The Weekly Rewind

Question: could Joe Lieberman be any more of a treacherous turncoat? Follow-up question: do you think he understands how politically insignificant he will be if Sen. Obama wins in 11 days?

‘The Weekly Rewind’ starts… right now!

Applaud: to Sen. Obama and his Grandmother… our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Heckle: to Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson for admitting this in a NY Times interview this past week; “I could have seen the subprime problem coming earlier… but I’m not saying I would have done anything differently.” (Yes…heaven forbid someone in this administration do their damn job and try to keep the country afloat… dumbass)

Applaud: to the news that Sen. Obama now has the poll-lead on two traditionally-republican issues, taxes and family values. According to the latest Ipsos/McClatchy poll likely voters now prefer Obama over McCain by a margin of 8 percentage points, even though the McPalin campaign had been trying to paint Obama as a tax-and-spend liberal who would raise taxes on everyone. Regarding family values likely voters in the poll now prefer Obama over McCain by 8 points, up from 3 points in mid-September. (you know things are going bad for the republicans when Democrats are showing better than them in some of their key areas… makes me cautiously optimistic about November 4th, though I wont celebrate anything until all the votes are cast and counted – properly)

Heckle: to early-voter intimidation. Earlier in the week Washington Times reporter Christina Bellantoni stopped by a polling place in North Carolina and reported that a group of “loud and angry protestors” were shouting and mocking early voters. Bellatoni noted that the people were shouting about conservative talking points, yelling the word ‘terrorist’ and complaining that Sundays are for church, not voting… (suppose the invoking of church while yelling and screaming hateful things is lost on these people? I would guarantee none of them would see the irony in it… hatred has a tendency to make people stupid, and these people just proved that perfectly)

Applaud: to the fact that at last count 26 papers that supported “President” Bush in 2004 have moved their allegiance to the Democrats and Sen. Obama. Opposite of that, a mere four that supported Sen. Kerry have made the jump to McCain. (Granted, we don’t put much stock into newspaper endorsements, but this is still a staggering number to see…)

Heckle: to the continuing trend of this administration screwing the environment. The EPA weakened a rule on airborne lead standards at the last minute last week, meaning that fewer polluters (60% less) would have their emissions monitored… did I mention this happened after the White House intervened? Once again, the White House shows a great disdain for the environment in order to pad the pockets of big business… 1/20/09 can NOT come soon enough…

Applaud: to Sen. Ted Kennedy. Despite being treated for a brain tumor, Sen. Kennedy has still been working, specifically coordinating meetings with lobbyists and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in order to craft legislation that would greet the new president with a plan to provide affordable medical coverage to all Americans. Labeled ‘the cause of my life.’” Kennedy’s goal is to introduce the bill as soon as the new Congress convenes in 2009… (God speed Mr. Kenney, God speed…)

Heckle: to Ashley Todd. She’s the young (white) woman who said that she was mugged at an ATM and when the mugger (who was black) saw her car with the McCain sticker, he beat her up and carved a letter "B" in her face with a knife (who must have been dyslexic because the "B" was carved backwards). The attack signaled to all the lemmings out there that people who support Obama were violent and crazy. Well, not surprisingly, it was all a lie… Ms. Todd has confessed that she made the whole thing up. (I, personally, think she should be held accountable for the money the local police spent on the investigation. She also needs to appear on TV and apologize to the nation for being an idiot wingnut. And what does it say about HER that she carved an initial into her face in order to paint Obama supporters as vicious?)

