5 Crazy Right-Wing Freak-Outs in Just One Glorious Week

By Brad Reed, AlterNet. Posted October 5, 2009.

For reasons that I don’t understand -- perhaps it’s subconscious karmic payback for murdering children in a past life -- I feel compelled to read a lot of right-wing blogs.

The wonderful thing about them is the window they offer into the pulsing id of the conservative movement -- up close and personal and without the filters of focus groups or dog whistles. For instance, do you think that Glenn Beck is insane? Oh puh-lease. Beck has precisely nothing on your typical Red State diarist or NewsMax columnist, each of whom is likely to support abolishing women’s suffrage or launching a military coup against Obama at any given time.

To give you an idea of the level of madness we’re looking at here, I’ve decided to share with you the five stupidest, craziest and most inflammatory things that right-wingers said over the span of a single week. When you read these things, keep in mind that these are the sorts of people Republican officials have to interact with on a regular basis. Indeed, the following five crazed tirades are almost enough to make you feel a little sorry for those staffers. Most of them came to Washington to act as soulless money funnels for corporate interests. Instead, they end up spending much of their time taking angry calls from some screamer who wants to privatize his local police force.

Number 5: John Derbyshire takes a bold stand against women’s suffrage

Last week, John Derbyshire, the National Review’s resident British crank, outlined a bold strategy to help Republicans return to power: by denying women the right to vote. The Derb explained that the trouble with women is that “they want someone to nurture, they want someone to help raise their kids, and if men aren’t inclined to do it… then they’d like the state to do it for them.” In other words, uterus-afflicted individuals should be barred from voting because they’re more likely to vote for people who disagree with John Derbyshire. Democracy in action!

Derb tried to show that he wasn’t completely out to lunch, however, by acknowledging that it’s highly unlikely that women will ever give up their right to vote.  Of course, if women ever did find their right to vote repealed someday, Derb also said that he “wouldn’t lose a minute’s sleep” over it.

What is refreshing about Derbyshire is that he doesn’t try to hide his bigotry or to disguise it with code words – he just has it right out there. Derbyshire has been known to openly game-plan future race wars, to declare that blacks and Latinos are too stupid to educate and to write entire columns declaring his hatred for Chelsea Clinton back when she was just 20 years old. So in this respect, it’s not shocking that Derbyshire opposes women’s suffrage. What’s shocking is that it took him this long to say it.

Number 4: Erick Erickson threatens to dissolve his own town’s police department

Erick Erickson, the founder and managing editor of RedState.com, has a second gig as a city councilor in his hometown of Macon, Georgia. And apparently, the police force in that town is upset by low pay and long hours and they want to form a union. Erickson’s response? He threatens to simply abolish the entire department!

Writing at the PeachPundit blog, Erickson said that he actually asked the city attorney about the possibility of dissolving the police department. The attorney replied that police unions in the state of Georgia cannot strike or collectively bargain, meaning that any union the police formed would be essentially worthless. This didn’t deter Erickson entirely, however, as he said he’d still rather “contract out to the sheriff’s office than see a union come in” because unions “breed inefficiency, corruption, and taint.”

Regardless of how this ultimately turns out, you have to seriously question the intelligence of a man who talks openly of canning his entire police department. It’s almost as if he’s begging to be pulled over and subjected to multiple anal cavity searches.

Click on the link below to read the entire story.

5 Crazy Right-Wing Freak-Outs in Just One Glorious Week | | AlterNet

A New Campaign: Indict Bush Now!

Hold Bush and His Joint Co-Conspirators Criminally Accountable!

You can join the movement to indict Bush Administration officials who committed war crimes, "legalized" torture, and engaged in massive illegal spying and wiretapping against the American people. Click this link if you support the indictment of George W. Bush and other high officials.

The rule of law, justice, and basic integrity require the indictment for criminal wrongdoing of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, and other high officials of the former Bush Administration.  

The media establishment is surprised by the ground swell of support from the grassroots for the pursuit of individuals who committed grievous crimes during the Bush era.
We are not surprised that the people are demanding accountability for those who committed wars of aggression, torture, and subverted the Constitution and thus violated not only their oaths of office but domestic and international law.

