DOUCHEBAG OF THE WEEK: ANNIE DOOKHAN

No contest on who would be douchebag of the week this week even though Republicans continued their 15K Fun Run of Crazy and several people did things so stupid that I was amazed they hadn't accidentally killed themselves years earlier in some weird fork eating related accident. Let's see those runner ups

1)NYC Police- Happily, this isn't the usual police brutality mess that we are so used to see in this column. Instead, it involves a $500,000 terror response submarine, a veteran police officer, a clueless civilian supervisor and a whole lot of stupid. When something lodged in the rudder outside the sub, the cop asked the civilian in charge of safety (how did this guy get this job?) whether they could open the hatch to look outside and fix the problem WHILE THEY WERE UNDERWATER. He said yes, they opened the hatch, and, surprise, the sub filled with water and the crew was forced to abandon ship. They sub was a total loss. The unnamed cop (why pray tell) faces losing vacation time. OHH, that'll teach him.

2)Robbers of the Nottuln-Darup Sparkasse Bank in Germany- There was a direct to DVD movie called Flypaper about two groups of bank robbers robbing the same bank at the same time. It was hilarious. But one group was comprised of two hicks who used way too much C-4 to blow up the ATM machine and blew up much of the bank, and all of the money in the process. Art imitates life because that is exactly what happened in Germany this week. The bank was leveled as the idiot would be robbers used way too much explosives and destroyed it along with any any money they had hoped from the heist. Funny.

3)Allen West- One of the most despicable, worthless individuals in all of Congress put out a new ad that is also one the dumbest in recent history. In the new ad, West attacks his opponent Patrick Murphy for being arrested for drunk and disorderly way back in 2003 while West, he claims, was busy preparing his troops for deployment into war zones. What the ad fails to mention, and Murphy brings up in his counter-ad, is that he was a teen at the time and has spoken about it as a life altering moment. Meanwhile, West was facing a court martial for firing a gun at an unarmed Iraqi citizen. Which was worse and why would you bring up something that reminds people what a fuckwad you are? Anyone voting for West needs to be sterilized.

4)Sysco- These assholes represent the worst of corporate America. A man, Martin Cupid, worked for the company for ten years. His health faltered and was having kidney problems/ When told his bosses he was getting a kidney transplant his boss said no problem. Then they fired him and yanked his insurance away as well. That is a dick move and is the reason why we see so many shootings at work places nowadays. Sysco said it was unrelated to his health (yeah right) but memos show only four others released and those had occurred in January of 2011. He has filed complaints with the Americans with Disabilities Act as he would have missed no work during the procedure but companies fire people routinely now with health problems so their insurance premiums don't go up. Not only did this happen to me personally, but I know someone else who worked for Sysco who had the exact same thing happen. This company sucks so if you don't have to do business with them, don't. They treat their employees like cattle. By the way, this is why we need a national union because corporations have way to much power to fire whoever they want for the flimsiest of reasons.

5)Muslim Extremists- Will somebody tell this fucking morons that we have had just about enough of them. In just the last 24 hours, these wastes of space killed two more soldiers in Afghanistan in another "friendly" attack, burned Buddhist temples to the ground in Bangladesh, injured 30 in a grenade attack in Thailand, attacked a church in Kenya, and exploded a bomb outside a church in Nigeria. When is enough enough? Try that in this country numnuts and watch how much blood gets spilled when innocent people get caught in the crossfire. This country is filled with panicky idiots who will shoot first and ask questions later. You have been warned.

6)Republicans- It was been another bad week for the group that is doing their best to receive a historic drubbing come November. The numbers are all going south fast and rumor is, Ryan is doing his best to distance himself from the Titanic level Romney campaign that is floundering. As his numbers have plummeted for his House race from a 25 point lead to eight, things look bad. As for those poll numbers, just remember that anything Dick Morris says is a lie and not based in reality as even Rasmussen says his numbers don't add up. And as for that Jimmy Carter level collapse in the one debate he had with Reagan, that hasn't happened since and Carter was much less popular than Obama is now. Both sides are underplaying their hand with some saying Romney will decisively win as a hedge against looking too overconfident. Don't bet on it as Obama will dust the floor with him as Romney sticks to unpopular talking points like contraception, anti-gay rights and no specifics on his economic plan. This debate on Wednesday is going to be ugly and could cement this as another Dukakis like moment. Plus, it has come out that Bobby Jindal just said that if gay marriage is legalized, the second amendment will go away. How is that even possible? The level of crazy in the GOP is stunning.

7)BET Awards- I have long suggested that Black culture is terrible. Please don't interpret that as racist or a testimony to black inferiority. What I am suggesting is that the fact their youth is influenced heavily by people both within their community and on a celebrity scale of thug worship. When all the rappers are former felons who still carry guns something is amiss. When Tyler Perry speaks for all black people, something is wrong. This wasn't always the way and some sense of reality has to creep back into. This week, gunfire broke out at the BET awards AGAIN as two rappers shot at each other in the parking lot. Please make this stop by NOT listening to this crap which, for the record, white culture is going down the same path. Few male singers of any race are worth listening to anymore and now we have shows like "Bayou Billionaires" and "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo," spotlighting white trash with money and stupidity in general. All of this is pure, unadulterated crap.

