Rush Limbaugh Stokes Flames of Hatred and Violence: Compares Democrats to Nazis

Reacting to Rush Limbaugh’s latest hate speech comparing the Democratic Party to Hitler's Nazi Party, Rep. Steve Israel, Democrat of New York, condemned Republican Boss Limbaugh's stoking the flames of hatred and simmering violence in Democratic town hall meetings. Limbaugh's radio show rant alleged similarities between the Obama Administration’s health care logo and the Nazi symbol: "[President Obama's] healthcare logo looks DAMN LIKE the Nazi logo." Then he posted a morphing graphic (below) on his website to further this insanity:



The TRUTH is the medical symbol in the Obama Administration’s logo -- IN ITS ENTIRETY -- is common to medical organizations as far back as the late 1970s. Many medical organizations, notes a medical website, use

“a symbol of a short rod entwined by two snakes and topped by a pair of wings, which is actually the caduceus or magic wand of the Greek god Hermes (Roman Mercury), messenger of the gods, inventor of (magical) incantations, conductor of the dead and protector of merchants and thieves. It is derived from the Greek karykeion = "herald's staff", itself based on the word "eruko" meaning restrain, control.

It is interesting to see that most organizations using this symbol are generally either commercial or military (or American).

Walter J. Friedlander surveyed 242 logos or insignias of American organizations relating to health or medicine in which the caduceus or staff of Asclepius formed an integral part dating from the late 1970s to early 1980s.”

So much for hate speech with the BIG LIE comparing the Obama healthcare logo and/or Democratic Party symbology with the Nazi Party.

Using Limbaugh’s twisted illogic, the following symbols are dead ringers for the Nazi Party logo. Notice, for instance, the eagle head, wings spread out, turned to its right:

1. U.S. Air Force Symbol

2. Boys Scouts of America symbol

Rep. Israel, who is Jewish and founder of the Institute on the Holocaust and the Law, responded forcefully to Limbaugh’s hateful screed that Democrats, like the Nazis, were against big business, “and of course we all know they were opposed to Jewish capitalism.” Said Mr. Israel:

“I do expect my Republican colleagues to denounce his comments. The Holocaust taught us that silence in the face of evil expression becomes acquiescence to evil. And what Limbaugh said is pure evil.

Today, there are survivors of the Holocaust with tattoos stenciled on their arms who are registered Democrats. And he's treated them with vile contempt.”

As usual, Limbaugh’s statements and analogies are historical fantasies. The fact is the Nazi Party received its major private sector boost from Big Business interests and not from average voters. In this respect, the Nazi Party is a mirror image of the Republican Party, whose main constituency has traditionally been Big Business. The Nazi Party, at its zenith, was only as popular as the Republican Party, with 44% of the vote in the election of 1933.

But of course, this is where the comparisons end. Or do they?

GOP leaders from John Boehner to Mike Enzi have expressed sympathy for mob behavior in Democratic congressional town hall meetings. The GOP has been spreading the myth that the carefully orchestrated Astroturf uprisings are actually individual expressions of concern from average citizens, when in fact such thuggish behavior is driven by corporate interests and powerful lobbyists such as former Republican leader Dick Armey, with threats of violence aimed at intimidating proponents of healthcare reform -- a tactic straight out of the Nazi Party's Brown Shirts playbook.

It should be noted that the GOP’s self-described “maverick,” John McCain, is one of the few voices on the Republican side to publicly oppose mob rule in town halls:

“Town hall meetings are an American tradition -- we should allow everyone to express their views without disruption -- even if we disagree!”

How soon before the danger of escalating violence in this corporate-driven mob assault on Democratic town hall meetings -- with Republicans joking about their fellow Democrats being hung in effigy and Limbaugh spouting hatred into his mega-microphone -- turn the unruly mob into a lynch mob? At the very least, Republican Congressman Todd Akin (MO) who made this lynching joke, "different people from Washington, DC, have come back to their districts and have town hall meetings, and they almost got lynched" (LAUGHTER), should be censured by the full House.

But most important, when do Limbaugh’s violent fantasies cross the legal threshold of yelling “FIRE!” in a crowded theater? Perhaps it will take a visit from the Justice Department and the FBI for Limbaugh to dial back his hatred.

The stupid, it burns

In a conversation between Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck, Beck apparently said that Obama's presidency is "the worst time in the Republic."

Just checking, but worse than the Civil War, when nearly half the country left the Republic and the country almost tore itself apart? Really?

My Kenyan Birth Certificate

http://kenyanbirthcertificategenerator.com/

Laffing, redux

Obviously, the silliest thing about the Arthur Laffer quote below is the meme that Medicare and Medicaid aren't already government-run, which just show how stupid they think we are. There's a second point to pick on, though, and that's the crack at the Post Office. I know that they're an easy target, but for the most part, they're a (private) agency that takes almost any item you give them and gets it to any other address in the country, often in a couple of days, and most items cost less than 50 cents. For any company, that's remarkably time-efficient and cost-efficient. The employees may be somewhat annoying at times, and the lines don't always move quickly, but if a new health care system was that efficient, we'd all be grateful.

The DMV, though, is a different story entirely. Of course, that's state-run, not federal, so it's still a sign of idiocy.

Rachel Maddow PSA: Exposing the Scripted G-NO-P Thuggishness

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

These people are incredibly pathetic tools; do they really think that such thuggish behavior is going to pull the wool over the American people's eyes? Do they think the American people are really as stupid as they are, despicable bottom-feeding morons? Pfft.

Moneyed special interest corporate agitators are as old as this republic. So, how much is the insurance industry corporate lobby paying their storm troopers? A check would be nice. Walk-around, scream and shout money? Travel expenses from and to their survivalist bunkers? Brown bag cash? Because if they're not getting paid, boy are they ever addle-brained pathetic tools on steroids!

Thanks, Rachel, for this point-by-point exposé of the insurance industry corporate lobby, the real entity behind this faux "grass roots" scripted right wing town hall thugghishness.

Fox News => Talking Point => Town Hall Disruption => Crank Cycle

(Thanks for this, Telemann.)

AMERICA’S MOST TRUSTED NEWS ANCHOR, Jon Stewart , brilliantly exposes the “Crank Cycle:”: Faux News plants the seed, a viewer pollinates the point, and an outrage-generating ecosystem is created. View video here.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Master Rebators - The Crank Cycle
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance

We're not Laffing with you, we're Laffing at you

Arthur Laffer, developer of the mathematically trivial and utterly meaningless Laffer Curve:

"If you like the Post Office and the Department of Motor Vehicles and you think they're run well, just wait till you see Medicare, Medicaid and health care done by the government."

