate for women and families; a mother; a public servant. She is many things, but she is not Cong. Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

The irony here is not lost on us. The Republican's ad cries to voters of CO-04 that "we deserve better". Yes we do, Mr. Gardner -- yes, we do

Wednesday Morning Read

Catholics outdo the Mormons in crazy

Koch Bros planning ahead

Where Poverty is Rising in America

Corporate Corruptistan

Bush created a no win situation in Afghanistan for Obama

Sarah "Rand McNally" Palin

Republicans pledge to slash veteran's benefits

Wingnut of the Day

Did Ginni Thomas bump her head or what?  She calls Anita Hill out of the clear blue and wants an apology for ....... what?   Did she read something in her tea leaves that we don't know about? 

"Good Morning, Anita Hill. Its Ginni Thomas. I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband. So give it some thought and certainly pray on this and hope that one day you will help us understand why you did what you did. OK, have a good day."

Whackadoodle!

High Level Talks to End Afghanistan War

One can hope........

Talks to end the war in Afghanistan involve extensive, face-to-face discussions with Taliban commanders from the highest levels of the group’s leadership, who are secretly leaving their sanctuaries in Pakistan with the help of NATO troops, officials here say.

The discussions, some of which have taken place in Kabul, are unfolding between the inner circle of President Hamid Karzai and members of the Quetta shura, the leadership group that oversees the Taliban war effort inside Afghanistan. Afghan leaders have also held discussions with leaders of the Haqqani network, considered to be one of the most hard-line guerrilla factions fighting here; and members of the Peshawar shura, whose fighters are based in eastern Afghanistan.

Dumb Things Republicans Say.....

There's just no topping this one today....... 

Christine O'Donnell:  "Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?"

Racist Republican of the Day

From Rachel Maddow's blog: 

The chair of the Virginia Beach Republican committee has reportedly stepped down after a racist e-mail allegedly sent from his account in March ended up all over the Internet on Monday.
Gary Byler, GOP chair in the state's 2nd Congressional District, tells the Washington Post:

"Let me make it clear David Bartholomew does not tolerate racism. He never has. David would never knowingly forward racist material.''

That leaves unclear whether someone else secretly forwarded the e-mail under Barthlomew's account, or whether Bartholomew forwarded the e-mail without realizing it was racist. And if that's true, wow, because here's the text as posted first by Blue Virginia:

MY DOG
I went down this morning to sign up my Dog for welfare.
At first the lady said, "Dogs are not eligible to draw welfare".
So I explained to her that my Dog is black, unemployed, lazy, can't speak
English and has no frigging clue who his Daddy is.
So she looked in her policy book to see what it takes to qualify...
My Dog gets his first check Friday.
Is this is a great country or what?

