Say It Ain't So, Nearly Shoeless Joni

And after her rebuttal nearly brought tears my eyes. If I'd watched anyway.

Joni Ernst, the new Republican senator from Iowa who delivered the GOP response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night, called in her address for cuts in government spending and described how her views grew out of her own “simple” upbringing, one in which her family diligently watched ever scarce penny, to the point where she owned only one pair of shoes.

Tears at my heartstrings at least. Of course, my brother and I had breadbags over our socks, too. So, I was really empathizing. Not that I remember that as particularly being a hardship of any kind. Of course, my family never received a half million in government handouts. My parent's were both union papermakers.

But the District Sentinel investigation showed that Ernst’s own father, Richard Culver, received $38,395 in taxpayer handouts, almost all of which went to corn subsidies. The Iowa senator’s uncle, Dallas Culver, made out even better, soaking up almost $370,000 in federal agriculture subsidies.

The total subsidies enjoyed by members of Joni Ersnt’s family came in upwards of $460,000

Ernst failed to mention her own family’s reliance on government assistance in her speech touting the virtues of self-reliance.

Really? I'm sure her opponent 5 years from now will bring it up.

In news of other right wing loons:

In the wake of international ridicule levied against the ill-reputed network, Fox issued a rare public apology last week for its inaccurate depictions of purported Islamist-controlled communities in Europe.

In one broadcast, self-declared radical Islam expert Nolan Peterson compared areas in Paris to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. He claimed that many parts of Paris are under Shariah law where French police will not enter.

“It was pretty scary. I’ve been to Afghanistan, Iraq, Kashmir, India, and at times it felt like those places in the no-go zones,” Peterson said. “You see young men wearing Osama bin Laden T-shirts. In a hookah shop, I saw a speech by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was leading an insurgency against American troops in Iraq at the time. It just, it seemed very mainstream and very accepted.”

And yet, we have citizens who hang on every word from Fox News and roam our streets freely. They should be in "no-go zones. Ironically.

Love this, from JoanWalsh:

Palin and Ernst have other things in common. The GOP’s answer to feminism, its strategy for winning female votes without changing its anti-female policies, seems to be recruiting sassy frontier gals who hunt and ride motorcycles and, yes, castrate hogs, but do it all in lipstick and (camouflage) pumps. And hey, in Iowa, it worked.

Bella Abzug need not apply.

Never heard of Curt Clawson but he is one boring motherfucker. Congrats on the Implody, Ted Cruz.