The Hollywood Liberal

Washington Post Blogger Sekulow Continues Dishonest Attacks On Moderate Muslim Leaders
Continuing his smears against moderate American Muslims leaders, Washington Post religion blogger Jordan Sekulow writes that, among the various offenses committed this year, “We also saw Muslims like [Imam Feisal Abdul] Rauf… refuse to call Hamas a terrorist organization.” Here’s Rauf in a December 23 interview with TIME Magazine: Q: Is Hamas a terrorist organization? […]

Continuing his smears against moderate American Muslims leaders, Washington Post religion blogger Jordan Sekulow writes that, among the various offenses committed this year, “We also saw Muslims like [Imam Feisal Abdul] Rauf… refuse to call Hamas a terrorist organization.”

Here’s Rauf in a December 23 interview with TIME Magazine:

Q: Is Hamas a terrorist organization?

RAUF: Yes, they are.

That seems pretty straightforward.

In my own On Faith post responding to the Sekulow hire, I expressed concern that Sekulow has “been neither respectful nor careful in his posts, particularly those posts concerning the Islamic faith.” That has obviously not changed. How long will the Post continue to allow Sekulow to peddle his dishonesty under their banner?

Commerce Secretary Locke tackles an ambitious export goal
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke helps lead the Obama administration’s efforts to expand exports and fix the economy.

Steele defends record at RNC forum: ‘We won’
Michael Steele, the embattled chairman of the Republican National Committee, defended his record Monday at a forum with four rivals who charged him with mismanagement and said the committee faces a major task of rebuilding its finances and credibility.

Federal Eye: 10 things to watch across government in 2011
Happy New Year! Want to know what The Federal Eye will be watching for in 2011? Here are 10 issues across the government worth tracking as the new year — and the new Congress — begins:

New push to strengthen mine safety faces resistance based on longtime strategies
When Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis appeared before a gathering of coal mine owners in the fall, she signaled a sharp change in the relationship between the mining industry and the federal agency charged with protecting workers.

Top 2010 stories about the federal civilian workforce
Happy new year! Let’s begin 2011 with a look at the top 2010 stories about the federal civilian workforce. Last year was a mixed bag for federal employees, and the biggest news wasn’t good for them. Just as the holiday season was getting underway, President Obama announced a two-year pay freeze f…

Will New GOPers Change DC, Or Will It Change Them?
James Antle, TAS
Before the voters in Utah elected him to the U.S. Senate, Mike Lee caught the media's eye. Lee's campaign headquarters prominently displayed the famous painting of George Washington kneeling in prayer by his horse at Valley Forge. The portrait served as an apt illustration of two Lee convictions: that the federal government must be limited by the Constitution and that the nation's founding was guided by the hand of Providence.

Deep Hole Economics
Paul Krugman, New York Times
If there’s one piece of economic wisdom I hope people will grasp this year, it’s this: Even though we may finally have stopped digging, we’re still near the bottom of a very deep hole.Why do I need to point this out? Because I’ve noticed many people overreacting to recent good economic news. What particularly concerns me is the risk of self-denying optimism — that is, I worry that policy makers will look at a few favorable economic indicators, decide that they no longer need to promote recovery, and take steps that send us sliding right back…

U.S. Dangerously Silent on Human Rights
Jackson Diehl, Washington Post
In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly last September Barack Obama suggested that his administration's notoriously weak defense of human rights around the world would be invigorated. “We will call out those who suppress ideas and serve as a voice for those who are voiceless,” he said. He went on to urge other democracies: “Don't stand idly by, don't be silent, when dissidents elsewhere are imprisoned and protestors are beaten.”

Judging Obama’s Economics
Robert Samuelson, Newsweek
“Just as scholars continue to debate how close we came to nuclear conflict during the Cuban missile crisis, they will continue to debate just how close the American financial system and economy came to all-out collapse in the six months between September of 2008 and April of 2009.” — White House economic counselor Larry Summers, Dec. 13, 2010WASHINGTON — President Obama must take some comfort that the latest economic forecasts are becoming more optimistic about 2011 and beyond. The more upbeat of these (from, say, Richard Berner of Morgan Stanley) have the economy's growth…