Boehner Says Good Bye...

Thanks for your service Speaker. Things will continue to be, well, the same ole same ole methinks.

How about you?

GOP Can't Stand the Heat, Getting Out Of the Kitchen...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

Oh my. It appears the tough bad a*ses of the Tea Party/GOP are feeling the heat and they don't like it much. Life is tough, so get used to it and get over it.

The Hill- The Republican National Committee has pulled out of a planned Feb. 26 debate with NBC News after widespread criticism of this week's CNBC debate from both the party and campaigns.

But some say the RNC's action may be too late to satisfy candidates who were upset with the questions asked by CNBC moderators on Wednesday night.

"We are suspending the partnership with NBC News for the Republican primary debate at the University of Houston on February 26, 2016," RNC Chairman Reince Priebus wrote in a letter to NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack.

"CNBC network is one of your media properties, and its handling of the debate was conducted in bad faith," Priebus wrote.
"I have tremendous respect for the First Amendment and freedom of the press. However, I also expect the media to host a substantive debate on consequential issues important to Americans. CNBC did not."

He went on to pan CNBC for "inaccurate or downright offensive" questions, specifically singling out a question to Donald Trump, who was asked whether he was running a "comic book" version of a presidential campaign.

"While debates are meant to include tough questions and contrast candidates’ visions and policies for the future of America, CNBC’s moderators engaged in a series of 'gotcha' questions, petty and mean-spirited in tone, and designed to embarrass our candidates," he said.

"What took place Wednesday night was not an attempt to give the American people a greater understanding of our candidates’ policies and ideas."

Or... Whine and pull out of future debates with networks you can't control. And they are. Soooo typical.

Via: Memeorandum

Senate Passes Security Law Infringing on Privacy Rights... Welcome to Orwell's 1984

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

Under the vague guise of “cybersecurity”, the Senate voted on Tuesday to pass the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (Cisa), a spying bill that essentially carves a giant hole in all our privacy laws and allows tech and telecom companies to hand over all sorts of private information to intelligence agencies without any court process whatsoever. Make no mistake: Congress has passed a surveillance bill in disguise, with no evidence it’ll help our security.

I am reminded of a well known quote attributable to Benjamin Franklin. One which in light of thus development every American ought to commit to memory and recite to themselves daily.

“Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”

The senate has, without a second thought or concern to or for individual privacy rights has just traded the privacy and liberty of all Americans for the government's tyrannical belief it has the right to indiscriminately spy on us all for some alleged yet unproven gain to national security.

Welcome to 1984 and Big Brother is Watching You. Lenin and Stalin must be smiling.

Full article BELOW THE FOLD.

Go Get Em John! ...

Source

Gun Talk and Interesting Exchanges...

Source

Tea-Publican Logic...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

What all have come to expect from the tea-publican zombies, folks who have given up rational thought in the pursuit of fueling anger for anger's sake. Desirous of dictatorial power these tea-publican types will stop short of nothing to further their insane agenda to oppose anything and everything President Obama and democrats sign on to. Without thought they simply dismiss it out of hand. Dummies all.

One of the members of the House Freedom Caucus on Tuesday called on all candidates for speaker to oppose the, in his words, "monstrosity of a budget deal" that would stave off a government shutdown.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) blasted the bipartisan deal that was being pushed by outgoing House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH).

"Leadership’s determination to ram through this legislation days before we reach the debt limit, with zero input from rank and file Members of Congress, demonstrates precisely what is wrong with Washington, D.C.," Meadows said in a statement.

The deal, which was reached late Monday on the Hill, will take a government shutdown off the table until after the 2016 election and suspend the current debt limit through March 2017, the AP reported.

SKIP

Here is Meadows' full statement:

For weeks, behind closed doors the outgoing Speaker of the House has partnered with Democrats and Senate Leadership to craft a monstrosity of a budget deal that includes a clean $1.5 trillion debt ceiling increase, more nondefense spending, and a host of policy provisions that no one except President Obama, Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have had a chance to offer input into.

Leadership’s determination to ram through this legislation days before we reach the debt limit, with zero input from rank and file Members of Congress, demonstrates precisely what is wrong with Washington, D.C. As I laid out when I introduced the Motion to Vacate the Chair (H.Res 385), the Speaker must not use the legislative calendar to “create crises for the American people, in order to compel Members to vote for legislation.” Nor should the Speaker of the House push through extremely consequential legislation that every American has a stake in without allowing lawmakers a minimum of 72 hours to review it before voting.

Anyone who supports this legislation is complicit in supporting “the way things are” in Washington. We are at an important crossroads in the House of Representatives. We have an opportunity to bring about real reform and fundamentally change the broken system in place on Capitol Hill. Therefore I call on all candidates running for Speaker of the House to oppose this legislation and go on record showing they do not support this approach to governing. Now is the time to demonstrate real leadership by committing to ending the culture of governing by crises and to no longer allow the few to make the decisions for the many. The American people demand better from their elected officials.

So, for this tea-publican and likely many many more the solution is "the tea-publican way or we'll shut down the government and destroy the full faith and credit of the United States of America as well.

Source

Via: Memeorandum

UPDATE:

Carson: I won’t raise the debt ceiling as president

In a new interview with The Hill, GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson said he would not sign any budget deal that raised the debt ceiling if he is elected president. 

Carson, who has surpassed Donald Trump in polls of Iowa voters, expressed frustration that Congress waits until the debt limit approaches to negotiate budget deals.   

“If I’m elected, in January of 2017, we will begin to address the budget immediately,” Carson said. “We’re not going to wait until October or November to do it, when we’re backed against the wall. And I will make it very, very clear that there will not be any budget signed that increases our debt ceiling. It will have to be done.” 

Carson said Congressional Republicans wait too long to negotiate deals to suppress federal spending. 

