…and there are always plenty of links, so let’s get started…

POLITICIANS BEHAVING BADLY:

• Representative Gregg Harper’s (R-MS) organization, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, has been recently called “bipartisan” by Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE).  When asked by Polico’s reporter, “What in the world does the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus do,” one might reasonably expect would be an answer along the lines of, “we support the rights and interests of sportsmen, fishermen, and hunters, in Congress.“  What one might NOT expect, was Harper’s response: “We hunt liberal, tree-hugging Democrats, although it does seem like a waste of good ammunition.“  Very nice…very responsible…very bipartisan.
• Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN), known most for conspiracy theories verging on the truly bizarre, has declared that she will not run for the presidency in 2012.  Which makes sense…since she may not even be able to win re-election for the seat she currently holds, as the residents of her district have grown more than a bit weary of her embarrassing statements, and the negative attention they attract.  However, Bachmann did provide an interesting recommendation for who she thinks SHOULD run:  Representative Steve King (R-IA).  That’s right…she’s recommending the man who brought us such hits as being the only vote against a resolution stating that it was wrong to use slaves to build our Capitol,  sponsoring his own resolution “recognizing the importance of Christians and the Christian faith,” and very recently stating that gay rights are a “purely socialist concept.”  Way to really think it through, Michele…he is a winner.
• I guess Republicans just LOVE Twitter.  It’s also being reported…that they love setting up fake Twitter accounts and webpages, where they pretend to be particular Democratic legislators and candidates.  They then use these fraudulent accounts to misinform and offend voters.  Twitter has caught on and is trying to close all the accounts being used by Republicans in this way.  I think I may know why they like Twitter more than actual blogs:  on Twitter nobody expects you to actually use facts and defend your position…you can get away with just blurting out a few words of nonsense.
• The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has put out an ad, claiming that Republicans have wasted over 1,000 hours in the Senate, through exploitation of parliamentary rules and procedures.  The DSCC does little to show how they arrived at this figure…but I would guess that much of what the GOP has fought for in Congress also qualifies as a waste of time.  Need examples? This clip, a spoof on the iPhone commercials, has been making the internet rounds, and I think it nicely sums up the kinds of platforms and positions the GOP is using to distract our attention, delay progress, and otherwise hinder real issues from being addressed:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_IAN081P8I

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

• A Telling List: Want to see clips of the “Top Ten Distortions Perpetrated By FOX News?“  Well look no further than this link.  It includes such highlights as accusing an Obama czar of condoning statutory rape, editing a clip of Joe Biden quoting John McCain…so that it appeared as if Biden said the quote, editing a clip of Barack Obama so it appeared that he supported a European-style health care system…when he was actually opposing the idea, AND directly repeating, verbatim, GOP talking points as if they were news.  Enjoy…
• Glenn Beck, Part 1: A Hollywood charity is mounting a push to encourage more Americans to volunteer.  Since Obama has also supported volunteerism as important, Glenn Beck could only imagine one thing:  That Obama is using Hollywood…to turn us into Communist China.  No, I’m serious…here’s what he said: “Celebrities are coming together to make it cool to volunteer. Disney gives you a free day at the park. This is all fine, but doesn’t it seem a little bit convenient that all of this comes out now at the same time the Obama administration is calling for it? Obama controls the message through the media he holds in his pocket. Or in his little hand. And soon if you disobey, he’ll just go [Beck slaps his hand]. Now the message will be embedded in television shows. Isn’t this great? Aren’t you proud of what we’re doing? Oh, this certainly is change.“
• Glenn Beck, Part 2: Why is it that every time I write about something Glenn Beck said, I feel the need to also say, “No really…that’s what he said?“  Well, Beck was busy this week providing more ammunition for whomever is filling out the civil commitment papers on him, claiming that progressives/liberals…wait for it…have historically tried to take away everyone’s individual liberties, and could also be called “tyrants” or “slave holders.”  <<Sigh>>…
• Neocon Frank Gaffney has claimed in the past that Obama was some sort of “secret Muslim,” that there is evidence connect Saddam Hussein to 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing (there isn’t, of course, and shame on you if you didn’t know that), that Sarah Palin learned foreign policy just by living in Alaska, that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (but that the media hid this “fact” from us), and that Democratic officials who criticized former President George W. Bush…should be hanged.  I tell you all this…so it will be of no surprise that Gaffney has no more decency than he has sense.  In a recent appearance on Hardball with Chris Matthews, he told Ron Reagan…that his father would be ashamed of him:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMOBQZwDMAE

• John Stossel of the FOX Business Channel recently condemned Lou Dobbs’, of CNN, for Dobb’s ongoing “rants about immigrants wrecking America.“  Dobbs has now responded, and rather unkindly: “Fox Business News - their new hire John Stossel -- weighing in with his own brand of myopic idiocy and no information whatsoever sat down with self-described rodeo clown Glenn Beck…what a self-important ass…He doesn’t understand basic economics…He’s just a silly little trick waiting to do some sort of Libertarian flip…Immigrants wrecking America -  I’ve never said anything close to that. As a matter of fact, I embrace immigrants to this country, I welcome them, I want more -- and as a matter of public policy, we need them. In no way am I restrictionist, and to hear this ass continue his act over at Fox News. I just can’t wait until he starts blowing bubbles in the air -- that’s about all he’s equipped to do.“  That’s right Lou, you never said the “immigrants are wrecking America“…oh, except the time you accused them of bringing leprosy here…oh, or the time you claimed they were forming a conspiracy to take back their old national territory…oh, and remember the time you said they were a threat to the entire middle class, and working people everywhere?  Dobbs…before you start trying to play “friend to the immigrant,” and “holier than thou” with John Stossel…you might want to watch some your own clips on YouTube.
• How better to wrap up the “Media Gone Wild” segment of the post, than with an Ann Coulter item.  During her appearance on Joy Behar’s talk show, she stated that all Presidential assassins have been liberals: “As I have not only witnessed in my own life but described in ‘Guilty’, every presidential assassination or attempted presidential assassination was committed by some kind of left-wing loon, communist, anarchist, communitarian, or they had no politics at all.“  Behar attempts to point out that this statement is indefensible and patently false…but Ms. Coulter has never been the one to stop talking so that someone else can point out HOW WRONG SHE IS:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHBR8GYwtiM

COURTESY OF THE PENTAGON AND THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX:

• Apparently, there are at least 220 detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Prison…which have been found to have had no ties to terrorism, 9/11, or to pose any other kind of threat to the United States…but we’re still keeping them in prison.  The Supreme Court is preparing to look at this problem…yet another in a list of how Bush’s use of the military prison conflicts with seemingly EVERY aspect of Due Process listed in our Constitution.  A reminder: the base/prison is technically “American soil” and the Constitution does not say that it applies only to “citizens” but rather to all “persons.”  On a related note, a group called New Security Action, with the support of a number of retired generals and other veterans, has released a series of ads pointing out that Congress should step aside and allow Gitmo, which has come to represent nearly everything wrong about the Bush-Cheney way of thinking, to be closed.
• No surprise: Turns out the Pentagon was engaged in a highly organized program to sell the American people on the Iraq War and other Bush security policies.  Big surprise: Well…it wasn’t so much an “ad campaign” or a “public relations program“…as it was a series of psychological experiments being performed on the American citizenry.  Bonus surprise: One of the chief architects of this program?  He still works at the Pentagon in the same position.  Scully…Mulder…where are you when we need you?
• Most people were a bit surprised at the unmitigated gall of the 30 Senate Republicans who voted against Senator Franken’s (D-MN) bill, which would punish government contractors if they tried to keep employees from reporting rape.  Turns out, they’ve got company -- the Defense Department also doesn’t like the bill…because they would hate to have to do without KBR, Blackwater, and other companies that threaten/coerce/bribe victims of rape to be silent.

