On his MSNBC program Countdown tonight, host Keith Olbermann delivered a brutal critique against President Obama’s decision to send more troops to Afghanistan. He concluded, “So, much of the change for which you were elected, Sir, has thus far been understandably, if begrudgingly, tabled, delayed, made more open-ended.”
On his Fox News program today, Glenn Beck was standing at his chalkboard trying spell California, when he said, “Saturday Night Live makes me so paranoid.” Something tells me that SNL isn’t the only thing that makes Beck paranoid.
Donny Deutsch was on MSNBC’s Morning Joe this morning, and in response to a new poll that found that Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck are the most influential conservatives in America, he said, “These are all entertainers. They’re circus acts.” Deutsch was asked about Lou Dobbs, and he said Dobbs is a racist.
Ben Stein went on Fox News recently to rail against the supposed socialism of the Obama administration. Stein claimed that the healthcare crisis and climate changes are hoaxes carried out by the Obama administration in order to allow the country to be turned into a socialist paradise.
On Fox News Sunday today, Howard Dean went head to head with Mike Huckabee on the public option. When Huckabee said that the public option would put the private sector out of business, Dean said, “There’s not going to, nobody’s going to put the private sector out of business. That doesn’t happen even in places like Germany or France or Britain.”
Some on the left have decided to show their depth by criticizing President Obama’s first year in office. They write stories about Obama’s Katrina or Obama’s Vietnam. Even though Obama has had a brilliant first year, they still aren’t satisfied. How much do they want from a man who has been in office for less than a year?
Gone are the days of smoky newsrooms and journalists that are committed to facts. They have been replaced by 24 hour cable news networks and right wing infotainers, who give partial treatment to GOP talking points and illogical rhetoric. The result of this is that journalism being undermined by right wing media bias.
Recently I was doing some research on black history and I ran across an article relating to politics. It stated in the article that Dr Martin Luther King was a Republican. I have often wondered since I found this out if Dr King was alive today, knowing what the Republican Party stands for, would he still be a Republican?
The book Sarah From Alaska by Scott Conroy, and Shushannah Walshe, who were both embedded with Sarah Palin’s vice presidential campaign, manages to accomplish the seemingly impossible. It offers an objective account of Sarah Palin’s fast rise and abrupt resignation. There is lots here for both Palin’s fans and critics.
Even though the mainstream media loves to talk about the toll that the healthcare debate is taking on the Democratic Party, there has been a large positive upside for the Democrats. The healthcare debate has re energized progressives and fueled a surge in Democratic fund raising. Democrats are currently out raising Republicans at a 3 to 1 pace ahead of the 2010 elections.
President Barack Obama became only the fourth president today to engage in the tradition of the presidential turkey pardon. The pardoning of the turkey given to the President of the United States of America is a fairly modern tradition. Contrary to popular myth, it wasn’t Harry Truman or Abe Lincoln who pardoned the first turkey. It was George H.W. Bush in 1989.
On his radio show today, Glenn Beck began to lay the groundwork for his big political movement of 2010, which includes a march on Washington, D.C. on the anniversary of the civil rights march, by comparing himself to Martin Luther King. Beck also implied that the Democrats opposed the civil rights movement.
A recent poll in Minnesota by St. Cloud University showed Governor Tim Pawlenty coming in 10 points behind President Obama if Pawlenty were to run against Obama in 2012. St. Cloud is located in the center of Minnesota, part of the extremely conservative 6th district which elected notorious Congresswoman Michele Bachmann to office not once but twice.
On his radio show today Rush Limbaugh accused President Barack Obama of trying to hijack Thanksgiving week by holding a state dinner two days before the holiday. Limbaugh asked, “Has any president ever tried to hijack Thanksgiving week with a state dinner two days before Thanksgiving?”
Sarah Palin appeared at Fort Bragg today, promoting her book, “Going Rogue” to the military. Palin had promised to limit herself to signing books, no politicizing her visit, amidst general concerns that her signing would violate Federal Law (Titles 10, 2, and 18, United States Code), Department of Defense (DOD) Directives, and specific military regulations strictly limit a military active duty person’s participation in partisan political activities.
Sarah Palin has been all over the media since her book came out, but the one network that she hasn’t been on is CBS. Palin’s reps have turned down requests from Katie Couric, and the former Alaska governor is still harboring a grudge against late night host David Letterman. Palin has made it clear that she is open to all requests, except CBS.
On their respective radio shows today Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh went on the attack against Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) because she voted for advancing the healthcare debate forward in the Senate. Instead of criticizing her position on the bill, both Beck and Limbaugh took the lowest possible road by calling a female US senator a prostitute.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) was on NBC’s Meet The Press today, where he not only promised to filibuster the public option, but also continued to lie about the public plan. Lieberman said that the public option would not give a single poor person health insurance, and he stuck to his bogus claim that the public option would increase the deficit.
