these guys are hilarious

The Goldberg-O'Reilly Birther theory: It's an evil Obama plot to make conservatives look like wingnuts
(Think Progress)

do repugs think that denying people health care is a winning proposition?

Right-Wing Florida Legislators Propose State Constitutional Amendment To Ban Federal Health Care
(Think Progress)

I don't understand the hesitation on this

Hastings withdraws ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ amendment due to White House ‘pressure.’
(Think Progress)

could anyone be stupid enough ot think this was real?!

Conservatives fabricate ‘mandatory’ end-of-life consultations in health bill.
(Think Progress)

when will Dems start acting like Dems?

Afraid Of NRA, Conservative Democratic Senators Waffle On Sotomayor Vote
(Think Progress)
---
It's shit like this that is causing the low favorability ratings in Dems.

I think that hypocrisy is a mandatory repug trait

David Vitter: ‘I’m on the side of conservatives getting back to core conservative values.’

Earlier this week, Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) told the Columbus Dispatch that the GOP was “being taken over by southerners” and that the party has “too many Jim DeMints and Tom Coburns.” Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) responded today by slamming his colleague for being a “moderate, really wishy-washy” Republican. Vitter decried the influence of “moderates” in his party, saying that the GOP has not stuck to “core
conservative values:”

“I’m on the side of conservatives getting back to core conservative values,” said Mr. Vitter, Louisiana Republican and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “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.”

Vitter is an unusual standard-bearer for the “conservative values” wing of the Republican Party. As Steve Benen writes, “[E]very time Vitter mentions the word ‘values,’ it elicits the same response: ‘Aren’t you that ‘family-values’ guy who got caught with prostitutes?’” After confirming his involvement with the “DC Madam” escort service in 2007, Vitter admitted to a “very serious sin” but refused to resign, despite having previously called upon Bill Clinton to resign for marital infidelity.

(Think Progress)
---
And when did "moderate" become a negative term?!

but they already voted to say that he WAS born in Hawaii

Rep. Louie Gohmert quietly signs onto birther bill.
(Think Progress)
---
Well, consistency is certainly not a repug attribute.

Stewart destroys Kristol and the absurd repug arguments (with Kristol's help)

Kristol admits to Stewart that government run health care is THE BEST!
(Crooks and Liars)

take a guess at what party he belongs to

Pro-Abstinence Lawmaker Quits After Affair With 22-Year-Old Intern
(Huffington post)

responding to insanity with humor

Maddow responds to Dobbs calling her a ‘tea-bagging queen’: ‘Can a female person be that kind of queen?’
(Think Progress)

the more things change, the more they stay the same...

Flashback: Republicans Opposed Medicare In 1960s By Warning Of Rationing, ‘Socialized Medicine’
(Think Progress)

repug health policy in a nutshell

Kyl: Health insurance companies ‘don’t need to be kept honest.’
(Think Progress)

the continuing saga of "lies are all they have"

Giuliani Falsely Claims Obama Rejected ‘Bipartisan’ Health Care By Taking ‘Tort Reform’ ‘Off The Table’
(Think Progress)

you know what would help Dems? If they stopped caving to the repugs and started doing what Americans want them to do

Backlash: Dem dangers mount

Democrats giddy with possibilities only six months ago now confront a perilous 2010 landscape signaled by troublesome signs of President Barack Obama’s political mortality, the plunging popularity of many governors and rising disquiet among many vulnerable House Democrats.

The issue advantage has shifted as well, with Democrats facing the brunt of criticism about the pace of stimulus package spending, anxiety over rising unemployment rates and widespread uneasiness over the twin pillars of Obama’s legislative agenda: his cap-and-trade approach to climate change and the emerging health care bill.

---
This isn't exactly rocket science. The Dems popularity is fading because they're not doing what they said that they would do. The ideas are wildly popular with the American public, but they are just not implementing them.
Get off your asses and do your jobs and you'll be fine!

Of course, this article is from the insanely conservative Politico, and they've been predicting Democratic defeat since before anyone took office. So, we'll see...

do people think that this is something new?

N.C. terror arrests spark fears of U.S.-bred extremists

WASHINGTON – Antiterrorism officials are increasingly concerned about American-bred extremists who travel abroad for terror training and then return home, sometimes quietly recruiting followers over the years.

Federal authorities have issued a bulletin to law enforcement agencies around the country on the heels of the arrest Monday in North Carolina of a man whose devotion to the cause of violent jihad allegedly began 20 years ago.

The internal bulletin — reviewed by The Associated Press — says the FBI and the Homeland Security Department are very worried about the danger posed by little-noticed Americans traveling abroad to learn terrorism techniques, then coming back to the United States, where they may be dormant for long periods of time while they look for followers to recruit for future attacks.

On Monday, the FBI arrested Daniel Patrick Boyd, 39, charging he was the ringleader of a group of aspiring international terrorists.

The charges "underscore our ongoing concerns about individuals returning to the United States after training or fighting on behalf of extremists overseas," said Justice Department spokesman Richard Kolko.

---

I thought that this was a joke, but apparently not

WaPo reporter: Birthers get media attention because ‘there is no videotape of Obama being born.’
(Think Progress)
The "logic" here in bogglingly bizarre. He claims that because there is video of the events of 9/11 that should dissuade conspiracy theorists, though he doesn't explain why. No one has ever said (to my knowledge) that 9/11 didn't happen - the theories are as to who was behind it.
I'm puzzled...but that's what I get for trying to comprehend conservatives...

Beck doesn't seem to understand the English language

After saying Obama has ‘hatred for white people,’ Beck claims, ‘I’m not saying that he doesn’t like white people.’
(Think Progress)

reality seems to confuse repugs

After Bragging ‘Our Effort Is To Slow This Down,’ Sen. Kyl Claims Republicans Are Not Holding Up Health Reform
(Think Progress)

NOW can we put the "birther" nonsense behind us? (I know, I know...)

House passes resolution that states Obama was born in Hawaii, 378-0.
(Think Progress)

repugs really hate science and facts

Inhofe: Oil And Gas Usage Doesn’t Create Any Pollution
(Think Progress)
---
NOBODy believes this - not even the polluters! WTF was he trying to get away with here?

because it is easier to attack a lie than the truth

WSJ Editor Attacks The Non-Existent ‘Public Option’ In Massachusetts
(Think Progress)

I guess it doesn't matter that Obama already apologized to the officer

Rep. McCotter to introduce resolution demanding Obama ‘apologize’ to Cambridge police.
(Think Progress)
---
The repugs will do anything they can to keep distractions alive...
More from Huffington Post:
Confirmed: Obama To Meet For Beers With Gates, Crowley This Week
---

the crazies won't let this go

Inhofe: The birthers ‘have a point,’ ‘I don’t discourage it.’
(Think Progress)

headline of the day

Police: Woman accused of killing newborn ate brain
---

common sense...

