October 31 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

In honor of today we start with Boo! Chris Matthews Imagines Halloween Costumes for Candidates.

Two follow-up articles to the "Values Voters" conference: Max Blumenthal: Bravest "Mensch" In The Village Marches Into Den Of Theocracy, Returns and Max Blumenthal Goes To The Values Voters Summit (Bravo, Max!).

Kucinich Questions Bush’s Mental Health (along with just about everyone else!).

From the *sigh* category there's My Disappointment of Hillary.

Happy National Candy Apple Day!

---

Typical Rightwing Know-it-all

---

At the end of the rainbow...

---

October 30 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

Nothing like the delusions of the rightwing: Right-wing blogger: Ari Fleischer is a ‘modern day Moses.’

Questioning 9/11 and to Hell with Caution, which I posted earlier today.

Rush off the deep end with How Long? "You Can't Be a Republican".

And, Tom Tomorrow gets it (again) with The internets just make me tired sometimes.

Finally, in time for Halloween: Happy National Candy Corn Day!

---

"There Isn’t Actually Any Such Thing As Islamofascism"

Fearing Fear Itself
By Paul Krugman

In America’s darkest hour, Franklin Delano Roosevelt urged the nation not to succumb to “nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror.” But that was then. Today, many of the men who hope to be the next president — including all of the candidates with a significant chance of receiving the Republican nomination — have made unreasoning, unjustified terror the centerpiece of their campaigns. Consider, for a moment, the implications of the fact that Rudy Giuliani is taking foreign policy advice from Norman Podhoretz, who wants us to start bombing Iran “as soon as it is logistically possible.” Mr. Podhoretz, the editor of Commentary and a founding neoconservative, tells us that Iran is the “main center of the Islamofascist ideology against which we have been fighting since 9/11.” The Islamofascists, he tells us, are well on their way toward creating a world “shaped by their will and tailored to their wishes.” Indeed, “Already, some observers are warning that by the end of the 21st century the whole of Europe will be transformed into a place to which they give the name Eurabia.” Do I have to point out that none of this makes a bit of sense? For one thing, there isn’t actually any such thing as Islamofascism — it’s not an ideology; it’s a figment of the neocon imagination. The term came into vogue only because it was a way for Iraq hawks to gloss over the awkward transition from pursuing Osama bin Laden, who attacked America, to Saddam Hussein, who didn’t. And Iran had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11 — in fact, the Iranian regime was quite helpful to the United States when it went after Al Qaeda and its Taliban allies in Afghanistan. Beyond that, the claim that Iran is on the path to global domination is beyond ludicrous. Yes, the Iranian regime is a nasty piece of work in many ways, and it would be a bad thing if that regime acquired nuclear weapons. But let’s have some perspective, please: we’re talking about a country with roughly the G.D.P. of Connecticut, and a government whose military budget is roughly the same as Sweden’s. Meanwhile, the idea that bombing will bring the Iranian regime to its knees — and bombing is the only option, since we’ve run out of troops — is pure wishful thinking. Last year Israel tried to cripple Hezbollah with an air campaign, and ended up strengthening it instead. There’s every reason to believe that an attack on Iran would produce the same result, with the added effects of endangering U.S. forces in Iraq and driving oil prices well into triple digits. Mr. Podhoretz, in short, is engaging in what my relatives call crazy talk. Yet he is being treated with respect by the front-runner for the G.O.P. nomination. And Mr. Podhoretz’s rants are, if anything, saner than some of what we’ve been hearing from some of Mr. Giuliani’s rivals. Thus, in a recent campaign ad Mitt Romney asserted that America is in a struggle with people who aim “to unite the world under a single jihadist Caliphate. To do that they must collapse freedom-loving nations. Like us.” He doesn’t say exactly who these jihadists are, but presumably he’s referring to Al Qaeda — an organization that has certainly demonstrated its willingness and ability to kill innocent people, but has no chance of collapsing the United States, let alone taking over the world. And Mike Huckabee, whom reporters like to portray as a nice, reasonable guy, says that if Hillary Clinton is elected, “I’m not sure we’ll have the courage and the will and the resolve to fight the greatest threat this country’s ever faced in Islamofascism.” Yep, a bunch of lightly armed terrorists and a fourth-rate military power — which aren’t even allies — pose a greater danger than Hitler’s panzers or the Soviet nuclear arsenal ever did. All of this would be funny if it weren’t so serious. In the wake of 9/11, the Bush administration adopted fear-mongering as a political strategy. Instead of treating the attack as what it was — an atrocity committed by a fundamentally weak, though ruthless adversary — the administration portrayed America as a nation under threat from every direction. Most Americans have now regained their balance. But the Republican base, which lapped up the administration’s rhetoric about the axis of evil and the war on terror, remains infected by the fear the Bushies stirred up — perhaps because fear of terrorists maps so easily into the base’s older fears, including fear of dark-skinned people in general. And the base is looking for a candidate who shares this fear. Just to be clear, Al Qaeda is a real threat, and so is the Iranian nuclear program. But neither of these threats frightens me as much as fear itself — the unreasoning fear that has taken over one of America’s two great political parties.

Adobe Acrobat copy of Fearing Fear Itself

---

Questioning 9/11 and to Hell with Caution on OpEdNews.com

October 30, 2007

Questioning 9/11 and to Hell with Caution
by Michael Shaw
http://www.opednews.com/

From the article:

As for David Horowitz, here's a guy who is promoting a rash of anti-radical Islamic events on several US College campuses and in his last outing and along with his perpetual sidekick, Ann Coulter; had invited a guest speaker who turned out to be one of Britain's biggest holocaust deniers. Isn't that a kick in the shorts!?! Frankly I see him(and Coulter) in the same light as I see LaRouche, Bollyn, Piper and Carto. (read the entire article)

---

Beware! on Cry Freedom

Join host Lisa Litchfield on Cry Freedom tonight, at 7:00pm Central Time (-06:00 GMT), when she warns Beware the Crazy Brown Boogeymen!

The Free World Radio Network: Broadcasting from California, Florida, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas and Washington State

---

mAnn Colter: On the Gay Circuit

Ann Coulter: On the Gay Circuit in West Hollywood

---

October 29 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

First up, looks like there's a reason why the General is supporting him: Dodd continues to do the right thing, opposes Mukasey.

‘When the President Does it, That Means That it is Not Illegal’ (sounds familiar).

Krugman: No such thing as ‘Islamofascism’ Bravo, Paul Krugman!

And, if it is Monday it is time for another Top 10 Conservative Idiots, No. 312.

Happy National Oatmeal Day!

---

In the Spotlight: Exposing the Lies

Welcome to In the Spotlight, a semi-regular feature of this blog, where I highlight one or more of the links on my personal Web site, www.HansMeyer.net.

Yesterday I posted the article, The Right-Wing Smear Forward, which is the motivation for today's In the Spotlight.

I'll be highlighting two sites, on my Information links page, dedicated to either confirming or exposing as lies the seemingly unlimited amount of urban legends and gossip found on Web sites and (even more so) in chain mail e-mail messages* we all receive.

The first site is Snopes (also known as Urban Legends):

The other site is Break the Chain, which specifically targets the chain mail messages* we all receive:

* - I like to refer to some of these chain mail messages as a poor person's computer virus. Instead of spreading themselves automatically they use the recipients of the message to do the spreading for them.

You can spot them easily: They're the ones which have a line reading: Forward this to everyone you know, or Forward this to everyone in your address book. If you see that in an e-mail message check with Snopes or Break the Chain. Chances are it is a fake message.

As an added bonus I am including, from my Humor links page, My Right-Wing Dad, a collection of right-wing'ed forwards:


You'll find quite a collection of right wing nut chain e-mail messages, which some people, believe it or not, actually take as the truth!

