Randi Rhodes: Gridlock & Hunting Obama

OK, everybody over the initial panic? Good. Let’s settle into a little righteous indignation.
Republicans won’t be able to get anything done. The bad news is that that’s their plan. The GOP has no plans to solve this country’s problems. They just have plans to use this country’s problems to their own advantage. Washington gridlock isn’t a problem for Republicans, it’s a strategy. They want to pretend the last two years never happened, and to accomplish that, they’re willing to make nothing happen in the next two years. For instance, they will do nothing to revive the housing market. Why should they? As of yesterday, they have their House. And jobs? Forget it. The Republicans are less concerned with helping millions of Americans find jobs than they are with throwing one American—Barack Obama—out of his job. Mitch McConnell still insists his “single most important goal” for the next two years is to make sure Obama is a one-term president. Nice. Mitch McConnell has fewer goals than a soccer match. In other words, Mitch McConnell is perfectly happy to waste his time just to make sure that President Obama has less time. Actually, McConnell is saying that he’s willing to waste everybody’s time for the next two years. What is the future of healthcare? If Republicans have their way, it’ll be the same as the past of healthcare. And by “past,” I’m going the whole way back to medieval times. Harry Reid says he’s “ready for some tweaking” on healthcare reform. That’s good, because this new crop of Republicans includes some real tweakers. Republicans want to “tweak” healthcare reform the way a pack of jackals want to tweak an antelope. As Lawrence O’Donnell pointed out, as a US Senator, Rand Paul has the ability to force the US government into default by filibustering the raising of the debt ceiling. Rand Paul can destroy the credibility of the United States. Actually, just having elected Rand Paul put a pretty big hit on the credibility of the United States. Putting Rand Paul in this position is like asking Charlie Sheen to housesit for you. There! I feel better already.
Today’s Homework Discuss
George W. Bush is back in the news, sharing with Matt Lauer what he believes was the lowest moment of his presidency. Was it 9/11, Katrina, Abu Ghraib, no WMD, collapsing the economy? Nope. It was Kayne West…


Thom's blog
Time to ban Giant Spaghetti Monster law?
On Tuesday, Oklahomans approved a ballot initiative that would forbid judges in the state from using Sharia law to consider a case. Voters supported the measure by about 40 points even though many of them cannot name a single instance where Sharia law was used to rule in a case - that's because it's never happened in Oklahoma- or any other state in the country for that matter. On top of that, Islam isn't even that prevalent in the state - out of a population of 3.7 million, there are only 15,000 Muslims there. Still, voters found the need to hit the polls to make sure this non-existent threat was stopped before it's too late. Maybe that's because in wake of the "ground zero mosque" controversy, certain media outlets and entrepreneurs have made quite a profit off promoting Islamophobia - "they're coming to subvert our government." This scare tactic has resonated around the country in places like Murfreesboro, Tennessee where it's nearly impossible for Muslim Americans to get approval in to build a place of worship - basically shredding the First Amendment. While Oklahoma has never been a victim of Islamic terrorism - it was notably the site where Timothy McVeigh - a Roman Catholic - blew up the Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City. Yet there was no rush by voters to discriminate against Catholicism afterward. Since the Sharia law ballot measure passed by a wide margin - it's likely other states will follow with initiatives of their own. Not sure which state will be first to forbid courts from considering the laws of the Giant Spaghetti Monster.
-Thom
(What's your opinion? Tell us here.)

