Liar of the Year

Palin: I'm Not the Biggest Liar of the Year
POSTED: 12/24/09

There's an old story that occasionally makes the rounds in Washington. In the 1970s, a magazine (now long defunct) named New Times reported that Sen. William Scott, a Virginia Republican, had been ranked the "dumbest" senator in a survey conducted by a public interest group. Subsequently, Scott held a press conference to deny the charge -- thereby proving he was pretty darn dumb. After all, he only called more attention to the accusation.

Sarah Palin has taken a Scott-like position.

Earlier this month, PolitiFact.com, a project of the St. Petersburg Times, awarded Palin the not-so-coveted "lie of the year" award for claiming last summer that President Obama's health care reform initiative would set up "death panels" run by bureaucrats who would decide if seniors and disabled citizens "based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society' " would be "worthy of health care." PolitiFact.com explains:

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On Aug. 10, PolitiFact rated Palin's statement Pants on Fire [its highest -- or lowest -- rating]. In the weeks that followed, health care policy experts on both the right and the left said the euthanasia comparisons were inaccurate. Gail Wilensky, a health adviser to President George H.W. Bush, said the charge was untrue and upsetting.

"I think it is really unfortunate that this has been raised and received so much attention because there are serious issues to debate in health care reform," she said at a forum on Sept. 3.
Responding to the initial Pants-on-Fire designation, Palin tried to have it both ways, claiming her phrase was metaphoric and accurate. In a Nov. 17 interview with National Review, she said she didn't regret the remark:

"To me, while reading that section of the bill, it became so evident that there would be a panel of bureaucrats who would decide on levels of health care, decide on those who are worthy or not worthy of receiving some government-controlled coverage," she said. "Since health care would have to be rationed if it were promised to everyone, it would therefore lead to harm for many individuals not able to receive the government care. That leads, of course, to death."

"The term I used to describe the panel making these decisions should not be taken literally," said Palin. The phrase is "a lot like when President Reagan used to refer to the Soviet Union as the 'evil empire.' He got his point across. He got people thinking and researching what he was talking about. It was quite effective. Same thing with the 'death panels.' I would characterize them like that again, in a heartbeat."

Not literal, but accurate -- as in, well, you know what I mean.

Now Palin is again taking issue with being called a liar. In a new Facebook posting, she scoffs at "Nancy Pelosi and friends who have tried to call 'death panels' the 'lie of the year.' " She doesn't mention it was the neutral PolitiFact.com that branded her statement the whopper of 2009. And she claims she has proof she was correct in the first place. The pending Senate health care bill, she says, calls for an Independent Medicare Advisory Board to find ways to cut costs. This, she writes, "is also known as rationing." If that's the case, then every insurance company and health care firm in America is a death panel, for that's what they do each day: seek ways to trim costs to bolster profits.

But there's more. Palin cites a letter Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last week, referring to the bill's call for reducing Medicare spending by 2 percent. "It is unclear," Elmendorf noted, "whether such a reduction in the growth rate could be achieved, and if so, whether it would be accomplished through greater efficiencies in the delivery of health care or would reduce access to care or diminish the quality of care."

Aha, Palin proclaims: This reduced " 'access to care' and 'diminish[ed] quality of care' - is precisely what I meant when I used that metaphor." (She's back to calling it a metaphor.)

Not really. As Greg Sargent has pointed out, Palin is changing her definitions. When she first referred to "death panels," she was portraying them as medical tribunes that would decide the fate of specific individuals. ("You're IQ is too low, so no dialysis for you!") Now, she's essentially claiming that any cost-cutting that might influence access to care constitutes establishing a "death panel." Not only is she being shifty; Palin is poisoning one policy debate that the nation needs to have about health care. Does this ardent foe of socialism really believe that the U.S. government ought to pay for any medical procedure that a Medicare recipient might want? What if a treatment costs several million dollars and at best can extend the life of a dying patient by a week? If you question such a practice, then, in Palin's book, you're for rationing and can be a charter member of a "death panel."

Tough policy matters aside, Palin is playing loose with the facts about her own pronouncements -- and calling even more attention to her dubious distinction of promoting the lie of year. The big question is, in this category, can she top herself in 2010?

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RUSSELL SIMMONS: The New Old Face of Racism

RUSSELL SIMMONS: The New Old Face of Racism
Russell Simmons , December 10, 2009 | 11:33:11 AM (EST)
One of the great challenges of our nation has been and will be to reconcile the racial tension of our past. The historical ramifications of slavery are still felt in the streets of West Baltimore, the country roads of the Mississippi Delta and corridors of the United States Congress. When our nation gathered up enough strength and courage to elect the first African-American president, in the words of our great GlobalGrind blogger, Erica Williams, "our nation did not become post-racial, but we're making every effort to be post-racist."

