Dark Money - Jane Mayer

For the first 2 days of my drive across the Pacific, Mountain, and Central time zones, I listened to the 15 CD set of Jane Mayer's comprehensive book Dark Money.     Listening to the book-on-CD, it 

- kept me awake

- pissed me off

- educated me on how Charles Koch once ran for Vice President of the United States and lost miserably, on the Libertarian ticket

- how the Koch brothers recruit other multi-millionaires and billionaires to unite against anyone who opposes their 0.01% agenda

- explained how Sheldon Adleson funded Gingrich to the tune of 42 million dollars of attack ads against Romney that ultimately helped Obama defeat the embodiment of "corporations are people my friends"

- described how the Koch brothers reverse engineered the successful 2008 Obama campaign's data analytics of voter rolls, so that after the 2010 census, local and state districts were gerrymandered so effectively as to nullify the popular vote.  North Carolina was their laboratory, and it proved so successful, that even though Obama won the popular vote in NC in 2012 by more than 2%, the state went for the Republicans by having sparsely populated red districts overwhelm more heavily populated but under represented urban, educated, and poor democratic districts.

- told me how the Koch brother's father made his fortune building refineries for Stalin and Hitler

- spoke about how Charles Koch was raised by a militant German nanny, brought over from The Third Reich, until he was 5.  His nanny returned to The Third Reich after Hitler invaded Poland and France, so that she could be closer to her people and rejoice in her country's victory.  She also used to severely physically punish Charles, and enforce daily castor oil & enemas if 8am bowel moments were not produced punctually.  

- detailed how the Kochs, and all of their 0.01% friends, firmly believe that all you need to do in America is work hard, and you WILL BE successful, even though nearly all of their wealthiest friends inherited all of their wealth and they never lived in poverty or fell upon a temporary period of struggle without sufficient means to meet basic necessities even once throughout their lives

- revealed how even though David Koch suffers from cancer, and donates heavily to various cancer research foundations and hospitals, Koch Industries fights every worker's comp & injury claims from anyone exposed to benzene, leaky butane pipe lines that explode, or coal wash pond toxins; that leukemia you have, you got that on your own, pal.

- went into extensive detail how the Kochs hired private detectives who ineptly tried to smear Jane Mayer after she published a 10,000 word magazine article on them by inaccurately stating she plagiarized and misquoted her sources (this is my third Mayer book, she's fastidious in her research and thorough reporting).

- detailed how the Kochs pay college students to take courses in "free market" and "Austrian Economics" through charitable grants, in an effort to try and recruit a larger army of like minded followers

- described how the Kochs are actively reshaping tenured professor ships by funding the publishing of poorly researched and non-peer-researched publications that support their agenda and spread disinformation that "think tanks" then quote to further confuse the masses

- repeatedly described, at every level of their operations, how the Kochs try to obfuscate, and secretly attempt to conceal their profile, their operations, their purpose / intentions, using misleading names on foundations, and labelling voter suppression efforts and entitlement roll back initiatives as "voter wellness" and "election reforms".

After I finished this book-on-CD series (lucky I had a 6 CD changer in my 2007 Mazda, so I could drive for hours without having to change any CDs) I called my Godfather and talked to him as I drove along I-10 in Florida, passing multiple Florida State troopers in the median who all drove Chevy SUVs or low profile Cameros or Chargers, and discussed how great of a study Mayer's work was.  He and I had a great chat on the morning of the 13th, and it was refreshing to speak to another like-minded, well informed adult about American politics and how the richest 0.01% are carving out the country in their own graven image and laughing at the rest of us, all the way to the bank and the ballot box.  

It'll be interesting to see how 2016 turns out, with self-funded Trump, only-evangelicals-love-me-Cruz, boy-in-a-bubble-Rubio, and semi-reasonable Kasich do next Tuesday.  Hillary Clinton has a good chance of beating them all, especially if it is  3 way race with Trump stroking his ego as an independent.  I am not sure Bernie can deliver a victory for the Democrats, since so many Americans don't understand what a Socialist Progressive is, or how Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Head Start, Pell Grants, the VA, Worker's Comp, the EPA, the Voting Rights Act, the Interstate Highway System, Municipal Water Systems, City Parks, Public Beaches, the National Park System, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Institutes of Health are all agencies that were created by, or further the cause, of Progressive Socialism in the United States of America.    The "great good" of all of us, not just those who have inherited the most money.

