They are creating an opportunity for people who are not part of the establishment of either party to get on the presidential ballot. While I cannot profess to know much about the organization behind this movement, the idea itself is an intriguing one:

For the 68 percent of Americans who said in an ABC/Washington Post poll released Wednesday that they had a negative view of government, the possibility of having a presidential candidate free of the currently gridlocked political parties could be just a few clicks away.

The nonpartisan, nonprofit Americans Elect has collected petition signatures – millions of them [1.6 million in California alone] – in all 50 states to put a “candidate of the people” on the ballot in November 2012. This candidate would be selected through an online draft and nomination process instead of through the traditional Republican and Democratic parties primary and caucus schedule.

“We are creating competition for all these folks who are politically homeless,” said Elliot Ackerman, Americans Elect’s chief operating officer. “A lot of the folks that engage with us are socially liberal and fiscally conservative, and those people don’t really have a voice in our political system right now. What we’re doing is really creating an incentive structure so that those individuals will be competed for.”

I understand the sentiment. I too have felt politically homeless since I witnessed the shenanigans of Democrats in the 2008 primaries. Whether one is in favor of Hillary Clinton or not, for her to have achieved a virtual tie in delegates, lead in the popular vote and still be cast aside at the Convention as the clear loser was the final disgrace in a contest fraught with sexist hazing and character assassination. Her opponent, however, received rose petals and caresses from the media daily, coupled with a startling lack of examination for his pie-in-the-sky – and often contradictory — campaign promises.

But Hillary’s treatment – and the disgraceful treatment her 18,000,000 supporters received at the hands of the mainstream media had another effect on the populace. We saw that the media, in the name of anointing their favored candidate was not above calling millions of Americans racist to threaten and keep them in line. Not to mention fellow Democrats calling us every dirty name in the book for supporting the “ho” and not the “bro.”

When we were called “low information, dried-up Archie Bunkers” by pundits and party powerful alike, many of us for the first time stepped back from the party we stood with for many years, ostracized and rejected. For the first time we felt what it must be like to be a conservative in this country, insulted regularly by the bulk of mainstream media and by many elitists in the DNC. As someone who made hundreds of GOTV calls around the country, I found that the “backwoods hillbilly” meme the media tried to sell was a lie. The mainstream media continues to hemorrhage credibility. There are many like me, waking up from a kool-aid stupor, no longer willing to accept demagogic ranting of the left or right at face value when its sole purpose is to fill Party coffers.

Continued gridlock in Washington, the refusal of either side to let productive legislation be crafted if it is contrary to the interests of politicians’ powerful backers, or partisan jockeying to prevent the other side from getting credit for a win has rendered us, for all intents and purposes, without advocates in Washington – regardless of where we fit in the progressive/conservative spectrum.

So far, the group has secured a spot on the ballot in six states, has collected the required number of signatures in four states and has about half the necessary signatures in four other states. Americans Elect spokeswoman Ileana Wachtel said the group would begin the petition process in seven more states within the week.

[snip]

The eventual nominee can be a member of either party or an independent but must chose a vice presidential running mate who is from a different party. Ackerman said he expected many of the losing GOP presidential candidates to move into the Americans Elect primary process after Republicans chose their nominee.

[snip]

“In the primaries you have to go far to the right or far to the left and tickets are having a hard time tacking back to the center,” he said. “Americans Elect allows a ticket to run authentically without having to go to extremes in the primary.”

A coalition ticket is an inviting notion although I cannot imagine who would be willing to abandon their own party in order to couple with the ‘enemy.’ A Sarah Palin perhaps…

While I am skeptical an idea like this can take hold to upend those currently in control of our two parties, its very existence, along with the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street should really give those in power something to worry about. Democrats have mistakenly tried to co-opt the current disorganized (and sometimes confused) OWS protests as their own version of the more conservative Tea Party movement, yet increasingly OWS is making clear they feel President Obama has sold out to Wall Street. Republicans also worked to co-opt the Tea Party movement, with mixed results.

Congressional approval is at an all time low. President Obama’s poll numbers continue to tank. Polling also reports that Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, even the currently downward trending Gov. Rick Perry could all beat Obama next year. Even still, Republicans are not all that enthusiastic about their choices. Neither party is anxious to undo the Gordian knot of special (read big money) interests that actually do the governing in this country. The phrase “politically homeless” rings as true as it is painful. To feel like it is not possible to trust the majority of our elected officials to do the right thing leaves many feeling bound and gagged. Americans are inching closer to that pitchfork moment.

Is the Americans Elect concept a good one? If so, who would you want on such a coalition ticket? And do you think there is any hope we can get ever move past the current plutocracy? We don’t want to split the vote and keep an ineffectual incumbent in office, but in the long run would enough dissatisfaction expressed through these myriad movements around the country actually lead to reform of our system?

Only when the failing crop currently in office know they are about to lose their jobs do we have a prayer that they will finally start to do their jobs. And yet, if they are fired, as long as they can count on a ritzy “K” street paycheck or some cushy commentating gig on CNN – what muscles can we flex to keep them honest? The teat is still flowing…

My dear old friend Bronwyn wrote today and asked me what I’ve been up to and what I think of the prospects for 2012. My short reply got me a suggestion to cross post something I wrote at Partizane back in July.

First, let me assure you that I no longer hate to visit my site. It is much less active since I wrote the following but it is also slowly but surely coming back to be my blog, my place to vent or pontificate. What you are about to read, or not, was written specifically for and about my blog Partizane.com. It is not in any way meant to reflect on NoQuarter as I don’t rule here. That line sort of sounds like “any resemblance of characters in this book to others living or imaginary is purely coincidence.”

For those who care, here is my reply to Bronwyn’s query.

My honest opinion of 2012 is that whoever wins we’ll have a Republican in the White House, just like we’ve had since 2009.

If it comes down to it though, I may have to vote for His Oliness as the lesser of two evils. The Republican party gave us endless wars to feed the war machine, a lost decade for any in my boomer generation who planned on retiring someday, an endless recession and absolutely nothing of value other than redefining the use of the word NO.

************************************************************************
Originally posted at Partizane.com on July 14, 2011

Why I hate to visit my own website and …

I check in most days to make sure nobody has bombed the joint, but I rarely stay around anymore and I find it difficult to comment on most of the posts. I honestly hate what my own home has become.

I truly love the few people here but why do we think there are so few compared with a year ago? I think my old HillFighter masslib put it best sometime ago. It may have been during a chat session because I can’t find it but the gist of what she said was, “You people are crazy”.

Now I dearly miss masslib. She came to NH during the last week of the primary and helped Hillary pull off a surprise win. I met her in person and hugged her at the Salem office while I was picking up some NYC volunteers and their totem pole signs, I delivered them to a busy intersection in Londonderry.

Masslib, rentarainbow, Pacific John, Izarradar, Cal, Catfish, ProudMilitarymom, KenoshaMarge, Banshee, madamab, LSekhmet, lizpolaris, TeakWoodKite, Tellurian. The list goes on and on. Old friends from as far back as DemocraticUnderground, DailyKos, Alegre’s Corner and even NoQuarter. Old friends that stopped by for a bit and then for their own reasons left. Many are still liberal dems and many are/were middle of the road Hillary folks. Some I know for fact left because of me and the tactless things I said or did.

I knew that action here would lessen over the years following the emotional 2008 campaigns. That was to be expected as we have no central focus other than a disdain for Obama. The focus of Partizane has been to not be focused, to be a place for all, therefore a home to none. I’ve tried to focus us on Women, yet even I have failed to keep that going. I, by my own rules, have tried to bring together opposing views for civil discussion. That worked to a point. But if nobody reads us, if nobody cares, have we succeeded?

Worst of all, I hate to have my name, Newhampster (Don Schwartz), associated with some of the garbage that is being posted here. I am embarrassed to think that someone searching for NewHampster might come here first and think I stand with the insanity written here.

I am a LIBERAL or in the modern sense a CONSERVATIVE. I believe that our country, our society, was and is meant for the good of all. We are a tribe that came together in the wilderness. We came together for the protection of numbers. We only survive when the weakest among us know the strongest have their back. We survive as a people because my helpless 93 year old veteran dad will never be put out on the street to fend for himself.

Things are about to change for Partizane.

I’ve tried to make it “our site” but as Cal told me once, it is ultimately my site and i am the one who has to take responsibility for it’s direction.

This is my site. i could do like Uppity and threaten to shutdown or I can just say, Fuck it, the experiment failed and it’s time to move on.

