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If you need any proof that no bad deed goes unrewarded by our corporate media, you need look no further than this attention whore. Here's how you're rewarded for violent rhetoric and promoting torture on twitter these days.

New York lawmaker: I would torture an American citizen:

New York state Sen. Greg Ball (R) on Monday night reiterated his belief that Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should be tortured even though he is a U.S. citizen.

During a tense interview, CNN’s Piers Morgan repeatedly asked Ball whether he was OK with torturing American citizens. While he refused to condone torture as a government policy, he said he was not opposed to personally torturing American citizens such as Tsarnaev.

“I’m telling you as Greg Ball, if personally put in a room with anybody from the most current scumbags to Osama bin Laden I’m telling you what I would do. As far as policy of the United States, you’ve got to take it up with your man Obama,” Ball explained. [...]

The New York Republican has repeatedly defended his support of torture since tweeting about it over the weekend.

In a separate interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday night, Ball remarked he was speaking “from my heart” and acknowledged his comments might not help his reelection.

Morgan's follow up with Alan Dershowitz, who defended torture in some instances wasn't a whole lot better than his interview with Ball, who walked off of the set after this segment even though he said he'd come back. Note to Piers Morgan if you're going to have someone like this clown on your show again:

Torture does not work and provides unreliable information.

Torture is not consistent with our laws or with our Constitution and it's a war crime.

Torture does not save lives.

Torture does not serve our national interests.

And maybe you could ask this guy if he ever comes on again why we don't allow the police to beat confessions out of citizens on a daily basis and why our courts won't accept confessions obtained under those conditions as evidence. This interview wasn't quite as pitiful as the ones he did on Faux "News," but that's a pretty low bar to hurdle.

You can let him know what you think of his remarks on twitter here.

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Conservative radio host Dana Loesch on Thursday argued that classifying certain guns as assault rifles was silly because "if you stab someone with a spoon it can be qualified as an assault weapon."

Following Thursday's revelations that Newtown shooter Adam Lanza had fired over 150 rounds with an AR-15 in less than five minutes, Loesch appeared on CNN to argue that it was a "false premise" that Lanza had used an assault weapon.

"We are talking about semi-automatic weapons," the former Breitbart editor explained. "I do not own a military-style assault weapon. Just because, what, a firearm looks scary then you call it military assault? Do you realize that one of my children has a BB gun that looks like an AR-15? Is that going to be considered a military-style assault weapon? It sounds silly and uneducated."

CNN host Piers Morgan noted that Lanza had "in the space of 300 seconds using an AR-15, killed 26 people. He had magazines with 30 bullets."

"Anyone can reload!" Loesch shouted.

"Are you telling me that doesn't qualify as an assault weapon?" Morgan asked.

"By the technical definition, no, Piers," Loesch shot back. "Oh, anything can be qualified as an assault weapon. If you stab someone with a spoon, it can be qualified as an assault weapon."

"So you're equating stabbing someone with a spoon with shooting dead 26 people?" Morgan wondered.

Liberal CNN contributor Van Jones said that Loesch's argument was part of the "conscious strategy on the part of the pro-gun folks to constantly bring things back around to things that don't make any sense."

"You're talking about people stabbing people with spoons," Jones observed. "If that were the problem that we had in America -- stabbing people with spoons -- we wouldn't be talking about this right now. What we're talking about is funeral after funeral after funeral. What we're talking about is children being gunned down. And what we're talking about is common-sense measures, not confiscating guns."

(h/t: Media Matters)

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I'm not sure what Bill O'Reilly's smoking this week, but during his Talking Points Memo on Tuesday's show, he seemed very enamored with wingnut Ted Nugent and his second appearance on CNN this Monday and his "straight talk" with anchor Piers Morgan.

So much for Fox trying to help the GOP with not being the "stupid party."

Note to Bill-O -- embracing the likes of Nugent isn't going to help the Republicans with their "messaging."

