DAVE MILLER ASKS: WHERE ARE THE MODERATE VOICES OF THE GOP?

UPDATE BELOW:  SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM CALLS OUT THE RIGHTWING CRAZIES

Dave Miller, who hosts a wonderful blog called the mission, wrote a particularly relevant comment below in the comment section on Thomas Friedman's column in today's NYTimes.

What Dave points out is applicable to what is happening today with regard to the silence on the part of cooler heads in the GOP.  Where are they?  And yes, Dave, if they do not condemn the violent rhetoric coming from the extremists in their party, we'll see more of it, and it will grow in an uncontrolled manner that will result in great damage to the country.  The fact that the Democrats engaged in this while Mr. Bush was president doesn't excuse what is happening today.  And I do not recall Democratic Congressmen/women tacitly approving threats and hate speech directed at Mr. Bush by radical Lefties.  I do recall Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi saying something to the effect that Mr. Bush was a failure and/or loser, which happened well into his second term, and after this country had suffered through the incompetent handling of the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina, and the impending financial disaster.  I don't recall anything as virulent as what is happening now, occuring in the first 9 months of Mr. Bush's administration, nor do I recall any radio or teevee personality with millions and millions of people in their audience calling for  Mr. Bush to fail only two months into his term.

Here is Dave Miller's comment (with his permission) on what is happening:

When terrorists attacked us on 9/11 many people were rightly upset at images of people from primarily Muslim [countries] celebrating in the streets.

As time went on we heard from some political leaders that Islam is not a dangerous religion, only that it had been hijacked by extremists.

Those types of statements were frequently met with derision from the conservative and more religious voices in the United States.

They pointed that if Islam was indeed a religion of peace, we should expect to hear from those more moderate clerics within the religion itself.

When those more moderate voices did not step forward, many on the right interpreted this as proof of a lack of tolerance and moderation within Islam.

To many, this lack of public, widespread condemnation of terrorist activities in the name of Islam showed many that this religion was not a religion of peace, but of hate.

Now we have a similar situation here in the United States.

We have people, some as individuals, some as part of loosely organized groups, and others belonging to a major political party personally attacking President Obama.

Not his policies, but him personally and even the legitimacy of his presidency.

We have seen the birthers. We have seen the witch doctor photos. We have heard the words of elected representatives.

And nowhere have we seen the voices of moderation in the GOP stand up and publicly repudiate these types of statements.

Nowhere have we seen the GOP leadership take a stand against this type of behavior similar to what they expected from the moderate leaders of Islam.

I think it safe to assume, following their logic vis-à-vis Islam, that they in fact agree with people like the birthers, Rep Franks, Rep Bachmann, and the Facebook person.

Unless and until we see GOP leadership step forward and condemn these acts, and say there is no place for them in American politics, it is safe to assume that by their silence, they condone these acts.

So, Sarah Palin, Gov. Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, and all you other GOP "leaders" with Presidential ambitions and a desire to lead, the ball is now in your court.

UPDATE:

"Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C.) offered unusually blunt assessments of the fringe elements of his party and conservative media on Thursday, calling the popular and bombastic Fox News host Glenn Beck a "cynic" whose show was antithetical to American values.


"Only in America can you make that much money crying," Graham said of Beck. "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."

Appearing before a crowd of Washington's elite power players and opinion-makers, Graham spoke largely without filter, offering acidic takes on subject well beyond Beck. The Senator called the birther community that questions the president's U.S. citizenship "crazy" and implored them to "knock this crap off" so the country could get on to more important matters.


"I'm here to tell you that those who think the president was not born in Hawaii are crazy," said Graham, who went on to dispel another myth: that Obama is a closet Muslim."

Read more

THOMAS FRIEDMAN wonders "Where did 'we' go?

It's not just Liberals, Lefties, Democrats who are appalled at the violent turn opposition to Mr. Obama has taken in just 8 short months.  Mr. Friedman, whom no one would describe as an alarmist Leftie, has seen this sort of rightwing extremism before, and the result was horrific.  Friedman reminds us:

I hate to write about this, but I have actually been to this play before and it is really disturbing.  


I was in Israel interviewing Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin just before he was assassinated in 1995. We had a beer in his office. He needed one. I remember the ugly mood in Israel then — a mood in which extreme right-wing settlers and politicians were doing all they could to delegitimize Rabin, who was committed to trading land for peace as part of the Oslo accords. They questioned his authority. They accused him of treason. They created pictures depicting him as a Nazi SS officer, and they shouted death threats at rallies. His political opponents winked at it all.

And in so doing they created a poisonous political environment that was interpreted by one right-wing Jewish settler as a license to kill Rabin — he must have heard, “God will be on your side” — and so he did.

