Hacking Group Targets Britain’s Sun Newspaper, Parts for Shakespeare's Play - "Republican Race 2012" Are About Set, Politicians Plan Major Cuts But Won't Tell Anybody What They Are,

And Other News That Needs More Scrutiny

In what can only be described as “just desserts”

The hacking group Lulz Security claimed responsibility for a string of attacks on Web sites belonging  to the News Corporation on Monday. Among the attacks, the hacking group planted a fake article about the death of Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of the News Corporation, on one of the company’s newspaper sites.

Ok, hacking of this type is serious, destructive stuff and should not be accepted by anyone for any reason.  However, in this case that standard is a little harder to meet, so everyone gets 30 seconds to chuckle, after which all of us go back to being opposed to breaking into computer systems for any reason.

The Cast of the Shakespearian play that is the Republican race for the nomination is just about settled, pretty much the way The Dismal Political Economist saw things.  In the WSJ/NBC poll, Michelle Bachmann and Mitt Romney have the lead roles.  Mr. Huntsman, as predicted did not have a good audition and is relegated to the minor role, and Ms. Palin is about to take her seat in the audience as chief critic. 

Mr.  Perry, currently playing the role of Governor of Texas is still not sure if he will audition for the role currently awarded to Ms. Bachmann, and so the play cannot begin rehearsal (primaries) until he decides.

The deficit reduction plan of the so-called Senate Gang of Six continues a long tradition of withholding details of large spending reductions in Federal spending from the American people.  This tradition has been a hallmark of both Democrats with President Obama leading the way and Republicans. 

Here is their plan.

The very first thing they will do is cut $500 billion in spending (over 10 years) with not a single dollar of cuts identified.  Not to worry,  they have decided the how and where, and will reveal those cuts after the results are announced of the "Guess what vital Federal Programs will be cut $50 billion a year" Contest, which is coming soon to a theater near you.

North Carolina Republicans redrew their proposed Congressional redistricting map and changed it to make it almost certain they would pick up 4 seats.   Of interest here is the 11^th Congressional District, home of Democratic Representative Heath Shuler.  Mr. Shuler is a conservative Democrat and presumably an unemployed one in January 2013 as

 

Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler’s western 11th district would be the most Republican in the state under the new lines, which was also the case under the first draft map. Under the proposed lines, McCain would have carried the district with 59 percent, instead of the 52 percent he actually won it by.

Mr. Shuler has been seen as a prime candidate to switch parties, or to leave Congress altogether and become Athletic Director at the University of Tennessee.  A switch by Mr. Shuler is important, because it would be another strong indication that the Democratic party is on its way to being a regional rather than national party. 

A spokesman for an independent group that supports Republican candidates with TV ads was asked how much they would spend to defeat Mr. Shuler.  The group said that under the law they could not engage in political ads and that any ad

campaign isn't aimed at damaging Shuler or other Democrats in the 2012 election. Rather, it's designed to pressure moderate Democrats into taking a more conservative stance on upcoming debt-limit votes.

Several television networks expressed interest in acquiring the laughter after that statement for use in laugh tracks for situation comedies, but later backed off saying that much laughter just wasn’t believable for a TV comedy.

It is reported today that Republican Presidential hopeful Michelle Bachmann suffers from migraine headaches.  The question then came up about whether or not the headaches would affect Ms. Bachmann’s ability to be Commander in Chief should she win the Presidency

I'd like to be abundantly clear: My ability to function effectively will not affect my ability to serve as commander-in-chief," Bachmann said

This is correct.  Ms. Bachmann’s headaches will not affect her ability to serve as Commander-in-Chief.  It is her total and complete lack of qualifications and experience and knowledge that affects her ability to serve as Commander-in-Chief.

The Dismal Political Economist hopes this clears things up for Ms. Bachmann and her supporters, he is always glad to help.