[Unedited YouTube version here.]

As the obviously religious man shooting the video suggests, pray for Alabama:

Tornadoes killed dozens of people in Alabama on Wednesday afternoon and evening, part of a violent storm system that left destruction and death across a large swath of the South.

Two major cities, Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, were hit hard by one huge tornado. President Barack Obama declared an emergency in Alabama, and Gov. Robert Bentley mobilized 1,400 National Guardsmen to help in rescue operations.

The system of heavy winds, rain and tornadoes began late Tuesday and by Wednesday morning had left at least 17 dead in Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Then the latest round of storms hit Alabama on Wednesday afternoon and evening, pushing the death toll much higher. The Associated Press said the toll in Alabama was at least 58. A count by msnbc.com that included county-by-county numbers from The Weather Channel and NBC station WAFF of Huntsville showed at least 62 dead.

The storm system was predicted to move on through the Carolinas.

A giant tornado touched down near the Mississippi state line, then spent more than two hours on the ground tracking northeast. Local TV channels showed the black wedge cloud, estimated at a mile wide, moving through Tuscaloosa, then along Interstate 59 through Birmingham's northern suburbs and just missing the airport.

As you can see from the video above, the tornado that tore through Tuscaloosa was monstrous. More from the Tuscaloosa News, which reports that it the twister was "a mile wide".

Last year, Sen. Orrin Hatch proposed drug testing as a condition of unemployment benefits - and gave one of his typically strident lectures on the deficit. Yet he turns down millionaires who want to pay more taxes!

So the Patriotic Millionaires, a group that includes several dozen people in the highest tax bracket, first tried unsuccessfully to convince elected officials to let the Bush tax cuts expire. No dice.

Then, right before Obama was to announce his budget proposal, they took a different approach. Via Justin Elliott in Salon:

"For the fiscal health of our nation and the well-being of our fellow citizens, we ask that you increase taxes on incomes over $1,000,000," the group writes in a new letter to Obama, Harry Reid, and John Boehner. "We make this request as loyal citizens who now or in the past earned incomes of $1,000,000 per year or more."

Last year, Obama signed a bill to extend the Bush tax cuts after originally proposing that the two highest tax rates return to 36% and 39.6%, up from the Bush tax cut levels of 33% and 35%.

One of the signatories of the new letter, film and television producer Linda Gottlieb, explained her participation to me this morning: "For me to be sitting and hoarding my money is insane," said Gottlieb, whose producer credits include "Dirty Dancing" and who now teaches at NYU's Tisch school. "We all give to charity, but that's not the same as creating a more equitable society."

Gottlieb said she has been upset by the experience of her grandchildren, who attend a New York City public school where arts education has been cut and parents have had to organize an auction to try to fill the gaps. She added that raising taxes on the wealthiest people would be an important way of reducing the deficit.

"For rich people to moan and groan -- nobody likes to pay increased taxes -- but it's not going to change your life in any important way," she said. "What it can do is help your country."

Now, I'm sure you're familiar with what a truly awful weasel Orrin Hatch is. (Remember when he wanted people on unemployment to be drug tested?) How do you suppose the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee responded? By mocking them!

"We hear this quite a bit from rich Democrats. 'Please tax us more,' they say. Well I know a lot who don't say that, I'll tell you that.

Continue reading »

It looks like Fox is trying to stir up a new Jeremiah Wright controversy by attacking President Obama for where he attended Easter services this year. Apparently it is completely unacceptable in Fox world to go to a church where the pastor a year before said some bad things about Fox "News" and called out Rush Limbaugh and right wing talk radio for being racist. Gee, I wonder where the hell someone might have gotten that idea?

I'm sure Limbaugh and his "Barack the Magic Negro" song had nothing to do with that assumption.

But Bill-O wants to challenge him to a debate:

BILL O'REILLY: Finally, as you may know, Mr. and Mrs. Obama attended Easter services at the Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington. Here's the problem. The pastor is a guy named Wallace Smith, who is a race activist. Here's what he said in a speech last year:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE SMITH, PASTOR, SHILOH BAPTIST CHURCH: When you look at what's going on, it may not be Jim Crow anymore. Now Jim Crow wears blue pinstripes, goes to law school and carries fancy briefs and cases. And now Jim Crow has become "James Crow, Esquire," and he doesn't have to wear white robes anymore because now he can wear the protective cover of talk radio or can get a regular news program on Fox.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Pastor Smith apparently believes that the American establishment, including some media outlets like FNC, is racist, designed to keep black Americans down. That is an outrageous charge unless you can prove it, and Pastor Smith cannot prove it. He's bloviating, stirring up alleged bias for absolutely no reason.

So the question becomes: Why would the president sit in a church run by a guy like Wallace Smith?

