REUTERS TROLLS FOR A DRUDGE LINK

This is a preposterous headline & story:

Top Jewish Americans ponder support for Obama
By Eric Johnson

CHICAGO | Sun May 22, 2011 12:31am EDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Some prominent Jewish Americans are rethinking their support for President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election bid after he effectively called on Israel to give back territory it has occupied since 1967 to Palestinians.

The piece mentions right wingers Ed Koch and Mort Zuckerman.

TUSD'S ETHNIC STUDIES PROGRAM

This is a big fuss locally and I noted before that on purely academic grounds it is suspect and on The Inside Track, a local wignut talk show, today I heard a state representative describe the program as "Marxist."  She didn't give any examples to prove her claim but she did refer to John Munger, a local wingnut activist, who wrote (here and here) that aspects of the program were Marxist:  Here are some excerpts from his post:

2) What they did provide was a showpiece of classical Marxist oriented indoctrination of cultural and political oppression, incessant deprecation of anything not “Chicano,” including the US Constitution, capitalism, and European culture. Students are taught that they are part of an oppressed minority of “indigenous” people (how those who are principally Mexican in background are “indigenous to the Southwestern US is not explained), whose lands (California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas) have been stolen by the Europeans and should be taken back as a separate “Chicano” nation they call “Atzlan.”

They want political separation from the US based almost entirely on race and based on a Marxist economic model.

In the meantime they should recognize that capitalism is corrupt and they should work towards complete redistribution of wealth; that everyone is entitled to a home, healthcare, reasonably equal income, etc. Presumably Atzlan would be a place where Communism would finally, and happily, flourish.

Second, the concepts and language in the materials is, frankly, classic Marxist indoctrination based on oppression and inculcation of hatred of anyone European or who might identify themselves as an American.

He expressly highlights the teachings of the “higher phase of communist society” which would solve this inequality. He adds that “we don’t have to get into complicated arguments about exactly how all things will be distributed. It would be an enormous accomplishment to get agreement that the fundamental requirements of existence —food, housing, medical care, education, and work—be distributed according to need.” In his opinion, the “drive for profit is ruthless,” and such concepts have created “terrible human consequences.”

He states that the better alternative is the “ideal of communism—a classless society of equal abundance for all . . . .”

If these quotes are accurate, Munger has something to his argument against the program. I think that these ideas are a bit too sophisticated for high school students but they could be taught in college.

This excerpt from the ethnic studies site confirms my suspicions:

Influenced by the work of scholar Paulo Freire, our lessons follow the framework of critical pedagogy, popular education, and the related participatory action research. The key premise holds that students should be equal partners in the construction of knowledge, identification of social problems, and implementation of solutions to these problems. Freire's concept of "critical literacy" encourages students to adopt "an attitude of creation and re-creation, a self-transformation producing a stance of intervention in one's context" (Freire, 1998, p. 86. [Freire, P. (1998). Education for critical consciousness. New York: The Continuum.]

I read Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed in graduate school back in the late 70s and I didn't think it had much relevance to students who were not in fact real peasants.

THIS REALLY IS ASTOUNDING

(h/t Micah Uetricht at Think Progress)

It's bad enough that House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) spoke with commodities speculators (e.g., thieves) at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange but this statement to them would make Orwell vomit:

CANTOR: To me, it all comes down to the very, very end user that you serve, and those are the customers. Those are the working families who consume, who invest in our economy every single day, and can do so in a competitive posture partly because of what you do to help this economy of ours function.

THE REAL INSULT

No, it wasn't Pres. Obama's thoughts about Israel and the Palestinians, it was Israel's decision to go ahead with 1,500 NEW settlements in East Jerusalem.  From Think Progress:

An “Israeli government committee on Thursday approved the construction of more than 1,500 settler homes in east Jerusalem,” a stunning move that was made shortly before the arrival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the United States. “The prime minister is sacrificing relations with the US for the sake of his loyalty to settlers,” said Israeli lobby group Peace Now.

THE "PRODUCERS" HAD A GREAT YEAR IN 2007

(h/t Thom Hartmann at HuffPo)

and the rest of us got was a lousy housing bubble.  This is from the Wall Street Journal, NOT The Nation.

