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The conventional wisdom is that whichever party is in power during a down economy will suffer great losses come election time. Certainly, we can look at the '94 and '06 elections as verification of that rule.

But I would argue that we're not in an era of politics as usual. For all the rhetoric the corporate media pushes about anti-incumbent sentiment, special elections between 2008 and now have not borne out those theories. And as former DNC head Howard Dean points out, when the alternative is the insubstantive platform of the Republican Party, it's hard to justify electing them over the Democratic Party, no matter how ineffectual we find them.

I think this is the time to put that stuff behind us. We've got to win this election. And we're going to have -- after the election is over, we'll go back to having our policy fights, but this is about winning. You cannot get anything done unless you have a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House.

And the Republicans have proved it. They are the party of no. They haven't had a single constructive -- name one -- anybody who's watching this show, name one single constructive political initiative that the Republicans have put forward.

And when, finally, somebody did put forward one, Paul Ryan, he was lionized for three days and then abandoned by the Republicans because he wanted to privatize Social Security and Medicare. Name one thing that you could hope for from the Republicans if they should win this. That is not a winning strategy.

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On the eve of the invasion of Iraq, George Bush, famously or infamously, had to be instructed on the existence of and differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims. He had no idea--despite centuries of warfare between the two sects--that there was a difference.

Sadly, that cultural ignorance of most Americans is still being played and preyed upon when fostering fear of Islam here, especially in regards to the Cordoba House. As has been previously reported, the Cordoba House is being built by Sufi Muslims, a mystical sub-sect of the Shia Muslims and considered apostates of Wahabbist Sunni sub-sect of al Qaeda.

Fareed Zakaria highlights further proof of the al Qaeda hatred of the Sufis with the July attack on a Lahore, Pakistan Sufi shrine during prayers, which killed 41 and injured 175 more. What gets lost in the amped-up "fear of the Other" rhetoric of Gingrich and Palin and driven by media like Fox News, is that this is not a battle of Islam vs. the US.

Why would al Qaeda attack a holy place at a time of prayer? Because it is a Sufi shrine, part of a sect that al Qaeda despises and regards as a deadly foe in the real battle it is fighting, the battle within Islam.

The Sufis are a sector of Islam originating in South Asia. They're all about mysticism, love, brotherhood and devotion, with very little attention to dogma. They believe in saints, shrines, music, dance, and follow a very liberal interpretation of the Koran.

Sufi poets routinely extol the virtues of wine and song, both forbidden in the purer versions of Islam. Sufism has always believed in tolerance towards other people and religion, and in peace. You can see why al Qaeda views it as its mortal enemy. The more Muslims accept some version of Sufi Islam, the more dangerous for al Qaeda and its extreme jihadist philosophy.

It can't be said enough, with all the misinformation out there: Islam doesn't hate us. This is a battle between al Qaeda and everyone else that doesn't follow their own narrow vision of Islam, which includes other Muslims. The opposition to the Cordoba House is exactly what al Qaeda wants to see.

And how sad is it that George W. Bush eventually came around to understanding this divide and was more moderate in his statements about the Muslim world than the current crop of Republican leaders?

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This Week marks the passings of former Senator Ted Stevens, former Congressman Dan Rostenkowski, producer David Wolper and ten Afghanistan aid workers slain in an ambush assault. In addition, the Pentagon has released the names of service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

US Marines Cpl Max W Donahue, 23, Highlands Ranch, CO
US Army SPC Faith R Hinkley, 23, Colorado Springs, CO
US Army SGT Andrew C Nicol, 23, Kensington, NH
US Army PFC Bradley D Rappuhn, 24, Grand Ledge, MI
US Marines LCpl Kevin M Cornelius, 20, Ashtabula, OH
US Marines PFC Vincent E Gammone III, 19, Christiana, TN
US Army PFC Paul O Cuzzupe, 23, Plant City, FL
US Marines Sgt Jose L Saenz III, 30, Pleasanton, TX
US Army PFC John E Andrade, 19, San Antonio, TX
US Army SGT Christopher N Karch, 23, Indianapolis, IN
US Marines Cpl Kristopher D Greer, 25, Ashland City, TN

According iCasualties, the total number of allied service members killed in Iraq is 4,732; in Afghanistan, 2,002. There have been no Canadian casualties this month. During the same period, Iraq Body Count lists 120 Iraqi civilians killed.

