NOT SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF...

On his radio show today, Sean Hannity expressed pride in his "liberty tree" segment that aired on his TV show yesterday. David Neiwert at Crooks & Liars has the video clip and I was amazed at how crude and childish the segment was. (The many lies I expected)

NO WONDER SOME OF THE MOTU ARE WORRIED

Not only has Warren Buffett criticized them, the vice-chairman of Warren's company has done the same. (h/t Susie Madrak at Crooks & Liars)

Berkshire’s Munger Says ‘Venal’ Banks May Evade Needed Reform
By Christine Harper, Betty Liu and Erik Holm

May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Vice Chairman Charles Munger, whose company is the largest private shareholder in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co., said banks will use their “enormous political power” to prevent changes to the industry that would benefit society.

“This is an enormously influential group of people, and 90 percent of that influence is being spent to gain powers and practices that the world would be better off without,” Munger, 85, said yesterday in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “It will be very hard to accomplish the kind of surgery that would be desirable for the wider civilization.”

“We need to remove from the investment banking and the commercial banking industries a lot of the practices and prerogatives that they have so lovingly possessed,” Munger said. “If they are too big to fail, they are too big to be allowed to be as gamey and venal as they’ve been -- and as stupid as they’ve been.”

INGRAHAM AND THE CRAZIES

Today, War Whore Laura Ingraham stated that Pres. Obama is "just not that into America" and despite riffing on the movie title, she was serious. This means she is really no different from the crazies (h/t Bartcop) who are quoted in this fine "survey" column, "The President Who Hates His Country" by Joan Swirsky.

MARK LEVIN LIES AGAIN

Today he claimed that Pres. Obama has reneged on his campaign promise to use missiles in Pakistan to attack Al Qaeda. Here are the facts as reported by the AP:

Pakistan: Suspected US missiles kill 3, wound 5
The Associated Press, April 19, 2009 Sunday, INTERNATIONAL NEWS, 727 words, By NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Writer

Suspected US missile kills 3 in northwest Pakistan
The Associated Press, April 8, 2009 Wednesday, INTERNATIONAL NEWS, 899 words, By NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Writer

Pakistani officials: Suspected US strike kills 8
The Associated Press, March 25, 2009 Wednesday, INTERNATIONAL NEWS, 670 words, By ISHTIAQ MAHSUD, Associated Press Writer

Officials: Missile attack kills 5 in Pakistan
The Associated Press, March 15, 2009 Sunday, INTERNATIONAL NEWS, 242 words, By ISHTIAQ MAHSUD, Associated Press Writer

Suspected US missiles kill 7 in Pakistan
The Associated Press, March 12, 2009 Thursday, INTERNATIONAL NEWS, 192 words, By ZARAR KHAN, Associated Press Writer

Suspected US missiles kill 7 in northwest Pakistan
The Associated Press, March 1, 2009 Sunday, INTERNATIONAL NEWS, 860 words, By NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Writer

Suspected US missile strike kills 27 in Pakistan
The Associated Press, February 15, 2009 Sunday, INTERNATIONAL NEWS, 804 words, By STEPHEN GRAHAM, Associated Press Writer

Gates: Missile strikes in Pakistan to continue
The Associated Press, January 27, 2009 Tuesday, WASHINGTON DATELINE, 718 words, By LARA JAKES, Associated Press Writer

Suspected US missile strike kills 18 in Pakistan
The Associated Press, January 23, 2009 Friday, INTERNATIONAL NEWS, 746 words, By CHRIS BRUMMITT, Associated Press Writer

FATS DOESN'T UNDERSTAND BIOLOGY

Rep. Mike Pence was on Hardball and was asked his opinion of evolution. Here's his answer:

PENCE: Uh, do I believe in evolution? I embrace the view that God created the Heavens and the Earth, the Seas and all that’s in them. The means that he used to do that, I can’t say, but I do believe in that fundamental truth.

Pence did not state what is the obvious scientific truth: evolution is a fact. Fats Limbaugh decided today to come to Pence's defense and merely exposed once again his deep ignorance:

Now, had I been on the program, this is an easy answer. Matthews' question: "You want to educate the American peep about science and its relevance. Do you believe in evolution?"