Randi Rhodes: Tears of a Clown

About last night… yes, it’s a big setback for progressives. But keep in mind, this is the third election in a row where voters kicked a political party out of power. The Democrats’ problem wasn’t so much how they wielded power, but simply the fact that they were the party in power. So don’t tell me about any Republican wave. Didn’t we just have a Democratic wave, after the last Republican wave, which followed the previous Democratic wave? The big problem is that this last wave brought in some things slimier than what the waves in the Gulf of Mexico brought in after the BP oil spill. The GOP captured the House. Well, at least Americans have gotten used to losing their houses to greedy bigwigs over the past few years. Well guys, the House is yours. That’s only fair—you paid for it. Well, to be more accurate, undisclosed donors bought it for you. John Boehner cried during his victory speech. I think I can safely say that a lot of people were crying along with him. Dry your eyes, John. If the rest of us are confident that we can get through this, I’m sure you can too. Boehner sobbed “I’ve spent my whole life chasing the American dream.” Yeah, so you could tackle it to the ground. Luckily, so far the American dream has managed to out run you. The good news is that the Democrats held on in the Senate, despite Republican gains. The bad news is that the Republicans had pretty much managed to render the Senate impotent with the seats they already had. Great. We have a majority in the house of Congress where a majority isn’t enough. Harry Reid always seems to find a way to win. This year, that way was Sharron Angle. Reid had a strong showing among Latino voters, or as Sharron Angle refers to them, Asian voters. Memorable moments: Carl Paladino wielded a baseball bat during his concession speech! What exactly was he conceding—that he was in fact a dangerous lunatic? Chris Coons beat Christine O’Donnell by 17 percentage points. I guess if you’re abstinent, that’s about the only way you’re going to experience a damn good thumping. “I’m not a witch.” You’re not a Senator either, sweetie. Go on over to Fox News and fill out your new hire papers. Where do we go from here moving forward? Let’s fight to make sure it’s forward.

Today’s Homework Discuss

Thom's blog
This is the End of the Republican Party
Whoever is saying that last night was the demise of the Democratic party - they're wrong! In reality, it's the end of the Republican party. As the money in this election points out, the party of (old republicans) is now the party of (CEOs). So how much does it cost to buy the House of Representatives? Try over $300 million dollars - $123 million of which came from anonymous donors. That's how much money was funneled into this year's elections by outside groups. In a full assault on our democracy, the Chamber of Commerce and its big business associates rained down millions in hit pieces to knock off Democrats around the country. Also in the game, Super PACs - or front groups for billionaires - like Karl Rove's "American Crossroads" and Norm Coleman's "American Action Network" tossed in over a hundred million dollars to ensure that Republican corporate puppets are elected to Congress.
The puppets now control the House with a likely 50-seat majority. And now in power, they have to live up to their end of the deal - legislate on behalf of billionaires like the Koch brother who want massive tax breaks, freedom to ship jobs overseas, and freedom to irreparably pollute our environment - in other words, freedom to finish off the dismantling of the middle class. Corporations were successful in knocking out good guys like Russ Feingold in Wisconsin, Alan Grayson in Florida, and Tom Perriello in Virginia - replacing them in each case with millionaires who adamantly oppose middle class policies like raising the minimum wage and extending unemployment insurance - millionaires who have promised to sell their votes in Congress to the highest bidder.
What does this Congress look like when it's bought and paid for by big business? Look no further than Rand Paul in Kentucky who made these comments this morning, "there are no rich. There are no middle class. There are no poor...We all either work for rich people or we sell stuff to rich people. So just punishing rich people is as bad for the economy as punishing anyone..." He practically spelled it out for us. Not since 1906 has our country witnessed this type of special interest subversion of our democracy. Back then, it only took 2 years to neuter the fat cat CEO's and keep them out of politics when Teddy Roosevelt worked to get the 1907 Tillman Act passed out of Congress - an act that stopped corporations from messing around in American politics. Now, over 100 years later and a Supreme Court decision in Citizens United - our country has regressed back to the age of the robber barons of the late 19th century.
http://thomhartmann.com/

Randi Rhodes: It`s Election Day - VOTE!

HOUR THREE GUEST: Gov. Tim Kaine, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

It’s Election Day! Though if you like, you can think of it as one final poll… with 100 percent accuracy. I like to think of it as the night of the much anticipated “Chuck Todd TV Spectacular.” Election Day is a day that people all over America eagerly look forward to… if only because it means that they’ll finally stop seeing that avalanche of political ads on TV.

What’s at stake? Republicans are vowing “no compromise” for the next two years if they win the House or Senate. If Republicans are in charge, Congress won’t address the problems facing America, Congress will just become another one of the problems facing America. The Republicans will go from obstructionism to outright destructionism. There are plenty of important races. You might want to keep your eye on Alaska tonight. Actually, since they have to count write-in votes, you might want to keep your eye on Alaska for the next several weeks. And after tonight, we might have the very first member of Congress who enjoys dressing up as a Nazi… at least the first who does it in public. I have no idea what Tom DeLay liked to do in front of mirrors behind closed doors.

