Chris Matthews -- fixated on Bill Clinton's penis

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks Chris Matthews is obsessed with the sex life of Bill and Hillary Clinton. I've said before that either Matthews fantasizes about Hillary, or that he asked her out before she was married and she turned him down.

Judge for yourself.

Hypocrisy

This is too funny. Glenn Beck and Bill Donahue take hypocrisy to "a whole nother level" --

On the February 26 edition of his CNN Headline News program, Glenn Beck asserted that "[t]here is a double standard in the world today" for Christians. His guest, Catholic League president Bill Donohue, later asked, "Why is it that, you know, other religions aren't held to the same degree of scrutiny?"

Go to Media Matters to see that both Donohue and Beck have a history of making inflammatory comments about non-Christian religions.

The Politico -- part of the right wing spin machine

The Politico ran a February 26th story in which the "reporters" quoted Congressman Adam Putnam criticizing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

"She promised the most open and honest Congress in history and by any objective score, (Democrats) have fallen short."

Now, if you're going to quote Putnam being critical of Pelosi, shouldn't you also let readers know that Putnam has admitted to previously making unsubstantiated charges against Pelolsi as a political tactic? In other words, Putnam admitted he has lied in an effort to make Pelosi look bad. So why should reporters Daniel W. Reilly and Jim VandeHei assume that Putnam isn't lying when he makes this new charge?

Maybe these "journalists" should try research and reporting rather than stenography.

Swift Boat supporter as Ambassador?

Today the Senate Foreign Relations Committee considered the nomination of Republican hack Sam Fox to be Ambassador to Belgium.

Who is Sam Fox? WhiteHouseForSale.org says Sam Fox is a Bush Ranger, responsible for millions of dollars of donations to both the Bush-Cheney campaigns and the Republican Party. He's also contributed to the defense of Scooter Libby. In addition, in late 2004 Fox gave $50,000 to the misnamed Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the liars who made it their mission to discredit a highly-decorated Vietnam Veteran, Senator John Kerry.

Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who questioned Fox included Senator Jim Webb, a decorated Marine officer who was wounded in Vietnam, and...John Kerry.

I can't wait to see how this turned out.

Update: Kerry hit Fox hard. I really hope this nomination fails.

Candy Crowley, egregious hack

On the February 26 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley claimed that Democrats looking toward the 2008 presidential elections have to say, "We cannot send that old Democratic message about how we don't support the troops and we're not tough on national security."

Crowley has done kind of hit piece on Democrats before. See here, here, here, here, and here for examples.

She has never done such a smear job on Republicans.

Doesn't she know the media is supposed to be biased towards liberals? Doesn't she know she works for the "Clinton News Network?"

What a hack.

George W. Bush doesn't get irony

Bush at a Republican fundraiser today:

"Our men and women in uniform risk their lives to carry out our plan to support this new democracy and to secure Baghdad," Bush said. "And wherever members may stand on my decision, we have a solemn responsibility to give our troops the resources and the flexibility they need to prevail."

Give the troops what they need? Like they do at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which is just two miles from the National Building Museum, the site of Bush's speech?

Bush definitely doesn't grasp the concept of irony.

Laura Bush, Iraq expert

Laura Bush, Iraq expert, just now on Larry King Live:

"Many parts of Iraq are stable now. But, uh, of course, what we see on television is the one bombing a day that discourages everyone."

Come on! Stable, except for that pesky "one bombing a day?" Of course, as Laura Bush blames the media for what's wrong in Iraq, Larry King let her.

In addition, Reuters reports at least two bombings today:

Iraq's Shi'ite vice president and a cabinet minister were wounded in an apparent assassination attempt on Monday when a bomb killed six people at a ministry in Baghdad where they were attending a ceremony.

Near the volatile western city of Ramadi, a suicide bomber blew up an ambulance at a police station, killing 14 people including women and children, a local hospital official said.

