Dumbass Quote Of Note - Glenn Beck

“I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore.” Glenn Beck

Blood Libel

Right wingers think that the 1st amendment applies only to them. They are free to say anything that they want to. They are free to say nasty and violent things. They are free to lie about things.

If anyone on the left voices the least bit of criticism of the right, then the right-wingers are outraged. Doesn’t the left know that the 1st amendment only applies to the voices of the right wing?

Are there any adults left in the world of the Republican right-wing monstrosity? The right-wing act like spoiled little children. Most of them are bullies (Rush Limbaugh) or like little two year olds saying “No, I won’t do it, you can’t make me.” (The Republican Senate) Not to mention the childish, bully Bill O’Reilly who responds to any challenge with a loud obnoxious “Shut up.”

The left is not telling Sarah Palin to shut up. Many of us wish she would, but we are not telling her to. We would like her to consider her words more carefully. We would like her to realize that words have meaning. We would like her act like an adult. We would like a little civility.

Obviously the right-wingers think that guns and gun owners breed civility. If the left questions that belief we are accused of “blood libel.”

From Sarah Palin accuses critics of "blood libel" by David Morgan:

Prominent Republican Sarah Palin on Wednesday accused critics of "blood libel" by blaming her rhetoric for contributing to the shooting rampage in Tucson that killed six and wounded 14, including Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords.

"Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them," the conservative Tea Party favorite and former Alaska governor said in her first major response to critics.

"Especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible."

Some commentators and bloggers questioned whether last year's election rhetoric from conservative Republicans including Palin and some Tea Party candidates created a climate that bred violence.

If  “Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own” then why did the right-wing want to go after Saddam Hussein because of 9/11? Why do so many right-wingers hate all Muslims, even the ones who are not criminals? Words do have consequences. If they didn’t Sarah Palin would not have responded to the commentators and bloggers accusing them of “blood libel.” She didn’t like what we said. She has a right to respond. However, she is simply wrong to think that words cannot compel people to action. Barack Obama’s words compelled people to vote for him. Sarah Palin’s words compelled people to vote for him. Soon we celebrate the birth of Martin Luther King. Need I say more? Well I will. I’d rather have a dream than reload.

Also, does Sarah Palin have any bone in her body that cries out for logic? First she says that her words could not have incited violence. Then she says that journalists and pundits can incite violence with words. What’s that all about?

I am tired of the right-wingers. I am fed up with the right-wingers. Whatever happened to the melting pot? The United States is a country with all kinds of people. We should nourish our diversity, not starve the parts that you disagree with, simply because they disagree with you.

Listening seems to be a lost art. Contemplation seems to be a lost art. Compromise seems to be a lost art. Hate, however, seems to be thriving, and Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and all the rest who preach the gospel of hate are the reason why.

I am tired of the hate. I am tired of politics as war. I am tired of being seen as an enemy of the country I am a citizen of. I am tired of Sarah Palin and her ilk always being on the offensive, as well as being offensive.

The United States needs to be positive in it’s thinking. All that I hear from the right is “No.” All I hear from the right is “Shut up.”

By the way, what the hell does “blood libel” even mean?

Update:

Now I know. You learn something everyday. Why did Palin choose those words?

Beck's Brain

From Arizona shootings: Left and right at odds over effects of toxic politics by Suzanne Goldenberg:

On his radio show this morning, Glenn Beck, the sometimes incendiary talkshow host, was all sympathy for Sarah Palin. "I know you are feeling the same heat on this," he said, reading out his exchange of email with the firebrand leader who has been accused of helping to create the toxic environment of current American politics.

Forty-eight hours after the massacre at an Arizona Safeway, the left and right were engaged in decrying the violent rhetoric of Obama-age politics while trying at the same time to score points off their political opponents.

Beck used his show to drum up sympathy for Palin, reading out an email from the conservative icon in which she expressed her hatred of violence and those who seek to politicise violence.

He then offered her the services of his own security firm, reading out the name on air. "Please look into protection for your family. An attempt on you can bring the republic down," he said.

Let me get this straight. There are people on the left who have criticized and/or questioned the rhetoric of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck for possibly inciting violence. Yet Beck perceives that there is a threat from the non-violent, anti-war, gun-control supporting left and that one of us will abandon our principles to try to shoot Sarah Palin? The man’s brain is in need of a major overhaul.

The Becking Of America

From Chip Berlet on "The Becking of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords":

CHIP BERLET: Well, if you’re walking in the shoes of a person who believes this set of stories, abortion, gay rights, sexual liberalism are all part of a plan to destroy America by reducing its moral backbone and allowing godless ideas and alien ideas to infiltrate the country and destroy America as God’s new promised land. So, within certain groups of the Christian right who are militantly anti-abortion, the idea is that this is all part of the same fabric of secular humanist, liberal treason. And it’s this idea that the Democrats and the liberals and the leftists are treasonous, which is creating this atmosphere of demonization and vilification.