What impact will the Tea Party have? Tonight this Tea Party could end up being one of those parties that goes on into the wee hours, keeping everybody up all night. 138 candidates for the House and Senate claim support from the Tea Party movement. If they all go to Washington, there are going to be a lot of little towns all across America who will be missing their village idiot. Well, if the Tea Party candidates get elected and start writing laws, I at least hope that they’ll start checking their spelling a little bit better. I don’t want Tea Party politicians in Washington sponsoring “lejislayshun.”

We’ve already seen what happens when rightwing principles are put into action, with that poor guy whose house burned down because he didn’t pay his $75. The bottom line is this—if Republicans are in charge and America catches fire, nobody is going to put it out. You can help prevent that fire. Get out and vote today.

Today’s Homework Discuss

Thom's blog
Who's screwed if the Republicans take control of Congress?
Who's screwed if the Republicans take control of Congress? Labor unions, that's who. Well, I guess you can argue we all might be...but organized labor - the last big funder of Democrats left standing - feels they will surely become public enemy number one in a Republican controlled Congress. On the agenda will be two anti-union pieces of legislation dealing with "card check" and limits on election spending - yes, the Republicans will consider pushing legislation limiting election spending by unions, can you spell hypocrisy? While Democrats failed to pass organized labor's top priority "card check" bill that allows for easier organization in the workplace through potential members simply by signing pro-union cards, Republicans will be sure to pass legislation of their own ensuring that card check never comes to fruition. In other words, they want to make it easier for your boss to intimidate you and squash any organizing attempts. And, to ensure they hold the upper hand in future election spending, Republicans will forbid unions from using members' dues for electioneering unless the individual members provide their consent. Yet Republicans are adamantly opposed to limiting corporate election spending without a vote of shareholders. Unions were able to provide a meager balance in their financial support for Democrats this election cycle, but still paled in comparison to the avalanche of money thrown at Republican candidates by unknown billionaires through the Chamber of Commerce.

http://ThomHartmann.com
(Who do you think is screwed if the Republicans take control of Congress? Tell us here.)

Randi Rhodes: Giving Insanity a Day Off

This weekend was the big Comedy Central Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear (video). It was just nice to be able to go somewhere and indulge in a little good-natured mockery without getting your head stomped on. Conservative estimates put the size of the crowd at well above 200,000. Of course estimates by conservatives were a lot lower than conservative estimates. In any case, there were easily over twice as many people at the Rally to Restore Sanity than there had been at Glenn Beck’s rally. Still, given the relative ages of the attendees, I’m sure there were much longer lines for the port-o-potties at Beck’s rally. The attendance was so much larger than what Comedy Central had planned on that much of the crowd was beyond the reach of the loudspeakers and video screens. So a lot of the crowd had no idea what was going on. Of course you could say the same thing about any Tea Party gathering. The Rally to Restore Sanity did a lot better job of reflecting reality than the right’s “real” rallies. But then Tea Party rallies aren’t designed to reflect reality. They’re meant to deflect reality.
The 2010 election could end up costing $4 billion. And if the people spending most of the money win, it’s going to end up costing us a lot more. Nobody hates it more than the people all this money is going to. Senator Evan Bayh is retiring just because he’s sick of constantly having to raise money. His job essentially consists of begging, and you don’t need a job to do that. If politicians could spend as much time and effort raising money for the country as they do raising money for themselves, we could wipe out the federal deficit. To even begin doing that, even Ronald Reagan’s budget director says we have to raise taxes. David Stockman says if we don’t do something quick, we’re going to “destroy the economy, and render the federal government insolvent,” or as today’s Republicans refer to it, “Plan A.” And David Stockman spent the 80’s slashing taxes on the wealthy. Nothing else anybody did during the 1980’s ultimately did more damage to America. And I’m including Kenny G, Christopher Cross, and Milli Vanilli.
Today’s Homework Discuss
Arguably, one the best moments Saturday’s rally was also the most serious one. Here are Jon Stewart’s closing remarks:

