During his town hall meeting in Racine, WI, President Barack Obama used the bully pulpit to bludgeon the Republican Senators in Congress who blocked an extension of benefits for jobless Americans, “So their prescription for every challenge is pretty much the same basically cut taxes for the wealthy, cut rules for corporations, and cut working folks loose to fend for themselves.”
A Senate committee on Wednesday voted to eliminate limits on liability that oil companies would face for damages stemming from offshore spills like the one in the Gulf of Mexico. The President signaled his support for higher or no caps on liability for oil companies earlier this month. While it may seem like this is just another meaningless vote, a closer examination reveals a huge paradigm shift under way, and it would be wise for voters to pay attention.
The Right and the Tea Party like to think of themselves as freedom fighters in the mold of the Founding Fathers, but a closer look reveals that their revolution is really devolution, because at its core, conservatism is about returning to the past. Upon examination it turns out the Tea Party has more in common with King George, than the Founding Fathers.
During his Worst Persons segment on his MSNBC show Countdown host Keith Olbermann saved some special scorn for Sarah Palin and her gaffe riddled speech at Stanislaus. Olbermann pointed out that Palin managed to get Ronald Reagan’s home state wrong, and added, “None is more symbolic as her corner-cutting, her downright endorsement of stupidity.”
On his Fox News program Hannity tonight, host Sean Hannity upped the ante in his bid to be named most unintentionally funny Fox News show, by first bashing gun locks then in the same breath admitting that he uses gun locks in his own home, thereby undercutting his entire fear mongering rant against gun locks.
President Barack Obama held a press conference at the conclusion of the G 20 Summit in Toronto this evening, and the highlight came at the very end when he called out the GOP rhetoric on the deficit. Obama said, “I hope some of these folks hollering about deficit and debt step up, because I am calling their bluff.”
Mike Huckabee got aggressive with his fellow potential Republican 2012 presidential candidates today on Fox News Sunday. Huckabee anointed himself the man who can beat Obama in 2012, “I end up leading a lot of the polls. I ‘m the Republican that clearly at this point does better against Obama than any other Republican.”
OK, people. I tweeted Palin’s CSU Stanislaus speech tonight so you wouldn’t have to listen. I thought it was going well (sliding scale), and breathed a sigh of relief for her when it ended…only to be SHOCKED by hearing reporters discussing her performance in a brutally unflattering way. Where ever Sarah goes, drama follows.
It was another wild and wacky trip through revisionist Right Wing history with Glenn Beck today as Glenn decided to spend the day defending slavery. On the radio he claimed that race relations aka slavery was fine until it became politicized before the Civil War, and he followed this up with a claim on his TV show that there were no racial relations issues in colonial America.
Ah, the sweet fizz of justice on a Friday morning. Yes, Coca-Cola, that all-American – dare I say REAL American?! – beverage company has decided that it is not right for their image to advertise on Glenn Beck. This is most upsetting for those who have been sneering at sane people everywhere that Glenn Beck is an entertainer for god’s sake, you over sensitive Lefty!
Republicans just killed unemployment benefit extensions for Americans out of pettiness and with an eye toward political gain. They know that if the Democrats can’t help the economy by this fall, the Democrats will suffer at the polls.
The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll revealed that the more the American people see Sarah Palin, the less they like her. Palin’s approval rating has now crashed to 29%, which is down from 37% in March. Palin is also dragging down the GOP’s 2010 candidates, as her endorsement was viewed as a negative by 52% of those surveyed.
Losing the 2008 presidential election has sent the Right Wing over the edge, as their sense of presidential entitlement has been violated, and they are angry. They are angry because the government is no longer engaging as what they see as its divine role of corporate greed enablement, and to show their scorn they have decided to shakedown the American people by refusing to let the business of the country be conducted. The GOP is not just the party of GOBP, but also the party of ME.
On his radio show today, Glenn Beck came up with a solution to the Gulf oil spill. He thinks that Sarah Palin should use her oil industry expertise hold an oil spill summit where she and her team would come up with ideas fix the leak. Beck said that Palin has, “the connections and the knowledge to put a team together and say Mr. President, this is what we do.”