Today's Must Read

From America For Purchase

An open letter to conservatives Written by Russell King, March 22, 2010
Dear Conservative Americans,
The years have not been kind to you. I grew up in a profoundly Republican home, so I can remember when you wore a very different face than the one we see now.  You’ve lost me and you’ve lost most of America.  Because I believe having responsible choices is important to democracy, I’d like to give you some advice and an invitation.
First, the invitation:  Come back to us.
Now the advice.  You’re going to have to come up with a platform that isn’t built on a foundation of cowardice: fear of people with colors, religions, cultures and sex lives that differ from your own; fear of reform in banking, health care, energy; fantasy fears of America being transformed into an Islamic nation, into social/commun/fasc-ism, into a disarmed populace put in internment camps; and more.  But you have work to do even before you take on that task.
Your party — the GOP — and the conservative end of the American political spectrum has become irresponsible and irrational.  Worse, it’s tolerating, promoting and celebrating prejudice and hatred.  Let me provide some examples — by no means an exhaustive list — of where the Right as gotten itself stuck in a swamp of hypocrisy, hyperbole, historical inaccuracy and hatred.If you’re going to regain your stature as a party of rational, responsible people, you’ll have to start by draining this swamp:
Hypocrisy
You cannot flip out — and threaten impeachment - when Dems use a preliminary procedure (deem and pass) that you used repeatedly (more than 35 times in just one session and more than 100 times in all!), that’s centuries old and which the courts have supported. Especially when your leaders admit it all.
You cannot vote and scream against the stimulus package and then take credit for the good it’s done in your own district (happily handing out enormous checks representing money that you voted against, is especially ugly) —  114 of you (at last count) did just that — and it’s even worse when you secretly beg for more.
You cannot fight against your own ideas just because the Dem president endorses your proposal.
You cannot call for a pay-as-you-go policy, and then vote against your own ideas.
Are they “unlawful enemy combatants” or are they “prisoners of war” at Gitmo? You cannot have it both ways.
You cannot carry on about the evils of government spending when your family has accepted more than a quarter-million dollars in government handouts.
You cannot refuse to go to a scheduled meeting, to which you were invited, and then blame the Dems because they didn’t meet with you.
You cannot rail against using Teleprompters while using Teleprompters. Repeatedly.
You cannot rail against the bank bailouts when you supported them as they were happening.
You cannot be for immigration reform, then against it .
You cannot enjoy socialized medicine while condemning it.
You cannot flip out when the black president puts his feet on the presidential desk when you were silent about white presidents doing the same.  Bush.  Ford.
You cannot complain that the president hasn’t closed Gitmo yet when you’ve campaigned to keep Gitmo open.
You cannot flip out when the black president bows to foreign dignitaries, as appropriate for their culture, when you were silent when the white presidents did the same. Bush.  Nixon. Ike. You didn’t even make a peep when Bush held hands and kissed (on the mouth) leaders of countries that are not on “kissing terms” with the US.
You cannot complain that the undies bomber was read his Miranda rights under Obama when the shoe bomber was read his Miranda rights under Bush and you remained silent.  (And, no, Newt – the shoe bomber was not a US citizen either, so there is no difference.)
You cannot attack the Dem president for not personally* publicly condemning a terrorist event for 72 hours when you said nothing about the Rep president waiting 6 days in an eerily similar incident (and, even then, he didn’t issue any condemnation).  *Obama administration did the day of the event.
You cannot throw a hissy fit, sound alarms and cry that Obama freed Gitmo prisoners who later helped plan the Christmas Day undie bombing, when — in fact — only one former Gitmo detainee, released by Dick Cheney and George W. Bush, helped to plan the failed attack.
You cannot condemn blaming the Republican president for an attempted terror attack on his watch, then blame the Dem president for an attempted terror attack on his.
You cannot mount a boycott against singers who say they’re ashamed of the president for starting a war, but remain silent when another singer says he’s ashamed of the president and falsely calls him a Maoist who makes him want to throw up and says he ought to be in jail.
You cannot cry that the health care bill is too long, and then cry that it’s too short.
You cannot support the individual mandate for health insurance, and then call it unconstitutional when Dems propose it and campaign against your own ideas.
You cannot demand television coverage, and then whine about it when you get it.  Repeatedly.
You cannot praise criminal trials in US courts for terror suspects under a Rep president, and then call it “treasonous” under a Dem president.
You cannot propose ideas to create jobs, and then work against them when the Dems put your ideas in a bill.
You cannot be both pro-choice and anti-choice.
You cannot damn someone for failing to pay $900 in taxes when you’ve paid nearly $20,000 in IRS fines.
You cannot condemn criticizing the president when US troops are in harm’s way, then attack the president when US troops are in harm’s way, the only difference being the president’s party affiliation (and, by the way, armed conflict does NOT remove our right and our duty as Americans to speak up).
You cannot be both for cap-and-trade policy and against it.
You cannot vote to block debate on a bill, then bemoan the lack of ‘open debate’.
If you push anti-gay legislation and make anti-gay speeches, you should probably take a pass on having gay sex, regardless of whether it’s 2004 or 2010.  This is true, too, if you’re taking GOP money and giving anti-gay rants on CNN.  Taking right-wing money and GOP favors to write anti-gay stories for news sites while working as a gay prostitute, doubles down on both the hypocrisy and the prostitution.  This is especially true if you claim your anti-gay stand is God’s stand, too.
When you chair the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, you cannot send sexy emails to 16-year-old boys (illegal anyway, but you made it hypocritical as well).
You cannot criticize Dems for not doing something you didn’t do while you held power over the past 16 years, especially when the Dems have done more in one year than you did in 16.
You cannot decry “name calling” when you’ve been the most consistent and outrageous at it. And the most vile.
You cannot spend more than 40 years hating, cutting and trying to kill Medicare, and then pretend to be the defenders of Medicare
You cannot praise the Congressional Budget Office when its analysis produces numbers that fit your political agenda, then claim it’s unreliable when it comes up with numbers that don’t.
You cannot vote for X under a Republican president, then vote against X under a Democratic president.  Either you support X or you don’t. And it makes it worse when you change your position merely for the sake obstructionism.
You cannot call reconciliation out of bounds when you used it repeatedly.
You cannot spend tax-payer money on ads against spending tax-payer money.
You cannot condemn individual health insurance mandates in a Dem bill, when the mandates were your idea.
You cannot demand everyone listen to the generals when they say what fits your agenda, and then ignore them when they don’t.
You cannot whine that it’s unfair when people accuse you of exploiting racism for political gain, when your party’s former leader admits you’ve been doing it for decades.
You cannot portray yourself as fighting terrorists when you openly and passionately support terrorists.
You cannot complain about a lack of bipartisanship when you’ve routinely obstructed for the sake of political gain — threatening to filibuster at least 100 pieces of legislation in one session, far more than any other since the procedural tactic was invented — and admitted it.  Some admissions are unintentional, others are made proudly. This is especially true when the bill is the result of decades of compromise between the two parties and is filled with your own ideas.
You cannot question the loyalty of Department of Justice lawyers when you didn’t object when your own Republican president appointed them.
You cannot preach and try to legislate “Family Values” when you: take nude hot tub dips with teenagers (and pay them hush money); cheat on your wife with a secret lover and lie about it to the world; cheat with a staffer’s wife (and pay them off with a new job); pay hookers for sex while wearing a diaper and cheating on your wife; or just enjoying an old fashioned non-kinky cheating on your wife; try to have gay sex in a public toilet; authorize the rape of children in Iraqi prisons to coerce their parents into providing information; seek, look at or have sex with children; replace a guy who cheats on his wife with a guy who cheats on his pregnant wife with his wife’s mother;
Hyperbole
You really need to disassociate with those among you who:

• assert that people making a quarter-million dollars a year can barely make ends meet or that $1 million “isn’t a lot of money”;
• say that “Comrade” Obama is a “Bolshevik” who is “taking cues from Lenin”;
• ignore the many times your buddies use a term that offends you and complain only when a Dem says it;
• liken political opponents to murderers, rapists, and “this Muslim guy” that “offed his wife’s head” or call then “un-American”;
• say Obama “wants his plan to fail…so that he can make the case for bank nationalization and vindicate his dream of a socialist economy”;
• equate putting the good of the people ahead of your personal fortunes with terrorism;
• smear an entire major religion with the actions of a few fanatics;
• say that the president wants to “annihilate us”;
• compare health care reform with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a Bolshevik plot the attack on 9/11,or reviving the ghosts of communist dictators (update: it’s also not Armageddon);
• equate our disease-fighting stem cell research with “what the Nazis did”;
• call a bill passed by the majority of both houses of Congress, by members of Congress each elected by a majority in their districts, an unconscionable abuse of power, a violation of the presidential oath or “the end of representative government”;
• shout “baby killer” at a member of Congress on the floor of the House, especially one who so fought against abortion rights that he nearly killed health care reform (in fact, a little decorum, a little respect for our national institutions and the people and the values they represent, would be refreshing — cut out the shouting, the swearing and the obscenities);
• prove your machismo by claiming your going to “crash a party” to which you’re officially invited;
• claim that Obama is pushing America’s “submission to Shariah”;
• question the patriotism of people upholding cherished American values and the rule of law;
• claim the president is making us less safe without a hint of evidence;
• call a majority vote the “tyranny of the minority,” even if you meant to call it tyranny of the majority — it’s democracy, not tyranny;
• call the president’s support of a criminal trial for a terror suspect “treasonous” (especially when you supported the same thing when the president shared your party);
• call the Pope the anti-Christ;
• assert that the constitutionally mandated census is an attempt to enslave us;
• accuse opponents of being backed by Arab slave-drivers, drunk and suicidal;
• equate family planning with eugenics or Nazism;
• accuse the president of changing the missile defense program’s logo to match his campaign logo and reflect what you say is his secret Muslim identity;
• accuse political opponents of being totalitarians, socialists, communists, fascists, Marxists;  terrorist sympathizers, McCarthy-like, Nazis or drug pushers; and
• advocate a traitors act like secession, violent revolution , military coup or civil war (just so we’re clear: sedition is a bad thing).