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear
Jon Stewart - Moment of Sincerity
http://www.comedycentral.com/
Rally to Restore Sainty and/or Fear The Daily Show The Colbert Report

Thom's blog
28th Amendment - Free Speech for People
In our "you need to know this" news, with the midterm elections tomorrow, the first ever corporate funded campaign season is finally winding down - at least temporarily. And now, many Americans are looking ahead to prevent another onslaught of spending from unknown and foreign sources influencing our future elections. A group of more than fifty legal scholars including former state attorneys general have started the Free Speech for People coalition in hopes of passing a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling. The proposed 28th Amendment would affirm that the basic right to free speech applies to people, not corporations. Given that 75% of Americans disagree with the Supreme Court's ruling, and a same majority also fear that the Congress will not work to overturn it, the coalition has already started grassroots movements in many states to get local government to pass similar resolutions to eventually put pressure on the federal government to act on passing an amendment. In a similar vein, Representative Peter DeFazio from Oregon wants to prevent future corporate funded rulings on the Supreme Court through another strategy - Impeachment.
Referring to the claim by Justice Stevens that the Citizens United case was not brought before the court in a proper fashion, Representative DeFazio said, "It was the most extraordinary condemnation I've ever read of a perverted majority on the Supreme Court, at least in recent years." DeFazio is also claiming that Chief Justice John Roberts is guilty of perjury for insisting during his Senate confirmation hearing that he would act on legal precedents and not become a judicial activist. John Roberts not an activist judge?! The Citizens United Ruling overturned a century of precedents in campaign reform law and as we talked about last week, the Supreme Court's support for the Chamber of Commerce has increased dramatically in recent years. Something must be done to combat corporate personhood and this court's radical rulings.
http://ThomHartmann.com

Randi Rhodes: Reality Check

It’s Friday, ya bastids!
Only 4 more days for candidates to do something stupid…Mike Lee, the Tea Party-backed Utah Republican candidate for Senate says that a total government shutdown may be “absolutely necessary.” It’s bad enough that this crop of Republicans is willing to shut down the government. The worse part is that they probably don’t want to ever start it back up. A Republican nominee for lieutenant governor of Wisconsin has compared gay marriage to bestiality… or to marrying an inanimate object. That’s basically saying “I’ll see your Rick Santorum, and raise you one!” Rebecca Kleefisch said “at what point are we going to OK marrying inanimate objects? Can I marry this table, or this, you know, clock? Can we marry dogs?” Well, I bet no matter what you dream up, there’s a website for it. And Carl Paladino has been forwarding email photos of it to all his friends. Joe Miller has fallen to last place in the Alaska Senate race. Where does he work now? Maybe he can rig the computers there to all vote for him. Or do you think he can hire enough goons to handcuff enough voters that he can still win this election? On a more disturbing note, the head of Media Matters made a personal plea to Sarah Palin to denounce the violent rhetoric coming from people like Glenn Beck. Has he noticed that Sarah Palin is one of those people? After the plea was made, Sarah called Glenn Beck’s radio show to say “I stand with you, Glenn.” Well, at least she didn’t urge him to “reload.” Not on the air, anyway. So both Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin refuse to distance themselves from insane people. But then that would be like asking Cheech and Chong to distance themselves from stoners. Whereas most people look out there and see a lot of dangerous and disturbed individuals, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin just see their base. These people are so crazy that you’re almost tempted to hope they do well in the election on Tuesday because that means they’ll be less tempted to try those “Second Amendment Remedies” that Sharron Angle is always talking about.