THE HEALTH CARE CARNIVAL OF DESPAIR:

• Amidst all the talk about a “public option,” few are paying attention to a development almost as big.  Democrats are very close to being able to strip away the anti-trust exemption given long ago to the health insurance companies, which has allowed them to behave as a monopoly.  Want to know why this is so important?  We know how the free market is SUPPOSED to work…but when a company is allowed to monopolize an industry or a region, then there is no competition to force the company to have fair pricing and offer good service…which leads to our situation today where the health insurance companies have high rates, giant profits, deny service, and mistreat customers.  Also…check out this map.  Yes, it’s disgusting: most states’ residents, RIGHT NOW, only have ONE or TWO insurers that they are ALLOWED to choose from.  “Free Market Capitalists“…are you listening?
• First it was “fat babies.”  Then it was “thin babies.”  Then it was “spousal abuse.”  What new excuse for denying coverage did we find out about now?  Yup…insurance companies, almost all of them, will not allow you to purchase a policy with them if you have been treated for RAPE.  To them…it’s just another “pre-existing condition.“
• The push for the public option is in full swing, and polls show it is working.  More of the public supports it each day, the House is within about EIGHT votes of being able to pass it, and we heard the surprising news today that the Senate may be within TWO votes.  Seriously: TWO VOTES.  Here’s a new ad, featuring Heather Graham, explaining why the option is necessary:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvaJYYeXf70

• Interesting fact courtesy of Representative Anthony Weiner (D-NY): 55 of the Republicans opposing the public option because it’s “government-run” or “socialism“…they’re currently ON MEDICARE.  Weiner says, “Even in a town known for hypocrisy, this list of 55 Members of Congress deserve some sort of prize. They apparently think the public option is ok for them, but not anyone else.“  Yes, indeed.

GAY RIGHTS…OR THE LACK THEREOF:

• Wow:  It’s rare that someone actually ADMITS that their argument against gay rights and/or gay marriage is hollow and baseless.  Ross Douthat, conservative columnist for the New York Times, was asked while sitting on a panel for “young, bright, neo-cons” what he thought about gay marriage.  His response:  “I am someone opposed to gay marriage who is deeply uncomfortable arguing the issue in public.“  He explained that his reason for feeling “uncomfortable” discussing the subject, was because his argument against it is purely religious, and that it therefore represents “a losing argument.“  He even went so far as to recognize that because he is embarrassed that he has no real, factual objection to gay marriage…and because he is embarrassed to say what his objection really is…perhaps that means he needs to change his position and support gay marriage.  Wow.  Again…wow.
• Related to the previous item, a mailing sent out in Maine is attempting to persuade residents of the state to vote “Yes” in the upcoming ballot item to prohibit gay marriage.  The reasons that it proposes? I happen to have FiveThirtyEight.com’s summations of the reasons…first, the mailing claims that the new law permitting gay marriage “won’t make gay marriage equal to straight marriage. Instead, it will create a new kind of marriage in which gay people and straight people are equal.“  Well, besides not making much sense…that’s certainly not going to “stir up” too many people.  The second reason it offers: “…we may not have proven any connection between gay marriage and public education, our opponents haven’t disproven the connection, and it’s their fault that the subject came up.“  Impressive…that doesn’t really say anything, does it.  I mean, it sounds like it’s saying something…but then it just…doesn’t.  And third, the mailing offers that, “if gay marriage is upheld, then marriage will exist solely to make people happy.“  Well, it’s hard to see how that’s true…would gay people marrying suddenly make heterosexual marriages “meaningless” and about nothing more than “happiness?”  And hell, I know some people who will tell you that marriage has nothing to do with happiness at all…I’m sure they were just kidding…
• Meet Philip Spooner: Want to hear a86-year-old man…lifelong Republican…and WWII veteran who fought on D-Day…defend gay marriage with all his heart?  Yeah, me too:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrEbJBFWIPk

• Despite the calls from Republicans that protecting gay Americans was the equivalent of protecting practitioners of  pedophilia, bestiality, and necrophilia…the new Hate Crimes Bill has passed.

