Today's WTF Moment is Brought to You By an Indiana Deputy District Attorney.....

Forget the police state I mentioned the other day. We apparently have become a dictatorship taking lessons from Quddafiy.


A deputy attorney general in Indiana on Saturday suggested on Twitter to "use live ammunition" against protesters in Madison, Wisconsin. In a back-and-forth with a writer for Mother Jones magazine, he followed up, "You're damned right I advocate deadly force."

There's one word for this: Unacceptable.

The fact that a public official is comfortable calling for the shooting of peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights is terrifying. Unfortunately, it's not surprising since the political Right has moved so far away from supporting democratic norms.

The right-wing movement -- from its politicians to its media outlets -- has taken sides against the working people of Wisconsin and is trying to paint peaceful protesters and unions as "thugs." In doing so, they are aligning themselves with some of American history's worst villains -- the politicians and robber barons of the late 1800's and early 1900s who would call in private security firms and militias to break union strikes and intimidate workers with outright violence, and sometimes mass murder.

We remember the violent actions and rhetoric of some of the Tea Party congressional candidates in 2010 -- Sharron Angle with her "Second Amendment remedies," Joe Miller with his private security guards who roughed up and illegally detained a reporter. Now we're faced with public officials who are falsely trying to portray public workers who are under attack and their supporters as violent ... and advocating real violence against them just for standing up for their basic rights!

(no subject)

Don't the Republicans get confused with all the things they pick and choose what they like about Ronald Reagan???

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"One of the most elemental human rights [is] the right to belong to a free trade union." -Ronald Reagan

Question?

In this Ronald Reagan presidential address on October 19, 1982, is President Reagan rebuking the Soviet government of Poland or Scott Walker? Read it and honestly decide if Republican "Saint" Reagan's condemning words equally apply to Walker. They do:

Yesterday the Polish Government, a military dictatorship, took another far-reaching step in their persecution of their own people. They declared Solidarity, the organization of the working men and women of Poland, their free union, illegal.

Yes, I know Poland is a faraway country in Eastern Europe. Still, this action is a matter of profound concern to all the American people and to the free world.

Ever since martial law was brutally imposed last December, Polish authorities have been assuring the world that they're interested in a genuine reconciliation with the Polish people. But the Polish regime's action yesterday reveals the hollowness of its promises. By outlawing Solidarity, a free trade organization to which an overwhelming majority of Polish workers and farmers belong, they have made it clear that they never had any intention of restoring one of the most elemental human rights - the right to belong to a free trade union.

The so-called new trade union legislation under which this contrary and backward step has been taken claims to substitute a structure and framework for the establishment of free trade unions in Poland. But the free world can see this is only a sham. It is clear that such unions, if formed, will be mere extensions of the Polish Communist Party.

BuzzFlash repeats: this is from a Reagan presidential address, the transcript of which you can read here. BuzzFlash repeats this statement from Reagan's address (emphasis added): "They [the Soviet Polish government] have made it clear that they never had any intention of restoring one of the most elemental human rights - the right to belong to a free trade union."

In suppressing trade unionism and collective bargaining, threatening to use the national guard to suppress the tens of thousands trade union protesters in Wisconsin, in sending out the state police to pursue Democrats who are standing up for Regan's words in defense of trade unionism and threatening to fire workers if the unions don't agree to give up collective bargaining - among other betrayals to Reagan's words - Walker is committing the No. 1 unforgivable Republican crime: He's defiling the legacy of Reagan.

In fact, in this 1981 television presidential address (which begins with some warm and fuzzy words about Christmas), Reagan championed the Solidarity trade union and its rights in the most vigorous of words.

In fact, in his 1982 statement, Reagan even discussed how the Solidarity Union sought God-given rights.

So, is Walker not only throwing mud at Reagan, but also defying God?

If you don't think so, don't take it up with BuzzFlash at Truthout. Take it up with Reagan, because he's the one who said it.

Mark Karlin
Editor, BuzzFlash at Truthout

Some Good News For a Change.......

Apparently the Douche Bag actually lost his job.
I am willing to bet though we will see him running for a US House or Senate seat soon.
UGH..........


