Belligerent pip-squeak Colorado Springs is doing all it can to rouse our nation to attack North Korea. First our ignoble congressman Doug "Tar Baby" Lamborn leaks a Defense Department document that announces North Korea has nuclear capability enough to strike the continental US, which most of the intelligence community denies, then it's announced that four US cities are being targeted, among them COLORADO SPRINGS, and get this, they point out, it's marked in the wrong place on the map. North Korea doesn't even know where Colorado Springs is, these warmongers laugh, as if anyone in the world, least of all North Korea, cared.
Tag: Doug Lamborn
Todd Akin is latest GOP scarecrow, behind him, Doug TAR BABY Lamborn
When GOP posterchild Todd Akin says legitimate rape does not cause pregnancy, he not only dials up the sinister on his party's bogeyman character, Akin also steers the national dialogue unto abortion, wedge issue territory. The public's surprise with the GOP's ever debased one-downsmanship masks the pattern with which media pundits skew the election themes. Yes, Akin's comment exposes his anti-abortion partner, VP candidate Paul Ryan's absurd obsession with redefining forcible rape, but that's to get further mired. With Akin's gaffe, and the memory of so many before his, Colorado local conservative baffoon Doug Lamborn's "Tar-Baby" taunt comes to mind, let's admit that American partisan politics is not Kabuki, it's WWWF.
Creepy Congressman Doug Lamborn knows his pornography when he sees it
The image was one frame of a photo essay by photojournalist Katie Falkenberg illustrating the human toll of mountaintop removal mining, but Colorado's own Congressman Doug "Tar-Baby" Lamborn called it child pornography and disallowed the evidence from being seen by his energy subcommittee. The creepy unapologetic Lamborn has so far weathered local fallout from his ceaseless racist outrages, but will this porn slip prove terminally Freudian? Obscenity is in the eye of the beholder: where everyone else see a pitiable child of indeterminate sex suffering polluted bathwater that passes for indoor plumbing in locales around mountaintop removal, US Representative Lamborn gets an erection. Is this picture obscene? It depicts a humanitarian obscenity, but Doug Lamborn doesn't see it that way.
I know where Congressman Lamborn is – because no one is telling OR asking. Re: media blackout on junkets to Israel
Calls to Doug Lamborn's office inquiring as to his whereabouts produces this charade: "Um, I don't know. Let me ask. They don't know. I'm not certain who would know. Could you hold please?" And we never get an answer. That his office won't say, coupled with the media's strange incuriosity, points to a self-enforced news moratorium on where a fifth of US congress is spending the August recess: as guests of Israel and the most powerful DC lobby. It's been reported that a record 81 members are on an all-expense-paid junket to Israel, but their identities are a closely guarded secret. The US TV audience can be let to see their representatives give standing ovations to the Israeli prime minister, but visit Israel? The media blackout would have you think there's something wrong with that. Middle East peace groups and Palestinian rights organizations have had to painstakingly gather the information from stray news reports out of Israel, or from congressional offices reluctant to let it be know. So far 45 names are known to be on this year's junket. Doug Lamborn is not on the list, but his office probably has a lower self-respect threshold for playing dumb. You'd think with the recent furor about calling Obama a Tar Baby, that the media would want to be calling Lamborn to the hot seat. Apparently not. All that's said is that he hasn't surfaced to meet with constituents, or give interviews. Last week Lamborn issued a press release unrelated to his recent trouble, probably preplanned, in collaboration with fellow Colorado Congressman Tipton. Tipton, by the way, is among the officeholders known to be in Israel. Lamborn vacationing in Israel would not be a far-fetched possibility. He attended the junket in 2007 and since then has acted on Israel's behest in lobbying to drop charges against an accused Israeli spy, in removing legislation which prevented the US from relocating its Tel Aviv Embassy to Jerusalem, and this Spring Lamborn was made co-chair of the Israel Allies Caucus. What a damn missed opportunity to press them on contacting Tar Baby Lamborn. It would appear that keeping the congressional Israeli lobbying junket on the QT outweighs making Lamborn squirm on camera to explain his non-racist remark. Never mind complicating the issue. What's a racist WASP doing in the land of Apartheid racism? Well, of course, they're absolutely related. Oooh, terrible timing. And Lamborn's a Christian Zionist, so he "likes" Jews, but come the end times, he won't touch them either. How is it American elected officials are allowed to behave as agents of a foreign government would be one question, but the more glaring one would be why it is the media is complicit in keeping citizens in the dark? Partial list of 81 US congressmembers on Israel junket over August recess, according to MoveOver AIPAC Gus Bilirakis R-9 FL Mo Brooks R-5 AL Anne Marie Buerkle R-25 NY Eric Cantor R-7 VA Russ Carnahan D-3 MO Kathy Castor D-11 FL Steve Chabot R-1 OH (went last month) Judy Chu D-32 CA David Cicilline D-1 RI Yvette Clarke D-11
Before tarring himself Representative Tar Baby, Doug Lamborn made threats as Congressman “Consequences”
Do you remember that Colorado Representative Doug Lamborn had a nickname before he pinned the latest on his sorry tail? Before Tar Baby, Lamborn was known for another remark whose meaning he insists he hadn't intended, when he left a telephone message with a local couple, threatening "consequences" if they failed to cede to his demand. The couple had questioned the propriety of two campaign contributions, accusations which proved to be true, but Lamborn warned there would be consequences if they did not agree to meet with him privately to discuss a retraction. The couple felt unsettled by a congressman threatening them with "consequences" but Lamborn laughed it off as a misinterpretation, just as he did again with "tar baby". Lamborn explained he didn't mean it like that, he wanted them to understand that, you know, there are consequences to telling untruths. But theirs weren't, in fact Lamborn's protestations were untrue. And very unjustly, he has yet to suffer for it. Yet. Throwing your weight around like a mobster is one thing, calling the president a Tar Baby might prove stickier.
