The Hollywood Liberal

Allen West Says The Palestinians Asking For Statehood Is Like Giving A State To The Appalachians
During a recent trip to Israel, Rep. Allen West (R-FL) sat down with the Jerusalem Post’s Herb Keinon for an interview about his thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Keinon asked West about what he planned to say to Palestinian leadership he was about to meet with. West responded by downplaying the importance of a Palestinian […]

During a recent trip to Israel, Rep. Allen West (R-FL) sat down with the Jerusalem Post’s Herb Keinon for an interview about his thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Keinon asked West about what he planned to say to Palestinian leadership he was about to meet with. West responded by downplaying the importance of a Palestinian state, saying it has “never existed before” and that Palestinian statehood would be like carving out part of North Carolina and declaring it an Appalachian state:

KEINON: You are meeting tomorrow with the Palestinian Authority leadership. What is your message to them?

There is one very simple question I would ask: Do you really believe you are a credible peace partner? Because I think with the reconciliation pact with Hamas, that is a very telling thing. The fact is that they are trying to back-door the process by going to the UN for a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, when we don’t have a firm recognition of Israel, we don’t have the renouncing of terrorism. I would also ask, what is a Palestinian state? It is something that never existed before. And even the word Palestine. You take it back to Palestina – which comes from Philistia – which was nothing but a declaration by Roman Emperor Hadrian in 73 AD. This is a region, it is not anything tied to a certain group of people; it would be just the same as saying we should have an Appalachian state, separate from North Carolina. It’s those questions I’d like to ask.

West does not appear to understand the basic facts of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The analogy he uses — of the Appalachian region of North Carolina trying to secede — assumes that the Palestinians are simply a part of Israel and enjoy the full rights of Israeli citizenship just as those living in Appalachia enjoy the rights of living in North Carolina.

This is not the case. Palestinians are not granted citizenship by the Israeli government (they are not to be confused with Arab citizens of Israel) and are regularly submitted to mistreatment and human rights abuses that they cannot challenge through a democratic process.

In fact, if one takes West’s analogy seriously, then it would seem that he is actually a proponent of a one-state solution — namely, forging one state where Palestinians and Israelis could live side-by-side with the same rights and privileges. Surely, West would likely object to this as well, if he understood what he was proposing.

New York Times Smacks Down Rep. Darrell Issa?s Demand For A Retraction
On Thursday, the New York Times responded to a demand for a retraction from Oversight Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-CA) office regarding a major piece published two weeks ago about Issa’s many conflicts of interest between his congressional work and his vast financial holdings. In the letter, Dean Baquet, the assistant editor of the paper, […]

One of Congressman Issa's many real estate properties, this building leases to a Hooters in Vista, California.

On Thursday, the New York Times responded to a demand for a retraction from Oversight Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-CA) office regarding a major piece published two weeks ago about Issa’s many conflicts of interest between his congressional work and his vast financial holdings. In the letter, Dean Baquet, the assistant editor of the paper, debunked claims of factual inaccuracies listed by Issa spokesman Frederick Hill.

In two instances, the Times acknowledged that its reporter Eric Lichtblau made mistakes. In one case, a county assessor provided faulty information. In another, Lichtblau simply used Issa’s own family foundation disclosures; he could not verify their accuracy with Issa because his office refused to respond to three weeks worth of requests by the Times.

The letter, worth reading in its entirety, demolishes what’s left of Issa’s demand for a retraction:

#1) Issa Claim: “Directed Electronics is, in fact, not a supplier to Toyota.”

NYT Response: Issa not only calls himself an “auto supplier” to Toyota on multiple occasions, but his Directed Electronics company has licensing agreements with Toyota for aftermarket parts including car alarms, an iPod adapter, and a remote start interface. The Times then lists Issa’s continued financial ties to the company he once led as an executive.

#2) Issa Claim: A golf course is not visible from one of Issa’s corporate office towers.

NYT Response: The office building overlooks the Shadowridge County Club only a quarter a mile away, and Issa’s realty agency for the building advertises “direct views to golf driving range.”

