d r i f t g l a s s: Nobody left but the crazies (h/t Frank Chow)

Burnt Orange Report: Lawyers speaking out in response to Todd Willingham's "utterly disgraceful" trial attorney

Abu Maqawama: The most important article on Afghanistan you'll read this week

Open Left: A second fire has started on the public option fight, this time in the House.

TPMMuckraker: Pelosi's claim that the CIA misled her is validated by the House Intel Committee

The Satirical Political Report: Bush breaks the mold as a motivational speaker

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1686)

PLAYS: (6159)

Rachel Maddow weighed in on the ongoing dust-up between the White House and Fox News and the collective freak-out by Fox and the right wing over herself and Keith Olberman, among others, being invited to a meeting at the White House. She wrapped it up with this statement:

Maddow: You can be upset all you want that the president meets with people who you disagree with. But consider being fair and balanced in your criticism, at least admit that this White House has met with both sides while the Bush White House did not. You should especially admit that if you happened to have been a member of the Bush White House during that administration.

Keith joined Rachel later in the segment and talked about how hypocritical and completely disingenuous all of this pearl clutching has been by the right.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (586)

PLAYS: (4914)

Transcript below the fold.

Continue reading »

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1223)

PLAYS: (1113)

Why doesn't Lou Dobbs just move on over to Fox and get it over with? Dobbs does his best to emulate Glenn Beck and attacks another White House "czar" for quoting Mao-tse Tung, taking Anita Dunn's words out of context just as Beck did.

DOBBS: Well, another high-ranking White House appointee extolling the virtues of Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung. When White House manufacturing czar Ron Bloom was an executive at the United Steelworkers Union, he addressed a 2008 forum on the union role in bankruptcy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP-FROM YOUTUBE 2008)

RON BLOOM, UNITED STEEL WORKERS: Generally speaking, we get the joke. We know that the free market is nonsense. We know that the whole point is to game the system, to beat the market or at least find someone who will pay you a lot of money because they're convinced that there is a free lunch. We know this is largely about power. That it's an adults' only, no limit game. We kind of agree with Mao that political power comes largely from the barrel of a gun, and we get it that if you want a friend, you should get a dog.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOBBS: White House Communication Director Anita Dunn last June also cited Mao as one of the great political philosophers in her life. Mao was the leader of communist China from his founding to his death in 1976. His policies and purges believed to have caused the deaths of tens of millions of people, as many as 100 million.

Well to hear more of my thoughts on all the president's czars and their fascination with Mao Tse-Tung, please join me on the radio Monday through Friday for "The Lou Dobbs Show" 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. each afternoon on WOR 710 radio here in New York City. Go to loudobbs.com to get the local listings for "The Lou Dobbs Show", subscribe to our daily Podcast. Check out our store. Follow me on Twitter at loudobbsnews on Twitter.com.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1566)

PLAYS: (6305)

Rachel Maddow does an excellent job explaining how the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded in the past and why President Obama deserved to receive the award. The most stark example being this portion comparing then candidate Obama’s view of diplomacy compared with that of John McCain.

Maddow: The Nobel Peace Prize not always, but often awards effort. It recognizes people trying in big ways to get the world on a more peaceful path. The deadline for nomination for the prize is February first of the year in which it's awarded.

President Obama's critics say that by February first he should not have been nominated. He'd done nothing by then and by the way he's done nothing since to deserve it.

Obama: We need a fundamental change if we’re going to dig ourselves out of the hole that George Bush has placed us in and that’s going to require the kind of aggressive diplomacy— preparation yes—but aggressive diplomacy, personal diplomacy of the next president to transform how the world sees us. That is ultimately going to make us safer.

Maddow: Before he was nominated for the Nobel, Mr. Obama had persuaded the people of the most powerful nation on earth to choose him and his vision of strength through diplomacy—instead of the vision offered by his rival for the presidency.

McCain: You know that old, uh, that old Beach Boys song, bomb Iran? Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb… anyway…

Rachel goes on to contrast President Obama’s words to those of John Bolton, President Bush’s choice to be our representative at the United Nations. Another stark reminder of just what we finally rid ourselves of with the end of the Bush administration.

The entire segment is well worth spending the eleven minutes or so of your time to watch. Rachel wrapped it up with this.

