Odds And Ends

The right-wing seems to be grasping at straws in trying to find something to attack the White House on. They are now trying to accuse Joe Biden of being racist because he talked of Americans being re-chained (which made perfect sense in the context he used it -- regarding Wall Street being deregulated by the GOP). And Senator John McCain decided he would pile on by saying the president should replace Biden as his running mate.

But the White House had the perfect comeback for that suggestion. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said:

I have great admiration for and respect for and a long relationship with John McCain but one place I would not go for advice on vice presidential running mates is to Senator McCain.

Considering the pick McCain made when he ran for president, I don't think he should ever be paid any attention when vice-presidential choices are discussed. Picking Sarah Palin was the biggest blunder any candidate has made.

------------------------------

I am simply amazed by the ease and frequency with which Republican presidential candidate Willard Mitt Romney lies. It's like he expects everyone to forget what he said yesterday so he can sound good today (with truth not even being an after-thought for him).

On Wednesday, in response to Biden's statement about the Republicans wanting to de-regulate Wall Street, he said that "no one is talking about deregulating Wall Street". The problem with that statement is that Romney himself has repeated called for repeal of Dodd-Frank (the financial reform law passed in 2010 which put some weak regulations on Wall Street actions).

Repealing Dodd-Frank is without a doubt de-regulating Wall Street, so he has indeed been talking about de-regulating Wall Street. It's just another Romney lie -- one in a long list of lies.

------------------------------

The trial of the Fort Hood shooter has been put on hold by a higher court. Why? So the court can determine if the Ft. Hood trial judge can force the defendant to shave off the beard he has grown "for religious reasons". This defendant murdered U.S. soldiers on a U.S. Army base and probably faces execution for that -- and the trial judge is worried about a beard? How stupid can you get?

Compared to the issues this military court should be addressing, the stupid beard is of no importance at all. Let him keep it, and get on with the trial.

------------------------------

The Republicans are still fighting to protect the rich from having to give up the tax cuts given to them by the Bush administration. They have threatened to go so far as to deny tax cuts for ordinary Americans (the ones who really need tax cuts). What kind of money are we talking about for the rich. Well, at least 57 of the top 100 CEOs in this country are getting over a $1 million a year thanks to the Bush tax cuts (and creating no jobs). The chart below shows what the top five made in income and get thanks to the Bush tax cuts. It's ridiculous.