Pay of Top Earners Erodes Social Security
Fund Expected to Be Exhausted in 2037
BY ELLEN E. SCHULTZ
JULY 21, 2009

Executives and other highly compensated employees now receive more than one-third of all pay in the U.S., according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Social Security Administration data -- without counting billions of dollars more in pay that remains off federal radar screens that measure wages and salaries.

Highly paid employees received nearly $2.1 trillion of the $6.4 trillion in total U.S. pay in 2007, the latest figures available. The compensation numbers don't include incentive stock options, unexercised stock options, unvested restricted ...

Here's a graph from a WSJ blog entry:

MARK LEVIN ON PRES. OBAMA

Today Levin unfavorably compared Obama to Netanyahu and it was mostly more the of same old "community organizer" know-nothing versus a very knowledgeable statesman.  The wingnuts attack on Pres. Obama doesn't seem to have caught on with the general public, to judge by the number of comments on the relevant POLITICO threads.

ANOTHER PRIVATIZATION FAIL

(h/t BuzzFlash)

Privatization didn't work with electricity rates and even with IBM in charge, didn't work for social services in Indiana.  The latter was the brain child of the newest GOP Great White Dope, Mitch "What Budget?" Daniels.

For Mitch Daniels, IBM Poses Bigger Problem Than Planned Parenthood
By Andrew Belonsky Saturday, April 30, 2011
Death + Taxes

The IBM drama began back in December of 2006, when Daniels signed a $1.37 billion contract between Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration and the Armonk, NY-based IBM. Under the privatization deal, IBM’s staff and systems would administer and distribute welfare programs, as well as coordinating recipient calls, a departure from face-to-face meetings, and document imaging.

In addition to canceled or missed meetings with recipients, no provisions were made for disabled citizens who couldn’t communicate by telephone and hundreds of people, including a nun, were inexplicably booted from the system, resulting in the loss of essential benefits.

“The system wasn’t working,” Daniels said in October 2009, when he canceled the contract and blamed IBM for the woes. He then filed a lawsuit for payments to the computer giant. 

Though Indiana originally wanted more than the $1.37 billion it had promised IBM, it has since brought its request down to a mere $437 million, but still insists IBM shoulders the blame for the system’s collapse.

NOT A PEEP FROM THE ISRAEL-FIRSTERS

The wingnuts would've blown a gasket if any foreign leader had the temerity to lecture Pres. Bush.

In Oval Office, Bibi Offers History Lessons to Obama
May 20, 2011 3:44 PM
Political Punch
ABC News

I'M WITH ATRIOS ON THIS ISSUE

That's not really news because I've posted a similar position before but it's nice that someone with a larger audience is bringing this up.

I Remember When

Right after Obama was elected people thought there was a pretty good chance of EFCA passing. I'm not putting that one on Obama, just saying that even with the biggest majority Dems are likely to have, well, ever, they didn't do crap for labor.

by Atrios at 12:41

ANOTHER GLENDA BECK PREDICTION

On his radio show, Beck said Pres. Obama's position on Israel and Palestine will create chaos for the entire world.  This is only a couple of short steps from the End Time and Rapture freakshows.

UPDATE: I just caught a promo on KVOR AM (Colorado Springs) which had a woman claiming that Pres. Obama is an anti-Semite.

WE NEED TO REINSTATE USE OF THE "L" WORD

(h/t Memeo)

Newt Gingrich is in such BIG trouble over his attack on Rep. Paul Ryan's Medicare plan that he was interviewed by Fats Limbaugh!  Given that opportunity, all Gingrich could do was lie by claiming his remarks weren't about Ryan's Medicare plan.

None of the following media outlets have had the courage to say that Gingrich is a LIAR: AP, TIME,  WaPo, USA Today and The Atlantic.

THE #1 GROUP FOR OLD WHITE CONSERVATIVE POLITICIANS?

It could be ABBA because McCain and Gingrich both like "Dancing Queen."

