Rachel Maddow, FTW!!!

one of THE most delicious moments in television. EVAR:

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take the tea party pledge! it's fun. inspiring. it's, well, better than cats!

Print the pledge and ask all your teabagger/libertarian friends and family to sign it! (cribbed from facebook)

Tea Party Anti-Socialism Pledge.

The Teabagger Socialist-Free Purity Pledge

I, ________________________________, do solemnly swear to uphold the principles of a socialism-free society and heretofore pledge my word that I shall strictly adhere to the following:

I will complain about the destruction of 1st Amendment Rights in this country, while I am duly being allowed to exercise my 1st Amendment Rights.

I will complain about the destruction of my 2nd Amendment Rights in this country, while I am duly being allowed to exercise my 2nd Amendment rights by legally but brazenly brandishing unconcealed firearms in public.

I will forswear the time-honored principles of fairness, decency, and respect by screaming unintelligible platitudes regarding tyranny, Nazi-ism, and socialism at public town halls. Also.

I pledge to eliminate all government intervention in my life. I will abstain from the use of and participation in any socialist goods and services including but not limited to the following:

• Social Security

• Medicare/Medicaid

• State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP)

• Police, Fire, and Emergency Services

• US Postal Service

• Roads and Highways

• Air Travel (regulated by the socialist FAA)

• The US Railway System

• Public Subways and Metro Systems

• Public Bus and Light Rail Systems

• Rest Areas on Highways (liberaldemdave's note: republican members of Congress exempt from this exemption...*wink wink, nudge nudge*)
  

• Sidewalks

• All Government-Funded Local/State Projects (e.g., see Iowa 2009 Federal Senate Appropriations-- http://grassley.senate.gov/issues/upload/Master-Approps-73109.pdf)

• Public Water and Sewer Services (goodbye socialist toilet, shower, dishwasher, kitchen sink, outdoor hose!)

• Public and State Universities and Colleges

• Public Primary and Secondary Schools

• Sesame Street

• Publicly Funded Anti-Drug Use Education for Children

• Public Museums

• Libraries

• Public Parks and Beaches

• State and National Parks

• Public Zoos

• Unemployment Insurance

• Municipal Garbage and Recycling Services

• Treatment at Any Hospital or Clinic That Ever Received Funding From Local, State or Federal Government (pretty much all of them)

• Medical Services and Medications That Were Created or Derived From Any Government Grant or Research Funding (again, pretty much all of them)

• Socialist Byproducts of Government Investment Such as Duct Tape and Velcro (Nazi-NASA Inventions)

• Use of the Internets, email, and networked computers, as the DoD's ARPANET was the basis for subsequent computer networking

• Foodstuffs, Meats, Produce and Crops That Were Grown With, Fed With, Raised With or That Contain Inputs From Crops Grown With Government Subsidies

• Clothing Made from Crops (e.g. cotton) That Were Grown With or That Contain Inputs From Government Subsidies

• If a veteran of the government-run socialist US military, I will forgo my VA benefits and insist on paying for my own medical care

• I will not tour socialist government buildings like the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

I pledge to never take myself, my family, or my children on a tour of the following types of socialist locations, including but not limited to:

• Smithsonian Museums such as the Air and Space Museum or Museum of American History

• The socialist Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson Monuments

• The government-operated Statue of Liberty

• The Grand Canyon

• The socialist World War II and Vietnam Veterans Memorials

• The government-run socialist-propaganda location known as Arlington National Cemetery

• All other public-funded socialist sites, whether it be in my state or in Washington, DC

• I will urge my Member of Congress and Senators to forgo their government salary and government-provided health care

• I will oppose and condemn the government-funded and therefore socialist military of the United States of America

• I will boycott the products of socialist defense contractors such as GE, Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Humana, FedEx, General Motors, Honeywell, and hundreds of others that are paid by our socialist government to produce goods for our socialist army.

• I will protest socialist security departments such as the Pentagon, FBI, CIA, Department of Homeland Security, TSA, Department of Justice and their socialist employees.