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This Sunday we had Chris Wallace actually calling out wingnut and chickenhawk draft dodger Ted Nugent for some of his hackery on Fox News Sunday. CNN apparently felt the need to lower the bar with this "reporting," and I use that term lightly from their correspondent Deborah Feyerick and host Erin Burnett, who highlighted her interview with Nugent this past Friday and then followed on her show Monday night.

I guess these two decided their network needed some "fair and balanced" reporting to counter that of one of the fellow hosts on there, Piers Morgan, who had Nugent on Monday evening as well and wasn't quite as polite to him as Feyerick was in her fawning interview to put it mildly.

I'm no fan of Morgan and wonder if his part in the phone hacking at his former job might ever catch up to him, but some of his interviews on gun control have been at least informative and interesting if not at times horrifying, like the one with Alex Jones, which was like a bad car wreck you just can't stop watching

Here's more from Media Matters on the preview offered by CNN of the Nugent interview: CNN Praises Gun Extremist Ted Nugent's "Deep Connection With The Facts":

Previewing her upcoming special, CNN reporter Deb Feyerick praised NRA board member Ted Nugent for his "deep connection with the facts" on gun violence. But Nugent's radical views on gun ownership and outrageous and offensive comments about President Obama and prominent Democrats demonstrate that he is not a credible source for information on guns. [...]

But despite Feyerick's repeated praise, Nugent is an extremist on the subjects of both guns and government. Nugent has espoused numerous outrageous and offensive comments about gun violence and prominent Democratic politicians.

On the subject of gun violence, Nugent compared gun owners to Rosa Parks, claiming "there will come a time when the gun owners of America, the law-abiding gun owners of America, will be the Rosa Parks and we will sit down on the front seat of the bus, case closed." Nugent's comments were heavily criticized by civil rights leaders. In his Washington Times column, Nugent wrote that the "embarrassing, politically correct culture" of the U.S. that "mocks traditional social values" contributed to the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.

Following the 2010 mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona, that killed six people and left then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords with critical injuries, Nugent advised conservatives to avoid calls for more civil discourse and "turn up the rhetoric." Nugent has also called on anyone who uses the phrase "gun control" to be jailed.

Nugent has also espoused radical and offensive comments about public figures. He recently equated the decision to have Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder lead gun violence prevention efforts to asking serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer for child-rearing advice. Nugent also called on viewers of a radio show he appeared on to arrest Holder and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

We've got our own long list on Nugent and the crap that's come out of his mouth at C&L as well. Why anyone at CNN felt the need to prop this guy up as part of the debate over gun control in the United States is beyond me. CNN looks like they're doing their best to play both sides of the ratings game on this issue. I'm not sure who they think they're going to appeal to in the long run by doing this.

Full transcript below the fold.

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Former Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich says that AR-15 military-style rifles should not be banned and that it is just "lovely propaganda" to call them "assault weapons."

Following the introduction on Thursday of Sen. Diane Feinstein's (D-CA) bill to ban assault weapons, CNN host Piers Morgan reminded Gingrich that Aurora shooter James Holmes used an AR-15 that could fire 100 bullets in a minute and it was legal under current law.

"How many more bullets do you need to fire, Mr. Speaker, before that qualifies as a dangerous killing machine by your criteria?" Morgan wondered.

"Well, by my criteria, and this goes back to the question of what you respect, Piers," Gingrich asserted. "I think the Second Amendment really matters."

"I put it to you that an AR-15 military-style assault weapon was used in the last five mass shootings," Morgan pointed out.

"It's not a military-style assault weapon," Gingrich insisted. "Look, this is a lovely propaganda."

"What else do you call then?" Morgan pressed. "A machine that can fire 100 bullets in a minute. What else do you call it?"

"I would simply say to you that millions of people, by your own definition, own an AR-15," the Georgia Republican explained. "They're law-abiding. They think it is their right under our Constitution to own it, and don't kid the rest of us."