ONE HANNITY CALLER

Yesterday, Hannity took a call from a male who was all for deporting all 11 million or so illegal, mostly Hispanic, immigrants.  His main concern was that there are too many Catholics in America and we need to go back to the time when the Protestant/Catholic ratio was 10:1.

"WHY DOES BARACK OBAMA HATE ISRAEL?"

That's the main question Mark Levin asked in his opening monologue today.  He continued along that path by asserting that Obama has "a Jewish problem" and that Pres. Obama is the single greatest threat to the existence of Israel.


Yesterday, Glenda Beck once again made a comparison to Nazi Germany in the 30s:

"The more this President does,” Beck said. “The more he looks like The New York Times of 1933 or, worse yet, Neville Chamberlain.”

The Tea Party Nation also chimed in:

Obama and Soros' Hatred For Israel Is Infinitely Universal
# Posted by Paul Szemanczky on May 19, 2011 at 5:18pm

Wannabe GOP nominees Pawlenty and Romney also piled on.

This would be a good time to recall Russell Kirk's 1988 observation about some conservatives.

UPDATE: 49 Israel-Firsters signed a petition sent to Netanyahu:

Tim Wildmon
American Family Association

Governor Mike Huckabee

James C. Dobson, Ph.D.
Family Talk

General William G.
“Jerry” Boykin
Kingdom Warriors

Bill McCartney
Chairman, Promise Keepers

Judge Roy Moore
Foundation for Moral Law

Jimmy Draper
President Emeritus
LifeWay Christian Resources

Rev. Rob Schenck
National Clergy Council

Dick & Rich Bott
Bott Radio Network

Jane Hansen–Hoyt
Aglow International

Rabbi Aryeh Spero
Caucus for America

Bishop Earl W. Jackson
STAND AMERICA

Pastor Paul Blair
Reclaiming America for Christ

Rev. Lou Sheldon
Traditional Values Coalition

Rick Joyner
MorningStar Ministries
& The OAK Initiative

Mike & Mickey Gottfried
Team Focus

David & Janet Porter
Faith2Action

Aaron Fruh
Knollwood Church

Don Finto/Tod McDowell
Caleb Company

Messianic Jewish Alliance of
America (MJAA)

Dr. Robert Stearns
Eagle’s Wings

Mathew D. Staver
Dean and Professor of Law
Director of Liberty Center
for Law and Policy

William J. Murray
Religious Freedom Coalition

Raleigh B. Washington
President, Promise Keepers

Dr. Rick Scarborough
Vision America

Christie Glesener
Shofar International

Sue Alt
PeaceMakers International

Don Feder
Syndicated Columnist

Bart Peacher
Friends of Israel

Toward Jerusalem
Council II North America

Bill Federer
American Minute

Paul Keith & Wanda Davis
White Dove Ministries

Che Ahn
Harvest International Ministry

Mike & Pat Reed
Revision Ministries

Rey & Annie Dempsey
Kingdom Life Ministries

Hannele Pardain
Christian Friends of Israel-USA

Mark DeVito
Cornerstone Church

Dick Leggatt
Derek Prince Ministries-USA

Chaplain Gordon
James Klingenschmitt
The Pray in Jesus Name Project

Phillip L. Jauregui
Judicial Action Group

Bruce Johnson
Reedy Creek Baptist Church

Dan & Kay Newberry
Destiny Network Alliance

Les Lawrence
Elisha Vision Ministry

Debra Minotti
Ebenezer Emergency Fund USA

David Kubal
Intercessors for America

James Robison
LIFE Outreach International

Phil Burress
Citizens for Community Values

Chuck D. Pierce
Glory of Zion International

Mike Bickle
International House of Prayer
Kansas City

MORE DISSENSION IN THE GOP

According to Ed Kilgore in The Daily Beast, many " in national Republican circles to delegitimize Iowa on the novel grounds that caucus participants are, well, just a little too crazy."  In particular, there are too many birthers and too many Fundies in Iowa.

