Fred Branfman on ‘The Making of an Elder Culture’ In Theodore Roszak’s spirited new manifesto, he calls on aging baby boomers to rekindle their youthful idealism and remake America. READ THE WHOLE ITEM
In Theodore Roszak’s spirited new manifesto, he calls on aging baby boomers to rekindle their youthful idealism and remake America.
Muslim Mafia Scribe: How I ‘Toyed’ With TPMmuckraker Muslim Mafia author Dave Gaubatz says in a new interview that his open call for a Winnebago, a pair of motorcycles, and $25,000 to conduct counterterrorism research in North Carolina was “bait” designed to draw attention away from real field…
Gov. Sanford Faces 37 Charges Of Lawbreaking By Ethics Panel South Carolina’s ethics commission is investigating 37 allegations of lawbreaking by Gov. Mark Sanford in connection with travel and use of campaign funds — charges his lawyer described just last week as “minor, technical matters.” Sanford is accused of violating…
‘Disappointed’ Siegelman: Obama Justice Dept. Virtually The Same As Bush DOJ “There’s really been no substantial change in the heart of the Department of Justice from the Bush-Rove Department of Justice,” former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman tells TPMmuckraker, responding to an Obama DOJ filing against his Supreme Court appeal.
More Establishment BS The lead story in the New York Times this morning carries the breathless headline “Wave of Debt Payments Facing U.S. Government”. It could have been written by the head of the government bond trading desk at Goldman Sachs, and yet…
Maybe I’m wrong but it sure seems like times have changed. At the risk of sounding like one of those old-timers in the movie Barbershop, it seems that words like integrity, honesty and truth have lost their meaning. As the two major parties clash over everything from healthcare to Afghanistan to global warming, it seems that they can’t even agree on the basic facts. We see this not just our leaders but everywhere around us. The other day when I was in my own barbershop, there was this older gentleman who had conspiracy theories involving the government, our preachers and, well, everybody. He had a lot to say. Unfortunately, a lot of what he had to say was devoid of facts. I don’t blame him. This is the way our society has been going for the last 30 years. Although “truthiness” (a term coined by Stephen Colbert which he defined as “truth that comes from the gut, not books.” In other words, stuff that we wish were true.) did not start with President Ronald Reagan, he brought it to the forefront. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, conservative columnist Ann Coulter and others have perfected this means of communication in which you start with something that is the truth and then segue into something that is almost true and end up with something that is completely false. To the unsuspecting observer, you made sense.
To say that the problems in the black community have been caused by the US government is laughable. Sure, maybe government programs like welfare did not help the black community, but it sure did not cause the problems with joblessness and lack of education and our youth growing up without fathers. It did not start with welfare or the Great Society. In The Philadelphia Negro, written back in 1897, W.E.B DuBois describes joblessness, black men fathering multiple kids and a lack of education in the black community. What we see now has been going on for over 100 years!
Do you remember August? The right wing was pushing several items that simply weren’t true. They told us that health-care legislation included death panels. There was no such thing in the legislation. They also told the elderly that, in order to save money, Democrats were trying to kill them off. This is simply a lie. I’m not saying that either the right or the left has a monopoly on truth. Neither side does but give me a break.
One of the common themes that heard over the last several years is that gay marriage will destroy the institution of marriage. I simply don’t understand this logic. I don’t know how somebody else who gets married - a man and a woman, a woman and a woman or a man and a man - I don’t know how they’re going to affect my marriage. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems that my marriage is mostly affected by me and my wife. I have a high likelihood of divorce if I forget my wife’s birthday or I buy her something ill-advised like a vacuum cleaner for our anniversary. I simply don’t see how gay marriage is going to affect it.
Finally, the new economic numbers came out for October. The economy still is not making jobs. Republicans have stood up and asked where are the jobs? This is a little gamesmanship being played by the Republicans. 190,000 jobs were lost last month, which is the lowest figure since the recession started. Any economist will tell you that business will need to start making money and feel good about their economic prospects before they begin hiring workers again. If people would like to criticize Obama’s economic plan, they should ask where are the jobs are going to come from? The lackluster Bush recovery was driven by the housing market. The housing market is currently problematic. New jobs are going to have to come from Obama’s green energy initiative.
I guess my point is that many people think that they know the answers to the ills of America. Most of our problems are complex and require a thoughtful solution. Anyone who gives you a knee-jerk answer to a complex question is probably leading you astray. There are definitive truths in our society. We just have to be willing to find them.
27 Reasons To Give Thanks We’re thankful President Obama is thinking long and hard about committing more troops and money to Afghanistan. We’re thankful President Bush feels liberated now. We’re (not) thankful Dick Cheney has elected to move from his undisclosed location to the media spotlight. We’re thankful Al Franken has gone from playing self-help guru Stuart Smalley on Saturday Night Live to […]
We’re thankful President Obama is thinking long and hard about committing more troops and money to Afghanistan.
We’re (not) thankful conservatives believe they love America so much that they can root for our President to fail and for our nation to lose out on hosting the Olympics.
We’re thankful that more than 20,000 of you stood up to Bill O’Reilly’s harassment machine and called for impeachment hearings against torture advocate Jay Bybee.
We’re thankful that Iran’s authoritarian rulers live in fear of their own population.
We’re thankful for the legacy of the Liberal Lion.
We’re thankful Bill O’Reilly won’t be following us home for Thanksgiving.