Others have already remarked on this analogy, but I want to add my voice because the parallels to Israel then and America today turn my stomach: I have no problem with any of the substantive criticism of President Obama from the right or left. But something very dangerous is happening. Criticism from the far right has begun tipping over into delegitimation and creating the same kind of climate here that existed in Israel on the eve of the Rabin assassination.

What kind of madness is it that someone would create a poll on Facebook asking respondents, “Should Obama be killed?” The choices were: “No, Maybe, Yes, and Yes if he cuts my health care.” The Secret Service is now investigating. I hope they put the jerk in jail and throw away the key because this is exactly what was being done to Rabin.

Even if you are not worried that someone might draw from these vitriolic attacks a license to try to hurt the president, you have to be worried about what is happening to American politics more broadly.
The rest of his sobering column is here:  Link

FIRST, YOU DEHUMANIZE THE PRESIDENT BY CALLING HIM AN "ENEMY OF HUMANITY,"

and proclaim that HE HAS NO PLACE IN ANY STATION OF GOVERNMENT, then it's easy to incite enraged, fearful nutjobs to commit a heinous act to get rid of "THE ENEMY OF HUMANITY" thereby becoming a hero to the unhinged. 


"Obama's first act as president of any consequence, in the middle of a financial meltdown, was to send taxpayers' money overseas to pay for the killing of unborn children in other countries," said Frank. "Now, I got to tell you, if a president will do that, there's almost nothing that you should be surprised at after that. We shouldn't be shocked that he does all these other insane things. A president that has lost his way that badly, that has no ability to see the image of God in these little fellow human beings, if he can't do that right, then he has no place in any station of government and we need to realize that he is an enemy of humanity."

Rep. Trent Franks R-AZ

Link

RIGHT-WING GROUP WARNS OF BLOODY VIOLENCE AGAINST PRESIDENT OBAMA, THE NAZI

If my blogging friends on the right can do so, will one of you please refer to anything similar to this happening when Mr. Bush was president?  When we on the Left bring up the fact that the anti-Obama rhetoric on the Right is getting more and more violent, I hear that this was also true when Mr. Bush was president.  

That was only a short time ago, so I'm wondering if you will be able to find, somewhere on the net, an organization that warned of bloody gun violence to defeat George Bush, The Nazi.  And were Congressional Democrats in attendance at any conferences that threatened violence against the US Government and its president during the Bush Administration, thereby giving it a stamp of legitimacy as happened at this Rightwing gathering where Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) was present?

The Right now has ownership and is fully aware of a group that is threatening the overthrow of the US Government and the assassination of its duly elected president.

Someone had better rein in these paranoid, treasonous nutjobs before someone gets hurt.

 

Right-Wing Conference Tells Activists To Get Their Guns Ready For ‘Bloody Battle’ With Obama The Nazi

At the How To Take Back America Conference last weekend, conservative speaker Kitty Werthmann led a workshop called “How to recognize living under Nazis & Communists.” Announcing the panel in a column preceding the conference, talk show host Janet Porter gushed how Werthmann’s description of Austria in the 1930s is a “mirror to America” today — noting “They had Joseph Goebbels; we have Mark Lloyd, the diversity czar.” The room was packed over capacity to hear Werthmann, who grew up as a Christian in Austria and serves as Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum South Dakota President.

During her session, Werthmann went through a litany of examples of how President Obama is like Adolf Hitler. She noted that Hitler, who acted “like an American politician,” was “elected in a 100% Christian nation.” Although she failed to once mention Antisemitism or militarism, Werthmann explained how universal healthcare, an Equal Rights Amendment, and increased taxes were telltale signs of Nazism. Werthmann also warned the audience:

If we had our guns, we would have fought a bloody battle. So, keep your guns, and buy more guns, and buy ammunition. [...] Take back America. Don’t let them take the country into Socialism. And I refer again, Hitler’s party was National Socialism. [...] And that’s what we are having here right now, which is bordering on Marxism.

Watch it:

Werthmann noted that her Nazism speech is gaining popularity. She not only has delivered it to several tea parties, but has been asked by “a group of bankers” to address them this month.

Before the event, ThinkProgress asked Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), one of several Republican members of Congress also speaking at the conference, to autograph Werthmann’s DVD about National Socialism. She happily obliged.

h/t ThinkProgress

More information here.

POLL ABOUT PRESIDENT OBAMA REMOVED FROM FACEBOOK

UPDATE BELOW.

 Keep it classy, America.  730 idiots responded to this poll put up on Facebook.

Who the hell is responsible for posting it?


*********************************************************

A poll was posted on Facebook asking users to vote "should Obama be killed?"
The responses include: "yes," "maybe," "if he cuts my health care," and "no."

