Rove Equates Building Of A Mosque Near Ground Zero With A Neo-Nazi Meeting At A Jewish Hotel
Rove Equates Building Of A Mosque Near Ground Zero With A Neo-Nazi Meeting At A Jewish Hotel
As a part of their vitriolic campaign against the Park 51 Islamic community center and mosque being planned two blocks from Ground Zero in New York City, leading conservatives have argued that while Muslims have a right to build a mosque on property they own, it would be unwise or insensitive to do so.
Former Bush adviser Karl Rove was the latest conservative to make this argument, and in doing so took it to new levels, during an appearance on Bill O’Reilly’s show last night. Explaining to the Fox host that the first amendment to the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and freedom of speech, Rove said that there “are rights everyone has” that we think it’d be “prudent to not exercise them at certain times.” He then cited the examples of skinheads demonstrating at an African-American sorority convention and Neo-Nazis attending a Jewish hotel for a meeting, apparently equating those examples with the building of a mosque near Ground Zero:
ROVE: The vast majority of the American people believe there is freedom of religion in our Constitution and that right of freedom of expression would be best exercised by not building it here. Look, in that same first amendment there’s a right to freedom of speech. Who believes that skinheads should show up at a Black sorority convention and scream bigoted remarks? Who believes there’s a right of freedom of assembly. Who believes Neo-Nazis should show up at the B’nai B’rith hotel and have their meeting in the next meeting room? There are rights everyone has that we think it’d be prudent to not exercise them at certain times.
Watch it:
Equating the building of a mosque near Ground Zero with a demonstration by racist skinheads or a Neo-Nazi meeting at a Jewish hotel is extremely insensitive to ordinary Muslims like those building Park 51. Unlike Nazis or skinheads, the founders of Park 51 are Sufis with no history of advocating hate or taking part in violence. In fact, the founder of the institution, Imam Abdul Rauf, has even advised the FBI and been a diplomatic envoy for the State Department as a part of the U.S. struggle against terrorism. Unfortunately, Rove isn’t the only leading Republican to endorse the Nazi analogy. Former GOP Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich recently compared the mosque to placing a “Nazi sign next to the Holocaust Museum.”
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Comcast Threw Local Boston Reporter Under The Bus To Appease Fox News And Bill O’Reilly
Comcast Threw Local Boston Reporter Under The Bus To Appease Fox News And Bill O’Reilly
In April 2008, Boston news reporter Barry Nolan publicly announced that he planned to protest the Boston/New England National Academy of Television Art and Science chapter’s decision to award Fox News host Bill O’Reilly an Emmy Award. Nolan, who worked for Comcast Cable’s CN8 channel, said he was “appalled” and encouraged industry colleagues to “express their displeasure to the board of governors.”
At the awards ceremony, Nolan “quietly put fliers on tables that ’simply had’ quotes from O’O'Reilly as well as three pages from the sexual harassment lawsuit O’Reilly settled that was brought by his former producer.” Although security did tell Nolan he couldn’t distribute materials, Nolan maintains that he never booed or made a ruckus during the event. Nevertheless, two days later, Nolan’s boss told him to go home. About a week later, he was fired.
Six months after the incident, Nolan filed “a $1.2 million lawsuit against Comcast for wrongful termination, charging that his First Amendment rights ‘to speak freely’ had been violated.” The Columbia Journalism Review now has new details about Nolan’s firing, showing that it appears Comcast threw the local newsman under the bus to appease Fox News and Bill O’Reilly’s ego:
On May 12, 2008 — two days after the Emmys — O’Reilly went on the offensive against what he called Nolan’s “outrageous behavior” with a carefully worded, lawyerly letter to Brian Roberts, the chairman and CEO of Comcast, which distributes Fox News and entertainment programming, to its subscribers. The letter was written on Fox News stationery and was copied to Fox News CEO Roger Ailes.
Pointedly, O’Reilly began by noting their mutual business interests. “We at The O’Reilly Factor have always considered Comcast to be an excellent business partner and I believe the same holds true for the entire Fox News Channel. Therefore, it was puzzling to see a Comcast employee, Barry Nolan, use Comcast corporate assets to attack me and FNC.” [...]
Other documents, however, filed in connection with Nolan’s lawsuit strongly suggest that O’Reilly’s letter to Roberts was a key factor in his firing. Once Comcast was in receipt of the O’Reilly letter, e-mails, talking points, and memos went flying from one jittery Comcast executive to another. Should they call O’Reilly? Who should call? Should they send a letter? Who should draft it? Who should sign it? And don’t forget to CC Roger Ailes. Roberts himself was very much in the loop, but waited until May 22 — two days after Nolan’s firing — to send O’Reilly an apology letter of his own.
Significantly, court documents show that Comcast and Fox were “involved in ‘ongoing’ contract talks at the time, with Comcast fearing Nolan’s protest ‘jeopardized and harmed’ its business dealings with Fox.”