RON ZIEGLER WAS A TRUE CONSERVATIVE PIONEER

Decades later, former Press Secretary Scotty McClellan tried a variant of Ziegler's tactic, to no avail.  Now that he's in real bind, Newt Gingrich has decided to also give this inanity a try:

So now Newt has come up with a novel way of handling this. He has proclaimed, "Any ad which quotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood." I certainly hope no one, Democrat or Republican, would stoop to the dirty trick of quoting Newt's words. 

YEAH, IT'S THOSE DAMN HIPPIES!!!

(h/t Atrios)

Hippies as in "sex, drugs and rock & roll."

I was listening to the radio in the background and I caught some of this and I just passed it off as more wingnut nonsense. It's turns out that it's an official stance of the Catholic Church.

Church Report Cites Social Tumult in Priest Scandals
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: May 17, 2011
NY Times

A five-year study commissioned by the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops to provide a definitive answer to what caused the church’s sexual abuse crisis has concluded that neither the all-male celibate priesthood nor homosexuality were to blame.

Instead, the report says, the abuse occurred because priests who were poorly prepared and monitored, and were under stress, landed amid the social and sexual turmoil of the 1960s and ’70s.

This is one rebuttal given in the Times article to this "dirty stinking hippies" report:

Kristine Ward, the chairwoman of the National Survivor Advocates Coalition, said the cultural explanation did not appear to explain why abuse cases within the Catholic church have shaken places from Australia and Ireland to South America. “Does the culture of the U.S. in the 1960s explain that? It’s hard to believe,” she said.

Our favorite Faux News Catholic blowhole also weighed in:

William Donohue, president of the Catholic League, a conservative Catholic group, however said he believes permissiveness in the church in the 1960s and 1970s - particularly at seminaries - had been a significant reason for the rise in sexual abuse. Mr. Donohue said that while he generally supported the report’s findings, he believed that the study seemed to have purposefully avoided linking abuse cases with the increase in the number of gay men who became priests during the 1960s and 1970s. “The authors go through all sorts of contortions to deny the obvious - that obviously, homosexuality was at work,” Mr. Donohue said.

THIS PERSON HAS PLENTY OF COMPANY...

A Secret Service agent was assigned to monitor a bit of FAUX News and tweeted his reaction on the SS's official Twitter account:

"Had to monitor Fox for a story. Can't. Deal. With. The. Blathering."

WHAT HASN'T BEEN ADDRESSED ABOUT NEWT & MEET THE PRESS

David Gregory said this just before Gingrich imploded with the truth:

MR. GREGORY: What about entitlements? The Medicare trust fund, in stories that have come out over the weekend, is now going to be depleted by 2024 , five years earlier than predicted. Do you think that Republicans ought to buck the public opposition and really move forward to completely change Medicare , turn it into a voucher program where you give seniors...

REP. GINGRICH: Right.

MR. GREGORY: ...some premium support and -- so that they can go out and buy private insurance ?

Admitting that a GOP proposal is unpopular cuts against the conservative meme that they comprise 40% of the country, so it's no wonder that as far as I know, none of the gasbags have addressed this telling point.

NOWHERE TO RUN

Newt Gingrich is getting reamed by almost every wingnut gasbag, including Fats Limbaugh, but Bill "Slots" Bennett probably had the best exchange with Newt:

“My advice to you – to salvage your candidacy – is to say, ‘I blew it.’ ‘I just misspoke – people misunderstood me because I misspoke. I said the wrong words and I’m sorry,’ and put this thing behind you. I think that’s your only shot, or I think you are done, Newt. I honestly do. You’ve got to deal with this, because it’s not working. What you’re doing is not working.”

YOU CAN ALSO COUNT JOHN HUNTSMAN OUT

Just like you can ignore Mitch Daniels for these remarks because GOP primary voters don't care much for reality.  Here's what will doom Hunstman:

"I'm not a meteorologist. All I know is 90 percent of the scientists say climate change is occurring. If 90 percent of the oncological community said something was causing cancer we'd listen to them," - Jon Huntsman, in Time.

(h/t Andrew Sullivan)

ONE ATTACK WAS A GIMME

It's no surprise that Rick "Man on Dog" Santorum attacked Newt Gingrich but he also recently attacked John McCain and Mitt Romney.   This may raise Santorum's profile among the Baggers but won't help him at all with normal people.

