This week's new #webcomic on BallpointAdventures.com is all about @SteveKingIA

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Sorry, no actual joke this week. I just couldn't find anything funny about Congressman Steve King's words.

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#thepete #podcast 7/26/16: Post-#RNC2016 edition! + #voting for bad +#CultureOfIgnorance

This week on #thepetepodcast: #TedCruz did something good for humanity and reminds us how we should always vote! (Yes, Margaret, this IS Bizarro World.)  Meanwhile, #stupidity may elect #DonaldTrump in November. Weee!!  Listen for all the gritty details!!

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In this week's all-new #BallpointAdventures #webcomic, someone is running for #president. More: BallpointAdventures.com #Republicans #GOP #POTUS #art #comicstrips #webcomics #comics #ballpointpen

In this week's all-new #BallpointAdventures #webcomic, someone is running for #president. More: BallpointAdventures.com #Republicans #GOP #POTUS #art #comicstrips #webcomics #comics #ballpointpen
Posted on May 18, 2015 at 12:17PM
View the original on Instagram https://instagram.com/p/21GYCGSrhq/

One Republican Controls UnShuttingdown the Shutdown. No Checks, No Balances. Just GOP Abuse of Power. No, seriously.

It's apparently, true. Democrat House Rep, Chris Van Hollen, was on the House floor yesterday*, clarifying this for the American People:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jd-iaYLO1A

What this means is that the USG is stymied utterly. Back on October 1, 2013 (just two weeks ago) at 1:10AM (!), the House voted on House Resolution 368. In it, there was something about amending the rules of the House so that the only person who could put forward a motion to open the United States Government is the House Majority Leader or one of his designees. The House Majority Leader, right now, is Republican, Eric Cantor.



Yep, the rules were changed in the middle of the night on the same day that the government shutdown began, giving a Republican ultimate power over whether the USG opens or not. This was a tactic by Republicans to make sure that their shutdown could not be undone by Democrats outvoting them. What this means is that one man has unchecked power to control the American government. Sure, he can't do that much with this power, just keep the governing body of one of the most powerful countries on the planet in a coma.

Republicans seem to be a little fuzzy on this whole "democracy" thing. But then, that's nothing new.

What kills me is this line coming from conservatives on how "if Obama would just negotiate" this government shutdown would end. Think of it this way, the Republicans "rendition" the government and hold it in an undisclosed location that only Eric Cantor knows the location of. They then turn to the President and say "let's do a deal." No one else in government can override this. No one else in government can vote this away. As House Rep Van Hollen says in the video above, "Democracy has been suspended."

The thing is, there is a legal mechanism for undoing laws that you don't think are just. This ain't it.

To me this thing feels like a legislative coup. No one in government has this kind of power normally. No one.

I just trolled Google News, searching through their "US" section and also doing a search for "House Resolution 368" and "Eric Cantor" and found no results from mainstream news sources. I did find a brief mention on today's edition of Democracy Now and one article about the Republican rule change at IBTTimes.com, but that was it, as far as real news sites goes.

Please pass the video at the top of this blog post or this blog post on to everyone you know. This is a big deal and it needs to go viral. The Republicans have done something that is truly unAmerican and their supporters need to understand this. Conservatives need to ask themselves if the Democrats had done this for the 2000 election, would they have supported it?

Every American needs to understand what has happened here.

Minor update 10/14/13 3:00PM: Apparently, Van Hollen spoke on the House floor on Saturday, not yesterday.

@NYTimes reports on House Food Stamps bill that will cut 5 million from program. #screwrepublicans

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/cbwwYUSrou/

From the article:

The food stamp program has become a target for conservatives in Congress as it has grown over the past decade. Nearly 48 million people currently receive food stamp benefits, and the program costs about $80 billion a year.

Many Republicans say the program is rife with fraud, with hundreds of ineligible people receiving benefits. The Agriculture Department says that fraud rates are low and that the people who receive the benefits need them because of a tough economy.

Read the whole article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/us/politics/house-plan-on-food-stamps-would-cut-5-million-from-program.html

So we have almost no problem with spending trillions to stop terrorists from killing Americans, but keeping *poor* Americans fed? Yeah, we don't like that so much.

Republicans Up to Their Old Anti-Democracy Tricks Again...