“They do the same thing every year,” Carson said. “They wait until their backs are up against the wall and the gun is to their head, and you either raise the debt ceiling or we default and the world falls apart.”

Via: Memeorandum 

Huh?...

SOURCE

From the Tea-Publican Right...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

Seen today on a rightwing tea-publican weblog. When "their side" has nothing of substance to offer, and they known it, posters such as the one below become popular. Such posters are considered intellectual by the teabag folks on the right. To be balanced such posters do find their way onto left-wing weblogs. The difference? Posters on left-wing sights generally carry a valid message and the commentary factually supports the message of the post.

Some random commentary from the tea-publican weblog follows. They adequately explain the reason for the poster at the top of the main page.

The Debonair Dudes World October 26, 2015 at 6:46 AM

I think that most Americans, be them Democrats, liberals, conservatives and or independents alike have had more than enough of President Obama’s No Strategy, No Plan, No Idea of what he is doing nor what he should be doing... . I think there are enough Americans who remember how things were in America a few decades back, and take pride in a nation that was unabashedly the world’s leader in the pursuit of peace and democracy. And I think that the small percent or so of brain-dead liberals are not sufficient to affect the outcome of a 2016 election devoted to restoring the nation’s economy and leadership. We have had losses because Obama was elected on a promise to end the conflict in Iraq and he was reelected because of a promise that he would be pulling our troops out to the point that the remaining Iraqi troops—Shiites in the south—decided it wasn’t worth dying for their leaders. Can’t say I blame them, but dying at the hands of ninth century Islamic fanatics is the fate that threatens the entire Middle East, not just Iraq or what’s left of it.. We have log decided to cut our loses and get the hell out of that hell hole. But our dear leader keeps on finding a reason not to.

Obama was put into office without any strategy and has spent the last six and a half years, Bull Craping the American public and he still hasn’t come up with a strategy or a “plan”
He is exactly what I thought he was from the very first day that he exposed himself as a member of Jeremiah Wright's congregation. Yes, Barack Obama belongs to a church where the preacher who preached, anti- American, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, bizarre and racial ideas, who opposed interracial marriage, who praised communist dictatorships, who denounced black "assimilation," and taught his own brand of Afrocentric nonsense to his congregation, and to impressionable, naive, and innocent, young children. A Pastor who said blacks should not sing "God Bless America" but "God damn America."
And this is the man who with his “First Lady” sat in that hatred preacher’s church for over 20 years.

Lisa October 26, 2015 at 7:49 AM

those 2 really are the ideal President and First Lady.......of Cuba



FreeThinke October 23, 2015 at 8:54 AM

Apparently "Black Lives Matter," but not when the black victim is a member of the police force –– or when he fails to toe the Marxian-Fabian-Communist-Socialist-Liberal-Progressive-Statist-TYRANNIST line.

Blacks ceases to be "black" when they leave the Leftist Plantation, just as women cease to be women if they do not march in lock step with NOW, NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and others who promote the Feminazi Agenda.

The Party of the Left –– aka the Democrats or the Dictocrats –– claims to have "humanistic" aims behind all its pet projects. I suppose they soon will claim that anyone who opposes their agenda is NOT HUMAN.

That beetle-shelled bitch who spent eleven hours on the hot seat expressing nothing but fake "concern," pseudo-empathy for the victims of her incompetence, and cold contempt for those who dared to question her motives and activities as Secretary of State has been proclaimed a "winner" simply because she is so frigid, so calculating she is incapable of feeling empathy, remorse, contrition or concern for anyone or anything but her lifelong determination to become The Most Powerful Woman in the World.

If such behavior and such a temperament can inspire applause, admiration, and widespread support, you KNOW we are so far gone we may NEVER be able to reclaim our rightful heritage.

Yesterday hearing on Benghazi was a HORROR SHOW. It's tragic that we've become so acclimated to daily doses of outrage and insults to our intelligence as The New Norm, that few-if-any recognized what they saw for what it truly was.



Anita Says It Right October 24, 2015 at 5:52 AM

Are you stupid liberals going to vote for this same old lying, fat assed lieing bitch, with a different lie evey day! Who keeps her sails to the political winds, which ever way they blow. If you think that she's getting desperate now....imagine how shes going to act when crazy Joe Biden throws his hat in the ring.

And talk abput Flip- Flooping, The last time the Hildabeast took the stage for a presidential debate, she was against same sex-marriage, a supporter of the Second Amendment, stood behind her Iraq War vote and was opposed to states issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. Fast forward to Tuesday in Las Vegas, and Mrs. ThunderThighs backs same-sex couples, a supporter of tighter federal gun control measures, has admitted her vote for the Iraq War was a “mistake” and is an advocate for illegal immigrations.

Talk about BS!



An Angry, Old ,Rich, White Guy, who happens to be a Republican October 22, 2015 at 3:15 PM

Why does L.A. have so many fags and N.Y. so many Blacks?
L.A. had first choice.

Why are all Blacks fast runners?
All the slow ones are in jail.

An Black Dude goes to the doctor and says, "I feel terrible."
Doctor says, "go home, get a bucket, piss and shit in it for a week. Throw in dead rats and rotting fish. Put a towel over your head and sniff the fumes for three days."
Week later the Black Dude goes back and says, "Doc, I feel wonderful, what was the problem?"
Doctor, "you were just homesick!"



The Debonair Dudes World October 21, 2015 at 7:31 AM

Yep, it`s all over ! This Socialist Country voted for a Socialist Leader, nothing new, nothhing unusual!!!

You independants, and "Libertairians" just watch and learn what happen when a Nation screws themselves up. It`s all downhill for them now.

America is headed the same way, unless we wise up and DUMP all these Liberal A-Holes in 2016.. It's going to be our last chance.

DON'T vote for the same party that got us into the mess that Obama put us in...



