Meet the Press

MR. RUSSERT: Let me turn to federal judges. Court of Appeals: Bill Clinton nominated 51 people to the Court of Appeals. Thirty-five were confirmed. Sixteen were blocked by the Republicans by not giving hearings or not allowed out of committee. George Bush nominated 52. Thirty-five were confirmed because the Democrats threatened filibuster. They don't run the committees, so they can't block it in committee. What's the difference?

SEN. ALLEN: I think you'll find on the Circuit Court judges that President Bush has the lowest percentage of Circuit Court judges...

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MR. RUSSERT: I just gave you the numbers. Clinton nominated 51; 35 were confirmed. Bush nominated 52; 35 were confirmed. Those are the numbers.

SEN. ALLEN: Well, I have different numbers than that. The reality is that some of President Clinton's nominees were blocked in committee. They did not--and a lot of them were also brought up at the very end of his term.

So its alright to block Clinton's judges but not Bush's. Russert pointed out the fallacies in the Republican position.

Kevin Drum again: NUCLEAR UPDATE

...I don't often agree with Brooks these days, but I think he's on target here. This is not a symmetrical situation — conservative activist groups are way farther off the deep end these days than liberal ones — but it's still a good thought for both sides. Making every fight into a game of nuclear chicken isn't the right way to run a country.

I'm not sure I agree with Brooks just yet. I do agree that these interest group (Religious elites) battles are hurting this country trmendously. I think he's feeling the pressure that the Nuclear option will not help the GOP agenda, nor in the upcoming elections. I'm also not certain that Harry Reid would abandon his voice in the upcoming Supreme Court battle quite so easily.

The increasingly irrelevant Pat Robertson, who, this morning on This Week, seemed to reaffirm that only Jews or Christians should serve in the Cabinet and then attempted to tie Justice Ginburg to communism. He also tried to increase his relevance by throwing his weight behind Rudy Giuliani for President and cutting Bill Frist loose.

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He also thought liberals are a bigger threat to our country than Hitler, Stalin, or Al-Qaeda.

CapitolBuzz has more: If anyone was still wondering whether Pat Robertson is nuts - take a look at some of the things he said this morning on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” (And these don't include his allegations that Judge Ginsberg is a Communist!) read on

Ballon-Juice:

I am not sure how these 'men of God' can sit there and just blatantly lie while keeping a straight face (really- sometimes the lies are so out of control you half expect a lightning bolt to strike them in mid-sentence). When you realize how unhinged these folks are, you recognize why they think the judicial fight is the end of the world. They have turned this into a religious battle, and whipped themselves into such a lather that they really believe that if a few judges aren't confirmed, their faith is under attack.

After watching the interview again, I was reminded of a post by Hugh Hewitt that said in essence: "There is no such thing as Religious Right extremists, and if there is tell me who and what they are." Here's your example Hugh. Unfortunately for all people of faith, their beliefs and feelings are being defined by Robertson, Dobson, Falwell, Perkins and Mohler. For me the most powerful moments of faith are the most private.

Sen. Allen: Sell Your Home to Survive in Retirement

via SundayMorningTalk

Senator George Allen (R-VA) may have gotten in a bit over his head, this morning, on Meet the Press. On private accounts, he suggested that Americans might have to sell their homes to survive in retirement. But, that would be a good thing, because they wouldn't have to trim hedges and cut grass, he noted.

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Russert really hammered Allen today in an unusual show against the Republicans which has been a long time coming. I'll have more on Allen's response to the Nuclear option a little later.

Kevin Drum gives a mention.

Many in Runaway Bride's Town Feel Betrayed

The hunt for Jennifer Wilbanks consumed this tight-knit town when she went missing four days before her wedding. Still, despite a safe return welcomed by family and close friends, some residents of this Atlanta suburb feel betrayed by what turned out to be an elaborate hoax....read on

I know that 24/7 is embarrassed by their behaviour on the latest story they pimped to us, but instead of moving on to actual news they plan on keeping the cameras rolling. Oh, and Bill O'Reilly was wrong too.

Meanwhile,

Via Rising-Hegemony

In Great Britain, actual journalists are doing their actual jobs. Journalism is something that is not often recognized among our major media corporations nowadays, but it looks like this, and should Americans be allowed to know such things...they might be angry:

The secret Downing Street memo

Let me summarize...

And their little war puffery was by their own admission a tool to use in the November 2002 elections.

With US or Against US, clearly means with BUSH, and not the United States.

Politically Direct Airs Sunday

Politically Direct, Air America's latest progressive news and interview show, launches this Sunday, May 1 from 2:00-3:00pm EST directly from Washington, DC. Veteran activist David Bender hosts. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Robert Byrd join him to discuss the "nuclear option."

-# 27

Oil, Texas creed.

via Frank Rich

Conservatives can't stop whining about Hollywood, but the embarrassing reality is that they want to be hip, too. It's not easy. In the showbiz wrangling sweepstakes of 2004, liberals had Leonardo DiCaprio, the Dixie Chicks and the Boss. The right had Bo Derek, Pat Boone and Jessica Simpson, who, upon meeting the secretary of the interior, Gale Norton, congratulated her for doing "a nice job decorating the White House." Ms. Simpson may be the last performer in America who can make Whoopi Goldberg seem like the soul of wit.

What to do? Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger's poll numbers have sunk, the right's latest effort to grab a piece of the showbiz action is a new and fast-selling book published by Regnery, home to the Swift Boat Veterans, and promoted in lock step by the right-wing media elite of Fox News, The Wall Street Journal's editorial page and The New York Post ..read on

As always Mr. Rich hits the nail on the head. I'm still waiting to see if I get a response from Matt and Trey about this book.

Armando takes these three stooges apart. Its really not that hard to do, but he does it well.

The purpose of the MSNBC segment was to discuss a skit from Air America's Randi Rhodes Show (4/25/05).
On MSNBC, host Joe Scarborough turned to Liddy for his response to this incident, asking: "G. Gordon Liddy, are conservatives guilty of similarhate speech on their shows?"

Liddy's response: "Well, if they are, I certainly haven't heard of it."

That would mean that Liddy has not listened to his own program. On August 26, 1994, Liddy told his radio listeners: "Now if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms comes to disarm you and they are bearing arms, resist them with arms. Go for a head shot; they're going to be wearing bulletproof vests." Liddy's advice that day was explicit: "They've got a big target on there, ATF. Don't shoot at that, because they've got a vest on underneath that. Head shots, head shots.... Kill the sons of bitches." ...read on

I called Scarborough Country the following day to complain that he didn't have a liberal or anyone representing Air America on, but of course I couldn't reach someone. I'll try on Monday.