MISCELLANY:

• The Nation, a well-known progressive magazine, is publishing a “companion piece” to Sarah Palin’s new book, “Going Rogue.”  It’s titled “Going Rouge” and features an almost identical cover, to match the almost identical title.  Some conservatives have complained that this might lead to some people purchasing The Nation’s book by mistake.  Perhaps they’re right…seeing as both books will likely be placed next to each other on a shelve in the “Humor” section…and due to the fact that many of the people seeking Palin’s book might not know how “rogue” is properly spelled.

That about wraps it up for this week in Reality Liberation.  Have a wonderful weekend, and we’ll see you on Monday…

Let’s get started…

THE HEALTH CARE CARNIVAL OF DESPAIR:

• Most people hadn’t heard of Representative Alan Grayson (R-FL) before…but they have now.  In a wonderful, congressional, “oh, no you didn’t” moment…Grayson laid out in simple terms the terrible truth about the Republicans on Health Care Reform:  tens of thousands of Americans are dying because they don’t have insurance…and the Republicans have offered NOTHING but opposition to changing this…therefore, they must just want people to just “not get sick” and if they do…they should “die quickly:“

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-usmvYOPfco

• Of course, the Republican backlash to Grayson’s statements was fast and furious, and they demanded an immediate apology, comparing what Grayson did to the actions of Senator Joe “You Lie!” Wilson…despite the fact that the two events have nothing in common, especially in terms of congressional procedures and policies regarding decorum.  Grayson…complied, but not in the way the GOP expected:  he apologized, not to the GOP, but to the dead and the dying and to their families…he apologized for Congress allowing this to happen.  So far, Pelosi has backed Grayson, along with the rest of the Democrats…and now some Democrats seem to be realizing: “Wait a minute…the GOP really HAVEN’T offered a plan…we should point that out!“  No kidding guys…that one was a gimme.
• Want the very definition of “out of touch?“  House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)…says nobody has ever approached him supporting the public option and he therefore doesn’t think most people support it.  Ummm, John…the majority of people in YOUR STATE support it…the VAST majority of the people in the country support it and would be willing to pay higher taxes to pay for it…and unless you, Snowe, and some of the Democratic Senators who voted against it in the Senate Finance Committee realize that the majority of your constituents want it…well, there will be obvious political consequences come reelection time.

POLITICIANS BEHAVING BADLY:

• Senator David Vitter (R-LA) has some new problems…stemming from his old problems.  It’s been very odd to watch a Senator, busted for soliciting prostitutes, question the morality of Democrats and claim that he and other southern Republicans are the ones representing “true values.“  Perhaps he mistakenly believed that the scandal was behind him…well, “not so” says the Louisiana Office of Disciplinary Counsel.  Apparently (who knew?), soliciting prostitutes just might violate the State’s laws regarding professional misconduct for a lawyer.  The law states that lawyers may be charged with misconduct and subsequently disbarred if they “commit a criminal act especially one that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects.“  Ooops.
• The Health Care bill contains a provision for health clinics to be established in schools, since studies show that access to health services can greatly increase academic performance.  This gave Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN) all that she needed to formulate a new “anti-reform” conspiracy theory.  Bachmann tells us…that these would actually be “sex clinics” where kids could go to get ABORTIONS without their parents knowing about it: “The bill goes on to say what’s going to go on -- comprehensive primary health services, physicals, treatment of minor acute medical conditions, referrals to follow-up for specialty care — is that abortion? Does that mean that someone’s 13 year-old daughter could walk into a sex clinic, have a pregnancy test done, be taken away to the local Planned Parenthood abortion clinic, have their abortion, be back and go home on the school bus that night? Mom and dad are never the wiser.“  Of course…Michelle only read item (II) under section 2511 of the bill…if she had bothered to read item (I) RIGHT BEFORE IT she would have known that the bills says: “SBHC services will be provides in accordance with Federal, State, and local laws governing-- (I) obtaining parental or guardian consent; and (II) patient privacy and student records, including section 264 of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and section 444 of the General Education Provision Act;“  Your choice: bad reader…or just a liar?
• Governor Sanford of South Carolina…having been asked by both his fellow Republicans and his constituents to resign over his actions regarding the abandonment of his duties to pursue an illicit affair…now asks that the state ethics panel doesn’t release its findings.  I wonder why.  Hear that sound?  It’s the sound of Sanford’s fingernails dragging across the State of South Carolina…clinging on like grim death so that he can stay in office for just a little bit longer.
• The “Republican” brand name?  Not doing so hot…and given the types of things I’m reading and posting each week, this should surprise NO ONE.

