SNATCHING DEFEAT FROM THE JAWS OF VICTORY?

Because the Dems seem determined to turn a winning issue into a losing one, they keep searching for some alternative, any alternative, to voting for the popular public option. The latest approach: take two bad ideas, triggers and co-ops – neither one of which will work – and combine them. Like chocolate and peanut butter!

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/11/11/carpers-no-good-super-terrible-completely-awful-new-new-new-%E2%80%9Calternative%E2%80%9D-to-the-public-option/

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/11/803354/-Reid-and-Carpers-Plan-B:-Put-Two-Really-Bad-Ideas-Together

And they did it to themselves

http://washingtonindependent.com/67491/gop-sees-win-win-as-stupak-splits-dems
GOP Sees ‘Win-Win’ as Stupak Splits Dems

Gender bias in the health care bills

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/14265

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/immoderate-proposal-by-digby-i-have.html

“The 900 billion dollar mistake”

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/11/the_900_billion_mistake.html

Of course

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/11/pharma-deal-with-white-ho_n_353499.html
Pharma Deal With White House On Course To Net Industry Billions

Senate health care debate to (finally) get started

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/11/11/reid/index.html

A jobs bill (actually Stimulus 2.0, but don’t call it that) is on its way

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/67299-reid-tees-up-2010-jobs-bill

The end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_11/020932.php

Theocracy watch: Did you know that Christians are the victims of hate crimes in the US more than any other religious group? (aka, How to lie with numbers.)

http://mediamatters.org/blog/200911110038

Here’s what happens once the far right starts dictating to the rest of the GOP – they don’t just go after moderate Repubs like Dede Scozzafava; now even Lindsey Graham’s not conservative enough

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/bad-branding-by-digby-huckleberrys-in.html

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/11/12/01848/237

http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/11/country_gop_censures_lindsey_graham_on_a_host_of_issues.php

A new generic poll tilts in the GOP’s favor

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/11/11/polling/index.html

“The enthusiasm gap” http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/health-care/poll-gop-holds-double-digit-enthusiasm-edge-over-dems/

How Liz Sidoti, Queen of the tire swing, covers Obama’s poll numbers – in the AP way

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/11/803289/-No-actual-poll-results-in-first-8-paragraphs-of-AP-poll-analysis
[Jed Lewison] The AP's Liz "Donuts" Sidoti really hates President Obama -- or at least that's the impression she gives, because in the first eight paragraphs of her 'article' on the most recent AP-GfK poll, she doesn't mention a single number from the poll.

Before conceding that President Obama's job approval rating stands at 54% (which is essentially unchanged since July), Sidoti paints a portrait of doom and gloom for a Democratic president in distress . . .

Lou Dobbs loses his soapbox on CNN. Will he end up at Fox?

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/11/no-more-lou

Haw haw. Jon Stewart catches Sean Hannity running video that combines footage from an older tea bagger protest with the recent event to make it look like the attendance was much higher than it was.

And Hannity has to apologize for it (an unintentional mistake, I’m sure!)

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/11/11/hannity/index.html

http://gregmitchellwriter.blogspot.com/2009/11/hannity-to-jon-stewart-you-were-right.html

Bonus item: What Sarah Palin’s book will tell us

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/11/unsurprising-news-watch-sarah-palin-edition

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:49 AM

 
OUR PERICLES

A great speech

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/11/10/obamas_best_speech_ever.html
[Taegan Goddard] President Obama's speech at Fort Hood may go down as one of his best ever. . . .

[Marc Ambinder] I guarantee: they'll be teaching this one in rhetoric classes. It was that good. . . [watch and read]

CNN makes a discovery (that everyone else has known for months)

http://crooksandliars.com/jon-perr/cnn-discovers-red-state-health-care-disaster
Anderson, here's what we found out today. There are more uninsured in red states than there are in blue states, which is interesting since all Republican senators are expected to vote against the public health care option. . . .

