Every time you care what Todd Kincannon says on Twitter, God smites a kitten.
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) June 1, 2014
In their frantic attempts to deprive President Obama of his third term, the even-more-rightwing elements of the GOP (Greedy Old Perverts) are once again managing to embarrass the saner members of the tribe. Hat tip to commentor Lamh36 for the RawStory link:
Republicans are outraged that President Barack Obama authorized a prisoner exchange with the Taliban for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl — who has been held captive since 2009 — and that they plan to use the exchange against Democrats in the upcoming election…
One possible reason the president chose not to notify lawmakers is that last time he attempted to negotiate Sgt. Bergdahl’s release, Republicans both formally and informally blocked all efforts to do so.
In addition to using congressional oversight, special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman was told by Republican leadership that negotiating an exchange of Sgt. Bergdahl that involved detainees from Guantanamo Bay would be the president’s “Willie Horton moment”…
Retweet (because I’m not going there) of the Kincannon filth-of-the-moment below the fold:
“@JeffersonObama: GOP loves our troops and POWS pic.twitter.com/LpIgHijsup”@michelemalkin#TCOT Again the GOP shows real support for the troops
— Bill (@86400_breathe) June 1, 2014
Hill Dweller
The GOP is a group of radicals, but the Village still parrots whatever they say.
kathy a.
dear god. this is what someone says to the parents of a prisoner of war being released after 5 years?
Lizzy L
Is he a for real human? Are we sure? I think The Onion manufactured him.
Villago Delenda Est
@Lizzy L: This.
The Onion is trolling us. That’s got to be it.
debbie
Worse than a troll. He’s from South Carolina.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
The last person I can remember who automatically considered all POWs to be traitors was Stalin, who shipped them all to the gulag. Great company these guys are keeping, huh?
kathy a.
Can I also just point out that the US needs to do something with Guantanamo detainees? Try them (hard if they aren’t charged); send them somewhere; something. There is nothing constitutional at all about indefinite detentions.
Villago Delenda Est
Oh, and if we’re going to execute someone for desertion, well, you all know who I’d nominate for that.
D58826
People like Kincannon have always existed. I’m sure the old time editor of the letter to the editor page had a desk draw full of this kind of hate. What is so disheartening is that it is being carried on in the light of day and organizations like the GOP/faux news encourage it. I know they make money off of it and gain political power but it is still disgusting. I imagine if given half a chance some one like Kincannon will be more than happy to tell you about his personal relationship with Jesus and how he lives a family values bible based life. Well I’m not sure what Bible he reads (mein kampf maybe) but its certainly not the one I learned about in Sunday School.
Jewish Steel
I think this is a capitol* idea. Where can I contribute to this effort?
*Wrong capital, dummy.
Villago Delenda Est
@debbie: “Too small for a republic, too large for an asylum.”
D58826
@Jewish Steel: The democratic counter ad would be showing the yellow ribbon in the soldiers home town
Chet
@debbie: I’m sure he represents his community well. More’s the pity.
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
Kincannon is a sad little man filled with hatred and utterly powerless to do anything about it. He obviously gets off on trying to ruin other people’s days because he doesn’t have a life worth living.
debbie
@Villago Delenda Est:
I don’t know, I think you’d need an asylum that size to hold all these clowns.
PhoenixRising
@Jewish Steel: Bet your local GOP campaign office can help you with that.
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: That was, oddly, my first thought as well. Say what you will about Stalin, he tested some ideas that have proven to be long-lasting.
More broadly, the fact that the executive branch apparently broke a law requiring them to allow House Republicans to politicize the exchange so this guy would die in custody has me grinnin’ from ear to ear…as I imagine the President, backed by a 7 piece band, crooning ‘Sue Me’, from ‘Guys & Dolls’, to John Boehner.
A girl can dream…
Frankensteinbeck
@kathy a.:
We do. However, congress made it effectively illegal to close it down or move the inmates into the US. Democrats were fanatically on board with that, which utterly baffles me. It’s the only thing I’ve ever seen congress totally united behind. I think that unity is dying, and I’m hoping if we retake congress it will become possible – because the current situation is disgusting.
@Jewish Steel:
Please proceed, senator.
D58826
@PhoenixRising: IMPEACH!!!!! It worked so well the last time
Jewish Steel
@D58826: According to the GOP the life of one US soldier is not worth 5 Taliban. So what is the number? 6? 10?
Kay
Good to know the next GOP attorney general would “discuss” executions with random crazy people.
“is likely to be a friend of mine”. Oh, God. Goad him until he tweets the name of the “next GOP attorney general”. We need that info.
Fort Geek
Good ol’ Skincannon. What a dick. (I think it was someone at Wonkette who nicked him as “Skincannon”)
Baud
@Kay:
The way he’s going, he’ll probably be the next attorney general if the Republicans win the presidency.
D58826
@Jewish Steel: Well Israel seemed to think 1100 to one was an acceptable price to pay to get their soldier back. And Israeli’s are not being kidnapped left and right by Hamas.
You do what ever it takes given the context. . Richard Nixon offered an apology to get the crew of the Pueblo back. W agreed to a statement that. depending on how you translate the word could be apology or regret, to get the spy plane crew back.. I don’t remember any goopers screaming about that. In fact I don’t remember the democrats saying anything. They know that sometimes you have to deal with the devil and were willing to give the president a free hand in the matter.
Karen in GA
I’d like to see this hung around the necks of every Republican in government. Ask Ted Cruz if he would execute the returning American POW. Ask all possible presidential contenders if their choice for Attorney General would, in fact, be a friend of Kilcannon’s, and if they too would have the returning American POW executed.
And ask if they want to impeach Obama for his lawbreaking in bringing the American POW home.
the Conster
The Hair Helmet, from what I could tell this morning, parroted every single right wing meme in his questions to Hagel. Is David Gregory the worst media hack now, or the worst media hack ever?
