Day: March 3, 2012

Confessions Of Dirty Deeds By Those On The Right Politically, But Cowardice By Many Republican Leaders!

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In the midst of obscene racism and misogyny and bashing of labor and gays by right wing extremists in the media and the Republican Party, every now and then, we get some who feel guilt and confess to their horrific work and ask to be forgiven.

Examples include Lee Atwater, who mastered the concept of the political smear for the campaign of George H. W. Bush in 1988 against Michael Dukakis, and later confessed and asked for forgiveness on his death bed, dying from cancer.

Another such case was David Brock who smeared Anita Hill in the Clarence Thomas controversy in 1991, and did other dirty deeds for right wing hate mongers including smearing Bill Clinton, but later confessed and works to expose Fox News Channel and others who distort and smear, through his leadership of Media Matters For America.

And a third is Ken Mehlman, former chairman of the George W. Bush re-election committee in 2004, who helped to promote an anti gay agenda that year, and yet is himself gay, and has now apologized for what he did eight years ago.

This kind of conservative dirty tactics, as practiced by Atwater, Brock, and Mehlman still is very widespread, so we find Republican leaders unwilling to condemn Rush Limbaugh, for his description of a college student, who testified for the right of women to have contraceptive coverage on health care plans sponsored by employers, as being a slut and prostitute, who should produce sex tapes for Rush and others to watch! Speaker of the House John Boehner, and Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have no ethics that allows them to openly condemn such outrages by Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and other propagandists.

At the same time, there are conservative commentators who are decent and principled enough to condemn these kinds of statements and actions, including David Frum, Kathleen Parker, and Chris Buckley.

What a disgrace, that there is no standard of decency past or present on the right, in the mad rush to condemn, besmirch, and smear those they oppose, rather than criticize based on issues and viewpoints alone!

The Growing Looniness And Insanity Of Obama Critics: Joe Arpaio And Richard Cebull

Ronald 1 Comment

It has been said that politics is entertainment, and the right wing has been more and more the lunatic fringe, never letting up on their vicious attacks on President Barack Obama.

Bill Press, the talk show host and liberal activist, has just published THE OBAMA HATE MACHINE regarding this, but even since publication, we are seeing more evidence that the pace of hate is growing ever faster.

Now we have Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is being investigated by the federal government for racial profiling and abuse of power in the handling of illegal immigrants, and Hispanics and Latinos in general, and the kind of harsh conditions that are used in jails in his county.

Arpaio now has decided to accuse Barack Obama as having a forged birth certificate, and held a press conference a few days ago to revive the “birther” conspiracy theory which has been ridiculed and exposed as false so many times that it makes one want to scream! This is his way of getting revenge on the Obama Administration, and it shows that Arpaio is a loose cannon out of control, not giving a damn about what people say or publish about him. He is an example of the worst element in law enforcement, and undermines respect for that very important group who do not need a lawess, arrogant man such as Arpaio to ruin their reputation.

And then we have US District Court Judge Richard Cebull of Montana, appointed by President George W. Bush to the federal courts in 2001, and becoming the Chief Judge for the district in Montana in 2008, who has done the most outrageous thing possible for a federal judge. He sent an email that was both racist and sexist about President Obama, stating it was a joke, showing terrible judgment, and making one wonder whether he could ever be objective in future court trials and cases in Montana. The joke was that that African Americans were equivalent to dogs, and that Obama’s white mother had had sex with animals. Cebull apologized profusely, but the damage was done, and saying it was not racist and sexist, but only anti Obama was insufficient, as a federal judge does not have the right to express political views that could affect his supposed objective judgments on cases involving race and gender that come before his court. Cebull issued a profuse apology, but that is simply not enough!

The answer is that Arpaio needs to be forced from office for his corruption and abuse of power, and that Cebull resign in disgrace, or face impeachment investigation and removal by the US Senate for his behavior, since both people are totally beyond the pale in their dealings and utterances.

Those who believe in fairness and equity in the field of law and justice MUST fight to remove these cancers from our law enforcement and judicial communities!