It's Amazing What Brains Can Do For The Presidency: Obama's First 45 Days

Signing the orders on Gitmo

Watching the President work through his first 100 days is almost as tiring as being the President during that short period of time. To say that he hit the ground running after his inauguration would be an understatement. And while anyone in the office could have done better than backslapping George, Barack Obama managed to do more in less time and under the worst conditions ever presented to a President since Roosevelt.

Since Jan. 20th, President Barack Obama has:

• Suspended all pending federal regulations so that they could be reviewed. Bush had done the same thing when he first came to office. Difference: Bush sneaked in over 200 deregulations while Clinton issued only 12 executive orders.
• Enacted a wage freeze for Senior White House Staff.
• Announced stricter guidelines regarding lobbyists.
• Signed executive order suspending all on-going proceedings for Guantanamo Military Commission and that the facility would be closed within a year.
• Signed an order to restrict interrogations to the Army Field Manual.
• Issued Ethics Commitment by Executive Branch Personnel setting stricter limits on incoming executive branch employees.
• Signed two memoranda regarding energy independence.
• Rescinded the Mexico City Policy, banning funds to international groups that provide abortion services. ·
• Established the policy of producing a weekly Saturday morning video released through Whitehouse.gov and YouTube.com.
• Signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
• Increased Afghanistan troops by 17,000.
• Outlined an exit strategy for the Iraq war.
  
• Formulated and signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

In contrast, George Bush (first term):

• Proposed a $1.6 Trillion tax cut - Unsuccessfully.
• Established The Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, but didn't fund it with the promised $2 billion.
• Abandoned The Kyoto Protocol.
• Built up the country's missile defense system.

(second term):

• Failed attempt to privatize Social Security
• Signed the Class Action Fairness Act
• Five-day European Tour to repair alliances
• Nominated John Bolton as the US Ambassador to the United Nations while congress was in recess because both parties filibustered the nomination.
• Proposed an energy plan that gave subsidies to oil, coal, nuclear and gas industries.
  

The Fair Trade of Hatred: Who's Importing and Who's Exporting?

Hatred Does Globalization

(With a little help from the Christian Right,
Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and right-wingnuts overseas)

When Fred Phelps and his daughter were denied access to Great Britain because of their reputation as hate mongers, we all cheered for Britain. Britain then gave an encore performance in the form of its Prime Minister coming out against California's famous Proposition 8:

From 365gay.com:

"This attempt to undo good that has been done is unacceptable,” Brown said. “This shows why we have always got to be vigilant, always got to fight homophobic behavior and any form of discrimination.”

While most of America's hate groups are home-grown (KKK, Christian Identity) some, like Watchmen on the Walls have come in from other countries. Watchmen comes from Latvia (one of the few foreign places that embraced Bush when he came for a conference in Riga). It preaches hatred against gays and Jews.

From Wikipdia:

In Latvia, the Watchmen are popular among Christian fundamentalists and ethnic Russians, and are known for presiding over anti-gay rallies where gays and lesbians are pelted with bags of excrement. In the Western U.S., the Watchmen have a following among Russian-speaking evangelicals from the former Soviet Union. Members are increasingly active in several cities long known as gay-friendly enclaves, including Sacramento, Seattle and Portland.

Watchmen on the Walls is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Of course, since America has an overabundance of hate groups and far-right supporters, it's only natural that we should start exporting some of them: in the form of good will and religion, of course.

From PinkNews UK.:

(New York, March 4)- The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) condemned a seminar designed to attack lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Ugandans under the cloak of religion.

The American religious right is finally showing its hand and revealing the depth of its support for homophobia in Africa," said IGLHRC's Executive Director Cary Alan Johnson.

In African countries as well as other countries around the globe where right-wing Christian ministries are now rooted, HIV rates have gone up amongst gays because they are denied treatment and prevention programs. In some countries, being gay is a criminal offense. And missionaries do little or nothing to stop the hatred from spreading. As in the above, they actually help the stigma to proliferate. Even though prominent churchmen such as Desmond Tutu have come out against discrimination, the powers of the American missionaries (bearing medicine and preaching abstinence-only prevention) is too strong:

Afrol News:

Desmond Tutu, the former Archbishop of Cape Town and a Nobel Peace Price winner, has lent his name to the fight against homophobia in Africa and around the world. The prominent South African says homophobia is a "crime against humanity" and "every bit unjust" as apartheid.

Here's a belated but (hopefully) related thought: just how much hatred is exported by authors/media people like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter? A good deal of their books have been translated into foreign languages and Ann herself can boast just how many copies of her books have floated overseas.

