Fox News — pro-criminal about more than just guns

Raw Story: Fox News host Jon Scott on Wednesday advised former IRS official Lois Lerner that she should give up her constitutional rights and testify before Congress if she wanted death against her life to stop.

During a House Oversight Hearing on Wednesday, Lerner invoked her right under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, and refused to answer Chairman Darrell Issa’s (R-CA) questions about the IRS targeting Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status.

Lerner’s attorney had previously asked the committee not to call her to testify, citing numerous death threats.

After an commentator mentioned the death threats, Scott went on to say that Lerner should give in to them. “I can see why if you’re getting death threats, why you wouldn’t want to open yourself up to more scrutiny,” he said. “But at the same time, it would seem that answering some of the questions might cause some of these people who are so angry to ease up.”

And if you give bank robbers a million dollars and a helicopter like they demand, they’ll let the hostages go, fly away, and stop bothering everyone. Sure, Scott frames his question as advice, but he’s pretty clearly trying to play good cop to Fox audience goon squad’s bad cop. And this whole IRS thing has fallen apart anyway, so the goon squad only exists because Fox keeps beating this dead horse and getting their gullible and mentally unstable base all riled up about it. Sure, Darrell Issa’s trying to do CPR on his cooked up “scandal,” but heroic measures aren’t going to revive this corpse. As the Dr. McCoy says on the teevee, “He’s dead, Jim.”

So, since there’s no there there, Fox’ Jon Scott urges (in abject desperation) that Lois Lerner give the terrorists what they want. Because what they want is what Fox wants — and if it takes a few death threats to create the story they want to cover, then that’s just Fox’s brand of “journalism.”

Ohio gun owner had a vison to remake America

Associated Press: A man who stockpiled weapons and ammunition in a shopping-mall storage room was preparing to start a race war and planned to carry out assassinations based on race, religion and ethnicity, federal prosecutors said.

Richard Schmidt, who pleaded guilty to possession of firearms and trafficking in counterfeit goods in July, is to be sentenced next month.

He was “a one-man army of racial and religious hate,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum filed last week in federal court. Schmidt’s attorney disputed the accusations, calling them “over the top.”

Prosecutors charged Schmidt nearly a year ago after finding rifles, shotguns and 40,000 rounds of ammunition inside the mall where he ran a sports memorabilia store in Bowling Green, about 20 miles south of Toledo.

The FBI told black and Jewish leaders in the Detroit area that their names were on a list kept by Schmidt. The head of a Jewish organization in Detroit said there was a notebook that listed his group and its leaders, but he said it wasn’t a specific hit list.

Schmidt’s plans were discovered not through investigation or some sort of sting, but because of shit luck. Police were investigating something else entirely when they came across his private arsenal.

Had Schmidt been luckier than police, rather than the other way around, he probably would’ve tried use his Precious Second Amendment Freedoms to launch his race war by now.

And that makes Richard Schmidt today’s Second Amendment Hero.

[image sources Dept. of Justice, Flickr, Flickr]

President targeted with ricin letter over gun control

Associated Press / NBC New York: A threatening letter was mailed to President Obama that is similar to two letters containing poisonous ricin sent to Mayor Bloomberg and his anti-gun group, officials confirmed Thursday.

The letter, first reported by NBC 4 New York, is being tested for ricin. It was received Wednesday at an off-site facility, and did not reach the White House, according to the Secret Service.

“This letter has been turned over to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force for testing and investigation,” said Brian Leary, a Secret Service spokesman.

The text of that mailing was identical to the letters sent to the mayor and his gun group, which threatened: ”what’s in this letter is nothing compared to what I’ve got planned for you,” police and law enforcement sources said.

One letter was discovered at City Hall’s mail sorting facility at 100 Gold St. on Friday, a law enforcement source told NBC 4 New York. It appeared to contain a pink, oily substance when a mail worker came across it and was immediately flagged as suspicious.

An initial field test didn’t bring up any sign of ricin, a source said. But more preliminary testing Wednesday showed the letter tested positive for ricin.

An identical letter containing ricin was sent to the Mayors Against Illegal Guns headquarters in Washington, D.C. and was opened on Monday, police said.

