Helping Callista's Hubby Get-By

Walkin' The Walk

You can't accuse the Laurens County (SC) GOP of not trying to avoid the whole hypocrisy problem around Family Values Politics.

Before you can join the Laurens County Republican Party in South Carolina
and get on the primary ballot, they ask that you pledge that you’ve never ever
had pre-marital sex — and that you will never ever look at porn again.

That should avoid all the nastiness that surrounds puported Republicans like Newt Gingrich and Charlie Sykes. But, you ask, how will they be absolutely sure that candidates are absolutely pure?

Smith clarified
in a statement Monday that “due to various legal issues” the LCGOP cannot
require that the candidates sign the pledge if they meet all of the other
qualifications for a run. But, he said, the committee “reserves the right to vet
its candidates and will encourage all candidates to uphold the principles of the
party’s platform as well as petition candidates to sign a pledge to do so.
However, no candidate will be denied access to the Republican Party primary
ballot for refusing to sign the pledge.”

Ah, well. It's just another hollow, grandstanding empty gesture by the GOP. But, you have to give them credit for taking their at-bats.

Rough Night

Had a hard time sleeping last night wondering if Mitt cares about very poor corporations

Prediction Time

Even though nobody asked...again, here are my thoughts on what the final year of man's reign on Earth might look like.

1. Rose Bowl score is 64-58 after both defensive teams fail to report to the field after halftime. No matter what the line is, be sure to take the Over.


2. Obama, the President who got bin Laden, who got the troops out of Iraq, who finally got a healthcare deal made, will be vilified by the GOP while they try to defend Sheriff Joe.


3. Justice Prosser will remain ill-tempered and violence prone, but critics will notice more semi-colons in his written work.


4. Ryan Braun will sit for 50 after testing positive for elevated testosterone levels. Braun blames a Chuck Norris marathon on Spike for the results.


5. City, County, and Village clerks across the state will take to strong drink as they try to sort through the steaming mess that WisGOP dumped on their plates during the 18 months of unpleasantness that was the Walker "administration."


6. No new mine in Wisconsin. In other DNR news, Cathy Stepp announces new Wisconsin hunting seasons for mountain lions, grey wolves, unicorns, heffalumps and peek-a-poos. "I hate them little dogs," she says.


7. Charlie Sheen's big news for 2012? Nuffin, but thanks for askin'.


8. The GOP will dither and futz until late in the primary season before choosing a Trump/Fred Thompson ticket. The grown-ups at the convention will nominate Willard, who will then lose by 6 in November.


9. Your new iPhone? Obsolete by the first of March. What the hell is 5G, anyway?


10. Big Fitz and Jauch are safe in their seats. Why use up the effort?


11. On the 40th day after the Super Bowl Aaron Rodgers will ascend into Paradise, TX. Expect him back in DePere in July. Thoughts of Brett fade like the picture of McFly's Mom.


12. The Cubs will be emotionally eliminated from contention in July.


13. Pompadour Paul Ryan will get his 19th consecutive Rising Young Star award after doing nothing but chatter for another two-year term. Just one more and he gets to be named to the Grizzled Crank Team.


14. Some 15-year-old you never heard of will have a hit song you can't listen to from a movie that's incomprehensible to you and based on a book you wouldn't read in a million, jillion years. You might as well get used to this. It's gonna happen a lot.


15. Even though the NBA season started way back on Christmas Day, the Bucks are not out of playoff contention until nearly Lincoln's Birthday.


16. Mark Pocan wins a narrow primary victory and a trip to Washington. Tammy Baldwin gets ready to move over to the big office after steam-rolling Fitz the Lesser..


17. After losing his quixotic battle for a Senate leadership spot Ron "Senator" Johnson is assigned by Mitch McConnell to lead the new Senate Regional Office in Kansas City. Johnson will be in charge of laundry and morale during his four year term there.


18. Bucky goes to the dance in March but falls maddeningly short.


19. Stephanie Klett will continue to run the Tourism department in Madison without making any negative headlines. For this, the Walker team will have no gratitude at all.


20. Recall, Baby!

Breaking News: Walker Admits To Telling the Truth

But says it was "Stupid." Vows to never tell the truth again.

Scooter's Present Arrives Late On a Friday

Who's surprised that it's bad news?

It's not working, kids. You can't cut your way to prosperity.

See? There's Your Problem Right There

So, he only wanted to pay for his defense if he could get the taxpayers to cover his sad fanny. That's pretty much the definition of "ethically-challenged."

Anything That Swirls Around the Drain Winds Up In the Walker Administration

The star of the Bush/Rove PowerPoint scandal winds up charging Wisconsinites for their first amendment rights just about the same time Walker Tosa Ranger hires Sharron Angle's old spox as his media guru.

Somebody should tell him that it's not really fodder for a conspiracy theory if we can see it happening in the open.

BOHICA

Brace yourself for Son of Budget Repair Bill.

Turns out that all of Walker's rosy projections were based on meeting his impossible goals. Now that he's driven Wisconsin to the bottom, he has no choice but to start another round of cuts as soon as there's nobody collecting signatures.

Even a rookie con man knows better than to believe his own patter.

"I always think there's a band, Kid."--Professor Harold Hill

It's As If They Were Just Talking Out Their Ass

The MacIver Institute for Making Stuff Up has a new piece by their CrackerJack tm Education Analyst (sic) Chistian D'Andrea bemoaning a decrease in reading scores on NAEP standardized testing for a select group of students, and then using that as a call for more privitazation of your tax dollars.

There are a couple of points that the make-believe news service people left out.