8)Annie Dookhan- This bitch has not only destroyed her life, but thousands of possibly innocent people, not to mention any trust in the police or the legal system in general. Dookhan was arrested this week after tens of thousands of cases she worked on for the MA state crime lab came into question. Turns out, not only did she not have a Masters like she had claimed, but routinely gave false positives for drug tests resulting in convictions for people who were not guilty. As a result, thousands of cases will be nullified and many will sue for wrongful convictions which will cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars. Plus, anyone convicted of any drug charge from now on, will use this case as a reason for reasonable doubt. This horrible person has done untold damage and now faces at least 20 years in prison. I hope she gets life for all the lives she has ruined. So congratulations Annie you are indeed douchebag of the week.

UPDATED: REPUBLICAN HYPOCRISY REACHES NEW HEIGHTS AS ECONOMIC DATA SPELLS TROUBLE FOR WHOEVER WINS

There is an obvious air of desperation going on right now in the Romney camp. You can see it when he gives a speech in his mannerisms and body language and even Ryan seems to be distancing himself (ala Sarah Palin going rouge when the election was all but lost) from the beleaguered candidate. As a result of his floundering, Romney is making key mistakes that will doom any chance of winning at this rate.

In Ohio yesterday he actually told the crowd that he would have no choice but to raise middle class taxes and then went on to contradict himself over how Obama hadn't raised their taxes after all, both facts his campaign would later disavow as not being what Romney meant. Here's a link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/romney-ohio-taxes_n_1915949.html

 Then came the latest possible gaffe/bad joke about how airline windows don't roll down. Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFbR8aW7CaQ&feature=related

Either Romney has the WORST sense of humor I have ever seen (which is completely possible) or he really doesn't understand how airplane pressurisation works. Considering he believes Jesus was born in America and magic underwear is possible either explanation is likely. Regardless, it either paints Romney as dangerously stupid or he has a sense of humor where joking about your wife almost dying in a plane crash is hysterical to him. Sad either way.

I keep hearing from Romney about Jimmy Carter's poll numbers and how he was way ahead until Saint Reagan bested him in the debates and turned the tables on the democratic incumbent. The McCain campaign mentioned the same numbers four years ago and that didn't turn out the way the GOP wanted after McCain stumbled badly during the debates. Don't expect Romney to do much better as he has painted himself in a corner with the extreme right while the majority of American wants a more centrist person, which Romney can no longer claim lest the few supporters he has turn on him as well and turn this into a Mondale style rout.

Those numbers about Carter are bunk by the way. As expected, pundits have cherry picked the best polls which showed Carter way ahead, while most showed a tight race and a huge unfavorability rating for Carter who had been a terrible President. This was a real case where a person's religious beliefs made the country as a whole less safe and the nations that hated us took advantage of that. Do not forget that the second Reagan took office, those hostages came home. I am sure they were told in no uncertain terms that bombs where on the way if they were not released immediately. War should only be used when necessary and Carter let that opportunity fly by him at the speed of sound. On the opposite side of the scale, people like Bush, also a religious born again, used his faith as an excuse to invade countries we never should have bothered with.

This election looks very similar to 2004 where an unpopular president is no match for a much less likable opponent. People like myself voted for John Kerry and, UGH, John Edwards with a great deal of regret and I expect many Republicans are going to be doing the same thing. The numbers are all going south for Romney and, short of a miracle, there is no way he wins come November.

Speaking of going south, the US is headed for disaster no matter who wins as neither side has any concrete ideas on how to fix anything, even though some solutions are maddeningly simple. To save the economy, legalize pot and prostitution, decriminalize small amounts of all drugs, spend real money on green prospects that will actually work (no more Solyndra nonsense) and spend trillions on infrastructure work that we desperately need. Offset the costs for the above by eliminating bloated federal organizations like the DEA, ATF, Homeland Security, TSA, the prison system and the military budget. Want to save Social security: eliminate the income cap and have everyone pay in to the system. Want to save medicare: work on eliminating fraud by throwing the book at anyone found guilty and come up with a way to talk to patients about the care they received to check against the doctor's tests cost. If they don't match, hello jail and the loss of your medical license. Want more GP's: offer tax breaks for any doctor who decides to be one. Lastly increase the minimum wage to be a livable minimum wage and watch the economy soar. Neither Obama or Romney has suggested any of these. As a result, sometime next year, the economy will most likely collapse and we will be living in a very different type of America.

How bad is income inequality right now? American income inequality may be more severe today than it was way back in 1774, even if you factor in slavery. Here is the link to that study.

http://www.businessinsider.com/income-inequality-higher-than-in-1774-2012-9

According to the researchers, income was much more evenly addressed back then than it is now. Shocker as we live like slaves now with no say over much that is being leveled at us. Here are some examples of how not free of a country we are.

Lemonade stands run by children are being routinely shut down for "lack of permits."

A man in Oregon was given thirty days in jail for collecting rain water.

A woman in Michigan was threatened with arrest for having a vegetable garden in her front yard.

People across the nation are being harassed to have smart meters attached to their houses which may be a gross invasion of privacy.