In 2008, Nolan wrote a post for ThinkProgress urging people to keep speaking out: “And in our role as citizens, we have been told by O’Reilly to shut up, or Fox Security may pay you a visit. We are called traitors if we simply speak the truth about the absence of WMD’s — the way the war is going — the disgraces of Abu Ghraib, of Gitmo, of waterboarding. Shut up. So, when exactly do they think we have the right to speak up? To speak the quiet simple truth, to people who have more power than us? Well, I think now would be a good time. The fog of fear is lifting. The balance of power is shifting. People are beginning to talk to each other again instead of shouting. I think it’s time to reclaim the right to free speech — even if it comes at a price.”
GOP candidate Dino Rossi clueless: Thinks 1/3 of his state is making over $200,000.
Last night, Dino Rossi officially became the Republican Senate candidate in Washington. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) has embraced the Obama administration’s proposal to allow the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent of Americans to expire, while renewing those for the lower- and middle-class. Rossi, though, wants to extend all of the cuts, saying that allowing those for the rich to expire is a “class warfare program”:
Rossi argued that 2 1/2 million people in Washington benefit from the 2001 Bush tax cuts, the extension of which will be a major issue in Congress this fall. Rossi described as “this class warfare program” the Obama administration’s plan to extend the cuts enjoyed by middle-income taxpayers, while repealing tax cuts for high-income households.
There are about 6.7 million people in Washington state, so for Rossi’s number to be accurate, he’s either claiming that Obama and Murray want to raise taxes on people that they don’t, or he is claiming that more than one-third of the state’s population is making more than $200,000 per year. According to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, there are 105,209 households in the state that would be affected by the expiration of the Bush tax cuts (or about 1.6 percent of the total population). So Rossi inflated his state’s wealthy population by 24 times. Also, as The Wonk Room explains, Rossi’s push to extend the tax cuts for the rich would definitely help one Washingtonian: Dino Rossi.
Armey Implies Steele Has Become A ‘Bumbling’ ‘Horse’s Rear,’ Says ‘He’s Made Some Fairly Dramatic Stumbles’
Armey Implies Steele Has Become A ‘Bumbling’ ‘Horse’s Rear,’ Says ‘He’s Made Some Fairly Dramatic Stumbles’
Freedomworks’ Chairman Dick Armey and President Matt Kibbe have authored a new book, “Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto,” which advocates “a hostile takeover” of the Republican Party. Both Armey and Kibbe are long-time Republican operatives. Armey of course served as a Republican congressman from Texas and as House Republican Majority Leader during the so-called “Republican Revolution” in the 90s. Kibbe worked at the Republican National Committee and as a senior staffer to a Republican congressman.
Armey’s mission has grown more ideological, though not any less political, in the past few years. As ThinkProgress has documented, Armey has manipulated the heated emotions and anger of tea partiers and organized them to help push his corporate-friendly agenda, which includes advocating tax cuts for the rich, defeating clean energy reform, defending health insurers’ worst practices, and weakening regulations designed to protect consumers. Armey has been endorsing right-wing Republican candidates who are willing to take up his corporate-backed agenda.
This morning, Armey appeared on C-Span to tout his new tea party manifesto and was asked what he thinks about RNC Chairman Michael Steele. Armey couched his criticism of Steele in general terms:
C-SPAN: Mr. Armey, what do you make of the tenure of Michael Steele as head of the RNC.
ARMEY: Well again, he works with the Republican Party. You know, Armey’s axiom is “politics sooner or later makes a horse’s rear out of anybody.” Anybody that gets involved in a political party deeply and lets their behavior be governed by politically-defined choice criteria is gonna make some bumbling choices. While he’s done many good things, he’s made some fairly dramatic stumbles too.
Watch it:
Armey’s criticism of Steele comes in the wake of Republican strategist Ed Rollins’ comments this weekend that the RNC chairman’s tenure has been “a disaster.”
Armey and Steele teamed up in a failed effort to defeat the passage of health reform late last year. And Armey has advised Steele to make inroads into the tea party movement by fully embracing “taxing-and-spending issues.”
GOP Candidate Allen West: People With ‘Coexist’ Bumper Stickers Want To ‘Give Away Our Country’
GOP Candidate Allen West: People With ‘Coexist’ Bumper Stickers Want To ‘Give Away Our Country’
Republican Allen West is the Tea Party candidate for House in Florida’s 22nd district, a seat currently held by Rep. Ron Klein (D). West is an extremely successful fundraiser — he raked in the most money of any GOP challenger in the second fundraising quarter of 2010 — and has become a favorite among conservatives, earning the endorsement of Sarah Palin and receiving over two million hits on YouTube for a speech he delivered to a Florida Tea Party gathering.
Last week, video surfaced of West making a series of inflammatory statements about Islam during a March 8 pubic forum. He began by criticizing the ubiquitous “Coexist” bumper stickers, which display the symbols of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and other religions. West said:
“[A]s I was driving up here today, I saw that bumper sticker that absolutely incenses me. It’s not the Obama bumper sticker. But it’s the bumper sticker that says, ‘Co-exist.’ And it has all the little religious symbols on it. And the reason why I get upset, and every time I see one of those bumper stickers, I look at the person inside that is driving. Because that person represents something that would give away our country. Would give away who we are, our rights and freedoms and liberties because they are afraid to stand up and confront that which is the antithesis, anathema of who we are. The liberties that we want to enjoy.”
