It is imperative that America’s military men and women receive the support they deserve for the sacrifices they have made. Our members of the Armed Forces have fought to preserve the freedoms we cherish and I believe Congress must be steadfast in honoring our commitment to them.

Here’s what Paulsen’s Congressional webpage says:

As elected officials one of our greatest responsibilities is to honor the service and sacrifice of our service members and their families. I take that commitment seriously and I am actively working to uphold that commitment already in Congress.

Sounds good, “right”? But how do Tweedle-Dee’s and Tweedle-GaffeMachine’s actual records look? Let’s look!!!

The Veterans Of Foreign Wars just happens to track who sponsors and co-sponsors bills that actually do things to honor the commitment to Veterans that Paulsen and Bachmann often claim to do – and they even have a swell webpage for voters to hold them accountable. Go ahead; click on “Elected Officials” an check on anyone in Congress you want to!

Here’s Paulsen’s page; now click on “Bills” and you’ll see a list under the headings “Bill Name” and “Co-Sponsor?”

And please note that after each and every single bill to help Veterans, under the “Co-Sponsor?” header is: “No”

And if you hit the “More Bills” icon, you’ll find that they still are all: “No”

No surprise there! But, what about Bachmann? Let’s look!!!

Here’s Bachmann’s page; now click on “Bills” and you’ll see a list under the headings “Bill Name” and “Co-Sponsor?”

And please note that after each and every single bill to help Veterans, under the “Co-Sponsor?” header is: “No”

All eleven – ELEVEN - of ‘em.

And if you hit the “More Bills” icon, you’ll find eight – EIGHT - more bills supporting Veterans, that Bachmann doesn’t support.

But, here’s the kicker – way at the bottom of the list, there actually are two bills that Bachmann did support – meaning as p*ss-poor of support Bachmann gave for Veterans, Paulsen was even worse.

Now, what are some of these Bills Paulsen and Bachmann won’t co-sponsor? Here’s just a couple:

H.R.2074 – Veterans Sexual Assault Prevention Act

H.R.115 – CHAMPVA Children’s Protection Act of 2011

H.R.865 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the work opportunity credit to certain recently discharged veterans

Paulsen & Bachmaann – talking the talk but not walking the walk.

No suprise there!

graphic via the amazing Tild)

(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)

GOPers do it all of the time – make (stuff) up. In the Minnesota Legislature, these days they are – literally – using Enron’s Accountants to come up with the numbers for their budget bills.

Jeff Rosenberg, over at MnPublius notes:

When I first wrote that the MNGOP was using “Enron-style accounting,” it was meant as just a simple metaphor for their made-up budget numbers. But in a hilarious turn of events, it appears that the state government budget bill numbers were actually produced by Enron’s accountants.

Maybe the local GOPers should do what Arizona GOPer Senator Jon Kyle did, after whipping out this whopper – which simply IS NOT TRUE:

CNN Anchor TJ Holmes called GOPer Kyl’s office about that made up (stuff):

HOLMES: We did call his office trying to ask what he was talking about there. And I just want to give it you verbatim here. It says, ‘his remark was not intended to be a factual statement, but rather to illustrate that Planned Parenthood, a organization that receives millions of dollars in taxpayer funding, does subsidize abortions.’

GOPer Kyl is on the floor of the United States Senate, and ‘his remark was not intended to be a factual statement’??!?

Reasonable people cannot reasonably believe what GOPers say.

And here’s a few examples of that:

Today’s Example Of Why Reasonable People Cannot Reasonably Believe What GOPers Say: Screenshots

Today’s Example Of Why Reasonable People Cannot Reasonably Believe What GOPers Say: Capitol Damage

Today’s Example Of Why Reasonable People Cannot Reasonably Believe What GOPers Say: Katy Kersten

Today’s Example Of Why Reasonable People Cannot Believe Anything A GOPer Says: Ben Golnik

Mitch Berg – The Poster Boy Of Why Reasonable People Cannot Reasonably Believe republiCons

And, of course, there’s these…

February 15th, 2009: RNC’s Michael Steele: “You have absolutely no reason – none – to trust our words or our actions at this point.”

July 31st, 2009: You Couldn’t Trust The GOP Then, You Still Can’t Now, And Tomorrow Won’t Be Any Different

“His remark was not intended to be a factual statement.”

Indeed.

(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)

“A sizable number of GOP primary voters are questioning President Obama’s faith and citizenship,” Stephanopoulos noted. “Can you state very clearly that President Obama is a Christian and he is a citizen of the United States?”