During the president's first year of his term, often has our nation endured various situations that dealt with race, including Skip Gates' arrest, the "birthers" movement, the "Witch Doctor" poster, amongst many others. Although we have made tremendous progress in our discussions revolving around race, one consistent reminder that we have not reached a state of high consciousness is the ability of the few to co-opt the opinions of the masses. As the Republican Party has tried hard to give itself a new face, with Michael Steele becoming the first African-American chairman in its history, it is sadly still the race-baiting commentators that dictate the agenda.

This week, Rush Limbaugh made a sickening comment in his attempt to interpret the words of Rev. Jackson, when he said that the "black frame of mind" is "terrible" and that "Tiger Woods choice of women sure didn't help it." When three Republican U.S. Senators and half a dozen evangelical preachers do it, why isn't he saying it depresses the white race? Limbaugh's bringing in Tiger's infidelity as if it's related to black culture goes back to an old and deeply evil racist connection of black men and sexual promiscuity. To use the image of the black man as the sexual predator is the oldest form of race baiting, dating back to Emmit Till and before that, the slaves on the plantation. Moreover, Rush is using Tiger as an Obama surrogate, using Tiger as a way to say that these men cannot be trusted. Rush knows exactly what he is doing by being the first to link the plight of the black man to the sorrows of Tiger Woods.

It was only a matter of time, before the new face of the Republican Party resorted back to their old tricks. And if you keep these type of games going, we will get another four years to pass our progressive agenda, because the majority of Americans, including Republicans, are tired of it. If you think, for one minute, that the real "new" face of the Republican party, the new emerging young conservative voice, want Dick Cheney or Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh as their leader, you are foolishly mistaken. Young people are tired of blue and red America...they want purple America. Young people are tired of the divisive name calling, they want to work together to solve the nation's problems. Young people are tired of fighting two wars, they want peace. So, Mr. Limbaugh and your cronies, you can continue to spew your hate all you want, because this type of racism and pain will only work for so long.

We will build a new America, together. We will build a post-racial America, together. We will build a nation that will no longer tolerate racism, new or old, together.




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ALEC BALDWIN: The Republican Way: Keeping Everything The Way It Is

ALEC BALDWIN: The Republican Way: Keeping Everything The Way It Is
Alec Baldwin , November 24, 2009 | 7:46:24 PM (EST)

Didn't you know, all along, that the goal of U.S. policy in Iraq was about accessing oil?

Not oil as in those production levels at the onset of the Bush era incursion in March, 2003. But newer, stronger, American-style production levels. American oil companies had been forbidden from exploring and developing new oil fields since the nationalization of Iraq's reserves in 1972 and those American oil companies have long contended that Iraqi estimates of their potential reserves are grossly underestimated, by perhaps as much as a couple of hundred billion barrels.

Likewise, didn't you know all along that Republican opposition to current health care reform is about maintaining the unconscionable monopoly that insurance companies have in the American economy. Why? For the same reason Bush went to war in Iraq, spent money we didn't have, pushed the country into financial ruin and did more to threaten our long term national security than any modern president. The GOP needs contributions. I would never contend that the GOP is alone in this practice. When an administration awards contracts to some supporter, they anticipate more support. But no group, in the history of this country, has ever done this to such an extent. Remember, I am always careful to separate the leadership of any party from its rank and file. So when I level such a charge against "Republicans", I am referring to their leadership on Capitol Hill. But, I think it's safe to say now that the war in Iraq was started to provide U.S. oil companies with the opportunity to develop new oil fields there in return for the massive campaign contributions those oil companies will make to the Republicans in 2010 and, especially, 2012 in their effort to unseat President Obama.

The same is true for the health care industry, and insurance companies in particular. They don't want reform. The current system works quite well for them. If an excess of Americans die due to insufficient health care, so what. Republican leaders argue that health care reform will lead to a big, fat, incompetent bureaucracy that will gobble up billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars and provide little accountability. But wait. Isn't the Pentagon a big, fat, incompetent bureaucracy that gobbles up...? Well, you get it.

The Pentagon wastes more money on more crap that you and I don't need and gets it wrong, on a policy level, more often than not since 1960 (I'll give them a pass on Korea, due to all the Cold War anxiety at the time). Republicans never flinch. Spending on the military, and subsequent sales of those weapons systems around the world, help the U.S. economy, in their mind. Those companies, in turn, contribute to the campaigns of men like George W. Bush. This is especially so now that the Pentagon, in the ultimate sign of their stupidity, abdication of their responsibilities and tacit compliance with GOP fundraising goals, have privatized the U.S. military to the tune of one million dollars per soldier in Afghanistan.