(go to www.HansMeyer.net/Links, then click on Information or Humor).

Click here for this and previous In The Spotlight posts.

---

October 28 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

We hear from the administration cheerleaders with FOX News Sunday: Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran and Fox Panel: Dems Are ‘Terribly Weak’ If They Don’t Threaten ‘Devasting Military Strike’ Against Iran.

Bob Schieffer Commentary Slams FEMA For Phony Press Conference (way to go, Bob!).

Austin Cline (via the General) on the California fires: Fighting Fire with Flames: Only Compassionate Conservatives Can Exacerbate Forrest Fires.

Happy National Chocolate Day!

---

Ritual Defamation and Humiliation

The Art Of The Hissy Fit
By Digby on October 23, 2007 - 10:53pm.
From the article:

The political cost to progressives and liberals for their inability to properly deal with this tactic is greater than they realize. Just as Newt Gingrich was not truly offended by Bill Clinton's behavior (which mirrored his own) neither were conservative congressmen and Rush Limbaugh truly upset by the Move On ad --- and everyone knew it, which was the point. It is a potent demonstration of pure power to force others to insincerely condemn or apologize for something, particularly when the person who is forcing it is also insincerely outraged. For a political party that suffers from a reputation for weakness, it is extremely damaging to be so publicly cowed over and over again. It separates them from their most ardent supporters and makes them appear guilty and unprincipled to the public at large. (read the entire article)

My thanks to Michael Silliman for alerting me to this excellent and highly recommended article. Liberals and progressives everywhere should read this!

Adobe Acrobat copy of The Art Of The Hissy Fit

---

Sunday! Time for Shakedown Street

Join Blog Talk Radio Featured Host Brian Wolf as he discusses News and Commentary... with a hint of music.

That's today on Shakedown Street at 4:00pm Pacific Time (-08:00 GMT) on Blog Talk Radio.

The Free World Radio Network: Broadcasting from California, Florida, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas and Washington State

---

October 27 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

I have always been a fan of Robert Redford, ever since 1972's The Candidate. But this cinches it: Robert Redford Added to Bill O'Reilly's Anti-American Watch List.

Not news, but it certainly fits in with The Free World Pub: IM IN UR PUB.

I posted this earlier: The Right-Wing Smear Forward, and cannot recommend it highly enough.

Fox Blames the San Diego Fire on an Immigrant from Guatemala (of course they do!).

And for my good friend and Blog Talk Radio Featured Host Brian Wolf:

Happy American Beer Day!

---

The Right-Wing Smear Forward

The New Right-Wing Smear Machine
Christopher Hayes
On February 27, 2001, two members of the American Gold Star Mothers, an organization of women who've lost sons or daughters in combat, dropped by the temporary basement offices of the new junior senator from New York, Hillary Clinton. They didn't have an appointment, and the office, which had been up and running for barely a month, was a bit discombobulated. The two women wanted to talk to the senator about a bill pending in the Senate that would provide annuities for the parents of those killed, but they were told that Clinton wasn't in the office and that the relevant staff members were otherwise engaged. The organization later submitted a formal request in writing for a meeting, which Clinton granted, meeting and posing for pictures with four members of the group.

But the story doesn't end there. In May of that year, the right-wing website NewsMax, a clearinghouse for innuendo and rumor, ran a short item with the headline "Hillary Snubs Gold Star Mothers." Reporting via hearsay--a comment relayed to someone who then recounted it to the column's author--the article claimed that Clinton and her staff "simply refused" to meet with the Gold Star Mothers, making hers the "only office" in the Senate that snubbed the group.

At first the item didn't attract much attention, but it quickly morphed into an e-mail that started ricocheting across the Internet. "Bet this never hits the TV news!" began one version. "According to NewsMax.com there was only one politician in DC who refused to meet with these ladies. Can you guess which politician that might be?... None other than the Queen herself--the Hildebeast, Hillary Clinton."

Before long, the Gold Star Mothers and the Clinton office found themselves inundated by inquiries about the "snub," prompting the Gold Star Mothers to post a small item debunking the claim on their website. When that didn't stem the tide, they posted a lengthier notice. "These allegations were not initiated by the Gold Star Mothers.... This is a fabricated report picked up by an individual using the Gold Star Mothers as an instrument to discredit Senator Clinton.... We do not need mischeivous gossip and unfounded lies to promote our organization. Please help stop it now."

That plea notwithstanding, the e-mail continues to circulate to this day. Anyone who's been following politics for the past fifteen years won't be surprised to find Hillary Clinton the subject of a false and damning right-wing smear. We've all become familiar with the ways the Republican noise machine transmits lurid bits of misinformation and tendentious attacks from the conservative fringe into the heart of American political discourse, the process by which a slightly misdelivered joke by John Kerry attracts the ire of Rush Limbaugh and ends up on the front page of the New York Times.

But in some senses, the kind of under-the-radar attack embodied in the Gold Star e-mail--which never made the jump to Fox or Drudge--is even harder to deal with. "It's a Pandora's box," says Jim Kennedy, who served as Clinton's communications director during her first Senate term. "Once [the charges] are out in the ether, they are very hard to combat. It's very unlike a traditional media, newspaper or TV show, or even a blog, which at least has a fixed point of reference. You know they're traveling far and wide, but there's no way to rebut them with all the people that have seen them."

Such is the power of the right-wing smear forward, a vehicle for the dissemination of character assassination that has escaped the scrutiny directed at the Limbaughs and Coulters and O'Reillys but one that is as potent as it is invisible. ...

(read the entire article)

Adobe Acrobat copy of The New Right-Wing Smear Machine

---

Today on the Free World Radio Network

This morning on Situation Awareness my topic will be The War on Halloween (be sure to check-out yesterday's post, The War on Halloween-A report from the front). Starting today at 10:00am Eastern Time (-05:00 GMT).

Then, at 11:00am Eastern Time (-05:00 GMT), tune in to The Free World Pub.

Tune in today on Blog Talk Radio.

The Free World Radio Network: Broadcasting from California, Florida, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas and Washington State

---

Nelson Rockefeller versus Barry Goldwater

This was on WorldNutDaily. If they say it, well, it must be true. Right?