Analysis: Gov't health plan can coexist with private insurance
---

i'm afraif to ask what kind of "consulting" he is doing

Former Idaho Senator Larry Craig opens consulting firm
---

Sunday Beagle Blogging

Most spoiled dog in the world edition.
No less that FOUR pillows at once!

repugs really don't like empathy, do they?

GOP 'Mother Bears' Warn of Long Lines If Just Anyone Can See The Doctor
(Crooks and Liars)

hardly a description most people would use for the reserved, thoughtful Obama

DeMint: Obama Is "Out Of Control"
(Huffington Post)
---
Now bush, on the other hand, was truly out of control, but I'm sure DeMint didn't mind that...

because Fox prefers distractions to issues that people actually care about

Fox News Obsesses About Gates Arrest During Exclusive Gibbs Interview

The White House was hoping that the president's impromptu address of the Skip Gates saga on Friday would effectively sweep the issue under the rug. They didn't get their wish.

The first eight questions for White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs during his sit-down with Fox News Sunday centered on Gates' arrests and the comments Barack Obama had made earlier in the week, when he said the Cambridge Police Department had acted stupidly.

Had Gibbs prepared Obama "for a question about Henry Gates' arrest" before that Wednesday night presser, fill-in host Bret Baier wanted to know?

"Did he read the police report beforehand?" he asked as a follow-up.

"Did he determine that he was going to take sides to back his friend to the extent that he did Wednesday night?"

Has he scheduled a time to get a beer with Gates and the arresting officer (which Obama had suggested might happen)?

Does the president still think this was a case of racial profiling?

Did he - Robert Gibbs - suggest during Friday's daily briefing that the Fraternal Order of Police was acting politically when he noted that the group had endorsed John McCain in the 2008 election?

Why bring up the endorsement at all, Baier asked, when Gibbs noted he was just responding to a question of who the Fraternal Order of Police had backed in the election.

And, finally, had the president been compelled to address the Gates issue on Friday because of the news conference held earlier in the day by the Cambridge police officers, in which those officers demanded a presidential apology?

Now, to be certain, Fox News is not the friendliest forum for this administration. And like countless other news outlets, they have been drawn to the racial and political dynamics of the president's involvement in and commentary on the Gates issue. But the White House likely envisioned the Gibbs interview to center on the health care debate. And having that topic come up only as the tenth question of a 15-minute interview (a stimulus question was number nine) can't be what the administration was hoping for. Fortunately for the president, it seems unlikely that the Gates story remains Topic A for discussion past this round of Sunday news programs.

(Huffington Post)
---
Fox will do anything to avoid talking about substance, but that shouldnt' have been a surprise to Gibbs.

hahahahahaha

Limbaugh: I get high ratings from ‘being positive,’ ‘inspiring and motivational.’
(Think Progress)
---
Wow - I'd hate to hear him being negative if the last 6 months have been his "positive" messages!

well, that's pretty obvious

Obama: GOP Would Rather Inflict "Damage On My Administration" Than Reform Health Care
(Huffington Post)

continuing to play politics with our health

Bachmann Sees Health Care Debate In Political Terms: ‘We Can Take Heart’ Obama’s ‘Dropping Like A Rock’

Yesterday, The Conservative Women’s Network hosted Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) for a discussion on critical legislation before Congress. ThinkProgress attended the event and recorded Bachmann’s remarks.

Bachmann fed the crowd a predictable diet of fear-mongering right-wing rhetoric to warn of dire consequences if President Obama’s health care reform passes. “What the Obama administration will do with health care is make us like Havana in 1959 when Castro came in,” she told the young women in the audience.

She then argued that passing health reform will mean that, for the first time in our nation’s history, “we will have taxpayer-subsidized abortion.” The question becomes, continued Bachmann, “will this mandate now that we’ll have to build more abortion mills?”

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said recently that conservatives are viewing the health care debate “in political terms, and they’ve decided that if they can beat the president on health care reform, they’ve scored a big political victory.” Bachmann seemed to stress that very point to her conservative audience:

This is radicalization of America like we have never seen before in the history of our country. But don’t lose heart. Because the polling data is showing — Rasmussen for instance — polling data is showing that President Obama’s numbers are dropping like a rock. As a matter of fact, his polling data now says that President Obama is a mere mortal. (Laughter) And so we can take heart. That is absolutely true.

---
In an attempt to attack the public health insurance option, Bachmann complained that it would be subsidized, making it more affordable for many Americans. She added, “it would offer equal or better benefits than any plan — but cheaper.” Exactly — that’s the point.

(Think Progress)
---
At the end it is like she is arguing FOR the public option - is even she confused? Does she think that Americans would be upset to receive better health care for less money?! Does she think that is a bad thing?!

and what are her qualifications for this again (besides her cluelessness)?

Gingrich positions Palin as a conservative leader on energy issues.
(Think Progress)
---
I suppose the repugs like their leaders to know nothing about the issue they are supposed to be leading on...

because they can't scare people with the truth

Fox News poll repeats falsehoods that a Fox News reporter debunked.
(Think Progress)

repug hypocrisy even extends to attacks on each other

Hutchison attacks Perry for turning down stimulus funds that she voted against.
(Think Progress

I'm sure that those millions would be happy to hear this!

Rep. Virginia Foxx: ‘There Are No Americans Who Don’t Have Health Care’
(Think Progress)

I agree, but what does this say about our news media?

Jon Stewart The New Cronkite? Time Poll Shows He's The Most Trusted Newscaster In America
(Think Progress)
---
A comedian is the most trusted newscaster in America!
How embarrassing for the regular conservative media. Maybe they will get the idea and start being a little less overtly conservative in their "reporting".
And a clip showing why:
A Lou Point In American History - Dobbs And The Birthers
(Crooks and Liars)

once again, lying because the truth won't help them

Boehner claims he doesn’t know doctors who support House health bill.
(Think Progress)

So Steele's argument is that government shouldn't be involved in health care cuz repugs are partisian fuck ups?

Steele says he fears health reform because it could be like the GOP’s intervention in Terri Schiavo’s case.
(Think Progress)

Perry puts politics over his constituents

Secessionist Gov. Rick Perry Threatens To Invoke 10th Amendment To Reject Health Care Reform

---
Texas has the highest percentage of those without health insurance in the entire country. A U.S. Census Bureau report released last August showed that nearly 25 percent of Texans (just over 5.5 million residents) lacked insurance (compared to a national average of 15.5 percent). A Families USA report released in March found that the number of uninsured in Texas throughout 2007 and 2008 is much higher, around 9.3 million:

The report went further to say that 7.5 million Texans were uninsured for six months or more during that same time period and about 82.6 percent, were in working families, either working full or part-time.

(Think Progress)
---
After all, what does he care? HE has government-run health insurance already.

why isn't this looney criminal in jail?

