PERRspectives caught this lovely little bit of Republican propaganda coming from a network utilizing public airwaves:

In a single sentence in one story on religion in the United States, CBS Evening News managed to insult the vast majority of the American people. Describing a major new study on Americans' religious faith from the Pew Forum, CBS' Wyatt Andrews suggested that atheism in particular and Americans' widely shared belief in a secular society in general is immoral:

"The unprecedented survey of religion answers many concerns about a secular, morally void America."

Yup, because we know how moral those religionists have been. Darrel Plant found more:

(F)rom The Katie Show:

BOB ORR: At issue is whether or not telecommunications companies like Verizon and AT&T should be protected from lawsuits when they help the government tap conversations of suspected foreign terrorists - when those calls and emails are routed through the U.S.

Actually, the issue is whether retroactive immunity will be granted to telecoms so they can't be sued by Americans, for illegally participating in wiretapping American citizens in America.

On a quick note, I really appreciate all the dynamite tips C&Lers send me throughout the day. I couldn't do this without you, but I also get a lot of emails that instruct me to go here and or look this up with no explanation or context. I receive 500-700 emails a day and I always just delete those emails. I don't have time to track down the meaning of them all. I haven't said this before and I should have already.

If you have a tip or an article that you want me, Nicole or anyone from C&L to read, please include the url and the body of the article with a good title in the subject line so I don't miss it and can take a look at it while I'm going through my inbox. I don't want you to waste your time and effort...And I'm sorry I haven't had the time to respond to as many as I used to.

Also, feel free to send me any video or audio clips with a short write up that you find too. I'm always open to a little help from my friends. Just let me know how you'd like to be identified for the hat tip...

The Orstrahyun: Monday, Australian investors, mostly middle class people who were enthusiastically encouraged by the former prime minister John Howard, and his treasurer, to pour their savings into the markets last year, lost $110 billion before lunch. In 21 days, $300 billion of investors savings have been wiped out.

echidne of the snakes: Would you like to sign an Open Letter From American Feminists? Katha Pollitt has written one, an important one.

Collateral on blip.tv: This episode looks at the privatization of the election process and the recent - so far largely ignored - problems with voting equipment in the New Hampshire primaries.

Scott Horton: The Emails Dick Cheney deleted

gin and tacos: File this under, "Supporting the Troops".

HOLY CRAP: Translating Huckabee...Fundies Say the Darndest Things!...Banned from church...Abortion as litmus test...Jesus Politics...Romney and religion...Government Funded Religion...Rudy's reinvention as a Holy Fool...Ray Comfort's Bible Science...Smilentology! ...God's Profits...Pastoral Electioneering

Photo and more from TPM:

Every Monday, Blackwater emails a newsletter to its supporters and potential clients called the Blackwater Tactical Weekly. Often it's a compendium of conservative-media pieces about how everything's awesome in Iraq, accompanied by a few quick company notes. But today's Christmas Eve. And during this season of reflection, the company would be remiss if Blackwater didn't place itself in its proper spiritual context.

Some excerpts:

GIVING... is something with which all Peace Keepers are very familiar... Giving time in ways that most do not understand... Giving up pleasures and presence of family to patrol streets, conflicts and battlefields... Giving up comforts that most take for granted... Giving companionship to a fellow Peace Keeper because you are together in the same endeavor at home and on foreign fields... Giving support to those in need of assistance... Giving life and limb, risking injury or death, so that the people they love and care for may continue to live in peace and safety in their world.

Of course, T.X. Hammes and other actual defense experts don't believe Blackwater and the U.S. military "are together in the same endeavor." Rather, Blackwater's wilding out makes things worse for the U.S. military in Iraq. But in Moyock, NC, nothing says Christmas like cynical exploitation of the troops! Read on...

You may remember the piece I wrote about this stalker Babe: "Cafferty debates with a Man-Stalker named Rachel Mardsen: “waterboarding is a swim lesson” The ex-FOXer who was escorted off their premises is at it again, or so it would seem. And it looks like Sarkozy might be her next target:

A right-wing former Fox TV pundit is being investigated for criminal harassment after accusing an ex-boyfriend of leaking Canadian anti-terrorism secrets. I don't know why he (gave me the documents)," she said yesterday in an email response to an interview request, "other than perhaps he was too cheap to buy me jewelry and figured state secrets would be a good substitute." She denied harassing the officer.

"I live in NYC," she wrote. "If I was going to 'stalk' anyone from that kind of a massive distance, it sure wouldn't be that loser.