Keith G
The very good news is that the vast majority of American society simply do not know who Kincannon is. Twitter is a very silo-ed. experience. Unfortunately, the “look at this crazy shit” attention, gets Kincannon exposed to even more eyeballs than his normal Twitter pack.
In a pre-twitter age, this angry shit would not be getting much attention at all until he was caught exposing himself to little girls at a city park.
Fort Geek
@Villago Delenda Est: “First In Treason.”
low-tech cyclist
GOP leadership wants to try to turn this into Obama’s Willie Horton moment?
Please, Lord, if you would put it in their hearts to do their absolute damnedest to try to do that, I would be most grateful.
Seriously, the insanity of their worldview warps the space-time continuum to the point where it’s amazing any light escapes from it. It’s just a matter of time before it gets to the point where nobody outside of wingnuttia’s Schwarzchild radius will be able to tell what any Republican politician is thinking anymore.
JPL
@the Conster: Hagel smacked him down.
Dave
This guy must have just arrived from Mos Eisley, where he was probably an important figure in that “wretched hive of scum and villainy.” He’s lower than pond scum. I’ve never read more disgusting comments. Made me want to puke.
Mike in NC
@debbie: Historic breeding ground for traitors and other domestic terrorists.
D58826
@Karen in GA: It will not have any effect on the gooper base. Remember the cheers when Ron Paul said he had no problem with people dying for lack of medical insurance. As to the rest of the electorate, by staying home in 2010 that allowed these sick clowns to be elected, gave them platform to run their mouth’s and conferred a degree of undeserved respectability. If the tea party had been defeated in 2010 we wouldn’t be in this position and people like Kincdannon would be spreading their bile in the back of some cave.
PhoenixRising
@Keith G:
Two wetsuits, man. This guy has ammosexual-wetsuit-abuser written all over him. It’s just…the degree AND kind of crazy.
Keith G
@the Conster: That can be seen as a service to Hagel, as long as the Secretary had a solid response for every adversarial inquiry. Get all the attacks out and get the answers before the public.
SFAW
@D58826:
So they’ll all be executed, right after Bergdahl and B. HUSSEIN Osamabama, those treasonous terrrorists.
Thank FSM we still have True ‘Murican Patriots like Todd, to show you godless Lie-berals how REAL men talk when they’re not face-to-face with someone other than the old and infirm.
Villago Delenda Est
@Dave: He was exiled from Mos Eisley. They have some standards for wretched scum and villainy there, and this guy disgusted even them.
SFAW
@Keith G:
He already beat that rap. Remember, he has friends in high places or some such.
D58826
@SFAW: I’m sure we will be hearing from the sage of Wasilla before long. Surely her pet moose must have imparted the wisdom of the ages into her willing ears. gotta keep us traitors in our place
TaMara (BHF)
I wandered over to twitter today and immediately regretted it. These people depress me. There is not an idea that Mr. and Mrs. Obama have that they can’t hate vehemently enough.
KG
@Hill Dweller: technically, they’re reactionaries, not radicals. but otherwise, yeah…
@low-tech cyclist: welcome, my friend, to the wingularity
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@TaMara (BHF): The more light shed on these assholes the better.
SFAW
What I want to know is: what’s with this “desertion” shit? Wasn’t Bergdahl captured/kidnapped?” Or am I out to lunch (yet again) regarding the circumstances which led up to him being inn Taliban hands/
And, by the way: if Karzai has been negotiating – or attempting to negotiate – with the Taliban vis-a-vis power-sharing (or whatever), how does that make them terrorists? (Not that I think much of Karzai.) If he’s trying to negotiate a peace with them, doesn’t that give them some small level of political legitimacy? Or am I (as always) exceedingly naive about that?
Amir Khalid
I mentioned in an earlier thread that I was bemused to see Americans begrudging an American soldier his freedom. But wanting to see Sgt Bergdahl executed for treason because the US Government broke with official procedure to secure his freedom — not because he himself did anything treasonous — is hateful and sick. That Kincannon is spouting these hateful words strictly out of partisan animus against President Obama only makes it worse.
ruemara
I have to admit, I don’t get the fascination with retweeting the shit these people say. Just leave them to their own filth. He and his fans are horrible people. Although one said he thought it was just humour. Ooook.
? Martin
@SFAW:
US soldiers are too elite to get captured, therefore he could not have been captured. So, given that he’s too awesome to get captured, he must have decided to aid and abet the enemy and therefore be a traitor, because that reflects better on America.
What I want to know is: why do you hate America?
KG
@SFAW: this is easy, a True American Hero ™ would not have allowed himself to be captured. He would have gone down fighting (or been shot and killed by friendly fire and then martyred). Ergo, quid pro quo, etcetera etcetera, he must have deserted, because SHUT UP THAT’S WHY!
And Karzai is only negotiating with the evil terrorists because the Atheist-Commie-Muslim usurper has abandoned him in his time of need. Thus he has no choice and we’re just going to have to go back there again in a few years, just like Germany in the 1930s. It all makes perfect sense, because again SHUT UP THAT’S WHY!
D58826
@Amir Khalid: That ‘partisan animus’ has been the heart and soul of the GOP/conservative/teaparty since Jan. 20, 2009 at 12:01PM. They have no other reason to exist.
WaterGirl
I like Josh Barro. Truth be told, I also like Chuck Hagel. Those might just be the only two republicans on earth that I can say that about.
Helen
Ann B. Davis, Alice from The Brady Bunch has died at the age of 88. I haz a sad.
gbear
@low-tech cyclist:
Betcha Mike Huckabee won’t be jumping on that bandwagon.
SFAW
@? Martin:
As Old Bongo said: “Why not?”
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@SFAW: Bergdahl was a PFC (E-3) when he was captured, the army has seen fit to promote him to SGT (E-5). That doesn’t really indicate that the army sees him as having deserted or gone AWOL.
Debbie(aussie)
Didn’t Sgt Bergdahl just walk away from his company? That I think is the reason for this treasonous talk. The wingnuts were calling for his execution back in 2009, if memory serves. Bastards all!