G. Gordon Liddy says Obama is an ‘illegal alien’ born in a ‘hospital in Mombasa.’
(Think Progress)

hahahahaha

J.P. Freire: ‘I Can’t Remember Anyone Saying’ The Bear Market Was Obama’s Fault
(Think Progress)
---
These people really don't think that anyone ever tapes anyone's speeches. Kinda boggling.
Actually, they count on their listeners ignorance and don't think that anyone will ever fact check anything they say.

playing politics with this country's health

Inhofe: If GOP Can ‘Stall’ Or ‘Block’ Health Care Reform, It Will Be ‘A Huge Gain’ For The 2010 Elections
(Think Progress)
---
The "party of no" still believes that doing nothing will help them in 2010. Who knows, maybe they'll manage to blame the Dems for not overcoming the repugs' opposition to show how weak the Dems are. That actually could be their plan, now that I think about it. Not much of anything else makes any sense.
And the WH response:
Rahm Emanuel Hits Back At Inhofe: ‘They’re Seeing It In Political Terms’ And Are Defending The ‘Status Quo’
(TP)

what a surprise

Max Baucus receives considerable contributions from health care industry.
(Think Progress)

still another religious looney

Convicted pastor says he's 'one of the prophets'

TEXARKANA, Ark. – Tony Alamo, a one-time street preacher who built a multimillion-dollar ministry and became an outfitter of the stars, was convicted Friday of taking girls as young as 9 across state lines for sex.

Alamo stood silently as the verdict was read, a contrast to his occasional mutterings during testimony. His five victims sat looking forward in the gallery. One, a woman he "married" at age 8, wiped away a tear.

"I'm just another one of the prophets that went to jail for the Gospel," Alamo called to reporters afterward as he was escorted to a waiting U.S. marshal's vehicle.

---

can we move past this tempest now?

Obama calls white policeman who arrested scholar

WASHINGTON – Trying to tamp down an uproar over race, President Barack Obama said Friday he used an unfortunate choice of words in commenting on the arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and could have "calibrated those words differently."

The president said he had telephoned the white policeman who arrested Gates, and he said the conversation confirmed his belief that the officer was a good man and an outstanding officer.

The president caused a stir when he said at a prime-time news conference earlier this week that Cambridge, Mass., police had "acted stupidly" by arresting Gates, a friend of the president's, for disorderly conduct.

On Friday, Obama made an impromptu appearance at the daily White House briefing in an effort to contain the controversy. He said he continued to believe that the both the officer, Sgt. James Crowley, and Gates had overreacted during the incident, but the president also faulted his own comments.

"This has been ratcheting up, and I obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up," he said. "I want to make clear that in my choice of words, I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge police department and Sgt. Crowley specifically. And I could've calibrated those words differently."

The incident began when police went to Gates' home last week after a passer-by reported a potential break-in. It turned out that Gates had tried to jimmy open his own door, which was stuck, and there was no intruder. Gates protested the police actions and was arrested, although the charges have since been dropped.

---
I agree that this was a poor choice of words, but enough already!

Classy of him to call the officer, though.

pretty astounding

Glenn Beck Defends His Radio Show Freakout: It Was Just Common Sense
(Crooks and Liars)
---
The video is incredible - Beck is a true psychotic! People really need to stop encouraging this kind of behavior or he is going to kill himself (or maybe take out a bunch of innocents).

repugs racism knows no bounds

Conservative Activist Forwards Racist Pic Showing Obama As Witch Doctor
(Huffington Post)

unending repug hypocrisy

Jindal Tours Louisiana Attacking ‘Washington Spending’ While Handing Out Jumbo-Sized Stimulus Checks
(Think Progress)

sounds good to me!

Steele urges Democrats to pass health care bill without Republicans.
(Think Progress)
---
If only the Dems would take his suggestion!

any lunatic can own a gun

Glenn Beck likes to bring his gun to the movies.
(Think Progress)

what century are we living in?

Ohio legislator’s bill dictates that men should have final say on abortion.
(Think Progress)

they want to piss and moan but still keep the money

John McCain: The Stimulus is a Failure, But Don't Dare Ask Arizona to Give Any of the Money Back
(Crooks and Liars)

unbelievably heartless

Blackburn: “We’re not going to cry ‘emergency’ every time we have a Katrina.”
(Think Progress)

thank goodness - sanity prevailed!

Thune’s gun amendment fails in Senate vote.
(Think Progress)

more absurd repug scare tactics

Brown-Waite’s Shot In GOP’s ‘Scare Tactics’ Strategy: Health Reform Tells Seniors To ‘Drop Dead’
(Think Progress)
---
The sad thing is that some of their sheep will actually believe their lies...

as if Obama should give this loon credibility

DeMint Challenges Obama To A ‘Debate,’ Calls Health Care A ‘Showdown Between Socialism And Freedom’
(Think Progress)

hardly a surprise but a good reason to pay their fair share in taxes

Executives receive one-third of all pay in the U.S.
(Think Progress)

Matthews does a good job debunking the birthers

Matthews To GOP Rep. Advancing ‘Birther’ Myth: ‘You Are Feeding The Whacko Wing Of Your Party’
(Think Progress)

how long are the repugs going to put up with this kind of embarrassment?

Michael Steele isn’t sure what kind of health insurance he has.
(Think Progress)

eternally corrupt Palin

19th Palin Ethics Complaint Filed
(Huffington Post)

because hypocrisy is a repug value

Jindal takes credit for stimulus, presents constituents with jumbo-sized stimulus check.
(Think Progress)

how can a legal citizen be undocumented?

Dobbs wonders whether President Obama is undocumented.
(Think Progress)

pity the moderate republican

From ‘Socialized Medicine’ To ‘Dead Baby Juice,’ GOP Moderate Faces Down Rabid Right-Wing Conspiracies
(Think Progress)
---
Delaware is apparently filled with crazies.
Rachel Maddow had portions of this video on her show last night. These people are truly, truly nutz...

so says the obviously mentally unstable man

Beck on Obama: ‘This guy is dangerous!’
(Think Progress)

one money-waster down

Senate sides with Obama, removes F-22 money
---

the insane lies the repugs tell to try to kill our health care and prop up the insurance companies

The right-wing media, the voices of the GOP, in overdrive to kill health care
(Americablog)

the WH Secret Service has to be thrilled with the Obamas

Pair gave Secret Service 'fits'
---
Instead of white trash partiers, the First Family is now made up of lovely, intelligent and well behaved people. The WH handlers have to be ecstatic!

wow - do they actually expect anyone to buy this?

Carrie Prejean Book Deal: "Still Standing" Due Out In November
(Huffington Post)

truly insane

Missouri car dealer offers free AK-47 with purchase of new truck.

