Beach Peanuts

Immigration Hypocrisy, Rubio Style

Taking On Water: Enough Hypocrisy To Sink A Ship

As Tea Party members, Conservatives, and members of his own party have begun pushing back at him from all directions, Marco Rubio's little experiment at furthering his own political ambitions with immigration seems on the verge of implosion.

And he thought all it would take to "reach out" to Latinos and Hispanics was having the last name "Rubio."

As his little rescue boat appears on the verge of sinking, he's penned a little gem of appeal to his base, FOX News, and something tells me his arguments are only going to create another hole in it, or perhaps damage the rudder for good.

Here's the part where he explains why he's jumped into the immigration issue in the first place:

I thought long and hard before taking on this issue. I understand how divisive it can be. I’ve seen how the left has used it to accuse opponents of their version of reform of being bigots and racists. 

Oh my, someone, quick, get a faint Sen. Rubio a fan and a bottle of water! That someone might see a party who has members that recommend controlling immigration by using gunmen to shoot illegal immigrants like feral pigs from helicopters, or forcing them to self-deport, for God's sake, as racist or bigots has caused him a case of the vapors! But please, do go on:

And I would much rather be having a debate on the more fundamental ways we can grow our economy and get our debt and spending under control. But with or without us, the president and the Democrats who control the Senate were going to bring this issue up.

Sure. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free....because we're going to be forced to deal with you anyway" is really the Republican outreach re-branding that will appeal to Latinos, Hispanics and other minorities. That should bring new minority voters in droves! Marco Rubio. What a charmer.

It's almost as if Rubio doesn't think that anyone who will be impacted by his proposed immigration policies will read columns designed only for FOX News viewers and readers, or they're too stupid to actually understand what he's proposing. Because this is what he's proposing:

And that is why I support a process to identify and register those who are here illegally. They will have to submit biometric data in order to pass multiple national security and criminal background checks, pay $2,000 in fines, pay taxes, and learn English and American civics. They won’t be able to get any federal benefits like welfare or ObamaCare.

Before they can even apply to become permanent residents, they will have to wait at least ten years. They will have to get in line behind those who are trying to come the right way.

They will have to wait until we have a system in place to prevent illegal immigrants from being hired.

They will have to wait until we have a system in place to track people who overstay their visas.

And they will have to wait until we implement plans to spend at least $5.5 billion dollars to secure the border through more border patrol officers, more technology and more fencing.

Sure. And if you don't mind spending most of your natural life jumping through all those hoops, and prefer pipe dreams to an actual DREAM Act, Marco Rubio is your man! What's not to love?

And if that's not enough, here's a bit of immigration trivia for you: Who didn't have to get in line and wait like the rest, as Rubio will demand of those in the future? Why, that would be the Rubio family. As we've heard, they were also big fans of Medicare and Social Security, but I guess those details got overlooked in this little Rubio FOX essay.

There's also one other thing to point out. While Rubio will demand that anyone coming into this country will have to submit to multiple national security and criminal background checks, there's another background check he missed.

A background check to obtain a gun.

If he's prepared to ignore one for getting a gun, we can hardly take his other proposals very serious. If you can get a gun that easy, what better way to get whatever else you want while you're at it regardless of what politicians like Rubio propose?

With that little bit of hypocrisy, Rubio's shot a few more holes in his little Republican rescue dinghy. Add that to the others, and as we've seen in the last few days, it doesn't look like conservatives, or anyone from the Tea Party or the Republican Party are going to throw him a life preserver.

It sure looks like the U.S.S. Rubio may be going down. 

 

 

If It's Sunday, It's Another Investigation From John McCain (Updated)

John McCain DEMANDS Answers, Now!

(Updated below.)

Between almost weekly appearances by Senators Lindsey Graham, Joe Lieberman and John McCain on Meet The Press, Face The Nation, FOX News Sunday, This Week, State Of The Union, not to mention daily air time on FOX, you may have heard that McCain is in a bit of a snit over how the White House handled itself (so what else is new?) in disseminating information in the wake of the attack in Benghazi. McCain's been camera-ready 24-7 and demanded answers, (some of which he missed when he didn't bother to show up at a hearing) called for investigations, and threatened to block the nomination of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice for Secretary of State, if and when President Obama chooses to nominate her.