Iraq is stable. Yeah, right. Thank God Laura Bush if one First Lady who won't become a Senator or run for President.

Cheney accidentally tells truth

From the New York Times:

Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced trip to Pakistan on Monday to deliver what officials in Washington described as an unusually tough message Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, warning him that the newly Democratic Congress could cut aid to his country unless his forces become far more aggressive in hunting down operatives with Al Qaeda.

Making it up -- White House press operation

From Think Progress:

In an effort to push back against congressional efforts to rescind the original 2002 Iraq War resolution, White House press spokesman Tony Fratto on Friday argued the United Nations had authorized the initial U.S. invasion of Iraq:

“The president said this isn’t the fight we entered in Iraq, but it’s the fight we’re in,” Fratto told reporters Friday. “We went in as a multinational force under U.N. authorization to take military action in Iraq. We were there as an occupying force, and now we’re there at the invitation of the sovereign, elected government of Iraq.”

Actually, the White House did not invade Iraq “under U.N. authorization.” President Bush had promised to take the issue to the U.N. Security Council “no matter what the whip count,” but never did. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan described the invasion of Iraq as “not in conformity with the UN charter…from the charter point of view, it was illegal.”

It’s one thing to spin history; it’s quite another to rewrite it from scratch.

Bush administration's wrong priorities

From AmericaBlog:

Earlier this week, The NY Times reported that Bin Laden and his allies have "re-established significant control" over a resurgent Al Qaeda:

American officials said there was mounting evidence that Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, had been steadily building an operations hub in the mountainous Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan. Until recently, the Bush administration had described Mr. bin Laden and Mr. Zawahri as detached from their followers and cut off from operational control of Al Qaeda.

That disturbing report makes sense now that we know our leaders don't think capturing Bin Laden is worth the effort according to a report in today's Washington Post:

The Army's highest-ranking officer said Friday that he was unsure whether the U.S. military would capture or kill Osama bin Laden, adding, "I don't know that it's all that important, frankly."

"So we get him, and then what?" asked Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the outgoing Army chief of staff, at a Rotary Club of Fort Worth luncheon. "There's a temporary feeling of goodness, but in the long run, we may make him bigger than he is today.

"He's hiding, and he knows we're looking for him. We know he's not particularly effective. I'm not sure there's that great of a return" on capturing or killing bin Laden.

This is exactly what's wrong with the Bush administration. It's priorities are wrong and it promotes only suck ups to the top military leadership positions.

I didn't hear anyone in the military saying that Saddam Hussein was not particularly effective, or that capturing or killing him would lead to a temporary good feeling but no great return. And in that case it was true -- after saddam was overthrown he was totally ineffective -- and he hadn't been very effective before he was overthrown -- and he hadn't attacked the United States.

Osama bin Laden did attack us. He was allowed to remain at large. He is reconstituting his camps and his terrorist organization. He will attack us again. And yet our leaders ignore him so they can continue a discretionary fight in Iraq that has nothing to do with the war on terrorism.

Worst. President. Ever.

Dick Morris, tax cheat

The next time you see Dick Morris condemn Bill and Hillary Clinton as evil personified on Fox News or in one of his columns, remember this: In addition to his other failings, Dick Morris owes $280,000 in unpaid taxes to the state of Connectitut.

Why would a guy who ignores the law when it suits him be presumed to have any credibility to discuss the alleged moral failings of others?

Media enables McCain

The media enables John McCain. From today's posts on Media Matters:

Politico senior political writer Jonathan Martin, in a February 20 entry to his Politico.com weblog, reported that former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) "is attacking" Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) over the senator's stance on abortion, and included the text of an email Romney sent to influential conservatives "highlighting various news clips about McCain's stance on abortion, bolding and italicizing those lines that call into question the senator's commitment to ending the practice." Martin criticized Romney, who has reversed position on abortion rights, for "tak[ing] shots at the record of a consistently pro-life opponent." In fact, as Media Matters for America has noted, McCain has made several inconsistent statements on abortion rights, eliciting charges from several Republicans and conservatives that McCain, as the San Francisco Chronicle put it, was "trying to please both sides" on the abortion issue. But despite including in his post Romney's document questioning McCain's "commitment to ending" abortion, and despite McCain's inconsistent positions on Roe v. Wade, Martin characterized McCain as "consistently pro-life."

