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Jessica Yellin Debunks the Attacks on Kevin Jennings

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As Media Matters has documented, the right wing has been after Kevin Jennings for some time now. Conservative media unleash anti-gay rhetoric in attacks on Jennings:

The latest target in the Glenn Beck-driven conservative media witch hunt for Obama administration "czars" is Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools director Kevin Jennings. In their attacks on Jennings, numerous conservative media figures have resorted to thinly veiled homophobic appeals to paint Jennings, who is gay, as a "radical" "gay activist" with an "agenda" of "promoting homosexuality in schools," and have misrepresented or distorted Jennings' previous comments about religion and tolerance.

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CNN's Jessica Yellin debunked some of those attacks on CNN's The Situation Room.

Transcript below the fold.

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(h/t CSpanJunkie at Video Cafe)

How many politicians would walk onto a set of a TV show out of the blue and eviscerate the entire pundit panel? Alan Grayson strolled out onto the stage of CNN's The Situation Room and took on their crew including Blitzer, Carville, Johns and that whack job Alex Castellanos over his remarks about the non-existent GOP health care. He started by saying "they have no plan!" and by not having a plan, they are hurting Americans. Blitzer was so shocked that Grayson actually said something nobody in the media wants to talk about.

Grayson: They just want to stop everything.

Blitzer: Has any Democratic leader asked you to apologize to the republicans.

Grayson: No and you know why? Because I'm saying what everyone else has been thinking, but no one else has been saying.

Blitzer: And so you have no intention of apologizing?

Grayson: Of course not. Apologize? I'm not the one who should be apologizing, they should be apologize to America.

Johns: Wasn't it over the top though? I mean won't you at least admit that?

Grayson: Well, Look I'm 6, 4 so it takes a lot to get over my head.

Castellanos: I'm a republican congressman and I have a question. Which particular Americans do you think I'd like to die? Can you name some?

Listen, Do you want to make sure that people have affordable universal comprehensive health care in this country, do you?
Castellanos:: Yes

Now what have you done about it?

Castellanos: Republicans have a very different approach than the democrats do but it's very concrete. Instead of a big government gamble...

Oh, please...That's amorphous nonsense

Do you really think that Tort reform is going to take care of 47 million people not having....

Borger tries to talk, but Alex cuts her off...

Shopping across state lines..

Oh and you really think that's going to solve

Letting individuals have the same advantages of buying insurances that business have

Grayson: You know, that's just helping the people who give republicans money...Let's concentrate on helping this country, saving lives and saving money and not the usual cliches.
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Grayson: These are foot dragging, knuckle dragging neanderthals who think they can dictate policy to America by being stubborn and I think the time is over. We had an election, that's it. Now we have to move ahead in just the way the president wants us to.

Goal Thermometer


I couldn't write the entire transcript, but Gloria Borger was so worried that Alan was not being civil to the poor, weak republicans and they would object. He comes right back at her, telling Borger that we are stalled and nothing is happening and he's getting us back on track while people are dying. 44,000 a year are dying; 4000 a month. And these nattering nabobs of negativism are blocking every single thing that we try to do.

And the blogosphere is chiming in and letting the congressman know that we support him.

Johns tries to say he acted like Joe Wilson and he said that he didn't insult the president in front of 40 million people. The panel said that he insulted every republican and he said that republicans are insulting every American during this health care debate.


TOPICS

Palin's 2012 Plans Leaves McCain Campaign "Speechless"

It looks like someone is just putting in the motions this week, biding her time for her next chance in the spotlight. I'm sure the McCain campaign appreciates the hell out of this.

BLITZER: And this just coming into the "Situation Room," the Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin now speaking out openly about her intentions in 2012 if, if she and John McCain were to lose this contest next Tuesday. In an interview with ABC News, Sarah Palin is now saying, she would be interested in remaining a serious national political figure, going ahead to 2012. She was asked what happens in 2012 if you lose on Tuesday, would you simply go back to Alaska? Elizabeth Vargas of ABC News asked her and Palin said this, and I will read it to you verbatim according to an ABC News transcript: "Absolutely not," Sarah Palin says. "I think that, if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we've taken, that ... that would ... bring this whole ... I'm not doin' this for naught," and that is a direct quote from Sarah Palin. Clearly, leaving open the possibility that she would be interested in leading the Republican Party in 2012 if she and John McCain were to lose this presidential contest right now. Let's go to Dana Bash. She has been covering the McCain campaign reaction from the rather blunt statement from Sarah Palin that she would in fact be interested in leading the Republican Party going forward after Tuesday if they lose?

BASH: I just got off of the phone, Wolf, with a senior McCain adviser and I read this person the quote and I think it is fair to say that this person was speechless. There was a long pause and I just heard a "huh" on the other end of the phone. This is certainly not a surprise to anybody who has watched Sarah Palin that she is interested in potentially future national runs, and she is being urged to by a lot of people inside of the Republican Party if they do lose, but it is an "if" and people inside of the McCain campaign do not want any discussion that has an "if" in front of it six days before the election, they don't want any discussion at all, any kind of hypothetical talk about running for the next time around. So certainly, this is not at least initially being received well inside of the McCain campaign.

BLITZER: I am not surprised, not surprised at all. It is one of those "wow, she is talking about 2012 if we lose," that is not supposed to be something that you say. You are supposed to say, "well, I'm not looking ahead, I'm not looking ahead only to Tuesday," and those are the talking points she's supposed to be saying, but she is obviously blunt and she is looking ahead if something were to happen on Tuesday that she wouldn't be happy with.


TOPICS

  CNN's Christine Romans looks through the archives and finds that either the Bush administration was completely oblivious to the impending financial crisis, or were simply lying to the public. Watch and reach your own conclusion.

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ROMANS: It's about as dire a President can get on the economy.

PRES. BUSH: We're facing a choice between action and the real prospect of economic hardship for millions of Americans.

ROMANS: This from an administration that for months said the economy was vibrant, the financial system strong. The President didn't acknowledge 'storm clouds' until last December, By then, it was raining.