The Hollywood Liberal

Late Late Night FDL: Little Johnny Jet
Little Johnny Jet. This Oscar nominated Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon was released on April 18, 1953. Grab your popcorn, put your feet up on the seatback in front of ya, and aim your spitballs at the ushers please. This is Late Late Night FireDogLake, where off topic is the topic … so dive in. What’s on your mind?

Little Johnny Jet.  This Oscar nominated Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon was released on April 18, 1953.

Directed by Tex Avery.  Produced by Fred Quimby.  Story by Heck Allen.  Animation by Robert Bentley, Walt Clinton, Michael Lah, Ray Patterson, and Grant Simmons.  Backgrounds by John Didrik Johnsen.  Voices by Daws Butler and June Foray.  Original Music by Scott Bradley.  Music Arrangement by Thomas A. Beckett (Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean).

Grab your popcorn, put your feet up on the seatback in front of ya, and aim your spitballs at the ushers please. This is Late Late Night FireDogLake, where off topic is the topic … so dive in. What’s on your mind?

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Sunday Talking Heads: November 7, 2010
Set Your Clocks Back.

Time is on our side this morning.

So now that the Republicans won, they can finally be featured on the Sunday Talking Heads.  One exchange worth watching, David Stockman v Mike Pence, ABC.  Scarecrow: “The guy who had to sell Voodoo economics and explain Reagan’s tax flip flops has to debate a guy who says we should cut tax revenues by $4 trillion while balancing the budget and creating jobs.  There’s a certain justice in that confrontation.”

FDL Book Salon is “Reshaping the Work-Family Debate,”and Movie Night is “Pricele$$.” Our friends Susie Madrak and Cliff Schecter appear on Virtually Speaking this evening.

Washington Journal: 7:45am – Gail Russell Chaddock, Christian Science Monitor, Senior Congressional Correspondent & Susan Page, USA Today, Washington Bureau Chief.  8:30am – Scott Keeter, Pew Research Center, Survey Research Director.  9:15am – Stuart Rothenberg, Rothenberg Political Report, Editor & Publisher.

ABC’s This Week: Rand Paul. Tax cuts: David Stockman v Mike Pence, Chair of the House Republican Conference. Roundtable: Sen. Evan Bayh, George Will, Matthew Dowd, John Podesta, Amy Walter. Then, with the passing of Ted Sorensen, a top adviser and speech writer for Kennedy, “This Week” takes a special look back at the 1960 campaign and its lasting impact on American politics.

CBS’ Face The Nation: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC).

Chris Matthews: Andrea Mitchell, Bob Woodward, Joe Klein, Katty Kay.   Topics: Will President Obama Change? George W. Bush’s New Memoir.

CNN’s State of the Union: What do Tuesday’s midterm elections say about the last two years in politics? And what do they mean for the next two? Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) and Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX).  Then, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), what’s the way forward for Democrats in Congress after the election?  And Pennsylvania Sen.-elect Pat Toomey (R).  Roundtable: Michael Duffy, Karen Tumulty.

Fareed Zakaria – GPS: Paul Krugman v Raghuram Rajan. Is Yemen the next Afghanistan? Fareed speaks with the New York Times’ man in Yemen, Robert Worth. Then, a look at a moderate Muslim country that’s fighting and winning their war on terror and extremism. An interview with the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak. And more.

Fox News Sunday: Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA).  Then, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI).  Roundtable: Brit Hume, Mara Laisson, Bill Kristol, Juan Williams.

NBC’s Meet The Press: What’s next for the GOP this year and in 2012? Can the Tea Party and the party establishment work together to form a cohesive Republican agenda? Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC). Then, a rising star of the party – a man who has been mentioned as a possible contender for the White House in 2012 – Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ). Roundtable: Former Obama White House Communications Director Anita Dunn; Former Adviser to Pres. George W. Bush Karen Hughes; President of the National Urban League, Marc Morial and Republican Strategist Mike Murphy.

Newsmakers: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) Director Michael Bromwich discussing the new regulations regarding offshore oil and gas drilling in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Q & A: Derek Leebaert, author of “Magic and Mayhem: The Delusions of American Foreign Policy from Korea to Afghanistan.” In this program Leebaert will discuss the problems in American foreign policy, including those who shape it. He will also discuss what he calls “The six illusions of foreign policy” listed in his book.

Religion & Ethics: Post-Election Analysis.  Religious Schools and Tax Credits.  Three Faiths Exhibition.  Benyamin Cohen – My Jesus Year.

60 Minutes: President Obama – President Obama takes questions from Steve Kroft in his first one-on-one interview since his party’s midterm election defeat in the House.  Pacman – Boxing sensation Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao has done it all in the ring, winning world championships in seven different weight divisions. He’ll go for an eighth title next week, but will his new job as a Philippine politician hurt his career?

To The Contrary: Topics : 1- Historic drop among women in Congress. 2- The future of health care reform after the Pelosi era ends; 3- The surprising lives of military wives.  Panelists: Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Melinda Henneberger, Genevieve Wood, Karen Czarnecki.

Univision’s Al Punto: Francisco “Quico” Canseco, Congressman-Elect (R-TX); Susana Martinez, Governor-Elect (R-NM); Rep. Xavier Becerra, (D-CA); Janet Murguía, President & CEO of the National Council of La Raza; Maria Cardona, Democratic Analyst; Adolfo Franco, Republican Analyst; and Arnoldo Torres, Expert on Hispanic Issues.

Virtually Speaking: Cliff Schecter & Susie Madrak. Post midterms, what can we expect? How can liberals respond to the new political stage in Washington, and the States?

C-SPAN’s Book TV.

