Glenn Beck seems to be increasingly rattled by having been designated by the ADL as the nation's "Fearmonger in Chief" -- though he continues, on his Fox News show at least, to avoid tackling his critics by name. (He's pushed back at the ADL on his radio show, but only briefly.)

Yesterday he went on his show and denounced the unnamed "they" who say he is encouraging violence with his extremist rhetoric (which would decidedly include us). Keying off his softball interview with Barbara Walters -- who never did bring up his serial falsehoods about Walters and her colleagues at The View, oddly enough -- Beck gets all worked up about the toughest point raised in the whole conversation:

Beck: Barbara Walters even played into this nonsense during her interview with me last night on her annual 'Fascinating People' show. Here it is:

[CLIP] Walters: Glenn Beck is somebody who incites people to violence --

Beck: Oh, I've heard a lot --

Walters: -- He is inflammatory, he makes us scared.

Beck: Yeah. People say Glenn Beck is someone who incites people to violence. Yeah, a lot of people are saying that, but what's the evidence?

She also mentioned that I called Barack Obama a fascist. I don't know -- I, I don't think so. Maybe -- I don't think so, I do realize that Media Matters and MoveOn.org now just got an extra grant from Soros and they're moving into hyper-scramble to find, you know, an example. But I don't know if I ever even called him a fascist. I know I've said 'fascistic tendencies' -- sure, the administration is going in this direction.

Actually, what Walters said was this:

Walters: OK, you have said the Obama administration is fascist.

And in fact, that is exactly what he has done -- on multiple occasions, but most notably back on April 1:

Beck: Like it or not, fascism is on the rise. And that doesn't mean the Adolf Hitler kind of fascism. It's fascism with a happy face. I'll explain the exact definition of fascism in a second, and it will boggle your mind.

--

Beck: I looked up the definition of fascism yesterday, and I want to break it down. The first part is: "Where socialism sought totalitarian control of a society’s economic processes through direct state operation of the means of production, fascism sought that control indirectly, through domination of nominally private owners." Wouldn't you say this is what's happening with GM right now?

As we noted then, this even included a segment with a time-traveling dime:

How far out to lunch was Beck here? Well, one of the goofier moments in this whole charade came when Beck trotted out the back of an old American dime -- first minted, as Beck says, in 1916 -- which has a fasces, the fascist symbol, on its reverse side:

This is the famed "Mercury dime", which was designed by sculptor Adolph A. Weinman, who won a 1915 competition: "The reverse design, a fasces juxtaposed with an olive branch, was intended to symbolize America's readiness for war, combined with its desire for peace."

Now, the fasces has a long history of inclusion in various parts of American symbology besides just this dime. You can find it in the Oval Office, on National Guard Bureau insignia, on the American flag that flies in the U.S. House, in the Mace of the House of Representatives; on the seal of the U.S. Senate, on the Statue of Freedom atop the United States Capitol building, and on a frieze on the facade of the United States Supreme Court building. Fasces are incorporated into the Lincoln Memorial.

But then, fascism as a political movement was not born until 1919. So for sculptor Weinman to have intended the fasces on the Mercury dime to imply a "fascist" intent, he'd have had to have jumped in a time machine, traveled to the future, met Mussolini, and come back to 1915 with that nefarious design in his head. Somehow I doubt this.

Beck had made the charge even before then, in a February conversation with Laura Ingraham:

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(h/t Heather at VideoCafe)