First, the "grim trend" in the numbers shows a drop of 6 points in reading scores from 2007 to last year. This is probably less significant than they'd like you to believe when you look to the study and see that we are on a 500-point scale. If all things were equal, a 1.5% decline could be chalked up to noise in the data.

But they're not equal, either. The test was revised for 2009 and cannot be directly compared in a simple summary.

Don't lose track of the fact that MacIver is funded by same groups that fund the other GOP "think" tanks in Wisconsin and are doing their level best to make people believe that turning over tax dollars to their funders is a wise use of the resource. Don't fall for it and don't let your local paper get away with using them as a source, either.

Everything Old Is New Again

A man without honor then.

A man without honor today.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald says he would run fake
Democrats again.

Because 4 and 2 was such a good result for him before.

Okay. You Want One Name?

Here's a bunch of voter fraud being discussed right out in the open. What's the chance that JBvH does a damn thing about it?

I mean, if we're taking threats on FaceBook seriously, and we should be taking threats seriously, then some folks need a visit from their friendly Policeman.

Leave Herman Cain Alone

"After listening to Cain’s speech and analyzing it, Ward said there is no
doubt, Cain is innocent. "

Says computer voice analyst hired by campaign. No word yet from cartomancy and haruspicy communities.

I'd be a lot more surprised if he couldn't hire someone to say that.

Breaking News: Blind Pig Finds Acorn

Binversie gets one right when he writes about RWNJ opposition to business-requested check-off program. Conservatives will attack businesses if it looks as if Obama can help them.

As weird as the idea of what's been called a “Christmas Tree Tax” sounds, in
American agricultural policy it’s not that uncommon. USDA has set up a number of
promotion boards for trade associations to aid in the promotion of agricultural
products, such as milk, beef, lamb, pork and even honey or avocados. These
boards have member producers pay into a general fund, which is overseen by the
promotion board to direct money for ads, billboards and other ways to increase
sales.

So much for that laser-like focus on jobs.

Cain Campaign Continues Koch/Block Tandem

Ed Morrisey points out the failure of leadership that continues to support Block in the wake of his failures and why misguided loyalty matters.

If the defense of Cain is that we’re being big meanies for pointing out his
campaign failings, then I think we’re missing the point of having a primary
process. It’s not to glorify all candidates, or any of them. It’s to
pick the person with the best policies who has the best chance of beating Barack
Obama in November 2012. If this campaign keeps Mark Block on board after
his misrepresentations, it’s not serious enough to warrant support. In
other words, to quote The Godfather, “It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s
business.”

C'mon. Tell Us What You Really Think

“Mark Block has to go,” Ed Morrisey of Hot Air wrote Wednesday morning.
“If he’s not gone by tomorrow, no one will take this campaign seriously again —
nor should they.”

Seems a little harsh, doesn't it? Let's see what the people who work with Poor Mark have to say.

A former Cain staffer agreed. “Mark Block has no regard for basic ethics or
accounting practices,” the anonymous staffer told The Hill. “He is no
strategist. He is impulsive and obsessive.”

Oh. Well, good to know

Watch the Debate...

...Play the Game.

Choose the pledge you’d like to make. Every time the candidates say one of
your words, you’ll be pushing back by donating that amount to the Obama
campaign.

One Sure Sign of Leadership Deficit

Fitz the Lesser leads(sic) all-night session on moot point.

Remember when Walker promised no sessions after midnight? 250,000 new jobs in 4 years? A development hotline for out-of-state business that would generate responses in 24 hours?

I suppose you could call it a management "style" to generate so much outrage that people don't feel compelled to revisit your smaller failures.

Are the Sexual Harrassment Revelations the Best Thing the Cain Campaign Could Have Happen This Week?

You know? Since this is the story they took the spotlight off,

Relying on Herman Cain’s Chief Of Staff Mark Block to investigate his own
financial dealings is “like asking Willie Sutton to hire an independent
counsel,” a former Cain regional field staffer told T[alking]P[oints]M[emo] in an interview this week.

You Think It's Bad In Wisconsin?

North Dakota has zombies, apparently.





Clean water-loving, clear air-campaigning, tree-hugging zombies.

Get That Woodchuck A Tuna Melt

A BadLipReading Soundbite.



Now, we just need a puff by Mark Block to make it official.

Scott Walker Will Want To Distance Himself From Rick Perry

'Cuz Governor Big Hair wants to see the grades.

“I’m really not worried about the president’s birth certificate [but] it’s
fun to poke at him a little bit and say ‘hey, how about let’s see your grades
and your birth certificate.’”

First he came for Obama and Walker said nothing.

But, hey. At least Scott Walker didn't commit assault, or something.

Tommy's Healthcare Talking Point

"Just let Grandpa die already."

“Let’s face it. So they say ‘let’s do everything we can for mother or
father. Don’t spare the costs.’ I’m not talking about denying anybody anything.
I’m just saying let’s let mother and father have their wishes. They may not want
to be on a respirator the last six months of their life.”

He's probably ready to go after listening to Jeffy Fitz' campaign ads, anyway.

Just Log It Under "Civility"

19 arrested after demanding to meet Sen. Johnson

Janet Veum with Wisconsin Jobs Now says the protesters wanted to
schedule a meeting when Johnson returns from Washington, D.C. She says the
demonstrators are upset that Johnson voted against the American Jobs Act on
Tuesday along with every other Republican senator.

The Newt Face of the GOP

If you dare...Callista and Newt at home.

If Only...

If only Fred Thompson would get into the race we could avoid all this unpleasantness.