"[T]he reason you find so many of us, and by the way, it's a substantial majority -- I think the last time I saw, 63 percent of the American people agree that the Second Amendment is actually there to protect us from tyranny," Gingrich continued. "The reason you find so many of us very reluctant to go down this road is we believe each step down this road leads to the next step and the next step and the next step."

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Stephen Colbert had a field day with every one of these gun nuts that have come out of the woodwork now that it looks like there could finally be some movement on gun control and with Vice President Biden meeting with his task force after the latest mass shooting.

No one was spared from Alex Jones screaming at Piers Morgan on CNN, to Larry Ward and his remarks about "Gun Appreciation Day" and Martin Luther King, to James Yeager and his threats to start killing people if there are any new gun control laws passed.

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From this Monday evening's The Young Turks, this interview with Alex Jones wasn't quite as contentious as the one he had with Piers Morgan last week, but it wasn't a whole lot better. I did enjoy watching Cenk get a chance to ask him if he'd ever sought any mental health treatment after listening to quite a bit of his ranting and raving. I can also say it didn't break my heart to see two of these wingnuts tearing each other apart and Jones ripping on Glenn Beck after he criticized his interview on CNN.

Alex Jones to Glenn Beck: ‘Thomas Jefferson would spit on you’:

In this clip from Cenk’s interview with radio host Alex Jones, whose rant on Piers Morgan’s CNN show was dismissed by Glenn Beck as an attempt to make gun advocates seems crazy, Jones says, “You jackass mainline conservatives don’t speak for me. You’re the ones that have discredited true conservatism and libertarianism. Thomas Jefferson would spit on you, you little bastard. You little piece of trash. That’s what I have to say to Glenn Beck.”

If you're in for some more abuse, you can watch the extended interviews with Jones here and here.

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With the Supreme Court agreeing to take up the issue of gay marriage in their next term, The Daily Show's Jon Stewart reminded his viewers just what we're up against in the coming years no matter how the court ends up ruling on the cases.

He took some shots at Lindsey Graham, who when appearing with his "two amigos," Droopy Dog Lieberman and Grandpa McGrumpy on Piers Morgan's show earlier this week, compared gay marriage to polygamy. And then there's Antonin Scalia, who left little doubt about how he's going to rule, when he compared homosexuality to murder.

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Here we go again with Pastor Rick Warren making idiotic remarks about gay people. Rick Warren: Same sex marriage like punching a guy in the nose:

Megachurch pastor Rick Warren on Tuesday night said that same sex relationships would still be sinful even if they were natural.

“It wouldn’t bother me if there was a ‘gay gene’ found,” he told CNN host Piers Morgan.

“Here’s what we know about life,” Warren continued. “I have all kinds of natural feelings in my life and it doesn’t necessarily mean that I should act on every feeling. Sometimes I get angry and feel like punching a guy in the nose. That doesn’t mean I act on it. Sometimes I feel attracted to women who are not my wife. I don’t act on it. Just because I have a feeling doesn’t make it right. Not everything natural is good for me. Arsenic is natural.”

Here's more from Think Progress:

On CBS This Morning this week, Warren similarly defended his anti-gay positions by claiming that he can be “tolerant” and “accepting” without being “approving.” Though he may not act on his attractions to women who are not his wife, he seems to gloss over the fact that he did have the opportunity to act on his attractions to her by marrying her. By advocating against same-sex marriage, he works to prevent gays and lesbians from having the same security of a lasting partnership.

Warren has a long history of opposing marriage equality. Four years ago, he defended his support of California’s Proposition 8 by claiming that same-sex marriage is “equivalent” to incest, pedophilia, and polygamy. He also claimed that gays are “evil” and have “Christ-o-phobia.” Warren tries to offset his anti-gay beliefs by boasting his anti-AIDS work in Africa, but he has ties to conservative anti-gay leaders in Uganda who oppose using condoms to prevent transmission of HIV. The results of his particular efforts are unclear, but studies have shown that abstinence-only efforts have failed to lower HIV rates in Africa, and anti-gay stigma also contributes to the epidemic.

