Jon & Stephen Put the "Bow" in Perspective

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have taken on the issue of Obama bowing .

The Nation wants to know- Is Obama a Muslim, Christian or Jew?
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Colbert's Threat Down...#1-Obama bows before the Saudi king
ThreatDown - Robert Gates, Dog Seders & Obama
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'Cherry-Picking' Words and Actions

The right-wing media and blogs have had a heyday with a clip of President Obama greeting King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the G-20 meeting in London. It looks like Obama is bowing to the King. Watch:

Mainstream media reported on the video while right wing pundits were outraged at the image. An editorial in the Washington Times stated:

By bending over to show greater respect to Islam, the U.S. president belittled the power and independence of the United States.

The White House has denied that Obama bowed. Robert Gibbs was asked by CNN reporter Dan Lothian about the event.

LOTHIAN: Did he bow or didn't he?

GIBBS: No.

Greg Sargent reported that CNN is also cherry-picking Obama's words.

Now CNN has responded with a two-and-a-half minute on-air segment on whether Obama bowed, complete with credit to right-wing blogs and man-in-the-street reaction. At about 1:40 in, CNN aired a snippet of Obama saying:

“It is true that we have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect.”

This, naturally, was presented as an explanation for Obama’s bow. But here’s a full transcript of what Obama actually said:

Al Qaeda is still bent on carrying out terrorist activity. It is — don’t fool yourselves — because some people say, well, you know, if we changed our policies with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or if we were more respectful towards the Muslim world, suddenly these organizations would stop threatening us. That’s just not the case.

It is true that we have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect, and changing our language and changing our tone. It is true that we have to work very hard for Israeli-Palestinian peace. But what is also true is that these organizations are willing to kill innocent people because of a twisted, distorted ideology. And we, as democracies and as people who value human life, can’t allow those organizations to operate. [...]

This quote cherry-picking would be egregious by Fox News’ standards, let alone CNN’s.

However, conservatives have a selective memory. Remember these...

Bush Holding Hands with Saudi King

Bush Kissing Saudi Prince

Enough Said!!!!

Republicans & Fox News want to have a 'Tea Party'

Fox News has been aggressively promoting the anti-tax protests.

Specifically, Fox News has in dozens of instances provided attendance and organizing information for future protests, such as protest dates, locations and website URLs. Fox News websites have also posted information and publicity material for protests. Fox News hosts have repeatedly encouraged viewers to join them at several April 15 protests that they are attending and covering.

Fox News, "Fair and Balanced"...NOT:

Some on the left are dismayed at Fox News for its unabashed support of the "tea party" protest movement, wherein citizens protest the government's use of taxpayer money in its response to the economic crisis--primarily in the TARP bailout, and also the $787 economic stimulus package.

Frustration culminated this week with Glenn Beck, who promoted the tea parties on his show Monday, encouraging viewers to "celebrate with Fox News" and join the protests April 15. Some of Fox's more popular personalities--Greta Van Susteren, Neil Cavuto, Sean Hannity, and Beck himself--will broadcast live from tea parties in DC, Sacramento, San Antonio, and Atlanta on tax day.

Other organizations have shown their support.

Fox News isn’t the only right-wing organization involved in building up these so-called “grassroots” events. The tea parties have been heavily backed by corporate lobbyists. The principle organizers of many of the local events are actually the lobbyist-run think tanks Americans for Prosperity, Freedom Works, and Newt Gingrich’s American Solutions. The groups are heavily staffed and well funded, and are providing all the logistical and public relations work necessary for planning coast-to-coast protests.

Gun rights militias, secessionists, and neo-Nazi groups are currently working to contribute to the organizing effort.

Congressional Republicans have enthusiastically embraced the movement, with Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) sponsoring a bill to honor the protests. So far, at least 12 Republican lawmakers and governors have signed on to speak at local events:

– Rep. David Davis (R-TN) and representatives from Sen. Bob Corker’s (R-TN) office will be speaking at the Kingsport protest.

– Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) will be speaking at the Salt Lake City protest.

– Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) and a representative from Rep. Sam Graves’ (R-MO) office will be speaking at the Overland Park protest.

– Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) will be speaking at the Shreveport protest.

– Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-FL) will be speaking at the Jacksonville protest.

– Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH) will be speaking at the Wauseon protest.

– Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) will be speaking at the Phoenix protest.

– Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) will be speaking at the Charlotte protest.

– Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL) will be speaking at the Brevard protest.

– Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) will be speaking at the Longview protest.

– Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC) will be speaking at the protest in Columbia.

In addition, Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), and Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) have been urging their constituents to attend tea party protests.

Think Progress has put together a video illustrating Fox News’s active role in promoting the “FNC Tax Day Tea Parties.” Watch it:

A 'Spotless Mind' is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Via New York Times:

Researchers in Brooklyn have recently accomplished comparable feats, with a single dose of an experimental drug delivered to areas of the brain critical for holding specific types of memory, like emotional associations, spatial knowledge or motor skills.

The drug blocks the activity of a substance that the brain apparently needs to retain much of its learned information. And if enhanced, the substance could help ward off dementias and other memory problems.

Editing memory? A Conscience Blocker?

Millions of people might be tempted to erase a severely painful memory, for instance — but what if, in the process, they lost other, personally important memories that were somehow related?

Do you really want a 'Spotless Mind'?

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.
-- Alexander Pope, "Eloisa to Abelard"

Roger Ebert Takes On Bill O'Reilly

Bill O'Reilly has added the Chicago Sun-Times to his "Hall of Shame," a list of media outlets that "have regularly helped distribute defamatory, false or non-newsworthy information supplied by far left websites" and O'Reilly "recommend[s] that you do not patronize or advertise with."

Apparently O'Reilly's rant was triggered when the Sun-Times dropped his syndicated column. The Sun-Times film Critic, Roger Ebert responded with a witty note to O'Reilly.

Dear Bill: Thanks for including the Chicago Sun-Times on your exclusive list of newspapers on your "Hall of Shame." To be in an O'Reilly Hall of Fame would be a cruel blow to any newspaper. It would place us in the favor of a man who turns red and starts screaming when anyone disagrees with him. My grade-school teacher, wise Sister Nathan, would have called in your parents and recommended counseling with Father Hogben. Yes, the Sun-Times is liberal, having recently endorsed our first Democrat for President since LBJ. We were founded by Marshall Field one week before Pearl Harbor to provide a liberal voice in Chicago to counter the Tribune, which opposed an American war against Hitler. I'm sure you would have sided with the Trib at the time.

Your column ran in our paper while it was owned by the right-wing polemicists Conrad Black (Baron Black of Coldharbour) and David Radler. We dropped it to save a little money after they looted the paper of millions.

Ebert continues his thoughts and adds a bit of humor.

Bill, I am concerned that you have been losing touch with reality recently. Did you really say you are more powerful than any politician?

That reminds me of the famous story about Squeaky the Chicago Mouse. It seems that Squeaky was floating on his back along the Chicago River one day. Approaching the Michigan Avenue lift bridge, he called out: Raise the bridge! I have an erection!

The White House Seder!!! UPDATE

Why is this night different from any other night?

On Thursday evening the second night of Passover, President Obama held a Passover Seder at the White House with family and staff. Passover celebrates the Jewish exodus from Egypt after 400 years of slavery.

The Seder, it turns out, is a fulfillment of a vow that a small group of Obama campaign staff made during their Seder last year, on April 19. Unable to go home for the holidays, the group of about 10 held an impromptu Seder in the basement of the Sheraton Hotel in Harrisburg, PA., as the Obama campaign neared the end of its long primary campaign battle in the state.

Obama participated in the Jewish ritual, along with a few friends who were traveling with him that day. At the end of the ritual, after the traditional refrain "Next year in Jerusalem!" Sen. Obama and others in the group jokingly added, "Next year in the White House!"

So this year's Seder "is meant not only to celebrate the holiday but also to reflect on all that has happened in our lives" since the Harrisburg Seder, the official said.

The White House said the Seder meal was traditional, including matzo, bitter herbs, a roasted egg and greens in the family dining room in the executive mansion. The evening also featured the reading of the Haggadah, the religious text of the holiday.

"By hosting the first presidential seder in America's history," President Barack Obama shows the personal and deep relationship his has with the Jewish community, said Alexis C. Rice, the deputy executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council. "There is no question, Obama is a true friend of the Jewish community."

White House aides say they believe this is the first president-hosted Seder at the White House.