Sadly for him, not only did President Obama tell McCain to get off the White House lawn starting with a press conference a couple of weeks ago, but all of McCain's conspiracy theories have been debunked and the only "threat" he has left is basically this:

"Fine! I'll just block ALL your nominees for Secretary of State then! Harrumph, and good day!"

You know, because he's a patriot and a "war hero."

Ah, but all is not lost! There is one scandal brewing out there in need of exposure, a transgression so shocking that it begs for an investigation, and John McCain is just the man for the job. An injustice beyond reproach! A mystery in the making with the possibility of a conspiracy involving President Obama. Intrigue, rumors, and gossip. Why, it's tailor made for the FOX-GOP-TV audience. But on a serious note, there's also drama, and while any chance for Peace is already gone, our very Liberty may be at stake:

Peace, one of two turkeys pardoned by President Obama last year, was euthanized Monday, according to an official who insisted the timing of the death - days before the Thanksgiving holiday - was not suspicious.

"Not suspicious?" What say you, John McCain?

Rebecca Aloisi, vice president for marketing at the Mount Vernon Estate, confirmed that Peace had been dead after a weekend "illness." But Aloise knew neither the nature of the illness, the manner of death, nor what had been done with the remains of the large, edible bird.

"I appreciate where you're going with this," Aloisi told CNN. 

"But I assure you that these birds are extremely well cared for." The decision to euthanize the bird was made by a veterinarian in consultation with Mount Vernon's livestock department, she said.

Where IS CNN going with this, exactly? Well, we may never know, because unlike most Sunday mornings, this week John McCain is only appearing on one show, on another network. He could have been on with Crowley or Zakaria, but no! Instead of talking turkey with sources at CNN, he took the easy route by beating a dead horse over his debunked conspiracy theories with Chris Wallace on FOX. 

Peace had served as the understudy for Liberty, another turkey, at the 2011 pardoning ceremony by President Obama. Obama chose to pardon both birds to spare them from the fate of the plate.

But pressed on details about Peace's death, and what was done with the carcass, Aloisi deferred. "Honestly, I work in marketing," she said, defensively. "We have a 500-acre facility."

The facility - historic home of President George Washington - includes a landmark mansion, farm, wharf and the Mount Vernon Inn.

Asked if the inn serves turkey, Aloisi hedged. "That's a good question. I assume so," she said.

The inn, in fact, boasts of "costumed servers" who serve "delicious regional and colonial cuisine" including a "Roast Turkey Dinner" for $17.50, according to the inn's web site.

Aloisi said turkeys have short lifespans, especially those bred for eating. The timing of the death was "curious," Aloisi allowed, but not suspicious.

"I know that it was done in a humane manner but I don't know the mechanics," she said.

There are clearly many questions here that deserve answers! Illness? Likely story! These birds were given White House pardons and sent to live out their days in a place of historic significance, and yet it seems one of them met with foul play. What part of "pardon" did those at the Inn not understand? Was it an accident?

Or was it.......MURDER?

 

Or worse, was it a conspiracy? Were those turkeys merely given a pardon for the cameras (wink, wink) when all along they were really destined to be the daily special served up by "George Washington" himself? Is the question that really needs to be asked: "What did the President know and when did he know it?" You just know that's a question he would LOVE to be able to ask the President, so where is John McCain when you need him? Because there's more:

Mount Vernon anticipates receiving more turkeys following this year's pardoning ceremony. "We were very prepared to have all four birds live here," Aloisi said.

At the Nov. 23, 2011, pardoning, President Obama said Peace was "going to retire to a life of leisure at Mount Vernon - the same place where George Washington spent his golden years."

But now Peace is dead.

There you have it. A whole new investigation for John McCain that would make no sense whatsoever.

Because that's what John McCain does.

Because this "patriot" and "war hero" isn't worried about national security nor is he really interested in getting to the bottom of what happened in the attacks in Benghazi. Sure, he rants and raves about the tragic deaths of those Americans at the hands of terrorists, but for McCain it's merely rage for the wrong reasons: all political ones. So "concerned" is he about national security and protecting Americans from terrorists that he would prevent us from having a Secretary of State period. Just to hurt the President.