As I pointed out in an earlier post, stooges for the gun lobby having been painting the Second Amendment as an assassination/terrorism clause. It really was only a matter of time before someone took them seriously.

And now that someone has answered the call for revolution, expect these “patriots” to distance themselves as far as possible from the consequence of that call. Because at heart, these would-be assassins are mostly cowards.

[photo by Intel Photos]

Arkansas Republicans: 2nd Amendment means right to assassinate

I’d always thought that the “killing tyrants” interpretation of the Second Amendment was a just way for Republicans  to justify being shameless NRA whores to gullible chumps. But unfortunately, it turns out that some in the Republican Party actually believe this thuggish bullshit.

In stridently arguing against an expansion of Medicaid in Arkansas, the Republican Party of Benton County used this interpretation in a newsletter:

…We need to let those who will come in the future to represent us that we are serious.  The 2nd amendment means nothing unless those in power believe you would have no problem simply walking up and shooting them if they got too far out of line and stopped responding as representatives.  It seems that we are unable to muster that belief in any of our representatives on a state or federal level, but we have to have something, something costly, something that they will fear that we will use if they step out of line.  If we can’t shoot them, we have to at least be firm in our threat to take immediate action against them politically, socially, and civically if they screw up on something this big.  Personally, I think a gun is quicker and more merciful, but hey, we can’t…

In typical Republican fashion, the reasoning here is completely self-contradictory: we have Second Amendment right to shoot politicians we don’t agree with, but unfortunately we can’t just shoot politicians we don’t agree with — even though we probably should.

How demented are these people? And how deeply ingrained in the right is this pro-terrorism interpretation of the Second Amendment? I’ve pointed out once before that John Wilkes Booth believed he was killing a tyrant when he shot Lincoln. So who gets to decide who’s a tyrant? Booth thought the answer to that question was “me.”

That’s the question every gun lobby tool should be forced to answer when they repeat this pro-assassination argument; are they saying that any random person can just shoot a politician because they disagree with them and, if that’s not the case, then what mechanism exists to make sure these Second Amendment Heroes only shoot actual tyrants?

This is a damned important point, because under the interpretation as it’s argued, there is no mechanism. Anyone can find someone guilty of “tyranny” and hand out the sentence — or, as the Republican Party of Benton County put it, people are allowed to carry out that sentence by “simply walking up and shooting them if they got too far out of line.”

Somehow, I doubt the founders envisioned veto by assassination and rule by terrorism. Republicans need to clearly state whether they believe in Democracy or whether they believe, as Booth did, in the legitimate power of the assassin’s veto.

[image via Wikimedia Commons]

Perspective: fertilizer plant explosion far more deadly than Boston bombings

CNN: Twelve bodies have been recovered in West, Texas, Sgt. Jason Reyes said Friday, two days after a fiery explosion ripped through the heart of the close-knit central Texas town.

Sixty people are unaccounted for, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Friday. He said authorities are checking to see whether any of them are in hospitals.

Reyes said 200 people have been injured and 50 homes have been destroyed.

“This is still being treated as a crime scene,” Reyes said.

At the very least, twelve are dead — I want to impress on you that that number is the best case scenario. If we’re lucky and that number holds, then the explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. was four times as deadly as two bombs deliberately set by suspected terrorists in Boston. And I think we’re all sure that we aren’t going to be that lucky. That number is not going to hold.

It’s becoming clearer every day that West Fertilizer was ridiculously under-inspected and under-regulated, despite the incredibly dangerous chemicals being used there. Last year, it paid a fine of just $5,250 for violating Hazardous Materials Regulations — a paltry sum, knocked down from the already paltry original judgment of $10,100.

So once the smoke clears on these incidents, which event do you think is going to going to get the spotlight in Washington, lax regulation of industries using dangerous chemicals or terrorism?

The answer’s so obvious the question might as well be rhetorical.

[photo by The Bay Area’s News Station]

MSNBC’s Chuck Todd cuts off speculation about bomber’s motives, possible connections to terrorism.

Politico: …On today’s edition of MSNBC’s Daily Rundown, which Todd hosts, NBC News analyst Evan Kohlmann started describing what he believed was one of the suspect’s Amazon “wish lists” — that is, a list of products the suspect wanted to buy on Amazon.com, the online retail site.

