Jon Stewart Berates Media For Obsession With Palin Daughters: ‘Who Gives a S–t?’
November 18, 2010 1 Comment
Jon Stewart is finally flaunting some of that “sanity” we've heard so much about. On his show Wednesday night, he had a simple message for the legions of journalists obsessed with Sarah Palin's children: “Who gives a sh*t?” “Kids are off limits,” Stewart added. “In fact, we should all go out of our way to treat her children with kid gloves and respect to show that we don't judge individuals and mock them purely based on who their parents are.” “Stop making me feel sympathy for the Palins!” he begged – hysterically, I might add. “Stop it!” (Video below the break – h/t Charlie Spiering ) read more
Continue reading …Will the Obama Administration finally get the message on the Bush tax cuts?
November 18, 2010 No CommentWith as much right-wing propaganda as has been pumped into our system, I’m a bit surprised at these CNN poll results, but I’m also quite pleased. Will the President get this message? Greg Sargent: A new CNN poll finds the public doesn’t agree with the GOP on two major lame duck session issues: Only a third want all the Bush tax cuts to be extended, while less than a third oppose repealing DADT. I saw Andrea Michell get pissed off at John McCain for blocking DADT repeal when she had on Lieberman earlier this week. Her comments come at about the 4:09 mark. Mitchell: With all due respect, I was kind of stunned because, what about Mike Mullen? Admiral Mullen is the Chairman of the joint Chiefs. They report to him. If it’s good enough for him and for Robert Gates and if this is what the survey says that we understand is coming out in December, then why isn’t it good enough for John McCain? Even Joe agreed with her. Reality doesn’t matter with the GOP. And much to the chagrin of Village elites, John McCain is part of that un-reality. Here’s another pretty surprising result. Fifty percent of Republicans think the tax cuts should be extended regardless of income.” I believe it signals that middle class Republicans (yes, they do exist) understand that the Bush tax cuts are not benefiting our society and by the cover of an anonymous poll were willing to give an honest response. You’d figure that at least 80% of Republicans would be for extending the Bush tax cuts. It’s too bad they still won’t vote with what would work to improve their lives instead of buying into the propaganda totally. Too much capital has been spent on destroying the progressive message. I think the religious right has a lot to do with this. The big question is: Will the Obama administration push back? Dianne Feinstein has now come out to join Senator Merkley and asked that a vote be taken to extend the middle class tax cuts. “I don’t see the logic in delaying tax cuts for middle class Americans as part of an effort to make sure that the rich get richer. I would caution my Republican colleagues against holding middle-class tax cuts hostage for the benefit of the two percent of Americans who have the privilege to be wealthy.” I understand getting something done is much different than moving forward, but at least they can hone their message accordingly and force the Republicans to either vote or obstruct. I’ve received many emails from C&L readers that have said they are even willing to lose their middle class tax cuts if the Bush tax cuts are not extended, and I think that’s a powerful message. Email from C&Ler Steve: I am one of those caught in the middle class… Obama’s tax cuts nets me about $50 a month… Not an insignificant amount BUT… I would GLADLY give it up if that means the million/billionaires get taxed at the 2001 levels… I think there should be a demonstration to Pay More Taxes… As everyone knows, the Bush tax cuts for the rich people has hurt this country more than just about anything… All the lying republicans want to do is repel the Bush tax cuts… Let’s get a survey going and see how many of us progressives in the middle class would give up our meager tax cuts in order to get the millionaire/billionaires paying their fair share… This is a courageous stance to take and I know many more who feel this way. This would be an interesting poll question to ask, and I bet the Beltway Village would not enjoy the responses because it would destroy the comfy right-wing-elite narrative that they have been conditioned to expect from the American people. Who’s really willing to give up what for the benefit of our country?
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According to the government agency with the fun acronym SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2009 was no party in terms of adult Americans’ mental health. One in five adults, in fact, suffered from some kind of mental illness, and it just might be the case that external circumstances such as relentless unemployment and health care issues could have played a role.