Dear President Tar Baby…
Does anyone know if Rep. Lamborn really sent an apology to President Obama for calling him a Tar Baby? Has anyone seen it? Lamborn's office issued a press release saying "the congressman is confident that the President will accept his heartfelt apology." News headlines regurgitated the story sight unseen. The Denver Post quoted Lamborn: "I am sure that he will not take offense and he'll be happy to accept my apology because he is a man of character.” How do we know an apology was sent? Because Lamborn says so? That dork told us Obama was a Tar Baby, luckily someone showed skepticism about that. This reminds me of the old gag about the man who returns to his parked car to find a note on the windshield: "Sorry I dented your car. I'm writing you this note so people will think I'm leaving my contact info, but I'm not." Until Representative Lamborn issues a public apology, or until President Obama acknowledges Lamborn's contrition for such a preposterous racist remark, how is this insult to everyone's intelligence and sense of humanity supposed to be lessened? To judge by the lack of sensitivity shown in Lamborn's press release, composed for the public, there couldn't have been much by way of empathy in a private letter to Obama. Alleged. Try to find it online. Every news article about the purported apology links back to Lamborn's press release. On his Facebook page, Lamborn has a link called "my apology to President Obama" but it leads to the same PR blurb below. (emphasis mine) Lamborn Issues President an Apology Congressman Doug Lamborn (CO-05) today sent a personal letter to President Barack Obama apologizing for using a term some find insensitive. Lamborn was attempting to tell a radio audience last week that the President's policies have created an economic quagmire for the nation and are responsible for the dismal economic conditions our country faces. He regrets that he chose the phrase "tar baby," rather than the word "quagmire." The Congressman is confident that the President will accept his heartfelt apology. Saying "I told him I was sorry" never passed muster in primary school, especially a pronouncement that was 3/4 filled with more insult. A child who'd offended another was made to apologize to his face, out loud. Why is Colorado's asinine little congressman being given a pass on a transgression that reflects so unbecomingly on his community? In response to the local fallout, Lamborn's office has acquiesced to holding a public forum on Friday August 19. It's outside of town, go figure, in a church pre-filled with dumb bigots, to ensure Lamborn's supporters can find him. What's he going to say there? "My statement wasn't racist." "Amen!" "It's not Obama's being black that makes him untouchable." "Amen!" I don't want to go -- what is there to say to him? I don't even want to meet Lamborn's unrepentant eyes, much less sit in an audience and give the stupid creep the impression what he has to say deserves a listen.
Local TV station KOAA lies for Lamborn fakes support rally for Tar-Baby slur
Too harsh? OK, "Lies" suited an alliteration. "Fabrication" better describes the photo used by KOAA for their Aug 12 story Supporters of Lamborn rally at local office even though timestamp was hours before scheduled event. Lest KOAA decide it needs to doctor the aftermath as well, we've secured a screenshot of their original story. When activists organize a protest rally, they send out press releases in hope the local media will cover the event. When an officeholder schedules an event, the media announce it beforehand, which of course helps attendance become self-fulfilling, then the story can air live, and then after the fact. An initial headline using the present-progressive tense instead of the future tense also leaves viewers to infer what will or did or was intended to happen, even if it doesn't. Fair enough, at least that's as fair as it gets for citizens fighting against entrenched corporate interests which own the news outlets. But that's insufficient advantage apparently for the home team. Colorado Springs local TV station KOAA figured it needed to conjugate the present-progressive tense with a visual. The purported rally in support of Congressman Doug Lamborn --facing criticism for having called President Obama a "Tar-Baby"-- was announced by local and national news outlets beforehand. No less than the AP and Fox News declared nationally that Colorado locals were rallying to their representative's side. In advance. The media had only Lamborn's word on it. KOAA opted to extend the present-progressive conjugation to its visuals, using a blurry image of a gathering. One can't even read the placards to know if they are Lamborn supporters or critics. Though the image was posted at 11AM, the text declares the Lamborn supporters "are rallying outside of his office this afternoon." To judge by the shadows this photograph was taken in the morning. To my mind, using an image as a placeholder might be alright if you place a note underneath identifying it as such. Without a followup, in effect you've pretended that the event occurred as depicted, even if it didn't. If a picture is worth a thousand words, that makes how many lies?
