The Washington Post attempts to understand how Donald Trump's disdain for the truth earned him the White House.

“Since the liar is free to fashion his ‘facts’ to fit the profit and pleasure, or even the mere expectations, of his audience, the chances are that he will be more persuasive than the truth teller.”

That is a 1967 quote from Hannah Arendt included in this WaPo article which may help to explain Trump's bizarre popularity more than just about anything else.

Since Donald Trump fashions his message for the audience he is addressing, and tells them what they want to hear, they could not care less if it is all bullshit or not.

Somebody is speaking their language, reinforcing their prejudices, and essentially complimenting them on their lack of education and poor critical thinking skills.

It must feel like heaven to them.

This from the article: 

First, quasi-fired Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski at Harvard University, making the astonishing assertion that the media’s failing during the campaign was not that it scorned Trump — it was that it believed him. 

“You guys took everything that Donald Trump said so literally,” he said. “The American people didn’t. They understood it. They understood that sometimes — when you have a conversation with people . . . you’re going to say things, and sometimes you don’t have all the facts to back it up.”

Translation: The press expected their future president to tell the truth, and that was just silly of them.

Trump supporters however did not care about the truth, only that what was said made them feel validated.

Another example:

Second, this eye-popping assertion from Trump supporter/CNN commentator Scottie Nell Hughes on the Diane Rehm Show: 

“People that say that facts are facts — they’re not really facts . . . there’s no such thing, unfortunately, anymore of facts. And so Mr. Trump’s tweet amongst a certain crowd . . . are truth.”

Translation: The truth is no longer determined by facts, but rather by who said it and the number of people who are willing to accept it without scrutiny.

Then there was this: 

Finally, the president-elect himself, who at a rally to celebrate his successful bribing of Carrier to keep some jobs in the United States, explained that he was impelled to act by a Carrier-employed supporter who had been naive enough to take Trump’s promises seriously. 

Watching the evening news, Trump said, he saw the Carrier worker say “‘No, we’re not leaving, because Donald Trump promised us that we’re not leaving,’ and I never thought I made that promise. Not with Carrier.” 

Then, Trump said, “they played my statement, and I said, ‘Carrier will never leave.’ But that was a euphemism. I was talking about Carrier like all other companies from here on in.”

So now we know that if Trump is caught in a lie by a supporter, he will simply fabricate another lie to cover for that lie.

This the reporter behind this article labels "truthphemisms."

And THAT is what it will be like to report on a Donald Trump presidency for the next four years.

Fact checking will have no value, and lies will only matter once they pile up high enough to tumble over the wall of ignorance his supporters have erected to protect themselves from the truth.

In the meantime those of us firmly planted in actual reality will stare aghast at virtually every decision made Trump and his "Cabinet of Deplorables" while actively trying to find a future candidate with the skill set to repair the damage left behind by this administration.

Hopefully there will still be something left for them to repair.

Two former Bernie Sanders supporting members of the Washington state Electoral College are threatening to vote against Hillary Clinton, potentially throwing their state to Donald Trump.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

In the looming election, a solid majority of the American people could cast a ballot for Hillary Clinton. Yet, thanks to two guys from Washington state, Donald Trump could be sworn in as the next president of the United States. 

Two men who were selected as members of the Electoral College in the likely event that Clinton wins the state of Washington, are, at the very least, uncertain that they will honor the will of the people of their state. Robert Satiacum told the Seattle Times that he is “absolutely not” voting for Clinton and that “I hope it comes down to a swing vote and it’s me,” because then “she ain’t getting it. Maybe it’ll wake this country up.” 

The other likely elector, Bret Chiafalo, says that he has “not ruled out that possibility” of voting against Clinton.

The article goes on to point out that it is not impossible that this action could throw the state to Donald Trump.

So how does it happen that two simple minded dipshits like this got elected to the electoral college?

Simple.

The fact that two men who think they have the right to override the will of their states’ voters were chosen as Democratic electors appears to be the fault of an utterly reckless method the Washington Democratic Party uses to name those electors. Electors were chosen at the state party convention in June, an event where so-called Bernie-or-Busters were overrepresented. 