West went on to call Islam a “very vile and very vicious enemy that we have allowed to come in this country because we ride around with bumper stickers that say co-exist.” Among his opinions on Islam offered during the town hall:
– “We already have a 5th column that is already infiltrating into our colleges, into our universities, into our high schools, into our religious aspect, our cultural aspect, our financial, our political systems in this country. And that enemy represents something called Islam and Islam is a totalitarian theocratic political ideology, it is not a religion. It has not been a religion since 622 AD, and we need to have individuals that stand up and say that.”
– “George Bush got snookered into going into some mosque, taking his shoes off, and then saying that Islam was a religion of peace.”
Watch the video, shot by the Florida Democratic Party:
West began his political career after resigning from the military following an investigation into his interrogation tactics. In 2003, West was interrogating an Iraqi policeman who was not being cooperative. According to his own testimony during a military hearing, West watched four of his men beat the suspect, and West said he personally threatened to kill the man. According to military prosecutors, West followed up on his threat by taking the man outside and firing a 9mm pistol near his head, in order to make the man believe he would be shot.
ThinkFast: August 18, 2010
ThinkFast: August 18, 2010
Last night in an interview with CNN’s Larry King, radio personality Dr. Laura Schlessinger announced that she will be ending her show at the end of the year. Schlessinger steps down amidst intensive criticism over her racially-charged rant last week, initially documented by Media Matters. She said she will not be renewing her contract in order to “regain” her “First Amendment rights.”
Gov. David Paterson’s (D-NY) staff is still trying to entice the Cordoba Initiative organizers to move the proposed Muslim center to an alternate site. However, project planners reiterated that “they had no plans to build the center elsewhere” and that “a meeting has not been scheduled” with Paterson’s office.
Elizabeth Warren, currently being considered to run the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, met with several big bank lobbyists in Washington last week. Though Warren and bank lobbyists “largely steered clear of each other” until now, she sat down with them for an hour near the White House last week. Details of the discussions were not disclosed.
Citing street protests in Australia over climate inaction there, former Vice President and climate campaigner Al Gore called for demonstrations in the United States over the failure to enact policies that would curb global warming. “Across the world, when politicians fail to take action to solve the climate crisis, people are taking action,” said Gore. “It is my hope we see activism like this here in the United States.”
Mine Safety and Health Administration “cited Massey Energy for failing to report more than 20 accidents at its Upper Big Branch coal mine in the two years before an April explosion killed 29 miners there.” Four of violations “directly involve the explosion,” while the others involve “unreported roof collapses, assorted injuries” and two incidents related to black lung — all were supposed to be reported.
GOP Congressional Campaign Committee Has No Plans To Defend Its Asian-American Members
GOP Congressional Campaign Committee Has No Plans To Defend Its Asian-American Members
In 2008, Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA) became the only Asian-American in the Republican caucus. The GOP leadership quickly embraced him, with House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) penning a memo titled, “The Future is Cao.” In May, another Asian-American, Rep. Charles Djou (R-HI) joined Cao, winning a special election in a heavily Democratic district. Now in the GOP caucus, in addition to Cao and Djou, there is “first-generation Filipino” Steve Austria, three Cuban-American members (Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen), and one Native American (Tom Cole). Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele has also said one of his major objectives is to increase diversity in the GOP.
Today, however, Politico reports that the National Republican Congressional Committee’s (NRCC) 2010 blueprint for winning back Congress leave Cao and Djou out in the cold. Republicans are pursuing an “offensive effort,” buying ads mostly in districts currently held by Democrats:
Cash-flush Democrats have used their deep pockets to invest in several competitive seats where national Republicans have yet to signal their intention to compete aggressively. The NRCC has so far bypassed a handful of open or otherwise reasonably competitive seats that offer some promise for GOP gains. [...]
Notably, the NRCC has yet to announce plans to defend several imperiled GOP incumbents who rank high on Democratic target lists. Rep. Charles Djou (R-Hawaii), Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La.)—the two incumbents widely considered to be the most endangered Republicans—were left off the NRCC roster. Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), who is thought to be in better shape, was also not included.
Both Djou and Cao have occasionally broken from the party line, which may have angered the Republican leadership. Djou has criticized his party’s attempts to change the 14th amendment and supports efforts to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Cao was the only House Republican to vote for health care reform. Austria’s OH-7 district is also not on the NRCC’s target list.
19 of the 22 states suing government over ObamaCare accept grant money from health care law.
19 of the 22 states suing government over ObamaCare accept grant money from health care law.
Yesterday, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that 45 states and the District of Columbia “will receive $1 million in grant funds to help improve the review of proposed health insurance premium increases, take action against insurers seeking unreasonable rate hikes, and ensure consumers receive value for their premium dollars.” The $46 million are part of the $250 million in rate review grant dollars authorized by the new health care law. Indeed, interest is so high that states that oppose the health law applied for grants. As the Wonk Room points out, 19 of the 22 states that are suing the federal government over the constitutionality of the health care law will receive $1 million each to improve their rate review capabilities. Below is a sampling:
– ARIZONA: “The State intends to improve their filing review process by hiring an actuarial consultant to review 95% of submissions for compliance and make recommendations regarding whether filings are unjustified or excessive.”
