In a Thursday interview on Fox News, failed Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum had the audacity to compare the struggles of Nelson Mandela and his decades long fight against apartheid, to the Republican’s petty political game of trying to repeal Obamacare.
Said Santorum;
“He was fighting against some great injustice, and I would make the argument that we have a great injustice going on right now in this country with an ever-increasing size of government that is taking over and controlling people’s lives — and Obamacare is front and center in that.”
These Republicans are without shame. It has dawned on me that what Rick Santorum did there, was and is a part of the Republican’s play book – keep your name in the news by saying the dumbest, most outrageous things you can, and hope that there are some in the audience who will believe.
Keep it up Ricky boy. Your plan is working and people are talking about you again. Elections must be coming again and it sounds like you’re planning another run.
This is really a snapshot of the Republican party and the morally deficient base that makes up the party. Nelson Mandela, a world-renowned and world respected leader passed away this week, and although it wasn’t expected, Ted Cruz actually said something nice about the man. He took to his Facebook page and wrote this:
Nelson Mandela will live in history as an inspiration for defenders of liberty around the globe. He stood firm for decades on the principle that until all South Africans enjoyed equal liberties he would not leave prison himself, declaring in his autobiography, ‘Freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.’ Because of his epic fight against injustice, an entire nation is now free.
We mourn his loss and offer our condolences to his family and the people of South Africa.
Seems innocent, right? Well based on some of the responses from Cruz’s Facebook fans, you will think Ted Cruz finally acknowledged that President Obama is in fact, the democratically elected and fully legitimate President of the United States.
Just look at some of the responses these people left to Ted Cruz’s post:
U.S. employers hired more workers than expected in November, cutting the unemployment rate to a five-year low of 7 percent – down from 7.3 percent in October – the Labor Department said on Friday.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report for November says employers added 203,000 jobs, surpassing October’s revised gain of 200,000. The U.S. economy has now added jobs for 45 straight months now.
“The U.S. labor market is still far from healed, but it certainly is moving in the right direction,” Eric Stein, co-director of the Global Income Group at Eaton Vance Investment Managers in Boston, told Reuters.
The economy has now generated an average of 204,000 jobs each month from August through November, despite a 15-day government shutdown in October that furloughed 800,000 federal employees. That monthly average is up from the 159,000 added per month from April through July.
“Today’s report was yet another reminder of the resilience of America’s private sector following the disruptive government shutdown and debt limit brinkmanship in the first half of October,” said Jason Furman, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, in a statement. But, he added that the 7 percent unemployment rate – 11 million people – is “stilll unacceptably high.”
They’re at it again. Refusing to pay their employees a decent living wage, McDonald’s is now tell its workers to sell off their gifts to raise cash for their bills.
As the giving season approaches, fast-food giant McDonald’s has found a new way to avoid helping its low-paid workers with a living wage: this time by urging employees to sell their Christmas presents for extra money. The helpful bit of corporate advice was posted on the company’s “McResource” employee webpage in an effort to help staff manage finances and stress as the holiday season approaches. Companies like McDonald’s and Walmart are really outdoing themselves with the holidays appaoaching: Retail giant Wal-Mart’s recently requested help with the company’s food drive, with proceeds going to their own employees, because Wal-MArt does not pay them enough to afford food.
Of course, McDonald’s also recently advised employees break food into little pieces in an effort to feel more full on less food. In yet more helpful tips from this very caring empyer, McDonald’s also recommended singing away stress and taking two vacations a year to lower the risk of heart attack. And, of course, selling your possessions is not just good for Christmas presents, they advise “selling some of your unwanted possessions on eBay or Craigslist” for “some quick cash.”
The company recommendations were publicized on Tuesday through Low Pay Is Not OK, an advocacy group for higher wages for fast food workers, arguing that the conglomorate asking its employees to make up for a lack of financial stability because of pitifully low wages was reprehensible. The organization quickly experienced blowback from McDonald’s, with the company flaming that the company-wide advice was taken out of context.
“This is an attempt by an outside organization to undermine a well-intended employee assistance resource website by taking isolated portions out of context,” the company said in a public statement.
The group was in the news earlier this month for releasing a recording of McDonald’s workers calling the company hotline asking for assistance, where the operators then urge the decade-long employee to apply for federal food stamps and Medicaid assistance.
Never, in the history of this nation, has there been another Congress as bad, as non-productive and as lazy as this Do-Nothing Congress. We’ll credit the Republicans and their no-compromising Teaparty friends for that dubious distinction.
How can you call yourself a Christian, even created a nice special name for yourself like Christian Conservative. How can you honestly say that you follow the teachings of Christ, but you listen religiously to this crazy heathen named Rush Limbaugh?
Oh I know, I know. You put your politics ahead of your religious beliefs and you prefer to listen to the heathen instead of the Pope. Especially if the heathen is critical of the Pope because the Pope preaches love, compassion and advises us to help the least among us. That message is right up your alley, so the heathen wins!
