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Showing posts from May, 2010

Serious Journalism, Right Wing Style

Joseph Farah of World Net Daily has spent a good part of the last year furious with the Obama administration because they will not recognize his website and himself as legitimate journalists. I have to say, I really see his point, when I read stories like this one: "World Net Daily Exclusive! Author: European Antichrist looking more and more unlikely With Europe on the verge of economic collapse, what about all those popular predictions that the European Union would become the world's political powerhouse, giving rise to the endtimes prophecies of a world dictator known to Bible students as the Antichrist? Joel Richardson, author of a best-selling book on Bible prophecy, says atheists will have a field day mocking Christians for the incorrect interpretations about the last days. The author of "The Islamic Antichrist: The Shocking Truth About the True Nature of the Beast" wants everyone to know that if the EU falls, it is not an indictment of the truth of the Bible.

Buchanan Is a Nazi

You wonder why I referred to Pat Buchanan yesterday as "little Hitler?" Here's something that was on his website today: "... the 9/11 attack ...was... carried out by Mossad agents in collusion with elements of the CIA, adding that since its formation, Israel has penetrated every Arab government and terrorist organization. “My guess is that at an early point they said to the bad guys in the CIA – hey this operation’s running what do we do, and the zionists and the neo-cons said let’s use it,” Sounding a chilling note, Hart added that the U.S. is in grave danger of an Israeli-instigated false-flag nuclear attack, perhaps using an American nuclear weapon stolen from Minot Air Force Base during the “loose nukes” rogue operation of August, 2007. The motive would be to trigger a U.S. war with Iran, and perhaps to finish the ethnic cleansing of Palestine under cover of war–which Hart is convinced the Zionists are planning to do as soon as
This extremely even-handed and insightful piece of serious reporting, from Floyd and Mary Beth Brown (aren't they relatives of Bonnie and Clyde?) at Town Hall: "Is the Impeachment of Barack Obama Moving Forward? All of a sudden, everyone is talking about the possibility of impeaching Barack Obama. Drudge is writing about it. Sean Hannity is talking about it. Dick Morris is saying that the potential scandal is "enormous.". Karl Rove called it an "extraordinary charge." WorldNetDaily.com wrote that "it could be grounds for impeachment." Everyone! Karl Rove, Matt Drudge, Sean Hannity and Dick Morris. That's everyone! Four pathological, criminal right wing liars! And World Net Daily , which has been campaigning to get rid of Obama since before he took office! That's everybody! Aren't you glad you know that now. These people are nothing but human scum. We are never going to be able to look at the right wing noise machine for one sing

Wingnut Wrapup

I really wanted people to get a taste of the synthetic furor that Conservatives have ginned up over Obama having once offered Joe Sestak a position in his administration. Here are a few selections from their endless screaming tirades on this pathetic subject: David Harsanyi, Town Hall: "What if Sestak Wasn't the Only One?" Oh my God, oh my God, what if the President of the United States actually offered positions in his administration to TWO Democrats with political ambitions!! The Crime! The Scandal! Pat "Little Hitler" Buchanan, Town Hall: "When does a political deal become a bribe?" It is not a political deal to offer someone a job, Pat, you lying dick. Let's get this straight- this law was intended to prevent rich people from paying candidates off to get them to drop out of races, not to prevent the head of the Democratic party from having a voice in who his party runs for office. As the leader of the party, of course Obama has a right t

More About the Teabag Fiction

Here are a few excerpts from an article from the Washington Post which provides some data to back up what I have been saying for months about the tea party movement: " Supporters overwhelmingly identify themselves as Republicans or GOP-leaning independents...The new movement is also relatively small, with 8 percent of supporters claiming to be "active participants" -- about 2 percent of the total population." Two percent. And this is the "movement" that our liberal press has blown up into a major player in our national political scene. "The percentage of people who say the Democratic Party represents their personal values and is in tune with the problems of people like themselves hasn't changed since November. The percentage siding with the GOP, however, has dropped by almost precisely the numbers now siding with the tea party." And it's the Democrats, we are told over and over again, who should be afraid of these petulant lunatics. &qu

