You have got to be kidding me:

Peter Johnson: You know, it's a peculiar and strange and haunting and really backward reference that we're seeing by the president. And what we're really seeing is a reference to the notion of being in the back of the bus. And that's a matter of sad American history, embarrassing American history. Rosa Parks in December 1955 changed the course of American history when she decided that she would not give up her seat for a white person. And ended the concept, across the country, of African Americans being in the back of the bus -- literally, metaphorically, in every way in terms of our society.

So now we have a president referring to this kind of malignant, charged era in American history, and saying, in a long narrative -- and it's incredible what he said -- that somehow the car's in the ditch, that the Republicans are --

Brian Kilmeade: He's told the story a million times.

Johnson: No, no, but it's incredible -- at the top of the ditch, slipping, ah, drinking slurpees, kicking dirt in the face of the president and others who are trying to get this car out of the ditch. And once the car's out of the ditch and the Republicans demand the keys -- 'You can't have the keys, but we'll let you sit in the back of the bus.'

Couple that too with the statement the president made on a Spanish radio show, where he talks about exhorting the Spanish-American community, the Latino community in this country to punish their enemies when they vote.

Kilmeade: And reward your friends.

Johnson: When we engage in this charged, strange, malignant kind of language, we are not moving forward. We are moving backwards, um, in this country. And it's a regrettable statement.

The American bus -- the American car is a bus and a car for all Americans, regardless of race, and regardless of party. And so we're allegedly in this post-partisan, post-racial era where we summon our better angels. To summon our worst demons and to go back 55 years and summon a horrible image of a courageous Rosa Parks fighting the evil of segregation -- to inject that again into our politics is a mistake. It's a surprising thing and I'm sure the president wouldn't do it again.

Soooooo. I guess RedStaters aren't the only wingnuts this desperate in their neverending search for proof, which they know fershure is out there, that President Obama and the liberals are the real racists in this mix.

Now Fox & Friends are in on the action. Can Glenn Beck be far behind?

But let's replay the tape, just so everyone can see what Obama actually says. The tellings vary slightly, of course, from venue to venue, but here's how he put it last week in Seattle:

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My friend and former colleague at OpenLeft, Chris Bowers (now with DailyKos), does his usual excellent job at putting it in perspective for us:

Nate Silver currently gives Democrats a 21% chance of keeping control of the House. Pollster.com also gives Democrats a 21% chance. Seems like a consensus to me.

With that in mind, here are three seemingly common things that are less likely than Democrats winning the House in 2010:

1. First, it’s less likely that your birthday is in either August or September (18%) than it is for Democrats to keep control of the House. However, we all know lots of people born in either August or September.

2. Second, your odds of rolling doubles in Monopoly, thus winning a second roll or getting you out of jail, are lower (17%) than the odds of Democrats winning the House. But everyone who has ever played Monopoly has rolled doubles many times.

3. Third, it’s less likely for an NFL team with the ball, and trailing by seven points at the start of the 4th quarter, to win the game (about 12%) than it is for Democrats to keep the House. Still, every football fan, player and announcer knows comebacks like that happen all the time. Two Sundays ago, it even happened twice in one day (here and here). A third, even larger comeback happened on that same day.

Yes, Democrats are behind. However, a 21% chance of victory is far from being defeated.

Giving it some thought, there are plenty more good examples:

• If you live in the United States, the probability of your blood type being AB+, O-, A-, B-, OR AB- is less than 21%- it's only 18.4%. Yet I bet a lot of you have one of those blood types- I do myself.

• For those of you who play pinochle like me, it turns out that with a single deck and dealing to four players, chances are only 18.6% that you'll be dealt a pinochle (jack of diamonds + queen of spades). But pinochles are fairly common in meld.

• Being a rabid player of the board game Risk, I continually seek out ideas on strategies and chances. For those of you who play, you'll know that being on defense can sometimes be harrowing when outnumbered. For example, when playing with all 5 dice, if you're Western United States with 6 armies and Eastern United States is attacking you with 9, your statistical odds of successfully holding onto Western United States are only 13%. Yet there are still plenty of times when your armies stand tall to successfully defend.