How Many People Did Jade Helm Round Up?

The answer is simple: ZERO.
The right wing conspiracy machine was in full "crazy mode" to claim that the US military, Walmart, and President Obama were planning on declaring marshal law and taking over Texas & Utah.  Ridiculous and insane, but given full credit & weight by MANY Republican presidential candidates who want to play to the extreme right primary base who come out to vote like fire ants whose nest has been stepped on by a black booted Federal government thug.

If you don't know what "Jade Helm" is, the CS Monitor back in May laid it out nicely. (link here)
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2015/0505/What-is-Jade-Helm-15-and-should-Chuck-Norris-be-worried-video

If you don't remember how Cruz and Paul and most of the Republican field reacted back in May, the internet does.  (link here).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-stanford/the-pentagons-response-to_b_7251254.html

"J.E.Dyer" foretold of terrible things to come at "Liberty Unyielding".  Fool.

If you'd like to see a Map of "Operation Jade Helm" I've included one below.

To see how many people have been rounded up, and how many Counties and States have had marshal law imposed on them (staring today, July 15th, of course) read here (link).
http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/national/wire/civilians-begin-shadowing-jade-helm-war-exercise-in-texas/article_f3e54fa9-4b0d-5dbc-94e4-2ac1de1a6b0e.html

Yeah, "I've got some concerns" and "questions remain" ...  yes, like "how did you ever get elected, Ted?"

I am so glad I don't live in a backwards, regressive, insane Red State Dumbphukistan anymore.

My Last Arizona Sunset

Arizona has some absolutely fabulous sunsets.  The desert dust in the air makes a beautiful prismatic display during the August and September monsoons, and the wide open spaces between the mountains that dot the Sonoran desert make for some beautiful back drops.  On Tuesday night, after helping the 2 man crew who packed my home Monday, load the 17,000 lbs of household belongings into their 53 foot semi trailer, I climbed into my Mazda 6 (loaded with weapons, packed up and ready to go) to drive to California.  While I heard no gun shots, out on the highway, I was also not dressed like a student or a housewife... I did get waved through the California Agricultural road block, and today, the cable guy is on a ladder outside my CA rental literally "tappin phone lines" as I type this up.  We Are still at war in Afghanistan, so I guess it is somewhat relevant.

But I digressed on a Byrne-esque diversion there.  The final sunset, as I drove West towards LA, was phenomenally pretty, and made a moving impression on me (no pun intended).  I was hyped up on a 5-Hour energy drink with enough B vitamins to feed a whole class of kindergarteners, and my hand might have been a little shaky as I took the pics through the windshield as I drove.

It will be an indefinitely long time before I am driving down I-10 again, westward, from Phoenix at sunset.  Dr Desert Flower is working with a property manager who is handling the renting out of our house there, and I detest being an engaged, active, out-of-state land lord as that's what we did for 7 years from South Carolina while our Bloomington IN FHA starter home wouldn't sell.  I used to have to cross the Appalachians and drive 7 hours along I-40 & I-75 to get to that house to fix things and check on it.  I don't want to have to drive through 6 and a 1/2 hours of Mohave & Sonoran deserts and through a check-point  on I-10 to maintenance the Phoenix residence.

The 5 and a 1/3 year Arizona experiment was not a complete loss.  I hiked the Grand Canyon twice.  Got to take friends and relatives who visited to Sedona & Torilla Flats.  Ate some really delicious Mexican food.  Saw some nice concerts.  Hiked every mountain taller than a 1000 feet in Phoenix city limits & within a 10 mile (or so) radius.  Got to swim in my own back yard pool, grew lavender & aloe, communed & bonded with hummingbirds, saw a massive number of lizards and a road runner or two (or three), got bitten by one and killed dozens of other black widow spiders, relocated  more than a dozen feral cats, farmed cactus, sculpted ocotillo, harvested vast numbers of ripe juicy lemons, drank many great wines, and paid ridiculously low taxes while watching my home value plummet by 2/3rds.  I fought & won a court magistrate case against a wrongful traffic ticket, frequently visited the nicest desert botanical garden in the world, volunteered at some good organizations, donated nearly another gallon of blood, started a blog at my old friend Rufus's prodding, and made some nice new friends as well along the way.

