It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.
Marco Rubio contradicts himself in his disastrous State of the Union response. Rubio says big government is bad.
More government isn’t going to help you get ahead. It’s going to hold you back. More government isn’t going to create more opportunities. It’s going to limit them.
Rubio says big government is good when it helps a guy named Marco Rubio.
I believe in federal financial aid. I couldn’t have gone to college without it.
That basically sums up the hypocrisy of Marco Rubio
It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.
House Speaker John Boehner went onThis Week and told George Stephanopoulos that President Barack Obama must meet his demands on either delaying or repealing the Affordable Care Act.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So are you saying that if he continues to refuse to negotiate, the country is going to default?
BOEHNER: That’s the path we’re on. The president canceled his trip to Asia. I assumed — well, maybe he wants to have a conversation. I decided to stay here in Washington this weekend. He knows what my phone number is. All he has to do is call.
Stephanopoulos pointed out to Boehner that the Speaker originally said he was not going to put a repeal or defunding of Obamacare into the CR bill.
Stephanopoulos played a clip of Boehner saying,”It’s pretty clear that the president was re-elected. Obamacare is the law of the land.” Adding,”If we were to put Obamacare into the CR and send it over to the Senate, we were risking shutting down the government. That is not our goal.”
The ABC host explained, “So right there, you say that’s not your goal. You don’t want to put Obamacare on the CR. You did it.”
Boehner has lost control of his caucus. The tea party members have taken over the House of Representatives. Boehner can introduce a clean CR bill and get the votes from Democrats and Republicans that are begging for an end to the shutdown. Boehner won't do that.
It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.
Anthony Weiner's political fortunes are disappearing. This is not news. What is news is Weiner telling CNN that he had inside knowledge on what role his wife Huma Abedin would play on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
Former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) on Monday said his wife Huma Abedin would have a role in a 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential bid but acknowledged that his sexting scandals had hurt his spouse “personally” and “professionally.”
Asked if he knew what role Abedin would play in a possible Clinton campaign, Weiner replied, “I do. … I’m not telling you,” in an interview with the CNN BuzzFeed YouTube channel.
Someone on Team Clinton must have told Weiner to drink a cool glass of shut the fuck up. Weiner is backtracking and claims he has no knowledge about a Clinton presidential campaign.
"I have no insight into campaign 2016. I'm struggling right here with 2013."
The sexting scandals were bad enough. Weiner is now pissing off the Clintons. Weiner's political career is over.
It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes to any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely condradicts himself or herself.
It don't think no modern president condradicts himself more than Mitt Romney. As candidate during his career he has been on both sides of abortion, health care reform and the auto bailout. Romney changes policy positions the way other people change socks. The Joel Award was made for a politician like Romney.
Don't forget to play RoboRomney. Pick a conservative, moderate or liberal policy position. Mitt Romney is guaranteed to agree with you.
It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes to any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.
Rush Limbaugh apparently has become a supporter of sexually open marriages.
LIMBAUGH: I got a great note from a friend of mine. "So Newt wanted an open marriage. BFD. At least he asked his wife for permission instead of cheating on her. That's the mark of character, in my book. Newt's the victim. We all are. Ours is the horniest generation."
Actually, Newt Gingrich did cheat on his previous wife. Gingrich ended end marrying his mistress Callista. That hardly qualifies Newt as a victim.
Rush is paid to be a Reopublican spokesman. In the past Limbaugh has publicly trashed feminists and gays. Limbaugh made his career out of mocking Bill Clinton's sexual affairs. However, if it is a Republican, Limbaugh suddenly becomes a fan of the swinger lifestyle. Limbaugh earns himself a Joel Award for this hysterical piece of hypocrisy.
Joy-Ann Reid lashes out at progressives for the failure of the American Jobs Act to pass the Senate.
Every time something like this happens, I’m reminded of all the angry liberals who complain that President Obama hasn’t pursued more progressive policies on healthcare, or civilian trials for terrorists, or closing Gitmo, etc. Recall, always, that people like John Tester and Ben Nelson (and Joe Lieberman and Jim Webb and Joe Manchin) are in the Senate, and they are Democrats, too. Which means that it isn’t just Republicans who stand in the way of the kind of progress progressives (and at this point, a strong majority of all Americans) crave.
I asked Reid on Twitter if she thought a more bipartisan bill would have passed. Reid never replied to me. What I do know is in the same post Reid wrote this.
The White House is now looking at ways to break up the bill and try and pass the parts that have “bipartisan support” — which in and of itself is elusive, since most Republicans won’t vote for anything this president is for, and many Democrats are practically Republicans.
