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What a shock. Sour grapes Bill O'Reilly didn't like President Obama's inaugural speech today. And what set Bill-O off that irritated him so badly about it? President Obama was advocating for... gasp... social justice! The horror! The only thing that was missing here was him calling us Greece. That and saying the words that didn't cross his lips, which is Social Security and Medicare. Apparently those are "welfare" now.

I wonder how many of the retirees who watch his show and actually take it seriously realize he's talking about them?

Bill O’Reilly: ‘President Obama’s Attempts to Redistribute Prosperity Will Bankrupt America’:

Tonight in his Talking Points Memo, Bill O’Reilly critiqued President Obama’s inaugural address. Instead of focusing on the country’s fiscal problems, O’Reilly assessed, the president argued that America’s top priority must be social justice.

President Obama stated in his speech, “We reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future.”

O’Reilly said, “Talking Points disagrees with President Obama’s priority, all though social justice is a noble goal. It is simply impossible to do what the president wants to do. Ensuring prosperity and fairness for every American can’t be done no matter how much money you spend.”

The Factor host said it would be more productive to build a strong society based on robust free market and effective social programs that provide opportunity rather than charity. “The danger is that Mr. Obama’s persistent attempts to do that, to redistribute prosperity, will bankrupt the nation,” he said.

Bill-O seems like he's still pretty crabby now that his taxes are going to be going up. I'm still waiting for him to make good on his promise and move out of the country.

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C-SPAN aired a panel discussion hosted by Tavis Smiley this week which included Cornel West, Arianna Huffington, David Frum, Dana Milbank, David Brody, John Chen, Maria Teresa Kumar and Maria Bartiromo. I didn't get to watch all of it but enjoyed the part I did catch because of moments like this one from Cornel West.

WEST: Black people's struggle has been the leaven in the democratic loaf. We look at the catastrophe and like the Blues, we responded with a smile, not revenge but justice, not hatred, but compassion. That's what Martin King's about. That's what Curtis Mayfield is about. You know what I mean? That's what John Coltrane is about. That's our tradition at our best.

But what happened during the Reagan years was the black freedom movement was confined to just another special interest group. Neo-liberal and neo-conservatives, intellectuals tried to reduce our movement to be just our self interests as if the black struggle was just for Negroes. That has never been the case. Never.

We start with Negroes, we start with black people and it relates to every citizen, poor working class, gay, lesbian and so forth, at our best. That's the legacy of Martin King. But what we get now, especially in the media is any time you talk about “the black experience” they view it as just a special interest group. You see what I mean?

It's like the corporate agenda. Is that just for corporations? Well see, in a democracy, once those labels begin to ossify; now here I agree with brother David on the end, that once they ossify then we can never communicate. That's where we've been for the last twenty five years. We can't even communicate.

So then brother Rush Limbaugh will say well, civility just wants to police me, so I can't express myself. No brother Rush, you can say what you want. We just want you to be truthful, don't be cruel and vicious and try not to lie. That's all. That's all.

But things are so polarized, they're so polarized that it's difficult for us to proceed and in a democracy you don't have high quality communications when it relates to public interests, you gonna' end up with private interests reigning and private interests have to do with might and power. Whoever has the power will define what's right. And no society can survive based on that kind of empty, empty orientation.

Here's the entire segment if anyone wants to watch more of the panel. Warning, it's three hours long if you want to watch all of it.

Time for your weekly podcast with The Professional Left, our own Driftglass and Bluegal. Enjoy and have a great weekend everybody.

You can listen to archives on a free web-based player (and throw five bucks in the hat to help keep these going) at The Professional Left.

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Chris Matthews and his producers apparently just can't quit having on affirmative action expert and resident MSNBC racist Pat Buchanan to weigh in on matters regarding racism and social justice. Eugene Robinson deserves better than having to argue with this bigot when it comes to matters of race relations in the United States.

As I've said already, why MSNBC feels the need to keep bringing this relic on who's still fighting the battles we should have settled ages ago is beyond me. He does nothing but race bait every time they allow him on the air for one of these discussions.

MATTHEWS: Back to Hardball. On Friday, Democratic senator Jim Webb of Virginia tackled Affirmative Action in "The Wall Street Journal." Senator Webb wrote, quote, "Those who came to this country in recent decades from Asia, Latin America and Africa do not suffer discrimination from our government, and in fact, have frequently been
the beneficiaries of special government programs. The same cannot be said of many hard-working white Americans, including those whose roots in America go back more than 200 years. Beyond our continuing obligation to assist those African- Americans still in need, government-directed diversity programs should end."

Is Senator Webb right? MSNBC`s analyst -- political analyst Eugene Robinson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for "The Washington Post." And Pat Buchanan is an MSNBC political analyst, and very important figure in American life, I should say.

Pat, let me start with you and this question. I`m not even sure, since this subject has only been brought up today, over the weekend...

PAT BUCHANAN: Right.

MATTHEWS: ... how much is left of Affirmative Action in terms of -- I know schools, private schools look for diversity because they think it helps all their students.

What`s left that bothers you in terms of Affirmative Action, that you think...

BUCHANAN: Right.

MATTHEWS: ... should be gotten rid of, along with, apparently, Jim Webb, who wants -- the Virginia senator -- wants to get rid of? What`s left as a remnant of Affirmative Action you want to see gone?

BUCHANAN: Well, there`s an enormous amount of it in the federal government and the federal workforce. I`ve been looking at that as part of a book. But Chris, let me say this. Jim Webb`s point is important and courageous. What he`s saying is, Don`t treat white America as a monolith. The folks he came from Scots-Irish Southerners, mostly Appalachia -- those folks never benefited from the WASP ascendancy in Boston and New York. They were the victims of that form of discrimination. And they are today the victims of the form of discrimination practice and Affirmative Action, quotas, set-asides and things like that.

And ask yourself, Chris, what is the morality? What is the justice of discriminating against Appalachian white folks, whose father may have fought in Vietnam, whose grandfather fought in World War II, in favor of folks, say, from El Salvador or from Ethiopia or from Asia, India, something like that, discriminating against them, when those newcomers never suffered under slavery, never suffered under Jim Crow. They simply happen to be people of color who are here.

What is the argument for discriminating in favor of a person from Puerto Rico and against a person from Portugal?

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During what I thought was one of the better parts of the President's address to Congress tonight was the last portion of his speech where he reminded everyone that health care is not just a policy issue, but a moral issue and a matter of social justice.

Whether the legislation he signs ends up reflecting that is another matter. When you're starting from the position that it's important to keep the insurance companies in place I'm not sure how you get there myself.

That is why we cannot fail. Because there are too many Americans counting on us to succeed – the ones who suffer silently, and the ones who shared their stories with us at town hall meetings, in emails, and in letters.

I received one of those letters a few days ago. It was from our beloved friend and colleague, Ted Kennedy. He had written it back in May, shortly after he was told that his illness was terminal. He asked that it be delivered upon his death.

In it, he spoke about what a happy time his last months were, thanks to the love and support of family and friends, his wife, Vicki, and his children, who are here tonight . And he expressed confidence that this would be the year that health care reform – “that great unfinished business of our society,” he called it – would finally pass. He repeated the truth that health care is decisive for our future prosperity, but he also reminded me that “it concerns more than material things.” “What we face,” he wrote, “is above all a moral issue; at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.”

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