Monthly Archives: May 2010

Amnesty International Fights Violence Against Women
3

Progressive Women Must Unite in Support of International Violence Against Women Act

The World Health Organization just released appalling statistics on domestic violence against women. The ten country study included: Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Japan, Peru, Namibia, Samoa, Serbia and Montenegro, Thailand and the United Republic of Tanzania. The report concludes that violence against women is widespread. Amnesty International is urging Americans to support the International Violence Against Women Act in response to these horrifying statistics.

131

Fox News Threatens Sarah Palin Book Author Joe McGinniss

Fox News issued a warning and a thinly veiled threat to investigative journalist and author Joe McGinniss, who is writing a book about Sarah Palin, Alaska, and the oil industry. On Fox and Friends today, Steve Doocy said, “Mr. McGinniss if you’re watching right now, I would be very careful wearing hats out there because in the wrong hat, in the wrong light, could appear to be antlers.”
3

Poll: Only 2% of Democrats and 22% of Independents Support the Tea Party

The latest CBS News poll contained some interesting information about who supports the Tea Party movement. Contrary to what Tea Partiers claim, their movement is not bi-partisan. Of the 20% who considered themselves Tea Party supporters, 36% were Republicans, 18% were Independents, and only 2% were Democrats, so much for that organic bi-partisan movement to take back America. The Tea Party is really nothing more than the same old white Republicans.

Sarah Palin Smugging Up Her Endorsement of Tea Party fav Haley
15

Sarah Palin and Nikki Haley’s Right Wing Persecution Complex

Sarah Palin took to her Facebook page to defend yet another persecuted Christian (aka, Tea Party favorite) in South Carolina, Nikki Haley. Haley is the front-runner in the Republican primary for Governor of South Carolina and she has been accused of having an affair with a staffer by said staffer who recently announced the affair on his blog. In reality, this isn’t persecution, this is politics.

23

With Each New Textbook Texas Steals U.S. History

Texas, to its shame, by rewriting textbooks, might embrace a mythic America, but that America never existed, and it does not exist, and cannot exist as long as there are people who value our history for what it is, a record not of wishful thinking, but of the past. In the end, what Texas has done does not balance the past; it steals it.

Sarah Palin wanting to change the law
15

The White House Slams Palin’s Obama Oil Spill Allegations

Sarah Palin, the Drill Baby Drill poster girl and someone whose PAC contributions read like a who’s who in the oil business, had the gall this morning on Fox News Sunday to accuse Obama of not doing his job because he is in bed with big oil. Palin says she went after BP as Governor of Alaska and President Obama should, too, but White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs set Palin straight.

Oil Spill Tragedy
29

The Left Carrying Water for the GOP: Why isn’t Obama Fixing the Oil Spill?!?

Everywhere I go, Liberals are griping about the President, carrying water for the GOP again. Liberals want Obama to “FIX†the BP spill. He should have “taken overâ€, he should have “done moreâ€. Beware the lazy intellectualism of the pseudo elite liberal, because it’s much more cool to reproach scornfully from above than it is to tell the nerdy truth. The nerdy truth is that the law prevents the government from just taking over. The nerdy truth is this sucks and there is no way to fix it now.

5

Earth, Wind and Oil: Big Energy Triumphs Over Democracy

With the BP oil spill still raging after a month of disinformation and stonewalling from both BP and the Obama Administration as well as the catastrophe of the Massey coal mine explosion just two weeks prior to the BP Gulf disaster, the left and right are playing their trite and expected “blame game” without acknowledging the actual systemic realities of a Government that enables BP and Massey to rape and plunder the earth for the sake of profit at the expense of the environment and human life.
5

Golden Scam: Fox News Predicts that Gold Will Both go up by 30% and Down by 50%

Today Fox News provided more evidence for why the odious relationship between the right wing media and gold sellers deserves some serious investigation. Despite endless shilling from Glenn Beck, it seems that even Fox doesn’t know if gold is a safe investment. Over the course of two different programs Fox said that gold will collapsed but also promised a 30% increase. Way to play both sides, Fox News.

