Al Gore was spooked by the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and by the fact that he was accused of "sighing" during Bush's bumbling answers in their first debate.
As a result, Gore did not continue to hit back at Bush as hard as he could and should have. Gore was also afraid to let Bill Clinton campaign for him because of the Lewinsky scandal, another bad mistake by Gore. That's why the election of 2000 was as close as it was.
If Gore had shown more fight, he would have won by a margin similar to Obama's in 2008.
Therefore, it is so important to fight back at these guys hard and rough right now, so they don't bring down Obama the way they brought down Gore.
Give them no quarter. Give these Right-Wing-Nuts an inch, and they will take the entire country down the drain.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Conservatives' Failure on Iran Could Lead to Obama's Triumph
From: The Progress report -- September 28, 2009:
THE RIGHT WING'S PREDICTABLE REACTION: Conservative senators reacted to the news of Iran's secret facility in predictable fashion, echoing much of the rhetoric coming out the the Bush administration over the last eight years: "regime change." "What we're trying to do here eventually is to get a regime change with a group of people in there that are more representative of the Iranian people," Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) said yesterday. "At a certain point, talking is counterproductive rather than productive because time is not on our side," he said, adding later that "the carrot approach does not work with these people." Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) pushed regime change yesterday too. "We have to have strong sanctions, economic sanctions that can force either a regime change or the Ayatollahs to change their policy," he said.
But it's clear now that the Bush administration's refusal to engage Iran (at least only until the waning days of Bush's tenure) and its "regime change" rhetoric served only to embolden Iran's hardliners within the country. And instead of accepting -- or even responding to -- Iran's offer of engagement in 2003, President Bush lumped the Islamic Republic into the now infamous "axis of evil." Eight years of the Bush administration's disengagement with Iran has only led to its nuclear program growing in size and scope. "The U.S. right wing accused Obama of a failure of nerve," Cole noted, "But in fact his move was shrewd and gutsy, since he predisposed Russia to increased cooperation." Jon Ward of The Washington Times writes, "Not only did the president look strong, he looked cunning."
THE RIGHT WING'S PREDICTABLE REACTION: Conservative senators reacted to the news of Iran's secret facility in predictable fashion, echoing much of the rhetoric coming out the the Bush administration over the last eight years: "regime change." "What we're trying to do here eventually is to get a regime change with a group of people in there that are more representative of the Iranian people," Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) said yesterday. "At a certain point, talking is counterproductive rather than productive because time is not on our side," he said, adding later that "the carrot approach does not work with these people." Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) pushed regime change yesterday too. "We have to have strong sanctions, economic sanctions that can force either a regime change or the Ayatollahs to change their policy," he said.
But it's clear now that the Bush administration's refusal to engage Iran (at least only until the waning days of Bush's tenure) and its "regime change" rhetoric served only to embolden Iran's hardliners within the country. And instead of accepting -- or even responding to -- Iran's offer of engagement in 2003, President Bush lumped the Islamic Republic into the now infamous "axis of evil." Eight years of the Bush administration's disengagement with Iran has only led to its nuclear program growing in size and scope. "The U.S. right wing accused Obama of a failure of nerve," Cole noted, "But in fact his move was shrewd and gutsy, since he predisposed Russia to increased cooperation." Jon Ward of The Washington Times writes, "Not only did the president look strong, he looked cunning."
Bill Clinton Says the "Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy " Is Back and Now Focusing on Obama
Vast Conspiracy Is Focusing On Obama, Says Bill Clinton
Associated Press
Monday, September 28, 2009
Bill Clinton says a vast right-wing conspiracy that once targeted him is now focusing on President Obama.
The former president made the comment in a television interview when he was asked about one of the signature moments of the Monica S. Lewinsky affair more than a decade ago. Hillary Rodham Clinton, then the first lady, used the term "vast right-wing conspiracy" to describe how her husband's political enemies were out to destroy his presidency.
Bill Clinton was asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday whether the conspiracy is still there. He replied: "You bet. Sure it is. It's not as strong as it was, because America has changed demographically. But it's as virulent as it was." Clinton said this time the focus is on Obama, and "their agenda seems to be wanting him to fail."
Clinton is Right on the Money!
Associated Press
Monday, September 28, 2009
Bill Clinton says a vast right-wing conspiracy that once targeted him is now focusing on President Obama.
The former president made the comment in a television interview when he was asked about one of the signature moments of the Monica S. Lewinsky affair more than a decade ago. Hillary Rodham Clinton, then the first lady, used the term "vast right-wing conspiracy" to describe how her husband's political enemies were out to destroy his presidency.
Bill Clinton was asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday whether the conspiracy is still there. He replied: "You bet. Sure it is. It's not as strong as it was, because America has changed demographically. But it's as virulent as it was." Clinton said this time the focus is on Obama, and "their agenda seems to be wanting him to fail."
Clinton is Right on the Money!
America's "Right-Wing Netherworld" Vs. America
Obama the Gambler
Betting That Machismo Is Not Foreign Policy
By Fareed Zakaria
Monday, September 28, 2009 - The Washington Post
At his United Nations debut, Barack Obama urged global cooperation to combat nuclear proliferation, climate change and other problems that go beyond the borders of any one country. The speech was well received around the world, except in one place -- America's right-wing netherworld, which quickly began whipping people into a frenzy. For Michelle Malkin, the speech was evidence that Obama was "the great appeaser," though she went on to say, "From the sound of it, you'd think you were listening to Thomas Jefferson." (That's bad?)
For Rush Limbaugh, Obama's speech was "basically a coup against America." At the National Review's Web site, a debate -- an entirely serious debate among serious people -- broke out as to whether the speech proved that Obama actually wanted the world's tyrants to win, in the tradition of past intellectuals who admired Mussolini and Hitler. This is the discourse of American conservatism today: Obama is bad because he loves "death panels" and Hitler.
There is a serious case to be made that it's not worth taking the United Nations seriously, that it's an anachronistic institution based on 60-year-old geopolitics and a platform for tyrants and weirdos. But while much of that is true, the United Nations is the only organization in the world to which all countries belong. As such it does have considerable legitimacy. And that means power. As David Bosco points out in Foreign Policy magazine, over the past two decades the Security Council has authorized "more than a dozen peacekeeping missions, imposed sanctions or arms embargoes on 10 states, and created several war crimes tribunals to prosecute those responsible for genocide and crimes against humanity, including sitting heads of state." It's worth putting in the effort to shape its decisions.
Obama's speech was part of a calculated strategy. In sentiment it recalls Richard Nixon's line after losing the California governor's race in 1962: "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore." Obama was telling the world: The United States is willing to be cooperative, to rejoin international institutions, to adhere to treaties. But in return, other countries will have to help solve some of the world's common problems. You can't just kick us around anymore.
Let's go back one year. Many countries had come to believe that America showed little interest in the world. This hostility had become an easy excuse to reject even modest concessions to U.S. requests. If this sounds partisan, recall that after he was elected president of France in 2007, the pro-American conservative Nicolas Sarkozy was asked by Condoleezza Rice what she could do to help him. "Improve your image in the world," he said.
There is a phony realism brandished on the right these days that says no one will ever cooperate with America. Russia and China have their own interests, and any attempt to find common ground is naive. We might as well all hold hands and sing "Kumbaya." Now, of course countries have their own interests, which are often in conflict. But they also often share some interests. A central task of diplomacy is to explore those areas of agreement, build on them and thus create a more stable world. That's why we have treaties on everything from trade to taxation, adhered to by most nations for their collective benefit.
In fact, Obama's approach has already produced remarkable results. Russia and China, after long opposition, agreed last week to a toughening of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In a striking shift, Russia signaled that it may support tougher sanctions against Iran. The Obama administration's decision to cultivate a relationship with both countries, to listen to their concerns, is paying off.
Obama's outreach to the world is an experiment, and not merely to see if the world will respond. He wants to demonstrate at home that engagement does not make America weak. For decades, it's been thought deadly for an American politician to be seen as seeking international cooperation. Denouncing, demeaning and insulting other countries was a cheap and easy way to seem strong. In the battle of images, tough and stupid always seemed to win.
Obama is gambling that America is mature enough to understand that machismo is not foreign policy and that grandstanding on the global stage won't succeed. In a new world, with other countries more powerful and confident, America's success -- its security, its prosperity -- depends on working with others. It's a big, bold gambit. I hope it works.
Betting That Machismo Is Not Foreign Policy
By Fareed Zakaria
Monday, September 28, 2009 - The Washington Post
At his United Nations debut, Barack Obama urged global cooperation to combat nuclear proliferation, climate change and other problems that go beyond the borders of any one country. The speech was well received around the world, except in one place -- America's right-wing netherworld, which quickly began whipping people into a frenzy. For Michelle Malkin, the speech was evidence that Obama was "the great appeaser," though she went on to say, "From the sound of it, you'd think you were listening to Thomas Jefferson." (That's bad?)
For Rush Limbaugh, Obama's speech was "basically a coup against America." At the National Review's Web site, a debate -- an entirely serious debate among serious people -- broke out as to whether the speech proved that Obama actually wanted the world's tyrants to win, in the tradition of past intellectuals who admired Mussolini and Hitler. This is the discourse of American conservatism today: Obama is bad because he loves "death panels" and Hitler.
There is a serious case to be made that it's not worth taking the United Nations seriously, that it's an anachronistic institution based on 60-year-old geopolitics and a platform for tyrants and weirdos. But while much of that is true, the United Nations is the only organization in the world to which all countries belong. As such it does have considerable legitimacy. And that means power. As David Bosco points out in Foreign Policy magazine, over the past two decades the Security Council has authorized "more than a dozen peacekeeping missions, imposed sanctions or arms embargoes on 10 states, and created several war crimes tribunals to prosecute those responsible for genocide and crimes against humanity, including sitting heads of state." It's worth putting in the effort to shape its decisions.
Obama's speech was part of a calculated strategy. In sentiment it recalls Richard Nixon's line after losing the California governor's race in 1962: "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore." Obama was telling the world: The United States is willing to be cooperative, to rejoin international institutions, to adhere to treaties. But in return, other countries will have to help solve some of the world's common problems. You can't just kick us around anymore.
Let's go back one year. Many countries had come to believe that America showed little interest in the world. This hostility had become an easy excuse to reject even modest concessions to U.S. requests. If this sounds partisan, recall that after he was elected president of France in 2007, the pro-American conservative Nicolas Sarkozy was asked by Condoleezza Rice what she could do to help him. "Improve your image in the world," he said.
There is a phony realism brandished on the right these days that says no one will ever cooperate with America. Russia and China have their own interests, and any attempt to find common ground is naive. We might as well all hold hands and sing "Kumbaya." Now, of course countries have their own interests, which are often in conflict. But they also often share some interests. A central task of diplomacy is to explore those areas of agreement, build on them and thus create a more stable world. That's why we have treaties on everything from trade to taxation, adhered to by most nations for their collective benefit.
