BECK IS STILL DELUSIONAL

His "BIG ANSWER" is just a series of cliches like "put the country first." Simply because there were 56 founders (?), Beck wants us to find 56 honest people in Congress to "restore" America. Until then, he wants us to quarantine DC - nothing goes in and nothing comes out. He is explicit that this means not taking any Federal funds.

TYPICAL WINGER BEHAVIOR

Matt Kibbe of FreedomWorks falsely claimed that ABC News estimated the size of the bagger crowd in DC at 1-1.5 million. ABC News denies giving this clown that number.

ABC News Was Misquoted on Crowd Size
ABC News Reported D.C. Rally Size in Tens of Thousands, Not 1M to 1.5M as Activist Said.
Sept. 12, 2009
ABC News

Conservative activists, who organized a march on the U.S. Capitol today in protest of the Obama administration's health care agenda and government spending, erroneously attributed reports on the size of the crowds to ABC News.

Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks, the group that organized the event, said on stage at the rally that ABC News was reporting that 1 million to 1.5 million people were in attendance.

At no time did ABC News, or its affiliates, report a number anywhere near as large. ABCNews.com reported an approximate figure of 60,000 to 70,000 protesters, attributed to the Washington, D.C., fire department. In its reports, ABC News Radio described the crowd as "tens of thousands."

Brendan Steinhauser, spokesman for FreedomWorks, said he did not know why Kibbe cited ABC News as a source.

As a result of Kibbe's erroneous attribution, several bloggers and commenters repeated the misinformation.

MEME WAR PAYBACK?

Some people are starting to spread the meme (see here and here) that Glenn Beck raped and murdered a girl in 1990 just because they know it's false but want to use a Noise Machine tactic against a rabble rouser.

MALKIN GETS TOO EXCITED

She claims that 2 million teabaggers are in DC and even FAUX News can't go that high:

The tens of thousands of protesters marched to the U.S. Capitol chanting various slogans and waving posters that voiced a rather broad array of grievances against big government and the leaders, particularly President Obama, who the protesters blame for its size and scope.

ABC News has a more realistic estimate:

Carrying signs depicting President Obama as Adolf Hitler and the Joker, and chanting slogans such as "'No big government" and "Obamacare makes me sick," approximately 60,000 to 70,000 people flooded Pennsylvania Ave, according to the Washington DC Fire Department.

WHO'S BEHIND THE TEABAGGERS?

In addition to Glenn Beck, other FAUX krazies and radio gasbags, the AP let's us know that the following organizations also participated:

Thousands of downtown DC protesters blast Obama
Sep 12 03:31 PM US/Eastern
By NAFEESA SYEED
Associated Press Writer

FreedomWorks Foundation, a conservative organization led by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, organized several groups from across the country for what they billed as a "March on Washington."

Other sponsors of the rally include the Heartland Institute, Americans for Tax Reform and the Ayn Rand Center for Individuals Rights.

TWO TENTHERS RECITE THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

Fats Limbaugh and Mark Levin both recited Lincoln's greatest speech yesterday without a glimmer of self-awareness that the Civil War was fought against people like them.

I WAS THINKING ABOUT THE SUCCESSES OF SOCIALISM

in America and I recall that John Kenneth Galbraith wrote that America agriculture makes a pretty good case for the usefulness of a socialist approach to a sector of our economy. I decided to look into this a little more and found "AMERICAN AGRICULTURE: A Brief History" by R. Douglas Hunt.

I've just begun reading it and found on page 117 that farmers supported the Federal government in its efforts to improve internal transportation by funding canals and railroads. On page 147, I found a tidbit that helps answer the question this Politico article raises, "What's the matter with South Carolina?" This partial answer is that South Carolina has a long history of preferring ignorance to knowledge. In the 1840's, John C. Calhoun, the most distinguished senator produced by the state, denounced an annual publication by the Patent Office that provided statistics and other information about farming as "one of the most enormous abuses under this government."

