Even the media is starting to call out republicans over their seriously ridiculous protests against President Obama--who dared to give a back to school speech to the children. Usually the teabagger brigade compares Obama to Hitler or a socialist, but Joe Watkins (former Bush 41 guy) came up with a new and even more stupid argument than usual. Parents can't compete with his charisma----ergo he shouldn't speak to the kids. Huh?

Watkins: This president is not an ordinary president. He's one of the most gifted speakers that the world has ever seen. He's gifted, he's charismatic and when he speaks he speaks with tremendous authority and great conviction and with tremendous persuasion. And it's one thing to talk to adult who maybe have the ability to discern between right or wrong or whether they agree or disagree. The challenge becomes the parents when he talks to their kids about the present, he's so persuasive, he's campaigning for the hearts and minds of the kids. Today's speech was fine....but what moms and dads are afraid of is that what happens when kids who can't distinguish what moms or dads can when the Defense of Marriage is repealed or the act comes up to...

Dr. Nancy: Joe, Joe, he didn't slip, there was no gotcha in this speech, you know that, there was nothing like that here.

Watkins: No, but we know they'll be other times when the president will make very strong and compelling arguments for issues that moms and dads don't agree with.

Usually, this would be the perfect trait that American appreciate in a president, so he could be a positive influence on the kids of America. Telling them that cutting class and to study hard is what they need to hear, but not to republicans. And Watkins turns it into a gay bashing segment. Is Joe saying that the president will schedule a speech to school kids in favor and talk about the Defense of Marriage Act? Is he kidding me? Even Chuck Todd looked at Watkins like he had an alien brain.

Todd: Joe, it sounds like you're worried the president's going to be too popular with kids. I guess...is that the concern that if he were less charismatic you'd be OK with him speaking to children?

Watkins: No, not at all....he's so popular and persuasive that parents don't want to compete with that

Say, what? Liar, liar, Watkins' pants are on fire. As long as the president is conservative then that president can speak to the kids every single day. I'm waiting for conservatives to ban their children from ever watching an Obama speech or interview. Republicans have become freaks since they've let the teabaggers take over their party.

Most people in the blogosphere know what harm Michelle Malkin causes when she posts personal information of groups or people that she disagrees with on her blog. It's a revolting practice, but that's Malkin. I exposed her when she did it to some Santa Cruz students and they asked me for some help, if you remember, back in 2006. (Here's the entire story: Malkin crosses the line Santa Cruz.)

Jane reminded me that it infuriated so many bloggers at the time that even right-wing bloggers wanted to punish her over it. An "Online Integrity" group was formed in response -- one that I would never have joined. Many of us do have ethics.

I listed many more of Malkin's horrendous behavior in outing people in this post: The right wing attacks Henrietta Hughes

Well, she's started a trend that now the NRO's Ed Whelan just practiced on an anonymous blogger who writes on Obsidian Wings. Exposing an Irresponsible Anonymous Blogger

What a bastard. Yes, I almost cursed, but I have my standards...

And Whelan heads up an Ethics center, fergawdsake! That must be some kinda standards they're setting there, huh?

tbogg explains:

That is to say that publius was "irresponsible" in that he criticized Whelan and, for that crime, Whelan wants to f*&k with publius' life. Why else out him? (Publius responds) Oh course the real kicker is that Asshole Ed points out the "poor quality and substance of his [publius] blogging" when the whole problem stemmed from Whelan's inability to write a "quality" post.

(Added): Wow. I had no idea that Whelan had such an extensive history of being wrong and then acting like a whiny bitch when it was pointed out to him. It must be fun to play golf with Ed. "Mulligan!" "Mulligan again!""Whoopsie. I call mulligan."...and you still haven't left the first tee. I'm kidding of course. Whelan doesn't look athletic enough for golf....

Whelan is pond scum, but hey, Ed is a former Bush DOJ/Office of Legal Counsel official during 2001-2004 -- when that Office authorized torture, illegal surveillance and a host of other radical, disgraceful policies -- as well as a former law clerk to Antonin Scalia and current contributor to National Review. Would we expect anything less?

