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Rachel Maddow speaks to Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family, about Tiahrt's membership in the C Street House and his own peculiar obsession with the idea that Muslims are having more babies than Americans (presumably, he meant Christian-Americans) and that we must stop abortions to win the birth war. Even more frightening is that his spiritual counselor and leader of "The Family" Doug Coe encouraged him to think even bigger--and wait to you hear the kind of "bigness" he should aspire to: Pol Pot, Hitler. I wish I was joking.

You may recall last week's offensive and racist rant by Kansas Republican Todd Tiarht when he said the following about taxpayer funded abortion:

"If that financial incentive was in place, is it possible that his mother may have taken advantage of it?" Tiahrt asked. "Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice, if those circumstances were in place, is it possible that we would be denied his great mind? The opportunity to have tax-funded abortions, a financial incentive, is something that I think most of us want to oppose in America and it's certainly deserves a clean up or down vote."

Something that offensive would normally bring about a chorus of criticism and demands for an apology - but Tiahrt is a member of today's GOP. Not only is nobody within his party calling for him to apologize to the president, they're promoting it and using it as a political talking point. More from Media Matters:

Now, the House Republican Conference, chaired by Rep. Mike Pence, is actively promoting Rep. Tiahrt's remarks. What was a situation solely involving Rep. Tiahrt now taints every Republican in the House of Representatives. What could have been written off as an impassioned rant by an over-zealous member is now being embraced and promoted by the Republicans' official government website.

As John Perr pointed out to me last week, President Obama's parents couldn't even have legally married in many states until the Loving vs. Virginia case of 1967. And imagine the outcry from the right if the same question had been asked about the mother of say, Ronald Reagan or Bush Sr. or Jr.? The Kansas Democratic Party still has a petition posted, demanding Tiahrt apologize to the president. You can sign it here if you like.

State of the Day: The script doctor's 'narrative.'

Politicker: Oklahoma politician's offensive comic book - with the phrase "anal sodomy" in it - doesn't win him re-election. Meanwhile, a Texas State Representative gets caught using campaign contributions to buy $1500 cowboy boots, a Texas Republican Congressman is getting some heat for holding a fundraiser in a Vegas burlesque joint, a Kansan sticks it to the election system, and in Iowa, a judge says "it's about time"

Emptywheel: Scott McClellan dismantles Cheney's Plame firewall

Newshoggers: Republican hypocrites will even run against the GOP brand to get elected. Not surprising coming from a pack of liars who can unblushingly blame Democrats for energy woes and call for more drilling access despite the fact that their Big Oil constituency is shipping record amounts of gasoline and diesel fuel to other countries, enjoying enormous, record profits, while ducking responsibility for massive pollution.

10 Zen Monkeys: This roundup of YouTube clips is meant to give a small sense of what it's like for the people who are killing and getting killed in Iraq - a view that, limited as it is, one can't possibly get from the mainstream newsmedia.

With Iraq about to blow wide open, al-Sadr stepped in again.

MSNBC:

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Sunday ordered his fighters off the streets nationwide and called on the government to stop raids against his followers and free them from prison. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki issued a statement calling the order “a step in the right direction” towards resolving six days of violence sparked by operations against al-Sadr's backers in the oil-rich southern city of Basra.

But al-Maliki also acknowledged Saturday that he may have miscalculated by failing to foresee the strong backlash the offensive would provoke in Baghdad and other cities where Shiite militias wield power...read on

So who's in charge of Iraq at this point?

..and throws in some jokes, of course.

(part 2 here)

Franken's opponent, staunch Bush-ally Norm Coleman, is already on the offensive against Franken, drawing on his past as a satirist to argue that he is unfit to be a Senator. Seems to me that someone who votes with Bush 86% of the time is unfit for anything, let alone one of the nation's highest offices. I guess it will be up to the good people of Minnesota to decide that.

We're proud to have Al as one of our ActBlue candidates. Feel free to fill the coffers if you can. How nice would it be to replace a steadfast Bush loyalist with a true progressive, running on a platform of ending the war in Iraq and providing universal health care? Sounds pretty good to me.

For more on the race, check out MNpublius, who does a great job of tracking Minnesota politics.

Via The Huffington Post:

At least four major firms have pulled advertising from Michael Savage's nationally syndicated radio show following a campaign highlighting his inflammatory rhetoric. One other company, Geico insurance, is expected to follow suit.

The campaign, launched recently by Brave New Films, generated thousands of calls urging advertisers on the Savage Nation show to sever financial ties to the widely popular (and frequently offensive) talk host.