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

• FOX’s Sean Hannity is so consistently wrong in terms of his facts and historical data, that Jon Stewart was able to dedicate almost a third of one Daily Show episode…just to pointing out Hannity’s RECENT mistakes.  I submit this clip for your enjoyment and edification:

• Bernard Goldberg, a media critic, usually appears on FOX shows…to DEFEND the network against the constant stream of accusations that they have an obvious, right-wing bias.  So…you can imagine that people were a bit shocked to see him appearing on the O’Reilly Factor, and saying…that in many ways, FOX is to be held responsible for creating this perception, especially when it does things like “promoting” Tea Party protests rather than simply “reporting on” Tea Party protests:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ztDUgCqXSc

• Once again, Shepard Smith, host of FOX’s “The Fox Report” has chosen to speak the truth rather than simply parrot the talking points.  On a recent segment, a guest tried to levy criticisms at the current Health Care Reform proposals…by pointing out that Canada’s single-payer system is less than perfect.  Shepard is quick to point out that it seems like a false and deceptive comparison, since NONE of the bills in Congress propose a single-payer system.  When Shepard’s guest then tries to create a classic “straw man“/”slippery slope” argument…Shepard wasn’t going to allow that either.  Good for you Shep:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzr7Nnxjlfs

• Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), at a recent discussion in front of powerful Washington “movers and shakers,” came right out and said that the “birther” conspiracy theorists are “crazy,” that Obama is certainly not a “closet Muslim,” and that Glenn Beck “is not aligned with any party. He is aligned with cynicism and there has always been a market for cynics. But we became a great nation not because we are a nation of cynics. We became a great nation because we are a nation of believers.“  Wow…could there finally be a Republican who might realize that the votes you get from siding with the extremists…ARE NOT WORTH IT.

THE OLYMPIC FLAME…FIZZLES:

• Even after President Obama flew to Denmark to make the case for the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Chicago…the prize went to someone else.  In a shocking turn of events, Chicago didn’t even make it past the first round of voting…Tokyo would fall in the next round…and at the end Rio de Janeiro won over Madrid the right to host the games.
• In a display that can only be described as exceedingly puerile, conservative commentators/columnists including RedState’s Erick Erickson, Michelle Malkin, and Rush Limbaugh have been, quite literally, CELEBRATING the fact that America will not be hosting the 2016 games…simply because it allows them to claim that “Obama failed at something.“  That’s right: Conservatives are CELEBRATING, during an economic crisis, that America will NOT get the projected $22 billion in revenues, the 315,000 new jobs, and the $11 billion in new income that those jobs represent.  They’re willing to cheer against the best interests of the country…if it means a “failure” for the President.  Remember this, when listening to these same people discuss Health Care Reform, or anything else:  these people would rather America suffers…as long as it denies Obama check in the “win” column.
• While the President was unable to convince the voting members of the IOC to permit the games to be held in America…top White House Advisor David Axlerod is correct at saying there is more involved than the President’s charm.  It’s a well established fact that the IOC is an extremely political body, and that its voting process often produces unexpected results.  In recent years, the IOC has come under increasing pressure to allow the games to be hosted in a country OTHER than the United States, the nations of Europe, and the countries comprising Asia…and preferably a South American country.  Given this pressure, the decision to hand the honor over to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil…starts to make more sense.

