What do you say about people like this? It's almost a caricature, it's so disgustingly ridiculous. Lisa Biron was New Hampshire lawyer who worked for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian group who has lobbied for the DOMA and other anti-gay legislation, as well as fighting against Obamacare and other issues of "faith and justice". And what would you expect to find out about an anti-gay, conservative Christian attorney who claimed on her Facebook page that her favorite book is the Bible? How about that she forces minors in her care to have sex so she could film them and sell the pornography? Someone needs to share with me what book in the Bible that came from. Concord (NH) Monitor:

A Manchester lawyer took a teenage girl to Canada, had her engage in sexual activity and convinced her to let it be filmed, according to federal indictments.

FBI agents swiftly arrested Lisa Biron yesterday morning as she awaited a hearing on child pornography charges at Manchester’s district court. About 9 a.m. FBI agents entered the courtroom, told Biron to leave her belongings and took her into an adjoining conference room where she remained for several minutes before coming out in handcuffs.[..]

A few hours later in U.S. District Court in Concord, Biron, who is associated with a national coalition of Christian lawyers, was formally told of the federal charges against her: transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, possession of child pornography and five counts of sexual exploitation of children.

Judge Landya McCafferty decided to detain Biron yesterday, largely, she said, because she is believed to have broken most of the bail conditions imposed on the district-level pornography charges.

In addition, Biron told people that she had a loaded gun under her bed and was contemplating fleeing to Cuba. Witnesses said she was in possession of drugs, and had both begged people to lie on her behalf and threatened others. Oh, and she also sat on the board of directors for Christian schools in Manchester. The better to find new subjects, perhaps?

Not surprisingly, Alliance for Defending Freedom has scrubbed all mention of Biron from their website. But that didn't stop John Aravosis from tracking down some mentions:

Let me walk you through just how big the Alliance Defending Freedom is. It was founded by religious right leaders D. James Kennedy of the Coral Ridge Ministries and James Dobson of Focus on the Family (and a few others), and who sits on its board, Tom Minnery, Senior Vice President of Government and Public Policy of Focus on the Family.[..]

So I did a little Google search to find out more about Biron’s association with the Alliance Defending Marriage – since the articles in the media aren’t terribly clear about it – and amazingly, all the Google links pointing to her name on the Alliance Defending Marriage’s Web site end up on error pages. I.e., the Alliance Defending Marriage used to mention Lisa Biron on their Web site, and now they don’t. Imagine that.

But fret not, I found the smoking gun anyway. Read on.[..]

You see, just last year, it appears that the Alliance Defending Freedom honored accused aider and abetter of pedophilia, Lisa Biron.

Looks like ADF has some 'splaining to do....

Grover Norquist is one of the most odious political operatives of all time. The power hungry egomaniac has shared his love for Stalinist methods that shaped his political style.

The Wrecking Crew:

What concerned Norquist were the tactics of seizing and holding power, which he adapted straight from the playbook of Joseph Stalin. Or, as he put it:

First, we want to remove liberal personnel from the political process. Then we want to capture those positions of power and influence for conservatives. Stalin taught the importance of this principle. He was running the personnel department, while Trotsky was fighting the White Army. When push came to shove for control of the Soviet Union, Stalin won. His people were in place and Trotsky’s were not. . . . With this principle in mind, conservatives must do all they can to make sure that they get jobs in Washington.

Frank, Thomas (2010-04-01). The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule (p. 128).

Norquist holds in admiration a man who murdered millions of people to stay in power. That's wonderful, isn't it? He also started the hellish K Street Project which turned DC into a partisan bloodbath with his pal Tom DeLay after the corrupt Bugman became Majority Leader.