• First off I plan to find a lower cost hosting option and move the site, which will mean some downtime during the coming month.
• Secondly, I will be attempting to focus the entire site on my core values. Please don’t confuse that with Democratic values.
• Third. Front page posting will once more be restricted to what I deem worthy.
• Fourth. In order to accomplish number 3 some administrative rights are being rescinded.
• Fifth. I hope to find the time to redesign and possibly re-build the entire mess.
• Sixth. Sourcing of information from lying scum like Rupert Murdock and his henchmen will no longer be tolerated. I seriously plan to remove any future posts which use known right wing mouth pieces for reference.

I realize that one very old friend in particular thinks I’m mad only at her. I also realize that much like some of those old friends, I may lose you and your prolific posting because of what I’m saying and doing today. I want you to know that I love you, welcome you and hope you will look in the mirror for a bit before thinking of saying goodbye. Please consider staying around to engage me in civil discourse over intelligent stories and ideas.

My apologies to any I’ve offended. Please know that this has been gnawing at me for months and rather than lose more sleep I’ve decided to do what I think is right. I would be much happier shutting down the site, saving cash too, than to let Partizane go down the path it has been on for the last year or more.

Later my friends. nh

Cross posted from my nest over at Partizane.com

Pakistan had received about $1.9 billion in military assistance from the U.S. in fiscal 2010, which ended Sept. 30, including about $300 million in grants to buy U.S. defense equipment.

U.S. officials hoped the new aid could effectively eliminate Pakistan’s objections that it doesn’t have the equipment needed to launch more operations in the tribal areas.

By July 2011, the U.S. had taken unilateral actions to kill Osama bin Laden and a number of different high level targets through drone strikes. The apparent non-cooperation or push back from the Pakistan military to attack al Qaeda operatives in the northern areas angered U.S. lawmakers. Meanwhile, relations between the two countries soured and hit all-time low — or did they?

Despite the anger expressed by Washington lawmakers, a bill to freeze the $2 billion aid package to Pakistan failed to pass Congress. Now comes news that the Obama administration, in an attempt to appear tough on the Pakistan military, has canceled $800 million of the said aid, purportedly to persuade Islamabad to do far more to combat terrorism.

This cancellation might satisfy Pakistan’s critics, most of whom pushed the administration to press Pakistan to fight militants effectively. But at some point the U.S. has to decide whether paying the Pakistan military is helpful or not. When the aid was initially approved, officials from both the U.S. and Pakistan rejected the notion that the military assistance was a quid pro quo, arguing that they are trying to build a partnership, not cut a deal.

Subtract $800 million from $2 billion and what’s left is the partnership.

The military aid was approved to pressure Pakistan to start operations against militants in the northern areas, which it did not. Now at the time when this aid is being “canceled,” the Pakistani military has already launched a full-fledged operation in central Kurram Agency.

The cancellation of the $800 million plays well in an election year. The American public has grown increasingly concerned about the deteriorating economic situation in the U.S.; add to that the perception that the Pakistan army is less than honest about its sincerity to fight terrorism. The fact of the matter is that the U.S. had no option but to cancel this military aid, which funds the military equipment and the U.S. trainers that Pakistan military refused to accept.

In simple words, the U.S. was not going to hand this amount to Pakistan in cash. The aid is being held back because of training cutbacks including intelligence, surveillance, arms and ammunition and other support equipment. The U.S. had to spend this on its own soldiers, and its own equipment. Since the Pakistan military refused to budge, the U.S. has this money as a little flag on its ledger.

This explains why the Pakistan military announced that suspension of aid would not affect its ongoing campaign against militants in the tribal areas.

The “pause in the military aid,” as the Pakistan ambassador to the U.S. puts it, or “delay” as the U.S. defense department called it, does include a $300 million reimbursement, but the Pakistan army can take advantage of this non-payment to fan the flames of anti-Americanism by claiming that the U.S. is not a reliable partner. This is an $800 million game that Pakistan played, putting the U.S. in a situation where it is left with no option but to follow.

President Lyndon Johnson once asked, “Did you ever think that making a speech on economics is a lot like pissing down your leg?” Then answered, “It seems hot to you, but it never does to anyone else.” It seems that in this case, this situation has reversed and it seems hot to everyone else but to you.

Just from the title of this Sheila Marikar ABC report, you get a hint of a bias. The article doesn’t help to dispel that sensation, rather it escalates it:

There’s the stereotype of the Sarah Palin supporter, and then there’s Sonnie Johnson.

The 30-year-old African-American mother and wife is featured in “The Undefeated” as one of the many people Palin captivated when John McCain thrust her onto the national stage as his vice presidential running mate in 2008. In Pella, Iowa today for the premiere of the film, Johnson said she latched on to Palin when the former Alaska governor took the stage at the Republican National Convention.

“We were watching it on TV and my daughter was like, ‘A girl can be president?,’” Johnson recalled. “And I said, ‘Yes, baby, girls can do anything.’ That was the moment — I saw that look in my daughter’s eye, that anything in possible. The next week, I went to my very first political event, and that was to see Sarah Palin. John McCain and Sarah Palin.”

Johnson has become increasingly involved in the tea party since then, speaking at tea party events around her native Virginia. She’ll give the keynote address at an event held by the Charlottesville, VA. tea party on the Fourth of July with her young daughter by her side. [snip]

Obviously, the elephant in the room is that Hillary Clinton had run to be president, but she was not the party’s pick (and I use those words deliberately). So that Johnson’s daughter saw Palin as a potential president if McCain won is a difference. Palin was on the ticket, Clinton (unfortunately) was not.

That being said, there are so many glaring issues wrong with the entire way Marikar framed this piece that I barely know where to start. First, there is the whole “stereotype” assumption made by this “reporter.” One of the comments summed it up pretty succinctly:

VG; “stereotype” Who put the stereotype on Palin?? All you Obama loving scumbags in the corrupt MSM. You people make me sick.

I think many of us can appreciate this person’s sentiment about the circular practice of the MSM – castigate and attack, then stand back and “report” people regurgitating back the attacks launched, then explain that as the reality of the situation.

There were a few more comments I must share with you, beginning with the issue of women:

John; Unfortunately, women can’t be president. Just watching the vitriol that has been thrown at Sarah Palin makes that clear. The attacks on her family have been disgraceful. The attempts to dig through 24,000 pages of her email to try to find any dirt also makes it clear that America is not ready for a female leader. Best to tell our daughters to become teachers or mothers so they don’t become the next woman to be Palinized….

Jim (in response to Katherine); “There was a woman running in the Dem Primary, and she was pilloried by the misogynistic media… Palin got it X2, and she is still standing, and appears to be stronger than ever. Just sayin’.”

@Katherine: Couldn’t have said it better. I am an ex-Democrat and have had it with the way the democratic party takes the women constituency for granted. I am sick of how they treated Hillary. This was a woman that was many times more accomplished than Obama and after Obama’s presidency we can safely say she would have been many times more effective as a president. Now they are doing the same thing to Palin. I am just sick of the venom that has been thrown at her – just sick of it. [snip]

Amen, amen, and amen – I could not agree more. Many of you know that this has been my refrain about the Democratic Party, Obama, and the blatant, virulent misogyny they have been spewing our way.

But there is another piece to all of this:

[snip] “She’ll be on stage with me,” Johnson said. “I want to get her involved, little by little. I like to say that for the black community, nothing will change until we learn to love our children more than we love the Democratic party.”

After Stephen K. Bannon cast her in his 2010 documentary about conservative women leaders, “Fire From the Heartland,” he asked Johnson to speak about Palin’s influence on her for “The Undefeated.” Other tea party personalities have failed to capture Johnson’s attention as Palin has.[snip] (Click here to read the rest.)

Holy moley – calling out the black community for its allegiance to the Democrats is a mighty interesting turn. No doubt, that will raise some eyebrows, along with charges of being an “Uncle Tom.” I don’t know about you, but it does seem that whenever a black person does not subscribe to a particular point of view they are, by necessity, an “Uncle Tom.” I thought this comment by Colint summer it up:

Black woman as “unlikely” supporter…. funny…. imagine that, a black who isn’t brainwashed into loving the useless Democrats. Wow… what a revelation.

Could she have figured out the lie… figured out that the Democrats are race baiters?

Good question. Of course, Ms. Johnson would not have to look far. Heck, she need look no farther than my representative, Jim Clyburn, to see numerous instances of race baiting.

I don’t know about you, but I found this to be a pretty interesting glimpse into both how the MSM tries to package information, and how more people are not buying what they are selling. Maybe there really is hope yet.

