Monday Morning Talking Points

Yippee Ki-Yay! Keith Olberman returns to television tonight and his first guest is Michael Moore and Daily Kos chief Markos Moulitsas. So glad to see the truth-tellers back on TeeVee. Psst, Keith, Anthony Weiner is looking for a new gig. Not sure where to find Keith? Click here.

Speaking of Anthony Weiner, if I were his constituent I would write his name on the ballot and give the republicans, the mainstream media, and the cowardly Dems my middle finger. Now they tell us Fake Identities Were Used on Twitter in Effort to Get Information on Weiner

At least three months before the revelation that former Representative Anthony D. Weiner was sending lewd messages and photos to women online, a small group of self-described conservatives was monitoring his exchanges with women on Twitter. Now there is evidence that one or more people created two false identities on Twitter in order to collect information to use against him.

There is nothing more dangerous than ignorance in action.

Frederick Douglass was an early civil rights figure and former slave. In the late 1800s, he wrote an autobiography where he speaks at length about his experience, his sufferings, and, what strikes me most as a teacher, his education. Slave-owners did not want their slaves to read, he said, because if they were able to read, then they would be able to articulate their plight.
In George Orwell’s 1984, Newspeak is a language being developed by the government that ultimately aims to make it impossible to think rebellious thought. How can one articulate rebellion if there is no word for it? If I were to use the word “sidereal” in a sentence, and you didn’t know what it meant and couldn’t find out what it meant, then comprehension does not occur and my attempt to convey meaning failed.

Case in point, the republicans put a black face on their racism but we are supposed to be to stoopid to notice.

The nation’s GOP elite gathered in New Orleans this weekend for the Republican Leadership Conference. In attendance were presidential candidates Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, and potential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Prior to a speech by RNC Chair Reince Preibus, an Obama impersonator took the stage and told a series of racist jokes. A summary from Arron Blake:
• On Black History Month: “Michelle celebrates the full month. I celebrate half.”
• “My mother loved a black man,” but “she was not a Kardashian.”
• A picture was shown of Obama and the first lady when he took office. The impersonator then showed a picture of what the Obamas will look like when the president leaves office, and it was the characters of Fred Sanford and his sister-in-law, Ethel, from the show “Sanford and Son.”

The right to bear arms A must-read from Black Diaspora on the danger of ignorance in action.

Yes, there's "anger," but the anger is being misdirected, thanks, as you've stated, to the media provocateurs who have concentrated this anger and have painted bulls eyes on the backs of blacks, Latinos, and Muslims.

A race riot is more likely than civil unrest toward the government. The news media, led by Fox News, and an assortment of Republican and conservative blowhards, will instigate this racial disquiet.

I'm convinced that the Republican Party will do almost anything to effectuate absolute control of government, despite the level, and transform this nation into the philosophical, and ideological image it has always imagined--even if it kills us!

Rebel Flower breaks down the stoopid

The people that always get's hurt are the workers, making $30k, $40k per year, the support staff, the grunts. It's never the actual commissioner's, the deputy's, the commission president, etc...These clowns get elected time and time again because people vote against their own self interest, or by some Pavlovian name recognition thing. You say their name, and people just salivates and people shut their brain off and fill in the oval. No thinking required... Politicians play on this sense of religion, patriotism, fear and we get mass stupidity on a grand scale. It's always "cut spending", "no more taxes" that's the cure for all problems. Late term abortions, like for ages 50-60 and up or secession from the US are the cure for our problems in the South. This place will never progress past 1960's era and I think most people like it that way...

The reason "most people like it that way" is because the public airways are used to promote ignorance like this:

Be quiet citizens. Or the government will punish you with investigations…

Uh, NO. citizens are NOT being investigated for speaking out, the city of Huntsville is being investigated for housing discrimination which happened to be bought to their attention by politicians using this issue for their personal, political gain.

Stuck on stoopid.

An Open Letter to Bill O'Rielly

I just had to share this letter posted on Face Book. When asked what took them so long to pen this letter the Writer said Keith Olbermann has been doing a good job making fun of him, so I never had to. It's raw. It's rude. It's on point.
Redeye

Dear Bill O the Clown,

One of my pet peeves is stupidity. Not ignorance of a fact or subject matter that one has never heard of, but complete and total foolishness on a subject that is established scientific fact is unacceptable. You attended Harvard University,not to some degree mill or Joe and Ernie's school of bull. You attended an Ivy League school and for some reason you can't scientifically explain the tides, the gravitational forces and the relational relationship they have with the moon. As a result, it can't be science, then it must be God. "Tides go in, tides go out, there's never a miscommunication. If it isn't God, then you explain it", you exclaim to a guest. Surely, your middle school teachers taught about gravitational pull of the earth, the poles, and how the moon affects the tides of the ocean. This is not the Dark Ages where something we can't explain happens and it becomes conclusive proof of Satan's work and we start burning witches or have trials by ordeal.

