Wednesday Stuff

post from The Liberal Doomsayer on 24 August 2011 11:51:00 PM. © The Liberal Doomsayer

I was driving back from Maryland yesterday on 95 when we had the earthquake - felt to me like tractor trailers passing by anyway, so I didn't notice much of anything (though Le Manse Doomsy was briefly disturbed for a time, as reported by my "better half"...all is well, though, and hopefully that goes for everybody else).

So, cue the obligatory video...

...and RIP Jerry Leiber (pics are from the film "American Graffiti," including a few actors we know well by now who were very, very young at the time - video goes for about 30 seconds too long, but it's still good)...

...oh, and as a reminder, here is the very definition of a "fighting Dem" (and in a related story, I was sorry to hear about this)...

...and were FDR alive today, I'm convinced that he would take dead aim at the Koch Brothers, for reasons such as those described here (this is a case study in using right-wing code language for "dog whistle" purposes, and also for fighting back).

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http://liberaldoomsayer.blogspot.com/2011/08/wednesday-stuff_24.html

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Open thread for night owls: Mainstreaming calls
for violence

post from Daily Kos on 24 August 2011 11:31:02 PM. © Daily Kos

From the Southern Poverty Law Center's HateWatch:

Yesterday, speaking with far-right radio host Janet Mefferd, William Gheen, the leader of the nativist group Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC), said that legal political activity may no longer be sufficient to protect America from immigrants ? in particular, he made it clear, from non-white immigrants. Gheen, who in the past tried to appear a moderate on the nativist scene, said that in order to save ?white America,? it may be necessary to engage in ?extra-political activities that I can?t really talk about because they?re all illegal and violent.?
His full quote: ?We?re no longer referring to him as President Barack Obama, our national organization has made the decision and made the announcement, we now refer to him as dictator Barack Obama. That?s what he is. And, basically, at this point, if you?re looking for a peaceful, political recourse, there really isn?t one that we can think of, and I?m really not sure what to tell people out there than I guess they need to make decisions soon to just accept whatever comes next or some type of extra-political activities that I can?t really talk about because they?re illegal and violent.?
Such rhetoric marks a sharp rightward lurch for Gheen, who has often been quoted on immigration matters by mainstream news organizations, including The New York Times, which quoted him as a legitimate commentator on the issue just two weeks ago.

Media Matters notes:

Such anti-extremist posturing has lent Gheen mainstream media credibility. He's been quoted often, nearly two dozen times by mainstream papers in the last six months, according to a Nexis search. Even The New York Times included his comments in a story on border security published August 9.

Gheen believes, among other things, that the Obama administration is secretly working to replace Americans with immigrants. Please keep in mind while reading this that it is not at all the batshit insane ramblings of a crazy person:

William Gheen: All across America today, people are calling and saying "hey, illegal aliens are taking my job; hey, illegal aliens are hurting my wages; hey, illegal aliens stole my wife, stole my property, hey, illegal aliens are menacing my children in school with physical violence and I know they're illegal and come do your job."
And these call, probably hundreds, if not thousands, per day are going right to where they're suppose to be - Department of Homeland Security - and nothing is ever happening, they're not listening, they don't care about the death and suffering illegal immigration is causing the American public.
And when you look closer at who is up there and who's around them, you find power groups that actually advocate for this kind of stuff - they are protecting illegal aliens, they facilitated their importation into the United States and they seem to have some broader political/economic agenda of replacing many core Americans and American values and our jobs and our schools and everything else. That's what they're doing. They don't like Americans so they're replacing us in our own country. It's a much smarter thing to do if you're our enemies than fighting us in a war.

At this point, the transcript does not mention whether or not Gheen was strapped into a straightjacket and carted off, so I believe we must assume he was not. But now I'm going to file a Freedom of Information Act request to determine just how many people have been calling the Department of Homeland Security and complaining that "hey, illegal immigrants stole my wife."

It remains to be seen if calling for "illegal and violent" actions against the "dictator" Barack Obama deters news outlets from treating Gheen as a credible voice in the future. Let's watch and see.

On that sunny note, Top Comments are here.

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-owls:-Mainstreaming-calls-for-violence

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Open Thread

post from Crooks and Liars on 24 August 2011 11:30:55 PM. © Crooks and Liars

enlarge Credit: Twitter

Sigh.

Open thread below....

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http://crooksandliars.com/bluegal-aka-fran/open-thread-114

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The Tar Sands Protests Continue

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 24 August 2011 11:15:54 PM. © Docudharma - Front Page

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow GazetteThe protest of the Tar Sands pipeline that would carry the dirtiest oil in the world across the US to Mexico, damage the ecosystem and water supply extracting it, continued with more notable arrestsCanadian[...]

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ontinue

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Late Night FDL: Become a Member to Keep The
Progressive Voice Loud

post from Firedoglake on 24 August 2011 11:00:04 PM. © Firedoglake

You get all of this value from FDL seven days a week, every day of the year. If this community is something you value, something that you really build into your life, please consider becoming a member. For $5 or $10 a month, the cost of a bucket of[...]

