BartBlog

December 30, 2010

Emperor Christie Fiddles at Disney World While New Jerseyans Burn

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Clueless Christie’s Katrina Moment and Palin Takes a Dive

“Hanging out with Mickey Mouse while backs all over New Jersey ache under the strain of shoveling two feet of snow will probably not help his [Christie's] poll numbers at home either. The Hill also reports that Christie’s popularity in New Jersey slipped five points in a Quinnipiac poll released this month.”
– Joshua Norman, “Chris Christie Under Fire for Disney World Vacation During Blizzard,” CBS News, Dec. 28, 2010.

Is Snowstorm Aftermath NJ Gov. Chris Christie’s Katrina?
– Sara Kugler Frazier, AP, Dec. 30, 2010.

“Alaska doesn’t care for Sarah Palin. In fact, other than (predictably) Massachusetts, the ex-governor’s home state has the ‘dimmest’ view of the reality TV star in the entire nation. That’s one of the takeaways in Public Policy Polling’s new report, which paints a discouraging portrait of the Sarah Palin’s drooping favorability ratings across America and on her home turf. Only 33 percent of Alaskans have a favorable opinion of Palin, and only 60 percent of Alaskan Republicans have embraced her (as opposed to 80 percent of the GOP faithful in ‘most places’ across the country).”
– Erik Hayden, “Palin Loves Alaska, But the Feeling Isn’t Mutual,” The Atlantic Wire, Dec. 29, 2010.

Poll: No Longer ‘Sarah Palin’s Alaska’– Jordan Fabian, The Hill, Dec. 28, 2010.

December 28, 2010

Guess what? Jesus ain’t gonna save us

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , — Jane Stillwater @ 12:36 pm

Richard M. Nixon is the only president in U.S. history to lose a war retroactively!

America lost its war with Vietnam back in 1973 — on President Nixon’s watch. But who would have thought that, approximately 35 years later, Nixon again would be losing us yet another war — the war with China.

Back in 1973, America was still a major manufacturing nation, we still had a huge tax base and when you turned stuff over in the store before you bought it, it still read “Made in America” on the back.

Now when you turn stuff over in the store, it is all reads “Made in China”.

America’s public and private debt to China appears to be un-estimatible — due to secrecy, unavailability of records, tax evasion, offshore banking hidey-holes, bribes and kickbacks. However, you could probably get a general idea of how much we owe China if you just add enough zeroes to practically any number you chose. I myself figure it this way: If America owes 8.68 trillion dollars in debt in total, then it’s probably safe to say that a whole bunch of that debt — if you subtract the part that has fluttered its way over to Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine — has somehow managed to find its way over to China.

Nixon, when you opened up China’s vast markets to the West back in 1972, I presume that you were hoping to exploit them to the advantage of American-based global corporations. However, what actually happened was that you somehow managed to fire the first shot in an economic war with China that was far larger and more serious than even the Vietnam war — and possibly even World War II. And, if you look at all the bloody casualties in America’s debit column today, it becomes immediately clear that Nixon’s economic war on China has definitely been LOST.

Nixon in China. How ironic is that? The guy managed to lose what may prove to be the biggest war America has ever fought — and to lose it 15 years after he died! Good going there, Dick. I think you just set a record.

But if America was to attempt to turn this war around, come from behind at the tail-end of the last quarter and actually try to win it, we would have to pay off all of our debts to China. And to do that, we would have to stop importing goods from abroad and manufacture almost everything here.

In addition, every man, woman and child in America would, for approximately the next ten years, have to save every spare penny and live at the same economic level as a Cantonese peasant did during China’s Cultural Revolution. And yet how are these same Cantonese peasants living today? They are driving cars, eating at KFC and shopping the malls — thanks to Nixon.

But what, you might ask, do all of these economic disasters have to do with Jesus? That’s easy. I keep getting e-mails from Teabaggers telling me that if we all just turn to Jesus, all of our problems will be over. Not.

But then I got to thinking — perhaps those Teabaggers might be right!

