LOSING SLEEP OVER CIVIL UNREST

While some cynics will say the world is about to begin spinning out of control, more level heads will acknowledge a very serious situation is taking over the world's landscapes. Civil unrest has raised its ugly head in Tunisia, Ireland, Ecuador, Peru, Italy, Jordan and now Egypt. This could have been predicted....faltering economies, unemployment, rising fuel costs, and sharp increases in the price of food. When these conditions occur in democracies, citizens can vote to change their governments. In more oppressive regimes, they take to the streets to voice their dissatisfactions.

And their voices are being heard around the world at present....and they are toppling governments......the next seemingly being Egypt's Mubarak, a leader, a dictator soon to be looking for a safe haven, a soft landing spot to retire. In fact, Hillary Clinton has publicly called for an "orderly transition."

But in Egypt, more is at stake than a change at the top. For decades now, we have pumped millions and millions of dollars into the Mubarak regime, and much of those resources have resulted in a very well armed Egyptian militia, an entity currently sitting on its hands, unwilling to engage with the protesters,made up of their own countrymen.

Egypt is more than the largest nation in the region. They are a US backed, US ally who has been very valuable in stabling the entire Middle East. And the government is about to topple, for whom we do not know. Normally, we would not give much chance for the radical led Muslim brotherhood to gain power, but in times of civil unrest, extreme voices gain ears. The thirst for change can result in unlikely victors. And should radical Islam elements take power in a country this large, it could set a disastrous example of what can happen in other Islamic countries in the region.

Certainly no one would be shocked if such a rise took place in Iran, one of the most oppressive governments in the world. And such victories in neighboring countries embolden others, and give voice to extremely radical voices within.

Clinton and Obama need to become fully engaged, at least in the backgrounds of the current situations in the region. Like a bad game of dominoes, the entire region is aching for a tilting in the balance of power, and if you are viewed as a U.S. ally, a U.S. sympathiser, you may become a marked man by your citizens.

You think the United States should be very worried? What about Israel? With anti-Jewish sentiment everywhere in the region, and new, more radical elements assuming power, especially in countries like Egypt, who is more than capable, more than adequately armed thanks to us, to do some real damage.... we cannot, cannot afford to become more militarily engaged in the region than we already are. So who will rise up and attempt to stabilize the region? Our friends are extremely nervous, at least as nervous as the more radical anti-U.S. sentiments are empowered, and emboldened. This is their moment. Will it come to fruition? Time will tell.

OLBERMANN OUT: I THINK HE JUST DIDN'T LIKE WHAT HE HAD BECOME

Keith Olbermann, MSNBC's most popular and successful personality has abruptly ended his reign over the unapologeticly progressive political show "Countdown," and his association with MSNBC. The terms of and deciding factors around his departure have not been announced, but in my opinion, he quit. He had enough. There is no way that MSNBC gets rid of their singular cash cow.
So why did he leave? Fatigue? Probably a factor. Tired of the bullshit? No doubt. But in my opinion, he had gone from world class reporter and journalist, and slowly but surely become something he could not tolerate....something he could not stomach.....the liberal Bill O'Reilly. A talking head spewing an anti-GOP agenda on a daily basis. A man and a writer capable of brilliance at times (an example of which is below)...but he could also be a caricature, a comic windbag inexplicably foaming at the mouth; a bat shit crazy imitation of Peter Finch in Network.
He is mad as hell, and he is not going to take it anymore. Good luck Keith. I hope you find a better avenue for your journalistic abilities. I hope you find...and bid you peace.

WHAT THE REPEAL ALSO TAKES AWAY FROM YOU

Disguised as a budget / deficit cutting repeal effort, the GOP House members, as expected voted to repeal the Senate Democrats Health Care Bill (anyone calling it Obama-care is an out and out liar trying to take advantage of ignorance--if anything it is Pelosi care, with 40% of it coming from previous conservative measures). What does this mean? Well take a look at what it takes away immediately (the bulk of the bill doesn't start until 2014).....

Coverage for young adults under the age of 26 on their parents policies, free preventative care for 42 million seniors and 40 million other Americans under their private plans, reduced prescription medicine costs for seniors, tax breaks for small businesses and protection for children with pre-existing conditions.

Liberal Communist ideas all, right? No wonder the GOP wants to kill the measure...how many opportunities do you get to screw over literally 100 million people with a stroke of a pen? Fortunately the Senate and the pen of President Obama will save them from the heartless bastards of the GOP.

THIS IS THE GUY I VOTED FOR

If you can't sit through the entire video, at least hear the last 5 or 10 minutes....classic Obama.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: PALIN & GIFFORDS

BLOOD LIBEL: is a false accusation that Jews sacrifice Christian children either to use the blood for various "medicinal" purposes or to prepare Passover matzoh, or for vengeance and mock crucifixions. It is one of the central fables of medieval and modern Christian anti-semitism.

