hatred

Yes the headline is harsh, but so are the actions of the GOP. Tonight President Obama is to ask for an extension of the payroll tax cuts and even increase them. Hasn’t the right been telling us that tax cuts are what keeps the economy rolling? Well apparently not now:

Congressional Republicans over the past year have threatened to both shut down the government and default on U.S. debt in order to prevent tax hikes. But in January, without congressional action, payroll taxes are set to increase by 50 percent on millions of American workers. The GOP response? A resounding meh.

When President Obama travels to Congress on Thursday to deliver a major jobs speech, he'll be encountering a species previously considered mythical on Capitol Hill: Republicans who don't support tax cuts.

The one-year payroll tax cut was passed as part of the deal that extended Bush-era tax rates through 2012, and Republicans routinely described the potential expiration of that cut as a "tax hike." While the payroll tax cut applies to no more than the first $106,000 in income, the Bush tax cuts disproportionately benefit the wealthy. But the key difference between the two is the author: The payroll tax is Obama's and his alone.

And if you continue reading the article you’ll find quotes from tons of Republicans in Congress, like this one:

"My personal view is that the debt is already impacting the economy," said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) "If your debt is this large, I think you've gotta be very careful about adding debt." HuffPost asked whether that view put the GOP in the unusual position of advocating that taxes go up on millions of people in January, when the one-year cut expires.

You got to love the little Tea Baggers and their constant denial of their inner hatred:

The fringe tea party group Tea Party Nation sent out an email to its supporters over the weekend urging them to support Republican House candidate Lynne Torgerson against Rep. Keith Ellison (D) in Minnesota’s 5th District. The Maddow show blog points out that one of the arguments that Tea Party Nation makes against Ellison is that he’s a Muslim:

Now we just sit back and wait for the old “this was a fringe employee who sent out this email and we have parted ways with them” excuse.

Given all the hate-baiting that has taken place over the Park 51 site in New York, it was only a matter of time until we started seeing stories like this:

ATF and FBI agents are investigating a Saturday morning fire that damaged four pieces of equipment and could halt construction at the site of the planned Islamic center and mosque just outside Murfreesboro.

Eric Kehn, spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said his agency has not deemed the burning of an excavation hauler as arson. He did confirm that three other pieces of equipment were damaged, but he would not comment on the extent of the damage.

"Any type of activity like this we take very seriously and we look into," Kehn said. "When things like this happen, we really need the help of the public."

We really need some leadership at this time. I think the leadership is more than even President Obama can give alone. Instead he should get George Bush to appear with him in a joint statement calling for this hatred to stop. If not then stories like this will only become more common.

If the Republicans don't win the House back in the fall, then they have a backup plan:

Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) is trying to foment a long-shot Democratic rebellion against Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that would install House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) in her place after the November elections.

The scenario, as Simpson sees it, runs like this: Democrats lose a bunch of seats but cling to a narrow majority. If a handful of Democrats withhold their votes for Pelosi, Democrats would have to put up another candidate, or else Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) would become Speaker.

“I’m trying to help Steny,” Simpson said with a smile. “If it gets close enough, six or eight Blue Dogs could make the difference,” he added, referring to the Blue Dog Coalition of fiscally conservative House Democrats.

Simpson said a similar dynamic toppled Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) from the Speaker’s post after losses in the 1998 elections left Republicans clinging to a narrow majority.

You got to give Republicans credit for one thing; they don't hide their hatred for Nancy Pelosi. Having said that, this sounds like a plan to make the House as dysfunctional as the Senate.

Nate Silver did a post yesterday taking down the meme that FDR would have been able to push through healthcare. Of course FDR had a much bigger majority as Nate points out:

It’s amazing to see the size of FDR’s majority, but I believe there is another reason why Obama isn’t FDR.

Tomorrow Obama will lay out his compressive healthcare plan. That’s only a year into the debate and when healthcare is on life support. Obama decided a long time ago to play it safe in the world of politics, rather than taking a firm stand. That is something FDR would never have done.

No – we really need a new FDR and not someone who puts politics ahead of national interests. Sadly though Presidents like FDR are an extinct species. Both parties champion candidates who prefer politics over principal, and that is what’s helping destroy America today. We need to get back to a time when national interests took a precedent over the game of politics, and that won’t happen until there is a real populace movement based upon these feelings and not upon racism or hatred like the tea party.

I reported about the outrage of Tuesday night’s address by President Obama upsetting some because it was at the same time as A Charlie Brown Christmas. Well Russell Wiseman, the mayor of Arlington Tennessee has taken it to an even more extreme level:

In the opinion of Arlington Mayor Russell Wiseman, President Barack Obama's speech on Tuesday night on the war in Afghanistan was deliberately timed to block the Christian message of the "Peanuts" television Christmas special.

Wiseman made the statements on his Facebook page, where he declared Obama to be a Muslim. Only people on Wiseman's "friend's list" had access to the post. He has more than 1,600 friends on Facebook.

"Ok, so, this is total crap, we sit the kids down to watch 'The Charlie Brown Christmas Special' and our muslim president is there, what a load.....try to convince me that wasn't done on purpose. Ask the man if he believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he will give you a 10 minute disertation (sic) about it....w...hen the answer should simply be 'yes'...."

"A Charlie Brown Christmas," which first aired in 1965, has become an endearing program for many because of its emphasis on the "real meaning of Christmas," including Linus' memorable reading from the Gospel of Luke of Jesus' birth.

When you show such hatred for the President then you will believe anything:

It really gets to be pretty pathetic sometimes, watching the conservatives grasp at every straw they can in order to attack and discredit a president they don't like.

If you listened to Rush Limbaugh today or visited Fox Nation, then you might have heard about President Obama's supposed college thesis in which the college-aged commander in chief allegedly wrote: "The so-called Founders did not allow for economic freedom. While political freedom is supposedly a cornerstone of the document, the distribution of wealth is not even mentioned. While many believed that the new Constitution gave them liberty, it instead fitted them with the shackles of hypocrisy."

Of course non of these organizations have set the record straight. As matter of fact only one blogger seems set on admitting to falling for it – Michael Ledeen at Pajamas Media. Good for him.

It looks like World Net Daily is trying to desecrate the American flag:

This boxed Heritage flag kit comes complete with a 2 1/2 x 4 feet sewn, sleeved, antiqued cotton 50-star flag, 5' 2-piece mahogany stained wood pole and 1-position brass bracket. White areas of antiqued cotton will appear darker. Flag is 100% made in the U.S.A.

And this can be yours for only $73.50!

Now will the wingnuts stand up and denounce this desecration of ole’ glory? I highly doubt it, especially with people like Chuck Norris endorsing this “product”.

If the election of Barack Obama has shown us anything it is the hatred the right truly has towards America. They don’t accept a government “by the people”, they only want a government doing what they want. They desecrate the flag, promote secession of states, express desire for our President to fail at a time of economic havoc and wish for terrorist attacks on our great nation. None of these qualities represent a patriotic person, but rather represent the views of extremists and I think its damn well time to treat them as such.