If every man, woman and child in America began living like Jesus for the next ten years, then perhaps we could win that war with China after all. If all of us Americans all started to give up high-fashion and just wear sheets for clothes, started living in mangers, stables and Upper Rooms, started living on matzos and hummus and olives and fish, using no electricity and riding around on donkeys instead of SUVs, then, by golly, I think we could actually do it! We could actually win back all that ground that we lost after China won Nixon’s war.

But that ain’t gonna happen.

China owns America now. And the Teabaggers’ Jesus — the one who demands that we offer absolute fealty to WalMart and the Pentagon, the Party of No and a security state — ain’t never gonna save us from that fact.

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December 6, 2010

Boehner’s GOP Twist of Fate

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November 26, 2010

The Tattlesnake – Thank God They’re a Small Minority Edition

“It’s plain hokum. If you can’t convince ‘em, confuse ‘em. It’s an old political trick.”
– Harry S Truman

Your Tattlesnake has had running arguments with various Teabaggers and Tea Party sympathizers for many months now and they all share the same tactic: Should you ask a question they can’t answer or make a point they can’t refute, they start screaming at you or rudely talking over you, as if the volume of their voice can eradicate reality and reason. This leads not to debate, but confrontation, and that seems to be what they want.

Beyond that, exactly how do you ‘debate’ people who insist:

– There are no racists in the Tea Party movement;

– It’s Obama and not George W. Bush who started the TARP bailouts of the banks and Wall Street;

– The terrible economy is exclusively the fault of Obama and his liberal social programs;

– All of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s social programs were complete failures;

– Social Security, Medicare, the VA and the GI Bill were/are not liberal social programs;

– Obama has raised taxes for the poor and middle-class;

– Obama is a Muslim/socialist/communist (take your pick) plotting the downfall of the US backed by George Soros’ money (and Soros was a teenage Nazi, too, incidentally);

– Rupert Murdoch is completely different from Soros, since he’s a loyal, patriotic American (Murdoch is, of course, from Australia);

– Obama was not born in this country and the ‘liberal media’ is hiding the truth;

– Sarah Palin has been shunned by the ‘lamestream’ media, despite the millions she’s made from doting MSM coverage of her;

– God has personally chosen the Tea Party candidates and opposition candidates are all the pawns of Satan;

– The only economic system God approves of is free market capitalism (you can look it up — it’s in the Bible somewhere);

– Jesus endorsed the death penalty; it’s obvious because he – duh – allowed himself to die on the cross;

– Liberals, not big corporations, are sending American jobs overseas to Communist countries like China in a conspiracy to position China to take over the U.S.;

(more…)

November 22, 2010

Thank a Republican in Advance!

Filed under: Opinion,Toon — Tags: , , , , , — RS Janes @ 4:15 am

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November 21, 2010

The Tattlesnake – Debunking Five Current Media Myths Edition

“Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
– George Bernard Shaw

1. The Republicans are going to end earmarks. Ha, ha! Both parties, but especially the GOP, thrive on earmarks – not only does it bring home the bacon, but it’s a nice covert way to reward their corporate sponsors. The typically devious Republicans, with the help of some Blue Dog Dems in the Senate, are just going to change the name to something like ‘help American families add-ons’ or ‘freedom appropriation inserts’ and continue to happily earmark away.

2. The Republican Party is now strong. Another laugher. The GOP had to rebrand as the ‘new Tea Party GOP’ in 2010 and none of their candidates dared campaign with Junior Bush. In TV ads, many GOP candidates did not even mention they were Republicans. Rand Paul, the only true Teabagger in the Senate, is now making noises like a “go along to get along” guy, and various naïve Teabaggers in the House, like the anti-government-paid health care dimwit who demanded his government-paid health care ahead of schedule, have begun showing their strong streak of stupid, even before January’s official swearing in. Most of us have noticed it’s not the mid-90s anymore, with the booming economy of the Clinton years, except for Republicans like Rep. Darrell Issa. Tying the House up in endless attempts to impeach Obama is not going to endear the GOP to a crumbling nation dealing with what is really the second Great Depression. And some of the Teabaggers may be gravely offended to discover that the GOP has been lying to them. It’s going to be a fractious two years in Congress that won’t come out well for the GOP in 2012.