– VIRGINIA: “Virginia will expand the information required to be submitted with rate filings and will develop a procedures manual for the review of rate filings.”
– FLORIDA: “The State will expand the scope to include large group and out-of-State products.”
The Wonk Room argues that this disconnect highlights the growing divide between state health commissioners’ implementation efforts and political rhetoric.
Hate Radio Host Mark Levin Attacks Gov. Chris Christie Over Mosque Comments: ‘Absolutely Dead Wrong’
Hate Radio Host Mark Levin Attacks Gov. Chris Christie Over Mosque Comments: ‘Absolutely Dead Wrong’
Yesterday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) warned fellow Republicans to stop “overreacting” to the proposed Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero. He said that while some degree of “deference” must be shown to some 9/11 families who don’t want the center nearby, “it would be wrong to so overreact to that, that we paint Islam with a brush of radical Muslim extremists that just want to kill Americans because we are Americans.”
Even though Christie included obligatory digs at Democrats and President Obama for somehow “playing political football” with the issue, his comments were still apparently too much for right-wing hate radio host Mark Levin. He unleashed on Christie last night during his radio show, and called the governor “absolutely dead wrong” and questioned Christie’s conservative credentials:
“Just because you clobber public sector unions, and you fight to cut your state’s budget, does not necessarily mean you are presidential material. He will see….It’s a matter of right and wrong. If the 9/11 families hadn’t stood up, if some of the most, you know, outspoken individuals in conservative media hadn’t spoken up, many, many people not only wouldn’t know about it, they wouldn’t care about it. And this is something we should care about. This is fundamental. So, sorry governor. You’re absolutely dead wrong. It’s not a political football game.“
Listen:
Levin is right that Christie has been extremely conservative on budget issues: his budget proposal this year refused to extend a tax on earners over $400,000 — which would have generated $900 million for the state — but it did cut $820 million to public schools. He also vetoed a tax on residents with incomes over $1 million, which was designed to help fund property tax relief for senior citizens and the disabled, among other programs. According to the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services, due to Christie’s veto, “a retired couple living on a fixed income of $40,000 would see an increase of $1,320 in taxes under the governor’s plan while a family making $1.2 million would receive a tax cut of $11,598.”
Christie has been mentioned as a 2012 Republican nominee for president, and even Rush Limbaugh recently asked: “Is it wrong to love another man? Because I love Chris Christie.” Still, Christie does not appear to pass Levin’s notoriously strict litmus test for conservatives.
Rand Paul’s Answer To Kentucky’s Drug Epidemic: Help ‘Rich People’
Rand Paul’s Answer To Kentucky’s Drug Epidemic: Help ‘Rich People’
Last week, Kentucky Senate candidate and Tea Party darling Rand Paul (R) told the AP of his desire to cut federal funding for undercover drug investigations and drug treatment programs that are “badly needed” in his state. While recognizing drugs as a “scourge,” Paul didn’t think Kentucky’s high-profile drug problem was “a real pressing issue.” His Democratic opponent and Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway blasted Paul for being widely “out of touch with drug abuse woes” in the state, warning that “his policies would actually hurt the people of of Kentucky.” The AP suggested that he may lose votes over his stance.
In the face of the uproar, Paul is walking back his dismissal of the problem. In a local WYMT-TV interview yesterday, Paul insisted that, as “a physician and a father,” he is “very concerned” and thinks “we need to everything we can to stop drugs.” But, as the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent notes, “it’s unclear whether his clarification will help much.” Because Paul, in feeling that the government solution is “still failing,” went on to offer his own answer to drug problem – help rich people:
“I personally think we’ve been trying the government solution, and maybe there are some good aspects to it. But we’re still failing, and we’re not getting rid of the drug problem,” Paul said.
Paul says reinvesting money in the local economy will help ease the unemployment, which he says leads to more drug use.
“You want rich people because that’s what creates jobs. If you punish people, they won’t expand or create jobs,” Paul said.
While Paul touts the magical remedies provided by the rich, it is the poor Appalachian residents in eastern Kentucky that are facing a tough reality where a “higher proportion of people abuse prescription pain killers that in the rest of the nation.” In fact, while trafficking in pain killers is the “largest drug problem” facing the region, Kentucky is also a prominent hotbed for marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine, according to the latest DEA study. This year, local officials reported 114 overdose deaths in the region within the first two months alone.
And, rather than failing, government-run programs are producing unprecedented success. Conway’s inter-governmental task force to cut prescription pill trafficking busted over 500 people in an interstate drug pipeline and was part of the “largest prescription pill bust in Kentucky history.” Kentucky law enforcement recognize the need for similar federal programs. State Fraternal Order of Police President Michael “Spike” Jones said he “would not be able to keep up with drug crime” without federal assistance to “pay overtime logged by tracking down drug dealers.” “It would be impossible to stop” drug traffickers “without federal assistance, because of the dire straits” state economies are in, said another Appalachian drug enforcement official.