You can be detained at any toll booth for daring to pay cash with a high denomination bill.

If you pay cash for your morning coffee, the government says you may be a terrorist.

A Texas woman was arrested for paying Walmart a real 100 dollar bill which they claimed was fake and even ripped it up in front of her. After it was discovered the bill was real, Walmart refused to give her the hundred dollars back.

The Obama administration is still fighting to hold American citizens without charge for as long as they see fit, nullifying a law that has been on world books since 1215.

The TSA is now yelling "FREEZE" and expect us all to do just that even though the TSA has NO power to do such a thing. They have also expanded their reach outside of airports to city streets, bus terminals and even proms. This is conditioning us to OBEY.

"Border checkpoints" are popping in places hundreds of miles from any national border.

KBR received millions to build camps across the nation, a fact the government does not deny by the way. It hardly a conspiracy theory when their existence is acknowledged by the very people who built them.

The NSA is now intercepting all electronic communication and reviewing them in real time.

The government is buying billions of rounds of ammo, hundreds of thousands of guns, hundreds of bullet proof booths, while ordinary citizens are being investigated for buying boxes of bullets.

How free a society is this? Not very. And if Armageddon does happen, whether war or economic or both, will we be ready? Most likely, a vast majority of American will be caught unaware, eating Cheetos and watching  "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo."

THE NFL, MITT ROMNEY, THE WORLD AND OTHER THINGS GOING DOWN IN FLAMES

It has been a close week for who was doing worse: the NFL, Romney's campaign or the world in general. I'd have to give it to the NFL for the sheer incompetence with everyone involved but Romney's constant gaffe machine and a planet eager for war came close for winning the top prize. But let us look at what EVERYONE is talking about and the TERRIBLE state of the NFL and how it is a snapshot for everything that is wrong with this country.

I don't watch as much football since I stopped betting on games, as my attempt to use statistical analysis to predict games turned out to be a dismal failure. There are too many variables to account for and as a result, I lost more than I won. However, I still watch the Patriots play in almost every game they are in and the occasional televised Redskins games who have been stuck in permanent twilight since they last won the Super Bowl in the early 90's.

In all the years I have watched football, I have never seen officiating as bad as these past games and after the blown call in the Seahawks/Packers matchup, it now seems everyone but the owners and the commissioner of the NFL have had it. Bar owners are warning about patrons becoming violent from the terrible calls, coaches are in open revolt and the players are debating taking a knee on every play in protest.

Yet, the strike from the refs continues on. Here's the funny part: the owners have backed themselves into such a proverbial corner that the refs have all the power now. If I were in negotiations with the owners I would be asking for even more money as if a settlement isn't done soon, the owners stand to lose everything and Commissioner Goddell his job. More importantly, bookies are losing their shirts over this, some even giving refunds as the calls have so influenced the game that many are calling it quits like I did some time ago in betting. A billion dollar industry is being affected by this strike and, sooner or later, someone is going to get killed over this. Some unbalanced individual is going to have enough, and these days there's a lot of people who are not playing with a full deck, and some ref or owner or even the Commissioner is going to find himself staring down the barrel of a gun and wonder how it all went so wrong.

All of this shows exactly what corporate America is doing to us all. The owners said " Why pay refs top dollar when anyone can do it?" Then they hired people totally unqualified for the work and wondered how everything went to hell in a handbasket. You can call this the Circuit City Rule. The failed big box store fired all their employees, hired people at half their salary and the company collapsed as sales plummeted in the same time period. Why is it we need to pay top dollar for CEO's who suck at their job while simultaneously lowering salaries for everyone else? The end result has been a race for the bottom in many industries. The music industry is hanging on by the fingernails, Congress's approval is in low single digits, and most businesses being run these days are by people with zero experience and trust me, it shows. Yet, it still continues, even though it is bankrupting this country. When both sides of the political aisle agree that it is time for the refs to come back to work, you know you've done something terrible to make these two sides agree about anything.

Meanwhile, Romney continues to speak and his polling numbers are in freefall. Here's a man so ill at ease in speaking that his contradicts himself within days of his original statement. On September 17th he spoke to the crowds about how he hates redistribution and how Obama is a socialist for doing so then on September 23rd spells out a tax plan that does just that by taking money from rich people and giving to the poor. A few weeks back, Romney said he shouldn't be president if he paid even one dollar more on his taxes then he should of. When he released his taxes it turns out he didn't claim two million in taxes, most likely a scam to say he never paid less than 13% tax. Last week, Romney talked about poor people stealing money by using the emergency room without paying for it and then suggested just the other day that that action is perfectly fine and is why we don't need to fix the medical system. WTF?

His latest gaffe is about how he doesn't understand why planes don't have roll down windows in case of emergency. His staff has said it was joke but considering how bad his statements have been of late, it's hard to tell and there in lies the problem with his whole campaign. First, if this was a joke, stop telling jokes. YOU SUCK AT IT! Plus, as you have been a constant source of material for people like myself, it's hard to tell when you are being funny and when you are being obtuse. My bet is still on obtuse.

