In perhaps the least surprising news of the day Bobby Jindal drops out of 2016 presidential race.

Bobby Jindal displaying one of the word's creepiest smiles.

Courtesy of TPM: 

Republican presidential candidate and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal suspended his bid for the presidency Tuesday night. 

"It's been a great honor for me to run for President of the United States. To put it in perspective, my parents came to this country 45 years ago. They came here for freedom and opportunity," Jindal said on Fox News. "I don't think in a million years they would have ever imagined that I would be governor or one day I would be running for President of the United States. The reality is, though, they told me as a young child, Americans can do anything. I believed them then, I believe them now. This is not my time." 

"I've come to the realization this is not my time," Jindal continued. "So I've come here to announce that I'm suspending my campaign for President of the United States."

I have news for Piyush Jindal. It will NEVER be your time.

I have always found Jindal to be an especially creepy and smarmy political, in a party chock full of creepy and smarmy politicians.

Currently the very brown Governor Jindal is focused on denying the very brown Syrian refugees  from coming to his state,  demonstrating very clearly that racism is more than just skin deep.

So of course the next question is, with Jindal out who is next?

President Obama slams Republican presidential candidates over talk of "religious test" for Syrian refugees.

Courtesy of Buzzfeed: 

Toward the end of his press conference on Monday, President Obama became animated, sharply criticizing the idea that the United States should no longer accept refugees from Syria, or only accept Christians, as some including Ted Cruz have suggested. 

“When I hear folks say that, well, maybe we should just admit the Christians, but not the Muslims,” Obama said, “when I hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious test for which person who’s fleeing from a war-torn country is admitted, when some of those folks themselves come from families who benefited from protection when they were fleeing political persecution, that’s shameful.” 

“That’s not American,” he continued. “That’s not who we are. we don’t have religious tests to our compassion.”

I heard this in the morning, and I could not have been more proud of our President.

Here is just a sampling of what some of those running to replace him have been saying: 

In a letter to Ryan, Ben Carson -- the retired neurosurgeon and a Republican front-runner -- called for Congress to block funding for any programs "that seek to resettle refugees and/or migrants from Syria into the United States, effective immediately." 

"Until we can sort out the bad guys we must not be foolish," Carson said in a news conference in Nevada. 

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee similarly heaped pressure on Ryan, saying in a statement: "Speaker Ryan needs to make it clear that if the President won't stand to protect America from wholesale open borders, then Republicans will." 

"If Ryan will not lead and reject the importation of those fleeing the Middle East without assurances that we can separate refugees from terrorists, then Speaker Ryan needs to step down today and let someone else lead," Huckabee said. 

In addition, Govs. John Kasich and Bobby Jindal of Ohio and Louisiana, respectively, said they would work to keep refugees out of their states. 

And Sen. Rand Paul, another 2016 contender, introduced legislation that would block the United States from issuing visas to refugees from countries with a high risk of terrorism in an effort to "stop terrorists from walking in our front door."

And of course it was Jeb Bush who said we should only accept Christian Syrian refugees for right now. 

These assholes do not even deserve to the right to stand in the same room as our President much less replace him in the White House.

During religious liberty conference attended by Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, and Bobby Jindal, crazy Christian pastor says even crazier things about "teh gays" than the usual crazy things said by crazy Christian pastors.

Courtesy of Right Wing Watch:

 After interviewing both Mike Huckabee and Bobby Jindal at his "National Religious Liberties Conference" this morning, radical right-wing pastor Kevin Swanson returned to the stage to discuss the issue of how Christians are to live in an increasingly debased and secular society. 

During his remarks, Swanson reiterated his view that both the Old and New Testament require the death penalty for the crime of homosexuality, as well as his position that any Christian who attends a gay wedding can only do so in order to hold up a sign informing the couple that they ought to be put to death. 

He drove home his point with a passionate declaration that if he ever found out that his own sons was gay and that son invited him to his wedding, he would show up covered in "sackcloth and ashes" and then smear himself in cow manure as he sat on the steps of the church and wailed lamentations. 

"Carving happy faces on the sores?" WTF does that even mean?

You know I have spent quite a few years documenting the crazy, but THIS guy is really reaching for new levels.

I mean just listen to his voice and watch his eyes. The guy is all kinds of unhinged.

If I were a serious candidate for the presidency I would not be seen anywhere near a guy spouting nonsense like this.

Which I guess tells you all you need to know about the seriousness of Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, and Bobby Jindal.

Presidential hopeful Bobby Jindal responds to the Oregon shooting by attacking the shooter's father.