The Republicans are at it again. In Texas, over 80,000 registered voters were taken off the rolls because they were believed dead by the state. The catch is that one official found a lot of evidence to suggest that most of those 80,000 people were NOT dead. Here's a cutting from the above-capped article from NPR.org:

Texas got the names off the Social Security Administration's death list. Social Security warned Texas that the list shouldn't be relied on, but to no avail. The state Legislature and Texas Gov. Rick Perry passed legislation last session mandating the change.

In Houston, after Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Don Sumners got hundreds of calls from elderly voters who'd gotten the death notice, he looked at the Social Security list that was being used.

"And then a quick check of some of the information on that database led us to believe that there was a big probability that even a majority of the names on the list were people that were still alive," he says.

Back in 2000 we saw some serious issues with the "election" of George W. Bush. Not only were there loads of evidence that the true will of the people was not represented by the ballot count, the final dispute of who should be president was not settled by Congress (as the US Constitution seems to suggest it should be), but instead was decided by the Supreme Court (the most dominant of judges at the time were all appointed by Republicans).

Then, in 2004, we saw more evidence that various election systems in place around the country weren't necessarily providing us with accurate results.

In both instances it was the Republicans who seemed to be "behind" efforts against accurate counting and making sure it was easy for everyone to vote. Just Google "Greg Palast" for the details.

Finally, in 2008, there was a candidate that was voted for overwhelmingly, so even major problems with ballot counting wouldn't ultimately matter. In 2000 and 2004, the margins were tight, so it took only a bit of inaccuracy to change results (yes, I believe that in 2004, Kerry probably won and, in 2000, I am sure Gore should have won).

Now, in 2012, during a race for president that everyone thinks is incredibly close, I am reminded of all the problems we had with close elections in 2000 and 2004. This NPR article provides evidence that the Republicans are once again pulling this same crap.

How any true conservative can continue to call themselves a Republican is beyond me. The very definition of the word "conservative" suggests a Conservative would want to make sure everyone who is legally allowed to vote should be able to do so AND have their vote counted. Yet, here we go again.

I am reminded of the many times during the regime of George W. Bush how any dissenting opinions were called, by Republicans, "anti-American."  Yet, it was the Republicans behaving in the most anti-American way of all--fighting against a fair and accurate election.

America is a pretty scary place, in this long-time-observer's opinion.

Ballpoint Adventures for April 30, 2012: The Republicans are Serious Projectionists

This has been driving me nuts for years and still no one calls the Republicans on it. Just saw a headline today that said Bohner accused Obama of picking fake fights. I mean, COME ON, BOHNER. Anyone who has read the novel "1984" knows that politics is all about fake fights--anything to keep the politicians in office. I'm getting pretty tired of this pot-accuses-kettle politics.

Sorry to mini rant.

Ballpoint Adventures for March 19, 2012: Why we should all vote Republican

I think this is absolutely true.

Ballpoint Adventures for March 12, 2012: Republican (just slightly) Sub-Text

Seriously, Republicans are one step away from being this open about their hatred.  Why else would they want to cut funding for education, women's health programs and NASA? It's like they want us to go back to the feudal system... OH WAIT... ;(

Republicans Blame Obama for High Gasoline Prices in a complete #IronyFAIL

Here's a serious ironyfail. The above-capped article comes from the NYT earlier this month (here: www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/us/politics/high-gas-prices-gi... ) and with a title like "Rising Gas Prices Give G.O.P. Issue to Attack Obama" how could I resist blogging about it? I mean, really, Republicans? Gas prices are too high for you? Perhaps you should just STFU and support alternative energy? But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's a cutting from the above article and refers to a "closed-door" meeting held by GOPers:

"“This debate is a debate we want to have,” Mr. Boehner told his conference on Wednesday, according to a Republican aide who was present. “It was reported this week that we’ll soon see $4-a-gallon gas prices. Maybe higher. Certainly, this summer will see the highest gas prices in years. Your constituents saw those reports, and they’ll be talking about it.”"

Oh really, John? You want to have this debate? Well, not with me, buddy. Because the basic laws of supply and demand tell us that if you want to lower price you either raise supply or reduce demand. The latter could have been done DECADES ago if only Republicans hadn't been such douchebags when it comes to protecting their pals in the oil biz. But hang on, there's more--here's another cutting from the article:

"“They want higher energy prices. They want to push their radical agenda on the public,” Rick Santorum said at a campaign event last week, accusing Democrats of pushing alternatives to oil. “We need a president who is on the side of affordable energy.”