“Let me stop you there,” Todd said. “We don’t know for sure this is one of his Amazon wish lists?”

“I want to stress, we don’t know for sure, but it is certainly his name….” Kohlmann said, before being interrupted by Todd.

“I’ve got to stop you there,” Todd said. “Our folks — we don’t necessarily want to put this on air yet until we verify it.”

Kohlmann said he understood, then started speculating on possible links between the suspects and Al Qaeda or other organized terror networks on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, which, he said, have been known to use Chechens or individuals who look like Chechens.

“One of those groups is known as the Islamic Jihad Union,” Kohlmann said.

In the studio, off camera, a voice could be heard saying, “Oh my God.”

Todd finally cut in again: “I didn’t mean to cut you off, but we don’t want to draw so many conclusions,” he said. “But your point is that this is the type of string that the intelligence community is going to start pulling at — is that right.”

Kohlmann said that yes, this was a possible clue, but not a solid fact.

I’m posting this mainly because it shows just how skittish networks have gotten about running with false reports. After CNN’s fiasco especially, they all seem to want to avoid reporting anything that isn’t confirmed as fact by investigators or officials.

“Chuck Todd may have saved MSNBC from an enormous blunder this morning when he stopped one of the network’s analysts from speculating on ‘the electronic trails’ of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects,” writes Politico’s Dylan Byers. Would that all reporting were as cautious and diligent. When the rush to be the first and slap “EXCLUSIVE!” on your report begins to outweigh the need to be right, you’re doing it wrong.

[image by Nic*Rad]

Anti-immigration conservatives rush to exploit bombing

Greg Sargent: There’s still a lot we don’t know, but it’s being widely reported that the two suspects in the Boston bombing — one of whom has been killed by police — are brothers of Chechen origin. According to law enforcement sources, the brothers entered the U.S. in 2002 or 2003, and at least one of them has been a legal permanent resident since 2007.

Some on the right are already pouncing on the news to cast doubt on the desirability of immigration reform. This morning, Ann Coulter Tweeted:

It’s too bad Suspect # 1 won’t be able to be legalized by Marco Rubio, now.

Bryan J. Fisher is a conservative radio host who rails about the “amnesty” that Senator Marco Rubio — one of the Gang of Eight Senators – supposedly supports in the form of immigration reform. Fischer Tweeted the following in response to today’s news out of Boston:

I think we can safely say that Rubio’s amnesty plan is DOA. And should be. Time to tighten, not loosen, immigration policy.

Meanwhile, over at the Washington Examiner, Conn Carroll, a Rubio critic and immigration reform skeptic, wrote that we still don’t know a good deal about the two brothers, adding that today’s planned Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the new immigration reform proposal should be delayed. “Today is not the day for an immigration hearing,” Carroll concluded.

Rubio’s office tells Sargent, “The situation in Boston is still developing and it’s too soon to jump to conclusions, let alone use the tragedy to make political points.”

The parallels to the gun debate are hard to ignore here. After the Newtown massacre, the right accused gun safety advocates of “politicizing” a tragedy to advance their agenda. Apparently, this is a luxury only allowed conservative deepthinkers like Ann Coulter and Bryan Fischer.

Also, if we follow the gun lobby reasoning, laws regulating immigration are completely pointless, stupid, and wrong because people will just break them. As with laws banning certain types of firearms and magazines, it’s important that you only pass laws that are impossible to break — perhaps by somehow tying immigration to the speed of light or some other immutable law of physics.

And if it turns out that both brothers are legal residents, how does this say a thing about immigration reform, which focuses on the problem of undocumented people?

As always, conservative talking points are completely at odds with other conservative talking points, because they live in a world of cognitive dissonance and perpetual logical inconsistency. I can’t imagine what it must be like to live with this sort of stuff going on in your head, but it has to be very disorienting.

[photo by hahatango]

Boston locked down as overnight manhunt for Boston bomber continues

NBC News: Boston and its suburbs, universities and transit system were on total lockdown Friday as police hunted for marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev — on the loose after his accomplice brother was killed in a stunning chain of events that left one cop dead and another injured, officials said.