Springs congressman Doug Lamborn tells citizens he answers to private propertied constituents not to public
COLORADO SPRINGS- Local citizens have had plenty to protest with Congressman Doug "Obama is a Tar-Baby" Lamborn, so now the Tea Party bigot has put up a sign, NO PROTESTING. Lamborn declined to meet with community leaders from the NAACP on Monday, or Move-On organizers on Wednesday. Are you in Colorado Congressional District Five? Well, you may neither SOLICIT a meeting with your government representative, nor LOITER hoping to wait him out. Politicians like Lamborn who want to shove undemocratic corrupt legislation down people's throats, and spout deeply offensive racist rhetoric out of sheer stupidity, have to hide where constituents can't reach them. Situating your office where your constituents can't reach you reminds me of former Senator Allard's office in the Plaza of the Rockies, where security guards forbid entry to anyone who didn't look investment-banker friendly. The plaza complex is now the Booz Allen Hamilton building, the world's largest weapons industry firms, chaired by James Woolsey and his wife, one of the Colorado College trustees. You'll note that one of Lamborn's neighbors is AECOM, another giant war profiteer. At least Allard chose an office which was centrally located, only a block from Congressman Hefley. Doug Lamborn's office is situated in an industrial office park where no one can hear you scream. So is isolating yourself from you constituents now standard MO for legislative office-holders? Not really. Representative government is hardly where you want to take a stand against a public's right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. Especially someone espousing to be a patriot for the Tea Party. Actually, if Lamborn wants to assert that his corporate representation gig is "private property," I'd say the crafty bugger is right. No shirt, no shoes? No representation.
OMG the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph agrees Obama is a Tar-Baby
YES OF COURSE my surprised is feigned, but not my embarrassment. How in the world does a newspaper of not insignificant distribution (okay, readership perhaps) not restrain itself from supporting a bigoted remark like Congressman Lamborn's? Whether the racism was inadvertent or idiotic, at best the comparison of America's black president to a "Tar-Baby" could have been remarked upon, if one didn't want to condemn it, but the Colorado Springs Gazette chose to support its Tea-Party libertarian by belittling criticism that the reference to the Uncle Remus stereotype was racist. In historic perspective it recalls the days when Colorado newspapers endorsed lynchings, and later the Klan. In essence that's not ancient history. People no further away than Denver can dismiss Lamborn as typical of Pikes Peak mouth-breathers, and the Gazette editorial page confirms them. Indignation doesn't begin to touch it.
Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn is how much worse than Democrat Senator Michael Bennet?
My Dem friends are protesting the Debt Ceiling Heist outside of 5th District Congressman Doug Lamborn's office, even though today the relevant vote is in the Senate, and Senator Michael Bennet has an office downtown. Except he's a Democrat. AS IF my colleagues think only the Republicans are screwing them on the debt crisis "deal!" Much as I object to being represented by the squeaky voiced pea-brain bigoted Lamborn, this Move-On crowd pretends their corporate party offers a veritable alternative. Senator Bennet is a pro-banking, pro-privatization, pro-military, frack-the-environment, blue dog centrist, who quite righty takes progressive liberals for schmucks.
Doug Lamborn won’t touch President Obama because he says he’s a Tar Baby
That line probably gets lots of laughs at Tea Parties, but over Denver airwaves, Congressman Doug Lamborn's likening President Obama to a "Tar Baby" got, I'll say it, sticky. Yeah, the expression meant "intractable quagmire" when Mitt Romney used it to describe an cost-prohibitive subway project, but Tar Baby's primary allusion to a negative African-American stereotype got Romney in trouble. Now like a banana peel gag irresistible to Republicans, "Tar Baby" is how Doug Lamborn chose to describe, not a hole in the ground into which you pour money, not a trap set by a clever fox to lure the Uncle Remus progenitor of Bugs Bunny, but to describe his Teabag constituents' poster child usurper, risen from America's untouchable class, our first black president. You dopey Tea Party Klan jester, you won't shake Barack Obama's hand because it's black. You're a racist sneak, unfortunately egged on by the bigots endemic to your backwater district. I hope you find that the rest of Colorado will make your "Tar Baby" remark a real tar baby for you. Lamborn says he meant "quagmire" and a supportive media is referencing the dictionary to assert his usage was correct. But the instances for which Romney and John McCain apologized were quagmires, not personifications, least of all OF Obama. A physicist can say he's got a problem that's real bitch, but not if he's talking about his wife. I think it's fairly disingenuous to say the primary definition of Tar Baby is a quagmire. That's like concluding Fag is a cigarette. Yes, but that's when neither are used to describe a person. Curiously the local media helpfully mention that "Tar Baby" was a plot device in Uncle Remus, popularized by Disney in Song of the South. No mention that it's the only animation that has not been reissued, because it's widely regarded as offensive on racist grounds. Lamborn has apologized to President Obama and assures interviewers that he's confident his apology will be accepted. Isn't it ironic that he won't touch Obama with a ten foot pole, yet can count on the man's magnanimity? Of course he's right, the president opposes nothing, why take issue with racism? But I believe Lamborn will have lost his value to even his Tea Party Klan associates. Having his apology accepted, it's going to be impossible for Lamborn to belittle Obama with even a pea-brain pretense of credibility.