Palinization of Rand Paul
27

The Palinization of Rand Paul

After a humiliating stint on the Rachel Maddow show wherein Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul demonstrated a special talent in the art of the duck and dodge, Paul continued to Palinize himself the next day — wrapping himself in indignation, in order to mask his own deep inadequacy and lack of preparation for the important office he seeks.
33

Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, and the RNC Throw Rand Paul under the Bus

By any standard Republican Kentucky Senate nominee Rand Paul has had a terrible week. He followed up winning the GOP nomination on Tuesday with a disastrous appearance on the Rachel Maddow Show, which he followed up with an even worse appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America where he defended BP and the oil spill. Most telling is the way that his Tea Party backers, including Sarah Palin have remained silent on his comments.
23

Sarah Palin Accuses Obama of Using Immigration to Divide America

Sarah Palin took to her Facebook page to blast the Obama administration for dividing the country on the issue of immigration reform. Palin continued to defend the AZ law, and then added this nugget, “They can also criticize bills (and divide the country with ensuing rhetoric) without actually reading them.” All the while Palin is traveling across America dividing the GOP on the immigration issue.
9

Fox News Echoes Rand Paul’s Claim that Racism and Discrimination Are Rights

FNC contributor John Stossel was on Fox News’ America Live today where he voiced his agreement with Kentucky GOP Senate candidate Rand Paul that part of the civil rights ought to be repealed so that businesses can discriminate based on race. Stossel said, “It’s time now to repeal that part of the law because private businesses ought to get to discriminate… it should be their right to be racist.”
28

Arizona Strikes Out with Threat to Cut Off Power to Los Angeles

Arizona swung wildly at Los Angeles after the City of Angels signed a resolution to boycott Arizona over the Papers Please law. Wounded by the perceived threat to their dwindling tourism business (due to similar boycotts around the country), Arizona punched back yesterday with a threat befitting an impotent schoolyard bully. Because, you know, instead of taking another look at the law, the thing to do is escalate the authoritarian power grab at the very root of the trouble.

8

Rachel Maddow Explains Sarah Palin’s 2010 Gift to Democrats

On her MSNBC show tonight Rachel Maddow explained how Sarah Palin gave a giant gift to the Democratic Party over the weekend by Arizona’s immigration law, “Sarah Palin’s ecstatic endorsement of Arizona’s papers please law and the governor who signed it is a very exciting moment for Democrats.” Maddow explained that the GOP has been tripping itself up with immigration politics for 150 years.

Mock and Scorn
16

Palin and the GOP Disguise Mock and Scorn as Public Policy

In the last few years, the far right has brought this nation teetering to the utter brink of moral bankruptcy by selling mock and scorn as workable public policy. We see this in their leaders (Sarah Palin) and followers (the Teabaggers), whose team jersey is contemptuous wanton violence — their faces screwed up into a rictus of wrath, lips snarled in ridicule as they arrogantly spew the hubristic litter of Fox News talking points.
31

Mitch McConnell Defends BP and Blames Obama for the Gulf Oil Spill

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was on Meet The Press today, and he came right out of the gate trying to score political points on the Gulf oil by blaming the Obama administration for the incident, “the administration’s involvement in this will be a big part of the inquiry.” McConnell also stated his opposition to lifting the damages cap and making BP pay for everything.

11

Fox News’ Brit Hume Denies the size of the Gulf Oil Spill

Fox News is still in full spin mode when it comes to the Gulf oil spill. Since the explosion, the network has been touting the virtues of offshore drilling, while downplaying the damage from the Gulf spill. However, Fox News Sunday’s Brit Hume took it to new low today, when he doubted the size of the spill because the oil has not covered the coast yet. Hume asked, “Where is the oil?”
5

Help Obama Keep Our Economy on the Highway to Recovery

This week, President Obama made it clear at a DCCC fundraiser that Republicans are to blame not only for driving the economy into a ditch, but also bringing Washington to a standstill. With the primaries coming up on Tuesday, it is time for Democrats to step and take the first step towards making sure that Republicans don’t get the chance to put us back in the ditch.
11

Analysis: Obama Remains More Popular than Reagan

One of the dirty little secrets about presidents and approval ratings is that more often than not the numbers are governed by pocketbook politics. Both Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan inherited recessions early in their terms, and interestingly, Obama is has a higher approval rating that Reagan at the same point during their first terms. Obama is actually stronger than Reagan was right now.
26

