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Chris Matthews didn't pull any punches with his "Let Me Finish" segment this Monday evening where he took Mitt Romney to task for who he's pandering to: Matthews: Romney is ‘a speaker system,’ not a candidate:

Let me finish tonight with this Romney character.

I don't think Romney cares all that much about the presidency except that he wants it. If he weren't running, do you think this guy would be watching this or any other show on politics? Forget about it!

Mitt cares about three things: his faith, his family, his business.

Right now, his business is running for president. That's why he's interested in the presidency. It's his business to be interested. Listen to him answer questions. If the interviewer doesn't ask the most obvious thing, something that Mitt's briefers have been over and over with him, he seems stunned. He doesn't have an answer. Why? Because he never thought of that one!

Fact is, he hasn't thought about many things outside his zone of interest, which again includes his faith, his family, his business. And this is the most dangerous thing about this guy. Since he doesn't have a foreign policy, he buys the foreign policies of the powers that be.

So he sings the song of his neo-con so-called "advisers." What they really are, of course, are people who advocate a point of view — the need for a new war with each new Republican president — and they need someone in the White House to push it for them. They need a president who speaks their language. So they write his speeches. They want war with Iran. They just put it in the next speech.

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As Karoli explained to us here, billionaire Joe Ricketts' first attempt at smearing President Obama didn't go over so well once his plans where leaked to the press. Lawrence O'Donnell took him apart in his Rewrite segment this Thursday evening for his latest endeavor, where he's teaming up with wingnut Dinesh D’Souza and investing in a new "documentary" based on D'Souza's book The Roots of Obama’s Rage.

As O'Donnell reported, Joe Ricketts' son, who is a co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, has tried to distance himself from his father's hatred of President Obama, but that apparently has not been enough to stop him from investing in this latest smear campaign.

O'DONNELL: Having been forced to give up on that project, Ricketts is now funding a movie that will insist on the basis of absolutely no evidence and in fact with actual proof to the contrary, that President Obama's mind is completely controlled, from the grave by his father, Barack Obama Sr., who President Obama met once, when he was ten years old. […]

The movie Ricketts is financing is based on a rage filled book entitled The Roots of Obama's Rage. All of the rage in the book belongs to its author, Dinesh D'Souza. The Economist called the book, “incomprehensible.” Even the conservative Weekly Standard said correctly that the book is full of “misstatements of fact, leaps in logic, and pointlessly elaborate argumentation.” And that's from D'Souza's friends at The Weekly Standard.

This is the book in a nutshell. D'Souza writes that Obama shares his father's anticolonial crusade. That would explain why he wants people who are already paying close to 50 percent of their income of overall taxes to pay even more. That's it. That's the book. But it does not explain why President Obama wants them to pay lower tax rates than they did under presidents Reagan, Nixon and Eisenhower, all Republicans.

We don't know the exact day on which Dinesh D'Souza lost his mind. Nor do we know if he's just pretending to be stark raving mad to collect the money of his clearly crazy patron, TD Ameritrade billionaire, Joe Ricketts.

O'Donnell also knocked D'Souza for his so-called “scholarship” as president of The King's College and called D'Souza “the Donald Trump of college presidents.” It seems D'Souza is as much of a “scholar” as anyone teaching at another institution that puts a right-wing agenda before facts, which is the better known Liberty University.

More on Ricketts' latest efforts from The New York Times here below the fold: Billionaire Finds New Role in Effort to Defeat Obama:

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After Mitt Romney went pandering to the right-wing during his commencement address at Liberty University earlier this week, Bill Maher took his a few shots at the school during his New Rules segment on Real Time this Friday.

MAHER: And finally, new rule, you can't expect me to believe anything Mitt Romney said last week at Liberty University because a: He's a liar. And b: Liberty University isn't really a university. It's not like an actual statesman visited an actual college. It's more like a Tupac hologram visited Disneyland. [...]

This is a school you flunk out of when you get the answers right. [...]

Conservatives often say that gay marriage cheapens their marriage. Well, I think a diploma from Liberty cheapens my degree from a real school.

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Mitt Romney decided to double down on his opposition to gay marriage during his commencement address at Liberty University this Saturday. After having the unfortunate circumstance of watching the entire twenty minute speech which aired on C-SPAN, if you thought some of his speeches on the campaign trail were bad, this one was worse. The response from the crowd for the better part of the speech was tepid at best except for the portion where he spoke out against gay marriage, which did get him a healthy round of applause.

Romney's presence at the University was not welcomed by all. After the announcement that Romney would be giving the commencement address, students were protesting the school's decision to have him there: Liberty's choice of Romney leads to angry student response.

And this Saturday, there was this: Gay Republicans Slam Romney For Speaking At Liberty:

The gay consevative group GOProud is not happy Mitt Romney chose to speak at Liberty University Saturday.