We’e thankful a “wise Latina” sits on the Supreme Court.
We’re thankful our boss helped rescue imprisoned American journalists in North Korea.
We’re also very thankful to have the support of readers like you! What are you thankful for? Let us know in the comments section.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Beck?s Sexist Reason For Ruling Out Palin-Beck Ticket: She?d Always Be ?Yapping? Like We?re ?In The Kitchen? In recent days, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has indicated that she may be open to a conservative presidential dream ticket in 2012: Palin-Beck (or Beck-Palin). “I can envision a couple of different combinations, if ever I were to be in a position to really even seriously consider running for anything in the future, […]
In recent days, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has indicated that she may be open to a conservative presidential dream ticket in 2012: Palin-Beck (or Beck-Palin). “I can envision a couple of different combinations, if ever I were to be in a position to really even seriously consider running for anything in the future, and I’m not there yet,” Palin told Newsmax. “But Glenn Beck I have great respect for. He’s a hoot.” Fox and Friends plugged the idea yesterday morning and asked Palin whether she would run with Beck. She kept the door open, saying, “I don’t know. We’ll see, we’ll see.”
But just a few hours later on his radio show, Beck shot down the idea, saying he was “absolutely” ruling out a Palin-Beck ticket. He explained that if he had the number two job, Palin would always be “yapping” like they were in “the kitchen”:
BECK: I don’t think things are hoots. I don’t. I don’t think it’s a hoot. I would never use the word hoot, and I respectfully ask that every time my name is brought up she would stop using the word “hoot.” […]
No, no I’m just saying — Beck-Palin, I’ll consider. But Palin-Beck — can you imagine, can you imagine what an administration with the two of us would be like? What? Come on! She’d be yapping or something, and I’d say, “I’m sorry, why am I hearing your voice? I’m not in the kitchen.”
Listen here:
A woman’s appropriate place on a presidential ticket, according to Beck, is in the number two spot. Otherwise, she should just “yap” away in a kitchen somewhere. Apparently, being a vice presidential running mate behind a woman is a serious challenge to Beck’s manhood.
When Newsweek ran a picture of Palin in a running outfit on its cover this month, Palin and many others criticized the magazine for being sexist. Beck joined the outrage, saying the “attack” on Palin was “dizzying” and “devastating.” He said Newsweek had reached “the highest of the lows” and added that the magazine now “sucks.”
Transcript:
BECK: Now Sarah Palin, is — she’s down in Florida, and Fox asked her this morning a couple of questions. Do you have both questions or just the one?
PAT: I have just the one.
BECK: Oh just the one, okay. Alright.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Chances you’ll run on a ticket with Fox’s own Glenn Beck, as was reported earlier this week?
PALIN: I saw that, I saw that. I got a kick out of it, and he probably thought that was just a hoot too to hear such a thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Okay, stop stop stop. I don’t think things are hoots. I don’t. I don’t think it’s a hoot. I would never use the word hoot and I respectfully ask that every time my name is brought up she would stop using the word “hoot.” (LAUGHTER)
COHOST: I think that’s a good safety tip.
BECK: I mean it’s a laugh, its funny, it’s ridiculous. You would say it’s ridiculous, because it is. It’s ridiculous. But I don’t think — please stop using the word hoot. […]
BECK: Play the whole thing again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Chances you’ll run on a ticket with Fox’s own Glenn Beck, as was reported earlier this week?
PALIN: I saw that, I saw that. I got a kick out of it, and he probably thought that was just a hoot too to hear such a thing. Um, I don’t know. We’ll see, we’ll see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: We’ll see, we’ll see.
CO-HOST: He probably thought it was a hoot, though, she was — she was talking about you.
BECK: Yeah, let me just put this rumor to rest cause she’s obviously — she hasn’t ruled — she obviously hasn’t ruled it out.
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: Did she not say, and I quote, “We’ll see, we’ll see.” So she clearly hasn’t ruled it out.
CO-HOST: She said it twice, she reiterated it.
BECK: So while she’s considering it, I just want make it very — You’re such a jerk.
CO-HOST: What?
BECK: I’m sure she finds this a hoot. So while she’s still considering it — “we’ll see, we’ll see” — I just want her to know, I’m ruling it out.
CO-HOST: Really?
BECK: A Palin-Beck ticket — I’m absolutely ruling out.
CO-HOST: Oh God, not this again. Please can we not?
BECK: Please can we not? (CROSSTALK) No, no I’m just saying — Beck-Palin, I’ll consider. But Palin-Beck — can you imagine, can you imagine what an administration with the two of us would be like? What? Come on! She’d be yapping or something, and I’d say, “I’m sorry, why am I hearing your voice? I’m not in the kitchen.”
CO-HOST: You’d you have to live up to evil conservative stereotypes, you’d have no choice but to do so.
The Hollywood Liberal is an anti-war, anti republican, from right here beautiful Hollywood California.
This site was originally started to help get The Worst President Ever G.W. Bush Jr. Out of office. Now that we have accomplished that
the goal is to get Obama to start acting like a Democrat, and not an butt kissing Republican Wannabee. We will continue to fight for that goal
. Thanks H.L.
In recent days, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has indicated that she may be open to a conservative presidential dream ticket in 2012: Palin-Beck (or Beck-Palin). “I can envision a couple of different combinations, if ever I were to be in a position to really even seriously consider running for anything in the future, and I’m not there yet,” Palin told Newsmax. “