I HAVEN'T READ "LIBERAL FASCISM"....

and I'm sure now that I won't waste any time doing so. Jonah Goldberg can't even get the through the 1st sentence of the main text without combining a smear with a lie:

IF YOU WENT solely by what you read in the New York Times or the New York Review of Books, or what you learned from Hollywood, you could be forgiven for thinking that Benito Mussolini came to power around the same time as Adolf Hitler—or even a little bit later...

I am a reader of the NYT and the NYRB and I can assure you that both have informed their readers of the proper chronology of Mussolini. This is just another cheapshot by Goldberg that the rubes will fall for.

AND HOW COULD I FORGET THE CREDIT RATINGS AGENCIES?

They also dropped all the balls when it came to Lehman Bros.:

Sleep-At-Night-Money Lost in Lehman Lesson Missing $63 Billion
By Bob Ivry, Mark Pittman and Christine Harper

Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The biggest credit-rating firms -- Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings Inc. -- all gave Lehman commercial paper their highest grades to the end.

HOW CLOSE WERE WE WHEN LEHMAN WENT BYE-BYE?

Real close, according to the German finance minister:

London Suicide Connects Lehman Lesson Missed by Hong Kong Woman
By Mark Pittman and Bob Ivry

Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Munich-based Hypo Real Estate Holding AG received 102 billion euros ($143 billion) in debt guarantees and credit lines from the German government after its Depfa unit was stuck without short-term funding following Lehman’s bankruptcy. Like Lehman, Hypo funded long-term real estate assets with short-term loans such as commercial paper.

German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck defended the bailout of the lender because the global financial system was just “millimeters from the abyss.”

JEOPARDY CLUE: OUT OF TOUCH OLD WHITE MEN

(ANS: What is a 6 word phrase for GOP?)

Phil Gramm called Americans whiners because they are upset about the worst economy since the Great Depression and Dick Armeyhas the nerve to call a blogger for Think Progress a "juvenile delinquent." Both of these fellows have been around for a while and they sound as mean-spirited as almost any right-wing talk radio host.

ANOTHER FALSE EQUIVALENCE

Andie Coller of Politico has a nice piece that explores whether or not the GOP is composed mostly of cranks but he hits one false note:

Nor are Democrats strangers to having their crazy uncles take center stage. During the run-up to the Iraq war, for example, Reps. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and David Bonior (D-Mich.) famously flew to Baghdad, where McDermott asserted that he believed the president would “mislead the American public” to justify the war.

McDermott and the others were correct, not cranky.

CIRCLING THE WAGONS AROUND REP. "LIAR"

Today, Hannity had "Shouter" Wilson on his radio show and several winger blogs are also supporting him, including Riehl World View and Red State.

THE MASTER SPEAKS!!!

Today on his radio show, Glenn Beck proudly announced that "I have the answer. I know the way out." He's referring to doing something about all the Communists and other radicals in Pres. Obama's Administration.

He will give us The Answer this Saturday.

A SECOND GILDED AGE

The increase in wealth for the richest members of our society is astounding. I noted below that we now exceed the highest level seen in the last century and the CBPP has more on this trend. This table gives some sense of who was really helped by the Bush tax cuts.

Table 1: Average Income Gains, Adjusted for Inflation, 2002-2007
	Dollar Increase	Percent Increase	Average Annual Increase
Bottom 90 Percent	$1,206	3.9%	0.8%
Next 9 Percent	$19,476	13.0%	2.5%
Top 1 Percent	$521,127	61.8%	10.1%
Top 0.1 Percent	$3,455,384	94.1%	14.2%
Note : In 2007, the bottom 90 percent of households were those with incomes below about $110,000. The next 9 percent were those with incomes between $110,000 and about $400,000, and the top 0.1 percent were those with incomes above about $2,000,000. Calculations are in current 2007 dollars.

NOT GETTING THE POINT

Thomas Friedman bemoans the fact that the GOP congressmen aren't doing anything to help America solve real problems, like climate change and health care. He argues that even the autocracy in China can get something useful done, despite the serious drawback of being an undemocratic government.