What am I saying? You probably have no idea what I am talking about...The Bible is not, I repeat NOT a compendium of scientific data. It's just not. If anyone seriously reads the Bible and believes that anything is scientific in there then they should join ranks with Palin and Beck right now. Tides go in, tides go out...that's what's supposed to happen. But that can be and is explained scientifically for about 500 years, there's nothing head scratching about that like curing cancer or Beck's blackboard communist conspiracy theories.

So, since you got rightly made fun of for your tides come in nonsense we get this gem. "Okay, how did the Moon get there? How'd the Moon get there? Look, you pinheads who attacked me for this, you guys are just desperate. How'd the Moon get there? How'd the Sun get there? How'd it get there? Can you explain that to me? How come we have that and Mars doesn't have it? Venus doesn't have it. How come? Why not? How'd it get here?" Well, again in most middle school science classes, we learn that the moon was formed from an impact with earth and that Venus and most of the planets have moons, several in fact. All facts that can be easily verified if you simply looked into a telescope. Who figured these things out? Galileo, Isaac Newton, Copernicus...any of these ring a bell?

We know that your show has nothing to do with logic, facts or common sense. I can get more rationality from an episode of sesame street. Next you will have an expose about how the moon is made of cheese, or that there is a homeless Acorn New Black Panther member living there getting ready to mount an attack on all the white middle aged women named Susie. Maybe Noah put the moon there, then installed rocket boosters after the flood to get the moon there. We have the tooth fairy, Santa, so maybe the moon got there from the cheese fairy. Maybe Michael Jackson put it there. Oh, here is something for you to ponder, we only see one side of the moon, is God hiding something on the other side? The average menstrual cycle is 28 days which is the lunar cycle, coincidence or conspiracy?

I don't know our origins, we can argue till we are horse about whether we came out of a primordial soup or whether the earth was formed in 6 days. However, what I do know, we as Americans and a western culture are behind the times based on the idiocy that I just described above. Religion and science cannot coexist because one operates on facts and logic, the other on faith. Is is a leap that in the Genesis story, that maybe our 6 days may not be Gods 6 days? Could his day be 2 days, 100 days, 1,000 days, 1,000 years? How do we know? We have a book that was orally dictated, handwritten and translated from Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and English and edited by Catholic Bishops who decided which gospels should be included and who should be changed a little to seem more interesting. Mathew, Mark, Luke and John recount the same story with some discrepancies.

If you have ever heard, "this strain of virus is resistant to antibiotics", then you are dealing with evolution and it can't be discounted as crap because you just want to believe in the Genesis intelligent design story. With all of all that, we are supposed to take everything in the as Bible 100% literal? I don't think so, if they did people wouldn't eat seafood or work on Sundays.

This is the 21st Century all unexplained things are not conclusive evidence of Jesus or Satan at work. The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, that should be Fox New's motto. Science is not a liberal conspiracy in order to turn people against God. Religious fundamentalism is a scourge on the planet that robs people of their ability to think and apply even the most basic level of common sense. When I hear such foolishness come from the mouth of a person that went to Harvard, get's paid millions of dollars a year and the best they can come up with is tides comes in, how does the sun get there...this is something I expect from Bachmann or Palin, but not you. You were really serious. You need to give Harvard their degree back or, they need to break in to your penthouse and steal it, because you are not representing a smart Harvard alum if you don't understand gravity.

I pray that you are pandering to the religious right because you know they disregard evolution and science. If so, you deserve a special place in hell for manipulating people based on their faith for political and economic gain. You are one of the most cynical of broadcasters, feigning the bumpkin upbringing and misunderstanding of the world so that you can goad your listeners into supporting the corporate system that feeds your own elite existence. Of course, Jimmie and Susie aren't thinking about that when they hear you talk, all they hear are those buzz words, "Jesus, patriotism, terrorism, christian, 9/11".

