MSNBC ratchets up attack on Iraq war opponents, compares us all to Bin Laden

In a supposed effort to explain how he was "misunderstood" for yesterday comparing Osama bin Laden to Michael Moore, MSNBC's Chris Matthews joined MSNBC's Joe Scarborough in explaining to the American public tonight that Bin Laden is channeling ALL American liberals and ALL those who have a problem with how the war in Iraq is going, including specifically John Kerry, Ted Kennedy and Michael Moore.

MATTHEWS: Why is [bin Laden] doing it? Why is he trying to track what he picks up in the internet and from the media as the lingo of the left in America, like Moore? Why would he start to talk like Moore? People misunderstood what I said last night. I think he’s getting some advice from people, he’s getting some lingo, some wordage that he hears working in the United States about this thing for war profiteers and he’s jumping on every opportunity. Is that what you are saying Joe?

SCARBOROUGH: Listen, if somebody can’t look at the words that Bin Laden said last night and match them up with what Michael Moore said, with what John Kerry said on Face the Nation with he said Americans were terrorizing Iraqi women and children in their homes hat night, which is what Bin Laden in effect said. What Ted Kennedy has been saying. Remember he said after Abu Ghraib that Saddam’s torture came bers were turned over to — chambers were turned over to new management, U.S. troops, that’s the same thing Bin Laden hit on.

Yes, in the eyes of MSNBC, the majority of country, and most of you reading this, have a bit too much in common with a mass murderer who killed 3,000 Americans on September 11. I wonder if MSNBC's advertisers agree that more than half of their customers are akin to Al Qaeda terrorists? I wonder how fond MSNBC's advertisers are of sponsoring fag-jokes? A line has been crossed, and enough is enough.

Crooks and Liar has the video up. Suffice it to say that a number of us are meeting this weekend. Stay tuned. Read More......

AP Picks Up Maryland Gay Marriage Ruling

AP has picked up the Maryland gay marriage ruling we talked about earlier. Via Yahoo:

A Baltimore judge struck down a 33-year-old state law against gay marriage Friday, declaring it violates the Maryland Constitution's guarantee of equal rights.
...
Murdock ruled in favor of 19 gay men and women, rejecting a state argument that the traditional family is ideal for children.

"Although tradition and societal values are important, they cannot be given so much weight that they alone will justify a discriminatory" law, she wrote.

Makes me proud to live here in Baltimore! Read More......

Friday Orchid Blogging

Phrag. Lynn Evans-Goldner (schlimii ’Isolde’ x Barbara LeAnn)

This little guy is only 4.5 centimeters across (a bit under 2 inches), and absolutely adorable. I only got him a few months ago. Phrags typically like water, they often grow in running streams, or alongside them. Still, I've found you CAN overwater them, so they can be tricky. I really like this one, so hoping I can keep it alive.

Enjoy. Read More......

Open thread

So who do we hate more, the Washington Post or Chris Matthews? Talk amongst yourselves. Read More......

Washington Post publishes bigoted anti-gay comic strip

The Washington Post today published an incredibly anti-gay comic strip for all of Washington, DC's children to read. What a fitting close to the week we commemorate Martin Luther King's civil rights legacy to the nation.



You can view the cartoon online here as well.

In the cartoon, you have two young characters walking by a movie marquee for Brokeback Mountain. The dialogue between the two characters is as follows:

Yeesh, a kissin' cowboy movie!

Somewhere, John Wayne is weeping...

John Wayne cried?

Of course not. Buf if he did, he would...

You see, a movie about gay people is gross and very unmanly, and thus a movie that showed gay people as normal suffering human beings is something that a real American like John Wayne would be disgusted with.

And apparently the Washington Post has no problem publishing bigoted attacks against gays and lesbians because, on a page frequented by children no less, they published the cartoon.

And before we hear from the Washington Post about their wonderful freedom of speech policy, ask them why they deleted hundreds of reader responses from their blog about their horrible ombudsman who herself said she's going to stop responding to critics (which is, by the way, her job).

If the Post is all for free speech, I wonder how they'd react to a cartoon about, oh, say, Denzel Washington's movie "A Soldier's Story" - the cartoon would go something like this....

Yeesh, a black war hero movie!

Somewhere, General Patton is weeping...

General Patton cried?

Of course not. Buf if he did, he would...

When we get the answer to that question, then we'll know if the Washington Post is really for freedom of speech, or just run by a bunch of conservative bigots.

Read More......

