1.) Tea Party vs. GOP? — In less than three years, the Tea Party has gone from being ignored to being an amusing joke to being a convenient scapegoat for all of America’s ills. What’s next? TheDC’s John Rossomando reports: “Tea party activist David Lewis’s announcement Friday that he plans to mount a primary challenge to House Speaker John Boehner could indicate a larger problem for the GOP leadership, and point to restlessness among an important segment of the tea party faithful. Republican leaders face a growing perception among some tea party factions that they are not interested in holding the Obama administration’s feet to the fire on spending. Some say the Republicans talked a good game going into the 2010 midterms but have failed to deliver since winning control of the House of Representatives. ‘Everybody knows that the debt ceiling deal was a completely fraudulent deal,’ Mark Meckler, national coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots, told The Daily Caller. ‘We were told that if we passed this deal we wouldn’t be downgraded, but we were still downgraded.’ Meckler warns that Republicans and Democrats could both face an electoral bloodbath in the 2012 primaries if they do not do more to hold the line on taxes and spending.” Don’t these fools know that America has an elite political class that is separate from the rest of us, and teabaggers aren’t welcome? The nerve!
2.) Jon Stewart [heart] Tea Party? — Going back to that “convenient scapegoat” thing, you know the Dems are losing the narrative when America’s Most Trusted Newsman/Comedian/Newsman is getting sick of it. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein reports: “Liberal Comedy Central host Jon Stewart told Rolling Stone magazine that he has trouble blaming tea partiers for the summer debt ceiling debacle. ‘On the whole debt-ceiling thing, you can blame the intransigence of Tea Party Republicans all you want, but Democrats had a chance to pass a budget before they lost in the midterm election,’ the Daily Show host said in an extensive interview. ‘They didn’t do it because they were afraid that those votes would cost them the House. Well, how’d that work out? They had the ability to avoid the entire f***ing thing. And they didn’t do it, out of cowardice. So I have a hard time mustering sympathy for the argument that a couple of Tea Partiers took Congress hostage.” Stewart also says he’s disappointed in Obama, but only because Obama has tried too hard to… heh… to work within… hhhhnk… to work within the system! LOL! Get it? And then he immediately backs off that criticism because “it’s very easy to say what I say. It’s tougher when you’re actually in it, like he is.” HAHAHAHAHA!! Oh, Jon Stewart. You really are the funniest man who has ever lived.
3.) The Solyndra Omertà — Remember how the government wasted at least half a billion dollars on a “green energy” boondoggle that’s now bankrupt? Well, if you want to ask the geniuses who ran off with the cash, you can just talk to the solar panel. TheDC’s C.J. Ciaramella reports: “The chief executive and chief financial officer of Solyndra will invoke their Fifth Amendment rights and decline to answer any questions at a congressional hearing on Friday. According to letters obtained by Reuters, Solyndra attorneys have advised CEO Brian Harrison and CFO W. G. Stover to not testify at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee… ‘I have advised Mr. Harrison that he should decline to answer questions put to him by this subcommittee based on his rights under the Fifth Amendment,’ Harrison’s attorney, Walter F. Brown Jr., wrote to the the committee. ‘This is not a decision arrived at lightly, but it is a decision dictated by current circumstances.'” The current circumstances being overwhelming evidence of incompetence and corruption. The mighty Iowahawk put it best: “Oddly, Solyndra execs no longer big fans of sunlight.” In other Solyndra news, their lawyers are major donors to the Democratic Party. You’d think these tight-lipped Solyndra execs would want to brag about creating the world’s first solar-powered cash laundry.
4.) Even fewer Americans capable of recognizing Obama’s greatness — Luckily, none of Obama’s current problems are hurting him in the polls, as long as you don’t look at the polls. TheDC’s Will Rahn reports: “After months of bad economic news and political missteps, a new Marist poll shows President Obama’s support has dropped to an all-time low. According to the survey, only 39 percent of registered voters nationwide now approve of the president’s performance. A majority of voters, 52 percent, now disapprove, while 9 percent say they are unsure… According to a Marist survey conducted last month, President Obama’s approval rating was evenly divided, with 44 percent saying they approved and 46 percent saying they did not.” So it could be worse for the White House. It could be October already.
5.) Ben & Jerry’s flavor based on mildly amusing ’90s SNL skit boycotted — Just because the economy is collapsing and our leaders are flaunting their lawlessness and corruption in our faces, that’s no reason to take our eyes off the ball. Or balls, in this case. TheDC’s Betsi Flores reports: “OneMillionMoms, an organization affiliated with the American Family Association, announced a boycott of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream over a new flavor called ‘Schweddy Balls.’ The group said Friday on its website: ‘The vulgar new flavor has turned something as innocent as ice cream into something repulsive. Not exactly what you want a child asking for at the supermarket.’ The idea for the ice cream flavor’s name came from a 1998 Saturday Night Live comedy segment featuring Alec Baldwin, Molly Shannon, and Ana Gasteyer. In the sketch Baldwin plays Pete Schweddy, a baker who brings his best-selling holiday treat to share with two public radio hosts. ‘No one can resist my Schweddy balls,’ Baldwin famously said in character. The new Ben & Jerry’s flavor consists of vanilla ice cream with a hint of rum flavor, mixed with fudge-covered rum and milk chocolate malt balls.” You’d think an ice cream based on an extended testicle joke from 13 years ago would be self-boycotting, but whatever. This bodes ill for Ben & Jerry’s next “hey, remember that?” flavor: Canteen Boy Crunch.
6.) Today’s words of wisdom from Alec Baldwin’s Twitter feed — “Wow. All this for an ice cream. http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/schweddy-balls-make-afa-squirm”
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