Category Archives: Politics
What is it about tattooed people? A disdain for their skin?
After yesterday’s piece on the results of the man with the a Romney tattoo on his head, this bunch of tattoos popped up on the web (can you believe it?!):
So it doesn’t matter whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, if you have the amazing need to defile yourself as a party poster, you fall into a category of folks that is beyond my understanding, not that I am fond of the current trend to cover yourself with all kinds of tattoos at all.
Related articles
- Harry Styles continues colouring in his naked body with another tattoo (mirror.co.uk)
- Harry Styles Tweets Photo Of His New Tattoos! (lukewilliamsgossip.wordpress.com)
- Tat’s my baby! (nypost.com)
- scarlett johansson horseshoe tattoo (thesun.co.uk)
Quote of the Day – The man with the Romney Tattoo
Remember Eric Hartsburg? He was paid $15,000 to get a five inch Romney campaign tattoo on his face. Hartsburg did it as an auction. His only requirement for bidding on the ‘ad space’ was that it could not be racist or offensive.
“I’m the guy who has egg all over his face, but instead of egg, it’s a big Romney/Ryan tattoo. It’s there for life.
“I’m hoping this opens some other doors in the entertainment business.”
Hmmm. Opening doors in the entertainment business? I was trying to think of a situation where that would be possible, outside of a film about Romney’s loss… not something I see much of a market for. Perhaps the logo could be sold to an auto manufacturer (Rolls Royce?) and Hartsman could become a car dealer’s mascot.
How much do you want to bet that Hartsman will be whining about the tattoo to his grandchildren.
Related articles
- Man Who Tattooed Romney Logo Onto Forehead Speaks Out (huffingtonpost.com)
- Romney campaign’s lasting mark (politico.com)
- Indiana man stuck with Romney face tattoo (thegrio.com)
- From the Dept. of Regrettable Tattoos: The Romney Ryan Logo (towleroad.com)
- Fan Tattoos Romney Logo On His Face (mix1041.cbslocal.com)
- Man With Romney Tattoo on His Face is ‘Disappointed,’ Tries to Look on the Bright Side (nymag.com)
- Interview with a Man Who Got a Romney/Ryan Face Tattoo (slog.thestranger.com)
So where are we with General Petraeus?
What on earth is happening when an American who has been trusted as much as General Petraeus has his little love affair exposed (which doesn’t seem to have effected his CIA leadership at all) and feels the need to resign?
This article is from Truthdig… I’m putting it all here:
How the David Petraeus-Paula Broadwell Affair Was Uncovered
AP/Cliff Owen Former CIA Director David Petraeus. Modern technology apparently cost ex-CIA Director David Petraeus his job. The retired general’s affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell was discovered by the FBI while it was investigating harassing emails she sent to Jill Kelley, a 37-year-old woman who serves as an unpaid social liaison to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. A former associate of Petraeus says he and Kelley are just friends.
After news of the FBI investigation that uncovered the affair, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper stepped in and asked Petraeus to resign.
Clapper was told by the Justice Department of the Petraeus investigation at about 5 p.m. on Election Day, and then called Petraeus and urged him to resign, according to a senior U.S. intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.
…Concerned that the emails he exchanged with Broadwell raised the possibility of a security breach, the FBI brought the matter up with Petraeus directly, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.
Petraeus decided to quit, though he was breaking no laws by having an affair, officials said.
In the wake of Petraeus’ resignation, members of Congress are asking for more information about the investigation, including why they weren’t alerted sooner and whether the probe had any impact on national security.
Now here are my thoughts. Given the world situation, why in hell are we letting a man with this amount of military and foreign policy and management experience leave this job over a little penis stimulation? You can’t tell me that the Congressfolk who would sit over his situation if he hadn’t resigned haven’t been involved in the same kind of stuff.
If I were Obama, I would have, at least temporarily, refused Petraeus’ resignation and let him go ahead with his testimony about Libya (which he should do anyway, whether he has resigned or not.)
If we really let him go we are more stupid than I already think.
