There's no welfare queen like a WINGNUT welfare queen (from Lars LARSON circus)

[UTUSN]

There's this wingnut named Lars LARSON or something. Have just heard a couple of snippets, months apart, running errands with the car radio on. He claims to be from a LIBRUL fortress in the country---the Northwest? (Why do most of these wingnut blowhards claim to be lonely wingnuts totally surrounded by Libruls?! Their beleagured paranoia is a trademark in itself. Where ARE all of these Libruls, since talk radio is all wingnut?!1)

So he got a caller from California yammering about something terrible on the ballot to "have the GOVERNMENT" somehow monitoring rents or something. He went on about how high rent was over there now, and it got on into how Section 8 was being abused by tons of people who didn't need it. The caller then said that his parents had followed him to California and struggled to meet their rent every month. The Lars dude asked whether the parents had never bought a house? The caller said that his father is a military retiree, that the house they *did* buy was in the Midwest, but that they had lost money on it because-------------GUESS!1

Yaas, the dude's parents lost money on their house BECAUSE OF THE CLENIS!1 That back when mean ol'CLINTON was "threatening to close down military bases" the value of the house near the military base crashed. And that is why militaries hate CLINTON!1


So the moral of this story is that national interest BE DAMNED!1 Fergit that the need for certain types of military expenditures was OVER!1 What mattered to this caller was that the military base be kept open SOLELY for the benefit of his parents. Fergit that they might have chosen to continue living there on their pension or live in a cheaper part of the country instead of CHOOSING to live in one of the most expensive parts of the country!1 NOooo, it was CLINTON who damned his parents to Hades, California!1

Certain types of wingnuts are willing to judge "welfare" recipients, while turning a totally blind eye to their own forms of SUBSIDIZED living-----agricultural subsidies, certain types of veterans perks, business loopholes...

[Skittles]

1. doesn't it just blow your mind

listening to their tortured logic? :o

[El Pinko]

2. BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) was set up by Bush 1

Clinton didn't "threaten" anything. He merely followed through on Bush's plans. That was supposed to be part of the "peace dividend" we were supposed to enjoy due to the fall of the USSR.


And the idea that having a base nearby brings up property values - LOL. Well, if you like the stimulus effect of shady used car dealers and tattoo parlors and payday loan joints...

Why did the parents "have to sell" and follow their kid to overpriced kully-fornia anyway? Where is the "individual responsibility"?

[XanaDUer]

12. And "titty" bars

Don't forget them.

I lived near a base in NE FL, and the surrounding area was a slimy hellhole. Oh, and the hookers who "service" the basemen.

There were also sleazy lounges, pawn shops, and those payday-loan companies, and the rent-to-own places. Oh, and overwhelming support of * and Cheney in 2000. And in 2004.

[Ewellian]

3. A major problem

with his logic is that the BRAC process was started under George HW Bush.

[SeattleGirl]

4. Lars Larson is a total reich wing shill and babbling blowhard.

He is based in Portland, Oregon. I've heard him several times going head-to-head with progressive folks, and every single time, he makes a total ass of himself.

[angrycarpenter]

5. The discussion of welfare is race related, to them.

If these "wingnuts" think that it is an entitlement giveaway to poor "lazy" blacks they are against it. If it is help for a white, read "honest", person then it is fine.

Most subsidies are not based on the real world but rather some distillation of facts, lies, misconceptions, and prejudice. If government subsidies were carefully implemented and constantly updated and adjusted most of these problems would go away.

[pansypoo53219]

6. divide and conquer.

don't look at georgie's fat cats, look at those getting the slighted helpfrom the govt. cause YOU don't get it. forget about tax breaks to casinos, football stadiums and walmart.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

7. Larson would blame the Clenis for Dubya being unable to say nuclear. n/t

[burf]

8. It was actually under SecDef Dick Cheney

that the budget cuts were proposed. From the Defense Department's own website:

Over Cheney's four years as secretary of defense, encompassing budgets for fiscal years 1990-93, DoD's total obligational authority in current dollars declined from $291.3 billion to $269.9 billion. Except for FY 1991, when the TOA budget increased by 1.7 percent, the Cheney budgets showed negative real growth: -2.9 percent in 1990, -9.8 percent in 1992, and -8.1 percent in 1993. During this same period total military personnel declined by 19.4 percent, from 2.202 million in FY 1989 to 1.776 million in FY 1993. The Army took the largest cut, from 770,000 to 572,000-25.8 percent of its strength. The Air Force declined by 22.3 percent, the Navy by 14 percent, and the Marines by 9.7 percent.