Real former governor Mike Huckabee (R-AK) took the gloves off when he showed a clip of half-term governor Sarah Palin endorsing pot from Fox News’ Freedom Watch Show. Palin got carried away with her free-wheelin’ AIP secessionist style, because saying pot is OK if you do it in your own home is a major political gaffe of epic proportions for any politician, let alone a law and order conservative.
Even before President Obama spoke about his decision to remove Gen. Stanley McCrystal, Fox News and Monica Crowley used the decision to attack Obama’s character. Crowley said, “It is going to look like he is reacting out anger, and out of a thin skinned response to this.” Fox News can’t decide whether Obama is not angry enough or angry all of the time.
McChrystal arrived at White House ready to tender his resignation Wednesday at 10:00 AM. At 1:15 PM, MSNBC announced that President Obama relieved General McChrystal of the Afghanistan war which McChrystal was commanding. MSNBC is reporting that General Petraeus has been chosen to replace General McChrystal as commander of the Afghanistan forces.
What may come as a surprise to the General is that his own actions are casting doubts regarding the General’s own counterinsurgency approach in Afghanistan, and I would take that a step further and suggest that it’s time that civilian political leadership take back control of our military strategy, rather than relying so heavily on professional military officers.
The tall tales about Barack Obama keep getting taller everyday on Fox News. Tonight on The O’Reilly Factor guest Monica Crowley who claimed that, “Obama is taking a vacation every five minutes…Bush took two vacations a year in August and at Christmastime that was it.”
On his MSNBC program Countdown tonight, host Keith Olbermann used his nightly Tea Time segment to blast Sarah Palin’s big solution to the Gulf oil spill, prayer. Olbermann said, “Well There you have it. A Palin presidency preview in microcosm, something bad happened, don’t worry, God will fix it.”
On his radio show today Michael Savage went one step further than the rest of the Right on the subject of the Gulf oil spill. Instead of simply defending BP, he blamed the victims of the spill. Savage said, “They haven’t worked most of their lives down there…It’s a welfare state. They think they’re entitled to a government check after Katrina.”
Just in case you thought Dick Cheney’s culpability for environmental destruction was limited to offshore drilling and the Gulf oil spill, here is Watergate II. Only this time, it’s literally about water, specifically how Dick Cheney and Halliburton poisoned our drinking water.
Since the creation of the victims fund was announced last week, Fox News has been going ballistic with claims that President Obama bullied BP and abused his power. These claims went to whole new level today when on FNC’s Journal Report, John Fund referred to the $20 billion put up by BP as a new model for how a company is, “nationalized.”
Barack Obama has been unable to bridge the gap between Left and Right, as America remains more polarized than ever, but could the answer be found in puppies? The Animal Planet program Last Chance Highway is not only an uplifting television focused on animal rescue, but it also demonstrates how the gap between North and South can be bridged by a common cause.
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was on ABC’s This Week today, where he painted the Republican Party as dangerous to America due to their blind support of BP, “It’s dangerous for the American people.” Emanuel’s point was that if Republicans were in charge, there would be no regulation, and corporate America would run wild as they did during the Bush years.
Since the World Cup began Glenn Beck has been at war with soccer. First, Beck claimed that America hates the World Cup, and then he equated the World Cup with the bubonic plague, so why does Beck hate the World Cup? The answer is in the ratings. Almost 3 million Americans are tuning into the World Cup compared to the 1.7 million who watch Beck sinking show.
Rep. Michele Bachmann turned up on FNC’s The O’Reilly Factor, where host Bill O’Reilly desperately tried to drag a little sanity out of Bachmann, no less than three times O’Reilly asked Bachmann whether she agreed with Obama forcing BP to put up the money, but Bachmann dodged him every time, and refused to give Obama one shred of credit for getting the victims fund.