I can't answer that question, but I'm offended by the pastor's statement about Fox News. I've been here 15 years. I don't know anybody in this organization who's racist, and if Pastor Smith wants to debate it, he's welcome here anytime. But I predict he will not show up on "The Factor" because he can't back up his racially charged statements.

Again, does the pastor deserve being legitimized by the president of the United States?

O'Reilly should talk since he certainly knows a thing or two about bloviating. As Media Matters has documented, Fox has a long history or race baiting, but of course Bill-O and Crowley are going to pretend they don't. Racism, what racism? How dare anyone call Fox or right wing radio racist. The horror!

And just to add insult to injury, Monica Crowley uses this ridiculous supposed controversy they drummed up here to justify the birther nonsense we're all sick of hearing about. Crowley claims Obama somehow brought the birther crap on himself by doing things that are un-American. Yeah sure Monica.

I give some kudos to Alan Colmes for pointing out the obvious during this segment. If this is the sort of B.S. that the GOP wants to run on in 2012, good luck with that.

Now, boys and girls, if you all behave yourselves today, I may just reward you with my long-form birth certificate in tomorrow's round-up... Straight from Quebec. You're welcome.

Limbo: Republicans lied last year about protecting Medicare. That's the sort of thing they do to get elected.

Vox Verax: Paul Ryan's budget plan is all about starve-the-beast, trickle-down redistribution of wealth to the rich at the expense of everyone else.

Ramona's Voices: The good people of Michigan don't deserve what's happening to them (and what Rick Snyder is doing to them).

Marmel: Let's make May 10 Shun a Birther Day! Treat them like they treat facts. Ignore them.

Call to Action: Help build a movement to secure a national moratorium on foreclosures and evictions.

Round-up by Michael J.W. Stickings of The Reaction. I'll be here all week.

Send tips to mbru@crooksandliars.com.

Our own John Amato made an appearance on Al Jazeera to discuss the "carnival barkers" and birthers out there that President Obama attempted to placate by finally releasing the long form of his birth certificate.

The Al Jazeera anchor asked John if he thought it was a mistake for President Obama to produce his long form birth certificate. As John noted, when you've got 45% of registered Republican voters actually believing this nonsense that the President wasn't born in the United States and when you tie that into very powerful interests like Trump who is out there touting this stuff, the administration decided they'd finally had enough of it and decided to attempt to put an end to this story.

When asked if responding to these conspiracy theorists is just going to promote more of this stuff like asking about the President's degree from Harvard or college records, John pointed out that people like Pat Buchanan who was questioning his college records and using the term "affirmative action president" are doing nothing but using code words to dog whistle the racist elements of the Republican base.

As John noted, this obviously won't put an end to the right wing questioning the legitimacy of our President and what a sad case this is and what our political dialog has become when we've got real problems we should be worrying about instead of this nonsense.

The Al Jazeera host asked John why there isn't more outrage from Democrats and from the White House and why they don't just come out and call Trump what he is, a racist.

John pointed out that President Obama, as the first African American President has always been in a precarious position with this since he's tried to be the president of the United States, and not just the president of African Americans and the poor.

Sadly as John alluded to here, it really didn't matter how President Obama has governed. There is a large segment of our population that was never going to accept that a black man was elected president. The "carnival barkers" like Trump and Buchanan have just laid that fact bare with their idiotic and racist remarks.

Yeah, it's shopped, but "give to C&L" is a way better plan than anything he's come up with. We're raising money to keep the unapologetic LIBERAL voice of this blog going strong. Please help.

Open Thread below...

My friend Neil Hannon's Britpop genius has gone largely unnoticed here in the States, but in the UK he is all but a household name due to a string of hits since the bands inception in 1989. This song is off of the Nigel Godrich produced Regeneration album, which showcased a more stripped down approach from the band's more orchestral driven releases. What is your 'perfect lovesong'?

Before April 26th 1986, Chernobyl was a word hardly anybody ever heard. But within days it became the only word on peoples minds. In what was first passed off as "nothing" quickly escalated as reports from outside the Soviet Union filtered in what was to become the worst Nuclear Power Plant disaster in history.

Here are several reports - the first starting with a small mention on the CBS World News Roundup of April 27th and then picks up with acknowledgment from the Soviet Union on the 29th of April - three days after the initial event.

Bill Lynch (CBS News – April 29th): “Even Radio Moscow is now using the word disaster to describe the massive release of radiation from a nuclear reactor in the Ukraine, the Soviet bread basket. The dimensions of that disaster are becoming more clear today. One Soviet diplomat called it the “worst nuclear accident in history”. A West German nuclear safety expert says what happened north of Kiev last weekend appears to be even more serious than the worst case scenarios scientists predicted for such plants. A Swedish diplomat in Moscow says Soviet officials there told him it was worse than a meltdown.”

Twenty-five years later, Chernobyl stands as mute testimony, an exclusion zone and a sarcophagus.

And how is Fukushima doing these days?