• Depending on what you read, only 8-15% of the population is left-handed. Yet not only is our President left-handed, I bet some of you have your left hand on the mouse right now.

The point is that for all the forecasting, retaining the House isn't hitting a triple bank shot -- it may be more common than events that regularly occur every day. This isn't spin -- it's statistics.

And a contribution to your favorite House candidate at Blue America will only increase those chances. It ain't over 'till it's over.

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"Wanted" posters are giving abortion doctors in North Carolina something to be concerned about.

CBS News reports that Operation Save America is responsible for putting up Wanted posters with the faces of abortion doctors. One flyer even cites a home address.

"It doesn't say 'Wanted Dead or Alive' but the implications are clearly there," said one doctor who wished to remain anonymous.

"These 'Wanted' posters are a call for my murder," the doctor told CBS News.

"The posters are meant to call for my murder by that borderline person," said the doctor. "They are putting out the bait, they are putting out the message, the call, and hope that somebody will respond."

In the 1990s several doctors were killed after appearing on Wanted posters. In 1993, Dr. David Gunn and Dr. George Patterson were murdered. A year later, Dr. John Britton was also shot and killed.

An assassination attempt was made on Dr. George Tiller's life in 1993. Tiller was later killed by an abortion activist in 2009.

But Flip Benham, the founder of Operation Save America, denies that the posters invite violence.

"If you read the writing in there, it's wanted by Christ," he said. "We want them to meet Jesus."

In 2002, a US Appeals Court ruled that Wanted posters were a violation of a federal law that makes it a crime to prevent people for having access to clinics.

But CBS News legal correspondent Jan Crawford says the 2002 ruling was for a limited area and doesn't apply to the new Wanted posters.

"It doesn't affect the poster in Charlotte that are at issue now," she said.

Katherine Spillar, executive vice president of Feminist Majority Foundation, has asked the Justice Department to investigate the new flyers.

"We know what the pattern has been year after year," said Spillar. "We need tough prosecution before more doctors are murdered."

"I am always looking over my shoulder," one doctor said. "I know they know my car. They know my face. They've been to my house. They've put these posters in my neighborhood. So yeah, I look over my shoulder."

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Yep, that's our very own John Amato (center) among the group of progressive bloggers who met this afternoon with President Obama at the White House in what John just described to me as a "frank and friendly" chat. John says it went on for a surprisingly long time.

John will have his own post, along with a transcript of the chat, in a little while.

Meanwhile, AmericaBlog has Joe Sudbay's report.

(h/t Balloon Juice)

We all know it's true: Fox News is the propaganda arm of the Republican Party. And now, with parent company NewsCorp's $1M donation to the Republican Governors Association, I'd argue that the Republican Party is the political arm of Fox News Channel.

And here is the absolutely perfect way for any self-respecting Democrat to deal with Fox News:

When Fox News affiliate reporter Steve Brown and his crew were noticed hanging out near the back of a Milwaukee Democrats monthly meeting, party chairman Sachin Chheda called them out and asked them to explain why they were there, considering News Corp's -- the parent company of Fox News -- highly publicized $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association.

"Do you think it's understandable why Democrats across the country have this reaction when Fox News shows up, that they feel it's not a fair organization, it's a biased organization, and it doesn't give a fair shake to Democrats and Democratic viewpoints," Chheda asked.

Brown then explained that he wasn't responsible for the actions of the entire outlet, just as Chheda wasn't responsible for the actions of all Democrats in his organization, but in the end he made a surprising concession:

"I understand," Brown said of Democratic suspicion of Fox News. "I have been dealing with this in various different degrees for 12 years. I understand people are allowed to have whatever opinion they wish to have about my organization or any other one. If you don't want us here, we'll leave."

To his credit, Chheda said they could stay after Brown's somewhat chastened admission, but the damage to Brown & Co. had already been done.

As John Cole puts it, a reporter should think twice before trusting his professional credibility to Fox News. And Democrats should never hesitate to remind them of that.

It is not okay to tackle a woman to the ground and step on her head just because you don't like her politics. The tea party sees tyranny everywhere and practices it on others. This is how real, actual, not-imaginary fascism comes to America.

