Weekly Roundup, June 25-July 1, 2012

by Blueberry T

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The Romneys’ “Hobby Horse”

Jame’s excellent guest post revisits Mitt and Ann Romney’s tax deduction for the champion dressage horse Rafalca.  Ann Romney is co-owner of the Olympic-caliber horse.  Until recently, the Romneys described Ann’s interest in dressage as a therapeutic hobby that she took up after her MS diagnosis.  Apparently there is more to it than that, as the Romneys claimed a $77,000 loss on the horse on their 2010 tax return; so the hobby is apparently also a business venture.  Hmmm.  Most people cannot claim the costs of their hobbies as business expenses in the first place – and most people don’t even earn $77K/year, let alone lose that much on their “hobby horse.” Ironically, the value of the actual tax write-off was so low that it defies all reason that the Romneys would have even bothered claiming this deduction and thus bringing attention to their ultra-elitist hobby – er- business.  Jame also reports on the Romneys involvement in a lawsuit brought by the buyer of one of Ann’s horses that turned out to be lame and to have been drugged.  Very interesting post; thanks, Jame!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

More of Bristol's Pity Party 

Bell Peppery took one for the team this week, reporting on the second pitiful week of Bristol Palin’s  painfully boring “reality” show.  Ugh.  These two episodes concentrate on how utterly vapid Bristol is and how dull and meaningless her privileged life is.  The episodes make clear that the whole underlying premise of the show is to display her vile vituperation toward Levi, as she repeatedly says the most insulting, degrading things about him in Tripp’s presence.  She also attempts to entrap Levi, and even though he wisely stays away, she uses it as an excuse to bash him some more and to DELIBERATELY DISAPPOINT TRIPP, who was falsely led to believe that his dad would meet them.  If that is not emotional abuse of that poor little guy, I don’t know what is.  Many thanks to Bell Peppery for suffering though this tripe, sparing the rest of us.   

Friday, June 29, 2012

Celebrating the Momentous Health Care Ruling

Patrick and Kathleen highlighted the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the Affordable Care Act.  The excellent video from Talking Points Memo covers the crazy way the announcement unfolded and reactions to it, from exuberation to the expected call from the Republicans to repeal it.  The challenge will be to ensure that we re-elect the President and give him a Congress that will support his initiatives, as the GOP is already raking in big bucks on the promise of repeal.  But right now, let’s enjoy the victory; here are some great cartoons that tell the story well. 

  

Friday, June 29, 2012

Sea4Pee Review in Photos: Brissie’s Show, Episodes 3&4

AnneS offers a photo montage of Bristol’s show, distilling that duuulllllllll hour down to the nitty-gritty.  She brilliantly shows the pure essence of Bristol’s obsession, sparing the rest of us having to suffer though an hour of Bristol’s whining.  But WTF is going on with Willow?  My God, girl, time to look in the mirror and get a hold of yourself!  Hint:  you might want to listen to Michelle Obama’s dietary advice, instead of your mother’s.  While we all enjoy poking fun at the self-centered young women, Politicalgaters also share a real sadness about the disturbing treatment that Tripp is enduring.  If this is what we see on TV, imagine what is happening when the cameras are not rolling.  I hope Levi not only wins a judgment against Bristol for her violation of the Child Custody Stipulation, but perhaps he can look into suing Lifetime TV for abusing Tripp for their depraved idea of “entertainment.”  As zane1 pointed out, Bristol’s show got bumped by – wait for it – reruns!  Hahahahaha!  

Sunday, July 01, 2012

Request from Malia Litman

Kathleen’s post highlights the work that Malia Litman is doing to try to bring accountability regarding one of the more sordid Palin scandals.  As I have not followed this issue closely, I will leave it to readers to check in with Malia to see the latest regarding Todd Palin’s alleged role in a prosititution ring that may also include a Secret Service agent who guarded Sarah Palin during the 2008 campaign.

