The Insane Rationalizations, Bigotry And Hypocrisy Of The Right

[X-Files]

Edited August 4, 2014 by X-Files

[Jeff]

 

Another Harvard grad still dropping acid after all these years.

 

The United Nations slammed Israel for possibly committing war crimes in its fight against Hamas — and then backed that accusation by suggesting the Jewish nation ought to be sharing its Iron Dome defensive technology with the very terror group it’s fighting.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said to members of the media at an “emergency” meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council that Israel was falling short in its duty to protect citizens in the Gaza Strip from getting killed by its rockets.

 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/1/un-condemns-israel-us-not-sharing-iron-dome-hamas/#ixzz39BBGC9yj

 

[mnm]

Sorry, I didn't realise this was the jokes thread.

[Mike Steele]

How is this driven by the Right? Is not the UN a Left Wing Origination?????? by nature?

[X-Files]

How is this driven by the Right? Is not the UN a Left Wing Origination?????? by nature?

 

My bad, meant to put it with the Left thread.

[Wobbly Head]

We'll it looks like the left can complain about the evil Israelites

 

An Israeli web poll asks what Obama should get for his birthday. 48 percent say "ebola."

 

http://www.vox.com/2014/8/4/5967205/an-israeli-web-poll-asks-what-obama-should-get-for-his-birthday-48

[Stargrunt6]

Dude, not a good look, no matter what excuse you have . . .

 

 

SEN. RAND PAUL: Now you know my life, my life on the campaign trail. But about five minutes before that or two minutes before that the video doesn't show that another reporter came up and said will you do an interview. And I said I need to take a couple more bites and we'll do an interview, and then I was told we had to leave and I had to do the interview.

 

 

At least tell her "excuse me, I need to leave. Nice meeting you etc."

[Stargrunt6]

I used to be a regular listener until I realized I'm hearing opinions from some random person, none of them backed by any sorts of experience or credentials (unlike, say, G. Gordon Liddy). And I'm glad I stopped, especially for reasons like this:


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/12/rush-limbaugh-robin-williams-killed-himself-because-of-a-political-leftist-attitude/

[Mr King]

I used to be a regular listener until I realized I'm hearing opinions from some random person, none of them backed by any sorts of experience or credentials (unlike, say, G. Gordon Liddy). And I'm glad I stopped, especially for reasons like this:

 

 

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/12/rush-limbaugh-robin-williams-killed-himself-because-of-a-political-leftist-attitude/

 

Yeah I quit listening to Rush a long time ago. The whole format, and the sycophant fans who they have speak to Rush were just over the top for me. I don't listen to any talk radio anymore. Mainly did it when I was driving between jobs for my business. However there was one show I still liked called Red Eye Radio. It is a late night show catered toward truckers, but both hosts seem pretty reasonable and rational. More so than any of the big names on talk radio.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Eye_Radio

 

Edit to add - the thing about Rush is he works on what I call the Bill Maher effect. If he is not saying something totally controversial, he is not getting the attention his ratings need.

Edited August 12, 2014 by Mr King

[Rick]

If you can, listen to Moody radio.

[Chris Werb]

I think this idiot being on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology is a travesty.

[JWB]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrxsCH_p1oc

[Mr King]

That useless sack of shit Mike Huckabee is leaving Fox ahead of the 2016 election. Our civil court system may be completely broken, but victims, and families of those victimized by convicted criminals who have been released from their sentence early or put on parole should be able to go after the those who make those decisions, financially.

 

Article from 2009

 

After police killings, Huckabee defends clemency for suspect

 

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee on Tuesday defended his decision to commute the prison sentence years ago of the man who allegedly killed four police officers Sunday near Tacoma, Wash., saying the defendant had received an unfairly harsh sentence because he was young and black The comments in a radio interview came a day after Huckabee accepted responsibility for the decision and said "it's not something I'm happy about at this particular moment."

The killings have renewed scrutiny of Huckabee's pardon record, and some prominent conservatives say the episode could be damaging to his candidacy if Huckabee decides to run for president in 2012. Though one of the Republican Party's most popular figures, Huckabee has been dogged by questions over the more than 1,000 commutations and pardons he issued -- more than his three predecessors combined -- during his 10-year tenure.

"If I could have known nine years ago this guy was capable of something of this magnitude, obviously I would never have granted a commutation," he told Fox News Channel host Bill O'Reilly on Monday night. "It's sickening."

Maurice Clemmons was convicted in Arkansas in 1989 of robbery and theft, and he was serving a 108-year prison term when Huckabee commuted it to 47 years in 2000, making Clemmons eligible for parole.

