DOWNLOADS: (550)

PLAYS: (6947)

Embed

After discussing Sarah Palin's departure from Fox "news" right after Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal told his party that they need to "stop being the stupid party," Real Time's Bill Maher reminded his audience during his New Rules segment that people like Palin always seem to land on their feet, like her cohort who they finally fired, Glenn Beck. And as Maher noted, there's really only one thing that people like Palin, or Beck or Limbaugh care about -- and that's separating the rubes who take them seriously from their money.

And as long as that's the case, they're going to be causing problems for Republicans winning elections. These carnival barkers might not have much influence in national races, but they're doing their best to do real damage when it comes to any sane Republicans being able to make it through a primary race.

Here's more from Raw Story: Maher: ‘Con men’ like Beck and Limbaugh ‘don’t care about winning elections,’ just making money:

Maher then mentioned Glenn Beck, who was also fired by Fox News. “But then he saw an open window: the internet. Who needs Fox News when he could take his patented brand of apocalyptic race-baiting directly to the fans?”

Maher said that “con men” like Beck and Rush Limbaugh are why the GOP is in “dire straits. They don’t care about winning elections. They care about separating rubes from their money.”

After arguing that they have found a way to profit from making boogie monsters out of organizations like Planned Parenthood or advocates for immigrant and LGBT rights, he said. “They don’t want a majority. They want a mailing list,” he said.

“Why not just hogtie your audience and steal their disability checks?” he went on.

“I don’t know why being a Republican means needing to have your faith recharged five times a day like Dick Cheney’s heart, because there’s no comparable industry on the left, dedicated to separating liberals from their cash. I mean, unless you count Whole Foods.”

DOWNLOADS: (465)

PLAYS: (6021)

Embed

Bill Maher wrapped up his New Rules segment on Real Time this Friday with a message for conservatives who think these 13 and 14 year old wunderkinds of theirs like radio host and Rush Limbaugh wannabe Caiden Cowger, or their hit at CPAC a couple years ago, Jonathan Krohn, are so special.

MAHER: And finally New Rule, if a 14 year-old can deliver your message, it's not because he's gifted. It's because intellectually, you're a child. […]

Wow. It's like one of those time travel movies where Rush Limbaugh goes back in time to when he needed just one Oxycontin to get high. I tell you, this kid's got 90 percent of Rush's venom and only 10 percent of the bio-mass. […]

And you know, Caiden is not the only tween right-winger out there. Back in 2009, Jonathan Krohn, yes, that's a real book – I know, it looks like something we made up, but it's not – he published Defining Conservatism, the Principles That Will Bring Our Country Back... and teach us to shave. Here's a little bit of Jonathan speaking at the CPAC convention. […]

Oh my god, is there a charity or something I can give to? Wedgies Without Borders. I'm not trying to slam these kids, because look, being an asshole is totally understandable when you're 14. You're too young for sex and too old to carry your blankie everywhere. It's a very stressful time. But my point is to Republican adults and it is this:

When 14 year-old boys sound exactly like you do and can produce radio shows and books and speeches that sound exactly like yours, maybe you should rethink the sh*t that's coming out of your mouth.

DOWNLOADS: (97)

PLAYS: (305)

Embed

I don't always get a chance to catch C-SPAN's morning call in show, Washington Journal, but when I do, I can usually immediately tell which callers have been watching way too much Fox News or listening to too much hate talk radio. They've got all of their talking points down pat. Here's Charles from Bella Vista, Arkansas:

CHARLES: Say, Krugman and the people in Congress, they want to spend the money. We're $16 trillion in debt and we borrow forty cents on every dollar. Our children and grandchildren can't afford this.

Krugman keeps saying, well we've got to spend money to get out of the hole. You ask him what country or what instance that ever worked and all he can ever say is well, they never spent enough money to really prove my theory. And free trade and capitalism has worked fine. And when the government gets out of the way...

SWAIN: And so Charles, let me ask you about the situation we're in right now with this fiscal crisis and the aftermath. You want that Washington still stay totally out of the way? No more spending? You don't want the Fed to do anything? What's your prescription?

CHARLES: Absolutely. I don't want the government in anything. Free trade and capitalism has worked. This country made it. They become great by standing back and lettin' the people do the work.

And people, you can't steal from one person to give to another. The gimme' people are now at 50 percent and you can't win that argument. We get a little more people that want something for nothing, it's never going to come out of the hole.