FDL’s Book Salon: Reshaping the Work-Family Debate: Why Men and Class Matter.  “The United States has the most family-hostile public policy in the developed world.”  Come chat with author Joan C. Williams, 5pm ET

FDL’s Movie Night Monday: PRICELE$$. “The cost of running for office has grown so large that only a tiny sliver of Americans can donate anything significant, let alone run themselves.”  8pm ET.

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Olbermann Suspended From MSNBC Over Campaign Contributions
MSNBC pundit Keith Olbermann joked after the midterms, responding to taunts from certain Fox News types, that he was still around despite the lashing Dems took at the polls. But as it turns out, he might have committed career suicide, or something close to it, on his own. Perhaps Olbermann wasn’t up on the company rules about campaign contributions, or perhaps he thought that somehow his might go unnoticed, but regardless, Politico followed his money trail and the network’s top brass lowered the boom Friday.  —KA Politico: MSNBC host Keith Olbermann has been suspended indefinitely without pay after POLITICO reported that he made three campaign contributions to Democratic candidates. MSNBC President Phil Griffin said in a statement Friday: “I became aware of Keith’s political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay.” Olbermann made campaign contributions to two Arizona members of Congress and failed Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway ahead of Tuesday’s election. Read more  

MSNBC pundit Keith Olbermann joked after the midterms, responding to taunts from certain Fox News types, that he was still around despite the lashing Dems took at the polls. But as it turns out, he might have committed career suicide, or something close to it, on his own.

Perhaps Olbermann wasn’t up on the company rules about campaign contributions, or perhaps he thought that somehow his might go unnoticed, but regardless, Politico followed his money trail and the network’s top brass lowered the boom Friday.? —KA

Politico:

MSNBC host Keith Olbermann has been suspended indefinitely without pay after POLITICO reported that he made three campaign contributions to Democratic candidates.

MSNBC President Phil Griffin said in a statement Friday: “I became aware of Keith’s political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay.”

Olbermann made campaign contributions to two Arizona members of Congress and failed Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway ahead of Tuesday’s election.

Read more

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Appearing on CNN’s Parker/Spitzer this past week, occasionally secessionist Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) proposed allowing states to opt-out of Social Security:

“Here’s what I think would be a very wise thing,” he began. “In 1981, Matagorda, Brazoria, and Galveston Counties all opted out of the Social Security program for their employees. Today, their program is very, very well-funded and there is no question about whether it’s going to be funded in the out years. It’s there. That’s an option out there.”

“So, you want to let people opt out?” responded Spitzer.

“I think, let the states decide if that’s what’s best for their cities,” Perry replied.

“So the states will let people opt out of Social Security?” Spitzer asked

“They should,” the recently reelected Texas governor said.

Watch it:

Perry should learn a little history before he raises up the 1981 experiment as a model for Social Security reform. In that experiment, three Texas counties “decided to opt out of Social Security and instead to provide their public employees with a system of privatized accounts.” But this system left participants worse off than they would have been under Social Security.

Moreover, Perry’s proposal closely resembles Alaska GOP Senate candidate Joe “A Noun, a Verb and Unconstitutional” Miller’s economically impossible plan for a state takeover of Social Security and Medicare. A workable plan to allow states to opt out of Social Security would require draconian provisions, such as a mandate that everyone must retire in the same state that they worked and paid taxes in. Otherwise, workers who are too young to receive Social Security benefits would move to an opt-out state to avoid paying Social Security taxes — and then promptly move to a state with Social Security benefits the moment they became eligible. Eventually, the entire system would collapse under the weight of too many Social Security beneficiaries who had not paid into the system.

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Oklahoma Voters May Have Accidentally Voted Against Ten Commandments, Too
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As ThinkProgress noted, many of these same legislators voted to put a proposal on this week’s ballot, the “Save Our State” constitutional amendment, that bans Sharia from being considered in Oklahoma courts. The ballot states that Oklahoma courts must “rely on federal and state law when deciding cases” and forbids them from “considering or using international law” and “from considering or using Sharia Law.” The measure passed with 70 percent of the vote.

As a law professor noted to CNN, however, the religious zealotry of these lawmakers may now be in serious self-conflict:

Rick Tepker, the first member of the University of Oklahoma School of Law faculty to try a case before the U.S. Supreme Court…called the passage of the measure “a mess” with implications unknown until a case that challenges it arises.

“Many of us who understand the law are scratching our heads this morning, laughing so we don’t cry,” he said. “I would like to ?see Oklahoma politicians explain if this means that the courts can no longer consider the Ten Commandments. Isn’t that a precept of another culture and another nation? The result of this is that judges aren’t going to know when and how they can look at sources of American law that were international law in origin.”

The complicated “mess” caused by the Sharia ban is also affecting Oklahoma Muslims, who say that, though they obviously never considered seeking sharia law remedies, the constitutional amendment makes them feel alienated. “It’s really brought the Muslim-haters out,” said Allison Moore, a Muslim activist in Tulsa. Sheryl Siddiqui, a spokeswoman for the Edmond-based Islamic Council of Oklahoma, said her group tries outreach and education about Islam, though clearly with frustrating results. “Muslims in Oklahoma do a phenomenal amount of outreach,” she said. “It’s not on us anymore. There are people out there who still believe Obama is a Muslim.”

A lawsuit has also been filed against the amendment, which charges it transforms Oklahoma’s Constitution into “an enduring condemnation” of Islam by singling it out for special restrictions. “We have a handful of politicians who have pushed an amendment onto our state ballot and then conducted a well-planned and well-funded campaign of misinformation and fear,” said Muneer Awad, who filed the suit and is executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Oklahoma.

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