How to Make a Rightie's Head Explode

Score one for the Big Dog!

North Korea's official news agency says leader Kim Jong Il has pardoned two American journalists and ordered their release following a request from former President Bill Clinton.

Not a Hall of Famer...

But still, it is Corner Time.

One of our favorite loons, Nancy J. Thorner of palatial Lake Bluff gives us this:

Why was there no mention of tort reform? The insane cost and arbitrary rewards of our malpractice system is forcing doctors to practice defensive medicine--what the Tribune calls unnecessary medical treatment--for fear of getting sued. Tort reform would yield tens of billions in savings, yet there is no mention of tort reform in any of the proposed health-care reform bills.

Umm...Nancy?

"Tort Reform" has nothing to do with bringing down medical costs. It serves only to protect insurance company profits. From the jury system to review boards to several levels of judicial scrutiny to sanctions for frivolous litigation, we have more than adequate safeguards available to ensure that malpractice recoveries are just that--appropriate recovery for damages suffered.

So Nancy.....

New G-NO-P Strategy: Send in the Thugs

The Republicans finally unveiled their strategy to enlighten the American people on alternatives (read sarcasm here) to the President’s healthcare priorities and the bills that have cleared the House and Senate: Send in the screamers to drown out debate, information, and Q&As, do everything to disrupt the healthcare town hall meetings; in short, carpet-bomb the body politic with fear and loathing.

In the kickoff August follies, the thugs crawled out of their rocks and bunkers to assault healthcare town halls from Texas to Pennsylvania, trying to drown out questions and debate from solid majorities of attendees with legitimate concerns. At a Texas town hall for Rep. Lloyd Doggett, the G-NO-P storm troopers screamed the oh-so-original Nancy Reagan Republican solution to drugs, sex, and [everything else except tax cuts and military spending]: “just say no!”

Irony of ironies, these know-nothing thugs conceded their only point: Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the nation. But in their whacky wingnut world, the uninsured are the undocumented like, well … President Obama. Rep. Doggett said the thugs were outsiders summoned by Texas Republicans and the familiar corporate lobby Tea Bag networks now working for the "health"-for-obscene-profits industry with orders not to participate, but to scream and disrupt. According to a leaked memo, the thugs were urged to “yell,” “stand up and shout,” and “rattle” the members.

At a town hall meeting in Pennsylvania featuring the classy HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius and Senator Arlen Specter, about 40 thugs put this strategy to the test. They lined the aisles trying to drown out questions from the 400 persons who had come to participate in the healthcare debate with shouts of “abortion,” “socialism,” “rationing,” the usual ignorant rants from those who didn’t take the time to educate themselves on what’s in the legislation.

The HHS Secretary and the Senator navigated through the disruption and answered all questions. In this crazed incarnation of a G-NO-P led by right wing radio nuts, slogans and screams replace ideas and debate.

One sign read: "Go Home, ACORN." Huh ...? Bring it on, know-nothings.

Soylent Republicans

So now the Republicans have sunk to scaring seniors by threatening them with euthanasia. Seriously. An innocuous Medicare provision that lets the program PAY for seniors to discuss end of life issues with professionals is now...The president's health care plan...is PEOPLE!!!

Dear Mr. President:

In watching your recent town hall meetings on healthcare, it seems to me that you're losing the pro-healthcare reform message to the forces arrayed against it -- significantly the insurance industry, with its $1.4 million daily investment aimed at spreading fear and misinformation among vulnerable populations, such as our seniors.

I wish you'd hone your message. For example, why haven't you mentioned the waste, fraud, and abuse of the insurance industry? Twenty cents out of every dollar is spent by insurers on non-healthcare delivery; lining the pockets of CEOs and shareholders, and on advertising to defeat your plan. The other day you were at AARP. Their Medicare supplement is insured by UnitedHealth Group, which posted a 155% profit and had agreed to a $400 million settlement with the AMA and New York Attorney General for defrauding its customers over a period of years. The Lewin Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of UnitedHealth, has been dishing out misleading statistics in talking points to Republicans in the House and Senate, including Senator Grassley, slamming your public option.

The White House response: crickets.

Sure, you've spoken of the public option in town halls, but not once have you specifically pushed back against your opposition: the health insurance industry and Congressional Republicans. Why?

Rather than giving Congress a clear direction on your priorities, drawing a line in the sand, you have allowed the tail to wag the dog. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus is prancing around the Senate halls like a Maharajah with his loyal sidekick, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley. Their closed door meetings of the so-called Group of Six have resulted in the evisceration of key Democratic provisions and priorities of yours, most notably the public option. All of this to peel off two or three Republican votes so that it can be called bipartisan?

With all due respect, Mr. President, we didn't vote for change, we didn't hand you huge majorities in the House, and a filibuster-proof 60 votes in the Senate, to have the fate of meaningful healthcare reform for all Americans decided, or rather destroyed, by Senator Chuck Grassley, who is a shill for the insurance industry.

I'm among a growing number of Democrats who are outraged by Senator Baucus's capitulation. We believe Senator Baucus should be divested of his chairmanship. Senator Rockefeller favors this as well. We hear of all the hard work the Senator is putting into this effort, the long hours. The problem is, he's not working on behalf of the American people; he's working for the insurance industry. Are we really to believe it makes no difference that Senator Baucus is the second highest recipient of insurance industry campaign donations, behind Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell?

The other day I saw a photo of the Group of Six: Senators Baucus, Grassley, and Snowe were chortling, while the Democrats around the table looked grim. This was in the wake of the news the Group will slash the public option and other Democratic priorities. Not surprisingly, Aetna stock rose 12% on this expectation. One observer noted that insurance industry CEOs would be exchanging high fives in their corporate boardrooms.

I know you're a student of history, Mr. President, and if I could suggest a role model in this fight, it would be Bobby Kennedy. One reason that Bobby could bridge the great divides in American society, communicating as easily with inner-city blacks and latinos as with white conservative hardhats and rural voters is that he didn't pander to any of these groups. He told it to them straight, he didn't back down, and he couched his message in clear moral terms. When he said something was unacceptable, people knew he meant it.

We're losing this fight, Mr. President. If you don't push back against the powerful anti-reform forces, we will not get meaningful healthcare reform for all Americans. Honestly, I'm tired of hearing of the $80 billion the pharmaceuticals pledged to "give back" to us. They're not philanthropies. They stand to reap windfall profits (as do the private insurers) from a $1 trillion healthcare reform package without a public option that can negotiate down prescription drug prices and ensure competition.