Our ugly election season has seen militia-linked security goons handcuff reporters, biker gangs intimidate campaign workers, poll observers "hovering" over brown-skinned voters, minority "voter caging" efforts, citizens arrested for challenging incumbents, RedStaters finding excuse to use racist slurs against the president, and now a scene we might call American Tea Party History X.

But there's a cure for the viral insanity: people like Lauren Valle, the MoveOn.org activist brutalized by Rand Paul's county coordinator. Her courage is in the best traditions of progressive activism, which is not just an answer to the tea party but the antidote. More after the jump and a very important video...

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All this anger and frustration at the state of the country is supposedly resulting in this huge anti-incumbent fervor, but do the tea baggers REALLY think that the Republican Party wants to fix what's broken in DC? Surely, you jest.

In anticipation of major GOP gains in next week’s elections, House Republican leaders have put together a list of experienced Washington hands to help fill top staff positions for the surge of newly elected outsiders.

Leading the effort are Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio), Minority Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

The leaders have put together a list of about 75 to 80 potential chiefs of staff, including current and former Capitol Hill staffers and lobbyists who have been recommended or have inquired about working for an incoming Member, according to several Republicans familiar with the document.

“There will be a lot of new, energetic Republicans coming to town — some of whom will have staff, others who will begin to assemble their teams,” Cantor spokesman Brad Dayspring said in an e-mail. “There’s a lot of important work to get done right out of the gate, so it’s important that newly elected Republicans have access to experienced, competent staff so that they can hit the ground running.”

One former GOP staffer said leadership has been actively, but informally, seeking individuals to fill the chief of staff positions for new Members from tough districts. The goal is to help the freshmen navigate Washington and to guide them through future election cycles.

“Every election cycle, the NRCC offers to assist our new members by providing a résumé file of qualified staffers,” NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain said in an e-mail.

Several Republican lobbyists said it is important for GOP leadership to assist incoming lawmakers with filling senior-level staff positions, especially for those who could face tough re-election races in 2012.

“You want to be sure that the newbies, when they hit town, do not necessarily bring their campaign staff to run their Congressional offices, because in some cases they are totally ill-equipped,” one veteran Republican lobbyist said. “Winning an election is one thing, running a Congressional operation is another. A lot of these folks are really, really new to politics.”

Besides being completely incoherent in their politics--wanting to have government out of Medicare, supporting tax cuts for the very wealthiest, adding billions of dollars to the deficit and yet, clutching pearls over the deficit, supporting the party that actually grew the size of the government while decrying the size of the government--tea bagging supporters of these upstart candidates think they're bringing in new thinking and new way of doing business in Washington DC.

Suckers.

Those entrenched, establishment Repubicans will put their entrenched, establishment lobbyists and staffers in the offices of any tea bagger who quixotically wins a seat. And those staffers, don't kid yourself, will make sure that nothing changes.

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Via TPM:

Tim Profitt -- the former Rand Paul volunteer who stomped on the head of a MoveOn activist -- told told local CBS station WKYT that he wants an apology from the woman he stomped and that she started the whole thing.

Yeah. Seriously.

The woman, 23-year-old Lauren Valle from Washington D.C., appeared to be following a specific set of instructions detailed on MoveOn.org's website designed to attract media attention. Profitt claims he believed Paul was in danger from the woman and that he acted to protect the candidate, but the campaign has condemned Profitt's actions. "I put my foot on her, and I did push her down at the very end, and I told her to stay down," Proffitt said, "I actually put my foot on her to... I couldn't bend over because I have issues with my back."

Lexington Police began an assault investigation identifying Profitt as a suspect. "Well I'll just say it, if the police had done what they were supposed to do, it would have never happened," Profitt said.

The Paul campaign is not alone in its reaction. Another man involved in the altercation, Mike Pezzano, who held down Ms. Valle, tells NEWSFIRST he doesn't condone Profitt's actions. Valle has said she believes Paul supporters planned an attack on her. Pezzano asked not to appear on camera for an interview, but he denies that accusation and says he barely knows Profitt and didn't even know Profitt was there. As for Profitt, he remains defiant. "I don't think it's that big of a deal," Profitt said.

And when asked if he would apologize to Valle. "I would like for her to apologize to me to be honest with you," Profitt said.