Mark Muller, the president of Max Motors in Missouri, is offering a gift certificate for a Kalashnikov AK-47 rifle to anyone who purchases a pick-up truck. Muller, whose business slogan is “God, Guns, Guts, and American Pick-Up Trucks,” said the response to the offer has been very strong. “There is a lot of worry about crime, we have a methamphetamine problem around here and people just want to protect themselves,” said Muller. The UK Telegraph notes that there may be other dynamics at play:

Never before, however, has the AK-47 been used to sell cars in Missouri. For all its gimmickry, the interest in Mr Muller’s newest promotion reflects rising concern among gun owners that President Barack Obama will eventually seek to tighten the rules on ownership, despite his promises to the contrary.

(Think Progress)
---
How ironic would it be if someone robbed his dealership with one of these?

a moment of honesty

Joe the Plumber agrees with Meghan McCain: I’m just a ‘dumb plumber.’
(Think Progress)

Steele continuing to embarrass himself and his party

Michael Steele Unplugged: ‘Don’t Know’ If There’s Moral Responsibility To Cover Uninsured, ‘I Don’t Do Policy’
(Think Progress)

another sick, twisted, violent right-winger

‘Operation Rescue’ founder warns of ‘violent convulsions’ if health bill doesn’t ban abortions.

Fresh off his claim that “[t]o refuse to filibuster [Sotomayor] is to bow in abject obedience to the Angel of Death,” Randall Terry, founder of the right-wing extremist group Operation Rescue, warns that his supporters may engage in violent acts of terrorism unless Congress prohibits abortion services from being covered in the new health reform legislation:

Background: It is clear that many elements in the pro-abortion congress and White House want to force Americans to pay for the murder of the unborn in their “healthcare” program. If that happens, it is tantamount to the government putting a gun to taxpayers’ heads to pay for the brutal murder of an innocent child. This is tyranny and evil of the highest order. . . .

“Nevertheless, the sheer horror and frustration of such an evil policy will lead some people to absolutely refuse to pay their taxes. And I believe — if my reading of history from America and around the world is correct — that there are others who will be tempted to acts of violence.

“If the government of this country tramples the faith and values of its citizens, history will hold those in power responsible for the violent convulsions that follow.” — Randall Terry

Terry is probably the first public figure to raise terrorism as a potential response to a health bill which allows Americans to keep the same access to reproductive care that they currently enjoy. Many conservative lawmakers, however, are pushing a poison pill amendment to the health reform package being considered by Congress that would forbid any plan offered within a national health insurance exchange from
providing coverage for abortion services. 71% of Americans oppose an amendment, such as this one, which would cut off women’s access to reproductive care.

(Think Progress)

WTF is this asshole's problem?

DeMint’s discourse: Government is fascist, says he will ‘break’ Obama and cause the Senate ‘pain.’
(Think Progress)

predictable repugs

Senate GOP chief: Sotomayor won't get my vote
---
GOP leader: Health care overhaul too drastic
---
Boy, these are certainly surprise statements! Who could ever have expected this from repugs?!

apparently, Nevadans think corruption, adultery, hypocrisy and bribery are all ok

New poll reveals Ensign's status sinking

But most Nevadans still say Republican senator should not resign

Sen. John Ensign's status in the eyes of his constituents has further eroded in the last month, as revelations about his extramarital affair with a former staffer have continued to trickle out, according to a new poll by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

A majority of Nevada voters still think Ensign should not resign, though fewer feel that way than did a month ago, according to the poll conducted last week.

But voters are divided about whether the Nevada Republican should seek re-election. And they are troubled by the scandal's many complications, especially the fact that Ensign's mistress was his wife's best friend and that Ensign publicly espoused the importance of family values.

The proportion of Nevadans who had a favorable view of Ensign stood at 31 percent in the poll, down 8 percentage points in the last month and 22 points from before the scandal.

(Las Vegas Review Journal)

----

that's a rude way to describe Palin!

Arctic Mystery: Identifying the Great Blob of Alaska
---

and the other cheating repugs hypocrites will forgive him

Cheating SC gov says God will make him better
---

Saturday Beagle Blogging

Harley finds comfort with the corner of a chair wedged in his head!

Buchanan thinks that white males are being discriminated against (seriously!)

Time for Pat Buchanan to Go Away
(Crooks and Liars)
---
And he thinks that Palin was more qualified for president of the United States than Sotomayor is for the Supreme Court!

seriously, are the repugs even trying to make any sense at all any more?

Ann Coulter: "Being Black Trumps Being An Insect"
(Crooks and Liars)
---
Really - it's like she just picks words at random out of a hat and strings them together. As long as it is offensive, she'll get air time.

having a black president sure does bring out the racists

Yet another conservative official sends racist anti-Obama e-mail.

In a story that has become so common that it is almost passé, yet another conservative official has been busted sending racist e-mails. This time, the culprit is Atwater, CA Councilman Gary Frago, who sent at least half-a-dozen racist, anti-Obama e-mails to Atwater staff and community members:

Some compared Obama to O.J. Simpson while others suggested that “n[*****] rigs” should now be called “presidential solutions.”

Perhaps the most overboard e-mail was sent on Jan. 15. It read: “Breaking News Playboy just offered Sarah Palin $1 million to pose nude in the January issue. Michelle Obama got the same offer from National Geographic.”

Frago admitted sending the e-mails, but showed no regret. “If they’re from me, then I sent them,” he said. “I have no disrespect for the president or anybody, they weren’t meant in any bad way or harm.”

When given an opportunity to explain himself, Frago somehow managed to dig himself a deeper hole by saying: “I don’t see where there’s a story, I’m not the only one that does it. … I didn’t originate them, they came to me and I just passed them on.”

(Think Progress)

Steele has quite an imagination

Steele’s Fuzzy Math: Obama Administration Created $10 Trillion National Deficit

Earlier today on Fox News, RNC Chairman Michael Steele was asked whether Republicans would borrow from President Clinton’s famous catch-phrase during the 1992 campaign, “it’s the economy stupid,” in the run-up to the 2010 election. Steele proceeded to launch into a rambling answer that used fuzzy math to assert that, in only six months, President Obama has added “10 trillion dollars” to the national deficit, while President Bush is to blame for only “a trillion”:

STEELE: They love going back to George Bush and his deficit that was inherited. Great. I’ll take George Bush’s deficit right now of a trillion dollars over the 10 trillion dollars that this administration has created in just six months.

---

Steele is clearly confusing the difference between our national debt, which stands at roughly $11.4 trillion, and this year’s budget deficit, which just exceeded $1 trillion.

To help jog Steele’s memory, here’s a bit of a deficit recap: Bush inherited a budget surplus of $128 billion in 2001. Budget experts projected a $710 billion surplus for 2009 when he came into office. But the deficit soon exploded, thanks largely to the Bush tax cuts — which accounted for 42 percent of the deficit. When Bush left office, he handed President Obama a projected $1.2 trillion budget deficit for this year, the largest ever.