In other words, rather than, say, allowing the party’s nominee to name reliable electors, the party chose to select electors during an emotional primary season at an event that could be gamed by a minority faction that was willing to sabotage the party if Democrats did not chose that faction’s preferred nominee.

Well I think my opinion of the Bernie Bros is fairly well known, and this does nothing but reinforce my belief that I was right about them all along. 

The very idea that any progressive would throw the election to a thin skinned megalomaniac merely out of spite demonstrates that these morons are too immature and under educated to participate in the election process.

Yes I did. And I still do. Just not the biggest idiot.

This is how you really know just how bad Donald Trump is.

When he makes you nostalgic for freaking George W. Bush.

Man wonders aloud if bullet proof vest will stop bullets. Friend shoots him. Spoiler alert: It didn't.

Courtesy of WFLA: 

A man wanted to see if a bulletproof vest that he had actually worked, so his cousin shot him in the chest, and wound up killing him, according to Tampa police. 

It happened at a home located on Gordon Street in Tampa Saturday evening. Shortly after 10 p.m. TPD officers responded to the home after a report of a shooting. 

When they arrived they located the victim outside of the house with a gunshot wound to the chest. In the house, the officers found blood and a bulletproof vest. Alexandro Garibaldi, 24, told them that he heard a gunshot and found the victim outside. 

But a witness at the scene told another story. The witness said that the victim Joaquin Mendez, 23, sat in a chair and put on a bulletproof vest. He wondered out loud whether it still worked. Garibaldi took out a handgun, stated “Let’s see,” and shot at the vest. The vest was found in the house with a projectile entrance hole, according to TPD. 

Mendez was taken to a hospital where he died from his injuries.

What, this happened in Florida?  Who could have guessed that?

Oh, everybody? Well okay then.

P. S. I have a new idea for gun control.

Every single person in this country can have a gun once they pass a mental health evaluation and score 100 or above on an IQ test.

That right there not only excludes Donald Trump supporters and reality show viewers from getting their hands on guns, but also everybody in the Palin household.

Happy Valentine's Day courtesy of the currently incarcerated Oregon standoff protesters.

And of course let's not forget the guy who started the whole thing.

Yep, nothing says I love you quite as much as getting yourself arrested while under the mistaken impression that you are protecting the rights of people who do not even know that you exist.

Gee, I wonder if these folks have met any new valentines since they entered the penal system?

(Source.)

These guys can't even find their way to the debate stage, and yet they want to run the country?

Okay once again, because perhaps I heard this wrong.

Ben Carson is a BRAIN surgeon right?

Man have I been giving those guys WAY too much credit over the years.

Overruling the statement by his son Cliven Bundy is urging the Oregon protesters to stay put and not give up.

Courtesy of the Guardian:

Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who led a standoff with the federal government in 2014, wants the protesters in Oregon to stand their ground – directly defying the message of his son, Ammon. 

Days after militia leader Ammon Bundy, now in jail in Portland, Oregon, called on the final four occupiers at the Malheur national wildlife refuge to surrender and go home, the elder Bundy sent a letter to government officials declaring that the armed militia would not be backing down. 

“This is notice that We the People of Harney County and also We the People of the citizens of the United States DO GIVE NOTICE THAT WE WILL RETAIN POSSESSION OF THE HARNEY COUNTY RESOURCE CENTER,” Cliven wrote in the letter, which he sent on Monday to the local sheriff, Oregon governor Kate Brown, and the White House.

Apparently the protesters renamed the refuge the "Harney County Resource Center" because...because they're assholes that's why.

Bundy also said this in an interview:

“What this is saying is that Cliven Bundy is taking control of things,” Cliven said in an interview from his ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada, on Monday afternoon. “If we don’t retain it, then we’ve lost everything that we’ve done in the last two months. We’re not gonna give up.” 

He added: “This is not Ammon’s message. This is my message ... We’ve made a decision to retain it ... The feds are going to get out of there.”

Bundy does not believe that his son's statement is real and thinks that it was released under duress. 

I have little doubt that this will inspire more people to join these idiots, and that means it is only a matter of time before somebody else gets shot and killed.

Which seems to be exactly what Bundy and his supporters are hoping will happen.

