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Bill O'Reilly should really learn the difference between censorship and market forces, being a conservative and all. But since he confused the two in his Talking Points Memo Thursday night, I fear I need to correct him.

If the FCC were to yank Rush Limbaugh's show off the air, that would be censorship. Pressuring sponsors to drop their support for his hate speech is not censorship. It's the free market, weaving its magic.

There. That's better. While Rush Limbaugh continues to insist that no damage has been done by the ongoing left-side pressure on sponsors to drop his show, Billo carries the banner for him against Media Matters, who has begun to run ads in key markets pressuring radio stations. Again, Media Matters is not an arm of the state. It is a private, not-for-profit organization which exists to identify and call out right wing lies and hate speech.

While Bill fusses and fumes and calls for the IRS to revoke Media Matters' exempt status, they're quietly educating listeners about Limbaugh's reign of hate and terror without calling for Limbaugh to be taken off the air. They're simply calling for listeners and airing stations to stop tolerating broadcast hate speech.

Speaking of Rushbo, here's the latest news. It seems he has now hired a crisis management consultant to try and stop the bleeding before Mike Huckabee comes and steals his time slot (and affiliates).

Brian Glicklich has been acting on Limbaugh's behalf since at least March 8. Glicklich is a former vice president at Premiere Radio Networks, and currently heads the firm How Handy Is That, which specializes in reputation and crisis management and "gadfly defense." He previously worked as counsel to a firm that provides crisis management to clients like David Copperfield and Paris Hilton. Glicklich also has an extensive relationship with Glenn Beck, and is thanked in the acknowledgements of several of Beck's books.

How interesting, given that Billo acknowledges that Glenn Beck's demise came as a result of the very same techniques and some of the very same people's efforts. Rush Limbaugh had the nerve to claim in a statement that Media Matters was targeting "small businesses."

O'Reilly isn't above his own brand of hate speech, calling Media Matters' campaign "fascist" and "totalitarian" in this segment, while remaining utterly silent about the fact that Limbaugh called the President a "jackass" on today's show, which is carried on corporate airwaves while pounding home political ideologies.

Maybe Bill should listen to his own advice, where he says "unless a comment is violent or slanderous, it should be allowed." Oh, violence and slander on Fox News, let me count the ways. The many, many, many ways.

I'm certain Media Matters must be landing some punches in soft spots, because the more Limbaugh hurts, the more hyperbolic Billo becomes.

Checking the box score, in the Major League Props: Hall & Oates hit a grand slam as they joined in on the "Sound Strike," tour, errr, I mean 'cancel tour' of musicians standing in solidarity and vocalizing their feelings against Kris Kobach's Arizona hate bill.

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced that Daryl Hall and John Oates have canceled their post-game concert at Chase Field that had been scheduled to follow a game against the Dodgers on July 2.

Hall and Oates issued the following statement:

"In addition to our personal convictions, we are standing in solidarity with the music community in our boycott of performing in Arizona at this time. We would like to emphasize that this has nothing to do with the management of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have been professional and cooperative throughout our dealings with them. This is our response to a very specific action of the state."

Since both of us have backgrounds in the music industry, Howie Klein and I have been trying to persuade artists not to perform in Arizona since SB1070 was passed. Zack de la Rocha is really a hero here.

Howie has much more:

Other artists who have joined suit include Cypress Hill, Pitbull, Rage Against the Machine, Kanye West, Sonic Youth, Carlos Santana, Willie Nelson, Joe Satriani, Tenacious D, Shakira, Massive Attack and Hall & Oates (who were supposed to play at a July 2nd Diamondbacks game). Rage's Zack de la Rocha was organized an Arizona sound strike.

“Fans of our music, our stories, our films and our words can be pulled over and harassed every day because they are brown or black, or for the way they speak, or for the music they listen to,” de la Rocha said. “People who are poor like some of us used to be could be forced to live in a constant state of fear while just doing what they can to find work and survive. This law opens the door for them to be shaked down, or even worse, detained and deported while just trying to travel home from school, from home to work, or when they just roll out with their friends.”

