Do Republicans Get Their Talking Points From History's Fascist Propagandists

Scott Roeder Convicted For Murdering Dr. George Tiller – What Say You Bill O’Reilly?

Wichita Kansas: In a victory for our legal system and a defeat for ideological vigilantism, Scott Roeder was convicted, today, of first degree murder in the shooting death of Dr. George Tiller. Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly waged a lengthy, biased on air campaign against Dr. Tiller (whom he referred to as "Tiller the Baby Killer" on at least 29 occasions) which continued after the doctor’s murder. (Here, Here, Here, ) O’Reilly smeared Dr. Tiller during his speech at the “Family Values Summit” where he received a “Courage Award,” from the "Family Research Council," for his “pro-life” advocacy.

Only in the fetid mind of the modern conservatism would advocating murder from the safety of a studio where O'Relly makes a few million a year for doing nothing but wage a hateful disinformation campaign, would such sick behavior be considered "courage". Conservative wimps like Bill O grow like spores on garbage.

Big Government - Andrew Brietbart's hero James O'Keefe has gotten a lot of people to lie for him, but not everyone, Friend of O'Keefe reportedly objected to past transcript distortion

Report: O'Keefe friend said she "grew disillusioned" with his tactics after being asked to doctor transcript of a past film. A September 18, 2009, New York Times article reported that Liz Farkas, a college friend of O'Keefe's while at Rutgers University, said she "grew disillusioned" after O'Keefe asked Farkas to help deceptively "edit the script" of a video involving a nurse at the University of California at Los Angeles.

In between accusing hard working patriotic Americans of being anti-American far left radical, Conservatives like to do some bizarre hypocritical whining about judicial activism, Cornyn Hypocritically Accuses Democrats Of ‘Hysterical’ Reaction To Right-Wing Judicial Activism

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)Last week, the Supreme Court’s five conservative justices joined together to invalidate a 63-year-old ban on corporate money in federal elections and in the process overruled a 20-year-old precedent permitting such bans on corporate electioneering. “There were principled, narrower paths that a court that was serious about judicial restraint could have taken,” Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in dissent, essentially “accusing his colleagues of judicial activism,” in the words of the New York Times’ Adam Liptak.

Indeed, though “judicial activism” is a common scare phrase invoked by conservatives, the Roberts Court has “demonstrated that decades of conservative criticism of judicial activism was nonsense” because “conservative justices are happy to be activists when it serves their ideological agenda.” Politico reports that Democratic senators are saying that Justices “Roberts and Alito misled them during their confirmation hearings when they represented themselves as jurists who would respect precedent”:

Referring to the memorable analogy in which Roberts compared himself to a baseball umpire, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) told POLITICO this week, “He’s not somebody who just measures balls and strikes. It’s been the most activist court that I’ve seen in my 17 years in the committee.” [...]

Conservatives regularly attack Democratic judges as “judicial activists,” but Judiciary Committee member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said, “It’s well past time” to call out conservative justices for their own brand of judicial activism. He said that making such arguments now could help the president if he has another chance to nominate a justice to the court.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), a former judge and current Judiciary Committee member, called such complaints “hysterical.” He thinks the court’s decision last week was simply an effort to “to protect the Constitution’s First Amendment rights of free speech and association.” But his charge that Democrats are “hysterical” over right-wing judicial activism is odd considering he mused in 2005 that there might be a connection between violent attacks against judges and judges “making political decisions“:

CORNYN: I don’t know if there is a cause-and-effect connection but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country. Certainly nothing new, but we seem to have run through a spate of courthouse violence recently that’s been on the news and I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters on some occasions where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in — engage in violence.

That last line is the side winding snake propagandist speech of a modern fascist calling for violence against judges, phrased in a way to give him plausible deniability. Cornyn has had a Senate career devoid of any achievements except living off the tax payer as he does his best to make sure government is not for the "common good" of the people - and people wonder what is wrong with government - its called modern conservatism. Maybe he's related to O'Reilly and O'Keefe.

Phone tamperers Tweet may violate court order

Rightwing Republican Phone tamperers Tweet may violate court order

Phone tamperers Tweet may violate court order - 'Govt official concedes no attempt to wiretap,' O'Keefe Tweet gloats

If there is a gag order against accused phone tamperer James O'Keefe then the once-celebrated conservative activist/journalist/prankster/defendant just might have broken it Wednesday night.

"Govt official concedes no attempt to wiretap," O'Keefe Tweeted a half-hour before midnight.

Wednesday afternoon, NBC News reported that the judge had instructed O'Keefe not to talk about the case.

Contacted by RAW STORY, Professor Jonathan Turley, a nationally recognized legal expert, concurred, "It could indeed violate an order. It is extremely unwise for clients to be tweeting on their case even without such an order. Mr. O'Keefe has a record of reckless conduct and this would certainly add to that record."
Story continues below...



"Having said that, these orders often create a conflict for counsel in zealous representation and protecting a fair trial," Turley added. "Mr. O'Keefe is being widely accused of an attempted wiretap. He has an interest in rebutting such claims. Yet, it is always problematic for a client to directly manage the media. While a tweet is not likely to result in serious punishment in this case, it can bring a sharp rebuke and undermine the relationship with the court."