An Angry, Old ,Rich, White Guy, who happens to be a Republican October 22, 2015 at 3:04 PM

Hey DFucky:

Why were so many Black guys killed in the Vietnam war??
because when the sergeant said to "get down", they all got up and started dancing.

Why are Blacks like sperm?
Only 1 in a Million actually work.

What's the difference between a black and a white fairytale?
The White begins, "once upon a time," The Black begins, "y'all motherfuckers ain't gonna believe dis shit!"

Why do Blacks smell so bad?
So blind people can know their there..

Why do Black Women wear panties to picnics?
To keep the flies away



FreeThinke October 20, 2015 at 8:41 AM

KICK THIS BITCH OUT, Lisa, or I'm NEVER COMING BACK. Maybe that delights you, but I believe people of Pearl's stinking rotten do not deserve to LIVE.


Rational Nation USA October 20, 2015 at 10:04 AM

My my FreeThinke, such blog rage is not conducive to good mental health.

Roll with it brother, not everyone agrees with the far right position. In fact a majority does not.

All lives matter to someone. Even those you deem to be stinking rotten.

Chill, it ain't the end of civilization.


FreeThinke October 20, 2015 at 4:08 PM

Tolerating and making excuses for the Intolerable is a form of SUICIDE.

Fierce, unmitigated FURY can be extremely useful in ridding a society of destructive elements that have no right to exist.

Mollycoddling malefactors and proponents of malignant philosophies and inimical ideologies has proved fatally corrosive.



Radical Redneck October 17, 2015 at 9:45 PM

Hey schvatza, would you ever recognize yo' daddy if you ever saw him not behind a plexiglas shield?

Shouldn't bUrnie Sanders be stamped with one of them "caution extremely flammable" signs you see on gas cans?



American Girl October 19, 2015 at 5:34 AM

Go ahead you stupid liberal Jackass, switch the topic as you creeps always do and about Mr. Reagsn and something that happened 30 yeas ago.
My only surprise is that you didn't "Blsme Bush"
You need to go back to one of your other idiot liberties like Dave Miller , for some better material .
Funny how you Jerks never bring up those Past Idiotic Presidents like Carter, Clinton, and the King of them all the Loser in Chief Barack Bin Obama.
Tell us again about that bunch of Old Geezer that were on that podium spewing that horse manure last week about how ONLY Blsck Lives Matter !. And how the whole county is sick an tired about hearing about Hillary's email corruption .



Radical Redneck October 16, 2015 at 5:48 PM

Amen. And for the record: every time a raghead (or liberal) gets ventilated, the Baby Jesus smiles!



Kid October 8, 2015 at 6:43 PM

PS - Isn't it almost incredible that the entire democrat party can't come up with someone to run besides a socialist/communist, a moron clown, and a mobster moslem activist lesbian alien. Geeeeezus.



Radical Redneck October 8, 2015 at 9:09 PM

Dicky, it must KILL YOU not being black.

You have NO EXCUSES whatsoever!
Reply

Michael Corleone October 9, 2015 at 4:06 AM

But he IS Black!!!!
Reply

mystere's moonbat slayer club October 11, 2015 at 5:21 PM

He sure is! He's coated with plenty of tar and feathers.



mystere's moonbat slayer club October 11, 2015 at 5:52 PM

Oh Rusty, let's not pick on the poor little quacker. He might crack one of his rotting eggs and leave a putrid stench behind. Besides, he's with his butt buddies Pookie Toot-Toot, RN USSR the Squealing Piglet, and Shenehneh Kiwi, making their favorite liberal dish, libturd stew. I hear a pot being stirred at Lester Crapenter's Swoosh Zone right now.



mystere's moonbat slayer club October 11, 2015 at 6:31 PM

Oh Hello there Ducky! Are you at your dinner table while posting? Please send my greetings of bon appetite to your butt buddies Lester Crapenter and Pookie Toot-Toot for me! You must have helped make a mean dish of libturd stew tonight. Did you bring your rotten eggs and toss them into the stew tonight? I hear that is the secret ingredient in tonight's liberal special being served up at RN USSR's Swoosh Zone.



FreeThinke October 26, 2015 at 2:42 PM

Playing the Victim works brilliantly for Democrats ––just a it has for the post WWII Jews who ORIGINATED the concept of Winning through Whining.

Why do you think that about 80-90% of American Jews are Marxian-Fabian-Communist-Socialist-Progressive-Liberal-Statist-TYRANNISTS?

MARX - FREUD - FRANKFURT SCHOOL - ALINSKY - CHOMSKY -- ZINN - SONTAG - HOFFMAN - RUBIN - KUNSTLER - ebshebeda



Radical Redneck October 27, 2015 at 5:18 PM

Does Mooch-Hell Ubunga have opposable thumbs?

Inquiring minds (Real Americans) want to know!

It is difficult to understand why the GOP attracts such individuals and harder to understand why honest conservatives fail to recognize their credibility is damaged beyond repair by NOT standing up against virulent and destructive individuals like those above that travel within their mist.

Present day conservatives with the gravitas and intellect of Eisenhower, Buckley, Goldwater, Rockefeller et all stand silent against the onslaught of the Tea-Publicans that are destroying the credibility of a once decent party.

Twilight time may very well be approaching for the GOP.

The Thomas Paine Tea Partiers Overlook...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

It has always been a question of mine. How exactly have the tea party conservatives who so admire and quote Thomas Paine managed to overlook this pamphlet and its contents? Maybe most have never been aware of its existence? Or, perhaps it has been by design?

In the winter of 1795-96 Thomas Paine wrote his last great pamphlet, "Agrarian Justice." The pamphlet was first published in French in Paris. An English edition was brought out in 1797.

In this pamphlet Paine advocated the creation of a social insurance scheme for the aged and for young people just starting out in life. The benefits were to be paid from a national fund accumulated for this purpose. The fund was to be financed by a 10% tax on inherited property. A tax on inherited property was used due to Paine's general philosophy of property rights. Although he based his social insurance scheme on a line of argument that might sound quaint in the present era, in other respects his plan was quite modern, recognizing the problem of income security for the elderly, and the desirability of creating a national fund for this purpose.

