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Jindal, Palin, Perry & The Stimulus

post from Daily Kos on 02 July 2009 10:30:07 PM. © Daily Kos

In the latest edition of Time, Michael Scherer has an article on Vice President Joe Biden's efforts "to ride herd on the stampede for dollars known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," and today at the Swampland, Scherer notes that:

One interesting fact that didn't make it into the story. Since March, Biden has talked, usually in conference calls, to dozens of mayors and 47 of the 50 state governors about the Recovery Act. The three governors who have not yet been on the line, though they have been invited: Alaska's Sarah Palin, Texas' Rick Perry and Louisiana's Bobby Jindal. You can draw your own conclusions.

We can also probably conclude that Mark Sanford would have made the list if he hadn't been busy milking his so-called rejection of the stimulus money for every drop of publicity he could get ... or hiking the Appalachian Trail.

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he-Stimulus

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Media Matters: Limbaugh's Off the Wall spin on
Michael Jackson's death

post from Media Matters for America - Latest Items on 02 July 2009 10:27:17 PM. © Media Matters for America - Latest Items

video details and more

Mama-Say-Mama-Saw-Mama-Would have to hear it to believe it. This one doesn't really need much of a setup.

While fans the world over mourn the passing of the King of Pop, the King of Talk, Rush Limbaugh, put the death of Michael Jackson this way: He "flourished under Reagan," "languished under Clinton/Bush, and died under Obama." Over on MSNBC, both David Shuster and Chuck Todd poked Limbaugh for his unsavory take on the tragedy, with Todd quipping, "It's always Reagan, right?"

Meanwhile, El Rushbo's pals over at Fox News knew exactly how to interpret the wall-to-wall coverage of Jackson's death. An actual Fox News chyron alleged a "cover-up" because the media were devoting more coverage to Jackson than cap-and-trade legislation. Lord, the fun one could have using this very rationale to pick apart the stories Fox chooses to cover. I guess when you're a hammer, everything is a ... wild conspiracy designed to frighten your audience and fan the flames of their paranoia.

Other major stories this week:

Ricci-ing for the absurd

Several weeks ago, conservatives took a first run at undermining the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. But their everything-and-the-kitchen-sink attack plan -- charging that she is an unqualified, Marxist, radical activist and a reverse racist/normal racist who is also, interestingly, far too empathetic to be on the Supreme Court -- fell flat under the weight of serious examination.

This week, however, offered another opportunity for media conservatives to revisit their central criticism: that Sotomayor's "wise Latina woman" comment was a window into the prejudicial soul of the judge who ruled against hard-working white firefighters (and a Hispanic firefighter) simply because they weren't black.

First, the facts. On Tuesday, ABC's Bob Woodruff misstated the crux of the case, reporting that Ricci v. DeStefano involved firefighters "passed over for promotion in favor of less qualified black candidates." In fact, no one was promoted over anyone else. Rather, the results of a test to determine which members of the New Haven Fire Department could receive promotions were thrown out because city officials were unhappy with a racial disparity in the results and stated they feared being sued for racial discrimination. In the decision that Sotomayor joined denying en banc rehearing of the appeal of the district court's decision, Judge Barrington Parker -- a George W. Bush appointee -- wrote that "the City acted out of a concern that certifying the exam results would have an adverse impact on minority candidates" -- a view that fit cleanly within previous Supreme Court precedent. That decision was overturned by the 5-4 vote of the Supreme Court on Monday.

Instead of looking at the legal merits of the case, conservatives have drawn the conclusion that Sotomayor was actively seeking to promote African-American firefighters at the expense of everyone else. The Washington Times opined that the case showed how, "[i]n Judge Sotomayor's America, people are judged by the color of their skin, not the content of their character." Investor's Business Daily chimed in as well: "The Supreme Court's overturning of high-court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's ruling in the New Haven firefighter case exposes what lies at the core of her misguided philosophy: stark racial favoritism."

Of course, Limbaugh, who has accused Sotomayor of racism on numerous occasions since her nomination was announced, was the most vocal: "Sonia Sotomayor was following her basic instinct: She is racist."