Now, it's clear that Friedman is pointing out GOP obstreperousness:

The G.O.P. used to be the party of business. Well, to compete and win in a globalized world, no one needs the burden of health insurance shifted from business to government more than American business. No one needs immigration reform — so the world’s best brainpower can come here without restrictions — more than American business. No one needs a push for clean-tech — the world’s next great global manufacturing industry — more than American business. Yet the G.O.P. today resists national health care, immigration reform and wants to just drill, baby, drill.

He's not arguing that we should be an autocracy but that doesn't stop dimwit Jonah Goldberg from calling Friedman a "liberal fascist."

WHY AMBINDER IS A TOOL

In a post about the op-ed in the WSJ that was published under Sarah Palin's name, he reveals his essential, inner Villager.

First, he gives Caribou Barbie an undue amount of respect:

But Palin's existence in this debate does not (a) lend her voice any credibility

Ambinder has this ass-backwards: credibility should support the op-ed, not the other way around.

Second, he reveals his taste for Older Beltway Blowhards:

Newt Gingrich is influential by rights; he's done the work, come up with original ideas, and been in the trenches.

REP. JOE WILSON (R-SC) SHOULD APOLOGIZE

After Pres. Obama said this:

There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false

he yelled out "You lie"

BECK TRIED BUT FAILED WITH SUNSTEIN

The cloture motion passed and Sunstein will now get a floor vote.

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 111^th Congress - 1^st Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Question: On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Nomination of Cass R. Sunstein, to be Administrator of the Office of Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget )
Vote Number:	273	Vote Date:	September 9, 2009, 05:13 PM
Required For Majority:	3/5	Vote Result:	Cloture Motion Agreed to
Nomination Number:	PN323
Nomination Description:	Cass R. Sunstein, of Massachusetts, to be Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget

Vote Counts:	YEAs	63
	NAYs	35

CONTRA BECK

David Weigel at The Washington Independent has a nice summary of the faux outrage over Cass Sunstein and includes a number of conservatives and libertarians who support Sunstein's nomination:

On January 8, The Wall Street Journal broke the news that Harvard Law School Professor Cass Sunstein would be nominated to run the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. ... “[Sunstein's] writings on regulation and the herd mentality deserve a voice in the incoming Administration,” the newspaper’s editorial board wrote, in one of vanishingly few positive assessments it has given Barack Obama’s White House. “Mr. Sunstein brings important qualifications to [the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs], and Mr. Obama has made a savvy choice in putting him there.” The editorial’s headline emphasized just what a happy surprise the appointment had been: “A Regulator With Promise – Really.”

In January, the libertarian blogger and law professor Glenn Reynolds wrote a hearty endorsement of Sunstein, telling readers that the nomination “shows that the Obama Administration is perhaps willing to look at new and less intrusive approaches to regulation.” ... “I think he should be confirmed,” Reynolds told TWI.

Richard Epstein, a libertarian-leaning law professor at the University of Chicago who edited a book about the 2000 election with Sunstein, told TWI that he supported Sunstein’s nomination “notwithstanding the many substantive disagreements between us.” “The Beck stuff,” said Epstein, “is well over the top.”

HM, MAYBE DRUDGE HAS SEEN HIS BEST DAYS

I was concerned before that the Drudge Report may be making a comeback, especially since Fats, Sean and Foamer seemed to be referencing him more often. Today, there are a couple of reports that Drudge's influence has still not come back to his heyday years of the Clinton presidency. The Columbia Journalism Review noted that his Internet ranking no longer leads the pack:

As of this writing, Alexa, Amazon’s Web site counter, lists Drudge as the 704th most popular site on the Internet. (Politico is 2,078 and The Huffington Post is 331.) Compete.com, which tracks Web traffic over time, tells a fuller story: in June of 2008, all three sites had around two million unique visitors. Since then, The Huffington Post’s numbers have soared, reaching 6.7 million in June. Drudge and Politico have both seen their traffic rise slightly, yet remain under the three million mark monthly.

GREAT FOR JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR!!!