A statement from GOProud co-founder Jimmy LaSalvia was sent to reporters as Romney delivered his address:

Today, Governor Mitt Romney spoke at Liberty University. Liberty was founded by the late Jerry Falwell, who in 2007 said, “AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. To oppose it would be like an Israelite jumping in the Red Sea to save one of Pharaoh’s charioteers … AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.”

The speech at Liberty comes just days after top Romney adviser Ed Gillespie said that Governor Romney would campaign on the issue of marriage. In response, JimmyLaSalvia, Executive Director and Co-Founder of GOProud – a national organization of gay and straight Americans seeking to promote freedom by supporting free markets, limited government, and a respect for individual rights, issued the following statement:

“The father of the modern conservative movement, former US Senator Barry Goldwater, once said of Jerry Falwell that he needed a kick in the ass. With his speech at Falwell’s Liberty University, it is clear that Governor Romney’s message to Goldwater conservatives is: drop dead.

You can read the rest of their response in the post at TPM. He was also met with this from MoveOn today: Romney’s Liberty University Speech Protested From The Air:

The student loan debate was (literally) in the air as Mitt Romney prepared to make his commencement address at Liberty University here. As the graduation ceremony at this evangelical Christian university began, a single-engined plane flew circles around the commencement towing a banner reading “GOP = HIGHER SCHOOL DEBT.”

The fight to extend the interest rate on Stafford loans is one of the few where President Obama and Romney are on the same page. Both favor extending low interest rates on Stafford student loans. The extension is currently tied up in Congress, where Republicans and Democrats are split on how to pay for the rate extension.

Transcript of Romney's remarks in the clip above below the fold via:

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Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann did a little pandering Wednesday during her visit to Jerry Falwell's Liberty University.

"Is there any better university in the history of the world?" she asked the crowd of students, who she called "Christian warriors."

"I think we all know it is awesome to be able to be here today... These are only the early days of what God has planned, not only for this university, but for each one of your lives as well."

Bachmann delivered her remarks on why it was it was important not to settle.

One of those reasons, she said, was "the very best man that I know, my husband Marcus Bachmann."

"And ladies and gentlemen, I challenge you. You can have it too! Don't settle in that department either! Make sure you get God's very best for you too. It's worth it."

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Rev. Jerry Falwell may have founded Liberty University, but students there seemed more interested in firearms than Christ during a Wednesday event featuring Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry.

Mention of the National Rifle Association (NRA) drew noticeably louder cheers than did the notion of "Christian values," which only prompted a smattering of applause.

Upon announcing the Texas governor, Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. noted Perry's support for the rights of gun owners.

"Liberty became one of only 78 universities in the nation to receive to receive a credit rating of AA or higher from Standard & Poor's," he said, adding that the credit rating agency had given the institution a positive outlook, while "they gave President Obama and the United State of America a negative outlook. So, we're proud of that."

"Today's speaker also has an A+ rating, but it's from the National Rifle Association," Falwell said.

The chancellor's remarks were interrupted with enthusiastic cheers from the audience of about 10,000 students.

Perry began his speech by thanking American Renewal Project's David Lane for helping him to organize a prayer event called "The Response" earlier this year.

"What a powerful message that we brought pastors together across the state of Texas, sharing with them the importance that they need to stand in the pulpit every day and defend the values, those Christian values," Perry said. "America is going to be guided by some set of values. The question is going to be who's values?"

"And David Lane and I -- and I would suggest the people in this audience -- believe it's those Christian values that this country was based upon!"

Perry paused for a reaction, but the audience could only muster reluctant applause.

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Here is the first 7 min of Beck's rambling and disjointed address yesterday. Apologies for the video quality as it was recorded off the tv screen itself, by a fan of Beck I assume.

The Lynchburg News & Advance describes the spectacle as so:

Fox News commentator Glenn Beck, a conservative firebrand and prominent figure in the Tea Party movement, stayed away from politics during his commencement speech, instead dishing advice such as “look to God and live.”

Beck received an honorary degree from Liberty. He never graduated from college but spent one semester at Yale University when he was 30, he said, leaving because he could not afford the tuition.

Beck, who is Mormon, delivered a speech that emphasized the power of faith in righting a country that he said has gone off track.“I look at the things that are facing you today: the worst economy in generations, the euro on the road to collapse, we’re spending ourselves into oblivion…” he said. “We live in a time where you must have great courage; you must have great faith. We live in a time where it seems truth is on the run.”

His message to the graduates was peppered with tears, humor and even some offbeat wisdom, such as “cabs smell worse in the summer” and “labels are meaningless, but Louis Vuitton shoes are really the best.”A significant portion of the ceremony was devoted to honoring the university’s founder.