Sarah Palin is on a new jag or an old one actually. She's ranting about some New World Order nonsense and while introducing wingnut radio host Michael Regan in Alaska, told the audience that the government wants to control the lives of "the people."

Via CNN: Alaska governor Sarah Palin let loose Wednesday on the Obama administration for enacting fiscal policies that "fly in the face of principles" and "defy Economics 101."

Palin: We need to be aware of the creation of a fearful population, and fearful lawmakers, being led to believe that big government is the answer, to bail out the private sector, because then government gets to get in there and control it," she said. "And mark my words, this is going to be next, I fear, bail out next debt-ridden states. Then government gets to get in there and control the people.

There's something pretty weird hearing the term "Economics 101," being uttered by Sarah because she showed little knowledge of economics on the campaign trail, but that being said...the right wing constantly is reaching out to the far depths of the conservative movement and are trying to instill more and more fear into that base which will only increase the violence that comes out of those merky depths. "People control," really Sarah? She should stop hanging out with nutty talk show hosts.
Just to help her out a little bit, it was under George Bush and conservative---neocon warhawks that the global financial markets melted down and led us down the path of being "afraid." And wasn't it under her governance that she took money from the oil companies and handed it out to her people?

CC's Indecision:

It should just sit back and let the free market do its thing and, um, dispense the lucre…

In Alaska, where Palin is governor, natural resources are state-owned, and Alaska residents receive yearly dividend checks from a $30 billion state account built largely from oil royalties….

When home fuel and gas costs soared this year, Palin raised taxes on oil companies and used some of the money to boost residents' checks by $1,200. Every eligible man, woman and child got a record $3,269 this fall.

Even the grammar-challenged Governor knows there's word for that kind of redistributive policy. Starts with S.

Is Liz Cheney drawing a check from the RNC? I know she's Newt Gingrich's VP and all, but this is ridiculous. She's learned well from Daddy Dearest.

Greg Sargent:

That’s not really an exaggeration! On an appearance on MSNBC, Liz Cheney appeared to say that Obama’s speech in Cairo today showed that he wants to deal with terrorists by “hand-holding.” Check out what she said starting around 30 seconds in.
Here’s a transcript:

“I think that if we lived in a world where terrorism, and the slaughter of innocents, and Iran’s hegemonic hopes for the Middle East could be met, could be defeated, could be dealt with by sort of hand-holding going forward, then we’d be in a much simpler environment. But these are very, very tough issues. And I was troubled by the extent to which I heard moral relativism.”

That’s some highly suggestive language coming from Ms. Cheney, isn’t it?

In reality, in his speech today, Obama strongly denounced 9/11-denial to an Arab audience, said American troops are in Afghanistan out of “necessity,” because terrorists are “determined to kill as many Americans as they possibly can,” and said America’s commitment to destroying terror networks “will not waver.”

She's just in line with the usual conservative nutty attacks. Remember when Rove said this about liberals in 2005:

(The C&L video archives rule again!)

Rove last night also criticized Democrats for responding weakly to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001: "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," Rove said

Rove should have been fired for this, but the media never minds when conservatives call liberals traitors. Froomkin wrote an excellent piece on this. Nothing has changed much from 2005, has it?

If the Republican Party wants to go on a listening tour to figure out what they need to do, they may start turning off their radios and televisions too. Every day we post about the absurdity that is the Republican Party and every day a completely new mind-numbing smear comes out.

I understand what they are doing. They feel if they keep chipping away at President Obama with nonsensical complaints, it will slowly erode his popularity. The problem they face is that they look like loons doing it, and all the polls point to the same conclusion. It's good for ratings on FOX, because those uber-loons are watching the little horde of Republican lunatics in action with a fervent glee, but mainstream America is laughing at them.

The new one is that Obama had the nerve, the nerve I tell you! of ordering Dijon mustard with his overcooked burger, and the media is covering up that fact.

As usual, Sean Hannity and the right wingnutosphere are all over it like Dijon on fries.