Standing

From TPM, Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia attorney general and all around right wing demagogue: "Presenting his lawsuit against health-care reform in apocalyptic and grandiose terms, Ken Cuccinelli has said that health-care itself is a "secondary" issue in the legal challenge. The real goal, the Virginia Attorney General acknowledges, is to limit federal power. "If we lose, it's very much the end of federalism as we've known it for over 220 years," he said." I'm not a lawyer, so call me an idiot if you want, but doesn't a person have to demonstrate "standing" to have a lawsuit considered in Federal court? And if this suit is not about the substance of the bill, doesn't that destroy any claim of standing that Cuddinelli has to bring the suit? That is to say, in simpler terms, you have to demonstrate that you would be actually harmed by something before you can sue to stop it, and isn't any such assertion destroyed by his

Civil War

You might be interested in this article from Media Matters in which Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and two more Fox News regulars all have suddenly decided to push the idea that critics of Arizona's stupid immigration law are pushing the United States toward another civil war. It should be clear at this point, that if it doesn't happen, it won't be because these people aren't perfectly willing to commit mass treason.

Welcome Back to Reality, Barack

From Politico: "Noting that sometimes conservative activists portray him with a Hitler mustache, Obama seemed to put to rest any notion that there could be broad-based bipartisan cooperation — something he promised to try to bring to Washington during his 2008 campaign. “There are members of their base who think if somebody even smiles at me, they think, ‘You’re a traitor. You smiled at Obama,’” the president said at a fundraiser Tuesday night for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). “The day has passed when I expected this to be a full partnership.” There is hardly any “room for cooperation” in the Republican Party, Obama said." I can't believe that Obama hasn't known it all along. It's about time, however, that he has acknowledged that even pretending that things were any different just enables the Republican party to carry on their malignant charade of being decent Americans.

Get Ready For It- It's Coming

Been following the Republicans' idiotic, malicious tantrum over the notion that Barack Obama offered Joe Sestak a job when Sestak wanted to run for the Senate? This perverted fit is a warning of something, I guarantee you: If the Republicans take back the House of Representatives in November, Obama is going to be impeached. If you haven't figured this out yet, well, you heard it here first. Everything they have done has been aimed at building up a mountain of anger toward Obama, and unfortunately, the pathetic, supine Democrats let them get away with it with Clinton, so now they are getting ready to do it again. It doesn't matter what they impeach him for, any more than it mattered with Clinton. They will pick whatever disgusting pretext they want, and off they will go. We are entering a time in our country's history when one party considers it to be its perfect right to destroy the elected officials of the other party, regardless of the cost. If this becomes the a

Wingnut Wrapup

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Man, the right wingers have been bugging me lately. I hate to waste time dealing with the same pathetic lies over and over again. Oh well, someone has to do it, and better a parrot than a human. One gigantic phony claim has been all over the right wing web lately- the notion that Obama, by offering an administration job to Joe Sestak, rather than have him fight it out with Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania, somehow committed a gigantic act of corruption. I don't know when it became a crime for the President of the United States to offer someone a job, but practically every right wing website has been screaming for "investigations" of this simple, perfectly normal act. Many of them are actually calling for Obama to be impeached for having the gall to ask a member of his own party to come to work in the White House. One example: Jim Hoft, Gateway Pundit: "Dick Morris: Sestak Bribery Scandal Is Impeachable Offense- “It is illegal to offer someone anything of importa

Stimulus Worked- Who Knew?

