The Hollywood Liberal

Car Bomb Found in Times Square
Police found a car bomb in a parked sport utility vehicle Saturday evening in New York City’s Times Square, then evacuated buildings and cleared streets of thousands of tourists in the landmark known as the “Crossroads of the World.” A mounted police officer noticed smoke coming from the SUV at 6:30 p.m., police said. Bomb investigators found propane tanks, powder and an apparent timing device inside, according to a law enforcement official.

Late Late Night FDL: The Wise Quacking Duck
The Wise Quacking Duck starring Daffy Duck. This Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon was released on May 1, 1943.

The Wise Quacking Duck starring Daffy Duck.  This Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon was released on May 1, 1943.

Directed by Robert Clampett.  Produced by Leon Schlesinger.  Story by Warren Foster.  Film Editing and Sound Effects Editing by Treg Brown.  Animation by Phil Monroe, Art Babbitt, Robert McKimson, Virgil Ross, Rod Scribner, and Sidney Sutherland.  Original Music and Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling.  Orchestration by Milt Franklyn.  Voices by Mel Blanc and others.

What’s on your mind?

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Sunday Talking Heads: May 2, 2010
Deep Horizon Oil Disaster, Financial Reform, Immigration Debate, Lloyd Blankfein.

The prognosis is grim.

Washington Journal: 7:45am – David Wasserman, Cook Political Report, House Editor and Rhodes Cook, Author, Rhodes Cook Letter.  8:30am – James Carafano, Heritage Foundation, Defense Expert and Bernard Finel, American Security Project, Senior Fellow.

ABC’s This Week: Latest on the oil spill and the immigration debate.  BP America Chairman and President Lamar McKay. Then Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.  Roundtable: George Will, Bill Maher, Al Sharpton, Matthew Dowd, Katrina vanden Heuvel.

CBS’ Face The Nation: Rep. Charlie Melancon D-LA). Sen. Bill Nelson. (D-FL), Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-L).  Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth,AZ  GOP Senate Candidate. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA).

Chris Matthews: Katty Kay BBC; Andrew Sullivan The Atlantic; David Ignatius The Washington Post; Kelly O’Donnell NBC News.  Topics: Does Obama Want A Fight On Wall Street Reform Or To Move On To Immigration?  Is the Extreme Anti-Washington Rhetoric Seditious?

NBC’s Meet The Press: David Gregory has a new set! Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  To “discuss the political and security threats facing the U.S. from Iran, Afghanistan, China and more.”  Then, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.  Plus, FL Gov. Charlie Crist. Roundtable: Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN); Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-MI); Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN); Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM).

To The Contrary: Topics: 1- Finance reform meets families’ finances; 2- Mother Justice: Should the president nominate a woman who is also a mother to the Supreme Court?  3- Rep.’s Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) promote more realistic images of women in the media.  Panelists: Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC); Genevieve Wood; Melinda Henneberger; Karen Czarnecki.

Univison’s Al Punto: Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ); Former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez; Republican Activist Adolfo Franco; Jorge Mario Cabrera Director of Communications C.H.I.R.L.A., Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.

Virtually Speaking: digby and Stuart Zechman.

C-SPAN Book TV.

FDL Book Salon: Goodbye Wifes and Daughters.  “One morning in 1943, close to eighty men descended into the Smith coal mine in Bearcreek, Montana. Only three came out alive.”  Chat with author Susan Kushner Resnick and host Michael Whitney, 5pm ET.

FDL Movie Night Monday: “THE OATH tells the story of Abu Jandal, Osama bin Laden’s former bodyguard, and Salim Hamdan, a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay Prison and the first man to face the controversial military tribunals.”  Come join filmmaker Laura Poitras and host Lisa Derrick,for the discussion, 8pm ET.

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Spain’s ‘Desempleo’ Rate at 20%
With all the focus on job losses here at home, we sometimes forget how the economic crisis—which originated in the U.S.—has affected other countries. Official figures in Spain, for example, show that that country’s unemployment rate has hit 20 percent, highest in the eurozone. —JCL The BBC: Spain’s unemployment rate has hit 20% for the first time in nearly 13 years, official figures have shown. There were 4,612,700 people unemployed in the country at the end of March, the national statistics agency INE said. Spain’s jobless rate has risen sharply during the economic downturn and is the highest in the eurozone. Meanwhile, official European Union (EU) figures showed that the eurozone unemployment rate remained unchanged at 10% in March. Read more

With all the focus on job losses here at home, we sometimes forget how the economic crisis—which originated in the U.S.—has affected other countries. Official figures in Spain, for example, show that that country’s unemployment rate has hit 20 percent, highest in the eurozone. —JCL

The BBC:

Spain’s unemployment rate has hit 20% for the first time in nearly 13 years, official figures have shown.

There were 4,612,700 people unemployed in the country at the end of March, the national statistics agency INE said.

Spain’s jobless rate has risen sharply during the economic downturn and is the highest in the eurozone.

Meanwhile, official European Union (EU) figures showed that the eurozone unemployment rate remained unchanged at 10% in March.

