He’s making a list, and checking it twice…

I stumbled across this story this morning, and thought that I would share it with you guys. It appears as though we are heading right back to the 1950’s where a lot of republicans would like to take us. Yes, Spencer Bachus representative of Alabama has a “list” of his colleagues, who are, “GASP!” SOCIALISTS!! He puts the number at 17 exactly. How he came about this list, and or the people on it, I think that he is the one and only person who might know. As in, much like McCarthy (who a lot of conservatives these days are defending, and saying that he was correct 95% of the time – not kidding about that), he has probably made this list up out of thin air with little to no proof, aside from his craziness creeping in on him at night while he creates such crazy things in his Mom’s basement.

Mr. Bachus, since you have this list now, where do you want to go from here? Should we have hearings led by yourself and Representative Bachman from Minnesota as to who is, and who isn’t pro-American (in your view) working in the House of Representatives? Bear in mind, back during the election cycle, Ms. Bachman also made a statement to the media, on FoxNews of course where she wasn’t challenged, that she knew for a FACT that there were communists, and socialists in the House, and that the media should do a complete and thorough investigative report on who was, and who wasn’t pro-American in the House. I am thinking, just when you think that some conservatives can’t get any crazier, along comes items like this. Seriously, GOPers, do you condone this?

On the one hand, if this were coming from say, talk radio, or even from Mr. Crazy Kook himself, Glenn Beck, that might be one thing. But, we have this coming from elected officials. This wasn’t OK in the 50’s when Joe McCarthy did it, and it’s far from OK at this point in time. I mean, these people that they’re talking about ran for, and got elected to Congress. How un-American can you be to want to serve your district and your country? Not very I would think. Even though there are some good perks being in Congress, it’s not as if it’s not hard work. And I sincerely believe that the vast majority of people IN Congress do it because they believe that they can make a difference, and help the country along. I even believe that about Bachus and Bachman, in their own twisted little way. Call it naive if you will, but that’s just where I come down on this one.

The other thing recently that has been driving my crazy are these so called Tea Parties that are supposed to be held on April 15th in protest of the Obama administration’s spending plans for the future. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a pretty hard core liberal (I’m sure you would not have guessed that at all), and I really don’t have an issue with anyone criticizing the President, not at all. If you have some valid issues that you feel need to be brought up, please, do it. And using a protest as a vehicle to get noticed does work, so please, again, do it. The heartburn that I have with this crap though, is that FoxNews is not only covering the news of these events, they are overtly promoting them, and taking charge of them. This is not the job of a so called news organization. They’re not there to promote these events. The response that I’ve gotten from some folks is something like this, “Well, the mainstream media (for some reason FoxNews, even though they are the highest rated 24 hour news channel never makes it into the so called mainstream media) covered the war protests and anything against George W. Bush, so why can’t Fox cover these events?” Again, they are more than welcome to cover said events, but please, show me a case of where a media source promoted war protests, or any protests at all? They didn’t, and shouldn’t. That’s not what news sources are for, but then again, we do know that FoxNews is just the televised propaganda arm of the GOP and the republicans anyway. I mean, just look at their venom spewing forth about anything Obama. Being critical is one thing, but berating every single little thing the man has done, or will do is quite another. And it is far from being, “Fair and Balanced” as they proclaim to be. Or their other slogan, “We report, you decide..” they’re not really reporting, they’re promoting.

So what about this stupid socialist list? What the fuck is that all about anyway? Get a grip republicans, you’re circling the drain, and doing things like this, is only going to make the flush go faster. I mean, I really should be supporting these crazies in their efforts, mostly because it’s going to make it a lot easier for the guys on my side (democrats) to win more seats in the mid-terms in 2010, but I do hate to see a once proud political party who had real ideas, and real criticisms (even though I disagreed with a lot of them) go the way of the Dodo bird. It’s kind of sad, and doesn’t help us along the path of recovery.

About giantcu92

Engineer living in the NOVA, and working for "The Man". Cycling and political junky. All things 2 wheeled are good. 4 wheels? Eh, OK, but 2 wheels better. Washinton, DC, USA

17 Replies to “He’s making a list, and checking it twice…”

  1. To wit… Where was this criticism of Shrub when he made ‘ill-informed’ decisions.

    Nowhere, least of all on Faux or CNN or any 24-hour news network. Yes, they covered Cindy Sheehan’s protests outside of Bush’s place in Texas, but only to the extent of ‘Here’s a mom who’s mad about losing her son” and ‘She’s a cranky liberal who can’t accept the sacrifice her son made for the good of the country.’ etc…

    As far as Cranky McCarthy-pants is concerned… he needs to get tarred and feathered and run out of office… I doubt that will happen tho. Those hillbillies are as wrapped up in the ‘Obama is a secret muslim terrorist’ as any Faux-believer is. Good luck getting the deep south to acquire knowledge of any kind, let alone any that challenges their white-slaveholder-heritage views that they already have.

    Here’s to the ‘South will rise again’ mentality and hoping they will secede into the shithole ass-backwards country that they aspire to be.

    —bp.

    ps : Take Texas with you. no one needs those assholes.

