Time for your weekly podcast from The Professional Left, Driftglass and Bluegal. You can listen to past editions at their new site The Professional Left, and Driftglass has a bonus podcast over at his place if you'd care to check it out. Have a happy Labor Day weekend everybody!

If you haven't been following these already here's more from The Professional Left:

We are very grateful for your listenership, readership, and moral and financial support.
Driftglass and Blue Gal (The Professional Left) are award-winning bloggers who have been writing at their own individual blogs since 2004. Both are also contributors to Crooks and Liars.

After being told at several blogger meet-ups that "they should be on the radio together," the two of them, through the internet magic of Skype, Callburner, Audacity, and loquacity, started their podcast adventure in January of 2010.

Driftglass lives at "The Castle" in Chicago and blogs at http://driftglass.blogspot.com.

Blue Gal lives in "A Cornfield" in central Illinois and blogs at http://bgalrstate.blogspot.com.

Their podcast email address is proleftpodcast@gmail.com. The podcasters reserve the right to read your email messages on the air.

Thanks again for listening!

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I am an undying champion of Winnipeg, Manitoba's Weakerthans. There are enough current songwriters capable of spinning complete yarns about colorful, defined characters in 4-minute pop structures to count on one hand, and John K. Samson gets the pointer finger.

The band's most recent effort, Reunion Tour, is a dense pack of understated gems, mostly about characters dealing with slow and undramatic disappointment, but with genuine humor and warmth in place of the judgment and pity that usually plagues the form. Civil Twilight is a bouncy rock tune sung from the perspective of a Winnipeg bus driver reflecting on a long past divorce. Bigfoot, based on the true story of a man in Northern Canada who became the subject of ridicule tourism for a run-in with the Sasquatch which, ridiculous or not, truly terrified him. "Sun In An Empty Room" is the standout among standouts in the collection.

PS Our sister site Newstalgia has something loud for Labor Day: Humble Pie from 1973.

Since we're gearing up for the final sprint towards the 2010 Mid-Terms, I thought I would start running some documentaries on past mid-term elections, starting with 1950. It seems then, as now, mud-slinging was an acknowledged art form and one eagerly employed by most candidates. The names have changed, the universal enemy (back then it was Communism) has changed, but the innuendos, sleights and counter-charges are all still there.

This documentary, part of CBS Radio's Report To The Nation series airing on November 9, 1950, is narrated by Edward R. Murrow who gives his usual astute assessment:

Edward R. Murrow: “Those who failed to vote, and deplore the outcome may recall George G. Nathan’s statement that bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.”

Sixty years later that sentiment still applies.

Fox's Stuart Varney followed up with one of the GOP's "most prominent members" Tom DeLay on his statement that the Repubicans have to repeal the health-care law if they regain control of the Congress. Just another preview of what we're in for should they regain control; repeal, obstruct and defund everything while holding endless hearings.

DeLay: GOP in 'big trouble' if health law not repealed:

The Republican Party will be in "big trouble" if it does not repeal the healthcare reform law, former House GOP Leader Tom DeLay said Friday.

DeLay (Texas), who was recently dropped as the subject of a federal investigation, threw some sharp elbows at the Obama administration in an interview on MSNBC when asked what new ideas the GOP would put into place if it takes control of Congress this fall.

"They are going to have to reverse everything the Obama administration has done," he said. "If they don't repeal healthcare reform, they are going to be in big trouble."

Debate has swirled over what Republicans will do to block the healthcare law from taking effect.

Many lawmakers in the party now say a full repeal would not work with President Obama in office since he could veto the proposal. Some have argued that stripping the law of its funding would be a wiser strategy.

Still, other candidates and lawmakers want to push ahead with a full repeal measure, at least to show that they are committed to the idea.

DeLay rejected the argument that campaigning on healthcare repeal would hurt the party by drawing attention away from the economy, which is rated by voters as the top issue for the midterms.

"No, all you have to say is healthcare reform is destroying the economy and it will destroy it even more if it is allowed to go into effect," he said.

DeLay, whose pugnacious style earned him the nickname "The Hammer," accused the Obama administration of "trying to bamboozle the American people ever since it took office" and defended the GOP's governing credentials.

"Oh, they're definitely ready to govern," he said. "The leadership is in place" and the candidates are the type people want, he added.

Yeah, great leadership like that brain trust they've got in Boehner, Pence and Cantor. It would be nice if this guy finally gets convicted for money laundering so he's sitting in jail where he belongs instead of appearing on television.

Um, do you think maybe someone should point out to Glenn Beck's guest on his show Friday -- Rabbi Daniel Lapin -- that, even though it may feel good to condemn all atheists as "parasites" in a "moral society," it's a profoundly irresponsible thing to do, particularly for someone claiming the title of Rabbi? After all, there is an important historical precedent for what happens when you single out an entire sector of the populace as a "parasitical element."

It's not even worth the time to point out that atheists can propose precisely the reverse claim -- that organized religions are a parasitical element on society -- with probably an even better rationale. Because this kind of rhetoric is a classic example of eliminationism.