Courtesy of a friend, here is the most important story that I have heard for a long time: "Stimulus Raised GDP by Up to 4.2% in First Quarter: CBO The massive U.S. stimulus package put up to 3.4 million people to work and boosted GDP by up to 4.6 percent in the first three months of 2010, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday." But of course, while Obama and the Democrats were succeeding at this Herculean task, the Republicans were succeeding too- they have succeeded in convincing large parts of the American people that the stimulus was a colossal failure, and that Obama is utterly incompetent, so we should turn control of our economy back to the people who destroyed it. Sad to say, it's a tossup whether the truth or Republican lies will win the day next November.

Wingnut Details Obama's Failings (Again)

Oh my God, oh my God! Those evil Democrats are at it again! This just in, from the great Confederate Yankee: "Spending-Crazed Congress About to Pass Bill That Creates Billions in Taxes, Billions More in Spending, And Wrecks the Economy... Media Deathly Quiet How much more of this graft, tax and spend Congressional abuse can the economy stand before imploding? I can only hope that when all is said and done, and this nation's economy collapses under the weight of their ever-present greed, that Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama get their just desserts." And just what Democratic monstrosity is Mr. Hoft talking about? "The bill: * increases infrastructure spending by $26 B over ten years;" Spending $2.6 billion a year on our infrastructure which is rotting beneath our feet because of years of mismanagement by the Bush Administration, which gave the money away in tax cuts for the rich and useless wars. " * extends a raft of expiring tax provisio

Looking for an Education?

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While doing what I laughably call "research" for one of my right wing posts, I came across this website: In God's name, what kind of legal education are you likely to get at this place? Update: Maybe tomorrow I will bring you more news from the website that has this vital information on it: "Learn the identity and see never before published photos of the San Francisco Zodiac Killer , The Boston Strangler & the real 2001 Anthrax Mailer Killer . All 3 have never been caught. All 3 are the same madman, SS Nazi war criminal terrorist CIA assassin, Dr. Josef Mengele! " These are both sites that push tax avoidance theories like those advanced by Jerry Kane. God help us all. Oh well, I suppose we should be thankful that they didn't call it the Joseph Goebbels school of Public Administration.

As Usual...

Paul Krugman has it right again: "that the idea that enough time has passed that we can’t blame Bush is especially wrong-headed given the nature of our problems. We’re in the aftermath of a financial crisis — and there’s overwhelming evidence that recovery from financial crises is almost always protracted and difficult. There’s no way one should have expected everything to be fine until the Lehman failure lies years in the past. In fact, the return of job growth we’ve already seen is ahead of schedule compared with the historical average. And one thing is clear: the financial crisis occurred on Bush’s watch. To demand that everyone let Bush off the hook for where we are now because 16 months have passed under his successor is to defy the overwhelming evidence of history." It is vitally important that we not let Bush off the hook for this disaster. This is not for political reasons, but until it is made clear that it is not just Bush, but the eternal Republican ec

Just a Thought

" Roosevelt turned corporate opposition into a badge of honor: “I welcome their hatred,” he declared. It’s time for President Obama to find his inner F.D.R., and do the same." -P. Krugman

Drill, Baby, Drill

From a local newspaper on the Gulf Coast- apparently this story is not of national interest: "WASHINGTON -- Gulf Coast senators are pressing federal regulators to resume processing permits for off-shore drilling in shallow waters, saying that a moratorium imposed earlier this month is too broad...It echoes concerns raised last week by the International Association of Drilling Contractors...the Texas-based trade group said that wells drilled in shallow water typically take 15-45 days. Because of the moratorium, it said, "rigs completing wells in the next weeks will be unable to take on new work." The Senators? All Republicans, apparently. Surprised? In related news, the International Association of Heroin Dealers has asked that the moratorium on retail heroin sales be lifted, because if their current supplies run out, they will be unable to take on new work.

Could it Be?

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One last thought about Billy James Hargis: Could these be two picture s of the same person? I mean, could it be? Is Billy James Hargis really Blind Lemon Jefferson?

