Blogger, Provocateur & Propagandist Andrew Breitbart Dead

Blogger, Provocateur & Propagandist Andrew Breitbart

CNN is reporting that Andrew Breitbart is dead of natural causes at the age of 43.  Mr. Breitbart was an ultra-conservative blogger, provocateur and propagandist.  His facilitation of half-truths and lies through his various websites helped to remove from government noted liberals such as former Congressman Anthony Weiner, Van Jones and Shirley Sherrod.  His mentoring of James O’Keefe helped to bring about the destruction of ACORN and several criminal acts.

While those on the right will deify Mr. Breitbart for being a strong conservative voice against liberalism, I will not.  No, Mr. Breitbart believed that no half-truth or lie should go unpublished as long as it furthered the cause of ultra-conservatism.  He was a bully who believed that the ends justify the means, no matter how destructive.  Joseph Goebbels would have been extremely proud of him.

An agent of evil may be dead and burning in the fires of Hell, but his creations still live on.  We liberals must continue the war against the half-truths and lies spread by his various websites and minions.

Preserving the Super Majority, Arizona Style

Is it me or do the Republicans in Arizona care more about staying in a super majority in the state legislature than they do about governing for all?  I know, it is kind of silly question, but one still needs to ask it.

My friend over at The Arizona Eagletarian has been reporting on the Arizona Independent Redistricting Committee and their attempts to fulfill the mandate of the Arizona voters.  The voters of Arizona approved a constitutional amendment that took redistricting out of the hands of the legislature and placed in the hands of an “independent” commission.  The voters’ goal was that this commission would create competitive legislative and congressional districts that protected neither Democrats nor Republicans.

But the UC/TF and “tea party” movement members of the Republican Party appear to see the AIRC as a threat to the newly won Republican super majority, if not the majority they have enjoyed for over 40 years.  They have focused their attacks onto the chairwoman who is the only independent on the commission.  They claim that because her husband worked as a consultant for Democrats (forgetting that he had also worked for Republicans), that she was really a secret Democrat.

They have also raised issue with the fact that the commission chose a mapping consultant that has worked with Democratic and liberal groups, most notably the Obama 2008 campaign.  Never mind that the Republicans on the commission rated the chosen consultant the highest, even if they didn’t vote for it.

The UC/TF and “tea party” is also making efforts to call a special session of the legislature to remove the chairperson for being a secret Democrat and also to place on the 2012 ballot an effort to return redistricting to the legislature.  Add to this that UC/TF Republican state Attorney General Tom Horne has launched an “investigation” into the actions of the AIRC.  All of this of course is to discredit the AIRC in the eyes of public.

All of this is bullshit of course.  Their true intention is not to make the AIRC “fair” and “transparent”.  No, their true intention is to eliminate the AIRC and turn redistricting back over to the legislature in order to preserve the Republican majority and super majority.  Their greatest fear is that if the AIRC creates truly competitive districts that meet the standards of the Voting Rights Act that Democrats will gain control of the legislature and reverse the damage done to the state by decades of UC/TF Republican rule.

Their fear is not without basis and that’s why they are working so hard to preserve their super majority against the will of the voters.

The Destruction of Full Faith and Credit

Those members of Congress, governors and state legislatures who were elected with the vast support of the "tea party" movement and/or are members of the "tea party" movement have never cared about governing.  Nor do they care about making President Obama a one term president, as is Senate Minority Leader's Mitch McConnell’s stated goal.  No, their only goal is to dismantle our government and replace it with one whose sole purpose is to benefit the wealthy, the privileged and corporations.

Yes, for years the ultra-right conservative movement, their theocratic fascist and corporate allies have been slowly moving us in that direction for at least three decades.  It wasn't until the election of 2010 that the damage was able to be done more quickly and widespread.  Ultra-conservative and theocratic fascist Republicans (UC/TF/R) took control of governorships and state legislatures across the nation, foisting upon their respective state's laws that make everything before them look like child's play.

In Arizona, the UC/TF/R dominated legislature approved and UC/TF/R Governor Brewer signed laws that give tax breaks and subsidies for corporations while kicking people off of the state's Medicaid rolls.  In Wisconsin the UC/TF/R dominated legislature and UC/TF/R Governor Walker rammed through elimination of the right of public employees to collectively bargain through their respective unions while also giving out tax breaks to corporations.

UC/TF/R Michigan Governor Snyder signed a law that gave him the authority to effectively dissolve local and county governments by declaring “economic” emergencies.  The law has been used for a “trustee” takeover of some of the poorest school districts with the intent to privatize some of the schools therein and to turn others into charter schools.

The path of joblessness, poverty and destruction across this nation left by the policies of the UC/TF/R is staggering.  Now they are on course to destroy the “full faith and credit” of the United States by demanding massive cuts in our social safety net in order for them to approve raising the non-Constitutionally imposed “debt ceiling”.  In other words, they refuse to pay the bills of the United States unless the poor, working poor and the middle class give up what past generations fought for.

The UC/TF/R wants our government to go into default.  By forcing our government into default on our debts and obligations they destroy a critical portion of our nation’s foundation: Our word.  By destroying our word, they can force not just reductions in the social safety net, but the complete dismantling of that net.  Once the net is destroyed, once the corporations have free reign, once only the wealthy and privilege have access to the newly reformed government, then and only then will the UC/TF/R be happy.