  2. Amusing. It’s my experience lately that the majority of people have no idea what socialism is. Most confuse it with communism. Still more are apparently in denial of the fact that the vast majority of americans use current socialistic programs on a regular basis. How many of us went to public school? or receive subsidies for their farm? or collect social security? One of my best friends is a single parent and wouldn’t have gotten a college education and become a highschool english teacher without the federal collegiate loan program or food stamps. Bad politics thrive in ignorance.

  3. sign me up on that goddamn list, too.

    one of the ways that i contribute to the community that i live in (pop. 900) is by serving as a trustee on our local town board. not too long ago, some jackass who thinks he’s pretty clever called me a “Fabian socialist” (not to be confused with a “Fabio socialist”) like it was some sort of insult or something. fact is, i am actually honored that i was identified as such:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabian_socialist

    now, i certainly don’t agree with everything that the Fabians stood (and stand) for, they sure as hell advocated for some very progressive ideas such as universal healthcare, a national minimum wage, and the nationalization of land… well, you can read it and decide for yourselves.

    in reality, the right-wingers have generally been in vehement and frequently violent opposition to ANY sort of progressive reforms such as the three mentioned above, as well as any sort of enviromental protections, abolition of child labor, the 8 hour workday, 40 hour work week, workplace safety legislation, collective bargaining and unionization, freedom from religion, the civil rights movement, marriage between consenting adults of the same sex, free political association, drug law reform, universal education, abolition of capital punishment and on and on and on it goes… feel free to add to this list.
    they are masters of witch hunting and smear tactics and do little but distract from any sort of constructive dialog, which is exactly what this country and world do not need now in these hours of darkness during this Greatest Depression.

    whatever happened to that “spirit of bi-partisan co-operation” that they were all yapping about right after the last election? i guess it disappeared right into the ethers just like the holy fuckin’ ghost, didn’t it?

  4. Again with the tirade against Fox. Of course Olbermann, Matthews, Maddow and their ilk are completely impartial…

  5. Partiality doesn’t have anything to do with it. Just because someone opposes a viewpoint doesn’t mean that they are biased or impartial, necessarily. It simply means that they have an opposing viewpoint. Fox news consistently takes up an opposition to the democratic party, based in little part on facts or understanding of the core issue, and this is biased toward the republican party. It is simply coincidence that the opinions of Olberman and others happen to oppose republican policies. This stems mainly from republican policies being politically, ethically, environmentally, economically bad policies. We would oppose them if they were democratic, libertarian, or anyone’s policies.

  6. We are all socialists. How many people do you know who have never been on a public road?

  7. OK Giant…you can have your shots at wingnuts on the right, but remember, there are some in your backyard. I seldom respond with true disbelief when I hear an item on the news from the realm of the political world (I think we’ve all become a touch jaded as to the level of idiocy our elected officials can ascribe to)…but the little visit to Cuba by the Congressional Black Caucus…I mean COME ON!! The rhetoric spouted by “true Americans” Bobby Rush and Maxine Waters…leaves a little to be desired in my humble view. On top of the Obama/Clinton apology world tour. It’s certainly reassuring to realize that Mexico’s problems are my fault, I’m sure you all agree that they are your fault as well…so stop with the drugs, mkay?

    As for the Republican party…fuck it…let them go extinct…perhaps there will arise in the vaccuum of their antiquated abscence a party which believes in the simple priciples of common sense. I ask again…what’s wrong with having a third party in the system? Are people so ingrained in their “right vs left” / “conservative vs liberal” that they can see no other ways? The same way you accuse Republicans of hiding behind the ignorance of outdated Christian mores, there are scores of self-righteous lifetimes Democratic voters that insist that they are the “party of the people” while at the same time languishing in their millions whilst enjoying that sense of accomplishment they feel in creating yet another welfare generation.

  8. People who think the tea parties are just a bunch of cranky Republicans are sorely mistaken. I think a lot of the Republican’ts that are at these tea parties should have taken their head out of the sand 8 years ago. I have many liberal ideals but having a huge federal government isn’t one of them. Next thing you know someone like W is back in office and turning it all around on us. I guess the status quo in W.D.C. uses the two sides to feed itself.

  9. I am not in any way opposed to a three-four-or even five-party system. Fucking hell, break it down to 8 even.

    You see, once Nazi Germany was broken, we introduced ‘Western Democracy’ to the peoples of West Germany, and now…?

    There is the CSU, CDU (Both more or less the Republican ‘Christian’ wing) The SPD (Insert bike joke here; they are the Democratic wing…) Then you have ‘die Linke’ ‘The Left’ who are more socialist, as well as FDP, which ironically are socialist, with a Republican lean. So there you have the 4-point base. Then you have (believe it or not…) the NPD (National Party of Democrats as far as I know… Those are the same people from about 50 years ago, and they can’t legally ban them, although they are trying to find a connection between them and the typical ‘Nazis’ that you hear about…) and other smaller parties who end up doing more locally… but again, i get distracted.