As for the debt, when President Bush took office, it was $5.73 trillion. When he left, it was $10.7 trillion.

Just last month, the New York Times published the results of an examination from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. The report, which examined federal spending stretching back almost a decade, found that Obama “is responsible for only a sliver of the deficits”:

About 33 percent of the swing stems from new legislation signed by Mr. Bush. That legislation, like his tax cuts and the Medicare prescription drug benefit, not only continue to cost the government but have also increased interest payments on the national debt.

Mr. Obama’s main contribution to the deficit is his extension of several Bush policies, like the Iraq war and tax cuts for households making less than $250,000. Such policies — together with the Wall Street bailout, which was signed by Mr. Bush and supported by Mr. Obama — account for 20 percent of the swing.

About 7 percent comes from the stimulus bill that Mr. Obama signed in February. And only 3 percent comes from Mr. Obama’s agenda on health care, education, energy and other areas.

Try as Steele might, this is blame shifting that just won’t work — especially after the Bush administration made it clear that “deficits don’t matter.”

(Think Progress)

best headline of the day!

Oscar Mayer Wienermobile crashes into Wis. home
---

another repug sex scandal

Rachel Maddow: Third GOP Congressman Having an Affair While Living at C-Street
(Crooks and Liars)
---
Boy, if repugs weer forced out of office for these kinds of things, like the Dems are, there wouldn't be any repugs left!

more on Palin's crazy church

Palin Attended Church Event With Samurai Sword Ceremony
(Huffington Post)

republican congressman arguing FOR a public option!

GOP Rep. Admits That Health Insurance Companies Control The Market And Dictate Medical Decisions
(Think Progress)

does he even make sense to himself?

Steele Explains His ‘Urban-Suburban Hip-Hop’ Strategy: I’m Going To Create ‘A Little Hip-Hop Storm’
(Think Progress)

WTF?!

Fox guest cites Bruno to argue against health care reform.

On Fox News this morning, host Megyn Kelly hosted Dr. Robert Goldberg of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest to help her scaremonger about Democratic plans to reform America’s health care system. In order to attack the plans, Goldberg cited a scene in the movie Bruno, in which Paula Abdul was tricked into sitting on Mexican workers made to act like furniture:

GOLDBERG: I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie Bruno, but there’s a scene there where Sacha Baron Cohen invites Paula Abdul to be interviewed on chairs made out of Mexicans. And that’s exactly what the Obama or the congressional plan does. It balances, tries to balance the budget, the expansion of this new entitlement on the backs of people.

(Think Progress)
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These people are truly nutz...

there is nothing too low for a repug

Rep. Todd Tiahrt suggests Obama’s mother wanted to abort him.
(Think Progress)
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They really can't comprehend that some people who support women's right also want to have kids, can they?

more blatant bigotry

Zell Miller: Rahm should use ‘Gorilla Glue’ to keep Obama in his chair.
(Think Progress)

because lies are all they have - the never-ending saga

Bachmann Misreads House Health Bill To Claim ‘Whatever Health Care You Have Now’ Will Be Gone In 5 Years
(Think Progress)

Texans don't want no edju-makation!

Conservative Education ‘Experts’ Want Less Lincoln And More Jesus In Texas Textbooks
(Think Progress)

repugs say that health insurance will kill you!

Right-Wing Escalates Fear-Mongering Rhetoric: Warns Americans Will Die If Health Care Reform Passes
(Think Progress)

consistency is certainly not a repug value

Secessionist Gov. Rick Perry now seeking federal stimulus funds.
(Think Progress)

Buchanan again showing how out of touch with reality he is

Pat Buchanan at it Again, Calls Sotomayor a "Militant Liberal Latina"
(Crooks and Liars)
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This centrist judge nominated by a centrist president is about as far from "militant" as humanly possible.
Are the repugs determined to show how ridiculous they are?

the repug answer to everything

In the Wall Street Journal today, Karl Rove “continues to argue that only Republicans can get us out of the economic mess that they created.” Offering advice to Obama, Rove suggests more tax cuts: “House Republicans offered an alternative recovery package of immediate tax cuts and safety-net measures that cost half as much as Mr. Obama’s stimulus program.”

(Think Progress)
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The absurdity literally made me laugh out loud.

hey, I agree with Meghan McCain!

Meghan McCain: ‘Joe the Plumber — you can quote me — is a dumbass.’
(Think Progress)

bush's bigots

Bush Department of Justice blacklisted applicants from LGBT, immigrant advocacy groups.
(Think Progress)

posturing repugs out of touch with their constituents and local leaders

Kyl Wants To Cut Off Stimulus Funding That Arizona Governor Is Already Spending
(Think Progress)

why would people who are proud of their regressive beliefs want to be call progressive?

Bill Kristol And Dennis Miller Think That Conservatives Should ‘Plant A Flag On The Phrase Progressive’
(Think Progress)
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Repugs revile the idea of being progressive so I don't think there is much chance of them taking over the term.

we can only hope!

Key Obama advisers indicate openness to pushing health care reform through with just Democratic votes.
(Think Progress)
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The repugs have already shown what they think of bi-partianship so screw 'em if they don't want to contribute!

insane lies about Sotomayor

Right-wing group launches TV ad claiming Sotomayor led a terrorist organization.

A TV ad by the right-wing Committee for Justice claims that Judge Sonia Sotomayor “led a group supporting violent Puerto Rican terrorists.” The ad also links Sotomayor to “Obama’s buddy Bill Ayres, the unrepentant terrorist who bombed American buildings in the seventies.”
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The claim that Sotomayor led a terrorist organization apparently refers to her service on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, a mainstream civil rights organization. It seems that, in the right-wing mind, a group that protects Latinos from race discrimination is exactly the same as al Qaeda.

(Think Progress)

sounds realistic

CBO: House Bill Would Cover 97 Percent Of Americans And Cost $1 Trillion
(Huffington Post)
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Seems like this would be well worth it. Let's see what happens with it and how diluted it gets before the "lawmakers" get done with it.

and repugs wonder why they are not taken seriously any more?

Brownback And Landrieu Introduce Bill To Ban Mermaids
(Huffington Post)

because repugs love their hypocrites!

Sen. Ensign: "I Fully Plan On Running For Reelection"
(Huffington Post)
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And they can only be removed by legal means - there is no hypocrisy that can embarrass them enough to voluntarily leave office.
Case in point:
John Ensign Linked To "Do-it-Yourself Exorcism" Movement
(Huffington Post)

is Steele really a republican?

