In light of the prospective deal on the debt ceiling, all of the propaganda machines are churning at full capacity, from Huffington Post to Fox News, Obama haters of all stripes and alleged political positions are joined in a chorus of furious, self-righteous bleating, like a flock of sheep with gas pains.

It’s quite a buffet of attacks to choose from, Obama betrayed Dems, was weak, outmaneuvered, is destroying the middle class, is ignorant, incompetent, a terrible negotiator, etc.

This deal marks the death of Keynesian economics, guarantees the death of the middle class, destroys Social Security and Medicare, assures a double dip recession or another Great Depression, will kill the entire bee population in the US, create an epidemic of impotency and make zombies rise from the dead to eat our brains (clearly not a threat to Republicans).

It’s easy to be a slanted pundit, just follow these easy directions:

1. Only recognize information that supports your pre-determined opinion (facts that don’t cooperate with already held opinions are not really facts, they are “Faecties”, imaginary things that only exist if you choose to believe in them).

2. Use your mind as a magnifying glass. Use it to burn those you see as ants then place it over any information that even tangentially supports your views to distort and exaggerate it and its impact on the future.

3. Never apologize. Sure, yesterday you may have said the world will blow up by the next day but just because it didn’t, that doesn’t prove you’re wrong, you may just be one day off. Instead, insist that despite claims to the contrary, the world is blowing up then quickly turn to another outrage which will surely be an even greater disaster (somehow).

4. Talk over others and ignore what they say or ask. You’ve spent all that time creatively carving up square facts to make them fit the round hole of your opinion (I’ll let you guess where it’s located), it’s just plain rude for others to interfere and insist square pegs should fit in square holes. Drown them out or wait for them to finish talking or asking questions (while ignoring what they say and instead humming the old Supertramp song to yourself, “Bloody Well Right”). When they’re done, just spout out your talking points as if they’re the answer to the question or statement you didn’t even listen to.

5. There is no such thing as “too hysterical”. Your category may be Politics but never forget that this is Show Business, emphasis on the “Show”. You’ve got to show outrage, frustration, smugness, cynicism and indignation. Often you’ll find that the day’s events thoughtlessly deprive you of legitimate reasons for giving your audience the emotional display they rely on.

That is why the InstaHowl 3000 from Outrage Manufacturing may be the most valuable investment in your career. Just input the day’s news into it, press the big red panic button and it will manufacture a variety of outrages that you can spout to whip up your audience (requires high decibels or big red fonts – not included).

Then there is the Mini-Me to this Dr. Evil, the herpes to this Black Plague…Troll Blogging.

Troll Blogging is a public pool where everyone is welcome from every part of the community to jump on in. And peeing in the pool is not only permitted, it’s encouraged.

As to the cast of characters in Troll Blogging, on the right, there are the earnest Dittoheads and Tea Partiers who have had megaphones implanted into their heads so their GOP authority figures can speak through them at will.

Then there are the paid and unpaid Arsonist Trolls who simply try to spark fires at moderate and Progressive sites to keep them busy stomping out tiny embers and disrupt their coming together to build or accomplish something.

Next are the Concern Trolls, Republican bloggers masquerading as Democrats and generously sharing their disappointment and disgust at how Obama has failed and betrayed “them” and all other Dems. They vow to never again vote for or support Obama, just as they vow to never again ride unicorns naked. These are the electronic equivalent of Trojan Horses only once inside the gates of Dem castles, they are evacuated out of the rear end of the horse.

Coming off similarly and resembling these horse’s asses are the so-called Dem Purists. They sing in chorus with Concern Trolls and are nearly indistinguishable except for the knives they leave in the backs of others.

Purists are fighting for your Democratic values…by trying to bring down the Democratic President and prepare the way for a right wing Republican to take over the White House. Only then can we return to the purity of Democratic principles and have all of them reunited in one safe place…a wish list.

After all, if there’s anything worse than not getting all the changes you want now, it’s getting more of them later. Their motto is “All or nothing!” and they’re not too sure about keeping the “All or” in there.

If President Obama killed Bin Laden, he’d be attacked for how he did it. If he passed health care reform that would insure most of the 50 million Americans who aren’t insured and those with pre-existing conditions, he’d be attacked for betraying Democratic values. If Obama saved the nation and the world from tumbling into a Great Depression through stimulus spending and loans to major industries, he’d be attacked for not doing enough. At least, that’s my guess.

For the types of people described above, Obama is playing the Purgatory version of Jeapordy, no matter how many answers you get right, you can never win.

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choicelady
Member

I am beyond rage – BEYOND it! I am so sick of this “Trojan Horse” and other bullshit I will positively SMACK the next faux progressive that says it. There is an enemy – it is my PERSONAL nemesis – the Right Wing Dominionist Christian Tea Party. The RW Christians have MURDERED five of my friends and acquaintances, have driven several of my friends into hiding for standing for justice, and are stalking me.

DO WE GET THIS NOW????

Obama is a careful political person. Rule No. 1 of Democracy – you can’t get what you don’t have votes for. Rule No. 2 – if you think anything else, see Rule No. 1.