Think about that. Recruitment is down. This Pentagon has a shortage of willing and competent soldiers who can run our military machinery. So what do they do? Do they improve recruitment, training and pay for soldiers? No. They privatize as much of these duties as they can (with no bid contracts for staggering sums of money) and create new businesses that, in turn, will contribute to those that helped them

The health care industry wastes untold billions, then passes those costs on to insurance companies who then exploit your fear and pass them on to you. Fear of Al Qaeda. Fear of getting sick without insurance and, therefore, access to effective medical care. Keep everything the way it is, out of fear. Fear that it could get worse. That's the Republican way. These guys have this country coming and going.

Health care reform means less money for insurance companies. Thus less money for the GOP. We should pass this bill for that reason alone.




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11 Most Paranoid Obama Conspiracy Theories

11 Most Paranoid Obama Conspiracy Theories

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Jon Soltz: Why Musicians Are Right, Liz Cheney Is Wrong

Jon Soltz: Why Musicians Are Right, Liz Cheney Is Wrong

Top 10 Racist Limbaugh Quotes

By Casey Gane-McCalla October 20, 2008 9:45 pm





Normally I do Top 5 lists, but Rush Limbaugh’s racist comments could not be limited by such a small number. Now that he has reared his ugly once again in saying that Colin Powell is endorsing Barack Obama because he is black, it’s time to ask ourselves why is Sarah Palin appearing on the show with such an astounding racist. Is she pallin around with bigots?





If John McCain was so eager to have Barack Obama repudiate the statements of his ’supporter,’ John Lewis, shouldn’t John McCain repudiate the extremely racist comments of his biggest right wing radio supporter, Rush Limbaugh.



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.

                          

                                                               John Wayne Gacy



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 gangmembers. 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 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, in 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. 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.’

Massive Ordnance Penetrator: Another Sign Obama Will Strike Iran

Original Posted by KOPUNCH

Kurt Nimmo
October 7, 2009

The Pentagon has put a new weapon on the fast-track. The Massive Ordnance Penetrator is a 30,000-pound bomb designed to hit targets buried 200 feet below ground. Earlier this year, the Pentagon comptroller sent a request to shift funds to the House and Senate Appropriations and Armed Services Committees in order to fast forward the development and procurement of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, according to ABC News. The notification was included in a 93-page “reprogramming” request that included hundreds of items.
See the Pentagon memo here. The comptroller said the Pentagon planned to spend $19.1 million to procure four of the bombs, $28.3 million to accelerate the bomb’s “development and testing”, and $21 million to accelerate the integration of the bomb onto B-2 stealth bombers.
The Air Force 708th Armament Systems Group at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida awarded a $51.9 million contract on October 2 to the Boeing Co. in St. Louis to integrate the Massive Ordnance Penetrator on a B-2 stealth bomber, the Military & Aero website reported on October 4.
“The Department has an Urgent Operational Need (UON) for the capability to strike hard and deeply buried targets in high threat environments. The MOP is the weapon of choice to meet the requirements of the UON.” It further states that the request is endorsed by Pacific Command (which has responsibility over North Korea) and Central Command (which has responsibility over Iran),” the notification states.
“This is not the kind of weapon that would be particularly useful in Iraq or Afghanistan, but it is ideally suited to hit deeply buried nuclear facilities such as Natanz or Qom in Iran,” ABC notes.
“A deep underground tunnel facility in a rock geology poses a significant challenge for non-nuclear weapons. Such a target is difficult to penetrate, except possibly near an adit, and the likelihood of damaging critical functional components deep within the facility from an energy release at the adit is low. Past test experience has shown that 2,000 lb. penetrators carrying 500 lbs. of high explosive are relatively ineffective against tunnels, even when skipped directly into the tunnel entrance,” explains GlobalSecurity.
MOP contains more than 5,300 pounds of conventional explosives inside of a 20.5-foot-long steel enclosure. The weapon is said to be able to penetrate up to about 60 feet of dirt and concrete, the Defense Daily reported on December 4, 2006.
The Pentagon has moved the MOP to the fast track because the Iran attack plan is now operational and will probably be carried out before the end of the year.
The corporate media is now gearing up for an attack by manufacturing census in much the same way they did in the lead-up to the devastating mass murder campaign on Iraq that ultimately resulted in more than a million dead Iraqis. “A majority of Americans are skeptical that diplomacy with Iran will succeed and say the U.S. should use military action if necessary to prevent the Iranian government from developing a nuclear weapon,” Bloomberg reported on October 6. “A Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey released today found 61 percent of Americans would support a military strike. Twenty-four percent said it is more important to avoid conflict even if that means Iran will end up building nuclear arms.”
Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction, as the government and the corporate media claimed, and Iran is not developing nuclear weapons. In September, the U.S. intelligence community told the White House that Iran has not restarted its nuclear-weapons development program. Also in September, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Mohamed ElBaradei, denied Israeli accusations that he has withheld information about Iran’s nuclear progress. Since 2003, the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly stated that it has found no evidence that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.
Moreover, as Juan Cole notes, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa in 2005 that states no Islamic state may possess or use atomic weapons because they kill masses of innocent civilians when used, which is contrary to the Islamic law of war, which forbids killing innocent non-combatants.
The only state in the Middle East that has nuclear weapons is Israel.