As for paper's assertion that he "stayed away from politics", Beck sure spent a lot of time railing against the Obama administration and trying to link Obama himself with book burners and Adolf Hitler, as is his wont to do. Later he would offer the advice "Shoot to kill", which you can hear in context.

I suppose it is fitting that a ceremony designed to honor the memory of Jerry Falwell, the university’s founder, would feature Glenn Beck.

Later in the day Beck would address the NRA's Celebration of American Values Freedom Experience [sic], where "10,000 stood and roared."

Beck, backed by his familiar chalkboard, depicted a nation that has lost its faith in God, honor and American institutions.

"We have to think of something, because the Titanic is going down," he said. "We need to save the passengers, that's what we need to worry about. Let the ship sink if we have to. We have a great plan: It's called the Constitution, and we'll build another one."

In the end it's hard to decide which is the more depressing fact: that Glenn Beck should be awarded an honorary doctorate from anywhere or that Liberty University itself exists. Probably both are equally offensive.

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Well it looks like Virginia's new Governor and his right wing Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli are turning out to be everything we expected of them. As if McDonnell's race baiting Confederate History Month proclamation wasn't bad enough, he's also decided that felons have to take a quasi-literacy test. Someone please tell me there's going to be a suit over this for violating the Voting Rights Act.

Bob McDonnell's Next Target: Felon Voting Rights:

You can learn a lot about a political culture by how it approaches problems that don’t actually exist. For instance, while there's little evidence to suggest that rehabilitated felons exert an undue influence on our political process, many states have made registering to vote into the rough equivalent of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. If you're a former felon living in Mississippi, for example, you have to convince both houses of the state legislature to pass a bill specifically granting you the right to vote in state and local elections. Or, more likely, you won't even try—which is kind of the point. In Virginia, felons can vote only with the approval of the governor. But don't worry, Virginia, because new Gov. Bob McDonnell is on the case. From the Washington Post:

McDonnell (R) will require the offenders to submit an essay outlining their contributions to society since their release, turning a nearly automatic process into a subjective one that some say may prevent poor, less-educated or minority residents from being allowed to vote.

And his Attorney General who's suing over the Constitutionality of the health care bill is also going to be attending this little soiree at Liberty University.

Cuccinelli Confirmed For Freedom Federation's "Awakening" Conference:

Today, Liberty Counsel put out a release confirming that "Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is scheduled to speak at 'The Awakening 2010' on Thursday evening, April 15 at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA."

Cuccinelli will be joining a who's who of Religious Right leaders, including Andrea Lafferty, Wendy Wright, Richard Land, Tony Perkins, Kelly Shackelford, Ken Blackwell, Mat Staver, Rick Scarborough, Harry Jackson, Lou Engle, and even Cindy Jacobs.

Who is Cindy Jacobs, you ask? This is Cindy Jacobs:

That has to be one of the creepiest things I've watched in a long time. Rachel wrapped up her segment with this.

Maddow: So I don't know if the band is going to be there, but the Attorney General of the state of Virginia is going to be appearing with her on Thursday. A lot of conservative politicians admit they want to repeal health reform, but it takes a brave new Virginia style conservative politician to say they want to repeal health reform while appearing at an event with a faith healer -- repeal and replace indeed.

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There's really not much to add to this story, so I'll let the video compilation and the links tell it. The video clips are from WSET in Lynchburg VA; Keith Olbermann picking Mark Hine as his #3 WPITW; and Rachel Maddow giving an overview and then an interview with Brian Diaz, president of the club.

You can sign their petition for reinstatement here.

Story:

Liberty University, the university founded by the late Christian evangelist Rev. Jerry Falwell, has revoked its recognition of the campus Democratic Party club, saying “we are unable to lend support to a club whose parent organization stands against the moral principles held by” the university, The News & Advance, of Lynchburg, Va., reports.

“It kind of happened out of nowhere,” said Brian Diaz, president of the student Democratic Party organization that the school had formally recognized in October.

Diaz, the paper reports, said he got the news May 15 in an e-mail from Mark Hine, vice president of student affairs.

The e-mail is included here:

From: Hine, Mark (VP Student Affairs)

Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 1:37 PM

Subject: LU College Democrats

I must inform you that the College democrats' club is no longer going to be recognized as a Liberty University club. We are unable to lend support to a club whose parent organization stands against the moral principles held by Liberty University.

--snip--

Even though this club may not support the more radical planks of the democratic party, the democratic party is still the parent organization of the club on campus. The Democratic Party Platform is contrary to the mission of LU and to Christian doctrine (supports abortion, federal funding of abortion, advocates repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, promotes the "LGBT" agenda, Hate Crimes, which include sexual orientation and gender identity, socialism, etc).