Related articles
- Congress wants answers on Petraeus affair (cnsnews.com)
- Woman connected to Petraeus scandal seeks privacy (cnsnews.com)
- Friend: Petraeus began affair after taking CIA job – Boston.com (boston.com)
- Info emerges about 2nd woman in David Petraeus affair (bostonherald.com)
- Identity of second woman emerges in Petraeus’ downfall (sfluxe.com)
- Woman who sparked Petraeus probe ID’d by U.S. army official (cbc.ca)
- L’affaire Petraeus: second woman identified, and Gmail location data outed Broadwell and Petraeus (boingboing.net)
- David Petraeus Resigns From The CIA Over An Affair. (stirringtrouble.wordpress.com)
Cartoon(s) of the Week – It’s all over. Where are we?
Kevin Siers in The Charlotte Observer:
Perhaps we can start on getting religion out of politics. What are we, the Taliban?
– and –
Clay Bennett in the Chattanooga Times Free Press:
At least we know now that America is more than old white men…
– and –
Joel Pett in The Lexington Herald-Leader:
Of course, some Republicans will probably continue their uncooperativeness. It will kill them later.
– and –
Mike Luckovich in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Of course, this may make at least one news organization reevaluate it’s strategy…
– and –
Adam Zyglis in the Buffalo News:
And now forward into the second term (thanks, in part, to General Motors.)
Another good reason not to trust rich Republicans…
This was on NBC:
“From the moment Mitt Romney stepped off stage Tuesday night, having just delivered a brief concession speech he wrote only that evening, the massive infrastructure surrounding his campaign quickly began to disassemble itself.
Aides taking cabs home late that night got rude awakenings when they found the credit cards linked to the campaign no longer worked.”
No trickle up…guess that falls in line with trickle down. Obama spent most of the night praising and supporting his campaign workers.
Related articles
- Mitt Romney Cancelled Campaign Staff’s Credit Cards During His Concession Speech (thesuperficial.com)
- Mitt Romney’s Campaign Cancels Staffers Credit Cards In The Middle Of The Night (forbes.com)
- Romney staffers stranded when campaign killed credit cards on election night (rawstory.com)
- When Little Rich Boys (Mitt Romney) Do Not Get Their Way It Is Brutal (dekerivers.wordpress.com)
- Obama’s Address to His Staff on Tuesday Night: “I’m Really Proud of All of You” (littlegreenfootballs.com)
- Romney’s Campaign Staff Stranded On Election Night With Cancelled Credit Cards (ibtimes.com)
A quote for the week – I can hardly believe someone would say this…
This is a quote that was published today by Buck Banks in Pensito Review. It was headed “Now This Guy Is A Sore Loser!”
Eric Dondero
“All family and friends, even close family and friends, who I know to be Democrats are hereby dead to me. I vow never to speak to them again for the rest of my life, or have any communications with them. They are in short, the enemies of liberty. They deserve nothing less than hatred and utter contempt…. I strongly urge all other libertarians to do the same. Are you married to someone who voted for Obama, have a girlfriend who voted ‘O’. Divorce them. Break up with them without haste. Vow not to attend family functions, Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas for example, if there will be any family members in attendance who are Democrats.”
— Former Ron Paul aide Eric Dondero, asserting that the only recourse to President Obama’s re-election is “outright revolt” and therefore is launching a “personal boycott” of Democrats.
Eric Dondero blogs at LibertarianRepublican.net.
I am impressed with how much difference can be read into the American psyche. What is wrong with these people? What good is a country where everyone believes the exact same things? How woud progress ever happen? Who would have invented the goddam lightbulb?
Related articles
- Eric Dondero on Boycotting Democrats — Daily Intel (nymag.com)
- Boycotting Democrats (politicalwire.com)
- Dondero: Un-Friend All Obama Voters (drudge.com)
- Losing With Grace (themoderatevoice.com)
The Final Results of the Election…
If you haven’t seen where everything finally ended up after Florida was called (which took an awfully long time and right up to the very end the GOP said Romney had it… but he didn’t), then here it is:
This, to me, is a sure sign that Obama has a mandate to finish his agenda. To win by 126 electoral votes is not insignificant… it is a real rollover.
