DOUCHEBAG OF THE WEEK: REPUBLICANS YET AGAIN

My that was one quick honeymoon. Less than 24 hours after both Obama and the GOP said they looked forward to working together did the bomb throwing begin with each side threatening the other with executive actions, legislative gridlock and even, and I cannot believe that this is back already, a government shutdown. Let's see those runner ups.

10)Elite Puppy, Inc. in Webster, MA- I like animals a whole lot more than most people having worked with pets for over thirty years now. I know more pet's names in my neighborhood than neighbors. So when I come across a story about animal abuse in my own area, I feel compelled to write about it. The owner, Jen Gardner, is a vicious opportunist who exploits sick animals and uses dangerous puppy mills. Two former customers have come forward to say the puppy they purchased got severely ill within hours of bringing the poor thing home, one even dying. WBZ did a story on them which exposed the business as using puppy mills which are known for selling sick animals. Save your money and go to the local pound which will have the best animals you could ever want for a fraction of the price. All my pets are from shelters and they have all been fantastic pets. There is no reason for this person to still be in business.

9)Westminster, MA- Sticking to MA news still, this one went international. I used to work up in this area doing ad sales and know the people. It is a blue collar, right leaning group that was also one of the nicer places to do business. Which is why I was so baffled by the local government's idea to ban all tobacco products within town. This was met with a huge, and I do mean huge, protests that the town seemed totally unprepared for. Really? If you couldn't see this coming, you should NOT be in office because this could not have been more obvious. Many gave the same statement I would have which is I don't smoke but if someone wants to, let them. It was only going to drive people out of business, cost jobs and not stop one smoker from getting his cigarettes in the next town over. This is why our government at all levels seems broken. We only seem to get the stupidest people in charge. When the local school gym was used to voice protest, the whole thing devolved into a lynch mob and the city council had to be escorted outside with the State Police nearby. I double dog dare this town to go through with this idea because it certainly seems that the general populace is sharpening their pitchforks and readying their torches.

8)Bill Cosby and his many accusers- Bill Cosby is being accused of rape by a woman from his past that has me scratching my head in disbelief. The woman is dredging up old stories from decades ago claiming Cosby drugged and raped her. Barbara Bowman is the one who has come forward and I can't help but wonder if this is about fame, money or both. I always have a hard time believing anyone whose allegations are decades old and her story seem somewhat contrived as, according to her, she kept going back to be raped again and again. Could she be that delusional to think the man who was raping her would make her famous as he promised? Maybe, and then again this story could be true. I don't know. But allegations from the eighties, where NO charges have been filed make me very suspicious as this type of behavior happens a lot more in Hollywood than you think and a lot of time, there is no truth to it. Take Michael Jackson. A lot of you out there probably think he is a convicted pedophile when in reality he was sued twice for unfounded allegations. The first, which he unwisely settled out of court, was revealed to be a scam when the father of the alleged victim wrote in his suicide letter that he made the whole thing up and it ruined his life and that of his son. The second one was thrown out of court because the woman suing him provably made the whole thing up. But perception matters and that's why Jackson is synonymous with kiddie rape. Cosby's inability to see the same thing is happening right now by not talking about it, is making things worse. There have been countless mistresses in Cosby's life, but rape charges by at least 14 woman, not one with any proof that it happened, is suspect for both. I hope it's not true as Bill Cosby is one of my favorite comedians and someone I grew up with. If he turns out to be a monster as well, there goes yet another piece of my childhood, not to mention what's left of his career.

7)Turkey- It was not a good week for a country I know a few people from and are nothing but nice. However, some royal douchebags starting beating up servicemen on leave, putting bags over the heads and demanding they leave their country. To our country's honor, the serviceman did NOT fight back but ran away which is what you should do in any fight that you can. Never fight unless you have to, especially if in doing so you may create an international incident. Kudos to our brave men and women who show that this country doesn't always have to kick ass to show who's the better people. Not to be outdone, their President Madcap Earwig or something like that (Recep Erdogan) decided he was a historian and declared Muslims found America first, sometime in the 12 century. Nevermind that there is zero evidence that this is true, and if you want to get technical, the Vikings were most likely here 200 years before that. When Columbus found it, it stayed found. End of story.