Steele: I'll Woo Blacks To GOP With "Fried Chicken And Potato Salad"
(Huffington Post)
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I swear, if SNL tried to get away with this kind of craziness, they would be taken off the air!
The repugs really are beyond satire!

the crazies are getting lawyers

Stefan Frederick Cook: Soldier Won't Deploy Over Obama Birth Certificate
(Huffington Post)

because it's ok if you're a repug

Grassley Admits That ‘Empathy Standard’ He Finds ‘Troubling’ In Sotomayor Didn’t Apply To Alito
(Think Progress)
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And for Sotomayor's very article answer to the ridiculous complaints:
Sotomayor: ‘We’re not robots.’
(Think Progress)
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Her whole quote is very well spoken and explains everything precisely.

reality has nothing to do with their "reporting"

Glenn Beck complains about softball questions to Sotomayor on day that no questions were asked.
(Think Progress)
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In fact, are reality and Beck even on speaking terms?

how religion can screw people up

6 jurors seated for sex-crime trial of evangelist
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DC mom accused of killing 4 daughters cited demons
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and it should stay that way!

Sotomayor calls abortion rights 'settled law'
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are they still harping on this?

Sotomayor denies bias in 'wise Latina' remark
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I find it amazing that this is even still being talked about.
But, the repugs need their faux outrage, no matter how absurd...

deja vu all over again

Nearly all my professors are Democrats. Isn't that a problem?
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This Christian Science Monitor article either has appeared before or this person has rewritten an old article because I have read this nonsense - right down to the liberal professor "exploding" due to the student daring to question liberal beliefs - at least a year or two ago.

Even if the premise is true, I don't think this is a fault of any university. Instead, I believe it is the fault of the naturally incurious repugs. Conservatives don't value education or learning.

But, that's our "liberal media" re-running right-wing propaganda for no real purpose....

repugs answer to everything

Buchanan: Todd Palin should drown Levi Johnston.
(Think Progress)

THIS is a serious repug contender?!

Gingrich Announces Iran Policy: Topple The Government By Provoking A Gas Crisis Through Covert ‘Sabotage’
(Think Progress)
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yeah, I can't imagine any problems with this!
Wow, these people are insane.
Any time I am disappointed with Obama's performance, I think "at least the loonies are no longer in charge".

Palin just gets crazier and crazier

Palin Hints At Plans To Split Republican Party

Ohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease....

From her own PAC:
Palin Hints At Independent Conservative Movement

Excerpts from TammyBruce.com

Enter now Sarah Palin with very encouraging comments that lead one to believe that she is indeed planning to do what she must: build an independent conservative movement and take this nation back from the liberals which now control both parties.Thanks liberals, for provoking Sarah into the national scene while vetting that family at the same time.

One thing I will say, the Washington Times with their headline for this exclusive interview reveal an anti-Palin stance. She is, don’t doubt, a threat to every existing political status quo.

Oh holy FSM, there is so much funny to be had with this perfect example of Republican syllogism, I don't know where to begin.

Palin is planning to do what she must???? Apparently, she mustn't finish the job she was elected to do. Nor must she actually read up and learn about the issues as many mainstream Republicans have begged her to do.

And when did we become controlled by liberals in both parties? What in the hell is Bruce on about? Does she really suggest that Boehner, Cantor, Coburn, Kyl, Inhofe, etc are liberals???? When you start with that ridiculous a premise, then you're just asking to be laughed out of the room.

And then, after blaming liberals for vetting Palin's family (erm...huh?), she then launches into an attack against the Washington Times--hardly a bastion of liberal thought--for being anti-Palin and then holds it as a banner of pride of somehow being proof of her bona fides.

The mind reels.

(Crooks and Liars)

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"Liberals control both parties"?!?! Wow! I wish that they controlled the Dems!

Do they really think that anyone - and I mean even the most radical right-winger - believes this kind of lunacy?

Obama has shown himself to be - at best - center-right - and far from a left-wing liberal. The cons should be thrilled. But I guess they need pretend enemies when they don't have real ones.

McCain can't admit his biggest mistake

McCain Offers Full-Throated Defense Of Palin: ‘She Would Make A Fine President’

In a recent article for Vanity Fair, Todd Purdum reported that some of John McCain’s closest advisers “believed for certain [Sarah Palin] was nowhere near ready for the job, and might never be.” This morning, McCain bucked those criticisms of Palin, and instead offered a vigorous (and sometimes nauseating) defense of his selection of her as his running mate.

Asked by host David Gregory what he thought of Palin quitting her job as Governor of Alaska, McCain said, “I don’t think she quit,” adding “I don’t know there was a quote, promise” that she made to the voters of Alaska. Gregory pressed:

GREGORY: Senator McCain, you have faced personal torture, personal attacks, political attacks, investigations. You have never resigned from anything. Is it consistent with your qualities of leadership to resign an elected post like this?

McCAIN: Sure.

GREGORY: It is consistent?

McCain said, “I know she’s qualified. … No doubt about it.” He added, “I’m confident she would make a fine president.” Gregory concluded by asking, “Knowing everything you know now, would you pick her again?” McCain unhesitatingly responded, “Absolutely.”

(Think Progress)
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I'm not sure if McCain understands the definition of the word "consistent".

Saturday Beagle Blogging

Harley doing what he does best!

as if you didn't know this already

Palin's retirement story doesn't add up
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bush czar says Obama czars are bad

Former Bush ‘domestic policy czar’ Karl Rove now rips czars as a ‘giant expansion of presidential power.’
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Rove digs in: Obama trying ‘to avoid oversight’ by appointing czars.
(Think Progress)

of course he could, he's a repug

If shockers done, Ensign could stay in office, many say
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Wisconsin police over-react and steal man's property

Dispute over flag protest erupts in Wisc. village

WAUSAU, Wis. – An American flag flown upside down as a protest in a northern Wisconsin village was seized by police before a Fourth of July parade and the businessman who flew it — an Iraq war veteran — claims the officers trespassed and stole his property.

A day after the parade, police returned the flag and the man's protest — over a liquor license — continued.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin is considering legal action against the village of Crivitz for violating Vito Congine Jr.'s' First Amendment rights, Executive Director Chris Ahmuty said.

"It is not often that you see something this blatant," Ahmuty said.

In mid-June, Congine, 46, began flying the flag upside down — an accepted way to signal distress — outside the restaurant he wants to open in Crivitz, a village of about 1,000 people some 65 miles north of Green Bay.

He said his distress is likely bankruptcy because the village board refused to grant him a liquor license after he spent nearly $200,000 to buy and remodel a downtown building for an Italian supper club.

Congine's upside-down-flag represents distress to him; to others in town, it represents disrespect of the flag.

Hours before a Fourth of July parade, four police officers went to Congine's property and removed the flag under the advice of Marinette County District Attorney Allen Brey.

Neighbor Steven Klein watched in disbelief.

"I said, 'What are you doing?' Klein said. "They said, 'It is none of your business.'"

The next day, police returned the flag.

Brey declined comment Friday.

