I Didn't Say It ....

Joe Kennedy III, Massachusetts Democratic Congressman, taking a shot at Lyin’ Paul Ryan and the GOP’s _____Care proposal:

“I was struck last night by a comment that I heard made by Speaker Ryan, where he called this repeal bill ‘an act of mercy.’ With all due respect to our speaker, he and I must have read different scripture. The one that I read calls on us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, and give comfort to the sick. It reminds us that we are judged not by how we treat the powerful, but how we care for the least among us. … There is no ‘mercy’ in a system that makes healthcare a luxury. There is no ‘mercy’ in a country that turns its back on those most in need of protection — the elderly, the poor, the sick, and the suffering.”

Isn’t it grand when the liberals throw the Bible back in the face of the Bible thumpers like Ryan who have no idea what the Bible says or means?

Loving it!

[photo]

David Letterman, on President _____:

“I mean, how do you build a dictatorship? First, you undermine the press: ‘The only truth you’re going to hear is from me.’ And he hires the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Steve Bannon, to be his little buddy. Bannon looks like a guy who goes to lunch, gets drunk, and comes back to the office: ‘Steve, could you have just one drink?’ ‘Fuck you.’ How is a white supremacist the chief adviser to our president? Did anybody look that up?”

Preach it, Dave!

[photo]

Amar’e Stoudemire, former NBA star, asked if he would have a problem with a gay teammate:

“I’m going to shower across the street, make sure my change of clothes are around the corner. And I’m going to drive [and] take a different route to the gym.”

Isn’t it funny how homophobes always think gay men will come after them? We won’t because you’re an effing Neanderthal.

[photo]

Amar’e Stoudemire, apologizing for being a homophobic dick:

“I want to apologize for my offensive comments against the LGBT community. These remarks were taken from a larger interview where a reporter was asking me hypothetical questions, and all my answers had a comedic undertone. The answers I gave were meant to be taken as jokes and I am deeply sorry for offending anyone. I am open to creating a dialogue to assist the fight the LGBT community encounters daily and will continue to focus on playing basketball.”

Homophobia isn’t funny, asshat, just like if a white player said he’d cross the street rather than shower with a black player is never, never, funny.

Piss off.

[photo]

Ben Carson, on slaves and how and why they “chose” to come to America:

“That’s what America is about. A land of dreams and opportunity. There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less. But they, too, had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great grandsons, great granddaughters might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land.”

I remember reading about Africans being rounded up by slavers, chained together in the holds of ships, crapping themselves, pissing, themselves, fed slop, and having to remain shackled even if the slave next to them died during the voyage.

So, yeah, I believe they saw this as a dram of an opportunity to come to America for a better life by being sold as property, used, beaten, murdered, raped, at the whim of white men.

Ben Carson seriously needs to shut the fuck up.

[photo]

Martin O’Malley, former governor of Maryland and Democratic Party presidential candidate, trying to persuade people not to attend the White House St. Patrick’s Day gathering:

“The enduring symbol of the United States of America is not the barbed wire fence, it is the Statue of Liberty. So please, ‘in the name of God and of the dead generations from which Ireland receives her old tradition of nationhood, boycott _____’s St. Patrick’s Day gathering at the White House ... Let’s show _____ how many Irish Americans and fellow Americans oppose his policies. Make you Irish ancestors smile. We are not a deportation nation that breaks up immigrant families and separates parents from their children. As John F. Kennedy said, ‘We are a nation of immigrants.’ Our diversity is our greatest strength. Take a stand for the true character of the United States of America—a free and generous country, a Republic with liberty and justice for all.”

Bravo, sir, bravo. We all need to remember that we all came from ancestors who traveled here from somewhere else, and that immigrants are not bad.

Bad is the bigot in the White House spreading fear and hate.

PS Martin O'Malley is hot ... just sayin'.

[photo]

Gavin Grimm, the trans student, taking his fight to use a bathroom to the Supreme Court—who last week, after _____’s dismissal of Obama’s guidance, sent it back to appeals court:

“This case will not be resolved until after I graduate. But this fight is bigger than me. I came to realize that very early on, and it is truer now than it ever has been. This fight is for other trans youth in my high school. It is for other trans youth in Virginia. It is for all trans youth who are in school or one day will be. It is for the friends and loved ones of these youth, who want these children to be happy and healthy, rather than at risk and in danger as so many trans people are.”