Cacti
Republicans are furious that this soldier isn’t dead and that he robbed them of the opportunity to wave his corpse around for cheap political points.
scav
There was speculation about what happened when Bergdahl was captured, he also doesn’t seem to be cut from the blood in your teath, eat dead burnt bodies, you’re our boy cloth. details here, toward bottom. Not the “Right” kind of Idaho Frontier.
SFAW
@Amir Khalid:
Amir, old buddy, do you mean “amused” or “bemused”? I can see it both ways. (Almost anyone else, I’d assume they just didn’t know the difference.)
Sly
Obama acted too quickly to save an American who had been in captivity for five years, but acted too slowly to stop an attack on the Benghazi consulate that was over in less than three hours.
RandomMonster
Good lord, judging by their reaction you would’ve thought Obama did something awful like trade arms for hostages with Iran in order to fund terrorist insurgents in Latin America!
Oh wait…
D58826
@Debbie(aussie): It’s a quaint old custom, much out of date these days but maybe we should dust it off just for the heck of it and see what Bergdahl has to say about his capture.
Mr Stagger Lee
@low-tech cyclist: Just spit-balling here, if the Supreme Court ruled against President Obama, does that mean we ship Sgt Bergdahl back?(snark for those snark chaenged)
ruemara
@D58826: No. We jump to conclusions faster than any other nation. ‘MURRICAN EXCESHUNALISM!
SFAW
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
Well, if they REALLY meant it, they would have promoted him to Lieutenant Commander, or Master Chief (since I guess he’s a non-com).
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@SFAW: Why would they put him the navy? Hasn’t he been through enough punishment already?
Amir Khalid
@SFAW:
I meant “bemused”.
SFAW
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
Good point, I hadn’t considered that.
Patrick
@? Martin:
So I guess McCain is a traitor too based on that logic…
My neck is spinning because I can’t keep up with their utter hypocrisy in the hatred towards the black guy occupying THEIR office.
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
A pretty interesting piece on Bergdahl here:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/americas-last-prisoner-of-war-20120607
He sounds like quite an idealist – and you can imagine how the wingnuts, who sit on their fat, gun-fondling asses and assiduously avoid serving in the wars they love to slobber over, would take some of his views.
SFAW
@Amir Khalid:
OK, I should have known better. Thanks.
Debbie(aussie)
@D58826: Agreed wholeheartedly!
SFAW
@Patrick:
no, No, NO !!!!1!!!!
IOKIYAR! How many times do we have to tell you?!?!?!
Kay
@Debbie(aussie):
They’re all saying that but I don’t think they have a shred of proof. They don’t have enough information. I saw a photo of Hagel when he went to thank the rescuers and he was grinning. There’s this weird disconnect between how the administration is acting and how media and Republicans are acting.
The father said ‘the complicated nature of this will be never be comprehended” which to me would indicate Republicans should perhaps hang back a little, but apparently they are not listening to anything anyone is actually saying.
D58826
if president McCain/Rmmney had done the exact same thing they would be removing another head from MT Rushmore to make room for both them and Saint Ronulus the unready
Patrick
@SFAW:
I burst out laughing reading your reply :). Thanks! I needed that.
Mr Stagger Lee
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): Some of the idiot truthers/cw nuts think he is a real life version of Sgt Nicholas Brody, Maybe we ought to get Clare Mathison to investigate him then use Tom Walker to deal with him.
Debbie(aussie)
@Kay:
They ‘create their own reality’ so why would they listen. Timbres rides for all!
Debbie(aussie)
Wont let me edit:( should be Tumbrel
scav
@Debbie(aussie): Air Mail or First Class? Whichever has the better chance of being folded, spindled and mutilated, Bien Sûr.
Eta, but the USPS ride would be so painful for them!
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
I’d take offense at that if I didn’t think it was funny.
Keith G
@Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers): There is also the issue of how he came to be captured.
The current talking point for the dark side is that he walked away from his post – journeyed on his own away from where he was stationed/supposed to be. There seems to be some weird conclusion that he was reaching out to the enemy at that point…. for whatever reason.
I have been with friends on acid trips that made more sense.
Ruckus
@SFAW:
I misread it in the last thread and commented on it as amused.
But I think my reply still applies either way.
D58826
From someone over on kos
Dave
@Villago Delenda Est
You’re right… Don’t know how I missed that. Thanks for the correction!
SiubhanDuinne
When I read/hear about Kincannon, the Westboro Baptist Church, Limbaugh, and Ingraham and Coulter and similar such scum, it makes me kind of sad that I’m a fan of the First Amendment.
Kay
@Debbie(aussie):
Yeah, I watched the parents and the father also said “I am your father.”
My thought was “we have no idea what’s going on here.”
They all immediately went to this elaborate theory. I love the counting, too. They’re all counting. “Was 5 for 1 really worth it?” Are these people expert hostage negotiators? What could they possibly be comparing this situation to to know if we got a “good deal” or not? I don’t know, is FOUR “worth it”? Three? It’s kind of an unusual situation to be so confidently counting heads and announcing an exchange rate.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Ruckus: There are times when an inter-service rivalry joke just plain works.
David Koch
Michael Hastings wrote in Rolling Stone that …. wait for it… Hillary wanted to let Bergdahl rot in Afghanistan because she was afraid of what the Republicans would say:
The minute she gets in office she’ll be dropping feedom bombs left and right because of her fear of Fred Hiatt and Krauthammer will say.
WaterGirl
@Kay: They say the returned soldier is having trouble speaking in English. In the The Guardian’s video of the dad, the dad said he has learned Pashto (sp?) and had done a lot of reading about the region so he would be able to communicate with his son when he returned.