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Is it possible that Chris Wallace actually reads C&L? Because he asked House Minority Leader John Boehner about the laughable pamphlet the GOP put out, advising members how to spend their summer vacation. Maybe I'm projecting a little bit, but didn't Chris sound a little incredulous about it?

And bless his little heart, Boehner's been studying. He's got his August recess talking points memorized and down pat. Take a look at the booklet and tell me how quickly you find these phrases:

• The American people are tired of the job killing agenda in Washington DC
• The spending spree needs to stop
• The American people don’t want their taxes are increased
• Republicans are offering better solutions
• We’re listening to people
• It’s pretty clear Americans want change
• The American people have been asking: Where are the jobs?
• The President’s (and the Democrats’) policies are killing job creation
• The President’s (and the Democrats’) policies are hurting the economy
• Running up debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren
• Let’s stop this wasteful stimulus spending

Sound and fury, signifying absolutely nothing. But the most unintentionally revealing moment? Despite saying that the American people want change and better solutions and are wondering where the jobs are, Boehner admits that he's not listening to experts:

WALLACE: But Congressman, even without going on a listening tour, you’ve got to know the prime issue for all voters, or most voters, is the economy and jobs. I want to put up some new figures that came out Friday. It showed that GDP growth has slowed dramatically from 5% in late 2009 to 3.7% in the first quarter of this year to now to just 2.4% in this last quarter. A number, Congressman, a number of top economists say what we need now is more economic stimulus.

BOEHNER: Well, I don’t need to see GDP numbers or to listen to economists. All I need to do is listen to the American people. They’ve been asking the question now for eighteen months: where are the jobs? The fact is the President’s policies are killing job creation in America, killing our economy, and the American people know it. That’s why, we are going to continue what we think are better solutions. Let’s stop this stimulus spending. All it’s doing is running up the debt on the backs of our kids and grandkids. Let’s make sure we’re not going to increase taxes and a time when our economy is so weak. All the things that my colleagues across the aisle want to do.

So if I have this straight, the Republicans--who have obstructed pretty much every bill that comes along, including ones designed to stimulate the economy and help hurting Americans--but Boehner doesn't need to listen to economists (like say, Alan Greenspan) to know that we have to stop spending stimulus money.

Uh, stop spending money means killing the stimulus means killing job creation means killing the economy.

Maybe you should reconsider not listening to economists, Boehner.

Lord knows, it will probably be less painful than last year's summer recess listening tours.

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Aren't we all so very grateful for privileged white men who have never known what it's like to be an oppressed minority to inform us what is or is not racism? It's so nice not to have to worry my pretty little mind about things like this, but just let those smart white guys tell me when to worry.

On Reliable Sources, Howard Kurtz is charged with looking at the way the media covers news events of the day. Since it was the major story of the week, it was no surprise that the Shirley Sherrod case came up from discussion.

But, as with David Brooks on Meet the Press, the discussion really wasn't about the failures of the media in covering the case. Both Joan Walsh and Jane Hall try to make that point and get interrupted by Kurtz and Matt Lewis, eager to keep pointing the finger at the White House. In fact, they push even further the same false equivalency theme, with Lewis (who writes for Breitbart's BigGovernment.com) claiming that the real victims are Andrew Breitbart and the Tea Party.

They even go so far to ask if Shirley Sherrod had the right to call Andrew Breitbart a racist and is the media giving her "a pass" for using that kind of language.

WALSH: The woman's father was murdered by a white farmer, and there were witnesses. And the white justice system never found the murderer guilty. She's entitled to talk about race any way she wants to.

LEWIS: Any way she wants to?

WALSH: That's not giving her a pass.

LEWIS: So if you've had a bad experience in your background, you can say just anything you want?

WALSH: Yes, any way she wants to. A bad experience in your background? I'm talking about murder. Murder, Matt.