But Paul seems deaf to their needs. In offering further clarification to Sargent, Paul now says that while prevention and enforcement are important, aiding the rich to ensure healthy employment is still a better cure. His insistence in remaining out of touch with his state’s epidemic even leaves members of his own party perplexed. “‘Apparently (Paul) just doesn’t know, or he wouldn’t make that statement’ about drugs not being a pressing issue” said former County Judge-Executive Tommy Slone (R). “It’ll hurt him if he says that because there’s a lot of people up here that’s been affected by these drugs.”
Gingrich Backs Out Of 9/11 Anti-Islam Rally?
Gingrich Backs Out Of 9/11 Anti-Islam Rally?
On Sunday, ThinkProgress reported that the right-wing group Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) had announced that it would be hosting a rally against the proposed Cordoba House Islamic community center on September 11, and that its confirmed list of speakers included both disgraced former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and far-right Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders.
Writing on her blog yesterday, anti-Islam activist Pamela Geller, one of the leaders of SIOA, confirmed that “Newt Gingrich, and Geert Wilders are among those speaking at our rally against the mega-mosque on 9/11.” Geller also referenced Gingrich’s participation in an earlier post.
Today, however, a spokesman for Gingrich, Joe DeSantis, told Politico’s Ben Smith that Gingrich “is not scheduled to be at this rally. He is not speaking.”
Was there a scheduling conflict? Given his rhetoric lately, it’s hard to believe Gingrich is experiencing a sudden onset of decency.
‘Shadow RNC’ Unveils Obstructionist GOP Agenda Proposal: ‘Stop,’ ‘End,’ And ‘Block’ Progressive Policy
‘Shadow RNC’ Unveils Obstructionist GOP Agenda Proposal: ‘Stop,’ ‘End,’ And ‘Block’ Progressive Policy
Republicans often bristle at being called the “party of no,” yet they have thus far failed to articulate a clear positive agenda with new ideas about how to govern. Earlier this year, former Bush advisor Karl Rove and former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie helped form American Crossroads as part of proliferation of new conservative advocacy groups that were quickly dubbed the “Shadow RNC,” and were designed, in part, to help generate these new ideas.
But today, Crossroads GPS, the advocacy arm of American Crossroads, will release a proposed platform on which Republicans should run in November that is based almost entirely on obstruction. As the conservative Daily Caller notes, “instead of things they think the GOP should do, the agenda…is made up mostly of things they think Republicans should oppose or eliminate.” Indeed, Crossroads GPS is even calling the platform an “emergency intervention to stop” President Obama’s policies:
The program calls on the GOP to “stop” the Bush tax hikes from expiring at the end of the year, to “end” stimulus projects deemed to be “wasteful,” to “call a ‘timeout’” on Obama’s health care bill, to enact a “moratorium” on “government handouts to banks, automakers, labor unions and other politically-connected interests,” to “block” any bill putting a price on carbon emissions, and to “stop stalling” on securing the border.
On the nation’s looming entitlement crisis, Crossroads’ GPS proposes a commission to study the problem and suggest solutions, even though President Obama has already created a commission that has been meeting for most of the year.
Even the seemingly positive items on the Crossroads GPS agenda use obstructionist language. For example, the “Prioritize American Energy Development” item calls for Republicans to “block” any means of pricing carbon, while the “Protect our Borders” bullet urges Republicans to “stop stalling” on border security.
American Crossroads vowed to raise $50 million to influence the 2010 elections, and are on their way thanks to just four right-wing billionaires, who alone have contributed 97 percent of the group’s money. Rove has directly credited his group’s fundraising prowess to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision.
Does News Corp’s Donation To The Republican Governors Association Violate Its Own Company Policy?
Does News Corp’s Donation To The Republican Governors Association Violate Its Own Company Policy?
Yesterday, Bloomberg News reported that News Corp., the Fox News parent company run by Rupert Murdoch, donated $1 million to the Republican Governors Association (RGA) in June. As Politico’s Ben Smith noted, “The company’s media outlets play politics more openly than most, but the huge contribution to a party committee is a new step toward an open identification between Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and the GOP.”
A look at News Corp’s own “Standards of Business Conduct,” however, raises questions about whether the $1 million contribution to the RGA violations company policy:
B. Dealing With Government Officials
Employees who have dealings with government officials shall conform to the following standards:
1. All employees who contact public officials must be familiar with the applicable lobbying laws and public disclosure requirements, particularly those laws or regulations pertaining to registrations or filings that must be made by the Company.
2. No payment shall be made to, or for the benefit of, any public official in order to induce or entice such official to: enact, defeat or violate any law or regulation for the Company’s benefit; influence any official act; or obtain any favorable action by a governmental agency or official on behalf of the Company.