6)The economy- We keep hearing how great the stock market is, how unemployment is down and why Christmas this year is going to be the best ever. Unlikely that all three will keep going that direction after the new year. Stocks will continue to rise until January when a big slide may occur when stock buybacks, which is the only thing keeping the market afloat, drops drastically as it always does. New stats show that up to 50% of the general public is hurting in states like CT, NJ and FL. My former home state of CT is now officially the worst place to live if you are poor in the country with the highest percentage of people below the poverty line with one of the highest costs of living. It's why I, and almost everyone I know, do not live there anymore. The new data also shows the poor getting way poorer, the middle class nonexistent and the people doing the best are the top 1/100 of 1%. I could fit that amount of people into my house and still have room for a band and catering table But you think the GOP will fix that. Talk about naivety.

5)Rush Limbaugh- How is this fat gasbag still on the air? Explain to me how a guy with little advertising revenue is still with a job? This week, Captain Dumbass decided to throw a tantrum and is now threatening to sue the DNC for "taking his words out of context to attack him." Oh the delicious irony in that statement. This comes from the guy who called Sandra Fluke a "slut" and a "prostitute" because she wanted her health insurance to cover her birth control, which seems very reasonable to me. How is that not defaming someone?  Here's a list of douchebag companies that are advertising again with Rush Limbaugh. Email each one to say you will NOT be doing any business with any of them until they stop. AirTran, Allstate, Geico, and Golfsmith. The rest are local companies, ones that buy block ads that get no say where they go, like Home Depot, or SuperPac nonsense. This blowhard needs to go away as his lies are damaging this country.

4)The Supreme Court- These nine idiots lately are making Rush Limbaugh look like a genius in comparison. Their idiotic decisions have ruined this country with bad drug laws, no labor protections and a give away to the rich at every instance. Even the left has been a mess. They upheld, over the conservatives objections about a decade ago, that corporations could use eminent domain to grab property they wanted for whatever reason. Now we have Judge Sotomayor striking down gay marriage in Kansas for no apparent reason. A lower court ruled it could go through and that the Kansas law preventing that was unconstitutional. The Attorney General there wants the right to appeal and thinks gay people should just wait. This is something the courts should have taken up a decade ago but now just seems like kicking he can down the road. Gay people are people and deserve the same rights as all of us. Just rule on it already and let's see how conservative this court really is.

3)NRA- These assclowns are terrible. Recently, with bipartisan support, a bill was introduced that would make it much more difficult to trade in ivory by making it harder to pass objects off as grandfathered. Democrats liked it and so did a lot of Republicans as 100,000 of these animals were killed last year for their ivory, a Holocaust. But the NRA had a fit about it because one gun or a knife in a million had an ivory handle and God forbid we do anything to stop gun and knife sales using forbidden materials. Boycott the NRA. They care more about profit and electing Republicans than your gun rights and ironically, elephants.

2)Democrats- Obama, in what can only be described as the strangest way to lose an election, waited until afterward to do things that the general public approved of, raising his popularity by ten points. Way to wait until far too late, loser! The Democrats of course have ignored this huge populist movement and are actually debating the way forward between the right leaning, big business democrats and the more liberal side joining with rising force Liz Warren. Which side is more popular schmucks? The right, especially with Rand Paul, may be a major thorn in the democrats side because he is already signaling a center position on many topics that may get him a lot of votes from independents if he can survive a brutal primary run by loons that is. The democrats are also for some inane reason going along with the Keystone Pipeline which does nothing for this country other than occupy space and even clears the Canadians of liability when the thing breaks, which it will because we use the shittiest materials known to man. Obama may or may not veto it, but I hope he does, and the 13 democrat traitors supporting this awful bill should see the back of our hand in the next election.

1)Republicans- These guys were on fire this week. We had Ted Cruz compare Obamacare and net neutrality, which is not even close to the truth. More lies have been spread about this than even climate change and are making people think that, like Obamacare, is some sort of government take over, when it is actually the prevention of corporations from limiting access and jacking up the price of the Internet which is already the slowest and most expensive in the free world. Then we have the environment which the GOP says is just fine, contrary to all the evidence otherwise. They are all hyping the Keystone pipeline as the be all, end all, even though it's impact is negligible. Obama, leading from the front, came to a new treaty with the Chinese that will lower carbon emissions 25% over the next few decades. Guess who poo pooed all over that? The best was when Obama said he would use his executive powers to stop deportation for over 5 million illegals and the GOP had a cow right after. All of sudden the government shutdown threat is back and Obama couldn't be happier. If the Republicans want to be even more unpopular than the democrats right now, this is the way to do it. Whoever adopts the most populist tone in the upcoming election will win and the GOP seems to be doing that ass backwards. So congratulations Republicans, you are indeed douchebag of the week.