(h/t Mike Papantonio, Ring of Fire Radio)

Our very own John Amato appeared on The Ed Schultz Show radio program with Mike Papantonio subbing for Big Ed. Of discussion was just how very stupid and inane these GOP debates (18-19 more before the election, lucky us!) prove to be. John and Pap talk about who the big winners and losers were.

Of course, the biggest winner of these debates? President Obama.

The Young Turks' Cenk Uygur had on our John Amato. They talked about Cenk's new Wolf-PAC and what it would take to amend the Constitution.

Last night, John Amato and Dave Neiwert (two of my favorite people) were my guests on Virtually Speaking Susie, my Tuesday night Blogtalk Radio show. You can listen here:

On a day (and week) when the news has been less than fun, we want to take some time out to wish our own wonderful VlogFather, John Amato, a very happy birthday!!!

It's a running joke among the staff that John's main squeeze is Liz Cheney. Amato remarks: "Liz and I are going for some sushi and then I'll be taking a tour of the new Haliburton factory...That really gets her going..."

Happy Birthday, John!

You're all invited to leave well-wishing in comments below....

DOWNLOADS: (883)

PLAYS: (1762)

Embed

Bill O'Reilly's undies got in a bunch because I had a meeting with president Obama along with a few other bloggers. To Bill, George Soros is everywhere, but his contributions are pale in comparison with the likes of the Koch Brothers. The Right has many more billionaires and millionaires who are funding their efforts to radicalize America.

O'Reilly:...and the President met with five far left bloggers at the White House. folks who have said extremely hateful things...

If holding Bill O accountable is considered far left, then I'm in. At least Bill used a decent snapshot of me in his piece -- and isn't it funny that he couldn't find anything "hateful" that I supposedly said? Even when he plucked comments from Oliver and Barbara -- they were very tame in contrast to many of the things Tea Partiers say everyday. O'Reilly's comments are often hateful, including his attack of the young Shawn Hornbeck, who he blamed for for his own abduction and molestation. Joe Trippi went on to defend us, I guess, but I'd rather take up my own cause against BillO, but he'd never have me on. I've refused to go on FOX up to this point, but one of these days I might make an exception. I'd put up my record against Bill's any day.

Oh, by the way, remember when right-wing milbloggers met with Bush in the Roosevelt Room? Tears were forthcoming then, weren't they?

Digby writes:

If a Democrat wins the presidency and you get the chance to sit in the Roosevelt Room and have a chat with him or her about issues of the day, try not to cry. (And try to refrain from sharing with the folks the fact that you "tinkled" in the white house. It's icky.)

"Being right next to him, I caught a single tear attempt to roll down his left cheek before he casually wiped it away.

Truthfully, it's kind of sweet that all these bloodthirsty milbloggers turned into weeping fangirls in the presence of their commander in chief. They just love him so much. It kind of brings a tear to my eye too

And of course one right wing blogger called Mrs. Greyhawk of the Mudville Gazette had this gem:

Mrs. Greyhawk added another highlight: "I tinkled in the Whitehouse."

That's the kind of stories right wing bloggers like to write about. How embarrassing. And here's a memo to Bill. Soros wasn't at the meeting or involved, but he does dominate Bill's world, doesn't he?

UPDATE:

I also questioned the President on two other topics that progressives are very interested in. One to see if he supported filibuster reform and the other about the Dream Act and immigration reform. I'll have more on that later.

David and I just got back from our Bay Area trip and boy, is my nerve damage balking--hence my lack of posts lately. It turned out to be a great trip with many more people coming to the events than I had expected. More and more people are also reviewing the book too. Katie Schneider writes a very positive review of our new book Over the Cliff: How Obama's Election Drove the American Right Insane.

Oregon Live:

The most frightening book of the summer isn't by Stephen King. It doesn't feature vampires or werewolves or terrorists plotting in some far-off land. "Over the Cliff: How Obama's Election Drove the American Right Insane" is a chilling portrait of hate-mongers right here in the United States. Authors John Amato and David Neiwert present a snapshot of a society lapping up vitriol, hyperbole and disinformation in the wake of the election of the first African American president.

For many Americans, Amato and Neiwert assert, Barack Obama's election was a triumph. For others, it was merely a disappointment. For a certain subset of the population, however, "it went well beyond the usual despair," the authors write. "For them, November 5, 2008, was the end of the world. Or at least, the end of America as they knew it."

It's no wonder anger boiled over into violence. Racist tactics fueled the campaign. Rumors were peddled as fact. Obama was a foreigner, Obama was a Muslim terrorist. Obama was anti-American and poised to take down the country from within. After the election, the response was to crank up the rhetoric even harder.

Republicans, right-wing pundits declared, didn't lose because of the issues. They lost because they weren't conservative enough. CNN's Lou Dobbs went after Obama because he supposedly didn't have a birth certificate (despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary). Rush Limbaugh went on record with his hope that Obama would fail as a president.

Amato and Neiwert offer a cogent analysis of the rise of the tea party movement and any number of fake controversies, pushed by Fox News and its pundits. The frightening part is how little those controversies are based in reality. Right-wing populism relies on "scapegoating, smears, conspiracy theories, falsehoods, and unhinging rhetoric, all of which inevitably unleash violent, extremist rage," the authors write.

Please support liberal authors everywhere since we don't have the same type of infrastructure like the right to sell books (or buy them en masse), so pick up a copy here.

Other options to grab a copy are listed here. Of course, we always recommend ordering it from your local bookstore if you can.

Don't tell anyone! That WAS our own John Amato crashing Chelsea's wedding with his long-time squeeze Liz Cheney!

Open thread below...

John and I have been doing our best to get out and promote Over the Cliff: How Obama's Election Drove the American Right Insane, but most of our appearances have been at progressive gatherings like America's Future Now and Netroots Nation. This week, we break out into the real world with a couple of events in the Bay Area.

Tonight, we'll be at Books Inc. in Berkeley at 7 p.m., giving a talk/reading and signing books.

Then, on Friday, we'll be at the Contra Costa United Democratic Campaign headquarters in Concord, also at 7 p.m. It's located at 2737 Clayton Road, Concord.

If you can come out and meet us, please do. Otherwise, we'll also be on the radio: This morning we have an interview on KVON Radio, 1440 AM, in Napa at 7:30 a.m. Then, on Friday morning, we'll be taping an interview with Philip Maldari and Aimee Allison at KPFA-FM in Berkeley, with airdate to be announced.

Hope any of you in the area can come out and catch us.

DOWNLOADS: (657)

PLAYS: (3195)

Embed

Back in May, John Amato did a panel with Andrew Breitbart as part of a benefit for the Charles Mingus Youth Arts Foundation. I didn't write much about it at the time because Breitbart was drunk, unruly, and unintelligible. Since he basically spewed what he always spewed, it didn't seem like news you could use. Also, handheld video is less than optimal.

However, in reviewing the video, I feel that I owe it you, our faithful readers, to let Andrew Breitbart summarize his life's motivation in a few seconds. It's basic, simple, and explains why he is such a scourge on the landscape of political discourse.

On the topic of what's good for democracy:

BREITBART: Sex and drugs should be illicit, and when they're legalized there's no shame involved and thus rendering the experience less pleasurable.

I'm certain we could turn up video of Breitbart soliciting on a corner in Hollywood. If you have a clip, please do send it in.

And this:

BREITBART: I just like doing things that are wrong, feeling like I can get in trouble.

I think we should get him in trouble for those wrong things, don't you?