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
Also, at least when I was in the navy you had to reenlist over your original 4 yr active term and be on active duty longer than 4 yrs to earn above an E5. IOW a lifer. I imagine that you could be given any rate they wanted to. Although… when I mustered out the XO told me I’d be back in the navy in less than a year. I asked him if they planned to give me the rank of 3 star admiral. He said no. I told that would be the only way, that I had a friend who owned a diary farm and they had lots of cow shit that needed to be shoveled and that would be preferable to being in the navy. He was not even mildly amused.
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
@David Koch:
I am not HRC’s biggest fan, but if a journalist is going to throw that sort of accusation around, I need a bit more than the old “One senior US official” as a source. If someone is going to say that sort of thing, they need to put their damn name to it.
Baud
I still can’t believe Obama gave the people who hate us for our freedom an incentive to capture Americans.
Keith G
@David Koch: While it’s possible that an unattributed quote sums up the reality at that time, I do wonder about the non sequitur around which the quote is built.
Dave C
I’ve never even heard of Kincannon until today, but if the GOP really wants to run against bringing POW’s home (and thinning the ranks of the abominable Gitmo at the same time), I’m all for it.
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
Absolutely. And of course this is one of them.
Anya
Since this is an open thread and we’re talking about republican stupidity, I just wanted to share that every time I see Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, he just reinforces my understanding of white privilege.
People made fun of Michael Steele but this big nothing idiot gets to sit at big people table and pretend to be somebody. He has no charisma, no intelligence and cannot string two words together, yet everyone takes him seriously. He never says anything note worthy or intelligent but he’s never ridiculed. I think Michael Steele was more articulate and had more presence than him but he was mercilessly ridiculed, even from our side. I wonder why? And please don’t try to convince me because he used hip hop lingo.
SiubhanDuinne
@Helen:
That makes me sad.
I am so old, I actually remember her as “Schultzy,” long before she was “Alice.”
Randiego
I see Rick Pearlstein has a follow-up to Nixonland coming out in August, The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan. As much as I appreciate how terrific his books are, they do depress me a bit. Anyway, I just pre-ordered using the Amazon link on the front page here. Maybe JC and Balloon Juice will get a dime out of it.
Ruckus
@Anya:
I’ll bet Mr. Steele knows it every time he looks in a mirror or at any piece of his skin. He’d probably not admit it, but I’ll bet he knows.
Poopyman
@Kay:
To the surprise of absolutely no one. Please proceed, Rethugs.
Kincannon, Kincannon …. You know, as a proud Irish-American, it’s starting to appear that there was at least one coffin ship that shouldn’t have made it to Americay.
Poopyman
@Poopyman: And don’t get me started on Hannity. Slab-headed asshole…
Kay
@WaterGirl:
I heard that explanation. There’s a disconnect to me between the administration people and the rest of the people (Republicans, media) who are talking about this, and I can’t figure out why that would be. Obama was downright cryptic in that appearance with the parents towards the end when he was talking about negotiations. It just seems to me there’s more to this story. I don’t mean that in some “bad soldier” way, or anyway, really. I just think there’s more to it than we know now.
gingko biloba
@SiubhanDuinne:
The Bob Cummings Show. Used to watch reruns of it when I was young.
D58826
@Kay: The opening to China started over a game of Ping-Pong, or at least that was the cover story for the back channel negotiations. This could be something along the same lines. As the diplomats say a trust building exercise. What ever the back story it is a good thing to get him back.
David Koch
@Keith G: It’s hard to believe a senior official trying to secure the release would say that unless he/she was getting opposition from Clinton. And it’s certainly in her character considering Hillary’s history on bombing brown people:
Anya
@Ruckus: I think Michael Steele has more awareness than he shows. He chose to be a republican for visibility and to avoid a crowded DNC field. I wonder if selling his soul is worth it though. Although, after 5-years under the age of Obama, I am begining to be jaded about our side and how some progressives view racism. I don’t think most critism of Obama is racist in nature but a lot of the language used and the double standard is rooted in our racist culture.
gogol's wife
@SiubhanDuinne:
Love that Bob!
Belafon
@Keith G: talking to my dad who was in Vietnam, he said soldiers there would walk outside their zone for either searches or something as simple as getting water.
Kay
@Poopyman:
Well, I don’t know, but isn’t COIN the approach where they try to work with local leaders, develop relationships with them? And aren’t the group that took him hostage an insurgent group even in the context of the Taliban? Not The Taliban proper, but an insurgent group?
This whole Twitter analysis seems a little simplistic to me :) I don’t know that they should jump immediately to “he was working for the other side!” Seems like there’s sort of a shifting definition of “sides” over there. Lotta ‘”sides”.
Keith G
@Anya: Part of it was that Steele is not a ‘nutter. Had he been a howl-at-the-moon type of guy, and tea party friendlier, he would have been on better ground.
Look closely. Philosophically, there are only a few leaders in the GOP that are close to Steele, and they are elected officials. He was an employee of the activists.
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
@David Koch:
It seems a little strange to equate “bombing brown people” with “arming the opposition to Assad”.
Villago Delenda Est
@D58826: Oh, it started earlier than that. Right around 8PM PST on 4 November 2008.
By an amazing coincidence, that’s when the deficit crisis hit the teabagger organizers right in the face and that entire movement got started.
Anne Laurie
@David Koch: This is how I know you’re a Repub troll: You’re not interested in the terrible things Republicans are saying about President Obama, just in spreading a rumor from an unattributed source that a potential Democratic candidate might be “impure”.
Does ratfvcking pay well, or are you just the kind of squirmy pervert who enjoys throwing anonymous filth at people more popular than you’ll ever be?
Keith G
@Belafon: Bet there is only slight Venn diagram overlap between the haters saying that about the kid and folks with combat experience.
Belafon
@David Koch: I’m having trouble thinking of any other politician that would say to hell with the political consequences. As someone else said, we should be used to presidents being mediocre and surprised when they are not.
mainmata
@PhoenixRising: And as Col. Bateman pointed out on Pierce’s site, Washington, Madison and Lincoln all traded prisoners for prisoners during war so there is plenty of precedent. Also the Israelis do it all the time and the US used to do it with spies all the time during the Cold War.