This Week with George Stephanopoulos notes the passings of photographer Irving Penn, anti-war activist Peg Mullen and restaurateur Ben Ali. In addition, the Pentagon has released the names of 16 soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Army SGT Roberto D Sanchez, 24 of Satellite Beach, FL
Army SGT Aaron M Smith, 25, of Manhattan, KS
Army SPC Brandon A Owens, 21, of Memphis, TN
Army SSG Thomas D Rabjohn, 39, of Litchfield Park, AZ
Army SPC Paul E Andersen, 49, of Dowagiac, MI
Army CPT Benjamin A Sklaver, 32, of Medford, MA
Army PFC Alan H Newton Jr, 26, of Asheboro, NC
Army MAJ Tad T Hervas, 48, of Coon Rapids, MN
Army SGT Justin T Gallegos, 27, of Tucson, AZ
Army SGT Joshua M Hardt, 24, of Applegate, CA
Army SGT Joshua J Kirk, 30, of South Portland, ME
Army SGT Michael P Scusa, 22, of Villas, NJ
Army SPC Christopher T Griffin, 24, of Kincheloe, MI
Army SPC Stephan L Mace, 21, of Lovettsville, VA
Army PFC Kevin C Thomson, 22, of Reno, NV
Army SPC Kevin O Hill, 23, of Brooklyn, NY

This brings the total number of allied servicemembers killed in Iraq to 4,667, in Afghanistan, 1,453. During this same week, Iraq Body Count has listed 63 Iraqi civilian deaths and violence in Afghanistan has contributed to at least 17 Afghani civilian deaths.

I interviewed Michael Moore for a few minutes in between his media stops about his new movie called Capitalism, A Love Story which I reviewed here. As we discussed his film, the topic of conservatism, hate speech and FOX News came up and I asked him if he would consider going back on FOX News again. His responses were interesting and I think FOX News will go scrambling to book him after they hear what Michael had to say. I also think Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck will not be happy campers.

Amato: Would you ever go back on FOX again?

Moore: Yes,I would go back on FOX again. I would not go on Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck because they use far too much hate speech and calls for violence and I cannot participate with anyone that goes down that road.
I stayed off because somebody at the studio told me that whenever I go on their ratings go up and I'm not interested in helping them sell products and make money for themselves and having said that I'm ready to tee up (garbled audio, but I think he said Hannity) Hannity I think pretty soon.

Amato: That would get huge ratings and it's also really enjoyable to see you kick them around because you know the type of Democrat that go on most of the time that are just so weak and that's the way they like them so that they can serve them up and kick them around.

Moore: Then I will make a point during this tour to try and go on one of their shows and give them something-something...

Amato: Do it for the blogosphere! (laughs)

Moore: Do it for the blogosphere. This one's for you!

The attacks on President Obama by FOX News programs have been profoundly upsetting and as much as I object at times to lefties that go on FOX, I have to say that it would be very enjoyable to see Michael smack down Roger Ailes crew. Do you think Michael will go on Hannity since he won't do they Beck or O'Reilly? Sheppard Smith might be a good choice. And you can be sure that O'Reilly will whine about this. The reason I asked the question is because I've seen Moore duke it out with Bill O'Reilly before and they were very good segments to watch.

John Amato: This is John Amato from Crooks and Liars and I am joined by the great movie maker Michael Moore and he has a new movie out "Capitalism: A Love Story." Hey Michael, thanks for joining me.

Michael Moore: Thanks for having me here.

John Amato: I just want to say one thing here before we get going. How about those Lions?

Michael Moore: [laughing] It's been two years, and if they had to beat somebody it might as well have been the Washington Redskins. But I feel sorry for the Redskins as it’s going to be a trivia answer for the next few decades.

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The right has been seizing on the brutal murder of a teen, Derrion Albert, in Chicago by feuding gang members. Reports are that Albert just happened to walk into the fight and became a fatality of it.

This story has been the top story on Drudge for the last day, you know since Obama is from Chicago.

As well as Malkin trying to take a jab at community organizing, and there for Obama:

Community organizing has not stopped Chicago’s teen violence epidemic. The Olympics will not solve this long-festering problem, either.

So if we are going to blame our politicians for murders that happen in their home towns, then can we talk about this?

An 18-year-old man is behind bars and a 17-year-old male is wanted in connection with the deadly stabbing of a teenage girl in West Chester.

Police arrested Khrendon Gray of Springfield Township early Friday morning and charged him with one count of murder. He appeared in court on Friday where a judge set his bond at $1 million.

Gray is accused of fatally stabbing 15-year-old Amber Robinson Thursday evening.