I got the graphic from www.stopjohnmccain2008.com.

More McCain "Straight Talk"

John McCain, February 2007:

"I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history," McCain said to applause.

John McCain, November 2006:

"While Secretary Rumsfeld and I have had our differences, he deserves America's respect and gratitude for his many years of public service. He has mine."

McCain flips and flops faster and more often than an Olympic gymnast. More details available here:

And thanks to Jesus' General for the illustration.

Sorry about that whole impeachment thing

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 — Back when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was first lady, no one better embodied what she once called the “vast right-wing conspiracy” than Richard Mellon Scaife.

Mr. Scaife, reclusive heir to the Mellon banking fortune, spent more than $2 million investigating and publicizing accusations about the supposed involvement of Mrs. Clinton and former President Bill Clinton in corrupt land deals, sexual affairs, drug running and murder.

But now, as Mrs. Clinton is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, Mr. Scaife’s checkbook is staying in his pocket.

Christopher Ruddy, who once worked full-time for Mr. Scaife investigating the Clintons and now runs a conservative online publication he co-owns with Mr. Scaife, said, “Both of us have had a rethinking.”

“Clinton wasn’t such a bad president,” Mr. Ruddy said. “In fact, he was a pretty good president in a lot of ways, and Dick feels that way today.”

Al Qaeda reconstituting in Pakistan

Al Qaeda is regrouping in Pakistan.

Sunnis who carry out the majority of attacks against the US in Iraq are backed by alleged ally Saudi Arabia, and it goes unmentioned by the Bush administration.

So of course, we're still in Iraq and we're willing, if not outright planning, to invade Iran.

I think Harry Reid is right.

The Straight Talk Express drives on

John McCain, 1999:

"[C]ertainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations."

John McCain, 2007:

"I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned," the Arizona senator told about 800 people in South Carolina, one of the early voting states.

McCain also vowed that if elected, he would appoint judges who "strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States and do not legislate from the bench."

How's that for "straight talk?"

What liberal media bias?

Victoria Toensing is an idiot. Liberal bias in the media is a myth. Larry Johnson of No Quarter explains why.

Brit Hume confirms rumors of his stupidity

Fair and balanced:

On Fox News this morning, Brit Hume launched a rant against Congressman John Murtha. “It’s time a few things be said about him,” Hume said. “This guy is long past the day when he had anything but the foggiest awareness of what the heck is going on in the world.” Hume called Murtha an “absolute fountain” of “naivete.” Murtha has been the subject of smears from the right since 2005, when he first came out in support of redeployment from Iraq.

Watch it:

This would be the John Murtha who was the first Vietnam veteran to be elected to Congress. The John Murtha who is an expert on defense appropriations and is considered an ally of the military establishment. The John Murtha who spent over 35 years in the Marine Corps. The John Murtha who volunteered to fight in Vietnam. The John Murtha whose awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the military's third highest award. Whose awards also include Bronze Stars and Purple Hearts.

How much military and Congressional experience does Hume have? None. Where does he get the credibility to trash Jack Murtha? I say Hume has no credibility.

Why do Republicans hate America?

From CBS:

Terrorism charges brought Friday against the administrator of a loan investment program claimed that he secretly tried to send $152,000 to the Middle East to buy equipment such as night vision goggles for a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.

Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, 53, of Ardsley, N.Y., pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to an indictment accusing him of terrorism financing, material support of terrorism and other charges. The charges carried a potential penalty of 95 years in prison.

