Happy Columbus Day to everyone.  Although he was not the best example for our society, it is still good to get a day off from work!  After a very busy weekend, it is time once again for our regular Monday Musings feature.  There is just one news item that I want to talk about today.  I knew that the explosion would be coming soon.  I purposely held off writing much about the event until I could witness the right wing’s collective heads explode over it.  Of course, I am referring to the news on Friday that President Barack H. Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize! 

The pundits on the right and even some on the left have been barking away since Friday on how ridiculous it was that President Obama was honored so soon into his tenure as President.  Of course, these were some of the same people who bristled at the notion that George W. Bush was responsible for the attacks on 9/11 that happened 9 months into his first term. They muttered and screamed that it was too early in his administration to hold them accountable for the worst attack on US soil.  However, now they are chirping that it is too early in President Obama’s term of office for him to  have done something good enough for the Nobel Committee to honor him.  I detect a hint of jealousy in those comments.  Here is a small sampling of the screams from the Right:  “Obamamania comes as little surprise to Rush Limbaugh, who e-mailed us this morning after we asked him to share his thoughts. “The Nobel gang just suicide-bombed themselves. Gore, Carter, Obama, soon Bill Clinton. See a pattern here? They are all leftist sell-outs. George Bush liberates 50 million Muslims in Iraq, Reagan liberates hundreds of millions of Europeans and saves parts of Latin America. Any awards?” Limbaugh says “Obama gives speeches trashing his own country and for that gets a prize, which is now worth as much as whatever prizes they are putting in Cracker Jacks these days.” ‘  http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/10/09/rush-limbaugh-nobel-gang-just-suicide-bombed-themselves.aspx   Rush actually tries to claim that George Bush “liberated” 50 millions Iraqis!  That is an amazing take on the illegal attack on Iraq over lies and cherry picked information.  Rush even tries to repeat the fabrication that Reagan freed “hundreds of millions of Europeans” in a sad attempt to discredit an international award given to the President of the United States.  These guys never stop hating America. These same idiots applauded when Chicago did not receive the 2016 Olympics because Obama attempted to assist the United States Olympic Committee’s bid on behalf of the City of Chicago. 

Rush’s comments were just the beginning of the wailing from the right.  That beacon of light from the far Right,Glenn Beck wants Obama to give the Nobel to the 9/12 protestors and the tea-baggers because they allegedly prevented Obama from accomplishing his agenda.  http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200910090017.  The linked Media Matters audio clip from Beck’s radio show will amaze you.  It seems that the Right just can’t get over what the Nobel Peace Prize committee considers important.  They stated that President Obama has begun the work to change the way the United States deals with the rest of the world.  You know what change they are talking about.  The change where we actually talk to people instead of threatening them and lying about what they are doing.  And attacking them without provocation.  No wonder they wanted to give Obama the award.  Rachel Maddow on MSNBC stated it like this: “The Nobel Peace Prize not always, but often awards effort. It recognizes people trying in big ways to get the world on a more peaceful path.” http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/rachel-maddow-nobel-peace-prize-and-obama. 

Liz Cheney (where have I heard that name before??) stated that Obama should have the US Military accept the Peace Prize because they are the ones that kept the world safe.  And right wing pundit William Kristol was hoping he would get the Peace Prize and he claims he has done as much as Obama in promoting and bringing about world peace.  This from a guy who was and is the biggest promoter of the war in Iraq and has consistently asked the US to bomb Iran.  http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/liz-cheney-peace-prize-should-be-dedicated-u  He has also been wrong on just about everything he has spewed about in the last 8 years.  Here is a link to an article on the blog, “at-Largely”, that provides a comprehensive look at the some additional right wing heads that have exploded over the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize.  http://www.atlargely.com/atlargely/2009/10/republicanistan-a-country-of-its-own.html. 

So why does the Right Wing hate America so much that they would object to their President from being awarded a prestigious award?  Why are they applauding when a job producing Olympics game is lost for Chicago?  I guess for some of these answers we would need to review why the Birthers are still making news and why the tea-baggers are still on the scene?  The answer is that the Republican Party has been overrun by the same insane far right wing extreme elements that make up those misguided groups that think the President was not born in Hawaii and that the States can secede from the Union.  The Republican Party has been taken over by the same people that claim Obama is a Nazi and a Communist and who carry guns at some of his speeches.  The Grand Old Party has been infested with those that claim that Terry Schiavo was still alive and tried to dispute the doctors on the ground and the courts of Florida in their attempts to keep her tied to machines against the will of her husband. They have worked hard to push religion over science and to break down the constitutional barrier between Church and State and they will say and do anything to try to get their way.  They even dishonored America’s history and broke our laws and international law by ordering and authorizing the torture of detainees.  Fortunately for the majority of Americans and the World, the policies and lies of the Republicants did not stop the Nobel Committee and they have not stopped the Obama Administration from trying to pull the United States out of the George W. Bush Dark Ages.