In fact, Obama's approach has already produced remarkable results. Russia and China, after long opposition, agreed last week to a toughening of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In a striking shift, Russia signaled that it may support tougher sanctions against Iran. The Obama administration's decision to cultivate a relationship with both countries, to listen to their concerns, is paying off.
Obama's outreach to the world is an experiment, and not merely to see if the world will respond. He wants to demonstrate at home that engagement does not make America weak. For decades, it's been thought deadly for an American politician to be seen as seeking international cooperation. Denouncing, demeaning and insulting other countries was a cheap and easy way to seem strong. In the battle of images, tough and stupid always seemed to win.
Obama is gambling that America is mature enough to understand that machismo is not foreign policy and that grandstanding on the global stage won't succeed. In a new world, with other countries more powerful and confident, America's success -- its security, its prosperity -- depends on working with others. It's a big, bold gambit. I hope it works.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Netanyahu Lauds Obama's U.N. Speech
With all the vitriolic, misleading diatribes attacking President Obama's speech at the UN last week by the Conservative Pussy Posse and their friends, here is the bottom line:
Netanyahu Lauds Obama’s U.N. Speech
David Streeter — September 23, 2009 – 3:41 pm -- Israel:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “very satisfied” with
President Barack Obama’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly
and considers it a “positive” step toward peace.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu said:
Obama’s speech “expressed his resolute support for a Jewish state,
[for Israel] as the country for the Jewish people.”
Netanyahu also told CNN:
“I think that President Obama’s commitment to Israel has been
expressed very loud, very clearly by him. And I think this reflects
the underlying friendship between our two countries. It’s very
strong.”
That, of course, won't stop the Right-Wing Pussy Posse from barking, bleating and meowing about Obama's speech at the top of its lungs.
Netanyahu Lauds Obama’s U.N. Speech
David Streeter — September 23, 2009 – 3:41 pm -- Israel:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “very satisfied” with
President Barack Obama’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly
and considers it a “positive” step toward peace.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu said:
Obama’s speech “expressed his resolute support for a Jewish state,
[for Israel] as the country for the Jewish people.”
Netanyahu also told CNN:
“I think that President Obama’s commitment to Israel has been
expressed very loud, very clearly by him. And I think this reflects
the underlying friendship between our two countries. It’s very
strong.”
That, of course, won't stop the Right-Wing Pussy Posse from barking, bleating and meowing about Obama's speech at the top of its lungs.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The Conservative Pussy Posse Gives Barack Obama a Blow-Job
When Bill Clinton was president, Conservatives tried to destroy him with an endless series of fabricated slime attacks. There were the phony "scandals" of Whitewater, Travel-Gate, Gays in the Military, the Vince Foster "murder", Hillary Clinton's Health Plan, Bimbo-Gate, etc., etc., etc.
The only area where Republicans found any opening at all is when they impeached Clinton for lying under oath about having received a blow-job from Monica Lewinsky. These "Conservatives" cheapened and degraded the United States Constitution by turning lying under oath about receiving a blow-job from a consenting adult into a "High Crime and Misdemeanor" -- thus justifying impeachment of the president. Conservatives thereby showed that everything is a "war game" to them, and that they have no real regard or respect for the Constitution. Anything is a "high crime and misdemeanor" if it can help bring down a liberal president and restore the Conservative Destructionists to political power.
Now, of course, with Barack Obama, Conservatives have a different problem. Obama is a devoted family man who loves his wife and daughters, and whose major "extra-curricular activity" consists of playing basketball. He is never away from home surreptitiously engaging in "high crimes and misdemeanors" with third parties.
Therefore, since Republicans have learned that blow-jobs are the only way to bring down a popular, attractive young president, they have been forced to manufacture blow-jobs for the current incumbent.
And, the Conservative Pussy Posse has been on-the-job, hot and heavy, creating blow-jobs galore. By Pussy Posse, of course, I refer to the assembled Right-Wing Punditocracy of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Michele Malkin, Michael Savage, FOX and Fiends, and their ilk. Who, after all, is more of a Pussy than Glenn ("The Sky Is Falling" - "I Fear For My Country" - "Crocodile Tears") Beck?
Now, the Pussy Posse has recently drawn some blood by forcing the resignation of Van Jones, a highly respected environmental expert, from the Obama Administration. Despite the various Right-Wing allegations and innuendoes about Van Jones, his real crime was that he was part of a group trying to get Glenn Beck removed from the airwaves. Clearly, Van Jones was serious about attempting to improve America's environment.
However, it was not enough that Van Jones was forced to resign. In doing so, the Pussy Posse once again returned to trumpeting Obama's links to Jeremiah Wright, William Ayres, Tony Rezko, and other super-stars of the 2008 election. This is how the Pussy Posse is attempting to give Obama a blow-job. Obama's supposed links to "left-wing radicals" will be the blow-job which the Pussy Posse tries to use to define Obama and bring down his administration. Today's Conservative Catechism has become the recital of a litany of the names of Jeremiah Wright, William Ayres, Tony Rezko and, now, Van Jones, whenever Obama's name is mentioned.
Now, Beck, Hannity and their colleagues at FOX and Fiends have turned their attention to Obama's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools Director Kevin Jennings, labeling Jennings another "Czar" they want to purge from the Obama administration. What was Jennings' offense? He has tried to promote understanding and tolerance for homosexuality in the public schools. Well, FOX and Fiends knows its audience. They know that Conservatives and Republicans are a Hotbed of Homophobia. So, the Pussy Posse is now on the warpath against a member of the Obama administration who is trying to say a kind word for homosexuals in the school system. It's the typical GOP "Us Vs. Them" approach -- the usual Right-Wing Divide and Conquer tactic. The Pussy Posse is now mobilizing its vast army of Homophobes to go after the scalp of Kevin Jennings.
The other part of the Blow-Job is to fictitiously label Obama a "Socialist". Never mind that de-regulation, lack of financial supervision, tilting the tax code to favor the top 1 %, and other mantras of Ayn Rand's Conservative mumbo-jumbo, brought our entire financial system to the brink of collapse by the time Obama took office. Never mind that our entire capitalist system was on its death bed, thanks to eight years of Conservative policies. Never mind that the government stimulus and other programs of the Obama administration have restored our capitalist system to financial health. Obama rightfully says that "we are not out of the woods yet". However, the patient is demonstrably better --- out of bed and walking around again. America's capitalist system has been saved -- thanks to the swift and powerful stimulus policies of the new Obama administration. And, this is who the Pussy Posse labels a "Socialist" -- the Man Who Saved Capitalism.
Yesterday, Obama gave his first speech at the United Nations as president of the USA. It was a great speech, very well received by the international community. Obama is an American leader of enormous world-wide popularity and he is lifting America's international popularity and leadership to ever-greater heights. But -- what did the Pussy Posse have to say about the speech? That it was embarrassing, that it was craven, that Obama was "apologizing" for our country. The Pussy Posse will never say anything good about Obama, no matter what. They are too pre-occupied with trying to give him a Blow-Job, to bring him down.
The fact is that Obama does not engage in bombastic saber-rattling, the preferred modus operandi of our chicken-hawk Conservatives. He does not want America to "go it alone", to act unilaterally. He prefers to act in concert with our allies. That is the same approach taken by Woodrow Wilson in World War I when the US, working in concert with our allies, brought World War I to an end a year and a half after we entered the war. Likewise, FDR defeated the Axis powers in World War II, by working in close concert with our allies.
Back at the time of World War II, when FDR announced his "Good Neighbor Policy" with regard to South America, Conservatives attacked "That Man" for this policy, too. Conservatives always prefer the Big Brother, Big Stick, Big Bully approach. Well, yesterday at the United Nations, Obama proclaimed America's new Good Neighbor policy towards the entire world. Now, the Conservative Pussy Posse is up in arms over that, too.
His attempting to solve the world's problems through diplomacy instead of waging war will be one more Blow-Job the Conservative Pussy Posse tries to pin on Obama. Conservatives have only heard of one national leader who ever tried to solve world problems through diplomacy, and that leader was Neville Chamberlain. Since 1938, any leader who tries to resolve international problems through diplomacy is labeled "another Neville Chamberlain". So, Neville Chamberlain now becomes another member of the Conservative Catechism of Names that the Pussy Posse tries to attach to Obama.
Never mind the fact that the much maligned Jimmy Carter, through patient diplomacy -- and in conjunction with Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat -- was able to forge a lasting peace between former bitter enemies Israel and Egypt. Never mind that Muammar Quaddafi of Libya has now turned the page and become a law-abiding member of the international community, without having his country invaded.
Our greatest war leaders have tried diplomacy before they were forced to lead the USA into war. In 1916, Wilson was re-elected on the platform that "He Kept Us Out of War" -- although the events of the next few months forced Wilson to take us into World war I by March 1917. In 1941, FDR was negotiating with Japanese diplomats right up to the point when Pearl Harbor was bombed.
These efforts at diplomacy actually strengthened our hand once we finally entered those wars. Our entire country, indeed, the entire world, saw that we were trying to resolve international problems through diplomacy and that we were only forced into war as a last resort. These attempts at diplomacy helped strengthen our moral posture and our international alliances and ultimately helped speed our military victories.
In short, the Pussy Posse has its work cut out for it. Their Job: Get Obama. No matter what Obama does, the Pussy Posse will be out there riding herd, trying to pin a Blow-Job on him. Will the American people fall for the Pussy Posse's never-ending malarkey?
We'll see.
The only area where Republicans found any opening at all is when they impeached Clinton for lying under oath about having received a blow-job from Monica Lewinsky. These "Conservatives" cheapened and degraded the United States Constitution by turning lying under oath about receiving a blow-job from a consenting adult into a "High Crime and Misdemeanor" -- thus justifying impeachment of the president. Conservatives thereby showed that everything is a "war game" to them, and that they have no real regard or respect for the Constitution. Anything is a "high crime and misdemeanor" if it can help bring down a liberal president and restore the Conservative Destructionists to political power.
Now, of course, with Barack Obama, Conservatives have a different problem. Obama is a devoted family man who loves his wife and daughters, and whose major "extra-curricular activity" consists of playing basketball. He is never away from home surreptitiously engaging in "high crimes and misdemeanors" with third parties.
Therefore, since Republicans have learned that blow-jobs are the only way to bring down a popular, attractive young president, they have been forced to manufacture blow-jobs for the current incumbent.
And, the Conservative Pussy Posse has been on-the-job, hot and heavy, creating blow-jobs galore. By Pussy Posse, of course, I refer to the assembled Right-Wing Punditocracy of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Michele Malkin, Michael Savage, FOX and Fiends, and their ilk. Who, after all, is more of a Pussy than Glenn ("The Sky Is Falling" - "I Fear For My Country" - "Crocodile Tears") Beck?