THIS IS FUNNY!

Public Policy Polling has this announcement:

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Trump, Palin would lose even to Kucinich

ANOTHER UNWRITTEN GOP TACTIC

When in serious political trouble, LIE about the facts or, in this case, your opponent.  The NY-26 House district

will have a special election on May 26 and Corwin, the GOP candidate, is in big trouble because the Dems have successfully told the voting public that the GOP wants to gut Medicare and Social Security.  Her solution was to put out an ad falsely claiming that her Dem opponent wants to do the gutting.

A Buffalo, NY paper has reported on this lie by Corwin:

Corwin TV ad accused of making bogus claims
By Jerry Zremski
NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF
Published:May 17, 2011, 7:39 AM

WASHINGTON -- If you believe the TV ad that Jane L. Corwin released Monday, Kathleen C. Hochul is the congressional candidate who wants to cut Medicare and Social Security.

But upon seeing the ad, an independent fact-checking organization and a leading defender of the programs said: Don't believe it.

The ad's central claim is "bogus," said Eugene Kiely, deputy director at FactCheck.org, which describes itself as a "nonpartisan, nonprofit 'consumer advocate' for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics."

The top executive at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare -- which has endorsed Hochul, the Democratic candidate -- said Corwin, the Republican, "has no basis whatsoever to make this claim."

SO MUCH FOR THE CLIMATE DENIALISTS

(h/t Memeo)

Edward Wegman of George Mason University did a study of climate science that was very critical of the research and even charged some climate scientists with plagiarism.  USA Today reports that Wegman's study itself contains plagiarized material and has a faulty analysis of social networks.  It is being withdrawn from publication.  Wegman blames one of his graduate students but the student was not listed as one of the authors. 

This may be mere coincidence but George Mason is also home to a Koch-funded think tank, the Mercatus Center.

BEN STEIN IS BACK TO NORMAL

(h/t Atrios)

Last month I gave him some props for being a realist about our financial difficulties and this month I have to report that that episode was indeed an aberration.  Writing about the IMF Director's arrest, Stein wrote this piece of garbage:

This is a case about the hatred of the have-nots for the haves, and that’s what it’s all about.

This isn't taken out of context - here's the full quote from the original article in the American Spectator:

8.) In what possible way is the price of the hotel room relevant except in every way: this is a case about the hatred of the have-nots for the haves, and that's what it's all about. A man pays $3,000 a night for a hotel room? He's got to be guilty of something. Bring out the guillotine.

40% MY ASS

(h/t Atrios)

David Carr of the NYT wrote a PR piece about the Drudge Report without once mentioning how the major radio gasbags, Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, have been promoting the site since Pres. Obama was elected.  Will Bunch at Media Matters puts Drudge into ideological perspective and includes some interesting data:

For additional perspective, Drudge's 1,612,000 unique visitors for April leaves him off the list of top 25 news sites. Drudge Report would place around 40th in the list of top news sites, well below FoxNews.com with its 24,020,000 uniques and below TheBlaze.com, with its 2,034,000 uniques.

The Blaze is Glenda Beck's "news" site.

WHO'S HAPPY ABOUT THE HUCKSTER NOT RUNNING?

First, Michele Bachmann is because she's gotten more phone calls and donations since Huck announced he won't run, as she told Hannity this afternoon.

Second, the Palinista's seem pretty happy.

MAYBE THIS WILL PUT SOME BANKSTERS IN JAIL

The HuffPo has broken a story about how the 5 biggest mortgage companies defrauded the Federal government.  The cases have been referred to DOJ!!!

Here's the key passage:

The audits conclude that the banks effectively cheated taxpayers by presenting the Federal Housing Administration with false claims: They filed for federal reimbursement on foreclosed homes that sold for less than the outstanding loan balance using defective and faulty documents.

You may ask why did they do this but I think you can guess the answer:

By taking shortcuts in processing troubled borrowers' home loans, the nation's five largest mortgage firms have directly saved themselves more than $20 billion since the housing crisis began in 2007, according to a confidential presentation prepared for state attorneys general by the agency and obtained by The Huffington Post in March.