Not that Lapin is any stranger to wielding eliminationist rhetoric:

"I am absolutely convinced that God is far from finished with the story of the United States of America," he said by way of summation. "First of all, [there's] the matter of the little battle that must be fought, just as it was in the 19th century." There were, and are, "two incompatible moral visions for this country. We had to settle it then. We're going to have to settle it now. I hope not with blood, not with guns, but we're going to have to settle it nonetheless. The good news is that I think our side is finally ready to settle it. Roll up its sleeves, take off its jacket, and get a little bloody. Spill a little blood. We'll settle it. And we'll win. And then there's no holding us back."

Indeed, this Rabbi Lapin is also known for his long associations with Jack Abramoff, as well as for being the Rabbi who David Duke loves to quote.

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In case you missed it like I did, here's our own Nicole Belle with Nicole Sandler with their Fools on the Hill Sunday talking heads show roundup from past Monday. Nicole Sandler has more here: Grayson & Tudor – Florida Progressives!

And in hour two, Nicole Belle of Crooks & Liars returns for our weekly Fools on the Hill segment, discussing the Sunday talking head shows. Here’s her take on the Sunday shows:

So I think today’s theme is cluelessness:

Chris Matthews asks his panel if the Tea Party will have veto power over the 2012 GOP nominee. First and foremost, they are using Sarah Palin as some benchmark of influence, which is ludicrous. Her endorsement is by no means a shoo-in for any candidate right now, and there’s nothing that says her influence will strengthen in the intervening years. If anything, if she opts to pursue a national candidacy herself, I suspect that the media scrutiny will result in her having even less credibility.

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/node/39178

It also gives the tea party itself far more credit than they deserve. I think we’ve seen middling electoral success from them in primary races, but they have yet to show themselves successful in full elections and given the polls for Angle, Paul and others, I don’t think they should crow just yet.

Which segues nicely into Howard Dean. He points out to Candy Crowley that although the conventional wisdom is that the party in power suffers electorally in mid-terms, when your alternative is the Party of No, conventional wisdom may be wrong.

http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/howard-dean-name-one-thing-republican

And then we have Dick Armey, the corporate head of the Tea Party, spouting off some truly unbelievable stuff:

http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/dick-armey-medicare-trashes-constitution

He says that Medicare trashes the Constitution. Huh? What does he think those lazy, entitled senior citizens should do? Work to pay for their Alzheimer’s treatment? For proof, he brings up the example of “the” Christian Scientist, whom we apparently should feel bad is being forced to sign up for a doctor to get Social Security. Of course, no one says he has to GO to the doctors, just sign up for Medicare. But again, David Gregory falls down on the job of calling out this crap, and lets Armey filibuster through the segment and not allow Granholm to respond.

And then, in light of the protests on the Cordoba House in NYC over the weekend, Fareed Zakaria wants to remind Americans that we are not in a war with Islam and that al Qaeda hates factions of Islam as bad as they hate us.

http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/fareed-zakaria-gps-al-qaeda-vs-islam

By the way, a commenter made this video of the NYC protests when the haters went after a passerby, who happened to be a construction worker at Ground Zero and not a Muslim.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwaNRWMN-F4&feature=player_embedded

George Will thinks that the Mideast peace process is the biggest obstacle to Mideast peace.

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/node/39185

Amazingly, I actually agree with him if only for this story:

http://crooksandliars.com/ian-welsh/israeli-pm-natanyahu-america-easily-move

I think if we really want to see Mideast peace, then the US needs to come to grips with the dichotomy between what Israel officially tells us and what they say behind closed doors.

And then Fox chooses to use Judith Miller of all people to discuss the study that American people have lost faith in broadcast news

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/node/39175

Really, what can you say about them using the person the Bush White House used to feed propaganda about invading Iraq to?

Our own Howie Klein and Rep. Alan Grayson joined the show this week as well. Go over to Nicole's site to listen to the whole show.

You know, I don't normally go in for what usually turn out to be empty, symbolic gestures, but I can really get behind the idea of cutting Congressional salaries. In fact, I think 10% is more like it! I also think we should charge them to use the medical clinic in the Capitol building, and they should have to pay for COBRA benefits when they lose their jobs, just like everybody else. It really galls me to think of them getting lifelong medical coverage:

Ann Kirkpatrick wants a pay cut and she’s getting testy about having to wait so long to get it.

Last March, U.S. Rep. Kirkpatrick sponsored legislation to cut congressional salaries a modest 5%, saying it was high time that Congress shared the pain with the rest of America. As U.S. workers have suffered layoffs, pay cuts and furloughs over the past two years, Congress has actually been spending more money than ever. In fact, if it hadn’t been for another bill that Kirkpatrick supported, Kirkpatrick and her colleagues in the U.S. legislature would have gotten automatic pay raises this year, as they did in 2008 and 2009.

The notion of cutting Congressional pay is wildly popular. A recent survey by the Rasmussen Reports found that 75% of Americans think members of Congress should cut their pay until the budget is balanced. And nearly one in eight think members of Congress should not be able to get a raise unless taxpayers vote for it.