Most judges nominated by Democrats are accused by the right of being radicals, and Sotomayor is no different -- numerous efforts were made this week to portray the court's reversal of Ricci as proof of Sotomayor's inherent radicalism. But the fact of the matter is, four Supreme Court justices, including Justice David Souter, whom Sotomayor was nominated to replace, agreed with her -- a fact that conservatives have done their best to cover up.

A number of media conservatives subsequently claimed that the court had unanimously rejected Sotomayor's reasoning. Ed Whelan (who can't use The Google) and Kathryn Lopez of National Review Online started the trend ("9-0 Against Sotomayor"), followed quickly by Fox News' Laura Ingraham and Rush. Ingraham's Fox News colleague Sean Hannity wasn't far behind. In fact, while Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote in her dissent that "[o]rdinarily, a remand for fresh consideration would be in order" and that "I would not oppose a remand for further proceedings fair to both sides," she concluded, consistent with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision, which Sotomayor joined: "[W]hat this case does not present is race-based discrimination in violation of Title VII."

Furthermore, an article in Politico promoted the myth that a Supreme Court reversal is unusual, even though the court has reversed more than 60 percent of the federal appeals court cases it considered each year since 2004. In doing so, Politico was following The Washington Times, which had already argued that such an outcome would be an "extraordinary rebuke" of Sotomayor. It should come as no surprise, then, that Fox's Alexis Glick impartially described the ruling as "a major slap" to Sotomayor. And for MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, the whole episode showed that it isn't just Sotomayor who is out of touch: nearly half of the Supreme Court is, too.

When the AP and The New York Times failed to note false statements by Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, they revealed just how far-reaching the problematic reporting on Sotomayor has become. It's clear that plenty of work needs to be done to ensure that she will have a fair hearing when she finally comes before the Senate. At least Jonathan Capehart is bringing some rationality to the discussion.

Franken victory sparks conservative media panic-fest

This week, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Al Franken be officially certified as the winner of last fall's U.S. Senate election in the state. Shortly after the decision came down, former Sen. Norm Coleman conceded defeat, making it clear he wouldn't launch additional legal efforts to stop Franken from being seated.

Conservatives in the media were beside themselves. Franken, after all, made a handsome living sparring with the likes of Fox News, Limbaugh, and, perhaps most notably, Bill O'Reilly (still must see TV after all these years.)

Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade -- or "brown-haired guy who isn't Steve Doocy," as Stephen Colbert would say -- epitomized the conservative media's response to the official Franken victory. First, he was "in denial," describing Franken as someone who "is barely sane." Then he confessed that "it hurt" to call Franken "a senator from Minnesota" and wondered about "who's safe now." He wasn't done quite yet -- he would go on to call Franken an "embarrassment," "hateful," "maniacal," "angry, evil," and a "bitter partisan."

Kilmeade was hardly alone at Fox. It seems the entire network was "in denial." Saying a lot more about himself than Franken, Glenn Beck said, "This is like having me in the Senate. ... [I]t shows that we've lost our minds."

Limbaugh wasn't too happy with Franken's win, either. He compared the Iranian recount to the Minnesota Senate recount and called Franken a "genuine lunatic" to boot. Clear Channel's Jim Quinn shared Rush's assessment, saying Franken had "stolen" the election while pegging ACORN as a likely culprit. Is there anything media conservatives won't blame on ACORN?

Proving once again that the real joke during this hyper-extended campaign was not the fact that a former comedian might win, but the way the media covered the long legal battle, Politico's Mike Allen claimed Franken prevailed because "[h]e shut his mouth, and when you are Al Franken, that's not easy to do," while MSNBC's Mike Barnicle said that it was "kind of a surprise" that Franken "behaved like a responsible adult."

The global warming whistleblower who wasn't

It's hard to believe, but some conservatives aren't convinced that global warming is real. In fact, some of them think it's a left-wing, anti-American conspiracy, nothing more than propaganda pushed by the liberal media and traitorous members of Congress, all in the hope of turning you into eco-slaves. Scared yet? So is Fox News' Dick Morris, who, when it comes to this issue, is apparently one-third sane.