Conservatism is a Tower of Babel by: Patrick J. Buchanan "I was conservative yesterday, I'm a conservative today, and I will be a conservative tomorrow," declared Fred Thompson to the Conservative Party of New York, billing himself as the "consistent conservative" in the GOP race – in contrast to ex-mayor Rudy Giuliani. In his defense, Rudy cites George Will as calling his eight years in office in the Big Apple the most conservative city government in 50 years. And, truth be told, Thompson was reliably conservative in his Senate years. But so, too, has John McCain been, and Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo. Hunter, however, splits with Thompson and McCain on trade. Paul disagrees with all six of them on the war. And Tancredo assails McCain for backing Bush's amnesty for 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens. Will the real conservative please stand up? Or perhaps we should recall John 14:2, "In my father's house there are many mansions." What does it mean to be a conservative – in 2007? Sixty years ago, Robert A. Taft was the gold standard. Forty years ago, it was Barry Goldwater, who backed Bob Taft against Ike at the 1952 convention. Twenty years ago, it was Ronald Reagan, who backed Barry in 1964. Reagan remains the paragon – for the consistency of his convictions, the success of his presidency and the character he exhibited to the end of his life. About Reagan the cliché was true: The greatness of the office found out the greatness in the man. Reagan defined conservatism for his time. And the issues upon which we agreed were anti-communism, a national defense second to none, lower tax rates to unleash the engines of economic progress, fiscal responsibility, a strict-constructionist Supreme Court, law and order, the right-to-life from conception on and a resolute defense of family values under assault from the cultural revolution that hit America with hurricane force in the 1960s. With the collapse of the Soviet Empire and the breakup of the Soviet Union, anti-communism as the defining and unifying issue of the right was gone. The conservative crack-up commenced. With George H.W. Bush came the advent of what Fred Barnes of the New Republic hailed as Big Government Conservatism. Some thought the phrase oxymoronic. But when Bush stood at the rostrum of the U.N. General Assembly in October 1991 to declare that America's cause was the creation of a New World Order, the old right reached reflexively for their revolvers. In 1992, with foreign policy off the table, the Bush economic record a perceived failure and Ross Perot running on protectionism and populism, Bush refused to play his trump card with the Clintons: the social and moral issues he and Lee Atwater had use to beat Michael Dukakis senseless in 1988. And so, George H.W. Bush lost the presidency. Now, 15 years later, what does it mean to be a conservative? There is no pope who speaks ex cathedra. There is no bible to consult, like Goldwater's "The Conscience of a Conservative" or Reagan's "no-pale-pastels" platform of 1980. At San Diego in 1996, Bob Dole told his convention he had not bothered to read the platform. Many who heard him did not bother to vote for Bob Dole. And so, today, the once-great house of conservatism is a Tower of Babel. We are big government and small government, traditionalist and libertarian, tax-cutter and budget hawk, free trader and economic nationalist. Bush and McCain support amnesty and a "path to citizenship" for illegals. The country wants the laws enforced and a fence on the border. And Rudy? A McGovernite in 1972, he boasted in the campaign of 1993 that he would "rekindle the Rockefeller, Javits, Lefkowitz tradition" of New York's GOP and "produce the kind of change New York City saw with ... John Lindsay." He ran on the Liberal Party line and supported Mario Cuomo in 1994. Pro-abortion, anti-gun, again and again he strutted up Fifth Avenue in the June Gay Pride parade and turned the Big Apple into a sanctuary city for illegal aliens. While Ward Connerly goes state to state to end reverse discrimination, Rudy is an affirmative-action man. Gravitating now to Rudy's camp are those inveterate opportunists, the neocons, who see in Giuliani their last hope of redemption for their cakewalk war and their best hope for a "Long War" against "Islamo-fascism." I will, Rudy promises, nominate Scalias. Only one more may be needed to overturn Roe. And I will keep Hillary out of the White House. A Giuliani presidency would represent the return and final triumph of the Republicanism that conservatives went into politics to purge from power. A Giuliani presidency would represent repudiation by the party of the moral, social and cultural content that, with anti-communism, once separated it from liberal Democrats and defined it as an institution. Rudy offers the right the ultimate Faustian bargain: retention of power at the price of one's soul.

Then it was Nelson Rockefeller versus Barry Goldwater.

Today it is cross-dressing, adulterous, thrice-married Rudy Giuliani versus Pat Buchanan.

Let the games begin!

---

October 26 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

Oh, now doesn't this sound familiar: Right Wing Enraged: Laura Bush Is A ‘Butt-Kisser’ For Wearing Headscarf In Mideast.

As does this: Wingnut Candidate: California Fires are "God's Judgment"

As I already posted, and just in time for my broadcast tomorrow, there's The War on Halloween.

There's a good follow-up to a previous The Dark Side broadcast with Restoring Constitutional government and shoving the Overton Window left.

Today is Pumpkin Day!

---

The War on Halloween-A report from the front

Just in time for Situation Awareness tomorrow Jesus' General (well, actually, Miss Poppy Dixon on Jesus' General) weighs in with...

The War on Halloween

Look for these amazing reports:

• Halloween Fun Family Prayer Adventures


• For every light brown M & M you chose, pray for Christians in other countries.


• I wonder where we toss the unbaptized beanie babies.


• Trunk or Treat

But the greatest has to be:


The Jesus Costume!From the article:

This is all marvelous progress, especially after last year's debacle. Donna Brewer, the Christian mother of a fourth grader, didn't want her son to feel isolated by not wearing a costume to the school's Halloween party, so she dressed him up like Jesus on the Via Dolorosa, complete with crown of thorns (though it looks more like he's getting highlights). The school objected to the crown of thorns, so the mother sued through James Dobson's Alliance Defense Fund. It seems the case has been dropped as there are no more mentions about it on the ADF website.

Whew! I sure am glad the "troops" are out there, fighting the War on Halloween!

---

Freedom of Speech Is Not Free

‘Dixie Chicking’: Post-9/11 Blacklisting in the Entertainment Industry
Posted on Oct 25, 2007

Ed Rampell

The HUAC/McCarthy era and Hollywood blacklist may be over, but the not-so-grand inquisitors are still among us. On March 31, 2007, activist/actor Mike Farrell, who co-starred in TV’s “M*A*S*H” and co-founded Artists United to Win Without War, told Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting’s “CounterSpin” radio program, “There’s a price to be paid for speaking out, and some have paid a fairly serious price.” Around that same time, at a March 24, 2007, anti-war Oakland town meeting called by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, actor Sean Penn stated: “we are encouraged to self-censor any words that might be perceived as inflammatory—if our belief is that this war should stop today. We cower as you point fingers telling us to ‘support our troops.’ ” There are other examples of creative people suffering the consequences of their outspokenness since 9/11, but none are as compelling as the saga of the Dixie Chicks, the top-selling “girl group” of all time. Indeed, the red, white and bluegrass band’s name became a verb meaning censoring and punishing dissenters: “Dixie Chicking.” The Chicks’ story was turned into a documentary by two-time Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple (1976’s “Harlan County USA” and 1990’s “American Dream") and Cecilia Peck. Cecilia’s father, Gregory Peck, won the Oscar for portraying the screen’s archetypal fighting liberal, Atticus Finch, in 1962’s anti-racist “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and produced the 1972 anti-Vietnam-War film “The Trial of the Catonsville Nine,” about the Berrigan brothers’ anti-draft activities. (In August 2007, Tim Robbins’ L.A.-based Actors Gang troupe presented a reading of the “Catonsville Nine” drama as a fundraiser.) (read the entire article)

Adobe Acrobat copy of ‘Dixie Chicking’: Post-9/11 Blacklisting in the Entertainment Industry

---

The Political Atlas Debuts!

Please join me in tuning in to the broadcast premier of The Political Atlas with your host, Charlie Kensil, tonight at 7:00pm Eastern Time (-05:00 GMT).

Charlie's topic for tonight will be Human Shield.

The Free World Radio Network: Broadcasting from California, Florida, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas and Washington State

---

Condi a Waste of Time on OpEdNews.com

October 24, 2007

Condi a Waste of Time
by Brian Wolf
http://www.opednews.com/


It’s past time to ask the question; of what use is Condoleeza Rice? She was appointed NSA in 2001 by George Bush because she was an expert in, wait for it, Soviet history. It was as if the RNC had been preserved in amber until released in 2001, confused, out of sorts, and looking for an enemy that no longer existed.The new administration stumbled around, searching for their new boogeyman.

In the meantime, newly appointed President George W Bush decided that after 8 months of hard work, it was time for a 5 week vacation at his ranch in Crawford, TX. Meanwhile, the NSA director held down the fort, ignoring, and passing over, increasingly frantic memos from intelligence operatives in the field that Al-Qaeda was planning something big. On 9/11, George, Condoleeza, and the rest of us found out what it was. Although to be fair, George and Condoleeza had, in their possession in July, memo’s that pretty much outline exactly what Al Qaeda had in mind. NSA Director Rice didn’t think they were important enough to bother George while he was clearing brush in Crawford.

Since then she has been upgraded to Secretary of State. Exactly what has she done while in this position? She’s defended the ever increasingly ridiculous, and bizzare, mandates and reports coming from the White House. Mostly, however, she seems to be held in some kind of incommunicado status until they need a sound bite, and then they throw the power switch, download the text and out she spits it, with all the emotion of an automaton.

