Political Ruminations

Quote of the Day: 60 Minutes on Mitt Romney

Scott Pelley talks about Mitt Romney to Mitt Romney for 60 Minutes on September 23, 2012, emphasis mine:

“Ten years ago, when you were running for governor of Massachusetts, you were solidly pro-choice on abortion. Now you're against abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, or the health of the mother. When you were running for governor, you ridiculed the idea of signing a "no new taxes" pledge, and yet now you've signed one. Some people, Governor, have an uneasy feeling that you're not constant, that you say whatever you have to say in a particular moment.”

Now there’s a true understatement.

Stupid Quote of the Day

On Wednesday, President Obama was part of

a Reddit Q & A session where he said that he would support overturning the notorious Citizen’s United ruling via an amendment to the Constitution. When asked what he thought about that by a right wing media outlet, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s response was silly and outlandish:

“ It’s an act of genuine radicalism. ”

What is easily termed “radicalism” is the Citizen’s United ruling which declared that “corporations are people”. A ruling that turned our democracy into a plutocracy that can be bought. But no one doubts that that’s what you and your fellow Republicans are being paid for, Sen. McConnell.

Updated-Daughter of Idiot John McCain Calls Joe Biden an Idiot

Beneficiary of a blatant form of nepotism, the not-a-rocket-scientist daughter of John McCain (you know, Meghan McCain, aka the person whose daddy subjected this country to the likes of Sarah Palin) goes off on Vice President Joe Biden as if she has a right or reason to call the Vice President an “idiot”, emphasis mine:

“I'm so sick of this BS from him. I cannot stand Joe Biden because I think ‘stupid’ is worse than being mean.

I just think any insinuation that in America we're going to go back to slavery times is delusional. It's ridiculous and it's ignorant. ... If I were Obama I would've never picked Joe Biden in the first place. I think he's an idiot.”

Questioning the President’s patriotism evidently isn’t offensive, cause Meghan sure didn’t complain about that.

UPDATE (Aug. 17):

Now the ignoramus has used her column on The Daily Beast to call for President Obama to get rid of Joe Biden (and she claims that Democrats agree with her…she is wrong!):

This is a pretty popular sentiment—it seems like the only thing Republicans and Democrats can agree on. It’s something that people have been saying to me everywhere from cocktail parties to airports since President Obama has been elected to office. Many politicians and pundits have reiterated that statement publicly. Sarah Palin recently went on Fox News and said the same thing: if President Obama wants a sure fire way of getting reelected this election cycle, Hillary would give him “a darn good chance of winning.”

Unfrickingbelievable. The NERVE. (Oh, and by the way, she is a really stinking lousy writer, and were it not for her dad, she wouldn’t be paid to write.)

Fox News Channel "The Five" Lacking Serious People

Political pundit Bob Cesca describes the show and the panelists of said show, “The Five” (airs on Fox News Channel):

“The Five” — an obvious cable news knock-off of The View (and all of its imitators) in which four conservatives and one liberal (for balance) snark about the issues of the day. If Fox News was trying to create a show that would augment the intellectual stature of the usually moronic Fox & Friends, they totally succeeded.

The moderator of the show is serial race-baiter Eric Bolling and the panel consists of a Lazy Susan of cackling simpletons. Greg Gutfeld, whose previous credits include both Fox News Channel’s overnight show and The Huffington Post where he blogged about his calf muscles and made hilariously smart cracks about Cenk Uygur’s name, is evidently the designated jokester, dickbag and misogynist of the group. There’s also former Bush press secretary Dana Perino and legal analyst Andrea Tantaros. “Democratic strategist” Bob Beckel, who recently said “fuck” on the Hannity show, is the token liberal and, in keeping with Fox News policy, makes really weak points and often appears to be drunk. A perfect target for the conservatives on the panel.

Just in case you were wondering.

Adding...“a Lazy Susan of cackling simpletons” –bwahahahahaha

Morning Quote: Reince Priebus

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on the GOP war on women:

“If the Democrats said we had a war on caterpillars and every mainstream media outlet talked about the fact that Republicans have a war on caterpillars, then we’d have problems with caterpillars. It’s a fiction.”