Today’s Homework Discuss

The Kentucky Democratic Party incorporates the Rand Paul head stomper into their latest web ad…

Randi Rhodes: Taking a Stand (On Someone’s Head)

Hour One Guest: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on the election and its most contentious issue, healthcare reform.
Last night President Obama became the first sitting president to appear on the Daily Show (video below). In just his first term, Obama has appeared on The Daily Show, Leno, and Letterman. And nobody wants him to have a second term more than Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and Craig Ferguson.
Senator Judd Gregg is comparing healthcare reform to Freddy Krueger. The only way that healthcare reform is like Freddy Krueger is that the Republicans keep dragging it out to scare people. If Republicans retake the House, I just hope healthcare reform will prove even harder for Republicans to kill off than Freddy Krueger is to kill in the movies.
Rand Paul is refusing to return the $2,000 that Tim Profitt, the guy who stomped on a woman’s head, had donated to Paul’s campaign. Is Rand Paul making a stand? Just don’t do it on anybody’s head, OK, Rand? Originally, the Rand Paul campaign said they would return the money. So this is a flip-flop! Hey Rand, if you have flip-flops, give them to Tim Profitt. They would make him less dangerous. MoveOn.org’s You Can’t Stomp On Us campaign
John Boehner is going to campaign this weekend with Rich Iott, the Ohio Republican Congressional candidate who enjoys dressing up as a Nazi. Be sure to bring your flanged helmet, John. This could be a sticky situation for John Boehner. Given the Nazi’s beliefs about Aryan supremacy, how would they feel about somebody with the skin color that John Boehner has? Neo-Nazis believe in “white power,” not “orange power.”
Finally, Christine O’Donnell threatened to sue a radio station unless they turned over video of an interview she did Tuesday. Think for a second, Christine. Is there anything you could have possibly done during that interview that would be more damaging to your campaign than threatening to sue over it? O’Donnell’s campaign manager threatened to “crush” the radio station with a lawsuit if they didn’t turn over the video. “Crushing” the radio station is not a viable threat, even from a witch, Christine. Just threaten to turn them into a toad.
Today’s Homework Discuss

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Barack Obama Pt. 1
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

Thom's blog
Welcome to third world America, Germany's cheap labor depot...
Just how bad has it gotten for workers in our country? Imagine foreign nations outsourcing jobs to the US for, you guessed it, cheap labor. German automaker BMW announced they are opening a factory in the US and they need laborers. Answering the call are a crowd of skilled workers with advanced degrees who have now been squeezed out of the American workforce thanks to the Chamber's outsourcing death grip on our economy. BMW is paying these workers $15 an hour. In Germany, the same worker would make twice that. Welcome to third world America, Germany's cheap labor depot.
http://thomhartmann.com/

Randi Rhodes: The Head Stomper Speaks

The man who stomped on the head of a woman outside of a Kentucky Senate debate has been identified as a Rand Paul campaign coordinator. How did they ID him—through the footprints left on his victim’s neck and head? The man’s name is Tim Profitt. Remember that name. If Rand Paul wins, he’ll have a job in Rand Paul’s Senate offices. Maybe he can kick the Xerox machine when it’s not working.Profitt told the AP “that the camera angle made the scuffle Monday night appear worse that it was.” First of all, if that was a “scuffle,” then the assassination of Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater was a “gun fight.” And the camera angle made it appear worse? I don’t think there’s a cinematographer in the world who can make stepping on a woman’s head look good. Use all the camera angles, mood lighting, special effects, and CGI that you want, it just doesn’t come off well on video. Profitt actually said that he used his foot to keep his victim down because he can’t bend over because of back problems. I’m glad he can’t bend over—he probably would have strangled this woman. Now Profitt is demanding an apology! Of course. Sorry if anyone’s head got in the way of your foot, Tim. Profitt told reporters “I would like for her to apologize to me to be honest with you.” Do you mind if she waits until her concussion clears up? That way she’ll be able to enunciate better.

Rand Paul’s campaign might be attacking individuals one at a time, but Sharron Angle’s campaign is taking on entire ethnic groups. Sharron has made the most racist campaign ad of all time (video below). And give her credit—it’s her own record she’s beating. Her latest ad, “The Wave” definitely wins the award for most racist ad. (I don’t know if there’s an actual award, but if there is, we should call it “The Willie,” after Willie Horton.) This ad is even more insulting to Latinos than the “Frito Bandito” ad campaign way back in the 1960’s. And at least the Frito Bandito ad campaign was for a product that wasn’t nearly as distasteful as Sharron Angle. All of the bad guys in Angle’s ad have dark skins and are shown in menacing photos. And yes, President Obama is one of them. Of course, Sharron wouldn’t agree that the ad is an insult to Hispanics. She probably thinks that a lot of the people portrayed in the ad actually look more Asian.