I went back to work today after vacation to find a diatribe against ME as a supporter of the Tea Party Right for finding good things in the credit limit agreement. Things that will prevent my neighbors on disability from losing every dime they get. Things that will keep my friend, living in hiding from white supremacists, from losing her Social Security. That will keep all our basic social supports intact and free from cuts until AFTER the 2012 election.

And this ahat phony progressive UCC minister dared to call us RW supporters?????? When I finally asked this MINISTER what should I tell those who would have lost EVERYTHING if the agreement had gone any diffrently – what should I say to them? Oh, phony progressives think YOU are dispensible so their ideology will prevail in chaos – just LIKE the Teabaggers – well when I asked that question, he stopped writing. Stopped talking. Stopped EVERYTHING.

I am SO SICK of these people – one of my OWN who said we were “middle of the road” stalking horses, Trojan horses, to protect our DONOR base!!!! I saw RED. We don’t HAVE a donor base because our members are older, progressives are CHEAP, and I never got a friggin dime from HIM or his church EVER.

We took our position because we care about the survival of “the least and the lost, and the last.” That’s our charge, those are the ones who need us. And selling out to some cheap shot idiotic ideological crap is NOT Christian, is NOT politically sensible, and is a mark of the Left being as stuck up arrogant as the Right.

Progressives – when you sell people down the river, YOU are the Trojan Horses for the Teabaggers. YOU do their work FOR them.

But if Rick Perry wins – don’t think you’re immune. He will make sure you have NO freedoms – no choice, no freedom of thought, no free speech, NOTHING. These people are playing for keeps. W was just the beginning. If you hate the Patriot Act – remember please Michelle Bachmann wanted it to follow YOU. To test YOUR “Americanism”. And that means you are under surveillance 24/7 if these dipshits win.

There is an enemy to democracy in American, and for sure ain’t Obama. It is the RW Dominionist Tea Party. If you can’t get that through your head, you will bring us to fascism and YOU will be the Trojan Horse.

GROW UP!

Emerald1943
Member

Hi CL!

Sounds like you’re gonna’ need another vacation to get over returning from vacation! Sounds terribly frustrating! I hope today will be a better one for you!

choicelady
Member

Hi Emerald – yeah, that pretty much took the sparkle off being rested up! I’ll get over it, he won’t write again, and that’s that. Thank YOU for the kind words – it definitely helps me get over the outrage!

Marion
Member

I’ve always said the immature Progressive Left, and some of the insipid people the media pushes as “political contributors” are the best tool the Republicans have. And Dennis Kucinich is their best mate in Congress.

Dorothy Rissman
Member
Dorothy Rissman

Choicelady, I understand your anger. That is an outrageous story. Sorry you had to go through that.

audadvnc
Member
audadvnc

As TYT put it the other day, Obama is a Trojan Horse:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bV6ZNGDPqA&feature=relmfu

True believers will never face facts, and it took awhile for the rest of us to figure out what Obama’s game was. But now we have ample evidence to show that the system is utterly and hopelessly corrupted at the highest levels of power.

We were sold a bill of goods by a bait-and-switch con man. From here on out, nobody in either party is the slightest bit trustworthy – they are liars to the core, willing servants of the corporate Beast that has ensnared us all. The American Dream has been staked through the heart, sacrificed to the benefit of the parasitical rulers of society.

escribacat
Member

You need to read some history if you think things are worse today than they ever were. When exactly would you say the “American Dream” was real?

Caru
Member

According to an quick analysis reported by a team from Howstuffworks.com during bad times people think that the American dream is all about community strength and the like and during the good times the American dream is all about me, myself and I.

choicelady
Member

CAru – I think people also remember the past in hazy pink and gold, all good, forgetting the bad. Yes the 50s were good for lots of us – unless you were a minority. The fact is, that IS a template – shared, and REALLY shared – prosperity. Were we to have that today with everyone really included (no racial or ethnic segregation) we would be better off.

But as a trained historian, please do let me say that the 19th century was infinitely WORSE than anything we see today. So much worse for ordinary people that it is the Gold Standard for those who would be Robber Barons. Little did we know that when Bush claimed they wanted to go back “before Roosevelt” that they meant TEDDY, not FDR!

The past is rosy only depending on who is doing the remembering. Today is what we have, and it is a darned sight better than 100 years ago. Remembering the sign from the Daily Show rally: “Actually, most things are working pretty well.” Let’s build on that, not throw it away.

jkkFL
Guest

hmmm..Cenk Uyger, and Glen Greenwald- two people I’d trust to tell me the truth!
Throw in Pat Buchanan and Michele Bachmann, and you have four of a kind.
Why not ask Congress to amend the 24th amendment and ask Dubyah to run again??
Which ‘Icon of Purity’ ‘Belongs’ in the White House?

Caru
Member

I watched that when it came out. I thought it was very far from the usually good, but not always rigid and sober enough, analysis that the TYT network puts out.

Even if they disagree with Obama and think that he’s wrong, they should remember the adage:

“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

jkkFL
Guest

Caru- That is so true!!!
There is an appalling outbreak of stupidity these days- thanks for reminding us!!!