Now, the Pussy Posse has recently drawn some blood by forcing the resignation of Van Jones, a highly respected environmental expert, from the Obama Administration. Despite the various Right-Wing allegations and innuendoes about Van Jones, his real crime was that he was part of a group trying to get Glenn Beck removed from the airwaves. Clearly, Van Jones was serious about attempting to improve America's environment.
However, it was not enough that Van Jones was forced to resign. In doing so, the Pussy Posse once again returned to trumpeting Obama's links to Jeremiah Wright, William Ayres, Tony Rezko, and other super-stars of the 2008 election. This is how the Pussy Posse is attempting to give Obama a blow-job. Obama's supposed links to "left-wing radicals" will be the blow-job which the Pussy Posse tries to use to define Obama and bring down his administration. Today's Conservative Catechism has become the recital of a litany of the names of Jeremiah Wright, William Ayres, Tony Rezko and, now, Van Jones, whenever Obama's name is mentioned.
Now, Beck, Hannity and their colleagues at FOX and Fiends have turned their attention to Obama's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools Director Kevin Jennings, labeling Jennings another "Czar" they want to purge from the Obama administration. What was Jennings' offense? He has tried to promote understanding and tolerance for homosexuality in the public schools. Well, FOX and Fiends knows its audience. They know that Conservatives and Republicans are a Hotbed of Homophobia. So, the Pussy Posse is now on the warpath against a member of the Obama administration who is trying to say a kind word for homosexuals in the school system. It's the typical GOP "Us Vs. Them" approach -- the usual Right-Wing Divide and Conquer tactic. The Pussy Posse is now mobilizing its vast army of Homophobes to go after the scalp of Kevin Jennings.
The other part of the Blow-Job is to fictitiously label Obama a "Socialist". Never mind that de-regulation, lack of financial supervision, tilting the tax code to favor the top 1 %, and other mantras of Ayn Rand's Conservative mumbo-jumbo, brought our entire financial system to the brink of collapse by the time Obama took office. Never mind that our entire capitalist system was on its death bed, thanks to eight years of Conservative policies. Never mind that the government stimulus and other programs of the Obama administration have restored our capitalist system to financial health. Obama rightfully says that "we are not out of the woods yet". However, the patient is demonstrably better --- out of bed and walking around again. America's capitalist system has been saved -- thanks to the swift and powerful stimulus policies of the new Obama administration. And, this is who the Pussy Posse labels a "Socialist" -- the Man Who Saved Capitalism.
Yesterday, Obama gave his first speech at the United Nations as president of the USA. It was a great speech, very well received by the international community. Obama is an American leader of enormous world-wide popularity and he is lifting America's international popularity and leadership to ever-greater heights. But -- what did the Pussy Posse have to say about the speech? That it was embarrassing, that it was craven, that Obama was "apologizing" for our country. The Pussy Posse will never say anything good about Obama, no matter what. They are too pre-occupied with trying to give him a Blow-Job, to bring him down.
The fact is that Obama does not engage in bombastic saber-rattling, the preferred modus operandi of our chicken-hawk Conservatives. He does not want America to "go it alone", to act unilaterally. He prefers to act in concert with our allies. That is the same approach taken by Woodrow Wilson in World War I when the US, working in concert with our allies, brought World War I to an end a year and a half after we entered the war. Likewise, FDR defeated the Axis powers in World War II, by working in close concert with our allies.
Back at the time of World War II, when FDR announced his "Good Neighbor Policy" with regard to South America, Conservatives attacked "That Man" for this policy, too. Conservatives always prefer the Big Brother, Big Stick, Big Bully approach. Well, yesterday at the United Nations, Obama proclaimed America's new Good Neighbor policy towards the entire world. Now, the Conservative Pussy Posse is up in arms over that, too.
His attempting to solve the world's problems through diplomacy instead of waging war will be one more Blow-Job the Conservative Pussy Posse tries to pin on Obama. Conservatives have only heard of one national leader who ever tried to solve world problems through diplomacy, and that leader was Neville Chamberlain. Since 1938, any leader who tries to resolve international problems through diplomacy is labeled "another Neville Chamberlain". So, Neville Chamberlain now becomes another member of the Conservative Catechism of Names that the Pussy Posse tries to attach to Obama.
Never mind the fact that the much maligned Jimmy Carter, through patient diplomacy -- and in conjunction with Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat -- was able to forge a lasting peace between former bitter enemies Israel and Egypt. Never mind that Muammar Quaddafi of Libya has now turned the page and become a law-abiding member of the international community, without having his country invaded.
Our greatest war leaders have tried diplomacy before they were forced to lead the USA into war. In 1916, Wilson was re-elected on the platform that "He Kept Us Out of War" -- although the events of the next few months forced Wilson to take us into World war I by March 1917. In 1941, FDR was negotiating with Japanese diplomats right up to the point when Pearl Harbor was bombed.
These efforts at diplomacy actually strengthened our hand once we finally entered those wars. Our entire country, indeed, the entire world, saw that we were trying to resolve international problems through diplomacy and that we were only forced into war as a last resort. These attempts at diplomacy helped strengthen our moral posture and our international alliances and ultimately helped speed our military victories.
In short, the Pussy Posse has its work cut out for it. Their Job: Get Obama. No matter what Obama does, the Pussy Posse will be out there riding herd, trying to pin a Blow-Job on him. Will the American people fall for the Pussy Posse's never-ending malarkey?
We'll see.
Friday, September 18, 2009
The Un-American Right-Wing Media Oligopoly
What Beck, Dobbs and Limbaugh Are Really Afraid Of by Timothy Karr
From The Huffington Post Sept.16, 2009
Can you smell the fear? Switch on cable news or tune in to talk radio and it comes wafting in.
Fox News Channel's Glenn Beck has bottled his own scent. Lou Dobbs' fear gives off a distinct undertone of racial intolerance. And Rush Limbaugh takes to the air to spread an odor that's designed to make Americans angry at, well, other Americans.
It's a fear that's laced with paranoia, stoked by misinformation and prejudice and fed to millions of people via powerful media. But most of all, it's a fear of the changes that an overwhelming majority of Americans called for when they stepped into voting booths last November.
Since then, the old guard has fallen into alignment with old media to hijack the public debate over reform, and vilify reformers as anti-American. And to them the most anti-American notion of the lot is the idea that we need to reform the media itself.
"Part of the strategy of this fundamental 'transformation' of America is to silence dissent," Glenn Beck said on Fox last month. The "most diabolical, hidden parts of this plan," according to Beck, are efforts to reform media through "localism and diversity" -- two principles that have grounded modern communications policy for decades.
Beck was later joined on the program by Rush Limbaugh, who called localism and diversity part of the growing tyranny of the left. This issue is "simply un-American," Limbaugh crowed. "They're trying to do this back-door route with diversity... to shut you up by shutting us down."
Not to be outdone, Lou Dobbs stated falsely: "When you talk about diversity, [you aren't] talking about ethnic, racial or religious diversity, [you 're] talking about more liberals on the air."
The cloud of media hysteria could have been waved off by more sensible voices on cable's evening news roster. But few have stepped forward to challenge Beck, Limbaugh and Dobbs, to replace their fomenting with facts. More worrisome, voices of reason seem to be absent from the media "pundocracy" altogether.
While Beck and his ilk want to portray diversity and localism as a dangerous conspiracy to censor, the fact remains that these ideas have been staples of communications policy since the beginning. The central mandate of the Federal Communications Commission -- as enshrined in the Communications Act of 1934 -- is to promote localism, diversity and competition in the media. This same principle of localism has been a rallying cry for several generations of true conservatives.
Broadcasters get hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of subsidies and the right to use our airwaves in exchange for a basic commitment to be responsive to the interests of local communities.
Moreover, the Supreme Court recognized that "safeguarding the public's right to receive a diversity of views and information over the airwaves is ... an integral component of the FCC's mission."
Sadly, the FCC has failed to live up to this standard. And what mainstream media's fear-merchants are most afraid of is not censorship, but an FCC that actually does its job -- creating more opportunities for people like you and me to participate in media.
We don't have that now. Washington bureaucrats have allowed powerful media corporations to control the public airwaves and dominate local cable networks. We have reached a nadir where the free press that Thomas Jefferson hoped would open "all the avenues to truth" has devolved into a media system that's a megaphone for the few.
Beck and Limbaugh, in particular, are two corporate welfare babies who owe much of their existence to this regulatory failure, which handed control of our airwaves to massive conglomerates like Clear Channel and ABC Radio to broadcast their fear agenda via a syndicated network of centrally owned radio stations.
The cable sector that carries Beck and Dobbs' nightly paranoia is itself a gigantic bundle of government handouts, having built invaluable local monopolies via granted rights-of-way that beam these two into nearly every den in America.
Try calculating what it would cost to get your content across America without a local or federal government clearing your path, and you quickly realize that blowhards like Beck, Dobbs and Limbaugh are three of the nation's biggest beneficiaries of public largesse.
And while they're raking in millions in salaries via their government-granted fiefdoms, you, the owner of the airwaves and roads and telephone poles over which they transmit, are getting nothing in exchange.
The ultimate irony of Beck, Dobbs and Limbaugh is that they couch in populist rhetoric a message that, in its very essence, is anti-populist -- designed to protect the swindle at the core of our media system's failure.
And that is why the media's old guard is targeting the idea that this system needs to change.
In his media and technology agenda, President Obama took up the cause of reform by committing to "diversity in the ownership of broadcast media," and pledging to "promote the development of new media outlets for expression of diverse viewpoints."
Obama is right, but he needs to get started on fulfilling that commitment. Winning real change and giving more people a media voice is ultimately the best response we have to fear campaigns.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/what-beck-dobbs-and-limba_b_288480.html
From The Huffington Post Sept.16, 2009
Can you smell the fear? Switch on cable news or tune in to talk radio and it comes wafting in.
Fox News Channel's Glenn Beck has bottled his own scent. Lou Dobbs' fear gives off a distinct undertone of racial intolerance. And Rush Limbaugh takes to the air to spread an odor that's designed to make Americans angry at, well, other Americans.
It's a fear that's laced with paranoia, stoked by misinformation and prejudice and fed to millions of people via powerful media. But most of all, it's a fear of the changes that an overwhelming majority of Americans called for when they stepped into voting booths last November.
Since then, the old guard has fallen into alignment with old media to hijack the public debate over reform, and vilify reformers as anti-American. And to them the most anti-American notion of the lot is the idea that we need to reform the media itself.
"Part of the strategy of this fundamental 'transformation' of America is to silence dissent," Glenn Beck said on Fox last month. The "most diabolical, hidden parts of this plan," according to Beck, are efforts to reform media through "localism and diversity" -- two principles that have grounded modern communications policy for decades.