Today’s Homework Discuss

Nevada Tea Partier Sharron Angle finds a new racist low with her latest ad…


Thom's blog
The Chamber of Commerce Supreme Court
You need to know this about the Supreme Court. If you think the radically pro-Chamber of Commerce decision reached in the Citizens United case was an anomaly, you'd be wrong. According to a new study by the Constitutional Accountability Center, since 2006, when Justice Alito joined the bench, the Roberts court has ruled in favor of the Chamber 68% of the time. This is an overwhelming increase compared to the 43% success rate of the Chamber under the previous Burger Court during the 1980's. And in cases decided by a narrow 5-4 margin, basically down party lines on today's court, the Chamber was even more successful - walking away with legal victories nearly three quarters of the time. Strikingly, Justice "not true" Alito has never, not even once, sided against the Chamber in a narrow margin decision - thanks for shopping with us, please come again. Its getting worse too. The most recent data, from October 2009, shows the Chamber enjoyed its highest rate of success winning 13 out of 16 cases heard that term. Showing the glaring divide on the court, the more moderate or liberal bloc of Justices only supported the Chamber on 15% of narrowly divided decisions. Unfortunately their opinion has now been drowned out by Chief Justice John Roberts who, with the assistance of his 4 other Republicans colleagues on the bench, have been successful in putting the highest court in the land firmly under the employ of the US Chamber of Commerce. They're now on the payroll along with the United States Congress. Let's see who wins the Employee of the Month award.
http://thomhartmann.com/

Jon Stewart Ridicules The Seeming Hypocrisy Of John McCain’s Political Career

Last night was the second of The Daily Show’s taping in Washington D.C. (in advance of the weekend’s Rally to Restore Sanity) and Jon Stewart’s exploration of incongruous political rhetoric was once again, the topic of the show. Turns out that there are lots of politicians who have made a career out of a pretty simple formula: repeatedly claim that “the system is broken”; call for meaningful “change”; then reap the rewards by never effectively changing the system. Or in Jon Stewart’s shorthand: act like John McCain.
While there is a lot to unpack in the following segment (filled with lots of funny bits about Washington D.C.) the heart of the segment is a rather stunning and illuminating montage of Senator McCain publicly claiming that “government is broken” in a series of clips going back to 1987. When viewed collectively, not only does one think that McCain needs to hire a new speechwriter, but that he’s been remarkably ineffective in fixing the very system in which he’s thrived. It almost seems as though if he’s not really interested in fixing it at all (or maybe “the fix” is in.)
There was a time, not that long ago, that John McCain was considered a good friend to The Daily Show. In fact, if there were such a thing as a Daily Show historian, he or she would likely point to the New Hampshire primaries of 2000 in which McCain’s campaign invited a young Steve Carrell (and producer Nick McKinney) on their bus as a seminal moment in the show’s political coverage and acceptance within the establishment. Though Mr. Stewart may simply be having a good-natured laugh at the expense of McCain’s venerable career, it also functions as a pretty searing indictment of the hypocrisy of career politicians.

Watch the clip below, followed by one of the greatest hits from over 10 years ago:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Indecision 2010 - Extreme Makeover DC Edition
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Indecision 2000 - McCain Campaign Bus
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