Applaud: to another example of McCain flip-flopping to showcase… we all know that the rnc spent $150,000 to “clothe and accessorize” Gov. Palin and her family… but did you that on the Senate floor in 1993 McCain supported restrictions on the use of campaign funds for “inherently personal purposes” in which he specifically denounced the use of such funds on… wait for it… “clothing purchases” (expect flip-flopping from McCain in five, four, three…)

Heckle: to reports that the republican National Committee spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup for Gov. Palin last month, plus an additional $150,000 for clothing and accessories. Still, the 4K is less than half of what they spend on makeup for Sen. McCain, shelling out $8,672.55 for his make-up last month by celebrity makeup artist Tifanie White. (Sad…

Applaud: to telling the truth about McCain’s housing plan that would have the government pay the difference between the balances of troubled mortgages and what homes are now worth. Apparently Liberals with a brain aren’t the only ones that think this plan is bad. Steve Preston, Bush’s Secretary for Housing and Urban Development, criticized McCain’s plan earlier this week, saying; “I have a very grave concern about that. […] I don’t think we can suffer that big of a loss. … That is not invested money. That is just a loss.” (Okay…when someone in THIS administration – which is sure to go down in the books as ONE of the worst if not THE worst administration ever – is criticizing your plan, shouldn’t you look into a new plan? I’m just askin’…)

Heckle: to more negative economic news. According to the Department of Labor, the number of U.S. workers laid off last month climbed to the highest level since the days following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and marks the first time that employers cut work forces en masse at this quick a rate since September 2001… and yet we’re still not in a recession.

Applaud: to Chris Matthews for saying what we’re all thinking. Responding to Palin’s misguided thought that the VP is in charge of the Senate, the MSNBC host suggests that someone give Palin a copy of the Constitution so she can learn what the VP actually does… but that would require her to read, and considering the length of the Constitution, her lips would be awfully tired after doing all that reading…

Heckle: to FEMA for handing out formaldehyde-laced trailers AGAIN. After this summer’s flooding in Iowa, FEMA handed out trailers for those affected… unfortunately, like post-Katrina, the trailers have unsafe levels of formaldehyde… FEMA took responsibility and will immediately offer new trailers to everyone effected… just kidding, they’ve blamed the residents for creating the formaldehyde by “cooking” or “smoking.”… (FEMA could very well go down as the WORST political agency in history; bar none)

Applaud: to more proof that President Clinton was better for the economy than “President” Bush ever was or could hope to be. Under Bush, 4.8 million jobs were created… under President Clinton however, 23 million jobs were created. (the first troll to suggest that was due to Presidents Reagan or Bush I will get a swift kick to the groin…)

Heckle: to the news that, in the past few weeks, Gov. Palin has talked to the media more than McCain. (This shouldn’t surprise anyone… with his big talking at the last debate, he essentially painted himself into a corner as he says he wants to run a campaign based on issues but the actions of his campaign paint a starkly different picture. If he were to take questions from reporters, someone might call him on it… and he can’t have that

Applaud: to suffering the consequences of NOT vetting your running mate and dramatically overestimating the allure of a woman candidate just because she’s a woman . According to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, 52% of Americans say that McCain’s choice of Palin as his running mate has “made them less confident in the kind of decisions he’d make as president.” That’s a 13 point jump since the days after Palin’s selection… (McCain was trying to make a play for Clinton supporters but dramatically underestimated EVERYTHING… serves him right)

Heckle: to speaking out of one’s ass. Despite earlier desires to close the American prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba,, Bush has decided to alter course (flipflop) and NOT close it, revealing now that he never considered proposals drafted in the State Department and the Pentagon that outlined options for transferring the detainees elsewhere. Bush is now certain that the prison will remain open not only for the rest of his presidency but also “well beyond.” (Wow, Bush went back on his word? I am shocked and appalled, I never would have seen that coming…and by that I mean I DID see this coming...)

Applaud: to the Iraqi parliament’s largest political bloc for doing something that this administration and McCain have been wont to do; make a call for US troops to leave Iraq. The bloc called for all American troops to leave Iraq in 2011 as “a condition for allowing the U.S. military to stay here beyond year’s end.” (I’ve said it before here, I don’t think the US can just up and leave quickly as that would have a detrimental effect on the region… but a timed, measured pull-out is needed. With a new president coming into office combined with this action by this bloc, it looks as though it might actually happen…)