Republicans Love the Banksters

Not only would it essentially repeal President Obama’s Wall Street financial reform law, Dodd-Frank, but it would encourage more of the too-big-to-fail entities we bailed out in 2008. Ezra Klein via Bob Cesca:

On financial regulation, Paul Ryan’s 2013 budget basically cuts-and-pastes its recommendations from last year: it wants to repeal parts of Dodd-Frank that give new power to federal regulators to break up big banks, arguing that the regulations actually make bailouts more likely, not less so. Ryan isn’t proposing an alternative, however, so his plan to repeal the government’s new “resolution authority” would bring us back to the pre-Dodd Frank era — which was also, of course, the era in which bank bailouts proved necessary.

Under Wall Street reform, financial institutions that are deemed “systemically significant” are subject to a host of new regulations, including a new rule that requires them to submit “living wills” that explain what would happen if the firm went belly up. They’re required to submit such plans to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which has new authority to help liquidate troubled firms so as to avoid systemic catastrophe and prompt taxpayer bailouts.

Republicans (with the help of Bill Clinton who supported the repeal of Glass-Steagall) caused the financial crisis of 2008, and the repeal of Glass-Steagall allowed banks to become the behemoths that we now refer to as “to big to fail”.

Apparently, once wasn’t enough for the GOP.

RELATED POSTS:

- Chart of the Day - Paul Ryan’s Latest Federal Budget
- Krugman on Paul Ryan’s 2013 Budget

Quote of the Day

“There will be that zip-a-dee-doo-dah after the nominee is chosen. I guarantee there will be that enthusiasm. But to be brutally honest, with all due respect to governor Romney, who is obviously the frontrunner... he's not garnering a lot of that enthusiasm right now.”

Oh yeah, zip-a-dee-doo-dah says the Grifter Queen of the Frozen North, Sarah Palin, in an interview with Fox Business.

Palin seems to be  loving the sidelines where she has ample opportunity to poke both President Obama and her fellow Republicans with a stick.  And not that her fellow Republicans don’t deserve it, but her analysis is utterly without the possibility of redemption.

Adding...Palin also noted that she had voted for Newt Gingrich.

Adding again.......christonastick, would you people please stop calling this half-term grifter “Governor Palin”?

Andrew Breitbart Dead at 43

Andrew Breitbart, Conservative Wingnut activist, responsible for much of the ongoing godawful craziness to be found festering in the modern Republican Party, died this morning of unknown causes. The New York Times:

Andrew Breitbart, a conservative blogger and activist who used
undercover video to bring discredit and disgrace to his liberal targets, died Thursday. He was 43.

Mr. Breitbart was as polarizing a figure as he was popular. Hailed by the political right as a truth-teller who exposed bias and corruption, he was derided by many on the left as a provocateur who played fast and loose with the facts to further his agenda.

“Fast and loose with the facts” is apparently New York Times speak for “the left thought Breitbart to be an outrageous liar and con-man.” And so he was.

Like Bob Cesca, I have nothing positive to say about Andrew Breitbart.

“Andrew Breitbart’s slash-and-burn pursuit of his own career destroyed countless lives and livelihoods. Innocent bystanders in the public debate — noncombatants as I sometimes call them — were crushed by Andrew’s mendacity, his obsessive careerism and his unethical business practices. Workers at ACORN and everyone who that organization sought to help have been crushed. The war against Planned Parenthood was started by Andrew Breitbart and that’s led to its defunding by both Congress and Komen. Who knows how many women will ultimately be hurt by Breitbart’s scams and prank videos. I have nothing positive to say about him.”

Adding....Breitbart’s reaction to the death of Ted Kennedy.

Image from the NYT: Andrew Breitbart at a DC rally in November 2011.
Photographer Nicholas Kamm/AFP — Getty Images

Morning Quote: Rick Santorum

“President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob!”

- Rick Santorum speaking at an Americans for Prosperity Tea Party event in Troy, Michigan, as the Koch-backed group applauded his ridiculous comment.

Like wanting Americans to be able to earn a decent living and be competitive in an increasingly competitive world is “snobbish”.

Political Commentary of the Day

In a piece titled “Dow 200,000”, Bob Cesca:

It looks as though the Republicans have found their plan of attack against the president on the economy. If it wasn’t for the president, GDP would be growing at 10 percent per quarter and the Dow would be at 200,000. For example, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) and crazy person Alan Keyes:

KEYES: So it sounds like [the economy's] improved in spite of President Obama?

FRANKS: No question about it. No question about it. It’s a strong country, but Mr. Obama seems to be doing everything he can to hold it back.

Yes, because presidents facing re-election always want a shitty economy.

