Bill Maher On Why Liberals Don't Like Bachmann And Palin

Bill Maher does a great job of demolishing the accusations made by conservatives as to why liberals give Palin and Bachmann such a hard time. It's not because they're women. It's not because they're Christians. It's not because they're pretty.

It's "because they’re crazy people. People who are not that bright and full of awful ideas. Pretty much the exact same reasons we didn’t care for George Bush and made jokes about him. So trust me, it’s not because they have breasts. It’s because they are boobs."

The Batshit Files: News Roundup | 7.14.11

Is it the heat, or the stupidity?

• Michele Bachmann's church says the Pope is the anti-christ. (Raw Story)

• Mike Bickle, official endorser of Rick Perry's The Response prayer rally, sees marriage equality as a sign of the End Times and is rooted "in the depths of Hell." (Right Wing Watch)

• Fox News forgets that 9/11 took place on George Bush's watch, and Dana Perino, sitting right there, fails to correct them. (Raw Story)

• Sarah Palin on debt ceiling: 'Reload,' don't 'retreat' (LA Times)

• Michele Bachmann flubs her Jewish cred by mispronouncing “chutzpah” (News Hounds)

• Tea Party Nation: President Obama is just like Casey Anthony (Right Wing Watch)

• Rick Perry wants to leave government ‘in God’s hands,’ says ‘God, you’re gonna have to fix this.’ (Think Progress)

• Wis. GOP state senate candidate: ‘Why not teach creationism’ and put a cross in school? (TPM)

• Poor Rupert Murdoch is 'annoyed' with all these negative headlines about his company (allegedly) hacking 9/11 victims' private voicemails. (WSJ)

• Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake: Obama supporters 'are the dumbest motherfuckers in the world.' (Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog)

• Michele Bachmann wants to make sure you know she's not pro-slavery. (Mediaite)

Michele Bachmann and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Poor Michele Bachmann can't catch a break.  It makes you wonder if Sarah Palin is holding out on announcing her candidacy just so Michele Bachmann can serve as the whipping post for a bit. 

On the heels of her latest gaffes, Bachmann told CNN, "I’m a substantive, serious person and I have a strong background...I'm introducing myself now to the American people so that they can know that I have a strong academic scholarly background, more important I have a real life background."

Yesterday, Bachmann had a little bit of a run-in with a convicted serial killer. As you've probably heard by now, Bachmann, while in Waterloo, IA, told a Fox News reporter, "Well what I want them to know is just like John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That's the kind of spirit that I have, too."

John Wayne wasn't from Waterloo (he was from Iowa, but three hours away in Winterset), but killer clown John Wayne Gacy lived, worked, and killed there.

If Bachmann were a scholar, she might have avoided the John Wayne comparison altogether. Anyone who had followed John Wayne beyond his screen appearances would have been aware that he was an ex-socialist WWII service-avoider who said "I believe in white supremacy..."

As if her day couldn't get any worse, Tom Petty is reportedly issuing a cease and desist letter for her use of his song 'American Girl' during her rally.

The song, it has been noted, was also sung by the kidnapped politician's daughter was in "Silence of the Lambs."

Michele Bachmann, the scholar, appears not to have studied the lyrics to many of the songs played during her rally (and don't be naive, those songs are not pulled out of a hat). The Atlantic has compiled a list of questionable lyrics from the songs, which included "Start Me Up," "Let's Get Loud," and "I Got You (I Feel Good)."

Bachmann has also been using Katy Perry's 'Firework,' which anyone knows, unless you live under a rock, is somewhat of an LGBT anthem. Bachmann the scholar, is ridiculously anti-LGBT. As Richard Roeper stated, "'Firework' is "all about acceptance and tolerance and celebrating our differences. Perry dedicated the video (which has nearly 200 million views on YouTube) to the “It Gets Better” campaign, which is dedicated to fighting harassment of gays and lesbians."

Of course, all of this will lead Bachmann and her supporters to decry the "lamestream media" as sexist haters who are ready to put her every move under a microscope. Sound familiar?

Hold on, folks. We're only one day into the 'official' Bachmann campaign.  There's a whole lot where yesterday came from.

Glenn Beck's Jerusalem Rally To Restore Something Or Other

Via Ynet:

Tens of thousands of excited Israelis and Americans, music performances, appearances by local and international celebrities, senior politicians and a live broadcast that will reach millions of viewers – this is just some of what is in store for Glenn Beck's upcoming rally "to restore courage," which is set to take place on August 24 in Jerusalem. 

The staunch Christian Fox News personality aims to show support for Israel by recreating last August's rally "to restore honor," which he held in Washington, DC.

This year, the Wailing Wall will replace Lincoln Memorial as the backdrop for the event, which will take place at Jerusalem's Old City and the Teddy Stadium simultaneously.

The multi-million dollar production is expected to be attended by a convoy of American dignitaries, including former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. US Senator Joe Lieberman, a independent, and Republicans Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann are to join Beck at the rally as well. 

And if that's not enough:

A pyrotechnic show and free snacks and drinks are anticipated as well.

What exactly is Glenn Beck doing in Jerusalem? And what exactly is he restoring?