More: http://www.samefacts.com/2009/11/watching-conservatives/why-do-republicans-oppose-health-care-reform/
[Jonathan Zasloff] Of course, just because the majority of the uninsured are Black or Brown is completely irrelevant to the situation, so I’m really glad that CNN never mentioned it. . . .

Chris Dodd (D-CT) proposes a tough approach to financial re-regulation

http://news.firedoglake.com/2009/11/10/dodd-releases-financial-reform-draft/

More: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/11/chris-dodd-vs-fed

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/10/AR2009111019995.html

The cost of doing business

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/world/middleeast/11blackwater.html
[NYT] Top executives at Blackwater Worldwide authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence their criticism and buy their support after a September 2007 episode in which Blackwater security guards fatally shot 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad . . . [read on]

More: http://washingtonindependent.com/67350/blackwater-authorized-payments-to-iraqi-officials-following-nisour-square-massacre

http://washingtonindependent.com/67363/well-now-we-know-why-it-took-so-long-for-iraq-to-kick-blackwater-out

How’s that Great Republican Comeback coming along? They trail Dems in a generic ballot everywhere across the country, even in the South

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/11/10/123055/41

And yet . . . http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/i_think_the_word_is_tailwind.php
[David Kurtz] Today in fun word choice, from Politico: "Few political observers or elected officials doubt that an energized GOP has a headwind at its back."

Perhaps not using "tailwind" was intentional . . . [read on]

Early handicapping on the 2010 elections

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/a-look-at-the-2010-senate-races----and-a-whole-lot-of-seats-up-for-grabs.php

http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/11/a_thumbnail_guide_to_other_top_republican_targets_in_2010.php

It’s so reassuring that this is the most powerful media mogul in the world

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/rupert-murdoch-says-glenn-beck-was-r
Rupert Murdoch says Glenn Beck 'was right' that Obama is a racist who hates white people

Even Fox News has to call Sarah Palin on her b.s.

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/even-fox-news-fact-checks-palins-claims-about-dollar-coin.php

And yet, her mythic potential persists

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/11/10/the_palin_fantasy.html
[David Frum] Palin supporters have constructed an alternative reality in which their heroine is wildly cheered by the American yeomanry, and despised only by a small coterie of sherry-drinking snobs. No contrary evidence, no matter how overwhelming and uncontradicted, can alter this view: not the collapse in Palin's support in just 5 weeks in 2008, not the statistical studies that show her as the only vice presidential nominee in ticket to have hurt her ticket, not her rampant unpopularity with American women, not her own flinching from a second encounter with the Alaskan electorate.

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_11/020907.php

Trouble in the right-wing press

http://washingtonindependent.com/67261/the-new-york-post-scandal

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/newsroom-source-armed-guards-on-managements-floor-at-wash-times.php

Bonus item: Carrie Prejean – why is she so fascinating?

http://www.americablog.com/2009/11/dethroned-miss-ca-now-religious-right.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 4:57 AM

 
STUPIFYING

How bad is the Stupak amendment?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/9/802519/-What-the-Stupak-Pitts-Coathanger-Amendment-Does

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/goldilocks-was-betrayed-by-digby-all.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/broken-rearview-mirror-by-digby-nancy.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/9/802649/-Whats-Really-Pissing-Me-Off

Worse and worse: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/controversial-stupak-amendment-sows-anger-confusion-on-capitol-hill.php

The “C Street” connection

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#33814086

More: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/11/08/dcs-newest-reality-show/

The return of the gender gap

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/role-models-by-digby-politico-has-big.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/9/802554/-They-must-have-a-political-deathwish

OK, we’re told that the vile Stupak amendment isn’t really important because the Senate bill won’t include it and it’ll get stripped out in conference. But that’s not what we’re hearing now

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/nelson-i-will-filibuster-a-health-care-bill-that-doesnt-include-stupak-like-abortion-restrictions.php
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) wants Senate health care legislation to contain strict restrictions on abortion funding, much like the House bills now does. And he says he'll filibuster if he doesn't get his way. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/9/802553/-Pro-Choice-McCaskill-Could-Support-Stupak-Coathanger-Amendment
"Pro-Choice" McCaskill Could Support Stupak Coathanger Amendment