Your stupid gun stories of the day.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:  

Alaska State Troopers say a Nikiski man is dead after shooting himself while playing Russian Roulette Sunday afternoon. 

In an online dispatch, troopers said they were called to a home in Sterling shortly after 4:30 p.m. Sunday where residents told them that 31-year-old John Rutherford had been playing Russian Roulette on the couch there when he fatally shot himself. 

The incident took place in front of Rutherford’s fiancée, troopers said.

The article does not specify that alcohol was involved but this is Alaska, so yeah, alcohol was probably involved. 

And just in case you thought that all this guy needed was some instruction on gun safety, that does not necessarily insure the safe handling of a gun either.

Courtesy of  Florida's 10TV: 

A man accidentally shot himself during a gun safety class at an Orlando pawn shop. Orange County Sheriff's officials did not identify the 23-year-old victim but said the incident happened Saturday at the Instant Replay Pawn Shop and Shooting Range. The Orlando Sentinel reports the bullet grazed his leg.

And hey just in case you thought that the training police received made them more responsible, I beg to differ.

Courtesy of the Columbus Dispatch:  

A Columbus police officer accidentally wounded a 4-year-old girl in Whitehall on Friday when he fired at a charging dog, police said. 

A neighbor and the girl’s uncle identified her as Ava Ellis, who was taken to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where police said she was in stable condition. 

The officer was at the doorway when a dog charged at him, Alex-Bouzounis said. 

The officer fired once, missing the animal but striking the girl in the right leg. It was unclear whether the girl was hit directly or by a ricochet. The officer has not been identified.

Gee I wonder if the dog was black?

So there you have it, three completely unrelated incidents with individual circumstances, and one common denominator.

But remember what the NRA tells us; guns keep us safe, and more guns keep us safer.

In the world of Fox News a reduction in homework clearly shows that teachers are trying to hide something from parents.

Courtesy of Raw Story:

Fox News host Tucker Carlson asserted over the weekend that American teachers were assigning less homework because they were lazy union members and wanted to hide the curriculum from parents. 

During the Sunday edition of Fox & Friends, Carlson noted that many schools had argued that students should spend time in the evenings with their families. 

“But is this really about the kids or could it be a move by teachers unions to get teachers to do less work for, of course, the same pay?” he asked Whitney Neal, a former teacher with the Koch brothers-funded Bill of Rights Institute. 

“That’s a great suspicion,” Neal agreed. “As much as we don’t want to look at teachers that way as wanting to eliminate the amount of work they have to do, I almost think this is more of a ploy to keep parents out of the classroom, to limit the involvement parents have on what’s going on with teachers. Because if kids aren’t bringing home homework, the parents don’t really know what’s going on.” 

“That is exactly right!” Carlson exclaimed. “It’s a window for me, I think for all parents into what our kids are learning in the classroom. You can see it… So this is a way — another way to disenfranchise parents, you think?”

Wait, what?

How poorly must you think of public education to believe that reducing the amount of homework is some subversive attempt to hide class work from parents?

Does Carlson not believe that the children will show their parents completed assignments? Or bring a textbook home to study for an upcoming test? Or just talk about what they learned that day in the classroom?

Personally I have long been an advocate of less homework, which in recent years has reached levels that are almost insurmountable for young children.

I have worked with more than one teenager who has so much homework that they quite literally have no time for extra curricular activities or to spend significant time with family members during the weekdays.  

Of all of the terrible things that Fox News has introduced to this country, this vilification of teachers and undermining of our public education system may just about be the worst.

And it is dong incredible damage to the future of this nation. 

Tea Party group responds to attempts by President Obama to address global warming by using old school bumper stickers to piss of Prius owners. Seriously?

Courtesy of the Washington Times:  

Responding to the news that the Obama administration is working on an international climate change agreement that would not need the support of Congress, a tea party group is urging its members to tell Prius drivers how they feel by buying bumper stickers that say: “America Love it or Leave It.” 

TeaParty.net blasted out a fundraising email warning that Obama administration wants to sidestep Congress on the issue “regardless of the fact it is a violation of the Constitutional powers of his office.” 