Chernynkaya
Member

Audadvnc: See Above. She says it ALL. Anything I have to add would violate the rules of the site.

Emerald1943
Member

audadvnc, so let’s clarify your comment…

Which of the republican candidates do you prefer to continue their destruction of our system of government? Do you want them to destroy Social Security and Medicare so you can pay your parents’ and possibly grandparents’ bills? Would you prefer a candidate who supports unlimited defense spending and two unnecessary wars costing us trillions of dollars and thousands of brave American lives? Would you like a president who cuts education to the bone and have our college students burdened with thousands of dollars more of debt? Would you prefer a president who sees no justice in making billionaires pay their taxes? Would you like to see a president who supports tax breaks for corporations who send our jobs overseas and their profits to tax havens?

Do you like a president who pushes for domestic oil drilling while ignoring the fact that oil will only go up in price and eventually run out (but not until it has spoiled our coastline and killed off all the fish)? Do you support a candidate who would give the oil companies BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars in subsidies that they certainly do not need?

Would you support a presidential candidate who refuses to acknowledge climate change in spite of the fact that the polar icecaps are melting away? Would it be beneficial to the country for the President to believe that the earth is only 6,000 years old and that man and dinosaur co-existed?

Do you support a candidate who believes that health care should only be for the wealthy and unavailable to those who cannot afford private insurance?

Do you support a candidate who believes that all businesses should be unregulated to criminally run rampant over the consumer and in our financial markets? By voting in one of these candidates, would you support no oversight on Wall Street? Would you support someone who believes that infrastructure spending is bad, allowing our roads, bridges, and schools to crumble from under us? Would you support a president who had no compassion for the most vulnerable in our society…the disabled, the elderly, the homeless, those in nursing homes, hungry children, and families made jobless by the recession?

Surely, I have misunderstood your post. I cannot believe that you would support these policies, no matter what party affiliation. I don’t always agree with President Obama’s methods, but there is absolutely NO doubt in my mind about his values. That is why I will continue to support him and will work for his re-election! “Bait and switch con-man”??? I don’t think so.

choicelady
Member

Aud-I don’t think so at all. Evidence? No – assertions not proven in fact. Time and again we’ve run lists of what Obama has accomplished that flies in the face of entrenched power. The People’s View notes also what he’s achieved without Congress (much easier – unilateral action always is) that we all want.

http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2011/08/influence-minus-congress-equals-power.html

The idea that Obama is a Trojan Horse is the meme of a peculiarly pernicious pseudo-Left, people of some intellect who are too good for not Obama – DEMOCRACY. Democracy at its heart requires compromise to be legitimate. It’s not a unilateral effort since that would be totalitarian. We instant gratification folks also have NO patience with America as a gradualist nation. But in under three years Obama has pushed back HUGE encroachments of the corporatist ruling class which is precisely why they hate him. He has challenged the religious right on the faux issues they adore to motivate their base which is why they hate him.

And snot-nosed whiners such as these smug and useless guys who never met a blue collar person they cared about or Dan Choi who GOT what he wanted – they all dis Obama and call out conspiracy theories because maybe they did not get what they wanted immediately? Want instand gratification? But a Kindle. Only way.

There is and long has been a Left that is happy ONLY in a comfy chair with a glass of excellent wine pontificating about some failure of someone other than themselves. Those of us who have worked our butts off for change have NO use for them, but they manage nonetheless to push their agenda, get public presence, and pretend they know something we don’t. But put them in the arena of democracy-in-action, they’d get NOTHING. And I mean NOTHING done because they haven’t a clue. They have the same narcissistic and solipsistic point of reference that Baggers have – themselves.

So I’d not be making decisions about Obama’s worth from what you see on talking head shows. Read widely and diversely about decisions and what their IMPACT is, what barriers (such as not being able to appoint Elizabeth Warren) hold back effective implementation of policies, and who the REAL threats are. The system CAN work if we engage with it – it was the failure to vote at all by progressives that let the Baggers in. Who’s fault is it then? The same whiners and pontificators you’re letting shape your opinion. Do it for yourself. It’s much cleaner and more reliable.

Sabreen60
Member
Sabreen60

I know Milt is pretty much preaching to the choir, but IMO this is a great article. Please take a moment to read it and see what you think.

http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/2011/08/more-politics-101-obama-is-smarter-than-us.html#comment-6a00e008c7b51e8834014e8a74e94b970d

jkkFL
Guest

Sabreen Thanks! It was a great post, and put all my frustrations into prose!
Good stuff.

kesmarn
Admin

Sabreen, this is a terrific piece. I wish it hadn’t taken me two days to get to it. (Things are a bit crazy around here.)

The author highlights something that has been a problem forever: the fact that the left has a terrible time uniting behind a leader — even a leader who has more than demonstrated his capability. I understand that the left is by definition skeptical of leaders, but this is our Achille’s heel as well. The right marches lock-step toward their goal (and a simple one it is: more for us, less for them)regardless of the quality of their current leader. It’s mindless, but effective.