“Those who insist that Iran is trying to get a bomb have a difficult time explaining why Khamenei forbids it as un-Islamic and why the president and others all deny it. It is possible that they are lying, but their denials at least have to be noted and analyzed. The skeptics also have to explain away why the 16 US intelligence agencies say after exhaustive espionage and investigation that there is no weapons program now and that there hasn’t been one for some time,” Cole writes.
None of these arguments matter to the global elite because they are determined to reduce Iran to a pile of smoldering rubble much the same way Iraq was reduced. After the Pentagon gets a green light and loads up its stealth bombers with MOPs and other munitions, the destruction will not be limited to Natanz and Qom and Iran’s illusory nuclear weapons program. Iran’s infrastructure will be targeted. Iran’s non-existent nuclear weapons program is merely an excuse for a larger objective — the wholesale destruction of Iranian society and civilization.

U.S. Concentration Camps? Old News I know but just google it anyways!

Click to Picture to Zoom

It's All About Making Money for Glen Beck

-This story is from NewsMax, the same losers who brought us the 'military coup story-

Jimmy

Glenn Beck Exclusive: Warns of ‘Reichstag Event’

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 7:03 PM





Media phenomenon Glenn Beck recently sat down with Newsmax for an exclusive interview offering his take on everything from President Obama, to the threat to talk radio and even a worry that our Constitutional government may disappear after a “Reichstag” event takes place.

The candid, wide-ranging interview appears in the October issue of Newsmax magazine, and is included in the special report "Glenn Beck Wants You!" that takes an in-depth look at the TV host whose Fox News show has been breaking ratings records since it burst on the scene in January.

The exclusive video of the interview with Beck is also available online to subscribers to Newsmax magazine – sign up today and get our special report on Glenn Beck, an Emergency Radio and access to exclusive video — Click Here Now

Beck, who is also thriving on the radio, in bookstores and on the comedy circuit, sat down with Newsmax magazine's Editor in Chief Christopher Ruddy and voiced his concerns about a coming attack on talk radio.

But his real worry is that many Washington elitists really don’t like our form of government and want to see it abolished.

"I fear a Reichstag moment," he said, referring to the 1933 burning of Germany's parliament building in Berlin that the Nazis blamed on communists and Hitler used as an excuse to suspend constitutional liberties and consolidate power.

"God forbid, another 9/11. Something that will turn this machine on, and power will be seized and voices will be silenced."

Beck has also been a fierce critic of President Obama. Still, he said he's open to a meeting with Obama. Beck doesn't believe the president "necessarily would" speak directly to him, adding: "I don't know very many politicians that speak directly."

Beck also talked to Newsmax about his critics, his best-selling book "Common Sense," his condemnation of George W. Bush's presidency, government control of the media and "the only thing that will save this country."

Beck himself has gushed enthusiastically about the "Glenn Beck Wants You!" report, telling radio listeners: "Gosh, thank you, Newsmax. What an in-depth article, and a fair article. Thank you."

From Bill Maher's Blog

Friday, September 25, 2009


New Rule: If America Can't Get it Together, We Lose the Bald Eagle



New Rule: If America can't get its act together, it must lose the bald eagle as our symbol and replace it with the YouTube video of the puppy that can't get up. As long as we're pathetic, we might as well act like it's cute. I don't care about the president's birth certificate, I do want to know what happened to "Yes we can." Can we get out of Iraq? No. Afghanistan? No. Fix health care? No. Close Gitmo? No. Cap-and-trade carbon emissions? No. The Obamas have been in Washington for ten months and it seems like the only thing they've gotten is a dog.