But yes, debunked conspiracies or not, you can be sure he'll be on FOX bright and early Sunday morning feigning outrage with Chris Wallace, one turkey to another.

(Update)

So predictable. Whichever way the political winds are blowing, you can find the blowhard John McCain ready and willing to take advantage of the politics of the moment, especially while on camera.

During his appearance on FOX News Sunday, he backed off a little from his stance on UN Ambassador Susan Rice, and illustrated his main interest now lies in focusing most of the blame on the President, as I mentioned above.

From TPM:

"Sure," McCain said to the question of whether Rice could do anything to change his mind about her. "She can give everyone the benefit of explaining their position and the actions that they took. I'll be glad to have the opportunity to discuss these issues with her."

Responding to a follow-up question on whether that means McCain is now open to voting for Rice if nominated, McCain replied: "I think she deserves the ability and the opportunity to explain herself and her position, just as she said. But she's not the problem. The problem is the president of the United States who in a debate with Mitt Romney said that he had said it was a terrorist attack…"

Silk Purse Meets Sow's Ear

When the latest Muppet movie came out, the Fox Business Network attacked the film for having a "liberal agenda" for targeting an evil oil executive and trying to brainwash children.

Now Kermit and Miss Piggy are fighting back.

While promoting the release of the movie in the U.K. a British reporter brought up the Fox attack, and this was the Muppet response:

 

The Rolls Royce joke aside, Miss Piggy points out the obvious, that equating Fox to a news outlet is laughable.

This video came to my attention (via Slate) ironically around the same time I saw the next one below. It features yet another garbled message from deeply confused Fox spokespuppet from Alaska, Sarah Palin, suggesting that people vote for Newt Gingrich, if for no other reason than to annoy a liberal. (How patriotic!) It's just another perfect example how Fox can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear, no matter how hard they try:

 

Lobbyists Seek To Undermine Occupy Wall Street

The 1% v. The 99%

You hear it frequently on FOX-GOP-TV and from Republicans who love to go on camera and condemn the Occupy Wall Street movement as nothing more than lazy, dirty hippies who don't want to work, or try to define them as socialists, commies, you name it. "What do they stand for?" "Get a job!"

From this you might think they've merely dismissed them as a passing trend, nothing to see here, move along.

However, behind the scenes the Occupy Wall Street movement has many worried, for starters, financial institutions. In fact, they are so worried that they fear politicians may be persuaded to turn on them, and not just Democrats, but they fear Republicans could as well. 

If you missed it, over the weekend Chris Hayes from the MSNBC's  "Up w/ Chris Hayes" obtained a memo from a lobbying firm outlining a plan to "smear" the movement. The memo was written in part by two individuals who previously worked for friend of Wall Street, Republican House Speaker John Boehner. Surprise, surprise!

The memo was prepared by the firm Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford for the American Bankers Association, and proposed that the ABA pay $850,000 to research the movement and create negative narratives against Occupy Wall Street, some of which which we've already witnessed from Republicans and FOX. (The full memo can be seen here.) The firm has an impressive client list, not just banks. Among them, Koch Industries and the U.S. Chamber Of Commerce. (See the client page here.)

As Mr. Hayes said, this is just one memo from one firm and there are more than likely similar memos circulating out there right now.

This of course indicates that the casual dismissal of the movement by Republicans and the smears on FOX conceal the fact that the banks are indeed concerned that this movement will undermine the control they've maintained over consumers for years, not just the mess that culminated in bailouts 2008. They're fighting financial reform in Congress as Occupy Wall Street gains traction according to the polls. The average American "gets it" and the banks and big corporation powers that be don't like it.

They don't want to lose the fight, and this may be just the beginning.

From Up w/ Chris Hayes:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

 

The Straw Poll That Broke The Camel's Back?

(Graphic: Beach Peanuts)

If the Florida Republican "Presidency 5" straw poll is such a strong indicator of which candidate will win the state primary and the Presidential nomination, then why are so many of the current crop of GOP houseplants candidates so afraid to participate in it?

The short answer: it helps to show up.

This year, though, the so-called “Presidency 5” straw poll has most of the presidential campaigns skittish, confused or decidedly unenthusiastic. Only Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul have committed to participate in the mock election, which essentially means showing up that Saturday afternoon and giving a speech.