A View Through a Dim Mirror, into the Conservative Past

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I want to continue my little series about fringe right wing ideology with a discussion of the emergence of right wing talk radio in the late fifties and sixties. This is a subject that has received very little attention, and I have found it difficult to put together a lot in the way of facts about it. It is an important subject, I think, because it is a crucial part in how the right in this country cultivated generations of people who were willing to mindlessly accept the teachings of their leaders. I started listening to these people in the mid-sixties, primarily on radio station KXEL in Waterloo Iowa, which was a very powerful clear-channel station that could be heard throughout much of the midwest, and which carried primarily religious programming. It had a sister station in Tijuana called XEL, which in addition to carrying much of the same programming, became famous as the home of Wolfman Jack. Religious broadcasting first emerged in the early days of radio. The first religious

A Taste of "Sovereign Citizen" Thinking

In my post on the recent episode of right wing terrorism, I mentioned the "Sovereign Citizen" movement, of which the murderer Jerry Kane was an adherent. I think it is worthwhile to know something about them, so here are a few excerpts from a screed apparently written by Mr. Kane, which features the gist of their "thinking." If, for some unknown reason, you would like to torment yourself by reading the whole thing, you can find it in PDF format here. "Most people are not aware that there has been no lawful money since the bankruptcy of the United States in 1933." The bankruptcy of the United States in 1933. Funny, I never even heard of that, despite having read numerous books on the depression. Why do you think that might be? "Since House Joint Resolution 192 (HJR 192) (Public law 7310) was passed in 1933 we have only had debt, because all property and gold was seized by the government as collateral in the bankruptcy of the United States. Most peo

A Sordid Right Wing Tale with a Very Unhappy Ending

If you remember back a few months ago to the jerk who tried to light his underwear on fire on an airplane, or the moron recently who tried to blow Times Square up with store-bought fireworks and a couple of propane tanks, you will recall about fifty thousand stories in the mainstream media about these guys, accompanied by about a million and a half belligerent racist screeds from the wingnuts. Funny, isn't it, that yesterday's story about a couple of maniacs who actually murdered two policemen in Arkansas- more non-military casualties in our country than Al Qaida has managed in nine years- is receiving practically no attention at all. The New York Times, for example, managed to cover it on page 8. The L.A. Times didn't think the story was worth any space at all. And as for the wingnuts, I checked all my usual sources, and the only coverage of this shooting was from Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit, who made the mistake of hopping on this story before the facts came out, when

The Pauls- a Blast From the Past

While we are on the subject of the delightful racial views of the Paul family, perhaps it would be pleasant to take a stroll down memory lane, way back to 2004: "Last week, Congress hailed the 40th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The heroic Ron Paul was the only member of Congress to vote No. Here is his statement. ~ Ed." Well, not all of it. My readership is hardly large enough that I can afford to having you dying of boredom. Here's just a taste: "Mr. Speaker, I rise to explain my objection to H.Res. 676... contrary to the claims of the supporters of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the sponsors of H.Res. 676, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not improve race relations or enhance freedom. Instead, the forced integration dictated by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 increased racial tensions while diminishing individual liberty." Diminishing individual liberty of white people to keep those filthy Negroes out of their stores and restaurants. Of course, M

Wingnut Wrapup- Special Astute Bloggers Edition

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I thought it would be fun to see how much lying, tendentious, racist, hate-filled garbage could be fit into one website at one time. I know there are plenty of competitors I might have chosen, I thought I'd examine the (rather inappropriately named) "Astute Bloggers," which today features on its site, among other trash, the following. As to all the caps, sorry... I'm not in the business of retyping all of their posts so they don't look like mentally deficient dicks. At least I did unbold it all: Astute Bloggers: "THEY'RE TRYING TO PALINIZE RAND PAUL AND PAINT HIM AS A RACIST...It won't work this year." Too late. It's already worked. Astute Bloggers: "IS THERE AN OPERATIONAL CONNECTION BETWEEN 9/11 AND THE TIMES SQUARE BOMBER? JUST ASKING. BECAUSE THE FOLKS ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE TIMES SQUARE ATTACK WERE ARRESTED IN BOSTON AND MAINE - WHERE THE MANY OF THE 9/11 ATTACKERS' FLIGHTS ORIGINATED." 1. I must have miss

Not a Double Standard in Reporting, No...