CBS News has confirmed that Alishtari is a donor to the Republican Party, as he claims on his curriculum vitae. Alishtari gave $15,500 to the National Republican Campaign Committee between 2002 and 2004, according to Federal Election Commission records. That amount includes $13,000 in 2003, a year when he claims to have been named NRCC New York State Businessman of the Year.

Don Young refuses to acknowledge reality

During yesterday’s House debate on Iraq, Congressman Don Young, Republican of Alaska smeared Democrats by citing a quote falsely attributed to Abraham Lincoln. (See my previous post.)

This morning, Young’s spokeswoman Meredith Kenny said that Young does not plan to take any action to correct the record or clarify his House statement.

Kenny said that Young obtained the quote from a Washington Times op-ed by Frank Gaffney. Young figures that since the Times has not yet issued a correction or retraction, he won't either.

Kenny also told Think Progress that Young didn’t literally mean that Democratic Congressmen should be “hanged,” merely that they should not be “undermining the morale of our military.”

Well, that's just bullshit. Why repeat a quote unless you think it bolsters your argument?

Atrios thinks we should all make up fake quotes and attribute them to Young.

I like the idea of reminding people that Lincoln really opposed giving a President unchecked power to wage preemptive war.

As for me, I favor censuring Young.

Worst. Congressman. Ever

Congressman Don Young of Alaska is a fucking idiot.

Young has been in Congress since the 1970s and is well known for his malaprops. He's also well known for being a champion pork barrel spender. In addition, Young has been known to lie when it suits him.

But his most recent action is just too much.

Speaking against the resolution that condemns the increase of troop strength in Iraq, Young offered this quote:

"Congressmen who willfully take action during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs, and should be arrested, exiled or hanged."

Abraham Lincoln

There's just one problem with this quote: IT ISN'T TRUE! This quote was made up by a hack at the partisan Washington Times and it just refuses to die.

These Republicans are so devoid of ideas that they've resorted to making shit up.

Chris Shays, lying bastard

Congressman Chris Shays, who said during his camapign for reelection that he supported withdrawal from Iraq NOW backs escalation.

Two weeks before his reelection in November 2006, when Shays looked sure to lose to anti-war challenger Democrat Diane Farrell, he suddenly announced that he supported setting a timeline for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Though he's a long time incumbent, Shays won that close race by 3 points.watch

But, hey, that was three months ago -- Shays can't be held to what he said in the heat of a campaign, right? Yesterday, he declared on the House floor that he would vote NO on the resolution opposing escalation in Iraq -- he's now FOR escalation. “It is counterproductive for 535 members of the House of Representatives and Senate to micromanage the war.” Shays went on to say that the resolution opposing escalation “sends the wrong message to the President, to our troops and to our enemies. … The only way we should leave Iraq is the same way we went in, together.”

You can watch it here.

Chris Shays -- saying and doing anything to get elected. That makes him a shameless hypocrite.

Orrin Hatch, shameless hypocrite

Today on the Don Imus radio program Senator Orrin Hatch opined that Scooter Libby should not have been charged with perjury and obstruction of justice on the grounds that revealing Valerie Plame Wilson's employment status was not a crime. According to Hatch, if there's no underlying crime, there should be no charges for covering it up.

Contrary to Hatch's assertion that "everyone knew" of Wilson's employment, there is no question that Wilson was a covert non-official cover covert operative and that she worked on weapons of mass destruction issues for the CIA. But let's leave aside the question of whether revealing that information was wrong.

Instead, I want you to ponder this. Can you think of a time when Orrin Hatch DID believe that someone COULD BE charged with perjury and obstruction even if there was no underlying crime?

I can.

Orrin Hatch, shameless hypocrite.

Bush administration supports the troops

After a $4 billion increase sought for next year, the Bush budget would turn current trends on their head, even though the cost of providing medical care to veterans has been growing rapidly -- by more than 10 percent in many years. White House budget documents assume that the veterans' medical services budget -- up 83 percent since Bush took office and winning a big increase in Bush's proposed 2008 budget -- can absorb a 2 percent cut the following year and remain essentially frozen for three years in a row after that.