Link is http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/secdef_histories/bios/cheney.htm

So anytime one of these "support the troops" types starts talking about how the liberals gutted the military, just direct them to the site listed and it usually gets them good and confused. It's kinda humorous to watch!

[UTUSN]

9. I'm still seething over "Help is on the way!" from 2000

Wingnut vets drive me nuts!1 Then there were those six Medal of Honor recipients, during the Florida debacle, standing on Shrub's stage, with their medals on--------DISGUSTING!1 Vets AFTER their service can certainly participate in political speech, but NOT use their uniforms and decorations as props and cache for their OPINIONS!1

Over the years I have complained to the national headquarters of the VFW, American Legion, and in the example cited the Medal of Honor association or society or whatever it's called.


Also, Phil GRAMM-------remember him?----Senator ENRON and wifey Wendy--------had the nasty habit of performing military medals ceremonies, for vets he had helped get past-due medals, AT RETHUG PARTY HEADQUARTERS!1

[burf]

10. One of the reasons

I belong to neither the VFW or Legion.

[davepdx]

15. I just emailed Lars

with the link and the quote you provided. I can't stand to listen to his blathering myself.

I don't know what his ratings are now but it is my understanding that soon after Air America started broadcasting on KPOJ (Portland) that Randi Rhodes kicked his butt ratings-wise.

[UTUSN]

16. Thanks. I tried twice but my e-mails bounced. LARSON has a form to fill out

on his website, where you have to provide name, phone, and other ID just to send him an e-mail. When that one bounced, the error message had his e-addy, [email protected] and THAT bounced, too.

[davepdx]

18. I just got a reply from Lars

Funny thing, it was in my spam folder. He didn't address any aspect of the issue that I emailed him about. Instead he included a link to an article he had written for HumanEvents.com that was about John McCain's various positions on immigration.

In his signature he had the following: "Just say NO to Juan McCain!"
I'd expect no less from him to tell the truth. So much for a conversation about the facts with him.

I considered replying to him with a link to a BlueOregon article that I had written last week about Sen. Gordon Smith. Then I thought about the old saying "Don't try to teach a pig to sing..."

Dave

[UTUSN]

19. HaHAH!1 So "Juan McCAIN" is going to be the wingnuts' attack instead of his mental health?!1 n/t

[burf]

17. Thanks Dave,

The most frustrating thing about these talk show "hosts" is if you find something that contradicts their statements, you will probably never get to refute their misinformation. Either they hang up on you or you get the "that segment is over, he has moved on to another topic. Unless of course it is a supporter of their position. Same with the emails. You can bet he isn't going to read one like yours. But then they spend 20 minutes telling us they are the "truth detector" or some other BS. It is unfortunate that so many people not only listen to this junk, but actually believe it to be true.

I have heard Lars' program too. To me it is a cross between Michael "Weiner" Savage, Shaun Hannity and the WWF.

[Echo In Light]

11. Aside: the whole "wingnut" name calling practice began w/the Right, adopted by others

As that brand of "smackdown" name calling discourse prevails in our corporate media/social climate. I cringe at how many times I read those type of snide jabs here at DU ... an oddly appropriate accompaniment to how a majority favor corporatist dems. Always with the telltale patterns...

[ileus]

13. +!1

[stevedeshazer]

14. Yep. Lars is out of Portland. Apologies to the rest of the nation.

He is so afraid of we progressives here that he packs heat. He continually argues that you should be able to carry guns on school campuses.



Likes to kill (just illustrative -- I've got no quarrel with legitimate hunters, but I find shooting Bambi distasteful personally.)