And how many viewers overseas do the televangelists have? Certainly more than we have progressives.

Rick Warren's largesse in Africa still demands conversions, and along with those conversions come new crops of right wing righteous zealots. After all, his motto is "Whatever it takes."

Just a thought.

*Lively is also a renowned Holocaust denier.

Back Tomorrow!

Bus Tours Of The Rich and Homophobic

There's something about Prop 8 bigots that make them look hysterically funny. Maybe it's their skewed reasoning or their pathetic posturing as arbiters of morals. The post below had me laughing...for a while. I kept envisioning gays on street corners hawking maps to celebrity bigot sights or whole bus loads of gay tourists passing by shocked June Cleavers, their pearls popping off in fright.

I've known about RENEW AMERICA's horrendous posts, but the one below is no laughing matter.
This is FOR REAL:

From RENEW AMERICA - Jen Schroder
Prop 8: The People Have Spoken!

...Meanwhile conservative writers are running for cover because of threats by gay activists who openly continue to search and exact retribution from those who oppose them. Maps to the homes of those who donated to Proposition 8 have been posted. Gay blogs have posted to let up on voters, go after those who speak out. Businesses have been shut down, churches have been vandalized and sent white powder, Christians have been chased down for openly praying, swastikas are waved at parishioners, paint has been thrown at homes, riot police have been called out, yet parents are arrested for trying to intervene as children are taught homosexual conditioning.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but back in September, didn't it come out in the news that Prop 8 campaign had tried to extort money from the 30 top Equality California donors? Didn't they threaten to publish their names on a list of "against marriage and the family" businesses, thereby causing ruinous boycotts?

And the other accusations: "chased down for openly praying" "parents arrested" "homosexual conditioning." WOW! I had no idea that gays were so vindictive and violent. And I certainly didn't think gays would stoop that low as to do what Prop 8ers would do if they didn't have "Christian" emblazened on everything.

We watch in disbelief as we hear incident after incident of parents being threatened by the removal of their children if they attempt to protect their children from homosexual conditioning. One parent was recently arrested for doing so. WE, THE PEOPLE, HAVE SPOKEN. We approved Prop 8! And should California's Supreme Court rule to overturn it, then WE, THE PEOPLE will be nothing less than legislatively raped and sodomized. This will no longer be a country of "We, the People" but rather "We, the Oppressed" under tyranny.

I've included the author profile of Jen Shroder below. Notice that she thinks schools are being overrun by gays AND Muslims. Perhaps she thinks that Islam has joined forces with the Human Rights Campaign?

Also on the blog:

• Obama's intentional destruction of America.
• Confused by Obama's planned obliteration of USA?
• Rod Blagojevich's favorite priest?
• Obama WH secret phone conferences bear fruit with TV media's Limbaugh attack
• Obama Chronicles V: Contrary to conscience
• US federal agent cautions travelers headed to Mexico.
• Hillary's tools of disposal: Our children for Islam?
  

This site isn't for the faint of heart. Nor for anyone who HAS a heart. Makes "Bleeding heart liberal sound pretty good, doesn't it?
Jen Shroder is founder of BlessedCause, dedicated to restoring sanity to our public schools and exposing the Islamic indoctrination of American textbooks and required prayers to Allah. Shroder has been interviewed by Fox News, Associated Press, and dozens of talk radio/news media.

The Face of the Right: Now THAT'S Entertainment!

Hey, Gang! The Circus Is In Town!
And With Lot's of Ring Leaders!

Rahm Emmanuel on Face The Nation:

He's asked for President Obama and called for President Obama to fail. That's his view. And that's what he has enunciated. And whenever a Republican criticizes him, they have to run back and apologize to him and say they were misunderstood. He is the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party.

Rahm Emmanuel is politically astute, so let's hope that he's right. If the Republican Party can bow down to a demagogue like Limbow-wow it is indeed in bad shape. An intellectual force? Perhaps a trifle above George Bush. Energy? Fueled by arrogance and disdain. Tony Perkins of FRC is even doing kow-tow:

If 20 million people are tuning in to Rush Limbaugh every day, then obviously he has something significant to say. Instead of attacking the voices that resonate most with grassroots America, Republican leaders would be wise to listen to them. Otherwise, a party on the verge of irrelevance will find itself on the brink of extinction.