Marinette County Sheriff Jim Kanikula said it was not illegal to fly the flag upside down but people were upset and it was the Fourth of July.

"It is illegal to cause a disruption," he said.

The parade went on without any problems, Kanikula said.

Village President John Deschane, 60, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, said many people in town believe it's disrespectful to fly the flag upside down.

"If he wants to protest, let him protest but find a different way to do it," Deschane said.

Congine, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq in 2004, said he intends to keep flying the flag upside down.

"It is pretty bad when I go and fight a tyrannical government somewhere else," Congine said, "and then I come home to find it right here at my front door."

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climate denying crazies

GOP Rep. Introduces Bill To Deny U.S. Funding For Nobel Winning IPCC Because Of Its ‘Junk Science’
(Think Progress)

only in repug-land - "health care will kill people!"

Rep. Paul Broun claims the public option ‘is gonna kill people.’

In a speech on the House floor this afternoon, Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) railed against health care reform. Specifically, Broun attacked the idea of a public plan, saying “this program of ‘government option’ is being touted as being the panacea, the savior of allowing people to have quality health care at an affordable price is gonna kill people.” Broun pointed to Canada and the United Kingdom in his argument against the public option, claiming that those countries “don’t have the appreciation of life as we do in our society.”
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As Media Matters Action points out, Canada and the United Kingdom actually enjoy both a lower infant mortality rate and longer life expectancy than the United States.

(Think Progress)

"JOINS"? They've been spinning and lying about this since long before it was voted on

FACT CHECK: GOP joins spin game over stimulus jobs
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luckily, Obama has no real reason to listen to him

Pope presses Obama on abortion, stem cells
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It's not like Obama hasn't heard the arguments against these things before and didn't know that the pope objected to them. And it's not like the pope has any new arguments.

more grotesque repug bigotry

Obama daughter wears t-shirt, Freepers call her ghetto trash
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After having to watch bush's white trash drunken daughters roll around on bar floors for 8 years, they have to gall to talk about this lovely, dignified family?!
Makes me wish there really was a hell...

WTF?!

Gay Men Kicked Out Of Restaurant For Kissing...
...Cop Who Shows Up Tells Them Kissing Is Illegal
(Huffington Post)

repugs like their bigots

More Racist Online Comments From Young Republican Candidate Found
(Huffington Post)

more and more bizarre

EFCA Opponent Runs Ad Suggesting Unions Gag Employees With Duct Tape
(Huffington Post)

not surprising as few repugs value truth

Only Six Percent Of Scientists Are Republicans: Pew Poll
(Huffington Post)

hannity again edits footage to make Obama appear to say the opposite of what he said

Hannity chops video to turn Obama quote upside down
(Daily Kos)
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And then he makes an asshole-y, smarmy statement at the end.
What a prick!

more religious crazies

Naming Someone Who Hates Public Schools to Head the State Ed Board? Gov. Perry, You Can't Be Serious!

Hoo wee. Via Fred Clark, this story about Texas Gov. Rick Perry considering the appointment of a right-wing extremist Christian to head the state's Board of education.

Oh, and she just happens to despise public education, thinks it's unconstitutional and thinks public schools should be abolished. (She also thinks Barack Obama is getting ready to impose martial law.) Yep, she sounds perfect for the job - at least, in Wacky Wingnut World.

(Crooks and Liars)
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What ever happened to the separation of church and state?
WTF is wrong with these loons?

maybe you should have gotten the hint in the name "God and Country Rally"

O'Reilly vehemently insists 'God and Country' rally 'wasn't about religion' -- but organizers say it was
(Crooks and Liars)

very creepy

The Rachel Maddow Show: Christian Conservatism's Shadowy Secret Society
(Crooks and Liars)

Palin not all that popular

Worried House Republicans to Palin: Stay in Wasilla

Sarah Palin isn't seen as an asset by all Republicans. She'a actually a liability:

Republicans facing tough elections in 2010 don’t want Sarah Palin campaigning with them.

Though the soon-to-be-former Alaska governor is seen as popular with the conservative grass roots, several Republicans said she’d help them by staying home in Wasilla.

What's most interesting here is that several of the Republicans, including Lee Terry R-NE), Frank Wolf (R-VA), Mike Castle (R-DE), went on-the-record to tell Palin to stay away. For members to say publicly what they'd usually say off-the-record or anonymously says a lot about Sarah Palin's status. She's a damaged brand. For Republicans, "Pullin a Palin" isn't viewed as a winning strategy.An exception is Rep. Roy Blunt, who is running for the Senate in Missouri. He wants Palin to campaign for him.

(Americablog)
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Of course, it is foolish to underestimate the lowest-common-denominator or to count her out. Hell, it would probably be the best thing for the Dems if she stays in the spotlight.

hopefully, they will do the right thing

House committee to vote on lifting needle exchange ban today
(Americablog)
House Dems Reverse Obama, Remove Ban On Needle Exchange Funding (VIDEO)
(Huffington Post)

a majority of Americans disagree with the repugs

Blunt: The ‘Government Should Have Never’ Started Medicare And Medicaid
(Think Progress)

because lies are all they have - the never-ending saga

Right Wing Concocts False Claim That Obama Is Steering Stimulus Money To Areas That Backed Him
(Think Progress)
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They do also realize that MOST areas voted for Obama, right?

Dems - take this to heart

Podesta: ‘We Just Can’t Settle’ For Excuses From The Democratic Leadership
(Think Progress)

well, yeah, most decent people think so

Right winger’s argument against a right to health care: ‘Should food be a basic human right?’

On MSNBC this afternoon, Firedoglake’s Jane Hamsher engaged in a spirited exchange with Townhall’s Jillian Bandes about health care reform. After Hamsher mentioned that she was speaking out in favor of the public option as “a sixteen-year cancer survivor,” Bandes replied, “I’m sorry I’m not a cancer survivor, but that doesn’t mean I can’t criticize a public plan.” When Hamsher argued that access to health care should be a human right, Bandes interrupted her and threw up her arm, asking “should food be a basic human right?”
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Bandes might not like it, but for most of the world, food is considered a human right. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the U.N. in 1948, states that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food.” The U.S. voted for the declaration.

(Think Progress)

I guess asshole-ism runs in the family

Jeb Bush: ‘I don’t know’ if Obama is a socialist.
(Think Progress)

can the world ever forgive McCain for giving these egomanical attention-seekers a venue?

Levi Johnston: Palin resigned to cash in on fame

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A spokeswoman for Gov. Sarah Palin is scoffing at comments by Bristol Palin's former fiance, who says he thinks Palin resigned to cash in on her fame.

"It is interesting to learn Levi is working on a piece of fiction while honing his acting skills," Palin family spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Levi Johnston, 19, whose wedding to Bristol Palin was called off earlier this year, said Thursday he lived with the Palin family from early December to the second week in January. He claimed he heard the governor several times say how nice it would be to take advantage of the lucrative deals that were being offered, including a reality show and a book.