I have been following the news all weekend and I think the Republican Party has a real problem on their hands. I am reminded about the saying “You created this monster now do something about it” All these left wing nut cases are about to be too much. I am sure that when Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh and the Republican Party psyched these people up with their distortions and lies they had no idea that these narrow minded bigoted people would follow them to the extreme that they have.
Several GOP and the Right Wing Conservatives are on a campaign to “dumb down” Americans. They challenge every bill and every policy even when it is clearly for the good of the people they represent. The right wing’s greatest campaign will not be in 2010 or 2012. It is happening today as they have launched an assault on America’s collective intelligence.
Fox News has become infamous for their habit of distorting and editing video to make their ideological point, but we should not forget to mention the Fox News graphics department, who today managed to make the Freudian slip of labeling Sen. Joe Lieberman as the Republican from Connecticut. This is the same department that once labeled Max Baucus a Republican and Mark Sanford a Democrat.
One thing Palin’s ghost-written hagiography has made clear is that Palin is constantly dabbling in Christian political porn; her tantalizing naughtiness always right out there for the repressed, as she dangles her poison apple in phrase, deed, and clothing.
Sarah Palin was on FNC’s Hannity tonight, where things took an interesting turn when she gave her opinion on the Ft. Hood shootings. Palin stated that the shootings were an act of terrorism, and she claimed that it could have been prevented if the military would have engaged in racial profiling.
There is a ton of misinformation out there about the healthcare bills working their way through Congress, but here is a something that is actually in the bill. It would require nutrition labels on fast food, like Big Macs, and nutrition information to be posted about the contents of vending machines.
In an interview with Newsmax, Sarah Palin floated Fox News host Glenn Beck’s name as her running mate for 2012. Palin said, “But Glenn Beck I have great respect for. He’s a hoot. He gets his message across in such a clever way.” Apparently, Palin’s qualifications for a running mate include that they be a “hoot.”
Palin’s book. Sigh. Must we? I suppose we must (mentally kicking John McCain AGAIN!) Well, I started by compiling the growing list of untruths and flat out fiction, and what some are now calling “libel†…but the list is literally so long, it won’t fit even within the bounds of my rather lengthy articles. And frankly, I can only stomach so much. The lies are so petty, so empirically false, so blatant, so Orwellian, so juvenile, so transparent…It’s hard not to get lost in the Crazy.
On Fox News Radio’s Brian and The Judge show, Judge Andrew Napolitano unloaded with both barrels on Sarah Palin. Napolitano said, “I just don’t think she possess the mental capacity to be the President of the United States. She’s a goofball.”
Former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs was on the Today show this morning talking about the potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates. When it came to Sarah Palin, Dobbs said, “Would I consider voting her? Frankly based on what I have seen, personally no.” Things are looking bad for Sarah, when even Lou Dobbs says no thanks.
During a report on the NBC Nightly News, Andrea Mitchell dropped an interesting little nugget about Sarah Palin’s new book. According to her adviser, Nicolle Wallace, Sarah Palin never took notes on their conversations, or called her to fact check anything. Wallace called the conversations in the book fabrications.
On FNC program tonight Glenn Beck compared healthcare reform to the statutory rape committed by Roman Polanski. Beck said, “We’re the young girl saying no, no help me, and the government is Roman Polanski.” I think the victims of rape would disagree with Beck that passing a healthcare reform bill is just like being raped.
Selecting singularly vivid iconography – the coat hanger – as in coat hanger abortion, CredoAction launched a campaign to persuade the 20 formerly pro-choice Democratic Congressmen who voted Yes on the Stupak Pitts Amendment to change their minds, by sending coat hangers to those Democratic House members who voted to restrict access to abortion in the healthcare bill along with their petition.
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, host Joe Scarborough jumped on the fear mongering bandwagon over trying detainees in the United States. Scarborough claimed that, “This has never happened before. It is unprecedented,” but this is not even close to true as both the Bush and Clinton administrations tried terror suspects in the United States.
Although Lou Dobbs was a strong critic of the conduct of war in Iraq by the Bush Administration and frequently appeared on Bill Maher’s show on HBO, his constant self promotion and race-baiting ‘advocacy’ is not journalism, and was definitely beneath the standards of CNN. Let’s hope that Nancy Grace soon follows Dobbs out the door.
Remember the weeks of indigent outrage in both the right wing and mainstream media when the Obama administration said that Fox News is not a news organization? It turns out that Sarah Palin did a little blackballing of her own, when she banned CBS from covering her resignation speech. Where is the criticism of Palin?