“Well, that isn’t for me to state. That’s for the president to state,” Bachmann said.

“Do you believe it?” Stephanopoulos pressed.

The Minnesota congresswoman continued to dodge the question.

“When the president makes his statements, I think they need to stand for their own,” she said.

“You can’t just sit there and declare the president’s a citizen and he is a Christian?” the ABC host asked again.

“You know, what I focus on today, George, is today is the two-year anniversary of the stimulus program, where we spent $1 trillion to make sure that unemployment wouldn’t go above 8 percent,” she replied.

Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive; you can’t make it up!

Again, H/T to the fine folk at CrooksAndLiars.com.

(cross posted to MnProgressiveProject; comments welcome there)

Yeah, “right.”

Until it’s registered to somebody, it’s still Brodkorb’s blog and all the filth and slime that still is on it is simply the continuation of Mud Slinger Mike’s “work.” And this “work” is the stuff that continues to stoke the GOP’s extremist base; the base, for example, that rallied behind candidates such as Tom Emmer, who said: “I don’t think you can call yourself a freedom-loving American and be a Democrat.”

Or, for example, Michele Bachmann, who stated on right wing radio:

“I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us, having a revolution every now and then is a good thing, and the people — we the people — are going to have to fight back hard if we’re not going to lose our country. “

Take a look at the YouTube below the ad Brodkorb’s Blog named the “3rd Best Political Ad of 2010. For a full minute, you have an exceedingly angry former Marine acting like a crazed cowboy; waving a rifle around and then firing a round to land God knows where.

By now, you should have seen the map Palin put on her website, “targeting” Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. It’s now been taken down.

Will Brodkorb take back his gushing plattitudes for Bachmann and Palin, who Brodkorb called the GOP’s “Gold Standard“?

Don’t hold your breath.

Then again, maybe you won’t have to; some GOPer with a gun just might take your breath away.

It’s been said if you’re not a part of the solution you’re part of the problem.

Brodkorb, Brodkorb’s Blog, and Brodkorb’s “Gold Standard” mentality are the epitome of the problem.

That YouTube “featured” on Brodkorb’s Blog’s “3rd best ad” is below.

I

(cross posted from MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)

Hey – the Half-Time Governor gives Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive something to shoot for next year!

(cross posted from MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)

Is it really a lie when the person making an outrageous statement doesn’t actually care if it’s the truth or not?

Simply not caring explains Michele Bachmann, a Finalist for Politifact.com’s 2009 Lie Of The Year. In fact, Politifact.com has examined 9 – NINE – statements from Bacnmann, and found all – ALL – of them “False” (four of those claims were actually rated “Pants On Fire” – as in “Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire”).

Bachmann still doesn’t care; just last month, as noted here, Bachmann went on a Sunday TV show and said some (stuff) that prompted a Pat Kessler “Reality Check”.

As noted:

And in Kessler’s “Reality Check” – on Bachmann’s outrageous fabrications concerning the economy – Kessler found Bachmann’s claims, and I quote: “That’s factually WRONG” and “This is FALSE” and “This starts with a kernel of truth, but is OUT OF CONTEXT” and “This is NOT TRUE.” (emphasis NOT added) (MnProgressiveProject.com)

So, what did Bachmann do, after getting Reality Checked by Pat Kessler? Went on stage at a GOPer rally with Sarah Palin, and repeated that same (stuff) Pat Kessler had found to be: “WRONG”, “FALSE”, “OUT OF CONTEXT”, and “NOT TRUE”.

That’s what BSers do, because they simply don’t care if something is true or not – they only care that the listener (in Bachmann’s case, “voter”) thinks it’s true.

Erik Hare will be joing The Big E and yours truly, the ol’ TwoPutter, this Saturday (May 15th) as I Guest Host “Radio Cafe with Cathy Hauser” from 2:00 to 3:00 pm on AM950 – KTNF. We’ll be talking about Professor Frankfurt’s book (“On Bullsh*t”), Erik’s post over at Barataria, this post (and any subsequent comments!), the media’s role in propagating/covering BS, and how BS seems to be the modus operandi of today’s Republican Party.

There’s a video interview of Professor Frankfurt discussing his book below the fold, plus an added bonus – a link to Jon Stewart interviewing Professor Frankfurt on “The Daily Show”!

Professor Frankfurt’s Book, “On Bullsh*t”, is available locally through Common Good Books in St. Paul; if you can’t make it in to the shop, you can order on line and they’ll ship.