UPDATE: Speaking of the media, The Hollywood Reporter has a glimpse into the new movie, “The Undefeated”. Hold onto your hats, this is not for the faint of heart:

[snip] The movie begins with Sen. John McCain introducing his running mate, then quickly cuts to the Hollywood sign, and the music turns ominous. A TV news anchor says, “Hollywood has a new favorite pastime: taking aim at Sarah Palin.”

Then the celebrity montage begins: Damon likens Palin to a “really bad Disney movie” and says she’s “really scary”; Letterman attacks her, and the discourse descends in to the filthy from there. Maher insults her on his TV show, Madonna screams obscenities about her while on stage, and comedians use graphic, severely bleeped language to describe Palin and the intensity with which they “hate her.”

When the montage is through, the screen goes dark and a Bible verse comes into focus: “By their fruits ye shall know them.” [snip] (Click here to read the rest.)

Yes, indeed we will. And the fruits being sown by these people against a woman they have never met, using the vilest of language to describe her, and even attacking her special needs child, says it all.

It made me mad. It is just more of the media’s continued unfounded, politically motivated, assault on Sarah Palin. They have attacked her mercilessly for three years, and now claim, after the constant harassment, that she has “darker tendencies”? Are you kidding me with this circular logic crapola??

And so, I was compelled to write this letter to the editor of the Post and Courier. I have no illusions they will actually publish it:

I read Molly Ball’s article on Gov. Palin. The emails requested back in 2008 from sites such as Mother Jones are proving to be a bit of a disappointment to all those who wanted to get dirt on the former governor. Turns out that she was – gasp – hardworking, warm, engaging, and dedicated to her state. Shocking!

But here’s the thing – to qualify Palin now as exhibiting her “darker tendencies” is disingenuous at best. The only reason these emails are even available was the desire to take down this qualified woman 3 years ago by the media when they filed their FOIA requests. They have hounded her, and her family, on a daily basis, flat out making crap up (like that she, personally, shot wolves from the air, which your newspaper has already dispelled). They have accused her husband of incest, claimed her baby was not her own, used despicable language to attack her, and her family, sent numerous reporters to Wasilla to dig up dirt on her, and AP reporters to “factcheck” her book. And now, Ms. Ball is claiming that Palin is a divisive figure. If she is, it is only because the media has MADE her a divisive figure.

Even more, why has the media never spent anywhere NEAR this much time investigating Barack Obama? He claimed he had no records, not even a datebook, of his time as an IL Senator. How is that even possible?? The media failed miserably in ferreting out why the two front runners for the IL US Senate seat both, mysteriously, had their SEALED divorce records unsealed just a few short months before the election, forcing them both to drop out, allowing Obama, once again, to run basically unopposed as he did when he ran for office the first time (he got everyone else thrown off the ballot – look it up).

Where has the media been in looking at his connections to Khalid Rashidi, Bill Ayers, Tony Rezko, Kwame Kilpatrick, Louis Farrakhan, and Jeremiah Wright? They could not be bothered to research the presidential candidate, or his methods for becoming the candidate, much less his associates, any one of whom would have brought down any other candidate. (How many people know about the rampant caucus fraud perpetrated by the Obama camp? There were complaints made to the DNC by a number of people, including Hillary Clinton, but the DNC turned a blind eye. Even worse, they took lawfully cast and certified votes for Hillary Clinton and GAVE them to Obama. That was the day this Yellow Dog Dem became an Independent.)

But to the VP candidate from Alaska the media managed to devote all kinds of resources. Lo, and behold – there is nothing there. Of course, that doesn’t stop Ms. Ball from making gratuitous, unfounded, slights against Palin, thus demonstrating her very clear bias even as she was tasked with acknowledging there was nothing there.

This isn’t journalism, this is tabloid writing. And you put it on the front page.

While I am at it, I would like to highlight something else from these emails that was in my local paper – and listen up all of you who made this salacious claim – SARAH PALIN DID NOT SHOOT WOLVES FROM THE AIR, AND WAS OPPOSED TO IT. Got it? Seriously. Oh, and the emails highlighted how much of a conservationist she really is. I bet that will stick in some folk’s craw…

Good grief.

Clearly, despite there being nothing there to attack Palin over, these rags will continue to make the kinds of gratuitous smears Ms. Ball did. They just cannot stand that this woman is exactly who she said she is and has demonstrated herself to be. I guess in the face of Obama’s failures, this must really get to them, so they have redoubled their efforts to go after her, not him. Pathetic. Be big enough people to admit you were duped, you were snookered, you were fooled, and you were wrong. Give it a shot.

And now, for our musical moment to take a break from this continued media folly, I leave you with this:

Mr. Transparency has added yet another position to the White House. That would be the Director of Progressive Media & Online Response. The point of this position? Well, it would seem to smack down any negative story that might arise about Obama. We can’t have THAT, after all.

I am not kidding. This new position will be directed primarily at the online community:

[snip] The post is a new one for this White House. Rapid response has been the purview of the Democratic National Committee (and will continue to be). Lee’s hire, however, suggests that a portion of it will now be handled from within the administration. It also signals that the White House will be adopting a more aggressive engagement in the online world in the months ahead.

Lee has played that role in the past, including writing a semi-infamous White House blog post that said Fox News’ Glenn Beck was lying about the administration on his show. His new gig comes with its own Twitter account, precisely for the purposes of disseminating push back.

An equally telling requirement of Lee’s new job, however, is that of crafting strategy for outreach to the progressive community. Lee has been tasked with that responsibility in his previous incarnations, both as a member of the DNC online team during the ’08 election and as a senior new media adviser with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).[snip] (Click here to read the rest.)

Oh, yes – we cannot have anything negative to say about The One, can we? I mean, really – no one can acknowledge when the Emperor Has No Clothes.

Along those lines, you likely know that Obama is off on another European Vacation, including going to Moneygall, Ireland to meet a very distant relative. (I am pretty sure my Irish connections are far closer than the 8th cousin Obama will be glad-handing, but hey – I would have to pay for my own damn trip to Ireland., so…) While there, he and Michelle went to a pub and tossed back a pint of Guiness:
(May 22, 2011 – Photo by Pool/Getty Images Europe)

Huh – rather a somber look for someone hanging out in a pub, but whatever. Ahem. He did lighten up, but I thought that photo was intriguing…

But get this – the White House INSISTED upon taking its own water to – wait for it – Buckingham Palace. In London. That one. Where the Queen of England lives. Not just that The Emperor would not drink the water there, he wouldn’t even drink THEIR bottled water. Again, I am not making this up – how could I? I never would even DREAM of something like that.

It is LONDON, not East Jesus, Timbuckto, for heaven’s sake. What is WRONG with this man? His people were worried it might upset his tummy, is the explanation for this (new) slight. He can toss back a Guiness, but not accept a bottle of water from the TRUE Royals. Now that takes some chutzpah, doesn’t it?

Well, who knows how much longer bloggers like me will be able to write these kinds of things before the Office Of “Truthiness*” rains down hard making sure everyone still believes the Emperor has clothes? I guess I better get them in while I can, huh?

One last thing – just what kind of bottled water IS it that His Highness requires? I’m just wondering. Is it laced with gold, frankincense, and myrrh? What do you think?

Basically, a foreign national has been killed by another foreign army. What does Pakistan have to do with this, then? Nothing and everything. And this nothing yet everything has placed Pakistan between a rock and a hard place.

If Pakistan admits that it helped US forces kill bin Laden it fears a backlash from the different militant organizations with in its boundaries, and if it denies any such cooperation then it will be labeled a supporter of Al Qaeda.

For this reason Pakistan – which is defined as the Pakistan Army and the agencies, including the infamous ISI – stayed silent. So silent that it’s scary. It’s the silence before the storm. This storm is not necessarily directed at the US, the CIA, Afghanistan or India. The tempest could be directed at foreign militants. Remaining silent was a wise approach and the best strategy so far for Pakistan. Be aware of that silence. The pendulum could swing either way. The forces that actually control Pakistan — and I’m not referring to politicians — could back any horse at this point. Or spread the wager across the board. Only time will tell.

The US media has been hammering Pakistan day and night. The media should consider Pakistan’s tight spot here. The US needs help, not just rooting terrorist networks out of Pakistan but in Afghanistan as well. It’s not easy for a country to sustain repeated bombardments, knowing that it depends on the country doing the bombing for large quantities of foreign aid. Already, a number of politicians and the Pakistani media are defining the bin Laden raid as another example of infringement of sovereignty and using bin Laden’s death to goad the US to pull out of Afghanistan. Rock, meet hard place. If only the US media understood that.

