So…let’s play a little catch-up…

POLITICIANS BEHAVING BADLY:

• Representative Joe “You Lie” Wilson’s outburst during the President’s speech before the joint session of Congress…may have officially tanked his chances at re-election.  Here’s the long and the short of it:  people who already disliked Obama, like Wilson even more now…and virtually everyone else in his district (moderates, independents, Democrats, African-Americans) like him a lot less.  Looks like his opponent, Rob Miller (who has been raking in the donations ever since the incident) went from “not a prayer” to “having a clean shot at winning.”
• Speaking of the “Wilson Incident,” Ivan Marte…who is the chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Hispanic Assembly and member of the Republican Central Committee…has decided to leave the GOP over behavior that he calls “shameful” and “uncivilized.”  Could this be the start of an exodus of GOP members who no longer want to be associated with angry outbursts and conspiracy theories?  Last one to leave, be sure to turn out the light…
• Related to politicians leaving the Republican Party, Michael B. Laskoff of the Huffington Post, does an excellent job of explaining why secession might be a good idea…that is, if we’re talking about Republicans “seceding” from the GOP, if only to protect their own political self-interest.
• You may have heard that Sarah Palin recently auctioned off dinner with her and Todd on eBay, and that an outspoken critic of Palin’s was in the lead to win the auction until he was disqualified.  What you may not know, is that Palin included a very interesting clause in the auction to make sure that she didn’t have to eat dinner with anyone who doesn’t adore her: “Governor Palin reserves the right to refuse dinner with a winning bidder if, in her sole discretion, the winning bidder is not a suitable bidder based on her subjective standards of suitability, professionalism, background and other factors. In the event the high bidder is rejected for this reason, the high bidder’s bid will be refunded, if paid, and the next highest bidder shall be notified, and thereafter, until a suitable match is determined.“  How very brave…want to know who won?  Cathy Maples, owner of an Alaskan defense contractor firm, won for the tidy sum of $60,301.01.

THE VALUES VOTERS SUMMIT…WHAT VALUES WERE THOSE EXACTLY?

• One could come to certain conclusions about the Values Voters Summit…based upon the speakers alone:  Representative Michelle Bachmann, former Miss California Carrie Prejean, Governor Mike Huckabee.  Prejean’s speech was about as enlightening…well…as enlightening as one would expect it to be.  She rambled to the point of near-incoherency, repeatedly invoked God, defended her anti-gay marriage position…and towards the end began weeping about losing the Miss California Crown: “…even though I didn’t win the crown that night, I know that the Lord has so much of a bigger crown in heaven for me.“  And then displaying her natural talent for creating “pretzel logic“…she lamented the “intolerance” of people towards people like her, that is to say, intolerant people.
• Then, apparently not wanting to be outdone by Miss Prejean,  Michael Schwartz (the chief of staff for Republican Senator Tom Coburn) told the “Values” Voters crowd that homosexuality is wrong because 10-year-old boys don’t like it, and that all pornography is gay porn.  No…I’m serious…he really said that:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYdyFRHizTg

• Congressman Roy Blunt (R-MO) decided to steer clear of the homosexuality debate…and just stick to racist humor.  Blunt told the story of British agents in India…and how they had trouble with monkeys running onto their newly-built golf course, grabbing the balls, and throwing them.  So, in order to address the situation they passed a rule:  since you can’t “eliminate” the monkeys, you have to “play the ball where the monkey throws it.“  Blunt went on to say that is how Republicans in Congress will have to address the current situation: they will have to “play the ball where the monkey throws it.“  Yeeesh…not doing a very good job of proving Jimmy Carter wrong, are you, Congressman Blunt?
• Anti-abortion activist Lila Rose brought her interesting theory about how to cut down on abortions to the summit:  perform them in the public square.  Rose said that people would be so disgusted, they wouldn’t have abortions anymore.  Miss Rose: by your logic, if they performed births in the public square…nobody would have babies anymore, either.  I mean seriously -- have you ever watched a live birth?  Yowch!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyyXQtQBKBw

• The attendees weren’t any better behaved or more reasonable than the presenters.  Here’s a fun clip of what happened to an MSNBC reporter attempting to cover the event:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg2FuceX2So

THE MEDIA: PUNDITS, HACKS, AND OTHER INVETERATE LIARS:

• First…FOX put out one-page newspaper ads, criticizing all the other major news networks for not covering the 9/12 protests.  THEN…CNN puts its own tv spots out, showing that every major network DID cover the protests and that FOX is once again “Distorting, Not Reporting.“  THEN…as the icing on the cake, the video below surfaces, showing a FOX producer OPENLY rallying the crowd at the protest, leading many to conclude once again that FOX is, in many ways, sponsoring and supporting these protests:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPYbPsvOnX8

• On MSNBC’s morning program, Morning Joe, several pundits theorized that Obama should have included FOX News in his multi-channel, multi-platform media blitz in support of Health Care Reform.  Everyone seemed to agree…except the show’s host and former Republican congressman, Joe Scarborough.  As Joe pointed out, why on earth would Obama appear on a so-called news network…that had organized protests against him just a week earlier? He said: “I’d say, ‘the hell with them.’  If they want to be the opposition, let them be the opposition.“
• CNN is facing increasing pressure to remove Lou Dobbs, in light of his history of making comments that are partisan, false, and often xenophobic in the extreme.  Dobbs, now attempting to play the victim, attempts to assert that his rights are being violated: “They ask CNN to fire me because I oppose illegal immigration…The last thing they want is a first amendment, where people can express themselves… These are the most un-American, frightened people in the world because they won’t compete in the marketplace of ideas and facts.“  Mr. Dobbs…you, of all people, should know that the First Amendment ONLY says that the GOVERNMENT can’t stifle free speech.  Your employer, can fire you for what you say…especially if your viewers are tired of hearing it.
• Ummm…that’s not really fair and balanced: The Washington Post has formed a panel of “experts” to perform an analysis on Obama’s policies.  Somehow…they thought it fair to include five Republicans and two Democrats.  Must be the “new math.“
• Thank you, Captain Obvious: Former Bush official Peter Wehner has come forward to tell us that FOX’s Glenn Beck…is bad for the Republican Party: “[Glenn Beck's] interest in conspiracy theories is disquieting, as is his admiration for Ron Paul and his charges of American “imperialism.” (He is now talking about pulling troops out of Afghanistan, South Korea, Germany, and elsewhere.) Some of Beck’s statements--for example, that President Obama has a “deep-seated hatred for white people”-are quite unfair and not good for the country. His argument that there is very little difference between the two parties is silly, and his contempt for parties in general is anti-Burkean (Burke himself was a great champion of political parties). And then there is his sometimes bizarre behavior, from tearing up to screaming at his callers. Beck seems to be a roiling mix of fear, resentment, and anger--the antithesis of Ronald Reagan.“  As if to prove him right, Beck recently was interviewed by CBS’s Katie Couric and said…wait for it…that the country is better off with Obama than it would have been with John McCain because McCain is some kind of “weird progressive.“  Conservative radio host Mark Levin is not amused by Beck’s comments, and is more than a little confused by them as well: “How can you day after day and night after night correctly rail against Obama’s radicalism, how he’s undermining the Constitution, how he’s nationalizing our basic industries, how he has Marxists all around him, and then say in an interview with Katie Couric, I think John McCain would have been worse than Obama?…To say he would be worse is mindless, mindless, incoherent as a matter of fact. There’s our 5-PMer, on Fox … I don’t know who certain people are playing to, I don’t know why they are playing to certain people … I think there’s enormous confusion and positioning and pandering. It may be entertaining, but from my perspective, it’s not. It’s pathetic.“  There is a lesson to be learned, conservatives: That’s the problem with propping up a crazed demagogue as your public mouthpiece…while he may be entertaining, you never know when what he is going to say will embarrass all of you.

Well, that’s enough for one sitting…tomorrow we’ll tackle all that has happened in policy-related news: health care, climate change, financial reform, and other topics.  See you then.