Randi Rhodes: Tea Party Thuggery in KY

Outside of a Senatorial debate in Kentucky, supporters of Rand Paul threw a woman from MoveOn.org to the ground and stomped on her head (video below). What happened? Did she refuse to bow down to Aqua Buddha? The Rand Paul followers literally dragged this woman to the ground and then one of them put his foot on her head. For people whose motto is “Don’t Tread On Me,” they don’t have any problem with treading on others. But then Rand Paul wants to get rid of Social Security, Medicare, and the Civil Rights Act. When you get down to it, what he wants to do to us is a lot worse than a kick in the head. You can get over a concussion. But once Social Security is gone, it’s gone.
Clarence Thomas’s former girlfriend has certainly opened up a messy can of Coke. The way former girlfriend Lillian McEwen describes Clarence Thomas, he was one of the ugliest parts of the 80’s. And I’m including Iran-Contra, the savings and loan scandal, and the solo work of Phil Collins. We all did things in the 1980’s that we’re not proud of. For most of us it involved haircuts, leg warmers, and those ridiculous torn sweatshirts. What Lillian did was a tad more disturbing—it was Clarence Thomas. There’s a lot about the 80’s that we’d all like to forget. If Clarence Thomas was drinking the way Lillian McEwen said he was, he should have no trouble forgetting. Thomas is described as a pornography-obsessed, binge drinking, raving alcoholic. He sounds less like a future Supreme Court Justice and more like a character from the movie “Boogie Nights.” (Now I’m picturing Clarence Thomas coked up in a bathrobe, singing along to “Sister Christian” while some weird little guy lights firecrackers.) Of course, Boogie Nights is a fictional story. If there had been a real Dirk Diggler, I’m sure Clarence Thomas would have been discussing his movies with his coworkers at the EEOC.
The good news is that all that changed when Clarence Thomas quit drinking. The bad news is that he became worse. McEwen says that after he quit drinking, Clarence Thomas became an angry, obsessive man who bullied his son. Please Clarence, have a drink, and pop in a Long Dong Silver tape. Between Clarence Thomas and George Bush, this country has had more trouble from former drinkers than it has from current drinkers. Dry drunks are so much worse. No matter how wasted real drunks get, they usually don’t wiretap anyone or extend the right of free speech to corporations.
Today’s Homework Discuss




Thom's blog
Are we seeing a repeat of the brownshirts?
You Need to know this! An ugly scene took place outside the Kentucky Senatorial debate Monday night. A man who appears to be supporter of Republican candidate Rand Paul was captured on TV by a local news affiliate literally stomping the head of a member of MoveOn.org into the pavement. The MoveOn volunteer, Lauren Valle, went to the hospital and was still there last night, according to another MoveOn member. According to a local TV station, Valle had attempted to approach Rand Paul before the debate took place, dressed in a blonde wig and with a "RepublicanCorp" sign seemingly to mock him. Attendees around Valle are heard screaming, "get the cops" as cameras captured her being dragged to the pavement by her sweater. Once on the ground a man wearing white sneakers stomped on her head. The police say they are reviewing news footage and they "are hoping someone can identify who the person is" who committed the assault. I know Glenn Beck irresponsibly throws around the word "Nazi" - he did it again yesterday - to describe liberals. But it's worth noting that Hitler's early supporters, during his beer-hall days when he was running for office, were famous for beating up supporters of his political opponents. If you read William Shirer's "Rise And Fall of the Third Reich," you'll find eerie parallels - from the authoritarian candidates like Paul and Miller, to the violent rhetoric of Palin and McCain, to the brutal supporters of these candidates - with Hitler's early unpaid volunteer supporters who proudly called themselves "the Brownshirts."
http://ThomHartmann.com

Randi Rhodes: Feeding the Hand That Bites You

The Washington Post reports that companies that received federal bailout money, including some that still owe money to the government, are contributing large amounts to political campaigns. Wow. It turns out beggars CAN be choosers. A couple years ago, these companies were begging for government money. Now they’re choosing who’s going to run the government. Some of the contributions seem to defy common sense almost as much as they defy common notions of morality. The PAC for GM gave $5,000 to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), even though McConnell opposed bailout money for GM, saying that the American taxpayer shouldn’t be asked to “subsidize failure.” So why is GM now subsidizing a failure like Mitch McConnell? Well, most of the donations from the bailed out companies are going to Republican candidates. It must be a conservative version of “cash for clunkers.” I guess these companies want to get government off their backs… now that they no longer need government to cover their backs. Now the rightwing is busy burying the statements of Juan Williams in an avalanche of dumb quotes of their own. Brit Hume said “in the culture of NPR, appearing on Fox is a sin.” Actually, Brit, it’s not a sin to be on Fox if you get shouted down by Bill O’Reilly. That means you must have said something right.