The law-- SB 1070-- takes “racial profiling... to a whole new low,” the singer went on. “When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, they arrested her. As a result, people got together and said we are not going to ride the bus until they change the law... What if we got together, signed a collective letter saying, ‘We're not going to ride the bus,’ saying we are not going to comply. We are not going to play in Arizona.”

I'm not pushing for a strike against the Diamondbacks players, but Jerry Colangelo and their ownership has been complicit in helping pass SB 1070 and have been big-time Republican shills.

Howie Klein and I have been working the phones to try and persuade acts from performing in Arizona since they have contempt for a certain segment of their population. Kris Kobach, the notorious cage f*&ker, has paved the way to damnation for Brewer's state. And no matter what you hear, they are feeling it. Some of the musicians are locked at this point so they couldn't pull out, but others are stepping up to the plate.

Mad props to Los Lobos for their principled stand against SB 1070.

This just in from Los Lobos' camp: The band is canceling its performance at the Talking Stick Resort in Arizona's Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community on June 10 as a protest against the passing of the state's controversial new immigration bill, SB1070. The band issued the following statement via its management:

“We support the boycott of Arizona. The new law will inevitably lead to unfair racial profiling and possible abuse of people who just happen to look Latino. As a result, in good conscience, we could not see ourselves performing in Arizona. We regret the inconvenience this may have caused the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Casino Arizona, Talking Stick Resort and our fans, but we feel strongly that it is the right thing to do.”

Cypress Hill has already canceled their shows too.

And as Howie notes in his May 2nd post:

Meanwhile two industries that could suffer severely from Arizona's decision to go the police state route are tourism and sports. Frommers has already warned tourists to think twice before traveling to Arizona because of the self-righteous and violent nature of many of the inhabitants.

Conventions are pulling out of Phoenix, which has invested very heavily in that business. The Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association said six organizations had already canceled conventions. And now major league baseball is the next front in a growing war which is asking people who believe in American values to stay away from Arizona Diamondbacks games.

We're still working on Bud Selig behind the scenes, and I'll let you know when more actions are coming.

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Can I have a number, please? OK, Seattle has become the eleventh city to decide to boycott Arizona and their draconian immigration law.

Yesterday, the Seattle City Council unanimously voted to boycott Arizona by ending official city travel there and resolving, when practical, to cut off future contracts with Arizona-based businesses. That makes Seattle the 11th city to endorse a boycott of the state in opposition to its controversial immigration law. Five of the boycotting cities are in California: Los Angeles tops the list as the biggest, and its boycott could deliver the most painful blow to Arizona's economy, as the city has $58 million in existing contracts with Arizona companies, according to the L.A. Times.

In pending city votes, some members of Dallas's city council are considering a boycott, along with the municipal governments in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Berkeley, California.

--

Legal challenges to the Arizona easure could well render the boycott campaign moot, however. Since the law, which makes it a state crime to be an illegal immigrant, is already facing five legal challenges, it may be overturned before it can go into effect July 23. Here's a list of the cities that have announced travel and/or city contracts boycotts so far:

- Seattle, Washington

- El Paso, Texas

- Austin, Texas

- Boston, Massachusetts

- St. Paul, Minnesota

- Boulder, Colorado

- San Diego, California

- West Hollywood, California

- San Francisco, California

- Los Angeles, California

- Oakland, California

And it's only going to get worse and worse for the Sheriff Joe Arpaio-led Arizona.

The FBI is looking into accusations that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is using his position to settle political vendettas.

Over the past year, 5 Investigates examined more than two dozen complaints against the sheriff from business owners, government workers, mayors and law-enforcement officials.

They claim they spoke out against Arpaio, and shortly after, deputies paid them unwelcome visits.

I think I've been covering this issue pretty good since Arizona has decided to lead the way for racial profiling to ravage our land.

(h/t to my friend Murshed)

Attaboy Chicago. That's what I'm talking about:

About 40 immigrant rights activists chanting "Boycott Arizona" have gathered outside Wrigley Field in Chicago as the Cubs open a four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Protesters are upset over Arizona's new immigration law that makes it a crime to be in the U.S. illegally. The law is slated to take effect this summer.