Piyush "Bobby" Jindal

So apparently Piyush wrote a missive on his campaign website (Caution you may have to blow off the cobwebs to read it.) where he rants about the Oregon shooting, the decay of society, and of course President Obama and Hillary Clinton.

He starts off warning us that this is going to be a sermon, but since I am an Atheist I don;t have to sit through that crap anymore, so I will skip most of it.

(Trust me you are not missing much, as he pends most of the first part throwing spitballs at the President.)

However then Piyush comes the important part which he labels "The Brew of Decay." (Ooh spooky!)

And you can tell it's important because he puts bullet points next to each of them.

So I will include them all, cause I think I kind of have to.

Here they are:

• We glorify sick and senseless acts of violence in virtually every element of our pop culture, and we have been doing that for at least a generation. (Yes because earlier generations certainly never spent all of their time watching war movies and detective and cowboy shows on TV or anything.)
  
• Our movies and TV shows feature a continuous stream of grotesque killing of every kind imaginable. And this is true of virtually every genre, from horror to drama to comedy. (Hey!
• We celebrate and document every kind of deviant behavior and we give out awards to producers who can push the envelope as far as possible. Rape, torture, murder, mass murder, all are cinematic achievements.  (Does he mean like "The Godfather," Apocalypse Now," and Clint Eastwood movies?)
  
• Our music does the same thing, we promote evil, we promote the degradation of women, we flaunt the laws of God and common decency and we promote it all and we flood our young people with it. (Okay he's got a point there.)
  
• We have generations of young boys who were raised on video games where they compete with other young boys around the country and the world to see who can kill the most humans. We make it so fun, so realistic, so sensational. (Actually studies show that violent video games do NOT make kids more violent.)
  
• We devalue human life, we have no regard for the sanctity of human life in any regard, from the unborn, to the old, and to every single person in between, we devalue it and act as if we have almost no regard for humanity. (Does he mean like starting wars based on false information and then sending our young people to die and murder for a lie? I'm kidding, he is talking about abortion of course, which as we know is the driving force behind most school shootings. Right?)
  
• Our families are a complete mess, and we have raised tens of millions of young boys who will never become real men because they have no values whatsoever, they have no truth in their lives, and they have no regard for common decency. (What young boys is he hanging out with?)
  
• Oh, we make sure that we stop them from bullying at school, but we are completely fine with them watching people get murdered and raped on the internet after school, and we are willing to let them go to the basement and join a fantasy world where they pretend they are killing people for 2 hours after school. (So to be clear, bullying an actual live person at school is fine, but shooting at groups of pixels on a screen or playing D&D in your basement leads to a murderous rampage? Perhaps Piyush should read some of the reports about what motivated some of these school shooters.)
  
• And who is it that generally commits these evil acts of mass murder that are becoming routine? It’s almost always young men who have either no father figure in their lives, or a broken relationship with their father. Is this just a coincidence? Of course not. (Oh he wouldn't go there, would he?)
  
• Now, let’s get really politically incorrect here and talk specifically about this horror in Oregon. This killer’s father is now lecturing us on the need for gun control and he says he has no idea how or where his son got the guns.
• Of course he doesn’t know. You know why he doesn’t know? Because he is not, and has never been in his son’s life. He’s a complete failure as a father, he should be embarrassed to even show his face in public. He’s the problem here. (Yep, he would.)
  
• He brags that he has never held a gun in his life and that he had no idea that his son had any guns. Why didn’t he know? Because he failed to raise his son. He should be ashamed of himself, and he owes us all an apology. (Holy shitballs! What kind of POS attacks a grieving father like this? This man did not provide those guns for the massacre, his mother did.)
  
• When he was asked what his relationship was with his son, he said he hadn’t seen him in a while because he lived with his mother. Case Closed.

 So I think this is where Piyush drops the mic and walks off stage.

Which I hope is somewhat less awkward than when he walks up to a podium.

You know I am all for fathers being involved in their children's lives. I actually hope that both parents are equally committed to raising and supporting their kids.

However to make a blanket statement like the reason behind gun violence is absentee fathers is so incredibly ignorant that it does not warrant an actual response.

And attacking a father, who is grieving the loss of his son, for speaking out as is his Constitutional right, well that is beneath contempt.

Simply put the obvious reason for this shooting and ALL of the others is easy access to guns. As Piyush Jindal might say, case closed!

I would suggest that this might be why Jindal is currently polling at a whopping one percent, but then again this is the GOP race and this kind of ignorance probably plays well with them.

In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that I was raised by a single mother. Not once did it even occur to me to shoot up a school.