“The fight will continue and with your help, we will send these elected parasites packing in November,” the group said in an email. “For the rest of the week, here is something you can do to annoy every Prius driver with an Obama sticker in the back window. For every donation over $3 this week, we have brought back a classic phrase to make it clear how you feel. Bumper stickers will not change the world, but everyone will know exactly how you feel.” 

Yes it will certainly teach President Obama not to do his job if a bunch of rednecks start slapping  Vietnam era bumper stickers on their gas guzzling jalopies.

But seriously can we really expect anything more intelligent from this group of idiots?

Good news, 3 in 4 Americans realize that the sun does not revolve around the earth. Yeah, there really is no way to put a positive spin on this.

For this I spent nine years in prison?

Courtesy of NPR:  

A quarter of Americans surveyed could not correctly answer that the Earth revolves around the sun and not the other way around, according to a report out Friday from the National Science Foundation. 

The survey of 2,200 people in the United States was conducted by the NSF in 2012 and released on Friday at an annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Chicago. 

To the question "Does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth," 26 percent of those surveyed answered incorrectly. 

In the same survey, just 39 percent answered correctly (true) that "The universe began with a huge explosion" and only 48 percent said "Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals."

This, THIS, is what the conservatives have done to education in America. 

These are not even hard questions.

Bill Nye is right, this country is going down the crapper, and the solution is more of this:

Guns and Ammo editor has the temerity to suggest that there may be a need for gun laws, loses job.

Courtesy of Slate:  

Guns & Ammo editor Jim Bequette says he was hoping to generate a "healthy exchange of ideas on gun rights" when he decided to publish a column that veered ever-so slightly from the the usual from-my-cold-dead-hands rhetoric normally found in the pages of his magazine. It's safe to say that effort didn't go exactly as he had hoped. 

After a swift and vocal backlash from readers and other Second Amendment enthusiasts, Bequette announced yesterday that he was stepping down immediately, and that the magazine was also cutting ties with the author of the piece in question, contributing editor Dick Metcalf. "I made a mistake by publishing the column," Bequette wrote in an apologetic letter to readers. "I thought it would generate a healthy exchange of ideas on gun rights. I miscalculated, pure and simple. I was wrong, and I ask your forgiveness."

So what did Dick Metcalfe do that was so wrong? He wrote this:

"I firmly believe that all U.S. citizens have a right to keep and bear arms, but I do not believe that they have a right to use them irresponsibly," Metcalf wrote. "And I do believe their fellow citizens, by the specific language of the Second Amendment, have an equal right to enact regulatory laws requiring them to undergo adequate training and preparation for the responsibility of bearing arms."

Clearly this guy does not clearly understand the 2nd Amendment as translated by gun fetishists who fantasize about the country being invaded by a brown skinned army or terrorists that can only be repelled by their private arsenal full of military style weaponry.

And clearly any attempt to dissuade them of that ridiculous concept, even from within, will be met with anger and viscious attacks from crazed gun nuts.

House Democrats could have averted the government shutdown, but Republicans used legislative trickery to thwart their attempt. #EricCantorsucks.

Courtesy of Think Progress:

Less than two hours before shutting down the government, House Republicans created a special rule to prevent Democrats from reopening the government. The House’s normal rules provide that “[w]hen the stage of disagreement has been reached on a bill or resolution with House or Senate amendments, a motion to dispose of any amendment shall be privileged” — a provision that House Democrats believe would have enabled any member of the House to force a vote on a bill to fund the government that had already passed the Senate. Yet, as Dylan Scott reports, the Republican caucus thwarted the maneuver by enacting a special rule preventing this vote from taking place. 

Under this special rule, such an attempt to fund the government “may be offered only by the majority Leader or his designee.” Thus, with a shutdown looming, the power to allow a vote that would likely have prevented the government from closing was left in Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) hands. Cantor, of course, chose not to exercise that power.

You know just when you thought you had reached a baseline for your disgust with the Republican party.

And you know the ironic thing is that if the House Democrats HAD managed to stop this they would have rescued the Republicans from themselves, and they might NOT be facing their lowest poll numbers in the history of Gallup.