Activists nationwide have called for a boycott of Arizona tourism and of state businesses, including its athletic teams.

Activist George Lieu (LOO) said Thursday that they've sent a letter to Cubs management asking them to stop holding spring training in Arizona. A small plane toting a banner criticizing the law also circled Wrigley Field.

A Cubs spokesman declined to comment. Arizona manager A.J. Hinch says the team is there to play baseball.

Keep the pressure up. Check Arizona's schedule and stay involved. Help get a protest off the ground in your own city.

And remember all Latinos in Arizona. "Not One More Dime," should be spent on Diamondbacks home games.

Money talks. It helped buy SB 1070. There's good info here on the situation.

And watch our for your Shoes!

Here's the first look at video that was shot at the Wrigley Field immigration protest.

Protesters are upset over Arizona's new immigration law that makes it a crime to be in the U.S. illegally. The law is slated to take effect this summer.

Activists nationwide have called for a boycott of Arizona tourism and of state businesses, including its athletic teams.

Boycott Baseball Arizona Diamondbacks Style. And here's a key phrase that should be said at every rally we help orchestrate:

"Reform not racism."

They did a really great job in Chicago. We're telling Arizona that their new draconian law is unforgivable.

Twitter it, Facebook it, email it, talk about it and scream about it.

The White House is engaging and has issued a statement about the immigration problem:

What has become increasingly clear is that we can no longer wait to fix our broken immigration system, which Democrats and Republicans alike agree doesn’t work. It’s unacceptable to have 11 million people in the United States who are living here illegally and outside of the system...read on

Aspects of the Senate bill are not perfect by any means, but it's a start.

Rep. Grijalva released a statement about the Arizona problem also via press release:

For myself, I know I am going to keep the pressure up on the White House, on the Leadership in my Party, and on the Members across the aisle. We need to get a bill passed this year. If we lose hope or lose momentum or lose sight of our goal, disasters like the Arizona bill are the result. We cannot afford to let the American people down and we cannot afford to allow the continued assault on immigrant families that we are seeing from coast to coast.

Ironically, the actions of Republicans in Arizona have lit a fire in immigrant and Latino neighborhoods and have galvanized national support for a serious immigration overhaul. We have been flirting with immigration reform for years, but I think if we keep the pressure up in this political year, we can enact reform that respects working people, reunites families, secures the border, and ends illegal immigration.

Keep the pressure up. Check Arizona's schedule and stay involved. Please help get a protest off the ground so it will spread from city to city.

And remember my Hispanic friends. "Not One More Dime" should be spent in Arizona on the Diamondbacks. We're starting slowly and this will expand with your help.

And so it continues. You can always count on Rep. Steve King to be the lowest of the low. Here's his newest acute observation on Rep. Grijalva's plight.

Unlike Grijalva, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is a big fan of Arizona's crackdown. After praising the effort in a statement earlier this week, King blasted Grijalva's position last night. During an interview on Fox News, King absurdly suggested that Grijalva's district has been "ceded" and accused the Arizona lawmaker of "advocating for Mexico" and against the United States.

LAURA INGRAHAM: This boycott is intended to do, what? I would imagine to intimidate people from supporting this law which, as far as I can tell, is wildly popular, but to intimidate because they're using dollars. Is there anything wrong with that?

REP. STEVE KING: Well, it looks like the case is that, that he's trying to scare the businesses out of Arizona, or he's trying to get the businesses to change their position and press the legislature to reverse the law that was just signed by the governor the other day. I'm wondering if we look at the map of Congressman Grijalva's congressional district if we haven't already ceded that component of Arizona to Mexico judging by the voice that comes out of him, he's advocating for Mexico rather than the United States and against the rule of law, which is one of the central pillars of American exceptionalism.

Steve King should be the Governor of Texas at this point. The fear of brown people is upon us. If you're brown, watch out.