“Invest in America” speak-out at Lame-Bone’s Office Tomorrow
Instead of his lame-ass "town halls" like the Tea-Party ones he held for health care, remember those? The one at a Country Club on the far edge of town that started after the bus stopped running on a Friday evening, no more bus service till Monday morning? Working Class need not apply? Then they filled the hall with a Republican Party strategy session before the "open to everyone" Town Hall? And the Republicans stayed for the "open" Town Hall, making sure nobody else could come in? Yeah... THAT old Pig tactic. This Speak-out is outside his Luxury Office Suite, where anybody with a million-dollar annual income and a campaign contribution check has easy access. Again, Poor people, workers... need not apply. Unless the Punk can prove that he actually does own one square inch more of the streets and sidewalks than any other citizen, there ain't Jack they can do about it. Bring stereo equipment, something with microphones and amps. Make sure every TeaBag sellout who works for him can hear what the REAL people have to say. 10:30 tomorrow morning, Thursday 24 Feb 2011, at Doug Lamborns congressional district office in Colorado Springs. MoveOn.org is sponsoring, and this is an info blurb: In dozens of state legislatures and in Congress, Republicans are proposing massive cuts to education, police, emergency responders, and vital human services—instead of asking big corporations and millionaires to pay their fair share. This is a moment for national action, so we're holding Invest in America speak-outs tomorrow (Thursday) and will follow them up with rallies in all 50 state capitals on Saturday.
Rep. Doug Lamborn wants to squeeze more lives and limbs from Colo. Springs
More helicopters, more soldiers, more domestic violence, more social ills, more crime, more rape, more injuries, death, PTSD, birth defects, cancer, medical ailment "syndromes," suicide, homelessness, all conclusively linked to war. You don't even have to have the IQ to admit Global Warming to make the connections about the cost of war. Colorado Springs is already bankrupt from war business "prosperity" but Representative Lamborn thinks we should pay a higher price.
Grandmas Against The War…
I LOVE the way these kids operate These are the ones who went to the Recruiting Offices in Manhattan and tried to enlist. In their 70s and 80s. This has an other link off on the sidebar to your right, on The Rag Blog. But I figured the more the merrier. Meanwhile, Napolitano said that we have the highest risk of Terror Attack since 9/11 and calls on the Local Constabularies and the Citizens to profile anybody who doesn't look right. You know, like Black Folks, Mexican or Native American or Asian or anybody with more melanin in his/her skin hair and eyes than your average Norther European. So if you see a Black Person on the bus or Train like Ojore Lutalo you now have the full permission of the Federales to call Nine Eleven on him. Enhanced quotation from the "Good (white) Citizens" who cost him a week of his liberty for the crime of riding Amtrak as though he were a Human Being with rights and dignity and shit like that... He was lookin' at us like he was angry or somethin' just cause all of us Old Peckerwoods wuz starin' at him and whisperin'. Then he got on a cell phone and acted all angry that we wuz trying to eavesdrop on him. Obviously a Terrorist. Also news, the House tried to "ram the bill down our throats" as in, Republican leaders decided to have an "emergency vote" on extending Government Powers to treat Americans as shitty as they do suspects in Iraq. Because of the procedure call it would have taken a straight two-thirds majority to pass. It got a majority but not the two thirds. Conspicuously absent on the Nay vote list was any representative from Colorado. ChickenHawk Lamborn for instance. They're going to try again because the Fascist Secret Police Powers expire Monday if not extended. Why do Right Wing Lunatics hate Constitutional Freedoms for anybody other than Wealthy White People?