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Dirty Christian Girls & the Myth of the Little
Sailor in a Boat

post from Jesus' General on 24 August 2011 11:00:04 PM. © Jesus' General

William Struthers, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Wheaton College

Dear Dr. Struthers,

Someone recently sent me an article about Dirty Girls Ministries. I thought it was a joke. I mean, hey, supposedly these ladies are trying to overcome the temptation to unnaturally rub their "naughty little sailors in a boat" while reading romance novels.

That's right, I wrote "unnaturally rubbing their naughty little sailors in a boat." You see what I'm getting at. We both know there ain't no such a thing as a sailor in a boat. It's a damned lie the femislamunistofascists made up to poison our wives against us.

But today, I saw that you wrote this blurb for Dirty Girls Ministries founder, Crystal Renaud's book, "Dirty Girls Come Clean:"

The stories it chronicles are a reminder to us that sexual temptations are not just a ?guy? thing...Dirty Girls will be shocking to some, but the hope that is offered within it makes it a must read for those who want to take these issues head on.

You make it sound like it's a very, uh, exciting read....yeah...uh...yeah, exciting. Oh man, I don't give a damn if it's a damned lie, I want a copy...or better yet, a video...oh yeah, a video. Can you help me out with that?

Heterosexually yours,

Gen. JC Christian, patriot

A tip of the ol' helmet to reader GL.

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C&L's Late Night Music Club With Ashford And
Simpson

post from Crooks and Liars on 24 August 2011 11:00:00 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Title: SolidArtist: Ashford And Simpson

Another sad night as R&B legend Nick Simpson has passed of throat cancer. Ashford and his wife Valerie Simpson were both songwriters and artists whose songs were recorded by the likes of Ronnie Milsap and Ray Charles. As artists they had many hits including tonight's selection, which was a favorite of mine as a boy. R.I.P.

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http://crooksandliars.com/jared-shade-reynolds/cls-late-night-music-club-ash

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Back to the Future

post from Taylor Marsh on 24 August 2011 10:58:08 PM. © Taylor Marsh

We’re doomed. From David Limbaugh, via Politico.[...]

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http://taylormarsh.com/blog/2011/08/back-to-the-future/

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Green Scissors Coalition Identifies Hundreds of
Billions in Wasteful Subsidies

The next couple months will be consumed with discussion about the Catfood Commission II, and their efforts to reach a $1.5 trillion or higher deficit package. This will frustrate any attempt to pivot to jobs. But as long as that's known, activists and[...]

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Libya has changed, Republicans have not

hammer You're holding it wrong.It's at least a little funny to note how, let's say "unnuanced" some political figures are. It doesn't matter what the situation: You always know what they're going to say. Even when that situation turns completely upside-down, from one year to the next, they will still find a way to fit their one-size-fits all philosophies to both the before and after sides of the equation.

It wasn't very long ago that an international Gaddafi rehabilitation program was underway, apparently spurred by Libya having oil we wanted. Different conservative political figures had different ideas on how to treat Gaddafi.

Trump, the asshole millionaire: We should cheat him out of his money.

I can tell you something else. I dealt with Gaddafi. I rented him a piece of land. He paid me more for one night than the land was worth for two years, and then I didn't let him use the land."
"That's what we should be doing. I don't want to use the word 'screwed', but I screwed him," Trump continued. "That's what we should be doing."

McCain, the hawk: We should sell arms to him.

Senator McCain assured Muatassim that the United States wanted to provide Libya with the equipment it needs for [its] security. He stated that he understood Libya?s requests regarding the rehabilitation of its eight C130s and pledged to see what he could do to move things forward in Congress.

Leiberman, the independent thinker: I agree with what John McCain said.

Lieberman called Libya an important ally in the war on terrorism, noting that common enemies sometimes make better friends.

But that was before the Libyan revolution started. Afterwards, each deep thinker confidently presented their own plan on how to help the rebels:

Trump, the asshole millionaire: We should cheat them out of their money.

?The fact is what we should have done is... we should have asked the rebels, when they came to us, and the came to us... they were decimated. We should have said ?We?ll help you but we want 50% of your oil.' They would have absolutely said ?OK,' a hundred percent. In fact, they would have said ?How about 75%???

McCain, the hawk: We should sell arms to them.

With a non-fly effectively put into place over Libya, Sen. John McCain says momentum in the fighting between the Muammar Qaddafi regime and rebel fighters can now swing back to anti-Qaddafi forces, but acknowledges they will need more weapons and better training.
McCain, R-Ariz., said on CBS' "The Early Show" that he hopes the United States, or others in the international community, supplies rebels with arms, as it once did insurgents fighting the Russian occupation of Afghanistan.

Leiberman, the independent thinker: I agree with what John McCain said.

?I wish we had spoken out much more clearly and early against the Gadhafi regime,? the Connecticut Independent said.
Now is the time to step up action against Gadhafi, said Lieberman, who endorsed giving weapons to citizens who are trying to form a new government.

There feels like there should be an appropriate aphorism to describe this phenomenon. Give a man a hammer, and the whole world looks like a nail? Or maybe: Every tool thinks they're the right tool for the job, and politics is nothing if not full of tools.