We’re fortunate to have a compassionate, smart person at the helm now. It’s time to extend a little trust in his direction.

bito
Member

Standard And Poor’s Versus Mitch McConnell

Standard and Poor’s said this:

The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said this:

“I think some of our members may have thought the default issue was a hostage you might take a chance at shooting. Most of us didn’t think that. What we did learn is this — it’s a hostage that’s worth ransoming. And it focuses the Congress on something that must be done.”

Remember this when Republicans claim victory.

And Boehner said he got 98% of what he wanted? Was the downgrade part of his 98% From now to the elections the TGOP wiill do their damnedest to get the unemployment up to 10%!

http://www.alan.com/2011/08/06/standard-and-poors-versus-mitch-mcconnell/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+liberaland+%28Alan+Colmes+Liberaland%29&utm_content=Twitter

bito
Member

Myth: President Obama caved.

Fact: President Obama laid out key priorities that had to be part of any deal. Those priorities are reflected in this compromise. First, we avoided default which would have plunged the economy into a deep recession, imperiling the well-being of millions of Americans. Second, the initial down payment on deficit reductions does not cut low-income and safety-net programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Third, we set up a path forward that will put pressure on Congress to adopt a balanced approach. And finally, we raised the debt ceiling until 2013, ensuring that House Republicans could not use the threat of default in just a few months to force severe cuts in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Myth: Republicans got everything they wanted

Fact: They won’t admit it publicly, but when push came to shove, Republicans backed down on their key demands. For months, Republicans called for a budget that would have ended Medicare as we know it, made catastrophic cuts to Medicaid, or cut investments in education by 25 percent, clean energy by 70 percent and infrastructure spending by 30 percent. As if that wasn’t enough, they also demanded that we repeat this debt-ceiling crisis, just a few months from now.

None of these of these demands made it into a final deal.

Myth: This deal cuts Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

Fact: There are no changes to these programs included in the initial phase of this agreement. In the second phase of the agreement, everything will be on the table – and the President has made clear that the committee must pursue a balanced approach where reforms to programs like Medicaid, Social Security or Medicare would only be acceptable if coupled with higher revenues from the most fortunate.

Myth: This deal reduces the deficit entirely on the backs of the middle class.

Fact: While the initial down payment on deficit reduction – about $1 trillion – will require belt-tightening, it still will allow us to invest in the programs and priorities we care about most. Moreover, hundreds of billions of this initial round of cuts will come from security spending.

As we negotiated the domestic side of the cuts, we protected our historic new investments in Pell Grants as part of the down payment. For the second phase, we made sure that programs for the most vulnerable, like food stamps, Medicaid and the Earned Income Tax Credit, would not be hit by the “trigger,” the automatic cuts that will go into place if Congress does not find an acceptable compromise.

Myth: The joint committee — the so-called “super committee” — makes it easier for Congress to cut the programs we care about.

Fact: The joint committee system puts pressure on Republicans to seek compromise. As we all know, in this round of deficit reduction, there wasn’t a lot of leverage bringing Republicans to the table. In round two, that changes.

If Republicans aren’t willing to compromise, then the joint committee will fail. This would automatically trigger an additional $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction designed to be painful for both sides, with half that coming from savings in the defense budget.

Myth: Since we weren’t able to raise revenues right now, we won’t be able to raise revenues in the future.

Fact: The deal lays out two paths for further reducing our deficit. Both of them include revenues. Option one is for the joint committee to develop a plan that is passed by both Houses of Congress, and signed by President Obama. The President has already said that he will only support a balanced approach involving shared sacrifice. That means raising revenue through steps such as closing loopholes for corporations, reforming our tax code, and asking millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share in taxes.

If the joint committee cannot develop a balanced compromise,that brings us to option two for raising revenues: the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. On January 1, 2013, President Obama can use his veto pen to end special tax breaks for high-income Americans if Congress votes to extend them.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/08/03/myths-and-facts-about-debt-ceiling-compromise?utm_source=email125&utm_medium=graphic&utm_campaign=deficit

Emerald1943
Member

Bito, I didn’t have a chance to read through all this last night, but I’m so glad I did this morning. Thanks for cutting through all the information to bring us some sanity. It is actually a relief to see the clear picture in the midst of all the teeth-gnashing and hand-wringing!

whatsthatsound
Member

I think there is a fair amount of mischaracterization happening on both sides. It is natural that one would feel demeaned when referred to as a flounder (those unlovely fish – great eating though), but it is no less so when one is compared to children who didn’t get their pony, whiny ranters, etc.

There are very valid and legitimate grounds for criticism of both the Democratic Party and the president. Just as there are valid arguments for the efficacy of Obama’s go-slow and achieve long term results approach.

We have intelligent posters here who are able to provide facts, resources and articles that present both perspectives well and professionally. So long as this site continues to be a forum where critics and fans of the president converge to express their views, and the viewpoints of those they admire, I think it would behoove us all to be willing to slip on the other side’s moccasins.

At least until they start to stink too much.