Beck was later joined on the program by Rush Limbaugh, who called localism and diversity part of the growing tyranny of the left. This issue is "simply un-American," Limbaugh crowed. "They're trying to do this back-door route with diversity... to shut you up by shutting us down."
Not to be outdone, Lou Dobbs stated falsely: "When you talk about diversity, [you aren't] talking about ethnic, racial or religious diversity, [you 're] talking about more liberals on the air."
The cloud of media hysteria could have been waved off by more sensible voices on cable's evening news roster. But few have stepped forward to challenge Beck, Limbaugh and Dobbs, to replace their fomenting with facts. More worrisome, voices of reason seem to be absent from the media "pundocracy" altogether.
While Beck and his ilk want to portray diversity and localism as a dangerous conspiracy to censor, the fact remains that these ideas have been staples of communications policy since the beginning. The central mandate of the Federal Communications Commission -- as enshrined in the Communications Act of 1934 -- is to promote localism, diversity and competition in the media. This same principle of localism has been a rallying cry for several generations of true conservatives.
Broadcasters get hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of subsidies and the right to use our airwaves in exchange for a basic commitment to be responsive to the interests of local communities.
Moreover, the Supreme Court recognized that "safeguarding the public's right to receive a diversity of views and information over the airwaves is ... an integral component of the FCC's mission."
Sadly, the FCC has failed to live up to this standard. And what mainstream media's fear-merchants are most afraid of is not censorship, but an FCC that actually does its job -- creating more opportunities for people like you and me to participate in media.
We don't have that now. Washington bureaucrats have allowed powerful media corporations to control the public airwaves and dominate local cable networks. We have reached a nadir where the free press that Thomas Jefferson hoped would open "all the avenues to truth" has devolved into a media system that's a megaphone for the few.
Beck and Limbaugh, in particular, are two corporate welfare babies who owe much of their existence to this regulatory failure, which handed control of our airwaves to massive conglomerates like Clear Channel and ABC Radio to broadcast their fear agenda via a syndicated network of centrally owned radio stations.
The cable sector that carries Beck and Dobbs' nightly paranoia is itself a gigantic bundle of government handouts, having built invaluable local monopolies via granted rights-of-way that beam these two into nearly every den in America.
Try calculating what it would cost to get your content across America without a local or federal government clearing your path, and you quickly realize that blowhards like Beck, Dobbs and Limbaugh are three of the nation's biggest beneficiaries of public largesse.
And while they're raking in millions in salaries via their government-granted fiefdoms, you, the owner of the airwaves and roads and telephone poles over which they transmit, are getting nothing in exchange.
The ultimate irony of Beck, Dobbs and Limbaugh is that they couch in populist rhetoric a message that, in its very essence, is anti-populist -- designed to protect the swindle at the core of our media system's failure.
And that is why the media's old guard is targeting the idea that this system needs to change.
In his media and technology agenda, President Obama took up the cause of reform by committing to "diversity in the ownership of broadcast media," and pledging to "promote the development of new media outlets for expression of diverse viewpoints."
Obama is right, but he needs to get started on fulfilling that commitment. Winning real change and giving more people a media voice is ultimately the best response we have to fear campaigns.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/what-beck-dobbs-and-limba_b_288480.html
Is ACORN a "Bad Group"?
The only reason ACORN is a "bad group" is because it registers so many poor and minority people to vote and offers them housing assistance. That makes ACORN a "bad group" for Republicans and Conservatives -- who are hell-bent on trying to destroy or discredit ACORN -- but an excellent group for the rest of the country.
The Truth About ACORN and the Sleazy Efforts by FOX News and the Right-Wing to Smear ACORN
From:
Salon The Web
Friday, Sep 18, 2009
In defense of ACORN
The right-wing crusade against ACORN is a far bigger fraud than any misdeeds a few employees might have committed
By Joe Conason
For many years the combined forces of the far right and the Republican Party have sought to ruin ACORN, the largest organization of poor and working families in America. Owing to the idiocy of a few ACORN employees, notoriously caught in a videotape "sting" sponsored by a conservative Web site and publicized by Fox News, that campaign has scored significant victories on Capitol Hill and in the media.
Both the Senate and the House have voted over the past few days to curtail any federal funding of ACORN's activities. While that congressional action probably won't destroy the group, whose funding does not mainly depend on government largesse, the ban inflicts severe damage on its reputation.
In the atmosphere of frenzy created by the BigGovernment videos -- which feature a young man and an even younger woman who pretend to be a prostitute and a pimp seeking "advice" from ACORN about starting a teenage brothel -- it is hardly shocking that both Democrats and Republicans would put as much distance as possible between themselves and the sleazy outfit depicted on-screen.
Like so many conservative attacks, the crusade against ACORN has been highly exaggerated and even falsified to create a demonic image that bears little resemblance to the real organization. Working in the nation's poorest places, and hiring the people who live there, ACORN is not immune to the pathologies that can afflict institutions in those communities. As a large nonprofit handling many millions of dollars, it has suffered from mismanagement at the top as well -- although there is nothing unique in that, either.
Yet ACORN's troubles should be considered in the context of a history of honorable service to the dispossessed and impoverished. No doubt it was fun to dupe a few morons into providing tax advice to a "pimp and ho," but what ACORN actually does, every day, is help struggling families with the Earned Income Tax Credit (whose benefits were expanded by both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton). And while the idea of getting housing assistance for a brothel was clever, what ACORN really does, every day, is help those same working families avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes.
Perhaps the congressional investigation now demanded by some Republican politicians would be a useful exercise, if conducted impartially. A fair investigation might begin to dispel some of the wild mythology promoted by right-wing media outlets.
Among the most popular canards on the right, repeated constantly by conservative pundits and politicians, is that ACORN has been found guilty of engaging in deliberate voter fraud, using federal funds. In reality, ACORN has registered close to 2 million low-income citizens across the country over the past five years -- a laudable record with a very low incidence of fraud of any kind.
Over the past several years, a handful of ACORN employees have admitted falsifying names and signatures on registration cards, in order to boost the pay they received. When ACORN officials discovered those cases, they informed the state authorities and turned in the miscreants. (That was why the Bush Justice Department's blatant attempt to smear ACORN with rushed, election-timed indictments became a national scandal for Republicans rather than Democrats.) The proportion of fraud is infinitesimal. For example, a half-dozen ACORN workers were charged with registration fraud or other election-related crimes in the 2004 election. They had completed fewer than two dozen false registrations -- out of more than a million new voters registered by ACORN during that cycle. The mythology that suggests that thousands or even millions of illegal registrants voted is itself a fraud.
If only the Republicans who have worked up a frenzy over ACORN's alleged crimes were so indignant about real and damaging voter fraud -- such as the amazing case of Young Political Majors, the firm that ran GOP registration efforts in California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona and elsewhere before the authorities in Orange County, Calif., busted its president, Mark Anthony Jacoby, and sent him to jail last year. He had built a lucrative partisan career by teaching his minions to deceive thousands of voters into registering as Republicans rather than Democrats, among other scams. Of course, the only on-air mention of the Young Political Majors scandal on Fox News was made by blogger Brad Friedman -- and the national media, mainstream and conservative, generally ignored it. They were too busy generating "controversy" over ACORN.
So now the overhyped voting registration tales are metastasizing into wild accusations about ACORN's finances and programs, including claims that the group will receive billions in federal bailout funding and that it is a hotbed of corruption, perhaps even murder. In fact, ACORN affiliates -- those not involved with voter registration -- have received a few million dollars annually in federal funding. The group is not scheduled to receive any bailout money (although working people would probably benefit more from subsidizing ACORN than greasing AIG and Goldman Sachs).
The fans of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck regard ACORN as a criminal enterprise that fosters tax fraud, prostitution, child prostitution and even murder (thanks to a satirical "confession" by an employee filmed surreptitiously in the San Bernardino ACORN office). But ACORN chief organizer and CEO Bertha Lewis swiftly dismissed the employees caught on those videotapes and set about reforming the flawed processes that enabled those individuals to speak for the organization. No overt acts were committed by any of the people caught on those tapes -- and so far nobody has found that any of those theoretical "crimes" ever took place.
To claim that the stupid behavior of a half-dozen employees should discredit a national group with offices in more than 75 cities staffed by many thousands of employees and volunteers is like saying that Mark Sanford or John Ensign have discredited every Republican governor or senator. Indeed, the indignation of the congressional Republicans screaming about ACORN and the phony streetwalker is diluted by the presence of at least two confirmed prostitution clients -- Rep. Ken Calvert and Sen. David Vitter -- in their midst. Neither of those right-wing johns has been even mildly chastised by their moralistic peers. Nobody is cutting off their federal funding.
ACORN has pledged to institute reforms, with the appointment of a distinguished outside panel to oversee that process. Let us hope they succeed. Even now they seem far more likely to improve their performance -- and to be more sincere in their intentions -- than the Washington hypocrites who are trying to destroy them.
Salon The Web
Friday, Sep 18, 2009
In defense of ACORN
The right-wing crusade against ACORN is a far bigger fraud than any misdeeds a few employees might have committed
By Joe Conason
For many years the combined forces of the far right and the Republican Party have sought to ruin ACORN, the largest organization of poor and working families in America. Owing to the idiocy of a few ACORN employees, notoriously caught in a videotape "sting" sponsored by a conservative Web site and publicized by Fox News, that campaign has scored significant victories on Capitol Hill and in the media.
Both the Senate and the House have voted over the past few days to curtail any federal funding of ACORN's activities. While that congressional action probably won't destroy the group, whose funding does not mainly depend on government largesse, the ban inflicts severe damage on its reputation.
In the atmosphere of frenzy created by the BigGovernment videos -- which feature a young man and an even younger woman who pretend to be a prostitute and a pimp seeking "advice" from ACORN about starting a teenage brothel -- it is hardly shocking that both Democrats and Republicans would put as much distance as possible between themselves and the sleazy outfit depicted on-screen.
Like so many conservative attacks, the crusade against ACORN has been highly exaggerated and even falsified to create a demonic image that bears little resemblance to the real organization. Working in the nation's poorest places, and hiring the people who live there, ACORN is not immune to the pathologies that can afflict institutions in those communities. As a large nonprofit handling many millions of dollars, it has suffered from mismanagement at the top as well -- although there is nothing unique in that, either.
Yet ACORN's troubles should be considered in the context of a history of honorable service to the dispossessed and impoverished. No doubt it was fun to dupe a few morons into providing tax advice to a "pimp and ho," but what ACORN actually does, every day, is help struggling families with the Earned Income Tax Credit (whose benefits were expanded by both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton). And while the idea of getting housing assistance for a brothel was clever, what ACORN really does, every day, is help those same working families avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes.