The fight will go on, and trans Americans and their allies will be victorious.

Mark my words.

[photo]

Random Musings

You never know when something’s just gonna hit you, and kind of wreck you ... like The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, my sister, and me.

See, the other night I was watching RHoBH with my favorite housewife Erika Girardi AKA Erika Jayne. Erika can sometimes appear aloof and cold, but this week she was talking about her grandmother dying of Alzheimer’s and how they talked all the time on the phone, until the calls because fewer then finally stopped as the disease took her grandmother’s mind and memories.

So, how does this relate to my sister? Well, it’s like this ... I last saw my sister when we went to California in August of 2014—she passed away in February 2015. At that time she and I talked, and she’d decided she wasn’t doing any more chemo or any more radiation; she knew it was a losing battle and she wanted to be ‘there’ in every sense of the word for her family. And so she told me to not come back out and see her, that she wanted me to remember her as she was in August. Then she made me promise that if I ever called her and she didn’t seem aware and didn’t seem to know what was going on, that she didn’t want me to call again; she didn’t want me to feel uncomfortable about the calls.

But I called, and she did seem oftentimes confused; and when I called during Christmas of that year, six weeks before she passed, she didn’t seem to know who I was; we chatted and I told her that Carlos and I were thinking n of her and she said, “Carlos?” And I knew; she, my sister, was no longer there, that the cancer had spread and she was forgetting things. And I remembered what she said about calling and so I didn’t call again.

And then she was gone.

I felt guilty ever since then because I think I should have called, if not to hear her, but so she could hear me, and it wasn’t until seeing an episode of RHoBh this week that I realized, she didn’t know me, wouldn’t know me, and all the call would do is further break my heart.

So, I cried a little watching that show, but now I feel better because, once again, my big sister was doing right by me, and watching out for me.

Just sayin’.

On to other things ... Tom Hanks recently sent a gift to the White House press room: a new espresso machine and a note:

"To the White House Press Corps

Keep up the good fight for Truth, Justice, and the American Way.

Especially for the Truth part."

I love that ... especially the ‘truth’ part because it will be the press that brings this president down and I will be thankful to them for it.

Last weekend we installed a new toilet in the master bathroom and, as we do, we do things wrong and then right them. But I tried to nip that in the bud this time and demanded that Carlos read the instructions first, and he said he did.

I should’a known ... as I unpacked the new toilet, I found this rubber seal, and I noticed it was to be set between the tank and the toilet base to prevent water from leaking out. I showed it to Carlos and told him what it was, and he replied that it was the ‘wax ring’ that goes under the toilet, attached to the flange.

Flange! Look at me all builder-y and shiz.

Anyway, I said, “It’s not a wax ring; we bought the wax ring when we bought the toilet. It’s rubber, and goes between the tank and the base.”

“No, it’s the wax ring.”

Then I showed him the illustrated instructions and the drawing of the rubber ring being placed between the toilet and the tank to prevent leakage.

Score one for me!

Then, as the toilet came together and the water was hooked up, Carlos was all excited until he realized that the seat needed to be attached to the toilet before the tank went on because you had to attach it from underneath. So, he’s on the floor, nestled between the toilet and the wall, and trying to put a rubber bolt up under the toilet to catch the screw that would hold the seat in place. I suggested that was odd, because if we ever had to replace the seat, we’d have to take the tank off the toilet to do so and that seemed dumb, but Carlos said that was how it was done.

“Did you read the instructions?”

“Yes, I know this is the way it goes.”

“Did you READ the instructions?”

“Yes!”

I get the instructions and we look at them and then Carlos says, and pardon his French, “I’m a f**king idiot.”

See, the rubber bolt is pushed through a hole in the top of the toilet base, then the seat is set in place and then the screw goes in so that, if you need to replace the seat you don’t take the toilet apart.

“I’m a f**king idiot,” he says again.