Then there have been conflicting reports coming out of various US departments. But the fact is that the raid could not have succeeded without the ISI’s help. Clearly bin Laden’s time was up. Given the ISI’s deserved reputation for treachery and intrigues, wouldn’t there have been a strong and deep bunker under that mansion to hide bin Laden? Or a maze of tunnels to help him and his family escape? Bin Laden was trapped, with the local support on the ground.

Obama said last night that he got confirmed reports of bin Laden’s location last week. I looked out for events that happened last week. President Obama was busy dealing with Trump’s nonsense, while the Pentagon was hosting ISI chief General Pasha. Coincidence? I don’t think so. There must have been a deal, a tit for tat.

Pakistan’s religious quarters have already started to question then authenticity of the killing. Above all, they have started asking US to wrap up their “war” and leave the region. Which again the US or NATO cannot afford to do. Not yet at least. The US has to deal with Afghanistan, Karzai, the Taliban, the Quetta shura…and the list goes on.

So let’s not get carried away here. The war is not over yet. Bin Laden killing has improved Obama’s approval ratings, but bin Laden’s death has hardly put a dent on al Qaeda. Keeping in mind that Al Qaeda’s's real ideological inspiration is al-Zuwahiri, who’s still very much alive. And probably on the ISI’s watch list too.

I know, I know, that can cover a wide variety of issues, and these days there seems to be no shortage of ones that would merit such a response.

But in this case, I am referring to Jack Stuef at Wonkette writing a particularly egregious piece directed at – wait for it – Trig Palin. Yes, Trig Palin, the Downs Syndrome baby of Sarah and Todd. It begs the question, what in the world could anyone have to say about any toddler that would be egregious, but especially a Special Needs child? Well, the headline of Tommy Christopher’s article at MediaIte gives you a hint:”Wonkette Editor Comments on Reprehensible Birthday Greeting to Trig Palin.”

First to a portion of Jack Stuef’s piece (and hey, I’m not linking to it, because he doesn’t deserve the traffic):

[snip] Today is the day we come together to celebrate the snowbilly grifter’s magical journey from Texas to Alaska to deliver to the America the great gentleman scholar Trig Palin. Is Palin his true mother? Or was Bristol? (And why is it that nobody questions who the father is? Because, either way, Todd definitely did it.)[snip]

What the hell is wrong with him? Seriously – what would make a grown (presumably) man attack a child this way just to get back at his parents for what, BEING? That “snowbilly grifter,” as he called her, is the freakin’ former governor of Alaska, and former VP presidential candidate – just what the hell has HE done that is anywhere NEAR that level of accomplishment? Apparently, nothing. And I say “apparently” because when you target a toddler for no reason other than his Special Needs status and who his parents are, well, you’re not exactly the cream of the crop. IMHO, that is.

Christopher’s response was pretty much along the lines of my own:

[snip] Hey, that’s really funny, calling Trig a gentleman scholar because he has Down Syndrome. And the speculation that Todd Palin may have raped his daughter? Pure comedy gold. You know what will be even funnier? The first time Jack Stuef runs into Todd Palin. That one practically writes its own punchline. [snip]

Uh, yeah. Now, Todd clearly has way more class than Stuef, and I am not an advocate of violence, but, wow…

And get this initial reaction from Ken Layne, Editor of Wonkette, in response to Christopher asking if this offensive post would be removed:

[snip] On whose account are you requesting that Jack Stuef remove a post mocking Sarah Palin’s well-documented use of her special needs child as a political prop? Is this coming from Mediaite? Which editor? [snip]

“Political prop”? How’s that again? She had him around her when she had ALL of her children around her. He’s her child, and was an INFANT at the time. If she did NOT have him with her, there would be charges against her for being a horrible parent, hiding her Special needs child, blah, blah, blah – you know there would be. She just cannot win for losing.

And really – they are pushing this meme that Bristol is really the mother?? What is wrong with these people?!

There are more exchanges between Tommy Christopher and Ken Layne, and you can click here to read the rest. Suffice it to say, it didn’t get any better (and really, it went downhill). There is still no sense of shame, or acknowledgment that this toddler should not be a target for “satire” or “humor,” since that is what they think Stuef’s post was.

Honestly, is there no line these folks won’t cross? Sure doesn’t seem like it, but I gotta say, going after a toddler, a Special Needs one at that, just to get at his parents, is plain wrong. Never mind the depiction of Palin – that was offensive, too. But this is way beyond the pale. There should be no place for this, either by the writer, or an editor who would defend it.

Again, I have to ask: what the hell is wrong with these people??

Update: Fortunately, many advertisers have pulled their ads from Wonkette. Seems some people DO still have a sense of decency and decorum, since Wonkette clearly does not.

Faithful NQ reader, Helenk, provided a link to an excellent piece at HotAir, “3 Reasons Why Wonkette Self-destructed By Publishing A Hit Piece On Trig Palin,” which included the video below:

Well said, Mr. Crowder. Thank you.

But that is not the point of this post, believe it or not. No, rather it is this: at the very same site, there is this article, “PROFESSOR: Sarah Palin Probably Staged A Gigantic Hoax About Being Trig’s Mother.”

I am not kidding, and it is not a tongue-in-cheek article, either. Oh, Andrew Sullivan must be SO happy that some professor at Northern Kentucky University is taking his assertion to heart. (And I am sure the parents who send their kids to school there are so happy to learn that one of the professors seems to be spending time “proving” that Sarah is not Trig’s real mother.) From what I can tell, the conclusion reached by Scharlotte was mere conjecture, but hey, that’s better than nothing, right? Ahem.

It does make me wonder one thing: just what is it this professor teaches exactly? I mean, with all this time on his hands to delve into such ground-breaking research, and all, it’s gotta be something important, no doubt. (That is snark, by the way.) Actually, he teaches journalism. Yes, journalism. Now you have a glimpse into why our media is in such bad shape, presuming this is representative of the professors in this field (he is also very upset that some “Palin Flack” is trying to squelch discussion on this critical issue facing us today. Again, not kidding.) Uh, yeah. THIS is what he is so concerned about the media not covering now, during this tumultuous time. Wow.

Oh, you’re probably wondering who IS Trig’s real mother according to Scharlotte (and Sullivan). Well, it’s Bristol, of course. C’mon, that’s as clear as the nose on your face, people!

What is really hilarious to me, though, are the comments at this article. The exact same people who demean, belittle, and attack those who would like to see Obama’s birth certificate act like this is a matter of National Security. You know, because Palin ran as the Vice Presidential candidate, so who her baby mama is matters a LOT. Hey, say what you will about Birthers, at least the desire to see an actual birth certificate is to fulfill a Constitutional requirement. And it is a requirement other presidential candidates have fulfilled, I might add.

But this has zero to do with the Constitution. This has to do with Palin Hatred veiled as outrage at a lackluster media, one that hasn’t done its job in reporting this “earth shattering” story:

[snip] He (Professor Scharlotte) concludes two things:

* First, that the “conspiracy theory” is likely true–Sarah Palin staged a huge hoax, and, second,

* The American media is pathetic for not pursuing the story more aggressively
[snip] (Click here to read the rest.)

Oh, yes – where has the media been? You know, the one that aggressively pursued Obama’s connections to Tony Rezko, or Bill Ayers, or Jeremiah Wright, or James Meeks, or his college/grad school records, or why there were ZERO paper recrods from the entire time Obama was in the IL Senate, or how he got everyone thrown off the ballot the first time he ran, or how he got the sealed divorce records of the two front-runner US Senate candidates unsealed right before the election, or any NUMBER of red flags about Barack Obama.

Oh, wait – they didn’t. But this man thinks what they SHOULD have been doing was going after Palin even more. Because the boatload of reporters who descended on Wasilla to turn over every rock they could, or the 11 reporters the AP assigned to check her book, is not the least bit aggressive in its efforts. Kinda makes you wonder how many they have assigned to “fact check” Obama’s books, huh? Yeah. I’m not holding my breath for that to happen, either.

It is just comical the complete and utter hypocrisy contained within this one site on such a related issue. And the utter lack of recognition of the hypocrisy, too, is a bit comical.

Yes, by all means, let us spend lots of time and media resources on whether or not Trig is Sarah Palin’s son, because that is of the utmost importance. Never mind Obama’s real back-story – he’s only the President after all. Hey, we have to have our priorities with our media, right? Right. Budget crisis? What “budget crisis”? I need to know who is really the mother of that kid, don’t you?