Carry on then Christian Conservative, carry on. You are known by the company you keep.
“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison,” – Nelson Mandela
Former South African President Nelson Mandela has died at age 95 of complications from a recurring lung infection.
The anti-apartheid leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate was a beloved figure around the world, a symbol of reconciliation from a country with a brutal history of racism.
Mandela was released from prison in 1990 after nearly 30 years for plotting to overthrow South Africa’s apartheid government. In 1994, in a historic election, he became the nation’s first black leader. Mandela stepped down in 1999 after a single term and retired from political and public life.
History
Born Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918, he was one of the world’s most revered statesmen and revolutionaries who led the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.
A qualified lawyer from the University College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand, Mandela served as the President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
His political career started in 1944 when he joined the African National Congress (ANC) and participated in the resistance against the then government¹s apartheid policy in 1948. In June 1961, the ANC executive approved his idea of using violent tactics and encouraged members who wished to involve themselves in Mandela’s campaign. Shortly after, he founded Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC and was named its leader.
In 1962, he was arrested and convicted of sabotage and other charges, and sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment. In 1963, Mandela was brought to stand trial along with many fellow members of Umkhonto we Sizwe for conspiring against the government and plotting to overthrow it by the use of violence.
Jailed for life
On June 12, 1964, eight of the accused, including Mandela, were sentenced to life imprisonment.
His statement from the dock at the opening of the defense trial became extremely popular. He closed his statement with: “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
Mandela served 27 years in prison from 1964 to 1982, spending many of those years at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town. While in jail, his reputation grew and he became widely known across the world as the most significant black leader in South Africa.
He became a prominent symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gained momentum in South Africa and across the world. On the island, he and other prisoners were subjected to hard labor in a lime quarry. Racial discrimination was rampant and prisoners were segregated by race with the black prisoners receiving the fewest rations. Mandela has written about how he was allowed one visitor and one letter every six months.
Free and fair
In February 1985 President PW Botha offered Mandela his freedom on condition that he unconditionally rejected violence as a political weapon but he rejected the proposal. He made his sentiment known through a letter he released via his daughter.
“What freedom am I being offered while the organization of the people remains banned? Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts,” he wrote. In 1988 Mandela was moved to Victor Verster Prison and would remain there until his release.
Throughout his imprisonment, pressure mounted on the South African government to release him. The slogan ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ became the new battle-cry of the anti-apartheid campaigners. Finally, Mandela was released on February 11, 1990 in an event streamed live across the world. After his release, Mandela returned to his life’s work, striving to attain the goals he and others had set out almost four decades earlier. In 1991, the first national conference of the ANC was held inside South Africa after the organisation had been banned in 1960.
President Mandela
Mandela was elected President of the ANC while his friend Oliver Tambo became the organisation’s National Chairperson. Mandela’s leadership and his work, as well as his relationship with the then President FW de Klerk, were recognised when they were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. South Africa’s first multi-racial elections, held on 27 April 1994, saw the ANC storm in with a majority of 62 per cent of the votes and Mandela was inaugurated in May 1994 as the country’s first black President.
As president from May 1994 until June 1999, Mandela presided over the transition from minority rule and apartheid, winning international respect for his advocacy of national and international reconciliation.
Honors and personal life
Mandela has received many national international honors, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, the Order of Merit from Queen Elizabeth II and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush.
In July 2004, the city of Johannesburg bestowed its highest honour by granting Mandela the freedom of the city at a ceremony in Orlando, Soweto.
In 1990, he received the Bharat Ratna Award from the government of India and also received the last ever Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union.
In 1992, he was awarded the Atatürk Peace Award by Turkey. He refused the award citing human rights violations committed by Turkey at the time, but later accepted the award in 1999. Also in 1992, he received of Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civil service award of Pakistan. Mandela’s autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom,” was published in 1994. He had begun work on it secretly while in prison.
The woman who Martin Bashir described as “America’s dunce” went to the safe confines of Fox News and commented about Bashir’s resegnation from MSNBC. Palin, who usually have too many words coming out of her mouth before her brain actually formulate the thought, was true to form today when asked about Bashir’s resignation.
“My role is to accept his apology and be humble enough to accept it and move on,” Sarah said. “But I just hope that unprovoked attacked like that don’t result in people being hesitant to jump in the arena anyway. To get out there and serve the public or start a business or commit themselves to changing within their family their community their world doing whatever that they can despite the fact that in this world you are gonna be hurt and attacks will come your way. I don’t I just hope that an attack like that doesn’t make people hesitate.”
Egged on by the hosts at Fox News to comment on why MSNBC didn’t fire Bashir instead of allowing him to resign, Palin stated that she was indeed happy that the same “lame stream media” she attack every chance she gets, came to her rescue.
Well it was refreshing to see though that many in the media did come out and say ‘look our standards have got to be higher than this.’ Those with that platform with a microphone a camera in their face they’ve got to have more responsibility taken.
The entire interview felt like a victory lap for those sitting on the Fox News set, as Palin took the bigger person role in a battle she quite frankly started.
