The 7 companies that received the most bail-out money are going to be forced to cut the pay of their 25 highest paid employees by up to 90%. The 7 companies being targeted are Bank of America, AIG, Citigroup, General Motors, GMAC, Chrysler and Chrysler Financial. Word is the average cut will be about 50% across the board. The plan will also adjust how they are paid to help align the personal interests of the executives with the long-term health of their respective companies. The executives will also need permission to claim perks of over $25k a year. What say you, loyal readers?

Yes, folks, Obama is keeping his word on repealing this absurd policy. Perhaps the Peace Prize is giving him the kick in the pants he needs. “I appreciate that many of you don’t believe progress has come fast enough. Do not doubt the direction we are heading and the destination we will reach,” he said. Nice to see he’s aware that his stalling has been pissing people off. The policy was passed in 1993. It’s sad to think that it’s taken this long to get rid of it, or that it was even passed in the first place. Obama made the promise while speaking to the Human Rights Campaign in Washington. In the speech, Obama called on congress to repeal the act as well as extend benefits to domestic partners. Here’s to hoping this finally gets done.

I don’t want to anyway, but it must be addressed, and “He became the first African-American president in a notoriously racist country, which has given hope to oppressed peoples throughout the world. While campaigning for and after winning that job, took the opportunity to tour the world expressing his ideas and beliefs about equality, race, mutual respect, honoring each others’ histories, appreciating cultural differences; understanding that one country is not automatically better than any other but that we all have important and legitimate ideas to bring to the table, and knowing that to move forward in a positive direction we must do our level best to use diplomacy to work together in peace. (Pause for breath.) He has stuck firmly to these notions and continues as an excellent example of thoughtfulness and reason as the leader of, arguably, the world’s most powerful state….Or, as the Nobel committee more succinctly put it, “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”" – Clara Sturak, via Sasha Stone’s Facebook

Lindsey Graham is awesome about 50% of the time. Half the time, he’s that “mavericky” guy that his bestie John McCain claims to be, and the other half of the time he’s the typical GOP talking pointer. This is an example of the former. Sure, he’ll probably atone like every other GOP member who talks trash about Fox News and Glenn Beck, but till now, we’ll give him the ceremonial brownie.

“Only in America can you make that much money crying. Glenn Beck is not aligned with any party. He is aligned with cynicism and there has always been a market for cynics. But we became a great nation not because we are a nation of cynics. We became a great nation because we are a nation of believers.” said Graham.

and then things got crazier:

“I’m here to tell you that those who think the president was not born in Hawaii are crazy.” Then he said the ultimate sin: that Obama is not a closet Muslim.

HOLY SHIT!

In related news (let’s not totally glut up the place with all sorts of articles that say the same thing), the Obama administration has taken on Faux News/Beck head on in relation to the 2016 Olympics. Obama is trying very hard to get the Olympics to be in Chicago in 2016, and the Foxes are trying to smear the hell out of it. From the White House website:

RHETORIC: BECK SAID VANCOUVER LOST $1 BILLION WHEN IT “HAD THE OLYMPICS.” Glenn Beck said, “Vancouver lost, how much was it? they lost a billion dollars when they had the Olympics.” [Transcript, Glenn Beck Show, 9/29/09]

REALITY: VANCOUVER’S OLYMPICS WILL NOT TAKE PLACE UNTIL 2010. Vancouver will host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games from February 12 – 28, 2010 and March 12-21, 2010, respectively. [Vancouver2010.com, accessed 9/29/09]

They also pointed out Fox and the GOP’s fringe lies on ACORN in the statement, for whatever reason. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep/30/steve-doocy/beck-and-others-repeat-claim-white-house-political/

If this Kanye West/Video Music Awards (a completely worthless “awards show”, like, really?)/Taylor Swift thing wasn’t blown up enough, well, it’s reached its peak. And no, not because I made a keyboard cat video of it. The President of the United States, Barack Obama, commented on it off the record in a CNBC interview, according to Politico on Twitter and The Huffington Post. Yeah…holy crap. This could very well be a good move on his part, as most Taylor Swift fans are probably Birthers. He’s not letting the black guy diss their homegirl, and that will bump him up in southern teen girl approval.

He probably only knows about this because this video has gone viral and is becoming as popular as the video of Kanye Dramabombing Taylor Swift on stage.

