The Difference

... between Liberals and Rightwingers...

Well over 100,000 people were killed during the recent earthquake in Haiti. The country is in ruins. And a telethon to benefit Haitian relief aired this evening. Liberal actors and musicians who donated huge amounts of money also gave their time. We saw host George Clooney, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, John Legend, Coldplay, Shakira, Dave Matthews and others. Answering pledge phones were Meg Ryan, Ringo Starr, Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Steven Spielberg, Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks, Matt Damon.

Where are the rightwingers?

The telethon was carried on broadcast networks CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox and PBS. It was on cable networks including MTV, BET, VH1, Fuse, National Geographic Channel, Sleuth, Oxygen, Comedy Central, TNT, E!, Style, and others.

News networks CNN and msnbc broke from their regular format and carried the telethon as well.

The rightwing Fox News Channel chose not to carry the telethon. They ran their regular hateful Obama-bashing programming. Rightwing blowhard Rush Limbaugh specifically urged his listeners not to donate any money to Haitian relief.

The Difference could not be more stark.

Wake Up Call for Democrats

In Massachusetts last night, Scott Brown (R) beat Martha Coakley (D), the lackluster candidate with the poorly-run campaign, to win the Senate seat held for almost a half century by Ted Kennedy (D). It was predicted to happen for more than a week before the election. And I'm almost glad it did.

This was not about health care; Massachusetts already has a more liberal health care program than is being considered in Congress. Almost 99% of Massachusetts residents are already covered! It was not about wanting a Republican; Brown never identified with the Republican party, but rather with independents, who cast the overwhelming deciding vote. And Brown is, in some respects, rather liberal: he's in favor of gay rights and in favor of a woman's right to choose!

It was mainly about voters being disgusted with the status quo: not enough of the change that was promised. Yes, President Obama inherited the biggest mess of any president of our lifetime. But the fact that the economy is mending so slowly, and unemployment remains a problem added to the voters' frustration. Even though the exorbitant bailouts began during the Bush administration, people seeing arrogant Wall Street failures receiving millions in bonuses leaves voters justifiably angry.

Is it better to lose one Senate seat now than dozens in both Houses in November? Of course, if something is learned from the experience and changes are made. Congress and the President must work together to accomplish some form of health care, and get the economy back on track. Fight against the banks and their obscene bonuses and fight for jobs. Let Americans know that the Democrats are really on their side and not fighting for multi-billion dollar corporations as the Republicans are. Vote together to accomplish goals. Forget working with Republicans. They won't go along with anything. Their only goal is to make the Democrats fail and regain the majority.

One thing Republicans are good at is sticking together. No matter how ridiculous their ideas were, no matter how low Bush and Cheney's approval ratings were (28% and 17% respectively), they marched in lockstep.

Is it fair to expect a complete turnaround in President Obama's first year after 8 years of neglect and destructive policies? Of course not, but that's where we are right now.

In November, a continued anti-incumbent mood could spell disaster for hundreds of Republicans as well as Democrats in the House and Senate.

Thanks But No Thanks on That "Candidate To Nowhere"

Another dream shattered. Hers and mine.

We wanted Sarah Palin to run for president in 2012, I mean really wanted her to run, but it looks like that won't happen. America says "I'll pass" on that one. And if she did decide to run, she'd have to quit her Fox Comedy Channel expert opinionater status. And we know that Sarah is not a quitter!

From CBS News:

When the results are split out by party, 56 percent of Republicans say they do not want her to seek the office and 30 percent do. Meanwhile, 88 percent of Democrats do not want her to run. Among independents, 65 percent do not want her to run and 25 percent do. The poll also finds that more people view Palin negatively than positively and that her book tour did not improve overall views of her. However, she is a little better-known now than she was last fall, and both favorable and unfavorable ratings of her have increased slightly.

Oh Yeah, We Can't Forget Crazy Old Uncle Pat

He gets just slightly more bizarre with every new candle he blows out on his birthday cake. The highly righteous right wing nut job and Christian leader, Pat Robertson, knows why Haiti was hit with this intense earthquake recently, killing hundreds of thousands of men, women, children and animals. It's because they made a deal with the devil. See? Hope that clears it up for you.