It's also ironic that my one friend who lives in California already texted me to ask me "do I feel flakier now?" that I'm a Californian, while back in Arizona I voted Against a flake (Jeff Flake) for US Senator.   While my candidate (Rich Carmona) lost, I am glad to leave Flake and his ilk behind, and for the first time in my life, live in a blue state.  Of course, I am in the reddest of the red counties inside that blue state - my next door neighbor has a sign on the back of his Hyundai Sonata parked in his driveway that actually says "I do not believe the liberal media" and there's no shortages of Hummer SUVs on my block (and John Campbell is my Congressman now, instead of Rahul Grijalva), but at least the governor and both Federal senators are moderate democrats, and the minority speaker of the US House of Representatives are not tea partying, racist, birther, 'build the damn' fencers.  So I think we'll get along okay here in the Golden State.  Now if it would just stop raining (as it has everyday since we got here) I can go soak in the hot tub I've warmed up in the back yard  =)

Never Underestimate The Power of Stupid People

Wisconsin residents elected Paul Ryan.  Mittenberg the Third selected the young ideologue as his running mate this morning to try and appease Tea Party stalwarts and extreme libertarians who want to privatize (corporately raid) Social Security and gut Medicare with voucher programs.  If Americans elect this dumbfounded duo, a dark spiral down into a massively polarized have-and-have-not society will likely precipitate within what is left of my lifetime.  4 more years from now... the strangling grip of corporate money will be so strong on the electoral process that an individual's vote will no longer matter (not that it really matters much currently).  Il faut voir - we shall see.

The Voight-Kampff Empathy Test

I truly think it would be advantageous if members of Congress could be required to take the Voight-Kampff Empathy Test.  Used to find replicants in Bladerunner, sure, but I think a corollary theory would be to see if a polarized Democrat, Republican, Libertarian Extremist, or self-contradictory-and-often-hypocritical Tea Bagger has any empathy for anyone who is not in their party, not to their farther left, or farther right.

I have a theory that the United States 2-party system is no so radially polarized that it is paralyzed and incapable of governance.  It's been hijacked by petulant, obstinate, fundamentalists who refuse to discuss a compromise.  Being able to weed out those from office who are incapable of empathy would be very handy.  Elections aren't going to do it - not with primal polarization of the extremes combined with decades of gerrymandering to ensure such extremes.

Ridley Scott, David Webb Peoples and Hampton Fancher I think were on to something, way back in 1982.  I wonder if anyone has filed a patent on the Voight-Kampff?

Some Good From Irene

On Sunday night, Dr Desert Flower and I browsed through the "Meet The David Gregory" DVR recording we had, where Socialist Governor Chris Christie was talking about getting Federal aid for his state and working with FEMA.  Amazing to hear these Republican Governors like Seismic Anomaly Christie and The-Fundamentalist-Gift-That-Keeps-On-Giving-Perry so willingly taking Federal hand outs that they rail against and abhor whenever the money is going to another state or another emergency.  Such blatant self-serving hypocrisy.

At least ideologue Libertarian Extremist Ron Paul showed some consistency when he was heard on MSNBC Tuesday night talking about how 100 years ago communities used to rally together to 'build sea walls that are still standing today to protect against storms', doing all these kinds of things before there was a FEMA. Dr Paul stated the US should abolish the whole agency.  Yep Dr Rich-Guy-Paul, you and yours have no shortage of boot straps.  Maybe you could send some of them to Vermont, in an act of Charity?

Error 404 - Democracy Not Found

While President Obama's and Congress's public approval poll ratings are dropping faster than the value of my under water home (and believe me, that's pretty darn fast, still, in 2011), I don't think Washington, nor most state capitals, really get it.  They think people are all mad about "jobs!!!!" .. and yes.. some people ARE Very mad about jobs.  But this malaise the country is in economically on all fronts is broad based with the  with the exception of one small privileged group, has got most people feeling very left out of their democracy.  That one exception - Wall Street and those who are rich because of Wall Street (psst:  we're supposed to call them "Job Creators" now, and not "the rich" anymore).

