Thursday, February 19, 2009

02-19-09
  • Our "Liberal Media":
    • Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch promotes degrading, violent, racist cartoon against President Obama (buzzflash) -- The Secret Service should be all over this newspaper and all over Murdoch for allowing it. See more of this cretin's tasteless cartoons (gawker).
    • Robert Parry offers a historical perspective on the changes that have come over the MSM (consortiumnews). What he doesn't emphasize is that the MSM shift to the right was enabled by conservative-engineered legislation -- and legislation can also be used very beneficially now to start backing us out of the hole where those earlier decisions have left us uncomfortably wedged. Rightwing lunatics, like all boundary-testing children, have figured Obama for a pushover and now are waging an all-out deceitful war against Obama's and Democrats' attempts to right the capsized ship of state. Their objective is to obstruct the Democrat president's governance, just as they did throughout the entirety of Clinton's 8 years. Obama can change that and change it he must.
  • Class Warfare Is Alive And Well:
    • CNBC's Bourgeois-Riot Party Wants to Act Out Again (nomoremister.blogspot) -- CNBC's Rick Santelli urges a Chicago Tea Party against Obama's attempts to help over-mortgaged homeowners. Maybe Rick could organize and lead something like the Brooks Brothers Riot (which consisted of bussed-in GOP staffers, who illegally interfered with and shut down the recounting of the November 2000 vote in Miami, Florida).
      • Update 02-20-09: The White House has declared war on CNBC Ranter Rick Santelli (salon)
    • Economists: Stop Talking About The Non-Existent Social Security Crisis (wonkroom) "Social Security is not facing a crisis, or anything that any reasonable person could call a crisis…It’s a very distant problem . . . The “entitlement crisis” frame is entirely misleading." However, "there are concerns that it will be a perfect opportunity for Obama “to compromise with deficit hawks” on entitlement reform." -- Digby has words of warning on it here (digbysblog.blogspot).
    • Newly Poor Swell Lines at Food Banks Nationwide (nytimes) "Demand at food banks across the country increased by 30 percent in 2008 from the previous year", how much more by now?
  • Religious Right Evangenital Hypocrite Watch:
    • "Ex-Gay" Poster Boy Chris Delaney Opposes Freedom and Sexual Honesty (truthwinsout) "Delaney admits the reason why he asserts that anyone can change: It is because, to do otherwise, would be to admit that gay people deserve the same freedom and respect as anyone else:"
    • Megachurch Willow Creek Chicago Pastor Rev. Steve Wu Steps Down For ‘Sexual Impurity’ (truthwinsout) "Willow Creek encourages gay people to “change” or remain celibate. Meanwhile, this is the kind of sexual immorality that is going on at the church, while gay people are guilted into abandoning hopes of love, affection, sexual pleasure and a healthy relationship. It is time these hypocrites look in the mirror, instead of pointing fingers at others that they do not understand."
  • Military-Industrial Complex:
    • The 'Enemy Combatant' Canard - the al-Marri case (harpers) -- Bush is guilty of tyranny. Will Obama be the same? Includes a Rachel Maddow interview of Jane Mayer.
    • Afghanistan Contractor Theft/Corruption (guardian.co.uk) -- Sounds just like Bush's pals in Iraq.
    • Move to deploy extra 17,000 troops is but a short-term 'sticking plaster' until total review of Afghan situation (guardian.co.uk)
  • The Great Economic Shakedown:
  • Mauna Kea Milky Way Panorama (apod)
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