Perhaps the congressional investigation now demanded by some Republican politicians would be a useful exercise, if conducted impartially. A fair investigation might begin to dispel some of the wild mythology promoted by right-wing media outlets.
Among the most popular canards on the right, repeated constantly by conservative pundits and politicians, is that ACORN has been found guilty of engaging in deliberate voter fraud, using federal funds. In reality, ACORN has registered close to 2 million low-income citizens across the country over the past five years -- a laudable record with a very low incidence of fraud of any kind.
Over the past several years, a handful of ACORN employees have admitted falsifying names and signatures on registration cards, in order to boost the pay they received. When ACORN officials discovered those cases, they informed the state authorities and turned in the miscreants. (That was why the Bush Justice Department's blatant attempt to smear ACORN with rushed, election-timed indictments became a national scandal for Republicans rather than Democrats.) The proportion of fraud is infinitesimal. For example, a half-dozen ACORN workers were charged with registration fraud or other election-related crimes in the 2004 election. They had completed fewer than two dozen false registrations -- out of more than a million new voters registered by ACORN during that cycle. The mythology that suggests that thousands or even millions of illegal registrants voted is itself a fraud.
If only the Republicans who have worked up a frenzy over ACORN's alleged crimes were so indignant about real and damaging voter fraud -- such as the amazing case of Young Political Majors, the firm that ran GOP registration efforts in California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona and elsewhere before the authorities in Orange County, Calif., busted its president, Mark Anthony Jacoby, and sent him to jail last year. He had built a lucrative partisan career by teaching his minions to deceive thousands of voters into registering as Republicans rather than Democrats, among other scams. Of course, the only on-air mention of the Young Political Majors scandal on Fox News was made by blogger Brad Friedman -- and the national media, mainstream and conservative, generally ignored it. They were too busy generating "controversy" over ACORN.
So now the overhyped voting registration tales are metastasizing into wild accusations about ACORN's finances and programs, including claims that the group will receive billions in federal bailout funding and that it is a hotbed of corruption, perhaps even murder. In fact, ACORN affiliates -- those not involved with voter registration -- have received a few million dollars annually in federal funding. The group is not scheduled to receive any bailout money (although working people would probably benefit more from subsidizing ACORN than greasing AIG and Goldman Sachs).
The fans of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck regard ACORN as a criminal enterprise that fosters tax fraud, prostitution, child prostitution and even murder (thanks to a satirical "confession" by an employee filmed surreptitiously in the San Bernardino ACORN office). But ACORN chief organizer and CEO Bertha Lewis swiftly dismissed the employees caught on those videotapes and set about reforming the flawed processes that enabled those individuals to speak for the organization. No overt acts were committed by any of the people caught on those tapes -- and so far nobody has found that any of those theoretical "crimes" ever took place.
To claim that the stupid behavior of a half-dozen employees should discredit a national group with offices in more than 75 cities staffed by many thousands of employees and volunteers is like saying that Mark Sanford or John Ensign have discredited every Republican governor or senator. Indeed, the indignation of the congressional Republicans screaming about ACORN and the phony streetwalker is diluted by the presence of at least two confirmed prostitution clients -- Rep. Ken Calvert and Sen. David Vitter -- in their midst. Neither of those right-wing johns has been even mildly chastised by their moralistic peers. Nobody is cutting off their federal funding.
ACORN has pledged to institute reforms, with the appointment of a distinguished outside panel to oversee that process. Let us hope they succeed. Even now they seem far more likely to improve their performance -- and to be more sincere in their intentions -- than the Washington hypocrites who are trying to destroy them.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Another Racist Comment from Radio Klansman Rush Limbaugh
May I add to our previous list Rush Limbaugh's recent statement that "In Obama's America, the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering".
Right On, Rush. Or, is that, Ride On, Rush -- don't let your hood fall off.
Right On, Rush. Or, is that, Ride On, Rush -- don't let your hood fall off.
More Facts About the ACORN Flap
From Media Matters for America - Seot, 17, 2009:
"ACORN provided only counseling and performed no illegal services; no fraud or harm came to the government as a result of the sessions. None of the networks indicated that there is no evidence the ACORN employees provided anything beyond the counseling sessions to the activists, nor did they report that the government was not defrauded in any way as a result of the employees' actions.
Filmmakers reportedly turned away from ACORN's Philadelphia office, contradicting their claims. The CBS Evening News and World News did not report that ACORN has stated that the activists were turned away from other offices, or that ACORN filed a complaint with police about the filmmakers' conduct in Philadelphia. On the September 11 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, CNN correspondent Bill Tucker reported that ACORN "claims that the two activist filmmakers responsible for posting the videos tried the same thing" at several of their other offices "and failed." Tucker further reported: "ACORN gave CNN a copy of the police complaint filed against the filmmakers In Philadelphia. The filmmakers, James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles are not commenting and Giles was a no-show for an agreed-to interview with CNN." "
"ACORN provided only counseling and performed no illegal services; no fraud or harm came to the government as a result of the sessions. None of the networks indicated that there is no evidence the ACORN employees provided anything beyond the counseling sessions to the activists, nor did they report that the government was not defrauded in any way as a result of the employees' actions.
Filmmakers reportedly turned away from ACORN's Philadelphia office, contradicting their claims. The CBS Evening News and World News did not report that ACORN has stated that the activists were turned away from other offices, or that ACORN filed a complaint with police about the filmmakers' conduct in Philadelphia. On the September 11 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, CNN correspondent Bill Tucker reported that ACORN "claims that the two activist filmmakers responsible for posting the videos tried the same thing" at several of their other offices "and failed." Tucker further reported: "ACORN gave CNN a copy of the police complaint filed against the filmmakers In Philadelphia. The filmmakers, James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles are not commenting and Giles was a no-show for an agreed-to interview with CNN." "
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Possible 5 Year Jail Terms for the ACORN Video-Tapers
The videotaping at the ACORN offices may have violated state criminal statutes.
Baltimore state's attorney: Maryland law requires "two-party consent" to record audio. Maryland law provides that, subject to several exceptions, "it is unlawful for any person to ... [w]ilfully intercept, endeavor to intercept, or procure any other person to intercept or endeavor to intercept, any wire, oral, or electronic communication." The website of Baltimore radio station WBAL has published audio of Pat Jessamy, the state's attorney for the city of Baltimore, stating with regard to the tape of ACORN employees at the group's Baltimore office, "Maryland is a two-party consent state, which means that if you record someone orally ... without the permission of all parties, then the interception of that is a crime" and that if the tape was illegally obtained, "the use of it ... is also a crime." According to a post on WBAL's website, in a written statement, Jessamy said:
The audio portion could possibly have been obtained in violation of Maryland Law, Annotated Code of Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article §10-402, which requires two party consent.
If it is determined that the audio portion now being heard on YouTube was illegally obtained, it is also illegal under Maryland Law to willfully use or willfully disclose the content of said audio. The penalty for the unlawful interception, disclosure or use of it is a felony punishable up to 5 years.
ACORN has alleged that the videotaping violated criminal statutes. In a September 11 letter to Fox News president Roger Ailes, Arthur Schwartz, an attorney for ACORN, wrote:
"After looking at the law, it is our conclusion that the filming and broadcast of the conversations at the Baltimore ACORN offices violates §10-402(a)(1) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article of the Maryland Code, which makes it unlawful to wilfully intercept, endeavor to intercept, or procure any other person to intercept any oral conversation unless all parties to the communication consent. FOX News, the filmmakers, and the producer of the videos have clearly violated this statute. It is also our belief that the tape broadcast today, involving ACORN's Washington, D.C. office, violates §23-542 of the D.C. Code in that the conversation was recorded for no purpose other than to cause injury."
Baltimore state's attorney: Maryland law requires "two-party consent" to record audio. Maryland law provides that, subject to several exceptions, "it is unlawful for any person to ... [w]ilfully intercept, endeavor to intercept, or procure any other person to intercept or endeavor to intercept, any wire, oral, or electronic communication." The website of Baltimore radio station WBAL has published audio of Pat Jessamy, the state's attorney for the city of Baltimore, stating with regard to the tape of ACORN employees at the group's Baltimore office, "Maryland is a two-party consent state, which means that if you record someone orally ... without the permission of all parties, then the interception of that is a crime" and that if the tape was illegally obtained, "the use of it ... is also a crime." According to a post on WBAL's website, in a written statement, Jessamy said:
The audio portion could possibly have been obtained in violation of Maryland Law, Annotated Code of Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article §10-402, which requires two party consent.
If it is determined that the audio portion now being heard on YouTube was illegally obtained, it is also illegal under Maryland Law to willfully use or willfully disclose the content of said audio. The penalty for the unlawful interception, disclosure or use of it is a felony punishable up to 5 years.
ACORN has alleged that the videotaping violated criminal statutes. In a September 11 letter to Fox News president Roger Ailes, Arthur Schwartz, an attorney for ACORN, wrote:
"After looking at the law, it is our conclusion that the filming and broadcast of the conversations at the Baltimore ACORN offices violates §10-402(a)(1) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article of the Maryland Code, which makes it unlawful to wilfully intercept, endeavor to intercept, or procure any other person to intercept any oral conversation unless all parties to the communication consent. FOX News, the filmmakers, and the producer of the videos have clearly violated this statute. It is also our belief that the tape broadcast today, involving ACORN's Washington, D.C. office, violates §23-542 of the D.C. Code in that the conversation was recorded for no purpose other than to cause injury."
Rush Limbaugh's Top 10 Racist Quotes; Rush Limbaugh: A Klansman Without the Robes
A Conservative friend of mine recently asked me how I could possibly call Rush Limbaugh a "racist", without any supporting facts?
Well, to make things simple, allow me to reprint a Blog posted on October 20, 2008 by a Blogger named Casey Gane-McCalla, in which Casey assembled his Top 10 Racist Quotes by Rush Limbaugh. Casey follows each comment with his own response.
Of course, that was nearly a year ago, and it's time for this list to be updated with the many racist comments Limbaugh has made in the intervening eleven months. However, this small sampling should give you an idea of why Rush Limbaugh is considered by many to be a Klansman without the robes.
Top 10 Racist Limbaugh Quotes
By Casey Gane-McCalla October 20, 2008
Here’s Our Top 10 Racist Rush Limbaugh Quotes
1. "I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark."
Okay Rush, slavery was not a good thing for the millions of African Americans who were enslaved, raped and beaten. The streets weren’t at all safe for African Americans. Slavery not a bad thing? Someone should put Rush on a plantation for him to see how great it is. Keep on fear and race mongering Rush, you might get to Goebels status.
2. "You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you, James. Godspeed."
Martin Luther King is a national hero, not a black hero. Everybody in the United States celebrates his birthday, children are taught to look up to him as a hero in school. He’s earned the respect and admiration of the world and you believe the man who killed him was a hero? This is beyond racist. This is evil, mean spirited, subhuman. Praising the assassin of one of our great American heroes is beyond the scope of regular racism.