3. Social amenities, entertainment and other courtesies may be extended to government officials or employees only to the extent appropriate and reasonable under applicable laws and customs. Gifts of greater than nominal value to, or lavish entertainment of, public officials are prohibited. No gifts in the form of cash, stock or other similar consideration shall be given, regardless of amount. Any gift about which an employee is uncertain should not be made without the prior written approval of the Company’s General Counsel. Any expenses incurred by a Company employee in connection with the matters discussed herein shall be accurately recorded on the Company’s books and records.
What’s not totally clear is the intent of News Corp’s donation. Was it to “induce or entice” a public official to “enact, defeat or violate any law or regulation for the Company’s benefit”? The only public response from the company so far comes from spokesman Jack Horner, who said, “News Corporation believes in the power of free markets, and the RGA’s pro-business agenda supports our priorities at this most critical time for our economy.”
The Democratic Governors Association told ThinkProgress that it has not received any donations from News Corp.
Many companies, for a variety of reasons, participate in the partisan political process, at various levels of government. As a publisher, Dow Jones has a different tradition. Dow Jones does not contribute, directly or indirectly, to political campaigns or to political parties or groups seeking to raise money for political campaigns or parties, and Dow Jones does not and will not reimburse any employee for any political contribution made by an employee. All news employees and members of senior management with any responsibility for news should refrain from partisan political activity judged newsworthy by their senior editor or in the case of senior management, the Chief Executive Officer. Other political activities (including "issue oriented" activity) are permitted, but should not be inconsistent with this code.
GOP WI Sen. candidate Ron Johnson claims ‘sunspot activity’ is the cause of extreme weather trends.
GOP WI Sen. candidate Ron Johnson claims ‘sunspot activity’ is the cause of extreme weather trends.
Yesterday, Wisconsin businessman and U.S. Senate candidate for the Republican Party Ron Johnson gave a wide-ranging interview to the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. Johnson, a global warming skeptic, detailed his views on climate change and explained that he believes that extreme weather occurring across the globe — like record flooding in Pakistan and massive forest fires in Russia — may not be a result of man-made global warming, and that it’s “far more likely that it’s just sunspot activity”:
A global warming skeptic, Johnson said extreme weather phenomena were better explained by sunspots than an overload of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as many scientists believe. “I absolutely do not believe in the science of man-caused climate change,” Johnson said. “It’s not proven by any stretch of the imagination.” [...]
“It’s far more likely that it’s just sunspot activity or just something in the geologic eons of time,” he said. Excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere “gets sucked down by trees and helps the trees grow,” said Johnson. Average Earth temperatures were relatively warm during the Middle Ages, Johnson said, and “it’s not like there were tons of cars on the road.”
In fact, sunspots have been at a historic lows. As the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson notes, “Severe weather fueled by global warming pollution is having an even more devastating impact around the world. … All of these disasters were predicted by climate scientists as a consequence of greenhouse gas pollution from burning fossil fuels.” Unfortunately, Johnson’s anti-science, anti-environment views aren’t limited to his bizarre theory about sunspots. Last June, he claimed that global warming saved Wisconsin from turning into a glacier, saying he was “glad there’s global warming … We’d be standing on top of a 200-foot thick glacier.” He has also told the press he is open to oil drilling in Wisconsin’s Great Lakes.
Republican talking heads falsely claim no Republican wants to privatize Social Security.
Republican talking heads falsely claim no Republican wants to privatize Social Security.
In his most recent weekly radio address, President Obama noted that “some Republican leaders in Congress don’t seem to have learned any lessons from the past few years. They’re pushing to make privatizing Social Security a key part of their legislative agenda if they win a majority in Congress this fall.” The Democratic National Committee also released an ad pointing to the GOP’s desire to privatize the 75 year old program. A few Republican talking heads have taken exception to this portrayal, and have claimed that no Republicans actually want to privatize the system in the way Democrats describe:
DANA PERINO: I don’t know of a single Republican who actually wants to do what the Democratic ad just said. It’s sad for the Democrats…they still can only run on fear of something that somebody is not suggesting.
ED ROLLINS: The President’s out there saying ‘Republicans are going to take away your Social Security.’ There’s no Republican, basically, standing up and saying that, and we haven’t for a very long time.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: How stupid does he think Americans are? Not only will Barack Obama not allow Social Security to be privatized, Republicans will not allow Social Security to be privatized.
Watch a compilation:
As The Wonk Room highlighted, a host of Republicans — most prominently Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) — have called for the creation of private Social Security accounts, akin to those proposed by President Bush in 2005. A Center for American Progress Action Fund analysis found that under a Bush-style privatization plan, an October 2008 retiree would have lost $26,000 in the market plunge of that year, and if the U.S. stock market had behaved like the Japanese market during the duration of that retiree’s work life, “a private account would have experienced sharp negative returns, losing $70,000 — an effective -3.3 percent net annual rate of return.”
Glenn Beck Attacks Imam Rauf For Understanding Failed Policies Radicalize Muslims, Despite Saying So Himself
Glenn Beck Attacks Imam Rauf For Understanding Failed Policies Radicalize Muslims, Despite Saying So Himself
Imam Abdul Rauf, the founder of the Park 51 Islamic community center planned near Ground Zero in New York City, has served as a diplomatic envoy to the Muslim world under both the Bush and Obama administrations and wants to build “a cultural center that includes Jews and Christians on the board.” Conservatives have lashed out at Rauf, calling him a “radical” and a “stealth jihadist.”