What horrendous sin did the people on this planet commit to be plagued with your tragic lie filled show? How many hail Mary's, confessions, sack cloth and ashes do I need to roll in end the suffering? If only I could go back and take out the person that invented the tv. While you were out sticking felafel's into hookers, you should been reading National Geographic, and taking remedial astronomy. Not astrology with Ms. Cleo, that's not the same thing. This is why Rome fell and why America is on the decline, gross ignorance that people like you perpetrate on a mass scale. Your stupidity is like a black hole, I fear it will suck all common sense, I.Q's, rationality inside and you will start watching cluster fox. All of the real journalists are in Egypt getting punched, threatened and tear gassed, but you are ok. Fox's new slogan should be: All ignorance, All the Time, You Don't Have to Feel Bad Watching Us." Bill, please stop talking out of Uranus.

Damn I miss Keith Olberbman.

Sunday Shock, Shame and Awe

If You Don't Think Olbermann Was Fired Because of Comcast, I Have an Igloo in the Mojave Desert to Sell You

Comcast is a right-leaning, big media entertainment corporation that is about to control content, television, telephone and Internet service, all through one giant portal. Its interests are in dictating what consumers pay, see and hear by owning the delivery system and what it delivers.

Its acquisition of NBC Universal will accelerate an already-monopolized big media presence on television to include content control that extends even to the Internet.

Anybody who thinks that a company that is the epitome of Pac-Man corporate growth is going to tolerate liberal programming on MSNBC that is critical of corporate governance - well, you're floating down the river of "de-Nile."

Keith is gone and black folks need not apply.

I wonder if a black anchor at one of these cable shows would be talking about the bomb that was found in Washington? The lame stream media sure is quiet about it. Or, the cop from the "windy city" who was doing his best John Demjanjuk impersonation on black folks for years. I guess racial tensions and hate groups aren't selling in A-merry-ca these days. One political act of terror is enough for now. We are just getting over Tucson, we can't overload the public. There is just so much hate we can take here in A-merry-ca. You can't pursue happiness when you are hating anybody.

Black Radical Thought Will Save Us All

White Left resistance to effective, comradely collaboration with Black Leftists “makes impossible the ‘revolution of social values’ called for by Dr. King.” Whites control far more resources on the Left, especially in media. However, “the general absence of Black intelligence in White media, specifically that which is defined as White Left or Progressive media, inhibits broad social movement building.”

Redeye tiptoeing away from the computer to go pray.

Redeye's Saturday Must Reads and Open Thread

Warning readers, this is not one of those uplifting forward thinking posts. I still reserve the right to complain... LOUDLY over folk's FOOLISHNESS!~Gina, The Blogmother

Over the Mountain Dems are looking for a solution to the Joe Reed problem.

10,000 Pound Elephant (4.00 / 1)
The all danced around a very pertinent issue, Joe Reed. He has got to go and will be used as the poster boy to beat Dems going forward for many years. Good lord, how badly do we have todo in elections before stupid people at the top get it.

I can't say I didn't see this coming. Comast in. Keith Olberman out.

Which of these statements are true?

There is no such thing as white privilege.
Blacks like to complain.
Blacks are their own worst enemy, not white people or their supposed racism.
Blacks need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps just like everyone else.
I made it on my own, I did not get any special favours. Why should blacks?
If anything, blacks have it easier than whites, what with affirmative action and all.
Affirmative action is unfair to whites.
Whites are a better judge of whether something is racist than blacks are. Blacks are oversensitive.
It is unfair to have a Black History Month when there is no White History Month.
Blacks are just as racist as whites.

The Tea Party will be No Party for the poor and the middle class

Republicans and Tea Partiers have no compunction when it comes to lowering the hammer on the lives and welfare of taxpayers (the "low-hanging fruit"), while the rich and the powerful are advocated for with full press--the extension of the Bush tax cuts which will increase this nation's deficit hole, although economists are mostly in agreement that such an extension will do little to stimulate our lethargic economy.

Why can't our government officials share in the pain?

Every time I hear the phrase "it's gonna be painful", what comes to mind is that the only ones that are feeling the pain are the downtrodden and poor. However, our government officials always seem to glide through the pain as untouchables.

What's on your Saturday reading list?

I know that I am NOT culpable

SaintSatinStain, I respectfully disagree with your assertion we are all indirectly or just as responsible as Sarah Palin for the terrorism in Arizona. If I were allowed to post on Left in Alabama I would have posted this response there, but since I'm not I will post it here with HOPE you read and will respond accordingly.