In getting out your message, Mr. President, my advice is to take a page from Ronald Reagan's playbook. One thing he did to great effect communicating to the American people was to personalize his message. When you mention the "heartbreaking" letters you receive from people with life-altering health crises, rather than speak of them generically, I wish you would read some of these letters in your speeches. The American people relate well to personalized accounts that humanize the issue.

We can still win, Mr. President, and you have our support. But we need you to hone your message, to be more specific about the reforms and the opposition's lies, to be more like Bobby.

Sincerely,

Carlos

Now that Walter Cronkite Cronkite has left us …

Why is a comedian rated America’s most trusted newscaster?



This is why:


Congratulations, Jon, for bringing us news we can believe in with a Cronkite (liberal) bias, and … humor. Unlike the phony meme black T-shirt/blue flak jacket (to match his eyes) AC360 franchise, Jon Stewart wears his heart on his sleeve. Lesson learned, Coop?

While we're in the file cabinet...

This one is from the "Things You Can't Make Up" file.

Apparently suffering from irony deficiency, Sen. David Vitter (R-La) said in response to charges by Sen. Voinovich (R-Oh) that southern conservatives were dragging the GOP down that "I'm on the side of conservatives getting back to core conservative values...there are a lot of us from the South who hold those values, which I think the party is supposed to be about. We strayed from them in the past few years, and that's why we performed so badly in the national elections."

Really, Dave? And how does paying, umm, "professional" women to dress you in diapers fit in with those "values?"

From the "Well Duh" File

So Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, pictured below



is going to vote against Judge Sotomayor. I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!

Sorry, haven't been around much. I've been very busy lately, working hard to help the people of Alaska.

BIRTHER CONGRESSIONAL LIST - FIRST INSTALLMENT

Submitted as a public service to promote good government, here is an incomplete list of "Birther" Republican Congresspersons, who are on record as subscribing to the wingnut conspiracy theory that President Obama is not a natural-born citizen. Please share this information with the voters from their respective districts who will have the last word on whether these nutjobs win re-election. Hey, there are some nice 30 second TV and radio spots here for their opponents, too!

In fairness, Rep. Trent Franks deserves our respect for answering a simple question directly, honestly, and correctly, regardless of his ultra-conservative views.


REP. CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS (R-WA)
REP. CHARLES BOUSTANY (R-LA)
REP. TIM MURTHY (R-PA)
REP. AARON SCHOCK (R-IL) WISHY WASHY!
REP. DAVE REICHERT (R-WA)
REP. TOM “ROCKY”/”CHARIOTS OF FIRE” PRICE (R-GA)
REP. THADDEUS McCOTTER (R-MI) WEAK DODGE!
REP. JEFF FORTENBERRY (R-NE)
REP. GREG HARPER (R-MS)



REP. TRENT FRANKS (R-AZ) YAY! WE FOUND AN HONEST RIGHT WINGER!!!

What’s Wrong with this Picture?

After the President said that the Cambridge police Department had acted “stupidly” in arresting distinguished Harvard professor Louis Gates in his own home, he made more conciliatory statements today that both the white police seargent and professor Gates had “overreacted.” The President is correct, politically, in dialing this back.

But here’s what I don’t get. Did anyone see the Massachusetts police unions press conference today? (See picture below.) I happen to think the picture is at variance with the AP story lead on this, by Bob Salsberg, which was widely distributed in the mainstream media:

“CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A multiracial group of police officers today stood with the white officer who arrested a prominent black Harvard scholar and asked President Barack Obama and Gov. Deval Patrick to apologize for comments the union leaders called insulting.”

“Multiracial group of police officers” –– really?


When the camera pans out to include the entire group, there are a whole lot of ethnic white middle-aged men (sorry, but these guys come across as Archie Bunkers to me) with two African American men and two women that I could see –– tokenism at its best. One of the women was hidden behind a wall of plump beer-and-donuts white guys, and the other was a P.R. step ‘n fetchit responsible for tapping microphones and making sure everyone exited stage right. None of the black officers or women onstage spoke or were introduced as leaders in their organizations.

Is it me, or was this lineup of Massachusetts' finest long on obesity and white ethnic homogeneity and short on diversity and promotional opportunities for women and minorities?

Chris Matthews (mixed feelings about this guy) made an awful analogy, when he said had it been a black police officer and the “GREAT” white Henry Kissinger who was arrested in his home, the black officer would have gotten all kinds of grief for treating such a “distinguished” academic in this way.

Not from me, he wouldn’t. My hope is, the black officer would be arresting Kissinger on an order of extradition to a ballsy country, like Spain, or to the World Court at the Hague, which the Obama Administration had rejoined as signatory, to be tried for war crimes.

The black officer might not get an invite to the White House for a beer with the President, but he wouldn’t lack for invitations from those of us who believe no one is above the law.

The Dumbass Hall of Fame

Our newest inductee of this special and elite section of the corner is Peter J. Riga of Houston, Texas. In an inspiring work of pure genius appearing in today's Chicago Tribune, our newest Hall of Famer pens that

History is both revealing and obscuring. Walter Cronkite was a superb TV anchorman--calm, collected and intelligent. The one time he deviated from his position was a disaster. When he came back from Vietnam and told the American people that Vietnam was a stalemate that we could not win, that was a turning point of public opinion. Even then-President Lyndon Johnson said that view from Cronkite lost America the conflict in Vietnam. That was precisely when we were on the verge of victory in Vietnam and Cronkite turned public opinion massively against the war, which then became unsustainable for the president. In other words, Cronkite was indirectly responsible for our defeat in Vietnam, which history will show.

Mr. Riga, I have little to add to your perceptive grasp of history except to point out the obvious, that you are a pathetic and delusional little man.

And oh, by the way...

,

Those Obamas were clever birth conspirators

Imagine the depth of the conspracy, when the Honolulu papers printed the phony birth announcement!!

Matthews Exposes Whacko Birther Wingnuts

I'm not a big Chris Matthews fan, but every so often he's pitch perfect, as in this instance:



Anyone up for the circus, free of charge? Look up your local Repugnant town hall meeting and show up incognito, which means dressing like Joe the Plumber with an American flag in each hand. Be sure to bring a copy of President Obama's birth certificate. When the Birthers disrupt the meeting screaming that Obama is not a citizen, stand up and demand to be heard by waving your American flags. As soon as the dumbass Birthers cede you the microphone, proceed to mock them by producing the President's birth certificate and reading its contents aloud. Then call for all red-blooded Americans to stand up and recite the Pledge of Allegiance while you make your getaway.

