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post from Talking Points Memo on 20 December 2009 11:47:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

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Huckabee Way Out There

post from Talking Points Memo on 20 December 2009 11:47:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Huckabee compares Nelson to Judas at Omaha rally. [...]

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"Confusion Among Our Public"

post from Talking Points Memo on 20 December 2009 11:31:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Sen. Webb's office put out a statement this evening declaring his intention (which will already knew) to be one of the 60 votes to move the health care bill on to passage. I reprint it in full below the fold. But in the process of going through his[...]

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Open Thread

post from Crooks and Liars on 20 December 2009 11:30:08 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Original cartoon from Matt Bors. It is a shame that messages this brutal have to come in the form of humor, but the word has to get out there somehow.

Open thread below...

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Open Thread and Diary Rescue

post from Daily Kos on 20 December 2009 11:29:21 PM. © Daily Kos

Tonight's Rescue Rangers are grog, jlms qkw, sunspark says, dopper0189, srkp23, Louisiana 1976 and, back after a long hiatus, claude, in the editor's seat.

The Rescue Rangers read every diary posted between 3pm yesterday and 3pm today (PST) looking for good writing that has been over-looked by the community, whatever the point of view. Show these writers some love for their efforts.

The Rescued diaries:

KAMuston tells the true and utterly depraved story of Richard the Lion Heart, which goes a long way toward explaining WHY NOBILITY DIED. (sunspark says)

Dbug digs in with links, graphs, and analysis in WA-08: Can The Democrats Oust Reichert? (jlms qkw)

Gemina13 details the travails of not only her life but our country's as well in Reasons Why I'll Be Happy To See The End of 2009. (jlms qkw)

Molly Weasley puts a timely and humorous twist on this holiday classic in 12 days of ... (jlms qkw)

The Red Pen provides this useful primer that'll help at your next cable teevee appearance: How to Be Irrational. (grog)

Charlotte Lucas takes us to exotic Tibet in Into the Orient 2.

As snow has blanketed Washington and other points east, marykk shares Memories and Recipes - The Great Storm. (Louisiana 1976)

In an informative, detailed piece on what really goes into such books, Just Call Me Jay examines The Lie of the Business Book. (Louisiana 1976)

The people of Viet Nam haven't forgotten, and neither should we. jimstaro reminds us of Agent Orange in Remnants of War, Just One. (jlms qkw)

jotter has Week's High Impact Diaries: December 12-18, 2009 AND High Impact Diaries: December 19, 2009.

bronte17 has tonight's TOP COMMENTS (12-20-09): Teach Your Children Well.

This is an Open Thread. Remember, we're all on the same side here, so play nice.

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-Rescue

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Sunday Late Night: Stay-at-Home LGBTs in 2010

post from Firedoglake on 20 December 2009 11:01:39 PM. © Firedoglake

Elections have consequences, we are always told. If Election Day 2008 doesn't have more positive consequences for LGBT Americans by Election Day 2010, you can expect more passivity from us, Mr President. You will have earned it. See, elections do[...]

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C&L's Late Nite Music Club with James Brown

post from Crooks and Liars on 20 December 2009 11:00:12 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Title: Santa Claus (Go Straight to the Ghetto)Artist: James Brown
video details and more

From his 1995 album "James Brown's Funky Christmas".

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Far right town in Italy performs house-to-house
searches

post from AMERICAblog News on 20 December 2009 10:54:00 PM. © AMERICAblog News

Operation White Christmas? Really? Banning "foreign food" was odd, especially because quite a few foods eaten there are not indigenous to Italy. (Think tomatoes, corn, even olives for example.) Then there was that strange village that caused outrage because Jesus was dark skinned. And now the Italian far right is organizing house-to-house searches for illegal immigrants. Just in time for Christmas. These people are disturbed.

But in this town of 8,000 inhabitants between Milan and Venice, the approach to Christianity's most sacred festival has been marked in a very special way. On orders from the local council, controlled by the conservative Northern League, police have been carrying out house-to-house searches for illegal immigrants in an action dubbed Operation White Christmas. The operation is due to finish on December 25.

Some 3,000 people have marched through the town in protest at the operation, which the Vatican called "sad and distressing". But it has been endorsed by Silvio Berlusconi's government. Visiting nearby Brescia, where he announced the opening of a detention camp for suspected illegal immigrants ? a so-called centre for identification and expulsion ? Berlusconi's interior minister, Roberto Maroni, a leader of the League, complimented Coccaglio's mayor.

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-performs-house.html

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Motivation

I have none. I’ll try and find something thoughtful to say about this sandwich of old socks[...]

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Sunday Night Blog Fights

It's a diarist over at Daily Kos vs. Firedoglake's Jane Hamsher.

What started it: This post by Jane at HuffPo suggesting progressives align with libertarians to defeat the health care bill. [More...]

There is an enormous, rising tide of populism that crosses party lines in objection to the Senate bill. We opposed the bank bailouts, the AIG bonuses, the lack of transparency about the Federal Reserve, "bailout" Ben Bernanke, and the way the Democrats have used their power to sell the country's resources to secure their own personal advantage, just as the libertarians have. In fact, we've worked together with them to oppose these things. What we agree on: both parties are working against the interests of the public, the only difference is in the messaging.

...time and again, we're told "Obama retains his popularity with liberals" and that "screeching liberal bloggers" aren't having an impact. Nobody seems to notice that the "screeching liberal bloggers" are reflecting the very same sentiments of the vast majority of the country, whether the very small segment of the population who self-identify as "extremely liberal" holds the President responsible or no.

The Dkos diarist writes if you lay down with dogs, you wake up with fleas. I think he's confusing "teabaggers" and the radical right with libertarians. I think that's painting with too broad a brush. Liberal alliances with libertarians are nothing new. Many progressives are libertarians on many issues.

In 1994-95, when defense lawyers mobilized to defeat Newt Gingrich's Contract on America that would have eviscerated many of our constitutional rights, we teamed up with the Second Amendment groups. We did the same when we were pushing for forfeiture reform. Both efforts were successful.

I haven't made up my mind on the health care bill. I think the ship sailed long ago on a real reform bill and I'm not clear enough on the details of the new one, which apparently has the votes for passage. But if you are one who believes the health care reform bill is not reform, if you believe it is not better than what we have now, then you should be working towards its defeat. And you find your allies where you can. So I side with Jane.

As for the diarist's personal attacks on Jane, I think those ruin his post. Jane has never claimed to be a pied piper for liberals, she's just fighting her hardest for what she cares about and believes in. She's taken what began as a small blog and built it into a huge online community, filled with passionate writers and readers and intelligent discourse. That she's become a dominant voice and force in the progressive movement is the result of her hard work, and the diarist's snipes read like sour grapes to me.