This is causing Romney's numbers to plummet as more and more people are paying attention now and thinking "Holy Crap, this guy can never be president or we will all die in a fiery wreck." The GOP propaganda machine and even the MSM are both saying the race is much closer than it is for very different reasons. The GOP doesn't want people staying home and not voting as they stand to lose all branches of power and the MSM wants ratings for a horse race that may already be over.

Every swing state is now leaning Obama, including as of today, North Carolina. Ohio, PA, Michigan and Wisconsin are in double digits and states like Virgina, Florida, Iowa and Nevada are all in the four to five point range. Worse for the GOP, House and Senate polls show a distinct movement toward democrats as people have had it with the extreme right and their ultra-exclusionary policies. When all you cater to is old, rich, white guys, you stand to lose in every election.

The race here in MA has gotten ugly, with Scott Brown proving to be a bigger dick than I thought possible. I used to not hate the man but, with what I am about to tell you, he has officially entered FU territory. Yesterday a group of Brown STAFFERS got caught on tape doing the Tomahawk chop and making Indian whooping noises (how racist is that) at a Warren rally. Are these same individuals going to show up in black face when Obama comes to town? Brown disavowed the Staffers and then went on to slam Warren on her alleged Native American heritage. This was a giant misstep by Brown that echoed Romney slamming Obama after the Libyan consulate attack. There is a time for politics and a time to acknowledge a problem. This was NOT the time to play politics but to distance yourself from the mob. I sincerely hopes he loses and anyone voting for Brown at this point should just shoot themselves already because I am so tired of this nonsense. Nobody cares about Warren's roots. I care about how she has been fighting for the little guy her whole life. We need more people like her and less like Brown. I have a feeling this action may damage his campaign, hopefully beyond repair.

A quick note about the Middle East with word that the Muslim Brotherhood is looking to topple the Jordain monarchy with protests to begin around October 10th. The Saudis are said to be worried about the rise of militant Islam which is ironic because their Wahhabi faith is one of the driving factors in this happening. Demonize a group long enough (the Jews ad the US) and, sooner or later, the mob may turn on you as well. With Iran hell bent on a nuke, Syria in collapse and Islam sweeping the area, a full confrontation is just around the corner.

THE BP OIL SPILL: WHAT THE MAIN STREAM MEDIA IS NOT REPORTING

"Tar balls in your mouth. Tar balls in your mouth. Don't swim in the Gulf or you'll get balls in your mouth." Jimmy Fallon.

We've all seen the BP oil commercials showing happy people frolicking in the Gulf, businesses back to pre-spill levels and other signs of recovery. What they don't show are the contamination levels that never really went away and the reappearance of tar balls that were pushed up on shore by Hurricane Issac.

It's been almost a month since Issac slowly made it's way through the region and fishing still hasn't resumed. A 12 mile stretch of coast from Caminada Pass to Pass Fourchon has been shuttered to all activities because clean up crews are still trying to remove tar balls from the beach. Experts have said this could be happen time to time for the next 100 years. I'll bet that is exactly what people in the region want to hear: that their grandchildren will be dealing with this crap after they are long dead.

We all remember politicians, particularly Republicans grandstanding about cleaning up the beach while simultaneously throwing Obama to the wolves for having the audacity to temporally shutter the off shore oil industry. Much like every resource oriented industry in the country like coal mining, oil exploration and fracking, the oversight by government is seriously lacking and leading to problems just like this. If we didn't have the GOP throwing a tantrum every time someone wants to drink clean water or breathe clean air, this world might be a much safer place. Local fishing, while affected, has been assured that seafood is safe to eat and sell. In non-affected areas, people have been told swimming is also safe. Recent research suggests it might not be.

Julie Creppel lives on the Louisiana coast with her six kids. Before the disaster, they were healthy, happy kids. Since the spill, they have suffered a host of ailments. Her two year old gets rashes, two daughters get regular migraines, one daughter has severe heart palpitations, and all suffer from regular congestion and occasional constipation. Yuck.

If she was alone in this complaint, I might write her off as a crackpot or someone seeking legal action. Sadly though, she is not and the MSM ignores this story with a veracity that seems almost criminal. Dozens of other families throughout the region are experiencing the exact same symptoms and BP and the government has responded by saying: "We need more studies." Meanwhile, people are suffering and more might be getting sick and not even know it.

BP has been stalling on paying anyone claiming to be sick using the old adage of "prove we made you sick," nonsense that has killed cancer patients off with only the tobacco industry found liable in a any way, shape or form. Our air is getting worse, our water less clean and our food less safe to eat as Republicans are hell bent on increasing arsenic levels in all to keep those pesky regulations from earning them another nickle. Everytime we know what is actually going on, the government says we need to study it more, big business hires dickwads to challenge the results and nothing every gets done. Meanwhile, we and our kids are dying.

Experts who studied the effects on the dispersant used and oil present came up with shocking findings that the chemicals were found everywhere: is soil, wetlands, wildlife. Exposure to these chemicals by inhalation, ingestion, and skin and eye contact can cause symptoms that include headaches, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pains, chest pains, respiratory system damage, skin sensitisation, hypertension, central nervous system depression, neurotoxic effects, genetic mutations, cardiac arrhythmia, and cardiovascular damage. The chemicals can also cause birth defects, mutations and cancer. I don't remember that being on the nightly news lately.