Eric Cantor and his keystone Kops have damaged the integrity of our country, virtually destroyed their reputation among voters, and are in the process of possibly handing the House over to the Democrats in 2014.

Great job.

Religious Fundamentalists on Texas textbook review panels attempt to challenge Evolution and insert Creationism.

Courtesy of Dallas News:  

Religious conservatives serving on state textbook review panels have criticized several proposed high school biology textbooks for not including arguments against Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. 

The review panels include several creationists. They urge the State Board of Education to reject the books unless publishers include more disclaimers on key concepts of evolution. 

One reviewer even suggested a rule requiring that each biology book cover “creation science.” That would run counter to a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The decision banned the teaching of creationism in public school science classes. 

The evaluations will be presented at a board meeting next week. Publishers must consider them, along with testimony. They can make changes before the board votes on the texts in November. 

“I understand the National Academy of Science’s strong support of the theory of evolution,” said Texas A&M University nutritionist Karen Beathard, one of the biology textbook reviewers. “At the same time, this is a theory. As an educator, parent and grandparent, I feel very firmly that creation science based on biblical principles should be incorporated into every biology book that is up for adoption.”  (Once again, and for the five hundredth time, when scientists use the term "theory" they mean a process that is still being modified and improved, NOT that it is simply an idea with no evidence to back it up. The word in science that matches the definition of "theory" these idiots believe is being used is "hypothesis.")


Other reviewers objected to the books’ acceptance of key evolutionary principles. Among them is the fossil evidence for the evolution of humans and other life species. 

Former State Board of Education Chairwoman Gail Lowe nominated nearly a third of the 28 reviewers for biology books. A social conservative and creationist, Lowe was defeated in her re-election bid last year.

You may think that this is not such a big deal unless you live in Texas, but that is not quite accurate. As one of the largest textbook purchasers in the nation, Texas wields strong influence on books marketed in other states.

That's right. Some superstitious anti-science moron in Texas can absolutely affect the ability of other children in the country to receive an adequate education in science.

Yep, when you are a religious conservative the LAST thing you want to do is teach critical thinking skills or anything with actual facts in it which might undermine your ability to brainwash children.

Trio of teen exorcists heading to England to battle the forces of Harry Potter.

(Okay one of the young ladies is twenty, but the other two ARE teens.)

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A trio of Arizona “exorcists” has ventured to England to fight what it describes as the endorsement of satanic elements in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter book series. 

“Harry is using this magic for good,” 18-year-old Brynne Larson explains in video posted by the Daily Mail on Monday. “So here we have the dangerous idea that you can use this magic for good or bad. When in reality, all magic is bad ’cause you’re getting your power from Satan.” 

Larson and friends Tess and Savannah Scherkenback will be profiled in a BBC special on Friday discussing both their longtime friendship and their training by Larson’s father, Rev. Bob Larson, who claims to have performed 15,000 exorcisms. 

The BBC reported that Bob Larson asks for donations of $200 for each exorcism. The three girls claim in the video that the popularity of Rowling’s books marked the culmination of a rise in occult activity in England. 

“The spells and things that you’re reading in the Harry Potter books, those aren’t just something that are made up,” 18-year-old Tess Scherkenback says. “Those are actual spells. Those are things that came from witchcraft books.”

The spells in Harry Potter books are NOT made up? Well that would certainly be news to J.K Rowling, who worked so hard to invent her own word combinations for her books.

This is clearly yet another bizarre pitch for reality show fame by a gaggle of giggly girls promoted by Rev. Bob Larsen, a well known charlatan.

However the Fundamentalist freakout over the Harry Potter books is all too real.

As I watched the video up above I thought t looked strangely familiar. And indeed it did.

Personally I have always thought that the main irritation by the Christian community when it comes to the Harry Potter books is that children scrambled to read them, and they they supplanted the Bible as the most popular book. And why not? After all they are better written by far, and the allegorical lessons are much easier to understand.

But what they don't teach us is how to perform actual magic. And only an imbecile would think otherwise. Or, a trio of imbeciles.

Trump gets tripped up over allegations that his "Trump University" is a fraud.