Rove is back at it

Karl Rove has emerged from his White House cave to start the 2006 campaign. Karl wants to make national security the issue. Think about that -- the guy who violated national security by leaking the name of an undercover CIA operative during the war he helped start -- wants to make national security an issue:

"Republicans have a post-9/11 worldview -- and many Democrats have a pre-9/11 worldview," Rove told Republican activists. "That doesn't make them unpatriotic, not at all. But it does make them wrong -- deeply and profoundly and consistently wrong."

Actually, it was George Bush's pre-9/11 worldview -- his August 6th 2001 worldview to be specific -- that got us in to this mess. Bush was told on August 6th, 2001 that Bin Laden was going to attack the U.S., but stayed on vacation. Now, four and a half years later, despite Bush's promise and threats to the contrary, Bin Laden is still free to taunt the U.S.

Karl and the GOP desperately need to change the subject. The Plame scandal is still ongoing, the Iraq war is a mess, the Abramoff debacle is exploding, the Bush/DeLay Medicare drug plan is a complete disaster....So, Karl is starting the war drumbeat again. Remember, Karl gave a similar speech in 2002 and, in return, we got the Iraq war:

In 2002, Rove caused a stir among Democrats when he told RNC members to make the war on terrorism an issue in the midterm elections. "We can go to the country on this issue because they trust the Republican Party to do a better job of protecting and strengthening America's military might and thereby protecting America," he said at the time. Rove made the same case Friday, though his words were a bit more measured.

So, he's playing the same hand. The 2002 Rove/GOP political campaign plan spawned the Iraq War. It worked for them electorally before so they're using the same playbook (absent Judith Miller.)

Which country does the GOP start a war with this year in order to further their political agenda? The other question is whether the Democrats are going to be smarter and bolder fighting back this time around.

And will anyone in the traditional media note the irony of Rove talking about national security after he leaked the name of an undercover spy? Probably not. Read More......

Cliff's Corner

The Week That Was 01/20/06

Another week. More preposterousness to report.

Let me begin by explaining in the simplest terms why I killed Christ. I know, it’s not imperative, but I feel it’s my moral duty to clarify this impious skullduggery committed by each an every member of the Jewish faith after John brought Pastor Ken Hutcherson to our attention this past week. You may remember that the good Mr. Hutcherson, when referring to Mel Gibson’s horror flick dressed in Biblical clothing, offered the affable aside that:

I think it's going to be controversial to the whole view of the Jewish nation. The truth is that they did push to have Christ crucified. That's just plain truth...that's Biblical truth.

Well, first of all, let me explain that I have an alibi. I was planning the takeover of the world economy, media and all motion pictures not made by the endearing Mr. Gibson with all the other Hebrews at the time—over poppy seed bagels and lox with some gefilte fish and the blood of blue-eyed children on the side.

That said, I will admit my complicity. I had to off him. If I hadn’t, think of the world we would live in. Pat Robertson would be selling ’58 Ford Pintos. Instead of the Passion of the Christ, we would have been throttled non-stop with Lethal Weapons 5-13 until Mel Gibson finally just settled his bloodlust by killing Danny Glover. Priests would actually have to find consenting adults. Mrs. Scalito would run out of reasons to cry. And George W. Bush would have no faux-conversion story for why he’s supposedly not a piss-drunk, drugged-out loser anymore, even though if this is George W. Bush governing while sober, I’d rather have his brain on drugs. Any questions?

Now onto important stories. It seems some in the media and on Capitol Hill are finally a bit perturbed by the fact that it is easier to get our phone records than it is for Republican lamppost Kellyanne Conway to regurgitate lunch. Or marry a guy who looks like a doughnut and spent the 90s humping her slightly less bulimic-looking buddy Laura Ingraham. Yeah, George, it had nothing to do with your bank. But I digress.

The important thing here is that someday we might not be able to purchase Wesley Clark’s calls for 1/1000th of what it costs to make eye contact with Bob Ney, while he takes out the 9-iron at St. Andews before hitting the hot tub with Jack Abramoff. And speaking of Jack, George Clooney brought up a good point this week—would you name your son Jack if his last name ended in off? I mean c’mon. Think of how much he must have gotten his ass kicked during all those extra recess hours he purchased from the middle-school principal. I think in between segments on Natalee Holloway this is the kinda thing inquiring minds might want Greta, Rita or Nancy Grace to figure out for us. For now you can just go to one of many sites online, get their phone records and ask them yourself. Say Jonah Goldberg sent you.