As things stand, members of Congress set their own pay and they’ve been quite generous. Rank and file members of congress now earn $174,000 annually — more than about 97% of the rest of the country. That’s up 23% over the past decade.

Cenk Uygur filling in for Dylan Ratigan again this week more or less rehashed his op-ed from The Huffington Post, Who is More Conservative: Ronald Reagan or Barack Obama? As he noted in his column, Ronald Reagan:

-Gave Amnesty to Illegal Immigrants
-Negotiated with Terrorists (Traded Arms for Hostages with Iran)
-Raised Taxes
-Negotiated with the "Evil Empire" without Pre-conditions
-Made a Decision to "Cut and Run" From Lebanon After Our Troops Were Attacked

Cenk wrapped up his post this way.

The bottom line is that, no matter what the reason, Obama seems to be in some important ways significantly to the right of Reagan on the political spectrum. If Reagan ordered the execution of US citizens abroad, he might have been impeached. If Obama tried to give undocumented immigrants blanket amnesty the way Reagan did, he might be impeached.

I don't think Obama is a hard right-winger. It's just that the political establishment in this country has moved so far to the right (though not the public, according to polls on specific issues) that as a natural politician when he goes to appease them, he is solidly center-right on the spectrum.

And the political line has moved so far that if Reagan tried to run as a Republican now he would be the laughing stock of the party. Rush Limbaugh would tear him to shreds and Bill Kristol would say he is Neville Chamberlain. He would be run out of town as a tax-raising, amnesty giving, terrorist negotiating, cut and run no-good lib who hates the troops.

And anyone who claims otherwise is being absurd. As Reagan once said, "Facts are stubborn things."

He's right, things have shifted so far to the right that Ronald Reagan would be run out of town with today's Republican Party, not that it will stop them from practically raising his dead corpse as their great conservative icon while campaigning. Steve Benen has more here on the right's changing perceptions of Reagan as well.

It's more than a little ironic, isn't it, that Arizonans will work themselves into a frenzy -- to the point of passing a police-state ordinance like SB1070 -- because of a single case like the murder of border rancher named Robert Krentz, even though the crime is being widely blamed on Mexican drug cartel activity, which is actually a distinct issue largely separate from "illegal immigration". (Indeed, it's not even clear that in fact Krentz's murder came at the hands of Mexicans.)

And yet when a white supremacist drives up next to a mixed-race couple and opens fire with a shotgun because of their races, as happened last October, the case is greeted with a yawn. As was the man's arrest this week:

A man suspected of killing a 39-year-old woman in Phoenix in October was arrested in Livingston, Tenn., on Wednesday, a Livingston Police Department spokesman said Thursday morning.

Aaron Schmidt

Schmidt is suspected of opening fire on the woman and her friend last October in what Phoenix police believe could have been a racially motivated crime.

Aaron Schmidt, 28 waived his extradition rights Thursday and can be picked up by the Phoenix Police Department, said Greg Etheredge, chief of the Livingston Police Department. Authorities believe Schmidt has been in Livingston since June.

The woman and a friend, Jeffrey Wellmaker, 48, were walking in Palma Park, on 12th Street and Dunlap Avenue about 1:30 a.m. Oct. 3 when a heavily tattooed, bald White man confronted them.

Wellmaker, who is Black, said the tattooed man yelled, "What are you doing with that White woman," according to Phoenix police at the time of the shooting.

The friends didn't respond and kept walking.

The tattooed man followed the pair for a couple blocks, police had said. By the time the couple reached Fourth Street and Puget Avenue, Wellmaker saw a white four-door newer model sedan with tinted windows drive past them.

In the passenger seat was the tattooed man. That's when Wellmaker said the passenger pulled out a shotgun and shot two blasts at the couple, according to police. One struck the woman and the second blast missed them.

The story was largely buried in the Phoenix newspapers -- perhaps because Wellmaker and the unidentified woman who was killed were homeless, instead of middle-class ranchers.

It's the same way that the case of Shawna Forde and her gang of killer Minutemen has been downplayed by the Arizona media, not to mention the national media, particularly Fox News.

It's the same way that report of camo-bedecked vigilantes firing on Latino border crossers received zero attention in any media beyond a handful of blogs:

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Koch Industries just gave the Yes on 23 campaign another million dollars via their front corporation, Flint Hills Resources. When added to Valero Energy Corp. and Tesoro Corp. contributions, a total of $8.2 million has been raised for a "Yes" proposition that really is a "No" proposition in disguise.

Consider this: 100% of the money to fund Proposition 23 comes from outside California. Oil companies inside California -- Chevron and Shell, notably -- have not funded this campaign. What is it about the underlying law -- California AB32 -- that makes corporations with stakes in Kansas and Texas want to spend as much as they can to defeat it? And how is it that libertarians with self-proclaimed strong belief in states' rights like David and Charles Koch are so committed to undoing a law that has no bearing on their state or their rights?

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