These crimes are not abstract nor can they be ignored as belonging to a distant past. Millions of people have suffered and continue to suffer because of the criminal invasion of Iraq.

The vital resources of the country have been drained in a criminal enterprise benefiting war profiteers. The people know of and are outraged by the billions of dollars in profit made by Dick Cheney's Halliburton and that is only the tip of the iceberg.

The pressure is building. President Obama said at his press conference this week, "My view is also that nobody's above the law, and if there are clear instances of wrongdoing, that people should be prosecuted just like any ordinary citizen," when asked about the pursuit of  Bush Administration officials for criminal wrongdoing.

In a new poll, an astounding 2/3 of the American public favors investigating whether the Bush Administration broke the law. "A majority of respondents said a probe should be launched into allegations that the Bush team used torture...[and] investigators also should look into the former President's program of wiretapping U.S. citizens without first securing court-issued warrants." (AFP 2/12/09)

The Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, John Conyers, and the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy, are both proposing to launch investigations into the possibilities of criminal conduct by high officials in the Bush Administration.

Six years ago, Ramsey Clark launched the movement to Impeach Bush. You and more than a million other people came forward to demand the impeachment of Bush and other high ranking officials at VoteToImpeach and ImpeachBush. It was this movement with its principled and primary demand for accountability that changed the political climate in the United States. It broke open the media blockade with newspapers ads calling for impeachment. Community organizing, person to person outreach, and demonstrations shifted the debate and helped turn the tide against the impunity of Bush's crimes. He has been forced to leave office in disgrace.

A Criminal Indictment is Necessary

Now we are taking the next step in the pursuit of protecting and saving the Constitution. Justice will have no meaning without the prosecution of Bush, Cheney and others for their criminal acts. It would also have a resounding effect on all those who would dare to subvert the Constitution of the U.S., take the country into a war of aggression and trash the economy and the fundamental human rights of people in the U.S. and around the globe.

Sign the new petition demanding that Bush and Co. be indicted now. Get everyone you know to sign. We had to fight an uphill battle to bring articles of impeachment to the floor of Congress - but we did it! If you signed for impeachment and you believe indictment is a necessity - please take one moment to sign now! We need everyone's voices, coming together to be heard. Now is the time to act.

We have launched a major new initiative that will include grassroots pressure on Congress, press conferences, petitions, newspaper ads, rallies and mass demonstrations in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere

We can force the prosecution of Bush, Cheney and the other criminals.  Please take action to make it happen.

IndictBushNow.org:

Technorati Tags: activsm,actions,IndictBushNow.org,Bush Administration,Cheney,Bush,petitions

Video:Bill Maher Talks about Ending the American Empire.

America has 500,000 troops all over the world, from Germany to South Korea.
Bill Maher argument is that the US has no business policing the planet.
He is right....



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Paul Craig Roberts: The War on Terror is a Hoax

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

According to US government propaganda, terrorist cells are spread throughout America, making it necessary for the government to spy on all Americans and violate most other constitutional protections. Among President Bush’s last words as he left office was the warning that America would soon be struck again by Muslim terrorists.

If America were infected with terrorists, we would not need the government to tell us. We would know it from events. As there are no events, the US government substitutes warnings in order to keep alive the fear that causes the public to accept pointless wars, the infringement of civil liberty, national ID cards, and inconveniences and harassments when they fly.

The most obvious indication that there are no terrorist cells is that not a single neocon has been assassinated.

I do not approve of assassinations, and am ashamed of my country’s government for engaging in political assassination. The US and Israel have set a very bad example for al Qaeda to follow.

The US deals with al Qaeda and Taliban by assassinating their leaders, and Israel deals with Hamas by assassinating its leaders. It is reasonable to assume that al Qaeda would deal with the instigators and leaders of America’s wars in the Middle East in the same way.

Today every al Qaeda member is aware of the complicity of neoconservatives in the death and devastation inflicted on Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Gaza. Moreover, neocons are highly visible and are soft targets compared to Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. Neocons have been identified in the media for years, and as everyone knows, multiple listings of their names are available online.

