Wednesday, March 31, 2010

FAMILY VALUES

Awww, ain’t that sweet: Marriage, Hutaree style

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/for_hutaree_militia_ethos_extended_to_family_life.php

More: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/expert_hutaree_were_right_smack_in_the_middle_of_t.php




What they did to Abu Zubaydah

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/03/29/abu-zubaydahs-drawings/

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/03/30/our-torture-regime-based-on-same-kinds-of-lies-and-bad-intell-as-the-iraq-war/

Why the govt needs to regulate the insurance industry

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/03/30/on_kids_care_insurance_weaseling_begins/
On kids’ care, insurance weaseling begins

http://mydd.com/2010/3/30/sebelius-warns-insurers-on-denying-coverage-to-sick-kids-2
Sebelius warns insurers on denying coverage to sick kids

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/023109.php

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jYnajhWrPEXihcCrpRNfUKN7rN-AD9EOLAU80

The return of “death panels”

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/bachmann-senior-citizens-lives-literally-are-on-the-line-with-obamacare-video.php

Obama expands offshore drilling

http://washingtonindependent.com/80971/obama-to-open-atlantic-coast-to-offshore-drilling

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/03/obama-opens-coast

Remember when foreign policy was supposed to be off-limits for partisanship? Looks as if the Repubs might block the new START agreement

http://washingtonindependent.com/80865/so-hows-obama-going-to-find-the-senate-gop-votes-for-the-russia-nuke-treaty

More: http://washingtonindependent.com/80937/bolton-says-nuclear-treaty-threatens-american-sovereignty
Bolton Suggests Nuclear Treaty Threatens American Sovereignty

Tax fraud at C Street?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#36108349

RNC disciplines the staffer who approved “Voyeur” club expenses, not the people who actually went there and paid for it

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/30/rnc

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/30/staffers_card_was_declined_for_nightclub_expenses.html
Red County reports that the now scandalous charges for a "bondage-themed nightclub" ended up on a local GOP operative's credit card for just one reason: because the RNC staffer's credit card was declined . . .

The “Young Eagles” http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/30/852417/-RNC-Fires-Sacrificial-Lamb

http://washingtonindependent.com/80885/young-eagles-director-fired-over-voyeur-scandal-erik-browns-name-is-cleared

Michael Steele and the RNC’s “burn rate”

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/30/852460/-Is-Steele-trying-to-bankrupt-the-RNC-before-November

John McCain continues to sell his soul for right-wing support

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/john-mccain-calls-for-national-guard-to-seal-the-border.php

Watch this story: the no-win dilemma of Repubs on health care repeal

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/goper-kirk-backtracks-on-pledge-to-repeal-health-care-reform.php

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/senate-republicans/club-for-growth-rips-mark-kirk-for-wavering-on-repeal/

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/30/852483/-IL-Sen:-Repeal-not-working-out-so-well-for-Kirk

Nevertheless, it’s becoming a GOP mantra

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/30/republican-candidates-told-to-talk-health-care/
Republican Senate candidates are being instructed Tuesday to promote the party's health care policy proposals as they continue to push the "repeal and replace" theme . . .

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/03/30/texas-congressman-latest-republican-to-admit-repealing-health-care-reform-is-just-a-right-wing-fantasy/
[Blue Texan] Last week, after crazies like Jim DeMint, Pete Hoekstra and Michele Bachmann started the REPEALgasm, a group of slightly less crazy Republicans, including John Cornyn, Jon Kyl and Newt Gingrich, began to backpedal.

Now, Lamar Smith (R-TX), who himself signed on to the REPEALgasm, admits it’s all just kabuki. . . . [read on]

How Repubs want teabagger support without being seen as part of them

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/debate-exposes-marco-rubios-tea-party-problem.php

Democratic govs and Republican AG’s at war over health care lawsuits

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/health-care-lawsuits-splitting-govs-and-ags-nationwide.php

More: http://www.slate.com/id/2249288/

The funniest defense of Sarah Palin you’ll ever see: “Well, Ronald Reagan wasn’t very smart either” (But he was a Great Man)

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/populist-neocon-princess.html

Michele Bachmann and other GOPers accuse John Lewis of lying (because there’s no video “proof” of teabaggers calling him the N-word)

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/30/852499/-Teabaggers:-No-one-saw-nuthin

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/023119.php

Bonus item: These guys are SICK

http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201003300011
From the March 30 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, guest hosted by Doc Thompson: Tanning tax makes health bill "racist" because "dark-skinned people" don't use tanning salons

More: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/03/30/thompson-tanning-racism/

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

DESTRUCTION FROM WITHIN

Meet the Hutarees

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/hutaree-militia-planned-attack-kill
Hutaree militia planned to attack, kill law-enforcement officers and their families

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/feds_release_details_in_hutaree_arrests.php

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/03/29/the-militiagan-wolverines/

Rachel: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#36091175

How dangerous ARE they?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#36091235

The missing word

http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/03/29/ceci-nest-pas-un-terrorist/

How fellow right-wingers view the arrests

http://firedoglake.com/2010/03/29/in-the-wake-of-arrests-in-three-states-right-wingers-rush-to-defend-terror-suspects-criticize-fbi/
Glenn Reynolds [Instapundit] smells a politically-motivated conspiracy: “THE TIMING APPEARS CONVENIENT: FBI stages domestic raids.” [read on]

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/village-blowback.html

Maybe now the Republicans will get serious about threats of violence against lawmakers

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/29/cantor_threat
A real threat against Eric Cantor

More: http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/house-republicans/vindication-eric-cantors-life-threatened/

Meet Leboon: http://washingtonindependent.com/80811/norman-leboon-a-threatening-kind-of-guy

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/fighting-words.html

I’ve moved past hoping the RNC will fire Michael Steele to hoping that they KEEP him. What a treasure!

http://www.americablog.com/2010/03/gop-chair-michael-steele-and-bondage.html
GOP chair Michael Steele and the 'bondage-themed club that features topless female dancers imitating lesbian sex'
[John Aravosis] How often do I get to write a headline like that, huh?