Reckless Palin Endangers a Girls Basketball Team with Her Call to Go Rogue

Sarah Palin, who has replaced Jesse Jackson as America’s foremost political ambulance chaser wasted no time in exploiting the fates of an Illinois girls high school basketball team who will not be going to Arizona for a tournament due to the state’s immigration policy. Palin urged the teenage girls to “go rogue†and go to the tournament on their own if the school won’t give permission.
9

President Obama Debunks the Myth of the Fair Tax

One of the things that have not been reported on about Barack Obama’s visit to Buffalo, NY today was his reaction to a question about abolishing the IRS and moving to a flat tax. Obama said, “In order to have a flat tax that was revenue-neutral, that didn’t add to the deficit, it’d have to be a pretty substantial tax, but it would mean a huge tax break for Warren Buffett.”
8

Rush Limbaugh Accuses Facebook and Twitter of Recruiting for the Left

On his radio show today Rush Limbaugh blamed Facebook, My Space, and Twitter for activism on issues like the environment and breast cancer. Limbaugh claimed that social media lure people into activism, “I know everybody does want to matter, that’s how they lure them into environmental activism.” Watch out for Facebook and Twitter ditto heads, because they will brain wash you into caring.
21

Dick Cheney’s Deregulation to Blame for “Obama’s Katrina”

The evidence is in: Halliburton, Dick Cheney, secret energy task force meetings and massive Republican deregulation has once again led to tragedy. The April 20, 2010. Gulf oils spill is yet another story of careless, reckless deregulation and corruption under the Bush administration which has led to loss of life, destruction of wildlife and the environment, loss of income, and more. The full impact of the oil sill is still unknown.

7

Just in Time for the Holidays, another Sarah Palin Cash Grab

Are you already thinking ahead to the holiday season? Sarah Palin hopes that you are, as her publisher Harper Collins has announced that her latest book, America By Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag will hit stores right in time for the holiday shopping season on November 23. Not since someone thought Alvin and the Chipmunks deserved a squeakquel has there been such a blatant cash grab.
8

Glenn Beck Invokes MLK in Support of Racist Arizona Education Ban

On his radio show today Glenn Beck continued to urinate all over the meaning and legacy of Martin Luther King, by claiming that King would support a new Arizona education policy that bans courses that are designed for students of a particular ethnic group, and prohibits teachers with a heavy accent from teaching English. Beck said, “This I believe Martin Luther King would be for.”

Michael Savage Judges Women's Looks
9

The Bullies on the Right Stoop to Sexism to Oppose Kagan

The Right Wing is revealing both the dearth of their values as well as the utter emptiness in their opposition to Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan by focusing on her looks. This is on par with the Republican Party’s oppression of women platform, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise, and yet the fact that they are so graceless as to come out with the hideously appalling criticisms they did is still shocking.

Hillary Clinton Feminist Extraordinaire
31

While Sarah Palin Exploits Hillary Clinton Empowers

Last night, though, we were treated to an interview with Hillary Clinton on CBS’s “60 Minutes”. Clinton hardly dominates the media since becoming Secretary of State, so seeing her was a stark contrast to the daily Palin saturation of the news. Watching Hillary was healing, uplifting and encouraging. Hillary is the anti-Palin, and she’s out there kicking ass for us every day.

6

Sarah Palin Denies to Real America That She is a Millionaire

While recently discussing her supposed spat with film maker Oliver Stone at the Time 100 gala, Sarah Palin a bit of not so straight talk about the fact that she resigned as Alaska governor to get paid. Palin claims that she is in fact, not making millions of dollars, “It’s also bogus how much money I supposedly make.” A quick tally of the book deal, reality show, and Fox News contract reveal that she makes millions of dollars.
6

President Obama Takes Back Thomas Jefferson From the Tea Party

While speaking at Hampton University today, President Barack Obama did something subtle today. He took Thomas Jefferson and the actions of the Revolutionary War patriots away from the Tea Party and applied them to all America, “What Jefferson recognized, like the rest of that gifted generation, was that in the long run, their improbable experiment, America, wouldn’t work if its citizens were uninformed.”
0

Arlen Specter Goes Rogue as the PA Dem Primary Heats Up

Ah yes, spring is in the air: the budding of the foliage, the nice warm breeze and of course, primary season.
Here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Democratic Primary, just over a week away on May 18th, is heating up. Former Republican turned Democrat Arlen Specter is in a tight race with current PA Congressman Joe Sestak for the chance to be the Democrat’s candidate for Senate in the November election.