(H/T to Wonkette.)

Insiders predict that Rick Perry will be the first Republican to drop out of the race.

But look how cute I am in my new glasses. Doesn't that count for anything?

Courtesy of Politico:

Forty percent of early-state Republicans and nearly half of early-state Democrats believe Rick Perry will be the first candidate to drop out of the presidential race. 

That’s according to this week’s POLITICO Caucus, our weekly bipartisan survey of the top strategists, activists and operatives in Iowa and New Hampshire.

“No money and cannot gain traction, even though he has the best record and a superb message,” lamented an Iowa Republican. “Best retail politician I have ever seen, yet not able to pick up interest against a strong field. Where was this guy last time around?” 

Less charitably, another Iowa Republican said, “When you’ve suspended all staff pay, the writing is on the wall. His team suggests he’ll have a memorable debate moment. Unfortunately for Rick Perry, that moment happened in 2011, oops.” 

Recently Perry stopped paying his staff due to problems with fundraising, which is never a good sign.

And once the ex-Governor of Texas drops out that might start a chain reaction which will see others with low poll numbers following suit.

Right now according to Real Clear Politics Rick Santorum, Lindsey Graham,and Bobby Jindal are all polling at around one point apiece. (In Graham's case that number is occasionally zero.)

Well personally I will be a little disappointed to see Rick Perry go. I was really looking forward to his one upping the famous "oops moment."

Oh well there are still plenty of clowns crowding the car, so I seriously doubt that the entertainment will stop any time soon.

Governor Bobby Jindal defunds Louisiana Planned Parenthood clinics in response to hoax video, even though they do not perform abortions.

Courtesy of Salon: 

On Monday, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced that the state would be terminating Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid provider agreement because — take a deep breath, people, this one’s a run-on — “multiple videos have surfaced showing Planned Parenthood Federation of America senior personnel and other employees describing how they actively engage in illegal partial birth abortion procedures and conduct these abortions in a manner that leaves body parts intact so that they can later be sold on the open market.” 

Following in the footsteps of Sarah Palin by buying into the narrative perpetrated by the Planned Parenthood hoaxers at the Center for Medical Progress, Jindal stated that he had “directed the Department of Health and Hospitals to investigate Planned Parenthood’s activities in Louisiana” — which do not include any of the procedures discussed on the deceptively edited videos, for the simple reason that neither of the two remaining Planned Parenthood clinics in Louisiana provide abortion services. 

In effect, Jindal is ordering an investigation into something that can’t possibly occur based on video evidence that shouldn’t be trusted, but he is in the running for the Republican presidential nomination — if only barely — and further defunding Planned Parenthood is a cheap way to score points among socially conservative primary voters.

Wasn't it just two years ago that Jindal was begging the GOP to "stop being the stupid party?"

Looks like somebody should have taken his own advice.

Speaking of stupid Brancy is still promoting those videos like crazy.

Let's face it without the stupid people there simply wouldn't be a GOP base.

Shailey Tripp's movie "Boys Will be Boys" is no more.

Courtesy of the "Boys Will be Boys" movie site: 

July 17th 2015 

It is with great sadness that we announce that, despite our best efforts to make the book "Boys Will Boys" (by Shailey M. Tripp) into a movie, we have been forced to suspend any further work on the project at this time. 

We have encountered many hurdles while nevertheless making progress in this project. However, the most significant and damaging situation was provided in recent weeks when it was announced from the Louisiana State Capitol that the Governor of Louisiana had signed-off on a cap to limit tax credits for movie-makers in the state. This has led to severe uncertainty within the industry, including announcements of varying veracity, that movie productions scheduled to be produced in Louisiana as well as existing productions already being filmed in Louisiana would be pulling out or relocating to alternative states. 

Such a measure has caused severe nervousness and an atmosphere of uncertainty among potential investors throughout the industry, such that interest in "Boys Will Be Boys - The Movie" has cooled to the extent that Pink Hat Productions can no longer afford to support the project to its intended scale. 

We would like to thank all those individuals who have made a commitment to the project, including those who have worked countless hours and to those who have given donations to help us defray the costs of the campaign, to help us in our efforts towards in trying to achieve the considerable amount of funding required to get the movie under way. We will do everything we can to preserve the property and hope very much that we can resurrect the project in some way in the future. 

Stephen James 
Partner and Executive Director 
Pink Hat Productions, LLC. 

First off I have to say that I don't personally think this film had anything to do with Bobby Jindal's decision to cap tax credits for movie makers. (That's actually a fairly crazy thing to assume, but you know somebody will.)

