Matt Taibbi: The Crying Shame of John Boehner

American Leftist: The American way of torture

INSTAPUTZ: Johns Hopkins Medical School found to know about science than Jenny McCarthy

The Rude Pundit and Whiskey Fire have differing views on the purging of Huck Finn

The Big Picture: A victory for the rule of law, property rights

Issa Exposed: Holding the Oversight Chairman Accountable

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You can always tell when the folks in the right-wing talking-point war rooms come up with a favorite new meme, because in short order it's on the lips of every pundit on their shows. The newest way to slam President Obama, it seems, is to declare him "incompetent."

That's the word Karl Rove used to describe Obama's handling of the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" controversy. And it's the word Dick Armey used to describe his handling of the economy and the nation generally.

Look for more of this soon from the like of Dick Morris and Bill O'Reilly.

Ironic, ain't it? The very folks who foisted upon the nation the Most Incompetent President in History now have the chutzpah to project that onto his liberal successor.

But have you noticed something? Look at the memes that have been trotted out by Fox's talkers during Obama's tenure:

-- That he's a black radical.

-- That he's a closet Muslim.

-- That he's not a "real American".

-- That he's "arrogant." [read: "uppity"]

-- That he's a slick talker.

All of these smears happen to coincide with the usual laundry list of undesirable characteristics of the racist stereotype of black men. Now that they've gotten to "incompetent," the only things missing are that he's "lazy" and that he eats fried chicken and watermelon.

Somehow, I suspect they'll eventually get around to those too.

Though I'm sure it will all just be a coincidence.

Dick Daley Santorum

via Atrios Santorum says Rove doesn't speak for him.

Isn't that a surprise, old "man on dog" himself is the first to jump ship. The Rude Pundit probably thinks Karl will have to send Rick to the basement. Actually I don't see a parallel because Durbin didn't do say wrong, while Rove smeared every liberal in the country. Duncan has a great sense of humor. Santorum said the right thing for a change, while the White House backed Rove's rant. John thinks tricky Ricky is someone desperate for re-election.

Meanwhile Sadly, No! has: Dick's Dream Vacation

BALANCE, CABLE NEWS–STYLE

via Tapped ...Nothing quite captures the storied revolving-door problem in American political punditry like seeing old Watergate players themselves (or, in the case of Pat Buchanan, not a Watergate participant but certainly a loyal Richard Nixon soldier) playing disinterested pundit-analysts on one talking-head show after another discussing Mark Felt. At this point maybe it shouldn’t seem so bizarre to me to see Chris Matthews chatting with G. Gordon Liddy about this story as if they were David Brinkley and Chet Huntley chewing over the day’s headlines.

That these characters have carte blanche on the cable chat shows to serve as credible Felt naysayers is just one more illustration of the wonderful cloak of immunity enjoyed by all right-wingers in the clubby, insular D.C. punditry world. Lying, stealing, prison time -- literally nothing can discredit a conservative gabber enough to cancel their membership card to the commentariat. And today we have Peggy Noonan to thank for granting some establishment pundit legitimacy to Ben Stein’s thoughtful Deep Throat-as-genocidaire thesis. Can’t wait to hear Liddy’s thoughts on it tonight on Hardball.

Quick Note-A blog cruder than the Rude?

Sometimes, even the Rude Pundit must defer to the breathtaking crudeness of others. See this new, possibly one-shot blog.

h/t the ever fabulous BlueGal for the graphic

Why oh why oh why? Can anyone give one good reason why Liz Cheney's pundit career should even exist in the realm of reality? How on earth can anyone who says that waterboarding isn't torture and that Obama can't simply say something to make it so (especially coming from the one administration--and family--that made that practice an art form) and whose latest gig is simply to keep pushing the Bush Doctrine, a policy that the country overwhelmingly voted against. I'm sorry, but the woman's credibility is less than zero. Shame on ABC for booking her yet again to pollute their round table. Will fellow participants Markos Moulitsas and Arianna Huffington have the huevos to call her out on her lies? Stay tuned...

Elsewhere around the dial, Coast Guard Commander Thad Allen is making some serious rounds to discuss the Gulf oil spill. He'll be on ABC’s “This Week,” CBS’s “Face the Nation,” CNN’s “State of the Union” and “Fox News Sunday.” Also worth noting is the head-to-head of Arkansas runoff candidates Blanche "DINO" Lincoln and Bill Halter on CNN's "State of the Union". And if you're a real glutton for spin, the Israeli ambassador to the US will be on "Fox News Sunday", no doubt to try to justify the shootings of the humanitarian flotilla. Luckily, we're spared our normal Sunday David Gregory hackery. "Meet the Press" is pre-empted for the French Open.