Yes, she’s gone to the Middle East, but instead of this showing that we know what we’re doing, it only serves to highlight the incompetence and absurdity of the Bush administration. When she stopped by during the bombing of Lebanon, I saw her in a room full of Arab men, all dressed in suits, she was in a pantsuit with her sunglasses pushed back up on her head like she had just breezed in from shopping in The Hampton’s. What? Peace in the Middle East isn’t even important enough to take your sunglasses off and stay awhile?

And where in the tiny, dust addled brain of George W Bush did he think that Arab men, Muslim men, are going to even listen to a woman much less work with one? Women are second class citizens over there and sending a woman to negotiate must be seen as either world class ignorance or just simply disrespect.

Dr. Rice needs to resign and accept a position at a University where she can live out her days teaching Soviet history, where at least she won’t be wasting everyone’s time.

Adobe Acrobat copy of Condi a Waste of Time

---

October 25 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

We start with a real Alert the media story: CAUTION — Cheney going hunting this weekend.

Next, the latest from the cross-dressing, adulterous, thrice-married Republican: Rudy Jokes About Torture: ‘On That Theory, I’m Getting Tortured Running For President’.

And speaking of Rudy, here's something which just might give his followers a chill: Baptist leader to GOP: ‘This is not a bluff’

---

Wake-up Cat!

Cat owners can certainly appreciate this...



...just don't let your cat watch it!

---

October 24 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

Let the "games" begin: Rudy Giuliani flips on the Yankees and roots for the Boston Red Sox to win the series!

Another great one from the General with Are there no poorhouses (Part II) (which I covered in an earlier post today).

The "Hitler Comparison" (from the article: " If it struts like a Nazi, talks like Nazi, tortures like a Nazi and wages aggressive and illegal war like a Nazi... it's not a duck.").

Happy National Bologna Day!

---

Priorities

---

The General and the YAF

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

A Yellow Elephant's War Against The Jews

Kyle Bristow Chairman MSU Young Americans for Freedom Dear Chairman Bristow, I have a lot of respect for Young Americans for Freedom. YAF never backs down from controversy. Whether it's whites only scholarships, defending Coca-Cola from communism, holding "Support the Troops rallies" here so you don't have to fight with them over there, or funding Ann Coulter through speaking engagements so she can continue battling liberals, brown people, and Jews, YAF has always been there, standing up for white Christian conservative principles. I salute you for continuing this YAF tradition by inviting Nick Griffin to speak. Your bound to get a lot of criticism for it. The politically correct will no doubt rail against Griffin for referring to the Holocaust as the "Holohoax." And there will be others who will condemn him for writing The Mindbenders, his seminal work on Jewish control of the British media. You know it's going to happen. I think you should prepare for it by attacking them first. Call an emergency meeting of your YAF chapter and put your members to work identifying the Jews at MSU and in the local media. Then you can put out an East Lansing edition of The Mindbenders, so everyone knows who to persecute. It'll be worth the investment, especially as we approach the War on Christmas season. Heterosexually yours, Gen. JC Christian, patriot

---

October 23 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

The lastest from the cross-dressing, adulterous, thrice-married Republican: Giuliani’s “Values” Include Defending And Hiring An Accused Molester.

And speaking of values there's Scenes from the Bewildered Right.

Next up: House Flunks Boehner’s Attempt to Censure Stark; Stark Apologizes Anyway (my friend Sinfonian, over at Blast Off! Intertubes home of America's Wang & Glans), has a great article on this).

The General weighs in with A Yellow Elephant's War Against The Jews

Happy Boston Cream Pie Day!

---

Perspective

Click each picture for a larger view

---

---

---

---

Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky.
It is more than 1000 light years away.

---

Happy Indiscretion Day

Tune in today as host Lisa Litchfield discusses Bill Clinton, cigars and humidors.

That's on Cry Freedom, today at 7:00pm Central Time on Blog Talk Radio.

The Free World Radio Network: Broadcasting from California, Florida, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas and Washington State

---

October 22 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

First up: We can only keep America safe by coercing tons of false confessions and then lying about it (too bad those on the right aren't honest enough to say that!).

Also, GOP Debate: Appealing to the 24%ers.

For your humor there's Is The Government Spying On Paranoid Schizophrenics Enough?

And, if it is Monday it is time for another Top 10 Conservative Idiots, No. 311.

Happy National Nut Day!

---

An early Halloween gift for you ...

---

October 21 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

Hey! They got everything wrong about Iraq, so why not Fox News Sunday: William “The Bloody” Kristol’s Bloodlust for War with Iran and Kristol: Iran Is ‘The Only Real Threat’ To Success In Iraq

The Time Has Come to Face Reality: Al Gore Will Not Run (True, sadly true).

Finally, there's Poll: Americans increasingly concerned about warming.

---

Today on Shakedown Street

Join Blog Talk Radio Featured Host Brian Wolf as he discusses News and Commentary... with a hint of music.

That's today on Shakedown Street at 4:00pm Pacific Time (-08:00 GMT) on Blog Talk Radio.

The Free World Radio Network: Broadcasting from California, Florida, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas and Washington State

---

mAnn Colter "Perfected"

Click image for larger view.
Click here for original post on Maxim.

---

The War on Christmas x3

Click image for larger view.
Click here for original post on Daily Kos.

---

October 20 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

First up there's Bizzy Bodies (from the article: "The papal smoke from his ass must be clouding his mind.").

Bush uses photo-ops to ‘angle for conservation stature.’ (the owl is saying: "No mission accomplished for you. Come back, one year!")

The War On Christmas x3 - Starring Bill O'Grinchly (earlier and earlier each year... of course!)

And, from the "I am not surprised category," there's Limbaugh At It Again - Mocks Voice Of 12 Year Old Graeme Frost and The naked soul of Stalkin' Malkin

Happy Birthday, Saint Lisa!

---

Happy Birthday Saint Lisa!

---

Today on the Free World Radio Network

Today on Situation Awareness I will be covering the "October Surprise" at 10:00am Eastern Time (-05:00 GMT).

Then, at 11:00am Eastern Time (-05:00 GMT), the Free World Pub opens its doors and serves up the first round with a toast to Saint Lisa Litchfield's birthday.

That's today on Blog Talk Radio.

---

October 19 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

Getting booted from a NC fair for an Impeachment sign: “Wall of Shame” (PC... right!)

Knock...knock, Harry and Nancy: Is it Time for Democrats to Start Panicking?

And, from the Graeme Frost attack file there's After Calling Graeme Frost A Liar, Limbaugh Asserts ‘I Never Once Attacked This Family’ (yeah, right "rush") and Rush Limbaugh Mocks 12 Year-Old SCHIP Advocate While Claiming Never To Have Attacked Him.

Rest In Peace, Joey Bishop.

---

October 18 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

My, how the mighty have fallen: Dennis Hastert To Announce Resignation–Special Election To Be Called

Get ready for the War on Christmas. (here we go again!).

Happy National Chocolate Cupcake Day!

---

A Rush to Threaten on OpEdNews.com

October 17, 2007

A Rush to Threaten
by Brian Wolf
http://www.opednews.com/

Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly are apparently birds of feather. When someone writes or says something about them they don’t like, they both resort to vaguely veiled threats.

First Bill was going to show up at everyone’s house and shove a microphone up our noses. Now this has been released, Rush bragging about going after children of his critics:

Limbaugh Brags About Threatening Children of Journalist Writing Unflattering Story About Him:

Limbaugh continued: "[W]e found out who was writing it and made a couple phone calls to the person writing it. And we said, 'You know what? We're going to find out where your kids go to school. We're going to find out who you knocked up in high school. We're going to find out what drugs you used. We're going to find out where you go to drink and do -- we're gonna find out how you paid for your house. We're going to do -- and we're going to do exact -- and we're going to say that, you know what? You are no different than Al Goldstein. You both masturbate.'