Continue reading …Wendell Potter Admits Coordinated Smear Campaign Against Michael Moore To Discredit "Sicko"
November 18, 2010 No CommentA surprise to no one who cringed through some of the nasty and personal smears against Michael Moore as “Sicko” was released, reformed health care executive Wendell Potter admitted that there was a systematic plan and campaign to discredit both the filmmaker and documentary . Yesterday, on the TV and radio show “Democracy Now” hosted by Amy Goodman, the former Vice President of CIGNA, one of the nation’s largest health insurance companies, revealed that CIGNA met with the other big health insurers to hatch a plan to “push” yours truly “off a cliff.” The interview contains new revelations about just how frightened the health industry was that “Sicko” might ignite a public wave of support for “socialized medicine.” So the large health insurance companies came together over a common cause: Stop the American people from going to see “Sicko” — and the way to do that was to cause some form of harm to me (either personally, professionally or…physically?). The insinuation that the campaign could include physical damage just so Americans wouldn’t learn that Canadian and UK health care systems aren’t nearly as bad as they’ve been demogogued (and don’t get me started on Norway ) is more than a little frightening. But certainly, as Moore admits, the campaign worked. The interview goes on as Potter reveals how his front group was able to get its talking points and smears into stories in the New York Times and CNN. It is a chilling look inside how easy it is to manipulate our mainstream media — and just how worried the health insurance companies were that the American people might demand a true universal health care system. In particular, Potter talks about how they may have succeeded in influencing CNN to run a factually untrue story about “Sicko” by its reporter, Sanjay Gupta (which led to my infamous encounter with Wolf Blitzer and later, an apology from CNN for getting their facts wrong). Potter believes his work to defame “Sicko” succeeded, as the film didn’t end up posting “Fahrenheit 9/11″ grosses. To be clear, “Sicko” went on to become the 3rd largest grossing documentary of all time at that point. And as the release of “Sicko” in June of 2007 was the first time since the defeat of Hillary Clinton’s healthcare bill in 1994 that the issue of health insurance was brought to the forefront of the national media, I believe it helped to reignite the issue during the 2008 election year by exposing millions of Americans to the truth about the health insurance industry. More than one person on Capitol Hill will admit that “Sicko” was a big help in rallying public support for the compromise bill that eventually passed earlier this year. But I agree, their smear campaign was effective and did create the dent they were hoping for — single payer and the public option never even made it into the real discussion on the floor of Congress. And forgive me for being a broken record on this, but here is example #3,208,296,209 of how the traditional media not only failed us, but conspired in a disinformation campaign with corporate interests . Pundits like Ted Koppel and Jon Stewart want to talk about how both MSNBC and Fox News are equally toxic to the national dialogue, but they’ve missed the boat, big time. The media has been failing us for much, much longer and in far more destructive ways than whether Olbermann or Beck show themselves to be hyper-ideological. Potter’s interview with Amy Goodman is available in full here .
Continue reading …Barack Obama, When Will You Ever Learn? Lucy Will Never Let You Kick The Football
November 18, 2010 No Comment
enlarge I wonder what it will take to get Obama to finally understand that it’s never about the merits, that the Republicans simply will not negotiate in good faith , and that it’s long past time for him to fight back . No, they don’t care about the country. They care about winning . It’s as if every time they kick him in the cojones, he hits the reset button and assumes once again that this time will be different: President Obama’s hopes of ratifying a new arms control treaty with Russia by the end of the year appeared to come undone on Tuesday as the chief Senate Republican negotiator moved to block a vote on the pact , one of the White House’s top foreign policy goals, in the lame-duck session of Congress. The announcement by the senator, Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Republican point man on the issue, blindsided and angered the White House, which vowed to keep pressing for approval of the so-called New Start treaty. But the White House strategy had hinged entirely on winning over Mr. Kyl, and Democrats, who began scrambling for a backup plan, said they considered the chances of success slim. Winning approval of the treaty will only become harder for the White House next year, when Democrats will have six fewer seats in the Senate, forcing the administration to rely on additional Republican votes to reach the 67 needed for ratification. The treaty, which would force both countries to pare back nuclear arsenals and resume mutual inspections that lapsed last year for the first time since the cold war, is the centerpiece of two of Mr. Obama’s signature goals: restoring friendly relations with Russia and putting the world on a path toward eventually eliminating nuclear arms. A failure to ratify the treaty could freeze both efforts and, some analysts said, undermine Mr. Obama’s credibility on the world stage .