Secondly I have not spoken with Shailey since January so I have no update on how she is or how this is affecting her.

As you probably remember a year ago Shailey was attacked, and briefly hospitalized, but since then I have only had minimal contact with her.

If anybody knows anything more, feel free to share the information here. (As long as it does not reveal Shailey's current location of course.

In the least surprising turn of events ever conservative presidential candidates jump on news of the heavily edited video about selling fetal body parts to attack Planned Parenthood.

Courtesy of Politico: 

Ted Cruz released a statement calling the video “sickening” and urged Congress to begin an investigation into the Center for Medical Progress’ allegations. 

“There is no place for taxpayer funding of organizations that profit from taking away innocent life, much less profiting off the bodies of the lives they have stolen,” Cruz said. “It should renew efforts to fully defund Planned Parenthood to ensure that its morally bankrupt business receives not one penny of taxpayer money.” 

“The video showing a Planned Parenthood employee selling the body parts of aborted children is a disturbing reminder of the organization’s penchant for profiting off the tragedy of a destroyed human life. It is because of stories like this that I signed legislation defunding Planned Parenthood in the state of Texas — to protect human life and the health and safety of Texans,” former Texas Gov. Rick Perry said in a statement on his website. 

“The callous disrespect for human life revealed today sickens me,” Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul tweeted. “It’s time for pro-lifers to take a stand. It’s time to defund Planned Parenthood.” 

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker called the video “absolutely horrifying and disgusting” and said that “Planned Parenthood and the Democrats who vote to fund this organization owe the American people an explanation for these heinous, and possibly illegal, actions.” 

Carly Fiorina, currently the only woman running on the GOP side, wrote a statement on her Facebook page. “This latest news is tragic and outrageous. This isn’t about ‘choice.’ It’s about profiting on the death of the unborn while telling women it’s about empowerment,” the post says.

Bobby Jindal went even further: 

Jindal issued a statement earlier Tuesday calling for a Department investigation into Planned Parenthood, saying the video appears to show the discussion of a "systematic harvesting and trafficking of human body parts." 

Jindal's statement indicates he believes Planned Parenthood may be breaking federal laws -- he called for the FBI to intervene -- that bar anyone from selling body parts taken during abortions. The Planned Parenthood statement denies that's the case. 

Jindal has said DHH can't issue licenses until the investigation is complete. That order could affect a Planned Parenthood facility in New Orleans.

Jesus these people are predictable.

In the meantime Media Matters has determined there are three very deceptive edits in the video that deserve attention.

Okay you know this just might animate the conservative base for a little while, but I seriously doubt this is going to help any of these GOP candidates improve their poll numbers.

However, sadly, it really could do serious harm to Planned Parenthood, and that would be a very real tragedy.

Sarah Palin's crusty granny panties are so in a twist over this video that she cannot understand why God is not smiting the crap out of us right this minute:  

Ask yourself, how is it that our Creator stays His hand when these atrocities happen right under His children's noses? How is our God so merciful that He seems to grant us unmerited chances time and time again to get it right, whilst this hell on earth continues. In fact, it's becoming more accepted and celebrated by voters choosing to elect our nation's "leaders" who would condone, uplift, and revel in the destruction of all He's so gloriously blessed us with? How much longer? His mercy is inexplicable. How much longer?

Damn, it looks like somebody is really, really losing it these days.

Update: And then things got even stranger.

Courtesy of Palin's Facebook page:

What If They Were Dead Puppy Parts Instead of Dead Baby Parts? 

I'm confused, are we talking about unborn puppy parts? And would they be used to help cure diseases?

Bernie Sanders might be trailing Hillary Clinton, but he is kicking ass when compared to some GOP challengers.

Don't count me out.

The Washington Post has a couple of graphics that I found interesting.

Here is the first:

As you can see on this chart Bernie Sanders barely breaks the top ten.

However as you can also see NOBODY even comes close to overtaking Hillary at this point, so whether it be second, third, fourth, or even tenth place everybody is eating mouthfuls of Hillary's dust.

But when you compare the actual voters who support Sanders to the actual voters who support some of the other GOP presidential hopefuls our resident democratic socialist does much better than one might expect.

As you can see Sanders actually has more voter support than Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal, Carly Fiorina, John Kasich, and Rick Santorum combined.

Here is how the Washington Post explained this: 

Sanders won't be the Democratic nominee. And neither Fiorina, Kasich nor Graham are likely to be the GOP nominee. Among Americans at large, though, Sanders has a lot more supporters than any number of the often-talked-about Republicans.