The proposed cuts are unrealistic in light of recent VA budget trends, sowing suspicion that the White House is simply making them up to make its long-term deficit figures look better, critics say.

Does anyone really believe the Bush administration "supports the troops"?

Shameless hypocritical chickenhawks.

The story that just won't die

Yesterday's Associated Press reports that Barack Obama spent "his childhood years in the Muslim faith" and "Obama's religious background has come under scrutiny because he attended a Muslim school in Indonesia from age 6 to 10."

These lies fly in the face of the actual facts, which are easily available from many sources, including the Associated Press's previous reporting. These "journalists" can't even be bothered to research the work of their own organization?

This is how good political candidates get trashed. A right-wing rag prints a lie, the lie (in this case two lies -- Hillary Clinton didn't make the claims about Obama) makes its way into the so-called liberal media, and even after it's debunked, it continues to spread like a disease that's resistant to antibiotics, enentually taking on an "everyone knows" life of its own.

Liberal media bias my ass.

Howard Kurtz is a fucking liar

On the February 11 edition of CNN's Reliable Sources, Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington said that former Senator John Edwards "did the right thing" in retaining on his presidential two bloggers who had come under fire from conservative bloggers and their mainstream media enablers, and challenged the media for not covering Republicans as harshly. Host and Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz responded, "We'll play that tape if -- when ... a Republican candidate hires conservative bloggers who have said some outrageous things."

Kurtz's is full of shit. John McCain's hired blogger Patrick Hynes, who has made numerous inflammatory statements regarding religion and Democrats. In fact, Kurtz has previously highlighted some of Hynes's more egregious posts:

• Hynes referred to the Democratic Party as "anti-Christian." Hynes titled a July 6, 2006, blog post: "Exclusive Poll Info: Democrats Devolve Deeper into an Anti-Christian Party."
• Hynes asserted that the United States is a "Christian nation." In a June 2006 interview regarding his book, In Defense of the Religious Right (Nelson Current, 2006), Hynes was asked whether he believed it was fair to call America a "Christian nation." As blogger and attorney Glenn Greenwald noted, Hynes responded: "Yes. America is a Christian nation. As I write in my book, 'Is America a Christian nation? Of course it is. Don't be ridiculous. What a stupid question.' "
• Hynes apparently called Chelsea Clinton "hideously ugly" in a 2004 posting on the conservative website FreeRepublic.com -- echoing a joke McCain had reportedly told about Chelsea Clinton years earlier.
• Hynes suggested that Rep. Waxman be nicknamed "Pig Man." In late 2006, Hynes posted a photograph of Rep. Henry Waxman (D-NY) on Ankle Biting Pundits and solicited captions, saying, "[A] dude with a mug like this guy really needs a nickname." Hynes and his readers went on to offer numerous vulgar suggestions, as Greenwald explained:

Kurtz knows full well who Hynes is and knows Hynes works for John McCain. What he said was clearly false and he knows it.

What is Nicholas Von Hoffman thinking?

Nicholas Von Hoffman wrote this February 8th column for The Nation, "The Worst President Ever." In my view his observations on several previous presidential administrations are way off base.

Men like Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce and Benjamin Harrison (Tippecanoe's grandson) were more politically brain-dead than really bad. But not so with James Buchanan, No. 15, who was President from 1857 to 1861. Aside from being a dull, unimaginative, dray horse of a politician, he was the President whose cowardice in handling the South and slavery ended the remotest possibility that the United States would be spared the horrors of the Civil War.

Huh, what? If you really believe Pierce wasn't "really bad" I encourage you to read about the Ostend Manifesto and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Especially the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

The consequences of Buchanan's political poltroonery were long-lasting and dire, as contrasted with those of Warren Harding. Harding (No. 29) has won many Worst President contests because he had three or four truly stinky crooks in his administration to go along with an otherwise outstanding Cabinet. He was a slob with a drinking problem, and he was also afflicted with Bill Clinton's zipper disease.