Let me get this straight. Progressives shouldn't participate in democracy by advocating for the things that want because Republicans will vote against it. However, according to Reid, Republicans would filibuster anything (and have) if President Obama supports the legislation. This is Reid's political strategy? That isn't a strategy. That is defeatism.
Obama did the Reid strategy of appeasing Republicans and and corporate Democrats by attempting to outcut the Republicans during the debt ceiling fiasco. The result was Obama's poll numbers dropped like a rock.
As for corporate Democrat Ben Nelson, his poll numbers have sucked since 2009. Nelson is currently polling behind Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning. Democrats should have ran a candidate in the primary against Nelson. Voters are turning against Nelson because they are finally realizing that he stands for nothing. The midterm elections saw House Blue Dogs and Blanche Lincoln in the Senate. Democrat Bill Halter polled better for the general election. The Obama administration and the DNC decided to back Lincoln. The result was Republican John Boozman winning the seat. Again I asked how does Reid's strategy of appeasing corporate Democrats help maintain majorities?
Reid lashes out at progressives for somehow forcing President Obama to back a populist jobs bill. Reid goes on to say it doesn't matter what kind of bill the President supported because Republicans were going to filibuster it. This incoherent rant wins her the Joel Award for contradiction.
The truth is Obama got something for going on the offensive. The do nothing Republican House has been sitting on the trade deals for South Korea, Colombia and Panama. Obama and the Occupy movement have been demanding jobs. The House suddenly got off their collective asses and passed all three trade agreements. Obama tried being bipartisan and Republicans sat on writing legislation for the trade agreements. Ask yourself if Republicans would have moved if Obama continued being bipartisan.
It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.
Last month when President Barack Obama and Democrats were pushing for an extension of the payroll tax cut. Sen Marco Rubio and other Republican said there were not enough people paying taxes. This is the same Rubio that resorts to overheated rhetoric at the slightest mention of closing the tax loophole of corporate jets.
“Quite frankly, I am both disappointed for our country and shocked at some of the rhetoric,” he said in an interview with the conservative National Review. “It was rhetoric, I thought, that was more appropriate for some left-wing strong man than for the president of the United States.”
Rubio should try living in a third world country if he believes making Warren Buffett pay taxes on his corporate jet makes Obama into Stalin.
President Obama finally used the bully pulpit with his jobs speech to the Joint Session of Congress. Rubio quickly backtracked and decided he wants to extend to payroll tax cut.
"A payroll tax cut extension is a good idea, but an even better idea for job creation is a complete overhaul that cuts taxes for everyone instead of temporary measures," the Florida Republicans said in a statement. "The temporary payroll tax provision is fine, but it certainly shouldn't be the centerpiece of any serious jobs plan. Pro-growth tax reform should be.”
Translation: Rubio will vote for the payroll tax cut extension if there are tax cuts for the rich. For Rubio that his progress. Compared to his recent insensitive statements on Social Security and Medicare.
"Let me get this straight," said Gingrich. "We're not going to raise tax on anybody making under $250,000 a year unless you use electricity. And we are not going to raise taxes on anybody under $250,000 a year unless you buy gasoline. And we are not going to raise taxes on anybody who makes under $250,000 a year unless you buy heating oil. And we're not going to raise taxes on anybody who earns less $250,000 a year unless you use natural gas."
Newt Gingrich not sincere about policy? I'm shocked! Shocked, I say!
It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.
On Fox News, Sarah Palin said she wants the Libyan conflict ended quickly.
We better be in it to win it. 'Win it' means Qadhafi goes and America gets to get on out of there."
"It's not America's role not to be out and about nation building and telling other countries how to live."
Funny but Palin supports nation building in Iraq. It makes me wonder why Palin wants to NATO air-strikes stopped ASAP.
We should be clear, however, that fewer troops mean assuming more risk. Talk of an exit date also risks sending the wrong message. We should be in Afghanistan to win, not to set a timetable for withdrawal that signals a lack of resolve to our friends, and lets our enemies believe they can wait us out. As long as we’re in to win, and as long as troop level decisions are based on conditions on the ground and the advice of our military commanders, I support President Obama’s decision.
It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.
"I was never a big supporter of high-speed rail."
Florida Senate President Mike Hariopolos, reacting on 26 Republican Senators signing a letter urging Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood give high-speed rail money to Florida.
Gov. Rick Scott announced that he would kill the Orlando to Tampa high-speed rail project. Back in November of 2010, Haridopolos sang a different tune.
Haridopolos spokesman David Bush said the senator still supports SunRail and the Tampa-Orlando train but would not back expanding the high-speed route to Miami, as has been proposed. "It's clear Washington won't have the money for that," Bush said.