    My point is… we as Americans need to evolve and maybe… just maybe… this is our tipping point. Maybe this is the generation where we say ‘Yeah R or D both have decent ideas, but we need someone ELSE who isn’t tied to corporate interests. Maybe we need someone who really looks out for the working class, and not just gives lip-service.’

    Or maybe that’s just the beer talking.

  10. “You know those Germans are always making good stuff!”

    “Maybe we need someone who really looks out for the working class, and not just gives lip-service.’”
    Ohhhh Bikepunk, I guess it’s okay to dream??? Me… I think I’m going to need a Shamwow to wipe up my tears… I need a beer!

  11. “Of course Olbermann, Matthews, Maddow and their ilk are completely impartial.”

    …well, no, dave, i’d have to agree that they’re not impartial…but then again, 16 tons of bullshit a day from fox news is not really equalized or balanced out by maybe 6 lb of bullshit a day from “our side”…

  12. I wouldn’t say that. What your three stooges lack in output, they more than make up in vitriol.

  13. Dave,

    Are you serious about Maddow and Olberman? Can you show me some stories that they’ve done where they’ve just made things up out of whole cloth to tar and feather someone with as with what happens on FoxNews on a minute to minute basis? I mean, the Hannity show is just one big lie from start to finish, or way out of context information cut and used to “prove” his points. There really is no comparison. So MSNBC has a couple of shows that are liberal. FoxNews, remember the number 1 news channel on TV, has an entire network dedicated to anti anything democratic party. It’s really that simple, and they’re not equal at all. Lump in the fact that Fox claims that they’re “fair and balanced” and then it just because totally and completely laughable. Show me someone on the left who is as unhinged and mainstream as O’Reilly, Hannity, and Fox’s new darling, Glenn Beck. You can’t do it. Sure there are plenty left loons out there, but for the most part, we don’t listen to them, and they are NOT in the mainstream. Fox is plenty mainstream, and they’re throwing out crazy conspiracy theories like Obama is working towards making the US part of some one world government, and that he’s going to come and take your guns away, that he signed away US sovereignty when he was at the G20. I mean, the list goes on and on.

    And yes, it is mostly going to be republicans at these tax day tea parties. They are being organized, and promoted by FoxNews, and in most locations locally put together by republican party chapters in the various cities. I don’t have a problem with any of this, but stop acting like it is some populist movement. According to Fox’s own polling, a mere 36 percent of people said that they might attend these things. Now, last time I checked, if you want something to be populist, it has to have at least 50 percent. They can’t even get the republicans to (47% who might attend) to agree to a majority.

    And Matthews? A liberal? HA! Sir, surely you jest. This is the same man who praised George W. Bush from start to finish, and never met a republican candidate that he didn’t love. Yeah, I know, he worked for democrats, but his blatherings prove he is no liberal my friend. You can throw Ed Schultz in there though to replace the Matthews pick, since he just started his show on MSNBC.

  14. And don’t forget there’s plenty of market for conservative talk radio. Always will be, at least until the “fairness” doctrine stifles free speech.

    Lefty radio? Not so much. National Pinko Radio exists only by picking our pockets, along with the shameless begging during their “membership” drives. Got your member right here. Air “America” still on the air? Can’t say; can’t even pick it up around here. Guess the people have spoken.

    “Unhinged”? That would be Herr Olbermann. If you don’t see it you’re fucking blind. And yeah, Glenn is alittle over the top. Don’t watch him much because his show comes on right about my ride time, but yeah, just between us he worries me. I could see him losing it.

    Truth is, there’s douchebaggery aplenty on both sides. But your gang of douchbags pretty much has a stranglehold on things at the moment. Sorta makes them the logical target.

  15. Oh yeah, and giantcu-When last you checked on the definition of “populist”, where did you go? Up your own ass, maybe?

    Merriam Webster defines it as “1-a member of a political party claiming to represent the common people…” “2-a believer in the rights, wisdom or virtues of the common people”. One certainly doesn’t need to be any kind of majority to fall into either of those catgories, and it would be helpful if you could manage to know a little something next time you shoot your mouth off.

  16. ok now this is the real “antiamericanism”

    michelle bachmann wasn’t the rogue afterall. it is clearly an underlying theme in the GOP

    They had a list in Nazi Germany
    McCarthy had a list

    anything that is not trickle down is antiamerican or socialist or gay or black or terrorist

  17. …this isn’t about comparing apples & oranges…

    …on one hand you have what we’ll call the fox-news-ers, whose outright prevarications are made up to influence whole generations of people who aren’t used to thinking for themselves…the “if it was good enough for my parents, it’s good enough for me” crowd…
    …the ol’ “keep ’em on the edge of their seats & keep ’em scared, so they fall in line when ya need ’em” tactic…

    …on the other hand, you’ve got the msnbc-ers who deal in about 90% more fact but w/ an outraged liberal slant…the “we’ll counter your bullshit w/ reality” crowd…& yes, it’s gonna be done from a “liberal” p.o.v. but that’s not to say it ain’t steeped in truth…

    …hey, it’s tv, it’s about advertising rights, it’s about market shares & capturing an audience, so there will always be a slant but total fabrications composed to sway your audience as opposed to truth w/ an “our side” twist…

    …not even close…