First off, as to the lie about Krugman, he has cited an example of when spending got us out of an economic hole and it was this pesky little thing the caller apparently doesn't know anything about called a world war. Second, he's repeating the lie we hear from the right that half of the country doesn't pay any taxes, when that's only true if you're looking at income tax alone and ignoring all the other taxes everyone pays, and even Republicans used to agree with leveling the playing field in that regard with something called the Earned Income Tax Credit, which was supported by that terrible Socialist and wealth redistributor Ronald Reagan.

The caller also ignored that a whole bunch of the people who are not paying income taxes are seniors who are on fixed incomes and should not be paying any taxes on their very limited retirement incomes. I would love to be able to find out if he's one of them. It would not surprise me since he sounded like he could be older.

And last off, when he talks about those who are wanting "something for nothing," we all know he's not talking about white people. I have a feeling no one's ever pointed out to this man that more white Americans than black are receiving food stamps right now.

Not that it would probably make much difference if anyone tried. These people have their preconceived notions and they're sticking to them and facts be damned. They can go get their own set of facts from the likes of Hannity and Limbaugh instead.

DOWNLOADS: (378)

PLAYS: (1498)

Embed

The Young Turks' Cenk Uygur brought in his fellow Current TV contributor Bill Press to respond to the latest feigned outrage of the day by the right-wing over a discussion on his radio show, which is now carried by Current, over whether the United States should consider getting a new national anthem.

Cenk read some of the hate mail that was sent to Press before bringing him on and they both took some shots at Michelle Malkin and her appearance on Fox where she went after him.

Our friends over at News Hounds have more on that here: Hatriot Michelle Malkin Attacks Bill Press’ Patriotism:

Our favorite sneermonger, Michelle Malkin, visited Fox & Friends this morning where she laid another lump of hate on her fellow Americans in the name of loving her country. The target this time was liberal radio show host Bill Press who had the unmitigated gall to say he doesn’t like the Star Spangled Banner. You see, there’s nothing too vile that can be said on Fox about a liberal American. But the Star Spangled Banner? Well, that’s just another reason to hate liberals more! In the name of loving your country, of course.

Is there anything more hypocritical than hatriot Michelle Malkin accusing anyone else of not loving their country enough? I mean, we know that the world’s most sanctimonious sourpuss can’t stand Democrats, or the media and she doesn’t like minorities much, either. But on Fox News, she insists she loves her country (at least that part of it that isn’t any of the above) and the hosts support her.

Malkin smirked that “the last time Bill Press was relevant was when Bill Clinton was in office.” But that was no reason not to make a big deal over his comments. And lo and behold! Malkin found it a “teachable moment” for more reasons to hate her fellow Americans.

As they also noted, "who better to teach us about hostility towards America than Malkin?" Media Matters has more here on Malkin: 10 Of The Worst Examples Of Michelle Malkin's Inflammatory Rhetoric:

In a recent post on her website, Fox News contributor Sally Kohn argued that conservative pundit Michelle Malkin, also a Fox News contributor, "condemn[s] supposed incivility on the part of the left while championing incivility on the part of the right," and pointed to examples of Malkin attacking progressives. Malkin responded to Kohn's post on Sean Hannity's radio show today, arguing that instead of using inflammatory rhetoric, she merely makes "funny," "lighthearted jokes":

DOWNLOADS: (314)

PLAYS: (1173)

Embed

Missouri Republicans decided to shame and embarrass our state yesterday with the induction of Rush Limbaugh into the Hall of Famous Missourians: Doors Locked, Dems Banned As Missouri Honors Limbaugh:

Rush Limbaugh was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians yesterday, but the whole affair seemed strangely cloaked in secrecy.

The AM talker was ushered into an invite-only ceremony that took place behind closed doors inside the State Capitol's House chambers, "which were locked and guarded by armed members of the Missouri Highway Patrol while the ceremony took place," according to the Kansas City Star. Democratic lawmakers were banned from the induction.

A bust of Limbaugh, a Cape Girardeau native, was unveiled at the Hall of Fame ceremony. But for the first time in memory the chamber galleries were closed to the public. And the Republican Speaker of the Missouri House, Steve Tilley, who selected Limbaugh for the honor, gave the media just twenty minutes notice before the event took place.