"Yeah. I believe in evolution."

"Oh, you do? We got a Republican believes in evolution!"

"Yeah, wait, Chris! Wait, though! It can't explain creation. I mean, we've got both. Where did it come from, Chris? Don't give me the Big Bang. Don't give me evolution for the Big Bang. Where did this all come from, what was it before it was what it is? Certainly things evolve. There's no question. There's no denying it. But evolution does not explain creation."

That's right, Rush, evolution does not explain creation but that's because it's not the job of biology to do so.

POWELL IS NOW ON THE OUTS WITH THE GASBAGS

In an appearance at a conference about corporate security, Colin Powell stated what most Americans find obvious by now:

Powell also criticized other GOP leaders, for bowing too much to the right.

He blasted radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, saying he does not believe that Limbaugh or conservative icon Ann Coulter serve the party well. He said the party lacks a "positive" spokesperson. "I think what Rush does as an entertainer diminishes the party and intrudes or inserts into our public life a kind of nastiness that we would be better to do without," Powell said.

Fats didn't like this and neither did the Baby Jesus Hannity but it's essentially what John Derbyshire thinks and even Huge Ego Hewitt realizes that there are serious problems with Coulter. It is tempting to think that the urge to purge is a relatively new phenomenon in the GOP but that would be mistaken. The intolerance for others stretches back decades and Thomas Franks provides some examples from people who were pillars of movement conservatism.

Jack Abramoff called for an end to "peaceful coexistence with the Left" in 1983 and before that, Howard Phillips urged Pres. Reagan to end his strategy of "detente" with his political adversaries in 1982. (Franks, p. 287). In August 1984, Grover "Bathtub" Norquist said that "We must establish a Brezhnev Doctrine for conservative gains. Conservatives must establish their own doctrine and declare their victories permanent, not only in foreign policy, but in domestic policy as well." (Franks, p. 345)

CRUSHING CORPORATE TAXES?

Not so much, really. These two companies are at the extreme, but the overall effective corporate tax rate in 2007-8 was only 19.4%.

Coca-Cola, Oracle, Intel Use Cayman Islands to Avoid U.S. Taxes
By David Evans

May 5 (Bloomberg) -- Seagate Technology, the world’s largest maker of hard disk drives, is headquartered in Scotts Valley, California. Yet the documents it files with the Securities and Exchange Commission list its address on South Church Street in George Town, the capital of the Cayman Islands.

While the U.S. corporate tax rate is 35 percent, Seagate paid an effective tax rate of 5 percent in the year ended June 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Del Monte Fresh Produce Inc., whose corporate headquarters is in Coral Gables, Florida, lists another address -- Walker House on Mary Street in George Town, Grand Cayman -- in its SEC filings. That’s around the corner from Ugland House.

Del Monte’s effective tax rate for 2008 was 3 percent, up from 1 percent the year before.

LET'S HOPE SLOTS BENNETT JOINS HANNITY

Just now, I heard him say that waterboarding wasn't torture. Can he step up and do what Hannity promised to do?

WINGERS LOVE FICTION

Newt Gingrich, the GOP's main "idea man," referenced two works of fiction in his AIPAC address to help convince Americans to be scared, very scared, especially of Iran. This reminded me of how the radio gasbags touted a novel by Michael Crichton as a serious rebuttal to global warming and how they seem to think "24" is a documentary.

Q: WHY IS JTP SO POPULAR WITH THE WINGERS

ANS: Because he's just as stupid and ignorant as they are.

Q & A: 'Joe the Plumber'
The man who became a metaphor for the average American in the 2008 election tells CT about his Christian faith and the future of the Republican Party.
Interview by Sarah Pulliam posted 5/04/2009 10:05AM
Christianity Today

Why does conservatism appeal to you as a Christian?
"As far as the government goes, the Founding Fathers based the Constitution off of Christian values."

THANK YOU, KEITH

Think Progress notes that Keith Olbermann repeated his challenge to Sean Hannity and I think we should try to make this a real issue for The Baby Jesus. Go here if you want to rate the post on Digg.