On Friday afternoon, West Chester police issued an arrest warrant for 17-year-old Rashon Martin of Forest Park. The warrant is for complicity to commit murder in connection to the death of Robinson.

This case is very similar to the one in Chicago, an innocent teen being in the wrong place at the wrong time, except for the names and locations.

West Chester is where House Minority Leader John Boehner lives. As matter of fact this happened only a couple of miles from his house. Is the right going to start putting blame on Boehner for it?

Or how about the two charged with the crime. They are from Jean Schmidt’s district. When will Drudge post the headline; ‘Holy Schmidt: Jean Schmidt constituents charged with brutal murder of teenager’

It has been almost three weeks since the murder of Amber Robinson and I haven’t heard a peep out of the right on it. Apparently only the brutal murder of teens in the President’s hometown are worthy of mention. When it occurs close to home for Republicans then they just brush it under the carpet.

"News plus hysterium or synthrage or bigotamine is what we were drinking.

This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence."

Open Thread below...

(h/t CSPANjunkie)
The Afghan war is going very badly and support is shrinking. I heard Michael Ware say on CNN (above clip) that the big multimillion dollar Highway #1 which runs from Kabul to Kandahar that we repaved has been almost destroyed and the Taliban can attack at will. Drivers are left completely exposed to attacks, but what choice do Afghan truckers have?
More troop losses are mounting....

Eight soldiers have died on a bloody day for US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Three died in a roadside bombing in northern Iraq - the US military's deadliest single incident in five months - and one died in Baghdad.

Four soldiers died in what was described as a "complex attack" in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan.

Violence in Afghanistan is at a record high, while attacks have increased in Iraq since a US-led pull-back in July.
{}
In Afghanistan, violence has surged to a record high eight years after the US-led invasion which toppled the Taliban.

Some 820 US soldiers are thought to have died in Afghanistan in those eight years.

The Bush administration mishandled their other war so badly that violence has spiked almost eight years laterand accusations of voter fraud are flying around.

Afghanistan’s UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission ordered a recount and examination of some ballots in the Aug. 20 presidential election, saying it had found “clear and convincing evidence of fraud” in the vote.

The order came as results released by the country’s election authority showed President Hamid Karzai nearing the majority of votes required -- 50 percent plus one vote -- to be elected. It was the first official confirmation of fraud that independent election monitors say risks undermining the credibility of the vote and the next Afghan government.

The media would like us to forget that this is another Bush/Cheney disaster, but it is and the troops have to pay the ultimate price for getting us into another quagmire. This is the next political battle after health care in DC, but we're hitting it on the net now. After eight years the war is in even worse condition no matter what Joe Lieberman has to say.

Apparently the GOP's favorite fake plumber Joe Wurzelbacher speaking about Nancy Pelosi and saying that "those kind of people I usually took behind the woodshed and beat the livin' tar out of" was a bit hit at Americans for Prosperity's right wing conference that they held as their alternative to Netroots Nation.

It's so nice to see these good self proclaimed Christians having no problem with advocating violence as a means to an end that they would prefer to use. I don't have a lot of use for Mrs. "Impeachment is Off the Table" Pelosi myself, but I find it extremely offensive that someone would even suggest that violence would be a suitable means to get that or any other point across to her.

I'm sure Mr. Wurzelbacher will feign ignorance once called out on this and say he wasn't actually calling for anyone to beat the crap out of Nancy Pelosi. Sorry Joe... or is it Sam? If you put the suggestion out there that this is acceptable behavior, you are advocating violence towards the Speaker. It's unacceptable and given the fringe that's been whipped up into a frenzy these days, it's dangerous. Shame on you.

If you're worried about responsibility, you'd better take some for the words that come out of your mouth.

Lou Dobbs looks like he's doing another audition for Fox News as he carries water for fake "victim" Kenneth Gladney and claims that the video which he airs on his show "is pretty declarative as to the points that you're making that we're watching right now". Anyone watching the video can see for themselves that it's not. Even the edited down version of the video Dobbs airs, Gladney clearly gets right up after going to the ground, and shows no signs of any severe injuries.