Back in June of 2009, I wrote a report called “Toxic to Democracy,” which said—and I’ll quote it—“Aggressive right-wing rhetoric targeting Democrats as treasonous encourages some unstable people to act out in aggression or violence.” So this was predictable. Sara Robinson, David Neiwert, Mark Potok, dozens of reporters who study the right wing have been predicting the outcome of this wave, this "Becking" of America, where the Glenn Becks, the Ann Coulters, the Bill O’Reillys talk about abortion, talk about gay rights, talk about healthcare, talk about the Democrats as traitors to America who have to be stopped.

Here is some “Becking” from days gone by:

Bring Your Gun To The Tea Party

and

From Glen Beck Has Made Me Feel Better:

Beck has a “shoot them in the head” fetish:

"Beck has a warning for Muslims 'who have sat on [their] frickin' hands' and have not 'lin[ed] up to shoot the bad Muslims in the head'," Media Matters for America, August 10, 2006.

“I wonder, do we have a guy who will tell me the truth who is well spoken, who has the fire in the belly to do a couple of things: one, shoot the bad guys in the head, and, two, shrink the size of government?” Glenn Beck, September 6, 2007.

“I say Rudy Giuliani is the candidate who will stand up to our enemies, tell them to get the hell out or we`ll shoot them in the head.” Glenn Beck, September 6, 2007.

From Glenn Beck on how the US should treat Gitmo detainees: We’re going to shoot them all in the head by John Amato:

Listen to this rant about the Supreme Court decision on Gitmo detainees and you’ll know the state of conservatism in this country He’s like so many of them.

Beck: This court has done some frightening. frightening things….If I’m president of the US, I would go on National television and say—’ladies and gentlemen, the Supreme Court said that we don’t have Gitmo so that is over. We’re going to release all of them, but I want you to know from here on out our policy is to not have prisoners. We’re going to shoot them all in the head.’

If we think they are against us, we’re going to shoot them and kill them—period because that’s the only thing we’ve got going for us—cause we can put them away and get information. If we can’t put them away and they’re going to use our court system—kill them.

Our Sickness

From Climate of Hate by Paul Krugman:

It’s important to be clear here about the nature of our sickness. It’s not a general lack of “civility,” the favorite term of pundits who want to wish away fundamental policy disagreements. Politeness may be a virtue, but there’s a big difference between bad manners and calls, explicit or implicit, for violence; insults aren’t the same as incitement.

The point is that there’s room in a democracy for people who ridicule and denounce those who disagree with them; there isn’t any place for eliminationist rhetoric, for suggestions that those on the other side of a debate must be removed from that debate by whatever means necessary.

And it’s the saturation of our political discourse — and especially our airwaves — with eliminationist rhetoric that lies behind the rising tide of violence.

Where’s that toxic rhetoric coming from? Let’s not make a false pretense of balance: it’s coming, overwhelmingly, from the right. It’s hard to imagine a Democratic member of Congress urging constituents to be “armed and dangerous” without being ostracized; but Representative Michele Bachmann, who did just that, is a rising star in the G.O.P.

And there’s a huge contrast in the media. Listen to Rachel Maddow or Keith Olbermann, and you’ll hear a lot of caustic remarks and mockery aimed at Republicans. But you won’t hear jokes about shooting government officials or beheading a journalist at The Washington Post. Listen to Glenn Beck or Bill O’Reilly, and you will.

Get My Broker On The Line

The Very Wealthy Man

Our National Culture Of Violence

From Isn't What Happened in Arizona Media-Fed Bigoted White Christian Male Terrorism? by Mark Karlin:

The right-wing culture of hate and implicit coded call to kill the enemy, as if on a mission from God, is a subset of our larger national culture of violence.

From our policy of maintaining superpower status through wars and coups to going back to the conquest of America by the slaughter of Native Americans, we have had a history of a large segment of our population that views violence as a remedy for personal and political grievances - as well as the fulfillment of ideological goals. For them, "putting down your enemy" is as American as apple pie.

Thou Shalt Not Kill

From In the US, where hate rules at the ballot box, this tragedy has been coming for a long time by Michael Tomasky:

The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence has documented more than two dozen killings by or arrests of rightwing extremists who intended to do serious political violence since 2008. One Tennessee man killed two worshippers at a liberal church, regretting only that he had not been able to ice the 100 liberals named by author Bernard Goldberg as those most responsible for destroying America. Giffords herself received threats after voting for the healthcare reform bill, and shots were fired through the window of her district office. An event like this has been coming for a long time.

