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This is who Obama Is

James Warren has an excellent article in The Atlantic “Get Over It: This Is Who Obama Is“, which provides a reality check for those who are mad at Obama about the debt ceiling deal (even though it was written before the deal was done).

Those people (I’m looking at you, progressives) who are angry at Obama for this deal are missing the point. In the face of virtually impossible odds, Obama managed to pull out a deal at the last minute when people like me didn’t think it had a chance.

If you want to be angry at anyone, get really angry at the voters who elected politicians who were willing to do anything, even hold our country hostage, just in order to make Obama look bad. If your response to this deal is to be angry at Obama, then the partisans have won, and you will have helped them.

Instead, do everything you can to make sure the next election fixes this problem. After all, even the most moderate Republican candidate for the presidency, Mitt Romney, is blasting this deal as too liberal. Other GOP candidates are worse. Is that what you want?

Or would you have wanted Obama to stand firm and watch the government default … on “principle”? Arguments that negotiating with “terrorists” only makes them worse forget that these are terrorists that we can vote out of office. After that comes the real work of fixing our government so it is not completely beholden to money and power.

Don’t get me wrong. There are things about which I’m pissed off at Obama, but this is not one of them. This is not an unforced error.

It is often said that liberals eat their own, but if we are going to fix our government we need to remain focused on the goal, and not get discouraged any time things don’t go entirely our way.


© Bill Day

UPDATE: And furthermore, to all those people who think Obama unilaterally capitulated in the debt ceiling deal … upon just what are you basing your screaming and wringing of hands? Here’s a progressive voice that gives a convincing argument that Obama left the Republicans holding the teabag, and ate John Boehner’s lunch to boot.

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Negotiating with the Devil

[This post was written by David Freeman, one of our readers, about the Debt Ceiling compromise.]

The Three Compromises That Proved It Is Folly To Negotiate With The Devil

The Compromise of 1790 prevented (for a time) Civil War.

The Compromise of 1820 (The Missouri Compromise) again delayed Civil War.

The Compromise of 1850 delayed Civil War one last time.

These three events gave compromise a bad name since, even though they extended slavery, war was not prevented.

The Capitulation of 2011 – maybe this’ll work better.

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Late Night Political Humor

“I’m not saying this Congress is bad at its job. I’m just saying that this Congress is equivalent to a skunk with its head in a jar of Skippy peanut butter.” – Jon Stewart

“A lot of people don’t understand what the debt ceiling is. So everyone can understand, it’s the ceiling for our debt.” – Craig Ferguson

“I heard that if we don’t raise the debt ceiling, we could lose our AAA rating. Why doesn’t the auto club mind their own business?” – David Letterman

“My question to Congress, and, I think, a question many Americans may be sharing as of tonight, is this: do you want out of this relationship so bad, but don’t have the balls to leave, so you’ve all decided to act like such giant assholes you force us to break up with you? Because if so, just get the fuck out.” – Jon Stewart

“President Obama may have to cancel his 50th birthday party because of the debt limit crisis. The Republicans won’t even let Obama raise his age.” – Conan O’Brien

“The debt talks failed again. Now, President Obama wishes he was born in Kenya.” – David Letterman

“There’s still no deal on this stupid debt ceiling. Each party is pursuing its own special plan. One calls for the American people to get hosed. The other calls for the American people to get screwed. So you pick out which one you want to do.” – Jay Leno

“Experts say that because of the debt ceiling debate, America’s credit rating could be seriously ruined. On the bright side, we were just approved for a Discover card.” – Conan O’Brien

“My mother and I play a drinking game. We do a shot every time the debt talks collapse.” – David Letterman

“We are $14.3 trillion in debt, but the good news is we’ve got 14.3 trillion airline miles.” – Craig Ferguson

“Last night, I got Chinese food and the fortune cookie said, ‘Where’s my money?'” – Craig Ferguson

“Gay marriage is legal in New York. That’s got to drive single women in Manhattan nuts, don’t you think? Now all the good men are married AND gay.” – Jay Leno

“The first same-sex couple to tie the knot in New York City were 76 and 84 years old. They promised to love and cherish each other, until months do they part.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“According a new poll, less than half of Americans know that Mitt Romney is a Mormon. Even some of his wives don’t know.” – Conan O’Brien

“Sarah Palin’s documentary, ‘The Undefeated,’ will be available on Pay-Per-View and On Demand by Sept. 1. The movie will be shown in English, with English subtitles.” – Jimmy Fallon

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This is how the media lies and stirs up fear

Watch the whole thing. First how the media reported it, then what really happened:

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Wrong

This pretty much sums up what the world thinks of us right now:


© KAL

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God’s Approval Rating?

Believe it or not, Public Policy Polling conducted a survey where they asked people “If God exists, do you approve or disapprove of its performance?”