A spokesperson for MoveOn.org says Lauren Valle has been released from the hospital and is recovering from injuries including a concussion and a sprained shoulder and arm.

Although Profitt didn't want his face shown in the newsclip above he had no such qualms being photographed with Rand Paul. Funny about that.

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Everyone keeps saying the coming election is a referendum on President Obama. I beg to differ. I'm beginning to believe that it's actually a referendum on Fox News.

Because, well, let's be honest: The Republican Party would be dead in the water right now were it not for Fox and its ceaseless efforts -- primarily through lying and propagandizing 24/7/365 -- at reviving the conservative movement brand.

Voters aren't voting for Republicans or a GOP agenda. They're voting for the Fox agenda.

I was thinking about this while watching our fearless fearmonger in chief Glenn Beck waxing apocalyptic yesterday on his Fox show -- which, as Media Matters points out, Beck is using as his own Get Out The Vote operation. Beck's show was full of warnings about the dire threat posed to the Republic by progressives, and how this election will reverse that course and refudiate progressivism.

But the best part was the little promo that ran near the end of the show, with the following script:

Narrator: On November 2, 2010, you have a choice. You can stand up for freedom and liberty. Or sit back and let the American Dream become a nightmare.

It's way too late for politics. Instead, vote as if your way of life depends on it. Because it does.

Vote for government by the people, of the people, and for the people. Vote Democrat, Republican, or Independent. But whatever you do, vote for Honor. Restoration. The Constitution. Vote for America.

This is just about the endpoint of the campaign that Fox has been waging for the past two years -- beginning the day after Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008. Think about it:

-- The engine of their comeback, the Tea Parties, is almost wholly a Fox concoction. Without Fox's endless promotions of the various Tea Party events -- and Tea Party figures, including its corporate overseers like Dick Armey -- the "movement" would have been nothing, a brief blip on the screen.

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That right wing kook, Charles Murray, co-author of The Bell Curve, is at it again and this time the Washington Post provides the platform. He revives the age-old notion that the right has been pumping into their bloodstream for decades -- that "Elites" are dangerous to America's welfare and need to be exposed.

This kind of thinking is embedded in the "Producerist" narrative that drives right-wing populism: the notion that cultural elites are a danger to the middle and working class, because they use a parasitic underclass of the poor and minorities to undermine the "real" producers of society. Hollywood and academia have always embodied these "elites" for the right. And so here comes Murray, who seems to have discovered that there's a new "elitism" in our country.

It's all based on whether you watch NASCAR. No really.

His proof?

With geographical clustering goes cultural clustering. Get into a conversation about television with members of the New Elite, and they can probably talk about a few trendy shows -- "Mad Men" now, "The Sopranos" a few years ago. But they haven't any idea who replaced Bob Barker on "The Price Is Right." They know who Oprah is, but they've never watched one of her shows from beginning to end.

Talk to them about sports, and you may get an animated discussion of yoga, pilates, skiing or mountain biking, but they are unlikely to know who Jimmie Johnson is (the really famous Jimmie Johnson, not the former Dallas Cowboys coach), and the acronym MMA means nothing to them.

They can talk about books endlessly, but they've never read a "Left Behind" novel (65 million copies sold) or a Harlequin romance (part of a genre with a core readership of 29 million Americans).

... The bubble that encases the New Elite crosses ideological lines and includes far too many of the people who have influence, great or small, on the course of the nation. They are not defective in their patriotism or lacking a generous spirit toward their fellow citizens. They are merely isolated and ignorant. The members of the New Elite may love America, but, increasingly, they are not of it.

Matt Yglesias explains the folly of these analogies.

Actually, what we're seeing is a new elite class emerge like never before. They are emerging with the help of a right-wing propaganda machine that has never existed in this country -- and as things stand, their infrastructure will only increase. And they are known this time in our history as The Tea Party. Their elitism follows these lines.

Tea Party elitism means that it's cool to...

Believe that tax cuts for Big Business are the best answer for any troubled economy even if their own cities are wiped out because CEOs decided to take their business to China.

Believe that you receive just as good an education if you get a college degree from Pat Robertson's Regent University as it is graduate Stanford.

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