See a screen shot of the poll below:


Over 730 people had taken the poll, which was later removed from Facebook.
Included on the list of the top 100 most popular polls on Facebook was a poll responding to the "should Obama be killed" query, and which asked users to vote, "Should the creator of 'should Obama be killed' be arrested?"

UPDATE:

Secret Service Investigating Facebook Poll Asking Whether Obama Should Be Killed

The Secret Service is investigating the circumstances surrounding an eye-opening Facebook poll that asked whether Obama should be assassinated, a Secret Service spokesman confirms to us.
“We are taking the appropriate investigative steps,” the spokesman, Ed Donovan, told our reporter, Amanda Erickson. “We are aware of it.”
The poll asked: “Should Obama be killed?” It offered four choices: No, Maybe, Yes, and Yes if he cuts my health care.
The poll, of course, is only the latest example of the sort of viral incitement to violence that flares up when the sparks of anti-Obama hatred are fed oxygen by the bellows of the Internets. While anyone can put up such a poll, this kind of stuff is a sign of the moment — as David Kurtz put it, it’s akin to graffiti on the virtual wall of our times.
According to a source, the Secret Service has contacted Facebook and asked them to take the poll down. And, indeed, it’s already down.
Given that the Secret Service is investigating the circumstances of the poll, it seems clear that they’re looking into who was behind it. More if we learn it.
Update: A lot of folks are Twittering at me that this blogger broke the poll story.


h/t HuffingtonPost

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/28/obama-facebook-poll-asks_n_301860.html

Click on the image to see the lastest NBC News/Wall Street Journal polls on the support Americans have for President Obama and his health care reform

PRESIDENTS AND THE INDOCTRINATION OF CHILDREN

UPDATE [re:  czars] below.

Apparently, the extremists on the right have their knickers all in a twist over a video going around in their emails and featured on blogs of children in a New Jersey school singing the praises of President Barack Hussein Obama. The video seems to have sent a good deal of these people over the edge, raging about how Stalin and other despots indoctrinated the youth of their countries in the same way. We heard this paranoia when President Obama announced he would speak to America's school children at the beginning of the school year. Indoctrination! they shouted. And many of them kept their children out of school so that their kids wouldn't hear Mr. Obama tell them to be self-reliant, study hard, and succeed in school. Indoctrination!

But the funniest part of all this mass hysteria on the part of the unhinged Right is that the video featured below exists to show them all what loonies they all are. These are the same people that were angry because President Obama was going to speak to America's kids about staying in school. The same people that felt it would be brainwashing to let the kids hear him talk. I'm wondering if Fox news will show this video. And I wonder if FOX, who showed the video of children singing about Obama and then had people commenting that it was sick--I wonder if that "fair and balanced" organization will show this video:



The Swash Zone covered this story the other day. I'm following up just to set the record straight and again point out that certain elements on the Right--the ones who yell the loudest but have no facts on their side--are so easily mocked and shown to be the roaring hypocrites that they truly are.

UPDATE:

Here's a chart for those people who have joined the "Fear the Czars" campaign.  There's nothing nefarious or foreign about appointing them: [Click on the image to make it larger.]

UPDATE ON HEALTH CARE POLLS

Quote from the latest NYT/CBS poll showing the public confused about health reform:

"The Obama administration seems to have a plan, but I’m not understanding the exact details," Paul Corkery, 59, a Democrat from Somerset, N.J., said in a follow-up interview.

Still,

By a margin of 52 percent to 27 percent, Americans said Mr. Obama has better ideas about overhauling health care than Republicans.

and Josh Marshall notes:

Interestingly, according to the poll, support for a public option has jumped 5 points since late August and opposition to it has dropped 8 points.

h/t dailykos


AND THIS:

Big Majority of Doctors, American People Want Public Option

Blacks, Nonwhites Most Supportive of Healthcare Reform

September 24, 2009

Sixty-five percent of black Americans and 50% of nonwhites say they would advise their member of Congress to vote for a healthcare bill this year, while 31% of whites say the same. Other demographic groups that show the most support for healthcare reform include women, those with a post-graduate degree, and those making less than $30,000 a year.

Seniors Lean Against New Healthcare Law

Demographic analysis also reveals distinctions by race, income, and education

September 24, 2009

Senior citizens oppose healthcare legislation by 42% to 32%, making them the least supportive of all age groups. Middle-aged Americans are more evenly divided, while younger Americans tend to support it -- though many do not have an opinion. Clear distinctions also exist by race, income, and education.More ...

For those of you who believe Mr. Obama's presidency is crashing and burning, this poll shows that Mr. Obama is EXACTLY where President Reagan [vis-a-vis approval rating]  was at this point in his presidency. [Click on image to make it larger.]