You said;

You and I, along with some
politicians and public figures,
right and left, probably contribute
to the sickness with use
of the imagery of violence.

I don't use imagery of violence and I don't know of any democratic politicians or public figures who do. As Melissa Ewen of Shakesville says;

An anonymous commenter at Daily Kos and the last Republican vice presidential nominee are not equivalent, no matter how many ridiculously irresponsible members of the media would have us believe otherwise.

You said;

Public figures with a following
need to take special care
in what they say.

On this point I agree, however as Melissa points out again;

There is, demonstrably, no leftist equivalent to Sarah Palin, former veep candidate and presumed future presidential candidate, who uses gun imagery (rifle sights) and language ("Don't Retreat, RELOAD") to exhort her followers to action.

You said;

We all need to take care
in what we say in public
and in private.

I guess it depends on who WE IS. It's a slippery slope when some have to watch what they say and others don't.

There is no leftist equivalent to the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), a group which was created from the mailing list of the old white supremacist White Citizens Councils and has been noted as becoming increasingly "radical and racist" by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which classifies the CCC as a hate group—and is nonetheless considered an acceptable association by prominent members of the Republican Party, including a a former senator and the last Republican presidential nominee.

You said;

Call folk on it whenever they use violence imagery, especially in political debate
and in the public space.

Again we agree people who use violent imagery should be called on it, however it can't be taken out of context, there is a difference in saying "I clean my flintlock and leave it loaded by the door." as an imagery to express the strength of your feelings about our racial and racist past and telling people if you can't win at the ballot box, use bullets.

There is no leftist equivalent to Glenn Beck, host of a long-running nationally syndicated radio show, former host of a show on CNN and current host of a show on Fox, best-selling author, DC rally organizer, and longtime user of eliminationist rhetoric, including equating universal health care to rape, joking about victims of forest fires being America-hating liberals, comparing Al Gore to Hitler, condoning the murder of Michael Moore, accusing Holocaust survivor George Soros of being a Nazi collaborator, joking about poisoning Nancy Pelosi, equating immigration reform with burning US citizens alive, publicly endorsing violent revolution, and winkingly telling his viewers not to get violent, all of which amounts to a speck on the tip of a very big iceberg.

You said;

Believe in self defence
and defence of others, such as the weak,
but don't talk it, especially in public.
It may influence others, others
who don't perceive nuance real
and imagined.

What good is believing in self-defense and the defense of others if you can't talk about it? How you are you going to defend yourself and the weak with silence? IMHO that's why we're in this mess because those who believe in self-defense and the defense of others are silenced.

There is no leftist equivalent to Ann Coulter, best-selling author and syndicated columnist, who has been a panelist on Fox's Hannity 28 times and was on Hannity & Colmes an additional 18 times, who has been a guest multiple times on The O'Reilly Factor, Geraldo at Large, Larry King Live, Huckabee, Your World with Neil Cavuto, Hardball, and other cable news shows, has made appearances on The Tonight Show, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Daily Show, and Real Time with Bill Maher, and has co-hosted The View, and has also said that a baseball bat is "the most effective way" to talk to liberals, as well as: "We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too." And: "My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building." And: "In [Clinton's] recurring nightmare of a presidency, we have a national debate about whether he 'did it,' even though all sentient people know he did. Otherwise there would be debates only about whether to impeach or assassinate."

You said;

No ambiguity in cross hairs, especially when used in targeting context.

Rationalizations, such as claim that it's surveyors' cross hairs, are disingenuous, spurious, and profane.

Per Melissa Ewen;

This is not an argument there is no hatred, no inappropriate and even violent rhetoric, among US leftists. There is.

This is evidence that, although violent rhetoric exists among US leftists, it is not remotely on the same scale, and, more importantly, not an institutionally endorsed tactic, as it is among US right wingers.

This is a fact. It is not debatable.

I will not apologize for standing up to the right-wing bully's. I am not culpable and neither are you.

The shooting in Tucson was not an anomaly. It was an inevitability.

And as long as we continue to play this foolish game of "both sides are just as bad," and rely on trusty old ablism to dismiss Jared Lee Loughner as a crackpot—dutifully ignoring that people with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators; carefully pretending that the existence of people with mental illness who are potentially dangerous somehow absolves us of responsibility for violent rhetoric, as opposed to serving to underline precisely why it's irresponsible—it will be inevitable again.

