Police Arrest Arizona Shooting Victim After Tea Party Member Threatened. Sad, he could have made a powerful point

I'm disgusted that Mr. Fuller threatened this man with 'your dead', especially after the shootings. Mr. Fuller could have made an incredible statement, in a non-violent tone, in pointing out that this is another Tea Party member who is wanting to quite the conversation before it even gets started. This is the perfect time to be having this conversation. We are NOT being irreverent or callus in our conversation or applause. We're motivated, we're coming together, we are trying to comfort one-another. I for one am tired of the party of NO. And I'm sorry, but the Tea Party members need to be ready to engage the other side, be open to conversation, be open to other's ideas. We all need this to move forward......Lean Forward!

Amplify’d from abcnews.go.com

Police Arrest Arizona Shooting Victim After Tea Party Member Threatened

Police arrested one of the victims of the Arizona shooting after he reportedly threatened a tea party leader at an ABC News town hall event in Tucson on Saturday.

James Eric Fuller, 63, was arrested and ultimately taken for a psychiatric evaluation after the incident in which he threatened Tucson tea party co-founder Trent Humphries at a special edition of ABC's "This Week" with Christiane Amanpour.

Fuller, who apparently objected to something Humphries said during the taped forum, used a cell phone to take a picture of him and allegedly shouted "You're dead," according to the Pima County Sheriff's Department.

KGUN-TV in Tucson reported that Fuller was in the front row at the event, and that he apparently became upset when Humphries suggested that conversations about gun control should be delayed until all the dead were buried.

According to Pima County sheriff's spokesman Jason Ogan, Fuller was arrested on misdemeanor disorderly conduct and threat charges.

Authorities decided that Fuller was in need of a mental evaluation as they escorted him off of the premises, and he was taken to a local hospital. The hospital will determine when he will be released, Ogan said. Read more at abcnews.go.com

 

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Glenn Beck's gutting of America. One show at a time.

This is exactly the kind of rhetoric that is turning American's against America and it's government. Talking about how it's going to destroy us. It's obviously not going to destroy us. It might not be perfect, but at least we have people who realize something needs to be done, before no one can afford health care in this country. But to say it's going to destroy us while ignoring the fact's from the CBO is ignorant. But hey, this coming from somebody who thinks Obama hate's white people. So what else would you expect. Glenn Beck is gutting America.

Amplify’d from www.huffingtonpost.com

Glenn Beck's weekly "At Your Beck And Call" segment on "The O'Reilly Factor" aired Friday night, and Beck and Bill O'Reilly touched on two issues: health care reform and Beck's scariness to children.

Health reform came first: Beck said that President Obama's health care law is "gonna destroy us," and that he hopes Obama will veto any attempted Congressional repeal of the law so that he can tie himself to it even more firmly. Read more at www.huffingtonpost.com

 

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Do what is good for America Sarah Palin, like what you did for Alaska...QUIT!

We knew it was coming. And to say you didn't, means your out of touch with whats been going on for the past several years. It has become's more toxic with each passing day, with each new Facebook posting, with each new tweet. I don't have many, or really anyone that listens to what I say. So I could get away with saying almost anything without much fear of it falling on the wrong ears. But when you have a nation full of people listening and reading everything you say, then you do have a responsibility to express your views in a mature, accurate and truthful way. And do it without demoralizing & demonizing the other side. Or worst yet, calling them un-american or unpatriotic because they have different point of view. When you want to engage the other side, and challenge their views, your don't use words like "lock & load" or put cross-hair target's on them. That doesn't encourage debate, It encourages violence! We don't need people like Sarah Palin in politics. We need people who can work together. Sarah Palin and the Tea Party have no intentions on bringing this country together. You can tell by their rhetoric. In politics, you've already lost once and quit once. When you quit Alaska, you said you were doing it for the good of Alaska. So do what's good for America...quit!