As The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart noted last night, one of these conservative smear artists is Glenn Beck. Stewart played a clip of Beck last mocking the idea that Rauf is a moderate Muslim cleric. As proof for his smear, Beck cited a statement Rauf gave to CBS News shortly after 9/11, in which the imam stated that he “wouldn’t say that the United States deserved what happened, but United States policies were an accessory to the crime that happened.”
Stewart, feigning outrage, then asked, “Wow! Abandoning our values and principles somehow caused problems for us and we weren’t just minding our business and got hit? What kind of scheming, America-hating extremist monster would say something so profoundly evil?” The host then played a clip of Beck’s show from April 15th where Beck essentially endorsed Rauf’s view. In the clip, Beck stands next to a white board labeled “Beck’s Policy On Defense” and explains that while the 9/11 attacks were unjustified, it “causes problems” for us in the world to be “in bed with dictators” and abandon “our values and principles”:
BECK: I wasn’t paying attention before 9/11. I didn’t know what the heck was going on in the world. Now I’m paying attention. When people said they hate us. Did we deserve 9/11? No. But were we minding our business? No. Were we in bed with dictators and abandoning our values and principles? Yes. That causes problems!
Watch it:
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Last spring’s Beck and Rauf aren’t the only ones who have recognized that pursuing foreign policy that fails to address the welfare of innocent Muslims can lead to their radicalization and provide propaganda for terrorist groups.
In September 2004, the Bush Defense Department under Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld commissioned a report designed to study the causes of radicalization among the Arab and Muslim world. The report finds that “American direct intervention in the Muslim World has paradoxically elevated the stature of and support for radical Islamists” and that Muslims “do not ‘hate our freedom,’ but rather, they hate our policies. The overwhelming majority voice their objections to what they see as one-sided support in favor of Israel and against Palestinian rights, and the longstanding, even increasing support for what Muslims collectively see as tyrannies, most notably Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan, and the Gulf states.”
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) made a similar argument, arguing that our “strategy of relying on autocrats” fueled “intolerance and hatred.” Even Bill Kristol has acknowledged that, prior to 9/11, “we had made too many accommodations with dictators” who “were exporting terror and extremism as a way of keeping themselves safe at home.”
Bolton calls for Israel to strike Iran in the next eight days.
Bolton calls for Israel to strike Iran in the next eight days.
Russia has announced that it will introduce fuel rods into Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor on August 21, which both Russia and Iran say is purely for civilian use. Appearing on Fox Business channel yesterday to comment on Russia’s move, former U.N. ambassador John Bolton told anchor David Asman, “If Israel’s going to do anything against Bushehr, it has to move in the next eight days.” “The point is that we can’t — we or Israel or whomever — can’t bomb these plants, this nuclear reactor,” Asman observed, “because it would send radiation flying in the air, it would affect thousands of people, Iranians.” Bolton reasoned that an Israeli strike must therefore happen immediately:
BOLTON: Well, unless the Israelis move within the next eight days. Once that uranium, once those fuel rods are very close to the reactor, certainly once they’re in the reactor as you say, attacking it means a release of radiation, no question about it. So if Israel’s going to do anything against Bushehr it has to move in the next eight days. If they don’t, then as I say something Saddam Hussein wanted but couldn’t get, a functioning nuclear reactor — because the Israelis bombed it in 1981 — something that Bashar al-Assad in Syria wanted, a functioning nuclear reactor — until the Israelis bombed it — couldn’t get, the Iranians, sworn enemies of Israel, will have.
ASMAN: Boy, we’ve literally run out of time, but within the next eight days, do you think it’s likely that within the next eight days the Israelis will strike?
BOLTON: I don’t think so, I’m afraid that they’ve lost this opportunity.
Watch it:
So, according to John Bolton, after August 21 there will be no point in striking Iran. Good to know.
McCain Ludicrously Insists ‘I Have Not Changed In My Positions’
McCain Ludicrously Insists ‘I Have Not Changed In My Positions’
In a desperate fight to save his seat against a hard-right primary challenger, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has spent the past year veering hard to the right, reversing his positions on a host of issues to appeal to the increasingly fanatical GOP base. This campaign wasn’t the first time McCain reinvented himself to better suit his political ambitions of the moment, and — considering that he now has a strong lead in recent polling — it probably won’t be the last.
But in a recent interview with Politics Daily, McCain bristled at accusations that he’s flip-flopped, insisting that “it’s fundamentally false” to say he “changed” positions:
Then I ask him about Sen. Lindsey Graham’s remark to The New York Times, that Graham understands his friend’s moves away from risky past positions because “John’s got a primary. He’s got to focus on getting re-elected.”