If you’ll excuse me, I have to go read “People” magazine now to get the REAL news…

(Or the more offensive, homophobic term for Tea Partiers.) Crosshairs! Targets!

The list could go on of the labels attached to groups of people or concepts by the media when they want to discount, demean, belittle, discourage discussion, demonize a group, or frame the issue how they want it to be, rather than how it is.

We saw this just recently with pundits rushing to frame the Tucson shootings as ratcheted up Republican rhetoric – falsely, as the facts later showed – from big time sources like the NY Times (Paul Krugman), Huffington Post (Arianna herself), DailyKos, and on and on. The shooting of Rep. Giffords and the other 18 victims was immediately put in the context of Republican political rhetoric being to blame for the actions of the shooter within a few hours of the event. Now, even though this meme has been proven wrong, pundits continue to say things like, “rightly or wrongly, the issue of civility is now front and center.” Well, it is WRONGLY, but every time they mention it, they continue to perpetuate this false meme. Civility had nothing to do with it at all, but now, whenever this issue comes up, like Pavlov and his dogs, that is what we think.

This ratchet response, ingrained in us by the media, is coming up again this week in terms of Obama’s birth certificate. A couple of articles have surfaced in which the Governor of Hawaii, Neil Abercrombie, in an attempt to dispel once and for all the allegations that Obama is not a natural born citizen, was unable to find his birth certificate. Oops. Apparently, there is a notation of Obama’s birth, but no long form has surfaced.

Additionally, a former Hawaii elections official, Tim Adams, has sworn, under oath, that neither hospital in Honolulu has a record of Obama’s birth. He doesn’t stop there – he goes on to say he was told there was no long form, and also to stop mucking around in this issue.

I am not getting into whether or not Obama is, or is not, a natural born citizen. That is not the point here. Check your response to what I wrote. Even bringing up this issue, no matter how or what has been discovered, is generally discounted as a crazy conspiracy theory, and that it is CRAZY to even mention it.

And that is because that is what we have been told by the media to think (pant, pant, pany, as Pavlov’s dog would do). The mere mention of Obama’s birth certificate brings derision and scorn upon whomever has the temerity to mention it. For the first time, for as long as I can remember, a presidential candidate was not required to present this document, one routinely required for a number of less important jobs. Yet requesting this one piece of paper has created a maelstrom of gigantic proportions.

We all know that by the mere fact of requesting this document, the requester is crazy. The media told us so. So, there.

Just like they told us Hillary was a cold, heartless Iron Bitch.

Just like they told us Sarah Palin was at the root of the Tucson shootings, or is a crazy “Mama Grizzly,” or that she could see Russia from her house (i.e., she’s stupid, got it? C’mon, only a MO-RON would think something like that. Never mind she never said it. Picky, picky.).

Just like they told us Tea Partiers are a bunch of racist yahoos (someone might want to tell Representatives Tim Scott and Col. Allen West that they are racists for belonging to the Tea Party. Ahem.).

I am sure you get the idea. The media is not reporting the news, they are shaping what they want people to believe. Even now, CNN and MSNBC continue to perpetuate this whole civility/Republican rhetoric meme for the Tucson shootings, regardless of the facts. That is not news – that is propaganda.

We learned of the JournoListers coordinating efforts to advance Obama’s candidacy for president, keeping important stories that might impact his chances out of their respective mediums. That was behind closed doors.

But now, media personalities are getting more blatant about it. Just recently, the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank calls out for a “Palin-Free February.” Yes, he has put a call out to his fellow commentators to not write or talk about Sarah Palin at all in the month of February.

Now, what kind of responsible journalist, or commentator, for that matter, would even consider such an action, except to continue to shape opinion about this figure? In his article (which you can read if you really want to give him the traffic), he makes some other (predictable) snide comments about Sarah Palin. That is the meme, after all – she is to be derided, demeaned, and ridiculed at every step, dontcha know, lest anyone start to take her seriously as a potential candidate. We cannot have THAT, after all. Rather than straight reporting, or basing commentary on, oh, I don’t know, let’s say, FACTS, now we just make shit up as if the person said or did it, then attack him/her for it mercilessly until the person become a mere caricature, and should anyone else still actually like them, they are nothing but a bunch of ignorant gun-totin’ hayseeds who likely don’t have a row to hoe anyway, so who cares what they think? Stupid heads.

And that is where our media is today. They set up these ratchet responses to labels, and dare anyone to stray from their definition or their insistence on who/what those labels represent, tearing down anyone who is foolish enough to disagree. They attack, deride, persecute until the person breaks, then respond with a, “see?? We TOLD you they were x, y, z…” They create the meme, then do everything in their power to make it true.

So, I reckon since I mentioned the whole Obama Birth Certificate thing now, no matter what I did or did not say, I will, forever after, be labeled a Birther. So, what the hell – for good measure, the government carried out 9/11!!! They did! There is no evidence of a plane at the Pentagon! Tea Party members are racist America-haters! Sarah Palin is personally responsible for the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords, and should be thrown in jail immediately!!! (Snark, snark, snark – just in case that was not abundantly clear.)

Hey, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, right? Wrong. We must stop this insanity with our media. When (formerly) great newspapers like the Washington Post and the New York Times become rumor-mongering rags, we are in serious trouble. Legitimate questions deserve legitimate answers, not derision. Serious investigative journalism must be restored to our media outlets, not regurgitating press releases from this or that party. Rather than allowing loud-mouthed pundits to determine the news, how about having some actual journalists (if you can still find them) to report the news, rather than craft the news? We must stop allowing them to silence us if we do not agree with their manufactured outrage and meme.

Just a thought. But hey, I am just a Birther/Truther/Tea Partier/Mama Grizzly Wannabe/Crosshair Target-er. So what do I know?!

There is no need to rehash the numerous assaults on Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, or those lumped together and labeled “Conservatives” (presumably, anyone who does not have a LD – Lefty Democrat – after their name), in the wake of the Tucson shooting. From the very first press conference with Sheriff Dupnik, rhetoric, presumably only conservative rhetoric, was blamed for this horrible tragedy. Many, many blogs, news organizations, and pundits, including the economist, Paul Krugman, jumped on the “Blame Palin!!!” bandwagon (though Mr. Krugman might do well to stick to his area of expertise). Yes, even as they claim, “we don’t have any evidence to support this yet, BUT it is all Palin and Limbaugh and Beck’s fault…”

Indeed, we have heard it all, from my ridiculous representative Jim Clyburn calling for the restoration of “The Fairness Doctrine,” which isn’t all that fair, to calls for limited Freedom of Speech (who gets to decide what can and cannot be said?), to insisting Palin used “Crosshairs!!!” on her map, akin to the bullseye used by the Democrats, but essentially meaningless in a culture that frequently uses military imagery (“war room,” “marshal our forces,” “hit the target,” etc.) as common parlance, particularly in the political arena. We heard it over and over again: it is all the fault of Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, Beck et.al, that this heinous act was committed in Tucson.

After all these blatantly false charges have been levied, what does Time Magazine’s Mark Halperin think Palin and the Conservatives should do about these offensive comments being hurled their way? Turn the other cheek. That’s right, he thinks they should do nothing about it, not stand up for themselves, not defend themselves, not retort, not say a peep. Ah, yes – that Freedom of Speech thing gets another gratuitous hit from those in the media.

Now I know people might think, me being a minister type and everything, that I would concur with Halperin’s assessment. I do not. There is such a thing as disparaging another person’s character, abusing them with words, bullying them, all of which has happened in the public arena, with the mindless assistance of the MSM. For someone to then expect that person, in this case, Palin, to just take it, remain silent, be mute, is an insult to the divine within the person who has been maligned. No victim of abuse, of lies, of rumor and innuendo, should be expected to take the abuse silently. No one. And that is just what he is asking Palin to do.

Thankfully, Palin refused to accept the silencing Halperin (and others) wanted to impose upon her. No. This morning, Governor Palin made a statement regarding the recent tragedy in Tucson, and the attempts to connect her to the actions of a madman:

Well said. And a very measured response, I might add. No wonder they are so afraid of her.

But of course, those on the Left are not happy with this statement, oh no. Piling on with Halperin is former Clinton/Gore advisor, Peter Mirijanian, who just this morning attacked this statement because Palin didn’t APOLOGIZE for what happened in Tucson. Not only that, she waited too long to come out with a statement (I guess he missed that she said she took time to reflect on the tragedy that had occurred). Most importantly, though, she didn’t grovel for forgiveness for the actions of someone who took matters into his own hands out of his own mental illness.