Amplify’d from www.huffingtonpost.com

"The climate has gotten so toxic in our political discourse, setting up for this kind of reaction for too long. It's unfortunate to say that. I hate to say that," Grijalva said in an interview with The Huffington Post. "If you're an opponent, you're a deadly enemy," Grijalva said of the mindset among Arizona extremists. "Anybody who contributed to feeding this monster had better step back and realize they're threatening our form of government."

Grijalva said that Tea Party leader Sarah Palin should reflect on the rhetoric that she has employed. "She -- as I mentioned, people contributing to this toxic climate -- Ms. Palin needs to look at her own behavior, and if she wants to help the public discourse, the best thing she could do is to keep quiet."

Grijalva said that his family has been provided with protection and that he expects further precautions will be taken by Capitol Police when he returns to Capitol Hill.

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who represents a district adjacent to Gabrielle Giffords's, said that Saturday's shooting is a consequence of the vitriolic rhetoric that has arisen over the past few years among extreme elements of the Tea Party. Read more at www.huffingtonpost.com

 

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GOP Backtracking on Promised 'Reforms' Before They Even Get Started

What the frak... Can anybody say they're surprised by this? And why are we calling this backtracking. Why don't we call it what it is...LIES... Campaign lies. They say what they need to say to get elected, to motivate their base, with some hollow pledge to America. And as soon as they take power...it's just more of the same. Are we going to see the GOP engage the other side? No, because Boehner is all talk and no action. But I guess that's what happens when you spend a couple years just saying NO, you become useless.

Amplify’d from www.huffingtonpost.com

"Let's let legislators legislate again," Boehner said, summarizing a year's worth of complaints over the Democrats' use of procedural maneuvers like the so-called "Demon Pass."

It's worth pointing out that all of these promises gave Washington Post high priest of centrism David Broder a chubby:

I'd like to see Pelosi and the rest of the Democratic leaders take Boehner up on the challenge he has raised, not try to demean it. He said, for example, that rather than stifling debate through the manipulation of rules, "we should open things up and let the battle of ideas help break down the scar tissue between the parties. ... Let's let legislators legislate again." It would be great if the leaders could engage each other seriously at the start of the next Congress on rules and procedures for doing the nation's business. There's no excuse for the House failing to pass a budget resolution, as happened for the first time this year. As Boehner said, it boggles the mind that spending bills for major government departments are lumped together in an indigestible mass. When large majorities of the nation's voters voice disdain and distrust for a Congress that is supposed to represent them in writing the laws, it is not just a problem for one party or the other. It is a threat to our system of government.

As it turns out, nobody should have taken Boehner seriously. For example, remember that time you were warned that the GOP don't really care about reducing the deficits? You should, because when I say "that time," I mean, "all of the time." But the editors of the Washington Post only just got the news Monday, so for the benefit of anyone else who's been living beneath a rock lately, here's another reminder, from Brian Beutler:

Republicans' deficit reduction platform, which may have helped catapult them into the majority, is about to run headlong into a hard reality: Many of their key policy goals will increase the deficit dramatically. To get around this fact, they've included measures in their new rules package to exempt some of their biggest legislative priorities from deficit consideration. Among the exceptions, which the House is likely to consider in the 112th Congress, are the health care repeal bill (scheduled for a vote a week from Wednesday), the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, an AMT patch, extending the estate tax, and more. Read more at www.huffingtonpost.com

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How long are we all going to fall for it? Politicians saying what they never mean.

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Blah, blah, blah...from both sides! Politicians say exactly what they think YOU want to hear. They all read right out of the same play-book...and it always has the same ending! Once they take office, all the important issues they talked about get put-off or buried beneath bureaucratic bullshit. The only thing that becomes important to them, is the game of politics. It's apparent because very little get's done in Washington. And now, with the party of "NO" in control of the house, I see more of NOthing getting done.