"We are thrilled at the amazing response of the true patriots all over the blogsphere who responded to our NOSAVAGE campaign," Robert Greenwald, head of the film company, said in a statement. "People have called and emailed and the responsible sponsors have responded by pulling their ads and asking that their ads not be on this racist and hateful show." Read on...

The Weiner Man is just one in a huge gaggle of right wing nut jobs on the radio, but his brand of hate stands alone. The poor guy was canned last year by his management agency for attacking Melissa Etheridge and lesbians and now the schmuck is finally being dumped by some of his biggest sponsors. Kudos to Brave New Films and everyone who has spoken out against this cretin.

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

On The McLaughlin Group, host John McLaughlin asked his panel their view on the pundit-driven "come from behind" Hillary Clinton win in the New Hampshire. Monica Crowley takes the cake for her analogy that is offensive on so many levels. Nothing like painting Hillary Clinton as a unhinged, dangerous killer for winning an primary.

McLaughlin: "What did you think of Hillary's performance?"

Crowley:"Well, you know, she's like Glenn Close at the end of Fatal Attraction - you think she's dead and then she just bolts upright in the tub!"

Is that so? Well, I don't think it would be out of line to say that Ms. Crowley is like Ann Coulter, except not so much "class," ahem.

Thanks to Nicole for her assistance.

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

Following Wednesday night's CNN/YouTube Republican debate, recent CNN arrival Campbell Brown hosted a special entitled Campaign Killers, which dealt with the negative nature of campaign advertising in American politics. Unfortunately, Brown decided to do some dirty and rather offensive campaigning herself, referring to MoveOn.org as "American Insurgents."

More from Media Matters:

BROWN: General David Petraeus made his reputation taking on insurgents in Iraq. But when he came to Capitol Hill in September, he was confronted by American insurgents, a liberal anti-war group called MoveOn.org. MoveOn bought this full-page ad in The New York Times. It accused Petraeus of betraying us by cooking the books on progress in Iraq. Read on...

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

As has been widely reported this week, Daily Kos’ Markos Moulitsas will be a contributor to Newsweek, helping offer commentary on the 2008 presidential election.

Predictably, the announcement was not well received among conservative bloggers, but the more striking reaction came from NPR’s Juan Williams in an interview last night.

“[T]he fact is that he’s not a journalist in terms of someone who knows how to do reporting, someone who reflects balance in what he portrays. To the contrary, he engages in the kind of hyperbole and extreme statements that’s represented by that crass and, I think, offensive statement he made about those dead people.

“But you know what? I think that’s just what’s going on in journalism. I think that, you know, there’s more and more opinion, less and less people who know how to do the job. All you’ve got to do is shout, say something on the blog that offends and attacks the other side, and suddenly, you have the credentials, and you’re said to be a journalist. I think it’s a great lie.”

Juan Williams said this while answering questions from Sean Hannity, during an interview on Fox News. The irony was apparently lost on the host, the guest, and the audience. What a shame.

On a related note, will Williams have similar criticism of Karl Rove -- who's been hired as Kos' counterbalance at Newsweek?

So says Quigo! Oh, this keeps getting better. Poor Michelle Malkin is playing the victim again, but this time she's fighting back. She's placing ads against her FOX colleague Geraldo Rivera. He's been trying to fight the racist---anti-immigration positions that his network is promoting and he finally had enough of Malkin's routine. He couldn't have made his feelings any clearer in the Boston Globe and on H&C.

Malkin placed some Google ads against Geraldo and also placed it on the FOX Noise website and Quigo. The funny still keeps coming as she received an email telling MM that her content was offensive and the account was blocked.

Only in Malkinworld.

comment 65:

On September 1st, 2007 at 1:10 pm, TMoney said:

I’m beginning to wonder about Geraldo’s immigration status. Maybe his middle name is ‘Anchor’.

Remember her Coulter rant?

Download | play QT only

She had the nerve not to thank Jesus and make a joke.

"Kathy Griffin's offensive remarks will not be part of the E! telecast on Saturday night," the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said in a statement Monday. In her speech, Griffin said that "a lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus."

She went on to hold up her Emmy, make an off-color remark about Christ and proclaim, "This award is my god now!" The off-color remark was to say, "Suck it, Jesus."

I happen to like Jesus and His teachings a great deal, but this is ridiculous. This is America and we have a Constitution---or so I thought. And she has the same free speech rights that the odious and violent Bill Donohue has. I haven't seen him censored. (scroll down to see some of his antics)