Again – there has been ZERO connection between what Loughner did in Tucson and ANY political rhetoric. None. Absolutely none. Yet that is not stopping some of these folks from continuing to demand Palin apologize.

But apologize for what? Seems to me, they are demanding that she apologize for her very existence. And once she has done that, she needs to be quiet, and just go away.

This is the same thing they did to Hillary Clinton, by people in her own party. This is the same thing too many women in this country endure: the powers-that-be wanting to silence us. If there is any correlation between what happened to Giffords and Sarah Palin, it is that they are both strong, outspoken women. And for that, Giffords has paid a horrendous price, though one from which we all hope and pray she recovers (thank HEAVENS doctors now think her survival is guaranteed).

Palin is paying a price, too, at the hands of those who claim they are now speaking out for civility. In their very claims, they are being uncivil, leveling false charges against a political opponent in an attempt to silence, demean, destroy her. But she will not be silenced. And for that, I salute her.

So, what do you think? Is Mark Halperin smoking something? What did you think of Palin’s statement? Is it a leap to make this about women? Let’s hear it!

UPDATE: So while those on the left are sanctimoniously calling for more “civility” in language, would you like to guess what the result has been of their followers toward Sarah Palin? If you guessed DEATH THREATS, you would be right. Below is a video compilation of some of the threats Palin has received. I warn you – this is NOT for the faint of heart:

Such “civil discourse,” indeed. This is just frightening. Talk about “unhinged” (President Clinton) and ratcheting up political discourse. If something happens to Sarah Palin, will Markos be apologetic? Arianna Huffington? Sheriff Dupnik?? Yeah, I didn’t think so, either…

Here is the All Star Panel discussing this very issue, and how the media is continuing to ratchet up antagonism against the right under the guise of moderating our rhetoric:

As Baier highlighted, I have seen a number of reports in which people are doing exactly as he suggested, “There is no evidence of this lunatic being influenced by Palin, the Tea Party, or Republicans at all, BUT let’s blame them anyway, and try to squelch free speech while we are at it.”

I wrote recently about my ignorant representative, Jim Clyburn, blaming the Tea Party/Palin/Republicans, AND wanting to cut back on Freedom of Speech. And all of this is under the guise of wanting to decreasing violence in speech.

Tuesday, Arianna Huffington, she of HuffPo creation, wrote a post, “Arizona Shootings: Our Moment of Silence Needs To Be Followed By More Than Just Lowered Voices.” I suppose I should have warned you in case you were drinking something at the time – my apologies. Anyway, in Ms. Huffington’s post, she writes this:

[snip] And while we don’t know all the facts yet and the story is still unfolding, we know enough to know that we need more than a little soul searching.

The fact that the gunman is clearly mentally unbalanced does not absolve us of the responsibility to consider the atmosphere in which the shootings occurred. “Shootings of political figures are by definition ‘political,’” writes James Fallows. “That’s how the target came to public notice; it is why we say ‘assassination’ rather than plain murder.”

And the atmosphere in which this horrible tragedy was born, nurtured, and carried to its wretched fruition is toxic. Of course, there are always going to be unbalanced people, just as there are always going to be viruses in our environment — but what most determines whether those viruses make us sick is the strength of our immune system. When it is stressed and compromised, infections can easily take hold.

And there is no doubt that our collective immune system is worn down, making us more susceptible to the kind of infection that turned that Arizona parking lot into a killing field. While there has never been a golden age in our democracy’s history, there have been many times in which our national immune system was much stronger. [snip] (Click here if you want to read the rest.)

This is not just scurrilous, it is the height of hypocrisy. Many of us remember all too well how our “immune systems” got weakened by vitriolic speech. A lot of it happened right there at Huffington Post to those of us who had the audacity to support Hillary Clinton over The One. We were bullied, berated, attacked, and essentially banished from the site for our refusal to capitulate on the best choice for president. Sure, there have been a few posts here and there in support of Hillary Clinton since Obama took office (do I really need to explain that one?), but the fact remains, this blog has been at the forefront of vitriolic rhetoric.

Just last month, in December, Huffington Post allowed the once-great Aaron Sorkin to post an almost unintelligible screed against Sarah Palin, laced with profanity, and twisted facts throughout. His attack on her was completely unprovoked. He just couldn’t help himself in his desire to attack, attack, attack, and demean this woman. And Huffington Post allowed him to do so. One month later, Huffington has the nerve to talk about “toxic” rhetoric? Spare me the sanctimony.

MoveOn.org has joined the chorus as well, asking its members to sign a petition to our Congress with this as the petition text: “I call for an end to all overt and implied appeals to violence in American politics. We must debate, not hate.” Are they for real?? The same organization who referred to General Petraeus as “General Betrayus” is now acting as if they are some honest broker in restoring civility to speech? Again, I remember just how they conducted themselves during the 2008, 2010 elections. They have no leg on which to stand in tryin gto claim this moral high ground.

Neither does Obama Sycophant, Jonathan Alter, who, in the spirit of Rahm Emanuel, wants Obama to make sure he makes political hay out of this horrible tragedy. His headline says it all, “Can Obama Turn Tragedy Into Triumph?” Alter writes:

[snip] But silence will not be enough. This horrific event offers the president a chance to show leadership qualities that he’s inexplicably hidden away in some blind trust. The shootings and the resulting debate over the climate of incivility play to his strengths as a calm and rational leader. Just as Bill Clinton’s response to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings helped him recover from his defeat in the 1994 midterms, so this episode may help Obama change—at least in the short term–the trajectory of American politics. [snip] (Click here to read the rest.)

Perhaps Alter was just mistaken that Obama ever embodied the leadership he is “inexplicably hidden away.” That was Alter’s mistake for making that leap based on little data, just like others have done with this tragedy. But even more disingenuous is this rampant implication by those on the left that they engaged in NONE of this vitriolic rhetoric. It is, again, scurrilous, for someone like Alter, who regularly appeared on Olbermann, trashing Clinton AND Palin, to now act like he and his cohorts were just meek little lambs in their political discourse. The hypocrisy is just staggering.

I cannot possibly go through all of the instances of the Left’s treatment of Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Primary in their blind desire to elect Obama. The unsubstantiated attacks, the theft of votes, the fraud perpetrated in the caucuses by the Obama camp, all with tacit approval by the DNC, along with the most misogynistic shirts, slogans, sayings, and ads put out by the Obama camp. And now they are trying to act like they were harmless in their rhetoric? It would be pathetic if not so infuriating.

And then there was what they did to Palin. This Primer by Michelle Malkin gives you just a quick glimpse into the “moderate” language of the left about this governor.

And now, these same people, who attacked these candidates, and their followers, relentlessly, are now blaming inflammatory rhetoric on the RIGHT as the primary reason this maniac tried to assassinate Rep. Giffords. Moreover, they would seek to limit our speech as a result of this attack.

We cannot, CANNOT, censor ourselves with an eye to not upsetting some deranged lunatic. That essentially allows the crazy people to determine our discourse, which is, in and of itself, crazy. It is over-functioning to a pathological degree to try and tiptoe around our nation in fear that someone somewhere may just lose it. That kind of walking on eggshells is a horrible way to live, and does, by its very nature, make us prisoners of our own making. We cannot stop talking, or writing, or protesting, or arguing, just because it might set some psycho off on a rampage. We cannot know what will be the next trigger, and we cannot live our lives in constant fear of “upsetting” someone so much they will go off the rails. It is a destructive path down which some would have us go.

And it will strip us of our very freedoms. I, for one, am not willing to give up my freedom to appease some nut-job. How about you?

In the aftermath of the shooting of 19 people in an attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., Countdown’s Keith Olbermann reminds Americans that “violence, or the threat of violence, has no place in our democracy.”

This is the man who wanted “a super delegate to take Hillary into a room and only he comes out.”

As Rev. Amy, Larry Johnson and Bronwyn’s Harbor have all noted, the current media feeding frenzy has little to do with a realistic dissection of events. Mr. Olbermann also ignores the years of violent rhetoric and spin that have been aimed at women and the devastating effect that has on all of us as a society. His outrage on behalf of a woman, namely Congresswoman Giffords, is only present because he can demonize another woman in the process, namely Sarah Palin.