You can find the full text of Paine's Agrarian Justice HERE.

At the End of Eighteen Months...

Yup...

H.R. Clinton Cool Under Scrutiny... Republicans Lose, Again

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

Eleven hours of testimony and we now know... just what we knew before and H.R. Clinton remains unscathed by the longest running investigation in US government history. In fact her matter of fact impressive performance yesterday if anything helped her to look; presidential.

The New York Times - Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former secretary of state, spent hours on Thursday facing down a gang of spiteful Republican lawmakers who once saw great promise in hauling her before a congressional committee to hold her responsible for the deadly attack that killed the American ambassador and three colleagues in Libya in Sept. 2012.

Unsurprisingly, the hearing yielded no new information about the attacks. It quickly and predictably devolved into a partisan battle between Republicans intent on hurting Mrs. Clinton’s bid for the White House and Democrats who sought to make her look presidential.

The pointless grilling of Mrs. Clinton , who fielded a barrage of questions that have long been answered and settled, served only to embarrass the Republican lawmakers who have spent millions of dollars on a political crusade. In recent days, some prominent Republicans have even admitted as much.

If there was any notion that the Select Committee on Benghazi might be on to something, it was quickly dispelled. In a flailing performance, the committee’s chairman, Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, made it evident that he and his colleagues have squandered more than $4.6 million and countless hours poring over State Department records and Mrs. Clinton’s email. They produced no damning evidence, elicited no confessions and didn’t succeed in getting an angry reaction from Mrs. Clinton.

Republicans lacking a vision and cohesive plan for America, one that would benefit all Americans seek to destroy their competition rather than govern the nation effectively and create opportunity for everyone.

Continue reading BELOW THE FOLD.

Via: Memeorandum

Carson With Commanding Lead In Iowa Polls...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

In America's Heartland, where the bible often carries more weight than science and reason, republican presidential candidate Ben Carson is leading fellow candidate and bloviating blowhard Donald Trump in Iowa.

This just in from The Des Moines Register.

Donald Trump is the biggest loser in the new Iowa Poll.

The pious Ben Carson has plowed past the braggadocious New York businessman to take the front-runner crown, unseating Trump as the most popular choice for president among likely GOP caucusgoers, the new Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll shows.

Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, is the favorite choice for 28 percent — 9 percentage points ahead of Trump's 19 percent.

Even Carson’s most controversial comments — about Muslims, Hitler and slavery — are attractive to likely Republican caucusgoers. The poll shows just two perceived weaknesses: his lack of foreign policy experience and his research using fetal tissue during his medical career.

Carson's support has jumped 10 percentage points since the last Iowa Poll in August, and Trump's has fallen 4 points. This shift to a new pack leader is a thunderclap in the Republican presidential race.

“Donald Trump’s got a real problem,” GOP strategist Alex Castellanos told the Register. “Ben Carson is now the favorite to win Iowa.”

Asked which candidate they’d like to see drop out of the race, if anyone, more caucusgoers (25 percent) name Trump than any of his 14 rivals. And among both moderates and caucusgoers ages 44 or under, 36 percent would like him to quit, noted J. Ann Selzer, the pollster for the Iowa Poll.

SKIP

Carson has plenty of room to grow in Iowa: He’s at 28 percent in the horse race, but he could exploit another 25 percentage points from the 53 percent of caucusgoers who have "very favorable" feelings about him, Castellanos said.

“In other words, Carson could blow this out,” he said.

Poll respondent Bruce Lindberg, a 56-year-old chiropractor who lives in Ottumwa, said Carson is his No. 1 choice because "he’s very intelligent. He speaks from his heart. ... I just think it’s time for honesty. And we need to figure out how to slow down the government spending somehow.”

SKIP

Carson has a different superpower: His statements that he would be guided by his faith in God(emphasis mine) are an attractive attribute for 89 percent of likely caucusgoers. That's topped only by the 96 percent who find his perceived common sense attractive.

Follow Iowa Caucus news, photos, videos with Iowa Caucuses App: iPhone or

“These numbers tell me that Carson’s relationship with Iowa caucusgoers is more personal and intimate than the relationship other candidates have with voters because it is on a values level, not a political level,” Castellanos said. “He’s connecting with voters because of who they are inside, not because of what they want on the outside — and that’s strong.”

No doubt connecting with the electorate on a personal level can be a powerful boost to ones campaign. Especially when this connection is supported by the conduit of religious faith.

Find full text BELOW THE FOLD.

Via: Memeorandum

As Benghazi Drags on, and on, and on...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

The New York Times - ... Mrs. Clinton used her time in the witness chair to chide the Republican-led committee for what she called a failure to pursue a bipartisan search for the truth. In her opening statement, and later in response to prodding by friendly Democratic lawmakers, the former secretary of state said investigations of previous tragedies were handled cooperatively by both parties.

“That’s what happened during the Reagan administration, when Hezbollah attacked our embassy,” Mrs. Clinton said, citing similar bipartisanship around investigations under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. “I would like us to get back to those times.”

After a series of questions by Republicans focused on what kind of communications she had had on security in Benghazi, Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California, accused them of pursuing a kind of prosecution against Mrs. Clinton in an attempt to damage her presidential campaign.

“I think the core theory is this — that you deliberately interfered with security in Benghazi and that resulted in people dying,” Mr. Schiff told Mrs. Clinton. “I think that is the case they want to make, and notwithstanding how many investigations we’ve had that have found absolutely no merit to that, that is the impression they wish to give.”

Sane folks continue to wonder just what the hell has happened to the GOP. Is it hypocrisy? Is it stupidity? Hate for H.R. Clinton? Fear they are becoming irrelevant? What?

