Breaking News: Rick Scott is Rich

Most people leave government to make more money. Gov. Rick Scott got richer in office. Scott is currently worth $132.7 million.

The documents released by Scott, whose net worth grew from $83.8 million a year earlier, came as the governor filed paperwork to qualify for re-election.

Scott's personal wealth grew by $48.9 million. In fairness, Scott's wealth shrank from 2010. A big part of that was spending $73 million of his own money on his campaign. It is mibd-boggling that someone would spend that amount if money on a public office job.

Elise Stefanik Flees Interview

Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R - NY) helped write the Paul Ryan plan to privatize Social Security. Stefanik is being less than candid when she says she will not vote to make changes in Social Security.

“As a member of Congress, I will fight for our seniors and will not vote to make any changes, reductions, or cuts to those in or near retirement.”

WNYT asked Stefanik for specifics about how she would protect Social Security. The reporter wanted more than talking points. That was too much for Stefanik and she walked away from the interview. Literally.

Quote of the Day

"I am not going to give you a number for it because it's not my business to do intelligent work."

Donald Rumsfeld, for Defense Secretary

Truer words have never been said.

Rumsfeld was questioned by the House Armed Service Services Committee in 2005 about the number of insurgents in Iraq. Rumsfeld dodged the question because he had no idea. This is what happens when a Defense Secretary doesn't do either intelligence or "intelligent" work.

The Florida Progressive Caucus and Charlie Crist

Florida Progressive Coalition head Susan Smith has been less than enthusiastic about Charlie Crist winning the Democratic nomination for governor. Smith was Nan Rich's biggest public supporter. The Florida Progressive Caucus is a member of the Florida Democratic Party structure. Which makes Smith's disparaging remarks about Crist stand out.

Smith told William March of the Tampa Tribune that there was a lack of enthusiasm for Crist's candidacy.

But Rich backer Susan Smith, of Tampa, president of the state party’s progressi ve caucus, said her supporters “will vote for Crist, but I’m not sure if the enthusiasm will be there or if people will be working for him. People don’t get excited about voting against something. They get excited about voting for something.”

Smith gave another lukewarm response about Crist to MyNews13.

Despite the effort, some Democrats aren't thrilled about Crist being the nominee.

"People are discouraged about the governor's race," said Susan Smith. Smith is President of the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida.

Mitch Perry asked Smith if she would support Crist. Her statement was underwhelming.

“I will no longer speak out and criticize on issues that I care about,” was as far as Susan Smith would go when asked about her support for Crist.

I asked Florida Democratic Party chair Allison Tant on the Florida Progressive Caucus's lack of public enthusiasm for the party's gubernatorial nominee.

Q: There have been people on social media that have suggested that FDP bylaws allow the Florida Progressive Caucus to speak out against party nominee Charlie Crist. Florida Progressive Caucus head Susan Smith has been rather negative against Charlie Crist publicly since he won the nomination. For the record: is the Florida Progressive Caucus allowed to publicly not back Crist?

Allison Tant: Nan Rich has shown the way to go. She has asked her supporters to support Charlie. I think if the caucus wanted to have an honest conversation with Charlie rather than a contentious one, one where they would honestly listen, they would be happy with his answers. We have too much ground to cover to allow division to occur.

Q: Thank you for your response. On the record question. What happens to the Florida Progressive Caucus's membership if they continue to be outspoken against Crist?

Allison Tant: I am going to have to review with the rules committee. It galls the hell out of me.

We will see what happens next.

Inside Tea Party Republican Congressional Offices

This was actually a posting for an internship opening in Rep. Steve Stockman's office. The lack of maturity in the says much about how congressional offices are run by tea party Republicans.

Personality and ideology are important. Please bring a confident, vigorous intellect and no drama. Ideal candidates will be true patriots who can count up to 17 in trillions, and care more about future generations than they do about sucking up to current leadership. Mushy pleasers/appeasers keep walkin’. HINT: vapid granolas who fear guns, hate babies, are ashamed of America, and think Islamic terrorists and illegal aliens are just misunderstood will not be comfortable here. Reply to:kim.tapeATmail.house.gov.

I'm speechless.

Friday Cat Blogging

Bullet the Cheetah is happy to be out of the rain. Cheetah's have to have the most soulful eyes of any cat.