Levi’s girlfriend Sunny fights back

Bristol seems to have met her match in more ways than one.  Not only has Sunny Oglesby become Levi’s mate, taking Bristol's place, but she is naturally pretty and pleasant, seems to enjoy working hard, and doesn’t sit by passively while Levi is being trashed.  This post highlights Sunny’s new messages, setting the record straight about the malicious lies that Bristol and Willow spewed on “Life’s a Tripp.”  More good news:  Levi is moving forward with his new life, leaving behind the cast of malignant characters that have plagued him these past four years: Bristol and the Palin family, his former lawyer Rex Butler and the former manager, Tank Jones.  We hope that Sunny and Levi can begin their new life together without having to constantly deal with Palin negativity and vindictiveness; Politicalgates sends best wishes to them and their family.  (I still can't get over how much Tripp looks like Sunny in that photo - more so than Levi! Photos can be deceiving.) 

Some Comments and Links: 

VinnieF:  I think ultimately we love both of our parents, unless one of them is truly nasty (i.e. physically abusive).  I'm sure deep down Tripp loves his dad just like any little boy does.  He's going to come to like less and less this lady that keeps talking so badly about his dad.  Once he becomes a teen and is able to comprehend the lengths that Bristol went to in order to denigrate his own father, he's going to hate her for it.

Sunnyjane:  I'm certainly no child psychologist, but children's minds are like computers, they store everything, and if you don't program them correctly, you get a mess that's hard to repair.  When your child cuddles up for comforting attention, or to be read to, etc., and you're sitting there ignoring him while using your iPad AND a Blackberry as you yammer on about his father, the child is receiving a lot of unhealthy input.  Bristol is simply a poor mother, and no matter how much she kisses him and says "love you" on automatic pilot, that is NOT nurturing.

Psalm023:  …forcing a child to be part of a skit where his mother makes fun of his father, and shoots his father's book, with his father's face on the book cover, is creating a firestorm of mental agony for that little boy.    Having to live with Bristol, he's having to  conform to his mother's reckless behavior and must be wondering what is wrong with his dad that makes his mother hate him so. 

If the producers of this show insist on showing tomorrow night's episode, they will be partly to blame for that boy's future emotional stability.   To me, it's like a 20th century circus taking in unwanted orphans with physical deformities and using them as sideshow freaks.   What they are doing here is paying an emotionally-stunted/immature young woman with a child to disparage her child's father in front of a 3 year-old.   And they consider this entertainment.  They are no better than the romans throwing christians to the lions for sport, or other depraved behavior.   

Molly_WI:  My heart bleeds for all the hardship the Romneys have had to go through with all that money they have that they don't know what to do with/how to hide. Life must be so difficult for them. 

Jolly Roger:  When will the MSM's boneheaded insistence on pushing Little Bighair on us FINALLY come to an end? This is surely in violation of the Constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Kathleen:  I'm really puzzled by Tripp shouting at Bristol that he "hates her" --- that dear readers can only be learned behaviour which he has picked up from someone close to him. My disgust grows daily.

VeryPolitik picked up this astute comment on by Amber Porter of ABC News:  Bristol is seemingly obsessed with Levi’s book and with saying how little it means to her. To “get her mind off” the book, she takes her friends to visit a shooting range and puts the book on a stake where she proceeds to blast it with a gun. No, seriously, it means nothing to her.

Silver_desert:  … There's no doubt Bristol is obsessed with Levi. But her mother was much the same with Curtis Menard, even moving to an apartment near him AFTER she got married to Todd. 

Tyroanee:  I'm just gobsmacked at the level of truly deep down hatred towards large groups of Americans that have been labelled by the Palin Family as UN-American... I'm proud to say then I am UN-American, but even more proud to say my children have learned to love and forgive, for kindness leads to happiness, and living in Peace is why we are here.

ToesintheSand:  …Maybe this train wreck of a "reality show" should be re-named "Palin Family Values". (and come with a parental advisory warning) "DO NOT DO THIS TO YOUR OWN CHILDREN!"