......."Supporters say O'Keefe and his friends entered Landrieu's office to conduct another undercover sting: to show on video that citizens trying to call Landrieu's office could not get through. Now O'Keefe -- a celebrated figure among some Republicans for his undercover sting last fall targeting the nonprofit Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) -- and three other men face charges of entering federal property on false pretenses as part of a plot to tamper with the lawmaker's phone. If convicted, they could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine."

Prescient liberals at Daily Kos, TPMMuckraker and Democratic Underground had predicted that conservatives would attempt to downplay the story by jumping on the media for assuming "maliciously interfering" and reports that a suspect nabbed outside had a listening device in his possession could only mean bugging.

In his email to RAW STORY, legal expert Jonathan Turley noted that he hadn't jumped the gun like others had: "The government is charging him with trespass with intent to commit a felony. Many of us have been speculating on what that felony was. I stated on the day of the arrest that I thought it was odd that the felony was not identified and that, if surveillance was the intent, no surveillance devices were referenced in the affidavit of the agent."

Even if "Tampergate" turns out to only be about shutting down a US Senator's phones instead of tapping them, O'Keefe and his alleged accomplices are still facing serious charges, and legal analyst Jonathan Turley speculated on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann Tuesday night that more could be tagged on at a later date.

What they were charged with,

All four men are free on $10,000 bail after being charged with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony, which carries up to 10 years in prison.

As many have asked about O'Keefe and his co-conspirators passing this off as a prank; imagine if four Muslim men had done the same thing to a Conservative senator's office. Would the same conservatives defending these four rightwing miscreants be accepting that defense from the Muslims. We are in two war zones. In that kind of environment - post 9-11 - what kind of hate filled conservative screw balls think they would be exempt from the law.

Conservative Leaders of The Future Arrested Today

After Whining About Lack Of Media Coverage Of ACORN Videos, Hannity And Beck Silent About Arrest Of Videographer

Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity could not get enough of the ACORN videos made by undercover filmmakers James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, the young conservative activists who, posing as a pimp and prostitute, captured a number of low-level ACORN employees offering them advice about how to get loans for a brothel with under-age girls. Just about every time Beck and Hannity trumpeted the videos, they attacked the mainstream media for ignoring what they kept holding up as such an important story (never mind that ACORN has since been exonerated by the Congressional Research Service).

FLASHBACK: 31 House Republicans Supported Resolution Honoring Alleged Felon James O'Keefe

The following 31 House Republicans cosponsored Olson's measure, which declared that O'Keefe was "owed a debt of gratitude by the people of the United States":

Todd Akin [R-MO2]
Roscoe Bartlett [R-MD6]
Joe Barton [R-TX6]
Rob Bishop [R-UT1]
Jo Bonner [R-AL1]
John Boozman [R-AR3]
Paul Broun [R-GA10]
Henry Brown [R-SC1]
John Campbell [R-CA48]
John Carter [R-TX31]
Howard Coble [R-NC6]
Tom Cole [R-OK4]
Michael Conaway [R-TX11]
John Culberson [R-TX7]
Mary Fallin [R-OK5]
Trent Franks [R-AZ2]
Louis Gohmert [R-TX1]
Kay Granger [R-TX12]
Ralph Hall [R-TX4]
Jim Jordan [R-OH4]
Steve King [R-IA5]
John Kline [R-MN2]
Doug Lamborn [R-CO5]
Blaine Luetkemeyer [R-MO9]
Daniel Lungren [R-CA3]
Kenny Marchant [R-TX24]
Joseph Pitts [R-PA16]
Bill Posey [R-FL15]
Phil Roe [R-TN1]
Jean Schmidt [R-OH2]
John Shadegg [R-AZ3]

More here on one of the alleged Conservative felons. He seems to have received a lot of education at tax payers expense, Is this the same Stan Dai arrested for trying to bug Mary Landrieu's office?

"According to the complaint, which was unsealed earlier today, the arrest of FLANAGAN, BASEL, O’KEEFE, and DAI took place after BASEL and O’KEEFE attempted to gain access to the New Orleans office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu on January 25, 2010, while posing as telephone repairmen. According to the complaint, FLANAGAN and BASEL were each dressed in blue denim pants, blue work shirts, light green fluorescent vests, tool belts, and construction-style hard hats when they entered the Hale Boggs Federal Building, located at 500 Poydras Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130. Once in the building, FLANAGAN and BASEL sought access to the offices of Senator Landrieu. O’KEEFE was already present in the office, holding a cellular phone so as to record FLANAGAN and BASEL. Once inside Senator Landrieu’s reception area, FLANAGAN and BASEL told a member of Senator Landrieu’s staff that they were telephone repairmen, and they requested access to the main telephone at the reception desk. FLANAGAN and BASEL then manipulated the telephone system. FLANAGAN and BASEL next requested access to the telephone closet because they needed to perform work on the main telephone system. They were directed to the main office of the United States General Services Administration, also inside the Hale Boggs Federal Building, where they again represented themselves to be employees of the telephone company and stated that they needed to perform repair work in the telephone closet. Both FLANAGAN and BASEL stated that they had left their credentials in their vehicle. In addition, the complaint alleges that O’KEEFE and DAI assisted FLANAGAN and BASEL in the planning, coordination, and preparation of the operation. The men were apprehended by the United States Marshal’s Service soon thereafter.