Which kind of tells me that if there were no Hillary Clinton in this race, or say Jeb Bush, that Bernie Sanders might not be quite the long shot that everybody seems  to assume he will be.

Today is the Faith and Freedom Summit in Iowa. Where conservative presidential candidates gather to give a reach around to Jesus.

Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal:  

For Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum – who won Iowa’s last two caucuses on the strength of evangelical voters – doing well at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition’s gathering this weekend is a must. 

“Santorum and Huckabee are the two who really have the most at stake,” said Sam Clovis, a Sioux City social conservative who placed second to Joni Ernst in Iowa’s 2014 GOP Senate primary. “Between Huckabee and Santorum, they need to come back and recapture some of that magic they had in ’12 and ’08.” 

Altogether, nine Republicans likely to make 2016 presidential bids are scheduled to speak at Saturday’s Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition Spring Kick-Off . The subtext for the event won’t be subtle: It is taking place at the evangelical Point of Grace megachurch in Waukee, a Des Moines suburb, and will attract the leading activists from Iowa’s social conservative community.

Well this is the can't miss event of the year for those Republican candidates who want to lock down that holier than thou vote. 

But wait, something seems amiss.

According to that announcement up above, Cruz, Fiorina, Jindal, Santorum and Walker are all definitely coming. While Bush, Carson, Christie, Graham, Huckabee, Paul, Pence, Perry, Rubio, and Trump have all been invited to show up.

But somebody's missing.

Oh that's right.

But wait, even if she is NOT running why would she skip this event?

After all it has her favorite things. Faith, freedom, free publicity, and yet she is not only not a confirmed speaker, but it appears that she was not even invited.

Could it have anything to do with the fact that the last time she showed up in Iowa, this last January for the Freedom Summit (Just freedom, no faith.), that she made such an incredibly incoherent speech that she actually received thanks from the Democrats?

Is it possible that she has finally made herself such a laughingstock that even the Iowa freedom loving faithful cannot stomach her act anymore? And is that also why she bailed out of her NRA appearance in Nashville?

Could this actually be the end?

Oops it looks like Sarah Palin will not be announcing her candidacy for President at the annual NRA leadership forum after all.

So as I posted last month Palin was among a who's who of potential GOP presidential candidates invited to speak at the NRA's leadership forum this weekend.

And then suddenly, sometime early this afternoon, she was no longer listed on the NRA's official page.

Here was the response over at Sea O'Pee:

Breaking news. Sarah Palin cancels NRA appearance. Read it on their website.

This of course caused a lot of  hand wringing and concerns that something bad had happened, as they had all but convinced themselves that this was the perfect platform for her to announce her candiacy.

As of right now there has been no reason provided, but there was this article over at the The Tennessean: 

Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has suddenly canceled her upcoming appearance at the National Rifle Association's Annual Meeting in Nashville later this week. 

But Palin canceled her visit on Wednesday, Jennifer Baker, director of public affairs for the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, confirmed. 

Baker did not provide a reason for Palin's cancellation.

Well since we don't have any official word as to what made her suddenly drop out, let the wild speculations commence!

Potential GOP presidential candidates rush to defend Indiana's controversial "religious freedom" law.

Courtesy of CNN:  

Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum and Ben Carson are rushing to defend Indiana's "religious freedom" law, standing with social conservatives on a measure that opponents have said opens the door to discrimination against gays and lesbians. 

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, meanwhile, is backing the "principle" of the measure. 

The likely Republican contenders for their party's 2016 presidential nomination supported the law the day after Indiana Gov. Mike Pence struggled to explain it in an appearance on ABC's "This Week." 

"Gov. Pence has done the right thing," Bush, the former Florida governor, told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday evening. 

"This is simply allowing people of faith space to be able to express their beliefs -- to be able to be people of conscience," Bush said. "I think once the facts are established, people aren't going to see this as discriminatory at all."

Actually in the last several days we have all learned quite a bit about the "facts" and they have only reinforced that this law is going to be used to discriminate against gay people.

A fact driven home during the Governor Pence interview with George Stephanopoulos where he was repeatedly given the opportunity to say that the law would NOT discriminate against gays, and flat out refused to do so.

And let's not forget that it was only in 2004 when the Republicans, including Jeb's brother, were pushing pretty hard to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment, that would have outlawed gay marriage completely.

Even still I find it almost impossible to believe that ANY conservative politician seeking national office in 2016 would allow their name to be associated with this Indiana law in any way.

But hey it's their political funeral. 

Sarah Palin joins list of potential presidential candidates speaking at NRA meeting in Nashville next month.