For someone who wasn't a big supporter of high-speed rail, it sounds like Haridopolos was supporting high-speed. Could it be that Haridopolos' change of heart has something to do with announcing his U.S. Senate bid and need to pander to the Tea Party? Judging by Haridopolos' flip flop he has the perfect makings for a United States Senator.
Congratulations to Haridopolos on winning the Joel Award.
It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.
It is so nice to see Sen. Jon Kyl get busted for his hypocrisy. Kyl voted earlier this year to ban earbarks from Senate legislation. Kyl also agreed to Senate Republicans recent pledge for a two year ban on earmark. Kyl's office in sent out a press release to brag about supporting the earmark ban.
Earlier this year, the Senate considered a measure that would have put a moratorium on earmarks for 2010 and 2011. I voted for the moratorium, but 68 senators opposed it.
The Senate will likely have another chance to vote on it. Senator McCain has joined Senator Coburn and two Democrats, Senators McCaskill and Mark Udall, who are pushing for a vote on a Senate-wide moratorium.
Republicans have already spoken. On November 16, the Senate Republican Conference approved a two-year moratorium on earmarks. Republicans in the House have also adopted a similar ban on earmarks.
Only three days after GOP senators and senators-elect renounced earmarks, Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Senate Republican, got himself a whopping $200 million to settle an Arizona Indian tribe's water rights claim against the government.
Kyl slipped the measure into a larger bill sought by President Barack Obama and passed by the Senate on Friday to settle claims by black farmers and American Indians against the federal government. Kyl's office insists the measure is not an earmark, and the House didn't deem it one when it considered a version earlier this year.
But it meets the know-it-when-you-see-it test, critics say. Under Senate rules, an earmark is a spending item inserted "primarily at the request of a senator" that goes "to an entity, or (is) targeted to a specific state."
Most Republicans were never serious about earmarks. Republicans needed a talking to talk about cutting spending without actually making hard cuts. Kyl's own press release cites earmarks as totaling $16.5 billion. That is a faction of the federal budget. Republicans don't want to anger their corporate interests by making cuts to defense spending or Medicare Advantage. Entitlement programs are popular with the public. Defense contractors donate to politicians in both parties. Naming some obscure earmark and then declaring all would be well if we ended earmarks is an easier sell.
It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes to any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.
When Charlie Crist was running for the Republican Senate nomination he was against the bill. On the day of the bill's signing, Crist said the bill should be repealed.
Crist said in a television interview that he would have voted for the bill with reservations.
Crist sent out a press release claiming he was always against the health care reform bill.
FACT CHECK: Recent reports in the media have confused my position on the Obama health care bill.
The Obama health care bill was too big, too expensive, and expanded the role of government far too much. Had I been in the United States Senate at the time, I would have voted against the bill because of unacceptable provisions like the cuts to the Medicare Advantage program. But being an independent, I have the freedom to be an honest broker for the people of Florida without regard for political party, and the reality is this: despite its serious flaws, the Obama health care bill does have some positive aspects.
Repeal must be accompanied by a responsible substitute — repeal without passage of a substitute law protecting those with pre-existing conditions, closing the prescription drug donut hole for seniors, and allowing parents to keep their children on their insurance coverage until age 26 would be wrong. While I would not have supported the legislation, we have to recognize the positive components and work together across party lines to make our health care system more affordable for both consumers and the government.
This debate must not be about political posturing; it must be about protecting the people of Florida and America, and I intend to do that hard work when I get to the United States Senate.
Charlie Crist
The only person "confused" about Crist's position is Crist. The Governor's number one priority is to get elected. Crist will say what he has to to achieve that goal. Every politician does it but Crist has turned political pandering into an art form.
It is time to give out another Joel Award. The award is given to a blogger, politician or pundit whom makes glaringly obvious contradictory statements.
In January, Marco Rubio signed a Club For Growth pledge and promised that if elected Senator, he woul vote to repeal the entire health care reform bill.
"As a U.S. senator, I will sponsor and support legislation to repeal any federal health care takeover passed in 2010, and replace it with real reforms that lower health care costs without growing government," Rubio said.
The National Review's Jim Geraghty interviewed Rubio in a coffee shop. Rubio told Geraghty and other conservative writers that he would keep the ban on insurance companies from not covering people with preexisting conditions. Rubio would also allow child to be under their parents' insurance coverage until he or she is 26. That is a radical departure from Rubio's earlier pledge. That might have something to do with poll numbers threading to support to the health care reform bill signed by President Barack Obama.