#3) Issa Claim: “Rep. Issa does not have investments dependent on Goldman Sachss (sic) performance.”

NYT Response: “Your interest in Goldman’s performance is borne out by, among other factors, your extensive holdings in its mutual funds, your investigation into the lawsuit brought against the firm by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2008, and the concerns raised in your July 2011 letter about the impact on Goldman of capital requirements. As was noted in a follow-up column by one of our news columnists, Floyd Norris, Goldman Sachs also underwrote DEl’s initial I.P.O., another indication of the ties between you and the firm.” (ThinkProgress has also reported on Issa’s extensive ties to Goldman Sachs here, here, and here.)

#4) Issa Claim: The discussion of earmarks on West Vista Way “fails to mention that at the time he sought funding for his district he did not own this property.”

NYT Response: As the story noted, you secured two earmarks for the road, before and after you bought the property. (ThinkProgress debunked Issa’s claim about his earmark in April, but Issa continued to try to deceive the press.)

Notably, the Heritage Foundation blog, one of the few outlets still questioning the Times’ reporting, has received donations from Issa’s charity foundation.

View the New York Times response to Issa below:

Norman Rockwell painting of Ruby Bridges is on display at the White House

The little girl in the painting titled “The Problem We All Live With” is walking to school in a white dress, white socks and white shoes. Her hair is parted in neat plaits and she is carrying a book and a ruler. The girl appears confident and proud, even as she is overshadowed by U.S. marshals in muted gray suits. She does not seem to notice the tomato splashed on the painted wall behind her or the racial epithet scrawled above her.

The Norman Rockwell painting, depicting the walk by 6-year-old Ruby Bridges as she integrated William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans in 1960, captures an ugly chapter in U.S. history, a transition between a past of segregation and a new era that would come.

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DHS’s chief buyer pushes for more transparency in contracts

Department of Homeland Security officials have to keep many secrets in the fight against terrorism. Nick Nayak, the department’s top buyer, wants to reverse that practice when dealing with the department’s contractors.

For Homeland Security’s $13.4 billion in annual purchases, “the next generation is open, transparent — much more communication with industry upfront,’’ Nayak said in an interview at his Southwest Washington office.

Nayak, 46, left a nearly 20-year career at the Internal Revenue Service to become Homeland Security’s chief procurement officer last September. He is pushing the department’s program managers to talk more with potential vendors about what DHS needs to reduce security threats and respond to disasters. The conversations should happen before and after the agency issues contract requests, Nayak said.

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Iowa congressman and his family retell how they fought off a gun-wielding robber

Congressman Leonard Boswell had kenneled his two Rottweilers for the night. Just before bedtime, the 77-year-old Democrat put on his blue-striped robe and removed his hearing aid, turning down the volume on what had been a loud mid-July week of debt-ceiling drama on Capitol Hill.

He was getting a glass of water in the kitchen, and even without his earpiece, he could sense some commotion on the main floor of his farmhouse. He rushed to the nearby bedroom to check on his wife of 56 years, Dody. She was in bed — nothing wrong.

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House GOP revs up a repeal, reduce and rein-in agenda for the fall

House Republicans are planning votes for almost every week this fall in an effort to repeal environmental and labor requirements on business that they say have hampered job growth.

With everyone from President Obama to his Republican challengers in the 2012 campaign focusing on ways to spur economic growth, House Republicans will roll out plans Monday to fight regulations from the National Labor Relations Board, pollution rules handed down by the Environmental Protection Agency and regulations that affect health plans for small businesses. In addition, the lawmakers plan to urge a 20 percent tax deduction for small businesses.

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The Desperation-of-Deprivation Myth
Mark Steyn, National Review
Unlike many of my comrades in the punditry game, I don’t do a lot of TV. But I’m currently promoting my latest doom-mongering bestseller, so I’m spending more time than usual on the telly circuit. This week I was on the BBC’s current-affairs flagship Newsnight. My moment in the spotlight followed a report on the recent riots in English cities, in the course of which an undercover reporter interviewed various rioters from Manchester who’d had a grand old time setting their city ablaze and then expressed no remorse over it. 