Morning Quote: Newt Gingrich

“We discovered last night that Mitt Romney has picked up Charlie Crist’s campaign manager. I thought that told you everything you need to know about this primary. As governor of Massachusetts [Romney] was pro-abortion, pro-gay rights, pro-tax increase and pro- gun control. Now that makes you a moderate in Massachusetts but it makes you pretty liberal in a Republican primary. That’s probably why he hired Charlie Crist’s staff.”

- In St. Petersburg, Florida, Newt Gingrich sought to tie Mitt Romney to Charlie Crist, the moderate former Florida governor who became persona-non-grata in the GOP as he became more liberal. Crist left the GOP in 2010.

Morning Quote: Newt Gingrich is Special

“I think that my ability to organize and orchestrate things would be vastly greater than a normal politician.”

- Newt Gingrich during an interview in Tampa yesterday. 

Via Taegan Goddard

Morning Quote: Newt Gingrich

David Gregory talks to Newt Gingrich on ‘Meet the Press” yesterday about Gingrich’s lobbying activities for mortgage giants, Fannie and Freddie:

“You are running against the establishment, you're trying to run as an outsider. You talk about housing in Florida. You were a consultant, or, depending on your point of view, a lobbyist for one of the mortgage giants. I'm wondering how you think you win that inside-outside game, given your history.”

A Gingrich now on the offensive, responds to Gregory, denying any lobbying activity ever. So there.

“David, wait a second, David. David, you know better than that. I was not a lobbyist, I was never a lobbyist, I never did any lobbying. Don't try to mix these things up. The fact is I was an adviser strategically and if you look at the only thing ever published by Freddie Mac, I said you need more regulations. If you look at the only article ever written about my talking to the Congress, it was in the New York Times in July of 2008, and I said do not give them any money.

Now I opposed giving money to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I think they should both be broken up into four or five much smaller companies and I've long felt that. And so I think that to jump from one to the other is simply wrong. In Florida, my case is going to be very simple. You have a clear establishment candidate in Mitt Romney. Look where his money comes from, look at his background, look what he did in Massachusetts. And you have somebody whose entire career has been a Reagan populist conservative going all the way back to the 1970s.

I think that's a pretty clear contrast, and I think Floridians would like somebody who speaks for them to Washington, not somebody who speaks to the establishment to them.”

Watch the video of Gingrich denying the lobbyist claim:

Media Matters weighs in on Gingrich’s "I was not a lobbyist" claim:

The holes in Gingrich's "I was not a lobbyist" argument have been demonstrated several times over. Politifact gave the claim a "Half-True" rating, noting that it's depressingly easy and common for "consultants" who provide "strategic advice" (which is how Gingrich's campaign explained his relationship with Freddie Mac) to essentially function as lobbyists without having to register as such. The Washington Post called Gingrich's denials of being a lobbyist "clearly misleading," laying out all the known details of Gingrich's dealings with the mortgage giant.

Morning Quote III: Newt Gingrich's Conservatism

“I'm clearly the more conservative candidate, by any rational standard. And, and I had a 90% American Conservative Union standing for twenty years. I helped Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp develop supply-side (trickle down) economics. I helped lead the effort to defeat communism in the Congress. I helped, uh, as Speaker of the House balance the federal budget for four straight years. Reform welfare as an entitlement. The first tax cuts in sixteen years. I mean…take whatever your list of what conservatism is, and I've done that stuff.”

- In an interview on Fox yesterday, GOP frontrunner Newt Gingrich makes the case for his conservatism vs. that of Mitt Romney. Joe Scarborough doesn't buy it.

Quote of the Day II

Rachel Maddow on Speaker of the House John Boehner’s (R-OH) reaction to President Obama’s announcement that he has a jobs plan, soon to be released:

“This is what John Boehner is like as speaker of the House. The president announces job creation ideas that the speaker rejects. The president announces he`ll release a whole new big job creation plan, the speaker says plan? Where is this plan? Dude, that`s the point. That`s the announcement. When somebody says here comes this plan, expect it on this date -- you don’t respond with where is the plan? Who even does that?”

Watch (the segment that contains the quote is at approx. 7:11):

Idiot Quote of the Day - Michele Bachmann

Presidential hopeful, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), claims that her election as president would mean lower prices at the pump:

“The day that the president became president gasoline was $1.79 a gallon. Look at what it is today. Under President Bachmann, you will see gasoline come down below $2 a gallon again. That will happen.”

Is she right? Not in the sense of her implication that Obama is at fault.

Think Progress addressed this issue in June when Exxon claimed it had found abundant oil supplies in the Gulf. That “abundant supply” would provide only enough oil for 9 days worth of global oil consumption. 