Newt Gingrich wrote on Twitter on Friday that “gasoline prices are unacceptable. We can do better!” He urged his supporters to sign a petition on his Web site calling for a return to $2.50-a-gallon gas. “Drill here. Drill now. Pay less,” the petition says.

And talking points from the Republican National Committee that go out to conservative commentators every Friday often include rising gas prices among the “Top Line Messaging” for the week. A recent “Pundit Prep” document cited the national debt, unemployment and the price of gas as the three best ways to define the “Obama economy.”"

Gosh, it is a shame car-drivers are forced to pay these high prices for gasoline! Too bad there aren't other ways to fuel your car, like some sort of, oh I don't know, ALTERNATIVE kind of ENERGY that could be used.

I'm so SICK of looking at politicians shrug their way through explaining why things are so messed up, as though they could never have seen these problems coming or done anything at all to avoid them. Whether it was 911, the Iraq war, the Afghanistan war or the economy, NO ONE apologizes for any of it and everyone claims they couldn't have seen it coming, despite anyone with eyes, basic math skills and a history book could have predicted all of it.

The fact of the matter is that our leaders in Washington, Democrat and Republican alike, are fucking ROCK STUPID and choose to follow their lust for cash and power around rather than their morals or feelings of responsibility for their fellow American citizen.

Seriously, Republicans, do you realize how unbelievably MORONIC you look complaining about high gas prices??? When Clinton was in office, gas wasn't much more expensive than $1/gal. 911, two Republican wars in the Middle East and a decade+ of inflation and YES, YOU'RE GOING TO SEE HIGHER GAS PRICES, YOU UTTER DOUCHES!

We seriously need to instate a Hypocrisy Police in the US. This shit is getting too crazy for words.

Irresponsible Democrats and Republicans need a bill in order to keep the USG "operating" Past this Weekend

Irresponsible Democrats and Republicans need a bill in order to keep the USG "operating" Past this Weekend, a photo by thepetecom on Flickr.

What a state the USA is in. I grabbed this screencap from Google News in the middle of the night last night. When I went back to Google News just now, ten hours(ish) later, the top story was how CNN's iReport was letting USGIs coming back from Iraq tell their stories. Even Google News' algorithm is biased against important news! >_< Anyway, so here's where we are in America today. Partisan bickering means the USG may shut down in three days. I doubt it will, but the fact is, unless they print more money, it appears that they'll be out of it. What the hell are our leaders doing to let America fall into such a state? We spend over a trillion on wars chasing a tiny threat while our country faces bigger threats domestically, from crumbling infrastructure, to health care problems and an economy that is not doing it's job of supporting all (or even most) Americans.

While our leaders are bickering about keeping the government operating, the country it's supposed to protect is falling to pieces. Lovely. You know what? I'd be curious to what difference it would make if they DID shut down on Monday. I wonder if things would really be better or worse.

stfuhatemongers:

reallyfoxnews:

inothernews:

This is one of just a few onscreen graphics that Fox “News” actually put on the air.

I remember some asshole on here going on about how I was declaring “class warfare” because I thought things like universal healthcare were good things, things that would benefit our fellow men and women who — numbering in the tens of millions — go without such things.

So what the fuck is this, exactly?  What is Fox “News” trying to prove here?  That poor people aren’t actually “poor” because they have something in their homes that prevents essential foodstuffs like milk and eggs from spoiling?

That having things like a TV or a cellphone makes them, in words ACTUALLY USED ON FOX “NEWS” TO DEFINE POOR PEOPLE, “the takers,” “parasites” and “the moocher class”?

That a family of four making less than $23,000 a year is somehow getting away with something by literally being too poor to be taxed by the federal government?

Go fuck yourselves.

No seriously.  Go fuck yourselves right now.

^ commentary.

My fridge broke and all of my food spoiled (immediately after buying groceries). I bought a used one for cheap. 

You mad Fox News?

Maybe you thought Muslims were going to be the new scapegoats? The new illegal immigrants? The new Soviet threat or the new Jews to Nazi Germany?  Think again, it’s the “Have-Nots.”  See, when the X-Box riots begin over here in the US, like they did in the UK recently, the rich won’t have a problem sending the military in to stomp out the rioters because they’re already scum of the Earth that don’t deserve refrigerators.

Seriously, this is what the media does when they’re preparing us for something bad.  Before the Abu Ghraib story broke there were anchors on Fox News asking “why can’t we just beat the answers out of these guys we’re picking up?”