And lastly, here's Stephen Colbert talking about rightwing radio talkers and racism.  I think he's on to something really, really important:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - Blackwashing
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Protests

TOO BAD STUPIDITY ISN'T PAINFUL...

because if it were, perhaps Glenn Beck would stop making an ass of himself so consistently and hilariously.

In a chapter in his new book purporting to explain to "idiots" what "our Founding Fathers really intended," Glenn Beck praises an obsolete provision of the U.S. Constitution that prohibited Congress from outlawing the slave trade before 1808 and capped taxes on the slave trade at $10 per slave. In his explanation of the provision, Beck does not mention slavery, saying instead that the provision means that the Founders apparently "felt like there was a value to being able to live here" and lamenting: "Not anymore. These days we can't ask anything of immigrants -- including that they abide by our laws."

The provision Beck praised actually "barred Congress from ending the international slave trade before 1808." As noted by Yale Law School professor Akhil Reed Amar: "To make matters worse, despite the new Congress's general Article I, section 8 power over international commerce, section 9 barred Congress from ending the international slave trade before 1808. By that time, the Deep South hoped to have enough extra muscle in Congress, based on white migration and slave importation, to thwart any possible antislavery constitutional amendments and perhaps even to weaken any proposed ban on further slave importation. ... [T]he 1808 date itself was exempt from constitutional amendment under Article V." [Amar, America's Constitution: A Biography, Page 91]

h/tMediaMatters

The GOVERNOR WHO QUIT goes to China!

SEE THE LINK AT THE END OF THIS POST FOR CAPT. FOGG'S ASSESSMENT OF THE GOVERNOR WHO QUIT'S VISIT TO COMMUNIST CHINA.

Sarah Palin, who quit as governor of Alaska in order to make a ton of money, I mean in order to share her wisdom and rhetorical powers with the rest of the world, gave a speech in China to a closed audience because, apparently, she didn't want the media, uh, general public to hear her criticize [on foreign soil] President Obama, I mean, hear her insightful, well-thought out, unbiased opinions.

In this ground-breaking speech, the "Governor Who Quit" blamed the world financial crisis on government excesses and called for a new round of deregulation and tax cuts for U.S. businesses.

Yes, she actually said that.  Remember how "the government" was passing off those credit default swaps as sound financial investments?  Remember how "the government" made all those toxic deals that led to Merrill Lynch's failure?  You betcha!  We need to give Wall Street more slack--not rein in its greedy, reckless behavior, in order to stabilize our economy.  And if anyone knows anything about the US and the world's economy, the governor who quit her job, who never traveled outside the US until she was 44 years old, and who has a degree in journalism from a community college, it is Sarah Palin!

"We got into this mess because of government interference in the first place," the former Republican U.S. vice presidential candidate said Wednesday at a conference sponsored by investment firm CLSA Asia Pacific Markets. "We're not interested in government fixes, we're interested in freedom," she added.

That's right!  Sarah is interested in FREEDOM--except for a woman's right to make decisions about her own body.
 
Mrs. Palin didn't refer to President Barack Obama by name, but said his promise for change during the election hasn't taken hold. She called his campaign promises "nebulous, utopian sounding…Now 10 months later, though, a lot of Americans are asking: more government? Is that the change we want?"

Wow!  She used the words "nebulous" and "utopian!"   Nebulous utopian promises?  Mr. Obama has kept 43 promises, compromised on 11, broken 7,  and 99 are in the works.  But Sarah doesn't let facts get in the way of her criticizing the US president while on foreign soil, does she.

In an echo of last year's presidential campaign, she criticized government policies that result in what she called a redistribution of wealth. "There is no justice in taking from one person and giving to another," she said. "History shows it simply does not work."

Poor Sarah.  Did the Governor Who Quit Her Job forget about the distribution of federal dollars to Alaska and that Alaska gets more FEDERAL money per capita than anywhere else DESPITE astounding revenues at the STATE level coming from he North Slope oil fields?


On health care, Mrs. Palin defended her previous criticisms that the health-care overhaul proposed by Democrats would lead to health-care rationing and what she called "death panels." "It's just common sense that government attempts to solve problems like health care problem will just create new problems." She called for "market friendly" health care reform that gives tax breaks to individuals to buy health insurance.

Yes, tax breaks for college students, children, the chronically unemployed, the underemployed, and the terminally ill.  That'll work, because insurance companies want to cooperate in making sure those populations have complete and necessary coverage with no exceptions for pre-existing conditions.  We've seen how insurers help those in need, haven't we?  And how insurance companies would NEVER deny any American coverage because of typos in an application or because the companies need to make their bottom lines grow while their execs make more money from Americans' medical disasters.