Why it might not happen

http://news.firedoglake.com/2009/11/09/senate-likely-to-need-60-votes-to-insert-stupak-amendment-into-health-care-bill/
Senate Likely To Need 60 Votes To Insert Stupak Amendment Into Health Care Bill

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/health-care/obtained-in-letter-to-pelosi-41-house-dems-pledge-to-vote-against-bill-with-abortion-amendment/
In Letter To Pelosi, 41 House Dems Pledge To Vote Against Bill With Anti-Abortion Amendment

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/health-care/wasserman-schultz-we-will-kill-stupak-amendment/
Wasserman-Schultz: We Will Kill Stupak Amendment

Obama: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/transcript-abc-news-exclusive-interview-president-barack-obama/story?id=9034309
You know, I laid out a very simple principle, which is this is a health care bill, not an abortion bill. And we're not looking to change what is the principle that has been in place for a very long time, which is federal dollars are not used to subsidize abortions.

And I want to make sure that the provision that emerges meets that test -- that we are not in some way sneaking in funding for abortions, but, on the other hand, that we're not restricting women's insurance choices . . .

The six senators who could still screw up health care reform

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/the-health-care-swing-votes-reid-can-not-live-without.php

The next Republican victims of far-right putsches

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/who-will-be-the-next-hoffmania-victim-in-2010-or-the-next-hoffman.php

We are so lucky to have Michael Steele as the head of the GOP

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/11/09/steele/index.html
Steele says some white Republicans scared of him

Rush Limbaugh, always classy

http://washingtonindependent.com/67123/listen-to-rush-limbaugh-compare-the-president-of-the-united-states-to-ft-hood-murderer
Listen to Rush Limbaugh Compare the President of the United States to Ft. Hood Murderer

Bonus item: Sarah Palin has found her issue

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_11/020882.php
Noting that there had been a lot of "change" of late, Palin recalled a recent conversation with a friend about how the phrase "In God We Trust" had been moved to the edge of the new coins.

"Who calls a shot like that?" she demanded. "Who makes a decision like that?"

She added: "It's a disturbing trend." . . .

[NB: Who, indeed? Read on]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:09 AM

 
WHICH SIDE ARE THEY ON?

The Dems who voted against health care reform

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/eyeon2010/2009/11/analyzing-the-partybuckers-on.html

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/11/8/113843/351

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/08/us/politics/1108-health-care-vote.html

More: http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/11/8/231434/205
Which House Democrats Opposed Health Reform, Clean Energy, Tobacco Regulation, and the Stimulus All?

Read and discuss

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/not-enough-women-by-digby-yesterday-one.html
[Digby] Yesterday, one of my female friends said to me, "isn't there some way of making it so that men don't get to vote on a women's right to choose?" . . . [read on]

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/lesson-by-digby-by-digby-ive-received.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/fungo-stick-by-digby-aravosis-makes.html

Which of these is the lie?

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/11/08/lieberman_says_again_hell_join_filibuster.html
In an interview with Fox News, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) pledged again to join a Republican filibuster against any health care plan that has a public option.

Said Lieberman: "If the public option plan is in there, as a matter of conscience, I will not allow this bill to come to a final vote."

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_11/020869.php
There was a report this week that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), despite threats of joining Republican efforts to kill health care reform, has quietly told the Senate Democratic leadership that, when push comes to shove, he won't support a filibuster. . . . [read on]

More: http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/13779

Lieberman calls Ft. Hood a “terrorist attack”

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/lieberman-wants-probe-terrorist-attack-ft-ho

http://www.americablog.com/2009/11/lieberman-declares-ft-hood-shooting.html
[John Aravosis] We don't know yet what happened. It's incredibly irresponsible of Lieberman to feed this story, knowing full well that it fuels hatred against Muslims, and Arabs. Then again, perhaps that's his intent.