Just not living or visiting the area may not be enough to protect you. As stated above, the chemicals found in the dispersant is also now being detected in the seafood. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been discovered in all major seafood in the area, a known carcinogen. In fact, levels of  PAHs in shrimp were found to exceed the FDA’s allowable levels for pregnant women in up to 53% of Gulf shrimp sampled. As PAHs cause birth defects, this is especially troubling. This means that someone in another part of the country could be eating contaminated food and not even know it. The government is not there to protect you anymore, but the industries they serve. Remember that the next time you order a big plate of fried shrimp and pray it didn't come from the Gulf of Mexico.

DOUCHEBAG OF THE WEEK: CHINA

It took a billion person nation to knock off the GOP this week in yet another disastrous week for the eventual Presidential loser. Let's see those runner ups.

1)Muslim Fundamentalists (Abdullah Ismail)- It was nearly as bad a week for religious nutjobs as it was for Mitt Romney. As the violent protests continue unabated across the Muslim world, some good news finally came out of all of this. Egypt is getting a hard look as to whether the US will continue supporting their camel addiction as their elected leader appears to be channeling Todd Akin on how not to run a country. Then comes word that Libya, in a triumphant moment that gives me real hope for the world, rose up and drove the religious nutbags out of Bengazi while voicing support for the US. That is how the rest of the Muslim world should be behaving as well. We barely tolerate assholes like Fred Phelps, but if he ever started getting violent and the government did nothing to stop it, an angry mob would dish out some good old fashioned street justice. The Libyan government is now talking about abolishing the militias responsible, so for the first time, we have real progress that will have lasting results on world peace. The coup de grace this week was Abdullah Ismail, a Pakistani douchebag who died after asphyxiating on the flag he just set on fire during a violent protest which now, some countries, are blaming the Jews for as well, because as we all know they were responsible for everything from the Hindenburg disaster to the stubbed toe I got last night. Let's hope more countries act like Libya and end this race for the end of the world due to religious fuckwads.

2)Medicare fraud- We all heard how electronic billing would stop Medicare waste. Turns out, not so much. Doctors can now cut and paste procedures they never did, inflating their salaries with much greater ease. Either we go to a flat rate for all doctors who don't get paid per procedure or establish a way to find out from patients what tests were actually done. Either way, this part of the bill, like much of Obamacare, needs tweaking. Unlike the GOP, I do not suggest getting rid of the whole thing, a view that is only supported by those who understand the bill the least. You know, the Tea Party.

3)David Silverstein and Lyudmila Shimonova- These two morons collected $1200 dollars a month while living in a multi-million dollar Seattle home with hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry, cars and electronics. After getting caught, they were sentenced to 18 months in prison. Good. I hope they get the full treatment while inside when people find out why they are in there.

4)Dick Morris- A traitor in every sense of the word, this political strategist helped elect Clinton twice, got fired for allowing a prostitute (who he liked to suck on her toes. EEEEEWWWWWW) to listen in on the President's conversations with him, then proceeded to turn to the GOP and write lots of nasty things about his former boss. What a dick. His latest column was, without a doubt, the dumbest thing I have ever read. I am not being factitious. It was so incredibly lacking in logic or reason that I am still having a hard time comprehending it. In his defense for why Romney is doing worse in the polls than it looks, Morris goes on to write that blacks, Hispanics and young people are overwhelmingly underrepresented in polling, which is very true. Most polls connect with older people who are mostly right leaning, even if they claim to be democrats.There are not a lot of elderly that have far left views. Then he goes to say that because polls show a lack of enthusiasm for Obama that the polling numbers skew democrat. WTF? They do not say that at all, schmuck. If the people you reach are all right leaning, then no, they won't be thrilled voting for Obama. However, if the core people you are NOT reaching are hard core supporters of Obama, the polls WON'T reflect it. Thus the polls are skewered against Democrats and not vice versa which is why Rasmussen has been very unreliable as of late as their numbers do not conform with any others. In statistical analysis, these polls are always eliminated in favor of ones that do not buck the trend. Go suck some more toes Morris and leave the math for people who can fucking add.

5)Voted ID laws- Most of the odious laws have been struck down by the courts as they were borderline racist and meant to lower votes that would have gone to the democratic party. However, here's a list of REPUBLICANS that have either been convicted or accused of voter fraud: Mitt Romney for voting in 2009 while not owning a home here until 2010. Indiana Sec. of State Charlie White who was tossed out of office for three counts of voting in districts he did not live. Newt Gingrich was removed from the Virginia ballot after it was discovered that thousands of names on his petition were not real, a fact he was aware of as reported by CNN. The Sacramento Republican party was noted for doing the same thing as Gingrich in one of their elections. Todd Akin and Dick Lugar were discovered to have voted in districts they did not live. James O'Keefe, the Republican doucehbag version of Michael Moore, committed voter fraud in NH to show it could happen, yet was not arrested despite howls of protests from democrats. Charlie Weber may have committed massive voter fraud in Maine in declaring Romney the winner with just 194 votes cast and counted. Plus, let us not forget that the 2000 and 2004 elections had evidence of voter tampering within the voting machines themselves, especially in Ohio where hundreds of thousands of dead or non-existent people voted for Bush, giving him the state in a squeaker. Several people went to jail over this in a highly unreported story. Note also that none of the voter ID laws would have stopped any of these morons from gaming the system.