Democrats are the ones under attack. Democrats who defend the defenseless.

Congressman Danny Davis reportedly received a threatening email following Saturday's shooting rampage in Arizona.

U.S. Rep. Davis, a Democrat from Chicago, told the Chicago Tribune the email was sent to a staffer and read "Danny Davis is next," likely referencing the Saturday shooting. Davis' staff then notified the authorities.

That's not my fault or your fault. WE are not the ones culpable.

Since Rep. Gabriel Giffords (D-AZ) and others were shot in Tucson, AZ this weekend, Sarah Palin has received renewed criticism for a map her PAC posted last year with gun cross-hairs over the districts of several Democrats who voted for health care reform — including Giffords’. Hours after the shooting, Fox News — which employs Palin — aired scenes from a vigil in Phoenix, but when one mourner appeared to began to call out Palin’s incendiary rhetoric, the Fox feed abruptly went to commercial.

Nor is Keith Olberman for calling them out and telling the world who they are and what they stand for.

Redeye's Tuesday Must Reads

There are two sides to every story and we finally get to hear Keith Olbermans side, not from MSM but via buzzflash.com

You should also know that I did not attempt to keep any of these political contributions secret; I knew they would be known to you and the rest of the public. I did not make them through a relative, friend, corporation, PAC, or any other intermediary, and I did not blame them on some kind of convenient 'mistake' by their recipients.

The South Shall Rise Again!

As the Democrats get clobbered time and again, I note how these successes remind me of he the Southern Strategy used to gain control of the Congress before the Civil War and how again they used it to almost win the Civil War.

Yep. Alabama's' own Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions fired the first shot when he made sure the Azalea Trail Maids were Alabama's only representative in the inaugural parade of the first African American President of the United States of America. When Alabama State NAACP VP Edward Vaughn, myself and others tried to sound the alarm, we were called racist and accused of attacking the "girls" and told to STFD and STFU.

Get over it. This is such a non-issue. No one see these girls as a representation of racism except those who get bent out of shape over trivial little matters.
Complete nonissue. It is pretty funny to see how much time and attention you have put into this.

Note, some of these same people complain media attention given to AL State Senator Hank Sanders' mad as hell robo call to DEMOCRATIC voters cost Lt. Governor Jim Folsom the election, and portrayed Alabama in a negative light. There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy.

CNN reaches a lot of people, even in Alabama. Folsom only lost to Kay Ivey by about 45,000 votes. There's no way to know how many people came out to vote for Folsom because they got the call vs. how many were motivated to vote against him because they heard about it, but I'd love to see what kind of movement Folsom and/or Ivey's internal polls showed between October 15th, when the calls hit Alabama answering machines, and Election Day.

The fix is in.

Hmmmm, sooooooo we just experienced a wave election fueled by anger in the electorate over the lack of jobs and feelings about the economy. YET it is now reported that the economy was showing these really positive signs of improvement for the last couple months - BUT news outlets like MSNBC sat on the numbers and only released them AFTER the elections, along with a glowing commentary encouraging people to be optimistic.
Don't sleep... The Hustler's are coming home to roost.

It’s funny but having the first black President has been a dual edged sword. On the one hand we have been given the boost to our pride of finally achieving the highest office in the land and that black folks have all the skills necessary to overcome centuries of racism and on the other hand we have a President who can barely use the word black in public for fear of agitating the racist who will be agitated no matter what he says.

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."
--Thomas Jefferson

Peace be with you.

Real Liberal quotes from real Liberals~Sunday Edition

"Well, there's a certain mean spiritness that's out there, not only in Alabama but it's in America. And that makes this election extremely important." ~Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders (D)

Fear can be on hell of a force multiplier, provided it’s impetus is the right one. We can now justify being afraid. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to get your fear on. It’s long since time you got your mad on.~Michael Douglas

"One of the things we can't do is, we can't let them distract from what we're all about, and what we're trying to accomplish. We're trying to keep the focus on comprehensive, universal health care reform, and they're going all over the place. They are desperate, uh, they don't have leadership, uh, they really don't know what to do, and so, I think we're going to continue to see a lot of crazy things happening, like all of the, uh, outrage that has been demonstrated at these town hall meetings, like the kind of statement that Congresswoman Jenkins made, and let them define themselves, let them reveal who they are. The American public needs to see that."~Rep. Maxine Waters (D.CA)

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Beware of fears racist temptation~Keith Olberman

Alabama is stuck in both a time warp and in a black hole of its own making with regard to race. There can be no change unless people are willing to smash the taboo of cross racial cooperation.~skepticalbrotha

Republican health care plan: Don't get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly.
~Rep. Alan Grayson (D.FL)

Who is WE fundmaker?