Other than Ponzi grogan and popular prison girlfriend Berni Madoff, no one has gone to jail, or paid for their corruption, their back room bribery, their hand in the kleptocracy that used to be an American democracy.  Year after year since the 2008 housing bubble bursting, the richest F'tards on Wall Street, the Bankers who invented imaginary and worthless paper that bamboozled simple single family home buyers like me, and then sold those worthless imaginary amalgamations of merde to get the risks of default off their books, are getting richer and richer, being paid higher and higher bonuses, living the extremely good life, while dumb schmucks like DDF and I who trusted in the system of regulators and reputable ratings agencies continue to see our net financial worth diminish.  It's nothing we did, other than trust the system.   We did not speculate.  We did not over-extend, in fact, we bought a home that was 2/3rds of what we COULD HAVE afforded on both our salaries, because we didn't want to be "mortgage poor".

I have a theory, that IF one or two Wall Street investment banks has actually been investigated, and found to have defrauded investors / violated Glass-Steagal / been found guilty of gross mis-management, or of paying off regulators or ratings agencies, that it would have scared the other W.S. banks into better behaviour.  Nothing like taking one or two COEs and CFOs in hand cuffs to prison to make the others fly straight.  But instead, they speed dialed the Secretary of the Treasuries under both Bush and Obama.  They watered down any banking regulation that would have had ANY teeth in it, and they paid themselves GIANT (and well publicized) bonuses, sticking a dirty finger in the American public's eye the entire time, and laughing about it.

This continues to drive the lack of buying power that constitutes 60% of American GDP.  It perpetuates the lack of trust of all Americans (living & breathing, as well as 'corporations are people' citizens), and it leaves us in the malaise, seeing that we're not millionaires or billionaires, we can't lobby to re-write legislation and water down regulations, we're pretty much powerless.  Not even the 'power of the ballot box' matters much anymore, when unregulated (read "infinite") finance can be poured into campaigns to get the (mostly) ignorant voters to believe anything that the sly campaign spin doctors want them to believe.

My plan to get America out of this malaise is simple:  Reverse the "Citizens United" decision on "Corporations are people" and prosecute 2 (one would look like a sloppy anomaly) major investment banks for the shenanigans they pulled in the housing collapse, and the American economy, and the world economy, will come back ROARING. 

But of course, that would take morals, and political will to do the right thing for the greater good; neither of which the United States apparently has any longer.

Tea Party Tim and Plutocrat Pete

Tom Tomorrow captures it perfectly, again.

Vice Presidents Huckabee & Brownback

Had John McCain picked someone electable for his running mate, I am NOT SURE that Barack Obama would have been elected president.  Huckabee actually won several state primaries and caucuses.  Brownback would have appealed to all the evangelicals and extreme right wingers who eventually became Tea Baggers.  Both Brownback and Huckabee would have energized their bases and might have gotten the more reasonable right wing to go out and vote.  Instead, McCain made the fatal flaw of picking a 1/2 term Governor, who had formerly been a mayor of a 2000 person rural city where there were no city services provided, a city known as the crack capital of Alaska.  The VP candidate he picked galvanized opposition from literate, intelligent, reasonable people, like librarians, teachers, professional females with college degrees of all sorts, moderates of all shapes and sizes.

I postulate here, as I watch the circular firing squad that the Republican Primary field of 2012 is presenting, that it was McCain's choice of Palin that sealed his fate as an unelectable moderate Republican.  McCain was the least undesirable of Republican candidates in 2008.  Yes, he had some terrible flip flops, lapses in judgments, and mis-statements, but he never believed Barack Obama was a secret Muslim, or that Barack Obama was not patriotic or that he hated America.  McCain corrected ignorant supporters who called then-candidate Obama a 'socialist' and 'secret Muslim' at his rallies.  Compared to the 2012 field of loons who are running, McCain presented a very reasonable choice.

