The Hollywood Liberal

US Attends Hiroshima Memorial
Hiroshima is holding a memorial to mark the 65th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bomb attack, with the U.S. and other major nuclear powers attending for the first time. “At this particular point, we thought it was the right thing to do,” said U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley.

Late Late Night FDL: Hey Baby Que Paso
The Texas Tornados — Hey Baby Que Paso.

The Texas Tornados — Hey Baby Que Paso.

What’s on your mind?

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Today in failed Metaphors
Hooray, another pointless thing to fear and spend trillions on!

For years American naval power has been able to swing it’s big stick unchallenged. As our Nimitz-class nuclear carriers were thrust into every place oil was to be found in abundance international hot spot. Full of overcompensation and seamen.

But our virility is threatened.

U.S. naval planners are scrambling to deal with what analysts say is a game-changing weapon being developed by China — an unprecedented carrier-killing missile called the Dong Feng 21D that could be launched from land with enough accuracy to penetrate the defenses of even the most advanced moving aircraft carrier at a distance of more than 1,500 kilometers (900 miles).

This can mean only one thing. No universal health care, no infrastructure renewal, no “home-based” stimulus until we build a new form of carrier impenetrable to the Dong, or at least ‘theoretically’.

This is the greatest threat to America’s naval power since John McCain was on the Forrestal so government, please spend $1 trillion dollars or more on this necessary project immediately — for peace.

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Mexican President Willing to Discuss Legalizing Drugs
Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who has conducted a deadly war with drug cartels since 2006, said he is open to debating the legalization of drugs, although his office maintains that he opposes the idea. AP via Google: Calderon said he has taken note of the idea of legally regulating drugs in the past. “It’s a fundamental debate in which I think, first of all, you must allow a democratic plurality (of opinions),” he said. “You have to analyze carefully the pros and cons and the key arguments on both sides.” Read more

Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who has conducted a deadly war with drug cartels since 2006, said he is open to debating the legalization of drugs, although his office maintains that he opposes the idea.

AP via Google:

Calderon said he has taken note of the idea of legally regulating drugs in the past.

“It’s a fundamental debate in which I think, first of all, you must allow a democratic plurality (of opinions),” he said. “You have to analyze carefully the pros and cons and the key arguments on both sides.”

Read more

Related Entries

• August 6, 2010 Larry Blumenfeld on Nat Hentoff
• August 6, 2010 Live Chat: Robert Scheer on Clinton Nostalgia

Pentagon Clamps Down on Wikileaks
The Pentagon attempted to reassert control in its power struggle with WikiLeaks on Thursday by demanding that the online whistle-blower relinquish about 15,000 unreleased Afghan war records and delete information already posted to the site—what the Pentagon calls “doing the right thing” in this case.  —KA Reuters: “We are asking them to do the right thing,” said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell in asking WikiLeaks to hand over the U.S. documents and delete material it had put on the Internet. “We hope they will honor our demands,” he told reporters, adding that the only rightful owner of all the classified material in WikiLeaks possession was the U.S. government. Read more

The Pentagon attempted to reassert control in its power struggle with WikiLeaks on Thursday by demanding that the online whistle-blower relinquish about 15,000 unreleased Afghan war records and delete information already posted to the site—what the Pentagon calls “doing the right thing” in this case.? —KA

Reuters:

“We are asking them to do the right thing,” said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell in asking WikiLeaks to hand over the U.S. documents and delete material it had put on the Internet.

“We hope they will honor our demands,” he told reporters, adding that the only rightful owner of all the classified material in WikiLeaks possession was the U.S. government.

Read more

Related Entries

• August 6, 2010 Larry Blumenfeld on Nat Hentoff
• August 6, 2010 Live Chat: Robert Scheer on Clinton Nostalgia

Vaughn Walker, Prop 8 Judge, Has Personal Life Debated After Gay Marriage Ruling
SAN FRANCISCO — The federal judge who overturned California’s same-sex marriage ban this week is a Republican who once came under fire for his membership…

Senate Stalls Again On Settlements To Black Farmers, Native Americans
WASHINGTON — Despite broad support, legislation to finalize $4.6 billion in settlements with black farmers and American Indians stalled in the Senate again Thursday amid…

Lincoln Mitchell: Let the Bush Tax Cuts Expire
The notion that increasing the tax rate on the richest Americans means the socialist floodgates have been opened is clearly nonsensical, as the rates would return to what was normal for most of the last half century.

Media conservatives “favor religious freedom,” but …

Several prominent media conservatives have claimed to “favor religious freedom” while qualifying that claim in order to attack the Islamic community center and mosque set to be built two blocks away from Ground Zero, demanding that it be moved elsewhere in New York City.