So this relentless Rethuglican trolling has to eventually backfire but only if the Dems call them on it.
Villago Delenda Est
@Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers): Wingnuts, for the most part, have never served, certainly not in combat.
I can see how an American soldier would be disgusted with his fellow soldiers for the sort of behavior he describes.
He sounds like a good soul to me.
Villago Delenda Est
@Belafon: LBJ said it in regards to the Civil Rights Act. He knew the Democrats would lose the South for a generation, but fuck it, it was the right thing to do.
David Koch
@Anne Laurie: smearing with lies is all Hillary’s supporters have. You can’t run on her positions or her record. All you have is Joe McCarthy/Roy Cohn-like criminal smears.
burnspbesq
@kathy a.:
Sure there is. The right to detain prisoners of war for the duration of the war is an inherent part of the Commander-in-Chief power, and is also entirely consistent with the law of war and the Geneva Conventions. If you want to argue about whether we are at war, or about whether the detainees at Gitmo are POWs, that’s certainly an argument worth having. But don’t argue from a false premise.
Gin & Tonic
Which branch of the armed forces did Todd Kincannon serve in?
WaterGirl
@Kay: Have you read the 7-page Rolling Stone story from June 2012? I read the whole thing and then I watched the 20-minute video The Guardian did with his dad. Both were worth the time, and the rolling stone story, particularly pages 4-5, answer a lot of questions about the run-up to the soldier leaving: letters to his family talking leaving and walking to Pakistan, a conversation he had with a superior officer right before he left, asking if there would be problems if he took some of his equipment with him, etc.
I feel hopeful for the soldier because his father seems so grounded. My reading between the lines from the comments about his health, etc leads me to suspect that he might be in a confused and precarious place mentally/emotionally, but the only thing we know for certain is that he wrote SF? on the back of a paper plate and then burst into tears when the reply was yes, and that they had been looking for him for a long time. So I think he is happy to be coming home.
SiubhanDuinne
@gingko biloba:
Reruns, schmeeruns. I watched it in first runs.
Mike in NC
@Gin & Tonic: None, but if he had the opportunity the Waffen SS would be his preference.
burnspbesq
@Gin & Tonic:
Kincannon’s bio on Wikipedia does not refer to any military service.
Quelle surprise.
Violet
@Gin & Tonic: He was a member of the Keyboard Kommandos, Chicken Hawk Division, IOKIYAR.
mai naem
BJ is the first place I read about Bergdahl being released. I am one person who used to look his name up every so often to see if anything new was going on and all I can say is that it’s awesome that he got released. I really don’t give a shit who they traded him for. I am offended that the GOP think the American intelligence apparatus is so incompetent that they aren’t going to keep an eye on these guys down to when they are taking a poop. I actually am guessing that there will either be a drone attack on these five or that other Taliban members will kill them because they’ll be considered a vulnerability. Hell, one of them is already labelled a snitch. Knowing Barack Obama, I am guessing this a trap for the Taliban and,maybe, the GOP as well!
SiubhanDuinne
@Anya:
Every now and then, Michael Steele shows up as a guest on one or another MSNBC program. I must say, I always find him entertaining and as often as not I agree with whatever he is saying. He may be invited on as a “token” Republican, but in point of fact I think he is way more sympathetic to our side than the producers might expect. Don’t think it would take much to get him to change over — although I admit the cachet of being one of a small handful of AAGOP spox.
burnspbesq
@SiubhanDuinne:
No kidding. Nobody ever said this freedom-of-speech shit was going to be nothing but cupcakes and balloons.
SiubhanDuinne
@gogol’s wife:
Yup!
In retrospect, maybe one of the most benevolently sexist programs on TV. But it was all so good-natured that I can’t get to medium dudgeon, let alone high dudgeon.
A Humble Lurker
@Anne Laurie: For fuck’s sake Anne, just stop. Just ’cause s/he doesn’t like Hilary doesn’t mean s/he’s a Republican troll. Hell, s/he’s said plenty of nice things about Obama.
And I mean, my God, this?
That just sounds more like your buddy Corner Stone than Mr. Koch.
the Conster
@Anne Laurie:
You’re really reaching here. David Koch is an Obot, first class. Hillary is a finger in the wind triangulator by instinct, learned at the feet of her master, Bill. She has never demonstrated any fight against Republicans – until the tide turns and she whiffs a scent of opportunity to tack left, but with words, not actions. She’s an empty pantsuit. h/t Nate Silver Let’s not forget her flag burning pandering, with Bob fucking Bennett from Utah.
Anne Laurie
@David Koch: … says the troll who’s posting anonymous smears about a Democrat. Way to be obvious, ratfvcker!
A Humble Lurker
@Anne Laurie: Please stop. Not for us, for you.
Anne Laurie
@A Humble Lurker: @the Conster: Which is why “David Koch”, GOP ratfvcker, was forced we say forced to try and distract us from discussing the GOP’s failure to discuss a Democrat’s mooted sins.
You guys are letting your PUMA-hatred get the better of your brains here. Why should some anonymous source’s dirt about HRC be relevant to a discussion of exposing ReThug dishonor? (Especially since I seem to recall a lot of talk about how Michael Hastings, author of the RS article quoting that anony-smear, was an anti-Obama junkie dirtbag grifter immediately after his death. So why would Hastings be a rumor-monging conspiracy addict then and a reliable source now?)
Kay
@WaterGirl:
I read the RS piece. I’m a little wary of reading too much into the emails, treating them as conclusive. I don’t know if it was a plan or if he was just unloading to his father. He was clearly disillusioned, but a lot of people get disillusioned or angry or disgusted and then don’t act on it.
It’s definitely an interesting story. I just don’t know what the story is.
I felt sorry for his parents, walking into our ridiculous buzzsaw of media, Twitter, etc. It’s like…clamor, and it gets worse every year.