Amplify’d from www.huffingtonpost.com

As we get ready for John Boehner to take the gavel from Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday, I find myself thinking back to the last time a Republican speaker took control of the House from a Democrat -- and reflecting on how far down the wrong road we have traveled since then. It was January 1995, and Newt Gingrich, now considered a right-wing bomb thrower, was taking the gavel from Tom Foley. After taking the oath of office, he delivered a speech that praised FDR as "the greatest president of the 20th century" and presented concern for the least among us as a shared national objective. "The balanced budget is the right thing to do," he said. "But it does not in my mind have the moral urgency of coming to grips with what is happening to the poorest Americans." For the incoming Republican speaker, reducing poverty and lifting the poor into the middle class was a moral imperative beyond the left vs. right battlefield -- not just the purview of lefties, socialists, and community organizers:

So now, with poverty higher than it was 16 years ago, with greater income inequality, and with the middle class struggling to hold on, what will Speaker Boehner make his number one priority? According to the Washington Post, it's "cutting spending," followed by repealing the healthcare law, and "helping get our economy moving" (no specifics on how he plans to do that).

Interestingly, in his first speech as speaker, Gingrich also talked about being moved by the woes of school kids.

Yet we saw on 60 Minutes that he's very aware of how fragile the American Dream has become, telling Lesley Stahl, "I can't go to a school anymore. I used to go to a lot of schools. And you see all these little kids running around. Can't talk about it." And he choked up when he did try to talk about "making sure these kids have a shot at the American Dream, like I did. It's important." Read more at www.huffingtonpost.com

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Free speech and the internet?

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I guess you really need a PhD in Political Science to take something as simple as Net Neutrality and turn it into some complicated, hole laden piece of legislation. They're going to take one of the most simple and beautiful creation's (the internet), and turn it into some money hungry beast that take's a bite out of you every time you log-on. Access to the internet need's to stay simple. Give me a fast, stable connection to the "WHOLE" internet. Leave the internet alone for me to explore, search and discover as I always have.

 Don't, don't, don't...speed up access to a certain content provider's because they can afford fee's that other's may not. I might not ever come across that little hole-in-the-wall restaurant with rave reviews, or that quirky clothing store, or the mom & pop electronic store because of major chains paying to get preferential placement or throughput. Or...worst yet, some of our content providers either can't or wont pay the fee's and will slowly die out, leaving us with fewer choices. Don't narrow our choices further by charging us a fee to "get-on" then charging us or the content provider a fee to get to the information we want.

 It's simple...charge me what you need to charge me to get me on. But once I'm on....leave me alone. I'll find my own way.

Amplify’d from www.pcworld.com

We need to make access to information on the Internet a basic human right; otherwise, the rights we've enjoyed for centuries will melt away, buried under miraculous technology controlled by robber barons with dollar signs dancing in their heads.

This is what the ISPs want in both the wired and wireless Internet worlds. If we let it happen, we'll get exactly what we deserve: all our information spoon-fed to us by faceless corporations that have nothing to do with anything other than the fact that they think they can.

This is the crux of Net neutrality. Soon, all media will go through the same high-bandwidth pipes. That even applies to today's print newspapers and magazines. Once they go fully digital, there will be vanishingly few ways to access that content without an Internet subscription and a computer.

Look at the cautionary example of television. It used to be that you purchased a TV once and the signals you received flowed freely through the air. This is still true, but over-the-air TV is not anywhere near as common as cable, satellite, or fiber-based television. The majority of Americans pay not only for their televisions, but also for access to the content unavailable over the air -- content produced by an increasingly small number of creators.

A call to arms for Net neutrality As I noted in my Dec. 21 post, the FCC's Open Internet Order is a bad omen for Net neutrality. In response, we need to push much harder in the opposite direction. We must work toward establishing unfettered Internet access as a right similar in status to that of First Amendment free speech. After all, the Internet is the conduit through which free speech is and will be heard for the forseeable future. If we allow corporations to control access to that speech, it might as well not exist.

The questions in the Rasmussen poll could have been lifted from The Onion. They're not about an open Internet; the people responding just think they are. Here's a sample: "What is the best way to protect those who use the Internet -- more government regulation or more free market competition?" Whoever came up with loaded questions like these knows exactly why they're worded that way.