Maddow: President Obama’s critics railed today that winning the Nobel Peace Prize is somehow an insult. That international encouragement and hope for success for an American president is something to be ashamed of. I never thought that I would quote Charles Krauthammer, but Obama derangement syndrome appears to be upon us. The American president just won the Nobel Peace Prize. By any reasonable measure, all Americans should be proud.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (490)

PLAYS: (3350)

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (855)

PLAYS: (1657)

Another one of both Michelle Bachmann and Bill O’Reilly’s finer moments on Fox Noise. O’Reilly can’t understand why everyone is “after” poor little old Michele Bachmann and says she’s second only behind Sarah Palin in “far left angst” and asks Bachmann why the left is “after her”.

Bachmann: You know, it’s an interesting phenomenon, I think it happened with the competing cable networks who’ve taken an interest in me, and it’s only grown and so now it’s almost like I have personal stalkers, only they have TV shows. So it’s kind of an interesting phenomenon.

So who’s stalking you Michele? Chris Matthews? I would suspect he’ll have something to say about this on his show tomorrow.

While trying to rationalize Bachmann’s arguments on why the left doesn’t like her, Bill-O throws this one out there.

O’Reilly: Do you think, and this is an off the wall question and I’m telling the audience that it’s just something that occurred to me. Both you and Sarah Palin are good looking women. I mean you’re attractive, young… relatively young women, who other women can identify with. You’re a mom, a wife, you had a private sector job. I think that’s it. I think that the success of Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann drive the far left crazy because you don’t fit, they don’t like what you believe in, but you, but you can attract others to listen to you. I think that’s what’s going on.

Yeah, that's it Bill. The left hates Palin and Bachmann because you think they're hot. And they're successful. What liberal woman could ever relate to that? And mothers...gasp. What liberal woman could relate to that either? And they had jobs... Oh my goodness what liberal woman could ever relate to another woman that had a job?

And you'd better watch it Michele or you might be getting a phone call from O'Reilly wanting you to talk dirty to him on the phone. (Warning, link definitely not safe for work.)

David E’s Fablog: Race Riot, sponsored by corporate lobbyists

Glenn Greenwald: There's nothing new about right wing insanity...or stupidity

distributorcap NY: All American Children Left Behind

Scott Horton: Two Marine Generals take Cheney to the woodshed

$Blind In Texas$: I'm a Ninther

AMERICAblog News: One year after the fall of Lehman, few changes

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1427)

PLAYS: (14674)

John Harwood lets one slip on MSNBC and tells the truth about these people fear mongering over the President speaking to school children next week.

Novotny: John, what about this controversy over opposition to Obama's speech to school children?

Harwood: I've got to tell you Monica, I've been watching politics for a long time and this is, this one is really over the top. What it shows you is there are a lot of cynical people who try to fan controversy and let's face it, in a country of three hundred million people there are a lot of stupid people too, because if you believe that's it's somehow unhealthy for kids for the President to say work hard and stay in school, you're stupid.

Novotny: Ouch.

Harwood: In fact, I'm worried for some of those kids, I'm worried for some of those kids of those parents who are upset. I'm not sure they're smart enough to raise those kids.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (137)

PLAYS: (1005)

Keith Olbermann blasts Glenn Beck for his tin-foil hat wearing rant about Rockefeller Center and MSNBC and their "communist, fascist, progressive building".

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1443)

PLAYS: (8791)

Glenn Beck is insane or trying to prove he is. Anyone else think he's just trying to get fired after watching this?

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1327)

PLAYS: (3776)

Michele Bachmann is again the subject of Ed Schultz's Psycho Talk for her appearance in Denver CO. From The Colorado Independent-- Bachmann: ‘Slit our wrists, be blood brothers’ to beat health care reform:

In a fiery speech that had her conservative Colorado audience cheering, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann railed against the dangers of health care reform and other Democratic initiatives, warning the proposals “have the strength to destroy this country forever.”

“This cannot pass,” the Minnesota Republican told a crowd at a Denver gathering sponsored by the Independence Institute. “What we have to do today is make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing. This will not pass. We will do whatever it takes to make sure this doesn’t pass.”

“Something is way crazy out there,” Bachmann said in her remarks, billed as a “personal legislative briefing” by the Golden-based Independence Institute, which bills itself as a “free market think tank.”

“This is slavery,” Bachmann said after claiming many Americans pay half their income to taxes. “It’s nothing more than slavery.”

In a speech filled with urgent and violent rhetoric, Bachmann — who proudly acknowledges she is the country’s “second-most hated Republican woman,” behind only former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin – drew a clear line on health care reform.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1748)

PLAYS: (9352)

From Countdown, Keith walks us through the crazy-train that is the Glenn Beck show.