Keith G
@the Conster:
Look, there are parts of the Clinton “legacy” that I find very problematic. Politicians make compromises. Bill and Hillary have made plenty of compromises. The siting President has made plenty of compromises. That is one of the things that people in government do when they need to get things done.
Whew…That’s a whiff.
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
@Anne Laurie:
I don’t like anonymous sourcing, but it is possible to dislike HRC/have a dose of Clinton Derangement Syndrome from the left without being either a GOP ratfucker or troll. The Great And Frequently Bitter Primary of 2008 was pretty clear evidence for that.
WaterGirl
@A Humble Lurker: @the Conster: I’m glad you guys spoke up, because I was thinking the same thing.
the Conster
@Anne Laurie:
I’m talking about your accusations about David Koch being a Republican ratfucker. He’s been here doing his sarcasm shtick here for years on Obot patrol and somehow you’ve completely missed the boat, the dock and the port o’ call.
WaterGirl
@Kay: The hatefulness is shocking and disgusting, for sure. But after watching the 20-minute video about the dad, I’m not worried about him. I think the dad and mom are singularly focused on their son and will be able to let all the crap fall around them and not get distracted. Not that they should have to endure that, but I don’t think they will get derailed.
I was so very impressed with the father in the video.
I haven’t said it, but I agree with you that there’s a lot that’s not being said. I think this must have been a huge coup for President Obama in ways we simply can’t know about now, and maybe can’t ever know about.
And whatever has happened with the soldier/son, I hope he can find his way back to peace.
Edit: I think both father and son have strength of character that will help immeasurably.
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
@WaterGirl:
Bob Bergdahl (bobbergdahl) has a pretty interesting and, to my eyes rather liberal, Twitter feed. I think he’ll be able to handle the wingnut haters with some aplomb.
Kay
@WaterGirl:
His father seems devoted. Arabic and a beard! It’s like he was trying to be there with him. Not that we’ll ever get any nuance on this family. They have to be heroes or executed as traitors. Pick one.
“Do we negotiate with terrorists!!?? Well, do we !!?” Candy Crowley wants a three word answer for a decade-long war.
The worst part is, their dumb narrative is way more boring than real life.
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
@Kay:
Pashto, I think, not Arabic.
WaterGirl
@Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers): I think so, too. That’s such a good word, aplomb.
WaterGirl
@Kay:
Absolutely! HIs father seems to have had an absolute faith that they would get him back, and he made sure he was going to be able to meet his son where he is, and where he has been. It renews my sense of hope somehow.
Edit: Candy Crowley should just shut up. We were taught never to say “shut up”, to only say “be quiet” But Candy Crowley needs to shut up.
Edit: agree about the media, except The Guardian let us see nuance with the video.
Kay
@WaterGirl:
It just seemed to have so much import for Rice, Hagel and Obama. Now maybe that’s what they said it is: “our solemn duty” etc. but I just felt like there was more than that going on. It doesn’t seem like they’re dealing with Karzai at all anymore, and they have to be talking to someone, some group or leader.
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
@WaterGirl:
I get a very good, grounded, decent vibe from the Bergdahls. They seem like the sort of parents everyone should be lucky enough to have.
Kay
@Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers):
I don’t know, but they said he used both. One as a predicate to a speech and the other as a comment.
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
@Kay:
I wonder where he learned his Pashto. That’s a very rare language, not much taught, if at all, even in the big Ivy League schools. Arabic can be found relatively easily, tough sledding though it is as a language.
WaterGirl
@Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers): There was a book clearly titled: “PASHTO” in the father’s stack of books in the video. I think we saw it right before they flashed on the book called “Gitmo”.
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
@WaterGirl:
Well, if he really learned Pashto from books, I would be distinctly impressed. I wonder if that made him Idaho’s only Pashto speaking resident for a while.
WaterGirl
@Kay:
You may have answered your own question!
I haven’t seen anything about it in the media (maybe I missed it, maybe there was nothing) but I feel certain the timing of this soldier’s release is related to the timing of President Obama’s announcement about getting troops, out, etc.
Kay
@WaterGirl:
I think they feel a long answer is a dodge. I really do. Like if they don’t get a “yes” or “no” they didn’t interview someone. I think it’s nuts. It’s weirdly legalistic, like a parody of a bad lawyer or a movie version of a “tough question”. She can’t answer that question in three fucking words, Candy. She can, but no one will know anything more than when your program started. I think it comes from covering campaigns, or maybe treating everything as a campaign. It doesn’t always have to be a game. I think it creates this horrible loop, where the person interviewed is incredibly defensive and just primed for verbal battle. It isn’t really helpful or informative. Susan Rice isn’t running for anything.
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
@WaterGirl:
Didn’t they just have an election (which has now gone to a runoff) to replace Karzai?
WaterGirl
@Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers): I love my parents (both gone) but holy shit do these people seem to be exactly what their son would need right now. So smart, so devoted, so grounded.
the Conster
@WaterGirl:
I wonder if Berghdal’s father started growing his beard until his son came home. That’s a five year old beard I think.
WaterGirl
@Kay: They think they are Matlock, backing the bad guy into a corner for the “gotcha”.
I really hope the media can turn itself around somehow, because we really need the fourth estate, and they are currently not doing their jobs. I think they got confused about their jobs when news became a 24-hour thing that had to turn a profit.
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
@WaterGirl:
No aspersion intended against the many other great parents of the world!
TS
@Kay:
Given the GOP reaction to his homecoming – he has every right to be disillusioned
WaterGirl
@Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers): Yes, though I haven’t followed it much, mostly out of a sense of despair.
Edit: I get the feeling the dad is wicked smart, and very determined.
@the Conster: Interesting thought. I bet you’re right.
the Conster
@WaterGirl:
As a Red Sox fan, I can attest it works. :)
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
@the Conster:
What do you bet Sullivan gloms on to the father’s beard and ignores the likes of Todd Kincannon?