And the fact of the matter is, the woman turned out to be the antithesis of Andrew Breitbart, who told a story of racial reconciliation and healing and forgiving white people, and going on to help white people --

LEWIS: I just don't think any of us should get --

WALSH: -- and going on to -- the issue in this country --

LEWIS: I just don't think any of us should get a pass to talk about --

WALSH: -- is class as much as race. I'm not giving her a pass. But I think the idea that she shouldn't be able to say Fox or Breitbart is racist preposterous. She gets to say that because it's true, and because from her vantage point it's especially true.

KURTZ: Well, in fairness, it's certainly debatable.

Excuse me, but WTF, Howie? There is nothing fair about that statement. This is a woman who has endured INSTITUTIONALIZED racism her whole life--watching the murderer of her father go free by a white grand jury, who organized and was then denied the ability to create a cooperative for black farmers, who ultimately lost her family farm because of Lester Maddox denying loans to black farmers, who was part of the largest successful civil rights violation lawsuit in the US, whose husband was a leading member of non-violent coordination in Georgia during the Civil Rights movement of the 60s, as the visibly seething Joan Walsh points out. Shirley Sherrod has lived with and tried to rise above the oppression and bigotry that you can't even contemplate, taking responsibility to make the world better for those who come after her.

But privileged Caucasian Howie Kurtz, sitting comfortably in his DC digs with his Republican fundraiser wife, can decide that it's "debatable" whether Shirley Sherrod, who has spent her life trying to help those who are poor and oppressed (rather than navel-gazing on the role of the media), knows racism when she sees it.

Howie Kurtz is earning scorn from both the right and the left for his grasp of the Sherrod firestorm. I'm sure he'll say that it proves he's right, since he's angered both sides of the aisle.

But Howie, it just proves that you're wrong, and EVERYONE can see it. Except you.

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Dadgummit, once again, the right wing noise machine has framed the debate and the Democrats are forced to play defense. Of course, the Shirley Sherrod smear by Andrew Breitbart would be a topic of discussion on the Sunday shows.

But will they take a hard look at the responsibility of news organizations to fact check and contextualize before just blindly repeating a partisan smear from a known liar and smear merchant? Surely, you jest. Stop playing the blame game, you liberals.

Instead, we're treated to these false equivalencies and ridiculous Broderisms by David Brooks with a clear candidate for The Jayson Blair Project:

There are liberals who call conservatives racist as a matter of tactics, too. That happens, as well. Listen, I was out jogging, you wouldn't know it to look at me. I was out jogging (LAUGH) you wouldn’t know it to look at me, I was out jogging on the mall. I was at a Tea Party rally, Tea Party rally. Also there was a group called the Back-- Black Family Reunion, celebration of African American culture. I watched these two groups intermingle. Sitting at the same table, eating-- watching concerts together. Among most of those people, there was a fantastic atmosphere of just getting along on-- on a warm Sunday afternoon.

And so, there are people, but I-- I was struck by a story of progress. A story of progress, that we're making some progress to this. And this whole week, that speech was about progress. We now have a gotcha culture that punishes people that say terrible things. So, I think overall, it's slow, steady--

Any one actually believe that anything like this actually happened? If so, I got a bridge to sell you...cheap.

But ultimately, it's entirely beside the point.

The issue is not nor ever has been whether ALL tea baggers are racist. It's an intellectually dishonest argument to paint any group of people with such a broad brush, and it was never done by anyone on the left. But since the right has grabbed hold of the narrative, they can dismiss any and all discussion by such a straw man.

Remember the timeline of events: The NAACP asked the tea party organizers to disavow the racist element that showed up at every tea party event. Not every tea bagger. But it's hard to argue that they didn't exist, especially with the preponderance of pictures proving so.

It's not an unheard of request. The Republican Party disavowed the fascist McCarthyites and also the extremist John Birchers at one point in time. Democrats were asked to disavow MoveOn for the Gen. Betrayus debacle.

But that doesn't work for polemicist and unabashed hater Andrew Breitbart. He instead decides that the way to respond to a call for civility and respect is to counter-attack with a smear, even if he has to make one up. And his thesis? If the tea party is racist, so is the NAACP. And to prove it, he shows an edited video of a 24 year old incident involving an African-American mid-level bureaucrat and a white farmer. So in Breitbart's Bizarro-World logic, NAACP = white racism = black government bureaucrat singly discriminating against white farmer (she didn't, but go along with the analogy)= ? Is Breitbart insinuating that a single incident 24 years ago is enough to indict the entire NAACP of white racism? And is Sherrod even a member of the NAACP? She's not an officer of the organization.