Setting aside that big ‘if’, while 700 million barrels is enough to ruin the Gulf if we get another blowout, it represents only 9 days of global oil consumption — and roughly one month’s worth of U.S. consumption.

The discovery doesn’t prove we have ‘abundant’ oil reserves, as Hastings claims.  It proves the exact opposite, that ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ can’t solve our problems.  Steve Greenlee, president of Exxon Mobil’s exploration business, unintentionally admitted that when he said, “This is one of the largest discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico in the last decade.”

There just isn’t enough oil in the Gulf to make a dent in our addiction.  A 2009 report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Impact of Limitations on Access to Oil and Natural Gas Resources in the Federal Outer Continental Shelf” analyzed the difference between full offshore drilling and restriction to offshore drilling.

The EIA found that there is no impact on U.S. gasoline prices whatsoever in 2020.  Gasoline prices would be a mere three cents a gallon lower in 2030. So much for Drill, Baby, Drill.

The fact is that that oil prices have been soaring in spite of the fact that U.S. domestic oil production has also been soaring, “to its highest level in almost a decade,” as EIA’s own data shows:

And, you should know that Barack Obama is not the only president to have seen gas prices double during his administration, and as you’ll see laid out in the linked article, gas prices are affected by the economy, as well as by supply and demand in general.

In January 2005 when Bush was inaugurated for a second time, gas cost $1.83 per gallon. That bargain didn't last long.

Gas prices shot up rapidly as the U.S. economy heated up and oil topped $100 per barrel. Gas soared to a national average of $4.11 in July 2008. That's a rise of about 125 percent.

Then the bubble burst.

Currently, gas prices are high (oil is again over $100 per barrel) because demand is high due to an economy that's heating up.

The takeaway is that  an economy slowing or crashing means demand is lower so our gas costs less. An economy heating up correlates to higher prices at the pump as demand becomes greater.

Is that so difficult to understand?

Watch Rep. Bachmann spew:

Morning Quote: Rep. Joe Walsh

U.S. Congressman, Tea Party-Republican and deadbeat dad famewhore-freshman Liar, Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill) to President Obama in Walsh’s now viral video, emphasis mine:

“President Obama, quit lying. Have you no shame, sir? In three short years, you’ve bankrupted this country.”

“I won’t place one more dollar of debt upon the backs of my kids and grandkids unless we structurally reform the way this town spends money.”

Rep. Walsh to his ex-wife’s lawyer who asked the judge to suspend Walsh’s  drivers license until Walsh-the-deadbeat-dad pays $100,000+(for his 3 children) in back child support:

“Have you no decency?”

Seriously. You can not make this stuff up.

Morning Quote: Sarah Palin

A History in Quotes of Sarah Palin’s TARP Hypocrisy

In an interview on Fox News last night, Sarah Palin’s TARP hypocrisy showed up again, as she denigrated President Obama for his support of TARP,  never mentioning that she had also supported TARP:

“Scaring the American people is exactly what President Obama is doing. In that bizarre speech that he gave last night, it reminded me of when he insisted that TARP had to be passed -- it was life-or-death, at that time, also.”

Palin on TARP in 2010, during a speech at the Tea Party Convention:

“Today, in the words of Congressman Paul Ryan, the $700 billion TARP has morphed into crony capitalism at its worst, and it's becoming a slush fund for the Treasury Department's favorite big players, just as we had been warned about. And while people on Main Street look for jobs, people on Wall Street, they're collecting billions and billions in your bailout bonuses. Among the top 17 companies that received your bailout money, 92 percent of the senior officers and directors, they still have their good jobs, and every day Americans are wondering, where are the consequences for they -- helping to get us into this worst economic situation since the Great Depression? Where are the consequences?”

Watch the video:

In 2009, Palin berated House Republicans who voted against TARP in her book,  Going Rogue:

“The House of Representatives rejected a Bush-backed economic bailout plan in a vote in which two-thirds of Republicans voted no. The impression this made on the electorate was not helpful to our cause. Millions of Americans were poised to go bankrupt or lose their savings, and the perception was that Republicans had failed to respond.” 

Palin on TARP in 2008 during an interview with Katie Couric:

“That’s why I say, I, like every American I’m speaking with, were ill about this position that we have been put in, where it is the taxpayers looking to bailout. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up the economy—helping the—Oh, it’s got to be about job creation too. Shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track… And trade we’ve got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive scary thing. But 1 in 5 jobs being created in the trade sector today. We’ve got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.”