Here's a very short article with details:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8460520.stm

He'll Say Anything to Get Attention

He's become the bloated male version of Ann Coulter. ("Male version?" Isn't that redundant?) He'll say any outrageous thing so people will pay attention, even if it makes him and his far right wingnut followers look even more foolish than usual.

With hundreds of thousands dead from the recent earthquake in Haiti, Rush Limbaugh claims the only reason President Obama is sending aid to Haiti is "to boost his credibility with the black community." Yeah, I guess every US President and every world leader who sends emergency disaster relief anywhere in the world does it to score political points.

Oh, and the genius also discouraged his listeners from making donations. "We've already donated to Haiti," he said. "It's called the U.S. income tax."

One might think you'd have to be high on Oxycontin or something to purposely make yourself sound that foolish.

Before you get angry, realize that Limbaugh does a tongue-in-cheek comedy show. His listeners aren't in on the joke, but people who are a little brighter certainly are. With all the blustery crazies like Glen Beck, Billo, Man Coulter, Sean Hannity, etc, he's got to be over-the-top to get attention. There's nothing to take seriously here. But it's good that he continues to make himself and the Repressive Party look hateful and divisive. We appreciate the good work, Rush!

Republican Jackass of the Week

The award goes to Rudy Giuliani... the man Vice President "O'Biden" accurately described as a man whose every sentence consists of a noun, a verb, and 9/11.

But in typical Republican revisionist history, apparently the US never had a terrorist attack during George W Bush's term. Let me repeat that: there was never an attack under Bush. (Scroll down to the Nov 30 post to see video of Bush's final spokesliar, Dana Perino, who also conveniently forgot about the most deadly terrorist attack and biggest security failure in the history of the United States of America.)

First, Rudy the Red Nosed Liar said there were no attacks; then he said there was one after 9/11; then he said the anthrax attacks were not considered terrorism -- although Bush's own attorney general said they were; etc.

Somehow, probably from watching the Fox Comedy Channel, he magically forgot about 9/11, anthrax, the LAX airport shooting, the Muslim DC sniper, the shoe bomber...........

Watch this one minute video comment from Keith Olbermann.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Right Wing Fake Outrage... Again

The suddenly-politically-correct right wingnuts have become very sensitive toward African Americans lately, believe it or not. At least that's what they're claiming, in their latest attempt to attack a Democrat in Congress, in an election year.

Their latest pretend outrage is against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. In his latest book, Senator Reid himself acknowledges that 2 years ago he said a few things in an awkward way.

Impressed by Barack Obama’s rhetorical skills, Reid offered the opinion that America is ready for a black president who is “light-skinned,” who speaks “with no Negro dialect, unless he wants to have one.”

He was referring to the current climate in America, and accurately describing the situation for an African American running for high office. No one who knows Reid thinks he's the least bit racist. And no black pundit or politician (including President Obama) had anything bad to say about him the last couple of days on any of the cable networks.

Yet the Republicans continue to try to make this an issue (in an election year, of course). They're trying to compare this to when their own Trent Lott said, at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party, “When Strom Thurmond ran for President we voted for him. We’re proud of him! And if the rest of the country had followed our lead we wouldn’t have had all these problems over all these years either.”

Wow. Trent Lott endorses SEGREGATIONIST Strom Thurmond and claims things would have been so much better if we continued segregationist attitudes of the 1940s... and they compare that to Harry Reid ENDORSING the first black president of the United States (albeit in a clumsy, outdated manner).

One endorses a segregationist, the other endorses the first black president.

Now, did any Republicans get this frenzied and scream, "Racist!" when their mouthpiece Rush Limbaugh referred to President Obama as "Barack the Magic Negro"? Or when their other genius mouthpiece Bill O'Reilly ate at Sylvia's -- a restaurant in Harlem -- and mentioned on his radio show how surprised he was that "even though it's run by blacks, with primarily black patronship, there wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, 'mother-f**ker, I want more iced tea.'"

Of course not.

This Just In: Sarah Palin Quits Fox!