Emerald1943
Member

I stepped on a flounder once! It was in water about knee-deep. I was just a kid! It scared the bejezus out of me! Poor fish was probably more scared than I was. 🙂

Sorry, I digress…

whatsthatsound
Member

Em, that happens to everybody.

No wait, it doesn’t.

Emerald1943
Member

Well, WTS, this little sub-thread is much more fun than the other one we were on earlier. We needed a little comic relief! 🙂

When the fish slithered out from under my foot, I thought I was a “goner”! I screamed, my granddaddy almost had a heart attack and came running! I cried and he took me for ice cream. Not a bad memory at all…

whatsthatsound
Member

I hope the flounder had a similarly kind grandfather to treat him to some seaweed sherbet or something like that.

Emerald1943
Member

Heh heh! I’m sure he did! But I think they went for sushi! 🙂

jkkFL
Guest

@Em- are you advocating cannibalism?!!! 😀

KillgoreTrout
Member

I once stepped on a live rattlesnake. I was 32 and almost soiled my undies! I never knew a human heart could beat that fast!

Khirad
Member

I came close to stepping on one. My heart fluttered, and even though I’d already gotten out of striking range of it, I ran a few feet anyway from the shot of shock/adrenaline.

KillgoreTrout
Member

I hear ya! Most everybody has heard, in film or what not, what a rattlesnake sounds like. But man, when you hear it live, just under your foot you instinctively know you just stepped in some deep shit! I don’t know how I wasn’t bitten. I think I surprised the rattler just as much as he surprised me. He went one way, and I went (as fast as humanly possible) the other way.

Khirad
Member

I’d have been so lucky. The shock came when I looked at this unmarked big snake, figuring it to be a harmless like a Gopher Snake, got curious, looked at the flat head, then followed the body to the tail and realized that there was a rattle attached to a black and white band!

That’s when a cold shot went down my body and I hoofed it.

It was a Western Diamondback, around 4-5 feet and looked like this.

[imgcomment image[/img]

So, let it be known. They do not always rattle, nor do diamondbacks always have diamonds. I wish I had. I was lucky I didn’t step on it, as I was out on a desert trail with no phone.

escribacat
Member

I see rattlesnakes quite often when I hike with my dogs. Once I heard the darn thing through the racket of my ipod! That rattle is loud. Luckily I always seem to spot the thing before my dumb dogs do.

jkkFL
Guest

Khirad- My Hero! 😀
I would still be running -with wet pants- if I came that close to one!!
We have pygmy rattlers- but they are Loud..you can hear them far enough away not to keep going in that direction!
They are nasty- tempered little rascals too; if you get too close they stop rattling, and Bite.

bito
Member

jkk, Florida has more the pygmy rattlers or they are very big pygmies, I’ve seen 5-7 foot ones in Central Florida along with some large Water Moccasins.

jkkFL
Guest

@bito, Oh yes, my friend! We have cottonmouths, Eastern Diamondbacks, Canebrake rattlers, and Copperheads. Also we have non-native species such as pythons, boas, and other species in the South- running wild and breeding like Rabbits.
But THIS guy- has the most potent venom of any North American snake- the Coral:
“red touch yellow, kill a fellow; red touch black, okay Jack.”
[imgcomment image[/img]

bito
Member

jkk, my brain always froze and I could never remember that rhyme when I saw those. 😆 I just stayed away!

jkkFL
Guest

@bito,

RTY=dead
That’s all ya gotta remember!
Trouble is- those things are everywhere. I’ve even seen a group of them slithering down the sidewalk. They were about 6″ long, and there were 5 or 6 together- they were hatching nearby- in our complex..
You can have them in the monkey grass border in your front yard.

Khirad
Member

We have Corals, luckily I’ve never seen one, nor has anyone else very often.

Here’s some more helpful info:

Many people use a rhyme to remember the coral snake: “Red touch yellow, harmful fellow.”Unfortunately, this rhyme does not always work in our region (and many parts of the western hemisphere). We have several non-venomous snakes in our region that have red bands touching yellow bands. The best way to identify a coral snake is by: 1) a very blunt head that is black to behind the eyes, and 2) bands that completely encircle the body, along with the yellow or white bands occurring on both sides of the red bands.

http://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_coral_snake.php

jkkFL
Guest

@Khirad,
By the time you check out a coral’s head, you have been bitten..
“The Coral Snake’s venom is the most potent of any of North America’s snakes. It has short fangs and a small mouth. It does not strike like the pit vipers but bites and chews to inject its poison. Many people use this rhyme “red touch yellow, kill a fellow; red touch black, okay Jack.” to differentiate the Coral Snake from non-venomous copycats like the Scarlet King Snake. It occurs throughout Florida, primarily in heavy brush. Average adult size is 20-30 inches, and the record is 47.5 inches.”
H/T Wildlife Removal/Snakes
This article is a little outdated-we now have them in parks, on Little League fields and anyplace that is partially groomed. Pampas grass and border grasses are also hiding places they like. *sigh* they’re becoming urban- like ALL the animals in FL.

whatsthatsound
Member

yikes, give me a flounder any day!

