Cuccinelli Compares Immigrants to Rats

Just when you think Ken Cuccinelli can't get any more heinous, he does.

Cuccinelli: Well, I saw the same rat story about D.C. that y'all have been talking about. What you may not know is that last year, in its finite wisdom, the D.C. City Council passed a new law, or a triumph of animal rights over human health, where those pest control people you suggested they bring in aren't allowed to kill the rats. They have to relocate the rats and not only that -- that's actually not the worst part -- they cannot break up the families of the rats. Now, as actual experts in pest control will tell you, if you don't move an animal at least 25 miles, it'll come back. And so what's the solution to that? Well, cross a river. Host: Send 'em over to Virginia, that's right. Cuccinelli: Guess why I care about that sort of thing? Other host: I bet. Cuccinelli: Anyway, it is worse than our immigration policy -- you can't break up rat families. Or raccoons or all the rest and you can't even kill them. It's unbelievable.

As dcist points out, Kookinelli is wrong on every level here - on the animal law (in fact, it "explicitly exempts rats and mice from its provisions" - nice try, though, Cuckoo Boy), on the supposed smuggling of rats into Virginia (apparently, Kooky has a vivid fantasy life), and on the comparison of immigrants to rats. As dcist puts it, "we're not really sure if that little snipe about immigration policy means that you think that immigrants should be killed. Just for that, we're sending a few hundred extra rats over tonight." Remind me again, who the heck voted for this bigoted ignoramus exactly? Wow. h/t: Rachel Levy

NY Times Asks: Should They Tell Readers When Politicians are Blatantly Lying?

So, the New York Times' public editor is asking - seriously, this is not an Onion parody - "whether and when New York Times news reporters should challenge 'facts' that are asserted by newsmakers they write about." Again, this is not meant as a joke; he's really asking the question.  Let me help you, Mr. Brisbane. YES!!!!!!!OF!!!!!!!COURSE!!!!!!!DUH!!!!!!! Was that a clear enough answer? No? OK, then, here are a few examples to illustrate. 1. A politician, almost certainly a Republican't, claims that there's no scientific consensus on global warming (oh yes there is, big time!), or that there's some big conspiracy/scandal about a few random emails climate scientists sent (oh no there isn't!), or whatever other crazy/idiotic/ignorant/fallacious comment the Republican't politician made. In the article, you quote the Republican't, then immediately say something like, "of course, as everyone knows, THAT IS NOT TRUE, in fact it is a OUTRIGHT LIE." Got it? 2. Another politician, against almost certainly a Republican't, claims that "Obamacare" (not its real name, which should also be pointed out as a lie) increases the deficit.  In the article, you quote the lying Republican't, then immediately say something like, "of course, as the non-partisan CBO says, THAT IS NOT TRUE, in fact it is an OUTRIGHT LIE." Got it? 3. Yet another politician, amazingly yet again a Republican't (sensing a pattern here?), claims that up is down, black is white, hot is cold, Obama's a Kenyan anti-colonialist, Democrats are really socialists, there's no such thing as evolution, the recession didn't start under President Bush, blah blah blah. Again, in the article, you quote the crazy/lying liar Republican't, then immediately say something like, "yes, these people are utterly nuts, factually challenged, pathological liars, etc."  Got it? Then, the media might actually start to regain a bit of the credibility it's utterly lost in recent years, by its constant perpetuation of an absurd and false "balance" between "both sides" of any "argument" (e.g., one side says the earth is flat, the other says it's round). But will they do that?  I mean, reporting the facts and letting readers know when someone's telling a lie is just so hard, it would require reporters and editors to get off their fat behinds and actually do what they are getting paid good money to do. What a concept, huh?