Personally I vote for #1 and #2. How about you?

Read the rest of the story BELOW THE FOLD.

Via: Memeorandum

Measuring Obama against the great presidents... 2014 Brookings Institute

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

Wikipedia - The Brookings Institution is an American think tank based on Embassy Row in Washington, D.C.,[1] USA. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and global economy and development.[2][3] In the University of Pennsylvania's 2014 Global Go To Think Tanks Report, Brookings is ranked the most influential think tank in the world.[4]

Its stated mission is to "provide innovative and practical recommendations that advance three broad goals: strengthen American democracy; foster the economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of all Americans; and secure a more open, safe, prosperous, and cooperative international system".[1]

Brookings states that its staff "represent diverse points of view" and describes itself as non-partisan,[1][5] while the media most frequently describe Brookings as "progressive" or "left-centrist".[6][not in citation given] An academic analysis of Congressional records from 1993 to 2002 found that Brookings was referenced by conservative politicians almost as frequently as liberal politicians, earning a score of 53 on a 1–100 scale with 100 representing the most liberal score.[7] The same study found Brookings to be the most frequently cited think tank by the U.S. media and politicians.[7]

SOURCE

Find full article HERE and weigh in if so inclined.

Everybody Loves the Blues

Maynard Ferguson, all time Chairman of the Board of trumpeter!

TRUMPET MOUTHPIECE BLUES

Clark Terry - My Gal Blues

A Self Described Moderate Weblog...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

Found today on a weblog that attempts to pass itself off as a moderate site. Folks who are familiar with the weblog content know that the proprietor is anything but moderate and balanced.

On Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Martin O'Malley, and Lincoln Chafee Not Having the Courage to Say that ALL FUCKING LIVES MATTER!!

The Democratic party of Ed Koch, John F. Kennedy, John Glenn, Sam Nunn, Al Smith, Lee Hamilton, Bill Clinton, Dennis DeConcini, Lloyd Bentsen, Jimmy Carter, Birch Bayh, William Proxmire, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Chuck Robb, David Boren, and Bill Daley Sr. - What happened to it, folks? I mean, I understand that the Republicans have gone a little batty, too, but for those Democrats (save for Jim Webb) to have reduced themselves to that level of pandering was sad, nauseating, and disturbing. Flat out.

What is most glaring is the statement democrats have reduced themselves to that level of pandering was sad, nauseating, and disturbing. Flat out. While I personally would have answered the question the weblog owner is referencing differently, and in a manner that acknowledged all lives indeed matter, his characterization of democrats as pandering would apply equally to republicans that pander to billionaires and corporate entities. Presumably in the conservatives interest in getting elected, and we all know to what ends that leads when it happens. But hey, it is politics and the our side versus their side and winner take all mentality prevails. Most notably among conservatives and conservatives pretending to be moderate.

Tomorrow is another day...

Missouri GOPer Suggests Legislation to Force PP To Build Vietnam Type Memorial For Aborted Fetuses...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

Missouri Republican state Rep. Rick Brattin this week called for legislation that would force Planned Parenthood to build a memorial to aborted fetuses.

On Wednesday, Missouri’s House committees on Children and Families and Ways and Means brainstormed new restrictions on abortion providers in response to videos showing Planned Parenthood employees discussing fetal tissue donations.

According to KBIA, the most controversial proposal came from Brattin.

“We have 56 million babies that have been lost in the abortion service and industry,” Brattin opined. “I think maybe requiring that Planned Parenthood set up some type of memorial, like a Vietnam Wall type [memorial].”

The lawmaker added: “I know that sounds crazy, but by state law [fetuses are] given human status, so should there be a human memorial attached to that human life?”

Creative GOPism at work. You just can't make this stuff up. It takes a GOPer or a fundamentalist to come up with something like this.

Other ideas included random inspections of abortion clinics, and “tracking” of donated fetal tissue.

State Rep. Diane Franklin (R) argued that pathologists should be required to notify authorities “if they receive one of the aborted babies and there is something that should be there that’s not there.”

“Then we need someone at the Department [of Health] that is paying attention that it is flagged, so we can go back, trace it right back, just like you’d trace a package from Amazon, ‘my package has gone missing,’ and be able to identify what happened,” she said.

Before Democrats walked out of the meeting in protest, state Rep. Stacey Newman (D) accused Republicans of leading “a witch hunt hearing, in terms of trying to find some type of legislation for the majority to file next year, which we know is a presidential election year.”

Brattin, however, insisted that it was “absolutely not a witch hunt.”

“We are fighting for human life. These pieces of fetal tissue are being sold on the black market,” he remarked.

Irrespective of Brattin's insistence that it isn't a witch hunt the greater likelihood is that it is indeed a witch hunt. Upping the ante in the game to shutdown Planned Parenthood.

The Republican lawmaker came under fire last year after sponsoring a bill that would have required pregnant women to get the permission of fathers before getting an abortion.

Watch video at the SOURCE.

Via: Memeorandum

The Genius of Beethoven...

More From the Gun Nutters...

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth

Found at THE ASTUDE BLOGGERS
we see the continued hyperbole, disinformation, outright lies, and continued scare tactics from the rabid delusional rightwing malcontents. They realize time is running out on their BS and continual search for new boogeymen so the loonies are stepping up there game of smoke and mirrors. Fortunately more and more Americans are on to their game and the rational and reasonable individuals of this nation will prevail.

Hunters and other stable and responsible firearm owners have absolutely nothing to fear. But the NRA des and so do firearm manufacturers who will see their sales of assault weapons and other semi automatics dwindle when the nation finally moves to uniform national responsible firearm regulations.


Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Leftists Want To Take Away Guns From The Poor and Give Them Only To The Rich



Guns will be with us always.

The question is, who will have guns?

Eliminate the 2nd Amendment and you do not eliminate guns. You eliminate the right of law-abiding citizens to protect their property.