One more thing. Today, Lou Dobbs of CNN -- aka Faux News Lite -- picked up on this garbage, venting his ill-concealed racism by calling President Obama "undocumented."

Sotomayor and the 2nd

One opinion that the Repubs seized on in the Sotomayor hearings was Maloney v. Cuomo (link). In that decision, she authored an opinion that was absolutely correct in holding that the Heller 2nd Amendment decision did not apply to the states. If you are completely conversant with 14th Amendment incorporation, or aren't interested in legal geekiness, you may stop reading now.

In The Paper Chase, the imposing Prof. Kingsfield tells his first year students that "You come in here with a skull full of mush, and you leave thinking like a lawyer." I used to think that was crap until I realized that I think like a lawyer. That is what makes explaining 14th Amendment incorporation, which to me seems so easy and obvious, seem so difficult.

First of all, something that there is NO argument about. That FACT is that the so-called Bill of Rights applies BY ITS OWN TERMS only to FEDERAL matters. We have wacko sites that give you headlines that "Sotomayor Ruled That States Do Not Have to Obey Second Amendment." Yup. That woman hates you gun freaks who demand the right to vaporize deer with shoulder mounted rocket launchers. The LAW on this, which Judge Sotomayor followed, was absolutely correct.

On incorporation--the first 10 amendments apply only against the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. Beginning in the late 19th century, the Supreme Court decided that certain rights described in the Bill of Rights could be "incorporated" or made applicable against the states. Never has the Supreme Court decided so w/the 2nd--that was not an issue given that DC was federal and the 2nd applied.

The question is not whether Heller is binding but rather whether individual gun ownership is a fundamental right that should be applied against the states.

Sorry, been under the weather

Methinks the whole damn Love Boat crew has been sick!

Anyway, some scattershot thoughts on the Sotomayor hearings.

Nothing surprising really happened in light of the absurdity of having someone with Jefferson Beauregard Session's record leading the inquisition questioning and what that said about the party. It turned out to be exactly what I expected, the Repubs using the forum to rile up their base on brown people.

That said, the GOP and the Dems both screwed with it. The GOP tried to rally their base, the Dems failed to aim at the twisted direction of the Roberts court.

And THEN the Republicans dragged out one of the Bush administration's tired old tricks, using people in uniform as props. Exactly WHY were the firefighters there? [as an aside, it should be noted that Mr. Ricci is a very litigious fellow. Whenever he feels wronged, he calls one of those pesky "trial lawyers" the Republicans loathe. he is a serial litigator.] Litigants do not appear before appellate court judges. His case before Judge Sotomayor's panel was strictly a paper affair. The judges saw the district court record, read the briefs and heard the lawyers. Period. They would not have seen Frank in person, unless he was in the spectators' benches. He had nothing to add to the hearings except "I'm white, and I'm in uniform. She's not in uniform and she's brown!"

We have also seen the end of confirmation hearings as evaluative and informational inquiries. Now they are just a circus.

First, both sides grandstand, with the liberals equating her to Oliver Wendell Holmes and then the conservatives, after greeting her with some nice platitudes, ask why she hates America and has puppy smoothies for breakfast. Conservatives ask if we can kill this "little baby," liberals ask if an ex-con child rapist meth addict should be able to buy a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher under the 2nd, and of course the judge rightfully says that she can't speculate on future rulings.

Spector came close to an opportunity during his ever-so-predictable "why doesn't the court hear more cases" rant but wandered off into asking about one specific one. Of course she can't answer that, Senator. She wasn't there. She didn't read the briefs, wasn't in on conference how could she say that any particular case could have been heard.

Senators, STOP WASTING TIME and leave the community theater to me. Sen. Spector, ask her and future nominees about their GENERAL PHILOSOPHY of court docketing. What KINDS of cases need to be heard? What are your philosophical criteria in the abstract for seeing a case as decision-worthy?

And to the rest of you, leave your pet issues behind. Ask about judicial philosophy, her views on 14th amendment incorporation, the proper balance of federalism, etc.

For the love of God, ask questions that might actually be answered.

The Word is REPREHENSIBLE, Senator Hatch. Can You Say It?

In light of the following exchange between Senator Orrin Hatch and Judge Sonia Sotomayor, in which the Senator indignantly condemns an ad campaign by People for the American Way against the New Haven firefighter litigants, compelling Judge Sotomayor to call the ad -- sight unseen -- “reprehensible,”



Senator Hatch is invited to revise and extend his remarks regarding this utterly despicable anti-Sotomayor ad by the wingnut group with the incongruous title of “Committee for Justice”:



Senator Hatch’s mild rebuke of such right wing garbage, calling the spot “pretty harsh” and “not the type of ad I would run,” in a statement released by his office, is inadequate and offensive. The ad is an outrageous pack of lies.

The word is “REPREHENSIBLE,” Senator. Can you say it?

Perhaps Sen. Hatch’s reticence to condemn the ad in the strongest terms and in person has to do with the fact that he headlined a 2003 fundraiser for CFJ in which he raised $50,000 for the group.

Context is everything.

End this Session

So the Republicans have decided to make Jeff Sessions, too racist to be confirmed to a judgeship by a Republican Senate



their point man in the Sotomayor attacks.

His parents

must be so proud.

That crazy radical activist judge!

When you say ""I can walk in the shoes of the people who are affected by what the Court does" and I can "bring something different to the Court," that is just wrong. That is irresponsible and shows the judge is prejudiced.....right?

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Oh, wait--Clarence Thomas said that.

We've been Dicked. Isn't that "Special?"

C'mon, Mr. Attorney General. Do your job. Protect and defend the constitution. Name a special prosecutor NOW.

Absentee

I'm hoping to come back around here soon, but I'm back in the hospital again. This time it's for a slightly different reason, and when I finish recovering from this surgery, I'll essentially be back to normal. 'bout damned time.

In other news, we have good health care, so this whole process is something we can afford. I've gotten quality nursing and medical advice, I get supplies when I need them, and everyone is nice. There are tens of millions of Americans who don't get this, and that turns a very hard experience into something unbearable.

Happy Bastille Day!

I know Bastille Day isn't until Tuesday, and I know Lula doesn't eat things that used to have faces, but I think she gets a kick out of my cooking posts. Here is tonight's French feast, accompanied by Parisian jazz from the 30s (Django Reinhardt)

BASTILLE DAY MENU

Escargots Provencal
Snails in the Style of Provence

Salade Française du Marché avec Chevre
French Market Salad with Goat Cheese

Paquets de Veau avec de la Sauce à Vin Blanc
Veal Packets with White Wine Sauce

Gateaux Peter
Peter's Special Chocolate Cake

Yahoo's Demographic: 70% YAHOOS!