If convicted, FLANAGAN, BASEL, O’KEEFE, and DAI each face a maximum term of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three (3) years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment."

CIA Man Retracts Claim on Waterboarding
A study in "enhanced reporting techniques."

Well, it's official now: John Kiriakou, the former CIA operative who affirmed claims that waterboarding quickly unloosed the tongues of hard-core terrorists, says he didn't know what he was talking about.

Kiriakou, a 15-year veteran of the agency's intelligence analysis and operations directorates, electrified the hand-wringing national debate over torture in December 2007 when he told ABC's Brian Ross and Richard Esposito in a much ballyhooed, exclusive interview that senior al Qaeda commando Abu Zubaydah cracked after only one application of the face cloth and water.

Fox Smears ACORN with Childish Innuendo and Conservative Fakery

ACORN Still Smeared With “Voter Fraud” In Fox Article

But then again, on Fox, it seems no article is complete without a subtle or not-so-subtle swipe at the left, at President Obama, or at ACORN. However, as reported by the Drudge Report in December 2009, “The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) did not commit voter fraud, and it didn't misuse federal funding in the last five years, according to a recently released report prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), a nonpartisan investigational arm of Congress.”

Scott Brown, Fred Thompson and the Authenticity of Trucks. Brown's truck was like G.W. Bush's sudden purchase of a fake ranch in Texas in 2000 ( which he sold as soon as he left office) a fake badge of fake populism. Fake values, fake understanding of the economy, fake concern for families and education. Fake is the only real thing about Conservative like Brown and Bush.

Fox Single Handedly Makes Tea Bagger Movement Irrelevant

Fox Single Handedly Makes Tea Bagger Movement Irrelevant- Media conservatives accuse Obama of "raping," declaring "war" on banks by proposing regulatory reform

After President Obama proposed regulatory reform over the financial services industry in order to avoid "operating under the same rules that led to its near collapse," media conservatives have stated that Obama is "bash[ing]" or engaged in a "war" on banks. Rush Limbaugh stated that Obama was "raping" banks.

Obama proposes regulatory reform in response to financial crisis

Obama on financial crisis: Banks "took huge, reckless risks" and are "operating under the same rules." In January 21 comments, Obama proposed financial regulatory reform and stated:

But even as we dig our way out of this deep hole, it's important that we not lose sight of what led us into this mess in the first place.

This economic crisis began as a financial crisis, when banks and financial institutions took huge, reckless risks in pursuit of quick profits and massive bonuses. When the dust settled, and this binge of irresponsibility was over, several of the world's oldest and largest financial institutions had collapsed, or were on the verge of doing so. Markets plummeted, credit dried up, and jobs were vanishing by the hundreds of thousands each month. We were on the precipice of a second Great Depression.

To avoid this calamity, the American people -- who were already struggling in their own right -- were forced to rescue financial firms facing crises largely of their own creation. And that rescue, undertaken by the previous administration, was deeply offensive but it was a necessary thing to do, and it succeeded in stabilizing the financial system and helping to avert that depression.

Since that time, over the past year, my administration has recovered most of what the federal government provided to banks. And last week, I proposed a fee to be paid by the largest financial firms in order to recover every last dime. But that's not all we have to do. We have to enact common-sense reforms that will protect American taxpayers -- and the American economy -- from future crises as well.

For while the financial system is far stronger today than it was one year ago, it's still operating under the same rules that led to its near collapse. These are rules that allowed firms to act contrary to the interests of customers; to conceal their exposure to debt through complex financial dealings; to benefit from taxpayer-insured deposits while making speculative investments; and to take on risks so vast that they posed threats to the entire system.

That's why we are seeking reforms to protect consumers; we intend to close loopholes that allowed big financial firms to trade risky financial products like credit defaults swaps and other derivatives without oversight; to identify system-wide risks that could cause a meltdown; to strengthen capital and liquidity requirements to make the system more stable; and to ensure that the failure of any large firm does not take the entire economy down with it. Never again will the American taxpayer be held hostage by a bank that is "too big to fail."

Frank: "[I]t was their practices, the banks and other financial institutions being irresponsible with mortgages, that contributed to the problem." Discussing a separate proposal to levy a fee on large financial institutions, Barney Frank stated in January 15 CNBC interview, "By the way, there's one other category of spending that was a loss incurred by the TARP, and that's in mortgage efforts. And there it's entirely legitimate to make the banks pay because it was their practices, the banks and other financial institutions being irresponsible with mortgages that contributed to the problem. That's part of where the money will go."
Conservatives accuse Obama administration of "raping," "bash[ing]," declaring "war" on banks

Limbaugh: "He's not cracking down on the banks, folks. He's raping them." During his radio show, Limbaugh asserted, "Obama is taking further aim at the economy. Mr. Depression." Limbaugh added, "[H]e is now attacking the banks all over again, and he's doing it because the polling data he has suggests that the public is still mad at Wall Street, still mad at banks, still mad at all these bonuses." Limbaugh continued:

So it's pure class envy. It's an attempt to revive his poll numbers, and in the process, he is taking yet another swing at capitalism and is totally taking this country toward depression. He's not cracking down on the banks, folks. He's raping them. [The Rush Limbaugh Show, 01/22/10]

Cavuto: "What do you think of the president's war on banks?" During an interview with former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Fox News host Neil Cavuto stated, "What do you think of the president's war on banks? I mean it's -- he seems like it's almost as much as he dislikes Fox, but what do you make of that and how far this is going? I'm not saying all these guys are saints, but it does seem to be a repeated villain attack. [Your World with Neil Cavuto, 01/21/10]

Varney: "[I]f you bash the banks, do you create jobs? ... Answer: probably not." Fox Business' Stuart Varney stated, "The basic question for the economy and for the stock market is, if you bash the banks, do you create jobs? Because that's the underlying problem for investors and for the economy alike. If you bash them, do you create jobs?" He answered his own question:

Answer: probably not, because banks in the future, with this kind of regulation and tax, sir, coming upon them, they're not going to make the same amount or number of loans as they did in the past.

The tea bagger movement was supposed to be an expression of populist outrage at what too big to fail financial institutions were doing. The banks played with the money of hardworking Americans, treating it like a bet at Vegas gaming table. President Obama and Democrats want to throttle down the wild and irresponsible behavior. Who opposes that. The same people who's hands off anything goes Republican economic policies brought us the Great Recession. The only thing tea baggers have left is their love of eliminationism and blame shifting.

Politico Plays Stenographer for GOP and it's Health Care Astroturf

Politico cites GOP polling firm on health care reform, omits ties to health care industry

A Politico article cited exit polling data from Republican firm Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates, in asserting that opposition to health care reform "was the most important issue" in Republican Scott Brown's victory in the Massachusetts Senate election. Politico made no mention of the fact that some of Fabrizio, McLaughlin and Associates' clients have expressed opposition to aspects of health care reform legislation, including the U.S. Chamber of Congress, Blue Cross-Blue Shield, and the American Health Care Association.

Politico is not as bad as Fox, but they play a similar game. They claim to be fair and balanced because 10% of their stories are fair to Democrats, just you know, ignore the 90% of the stories that Conservative propaganda.

What would we be hearing from the Conservative noise machine if a Democrat defaced the American flag to promote an extremist political agenda, Brown victory party featured flag calling for a ‘second’ revolution, tea party-inspired civil war.

Progressives (and Obama) are Doing Better Than We Think — and We Won’t Know What We’ve Got ‘Til It’s Gone

Stuart Varney Plays Health Care Hack at Fox Propaganda Network

Stuart Varney Plays Health Care Hack at Fox Propaganda Network

On Fox & Friends, Fox business contributor Stuart Varney claimed President Obama is "wrong" to believe health care reform legislation will reduce the deficit and added, "You're going to have 10 years of taxes, and you're only going to have six years of benefits in that first 10 years. You're rigging the numbers to make it look like it's going to be financially beneficial." However, the most recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analyses of the health care reform bills estimate that the legislation will not only reduce deficits through 2019, but will continue to reduce deficits in the subsequent decade.

Progressives (and Obama) are Doing Better Than We Think -- and We Won't Know What We've Got 'Til It's Gone
*
Three major health bills (SCHIP, tobacco regulation, and stimulus funds for Medicaid, COBRA subsidies, health information technology and the National Institutes of Health) enacted even before comprehensive reform
*
Stimulus contained myriad other individual policy victories, not only preventing a far worse depression but also:
o
Delivered key new funds for education
o
Expanded state energy conservation programs and new transit programs
o
Added new smart grid investments
o
Funded high-speed Internet broadband programs
o
Extended unemployment insurance for up to 99 weeks for the unemployed and modernizing state UI programs to cover more of the unemployed
o
Made large new investments in the safety net, from food stamps (SNAP) to affordable housing to child care
*
Clean cars victory to take gas mileage requirements to 35mpg
*
Protection of 2 million acres of land against oil and gas drilling and other development
*
Executive orders protecting labor rights, from project labor agreements to protecting rights of contractor employees on federal jobs
*
Stopping pay discrimination through Lilly Ledbetter and Equal Pay laws
*
Making it easier for airline and railway workers to unionize, while appointing NLRB and other labor officials who will strengthen freedom to form unions
*
Reversing Bush ban on funding overseas family planning clinics
*
Passing hate crimes protections for gays and lesbians
*
Protecting stem cell research research
*
Strengthening state authority and restricting federal preemption to protect state consumer, environmental and labor laws
*
Financial reforms to protect homeowners and credit card holders
*
Bailing out the auto industry and protecting unionized retirees and workers

A study finds Barack Obama has the highest legislative success rate of any president in recent history

A study finds Barack Obama has the highest legislative success rate of any president in recent history

The Republican riff on President Obama's first year is that he hasn't accomplished anything, that he's all hat and no cattle, to borrow a phrase from the Bush years. At the same time, conservatives yowl that all the socialistic programs and policies he's put in place are destroying the country. Which is it? He can't be both unaccomplished and accomplishing his nefarious agenda at the same time. It's like that old Borscht Belt joke where one elderly lady complains about how awful the food is and her friend responds, "Yes, and the portions are too small."