This is CHANGE!!!

UPDATE: Via Micahel Tomasky...

He hardly needs to do "outreach" to Jewish voters. So his seder wasn't about that.

What was it about? Well, it's about the fact that he and his wife have actual Jewish friends. And the fact that they live their lives in the way many urban people do – interested in people who are different, not afraid of them or put off by them; interested in their customs and ways; comfortable in diversity.

By which I mean actual diversity.

Invest in Blue-Chip Members of Permanent Washington

Here's a unique but prosperous way of getting rich:

Feeling sorry for yourself? Struggling to get by? Wondering how you can get a bailout? Well, stop moping, because it's not too late! [...]

— I'm going to help make you rich beyond your wildest dreams!

Look, we've all heard about Wall Street's losses. But you probably didn't hear about Corporate America's newest sure thing: a path to financial freedom far more reliable than any decent-paying job. It's something so old-fashioned that even amateur investors can understand it!

It's called graft — a surefire wealth creator that takes your investments, modifies laws, and delivers returns that the best stock trader could never dream of. [...]

That's right, the surest way to make big cash is not to invest in people with proven business experience or in valuable entrepreneurial ventures, but in blue-chip members of Permanent Washington — career politicos and bureaucrats who inevitably get back into positions of power and payback!

Now I know you think that I sound like the guy in the question-mark suit and that my plan seems like a scam. But it's perfectly legal!

But wait ... there's more!

It's Time to be Honest about Drug Laws

According to David Sirota, it is time for a little honesty.

Finally, after America has frittered away billions of taxpayer dollars arming Latin American death squads, airdropping toxic herbicide on equatorial farmland, and incarcerating more of its own citizens on nonviolent drug charges than any other industrialized nation, two political leaders last week tried to begin taming the most wildly out of control beast in the government zoo: federal narcotics policy.

It started with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stating an embarrassingly obvious truth that politicians almost never discuss. In a speech about rising violence in Mexico, she said, “Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade,” and then added that “we have co-responsibility” for the cartel-driven carnage plaguing our southern border.

She’s right, of course. For all the Rambo-ish talk about waging a “War on Drugs” that interdicts the supply of narcotics, we have not diminished demand—specifically, demand for marijuana that cartels base their business on.

According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Americans spend about $9 billion a year on Mexican pot.

...

Though President Obama childishly laughed at a question about legalization during his recent town hall meeting, his government implicitly admits that marijuana is safer than light beer. Indeed, as federal agencies acknowledge alcohol’s key role in deadly illnesses and domestic violence, their latest anti-pot fear mongering is an ad campaign insisting—I kid you not—that marijuana is dangerous because it makes people zone out on their couches and diminishes video gaming skills.

(This is your government on drugs: Cirrhosis and angry tank-topped lushes beating their wives are more acceptable risks than stoners sitting in their basements ineptly playing Halo … any questions?).

Despite this idiocy, despite polls showing most Americans support some form of legalization, and despite such legalization promising to generate billions of dollars in tax revenue, Clinton only acknowledged the uncomfortable reality about demand. That’s certainly no small step, but she did not address drug policy reform. Confronting that taboo subject was left to Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.

Last week, this first-term lawmaker proposed creating a federal commission to examine potential changes to the prison system, including a relaxation of marijuana statutes.

...

“The elephant in the bedroom in many discussions on the criminal justice system is the sharp increase in drug incarceration,” he said in a speech, later telling the Huffington Post that pot legalization “should be on the table.”

Finally, a little honesty—and now, maybe, some action.

Longstanding Prejudices

The New Republic managing editor Richard Just explains why we should pause before over-celebrating the recent triumphs on gay rights.

Jon Stewart's Message to Wingnuts:

Defeat Is 'Supposed to Taste Like a Sh*t Taco'

thedailyshow.com

Stewart: Yes, tyranny. A.K.A. our democratically elected President. You know what guys....I think you might be confusing tyranny with losing. And I feel for you because ah...I've been there. A few times. In fact one of them was a bit of a nail biter. But see, when the guy that you disagree with gets elected, he's probably going to do things you disagree with. He could cut taxes on the wealthy. Remove government's oversight capability. Invade a country that you thought should not be invaded but that's not tyranny. That's democracy.

