Archive for January, 2010
Watch an Arrogant Judd Gregg (R-NH) Flip Out on MSNBC
Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, sounds like a desperate, panicked man in this video, during which he turns into an arrogant bully when asked (this afternoon) to actually name which programs he would cut (yes, a rare thing in the MSN). Oh, and the two people interviewing him are women, MSNBC’s Melissa Francis and Contessa Brewer. Wonder if that — wink, wink — had anything to do with his amazingly condescending, macho attitude.
Oh, and get a load of what Judd said the other day: Hey Americans — Judd Gregg (R-NH) Wants You to Shut Up.
Judd really should consider checking himself in somewhere.
Matt Taibbi on David Brooks, Populism and the Capitalist Economy
HERE’S A MUST-READ
On January 25, conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote an op-ed titled, “The Populist Addiction.“ In it, he took 14 paragraphs to say the same thing we hear all the time from conservatives, that elites control the system and they create all the jobs, so poor, dependent, ungrateful slobs like you and me had better cut the populist anger about the way things are, or we’re going to be living in the woods somewhere:
Hamilton championed capital markets and Lincoln championed banks, not because they loved traders and bankers. They did it because they knew a vibrant capitalist economy would maximize opportunity for poor boys like themselves. They were willing to tolerate the excesses of traders because they understood that no institution is more likely to channel opportunity to new groups and new people than vigorous financial markets.
This week, Matt Taibbi, a writer who I love because (1) I almost always agree with him, and (2) he doesn’t mince words, had a thing or two to say to Brooks in what is a must read: Populism: Just Like Racism!
I think it’ll lift your spirits because Taibbi says so well what so many of us are feeling.
Pat Robertson’s “700 Club” Gets Credit for Helping to Create a Killer
Scott Roeder, the man who murdered Dr. George Tiller in cold blood last year, is on trial in Kansas for that murder as we speak. Roeder took the stand today and credited Pat Robertson’s “700 Club” with stoking his anti-choice rage:
Roeder testified that he attended church with his family when he was younger, but did not consider himself religious until he had a conversion experience while watching the “700 Club” on television in 1992.
The popular show, hosted by Pat Robertson, airs on the Christian Broadcasting Network.
“I was alone in my room,” Roeder said. “That day I did kneel down and accept Christ as my saviour at that time.”
After that, his views on abortion, which he had always considered wrong, became stronger.
Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps”
The trailer for Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps” was released today. Here it is:
The film comes out April 23. If it’s as good as the original “Wall Street,” it should be good. (Only problem is, you have to pay Rupert Murdoch in order to see it.)
Ben Bernanke Has Gotta Go (Con’t)
Bernanke was confirmed this afternoon by the Senate — 70-30.
That’s right folks. George W. Bush’s Federal Reserve Chairman is still with us.
Change you can believe in.
Break Time
From Popular Mechanics — the worlds most interesting and impressive tunnels.
A Tweet of the Day
From TheYoungTurks:
I agree. Robert McDonnell, the new Republican governor of Virginia gave the Republican response to the SOTU last night and it was very good. McDonnell came off as a calm, likable guy; his he didn’t use any hot-button words so he sounded sane and moderate compared to some in the GOP; he brought up God; he had a Black woman and an Asian man standing behind him (implying diversity in the GOP), and a military man wearing lots of metals sitting to his right (see below). It was all for show of course, but I’m sure it appealed to a lot of people. From a marketing standpoint it was definitely “excellent.”
The Collapse of the Nashville Tea Party Convention Continues
Michele Bachmann pulled out this morning. Sarah Palin can’t be far behind, especially now that she has pissed off the Tea Partiers by agreeing to campaign for John McCain.
Does the “Liberal Media” Censor Coverage of Pro-Life Rallies?
I came across this article this morning at the NewAmerican.com: Media Censorship of Pro-Life Rallies Backfiring. It talks about the lack of media coverage of a pro-life rally held last Friday in Washington, D.C. that was attended by “hundreds and thousands of pro-life demonstrators.” It claims the “censorship” is backfiring because participants are filming demonstrations themselves and posting the video on YouTube. Fair point, but I don’t think the pro-lifers are being signled out for special censorship. I just think they’re running into the same wall many of us have run into: the media tends not to cover demonstrations at all, no matter the cause.
If there’s violence, they’ll drop everything and go to it. But peaceful rallies against abortion or, say, a war? No. They aren’t interested. It’s intentional: they don’t want to give us any power because if we have power we might upset the corporate apple cart.