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/29/rnc_nightclub_party_was_for_gop_donors.html

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/rnc-spent-nearly-2000-at-club-with-topless-dancers.php

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/29/erik_brown

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/real-frat-boys-of-orange-county-by.html

More! http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/29/steele
The Daily Caller (Tucker Carlson's new Web site) reports that Steele has raised the possibility of buying a private jet for him to use. And though that hasn't happened, the RNC's apparently still spent quite a bit on private planes -- $17,514 in February alone. That's on top of $12,691 for limos the same month. . . [read on]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/29/AR2010032903822.html
The Republican National Committee and its chairman, Michael S. Steele, were engulfed in controversy again Monday after new financial reports showed that the party used tens of thousands of donor dollars for luxe hotels, private jets and other questionable expenditures. . . .

http://www.americablog.com/2010/03/gop-air-michael-steele-wanted-private.html

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/023102.php

Rachel again: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#36091399

Dana Milbank, King of Snark: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/29/AR2010032902978.html

RNC: “We’re investigating”

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/rnc-spox-were-investigating-expenditures.php

Aggressive pushback: http://washingtonindependent.com/80778/rnc-pushing-back-on-daily-caller-story

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/rnc-explanation-of-bondage-club/

Heh

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/democratic-national-committee/conservative-womens-group-rips-rnc-over-bondage-themed-nightclub/
Conservative Women’s Group Rips RNC Over Bondage-Themed Nightclub

You can’t buy press like this

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/29/852177/-Headlines-around-the-country
• GOP FEC report: $1900 to bondage club
• Bang for Their Buck?: A Critical PrĂ©cis to the RNC's Night at a Bondage Club
• Steele, strip clubs and the GOP's family values
• Republicans Go Bondage Clubbing In LA On Party Dime
• RNC Denies Steele Expensed Trip to X-Rated Club
• Down $25 Million, Steele blows RNC funds on private jets and lesbian-bondage ...
• Strip club tab roils Republican committee
• RNC spent $2000 on lesbian-themed voyeur nightclub in Hollywood

Nooooooo!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/29/michael-steele-resignatio_n_517533.html
Michael Steele Called Tone Deaf By GOP Brass, Urged To Resign

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/03/michael-steeles-enemies-within/38161/
Michael Steele's Enemies Within

Poll dancing

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/29/obama_approval_jumps.html
Obama Approval Jumps

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/22/849232/-CNN-poll:-50-disagree-with-GOPs-repeal-and-replace-strategy
CNN poll: 50% disagree with GOP's "repeal and replace" strategy

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/29/852141/-More-evidence-that-intensity-gap-is-narrowing
More evidence that "intensity gap" is narrowing

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/023091.php

Right on schedule

http://washingtonindependent.com/80749/repeal-pledge-becomes-gop-litmus-test
Repeal Pledge Becomes GOP Litmus Test

We’ll still have Mitt Romney to kick around

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/03/five-reasons-why-romneys-political-career-isnt-dead/38182/
Five Reasons Why Romney's Political Career Isn't Dead

The new GOP strategy memo: how to kill financial reform

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/frank-luntzs-newest-memo-how-kill-fin

Yoo’s fax

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/03/29/abu-zubaydahs-torturers-relied-on-july-13-yoo-fax-not-bybee-memo/
Abu Zubaydah’s Torturers Relied on July 13 Yoo Fax, not Bybee Memo

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/03/29/did-yoo-freelance-to-write-the-july-13-2002-fax/
Yoo’s Supervisors Didn’t Know about the July 13, 2002 Fax

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/03/29/the-context-of-the-july-13-fax/
The Context of the July 13 Fax

Bonus item: A thought experiment

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2010/03/the-partisanship-paradox.php
[John Holbo] One of these parties enjoys/enforces total party discipline, the other, not: members of the latter party side with their own, or cross the aisle, on individual issues/votes, as conscience or self-interest dictate. Let’s call the completely disciplined party the Partisan Party. The completely undisciplined, the Bipartisan Party (to reflect its principled commitment to always keeping the door open to the higher value of bipartisanship!)

Over time, both parties will push positive proposals/ legislation. Quite obviously, the Bipartisan Party will be at a tactical disadvantage, due to its lax discipline. Less obviously, it will have an ongoing optics problem. All the proposals of the Partisan Party will be bipartisan. That is, a few members of the other party will, predictably, peel off and cross the aisle to stands with the Partisans. None of the proposals of the Bipartisan Party, on the other hand, will ever be bipartisan. No Partisan will ever support a Bipartisan measure. In fact, all proposals of the Bipartisan party will face bipartisan opposition – as a few Bipartisans trudge across the aisle (there are always a few!) to stand with the Partisans. Result: the Partisan party, thanks to its unremitting opposition to bipartisanship, will be able to present itself as the party of bipartisanship, and be able to critique the Bipartisan Party, with considerable force and conviction, as the hypocritically hyperpartisan party of pure partisanship.

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

Monday, March 29, 2010

CHRISTIAN MILITIAS

No, that’s not an oxymoron

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100328/METRO/3280313/1361/FBI-raids-in-Michigan-may-involve-Christian-militia-group
Seven arrested in FBI raids linked to Christian militia group

http://www.juancole.com/2010/03/alleged-christian-terrorists-said-to.html
[Juan Cole] FBI raids on the Hutaree Christian militia brought to light this formerly little-known group based in Adrian, Michigan.

Unlike the generally secular white supremacist organizations, Hutaree are explicitly Christians. Many seem to be millenarians, expecting the end of time to come soon. Like the so-called Patriot Movement, they are gun nuts. They are said to be organized to kill the Antichrist, and some reports say that they planned violence against American Muslims.