Following President Obama's May 5 visit to Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington, Virginia, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Rush Limbaugh Show guest host Mark Steyn criticized Obama as an elitist because he ordered a burger with "spicy mustard" or "Dijon mustard." Hannity claimed that Obama ordered a "fancy burger" with a "very special condiment," while Steyn asserted Obama is trying "to enlighten us" through his order. Ingraham asked of Obama: "What kind of man orders a cheeseburger without ketchup but Dijon mustard? ... The guy orders a cheeseburger without ketchup? What is that?" In their discussions of Obama's burger order, Hannity, Ingraham, and Steyn all referenced a Grey Poupon commercial featuring actors portraying wealthy British men expressing desire for the mustard.

I happen to like the spicy taste of Dijon too. Hey. I noticed there's a Hate Hannity Hotline. I hope I make it there sometimes. He's too cowardly to have me on his show, so I'd really like to make the Hotline.

TIME magazine rips the Republican Party apart as Rep. Patrick McHenry says that Reaganism is dead.

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How dumb are the right wing bloggers and pundits? I don't have enough time to tell you, but this latest crazed outburst of supposed "media bias" over the treatment of George W. Bush is proof enough that they are suffering a deep and dark depression.

Patrick Gavin posts a very short video clip, all of twenty two seconds that's supposedly a complete media critique of the way the White House press reporters loathe George Bush and just fawn over Barack Obama. Hot Air's Allahpundit writes:

This one’s making the rounds but I’m not sure why. Isn’t this standard chivalrous behavior when you’re in love? If The One were forced to trod upon a muddy path, wouldn’t you expect Chuck Todd or Helen Thomas to lay their coats over it for him? Actually, there’s a more mundane explanation. Sort of.

--

Doesn’t that … basically prove the point of the video? Okay, fine, they’re not anti-Bush. They’re just really, really pro-Obama. Whew!

I know, I should have some pity on their poor souls, but how can I pity idiocy?

Not that I need to link to something that explains away this lunacy, but I will anyway.

John Dickerson:

A video, put together by Politico's Patrick Gavin, is making the rounds showing two presidential visits to the White House briefing room. In one, George Bush arrives for a press conference in February 2008, and the press remains seated. In the second, from last Friday, Barack Obama surprises the press by appearing in the midst of the daily briefing. They stand to greet him. (Given that the press is supposedly in the tank for Obama, shouldn't critics be happy they didn't kneel?)

This may seem silly, but it's symbolic: The discrepancy in treatment is all the proof a Republican needs to show that the press shows special deference to the new Democratic president. It's a distorted picture, though. We stood all the time for President Bush. Reporters customarily do so to show respect for the office of the presidency. In the East Room of the White House, we stood not only when the president came in but to ask questions. Some reporters said thank you to the president even before asking their questions. This practice continues under President Obama....read on

I would tell Allahpundit to just hold his breath until he turns blue whenever he sees media bias when there isn't any, but he might forget to breathe altogether.

Tbogg finds some more.

The right-wing pundits love to hurl insults and ridiculous talking points about the Obama administration. The newest one to date is that what we've really got here is a "Banana Republic." The media won't tell you this, so the blogs have to. Right-wingers were quite happy to try to prosecute Bill Clinton after he left office and weren't shy about their feelings.

Jamison Foser has the lowdown on the bottom feeders:

Gaps in the Right's "banana republic" rhetoric

... In fact, Sean Hannity argues in favor of investigations and prosecutions of past administrations -- as long as the past administrations are Democratic administrations.

In April of 2000, for example, when independent counsel Robert Ray (Ken Starr's successor) suggested that he might indict Bill Clinton when Clinton left office, Hannity said he thought that should happen. On January 21, 2001 -- the day after George W. Bush replaced Clinton in office -- Hannity reiterated that position. In March of 2001, Hannity argued that there should be a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton pardons, and that Clinton attorney general Janet Reno should be indicted...read on
--
What really lends this a through-the-looking-glass quality, however, is that the conservative media who now denounce potential investigations of torture by portraying it as a mere policy disagreement previously sought investigations of a pardon. Whether or not you think all of Clinton's pardon decisions were correct, there is pretty much nobody who denies that he had the authority to make those decisions -- so investigating the pardons essentially was investigating a policy disagreement. Torture, on the other hand, is not a policy disagreement; it is a crime. Thus, the Journal's case against investigating the Bush administration better applies to investigations of the Clinton administration -- investigations the Journal supported.