US House Resolution 1553 offers go-ahead for Israel to attack Iran
House Republicans have crafted a resolution to offer US approval for Israel to use "all means necessary" to confront Iran, reviving Holocaust fears and misquoting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, where "wipe from the map" conflating the "Zionist Regime" with the Jews. Below is the full text of the resolution, supported by Republican congress members including Colorado's Doug Lamborn. 111TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. RES. 1553 Expressing support for the State of Israel’s right to defend Israeli sovereignty, to protect the lives and safety of the Israeli people, and to use all means necessary to confront and eliminate nuclear threats posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the use of military force if no other peaceful solution can be found within reasonable time to protect against such an immediate and existential threat to the State of Israel. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 22, 2010 Mr. GOHMERT (for himself, Mr. AKIN, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BONNER, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. CULBERSON, Ms. FALLIN, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. GINGREY of Georgia, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. GRIFFITH, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. HERGER, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. LATTA, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mrs. LUMMIS, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. PENCE, Mr. PITTS, Mr. POSEY, Mr. PRICE of Georgia, Mr. OLSON, Mr. ROONEY, Mrs. SCHMIDT, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. ROSKAM, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. JORDAN of Ohio, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. KINGSTON, and Mr. CARTER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs RESOLUTION Expressing support for the State of Israel’s right to defend Israeli sovereignty, to protect the lives and safety of the Israeli people, and to use all means necessary to confront and eliminate nuclear threats posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the use of military force if no other peaceful solution can be found within reasonable time to protect against such an immediate and existential threat to the State of Israel. Whereas with the dawn of modern Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, some 150 years ago, the Jewish people determined to return to their homeland in the Land of Israel from the lands of their dispersion; Whereas in 1922, the League of Nations mandated that the Jewish people were the legal sovereigns over the Land of Israel and that legal mandate has never been superseded; Whereas in the aftermath of the Nazi-led Holocaust from 1933 to 1945, in which the Germans and their collaborators murdered 6,000,000 Jewish people in a premeditated act of genocide, the international community recognized that the Jewish state, built by Jewish pioneers must gain its independence from Great Britain; Whereas the United States was the first nation to recognize Israel’s independence in 1948, and the State of Israel has since proven herself to be a faithful ally of the United States in the Middle East; Whereas the United States and Israel have a special
Operation Home Front = fake patriotism
Enough already. If you "support" the troops or the war, then why don't you actually "support" them? Dig down deep and pay your God-damn taxes to fund it. Can't afford the war under the current Tax Scheme? Too GOD-DAMNED BAD. You should have protested George Bush and his Corporate Thieves when they STARTED the bitch. You should have protested THEN and you really need to protest it NOW, the tax-breaks given to the Wealthiest People On The Planet so they don't have to pay for the "troops" to go out and rob one of the poorest nations on the planet, Afghanistan, on their behalf. Those Corporate Murderers who are benefiting from the war are getting their blood money essentially for FREE because STUPID PEOPLE or LAZY PEOPLE wouldn't ever stand up to them. Some of you who have influence in the major parties, maybe people with military titles in front of your names? The kind of name-and-title combinations politicians drool over when it's election time... YEAH, YOU! Get off your Fat Uniformed Butt and make Congress aware that THEIR bribe-taking and favoritism to the Blood-sucking Corporations have NOT gone un-noticed. TeaBags, you bitch and whine about a health care plan that might stop the rapidly accelerating bleed-off of American Health Care money, or even just maybe slow it down? Get off your Racist Butts and start protesting the Pentagon giving away TEN TIMES as much to a bunch of Parasites who don't even Pay God-damn taxes! Do it NOW! Instead of waving a piece of cloth and a plastic magnetic yellow ribbon at ME. And stop putting up signs at the grocery stores begging for money to go to the families of the Troops, if you're too God-Damned stingy to pay them for the war YOU support. It's also very worthy of note that Operation Home Front and the USO and other such organizations give you a Tax Credit for your donations. That means, in plain English, that the people who practice the FAKE patriotism of "donating" to these organizations are getting THE DONATIONS RETURNED TO THEM, courtesy of other people who ACTUALLY DO PAY THEIR TAXES. Such Love! Such Caring! Such Generosity! Such Goddamn Chutzpah! Pretending to give anything, giving nothing and hitting other people with the bill for YOUR "warm fuzzy feeling". Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Ollie North, y'all taking any notice? Especially you and the rest of the Fox News Pukes. You make YOUR ENTIRE FORTUNE spreading propaganda for the wars, but you want to shirk on paying taxes... instead investing it in your War Profiteering industries like the Oil Companies. You're a bunch of nauseating lying SLUGS in dire need of a bag of salt. You feast on the blood of Soldiers and "enemy" Civilians alike, then take a tax break for making yourselves look pious and Patriotic about it. Closer to home, Michelle Malkin, Doug Lamborn, "Gunny" Bob, YEAH, YOU!
New ICE building is half windowless
As reported by the Gazette on Nov 30, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security has opened an office in Colorado Springs in the Pueblo Bank and Trust Building. The implication is of a lonely field office to monitor the busy I-25 corridor, but the Nation Magazine is reporting that ICE locations nationwide are being used as unmarked and unmonitored detention facilities for undisclosed detainees. I can't vouch for ours. Anyone up for a photo field trip? Bring your papers. According to the Gazette, the office has been a pet pork project of Congressman Doug Lamborn. Their description of the new facilities: The downtown office in Colorado Springs is the ninth ICE office in Colorado and houses several cubicles and conference rooms as well as a cache of secure rooms to be used for interviews, confidential paperwork and holding weapons. Detentions have been until now subcontracted with El Paso County. Currently the county holds approximately 150 detainees for ICE. Did you catch this choice segment of the story? County Commissioner Jim Bensberg apparently confuses "to have a chilling effect" with crime deterrence: “The presence of the federal office will have a chilling effect on a wide variety of activities,” he said, without elaborating. “There were days I thought this would never happen,” he said. “If I had a tail right now, I’d be wagging it.”