I have never understood the reasoning behind granting a corporation the rights of an individual and I'm glad that someone on the Supreme Court feels the same way.

Analysis: Two precedents in jeopardy
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 11:55 am | Lyle Denniston
SCOTUSBLOG

At another point, Sotomayor said state and federal legislatures for 100 years had been “trying to find that balance” of what to allow and forbid in campaign finance, but that a new shield of constitutional protection for corporations might “cut off that future democratic process.”

She added that the Court’s “error to start with” may have been its decision decades ago to treat corporations as “persons” for constitutional purposes. She wondered if the Court would “be doing more harm than good” with a broad ruling “in a case not involving a for-profit corporation.”

THE AP DOES WELL AGAIN

I'm very pleased that the AP isn't rolling over for the GOP Noise Machine. It's done well on health care and now it points out how silly the wingers were for squawking about Pres. Obama's address to school children.

Analysis: Obama foes contrived back-to-school fuss

By WALTER R. MEARS (AP) – 15 hours ago

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — There may be a lesson plan for grown-ups in the contrived controversy about Barack Obama's back-to-school pep talk to students. It would be to do your homework, just as the president told the pupils.

That way, the people who protested the Obama speech before they knew what was in it would have realized there is nothing unusual about a president appearing at a public school as the classroom year begins. The previous three Republicans have and there wasn't any stir, aside from some Democratic nitpicking about White House expenses, proving that neither party has a monopoly on pettiness. It was routine. As, in the end, Obama's Tuesday talk was.

Then again, many people doing the complaining, and certainly the broadcast talkers and anti-Obama bloggers who fomented the whole business, were not looking for information or for reasons not to make a fuss. They wanted one, and got it.

BECK'S NEXT TARGET: CASS SUNSTEIN

Sunstein has passed his committee hearings but three GOP senators have put a hold on a floor vote. On his radio show today, Beck begins shooting at him and mentions a lot of things that he feels disqualify Sunstein from holding office. My favorite Beck line so far: "This is a guy who thinks rats should have attorneys." He believes that Sunstein is also a threat our 2nd Amendment right to bear arms.

Beck wants his listeners to call their senators and urge them to vote against confirmation.

ARE THERE MORE LIBERTARIANS NOW?

I don't know how to get a real count but a fair number of posters on Politico seem to be in love with the Free Market Fairy.

JOINING FORCES

GOP politicians are climbing on Beck's bandwagon and Hannity has also decided he needs to join his nutty comrade, so we should expect a lot of inflammatory smears about more "czars" in the future.

Let's remind people of these politicians next year.

THREADS

I'm trying to get an understanding of who the teabaggers are but it's difficult because there are so may different threads in the tapestry. There are people who complain about high taxes and there are people who think all taxation is theft. There are people who think government run healthcare is Communism but they are on Medicare and happy with it. There are people who claim the government can't run anything yet they want to increase the defense budget. There are people who think socialism is anti-Christian yet claim to be familiar with the Bible. There are people who glorify the Free Market Fairy and ignore the fact that the Masters of the Universe came close to creating a world-wide depression.

A PROMINENT HEALTH CARE WHISTLE BLOWER

Why doesn't he get the same attention as lying whore Betsy McCaughey?

Wendell Potter: The Making of a Health-Care Whistleblower
By Kate Pickert Monday, Sep. 07, 2009
TIME Magazine

The former head of corporate communications for health insurance giant Cigna, Potter turned against his old colleagues in June to testify before a Congressional committee about what he viewed as the health insurance industry's "duplicitous" behavior in the current health reform debate. In his testimony, Potter outlined specific techniques insurers employ to "dump the sick" and protect stock price at all costs.

BECK LIES AGAIN ABOUT CASS SUNSTEIN

On his radio show, he said Cass Sunstein thinks it's OK to take organs from anyone who has died without their prior consent. In fact, Sunstein has merely suggested that we change our current system:

U.S. law assumes citizens opt-out of organ donation unless they specifically select it on their driver’s license, living will, or other legal documentation.