Now we will listen to Boehner claim that he is ready to cooperate, but will keep the House just a opposed to increasing taxes on the very rich and solving the rest of the economic problems. Will the House Republicans finally support Obama’s goal to increase jobs? Looks like they are going to stay just as opposed. Didn’t they learn anything from the election?
Mitch McConnell will probably keep the Republicans in the Senate from letting things go through, although they are still in the minority. McConnell is up for reelection in Kentucky in 2014, so maybe he will cooperate a little bit just to show that he’s not a schmuck. We’ll wait and see.
Related articles
- Boehner and McConnell Dissed Obama on Election Night – Refused Phone Calls from the President, Claiming They Were Asleep (pensitoreview.com)
- Mitch McConnell and John Boehner’s strategy worked (washingtonpost.com)
- Obama Tried To Call Mitch McConnell And John Boehner On Election Night, But They Lied That They Were Sleeping (tribuneofthepeople.com)
- McConnell warns Obama on taxes (politico.com)
- McConnell (kind of) promises to work with Obama (tv.msnbc.com)
- Mitch McConnell offers a helpful reminder of why Senate Democrats must reform the filibuster now (dailykos.com)
- Boehner suggests Republicans will Accept More Revenue, Work Together (he must not have met Mitch McConnell) (freakoutnation.com)
- Election Gave Obama and Boehner Chance for a Do-Over – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
- Obama’s mandate (wnd.com)
My congratulations to Stephen Skinner…My best wishes to Elliot Simon
The election finished in West Virginia with results I predicted on the air.
So we have a wonderful guy going to the State House of Delegates representing us here in Jefferson County.
Although I consider myself glad to know both Skinner and his opponent, libertarian Republican Elliot Simon, who does the radio program “Common Sense” on Saturday Mornings just before my show, “Talk To Me”, on WSHC radio in Shepherdstown, I must say it is Stephen’s politics that I agree with. It does not surprise me that he won.
I’ll be glad to have Elliot’s full time attention back on our Saturday Morning broadcasts. I’m sure he disagrees with me, but I hope we will still cordially greet each other between shows.
Related articles
- Hey radio fans… we have a special schedule today due to football season: (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)
It looks like the Obama/Netanyahu relationship is not the one the Republicans tried to establish…
Here is Israel‘s Prime minister with the US Ambassador, congratulating Obama and reinforcing the two countries’ “rock solid” relationship:
Related articles
- Netanyahu in damage-control mode after Obama re-election (maddowblog.msnbc.com)
- ‘Those claiming PM interfered in election harm US ties’ (jpost.com)
- PM says conducting ‘business as usual’ with US – Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)
Obama Wins! Romney Concedes! The world can go on!
Congratulations Mr. President!
Here are Nate Silver’s totals as of 4:30 AM in the NY Times:
It is a win that is smaller than 2008’s but larger than many expected!
Getting this election over with is becoming an evening of sheer misery…
It’s not enough that I am going in for tests before my Friday brain surgery at 6:30 AM tomorrow and go through four different doctors and three tests by 2:30 PM…just getting my mind in the mood for that doesn’t let me bond with the TV pundits who are arguing out the campaign results they can’t really call.
Thinking about how miserable it would be if Romney won, but that is not nearly as bad as thinking about how graceless in their concessions the losers will be if Obama and the Democratic Congressional candidates win. Nobody seems to really be trying to tie the country together and make us the 
UNITED states that we have to become.
BTW, I want to really think the hundreds of you who have wished me well by e-mail, in Facebook, and those of you who have commented on this blog. I never really knew how many of you visit the LobsterScope and it’s daily changing graphic background and what my daughter calls the rantings of an old man. I hope I’ll be back at full speed next week some time, but it will be hard to keep it up now through the weekend. Don’t be surprised if a day has no or only one post… and don’t plan on anything Friday or Saturday.
Those of you who listen to me on the radio at WSHC 89.7 Shepherdstown, either locally or on the worldwide live feed at http://897wshc.org , won’t hear me this weekend. I got friends and fellows to cover my time on the air and I thank all of them.
If you are in a state that has late polls open and you haven’t voted yet, get out there and do it. People have died for your right to vote!
Bye now… Bill.
