“When i was asked to speak with Mitt Romney it seemed like a very important thing to me, and I wanted to put a lot of careful thought into what I would say. So, I went to the round table discussion very optimistic and interested in hearing what he had to say. When he sat down, one of the first questions he asked was, he said “I understand there is a teacher here today, which one of you is a teacher?” So, I raised my hand, thinking that’s a good thing, he’s interested in education, but it wasn’t a good thing. I felt like his view was a little old-fashioned and I was surprised by it. He went on to kind of lecture me about schools and how bad they are. He talked bad about the teacher’s union. He was talking about the importance of private schools and voucher systems. At one point, I said to him, “I have an answer for that.” And he said, “I didn’t ask you a question.””
At the Frederick Fair yesterday there was as usual a republican tent and a democratic tent and you could get yourself one of those little yard signs, right
well some fresh-faced young feller got himself a Romney sign and decided to scrawl “fuck” at the top on either side and was parading around the fair stopping people and going “Hey there, fuck Mitt Romney! Good evening, fuck Mitt Romney!”
and a well-dressed couple stopped him and demanded he take a picture with their teenage daughter while holding up his sign
and it was the best ever
GODDAMN I love Bryan Safi, I know this is a few months old but I’m so sad Current isn’t doing That’s Gay anymore
Tumblr, you do a good job getting your message across about the online censorship, but calling my congressperson is terrifying. Also, you should have everyone watch the video you link to when they click “e-mail,” because I reckon a large portion of your users don’t know what’s going on.
Because, see, inevitably, if you try to discuss racism with people, someone who believes we live in a “post-racial” society will say, “Get a grip already, slavery ended almost 200 years ago! Nobody thinks like that anymore!” or, “The trail of tears happened such a long time ago, it’s time to get over it! We’re not our ancestors!”
If it only took a few days to make Pavlov’s dogs salivate each time he rang a bell, if it only took seven clangs on a bar to teach Little Albert to fear a white rat, how is it so out of the realm of possibility that after hundreds of years of our society condoning violence, hatred, and intolerance against People of Color, racist attitudes might not simply vanish into thin air now that People of Color are beginning to actually be considered whole, fully-realized people rather than servants, savages and stereotypes by the mainstream?
You wanna add another candidate? It’s like the Republican primary is like a season of American Idol in reverse, where every week, you just add another idiot. …First you guys wanted (Michele) Bachmann, then (Rick) Perry — now (Chris) Christie? You know what, Republican base? Meet me at camera three!
(To camera three.) Have you ever considered the possibility that maybe your candidates aren’t the problem — maybe it’s you? You’re hard to please or figure out! You’re unrealistic! I mean, you’re pro-life, yet — (rolls tape of GOP members applauding Texas’s death penalty) — what was that? You’re afraid of ‘death panels,’ yet for uninsured coma patients — (rolls tape of GOP members shouting ‘YEAH!!!’ when Ron Paul was asked if a patient without health insurance should be allowed to die) — that’s the crowd: ‘YEAH!!!’ You guys ‘support the troops’ — well except for Captain Creatine over here (rolls tape of gay U.S. Army soldier who asked GOP candidates if they’d repeal DADT — and was booed by GOP debate crowd).
It’s like the Republican base is at war with its own talking points: ‘I want someone who’s gonna cut taxes — and balance the budget! Someone who’s a skilled orator — that doesn’t talk all fancy! The child of poor immigrants — who will build a fence to keep them out of this country! Someone who’s strong enough for a man — but Ph-balanced for a woman!
…It’s like your ideal candidate is a rare, super-heavy element that can only exist in a particular particle accelerator. And even then, only for a fraction of a second. Before you all remember how much you hate science.
You guys need to take a long, hard look in the mirror, and not come away thinking ‘Hey, there’s something wrong with this mirror.’
“
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JON STEWART, on media-fed rumors that New Jersey governor Chris Christie may enter the GOP presidential race — as well as the hypocritical sentiments of the Republican party — on The Daily Show (via inothernews)
The pack of Republican presidential hopefuls — including, for the first time, Texas Gov. Rick Perry — gathers tonight at the Reagan Presidential Library for the first of three debates this month.