Well, I hate to be a nudge, but why has America become a nation that can't make anything bad end, like wars, farm subsidies, our oil addiction, the drug war, useless weapons programs - oh, and there's still 60,000 troops in Germany - and can't make anything good start, like health care reform, immigration reform, rebuilding infrastructure. Even when we address something, the plan can never start until years down the road. Congress's climate change bill mandates a 17% cut in greenhouse gas emissions... by 2020! Fellas, slow down, where's the fire? Oh yeah, it's where I live, engulfing the entire western part of the United States!



We might pass new mileage standards, but even if we do, they wouldn't start until 2016. In that year, our cars of the future will glide along at a breathtaking 35 miles-per-gallon. My goodness, is that even humanly possible? Cars that get 35 miles-per-gallon in just six years? Get your head out of the clouds, you socialist dreamer! "What do we want!? A small improvement! When do we want it!? 2016!"



When it's something for us personally, like a laxative, it has to start working now. My TV remote has a button on it now called "On Demand". You get your ass on my TV screen right now, Jon Cryer, and make me laugh. Now! But when it's something for the survival of the species as a whole, we phase that in slowly.



Folks, we don't need more efficient cars. We need something to replace cars. That's what's wrong with these piddly, too-little-too-late half-measures that pass for "reform" these days. They're not reform, they're just putting off actually solving anything to a later day, when we might by some miracle have, a) leaders with balls, and b) a general populace who can think again. Barack Obama has said, "If we were starting from scratch, then a single-payer system would probably make sense." So let's start from scratch.



Even if they pass the shitty Max Baucus health care bill, it doesn't kick in for 4 years, during which time 175,000 people will die because they're not covered, and about three million will go bankrupt from hospital bills. We have a pretty good idea of the Republican plan for the next three years: Don't let Obama do anything. What kills me is that that's the Democrats' plan, too.



We weren't always like this. Inert. In 1965, Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law and 11 months later seniors were receiving benefits. During World War II, virtually overnight FDR had auto companies making tanks and planes only. In one eight year period, America went from JFK's ridiculous dream of landing a man on the moon, to actually landing a man on the moon.



This generation has had eight years to build something at Ground Zero. An office building, a museum, an outlet mall, I don't care anymore. I'm tempted to say that, symbolically, all America can do lately is keep digging a hole, but Ground Zero doesn't represent a hole. It is a hole. America: Home of the Freedom Pit. Ironically, it's spitting distance from Wall Street, where they knock down buildings a different way - through foreclosure.



That's the ultimate sign of our lethargy: millions thrown out of their homes, tossed out of work, lost their life savings, retirements postponed - and they just take it. 30% interest on credit cards? It's a good thing the Supreme Court legalized sodomy a few years ago.



Why can't we get off our back? Is it something in the food? Actually, yes. I found out something interesting researching last week's editorial on how we should be taxing the unhealthy things Americans put into their bodies, like sodas and junk foods and gerbils. Did you know that we eat the same high-fat, high-carb, sugar-laden shit that's served in prisons and in religious cults to keep the subjects in a zombie-like state of lethargic compliance? Why haven't Americans arisen en masse to demand a strong public option? Because "The Bachelor" is on. We're tired and our brain stems hurt from washing down French fries with McDonald's orange drink.



The research is in: high-fat diets makes you lazy and stupid. Rats on an American diet weren't motivated to navigate their maze and once in the maze they made more mistakes. And, instead of exercising on their wheel, they just used it to hang clothes on. Of course we can't ban assault rifles - we're the first generation too lazy to make its own coffee. We're the generation that invented the soft chocolate chip cookie: like a cookie, only not so exhausting to chew. I ask you, if the food we're eating in America isn't making us stupid, how come the people in Carl's Jr. ads never think to put a napkin over their pants?

Posted by Bill Maher at 11:43 AM 67 comments

Labels: Barack Obama, bill maher, Health Care Reform, new rules, real time

US Military Coup?

Right-Wingers Fantasize About Anti-Obama Coup
The Huffington Post , September 30, 2009 | 4:37:01 PM (EST)

Extremists who oppose the president have begun fantasizing about a military coup to overthrow Obama.

Newsmax columnist John Perry wrote Tuesday that President Obama "is inviting" a military coup and that it might not be such a bad thing: "Imagine a bloodless coup to restore and defend the Constitution through an interim administration that would do the serious business of governing and defending the nation. Skilled, military-trained, nation-builders would replace accountability-challenged, radical-left commissars."

Newsmax subsequently took the column down. A spokesperson said in a statement, "Newsmax strongly believes in the principles of Constitutional government and would never advocate or insinuate any suggestion of an activity that would undermine our democracy or democratic institutions." She added that Perry "has no official relationship with Newsmax other than as an unpaid blogger. (Perry is a former senior editor at the site.) However, she also defended Perry's column, saying that he "clearly stated that he was not advocating such a scenario but simply describing one."