WATER BOARDING DOESN'T WORK

That's the conclusion I draw from Marc Thiessen's statement about KSM:

Bush aide says KSM counted off seconds during waterboarding
By Carol Rosenberg | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Monday, May 16, 2011

WASHINGTON — A former speech writer for President George W. Bush said Monday that confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed mocked his CIA interrogators during his March 2003 waterboarding sessions by using his fingers to tick off the number of seconds he would be subjected to near drowning.

"He was communicating to his interrogators that he was on to them," Marc Thiessen said during a panel discussion on what role harsh interrogation tactics might have played in developing the intelligence that led to Osama bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Thiessen said Monday that Mohammed knew that agents had to relent after 40 seconds, something he may have divined after undergoing the procedure repeatedly.

Thiessen, who now writes a weekly column for the Washington Post, said he learned of KSM's actions while researching a book that defends the Bush administration's use of harsh interrogation techniques. He referred to Mohammed's waterboard experience as "183 splashes" administered in five separate sessions.

The McClatchy artilce also noted a little more evidence in favor of my interpretation Thiessen's claim:

A different 2005 Justice Department memo noted in a footnote that "after multiple applications of the waterboard, it may become apparent to the detainee that, however frightening the experience may be, it will not result in death." In another footnote, the memo quoted the CIA's Office of Medical Services as saying that "some subjects unquestionably can withstand a large number" of waterboard applications.

OH-FER-TWO

Two Branches of the American government are terribly wrong and it looks like the 3rd one will follow suit:

Supreme Court refuses ‘extraordinary rendition’ torture case
By Kase Wickman
Monday, May 16th, 2011 -- 3:51 pm
The Raw Story

The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it would not hear the case of five men who said they had fallen victim to a Central Intelligence Agency practice called "extraordinary rendition," in which suspects are sent illegally to other countries to be tortured for information.

A San Francisco federal appeals court dismissed the case on a 6-5 vote, which was upheld by the Supreme Court today.

“The government’s interest in national security must be deemed paramount to the interests of private litigants in pursuing civil actions,” acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal argued in court papers, according to Bloomberg.

The nation's highest court said that trying the case would inevitably lead to state secrets being aired.

Beyond this particular case, Congress may soon authorize even broader rights for intelligence gathering. A section of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 would authorize the Executive Branch to "address the continuing and evolving threat posed by these groups," according to The American Prospect, meaning anyone suspected of a terrorist connection, anywhere in the world, would be a fair target for military force or questioning.

OUCH!

Today Mark Levin refused to make a nasty attack on Gingrich yet called Huckebee "HuckaPhoney."  So both Fats and Foamer don't like the Huckster.

UPDATE: Fats Limbaugh also refrained from his usual attack:

Likewise, radio host Rush Limbaugh was close to speechless on Gingrich’s remarks.

“I am not going to justify this. I am not going to explain this,” he said Monday on his show. “The attack on Paul Ryan, the support for an individual mandate in health care? Folks, don’t ask me to explain this. There is no explanation.”

NEXT RODEO SHOW IN JERUSALEM!

Glenda Beck announced today he will hold one of his bogus rallies in Jerusalem on 8/20/2011 and shed tears during the radio show announcement. This is a nice add-on to his gig at CUFI in July.

UPDATE: Mediaite has the video clip.

ZOMBIE CONSERVATIVE LIES

(h/t Kevin Drum)

In 1984, David Osborne wrote a profile of Newt Gingrich and this passage stuck out:

Next, consider the issue of prayer in the schools. When speaking for this cause, Gingrich always describes the goal as "voluntary prayer"—ignoring the fact that students are already free to pray on their own, voluntarily. He maintains that current Supreme Court interpretation of the law does not even allow students to pray before eating their lunches, or to read their Bibles at school—both of which are simply false.

Almost 37 27 years later, I still come across these lies about school prayer.

HUCKABEE SHOULD TAKE NEWT'S ADVICE

Newt suggested that immigrants need to learn more about American history:

“You know, folks often talk about immigration. I always say that to become an American citizen, immigrants ought to have to learn American history. But maybe we should also have a voting standard that says to vote, as a native born American, you should have to learn American history.”

