Meet Alan Simpson. He wants to gut Social Security. And he's in charge of the future of Social Security.
How's that? President Obama appointed him to lead a key Social Security commission. Why? I have no clue.

He's like that crazy uncle you see once a year at Thanksgiving, except he has his hands on Social Security.

Karoli mentioned earlier Simpson's foul-mouthed tirade against a woman who had the temerity to challenge his attacks on Social Security in a Huffington Post blog post. The thin-skinned Simpson ranted:

"I've made some plenty smart cracks about people on Social Security who milk it to the last degree. You know 'em too...We’ve reached a point now where it’s like a milk cow with 310 million tits! Call when you get honest work!"

And this isn't the first tirade against someone who publicly criticized him and the commission.

That's why we at the Progressive Campaign Change Committee are launching a new site: StuffThatSimpsonSays.com to expose the out-of-control Simpson and the commision he co-chair's attempts to gut Social Security. Visit the site and see if you can tell a real Alan Simpson quote from a fake one and share it with your friends.

This would be funnier, if what the commission of unaccountable millionaires is working on wasn't so serious.

Congress will be voting on whatever this commission recommends. They need to understand the commission is being led by Alan Simpson, a guy who's so unhinged that you literally can't tell his real utterances from fake ones, they're that crazy.

Who else is on the commission? A bunch of millionaires... multimillionaire defense contractor (David Cote), a corporate CEO (Ann M. Fudge), and only one economist (Alice Rivlin) who's claim to fame is advocating for $47 billion in cuts to Social Security. You'll never guess where the executive director behind the commission also works: Bruce Reed, the CEO of the corporate-funded Democratic Leadership Council.

And on top of that the committee meets in secret.

Alan Simpson - has a) no idea what he's talking about when it comes to Social Security and b) is incredibly offensive to just about everyone he talks to.

Check out StuffAlanSimpsonSays.com. Some of the actual things he said are just mind-blowing.

Enjoy and then share it with your friends so everyone gets the message we need to save Social Security, not hand it over to people like Alan Simpson.

Click here to tweet about the site or here to share it on Facebook and help get the word out!

P.S. If you like Simpson have a potty mouth, http://ShitAlanSimpsonSays.com also works.

Town Square Political Theory Daily Review

From The Nation, a debate of Labor's Future (including Sweeney, Stern, Wilhelm, McEntee, Cohen, and Hoffa). From In These Times, more on Wobblies!, and the religious right wants to include moral values in the debate over how our taxes are spent? Bring it on. Do Democrats need to get religion? Jim Wallis and Susan Jacoby go at it.

From WSWS, an article on secularism and the American Constitution. Christopher Caldwell on the sacred cow of religious rights. An article on Islam and the institutions of a free society. A review of Occidentalism: A Short History of Anti-Westernism.

From LRB, a review of The Indian Mutiny and the British Imagination, and an article on secularism and the American Constitution. Christopher Caldwell on the sacred cow of religious rights. An article on Islam and the institutions of a free society. A review of Occidentalism: A Short History of Anti-Westernism.

From LRB, a review of The Indian Mutiny and the British Imagination, and an article on.

From NYRB, Peter Galbraith on Iraq: Bush's Islamic Republic. Brendan O'Neill on how a risk-averse West has inflamed the terrorism it fears. What turns a man into a terrorist, and what can be done about it? And from Foreign Affairs, an article on How to Help Poor Countries

THOSE CRAZY MUSLIMS      recovering liberal the London bombs.

From NYRB, Peter Galbraith on Iraq: Bush's Islamic Republic. Brendan O'Neill on how a risk-averse West has inflamed the terrorism it fears. What turns a man into a terrorist, and what can be done about it? And from Foreign Affairs, an article on How to Help Poor Countries

recovering liberal
Support for suicide bombings and other acts of violence in defense of Islam has dropped since 2002 by 34 percentage points in Lebanon, 12 points in Indonesia and 8 points in Pakistan, according to the latest survey from Pew Global Attitudes Project.

In the poll released last Thursday, about half of Muslims in Lebanon, Jordan and Morocco said that attacks against Americans and their allies are justified.

On a positive note, the poll also showed that confidence in bin Laden has fallen by double-digit margins in Indonesia, Morocco and Lebanon since 2003. In Lebanon, only 2% now express confidence in him. Sadly, this is offset by Jordan and Pakistan, where more than 50% say they that have confidence in him.

Most importantly, in the nine Western nations polled, fears about radical Islam are tied to perceptions of Muslim communities within those countries. Resident Muslims were seen as having a strong and growing sense of Islamic identity, which most of those surveyed see as a bad thing.

In conclusion, while most of those polled in the United States and other Western Nations claim to have favorable views of Muslims, those in predominantly Muslim countries had mixed views of Christians and very negative views of Jews.