Seen on the Yahoo main page today:


I dropped the following comment in their electronic suggestion box for comments on how to "improve" their service:

Re: Judge Sotomayor confirmation survey

Do you realize that 70% of your users (or those who answered the survey) are ignorant YAHOOS? Is this something you people are particularly proud of? Just wondering … I don't know why such numbers surprise me, but they do. I suggest you post a follow-up survey:

"Have any of the 70% (morons) who voted not to confirm Judge Sotomayor actually READ any of her decisions?

- YES

- NO

- I'm a YAHOO (functionally illiterate); I just vote as I'm told"

Rove, aka Turdblossom, Testifies on Prosecutor Firings

Former Bush White House official Karl Rove was questioned by House Judiciary Committee lawyers Tuesday on any role he may have played in politically motivated firings of U.S. attorneys. - msnbc.com politics

Robert Strange McNamara, Butcher of Vietnam, Is Dead

He was so utterly reviled in his time that a meek hippie artist from Martha's Vineyard tried to kill him and nearly succeeded. The architect of the Vietnam war died with the knowledge that every attempt he made at redemption was met with ferocious pushback from those who had witnessed the ghoulish consequences of his folly. They would not permit him to rewrite the history of the men and women and children who perished in Vietnam. There would be no whitewash. And no sympathy for a broken, delusional apparatchik.

The commentary (excerpted below) by Joseph Galloway is an eloquent reminder that the strong feelings McNamara provoked in those who witnessed his role as the architect of America's tragedy in Vietnam have not diminished over the years, nor on the occasion of his death:


Reading an obit with great pleasure

Joseph L. Galloway | McClatchy Newspapers

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." —Clarence Darrow (1857–1938)

Well, the aptly named Robert Strange McNamara has finally shuffled off to join LBJ and Dick Nixon in the 7th level of Hell.

McNamara was the original bean-counter — a man who knew the cost of everything but the worth of nothing.

Back in 1990 I had a series of strange phone conversations with McNamara while doing research for my book We Were Soldiers Once And Young. McNamara prefaced every conversation with this: "I do not want to comment on the record for fear that I might distort history in the process." Then he would proceed to talk for an hour, doing precisely that with answers that were disingenuous in the extreme — when they were not bald-faced lies.

Upon hanging up I would call Neil Sheehan and David Halberstam and run McNamara's comments past them for deconstruction and the addition of the truth.

The only disagreement I ever had with Dave Halberstam was over the question of which of us hated him the most. In retrospect, it was Halberstam.

Hitler Reacts to Sarah Palin's Resignation

"There is absolutely nothing I want to do in Indiana."

Johnny Depp as Dillinger gave us the title quote, but I have to agree with him!

While visting the mother-in-law in Fort Wayne this weekend, I went to the neighborhood bare bones fitness center/gym. They had 8 TVs in front of the treadmills. Four were tuned to Faux News and the other four to Nascar. I kid you not.

CNN's Castellanos Mired in 20th Century Cold War

Heard on CNN from their regular right wing Cuban-American contributor, Alex Castellanos:

"President Bush looked into Putin's soul, and President Obama blinked. The less Russia has to worry about nuclear deterrence, the more aggressive they will become on their Western Front."

What? In the space of a couple of sentences, this right wing agitprop talking head managed to interject three Cold War clichés: Obama "blinked" (Cuban Missile Crisis), "nuclear deterrence," aka MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction), and "aggressive on their Western Front," which conjures up all sorts of Cold War imagery of an aggressive Russian bear surrounded by a wall of satellite states. It's worth noting that Castellanos is an old school right wing Cuban-American. These types are UberHawks who still believe the U.S. would be justified in invading Cuba.

The neocons count on the short attention span of the American people. Lest we forget, this kind of talk is what got us into Iraq. Who can remember when the neocon lunatics were drafting white papers in the 90s calling for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, based on the flimsiest of pretexts? Despite their sometime halfhearted mea culpas, the neocons remain true believers. We're bogged down in the quagmire of Iraq, thanks to the neocons, and now Castellanos invokes Cold War fantasies of a resurgent Russia with the old battle lines drawn. Never mind that Russia and the U.S. concluded an agreement to allow U.S. military aircraft ferrying weapons and supplies to Afghanistan to fly over Russian territory.

Neocons such as Castellanos are certifiably insane. Haven't they done enough when they were making disastrous foreign policy in the Bush White House? Now Castellanos is sniping from the sidelines making absurd Cold War statements -- one more reason to hate CNN.

The last of the 20th Century Cold Warriors, Robert MacNamara, is dead. He spent his waning days a tortured, pathetic soul trying to justify his tragic mistakes in Vietnam.

Get with the program, Castellanos. In case you've been sleepwalking for the past 40 years, this is the 21st Century. Really, it is.

Don't go away mad, just go away

She stepped down in part because the national media attacked her? I hope that people remember that if that moron runs again in 2012.

Happy Independence Day!

I do this every year, but TODAY is the actual anniversary of independence. On July 2, 1776, the 2nd Continental Congress adopted Richard Henry Lee's resolution that these colonies "are, and of right to be, free and independent states." [The actual declaration document was adopted on the 4th--I guess the 4th of July either had a better ring to it or a better press agent. Besides, you'd have to change all the white sale flyers]

As John Adams, the leading light of independence, wrote to Abigail:

"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not."

So you all have my permission to take today off!

From the Governor

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Office of the Governor

I am sure that everyone in this great state knows of my recent actions. I have embarrassed myself and damaged my family, this office and this state. After careful and prayerful reflection, I have made the difficult decision to stay in office and continue to say really stupid shit.

Thank you.

Governor Mark Sanford

No More Excuses

Does John Cornyn know something we don't? Because that's the message he sent out after Al Franken finally won his seat and his day in court. Clearly, Repug Sen. Cornyn is counting on the Dems reverting to their historic spineless form, hence his mocking challenge. What's he got to lose?

The truth is, the Democratic Party shouldn't be cowed by Cornyn's trash talking, simply because Cornyn happens to be right in this instance.

Elections have consequences. The Democrats have a SUPERMAJORITY in the United States Senate for the first time in a generation. The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled, Norm Coleman has conceded, and Mr. Franken goes to Washington ... AT LAST.