Nice isn’t it? Sums up the intelligence, morality, and values of the tighty righties quite nicely. Don’t agree with them? They’re going to not only hunt you down, but your children as well. They will harass, and stalk, and terrify children, just because they are too gutless to try it with an adult. And of course, at the end, they resort to the crudest of childhood taunts.

Malkin, Limbaugh, Coulter, O’Reilly, all cut from the same bolt of weevil infected cloth. There is something fundamentally wrong with them. With the way they think and perceive and react to the world around them. They all act like spoiled children who, for the first time in their lives, are being held accountable. They stamp their feet, throw a tantrum and resort to profanity and the behavior of a schoolyard bully. These are the spokespersons of the right.

So Rush, let me tell you something. When you’re a known celebrity, there is a lot of information on you out there, so I’m going to tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to find out where people you care about go to school, or work, or to eat. I’m going to find out what you did in high school, what drugs you took, how often you got beat up, judging from your adult behavior, I’m guessing on a daily basis, and how you paid for your house, and your illegal painkillers and your illegal immigrant housekeepers, and then I’m going find out what you do with all that Viagra in the Dominican Republic. Then I will tell everyone, via articles and my radio show, just what kind of “human being” you actually are.

And you know what Rush? There’s not a damn thing you can do to stop me. Not one damn thing. Chew on that.

Adobe Acrobat copy of A Rush to Threaten

---

October 17 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

Up on the deck today there's Regent University Student: Pat Robertson Is ‘Crazier’ Than I Am (of course he is!).

Bush: I veto bills to ‘ensure that I am relevant.’ (at this point it is going to take a whole lot more than that).

Happy National Pasta Day!

---

Unbelievable by Tom Tomorrow

Click image for large view.
Click here for original on Salon.com.
Click here for original Tom Tomorrow post

---

October 16 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

Top of the news: Randi Rhodes Hurt in NY (here's wishing this vital voice of reason all the best in her recovery).

Limbaugh says he told journalist writing story on him: "[W]e're going to find out where your kids go to school" (typical).

The Tipper Point (an excellent article from OpEdNews.com)

It's World Food Day!

---

China Should Apologize, Not Bluster on OpEdNews.com

October 16, 2007

China Should Apologize, Not Bluster
by Brian Wolf
http://www.opednews.com/

So the Chinese are angry that The Dalai Lama is coming to the U.S. and his being welcomed with honors. I say who cares what the Chinese are angry about? Ever since the 1950’s the Chinese have done their level best to wipe Tibet off the face of the Earth. The only reason they have not been successful is the grassroots organizations and the strength and courage of The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people in exile. Before the Chinese start spouting off at the mouth, maybe they should begin by apologizing. They could apologize for the early incursions into North East Tibet in the early 1950’s, during which thousands of Tibetan’s, trying to defend their homeland were killed. Or maybe they could apologize for machine gunning tens of thousands of Tibetans, including monks, women, and children, who stood guard outside the Dalai Lama’s residence in the late 1950’s to protect him from a kidnapping attempt or assassination. Or how about apologizing for the thousands of monasteries that were looted and burned, destroying priceless Tibetan manuscripts and shipping anything worth money, including melted down gold, north to China. And when they’re done apologizing for that, they can return what they’ve stolen. Or maybe they should apologize for forcing celibate monks and nuns to publicly copulate? Or maybe for the tens of thousands of monks and nuns that were imprisoned for no reason, many of them dying there. Until China apologizes and recognizes Tibet as an independent nation, maybe they should just keep their mouths shut.

Adobe Acrobat copy of China Should Apologize, Not Bluster

---

Hate Filtered Through a Smile Isn't Pretty: Part II

Coulter: "I don't think most Jews are as stupid as Donny Deutsch"

---

From the article:

On the October 11 broadcast of Steve Malzberg's WOR (New York) radio show, right-wing pundit Ann Coulter stood by her recent comment -- documented by Media Matters for America -- that "we" Christians "just want Jews to be perfected." She made that statement on the October 8 edition of CNBC's The Big Idea, during which host Donny Deutsch later said, "I'm offended by that personally." On Malzberg's show, Coulter defended her remarks by saying that she had "stated the ... doctrine of Christianity," and that the idea that Christians "want Jews to be perfected" "comes from that raging anti-Semite St. Paul." She added: "I don't think most Jews are as stupid as Donny Deutsch," and later asked, referring to Deutsch, "Is that guy even bar mitzvahed?" (read the entire article)

---

Happy Birthday (Almost) to Lisa!

Be sure to tune in to Cry Freedom this evening when your host, Lisa Litchfield, celebrates her (almost) birthday.

Lisa will also be discussing the revolting right wing attack on a 12 year old boy and his family (sort of the conservative theme these days).

That's tonight at 7:00pm Central Time (-06:00 GMT) on Blog Talk Radio

---

Graeme Frost’s parents on Countdown tonight

Click on image for more information
Tonight on Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC
(check local listing for time and channel)

---

October 15 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

From the "of course he is file" there's SC justices: Thomas’s biography ‘unseemly.’

Also, there's Graeme Frost’s parents on Countdown tonight (which I will be covering in a separate post).

What I wrote about last Friday on OpEdNews.com continues with CLIPS: Coulter: "I don't think most Jews are as stupid as Donny Deutsch"

And, since it is Monday it is time for another The Top 10 Conservative Idiots, No. 310

---

In the News: The Wooden Foundation

Sunday, October 14, 2007 It's A Calling: Employment consultant helps at-risk students in foundation By Richard Craver JOURNAL REPORTER The lack of improvement in high-school graduation rates gnaws at the professional and personal side of Randy Wooden. An employment consultant based in Clemmons, Wooden earns his living helping professional and student clients stand out in a competitive job market through his company, The Wooden Group. But a calling to help at-risk students recognize the paycheck value of an education has led Wooden to form a nonprofit organization, The Wooden Foundation, which provides free job-seeking advice. (read the entire article)

---

We Didn't Start the Fire

---

October 14 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

Keith nails it again with Countdown’s Worst Person In The World: Fascist Apologists Edition.

Dick Armey attacks James Dobson: ” this guy is the most chronic malcontent I‘ve ever seen..” (nothing like "conservatives" eating each other!)

From the "of course they are" category there's It's a Lowdown, Rotten, Nasty, Hateful Party.

Happy National Chocolate-Covered Insects Day!

---

On Shakedown Street Today

BlogTalkRadio Featured Host, Brian Wolf, welcomes Doug Hudson, of BPI Worldwide Inc., to Shakedown Street. They will be discussing Increasing your gas mileage.

That's today at 4:00pm Pacific Time (-08:00 GMT) on BlogTalkRadio.

---

The Face and Reality of "Compassionate Conservatism"

And there’s one more point that should not be forgotten: ultimately, this isn’t about the Frost parents. It’s about Graeme Frost and his sister.

Song For Graeme Frost
(from Corrente Boldy shrill....)