Authorities were confronting a double-edged nightmare: a ruthless killer at large in a densely populated area after a wild chase and firefights, and the possibility of other bombs. An explosive was found in Boston and disabled, an official said.

A possible associate of the brothers was also being sought.

Two unidentified people were taken into custody at the Cambridge, Mass., home where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his older brother Tamerlan grew up, but they were not being described as additional suspects. Three dozen FBI agents were surrounding the house.

“There is a massive manhunt under way,” Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said. “We are asking people to shelter in place.”

Earlier reporting linking a missing Brown University student to the at-large suspect seems to have been based on “scanner chatter” and were, obviously, incorrect. The brothers were reportedly originally from Chechenya, but grew up in the US.

Reuters is reporting, “Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev posted links to Islamic websites and others calling for Chechen independence on what appears to be his page on a Russian language social networking site.”

[photo released by FBI]

President target of second ricin letter

Raw Story: A letter address to President Barack Obama was being tested for the poison ricin on Wednesday.

A law enforcement source told CNN that the letter was “very similar” to a letter sent to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) that tested positive for ricin on Tuesday. The Associated Press was also told that both letters were being treated in the same manner.

A Secret Service spokesperson confirmed to CNN that the letter addressed to Obama contained a “suspicious substance.” The letter was reportedly intercepted at an off-site mail facility and did not make it to the White House.

The report is updated with news that the “FBI confirmed in a statement that the letter sent to President Obama initially tested positive for the poison ricin.” Further, “a third ‘suspicious envelope’ was sent to Sen. Richard Shelby’s (R-AL) office. Parts of two Senate office buildings have been cleared.”

It’s believed that there’s no connection between the Marathon bombing and these letters.

Shooting down gun control

[via Matt Bors]

Same Day Liz Cheney Attacks Obama's 'Incompetence' Fighting Terrorism, Bernie Kerik Sentenced to 4 Years

Oh that Obama fella, he just sucks at fighting terrorism! So says big-time terrorism expert Liz Cheney, who introduced her dad to be urged to run for president at the big Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) -- AKA "Crazy People's Action Conference" -- today.

Huffington Post:

"There's no polite way to put this, but that kind of incompetence gets people killed," Cheney said, accusing the Obama administration of missing warnings from the intelligence community that Yemeni terrorists were plotting an attack.

"There is no doubt that the daily intelligence briefings that the president receives contained much more information on the threat from Yemen," she said, without a hint of irony at the failures of the Bush-Cheney years, bemoaning "incompetence, misjudgment and presidential neglect."

Here's something else fun that happened today:

New York Times:

Former New York City police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who was hailed as a hero alongside former Mayor Rudy Giuliani after the Sept. 11 terror attacks and nearly became chief of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was sentenced to four years behind bars Thursday for eight felonies.

Kerik admitted in November that he lied to the White House, filed false taxes and committed other crimes.

''The fact that Mr. Kerik would use that event (9/11) for personal gain and aggrandizement is a dark place in the soul for me,'' said federal Judge Stephen Robinson.

Yeah, you guys really had that whole fighting terrorism thing buttoned down, didn't you? You can shut up now.

American Jihadists Issue Fatwa Against Infidel Cartoonist

Seems that American super-patriots, in addition to being dumber than a box of tea bags, have no sense of humor. As a response to this cartoon, artist Mark Fiore reports he's receiving death threats:

Apparently, pointing out that teabaggers are freakin' idiots who think Hitler was a Communist is the worst thing ever.

"The death threats keep coming this fine morning," Fiore writes. "I guess the Tea Party crew is determined to have 'death panels' one way or another... Muslim extremist, meet Tea Party extremist. Tea Party extremist, meet Muslim extremist."

See, what happened was that Fiore's cartoon was posted to NPR's website. Blowhard Bill O'Reilly decided that this was the worst thing that could ever happen in the entire history of bad things happening and sent his brainwashed minions to flood the site with negative comments. Some of the more enterprising apparently looked up Fiore's site and decided to harass and threaten him more directly.

All because of an editorial cartoon.