3. The Republicans have a plan to restore jobs. Related to the item above, and every bit as hilarious, the GOP has nothing except ‘tax cuts’ (spin and repeat, ad nauseum), and that isn’t going to create any jobs except at corporate PR firms trying to peddle the fraud that tax cuts are working to create jobs, and that’s not nearly enough to refloat the fast-sinking economy. As the fading middle-class notices its nails are ripping off trying to hang on to what they have left, brand ‘Tea Party Republican’ will become a political curse as loaded with negative connotations as ‘Communist’ or ‘Cheney’ is today.

4. The Republicans can balance the budget. The GOP hasn’t been able to balance the federal budget since Reagan took office, and without Clinton-inspired tax hikes and a few turns by Big Bill, there wouldn’t have been a surplus in 2000. Since the GOP doesn’t want to end two over-priced wars from which their corporate supporters are getting wealthier, truly reform our wastefully expensive health care system, remove corporate tax loopholes, separate commercial and investment banks, and cut the defense budget drastically, that leaves social spending like Social Security and Medicare on the block. The unvarnished truth: Even if the GOP junked all federal social programs, which they won’t be able to do, they still wouldn’t be able to balance the budget. In fact, with their tax cuts for the wealthy of prime importance, along with preserving corporate tax loopholes, they’ll be adding another trillion dollars to the debt. They’ll remain the ‘put it on the credit card and blame the Democrats’ party they’ve been for 30 years.

5. The Democrats lost because they went too far left. Au contraire, mon frere, as George Carlin used to say. Think of it: In spite of the corporate millions that poured into the Senate race in Nevada, the GOP couldn’t score what should have been an easy victory. In California, progressive and GOP target Barbara Boxer prevailed, and the Tea Party proved its basic worthlessness in the “I’m not a witch” fiasco that was Christine O’Donnell in Delaware. Only in those areas of the country dominated by Fox News and AM radio right-wing talkers, and not much counter-balancing local media, where the Teabaggers could work without serious scrutiny, did they score wins, mostly against Blue Dog Dems. The reason a lot of Dems stayed home in 2010 is that they were tired of voting for progressive Democrats and getting Republican Lite. Obama and the Dems should listen to the wisdom of Harry Truman, a Democrat who prevailed during a bad time for Dems in the late 1940s, “Given the choice between a Republican and a Democrat who acts like a Republican, people will vote for the real Republican every time.”

Obama and the Dems might also heed this advice from Give ‘Em Hell Harry: “Carry the battle to them. Don’t let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don’t ever apologize for anything.”

But let’s not expect too much.

© 2010 RS Janes. LTSaloon.org.

November 20, 2010

Sarah Palin’s Alaska – The Uncut Version

Filed under: Opinion,Toon — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — RS Janes @ 8:19 am

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November 19, 2010

Sarah Palin’s Alaska — The Edited Version

Filed under: Opinion,Toon — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — RS Janes @ 6:27 am

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Stay tuned for the uncut version tomorrow.

November 15, 2010

Rupert Murdoch’s New Fox Tea Party Network TV Schedule

What will the defeated Tea Party candidates and their helpers do for a job now? Go to work for Uncle Rupert, of course!

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November 13, 2010

Voters Fooled Again By GOP in 2010

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November 9, 2010

The Coming GOP Civil War

Filed under: Opinion,Toon — Tags: , , , , , , — RS Janes @ 2:55 am

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November 8, 2010

The Teabaggers Go To Washington

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November 6, 2010

Paladino’s Weird Love

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November 5, 2010

The Tattlesnake – Jon Stewart WTF?!? and Other Miscellaneous Head-Slappers Edition