The hush-hush nature of the event, which more closely resembled a clandestine political event than a feel-good acknowledgement, likely stemmed from the extraordinary controversy the selection sparked. Owing to Limbaugh's growing toxicity outside the narrow confines of right-wing talk radio, the backlash to the Missouri announcement was swift and fierce, coming as it did directly on the heels of Limbaugh's searing Sandra Fluke controversy.

The local chapter of the National Organization of Women sent hundreds of rolls of toilet paper to Tilley's office as part of its "Flush Rush" campaign. The state's Democratic governor and U.S. senator both denounced the choice of Limbaugh, and more than 35,000 people signed a petition condemning the decision to add Limbaugh's bust to a collection that includes Missourians Harry Truman and Mark Twain.

Despite the protests, the induction took place on Monday. In secret. It turns out using government employees (i.e. law enforcement) to keep the public at bay while the taxpayers' (Republican) representatives honored a talk show host wasn't the only bout of irony that hovered over the Limbaugh event.

You can read the rest of Eric's take down of Limbaugh and the Missouri Republicans at the link above. Video is from local affiliate KMOV's reporting on the event.

DOWNLOADS: (163)

PLAYS: (1641)

Embed

From C-SPAN's Washington Journal, during open phones on a question related to a recent E.J. Dionne Washington Post column: "Where is the left's tea party movement equivalent?" Following a perfectly sane question on Twitter from someone on the left, host Libby Casey had this exchange with a Republican caller from New York.

CRAIG FROM DOWNSVILLE, NY: I believe the reason the tea party is viewed as a peaceful force is because the tea party is a peaceful force. And the tea party's not top down, as the leftists would like to have you believe. The tea party... my tea party was started when one of my neighbors asked me to go on a bus trip to Washington D. C. to try to put an end to the government ruling the people, as opposed to the people running the government.

Now you look at these leftists protests and you tell me there's someone there you're proudly associated with, looking at their behavior. And then you look at the tea party record and then you look at the way the left wing media represents everybody. Then you tell me that's an honest and fair comparison.

CASEY: Craig, after you went to that... I'm assuming you did go to the rally in Washington...

CRAIG: What's that?

CASEY: I'm assuming you did go to that tea party rally...

CRAIG: I have been to every rally in Washington...

CASEY: And what have you done to keep up with it?

CRAIG: And I'm not interested in having the public decide what my health care is going to be. I'd prefer to do that myself.

CASEY: Okay. What we're wondering is how you've stayed involved? What are you doing on the activism level locally in your community...

CRAIG: I'm a union laborer, and I do not accept what I consider to be propaganda at work. I spread the word of independence. I've got my shop steward reading Atlas Shrugged right now. That's what's going to happen. A little truth is going to be taught in this country instead of the propaganda that's been taught here for thirty years.

There are so many things wrong with this crazy person's phone call it's hard to know where to begin, but for one, I'm pretty sure he isn't aware of who was paying for those buses he was riding to go to those “tea party” rallies on Washington D.C. if he's even telling the truth about anything he's saying here and isn't just off his meds for the day. And second, if the man is actually in a union, he doesn't deserve to be.

Bill Maher hit the right wing hate talkers pretty hard in his New Rules segment and I agree with him on Republicans saying no to everything for the sake of being obstructionists. I've got to take him to task for one thing he said though. The notion that going along with that debt commission is being "an adult" is just wrong. As Susie pointed out, those "adults" don't have most of our best interests in mind.

New Rule: The Republican Leadership in America Must Produce Their Birth Certificates:

New Rule: The Republican leadership in America must produce their birth certificates! Not because I doubt they're Americans, I just want to make sure they're not eight-years-old. I mention this because a major talking point on Fox News and hate radio these days is that, after a year and a half of Obama, it's time to bring the "adults" back into power, so they can rein in our deficit, defeat terrorism, and focus on America's real enemy: cleaning ladies in Arizona. But I must protest the premise, because conservatives are the ones who tend to believe in magical ideas, like: America is never wrong; you can defeat terrorism militarily; and lower taxes will somehow fix the deficit. And I'm not even mentioning the stuff about how Jesus used to fly around on a pterodactyl and just hated it when homos ate wedding cake.

Now, am I saying there are no adults in today's Republican Party? Absolutely not, there are -- but like a lot of parents today, the adults let their kids cow them. And silence them. And rule over them. Rush Limbaugh is a child, a primal scream of a man, but he gets his way because he's the fat bully on the playground; and Glenn Beck is the weepy kid who's always crying because he's insane and you don't know what he's going to do and who he's going to take with him. Read on...