Huh, what? First, since Harding lived before Clinton, Bill Clinton would have Harding's "zipper disease."

More importantly, while it's become conventional wisdom that Bill Clinton is a world-class horn dog, the ACTUAL incidents of his "misdeeds" is quite a small list -- Gennifer Flowers (ONE TIME, by his admission), and Monica Lewinsky. The rapes and babies fathered with black teenagers are just so many bullshit "everyone knows" stories facbricated by his enemies.

Harding on the other hand, carried on a FOURTEEN YEAR affair with the wife of his best friend. He sent this woman, Carrie Phillips, HUNDREDS of love letters, many written on US Senate stationery -- he was daydreaming about fucking his girlfriend while he was supposed to be working on Senate business! To ensure Harding's election to the presidency the Republican National Committee actively worked to prevent this affair from coming to light.

In addition, Harding began an affair with Nan Britton while she was a teenager. They had a daughter, a child Britton wrote was conceived in Harding's Senate office. In addition, Harding is known to have had sex with Britton in the White House.

In short, Clinton is an amateur when compared to the REAL serial womanizer, Warren Harding.

Hoover, Democratic propaganda to the contrary, did not cause the Great Depression nor was he indifferent to his people's sufferings. A brilliant, decent man, he was absolutely the unluckiest President.

Are you kidding me? If you believe Hoover was a victim of the Depression and not one of its causes, read about the Hawley-Smoot Tariff, which caused US exports to fall by 50 percent at a time when the United States desperately needed an influx of foreign cash. He also refused to take active measures to combat the Depression, such as using federal funds to buy farm surpluses, loaning money to farmers to establish cooperatives, or expanding public works projects as a way to create jobs.

Still not convinced? Read this:

Hoover quickly developed a reputation as uncaring. He cut unemployment figures that reached his desk, eliminating those he thought were only temporarily jobless and not seriously looking for work. He told a delegation that came to see him in June 1930 requesting a federal public works program: "Gentlemen, you have come sixty days too late. The depression is over." He insisted that "nobody is actually starving" and that "the hoboes...are better fed than they have ever been." He claimed that the vendors selling apples on street corners had "left their jobs for the more profitable one of selling apples."

Here's what Hoover DID do -- bailed out large corporations such as the biggest auto makers, national chain stores and wealthy Wall Street investors.

Hoover got it exactly wrong, and the nation suffered as a result.

As for Nixon, it's still too early to tell. Too many people still living hate him or love him. The decision on that strange, baggy-faced man belongs to Gen X and beyond.

Come on! If a guy who broke into the headquarters of his oponents, maintained an enemies list whose members had the full weight of the federal government turned on them, lied about having a "secret plan" to end US military involvement in a foreign country, took illegal campaign contributions, carried out political dirty tricks against his opponents, was aboout to be impeached and convicted, and was disbarred doesn't qualify for consideration as the worst president, no one does.

Grant was too noble a man to be the worst anything. He had some crooks in his administration, but, like Harding, he had nothing to do with their corruption. On the plus side, he was the last President until Lyndon Johnson who would go to bat for black people.

That's the stupidest statement in Von Hoffman's entire column.

Franklin Roosevelt had a mixed record on race and civil rights, but it wasn't all bad:

Roosevelt's attitudes to race were tested by the issue of Black (or "Negro", to use the term of the time) service in the armed forces. The Democratic Party at this time was dominated by Southerners who were opposed to any concession to demands for racial equality. During the New Deal years, there had been a series of conflicts over whether African-Americans should be segregated in the various new government benefits and programs. Whenever a move was made to integrate the races Southern governors or congressmen would complain to Roosevelt, who would intervene to uphold segregation for the sake of keeping his party together. The Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps, for example, segregated their work forces by race at Roosevelt's insistence after Southern governors protested at unemployed whites being required to work alongside blacks. Roosevelt's personal racial attitudes were conventional for his time and class. Some historians argue that he nevertheless played a major role in advancing the rights of blacks, and others say it was due to prodding from Eleanor Roosevelt and liberals such as Ickes, Perkins, Hopkins, Mary McLeod Bethune, Aubrey Williams and Claude Pepper.