Heckle: to wild spending this election cycle. The Center for Responsive Politics reported earlier this week that this seasons political campaigns is on pace to hit an unprecedented $5.3 billion. The report did go further and say the $2.4 billion cost for the presidential race alone still pales in comparison to the $2.6 billion that Coca-Cola spent on advertising in 2006… and I guess someone at the Center thought we should all know that…

Applaud: to the news that, last weekend police and state investigators in California arrested the owner of a firm that the California republican Party had hired to register voters this year on suspicion of voter registration fraud. A long list of voters say that Mark Jacoby duped them into joining the California Republican Party by making them believe they were signing a petition to toughen penalties against child molesters…(I like to think there's a special place in Hell for those that screw with our right of voting... if not, let them learn a new meaning for 'polling the electorate.')

Heckle: to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for claiming in an interview with BBC this past week that the US economy is “big and strong.” (Um… okay?)

Applaud: to former Massachusetts governor William Weld for endorsing Obama and calling him a “once-in-a-lifetime candidate who will transform our politics and restore America's standing in the world.” Did I mention the former governor is a republican? I didn’t… oh, well… now you know. Haw Haw!

Heckle: to this unnerving news. The new GI Bill passed by Congress is called the “Post-9/11 GI Bill,” but unfortunately the new legislation won’t take effect until Aug. 1, 2009, and by that time, some who served in Iraq or Afghanistan will have already graduated from college and, because the bill is not retroactive, won’t help them at all.

Applaud: to more proof that Gov. Palin just doesn’t get it. Giving her first policy speech of the election, she claimed that Congress spends “some $18 billions on earmarks for their political pet projects” before slamming the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” earmark that she strongly supported; “Congress spends some $18 billions on earmarks for their political pet projects. And that right there is more than the shortfall to fully fund IDEA. … You guys have heard some of the examples of where those dollars go. You’ve heard about the bridges, and you’ve heard about some of these pet projects that really don’t make a lot of sense.” (FAIL… again…)

Heckle: to White House press secretary Dana Perino. During a press briefing on Air Force One this past week she dismissed concerns about the state of the economy, saying; “I think what [Lazear] was saying is that there are parts of our country that are hurting right now.” I’m sorry, what? It’s not “some regions” of the nation that are “hurting” you ditz… it’s the entire country WORLD. The stubbornness of this administration to accept the state of the economy is both sad and pathetic…

Applaud: to Karl Rove getting caught in his own blatant foolishness… again… and I doubt for the last time… when he echoed things that he had attacked Obama for months ago; that people in Pennsylvania “really do cling to their guns and their faith.” (Dumb. Ass.)
And this week we had another tough week for choosing the conservative Tool of the Week, but in the end we decided on a package deal.

First, a question; what do Michelle Bachmann, Robin Hayes, Randy Kuhl and Virginia Foxx all have in common?Answer: they haven’t grasped the concept that there’s this invention called video that can record what people say and do…

This past week so Minnesota’s Michele Bachmann attack the patriotism of Sen. Barack Obama saying; “I’m very concerned that he may have anti-American views. […] That’s what the American people are concerned about.” Bachmann continued, suggesting that all liberal views are “anti-American.”

It saw Virginia Foxx of North Carolina say that Democrats were for “anti-American energy, just as many other things that they support seem to be anti-American power and anti-American control.”

It saw Robin Hayes, also of North Carolina, say that “liberals hate real Americans that work, and accomplish, and achieve, and believe in God.”

And it saw Randy Kuhl of New York say; “I firmly believe that the Democratic majority wants the American public to suffer and to hurt so they can make some political gains at election time, and I think that's wrong.”

After seeing the backlash that their inane comments made, they all tried to backtrack and say they didn’t actually say those things… problem is, there’s video and audio of each of them.

So when that didn’t work, they claimed that they were railroaded into saying these things.

Bullshit. These are all adults with, as far as we know, complete control over their actions and words…

Because of the nefarious things they said, coupled with the complete stupidity in their backtracking, Michelle Bachmann, Robin Hayes, Randy Kuhl and Virginia Foxx are this week’s Tool(s).. of the Week.