‘Mini-Stagflation’: The Threat Bernanke Wrestles With
Jeff Cox, CNBC
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke used the word “inflation” exactly seven times in this Jackson Hole speech Friday.What he didn’t mention once was inflation’s ugly cousin and its baggage of not only rising prices but also higher unemployment.The prospect of stagflation, indeed, is raising a growing amount of hackles on Wall Street these days on worries that the jobless picture isn’t getting any better and the cost of living—the primary effect of inflation—is rising.

Let School Choice Prevail
George Will, Washington Post
The red stone outcropping that gives this community its name is just a facet of the histrionic geology of Douglas County that sprawls prettily along the front range of the Rockies south of Denver. The county is named, Lord knows why, for Stephen Douglas, who defeated Abraham Lincoln in Illinois' 1858 U.S. Senate election. Lincoln opposed Douglas's repugnant "popular sovereignty" plan for allowing territories to vote for or against accepting slavery. Today, Douglas County has an admirable plan for popular sovereignty in education "” school choice.

A Hurricane of Hype
Howard Kurtz, The Daily Beast
It was raining in Manhattan on Sunday morning, and the dogged correspondents in their brightly colored windbreakers were getting wet.But the apocalypse that cable television had been trumpeting had failed to materialize. And at 9 a.m., you could almost hear the air come out of the media's hot-air balloon of constant coverage when Hurricane Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm.

Can Romney Survive the Perry Surge?
Toby Harnden, The Telegraph
Mitt Romney has been running for president for nigh on six years. He finished third last time around but he continued on, hardly missing a beat.The “new” 2012 Romney is making an effort to appear more ordinary. He is almost never seen in a suit or tie, instead wearing chinos and Oxford shirts. His famously perfect hair is now slightly messed up. Gone is the presidential-style entourage of 2008. Now he travels in a single Chevy Suburban.

Sunday Talking Heads: August 28, 2011
Hope everyone is safe and powered this morning. Instead of winds and rain, I bring you flowers and birdies via twolf1’s hummingbird video. A whole lot of Irene on the talk shows. Teddy wonders: “Doesn’t Craig Fugate have, um WORK to do other than being on all the Sunday snoozefests?” The Newsmaker interview with Emmanuel Cleaver could be newsmaking. The FDL Book Salon is The Moment I Knew, and Monday Dr. Kirk Murphy sits in for Lisa with Bhopali, a powerful movie none of us should miss.

Hope everyone is safe and powered this morning. Instead of winds and rain, I bring you flowers and birdies via twolf1′s hummingbird video.

A whole lot of Irene on the talk shows. Teddy wonders: “Doesn’t Craig Fugate have, um WORK to do other than being on all the Sunday snoozefests?”

The Newsmaker interview with Emmanuel Cleaver could be newsmaking.

The FDL Book Salon is The Moment I Knew, and Monday Dr. Kirk Murphy sits in for Lisa with Bhopali, a powerful movie none of us should miss.

Washington Journal.

ABC’s This Week: Jake Tapper hosts. Irene – FEMA director Craig Fugate. Political Roundtable: George Will, Cokie Roberts, Donna Brazile, Ron Brownstein.Libya – Foreign Policy Roundtable: George Will, Robert Kagan of the Brookings Institution, Robin Wright, author of “Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World,” and Rajiv Chandrasekaran of The Washington Post.

CBS’ Face the Nation: Irene. Colin Powell on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

CNN State of the Union: Irene. FEMA director Craig Fugate. Hurricane Center Director Bill Read. Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ).

Chris Matthews: Is Perry Like Reagan, The Westerner Who Can Defeat The Establishment Romney? In Bad Economic Times, Would Perry’s Far Right Rhetoric Get Overlooked?

Fareed Zakaria – GPS: Pre-empted by Irene.