The New Year is upon us, and I still can't stop running dystopian Net neutrality scenarios through my head. Maybe that's because -- in the wake of the FCC's sorry compromise, ironically named the Open Internet Order -- I keep encountering confused, misinformed coverage of the issue. You can see the effects in polls like this one from Rasmussen. But don't blame the respondents; blame the questions they were asked. Read more at www.pcworld.com

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What side of the aisle does a patriot stand on?

I was just reading a blog post and a couple statements really stood out.  First of all, from the blogger, I guess you have to be on the right side of the aisle to be a patriot.  Just because I think different than you, or have views opposite of you, doesn't make me any less of a patriot than you.  I criticize and bitch a lot, but I would never attack someones patriotism, or make them feel any-less of an American because of a difference of opinion. We can agree to dis-agree, that is for sure. This is what makes America great....right?  Don't be branded by titles, or think that someone else's views are crazy because they're different from your's. We can hate their views, oppose their views, debate their views...and also respect their views...and their patriotism! http://amplify.com/u/k8yd

Corruption. The GOP calling this administration corrupt...really? Do they just hope we have memory problems?

Amplify’d from www.huffingtonpost.com

The GOP's top House investigator in the new Congress is putting the White House on notice that he's going to be aggressive in going after what he considers wasteful spending by the Obama administration.

California Rep. Darrell Issa is set to lead the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee -- and gain the chairman's subpoena power.

During an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday morning, Issa was asked about a suggestion he made in November following the elections that President Obama "has been one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times." The Republican congressman found himself addressing the controversial remarks despite having already expressed regret over his choice of words.

I corrected -- what I meant to say -- you know, on live radio, with Rush going back and forth -- and by the way that was because Rush had me on to answer the question of -- about coming together, having compromise. He didn't like the compromise word, when I said we're going to agree to disagree and then we're going to find a kind of common ground, the kind of compromise that makes -- and gets things done. In saying that this is one of the most corrupt administrations, which is what I meant to say there, when you hand out $1 trillion in TARP just before this president came in, most of it unspent, $1 trillion nearly in stimulus that this president asked for, plus this huge expansion in health care and government, it has a corrupting effect. When I look at waste, fraud and abuse in the bureaucracy and in the government, this is like steroids to pump up the muscles of waste.

In a separate appearance on "Fox News Sunday" over the weekend, Issa suggested the White House hire more accountants -- not lawyers -- to deal with requests for information from the Republican-led House. He said that it's "more of an accounting function than a legal function" and suggested the White House look at wasteful spending -- not the GOP -- as the enemy. Read more at www.huffingtonpost.com

 Corrupt...corrupt, they're all corrupt! The GOP needs to stop blaming the other side for being corrupt. It's like calling the kettle black. I'd say our whole system is corrupt. I guess it's true what they say..."power corrupts". And isn't that sad. They have all this power and what do they do with it...really, what do they do with it. Money corrupt's, power corrupts, and there is a lot of both in Washington. When the Republican's had the Whitehouse it wasn't any better. I think it was worse, much worse. There were more lies, more secret's, and I didn't see one of their sorry ass's being dragged in with a subpoena when Obama took up residency. And you want to talk spending. The Bush Whitehouse didn't even give a second thought on spending. Did the GOP balk at the spending then.....NO. Remember that word NO, it's all we get out of the GOP now. Why didn't we get it then? Are the GOP going to do what they did to the Clinton Whitehouse when they gain subpoena power. Drag us through years of bullshit...again. How dare any member of the GOP state that this is one of the most corrupt administrations they've seen. Did they have blinders on up until a couple years ago. I don't have a short-term memory problem, I remember how they controlled the Whitehouse & congress. I'm tired of politicians having memory problems because it means we're going to end up going down that same road again. Look were 8 years got us...we were just now putting on the breaks and starting to turn things around. But because of all the short term memory problems in Washington, all the lies and misinformation coming from the GOP and that fake news channel. Because of our laziness to seek out the truth and demand the truth, we get spoon fed bit's & pieces of whatever information they want you to have. All I hear coming out of the GOP right now is all the bitching and whining about the successful lame duck session the Democrat's just had. Or the threats of sobpoena power, or....I can go on. It's your turn again GOP...which road are you going to take us down, one of your roads well traveled?