President Obama may have inadvertently started a war with the rotund Rottweiler but he would be wise to ignore the ravings of Limbow-wow. He should rise above it all and allow Limbow-wow to rant himself into insanity. When megalomania hits, it hits hard. Few Republicans like standard-bearers to begin with. Someone will eventually take down the barking dog and replace it with something more in tune with what the conservative public want. This self-proclaimed acolyte of William F. Buckley isn't it. His lies and distortions will come to haunt him.

Just a thought.

CPAC: Just How Different Was This Hate Fair Than a Palin Rally?

Rush's inspired conservatives coming out of the CPAC

There weren't quite as many death threats on
Barack Obama from the audience.

When people cheer a demagogue like Rush Limbow-wow, it's time to be afraid ...for people's lives.

And people were cheering, clapping, hooting not only at Limbow-wow but at the other speakers like Mike Huckabee, the man who insisted that we change the Constitution to reflect God's laws.

I'm talking about the Conservative Political Action Congress which has for years spewed out as much hatred and invective to liberals as any one Ann Coulter(geist) book.

Looked at it from a humorous angle: the roster of "movers and shakers" reminded me of one of those little cars at the circus that stop and belch out a seemingly endless number of clowns

Events included were:

Breakfast with Phyllis Schlafly: “Doing the Impossible” (which for Schlafly, was getting up for the breakfast)

Sarah Palin Unplugged on the Media Video Interview
Diplomat Ballroom (I'm not kidding - the irony strikes me as well)

New Challenges in the Culture War Beverly LaHaye

Targets of the Fairness Doctrine: Tucker Carlson

Al Franken and ACORN: How Liberals are Destroying the American Election System
The Heritage Foundation

PRESIDENTIAL BANQUET Regency Ballroom
Master of Ceremonies: Rep. Michelle Bachmann (MN) (Get set for some rapier-like Christofascist wit)

And, of course, there were book signings

John Bolton Surrender Is Not An Option

Stephan Baldwin
The Death and Life of Gabriel Phillips

Hon. Mike Huckabee
Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That's Bringing Common Sense Back to America

Newt Gingrich
Real Change: From the World That Fails to the World That Works

And, of course, the ubiquitous Ann Coulter (no right wing rant would be complete without her)
Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault on America


But the true shining moment, the one white knight everyone had waited for, the one they had strewn a path of rose petals for, the hand of whom they knew would heal their scrofula came on Saturday evening, amidst all of the glitz and glamor of the shining stars of conservatism (Stephen Baldwin, Gasp!!) His Royal Hind-ass Rush Limbow-wow appeared to give his blessings to everyone and continue the screed with which, by now, they had become drunk.

In America, when a President tries to point out the undue influence of a conservative radio talk show host, he gets castigated beyond belief.

From the Telegraph (UK)

He then told them to break free of the confrontational mindset epitomised by Mr Limbaugh, the highest paid talk show host in America. "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," Mr Obama said.

Look at that statement again. Few people would ever argue that Obama gives rash, off-the-cuff statements such as his predecessor did. The phraseology is centered around the word "just" - meaning "only". Conservatives have completely erased that word. With their castigations in full swing, the sentence has become "You can't listen to Rush Limbaugh to get things done," substituting "and" with "to".

Upon presentation of an award to Limbow-wow. This was said:

From ThinkProgress.com

Just as the king’s successor [a rather lame analogy to King George III in response to Benjamin Franklin], who is in the White House, said the other day, that conservatives will never be successful if they listen to Rush Limbaugh. The only way we will be successful is if we listen to Rush Limbaugh!

This kind of rhetoric is setting up a demagogue to become a demigod. Or god. Or dictator. Conservatives depend on fear. Their campaigns are shaped by fear. Obama's campaign was shaped on hope and change. Conservatives warned that any kind of change would be ruinous: fear what you can't see, fear the future, fear liberalism. Tell them their rights are bein taken away from them. On this last note, Limbow-wow tried to get all flag-wavy when he said this:

We believe that the preamble to the Constitution contains an inarguable truth that we are all endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life. [Applause] Liberty, Freedom. [Applause] And the pursuit of happiness.

Limbaugh doesn't remember his third grade history lessons: his quote was from the Declaration of Independence, NOT the Constitution. And for anyone to take on a Constitutional scholar such as Barack Obama, was very foolish.

[Crowd Booing] Mrs. Clinton--- said she had to, willingly suspend disbelief in order to listen to Petraeus. We're in the process of winning the war. The last thing they wanted was to win. They hoped George Bush failed. So what is so strange about being honest to say that I want Barack Obama to fail if his mission is to restructure and reform this country so that capitalism and individual liberty are not its foundation? Why would I want that to succeed? [Applause]

Liberals/Progressives didn't need to see Bush fail. We were seeing his failures take place right before our eyes. Conservatives distrust "intellectuals" to the point that they will vote for a backslapping good-ole-boy dimwit. The secrecy of the Bush administration made the people fearful not simply because there were secrets, but because they had a strong sense that meetings and documents proved that the administration did not want ANY form of transparency. In other words, to tell the people what was going on was verboten.