She acknowledged the economic rise of both China and India but called for a vision of Asia in which no one country would dominate.  "I see a China that is stable and peaceful and prosperous. We have optimism that, yes, it is," she said. But she added that the U.S. must work with Asian allies in case "China goes in a different direction."

There you have it.  Simple answers to simple problems from simple minds.

This speech will go on The Governor Who Quit's resume as proof of her foreign policy bona fides for the next presidential election.  Just read that last paragraph and see how deeply and thoroughly she grasps the issues.

Source 

Capt. Fogg over at Human Voices has more to say on The Governor Who Quit's visit to Communist China, and her bashing the President of the United States while commies sat in the audience.  It's delicious.

BECAUSE ONE VIDEO IS WORTH A GAZILLION WORDS...

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

WE'RE NUMBER 37!

Guess which country  is NUMBER ONE for delivering the best health care to its citizens?  It's at the end of the video.

h/t X&K Callahan

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM (R.-SC) ALSO DECLARES THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA IS NOT A SOCIALIST

I wonder where these two conservatives have been for the last few months when the loud-mouthed wackos showed up at tea parties and the DC demonstration repeating the asinine claim that the POTUS was a Socialist. Or a Commmunist. Or Marxist:

In an interview with The Greenville News yesterday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he “would say no” if someone asked him if Obama was a socialist:


Graham was quick to debunk accusations from some people that Obama is a socialist and not a U.S. citizen.


He saw the question coming a few words into it and responded: “If you asked me if the president of the United States is a socialist, I would say no. I think he’s an American liberal, that’s what I think he is. You know, Ted Kennedy was an American liberal, but we found ways to work together.” [...]

“I am not going to give into sentiments that I think degrade the office of the president and that degrade the debate and the culture of our country,” he said. “So if you come up to me calling the president a socialist, a Muslim, you’re talking to the wrong guy.”

So.  Is it official now?  How many more Republicans will show some courage and dismiss the idiotic blatherings of the brainless fools calling the president a Socialist?   Why are these two influential members of the GOP coming forward now?  Could it be that they understand that the saner elements in our country are beginning to comprehend that the GOP has been taken over by an irrational, fearful, fact-challenged mob, led by this clown?  

And BTW, why would Sen. Graham imply that being called a Muslim would "...degrade the office of the president...degrade the debate and the culture of our country?"

THIS IS NOW THE FACE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY?  Good luck with that new tragedy.

 

HOUSE MINORITY LEADER, JOHN BOEHNER ADMITS PRESIDENT OBAMA IS NOT A SOCIALIST

Now will the rest of the extremists out there believe Bohner or will we hear "YOU LIE!" from some another fact-challenged true believer?

RNC Chairman Michael Steele recently sent out a fundraising letter saying that President Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress are attempting a “socialist power grab.” Today on NBC’s Meet the Press, host David Gregory pressed House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) on whether such language was appropriate. Boehner tried to dodge the question, insisting that “you can call it whatever you want,” but the fact is that Obama’s the one scaring the American public. Gregory continued to ask whether Boehner believes Obama is a socialist, to which he finally admitted he doesn’t:

GREGORY: Do you really think the President is a socialist?

BOEHNER: Listen, when you begin to look at how much they want to grow government, you can call it whatever you want, but the fact is —

GREGORY: What do you call it though?

BOEHNER: This is unsustainable. We’re broke.

GREGORY: That’s fine. Do you think the President is a socialist?

BOEHNER: No!

GREGORY: Okay. Because the head of the Republican Party is calling him that.

BOEHNER: Listen, I didn’t call him that, and I’m not going to call him that.

 

FRANK SCHAEFFER EXPLAINS IT ALL FOR US

Frank Schaeffer talks about the radical fringe of the GOP:

RUSH LIMBAUGH BLAMES PRESIDENT OBAMA for kids beating up other kids

on a school bus.

Nation.  Can you believe it?  The bigot and unimaginably cretinous radio comedian, Rush "I even flunked ballroom dancing" Limbaugh actually tried to make a school bus fight--something that has been happening in this country and around the world since kids got on a bus to go to school--President Obama's fault.

Hey Rush!  If you really want to go there, then by YOUR logic.  Your idiotic logic.  George W. Bush is responsible for our country being attacked on September 11, 2001.  Afterall, he was the president at that time.  If you can make that imbecilic leap of logic over common school bus incidents, then you have opened the door to blaming every president in our history for every act of violence that happened in this country during their presidency.

Why does anyone with any intelligence listen to this stupid, incendiary foul mouthed pig?