Confederate General Robert E. Lee sig line blogger fundmaker has the nerve to ask Does Nancy Pelosi deserve to be Dem leader on the front page at right leaning Left in Alabama.

Nancy Pelosi held a news conference on Friday to announce that she intends to remain leader of the Democrats in the House. While she recieved statements of support from a few veteran Dem's such as Jesse Jackson Jr. (Ill), she has drawn multiple comments of criticism from other Democrats, based on concerns that she may not represent the consensus anymore. Other worries are that she has played a direct role in the defeat Democrats suffered at the hands of the Republicans in the recent mid-term elections.

Does Pelosi deserve to remain leader? Do we need fresh blood? Do we need a more mainstream leader?

First of all it should be Does Nancy Pelosi deserve to the DEMOCRATIC leader and secondly who the heck is WE?

Because of the branding issues and stigmas associated with the words, "Conservative, Liberal, Socialist, Right-Winger, Lefty, Yellow" it is very hard to find descriptives to use for ones political mindset. Even if there were no stigmas, the descriptives are so broadly interpreted now that you still have to wonder what they actually mean.

Let me explain. If I call myself a "Liberal", that does not mean I am pro-abortion and anti-gun in my opinion. But, it might mean that to someone else. The definitions of descriptives are far too broad today.

On a personal level, I feel like the most descriptive words to actually describe my ideaological platform would be "Socialist" and "Conservative". No, I am not a Soviet era sympathizer. In fact, I despise communistic principles. I do however support some socialistic aspects. I want to list some of my views on issues and you guys try to describe me using descriptives. Rename me....

Have you been defined yet? And what do you mean by do WE need someone "more mainstream"? Somebody like this?

If I like a candidate, I vote for them. If I don't like the candidate, I don't vote for them. If I like both candidates, I go with the one I like the best. If I don't like either, I either go with the lesser of two evils (if the other choice is truly horrible) or don't vote at all in that particular race.

The letter next to a person's name has little to do with who I vote for. Everyone has good folks and bad folks. I'm not going to vote for a bad candidate or hold back from voting for a good one just because of his party affiliation.

What's up with the race baiting? Never mind, WE know.

While she recieved statements of support from a few veteran Dem's such as Jesse Jackson Jr. (Ill),

Since you have privileges I don't have at LiA let a DEMOCRAT answer your question.
Does Nancy Pelosi DESERVE to the the DEMOCRATIC Leader?

HELL YES. Nancy Pelosi is effective and is reading willing and able to stand up to Boehner. She has proven she is not skeered to stand up to the right wing Bully's. Any other Minority leader will be nothing but a republican enabler. Which is why republicans are skeered to death of her.

Let's revisit the post from yesterday about the Blue Dogs and other conservatives who threw Pelosi-- and the Democratic brand-- under the bus to try to save their own asses. The question was, "did it help any of them?" Well, every single challenger who came out with idiotic statements like, "I'll support Allen Boyd for Speaker" (grotesquely corrupt Alabama lobbyist Steve Raby), was defeated. The three most aggressively anti-Pelosi Blue Dogs, Bobby Bright (AL), Jim Marshall (GA) and Gene Taylor (MS), were defeated. Blue Dogs Mike McIntyre (NC) and Jason Altmire (PA) managed to survive the slaughter. More than half the Blue Dogs were defeated or retired. Only 47% of them, a number which will go down when Jim Costa's (CA-20) likely loss is announced later today) were reelected. Contrast that to the 95% of the Congressional Progressive Caucus members who were reelected.

If WE democrats wanted a republican leader WE democrats would elect republican leader.

The reason the gop infused, media enabled Tea Party hijacked Hope and Change was because republicans were UNIFED in their opposition. Unlike democrats, they put party before country.

I think when you run against your own party in this age of polarization you are begging the electorate to vote for your opponent. We aren't in an age of ticket splitting and the parties are breaking pretty clearly along ideological lines (even if the Democrats haven't figured that out yet.)

When WE democrats stop enabling and appeasing republicats WE democrats will win. Because WE Democrats are for right and THEY are for wrong.