Courtesy of US News:  

New York's attorney general sued Donald Trump for $40 million Saturday, saying the real estate mogul helped run a phony "Trump University" that promised to make students rich but instead steered them into expensive and mostly useless seminars, and even failed to deliver promised apprenticeships. 

Trump shot back that the Democrat's lawsuit is false and politically motivated. 

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says many of the 5,000 students who paid up to $35,000 thought they would at least meet Trump but instead all they got was their picture taken in front of a life-size picture of "The Apprentice" TV star. 

"Trump University engaged in deception at every stage of consumers' advancement through costly programs and caused real financial harm," Schneiderman said. "Trump University, with Donald Trump's knowledge and participation, relied on Trump's name recognition and celebrity status to take advantage of consumers who believed in the Trump brand."

Of course Trump, through his attorney, is firing back with, now try to act surprised, attacks on the Attorney General's character and motivation.

Personally I am of two minds on this story. On the one had seeing this grifter get bitch slapped by the legal system is very, very satisfying. However I have little sympathy for ANYBODY stupid enough to attend a "university" headed by one of the biggest frauds in the world.

I mean how stupid do you have to be in order to believe that you could be educated by Donald Trump?

I mean that would be like going to Glenn Beck University to learn about history.

What's next for these students, journalism classes taught by Sarah Palin?

The three R's now being taught in at least one Arkansas public school is reading, 'riting, and return fire.

Courtesy of The Star:  

When classes at Clarksville High School resume in August assistant principle Cheyne Dougan will be among the more than 20 teachers, administrators and other employees in the school district carrying concealed weapons. 

After a school shooting in Connecticut last December that left 20 children and six teachers dead, the idea of arming schoolhouses against gunmen was hotly debated across the country. 

The National Rifle Association declared it the best response to serious threats. But even in the most conservative states, most proposals faltered in the face of resistance from educators or warnings from insurance companies that schools would face higher premiums. 

Making use of a little-known Arkansas law that allows licensed, armed security guards on campus, Dougan and other teachers at the school will be considered guards. 

Why anybody would take school safety advice from a lobby that represents gun manufacturers is beyond me. You know if they had solicited advice from a lobby representing guard dog companies, every child would now be provided a German shepherd or rottweiler.

Which, by the way, would be infinitely more effective than giving old Mrs. Lundquist down the hall a Beretta, with the instructions "Don't shoot any of the kids."

However not EVERYBODY in Arkansas embraces the Wyuatt Earp  teaching model.

State officials are not blocking Clarksville’s plan, but Arkansas Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell is opposed to the idea of arming teachers and staff. He prefers to hire law enforcement officers as school resource officers. 

There are other dissenters, too. Donna Morey, former president of the Arkansas Education Association, called the idea of arming teachers “awful.” The risk of a student accidentally getting shot or obtaining a gun outweighs any benefits, she said.

Gee ya think?

Well I foresee a definite upsurge in purchases of these things.

Oh yeah, that should keep the kids safe while their teachers open fire on every unfamiliar face that walks down the school hallway.

And THESE are the people we are trusting to educate our children.

I hate to say this but if your children are attending this school, or one that follows suit, I totally support your choice of placing them in a private school, or, and I can't believe I am saying this, homeschooling them.

After all being raised in ignorance beats being shot in the head by your educator any day.

Just another reminder as to why I don't shop at Wal-Mart.

Just add this to my previous posts about why I avoid this store.

Seriously if they filmed a reality show about Wal-Mart shoppers nobody would believe it.

Well besides Wal-Mart shoppers of course.

Report exposes fact that Tea Party groups are really a astro-turf organizations that were originally funded by tobacco companies. In other words they serve as camouflage for big business interests and have NOTHING to do with individual freedoms.

Courtesy of  an exhaustive research paper published earlier this year:

Background 

The Tea Party, which gained prominence in the USA in 2009, advocates limited government and low taxes. Tea Party organisations, particularly Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, oppose smoke-free laws and tobacco taxes. 