Rich people will simply hire Licensed Security Teams to protect them.

The Constitution of the United States is a simple statement of the right of the Middle Class, and the Poor, to protect their property from ANYONE who would take it away;

whether that be other Middle Class and Poor people,

or

maybe the very same rich, privileged politicians, celebrities and academics who want to take away guns in the first place.

Americans Are Mobilizing In Their Own Self Interest...

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Purveyor of Truth

Sanders campaign reports bringing in $1.4 million from Dem debate 

 Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign said Wednesday that it brought in just over $1.4 million from the Vermont senator's performance at the first Democratic presidential debate the night before.

The average contribution from the debate night was $31.54, the campaign said on Wednesday. The overall figure was an impressive haul, especially for one evening (by comparison, Sen. Rand Paul's presidential campaign brought in a total of $2.5 million in the entire third quarter).

Story Continued Below

On Tuesday night, the campaign sent out an email to supporters describing the influx of cash as a "fundraising bonanza."

"There were more than 37,600 individual contributions," the email on Tuesday said. It went on to say "there was about $100,000 in the five minutes after the debate ended. At the peak, there were about 10.25 contributions per second."

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's campaign didn't immediately respond to inquiries on Wednesday about its fundraising haul after the debate.

There is power in numbers and, given Sanders growing popularity and appeal, one can only surmise he is resonating with middle America and perhaps they are beginning to stand and pay attention to what the GOP and corporatism is doing to their country and the security of themselves and their family.

Via: Memeorandum

Democratic Party Debate Sets New Record...

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CNN's Tuesday night debate averaged 15.3 million viewers, easily making it the highest-rated Democratic debate ever. 

The total viewer number was much lower than the totals for both recent Republican debates, but there was still a surprising surge of interest in Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, Lincoln Chafee and Jim Webb's first time together on stage.

The 15.3 million total far exceeded most expectations, including among CNN executives.

For comparison's sake, the previous Democratic debate record was set in 2008, when Clinton and Barack Obama squared off in prime time on ABC. That debate had 10.7 million viewers.

Heading into Tuesday night, there was unanimous agreement that the total audience would be lower than the 25 million who tuned in for Fox's Republican debate on August 6. That debate -- fueled by Donald Trump -- shattered all previous primary debate records

The Republican rematch on CNN September 16 averaged more than 23 million viewers, essentially confirming that the GOP debates are the highest-rated new "show" of the fall TV season.

CNN executives said the Republican and Democratic debates were "apples and oranges" and that they expected ratings for the Clinton-Sanders face-off to be on par with past Democratic debates.

But they outperformed. "This was the sixth highest non-sports cable telecast on record," a CNN press release said.

CNN's Internet streaming data during the debate also demonstrated a lot of curiosity about the first Democratic forum of the season.

The network's live stream peaked at 980,000 concurrent live streams around 10:20 pm ET, a CNN spokesman said.

That means nearly one million homes were watching simultaneously, surpassing the totals for Trump and Co.

The network's GOP debate on September 16 had peaked with 921,000 concurrent streams.

The #DemDebate hashtag also trended atop Twitter and Facebook's leaderboards throughout the evening.

The unexpected record setting viewers for a democratic debate is good news for the democratic party as it is indicative of increased interest and likely support of democratic candidates.

Their adult performance and behavior last night was a welcome change from the adolescent like performances of some of the GOP candidates during their debates thus far, most notably The Donald.

Via: Memeorandum

'The Great One" - The Donald Weighing In On The Democratic Debate...

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The Donald weighs in on the democratic debate with his vaunted opinions (certainly vaunted among the nutjobs of conservoland anyway) and telegraphs his plan to go nasty at some point on fellow republican candidate Dr. Ben Carson. Which comes as absolutely no surprise because Trump is simply a naturally nasty individual.

ABC News - Donald Trump expressed praise today for Hillary Clinton’s debate performance Tuesday night, telling ABC News that the front-running Democratic candidate “did what she had to do."

"She got through it fine,” he said by phone this morning. “It was a very kind debate, very gentle. She came out the winner."

Trump said Sen. Bernie Sanders should have attacked Clinton more and that their on-stage handshake was a mistake. "I think that he's losing by quite a bit; he shouldn't have done it," Trump said of the Sanders-Clinton handshake prompted by Sanders' saying Americans are tired of hearing about the "damn emails" that continue to dog her campaign.

Trump, the GOP front-runner, also addressed the new FOX News poll that shows a virtual tie between the real estate mogul and Ben Carson. "I can't really explain it,” he said. “I've been number one for a really long time. He's a good guy. He's a nice guy; we get along well. We will see if that continues."

Trump said he will "probably at some point" attack Carson but is holding off for now because "he's been so nice to me."

Carson and Trump will return to the debate stage Oct. 28, when all the GOP presidential candidates are scheduled to meet at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

We've seen one debate (last night) where issues important to America and its people were discussed and it was refreshing to see adults on the debate stge. Soon we will see another debate where the canned and disingenuous talking points (if not outright lies) of the tea party GOP adolescents get another chance to be aired and the candidates get the opportunity put on the next clown act.

Via: Memeorandum

GOP and Tea Party Incompetence...

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For anyone who has been paying even a modicum of attention it is of course clear that the Tea Party wing of the GOP is largely responsible for the dysfunctional state of our present political and governing reality.

It appears at this time there is little if any likelihood that things will take a turn towards reason and rational thinking within the problem caucus. The following article effectively states the case for this conclusion rather well.

The New York Times - The House Republican caucus is close to ungovernable these days. How did this situation come about?

This was not just the work of the Freedom Caucus or Ted Cruz or one month’s activity. The Republican Party’s capacity for effective self-governance degraded slowly, over the course of a long chain of rhetorical excesses, mental corruptions and philosophical betrayals. Basically, the party abandoned traditional conservatism for right-wing radicalism. Republicans came to see themselves as insurgents and revolutionaries, and every revolution tends toward anarchy and ends up devouring its own.