Jon Stewert On the Fox News Coverage of Ferguson

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This is one of the best commentaries Jon Stewart has delivered on The Daily Show. Fox News has a history of factually inaccurate racist attacks. New Orleans has a mostly black population. Bill O'Reilly accused the victims of Katrina to be drug addicts.

Many, many, many of the poor in New Orleans are in that condition. They weren't going to leave no matter what you did. They were drug-addicted. They weren't going to get turned off from their source. They were thugs, whatever.

O'Reilly came back from vacation to attack Al Sharpton and justify the shooting of Michael Brown. To show how bad of a journalist O'Reilly is, he reported that Brown broke police officer Darren Wilson had a broken eye socket.

CNN debunked the story that Wilson's eye socket was broken.

Now, CNN’s Don Lemon has reported that Wilson did not, in fact, have a broken eye socket, but was treated at the hospital for swelling around his face and eyes. Lemon has not revealed the source of the information, citing instead “a source close to the investigation,” which, frankly, is just as shady as the opposing rumors.

“The source says it is not true, at all, he did not have a torn eye socket,” Lemon said. “Unequivocally.”

The story of Wilson having a broken eye socket was first planted in the blogosphere by Jim Hoft. Hoft is known as "The Dumbest Man on the Internet." Hoft has a history of either running with false or factually inaccurate stories. The fact that O'Reilly would report Hoft's claim says much.

Hoft ran an X-Ray that people believed was of Wilson's eye. Charles Johnson found it to be a stock jpeg you can find on Google.

And there’s more evidence that Hoft is trying to pull a fast one again; here is the original image posted at the AAPOS site, showing a CT scan of a blowout fracture (on the left), compared to the image posted at Gateway Pundit by Hoft (on the right):

Notice the difference? In the version posted by Jim Hoft, the text at bottom right that says “UNIV OF IOWA” has been crudely erased. Caught you, Jim.

This gives you an idea of the level of fact-checking done by Bill O'Reilly.

How you can tell O'Reilly is spieling racist garbage is when he compares the Michael Brown investigation to the OJ Simpson trial verdict. OJ Simpson was accused of murdering two people. Michael Brown was shot dead by Darren Wilson. The two things have nothing in common. O'Reilly uses OJ Simpson to demonize Brown. What O'Reilly will not mention is that Michael Brown had no criminal record.

Bill O'Reilly is a horrible person.

Photo of the Day

Preach it GRandma.

Deleted Tweet of the Day

The NRA deleted this tweet because of the accidental shooting death at the Last Stop range in White Hills, Arizona.

Instructor Charles Vacca was instructing a 9 year-old girl. Yacca was killed when the gun recoiled and fired. ABC News reports.

Sam Scarmardo, who operates the outdoor range in the desert, said Wednesday that the parents had signed waivers saying they understood the rules and were standing nearby, video-recording their daughter, when the accident happened.

Investigators released 27 seconds of the footage showing the girl from behind as she fires at a black-silhouette target. The footage, which does not show the instructor actually being shot, helped feed the furor on social media and beyond.

"I have regret we let this child shoot, and I have regret that Charlie was killed in the incident," Scarmardo said. He said he doesn't know what went wrong, pointing out that Vacca was an Army veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The gun was obviously too powerful for a 9 year-old girl to fire. The NRA wants more children on the shooting range. The NRA does not seem to understand or care about the deadly power of firearms.

Pam Bondi is TBT's Loser of the Week

Steve Bousquet awarded Pam Bondi the well-earned title of political loser of the week.

Pam Bondi. The attorney general, who immediately appealed a South Florida court ruling overturning Florida's same-sex marriage ban, is becoming the face of opposition to marriage equality. All signs point to the tide of history rolling over Bondi, who is up for re-election in November.

Hysterical sidenote: Bondi has been divorced twice. I don't think Bondi's divorces are a threat to the institution of marriage. The same holds true for gay people marrying.

Quote of the Day 2

“We need to look at the states, which are lavatories of innovation and democracy, reform. We need to unleash the competition between the states for jobs, innovation and opportunity.”

Rick Perry, at the Americans for Prosperity event on Friday in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Comparing states to toilets is Perry's idea of testing the waters for another presidential run. This man is so unbelievably stupid.

Quote of the Day

"Why doesn't Meet the Press make John McCain its host? He can interview himself every week and cut out the middleman."

