Jon Stewart took CNN apart over their insipid fact-checking of a SNL skit about President Obama while never having the time to give us REAL FACTS about health-care reform when their guests come on and lie. CNN and most cable networks allow health-care obstructionists like Sen. Kyl and Orrin Hatch to throw out bogus facts all day long without ever questioning their validity, and it is frustrating.

Stewart nails CNN for always saying "We're out of time," and never getting to the truth. And then we have the FRC's Tony Perkins, who claims there are really only 5-10 million uninsured people in America.

Perkins: ...when you get down to a hard core number, it's about 5-10 million that can't afford health care. Out of a nation of 330 million that's a small percentage.

Stewart: Without an explanation he went from 30 million uninsured down to you know the hard core number. 5 or ten million. Well that's pretty close...it's only double.

And the ultimate slap in the face is when TDS clips together almost every anchor saying: "We'll leave it there."

Stewart: There are 24 hours in a day, how much more time do you need? CNN's new slogan: Nobody Leaves More Things There.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: 125

PLAYS: 27

(Sex, dope and not quite rock n' roll)

Gangs, binge drinking, teen pregnancies, dope, crime, dropouts - we were a mess. And that was only 1953!

Going back to the mantra "no matter how much things change, it's how much they stay the same" kind of nails it here.

The world was a frightening place in 1953. Smack in the middle of the Korean War, not to mention the Cold War with Commies everywhere - no wonder kids got a little out of control. Life Magazine called them the "lucky generation" but I wonder how lucky they were feeling at the time.

This documentary, produced by CBS Radio, featured narration by Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas and interviews with a vast group of teenagers, all slated to graduate in winter and summer 1953, from all over the country. It's a fascinating document, and a good reminder that what's going on now may seem horrible. But it's always been that way.

Strangely, we've also managed to survive.

Think of your parents and grandparents when you listen to this - they are most likely the ones the documentary is talking about.

Scary . . no?

I wrote some nice words about Kathleen Sibelius the last few days because she was able to articulate the phony arguments against a vibrant public option, but it looks like the administration is pulling her back.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Sebelius said that President Barack Obama does not want to drive health insurers out of business, but make them more competitive by offering working families and small businesses the option of a public plan without the high overhead costs of marketing, administration and profits. "I think there is a lot of understanding that the private market has really failed to provide affordable coverage to Americans," Sebelius said. The industry has had "a lot of opportunities" to get rid of coverage restrictions and other unpopular policies, Sebelius said, and really "hasn't served Americans very well."

However, Sebelius stressed that Obama is open to compromise on the shape of the public plan, which doesn't have to be run by the government. She spoke positively of a compromise idea that envisions consumer-owned nonprofit cooperatives, like rural electricity or agriculture co-ops. They would get started with seed money from taxpayers but then compete without government control. The plan by Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., may end up in a health overhaul bill to be unveiled by the Senate Finance Committee this week.

---
But White House senior adviser David Axelrod said Obama is not likely to budge on his demand for a public insurance option. Axelrod said Obama isn't wedded to the public plan being either entirely funded or run by the government and is open to "variations on the theme."

Sibelius also said on NPR that the single payer plan is off the table. We knew that already, but for her to articulate it this way is awful. The fact that she says members of Congress didn't understand the health care debate just shows how either how frakkin' stupid they all are or how corrupt. They knew what they were doing when they torpedoed Clinton's plan and it was led by the Jim Cooper's in Clinton's Congress.

I'm still doing my fundraiser as we speak, but I'm also going to focus on putting pressure on all the crummy Democrats like Blanche Lincoln so that the ball is not dropped. Sure, I need to still raise funds, but I think this Blue America action is very important at this time.

We are raising money fast for our Campaign For Health Care Choice, and we plan to push on with your help. It's so saddening that with Americans voting out the teabagging republicans in astounding numbers---President Obama is allowing the debate to get away from him. We don't need the teabaggers votes or input since they already destroyed the global financial markets and everything else in their path. Their allegiance is not to the American people, but to the corporate donors that occupy the Health Care Industrial Complex.

Scarecrow writes:

So let's see. On Monday, in a highly publicized speech, the President tells the AMA that he wants a public option that "keeps the insurance companies honest." The leading expert on the public option, Prof. Jacob Hacker (and many others -- e.g., here, here, and here), explain why Conrad's co-op proposal is not a substitute for the public plan because it doesn't achieve the President's objectives.

