I have a feeling this is going to be a regular and depressing feature. From ThinkProgress:
Delivering on his vision for a "new way," Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) "is on pace to be the first governor since 1962 to have an entire Cabinet without any racial diversity." Every one of his 22 full-time agency head appointments has been a white person. Only five are women. Dubbing diversity as "metrics that people tend to focus on," Kasich said, "I can't say I need to find somebody to fit this metric" because "it’s not the way I look at those things. I want the best possible team I can get."
Yesterday, the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus held a press conference to express their waning patience with his dismissive attitude and "implore[] Kasich to make better strides to diversify his Cabinet." But according to State Senator Nina Turner (D-OH), this time Kasich’s response was a bit more blunt. According to Turner, when the caucus offered him help in finding qualified minority applicants, Kasich told Turner, "I don’t need your people."
Copy of an email sent out by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D - OH) pertaining to the lawsuit you may or may not have heard of:
Regarding Settlement of Dental Injury Law Suit
Dear Friend,
Though I would prefer to focus your attention on my work dealing with the profoundly important issues that face our nation, such as job creation, getting the economy back on track, and ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - it seems that some are more interested in discussing my personal dental issues. Given the degree of public interest you should know some details:
This injury required nearly two years, three dental surgeries, and a substantial amount of money to rectify.
The legal action you have heard about was filed due to the severity, expense and duration of the dental injury, the complications which followed and which still persist. I wanted to resolve this matter without filing a lawsuit. The events below involved numerous dental visits, more than are detailed in this summary.The dental injury set in motion a chain of dental and medical events.
When I bit into the olive pit, (unbeknown to me at the time), upon impact the tooth split in half, vertically through the crown and the tooth, below the level of the bone. Externally there was no evidence of a break. This was not about aesthetics. The internal structure of the tooth was rendered nonrestorable.Although the pain was excruciating, I shook it off and I went right back to work.
This tooth is a key tooth which anchored my upper bridgework. The injured tooth and the bone above it became infected. I took a course of antibiotics for the infection, had an adverse reaction to the antibiotics which caused me to have an intestinal obstruction and emergency medical intervention.
Later, my dentist referred me to a specialist who informed me that the damaged tooth had to be removed. A third dentist removed the tooth and I was fitted for a temporary partial. I waited for the bone to heal. An implant was placed, but it failed. Many months later still a second implant succeeded. My bridgework had to be completely reconfigured, a new partial was designed, so this injury did not affect only one tooth, but rather involved six (6) replacement teeth as well. A new crown with a new precision attachment was engineered and put in place. To clarify, no dental expenses were covered by any health plan, nor did I have dental insurance that covered the injury, which, until it was resolved, affected my ability to chew food properly.
The clamor for information about this incident requires that I provide at least this much information. I would have liked to provide such details sooner but did not want it said that I was trying the case in the media. So that is why I declined any interviews about the matter.The parties have exchanged information and after some investigation and discussion have resolved the matter for an amount all parties believe reflects the actual out-of-pocket expenses related to this incident. The terms of the settlement are confidential; however, I feel that the defendants have responded fairly and reasonably. I don't want to have to make another dental visit for a very long time, and will be making no further comment on this matter.
Thank you Tosh.0 for the horror that is Jay Herrod.
This is tame. Visit his page to see all 63 videos covering topics from more Selena Gomez to politics to his most recent video [kinda NSFW], in which he appears to be wearing just a loose skirt, announcing his appearance at an Austin, TX club to do a sexy birthday strip tease.
I apologize in advance. But it's a bad you have to experience.
Okay then. Now we're going to talk about the rebuttals. Hehe, I said butt.
Paul Ryan
It's official! Or just the official response. Honestly, on the kind end, it was as vapid as Jindal's. No ideas, mostly negative, same damn talking points. Negatively, he said basically if we don't do what Republicans say is best, "America's best century will be considered our past century." Ass.