We've all heard over and over again that California's $20 billion dollar deficit is proof positive that liberal economics is a total failure (despite it's having been largely caused by conservative refusal to pay taxes in the form of the infamous prop. 187.) Why is the story of Texas' $11 billion dollar deficit virtually nowhere to be seen? I guess that deficit doesn't prove anything, huh? No lessons to be learned there- it's just an accident, or maybe somehow liberals are to blame for that, too. Perhaps we should ask Rand Paul for an explanation- it's probably the result of the unfair burden placed on the people of Texas by the cost of enforcing the Civil Rights Act.

New President, Yay!

Ken Starr has been picked as the new president of Baylor University! Thank you, thank you , thank you, for getting this malignant, perverted piece of human garbage out of L.A!

An Immigration Suggestion

It's time for me to throw in my two cents about immigration. In all of the millions of words that have been spilled on this subject, not once have I seen what I believe to be the obvious, central truth about this subject. That truth is that there is no answer to this problem to be found on our borders, nor inside the United States. Immigration from poor areas to rich ones is like a force of nature, a tsunami whose force is in exact proportion to the disparity of income between the poor and the rich. Border enforcement, arrests, deportations- these have demonstrated themselves to be as much help in stemming illegal immigration as a sheet of cardboard would be in holding back the force of the ocean. There is only one real, permanent answer to this problem: raising the standard of living in third world countries. Every nickel an hour we can add to the incomes of third world workers means not only that many more people that can live decently in their homelands, but it also means tha

Phony Republican Revolution Stumbles

Here's a quote, which I found at Daily Kos, which is so typical of mainstream reaction to Tuesday's elections that I think I will let it stand in for all of the many others I have seen expressing similar views: "I’m still trying to figure out what happened," said Janine Parry, a political scientist at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, after the biggest night so far of the midterm election season. "It was really surprising." Well, I am going to be self-promoting enough to point out that if you had read (and believed) what I have been saying the last year, you would have not been surprised at all. I have long maintained that the teabag movement is largely a fiction- a propagandistic dumb show created by Republicans to create the appearance of a right wing surge. Here is one more proof that as ignorant as the American electorate may be, they are not quite stupid enough to turn the economy back to the people who wrecked it just two years ago. I have

Wingnut Wrapup- Election Edition

First, a word about what really happened yesterday. Two republicrats- Specter and Lincoln- ran into huge troubles from real Democrats, with Specter losing and Lincoln forced into a runoff which she will likely lose also. In the only Republican-Democratic matchup of the day, the Dem won strongly, despite weeks of Republican crowing about how they were going to take the seat. And on the Republican side, a candidate strongly supported by the party lost to a teabagger. That's a great day for the supposedly washed up Democratic party. Except here: Town Hall: "Voters back anti-DC, anti-establishment candidates...With the electorate's intense anger reverberating across the country, this is all but certain: It's an anti-Washington, anti-establishment year. And candidates with ties to either better beware" Except for real Democrats. They did just fine. Obama, are you listening? Dick Morris, Town Hall: "The message of the May 18th primaries is that it is open

One more Piece of Lingering Bush Ugliness

John Yoo in an " opinion" piece - linked to by Daily Kos: Well, let's get this part of it out of the way first: "When she served as dean of Harvard Law School, Kagan prohibited the U.S. military from recruiting students on campus" This is, of course, one more Republican lie. Kagan did no such thing, as is perfectly well known by anyone who has followed this story. Now on to the money quote: "What if a college dean barred from campus recruiting any law firm that provided free representation to al-Qaida terrorists? Suppose she believes that the firms are providing aid and comfort to the enemy in wartime. " This man is allowed to be a professor of law at one of our major universities, and held a high position in the worst presidential administration ever, where he did immense damage to our nation's standing in the world, yet he apparently does not understand one of the most basic principles of American law: the right to counsel. Mr.