“Yes, you are,” I say, and we sat on the bathroom floor and laughed until we nearly peed ... with the toilet almost ready for us to use.

Remember when the Republicans would slam Obama when he played golf, and seem t suggest that he played more golf then acted as president? And remember that Donald _____ was one of his biggest critics about the golf?

“This guy plays more golf than people on the PGA Tour.” 

And after visiting flooded Louisiana, _____ accused Obama of playing a game rather than caring about the country even though those in charge in Louisiana asked the Obama to stay away for security reasons:

“Honestly, Obama ought to get off the golf course and get down there.” 

And then, during a 2016 campaign event in Virginia _____ promised that if he were elected he was “not going to have time to go play golf. I’m going to be working for you, I’m not going to have time to go play golf.”

Huh, then please to explain how the good folks at NBC did the math and have come up with the FACT that _____ is more apt to be on a golf course than in the Oval:

“Over the last five weekends [since he’s been in office], the president has visited his luxury resort four times – each trip costs American taxpayers about $3 million – and as of last night, Trump had spent 31% of his presidency at Mar-a-Lago.  He’s now played golf eight times since taking office six weeks ago.”

Eight rounds of golf in six weeks! And let's not forget the nearly ten million dollars it's cost We The People to let him got South every single weekend! How much will that be come impeachment day is anybody’s guess.

Years back I saw Malcolm McDowell in time After Time, the story of HG Wells and his Time Machine, and how Jack the Ripper steals the machine and travels to modern day San Francisco where his grisly murders pale in comparison to the violence of the 1970s.

Well, the movie has become a TV series with Jack the Ripper arriving in 2017 New York City and HG Wells hot on his trail ... hot being the operative word because Wells is played by British actor Freddie Stroma.

Hot and British. Yum.

Paul Burrell, Princess Diana’s former butler , has come out as gay and announced this week that he’ll be marry lawyer Graham Cooper after divorcing his wife of 32 years some six months ago.

Burrell made a name for himself after Diana’s death when he wrote a tell-all book about their personal relationship and then appeared in a string of reality TV shows like I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! 

A source says Burrell and Cooper will be having an opulent, circus-themed wedding ceremony so, naturally, we’d like to send along a Coming Out Getting Married Toaster Oven, perfect from crumpets, and a copy of The Gay Agenda.

Welcome out and congratulations!

Carlos dubs these photos as proof that Tuxedo and MaxGoldberg are homosexual cats. I think they just like to stay warm on cool mornings and Consuelo is not a snuggler.

Reason #1 The GOP Needs To Be Voted Out: Jason Chaffetz

So this week the GOP unveiled _____Care, their utter mess of a plan to replace Obamacare, or for those who still don’t get it, the Affordable Care Act [ACA], and the goose-steppers are out in force trying to shove it down our throats.

But one goose-stepper, one out-of-touch goose-stepper, actually stepped in it.

When Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz appeared on CNN to champion the bill he claimed it will benefit everyone if people use their money responsibly:

“We’re getting rid of the individual mandate. We’re getting rid of those things that people said that they don’t want. And you know what, Americans have choices. And they’ve got to make a choice. And so maybe, rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and they want to go spend hundreds of dollars on, maybe they should invest in their own health care.”

You don’t think the GOP is out of touch? Chaffetz believes an iPhone is the same price as healthcare and so it would be an easy swap from one to the other. But Twitter disagreed ...

Even me:

Even more disturbing is that Chaffetz—who, let me remind you all, gets free healthcare paid for by We The People—says that the way the ACA subsidizes insurance makes people lazy and irresponsible, because they can buy luxuries and let the government pay for their essentials.

And to be clear, this is just the same kind of rhetoric employed by the GOP’s great leader, Ronald Reagan, that poor people, and especially poor minorities, are “welfare queens” who spend like crazy on so-called luxuries and then expect the government to give them more money.

But isn’t it funny that the real welfare queens seem to be those in public office, and in the GOP, who enjoy pensions for life and taxpayer-subsidized healthcare, and then will tell us we need to choose between a phone or a healthcare plan that will result in higher premiums, fewer protections, and millions of people getting kicked off their plans.