Emerald1943
Member

Those things are NOT funny! We have them in my area although I’ve not seen one on my property. We have the Eastern Diamondback, not a very nice critter. Glad you were able to get away without ruining your boxers, KT! 🙂

KillgoreTrout
Member

Yeah, the timber rattler. This guy was sunning himself between two large rocks, and I was backpacking with a friend. We were walking from rock to rock and I stepped between two rocks because they were far apart. I just got to Southern Cal a few weeks before, and didn’t realize fully, just where I was. Well, I was reminded very quickly by Mother Nature! Whew!

texliberal
Guest
texliberal

WTS well put, but cowboy boots

whatsthatsound
Member

Your wish is my command, Tex. See how magnanimous I can be? 🙂

KillgoreTrout
Member

Sometimes I think the issues of today aren’t near as weighty as they were in decades past. I mean,geez, look at the Cuban Missile crisis. We were one nervous private away from global thermonuclear war!
But I do realize that today’s issues are far more subtle and creeping than those of the past. Rust never sleeps!

whatsthatsound
Member

I think they are just as weighty in a more subtle way. We have a very corrupt system of government that coddles the rich and disenfranchises the poor. It is no coincidence that major corporations are rolling about in cash right now, while unemployment rises. This is a DIRECT result of laws that have been passed and dereliction of duty by “public servants”.

As Chomsky points out in the article I linked to on TOOT, the people care about JOBS, it’s only the financial industry to whom deficits is the great crisis of the day. But they push that (which of course means gutting federal programs, perish the thought that they should contribute more). We Da People are being woefully under-represented by the officials we elect.

Emerald1943
Member

KT, that’s an interesting comment. I don’t know if the issues are more or less weighty today. I know that when I was much younger, I paid little attention to the details.

I also don’t know if they are more subtle. I believe subtlety was there in the good ol’ days too. Take FDR’s machinations to get the US into WW2 in Europe for example. He knew that the political will in Congress was not there and that he had to be creative to get the American people to come around to the idea. Thank goodness he made that move in the nick of time, or we all might have been goose-stepping!

Oh, look at the time!! Time for Vox Pop!! We can discuss this later.

jkkFL
Guest

KT, perhaps the crises of today seem less weighty because they Are more subtle. I honestly think the risk is about equal- except the enemy is us- and involves too many back room deals, money under tables, and blackmail. Also, the ‘weapons’ are far more sophisticated. Currency manipulation, fraud, and wizards behind curtains are more sinister than one finger on one button.
The damage is frequently not realized for years- mortgage fraud, bank fraud,
insider manipulation and bankster collusion are all discovered long after the impact is terminal..and nobody is ever responsible- or prosecuted. It’s swept under the rug of ‘corporate misbehavior’ and continues as business as usual.

escribacat
Member

I’m with you on this, Kilgore. I suppose it’s all in how you look at it, but what I mostly see when I look around is how freaking lucky we are in this country compared to so many other nations. Relatively speaking, we are seriously spoiled. Even with gas prices — we still pay far less than they do in Europe. The human race does, unfortunately, have a lot of predatory members, and I don’t believe they will ever stop preying on those who aren’t as greedy or alert or quick on their feet. It doesn’t matter who is in control — that fact will never go away until the human race evolves a bit more from the ground up. I do see many signs of that evolution. Spend a bit of time reading how things were in the Old West — only about 125 years ago. Life was a lot cheaper then. We’ve come a long way in just a century.

Emerald1943
Member

Hi everyone!

I wasn’t sure whether to post this email here or on the debt ceiling page…but since it made me so angry, I decided to put it with the other “Outrage” posts. Enjoy!

==============================================

Received today from Firedoglake.com

“The austerity bill signed into law by President Obama this week creates a
clandestine Super Congress designed to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits.

The Super Congress has to deliver a $1.5 trillion package by December, so we don’t
have a moment to waste.

Our Google and Facebook ads to make 2012 voters in swing states aware of this deal’s
consequences were seen hundreds of thousands of times in just over one week. Since
online ads are a cost-effective way to reach a large target audience, we’ve refined
our ads to focus on stopping the benefit cuts the Super Congress will have in store.

Can you donate $5 to run Facebook and Google ads in key swing states to stop the
Super Congress?

Donate $5 to run online ads aimed at building opposition to the Super Congress’
coming attacks on benefits.

Click here to see some of the ads and donate to get them online:
https://secure.firedoglake.com/page/contribute/supercongress-ads

The Super Congress is nothing more than the Catfood Commission on steroids. It’s a
12-person committee that operates out of public view, with more power that ordinary
members of Congress.

Members of the House and Senate know they can’t pass these unpopular cuts
democratically, so they’ve opted to use an opaque, backdoor approach that shields
individual members from accountability.

We know who voted for the creation of the Super Congress to cut benefits, and plan
to keep them in the spotlight with these online ads so that voters know who to blame
come 2012.

Donate $5 to build our online ad campaign to stop the Super Congress from cutting
social safety net benefits.

https://secure.firedoglake.com/page/contribute/supercongress-ads

We’ve got a lot in the works to push back on the onslaught of those who want to
undermine the New Deal and radically reshape America. Just because this deal to
raise the debt ceiling was passed doesn’t mean that all is said and done. I hope
you’ll stick with us as we continue to defend the programs and principles we believe
in.