It's no wonder, then, that the conservative media sighs with relief when somebody wakes up and tells the truth! Someone honest and courageous. Someone like Alan Carlin, a "legendary" EPA official and co-author of an internal document disproving global warming -- a document that the agency then "suppressed," presumably stomping on it with a Birkenstock.

According to the EPA's own records, Carlin is an economist, not a climate scientist -- something Fox's Steve Doocy and Gretchen Carlson ignored when they hosted him on Wednesday to discuss his work. Furthermore, the report he authored made a false and deceptive claim: that global temperatures "have declined for 11 years," a reality he said the EPA ignored. Fox News duly reported it as gospel, as did CBSNews.com, without context or correction.

In fact, the EPA did review Carlin's work and decided it was flawed. No wonder, as Gavin Schmidt, a climate modeler at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, described it as possessing "a number of basic flaws" and demonstrating a "complete lack of appreciation of the importance of natural variability on short time scales."

But who is a scientist like Schmidt to criticize someone who ... isn't a scientist? I mean, how about a little respect? Heck, even a reputable publication like The Washington Times says the earth is getting cooler. Let's not lose our heads here.

This week's media columns

This week's media columns from the Media Matters senior fellows: Eric Boehlert explains how ABC News debunked the Obama "honeymoon" myth; Jamison Foser looks at Howard Kurtz's wasted opportunity; and Karl Frisch lets us in on the right's super-secret 2010 census plan to end all plans.

Buy the book

Don't forget to order your autographed copy of Eric Boehlert's compelling new book, Bloggers on the Bus: How the Internet Changed Politics and the Press (Free Press, May 2009).

Do you Facebook or Twitter?

If you use the social networking site Facebook, be sure to join the official Media Matters page and those of our senior fellows Eric Boehlert, Jamison Foser, and Karl Frisch as well. You can also follow Media Matters, Boehlert, Foser, and Frisch on Twitter.

This weekly wrap-up was compiled by Karl Frisch, a senior fellow at Media Matters. Frisch also contributes to County Fair, a media blog featuring links to progressive media criticism from around the Web as well as original commentary.

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http://feeds.mediamatters.org/~r/mediamatters/latest/~3/3cKoNs86kts/200907020034

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The Fitzgerald-Cheney Interview: What Dont We
Know That We Dont Know

post from Firedoglake on 02 July 2009 10:15:19 PM. © Firedoglake

Mary pointed me to DOJ's latest attempt to prevent CREW from accessing the materials relating to Cheney's interview with Fitzgerald and the FBI. I'll get into what a load of crap the DOJ argument is later. But first, I want to lay out what the FOIA[...]

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http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/07/02/the-contents-of-the-fitzgerald-chene
y-interview/

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The Colbert Report: Al Franken Finally Declared
Senator

post from Crooks and Liars on 02 July 2009 10:00:49 PM. © Crooks and Liars

From The Colbert Report:

The Minnesota Supreme Court rushes to declare Al Franken the winner of the Senate race after only seven months.

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McCain Suddenly Loves Iranians, After Promising
to Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Bomb Iran: BuzzFlash's GOP Hypocrite of the Week Award

post from BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash on 02 July 2009 10:00:42 PM. © BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash

John McCain

Welcome back to the BuzzFlash GOP Hypocrite of the Week.

We know what you're thinking. McCain again? We wanted to give the guy a break, since he won our GOP Hypocrite Award an impressive eight times in 2008 alone. But here at BuzzFlash, we call 'em like we see 'em, and we can't close our eyes to Sen. John McCain's hypocrisy.

McCain has been wasting all his available breath lately arguing that the U.S. needs to be on the "right side of history" on Iran, without taking note of what side he's been on in the long history of U.S.-Iranian relations. After it became clear that the recent presidential elections in Iran were fraudulent, McCain suggested that President Obama be more forceful in his condemnation of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and align the U.S. with the protesters in Tehran.