Related articles
- Election Day Explained (ourfriendsinthewest.wordpress.com)
- Obama victory party breaks out early (forexlive.com)
- How Election Day Will Break Twitter (buzzfeed.com)
- The Strength of Women + What We Can All Learn from Loren’s Brain Surgery (lorensworld.com)
- Sacred Text Describes Successful Brain Surgery in Ancient Tibet (history.com)
- One year since my brain surgery (abelsmomfight.blogspot.com)
Live Election Returns Map
The LA Times is running a live Election Returns Map which will be ongoing until the voting is over nationwide.
To keep track of it, Bookmark this page:
http://graphics.latimes.com/2012-election-results-national-map/
It will be a long while before a lot is up there (right now there is only a teeny bit of New Hampshire), but this will be a helpful track keeper.
Related articles
- How To Watch Tonight’s Election Results Online (readwrite.com)
- Foursquare’s ‘I Voted’ map delivers your real-time election day fix (digitaltrends.com)
- Ways to Engage: Election Night (learning.blogs.nytimes.com)
- Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest: Bookmark our poll closing times map & key races list for Tuesday (dailykos.com)
It’s the beginning of the most important day of the year…
Waking up to Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire:
Nate Silver now projects President Obama’s margin of victory to be two or three percentage points
in the popular vote, approximating the margin that George W. Bush achieved in defeating John Kerry in 2004.
In addition, he gives Obama a 91.6% chance to win the necessary 270 electoral votes for re-election.
John Avlon: “The final polls are out and behind the national horserace is a fascinating dynamic — Mitt Romney is narrowly winning independent voters while President Obama is winning centrist voters by a nearly 20-point margin.”
“This is significant because in past elections independents and centrist voters have been largely synonymous-overlapping cohorts, reflecting the belief of many independents that the two parties are too polarized and disproportionately dominated by their respective special interests. But what I think we’re seeing this year is the extended impact of the tea party – a growth in the number of independent conservatives that has moved the overall independent voting block slightly to the right. In turn, centrist voters are more likely to vote for Obama precisely because of the polarizing impact of the tea party and the intransigence of many conservative congressmen when it came to working in a good faith spirit of principled compromise with the Obama administration.”
OK… I’m off for my morning appointments (gee…how do people get up this early?). – Bill
Related articles
- FiveThirtyEight: Nov. 5: Late Poll Gains for Obama Leave Romney With Longer Odds (fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com)
- US elections: after the campaign, the hush of polling day descends (guardian.co.uk)
- Centrists Embrace Obama (thedailybeast.com)
I might have limited posting for a while…
Due to a medical emergency (the discovery of a potential brain tumor… aint that a kick in the head?) I’m going to be going in for several days of testing, etc., but I’ll try to keep up with you folks. I want you to know how much I appreciate the readers of Under The LobsterScope, and your e-mail to me is always welcome, as well as your likes and comments.
DON’T FORGET TO VOTE THIS MORNING IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY.
I don’t want to wake up in a hospital and find that Mitt the Twit is president.
Nate Silver
I’m glad that Nate Silver in the NY Times, 538 column, is still got his usually very accurate poll predictions on Obama carrying most of the swing states… and his prediction that our president will be re-elected.
Your e-mail is always appreciated… Bill.
Related articles
- NATE SILVER: Obama’s Odds Of Winning Have Now Hit An Overwhelming 86% (businessinsider.com)
- Your New Internet Boyfriend: Nate Silver (thegloss.com)
- Why Conservatives and Pundits Are Petrified of Math Wiz Nate Silver (alternet.org)
- New Evidence that Cellphones Cause Brain Tumors — And How To Minimize Your Risk (forbes.com)
- Brain Cancer Grading (cancercenter.com)
- Understanding a Brain Tumor Prognosis (everydayhealth.com)
So how is Romney’s plan to send Foodstamps to the states going to effect his voter base?
That is a good question, after looking at this article in the Bloomberg News. Here’s a clip:
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said in May that he’d written off votes from 47 percent of Americans who are collecting government aid. Turns out many of them are part of his political base.