Polling shows that about 1/4 of members of the Republican Party believe that President Obama is the Antichrist . . . [read on]

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/patriot-vs-patriot.html

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/03/28/cant-spell-militia-without-mi-and-in-and-oh/

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/fbi-raids-several-midwest-towns-raid

Hutaree MySpace page


http://www.myspace.com/hutaree

Must read: Frank Rich on the real sources of the fury over health care reform

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/opinion/28rich.html

They know how to play the white resentment card

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/jarrett-on-health-care-reform-we-are-confident-that-the-american-people-will-support-this-its-good-f.php
Appearing on Face The Nation, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) continued to push for repealing the new health care reform law. "All of us who believe in freedom in this country recognize that if this health care bill stands, it will not only destroy our health care system, we believe it will bankrupt our country. So to give up on repealing this bill will be giving up on our country, for me and, I think, for millions of Americans," said DeMint, who also added: "Bob, the president is mocking Americans who continue to be against this bill."

Obama makes surprise trip to Afghanistan

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/023088.php

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/obama-makes-unnanounced-visit-to-afghanistan.php

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/world/asia/29prexy.html

The mysterious death of Gul Rahman

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/03/28/the-salt-pit-and-the-bybee-memos/

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/03/28/dusty-foggos-girlfriend-john-rizzo-and-the-salt-pit/

Erick Erickson, fringe blogger, gets picked up by CNN – so of course they have to rehabilitate him

http://firedoglake.com/2010/03/28/sunday-late-night-son-of-erick-grows-up/

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/hes-big-boy-now.html
[Digby] If you want to see a shining example of a right wing moral cripple, meet CNN's newest gasbag, Eric Ericksson. . .

Bonus item: Bill Maher

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/new-rule-you-cant-use-the_b_515354.html
New Rule: You Can't Use "There Will Be No Cooperation for the Rest of the Year" as a Threat If There Was No Cooperation in the First Half of the Year

More: http://www.samefacts.com/2010/03/uncategorized/harder-than-impossible/
[Mark Kleiman] Ummm … a probability of zero can’t get smaller.

What’s astonishing is how easy it is to bamboozle reporters. Characterizing the Republican bloc vote against affordable health care as “the Obama administration’s decision to pass health care without a single Republican vote” really doesn’t pass the giggle test. . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

Sunday, March 28, 2010

SPRING RECESS

Oh no! Now the Republicans won’t cooperate any more!

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/03/bring_on_the_recess_appointments.php
Bring on the Recess Appointments

More: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/03/obama-uses-recess-power-to-appoint-15/38121/

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/03/obama-plays-hardball

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/03/27/obama-discovers-recess-appointments-but-not-for-dawn-johnsen/
Not on that list?

Dawn Johnsen. [read on]

The word of the day

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/27/obama_makes_recess_appointments.html
Washington Post: "An emboldened President Obama filled 15 key administration posts by bypassing the Senate, defying the GOP as he announced his first recess appointments since taking office."

New York Times: "The move suggests a newly emboldened president who is unafraid to provoke a confrontation with the minority party, even as he insists he still hopes to work in a bipartisan way."

Yeah, they were being intentionally provocative . . . walking past those protestors . . . standing outside. . . . their offices . . . inside . . . the Capitol

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/fox-talker-cal-thomas-pelosi-walking
Fox talker Cal Thomas: Pelosi walking past Tea Partiers was like neo-Nazis marching in Skokie

They love her. We hate her

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/27/palin_remains_polarizing.html
[Sarah Palin is] still popular among those who view the Tea Party movement favorably, garnering a 60% favorable rating. And she gets even higher marks -- 71% -- from conservative Republicans.

But overall, 55% of Americans say they view Palin unfavorably and 85% of liberal Democrats have a negative view.

Ooooh, ouch.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/26/AR2010032602379.html
Romney attacks health care law similar to his own
Mitt Romney has a problem with Obamacare. It looks a lot like Romneycare. The prospective Republican presidential candidate's vulnerability on the issue was evident this week, when he was interrupted during a tour for his new book by a woman upset with the Massachusetts health care law Romney signed as governor in 2006. That law has some of the same core features as the federal law President Barack Obama, a Democrat, signed on Tuesday. . . . [read on]

How desperate is Scott Brown (R-MA) that he has to trump up a phony story about Rachel Maddow threatening to run against him? (Don’t ask me what I’ve accomplished! The liberal oogie-boogie queen is coming!)

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/03/24/4062077-maddow-im-not-running-for-office

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy



More: http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/rachel-maddow-takes-out-full-page-ad-de
Rachel Maddow takes out full page ad to debunk Scott Brown's fantasies

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/the-sunday-show-line-ups-42.php
• ABC, This Week: White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA), Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS).

• CBS, Face The Nation: Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN).

• CNN, State Of The Union: White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD).

• NBC, Meet The Press: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Bonus item: The Fantastic Four

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/27/congress-goes-vacation-extending-jobless-benefits/
As Congress enjoys a two-week vacation, thousands of Americans will begin to lose jobless benefits because lawmakers failed to resolve a dispute over how to pay for an extension of unemployment insurance. . . .

[NB: Of course, Fox finds a way to blame the Democrats for Republican obstructionism.]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

Saturday, March 27, 2010

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/dnc-claims-steele-rejected-civility-statement.php
The Democratic National Committee says that Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has declined to sign on to a joint statement written by DNC Chairman Tim Kaine that condemns threats made to members of Congress from both parties. The draft text of the statement says that while Steele and Kaine disagree on the health care bill, they would "together call on elected officials of both parties to set an example of the civility we want to see in our citizenry" and ask "all Americans to respect differences of opinion, to refrain from inappropriate forms of intimidation, to reject violence and vandalism, and to scale back rhetoric that might reasonably be misinterpreted by those prone to such behavior." . . . [read on]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/26/851297/-Republicans-Say-No-To-Civility
[Politico] Republicans see the statement as an attempt to force them to either reject the statement — allowing Democrats to say the RNC finds the incidents acceptable — or to sign on to something that the DNC would later wield against them. . . . [read on]

[NB: And it could be used against them because . . . ?]