While I don’t really agree with EVERYTHING on display in this really purdy typography experiment that someone did for VlogBrother John Green and his big public option healthcare rant, it is clear that he just about did beat the ideological shit out of the right without ever mentioning anyone by name and never addressing anything they’ve ever said. It’s pretty awesome actually how effectively he says what he says without actually saying anything related to the main talking points of the issue, almost too awesome. He just about falls off the wagon only to catch himself and pwn my ass by using it to prove a point that works exceptionally well. Way to cut through the ideologies of everyone, reveal what they’re REALLY thinking, and then show them how what they say is bullpucky, John.

A few days I reported on Tempe “Pastor” Steven Anderson, who is totally gung-ho for a homosexual genocide, and it seems like not he’s suddenly gotten into the national spotlight, because he and his “congregation” is praying for Obama to get a brain tumor. He doesn’t condone of murder (bullshit), but yeah, a brain tumor. That’ll kill him off real good. Also, not really news to me but worth mentioning, his “church” is a little tiny compartment of a strip mall. Awesome, Steven. You rent out a little space and say crazy stuff and now you’ll probably be a vice presidential candidate in 2012. The American way! Maybe I should go get some space in the strip mall by my house and put up a Church of Postavant and The Noodly Appendage and I’d have Fox News doing an article on me too.

To link to Fox News, damn me:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/31/phoenix-pastor-draws-protests-telling-church-prays-obamas-death/

“I’m gonna pray that he dies and goes to hell when I go to bed tonight. That’s what I’m gonna pray,” he told his congregation.

He claims that this is merely just “spiritual warfare” and not anything malicious at all, and he is white as rain with God and he’s soooooo not going to hell.

“Look up the word hate. Look up the word abhor, the word loathe. You’ll see there are a lot of people that God hates, and so we should hate. But see, I didn’t write that, that’s in the Bible.”

Yeah, he’s going to get the shit beaten out of him again, with good reason. Hateful fundamentalist weirdo. Go chill with Ashley Card and talk about how animals don’t have brains or something equally stupid.

The full sermon, over an hour of craziness, I’m not going to watch it. Also, it’s just an empty room with him and…two people. Yeah, that sounds about right. He’ll be famous now that he’s getting attention for being such a moron. His congregation will grow to town hall size.

An article brought up to my attention making the case that MSNBC is being just as bad as Fox News in a particular case on Morning Meeting with Dylan Ratigan on Monday is a bit much, as what you’re about to see is definitely not to that level, but still guys, what the hell? To sum it up, they tried to make a point and they selectively distorted the video to make such a point. They connected the man wearing an automatic rifle on his waist at the Phoenix Obama speech to racism, and showed him only from the waist down because the man…is black. This is something that the equivalent would happen about 670 billion times a day on Fox, but it’s worth nothing that MSNBC did make quite the little error of bad partisan judgment.

The guy posting it on Youtube has an Obama Swastika as his icon on Youtube, so in short, he can go eat all the dicks, but it does prove that MSNBC isn’t completely innocent. Also, here’s the guy.

Apparently those gosh darn Birthers were right. Obama isn’t an American citizen after all, but actually a citizen of Kenya. Impeachment is inevitable. I’m sorry for calling so many of you crazy, uninformed, ignorant, fear-mongering, retarded, wingnutty, a sheeple, and a just plain waste of oxygen. I was wrong and you were right. I’ll never doubt you or the GOP again. Gays are evil, healthcare is only for the rich, God is great, the world keeps on spinning. GOP for me! Rush om nom nom.

Just kidding! I made this on http://kenyanbirthcertificategenerator.com and you all are still terrible human beings. Goodbye.

As approval numbers go down and everyone decides to flip their shit (including myself, just cause I want all of this Bush-era infringement of rights done away with), healthcare is still one important issue that MUST happen, and it’s the only one Obama isn’t trying to pander to. We need a pass on this if we want to get anything done. The Dems have the numbers but not the willpower, it’s like a stockholm syndrome to keep the republicans in power no matter how outdated their policies are. The Dems are playing the Republicans and the Republicans are playing crazy, to put it in Bill Maher’s terms which while I didn’t necessarily agree with his whole speech on Friday’s “Real Time”, that line was particularly truthful.

So yeah, get your bumper stickers, wear them with pride, and I’ll manage to take pictures of it on my car when it happens in…4-6 weeks?

Obama Bumper Stickers