Bruce Bartlett, on Facebook.

I'm holding out hope for McCain getting his own variety show.

Buffalo Tom - Sunflower Suit

This was Buffalo Tom during their noisy J Mascis influenced fazed. They would later become folky.

Why Helen Mirren Is Awesome

Write A Caption: John Boehner and His Monkey

The toy monkey was given to John Boehner as a gift. Boehner says he feels like a wind-up monkey with his busy schedule.

"Every 15 to 30 minutes, they come in and wind me up and I do my thing," Boehner says in the video.

Tea Party Activist Tom Tillison Supports Voter Suppression

The least shocking news ever is that Orange County, Florida tea party activist Tom Tillison supports voter suppression. Money quote from Facebook.

I'm a white Republican, of course I advocate for voter suppression. Haven't you been paying attention! LOL

That Tom Tillison. What a jokester.

Fun fact: Tillison wrote a hysterical post on how Satanists were helping Charlie Crist's campaign against Rick Scott.

It's Over For Nan Rich

Okay Nan Rich supporters. Explain to me how Nan Rich won a good campaign. The Tampa Bay Times is reporting Charlie Crist won 74 percent of the vote. Would you compare Rich's campaign to LBJ's defeat of Barry Goldwater or Ronald Reagan's defeat of Walter Mondale? Would you use Nan Rich's campaign as a blueprint for how future Democrats should run statewide races in Florida?

Nan Rich never set-up an ActBlue page. Her netroots outreach was nonexistent. She was a horrible fundraiser and would often not inform the media of her campaign appearances. Not a brilliant strategy for a candidate lacking media coverage. The worst part is Rich will convince the Florida Democratic establishment that progressives can't win statewide races. Rich's candidacy did no favors for progressives.

Jennifer Carroll Vs Rick Scott

Steve Bousquet must have drawn the short straw and had to read the Jennifer Carroll book for the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald political news team. Carroll served as Rick Scott's Lt. Governor. Carroll's book "When You Get There" paints a picture of Rick Scott being emotionally disconnected.

"During my entire time in office, I never received a birthday card or an anniversary card or anything that showed a personal touch," she wrote. "No matter what I did to try to establish a relationship with the governor, nothing worked."

Clarence McKee told Bousquet that Carroll's account in the book of her minority voter outreach is correct. Susie Wiles, Scott's 2010 campaign manager supported Carroll's claim on how Carroll was placed on the ticket. Scott only conducted one interview with Carroll.

Wiles said that account was accurate. A long-time friend of Carroll’s, Wiles said she didn’t think the book would damage Scott’s re-election prospects. “I have a negative view -- as I think most people do -- of people who do these kiss-and-tell books after they have been trusted as part of the inner circle,” Wiles said.

According to Carroll, Scott showed no concern when Carroll fell and hit her head in a church. If true, this doesn't surprise me.

Dubious Rubio Heckled by DREAMERS

If anyone thought that Sen. Marco Rubio can help get out the Hispanic vote than they are sadly mistaken. Rubio was heckled by DREAMERS at the Faith and Freedom BBQ in South Carolina.

United We Dream released a great statement.

“If Sen. Rubio wants us deported, we’re here to ask him to tell us to our faces,” she said. “We went to Sen. Rubio’s office in Florida, but his staff hid and closed the doors on us, so we’re here to let him know that Dreamers do not forget, and that we will fight to keep our DACA. The Florida immigrant community must see that Sen. Rubio does not stand for us.”

It is hard for the Rubio to say anything to the DREAMERS faces when they are getting kicked out of the BBQ. That is the point. The same thing happened to a DREAMER during a Paul Ryan book signing.

Bob Buckhorn Takes the Ice Bucket Challenge

Rep. Kathy Castor dared Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn to take the ice bucket challenge. The Mayor used the newly opened Water Works Park to dump water on himself.

The ice bucket challenge is to raise awareness for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It is better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. You can donate to help find a cure for ALS here.

Quote of the Day: Police State Edition

I personally believe in Jesus Christ as my lord savior, but I’m also a killer. I’ve killed a lot. And if I need to, I’ll kill a whole bunch more. If you don’t want to get killed, don’t show up in front of me, it’s that simple. I have no problem with it. God did not raise me to be a coward.”