On the same day conservative talk-radio host Jim Quinn directly addressed U.S. troops, telling them that Obama is "gonna get you killed."

Media Matters points out that the appeals to the military follow a wave of rhetoric from the right suggesting that civilian violence against the government might be justified. Chuck Norris has asked if people are ready for "a second American Revolution." RedState's Erick Erickson has asked, "At what point do the people ... march down to their state legislator's house, pull him outside, and beat him to a bloody pulp?" Radio host Michael Savage declared recently that "we're going to have a revolution in this country."

Republican-appointed judges won’t dismiss lawsuit against Ashcroft, Yoo

High-ranking government officials are usually protected from claims that they violated a person’s civil rights. In lawsuits stemming from law enforcement and intelligence efforts after the Sept. 11 attacks, three federal courts have left open the possibility that former Attorney General John Ashcroft and a lieutenant may be held personally liable.

In two cases, judges appointed by Republican presidents have refused at an early stage to dismiss lawsuits that were filed against Ashcroft and former Justice Department official John Yoo. One complaint challenges Ashcroft’s strategy of preventive detention. The other seeks to hold Yoo accountable for legal memos he wrote supporting detention, interrogation and presidential power.

In a third case, the full federal appeals court in New York is reconsidering an earlier decision by three of its members to toss out a lawsuit by a man who was changing planes in the United States when he was mistaken for a terrorist and sent to Syria, where he claims he was tortured.

Senior officials are accustomed to having their actions in office judged by history, not the courts. Exposing them to legal risk might complicate recruitment as top prospects shun positions that could land them in personal trouble. It also could make officials think twice about aggressive use of executive authority.

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The cases have been uncomfortable for the Obama administration, which inherited the task of representing Ashcroft and Yoo from the Bush administration, even though President Barack Obama opposed some of the homeland-security practices under his predecessor. As well, both the Obama and Bush administrations renounced some of Yoo’s legal positions.

Among the Yoo memos retracted was his Oct. 23, 2001, opinion that the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches did not apply to domestic military operations aimed at terror suspects — so soldiers could enter and search homes without warrants in pursuit of terrorists.

The Obama administration has yet to spell out its views on when people may be detained because of suspected terrorism links but without evidence of criminal activity.

My Post On Iran

My last post on Iran testing inter-continental ballistic missiles will strike a chord with anyone who has been watching the news of late. Obama used his opening address to the G20 nations as a sound board to condemn the yet unsubstantiated Iranian nuclear program. Am I on crack or is this history repeating it's self? (remember the WMD's?)

Are we finally gonna see the world war we wished for with Bush? Is Obama fulfilling the prophecy for some unnamed super elite power that has to be exposed? Is he the wolf in sheep's clothing?

Did I forget to take my meds?

KO

It's The End Of The World As We Know It, But I feel FINE...

Iran test-fired three short-range missiles on Sunday as the Islamic republic began war games two days after the UN nuclear watchdog disclosed it was building a second uranium enrichment plant.
Hossein Salami, air force commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, said that on Monday there would also be a test-firing of the long-range Shahab 3 missile which Iran says has a range of 1,300-2,000 kilometres (800-1,240 miles) and could hit arch-foe Israel.
"Tomorrow we will test the long-range Shahab-3 missile," he told state television.
He also told reporters, without elaborating, that the Guards tested a "multiple missile launcher for the first time" on Sunday and that later in the day Shahab-1 and Shahab-2 medium-range missiles would be test-fired.
Iran's Fars news agency said the multiple launcher could fire two missiles aimed at separate targets simultaneously.
Salami called the manoeuvres an "indication" of Iran's "strong will to defend our values and interests."
"This exercise has a message of friendship for friendly countries. For greedy countries that seek to intimidate us, the message is that we are capable of a prompt and crushing response to their animosity," state television website quoted him as saying.
Dismissing Israel as a potential threat, Salami said: "That regime is not in a position that we need to comment about threats from it."
He said Iran has "increased the precision of our missiles... hopefully, these missile tests will contribute to our deterrent and defensive capabilities."
Salami said the Guards will not launch any new type of missile during the exercise which is expected to last several days, but he added that Iran "has boosted the number of missiles and can contain long-term missile conflicts."
Earlier, state media reported that the three short-range missiles fired were of the Tondar-69, Fateh-110 and Zelzal type.
All three weapons, powered by solid fuel, have a range of between 150 and 200 kilometres (90 and 125 miles).
State-owned Press TV broadcast footages of sand-coloured missiles being fired in desert terrain.
The missile manoeuvres come after US President Barack Obama decided earlier this month to scrap a defence shield in Europe promoted by his predecessor George W. Bush.
Obama ended Bush's plan to deploy missile interceptors in Poland and a powerful tracking radar in the neighbouring Czech Republic by 2013.
He said he had decided to replace the shield with a more mobile system using mainly sea-based missile interceptors.
In taking the decision, Obama emphasised the threat of Iran's short-range and medium-range missiles instead of the potential danger of its longer-range weapons.
The White House said the intelligence community now believed Iran was developing shorter-range missiles "more rapidly than previously projected" while progressing more slowly than expected with intercontinental missiles.
US ally Israel, most Arab states and parts of Europe -- including much of Turkey -- are within range of the Shahab-3.
Over the past two years, when Bush was still in office, Iran stepped up work on its ballistic missiles, testing a more advanced medium-range missile using solid fuel, and also said it had successfully put a satellite into orbit.
Iran stages regular military manoeuvres in strategic Gulf waters, showcasing its missiles and other weaponry.
In the past it has threatened to target US bases in the region and to block the strategic Gulf Strait of Hormuz waterway for oil tankers if its nuclear sites are attacked.
Israel and the United States have never ruled out a military option to thwart Iran's nuclear drive, which they suspect of having a military aim. Tehran denies the charge.
On Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran was building a second uranium enrichment plant, sparking concern by Western leaders.
But Iran's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said the new plant on the road from Tehran to the holy city of Qom will be put under the supervision of the IAEA.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcomed his announcement.
The disclosure of the new plant came just days before an October 1 meeting in Geneva between Iran and six world powers to discuss Tehran's disputed atomic programme.