Sec. of State Hillary Clinton was on NBC’s Meet The Press today. At the end of the interview she was asked about Sarah Palin’s comment in her book about the possibility of sitting down for a cup of coffee with Clinton. She said, “I’m ready to have a cup of coffee. Maybe I can make a case on some of the issues that we disagree on.”
Glenn Beck was on FNC’s The O’Reilly Factor on Friday, where he continued to spread lies and falsehoods about the healthcare reform bill. Beck is still claiming that under the bill, people who don’t buy insurance will face jail time. This is not true. The penalty for not buying insurance is an additional tax. No one will go to jail.
The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart perfectly summed up the lack of logic behind Lou Dobbs’ stated reason for resigning when he said, “So in order to positively contribute to a better understanding of the issues of our day, you must leave your nightly television show devoted to understanding the issues of our day.” Check out the video.
A grumpy Sarah Palin posted a note on her Facebook page which claims that the AP’s report on the contents on the book is erroneous. It doesn’t seem to matter to her that the AP has actually read the book, because she said, “And as is expected, the AP and a number of subsequent media outlets are erroneously reporting the contents of the book.”
As dramatic as Lou Dobbs’ immediate resignation was on CNN last night, the whole story of the deteriorated Dobbs/CNN relationship is starting to emerge today. Dobbs was told by CNN to do an objective newscast, or he could leave CNN. In short Dobbs could either clean up his act or hit the road. He chose to leave.
On FNC’s Your World with Neil Cavuto, Chuck Norris launched into a doozy of a conspiracy theory about healthcare reform. Norris said, “If this thing passes the government will have the right to come into our home, and regulate how we raise our children.” To his credit, host Neil Cavuto wasn’t buying any of Walker: Texas Nutjob’s theories.
Glenn Beck returned to his radio show today, and he moved beyond his usual calls for revolution. Beck has now deemed the Republican Party a lost cause that can’t be changed, and he predicted that in one year from now there will be a third party. He said, “I think the best way to get the Republicans to change is to abandon them.”
Is Jon Stewart the only man on television willing to hold Fox News accountable? Tonight on The Daily Show, Stewart called out FNC’s Sean Hannity for not only inflating the attendance number from Michele Bachmann’s healthcare protest, but also for trying to pass off footage from the 9/12 protest as evidence of the crowd size. Check out the video.
On his radio show today Rush Limbaugh tried to rally the obese against healthcare reform by claiming that if the overweight don’t lose weight, the bill will send them to reeducation camps. Limbaugh said that the government could, “send you off to some reeducation camp if you don’t lose weight.”
At the memorial service for the victims of last week’s shooting at Ft. Hood, TX, President Obama not only paid tribute to the fallen, but also placed their service to the country in the context of history. Obama said, “The stories of those at Fort Hood reaffirm the core values that we are fighting for, and the strength that we must draw upon.”
In an interview with Sky News Australia, a network that he also owns, Fox News boss Rupert Murdoch agreed with Glenn Beck that President Barack Obama is a racist. Murdoch said, “But he did make a very racist comment, about, you know, blacks and whites and so on, and which he said in his campaign he would be completely above.”
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who was the only Democrat to vote against the House healthcare reform bill, was on MSNBC’s The Ed Show tonight discussing why he voted against the bill. Kucinich said, “I voted against it because it is a giveaway to the insurance companies. They’ll get $70 billion in new business. They’ll have 21 million captive customers.”
Even though numerous potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates have recently starting blazing a path to the Hawkeye state, the one notable exception has been former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. That is going to change in December, when Palin will come to the state, not to campaign, but to hawk her book.
On his radio show today Rush Limbaugh blamed the Ft. Hood shooting where 13 soldiers were killed on President Obama. Limbaugh said, “We could almost say this is Obama’s fault, because this guy said that he believed Obama was going to get us out of Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Rachel Maddow was on Meet The Press today talking about the healthcare bill that the House recently passed. Maddow said that language restricting access to abortion in the bill is a poison pill for liberals and progressives that could end up costing Democratic candidates votes with pro-choice women. Maddow called it the biggest restriction on abortion in a generation.
On Fox News Sunday today Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman claimed that the Ft. Hood shooter was an Islamic extremist, but when asked by host Chris Wallace what evidence he had to back up his point Lieberman said, “Nothing I can confirm at this point.” Yet, Lieberman still advanced the theory that the attack was Islamic terrorism.
On NBC’s Meet The Press today MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow refuted the GOP talking point that passing healthcare reform is fiscally irresponsible. Maddow also made a political prediction about the fates of those who oppose healthcare reform, “I think people who vote against it are going to regret it.”
As House Republicans continue to play blind, deaf, and dumb, various Jewish organizations came out today and condemned the anti-Semitic signs that were visible during yesterday’s tea bagger protest of healthcare reform in Washington, D.C. Elie Wiesel said, “This kind of political hatred is indecent and disgusting.”