By traditional definitions, conservatism stands for intellectual humility, a belief in steady, incremental change, a preference for reform rather than revolution, a respect for hierarchy, precedence, balance and order, and a tone of voice that is prudent, measured and responsible. Conservatives of this disposition can be dull, but they know how to nurture and run institutions. They also see the nation as one organic whole. Citizens may fall into different classes and political factions, but they are still joined by chains of affection that command ultimate loyalty and love.

All of this has been overturned in dangerous parts of the Republican Party. Over the past 30 years, or at least since Rush Limbaugh came on the scene, the Republican rhetorical tone has grown ever more bombastic, hyperbolic and imbalanced. Public figures are prisoners of their own prose styles, and Republicans from Newt Gingrich through Ben Carson have become addicted to a crisis mentality. Civilization was always on the brink of collapse. Every setback, like the passage of Obamacare, became the ruination of the republic. Comparisons to Nazi Germany became a staple.

This produced a radical mind-set. Conservatives started talking about the Reagan “revolution,” the Gingrich “revolution.” Among people too ill educated to understand the different spheres, political practitioners adopted the mental habits of the entrepreneur. Everything had to be transformational and disruptive. Hierarchy and authority were equated with injustice. Self-expression became more valued than self-restraint and coalition building. A contempt for politics infested the Republican mind.

Politics is the process of making decisions amid diverse opinions. It involves conversation, calm deliberation, self-discipline, the capacity to listen to other points of view and balance valid but competing ideas and interests.

But this new Republican faction regards the messy business of politics as soiled and impure. Compromise is corruption. Inconvenient facts are ignored. Countrymen with different views are regarded as aliens. Political identity became a sort of ethnic identity, and any compromise was regarded as a blood betrayal.

A weird contradictory mentality replaced traditional conservatism. Republican radicals have contempt for politics, but they still believe that transformational political change can rescue the nation. Republicans developed a contempt for Washington and government, but they elected leaders who made the most lavish promises imaginable. Government would be reduced by a quarter! Shutdowns would happen! The nation would be saved by transformational change!...

Perhaps the deeper question that needs to be considered is; does it really matter given the state of American republicanism in America today? For this individual at least, who has completely and totally had it with the absurdities of the Tea Party and GOP, the answer is a definite no.

Continue reading BELOW THE FOLD.

Via: Memeorandum

Moanin...

Gun Violence Post NFL Game Sunday Night...

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Just another day in America...

... and your NRA working hard for unlimited gun rights...

... and we have politicians and gun advocates arguing for less restritions...

... and more open carry and armed teaches...

America, an exceptional firearm hungry society.














Find full story BELOW THE FOLD.

Via: Memeorandum

A Parody On Euripides's Lyric Verse - Poem by Aristophanes

Halcyons ye by the flowing sea
Waves that warble twitteringly,
Circling over the tumbling blue,
Dipping your down in its briny dew,
Spi-i-iders in corners dim
Spi-spi-spinning your fairy film,
Shuttles echoing round the room
Silver notes of the whistling loom,
Where the light-footed dolphin skips
Down the wake of the dark-prowed ships,
Over the course of the racing steed
Where the clustering tendrils breed
Grapes to drown dull care in delight,
Oh! mother make me a child again just for to-night!
I don't exactly see how that last line is to scan,
But that's a consideration I leave to our musical man.


Aristophanes

Exxon Lied About What It KNEW About Effects Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions...

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As climate change deniers continue to spread their disinformation and claim scientific data and evidence is unsettled science or not real science at all, public knowledge that the very corporations that stood to lose the most (impact on profit) were behind the campaign of disinformation is steadily growing. Ultimately the result will be to finally do the right thing. Something corporations seem incapable of doing unless forced to do so by public pressure and government representing the best interests of the governed..

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — MILLIONS of Americans once wanted to smoke. Then they came to understand how deadly tobacco products were. Tragically, that understanding was long delayed because the tobacco industry worked for decades to hide the truth, promoting a message of scientific uncertainty instead.

The same thing has happened with climate change, as Inside Climate News, a nonprofit news organization, has been reporting in a series of articles based on internal documents from Exxon Mobil dating from the 1970s and interviews with former company scientists and employees.

Had Exxon been upfront at the time about the dangers of the greenhouse gases we were spewing into the atmosphere, we might have begun decades ago to develop a less carbon-intensive energy path to avert the worst impacts of a changing climate. Amazingly, politicians are still debating the reality of this threat, thanks in no small part to industry disinformation.

Government and academic scientists alerted policy makers to the potential threat of human-driven climate change in the 1960s and ’70s, but at that time climate change was still a prediction. By the late 1980s it had become an observed fact.

But Exxon was sending a different message, even though its own evidence contradicted its public claim that the science was highly uncertain and no one really knew whether the climate was changing or, if it was changing, what was causing it.

Exxon (which became Exxon Mobil in 1999) was a leader in these campaigns of confusion. In 1989, the company helped to create the Global Climate Coalition to question the scientific basis for concern about climate change and prevent the United States from signing on to the international Kyoto Protocol to control greenhouse gas emissions. The coalition disbanded in 2002, but the disinformation continued. Journalists and scientists have identified more than 30 different organizations funded by the company that have worked to undermine the scientific message and prevent policy action to control greenhouse gas emissions.

As always, Follow The Money.

Continue reading BELOW THE FOLD.

Via: Memeorandum

Classic Rhythm and Blues Friday Night...

Friday Early News Story Round Up...

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Open thread Friday. Early news that happened to catch the eye...

The wisdom of Dr. Ben Carson... The Carson Follow-up Statement


The Newt open to a return to the Speaker-ship of the House...


Rubio's secret presidential money flow for campaign ads...