Fox News ratcheted up their pro-BP rhetoric today when the Wall Street Journal’s Steve Moore went on their On The Record program and claimed that President Obama put a gun to BP’s head, “The federal government, that is to say the Obama administration put a gun to BP’s head and said either go along with this agreement, or the future of this company will be very much in jeopardy.”
Since we last checked on the viewership totals for Glenn Beck’s Fox News show viewers have continued to flee his program. Last Friday, Beck hit a new all time low of 1.743 million viewers. The new twist of Beck’s plummet is that he is now being in the ratings by such Fox News heavyweights as Bret Baier and Greta Van Susteren. Even Shep Smith beat him once.
Since 2009 when Sarah Palin boycotted all, non conservative political media, her behavior has been picked up on by Republican Tea Party candidates like Sharron Angle and Rand Paul with the result being that voters are now expected to make a decision on these candidates without much information, which can only lead to disastrous consequences for our democracy.
Future 2012 GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich turned up on FNC’s Hannity tonight to argue against BP having to set up an escrow account for the Gulf oil spill victims, because holding BP accountable has turned the United States into a “Venezuela style country.” Gringrich feels sympathy not for the residents of the Gulf, but for poor BP.
Yesterday Rush Limbaugh went on the attack against hungry children on his radio show. Limbaugh criticized the school lunch program, and he suggested that if kids have no food at home and can’t afford McDonalds, they should dumpster dive, “There’s another place if none of these options work to find food; there’s always the neighborhood dumpster.”
Dick Cheney came out of hiding yesterday long enough to poke his head up in Erie, PA, and not take responsibility for the administration which he was a part of and their reckless deregulation of big oil, nope he popped up to criticize Obama. He said that Obama lacks the, “executive experience” to deal with the spill.
Rudy Giuliani became the latest Republican this morning to go on Fox News and blame environmentalists for the oil spill in the Gulf. On Fox and Friends Unbelievably, he touted drilling ANWR, “The reason they’re drilling out there is because environmentalists have prevented us from drilling closer and in places like ANWR.”
Over the last two days various Fox News personalities including Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, and Sarah Palin has been pushing a new falsehood that Barack Obama turned down international aid for the Gulf oil spill. While trying to play up the Obama’s inept narrative the FNC crew neglected to mention that Canada, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway are all in the Gulf.
At his press briefing today Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs took a not so thinly veiled shot at MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann and other pundits on the Left who are complaining about Obama’s speech last night. Gibbs said of cable TV, “I don’t actually think that is where all of real America lives.”
While the Right howls that Obama is using the Gulf oil spill for political gain they forget that, in 1989, after the Exxon Valdez President G.H. Bush used that disaster to pass the Clean Air Act. The lesson being that it takes a disaster in order to get Americans and their politicians to take the environment seriously.
There is a great deal of generalized anger towards President Barack Obama from the Left which reared its ugly head last night after his Oval Office address on the Gulf oil spill. The anger the left has at Obama over his Healthcare Reform bill is based in the fact that Obama sacrificed the public option, but is their anger rational or justified?
Sarah Palin turned up on The O’Reilly Factor tonight and claimed that she knows how to stop the Gulf oil leak. Palin claimed that we should rely on foreign countries to fix the oil leak, “What the federal government should have done was accept the assistance of foreign countries, of entrepreneurial Americans who have solutions…who can’t even get a phone call returned.”
Instead of gearing up to support the POTUS in his rather courageous announcement that we are addicts and need to get off of fossil fuel (this isn’t something done by Presidents) or having his back regarding his new energy push, pundits on MSNBC attacked the President after his Oval Office Speech tonight.
President Barack Obama delivered his first Oval Office address to the nation tonight and in it he did what many Americans have been asking for. He spoke for the American people, demanded answers, and laid out a plan for the future. Obama said, “We will fight this spill with everything we’ve got for as long it takes.”
It seems that the worst environmental disaster in US history was all it took for Americans to get serious about protecting the environment. According to the latest Society for Human Resource Management/National Journal Congressional Connection survey, 56% of those asked said, that “protecting the environment” should be the more important priority for U.S. energy policy over “keeping energy prices low.”