Dan Page, police officer in charge of crowd control during the Ferguson protests.

Money quote.

“I’m into diversity. I kill everybody, I don’t care,” Page said.

What a true lover of Jesus.

Write A Caption: Newspaper Edition

Be careful how you stack those newspapers.

Write A Caption: John Stemberger Edition

Anyone else see the problem with noted gay marriage basher John Stemberger wearing a "God Over Money" T-shirt while standing in front of his Lexus? Stemberger posted this comedy masterpiece on Twitter. Stemberger is a fan of ant-gay rights rapper Bizzle. I never heard the song since I don't hangout with Christian Right hipsters. Joe Jervis explains.

Florida hate group leader and fly champagne Lexus owner John Stemberger is referring to Bizzle, the rapper who was so outraged by the weddings at this year's Grammys that he issued a parody of Macklemore's Same Love in which he compared homosexuality to pedophilia and mental retardation with a bonus reference to Down Syndrome for extra Christian Love™ points. Courageous and godly!

I look forward to Stemberger discovering the Christian lyrics of NWA.

Wingnut of the Day: Larry Klayman

Florida's own Larry Klayman enjous accusing President Barack Obama of being a racist. That is funny considering that Klayman convicted Obama in his make believe court of not being a U.S. citizen. This is from Klayman's World Net Daily and not The Onion

Last Wednesday, the great usurper, Barack Hussein Obama, after having been indicted by an Ocala, Florida citizens' grand jury, was convicted by a people's court of defrauding the American people and Floridians by proffering them with a fake birth certificate. See www.citizensgrandjury.com. As readers of this column and www.wnd.com know too well, Obama is not a natural born citizen eligible to be president of the United States, as he was not born in this country to two American citizen parents. However, to justify his fraud and his elections to the highest office in the land, and after years of inquiry, in 2011 the Obama White House posted on its website a birth certificate purporting to show him having been born in Hawaii. The problem is however, according to forensic experts, the birth certificate is altered and forged.

Klayman is angry at Obama's rather timid response to the protests in Ferguson. Klayman's "Black House" remark shows his true racist heart.

At this rate, it is remarkable that Obama has not renamed the White House “the Black House.” Clearly, in his way of thinking, the Founding Fathers must have had conspiratorial racist motives in naming the people’s house accordingly.

Klayman accuses Obama of "conspiratorial rants." This is coming from a man who accuses Obama of having a fake birth certificate. Talk about projecting one's faults onto someone else.

Glenn Reynolds Is An Idiot

I literally laughed my ass off when I read this post by Glenn Reynolds.

I generally favor a nip-it-in-the-bud strategy — just think how much better off we’d be if Bill Clinton had seized any of his several opportunities to kill or seize Osama bin Laden — but I have to say my confidence in Obama’s ability to carry out anything much bigger than pinpricks is severely limited.

The amount of direct attacks ordered by President George W. Bush is zero. President Bill Clinton ordered the missile strike of the al-Qaeda training site in Zhawar Kili, Afghanistan. One of the goals of the strike was to kill bin Laden. President Barack Obama ordered the Seal Team mission that resulted in the successful killing of bin Laden in Pakistan.

Reynolds is using bin Laden to make the argument that Clinton and Obama were weak on national security. That is hysterical. Perhaps Reynolds needs to be reminded of this quote by George W Bush.

Who knows if he’s hiding in some cave or not. We haven’t heard from him in a long time. The idea of focusing on one person really indicates to me people don’t understand the scope of the mission. Terror is bigger than one person. He’s just a person who’s been marginalized. … I don’t know where he is. I really just don’t spend that much time on him, to be honest with you.

No one should take Reynolds seriously.

Great Moments In Journalism: Charlie Rose Edition

This must be the proudest moment for Charlie Rose's television journalism career. Charlie Rose takes the ice bucket challenge. I'm sure with Ferguson, the Ukraine and the Gaza Strip being recent news stories, the story if celebrities pouring bucket of ice water on the heads was the most pressing news story of the morning for CBS News. This is the kind of hard-hitting journalism we need to demand more of from the media.

Quote of the Day

"A statesman is he who thinks in the future generations, and a politician is he who thinks in the upcoming elections."