In his 2008 book "Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness," Sunstein argues that changing to policy of "presumed consent" — assuming everyone is a donor unless they "easily register" not to be — would "save many lives while also preserving freedom."

People would still have a choice to donate or not.

BECK PLAYS ANOTHER FEAR CARD

On his radio show, he's asked his audience twice (so far, it's only about 1:25 into his show) to pray for the safety of himself, his family and his employees. He apparently fears retribution over the resignation of Van Jones.

DRUDGICO GIVES A LYING WHORE OP-ED SPACE

Sen. DeMint, who just wants to destroy Pres. Obama, was given space to lie about health care reform. The lies started in his 1st sentence:

As a matter of raw partisan politics, President Barack Obama and the Democrat Congress may have no choice but to resort to the “nuclear option” to pass their increasingly unpopular plan to take over American health care.

The real "nuclear option" was the GOP's threat to prohibit filibusters over judicial nominees. Reconciliation is a standard Senate practice and was used to pass budget bills in 2001, 2003 and 2005.

REP. BROUN AND BECK

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) spent a few minutes on Beck's radio show and repeated the mantra that we need to get back to the Constitution and get the Federal government out of the everyday lives of people. Broun is also one of the barbarians who believes global warming is a hoax.

RADIO TIDBITS

This is from the front page of one my local wingnut radio stations, KNST:



Hannity has been talking about more investigations of the "radical" czars and it's clear he wants more scalps. He personally named Holdren, Sunstein and Harold Koh as suspects and had Aaron Klein of WND. Klein began the attack on Jones last April and is a high-grade wingnut hack.

Hannity also spoke of how the MSM's lack of coverage on Jones is another sign that the MSM can't be trusted, thus reinforcing a favorite wingnut meme.

I noted before that wingnut radio often airs political comedy skits during breaks and some of them have been played during Hannity's show. Given how popular his show is supposed to be, that may be another indication that the number of hard core listeners has dramatically declined, as Medved claimed.

Back in March, the Heritage Foundation had about 415K members. Today, Hannity mentioned that membership is now at 510K, an increase of about 95K over the last 7 months.

Aaron Klein repeated his attacks on Van Jones and said Jones had a "Communist/Leninist/Marxist" agenda. Hannity brought up 3 other advisors (mentioned above) and said this was more evidence that Pres. Obama is a radical. Klein said Jones was the "tip of the iceberg" and called for an investigation into Valerie Jarrett and several others, including David Axelrod.

BECK IS WORSE THAN THE SWINE FLU

(h/t Kevin Drum)

I've heard Glenn Beck state several times that the Apollo Alliance wrote the stimulus bill and that's why the bill gives almost all of its fundS to Democrat voting blocs. I didn't hear him say anything linking Apollo to health care reform but one of the rubes who believes Beck did that all by himself.

Who Is Van Jones?
By Pareene, 12:44 PM on Fri Sep 4 2009, 20,264 views
Gawker.com

Here is the message machine in its platonic form: Glenn Beck introduces his audience to a group Jones once belonged to called "The Apollo Alliance" on August 24th. 72 hours later a constituent is asking his (Republican) representative if this Apollo Alliance wrote the health care bill. The Rep has no idea what the guy is talking about, but the rest of the audience certainly does ("Van Jones!" they shout).

I'M NOT AN ISOLATIONIST...

but when I read something like this coming on top of more failure in Afghanistan, isolationism starts to look more palatable.

Anti-Americanism rises in Pakistan over U.S. motives
By Saeed Shah | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Monday, September 7, 2009

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — For weeks now, the Pakistani media have portrayed America, its military and defense contractors in the darkest of lights, all part of an apparent campaign of anti-American vilification that is sweeping the country and, according to some, is putting American lives at risk.

A survey last month for international broadcaster al Jazeera by Gallup Pakistan found that 59 percent of Pakistanis felt the greatest threat to the country was the United States. A separate survey in August by the Pew Research Center, an independent pollster based in Washington, recorded that 64 percent of the Pakistani public regards the U.S. "as an enemy" and only 9 percent believe it to be a partner.