Remember that whole thing about the Danish cartoon and the Muslims who freaked out over it? At the time, Bill said, "[W]e live in a free... many of us in the West live in a free country, a free society. You see Christianity, you see Judaism, you see almost every religion poked fun at. Poked fun at. So you’re telling me that Islam should be granted an exemption from this?"

But now that his crowd of nutjobs are getting ridiculed by a cartoonist, it's all different.  Teabaggers "should be granted an exemption from this," because National Public Radio is some sort of "left-wing Jihadist deal."

Never let it be said that Bill O'Reilly believes the same things from day to day. Like all the conservative media, Bill's a nihilist who only says he believes what helps conservatives at the moment. If that conflicts with what he said he said he believed before, so what? It's not like the idiots who hang on his every word keep track of this stuff. He can say whatever he wants and they'll eat it up, because they're freakin' robots.

So he can freak out about an NPR "Jihad," while his idiot audience wages a Jihad on NPR and Mark Fiore.

Hypocritical? You bet. But par for the course in the wingnutosphere.

McCaskill Calls DeMint 'Nuts'

I'm not sure Claire's 100% right here. While I have no doubt that Sen. Jim DeMint is nuts, I think a big part of this is his love for grandstanding. On CNN's State of the Union today, DeMint tried to weasel out of responsibility for holding up the confirmation of President Obama's nominee to head the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Erroll Southers. Called on it, his argument that unions are evil seems a little stupid, given the consequences.

Hey Jim, you know who else was unionized and practiced collective bargaining? The first responders to the World Trade Center on 9/11. In other words, union members have done one helluva lot more for the nation than you ever have or ever will, you self-important empty suit. Didn't really interfere with their ability to do their jobs and give their lives for the safety of others, did it?

You might also notice that, at the end, DeMint basically lies about holding up Southers. According to The Hill:

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has held up the nomination of Erroll Southers to head the TSA, which handles security at the nation’s airports. Reid spokesman Jim Manley labeled DeMint’s hold on Southers as “outrageous” Tuesday as Democrats sought to cast Republicans as a party obstructing tighter security at airports.

DeMint has held up the nomination because of concerns about the unionization of TSA workers, but he also linked his effort to the attempted terror attack in Detroit.

That attack is a “perfect example of why the Obama administration should not unionize the TSA and allow our airline security decisions to be dictated by union bosses," DeMint said in a statement.

DeMint said that if TSA workers were unionized under Southers, “union bosses” would have the power to delay further security improvements to airports.

“I hope this incident will lead the president to rethink this policy and put the interests of American travelers ahead of organized labor,” DeMint said.

You're holding up the nomination, Jim. You can't pretend you're not now that it's become bad politics for you. Decisions have consequences -- live with yours.

Ask a Stupid Question...

In the wake of the failed terrorist attack by the Detroit Crotchbomber, Rasmussen decided it would be a good time to ask people what they thought of waterboarding. The results were a study in public ignorance.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of U.S. voters say waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques should be used to gain information from the terrorist who attempted to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day.

Keep in mind that Rasmussen regularly skews right -- so much so that I generally consider them to be not all that credible. But if these numbers are anywhere near right, it shows that a lot of people have no idea what the hell they're talking about. It also shows that Rasmussen doesn't really give a crap about reality.

See, the big problem here is that the would-be bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, doesn't actually need to be waterboarded. According to the Center for Independent Media, "The FBI has been interrogating him from the moment he was arrested and all indications are that he has been cooperative and has already revealed his connections to Al Qaeda, where he got the bombmaking materials and so forth." So what would we be waterboarding him for, exactly?

The moral of this story is that public opinion is shaped in large part by ignorance. And that this ignorance is influenced by ridiculous organizations like Rasmussen.

Dems Push Back Against GOP Criticism of Obama's Approach to Terrorism

It's about time. National Journal's Hotline on Call reports that two Democrats are finally pushing back against Republican claims that a failed terrorist attack means Barack Obama is a terrible president. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Chris Van Hollen and Rep. Eric Massa of New York are taking on the critics by pointing out that Bush sucked.

"In general, we are facing the consequences of the Bush administration's failures to deal with al Qaeda," Van Hollen told Hotline OnCall. "The Republicans have no business in pointing fingers at the Obama administration on terrorism and national security."