A little bit about Emeritus Professor Harry G. Frankfurt of Princeton University, from Wikipedia:

On Bullshit is an essay by philosopher Harry Frankfurt. Originally published in the journal Raritan in 1986, the essay was republished as a separate volume in 2005 and became a nonfiction bestseller, spending twenty-seven weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list.[1]

In the essay, Frankfurt defines a theory of bullshit, defining the concept and analyzing its applications. In particular, Frankfurt distinguishes bullshitting from lying: while the liar deliberately makes false claims, the bullshitter is simply uninterested in the truth. Bullshitters aim primarily to impress and persuade their audiences. While liars need to know the truth to better conceal it, bullshitters, interested solely in advancing their own agendas, have no use for the truth. Thus, Frankfurt claims, “…bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are,” (Frankfurt 61).

This work laid the foundation for Frankfurt’s 2006 follow-up book, On Truth.

For a more entertaining, less scholarly interview of Professor Frankfurt, here’s the link to The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart!

The Daily Show – Professor Frankfurt

(cross posted from MnProgressiveProject; comments welcome there)

We’ll be getting a report from Tea Bagger Central “Jason Lewis Tax Cut Rally”; rumor has it Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive may say something stupid make an appearance.

And in “honor” of that, we’ll be giving away one copy of “False Witness! The Michele Bachmann Story (Volume 1)“, to one lucky listener — courtesy of AM-950 KTNF sponsor Common Good Books – so, pay attention and call in when asked!!!

As always, call 952-946-6205 to join the conversation!

We’ll also be joined in-studio for an in-depth conversation with MN-GUV Candidate Matt Entenza!

So tune in the radio today to AM-950 KTNF, or listen live on your computer, here!

Oh – in case you missed it, I sat in for Mike McIntee’s “Quick On The UpTake” show yesterday and was joined in studio by Spot from The Cucking Stool! You can listen to the archived show here.

(cross posted from MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)

Anyone care to weigh in with the first lie uttered by one of Politifact.com’s “2009 Lie Of The Year” Finalists, Michele Bachmann?

Astute blogger Bullied Pulpit noted:

My favorite part of this clip, BY FAR, is the end, where she equates Net Neutrality to censorship. How on earth does this airhead manage to dress herself in the morning? It’s astounding.

Well, Andy Birkey at Minnesota Independent picked up on that, too.

Obviously, she either lying (again) or has not a clue what “net neutrality” means – not that blissful ignorance has ever stopped Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive from spewing proven lies no matter what the source; either talking points originated from GOP HQ or random factoids springing from her teabag-addled brain. For a recent example of that, link here.

Video and transcript of Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive’s latest lies, below the fold.

Do Democrats Want to Silence Dissent? Rep. Bachmann Responds
Tuesday, April 20, 2010

This is a rush transcript from “Hannity,” April 19, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: All right, so I have finally found one thing I like about the Democrats’ health care bill. It turns out that Congress may be fined millions of dollars a year under its own bill because the bill kicks current members and their staffs off their health care plans.

So if Congress is subject to the $3,000 per employee fine imposed by the bill, it will be shelling out $50 million each year to the federal government. I guess you could call that the silver lining in this very dark cloud.

More HANNITY straight ahead.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right, so Bill Clinton was not the only one drawing parallels between the GOP and the Oklahoma City bombing. Democratic congressman Betty McCollum joined the chorus, chastising her Republican colleagues on the House floor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MCCOLLUM, D-MINN.: When members of Congress compare health care legislation to government tyranny, socialism or totalitarianism in the hopes of scoring political points it’s like pouring gas on the fire of extremism.

I don’t want another Oklahoma City to ever take place again. And just as we would not give aid and comfort to Al Qaeda let us not allow the words of elected leaders to give comfort and — comfortable excuses to extremists bent on violence.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right, so are the Democrats just asked the Republicans to shut up? Joining me now with reaction is one of those pesky, wascally (ph) Republican, Congresswoman McCollum was probably talking, this is Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.

So I guess you can’t be critical. You can’t say socialism exists. You can’t be critical of government. I thought this was the highest form of patriotism when the criticism was aimed at George W. Bush.

Something has happened, I must have missed it. What happened here?

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, R-MINN.: Apparently it is hate speech when it’s on the right and it’s not hate speech when it’s on the left so, you know, go figure where that comes from.

But the main thing right now really is the government takeover of private industry and we’re seeing that in one sector after another. And the worst is this new financial regulation bill where the federal government wants to decide who will get credit in the future in the United States.

They what to decide when a bank teller in Peoria, Illinois will make and they also want to give permanent bailout authority to the federal government and bypass Congress. That is the federal government coming in in a real thuggish way, if you will, and taking over the boardrooms of private industry.