Courtesy of The Tennessean:  

Add Sarah Palin to the list of Republicans set to come to Nashville next month for the National Rifle Association's Annual Meeting. 

The former vice presidential candidate has joined the NRA's growing group of confirmed speakers for its Leadership Forum, which will take place on April 10, the first day of the three-day convention at Nashville's Music City Center. 

Palin, the former governor of Alaska who remains a powerful voice among tea party conservatives, joins billionaire businessman Donald Trump as recent additions to the NRA's Nashville lineup. Palin also spoke at last year's NRA convention in Indianapolis. 

Other speakers at this year's Leadership Forum include most of the top Republicans currently weighing presidential runs: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.

I don't think there is any doubt that Palin supporters will take one look at that list and immediately convince themselves that she is positioning herself for a run at the GOP nomination in 2016.

Of course we know she is not, but then we are using logic and those people are allergic to logic.

Gee I wonder if she will bring her shiny new Medal of Honor winner along with her to give her a little extra oomph?

By the way crazy eyes must have been checking in with us yesterday and read the comments from all of you calling her out for not posting anything on National Down Syndrome Day. So late last night she attempted to rectify that by doing the least she could do which is to post a link, with no text to accompany it.

Boy isn't she a great advocate for Down Syndrome and everything?

Of course she would do so much more if they would pay her like the NRA is doing to give that speech in Nashville. Don'tcha know?

Results of CPAC straw poll show that Jeb Bush does better than expected and Sarah Palin beats Mike Huckabee.

Here are the CPAC straw poll results courtesy of the Washington Times:  

25.7 Sen. Rand Paul 
21.4 Gov. Scott Walker 
11.5 Sen. Ted Cruz 
11.4 Dr. Ben Carson 
8.3 Former Gov. Jeb Bush 
4.3 Former Sen. Rick Santorum 
3.7 Sen. Marco Rubio 
3.5 Donald Trump 
3.0 Carly Fiorina 
2.8 Gov. Chris Christie 
1.1 Former Gov. Rick Perry 
0.9 Gov. Bobby Jindal 
0.8 Former Gov. Sarah Palin 
0.3 Former Gov. Mike Huckabee 
0.3 Former Ambassador John Bolton 
0.1 Sen. Lindsey Graham 
0.1 Former Gov. George Pataki 

1.0 Undecided 
0.7 Other 

A couple of surprises.

One that Jeb Bush was able to come in fifth in a rather hostile environment.

Two that Rick Santorum is still even allowed to participate in these things anymore.

And three that Sarah Palin was able to come out ahead of a man who actually quit his successful show on Fox to prove that he was serious about running, while all she does is shake her moneymaker until things get hot and then up and quits each election cycle.

One thing you can say about Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, he never lets the facts get in the way of a good anecdote.

That is an amazing bit of footage.

There is a British reporter, a man who actually lives and reports the news about Britain, telling Jindal that he is mistaken, and yet he continues to stick to his bullshit story about "no go zones."

Here is more courtesy of Raw Story:

 Speaking in London, Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana condemned Europe for the existence of “no-go” zones — despite the fact that the Fox News has corrected the statement about them made by guest Steve Emerson four times. But on Monday, Gov. Jindal told the Henry Jackson Society that “in the West, non-assimilationist Muslims establish enclaves and carry out as much of Sharia law as they can without regard for the laws of the democratic countries which provided them a new home.” 

“It is startling to think that any country would allow, even unofficially, for a so called ‘no-go zone,’” he continued. “The idea that a free country would allow for specific areas of its country to operate in an autonomous way that is not free and is in direct opposition to its laws is hard to fathom.” 

When asked about those remarks by CNN reporter Max Ford, the governor said that “I’ve heard from folks here that there are neighborhoods where women don’t feel comfortable going in without veils. That’s wrong. We all know that there are neighborhoods where police are less likely to go into.” 

“I think that the radical Left absolutely wants to pretend like this problem is not here. Pretending it’s not here won’t make it go away,” he added. 

Ford then asked him to elaborate, specifically, about those areas, but Jindal brushed the question aside, saying “I think your viewers know absolutely there are places where the police are less likely to go. They absolutely know there are neighborhoods where they wouldn’t feel comfortable.”

As Raw Story reports Fox News was forced to apologize for those "no go zone" stories not once, not twice, but four different times after they were called out over them by just about everybody. Including British Prime Minister David Cameron who called Emerson "a complete idiot."

So one has to wonder did Bobby Jindal simply not get the memo that the "no go zones" were a bunch of nonsense? Or did he hear that and decide "Screw it. This is too good to let a few facts screw it up for me."