PALINWATCH -- HOW CAN WE MISS HER IF SHE WON’T GO AWAY:

• Politico’s recent polls suggest that ex-Governor Sarah Palin is not well regarded among her fellow Republicans, Republican advisors consider her to be “electoral poison,” and many of her former supporters either tired of her during the Levy/Bristol business, or don’t respect her resigning the governorship before completing her term…but there is still a demographic that absolutely LOVES her:  Evangelical Christians, and Republicans living in small, country towns…and of course, there’s some overlap between those two groups.  I don’t think I even need to say anything else on the subject…draw your own conclusions.
• The New York Post reports that Palin’s new career as a “highly paid speaker” is not going so hot…perhaps due to the limited number of people (mentioned in the previous item) who still think she’s “bright” and “adorable.”  In fact, one industry expert told the Post: “The big lecture buyers in the US are paralyzed with fear about booking her, basically because they think she is a blithering idiot…Palin is so uninteresting to so many groups -- unless they are interested in moose hunting.  What does she have to say? She can’t even describe what she reads.“  And as with the previous item…I really can’t think of anything that I need to add to that.
• In a surprise move…perhaps due to her inability to book speaking gigs at $100,000 a pop…it was announced that Palin’s memoir would be released November 17, which is four months ahead of schedule.  The announcement regarding the book’s title generated even more surprised looks: “Going Rogue -- An American Life.“  It seemed strange to some…that Palin would want to reference “going rogue,” as it was a comment that McCain campaign insiders made referring to how Palin’s off-book, off-message, inconsistent, and completely unprepared remarks were TANKING MCCAIN’S PRESIDENTIAL BID.  In other words…it wasn’t meant as a compliment.  Pre-orders for the book suggest very brisk sales, causing some on the left to ascribe to a conspiracy theory that conservative groups and churches must be buying up the books in large numbers to increase the sales figures.  In reality…people just need to realize that not everybody who buys the book necessarily admires Sarah Palin…many will get it just for the likely entertainment value, the same way millions of people each day go out on YouTube and watch people ride bicycles into walls, fall off skateboards, and slip and fall while dancing.
• Want a good laugh?  Here’s Ann Coulter, appearing on Joy Behar’s new show on CNN…asserting that the effect of Sarah Palin’s “death panel” tweet shows that Palin is “a powerful woman” and that people listen to her because she is so “coherent.” Joy…took particular exception to the “coherent” part.  Many more excepts may be viewed here.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBoP08KPHUc

MISCELLANY:

• Remember Valerie Plame?  The undercover CIA agent whose identity was leaked to the press after her husband criticized the Bush administration?  Remember the Bush administration agreeing to “chat” with investigators, but not on the record or under oath…and how Scooter Libby was eventually “volunteered” to take the fall for leaking the information, despite the fact that conventional wisdom suggested it was Vice President Cheney’s idea?  Thursday, a federal judge, against the wishes of both the Bush and Obama administrations, ruled that the FBI’s notes of their interview with Cheney must be publicly released.  This could be embarrassing…on the upside, if Cheney’s statements are embarrassing/incriminating enough, maybe he’ll finally stop appearing on talk shows.  Fingers crossed…
• Just last week, I was criticizing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for not being assertive enough, in terms of getting Senate Democrats to do what’s right and not “what’s best for insurance companies.“  Apparently, Reid HAS grown enough of a backbone to send letters to President Obama and Secretary of Defense Gates…asking them to finally step up and lend their support to the fight to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which is causing highly trained interpreters, war heroes, technical experts, and other brave soldiers/sailors/airmen, to be discharged from the armed services…just for being gay.  Reid wrote, “As Congress considers future legislative action, we believe it would be helpful to hear your views on the policy,” he writes. “Your leadership in this matter is greatly appreciated and needed at this time,” and then goes on to include stories of highly valuable and distinguished soldiers being discharged under the policy.  Obama has voiced his opposition to both DADT and DOMA (The Defense of Marriage Act)…but so far his administration has done more to squelch challenges to the various anti-gay rights policies and laws, than it has done to repeal them.  At a minimum, they should be lending their support to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who has been fighting the good fight in the Senate.
• Turns out that the Secret Service’s investigation of the Facebook user who created a poll asking if the President “should be killed,” has identified a juvenile as the perpetrator.  No charges will be filed…but many are missing the obvious topic for discussion:  while the poll may not have represented a viable threat to the President, doesn’t it say something when the tone of our national discourse has become SO irrational, SO violent, SO hateful…that a child asks such a terrible question?  Glenn, Michelle, Rush, Sean, Ann, Bill, and others…won’t you please think of the children?