Neocons do not have Secret Service protection. Dreadful to contemplate, but it would be child’s play for al Qaeda to assassinate any and every neocon. Yet, neocons move around freely, a good indication that the US does not have a terrorist problem.

If, as neocons constantly allege, terrorists can smuggle nuclear weapons or dirty bombs into the US with which to wreak havoc upon our cities, terrorists can acquire weapons with which to assassinate any neocon or former government official.

Yet, the neocons, who are the Americans most hated by Muslims, remain unscathed.

The “war on terror” is a hoax that fronts for American control of oil pipelines, the profits of the military-security complex, the assault on civil liberty by fomenters of a police state, and Israel’s territorial expansion.
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The Obama Inauguration: Lego-Style

Obama fever has officially hit Legoland. The Carlsbad, CA, park has modified its U.S. Capitol model to illustrate the historic Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama. The display opens to the public January 16, and will stay on through Memorial Day.
Click on the 'read more' to view the entire slideshow. It's quite impressive!
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Give your ideas directly to the President

I thought I’d share an email I got from Valerie Jarrett, Co-Chair of the Obama-Biden Transition Project.

We wanted to tell you about a new feature on Change.gov which lets you bring your ideas directly to the President.
It's called the Citizen's Briefing Book, and it's an online forum where you can share your ideas, and rate or offer comments on the ideas of others.
The best-rated ones will rise to the top, and after the Inauguration, we'll print them out and gather them into a binder like the ones the President receives every day from experts and advisors. If you participate, your idea could be included in the Citizen's Briefing Book to be delivered to President Obama.
Visit the Citizen's Briefing Book now and share your ideas:

Throughout this Transition, a truly inspiring number of citizens have gotten involved. We hope that you remain involved through the Inauguration and beyond.
Thank you,
Valerie
Valerie Jarrett
Co-Chair
Obama-Biden Transition Project

Technorati Tags: actions,activism,Obama-Biden,transition,Valerie Jarrett,Change.gov,government,politics

The Bush Era Has Been an Eight-Year-Long Madoff-Style Ripoff

By Frank Rich, The New York Times - It will be easier for us and Obama to push for a bold agenda if we demand accountability for the robbery and theft of the Bush years.

Three days after the world learned that $50 billion may have disappeared in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, The Times led its front page of Dec. 14 with the revelation of another $50 billion rip-off. This time the vanished loot belonged to American taxpayers. That was our collective contribution to the $117 billion spent (as of mid-2008) on Iraq reconstruction — a sinkhole of corruption, cronyism, incompetence and outright theft that epitomized Bush management at home and abroad.
The source for this news was a near-final draft of an as-yet-unpublished 513-page federal history of this nation-building fiasco. The document was assembled by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction — led by a Bush appointee, no less. It pinpoints, among other transgressions, a governmental Ponzi scheme concocted to bamboozle Americans into believing they were accruing steady dividends on their investment in a “new” Iraq.
The report quotes no less an authority than Colin Powell on how the scam worked. Back in 2003, Powell said, the Defense Department just “kept inventing numbers of Iraqi security forces — the number would jump 20,000 a week! ‘We now have 80,000, we now have 100,000, we now have 120,000.’ ” Those of us who questioned these astonishing numbers were dismissed as fools, much like those who begged in vain to get the Securities and Exchange Commission to challenge Madoff’s math.
What’s most remarkable about the Times article, however, is how little stir it caused. When, in 1971, The Times got its hands on the Pentagon Papers, the internal federal history of the Vietnam disaster, the revelations caused a national uproar. But after eight years of battering by Bush, the nation has been rendered half-catatonic. The Iraq Pentagon Papers sank with barely a trace.
After all, next to big-ticket administration horrors like Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo and the politicized hiring and firing at Alberto Gonzales’s Justice Department, the wreckage of Iraq reconstruction is what Ralph Kramden of “The Honeymooners” would dismiss as “a mere bag of shells.” The $50 billion also pales next to other sums that remain unaccounted for in the Bush era, from the $345 billion in lost tax revenue due to unpoliced offshore corporate tax havens to the far-from-transparent disposition of some $350 billion in Wall Street bailout money. In the old Pat Moynihan phrase, the Bush years have “defined deviancy down” in terms of how low a standard of ethical behavior we now tolerate as the norm from public officials.