SAME SONG, 73 YEARS LATER

I noted below a critique of the New Deal by a reactionary and the wingers are using the same kind of argument today:

#2765
Sep. 7, 2009 - 7:42 PM EST
dale954: Sep. 7, 2009 - 7:32 PM EST

Everyone has a right to an attorney and that doesn't divide the county



Attorneys are a big part of the problem.

The middle class which is already shrinking, will shrink even further.

The burden of most of these social policies comes on the backs of hardworking middle class people.

Just watch and see the future...we already have the next generation of slackers upon us!

Everyone has a right to go out and work for their healthcare..why should someone who works parttime get the same benefits as I who work full time? Why should someone who does not work at all get those benefits.

Initiative has been taking out the american dream!

It is to enable those who do not want to work and cripple those of us who do!

TALK RADIO INCOME?

On more than one of my local wingnut radio stations (KNST, KQTH, KVOI), instead of commercials during all the breaks, some breaks have little political comedies about McCain, Kerry, Gore, Bill Clinton and some liberal issues. These aren't identified as being paid for by anyone, so I'm wondering if they get any income from these spots.

KVOI runs spots by Bruce Ash, a member of the RNC, but at least he identifies himself by name.

HEADS I WIN, TAILS YOU LOSE

The wingers are up to their old tricks. Now that Pres. Obama released the text of his school speech, some of them, such as Tammy Bruce and this guy, are claiming victory for changing the speech.

TAMMY BRUCE IS STILL IGNORANT

I'm listening to her internet broadcast and she just said that Cass Sunstein may be in a position that requires Senate confirmation. NEWSFLASH: Sunstein "cruised through" the confirmation hearing this summer.

She also said that she will be on Glenn Beck's TV show tomorrow.

I THINK IT'S TOO LATE FOR US

We can't seem to stop killing Afghani civilians and now we even terrorize people in hospitals. I don't think any change in strategy can overcome the years of killing.

THE POLICE HAVE ANOTHER VICTORY IN THE WOT

I still recall the wingers lambasting Sen. Kerry for his assertion that terrorism is primarily a police problem so when I come across news that police forces busted a terrorist ring, I post there here.

Three guilty of airline bomb plot
BBC
Page last updated at 18:22 GMT, Monday, 7 September 2009 19:22 UK

Police installed a hidden camera in the Walthamstow flat used as a bomb factory and saw both Ahmed Ali and Hussain recording jihadist suicide videos denouncing the West.

In his, Ahmed Ali warned the British public to expect "floods of martyr operations" that would leave body parts scattered in the streets.

The head of the Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Command, Deputy Assistant Commissioner John McDowell, said officers had to balance the desire to collect sufficient evidence with the need to step in before the plans could be put into action.

WE'RE OH-FER-TWO

First, we gave some credence to the "death panel" smear by removing a section of one of the Senate's two health care bills. Then, we give some credence to krazie Glenn Beck by not standing by Van Jones. I'm worried that we've given the krazies enough evidence to support their claims.

GLENN BECK IS STOKED!

Now that he's gotten rid of Van Jones, he tells Politico that there are others who also have to go:

"I continue to be amazed by the power of everyday Americans to initiate change in our government through honest questioning, and judging by the other radicals in the administration, I expect that questioning to continue for the foreseeable future."

David Brock knows that giving in to freaks like Beck is a really bad move:

"As we've seen before, succumbing to these types of propaganda attacks from the right wing only emboldens the aggressors. This controversy will go away and they will trump up another one tomorrow,” said David Brock, founder and chairman of Media Matters for America, a group that has taken on conservative commentators. “No good comes from appeasing a lunatic bully like Glenn Beck."

IRAQ AND SPREADING FREEDOM

Once in a while, I still come across the claim by some wingers that the primary justification for the war in Iraq was spreading democracy. These two NRO posts should put a nail in that argument:

Not So Fast
A response to Andy McCarthy on the democracy project.