Jane:  Palin: "Waaaaaaa, that big, bad ole Obama! On January 23, 2009, the Dow Jones was 8,077, and today it's 12,497. His Affordable Health Care Act will make health care affordable for my children and grandchildren, and they won't be able to be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions (like Down Syndrome). He's bringing the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan. The number of operating oil rigs in US oil fields has quadrupled since Obama took office, and domestic oil production is now at an 8-year high. http://www.thomhartmann.com/fo...
The number of people employed in the private sector is far higher than it was when he took office in 2009 (with most of the unemployment now due to lay-offs of public employees in red states by republican governors). And by contrast, Obama has hired far fewer federal employees than President Bush. http://thinkprogress.org/econo...   Obama saved the auto industry,and is also trying to revive the alternative energy industry so that America can be energy independent. Waaaaaaaaa! How DARE he do all these things? My free-dumbs are literally being taken away in front of my own eyes.

Enigmaplanner:  If you are against ACA or what you call Obama Care, would you be happy if in the law there was a Prayer Opt Out Clause? You could be free to not seek any future medical care whatsoever and rely solely on prayer and nothing else. how many would? BTW, if it is repealed down the road, prayer will be your only choice.

Myrtille2:  Nice comment from Bristol/Nancy's blog :  "Bristol Lies… Her Dumb Show Dies"

KatieAnnieOakley:  My attorney years ago told me the opposite of Love is NOT HATE - it is APATHY. Bristol still has feelings for Levi - her hate betrays her strong connection / emotional response to him.  Hate and Love are strongly related.  She is still tied to him - her hate is passionate, it is deep, and she feels its every thread and fiber.  Levi, on the other hand, seems to acknowledge his past love... accepts it...and now appears to be apathetic to her.  He just doesn't care for her anymore, as a lover or a friend.  Her burning hate / love / passion / is consuming her BECAUSE it is unrequited to her by Levi. 

So, in order to "get" Levi's attention, she has weaponized the only thing Levi turns to her for: Their son. She turns her passion, her hate, her rage, her fury at Levi's indifference to her onto their son.

Tripp is the ultimate victim: too small to fight back, too torn by "Mother Love" to not believe what she says. If we don't have Mother Love - we are unable to love ourselves. We all want to love ourselves, so we defer to mom. Anything to keep mom happy - if only in that moment.

Bristol is repeating a pattern she learned and witnessed since early childhood. She simply doesn't KNOW anything else, and knows if she were to deviate from the family "Order" she will lose HER "Mother Love".

And the cycle continues...

Older_Wiser pointed out this interesting article on how President Obama has helped drive oil prices down and this on education and ownership debt.  

Sunnyjane linked to Bristol and Levi’s custody agreement, noting that on p. 3 #10 it says not to disparage the other parent nor allow others to do so;  and this from politicususa on Bernie Sanders “shredding” Mitt Romney.  

Here is another gem of a speech by Bernie, challenging Congress to break free from the billionaire masters and work for the American people.  

honestyinGov reminded us that CNN and Foxscrewed up their reporting of the SCOTUS ACA ruling 

and found this from Business Insider on Justice Ginsburg basing her decision, in part, on the success of "Romneycare."  

Here is the New Yorker scorecard on how the individual justices voted on the ACA legal questions.  

Cheeriogirl found this January article in Salon on Mitt Romney and the White Horse Prophecy and this excellent poster, which I hope will go viral and be used as a campaign ad.  

BellPeppery posted this helpful link to an interactive site showing how the ACA would affect you/your family. 

Patrick pointed out this great series of clips on the ACA decision. 

Paradigm Shift noted that the GOP’s biggest donor, Sheldon Adelson, is linked to prostitution.  Yes, they sure are the party of family values.  Not.  (I can’t wait to hear Romney denounce Adelson.  I’m waiting, Mitt.  Well, okay, I’m not holding my breath.) 

Sleuth1 and HonestyinGov linked to Irishgirl’s blog on Sarah’s recent interviews (wearing what looks like a hot pink satin nightgown).  

The Last Word goes to Nora Ephron; take heed, Palin women (not that they will):

“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” - Nora Ephron