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Blagojevich impeached, will face trial

By Reid Wilson - Embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) was impeached Friday by an overwhelming margin in the state House, setting up the first instance in that state’s history of a governor facing trial by the state Senate.
The 114-1 vote came after Blagojevich was arrested for corruption charges, including allegations he tried to sell President-elect Obama's Senate seat. The leading Illinois Democrat on the impeachment panel said Blagojevich demonstrated a betrayal of his oath of office. Blagojevich "is not fit to govern the state of Illinois," state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie said, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Currie headed the impeachment panel that unanimously recommended booting the governor from office in a report issued Thursday.
Blagojevich's fate now rests with the 59 state senators who will sit as jurors. Two-thirds, or 40 senators, are needed to convict Blagojevich and remove him from office. The chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court will preside over the trial.
Though representatives said they hoped the impeachment would encourage Blagojevich to resign and avoid what is expected to be a three-week trial, a spokesman for the governor told the Tribune he would not step down.
Blagojevich is set to address the media at 3 p.m. Eastern Time at his office in Chicago.
If Blagojevich is convicted, an outcome that seems likely, he would be replaced by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn (D). The lone vote against impeachment came from Rep. Milt Patterson, a Chicago legislator who said he did not feel it was his duty to impeach the governor.
It is unclear what effect the impeachment will have on Roland Burris, whom Blagojevich appointed to Obama's Senate seat.

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Ron Paul: Economic crisis may be a blessing

In an interview with press TV, Ron Paul states that he believes Obama intends to continue the neocon foreign policies of intervention, but suggests that b/c of the economic crisis, the US may be forced to abandon such policies, in much the same way the Soviets were forced to abandon Afghanistan. Paul also discusses his bill to end the Fed.

By Jihan Hafiz, Press TV, Washington

The following is an exclusive Press TV interview with US congressman Ron Paul, a unique conservative politician who wants an end to US military presence on foreign soil, advocates US withdrawal from the UN, NATO and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and opposes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Ron Paul, House representative of the 14th district of Texas, believes that US foreign policy must be reformed to avoid conflicts around the world.

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Top 10 Political Scoops of 2008

As the curtain comes down on 2008, it’s hard to let go. Political junkies couldn’t have asked for a better year — even news veteran David Broder dubbed the 2008 election the best he ever covered. Game-changing moments came from mainstream and new media outlets, traditional newsmaker interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured by amateurs.

So herewith, Politico’s take on the top ten political scoops of 2008. There’s no accounting for tastes, so we welcome your picks, too. What stories turned your engine?

1. Couric and Palin (CBS News): Charlie Gibson scored the first Sarah Palin interview, now remembered mostly for the ABC anchor’s professorial manner and his question about the 6-year-old “Bush Doctrine” of military preemption, on which Palin effectively drew a blank. But rival anchor Katie Couric proved even tougher for the vice presidential candidate, who was unable to answer such simple questions as what newspapers and magazines she regularly read. Palin’s stumbling responses were spoofed verbatim by her comedic doppelganger, Tina Fey.

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National Poll: 75% of Americans glad that Bush is done

Seventy-five percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Friday said they're glad Bush is going; 23 percent indicated they'll miss him. "As President Bush prepares to leave office, the American public has a parting thought: Good riddance. At least that's the way three-quarters feel."

