The Hollywood Liberal

Right Wingers Freak Over Soccer
Several prominent right-wingers are outspoken in opposition to soccer’s World Cup, which began June 11. Glenn Beck: “We don’t want the World Cup, we don’t like the World Cup, we don’t like soccer, we want nothing to do with it … the rest of the world likes Barack Obama’s policies, we do not.” G. Gordon Liddy: “Whatever happened to American exceptionalism? This game … originated with the South American Indians and instead of a ball, they used to use the head, the decapitated head, of an enemy warrior.” Dan Gainor: “Soccer is designed as a poor man or poor woman’s sport … the left is pushing it in schools across the country … is being sold” (as necessary due to the) “browning of America.” Mark Belling: “I haven’t talked about the World Cup, I haven’t talked about how they’re force-feeding this down our throats.”

Early Morning Swim

• Ah-ha! So that’s why we’re there.
• I have my doubts, but let’s hope so.
• No one could’ve predicted…
• The Tuesday POTUS speech — a preview.
• Pundit FAIL.
• Like a gift that keeps on giving.

• Ah-ha! So that’s why we’re there.
• I have my doubts, but let’s hope so.
• No one could’ve predicted…
• The Tuesday POTUS speech — a preview.
• Pundit FAIL.
• Like a gift that keeps on giving.

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Tiger: At Least I Didn’t Screw the Entire Gulf of Mexico
Fake News by Andy Borowitz Sensing a public relations opportunity, golf legend Tiger Woods spoke out today on the BP oil spill. Fake News by Andy Borowitz By Andy Borowitz

Sensing a public relations opportunity, golf legend Tiger Woods spoke out today on the BP oil spill.

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Christine Pelosi: What’s at Stake in the Golden State? Corporate Cash vs. Progressive Populism
Nothing less than the biggest statehouse, the biggest Senate seat, and the future presidency of America is at stake here in the Golden State.

White House Attacks New York Times For Critical Afghanistan Report
A dramatic New York Times report detailing doubts among Afghan leadership that U.S. forces can beat back the Taliban had its credibility attacked on Sunday…

Arizona’s Next Immigration Target: Children Of Illegals
“Anchor babies” isn’t a very endearing term, but in Arizona those are the words being used to tag children born in the U.S. to illegal…

SC Dem State Rep: I Do Not Believe Greene Is A Plant (VIDEO)
After privately meeting with mystery Senate candidate Alvin Greene at a Columbia television station this afternoon, South Carolina State Rep. Bakari Sellers came away believing that Greene is sincere but perhaps misguided in his much-scrutinized bid for Senate. “I think he just kind of doesn’t know what he’s getting into,” Sellers told TPMmuckraker.


South Carolina – Alvin Greene – United States – United States Senate – Politics

DSCC Chair Won’t Discuss Greene Mystery, Says It’s State Party Matter
DSCC Chairman Sen. Bob Menendez doesn’t want to talk about Alvin Greene.


South Carolina – United States – Bob Menendez – Alvin Greene – Jim DeMint

The Greene Miracle Needs an Explanation
For the conspiracy theory lunatics who believe that the Republicans use the (no paper trail) electronic voting machines to micromanage election results, explaining the miracle of Alvin Greene’s successful effort to become the Democratic Party’s nominee to run for the Senate from South Carolina was a routine “see we tried to warn you” variation of […]

Democrats Expand “Red to Blue” List
The DCCC will announce today the addition of 11 candidates to its “Red to Blue” program, nearly doubling the number of eligible contenders, Roll Call reports.

“Party leaders are eager to demonstrate that they are not just playing defense this election year, and the Red to Blue program, which largely aims to flip Republican-held seats into the Democratic column, is a key part of that strategy. The DCCC has previously named 15 members of the program, bringing the total so far to 26.”

Right-Wing ?Think-Tank? Dishonestly Spins CA as Uneducated Due to Immigration

This post is by Walter Ewing and is cross-posted from Immigration Impact. The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) yesterday released a report claiming that, due to immigration, “by 2008 California had the least-educated labor force in the nation in terms of the share [of] its workers without a high school education.” The report, entitled A State […]

What Is It About Baseball? What Is It About Relationships?
Baseball is a metaphor for life, as many writers have explored. But the the deep meaning of family, love and relationships trumps the box scores most every time.

Baseball is a metaphor for life, as many writers have explored. But the the deep meaning of family, love and relationships trumps the box scores most every time.