6)Mitt Romney- Robocop released his tax returns (just 2011) this week and we can already see some tampering going on. Mitt failed to take over two millions dollars in deductions just so he could say he has always paid at least 13% of his income to taxes. I am willing to bet hard money that if we ever see his other returns, that number plunges into low single digits. The 47% comment is going to haunt him all the way to the end of the election and is STILL being talked about on the nightly news. Mitt must be praying for a comet to strike the Earth or Jesus to return to get people talking about something, anything else. Word is is that behind closed doors many are realizing that Mitt has little chance of winning and as a result John Boehner moved $3.2 million meant for Mitt into close house races. Mitt's finances are dwindling well behind Obama at this point which meant someone had to explain to Romney what "broke" means. Things look bad for Romney at this point as the polls in swing states are all moving in the democrats direction. Good.

7)Paul Ryan- He had as bad a week as his boss. First, he was booed off the stage at an AARP meeting in Florida, then came word that his taxes were off by a mere $60,000 dollars. Again. If this is the "truth teller" of the GOP, I never want to meet the least honest. Other than the delusional right, no one else seems to be supporting this jerk.

8)China- War drums have sounded as Japan and China flex muscles over who controls several hunks of worthless rocks in the South Pacific. After several Japanese nationals decided to protest the issue by having the gaul to set foot on these disputed territory, China went ballistic threatening economic and even nuclear Armageddon if the islands weren't returned. Many protesters were demanding money back from the US, an official apology from Japan over shit that happened sixty years ago and the return of islands that really don't matter that much. South Korea has also jumped on the bandwagon accusing Japan of reneging on promises made for restitution for WW2. Really? Can we all just get along all ready? The war ended some time ago. Let's move on and stop rehashing old issues. We have more pressing matters last I looked. The US has told China that any attack on Japan is an attack on US interests, re-affirming our age old defense pact that has kept Japan from having a military or nukes for decades. I still see little chance for military action but an economic tsunami could have the same effect if investors are scared off from China and China retaliates by selling off US or Japanese bonds in droves. This bears close watch. So congratulations China, you are indeed douchebag of the week.

WARREN/BROWN DEBATE SHOWS FLAWS IN BOTH, BUT WARREN GETS THE EDGE OVER SLICK TALKING POINTS

The Warren/Brown debate almost didn't happen last night after Brown seemed to get cold feet at the last minute. Brown had informed debate officials that he might not make it back in time due to Senate voting he had to attend. Harry Reid nipped that in the bud by shutting down all voting for the day. I don't like Harry Reid much but kudos on that play, sir.

So the debate started with Jon Keller who asked the most painfully, obvious questions. It was like Larry King was the moderator. Helpful hint, Keller, next time, ask more pertinent questions. Not one question to Scott Brown about Mitt Romney's 47% comment, no questions to either about what they think they senate should do in cases of foreign policy like the Muslim uprisings or China's new war-like stance with Japan. Nothing about health care, the failed drug war. As a matter of fact, most of the questions were borderline stupid, with the opening volley about "character" all but guaranteeing a slam on Warren's questionable Indian hertitage, which means nothing in the long run. Let me moderate the next debate and you'll see how to ask questions that matter, Jon.

For the most part, I'd call the debate a tie, with a slight edge to Warren. Here's how most of the debate went all night:

Brown: Warren is obviously not Native American, a liberal liar determined to raise your taxes, and, gasp, a PROFESSOR.

Warren: Brown is a bought and paid for Republican who only cares about rich people. He says one thing and votes another.

That was the whole debate. Brown came across as fidgety and kind of a dick with his relentless attacks on her heritage. Later, when they showed the ad for Scott Brown that accuses Warren of overdoing her attack ad against him, it almost seemed like an SNL parody. You can't come across as the kind father type in your ads and then turn into a drunken uncle during the debate. He did now win over any new converts with his angry performance last night.

Warren in turn, needs to do a better job with predictable attacks. Brown was going to mention things like how he is considered to be the 2nd best Republican in the Senate, which is kind of like having the 2nd worst hangover of your life. True it's not as bad as your last one, but it still sucks. Warren needs to think in soundbites that will play the next day and she scored zero on that scale. Christ, Brown couldn't have given her more softball pitches to smack back at him and she mostly whiffed all night.

Warren also failed to address various bullshit points that Brown brought up. When Brown slammed Obama's job's bill as being a failure, he mentioned the US Chamber of Commerce and the NFIB, both of which are nothing more than GOP and corporate organizations that routinely spin data. Moody's and Zagnat's however, both independent and very non-partisan, say the bill would have created between one and two million new jobs. The fact that Warren mentioned neither makes me cringe a little as she should have been aware of both before this debate as the topic was certain to come up.