It’s what they do

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/republicans-who-have-fanned-the-flames.php
Republicans' Most Incendiary Rhetoric on Health Care Reform

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/37562
Republicans: Violent Losers

GOP wants to try to use the fact that Dems are receiving threats as a reason for attacking them

http://washingtonindependent.com/80548/conservatives-attack-double-standard-on-health-care-threats
Conservatives Attack ‘Double Standard’ on Health Care Threats

Show me the spokesman on the left who is talking this way

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/25/AR2010032501722_pf.html
These were the words of Mike Vanderboegh, a 57-year-old former militiaman from Alabama, who took to his blog urging people who opposed the historic health-care reform legislation -- he calls it "Nancy Pelosi's Intolerable Act" -- to throw bricks through the windows of Democratic offices nationwide.

"So, if you wish to send a message that Pelosi and her party [that they] cannot fail to hear, break their windows," Vanderboegh wrote on the blog, Sipsey Street Irregulars. "Break them NOW. Break them and run to break again. Break them under cover of night. Break them in broad daylight. Break them and await arrest in willful, principled civil disobedience. Break them with rocks. Break them with slingshots. Break them with baseball bats. But BREAK THEM."

In the days that followed, glass windows and doors were shattered at local Democratic Party offices and the district offices of House Democrats from Arizona to Kansas to New York. At least 10 Democratic lawmakers reported death threats, incidents of harassment or vandalism at their offices over the past week, and the FBI and Capitol Police are offering lawmakers increased protection.

Local Democratic Party officials in New York have called for Vanderboegh's arrest, believing he is implicated in the vandalism in Rochester, but Vanderboegh said he has not yet been questioned by any law enforcement authorities.

Vanderboegh was unapologetic in a 45-minute telephone interview with The Washington Post early Thursday. He said he believes throwing bricks through windows sends a warning to Democratic lawmakers that the health-care reform legislation they passed Sunday has caused so much unrest that it could result in a civil war.

"The federal government should not have the ability to command us to buy something that it decides we should buy," Vanderboegh said. The government, he added, has "absolutely no idea the number of alienated who feel that their backs are to the wall are out here . . . who are not only willing to resist this law to the very end of their lives, but are armed and are capable of making such resistance possible and perhaps even initiating a civil war." . . . .

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/023064.php
[Steve Benen] Vanderboegh has a physical ailment, so instead of working, he's turned to the government to supply him with a modest income. Whether Vanderboegh appreciates the irony of a radical libertarian, who demands that a small government leave people alone, getting taxpayer-financed checks from the government not to work, is unclear. . . . [read on]

Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) trumped-up “bullet through the window” story. We now know it was a random event, not targeting him – but that hasn’t stopped the whining

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/26/cantor_bullet

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/26/851239/-Cantor-digs-deeper

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/03/thats_some_defense.php
[David Kurtz] Eric Cantor's latest defense: I didn't know that the police had concluded the bullet in my (sometimes) office was randomly fired until after my press conference in which I said my office had been targeted.

You know it's bad when your fallback defense is reckless disregard for the truth.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/26/851030/-Fox-relentlessly-hyped-Cantors-lie
Fox relentlessly hyped Cantor's lie

“One incident is real, one is not”

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/023068.php

A new START

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/26/851145/-Presidents-Obama-and-Medvedev-Announce-a-New-START-Treaty
After nearly a year of very difficult negotiations, the White House and the Kremlin have announced a new strategic nuclear arms reduction treaty . . .

More: http://washingtonindependent.com/80715/into-the-guts-of-new-start-how-to-get-from-here-to-zero

A pretty good week

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/023074.php
[Steve Benen] When you pass health care reform after 100 years of trying, complete the most significant nuclear arms treaty in decades, and complete a major overhaul of federal student loan programs, folks in the West Wing can walk with a bit of a spring in their step. . . .

Help on foreclosures

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/03/finally-some-real-oxygen-drowning
[NYT] The Obama administration on Friday announced broad new initiatives to help troubled homeowners . . .

Poll: narrowing the “intensity gap”

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/26/851011/-Narrowing-the-intensity-gap

http://www.americablog.com/2010/03/winning-has-given-dems-momentum-and.html
[The Hill] Political momentum has shifted so fast over the last week that it has given Republicans whiplash. . . . [read on]

It’s been clear that the central tension for Repubs in the fall is how to court teabagger support without signing on to their more extreme litmus tests. It looks as if repeal of health care reform is going to be that wedge issue – and I think the Dems are figuring out how to exploit it

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/repeal-wars-splitting-gop.php

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/senate-republicans/video-mark-kirks-repeal-clock-is-ticking/

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/health-care/white-house-talking-points-heres-what-repeal-would-take-away/
[WH] Let’s be clear about what they want to take away:

* They want to cancel tax credits for small businesses to cover up to 35 percent of employer premium contributions to help these businesses afford coverage for their employees.

* They want to restore the insurance companies’ right to deny your child coverage because of a pre-existing condition…

* They want to take away a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries who hit the prescription drug donut hole this year.

* They want to restore the rights of insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or place lifetime limits on your coverage…

When opponents of reform argue for repeal, they’re arguing to take all of these benefits away.

You expect rational consistency?

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/26/they_scorn_socialism_but_want_government_to_create_jobs.html
A new Bloomberg Poll finds that more than 90% of Tea Party backers say the United States "is verging more toward socialism than capitalism, the federal government is trying to control too many aspects of private life and more decisions should be made at the state level."

At the same time, 70% of those who sympathize with the Tea Party "want a federal government that fosters job creation."

Obama Derangement Syndrome

http://crooksandliars.com/logan-murphy/tn-man-enraged-obama-sticker-slams-su
TN Man Enraged By Obama Sticker Slams SUV Into Car With 10 Year Old Child Inside

Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is pathetic

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/26/hatch
When even Time's Mark Halperin is labeling a politician's comments "breathtaking cynicism," you know it's pretty bad. That's the case today, with comments that Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, made on CNN Thursday night.