Anne Laurie
@the Conster:
“Too bad History’s Greatest Monster is incapable of preventing the GOP from doing everything they wanna get away with” is not a form of sarcasm I can get behind, sorry. At least when coupled with the DK troll’s nonstop trickle of “Liz Warren is wasted in the Senate, she needs to run for president, even if she’s bound to lose to the GOP” and “Gabby Giffords may seem like a sympathetic figure, but AZ citizens just laugh at her” and “Too bad Tammy Duckworth is a DINO, wish we had better candidates” et friggin’ al.
DK only “supports” the President when he can contrast PBO’s so-called “failures” with much-spun GOP talking points, and he’s forever trying to undercut every other Democratic officeholder, expecially the female ones. The fact that he’s managed to confuse some of you just proves he’s worth whatever money Karl Rove might be paying him — worse luck for our side!
WaterGirl
@the Conster: Maybe that’s why you picked up on it!
Svensker
Love this wingnut site’s headlines:
2013: Obama Leaves American POW (Bowe Bergdahl) to Rot in Afghanistan
2014: AWOL Traitor Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Traded for Taliban Terrorists
If pretzels had brains.
Kay
@WaterGirl:
Well, good. Republicans will have moved on by then to a reality show star or a violent rancher or The Benghazi Hearings, so he’ll be left alone.
Isn’t it wild that a NYT reporter was held by the same group for 7 months? Same group. He says the language thing is understandable. He’d have been “surrounded by young men speaking Pashto”.
Grumpy Code Monkey
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: I keep saying that the modern GOP have a lot in common with the old-school Soviets.
Rose Hills
@kathy a.: This is what the Republican Party has turned into? This is the “Moral Majority”? God help us all if this is what they claim Jesus preached.
Todd Kincannon should be very very careful because he’s on the edge of being destroyed by Sister Karma. I can see no downside to that either.
the Conster
@Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers):
If Kincannon grew a beard and came out, Sully would go all Republicans are teh awesome – meep meep.
WaterGirl
@Kay: Just googled and read the whole article. Wow.
I will just say one last thing before I head out – after all the frustrations President Obama surely experiences with getting anything done with congress, he has to feel really good to act – and to know that they just saved this soldier’s life.
A Humble Lurker
@Anne Laurie: Or maybe you’re just really, really mad that he said something bad about Clinton. So if he says something bad about Clinton he must be a Republican ratfucker.
You know what? I don’t want Hilary Clinton to be President. Am I a ratfucker too? Or would you like me to put away your shovel for you?
g
Wow, Kincannon is one hateful piece of shit.
Kay
@WaterGirl:
Yeah, I think he’s got a bigger job ahead, though. He has to end Gitmo. He’s the only one who can do it. Congress is scared to death, there’s too much political risk for them, and he’s not running again. I’m convinced they don’t want to deal with it. If he did some end run they would scream bloody murder but they don’t want it around as a problem after he’s gone. No court will ever touch it because they don’t want it either and “solving” the policy problem is not their job. Republicans can take it to a court when he shuts it down. See how far that gets them.
A President started it and a President has to end it.
FlipYrWhig
@Anne Laurie: I think you’re misreading him by about 180 degrees.
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
@FlipYrWhig:
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@FlipYrWhig: Yeak, DK is a douchecanoe, but not the troll AL believes he is.
randy khan
@Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers): Believe it or not, Rosetta Stone offers lessons in Pashto.
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
@randy khan:
I confess to surprise. I haven’t generally been a big fan of Rosetta Stone, which seems overpriced for what you get.
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
A douchecanoe, but not an objectively pro-fascist douchecanoe.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers): To be sure, we should consult FdB.
hugely
@Villago Delenda Est: that brought a tear to my eye and smile on face. Is that wrong? lol
chopper
@Anne Laurie:
go soak your head, Anne.
Cervantes
@Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers): Just don’t tell them he joined a ballet troupe before he joined the army.
Mandalay
@David Koch:
I read the article and there are about a dozen quotes attributed to anonymous sources. Hastings may be a hero to some, and he may have done some great work, but that specific article is really shitty journalism.
Cervantes
@D58826: So far there have been at least three versions. The Army: Bergdahl walked off, away from the base, after his shift one day, with some Afghans. The Taliban: a “drunken American soldier had come out of his garrison” and was captured by the Taliban. Bergdahl: he was captured when he fell behind and was isolated from his unit. I imagine we shall be hearing other versions fairly soon.
sharl
Does anyone in the GOP listen to Frank Luntz anymore? His tweet:
From the push back Luntz is getting in replies under that tweet, maybe his star HAS greatly fallen among the current crop of goopers.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Cervantes: I’ll note again that the fact that the army promoted him while he was in captivity tends to indicate that they don’t see their version as negative regarding Bergdahl. Soldiers wander about and do shit. As long as he didn’t abandon his post, there is no real issue with his behavior per the army version.
Mandalay
@Cervantes:
Well this is Susan Rice’s version: “Sergeant Bergdahl wasn’t simply a hostage, he was an American prisoner of war captured on the battlefield,”.
Regardless of the specific details of what actually happened, the Administration has had years to work out how to frame this, and I think they have done a good job to come up with a bullet proof one liner.
Just keep saying that line every time someone wants to call Bergdahl a coward or a traitor or a deserter.
Villago Delenda Est
@sharl: It’s not about winning elections.
It’s about endless hate on the near sheriff.
They can’t stop themselves. Their racism has taken control, overriding even their own sense of survival.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Mandalay: You are correct; unless someone can flat out prove that Bergdahl was deserting which no one will be able to do unless Bergdahl himself says it, Rice’s answer is perfect.
Petorado
Why don’t we give Todd Kincannon to the Taliban so that they can have the prisoner that Kincannon himself thinks they should still have in captivity? I see nothing but win for all parties in this gesture.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mandalay: Anonymous sources always are a flag to me.