Seventy percent of counties with the fastest-growth in food-stamp aid during the last four years voted for the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data compiled by Bloomberg. They include Republican strongholds like King County, Texas, which in 2008 backed Republican John McCain by 92.6 percent, his largest share in the nation; and fast-growing Douglas County, Colorado.That means Romney is counting on votes from areas where lower-income people have become more reliant on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as food stamps.
Let’s see how it really fits his base support. Get the word out!
Related articles
- Republican-Heavy Counties Eat Up Most Food-Stamp Growth – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
- Terry O’Neill: The Romney-Ryan Budget: Reward the Rich, Punish the Rest (huffingtonpost.com)
- Romney attacked over climate change as activists tap post-Sandy concerns (guardian.co.uk)
Tomorrow is Election Day… so where do the swing state polls stand today?
This will probably be the last time I put these up. Now it’s your turn. Make sure to get out and vote and hopefully our man will win.
Here are the latest polls from the battleground states:
Florida: Romney 52%, Obama 47% (InsiderAdvantage)
Florida: Obama 50%, Romney 49% (Public Policy Polling)
Florida: Romney 50%, Obama 48% (Pulse Opinion Research)
North Carolina: Obama 49%, Romney 49% (Public Policy Polling)
Ohio: Obama 48%, Romney 46% (Pulse Opinion Research)
Pennsylvania: Obama 49%, Romney 46% (Pulse Opinion Research)
Virginia: Obama 48%, Romney 47% (NBC/WSJ/Marist)
Virginia: Obama 49%, Romney 48% (Pulse Opinion Research)
Wisconsin: Obama 49%, Romney 48% (Pulse Opinion Research)
Looks like Florida is the one to keep an eye on. While Romney leads in 2 out of three polls, this is a REAL swing state that could go either way. I’m not sure the tie in North Carolina really goes to Obama. Nate seems to think it will.
This morning’s Nate Silver‘s poll roundup in Five Thirty Eight is strongly in favor of Obama:
Nate Silver is giving the Election to Obama.
Here are the Real Clear Politics Polls for today:
Related articles
- Obama Leading In 14 New Swing State Polls, Tied In The Other Two (outsidethebeltway.com)
- Georgians swarm swing states for final election push – Atlanta Journal Constitution (ajc.com)
- Interviews with swing state voters: The Floridian who doesn’t want Medicare to change (washingtonpost.com)
How do the candidates stand on America’s energy future? Here’s a radio piece from NCR
Energy policy, defining how we use energy to power our economy and our lives, is among the most pressing issues for the next four years. In this special edition of BURN, stories about the power of one: how, in this election season, a single person, place, policy or idea can — with a boost from science — affect the nation’s search for greater energy independence.
We’ve had a lovely afternoon and evening at the American Conservation Film Festival.
We are in the four day period of the ACFF, now celebrating it’s 10th Anniversary of presenting conservation and nature support films here in Shepherdstown.
We saw two films this afternoon, but tonight we saw two films accompanied by live discussions and question periods with the filmmakers.
The most interesting to me was Marion Stoddart whose life and career spent saving the Nashua River was so well presented in the short film “The Work of 1000.”
Filmmaker Susan Edwards broached the subject Can one person truly make a difference? This film tells the inspiring story of how a remarkable woman saved a dying river–for herself, for the community and for future generations–and became an environmental hero honored by the United Nations.
Mrs Stoddart, now in her 80s spent decades getting a very polluted river clean… petitioning, demonstrating, approaching manufacturers and politicians directly, and getting her husband and children involved. Her live presentation with the audience was very involving.
Our Nation’s River: A System on Edge was the second film we saw this evening. Ten minutes long and made by Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of historic natural filmmaker Jaques Costeau. This piece was particularly meaningful for us, since it is about the Potomac River, the water body that forms our northern border and flows from us down to Washington DC.
Ms, Cousteau answered questions but also presented a discussion panel of professionals from the Nature Conservancy and the Potomac River Foundation.