"The Obama administration has been much more aggressive about going after al Qaeda than the Bush administration, which turned its focus from al Qaeda to Iraq," he added. The Obama admin has "been on the offense in places where the Bush administration had taken its eye off the ball."

Massa took aim at Dick Cheney; "I would remind the American public that the apparent leaders of the al Qaeda cell in Yemen were 2 terrorists who were released by Vice President Cheney in secret. I think there's a level of accountability that has to be levied personally on the vice president. He is personally responsible for that."

While it's nice to see that someone has Obama's back, I'm not sure "It's all Bush's fault" is the best way to go. Making this into a "he said, she said" sort of thing is calling for a draw and, in this debate at least, Democrats have an easy win.

It pays to remember that Republicans suck in a crisis; they lose their minds and say insane things. The other day, I took apart Rep. Pete Hoekstra's criticism and made him look like the boob he is. Steve Benen has torn up Dick Cheney and Rep. Peter King. The fact of the matter is that these people aren't just off-base, they're provably wrong. If you wanted to, you could really make fools of them. If you're looking for unplowed fields, Newt Gingrich has come just short of calling for the expulsion of all Muslims from American society. Go make him look like an idiot.

These people just make it so easy... Why cut them any slack?

GOP Obstructionism Leaves TSA Seat Empty

While President Obama is taking heat for not responding quickly enough to the attempted terrorism in Detroit -- unfairly and hypocritically, it turns out -- blame is a little harder to stick. It'd be a lot easier to stick this on the Obama administration if Republicans had a Transportation Security head to blame. But they don't. The TSA is currently without leadership. GOP critics aren't bringing this up, because it's their fault.

McClatchy Newspapers:

An attempt to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day would be all-consuming for the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration — if there were one.

The post remains vacant because Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., has held up President Barack Obama's nominee in opposition to the prospect of TSA workers joining a labor union.

That's right, keeping TSA employees from collective bargaining is more important than the safety of the nation. After all, we all know that unions have blown up more planes than terrorists ever have.

How genuine are DeMints concerns? Probably not very. He has a history of bombastic grandstanding. He's just scoring ideological purity points with the base.

Can you imagine what Republicans would say if the situation were reversed and a dem was holding up a GOP president's TSA nominee? And, of course, the media would just go crazy with it.

But this is a Republican, so it's all different -- because, that's why.

Griper Blade: The Mad Neocon

If you ask Dick Cheney, changes in counter-terrorism tactics by the Obama administration mean we're all going to die in a big terrorist attack. And that's what CNN's John King did this weekend; ask Dick Cheney. As always, he was less than convincing. I don't think Dick's capable of excitement and this makes him a pretty bad liar -- his warning of the inevitable destruction of the world's first modern democracy was delivered in the same tone of voice he might use to talk about a flat tire. The destruction of America's unfortunate, of course, but that's just the way things are. No use getting all riled up about it.

Maybe Dick's like Cassandra, who was able to predict the future, but cursed in that no one would believe her. Why knock yourself out with histrionics if no one's going to buy it?

Another possibility is that Dick's not especially worked up over our oncoming doom because he knows it's a bunch of crap. That'd put him in the same boat as most of us, who also aren't extremely concerned about Cheney's doomsaying either. Other than the wingnut right who'll believe anything, we're all pretty sure that Dick's a BS dispenser and we don't lose a lot of sleep over his warnings.

There's a third possibility; that Dick believes what he says because he's a dangerous lunatic prone to paranoia. Cheney's not especially animated at the thought of another 9/11 because he's used to living in a world where disaster is always right around the corner. His lack of excitement doesn't indicate a lack of earnestness, it's just the consequence of living in constant fear... [CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: Bush's Loose Nukes

George W. Bush has no plans to retire any time soon. A post at Think Progress reminds us that Bush plans to make "ridiculous" amounts of money on the speaking circuit. While he'd probably be more valuable as a frank and honest witness to his own incompetence, criminality, and hubris, this is George W. Bush we're talking about here. Bush doesn't plan any truth-telling tours, putting all his mistakes on display so we can all learn from them. Former president Bush plans to be exactly like then-president Bush -- three gallons of smart in a fifty gallon drum, with BS making up the difference.