History
If you’re going to use words like socialism, communism and fascism, you must have at least a basic understanding of what those words mean (hint: they’re NOT synonymous!)
You cannot cut a leading Founding Father out the history books because you’ve decided you don’t like his ideas.
You cannot repeatedly assert that the president refuses to say the word “terrorism” or say we’re at war with terror when we have an awful lot of videotape showing him repeatedly assailing terrorism and using those exact words.
If you’re going to invoke the names of historical figures, it does not serve you well to whitewash them. Especially this one.
You cannot just pretend historical events didn’t happen in an effort to make a political opponent look dishonest or to make your side look better. Especially these events. (And, no, repeating it doesn’t make it better.)
You cannot say things that are simply and demonstrably false: health care reform will not push people out of their private insurance and into a government-run program ; health care reform (which contains a good many of your ideas“socialist utopia”; health care reform is not “reparations”; nor does health care reform create “death panels”. and very few from the Left) is a long way from
Hatred
You have to condemn those among you who:

• call members of Congress n*gger and f*ggot;
• elected leaders who say “I’m a proud racist”;
• state that America has been built by white people;
• say that poor people are poor because they’re rotten people, call them “parasitic garbage” or say they shouldn’t be allowed to vote;
• call women bitches and prostitutes just because you don’t like their politics     ( re - pea -ted - ly );
• assert that the women who are serving our nation in uniform are hookers;
• mock and celebrate the death of a grandmother because you disagree with her son’s politics;
• declare that those who disagree with you are shown by that disagreement to be not just “Marxist radicals” but also monsters and a deadly disease killing the nation (this would fit in the hyperbole and history categories, too);
• joke about blindness;
• advocate euthanizing the wife of your political opponent;
• taunt people with incurable, life-threatening diseases — especially if you do it on a syndicated broadcast;
• equate gay love with bestiality — involving  horses or dogs or turtles or ducks — or polygamy, child molestation, pedophilia;
• casually assume that only white males look “like a real American”;
• assert presidential power to authorize torture,  torture a child by having his testicles crushed in front of his parents to get them to talk, order the massacre of a civilian village  and launch a nuclear attack without the consent of Congress;
• attack children whose mothers have died;
• call people racists without producing a shred of evidence that they’ve said or done something that would even smell like racism — same for invoking racially charged “dog whistle” words (repeatedly);
• condemn the one thing that every major religion agrees on;
• complain that we no longer employ the tactics we once used to disenfranchise millions of Americans because of their race;
• blame the victims of natural disasters and terrorist attacks for their suffering and losses;
• celebrate violence , joke about violence, prepare for violence or use violent imagery, “fun” politicalhints of violence, threats of violence (this one is rather explicit), suggestions of violence or actualsuggesting anal rape with a hot piece of metal is beyond the pale); and violence,  violence (and, really,
• Incite insurrection telling people to get their guns ready for a “bloody battle” with the president of the United States.

Oh, and I’m not alone:  One of your most respected and decorated leaders agrees with me.
So, dear conservatives, get to work.  Drain the swamp of the conspiracy nuts, the bold-faced liars undeterred by demonstrable facts, the overt hypocrisy and the hatred.  Then offer us a calm, responsible, grownup agenda based on your values and your vision for America.  We may or may not agree with your values and vision, but we’ll certainly welcome you back to the American mainstream with open arms.  We need you.