---

Meanies And Hypocrites
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, October 12, 2007; Page A17

From the article:

Conservatives claim to be in favor of stable families, small businesses, hard work, private schools, investment and homeownership. So why in the world are so many on the right attacking the family of Graeme Frost? ----- Most conservatives favor government-supported vouchers that would help Graeme attend his private school, but here they turn around and criticize him for . . . attending a private school. Federal money for private schools but not for health insurance? What's the logic here? Conservatives endlessly praise risk-taking by entrepreneurs and would give big tax cuts to those who are most successful. But if a small-business person is struggling, he shouldn't even think about applying for SCHIP. Conservatives who want to repeal the estate tax on large fortunes have cited stories -- most of them don't check out -- about farmers having to sell their farms to pay inheritance taxes. But the implication of these attacks on the Frosts is that they are expected to sell their investment property to pay for health care. Why? Oh, yes, and conservatives tell us how much they love homeownership, and then assail the Frosts for having the nerve to own a home. I suppose they should have to sell that, too. ----- All the conservative attacks on a boy from Baltimore who dared to speak out will not make this issue go away. (read the entire article)

---

Op-Ed Columnist
Sliming Graeme Frost
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: October 12, 2007

From the article:

All in all, the Graeme Frost case is a perfect illustration of the modern right-wing political machine at work, and in particular its routine reliance on character assassination in place of honest debate. If service members oppose a Republican war, they’re “phony soldiers”; if Michael J. Fox opposes Bush policy on stem cells, he’s faking his Parkinson’s symptoms; if an injured 12-year-old child makes the case for a government health insurance program, he’s a fraud. Meanwhile, leading conservative politicians, far from trying to distance themselves from these smears, rush to embrace them. And some people in the news media are still willing to be used as patsies. (read the entire article)

Adobe Acrobat copy of Meanies And Hypocrites and Sliming Graeme Frost

---

October 13 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

The fallout from the despicable right wing attacks on a 12-year-old and his family continue:

• White House Embraces Right-Wing Blog That Called For ‘Destroying’ Graeme Frost (it stinks from the head down)


• Republicans Write Simpsons Stories About SCHIP (which actually links to Desperate Conservatives Descend Into Madness)


• Malkin Debunks Malkin over Health Care: WSJ calls them the “Internet Mob” (with an additional link to a great EJ Dionne piece)

---

Howdy Doody Time Today

Be sure to tune in to my program, Situation Awareness, today at 10:00am Eastern Time (-05:00 GMT). I'll be discussing the how the rightwing attack machine made Graeme Frost and his family the target of their smears because they knew they could not attack the State CHILDRENS Health Insurance Program on its merits.

And don't forget the Free World Pub opens its doors at 11:00am Eastern Time (-05:00 GMT) today.

---

October 12 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

On the heels of my OpEdNews.com article (posted here earlier today) there's
Scarborough on "perfecting Jews" controversy: "I think Jesus had a different take than Ann Coulter"

Plus, there's CLIPS: Vieira on Coulter: "Of course we are" part of the problem, "[w]e're perpetuating it" (which got me thinking about this subject this morning).

But the really big news today (also posted here earlier): Al Gore, Nobel Laureate (Way to go, Al!!!).

And Gore Won The Nobel Peace Prize, The Academy Award, and the Presidency (once).

Happy National Gumbo Day!

---

Hate Filtered Through a Smile Isn't Pretty on OpEdNews.com

October 12, 2007

Hate Filtered Through a Smile Isn't Pretty
by Hans Meyer
http://www.opednews.com/

So, Ann Coulter goes on Donny Deutsch's CNBC show "The Big Idea" this past Monday and proceeds to insult the host. In front of her Jewish host she declared that Jews need to be "perfected" by becoming Christians, and that America would be better off if everyone were Christian, (Deutsch: "We should just throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians?" Coulter: “Yeah.”) To top it off she even asked Deutsch to go to church with her ("Would you like to come to church with me, Donny?").

Is anyone really surprised at her vile and insulting comments?

(read the entire article)

Adobe Acrobat copy of Hate Filtered Through a Smile Isn't Pretty

---

Al Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Gore and U.N. Panel Win Peace Prize

OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it. (read the entire article)

---

Tonight on The Dark Side

Tonight on The Dark Side, your host Rev. Darko will discuss Are you paranoid enough?

Be sure to tune in tonight at 7:00pm Central Time (-06:00 GMT).

---

October 11 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

The baseless attacks by the rightwing against a 12 year old boy and his family continue unabated. First up there's EXCLUSIVE: E-mail Reveals That McConnell Staffer Propagated Smear Campaign Against Graeme Frost.

Also, Olbermann And Maddow On The Right’s Jihad On 12 Year Old Boy and How the Right's S-CHIP Smear Backfired.

Then there's the no-one-is-surprised story, Countdown: Bush White House Eager To Brag to FOXNews; Unconcerned with National Security.

---

Shoot the Messenger on OpEdNews.com

October 11, 2007

Shoot the Messenger
by Brian Wolf
http://www.opednews.com/

Michelle Malkin and Fox “News” have finally gone off the deep end. George Bush pulled out the veto stamp for only the 4th time in 7 yrs to veto a bill that would have given children’s healthcare a modest increase. According to Republican and Fox logic, $1 trillion for Iraq is a wise investment; $35 billion over 7 yrs for children’s healthcare is not.

Is it just me or have the Republicans and The 30% finally and irrevocably lost their collective minds? Instead have having a rational debate about it; they immediately set about attacking, smearing, and swiftboating the messenger, who in this case turns out to be a 12 year old boy. And as if turning the full throated hysteria of the Republican attack machine against a 12 yr old wasn’t enough, Michelle Malkin decided to do some dumpster diving and released the address of the family. Much like she released the names and contact information of UC Santa Cruz students who protested against military recruiters on campus, who then received death threats. I guess she feels a 12 yr old boy can handle it.

Of course Fox and the Republicans are also attacking the Democrats for using a 12 yr old boy to rebut the President’s address. They probably figured the kid had an unfair advantage when debating Dubya. In any event, they have apparently forgotten the “snowflake” babies George trotted out in The Rose Garden after he vetoed Stem Cell Research.

Illegally invading sovereign nations based on a lie, no bid contracts to cronies to rebuild said sovereign nation, record oil profits, and ignoring the wishes of 70% of the American people are apparently alright with Malkin and her ilk. But God forbid we try to help the children, heck they’re not even old enough to fight yet!

Adobe Acrobat copy of Shoot the Messenger

---

Presidente Jorge W. Bush's new AMERO

Compliments of Grouchy Old Cripple in Atlanta
(with a tip o' the Tilley to CalifChris)

---

October 10 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

First up: Countdown: Bush White House Eager To Brag to FOXNews; Unconcerned with National Security (*sigh* - 467 more days of this)

Then there's the aptly named Holy crap.

The latest "Support the Troops" move by the ditto heads Rush’s listeners flood VoteVets with hate mail.

Happy National Angel Food Cake Day!

---

Senator Craig, Really!!?!

glumbert - Senator Craig, Really!!?!

---

The Path of True Conservatism

October 8, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
Same Old Party
By PAUL KRUGMAN