By Mark R. Levin
September 4, 2009 12:00 PM
National Review Online


The decision to invade Iraq was not motivated exclusively or even primarily by the democracy project. Indeed, the Bush administration’s case to the international community, presented over a period of months, was mostly based on national- and international-security arguments.

Andy McCarthy replied to Levin and said he agreed:

Mark's points on the George Will Fray [Andy McCarthy]

Mark is at pains to point out that democracy promotion was not the reason we went to Iraq. That has been my contention all along. I’ve respectfully disagreed with the argument, most forcefully made by the great Norman Podhoretz, that democratization was a principal aim of the war in Iraq.

JANE HAMSHER HAS A GREAT POINT

In a post discussing the resignation of Van Jones and the marginalization of liberals in the Obama Administration, she reminds us that we dropped the ball on the bailouts:

When the White House met with bankers after the AIG scandal and they said they didn't want to be criticized for getting huge bonuses paid for by taxpayers, the White House complied and "cooled their rhetoric." The President told the public that Timothy Geithner had been instructed to do everything in his power to claw back those bonuses, and the House passed a bill doing just that. But it died in the Senate.

You remember all those campaigns by the unions, by the online groups, by liberal economics and finance organizations pushing the Senate to take it up?

Yeah, me either.

Which means that the teabaggers were in perfect position to harvest all of the discontent over the bank bailout, and no coherent liberal critique was offered. I heard it over and over again -- if you wanted to criticize the White House on financial issues, your institutional funding would dry up instantly.

We had a great opportunity to turn this discontent with the bailouts into support for a progressive agenda but it's gone now.

MORE HISTORY I DIDN'T KNOW

You may recall that wingers have been defending Sen. Joe McCarthy for decades, beginning with Buckley & Bozell in 1953 and going on to Ann Coulter in 2003. What I didn't realize was that McCarthy didn't expose ANYONE at all...

McCarthy was a quiet and undistinguished senator until February 1950, when his public charge that 205 Communists had infiltrated the State Department created a furor and catapulted him into headlines across the country. Upon subsequently testifying before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, he proved unable to produce the name of a single “card-carrying Communist” in any government department.

McCarthy was reelected in 1952 and obtained the chairmanship of the Government Committee on Operations of the Senate and of its permanent subcommittee on investigations. For the next two years he was constantly in the spotlight, investigating various government departments and questioning innumerable witnesses about their suspected Communist affiliations. Although he failed to make a plausible case against anyone

SOURCE:
McCarthy, Joseph R.. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved September 6, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9049641

LIKE OTHERS AT FAUX NEWS, BECK'S GOT AN OLDER AUDIENCE

TVNEWSER has the Nielsen ratings for Thursday, Sept. 3rd and Glenn Beck's show has a total of 2865K viewers but only 664 in the 25-54 demographic. This is about the same percentage as the rest of the FAUX News whores get.

A BONE OR A BEGINNING?

The wingers are pretty excited about the resignation of Van Jones:

and if you read the comments on this FAUX Nation thread, the resignation seems to have whetted their appetite for more.

THIS IS FRIGGING GREAT!

There are no "death panels" but the financial engineers on Wall Street have something even better - DEATH BONDS. Has anybody on the Street thought about the "optics" of this?

Wall Street Pursues Profit in Bundles of Life Insurance
By JENNY ANDERSON
Published: September 5, 2009
NY Times

The bankers plan to buy “life settlements,” life insurance policies that ill and elderly people sell for cash — $400,000 for a $1 million policy, say, depending on the life expectancy of the insured person. Then they plan to “securitize” these policies, in Wall Street jargon, by packaging hundreds or thousands together into bonds. They will then resell those bonds to investors, like big pension funds, who will receive the payouts when people with the insurance die.

REPORTING ON VAN JONES'S RESIGNATION

I've heard 3-4 radio reports about the resignation and none of them mentioned the wilder accusations that Glenn Beck made against Jones. The reports, like this one, mentioned that he used a "crude epithet" to describe Republicans and/or signed a truther petition about 9-11 but no mention that he's an unrepentant Communist.