Sixty votes. Count 'em, 60: SIX-ZERO.

Got that, President Obama? Got that, Harry Reed? Excuse my French, but SCREW THE REPUBLICANS. (No more than they're screwing themselves, anyway.)

Time to pass Healthcare reform, RE-REGULATE WALL STREET, and start implementing a green energy economy.

Is there reason to be optimistic? Sadly NO, not as long as there are six or seven ConservaDem DINOS tiptoeing through the tulips in the Senate, while President Obama persists in his tired appeals to "bipartisanship" only to have the Repugnants slam his policies like a piñata.

Time to stand and deliver, Mr. President -- if you must, make the jellyfish in the Democratic Party GROW A SPINE.

Obama-Be-Bobby. We'll see.

Will MN finally have two senators? - YES

MN Supreme Court rules unanimously (the real kind, not the Limbaugh kind) in favor of Franken. Will Pawlenty finally sign the certificate and declare this debacle at an end, or will he hold up the GOP standard and continue disenfranchising his state?

Apparently, Coleman conceded. Now we've got 60. Let's get something done.

Sotomayor and the Supremes

In the bizarro world that the gelatinous Rush Limbaugh inhabits, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that Circuit Judge Sotomayor is a racist.

What a joke.

Title VII discrimination law is a VERY complex area in which the previous Supreme Court precedents on disparate impact were muddled at best. Judge Sotomayor did NOT write the opinion (which admittedly was rather brief given the complexity of the matter and the importance of the case) which 1) AFFIRMED the district court's holding, 2) was consistent with controlling, while murky, precedent, 3) was left undisturbed by the 2nd Circuit sitting en banc (and Rush, that doesn't mean where you go to cash a check) and 4) would have been affirmed by FOUR Supreme Court justices, while the conservatives and Kennedy actually re-wrote the law in their opinion.

The case shows one thing, and one thing only--she is a jurist sitting smack dab in the middle of the American legal mainstream.

Interactive Guide to recent Republican Sex Scandals 2006-2009

We need a flowchart to keep up with the Repugnant sex caucus:

Michael Jackson, Dead?

Mark Sanford, off the front page.

As weird/criminal as he's been the last decade or so, there's no way to explain to younger folks how big Michael Jackson was in 1983. Heck, I think Thriller was the first LP I bought (the first 45, a couple of years later, was the Super Bowl Shuffle).

First, Farrah Fawcett goes (icon of the 70's).
Then, Michael Jackson may have gone (unconfirmed) - icon of the 80's.
Who's next?

Mark Sanford's New Career: Pulp Erotica Writer?

Released today, the Governor's emails to his mistress, Maria:

"Two, mutual feelings .... You have a particular grace and calm that I adore. You have a level of sophistication that so fitting with your beauty. I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificent gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curve of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of the night’s light - but hey, that would be going into sexual details ...

... In the meantime please sleep soundly knowing that despite the best efforts of my head my heart cries out for you, your voice, your body, the touch of your lips, the touch of your finger tips and an even deeper connection to your soul.”

Screw him

I've seen a few people now making positive comments about Mark Sanford, because he admitted all (or so it seems) in his press conference today.

Screw that.

He cheated on his wife for a year (which is their business, sure, but I'm not going to think of him as a stand-up guy) and left the citizens of the state of South Carolina without a governor for days. That alone should be an impeachable offense.

I don't care that he apologized, I don't care about God's laws and our laws, I care that this guy screwed around on his family and on his job (a somewhat important one, even if it is South Carolina). You don't get to mea culpa your way out of this one, bub.

Gov. Mark Sanford: Don't Cry for Me, Argentina

It seems that accepting President Obama's stimulus money was just too much for South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. The Governor was not hiking on the Appalachian Trail, as his staff told the media, on Sunday Solstice NAKED HIKING DAY, but on a cruise off the coast of Argentina, without telling his wife and kids, the Lt. Governor, or his constituents. This is dedicated to the Governor (pictured below):

The more things change...

I was listening to Thom Hartmann this afternoon, and he was interviewing a guest advocating that the U.S. ratify the United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty.

I seem to remember a brilliant, thoughtful, thin and single young man who wrote an insightful article urging the same thing way back in 1981. I think you can find it at 1981 University of Illinois Law Review 762--if you happen to be near a law library!

Meanwhile, back in Frostbite Falls...

From Juan Cole:

Bombings and other violence left 30 dead in Iraq on Monday, and the three-day death toll is 100. Monday's strikes included a bombing of a mini-bus with students aboard in Shiite Sadr City.

In my own view,the Shiites won the battle for Baghdad and largely ethnically cleansed the city of Sunni Arabs, who I suspect are now only 10-15% of the capital's population. So this sort of terrorism is now more revenge than anything else, and it is hard to see what political change it could effect. It is just a way of keeping the pot boiling and challenging the ensconcing of the Shiite-dominated al-Maliki government.

In my worst GWB--Freedom..liberty. Mission accomplished.

Math

So, when Karl Rove referred to "The Math" that was going to give the GOP the house and senate in 2006, was he referring to the kind of math that allowed more votes to be cast in many places in Iran than there were registered voters?

He's Barack Obama: YEAH!

Unique View on Iran: Would You Believe, From an Iranian Historian?

Memo to Lindsey Graham and his bellicose buddies on the Repugnant Right: The President has been “timid and passive”?

Try statesmanlike and farsighted:

Is 101 years a bit far to go back to help us understand what's happening today? Not in Iran. If there is one thing that both fundamentalists and reformers will agree on, it's that the Iranian people's long (and largely unfinished) march to freedom began during the Constitutional Revolution, or 'Mashruteh', of 1906-1909. Say that very word to a basiji thug or to one of Tehran's green-clad young twitterers today and both will tell you, insistently, that they are the true defenders of its legacy. The mashruteh is Iran's Federalist Papers and Boston Tea Party, all rolled into one; its Spirit of '76.

Iran's constitutionalist uprising was the first great revolution of the 20th century -- an expression of spontaneous rage against a corrupt and bankrupt monarchy. Much like today's movement, it didn't demand a fundamental overthrow of the prevailing system. Instead, it unified the country's merchants, intellectuals, and (yes) clerics in demanding nothing more than an elected parliament and a constitution. The result? A remarkably progressive charter that enshrined the principles of equality, personal rights, universal public education, and freedom of the press. It was the first document of its kind in the Middle East, and it has formed the basis of Iran's political debates ever since.