“I don’t see any path to the White House that doesn’t include victory in Florida and for Republicans that starts when you have 3,500 of the most active Republicans in the state coming to see you and hear you to understand if you’re the best candidate to defeat Barack Obama,” said Brian Hughes, the Republican Party of Florida communications director.

In a campaign cycle where the GOP field is trying to marshal resources, though, Florida’s mock election has most of the top-tier candidates steering clear. Romney and Michele Bachmann have already announced they won’t participate, while Texas Gov. Rick Perry hasn’t decided.

In Michele Bachmann's case, her own ignorance may be the reason for her lack of interest, if she thinks like in Iowa she has to bus in her own supporters and spend big bucks to wine, dine, and corn dog them in exchange for votes. After all, her win in Iowa came at a price but it didn't last. All she has to show for it is that embarrassing photo-op.

Nope. To win in Florida you have to show up, work a little, and actually campaign for your trouble. Plus, why work up a sweat when you have your very own television network like FOX-GOP-TV hosting your next* debate right here in Florida that will eliminate the weaklings in the party for you? It's probably no wonder the lesser candidates are the only ones willing to work the crowds. They know it's their only chance. The established Republicans are still pulling the. strings. The problem for them is those debates only illustrate to a nationwide audience that Republicans have no platform beyond criticism and tax cuts.

The candidates aren't the only ones who are suffering from a lack of interest. So are the voters.

And for good reason.

*Correction: The FOX debate in Florida is on Sept. 22. The next debate is in California on Sept. 7 on MSNBC.

Grassroots Meets Astroturf: Netroots Nation And RightOnline

When I set out on my second day at Netroots Nation in Minneapolis last Friday, I never expected to come face to face with the likes of Andrew Breitbart, but unfortunately that's what happened.

Fresh off of his Anthony Weiner cellphone picture exhibition tour, and as always looking like he just woke up from a curb nap somewhere, Breitbart rolled into the conference with a camera crew and an "entourage" (entourage being his description, not mine) in tow. Unfortunately I was on my way to a session when I walked into what later became a confrontation between a couple conference attendees and "Big Blowhard." I snapped a couple pictures on my cellphone as I was coming down an escalator that brought me to where the face-off between Breitbart and a blogger was about to get under way. I avoided the scene and tried to get to into the exhibit hall, but just as I was going in, security was turning Breitbart away from the door due to his lack of credentials, and unfortunately I came briefly face to face with his ugly and angry glare.

Not pretty. 

Later on I read accounts of what was going on at the time, and it was interesting to read what those who weren't there were saying about it, particularly from right wing newspapers and FOX. I read that Breitbart was met by "MOBS OF ANGRY LIBERALS!" That it was pure "MAYHEM!" and that "BEDLAM ENSUED!" This is of course ridiculous but not surprising considering the sources. Sure, there was some yelling from one or two people, and a few more chanting "loser" as they followed him in his cowardly retreat as he fled the building, but "bedlam?" "Mayhem?" Not so much.

Here's one of the pictures I took of Breitbart, who was chatting with Dave Weigel (to his right) just as he was confronted by the blogger. Does this look like "bedlam" to you? 

 

(Photo: BeachPeanuts)

O. M. G.! BEDLAM ENSUED!

Yeah, me neither. It wasn't. I know the picture is poor quality, and I wouldn't even have posted it or given the right-wing bully any more attention, but the exaggerations of angry mobs of marauding "leftists" throwing him out of a conference he had no business being at in the first place are, well, comical. Not to mention the bragging Beitbart did about his little adventure himself later on.

He along with many others from the copycat conference that shadows Netroots Nation every year, RightOnline, were staying in the same hotel that I and many others from Netroots were staying in. RightOnline held their entire conference there as a matter of fact, since their number of attendees are small enough for just a couple of meeting rooms rather than several floors of the convention center. 

The numbers of those in attendance aren't the only big differences between RightOnline and Netroots Nation. RightOnline is "a project of Americans For Prosperity" according to their website, and what a project it is. The speakers and sponsors of this little "project" are quite different from those of Netroots Nation. They come and go via limos and wearing three piece suits and evening gowns and resemble Newt Gingrich and his wife after an afternoon at Tiffany's more than the attendees they seek to prey on, some who look as if they can barely afford to pay the rent, much less the price of a ticket to the conference plus travel expenses and anything left over for a copy of an autographed book by Andrew Breitbart himself.