See now you're in the minority. It's supposed to taste like a s#%t taco. And by the way, if I remember correctly when a disagreement was expressed about that President's actions when ya'll were in power I believe the response was "Why do you hate America?". "Watch what you say." "Love it or leave it." "Suck on my truck nuts."

.....

For god's sake guys. You've been out of power for ten f*%#ng weeks. You've got a mid-term election in twenty months. Pace your rage! (h/t BNF)

David Letterman's Ad For The New GOP

Bringing his Style to Europe.

Obama holds a town hall style meeting in France.

STRASBOURG, France — On the eve of a NATO summit meeting here, President Obama offered a compact for a renewed partnership with Europe, saying “America is changing but it cannot be America alone that changes.”

Speaking at a town hall meeting in this eastern French border city, Mr. Obama offered his thoughts on a wide catalogue of global issues, starting with Thursday’s Group of 20 summit in London on the global economic crisis, which he said heralded “a new era of responsibility” in dealing with the recession.

Classy move...

When Will We Learn?

Anti-Prohibition Cartoon

President Barack Obama was recently asked in a town hall-style forum whether legalizing marijuana was a good way to grow the economy. The Prez chuckled and said no. "The answer is no — I don't think that is a good strategy to grow our economy."

But Obama has admitted to smoking and actually inhaling marijuana. He has in the past indicated a need for reform in the area of drug laws.

Will Wilkinson has taken this need for truth a bit further in his article, "I smoke pot, and I like it."

Marijuana is neither evil nor dangerous. Scientists have proven its medical uses. It has spared millions from anguish. But the casual pleasure marijuana has delivered is orders of magnitude greater than the pain it has assuaged, and pleasure matters too. That’s probably why Barack Obama smoked up the second and third times: because he liked it. That’s why tens of millions of Americans regularly take a puff, despite the misconceived laws meant to save us from our own wickedness.

The Atlantic Monthly’s Andrew Sullivan has been documenting on his blog the stories of typical, productive Americans—kids’ football coaches, secretaries of the PTA—who smoke marijuana because they like to smoke marijuana, but who understandably fear emerging fully from the “cannabis closet.” This is a profoundly necessary idea. If we’re to begin to roll back our stupid and deadly drug war, the stigma of responsible drug use has got to end, and marijuana is the best place to start. The super-savvy Barack Obama managed to turn a buck by coming out of the cannabis (and cocaine) closet in a bestselling memoir. That’s progress. But his admission came with the politicians’ caveat of regret. We’ll make real progress when solid, upstanding folk come out of the cannabis closet, heads held high.

So here we go. My name is Will Wilkinson. I smoke marijuana, and I like it.

There is a lesson to be learned from the days of Prohibition.

False News...Faux News...Fox News

It's the same game...

A recent email has been going around which is accusing the Obama administration of seeking to impose Islamic Sharia law in the United States. The ridiculous conversation between Fox News anchor Alisyn Camerota and guest Nonie Darwish is based on hearsay, supposition and nonsensical banter. WATCH:



From Huffington Post:

Fox News anchor Alisyn Camerota and guest Nonie Darwish suggested something radical Wednesday morning: the Obama administration is attempting to impose Sharia, the strict Islamic law, to the U.S. and its courts.

The entirety of Fox’s claim is based on an e-mail posted on March 21, 2007 in National Review’s blog claiming that Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh — now an appointee to the State Department — had indicated that Sharia could apply in the U.S.

Daily Kos has more:

Needless to say, the accusation is totally false and just another example of the hate-filled insanity and paranoia of Foxaganda, America's most-watched cable news network...

According to White House spokesman Reid Cherlin, the allegations contained in the e-mail are false...

There’s no question about Fox’s agenda here: they are trying to fan the flames of hysterical anger against the Obama administration for their own partisan purposes.

But there is a real question about why the rest of the media refuses to criticize Fox for its extremist propaganda.

Fox has no problem attacking CNN or MSNBC, yet other than Keith Olbermann, nobody in the broadcast media has had the courage to take on Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes.

Why is that?

Where is the Populist Movement Now?

Via American News Project:

Everyone agrees: The populist fires are burning. But whats next? Bob Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for Americas Future, thinks our historic moment could push Obama farther to the left. But only if the forces of the left start pushing.