"That was the commutation," Huckabee told O'Reilly. "I'm responsible for that. And it's not something I'm happy about at this particular moment."

The Arkansas parole board subsequently released him from prison.

After the Sunday shootings, a massive manhunt ended Tuesday when a police officer fatally shot Clemmons. He was carrying a handgun that had been taken from one of the slain officers, police said.

On Tuesday, Huckabee defended his decision to commute Clemmons' sentence during a call to "The Joe Scarborough Show" on 77 WABC radio in New York. If his critics had been there in the governor's mansion, Huckabee said, "They would have seen a 16-year-old kid commit crimes of which normally, there would have been a few years. And if he'd been white and middle-class with a good lawyer he'd have gotten probation, a fine and some counseling. But because he was a young black kid, he got 108 years!"

"People don't go to prison for murder" with that sort of sentence, Huckabee said.

In his 2008 presidential campaign, Huckabee faced similar questions over the release from prison of convicted rapist Wayne DuMond, who was convicted of another rape and a murder.

Huckabee tried then to distance himself from any role in the DuMond parole, and on Sunday he similarly pointed at "a series of failures in the criminal justice system" regarding Clemmons. Huckabee's aides have sought to cast Clemmons's release from prison as a collective error of both Arkansas officials and those in Washington state, where he had been released on bail after being charged with assault on a police officer and rape. While Huckabee repeateadly took responsibility on "The O'Reilly Factor" for commuting Clemmons's sentence, he also called the decision by "Washington judges" to release Clemmons on bond after his recent arrest on a child rape charge "inexcusable."

"There's no explanation for why he was out on the streets," Huckabee said, adding that "certainly there was a pretty good, long history of adult behavior on this guy's part."

Michelle Malkin, a popular conservative blogger, dubbed the situation "Huckabee's Willie Horton," likening it to the convicted killer whose crimes upon his release from prison hurt the 1988 presidential campaign of then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis (D).

Robert Herzfeld, a former prosecutor in Arkansas who sharply opposed some of Huckabee's clemencies, said, "When you put that many people out of jail, it's inevitable someone is going to commit more crimes."

Ron Bonjean, a GOP strategist, said: "This story is political quicksand, and if the Republican conservative establishment doesn't throw him a lifeline immediately, it could be very damaging to a presidential run."

Huckabee called such criticism repellent. "It really does show though how sick society has become when we're more interested in the political consequences of an election that's three years away where none of the candidates have even announced -- I've not even given any indication that I'm going to run -- and people are less interested in the fact that funerals haven't even been planned and conducted yet for these four police officers," he told Scarborough. "It is disgusting."

Huckabee won the GOP's Iowa caucuses in 2008 and went on to claim several other key states, but he ultimately lost the party's nomination to Sen. John McCain (Ariz.). Republicans rank him in polls along with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin as their favorites for the 2012 campaign. A Des Moines Register poll last month showed Huckabee with higher favorable ratings in Iowa than most of the other leading contenders.

This September, Huckabee won a straw poll at the Values Voters Summit in Washington, highlighting his appeal to social conservatives.

 

 

.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/01/AR2009120102601.html?sid=ST2009120103523

Edited January 5, 2015 by Mr King

[Jeff]

Huckabee is a snake oil salesman.

[Murph]

Jeff, that describes 99.99% of the political class. Huckabee is just one of the more disgusting examples of one.

[Mike Steele]

Jeff, that describes 99.99% of the political class. Huckabee is just one of the more disgusting examples of one.

This.

[Mikel2]

Huckabee vs Jeb Bush... These primaries are going to be

[toysoldier]

So, you guys ready to pinch your noses and vote for those rhinoceros scented elephants?

[Wobbly Head]

If Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.

 

So 2016 must be when the lamb gets to decided whether to be barbequed or poached.

[rmgill]

And gets the honor of paying for the fuel.

[Skywalkre]

Just saw this story on my FB feed. Still seems early so not a lot of news sources popping up. Do we have any OK ilk on here that can shed more light on this... odd one?

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/02/17/oklahoma-might-ban-ap-tests-because-of-similarities-to-common-core-those-similarities-are-limited/

 

 

Oklahoma lawmakers are considering dumping the Advanced Placement program because of its similarities to Common Core, but they might not have an easy time convincing voters of precisely why.

[FlyingCanOpener]

The bill only wants to drop AP US History instead of the entire AP curriculum, and the furor comes based on this:

 

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2014/08/college_board_statement_on_ap.html

 

Republican National Committee Condemns New AP History Framework

 

By Catherine Gewertz on August 11, 2014 2:17 PM

 

The Republican National Committee is calling for a fight against the College Board's new framework for Advanced Placement U.S. History, claiming that it "deliberately distorts and/or edits out important historical events."