But to Republicans who joke Obama has done nothing, and to Obama's liberal critics who vent about the same, a study done by Congressional Quarterly suggests they are both wrong. CQ rates Obama higher than any president in the last five decades in working his will on Capitol Hill, surpassing even the fabled Lyndon Johnson. Obama's success rate in the House and Senate on votes where he staked out a clear position was 96.7 percent, beating previous record-holder Johnson's 93 percent in 1965.

This kind of statistical finding begs for more analysis. If Obama is doing so great, why does it feel like Democrats are staring into the abyss? If the congressional elections were held today, the results would not be pretty for the party in power. "In a democracy, what matters is how the people respond to what you've done, it's not the legislative body count," says William Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "If the administration has a good story to tell, it hasn't told that story very well."

Obama sold his candidacy against all odds to a skeptical political establishment, but he's not nearly as good when it comes to selling his presidency. The CQ survey should help counter the myth that he hasn't done anything, but checking with sources on Capitol Hill, the impulse is to downplay a statistical finding that doesn't measure the magnitude of the legislative wins. One source cites what he calls "the 40-year rule." If people aren't talking about it in 40 years, it's not a significant legislative achievement. Johnson passed voting-rights legislation in the spring of 1965 and Medicare in the summer, his first year after winning the presidency in his own right. Johnson had the lamplight of President Kennedy's martyrdom guiding him, and he had 67 Democrats in the Senate, although some were conservative Southern Democrats committed to obstructing civil rights.

People may not be talking about Obama's stimulus package in 2050, but fair-minded historians looking back will give him credit for pulling the economy back from the brink, and the $787 billion stimulus bill that he passed during his first hundred days with almost no Republican support was critical to the rescue effort. If Obama gets health-care reform, which seems likely, that will be an enduring achievement despite all the partisan nitpicking. He will have accomplished these things without some of the structural advantages LBJ enjoyed. The filibuster, which has its poisonous history in Southern segregationist efforts to kill civil-rights legislation, has morphed into a routine requirement for a supermajority of 60 votes on everything. Also, the dealmaking in Johnson's time wasn't made public so voters didn't witness in real time the spectacle of reeling in a single senator the way the Democrats did with Ben Nelson.

Given these modern-day obstacles, what Obama has achieved is pretty impressive, and it speaks well of the partnership he has forged with Democratic congressional leaders. The downside to that, however, is that the public doesn't like Congress, and Obama doesn't get credit for working and playing well with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

What kind of person lies about a "conscience issue"?

National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez unleashes a vicious smear of Massachusetts Senate Candidate Martha Coakley, suggesting under the header "It's a Good Thing for Martha Coakley That There Are No Catholics in Massachusetts" that Coakley said Catholics shouldn't work in emergency rooms:

The radio host, Ken Pittman, pointed out that complex legal principle that "In the emergency room you still have your religious freedom."

Coakley agrees that "The law says that people are allowed to have that." But, making clear her view - the attorney general who wants to be the next senator from Massachusetts - she declared that "You can have religious freedom, but you probably shouldn't work in an emergency room." (Listen here.)

In fact, Coakley said that if you refuse to provide legal medical services to rape victims, you probably shouldn't work in an emergency room. Lopez cut off the quote before that was clear, suggesting instead that Coakley's position is simply that Catholics shouldn't work in emergency rooms.

There is a massive difference between what Coakley said and what Kathryn Jean Lopez claims Coakley said. Just enormous. Lopez suggests Coakley's position is "Catholics need not apply"; in fact, Coakley's position is more like "people who don't want to do the job shouldn't take it." It says something about Lopez' confidence in the merits of her own position that she feels the need to dishonestly portray Coakley's.

This isn't Lopez's first fast-and-loose description of the issue this week. Here's something she wrote on Wednesday:

What Coakley and her campaign are referencing is a 2005 bill that mandated that hospitals provide emergency contraception to victims of rape. At the time, Scott Brown sponsored an amendment that sought to protect the consciences of hospitals and hospital personnel with religious objections to the medication, which sometimes works as an abortifacient.

As the Boston Globe explained last week, the amendment would have referred rape victims at a hospital that would not dispense emergency contraception to another hospital that would, at no additional cost. In an urban center like Boston, this is not akin to making emergency contraception unavailable to these women.

Set aside the callousness of Lopez' suggestion (reminiscent of Sen. Joe Lieberman's famous "short ride" comment) that it's ok to turn a rape victim away from an emergency room because there's another nearby. What's really striking about Lopez' description is what she leaves out: Not all of Massachusetts is "an urban center like Boston." For many people, there isn't another emergency room nearby. Again: it says something about Lopez' confidence in the merits of her position that she feels the need to mislead readers about its consequences.

Republican Scott Brown Another Phoney "maverick"

Brown hasn't shown courage needed to stand tall in Senate

But let’s ignore the campaign controversies du jour and consider a more important matter. If Republican Scott Brown wins, what kind of senator will he be?