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By the time Rep. Jo Bonner, the top-ranking Republican on the House ethics committee, was halfway through his commentary about the alleged wrongdoings of veteran Congressman Charlie Rangel (at right), it was clear that what was at issue was more than Rangel’s activities. Rather, his character was being called into question, as well as his “honor,” as Bonner put it. So old-timey! After a brief nod to Rangel’s four-decade congressional career and distinguished military service, Bonner pressed the onslaught, lamenting that the ethics committee’s findings weren’t made public before the Nov. 2 elections and giving the committee’s chairwoman, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, his final judgment: As an aside, I found it especially ironic and troublesome that on the very day that almost 100 newly elected members of the 112th congress were arriving in Washington for their freshman orientation, in another room just a few steps away was a man who once wielded one of the most powerful gavels in town and at one time was one of our most highly regarded colleagues and yet who was showing so little regard and respect either for the institution that he is claiming to love or for the people of his district in New York that he has claimed to proudly represent for more than 40 years. Sadly, Madame Chair, it is my unwavering view that the actions, decision and behavior of our collague from New York can no longer reflect either honor or integrity. For his part, Rangel appeared cautious and contrite while defending himself following Bonner’s indictment, calling on his “friend” and colleague Rep. John Lewis to speak for him—but not before he used the old lawyerly trick of saying he wasn’t going to say something and then saying it anyway. “I have brought my friend here, John Lewis, because I wanted him to share who I was,” Rangel said. “I felt awkward in giving self-serving statements as to how I’ve dedicated my life to my country and to this Congress and to my community.” Despite this very public spankfest, and in spite of Bonner’s barrage, Rep. Rangel isn’t going to lose the seat he’s occupied on behalf of Harlem for 40 years. As of Thursday afternoon, the exact form that his recommended censure would take was still undecided.
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Click here to view this media It’s ironic, isn’t it, that all the talking heads on Fox — Sean Hannity in particular — were calling Lisa Murkowski a “sore loser” for refusing to accept her defeat in the Alaska primary at the hands of Tea Party militiaman Joe Miller and proceeding with a write-in challenge. Now that the tables have turned and it’s clear that Murkowski has won , it’s self-evident that it’s Miller who is the REAL sore loser, refusing still to concede even though everyone on the planet can see he’s lost. Yesterday he went on Neil Cavuto’s Fox show and refused to give in : CAVUTO: Are you saying — I`m sorry, Joe, but do you want a recount? Is that what you are saying? MILLER: Well, we may. We may actually ask for a hand count of our ballots of well. And that was the benefit that she got. We will probably ask for that as well. But we will wait and see when these numbers finally sort out here at the end of the week. Gotta wonder if he’s still counting on that house and furniture in D.C. he went shopping for : enlarge Credit: WriteInLisa Hee hee. I love the smell of burning hubris in the morning.
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ABC sez: In Interview With Barbara Walters, Palin Says She Is Seriously Considering Entering Race in 2012 We can only hope she jumps into the race. Maybe TLC will carry Republican primaries too. What a great lineup they could have. They open up the evening with a new instalment of “Sister Wives” and then go right into a reality show pitting Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee in a mock up version of Survivor along with Jimmy Johnson . Now that’s entertainment!
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Republican Rep. Eric Cantor was one of the GOP operatives behind this week’s push to cut public funding to National Public Radio (this Juan Williams drama still has legs) because that would be a “common sense” move to … (continued) Related Entries November 15, 2010 Rangel Leaves His Own Ethics Hearing November 1, 2010 Impending Midterm Election Doom
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