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Hear that sound? That's the sound of a hundred right-wing Randian hearts breaking:

Despite our commenters predicting that “This movie and this idea will grow and grow like a Tsunami” and that “This movie will break records… for years… remember “Star Wars”?,” the film managed a decent enough limited opening a few weeks back picking up $1.7 million at around 300 locations, but this past weekend, it took a hefty 50% drop, despite adding more than 150 screens to its count suggesting that the rails had already run out on the film’s commercial prospects.

And it’s fair to say the film’s hefty drop was down to the critics—“Atlas Shrugged Pt. 1” managed only a 7% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with most critics happy to tear the film a new asshole. Even Jeff Otto, who reviewed the film for us, who took a far more impartial look at the film that this writer could have managed, gave it a rare ‘F’ grade, calling it “an aimless, amateurish and, more to the point, stone cold boring piece of drivel.” All in all, it seems to mean that Aglialoro won’t push ahead with his plans to film the rest of the book.

24 Frames talked to the producer, who told them “Critics, you won. I’m having deep second thoughts on why I should do Part 2… Why should I put up all of that money if the critics are coming like lemmings? I’ll make my money back and I’ll make a profit, but do I wanna go and do to? Maybe I just wanna see my grandkids and go on strike.” A strike? Now that’s something that Rand would certainly have approved of. No one loved the labor movement more than she did.

As Aglialoro suggests, he won’t lose money on it—the film was produced far too cheaply for that—but it seems that the effort involved, the low profit margins, and the critical brickbats slung at the film, have sapped his desire to get Rand’s work on screens. So, a victory for our liberal media elite conspiracy! Oh, shit, uh, we mean, uh… Look over there, there’s evidence of Barack Obama faking his birth certificate!

In reality, “Atlas Shrugged Pt. 1” was, ironically, crushed at the free market—the film had every chance of being a crossover hit, but it was marketed exclusively at a niche audience of Tea Party types, who either didn’t bother to show up, or don’t exist in sizable enough numbers to sustain a film like this. Essentially, it’s the “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” of Objectivist thinking.

Quick, someone get Jonah Goldberg and John Stossel a couple of crying rooms! The magic of the marketplace has spoken ... and their movie sucks!

My guess is that the movie was every bit as tedious and hollow as the book:

[H/t scarce]

Okay, here we are plugging along at Day Number 8. Thanks for the donations so far, they are helping, but we really gotta keep it going. While C&L will be covering the 2012 elections, Newstalgia will be looking at elections going back to the 1920's to give you historic perspective on how this system works (or doesn't) and why.

But it costs to make these posts happen and there's no money to do it. Time and effort really eat up and storage alone is a huge cost every month, and a lot of months we can't make it and we're always threatened with some sort of reprisals. That's why donations really matter, no matter how much.

Look - I know we're all going through financial crap at the moment and if we didn't absolutely need it in order to keep this site going, we wouldn't do it. Sadly, AOL isn't waving any checkbooks at us and no other big-time website wants to give us the right time of day. We don't do stories about the Kardashians and we could give a shit less what Justin Bieber had for breakfast this morning. We're trying to pique your curiosity, we're trying to give you useful information, useful background and historic perspective on the important issues happening in this rather haywire world so you can get some idea what's going on and what's happening and how it's affecting you and why people do the same thing over and over. Insanity? Sure. But there are those who hope you don't remember and don't realize the same argument has been happening over and over again. And you won't notice. It's that old "not learning lessons from the past and being doomed to repeat them" scenario that keeps playing.

It's really simple actually. History isn't something that's dead and buried - it keeps going. It's when you forget it that it invariably comes up and bites you on the ass.

Most people are surprised at the current goings on - the Healthcare debate, for example. But if you read Newstalgia from 2009 (when we started), you would know this argument has been going on since the 1930's and the same arguments against it and the same people screaming loudly against it have been at it over 70 years. Different players, certainly, but the mantra is exactly the same. You would know that and it wouldn't come as a surprise to you.

That's what we're trying to do. Let you know that some things don't change unless you change the argument.

So this is what we're up against. Trying to keep this site going. Trying to not only give history, but some difference from the mainstream, which is why we do music and arts and out of the way tidbits as a way of turning you on to things you may not be familiar with. Hoping somehow to make a difference.

And you can help with that. And I would love your help with that. And I can't tell you how much I appreciate the support I've gotten so far from you. It's the ones on the fence I'm talking to - the ones who do a lot of downloading from the site and don't chip in some as a way of thanks. If you chipped in half as much, or even a quarter as much as you pay for iTunes downloads, I'd be thrilled. But even iTunes doesn't have what Newstalgia has and that's what makes us doubly unique and that much more vital to continue.

I'm here as long as you're here and as long as there's interest I'll be around. When I stop you'll know I just couldn't keep it going. But I'd rather not stop. So if you can, please donate what you can.

And while you're mulling it over, a little blast of music from the movie Z.