Read more

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Betty Dukes, Wal-Mart Greeter, Leads Class Action Suit
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Tea Party Patriots Leader Named To Time’s Top 100
Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck have gotten more coverage for it, but another conservative member of Time’s 100 most influential people is a more interesting inclusion. That’s Jenny Beth Martin, the Georgia-based co-leader of the Tea Party Patriots.

Judge Questions Holding All Nine Defendants In Hutaree Trial
At a bond appeal hearing for the members of the Hutaree militia, a federal judge questioned prosecutors about the evidence being used to justify holding all nine defendants until trial, according to a report in The Detroit News.

The Tattlesnake — Glenn Beck’s Greased Rail Edition
News Item: Glenn Beck Has Lost 1/3 of His TV Audience Since January A Shame He’ll Miss Out on the Tar and Feathers Unlike his semi-serious colleagues O’Reilly and Hannity, Beck was always just a babbling flash in the pan; a sideshow freak-out of raving, nearly incoherent right-wing outrage and contradictory conspiracy theories. He had to keep […]

Challenging the Roberts Court
Everyone has joined issue on when, and how, the Democrats ought to challenge the Roberts Court. The assumption seems to be that criticizing judicial activism is fair game, but a path that politicians should walk with care given the esteem…



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The “Treating Our Enemies Better Than Our Friends” Meme
I don’t mean to pick on my friend Kori Schake; she’s merely keeping up the drumbeat charge that the US now is nicer to its enemies than its friends: Contrast the harshness with which President Obama himself and his cabinet…



Iran – United States – Barack Obama – Middle East – President of the United States

Former GOP Lawmaker Rips Boehner And Cantor For Their Crass Partisanship, Political Gimmicks
Former Maryland congressman Wayne Gilchrest, a moderate Republican who served from 1990-2008, left Congress after losing in the 2008 Republican primary to State Sen. Andy Harris (R-MD). Last weekend, Gilchrest offered his “straight shooter” views on the Republican Party to the Chestertown Spy. Gilchrest delivered blunt criticism of his former colleagues in the House GOP […]

Former Maryland congressman Wayne Gilchrest, a moderate Republican who served from 1990-2008, left Congress after losing in the 2008 Republican primary to State Sen. Andy Harris (R-MD). Last weekend, Gilchrest offered his “straight shooter” views on the Republican Party to the Chestertown Spy.

Gilchrest delivered blunt criticism of his former colleagues in the House GOP leadership. He mocked House Minority Whip Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) refusal to engage in the substance of the health reform debate. Instead of offering ideas, Gilchrest noted that Cantor brought a copy of the health care legislation to President Obama’s health reform summit to demonstrate its size and complexity. Gilchrest, clearly incensed by Cantor’s gimmicks, said complaining about the health bill’s size was “really a waste of time” and that the tactic was designed to merely “disrupt” the summit.

Gilchrest also said he observed an increasing level of partisanship from Republican Party leaders as he left Congress. In one incident, Gilchrest recalls Bush Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson coming to a meeting of lawmakers to caution about “potential economic calamity,” only to be ignored by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), whom Gilchrest said was more interested in partisan games to undermine the Democrats. “Boehner dismissed Mr. Paulson because we had to get to…how to disrupt the Democrats from the subcommittee to the House floor, and how to raise money for the next election”:

GILCHREST: For example, when Obama asked a large contigent of Democrats and Republicans to come to the White House to begin to talk about the healthcare bill, the whip — who I know well, my good friend Eric Cantor from Virginia, a Republican — brings in the bill. Now he didn’t bring in suggestions. He didn’t want dialogue about how to make this better, he brought in a bill. And when it was his time to discuss the issue, all he talked about was how big the bill, how complicated the bill is, how much they don’t have time to read the bill and all these things, which was really a waste of time. […]

But the Republicans came to that meeting, and they planned prior to that meeting how they would try to disrupt that meeting. And the reason I say that is because I’ve been in many meetings with Republicans, as a Republican member of Congress, when they discuss certain pieces of legislation, but when they discuss how we can totally disrupt the Democratic majority from the subcommittee right on to the House floor. That’s how often, that’s how meetings were at times. I remember one time Secretary Paulson came into a meeting to give us a heads up about potential economic calamity and we listened to him for 15 minutes and the Minority Leader, John Boehner, dismissed Mr. Paulson because we had to get to two things — how to disrupt the Democrats from the subcommittee to the House floor, and how to raise money for the next election.

Watch it:

Indeed, as Paulson writes in his own memoir on crisis, Cantor and other Republicans were “unformed” and unable to grasp economic policy as the financial system melted down. As the economy collapsed in 2008, Boehner and other members of his leadership staged a protest for weeks to demand a vote for more offshore oil drilling.

Oil spill threatens Gulf region’s ecosystem and fishing, tourism and shipping industries
PASS CHRISTIAN, MISS. — In this Gulf Coast fishing town, they spent Saturday awaiting, and dreading, the oil.


Oil spill – Business – Environment – Spill Containment and Remediation – Waste Management

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Senate Democrats’ plan highlights nation’s shift to the right on immigration
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The Liberal Moment Has Come

Outlook Dims on Efforts to Staunch Gulf Oil Spill
Bryan Walsh, Time
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