McCain interrupts me. “Lindsey knows that I don’t change in my positions,” he says. “I have not changed in my positions. I know how popular it is for the Eastern press to paint me as having changed positions. That’s not true. I know they’re going to continue to say it. It’s fundamentally false. Not only am I sure that they’ll say it, you’ll say it. You’ll write it. And I’ve just grown to accept that.”
Indeed, Graham — McCain’s “closest friend in the Senate” — is right to point out McCain’s politically-motivated flips. On immigration, McCain has gone from being a fierce supporter for comprehensive immigration reform — he worked with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) on bill that passed the Senate and included a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants — to now arguing that comprehensive reform has to take a backseat to spending billions to secure the border. He’s even come out against the DREAM act, which would provide undocumented high school graduates a path to legal residency and the chance to attend college — a bill he sponsored in 2003, 2005, and 2007.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, McCain called on the U.S. to urgently address climate change, and was a key sponsor of cap-and-trade legislation in the Senate, touting that his policies were a sharp break from the Bush administration’s stance. Now he has adopted the far-right’s position, dubbing climate legislation “cap and tax” and opposing this piece of the “far left” agenda. In February, he even tried to claim that he had never supported cap-and-trade.
McCain also flipped on gun control, introducing a bill this year to force the District of Columbia to weaken its gun laws, in spite of the fact that McCain once served as a spokesperson for Americans for Gun Safety, a campaign that encouraged states to enact stricter regulations.
And despite once priding himself as a “maverick” who could work across the aisle, McCain has now tried to claim that he “never considered myself a maverick,” and recently promised not to work with Democrats on immigration reform.
Flip-flops are nothing new for McCain. During the 2008 campaign, ThinkProgress identified 44 separate policy items on which McCain had reversed himself, ranging from congressional ethics to foreign policy. A study from Princeton University even used statistical analysis to prove that McCain has made major shifts over his career. Still, this is not the first time McCain has tried to insist he has been consistent.
ThinkFast: August 17, 2010
ThinkFast: August 17, 2010
According to its July 15 filing with the IRS, Gov. Haley Barbour’s (R-MS) Republican Governors Association received a $1 million contribution from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. While the company’s media outlets, including Fox News and the New York Post, “play politics more openly than most,” the donation to RGA is “a new step toward an open identification” between Murdoch and the GOP.
The CIA has discovered tapes of 9/11 plotter Ramzi Binalshibh being interrogated in 2002 at a Moroccan-run facility used by the CIA. The tapes, discovered under a desk, could illustrate how foreign governments aided the U.S. in detaining and questioning terror suspects.
An Air Force officer who sued the government over his pending dismissal under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has won a small victory, as the Air Force has agreed to at least temporarily delay any discharge. Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach sued to stop his discharge and asked that DADT be repealed on constitutional grounds.
A federal appeals court has stayed California’s ban on same-sex marriage until it decides whether the ban is constitutional. The ruling follows a lower court’s overturning of the ban, and marriages are now on hold until a decision by the appeals court, which would come in December at the earliest, or by the Supreme Court, which could take much longer.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) backed Obama’s decision to support the building of an Islamic center near Ground Zero. “That’s a local decision,” Brown said. “We’re not at war with a religion, we’re at war with terrorism.”
REPORT: Partisan Spending On Judicial Elections Soars
REPORT: Partisan Spending On Judicial Elections Soars
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that a West Virginia State Supreme Court judge should have recused himself from a case involving Massey Energy because of an “extreme” conflict of interest. Massey CEO Don Blankenship had spent $3 million to get the judge elected, even running ads accusing the lawyer’s opponent of voting to free an incarcerated child rapist and of allowing that rapist to work in a public school.
An exhaustive study released today, however, shows that big-money influence in judicial elections is hardly limited to that case. A trio of nonpartisan policy groups — the Justice at Stake Campaign, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, and the National Institute of Money in State Politics — found that spending on state Supreme Court races has more than doubled in the past 10 years. From 2000 through 2009, $207 million dollars were spent on judicial races, with much of the money coming from partisan special interest groups. Among the study’s findings:
–Special interest groups and party organizations accounted for 52 percent of all national TV spending in 2009 — “the first time that noncandidate groups outspent the candidates on the ballot.”
– The top five spenders in the top 10 costliest states invested an average of $473,000 in judicial elections, while the remaining 116,000 contributors averaged $850 each. According to the authors, the disparity suggests that “a small number of special interests dominated judicial election spending even before the Citizens United case ended bans on election spending by corporations and unions.”
– In 11 of 17 races in 2007-08, the candidate that raised the most money won his or her contest.
In the forward to the report, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote: “This crisis of confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary is real and growing. Left unaddressed, the perception that justice is for sale will undermine the rule of law that the courts are supposed to uphold.” But not all of the current Supreme Court justices agree: Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Scalia dissented from the Massey decision, saying that if judges recuse themselves because of the money spent to elect them, it would encourage “groundless” charges that other “judges are biased.”
The report does highlight some seeds of change, however: Wisconsin, North Carolina, New Mexico, and West Virginia have already enacted public financing for judicial elections, and polls show continued strong public support for reform measures like public financing, election voter guides, recusal reform and full financial disclosure for election ads.
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