Newly elected teabagging Senator Joni Ernst has been selected to give the Republican response to the President's State of the Union speech.

"Uh oh."

Courtesy of Politico:  

Newly elected Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst will give the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union next Tuesday. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called Ernst, a folksy member of the National Guard and former state senator, the “perfect” messenger for the big night. She defeated Democratic candidate Bruce Braley in 2014, taking a seat held by Democrats for 30 years.

The announcement was made at a joint Republican House and Senate legislative retreat here Thursday. 

“Americans voted for change and Sen. Ernst will explain what the new Congress plans to do and is already doing to change and what it is already doing to return Washington’s focus to the concerns of the middle class and away from the demands of the political class,” McConnell said. 

Oh this should be good. I wonder what I will find to mock this year?

Does anybody remember Bobby Jindal's incredibly awkward walk to the podium in 2009?

Or Marco Rubio's dive for the water bottle in 2013?

However my favorite would have to be Michele Bachmann's unofficial teabagger rebuttal delivered to somebody slightly off to her right.

Oh yes, Joni Ernst has a mighty large pair of clown shoes to fill.

But I've seen her talk, so I think she might be up to the job.

Hillary Clinton is by far the best known and best liked of the potential 2016 presidential hopefuls.

Courtesy of Gallup: 

Hillary Clinton is currently the best known and best liked of 16 potential 2016 presidential candidates tested in a July 7-10 Gallup poll, due to her 91% familiarity score and +19 net favorable rating. The net favorable is based on her 55% favorable and 36% unfavorable ratings.

In the graph seen above, those potential candidates in the upper-right quadrant are viewed more positively than negatively by Americans and have above average familiarity. The further candidates in that quadrant are away from the intersecting lines, the higher their scores are on both dimensions. The graph clearly shows Clinton's strong image positioning relative to other candidates at the moment for the general election. 

Now remember this is after the conservatives have been attacking Hillary unrelentingly for the past several months and have dredged up everything from Monica Lewinsky to her time as a defense attorney in an attempt to smear her name.

And recently Republican Chairman Reince Prebus  claimed that the country was suffering from "Hillary fatigue" which of course this poll blows out of the water.

There are surely more attacks to come, but the thing is that the harder they come after Hillary the more that liberals and independents see her as somebody strong enough to terrify the lunatic fringe of the Right Wing which we see today all but running the Republican party, and that can be nothing but helpful.

And the fact that Mike Huckabee has the lead among potential 2016 contenders on the Right means that the GOP really has NO strong candidate to put up against Hillary, and whoever finally manages to emerge from the bloody gauntlet of the Republican primary is going to be so beaten and bruised that all Clinton will have to do is step over their all but lifeless body to take her place as the first female President of the United States.

And if she chooses Elizabeth Warren as her running mate? Well folks the two of them will be all but unstoppable.

Faith and Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed compares the fight against gay marriage to the fight against slavery, and suggests it is still a winner for conservatives. And Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal threatens Washington D.C. with a "hostile takeover."

Courtesy of Yahoo News:  

Seeking to encourage social conservative activists to persevere in the fight against same-sex marriage, Faith and Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed drew parallels between the ongoing debate over marriage equality and the nation’s long struggle over slavery and civil rights for African-Americans. 

Speaking to about 40 attendees at an afternoon breakout session during the organization’s annual “Road to Majority” conference in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Reed gave a speech in which he suggested the 1857 Dred Scott Supreme Court decision —which ruled that African American slaves remained the property of their owners even if they traveled to or resided in free states — held a lesson for contemporary conservative activists concerned about what they see as judicial overreach on the issue of gay marriage. 

Before the abolitionists triumphed, Reed reminded, it appeared for many years that the courts would squash the hopes of human rights reformers. 

“The battle looked like it was lost, but it really wasn’t,” Reed said of the immediate aftermath of the Dred Scott decision, which went on to embolden abolitionist activists. “And that’s kind of like where we are right now. Anybody heard lately that we’re losing the marriage issue? Anybody heard that argument? You notice some similarities? I’m not comparing slavery to same-sex marriage, OK? (Yes you are.) I’m just pointing out that when you have these fights, what’s interesting is that if you look at same-sex marriage, it’s now legal in 17 states.”

Continued Reed: “Only six of them, six out of those 17, six out of 50 states, had done it by referendum or by state legislature. In every other case, it was imposed by courts. Just like the courts had to impose Dred Scott. Because they couldn’t do it on the country because the country didn’t agree with it. The country, by the way, doesn’t agree with same-sex marriage.”