Hatch has been opposing the individual mandate contained in the healthcare reform bill President Obama signed into law this week; he says it's unconstitutional. But, CNN's Campbell Brown pointed out, back in the 1990's, during the Clinton administration's reform efforts, Hatch supported a bill that contained a similar mandate.

To that, Hatch responded, "Well, in 1993, we were trying to kill Hillarycare, and I didn't pay any attention to that because that was part of a bill that I just hadn't centered on."

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/023062.php
WHEN EVEN A HACK MANAGES TO EMBARRASS HIMSELF

John Boehner (R-OH) is pathetic

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/25/850787/-John-Boehner-Is-Shocked-That-Anyone-Reads-The-National-Review
Boehner also abruptly ended his Thursday press conference after a reporter asked whether it was inappropriate to refer to a Democratic member as a "dead man" politically in this charged environment.

Boehner told the National Review last week that Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio) "may be a dead man" politically in his congressional district if he voted in favor of the health care reform bill.

"I don't think so," Boehner said. "No one saw this quote of mine in this publication before Mr. Driehaus and others made a public issue out of it. Thank you." [read on]

John McCain (R-AZ) is pathetic

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/john-mccain-excuses-sarah-palins-reload-tw
John McCain Excuses Sarah Palin's 'Reload' Tweet and Political Crosshairs Post

Sarah Palin (R-TLC) is pathetic

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/27/quote_of_the_day.html
"'Take up your arms' means voting."

-- Sarah Palin, quoted by the Odessa American, insisting the media mischaracterized her as inciting violence.

Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is pathetic

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/bachmann-100-of-our-economy-was-private-before-september-2008.php
Bachmann: '100% Of Our Economy Was Private' Before September 2008

Scott Brown (R-MA) is pathetic

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/023071.php
[Steve Benen] The poor guy is on TV all the time, but he just seems in over his head. . . . [read on]

This woman’s voice is like nails on a blackboard. But it is VERY interesting that a former candidate for President, who plucked an unknown (and unqualified) first-term governor from Alaska to be his VP, who protected and promoted her when everyone laughed at her shallowness – now has to ask for HER support and affirmation that he is a “real conservative.” In what kind of party does a four-term Senator and leader of his party need the validation (and political “juice”) of a ditzy reality t.v. personality?

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/26/palin_mccain

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/palin-everyone-here-today-supporting-john-mccain-we-are-all-part-of-that-tea-party-movement.php

AWK-ward! http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/26/mccain_and_palin_together_again.html
The Wall Street Journal notes that bringing in Palin "is a slightly awkward move by the McCain camp. Since the presidential campaign ended, McCain aides have aired a lot of criticisms of the former running mate, and in Going Rogue, Ms. Palin called the McCain campaign disorganized and slow to focus on the economy."

Even Chief Justice John Roberts is finding GOP obstruction problematic

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/26/850792/-Chief-Justice-Roberts:-How-About-Some-Recess-Appointments

Just give it up. This is becoming ridiculous

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/26/851264/-They-Never-Stop
Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), on the possibility that the President will make recess appointments for two nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that Republicans have been blocking for months: “If they were to do that, it would make it very difficult to have bipartisan cooperation.”

What did you expect?

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/still-no-republicans-predict-continued-obstruction-post-health-care.php
Still No! Republicans Say Obstruction Will Continue Post Health Care

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/coburn-pulls-the-trigger-jobless-benefits-extention-blocked-by-gop.php
Jobless Benefits Extension Blocked By GOP

In Iraq: the return of Allawi

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2010/03/the-return-of-iyad-allawi.php

Why civilian courts work for terror suspects

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/03/26/another-reason-to-use-civilian-courts/

Cass Sunstein for the Supreme Court?

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/03/26/court

Buying elections just got easier

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/26/AR2010032604375.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/26/851158/-Court-Strikes-Down-Contribution-Limits-On-Speech-Committees

Lucky boy

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/ap_charges_reduced_against_okeefe_in_landrieu_case.php
Charges Reduced Against O'Keefe In Landrieu Case

The truth hurts

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/republican_party/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2010/03/26/frum_aei
American Enterprise Institute sends David Frum into the wilderness

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/03/david-frum-fired-aei
David Frum, onetime coiner of the phrase "axis of evil," but more recently a persistent critic of the increasing Palinization of the Republican Party, was fired today by the American Enterprise Institute, the conservative think tank he's worked at since leaving the Bush administration. Bruce Bartlett, another reform conservative who was fired by a think tank for being too critical of Republicans, comments:

Since, he is no longer affiliated with AEI, I feel free to say publicly something he told me in private a few months ago. He asked if I had noticed any comments by AEI "scholars" on the subject of health care reform. I said no and he said that was because they had been ordered not to speak to the media because they agreed with too much of what Obama was trying to do.

It saddened me to hear this. I have always hoped that my experience was unique. But now I see that I was just the first to suffer from a closing of the conservative mind. Rigid conformity is being enforced, no dissent is allowed, and the conservative brain will slowly shrivel into dementia if it hasn't already.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/26/frum_says_donors_forced_him_out.html
Frum Says Donors Forced Him Out

More: http://capitalgainsandgames.com/blog/bruce-bartlett/1601/groupthink-right-would-make-stalin-proud

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/republican-party/david-frum-denies-he-was-terminated-for-slamming-gop/

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/david-frum-aei-split-conservatives.html

You saw the story a while back that “serious” news people within the Fox News organization are getting uncomfortable that the network’s poster boy is a certifiable lunatic and bomb-thrower. Boss Roger Ailes tells them to shut up

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/i-have-sentimental-weakness-for-my.html

Oopsie! Fox News interviews someone even crazier than they bargained for

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/tea-partier-victoria-jackson-too-crazy-fox

Bonus item: Billmon makes a brief (?) return to diagnose GOP disinformation strategies. Ah, how much we miss him

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/25/850840/-Spock-with-a-Beard:-The-Sequel

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

Friday, March 26, 2010

DONE AND DONE

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/congress-finishes-health-care-reform--for-good-this-time.php
Congress Finishes Health Care Reform--For Good This Time

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/obama-the-big-winner-in-health-reform-passage-early-polls-show.php
Obama Emerges As Big Winner In Health Reform Passage

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1974989,00.html
Obama Health Care Bill: Political Victory for the President

Just ask the GOP: repeal. . . and then what?