Colorado reps support Israel war crimes
All 7 of Colorado's US representatives voted to put their congressional stamp of approval on Israel's war crimes in Gaza, joining 337 more yeas for House Resolution 867, Calling on the President and the Secretary of State to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the “Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.” What are US Congressmen doing standing between Israel and every other nation (except for the US and its territories) united in wishing to enforce international law? Did you elect your representative to brownshirt for Zionism? Below are lists of the 344 yeas (179 of the Dems), and the 36 nays. WHO VOTED TO SUPPRESS THE GOLDSTONE REPORT: To recommend that the US use its veto in the UN Security Council to reject the will of the UN General Assembly: (At best these legislators are bowing to the tremendous pressures imposed by AIPAC and other Jewish community lobbies. At worst, they believe a state can use disproportionate force and collective punishment against a civilian population under the pretext of defending itself.) Aderholt, Adler (NJ), Akin, Alexander, Altmire, Andrews, Arcuri, Austria, Baca, Bachus, Barrow, Bartlett, Barton (TX), Bean, Berkley, Berman, Berry, Biggert, Bilbray, Bilirakis, Bishop (GA), Bishop (NY), Bishop (UT), Blackburn, Blunt, Boccieri, Boehner, Bonner, Bono Mack, Boozman, Boren, Boswell, Boyd, Brady (TX), Braley (IA), Bright, Broun (GA), Brown (SC), Corinne Brown, Ginny Brown-Waite, Buchanan, Burgess, Burton (IN), Butterfield, Buyer, Calvert, Camp, Campbell, Cantor, Cao, Capito, Cardoza, Carnahan, Carney, Carter, Cassidy, Castle, Castor (FL), Chaffetz, Chandler, Childers, Chu, Cleaver, Clyburn, Coble, Coffman (CO), Cohen, Cole, Conaway, Connolly (VA), Costa, Costello, Courtney, Crenshaw, Crowley, Cuellar, Culberson, Cummings, Davis (CA), Davis (IL), DeGette, DeLauro, Dent, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Diaz-Balart, Dicks, Donnelly (IN), Doyle, Dreier, Driehaus, Edwards (TX), Ehlers, Ellsworth, Emerson, Engel, Etheridge, Fallin, Fattah, Flake, Fleming, Forbes, Fortenberry, Foster, Foxx, Frank (MA), Franks (AZ), Frelinghuysen, Fudge, Gallegly, Garrett (NJ), Gerlach, Giffords, Gingrey (GA), Gohmert, Gonzalez, Goodlatte, Granger, Graves, Grayson, Al Green, Gene Green, Griffith, Guthrie, Hall (TX), Halvorson, Hare, Harman, Harper, Hastings (FL), Hastings (WA), Heller, Hensarling, Herger, Herseth Sandlin, Higgins, Hill, Himes, Hinojosa, Hodes, Hoekstra, Holden, Hoyer, Hunter, Inglis, Inslee, Israel, Issa, Jackson (IL), Jackson-Lee (TX), Jenkins, Johnson (IL), Sam Johnson, Jordan (OH), Kagen, Kanjorski, Kennedy, Kildee, Kilroy, Kind, King (IA), King (NY), Kingston, Kirk, Kirkpatrick (AZ), Kissell, Klein (FL), Kline (MN), Kosmas, Kratovil, Lamborn, Lance, Langevin, Larsen (WA), Larson (CT), Latham, LaTourette, Latta, Lee (NY), Levin, Lewis (CA), Lewis (GA), Linder, Lipinski, LoBiondo, Lowey, Lucas, Luetkemeyer, Lummis, Daniel Lungren, Mack, Maffei, Maloney, Manzullo, Marchant, Markey (CO), Markey (MA), Marshall, Massa, Matheson, Matsui, McCarthy (CA), McCarthy (NY), McCaul, McClintock, McCotter, McHenry, McIntyre, McKeon, McMahon, McMorris Rodgers, McNerney, Meek (FL), Melancon, Mica, Michaud, Miller (FL), Miller (MI), Miller (NC), Gary Miller, Minnick, Mitchell, Mollohan, Moore (KS), Moore (WI), Moran (KS), Murphy (CT), Murphy (NY), Tim Murphy, Murtha, Myrick, Nadler (NY), Napolitano, Neal (MA), Neugebauer, Nye, Oberstar, Olson, Ortiz, Paulsen, Pence, Perlmutter, Perriello, Peters, Peterson, Petri, Pitts, Platts, Poe (TX), Polis (CO), Pomeroy, Posey, Putnam,
we need Lisners of the PEOPLE NOT Dictators of the PEOPLE! USA! ROCKS!