3. "Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?"
No but I’ve noticed that all racist bigots think like Rush Limbaugh. Comparing a respected black politician and minister to common criminals is Jim Crow racism. Maybe all black people look alike to him, but I’ve never seen a picture of a wanted criminal that looks like Jesse Jackson. A serial killer that looks like Rush Limbaugh, on the other hand.
4. "Right. So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela — who was bankrolled by communists for a time, had the support of certain communist leaders. You go to Ethiopia. You do the same thing."
The communist connection is an old way of dealing with black leaders. They used it on Martin Luther King, they’re using it on Barack Obama and Limbaugh used it on Nelson Mandela. By siding with the racist apartheid regime over a world-wide symbol of peace and freedom, Limbaugh has shown he’s a global racist.
5. "Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it."
Limbaugh is once again fear mongering and race baiting by associating professional black athletes with criminals and gang members. He continues the fear mongering association of good, decent, hard working African-Americans as criminals.
6. "The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies."
Now Limbaugh is saying that an organization with a storied tradition of representing the positive black people for change in their communities are criminals and rioters. An organization that has been represented by intelligent professional African Americans, that has played a part in the Civil Rights movement and continues to be an intelligent, concerned voice for the African American community is degraded to common criminals. There you go Rush. Keep racism alive!!!!
7. "They’re 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?"
Decent human beings care, Rush. Someone out of that 12% may just become President of the United States. Not caring about black people? Even George Bush wouldn’t admit to that.
8. "Take that bone out of your nose and call me back (to an African American female caller)."
Okay, Rush, that’s classy. The old African bone in the nose stereotype. Wasn’t funny when the racist white school kids called the black kids that, and it’s definitely not funny when a grown man with an audience of millions of easily influenced dittoheads says it, either.
9. "I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They’re interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there’s a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn’t deserve."
I wasn’t super offended by this, the whole black quarterback/coach thing has been going on for years in sports, but the quote was so offensive that Retired General Wesley Clarke said:
"There can be no excuse for such statements. Mr. Limbaugh has the right to say whatever he wants, but ABC and ESPN have no obligation to sponsor such hateful and ignorant speech. Mr. Limbaugh should be fired immediately."
When a respected, retired general condemns the statement of a sportscaster, you know he’s gone too far.
10. Limbaugh attacks on Obama. Limbaugh has called Obama a ‘Halfrican American’ has said that Obama was not black but Arab because Kenya is an Arab region, even though Arabs are less than one percent of Kenya. Since mainstream America has become more accepting of African-Americans, Limbaugh has decided to play against its new racial fears, Arabs and Muslims. Despite the fact Obama graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law school, Limbaugh has called him an ‘affirmative action candidate.’ Limbaugh even has repeatedly played a song on his radio show ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ using an antiquated Jim Crow era term for black a man who many Americans are supporting for president. Way to go, Rush.
So Rush Limbaugh has managed to make racist attacks on four of the most admired and respected people of African descent in the past one hundred years: Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Colin Powell and Barack Obama. He has called for the assassin of Martin Luther King to be given a medal, and said slavery was a good thing. He has claimed that Joe the Plumber, who isn’t even a plumber, is more important in this election than Colin Powell, a decorated military veteran who has served honorably in three administrations. How can the Republican Party stand by this man and let their candidates appear on his show?
Rush Limbaugh’s comments are so racist, they’re funny, in a Borat, Archie Bunker kind of way. What is not funny is the millions of dittoheads who listen to him, who take in and re-spout all the racist rhetoric that he spits out. Limbaugh’s statements are echoed in the racist, angry Palin/McCain supporters who shout ‘kill him,’ ‘terrorist,’ ‘communist,’ ‘traitor,’ ’socialist’ and ‘off with his head.’
Well, to make things simple, allow me to reprint a Blog posted on October 20, 2008 by a Blogger named Casey Gane-McCalla, in which Casey assembled his Top 10 Racist Quotes by Rush Limbaugh. Casey follows each comment with his own response.
Of course, that was nearly a year ago, and it's time for this list to be updated with the many racist comments Limbaugh has made in the intervening eleven months. However, this small sampling should give you an idea of why Rush Limbaugh is considered by many to be a Klansman without the robes.
Top 10 Racist Limbaugh Quotes
By Casey Gane-McCalla October 20, 2008
Here’s Our Top 10 Racist Rush Limbaugh Quotes
1. "I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark."
Okay Rush, slavery was not a good thing for the millions of African Americans who were enslaved, raped and beaten. The streets weren’t at all safe for African Americans. Slavery not a bad thing? Someone should put Rush on a plantation for him to see how great it is. Keep on fear and race mongering Rush, you might get to Goebels status.
2. "You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you, James. Godspeed."
Martin Luther King is a national hero, not a black hero. Everybody in the United States celebrates his birthday, children are taught to look up to him as a hero in school. He’s earned the respect and admiration of the world and you believe the man who killed him was a hero? This is beyond racist. This is evil, mean spirited, subhuman. Praising the assassin of one of our great American heroes is beyond the scope of regular racism.
3. "Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?"
No but I’ve noticed that all racist bigots think like Rush Limbaugh. Comparing a respected black politician and minister to common criminals is Jim Crow racism. Maybe all black people look alike to him, but I’ve never seen a picture of a wanted criminal that looks like Jesse Jackson. A serial killer that looks like Rush Limbaugh, on the other hand.
4. "Right. So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela — who was bankrolled by communists for a time, had the support of certain communist leaders. You go to Ethiopia. You do the same thing."
The communist connection is an old way of dealing with black leaders. They used it on Martin Luther King, they’re using it on Barack Obama and Limbaugh used it on Nelson Mandela. By siding with the racist apartheid regime over a world-wide symbol of peace and freedom, Limbaugh has shown he’s a global racist.
5. "Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it."
Limbaugh is once again fear mongering and race baiting by associating professional black athletes with criminals and gang members. He continues the fear mongering association of good, decent, hard working African-Americans as criminals.
6. "The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies."
Now Limbaugh is saying that an organization with a storied tradition of representing the positive black people for change in their communities are criminals and rioters. An organization that has been represented by intelligent professional African Americans, that has played a part in the Civil Rights movement and continues to be an intelligent, concerned voice for the African American community is degraded to common criminals. There you go Rush. Keep racism alive!!!!
7. "They’re 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?"
Decent human beings care, Rush. Someone out of that 12% may just become President of the United States. Not caring about black people? Even George Bush wouldn’t admit to that.
8. "Take that bone out of your nose and call me back (to an African American female caller)."
Okay, Rush, that’s classy. The old African bone in the nose stereotype. Wasn’t funny when the racist white school kids called the black kids that, and it’s definitely not funny when a grown man with an audience of millions of easily influenced dittoheads says it, either.
9. "I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They’re interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there’s a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn’t deserve."
I wasn’t super offended by this, the whole black quarterback/coach thing has been going on for years in sports, but the quote was so offensive that Retired General Wesley Clarke said:
"There can be no excuse for such statements. Mr. Limbaugh has the right to say whatever he wants, but ABC and ESPN have no obligation to sponsor such hateful and ignorant speech. Mr. Limbaugh should be fired immediately."
When a respected, retired general condemns the statement of a sportscaster, you know he’s gone too far.
10. Limbaugh attacks on Obama. Limbaugh has called Obama a ‘Halfrican American’ has said that Obama was not black but Arab because Kenya is an Arab region, even though Arabs are less than one percent of Kenya. Since mainstream America has become more accepting of African-Americans, Limbaugh has decided to play against its new racial fears, Arabs and Muslims. Despite the fact Obama graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law school, Limbaugh has called him an ‘affirmative action candidate.’ Limbaugh even has repeatedly played a song on his radio show ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ using an antiquated Jim Crow era term for black a man who many Americans are supporting for president. Way to go, Rush.
So Rush Limbaugh has managed to make racist attacks on four of the most admired and respected people of African descent in the past one hundred years: Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Colin Powell and Barack Obama. He has called for the assassin of Martin Luther King to be given a medal, and said slavery was a good thing. He has claimed that Joe the Plumber, who isn’t even a plumber, is more important in this election than Colin Powell, a decorated military veteran who has served honorably in three administrations. How can the Republican Party stand by this man and let their candidates appear on his show?
Rush Limbaugh’s comments are so racist, they’re funny, in a Borat, Archie Bunker kind of way. What is not funny is the millions of dittoheads who listen to him, who take in and re-spout all the racist rhetoric that he spits out. Limbaugh’s statements are echoed in the racist, angry Palin/McCain supporters who shout ‘kill him,’ ‘terrorist,’ ‘communist,’ ‘traitor,’ ’socialist’ and ‘off with his head.’
An American Poverty Record Conservatives Must Be Very Proud Of
From the American Progress Report, September 16, 2009:
"Under Clinton, the number of Americans in poverty dropped 16.9 percent; it increased 26.1 percent under Bush. Similarly, the number of children in poverty declined 24.2 percent under Clinton and jumped 21.4 percent under Bush. The 2008 poverty rate was at an 11-year high of 13.2 percent, with 39.8 million people in poverty (including 14 million children). The Bush years saw an additional 8.3 million people fall below the poverty line.
As The Wonk Room's Pat Garofalo noted, "This [Census] report does not take into account the hemorrhaging of jobs that occurred in early 2009, when more than 700,000 jobs were disappearing each month, so these numbers are likely to rise even higher. And they would be headed higher still if it were not for the economic stimulus package that was passed in February."
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that two-thirds of Americans blame Bush -- not President Obama -- for the nation's current economic problems."
"Under Clinton, the number of Americans in poverty dropped 16.9 percent; it increased 26.1 percent under Bush. Similarly, the number of children in poverty declined 24.2 percent under Clinton and jumped 21.4 percent under Bush. The 2008 poverty rate was at an 11-year high of 13.2 percent, with 39.8 million people in poverty (including 14 million children). The Bush years saw an additional 8.3 million people fall below the poverty line.
As The Wonk Room's Pat Garofalo noted, "This [Census] report does not take into account the hemorrhaging of jobs that occurred in early 2009, when more than 700,000 jobs were disappearing each month, so these numbers are likely to rise even higher. And they would be headed higher still if it were not for the economic stimulus package that was passed in February."
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that two-thirds of Americans blame Bush -- not President Obama -- for the nation's current economic problems."
Some Common Sense from My Friend Andy
Here's some common sense sent to me by my friend Andy, which I would like to share with the rest of you:
"Get your facts straight, my Conservative friends.
Small businesses are not the targets of tax increases. The tax increases, if there even are any, would be targeted at individuals who make a lot more than $250-500K a year. What are you trying to say by we "idiots" who want to tax the largest employers in the economy? Show me where and when we "idiots" or President Obama ever said he wanted to tax small businesses. In effect, the heath care bill would make providing health care for employers cheaper for small businesses and provide more freedom to expand their business.
