A new CBS/Opinion Research poll indicates that 71% of Americans believe that Iran already has a nuclear weapon. Sigh. While it certainly should not be a surprise anymore given numerous past polling of a similar level of absurdity, it is still nonetheless disheartening. For the record, it is absolutely false
Continue readingTag: US politics
Blast Furnace Canada Blog: It’s called ministerial responsibility, Toews!
“Sit down, my son. We don’t read most of the bills. Do you really know what that would entail — if we were to read every bill that we passed? Well, the good thing, it would slow down the legislative process.” Rep. John Conyers (D — MI 14) to Michael
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Rick Santorum signals the declining relevance of the Tea Party
Rick Santorum’s recent rise to the number one contender spot versus perennial front-runner Mitt Romney has frequently been described as simply being the last in line of a long list of not-Romney flavor of the months. As in, there is nothing particularly special or meaningful in his recent and likely
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: Progressive and supporting Ron Paul? How can that be?!?!
A recent post of mine, supportive of GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul, elicited a comment from Laura, the author of We Move to Canada. An excellent blog about her experiences as an American moving to, and now living in Canada. She directed me to a post she had written on the Texas congressman
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: Is the Mormon faith racist?
Ron Paul has come under some fire for newsletters bearing his name that contained racist remarks some 20 odd years ago. The Texas congressman and Presidential hopeful has said he didn’t write them or read them, and thankfully he disavows them. Good on him. All is fair in love and war,
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: Winning By Stealth
Rachel Maddow (with the help of Doug Wead, a senior advisor to the Ron Paul campaign) describes how the wily old coot is attempting to exploit flaws in the present Republican caucus system to gather delegates to the GOP convention irrespective of how votes were actually cast in the caucus
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: Why the media is afraid of Ron Paul
There are four candidates vying for the nomination of the Republican Party for a run at the U.S. presidency this coming November. However, based on media coverage, some might think its a race between Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. Maine just conducted a straw poll. And while Mitt Romney
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: Political Discourse in America
Mindlessly chanting “USA, USA, USA!” the audience at CPAC shouts down a handful of “Occupy” protesters that were attempting to disrupt a speech by former political celebrity Sarah Palin with inane chants of their own. Evidently, the CPAC attendees “won” the contest.
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: “Obock Obama”
Wearing a matching sweater vest, Foster Friess, the billionaire investor backing Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum’s frothy campaign to be Theocrat-in-Chief of the Free World, introduces his pet candidate at CPAC 2012: After opening with a mildly amusing joke at the expense of Mitt Romney, Friess goes on to observe
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: Batshit Crazy Festival 2012: aka CPAC
Only in America could there be such an event as the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) – an annual gathering in Washington where nearly 10,000 angry white men and fiercely intolerant women come to hear a bizarre assortment of raving mad lunatics speak to their deepest prejudices and fears.
Continue readingBlast Furnace Canada Blog: Prop 8 struck down again
I have only had enough time to skim through the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in California’s Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban. As we all know, the appeals panel upheld the lower court ruling striking down the measure as violating the federal constitution. It did stop short of
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Obamacare, birth control, and religious freedoms
The Obama administration has recently adopted a very narrow definition of religious exclusions in the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. The effect of this is that ostensibly religious institutions such as Catholic hospitals and universities would be required, along with everyone else, to include coverage of birth control
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: Santorumentum!
Def: The frothy mix of media hype and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of non-binding Republican primary victories. How sad is it that a moronic theocrat like Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum is viewed by a majority of Republican primary voters in the heartland of America as a
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: How to tax the rich in this political climate
There is a lot of agreement that the rich pay too little of their wealth, that inequality has sharply risen over the last three decades benefiting the rich tremendously, and that the rich in America now enjoy a privileged status made possibly by their influence in politics. That GOP frontrunner
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Romney’s lack of concern for poor people
Campaign coverage often likes to jump from gaffe to gaffe as if this (and poll data) is the only relevant thing to talk about in a Presidential race. Perhaps it is just a function of the overly polished, trite vacuousness of the rest of their tightly controlled campaigns that the
Continue readingwmtc: who is behind the susan g. komen foundation’s decision to cut ties with planned parenthood?
When a leading breast-cancer charity severs its relationship with the largest provider of reproductive health services in the US, we have to ask, who is behind this terrible decision? The Atlantic: The nation’s leading breast-cancer charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which has spent nearly $2 billion over the
Continue readingwmtc: occupy the u.s. election, part 2: it doesn’t matter who wins if they don’t count the votes
There are two principal reasons why the U.S. presidential election doesn’t matter. Corporate money’s death grip on both parties is one. Election fraud is the other. Long-time readers of wmtc may recall a time when I was fairly obsessed with U.S. elections – not with the results, but with the
Continue readingwmtc: occupy the u.s. election, part 1: "we can vote for romney or obama, but goldman sachs and exxonmobil and bank of america and the defense contractors always win."
Occasionally a bit of slime seeps from the sewer of the Republican primaries into my oxygen, and I feel the need to share the smell. When a public figure says that a pregnancy from rape is a silver lining sent from god, as Rick Santorum did, and that person is
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: State of the Union
Usually the SOTU is a complete snore full of empty rhetoric, lofty sentiments and flowery prose, but I have to admit that the one President Obama delivered tonight was relatively clear, concise (as much as these expansive things can be) and downright kick-ass in parts. When it becomes available I’ll
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: Right-Wing Cat Killers
Jacob Burris, campaign manager for Arkansas Democratic congressional candidate Ken Aden, came home Sunday night to find his family cat dead on the front porch with the word “LIBERAL” written on the carcass. For some bizarre reason, CNN won’t allow your presumably delicate sensibilities to be offended by the pic
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