The resistance is proving not just that they are larger in numbers than either Trump supporters or white supremacists, but also that they understand freedom of speech does not have to be violent.
An upcoming documentary, "The Brainwashing of My Dad" traces how right wing media morphed a mild-mannered Democrat into a racist Republican. It happens all the time.
The war on public transportation is in full swing, like the war on all things public waged by the right. Like so many of their offensives, the motivations include racism and hatred toward the poor.
Rush Limbaugh gets his creepy on while giving credence to all of those Dominican Republic rumors by calling a 14 year old girl a babe on his radio show.
With the blessing of the Supreme Court, fundamentalist, right wing evangelists are taking religious indoctrination into the public schools.
Ready to demonize and belittle any socio-economically disenfranchised group available for the abuse, America's right-wing is directly appealing to the paranoid at the behest of the privileged.
In order to eliminate Social Security and Medicare, Republicans use entitlement society language to stigmatize using government benefits.
Why did Sarah Palin keep an Israeli flag in her office in Juneau? She needed an American flag and an Alaskan flag. Didn't her governor's obligations stop there?
Many Americans are asking, "What happened?" In a wonderfully titled article, “What the #!%*?: The U.S. mid-term elections?” the National Post’s Peter Goodspeed asks and answers some very important questions about the midterms.
If a government has no right right, and moreover, no obligation to protect the people on whose behalf it was established in the first place, then what rights and obligations do governments have?
The Republicans intend to take us to a place from which there is no return. You see, their fantasy America, the mythic America that was founded as a Christian nation in their re-written text books, is about to come to fruition. They are that close.
This is a blatant and misleading attempt by the GOP to steal the election. Trick the voters not to vote. Yes, trick. The conservatives have tried to co-opt the Latino vote by getting their token Latino to urge his fellow voters to stand on the sidelines.
Ideological purity may sound great on the drawing board, but it’s not so good when you need votes – lots of votes. Obviously, the ideas then are mutually incompatible. You can’t have the one because you won’t allow the other.
Someday, future Americans will look back on the end of the 21st century’s first decade and feel shame, and perhaps a sense of wonder that such an advanced nation, one of the most free to have ever existed, could be home to such petty prejudice and superstition.
How did American politics come to be about taking rights away from people when the founding of our country was centered on the giving of rights? And how is it that the group that rants the most about lost rights turns out to be the one most in favor of denying them to anyone else?
The pros and cons of abortion aside, Dobson seems to miss one of the original purposes of the Constitution, which was to protect the American people from “excesses of democracy” of local legislatures, which tended to run roughshod over the rights of the minority.
Liberty stands for human rights and freedoms. It was appreciation of America's embrace of liberty that brought Lady Liberty to these shores. If we won't defend her now, we might as well send her back, because we will have proven ourselves unworthy of her.
Oklahoma is hosting a referendum on Islam – State Question 755 the “Save Our State” amendment, which will ban Sharia Law in the state.
The conservative move to re-write history is not just about politics but ideology. The bogus controversy can't exist without the bogus history conservative Christians have constructed, and the bogus history is tied into hate and intolerance and a need to justify it.
The Republicans say taking prayer out of public schools leads to violence. But they offer no evidence, and cannot point to a more peaceful world when prayer was allowed.
Republican rhetoric has become so outrageous they have lost the ability to tell fact from fantasy. Clueless, they nod sagely while the rest of the world laughs.
Conservative columnist Michael Medved believes that God is on the side of the Republicans, but misses the point that whose side God might be on went out with the Enlightenment and its values upon which the US is established, namely liberty and individual human rights, and not the Bible.
What are we to do with groups like the Westboro Baptist Church, which has been designated a hate group by both the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, and who seem intent on testing the limits of free speech? Should we engage, mock, or ignore them?
The American political system assumes that all parties will behave responsibly and continue to try to govern the nation even through disagreement. For one party to completely withdraw from the process and insist on their status as “a government in exile” is something the Founders never foresaw.
A Christian watchdog group complained in 2007 that they "see shorter skirts on the women of Fox News than...on the prostitutes being arrested on cop shows." The thighs and breasts remain. The Family Values network? No, more of a fund-raising network now - and sex sells.
Recent visitors to my blog PoliticusUSA had undoubtedly noticed that the site had been crashing frequently. At first both tech support and myself thought a new server was the cause, but the real cause was much more sinister. We were the victims of a sophisticated DDoS attack. Since the far right did not like what we were publishing, they decided you should not be able to read it. This is what passes for freedom in "Real America."
Don't look now, but the haters haven't gone anywhere. Despite Barack Obama's centrist agenda, they still display nooses down south and hang him in effigy. People still get worked up over where he was born. They are still convinced he's intent upon nothing less than overthrowing the entire United States government, but who are they and why do they hate?
Palin's most powerful nemesis, McCain/Palin campaign strategist Steve Schmidt, will soon return the fire Palin unloaded on him from her book, “Going Rogue”. Operation Palin Apocalypse officially commences Sunday night when Schmidt appears on 60 minutes. The only question remaining is how low will they go? This is the GOP after all. The party of Rovian election tactics.