Back in early November, Palin equated the national debt to “slavery,” proving that she knew nothing about slavery or what the slaves actually lived through. Martin Bashir tried to educate Mrs Palin, by quoting life stories from a diary of a slave owner. Bashir’s goal was to show Palin that if she really had any idea what slaves lived through, she would not have made such a dumb comparison.
They are frantic. These Republicans are running out of options. All the lies they have told about the president is falling by the wayside. So the next move in their playbook? Impeachment… for absolutely… no reason! He’s a Democratic President, so impeachment is their natural inclination. It’s what they do!
History will record that on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary met to consider the impeachment of Barack Hussein Obama.
They didn’t use that word, of course. Republican leaders frown on such labeling because it makes the House majority look, well, crazy.
It is, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said from the dais, “the word that we don’t like to say in this committee, and I’m not about to utter here in this particular hearing.”
One of the majority’s witnesses, Georgetown law professor Nicholas Rosenkranz, encouraged the Republicans not to be so shy. “I don’t think you should be hesitant to speak the word in this room,” he said. “A check on executive lawlessness is impeachment.”
This gave the lawmakers courage. “I’m often asked this,” said Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) “You got to go up there, and you just impeach him.”
Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Tex.), who has said there are enough votes in the House to impeach Obama, added: “We’ve also talked about the I-word, impeachment, which I don’t think would get past the Senate in the current climate. . . . Is there anything else we can do?”
Why, yes, there is, congressman: You can hold hearings that accomplish nothing but allow you to sound fierce for your most rabid constituents.
The Republicans in the House know there is no chance of throwing this president from office. Yet at least 13 of the 22 Republicans on the panel have threatened or hinted at impeachment of Obama, his appointees or his allies in Congress. They’ve proposed this as the remedy to just about every dispute or political disagreement, from Syria to Obamacare.
Tis that time of year again, the season to be jolly… but wait! Fox News is picking up right where they left off with the supposed “war on Christmas.” And Jon Stweart has something to say about that!
You see, this manufactured “war” is Fox’s way of telling the world that they are the true believers and followers of Christ. They are the only protectors of the Christ in Christmas, and any variance from the word “Christmas” is an assault on Christmas itself. So you cannot say “happy holidays” for example because that constitutes a “WAR!”
Stewart began his piece by showing the yearly jargon from Fox News, highlighting the words of Doug Napier who said that the majority of Americans celebrate Christmas, so “everybody should have the right to enjoy this season without the interference of a few bah humbug boys.” To that, Stewart asked, “how can I enjoy my Christmas when I know that somewhere, a little Jewish boy isn’t being forced to sing, Oh little town of Bethlehem? Where is the joy there?” Stewart asked, “who will save Christmas?”
He then showed Sarah Palin who, conveniently, is selling her new book about the meaning of Christmas. Stewart tore her to pieces when Sarah Palin explained that in her family, she puts out the Menorah “through December” on her kitchen table to teach her Children about the Jewish faith. Stewart pointed out that Jewish people don’t keep the Menorah out for the entire month, and it is usually in windows, not on their kitchen tables.
So since Sarah Palin is a bad excuse as the savior of Christmas, Stewart then showed another Fox News Christmas warmonger, Bill O’Reilly! Reilly of course, was bellowing about some organization or individual who was actively involved in this manufactured war. He mentioned Macy’s and Stewart quickly shut him down.
“What other secular humanist are peeing on your yule log this year?” Stewart asked.
“Macy’s!” O’Reilly continued. “This year they’re touting Santa Clause who will help you ‘with your holiday wishlist.’ So here’s my question for Macy’s,” Oreilly says, “what ‘holiday’ is Santa celebrating?”
Stewart was more than happy to answer that question, pointing out that Santa “is celebrating the feast of St Nicholas, which originated in The Netherlands in the middle ages and occurs every December 6th. But you might not have heard about that,” Stewart says, “because like every other December holiday, it was long ago sucked into the insatiable black hole that is Christmas.”
Stewart then asked if the days when Christians despised the commercialization of Christmas are gone. He showed a clip of Sarah Palin saying that she loves the commercialization of Christmas, then pointed how wrong she and others on Fox News were when they are compared to the Pope, who recently denounced commercialization and trickle down economics.
Wishing for an Elizabeth Warren Presidential candidacy in 2016? Well you may have to wait a little longer…
“I’m not running for president, and I plan to serve out my term,” Warren said in quotes that were first reported by The Boston Herald and Boston Globe. Warren’s Senate office confirmed her comments.
Warren, who has strong support among some liberals, made her remarks during a news conference with Boston Mayor-elect Martin Walsh.
Warren, a former Harvard law professor who helped launch the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, became a rising star in Democratic politics with her populist views and criticism of Wall Street.
Warren defeated GOP Sen. Scott Brown in one of the nation’s most closely watched and expensive Senate races in 2012. She will be up for re-election in the Senate in 2018, and her current term will end January 2019.
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