More: http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/11/8/194242/948

You think?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/us/politics/09casey.html
General George Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, said on Sunday that he was concerned that speculation about the religious beliefs of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, accused of killing 12 fellow soldiers and one civilian and wounding dozens of others in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, could “cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers.”

More: http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/general-warns-diversity-may-be-casual

Oh, christ

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/11/16/091116fa_fact_hersh
[Seymour Hersh] In an unstable Pakistan, can nuclear warheads be kept safe?

http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/08/even-joe-scarborough-knows-it%E2%80%99s-wrong/
Jane Mayer has an important article in The New Yorker, The Predator War, in which she reports on the increase in deadly unmanned drone strikes in Pakistan . . .

Damn cowardly FBI – why do they hate America?

http://washingtonindependent.com/67050/fbi-interrogators-argued-in-2002-that-enhanced-interrogation-techniques-were-illegal-and-ineffective
FBI Interrogators Argued in 2002 That ‘Enhanced’ Interrogation Techniques Were Illegal and Ineffective

You have to give it to the Repubs. A minority party whose only power is to slow down and obstruct Democratic initiatives, they still act as if they have the power to dictate terms to the majority

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/7/801897/-What-is-that-orange-guy-talking-about

The euphoria over winning a couple of governor’s races last week has deflected attention away from the serious underlying problems that beset the Republican party

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/07/AR2009110703468.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/opinion/08rich.html

Good catch

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/11/vanishing-gop
[Kevin Drum] Today, Fred Hiatt writes an entire column about the obstacles lying in the way of (a) reining in healthcare costs and (b) raising revenue to close the long-term deficit, without once mentioning the word "Republican." Truly, it is an amazing performance.

Ahn Cao (R-LA) ignored Eric Cantor’s promise that no Republican would support the House health care bill. He had his own reasons of self-survival for doing so. But you know what happens next

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/cao-to-steele-come-and-get-me----just-remember-you-need-my-district.php
Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA), the lone GOP vote for the House health reform bill that passed late last night, has responded to RNC Chairman Michael Steele's warnings about stepping outside of party lines. (WATCH Steele: "We'll come after you.")

Cao told CNN that Steele retains "the right to come after those members who do not conform to party lines, but I would hope that he would work with us . . .”

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/11/right-wing-unleashes-racism-on-rep-cao.php
RT @RightBloggerPat: @AnhJosephCao You Bastard piece of shit f-ck! GO BACK TO Saigon, South Vietnam where you f-cking BELONG GOOK!

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_11/020866.php

A big fat special edition of “The kind of people they are”

http://www.americablog.com/2009/11/teabaggers-attack-holocaust-survivor.html
Teabaggers attack Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel

http://crooksandliars.com/mike-stark/three-unreal-videos-0
Three unreal videos

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/rep-steve-king-all-americans-have-health-c
Rep. Steve King: All Americans Have Health Care

Yes, the far right is filled with hate, paranoia, and racism. But we can’t blame them, explains Frank Luntz, GOP pollster because, you see, it’s only because they’re so AFRAID

http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/08/frank-luntz-defends-increasingly-incendiary-right-wing-rhetoric-theyre-so-afraid/

Swallow your coffee before reading this one, or it will end up all over your computer screen

http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/fns-wallace-tells-new-va-gov-mcdonnel
FNS: Wallace Tells New VA Gov McDonnell He's On The "Short List" For Veep

[NB: I can see it now: Palin/McDonnell, 2012!]

Bonus item: SNL does Fox

http://www.americablog.com/2009/11/snl-does-fox-news.html

Extra bonus item: Welcome, Wanda Sykes!

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/cspanjunkie/meet-president-obamas-new-where-go-and

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 5:33 AM

 
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS

Good news: House health care bill passes

http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/07/h-r-3962-health-care-bill-passes/
220-215

More: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/house-passes-health-care-bill-220-215.php

A defeat for know-nothingism: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_11/020862.php
[Steve Benen] It's sad, for lack of a better word, that in the midst of the biggest, most significant, most consequential domestic policy debate in recent memory, an entire political party has committed itself to repeating talking points with no basis in reality. Claims have been routinely presented, debunked, and shamelessly repeated anyway. Arguments ranging from "fascism" to "death panels" to "socialized medicine" have become eerily common, despite having no connection to reality.