Abraham Lincoln

Quote of the Day

"So yes, I’d absolutely call myself a feminist. And if you look at history, women are an oppressed category of people. There’s a long, long history of women suffering abuse, injustice, and not having the same opportunities as men, and I think that’s been very detrimental to the human race as a whole. I’m a believer that if everyone has a fair chance to be what they want to be and do what they want to do, it’s better for everyone. It benefits society as a whole."

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, in an interview with The Daily Beast

Good for Gordon-Levitt to declare himself a feminist.

Bastille - We Can't Stop

Bastille does a surprising emotionally touching cover of the Miley Cyrus song We Can't Stop. I never realized that Cyrus was paying tribute to her father until I heard the Bastille version.

Orlando Now Protects Gender Identity

More good work done for LGBT right by Equality Florida. EF made this announcement on their Facebook page.

BREAKING: The amendment to add Gender Identity and Expression to the City of Orlando's Human Rights Ordinance passed unanimously on its second reading; it will now become law. Kudos to Equality Florida Transgender Inclusion Director Gina Duncan for shepherding this important change. Thank you to Mayor Dyer, Commissioner Sheehan, and the entire commission for your leadership.

Props go to the Orlando having political leaders that didn't succumb to political pressure or homophobia. This is a big victory for the transgender community.

Sea Lion Plays With Girl

Via Blue Nation Review: a sea lion worries about a little girl after she falls.

Quote of the Day

"Just a reminder: Bobby Jindal has basically destroyed Louisiana's public school system and enabled the teaching of creationism."

Charles Johnson, of Little Green Footballs

Tampa Church Refuses Gay Man's Funeral

Via Daily Kos: The New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, in Tampa, Florida, denied funeral services to the departed Julion Evans. The late Evans passed away from the rare disease Amyloidosis.

Julie Atwood, the mother of Evans, was informed that the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church would not perform the funeral.

Atwood said she was told it would be "blasphemous" to hold the services at the church because her son, Julion Evans, 42, was gay.

From a First amendment standpoint, the church is within its right not to perform the funeral. Although, I take exception to the church's understanding of the Bible. There is no literal passage in the Bible that states homosexuality as a sin. There is a good argument that the homosexual acts mentioned in Romans is condemning the Romans raping young male slaves.

What many of these so-called Christians lack is compassion. Ms. Atwood was devastated.

"It was devastating," she said. "I did feel like he was being denied the dignity of death."

Pastor T.W. Jenkins gave a bullshit answer to the media on why the funeral was cancelled.

Based on our preaching of the scripture, we would have been in error to allow the service in our church," Jenkins said. "I'm not trying to condemn anyone's lifestyle, but at the same time, I am a man of God, and I have to stand up for my principles."

Bullshit. Jenkins is condemning Evans's lifestyle. He should be man enough to admit it.

Rape is Not Okay

Via Feminist.Girl: these rather disturbing results of a survey of high school students on when rape is okay. The answer to every question shoul be NEVER.

Friday Cat Blogging

Maybe it's just me but this cat looks a lot like a possum.

Friday Cat Blogging

Jag the Jaguar and Bullet the Jack Russell are life long buddies and live together.

Quote of the Day: Free Palestine Edition

Litbrit made this great image. Politico reports he Senate just approved $225 million for the Israeli Iron Dome defense program. I support Israel's right to defend their civilian population from Hamas rocket attacks. The question is who defends the Palestinian civilians from Israeli drone attacks.

Cable news media should show photos like this to Washington politicians that falsely make the claim that Israel is going out of its ways to not target civilians. Israel shelled a United Nations school being used as a safe haven for Palestinian evacuees. Attacking a United Nations facility is a clear violation of international law. The United Nations has condemned Israel for the attack.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which operated the school-turned-shelter in the Jabalya refugee camp, said it had gathered evidence, analyzed bomb fragments and examined craters after the attack. Its initial assessment was that three Israeli artillery shells hit the school where 3,300 people had sought refuge.

“I condemn in the strongest possible terms this serious violation of international law by Israeli forces,” said Pierre Krähenbühl, the UNRWA commissioner-general. “This is an affront to all of us, a source of universal shame. Today the world stands disgraced.”

The Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gone insane. Could you imagine the United Kingdom, Sweden are France attacking a U.N. facility. Israel isn't a democracy. Palestinians don't have a vote because they live under a government that has implemented a decades long apartheid policy.