From ThinkProgress:

There’s no evidence that the fight was racially motivated. Although the local police captain initially speculated that it may have been, he later backtracked and said, “The incident appears now to be more about a couple of bullies on a bus dictating where people sit.” D’Vante Lott, a student who witnessed the attack and was suspended for laughing at the incident, said the two attackers were basically just trying to act tough.
Limbaugh never cares about racially motivated attacks perpetrated on people of color and has derided hate crimes legislation. He said that such a bill would “carve out protection for perverts” and worried that it didn’t provide enough protections for whites.

GLENN BECK : TOOL OF FOOLS!

On his radio program the other day, while discussing the crowds at this weekend's 9/12 protests, Glenn Beck claimed that the LondonTelegraph "quote[d] a source from the Park Service, the National Park Service, saying that it is the largest march on Washington ever."  This led to a good deal of confusion here, as the Telegraph article contains no such quote.  Just another case of Beck making things up?  Actually, the story behind this turns out to be much funnier than we could have anticipated.

Several conservative blogs have been quoting National Park Service spokesman "Dan Bana" as saying the 9/12 protest was "the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever."  This appears to be a repurposing of this quote from David Barna (who, unlike Dan Bana, appears to be a real person):

David Barna, a Park Service spokesman, said the agency did not conduct its own count. Instead, it will use a Washington Post account that said 1.8 million people gathered on the US Capitol grounds, National Mall, and parade route.
"It is a record," Barna said. "We believe it is the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever."

Very impressive!  Unfortunately, as Little Green Footballs pointed out, that quote was actually about the inauguration:

This is so pathetic I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
Dozens - if not hundreds - of right wing blogs are running with this quote, portraying it as a statement about the tea party held last weekend: 'We believe it is the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever.'
The quote is from January. The National Park Service spokesman was talking about Barack Obama's inauguration.

Pam Geller quoted "Dan Bana" as saying this on Saturday. She cited Thomas Lifson at American "Thinker," who also calls him "Dan Bana."  In keeping with his fellow conservatives, Lifson doesn't feel the need to provide a link for his outlandish crowd estimates:

Despite mainstream media attempts to characterize turnout as in the thousands, a spokesman for the National Park Service, Dan Bana, is quoted as saying "It is a record.... We believe it is the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever."

True, "Dan Bana" definitely "is quoted" as saying this. By whom?  Well, Thomas Lifson.
Imaginary ABC News reports, unnamed universities, invented quotes, and for safe keeping, the journalistic equivalent of "I heard this one dude say."
From Pam Geller:

Here's the video over at CSPAN of millions on the mall. Incredible. Look at the pan of the crowd shot.  The left fascists are debating the number to take the focus off what happened in Washington, D.C., this weekend. I'll go with the Parks department estimates, thankyouverymuch.
A 9-12 participant in DC claims to have overheard DC police discussing the crowd numbers. They put the numbers at over 2 million -- and those were only the people who could make it into the city. The local authorities as well as many participants claim that many many more could not even get into the city to the core of the protest.

Yes, she cited someone who "claims to have overheard DC police discussing the crowd numbers."  Your conservative blogosphere, ladies and gentleman.

h/t MediaMatters

SEEN ON A RIGHTWING BLOG

 

What do Barack Obama Abe Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, and John Kennedy all have in common?


Nothing!

Cleverly posted byXXXXXXXXXXXXXX at Monday, September 14, 2009 Comments 10 | Trackback

Welcome To Our World, your comments are always appreciated

If he's not careful, Obugger may get one thing in common in with them, particularly if he doesn't deliver his radical liberals their blessed health care.

Hint: a safety is involved.
Dr. Dave | Homepage | 09.14.09 - 2:03 pm | #

---

---

XX,
Exactly so!
Always On Watch | Homepage | 09.14.09 - 8:09 pm | #

---

---

IGNORE THEM

An anonymous commenter in the post below said that the best reaction to the Right's tea parties, marches, and crazy signs is to do exactly what the last administration did when people took to the streets in protest against Bush and his administration:  IGNORE THEM.

Does anyone remember the Bush administration being influenced one iota by any crowd, or march, or sign, no matter how large, noisy, OR demeaning? (I believe 15 million marched worldwide against the Iraq invasion. Bush got his war on despite all protests, marches, and signs.)

Mr. Obama and his people should take a cue from how the GOP dealt with the "people's voice."

Bush did exactly what he wanted to do, and he invaded a country that did not attack us.

Mr. Obama's agenda is not lethal, as was Mr. Bush's.

Mr. Obama wants America to join the 21st century and other western democracies in making sure that people can attain their unalienable rights. 