Deepest thanks,

Brian Sonenstein
Digital Strategy Director
Firedoglake.com”

——————————————–

The part about the benefit cuts to Medicare and Social Security just frosted me. What a scam to rake in the bucks!

I guess these fake Dems are entitled to their free speech, but I sure do wish I knew a way to stop them from spreading the lies!

bito
Member

EmoProgs looking for a handout while they take a scrape of of every “donation” and put it into their pocket. As Michelle said-that’s Kaputza.

agrippa
Member
agrippa

Anyone who falls for that, deserves what he gets.

choicelady
Member

But WE have the risk they will turn others away from voting! Yeah – you give up your $5, you deserve to be scammed, but this sort of massive lie is dangerous since the lazy minded will believe it.

Bah! Fie on Hamsher!

Emerald1943
Member

Agreed, agrippa. My worry is that too many people will fall for that, condemning us all in the next election. It is sad that even now, several days AFTER the debt ceiling thing, these guys are still trying to gouge another $5 out of our pockets.

Oh, I forgot…somebody has to push back against those who would “undermine the New Deal”!

whatsthatsound
Member

Em, There IS a way to stop them! If you donate a hunred bucks to me, or heck, even five or ten, I’ll be able to get the word out about just how much they suck!

I know exactly what to do! I just need your cash to make it happen!

Emerald1943
Member

WHAT CASH??? I sent it all to the Hamster to make sure this President stops appeasing the thugs! LOL

GirlOutWest
Member
GirlOutWest

Best blog I’ve read for a long time! I find the “Concern Trolls” annoying and so obviously fake that while it makes me angry it also makes me laugh. “I voted for Obama but I’ll never do that again” remark is so silly and obvious.

It is the “Purists” that make me outraged. They say they’re Democrats but IF they are, they are the worst kind of Democrat. They are weak kneed and undisciplined with a large sprinkling of childishness. They throw our ideals and the Democratic Party under the bus by either not voting or voting for a candidate with no chance of winning. How do they expect to get a stronger majority, by which governing is easier and our values have a chance to become effective, when they allow Republicans and Tea Party candidates to win?

I guess the “Purists” showed us…

KQµårk 死神
Member

Brilliant piece AdLib.

Marion
Member

I loved this, and I’m sharing.

I’d add to that the grifters and shape shifters. You know who the grifters are – people like Adam Green, the Hamster and Greenwald – who fear-monger as much as the Teabaggers, keeping the lowest common denominator of Leftie stoked in such a wrangled state that when they ask for their 5 dollars to save SSI or Medicare, they hand it over.

Green, pukewad wankspittle that he is, pocketed over $300k in 24 hours the day before the President’s GWU speech, by convincing those poor souls that he was going to cut SSI, Medicare and Medicaid. When he didn’t, did Green refund the money? Did he, bollocks!

The world is waking up to the phoney PACs administered by Hamshit and Greedballs and also to the fact that Hamsher owns a PR company who caters for Republicans and that Greenwald is just a tad too close to the Kochs and the Cato Institute NOT to be whiffy. And then there’s Queen Ratfucker of AOL/Huffington.

We have to keep calling these people out, and remember and be aware of the number of pundits on the Left, who – until around about 2004 or thereabouts – suddenly had a Damascene conversion and became Progressives: Huffington, Cenk, Ed Schultz, Dylan Ratigan, John Aravosis, Markos Moulitsas (Google Markos and CIA, that’a an eye-popper).

choicelady
Member

MArion – I DID Google Markos and the CIA for which he’d once worked and defended at the Commonwealth Club!!!!!!!

Yeah – tell that to Ronni Karpen Moffit’s husband, Michael, widower after the bombing in Embassy Row killed her and former Chilean foreign minister, Orlando Letelier. The American who did the bombing was in cahoots with the CIA folks who overthrew Allende. Tell that to the folks in Guatamala, Chile, Nicaragua – and any of the nations where John Perkins worked clandestinely for the CIA to destabilize governments everywhere.

WHO, for cripe’s sake, is trustworthy? I feel like the 1930s Spanish, infiltrated by Fifth Columnists.

Khirad
Member

Yeah, that was very curious.

Artist50
Member
Artist50

Marion you keep me coming back for more – “pukewad wankspittle” – you have a way with words!

Emerald1943
Member

Agreed, Artist! Marion has such a command of the “King’s English”! I learn a new word from her almost daily! 🙂

Khirad
Member

A Hamshit sandwich spread with poutrage and dickles, coming (back) up!

chasethis
Member
chasethis

Gabby Gifford on the floor today brought unexpected, yet prolonged, tears to my eyes.

PatsyT
Member

Same here Chase, I can’t believe how emotional I got when I saw her.
She is going to be OK.

chasethis
Member
chasethis

Maybe we all need some catharsis. Maybe? Let me correct: We all need some catharsis.

Khirad
Member
PatsyT
Member

Thanks for that Khirad,
She is my new hero.