We're watching one of the rare instances in which a bill's actual flaws are ignored, while confused politicians debate the merit of ideas that aren't being proposed . . .

One Republican vote for

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/who-is-joseph-cao.php

Bad news: the stupid Stupak amendment passes, with 64 Dem votes for

http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/07/stupak-amendment-passes-64-dems-ask-for-primary-opponents/
[Rayne] It’s a fundamental part of our belief system in the Democratic Party, that women have a right to privacy in their reproductive health care decisions. We’ve fought long and hard to protect this right.

And now we’ve seen decades of work to protect this fundamental human right dashed by our own Democratic representatives. . . [read on]

http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2009/11/07/bart-stupak-is-at-play-in-the-fields-of-your-fertility/
[TBogg] Bart Stupak, who is apparently a congressman from some horrible depressing dying part of Michigan, does not seem to understand that abortion is a legal medical procedure in the rest of America that isn’t horrible, depressing and dying. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/7/801804/-HCR-House-Debate:-How-Bad-Is-the-Stupak-Amendment
How Bad Is the Stupak Amendment?

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/11/07/stupak-amendment-could-likely-be-used-to-by-insurance-companies-to-discriminate-against-low-income-americans/
Stupak Amendment Could Likely Be Used by Insurance Companies to Discriminate Against Low Income Americans

More: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/11/07/anatomy-of-a-health-reform-deal/

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/stupak-amendment-passes
Word is it will be stripped out in committee. We'll see. . . .

This would be unbelievable, if it weren’t so easy to believe. . .

http://www.americablog.com/2009/11/gop-house-members-try-to-block-women.html
Male GOP House members try to block women from speaking . . .

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/11/gop-members-shout-down-women-members-of-congress.php
[Matt Yglesias] It’s bizarre behavior. I’m not one to put a ton of stock in the idea that civility is the be-all and end-all of politics, but this kind of thing is really nuts and I think only serves to underscore how hollow complains of insufficient bipartisanship are.

More: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/07/gop-gone-wild/

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_11/020859.php

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/11/7/111911/426

More hate

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/right-wingers-have-been-looking-fres
Right-wingers have been looking for a fresh excuse to scapegoat Muslims, and Fort Hood gave them one

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/fallout-by-digby-reader-sleon-wrote-to.html

More docs released on torture policies

http://washingtonindependent.com/67016/declassified-docs-reveal-pentagon-ignored-dojs-warnings-on-abusive-interrogations
Declassified Docs Reveal Pentagon Ignored FBI’s Warnings on Abusive Interrogations

I like this: the “moderate bias”

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/11/07/on_moderate_bias.html
Time notes that most discussions whether the news media is biased overlook the most significant bias out there.

"As anyone following health reform knows, centrism is a political position too. And you see moderate bias -- i.e., a preference for centrism -- whenever a news outlet assumes that the truth must be somewhere in the middle..."

"Often, moderate bias is just the result of caution, but the effect is to bolster centrist political positions -- not least by implying that they are not political positions at all but occupy a happy medium between the nutjobs. Meanwhile, conservatives see moderate bias as liberal, and liberals see it as conservative -- letting journalists conclude that it's not bias at all."

The GOP roots of The Politico

http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/07/come-saturday-morning-tell-us-what-we-dont-know-mr-steele/

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/05/04/politico_funding/index.html

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/the-sunday-show-line-ups-28.php
• ABC, This Week: RNC chairman Michael Steele, DNC chairman Tim Kaine

• CBS, Face The Nation: Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX), Republican political consultant Ed Rollins, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ).

• CNN, State Of The Union: Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell (R-VA).

• NBC, Meet The Press: Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS), Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA).