Newt should have told that to Huckabee, who's put out a series of "Hannitized" versions of American history.

MEGHAN McARDLE & HONESTY

(h/t Heather at Crooks & Liars)

Matt Ames has an article attacking McArdle in Alternet and I think the sections that point out how her father greatly benefitted from being a public employee are irrelevant. I do think that this part is a direct hit on her honesty:

But it wasn't until bin Laden created an opportunity that Megan finally got a job -- as an "executive copy girl" for a post-9/11 cleanup crew near the site of the WTC. It was exactly the sort of job that those "personal contacts" can help you get in the "byzantine" world of construction in NYC.

Instead of admitting that she got her first job thanks to daddy's shady connections with the corrupt construction trades, Megan pretended that she took the WTC-cleanup job as a sort of personal penance, a gift to the people of her stricken city: "[I}t was easier to bear it all than it would be working somewhere else, and worrying, and unable to do anything about it."

IS THIS TRUE?

Nicolle Belle at Crooks & Liars excerpts an article from the British Daily Telegraph that has this bit:

On finding Mr Rumsfeld absent from a second meeting, CIA director George Tenet was so angry that he defied a direct order from Miss Rice to sit down and marched out of the meeting, declaring: "This is bullshit."

At the time, Rice was the national security advisor and I didn't think she could give orders the CIA director unless she were relaying them directly from the President.

ZEV CHAFETS IS A SUCK UP

He wrote a puff piece about Fats Limbaugh and has now followed it up with one about Jim Cramer.  Here's all the proof you need:

In 2005 he started “Mad Money,” a show whose premise is that individual investors who do their homework and follow Cramer’s coaching can make money in the stock market. ... Barron’s conceded that Cramer’s advice was “generally smart, his knowledge of individual stocks amazingly detailed” but calculated that his on-air picks trailed the market. This is debatable, since Cramer doesn’t give equal weight to all his recommendations and doesn’t normally tell people when to sell. ... There was also a clip of Cramer seemingly endorsing Bear Stearns, which collapsed shortly thereafter.

Cramer, like virtually every market guru, was vulnerable to this sort of ridicule.

John Stewart DEMOLISHED Cramer and if Chafets can't report that, he's worthless.

NEWT JUST KILLED HIS CHANCES WITH THE BAGGERS AND THE GASBAGS

Gingrich was interviewed today on Meet The Press and said he supported a health insurance mandate:

REP. GINGRICH:I am for people, individuals -- exactly like automobile insurance -- individuals having health insurance and being required to have health insurance . And I am prepared to vote for a voucher system which will give individuals, on a sliding scale, a government subsidy so we insure that everyone as individuals have health insurance.

OF COURSE THEY DON'T MAKE THE CONNECTION

Amy Sullivan at TIME points out that Ayn Rand was an atheist who despised Christianity yet she has a following among conservatives:

* Paul Ryan says Ayn Rand is the reason he entered politics and he requires all staff and interns to read her books. Says Ryan: “Ayn Rand more than anyone else did a fantastic job of explaining the morality of capitalism, the morality of individualism.”
* Clarence Thomas requires his law clerks to watch The Fountainhead, and has said “I tend really to be partial to Ayn Rand.”
* Sen. Ron Johnson, Ryan’s GOP colleague from Wisconsin, calls Atlas Shrugged his “foundational book.”
* Rush Limbaugh calls Ayn Rand “the brilliant writer and novelist.”
* Fox News repeatedly promoted the recently released movie version of Atlas Shrugged, airing the trailer on several shows and interviewing cast members.

Sullivan then notes:

Fortunately for Republicans, most social conservatives haven’t yet made the connection.

It's because Fundies are deliberately ignorant.

BILLY CUNNINGHAM SLAPS A BECKSTER/LEVINITE/SAVAGER

Tonight a male caller tried to claim that Pres. Obama is basically identical with the leaders of the communist tyrannies of the 20th Century and Billy not only told him he was wrong, he hung up on the caller.

I also noticed that his show has some open advertiser time.