Ain’t that America ... in the eyes of the hyper-privileged, hyper-out-of-touch pricks like Jason Chaffetz?

And he’s not the only asshat; when Health and Human Service Secretary Tom Price was asked if Americans would have to choose between cell phones and health coverage under the proposed plan, he said Americans are already "having to sacrifice in order to purchase coverage."

Under Obamacare, more than 70% of enrollees found coverage for $75 or less in 2017, thanks to subsidies, but without that government assistance, the average cost of the cheapest plan available would be $311 a month.

Four times higher. And low-income enrollees would likely see their monthly premiums rise under the GOP plan because its tax credits are not tied to the cost of coverage and do not provide greater help to lower income Americans.

GOP; they are not the party of We The People.

Naturally, though, when the shiz hit the fan and people began calling for Jason Chaffetz to be voted from office—and let’s hope that happens soon—the little turd tried to walk back his statement, though he stood by his argument that Americans would need to better prioritize health care spending under the new plan:

"What we're trying to say -- and maybe I didn't say it as smoothly as I possibly could -- but people need to make a conscious choice and I believe in self-reliance. And they're going to have to make those decisions."

“Self reliance” says the man whose bills and healthcare are paid for by us ... until the good people of Utah wake up and vote him out of office.

Share Blue

CNN

#IStandWithWomen

ISBL Asshat of the Week: Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson

The other day I posted about Lindsey Graham’s Town Hall meeting here in South Carolina, and it wasn’t what he expected because, gosh durnit, there were Lib’ruls in the building. And I suggested that we are a growing number in this state and he might be best served by listening to us.

Well, another Republican Senator, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin apparently doesn’t think the people of his state, the people who hired him by election—and can fire him just as easily—and the people who pay his salary should ask to meet with him.

Johnson, who narrowly won reelection in November which should tell him something, has been avoiding his constituents and their requests for a town hall meeting during this latest Congressional recess, but recently, several hundred of his constituents held a town hall in Madison with an empty chair sitting in for the missing Johnson.

Hmmm, a Republican or an empty chair? How does one tell the difference? That’s a rhetorical question, though the move by We The People of Wisconsin did spur Ron Johnson to respond to their requests.

Senator Johnson sent a cease-and-desist letter to one constituent who had made regular calls and visits to his threatening to call the police and order the constituent’s arrest if they didn’t stop calling and visiting.

Yes, he did.

“Our office has done all that we can to assist you with your concerns. This letter acts as written notice of our expectation for you to discontinue your unwanted telephone calls and office visits. If you fail to comply with this notice, then we will have no other alternative but to contact the United States Capitol Police and report your noncompliance.”

Seriously? This asshat who works for the people of Wisconsin is threatening to arrest the people of Wisconsin if they don’t stop asking to speak to him?

That’s America in The Age of _____, y’all. The GOP does not want to hear from you.

But, in order to help out anyone who reads this bloggy thing and lives in Wisconsin, or anyone who just wants to remind Ron Johnson for whom he works, here’s his contact info:

517 East Wisconsin Avenue
Suite 408
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Phone: (414) 276-7282

219 Washington Avenue

Suite 100

Oshkosh, WI 54901

Phone: (920) 230-7250

328 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Phone: (202) 224-5323

Let him know that you want to talk to him and if he wants you arrested for making that request, then so be it.

Oh, and remind him that he’ll be out of a job as soon as possible.

Ron Johnson. The ISBL Asshat of the Week.

Resistance Report

What To Do On A Sunny Afternoon ... Terrorize A Child's Birthday Party?

Kayla Rae Norton, Jose Ismael Torres and some of their racist, redneck, toothless, cousin-f**king friends decided to go for a drive last summer over in Georgia. So, they did what mouth-breathing loons do, they decked out their pickup trucks with Confederate flags, armed themselves with guns, and terrorized a group of black people celebrating a child’s birthday.

Here’s how it went down ... when a group of friends and family gathered on Melissa Alford’s lawn for an eight year-old’s birthday party last July, with a bouncy house and snow cones and cake and games, their party was ruined by a group of morons in seven pickup trucks flying U.S. and Confederate battle flags that drove by, circled back and drove by again, while the occupants shouted racial slurs and threats at the birthday partiers.