There have been a number of articles recently that portray President Bush as someone who strayed from the path of true conservatism. Republicans, these articles say, need to return to their roots. Well, I don’t know what true conservatism is, but while doing research for my forthcoming book I spent a lot of time studying the history of the American political movement that calls itself conservatism — and Mr. Bush hasn’t strayed from the path at all. On the contrary, he’s the very model of a modern movement conservative. For example, people claim to be shocked that Mr. Bush cut taxes while waging an expensive war. But Ronald Reagan also cut taxes while embarking on a huge military buildup. People claim to be shocked by Mr. Bush’s general fiscal irresponsibility. But conservative intellectuals, by their own account, abandoned fiscal responsibility 30 years ago. Here’s how Irving Kristol, then the editor of The Public Interest, explained his embrace of supply-side economics in the 1970s: He had a “rather cavalier attitude toward the budget deficit and other monetary or fiscal problems” because “the task, as I saw it, was to create a new majority, which evidently would mean a conservative majority, which came to mean, in turn, a Republican majority — so political effectiveness was the priority, not the accounting deficiencies of government.” People claim to be shocked by the way the Bush administration outsourced key government functions to private contractors yet refused to exert effective oversight over these contractors, a process exemplified by the failed reconstruction of Iraq and the Blackwater affair. But back in 1993, Jonathan Cohn, writing in The American Prospect, explained that “under Reagan and Bush, the ranks of public officials necessary to supervise contractors have been so thinned that the putative gains of contracting out have evaporated. Agencies have been left with the worst of both worlds — demoralized and disorganized public officials and unaccountable private contractors.” People claim to be shocked by the Bush administration’s general incompetence. But disinterest in good government has long been a principle of modern conservatism. In “The Conscience of a Conservative,” published in 1960, Barry Goldwater wrote that “I have little interest in streamlining government or making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size.” People claim to be shocked that the Bush Justice Department, making a mockery of the Constitution, issued a secret opinion authorizing torture despite instructions by Congress and the courts that the practice should stop. But remember Iran-Contra? The Reagan administration secretly sold weapons to Iran, violating a legal embargo, and used the proceeds to support the Nicaraguan contras, defying an explicit Congressional ban on such support. Oh, and if you think Iran-Contra was a rogue operation, rather than something done with the full knowledge and approval of people at the top — who were then protected by a careful cover-up, including convenient presidential pardons — I’ve got a letter from Niger you might want to buy. People claim to be shocked at the Bush administration’s efforts to disenfranchise minority groups, under the pretense of combating voting fraud. But Reagan opposed the Voting Rights Act, and as late as 1980 he described it as “humiliating to the South.” People claim to be shocked at the Bush administration’s attempts — which, for a time, were all too successful — to intimidate the press. But this administration’s media tactics, and to a large extent the people implementing those tactics, come straight out of the Nixon administration. Dick Cheney wanted to search Seymour Hersh’s apartment, not last week, but in 1975. Roger Ailes, the president of Fox News, was Nixon’s media adviser. People claim to be shocked at the Bush administration’s attempts to equate dissent with treason. But Goldwater — who, like Reagan, has been reinvented as an icon of conservative purity but was a much less attractive figure in real life — staunchly supported Joseph McCarthy, and was one of only 22 senators who voted against a motion censuring the demagogue. Above all, people claim to be shocked by the Bush administration’s authoritarianism, its disdain for the rule of law. But a full half-century has passed since The National Review proclaimed that “the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail,” and dismissed as irrelevant objections that might be raised after “consulting a catalogue of the rights of American citizens, born Equal” — presumably a reference to the document known as the Constitution of the United States. Now, as they survey the wreckage of their cause, conservatives may ask themselves: “Well, how did we get here?” They may tell themselves: “This is not my beautiful Right.” They may ask themselves: “My God, what have we done?” But their movement is the same as it ever was. And Mr. Bush is movement conservatism’s true, loyal heir.

---

October 09 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

First up there's Limbaugh falsely claimed Reid and other Democrats "do not show publicly" with VoteVets representatives.

And speaking of the butt boil eruption there's His Pustulence Attacks: Limbaugh Targets 12-Year-Old.

The General nails the same with Swiftboating Children (or My Little Bolshevik Cabindonkey Kicks Sixth Grade Ass)

Finally, The consequences of Giuliani’s ‘9/11 Tourette’s’ is a good read.

---

Those Silly Democrats

October 7, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
Charge It to My Kids
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Every so often a quote comes out of the Bush administration that leaves you asking: Am I crazy or are they? I had one of those moments last week when Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, was asked about a proposal by some Congressional Democrats to levy a surtax to pay for the Iraq war, and she responded, “We’ve always known that Democrats seem to revert to type, and they are willing to raise taxes on just about anything.” Yes, those silly Democrats. They’ll raise taxes for anything, even — get this — to pay for a war! And if we did raise taxes to pay for our war to bring a measure of democracy to the Arab world, “does anyone seriously believe that the Democrats are going to end these new taxes that they’re asking the American people to pay at a time when it’s not necessary to pay them?” added Ms. Perino. “I just think it’s completely fiscally irresponsible.” Friends, we are through the looking glass. It is now “fiscally irresponsible” to want to pay for a war with a tax. These democrats just don’t understand: the tooth fairy pays for wars. Of course she does — the tooth fairy leaves the money at the end of every month under Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s pillow. And what a big pillow it is! My God, what will the Democrats come up with next? Taxes to rebuild bridges or schools or high-speed rail or our lagging broadband networks? No, no, the tooth fairy covers all that. She borrows the money from China and leaves it under Paulson’s pillow. Of course, we can pay for the Iraq war without a tax increase. The question is, can we pay for it and be making the investments in infrastructure, science and education needed to propel our country into the 21st century? Visit Singapore, Japan, Korea, China or parts of Europe today and you’ll discover that the infrastructure in our country is not keeping pace with our peers’. We can pay for anything today if we want to stop investing in tomorrow. The president has already slashed the National Institutes of Health research funding the past two years. His 2008 budget wants us to cut money for vocational training, infrastructure and many student aid programs. Does the Bush team really believe that if we had a $1-a-gallon gasoline tax — which could reduce our dependence on Middle East oil dictators, and reduce payroll taxes for low-income workers, pay down the deficit and fund the development of renewable energy — we would be worse off as a country? Excuse me, Ms. Perino, but I wish Republicans would revert to type. I thought they were, well, conservatives — the kind of people who saved for rainy days, who invested in tomorrow for their kids, folks who didn’t believe in free lunches or free wars. No wonder The Wall Street Journal had a story Tuesday headlined, “G.O.P. Is Losing Grip on Core Business Vote.” It noted that traditional fiscal conservatives were defecting from the G.O.P. “angered by the growth of government spending during the six years that Republicans controlled both the White House and Congress.” And no wonder Alan Greenspan told The Journal: “The Republican Party, which ruled the House, the Senate and the presidency, I no longer recognize.” Of course, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, the Democrat David Obey, in proposing an Iraq war tax to help balance the budget was expressing his displeasure with the war. But he was also making a very important point when he said, “If this war is important enough to fight, then it ought to be important enough to pay for.” The struggle against radical Islam is the fight of our generation. We all need to pitch in — not charge it on our children’s Visa cards. Previous American generations connected with our troops by making sacrifices at home — we’ve never passed on the entire cost of a war to the next generation, said Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International, who has written a history — “The Price of Liberty” — about how America has paid for its wars since 1776. “In every major war we have fought in the 19th and 20th centuries,” said Mr. Hormats, “Americans have been asked to pay higher taxes — and nonessential programs have been cut — to support the military effort. Yet during this Iraq war, taxes have been lowered and domestic spending has climbed. In contrast to World War I, World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam, for most Americans this conflict has entailed no economic sacrifice. The only people really sacrificing for this war are the troops and their families.” In his celebrated Farewell Address, Mr. Hormats noted, George Washington warned against “ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burdens we ourselves ought to bear.”

---

On Cry Freedom...

Join host Lisa Litchfield tonight as she discusses Devaluing the Word Traitor.

That's tonight at 7:00pm Central Time (-06:00 GMT) on Cry Freedom.

---

October 08 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

Yesterday I posted a thread which said, in part about the GOP: A bunch of bedwetting, loudmouth, corrupt, hypocritical, and incompetent boobs with a mean streak a mile long and no sense of fair play or proportion..

As if on cue there's Right Wing Launches Baseless Smear Campaign Against 12 Year Old Recipient Of SCHIP.

To counter that there's Help Support Blue America’s “call” in support of SCHIP.