Fox News Sunday: Irene – FEMA director Craig Fugate. Then, Rep. Ron Paul.  Roundtable: Steve Hayes, Mara Liasson, Dana Perino, Juan Williams.

NBC’s Meet the Press: Irene – FEMA director Craig Fugate.Then, Gov Chris Christie (NJ-R). Roundtable: David Brooks; Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson; Katty Kay; and National Correspondent for NBC’s TODAY, Jamie Gangel, who interviewed VP Cheney exclusively.

Newsmakers: Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Congressional Black Caucus chair, will take questions from Jonathan Allen of Politico and Peter Wallsten of the Washington Post – about  the Caucus’s view of the U.S. jobs situation, especially how African Americans have been affected by it and how to address it.  Also the CBC view on federal spending and the debt, and their relationship with President Obama…

Q & A: Clarence Lusane, author of “The Black History of the White House.” This historical narrative details the contributions of black men and women in the White House, from the early days of its construction to the present…

Religion & Ethics.

60 Minutes: Reruns. Greg Mortenson – He has written inspiring best sellers, including “Three Cups of Tea,” but are the stories all true? Gospel for Teens – A gospel music program for teenagers in Harlem. Students learn to sing the original American art form and gain the confidence and character it inspires.

To The Contrary: Guest host is Global Summit of Women President Irene Natividad. Topics: How far women have really come since gaining the right to vote. What the United States can learn from Switzerland when it comes to women in politics, in an exclusive interview with former Swiss President Doris Leuthard. Why women gain weight when they marry. Panelists: Sabrina Schaeffer, Patricia Sosa, Dana White, Danielle Belton.

Univision’s Al Punto: Irene. Special Coverage on Hurricane Irene. Jorge Ramos Hosting from Monterrey, Mexico Covering the Terror Attacks.

Virtually Speaking: idk.

C-SPAN’s Book TV.

FDL Book Salon: The Moment I Knew: Reflections from Women on Life’s Defining Moments. “There are moments in our lives that are so significant they become etched in our memories. They may be decisions, crises or challenges, or simply situations we stumbled upon. Yet, these moments change us in ways we never expected.” Chat with Terri Spahr Nelson about her new book, hosted by Noelle Stern.  5pm ET.

FDL Movie Night Monday: BHOPALI: The Bhopal Disaster Did Not Happen. IT IS HAPPENING. “BHOPALI documents the experience of second generation children affected by the Union Carbide gas disaster of 1984, the worst industrial disaster in history, and subsequent contamination of groundwater by Union Carbide Corporation (an American company now owned by Dow Chemical, the second largest chemical company in the world).”  Meet with Max Carlson, Kirk Palayan and host Dr. Kirk Murphy, 8pm ET.

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Late Late Night FDL: Merbabies
Merbabies. This Walt Disney Silly Symphony cartoon was released on December 9, 1938.

Merbabies.  This Walt Disney Silly Symphony cartoon was released on December 9, 1938.

Directed by Rudolph Ising and Vernon Stallings (uncredited). Produced by Walt Disney.  Story by Pinto Colvig, Jonathan Caldwell, and Maurice Day.  Animation by Lee Blair, Tom McKimson, Carl Urbano, James Pabian, Pete Burness, Mike Lah, Melvin Schwartzmann, Rollin “Ham” Hamilton, and Francis Smith. Backgrounds by Art Riley and Don Schaffer.  Layouts by Maurice Day, John Niendorff, and Don Smith. Music by Scott Bradley.