John Amato:

If you live in LA then please join me and a host of bloggers to hear David Neiwert talk about his explosive new book (and a timely one I might add) The Eliminationists: How The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right.

There are rare moments in time when an author is in sync with the political surroundings that in habits our culture, but Neiwert is right on the mark.

As Digby states:

There times when a writer publishes a book at exactly the right moment and this is one of them. With violent mainstream rhetoric hitting peaks we haven't seen in nearly 40 years, the village is struggling to comprehend where it's all coming from and what it means. They haven't been paying attention. And because of that there are many people out in the country who are shocked by it too.

Here's the info:

Date: Tuesday, September 1st

Time: There will be a reception at 6 pm. The program will begin promptly at 6:30 pm.

Note: Please be aware that they are filming this event so the studio door will be shut at 6:30 pm sharp.

Location: 10536 Culver Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90232

Please enter through the gate behind the building.

RSVP: Please RSVP by emailing ewagner-at -bravenewfoundation.org

Seating is very limited, so we will be taking a small number of RSVPs.

Parking: There is free parking on the streets on either side of our building.

Please do not park in the parking spots behind the building as they are reserved.

Well worth a half hour or so of your time if you've got it to spend.

I'll be hosting it and leading the Q&A section so be there or be square.

Heather: If you're not in LA for the BNF event---here's our own David Neiwert on I believe Jon Elliot's show talking about the theme of his new book, The Eliminationists.

Dave N.: A brief promotional plug. I'll be in California this week, putting in an invitational appearance at Brave New Films in Culver City on Tuesday. I'll also be in the Bay Area on Thursday, Sept. 3, speaking at 7:30 p.m. at Books Inc. in Mountain View. If you live in the area, hope to see you there.

DOWNLOADS: (1603)

PLAYS: (4671)

Embed

Neal Boortz makes Ed Shultz's Psycho Talk for his latest hate filled screed comparing Katrina victims to "debris". I hope this means Boortz won't be making any more appearances on Ed's show.

From Think Progress: Neal Boortz: If New Orleans is rebuilt, the ‘debris that Katrina chased out’ will return.

DOWNLOADS: (829)

PLAYS: (2977)

Embed

Geez Louise. What in the hell does Lou Dobbs have to do next before CNN decides to reign him in or can him? Apparently Dobbs didn't take too kindly to Karen Finney calling him out as using hate speech for the comments he made about her former boss, Howard Dean on his radio show. Our friends at Media Matters posted that one: Dobbs on Howard Dean: "[H]e's a bloodsucking leftist -- I mean, you gotta put a stake through his heart to stop this guy".

DOBBS: Do you think they are also evil mongers? Is that the latest from Senator Reid? We've gone from un-American now to evil mongers.

FINNEY: Our American values say that we believe in free speech. We believe in --

DOBBS: Then why is everybody trying to constrain expression?

FINNEY: Because what we're seeing is, I believe that tyranny is when you organize for the purpose of being disruptive, or when you use hate speech like "I want to drive a stake through Howard Dean's heart."

DOBBS: Really? Did I say I wanted to do that through Howard Dean's heart?

FINNEY: I heart that on your radio program.

DOBBS: You heard me make a reference to Bram Stoker, an allusion to Howard Dean and, as a matter of fact, I was --

FINNEY: That is a convenient correction, Mr. Dobbs. But you called him a blood sucking liberal.

(CROSSTALK)

FINNEY: But how does your saying things like that --

DOBBS: Excuse me. Excuse me. If you will permit me, I called him a blood sucking leftist because of the approach he took.

(CROSSTALK)

FINNEY: Oh, excuse me, leftist, not liberal.

As Finney pointed out, the "leftist" vs "liberal" part wasn't exactly the portion of his comments that concerned her the most. So what does Dobbs do? He plays this from Ed Schultz as some sort of defense that there is hate talk from the left as well.

SHULTZ: Sometimes I think they want Obama to get shot. I do. I really think that there are conservative broadcasters in this country who would love to see Obama taken out. They fear socialism. They fear Marxism. They fear that the United States of America won't be the United States of America anymore.

So there's your left wing hate speech in Dobbs' world folks. Pointing out the obvious. And what does Dobbs finish the segment with? Attacking Finney again, and defending the idiot who brought a gun to a town hall. Wow.

Full transcript below the fold from CNN. Apparently they decided to leave out some of the ugliness with "(CROSSTALK).

Continue reading »