5% IS NOT A SOLUTION

Wingnut talk radio shows can do very well while at the same time the GOP can be doing very poorly. The GOP needs 50% plus 1 in elections but the bar for talk radio is much, much lower. If a show gets 5% of the listening audience, it's doing great.

The future of talk radio
By Jeff Jacoby
May 4, 2009
The Boston Globe

Q: You've said, "Rush Limbaugh at his biggest and his best is only a small player in the broader picture of radio." How so?

A: Rush Limbaugh, even though he's number one, is not the dominant figure in radio. Radio is much larger in total than any of its on-air components. There are no Super Bowls in radio.

Q: You mean no one with real mass appeal?

A: Nobody in radio has a following that comes anywhere near a majority of Americans. Limbaugh gets about a 5 percent, 6 percent share of people listening to the radio at any given time when he's on - and he's only on three hours a day. The idea that radio is dominated by conservatives or by Rush Limbaugh is not correct.

MORE DETAIL ON MORAL HAZARD AT THE NY FED

I noted before that the NY branch of the Federal Reserve had an incestuous relationship with the Wall Street MOTU and thanx to Atrios and David Sirota, I found this new detail:

MAY 4, 2009 USA Inc.: The State of Capitalism
New York Fed Chairman's Ties to Goldman Raise Questions
Wall Street Journal

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York shaped Washington's response to the financial crisis late last year, which buoyed Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and other Wall Street firms. Goldman received speedy approval to become a bank holding company in September and a $10 billion capital injection soon after.

During that time, the New York Fed's chairman, Stephen Friedman, sat on Goldman's board and had a large holding in Goldman stock, which because of Goldman's new status as a bank holding company was a violation of Federal Reserve policy.

The New York Fed asked for a waiver, which, after about 2½ months, the Fed granted. While it was weighing the request, Mr. Friedman bought 37,300 more Goldman shares in December. They've since risen $1.7 million in value.

Mr. Friedman also was overseeing the search for a new president of the New York Fed, an officer who has a critical role in setting monetary policy at the Federal Reserve. The choice was a former Goldman executive.

Do you recall the old saying, "What's good for GM is what's good for America"?

I WAS RIGHT

Jeb Bush was attacked by Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity and Ingraham for daring to suggest the GOP needs to move beyond St. Ronnie. Mike Barnicle is also right: talk radio IS the GOP's base.

IS NEWT NOW A NEO-CON?

Neo-cons seem to think that America's main purpose in the world is to defend Israel and now it seems that the GOP's main idea man agrees. First, he tells the Jerusalem Post that Pres. Obama's mid-East policies are "very dangerous for Israel" and then told AIPAC that “A world which destroys Israel will surely destroy the United States.”

CONDI ALSO CHANNELS YOO

You may recall that John "Torture" Yoo invoked context as a defense of his infamous memo and Condi Rice took the same approach in response to a question from a youngster:

4th-Grader Questions Rice on Waterboarding
Ex-Secretary of State Stresses Legality
By Alec MacGillis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 4, 2009

She added: "I hope you understand that it was a very difficult time. We were all so terrified of another attack on the country. September 11 was the worst day of my life in government, watching 3,000 Americans die. . . . Even under those most difficult circumstances, the president was not prepared to do something illegal, and I hope people understand that we were trying to protect the country."

JEB BUSH GETS IT, FATS AND HANNITY DON'T

We've known for a while that a big part of the GOP's base adores St. Ronnie and we know that Fats and Hannity keep trying to re-awaken that corpse, despite the warnings from Frank Luntz. It now seems that Jeb Bush sides with Luntz:

Jeb Bush, GOP: Time to leave Reagan behind
Party leaders go on 'listening tour' with eyes on future

By Joseph Curl (Contact) | Sunday, May 3, 2009
Washington Times

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Saturday that it's time for the Republican Party to give up its "nostalgia" for the heyday of the Reagan era and look forward, even if it means stealing the winning strategy deployed by Democrats in the 2008 election.

"So our ideas need to be forward looking and relevant. I felt like there was a lot of nostalgia and the good old days in the [Republican] messaging. I mean, it's great, but it doesn't draw people toward your cause," Mr. Bush said.