INTO THE CROSS HAIRS

It was bound to happen. It was only a matter of time.

You fill up a powder keg and it is bound to explode. Sure, it will more than likely be an unstable person to eventually light the fuse, but it will explode. And explode it did.

Did Palin want someone to actually put Gabrielle Giffords "in the cross hairs?" Of course not. Say what you want about Palin (and us libs generally do), but she is in control of most of her faculties. However, some of her followers are not, and she should have realized this. Realized it when she posts a picture such as below, or says inflammatory, violent rhetoric such as "don't retreat...reload."

Gabrielle Giffords knew the potential, of course. Palin put her in the cross hairs. Giffords replied to the ad in this manner...."we're on Palin's targeted list, but the thing is, that the way that she has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they have to realize that there are consequences to that action."

It was bound to happen. It was only a matter of time.

Giffords just won re-election by a very close margin, despite the popularity of the tea party, especially in the state of Arizona, where anti-illegal immigration sentiment screams loud and clear. "Take our country back!"

Jesse Kelly knew the sentiment. He tried to jump onto the Tea party bandwagon and take Giffords seat in the House of Representatives. One of his most popular fundraisers was a visit with the candidate to shoot his fully loaded M-16 rifle. The ad states "help remove Giffords from office....shoot a fully automatic M-16 with Jesse Kelly..."

It was bound to happen. It was only a matter of time. She was in the cross hairs.

Yesterday, Giffords held a meet and greet outside of a supermarket in her district. A young, 22 year old man came and asked a volunteer if he could meet her. The volunteer told him he would have to wait in line. Reports are that he left and came back with a gun. He didn't retreat, he reloaded. The death toll now stands at six, including a nine year old girl. Only six, because he was overpowered by two spectators as he was...you guessed it, reloading his gun with a fresh clip.

Was 22 year old Jarod Loughner a tea party follower? Unknown. Was he mentally unstable? Of course. Is this a direct result of the rhetoric from the tea party, or ex-Governor Palin? Probably not. But, as Michael Moore tweeted this morning, "If a Detroit Muslim put a map on the web with cross hairs on 20 politicians, and then one got shot, where would he be sitting right now?

If you are looking for examples of the incoherent ramblings of Loughner on his Twitter account and My Space page, don't bother, they have been taken down. If you are looking for the cross hairs picture or rhetoric on Palin's web site, don't bother, they have been taken down.

I can only speculate that she didn't want to be criticized for her contribution to the violent, anti-Democratic rhetoric that is rife in the Tea Party movement. Ms. Palin....it was bound to happen, it was only a matter of time.

CONGRESSIONAL TIPS FROM KIMBA

It isn't a matter of right vs. left. It isn't a matter of who was sitting in the Oval Office at the time. Polling consistently has shown that the American people, the ones who actually research and care....has thought that Congress has sucked for over two decades. Right, left, moderates, independents...they all suck. Spending fools, lying bastards,not to be trusted, do nothing idiots.
So in order to form "that more perfect union," I humbly offer the following words of wisdom to our newest Congressional bodies....
1. Quit running each other down. On the floor, in the press, on your web sites, stop agreeing with the American people and saying what a joke Congress is. What morons are comprising it. Stop creating the perception that the body you work for sucks. The American people are listening...and agreeing with you, and they are taking down incumbents like Paul Bunyan with his mighty axe. If you think say, if you say so, it must be true. And so they vote for people with little to no experience just to fire you. Good move.
2. Stop lying. Stop exaggerating, stop"spinning" the truth, get real. For example...the health care bill was crafted in Congress, not the oval. If you are still calling it "Obama care"... you are a liar. Come out and be truthful. You might get the respect of the voting masses. Stop it, repeal it, I am with you on that, but stop blaming someone who did not write it. BTW...lets tell the American people we still desperately need health care reform....we are not saying not ever...just not now.
3. Work harder. Tuesday through Thursday is not enough. You are lucky to have jobs....FULL TIME jobs. Now days if you want to meet your Congressmen or Senator, all you need to do is hang out at a DC airport on any Thursday afternoon. Keep this up, and we will pay you by the hour.
4. Can anything be left to a straight up or down vote? Hopefully without 20 pieces of pork added on that we do not want, as a compromise to get votes for the measure we do want? Whatever the benefit of the bill is, it is negated by the crap pasted to the back of the measure, having absolutely nothing to do with the bill. And it is usually expensive without merit.
5. Read the damn bills before voting. Do not leave this task to the aides, or heaven forbid, the lobbyists. If each every member of Congress had to read the bill and pass a comprehension test before voting, maybe you would limit the size of the bills to less than 20 pounds each.