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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DC Disasters

By Nate Beeler, Cagle Cartoons, The Washington Examiner

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Mourning in Mexico
Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Friday declared three days of mourning for his country after 52 people were killed in a Monterrey casino fire set by gunmen thought to be members of a drug cartel. At least eight men were said to have carried out the attack, dousing the Casino Royale with gasoline before setting it ablaze. Many of the victims died in restrooms,  trapped there by the fire apparently after fleeing from the gunmen. Calderon said it was the worst attack on civilians in Mexico in a long while. President Barack Obama denounced the violence as “barbaric.” On Saturday, in a possible but curious response to the attack, the Mexican army raided five Monterrey casinos, confiscating hundreds of slot machines. —BF The Associated Press: The victims this time weren’t cartel foot soldiers or even migrants resisting forced recruitment by gangs, as were the cases in other attacks. Instead, they were working or gambling at the Casino Royale in an affluent part of this industrial city Thursday when at least eight assailants burst into the building and set it on fire, trapping dozens inside. As the country took in the shocking details Friday, some said a new, macabre milestone had been reached in a conflict that’s claimed nearly 40,000 people since 2006. Read more

Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Friday declared three days of mourning for his country after 52 people were killed in a Monterrey casino fire set by gunmen thought to be members of a drug cartel.

At least eight men were said to have carried out the attack, dousing the Casino Royale with gasoline before setting it ablaze. Many of the victims died in restrooms,? trapped there by the fire apparently after fleeing from the gunmen.

Calderon said it was the worst attack on civilians in Mexico in a long while. President Barack Obama denounced the violence as “barbaric.”

On Saturday, in a possible but curious response to the attack, the Mexican army raided five Monterrey casinos, confiscating hundreds of slot machines. —BF

The Associated Press:

The victims this time weren’t cartel foot soldiers or even migrants resisting forced recruitment by gangs, as were the cases in other attacks. Instead, they were working or gambling at the Casino Royale in an affluent part of this industrial city Thursday when at least eight assailants burst into the building and set it on fire, trapping dozens inside.

As the country took in the shocking details Friday, some said a new, macabre milestone had been reached in a conflict that’s claimed nearly 40,000 people since 2006.

Read more

Related Entries

• August 25, 2011 Activist Rejects Indian PM’s Plea to End His Fast
• August 22, 2011 The Nuke Ship Sinking

Rep. Dennis Kucinich: Why Did the Administration Waive U.S. Law 46 Times to Help Foreign-Owned Shippers at the Expense of U.S. Maritime Workers?
The Administration’s short-sightedness has meant that oil companies — that do not employ American workers, do not pay U.S. taxes, and do not follow U.S. environmental rules — benefited, while American mariners try to weather this economic storm.

Ron Paul: Federal Response To Hurricane Unnecessary
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul told NBC News on Friday that “there’s no magic about” the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He said that he…

Perry To Feds: You Owe Texas Big Time
By APRIL CASTRO, ASSOCIATED PRESS (AP) AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Rick Perry has asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for nearly $350 million…

Obama Urges Americans To Rekindle 9/11 Unity
WASHINGTON â?? President Barack Obama is calling on Americans to rekindle the spirit of unity that characterized the response to the Sept. 11 attacks. “It…

Hannity Distorts Economic Data To Conceal Employment Growth

During an interview with former White House economic advisor Austan Goolsbee, Sean Hannity distorted economic data and claimed that overall employment is declining by 400,000 jobs per month. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says employment has been increasing for months, and the private sector has added 2.4 million jobs since March 2010.

Hannity: Employment Is Declining By 400,000 Jobs Per Month

Hannity: “We’re Losing 400,000 Jobs Per Month.” From the August 26 edition of Fox News’ Hannity:

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, FORMER OBAMA ADVISOR: Over the 17 months, wait take the 17 months where we’re actually growing fairly robustly –

HANNITY: Growing? We’re losing 400,000 jobs a month!

GOOLSBEE: Before the events at the beginning of this year –

HANNITY: We’re losing –

GOOLSBEE: We added 2.5 million, we added 2.5 million jobs. When the president takes office, we’re losing almost 800,000 a month. When we slow that down and turn it around, we add 2.5 million. It has taken longer than we anticipated, there’s no question about that, you’re correct.

HANNITY: We didn’t add, I can’t let you get away, we’ve lost 2.5 million jobs.

