"Leave Arizona alone!!!" We sure will. (And yeah, we're taking bets as to which particular drug mule Governor Brewer is actually riding these days. Sheesh.)

Open thread below....

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OK, OK, Glenn, we get it. The progressive movement is the root of all evil in America and must be purged by any means necessary to save the Republic. Really, we get that. You've been saying it for a long time now. And you've been repeating it a lot lately.

And yesterday's show was really just a continuation. We learned that the "coming civil war" for "the soul of the Democratic Party" will be fought as "progressives vs. Democrats -- it's blue vs. gray."

We also learned that when progressives lose, "all bets are off. They will cheat, they will lie, they will steal -- and they have in the past blown things up if it helps them win."

But really, do you think that progressives will try to assassinate Obama if he decides to move to the political center in the coming months?

Because that sure as hell was what you were getting at yesterday on your show. You fretted in the opening monologue, talking about that looming internal "civil war" among Democrats:

Beck: I believe it could get ugly -- so ugly, not only do I think the Republic is in danger, I think that we need to pay real attention -- I think this president could be in real danger as well -- something I have said for awhile.

However, he never fully explained what he meant by this remark -- mostly dropping further intimations, including the remark about progressives' supposedly violent tendencies, and then explaining "why the president is in danger" by running through one of his chalkboard talks showing Obama's connections to such nefarious progressive entities as SEIU and ACORN. Later, he added that these "radical revolutionaries" running the White House were planning to "deal a final death blow to the Constitution if they can."

Beck may have been a little oblique about this on his Fox News show, but earlier yesterday on his radio show he explained his thinking in more detail (via Media Matters):

Beck: The most dangerous time in any regime, especially a radicalized regime, is when it is in collapse.

Watch the uber-Left. Pray that Obama moves to the center. If he does, pray that the Secret Service care for that man. That that man is never left alone. He has invited 9-11 Truthers into the White House and into his administration! If they believe that he's 'just another one of these guys,' he is in danger.

Actually, Glenn, a far more likely scenario under which President Obama would be endangered were if he were to move away from the failed center where he's been operating and tack left, especially in a populist sense, by tackling issues like banking reform and immigration.

Because then we can be certain the dogs of the TeaPartying GlennBeckian Right will not merely be howling at full bay, as they have for the past year, but literally frothing at the mouth. Then, I would have even more concern for his well-being than I do now -- which is plenty.

Really, doesn't this whole thing have the feel of a show trial? "Let the people have their moment and then we can get back to business as usual." I figure, if this is what they're actually admitting, God only knows what else they were up to:

WASHINGTON — Goldman Sachs' chief acknowledged Wednesday that the investment bank engaged in "improper" behavior in 2006 and 2007 when it made huge bets on a housing downturn while peddling as safe more than $40 billion in securities backed by risky U.S. home loans.

Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman's chairman and chief executive, made the surprising concession at the opening hearing of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, a 10-member panel that Congress created to investigate and lay out for the public the causes of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Blankfein and senior officers of three other of the nation's most prominent banks told the panel that serious flaws in their risk models and business practices contributed to Wall Street's meltdown and the massive taxpayer bailouts that followed. The commission also heard testimony that the banks and quasi-government mortgage giant Fannie Mae recklessly took on as much as 95 times more risk than they could cover, and that Wall Street excels "at pulling the wool over the eyes of the American people."

Blankfein faced the toughest questioning.

Commission Chairman Phil Angelides, a former California state treasurer, warned Blankfein that he'd be "brutally honest" in his questioning. He asked why Goldman thought it was necessary to take out protection against investment-grade mortgage securities it was selling by purchasing insurance-like contracts known as credit-default swaps. Angelides likened it to selling a car with knowledge it had faulty brakes and then taking out an insurance policy on the buyer.

"I do think the behavior is improper, and we regret . . . the consequence that people have lost money in it," Blankfein told Angelides.

I don't want Blankfein's feigned regret. I want him to have to live the rest of his life eating ramen noodles and living in a cardboard box on the street, just like the people who lost their life savings have to do.

Until Wednesday, Goldman had insisted that it was merely managing its risks when it placed "hedges," in the form of wagers against the housing market, various venues including in secret offshore deals, with insurance giant American International Group and on a private London exchange.