666cast episode 52: Easter, Republicans and their Reputation, How Education is utterly failing us.

Easter? Really? Republicans and their reputation, and how the educational system is utterly letting us down.

666cast episode 52 is hosted on Archive.org!

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Don’t forget to visit webstore666!

666cast episode 43 from website666.com: This week: congratulations to the people of Egypt! And: Rape and Rape Rape, who *wants* to tell the difference? Republicans.

666cast episode 43 from website666.com: This week: congratulations to the people of Egypt! And: Rape and Rape Rape, who *wants* to tell the difference? Republicans.

Democracy Now! Headlines for October 25, 2010: Texan GOP Candidate: Violent Revolution Might Be Needed in US

Democracy Now! Headlines for October 25, 2010: Texan GOP Candidate: Violent Revolution Might Be Needed in US

Texan GOP Candidate: Violent Revolution Might Be Needed in US

In news from Texas, a Republican congressional candidate has told a local TV station that a violent revolution might be needed if Republicans do not win control of Congress in next month’s election. Stephen Broden, a Christian minister, made the remark in an interview with WFAA in Dallas.

Stephen Broden: “Our nation was founded on violence.”

More on this.

NY Gubernatorial Candidate Carl P. Paladino Attacks Gays in Brooklyn Speech

NY Gubernatorial Candidate Carl P. Paladino Attacks Gays in Brooklyn Speech

Republican candidate for governor of New York, Carl P. Paladino, spoke to a gathering in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that included Orthodox Jewish leaders as reported by the NYT:

“That’s not how God created us,” he said, reading from a prepared address.

“I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don’t want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option — it isn’t.”

And then, to applause at Congregation Shaarei Chaim, he said: “I didn’t march in the gay parade this year — the gay pride parade this year. My opponent did, and that’s not the example we should be showing our children.” Newsday.com reported that Mr. Paladino’s prepared text had included the sentence: “There is nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homosexual.” But Mr. Paladino omitted the sentence in his speech.

Ah, well, that’s one Democratic win guaranteed!

Thanks, Carl!

EFFYOU.org says: EFFYOU REPUBLICANS!

Yesterday, I posted this over on effyouorg:

Grand Old Party, INDEED.

What a bunch of whining, obstructionist, hypocritical, anti-American, intolerant assholes. The qualities that make the Republicans worthy of the EFFYOU for this week were detailed in last week’s EFFYOU (that one was aimed at the Democrats) so there’s no need to go over those again.  However, on top of all of the other stuff the Republicans are guilty of, they added a couple new items to their list of anti-American obstructionist bullshit recently.  Check it out:

GOP Halts Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
By NAFTALI BENDAVID, JULIAN E. BARNES and ADAM ENTOUS

Republicans blocked a Democratic effort to repeal the ban on gays serving openly in the military, likely pushing back any attempt to overturn the controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law until after the November election.

Most of these idiots who blocked this from happening haven’t even served and McCain said years ago that he would repeal DADT in a second if generals told him to—which they did—from WaPo, back in February of 2010:

A former war hero, McCain said he would support ending the ban once the military’s top brass told him that they agreed with the change.

“The day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, ‘Senator, we ought to change the policy,’ then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it,” McCain said in October 2006 to an audience of Iowa State University students.

That day arrived Tuesday, with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen testifying to senators after President Obama’s announcement that he would seek a congressional repeal of the 15-year-old policy.

But now he helps block it. So much for free speech and being able to live in a free country!  (Not if you want to serve in the military, queers!!) >_<

OH and there’s this:

Republicans Filibuster ‘Dream Act’ for Children of Illegal Immigrants
By Craig Wall, FOX Chicago News

Immigration reform supporters suffered a setback in Washington on Tuesday as Senate Republicans blocked a bill called the “Dream Act.”

It would have given undocumented immigrants who were brought to America as children a path toward legal status, as long as they served in the military or went to college.

Democrats say the Defense Department supports the plan as a way of getting good recruits, but Republicans unanimously opposed the bill. They filibustered it, and kept it from coming up for a vote.

Yeeeeah, so they block a new route for illegal immigrant kids to stay in the US permanently AND make them immediately useful to America in the process.  What the fuck ever happened to “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses,” anyway???

So for all this crap and a whole lot more, this week’s EFFYOU goes to the Republican party.

May you all be outed as the gay, greedy-as-sin, racist, homophobic, atheists you must really be on the inside (because if you weren’t all those things, why would you behave like you do?).