And don't think for a moment that the choice of a government employee who works to support the poor and needy is an accident either. This is just more serving of the oligarchy, a fact that the media conveniently lets slide down the memory hole.

If Breitbart--and the media enabling him and accepting his framing-- is going to use the analogy that one act condemns an entire group, why can't we call all tea baggers racist?

Let's see David Brooks answer THAT one.

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This Week marks the passings of journalist Daniel Schorr, former Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn, dance instructor Denise Jefferson. In addition, the Pentagon has released the names of sixteen service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

US Army SGT Matthew W Weikert, 29, Jacksonville, IL
US Army SFC John H Jarrell, 32, Brunson, SC
US Army SGT Leston M. Winters, 30, Sour Lake, TX
US Marines Cpl Dave M Santos, 21, Rota, Marianas Islands
US Marines SSgt Justus S Bartelt, 27, Polo, IL
US Army SGT Justin B Allen, 23, Coal Grove, OH
US Marines GySgt Christopher L Eastman, 28, Moose Pass, AK
US Army 1LT Robert N Bennedsen, 25, Vashon Island, WA
US Army SGT Anibal Santiago, 37, Belvidere, IL
US Army SGT Jesse R Tilton, 23, Decatur, IL
US Marines Cpl Paul J Miller, 22, Traverse City, MI
US Army SSG Brian F Piercy, 27, Clovis, CA
US Marines Cpl Julio Vargas, 23, Sylmar, CA
US Marines Cpl Joe L Wrightsman, 23, Jonesboro, LA
US Army 1LT Michael L Runyan, 24, Newark, OH
US Army PFC James J O'Quin, 20, El Paso, TX

According to iCasualties, the total number of allied service members killed in Iraq is 4,731; in Afghanistan, 1,967. Of that number, 151 were Canadian service members. The Taliban is also taking credit for the kidnapping of two service members, one of whom has since been killed. During this same period, Iraq Body Count lists 58 Iraqi civilians killed. And NATO is investigating 45 Afghan civilian deaths from an air raid on a village, among reports that civilian casualties in Afghanistan are on the rise.

I also want to point out specifically the death of Cpl. Dave Santos, who was not killed by a roadside bomb or insurgent attack, as most of the others on this list. Santos' death, at the hand of a fellow Marine, is still under investigation.

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I am convinced that the reason that the Republican Party has not gone the way of the Whig Party is because they have excelled in what I call "bumpersticker politicking". That is to say, they create easily digestible soundbytes that sound right (as long as you don't examine them to closely) and keep the low-information focused on the smaller picture.

They can decry "deficit spending", "job killing", "tax cuts" and it sounds sensible. But as we've shown over and over, when you really look at it, it makes no sense. They are slogans over substance.

But thank the FSM we have Alan Grayson on our side. Because he can match these Republicans yahoos with easily digestible soundbytes and even more importantly, has the substance behind them. Note the nice little dig at presidential aspirant Newt Gingrich (proving once again that leaving the office in disgrace is no reason to fade away for the GOP):

I think that he‘s a disgrace. I wonder why anybody takes him seriously anymore. If he does to America what he did to his own personal life, we‘re all in deep, deep trouble.

Oh ouch. That one left a mark. Grayson makes no attempt to hide his disdain for the Republicans and their politicking around real people's lives. Grayson accurately likens their country club elite concerns to those ascribed to Marie Antoinette (not long before facing the guillotine): The poor can't afford bread? Let them eat cake.

The Republican Party is the party that doesn‘t want to help you. They either want to blame you, or they would try to want to convince that you somehow you‘ll be better off if nobody helps you.

Heather, our VideoCafe queen, made this mash up of the fantastic work Alan Grayson has done in the last couple of days advocating for the interests of the average American person instead of the uber-wealthy, who don't need the government's help to begin with.

On the floor of the House, Grayson soundly berated the Republicans for holding up the extension of unemployment benefits with a "May God have mercy on your souls".

Noting that his grandfather scoured the garbage dump for things he could sell to support his family in the 1930s, Grayson said, “That is the America the Republicans are trying to revive — the America of desperate straits and cheap labor.”