"She had talked about how nice it would be to take some of this money people had been offering us and you know just run with it, say 'forget everything else,'" he said.

He said he thinks book deals were really what appealed to Palin.

"I think the big deal was the book. That was millions of dollars," said Johnston, who has had a strained relationship with the family but now says things have improved.

Compensation details of Palin's book projects haven't been disclosed. The former GOP vice presidential candidate has said she is facing more than $500,000 in legal fees.

Johnston made his comments at a news conference Thursday at the office of his attorney, Rex Butler.

Johnston came forward, Butler said, because Alaskans want to know why Palin has decided to resign, effective the end of the month.

Johnston is pursuing his own book deal and movie deal while working as a carpenter.

Asked if he would vote for her if she ran for president, Johnston said: "I think she's a great lady, but after seeing what she did now, you know, leaving Alaska, I would have to say, 'no.' Obviously she's stressed out as governor. I mean moving up to the vice president or president is huge. I just don't think anymore that she's cut out for the job."

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But, I gotta admit - they are entertaining - as long as no one takes them seriously!

hah-ha!

Al Franken Sent $95,000 By Republicans
(Huffington Post)

whoa

Conservatives Circulate Picture Of Obama With Bone Through His Nose
(Crooks and Liars)
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There are no depths that they won't sink to...

bush destroyed everything that we stand for

Torture By Mexican Government In Drug War Highlights U.S. Loss of Credibility On Human Rights
(Think Progress)

CIA admits to lying to Congress

“CIA Director Leon Panetta recently testified to Congress that the agency concealed information and misled lawmakers repeatedly since 2001, according to a letter from seven House Democrats to Panetta made public Wednesday.” But the letter “contained no details about what information the CIA officials allegedly concealed, or how they purportedly misled members of Congress.”

(Think Progress)

it's ok to be a hypocritical sinner if you're the correct religion

Why the left misjudges GOP sex scandals

Evansville, Ind.; and Princeton, N.J. – Google "Mark Sanford" and "hypocrite" and prepare to sort through some 53,000 results, many from liberal websites reveling in the story of yet another family-values Republican yielding to temptations of the flesh.
But liberal glee at such scandal will be short-lived if the left continues to misjudge conservatives' reaction to their fallen heroes.

When a Republican affair is exposed, the left seems to assume that the religious right, with the exacting moral standards it tends to laud, will have one less general leading its "pro family" brigade.

But practice shows us otherwise. While for Democrats, adultery often leads to ruined or constrained careers – think Gary Hart, Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, John Edwards – Republican adulterers from Newt Gingrich to David Vitter have lived to see another political day, still championing their hard-line conservative positions.

Their survival isn't in spite of the GOP's evangelical base, but rather because of it. And while liberals tend to see continued support as hypocrisy from both the politician and his supporters, what matters to conservative Republicans is not so much the behavior of their leaders as the repentance they show after their fall from grace.

In the rambling announcement of his affair, Mr. Sanford said little about politics and a lot about his faith. At times he sounded like a preacher expounding on the nature of God's law, of self, and of sin.

Sanford's remarks drew little praise, categorized even by sympathetic sources as "disjointed" and "just plain bizarre." Kathleen Parker, a conservative columnist with little affection for the politics of the Christian right, evaluated his statement this way: "Spiritually, Sanford may have succeeded in checking off several acts of contrition. But politically he did everything wrong...."

But Ms. Parker, like Sanford's critics on the left, fails to understand the mechanics of Christian conservatism: By getting it spiritually right, Sanford is well on his way to getting it politically right.

Last summer, another scandal threatened to derail the Republicans' moral majority train. When Gov. Sarah Palin announced her teenage daughter, Bristol, was pregnant, many liberals mocked the hockey mom for having to face the consequences of her abstinence-only educational advocacy.

They also figured, wrongly, that the news would destroy the Alaskan governor's appeal with her evangelical base. Instead, the moment endeared Governor Palin (who has since announced her resignation) to evangelical supporters, who cared less about the pregnancy than about what Bristol decided to do about it. The teenager's decision to keep the baby and her promise, later unfulfilled, to get married redeemed her momentary lapse.

The left marveled at the political sleight of hand that turned teen pregnancy from a social scourge into a family-values virtue. But as America's most famous evangelical pastor, Rick Warren, has written: "The church is a hospital for sinners, not a hotel for saints." Evangelicals forgive their fallen politicians when they show repentance and do right; when they keep the baby, when they marry the father or mother, when they repair the broken marriage.

What we are witnessing is the culmination of "the personal is political," a philosophy pioneered by the left and perfected by the right. The stumbling block for liberals is their unfamiliarity with the "personal" of the Christian right.

Where the left sees hypocrisy, the evangelical right sees a millenniums-old story of fallen humanity and healing redemption. With a politically active religious right, that story matters not just in terms of theology but of practical politics.

Mr. Vitter, the staunch social conservative Republican senator from Louisiana who also frequented a Washington, D.C., madam, has already raised more than $2 million for his 2010 reelection bid. When Vitter's scandal broke, he declared he'd "received forgiveness from God and my wife."

It appears he has the forgiveness of deep-red Louisianians also. Polls indicate Vitter remains highly popular in the state, and most observers believe he'll win the 2010 race.

There's a lesson in Vitter's story for Sanford: Confess, repent, repair. Some of this is out of Sanford's hands, of course. His wife has said his political future was the least of her concerns. Her priority, she declared, was the restoration of her family.

If Sanford's marriage remains intact, he can emerge as yet another flawed – not hypocritical – sweetheart of religious conservatives.

For the left, the redemption of Vitter holds lessons as well.

First: Don't count Sanford out. Though the South Carolina Republican Party just voted to censure him for disappearing, the party did not call for his resignation. If Christian conservatives grant Sanford political redemption, the rest of the Republican Party will as well, and the governor could be a contender in 2012 or 2016.

And second: Understanding the role of redemption for the religious right isn't just a matter of getting the theology right. It is the only way for the left to realistically read the political landscape. Because for evangelical conservatives, the point isn't the fall. It's how the politician gets back up.

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See, the "left" expects people to act with logic and consistency. These traits are reviled by "the right" and especially the Religious Right.

It doesn't matter if repugs act far worse than Dems, as long as they are repugs. Because Dems are, of course, unrepentant, un-religious heathens. And, of course, with repugs it only matters what they say, not what they do. As long as they repeat their religious, right-wing talking points, then nothing else matters - especially not hypocrisy.

And the media goes right along with them - vilifying the Dems are making heroes out of the repugs.

But, no one ever said life was fair - and certainly not for the political left, who, despite having the same beliefs as a majority of Americans, are the targets of the overwhelmingly conservative media.