Here are the important questions they should have to answer.
General Questions
TAXES: Tax rates for the wealthy are at historic lows. If lower tax rates for the wealthy are supposed to create jobs, why was job creation under the Bush administration the lowest since 1945?
JOBS: Show of hands — do you believe that there is anything proactive that the government can or should do to create jobs?
IMMIGRATION: We are here at the Reagan Presidential Library. As you know, Reagan signed 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which granted amnesty to nearly 3 million undocumented immigrants. Does today’s GOP risk completely alienating the growing population of Hispanics for its virulent opposition to comprehensive immigration reform and even more basic steps such as the DREAM Act?
Specific Questions for the Candidates
Michele Bachmann: You have already called for cutting the corporate tax rate down to 9 percent and said you are “open” to eliminating corporate taxes altogether. After-tax corporate profits are the highest they’ve been since such data started being recorded in 1947, corporations are sitting on near-record amounts of cash, and corporate tax revenues as a percentage of GDP are at or near a 60-year low. Why do corporations need another tax break?
Herman Cain: You have said that you’d go even further than President Bush did and get rid of the capital gains tax entirely. This would add $1 TRILLION to the deficit over the next 10 years and overwhelmingly benefit the very wealthiest Americans. What will that do to create jobs since cutting taxes on the rich under President Bush resulted in the lowest job creation since 1945?
Newt Gingrich: You have made calling for the repeal of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law something of a personal crusade, saying that it is “killing the banking industry now.” But bank profits are actually soaring. Given that the big banks helped create the economic mess we are still in, why should we go back to the lax regulation and oversight that helped create the economic crisis in the first place?
Jon Huntsman: You recently proposed a tax plan that lowered tax rates while eliminating all tax deductions and loopholes. Under similar plan that you say you based your own plan off of, veterans, students, the working poor, seniors, and the middle class would all pay higher taxes – $1,890 more per middle class family than they pay now, while the richest .1 percent of Americans would receive a tax cut of about half a million dollars each. Is that a fair plan and what will raising taxes on the middle class, seniors, and veterans do to create jobs and fix the economy?
Ron Paul: States in the Northeast are still reeling from Hurricane Irene and Gov. Perry is calling for additional federal help with the wildfires ravaging your home state of Texas, yet you have said that “we need to come to our senses” and abolish the Federal Emergency Management Administration entirely. Do you think there is anything the federal government should do to help disaster victims?
Rick Perry: When you launched your campaign, you vowed to “work every day to try to make Washington, DC, as inconsequential” in the lives of Americans as you possibly could. Yet, after cutting the budget of the Texas state agency responsible for fighting fires by one-third, you are now demanding more and faster assistance from the federal government. Doesn’t this show that federal spending and the services it provides are indeed highly consequential and that cuts to those programs will have real life consequences for all Americans?
Mitt Romney: The economic plan you proposed yesterday includes $6.6 TRILLION in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and corporations. The wealthy are already paying historically low tax rates and corporations are making record profits and sitting on record amounts of cash. How can the country afford your plan and how will more tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations create jobs now when they haven’t done so in the past?
Rick Santorum: You have accused equal rights supporters of launching a “jihad” against you because of your views on gay rights. With a majority of the American public in favor of marriage equality, to say nothing of other equal rights measures you oppose, are your views simply outside the mainstream?
I wish that somehow, in debates, participants were required to cite a source when stating a fact. I realize this would be extremely difficult, but shit, if they’re going to be running the entire country’s government I don’t think it’s too much to ask that they do something millions of strangers on Wikipedia are willing to do without protest all day long.
The Cost of Being Female. GOOD hauled out its infographic skills to present us with the experience women (and, I might add, those who may not identify with women but experience the same medical needs) have with sexual and reproductive healthcare and healthcare costs throughout their lives, with and without insurance coverage. A stark reminder of how much is at stake when it comes to this kind of healthcare, both physically and financially and of the highly gendered nature of medical politics. View the full image.