John Ghazvinian, Historian, University of Pennsylvania

Does History repeat itself? Fortunately for us, we have a student of History as our President:

Despite a wave of indignation and demands for tough action from the United States (driven, no less, by politicians with close ties to the evangelical Christian movement and its missionaries living in Iran), official Washington maintained a dignified distance from events on the ground, and refused to take sides -- at least not overtly. The US minister in Tehran was sympathetic to the revolutionaries, but projected an aura of quiet detachment. The State Department did the same. And all this during the rambunctious presidency of the original rough rider himself -- Theodore Roosevelt. When William Taft took the oath of office in 1909, his inaugural address expressed optimism about the possibility of improved trade relations with Iran, but said nothing about the turmoil on the streets.

Read full article here.

Professor Ghazvinian gives his appraisal of President Obama’s position:

President Obama is taking the long view, and he is dead right. This is Iran's struggle, not America's. And when the dust has settled, the Iranian public (for whom the spectre of foreign interference is a longstanding obsession) will remember the note he struck this week.

It should be noted that the Graham-“bomb-bomb Iran” McCain view is not universal among Republicans and conservatives: Count Peggy Noonan, George Will, Sen. Richard Lugar (the senior Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee), Henry Kissinger, and even Pat Buchanan among those supporting the President’s position.

Re: Teddy Roosevelt –- that he would take such a measured position on the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906-1909 is not as surprising as John McCain holding T.R. up as his “hero.” Either McCain is self-delusional (a possibility), or he’s less familiar with T.R.’s presidency than with the heroic snapshot of the Rough Rider that defined T.R.’s popular mystique.

Republicans today like to perpetuate the myth that they’re worthy descendants of the “party of Lincoln,” the GOP. That is a false presumption. The “party of Lincoln” died a less than honorable death when Teddy Roosevelt bolted the Republican Party, after irreconcilable differences with Taft, to form the U.S. Progressive Party, aka his “Bull Moose” third party. Roosevelt made an unsuccessful run for president in 1912, splitting the Republican vote and assuring Wilson’s election. The “Bull Moose” Progressive Party was short-lived, but it remains the most successful third party in American history, garnering 27% of the vote to 23% for Taft's big business Republican Party in the election of 1912. Woodrow Wilson won with a 42% plurality for the Democrats.

Teddy Roosevelt demanded vigorous government intervention to "destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics" as "the first task of the statesmanship of the day" -- hardly the candidate and policies John McCain and BFF Lindsey Graham would be comfortable with in 2009. Even by today's standards, the Progressive Party platform was true to its name, including a plank for national health insurance. Teddy Roosevelt was the first president to call for universal health care.

Hell, T.R. sounded downright Obamaesque!

The progressive “Lincoln Republicans” who followed T.R. to his “Bull Moose” party would eventually find a home in the Democratic Party of Wilson and T.R.'s cousin Franklin, later joining with progressive Democrats to propel FDR’s liberal New Deal policies.

So much for the GOP and the “party of Lincoln.”

Mark Sanford joins the list

The wandering gov just kissed his reported presidential hopes goodbye, and gets in the failed GOP contender line behind Bobby Brady Jindal et al.

You can already hear the negative ads...

"It's 3 AM and somewhere in the White House, a phone is ringing. WHERE THE HELL IS THE PRESIDENT???"

Apparently Jesse White is NOT Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan said that he majored in geography "because I like to know where things are."

Apparently Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White could use a refresher course from MJ, because his office, that of the Illinois Secretary of State, now offers this:



Hmm, Jesse, I believe that particular institution is located in INDIANA??? WHY is it on Illinois plates?

[or at least if state lines no longer matter, can I get one?? ]

Pete's Trip

I thought for sure we were going to play "Where in the world is Mark Sanford?"

Edit: I did not see this before I posted.

Bonjour!

Back from Quebec City, what a lovely place. A two hour flight but a world away. French, but VERY friendly and manageable, and I ate like a king!

The girls before Pete and Peg's big anniversary dinner date:

The view up from lower town, with the funicular railway to the upper city

The impressive Chateau Frontenac

.

and a carriage on the square

Loved loved loved it!!!! But I promise, I will be back to my usual cranky self soon.

LORD OF THE FLIES ...

Presidente Obama mata LA MOSCA terríble!



Nope, it wasn't Jeff Goldblum or even Sarah Palin ... But PETA weighs in regardless: "He isn't the Buddha, he's a human being, and human beings have a long way to go before they think before they act."

Buddha NO (?) ... NINJA SÍ !!!

Au revoir...

Just wanted to apologize for my absence, with the return of the wandering wife from another of her sojourns, and we leave for Quebec City this morning. See you all next week!

The Revolution in Iran IS BEING Televised and T-T-t-t-w …

TWITTERIZED!

The social networking site of much that is trivial and mundane on the internets has also become the most galvanizing tool of popular insurgencies and grass roots underground political movements EVER.

The reasons are clear: Twitter promotes the two “Ps” –- presence and participation -– as one blogger noted, like no other technological tool currently available to a networked population. It has enabled instant (and archived) communications, as the Iranian government shuts down the traditional means of communication, such as cell phone networks. Critical information tweets have continually fueled the organization and mobilization of the networked masses in anti-government protests.

Television, cell phone services, satellite communications -– yesterday’s technology -– are easier for the repressive Iranian regime to shut down, jam, censor, and control. But Iran’s traditional information blackout has had limited capacity to control the information flowing out of the country from tweets, Facebook, blogs, and YouTube postings. The ruling mullahs have been playing a losing whack-a-mole game with the protesters. No sooner do they suppress dissent in one area, that it pops up in another, and another, and another.

With the foreign media banned in Iran and ordered out of the country, and the local media, such as it is, acting as an instrument of state control and censorship, the message is getting out through thousands of citizen journalists. Young Iranians, educated university students, are at the forefront of this revolution. In this respect, at least, they are direct descendants of just about every revolutionary movement in history. The university in repressive societies has frequently been the town square, the focal point of revolution. But the advent of Twitter brings a new dimension to this common narrative of struggle. it's not so easy for repressive regimes to shut down the universities, identify the student leaders, and jail or make them "disappear."

In a remarkable admission of Twitter’s critical role as enabler of Iran’s popular revolt against its fixed election, the State Department requested that Twitter delay its scheduled maintenance until off hours in Iran, so that critical communications among insurgents would not be interrupted.

No one can predict with any certainty what will happen in Iran in the days, weeks, and months ahead. The Iranian ruling clerics have lost all legitimacy. Their options for state control are limited and point almost exclusively to a severe crackdown and dictatorial control of the population with the strong-arm backing of the Revolutionary Guard. The military, analysts note, are the real power behind the clerics and their puppet Ahmadinejad.