I say this not to belittle those who attend the RightOnline conference, far from it. I say this because after watching how the right-wing, the Republican Party, and the Tea Party, (pick a name, they're all the same) operate for years and years, it sickens me to see people so manipulated, taken advantage of and lied to.

They seek out the most vulnerable to exploitation, and then exploit them, filling them with fear and the promise that they will be rewarded with "prosperity" if only they believe.

"A project of Americans For Prosperity."

They know what those easily led attendees don't understand: The prosperity goes to the ones stepping out of the limos, not the ones who arrive with their entire family crammed into an old pickup truck, or the retirees helping each other onto an elevator who need the Medicare these organizations want to rob them of. They scare them and then tell them the liberals are the ones responsible for the mess they're in now, (and let's don't forget the added bonus they have to wield since the last election: a black President) rather than their own party and their own agendas. And it works. They've created an angry bunch.

That was evident when people from their respective conferences came together while staying in the same hotel. Like a young and obviously inebriated couple who asked me to take their picture. I obliged, but after some thought, they eyed me suspiciously and then asked which group I was with. Suddenly a picture taken by one who "likes President Obama" would not suffice: "We'll take your picture and show it to Michele Bachmann!" (Not sure what that was supposed to mean exactly.) I can't count the number of people who were nice one minute, but gave me a laser stare the next or made angry comments when they saw what color my lanyard was. 

Then there's the arrogance. "Men in black" four abreast from RightOnline standing guard from who knows what in the hotel lobby.

People like Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, rushing from the hotel staring and whispering to her companion while keeping a safe distance from anyone of either conference as if she might catch something from "one of the commoners." 

Like any number of people from the Breitbart "entourage" mostly women dressed like, well, like hookers, drinking, laughing, doing a lot of staring and pointing and loudly condemning any Netroots group they came across. 

Then there was James O'Keefe. There's some arrogance. Strutting around as if he were an actual every day "journalist" rather than someone who had to get permission from a judge to go to Minneapolis in the first place. He of ACORN fame who claims "he only seeks the truth" while dressing up like a pimp or a telephone repairman, with cameras and tape recorders and such. I made the mistake of getting into an elevator when he came out of nowhere, stepped in front of me, nearly stepped on me as a matter of fact, as if that elevator should have been his alone. How dare I? I of the so called "angry liberal" crowd?

There were no "angry liberals" at the hotel harassing Muslim women, or shouting "white power" and then punching people in the face for whatever reason. Just anger from the prey of RightOnline. Except for their disdain for absent idols like Laura Ingraham who didn't bother to show up, or Sarah Palin, who was only there on the big screen and missing in action from her latest adventure in quitting: The Bus Tour (they wouldn't vote for her, they just believed she was really "one of them" and would actually be there) the anger and hate was reserved only for those with orange Netroots Nation lanyards.

After two days they knew those wearing the orange ones were "the enemy" because those wearing the green ones told them so.

To associate with them would mean that "BEDLAM WILL ENSUE."

At which time Breitbart, Bachmann, Blackburn, and all the folks from Americans For Prosperity, would flee, waving and laughing at them from their limos, leaving them and their empty wallets behind.

Florida Rep. Cites "Blame The 11 Year Old Rape Victim" To Pass Dress Code Legislation (UPDATED)

Rep. Kathleen C. Passidomo (R-Naples)

(UPDATED 3-24-11, Below)

Dress codes in schools have been debated for decades, and while fashion is always changing, the dialogue, or discourse over what is and isn't appropriate does somewhat. Unfortunately, another thing that hasn't changed is the ridiculous arguments proponents will use to prove their point as to why a certain type of clothing is or isn't appropriate. Over the years as a mother of a school-age child I've heard just about all of the reasons out there, mostly that there are certain things that are so over the top (or not enough perhaps) that they can prove a distraction. Maybe, maybe not, that's up to debate.