Finally, in the continuing right-wing war against ideas that they find deplorable, such as seeking truth through rigorous study, science and reason to answer the universe’s mysteries—for instance, when will Hannity finally admit his slight stiffening while gazing at the lustrous Colmes and how did Ann Coulter’s Adam’s Apple become larger than the pre-stomach-stapled Al Roker—we find out that those nutty pre-Enlightenment thinkers on the right have been paying UCLA students to spy on professors and report on their “radical” nature. My first question is doesn’t the Bush Administration already have the NSA, FBI or Jenna while on X to take care of this?

Second, as John alluded to earlier this week, might it be possible for those who don’t, I dunno, subscribe to cult-like, paranoid, apocalyptic, supernatural beliefs to actually listen to views with which they disagree and still retain power over their own thoughts and behavior? I attended a lecture by Frank Luntz when he was a professor at my undergrad. I still have my real hair. And, yes, I also was present at a talk given by the aforementioned Mrs. Conway as a graduate student, and my digestive system still chooses to process my entire caloric intake. Read More......

CNN host "hates 9/11 families"

CNN host Glenn Beck says he hate the families of the victims of September 11:

...you know it took me about a year to start hating the 9-11 victims' families? Took me about a year. And I had such compassion for them, and I really wanted to help them, and I was behind, you know, "Let's give them money, let's get this started." All of this stuff. And I really didn't -- of the 3,000 victims' families, I don't hate all of them. Probably about 10 of them. And when I see a 9-11 victim family on television, or whatever, I'm just like, "Oh shut up!" I'm so sick of them because they're always complaining.

CNN: The most trusted name in hate. Read More......

NEW BLOG: Tell NBC's Chris Matthews to apologize

Go there and tell Chris Matthews how you'd feel being compared to Osama bin Laden simply because you think President Bush isn't winning the war in Iraq. Read More......

In response to growing reader anger, Washington Post announces new "look and feel"

A must-read from Jesus' General. Read More......

BREAKING NEWS: Maryland Moves Closer to Same Sex Marriage

Equal marriage rights for gay couples in Maryland took a HUGE step forward this morning. From the Baltimore Sun (registration required):

A Baltimore Circuit Court judge today struck down Maryland's 33-year-old law against same-sex marriage, ruling in favor of 19 gay men and women who contended the prohibition violated the state's equal rights amendments.

Anticipating that her decision eventually would be appealed to Maryland's highest court, the Court of Appeals, Judge M. Brooke Murdock stayed action on her ruling pending that appeal.

"After much study and serious reflection, this court holds that Maryland's statutory prohibition against same-sex marriage cannot withstand this constitutional challenge," Murdock wrote in her decision.

The American Civil Liberties Union, Equality Maryland and plaintiffs hailed the decision.

"This is such an exciting moment," said Lisa Polyak, who was one of the plaintiffs in the case along with her partner, Gita Deane. "Our participation in this lawsuit has always been about family protections for our children. Tonight, we will rest a little easier knowing that those protections are within reach."

...
But in her ruling today, Murdock wrote that the law "discriminates based on gender."

"There is no apparent compelling state interest in a statutory prohibition of same-sex marriage discriminating, on the basis of sex, against those individuals whose gender is identical to their intended spouses," Murdock wrote. "Indeed, this court is unable to even find that the prohibition of same-sex marriage rationally relates to a legitimate state interest."

You can download the case here (1 meg PDF file) and you can get a full background on the case here.

This case was supported by Equality Maryland and the Maryland ACLU. Read More......

Bush administration endangering our national security

Remember back in the days when even mentioning one word about Bush's program to illegally spy on American citizens was tantamount to helping the enemy? ThinkProgress reminds us of that time so long ago:

President Bush, 12/16/05

I know that people are anxious to know the details of operations, they– people want me to comment about the veracity of the story. It’s the policy of this government, just not going do it, and the reason why is that because it would compromise our ability to protect the people.

Press Secretary Scott McClellan, 12/16/05:

This relates to intelligence activities and ongoing intelligence operations that are aimed at saving lives. And there’s a reason why we don’t get into discussing ongoing intelligence activities, because it could compromise our efforts to prevent attacks from happening.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, 12/16/05:

Well, I’m, again, not going to comment on intelligence activities because intelligence activities, by their very nature, are activities that are sensitive and that should not be compromised.

Wow, pretty scary stuff. Even commenting on the program jeopardizes our national security.