On the stump, Brown has skillfully portrayed himself as a gutsy maverick who will chart his own independent course course in Washington, and that’s certainly an appealing vision.

Problem number one: It’s exceedingly hard to play that role in today’s US Senate. Sadly, the Senate has become a polarized place that discourages political independence and instead puts a premium on party unity. Anything controversial requires a filibuster-proof majority of 60 votes to pass, because almost everything is subject to a filibuster threat. Thus it would take a courageous Republican indeed (or, if positions were reversed, Democrat) to break with his colleagues and vote against a filibuster on issues the rest of the minority party wanted to block.

We’ve already had a good early test of Brown’s inclination there, and it’s been on health-care reform. If he were really an iconoclast, Brown could easily say this: Look, I have enough doubts about the legislation that I will vote against it, but I’m not going to support a filibuster to keep it from even coming to the floor.

That’s not what he’s done, however. Instead, Brown has campaigned on his eagerness to deny the bill’s supporters the last vote they could need to overcome a filibuster and bring the legislation to a vote.

Problem number two: Even as a candidate, Brown hasn’t displayed the courage such a doughty role would require. We saw a good demonstration of that failing in Monday’s debate, and on a matter he himself brought up. Asked about spiraling entitlement costs, Brown said he liked an idea that is gaining popularity among deficit hawks: establishing a bipartisan commission that, like base-closing commissions, would present recommendations to Congress for an up-or-down vote.

Now, any sober budget analyst will tell you that, given the magnitude of our fiscal problems, a realistic plan will require both spending cuts and new revenues. But when moderator David Gergen asked Brown if he would support such a commission’s recommendations if they included tax increases, Brown said no. That’s hardly the portrait of an elected official prepared to stand tall.

The same propensity is on display in Brown’s call for an additional across-the-board 15 percent tax cut. Without offsetting spending reductions, which Brown doesn’t offer, his proposal is simply a prescription for even larger deficits. That, of course, would translate into even more borrowing that the next generation will have to repay.

Problem number three: Brown hasn’t played the part of independent broker in the state Senate. He’s not a doctrinaire conservative - he earns good marks from environmental groups, for example - but he certainly leans right. Against gay marriage and for the death penalty, he is a staunch friend of Citizens for Limited Taxation and is rated an A-plus ally of the Gun Owners Action League.

Although well-liked by his colleagues, he hasn’t cast much of shadow at the State House. In a collegial body where well-informed, energetic Republicans can wield some real influence, he’s not regarded as particularly well-versed on the issues. Rather, he’s described as a lawmaker who dutifully attends formal Senate sessions, but at other times concentrates on engagements in his district or on his law practice.

“He has never been known as someone who is all that interested in legislation,’’ says one Republican.

So, bottom-line time: If you’re a conservative hoping to send someone to Washington who will join - and enable - Senate Republicans in their efforts to oppose President Obama’s domestic agenda, Scott Brown is unlikely to disappoint.

But if you’re a moderate looking for an independent thinker who will delve into the issues and be brave enough to speak tough truths, be wary. Brown hasn’t been that kind of leader to date, and there’s little reason to think he will grow into such a redoubtable role as a US senator.

Fox Plays Pimp for Scott Brown and Other Conservative Looniness

"Please, please help" Scott Brown: Fox "political analyst" Morris uses position to fundraise for Mass. GOPer

During the January 11 edition of Fox News' Hannity, Dick Morris urged viewers to "go to DickMorris.com ... to help elect [U.S. Senate candidate Scott] Brown [R-MA]," because if "we win this fight, then there will never be another victory for Obama." DickMorris.com includes a fundraising plea "to help us raise $300,000 for a last minute media buy to push Brown and the Republicans to victory"; Fox News executives allow Morris to solicit funds for Republican efforts despite reportedly telling colleague Mike Huckabee to cease conflict-of-interest promotions that help his political action committee.

Conservatives all claim to be totally self sufficient little machines that don't need no stink'n help from nobody. Not ever! Then how come they're always using their multi-million dollar media outlets to shill for money. Fox, The New York Post, most of AM radio - all part of the conservative welfare machine.

Why does the media run to Liz Cheney and her apparently astroturf front group for her opinion

Hayes said it's virtually impossible to track down what the younger Cheney's political pressure group, KeepAmericaSafe.com, has been doing and spending.

"I‘m trying to find on the Internet if there is any tabulation of actually how many points ... they‘ve purchased of advertising, because it‘s very unclear how much they‘ve actually spent and where. And that‘s incredibly hard to come by. I couldn‘t find it anywhere," Hayes said.
Story continues below...

This isn't the first time that Cheney's group has been accused of being a fraud. In October, radio host Bill Press said that the group is "a total media creation."

Conservatives can twists themselves into a wicked pretzel, GOP Defends Trent Lott, Calls for Reid to Resign

Conservative News Update - Dishonest, Nutty and Wrong

Was Harry Reid Right? - It may not have been PC, but the majority leader may simply have been honest about how voters react to skin color.

CNN is aflutter. Bloggers are calling it a "big-time" mistake. Newspapers describe the "racially tinged" remarks as "sensational." What is this "juicy revelation"? Apparently, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid privately told two journalists in 2008 that Obama was more electable because he's "light-skinned" and lacked a "Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."