Amen and Amen

The one thing that is needed with the Democrats in the state of Alabama is strength. We have too many Democrats that are afraid to call out Republicans for lying to the people of Alabama. The number one reason that Republicans have dominated this state is: the message of the Republican Party.

Democrats have allowed Republicans to dominate the message in this state. They used the right leaning media in this state. However, when Democrats have the chance to get quality media coverage, the message is one of cow towing instead of calling out Republicans. Sure Ron Sparks called out Dr. Bentley for not wanting kids in this state to get a college education, however, did he truly explain why Republicans feel this way? Republicans feel this way because they want to keep the masses “down and dumb” so they promote the message of “I am pro life guy” and people who have nothing will fall for it every time. From 2001 – 2007 Republicans controlled the White House, Congress, and the Supreme Court, however, Roe v. Wade was not overturned. Why did not any Democrat (Sparks, Anderson, Folsom) call out Republicans? Do Republicans really have your best interest?

It's kind of hard for democrats to get their message out and counter the right wing spin out when progressive voices are suppressed and cenosored.

When Censorship Comes to America...

I'm not buying the Keith Olbermann was suspended because he knew the terms of his contract and he knew the rules spin. Keith Olberman is a liberal but he's not stoopid. And it would be different if MSNBC didn't have a pattern of firing progressive voices in favor of go along to get alongs. Remember Phil Donahue?

Gabriel Sherman's piece in New York magazine (10/3/10) on the cable news wars includes a bit of history on MSNBC's firing of progressive host Phil Donahue in 2003; an internal memo at the time worried that the show would be "a home for the liberal anti-war agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity." Sherman focuses on MSNBC personality Chris Matthews--who sometimes claims he was opposed to the Iraq War--and his desire to get Donahue fired:

Like LiA blogger Dragontide, I wonder if MSNBC was just looking for a reason to get rid of KO;

From the NY Times link:

"The suspension comes at a particularly tricky time for MSNBC. NBC Universal is in the midst of a change of ownership, with its potential new owner, Comcast, seeking final federal approval for the sale. It hopes to conclude the deal by the end of the year."
Maybe Comcast wants a completely different NBC. Seems to me that the proper thing to do would have been to ask Olbermann to not contribute to anymore campaigns and leave it at that. In any event, it's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Then we have Rick Sanchez who was fired from CNN after giving a satellite radio interview in which he called Jon Stewart a “bigot” and suggested that Jews run CNN and the news media in general.

Keith Olbermann was suspended after POLITICO reported he made three campaign contributions to Democratic candidates. POLITICO recently hired former republican Congressman Joe Scarborough and they have a daily segment on Morning Joke, I mean Joe.

Starting on Oct. 1, Politico will run weekly opinion columns by Joe Scarborough, the MSNBC host and former United States representative, and Michael Kinsley, a columnist for The Atlantic.

I smell a rat too.

So let me get this straight; MSNBC suspends Keith Olbermann for donating money to dumbocratic candidates, and their rivals, Radio Rwanda, allows their on air personalities to run for republican office? I swear liberals are getting softer and softer by the day. You all have got to get hard core like the republiclowns. Do you think Radio Rwanda would fire one of their biggest earners over some s^&t like this? Hell News Corp gave over a million dollars to that racist- right out of central casting- Haley Barbour, and didn't even sweat it.

Still, like Aaron Goldstein, I smell a rat. You know the world is upside down when conservatives are ripping MSNBC for suspending Olbermann.

It ought to be against network policy to use the public airways to spread lies and misinformation but I digress. Did Keith Olberman actually violate NBC policy?

Check out the fine print of what NBC policy said, as of 2007, about political activities on the part of NBC employees:

"Anyone working for NBC News who takes part in civic or other outside activities may find that these activities jeopardize his or her standing as an impartial journalist because they may create the appearance of a conflict of interest. Such activities may include participation in or contributions to political campaigns or groups that espouse controversial positions. You should report any such potential conflicts in advance to, and obtain prior approval of, the President of NBC News or his designee."

Emphasis mine. This is a bit difficult to parse. But this does seem to say that those who are worried that their "standing as an impartial journalist" would be jeopardized by political activity should report it. Last time I checked, Keith Olbermann doesn't pretend to be an "impartial journalist."

So let me see if I have this right(pun intended), MSNBc employees have to ask permission from management to donate their own damn money to political candidates? What if management says no? I guess only anonymous corproations are allowed "freedom of speech".

