Rational Nation USA

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

Rational Nation U S A 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

Rational Nation U S A 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 indisc

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Rational Nation U S A 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 Washingto

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Rational Nation U S A 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 Am

Rational Nation U S A 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 r

Yup ...

Rational Nation U S A 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

Rational Nation U S A 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 durin

Rational Nation U S A 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.

Rational Nation U S A 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 frequ

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

Rational Nation U S A 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,

Rational Nation U S A 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 u

Rational Nation U S A 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 Amen

Rational Nation U S A 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

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth 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

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth 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 tire

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth 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 them

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth 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

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

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth 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 s

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth 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

Rational Nation U S A 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 budge

Rational Nation U S A 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

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth 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 from VOX . Via: Memeorandum

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth 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 bl