Furthermore, outsourcing has to do with services such as IT troubleshooting that MNCs hire out to overseas employers because they will work for a lower wage. Its got nothing to do with US taxes on MNCs. They are simply following free market neo-liberal practices instigated and supported by the very same people you vote for. It's because of this practice that large businesses are able to "gobble up the small businesses." Do you even know what you mean by outsourcing?
You should stop clutching to ideology and employ some of the "common sense" you and your leaders speak so highly of."
"Get your facts straight, my Conservative friends.
Small businesses are not the targets of tax increases. The tax increases, if there even are any, would be targeted at individuals who make a lot more than $250-500K a year. What are you trying to say by we "idiots" who want to tax the largest employers in the economy? Show me where and when we "idiots" or President Obama ever said he wanted to tax small businesses. In effect, the heath care bill would make providing health care for employers cheaper for small businesses and provide more freedom to expand their business.
Furthermore, outsourcing has to do with services such as IT troubleshooting that MNCs hire out to overseas employers because they will work for a lower wage. Its got nothing to do with US taxes on MNCs. They are simply following free market neo-liberal practices instigated and supported by the very same people you vote for. It's because of this practice that large businesses are able to "gobble up the small businesses." Do you even know what you mean by outsourcing?
You should stop clutching to ideology and employ some of the "common sense" you and your leaders speak so highly of."
"Why Wall Street Loves the Democrats" by Ann Coulter
Ann Coulter's latest political diatribe is called "Why Wall Street Loves the Democrats."
What in the world is going on? I thought that, according to Conservative theology, Democrats and Liberals are all "Socialists". Now, suddenly, Democrats are buddies with Wall Street. Can that be?
It seems the Conservative party line has changed overnight. I guess all the Right-Wing tripe about Democrats being "Socialists" and "Communists" wasn't working. The American public was not buying it. Now, presto, the Democrats are in bed with Wall Street.
I guess this new Conservative party line does make sense. After all, over the past six months, Obama and the Democrats have pretty much saved capitalism after Conservative "Ayn Rand policies" nearly destroyed our economic system.
Just today, Warren Buffett said that the government bailouts and stimulus packages of the past six months are working, and are restoring our financial system to good health. But, then again, we all know what a wild-eyed "Socialist" Warren Buffett is.
What in the world is going on? I thought that, according to Conservative theology, Democrats and Liberals are all "Socialists". Now, suddenly, Democrats are buddies with Wall Street. Can that be?
It seems the Conservative party line has changed overnight. I guess all the Right-Wing tripe about Democrats being "Socialists" and "Communists" wasn't working. The American public was not buying it. Now, presto, the Democrats are in bed with Wall Street.
I guess this new Conservative party line does make sense. After all, over the past six months, Obama and the Democrats have pretty much saved capitalism after Conservative "Ayn Rand policies" nearly destroyed our economic system.
Just today, Warren Buffett said that the government bailouts and stimulus packages of the past six months are working, and are restoring our financial system to good health. But, then again, we all know what a wild-eyed "Socialist" Warren Buffett is.
Three Cheers for Judge Clay Land Slamming the Birthers
From The Huffington Post, Sept. 16, 2009:
"U.S. District Court Judge Clay Land has thrown out a complaint questioning the president's birth from an Army captain fighting deployment to Iraq and gave a warning to her lawyer, birther maven Orly Taitz.
Land also put attorney Orly Taitz, who represents Capt. Connie Rhodes and is a leader in the national "birther" movement, on notice by stating that she could face sanctions if she ever files a similar "frivolous" lawsuit in his court.
"(Rhodes) has presented no credible evidence and has made no reliable factual allegations to support her unsubstantiated, conclusory allegations and conjecture that President Obama is ineligible to serve as president of the United States," Land states in his order. "Instead, she uses her complaint as a platform for spouting political rhetoric, such as her claims that the president is 'an illegal usurper, an unlawful pretender, [and] an unqualified imposter.'"
In his order, the judge noted that Rhodes had objected only to deployment to Iraq under President Obama, not to serving in the military generally."
"U.S. District Court Judge Clay Land has thrown out a complaint questioning the president's birth from an Army captain fighting deployment to Iraq and gave a warning to her lawyer, birther maven Orly Taitz.
Land also put attorney Orly Taitz, who represents Capt. Connie Rhodes and is a leader in the national "birther" movement, on notice by stating that she could face sanctions if she ever files a similar "frivolous" lawsuit in his court.
"(Rhodes) has presented no credible evidence and has made no reliable factual allegations to support her unsubstantiated, conclusory allegations and conjecture that President Obama is ineligible to serve as president of the United States," Land states in his order. "Instead, she uses her complaint as a platform for spouting political rhetoric, such as her claims that the president is 'an illegal usurper, an unlawful pretender, [and] an unqualified imposter.'"
In his order, the judge noted that Rhodes had objected only to deployment to Iraq under President Obama, not to serving in the military generally."
President Bush's "Death Panels"
In 2003 President Bush signed into law an expansion of Medicare which included the same end of life counseling that the Democrats are proposing to make optional in the new health care reform bill. So, in all fairness we would have to consider that the first death panel. Somehow, in 2003, no one seemed to mind this counseling and it was never termed a “death panel”.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Beck, Limbaugh and Malkin Are All Liars
Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Michelle Malkin are all liars. They said that the size of the crowd in Washington at the 9/12 protests against "Obamacare" was over 2 million people. The actual size of the crowd, as estimated officially by the DC Fire Department, was between 60,000 and 70,000 people. Real facts have never intruded themselves into the commentaries of Beck, Limbaugh and Malkin. Once again, these three Conservative "pundits" have pulled their "facts" out of their own rear-end crevices.
Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Obama's Racism
Glenn Beck has called President Obama "a racist" with "a deeply seated hatred of white people" because Obama has nominated Sonia Sotomayor as the first Hispanic-American justice to the U. S. Supreme Court. That also makes Obama a "reverse racist", according to Rush Limbaugh. On the other hand, if our president had nominated the umpteenth good old, rich old, white boy to the U. S. Supreme Court, that, of course, would not constitute racism. So much for the deformed, diseased "thinking" of today's Conservatives.
Conservatives Are America's Garbage
Conservatives say they believe in charity, not government programs. Yet, we find that over 1 million American students this year are living in homeless situations. Apparently, Conservatives' "charity" has not solved this problem, yet Conservatives oppose any government programs that would reduce homelessness. Conservatives are not outraged by the existence of so many homeless American families. They are outraged when they learn that a homeless person might own a cell phone. Conservatives are America's real garbage.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
The "Real America" That Conservatives Love
Back-to-School Homeless
This Fall, over one million school-age children are kicking off the school year with a difficult assignment: returning to school without a stable home. End Homelessness blogger Shannon Moriarty writes that for the past two years, the number of homeless students in schools across the country has doubled, creating acute challenges for both financially-stretched school districts and students struggling to get by. In times like these, even the most well-intentioned schools are getting dangerously close to their breaking point.
This is the "Real America" that Conservatives love, and they are doing everything possible to create more of the same.
This Fall, over one million school-age children are kicking off the school year with a difficult assignment: returning to school without a stable home. End Homelessness blogger Shannon Moriarty writes that for the past two years, the number of homeless students in schools across the country has doubled, creating acute challenges for both financially-stretched school districts and students struggling to get by. In times like these, even the most well-intentioned schools are getting dangerously close to their breaking point.
This is the "Real America" that Conservatives love, and they are doing everything possible to create more of the same.
Astro-Turfed Tea Parties
My dear friend Tulsan has stated:
"Another interesting aspect of these "tea parties" is that they are "astroturfed" (fake grassroots.)
Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman touches on that fact in his column, Tea Parties Forever:
"...it turns out that the tea parties don’t represent a spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment. They’re AstroTurf (fake grass roots) events, manufactured by the usual suspects. In particular, a key role is being played by FreedomWorks, an organization run by Richard Armey, the former House majority leader, and supported by the usual group of right-wing billionaires. And the parties are, of course, being promoted heavily by Fox News."
AND
"President Obama is being called a 'socialist' who seeks to destroy capitalism. Why? Because he wants to raise the tax rate on the highest-income Americans back to, um, about 10 percentage points less than it was for most of the Reagan administration."
"Another interesting aspect of these "tea parties" is that they are "astroturfed" (fake grassroots.)
Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman touches on that fact in his column, Tea Parties Forever:
"...it turns out that the tea parties don’t represent a spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment. They’re AstroTurf (fake grass roots) events, manufactured by the usual suspects. In particular, a key role is being played by FreedomWorks, an organization run by Richard Armey, the former House majority leader, and supported by the usual group of right-wing billionaires. And the parties are, of course, being promoted heavily by Fox News."
AND
"President Obama is being called a 'socialist' who seeks to destroy capitalism. Why? Because he wants to raise the tax rate on the highest-income Americans back to, um, about 10 percentage points less than it was for most of the Reagan administration."
Conservatives Have Their Bass-Ackwards
Lying us into a War in Iraq by President Bush is OK. But Obama's trying to reform our sick Health Care System is Socialism and represents the "sky-is-falling" end of the world. Conservatives like Glenn Beck sure have their Bass-Ackwards.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's Quote of the Day
From Mike Allen's Politico -- Sept. 13, 2009:
"Majority Leader Harry Reid added: 'You have no idea what you're asking me to do. It takes me forty-eight hours to get the Republicans to flush the toilet.' "
"Majority Leader Harry Reid added: 'You have no idea what you're asking me to do. It takes me forty-eight hours to get the Republicans to flush the toilet.' "
Why Health Care Reform Must and Will Pass
From Mike Allen's Politico -- Sept. 13, 2009:
"IT'S NOT 1993 AGAIN -- Business Forward release: 'New poll shows business support for action on healthcare: Rising health care costs are the single biggest economic concern facing American businesses, according to a survey of business leaders released by Business Forward: Nearly 90% of those polled cite health care costs as a major concern, more than cite taxes, government regulation, labor costs or energy costs. ... Business Forward Executive Director Jim Doyle: 'This poll reminds us why it is so important for business leaders, trade groups, regulators, Congress and the President to stay at the negotiating table.' The poll, conducted by Anzalone Liszt Research in advance of President Obama's address to Congress, showed that ... business leaders ... support key elements of a reform plan, including insurance exchange (78% favorable), efficiency reforms and an oversight commission (71%), requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions (79%) and a public health option (51%).' "
"IT'S NOT 1993 AGAIN -- Business Forward release: 'New poll shows business support for action on healthcare: Rising health care costs are the single biggest economic concern facing American businesses, according to a survey of business leaders released by Business Forward: Nearly 90% of those polled cite health care costs as a major concern, more than cite taxes, government regulation, labor costs or energy costs. ... Business Forward Executive Director Jim Doyle: 'This poll reminds us why it is so important for business leaders, trade groups, regulators, Congress and the President to stay at the negotiating table.' The poll, conducted by Anzalone Liszt Research in advance of President Obama's address to Congress, showed that ... business leaders ... support key elements of a reform plan, including insurance exchange (78% favorable), efficiency reforms and an oversight commission (71%), requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions (79%) and a public health option (51%).' "
President Obama Will Get Health Care Reform Enacted Yes, He Can -- Yes, He Will
From The Washington Post - Sept. 13, 2009:
"This is the hard part. This is when the special interests and the insurance companies and the folks who want to kill reform fight back with everything they've got," Obama told a cheering crowd at the Target Center here in Minneapolis. "This is when they spread all kinds of rumors to scare and intimidate the American people. This is what they always do. That's why I need your help."