While I am sensitive to violent rhetoric, having seen first hand how verbal abuse of women can lead to physical violence, before Mr. Olbermann aims more vitriol at his current favorite bogeymen, Palin and the Tea Party movement, he must first absolve himself of his own sins. He cannot do so. Surely many others of his ilk cannot either. Taking a senseless tragedy such as Saturday’s horrific shootings in Tucson and using it to obliquely further the ends of one political party over another is abhorrent.

As Howard Kurtz of The Daily Beast noted, the rhetoric of violence is regularly part of our political and “journalistic” discourse: having someone in the “crosshairs,” “targeting” a vulnerable incumbent, “lock and load,” President Obama making comments such as “if they bring a knife, we’ll bring a gun,” referring to his political opponents as “enemies”…This is nothing new. And as for Palin’s map of targeted districts in the 2010 midterms, it was a map she co-opted from democrats, who used the same technique years earlier. Politico just offered an article whereby a Democratic operative admitted to a concerted effort to blame the Tea Party for Saturday’s shootings. Even Mr. Kurtz admitted it was a ridiculous stretch to lay these horrible events at Palin’s doorstep.

Passion, protest or violence is not the province of any one group or party.

In 2008, Governor Palin was hung in effigy in my city and the mayor refused to have it taken down, defending the action by saying it was on private property even though the life-sized model hanging by a noose was clearly visible from the street. The Secret Service had to get involved in order to put an end to it. There were realistic images of Palin being tackled by a 280 lb. linebacker, other violent images featured Palin’s teeth getting knocked out. She was threatened by Sandra Bernhardt with gang rape if she dared step foot into Manhattan. The list goes on.

And what of Hillary Clinton? I remember seeing a blog post on a lefty website that called for “slitting her throat, throwing her into the trunk of a car, and dumping her body in the river.” Professor Kathleen Jamieson reported in her 2007 interview with Bill Moyers of PBS that Facebook sites with enormous followings depicted Hillary being violated by animals. She was accused of everything from the “murder of “Vince Foster” to wishing assassination upon Barack Obama. She, like Palin, was called every filthy name imaginable. Her supporters were as well. The tactic of insulting, physically threatening and calling innocent campaigners racist would seem to have “no place in our democracy” either.

Where was Mr. Olbermann’s outrage at the rhetoric of violence then? Since most of the vile behavior and commentary was coming from the Left – and even Olbermann himself – it is easy to understand why he remained silent.

I, too, believe that violent rhetoric is troubling and has no place in our discourse. But can it not be argued that the misogyny exhibited toward women day in and year out creates an atmosphere whereby a whacko like J. Loughner can go on a shooting spree – targeting a woman for assassination? Perhaps that seem like a stretch. But how is that any more of stretch than Democratic operatives looking to pin this tragedy on tea party members – although all evidence says that this disturbed loner was a Marxist. This young man had nothing to do with any group it seems, and for the media to jump to dangerous conclusions using half-baked information can only create the very atmosphere of violence they pretend they are wishing to assuage.

Both parties, along with the media, use irresponsible verbiage. It is sensationalistic, designed to sell copy and has been going on for years. According to an exclusive interview in Mother Jones today, the shooter had an obsession with Rep. Giffords and was possessed of his own violent fantasies and agenda. How was he following any one person’s political rhetoric in coming to the decision to do what he did? Further, while he may have targeted Rep. Giffords, he came loaded with several magazines for his semi-automatic weapon, clearly ready to execute as many people as he could, perhaps going out in a blaze of glory.

It would behoove the media to instead focus on an atmosphere that allowed a mentally unstable man to wander through life without proper medical attention while being given legal access to a semi-automatic weapon and ammunition.

The atmosphere of hate that Olbermann decries should upset him – he is one of the people who created it. It is disgraceful for any members of the fourth estate to sensationalize such a horrific event or worse, to use Ms. Gifford as a political football in order to ensnare and defeat others with whom they do not agree.

Why all of the name calling? Because if my “esteemed” (cough, choke) Congressman has his way, we will lose our right to free speech, so I figure I better get it all out now. Yessiree, he thinks we need to have some “parameters” set forth, as this Post and Courier article makes clear:

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the third-ranking Democrat in Congress, said Sunday the deadly shooting in Arizona should get the country thinking about what’s acceptable to say publicly and when people should keep their mouths shut.

Clyburn said he thinks vitriol in public discourse led to a 22-year-old suspect opening fire Saturday at an event Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords held for her constituents in Tucson, Ariz. Six people were killed and 14 others were injured, including Giffords.

The shooting is cause for the country to rethink parameters on free speech, Clyburn said from his office, just blocks from the South Carolina Statehouse. He wants standards put in place to guarantee balanced media coverage with a reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine, in addition to calling on elected officials and media pundits to use ‘better judgment.’

‘Free speech is as free speech does,’ he said. ‘You cannot yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater and call it free speech and some of what I hear, and is being called free speech, is worse than that.’

Clyburn used as an example a comment made by Sharron Angle, an unsuccessful U.S. senatorial candidate in Nevada, who said the frustrated public may consider turning to ‘Second Amendment remedies’ for political disputes unless Congress changed course.

Clyburn said the man accused of shooting Giffords did just that.

‘He saw a Second Amendment remedy and that’s what occurred here and there is no way not to make that connection,’ Clyburn said. [snip] (Click HERE to read the rest, and some of the comments are pretty good, especially the one from “Superrog” who suggests to Clyburn, “Bite me.”.)

From where did this claim originate? Well, according to Politico, from a Democratic operative:

[snip]One veteran Democratic operative, who blames overheated rhetoric for the shooting, said President Barack Obama should carefully but forcefully do what his predecessor did.

“They need to deftly pin this on the tea partiers,” said the Democrat. “Just like the Clinton White House deftly pinned the Oklahoma City bombing on the militia and anti-government people.”

Another Democratic strategist said the similarity is that Tucson and Oklahoma City both “take place in a climate of bitter and virulent rhetoric against the government and Democrats.” [snip] (Click HERE to read the rest.)

With absolutely zero evidence, the Democrats endeavored, and have been fully assisted by the media, in propagating a complete fallacy about the actions of this madman in Tucson. They are, in essence, engaging in the very “virulent rhetoric” of which they are accusing Republicans and Tea Partiers. They don’t seem to see the irony – make that hypocrisy – of their actions. Or if they do, they just don’t care. And Clyburn with his race-baiting of the Clintons is particularly guilty of political rhetoric, oh hell – let’s call it what it was – a LIE, that had major consequences.

Indeed, these claims were made essentially from the outset, as Sheriff Paul Babeu makes clear in the following clip:

And why? Why would a sheriff make such an absurd claim about the motive? Why did the left seize on this tragic horrible situation in which six American citizens were gunned down, and fourteen others, including a US Congresswoman, were seriously injured? What in the world could be the logic here? Just to gain a political edge? Could they really be that callous, that repugnant, to use the deaths and grave injuries of others just to punish their political enemies?

It sure seems that way, especially considering the restraint many on the Left called for after Major Hasan opened fire on a number of his fellow soldiers, as Ed Morrissey wrote about this weekend. We were told not to assume it was because he was Muslim, that we didn’t know what was going on, all of the facts were not in, etc., etc. Well, turns out it WAS because he is Muslim, but yes, restraint until the facts are known is solid advice. It is a shame they were so quick to (incorrectly) judge this time around. But, wow, were they ever, including Paul Krugman of the New York Times:

Wow. Krugman has no idea who Loughner is, but that doesn’t stop him from making these wild accusations. The entire media has been a willing partner in putting forth this propaganda as to rationale for the shooting. How else can you classify it as anything other than propaganda? The print media, bloggers, and television networks have been all too willing to CREATE this rumor, and put it forth as fact, though everything that is coming out NOW clearly demonstrates how false their meme is.

That the Democrats, including my assholic representative, Jim Clyburn, and their willing accomplices, the media, are choosing to use this tragedy for political gain is simply obscene. It is callous, it is the absolute worst kind of grandstanding, and it is reprehensible. They should be ashamed of themselves, though I doubt that emotion can even filter through the sanctimony and political opportunism they are demonstrating repeatedly over this tragedy.

The focus should be on how this clearly deranged man passed his FBI background check, why his repeated death threats were not taken more seriously, and how the system failed, not trying to blame a group who had absolutely nothing to do with this heinous crime.

Moreover, we should concern ourselves with those fighting for their lives, and for the families of those fallen as a result of Loughner’s actions. That would be the appropriate response, not trying to curb our speech, or make up blame to heap on others, thus fueling the very vitriol that is being decried.