Got any suggestions for the EFFYOU for next week?

GOP missing their own Absurd Disconnect: WTC = hallowed ground but 9-11 1st Responders?

Well, I couldn’t let a day go by without pointing out at least one example of The Absurd Disconnect, could I?? ;P

“Isn’t It Ironic?” from underpaidgenius:

The GOP has no self-awareness, and neither do their constituents.

Carl Hulse, G.O.P. Sees Mosque Near Ground Zero as Campaign Issue - NYTimes.com

Democratic campaign officials accused Republicans of exploiting the Sept. 11 attacks, noting that their outrage over the Islamic center came just weeks after many House Republicans opposed a new medical program to monitor and treat emergency workers and others suffering ill effects from exposure to hazardous materials at ground zero.

All the horseshit about ‘hallowed ground’ is posturing. The real story here is xenophobic hatred, not love of America and its ideals.

Sadly, I think it’s worse than that—it’s not about xenophobic hatred or “fear of the other” but about inspiring that xenophobic hatred/fear of the other in the American people. 

This is how you keep your citizens in line.  If you cite a threat and convince people it’s real, you look like someone who knows what’s going on, so those people who fall for the threat trust you to keep them safe.  This makes it much easier for Republicans and Democrats, alike, to keep their jobs and explains why the Democrats don’t pull out the metaphorical big guns to end the Republican party once and for all.  The Dems enjoy this kind of power, too.

Of course, how they’re all getting away with it is something I’ve wondered, too. I think it boils down to a media that has decided it doesn’t need to do it’s job.  Which is a shame since a free press is the most important tool to guarantee democracy.  I can’t find the quote now, but I think Ben Franklin once admitted that he’d rather have a strong independent press and no government at all, rather than the other way around. 

More fodder for the argument that Republicans are total deceitful hypocrites who will wrap themselves in the flag at one moment and tear it to pieces the next. Every Republican should be ashamed for not passing this bill which would (as I understand it) cover medical care for 911 emergency responders—as in, the people who were responding to the attacks on September 11, 2001.From officialssay:Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), yelling at House Republicans who opposed a bill that would provide $7.4 billion in health care and compensation to 9/11 rescue workers. The bill failed.Huh, so my congressman is being investigated for ethics violations, meanwhile, my friends out in Brooklyn get this guy. I may have picked the wrong neighborhood to move to! :)Still, nice to see a dude actually doing his job!Seriously, Republicans—are you guys really so scummy?? What else did the bill do that allowed you to rationalize not paying for health care for 911 responders?? Free condoms for teens? Free abortions for all? What??This guy needs to get knighted or sainted or something…

Think Specter's Switch to the Democrats Means Anything? You Need to Understand Our One-Party/Two-Head System

Think Specter's Switch to the Democrats Means Anything? You Need to Understand Our One-Party/Two-Head System, originally uploaded by thepetecom. Original WashingtonPost.com article here.

Think about it: our system allows for legalized bribery. Every politician is pro-corporate because that's where the overwhelming majority of their campaign contributions come from. To keep those contributions flowing (which allows them to keep getting re-elected) politicians will do anything these corporate donors ask. Does it really matter if one of them takes money from Coke instead of Pepsi? Or barters favors with agribusinesses instead of the oil industry? What happened to government for the people, by the people?

What's worse is that some companies and industries will give to both parties to make sure that whomever wins, they'll have influence.

Back on April 13, 2009 Noam Chomsky was on Democracy Now and he addressed this issue this way:

You can learn a lot from campaign contributions. In fact, one of the best predictors of policy around is Thomas Ferguson’s investment theory of politics, as he calls it—very outstanding political economist—which essentially—I mean, to say it in a sentence, he describes elections as occasions in which groups of investors coalesce and invest to control the state. And he takes a look at the formation of campaign contributors, and it gives you a surprisingly good prediction of what policies are going to be. It goes back a century, New Deal and so on. So, yeah, it can predict pretty well what Obama is going to do. There’s nothing surprising about this. It’s the norm in what’s called political democracy.

I know I'm quoting the infamous Noam Chomsky, but he's quoting Thomas Ferguson and who cares as long as what they're both saying is accurate?

Sure, there may be some slight ripples, but ultimately, the problems with our system will still be there no matter which side of the aisle Specter iss sitting on. Our system is built on corruption. Is it any less corrupt because companies you like get their way?