Alford told reporters:

“One had a gun, saying he was gonna kill the [racial slur]. Then one of them said gimme the gun, I’ll shoot them [racial slur].”

Police were called, but they were unsure if a crime had taken place—apparently in Georgia it’s legal to brandish a firearm at a child playing Pin The Tail On The Donkey—because nothing physical occurred on either side.

Plus, one of the asshats, Little Levi Bush—and I’m assuming he’s “little” because he acts like such a big dick—says his group, Respect the Flag, isn’t hateful, but that they just sell Confederate flags among other kinds of flags, and just happened to be on their way to an event with giant Confederate flags on their parade of trucks and opted to circle around a child’s birthday party to see if anyone wanted to buy a flag ... or something.

A Grand Jury was convened and last October they indicted 15 members of Respect the Flag and charged them with ... wait for it, because they aren’t Muslim and we all know that Muslims are terrorists ... terrorism. In fact, the Grand Jury cited an anti-gang law from 1992—Georgia’s Street Gang and Terrorism and Prevention Act—that had been enacted to target black youth in gangs; yup, racists, because Georgia has no Hate Crimes laws, were charged under a law aimed at young black men.

Ain't that a kick in the head! And then, finally, last week Superior Court Judge William McClain sentenced two of the asshats, Kayla Rae Norton and Jose Ismael Torres, to jail: Torres was sentenced to 20 years—with 13 to serve in prison—while Norton was given 15 years, with six to serve. And, when they get out of prison, they will be permanently banished from Douglas County.

Judge McClain spelled it out quite clearly:

“Their actions were motivated by racial hatred.”

McClain said he was shocked that none of these Respect the Flag fools were arrested that day and then told Torres and Norton, who wept in court, not for what they had done, but for getting arrested:

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this incident happened one month after the Charleston shooting. I suppose confederate flags can be interpreted different ways and different contexts, but if you drive around town with a Confederate flag, yelling the ‘N’ word, you know how it’s going to be interpreted.”

The others in the group, including Little Levi, were charged with misdemeanors and ordered to do community service.

Sadly, Kayla Norton decided to speak in court, first apologizing to Hyesha Bryant, the birthday child’s mother:

“I do accept responsibility for what I’ve done. What happened to you is absolutely awful. From mother to mother, I cannot imagine having to explain what that word means.”

Hyesha Bryant, though she forgave the two, however, wasn’t playing:

“I never thought this would be something I’d have to endure in 2017. As adults and parents, we have to instill in our children the values of right and wrong. That moment you had to choose to leave, you stayed.”

You stayed. You stayed because you were doing what you wanted, because you got caught up in a gang mentality of hate; you stayed. You stayed because it takes a backbone to walk away from these kinds of fools, it takes heart to understand the kind of hatred and fear you’re spreading. You stayed because you think you had the right.

Luckily, for now in America, you do not.

FeeakOutNation

_____ Promises Keystone To Be Made Of American Steel But That Was a Lie

Remember when Donald _____ stood on that podium in January and swore that, from now on, it would be “America first and America only”?

Yeah, that was his first lie, given that he said it within minutes of being sworn in.

See, despite _____'s promises, it looks as if the Keystone XL pipeline will be made of steel from somewhere else, anywhere else, but not America. A White House spokestool says that "buy American" rules in _____'s order clearing way for pipelines won't apply to the high-profile Keystone project, which will carry crude oil from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast:

"The way that the Executive Order is written is actually ... specific to new pipelines or those that are being repaired. Since [Keystone] is already currently under construction ... it was hard to go back. Everything moving forward would be all under that executive order."

Yeah, so he just shrugged and let it pass, instead of, oh I don’t know, cancelling the contract, buying America using American workers, to boost the economy and create jobs here ... in America.

And while his spokestool says otherwise, _____ has vowed repeatedly that only steel from American steelmakers would be used on Keystone; in fact, he said it as late as last week, when he knew it was a lie.

And _____ even mentioned it prior to his address when he met last week with U.S. Steel CEO Mario Longhi:

"You're going to be doing pipelines now, you know that? We put you heavy into the pipeline business."