Warren did best when slamming Brown on his supposed support for women's rights and climate change. Brown supported the Blunt Amendment that would have allowed ANY business to not give any money for all sorts of women's health issues including mammograms and various gynecological procedures on the grounds of "religious freedom." Something tells me a lot of people would have found "God" to drop some coverage for the average individual. When it came to Climate Change, Brown floundered hard. His responses channeled Sarah Palin for cohesion as he said he believed in global warming and his solution was to drill for more oil. WTF? Those two are NOT compatible. Let's look at what he actually said, shall we.

"That being said, one of the biggest things we can do is get an energy policy. Right now we don't have one.... A true all of the above approach, as I have, as opposed to a none-of-the-above strategy which is what Professor Warren has. She's in favor of wind and solar. She's against the Keystone pipeline, which will help create union — all you union guys listening out there — denying union and non-union jobs, making sure we can get more of our energy sources to the world market, so we can lower the cost you're paying at the pump, and when was the last time we opened a nuclear facility, to make sure we can have that clean energy? I could go on and on but, right now, the role is actually a balancing role, to find that balance, John, because you can't just have one, or this or that. She's in favor of putting wind turbines in the middle of our greatest treasure down on Nantucket Sound. I, like Senator Kennedy before me, believes that's not right."

In one sentence he gives a shout out to unions, which the GOP just LOVES in their haste to wipe them from the earth, pisses on renewable energy which we should be investing in more than anything else, and says oil drilling is the way to fix climate change. Anyone believing this is REALLY gullible. Warren should have piled on here, but once again let the matter slide. In the next debate she needs to slam him with absolute facts that Brown won't be able to hide from by snidely reminding people she has the audacity to get a good salary and work at Harvard, that liberal battalion of evil.

Brown counted with an attack on Warren working for Travelers on an asbestos case that wasn't anything like he was making it out to be. Warren was fighting for the little guy, as she always has. This is from the Boston Globe:

It was also notable because Warren, who has gained fame for defending consumers against big business, was in this case working on behalf of a big business. For her contribution, Warren was paid $212,000 over three years by Travelers, the nation’s largest insurer.

Travelers was fighting to gain permanent immunity from asbestos-related lawsuits by establishing a $500 million trust. The trust would have been divided among current and future victims of asbestos poisoning who had claims against the nation’s largest asbestos manufacturer, Johns-Manville, which had been insured by Travelers before it went bankrupt.

Travelers won most of what it wanted from the Supreme Court, and in doing so Warren helped preserve an element of bankruptcy law that ensured that victims of large-scale corporate malfeasance would have a better chance of getting compensated, even when the responsible companies go bankrupt.

Brown made it sound like she was dumping nuclear waste into babies mouths and not that she was protecting people from corporate bullshit. She did not do a good job explaining that during the debate for unknown reasons and may have been one of the more damaging attacks from her opponent.

After the debate, Brown headed for the hills as his spokesperson tied Warren to OWS about a zillion  times in four minutes. Warren smartly stayed after to talk with reporters that helped solidify her approachability, while Brown dodged the news media like a guy going to jail. It was not a helpful image for his campaign.

The pundits have mostly given the slight edge to Warren if for no other reason that Brown came across much more assholish than his down home, charmy ads suggest. That is going to be hard to swallow after seeing him take one mean swipe after another on Warren. Both need work for their next debate.

FREE SPEECH, PENIS SIZE, ROMNEY'S FAVORABILITY AND OTHER THINGS THAT ARE SHRINKING

The two bedrocks of any truly free country are the rights to free speech and access to firearms that the government possesses. On the latter, we have failed miserably as the government could run roughshod over us should they decide to, a possibility that exists higher now than at any time in our nation's history. But free speech is still alive and well for the most part except for the most loathsome of those in our society known as the Tea Baggers. They lack any depth of critical thinking as Fox News and the Bible have all but destroyed it in them and are hell bent on destroying this nation without even realizing it.

The Republican party will never survive as it is today if this nonsense continues. When they unwisely absorbed the Tea Party into their ranks, everything the original organization stood for was destroyed and even people involved with it's early formation, and whose many principles I agreed with,  abandoned it as the party's main platforms on banking reforms were jettisoned for the lunatic fringe. Nothing of what the Tea Party once stood for now exists, much like the Republican party itself. They are now the Lunatic Party and the Democrats now have to cater to the Republicans, Independents and Democrats all at the same time with less than favorable results.

When Mitt Romney loses, which at this point seems like a foregone conclusion, a civil war will break withing the ranks of the party. The Tea Party will demand an even more severe conservative, as if that's the reason they are losing. The Republicans, led by people like Bill Kristol and Jeb Bush, will demand a softer approach that encompasses gay people, Hispanics and women. This will anger the Christian conservatives much like Chick-Fil-A's smart move to stop giving money to anti-gay organizations which has now led to a boycott in the other direction. More on that later.

As the Tea Party HATES Obama with a barely racist disguise, they will be livid at Romney for failing to oust the anti-Christ and turn on the GOP in turn. They will demand their Tea Party candidates NEVER give in to anything the President wants and this country will burn to the ground as a result. It is why I loathe the Tea Party and all they stand for. They are no better than the KKK or Nazi's at this point, blasting forward a message of hate and a policy of self destruction. They are truly one of the most dangerous groups ever to exist within this country, but free speech gives them that right. I just wish so many people weren't listening and buying into their fallacies.