The House was pretty full at Reynolds Hall, Shepherd University, with a number of standers who wanted to catch everything as well. Among the folks there tonight were most of the officers of Sustainable Shepherdstown (My wife is in that bunch, of course), our current State Delegate John Dolan whose work for us has been spectacular and who is leaving office at the end of the session. Steve Skinner, the Democratic candidate for Delegate who, hopefully, will take John’s place, was there as well. Both men realize the importance the Potomac is to our community. Of course, Republican Candidate Elliot Spitzer was NOT there this evening. Preserving our environment is just not a Republican issue… after all, don’t they all think that Climate Change is a joke?
We’re going to some more films tomorrow.
Related articles
- Worst Potomac River Flooding in 16 Years Expected (washington.cbslocal.com)
- Flooding a Major Concern for Potomac River, Chesapeake Bay (washington.cbslocal.com)
- Water still concerns Cousteaus (toledoblade.com)
- Flood Warning Continues For D.C., Coastal Md., Va. (baltimore.cbslocal.com)
Here’s a video treat from ALL HAT NO CATTLE…
…the one blog I try to view every day. This is a video that Lisa put together Called “Back in the Good Old Days” which is a good indicator that Romney will bring Bushiness back to us.
Hope you enjoy it. I sure did!
Interviews with Supporters at Ohio Romney Rally
Life seems to be very hard for these folks. Listen to the big amount of Romney lies they have ingested like vitamins:
Wow! This is the first time I’ve heard that Obama has brought Buddhists into the country to take over.
How do you live with these people… these utterly stupid an misinformed people?
Related articles
- Ohio Mitt Romney Supporters Don’t Know Mitt Romney (bungalowbillscw.blogspot.com)
- Obama goes after Romney’s Jeep ad (cbsnews.com)
- NBC’s Ohio Poll: 45% of Likely Voters Conservative, 23% Liberal–And Obama’s Up 6 (cnsnews.com)
Hey radio fans… we have a special schedule today due to football season:
My “Talk To Me” show will be on WSHC this morning from 10:30 AM to Noon. We’ll have 90 minutes for your eclectic song requests, discussion of politics with 3 days to go until all of this is decided, and perhaps some comments on the results of Sandy.
If you are too far away to call in at 304-876-5369 remember you can also Listen Live at our web site from anywhere in the world. Just go to 579WSHC.org and click on “Listen Live” and you can join our regular morning call-in group (join Ralph, Stu, Bobby and Oinky and the rest of the gang… we’d love to have you on the team.
Elliott Simon’s shown is on before ours from 9:00 to 10:30 AM.
OK… I’m putting my show together so I can get out of the house on time.
Tell Mitt Romney: Climate Change Isn’t A Joke
Much of the nation is reeling from Superstorm Sandy. As families rebuild from Sandy’s destruction, our thoughts are with the victims of this horrific, fossil-fueled storm.
When Gov. Mitt Romney made climate change a punch line at the Republican National Convention, he mocked a real threat to the lives of Americans.
We can’t let Mitt get away with his laughing dismissal of the threat of rising seas caused by the carbon polluters who fund his campaign. Share this ad with friends and family to tell Romney: climate change isn’t a joke.
Ref: Three Ways Climate Change Made Hurricane Sandy Worse
Thanks to Climate Silence.org.
Do sacred undergarments make someone more Presidential?
If you’re a Mormon, you could be wearing the sacred undergarments to protect yourself. So would this help Romney as a president?
Well, let’s hear what Mike Wallace found out about the sacred underwear:
Are you convinced? Of course, Romney or his supporters have yet to criticize Obama‘s relatively ordinary underwear.
(Thanx to Caffeinated Politics.)
Related articles
- Despite his faith, Mitt hasn’t necessarily nailed the Mormon vote (o.canada.com)
- Using Mitt To Sell Magical Mormon Underwear (thedailybeast.com)
- Mormon Says Romneys Are Leading Church Into Mainstream (thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com)
- Website uses Romneys to sell Mormon undies (news.com.au)
- If Mormons move into the White House… (religion.blogs.cnn.com)
Nate Silver has put out his Electoral College prediction…
Nate Silver, whose 538 blog has often made the best election predictions, has now put this one out on the Electoral College votes to come:
Nate Silver: Obama 303, Romney 235
Remember, it takes 270 Electoral Votes to win the election. Silver puts Obama pretty far ahead.
Under The LobsterScope 