On his radio show today, Glenn Beck went on a personal rant about Keith Olbermann after the MSNBC host vocally criticized Tea Party candidate Rick Barber’s Armies Unite ad, last night on Countdown. Beck said to Olbermann, “You two faced no talent, soon to be washed up, alcoholic, throw yourself off a ledge of a building because you’re that kind of a guy.”
Glenn Beck took another ride on the race train tonight when on his Fox News program he claimed that President Obama won’t meet with BP CEO Tony Hayward because he is white. Beck said, “What is it that the crazy guy in Iran has in the credibility have that the CEO doesn’t have?…He’s a white CEO. Maybe that’s it.”
If you still don’t believe that Sarah Palin is running for president in 2012 it is being reported that Palin will soon be visiting Britain and has requested a photo op with Margaret Thatcher as, “as part of a bid to enhance her claim to be the ‘heir to Ronald Reagan.” Palin has not requested a meeting with current Prime Minister David Cameron.
In typical teabagging style, the Palin endorsed candidate (you can just fill in Clown Show Tea Bagger or Pretend Conservative, whichever you feel fits best but in this case, it’s a toss up) Clint Didier (Republican running for US Senate in Washington) was for farm subsidies before he was against them. And by for, I mean he took the money for himself, before he decided government money was evil and harmful to others and makes them dependent on the federal government.
If there is one small silver lining in the oil dense cloud that is consuming the Gulf Coast it is that the politicians who are owned by big oil are being exposed. On CBS’ Face The Nation today, Gov. Haley Barbour continued to downplay the oil spill and blame the media, without disclosing that oil and gas companies have given $1.8 million to his gubernatorial campaigns.
White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod was on Meet The Press today, and when asked for his thoughts about the 2010 midterm elections, he pull no punches, “In 1994 the Republican Party was nearly at 60 percent in favorability. Today, they’re at an all-time low… They’ve sat on the sidelines, they’ve rooted for failure, and they’ve contributed nothing.”
Instead of talking about policy or politics as an serious politician should do, Sarah Palin recently took to Fox News to address the rumors that she has had breast implants, and of course she had to blame evil bloggers for the story, “‘Boobgate’ is all over the Internet, because there are a lot of bored, idle bloggers and reporters with nothing else to talk about.”
Sarah Palin was on Fox News’ Fox and Friends this morning to argue that the oil spill in the Gulf is not a good enough reason to not, drill, baby, drill. Palin said, “We still need to drill, baby, drill.” She also bogusly claimed that without offshore drilling energy production would be, “outsourced.” Does she understand that the oil belongs to the companies, not the American people?
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow was a guest on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher last night where she delivered her usual solid performance, but she really shined in the online Overtime segment, where she completely dismantled former Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on health care. Check out the video.
On the debut of the Fox Business program Freedom Watch today, Rand Paul emerged from hiding today long enough to hear Sarah Palin tell him, “Yeah, it’s a double edged sword isn’t it, if my name gets attached to your candidacy, and here you are being misconstrued by the lamestream media, and they take things out of context.”
On his FNC program The O’Reilly Factor tonight, Bill O’Reilly used the Gulf oil spill as evidence that President Obama has become more polarizing than George W. Bush, “The fuse has been lit. President Obama has become even more polarizing than George W. Bush was.”
On his radio show today Glenn Beck ranted against the World Cup because he proclaimed the World Cup is just like Barack Obama. Beck said, “I believe that everything you need to know about Barack Obama’s policies can be explained in the World Cup…Congratulations to Barack Obama and his polices that will have as much success as the World Cup in America.”
The Des Moines Register released their new 2012 GOP poll for the state of Iowa today, and as expected the three most well known names, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Sarah Palin lead the pack. What is a surprise isn’t the overwhelming favorability of Romney, but the high unfavorabilily rating for Palin, who is not favored by 39% of the state’s Republicans.