Why We Are Moving Toward a Recessionary Era, and Why Keynes is Being Exhumed
Double-dip watch: Retail sales in May took their biggest nose-dive in eight months, according to today’s report from the Commerce Department. Remember: Consumers account for 70 percent of the nation’s economic activity. American Corporations are sitting on huge piles of…


Economic – John Maynard Keynes – Retail – United States Department of Commerce – Commerce Department

National Security (Political) Strategy
With an eye toward how national security and foreign policy issues will play in the mid-terms, we have interesting new polling results from Third Way and Democracy Corps. It’s definitely worth reading the whole accompanying memo, Toward Renewal and Leadership….


National security – United States – Third Way – Democracy – Foreign policy

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Paul On Mountaintop Removal: ?I Don’t Think Anyone’s Going To Be Missing A Hill Or Two Here And There?
One of the themes of U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul’s (R-KY) campaign has been that businesses are burdened with overregulation, with Paul even decrying the anti-discrimination provisions imposed on private businesses in the Civil Rights Act. Now, Crooks and Liars has unearthed an interview Rand Paul gave in 2009 where the candidate aired these strident […]

One of the themes of U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul’s (R-KY) campaign has been that businesses are burdened with overregulation, with Paul even decrying the anti-discrimination provisions imposed on private businesses in the Civil Rights Act.

Now, Crooks and Liars has unearthed an interview Rand Paul gave in 2009 where the candidate aired these strident views with respect to mountaintop removal. When asked about the environmentally disastrous process, Paul told the interviewer that he thinks “whoever owns the property can do with the property as they wish, and if the coal company buys it from a private property owner and they want to do it, fine.” To justify his hands-off approach to environmental regulation, Paul then went on to explain that mountaintop removal isn’t that bad, anyway, saying, “I don’t think anybody’s going to be missing a hill or two here and there”:

INTERVIEWER: What about mountaintop removal?

PAUL: I think whoever owns the property can do with the property as they wish, and if the coal company buys it from a private property owner and they want to do it, fine. The other thing I think is that I think coal gets a bad name, because I think a lot of the land apparently is quite desirable once it’s been flattened out. As I came over here from Harlan, you’ve got quite a few hills. I don’t think anybody’s going to be missing a hill or two here and there.

Watch it:

To illustrate what Paul views as “a hill or two,” here’s a satellite-taken before-and-after image of a mountaintop removal site in Mud River, West Virginia:

As the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson has pointed out, “Mountain-top mining has been more accurately described as the ‘rape of Appalachia,’ as rural communities are destroyed economically and environmentally for coal industry.”

At state convention, Texas GOP oust chairwoman and call for Arizona-style immigration law.
Despite his well-earned reputation for catering to the far right, Texas Gov. Rick Perry released a statement in April criticizing Arizona’s draconian new immigration law, saying that “it would not be the right direction for Texas.” But at the Texas Republican state convention yesterday, right-wing activists bucked “Perry by pushing for a crackdown on illegal […]

Despite his well-earned reputation for catering to the far right, Texas Gov. Rick Perry released a statement in April criticizing Arizona’s draconian new immigration law, saying that “it would not be the right direction for Texas.” But at the Texas Republican state convention yesterday, right-wing activists bucked “Perry by pushing for a crackdown on illegal immigration similar to Arizona’s new law“:

The immigration proposal, a hard-line approach that Perry has said isn’t right for Texas, was one of several initiatives debated as delegates wrapped up the two-day convention. The Republican Party platform is a blueprint of the policies that GOP activists want elected officials to pursue.

Delegates voted to include a plank advocating for a state law that would bar illegal immigrants from “intentionally or knowingly” living in Texas. Similar to Arizona’s strict law that has sparked nationwide debate, the proposal would require local police to verify U.S. residency when making arrests.

Perry has said the Arizona law, if adopted in Texas, would unduly burden police.

The convention also saw delegates “ditch their firebrand leader, conservative activist Cathie Adams, in favor of Houston businessman Steve Munisteri.” Adams had recently “angered some GOP activists by declining to release financial information about the party.” Munisteri, who said he “shared many of Adams’ socially conservative views,” “focused his campaign on the party’s $500,000 debt” and said that “Republicans should be in better financial shape since they control both houses of the Legislature and all statewide offices.” Ironically, though the delegates pushed for an Arizona-style law, Munisteri “pledged to reach out to independents, disenchanted Republicans and minority groups, especially the burgeoning Hispanic community, to strengthen the party.”