New Hampshire Primary Open Thread

I love the social media work the Obama campaign has been doing recently, both in Iowa and in New Hampshire. Putting a wrap-around Obama ad on one of the most highly-trafficked sites for New Hampshire Teapublican't primary election returns is a smart move, also highly amusing. Anyway, please feel free to use this as an open thread on Willard (aka, "Mitt"), Newt, Rick (the missing village idiot), and all the other fine examples of humanity on the Teapublican't ballot today in New Hampshire. As the Obama campaign rightly points out, no matter what happens today, the only winner is the Tea Party's radical agenda. Everyone else loses.P.S. Polls close at 7 pm (UPDATE: and some close at 8 pm for whatever weird reason). By the way, is this the most boring New Hampshire primary in...uh, forever? UPDATE 7:45 pm: With 16 of 301 precincts reporting, it's Willard 37%, Paul 25%, Huntsman 15%, Newt 12%, Santorum 10%, and Perry 1% (no, that's not a typo - the village idiot has essentially no support at all - and rightfully so!). UPDATE 8:01 pm: With 34 precincts reporting, it's Willard 36% (CNN and CBS have projected him as the winner of his de facto home state), Paul 25%, Huntsman 17% (look for him to drop out shortly), Newt 11% (FAIL!), and Santorum 10% (not surging this time!). Perry's not even worth mentioning. UPDATE 8:20 pm: With 53 precincts reporting, it's Willard 36%, Paul 25%, Huntsman 17%, Newt 11%, Santorum 10%. Basically, these results aren't changing at all...Willard #1, Paul #2, Huntsman #3... UPDATE 8:27 pm: Willard won 32% in NH in 2008, this year doing slightly better against a much weaker field. Wow. Feel the Mittmentum. Not. UPDATE 9:51 pm: With 184 precincts reporting in the most boring NH primary ever, it's Willard 38%, the crazy/paranoid/bigot/freakazoid 24%, the guy who's name you'd better not google 10%, the guy who is as cold blooded as his name would indicate 10% (slightly behind Santorum), and the missing village idiot with just 944 total votes! What a primary; what a party!!! LOL UPDATE 6:30 am Wednesday: With 284 precincts reporting, Willard has 40% of the vote, Paul 23%, Huntsman 17%, Newt 10%, Santorum 9%, and Missing Village Idiot 1%. Amazingly, nobody appears to be dropping out, despite the glaringly obvious fact that Willard has the nomination sewn up. Apparently, these people are delusional in more ways than just ideology, science, etc.

Thanks to YouTube, This Could Be a Great Year for Democrats!

See below and on the "flip" for the latest and greatest by Willard "Mitt" Romney, courtesy of YouTube. By the way, the title of Willard's op-ed on the U.S. auto industry was Let Detroit Go Bankrupt. Seriously, you can't make this up. Same guy who believes "corporations are people," who thinks it's fun to fire people, who makes casual $10,000 bets, who believes only wealthy people should be running for office, who cruelly strapped his dog to the top of his car, who is a pathological liar, who is even more of a pathological liar, who has flip-flopped radically on almost every position he's ever held, who has zero core convictions (and zero core in general), etc, etc. That this guy is likely to be the Republican't nominee for president in 2012 really says everything there is to say about today's GOP. And none of it is good. On the flip side, of course, it means that 2012 could be a great year for Democrats, as long as Republican'ts don't do even more to sabotage the recovery from a recession that they're largely responsible for creating in the first place. Oh, and if the media actually does its job and reports the truth about Willard.