• Upon reaching eligible retirement age, I will tear up my socialist Social Security checks.

• Upon reaching age 65, I will forgo Medicare and pay for my own private health insurance until I die.

SWORN ON A BIBLE AND SIGNED THIS DAY OF ____________ IN THE YEAR ______________.

it must really s*ck to be a republican right now...

schadenfreude abounds from today's headlines:

http://dailycaller.com/2010/03/29/high-flyer-rnc-chairman-steele-suggested-buying-private-jet-with-gop-funds/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/29/washington-watchdog-veter_n_517096.html

a whole BAG FULL of wingnuttery over the census:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/29/2010-census-officials-wor_n_516847.html

OH, NOES!!! ACORN!!!!11!!!



http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_616954.html

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/18/bachmann-acorn-might-go-door-to-door-for-us-census/

OMG!!! the UN is gonna round us all up using the census' GPS information!!!

http://www.americandailyreview.com/science-technology/2009/4/27/big-brother-gps-doorway-census.html

if the UN doesn't getcha, one of our military drones will drop a missile on you!!!

http://www.infowars.com/census-gps-a-missile-at-your-door/

MICHELLE MALKIN says THE ILLEGALS are gonna get us because obama wants to count 'em!!!

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/04/03/obama-census-no-illegal-alien-left-behind/

(re: census...bachmann the nut...on FAUX SPEWS, no less!!!)



UPDATE:
how dare those uppity negroes call c-span on the * gasp * REPUBLICAN line!!!

glenn beck makes Jesus weep.

"I'm begging you, your right to religion and freedom to exercise religion and read all of the passages of the Bible as you want to read them and as your church wants to preach them . . . are going to come under the ropes in the next year. If it lasts that long it will be the next year. I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!"

full outrage HERE.

seriously, glenn, that's like saying "if your church web site says 'JESUS', or 'Christian principals', run!"

NOTE: all that "social justice" stuff he's railing about? READ THE BEATITUDES.

McPeak? McBIGOT is more like it.

the NYTimesSlimes has an OpEd from Former Air Force Chief of Staff Merrill McPeak. (i link to it but i'll burn in the fiery depths of hades b4 i'll quote from it...)

Aaron Belkin does a very good job of dismantling the homophobia, bigotry and lies (especially regarding so-called "unit cohesion") in his piece at HuffPost. Go there to read the whole article, but some of the best follows (emphasis added):

But the way to have an enlightened public conversation is to offer reasoned claims based on evidence and research, and to characterize and evaluate opposing arguments honestly. McPeak does no such thing.

snip

The Flag and General Officers heard testimony from gay and straight service members who told them that in most cases, troops who acknowledge that they are gay do not encounter difficulties with their peers. When gay service members hide their identities, however, everyone in the unit knows that they are keeping a secret. That dynamic can be the source of bullying, tension and a decrease in cohesion.

Indeed, there are at least twenty studies, many written by the military's own researchers, which find that at very least, gay and lesbian troops do not harm cohesion and readiness. So when McPeak claims that "advocates for gays in the service have by and large avoided a discussion of unit cohesion," it is not quite clear that his views are informed by evidence.

McPeak offers an extended financial analysis explaining why the cost of firing gays and lesbians is trivial. It is true that the military spends only a fraction of its budget firing gay and lesbian troops. A panel including military professors and a former Secretary of Defense found that conservatively, the cost to implement "don't ask, don't tell" from 1994 through 2004 was about $360 million. That estimate did not include a number of big-ticket items, and only covered a decade.

For example, the TWENTY FIVE MILLION DOLLARS to train Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach...That's ONE person to be dismissed under dadt. One should ponder the total cost of training of the more than 13,500 troops dismissed under dadt since 1994?

go read the whole article, if i dissect it any more, someone will have to call 911 for me.

thanks for keeping this alive, rachel!

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IOKIYAR: you tell 'em, rachel!

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