If it is Monday it is time for The Top 10 Conservative Idiots, No. 309

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

---

Today's Republican Party

The Republican Decline
by John Cole

From the article:

Like me. It had nothing to do with Burke, and everything to do with what the party had become. A bunch of bedwetting, loudmouth, corrupt, hypocritical, and incompetent boobs with a mean streak a mile long and no sense of fair play or proportion.. ----- That is why the Republican party is in shambles. The majority of us have decided that the movers and shakers in the GOP and the blogospheric right are certified lunatics who, in a decent and sane society, we would have in controlled environments in rocking chairs under shade trees for most of the day, wheeled in at night for tapioca pudding and some karaoke (read the entire article)

---

Drums of War on OpEdNews.com

October 6, 2007

Drums of War
by Brian Wolf
http://www.opednews.com/

Are we once again being herded down the path to war? Can you hear the drumbeats? The shifting missions?

Can we stop it? I think we must.

::::::::

Can you hear it? The slow and insidious beating. Sometimes you can ignore it, barely hear it, just a distant, insane rumble. Other times it’s close, very close. A news report, a leaked memo. Drums, rat-a-tat-tatting the message of war and suddenly it’s right there. Bass drums, pounding, thudding with the launch of propoganda.

“They’re really going to do it!” your rattled brain screams. “They’re REALLY going to do it!!”

The foremost thought in your brain is he must be stopped. In the name of humanity this juvenile delinquent must be stopped. At all costs he must be stopped.

When will we, as a people, finally say enough is enough and put a stop to this once and for all? Do we still have the fire in the belly for what must come?

I do. And I hope the majority of my Countrymen do as well.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.

I hope you’ll join us.

---

October 07 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

First up, required reading for anyone who thinks differently: The US was NEVER intended to be Christian. Herein is the Documented Truth.

Ann Coulter hypocritical on abortion; says Bush opposers are "traitors" (of course, what else would someone expect of mAnn Colter?)

Chris Wallace asks Nancy Pelosi if she “prays for the troops to win in Iraq” (proving, once again, what a complete ass he is)

Craig Wiil Join Idaho Hall of Fame (isn't that supposed to be the stall of shame?)

---

Deer Hunting with Jesus on Shakedown Street

At 4:00pm Pacific Time (-08:00 GMT) Joe Bageant, author of Deer Hunting with Jesus joins host Brian Wolf for an interview.

That's today on Shakedown Street.

Click here for a review of Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War.

---

October 06 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

From the gift which keeps on giving there's:

• Novak: Senate Conservatives Knew About Craig’s ‘Weird Conduct,’ ‘Didn’t Do Anything About It’;


• I Love Larry Craig (And So Can You!)*; and,


• GOP "Stall of Fame".

Also catch So where is Sean Hannity's flag lapel pin?

Finally, “Christian Nation” mumbo jumbo cleared up once and for all is a great read.

Happy National Popcorn Poppin' Month!

---

The Total Package

---

Today on the Pub

The Free World Pub opens its doors at 11:00am Eastern Time (-05:00 GMT) today on Blog Talk Radio. Brian Wolf, host of Shakedown Street, will be your bartender.

Meanwhile, I am out-of-town today, but my program, Situation Awareness, returns next Saturday.

---

October 05 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

From the "so much for the freedom of the press" file there's U.S. Confiscates AP Footage Of Bloody Baghdad Bombing.

Boehner’s Rules: I Only Punish Corrupt Colleagues When It’s Politically Advantageous (but of course!).

But the most important news today: Happy Anniversary to my beautiful wife!

---

Irish Blessing

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

---

October 04 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

Top of the list there's Coulter opposes women voting and Ann Coulter’s Disastrous Political Strategy: ‘Take Away Women’s Right To Vote’ by mAnn Colter

Clarence Thomas' Race Problem (no surprise there).

Happy National Taco Day!

---

NASCAR is even involved in this

Sons of Confederate Veterans Membership Tanking Since White-Supremacist Takeover

Xan's blog on Corrente (Boldly shrill...)

The headline on this article may suprise some, who were under the impression that the Sons of Confederate Veterans always were a group of racist loons. Well, they weren’t. Up until about five years ago at least, when a decades-long campaign by right-wingers came to a head…if any of this sequence sounds vaguely familiar, read on. Short version: since the takeover membership in the SCV has fallen off a cliff. In the last year alone, according to the just-released Intelligence Report Fall ’07 from the superb Southern Poverty Law Center, dues-paying membership has fallen from around 30,000 to 18,600. The people I defended all those years, the ones who lived up to the motto “Heritage Not Hate,” were derided as “Grannies” by the neofascists one too many times and walked away. And the guy who orchestrated this takeover, while remaining as far back in the shadows as he could manage, one Kirk Lyons, is now finding that the charming folks he recruited into the SCV are the ones attacking him from the right. Heeee hee hee hee hee…. NASCAR is even involved in this. It’s a little complicated but the SPLC link above does a great job of summing up the Recent Unpleasantness. I am playing the world’s tiniest violin in the direction of Black Mountain, NC.

---

Smart-bomb Flattery

James Wolcott is a Vanity Fair contributing editor

My, How Time Flies

From the article:

as long you advocate war—any war, anywhere, anytime—and as long as you coat it with a certain brand of intellectual varnish, you literally cannot be wrong in the mainstream US media. Your views may diverge from reality so completely they are essentially psychotic, but as far the people who own the media are concerned, it's reality that's mistaken. Hey, do your kids like ponies? (read the entire article)

---

October 03 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

Now doesn't this make you think: Coulter on Giuliani: ” He’s crazy enough to Nuke Iran”

Sons of Confederate Veterans Membership Tanking Since White-Supremacist Takeover (and someone noticed!)

One Soldier Answers Rush (Bravo!)

WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE-finis with the best news of all. Congrats, Brian!

---

Is The GOP Committing Suicide? on The Huffington Post

Is The GOP Committing Suicide?
Thomas B. Edsall

After convention speeches by the two Pats - Robertson and Buchanan - in 1992 helped elect Bill Clinton, organizers of the GOP's quadrennial gatherings effortlessly replaced Holy Roller hellfire with Happy Days hip hop. In theory, political parties, whose function is to win first and govern later, are constantly evolving and adapting to changing demographics, issues and culture shifts. But in practice in 2007, the Republican Party is diving for bottom. George Bush, the party's presidential candidates, and Republicans in Congress have set about destroying virtually everything they built. (read the entire article)

---

October 02 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

Today there are two excellent "phony soldiers" stories:

Limbaugh's AFN audience has heard only misrepresentations of his "phony soldiers" comment on his show

and

Fox News falsehood: Limbaugh "used this term 'phony soldiers' when he was talking about a guy named Jesse MacBeth"

Plus, the General nails mAnn Colter with Happy Coulterspüwen Day.

And speaking of the mAnn, there's the boo-hoo story in Ann Coulter Upset That The Today Show Tried To Mainstream Her.

October is National Chili Month.

---

Young Republican Chickenhawks on YouTube!

Generation Chickenhawk
by Max Blumenthal
Web site: http://www.maxblumenthal.com/

---

Bad Girl on Cry Freedom

Your host Lisa Litchfield observes that Liberal Commentary Needs a Bad Girl.

And she's just that girl!

That's tonight on Cry Freedom, 7:00pm Central Time (-06:00 GMT) on Blog Talk Radio.

---

How 911 Changed Rudy's World on Jesus' General

Click image for original post on Jesus' General.

---

October 01 News Feed Update

My News feed, your virtual afternoon newspaper (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/News), has been updated for today.

Up today there's Rep. Kingston Introduces Resolution ‘Commending’ Rush Limbaugh (Let's see if the GOPers will back up what they said about MoveOn.org - doubt it!) Also, More disasterous Iran legislation on its way

From the "what the hell are they thinking" category there's Bolton: We Should Carry Out Regime Change In Iran Because ‘It Did Work In Iraq’

The General nails it with How 911 Changed Rudy's World

And, being a Monday, there's The Top 10 Conservative Idiots, No. 308.

It's World Vegetarian Day!

---

Courage, Leadership and Humility

With thanks to This Modern World for originally posting this video.

---