Olbermann: The comfort of today's mythical, homespun, aw-shucks, totalitarian, Lonesome Rhodes Glenn Beck is that every day he gives away the essential truth that he is... an idiot.

If you're going to warn the colonists that the English have arrived in the bay, you're not going to get very far by jumping onto a horse and yelling, the "brutish are coming! the brutish are coming!" If you try to tell Mr. Chambers that the alien book to serve man is not about helping people, but eating them, you kind of lose your credibility if you say, "Mr. Chambers, don't get on that ship! The rest of the book to serve man, it's a phone book!".

Here's Mr. Beck last week with the zeal of Paul Revere, and the panic of Mr. Chambers' assistant cryptographer Pat and the spelling ability of a third grader.

(video clip)

Ah...I gotta' question. Don't you rehearse? 'Oligarhy?' Or, did Obama steal the letter "C"?!

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1177)

PLAYS: (6388)

Ed Schultz takes on the Republican fear mongering that's stirring up the crazies at these town hall meetings.

But first, tonight's "OpEd."

Goofy? Yes. Spooky? Yes. And a guy shows up with a gun at a presidential town hall.

If that's not dangerous, I don't know what is.

Now, to do all of this justice, I have to show you this first tonight. Take a look at what happened inside the town hall meetings of Senator Arlen Specter and Senator Claire McCaskill today.

Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You and your cronies in the government do this kind of stuff all the time. Well, I don't care!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do not want to pay on a health care plan that includes the right for a woman to kill her unborn baby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't want this country turning into Russia, turning into a socialized country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What it says is, as a 74-year-old man, if you develop cancer, we're pretty much going to write you off.

MCCASKILL: You don't trust me?

AUDIENCE: No!

MCCASKILL: Hey! Hey!

OK. Ma'am-OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Fear, fear, and more fear.

Continue reading »

More right wing crazy if you can stand to watch the whole thing.
h/t Bob Cesca and Rumproast who has the lyrics posted:

A funny thing went down in the presidential race ‘08
The democratic nominee was thought to be so great
But our founders made a rule and what they wrote was really clear
Only natural-born citizens are eligible...my dear

Obama ,tell us where were you born?
‘Cause the media won’t do their job anymore
You’re grandmother in Kenya said you were born on foreign shores
So Barry tell us where oh where were you born?

You’d think that Ol’ Barrack would wanna try and nip this in the bud
To settle all these lawsuits and wipe away the rumor mud
But the one thing that could prove it he won’t let anybody see
A bona fide presidential birth certificate mystery

Obama ,tell us where were you born?
‘Cause the media won’t do their job anymore
You’re grandmother in Kenya said you were born on foreign shores
So Barry tell us where oh where were you born?

Can you confirm Barrack...where were you born?
‘Cause the jpeg on your website was proven forged
I gotta say pal to me this whole thing just smells rotten to the core
So Barry tell us where oh where were you born?

Barrack Hussein Obama tell us...where were you born?
You don’t like your middle name spoken aloud in your side a thorn
Obama tell us where oh where were you born
I said Barack Obama tell us where oh where were you born?

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (99)

PLAYS: (584)

If Glenn Beck isn't insane, he's doing a really good job of trying to make everyone believe he is. After railing about the horrors of the minimum wage being raised and claiming that will end up pushing people into community service and Americorps, Beck strips down to lederhosen, leaps up onto his desk, and proceeds to read the Americorps pledge.

I assume this is supposed to be some sorry attempt at humor, but it looked more like a circus side show to me. The only thing Beck was missing was the big red nose and wig.

If you recall, wingnuts were mailing tea bags to various public officials, but, ironically enough, post-9/11 security measures were preventing the tea bags from getting to their intended recipients. So now there's an effort to send photos of tea bags instead.

A far-right blog called "ActaNonVerba: Action, Not Words!" goes one step further, advising readers to send tea bag labels as well as photos. But notice the "here" link in the screen cap below.

The "here" link points to a Google image search for "tea bag." Here's the image results page the tea-bagger is linking. First page, first image results:

Yep. That'd be a photograph of a dog tea-bagging a cat on a park bench. Now, I assume the tea-bagger doesn't want us to send the dog-on-cat tea bag photo to our elected officials. I assume.

(Cross-posted at BobCesca.com)