Huntsman is reasonable, and therefore, in 2012, he will be unelectable.  Romney, though easily despised, completely artificial, and slippery enough to do ANYTHING to get people to like him, is still less electable today than McCain was in 2008.  Front runners Paul, Bachmann, and Dick Perry are each to the right of most of the wackiest 2008 candidates (with Perry again today, denying climate change, and wanting to abolish 80% of all Federal Revenue by abolishing Federal Income Tax, what an idiot!). 

There is the possibility that the GOP will come up with a reasonable candidate who can appeal to moderates and independents, but so far, no such person has shown his (or her) face or raised their hand.  Whoever that reasonable person Might be, will have their pick of extremist Tea Party courtiers who they can choose as a VP running mate.  Maybe they'll repeat McCain's fatal flaw of picking a loser who will seal their fate against the incumbent President.  Maybe they'll learn from previous history...  I dunno.

There is also the possibility that the GOP will field a reasonable (yet un-named candidate), AND the Tea Party crazed faction of the far right wing will field their own Tea Party Candidate as well, splitting the vote in a 3-way, 1992 Perot/Bush/Clinton-esque race (Perot was from Texas also).  There's not predicting what crazy people might do. 

And yes, I know that the Republicans are going to do everything in their power (in the majority in House of Representatives, and as the LARGE Minority in the Senate, and as rulers of the SCOTUS) to make things as bad as possible for all Americans leading up the November 2012 elections, saying "NO" to everything, not compromising on anything, and redefining the word "Despicable" ... but there's nothing we, as a nation, can do about it.   At least, not without a TARDIS.

(And Perry needs to stay off my radio, his hubris and hypocrisy is over-whelming: link here)

My Hand Is Raised

Armchair Patriots... there'll be alot more posted from them in the future.

Tea Party vs. Informed Citizen

This has not gone viral yet...   but it should.  I laughed very hard upon the first viewing. 

And the rhetoric filled, un-factual, hateful retorts in the comment sections further illustrate the video's point.

Tea Party Pre-Election Summary

Olbermann goes on a 20 minute rant against the Tea Party. (link here)  Most of it is fact based - the first 15 minutes is a summary of racist & backward comments that Tea Party candidates have openly expressed.  There's also a wheel barrow load of hypocritical & revealing statements by Tea Party candidates.  Olbermann goes a little over the top on some of his heavy handed dismissive remarks, but the majority of it is right on.  A little long, but worth a watch.

Clay Bennett's Accurate & Insightful Perspective

The Chattanooga Times Free Press ran this insightful, poignant, and accurate cartoon of Clay Bennett's last weekend:

Looking at the deluge of negative comments (link here) I think Mr. Bennett definitely touched a nerve.  Artistic Genius is rarely appreciated by contemporaries.  Hat's off to Clay Bennett, and nod to "All Hat No Cattle" for the link!

I am Voting Republican Because...

Tip of the hat to Pam's House Blend for this gem:
(original link pulled from youtube.  new link here)

The wide cross section of Americans represented here, is awesome!

Republican Voters Want Pot Legalized

In their "Pledge to America" that the Congressional Republicans released last week to tepid response from their own base, and vociferous rejection from their far right wing, they say that they included ideas that America wants, polled from the tax payer funded website they set up "America Speaking Out" (link here).  What they DIDN'T mention, but the Daily Show and Colbert DID, was that the number one idea that was most popular on the site was the legalization of marijuana.  Other very popular ideas, that millions of Americans endorsed were: (links here and here and here)

- abolishing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

- divorcing from the Religious Right

- not kowtowing to the NRA and, 

- denouncing Palin/Beck/Limbaugh.

...but of course, none of these centrist, popular "American Ideas" were included in the "pledge".  They don't fit the Republican platform of fear for all and tax cuts for the rich - doing exactly what they've been trying to do for the last 30 years.

Instead, the "pledge" included all the good parts of the evil  "Obamacare" like

- keeping children on health insurance until they are 26

- no lifetime maximum limits on what an insurer will pay

- closing the donut hole in medicare Rxs

- no denial of coverage

- no rescission, once you get sick, you can't be dropped

- being able to purchase insurance across state lines (which is IN the Obama plan, but is left to the individual States to decide)

These are, of course, all things that the far right wing libertarians are against, in their "I got mine, screw you" paradigm. 