"Anyone who reads my blog or column knows it would be (French President) Nicolas Sarkozy!" Backhurst's lawyer Andrew McKay said Marsden is harassing the officer through emails and inaccurate website postings.

"Her conduct is simply outrageous," he said. Backhurst, who ran unsuccessfully in 2004 as the federal Tory candidate for Scarborough-Rouge River, acknowledges a brief love affair with Marsden two years ago – not one that continued until nearly three months ago, as Marsden maintains. The OPP's criminal investigations branch recently cleared the officer of any wrongdoing. A separate internal investigation is ongoing, his lawyer said...read on

Hmmm, another case where the guy is cleared. OK, I wonder when CNN will put her on the air again?

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington:

Today, in light of another year rife with corruption, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released a new report on the Top Ten Ethics Scandals of 2007. It is available in its entirety at www.citizensforethics.org.

No new enforcement mechanisms for congressional ethics;

Ted Stevens still sitting on Senate Appropriations;

Senate Ethics Committee looking into Sen. Craig, but not Sen. Vitter;

Millions of missing White House emails still unaccounted for;

Rep. Murtha's abuse of the earmarking process remains unchecked;

Lurita Doan remains chief of GSA despite illegal conduct;

White House covering up its role in the firings of the U.S. Attorneys;

No Child Left Behind funds directed to Bush fundraisers who provide inadequate reading materials for kids;

Court decision regarding search of Jefferson's office limits ability of DOJ to investigate other corrupt lawmakers; and

FEMA knowingly let Katrina victims live in hazardous trailers

Download | play Download | play (h/t Heather)

George Clooney congratulates Julia Roberts in a recent tribute, but channels a much different newsmaker.

SITE UPDATE: We've been trading emails to try to make this work, and we finally have a date. Unfortunately, it's short notice, but we wanted to give you the opportunity during the holiday shopping season to pick up this fantastic book and support one of our best. So therefore, Crooks & Liars will be holding our first Book Salon TOMORROW to support Lee Jackson aka NonnyMouse's latest book, Redemption. Please join us from 12:00 noon Pacific/3:00 pm Eastern and Nonny will be here to answer your questions and discuss.

I've received a lot of emails from C&Lers over the years asking me to post some pics when I played with Duran Duran in 2003. This was from a show in San Diego....Good Times...

John Amato playing sax, Nick Rhodes (keyboards), John Taylor (bass), Roger Taylor (drums), Andy Taylor (guitar), and Simon Le Bon (lead vocals)

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There are still 50,000 families forced to live in FEMA trailers ever since Hurricane Katrina. Trailers in which the levels of formaldehyde present in the air are so high, CBS has obtained emails that indicate the agency is prohibiting its employees from even briefly stepping inside them, and despite agency claims "that it is still working on the formaldehyde problem," it isn't.

In July the head of the agency told Congress he was working quickly to deal with the toxic formaldehyde issue.

"FEMA and the CDC are scheduled to begin Phase One of a study in the Gulf Coast within the next few weeks," said FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison.
Now FEMA says the study has been halted - not a single trailer tested.

The stated reason: the agency says it needs to identify "action levels for responding to the results."

In other words, when FEMA finds high levels of the toxic fumes, the agency still doesn't know what to do about it.

Sadly, this is exactly what we can expect as long as the party that doesn't believe in government is heading our government. Ever since Ronald Reagan's inaugural speech when he declared "Government isn't the solution; it is the problem," Republicans could hardly have done more to make sure it is the case.

Michael Savage went after CSPAN and Brian Lamb because they had the audacity to not cover his..get this...the Talker's Magazine "Freedom of Speech" award...The reason was because Savage sent in a DVD of his speech instead of appearing live at the event he was being honored at so CSPAN declined to cover the event.. During last week's telecast---CSPAN showed the vicious and misinformed emails that were sent to Lamb and CSPAN...And the Savage man is now charging his followers 22.00 bucks to buy the DVD. What a deal...

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Why don't you contact the Savage Nation and let Weiner know that C&L'ers understand a thing called the truth and to please stop the false accusations against CSPAN.

Michael Savage

michaelsavage@paulreveresociety.com

Talk Radio Network

Talk Radio Network

Talk Radio Network

P.O. Box 3755

Central Point, Oregon 97502

Phone: 541-664-8827

Fax: 541-664-6250

Think Progress has it too....

Media Matters has another post on Savage's homophobia...