Seriously what part of the country is HE looking at? Just the South?

There is literally progress being made almost on a daily basis for gay Americans, and if the conservatives keep fighting against granting them rights, the Republican party will go the way of the Whigs well before 2024 when they might actually have a shot at the Presidency.

Which by the way might not be a bad thing.

And if that were not batshit crazy enough Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal seemed to be calling for an open revolt against President Obama and the White House in his speech on Saturday.

 Courtesy of NBC News:  

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Saturday night accused President Barack Obama and other Democrats of waging wars against religious liberty and education and said that a rebellion is brewing in the U.S. with people ready for "a hostile takeover" of the nation's capital. 

Jindal spoke at the annual conference hosted by the Faith and Freedom Coalition, a group led by longtime Christian activist Ralph Reed. Organizers said more than 1,000 evangelical leaders attended the three-day gathering. Republican officials across the political spectrum concede that evangelical voters continue to play a critical role in GOP politics. 

"I can sense right now a rebellion brewing amongst these United States," Jindal said, "where people are ready for a hostile takeover of Washington, D.C., to preserve the American Dream for our children and grandchildren." 

The governor said there was a "silent war" on religious liberty being fought in the U.S. — a country that he said was built on that liberty. 

"I am tired of the left. They say they're for tolerance, they say they respect diversity. The reality is this: They respect everybody unless you happen to disagree with them," he said. "The left is trying to silence us and I'm tired of it, I won't take it anymore."

You know usually the domestic terrorists are more low key than this.

Exactly what does one do when the governor of a state is calling for a hostile, and I assume heavily armed, takeover of the United States government?

Governor Bobby Jindal to appear on season opener of Duck Dynasty.

Courtesy of On Politics:

 Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is set to appear on Duck Dynasty when the reality show returns to TV next month for its sixth season. 

Jindal, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, defended family patriarch Phil Robertson’s right to free speech last year when he was briefly suspended by A&E for making anti-gay comments in a magazine interview. The governor has called the Robertson family, whose Duck Commander empire is based in West Monroe, La., “great citizens” of the state. 

A&E says the Duck Dynasty season premiere on June 11 will feature an appearance by Jindal, who will present Willie Robertson — CEO of the family’s business — with an award. 

In February, Jindal was at Duck Commander headquarters to present the first Governor’s Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence to the Robertson family. The award is aimed at honoring “homegrown Louisiana businesses that grow and provide more opportunity, more jobs and more commerce” for the state, according to a news release from the governor’s office.

You know if Jindal thinks that his appearance will improve the ratings of the show he might want to rethink that strategy. I think it is far more likely that associating with the Robertson's might damage his political aspirations.

However the reason for his support might be more financial rather than altruistic.

Take a look at this from an industry blogger:

I often write about the absurdity of film subsidies and in the United States, one of the biggest offenders is the state of Louisiana which offers a 35% subsidy for film and television shows that shoot there. This is sort of why you probably see so many shows with Louisiana-based themes like Duck Dynasty. 

This subsidy also goes to pay cast salaries which reportedly is $200,000 per episode. That means the Louisiana taxpayer cut Duck Dynasty producers a check of about $70,000 per episode for each cast member...

That's quite an investment, and I am sure that Louisiana has benefited in the past from having such a high profile show filmed in their state, however I think that considering the amount of anger and vitriol that the Robertson clan has attracted as of late, that ANY politician who gets close to them might find their careers caught in the vortex as the show sinks into the icy depths of viewer apathy.

Jon Stewart eviscerates Sarah Palin over her Waterboarding/baptism remarks.

Click image to play video

Palin: "If I were in charge..."

Stewart: "All I can say there is thank God that is a hypothetical."

Palin: "They would know that waterboarding is how we baptize terrorists."

Stewart: "Where is that speech even appropriate? At an Al Qaeda recruitment how-to video workshop? At the yearly gathering of the Dummolos?"

Stewart goes on to mock Palin for several more minutes, which he concluded in this segment, during which Stewart also went after Wayne LaPierre, Rick Santorum, and the NRA in general for promoting gun violence as a remedy for all kinds of perceived ills, including government overreach, Obamacare, public education, Benghazi, Fast and Furious, etc.. etc., etc..

Ultimately Stewart's point was that as crazy as Palin's remarks seemed, at the NRA convention she was speaking to a crazed choir who agreed with, and parroted her every opinion.

And that is by far the most troubling thing about all of this. Not that Sarah Palin says crazy things, but that there are so many others who find what she says perfectly reasonable.