DOBBS: As we've been reporting, these town hall meetings around the country are becoming increasingly volatile. In at least one case there was violence. Now, the video you're looking at shows a scuffle after Congressman Ross Carnahan's meeting on health care near St. Louis. Kenneth Gladney was attacked by members, he says members of the labor union, the service employees union. He joins us now. Also with him David Brown, Mr. Gladney's attorney. Gentlemen, I want to thank both of you for being here.

DAVID BROWN, ATTORNEY: Thank you.

DOBBS: Let me ask you, if I may, Kenneth, the -- there have been three arrests. Are you satisfied that the perpetrator -- excuse me, two arrests of two men, one woman in this, as I understand it. Are you satisfied that the people responsible for the attack on you have been apprehended?

KENNETH GLADNEY, ACTIVIST: Extremely. I'm extremely satisfied that they have been apprehended. And hopefully we can get some justice.

BROWN: There's one individual, though, Lou, that fled the scene. And we're looking for any videos anybody may have and would lead us to find this suspect.

DOBBS: Now, you -- one of the points here, flash points, is Mr. Gladney, you said that three of those people were wearing shirts, t- shirts, as I understand it from you --

GLADNEY: Yes.

DOBBS: That had service employees union SEIU, on them. Is that correct?

GLADNEY: That is correct. That is correct.

DOBBS: And has there been a reaction or a response from the service employees union to your allegations?

GLADNEY: Not that I know of at this point. I haven't heard anything. Up to now.

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It appears to be dawning on Glenn Beck -- what with yet another of his heavily armed fans now under arrest for casing out an Air National Guard base because she feared it was a FEMA concentration camp -- that some of the outrage he's so busily manufacturing on the air nightly might just boil over into violence again.

Yesterday on his Fox News show, he reviewed the tape coming in from the hooligans taking over the town-hall forums meant to discuss health care, disrupting them with tactics specifically intended to destroy any meaningful discussion, and was obviously pleased at the handiwork of his fellow tea-baggers. Indeed, it's unmistakable to everyone (even Beck, evidently) that there's an increasingly ugly undertone that forebodes violence. And if that happens, well, some of the blame might fall in his direction if it does.

So he took out a little insurance yesterday, imploring his increasingly angry audience not to resort to violence if they don't get their way politically:

Beck: The best thing that you can do right now is to let Congress know that you are watching them like a hawk. You show up. You let them feel your burning gaze on them at all times.

But here's the thing that I -- I'm concerned about: Your interaction with them needs to be respectful, polite, forceful, and peaceful.

I've been warning Congress now for a couple of years, and the time has come and passed for them to be able to learn from this. I've been telling them, you have to listen to the people, or they'll be in real big trouble.

Well now, let me give the warning to you: If anyone thinks that it would be a good idea to turn violent, think again. It would destroy the Republic. I feel it with everything in me. There is a great reason for hope right now. Because, I am telling you, for the first time -- since I started saying this in the last couple of years -- for the first time I know it, I feel it, the American people are starting to wake up.

These people in Washington have no idea what they have done. They have wakened a sleeping giant. But just one lunatic like Timothy McVeigh could ruin everything that everyone has worked so hard for, because these people in Washington won't pass up the use of an emergency.

Look how the media ran with the abortion-doctor killing. They tried to pin that despicable act on Fox in general and specifically, Bill O'Reilly and me! The only thing either of us have ever said is there's no reason for that, ever.

Sorry, Glenn, but that isn't the only thing either of you have ever said. O'Reilly also happened to refer to Dr. Tiller as a "baby killer" nearly thirty times, and accused him of mass murder as well as running "an abortion mill" where he had "aborted 60,000 fetuses." He even mused aloud about someone taking him out.

Sure, you can add a disclaimer at the end telling people never to commit violence. But coming at the tail end of an endless litany of incendiary demonization, that's pretty weak tea as lame excuses go.

