Tea-bonics

The creative spelling used by Tea Baggers on their protest signs.
See it all right here.

Spring

Windy and little cold today, but at least it stopped rainin'.

The lady Cardinal was too shy to pose for me - maybe another time.

These Changes

I worried that the bust in Michigan (Hutaree Militia) could be seen as another Waco; with all the usual sturm und drang from the drama queens on "conservative" Clown Radio.  But one aspect is emerging that I find pretty interesting: this Hutaree outfit is considered by most of the 'militia community' as a bunch of nuts.  Let's try to set aside the patent Pot-Meets-Kettle  and just consider the fact that the other militias dislike the Hutarees to the point they've been working with the Feds to help nail these freaks.

Let that one soak in for a bit.

Now suppose for just a moment that Obama pulled the trigger on this particular bunch of coconuts because it's a perfect setup for him to sink a wide-open 3-pointer from way downtown.

1) he bags a dangerous group determined to attack us; demonstrating that law enforcement is sometimes the best way to combat terrorism - no matter where that terrorist threat originates. (and BTW, these asshats ARE terrorists)

2) he co-opts the 'militia movement' by enlisting their help - which kinda takes them away from the Repubs and brings them back over to the side of law and order...

3) ...which means that at least some of these other militia groups will help - purposefully or otherwise - but will help to "re-legitimize The Government".

Look for signs of fracture within the militia movement.

US War Dead

In Iraq = 4,385
In Afghanistan = 1,029

Was That A Shot?

I can't believe I missed such a ripe opportunity.

Included in the Healthcare Reform Bill is a new tax on indoor tanning salons.  Do you think that's an attempt by evil Democrats to make John Boehner pay for the whole thing himself?

Turnaround

Slouching Towards Oblivion

False Equivalence

After several incidents of vandalism, and some spitting and verbal attacks, etc (all of which I think were intended as open threats of real violence even if the actions weren't intentionally incited by Repub rhetoric), our own Eric Cantor went to the press with 'news' that his office had also been 'attacked', so of course, it's all even and nobody should blame the Repubs for fomenting violent actions against their political opponents.

Let's take a little gander at what the Richmond Police Dept posted on their website about this 'attack':

The Richmond Police Department is investigating an act of vandalism at the Reagan Building, 25 E. Main St., Richmond, Virginia. A first floor window was struck by a bullet at approximately 1 a.m. on Tuesday, March 23. The building, which has several tenants including an office used by Congressman Eric Cantor, was unoccupied at the time.

A Richmond Police detective was assigned to the case. A preliminary investigation shows that a bullet was fired into the air and struck the window in a downward direction, landing on the floor about a foot from the window. The round struck with enough force to break the windowpane but did not penetrate the window blinds. There was no other damage to the room, which is used occasionally for meetings by the congressman.

The Richmond Police Department is sharing information about the incident with appropriate law enforcement agencies.

At this time there are no suspects.
Posted by RPD at 12:21 PM

According to James (804-646-0607), a Media Relations guy at The Richmond Police Dept, investigators now believe the damage to the building was due to "random gunfire".

There was no attack.

I've had a lot of difficulty tracking down the building's management, who owns it, etc.  It does appear to be a very modest place in the general vicinity of downtown Richmond.   The building's tenants include a political consulting firm (Marcus & Allen), and a direct mail operation (Creative Direct, LLC, owned by Marcus & Allen).  It's probable that Cantor maintains some kind of 'presence' in that space (most likely as a client), but it's certainly not where Mr Cantor hangs out, since his Richmond office is actually several miles to the northwest of where the incident took place.

A couple of guesses: 

1) The Marcus & Allen bunch is part of the Old Boy Network; providing operatives and support services to the Repub machinery, while getting some nice paychecks courtesy of the rubes out there sending in their nickels and dimes.

2) They saw a decent opportunity to offset some of the PR damage the Repubs were taking because of their wingnuts by portraying a mere coincidence as an equivalency.

Just sayin'

Awakening

I guess the pendulum swings. I bailed on the Dems in the late 70's because they were veering too sharply left. I split from the Repubs in the late 80's because they were lurching badly to the right.

Here's a look at the continuing erosion in the numbers of Likely Voters who are willing to self-describe as Repub.

I suspect there are many reasons, but I think it has an awful lot to do with the Drama Queen rhetoric that Repubs seem totally enthralled with. People are starting to get hip to their tricks.

One small point: the upturn for the Dems doesn't equal the downturn for the Repubs; and since there's also a bit of a dip in Independent totals, I think it means some people are just walking away from the Repubs. Short-term, it should mean Repubs get spanked on Election Day, but longer-term, if the Dems can't attract significant numbers of disaffected Repubs, then Repubs can regroup and come back once they get their shit together (aka: getting your wingnuts under control).

From Society of HR Mgmt

It's a mixed bag - lots of gloom and doom from the usual Repub suspects, and lots of wait-n-see from the analysts, and lots of No-Really-It's-Gonna-Work-We'll-Fix-It-Later from the Dems.

Employer Mandate?