Limbow-wow's rhetoric border's on classic hate speech. And because he has a right to say it, he's using it (as usual) to distort and frame ideas in a way that only he seems to be cognizant of.

[Race] doesn't matter. He's liberal is what matters to me. And his articulated -- his articulated plans scare me. Now, I understand we can't say we want the President to fail, Mr. Limbaugh. That's like saying -- this is the voice of the New Castrati, by the way, guys who have lost their guts. You can't say Mr. Limbaugh that you want the President to fail because that's like saying you want the country to fail. It's the opposite. I want the country to survive. I want the country to succeed. [Cheers and Applause]

"Race doesn't matter"... so how many African Americans were there in the audience? Now that the Republican National Chairman is of a different color, race will never more be an issue? Right. Furthermore, "surviving" and "succeeding" are two entirely different things, but Limbaugh equates them. And he never explains success. No man who makes more each year than star athletes can explain success. Because success to people like Limbow-wow, is limitless greed. He flaunts it.

[Crowd Chanting "USA" ] I want the country to survive as we have known it, as you and I were raised in it, is what I mean. Now, I have been called -- and I can take it. Pioneers take the arrows, I don't mind what anybody says about me, any time ever. I don't have time for it. I don't give other people the power to offend me. And you shouldn't either, by the wasted time being offended.[Applause]

"...have known it"? "Pioneers"? WTF?! RL was raised amidst BIGOTRY, GREED and HATE. His show is an icon of mockery and hatred. It even broadcasts its hypocrisy:

Don't treat people as children. Respect their intelligence. Realize that there's a way to persuade people. Sometimes the worst way is to get in their face and point a finger.

That's certainly the way he treats people: in the worst way. If he ever gets to meet with President Obama, he'd probably low cigar smoke in Obama's face, then stomp the butt into cherished rug in the Green Room. He absolutely loves treating everyone :the worst way." In that sense, he could even be connected to the mantra of Rick Warren:

WHATEVER IT TAKES

Just a thought.

We Want More PORN! SMUT! FILTH! and (shhhh!) hypocrisy.

GIMME THAT OLD TIME RELIGION!
(But I'll take my porn online!)

A new set of stats has come up which we KNEW people would love: Red States purchase more pornography per capita than Blue States!

We love Andrew Sullivan for bringing this to our attention:

While marketing research has discovered that the difference between red states' and blue states' purchase/subscription of online pornography is rather minor, the surprising results have the Red States (ahem) on top!

WARNING! Read the sign on the left! HE really means it! So don't go touching any impure parts of your body while reading this!

From New Scientist,

A new nationwide study of anonymised credit-card receipts from a major online adult entertainment provider finds little variation in consumption between states.

"When it comes to adult entertainment, it seems people are more the same than different," says Benjamin Edelman at Harvard Business School.

Does that mean gay men and straight men have the same libidos? Hmmm...Not according to straight women!

However, there are some trends to be seen in the data. Those states that do consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of consumption, the study finds.

So the Bible Belt parties more Below the Belt!

"Some of the people who are most outraged turn out to be consumers of the very things they claimed to be outraged by," Edelman says.

And it gets better (or worse, depending which side of the smut/sin fence you are):

All of the 27 states that passed laws banning gay marriage are 11% above the average in online subscriptions. Same results for the statement: "AIDS might be God's punishment for immoral sexual behaviour."

And the prize for running, jumping or standing gall and HYPOCRISY:

Church-goers bought less online porn on Sundays – a 1% increase in a postal code's religious attendance was associated with a 0.1% drop in subscriptions that day. However, expenditures on other days of the week brought them in line with the rest of the country.

So, abstain on Sunday, but kill more kittens on Monday.We all know about Bakker and Swaggart and Haggard, but let's not forget the people in the pews. Hypocrisy rests with them as well.

They're the ones that support "family values" they "cast stones" and "pluck out...if it offends thee."
They're the ones who vote for "hockey moms" and for "no gay rights" proposals.
They're the ones vote righteously for the death penalty.
They're the ones who say they love every human being, but vote for war.

O.K., I know you've been waiting impatiently for the next statistical orgasm.
And which state is tops in online porn sales? Find out HERE!