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As New Congress Begins, Actions of G.O.P. Leaders Anger Tea Party Activists. Get ready...here it comes!

Your damn right it was blatant! They should have been that damn blatant the previous 2 years. Maybe a lot of them would still have a job. It frankly ticks me off that now...just now, they're finally able to work and pass some of the legislation that we put them there to do. It's amazing when they're not on the campaign trail the work they can get done. I don't believe the Tea party would be in the position they're in now, if the democrat's would have shown this kind of leadership and excitement in getting things done. And it doesn't surprise me one bit, the GOP not viewing this session as a win for America, but instead, calling for an end to the lame duck session because it was so productive. I don't know about you, but I'm going to expect a whole lot more out of the GOP now that they control congress. The word "NO" just ain't going to cut it any more. I sure hope John Boehner like's his TEA bending over.

Amplify’d from www.nytimes.com

As Tea Party politicians prepare to take their seats when the 112th Congress convenes this week, they are already taking issue with Republicans for failing to hold the line against the flurry of legislation enacted in the waning weeks of Democratic control of the House of Representatives and for not giving some candidates backed by Tea Party groups powerful leadership positions.

Just a month ago, Tea Party leaders were celebrating their movement’s victories in the midterm elections. But as Congress wrapped up an unusually productive lame-duck session last month, those same Tea Party leaders were lamenting that Washington behaved as if it barely noticed that American voters had repudiated the political establishment.

In their final days controlling the House, Democrats succeeded in passing legislation that Tea Party leaders opposed, including a bill to cover the cost of medical care for rescue workers at the site of the World Trade Center attacks, an arms-control treaty with Russia, a food safety bill and a repeal of the ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military.

“I’m surprised by how blatant it was,” he added.

“Do I think that they’ve recognized what happened on Election Day? I would say decisively no,” said Mark Meckler, a co-founder of Tea Party Patriots, which sent its members an alert last month urging them to call their representatives to urge them to “stop now and go home!!” Read more at www.nytimes.com

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Divided we stand, divided we fall. What exactly is compromise?

I hate that our country seems to be so polarized.  To the point that conversation has ended.  I have a clear understanding of where I stand, which is on the left, and I love to debate the issue's.  I also like to listen to people who have a different take on things than I.  I want to understand.  In understanding, I can better debate and explain my beliefs, while trying to interpret theirs.

In conversation, even heated conversation, it creates a dialog where things can only move forward, albeit, very slowly, but at least forward.  When we dig our heels in and refuse to listen, we start to criticize and demonize and even hate the other side.  We eliminate any chance of compromise.

I do it to...it's so easy to stop conversing, listening and even hating.  We become disappointed, angry, or feel disenfranchised. Then all we do is talk over and through each other, not to each other.

Has it always been this way in politics?  I can't remember too much before the Clinton White House. (This is also the time I started to have a real passion for politics).  But to me, this is the time it seems, when the real divide became?  It's the first time that I noticed or felt, real hate in politics.  I'm sure it's always been there, but this hate seems to have eliminated any conversation, any debate, any compromise.  With this much hate and discourse, why would anybody want to get involved in politics?  Really though, the only way into politics is if your a multi-millionaire. So maybe it's more like a power-thing than it is a compromise thing and we're all screwed!

I think we all need to listen more.  We may not like what we hear, but I do learn when I listen.  I believe if we listen more, we'll converse more, move forward more.  Maybe meet somewhere near the middle?  And that can't be a bad thing for compromise.

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• "Shockingly, Republicans Have No Plans To Compromise" and related posts (theawl.com)