One way was to start ensuring that the new GOP agenda of radical deregulation, tax and spending cuts, and generally reducing government earned the financial support they thought it deserved. In 1995, DeLay famously compiled a list of the 400 largest PACs, along with the amounts and percentages of money they had recently given to each party. Lobbyists were invited into DeLay's office and shown their place in "friendly" or "unfriendly" columns. ("If you want to play in our revolution," DeLay told The Washington Post, "you have to live by our rules.") Another was to oust Democrats from trade associations, what DeLay and Norquist dubbed "the K Street Strategy."...read on

Since the tea party won seats in the House in 2010, Grover has gotten all the credit for the conservative resurgence in Congress by the Beltway Villagers and now, CBS joining the crowd. What was very revealing about this interview is the rank hypocrisy in the world in which Norquist inhabits. He terrifies Republican politicians into signing his tax pledge and then promises a swift death for their political career if they renounce it or vote for any type of measure that includes revenue increases of any measure by the federal government even if they have nothing to do with taxes. Steve Croft said his reign of terror had the GOP by the short hairs because he can crush them coming and going. Boy, did Grover love that one, but when he was asked to make his donor list public for transparency, he turned into a typical Republican hypocrite.

60 Minutes: (This interview originally broadcast Nov. 20, 2011, but I just watched it.)

Simpson also wants to know where Norquist and Americans for Tax Reform, with its multimillion dollar budget gets its money.

Simpson: When you get this powerful, and he is, then it's, 'Where do you get your scratch, Grover?' Is it two people? Is it 10 million people? The American people demand to know where you get your money, Grover babe.

But under federal law, Grover babe, as Simpson calls him, and Americans for Tax Reform, a nonprofit organization, aren't required to disclose the identity of its contributors. So the finances of a group that demands transparency in government are opaque. Isn't that convenient? Norquist says the money comes from direct mail and other grassroots fundraising efforts. But a significant portion appears to come from wealthy individuals, foundations and corporate interests.

Kroft: In the interest of transparency, would you disclose your major donors?

Norquist: I-- I would not-- I don't know. Haven't thought of it. It doesn't really matter because what we do is what we do. I guess I would argue, thinking back on it, we've had times when people who are contributors to us were literally threatened by senators and congressmen.

Kroft: So you're protecting the corporate interests from harassment and threats?

Norquist: Well, protecting me and anyone who wants to participate in American politics. You don't want people threatened because they wanna fight against higher taxes.

Over the years, some of his group's lobbying activities have stretched into areas that are not generally associated with preventing tax hikes. He has lobbied the State Department on behalf of the controversial Keystone pipeline and has dipped into areas like communications law, raising suspicions that the "Leave Us Alone Coalition" includes a lot of wealthy and powerful interests. His reputation also took a hit a few years ago because of his close association with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. But none of the insinuations of impropriety have ever stuck.

Continue reading »

[h/t Raw Story]

If CNN is planning their comeback by letting people like Soledad O'Brien have their way with interviews, they're on the right track. While there's a long road ahead, O'Brien is one of the bright spots in an otherwise dismal array of right wing hacks.

In this clip she takes on OpSec President Scott Taylor by pointing out all of his Republican connections and challenging him on his non-partisanship. His reply was what one might expect. He claims to be "an American before [he] is a Republican."

Yeah, right.

This entire segment is an example of how a journalist can allow the other side to be heard and still clarify for the audience that they actually do have an agenda beyond their "America first" theme.

My one criticism is that she didn't take aim at the leaks that outed Valerie Plame, thanks to Dick Cheney and yes, CNN. But she can try for that next time.

Transcript after the jump:

Continue reading »

This week's Fox Campaign is against NBC News. They are trying to equate NBC News with MSNBC, and then go after everyone for doing what Fox does on a daily basis every single day. Today's targets were Andrea Mitchell and Martin Bashir.

For a media critic, Brent Bozell sure doesn't listen very well, does he? Or maybe it's just that Sean Hannity's dazzling delivery of utter BS distracts him for that split second it might take to actually listen to what someone said.

Hannity leads off by asking NBC News about an MSNBC anchor, then manages to misstate what Bashir asked, claiming Bashir accused ANN Romney of using her MS and cancer to close the gender gap.