WND's First National Convention Of Extremists

The World Net Daily held their first "Taking America Back 2010" national convention this week.  What a collection of birthers, conspiracy theorists, homophobes, xenophobes, Islama-phobes, gathering together to try and incite violence among their members.  Media Matters describes it beautifully: link here.  (Obsessively referenced at the M.M. cite - awesome work!)

One of the best comments:

"O.K. Now the question is how far they intend to take America back?
1950? 1850? 1750? 1650? Maybe 1550 and get it right this time?"

Tea & Crumpets by Tom Tomorrow

Tom Tomorrow puts it so plainly and beautifully: The Tea-And-Crumpets-Party (link here). A spin-off of the tea party devoted even more blatantly to the priorities of the extremely rich.

Christine O'Donnell, What A Darling!

22 appearances on Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. Masturbation is adultery. In foreclosure on her home for not paying the mortgage and yet she promotes fiscal responsibility. She's a gift that just keeps on giving!

Glenn Beck & MLK, Accurately Contrasted

A tip of the hat to JustJoeP blog follower Norine P, for this hilarious, and accurate Crooks & Liars post comparing Martin Luther King and Glenn Beck (link here) (the former alcoholic, morning radio "shock jock" DJ, Scottsdale resident, and Mormon, now self-delusional demagogue and spokes-person for the Goldline scheme). Some of Norine's tweets are so funny, I might have to get a twitter account.

For a LARGER version of this micro-time line (if you're not looking at it on a big screen LCD or Plasma TV) go to the Crooks & Liars link.

Not Far From The Tree

Even the village idiot sometimes reproduces. In this case, Dan Potatoe Quayle's son Ben, a Scottsdale Arizona resident, won his Republican primary last night. It seems I cannot escape truly terrible politicians, where I am in Indiana or Arizona. As a former Indiana resident, daddy Quayle used to be my senator. He was one of the dullest knives in the drawer, and struggled with public speaking and the English language.

Some of his memorable quotes are:

I am not part of the problem. I am a Republican.

I have made good judgments in the Past. I have made good judgments in the Future.

People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history.

Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child.

The American people would not want to know of any misquotes that Dan Quayle may or may not make.

The future will be better tomorrow. We don't want to go back to tomorrow, we want to go forward.

We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a *part* of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe. We are a *part* of Europe.

We're all capable of mistakes, but I do not care to enlighten you on the mistakes we may or may not have made.

Welcome to President Bush, Mrs. Bush, and my fellow astronauts.

What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is.

When I have been asked during these last weeks who caused the riots and the killing in L.A., my answer has been direct and simple: Who is to blame for the riots? The rioters are to blame. Who is to blame for the killings? The killers are to blame.

[It's] time for the human race to enter the solar system.

Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things.
Dan Quayle, 11/30/88

One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is 'to be prepared'.
Dan Quayle, 12/6/89

Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it.
Dan Quayle, 5/20/92 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)

I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy - but that could change. Dan Quayle, 5/22/89

Mars is essentially in the same orbit... Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe.
Dan Quayle, 8/11/89

Murphy Brown is doing better than I am. At least she knows she still has a job next year.
Dan Quayle, 8/18/92

The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history. I mean in this century's history. But we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century.
Dan Quayle, 9/15/88

Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children.
Dan Quayle, 9/18/90

We're going to have the best-educated American people in the world.
Dan Quayle, 9/21/88

We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur.
Dan Quayle, 9/22/90
For NASA, space is still a high priority.
Dan Quayle, 9/5/90

Public speaking is very easy.
Dan Quayle, to reporters in 10/88

I stand by all the misstatements that I've made.
Dan Quayle, to Sam Donaldson, 8/17/89

With such an insightful male role model, it's no surprise that his son Benjamin has become the man he is today. His son, has uttered such things as: (link here)

- "Barack Obama is the worst president in history"
(he forgot James Buchanan, Herbert Hoover, and George W Bush)

and
- "And my generation will inherit a weakened country" (thanks to W's failed foreign policy and domestic fiscal policy, yes)

and
"Somebody has to go to Washington and knock the hell out of the place"
(isn't that sedition? inciting violence?)

Hopefully Democrat Jon Hulburd (link here) will beat this son of the village idiot, but in passionately red state Arizona, I won't be holding my breath.