As the Republican party shrinks, the lunatic fringe will become more and more powerful. This will lead to a serious confrontation come November 2016 when Ryan Republicans bent on a scorched earth policy face off against someone like Jeb Bush who is more likely to be center right not right of Hitler right and make possible religious wingnut Rick Santorum as a spoiler. Hopefully this should make any Republican, who much like moderate Muslims have been doing across the planet, start shouting from the rooftops that they don't buy into a lot of this Tea Party crap and we should get back to fixing what is wrong with this country rather than debating over whether Obama was born in Hawaii or not.

Free speech is important which is why I do defend the rights of the French newspaper to publish cartoons of Mohammad. We cannot bow down everytime some religious twit gets his panties in a bunch. Besides, if you are killing people because someone "dissed" your religion, you are not reading that book correctly. As most of you can't read anyway, this does not surprise me. When you start acting like some punk kid with a gun in a gang, you know your life has gone horribly wrong. Grow up, get a thicker skin and stop throwing a temper tantrum everytime you don't get your way. Christ.

If this kind of crap continues, that war of civilizations will happen and there is no way you guys don't wind up as radioactive dust. I, for one, don't want to see that happen, but everytime I see some guy in a nightgown screaming "Death to America, " particularly one as of late that showed white Australians protesting, I want to get a gun and mow you down myself. I understand if you were born into such nonsense to but to actively covert shows what a truly stupid individual you are, especially in a case like this. Please drop dead and do us all a favor. No really. Die already.

Free speech is also being addressed by Chick-Fil-A which angered conservative groups for dropping support for bigoted causes. The fast food joint did this to open new markets in places lie Chicago and, most likely, soon to be cities like Boston and Philadelphia. This was the best move for the company as personal beliefs are fine, but if my money is being used for causes I do not support, I don't go there. Blockbuster lost my business years ago for giving lots of money to anti-gay and anti-abortion causes. Because of their shitty business skills, no one else went either for various reasons and are now in total bankruptcy. The owner of Chick-Fil- A is free to believe whatever he wants, but as he learned, it's wisest to keep those views to yourself when you are selling chicken to the general public. Of course, the religious right and Tea Party idiots are up in arms over this, but this is how business works, by appealing to the broadest base possible. Funny how they don't understand that principle for politics either when the GOP is SO inviting to anyone why isn't an old white guy.

In a shocking new Italian study, men's penises have shrunk by ten percent over the last 50 years. Obesity, alcohol use, stress, smoking and even air pollution all factor in. How they are affected by these factors are unclear but, if it is, expect lots more people at the gym and more clean air initiatives. Luckily for those of us born some time ago, this will not effect us at all so take that newborns with their whole lives ahead of them.

Much is being made of Romney's 47% comment which, contrary to some GOP pundits, may cripple his campaign. The latest polls show that a whopping 36% of voters are LESS likely to vote for him now. With independents, the votes Romney needs to win, 29% saw they are less likely to vote for him, which are numbers that have to thrill Obama's campaign. For a man hemorrhaging votes, this is a catastrophic loss and this story is still the top news draw on every newscast nationwide. Here is a man desperate for any big story that could knock this one off and, so far, there is nothing in sight. Candidates like Brown and McMahon have distanced themselves from Romney's comments as both are in tight races that could go either way. Tomorrow's column will be about tonight's epic debate between Warren and Brown and the first senate debate I have ever watched so stay tuned for more on that.

The Presidential debates will either be a tremendous Romney rebirth or the first sign of a staggering defeat. The electoral college numbers do not have any real way for Romney to win so his debate skills better be better than God's to turn the tides. I am not betting money on that and neither should you as even Vegas has their money on Obama.

A new transcript from a Ryan speech has made the rounds from a 2005 that should give anyone pause to make him a heartbeat away from the presidency. It was for the Atlas Society's "Celebration of Ayn Rand," where Ryan talks about how he wants to get rid of things like Medicare and Social Security. Here's some highlights:

Ryan describes Social Security and Medicare as “collectivist” and “socialistic.”

Ryan’s strategic plan: privatize Social Security and Medicare in order to convert people from “collectivism” to believers in a “capitalistic individualistic” philosophy. So that there will be “more people on our team” who “won’t listen to” Democrats.

Ryan’s acceptance of Pinochet’s Secretary of Social Security José Piñera’s similar program of Social Security privatization as a “moral revolution” that made Marxists into capitalists who started to read the Chilean equivalent of the Wall Street Journal. Ryan is overheard, “Yeah” “That’s right.”

So if you vote for Romney/Ryan, know you are voting to end all parts of the New Deal including popular programs like Medicare and SS. If you are old, too bad. Die. If you get sick and can't pay. Die. If your poor and can't eat. Die. This is their philosophy as spoken from their own mouths. This country will devolve to civil war and, most likely, a permanent martial law as we become a Stalinist dictatorship, aided and abetted by the Tea Party and people like Paul Ryan. Vote democrat as if your life depends on it, because it does. They may not be the best, but they are the only hope we have left.