That's what the conservative media consists of: partisans offering inconsistent, insincere, and nonsensical arguments on behalf of torture and the depraved thugs who authorized it.

They are hypocrites, crooks and liars -- the whole lot of them.

(Very big file: 30 mgs)(Youtube)

(Jed Lewison has the video too and writes: Beck: Daily Kos, C&L blame me for cop killer. Because it’s all about him, right? How self-absorbed can one man possibly be?)

As soon as we posted information about the Pittsburgh execution of three police officers and did a little digging into the type of person Poplawski is, I knew the right wingers would immediately cry foul and say we're trying to silence their opinions and blaming them for the tragedy. Isn't that always the case? Any form of criticism sets off a whinefest.

Free speech is a wonderful thing, but sometimes our words do have consequences. The insane rhetoric that comes out of the mouths of mainstream right-wing talkers is having an effect on the fringe element of the hard right.

When Sarah Palin tells a national audience that Obama hangs out with terrorists, that is fed directly into the arteries of the Patriot movement's militia cells. Obama is a Muslim terrorist lover who hates America, is a spy for al-Qaeda and isn't an American citizen -- all that garbage quickly followed on its heels. Did you hear that kind of treatment of John McCain?

In any event, Glenn Beck says we're blaming him for the shootings and Noel Sheppard heartily agrees:

Beck: Blaming anyone except the nut job for what happened in Pittsburgh is crazy. Police officers over the weekend were killed by a crazy with a gun and blaming anybody else besides him is like blaming the flight attendant after a terrorist takes down a plane. Giving passengers a nice little safety talk to prepare them doesn't mean your responsible should a terrorist actually make that worst case scenario happen. One person is providing who would have acted that way no matter what.

Bloggers rushed to paint this killer as a conservative, presumably one who is clinging to his God and his guns.

Actually, we didn't paint him as a "conservative," we called him a "right-winger" -- which he is. It turned out he was an extreme right-winger, but the description was accurate.

Now, notice how Beck uses 9/11 as his defense? We do agree on that fact that the man was a crazy person, but flight attendants don't get involved in fearmongering and scapegoating and have a megaphone that reaches millions of people a day. They don't call Obama and liberals "socialists" and "fascists" who want to take your guns away, either. They don't spread cockamamie stories intended to drive up the fearfulness quotient in the populace.

And when right wingers talk about the insane possibility that an "upcoming revolution" is on the way -- that isn't preparing America for anything except more acts of violence by crazy people, Glenn. Michelle Bachmann is sitting in Congress telling Americans that she's a foreign correspondent on enemy lines. Watch out for those re-education camps for young people too. Oh, and let's not forget about the nonexistent "global currency" both Bachmann and Beck believe is going to be forced upon us. Meanwhile, Bill O'Reilly goes on the air and informs millions that Obama is selling us out to a One World Government.

I doubt you'll see Beck invite somebody on who would be able to counter his argument -- although it might give him a chance to shed a few more tears for the camera to show us how much he cares for America. He does think the 9/11 widows are whiners, but that doesn't count to his fans. I didn't see him crying for the families of the three police officers who had their families ripped apart by this weekend's violence.

Beck: Civil unrest for a number of reasons is coming. Lone nut jobs and people who are just angry and frustrated and have had enough. You've got to seek those people out. You've got to start asking people in your own neighborhood, "How are you?" And actually care about the answer.

... Is this what these bloggers think what conservatives are when they say, "Oh yeah, he's a Nazi isn't he. He's a conservative?" Is that really who they think we are?

