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What I will not write about today

frustrated21

Sometimes I get so frustrated and/or disheartened and/or annoyed by some of the news stories of the day that I can’t bring myself to write about them. Here are a few recent reports that made my blood pressure hit the roof. I am avoiding delving into them at length out of concern for my physical and mental health.

See what I mean? So who’s up for a couple of Margs or a trough of wine?

drunk drink more wine

What I can’t believe I’m writing about today

huh what'd they say

I've recently introduced a new feature, What I Will Not Write About Today of news items that are so frustrating and/or disheartening and/or annoying that I can’t bring myself to write about them. Here are a few recent reports that I can't believe I did write about today:

Via Taegan, here are a couple of today's eye-popping stories. Follow the links for more:

"I am the senator. You are the citizen. You need to be quiet."

– North Carolina State Senator Tommy Tucker (R), quoted by the Raleigh News and Observer, to Goldsboro News-Argus publisher Hal Tanner who was opposing legislation to change public notice requirements for local government.

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Sanford Sons Met His Girlfriend at Victory Party: Jenny Sanford confirmed: "That was indeed Bolton's first intro and both boys were quite upset and visibly so."

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And this jaw-dropper, via my pal @Crutnacker:

tweet mitch mcconnell guns

When you follow their link, you see this entry from Mitch McConnell's Facebook Page on which his campaign mocks gun safety efforts by Democrats. "Nice!"….

mcconnell campaign FB guns

Here are some of the comments under that post:

Bill Cox: Thank you Mr. McConnell. As always, I am glad to see your continued support of the 2nd Amendment and our gun rights.

Steve Robertson: Wow a politician actually does something right for a change. Thank you.

Thomas Wilson: What is a meme?

Jeff Wheeler: My man Mitch! Don't let the Imam start writing executive orders!!!

Bear Gibson: They can have our guns one bullet at a time.

If you need more right wing talking points, link over to the page and read the rest. There were some anti-Mitch responses, too.

I cannot believe I wrote about that today.

fainting

MI GOP official won’t resign over Facebook post about “filthy homosexuals” who “account for half the murders in large cities”

fb page dave agema GOP winger 4He’s MARRIED and MALE and don’t you forget it!

The Detroit Free Press is reporting on what Republican national committeeman Dave Agema’s posted on Facebook during the Supreme Court oral arguments on marriage equality.

LANSING — A prominent Michigan Republican was not backing down or apologizing Thursday as he faced calls for his resignation over an antigay posting on his Facebook page. [...]

The post depicts gay people as sexually promiscuous, rife with sexually transmitted diseases and responsible for “half the murders in large cities.” It cites 30-year-old studies for some of its statistics and sources such as the Congressional Record and special-interest groups for others.

The article he posted is titled “Everyone Should Know These Statistics on Homosexuals.” You can link over and see the despicable content for yourself.

Here’s how it appears on his Facebook page:

fb page dave agema GOP winger 3

See? “Dave likes” that article!

After criticism poured in, he responded with this:

“It’s not hate. It’s facts derived from several studies. The trouble is many don’t like facts.”

“Many don’t like facts” but “Dave likes” that article!

The next day he said that it was worth sharing, plus this:

Some publications and even a few liberal Republicans have chosen to take the words of someone else and cast them as my ownI will not back down… I will dig in and fight even harder to defend our conservative values from these attacks by liberals in the media, and even in our own party.”

Of course he also insisted that he doesn’t hate or discriminate against anyone.

Of course not. Why would anyone ever suggest such a thing? But Dave sure “likes” that article!

Just to be clear about what kind of extremist nutball this guy is, here are a couple of other items he has posted on his Facebook page:

fb page dave agema GOP winger 2

fb page dave agema GOP wingerYip! That’s what he do!

How’s that reachy-outy thing workin’ for ya, GOP?

outreach my ass reach out inclusive

PhotOH! Well, come on, if a**holes can get married…

Being an asshole is part of my manly essencegay if choice so what, people choose to be assholes, they marry

This photo (H/t: @GaryBlackmon) comes to us courtesy of the Stop Gay Bashing page on Facebook, which features these messages:

It’s time to put a stop to Anti-Gay Bullying and Harassment in life. We are here to give hope and advice to those who need it and to stop this nonsense once and for all.