GOOLSBEE: That’s not true. [Fox News, Hannity, 8/26/11]

But Hannity Is Wrong: Employment Has Been Increasing For Almost A Year

BLS Data Show That The Economy Has Been Adding Jobs Since October 2010. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, employment has increased during each of the last 10 months. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed 8/27/11]

Moreover, Goolsbee Is Right – The Private Sector Has Added Nearly 2.5 Million Jobs In The Past 17 Months. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the economy has added 2.4 million private sector jobs since March 2007. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed 8/27/11]

Prosser: Bradley ‘Made The Decision To Sensationalize’ Wis. Supreme Court Chokehold Accusation
The special prosecutor in Wisconsin determined Thursday that there will be no charges brought in the alleged physical altercation at the Wisconsin Supreme Court — in which liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley accused conservative Justice David Prosser of grabbing her neck in a chokehold during an argument. But that isn’t stopping Prosser and Bradley from continuing to fight in the court of public opinion.

Presented By:

Pat Robertson On Washington Monument Crack: ‘Is That A Sign From The Lord?’ (VIDEO)
Were you wondering how long it would be before Pat Robertson claimed Tuesday’s East Coast Earthquake was a sign from God? Well, your question has been answered.

Fareed Zakaria’s Problem — and Ours
Many people defer to Fareed Zakaria’s virtuosity and sheer ubiquity as the neo-liberal consciousness-shaper of the moment. An immigrant from India and a Muslim by background whose parents have been prominent in Indian politics and news media, he owes a…

Joe Walsh’s Ex-Wife: Quit Lying
Congressman Joe Walsh told Obama to “quit lying.” Here, Walsh’s ex-wife tells Joe to “quit lying” about the child support he owes?her. Walsh accused Obama of spending money like a drunken sailor, but Walsh is the one who spent…

Slouching Toward a Double Dip, For No Good Reason
Imagine your house is burning. You call the fire department but your call isn’t answered because every fire fighter in town is debating whether there will be enough water to fight fires over the next ten years, even though water…

Arguing With Nobel Prize Winners: Can A Great Nation Fail To Debase Its Own Currency?
The idea, which Dylan Matthews found a variety of credible people to endorse, that the Federal Reserve might try and fail in an effort to raise the price level strikes me as totally bizarre. Imagine a situation in which you are the only person in the world who’s capable of producing diamonds. But you also […]

The idea, which Dylan Matthews found a variety of credible people to endorse, that the Federal Reserve might try and fail in an effort to raise the price level strikes me as totally bizarre.

Imagine a situation in which you are the only person in the world who’s capable of producing diamonds. But you also have the ability to produce arbitrary quantities of diamonds, at any time, instantly, and at zero cost. Now why on earth would anyone worry that you might be unable to reduce the price of diamonds? I think that if someone in that position said, “I want to make diamonds 25 percent cheaper and intend to do whatever it takes to make that happen” that the price of diamonds would fall more or less immediately by roughly 25 percent. After all, the magical diamond man has promised he’s going to make this happen. You probably wouldn’t need to do anything at all. To be sure, just to show the world that you’re not a jerk and to maintain your credibility for the future it would probably be wise to follow-up the crash in the diamond futures market with the production of some actual new diamonds. So instead of diamonds, say you had the ability to produce arbitrary quantities of dollars….

Pat Michaels: ?It is doubtful Hurricane Irene will cough up even eight bodies?
Yesterday, the Koch-funded climate denier Pat Michaels attacked the “hype” around Hurricane Irene in a Forbes.com post. “It is doubtful that Irene will even cough up eight bodies,” Michaels ghoulishly predicted. That text was silently edited on Forbes to “hopefully kill fewer than the eight people who died in Gloria,” but the syndicated version on […]

Yesterday, the Koch-funded climate denier Pat Michaels attacked the “hype” around Hurricane Irene in a Forbes.com post. “It is doubtful that Irene will even cough up eight bodies,” Michaels ghoulishly predicted. That text was silently edited on Forbes to “hopefully kill fewer than the eight people who died in Gloria,” but the syndicated version on Yahoo.com remains the same.