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow ended 2009 by promising to do more of the same kind of show in 2010. Maddow admitted that her show has found its niche, which is shedding light on the money and power relationships that make the right wing tick. Check out the video.
George Stephanopoulos is, without a doubt talented and knowledgeable enough to handle the task of moving to ABC's Good Morning America. The question is: What happens to one of the most popular and informing Sunday Morning political talk shows? This Week has reinvented itself since the days of David Brinkley, but it could be facing new challenges without its current host.
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.
Kimberly Daniels recently wrote about Halloween Candy for Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network web site, and her rhetoric about demonic Halloween candy personifies a brand of religion that amounts to Christian superstition. It links to the crazy that is epitomized by extreme fundamentalists.
Glenn Beck's mini-me Lou Dobbs has jumped on board with the right wing paranoia over swine flu vaccinations. Dobbs called it "detestable" that healthcare workers in New York City have been required to take the swine flu vaccine shot, because there is nothing more American than a flu epidemic being spread through our healthcare system.
The right wing furor over President Obama's back to school speech was revealed to be even more insane than initially thought after the text of the speech was released today. The speech emphasizes students' personal responsibility for their own education. This is a principle that even the most conservative Americans should support.
Since Sen. Ted Kennedy's death, the cry from the right wing has been that Democrats are going to exploit his death to pass healthcare reform, but it turns out that is the opponents of heathcare reform that are doing the exploitation. Dick Morris' group the League of American Voters is using Kennedy's death to raise funds to fight reform.
The Omaha City Weekly recently went to Sen. Ben Nelson's town hall meeting and conducted an interesting experiment. They asked 40 attendees who were pro-healthcare reform, and 40 who were anti-reform to find Iraq on a map. While 75% of those who favor reform could locate Iraq, 52.2% of those who are anti could not.
Some 88 professors at Texas Tech University have signed a petition protesting the hiring of former U. S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Perhaps it is just me, but to have that many potential colleagues protest in writing seems a pretty strong statement about how Gonzales is accepted, or more precisely rejected by his would be peers.
At his town hall meeting in New Hampshire today, President Barack Obama addressed the right wing myth that the White House healthcare website is creating an enemies list. Obama said, "Can I just say this is another example of how the media just ends up completely distorting what's taking place." By the media he means, Fox News.
At a town hall meeting in Lebanon, PA today, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) was booed for having the nerve to claim that President Barack Obama is an American citizen, thus providing more evidence of who is really yelling the loudest at these town halls. It isn't average Americans, but right wing activist doing the loudest screaming.
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) was on ABC's This Week program today when he made the claim that the Democrats 60 Senate votes is not enough to get healthcare reform passed. Conrad said that it is not possible for the Democrats to pass this bill for themselves, but then he added what is like the real reason. It would be more desirable to pass a bill with GOP support.
Republican Senators hit the Sunday news show airwaves today to defend former Vice President Dick Cheney and the secret CIA domestic spying program. Senators Judd Gregg, Lamar Alexander, John Kyl, and John Cornyn all defended Cheney in some way, and they accused the Democrats of trying to use the story to provide political cover for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and President Obama.
On his radio show today, host Michael Savage claimed that if Mark Sanford was a Democrat, he wouldn't have been with a woman. Savage said that if Sanford was a Democrat, "He would have been on the Barney Frank side of things." You just like Republicans Larry Craig and Mark Foley were.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has been relatively quiet, until today when she bragged in a radio interview that she will be breaking the law by not participating in the census next year. Bachmann claimed that ACORN is involved in the census, and that are going to collect personal information to use to stuff ballot boxes.
On the Neal Boortz Show today, host Neal Boortz claimed that anyone who didn't get their TVs converted to digital, they shouldn't be allowed to vote. He also said that people still living in Katrina trailers should not be allowed to vote. He also claimed that anyone in Section 8 housing or on welfare should not be allowed to vote.
On his radio show today, Glenn Beck defended the extremism of Holocaust Museum shooter James von Brunn. Beck compared Brunn's opposition to the Fed to Thomas Jefferson. He claimed that Brunn was labeled right wing extremist because he was against the Fed. He ignored Brunn's white supremacist beliefs and his conviction for his armed kidnapping plot at the Fed.
In a startling bit of racism, Manuel Miranda, a former aide to Republican Sen. Bill Frist told conservative bloggers that, "We aren't like African Americans. We think like everyone else." This begs the question, for Mr. Miranda how do African Americans think differently from everyone else? I'd love an explanation.
Today, Fox News joined the parade of right wing media who claim that Barack Obama is targeting Republican car dealerships for closure, so I think that it is time that we look at some facts to debunk this right wing myth.
I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing, but former Bush attorney general Alberto Gonzales was on CNN's The Situation Room, where he said that that there is no doubt that Sonia Sotomayor is qualified for the Supreme Court. I don't know if being endorsed by Gonzales helps or hurts her cause, but he did speak well of her.