That’s a lie.

And he’s still insisting that the steel will come from America, even when he spoke to CPAC:

"This took place while I was getting ready to sign. I said, 'Who makes the pipes for the pipeline?' Well, sir, it comes from all over the world, isn't that wonderful? I said, 'Nope, it comes from the United States or we're not building one.' American steel. If they want a pipeline in the United States, they're going to use pipe that's made in the United States, do we agree?"

Lie; it’s not happening, even though he’s said, and continues to say it, it’s just another lie.

You see, TransCanada already has purchase agreements for the steel pipe it will use on Keystone; half of the pipe will come from the Arkansas plant of India-based steelmaker, Welspun, with ten-percent coming from a Welspun plant in India, and the rest imported from Canada and Italy.

India. Canada. Italy. Not America even though _____ keeps saying it’s American steel only. And what about all those jobs this pipeline is set to create?

TransCanada and _____ seem to suggest that Keystone would “create thousands of well-paying U.S. jobs” but the fact is that most of those jobs are short-term, with just 35 full-time permanent jobs once it’s complete.

Yeah, that’s working for America, the _____ way.

CNN

Lindsey Graham Held A Town Hall Meeting and It Was Not The Welcome He Expected

A lot of Republicans, and a few Democrats, are not getting a hero’s welcome when they return home for their Town hall meetings, and South Carolina’s Senior Senator Lindsey Graham is no exception.

Oh, sure, he’s come down on the opposite side of a few of _____’s ideas, but, all in all, he’s a typical GOP goose-stepper and his constituents are not happy.

Last Saturday morning at a Town Hal in Clemson constituents lined up hours ahead of time to hear one of Hair Furors biggest critics, but then Miss Lindsey made a misstep when he said:

“I’m going to try to help our president, Donald _____, be as successful as possible because, number one, I agree with him mostly and I’d like to get this country moving again.”

And cue boos; loud, long boos rained down on Graham.

And then he continues, saying he, like some in the GOP, though not all, want “repeal and replace Obamacare” and the booing was louder, with people shouting and others heckling Graham. He tried to back away from the issues, complaining that other Republicans have not included him in the bill-drafting process.

"Can I tell you a secret? I don't even know what the GOP plan is."

Yes, a Republican doesn’t even know what his own party’s plan is, but he’s planning on going along with it. However, it wasn't just Obamacare—and for those of you in South Carolina who don’t yet know, Obamacare is ACA—that had people upset.

Graham was also in the hot seat over the investigation into the _____ campaign's ties to, and conversations with, Russia before the November election. Graham said he’d met with FBI Director James Comey told the crowds that there is "no evidence" of collusion at this point.

At.This.Point. Even though every single day we learn of another member of the _____ team chatting it up with Russia during the campaign, and before the inauguration, and lying about it.

Graham said that a congressional subcommittee, which he chairs, will investigate Russia's interference in the election and insisted Congress would pass a bill strengthening sanctions on Russia as punishment.

"It's my job as a United States senator to get to the bottom of this."

Then do it.

And when the topic of _____’s tax returns came up—you know, the ones he said he’s release before election day and didn’t and the ones he said he’d release before inauguration day and didn’t—Graham said he wasn’t too keen on issuing a subpoena for _____'s tax returns.

"We can subpoena his tax return. I will do that when I believe there's a reason to do that."

But the crowd wasn’t letting the issue just lie there; Graham was asked five separate times about efforts to gain access to _____'s tax returns as a way to see if he has any ties to Russia or other foreign government, and when Graham stumbled his response the crowd shouted: "Russia!"

"I didn't know there were this many liberals in South Carolina."

Oh, honey, we’re here, we’re growing in numbers and we’re disgusted by this president and disgusted by many in the GOP, like yourself, for kowtowing to the party line, when the party is being lead by a mad man.

The resistance is real and South Carolina is feeling it, so people like Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott best pay attention to We The People.

NBC News

Raw Story

The Funny Papers

Steve Benson, RJ Matson, Jack Ohman, Steve Sack, Bill Day, Nate Beeler, Clay Bennett, Nick Anderson, Jim Morin, Darrin Bell