In November, McClatchy reported exclusively that Goldman failed to tell investors about its contrary bets while selling $39 billion in risky mortgage securities it had issued, and another $18 billion in similar bonds issued by other firms. The Securities and Exchange Commission and Congress are investigating Goldman's swap dealings, said knowledgeable people who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

While conceding that its contrary bets were improper, Blankfein said that in most cases Goldman took those positions to offset bets it had underwritten for clients seeking to wager on a housing downturn.

Hooboy. Did you hear about the neocon stenographers...er, national paper of record that printed an op-ed that might have as well been written by Dick Cheney himself? In a jingoistic and highly questionably-sourced article, WaPo's Fred Hiatt basically insisted that torturing Khalid Sheikh Mohammad worked, damnit! And of course, the big Dick himself, Darth Cheney will be on Fox News to reinforce what a smart and wonderful thing torture is. And Princess Darth, Liz Cheney, will be on This Week's roundtable to reinforce it. Meanwhile, the legacy of Ted Kennedy will be still on everyone's mind too. Meet the Press, This Week and State of the Union will immerse themselves in the life and life's work of Kennedy. Any bets on how fast some GOPer (Orrin Hatch, I'm looking at you) will bemoan EMK's death as the end of the hope of bipartisanship on health care reform?

ABC's "This Week" - Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and John Kerry, D-Mass.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Hatch; Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.; Michael Eric Dyson, sociology professor at Georgetown University.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Kerry; Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.; Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Maria Shriver, nieces of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy; Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian; former Kennedy adviser Bob Shrum.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Howard Fineman, Michele Norris, Andrea Mitchell, Bill Plante. Topics: Has television forever altered American politics and changed history? Chris Matthews's special personal reflections on Senator Edward Kennedy. Meter Questions: Will outspoken fringe players dominate GOP for the rest of Obama's term? YES: 9 NO: 3; If unemployment is still high next year, will Obama revise his tax proposals? YES: 11 No: 1.

CNN's "State of the Union" - Hatch; Dodd; Red Sox president Larry Lucchino; Boston Mayor Thomas Menino; former Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Thomas P. O'Neill III; environmental advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of Sen. Kennedy; Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, once a Kennedy aide; Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Mary Landrieu, D-La.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - An encore presentation of Fareed's Emmy nominated interview with China's Premier Wen Jiabao.

"Fox News Sunday" - Former Vice President Dick Cheney.

So, what's catching your eye this morning.

(Photo via glynnish.)

The Sunday talking head line-up is ready for reading. It's a whole lot of not much this morning, I have to say. Any bets on whether Timmeh will ask Mary Matalin about her former boss Dick Cheney and her former co-worker Scooter and “the latest maybe they did, maybe they didn’t tell him to lie” floater from Scotty McLellan? Yeah, me neither. Have you ever seen a more annoyingly self-referential and self-serving line-up? Yeah, me neither. Not enough coffee in the whole world.

Beyond that, it’s a whole lot of “here come the primaries,” with a sprinkling of foreign policy for spice. In short, not a lot of surprises, but the Zinni interview could be the surprise of the day. Guess we’ll see.

To make up for the dud of a line-up, do yourself a favor and shake up your morning with some Celia Cruz (YouTube) and an impressive musical line-up behind her as well. Guaranteed to get you up and moving for the day. What's catching you eye on the blogs and in the news?

via Carpetbagger Report

There are certain American institutions in which secular liberals are supposed to reign supreme. Not many, of course, but a couple. Alas, even the last bastion of this dying breed appears to be under siege. From our friends at James Dobson’s Focus on the Family: A Hollywood project that has successfully trained Christian writers to work from the inside of show business has set its sights on Tinseltown’s executive offices...read on

We are taking bets to see just how quickly these new Christain filmakers will take to be: controlled by the secular Jews, like anal sex, get hooked on dope and become libertine (that means promiscuous.) I give it six months. A few casting calls and it'll be all over.

William Donahue's greatest wingnut hit: Video wmp only

There are many to choose from, but this I believe is the #1

via Atrios

Eagles vs. Patriots.

I suggest we choose a charity for each team. If the Pats win, all us betting on the Eagles have to donate to the American Friends Service Committee (Ntodd's choice).

I'm going local. If the Eagles win, all you New England losers have to donate your bet to Project Home.

Count me in for $50. Pledge your bets in comments here or at Ntodd's place or on your blog, if you have one. I'll throw up a link to everyone's blog who's in (subject to my ability to keep up).

We bet on the Pats!