Republicans will never be able to repeal the entire health care bill. Democrats will just point to parts of the legislation that are popular and use that against Republicans. The GOP has tried to get rid of Medicare and Social Security and failed. RNC Chairman Michael Steele actually attack Obama for proposed cuts in Medicare. It was weird seeing the RNC Chairman defend an entitlement program.
Personally, I don't think Rubio has thought about the policy implications. I don't remember him as being wonky during his tenure as Florida House Speaker. I have seen evidence he doesn't understand foreign policy. The NWF Daily News editorial board was shocked about how ignorant Rubio was about the issues surround drilling for oil off of Florida's coast. If Rubio has been a politician in Florida and hasn't studied offshore drilling than I doubt he knows anything about health care.
It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.
This 2004 comedy gem by Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer is worth revisiting. Krauthammer's neoconservative declares President Bush's Afghanistan invasion a resounding success.
President Bush put in place a military campaign that did in two months what everyone had said was impossible: defeat an entrenched, fanatical, ruthless regime in a territory that had forced the great British and Soviet empires into ignominious retreat. Bush followed that by creating in less than three years a fledgling pro-American democracy in a land that had no history of democratic culture and was just emerging from 25 years of civil war.
In 2009, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai rigged the election to favor himself. Karzai's brother, Ahmed Wali, is one of the most powerful heroin traffickers in the world. The Taliban presence is at it's strongest since the invasion. A 2007 International Council on Security and Development report found the Taliban controlled 54 percent of Afghanistan. Apparently, the Taliban didn't realize Krauthammer declared Bush the victor.
Krauthammer on President Barack Obama's West Point speech.
No one expected Obama to do a Henry V or a Churchill. But Obama could not even manage a George W. Bush, who, at an infinitely lower ebb in power and popularity, opposed by the political and foreign policy establishments and dealing with a war effort in far more dire straits, announced his surge -- Iraq 2007 -- with outright rejection of withdrawal or retreat. His implacability was widely decried at home as stubbornness, but heard loudly in Iraq by those fighting for and against us as unflinching -- and salutary -- determination.
What about Bush's handling of Afghanistan in 2007. Krauthammer is suffering from selective memory loss. He declared mission accomplished in Afghanistan. For Afghanistan's sake Obama should avoid doing a Bush.
Krauthammer should be ignored on foreign policy matters. He argued for the Iraq invasion on the basis of weapons of mass destruction. His neocon heart supports torture. Do neocons, such as Krauthammer get to decide who is a terrorist? The neocons' track record wasn't so great on WMDs. How many innocent people will have to be tortured to satisfy Krauthammer's thirst for blood? If there are innocent people tortured don't expect, people like Krauthammer, to turn themselves in to the authorities. They might be tortured by the oppressive justice system they wished to create.
And then when you see, you know Obama has used — the most pathetic thing is to say, gee, well, we were involved in 1953 — 1953! This is an extremely young society. You think those demonstrators are thinking, well, we hope the U.S. stays out because they were involved in 1953? That's total nonsense.
Barnes then declares inside knowledge to the collective memories of the Iranian people.
POWERS: I think there is a history there.
BARNES: 1953?
POWERS: They do remember the United States meddling.
BARNES: No, they don't.
Barnes doesn't seem to have a problem remembering 1953 Iranian coup d’état engineered by the CIA on President Eisenhower's orders. The Democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq. The Prime Minister nationalize Iran's oil industry. The British wanted the oil and unsuccessful attempting to overthrow Mosaddeq. The British imposed an embargo.
The Shah and Mosaddeq had a fallout over the contol of the military. Mosaddeq resigned and protesters took to the streets. Three days later Mosaddeq would be back in office.
The West interfering with Iran's oil revenue and political process. Barnes is a fool if he believes Irans won't remember their own country's history.
Conservative columnist George Will explains how short sighted the neoconservative criticism President Obama is.
WILL: The president is being roundly criticized for insufficient, rhetorical support for what’s going on over there. It seems to me foolish criticism. The people on the streets know full well what the American attitude toward the regime is. And they don’t need that reinforced.
It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.
White House Press Sec. Robert Gibbs made big news. He said the Obama administration would end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. This was before the administration took office.
GIBBS: That is you don't hear a politician give a one word answer much, but it's yes.
Flash forward to May 15th, 2009. Gibbs say the White House can't do anything without Congressional approval. The next question should be how many meetings has to White House had with members of Congress to push for legislation to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Q Well, the President says that releasing the detainee photos poses a danger to our troops, but doesn't dismissing otherwise qualified soldiers also pose a danger? Is it a question of degree?