Watch the Video:

Palin on TARP in 2008, during an interview with CNN:

“Now, as for the economic bailout provisions and the measures that have already been taken, it is a time of crisis and government did have to step in playing an appropriate role to shore up the housing market to make sure that we're thawing out some of the potentially frozen credit lines and credit markets, government did have to step in there.”

Another Stupid Palin Thing

Sarah Palin is special. And other potential GOP candidates may not criticize her. Broadway Carl:

Newly hired Michele Bachmann adviser Ed Rollins told us what he thought of Palin in no uncertain terms. "Sarah has not been serious over the last couple of years," she was pulled from obscurity and given the gift of a VP nomination, and she quit as Governor of Alaska when not being in the spotlight didn't suit her. All of what he said was true.

Palin’s response to Ed Rollins:

"Beltway political strategist Ed Rollins has a long, long track record of taking high profile jobs and promptly sticking his foot in his mouth," said Sarah PAC chief of staff Michael Glassner in an emailed statement. "To no one's surprise he has done it again, while also fueling a contrived narrative about the presidential race by the mainstream media. One would expect that his woodshed moment is coming and that a retraction will be issued soon."

Ed Rollin’s “retraction”:

Michele Bachmann adviser Ed Rollins' response to the sharp criticisms from Sarah Palin's world just now was to "let it go."

But he didn't go quietly, telling me, "I haven't lived in Washington D.C. in 15 years, and I've been taken to the woodshed by the big boys."

"As far as we're concerned, it's not" an ongoing fight, he insisted. "This was my one comment, which I shouldn't have made, at the end of the day this has nothing to do with Michele, Michele's campaign, or any of the rest of it. This was my transition from being an analyst to a political strategist, and I missed a step."

..."What's the retraction? I say she's serious?"

This would be funny if it weren’t so utterly pathetic.

If Sarah Palin can’t handle a little criticism, or perhaps unflattering commentary, she needs to go home and stop thrusting herself in to the public sphere.

Channeling Piper Palin

I am almost at a complete loss for words. The Conservative website, The American “Thinker”, has a post up wherein the author, Betsy M. Galliher, “channels” Piper Palin, Sarah Palin’s 10-year-old daughter.

As Oliver Willis said, “easily the creepiest thing you’ll see on the Internet today”, and “ick”.

“I’ve met a lot of nice people who really like my mom. They thank her for not being afraid to defend real, American values. Maybe that’s what the media can’t figure out — why so many people believe in my mom when the super-smart media tells them not to. It’s kind of like my 4th grade class elections. My friend Sally was running, but a group of really mean girls made up lies about her because they wanted their friend elected, and then everyone turned on Sally. I don’t think people even believed the lies, but they were scared those girls might say things about them, or make fun of them, so they just went along with it. Well, also Sally promised free ice cream to everyone in the lunchroom.

My mom isn’t so much bothered by what people think she is, especially the media. That’s why she’s not afraid to go to places like the East Coast, where probably not everybody likes her. I mean President Obama won’t even go on FOX News since the Super Bowl or visit a Tea Party rally. What is he so afraid of?”

Sickos.

Murdoch’s Tabloid Punks Mainstream Media

In the realm of the bizarre and stupid, did you happen to see the media blitz about the mom who was purportedly giving her 7-year-old daughter Botox injections? I did, I fell for it, and I was utterly furious at the mom, yelling at her on my television during an ABC broadcast.

Watch:

Today we learned that it was a scam, a hoax, a media invention. Media punking media. You’d think that the media would learn to investigate more carefully. From TMZ via Chris Weigant, emphasis mine:

TMZ has obtained a sworn declaration written by Sheena Upton, who claims she was recently approached by the British tabloid, The Sun, and asked "to play the role of Kerry Campbell" for a story called "I Give My 8-Year-Old Daughter Botox."
Upton now confesses The Sun paid her $200 adding, "I was provided with the story, instructions and a script to follow for a recorded interview."
After the story ran in The Sun, Upton says she was approached by "Good Morning America" and "Inside Edition" and claims she was offered  "a large fee" to appear on camera.  She went on both shows and re-told her story.
After the interview, child welfare officials took Upton's daughter away.
Upton now admits in her declaration, "The truth is I have never given my daughter Botox, nor allowed her to get any type of waxing, nor is she a beauty pageant contestant."
Upton says professionals agree with her declaration, because on May 17, she took her daughter to the UCLA Medical Center and says, "After my daughter received a full medical exam, the results indicated that she has not ever received treatments including Botox or other such injections."
We're told the UCLA reports were forwarded to child welfare officials, who then returned Upton's daughter to her, with the provison that a cousin would stay with her and the child for the time being.