TK Visits Blacksburg: Some Thoughts

By Kathy in Blacksburg About 150 Montgomery County Democrats happily gave up their Friday evening to welcome former governor and US Senate candidate Tim Kaine to Blacksburg yesterday. The event featured a lengthy opportunity for local Dems to personally greet the former governor, share their thoughts, and hear his vision for the 2012 campaign. It was also a great opportunity for collecting signatures for the petitions to get Kaine on the ballot. (What is the matter with GOP presidential wannabes that they cannot meet the Virginia standard? What a bunch of whiners!) You won't hear Tim whining about petitions! Kaine's visits are different from most other pols. There is a presence, confidence balanced by humility, knowledge, enthusiasm, optimism and earnestness unparalleled by other state-wide candidates. Each and every person is treated with unparallelled respect. He not only answers questions but shows his vast expertise in both Virginia and national issues. I mentioned some time ago,during the RaisingKaine days, that his willingness and ability to listen, really hear and discuss issues had no equal, much less superior. These skills will serve him well throughout his race to November, 2012. As just one example... (please follow after the fold): A gentleman asked the former governor about the fact that Virginia Indian tribes are not recognized by the Federal government. Tim not only had reflections to share, reflections illustrating he had given the subject much prior thought, but replied extensively, his knowledge and compassion about the many related issues clearly demonstrated. Most of all, I was struck by something I think best is described Dec 6th at [Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/shahgilani/2011/12/06/the-rumors-about-bill-clinton-are-true/], but actually written about Bill Clinton. You can read the article at Forbes. Tim's ability is right up there with Clinton. Despite the troubling times we live in, Kaine is optimistic about our ability to address the issues we must. He offers up Virginia (most notably under his leadership) for demonstrating how to carefully cut when necessary, but to do so prioritizing those things which are most critical to the needs of Virginians. He knows how to balance a budget with compassion. He's experienced both with a General Assembly split and one working against him. Four years in a row Tim led the Commonwealth to the top ranking as a place for business. His work as the cheerleader-in-chief also brought a number of national companies to the state. Virginia has vast talent pool, which is both home-grown and imported from other states because Virginia has historically been a good state in which to run a business and to work. Regarding the economy, Kaine pointed out that history has shown you cannot just tax-cut the Commonwealth or the nation out of their problems. A balanced approach which expects the wealthy to pay their fair share is essential too. I was concerned about the endorsement of the Gang of Six, which appeared to ignore the fact that Social Security has not contributed to the deficit. Yet, the Gang's proposal slices and dices Social Security in several ways (people would work longer, lose under the revised COLA plan, receive less, while the Gang would fundamentally turn Social Security into a Welfare program. This is despite the fact that it is NOT welfare. We all put money into the system from the beginning of our working days. Wall Street has shown we cannot depend on it to keep our future safe. Yet the Gang's proposal unfairly makes budget and tax reform on the backs of seniors. Most Americans currently need or will need their Social Security benefits. That, however, was my only disagreement with Tim Kaine's remarks last evening. Today I spoke with former MCDC chair and community leader Lindsay West. Her statement pretty much summed it up regarding Kaine, "We Virginians are lucky, she said. We are lucky in several respects. Lindsay has been a phenomenal Democrat and a wonderful person. Our town is lucky to have her. We likewise have a wonderful current MCDC chair. I don't feel lucky with Morgan Griffith, Ken Cuccinelli and Bob McDonnell supposedly "representing" me (we all know they do not). But Kaine will we a formidable candidate for the US Senate. In that we are lucky indeed. Note: This diary has been modified from the original by the addition of a couple of sentences.

Arlington County Democrats Debate to Fill Vacant County Board Seat

Wednesday night, the Arlington County Democratic Committee (ACDC) held a candidates' debate for the five people running for County Board (for the seat vacated due to Barbara Favola's election to the State Senate) before a packed house (a couple hundred people?) at GMU's Founders Hall. I posted most of the videos here, but due to very slooooooow YouTube loading, as well as one crash of my computer in the middle of the process, this has taken significantly longer than I'd expected. Anyway, here are the candidates' closing statements. In order, they are: Peter Fallon, Melissa Bondi, Terron Sims, Kim Klingler, and Libby Garvey. You can also read the candidates' extensive interviews at Blue Virginia (Fallon, Garvey, Sims, Bondi, Klingler). Finally, make sure you come out and vote on either January 19th (at Washington-Lee HS from 7 to 9 pm) or 21st (from 11 am to 7 pm at Kenmore Middle School). P.S. What is the biggest challenge facing Arlington County? You can see the candidates' answers to that question on the "flip." In my opinion, it's something none of them talked about directly -- namely, the challenge Arlington will face in coming years as the government downsizes. given Arlington's heavy dependence on government - military, civilian, contractor - employment, property taxes, etc., that's going to be a huge challenge for the county, beginning soon if not immediately. Do we have a strategy to diversify our economy? I haven't seen one yet, but I hope we're busy working on this!

Video: ProgressVA Executive Director Explains "ALEC's disturbing level of influence"

Per The Big Picture, here's what Anna Scholl of ProgressVA is talking about (bolding added by me for emphasis):

According to a new report by the advocacy group Progress Virginia - lawmakers in Virginia have outsourced their jobs to the shadowy, Koch brothers-funded, corporate think tank known as ALEC - the American Legislative Exchange Council. In case you dont know what ALEC is - it's an organization that brings together corporate CEOs and lobbyists with elected lawmakers to come up with custom-made legislation that benefits big polluters, job outsourcers, and banksters, and hurts unions, poor people, and voters. And apparently it's found a friend in the Virginia General Assembly - where since 2007 - over 50 different pieces of legislation have been introduced that are exact carbon copies of ALEC written legislation. So what does it mean when corporate think tanks are in charge of writing out laws?

It means we're no longer much of a Democracy, if we allow this garbage to continue, and if we don't fight back!