You’ll be relieved to hear that 52% approve of the job that God is doing. Only 9% disapproved. The rest were not sure or didn’t answer.

If that seems like a low approval rating for God, the same survey showed just 33% approval rating for our Congress-critters. The worst rating in the poll was for Rupert Murdoch; only 12% approve of him. This poll didn’t rate Obama, but similar polls pegged him at 46%, only 6 points off the almighty.

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Chicken


© Steve Breen

Are the bookies taking bets yet on whether the US will default? I’m not sure I see a way to an agreement in time.

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Late Night Political Humor

“It was 123 degrees in Minnesota. How far is Al Gore going to take this global warming hoax?” – Bill Maher

“123 degrees in Minnesota? Michele Bachmann’s husband went in the closet just for the shade.” – Bill Maher

“It was so hot in Iowa that Michele Bachmann couldn’t tell if her headache was a migraine or a brain freeze from her Slurpee.” – Jay Leno

“Michele Bachmann was in the news this week for her migraines. They say she gets terrible migraines. Some people say as often as once a week she is incapacitated by these migraines for days. Even scarier news, other days she’s perfectly fine.” – Bill Maher

“Sarah Palin is becoming a grandmother again (or for the first time, who knows). It’s not Bristol – Bristol, of course, is re-saving herself for marriage. This is Palin’s oldest son Track. His wife is pregnant. They got married two months ago, and now she looks like she’s six months pregnant. So you do the math, because certainly the Palins can’t.” – Bill Maher

“What is it with this family and pregnancy? Do they not have condoms up there in Alaska? When they say ‘don’t retreat, reload,’ they are not fucking around. I think they think abstinence is Latin for ‘no anal.” – Bill Maher

“Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman has fired his campaign manager, which is kind of sad because the only other person who knew Huntsman was running for president was the campaign manager.” – Jay Leno

“In China they say piracy is so rampant that there are at least three fake Apple stores. It’s hard to put these people out of the business. If China arrests them for selling fake Apple products, they’ll be sent to prison where they will be forced to make real Apple products.” – Jay Leno

“In a new interview, President Obama said he wants a ‘debt ceiling deal’ for his 50th birthday. Then he was like, ‘But if I can’t have that – iPad.'” – Jimmy Fallon

“After all of these weeks of negotiating about the debt ceiling and trying to keep the deficit down, John Boehner today walked out and stopped taking Obama’s calls. This should be very reassuring to the markets. One side’s policy is budget cuts and closing tax loopholes and the other side’s policy is ‘I’ll be at my mother’s.'” – Bill Maher

“Obama said he had been left at the altar a couple of times. And he asked a great question. He said, ‘Can they say yes to anything?” A Democrat now has offered cuts in Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and the Republicans still said ‘no.’ What is the Democrats’ next offer? Kansas goes back to being a slave state? Obama moves back to Kenya?” – Bill Maher

“I’m sick of this. Every week’s it’s the same story. Our news is so monotonous, when Rupert Murdoch taps our phones, he just lets the machine pick up.” – Bill Maher

“Did you see Rupert Murdoch testifying before parliament in London this week? And his Chinese-born ninja wife? Did you see that, when the guy had the pie and she sprung into action? That’s what I call a tiger MILF. That’s the mystery of Asians to me. Lightening quick with cat-like reflexes, until they get behind the wheel.” – Bill Maher

“‘Captain America’ is set in the 1940s, when people thought smoking was healthy and for breakfast, they would eat bacon smothered in beef fat with a side of asbestos.” – Craig Ferguson

“Back then, America had a ruined economy and was fighting wars with two different countries. It was a totally different time.” – Craig Ferguson

“Captain America is patriotic. Of course, Superman wore the American colors, but he wasn’t born here — much like our president.” – Craig Ferguson

“Captain America isn’t just patriotic, he’s also a real captain in the armed forces, not a made-up captain, like Captain Crunch.” – Craig Ferguson

“In Washington, the air quality today was described as ‘red.’ I’d never heard that. ‘Red,’ somewhere between smog and barbeque sauce. You know what ‘red’ is? It’s bad for everyone, not just old people, sick people and babies. When it’s just bad for old people, sick people and babies, that’s called a Republican budget.” – Bill Maher

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The Good Old GOP


© Drew Sheneman

Where is the old GOP when you need them? All we get now is monkey business.

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Poor People Are Not Living Down To Our Expectations

Fox News continues their campaign to demonize the poor in America, and Stephen Colbert is right there with them!