In a move that is certain to fuel more controversy, the Obama administration has turned down former vice president Dick Cheney's request for the release of two memos that he believes will prove the effectiveness of harsh interrogation tactics.
Today, in response to a caller asking about the "slippery slope of gay marriage," Glenn Beck claimed that gay marriage laws would result in incest, because siblings would be allowed to get married as long as they got fixed, and didn't have children because they would make mutants.
Conservative talk radio has been smoldering the air waves today with criticism of President Barack Obama over his choice of condiments. The fact that Obama ordered a cheeseburger for lunch yesterday with Dijon mustard, not ketchup is proof to them that the president is an un-American elitist. Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Mark Steyn have all criticized Obama's burger.
Conservative right wing talker Michael Savage threatened today to sue U.K. Home Office Sec. Jacqui Smith for banning him from the United Kingdom. Savage was banned for stirring up hatred that could lead to inter-community violence. Savage apparently has failed to see the irony in the fact that he regularly calls for Muslims to be banned from the U.S.
The purge of moderate Republicans continued today as talk show host Rush Limbaugh called for Colin Powell to leave the Republican Party and become a Democrat, after Powell had the nerve to insult Rush Limbaugh by saying that Rush inserts nastiness that the Republican Party can do without.
On his radio show today, Glenn Beck claimed that Obama is weak because he did not call on Fox News at his news conference last night. Beck also called Helen Thomas a left wing activist columnist, and equated progressives to Marxists. I think somebody is a little upset today over not getting a question.
A threat analysis done by the Department of Homeland Security in cooperation with the FBI has found that the combination of the election of the nation's first black president, along with a bad economy is leading to resurgence in radicalization and recruiting for right wing groups.
The state of Vermont has become the latest target for the wrath of social conservatives after the state legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto and legalized same sex marriage. Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council blamed the veto override on, "wealthy homosexual activists."
During an appearance of the Sue Jeffers show, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) claimed that the recent expansion the Americorps program is a dream comes true for those who want to rid America of capitalism because the Americorps program is really reeducation camps for young people.
Ah, spring is in the air, which means that it is time for proms, graduations, and anti-abortion groups to vow to stop what they call Catholic treachery as the University of Notre Dame has scheduled President Barack Obama to be their commencement speaker on May 17.
Right winger Gary Bauer blew a gasket today and accused President Obama of confirming his worst fears by rel
As many of you know Sen.
In a phone call back to the New York Times, President Barack Obama explained that he is not a socialist,
The conservative group Americans United for Life put out a statement today calling President Obama's dec
The latest "evidence" that the right wing is using to proclaim to President Barack Obama a fail
Pennsylvania moderate Republican Sen.
At the low point of the Republican Party when they desperately need a leader up pops crazy Alan Keye
One of the phobias that always grips right wing media when a Democrat takes office is that they will
The McCain campaign has put out a memo complaining about what they call voting irregularities in Pennsylvania, Florida, New Hampshire, and Virginia. The party that brought you Florida 2000, and Ohio 2004 is claiming that the Democrats are trying to steal this election.
Trailing in the polls with six days to go, the presidential campaign of John McCain has decided to revive the Obama associates with terrorists line, by criticizing the LA Times for not releasing a videotape of Obama at a 2003 farewell dinner for Rashid Khalidi. I guess this is their version of an October Surprise.
For the past few days, I have been seeing signs that John McCain wasn't comfortable with the insinuations that Barack Obama is a Muslim or a terrorist, and this evening at a Minnesota town hall meeting, he defended Obama when one of his supporters called him an Arab terrorist.
Today in response to a question about what McCain's work on the Senate Commerce Committee did to help him understand the financial markets economic advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin claimed that John McCain helped create the Blackberry, which seems to be quite an accomplishment for a man who can't use the Internet.
https://www.politicususa.com/en/Biden-Palin-Stem-Cell-Research
The McCain campaign is outraged because today in Missouri Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden asked if Sarah Palin cares about disabled kids so much, why does she oppose embryonic stem cell research.
The Page blog is reporting that Democratic activist and Hillary Clinton supporter Reba Shimansky has withdrawn her support of John McCain over his selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate.
In two separate campaign appearances today both Barack Obama and Joe Biden proclaimed Sarah Palin's pregnant 17 year old daughter Bristol, politically off limits.
John Kerry was on ABC's This Week program where he pointed out that John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin is more likely to insult Hillary Clinton supporters than it is to attract them
John Kerry announced a new website today designed to attack the smears against Barack Obama. "We've seen this movie before. The Republicans, without ideas, start running a negative campaign filled with personal attacks and misleading ads.
Despite criticism from the right, today Barack Obama stood by his call for American schools to increase their emphasis on teaching foreign languages.
While speaking before the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO), Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama called out John McCain for walking away from his commitment to comprehensive immigration reform.
On Friday, June 20, the House of Representatives voted 239-129 in favor of HR 6304, more commonly known as the "telecom immunity bill." The passage in the House is a victory for President Bush and right wingers everywhere.
The Eugene Register-Guard of Eugene, OR today published a ringing endorsement of Barack Obama.