Michael Moore

'Capitalism' as Comedy and Tragedy Now Playing in NY and L.A.
Michael Moore , September 26, 2009 | 9:57:55 AM (EST)
Read Michael Moore's other articles on HuffingtonPost.com

Friends,

The time has arrived for, as Time magazine called it, my "magnum opus." I only had a year of Latin when I was in high school, so I'm not quite sure what that means, but I think it's good.

I've spent nearly two years on this new movie, "Capitalism: A Love Story," and have poured my heart and soul into this project. Many early critics and viewers have called it my "best film yet." That's a hard call for me to make as I'm proud of all of my films -- but I will tell you this: What you are about to see in "Capitalism" is going to stun you. It's going to make some of you angry and I believe it's going to give most of you a new sense of hope that we are going to turn the sick and twisted mess made by the last president around. Oh, and you're going to have a good laugh at the expense of all the banking and corporate criminals who've made out like bandits in the past year.

I'm gonna show you the stuff the nightly news will rarely show you. Ever meet a pilot for American Airlines on food stamps because his pay's been cut so low? Ever meet a judge who gets kickbacks for sending innocent kids to a private prison? Ever meet someone from the Wall Street Journal who bluntly states on camera that he doesn't much care for democracy and that capitalism should be our only ruling concern?

You'll meet all these guys in "Capitalism." You'll also meet a whistleblower who, with documents in hand, tells us about the million-dollar-plus sweetheart loans he approved for the head of Senate Banking Committee -- the very committee that was supposed to be regulating his lending institution! You'll hear from a bank regulator why Timothy Geithner has no business being our Treasury Secretary. And you'll learn, from the woman who heads up the congressional commission charged with keeping an eye on the bailout money, how Alan Greenspan & Co. schemed and connived the public into putting up their inflated valued homes as collateral -- thus causing the biggest foreclosure epidemic in our history.

There is now a foreclosure filed in the U.S. once every seven-and-half SECONDS.

None of this is an accident, and I name the names others seem to be afraid to name, the men who have ransacked the pensions of working people and plundered the future of our kids and grandkids. Somehow they thought they were going to get away with this, that we'd believe their Big Lie that this crash was caused by a bunch of low-income people who took out loans they couldn't afford. Much of the mainstream media bought this storyline. No wonder Wall Street thought they could pull this off.

Jeez, I guess they forgot about me and my crew. You'd think we would've made a better impression on these wealthy thieves by now. Guess not.

So here we come! It's all there, up on the silver screen, two hours of a tragicomedy crime story starring a bunch of vampires who just weren't satisfied with simply destroying Flint, Michigan -- they had to try and see if they could take down the whole damn country. So come see this cops and robbers movie! The robbers this time wear suits and ties, and the cops -- well, if you're willing to accept a guy in a ballcap with a high school education as a stand-in until the real deal shows up to haul 'em away, then I humbly request your presence at your local cinema this weekend in New York and Los Angeles (and next Friday, October 2nd, all across America).

