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Sunday Late Night: Is that you, Mrs Goldberg?

By: Teddy Partridge Sunday November 21, 2010 8:01 pm

Lost near the end of a stupid and overlong WashPost comparison of Barack Obama’s new book, written as a letter to his daughters, and Sarah Palin’s new “book,” written as a screed against those who despise white privilege, muscular Xtianism, and conservative victimhood, is this gem:

In her acknowledgments, Palin offers “special thanks” to Jessica Gavora, an Alaskan who served as chief speechwriter for former attorney general John Ashcroft and who is the wife of conservative writer Jonah Goldberg.

Yes.

A woman so stupid she married Jonah Goldberg is the person Sarah Palin chose to ghost”write” her editorial collage of American exceptionalism.


Shorter Alan Simpson: Now I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds

By: David Dayen Sunday November 21, 2010 7:00 pm

It’s not as if Alan Simpson hasn’t uttered a series of disqualifying comments throughout the past year, but this really takes the cake:

“I can’t wait for the blood bath in April,” said Alan Simpson at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast roundtable with reporters this morning. “It won’t matter whether two of us have signed this or 14 or 18. When debt limit time comes, they’re going to look around and say, ‘What in the hell do we do now? We’ve got guys who will not approve the debt limit extension unless we give ‘em a piece of meat, real meat, off of this package.’ And boy the bloodbath will be extraordinary.”

This comes a day after John Boehner vowed to treat the debt limit issue “like adults.” I guess Simpson doesn’t qualify.

What Simpson is embracing, quite vocally, is the Shock Doctrine, the idea that, in a time of crisis, malicious forces can step in and get what they want for the ruling class at the expense of the masses. That’s quite literally what Simpson wants. He openly – and eagerly – hopes to force a global financial panic, so his regressive, spending cut-heavy austerity plan can go into effect. He would rather blow up the global economy because he thinks that, drenched in blood, he can get what he wants.

Simpson was President Obama’s choice for Republican co-chair of the Catfood Commission.


SNL on TSA: It’s Our Business to Touch Yours

By: Jane Hamsher Sunday November 21, 2010 6:01 pm

Bill Hader: “TSA agents are ready and standing by to give you something a little extra to feel thankful about this holiday season.”

Mica Begs Passengers Not to Opt Out of Porno Scanners

By: David Dayen Sunday November 21, 2010 5:00 pm

Mica stepped up his criticism against John Pistole, the TSA Administrator, but he became one of the first prominent Republicans to basically take the side of the security state against the public.

Deposition: Countrywide Never Sent Mortgage Notes to Trust; Mortgage-Backed Securities in Question

By: David Dayen Sunday November 21, 2010 4:00 pm

Christine at Foreclosure Industry gives her 10 reasons why the MERS problem cannot be fixed by legislation, and it’s a pretty good list. I would add that it’s simply not the only problem, or even the biggest problem, that the banks have. Of far bigger importance is the possibility that the trustees for the mortgage-backed securities they created never secured the assets from the originators. If the notes never transferred to the trust, there’s no way to retroactively do that now; the trusts are governed by very specific pooling at servicing agreements that for the most part give the trust 90 days to transfer all the required assets. You cannot transfer the loan after it’s slipped into default, 3 or 4 years after setting up the trust. It violates the laws and contracts under which the investors purchased the securities.

FDL Book Salon Welcomes Bob Cavnar, Disaster on the Horizon: High Stakes, High Risks, and the Story Behind the Deepwater Well Blowout

By: Riki Ott Sunday November 21, 2010 1:59 pm

After having spent five months in the Gulf, I decided to read Bob Cavnar’s book of the story behind the Deepwater well blowout starting with chapter 7 on the “BP-government merger.” This was one of the most troubling twists in events that I had witnessed in the Gulf. I figured if he could shed some light on this, then maybe he would have frank insights on how we got into this mess – beyond the human error – and how we might avoid another.

Allen West Does Not Practiceth What He Preacheth

By: Jane Hamsher Sunday November 21, 2010 12:45 pm

It’s absurd to claim to be a spokesman for free enterprise when you choose a professional career of living off the government teat and are now trying to get another “gummint” job.

L.A. Times: Obama Still Futilely Pursuing Compromises with Republicans

By: Blue Texan Sunday November 21, 2010 11:30 am

And Obama’s personal march of folly continues.

Taxation, Privatization and Porno Scanners

By: masaccio Sunday November 21, 2010 10:30 am

There isn’t money for our crumbling infrastructure, but there is plenty of private sector money to create obscene machines and create a demand for them.

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Just Say Now
Campaign to legalize marijuana

Foreclosure Fraud
Firedoglake uncovers foreclosure fraud across the nation

Prop 8 Trial
Liveblogging the landmark case in marriage equality and civil rights

The Catfood Commission
Firedoglake's coverage of the Catfood Commission's attempts to cut Social Security

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Saturday, November 27, 2010 5:00pm Eastern

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