That’s all from the Reality Liberation Front for this week -- have a good weekend, and we’ll see you on Monday.

To give you an idea of what often makes me so incredulous…here’s just a simple list of the top ten ridiculous and disconcerting things I read about JUST TODAY:

1 – Economics with Caribou Barbie: Wednesday, former Alaska governor and former VP candidate Sarah Palin performed her first paid speaking appearance since resigning as governor, in Hong Kong, for an investment firm.  While the press was not allowed at the gathering, smuggled-in recording devices quickly allowed the contents of her speech to be analyzed.  It is not surprising that she spoke for 90 minutes (although it is arguably surprising that anyone would listen for that long).  It is not surprising that she made repeated references to “Main Street, U.S.A.” and tried to play up her “down-homey-ness.”  It’s not even surprising that, despite claims during the Bush administration by her and other Republicans that it is unacceptable to criticize the president while on foreign soil…she did JUST that.  What is surprising…is her claim that the current financial crisis…is the result of “government intervention” and that THAT is the reason why it cannot be solved by government intervention.  When economists stopped laughing they were quick to point out…that the crisis was caused by the systematic removal of government controls and regulation that has been taking place since the Reagan administration, and by necessity…those controls (as well as new ones) must be put back into place.

2 – It’s Not News…It’s FOX News: Ratings are out…despite repeatedly being caught directly parroting RNC talking points…being caught inciting and sponsoring so-called “grass roots” protests…besides being clearly identified as allowing their pundits to use their network as a platform for conspiracy theories, racist sentiments, and wildly false claims…besides brazenly presenting right-wing biased “news“…FOX News placed ahead of all other cable news outlets with an average of 1,405,000 daily viewers.  By comparison, CNN was 21st on the list with 552,000 viewers.  FOX News was 4th, after Nickelodeon, ESPN, and USA…revealing the priorities of Americans to be cartoons, sports, bad tv dramas, and pandering to base instincts…in that order.

3 – This Just In From Bizarro-land: Orly Taitz, the “attorney” filing numerous claims (including two forged Kenyan birth certificates) questioning Obama’s citizenship…has had her latest case thrown out of court by the judge who threatened Taitz with sanctions if there are further “frivolous” claims and said that she “…has presented no credible evidence and has made no reliable factual allegations to support her unsubstantiated, conclusory allegations and conjecture that President Obama is ineligible to serve as president of the United States.  Instead, she uses her complaint as a platform for spouting political rhetoric, such as her claims that the president is ‘an illegal usurper, an unlawful pretender, [and] an unqualified imposter.“  Turns out…Taitz was representing a client…without the client’s permission.  The supposed client, Connie Rhodes, says in a formal letter of complaint that she was never asked for permission by Taitz to file the legal suit…and never gave it.  Rhodes also writes in the same letter that she plans to file a complaint with the bar association.  Taitz…wait for it…thinks the Rhodes letter is a forgery.

4 - They Want To Believe: I don’t know what is more disappointing:  the above piece…or the recent study by Public Policy Polling that shows that 42% of Republicans…believe that Obama wasn’t born in the United States.

5 – Delay…Delay…Oh Good, More Delay: By now, you may have hear that the Senate Finance Committee’s version of the Health Care bill is bogged down as they go through the “mark up” process, where the approximately 500 amendments to the bill (which are often times ridiculous to the point of being bad comedy) have to be individually examined and voted upon.  While the clear intention of Republicans on the committee appears to be to “stall the bill to death,” Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) was more obvious than most in his tactics.  He has called for a “three day delay“…so that LOBBYISTS can read the bill.  This is amusing for two reasons:  one…he is brazenly stating both his intention to cause delay AND to serve the lobbyists’ interests.  And two…it is obvious in reading the Finance Committee’s version of the bill, that the LOBBYISTS WROTE IT, and are therefore already quite knowledgeable regarding its contents.  Jay Rockefeller (D-W.VA) pointed out that these delays, and the inexplicable content of many of the amendments, show that “If there’s anything which is clear, it’s that the insurance industry is not running this markup, but is running certain people in this markup.“  Thank you Captain Obvious…and by the way, at their current pace, the mark-up will be completed…in seven months…