I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that the owner of “The Sun” is none other than Rupert Murdoch, also the owner of the much despised right-wing message machine, Fox Network.

Morning Quote: Rick Santorum

In March, GOP presidential hopeful and lunatic, Rick Santorum said we should go to war over “moral” values:

“America is about an idea, and it has to be about shared value, or what is it? What is it? And that's why these moral issues, that everyone says oh, maybe we should step to the side and have a truce on, you can't. It is who we are. It is the purpose of our country. And I have been out fighting the wars on these moral issues.”

Watch:

Rick Santorum is the anti-gay, anti-abortion guy who is running on these social issues. Never mind health reform or jobs. Or anything important or non-discriminatory, for that matter.

President Obama Releases Long Form Birth Certificate as the World Laughs at American Idiocy

Can you hear the sound of balloons popping all over the country as Birthers deflate?

Watch:

 

Morning Quote: Bob Cesca

Bob Cesca on the “accomplishments” of the 112th Congress thus far:

Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and John Boehner have introduced ideologically far-right, inconsequential and symbolic bills that kill Planned Parenthood and NPR. They've passed legislation that cuts spending for pregnant women. They've passed legislation that magically circumvents the constitutional lawmaking process. They refuse to raise taxes on the rich while trying to gut Medicaid and kill Medicare, even though supermajorities of Americans support both of these crucial healthcare programs -- including majority support from tea party Republicans.

Morning Quote: Nicole Sandler

Progressive radio personality, Nicole Sandler on Rep. Paul Ryan’s 2012 budget plan cause, and how Ryan's  insane plan would affect Medicare, emphasis mine:

The thing that everyone needs to be screaming/blogging/talking about is the fact that Ryan’s budget cause would do to Medicare what George W. Bush wanted to do to Social Security – kill it!  W failed in that quest.  Thank goodness.  Because if he had been successful in privatizing Social Security, he would have killed it – along with millions of seniors who would have lost everything when the banksters crashed our economy with the help and blessings of that administration.

Beck Says Media Matters Not Responsible for His Exit From Fox

Yeah, and I feel sure that StopBeck had nothing to do with it either. [/end sarcasm]

Watch:

Beck (from the April 5 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program) :

[If I leave Fox News} don't you ever believe that [Media Matters caused a victory].

For those of you who are just now finding out that Beck and Fox will be parting ways later this year, here’s the scoop from News Hounds. And The New York Times version.

SCOTUS Rules Against Innocent Man in Wrongful Conviction Lawsuit

Yesterday, Antonin Scalia evidently caused a 4-car accident on his way to court, possibly salivating, in his frenzy to dismiss, and/or mock the female plaintiffs in the Wal-Mart v. Dukes case on the days docket.

(I should add that Scalia was only fined $70, which does not begin to compare to what my son was recently fined ($500) when he was ticketed for being 5 miles over the speed limit, and a registration that was a day late in being re-upped--but that's another story of inequity in the case of the People v. the Elites)

But the mocking of people with lady parts was possibly minor when you consider the ruling of our right-wing Supreme Court in the case of Connick v. John Thompson, wherein, the Court ruled against John Thompson, and thus ensured that there would be no repercussions when prosecutors withhold evidence, and innocent people go to jail, and in Thompson's case, to death row for 14 long years. No damages were allowed Mr. Thompson, and simple human decency was notably absent.

A bitterly divided Supreme Court on Tuesday tossed out a jury verdict won by a New Orleans man who spent 14 years on death row and came within weeks of execution because prosecutors had hidden a blood test and other evidence that would have proven his innocence.

The 5-4 decision delivered by Justice Clarence Thomas shielded the New Orleans district attorney's office from being held liable for the mistakes of its prosecutors. The evidence of their misconduct did not prove "deliberate indifference" on the part of then-Dist. Atty. Harry Connick Sr., Thomas said.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg emphasized her disapproval by reading her dissent in the courtroom, saying the court was shielding a city and its prosecutors from "flagrant" misconduct that nearly cost an innocent man his life.
"John Thompson spent 14 years isolated on death row before the truth came to light," she said. He was innocent of the crimes that sent him to prison and prosecutors had "dishonored" their obligation to present the true facts to the jury, she said.