I have grown deeply cynical about the ethical moorings of journalists, especially those with national platforms, over the past 20 or so years. They’re so desperate to advance their careers, to score a scoop, to collect a Pulitzer, to maintain access, that they can and do cut corners and outright fabricate. We’ve got documented proof of that.
randy khan
@Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers): In case it wasn’t clear, I did not mean to imply any endorsement. Honestly, I was a little surprised, too, but then it occurred to me that there probably was a pretty good market for learning Pashto among military personnel for a while, and once you have the lessons set up, the incremental cost of keeping it on the list of available languages is pretty low.
ralphb
@Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers):
That was a great piece by Michael Hastings in Rolling Stone. I felt much the same way after spending a year and a half in Vietnam during my own war of choice.
sharl
At the moment the wingnuts are seizing on lamestream librul reporter Jake Tapper’s report posted at the CNN site. That story supposedly quotes soldiers who served with Bergdahl at the time of his disappearance, claiming he deserted his post, and that six soldiers were killed in the ensuing search. There is also the claim that attacks on the unit increased during these following days, the theory there being that the Taliban ‘read’ the search patterns and planned their attacks accordingly (AFAICT).
So that’s probably what yer local wingnut will be bending yer ear with in the following days. Let’s see if they still care about the VA’s problems, which are a much bigger thing.
Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers)
@sharl:
I could believe that Bergdahl was feeling deeply conflicted, wandered off-base in a scrambled frame of mind and was bagged by the Taliban. Which is not the same thing as desertion, much less cooperating with the Taliban, which is what Tapper seems to be tiptoeing up to implying. Either way, he’s had the courage to serve his country, which is a damn sight more than the lard-ass wingnut wannabes attacking him and his family have ever considered doing.
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
This.
The military is not in the habit of advancing someone in rank that deserted their post. That is a major violation of the UCMJ and they don’t take highly to those. I can imagine that it has never happened.
sharl
@Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers): No argument from me.
For those with wingnutty coworkers & family, forewarned is forearmed, yadda yadda…
But if it is true that soldiers died during the search for Bergdahl, I can see how others in the unit might be a bit irked about that, especially if the dead soldiers seem (to them) to be forgotten in all the celebration of Bergdahl’s return.
Mandalay
@Cervantes: The Army: Bergdahl walked off, away from the base, after his shift one day, with some Afghans.That account differs from some of his fellow soldiers who claim that he walked off during his shift.
I have no clue what actually happened, but I would think that walking off after his shift is much less egregious than walking off during his shift.
The media are going to have a massive sloppy wankfest if they can get soldiers who served with Bergdahl to state on camera that the official army version of what happened is a blatant lie.
There’s gonna be big blobs of jizz flying out of your TV screen when Sean Hannity and Anderson Cooper start their probing to get to the bottom of this.
Cervantes
@Mandalay: Consider:
From Jake Tapper (article mentioned above).
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Cervantes: The idea of hero/not hero needs to die. Most soldiers are just ordinary people trying to do their jobs. If Bergdahl fucked up in some way, he would not be the only soldier who ever did that. Absent other evidence, I go with Rice’s quote: he was an American prisoner of war captured on the battlefield.
Cervantes
@Omnes Omnibus (etc.):
@Mandalay:
Yes, those were just three early versions.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Cervantes: And unless, he was actively deserting and making for the Pakistani border, I don’t care. Crappy soldiers, soldiers who have doubts, soldiers who step out of line are still soldiers.
Lyrebird
@Villago Delenda Est: I’m too late, but that was perfect timing on your part!
amk
@sharl: lunz’s monsters have come home to roost. Love to see them destroying gop.
KS in MA
@SiubhanDuinne: You’re not alone. I remember her as Schultzy too.
wetcasements
This is who they are.
Origuy
The Pimsleur company, which does audio lessons, is offering free Pashto and Dari lessons to US military. After the Haiti quake and the Philippines typhoon, they offered free beginner lessons in Creole and Filipino.
Frankensteinbeck
@Cervantes:
And to the minimally involved who aren’t stewing in hate, all this reads as is ‘Are you guys seriously trying to fling shit on a rescued POW?’ Sometimes lack of nuance works for us instead of them.
Patricia Kayden
@Villago Delenda Est: Their racism is part of why they have survived and thrived amongst certain elements of voters, so alas it continues and grows unabated.
Cervantes
@Origuy:
That’s great. Thanks for acknowledging someone’s decency and generosity — in a discussion of someone else’s utter lack thereof.
@Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers):
Never mind the Ivy League — there’s a good and well-known language program at Wisconsin (Madison) that teaches Pashto; and there’s another program in Indiana.
(Not saying either of these is where the elder Bergdahl received instruction.)
another Holocene human
@Anya: Michael Steele also did a lot of actual outreach, including attempts online which backfired because trolls, duh (wonkette engineered some downright epic trolling of RNC sites during his tenure), but if you think ‘our side’ doesn’t savage Priebus you aren’t paying attention.
Privilege is the fact that Steele got sacked after wiNning an election while Priebus does nothing but pile up fail after fail and is in no danger of his job.
Steele was a better target for mockery because of his earnestness and his media persona. Stewart has mocked Priebus at times but the guy is like Scott Walker, a joke that’s not funny. Compare how O’Keefe and Breitbart are discussed by liberals.
Steele is a mainstay pet republican on msnbc now.
sdhays
@mai naem: Oh, it’s a trap for the Republicans, alright. He gives them a true “impeachable offense”, and it involves freeing a POW. The wingularity just started spinning twice as fast with excitement and frustration.
Please proceed, House Republicans…
artem1s
@WaterGirl:
I’m glad Annie spoke up because I was thinking the same thing as her.
Rose Hill
@Morzer (0th of His PseudoName and Founder of the Walter Sobchak Peacekeepers): Yes Kencannon is a sad little man but sadder still is that he represents one of the two political parties in America. The GOP has lost all control of the Tea Party nuts and sadly Sarah Palin the Klondike Kardashian has the attention of the world for her foolish and dumb statements.