Noel Sheppard: The incident actually happened probably somewhere around eleven O'clock, eleven thirty eastern time, and by oh, I guess two o'clock eastern time, a gentleman had clipped a FOX News report -- FOX had reported that a friend of the assailant apparently was worried about his gun rights because of Obama, so a liberal blog took a piece of this video and posted it at a very, very popular liberal website called CrooksandLiars, and now the game was on and every liberal blogger was linking to his post. What was kind of interesting is in the piece the blogger mentioned, Where do you think this killer got the idea from?, and in that sentence is a link to an article about you interviewing Wayne LaPierre, the NRA head.

Beck: Acchk...Wow,

Sheppard: So that's where this all started.

Beck: They're not offended, all the want to do is to do anything they can to discredit not just people like me, but the people who watch people like me. We are allll dangerous. This has nothing to do with Barack Obama.

Thanks Noel for at least crediting C&L with doing our homework and breaking the story. By the way, they should ask Bill O'Reilly about his use of the word Nazi and why he calls Kos and other left-wingers Nazis and a "hate group". For all their denials, the militia patriot right is indeed voting Republican and became part of the conservative movement after Pat Buchanan ran for President on the Reform Party ticket (which comprised the David Dukes of the right along with Ross Perot-style "independents") in 2000, but when he added an African American women to the ticket they rebelled -- ran from the party and voted Republican.

And notice how Beck mocks President Obama with his little doll? It's another way to dehumanize him and turn him into a caricature. I don't think Beck paraded around with a cute little doll of George Bush and Dick Cheney.

At the end of his segment they are both lamenting the thought that lefties will blame them for violent actions and once again we will silence them.

Sheppard: We'll they're the NY Times and they are allowed to say what ever they want, buy you're a conservative; you're not allowed to say what you want.

Beck: And I don't want to blow this out of proportion, but I am allowed to say what I want, but let's, you don't honor freedom of speech by shutting one side down or the other. Everybody can say what they want.

Once again, we're not trying to shut conservatives down. Actually, the more they speak, the better it is for America, because they are exposed as crazy people. But they should understand the impact their words do have on the "nutjobs" of America.

Beck included a long rant about how "freedoms" always entail "responsibilities" -- and we heartily agree. But he forgot to mention freedom of speech and the responsibilities that come with that. Those responsibilities include not using words that scapegoat and incite fearfulness in the public, especially when there is no actual evidence to support those fears. Those responsibilities are magnified a thousandfold when you hold a major media megaphone like Glenn Beck does.

By the way, the hate mail I've been receiving ever since Barack Obama was elected has become really scary and nuttier than ever. I won't post the lynching pictures I received, but now it's getting more violent.

Alaska Republicans ask Mark Begich to resign.

"Gov. Sarah Palin and the head of the Alaska Republican Party said Thursday that Sen. Mark Begich should give his Senate seat up to a special election now that prosecutors have abandoned their case against Ted Stevens"

What did Mark do? Nothing. It does prove how incompetent the Bush justice department was and it's not like Stevens is, yea know, an innocent man. How about Ted Stevens battles Sarah Palin in the next election? It's not like they are pals.

After an embarrassing week for the GOP and Michael Steele over Rush Limbaugh, the Missouri Republicans are trying to top that craziness by proposing this:

Fifteen Republican members of the Missouri General Assembly have signed on to a state constitutional amendment that appears aimed at advancing the claims of the fringe movement that doubts President Barack Obama's eligibility to serve as president.

The language is contained in a proposed "voter’s bill of rights," which would serve "as a defense against corruption, fraud, and tyranny."

The proposed amendment states:

For candidates who are required by the Constitution of the United States to be natural born citizens, the secretary of state shall request an official copy of the candidate’s birth certificate. Other certifications, such as a certificate of live birth, shall not be accepted. Should any candidate fail to provide an official birth certificate within thirty days of the request by the secretary of state, his or her name shall not be placed on the ballot.

The Birthers, as they're known, have focused on the State of Hawaii's refusal to release the original of Obama's birth certificate, as opposed to official copies; Hawaii state law bars the release of the original.

Wingnut insanity lives on!