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/repeal-what-exactly-republican-health-care-message-scattershot.php

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2010/03/healthcares_final_vote_congres.html
'Repeal and replace,' the GOP cries

Obama says, you wanna make repealing reform the basis of the 2010 elections? “Go for it”

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/25/obama_town_hall

Bill Kristol responds: http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/25/kristol

By the way, also buried in the reconciliation bill

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/023061.php
[Steve Benen] Under normal circumstances, a major overhaul of federal student loan programs would be a historic victory in its own right. The idea, decades in the making, was, after all, the centerpiece of President Obama's education agenda, and appeared stalled in the Senate.

But two weeks ago, Democratic lawmakers agreed to include the student-loan overhaul in the health care reconciliation package. And with that, we're getting two historic reform victories at the same time. . . . [read on]

More death threats against Dems

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/25/threats_to_lawmakers_worsen.html
Threats to Lawmakers Worsen

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/protesters-bring-coffin-to-rep-carnahans-home.php
Missouri press are reporting that Rep. Russ Carnahan's (D-MO) home was targeted by protesters with a coffin over the weekend after he voted in support of the health care reform bill. . . .

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/dahlkemper-turns-over-to-authorities-threatening-letter-charging-she-will-never-sleep-through-night.php
Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper says she has received "threatening communication" she believes is tied to her vote in support of health care reform. . . .

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/rep-weiners-office-sent-white-powder-and-a-threatening-letter.php
Rep. Weiner's Office Sent 'White Powder And A Threatening Letter' . . .

The latest GOP line: it happens to us too! Yes, there are always a few whackos of all political stripes. But the difference is, you don’t have members of the opposite party, and their proxies in the yakkosphere, inciting and excusing it

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/cantor-accuses-dems-of-using-threats-for-political-gain.php
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor just gave a brief speech accusing Democrats of using reports of recent threats of violence for political gain, and saying someone shot a bullet through the window of his campaign office this week.

"I've received threats since I assumed elected office, not only because of my positions, but because I am Jewish," Cantor said. "I've never blamed anyone in this body for that. . . .”

Cantor said a bullet was shot through the window of his Richmond, Va., campaign office this week, and that he's gotten threatening emails.

"I will not release them because I believe such actions will only encourage more to be sent," he said.

He said to do so -- as some Democratic lawmakers have done -- would be reckless.

"It is reckless to use these incidents as media vehicles for political gain," he said. He called out DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen and DNC Chair Tim Kaine by name as those who are "dangerously fanning the flames by suggesting that these incidents be used as a political weapon."

"To use such threats against members of congress is not a partisan issue," he said. "By ratcheting up the rhetoric some will only inflame these situations to dangerous levels."

http://www.salon.com/news/eric_cantor/index.html
[Mike Madden] And now, Thursday's lesson in how to give very strange press conferences, courtesy of Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., the number two House Republican leader. . . . [read on]

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/03/not_exactly_dodge_city.php
[David Kurtz] I don't want to make light of any act of violence or threatened violence against a public official, but there was something about Minority Whip Eric Cantor's claim this morning that his campaign office in downtown Richmond had been shot at that seemed off. First, there were no local news reports of the incident, which he said happened this week. Second, the first news report of any kind about the incident seems to have been a Foxnews.com "exclusive" published just before Cantor spoke. Third, the timing of Cantor's revelation seemed curious given what a plastering Republicans have been getting over the last 24 hours for their role in inciting isolated acts of vandalism and threats against Democrats.

As I say, this is not the sort of thing to be taken lightly or mocked, but take a look at the press release we just got in from the Richmond Police Department about this incident . . . [read on!]

More: http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/25/cantor_threats

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/25/850862/-Cantor-not-targeted:-Richmond-PD-says-bullet-fired-randomly
Cantor not targeted: Richmond PD says bullet fired randomly

I gave Boehner credit for this yesterday. I may have spoken too soon

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/03/the_undying_shame.php
[Josh Marshall] I'm not sure John Boehner making a generic statement that violence, threats and vandalism aren't legitimate parts of the Health Care Reform debate really cuts it. Especially when his own congressional campaign committee is actively downplaying the importance of violent incidents and even blaming them on the victims. . . .

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/mark-potok-john-boehner-day-late-and-dolla
Mark Potok: John Boehner a 'Day Late and a Dollar Short'

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/periello_on_boehner_his_statement_was_outrageous.php
Angry Perriello: Boehner's Statement On Threats Was 'Outrageous'

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/nrcc-on-perriello-incidents-hes-not-the-victim.php
NRCC On Perriello: He's Not The Victim -- His Constituents Are

No, both sides DON'T do it

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/steve-king-runs-dana-bash-when-questioned
Steve King Runs From Dana Bash When Questioned About Inciting Protesters

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/pajamas_media_editor_on_health_bill_lets_bring_bac.php
In a blog post yesterday on the climate of threats surrounding health care reform, an editor and radio host employed by the Pajamas Media conservative blog outlet called for a return to the "fine tradition" of tar and feathering, and potentially even more extreme acts of violence. . . .

http://www.americablog.com/2010/03/remember-time-rnc-did-ad-showing-pelosi.html
Remember the time the RNC did the ad showing Pelosi getting shot, blood and all?

Twisted. Sick.