Barney Franks on the republican plague on government...

Paul Ryan for Speaker of the House?...

Obama administration considers possible retreat in Syria...


GOP Quietly Admits The Truth About Their Attacks On Planned Parenthood NEW

Dr. Carson Demonstrates His Deficient Understanding Of The Debt Ceiling...

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Purveyor of Truth

Kai Ryssdal during his interview with republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson asked a straight forward standard question regarding the debt ceiling, namely whether Dr. Carson believed we should raise the debt ceiling or not. Not raising the ceiling would of course result in the United States defaulting on its debt obligations. Dr. Carson's response made it clear he really doesn't understand the difference between the federal debt ceiling and the federal budget.

Ryssdal: All right, so let's talk about debt then and the budget. As you know, Treasury Secretary Lew has come out in the last couple of days and said, "We're gonna run out of money, we're gonna run out of borrowing authority, on the fifth of November." Should the Congress then and the president not raise the debt limit? Should we default on our debt?

Carson: Let me put it this way: if I were the president, I would not sign an increased budget. Absolutely would not do it. They would have to find a place to cut.

Ryssdal: To be clear, it's increasing the debt limit, not the budget, but I want to make sure I understand you. You'd let the United States default rather than raise the debt limit.

Carson: No, I would provide the kind of leadership that says, "Get on the stick guys, and stop messing around, and cut where you need to cut, because we're not raising any spending limits, period."

Ryssdal: I'm gonna try one more time, sir. This is debt that's already obligated. Would you not favor increasing the debt limit to pay the debts already incurred?

Carson: What I'm saying is what we have to do is restructure the way that we create debt. I mean if we continue along this, where does it stop? It never stops. You're always gonna ask the same question every year. And we're just gonna keep going down that pathway. That's one of the things I think that the people are tired of.

You think Carson is bluffing? He is not bluffing. This is a man who thinks “highfalutin scientists” concocted the theories of evolution and the origins of the universe for Satanic reasons. A reminder: Carson is the second-most-popular choice among Republicans to be their party’s nominee for president of the United States, behind the comparatively sober and well-informed Donald Trump.

When you think about it the statement Carson is the second-most-popular choice among Republicans to be their party’s nominee for president of the United States, behind the comparatively sober and well-informed Donald Trump is a most unnerving and sobering thought.

Source

Via: Memeorandum

Bob Marley Flashback...

Jindal Jandal and teh Wacky Right...

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Purveyor of Truth

It would be almost laughable (the idiocy of the man) were it not so damned pathetic and the issue so serious.

Now, let's get really politically incorrect here and talk specifically about this horror in Oregon. This killer's father is now lecturing us on the need for gun control and he says he has no idea how or where his son got the guns. Of course he doesn't know. You know why he doesn't know? Because he is not, and has never been in his son's life. He's a complete failure as a father, he should be embarrassed to even show his face in public. He's the problem here. He brags that he has never held a gun in his life and that he had no idea that his son had any guns. Why didn't he know? Because he failed to raise his son. He should be ashamed of himself, and he owes us all an apology.

Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby Jindal no doubt is mouthing his absurdity because he knows he has a base that will listen to him and agree. Nodding their collective and empty heads in approval while ignoring mountains of data that points to the real problem. Prolific growth in firearms in the USA and non uniform and ineffective firearm control.

Jindal represents the symptom of why America cannot quell its firearm violence, the lack of political will and the disproportional power the NRA holds over our elected representatives in government. It has become a national disgrace and the other advanced western democracies look at us as being very stupid. AND THEY ARE RIGHT

Read entire article inEsquire

Via: Memeorandum

As the Violence and Human Carnage Continues...

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Why meaningful nationwide uniform firearm legislation and control measures won't be enacted in the United States of America.

America is shocked every time a mass shooting occurs yet it lacks the will to demand positive action be taken by its government to quell the violence. Other (more) civilized western nations do not have this problem, yet they remain as free as the USA'

Now, read the informative article fromVOX.

Via: Memeorandum

Sunday Night Delta Blues...

Edgar Allan Poe... The Raven

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As I sat thinking of my beloved mother this night I was reminded of her favorite poem by Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven.

For some inexplicable reason it seemed as if room has a third presence, the other of course being my wife.

It was almost as if the Raven represented some sort of surreal connection between us. Almost as if some supernatural connection existed

While my mind told me it was just memory the sense of surreal persisted until it left as quickly as it had visited.

Wherever you are Mom this is for you with my undying love.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—

    While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—

            Only this and nothing more.”

    Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;

And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

    Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow

    From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

            Nameless here for evermore.

    And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

    So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating

    “’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door—

Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;—

            This it is and nothing more.”

    Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,

“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;

    But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,

    And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,

That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door;—

            Darkness there and nothing more.

    Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;

    But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,

    And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”

This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!”—

            Merely this and nothing more.

    Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,

Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.

    “Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;

      Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore—

Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—

            ’Tis the wind and nothing more!”

    Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,

In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;

    Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;

    But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door—

Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door—

            Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,

By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,

“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,

Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—

Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”

            Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

    Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,

Though its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore;

    For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being

    Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door—

Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,

            With such name as “Nevermore.”

    But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only

That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.

    Nothing farther then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—

    Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before—

On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”

            Then the bird said “Nevermore.”

    Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,

“Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its only stock and store

    Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster

    Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore—

Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore

            Of ‘Never—nevermore’.”

    But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,

Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;

    Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking

    Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore—

What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore

            Meant in croaking “Nevermore.”

    This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing

To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;

    This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining

    On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,

But whose velvet-violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,

            She shall press, ah, nevermore!

    Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer

Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.

    “Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee

    Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore;

Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”

            Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

    “Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—

Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,

    Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—

    On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—

Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!”

            Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

    “Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!

By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—

    Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,

    It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”

            Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

    “Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—

“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!

    Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!

    Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”

            Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

    And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;

    And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,

    And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

            Shall be lifted—nevermore!