The story behind is the story is Keith Olberman got Dan Rathered by GE. Scared of losing influence with the Republicans in Congress, GE Executives cravenly did what they do best: protect their bottom line. Suspending Olbermann had nothing to do with drawing "a distinction between the journalistic standards of their news division and the standards of Fox." GE's own record of political contributions makes that very clear.

The difference between Keith Olbermann and Juan Williams is that Olbermann is in trouble for putting his money where his mouth is. Williams was putting his mouth where his money is. h/t AllesKlaar

Psst Keith, Rick and Dan! I feel your pain. You should join forces and start your own Network.

I keep on asking: WHERE THE H.... IS THE PRO-DEMOCRATIC MEDIA? (specially radio). I can drive through Texas and listen to at least dozens of Spanish radio stations and I can't find 1 pro-democratic station (only 1 in Dallas).

As long as we don't have "Pro-democratic" (liberal) radio in every major city in the US. Republicans are going to keep on ruling this country.

President Obama needs to speak on this.

Bring. It. On. Update

Dag, I step away from the blogosphere for a little while and all hell breaks loose on the political front.

Update: Sign the petition to put Keith Olbermann on the air now!

MSNBC suspended Keith Olberman without pay because he didn't disclose contributions made to three democratic congressional candidate. Psst KO! Don't you know thanks to the Supreme Court ruling all you have to do is incorporate (become a corporation)and you can donate as much money as you want. And, you can do it anonymously. Or you can be a right wing republican TeeVee Talking Head.

Even if you set aside the hypocrisy of the Joe Scarborough double-standard, Phil Griffin's explanation for suspending Keith Olbermann doesn't add up.

Griffin says Olbermann violated a policy requiring NBC News reporters to obtain approval for making political campaign donations that "jeopardize his or her standing as an impartial journalist." But Olbermann isn't an "impartial journalist" and doesn't claim to be. Neither is Joe Scarborough, a point that NBC itself made in excusing Scarborough's donations.

Yep. There is something rotten in the Cotton over at MSNBC.

MSNBC suspended host Keith Olbermann today, following revelations that he made campaign contributions to three Democrats in the elections -- a violation of MSNBC policy.

But a search of OpenSecrets.org reveals that MSNBC host Joe Scarborough and MSNBC contributor Pat Buchanan have also made contributions to political campaigns.

If the democrats had gonads (which we know they don't)Before the 112th Congress convenes, the Senate of the 111th would pass the 400 bills sent to them by the industrious House… That's what the republicans would do. Another thing the republicans would do is pick the member with the biggest gonads to lead them. But do the democrats do that? Nooooo. They want to throw the member with the biggest gonads under the bus in favor of the member with no gonads. The Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads are breathlessly talking about the brewing fight between Steny Hoyer (Blue dog), Jim Clyburn (too nice) and Nancy Pelosi to be Minority leader.

Let me say right off the bat I am behind Nancy Pelosi 100%. Why should she fall on the sword? She did her part. Plus that, she does not cut and run. If mild mannered Harry Reid, who barely won re-election can remain Senate Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi can be House Minority Leader. If Robert Gibbs, David Axelrod, Eric Holder, Tom Villseck and Valerie Jarret can keep their jobs, Nancy can keep hers. Plus that republicans are skeered to death of Nancy Pelosi.

Just because democrats lost the majority and squandered a filibuster proof Senate doesn't mean we should roll over and play dead. On the contrary it should make us fight harder. There are three things in our favor.
1. Democrats are still the majority in the Senate so they can check any craziness that comes from the house.

2. President Obama is still in the White House and has his trusty VETO pen and signing statements.

3. Most of the Blue Dogs are history. Progressives prevailed. The democratic minority is going to be as effective as the republican minority was because they will be UNITED in their opposition. Snicker

We don't need a mealy mouth or a Blue Dog as our leader, we need a proud, courageous liberal leading us. Like lamh32 said;

We need Nancy knocking heads now more than ever, since we are no longer in the Majority. Nancy seems like the ONLY one who can do that and who has a credible chance of being elected.

Sign the petition in support of Nancy Pelosi.

Hmmm...I wonder who 7th district Congresswoman Terri Sewell will vote for?

On October 19th, U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, the Majority Leader of the House, will be coming to Birmingham as Terri's special guest at a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). She's also made financial contributions to other Dems in Alabama and is campaigning with Alabama Democrats up and down the ballot to prevent a Republican takeover.

It. Is. On.