Indiana AG Calls For Live Ammo Against Protestors, Loses Job
posted by: Jessica Pieklo

The battle over the future of organized labor in the state of Indiana is so heated that one deputy attorney general suggested that "live ammo" be used against the protesters in Madison. The deputy Attorney General, Jeff Cox sent the following to Mother Jones editor Adam Weinstein:

"[A]gainst thugs physically threatening legally-elected state legislators & governor? You're damn right I advocate deadly force"

The statement, in addition to being inflammatory and inappropriate, cost Cox his job. The Indiana Attorney Generals Office offered the following statement:

"We respect individuals' First Amendment rights to express their personal views on private online forums, but as public servants we are held by the public to a higher standard, and we should strive for civility."

Cox's statements to Weinstein appeared to be the last straw for the agency. On Cox's personal blog, Pro Cynic (now deleted), he compared former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich to a Nazi, and suggested that President Obama is an "enemy" ruling his people the same way Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq.

In the wake of the Rep. Giffords tragedy you would think that, at a minimum, lawmakers would be a little more reluctant to employ violent rhetoric when discussing their political opinions. This would be especially true of a deputy attorney general--a job that is not a political appointment in any way, shape or form.

Then again, you'd think that in a democracy lawmakers wouldn't call for the detention and arrest of lawmakers who oppose their platforms. And you'd be wrong on both accounts.

(no subject)

What's that little old saying by President Lincoln, A government of the people, by the people, and for the people?
Maybe we need to update that to a government of the billionaires, by their hire politicians. :o


On prank call, Wis. governor discusses strategy


By RYAN J. FOLEY, Associated Press Ryan J. Foley, Associated Press – Wed Feb 23, 6:32 pm ET
MADISON, Wis. – On a prank call that quickly spread across the Internet, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was duped into discussing his strategy to cripple public employee unions, promising never to give in and joking that he would use a baseball bat in his office to go after political opponents.

Walker believed the caller was a conservative billionaire named David Koch, but it was actually the editor of a liberal online newspaper. The two talked for at least 20 minutes — a conversation in which the governor described several potential ways to pressure Democrats to return to the Statehouse and revealed that his supporters had considered secretly planting people in pro-union protest crowds to stir up trouble.

The call, which surfaced Wednesday, also showed Walker's cozy relationship with two billionaire brothers who have poured millions of dollars into conservative political causes, including Walker's campaign last year.

Walker compared his stand to that taken by President Ronald Reagan when he fired the nation's air-traffic controllers during a labor dispute in 1981.

"That was the first crack in the Berlin Wall and led to the fall of the Soviets," Walker said on the recording.

The audio was posted by the Buffalo Beast, a left-leaning website based in Buffalo, N.Y., and quickly went viral.

Ian Murphy told The Associated Press he carried out the prank to show how candidly Walker would speak with Koch even though, according to Democrats, he refuses to return their calls.

Murphy said he arranged the call Tuesday after speaking with two Walker aides, including the governor's chief of staff. He placed the call using Skype and recorded it.

Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie confirmed that it was Walker's voice on the call. At a news conference, Walker acknowledged being deceived but stuck to his message that the union changes were needed to balance Wisconsin's budget.

"I'm not going to let one prank phone call be a distraction from the job we have to do," Walker said. "The things I said are the things I've said publicly all the time."

On the call, the governor said he was ratcheting up the pressure on Senate Democrats to return to the Capitol a week after they fled to block the legislation. He said he supported a move to require them to come to the Capitol to pick up their paychecks rather than have the money deposited directly.

He also floated an idea to lure Democratic senators back to the Capitol for negotiations and then have the Senate quickly pass the bill while they are in talks.

Walker said aides were reviewing whether the GOP could hold a vote if Democrats were not physically in the Senate chamber but elsewhere in the building. At the news conference, he insisted that idea was not a trick but an effort to get Democrats back to work.
( Shinanigans )

(no subject)

Somebody is trying to buy some more time on his throne..........


Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah promises $36 billion in benefits
King Abdullah returned home today to a Saudi Arabia seemingly moored in the eye of the storm howling from Libya to Bahrain. But reformers are intensifying calls for political change.


http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0223/Saudi-Arabia-s-King-Abdullah-promises-36-billion-in-benefits