But I couldn't focus for more than a few minutes at a time on his words. Why? Holy shit, Paul Ryan looked like he was stoned off his ass. His droopy, pink-ass eyes made him look like he'd just stumbled off the Mystery Mobile before getting in front of the cameras. I was looking for Scooby Snack crumbs on his suit in HD. Ryan: don't you have someone who looks at you before you get on camera? What if you'd fallen asleep and someone drew a dick on your face in Sharpie? Damn!
That's all I have on Ryan. But we're not done! Oh, no. If you thought the Official Republican Rebuttal was all you got in this deal, you're wrong!
Michele Bachmann
Michele Bachmann pulled some awesome stupid in garnering the blessing of delivering the Tea Party rebuttal and CNN ate it up.
This is kind of like Ryan's rebuttal, but I'll bullet it for the sake of ...well, everyone loves bullets. (I mean bullet points people! I'm not advocating violence by discussing HTML type layout! JFC!)
Are you truly starting your speech with a stock photo of the Constitution in the background? Who did this setup? AWFUL!
Speaking of which, now we're doing graphs. Graphs? Were you living in a cave when Perot did his shit? Even I remember that!
Slavery ended with our Founding Fathers? Are you in the 1st grade module of your GED?
Lies and lies and lies and lies and lies.
If you can't look into the camera, you're FAIL. FAIL all over. Look into the camera! OMFG!
Did you just say "Iwo Jama?"
It only gets worse from here, folks.
Paul Broun
Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA, failed color spelling as child) had his own little rebuttal. Okay, it wasn't actually a rebuttal. It was more like he decided to NOT show up for the State of the Union and hang in his office man-cave and live-tweet about what he was seeing on the teevee. I'm not fucking kidding. Baby-cakes was grumpy - or pounded a little too much merlot with Boehner tailgating - and sat in his office during the SOTU.
Live-tweeting? You bet. Here are a few delicious bits out of the 24 posts he made after he opened the bottle:
All children will be poor if we continue with Obama's policies #fb #SOTU #TCOT
From my seat, Obama's call for more investments sounds like more govt spending #fb #SOTU #TCOT
I wonder if those kids can read their diploma. A lot of hs graduates cannot.
Mr. President, you don't believe in the Constitution. You believe in socialism.
The Republican Party is the party of K-N-O-W. ... But we are the party of N-O against socialism and that’s what Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama have been proposing is a greater take over of everything in human endeavor in America.
Ah, so not just irrational and potentially drunk and obviously crazy, but totally fucking paranoid. That's the kind of leadership we need in the country. Hell, we don't even need that type of irrational stupidity in this country. Scary thing is, he's an elected leader.
...and if you call now...
Seriously, not done. Not yet. Why?
Christine O'Donnell
Our resident "not a witch" Christine O'Donnell was booked on Good Morning America. And she was pissed because all the good ideas were actually hers. Durr.
Seriously, next year, when Obama's giving the SOTU, why don't we treat it like it should be treated: a poorly-planned, inappropriate funeral service. Have all the Republicans hang out after the speech and then Boehner - after the President leaves - states "If anyone would like to say something about the speech, please come forward." And Boehner feeds them merlot and everyone can be judged by what they say in one place and feed the needed late-night numbers for all the cable stations.
Last night's SOTU was lovely. We had the prom scenario, Republicans and Democrats sitting together. We had red and blue and purple ties, and everyone clad in black/white ribbons as a show of support of rememberance of the Arizona shooting. The speech was leaked a couple hours before 9pm EST. I was watching CNN.
The following is a list of things I noticed or noted while watching and drinking beer:
The Event
Walking in: Jaws? I don't know who this, but he needs to fire his orthodontist.
Walking in: Hillary: "Great speech!" Obama: "I know; I don't even have to give it." (seriously, this was said - good job on the mics!)
Obama says everyone can "work together tomorrow." Everyone clap! Love-in! "This is the dawning of the age of..." Oh, but maybe he meant "Tonight: go pound salt."
Anyone else notice the CNN audio was over-modulated? Shouldn't this sound professional?
Woohoo! I love Google and Facebook! Friend me! - seriously, if he'd mentioned a Foursquare swarm, everyone would've flipped their shit.