– What is Jon Stewart playing at? I’m a big fan of The Daily Show star and think he’s done a great job in the past, so it pains me to write this, but WTF?!? Okay, so to make his point at the Rally to Restore Sanity he tossed Keith Olbermann and Ed Schultz under the same bus reserved for Glenn Beck and Fox News. Last Monday, Olbermann graciously took his point and even cancelled indefinitely one of my favorite Countdown segments, “Worst Persons in the World.” But the other day on TDS, here’s Stewart heaping honey on Chris Wallace of Fox News and agreeing to appear on Wallace’s “Fox News Sunday.” Yes, he took a few mild swipes at Fox’s obvious Republican partisanship, but he also equated MSNBC, the home of Olbermann and Schulz, to a AA ball club compared to the Big Leaguers at Fox. He didn’t mean that in a complimentary way, but Jon can’t seriously believe there is any parity between what Fox does and what MSNBC does. (For one thing, Fox doesn’t give a liberal Democrat a three-hour weekday morning program, as MSNBC has with conservative Republican Joe Scarborough.) Put simply: Fox lies, as Stewart well knows, and MSNBC’s progressive hosts, even though they may display passion for their side, don’t. You can’t possibly have a restoration of sanity without fact, and Jon Stewart knows that, as well. So, why is Stewart trying to make them both seem equal? A few possibilities:

(H/T to the Bartcop main page for the graphic)

H/T to the Bartcop main page for the graphic

1. Since the hosts at MSNBC won’t be invited on Fox – even Ed Schultz is banned now, I’ve heard – perhaps Stewart sees himself as the voice of reason who can parry the thrusts of the Noise Machine and inject some truth into Fox’s stream-of-conspicuous nonsense. To do that, he must maintain some semblance of being ‘reasonable,’ which means to the right-wingers attacking MSNBC and progressives. Note: If this is the case, Obama has tried this tactic for the last two years and just had his head handed to him. It doesn’t work.

2. Maybe Stewart just has some personal animosity toward Olbermann and Schultz and he’s taking it out this way. That would be mighty petty of him, but nobody’s perfect, particularly in an ego-driven arena like show business.

3. This is the ugly one: Comedy Central is owned by corporate media giant Viacom and it’s possible they finally noticed TDS and Stewart have had quite an impact on recent elections and the voting trends of those under 30. Was Stewart brought in by Bush-backer and Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone for a pointed “Network” reminder of who signs his paychecks and told to back off? I have noticed Jon has been much more civil to right-wingers this year, even bottom of the barrel types like Bill O’Reilly. I’d hate to think the reason he’s promoting this ‘equivalency’ is that he doesn’t want to end up back humping the comedy club circuit doing 300 “Hey, I’ll be at McLaughington’s in Akron on Friday!” road gigs a year. He’s now a middle-aged man with a home, wife, family and a pile of bills – powerful reasons to toe the corporate line.

4. And this is the really horrible one: Perhaps his head is being turned by the ‘charm’ of the right-wing corporatists; they can be very persuasive ‘good guys’ in person, unless you remember the whole fetid history of the Republican Party of the past 30 years. I recall when Dennis Miller had his HBO show years ago: first he brought on right-wingers to lightly mock them, as Stewart does; then he had them on to explain their positions while he nodded his head; then he became one of the Pod People himself. Miller should be a warning of what happens to those who turn their backs on sanity and the facts – they end up losing their core audience, and money, as they perform for a bunch of dimwit thumbsuckers who don’t get their jokes.

5. Even more horrible than the last one: Stewart is angling for a nice, long-term berth at Fox hosting a TDS-style political satire show. It’s no secret Roger Ailes has been looking to compete with TDS; what better way than to back up Murdoch’s money truck and hire away Stewart? (Think Karl Rove: attack their strong point.) I’d hate to think this is Stewart’s motivation, but it’s a possibility.

Whatever the reason is, I wish Stewart would, in the interest of fairness, have Olbermann and Schultz as guests on his show to present their side, as he does with the Fox Newsers. (And Olbermann and Schultz should reciprocate by having Stewart on their shows to explain himself.) Let’s clear the air.

I hope this is all a tiff among friends, rather than the creation of another Miller monstrosity or Ailes attack dog.

(more…)

November 2, 2010

Vote for Your 2010 Republican Tea Party Candidates!

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October 30, 2010

The Teabaggers: Rock ‘Em, Stomp ‘Em Robots of the Right

Filed under: Opinion,Toon — Tags: , , , , , , , , — RS Janes @ 3:30 am

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