Roosevelt explained his reluctance to support anti-lynchingWalter White of the NAACP. "I did not choose the tools with which I must work. Had I been permitted to choose then I would have selected quite different ones. But I've got to get legislation passed by Congress to save America. The Southerners by reason of the seniority rule in Congress are chairmen or occupy strategic places on most of the Senate and House committees. If I come out for the anti-lynching bill now, they will block every bill I ask Congress to pass to keep America from collapsing. I just can't take that risk." However, he did move Blacks into important advisory roles, brought them as delegates to the Democratic National Convention for the first time, abolished the two-thirds rule that gave the South veto power over presidential nominations, added a civil rights plank for the first time ever to the 1940 party platform, and included Blacks in the draft with the same rights and pay scales as whites. legislation in a conversation with

In June 1941 Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, which created the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC). It was the most important federal move in support of the rights of African Americans between Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The President's order stated that the federal government would not hire any person based on their race, color, creed, or national origin. The FEPC enforced the order to ban discriminatory hiring within the federal government and in corporations that received federal contracts. Millions of blacks and women achieved better jobs and better pay as a result. The war brought the race issue to the forefront. The Army and Navy had been segregated since the Civil War. But by 1940 the African-American vote had largely shifted from Republican to Democrat, and African-American leaders like Walter White of the NAACP and T. Arnold Hill of the Urban League had become recognized as part of the Roosevelt coalition. In June 1941, at the urging of A. Philip Randolph, the leading African-American trade unionist, Roosevelt signed an executive order establishing the Fair Employment Practice Commission and prohibiting discrimination by any government agency, including the armed forces.

Harry S Truman ended segregation in the US military and took other measures that made possible the gains of the modern civil rights movement.

Dwight Eisenhower endorsed the Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education decision, directed the desegregation of the District of Columbia schools, and proposed and signed the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960.

As a Senator John Kennedy voted for the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960. As President he dispatched federal troops to make it possible for James Meredith to enroll at the University of Mississippi, assigned federal marshals to protect the Freedom Riders, directed the Justice department to use federal troops to desegregate the University of Alabama, and proposed the legislation that became the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In short, Nicholas Von Hoffman has no expertise in the history of the US presidency, or he's lazy, or he's lying.

Wolf Blitzer -- giving journalism a bad name

These members of the so-called liberal media don't even try to perform the role of actual reporters.

Yesterday on CNN's The Situation Room host Wolf Blitzer said that Joseph Lieberman, the Independent or Democrat or Independent Democrat or Connecticut for Lieberman US Senator, has "been very consistent from day one" on Iraq. Amazingly, co-host Jack Cafferty agreed, "Indeed he has."

Of course, Lieberman has not been "very consistent" on Iraq.

As Media Matters for America has repeatedly noted, after his 2006 Democratic primary loss to challenger Ned Lamont, Lieberman, previously a strong supporter of the Iraq war, distanced himself from his earlier rhetoric. During his general election campaign as an Independent Lieberman changed his rhetoric, emphasizing his intent to end the war and to bring U.S. forces home, going so far as to produce this television ad. Of course as soon as the election was over, Lieberman went back to his support of the war in Iraq.

If people like me know Lieberman changed his public utterances on the Iraq war only to return to his first position as soon as he was safely re-elected, and if Media Matter can document Lieberman's flip-floppery in about ten seconds, why can't Blitzer and the other members of the so-called liberal media?

David Broder is a rat bastard liar

Columnist David Broder lies and smears Democrats in his "reporting" on this past weekend's meeting of the DNC.