Palin's Secessionist Theocracy aka: Real America
38

Sarah Palin Claims America is Based on the Bible Not the Constitution

The never-ending saga of Sarah Palin’s infringement upon our national discourse took a turn for the worse (as if that were possible) last night. Palin appeared on “The O’Rielly Factor”, during which she doubled down on her theocratic vision of America by claiming that the Founders intended for our laws to be based on the bible and the ten commandments. So, in this chapter of fact-checking Sarah Palin, we debunk Palin’s Secessionist Theocracy (aka: Real America) theory.

1

Keith Olbermann Boils Down the Desperation of the Teabaggers

On his nightly Tea Time segment during his MSNBC show Countdown tonight, host Keith Olbermann dove into the growing desperation of the Tea Party movement, and said, “A hint of desperation is starting to sink in. He highlighted that the Tea Party has admitted that they coined their own nickname. He used poll numbers that show the negativity of is starting to hinder the enthusiasm of Republicans.
11

GOP Uses SECRET HOLD To Obstruct Record Number of Nominees

A dark storm is brewing over the Senate as Republicans obstruct Presidential nominees in record numbers, abusing secret hold and laundering holds in an attempt to outrun Senate rules. The Republicans’ unprecedented use of secret holds has almost brought government to a standstill, and yet they’ve avoided all accountability for their actions by hiding under the cloak of anonymity. Senator Claire McCaskill tried to force them to own up to their holds this week.
7

How Thomas Jefferson Warned Us About Sarah Palin

The press fawned over Sarah Palin when she arrived at last night’s Time 100 Gala, stepping over themselves to get a photo of the gal who refused to speak to them until they show “deference” to her as she was campaigning to be Vice President of America and has not yet held a press conference or taken unscreened questions from the press. Palin quoted Thomas Jefferson, whose prophetic quotes suggest he saw Palin coming.
4

Obama Outclasses GOP Politics On the Oil Spill and Terrorism

Our President, in just a few short weeks, is managing to address multiple disasters and crisis situations at the same time. Response to what may become the largest and most significant and dramatic oil spill disaster in our nation’s history is now being blamed on the Obama administration by the “usual suspects on the “Right”‘ instead of the big oil company, BP that caused it, while at the same time keeping America safe from terrorism.
12

Glenn Beck Mocks Rachel Maddow for Using Big Words

On his radio show today Glenn Beck mocked MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow for using the term paleoconservative on her MSNBC program this week. Since Beck doesn’t know what the term means he said, “What the hell is a paleoconservative, a dinosaur?” He then told progressives to stop making up terms. Actually, the term was coined by a conservative 30 years ago, and Beck once again demonstrated his illiteracy.
2

Glenn Beck Claims that He Boosts Jon Stewart’s Ratings

On his radio show today, Glenn Beck displayed how much fame has gone to his head, while name dropping some celebrities and the fact that he was at the Time 100 Most Influential People banquet last night, Beck said, “It’s like Jon Stewart. Jon Stewart’s not thinking yeah get that guy off the air. I’m good for him and his ratings.” Beck keeps selling himself on the idea that the ship isn’t sinking.
13

The Gulf Coast Oil Spill: Dick Cheney’s Katrina

This is the story of rampant deregulation in a never-ending ode to Profit as King, as propagated by the Bush/Cheney administration across all sectors of our economy, which didn’t end with Wall Street or mortgage lending or Enron. Indeed, the deregulation scandals extend now to off-shore drilling in the form of the missing Valve, a remote shut-off device called an acoustic switch. Dick Cheney may have had his hand in the Department of Interior’s decision not to mandate the valve for off-shore oil rigs.

7

“Liberal Elite” Washington Post Advances Fox’s Miranda Lies

The Washington Post, that “liberal elite” paper, is following in Fox’s footsteps by regurgitating false Miranda information, suggesting that Miranda rights are optional and should not be employed with suspected terrorists, even if said suspect is an American citizen. Fox News has long advanced the claim that reading Abdulmutallab Miranda rights compromised the government’s ability to get information. This, of course, was not an issue for Fox when the Bush administration handled the suspected terrorists the exact same way. When they’re not trying to terrorize Americans into voting for them, the Right is trying to terrorize Americans into giving away all of their freedoms.