MR. GIBBS: No, no. What I talked about in terms of "don't ask, don't tell" was the President -- the President, as you know, supports changing that because he strongly believes that it does not serve our national interest. He agrees with former members of the Joint Chiefs in that determination. But unlike photos, the only durable solution to "don't ask, don't tell" is through a legislative process, and the President is working with Congress and members of the Joint Chiefs to ensure that that happens.
Q But couldn't he in the meantime put a moratorium on these discharges until that can be accomplished?
MR. GIBBS: But again, the President has determined that that's not -- that's not the way to seek any sort of lasting or durable solution to the public policy problem that we have.
Q Then how would you respond to the criticism, though, that dismissing a qualified linguist endangers the troops?
MR. GIBBS: I think I would respond by saying that the President has long believed that the policy doesn't serve our national interest.
Gibbs is not giving one word answers these days.
The administration will not push Congress to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Obama will not use an executive moratorium to stop gay and lesbian soldier from being Discharged because of their sexual identity.
It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.
The Joel Award goes to Peggy Noonan. In 1998, Noonan urged the impeachment of Bill Clinton because "no man is above" the rule of law.
"The Democrats had long labeled the impeachment debate a distraction from the urgent business of a great nation. But the Republicans argued that the pursuit of justice is the business of a great nation. In winning this point, they caught the falling flag, producing a triumph for the rule of law, a reassertion of the belief that no man is above it, and a rebuke for an arrogance that had grown imperial,"
Noonan's love of the law gets thrown under the bus when it comes to the Bush administration torturing detainees. Nonnan's comments on This Week were sickening.
Noonan: Oh I have reservations about all this. It's hard for me to look at a great nation issuing these documents and sending them out to the world and thinking oh much good will come of that. Sometimes in life you wanna' just keep walkin'. History has changed. It does change. We have a new administration, a new way. Sometimes I think just keep walkin'. Don't always be issuing papers and reports.
It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.
RNC chairman Michael Steele told talk show host D.L. Hughley Rush Limbaugh's rhetoric is too negative.
Steele told CNN host D.L. Hughley in an interview aired Saturday night: “Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh — his whole thing is entertainment. He has this incendiary — yes, it's ugly.”
Steele was not happy with suggestions that Limbaugh and not he, was the leader of the Republican Party.
"No he's not. I'm the de facto leader of the Republican party," Steele said.
Oh really.
After Limbaugh attacked Steele on his radio show, Steele placed his tail between his legs. Steele called Limbaugh and personally apologized.
"My intent was not to go after Rush - I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh," Steele told Politico. "I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. ... There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership."
How did Limbaugh not go from having a leadership position to Steele not wanting to diminish "his leadership?" Steele then kisses Godfather Rush's hand.
“I went back at that tape and I realized words that I said weren’t what I was thinking,” said a groveling Steele. "It was one of those things where I thinking I was saying one thing, and it came out differently. What I was trying to say was a lot of people … want to make Rush the scapegoat, the bogeyman, and he’s not."
Democrats wanted to prove no Republican has the courage to speak out against Limbaugh. Steele accomplished this goal better than Rahm Emanuel ever could.
Joe Scarborough and the panel of Morning Joe make fun of Steele's lack of political courage. The DCCC has a helpful "I'm Sorry Rush" form Republicans can use.
It is time to give out another Joel Award. The award is given to a blogger, politician or pundit whom makes glaringly obvious contradictory statements.
Gov. Sarah Palin recently visited Washington to press Senator Mitch McConnell to support the stimulus package. Palin gave the Alaskan congressional delegation a laundry list of projects to add in the stimulus package.
I am writing to communicate some additional thoughts concerning the economic stimulus package now under discussion in Congress.
This letter compliments our previous list of four infrastructure projects that would support construction of the Alaska natural gas pipeline. These bid-ready projects strongly reflect the goal of creating new jobs, both in construction and the operation of the pipeline, while also promoting sound national energy policy.
I strongly recommend that federal funds to states be allocated pursuant to formulas that are fair and equitable. As you know, formulas already exist in federal law for such programs as highways and bridges, aviation, and Medicaid. In those instances where there are no formulas- for example in the case of renewable energy projects and ports and harbors-formulas and grant programs could be devised and included in the economic stimulus package.
“I agree with the decision of Senator Murkowski and Congressman Young to vote NO on the package,” Governor Palin said.
Palin went up to Washington to lobby for stimulus money. On the same trip, she told the media she was against the stimulus package. This is politics at it's most cynical. This is why Palin wins the Joel Award.
It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.
Marco Rubio contradicts himself in his disastrous State of the Union response. Rubio says big government is bad.