Media conservatives qualify support for “religious freedom” to attack mosque

Palin: “We’re all about religious freedom, but” do it “down the road.” Discussing her opposition to the proposed Islamic community center in downtown Manhattan, Fox News contributor Sarah Palin said:

PALIN: I just think this is just one of the worst decisions that ever has been made that will adversely effect New York City. And those innocent victims, those families of those who were killed in the 9-11 tragedy, it saddens me to think that people don’t understand what building this mosque at such hallowed ground really represents. The mosque, fine, we are all about religious tolerance, that’s what makes America beautiful and free.

We’re all about religious freedom, but to provoke even more heartache and more division in our country, especially there in New York City, by choosing that specific location, to kind of mark territory with this mosque. I think that it’s a knife in the collective heart of Americans who say, “Yeah, build the mosque, but down the road.” Build it somewhere else where it’s not such a painful reminder to those who certainly care about our national security, will never forget what happened on 9-11, and are committed to never allowing that to happen again. [Fox News’ Hannity, 8/4/10]

Gingrich: “I favor religious freedom,” but “there are over 100 mosques in New York City.” Elaborating on his statement on the proposed Islamic community center, Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich said:

GINGRICH: Well, I think it’s outrageous. Here you have people who have proposed to build a 13-story mosque at the edge of the World Trade Center area at a time, by the way, when the Greek Orthodox church in nine years has not been able to get its church rebuilt. They didn’t propose — they say they’re interfaith. They didn’t propose, Let’s build a mosque, church and synagogue. They said, Let’s build a 13-story mosque and a community center, which they initially called the Cordoba House, which is named for a city in Spain where a conquering Muslim army replaced a church with a mosque. I mean, it was a very direct reminder historically that this is all about conquest. This is about who wins.

And I — I — I frankly find it very offensive, first of all, that they we’re so stupid that they can use that kind of a title and we didn’t notice it. Second, that — you know, there are over 100 mosques in New York City. I favor religious freedom. I’m quite happy if they’d come and said, We want to build a community center near Central Park, we’d like to build a community center near Columbia University. But they didn’t. They said right at the edge of a place where, let’s be clear, thousands of Americans were killed in an attack by radical Islamists. [Fox News’ On the Record, 7/26/10]

Fund: “[L]eaving aside the First Amendment, there are almost no people living in downtown New York.” Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund said of the proposal:

FUND: The Muslim faith has a long tradition of planting religious buildings on the sites of victories that they have had in the past.

This is a very awkward place to put such an building, just — leaving aside the First Amendment, there are almost no people living in downtown New York. Brooklyn, Queens might make sense. There’s a large Muslim population there. But why in the world would you put something when there’s no one living there? [Hannity, 7/19/10 (accessed via Nexis)]

Sekulow: “I do a lot of freedom of religion cases,” “[b]ut you don’t get to build a mosque on a site that’s part of Ground Zero.” Conservative radio talk-show host for the American Center for Law and Justice’s Jay Sekulow stated that his opposition to the Islamic community center “has nothing to do with the First Amendment.” He continued:

SEKULOW: I do a lot of freedom of religion cases. No one is saying a mosque can’t be built in New York City. There are plenty of them. But you don’t get to build a mosque on a site that’s part of ground zero. Why? That would be — as one of our teams said at the New York Land Commission hearing, that would be like putting at the site of the Arizona and Pearl Harbor a monument for the kamikaze pilots that tried to destroy U.S. troops. You just don’t do that. [Hannity, 7/22/10 (accessed via Nexis)]

NJ Library Removes LGBT Book After Complaint From Member Of Glenn Beck’s 9/12 Movement
A public library in Burlington County, New Jersey has ordered all of the copies of “Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology” removed from circulation, after a member of Glenn Beck’s 9/12 Project complained about the book’s content. The library cited “child pornography” as its reason for removing the book.



New Jersey – Glenn Beck – Burlington County – LGBT – Public library

Ensign Registers Legal Defense Fund As Political Org
Roll Call reports today that Sen. John Ensign has registered his legal defense fund as a 527 political organization.



John Ensign – Senate – United States – Politics – Government

#BigotryFail: Plan To Harass Muslims With Dogs At CA Rally Collapses
Out in Temecula, California, the anti-mosque protesters were outnumbered by pro-mosque supporters, the local tea party disavowed the protest and called it hate speech, the protester we talked to dropped off the face of the earth and only one dog made it to the planned protest.


California – Temecula California – Islam – Islamic Center of Temecula Valley – Muslim

The GOP Jobs Plan – Just Kidding, They Don’t Have One!

Boomers Take Up the Plow and Open Small Farms
Baby boomers are leaving regular jobs and opening small farms. It’s not only a new way of life, some are making a little money, too.

Baby boomers are leaving regular jobs and opening small farms. It's not only a new way of life, some are making a little money, too.

Is a 500-Year Human Life Span Just Around the Corner?
With unprecedented leaps in human longevity over the last century, are drastically longer lives within our grasp?

With unprecedented leaps in human longevity over the last century, are drastically longer lives within our grasp?