 

The new framework "reflects a radically revisionist view of American history that emphasizes negative aspects of our nation's history while omitting or minimizing positive aspects," said aresolution adopted by the RNC on Friday at its summer meeting in Chicago.

 

The resolution demands that the College Board delay for at least one year its plan to debut the framework in high schools this fall. It urges that a committee be convened to draft a new AP U.S. history framework that is "consistent both with the APUSH course's traditional mission, with state history standards, and with the desires of U.S. parents and other citizens for their students to learn the true history of their country." And it calls on Congress to "investigate this matter" and withhold any funding to the College Board until a suitable framework is produced.

 

Asked for a response to the RNC resolution, College Board spokeswoman Carly Lindauer said in an email that the new AP U.S. history framework, developed and "overwhelmingly supported by" college faculty and expert AP teachers, is "built to be flexible."

 

"It allows for a focus on state priorities, as well as teacher and parent choices that best fit the needs of their individual students," she wrote. "The new course emphasizes the American founding documents and their essential role in our nation's history, and recognizes American heroism, courage, and innovation. College Board leaders continue to meet with individuals who have concerns about the redesign to listen and receive feedback."

 

More information about the redesign of the framework can be found on a special page on the College Board's website. UPDATE: Troubled by the controversy, College Board President David Coleman released to the public a practice AP U.S. history test. Practice tests are typically only released to certified AP teachers. He also announced that the College Board will issue "clarifications" about the new framework.

 

Conservative opposition to the new APUSH framework has been circulating with increasing intensity in recent weeks, culminating in an "open letter" to College Board President David Coleman on Aug. 4. The letter, posted by the conservative groups American Principles in Action and Concerned Women for America, demands a one-year delay in use of the framework, and a return to the brief "topic outline" that was previously used to guide AP U.S. history instruction. As of this afternoon, that letter had garnered more than 1,000 signatures.

 

The letter takes the framework to task for its "negative" approach to U.S. history. As an example, it attacks the framework for portraying U.S. colonists as "oppressors and exploiters while ignoring the dreamers and innovators who built our country." The signatories also say that at 98 pages, the framework essentially replaces the five-page topic outline with a full-blown curriculum, and one that conflicts with many states' social studies standards.

 

As conservatives have circulated the letter, they've also been writing and circulating strategies for opposition to the new framework. Concerned Women For America, for instance, has anaction plan posted on its website.

 

Opponents to the framework are giving a particularly high profile to support they've gleaned from scholars. A highly critical analysis by Peter Wood, the president of the National Association of Scholars, who calls the framework "radical" and "a complete overhaul of the Advanced Placement course in U.S. History," has also been widely circulated.

 

When my colleague Liana Heitin reported in May on the changes planned for the APUSH course and exam, she noted that the revamped course would be more specific about which historical details should be covered, and would emphasize "historical thinking skills." The College Board is also reworking its courses in European history and art history for use in the fall of 2015.

 

...

 

I can see some cause for some disgruntlement; before this update AP curriculum guides were just an outline of what teachers should cover and what the test should cover, and were no more than 5 pages. You go to a 1-week training to get certified and get basically told to teach whatever you want like you would a 100-level history course, but to keep the pamphlet in mind because that's what the test the students will be taking will be on. Now you get a 90+ page curriculum that is essentially telling you what to teach. The essence of AP is to accelerate the curriculum for high school courses and teach said course at a college level.

 

If you want to oppose those changes that's fine, but to single out AP US History based on their curriculum changes (Which is a shift to "Dead White Guys are the cause of all of America's ills and kept the Blacks/Hispanics/Women/Asians/Gays/<Insert Minority Group Here> down all this time") is a little too much, even though the College Board deserves to be raked over the coals for going all stupid over the curriculum changes, as seen how they backpedaled so quickly and even released the sample test items to show students won't be tested on the Dead White Males are Evil meme.

[Mike Steele]

BTT

[Paul G.]

Jeff, that describes 99.99% of the political class. Huckabee is just one of the more disgusting examples of one.

 

Who's more to blame? Them or the people who put them in power by continuing to vote for them?

[Jeff]

 

Jeff, that describes 99.99% of the political class. Huckabee is just one of the more disgusting examples of one.

 

Who's more to blame? Them or the people who put them in power by continuing to vote for them?

 

 

In the end, it's the voter's responsibility though there are many working overtime to keep them fat dumb and happy with bread and circuses.