During President Obama's fiscal summit, he graciously called on John McCain first and gave him a really nice introduction. In response, McCain acted like a spiteful loser who showed no class, only disdain at not standing where Obama was. He attacks President Obama over the cost of a fleet of helicopters:

"I'm going to start with John McCain, because,...you know, he and I had some good debates about these issues," President Obama said in the final session of the Fiscal Responsibility Summit. "But -- and I mean what I say here -- I think John has also been extraordinarily consistent and sincere about these issues. And I want to see if you've -- John, you've got some thoughts about where we need to go and some priority areas. I know you were in procurement, for example, which is an area I know we would like to work on together with you."

"Well, thank you, Mr. President. And thank you for doing this...Just one area that I wanted to mention that I think consumed a lot of our conversation on procurement, it was the issue of cost overruns in the Defense Department. We all know how large the defense budget is."

And, McCain noted, "your helicopter is now going to cost as much as Air Force One. I don't think that there's any more graphic demonstration of how good ideas have -- have cost taxpayers an enormous amount of money."

Obama said the helicopter he has now seems adequate, adding that he never had a helicopter before and "maybe I've been deprived and I didn't know it."

President Obama's humorous answer made McCain look foolish for asking about the helicopter fleet.

This is Obama at his most appealing. He makes a gracious introduction of his rival, who in turn tries to stick in the knife by painting him as wasting taxpayer dollars on needless luxuries. Obama, rather than sniping back, turns around and agrees with McCain while making the point that he's hardly accustomed to extravagence. The man is just a very, very skilled politician.

I was watching MSNBC at the time and Chris Matthews was on this morning and said that he thought McCain sandbagged President Obama with the question. In their next block, Andrea Mitchell was just amazed at how well McCain was doing to be re-integrated back into the Senate. And Eric Cantor, the new Newt Gingrich of the konservatives, the guy who is trying to become the new face of Republican obstructionism, looked star-struck when he was picked by President Obama to ask a question.

Michelle Malkin has a really bad habit. She's famous for revealing personal information of innocent people who differ from her extreme right wing views online so that her readers can attack them. She did that to some Santa Cruz students back in 2006 when a group of them didn't want military recruiters on their campus. It got so bad for them that they contacted me for help.

Whatever your beliefs are regarding military recruiting at colleges, Michelle Malkin crosses the line of decency by printing the telephone numbers of the students that formed the protest. They have been receiving death threats non-stop. An emailer wrote me and said:

"The protest was reported on by Hannity and OReilly. Michelle Malkin put actual students' phone numbers on her blog and they've been getting death threats nonstop."

In her update to the post Michelle writes:

"SAW has removed the contact information from its press release and is now lying about the fact that it made the info publicly available on the Internet. I am leaving it up. If you are contacting them, I do not condone death threats or foul language. As for SAW, my message is this: You are responsible for your individual actions. Other individuals are responsible for theirs. Grow up and take responsibility."

Obviously the death threats are emanating from her blog and she knows it. Malkin understands the nature of the fear and outrage she causes. Will she take responsibility when somebody gets hurt? Here's another example of the fear-mongering she causes. Read Cathy Young's Boston Globe column.

Here's an article about the affair.

Her behavior over this issue caused such an uproar that even right wing bloggers were appalled and de-linked her.

Keith Olbermann awarded Michelle Malkin The "World's Worst," today for her posting private phone numbers from the student's at UC Santa Cruz. (video)

Then there was her obsession with the Frost family that caused them serious mental harm.

According to this report on ABC, apparently Malkin isn't the only one bothering the Frost family:

According to Senate Democratic aides, some bloggers have made repeated phone calls to the home of 12-year-old Graeme Frost, demanding information about his family's private life. On Monday, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid accused GOP leadership aides of "pushing falsehood" in an effort to distract from the political battle over S-CHIP.

Even worse, it looks like GOP aides may have aided the wingnut attack machine in this:

Manley cited an e-mail sent to reporters by a Senate Republican leadership aide, summing up recent blog traffic about the boy's family. A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., declined to comment on Manley's charge that GOP aides were complicit in spreading disparaging information about Frosts.