Marion
Member

That was poignant, but, you know, people like Bill Maher and assorted EmoProgs on Twitter were ripping her for voting “yes.” Someone ACTUALLY tweeted something that you’d think a bullet in the head would have convinced her that Progressive ideals always win out over a Blue Dog. They were pissing on her for that. Funny, Gabby was always identified as a second amendment Blue Dog Dem. As soon as what happened happened, the EmoProgs reconstructed her as a Progressive, same as they’re doing now with Hillary, the Great White Hope of Progressives. They make me sick.

Sabreen60
Member
Sabreen60

Yeah Marion they make me sick, too. I saw Adam Green’s tweet about Gabby and it was disgusting. Why say anything at all. What was the point other than to start chit. Some people thrive on chaos and confusion. Bill Maher has worked my last nerve and I’m tired of his backhanded and not so backhanded racist comments about the President. I read a really good piece on his history and it ain’t pretty.

Khirad
Member

I liked to rip on them saying that they would have primaried her with their hatred of all things Blue Dog.

Guess what fuckers, an out-of-the-closet liberal ain’t getting elected here and yes a moderate Dem really WAS FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR better than the batshit crazy alternative.

So don’t feign affection for her, frauds. Well, with that pissing, they showed their true colors.

bito
Member

Hear, Hear! I’ll take our ‘Blue Dog’ Gabby any day over what we could of had last election. CD-8 is and has been a moderate district for many years. Our last Rep was an openly gay Republican. Do you think this new R party would back him today? He was for gay rights and womens reproductive rights, the same as Gabby. She represents her district!

texliberal
Guest
texliberal

I have to read this piece of legislation before I make a final judgement. Listened to Lawrence O tonight and he knows how this stuff works. He had some major reservations

Khirad
Member

And yet he was more peeved at the strategy and woulda, coulda shouldas of leveraging the 14th amendment and veto threat than the bill itself.

texliberal
Guest
texliberal

That’s true. He was more peeved that Obama didn’t couple a raise in the Debt Ceiling to extensions of Bush tax cuts in December 2010. John Stewart did a good piece on that fact tonight. Be sure to watch.

agrippa
Member
agrippa

I do not have a clear reading on what is going on.

The amount of energy being expended is too much for the stated problem. That leads me to think that the stated problem is not, in fact, the actual problem. The stated problem is being substitituted for the actual point at issue.

I am not clear on what the real bone of contention actually is.

chasethis
Member
chasethis

Nor am I. So, a little tea and contemplation is in order. Living and judging in a 24/7 news cycle is not necessarily healthy. Opining on it before we know what is going on is reckless in my opinion.

texliberal
Guest
texliberal

I think there’s still a lot up in the air.

ADONAI
Member

That’s always the safe assumption.

ADONAI
Member

But these are the kinds of things I expect from this country. One of my favorite Democrats of all time is Jimmy Carter. The man was a mediocre President. Not that he wasn’t good at the job, it just wasn’t the job for him. He was meant to do something more than run a fucking daycare center for 4 or 8 years.

Obama is a man made to be President. Again, not that Mr. Carter wasn’t a fine representative of this country. It just wasn’t the right place for him to be. And I think he knows that. Even Clinton is now realizing he can do more for more people out of office than he ever could in it. And he made A LOT of people rich and happy while he was in office.

But I’m getting sidetracked. President Carter sat down and talked directly to Americans like they were adults. His first mistake. One Obama has made a few times. You can’ talk to people anymore without them getting offended. You can’t talk directly to someone like they were a functioning adult. Maybe Mr. Carlin was right and we have raised a generation of pussies. Who knows?

But we can’t ever seem to cut to the heart of an issue because too many people instantly become offended and then the whole focus is shifted to the goddamn “controversy”. People just can’t believe someone would speak to them as though they had free will and an independent mind. we have to be talked down to. Given everything in little soundbites, often times completely out of context with the issue being discussed.

It is, more than anything, a machine to manufacture fake outrage. It really is that simple. People NEED it. They crave the outrage. Need to see someone punished for speaking the harsh truth.

chasethis
Member
chasethis

You are a treasure.

ADONAI
Member

🙂

texliberal
Guest
texliberal

I got a couple of Pain In The Ass tee shirts from the kids for my B-Day one year. Want one???

ADONAI
Member

Yes. Yes I do.

jkkFL
Guest

You’ve Earned one… 😉

chasethis
Member
chasethis

I do!

texliberal
Guest
texliberal

They need someone to blame, things are pretty bad out there.

agrippa
Member
agrippa

yes texliberal.
people do need someone to blame.

There is a lot of fear and anger. That may be a root cause of most of this fighting.

Marion
Member

There are too many cooks here spoiling the broth. I remember when a President could give a televised speech, and for about 15 minutes afterward, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Eric Sevareid, Walter Cronkite etc would sit around quietly mulling what was said for about 15 minutes afterward.

No one ever raised their voices – too many shouting voices on MSNBC – even Lawrence and Rachel talk loudly.

People need to wean themselves off the television pundits, listen to the President when he talks and think for themselves.