Kevin Costner, he of liberal Hollywood elite status, may be riding to the rescue of the deliberately careless drilling in the Gulf that lead to Deepwater Horizon’s tragic oil spill. Costner co-founded Ocean Therapy Solutions, which is now partnering with BP to deploy the machine that separates oil from water, known as CINC, in the Gulf. CINC uses centrifuge technology to clean up oil spills.
Evidence is mounting that BP is not only trying to control message war as the oil continues to pour into the Gulf of Mexico, but also they are hassling reporters and media who are attempting to report on the clean up efforts. ABC News reporter Matt Gutman captured BP’s daily tactics on video, as the energy giant tries to prevent the American people from seeing the truth.
As the disaster in the Gulf continues, President Obama has said the buck stops with him, which is refreshing because Obama is actually man enough to step up to the plate in the midst of it all and in spite of the criticism for the sake of the country. Obama has become the Cleaner in Chief.
Sarah Palin continued her desperate quest to inject herself into the Gulf oil leak story by appearing on FNC’s Hannity tonight to urge President Obama to, “humble himself,” and, “call those around you on a non -partisan basis that could give you the best advice.” Palin seemed to suggest that the black president needs to be more humble and rely on white advisers like her.
FNC’s Glenn Beck continues to flail desperately in an attempt to combat the mass exodus of viewers from his television show. Today Beck cast blame on the media and politicians who don’t believe in anything, “Do you know why you are so confused by this show? It is because I believe in something. You don’t.”
The ratings troubles at Fox News continue to mount as along with the collapse of Glenn Beck, the networks entire prime time lineup is down in down in total viewers over the past year. FNC embraced the Tea Party and saw its ratings fall 6%, while MSNBC’s have grown by 3%. In other words, since Fox News embraced the Tea Party, they have lost over 120,000 daily viewers.
In the world of Sarah Palin, accusations are confessions and should always be taken thusly. Palin’s outrage over the email hacker was simply one finger pointed outward while four more pointed back at herself. Palin has not only hacked a colleague’s computer, but was also a party to harassing Levi Johnston’s sister into getting rid of online photos during the campaign. But Palin’s harassment of the Johnston family apparently did not end there. It seems that in 2008, Sarah Palin and the McCain campaign had Mercede Johnston’s computer wiped clean of all photos.
Sarah Palin’s 2012 strategy has now become so obvious that even the mainstream media can’t miss it. She is out to sell herself to Republicans as the heir to the legacy of Ronald Reagan. From her real American stories to constant name dropping of the former president, Palin seems stuck in the 1980s, and obsessed with reanimating the corpse of a political era that has long since past.
You may think that Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell, and John Boehner would have very little in common, but in the chummy world of corporate special interest politics, all three of them share a top benefactor. According to an investigation by the Center for Public Integrity the top backer of the careers of all three politicians was telecom giant AT&T, but beyond ideology these three share a special interest money bond.
Steve Doocy of Fox and Friends delivered another one of the Fox News patented Biblical justifications for right wing policy today when he made the claim that the Bible opposes abortion. While criticizing Nancy Pelosi for having faith and being pro-life, He said, “Newsflash: the Bible does not like abortion.”
Author Joe McGinnis was on NBC’s Today show this morning in an attempt to bat back some of the wild accusations that Sarah Palin has been posting on her Facebook page about him. McGinniss shot back at Palin by comparing her to the Nazis, “And that’s the same kind of tactic and I’m not calling her a Nazi, but that’s the same kind of tactic that the Nazi troopers used in Germany in the ’30s.”
Rush Limbaugh took to his radio show today to claim that the Gulf oil spill is really no big deal because, “More oil is spilled every year in Africa, in Nigeria, than so far in the Gulf, so it’s not unique. It’s not exceptional. It’s not the largest….So yes, it’s a disaster. It’s not the worst of its kind.” How much BP stock does Limbaugh own, anyway?
Remember when Glenn Beck got all outraged last September and claimed that President Obama was indoctrinating children with his back to school speech last September? Well, on his radio show today, Beck explained why the right must indoctrinate their children, “We must view our children as clay pots. We must look at them as the place to put our scared documents into them.”