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/beck-clarifies-his-theory-if-violenc
Beck clarifies his theory: If violence breaks out from the right, it will have been intentionally provoked by Obama

[NB: If you’ve been tracking Beck’s comments in this area over the past year, it’s clear that he (and others) are expecting a serious act of violence and are trying to lay the groundwork for deflecting responsibility for it -- or even suggesting that it will be the Dems' own fault.]

More of the same: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/making-daddy-mad.html

The very real dangers from the whacko right

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/25/threats_democrats_healthcare

The teabaggers turn against their own sponsors

http://www.americablog.com/2010/03/teabaggers-dont-like-dick-armey.html
[John Aravosis] You create a monster, you nurture it, you set it free on the unsuspecting village, and then it turns on you. . . .

More: http://washingtonindependent.com/80512/tea-party-groups-purge-nevada-tea-party-candidate-on-tv

The Party of Liars: Remember that this planned meeting was revealed in their own (leaked) fundraising PowerPoint. They immediately denied they had any such plans or intentions whatsoever. Now, guess what?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/despite_initial_denials_young_gopers_headed_to_bla.php
Despite Initial Denials, Young GOPers Headed To Blackwater Compound For Fundraiser

ANOTHER Republican warning that passing health care will upset the delicate comity of the Senate, and nothing will get done. So what else is new?

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/graham-dems-sleazy-health-care-push-makes-passing-climate-bill-much-harder.php

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/25/gibbs_compares_mccain_to_a_six_year_old.html
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs responds: "I find it curious that not getting your way on one thing means you've decided to take your toys and go home. It doesn't work well for my six-year-old. I doubt it works well in the United States Senate, because we have issues that are important for his constituents and for all of America."

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/dodd-republicans-are-getting-tired.php
[Chris Dodd, D-CT] "I think, frankly, there are a number of Republicans who went along with the strategy of 'just say no' who were never really happy with it, but if it worked they would go along," Dodd said. "They saw it fail. And now they've had enough of it. and they really want to be involved in crafting things."

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/25/quote_of_the_day.html
[VP Joe Biden] http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/25/quote_of_the_day.html
"The ace we have in our pocket is the Republican party. The Republicans have concluded that their success lies in our failure. The American people are smart. They smell a rat. They know there was nothing about trying to get a better bill."

They’re still doing it

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/25/850791/-Republicans-Renew-Party-of-No-Status
Republicans Renew "Party of No" Status

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/playing-to-mob.html
According to a report by Politico's Manu Raju this morning, multiple Republicans in the Senate are now preparing to repeat Bunning's scheme to block unemployment benefits if Democrats attempt to pass an emergency extension of them again, a move that could come as early as this week.

DOJ investigating the destruction of the CIA torture tapes

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/03/25/durham-going-after-the-first-destruction-of-torture-tapes/

The beginning of the end for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

http://washingtonindependent.com/80452/gates-sharply-limits-dont-ask-dont-tell

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/03/mullen-and-gates-press-ahead-with-dadt-changes/37997/

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/023045.php

http://washingtonindependent.com/80524/anti-dont-ask-dont-tell-legislators-praise-gates-rules-change-with-caveats

Bonus item: More like this please

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/anthony-weiner-to-bill-oreilly-youre-making-stuff-up.php
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) went head-to-head with Bill O'Reilly about health care reform last night, and ending up telling him: "You've gotta stop making stuff up about the bill."

On The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly claimed that someone who refuses to buy in to health care would be fined by the IRS.

Weiner replied: "That's not true."

He added: "I've got a very big burden here debunking every one of the mistakes that you're making."

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

Thursday, March 25, 2010

READY, AIM . . .

Politics is a rough game, and people don’t always play by the rules. But when ostensibly responsible public officials incite violence, or hint with a nudge and a wink that maybe somebody should be “targeted,” we have passed into a very dark place

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/1/841938/-Whos-palling-around-with-terrorists-now
[Sarah Palin] Commonsense Conservatives & lovers of America: "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!"

http://www.facebook.com/sarahpalin#!/sarahpalin?v=app_2347471856
[Palin] We’ll aim for these races and many others. This is just the first salvo . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/03/the_new_new_thing.php
Seems like we've got a new craze: faxing pictures of nooses and gallows to congressmen's offices.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/24/846525/-Boehner-last-week:-Driehaus-%28D-OH%29-could-be-a-dead-man
"Take [Rep.] Steve Driehaus, for example," [Minority Leader John Boehner] says. "He may be a dead man. He can’t go home to the west side of Cincinnati." [read on]

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/03/getting_out_of_hand.php
[Josh Marshall] I'm not sure it's hyperbole any more to say that we've now got a small scale domestic terror campaign going on against members of Congress who voted for Health Care Reform. . . .

See Rachel: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#36027892

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#36027994

More: http://mydd.com/2010/3/24/dangerous-times

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/03/the_map_so_far.php

http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/rep-tom-perriello-s-d-va-brothers-gas-l

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/from-pelosi-pinatas-to-fiery-flames----gop-targets-speaker-as-public-enemy-no-1.php

http://washingtonindependent.com/80374/slaughter-threatened-after-health-care-debate

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/24/850346/-Threats-Against-Dems-Escalating,-Members-Receiving-Protective-Detail

It almost makes me feel bad for Bart Stupak

http://www.americablog.com/2010/03/voice-mail-messages-pro-lifers-left-for.html
"Congressman Stupak, you baby-killing mother f***er... I hope you bleed out your a**, got cancer and die, you mother f***er," one man says in a message to Stupak.

"There are millions of people across the country who wish you ill," a woman says in a voicemail, "and all of those thoughts that are projected on you will materialize into something that's not very good for you."

OK, I give him credit for this

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/democratic-national-committee/happy-hour-roundup-185/
GOP Rep John Boehner, on Fox News today, said Americans are right to be angry but called for an end to the intimidation of Dems who voted Yes:

“I’ve got to tell you that violence and threats are unacceptable. It is not the American way. Yes, I know there is anger, but let’s take that anger, and go out and register people to vote, go volunteer on a political campaign, and let’s do it the right way.”