An Optimistic Tim Kaine at the Tower Club

By Teddy Goodson

Former Governor Tim Kaine, now Candidate Kaine for Senate, spoke this morning at the January breakfast of the Northern Virginia Democratic Business Council (held at the Tower Club in Tysons Corner). Kaine called this the beginning of "the Sprint" to election  day in November, providing the friendly audience with a sample of what will be the main themes of his campaign. With typically sunny Kaine optimism and gentility, certain key words emerged: "balance," "working together" to solve the country's problems, and focusing on encouraging "education and talent." These concepts emerged as guiding principles when tackling one topic after another, from deficit reduction to immigration to education. Democrats, he noted, are the party of business and of opportunity for all.Kaine reminded the audience that in the 1950's, Virginia was 49th among the 50 states in percentage of children in school, yet today we rank 7th, thanks to finally following Thomas Jefferson's original notion of broad public education, and to building a powerful, balanced economy that attracts successful businesses and outside talent. "No state has moved as far as Virginia," according to Kaine, and in his view, Virginia can show America how to move forward. In dealing as Governor with the state budget during a severe recession, Kaine pointed out that he never applied across-the-board cuts, but used surgical precision in selecting not only where and how to cut, but sometimes actually increasing funding to reflect priorities, focusing on encouraging talent and creating and favoring business development. Kaine will apply the same ability to make hard but principled decisions at the national level because, he noted wryly, "No one has ever cut their way to prosperity." By encouraging immigration of talented people, Kaine attracted new businesses to Virginia, even in the midst of a recession.

Teddy Goodson :: An Optimistic Tim Kaine at the Tower Club

As he has crossed the Commonwealth, Kaine claimed that the main problem troubling voters everywhere, regardless of political affiliation, was not the deficit nor even the economy, but a demand that elected officials at every level must work together. In other words, the public regards the current dysfunction of government as being due not to a broken system, but to demagoguery and an unwillingness to work together (across the aisle)  in simply governing.  Using his term as Governor, when he worked with a Republican Assembly, he said he had plenty of experience in getting things done by working with political opponents.  The key, in his words, is "not to let disagreement on one issue poison the relationship," just move on to the next topic and see where you can create a meeting of minds.To the surprise and pleasure of former military in the audience, Kaine  emphasized his commitment to helping veterans re-integrate with civilian society, finding them jobs when they come home. For the first time, he mentioned his likely Republican opponent, George Allen, by name, mentioning that Allen's answer for the economy and job creation was the stale formula of "cut taxes, cut regulations, and drill but we have already tried that policy, and it brought us the Great Recession---- obviously, Kaine implied, we need more practical answers, which he has. After Education/talent and helping veterans, Kaine listed the Budget Deficit as his final major priority , once more emphasizing "Balance."  Here he acknowledged that Social Security was not in trouble, but  bluntly said, Yes, some other entitlements might have to be cut, but at the same time the Bush tax cuts must also be allowed to expire for the wealthier part of society which would therefore mean there would be pain at both the top and the lower income levels.  You cannot achieve balance via im-balance, a concept he feels Virginians grasp and approve. This naturally raised the question of bipartisanship in Congress, something he says will have to start naturally in the Senate, a more collegial body, than in the politicized House, where, in fact, we have already seen the Senate passing the jobs bill with 95 ayes, thus forcing the House to, well, behave itself and also pass the legislation. Among questions raised by the audience was one about the effect on Virginia of upcoming Defense cuts   Kaine pivoted to technology as a partial answer, raising the idea that despite the necessary cuts, we might want to consider actually putting more money into cyber resources in the future. No Child Left Behind came up, and Kaine's approach was to change the emphasis from developing minimum standards of competence to setting goals and outcomes to encourage excellence. He also wants to develop more technical education and broaden pre-school education for children if we want to keep America competitive. Moreover, the policy of forcing the for-profit colleges to prove their success rate should also be applied to regular institutions of higher education, in his opinion.  As he said, while education is supposedly a matter of state control, not federal, the truth is, other countries   have national policies, and we are falling behind without national goals of our own. The Occupy Wall Street movement came up in the context of getting those participants to vote, and vote Democratic; as Kaine noted, the Occup6y movement has specifically refused to be co-opted; interestingly, he regards the movement primarily as a critique of policy makers. The Occupy movement senses that the system is rigged against them as a result of policy decisions made by elected officials, and, in fact, most members of the Tea Party actually agree. The concept of the 99 percent has entered political discourse, and, in Kaine's view, this entire idea will be even more important if Romney, the quintessential financial economy businessman, becomes the Republican nominee for President.  One member of the audience archly inquired if we had verifiable statistics on the number of jobs lost from Romney's work at Bain Company, acquiring and gutting other companies; Kaine remarked it was a good question, but he had no figures firm enough to go public with them. To the audience's pleasure, Kaine added that he had no intention of "distancing" himself from President Obama. He felt the man was doing a good job, he liked and admired him. He believes he is going to win, is very positive and says there has been too much doom and gloom. Unlike some peddlers of doom, Kaine does not believe America is in decline. Our best years are ahead of us, and he will campaign on that note.