What people will spend the big money to hear will be Baron George Von Munchausen spinning tall tales of his own greatness. That is, if his bio at his agency -- Washington Speakers Bureau -- is any indication:

President George W. Bush served in the Oval Office for eight of the most consequential years in American history. Faced with challenges from a terrorist attack to a global financial crisis, he made difficult decisions that will shape the nation’s course and world affairs for decades to come. His leadership after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, was an inspiration to millions of Americans. His policies, while controversial at times, kept the country safe for more than seven years and liberated more than 50 million people from tyranny.

Say what you like about President George, but he kept us safe -- that is, if you start counting right after the most deadly terrorist attack in American history. If you throw 9/11 into the mix, Bush averages more than one terrorist murder on American soil for every day of his presidency. In the "keeping us safe" category, Bush sucked just as badly as he did at everything else... [CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: Gitmo's Closing, Everybody Panic!

Now that Barack Obama has signed an executive order to close the detention facility (read "prison camp") at Guantánamo Bay, one thing is becoming clear -- we're all going to freakin' die. Depending on which right wing nut you ask, the president will have no choice but to move at least one deadly terrorist into either your bedroom or your closet. We are doomed.

Writing for the Center for American Progress, blogger Matthew Yglesias helpfully lays out the arguments being advanced by talking heads in the media. Unfortunately for those same talking heads, he translates the arguments from BS into English:

-The fact that the Bush administration has let dangerous terrorists go free means Obama should keep innocent people detained.

-The fact that the Bush administration screwed up the paperwork on detainees shows that there was more wisdom to Bush’s policies than Obama acknowledged on the campaign trail.

-Obama’s promise of change was empty and hypocritical because it will take time to implement his executive orders.

-The “Guantánamo” issue is primarily about the physical location of the facility rather than the legal status or treatment of the detainees.

-Since many liberals live in San Francisco, anyone who thinks it would be ill-advised to transfer prisoners to a museum in the San Francisco Bay that hasn’t been a prison for decades is a hypocrite.

When you put it that way -- i.e., in plain English -- the arguments don't look so good. No fair using logic, because reality has a liberal bias... [CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: The Terrorist Candidate

During the election campaign, it definitely got out of hand. Losing and desperate, the McCain campaign tried to capitalize on Barack Obama's weak connection to '60s radical William Ayers. That people confused this attack with a separate email smear campaign saying that Obama was a Muslim and, perhaps, a terrorist himself was probably less than coincidental. Barack Obama was the "soft on terrorism" candidate, which in turn became the "terrorist candidate" in many people's minds. The far right and the racist crowd aren't known for their deep intellect. I know that most people immediately suspect claims that are too good to be true, but I'll never understand how people can fall for claims that seem too bad to be true. If a claim about a candidate is so bizarre that it seems absurd, then guess what? It probably is.

Still, as I said, there are always plenty of dopes who'll fall for anything and it's probably safe to assume that most of those people voted McCain-Palin. But the McCain campaign needed every vote they could get and they weren't extremely picky about where they came from. If someone would cast a ballot for McCain-Palin because they were terrified that Barack Obama was going to sell out America to al Qaeda, then so what? A vote's a vote.

But they were playing with fire. Stupid people can be brutal people and gullible people are about 90% stupid people. The decision to believe that Barack Obama was an actual, honest to goodness terrorist betrays a bad decision-making impulse that goes farther than just that one choice. That decision led to other decisions and those decisions were just as idiotic. Earlier this month, the Telegraph reported that, as the William Ayers talk increased on the stump, there were entirely predictable consequences.

Sarah Palin's attacks on Barack Obama's patriotism provoked a spike in death threats against the future president, Secret Service agents revealed during the final weeks of the campaign.

The Republican vice presidential candidate attracted criticism for accusing Mr Obama of "palling around with terrorists", citing his association with the sixties radical William Ayers.

The attacks provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling "terrorist" and "kill him" until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric.

It got so bad that Michelle Obama asked a campaign aide, "Why would they try to make people hate us?"...

[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]