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This just in: Americans like Obama

In a new USA TODAY/Gallup poll, a sample of 1,008 Americans picked president-elect Barack Obama as the man they admire most. No president-elect has topped the poll since war hero Dwight Eisenhower 56 years ago.
Thirty-two percent of respondents picked Obama, while runner-up George Bush notched just five percent. In further parallels with 1952, that matches Harry Truman's performance in the Gallup poll. Bush has long had only Truman as company for least popular president in contemporary opinion polls. His ratings, which have long languished in the 20s and 30s, are similar to those that Truman earned during his second term, as troops were bogged down in Korea. Bush's numbers, however, have stayed lower, and for longer, than Truman's.
Obama's high numbers suggest that, in a time of national crisis, he may have the public good will to try and effect significant change. USA Today manages to find an expert who calls this historically high level of support a "two-edged sword."
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What Blagojevich was doing right before he was indicted

Interesting timing?

Coincidence?

December 8 - Governor Rod Blagojevich announces the State of Illinois will cease doing business with Bank of America.

December 9 - Governor Rod Blagojevich, who has been reportedly under investigations by the federal government for three years is indicted based on a recent wire tap.

If he is as dirty as he is being portrayed, why did it take three years to find something on him?

Also...

When is the last time you saw a governor take a high profile stand for a small business and working people against a multinational bank?

The FBI sure shut that down quick.

What convenient timing they have.

Source:  Interesting timing - Brasscheck TV

Technorati Tags: Rod Blagojevich,BrasscheckTV,video,conspiracy,conspiracy theory,FBI,government,political corruption,corruption,opinion

Indicted governor finds Jesus

"Go and sin no more"

The Governor of Illinois recently got caught red handed trying to sell Barrack Obama's' recently vacated Senate seat.
This whole "indicted politician finds Jesus" thing began back during Watergate.
The crook who perfected this scam, Charles Colson, has made a profession of bringing Jesus to the powerful who are newly indicted.

Technorati Tags: BrasscheckTV,video,religion,opinion

GOP Senators 'not acting as Americans' - Michigan governor

I thought dissent is the highest form of patriotism...
Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm expresses her feelings about the Republican Senators who opposed the Detroit bailout. Granholm explains, "They are not acting as Americans. They are acting with their parochial interests, and I think it is astonishing."



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Bush gets the boot in Iraq

Translation

Here's what the man said as he threw his shoes at Bush:
"This is a farewell kiss for you, you dog.
This is from the widows, the orphans, and those killed in Iraq."
Well put.
Can we make this man an honorary American citizen?
After all, Bush created a lot of widows and orphans in America too.
It's a pity all this guy had was his shoes - and he didn't have better aim.

 

Technorati Tags: Bush,Iraq war,Iraq,shoes,shoe throwing,video,BrasscheckTV

Senate Dems 'insist' Blagojevich resign

From NBC’s Ken Strickland
In a letter being circulated for signatures among Senate Democrats, the members "insist" that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich resign from his post, "and under no circumstance make an appointment to fill the vacant Illinois Senate seat."

In light of his arrest, the letter, written by Democratic leaders, states: "Any appointment by you would raise serious questions."

While citing the Illinois legislature's authority to strip the governor of his appointment power by having a special election, the leadership feels his resignation would be the fastest way for a new senator to be chosen.

If Blagojevich refused to resign and appoints a new senator, the letter makes it explicitly clear that the Senate will have the final word on any appointment:

"Please understand that should you decide to ignore the request of the Senate Democratic Caucus and make an appointment, we would be forced to exercise our Constitutional authority under Article I, Section 5, to determine whether such a person should be seated."

At the end of the letter if reads, "We do not prejudge the outcome of the criminal charges against you... But for the good of the Senate and our nation, we implore you refrain from making an appointment to the Senate."

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Attorney: U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson is 'Candidate 5'

WASHINGTON – Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. says he is not a target of the investigation that led to this week's arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
A lawyer for Jackson acknowledged Wednesday that the Illinois Democrat is the so-called Senate Candidate 5 in the federal complaint against Blagojevich.

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Obama calls for the Illinois gov. to Resign

CHICAGO - President-elect Barack Obama is calling for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday.
Gibbs said Obama agrees with other prominent politicians that "under the current circumstances, it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois."

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Appt. process thrown into disarray by Gov.’s arrest

Illinois political insiders say Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) almost certainly will not resign in the midst of his arrest by federal authorities, which would clear the way for him to continue evaluating potential appointees to replace President-elect Obama in the Senate.

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