Full transcript below the fold.

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I would imagine that Piers Morgan and the producers at CNN were expecting BuzzFeed's Michael Hastings to be pretty harsh on the now scandal ridden Gen. David Petraeus, because I find it hard to believe they would have invited him on the air without reading his recent article here -- The Sins Of General David Petraeus.

What they probably didn't expect was for him to go after the other guest, their own Barbara Starr for taking dictation from the Pentagon and the media in general for their worship of Petraeus. Whatever the case, it was well worth the time watching the segment just to see Piers Morgan squirm in discomfort with his response to Hastings.

MORGAN: Paula Broadwell calling David Petraeus a role model. How things have changed. Joining me now is General Mark Kimmitt who has known General Petraeus for 25 years, also Michael Hastings, Buzzfeed reporter and writing for "Rolling Stone." He says America should have never trusted Petraeus in the first place. And Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, a former Defense Intelligence officer who also served with the CIA. Welcome to you all.

General Kimmitt, let me start with you. You've known General Petraeus for 25 years. Do you recognize the man that you've been reading about for the last 24 hours?

GEN. GEORGE KIMMITT, FMR. DIRECTOR, PLANS & STRATEGIES, CENTRAL COMMAND: Well, in many ways, I do, because with this one exception of this incident that he had with Paula Broadwell, I think the fact that this was a guy that stood up when the facts became known, did the honorable thing and resigned. That's the David Petraeus that I know.

MORGAN: Should a general in his position, who has moved on to run the CIA, have to resign his post over an affair, which is really what this seems to have been about?

KIMMITT: My opinion, yes. Any commander of an organization who is caught in that kind of compromising behavior, someone who is supposed to set the standards and enforce the standards for that organization, when he is caught in a compromising position, he's got to do the honorable thing and step down. I think Attorney General Mukasey mentioned that as well. And I stand behind those comments as well.

Any commander that has lost the trust and confidence of his unit has to stand down. MORGAN: Michael Hastings, in your Buzzfeed article, "The Sins of General David Petraeus," you argue that Petraeus was a master of deception. Do you think he should have resigned?

MICHAEL HASTINGS, "ROLLING STONE": I think there's many other reasons Petraeus should have resigned besides who he's sleeping with that's not his wife. But I just want to make a point here. The larger point that I've been making is that essentially the media has played a role in protecting David Petraeus and promoting David Petraeus and mythologizing David Petraeus.

We saw it here tonight. General Kimmitt, who was a spokesperson in Baghdad, who was a roommate of Petraeus, who was involved in one of the biggest debacles in recent foreign policy history, is on TV defending David Petraeus without actually addressing the real problems with David Petraeus' record.

Those are the fact that he manipulated the White House into escalating Afghanistan. He ran a campaign in Iraq that was brutally savage, included arming the worst of the worst, Shiite death squads, Sunni militiamen. And then you go back to the training of the Iraqi army program that also had similar problems.

So for me, all the while, he's going around the country talking about honor and integrity. So for me the questions of honor and integrity -- I was raising those earlier. A number of other journalists who were actually covering David Petraeus were raising those concerns. You might not get that from someone like Barbara Starr at CNN, who essentially is a spokesperson for the Pentagon in many ways.

So I think I just want to step back and have my piece, because this -- even the way the scandal is being covered is so different than how usual sex scandals are being covered, where they hammer the guy mercilessly. Now everyone is saying oh, my God, he just went to the CIA; how could he be -- you know, he was susceptible to being seduced by this woman.

Give me a break. Petraeus now has all his allies coming out to defend him, where Paula Broadwell is there yet again -- where are her protectors?

MORGAN: Barbara is not a spokesperson for him, obviously. Let's move to --

HASTINGS: Not too obviously. I have followed her coverage pretty closely as she has covered my work before, too.

MORGAN: Just because she's written naughty things about you doesn't make her a spokesperson.

HASTINGS: No. What makes her a spokesperson is repeating without question a lot of Pentagon claims.

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