In the past, the high court has absolved trial prosecutors from any and all liability for the cases they bring to court. The key issue in the case of Connick vs. John Thompson was whether the district attorney could be held liable for a pattern of wrongdoing in his office and for his failure to see to it that his prosecutors followed the law.

Also...too....apparently, DAs may now be held innocent regarding any wrongdoing in their offices, and prosecutors need no longer follow the law.

H/T Kevin Drum and MrBrink

Adding………Irrelevant but of interest; the district attorney in the case, Harry Connick Sr. is the father of singer, Harry Connick Jr..

Morning Quote: Chez Pazienza

Chez Pazienza on the Huffington Post-Andrew Breitbart debacle:

There's been a hell of a lot of indignation of late being aimed at HuffPo for its decision to allow Andrew Breitbart a platform on the left from which to spew his anti-left invective. The argument is that letting Breitbart into one of Progressive America's most powerful media strongholds (I always imagine him being like the Terminator casually wandering into the rebel hideout, sending the dogs into a frenzy then pulling his phased plasma rifle and opening fire on the hapless humans) isn't simply a case of magnanimously allowing for a dissenting opinion or for honest dialogue between two highly polarized political camps; it's a case of giving one of the right's most shamelessly avowed con men -- a guy whose reputation for trafficking in lies and perpetuating hoaxes is irrefutably documented -- credibility as something other than the pompous bullshit artist and schoolyard bully he is. I wish I could argue with this, because I really do think we should try to move past the ridiculous left-vs.-right ethos, but given his track record there should be no abiding Andrew Breitbart -- not by anyone seeking to have a legitimate adversarial debate based on facts.

Adding…..Arianna Huffington has apparently had a change of heart (or just caved due to the criticism), and while Breitbart is still allowed to post at Huffington Post, his tripe will no longer appear above the fold.

Adding more..... This does not change my mind about either Arianna or Huffpo. When she removes Breitbart completely, I'll reconsider.

---

RELATED POSTS: Arianna Huffington Digs in Her Heels Over Calls to Ban Andrew Breitbart\

Opportunist Arianna Huffington Reverts to True Colors

Arianna Huffington Digs in Her Heels Over Calls to Ban Andrew Breitbart

Gah.

I did an opinion piece last week on this topic, and had no intention to revisit it, but in view of the wide publicity generated by this incident, felt that it deserved an update.

Arianna Huffington’s response to the legitimate criticism engendered by her decision to give the notorious Andrew Breitbart front page space on her site, was to refuse to ban Breitbart from the Huffington Post. Greg Sargent:

The Huffington Post is coming under mounting pressure from some on the left to stop giving Andrew Breitbart a front-page platform, with some wondering whether the granting of prime real estate to Breitbart signals that HuffPo is trying to broaden its ideological appeal.

But according to a statement sent my way, HuffPo will stand by Breitbart and continue publishing him. HuffPo spokesperson Mario Ruiz emails:

From the beginning, The Huffington Post has welcomed voices from all sides of the political spectrum, including conservatives such as Newt Gingrich, Frank Luntz, Tom Coburn, Laura Ingraham, Bob Barr, George Pataki, David Frum, Byron York, Mary Matalin, and Ken Blackwell. The idea being that dialogue -- from a wide range of perspectives -- is preferable to silence. The fact that Andrew Breitbart’s first post on our site drew over 1,635 comments, conducted in a civil manner, seems to validate the premise and the decision to publish his blog post.

My take? That’s all very well and good, Arianna, but Breitbart has admitted his chicanery in the case of Shirley Sherrod. He is also responsible for the demise of ACORN, in concert with James O’Keefe and Hannah GIles.

Sarah Palin Emotes on Nukes and Terrorism

Emotes word salad, that is.

When asked by the editor of India Today what she would do about nuclear weapons and terrorism if she were the president, Sarah Palin responded with her trademark clarity, and even managed to invoke Ronald Reagan again:

There are a lot of economic steps that can be taken, military would be last step of course, but sanctions that are not being taken…we would not stand for harm they would desire to invoke on innocent people….being bold enough to tell them that what is still on the table is military options. I am a believer of, like Ronald Reagan was, of peace through strength.

Um…..HUH???

Adding…. bwahahahahahahah….