Likewise, there are the many incendiary things you've said just in recent weeks: calling President Obama a racist, a fascist, and a socialist; repeatedly telling your audience for three weeks running that you "couldn't debunk" the FEMA concentration-camp theories (followed by a single episode in which you did in fact debunk them); agreeing with your guest that the only hope for America is another major terrorist attack; and helping promote secession.

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Check out the above video from Neil Cavuto's show. He had on some weird work-out dude named Michael Karolchyk who has a porn lite website called "Anti Gym" and is a regular FOX guest wearing a "No Chubbies" t-shirt. He wears it a lot, but for this segment it was embarrassing and Cavuto should have objected to it. She is the Surgeon General, after all. I guess I can wear just about anything on TV now. He compared her to a man living in a cardboard box running the Fed. It's disgusting.

As soon as Dr Regina Benjamin was named as our new Surgeon General the right wing haters crawled out from under their rocks. Every single move President Obama makes is immediately transformed into some socialistic/Nazi/Witch doctor conspiracy theory which is amping up the crazies and violence is sure to follow in even greater numbers now than it already has. C&L has vigorously objected to several of President Obama's moves on policy, but the freepers even attacked the jeans he wore when he threw out the first pitch at the All Star game.

Now they've expanded their hatred and have unleashed vile attacks on Dr. Benjamin.

The only problem seems to be that some people think the face is too fat.

From her photos, it appears that Dr. Benjamin will need a generous size 18 military uniform. The anti-fat brigade has been arguing in various online comments sections about her BMI and whether or not the term obese applies. These chattering masses wonder if a country plagued by obesity should have an above average-weight woman speaking to public health.

For me the answer is a resounding yes. This country is full of above-average weight women and children struggling for dignity as well as to lose weight. Achieving either of these is not easy. (Never mind that none of these criticisms have mentioned any actual health concerns Benjamin might or might not have, instead presuming "obesity" as a catch-all for bad health.) Having a confident, big-bodied and big-spirited woman as America's family doctor could do more to improve their health than skinny HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius. It's good to know that even doctors struggle with their weight -- and lead full and active lives in spite of adversity.

Amanda Marcotte has an excellent post about this story.

Yet, as Marcotte points out, there is an increasing tendency to see all of this as yet another opportunity to marginalize and shame certain segments of society based upon appearance:

By saying this, I’m not making any health claims about weight. That discussion, while interesting, is beside the point of this post. It’s enough to know that most people strongly associate health and weight. So when disingenuous sexists start to bellyache about the dangers of letting fat women out in public, they get traction, because it’s becoming increasingly acceptable to suggest that not being perfectly healthy is a moral failing that should be punished with social disapproval, shaming, ostracism, and lowered access to society. Of course, we double down on fat people, and triple down on fat women, because of plain old prejudice, but this isn’t happening in a vacuum. Smokers, people who don’t eat right, and other people with poor health habits are also considered morally inadequate, if harder to judge because they’re harder to spot. The fetish for health management is, I suspect, a large reason that the anti-vaccination movement has taken hold. People who want an edge in the moral olympics of prevention are inventing counterintuitive (and anti-intellectual) shit to do in order to win as the bestest, most deserving of good health.

Joe Gandelman has an answer:

Dear America. Please go worry about something important, rather than whether or not the new Surgeon General looks hawt in a bikini. Trust me, there’s lots of things going on in Washington right now which are worthy of a full blown panic.

I lost 30 lbs using the Weight Watchers system, but I was always a skinny kid. It's not an easy thing to deal with and when FOX attacks overweight people, they are attacking as many teabagger/republicans as they are Democrats. But who they really are attacking are Americans. When was it a moral sin to not look like Ally McBeal?

Global News Blog [Christian Science Monitor]:

It takes a certain amount of courage to attend a church in Iraq.

In the past 24 hours, bombs exploded outside of six churches in various Baghdad neighborhoods, killing at least four people, and wounding more than 30, according to a Reuters report from the Iraqi capital.