This will force Fats and Hannity to now attack Jeb.

RADIO TIDBITS

I may be just paying more attention but it seems that wingnut talk radio is getting more calls from conspiracy wackos than in the past. Last night, Billy Cunningham took a call from a fellow who said there was a solution to the swine flu problem but doctors would lose their licenses if they prescribed it. The man asked Billy if he could say on air what it was and Billy refused.

STEELE AND INGRAHAM AGREE

RNC chairman Michael Steele said that the GOP will not become more moderate and War Whore Laura Ingraham argues that is shouldn't become more moderate. This is the same line Limbaugh and Hannity have taken, so I guess the GOP has decided to become the Talk Radio Party.

ORIGINAL INTENT ON STANDING ARMIES

The conservatives have been braying about returning to the "original intent" of the Founding Fathers for years in the hopes that they can convince people to turn back the clock to a more reactionary time. They never mention that Thomas Jefferson strongly opposed a standing army:

Against Standing Armies

"There are instruments so dangerous to the rights of the nation and which place them so totally at the mercy of their governors that those governors, whether legislative or executive, should be restrained from keeping such instruments on foot but in well-defined cases. Such an instrument is a standing army." --Thomas Jefferson to David Humphreys, 1789. ME 7:323

"I do not like [in the new Federal Constitution] the omission of a Bill of Rights providing clearly and without the aid of sophisms for... protection against standing armies." --Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1787. ME 6:387

"Nor is it conceived needful or safe that a standing army should be kept up in time of peace for [defense against invasion]." --Thomas Jefferson: 1st Annual Message, 1801. ME 3:334

"Standing armies [are] inconsistent with [a people's] freedom and subversive of their quiet." --Thomas Jefferson: Reply to Lord North's Proposition, 1775. Papers 1:231

"The spirit of this country is totally adverse to a large military force." --Thomas Jefferson to Chandler Price, 1807. ME 11:160

"There shall be no standing army but in time of actual war." --Thomas Jefferson: Draft Virginia Constitution, 1776. Papers 1:363

"The Greeks and Romans had no standing armies, yet they defended themselves. The Greeks by their laws, and the Romans by the spirit of their people, took care to put into the hands of their rulers no such engine of oppression as a standing army. Their system was to make every man a soldier and oblige him to repair to the standard of his country whenever that was reared. This made them invincible; and the same remedy will make us so." --Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Cooper, 1814. ME 14:184

"Bonaparte... transferred the destinies of the republic from the civil to the military arm. Some will use this as a lesson against the practicability of republican government. I read it as a lesson against the danger of standing armies." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Adams, 1800. ME 10:154

DeMINT DOESN'T GET IT

In a WSJ op-ed, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) tries to show how the GOP can become a "big tent party" and he fails miserably. Take just two of the GOP's core principles:

Republicans can welcome a vigorous debate about legalized abortion or same-sex marriage...

Well, no they can't. Republicans are committed to outlawing abortion and banning same-sex marriage and there is no room for debate.

WARREN BUFFETT ON SOME OF THE MOTU

Buffett was interviewed on the BBC's Broadcasting House of 3/5/2009 and if you can get the clip, it begins at about the 23 minute, 45 second mark. Here's my own transcription of a brief part of it:

"The financial world kinda deserves the way it's viewed...

"There's certainly been a lot of pay for people that didn't perform well."

"A lot of people walked away from enormous damage and they've taken many millions of dollars with them and, you know, that's wrong."

"But the narure of capitalism is that the rewards don't fall necessarily as they should and obviously you want to get more so that they do."

"What you'd like to do is just pay for people who perform very well and the other people wouldn't walk away with anything."

ABSOLUTELY NO SHAME

The GOP has decided to attack Pres. Obama on national security issues and that proves they have no shame for the terrible 8 years of the criminal Bush regime and apparently think most Americans are as stupid as the GOP's base.

JOHN HAWKINS GETS SOMETHING RIGHT...

"Obviously, we don’t have to become liars"

That's because conservatives already are liars.

RICE GETS CREAMED AT STANFORD

She not only channeled Nixon, she also seems to be in severe denial about her own complicity, so severe that she thinks Al Qaeda is more of a threat now than Nazi Germany was during WW II.