One of the losers in the weekend oratorical marathon was retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who repeatedly invoked the West Point motto of "Duty, Honor, Country," forgetting that few in this particular audience have much experience with, or sympathy for, the military.

That's a lie by Broder. Oliver Willis writes that he was there for Clark's speech. According to Willis, Broder is absolutely lying.

The crowd in attendance stood on their feet, clapped their hands loudly and strongly time and time again when speakers - including Gen. Clark - invoked the service and sacrifice of America's fighting men and women.

In fact, in the very speech Broder cites as his reasoning for Democrats not supporting the military, Gen. Clark asked for a moment of silence to reflect on the sacrifices being made by the troops currently serving. The auditorium was silent, and many bowed their heads in prayer.

The Republican party and the conservative spin machine continue to smear Democrats and liberals as not supporting the troops. But in truth time after time it's conservatives who take the military for granted while liberals fight for sensible foreign policy, veterans benefits, and proper equipment, including armored vehicles and body armor.

When can I expect the supposedly liberal Washington Post to correct Broder's slander?

Fact Check

On February 1, the Reverend Moon-owned right wing "newspaper" the Washington Times published “Speaker pursues military flights,” a story claiming that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had been pressing the Bush administration for access to military aircraft for trips to her San Francisco district. Even though former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) also used military aircraft to travel to his district, the Times reported that Pelosi demanded permanent access to a large military jet for herself, her staff, other Congressmen and her political supporters.

The story was distributed in the usual way -- through the right-wing attack radio shows and blogs, including pieces with headlines like, “First Class Pelosi,” “Air Force Becomes Pelosi Air,” “Nancy Pelosi is Drunk With Power,” “The Imperial Speakership,” “Pelosi: Fly Me Awayyyyy,” “Pelosi wants military airlift,” and “Nancy Pelosi’s Private Military Plane.”

Surprise, surprise -- BOTH CLAIMS in the Washington Times story are false. From Think Progress:

1) The House Sergeant at Arms, not Pelosi, initiated inquiries into the use of military aircraft. House Sergeant at Arms Wilson Livingood, who has served in his position since 1995, released a statement today clarifying the facts. He writes, “In December 2006, I advised Speaker Pelosi that the US Air Force had made an airplane available to Speaker Hastert for security and communications purposes following September 11, 2001.” Additionally, Livingood writes, “I offered to call the U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense to seek clarification of the guidelines [which governed Speaker Hastert’s use of a plane].”

2) A larger plane was requested because Hastert’s plane required refueling to travel cross-country. The Washington Times says a larger plane was requested to accomodate Pelosi, “her staff, other Members and supporters.” That’s not true. In fact, the plane used by Speaker Hastert was too small for Pelosi since it “needs to refuel every 2,000 miles and could not make the nonstop haul to California. ‘The Air Force determined that [Pelosi’s] safety would be best ensured by using a plane that has the fuel capacity to go coast-to-coast,’” a Pelosi spokesperson said.

This brings to mind three questions:

1 -- Is there anything the Republican spin machine won't lie about?

2 -- Will all the outlets who swallowed the lies of the Washington Times now give the same amount of coverage to their retractions and corrections?

3 -- Will the so-called liberal media ever stop credulously believing and repeating these Republican lies?

No surprise -- Bush lies

According to the February 2nd Washington Post, President Bush claimed the fight against childhood obesity is a focus of his administration’s domestic agenda:

Childhood obesity is a costly problem for the country. We believe it is necessary to come up with a coherent strategy to help folks all throughout our country cope with the issue.

But according to the New York Times, Bush is all talk on this "fight":

To fight childhood obesity, Mr. Bush asks Congress to set aside $17 million for a new program to promote ‘healthy behavior’ among adolescents. But at the same time, he asks Congress to eliminate the preventive health services block grant, which provides $99 million a year to help states prevent obesity and other chronic conditions.