Methods 

We used the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library, the Wayback Machine, Google, LexisNexis, the Center for Media and Democracy and the Center for Responsive Politics (opensecrets.org) to examine the tobacco companies’ connections to the Tea Party. Results Starting in the 1980s, tobacco companies worked to create the appearance of broad opposition to tobacco control policies by attempting to create a grassroots smokers’ rights movement. Simultaneously, they funded and worked through third-party groups, such as Citizens for a Sound Economy, the predecessor of AFP and FreedomWorks, to accomplish their economic and political agenda. There has been continuity of some key players, strategies and messages from these groups to Tea Party organisations. As of 2012, the Tea Party was beginning to spread internationally. 

Conclusions 

Rather than being a purely grassroots movement that spontaneously developed in 2009, the Tea Party has developed over time, in part through decades of work by the tobacco industry and other corporate interests. It is important for tobacco control advocates in the USA and internationally, to anticipate and counter Tea Party opposition to tobacco control policies and ensure that policymakers, the media and the public understand the longstanding connection between the tobacco industry, the Tea Party and its associated organisations. 

In other words the Koch brothers, and other big businesses, used the model already put into place by big tobacco companies when they were trying to manufacture fake grassroots resistance against laws restricting smoking in public places or the introduction of cigarette taxes that they knew would impact their ability to make money.

All they had to do was give it a shiny new name, access the same easily manipulated group of dipshits, and the next thing you know they had a new political "grassroots" movement willing to jump through whatever hoops you held up for them, so long as they kept inspiring their anger with words like "freedom," "traditional values," and "communism."

And THIS is the group now keeping the Republicans on a short leash and fro all intents and purposes holding out country hostage

Republican's favorability polls are at their lowest point ever. When asked for comment John Boehner said, "Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi!"

"They hate us, they really, really hate us!"

Courtesy of Business Insider:  

The number of Americans who view the Republican Party unfavorably has hit a record high, according to a new poll released by CNN on Monday, despite scandals that have plagued the White House over the past few weeks. 

The poll found that 59 percent of respondents view the GOP unfavorably, a record that has only shown up one other time in the poll's results since tracking began in 1992. 

The Republican Party's net favorability ratings are down 8 points in the past two months. The amount of respondents viewing the GOP favorably fell from 38 percent to 35 percent, while the number of people who view the party unfavorably climbed five points, up from 54 percent in March. 

Benghazi-gate, IRS-gate, Umbrella-gate, oh yeah this approach is working out PERFECTLY for the GOP.

In fact so ridiculous has this situation become that even GOP aides are mocking House Republicans about their fixation on Benghazi behind their backs:

Roll Call reports that Republican aides are saying staffers are getting bogged down chasing bogus accusations. 

“We have got to get past that and figure out what are we going to do going forward,” a GOP aide told Roll Call. “Some of the accusations, I mean you wouldn’t believe some of this stuff. It’s just — I mean, you’ve got to be on Mars to come up with some of this stuff.” Another aide expressed frustration at accusations that military assets weren’t properly deployed during the night of the attacks and that a team from Tripoli could have been flown in to fight off the attackers: 

“There are some real issues there and then there is just some crazy stuff,” the senior House GOP aide said. “The crazy stuff is, you know, the airman in Ramstein [Air Base, Germany,] that knew that the Predator [drone] was armed. There are no armed Predators in the region there. The [status of forces agreement] does not allow us to fly them armed, and everybody knows it.” [...] 

GOP aides described another criticism aired at a recent House Oversight Committee hearing that there were four security officers at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli who were ordered to remain in the capital for several hours after the first reports of an attack, rather than being scrambled to assist the consulate in Benghazi. 

“The stand-down order was for four guys,” the GOP aide said. “When you step back and say how were the people killed at the annex, they were killed by an indirect fire mortar round. Four more M-4s [rifles] inside the annex doesn’t change that outcome. In fact, they might have just created more casualties. We have got to get down to what really happened on the DoD side and for us the DoD side was not properly postured, why?”

Gee when even your aides know you are chasing your tail, it is well past time to get a grip.

In other news the President's poll numbers are actually up and he appears to be virtually unscathed by everything the Republicans keep throwing his way. 

You know, and this is just me thinking out loud, perhaps it is time for the Republicans in the Senate and the House to STOP constantly trying to undermine this President, and instead start doing the job that their constituents sent them to Washington to do.