Americans cannot enjoy the benefits of Life, Liberty, nor pursue Happiness when illnesses financially ruin them, bankrupt them, and in some cases kill them from want of adequate health care that would intervene before a disease became deadly.

Reforming our health care system is one of the most patriotic acts we Americans can support.

We must have affordable health care for all Americans so that they can enjoy Life, Liberty, and pursue Happiness, secure in knowing that they will have the health care they need in order to do so.

On another important issue, please visit The Swash Zone where there is a most educational post up about how ruinous the last 8 years under George W. Bush were for our country.  The information is based on facts and figures provided by the U.S. Census Bureau and not by some loud-mouth radio or cable teevee montebank.

GOPers THREATEN TO SHOOT PRESIDENT OBAMA

  From Political Carnival:

 

Obama threat on Twitter?

By GottaLaff

UPDATE: This one is worse. Meet Eric Luke:

This is what Kathy Frendling (@kfrendling) posted not once, but several times on Twitter, among other things:

See, Kathy, the thing is, Twitter is very public, and screen grabs are very easy. Consider yourself on the record.

UPDATE: Kathy the Threater is a real estate agent in Florida:

H/t: txvoodoo

Posted by GottaLaff at 9:21 PM

Labels: President Obama, threat, twitter

h/t DEPENDABLE RENEGADE

QUESTION FOR THE LOONEYS CARRYING SIGNS...

at yesterday's protests that said "Obama Lies, Freedom Dies:"  

If FREEDOM DIED why weren't all the protesters who carried those slanderous, libelous signs about the President of the United States--why weren't they arrested on the spot?


If FREEDOM DIED, the people carrying those signs would have been arrested.  They were not.

If FREEDOM DIED, those thousands of Americans who showed up to protest would have been stopped before their march had begun.  They were not.

If FREEDOM DIED, the people carrying signs that said President Obama was a half-breed Muslin [sic] would have been taken away.  They were not.

If FREEDOM DIED, the deeply stupid woman who declared that the Muslims were taking over Washington would have been carted off to an asylum.  She was not.

If FREEDOM DIED, the children posing as "men" and photographing a photo of Mr. Obama with horseshit on him would have been beaten by government officials.  They were not.

If FREEDOM DIED, all the childish antics and hysterical blathering about the "death of freedom" would have been quashed by government men in uniforms.  They were not.

Why is this?

BECAUSE FREEDOM HAS NOT DIED.

What has died is America's ability to discuss complicated issues rationally and reasonably.  Instead we have misguided, misinformed, hysterical mobs roaming the streets in search of a demon who doesn't exist--except in their own fevered and sick paranoia.  Instead we have angry throngs heading for the "slippery, steep, and narrow verge of crag-like agony."

"In each human heart terror survives

The raven it has gorged: the loftiest fear

All that they would disdain to think were true:

Hypocrisy and custom make their minds

The fanes of many a worship, now outworn.

They dare not devise good for man's estate,

And yet they know not that they do not dare."

From "Prometheus Unbound" by Percy Bysshe Shelley  

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity."--WB Yeats

ANDIE COLLER OVER AT POLITICO.COM...

has written about what a majority of Americans are thinking about the present make-up of the GOP:

"Joe Wilson’s outburst Wednesday night earned more than a personal rebuke from the president and a dagger-eyed gasp from the speaker of the House; it drew winces from Republicans worried that their party is becoming known less for the power of its ideals and more for the pettiness of its vitriol.

“Neither party has an exclusive on wack jobs,” says Republican media consultant Mark McKinnon. “Unfortunately, right now the Democrats generally get defined by President Obama, and Republicans, who have no clear leadership, get defined by crackpots — and then they begin to define the Republican Party in the mind of the general public.”

Turn on the TV, and you see what he means.

Here’s Orly Taitz, insisting that the commander in chief was born in Kenya. There’s a flock of angry protesters chanting “Just say no!” and carrying signs depicting a Democratic congressman with devil’s horns. Former GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin warns darkly that Obama is planning “death panels” for senior citizens. Georgia Rep. Paul Broun equates the president’s plans with “Nazi” policies. Ohio Rep. Jean Schmidt — last heard calling John Murtha a “coward” — tells a birther: “I agree with you, but the courts don’t.”

And then, in the midst of all the catcalls, hand-held signs and “I’m not listening” BlackBerrying, Wilson interrupts Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress by shouting, “You lie!”

“The president was helped more by the optics of House Republicans than by his own speech,” says former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.). “It’s not likely to do any long-term damage, but they need to be very careful how they oppose this president.”

One veteran GOP official puts it bluntly: “The image of a bunch of white guys booing an African-American president is about as bad as it gets.”