Bad News

From Newsmax, a bastion of conservative opinion: "Analysis: Specter’s Defeat Bad News for Obama" But don't worry- it's good news for McCain.

SESTAK DEFEATS SPECTER

At least there are Democrats somewhere that actually want to be represented by a Democrat. So far, the best thing for me about this whole thing was to see the look on Chris Matthews' face. He's so depressed that his Pennsylvania buddy didn't fool Democrats into voting for him. And in further news: The Democratic candidate has won in the race to fill Rep. Murtha's seat in western Pennsylvania. This district is full of working class voters that used to be called "Reagan Democrats," who were a prime target to be swung to the Republican party. Wingnut blogs have been crowing for weeks about how the great Republican groundswell was going to take this seat. They were talking through their hats; and though we can expect the mainstream press to put any spin on this win than this one, this win is a sign that the Democrats are not facing a disaster in November, if they just conduct a good campaign.

Dems Not Invited to the Party?

From Andrew Breitbart's Big Government (remember them? they were the people behind the phony pimp and hooker- no need to link to them:) " Progressives Behind New Michigan "Tea Party" OutsideLansing.com brings news that paid petition circulators are collecting signatures to create ‘The Tea Party.’ According to site proprietor Chet Zarko, the paid circulators have ties to the Democratic Party. ...leave it to Mark Brewer and the Democratic Party to pull out all the stops in their cynical ploy to cling to power. Situations like this were bound to happen, given the outrage seen in Americans today and the unhappiness with the Obama administration. But to see such a cynical campaign in the offing is no surprise, give the left appears to be behind it." And here I believed the teabaggers all along, when they insisted that the tea parties were bipartisan organizations that were filled with members from both parties, not just a bunch of Republican lunatics. You mea

Our Country is Already in Hell

This: "JUNEAU, Alaska -- Bristol Palin is hitting the speakers' circuit and will command between $15,000 and $30,000 for each appearance, Palin family attorney Thomas Van Flein said Monday." Boy, I bet there are a lot of other slutty, lying teen age mothers out there that would love to get that deal. "...Bristol Palin will be selective in the speeches she gives." Yeah, selecting whoever will pay her $15,000 to $30,000 for nothing. "... she's interested in expanding her message beyond teen pregnancy to include...her parenting approach; and her outlook on life." Expanding her message. What a laugh. Expanding it beyond "do what I say, not what I do," all the way to "I'll say anything if someone will pay me to do it." Girls, just remember Bristol when you think you can't learn anything from your mother.

Another Republican Hypocrite- Who Could Have Predicted It?

These things just never stop: "Eight-term Indiana Rep. Mark Souder announced his resignation Tuesday after admitting to an affair with a female aide who worked in his district office. Souder, a Republican, will will step down on Friday. He said in remarks obtained by Fox News that he "sinned against God, my wife and my family by having a mutual relationship with a part-time member of my staff." Not familiar with this guy? Souder, according to Fox News, was "Elected as a family values conservative as part of the Republican revolution in 1994..." He has been described as the leading proponent in Congress of abstinence education.

Insanity in Action

Joseph Farah, at World Net Daily today: "If we had to vote today for president and vice president and could choose anyone for those positions, I can tell you who would get my write-in votes – Sen. Jim DeMint and Rep. Michele Bachmann. I have watched this pair closely and carefully over the last few years, and I have been impressed with their ideas, their courage, their consistency and their leadership. This is a team that could excite the base, win the election and have the conviction to roll back the Obama destruction...I'm glad I was able to find a ticket that is not only viable, but enviable. " And he wonders why no one takes him seriously when he calls himself a journalist.