She endangered the life of Jamil Hussein when she tried to discredit this AP report. The AP then responded: "AP executive editor rips into bloggers who have now endangered Jamil Hussein's life."

Not to mention that she posted Cindy Sheehan's divorce records to smear her ... more reactions to that here.

This time it's Henrietta Hughes, the woman who pleaded with President Obama for help Tuesday in Florida. Does Malkin have no shame?

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Does one empty bookstore on a Friday night near dinner time with many books about Obama mean that he's losing his popularity already? More comedy musings from my pal Ann.

Rush Limbaugh is not mincing words and showing the real face of Conservative ideals as he announces that he wants Barack Obama to fail. He is the worldwide voice of Conservatism, so the Republican party has just gotten its marching orders. I dare any Republican to defy him.

What this means, of course, is that he hopes the economy crashes into a full-blown depression. His multimillion-dollar salary is safe, obviously, so to hell with the nation and its economy if the cost of saving the country is being guided by a Democratic President.

Limbaugh: I'm happy to be the last man standing. I'm honored to be the last man standing. Yeah, I'm the true maverick. I can do more than four words. I could say I hope he fails and I could do a brief explanation of why. You know, I want to win. If my party doesn't, I do. If my party has sacrificed the whole concept of victory, sorry, I'm now the Republican in name only, and they are the sellouts.

I'm serious about this. Why in the world, it's what Ann Coulter was talking about, the tyranny of the majority, all these victims here, we gotta make sure the victims are finally assuaged. Well, the dirty little secret is this isn't going to assuage anybody's victim status, and the race industry isn't going to go away, and the fact that America's original sin of slavery is going to be absolved, it's not going to happen. Just isn't, folks. It's too big a business for the left to keep all those things alive that divide the people of this country into groups that are against each other. Yes, I'm fired up about this.

There isn't a bigger pig on the air than Limbaugh, and this clip proves the point. He's using race as the wedge (as usual) to try and stir up his base.

I thought Brit Hume was done littering our airwaves with conservative talking points since he gave up his show to Mr. Baier, but no, he's still going to be a lead talking head for FOX. And boy is he ever wanking. With a straight face and not in clown make up, Brit Hume said this:

HUME: That's right. Well, then, the New Deal -- everybody agrees, I think, on both sides of the spectrum now, that the New Deal failed. The debate is over why it failed. People on the left believe it failed because Roosevelt, at the end of the day, really didn't do enough spending, that it simply wasn't spending -- he was not spending, whether deficit spending or not, on a scale grand enough to lift the damaged U.S. economy out of that depression.

There are people on the other side of the spectrum who would say, maybe, but look at this as well. President Roosevelt waged what could only be called a jihad against private enterprise. He prosecuted leading figures in it, Andrew Mellon being a conspicuous example. He prosecuted little companies, butcher shops in New York, as has been laid out in Amity Shlaes' book about the new -- book about the history of the Great Depression.

The problem FDR had was that he got caught up in being more conservative with the budget in '38, which slowed it down---still---the NEW Deal rescued America out of the depression and was so successful that conservatives have been trying to destroy every part of it ever since. Bush's lame attempt at dismantling Social Security was a humiliating defeat for him right after he won reelection in '04. He thought he had all that political capital to spend and he turned his attention on Social Security. There's one thing you can't fool with. That is Social Security benefits. Americans will never take that risk. .

Can you imagine if the people had actually been hoodwinked into believing Bush and went along with the mantra that they should invest their Social Security into the stock market? There may have been an armed march into DC, not by Blackwater type militia's, but by the AARP crowd that would have been screwed by the market meltdown. But it will not stop clowns like Brit Hume from trying to rewrite history about FDR.

I agree with Digby when she says:

...Brit Hume's mendacity is approaching Holocaust denial territory. Talk about intellectual violence.

The conservative elite appear to have decided on a strategy of making Obama's recovery plan fail so that they can blame the Democrats, seize power and start a world war.

I keep thinking I can't be any more shocked by their audacity. But they always exceed my expectations.