The Democrats, and the media, are way out of line on this one, and they need to rectify this situation immediately. They can begin with an apology to Sarah Palin, and maybe, just maybe instead of spouting off with nothing more than lies, rumor, and innuendo, they can just shut the hell up already. Talking to you, Rep. Clyburn.

No doubt, you have already heard or read that many in the media made the leap that Gov. Sarah Palin is responsible for this assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, one of the truly good politicians. Yes, because Gov. Palin had a map with crosshairs for those districts to target in 2010, it is all her fault.

Never mind that the DLC had one similar, and its was up before Gov. Palin’s. Oh, no – pay no attention to that. It might momentarily impede the self-righteous, sanctimonious meme that it is all Palin’s fault. Can’t have that.

And never mind that Jared Lee Loughner is one seriously deranged dude, who had already been visited by police several times for making death threats. Or that, according to people who know him, he is actually a leftist-leaning liberal. We all know how much THOSE people, those Lefty communist-types do whatever Palin wants them to do, right? Right. Snort.

All of this was recently captured in a Facebook exchange I had with my Obot follower sister. It all started with me writing this “incendiary” comment. Okay, ready? It’s really provocative, so hold onto your seats:

What a senseless, horrendous, cowardly act, this shooting of Rep. Giffords, members of her staff, a Federal District judge, and innocent bystanders. My thoughts and prayers go out to those families who lost loved ones this day, including the parents of the 9 yr old girl, and Judge John Roll. I pray for the speedy and… complete recovery of Rep. Giffords, her staff, and others fighting for their lives after this attack.

I included a link to The Hill, “Politicians React To Shooting Of Rep. Giffords.” Perhaps that is where it started. Who knows? What I got was this exchange:

Sister, I’ve read some of the comments on the news sites about this, including “how dare you associate Sarah Palin with this shooting!” Um… maybe because on her website, she has Gabrielle Giffords depicted in a rifle’s crosshairs? Public figures, while not personally responsible for pulling the trigger[s], need to remember to communicate responsibly.

How many more shootings do we need to have happen before this country WAKES UP and says NO MORE?!

Me,And the DCCC had the same kind of map before Palin did, so it surely is not Palin’s fault, nor is it a Tea Party thing, as some have tried to claim. This was a deranged 22 yr old who opened fire on a crowd for whatever his own screwed up reasons were. The BIG question is how someone so completely unbalanced was able to purchase a gun. THAT is the issue, as opposed to trying to blame Palin for this despicable act.

Me, As I continue looking at reports on Giffords, I don’t understand why Palin is being blamed for this when Loughner was a far leftist, who claimed the Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf as his two favorite books. I doubt those are two of Palin’s faves. Wasn’t it Obama who instructed his followers, “if they bring a knife, we bring a gun“? Or a DailyKos blogger who wrote, just two days ago, that Rep. Giffords was “dead to” him? So, are they to blame? No. The one to blame is Loughner himself, not anyone else but him.
Sister, I’m on the DCCC mailing list, and I sure don’t recall seeing anything with gunsights on it, or talk about reloading.

And yes, how someone that unstable was able to buy a gun is a very good question!

Me, I’ll send it to you. It most definitely was. The DLC had one, too. Heck, DailyKos targeted Rep. Giffords in 2008. Again, to blame this on Palin is ridiculous – the kid was a far lefty, not exactly a Palin follower, I’d wager.

Seems like a reasonable wager, does it not? I mean, really – from all reports, this young man was not exactly the kind to dvr “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” or anything. Well, evidently, I am wrong:

Sister,Hitler was as far right as they come. And it doesn’t matter what Palin’s fave books are, it’s the words coming out of her mouth and the graphics on her website. (Those were just taken down today, a little late, if you ask me.)

…Palin is not the ONLY person spewing hatred, but in this particular case,
she did spew hatred directly at this particular Representative.

As did Markos at DailyKos. He targeted her back in 2008. And he’s pretty left-leaning. But I digress. I guess I should be amazed she conceded that Palin isn’t the ONLY one hate-spewing, though that continues to assert that Palin IS engaged in hateful rhetoric.

But wait, it gets better, albeit a bit repetitive (I know, I know, I should stop banging my head against the wall):

Me By all accounts, this young man was a far Leftist. That DailyKos targeted Giffords, even claiming she was dead to him two days before the shooting, that doesn’t figure in at all? Or Obama telling his followers, “if someone brings a knife, you should bring a gun”? Honestly, I don’t think it should – but you sure shouldn’t try and pin this one on Palin. (The DCCC had their bulls-eye one up for a long time, too – but I guess that’s different.)

Me, As for Hitler being “far right,” he advocated a centralized government, a National Socialism (hence, “Nazism).

And that, dear friends, got me this response from a childhood friend:

With all respect, somehow Hitler doesn’t come to mind as someone to defend. I think a take home from all of this should be a recognition that words have power. There is far too much violence and hatred in political speech these days. It serves no good and only weakens this country.

Defending Hitler? By defining what Nazism is?? That kind of “logical” leap defies, well, logic:

Me, Good grief…I am not defending Hitler. Don’t know how you made that leap. My sister said he was far right, which is incorrect, in her attempt to connect Sarah Palin to this murderer who listed Hitler’s book as one of his faves, as well as the Communist Manifesto. From all reports, Loughner is a liberal, so the attempted connection to Palin defies logic. That was ALL I was saying – I was not defending Hitler in any way, shape, or form…

So you see, ladies and gentlemen, if you try to point out that the person responsible for this heinous act is the one responsible, not Sarah Palin for some map she did MONTHS ago, you are a Hitler apologist.

Wow.

Thankfully, my friend just wrote back and said this:

My apologies. It read that way. My view, whether the shooter was far left or far right in the center of apolitical, the tone of political speech here has become increasingly bellicose, hateful and intolerant. Words have power. It creates… an atmosphere in which violence can occur. So no matter which “side” uses it, it creates and contributes to conditions for violent actions. Whether it influenced this guy, I hope this serves as a wake up call for the country to step back and change the way we talk to and about each other.

True that. Though, still, the machinations people go through to resist in any way not blaming Palin for this, which ends up with someone reading a simple definition as an apology for Hitler, is staggering. Good grief. That should tell them something, shouldn’t it? I know, stop banging my head against the wall.

It seems that people have completely lost sight of what is most important in all of this: a US Representative had an assassination attempt against her, one she has miraculously, so far, survived. In the meantime, though, a member of her staff was murdered, along with a Federal District Judge, John Roll, and several others. I just learned this morning, the 9 year old girl, Christina Greene who died, was born on 9/11:

[snip] A neighbor was going to the Giffords event and invited Christina along because she thought she would enjoy it, said her uncle, Greg Segalini.

Christina had just been elected to the student council at her school. The event, held outside a Safeway supermarket north of Tucson, was an opportunity for constituents to meet Giffords and talk about any concerns they had related to the federal government.

“The next thing you know this happened. How do you prepare for something like this. My little niece got killed-took one on the chest and she is dead,” Segalini said outside the girl’s house.

Christina was involved in many activities, from ballet to baseball, Segalini said.

“She was real special and real sweet,” Segalini said. (Click HERE to read the rest.)

So sad. It is a tragic, horrible, disturbing situation, resulting in a home-grown terrorist attack on one of the People’s representatives, and innocent bystanders. That there has become this extreme level of vitriol directed at Palin, or anyone else, is a failure to look at how we treat each other, the height of the vitriol we are willing to tolerate, the amount of hatred we are willing to spew at each other from the safety of our keyboards.

Rep. Giffords is the best type of politician. She listens to her constituents, and thinks for herself. I hope and pray for a full and speedy recovery for her, and all those who were shot during this rampage.

And for those whose lives were lost, my deepest sympathies and condolences to their families. This should never have happened, and we cannot allow it to happen again…

We have become so disconnected from one another, it is heartbreaking. I brought back the conversation that this should not be about Palin, but about Rep. Giffords and the others in this attack. Another friend, a retired military chaplain, wrote the following:

In the end I think we will learn that this was simply the deranged act of a very disturbed young man. It reminds me to “love GOD (higher power) with all my heart and soul, & to love my neighbor as I love myself. On these 2 commandments hang… all the law and the prophets.”
in many ways I think I (we) have lost love for neighbor because I (we) have wandered away from the ability to genuinely properly love myself (ourselves). Just a thought… In many ways I think fear and “terrorists of all kinds” are winning. I pray I am wrong!!!!

…One day at a time…NAMASTE

Amen to that.