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Late Night Political Humor

“I gotta say, of all my issues with Michele Bachmann’s brain, migraines are not even in the top 20.” – Jon Stewart

“A couple of people who worked for the presidential candidate Michele Bachmann say that she gets these chronic migraines. That’s been the story. To derail her candidacy a lot of people are trying to make it like it’s a female thing, cause she gets these headaches. It’s not. President Obama also has a chronic headache. It’s called Joe Biden.” – Jay Leno

“Michele Bachmann says if she is elected president, she will outlaw gay marriage – and ban Neil Patrick Harris from hosting the Tony Awards.” – David Letterman

‎”Bringing gay history into our classrooms teaches our children a dangerous lesson: that gay people exist.” – Stephen Colbert

“When you’re a gay couple getting married, who gets the bachelor party? Who goes downstairs in the middle of the night to check on the noise? Who forgets the anniversary? Who refuses to stop and ask for directions? And which one of you will take forever to get ready?” – David Letterman

“House Speaker John Boehner invited new congressmen over for pizza last night. Unfortunately, the delivery guy left when they spent ten hours fighting over a plan to pay for it.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Still no deal on the debt ceiling. Washington is keeping us on the edge of our seat – a seat that will soon be repossessed.” – Craig Ferguson

“Weather experts say that 1 million square miles of the U.S. are under a ‘heat dome.’ But don’t worry — we have plenty of shade under our $14 trillion debt ceiling.” – Jimmy Fallon

“The heat index in Washington, D.C. was 114 degrees. Maybe the world actually did end in May and the people in Washington are actually in hell.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“It’s so hot that people are standing next to Rupert Murdoch just to be near something shady.” – Jay Leno

“Republicans are blaming President Obama for bringing the heat from his native Kenya.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Amid the heat, health officials are telling Americans to stay home. Americans responded by saying, ‘We are home. We have no jobs.'” – Conan O’Brien

“TSA is no longer going to use that scanner that shows passengers in the nude. They made an executive decision yesterday after Aretha Franklin boarded a flight at LAX.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“In 1969 we put a man on the moon. Today the best we can do is x-ray Kim Kardashian’s ass. And someday we’ll celebrate the 40th anniversary of that.” – David Letterman

“NASA says that without the space shuttle, we’ll have to pay the Russians $63 million to take one astronaut into space. And if the astronaut wants to check a bag, it’s an extra $15 million.” – Conan O’Brien

“More bad news for former Senator John Edwards – an audit of his campaign finances shows he now owes the federal government $2.3 million. Apparently he spent money on everything except condoms.” – Jay Leno

“President Obama’s motorcade was fined $16 for traffic it caused while in the United Kingdom. Typical for Obama, he said, ‘My grandkids will pay for it.'” – Jay Leno

“Texas Governor Rick Perry now says his wife has been encouraging him to run for President. Remember first he told us God told him to run; now his wife is telling him to run. Of course, the big difference; if you ignore what God says you don’t have to hear about it until the afterlife. That’s the only difference.” – Jay Leno

“Cowboys & Aliens is supposed to be the next big blockbuster. Doesn’t that sound like a game Arnold Schwarzenegger would play with his maid?” – Jay Leno

“A new study found that only 20 percent of high school seniors are proficient in geography. Students weren’t really bothered by that number because only 3 percent of them are proficient in math.” – Jimmy Fallon

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You can’t make up comedy like this

Jon Stewart demonstrates that the debt ceiling debate has gotten so utterly and unbelievably bizarre, that only a comedy show has any chance at all of giving it the coverage it so clearly deserves:

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Quick Fix?


© Clay Bennett

The GOP cure seems to be far worse than the problem.

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To be a Republican you need to believe

1. Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Barack Obama

2. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush’s Daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a “we can’t find Bin Laden” diversion.

3. Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Viet Nam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

4. The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority for years was enforcing U.N. resolutions in Iraq.

5. A woman can’t be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational drug corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

6. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans’ benefits and combat pay.

7. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won’t have sex.

8. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our longtime allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

9. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism. HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

10. Global warming and tobacco’s link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools. Evolution is a lie, but get a flu shot every year because the virus evolves.

11. A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which tens of thousands die and the nation is plunged into debt is solid national policy.

12. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

13. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you’re a conservative radio host. Then it’s an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

14. You support “Executive Privilege” for every Republican ever born, who will be born or who might be born (in perpetuity.)

15. Support hunters who shoot their friends and blame them for wearing orange vests similar to those worn by the quail.

16. You can vote to raise the debt limit as long as Obama is not President.

17. Officials should allow Christian prayer and Bible studies in schools and government buildings as a matter of Religious Freedom, but Muslims should not be allowed to build mosques or be elected to office because they practice Islam.

18. You have an argument why every one of the above is sensible and not hypocritical, and besides look at all the terrible things the Democrats may have done.

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Plausible Deniability


© Tom Tomorrow

What I really love about this comic is that TT doesn’t even have to tell you which network this is. You just know.

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