Now here's the real question Martin Bashir asked:

BASHIR: We know that Ann Romney herself has had some suffering in the form of multiple sclerosis. She's also suffered with breast cancer. Do you think that he's intentionally using her to close the gender gap?

See how carefully Hannity did that? He took a question about MITT Romney and turned into one about Ann. And by the way, he's absolutely using her story to close that gender gap, like any political candidate would. We all have a story, and hers has MS and cancer in it. Of course they're going to use it, just like the Obamas use Michelle's story about her father having MS and still going to work each day. But the key here is that it's Mitt using Ann, and that was the question.

As you might imagine, the pearl clutching was magnificent in the remaining seconds of that particular segment. They're both outraged beyond all belief that anyone would do such a thing. After all, aren't spouses off-limits?

Laugh with me about that before I show you the list. Here it is:

• Hannity attacks Michelle Obama for daring to wear designer clothes. On the flip side, he also says her shopping trip to Target was all a sham, too. No double bind there, eh?
• Hannity says Michelle Obama looks angry and bitter.
• Hannity attacks Michelle Obama for appearing on David Letterman's show because Letterman said something bad about Sarah Palin that he later apologized for.
• Hannity attacks Michelle Obama's college thesis, a document he has never read.
• Hannity allows guest Jesse Lee Peterson to opine that Barack Obama "was elected by mostly racists and guilty white men" without challenge.
• Hannity attacks Michelle Obama for daring to tackle the issue of childhood obesity.
• Hannity goes after Mike Huckabee because Huckabee defended Michelle Obama's love for her country.
• Hannity joins Sarah Palin in a joint attack on Michelle Obama's remarks in a speech
• And there are the "whitey tape" rumors, which supposedly came from Michelle Obama.

Shall I continue, or do you see where I'm going with this? In order to feign outrage, Hannity and Bozell have to lie about the original question asked and ignore all of the times their channel echoed Rush Limbaugh's insults and slams on Michelle Obama, all the times they originated their own slams, and all the times Hannity sat in his seat and either said nothing or cheered right alongside them.

So, Brent Bozell? Want to write up your own media gaffe for Media Research Center now, or should I just send this over to Media Matters for archival purposes?

Ted Cox at AlterNet did some reporting and found out that Hannity, Limbaugh and O'Reilly Are AFL-CIO Union-Affiliated Members as well as Ann Coulter and Sarah Palin.

When it comes to the Wisconsin union fights, right-wing pundits Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh have a couple of things in common. For starters, have all voiced their opposition to the plight of public employee unions in the state. On Feb. 18, Limbaugh said on his radio program, "We are either on the side of the Wisconsin protesters or we are on the side of our country." Hannity has featured several guests critical of the union and its supporters, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, on his Fox News television and radio shows.On the Feb. 18 edition of "The O'Reilly Factor," O'Reilly stated, "Governments can't afford to operate" because of "union wages and benefits." But it turns out that opposing workers' rights isn't the only thing these blowhards have in common.

As it turns out, all three of them belong to the American Federation Television and Radio Artists union (AFTRA), which is the AFL-CIO affiliate for television and broadcast workers.Yes, you read that right. While Hannity, O'Reilly and Limbaugh have been railing against union workers in Wisconsin, all three of them belong to an AFL-CIO affiliate union.
--

AFTRA also said in a separate statement that some staff at local Fox affiliate stations are represented by the union. According to its Web site, AFTRA "is a national labor union representing over 70,000 performers, journalists and other artists working in the entertainment and news media."It "negotiates and enforces over 300 collective bargaining agreements that guarantee minimum (but never maximum) salaries, safe working conditions and health and retirement benefits." Republicans in Wisconsin voted early Friday to strip public union workers of their collective bargaining rights.In the same segment where O'Reilly blamed government financial woes on union benefits, he not only said he was an AFTRA member, but that his membership had benefited him in the past.

...

In the same segment where O'Reilly blamed government financial woes on union benefits, he not only said he was an AFTRA member, but that his membership had benefited him in the past. "On a personal note, I'm a member of a union, AFTRA, and when I was working at 'Inside Edition' some years ago, the King World company tried to renege on pension benefits," said O'Reilly. "AFTRA took them to court and the case was settled. If the shop had been non-union, we might have been stiffed."

