Former Secretary of State Colin Powell: “I”m still a Republican,” but “birther” movement “looks down on minorities.”

Honestly, does this surprise anyone?

—

Powell slams GOP for ‘dark vein of intolerance’

by Morgan Whitaker
1:48 pm on 01/13/2013

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday that the Republican party is suffering from a “dark vein of intolerance” and that some in the party seem to “look down on minorities.”

Powell pointed to former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s use of the “shuck and jive” phrase in reference to President Obama, calling it a “racial era slave term,” and took on Romney surrogate John Sununu for calling President Obama “lazy.”

“When I see another former governor after the president’s first debate where

Mitt Romney chooses Paul Ryan as running mate; Damage Control begins

Paul Ryan, ‘Brown Noser’? The Wikipedia Edit Wars Begin for Romney’s Running Mate

By Megan Garber

Aug 11 2012, 9:13 AM ET

Now that his candidacy is official, Paul Ryan’s Wikipedia page will become a battle ground.

Paul Ryan’s classmates vote him “Biggest ‘Brown-Noser.'” pic.twitter.com/P2DrIncJ Photo via Twitter via @ryanlizza – Washington Correspondent for The New Yorker, Contributor for CNN

In high school, Paul Ryan’s classmates voted him as his class’s “biggest ‘brown noser.'” This little tidbit is a source of delight for political opponents of the Wisconsin representative-turned-Romney-running mate; to his supporters, in general, it’s an irrelevant piece of youthful trivia.

But it’s also a tension that will play out, repeatedly, in the most comprehensive narrative we have about Paul Ryan as a person and a politician and a policy-maker: his Wikipedia page. Late last night, Politico reports — just as news of the Ryan choice leaked in the political press — the first substantial edit to that page removed an extant “brown noser” mention:

removing prom king and brown noser from article –see discussion on “talk” page

But then another user put the “brown noser” mention back in. Because: relevant!

And then another user removed it again, explaining:

Removed unnecessary statement from Early Life about … “Brown Noser.” This is not needed in article is not common in such brief survey sections.

As of this writing, “brown noser” stands. As does a maybe-mitigating piece of Ryan-as-high-schooler trivia: that he was also voted prom king. But that equilibrium could change, again, in an instant.

Now that Ryan’s confirmed,

Why Herman Cain and the GOP can’t be taken seriously

First, forget the “vast right-wing conspiracy” to oust Hermie. Everyone wants to shoot the messenger.

Sometimes, it’s easier to let the “other side” do the talking – whatever side that is!

It’s not as if we can’t see it, it’s not as if we can’t identify it, and it’s not as if we have no name for it. For we can see, identify and name it – whatever it is.

Let’s just ask one reasonable question – and then, you can get to the heart of this matter. If you were in a position to hire an expert – at least someone with even limited ability or experience – would you hire someone whom has no experience? Again, if you were a restauranteur, would you hire someone whom has not even been to any cooking school to be executive chef? Would you expect Herman Cain – while CEO of Godfather’s Pizza – to have hired regional managers, who hired store managers, who hired folks with utterly no experience in the food service industry to manage a local Godfather’s Pizza store? If your answer is an obvious “no,” then why would you – or any rationale person – support, or take Herman Cain’s run for the GOP presidential nomination seriously? Why, he’s never even run for Dog Catcher… much less the county line!

Is it not sad, that one watches Fox News for humor, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on the Comedy Channel for news?

From: TheAmericanConservative.com

by Rod Dreher

Cain campaign as a sign of decadence

Rod Dreher     November 2nd, 2011

When Herman Cain sang at the National Press Club the other day, I thought it was absurd. There he goes again, the clown. Looking at the performance in greater context, I found it easier to smile at, and not in a hostile way. Still, if you think about it, it says something bad about America that here we are, facing the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, and looking at a future of crippling indebtedness unless our leaders take drastic action … and the top candidate for the Republican nomination a year from election day is a charming businessman with no political experience, who knows nothing about the world (and makes jokes about his own ignorance), and who is given over to camping it up on the campaign trail. If times were great, there would be serious reason to doubt whether America could afford a man like Herman Cain in the Oval Office. But times are terrible, and could easily get far worse. It’s really quite an indictment on the unseriousness of our country, or at least the conservative electorate, that Cain is at the top of the polls now. The media play their own role in perpetuating this circus. Conservative James Poulos writes in the Daily Caller:

A Vote to Bang Her: Mike Tyson on Sarah Palin

Yep.

Ol’ Mike Tyson has recently been heard on “sports” radio dishing on ex-Alaska governor, Sarah “Quitter” Palin.

Why?

It seems that a newly published book – The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, by Joe McGinniss – has made claims that among other things, Palin

Palin reloads “blood libel”: “That’s exactly what was going on.”

Palin defends ‘blood libel’ description: ‘That’s exactly what was going on’

By Shane D’Aprile – 01-17-11 10:00 PM ET

In her first interview since accusing critics of manufacturing a “blood libel” by linking her political rhetoric to the mass shooting in Arizona, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin defended her recent video response to critics, vowing she will not be silenced.