Last night on The Daily Show Jon Stewart delivered the perfect spoof of Glenn Beck and his Fox News program. Calling himself a concerned American citizen about what’s going on inside Glenn Beck, Stewart then broke out a chalkboard and revealed a conspiracy theory about how Beck’s own internal organs have turned against him. Check out the video.
Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity have all given rousing endorsements to ABC’s revival of the show V. All three of the FNC personalities claim that the show is a political statement against Obama and healthcare reform. Ironically enough, all three also made their claims on the exact same day. I smell a talking point here.
President Obama made a surprise appearance before the White House’s daily press briefing to announce that both the American Medical Association and the AARP have endorsed the House version of the healthcare reform bill. This move was a not subtle, but effective upstaging of the tea party healthcare protest.
Many viewers and listeners probably noticed that Glenn Beck was absent for much of his radio and his Fox News television program yesterday. It turns out that Beck suffered an appendicitis attack, and is recovering from surgery. This didn’t stop Beck from taking a shot a Michael Moore via his Twitter page.
Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck were the three biggest names who got behind the right wing House candidacy of Doug Hoffman in New York. These three have been the loudest advocates of the GOP’s need to move to the right, and although Hoffman might have lost the election, the biggest losers yesterday were Limbaugh, Beck, and Palin.
Rep. Michele Bachmann turned up on the Glenn Beck Program, which is minus one Glenn Beck, to promote her healthcare protest in Washington, D.C. tomorrow. Bachmann turned up the military rhetoric and called the protesters freedom fighters. I guess to her protesting healthcare reform is just like risking your life in war.
While doing the Worst Persons segment on his MSNBC show Countdown tonight host Keith Olbermann took aim at Glenn Beck for his comparison of healthcare reform to 9/11. Obermann said, “In short, Glenn, 9/12ers if you are invoking 9/11 just to oppose healthcare reform, go to hell.” Check out the video.
Forty seven women have come forward reporting similar experiences to those recounted by Jamie Leigh Jones, who was gang raped by employees of defense contractors Halliburton and KBR. I had previously identified the number at 11, from earlier information in my research; the higher number reflects the more recent numbers who have contacted Jamie Leigh Jones and her Foundation. Just as important is the fact that the Senators who voted no on the Franken Amendment are being held accountable in their home states.
On his FNC show yesterday Neil Cavuto launched into a defense of Fox News’ 2009 election coverage. Cavuto said, “We are not red. We are not blue. We are all about green…your money.” However, this does not explain why Fox News has done 16 segments over the past two weeks with candidates Chris Christie, Bob McConnell, and Doug Hoffman.
On his Fox News program, Glenn Beck compared the healthcare reform bill to 9/11. He claimed that his 9/12 Project is working to derail healthcare reform which they think would be like another 9/11. Beck said, “The 9/12ers are willing to stand in line and take our shoes off before the plane actually hits the tower,” because access to healthcare is just like terrorism.
In an interview with CNS News, Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch admitted the real reason why the Republican Party is opposed to healthcare reform is that they are worried that people will like it and vote Democrat in future elections.
Even though it looks like the Republican Party will win at least one and maybe as many as all three major elections tomorrow, this has not stopped the right wing from slipping into full blown paranoid mode. Andrew Breitbart’s website claimed that Democrats are rigging the NJ gubernatorial election, while Rush Limbaugh warned about Democratic malfeasance on his radio show.
On Fox News’ America’s Newsroom program network VP Bill Sammon essentially kicked former NY Republican House candidate Dede Scozzafava out of the Republican Party today. Sammon claimed that because she supported the stimulus and is pro-choice, she is, “for all practical purposes a Democrat,” who is out of lockstep with the GOP.
During an appearance on Face The Nation this morning, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) went out of his way to give the impression that the public option is the only thing stopping him from supporting healthcare reform. This was yet another lie from Lieberman on the issue of heathcare reform. Here is a look at some of his other false statements about healthcare reform.
2008 Obama presidential campaign manager David Plouffe was on Meet The Press today, and he provided some insight into the campaign’s reaction to the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate. He said, “Well, I think we should thank John McCain for picking her, in terms of how it helped us win in 2008…”
Senior adviser to President Obama, David Axelrod was on CBS News’ Face The Nation today, and he not only took on Rush Limbaugh, but he also denied that the White House is at war with Fox News. Axelrod said, “We’re at war only with people who represent mistruths as truth.”
Rush Limbaugh was the featured guest on Fox News Sunday today, where he ended the interview by making the prediction that there will be a voter revolt against Barack Obama and the Democratic Party, which will make Obama a one term president. However, when asked what Republican will defeat Obama, Limbaugh couldn’t name anyone.