This is what makes people very unsure about their government right now.

HANNITY: Well, I think a lot of people are raising very legitimate questions about the debt. About the deficits. About a weakening of our national security. About a lack of moral clarity in the War on Terror.

These are legitimate questions. And there seems to be a coordinated effort to intimidate, silence and demonize any critic of this administration, this House of Representatives, this leadership.

And you in particular have been singled out here. And I just want to know what do you think is behind this from your perspective?

BACHMANN: Well, one word that we’ve heard a lot just in this last week is the word “violence.” And that when people on the right are disagreeing with the Obama administration that we’re fomenting violence.

Well, I think violence is when the Democrat-controlled base, whether it’s President Obama, Harry Reid or Speaker Pelosi — when they feel like their political position of power is being attacked, that’s what they equate violence with.

But as a matter of fact, the First Amendment was written specifically to guarantee freedom of political speech. People have the right to disagree with their government, especially when they see these unprecedented actions that are taken by this president putting us in greater debt than we’ve ever seen, increasing taxes to a level that we haven’t seen before, at least what they are talking about increasing taxes to.

And this very unprecedented level of the federal government taking over private banks, car companies, insurance companies, the federal government owning over half of all home mortgages taking over the student loan industry, health care.

HANNITY: Yes.

BACHMANN: Of course the people are reacting.

HANNITY: You see, and this is what is troublesome to me because the very same people that are now accusing any conservative critic of this incendiary language they were noticeably silent — we have a video of FALN terrorists — that Bill Clinton eventually pardoned — making bombs on video.

He gave them a pardon. They had very little interest in the relationship between Barack Obama, the candidate, and this unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers. So there seems to be really a double standard.

I guess what I’m trying to get an answer to this question, though. Do you think this is a coordinated attack — in other words the echo chamber of the Democratic Party — do you think this is coordinated by all people on the left?

A strategy has emerged because it appears that they’re all singing from the same hymnal at this point.

BACHMANN: Well, they are. If you look at all of the new shows over this last weekend, they used practically the identical language. They’re talking about a war of words. They specifically identified Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin and they were — as you said they’re singing off the same hymnal.

But essentially it’s whoever they see as an effective voice that’s who they go after and attack right now. But really the bigger issue in all of this is what is happening in Washington?

What’s the federal government doing under the Obama administration. And this is serious. When you have the Obama administration, for instance, in this new financial control bill, financial services, suggesting that the federal government should decide who gets credit in the future or having permanent bailout authority in the future.

People are opposed to this. But they want to ram this bill through, just like they rammed through health care.

HANNITY: Yes.

BACHMANN: But the American people are saying no dice, we don’t want to play this game any more.

HANNITY: You know the thing that I find most interesting is in the “Wall Street Journal” today is you have the guy, the president of the Pew Research Center basically saying the general public now wants government reform and its power curtailed.

BACHMANN: That’s right.

HANNITY: So what I think has happened, and tell me if you think I’m wrong here, is I think conservatives have won the argument. They won the argument on health care. They forced it down our throat any way.

They’re winning the argument on the size and scope and influence of government. And now the reaction is that to now just lash out at the messengers that are saying, you know what, we could do better with limited government, lower taxes and a strong national defense.

And this, you know, propaganda campaign — what do you think the net result is? Does it work? Does it backfire?

BACHMANN: Sure, that’s all they have left now, is they use pejorative terms, hateful terms against those that are carrying the message. So whether they’re attacking conservative talk radio, or conservative TV or whether it’s Internet sites, I mean, let’s face it, what’s the Obama administration doing?

They’re advocating net neutrality which is essentially censorship of the Internet. This is the Obama administration advocating censorship of the Internet. Why? They want to silence the voices that are opposing them.

Despite the fact that they continue to have much of the mainstream media still providing cover for all of these dramatic efforts that the Obama administration is taking. So they’re very specifically and pointedly going after voices that they see are effectively telling the truth about what the Obama administration is trying to do.

HANNITY: Yes.

BACHMANN: The American people don’t like it very much.

HANNITY: I think the narrative that the president is not the moderate that he ran as, and is far more radical, has taken hold.

BACHMANN: Without a doubt.

HANNITY: And I think that’s very irritating to them.

BACHMANN: Yes. Without a doubt.

HANNITY: All right, Congresswoman, good to see you as always. Thanks for being with us.

BACHMANN: Thank you, Sean.

(cross posted from MnProgressiveProject; comments welcome there)

(cross posted from ; comments welcome there)