Well, two things.

Anetha Butler writes at Religion Dispatches:

Beck’s obsessions with Jews, from his attacks on George Soros, to his statement that Reform Judaism was like radical Islam, have brought the religious huckster condemnation and scorn. Beck wants to prove himself a true "friend" of Israel with this rally, but his relentless fear- mongering--along with his disappearing audience--suggest a more selfish motive.

Although a Mormon, Beck’s beliefs appear here to be more aligned with conservative Christian beliefs regarding the end-times, and a particular reading of the Book of Revelation that lends itself to raptures, dispensations, and popular culture depictions like Left Behind and a Thief in the Night. Unlike Harold Camping, who just wants his calculations to be correct for once, Beck wants to write himself into the latter days history, by staging a Jerusalem rally in which he invokes not Lincoln and King, like he did on the National Mall, but Moses.

Beck's latest venture is sure to draw a variety of Christian Zionists, his own supporters, and assorted end-timers, who all may get more of a show than they bargained for. Beck's statement, "I've been asked to stand in Jerusalem" suggests that he may be conflating his role with that of the two witnesses of Revelation 11:3: "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1, 260 days, clothed in sackcloth." If Sarah Palin joins him in Jerusalem, you know what's coming.

'Paul Revere's Ride' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Sarah Palin

The New Yorker's Ben Greenman reads "Paul Revere's Ride, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Sarah Palin."

The Batshit Files: News Roundup | 6.8.11

People, you so crazy:

Rainbows have been banned at Mississauga Catholic school (Xtra!)

Ann Coulter on Kent State massacre: "That's what you do with a mob" (Media Matters)

Rep. John Labruzzo (R) defends bill banning abortion, compares women seeking abortions to heroin addicts (Think Progress)

Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) claims that legalizing gay marriage is akin to legalizing pedophilia, incest, and letting three-year olds drive a car. (Right Wing Watch)

Wash. Times says Palin was "correct" about Paul Revere; "Left Does Not Revere History" (Media Matters)

Sarah Palin's fans edit Paul Revere Wikipedia entry to make it reflect Palin's unique version of the events. (Computerworld)

Man tells police he raped woman because he was afraid of the Rapture (Orlando Sentinel)

'Psychic' tip leads to serious search, but no mass grave containing 30 bodies, as the 'psychic' claimed (MSNBC)

David Barton: Founding Fathers were against teaching evolution; Revolution was fought to end slavery (Right Wing Watch)

Herman Cain’s plan for securing the border: Build an electrified Great Wall Of China, fill a moat with alligators (ThinkProgress)

Massachusetts State Rep. Ryan Fattman (R, duh): If an undocumented woman were raped and beaten as she walked down the road, she should be afraid to come forward. (Right Wing Watch)

Hi, My Name is Sarah Palin, and I'm an Idiot

And some of you people wanted her to run the country.



UPDATE (10:21pm EST):
According to the blog Legal Insurrection, Sarah may have either gotten lucky, or may actually have known more than we gave her credit for. My money is on the former.

UPDATE 2 (6.6.11):
Sarah doubles down.

Sarah Palin: 'I Love That Smell of the Emissions'

The International Energy Agency just released a report showing that greenhouse gas increased by a record amount last year. We had the highest carbon output in history. 

Faith Birol, the chief economist of the IEA stated, "Such warming would disrupt the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people across the planet, leading to widespread mass migration and conflict. That is a risk any sane person would seek to drastically reduce."

Birol stated that we could avoid catastrophe if governments heed the warning.

Enter Sarah Palin, possible GOP candidate for President of the United States, who is currently traveling around the country on a mysterious bus tour.  Her first stop was at a motorcycle rally in Washington, DC, where she stated to reporters, "I love that smell of the emissions!"

Franklin Graham: Jesus' Return to Include Twitter, YouTube. Also, Trump is "Candidate of Choice"

Franklin Graham, the son of the more eloquent and compassionate evangelist Billy Graham, stated on ABC's This Week that in order to fulfill scriptural claims, the second coming will incorporate social media.

Graham said:

"The Bible says that every eye is going to see (the second coming). How is the whole world going to see (Jesus Christ) all at one time? I don't know, unless all of a sudden everybody's taking pictures and it's on the media worldwide. I don't know. Social media could have a big part in that...

Everybody's got their phone up and everybody's taking recordings and posting it on YouTube and whatever and sending it to you, and it gets shown around the world."

 Graham, who previously has shown a fondness for Sarah Palin, also stated that Donald Trump is his "candidate of choice."

"Donald Trump, when I first saw that he was getting in, I thought, well, this has got to be a joke. But the more you listen to him, the more you say to yourself, you know, maybe this guy's right."

 Kind of makes one second-guess Franklin's previous prediction.

Palin Offers Her Perspective on the Situation in Egypt

"And nobody yet has, no body yet has explained to the American public what they know, and surely they know more than the rest of us know who it is who will be taking the place of Mubarak, and I'm not real enthused about what it is that that's being done on a national level and from D.C. in regards to understanding all the situation there in Egypt." — on the Christian Broadcasting Network, Feb. 4, 2011