Via Sarah Jones

Right Wing Trying to Paint Pres. Obama as a Wannabe Dictator

The right wing blogosphere is making a huge deal out of a remark made by President Obama, reported by the New York Times, and taken out of context by the right wing. The New York Times, emphasis by mmfa:

“Striking a very balanced, and in many ways, neutral approach is recognized by many people in the region as not being with them, or on their side," said J. Scott Mastic, the head of Middle East and North Africa for the International Republican Institute. "It's very important that we be seen as supporting the demands of the people in the region.”

How Mr. Obama manages to do that while also balancing American interests is a question that officials acknowledge will plague this historic president for months to come. Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one official put it, "No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao's words in Tahrir Square."

As you can see from the screenshot, Fox Nation blew it all out of proportion.

Bill Kristol responds on the Weekly Standard blog:

Mr. Obama is right.

If you're president of China, people around the world who are fighting for freedom don't really expect you to help. If you're president of China, you don't have to put up with annoying off-year congressional elections, and then negotiate your budget with a bunch of gun-and-religion-clinging congressmen and senators. If you're president of China, you can fund your national public radio to your heart's content.

Another Right Wing Hack

James O’Keefe, of ACORN fame, and other sundry scams.

MMFA shreds O’Keefe’s cred, which was already shredded, but said shredding clearly bears repetition:

Conservative activist James O'Keefe has released a video purporting to show an NPR executive making inflammatory comments to two people posing as members of a "Muslim Brotherhood front group." As has been the case in the past, conservative media outlets and blogs are hyping O'Keefe's video.

It's not clear why anyone would believe anything that O'Keefe says about what is seen in the video.

• O'Keefe pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor criminal charge for entering Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in New Orleans under false pretenses.

• O'Keefe falsely claimed that his ACORN tapes were a "nationwide ACORN child prostitution investigation" that implicated many ACORN employees. In at least six of the eight heavily edited videos, either the activists did not clearly tell the ACORN employees that they were planning to engage in child prostitution; or the ACORN employees refused to help them or apparently deliberately misled them; or ACORN employees contacted the police following their visit.

• Three separate investigations cleared ACORN workers of criminal wrongdoing, and a 2009 report by the Congressional Research Service stated that O'Keefe's surreptitious videotaping may have broken laws in California and Maryland.

• O'Keefe and Andrew Breitbart withheld an exculpatory ACORN video from Los Angeles for two months in late 2009, during the height of the ACORN frenzy.

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

• In a 10-minute video posted on BigGovernment.com in June 2010, O'Keefe stated that he had been hired as a Census worker and attended two days of training. He said, "What I found were Census supervisors systematically encouraging employees to falsify information on their time sheets." The video includes clips of census leaders, who according to O'Keefe, "didn't seem to have a problem with the discrepancy" of the hours recorded on his time sheet versus the hours he claimed to have worked. O'Keefe omitted a clip that was later aired by ABC, which shows a census leader emphasizing the importance of accurately reporting on miles driven by census enumerators.

• O'Keefe reportedly planned to "seduce" and publically humiliate CNN investigative reporter Abbie Bourdeau. In an article posted at CNN.com, Bourdeau reported that when she arrived for an interview with O'Keefe, she was informed by O'Keefe's colleague Izzy Santa that O'Keefe planned to lure her aboard a boat where he would secretly record his attempts to "hit on her" using "strawberries and champagne." Boudreau reported that a document she obtained suggested O'Keefe would also use props including a "condom jar," Viagra, pornography, a ceiling mirror, and "fuzzy handcuffs." The document explained the motivation: "The joke is that the tables have turned on CNN. Using hot blondes to seduce interviewees to get screwed on television, you are faux seducing her in order to screw her on television." O'Keefe later claimed that he had been "repulsed" by the scenario laid out in the document when it was presented to him, and that it did not represent his actual plan for the interview.

Right Wing Hack Amity Shlaes on GPS With Fareed Zakaria

I really hate this, because in general, I have a lot of respect for Fareed Zakaria, but Amity Shlaes of the routinely misleading statistics and assorted and sundry Republican nonsense dissemination?? That certainly could put a very large crimp in your credibility, Mr. Zakaria. 

Digby:

If you get a chance to see Amity Shlaes on Fareed Zakaria's GPS on CNN today, don't miss it. This mendacious twit has no business on respectable television show, and least of all Zakaria's which hit a low point by having her on today. He validated her lies by presenting her as a serious person and somebody should make him answer for it.

I agree with Digby.

The Single Most Important Republican Goal

Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), as quoted by the National Journal:

“The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

Never mind governing the country. Depriving President Obama of a second term is the “single most important goal” of Republicans.