Of course, this is coming from the same guy with the epic humanity to want to put an electric fence along the border, because we do it with "livestock all the time" too.

Digby links to a graph that shows a bunch of other states are lining up to pass frakked up bills next.

And then she adds:

Yes, American exceptionalism is so exceptional that right wingers are allowed to carve out exceptions to any part of the constitution they don't like. Strangely, the parts they don't like most often seem to be the ones that enumerate rights for people who don't look like them.

The xenophobes are on the warpath.

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Look, it's not any big news that Glenn Beck is a paranoid nutcase. That's been his schtick, after all -- dredging up every far-right conspiracy theory on the books, warning that those evil progressives are the enemy within, that the liberal Democrats are out intentionally to destroy America. It wasn't just a coincidence that the ADL identified him as the nation's Fearmonger in Chief.

But I don't his recent week off did him a lot of good. Returning yesterday, he was more paranoid than usual. Of course, there was also the usual obfuscation and prevarication, such as when he claimed that he argued for giving antiwar protesters during the Bush administration full respect for their views (apparently this didn't extend to Nancy Pelosi).

But throughout there was a drumbeat of fear that the Obama administration is trying to destroy Fox News generally and Beck's show specifically -- culminating in a warning that the administration is trying to "silence" him, which is what those boycott efforts have been about.

Beck: I have to tell you, there is something -- there is something that is amazing that you need to understand, because it's a very specific plan of attack against this program since it came on the air. But it's really not about us. It's about you -- the viewer of this program. The goal is to get you to shut up, not me, but you.

Last year, there was a fake outrage -- twisted words, a political attack disguised as grassroots protest. Eventually, it led to the big reveal that in fact, the organization that started the protest, the boycott, was cofounded by Van Jones.

Yeah, the Color of Change boycott was all about twisted words, all right -- the unadulterated words that came out of Glenn Beck's mouth, all in their full context. Specifically, these words:

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No extra twisting necessary there -- they just came out that way.

Anyway, Beck wants to pretend that the boycott effort -- which is doing rather well, actually -- wasn't about anything he said being outrageous and profoundly irresponsible. Nuh-uh. Anything but that.

Hmmmm. Isn't paranoia one of the traits of psycopathic narcissists? Just wondering.

Sometimes I think the smartest thing we could do is to push for a national news boycott. Imagine if people had to judge what happens on the basis of how it affects their lives - and not how the media chooses to interpret it. Here's a good example -- for the past week, all we've heard is how the Democrats will lose the majority. As Tim Kaine explains, not so likely:

Democrats' chances of holding on to a congressional super-majority following the 2010 midterm elections have taken a hit in the last month, but their party's chairman thinks it will be the Republicans left scrambling in the fall.

"There's a huge, corrosive civil war within the Republican party that I think will continue to be a factor that will work in our favor in 2010," Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, who also presides over the Democratic National Committee, told CBS' "The Early Show."

On Wednesday, surprise retirement announcements came from two longstanding Democratic Senators, Connecticut's Chris Dodd and North Dakota's Byron Dorgan – a development that threatens the Democrats' chances of maintaining 60-40 filibuster-proof majority over Republicans. (The Democrats actually control 58 seats, with two independents caucusing with them).

And last month, the party suffered a defection to the GOP by freshman Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith.

But aside from the recent buzz about potential Democratic losses, Republicans face the real problem, according to Kaine. In the Senate, two Democrats will retire but six Republicans will join them. In the House, GOP retirements outpace Democrats 14 to 10.

"Retirements are really on the other side," Kaine said.

There are also hotly contested primaries in some Republican districts that may hurt party unity.

No Comment: CIA efforts to keep torture secrets suffer a key loss in British high court.

Amygdala: An epic tour of Afghanistan, part 1.

We Are Respectable Negroes: Crack, Limbaugh and Hitler.

Alicublog: Right-bloggers defend Rush with an NFL boycott.

The Hunting of the Snark: More Logic Fail by McArdle.

Guest post by Batocchio. BG takes over for Mike tomorrow; send tips to bluegalsblog AT gmail