Republican leaders were quick to distance themselves from Wilson’s outburst. John McCain said Wilson should apologize, and he did — although he also insisted that he was right about Obama’s lack of candor.

Brian Jones, a former communications director for the Republican National Committee, finds it frustrating when lawmakers like Wilson hijack the party’s public persona."


The rest is here.

And finally, these conservative "adult" Americans are taking a picture of a photo-poster of President Obama with horseshit over it. 

PLEASE VISIT THE SWASH ZONE FOR MORE PHOTOS AND A VERY INSIGHTFUL POST ON THIS.  HERE'S THE LINK.

REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11, 2001--Kevin McCarthy...

and all who lost their lives.

JOE WILSON, (R. SC) IS THE LIAR

Health Care Bill To Cover Undocumented Immigrants? False.

Over at Media Matters, Eric Boehlert calls out the media for covering Rep. Joe Wilson's interjectory fireworks during President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night without delving into whether Wilson was correct in his assertion -- that Obama was lying when he said that illegal immigrants would not qualify for credits for the proposed health care exchanges:


What's been completely glossed over by the press is the fact that the "You Lie!" was itself built upon a lie. That the rude outburst was yet more GOP misinformation. Instead, too many in the press treat the exchange as a he said/he said. i.e. Obama claimed illegal immigrants won't be covered, and Wilson called him a liar. What are the facts? Which man was telling the truth? The press won't say.


In an update, Boehlert credits Michael Scherer at Time Magazine for digging into Wilson's claim. But he should also dole out a kudo to MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan, who invited Politifact's Bill Adair on the show to provide fact-checking of the speech. Ratigan got right to it, leading off the segment by asking Adair to rate the accuracy of Wilson's outburst, citing it as "the obvious [item] to fact check." Adair, noting that it was the first time he'd ever "fact-checked a heckler," said that he rated Wilson's assertion "false."

ADAIR: Obama is right. When you look at the bill, it does go to some lengths to make sure that illegal immigrants do not get the credits for the health care exchange that would allow them to get free care. They'd have to pay for it, like everybody else. False for Wilson.

 

Source.

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SPEECH A WINNER

President Obama hit all the right points in his speech last night, assuring Americans that there are no silly plans to kill grandparents, insure illegal aliens, and no "government takeover" of America's health care. He found his mojo and in addition to separating distortions from the truth, he passionately made his case to the American people for why this country can no longer afford to ignore the coming financial disaster if our health care system is not addressed and reformed.

During his speech, which also included a call for civility in the ongoing discussions on health care reform,  Republican Representative from South Carolina, Joe Wilson, yelled "You lie!" [when Mr. Obama emphasized that illegals would not be covered under the plan], thus committing a rare breach of protocol and making a complete and thorough ass of himself in front of millions of people.

After the president's speech, Wilson, like any other coward, ran out of the chamber as quickly as his little rat-feet could carry him.  Later, he issued an apology to the White House, which the White House graciously accepted.

Here are some highlights of Mr. Obama's speech:

"I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last. It has now been nearly a century since Theodore Roosevelt first called for health care reform. And ever since, nearly every President and Congress, whether Democrat or Republican, has attempted to meet this challenge in some way. A bill for comprehensive health reform was first introduced by John Dingell Sr. in 1943. Sixty-five years later, his son continues to introduce that same bill at the beginning of each session. Our collective failure to meet this challenge – year after year, decade after decade – has led us to a breaking point." 

"The time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action. Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together, and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on health care."

"First, if you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance through your job, Medicare, Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have. Let me repeat this: nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have. What this plan will do is to make the insurance you have work better for you. Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most. They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime. We will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they get sick. And insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies – because there's no reason we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse. That makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives."

 "Some of people's concerns have grown out of bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform at any cost. The best example is the claim, made not just by radio and cable talk show hosts, but prominent politicians, that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens. Such a charge would be laughable if it weren't so cynical and irresponsible. It is a lie, plain and simple."

•"My health care proposal has also been attacked by some who oppose reform as a "government takeover" of the entire health care system. As proof, critics point to a provision in our plan that allows the uninsured and small businesses to choose a publicly-sponsored insurance option, administered by the government just like Medicaid or Medicare. So let me set the record straight. My guiding principle is, and always has been, that consumers do better when there is choice and competition."
 

 "I have no interest in putting insurance companies out of business. They provide a legitimate service, and employ a lot of our friends and neighbors. I just want to hold them accountable. The insurance reforms that I've already mentioned would do just that. But an additional step we can take to keep insurance companies honest is by making a not-for-profit public option available in the insurance exchange. Let me be clear – it would only be an option for those who don't have insurance. No one would be forced to choose it, and it would not impact those of you who already have insurance."