Palin told Sean Hannity during an interview on Fox News that

Do NOT be deceived! -OR- I can say whatever the f*k I like!

Words have NO meaning, and you are FREE to yell “FIRE!” in a crowded theater. (I write sarcastically in the first instance, and seriously in the second. For you are free – however, your freedom must not be used as an excuse to trespass upon another.)

And remember… whatever you say makes no difference.

You can say or write anything you want without consequences.

For example, this phrase

AZ Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords shot: Suspect posted anti-government messages on YouTube, MySpace

Suspect Jared Loughner is another “anti-government,” right-wing nut.

Tyler Ramsier, 24 graduated from Mountain View High School one year before Jared Loughner, and described him as a loner with few friends, who sometimes wore a trench coat and frequently dressed in dark clothes like the “goth” subculture.

Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords shot: Suspect posted anti-government messages on YouTube, MySpace

by Robert Anglen and Brennan Smith – Jan. 8, 2011 06:00 PM
The Arizona Republic

The 22-year-old suspect in the shooting of U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords and others at a Tucson grocery is Jared Loughner, who lives in the same city.

On MySpace and YouTube web pages, a man who identifies himself as

AZ Congresswoman Giffords (D) Shot in Tucson – Was Palin “Target”

AZ Democrat, Congresswoman Giffords Shot in Tucson

Was SarahPAC “target”

“Don’t retreat, reload.”
– Sarah Palin (R), Twitter post

TUCSON — Representative Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, and 17 others were shot here on Saturday morning when a gunman opened fire outside a supermarket where Ms. Giffords was meeting with constituents for a “Congress on Your Corner” event.

Ms. Giffords, 40, was described as being in very critical condition at the University Medical Center in Tucson, where she was operated on by a team of neurosurgeons. One of the surgeons said that she had been shot once in the head, “through and through,” with the bullet going through her brain.

“I can tell you at this time, I am very optimistic about her recovery,” he said in a news conference. “We cannot tell what kind of recovery but I’m as optimistic as it can get in this kind of situation.”

An official with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said that six people had

AZ Congresswoman Shot; 6+ Tucson fatalities

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords shot in head

Posted by Max Brantley on Sat, Jan 8, 2011 at 12:38 PM

• U.S. REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) was shot in the head at point blank range in Tucson today and several staffers were wounded. She was at a public event at a grocery store. The shooter was tackled by a bystander and is in custody.UPDATE: A sheriff’s spokesman has said that Giffords has died, one of at least six fatalities, and at least 12 people were shot. But a variety of sources are saying at 2 p.m. Little Rock time that the congresswoman remains in surgery in critical condition. CNN says one may have been a federal judge.

The New York Times quotes a witness who said the gunman fired at least 20 shots. He was described as a white male in his 20s who was shabbily dressed. The article notes that her House office was vandalized hours after the House approved health care reform legislation, which she supported. She told MSNBC then that she was not afraid, despite numerous threats. “Our democracy is a light, a beacon around the world” because it effects change at the ballot box, not by violent acts.

Regards a topic addressed earlier today, just for the record from opencarry.com

Arizona is one of our “Gold Star” open carry states. There is complete state preemption of all firearms laws, open carry is common and law enforcement is well educated as to its legality.

People with guns may be asked to store their firearms or leave places open to the public in Arizona Though Giffords has supported some legislation supportive of concealed carry, she earned a D from the NRA for overall voting record, such as support for background checks of gun purchasers at gun shows. There is, of course, no way to know if the shooting today was related to gun issues or other hot-button issues that roil Arizona, such as

Welcome to the “TEA” Party!

A few days ago, I was pleasantly surprised to hear my brother say something about Sarah Palin.

It wasn’t that it surprised me that he would opine – though in recent history, I don’t recall him sharing any opinions – but what he said.

It was that his observance of Sarah Palin’s words and actions were nothing really short of whacky. (I am paraphrasing – those were not his exact words.)

Though I suppose I would identify him in years past as “conservative” (whatever THAT’s supposed to mean), but his

Sarah Palin… demands Rock Star Treatment

“Unopened bottled still water (2 bottles) and bendable straws are to be placed in or near the wooden lectern.”

“The private aircraft MUST BE a Lear 60 or larger (as defined by interior cabin space) for West Coast Events; or, a Hawker 800 or larger (as defined by interior cabin space) for East Coast Events and both are subject to the Speaker’s approval.”

“Customer agrees to provide the Speaker and party with accommodations of a pre-registered one-bedroom suite and two single rooms in a deluxe hotel as approved by WSB.”

“… all hotel accommodations are to be registered under an alias (to be provided by WSB prior to event date).”

“All photo opportunities will be considered on a case-by-case basis and must be requested at firm invitation stage for Speaker’s approval.”

Those are excerpts of contractual terms of former Republican Alaska Governor, Sarah “Quitter” Palin – whom abandoned governance of the good people of Alaska to

Who said “Sara Palin is a Whore!”?

How dare you!

“For the desire of money is the root of all evils; which some coveting have erred from the faith, and have entangled themselves in many sorrows.” 1 Timothy 6:10 (DRV)

You either do it for love, or for money. If you do it for money, that makes you a…