Quote Of Note - Gabrielle Giffords

"We're on Sarah Palin's targeted list. But the thing is, the way she has it depicted it has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district. And when people do that, they've got to realize there are consequences to that action." - Gabrielle Giffords

Just Say No

“The sun goes up, the sun goes down. The tide goes in, the tide goes out.” Bill O’Reilly

From Tell President Obama: No Super Bowl interview with O'Reilly:

Bill O'Reilly's outrageous opinions and willful disregard for the truth have been at the heart of some of FOX News' most shameful moments.
 
So why is President Obama granting O'Reilly an exclusive pre-Super Bowl interview?

This blockbuster interview legitimizes O'Reilly, and legitimizes his hateful opinions as actual journalism -- the last thing President Obama should do on the biggest television day of the year.

Bill O’Reilly is entitled to his opinion. Bill O’Reilly is not civil. Bill O’Reilly is arrogant. Bill O’Reilly is ignorant.

The fact that Bill O’Reilly is ignorant is what really bothers me about the Obama interview. Obama deserves better, and the nation deserves better. Will Bill tell the president to “shut up” if Obama tells him why “the tide goes in, the tide goes out?”

The Sun Goes Up, The Sun Goes Down

Why do teachers make less money than Bill O’Reilly?

"I'll tell you why [religion's] not a scam, in my opinion: tide goes in, tide goes out. Never a miscommunication...It always comes in, and always goes out. You can't explain that." Bill O'Reilly

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Bill O'Reilly Proves God's Existence - Neil deGrasse Tyson
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog March to Keep Fear Alive

A law should be passed requiring Bill O’Reilly to say “Hello, I’m Bill O’Reilly and I’m an idiot.” at the beginning of every one of his broadcasts.  If he says it enough times maybe he and his audience will start to believe it.

Dave Camp's Big Problem

From The New Congress and the Coming Class War by Eric Alterman:

Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush talked incessantly about fiscal responsibility and lost no opportunity to denounce deficit spending, but these principles flew out the window when it came time to cut taxes on the rich. The new bunch are even worse. Incoming House Ways and Means Committee chair Dave Camp recently told George Will that one of the biggest problems with our tax system is that too few poor people pay income tax.

One solution for the “problem” of too few poor people paying income tax would be to increase the income of poor people so that it exceeded the cutoff point where income is taxed. The right wing should be happy with this. More poor people would be paying income tax, and they would still be poor.

Oh My!

Deny Christ or die

Wacked out right-wing religiosity. I suppose I must be dead.

284,000 Hits

sarah palin retard

Retards Without Fucking Is Satire

Thank God we have Sarah Palin to help us make sense of the world.

Palin latest to walk back criticism of GOP leader Limbaugh

Quote Of Note - Aristotle

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle

Is Obama Screwing Up?

From How Obama got Keynes wrong by Shawn Tully:

While the Obama team is laying out huge sums of money, Meltzer says it's neglecting a key part of Keynes' plan: You can't run up a debt without a way to cover it.

What Caused The Financial Crisis?

From James K. Galbraith: "There Is No Return To Self-Sustaining Growth" by Lars Schall:

The principal cause of the crisis was the dismantling of the system of regulation and supervision in the financial sector which had for much of the post-war period kept the most dangerous elements of that sector in check. In the absence of an appropriate system of effective supervision and regulation, what happens is that the actors in the system, who are intent upon taking the greatest degree of risk — including actors who are intent upon using fraudulent methods to increase their returns — come to dominate parts of the system. As they do that, the general methods of assessing performance in the market, specifically stock-market valuations, become counter-productive. That is to say, they invariably reward the worst actors, while they force more traditional actors, who are still respecting the old norms of conduct, into a competitively disadvantaged position. Thus the bad actors, the fraudulent actors, and the speculative extremists quickly take over.

Big Fat Liars

10 Things the Weight-Loss Industry Won't Say

Troubled With Ahchoo

From Chuck Lorre Productions, #275:

ASK CHUCK!

Dear Chuck,


At a recent dinner party, I found myself in an awkward situation when the host, a devout atheist, sneezed between spoonfuls of his gazpacho. Without thinking, I said, "God bless you." He gave me a withering look and said, as if to a child, "Golly gee, I sure hope he does." The other guests exploded with laughter, while I imploded with humiliation. To avoid future embarrassment, what is the correct response when an atheist sneezes?

Troubled with ahchoo

Dear Troubled,


First, a little background information. Saying "God bless you" following a sneeze is thought by some to have originated in the sixth century in order to protect the sneezer from falling ill to the bubonic plague. Another possible origin is that people once believed that the devil entered the body during a sneeze and saying "God bless you" could help ward him off. Since the plague has killed something like two hundred million people and the words "God bless you" have, in all likelihood, been said countless times to Glenn Beck, we can safely assume the phrase has no real power against germs or demonic possession. What it does contain is simple human courtesy -- a means by which we express concern for one another. As to how to respond to a sneezing atheist, well, that's easy. Simply say, "Sounds like you're coming down with something, I hope you don't die and rot in a box."