But AP reports that Obama's HHS Secretary, who had already tried to give away the store, says Obama is now willing to abandon the position he took the day before? And she says the industry will blink? Are these people serious?

Yes it would seem they are very serious. That's why we are turning up the heat.
And we are always screwed by the media on everything policy wise. Whenever a republican talking point comes on the scene, they swallow it whole. Ezra Klein outTweets David Gregory because Mr. Meet the Press instantly adopted their talking points. Why would he so easily accept a falsehood? He doesn't have to worry about health care insurance I'm sure.
You can see their republican ties when as Digby writes: Cokie's Law Is Still On The Books.

Duncan Black nails this one and it's so frustrating on so many levels.

Hey, Someone Noticed: EJ Dionne discovers the power of President Gingrich and Chief of Staff Limbaugh.

A media environment that tilts to the right is obscuring what President Obama stands for and closing off political options that should be part of the public discussion.

Yes, you read that correctly: If you doubt that there is a conservative inclination in the media, consider which arguments you hear regularly and which you don't. When Rush Limbaugh sneezes or Newt Gingrich tweets, their views ricochet from the Internet to cable television and into the traditional media. It is remarkable how successful they are in setting what passes for the news agenda.

...

Her point has broader application. For all the talk of a media love affair with Obama, there is a deep and largely unconscious conservative bias in the media's discussion of policy. The range of acceptable opinion runs from the moderate left to the far right and cuts off more vigorous progressive perspectives.

We witnessed a complete bias towards the losing party in the last election by the media when studies showed that cable news was putting on more than two Republicans for every Democrat during the stimulus debate.

To fill out Newt's cabinet, I'd say Dick Cheney is the Secretary of Defense and Liz Cheney is the Vice President with Pat Buchanan as the head of the Dept. of Homeland Security and Tom Tancredo is his Deputy.

And when do you ever see good progressive or liberal Reps on TV?

While the right wing's rants get wall-to-wall airtime, you almost never hear from the sort of progressive members of Congress who were on an America's Future panel on Tuesday. Reps. Jared Polis of Colorado, Donna Edwards of Maryland and Raul Grijalva of Arizona all said warm things about the president -- they are Democrats, after all -- but also took issue with some of his policies.

Please list all the liberal/progressive Reps and leaders you'd like to see on TV and know you never will. I was talking to Howie Klein about this and we came up with a few names we'd like to see much more of on the networks.

Alan Grayson (FL), Jan Schakwsky (IL), Linda Sanchez, who's a CA congresswomen, Tammy Baldwin (WI) and Jerry Nadler are also quite good.

Sherrod Brown (OH), Jeff Merkley (OR) Bernie Sanders (VT) and Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) are very good from the Senate side. The only time you ever see Alan Grayson on TV is when FOX is trying to destroy one of his good positions that help the American workers. Things like paid vacations, you know, stuff like that.

[embed]

[/embed]

Just yesterday Chris Matthews had on Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Illinois, and Chris tried to turn him into Abe Lincoln -- that is, until he started to open his mouth. (And President Obama was not the most liberal member of Congress. That's another lie told repeatedly by conservatives.)

SCHOCK: And, Chris, let‘s look at who the Democrats used to—to come back to the majority. They nominated the most liberal guy in the United States Senate, not Hillary Clinton, but Barack Obama. And he‘s ultimately the one that led them to victory.

MATTHEWS: Yes, OK. I guess that was a shot at him, right?

SCHOCK: Well, no, it's just the point that, just because you—you elect someone or nominate someone who is ideologically to the right or the left doesn't mean that they can't carry the day in the general election. A lot of it comes down to personality and ability to carry the message forward. Obviously, George W. Bush did a better job than Al Gore did in the 2000 elections. And, obviously, John...(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: Why do you say that? He got fewer votes.

KING: But he won the election. (LAUGHTER)

MATTHEWS: But he got fewer votes.

SCHOCK: OK.

I've been writing since Obama was elected that the Democratic Party has terrible spokesmen to go on and represent. Maybe one of the reason it appears this way is because we are only allowed to view the same tired old Beltway pols like Chuck Schumer. Will the media treat America to our new young guns? Please let us know who you'd like to hear more of...

Stinque: We Make Videos

The Satirical Political Report: Obama nails speech, but misses chance to permanently silence  Cheney

Shakesville: Welcome to Congress

Alas, a blog: Winger rises in defense of patrimony

The Reality-Based Community: More high-religiosity child molesting

Infrastructurist: Chinese rail plan makes the U.S. look a little silly