“I know what [Republicans] are th/inking: ‘Why don’t they just sell some stock? If they’re in really dire straits, maybe they could take some of their art collection and send it off to the auctioneer. And if they’re in deep, deep trouble, maybe the unemployed can sell one of their yachts.’ That’s what the Republicans are thinking,” Grayson said.

This is exactly the kind of rhetoric we need to hear from the Democratic Party--pushing back hard and clearly showing how out of touch the Republican Party is. Because I believe strongly that we need to reward this kind of behavior and send a message to weaker Democrats, if you can, send some scratch to Grayson here.

Oh and a little personal aside to Dan Gainor of Newsbusters: You putzes are always big on sounding like big bad bullies and violence is always your answer for anyone you don't like, but you can't even fight your own battles. $100 to knock out Grayson? You overcompensating little man. And you're stupid too; have you any idea how big Grayson is? Dude, you are so overmatched, in size, in brawn, in brains, in compassion and in every other way that marks a real man. Give it up, you wimp.

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[H/t Heather]

It's hard sometime to believe the blithering, fact-free idiocy that passes for Beltway wisdom these days. Take David Gregory interviewing everyone's favorite Sunday talk-show guest, John McCain:

MR. GREGORY: I have a question that keeps nagging me about the enemy, about the Taliban.

SEN. McCAIN: Yeah.

MR. GREGORY: The United States is engaged in working with the Afghan central government to recruit Afghan soldiers. Why do we have to recruit Afghan soldiers? Who's training the Taliban? Nobody has to recruit them. They're out there fighting for, you know, what they see as a future. Which is, by the way, is a dark, terrorist, annihilist future. Nevertheless, they don't have to be recruited, and yet we're in this position where we're trying to recruit Afghan soldiers.

SEN. McCAIN: You know, that's a very good question. And it's clear that the Taliban is a very extremist and very fanatical element, and I think this is true with all insurgencies. But I think you also find that the majority of the people in Afghanistan do not want the return of the Taliban. They're afraid, though, that when the United States leaves that there will be assassination squads going around and taking care of those who cooperated with the government and the Americans. Look, Karzai is not doing the things we want him to do. I don't think there's any doubt about that in many respects. Maliki was not doing the things we wanted...

MR. GREGORY: In Iraq.

SEN. McCAIN: ...us to do. He was perceived as very weak. The level of sectarian violence in Iraq makes what's going on in Afghanistan pale in comparison, and I'm not saying it's not going to be long and hard and tough, and I'm not saying that it's going to be easy. And I--but I am convinced of one thing, you--fundamental of warfare, you tell the enemy when you're leaving, that--then they will wait. And Ho Chi Minh certainly is an authentication of that, of that course of action.

Can anyone tell me what the hell these two people are talking about? Or why they are considered wise and worthy voices to spend our time listening to on a Sunday morning?

Because Al Qaeda recruits all the time. It's a major part of their relative success. (Just Google "Al Qaeda recruitment" for a sample.)

Of course, it doesn't hurt that idiocy like this makes it possible for the United States to significantly improve the climate for recruitment of Al Qaeda terrorists, either.

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It's a step into Bizarro World when Bill O'Reilly becomes a voice of sanity and defense of President Obama. He even valiantly tries to drag Crazy Michelle Bachmann with him to a place where anything the President does isn't met with instantaneous reactionary obstructionism.

Bachmann has been out everywhere she can, pushing the GOP meme that the BP escrow fund is Obama "shaking down" and "extorting" BP by demanding that an escrow fund be put up. Watch as Billo asks who else is in a position to do so and Bachmann has to step back into reality, if only momentarily.

Ever so deftly, O'Reilly deftly redirects Bachmann to back pedal on her criticism back to a level where she almost sounds reasonable. Suddenly, her only concern is that the administrator of the escrow fund not be politically motivated and get the funds to the people as soon as possible. Well, Michelle, done and done.

But I do have one fairly large reality-based quibble with the both of them: there's no way that $20 billion is going to make things "whole" again. That ship is sailed. The only thing that we can do right now is to make sure we don't have another catastrophe like this by tightening up regulations, enforcing them consistently and preferably, ending deep sea drilling altogether.