....Lost in all the handwringing and shock, however, is any clear explanation of what's wrong with Reid's comment. Clearly, using "Negro dialect" is about half-a-century behind the times, but does anyone think Reid meant ill by his anachronism? Moreover, as the recent kerfuffle about the 2010 Census revealed, "Negro" is still used by a non-trivial number of older black folks. In 2000, for example, more than 50,000 people went the extra effort of writing-in that they identified themselves as "Negro" (over-and-above the millions who checked the box for "Black, African-Am., or Negro").

Conservatives are trying to get revenge for well known racist Trent Lott. That is a stretch.

Is Liz Cheney as unhinged and intellectually bankrupt as her father. Probably. Liz Cheney Airs Hypocritical Attack Ad On Obama For Waiting ‘100 Hours’ To Respond To Terror Plot

On ABC’s This Week, host George Stephanopoulos confronted Cheney about her hypocritical attack. “As many Democrats and others have pointed out, President Bush waited I think six days before doing much about Richard Reid, the shoe bomber,” he noted. Cheney evaded the question entirely, pretending not to hear it. “The point of that ad,” she said, “was this notion that you cannot win a war if you’re treating it as sort of an inconvenient sidelight.”

This deflection technique works pretty well for Republicans. Its like a child's game and since conservatives act like brats most of the time deflecting reality is fitting.

Do the people of Massachusetts really know Scott Brown and what he stands for. He's no Ted Kennedy.What Does Scott Brown of Massachusetts Stand For? He is a George W. Bush Republican

Define Conservatism - UnAmerican, Afraid and Sleazy

Using Double Standard, Conservatives Absolve Bush For ‘Domestic Attacks’ On His Watch

Ignoring the irony of Rudy “noun, a verb, and 9/11” Giuliani claiming there were “no domestic attacks under Bush,” the logic of the conservative claim that the failed Christmas Day attack represents a mar on Obama’s record while Bush’s post-9/11 record was spotless reveals a stunning double standard. As many, including ThinkProgress, have pointed out, Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab’s failed underwear bombing is nearly identical to Richard Reid’s failed shoe bombing in December 2001, but the conservatives attacking Obama for letting an attack occur on his watch don’t seem to count the shoe bombing as an attack on Bush’s watch.

....Spencer Ackerman writes: "You actually need to give President George W. Bush credit for this. The Bush people did a wonderfully effective job of making it verboten in mainstream political discourse to consider the deaths of 3000 Americans on 9/11 in any sense Bush’s failing."

Another Stupid Fox Nation Headline Says MA Democrats “Nervous” About Tea Party Candidate

Today we have a lede, “Tea Party Senate Candidate Making Dems Nervous In MA.” Oh really? The article, from the conservative “Canada Free Press,” isn’t really an article at all – but, rather, a press release from the Chief Strategist of the Tea Party Express which endorses the senate candidacy of Republican Scott Brown for the seat vacated by the late Senator Ted Kennedy. In addition to the endorsement, there is a request for money for Brown’s candidacy which promises to stop “socialist health care.” So there is nothing remotely connected to MA Democrats being “nervous” except “polls” which show the race between Brown and MA Attorney General Martha Coakley tightening to 9 points. But hey, in Fox Nation wishes become reality and when reality bites, ya just make it up.

On Terror, GOP Goes from Oprah to Donald Trump by Avenging Angel

Witnessing the Republican reaction to the Obama administration's handling of the failed Christmas bombing is like watching reruns of The Apprentice. Like Donald Trump, each conservative talking head proclaims "You're Fired!" to members of the Obama team. Of course, when President Bush presided over the 9/11 catastrophe, Osama Bin Laden's escape from Tora Bora, the baseless claims about Saddam's WMD, the disastrous invasion of Iraq and myriad other intelligence and national security debacles, Republicans instead played the role of Oprah. Then, their message was "you get a medal, you get a medal, you all get medals!"

Of course, none of the Bush bunglers was fired. Instead, a President whose mantra apparently was "nothing succeeds like failure" bestowed medals upon them.

A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward

GOP Vulnerabilities May Help Dems Hang On To 60 Senate Seats

Sarah Palin is proving that she is no paragon of values or maturity, Palin: I'm "Not Gonna Back Off" Death Panel Claim. Politifact has shown that Palin's "death panels" claim is a 'pants on fire' lie - Sarah Palin falsely claims Barack Obama runs a 'death panel'

Elizabeth Warren: Consumer Protection Agency Would Have Prevented Crisis

Glenn Beck Hate Mongering Of The Day: Obama And Progressives “Want To Intentionally Collapse Our Economic System”

POPs also poison Arctic animals

People collect persistent organic pollutants, or POPs, in their bodies from eating seals, bird eggs and other living things that contain them. But what about the animals themselves? Do POPs also harm animals in the Arctic? In fact, they do.

Any time POPs collect in an animal in large amounts, they can harm that animal. So POPs have their worst effects on animals that eat other animals, such as polar bears, seals, walruses, whales and different kinds of sea birds called gulls.