But anyone with a mere cursory understanding of U.S.-Iranian relations could tell you that is selfish posturing. Ahmadinejad wouldn't waste a minute in using Obama's words against the protesters, labeling the movement as a foreign incursion from the devilish America. As BuzzFlash editor Mark Karlin wrote, Obama is between the Shah and a hard place.

After insisting that "we must be a symbol of hope for the Iranian people" and getting all weepy on the Senate floor about the murdered Iranian protester called Neda, it's understandable that one might forget about McCain's more distant comments about the people of Iran.

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http://blog.buzzflash.com/honors/189

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Infrastructure Report Card -- and the Crumbling
of America

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 02 July 2009 09:55:42 PM. © Docudharma - Front Page

America was built on lots of hard work. At the cost of untold blood, sweat and tears. So much so, that we take it for granted. We just assume that all the modern conveniences we enjoy -- will just always be there!Well a team of super serious, civil[...]

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Always the Dollars

post from Daily Kos on 02 July 2009 09:48:04 PM. © Daily Kos

Just when you thought it was safe to venture out again, the zombie lies about global warming claw their way out of the grave. Like its slowly shuffling namesakes, most of this undead propaganda is so easily out maneuvered it would be laughable, if it wasn’t finding traction among the usual suspects on the cusp of a Senate debate -- guaranteed to be brimming with desperate GOP antics -- over a historic climate and energy bill.

Professionals paid by energy groups to present their clients’ case in the best light possible won’t be swayed by appeals to reason, honesty, or empirical data. As the old saying goes, ‘it’s impossible to get a guy to understand something if he’s livelihood depends on him not understanding it.’ But the court of public opinion, including those sympathetic to industry shills and PR hacks, is a different story. I asked Chris Mooney, coauthor of Unscientific America, who has a wealth of experience effectively dealing with the public how he would approach that group. He said one tried and true method is to simply ask them "what if you’re wrong"? So I gave that idea a test spin here, and maybe I just got lucky, but the early returns are encouraging.

The logic is hard to avoid. If we invest in energy efficiency, alternative technologies, and green jobs, and for whatever reason global warming turns out to be much adieu about nothing, we as a nation are left with greater energy independence and whole new industries right here at home. Not a bad outcome. But if climate change deniers are wrong, and we do nothing, we’re left depending on foreign oil, stuck with a growing, potentially catastrophic environmental disaster, and little or no immediate solutions to any of it. The better scenarios should be readily apparent.

Of course, there is one small group of people that might stand to benefit enormously under what are the worst scenarios for the rest of us. Business as usual means a few more pennies for energy companies on near term quarterly earnings’ reports. Those monopoly pennies might add up to the difference between a five million dollar bonus and a ten million dollar pay day for an oil company CEO or a large stockholder. And that, right there, explains the energy funded think-tanks and endless partisan attacks. With these insatiably greedy bastards it’s not about national security and it’s certainly not preserving your job. It’s the dollars, always the dollars.

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/Db2pZOHjnRc/-Always-the-Dollars

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Thursday Night Open Thread

I used all my time writing the ridculously long post below on the fight over the request to release documents related to Dick Cheney's FBI interview about the leak of Valerie Plame's identity.

I'm off to check out the TL kid's new apartment, he just got the keys. It's next door to his old apartment, but it's still an exciting move for him.

So I'm not going to get to the DEA jumping into the Michael Jackson death investigation (ridiculous) or Norm Stamper's latest on progressives joining the call for an end to the War on Drugs at Huffington Post, but I hope you do.

Best show of the season so far: Weeds. You can watch the episodes free online if you don't get Showtime.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

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Steve Schmidt Sells Shit by the Seashore

I agree with Jason Zengerle that you have to feel kind of bad for McCain strategist Steve Schmidt even if he did have a hand in picking the Nome Nitwit as McCain's running mate.[...]

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http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2009/07/02/steve-schmidt-sells-shit-by-the-seashore/

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