President Obama has taken the correct position. Expressing his concern over events in Iran, and his solidarity with the Iranian people, the President has studiously refused to take the bait of his strident, reactionary critics, Gramps "bomb-bomb Iran" McCain, Congressmen Cantor and Pence, and "Pal Joey" Lieberman. These imbeciles, and I do not lightly use this term, are criticizing the President for not standing with the protesters and against Iran's ruling clerics.

President Obama is absolutely correct in stating that the United States should not be "meddling" in Iran's elections. Considering our shared, chekered history, that's a no-brainer.

Anyone who knows the recent history of Iran, dating to the CIA-backed coup which deposed a democratically elected government and installed the Shah, would understand that for the United States to take sides in this delicate, evolving upheaval in Iran means THE KISS OF DEATH FOR THE PROTESTERS!

Nothing would restore Iranian legitimacy with its people more quickly than for the United States to once again inject itself in internal Iranian affairs. "See," the ruling mullahs will gleefully and with some justification tell their people, "the GREAT SATAN is behind these protests! Death to America!" (Yadayadayada ...)

Thanks for validating our vote, Gramps "bomb-bomb Iran" McCain. Time for your nap.

Racist Legislative Aide in Tennessee gets Tap on the Wrist

THEY JUST DON’T GET IT.

A legislative aide to Tennessee State Sen. DIANE BLACK (R-Gallatin) sent out the following graphic from her state email depicting the 44 presidents. Look at the lower right corner space reserved for President Obama.



The legislative aide, SHERRI GOFORTH, told a local news blog, Nashville is Talking, “I went on the wrong email and I inadvertently hit the wrong button. I’m very sick about it, and it’s one of those things I can’t change or take back.”

Her boss, DIANE BLACK, interviewed by CNN, refused to say:

1) That this employee was, should, or would be FIRED; and
2) That the content of her employee’s email is RACIST.

Instead, she would only say that the email was “inappropriate,” and that her employee who has a “stellar 20-year record” of work for the state legislature was issued a “reprimand” per HR state policy for “improper use of email.”

EXCUSE ME?!

Exactly where does RACISM fall in the category of “improper use of email” to warrant IMMEDIATE TERMINATION from the state of Tennessee? Inquiring minds would like to know.

Tell us, Sen. Black, would this sanction be the same had your employee used state email to peddle pornography? Justice Potter Stewart’s famous reference, “I know it when I see it,” could just as easily apply to racism. But in Tennessee, racism apparently isn’t a serious offense. This is the state whose Repugnant (utterly and completely REPUGNANT) Party has a recent history of racist flyers and attack ads aimed at President Obama. There was the reference to his middle name, Hussein; there was the picture of Obama in African garb; and there was a flyer with Obama’s head on a crow. All were withdrawn. And now this.

Sen. Black’s constituents flocked to her support. “Get over it,” they told outraged critics. If Obama had been white, or if this was about W., they said, no one would raise an objection.

THEY JUST DON’T GET IT.

Did SHERRI GOFORTH really REGRET this, as her boss insists, or APOLOGIZE?

Here’s NIT’s Christian Grantham’s report of the GOFORTH interview:

I spoke with Sherri Goforth minutes ago to confirm she sent this email. She confirmed she had sent it and also said she had received a letter of reprimand from her superiors but said she will stay on the job.

When I asked her if she understood the controversial nature of the photo, Goforth would only say she felt very bad about accidentally sending it to the wrong list. When I gave her a second chance to address the controversial nature of the email, she again repeated that she only felt bad about sending it to the wrong list of people.

“I went on the wrong email and I inadvertently hit the wrong button,” Goforth told NIT. “I’m very sick about it, and it’s one of those things I can’t change or take back."

The "wrong list"?! Who's on the RIGHT LIST, Sherri: Racists, bigots, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and xenophobic Repugnants? 



THEY JUST DON’T GET IT.


In the meantime, Sherri, consider handing the "RIGHT LIST" over to the FBI.

SHAME ON DIANE BLACK,SHERRI GOFORTH, THEIR SUPPORTERS, AND EVERY REPUBLICAN WHO DOES NOT IMMEDIATELY AND UNEQUIVOCALLY CONDEMN THIS ACT OF RACISM.

You’re despicable beyond words.

Panetta Slams Cheney: Is the G-OLD-P Destined for Whigdom?

In an interview with the New Yorker, CIA Director Leon Panetta said the Bush regime's Dark Lord "smells blood in the water" on national security issues, with reckless statements that the Obama Administration has made our country less safe without producing a single shred of evidence to support his allegations. The evidence, of course, is classified, and will not be declassified at Cheney's behest (and he knows it) simply because His Lordship is suddenly BFF with the FOIA.

"It's almost, a little bit, gallows politics," said Panetta. "When you read behind it, it's almost as if he's wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point. I think that's dangerous politics." Which begs the question: If Cheney knows something the DCI -- whose job it is to know about such things -- doesn't, then perhaps he ought to share with Leon, don't-cha think?

Watching the shameless, sometimes diverting and bizarre sideshow of the Cheneys' BIG LIES tour, the question that comes to mind is, does their party really want to run with this? I mean, who the hell made Liz Cheney an expert on national security issues and foreign policy? Aside from holding a low level position in the disgraced Bush-Cheney State Department, her sole qualification for making the political chattering rounds seems to be a penchant for shameless, pathological lying. Unlike her father, though, she knows little beyond the Cheney family lies talking points, making her a genuine trash talker of the worst kind. The problem is, she will lie with impunity on "friendly" territory such as Faux News and Andrea Mitchell Reports, that will give her free rein without contesting her lies. There's a lag time before the truth squads on KO, Rachel Maddow, Huff Post, Media Matters, and others, debunk the latest Cheney lies with video evidence, timelines, and quotes. An annoyance, to be sure; still, most viewers can see through the lies. Preaching crapaganda to the choir won't get the Right much past 35%.


Oh, lest I forget ... Boss Limbaugh, who may be headed for a rehab center after blaming the health care crisis on sports injuries, speaks for the Cheney lunatic fringe which, having exiled Colin Powell, is now the Repugnant Party mainstream -- pasty white guys with pacemakers and SS/Medicare eligibility. If Liz Cheney and Sarah Palin are the best women "leaders" the grand old, old, old white party has to offer ... well ... they're in big trouble. As in destined for extinction, like the Whigs.

Is George W.Bush the 21st Century's Millard Fillmore?