Euro Reaches Four Year Low

Yes, it's all over the news today. The Euro reached a four year low against the dollar. I have not found a single article about this that is titled "Dollar reaches four year high against Euro." Why do you think that might be? Maybe it would cut into the Republican narrative that Obama is totally incompetent in handling the economy? We're gaining jobs, the market has recovered, corporations are making profits for the first time in years, consumer confidence is up, the dollar is recovering from some of the disastrous collapse it suffered during the Bush era, but God forbid that anyone should admit that it is the Democrats that actually deal with the economy adequately. So they must come up with all sorts of reasons why this is all about Europe, and none of it has anything to do with Obama.

Another Sign of the Economic Failure of Obama

From the New York Times: "DETROIT — General Motors said Monday it earned $865 million in the first quarter, its first profit since 2007, after last year’s government-sponsored bankruptcy allowed the carmaker to wipe away many of its longstanding burdens." Of course, if we had followed the far more rational, mature and decent proposal of the Republican party, General Motors would no longer exist. But remember, there would probably be a big upside there- the foreign companies that sold us cars after GM's collapse wouldn't have to hire union workers, so they could make a whole lot more money to give away in executive bonuses.

Climate Scientists Must Be Lying Again

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From NASA: "It was the hottest April on record in the NASA dataset. More significantly, following fast on the heels of the hottest March and hottest Jan-Feb-March on record, it’s also the hottest Jan-Feb-March-April on record." Here's P aul Krugman's plot of the data: It will be interesting, over the next few weeks, to see conservatives evolve a lie to explain this away. Now it would be interesting to get people to see things like the global warming controversy alongside the quote in the post below, where Mitch McConnell is carrying the very polluted water for the oil companies, trying to get BP off the hook for the costs of their oil spill. This is about the same thing- trying to make multinational corporations pay for the damage they cause. If there is no global warming, there is no damage, so they get to make a whole lot more money. That is the total story of the global warming "debate-" their lies versus our facts, their money versus our lives.

Stupid Republican Suggestion of the Day

Mitch McConnell, on Meet the Press yesterday: "MR. GREGORY: What about the issue of legitimate claims, as BP said, that it will honor? Do you think that the cap for damages should be higher now, higher than $75 million, as you heard Senator Schumer say they would propose? SEN. McCONNELL: Well, the danger in that, of course, is that if you raise the cap too high, there will be no competition in the Gulf and you’ll leave all the business to the big guys like BP. What BP has said they need to be held to, which is they’re going to pay for this. They ought to pay for it, and they will pay for it. But the danger of taking the cap too high is that you end up with only massive, very large oil producers able to meet that cap and produce in the Gulf." Well, let's just leave aside the issue of what business oil companies have drilling anywhere if they can't afford to pay for the damage they have caused. How about if we just ban offshore drilling totally, and then all the

Saddest News of the Day

from the Wall Street Journal: "In old-money enclaves like Palm Beach, Fla., Nantucket, Mass., and Greenwich, Conn., WASPs are being priced out of their waterfront estates and displaced on their nonprofit boards by Jewish, Catholic and other non-Protestant entrepreneurs." Man, life is so unfair.

Wingnut Wrapup

Well, I can't go forever without a refreshing dive into the pool of insanity that is conservative thinking today. Here are a few of the stimulating thoughts that are swirling around the bowl (if you know what I mean) of wingnut scholarship today: George Will, Town Hall: " By socializing the consequences of Greece's misgovernment, Europe has become the world's leading producer of a toxic product -- moral hazard." What in the name of hell does that even mean? And this guy is supposed to be one of their top thinkers. Other than stringing together an unrelated batch of menacing terms (socializing...misgovernment...Europe...toxic...moral hazard) I can't see that it has any meaning at all. Oh well, conservative thought in action. Salena Zito, Town Hall: "Polls across the board show that the more religiously observant people are, the more likely they are to disapprove of the president's job performance, says Mark Rozell, professor of public policy at G