How our right-wing talkers are explained to the British by one of the Guardian’s columnists: don’t miss the bit where Michael Savage, banned from travel to Britain, whines about Obama’s ecstatic reception in Ireland. I liked this bit where BillO grouses that FOXNews don’t get no respect. It is understandable why O’Reilly would be concerned about losing advertisers in light of the recent cancellation of his colleague Glenn Beck’s show. Though no official reason was given for the programme’s cancellation, it is widely speculated that the loss of revenue resulting from the Stopbeck campaign’s call for an advertiser boycott had…
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Can we expect this even if our own ultra-right is marginalized and defeated in elections? Somehow I think our racist wackos skew older, and less physically able to carry out coordinated attacks. But dang, they could sure cause traffic jams and hog all the sidewalks with their RVs and scooters. Far-right activists have attacked trade union meetings and anti-racist groups in the past month in what campaigners and politicians say is an escalating campaign of intimidation and violence. In the latest incident, a 20-strong group hurled concrete pillars, glass and rocks at a meeting on multiculturalism organised by Labour councillors…
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My friend Pfalz Prophets has been blogging a bit lately on human rights issues for GLTB persons, and this post does not deserve to be notoriously ignored. Disclaimer: I have sung in church with PP, and attest to his musicianship and scholarly chops. I discovered a new hate group the other day, the National Organization for Marriage, thanks to my signing up with the Southern Poverty Law Center. Maggie Gallagher, the chairman of the group, issued a standard press release, to which I responded with this e-mail:”It has come to my attention that you are conducting a nationwide campaign opposing…
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NPR may be in a defensive crouch, but at least one Democratic lawmaker is publicly pushing back against James OKeefes war on public broadcasting: Sen. Dick Durbin D-IL.Durbin took to the Senate floor on Monday to mount a defense of NPR and PBS and attack OKeefes credibility. Noting that previous OKeefe tapes have been found to be misleadingly edited, including his footage of ACORN in which he posed as a pimp, Durbin said that the same tactics were being used to go after NPR. He cited a widely circulated analysis by Glenn Becks website, The Blaze, as evidence.”Mr. OKeefe appears…
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Heeding the call for JOBS, JOBS, JOBS, the repugnant Republican bullies vote to defund Planned Parenthood. Because we all need more UN-planned parenthood, more sexually transmitted diseases, more breast cancer going undetected, and more forced pregnancies. Meanwhile, these same jerkwads will soon be voting to cut benefits for poor children – the babies must be birthed, but after that parents, and poor women who won’t have easy access to contraception, are on their own. How do Republicans sleep at night, the hypocrites? Thank GOD I had my tubes tied years ago. Young women, if it weren’t for the Democratic Senate…
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Earlier today a reporter for the The Daily News Egypt captured footage of Cairo protesters taking shelter behind and among armored vehicles of the army. Who were they were sheltering from? The Egyptian police. The chant has the same cadence as “The people, united, can never be defeated.” I’ve also heard a Spanish version. via Army protecting Egypt protesters from police video – CSMonitor.com.
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If they’d only gone with the cute dartboard graphic… but that doesn’t go with “Don’t retreat, Instead – RELOAD.” Crosshairs it is! Just like those roadside surveyors use, and not like gunsights at all, not one bit. Also, too, maybe: subliminal Christian symbolism can’t hurt. A ‘SURVEYOR’S SYMBOL’?…. On March 22, the day before the Affordable Care Act became law, former half-term Gov. Sarah Palin (R) published a list of House Democrats with crosshairs, like that of a rifle scope, over their districts. A day later, she sent a message to “commonsense conservatives” and “lovers of America” — it read,…
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BUDA, Texas — Talk about the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. Some members of the Capitol press corps took a 10-hour concealed handgun safety and shooting class this week – an exercise less about getting a weapon than getting into the Capitol. Visitors now must pass through metal detectors, virtually guaranteeing delays. But there’s an express lane for people with a concealed handgun permit. The theory, apparently, is that people licensed to pack heat have undergone a thorough background check and can be waved right through. via Straight-shooting press corps members get CHL permits for express access to Texas Capitol…
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Hope this conference went well and didn’t get bogged down in “long-winded” discussions. This Saturday we’re hosting the first annual Netroots UK conference. It brings together the new generation of left activists, working and discussing politics online, with the veteran institutions of trade unions and many more in between. The hope is that we can begin to build a new infrastructure to bring together campaigners and activists so that they can learn from each other. Our plan isn’t to have long-winded discussions, but create useful spaces where people can discuss strategy drawing on their experience of local campaigns: what works…
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Confusion at Daily Kos today in the swirling aftermath of the Giffords shooting – the right-wing commenters at Palin’s Facebook page, on Twitter, and on many, many blogs have pounced on the curious case of a Daily Kos diary that criticized Rep Giffords was deleted earlier today. They were quick to howl that the diarist, a low-level member named BlueBoy whose diary didn’t get very many comments or “recs,” must be the same person as Jared Lee Loughner, the accused shooter. Well, it appears he’s not, as he’s been posting in comments threads on Daily Kos tonight. He took the…