Television cameras today gravitated toward Doug Lamborn supporters. Thank goodness this flag-waver showed up with a sign to confirm visually the nagging suspicion that his crowd was illiterate. Lamborn snickered, literally sniggered, about the success of the summer's tea party gatherings and his hopes for more. CHANGE THAT WORKS brought bingo cards with each square representing an Obamacare untruth Lamborn could be expected to roll out to frighten the audience. As he hit each phrase, players would shout "YOU LIE" until the eventual "BINGO!" The Gazette labeled us hecklers, but got a picture of Pattie scanning her scorecard, and me holding off an interloper. I hope the Gazette goes with this photo for tomorrow's print edition. Health Care Reform up against the forces of darkness. As audience members challenged Lamborn's presentation, sinister looking men would crowd in on us, some physically threatening, others trying to mumble through arguments. The net effect created a disruptive buzz which actually diverted our energies to engage the town hall forum. I found it effective to block their gaze by sticking up my hand, which also prevented their approach. Rita circulated handouts which cautioned the men against personal confrontations. News photographers captured the images, but note that none of these men would reveal their names. Loring documented the goons, including this one who addressed Loring's video camera with his best Tony Soprano impression: "How ya doin? Got a little camera?" Loring's video is already online. Mark will put together a CSAction video shortly. Gazette comment section troll MBurke has posted pictures of the meeting. Here's the full image, taken after the town hall meeting, all cameras on her. Yes, that's Doug Bruce in the background, pushing his latest attack on the Colorado Springs municipal budget. Anti-tax pig Doug Bruce was there handing out brochures about his stealth stormwater fee proposal.
D. Lamborn don’t want to hear from U
Tomorrow brings another last chance to will America some health care. Representative Lamborn is back in town on Monday, asking his constituents to come let him know how to vote on health care reform, as if he were not already fully in every corporate pocket. Come on out, although Doug Lamborn cannot fail but deliver the TV coverage his backers expect. No doubt Lamborn was commissioned to gather his fellow teabaggers, to give the networks more grassroots backdrop for the so-called populist opposition to health reform. Come anyway. Shooting fish in a barrel is underrated. Mostly teabags know only the barest of talking points. They show up to show what good fan club members they are, for their favorite Fox, disinfotainment clowns. It's billed as: Doug Lamborn's Health Care Legislation Town Hall Meeting, on Monday, October 19 from 11:30am to 12:30pm. At the Stargazer Event Center, 10 S. Parkside Drive, off Pikes Peak. Come early. The last time the conservative Lamborn threw a town hall, he overfilled the minuscule room hours before with Republicans only. This time the venue is giant, but it's no surprise the date coincides with the latest tea party roll out. Expect ignoramuses in droves, made to go play outside by their fairy TV godparents, Becks, Limbaughs and Malkins. They'll give KRDO the usual low common denominator that doesn't turn heads in the Springs. The health argument is growing simpler every time we do this. This disagreement isn't between those who have insurance and those who do not. It's between those who haven't needed medical care, and those who have. Insured or not, no one's getting care. The joke's on the poor bastards agitating for the continuing privilege to pay the spiraling premiums. Most, I'll bet, don't actually have insurance. They cling to their right not to buy any. They would be adversely affected if reform passes as currently drafted. Can't argue with that. But wait 'til they need something from a doctor, even just to schedule a visit, or get a prescription. Chief among their recurring arguments is that the uninsured right now can walk into any hospital and get treated. They recite this anecdote either because they've done it, or their friend's done it, or Rush keeps bellyaching about how everybody's doing it. But they're sure of it. Of course, that can remedy a broken arm, or a burst appendix, but forget recurring treatments. If you are diagnosed with something that's not going to kill you in the emergency room, they can wait. You can wait, at home, to let your ailment get the best of you. The end.
Coloradans4Peace condemn COS parade
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: COLORADANS-FOR-PEACE CONDEMNS COLORADO SPRINGS PRO-WAR PARADE. --And why not? The rationales for the Iran and Afghanistan wars have been repudiated by the Obama administration. What place has this city to celebrate them? The wars have been declared illegal by international magistrates. How then can Americans presume to cheer their soldiers' actions? Regardless the jingoism of the Colorado Springs community, to idealize militarism, while thousands of innocent civilians suffer under its boot every day, is unconscionable. A bigoted majority of Lamborn voters want to lynch a certain black man, should we give them a permit?
