Stories to Watch: 12/16/11

I missed the morning post because I had some Christmas stuff to do. And tomorrow I'll be out canvassing in the recall, so posting will be light. Now here's the news...


RIP Christopher Hitchens. No, that's the wrong thing to say. Death is not rest, but a return to the state of non-existence preceding birth. While peace is assured, rest is not. Christopher Hitchens is dead.


Nancy Pelosi gets it right; if this is a "do-nothing" congress, it's because obstructionist Republicans continually prevent it from doing anything.


The SEC charges Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae execs with securities fraud. Newt's PR problem deepens.


Rep. Allen West continues to be a jackass.


Another "family values" Republican is forced to admit to being secretly gay.


Apparently, Breitbart has studied the masters of propaganda.


Nobody's really excited about the 2012 campaign.


The brainless anti-piracy bill gets pushed back to next year. It's a delay, not a reprieve. Use the time wisely.


The FBI nearly pulled a corruption sting on Newt Gingrich in 1997.


Finally, the stouthearted courage of Tea Party leadership, on full display.

Related articles

• Christopher Hitchens: Remembering The Legendary Writer And Orator (huffingtonpost.com)
• Christopher Hitchens: Twitter Reactions To His Death (huffingtonpost.com)
• Christopher Hitchens, 1949 - 2011 (blogs.discovermagazine.com)
• Christopher Hitchens in pictures (newstatesman.com)

News Roundup for 12/16/11

As trustworthy as she looks

-Headline of the Day-
"Michele Bachmann says 'PolitiFact came out and said that everything I said was true' in last debate."

During the last semi-weekly meeting of The Liar's Club, Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich got into a little tête-à-tête over Newt's influence lobbying with Freddie Mac. This was probably a tactical error on Shelly's part, since no one has a bigger tête than Newt -- in both the physical and metaphorical senses. Seriously, he couldn't find a football helmet that would fit over his melon in high school.

Anyway, Newt said that Shelly's claim that he lobbied for Freddie Mac was "factually not true" -- which is ironic, because it was a rare instance where she was saying something factual. And it was here that she slipped back into her old habit.

"Well, after the debates that we had last week, PolitiFact came out and said that everything that I said was true," she said. "And the evidence is that Speaker Gingrich took $1.6 million. You don't need to be within the technical definition of being a lobbyist to still be influence-peddling with senior Republicans in Washington, D.C., to get them to do your bidding."

To which PolitiFact says:




So, yeah... (PolitiFact)


-Past the 'sell by' date-


Click to embiggen

Precisely. (Truthdig)


-Bonus HotD-
"Newt's New Endorser: OWS is a Muslim Brotherhood Plot!"

Bonus fun: it's "Gopher" from Love Boat -- who apparently is a complete lunatic.

No, really. (Mother Jones)

Stories to Watch: 12/12/11

I'm starting to get a little antsy about snow. We should have some by now, but we've barely had a flake. If we're going to have a white Christmas, the weather 'd better get a move on. Now here's the news...


And so it begins; Newt and Mittens are busy kicking the crap out of each other before a single primary vote has been cast. Bonus; they're both on the money. Romney calls out Newt for being a Freddie Mac lobbyist, so Newt points out that Mittens was in the job-destroying business at Bain. In the end, the big winner in this fight may be Obama.


Batshit insane hate-radio host Michael Savage offers Gingrich $1 million to drop out. The big news here; Michael Savage claims to have a spare million bucks.


Fox News is a transparent propaganda operation. They're barely even trying to hide it.


Sarah Palin refuses to accept that her 15 minutes of fame are over.


Newt Gingrich is a typical Republican in at least one aspect; he believes everyone needs to freak out over something that's never going to happen.


Krugman comes out saying we're in a global depression.


Arizona's "no Hispanics allowed" law will go before the Supreme Court.


Mittens had an uncomfortable conversation with a 63 year-old vet -- and it was beautiful.


Also from Romney; he keeps saying he wants to keep America from becoming like Europe, while pushing the same policies that are currently failing so spectacularly there.


Finally, Politico's Ben Smith moves to... Wait, what? Yup, BuzzFeed.

Related articles

• Radio Host Michael Savage Offers Newt Gingrich $1 Million To Drop Out Of Race (mediaite.com)
• Newt Gingrich tells Mitt Romney to shut up about Freddie Mac until he gives back Bain Capital money (dailykos.com)
• Mitt Romney: I'm not going to attack my rivals, but Newt Gingrich is too 'erratic' to be president (dailykos.com)
• TRENDING: Gingrich challenges Romney to a bet (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)

Stories to Watch: 11/15/11

Did a little tweaking of the blogspot blogs last night. I think it looks good. Now here's the news...


A judge declares Zuccotti Park a free-speech-free zone.


Are mayors coordinating the crackdown on the Occupy movement? Sure sounds like it.


During a presidential debate, Newt Gingrich said he was paid by Freddie Mac to be "a historian." If that sounded insane to you at the time (why does a lender need a freakin' historian?), that's because it was bullshit. Newt was hired as a lobbyist to "to build bridges to Capitol Hill Republicans and develop an argument on behalf of the company’s public-private structure that would resonate with conservatives seeking to dismantle it." In short, Newton is a liar. Pure and simple.


David Brooks wrote something stupid again.


Two people who worked for him are now confirming the obvious; "investigative journalist" James O'Keefe has zero interest in journalism and only wants to push propaganda.


Both Google and Facebook oppose an anti-piracy bill. Why? Because it's so stupidly written that both services could be held responsible for the way other people use them. Imagine Ford having to answer for every hit-and-run or drunk driver in a Mustang and you get an idea of what the problem is here.


Texas executes mostly black people.


John Boehner is a prick.


Finally, remember how ketchup became a vegetable under Reagan? Now pizza's a vegetable, according to House Republicans. I know it's a crazy idea, but how about we stop declaring things to be other things? Because that's stupid.

Related articles

• Newt Gingrich Lied about That $300,000 He Took from Freddie & Fannie (firedoglake.com)
• Newt Gingrich Paid $300,000 By Freddie And Fannie To Court Republicans (alan.com)
• New York Times Total Fail: Yes, Another David Brooks Edition (delong.typepad.com)