Iowa GOP Caucus: Everybody Loses

by The Green Miles

Is it possible to have a caucus that no one wins? The results from Iowa sure look like it: Mitt Romney has been campaigning for president for six years. He's spent millions of dollars of his own campaign money and has been backed by tens of millions in spending by shadowy outside groups (thanks, Supreme Court's awful, activist Citizens United ruling). Romney only managed 24.6% - 0.6% less than in 2008. Extremist social conservatives certainly didn't support Perry (10% & clumsily indicated he'd drop out), Bachmann (5% & possibly dropping out this morning) or Cain (1% & already out). But even with supporters of controlling theocratic government consolidated behind him, Rick Santorum couldn't win. Despite an alleged ability to draw independent & liberal crossover votes and what his supporters claimed was an infusion of people traveling to Iowa, Ron Paul still finished third.  It's hard to see a path to victory for anyone but Mitt Romney - phony, lying, corporations-are-people Mitt Romney. The real question at this point: Will Republicans set aside their dislike of Romney & unite in their hatred of President Obama behind him anyway? Be so dispirited by Romney that down-ballot Congressional races swing to Democrats? Turn to a third party candidate like Paul? What do you think?

Iowa Caucuses Open Thread: CNN Entrance Poll Has It Paul #1, Romney #1a, Santorum #3

The Iowa Republican freak show/caucuses have begun. I know, don't get too excited or anything. :) Also, for what it's worth, CNN's entrance poll has it roughly as follows heading into the caucuses (numbers calculated from sub-category percentages provided, but they don't just give you the totals for whatever idiotic reason):1. Paul 24.0% 1a. Romney 23.5% 3. Santorum 18.5% 4. Gingrich 13.0% 5. Perry 10.5% 6. Bachmann 7.5% If this is how things end up tonight, it will be a good night for Willard "Mitt" Romney, and not such a great night for Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and Michele Bachmann. As for Rick Santorum, if this is the actual finish, it will be a pretty good night for him based on where he was a week or two ago, but not based on where he'd been trending the past few days. He must have thought he could win this thing, but let's wait until the actual results, not just a CNN "entrance poll" of questionable accuracy and validity. By the way, the Obama campaign has an impressive social media effort going on tonight, with a wrap-around banner ad on the Des Moines Register website(which should get huge traffic this evening), as well as the video you can see above. Nice job, Obama campaign! We'll start getting results soon from a variety of source (e.g., see Google Politics and Elections, AP, CBS, etc.). In the meantime, please feel free to use this as an open thread about the Iowa caucuses and/or the 2012 presidential race in general. UPDATE Wednesday morning: With 1,766 precincts (99.5%) reporting, it's Romney 25% (30,015), Santorum 25% (30,007), Paul 21% (26,219), Gingrich 13%, Perry 10%, Bachmann 5%, and Huntsman 1%. For Romney, that's an almost identical percentage and numerical total to the 2008 Iowa caucuses, essentially demonstrating zero progress since then in rallying Republicans to his side (despite his increasingly shrill, almost crazed, anti-Obama language, not to mention his continued retreat from reality-based policies). Heckuva job, Willard, you're made an absolute fool of yourself yet STILL not made inroads with the right wingnuts who don't trust you but who make up a good portion of the Teapublican't base! UPDATE 11:00 pm: Bottom line, it looks like  a tossup between Santorum and Romney, which is good news for Willard. Paul underperformed a bit, and the other candidates - especially Bachmann and Perry (neither have any excuses whatsoever, as they both were heavily invested in Iowa) are way behind, probably no "ticket" out of Iowa (although their zombie corpses could continue onwards for a bit longer). Definite winner tonight: Barack Obama, who will end up facing one of these freakazoid/losers, with no apparent sign of Republican enthusiasm in terms of voter turnout. Works for me! :)