,,,

Multiple attempts to reach representatives for Hannity, Limbaugh and O'Reilly for comment were not returned.

Unions are not all created equal for these wealthy wingnuts.

Koch Industries has been at the helm of all opposition and lies around the Affordable Care Act. Koch Industries pushed back against the claims in Jane Mayer's article with a fact-check on their positions. One section, entitled "Government-Run Healthcare", states their position:

Innovation drives our country – and in the healthcare field it brings us better treatments, improved procedures and cures for life-threatening diseases. Government takeover of healthcare may stymie innovation, affect medical research negatively and reduce the reimbursements our leading research institutions receive.

Of course, the Affordable Care Act is not government-run healthcare, but the Kochs have been the largest moneybags behind that particular impression. So we get it, right? The Kochs believe insurance companies should discriminate and do whatever they want to do to maximize profits on the backs of Americans' health. You'd think that would mean they'd reject any benefit of the Affordable Care Act.

You'd think. Today, Wonk Room reports this:

Today, the Department of Health and Human Services announced the “first round of applicants accepted into the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program,” a $5 billion program established by the new health care law to help employers and states “maintain coverage for early retirees age 55 and older who are not yet eligible for Medicare.” According to the agency, “nearly 2,000 employers, representing large and small businesses, State and local governments, educational institutions, non-profits, and unions” applied and have been accepted into the program and “will begin to receive reimbursements for employee claims this fall.”

Ironically, one of those employers is the oil, chemicals, and manufacturing conglomerate Koch Industries, which as Lee Fang has reported, has also spent millions of dollars opposing reform:

They hate it until they love it. Whatevs.

You know, there are a lot of things Glenn Beck the nutbag does that make me crazy-angry, but most of the time I just write him off as a crazy, desperate has-been Rush Limbaugh wannabe and ignore his ugly self. Not this time.

I am mom. And I roar, scratch and bite when someone thinks it's perfectly okay to mock an 11-year old child for any reason, but especially when it's to stoke up more political hate toward the President and his family.

For this, he ought to have to get on his knees with real tears in his eyes, look in her eyes and beg forgiveness before he does the same to the President and First Lady. There is absolutely no excuse -- NONE -- for mocking an 11-year old child.

Obama remarked yesterday during his press conference that Malia asked him of the Gulf oil spill: "Did you Plug The Hole Yet, Daddy?" Beck, taking off on this, mockingly affected Malia's voice, asking "Daddy" why he "hates black people so much." Then Beck attacked Malia's intelligence, saying: "That's the level of their education, that they're coming to - they're coming to daddy and saying 'Daddy, did you plug the hole yet?' "

This routine continued for several minutes, as Beck and his co-hosts touched on a variety of topics and laughed the entire time, all of it at the expense of an 11-year-old girl.

Yet it was only a few days ago that Beck, on his radio show, demanded that liberal pundits "leave people's families alone" when it came to Sarah Palin:

Beck: There's a difference! Leave my family -- leave people's families alone! I don't think I've -- I mean, I don't think I have ever -- I mean, I made this when it was Bill Clinton -- you don't go after Chelsea Clinton! You don't talk about the Bush kids! Now, the minute they get into politics, that's a different story. You leave the families alone! We've never done anything but protect the families, and question why the White House would bring their children into political debate. Leave the families alone!

Beck proves every day how excrementally evil he is. He should not have the microphone or the platform. There will come a day where he'll look in the mirror and actually see who he is.

I hope his children grow up to be just like him, but liberals. That would be a start toward making the universe right again.

(h/t QueenofSpain)

Update: Beck has issued a half-hearted apology. If he apologized with half the passion he laces his invective with, I might even believe it. He rang the bell and did it evilly. He didn't bother to apologize to Malia or to the Obama family, so as far as I'm concerned, he's still on the hook.