6 – He Was Someone’s Son…Someone’s Friend: A Census worker was found in Clay County, Kentucky…hanged and with the word “FED” written upon his chest.  Local police think it MAY be a homicide…but aren’t ruling anything out.  Meanwhile, sane people are calling for a more “civilized dialogue” before heated, oft violent, anti-government talk leads to violence…and the “wing-nut panderers” on the right, denounce anyone making such a “call to reason” as a “crybaby.”  It is important to realize in the midst of all the “anti-government” venom…that government workers, like this poor individual, have their own stories:  Bill Sparkman was a cancer survivor, and while working for the Boy Scouts of America, he discovered a love of teaching.  While undergoing cancer treatments…he enrolled to get his degree in teaching and eventually became a substitute teacher.  Not some “evil government bureaucrat“…not some “vile socialist“…just a good civil servant and teacher, who wanted to help his fellow citizens.

7 – Tortured Logic: Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa) has formulated an interesting concept.  Perhaps sensing that Americans are losing their vitriol towards gay marriage issues…but still have strong reactions to “socialism,” King proposes that : Gay Marriage…is socialism.  King says, “So in the end this is something that has to come with a, if there’s a push for a socialist society, a society where the foundations of individual rights and liberties are undermined and everybody is thrown together, living collectively off of one pot of resources earned by everyone. That is, this is one of the goals they have to go to is same-sex marriage because it has to plow through marriage in order to get to their goal. They want public affirmation. They want access to public funds and resources. Eventually all those resources will be pooled because that’s the direction we’re going. And not only is it a radical social idea, it is a purely socialist concept in the final analysis.“  I’m not usual in favor of news laws regulating behavior or speech…but there certainly ought to be SOME penalty for abusing logic in this way.

8 – We Don’t Need No Steenking Warrants: Today, the Department of Justice’s assistant attorney general revealed that some of the powers that President Bush (and previous DOJ officials) asserted were given by the Patriot Act…really weren’t.  In addition, during the same Congressional Hearing…the assistant AG revealed that most of the powers granted (and assumed) weren’t even used to fight terrorism, but were instead used in drug cases and other criminal matters.  At one point, while the DOJ official attempted to justify the use of “roving wiretaps” which do not explicitly state who or what is to be searched,  Senator Al Franken had to point out that what the official was saying…CLEARLY VIOLATES the Fourth Amendment: “…’no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized’…That’s pretty explicit language.“  The assistant attorney general muttered, “this is surreal,” and then replied, “I would refer to the other branch of government,” by which he obviously meant the courts.  If there is one person who shouldn’t have to be read the Fourth Amendment, and shouldn’t be irritated at having to obey the Constitution…you would think it would be one of the country’s TOP LAWYERS.

9 – Isn’t She Delightful: Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Representative Eric Cantor (R-VA) posted in a conservative blog that they are “proud to serve” with Representative Michelle Bachmann (R-MN).  Any smart, sane politician would be working to distance themselves GREATLY from the increasingly unpopular, idiocy-spewing, electorally poisonous Representative from Minnesota.  That’s your GOP leadership, ladies and gentlemen…it should be said that later, perhaps after coming to their senses, the post was removed.

10 – Asking For Trouble: President Obama’s nominee to head the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is in charge of highway safety…is Anne Ferro.  Ferro…was a lobbyist for the “Big Trucking,” and has been called “an apologist for the trucking industry.”  Really?  You picked a trucking lobbyist?  Three words: easily-avoidable-mistake.  No excuse for it…

It certainly is a strange, turbulent, and maddeningly misinformed nation that we live in…it says a lot about us that so many still have hope for a more reasonable and better time to come.