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 12:11 AM

 
ON TILT

The far right is feeling their power to dictate terms to the rest of the GOP, and they aren’t being shy about it

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/6/801358/-DeMint:-Recruiting-moderates-who-can-win-doesnt-make-any-sense
DeMint: Recruiting moderates who can win "doesn't make any sense"

More: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/gop-could-face-more-challenges-from-right-after-ny-23.php

We knew the haters and the paranoiacs would have a field day with the Fort Hood shootings – and sure enough, they live down to our expectations

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/infiltration-by-digby-some-readers-are.html
“Fort Hood is proof the enemy is infiltrating our military”

http://washingtonindependent.com/66931/birther-site-is-already-lying-about-ft-hood-shooter-and-obama
Conspiracy-theorist Website WorldNetDaily posts the inevitable “connection” between Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan and President Obama . . .

More: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/conservatives_say_nidal_malik_hasan_is_muslim_brot.php

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/muslim_mafia_booster_rep_myrick_im_on_the_hasan_ca.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_11/020845.php

http://washingtonindependent.com/67002/gary-bauer-ft-hood-suspect-was-sleeper-agent

A question of priorities (aka, what would the GOP say if the Dems did this?)

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/patriot_games_gop_reps_pick_tea_party_rally_over_n.php
When it's a choice between strengthening the Patriot Act, or showing up for the Tea Party Patriots, what's a GOP lawmaker to do? We'll give you one guess . . .

Typical GOP exaggerations on the size of the Teabagger demonstration in DC

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/bachmann-other-conservatives-claim-tens-of-thousands-at-tea-party-yesterday----or-even-a-million.php

If the Republicans want to quote from the Founding Documents, they’d be smart to read them first

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/scarce/boehner-pulls-boner

Dick Cheney, still fighting to keep an investigation of torture from moving forward

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/11/06/cheney-now-remembers-cia-related-information/

Bonus item: Do not miss this spoof of Glenn Beck, from Jon Stewart

http://tpmtv.talkingpointsmemo.com/?id=3847878

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 1:50 AM

 
RUNNING SCARED

So, here is the political state of the GOP. Having identified Obama’s policies as the work of Maoists. . . err. . .Nazis . . .err. . . Stalinists, well you know BAD GUYS, the new Foxified GOP has whipped up wild irrational fear of the Democrats' agenda. Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh and Michele Bachmann are defining the issues of the moment.

For serious Republican politicians, if there are any left, this means that it has become impossible to negotiate or compromise over these initiatives – and it has become unthinkable to ever vote for them. The GOP still tries weakly to complain when the Dems won’t be “bipartisan,” but since they have no intention of supporting the bills anyway this complaint lacks leverage.

In short, we are watching the demise of the GOP as a governing party. The know-nothings are in charge, and it’s all about spectacle:

http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/05/michele-bachmann-leads-health-care-protest-on-capitol-teabaggers-arrested/
Michele Bachmann Leads Health Care Protest on Capitol; Teabaggers Arrested . . .

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_11/020830.php

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/tea-partiers-came-with-2010-warnings.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/tpmdcs_evan_mcmorris-santoro_spent_the.php

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/cantor-promises-tea-partiers-not-one-gop-vote-for-health-care.php
Cantor Promises Tea Partiers: 'Not One' GOP Vote For Health Care

The kind of people they are

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/11/scenes-from-a-tea-party.php

The chairman of their party

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1109/Steele_to_moderates_Well_come_after_you.html?showall
RNC Chairman Michael Steele, channeling his party's energized conservative wing, said the party will "come after" moderates who support President Obama's domestic policies.

"[C]andidates who live in moderate to slightly liberal districts have got to walk a little bit carefully here, because you do not want to put yourself in a position where you’re crossing that line on conservative principles, fiscal principles, because we’ll come after you,” . . .