5 Great Anti-Drug War Videos
A cartoon can be worth a thousand words — or even a book.

A cartoon can be worth a thousand words — or even a book.

The Rich and the Rest of Us
Forty of America’s richest families or individuals – almost all billionaires – have pledged to donate at least half their fortunes to charity. The total is a whopping $125 billion. Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates reached out to…


Melinda Gates – Warren Buffett – United States – Forbes – Bill

The President Talked About Vets at the DAV. I’ll Bet You Didn’t Read About That.
President Obama’s speech on Monday at the DAV could have been one for the history books – a landmark address for veterans spelling out how our country can step up to support the millions of us returning from the current…


Barack Obama – Iraq – United States – Disabled American Veterans – President of the United States

UPDATE American Jewish Committee Opposes Mosque And A Strong Sign That AIPAC Does Too
UPDATE: Check out Justin Elliot in Salon (formerly TPM). He reveals that Dan Senor, the spokesman for Paul Bremer and the other Iraq neocons back in the war’s glory days is also opposed to the mosque. Senor, who was an…


Anti-Defamation League – Ground Zero – ADL – Warfare and Conflict – Muslim

Nelson And Lincoln Vote To Permanently Extend Bush Tax Cuts, Massively Increase Deficit

Last month, as the Senate was gridlocked by a Republican filibuster of a bill to extend much-needed unemployment benefits to millions of out-of-work Americans, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) stood with the GOP against the extension. Nelson claimed that his concerns about the deficit overrode his support for the extension; he voted against the bill that finally passed 60-40.

Later that week, Nelson came out in support of an extension — “for now” — of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, which adds many billions more to the deficit than the unemployment insurance extension. In fact, extending the Bush tax cuts for one year alone would add $115 billion to the deficit, compared to the “relatively tiny budgetary cost of $33 billion” for the extension of UI benefits.

Today, though, Ben Nelson provided further evidence that he is a deficit peacock — someone who claims to be concerned about the deficit but isn’t actually interested in taking serious steps toward a balanced budget. Before the final vote on the states’ aid bill that passed today, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) offered two amendments that would, in effect, permanently extend the Bush tax cuts. David Dayen has the results:

Before passing the state fiscal aid bill, Democrats actually gave Jim DeMint two votes on tax rates. He wanted to add massively to the deficit – literally trillions of dollars – by freezing in place the tax rates on individuals and “small businesses” that we have now, and which make us one of the most lightly-taxed industrialized nations on the planet. And look at this: Democrats rejected the measure entirely. On both votes, only Ben Nelson [and Sen. Blanche Lincoln (AR)] crossed the aisle to vote with all Republicans [except deficit hawk George Voinovich (OH)]

Nelson and Lincoln (who also claims to be concerned about deficits) apparently don’t mind spending $3.1 trillion over the next ten years to pursue ineffective tax cuts for the wealthy. Perhaps they should have listened to their colleague, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), who said of DeMint’s proposal, “that’s not serious. Is that a stunt? Yes, it’s a stunt. Is it a gimmick? Yes, it’s a gimmick. Is it serious? No, it’s not serious.”

DeMint is particularly “not serious” when it comes to paying for his extraordinarily expensive amendments. Both came “with instructions to offset as necessary through spending reduction,” Senate-speak for “we’ll worry about the cost later.”

– Charlie Eisenhood

Cross-posted on The Wonk Room.

Despite touting the 14th amendment on GOP.com, RNC says it?s open to repealing parts of it.

On its website, the Republican National Committee proudly boasts of the GOP’s role in passing the 14th amendment in 1866. “The original purpose of the 14th Amendment was to defend African-Americans from their Democrat oppressors in the post-Civil War South,” the site states. Now, however, the RNC says it’s open to repealing the portion of the 14th amendment that allows anyone born in the U.S. to automatically become a U.S. citizen. Politico reports:

Doug Heye, a spokesman for the RNC, said there’s nothing contradictory about wanting to alter the amendment.

“Passing it was a huge issue and beside the point of what’s happening today. In 2010, we know that birthright citizenship is potentially being abused,” Heye said. “Supporting an idea and being critical of that idea being abused are not mutually exclusive.”

A senior GOP aide added: “The question is whether foreign nationals intentionally having children here to claim benefits and access to the country is a small exception or a larger problem that we see in illegal immigration as well as tourist visas. If it is a large problem then ignoring the debate because we’ve never had it before is pretty foolish. It really is a vexing policy question.”

In today’s Washington Post, columnist E.J. Dionne chastises Republicans by endangering their “party’s greatest political legacy by turning the 14th Amendment to our Constitution into an excuse for election-year ugliness.” He points to Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) claim that immigrants come to the U.S. to “drop a child” in order to “anchor” themselves to the country and asks, “Drop a child? How can a strong believer in the right to life use such a phrase?”