ABC's "This Week" - Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man for the Gulf oil disaster; Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and John Cornyn, R-Texas.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Allen; Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Howard Fineman, Michele Norris, Andrea Mitchell, Bill Plante. Topics: A Look Back At The Moments in TV and Politics Which Changed American History; The Good, The Bad and The Unforgettable

CNN's "State of the Union" - Allen; Gov. Charlie Crist, I-Fla., Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, D-Ark.; Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - Israel; the man who came in second in the recent Afghan elections tells Fareed what he really thinks about the man who beat him - Hamid Karzai...and offers his advice on what the US should be doing to fix his embattled nation.

"Fox News Sunday" - Allen; Gov. Haley Barbour, R-Miss.; Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren.

So what's catching your eye this morning?

The Right Is Wrong and Small As Well

With every national poll (83% opposed) condemning government interference in the Terry Shiavo matter you would think by the immense media presence of supporting talking heads that the reverse was actually true. In fact, no case in recent memory (possibly Elian Gonzales) has demonstrated the enormousimbalance between the vocal pundits of the lunatic fringe right wing and their actual lack of support bymainstream Americans.

All week long, pundit after pundit from the Right, followed politician after politician from the Right, by inundating the national media with twisted rationale and downright lies and smears of the innocent people just doing the civic jobs in a fully functioning Democracy. From one court loss to the next, the panicking pubescent pundits of the Right leaped from one cable news show to the next. An uninformed observer might believe by viewing these manic media performances that this group represented a gigantic swath of the voting populace in America. But when the dark star dust settled, there was simply no one home. In fact, no poll number in the recent history of Red State/Blue State divisive battles has reached as high as the 80% region. Clearly, the American people have spoken.

The problem is, the lunatic fringe on the right couldn't care less.

emailed by Mark G

continuing inability of the U.S. military to understand the nature of the Iraqi insurgency, as reported in a New Yorker article, points to "one extraordinary but glaringly simple fact," writes War In Context's Paul Woodward, "America has virtually no friends in Iraq."

DC's Inside Scoop finds that as of today the White House "continues to maintain formal ties" with cash-for-coverage pundit Armstrong Williams. Plus: 'Open Wide and Eat Your Propaganda' and 'No Pundit Left Behind.'

Seeing the Forest's Dave Johnson describes a "conventional wisdom" machine set up by the Right, that in addition to working through conservative media outlets, attempts to influence more mainstream opinion leaders to "reject 'marginalized' information sources," including "Progressive online news sources or blogs." Plus: 'They can dish it out, but...'

I can understand the confusion for some Americans who do not understand what Baby Paul's beliefs really stand for. The media does a terrible job when it comes to explaining the positions our politicians take. And they are even worse when someone like Poppa Paul takes the podium because they either don't spend the time researching a fringe type figure, are afraid to expose their views publicly, or feel it's not worth the effort to do so.

But for any liberal who does know the difference, especially a smart one like Robert Scheer really makes me shake my head.

He wrote a piece in The Nation called: Who's Afraid of Rand Paul?

I understand his frustration absolutely at what has happened since the 2008 election, but Scheer is either too angry to think straight or he's being played for a sucker. He writes:

How bad could it be to have another irascible Paul in the Congress?

How bad? Very, very, very f'n bad.

I imagine he's seen Baby Paul's appearance on Rachel Maddow already.

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(How quick is Baby Paul backtracking now?)

If Scheer cringed, was it because he actually thought Paul would make a good Senator and he just looked really bad on TV or was it awakening to the fact that he had let himself get conned? Paul worships at the alter of anti-government, free markets and big business (He hates that the ladies have rights too) and after watching the oil spill nightmare, I bet Rand is still against regulating Big Oil. I'm waiting for a reporter or pundit to ask him that question. I won't get into every problem Baby Paul represents to our country if he becomes a Senator, they are too numerous to write down here.

Just so you know, one of the reasons I call Rand 'Baby Paul' is because of the nepotism that has fueled his run at office.

Donkeylicious: The Future of the Senate

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Tales of the Freewayblogger: No deranged rhetoric or violent threats, no spitting, no rocks thrown, no racial slurs, no elected official's home besieged, just a simple, "Thank You"

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