Just a reminder to everyone: This is a page where hate, bigotry & ignorance is NOT TOLERATED and will get you permanently banned. If you don’t have anything positive to say, then please by all means Unlike the page. No one is forcing you to linger here. Remember, LOVE conquers EVERYTHING. So with that said, PEACE & LOVE from all of us here at Stop Gay Bashing.

Promoting equality, as illustrated by the aptly named Equality House below, is truly American. I not only “Liked” that Facebook page, I loved it.

Topeka, Kansas house across from the Westboro Baptist Church.

Screen grab from video of Topeka, Kansas house across from the Westboro Baptist Church.

Former GOP state chairman, McCain fundraiser busted for Facebook scam

busted 6

Former Oregon Republican chairman, gubernatorial candidate, Florida financier, and creepy little fraud Craig Berkman was arrested for (allegedly) “bilking investors out of millions in a scheme to sell fake Facebook shares, ” per Newser.

He was claiming he had access to Facebook shares which was a big fat lie. And he managed to rake in $8 million by telling that big fat lie.

And this wasn’t the first time. He pulled the same kind of scams over at LinkedIn and other social media sites, but got nabbed for those, too.

Here’s his Wiki:

Craig Berkman (born about 1943) is a longtime venture capitalist and was an influential Republican politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. He was known as a big donor in national Republican circles. He chaired the Oregon Republican Party in the early 1990s, opposing the far right Oregon Citizens Alliance. He ran for chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1993 and for Governor of Oregon in 1996, losing the former race to Haley Barbour and the latter to Denny Smith in the primary election.[1]

Oregonlive.com described him this way in 2008:

“He was the hope of the old Republican moderate establishment.”

And check out Meet Craig Berkman, crooked McCain fundraiser.

Maybe this was his version of “outreach.” Another family values Republican bites the dust.

“Oh, so you’re saying that the fetus wasn’t a person?”

birther sign racist kenya

Here’s a riddle for you: When is personhood not personhood?

Answer: Whenever it does or it doesn’t suit conservative (pro-forced) birthers’ agenda.

The following is a fun little brain teaser that appeared to pose a problem for “Republican.”

Via the De-fund the Komen Foundation Facebook page:

fb obama personhood joke

As one commenter said, “Can’t have it both ways.” Follow the link for more comments, including one from someone that took the post a little too literally.

H/t: Greg Ostravich

Facebook made $1.1 billion in profits in 2012, paid zero corporate income tax, will get over $425 million in refunds

unfriended

I do not like Facebook. I do not like Facebook with a passion. I wish I could delete my account, but we use it for sharing our Political Carnival blog posts, and we get such positive feedback (meaning people thank us) that we continue to post there.

I could even give up FB access to my family and friends, although it wouldn’t be easy, which is exactly what I plan to do if and when my association with TPC, or the site itself, ceases to exist.

Why? There are so many reasons, among them the constant frustration with glitches, privacy issues, and the increasingly user-unfriendliness. Facebook used to be fun and welcoming, but now it’s, well, too big to bail.

Here’s another reason now! One that just broke!

FB attacked

And just when I thought I couldn’t get more exasperated, this new report from Citizens for Tax Justice made me seethe all over again:

Earlier this month, the Facebook Inc. released its first “10-K” annual financial report since going public last year. Hidden in the report’s footnotes is an amazing admission: despite $1.1 billion in U.S. profits in 2012, Facebook did not pay even a dime in federal and state income taxes.

Instead, Facebook says it will receive net tax refunds totaling $429 million.

Facebook’s income tax refunds stem from the company’s use of a single tax break, the tax deductibility of executive stock options. That tax break reduced Facebook’s federal and state income taxes by $1,033 million in 2012, including refunds of earlier years’ taxes of $451 million

Think Progress notes that “this tax preference for corporations costs the U.S. about $2 billion in revenue per year.”

And the wealth gap widens…

As does my dis-”like” of Facebook.