WHY MARK LEVIN HATES FDR

There are undoubtedly other reasons but last night, Levin singled out this part of FDR's 1944 State of the Union address:

This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.

As our Nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. "Necessitous men are not free men." People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

Levin sees these rights as leading to a severe decrease in personal freedom because of the expansion of the State. According to World O' Crap, here's the origin of the "necessitous" quote:

“Necessitous men,” says the Lord Chancellor, in Vernon v Bethell, 2 Eden 113 (1762), “are not, truly speaking, free men; but, to answer a present emergency, will submit to any terms that the crafty may impose on them.”

FDR also used the phrase in his 1936 acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention.

THE 17TH AMENDMENT PUZZLE

A few months ago, I heard Neal Boortz call for the repeal of the 17th Amendment, the one that provided for direct elections of U.S. Senators. I couldn't figure out how this fit into the conservative agenda until last night as I was listening to Mark Levin's show. He spoke with Paul Rahe, a professor from the very conservative Hillsdale College, about the Cosmic Evil that is Liberalism and Rahe concluded by saying that we need to repeal the 16th and 17th Amendments. Apparently, the 17th is an abridgment of States' rights and that's the link to conservative ideology.

I was then reminded of an anecdote from Thomas Franks' book, The Wrecking Crew, pages 34-35, on the corruption of the Senate in the good old days. Chauncey Depew (1834-1928) served as U.S. Senator from New York and according to legend, he was in effect a servant of the Vanderbilt family.

JAY SEVERIN GETS A TIME-OUT

I knew he was a radio winger but I didn't know how bad he really is. According to the Boston Globe, here are some of his "highlights":

He has called former Vice President Al Gore “Al Whore,” former First Lady and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “a lying [expletive],” and Senator Edward M. Kennedy “a fat piece of lying garbage."

This makes him seem to be just another Mark Levin but he's worse than that:

Jay Severin, the fiery, right-wing radio talk show host on Boston’s WTKK-FM radio station, was suspended today after calling Mexican immigrants "criminaliens," “primitives,” “leeches,” and “women with mustaches and VD,” among other incendiary comments.

This is closer to white supremacist garbage than standard gasbag talk, although several of them, like Limbaugh, don't speak very well of non-whites.

ORSON SCOTT CARD: STILL A RABID WINGER

I wrote back in 2007 that the science-fiction writer had bizarre political views and now I learn (h/t Buzzflash & Dr. Slammy) that he despises homosexuals and is willing to revolt against the government if they are allowed to marry.

COULTER NEEDS TO ASK HANNITY...

why he hasn't been waterboarded yet because she's sure it's nothing more than a vigorous Six Flags ride.

"WHATEVER"

Bill O'Reilly fancies himself a values person and I was shocked to hear his simplistic dismissal of those who are opposed to torture. (via County Fair) Here's the transcript¹:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I have put an end to the interrogation techniques described in those memos, and I want to -- I want to be very clear and very blunt. I have done so for a simple reason. Because I believe that our nation is stronger and more secure when we deploy the full measure of both our power and the power of our values, including the rule of law. I know I can count on you to do exactly that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'REILLY: All right. So, what that showed to me is just the huge divide in America between the national security people who say, "Look, we've got to have this thing in our arsenal." And then the theoreticians, like Ellis Henican, who say, "Oh, no, we've got to have our values." And whatever. That's what that showed me.

¹Fox News Network
April 28, 2009 Tuesday
SHOW: THE O'REILLY FACTOR 8:00 PM EST
Public Weighs in on Torture, Obama's Policies
BYLINE: Bill O'Reilly, Frank Luntz
SECTION: NEWS; Domestic
LENGTH: 931 words

I'M LOVING THIS

The GOP is facing an existential crisis and most members just don't get it. Here's the problem: for the forseeable future, the GOP won't be a majority party as long as it continues to pander to the Fundies BUT without the Fundies, the GOP will be a minority party for decades.

The Talk Radio faction of the GOP wants to continue the pandering but moderates like Voinovich and Hatch want to cut loose and start rebuilding. If I were betting, I'd say the gasbags win this round.