Wacky conservative two faced hypocrite of the day, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele Bush Was ‘Right’ To Wait Six Days To Respond To Shoe Bomber, But Obama Was Still Too Slow

A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward. - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Conservatives have become the Party of Serial Liars and Wild Eyed Conspiracy Theories - Can They Change

How about some New Year's resolutions for the right-wing media machine?

It's that time of year again. Some have vowed to hit the gym more often. Others are swearing off cigarettes. For some, coffee has been replaced with copious amounts of socialist green tea. Still others are signing up for community service projects to help improve the world around them.

Yes, many Americans have made their New Year's resolutions. Perhaps the conservative media establishment should do the same.

Fox News' tear-shedding golden boy Glenn Beck should give up the infamous chalkboard he's used to illustrate wild conspiracy theories and invest the money saved -- he must spend a bundle on chalk -- on a team of full-time fact-checkers. After all, he's become notorious over the past year for letting facts fall by the wayside in his non-stop campaign to tear down the Obama presidency. Such a resolution might even bring back at least some of the 80 advertisers Beck's program lost in 2009 after he called the president a "racist."

Noted sexist (and radio host) Rush Limbaugh should learn from his embarrassing failed attempt to purchase the NFL's St. Louis Rams and pull himself out of the Miss America pageant that he's slated to judge later this year. Limbaugh can use the time he would have devoted to the pageant on some long-needed sensitivity seminars. Yes, 2010 could be a banner year for a reformed El Rushbo if he can manage to string together a few months of abstinence from further racially charged, misogynistic, homophobic, anti-Muslim and otherwise hateful remarks.

Serial misinformer Betsy McCaughey -- who has been caught making patently false claims against health care reform time and again -- should take some time off from "policy analysis" and enroll in a Learning Annex class to improve reading comprehension. I'm sure a medical company or the tobacco industry would be happy to foot the bill -- it wouldn't be the first time she's lined her pockets with their cash. In no time at all McCaughey could nip her dirty little habit of making crazy claims about health care reform in the bud. Imagine what she could accomplish by focusing on what's actually written in the legislation being considered -- gone would be claims of "socialized medicine," euthanasia for grandma, and rationed care.

Andrew Breitbart, fedora-wearing internet gossip Matt Drudge's protégé, should launch BigBreitbart.com to monitor his other online efforts -- BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com and the soon-to-be-launched BigJournalism.com. This new website would serve as a one-stop-shop for correcting the factually challenged claims Breitbart and his minions regularly promote. From homophobic attacks on a gay Department of Education official to his shoddy attempts at undercover "investigations" targeting the community group ACORN, it wouldn't take too long for such a venture to quickly publish volumes of material exposing his half-baked brand of pseudo-journalism.

The reigning king of prime-time cable news, Bill O'Reilly, should unleash his ambush-addicted producer goons on his employer, Fox News. Rather than waste time trying to find new progressive targets, O'Reilly can turn inward and dispatch his team to confront the Fox News producer who was caught on film rallying a crowd during the Fox News promoted 9/12 protests; Sean Hannity and various other Fox News personalities for repeatedly airing doctored video to undermine President Obama and other progressives; his boss Rupert Murdoch for claiming the president made a "very racist comment"; and the Fox News graphics department for one failure after another -- remember that climate change poll trumpeted by the network in which the respondents added up to an astonishing and mathematically impossible 120 percent? Make no mistake, O'Reilly's staff would be busy for months ambushing their conservative co-workers.

When a political movement doesn't just tell the occcasional lie, but whose entire movement from top to bottom is based on propaganda, that would be a sign they are not about good government or love of country, but about something shallow, hateful and un-American.

America's Fakest Patriots of 2009

More here on the Conservative Clown Squad, The Best and the Rightest

Some people are afraid of spiders and heights. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) is knee shaking, deranged, eye popping afraid of unions, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) National Security Hypocrite

Betsy McCaughey with the help of the conservative media to spread health care disinformation like Pravda on steroids is Health Care Misinformer of the Year

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) wants everyone do do a Jim Jones - drink the kool-aid and slit your wrist, Bachmann: We should ‘make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers’ against health care reform.

Glenn Beck: Media Matters' 2009 Misinformer of the Year

Glenn Beck's well of ridiculous was deep and poisonous before he launched his Fox News show, but the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States -- and the permissive cheerleading of his Fox News honchos -- uncorked the former Morning Zoo shock jock's unique brand of vitriol, stage theatrics, and hyperbolic fright, making him an easy choice for Media Matters' 2009 Misinformer of the Year.

When he wasn't calling the president a racist, portraying progressive leaders as vampires who can only be stopped by "driv[ing] a stake through the heart of the bloodsuckers," or pushing the legitimacy of seceding from the country, Beck obsessively compared Democrats in Washington to Nazis and fascists and "the early days of Adolf Hitler." He wondered, "Is this where we're headed," while showing images of Hitler, Stalin, and Lenin; decoded the secret language of Marxists; and compared the government to "heroin pushers" who were "using smiley-faced fascism to grow the nanny state."

Sarah Palin may stand for something, but thus far integrity and honor are not included - The Twelve Lies Of Sarah Palin