Sunday’s attacks were among the worst, in terms of the death toll. But many of these same churches have been bombed before. On Jan. 6, 2008 – also a Sunday – seven churches (four in Baghdad, three in Mosul) were hit in a similar round of bombings. Two years earlier, four churches (three in Baghdad, 1 in Kirkuk) were bombed – also on a Sunday in January.

The Assyrian (Christian) International News agency reports that 52 Assyrian churches have been bombed in Iraq between June 2004 and the end of 2008.

The latest attacks come in the wake of the US withdrawal of combat troops (on June 30) from most Iraqi cities.

read more...

Good God. They really are wishing and hoping for a terrorist attack.

Michael Scheuer, on Glenn Beck's show last night:

Scheuer: The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States. Because it's going to take a grass-roots, bottom-up pressure. Because these politicians prize their office, prize the praise of the media and the Europeans. It's an absurd situation again. Only Osama can execute an attack which will force Americans to demand that their government protect them effectively, consistently, and with as much violence as necessary.

Beck: Which is why, I was thinking this weekend, if I were him, that would be the last thing I would do right now.

I guess the wingnuts have given up the pretense of decency and normalcy. Now they're rooting for another terrorist attack, so that we stoopid Americans will finally WAKE UP! to the nature of the evil that conspires against us ...

Actually, we're becoming quite awake indeed. And it isn't bin Laden who scares us right now. More like Glenn Beck and his guests.

You know why bloggers don't get invited onto more news shows? Because we would absolutely clean the politicians' clocks over hypocrisy like this. Billions of dollars to spend on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that have killed more than a million innocent civilians, but they go all brave and weepy-eyed over theoretical babies. Funny, how little attention they give to them once they're out of the womb:

In the wake of Dr. George Tiller's murder, the U.S. Senate is debating a resolution that condemns violence against abortion providers. The words "reproductive health care" are in the bill, causing Republicans and anti-abortion senators to oppose it, according to a Minnesota Independent article.

Senators Amy Klobuchar, who is the lead sponsor, Jeanne Shaheen and Barbara Boxer worded the bill to say "acts of violence should never be used to prevent women from receiving reproductive health care." The bill's opponents say it glorifies abortion. The article also said that an anonymous Republican senator moved to use the "secret hold," which prevents a vote on the bill.

Klobuchar told the Minnesota Independent, "As a former prosecutor I have seen how acts of violence can tear apart communities...No matter how heated the debate or how great our differences, violence is never the answer."

A similar bill passed the House June 9, but it was a watered-down version of the one currently in the Senate. It did not mention Dr. Tiller or his profession, and did not use the words "reproductive rights" or "abortion."

(Neda Agha-Soltan - the face of repression's shame)

I don't usually post current items, or late breaking news. I leave that to Crooks and Liars to do, because they're a whole lot better at it than I am. But today I was listening to To The Point, the excellent news review program hosted by Warren Olney and broadcast here in Los Angeles on KCRW. Olney was interviewing Robin Wright, the broadcaster/journalist who I have been a fan of for years, ever since her days with CBS Radio, covering the Middle East and Southern Africa during the apartheid struggle. Wright has always been a source of good, solid information, truthfully presented without bias, and hearing her assessment of the current state of affairs in Iran and the significance of the tragic death of Neda Agha-Soltan, the 26 year-old philosophy student gunned down on Saturday made me want to share this on my site. I do however urge you to sign up for the podcasts currently available at KCRW of To The Point and to check out Olney's companion show "Which Way, L.A.?", as well as support KCRW, a station doing what most stations don't these days; performing a service - Olney has been a mainstay in broadcast journalism for many years in the Los Angeles area. He is without flash, hysteria or gimmicks - something we are desperate for right about now.

The Eliminationists are having a nice time over at Cafe Press. Here's some of Mad Max Market's designs. The man who murdered Dr. Tiller, Scott Roeder is an American Hero now and Having a high powered rifle signaling the impeachment of Barack Obama holds a similar meaning for this nutcase.

I'm sure there are dozens of offensive stuff being sold on Cafe Press just like these. This is a pattern of behavior that's only going to escalate unfortunately for America and more violence is sure to follow.

(h/t Philip)