Of all the reasons I've heard, there was one today that I didn't think anyone in their right mind would still use in this context, other than someone like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly or any other FOX news host. Nothing they say really shocks me anymore because they're circus clowns and idiots. However, when you hear a similar argument from a Florida House legislator when referring to school children's attire, it's a little unsettling. Especially when that legislator is a woman who is also a lawyer, and serves on various education and justice committees.

One committee member, Rep. Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples) said she'd read recently a horrible story out of Texas about the rape of a young girl.

"There was an article about an 11 year old girl who was gang-raped in Texas by 18 young men because she was dressed like a 21-year-old prostitute," she said. "And her parents let her attend school like that. And I think it’s incumbent upon us to create some areas where students can be safe in school and show up in proper attire so what happened in Texas doesn’t happen to our students."

From Bill O'Reilly's lips to Kathleen Passidomo's ears: blame the victim. An 11 year old victim. For her own rape.

Nice touch.

Worse still was this:

No one commented on that line of reasoning.

Silence.

I'd like to think that it was because the other members were merely shocked, but sadly, anyone who has observed the Florida Legislature recently could certainly make the assumption that wasn't the case at all. I imagine the Republicans at least were in agreement with her philosophy.

Just listen to the typical Republican theme: "Provocative clothing" leads to rape, which leads to pregnancy, which leads to abortions, (which Republicans won't allow) or proper medical and pre-natal care (which Republicans won't fund, be it insurance or from programs like Planned Parenthood) which leads to a child (no longer a fetus) who they aren't concerned with any longer, one who may just need help from those social program that Republicans hate and refuse to fund. (It's not a tax cut which will benefit that Republican after all.) You know the drill.

All because an adolescent girl wore something a rapist couldn't resist.

Boys will be boys, right Rep. Passidomo?

UPDATE:

The law passed in the Senate 3-24-11:

Sen. Gary Siplin's so-called "droopy-drawers" bill that would punish school kids for displaying their hind and other quarters in a vulgar fashion passed the Senate unanimously. SB228, if passed by the House, would allow school officials to suspend kids who repeatedly violate the dress code.

Rick Scott Railroads The Facts On FOX

Gov. Rick Scott, under pressure to answer the lawsuit filed against him yesterday with the Florida Supreme Court that would force him to accept federal funds for the state high-speed rail project, took time out from his costly  "Share A Little Sunshine" advertising tour to peddle his fact-free excuses for not taking the money. Apparently seeking to "railroad" the public without tough questions, Scott went straight to the "brain-trust" that is FOX and Friends. 

The amount of fumbling by Rick Scott was pretty amazing, considering it was a FOX-GOP-TV interview.

Scott used his now familiar script and playacted his tiresome role as the mother of all taxpayer martyrs as he made his case in standing firm against progress.

Scott said that if the project was cancelled, Florida would have to pay back the money. Wrong.

Scott said that Florida will have to pay back the money down the road anyway. Wrong.

From The U.S. Department of Transportation:

"has addressed every legitimate concern Governor Scott has raised with respect to plans to connect Florida through high-speed rail. We have repeatedly and clearly told Governor Scott and his staff that Florida would not bear financial or legal liabilities for the project, and that there is strong private sector interest in taking on the risk associated with building and operating high-speed rail in the state."

Scott also claimed there would be huge cost overruns. Steve Doocy actually questioned him on that one, asking how much those overruns would be. Scott fumbled here, and then said "Billions. Just billions." These "vague" billions were of course pulled right out of the "report" Scott used to base his decision to turn down the project in the first place. The "report" written by the Reason Foundation, a conservative think tank whose Board Of Trustees includes David H. Koch.

Howdy-Doocy also managed to trip him up on one other item. He mentioned the "j" word: jobs. Asserting that the rail project would create jobs, Scott responded that it would only create short-term jobs. Brilliant response, Gov.! All construction jobs are short-term, but nonetheless, construction jobs provide a backbone for the economy in Florida. (But then Scott hasn't been a Florida resident for very long.) Perhaps Scott thinks those trains will run magically by themselves.

The interview may have made a believer out of some, mainly Steve Doocy, but it wasn't very convincing. Scott isn't very good at bluffing. 

I'm not sure which of the two is less informed, Rick Scott or Steve Doocy?

They "report," you decide.