Ah, Boehner. Speaker Boehner. He was wearing a red tie but then spilled merlot on it tailgating. His facial expressions gave it all away, though:
Mean jowl curl "Argh, oil and insurance buys my merlot!"
Lots of zoning out "I'm gonna drink the shit out of some merlot later."
Confused "But- but- what about...? Who are you? You don't know me!"
Nose wipe "Shouldn't have done that line with Cantor in the john. Hehe. My name's John."
Yes, the science fair rocks over the Superbowl (Nerds represent!), but they don't have nearly the quality of commercials.
South Korea teachers are called "Nation Builders." Sorry, that hints of scary nationalism.
"Become a teacher!" Really? Maybe when we actually look at teachers like your Ideal Goggles do. I'd lose my house before going back to teach high school in NC where I started at $23,500 minus taxes minus 10% mandatory retirement, out of pocket expenses, and requirements of time and money I don't have for "continued education" classes. Seriously, you might have well said "Ditch diggers are treated like shit. But we need ditch diggers! Become a ditch digger!"
$10K/yr tax credit for college tuition is going to do nothing to change the general trend of faster and higher tuition rates, a.k.a. the financial rape of college students.
The POTUS is 100 feet from you and you're really reading the leaked speech as its being given?
Nice reminder of the things government controls that might be considered socialism but are actually a good idea: speed limits and child labor laws.
Did the lower-third font guy take a really long shit? Actual labels for audience shots? I could count on them on one hand.
Napping count: 3. But I wasn't looking that hard.
Dear President Obama: the Taliban is a bad, bad organization. You pronounced it "Tallie Bonne" and we were wondering if that is a stage comedy, dance troupe, or candy.
Rebuttals
Paul Ryan gave the official Republican rebuttal-- Actually, between the-- trust me, the rebuttals need their own post. Link will be here once I finish composing it.
Tonight the proceedings of the State of the Union Address will begin at 8pm EST with the hoopla and pundits talking over live camera with the actual address beginning around 9pm, concluding around 10pm.
Then, as is normal, Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) will deliver the official Republican party rebuttal to Obama's speech.
BUT WAIT! There's more! If you tune into CNN for your coverage, you'll be treated to Michele Bachmann's (R-Minn.) Tea Party rebuttal. That's right - crazy as a meth'ed up mumbling transient, Michele Bachmann will be addressing the nation.
But wait. CNN?
Yep. Apparently not even Fox has announced that they will air her speech in its entirety. Just CNN. And hell, they've got my vote. I'll be there with pen and paper busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest to make notes on all the crazy.
Sidenote: Tea Party Express will be streaming live on their site, but since conservatives don't know how to work those internets, they'll probably all be watching CNN too :)
How many times do we have to listen to Sean Hannity and the rest of the goons on the right disregard well-founded opinions and ideas because the poor caller might not be able to come up with a quote on the spot of something that happened 12 years ago? What about berating callers for not reading thousand-page bills when they had their interns do the markup of the good parts?
"No, give me an example; you obviously don't know what you're talking about. Heh heh."
Today I had the frustrating joy of hearing Hannity address the MTV show "Skins," a fictional new show on MTV that portrays very young, very horny kids. The OMG TMZ WTF flap going on now is that the entertainment media is tossing around terms like "child porn."
Rut-roh, our hero Seannity to the rescue! Only Sean did nothing more than trip over his cape. He apparently had gone through the extent of skimming an article about outrage over a show before offering platitudes about the bigger themes like: the viability of potential lawsuits, how far artistic expression needs to go to get a point across, and lamenting the loss of innocence of children.
But he never saw the show. He had no knowledge that it was an American remake of a British show. He kept calling it a movie.
Note to Sean: offering uninformed opinions is just that no matter what the setting. You want to rail against the show? Buck up and watch the damn thing. Then you can sanctimoniously lead the charge to save the souls of the youth of America.
But right now? "No, give me an example; you obviously don't know what you're talking about. Heh heh."
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