Well, not really. We're just gettin' ready for the inevitable. Like when some really old celebrity is ready to kick, the news networks have the obituary piece produced and ready to go.

In What Respect, Char-lee?

She's uninformed, doesn't like to study, can't tell fact from fiction, can't name a newspaper, doesn't know there are 2 Koreas, has no idea what the Federal Reserve Bank is, doesn't know much about politics, history, or anything really, so she's found her niche: at the Fox Comedy News Channel!

It's official. Sarah Palin will be a "contributor," meaning you'll see her constantly like you see Karl Rove, disgraced speaker Newt Gingrich, tax cheat Dick Morris, Frank-the-pasty-opinion-poll-guy and the rest of that bunch. Another far right wingnut on a "very balanced" channel.

Finally, a job she's not underqualified for.

While this is great news for those of us who love comedy, it's bad news politically because if she's pontificatin' on the TV machine, she's not runnin' fer president. And we want her runnin'. You betcha.

"My first guest tonight is Vice President O'Biden. Can I call ya Joe?"

"I can see East Korea from my house."

Underwear Guy "All Lawyered Up"

Well well well... The only thing the rabid right wing mouthpieces have been screaming about lately is whether or not the Nigerian Exploding Underwear Guy should have been tried in a military or civilian court. They claim he's being treated "like an American citizen!" because he's being tried in the American criminal justice system. "That's outrageous!" they scream.

Never mind the fact that George Bush's Shoe Bomber was also tried in exactly the same way -- in the criminal justice system. Never mind the fact that both slipped through the cracks and both were taken down by civilians on their respective planes. Oh no, this is much, much worse, according to the crazy far right, because Obama is the president.

But is there a big difference between the military and civilian court? Apparently not, according to James Cullen, a retired brigadier general who served as a JAG officer.

From the Huffington Post:

There are narrow differences between the legal and interrogation proceedings Abdulmutallab was subjected to and those which would have happened in a military commission.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the suspect would have been granted access to a lawyer if he had been put in a military system. In fact, he may have had easier access to an attorney.

"The military is not some type of Soviet show-trial kangaroo court," said Cullen. "Absolutely he would have gotten a lawyer."

Even in a civil system, authorities can question a suspect without reading them their Miranda rights for a limited amount of time as long as there is "no intention to try the person" and it is "purely for intelligence purposes." This is little different than in a military setting, where -- if the detaining authority wants to prosecute the detainee -- the impetus is on bringing legal counsel into the equation early on. "If you want to prosecute you can't foul up the process," explained Cullen.

Yet Another Republican Hypocrite

This is unbelievable. From Politics Daily:

Christmas was hard on Rep. Mike Coffman's battle-tested body. Not only did the Colorado congressman break his ankle, he also briefly found his foot in his mouth.

Coffman, a former Marine who keeps buff at age 54, was jogging on the golf course bordering his home in Aurora, Colo., when he stumbled on a rock or some other obstruction hidden in the snow. He fell, cracking his ankle.

The congressman and his wife went to an urgent care clinic in a strip mall, where he paid $30 for a temporary cast and a prescription, and later he went to the famed Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail, where he paid $350 for an expert opinion, he told The Denver Post.

"I successfully tested our health care system," he said, with a laugh. "It works,"' he told the Post.

Of course the health care system worked for him, many Coloradans undoubtedly thought when they read the item in Saturday's Post. Coffman, a Republican member of Congress who voted against the health care reform bill in the House last year, is covered by the Cadillac of American health-care plans, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan.

That's why his X-ray, temporary cast and prescription cost him only $30.

Republicans Not Seeking Re-election

Even though it's very unusual for the President's party to hold onto a congressional majority in the midterm elections (only 3 times in 150 years has the same party held the majority), many Republicans are giving up and announcing retirement a full year before elections take place.

You've no doubt heard that Senator Chris Dodd (D) from Connecticut and Byron Dorgan (D) from North Dakota are retiring at the end of the year. But there are SIX Republican Senate incumbents compared to TWO Democratic incumbents retiring; and there are 14 House Republicans calling it quits compared to 10 Democrats. But the media will make it sound like only Democrats are retiring.