In Glenn Beck's bizarre paranoid world, the Dems are TRYING to provoke violence against them

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/beck-goes-nuts-over-hcr-concludes-ev
Beck goes nuts over HCR, concludes evil progressives are trying to provoke an armed revolution

BREAKING NEWS

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/health/policy/26health.html
With the Senate working through an all-night session on a package of changes to the Democrats’ sweeping health care legislation, Republicans early Thursday morning identified parliamentary problems with at least two provisions that will require the measure to be sent back to the House for yet another vote, once the Senate adopts it.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/03/reconciliation-will-have-to-wait-a-few-days/37996/
[Marc Ambinder] Fortunately for Democrats, the provisions, which were deemed to violate the "Byrd rule," are easily fixable. One involves Pell grants, and Democrats have two years to make corrections. The other is a minor detail. No significant GOP amendments -- no amendments at all, including Sen. Tom Coburn's valiant effort to prevent rapists from getting federally-sponsored erection medication, passed.

My, don’t they think they’re clever?

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/the-10-most-ridiculous-gop-proposed-health-care-amendments.php
The 10 Most Ridiculous GOP-Proposed Health Care Amendments

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place-republicans-force-dems-into-tough-health-care-votes.php
GOP Reconciliation Strategy: Create Soundbites For November

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/playing-dirty.html

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/24/senate_reconciliation

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/24/850229/-Strategy-Memo:-putting-a-silver-lining-on-GOP-obstructionism

Wow – now that takes some gall

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/03/golden_duke_nominee_for_chutzpah.php
We have our first Republican taking credit for the health care reform bill! . . .

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/023036.php

Repeal it? Republicans still can’t quite figure out where they stand on the issue. When you’ve called something “death panels” and “a socialized takeover of one sixth of the economy,” how do you then say “Eh, it’s not so bad. Maybe parts of it are even pretty good”?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/03/repeal_drive_loses_steam.html
Repeal drive loses steam

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/senate-republicans/gop-strategy-pledge-full-repeal-but-do-it-piece-by-piece/
GOP Strategy: Pledge Full Repeal, But Articulate It “Piece By Piece”

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/023027.php
[Steve Benen] Got that? The whole package has to go -- except for those good parts. Which provisions of the new law do Republicans like and plan to keep? They'll have to get back to us on that. . . . [read on]

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/gingrich-republican-congress-will-refuse-to-fund-health-care-reform-video.php
Gingrich: Republican Congress Will 'Refuse To Fund' Health Care Reform

Feels good to win, doesn’t it?

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/24/health_care_bill_reinvigorates_democrats.html
Health Care Bill Reinvigorates Democrats

The GOP is definitely not in a happy place right now

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/023034.php
[Tony Blankley] What House Minority Leader John A. Boehner has called the Battle of Capitol Hill is over. I expect that the Battle of the Electorate is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of a nonsocialist America. Upon it depends our own American way of life and the long continuity of our institutions and our history. The whole fury and might of the media and the Democratic party must very soon be trained on the electorate.

If they can stand up to the coming propaganda, America may be free, and the life of the wider free world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands.

But if the voters succumb to those seven months of blandishments and deceptions, then free America -- including all that we have known and cared for -- will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. [read on]

How the Repubs blew it

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2010/03/gop-never-took-yes-for-an-answer.php
[Matt Yglesias] David Frum’s item about the tactical and strategic blunders involved in the GOP’s handling of the Affordable Care Act has gotten a lot of attention. But hearing it mentioned on NPR this morning it occurred to me not only has it gotten a lot of attention because it’s smart and insightful, it’s gotten a lot of attention because—remarkably—in the whole vast conservative firmament Frum seems to be the only person interested in being critical of the way the right handled the whole thing. It’s a great example of how much less self-critical the right is in the United States than the left. We hit the tiniest snag in the road and everyone wants to start penning the “this is what everyone is doing wrong” piece. They lose the most important legislative fight in decades and just whine about Democrats being mean. . . . [read on]

Are the Republicans really going to shut down EVERYTHING? Is this how they persuade people they are ready to govern?

http://www.americablog.com/2010/03/republicans-shutting-down-senate.html
Republicans shutting down Senate committee hearings, including Defense, because they're angry about health care reform

More: http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/24/senate

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/24/850214/-Republican-Un-Governing,-Day-2:-Why-Do-they-Hate-America

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/lawrence-odonnell-country-first-or-revenge

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/03/pretty_clear_who_the_grownups_are.php

http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/03/24/what-more-obstruction-from-senate-republicans/

They’re still blocking fully qualified, moderate appointees

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/03/the-curious-case-of-goodwin-liu/37980/
The Curious Case Of Goodwin Liu

Real financial reform? Don’t count on it

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/03/dismal-outlook-financial-reform

Good news from Afghanistan?

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/03/end-game-afghanistan

A teabagger third party?

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/24/tea_party_poll

CNN finally figures out something – AFTER the vote has happened

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/now-they-tell-us-by-digby-cnns-rick.html
[Wolf Blitzer] Well, you know, when people are asked, we did that poll CNN Opinion Research Poll, that said, "you like this health care bill or not like it", we just assumed, a lot of us, that the people who said they didn't like it didn't like it because it was too much interference, or too much taxes or whatever.

But if you take a closer look at people who didn't like it, about 12% of those people who said they didn't like it they didn't like it because they didn't think it went far enough. They wanted a single payer option, they wanted the so-called public option, they didn't like not from the right, they didn't like it because it wasn't left or liberal enough.

That's how you got 50% of the American people who said, "we don't like this plan." But only about 40 or 38% were the ones who said it was too much government interference. [read on]

[NB: Thanks for explaining that to us, Wolf -- an obvious, simple point that could have been made when "The people are against it" was a ubiquitous GOP talking point, including on your own show.]

Bonus item: “No You Can’t”

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/24/850024/-No-You-Cant
John Boehner articulates the Republican philosophy on governing ... [watch]

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