Under the legislation, insurers would be prohibited from onerous practices such as denying coverage to people with preexisting conditions, placing annual or lifetime caps on coverage and imposing unlimited out-of-pocket fees. Although many elements of reform would take months or years to implement, the insurance changes could take effect "the day after" a law is signed. Members of Congress "will be able to make the case to constituents that this will have an immediate and real impact on people's lives."
As the president put it: "What this plan will do is to make the insurance you have work better for you."
Part of the challenge, said Evan Bayh, is addressing the "cognitive dissonance" of a $900 billion bill that purports to save money. The senator said he thinks it is possible to achieve that feat -- through dramatic changes in how health care is delivered and paid for. But he acknowledged that the argument "seems incongruous" to lawmakers and average Americans.
For his part, Obama reiterated his pledge that the legislation will pay for expanded coverage largely through savings within the health system and "will not add one dime to the deficit."
"I intend to be president for a while, and once this bill passes, I own it," he said in an interview with CBS scheduled to air on "60 Minutes" Sunday night. "I'm the one who's going to be held responsible. So I have every incentive to get this right."
"This is the hard part. This is when the special interests and the insurance companies and the folks who want to kill reform fight back with everything they've got," Obama told a cheering crowd at the Target Center here in Minneapolis. "This is when they spread all kinds of rumors to scare and intimidate the American people. This is what they always do. That's why I need your help."
Under the legislation, insurers would be prohibited from onerous practices such as denying coverage to people with preexisting conditions, placing annual or lifetime caps on coverage and imposing unlimited out-of-pocket fees. Although many elements of reform would take months or years to implement, the insurance changes could take effect "the day after" a law is signed. Members of Congress "will be able to make the case to constituents that this will have an immediate and real impact on people's lives."
As the president put it: "What this plan will do is to make the insurance you have work better for you."
Part of the challenge, said Evan Bayh, is addressing the "cognitive dissonance" of a $900 billion bill that purports to save money. The senator said he thinks it is possible to achieve that feat -- through dramatic changes in how health care is delivered and paid for. But he acknowledged that the argument "seems incongruous" to lawmakers and average Americans.
For his part, Obama reiterated his pledge that the legislation will pay for expanded coverage largely through savings within the health system and "will not add one dime to the deficit."
"I intend to be president for a while, and once this bill passes, I own it," he said in an interview with CBS scheduled to air on "60 Minutes" Sunday night. "I'm the one who's going to be held responsible. So I have every incentive to get this right."
Saturday, September 12, 2009
The Latest Conservative Lying Smears of ACORN
Conservative activist James O'Keefe made two videos widely aired on FOX News showing several ACORN employees giving tax advice to O'Keefe and a female accomplice who were posing as a pimp and a prostitute.
In a statement, ACORN's President of Housing Alton Bennett and Executive Director Mike Shea, said they were "appalled and angry" to see the latest video. They said there were no loan documents completed, no bank loans arranged and no new business established. They said the two workers were fired and an internal review of practices will be done. Two other ACORN employees had been fired the day before as a result of these videos.
But Bennett and Shea said the video was "slanted to misinform the public about ACORN Housing." The video fails to mention that the same people who made the tape went to at least five other ACORN Housing offices where they were either turned away or where employees responded by calling police, they said.
"It is part of a long-term plan to smear ACORN Housing for political reasons and provide entertainment in the process," Bennett and Shea said.
Four naive young low-level ACORN employees were fired. They clearly did not represent the approved policies of the ACORN organization. Rather, these four young people were victims and dupes of the latest Conservative FOX News video scam.
In a statement, ACORN's President of Housing Alton Bennett and Executive Director Mike Shea, said they were "appalled and angry" to see the latest video. They said there were no loan documents completed, no bank loans arranged and no new business established. They said the two workers were fired and an internal review of practices will be done. Two other ACORN employees had been fired the day before as a result of these videos.
But Bennett and Shea said the video was "slanted to misinform the public about ACORN Housing." The video fails to mention that the same people who made the tape went to at least five other ACORN Housing offices where they were either turned away or where employees responded by calling police, they said.
"It is part of a long-term plan to smear ACORN Housing for political reasons and provide entertainment in the process," Bennett and Shea said.
Four naive young low-level ACORN employees were fired. They clearly did not represent the approved policies of the ACORN organization. Rather, these four young people were victims and dupes of the latest Conservative FOX News video scam.
Right-Wing Nutball Tea Party Freaks are On The March
From The Washington Post - September 12, 2009:
"Mark McKinnon, a former adviser to Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and other Republicans, said there is an "opportunity for Republicans" to tap into legitimate fears about an overreaching federal government. But he said that "right-wing nutballs are aligning themselves with these movements" and are dominating media coverage.
"It's bad for Republicans because in the absence of any real leadership, the freaks fill the void and define the party," McKinnon said. These include the most extreme Tea Party protesters, including those who carry swastika signs or obsess over the veracity of Obama's Hawaiian birth."
"Mark McKinnon, a former adviser to Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and other Republicans, said there is an "opportunity for Republicans" to tap into legitimate fears about an overreaching federal government. But he said that "right-wing nutballs are aligning themselves with these movements" and are dominating media coverage.
"It's bad for Republicans because in the absence of any real leadership, the freaks fill the void and define the party," McKinnon said. These include the most extreme Tea Party protesters, including those who carry swastika signs or obsess over the veracity of Obama's Hawaiian birth."
Conservatives Believe in the Land of the Homeless and the Home of the Slave
Conservatives are So Patriotic. They believe in the Land of the Homeless and the Home of the Slave. The USA barely survived eight years of Conservatives in power. Now that Liberals are rescuing this country's economy, Conservatives are doing everything they can to thwart the recovery. Rush Limaugh wants America, under Obama, to fail. Rush and his fellow Conservatives -- all of these negative Obstructionists -- are doing everything possible to make that failure a reality.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The Conservative "God"
Ann Coulter claims that Liberals are "Godless". However, Conservatives believe in God -- the God of Mammon. The only thing Conservatives want to conserve is their money -- to conserve their money from the tax collector. Conservatives hate the poor -- yet their policies are designed to create more and more of them.
Monday, September 7, 2009
An Example of Conservative "Thinking"
Here is a comment from a Conservative -- a perfect example of Conservative "thinking" -- showing why Conservatives are so hopeless:
"You didn't mention all the stupid things your tax dollars go to. Examples: Social Security, medicare, medicaid, cell phone for the poor, housing for the poor, food for the poor, cash for the poor, and the ever increasing state payroll."
Ann Coulter, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Ayn Rand, Newt Gingrich, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck -- you sure know your audience. You birds of a feather certainly flock together.
No wonder Conservatives are becoming known as the primary Enemy of the People.
"You didn't mention all the stupid things your tax dollars go to. Examples: Social Security, medicare, medicaid, cell phone for the poor, housing for the poor, food for the poor, cash for the poor, and the ever increasing state payroll."
Ann Coulter, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Ayn Rand, Newt Gingrich, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck -- you sure know your audience. You birds of a feather certainly flock together.
No wonder Conservatives are becoming known as the primary Enemy of the People.
Left-Wing Hate Media
"Conservatives Are America's Real Terrorists" is a Left-Wing Hate Blog for the benefit of Liberals, Progressives and Independents who Hate what Conservatives have done and are continuing to do to this country.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Conservatives Can Fool All of the People Some of the Time, and Some of the People All of the Time
"You can fool all of the people some of the time, and you can fool some of the people all of the time." Abe Lincoln was the first great leader of the Republican Party, and these are two of his immortal principles that today's Republican leaders remember and are constantly operating under. They are persistently trying to fool as many Americans as possible for as much time as they can.
When Bill Clinton was elected president, Conservatives tried to sabotage his administration by accusing him of trying to allow Gays to serve openly in the military. If some Americans cannot be excluded from the full benefits of citizenship, then, to Conservatives, that does not represent "The Real America".
Likewise, today, Conservatives are trying to sabotage the Obama administration by accusing President Obama of trying to extend health care benefits to all Americans. If some Americans are not excluded from the benefits of health coverage, then, to Conservatives, that does not represent "The Real America".
Conservatives are highly exclusionary individuals who treat this country as a private club. They are an "Old Boys'Network", full of rednecks, greed merchants and suckers. Conservatives are comprised of those who are trying to fool all of the people all of the time -- and of the fools who keep allowing themselves to get fooled.
When Bill Clinton was elected president, Conservatives tried to sabotage his administration by accusing him of trying to allow Gays to serve openly in the military. If some Americans cannot be excluded from the full benefits of citizenship, then, to Conservatives, that does not represent "The Real America".
Likewise, today, Conservatives are trying to sabotage the Obama administration by accusing President Obama of trying to extend health care benefits to all Americans. If some Americans are not excluded from the benefits of health coverage, then, to Conservatives, that does not represent "The Real America".
Conservatives are highly exclusionary individuals who treat this country as a private club. They are an "Old Boys'Network", full of rednecks, greed merchants and suckers. Conservatives are comprised of those who are trying to fool all of the people all of the time -- and of the fools who keep allowing themselves to get fooled.
Conservatives Are The Greatest Advocates for Socialism
Conservatives are America's Greatest Advocates for Socialism. Conservatives have been spending millions of dollars to convince Americans that Socialism is a much better economic system than Capitalism. According to today's Conservatives, Socialism is the only economic system capable of extending its benefits to all its citizens. Capitalism by definition is incapable of doing so. If millions of Americans are not excluded from the system's benefits, then it ain't true Capitalism. If everyone benefits, then that has got to be Socialism. Therefore, if Universal Health Coverage is enacted, then we will be operating under a Socialist system. Capitalism by its nature is inherently incapable of providing Health Coverage for all of its citizens. If millions of Americans are not excluded, then it ain't real Capitalism. Republicans have been spending millions of dollars to convince Americans to believe this malarkey. No wonder Conservatives today have the credibility of Pinnochio.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