TEA PARTY SOCIALIST
11

Right Wing Tries To Socialize Oil Companies with “Obama’s Katrina”

In calling the BP oil spill “Obama’s Katrina”; conservatives infer that the President did not act fast enough. However, not only has this meme been debunked, but it goes to the central hypocrisy of the current conservative moment, whose only consistent value is to oppose Obama in order to destroy his Presidency. Conservatives are attempting to foist all responsibility for the clean up of the private sector caused oil spill onto the President. In fact, the conservative effort to label this as Obama’s Katrina represents the Conservative endorsement of socialism.

12

Glenn Beck Blames the Weather for His Ratings Plummet

On his radio show today, Glenn Beck first claimed that his ratings aren’t declining, but then blamed the weather for his loss of one million Fox News viewers. Beck’s excuse, “It’s called the spring and summer. It’s a cycle.” The problem is that Beck’s viewership numbers have been dropping since January, which is in the winter, when people are usually inside their homes watching television.
27

While In the Gulf Obama Shows the GOP How to Lead

President Obama delivered remarks in Venice, LA today after touring the Gulf Coast area and getting a look at the BP Oil Spill. While the right wing media has been portraying this event as Obama’s Katrina, the president showed the type of leadership that was missing from the GOP after Hurricane Katrina, “Your government will do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to stop this crisis.” Obama sure isn’t W.
153

BP Debunks Right Wing Oil Spill Conspiracy Theories

Today on ABC’s This Week BP Chairman and President Lamar McKay put to rest all of the right wing conspiracy theories that the Gulf Oil spill was an act of terrorism carried out by left wing environmentalists, or a foreign government. Instead McKay said the probable cause less sinister and more mundane, “I believe we’ve got a failed piece of equipment.”

GOP Circus
11

A Weekly Round Up of the Republican Wing Nut Circus May 2, 2010

A weekly round up of the Republican Wing Nut Circus: This week, Republicans were freaked out over good news about the economy (say it ain’t so, Joe!) so in their ever impressive attempt to “take back their country”, they did what all Real Americans do — they focused on animals. Yes, from suggesting we barter chickens for healthcare to comparing illegal immigrants to dogs,it’s been a wild GOP ride this week. Please no comments on the disturbing Freudian slips of the party of Repression and Regression. This is tough enough.

6

From Clinton to Obama: Reregulating the Deregulatory Era

Coming from what many would consider a “far Left” ideological foundation, my assertion is that this antagonism between the so-called “left” and “right” has been merely a smokescreen to divide us even further while the wealthy interests who actually dictate legislation—buying and manipulating politicians from both parties—continue to plunder our resources and bring our economy to the brink of collapse while we do nothing other than yell and scream at the other side.

9

Obama Shines While Jabbing Birthers and Palin at WH Correspondents Dinner

President Barack Obama outdid Leno tonight at the 2010 White House Correspondents Dinner, aka #Nerdprom. There were lots of jokes about his approval ratings, Joe Biden, Mitt Romney and Rahm Emanuel. However his best material was reserved for the birthers and Sarah Palin. For the birthers he joked that his popularity still remains high in his, “home country,†and he jabbed at Palin with a comment about, “socialized media.â€
4

Once Upon A Time Republicans and Democrats Agreed On Illegal Immigration

Ironically, in 2006, all of the players you now see polarized had agreed to an immigration reform bill co-sponsored by Democrat Ted Kennedy and Republican John McCain. Said bill is now way too sane for McCain to put his name to, as he is busy selling his soul to the radical right and taking his friend Lindsey Graham down with him. Anything to keep his seat. Country First. Yada yada.

28

AZ Gov. Jan Brewer Politicizes Border Violence in Arizona

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is using drug related border violence to justify a draconian and perhaps unconstitutional law, but the two have nothing to do with one another. In fact, in the video the reporter says, “he (Officer Pinal) was tracking the five suspects as they transported marijuana and other drugs…” So if Brewer wanted to deal with this issue, she should have written a law dealing with drug trafficking and undocumented fire arms, not people who “look undocumented”. Hey, I’m just assuming she’d want to narrow the field down to the dangerous folks if her argument is the threat of violence.

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