Dick Cheney, Asshole of the Day for December 11, 2014

by TheDailyEdge (Follow @TheDailyEdge)

The world reacted with horror. The New York Times called the Senate report on CIA torture "a portrait of depravity." 

John McCain said: “The truth is sometimes a hard pill to swallow. It sometimes causes us difficulties at home and abroad. It is sometimes used by our enemies in attempts to hurt us. But the American people are entitled to it, nonetheless.”

Dick Cheney, of course, has a different take, telling Fox News’ Bret Baier in a Wednesday interview: "The report’s full of crap."  Crap, of course, is too mild a word for what the report contains. As Vox.com says: “listing every horrifying detail in the Senate Intelligence Committee’s summary report on the CIA’s torture program would be impossible.” They give 16 of the worst details here.

The Daily Edge doesn’t often agree with John McCain but he’s right when he says the Bush-Cheney torture policies “stained our national honor, did much harm and little good." 

As Slate points out, “there’s no way Bush and Cheney didn’t know what we were doing." And what we were doing included the same "war crimes" for which America hung Japanese soldiers after World War II.

For promoting and supporting these torture policies, and for still emphatically and unapologetically defending them—despite the fact they didn’t work!!—Dick Cheney is for the 5th time, Asshole of the Day.

See his previous wins here.

Gov Chris Christie is the creative genius behind… Traffic. Locking down the New York / New Jersey border since September 2013.

Asshole of the Day for September 25, 2013: Ted Cruz

By The Daily Edge

By now you’ve probably heard about what John McCain has called Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s "extended oratory" against Obamacare on the Senate floor. 

"Technically what Ted Cruz did wasn’t a filibuster," reported Tea Party Cat, ”it was really a telethon.”

In truth, Cruz’s highly publicized speech was, indeed, a massive fundraiser for the Koch Brothers and their various front groups.

But Ted Cruz’s “oratory” went too far for many Republicans, including John McCain who made clear that he thinks the Texas Koch-sucker is a total asshole.

The biggest insult: Cruz’s comment comparing Obamacare supporters—plus anyone who values US democracy, the law and is willing to abide by a Supreme Court’s majority ruling—to Nazi appeasers.

"I resoundingly reject that allegation," said McCain. "(It) does… a great disservice to those brave Americans and those who stood up and said, ‘what’s happening in Europe cannot stand.’"

Not to mention only an asshole would compare those who allowed the Holocaust to happen with those who want to give your loved ones guaranteed medical coverage for their pre-existing conditions,

As soon as the theatrics were over, Cruz joined 99 other Senators in a unanimous vote to allow debate to continue.

Asshole.

Full story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/25/john-mccain-ted-cruz_n_3989887.html

Asshole of the Day for August 23, 2013: Greg Abbott

By The Daily Edge

Back on June 25, the Supreme Court struck down a key part of the Voting Rights Acts, saying that racism in America was dead.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s response can be summed up as: ROFLMAO!!!!!!!

Within two hours of the decision, racism had risen like a zombie in Texas as Abbott declared the Texas GOP’s new racially-biased voter ID requirements along with a redistricting map created specifically to suppress the minority vote were back in effect.

It should be noted that in SCOTUS’s June Voting Rights Act decision, Chief Justice Roberts also noted: “any racial discrimination in voting is too much.” But Abbott was probably still rolling on the floor laughing his ass off so those words didn’t sink in.

Yesterday, the Justice Department used a different part of the Voting Rights Act to sue Texas, contending that the new law was ‘adopted with the purpose… of abridging the right to vote” of minority groups.

How did the Texas AG respond to the DoJ suit? As The Brad Blog reports, Abbott’s response was to say the harsh new discriminatory law was necessary because someone was caught sending in FIVE absentee ballots last time around!

That argument, of course, would make sense only if the Texas GOP’s new racially motivated voter suppression scheme had anything to do with absentee ballots.

Greg Abbott is a racist.

And a liar.

And an asshole.

Full story: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=10204

Asshole of the Day for August 22, 2013: David Dewhurst

By The Daily Edge

Regular readers of Asshole of the Day will recognize Texas Lt. Gov David Dewhurst. He was AOTD back on June 25 after claiming that the Texas GOP was passing its new abortion law to protect women’s health, even though the bill in question had no exception to protect the life of the mother.

Dewhurst’s a repeat winner today after a caught-on-tape abuse the power in which he attempted to spring a female relative from jail the minute she got arrested.

In a 12-minute tape released by the Allen Police Department, Dewhurst is heard badgering, cajoling and otherwise trying to use the power of his office to intimidate Sgt. Jonathan Maness into releasing his “step-niece.” He repeatedly informs the officer that his is the Lieutenant Governor and is “100% sure” his relative innocently walked out of a store with a bag containing $57 in goods she didn’t pay for.

Fellow Republican Dan Patrick who is running against Dewhurst in the next election said the call was a “blatant abuse of power.”

Officer Maness has been hailed as a model of calm professionalism.

Lt. Gov Dewhurst has again been named Asshole of the Day.

Full story: http://www.kvue.com/news/state/Lt-Gov-Dewhurst-calls-North-Texas-police-on-behalf-of-jailed-relative-220600771.html

Asshole of the Day, August 16, 2013: Bryan Fischer

By now it’s a well established fact among right-wing nutjobs that Obama didn’t literally kill Bin Laden. The Navy Seals killed Bin Laden.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Killing Bin Laden is nothing like tearing down the Berlin Wall and defeating the Soviet Empire. Because the same RWNJs who say Obama didn’t kill Bin Laden still claim Ronald Reagan did those things all by himself.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: The same RWNJs who say Obama didn’t kill Bin Laden although Reagan did defeat the Soviet Empire also say Obama single-handedly created the national debt, although liberals insist he had a lot of help from Reagan (who quadrupled it) and Bush (who doubled it after invading Iraq, giving tax breaks to the rich, and crashing the markets in the most spectacular way before rushing through TARP.)

But we digress.

The latest ridiculous claim by the increasingly ridiculous conservative talk show host Bryan Fischer is that Obama wasn’t even in the room when the iconic photos taken in the White House Situation Room during the Bin Laden raid which he authorized but didn’t personally carry out.

Of course, this still leaves the mystery of why the White House wouldn’t just issue a photo of Obama taken when he was actually in the room. But that’s for another day.

Today, let’s just crown Bryan Fischer Asshole of the Day.

Full story: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/bryan-fischer-obama-was-photo-shopped-into-bin