Support for suicide bombings and other acts of violence in defense of Islam has dropped since 2002 by 34 percentage points in Lebanon, 12 points in Indonesia and 8 points in Pakistan, according to the latest survey from Pew Global Attitudes Project.

In the poll released last Thursday, about half of Muslims in Lebanon, Jordan and Morocco said that attacks against Americans and their allies are justified.

On a positive note, the poll also showed that confidence in bin Laden has fallen by double-digit margins in Indonesia, Morocco and Lebanon since 2003. In Lebanon, only 2% now express confidence in him. Sadly, this is offset by Jordan and Pakistan, where more than 50% say they that have confidence in him.

Most importantly, in the nine Western nations polled, fears about radical Islam are tied to perceptions of Muslim communities within those countries. Resident Muslims were seen as having a strong and growing sense of Islamic identity, which most of those surveyed see as a bad thing.

In conclusion, while most of those polled in the United States and other Western Nations claim to have favorable views of Muslims, those in predominantly Muslim countries had mixed views of Christians and very negative views of Jews.

Weird wingnuttery

or (A little Powerline bashing is always a good thing)

via Ezra Klein

Powerline's Hindrocket has a strange post about an apparent error that the NYTimes made in posting its article about the pope's death. They seem to have accidentally published it before it was finished, and so it read as follows: go to the article

I don't think I understand what the big deal is. The NYTimes article is very fair ("he defied easy definition: For all his conservatism on social and theological issues, he was decidedly forward-looking"), and Powerline's statement that they had their criticism ready to go, but had to go looking for a good quote is speculative at best. The only thing, in fact, that is clear is that the NYTimes intended to present more than one side. In the context of Heather's post below about the Washington Times' one-sidedness below, Hindrocket just looks like he's trying to pick a fight.

Michelle Malkin cites it as an example of how

The death of the Pope just couldn't stop the libs in the media from showing their true colors.

What are their true colors? That they wanted to make sure they had a quote from a supporter? Those crazy liberals, always trying to be fair...

FEAR AND LOATHING IN WEST PALM BEACH-part I

Police are in riot gears. Protestors are being restrained. Lines are stetched for hours.

Mark tells us that "the problem with the electronic voting machines is that you have to mark the ballot perfectly like a palm pilot, or it will default to a Bush-Cheney vote!"

This should effect the elderly or poorly sighted. A pollster has to come and recalibrate the vote. It's crazy down there. More to come...

(clip courtesy of Media Matters)

I thought I was listening to some sort of parody when I first heard this clip. As it turns out, it's from Glenn Beck's joke of a radio show and it's some of the funniest stuff I've ever heard.

Beck is speaking to a woman who called into his radio show and challenged him on his stance on health care reform. Things build, and continue to get heated until about the 3:16 mark when he has a thrombo when the caller really puts the screws to him:

"Kathy, (violently screaming) GET OFF MY PHONE! GET OFF MY PHONE YOU LITTLE PINHEAD!! I DON'T CARE? YOOOOU PEOPLE DON'T CARE ABOUT THE TRILLIONS...(high-pitched squealing) GET OFF MY PHONE!!"

Wow. And he wonders why nobody takes him seriously.

Pam's House Blend: Lindsey Graham shoutout to Bush at SC GOP convention nets silence.

at-Largely: Four years late - An Inconvenient Truth for the White House

Grasping Reality with Both Hands: On the excellence of McClatchy

pandagon: Batsh*t crazy

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: Jack and Jill Politics, Cannibal Planet, Creative Loafing Atlanta, Gonzo Politico , Stephen Views the News

Happy Valley News Hour: Dick Cheney sends the Terminator back in time to eliminate Joe Wilson's mother.

TBogg: Since Megan McArdle can't seem to wrap her head around this crazy little thing called "poor", perhaps she'd like to take the Food Stamp Challenge for a week or two.

American Street: The myth that Republicans are fiscally responsible stewards of the economy simply means that the vast majority of Americans know nothing about politics or economics.

D-Day: Look for the Union label...

The Opinion Mill: Bookchat

Show Me Progress: Does anyone really believe Matt Blunt's 'spend more time with my family' dodge?

The Satirical Political Report: Huckleberry promises a "WMD Roll" on the White House lawn

Brad DeLong: Debunking myths perpetuated by dishonest Republican "economists" and politicians.

alicublog: Wingnuts mostly quiet on MLK Day.

A Tiny Revolution: Too crazy for Boystown, too much of a boy for Crazytown

Bitch Ph.D. Teh Islamics are bad

ANNALS OF JOURNALISM: Covering Up the Coverage, Romney vs The Press, Make Them Accountable, The Real Race Story, The business of television

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: Media Needle, Balls and Walnuts, MAL Contends, Rox Populi