More: http://washingtonindependent.com/66750/hitching-wagon-to-tea-partiers-steele-threatens-to-come-after-gop-moderates

A sign of the times: Rush Limbaugh lashes out at Newt Gingrich for endorsing a Republican candidate (and Gingrich cowers)

http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/rush-limbaugh-blames-newt-gingrich-hoff

http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/newt-gingrich-latest-conservative-bow-d

Charlie Crist (R-FL) desperately tries to deny his previous support for Obama’s stimulus package

http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/11/crists_dilemma.php

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/11/05/crist_claims_he_never_backed_economic_stimulus.html

The GOP health care bill covers FEWER people

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/5/801020/-Republican-HCR-Plan:-Worse-than-You-Thought

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/republican-health-insurance-reform-bill-insures-almost-nobody.php

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/11/congressional_budget_office_th.html

Lies, lies, lies: http://washingtonindependent.com/66702/a-gop-whopper-about-health-care-coverage

Oh, yeah, back in the real world, AARP and the AMA endorsed the Dems' health care bill. Didn’t hear much about that, did you?

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/11/05/obama_endorsements/index.html

More: http://crooksandliars.com/jon-perr/right-wing-war-on-aarp
The Right Wing War on the AARP

The new climate bill moves forward despite GOP obstruction -- so this is how it's going to be. . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/5/800876/-Republican-Boycott-IgnoredClimate-Bill-Headed-To-Full-Senate

http://news.firedoglake.com/2009/11/05/boxer-democrats-pass-climate-bill-without-amendments-through-committee/

http://washingtonindependent.com/66697/inhofe-epw-maneuver-signals-the-death-knell-for-the-kerry-boxer-bill

http://washingtonindependent.com/66676/with-republicans-still-boycotting-senate-committee-passes-climate-bill

This horrible story out of Texas can’t lead to anything good. The haters are going to have a field day with this one – watch for some of them to argue that it shows Muslims shouldn’t even be allowed IN the military

http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/05/breaking-fort-hood-alleged-shooter-now-confirmed-alive/
Lt. General Bob Cone is giving a press conference at Fort Hood, TX, and has confirmed that the alleged shooter, Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan is alive. He was shot at the scene, but was rushed to surgery. He is now out of surgery, and Gen. Cone, though refusing to comment on his condition, has said that he is stable and “death is not imminent.”

A “female first responder” was herself shot at the scene–she was originally reported killed, but Gen. Cone has confirmed she has come out of surgery alive and stable. This female was the one that is reported to have shot Maj. Hasan.

The Virginia born, 39-year-old Hasan is a mental health professional with expertise in disaster psychiatry and combat stress. He was transfered to Ft. Hood in July; previously, Hasan was stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Also in this presser: most of those killed and injured today were military personnel, but two of the casualties are civilians.

Though others were questioned today, the General seemed to believe that Maj. Hasan was the only shooter.

Death toll still at 12. . .

Who is he? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/06/us/06suspect.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/05/AR2009110505216.html

More: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/05/reactions.fort.hood.shootings/index.html

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/wingnuts-rush-conclusions-about-fort
[David Neiwert] He was regularly abused by his colleagues in the military for being Muslim -- called a "raghead" and other such terms -- and had been seeking to get out of the military because the environment had become so hostile. . . .

There are also reports that he had recently been the victim of a hate crime: His car was vandalized, with the word "Allah" scratched into the paint, and he was reportedly extremely upset by it.

It's obviously a complicated story. We'd all be well advised to reserve the speculation to actual hard facts about the case as they emerge. But it certainly appears this is much a matter of Columbine-like backlash to bullying as it is anything ideological. . . .

Update on the death of that census worker in Kentucky: it looks like suicide after all

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/ap_authorities_look_at_possibility_of_suicide_in_d.php

NOW they tell us

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/11/05/the_gops_special_election_losing_streak.html
Politico notes that "lost amid the Republican euphoria surrounding Tuesday's elections is this inconvenient fact: The GOP just got its clock cleaned, again, in another high-stakes House special election."

"It shouldn't have come as a surprise, since Republicans have lost 20 of the past 29 House special elections, dating back to January 2003. And in perhaps the most worrisome aspect of the trend, the GOP lost its fifth consecutive competitive special election in Republican-friendly territory."

Bonus item: This guy has "issues"

http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200911040029

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 12:52 AM