Oops — Check Your Condensed URLs
For those of us who use sites like bit.ly and TinyURL to shorten long URLs, the thought is ever-present that the shortened version they give us might not lead to the site we want. Poor Major Garrett of Faux News. That happened to him in a very embarrassing way last night.
Kim Kardashian v. The Little People
Gee, us little people must be really, really scary and dangerous if someone like Kim Kardashian has to tool around in an armored car.
Let them eat cake, huh?
At the SOTU — Live Blogging
Republicans aren’t going to clap or stand for anything — turn your TV on and see for yourself — including for a remark by Obama that the banks are going to have to pay back some of the loans we gave them.
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Ooop. No sooner do I put this post up than Obama says “The true engine of this economy will always be business,” and the R’s go nuts.
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Obama proposes that we “slash tax breaks” for companies that send jobs overseas and the R’s sit silently.
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Obama says lobbyists are trying to kill banking reform and we’ve got to stop that, and R’s sit and don’t clap.
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Obama says we have to “reform our schools” yet he wants to cut funding for education?
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Obama says he came to Washington to “give the people the government they deserve,” then he goes on about how he has excluded lobbyists from taking a seat in the decision-making process. What?
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After a year of NO from Republicans Obama insists he’s still “trying to change the tone of our politics.” Oy. Give it up.
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Obama is one year into his presidency but he doesn’t seems to have any passion or drive. He’s as dead-sounding as W. was.
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Let’s include some peace people in the mix of those who sit by the First Lady. Lots of military there tonight.
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Re DADT - “I will work with congress” to get the law repealed. Not enough Obama.
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I wish Nancy Pelosi would quit smiling.
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Ugh, the speech is over and Tweetie’s on. Gotta go change the channel.
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Overall? Uninspiring and disappointing. I hoped to see way more fire from a president who’s entering his second year — early in the potential length of a presidency — but I didn’t see it.
Good night.
POTUS Entering the Chamber
I’m old enough to remember when people gasped when a black man kissed a white woman.
Chris Matthews is Insane
He said this just now in the lead up to the SOTU: “The Democrats suffer from what they gave this country, which is the middle class.”
What?
W-H-A-T?
17-Year-Old Girl Pulled From Rubble in Haiti Today
A 17-year-old girl was pulled from under a collapsed house in Haiti today.
Can you imagine — I can’t; it’s truly unimaginable — being buried alive for 15 days?
Obama re DADT: Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Word is that Obama will ask for an end to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” tonight.
I’m going to wait and see what he says but I fear that another call to end DADT — which he called for during the campaign but which he hasn’t pushed since — will ring hollow and be patronizing and condescending. What he needs to do is say that he has,
signed an Executive Order banning further military separations based on DADT…
That would be the action we want to see, as opposed to yet more lofty rhetoric.
That would be change we can believe in.
R.I.P. Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn, a wise and compassionate voice, died of a heart attack in Santa Monica, California today.
I had the pleasure and privilege of listening to him just the other day — Friday, or was it Monday? — on David Sirota’s radio show.
He will be missed.
Rest in peace Howard.
You showed us the way but the powers that be in this country didn’t want your voice to be heard. I bet you and God are talkin’ up a storm right now.
Fox News: Obama’s Speech Tonight Will Be Nothing But Empty Promises
This graphic is the headline on FoxNews.com right now:
Get the gist of the message? Obama made a lot of promises last year about job creation and economic recovery and he’s going to say the same thing tonight. Empty promises.
More on That Big Tea Party Convention in Nashville
Not goin’ so well: Some people are demanding a refund and others are urging Sarah Palin to cancel her appearance.
What a mess.
Vote a Corporation Into Congress
If corporations are “persons” then hey, why can’t they run for congress? Oh, they can and they are.
John and Elizabeth Edwards Have Separated
Correction — they have legally separated, i.e., it is far more serious than simply moving into separate residences.
Anyway, John, I could throttle you, you scum.
Elizabeth, all the best.
The DCCC Takes on Fox
Having worked on Outfoxed in 2004 and on the Newshounds blog from 2004 through 2008, the idea that there is any question as to whether Fox News shills for the right wing and distorts facts at will in order to push its agenda, is just silly. Seems to me that has been proven over and over agin.
Nonetheless, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee seems to be firing people up with a “Fact Check Fox” campaign, “letting them debunk/get debunkings of Fox News spin on the State of the Union.”
Could be interesting. Maybe I’ll check it out later tonight.