In the meantime, you can catch us on some of the TV shows that have been brave enough to let me on in the past week or so:

- Nightline (as we take a stroll down Wall Street to Goldman Sachs)

- Good Morning America (where they let me talk about Disney employees who don't get medical benefits)

- The View (where the Republican co-host told everyone to go see it! Whoa!)

- The Colbert Report (this guy is a genius, seriously)

- Larry King (where a spokesperson for the Senator who got the sweetheart loans responds for the first time)

- Keith Olberman (where we both wonder just how long these media corps are going to let us get away with what we do)

- Wolf Blitzer (yes, he's back for more abuse - and lovin' it)

... And the amazing Jay Leno. This man called me after seeing the movie and asked me to be his only in-studio guest on the second night of his new prime-time show. I said, "Jay, shouldn't you be thinking of your ratings in the first week of the show? Are you sure you didn't misdial Tom Hanks' number (the area code where I live is 231; 213 is LA)?" He told me he was profoundly moved by this film. So I was the guest on his second show, and he told all of America it was my "best film" and to please go see "Capitalism: A Love Story." That was Jay Leno saying that, not Noam Chomsky or Jane Fonda (both of whom I love dearly). The audience responded enthusiastically and, after 20 years of filmmaking, it was a moment where I crossed over deep into the mainstream of middle America. Jay's bosses at General Electric musta been... well, let's just say I hope they didn't place a reprimand in his permanent record. He's one helluva guy (and following the example he set with his free concerts for the unemployed in Michigan and Ohio last spring, I've gotten permission from the studio to do the same with my film in ten of the hardest-hit cities in the U.S. next week).

Oh, and he made me sing! Prepare yourself!

Thanks everyone -- and see you at the movies!

Yours, Michael Moore MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
Twitter.com/MMFlint
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MySpace.com/MMFlint


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Palin Hong Kong Speech Blames Government For Financial Crisis; Some Walk Out In Disgust

Palin Hong Kong Speech Blames Government For Financial Crisis; Some Walk Out In Disgust

Posted using ShareThis

Discrimination and the Republicans

article from http://www.theocracywatch.org



The Civil Rights Act, signed into law in 1964, bans discrimination in employment on the basis of race, gender, or religion. The Religious Right disregards the Civil Rights Act through executive orders, legislation, and attempts to actually change the laws. In order to enact his program of Faith Based Initiative, President Bush has been circumventing the Civil Rights Act.

As reported in Church and State, September, 2003:

By a 217-216 vote on July 25, the House passed a bill (H.R.2210,) that permits religious groups operating Head Start centers to discriminate in hiring.

The Workplace Religious Freedom Act (WRFA) (S. 893) is gaining momentum in the Senate. The main co-sponsor, Senator Rick Santorum, is pushing for floor action.

WRFA could Undermine civil rights laws and employer nondiscrimination policies and practices.

The Voting Rights Act was signed into law in 1965 to end discrimination against minority voters. To strengthen the Republican majority, the Religious Right has acted in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis calls the actions of U.S. House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay "the largest disenfranchisement of minority voters since the Voting Rights Act was passed."

From People for the American Way: The Long Shadow of Jim Crow: Voter Intimidation and Suppression in America Today.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay went to Texas with a new map intended to redraw district lines in order to add Republican seats to the U.S. House of Representatives. Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis explains how DeLay's power grab disenfranchises Hispanic and African American voters:

The Republican advantage would be gained by removing many African American and Hispanic voters from their current Congressional districts and "packing" them into a few districts that already have Democratic majorities. The voting power of these minority voters would be dramatically diluted by the Republican plan, in contravention of the federal Voting Rights Act. If the Republicans succeed, over 1.4 million African American and Hispanic voters will be harmed. It would be the largest disenfranchisement of minority voters since the Voting Rights Act was passed.

This is from Glenn Beck's 9/12 project website

This is a quote from a fan of Glenn Beck regarding ACORN. Tells ya how these people think!

"Can you imagine the President of the United States involved with people like this?Just think,these are the lower level employees,imagine the kind of stuff the upper level is up to. A little history: Barack Obama was Acorns lawyer in a landmark lawsuit against a bank for prejudice because they were not giving enough home loans to lower income people. Acorn won,forcing them to give more loans,hence the origin of sub-prime loans,hence the start of the financial crisis."

So what this MORON has said is that the financial crisis was started by ACORN!! No you racist pig, Mr. Obama was helping lower income (blacks, hispanics and yes even white trash!) get loans because people were not qualifying because they were being racially profiled!!!!

Check out this Crackpot website spewing lies!

http://conservativekids.net/