Then why is it that every single person in the Bush administration is now part of a coordinated strategy to publicly comment on this program? From AP today:

President Bush will visit the ultra-secret National Security Agency on Wednesday, underscoring his claim that he has the constitutional authority to let intelligence officials listen in on international phone calls of Americans with suspected ties to terrorists....

The Bush administration presented its most detailed defense of warrantless eavesdropping on Thursday in a 42-page Justice Department legal dossier sent to congressional leaders....

Other key members of the administration will also make the case for the NSA program in appearences next week.

On Monday, deputy national intelligence director Mike Hayden, who headed the National Security Agency when the program began in October 2001, will speak on the issue a the National Press Club.

On Tuesday, Gonzales is to deliver a speech on the program in Washington.

Gonzales plans to testify publicly about the secret program at a Senate hearing set to begin Feb. 6....

Dick Cheney was to meet with congressional leaders at the White House on Friday to discuss the program.

In New York Thursday, Cheney defended the NSA activity in a speech to the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank.

The lesson. Bush can't be trusted when he refuses to answer questions for reasons of national security. Basically, he's happy to answer questions when it serves him, but will then pull the national security canard when the questions get uncomfortable.

Or Bush is simply willing to jeopardize national security when his polls numbers drop. Read More......

CNN host condoned murder of Michael Moore

Well, it seems CNN has decided it has to become FOX News in order to survive. They've just hired radio shock jock Glenn Beck. What they don't tell you is just how extreme Beck is.

Last year, for example, Beck talked on-the-air about how he wanted to murder Michael Moore and whether he should hire a hit-man to do it. Lovely. Maybe CNN can hire Charles Manson and Squeaky Fromme and together with Beck they can host The Situation Room?

From the May 17, 2005 broadcast of The Glenn Beck Program:

BECK: Hang on, let me just tell you what I'm thinking. I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out -- is this wrong? I stopped wearing my What Would Jesus -- band -- Do, and I've lost all sense of right and wrong now. I used to be able to say, "Yeah, I'd kill Michael Moore," and then I'd see the little band: What Would Jesus Do? And then I'd realize, "Oh, you wouldn't kill Michael Moore. Or at least you wouldn't choke him to death." And you know, well, I'm not sure.

Yes, I'm sure we'll be told this was just a joke. Just like NBC's Chris Matthews was just joking when he made a fag-joke on the radio yesterday.

According to the mainstream media, journalism is now just one big joke where all the networks compete in order to see who can be the biggest far-right extremist at the expense of half of their viewers, and the truth. Read More......

Cell phone records dealers sound a lot like George Bush

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Here's how bestpeoplesearch.com justifies its business:

"If you're not involved in suspicious activities or infidelity, and you are not trying to hide from someone because of debt, or involved in a criminal activity, there really is no reason to be concerned about your call records."

Did you get that? If you're not doing anything wrong, then what do you have to hide?

Oh I don't know. Maybe I'm a woman trying to get away from an abusive spouse? May I'm a police detective who doesn't want criminals knowing who my informants are? Maybe I'm a business competitor who doesn't want you to know who all my clients are?

But as the president keeps telling us to justify his illegal domestic spying program, if you've got nothing to hide, what are you so afraid of? Read More......

How low can Chris Matthews go? Open Thread

Who will Chris Matthews offend today in his quest to get the right wingers to like him? Yesterday, he smacked around gays and Michael Moore.

It's really pathetic watching Matthews try so hard to be one of that gang. He is making every effort to distance himself -- from himself. He wants the GOPers to forget that he worked for Jimmy Carter, Tip O'Neill and Ed Muskie....But they won't. Conservatives who go on tv, like Joe Scarborough and Tucker Carlson, don't try to distance themselves from who they are, they revel in it. Matthews goes to the extreme to run from his past at any cost.

Matthews went overboard yesterday. He has to apologize. Read More......

Oil prices rising again

Trading today is over $67. Just imagine the price if it was cold this winter. Read More......

New home sales dropped in December

So far, the market has barely taken notice of what could be another sign of a falling market. Over the last few years quite a few jobs have become tied to the hot housing market so a drop in housing will certainly hurt the economy. Don't count me in as a believer in a "soft landing" because we've heard that one before. With the financial mess that the GOP has created for the US, we better have a lot of non-housing growth in the economy and fast or things will turn ugly. Read More......

Open thread

Ah, the smell of orchid blogging and Sci-Fi on the horizon... Read More......