Lamborn’s NO HEALTHCARE teabaggers want to hear from YOU
According to CSAction, snively congressman Doug Lamborn has sent out 70,000 mailers, billed to the taxpayer, to disseminate the insurance biz wingnut falsehoods about health care reform. He's hoping to reconstitute a teabagger assembly at a public meeting on Thursday evening, August 27, at the Valley Hi Golf Course on Colorado Springs' Southeast side. Get there early with YOUR message. 5PM, Chelton and Airport. The anti-tax teabaggers hate standing next to signs that don't represent them, so think of some slogans that do. How about: DO UNTO OTHERS, or FAITH HOPE CHARITY, or "as you did to the least of My brethren, you did it to Me." -Matt 25:40 CSAction has posted talking points and updates. Here are Mark's arguments: Representative Doug Lamborn has just sent out an estimated 70,000 mailers "prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense" that are full of LIES and disinformation about the healthcare reform bills. It's only estimated to be 70,000 because, when asked about the total number mailed, LAMEborn's Communications Director Catherine Mortensen, "I have the figures, but I don't have the authority to give them to you." Actually they don't have the authority to withhold that information because it's public record, given that this pack of LIES was "prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense." The mailer says "114 million could lose their current health care coverage under the bill". This is a LIE! This absurd figure comes from "The Impact of the House Health Reform Legislation Coverage and Provider Incomes," by the Lewin Group. The Lewin Group is a "research" and management consulting (lobbyist) firm owned entirely by the second largest health insurer in the nation, UnitedHealth Group. Furthermore, the "research" does NOT show 114 million LOOSING healthcare but CHANGING insurers, AND an additional 9.4 million being insured that are not now. It's a total guess as to how many would change over to the public plan, if offered. The 114 million was a figure the Lewin Group published in June, which they revised DOWN to 88.1 million in July, so it's not even their most current LIE. The Congressional Budget Office came to a different conclusion, saying that enrollment in the House Democrats' proposed public plan would total 11 million to 12 million people. The Lewin Group is part of Ingenix, a wholly-owned UnitedHealth subsidiary that was accused by the New York attorney general and the American Medical Association of helping insurers shift medical expenses to consumers by distributing skewed data. Ingenix supplied UnitedHealth and other insurers with data that allegedly understated the "reasonable and customary" doctor fees that insurers use to determine how much they will reimburse consumers for out-of-network care. In January, United Health agreed to a $350 million settlement with the AMA, and a $50 million settlement with the New York attorney general, covering conduct going back as far as 1994, when they were distributing skewed information to fight President Clinton's healthcare reforms. Next LIE in this mailer: "4.7 million jobs that could be lost as a result of tax hikes on small businesses". This absurd figure comes
The Doug Lamborn health care town hall
I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half. --the words of 19th century robber baron Jay Gould were on my mind as I contemplated the loud mob at Congressman Doug Lamborn's health care town hall meeting. No one had to hire them to speak against fixing America's medical system. Citizens of other developed nations surely pity Americans for ranking 37th in the world. They can puzzle at the American idiot's unwillingness to improve it, but how simply pathetic the idiot's preoccupation that no less fortunate should share it. We arrived at the Woodland Park event a couple hours early, and so from our car were able to overhear several earlybird teabaggers rehearse their arguments. They discussed lines that had impressed them from other town halls. As the wingnut numbers grew, the most frequent introductory joke was to cajole each newcomer as the insurance industry plant. I'm not cynical enough to suspect that any of the Woodland Park shrunken heads could have been paid agents. But I was emboldened to anticipate that without Rush or Glenn Beck present, these dittoheads might easily be disarrayed into a cacophony of bobbleheads, and I was right.
Tea Party Tax Revolt ignorance-mongers rally their usual Republican supporters
COLORADO SPRINGS- The corporate media led by Fox News, local talk radio led by KVOR, and the Gazette editorial page itself, herded their red sheep into Acacia Park today for lunch-time speeches full of hate, ignorance, and good old-fashioned unapologetic self-interest. They didn't understand my sign, but knew enough to scowl. Gazette representative Maria St. Louis-Sanchez was live-blogging the event, sitting on the ground beside the stage, which gave her an appropriate lack of perspective for the coverage she intended. For example, this online exchange: 12:33 [Comment From Guest] Is it basically an all white gathering? 12:34 Tough to tell. There seems to be a good mix of people here. Oh my goodness. The crowd was ALL WHITE! With the lonely exception of deposed-councilman Ed Jones, who delighted the crowd when he proclaimed he was not an African American, he was an American, and derided those critics who would call him an "Uncle Tom." The crowd cheered Jones, there were even chants exhorting him to run for governor. But if this had been nightfall, and one depression earlier, this is the mob that would have lynched him. And I'm inclined to imagine that had Jones been Hispanic American, judging from the anti-immigrant rhetoric, they would have jumped him in broad daylight today. These were ugly Americans, led by their representative uglies, hate-radio DJ Richard Randall, representative Doug "Porky" Lamborn, the illiterate Quixote Douglas Bruce and business-homophobe Ed Bircham. All pure archetypes of disgruntled white males. The demographics in my estimation were all white, mostly male, with ugly carved into everyone's faces from years of being disagreeable and bitter. And a plentiful predominance of pasty obesity.