Sony says it’s going to stop making Walkmans. This will come as devastating news for anyone who realized that Sony was still making Walkmans. Who’s been buying them? People who like to go for a little jog… in the past? It’s been a while. I think the last time I listened to a Walkman it was playing Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and it was cool. RIP, Walkman. Before Walkmans, if someone was on the bus next to you bobbing their head and singing, you could be pretty confident that they were crazy. Nowadays if someone on the bus ISN’T bobbing their head and singing, you assume their batteries must be dead.

Today’s Homework Discuss

Christine O’Donnell gets ‘auto-tuned’ and goes viral…

Thom's blog
Encourage entrepreneurship
If we as a nation truly believe in entrepreneurship - the very thing that made America an economic success - then we need to pro-actively encourage and provide help and incentives to small businesses. Herbert Hoover started the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) in 1932 to float loans for companies companies that were falling into bankruptcy because so many banks were on the edge of failing that nobody could borrow money. The Dwight Eisenhower administration created the Small Business Administration (SBA) in 1953. But big businesses found ways to game the system and be counted as "small". Now would be a great time to reinvent the SBA from the ground up, making it a place where a person who wants to start an auto repair shop or a small retail store could find the capital to get off the ground. We also need to discourage or ban major corporations from their mergers-and-acquisitions mania and close tax loopholes and stop tax subsidies for them. Moving our personal banking to a local credit union is another good start.
Learn more in chapter three of Rebooting the American Dream, "Stop Them from Eating My Town!"
http://ThomHartmann.com

Thom Hartmann: The Secret Plot

Thom's blog
The Secret Republican Plot
According to a Center for American Progress report, there seems to be a common goal among all these shadowy PACs that are spending tens of millions of dollars in our elections this year -- they want to protect polluters' profits! CAP has identified 13 Republican backed organizations run by the likes of the Koch Brothers, Karl Rove, and Ed Gillespie that have spent nearly $70 million to derail clean energy legislation and elect politicians who have the same goal. On top of that, $242 million dollars have already been spent by big oil in lobbying efforts to defend their right to pollute. Time and time again, as energy reform is debated and pressure is put on big oil to take more responsibility for their pollution, you hear the same excuse: "We can't afford to be crippled by government regulations, we can't afford to invest in new, cleaner technology, we'll have to pass on our high costs to the customers." This is absurd. They can't afford to pay fines when they pollute ecosystems, yet they can afford over $300 million dollars to pollute our politicians and elections? The sad thing is, this is not a coincidence. As we discussed earlier in the week, most of these groups will all get together again in Palm Springs in January to plot how to rig the game beyond 2010. Simply put, this is a conspiracy to buy elections, buy politicians, and to buy legislation for the primary reason of preserving polluters' profits indefinitely -- no matter the cost to the American's national security, American's health, or the commons.
http://ThomHartmann.com

Randi Rhodes: Follow the Money

It’s Friday, ya bastids!“Follow the money” was Deep Throat’s advice during the Watergate scandal. In the intervening years, conservatives have gotten a lot better at covering up the money’s footprints. Karl Rove’s money networks are expected to raise some $250 million for ads for GOP candidates in the election. That’s enough to flood the airwaves… and drown democracy. And it’s all done in secret. It’s like the Underground Railroad, except they’re trying to railroad this election. Karl Rove is used to winning campaigns with lies and dirty tricks. In the post-Citizens United era, the main difference is that he has well-funded lies and dirty tricks. Can anything be done about it? NBC’s Michael Isikoff said “It’s going to depend whether voters get upset.” Well, there are hundreds of millions of dollars available to make sure they don’t know a damned thing about it. How can voters get upset over the money buying the election when that money is being spent to get them upset over things that have nothing to do with the election? Heck, the biggest danger for these networks of secret donors is that there are so many of them that they’re going to run out of fake patriotic-sounding names. American Future Fund, America's Families First Action Fund, Citizens for Strength and Security Action Fund, and RevereAmerica.org… I guess they all sound better than “Billionaires for Billionaires.”

The only real competition that Karl Rove’s secret money network has is the US Chamber of Commerce… and they’re doing the exact same thing, for exact same people, and probably funded by the exact same donors. A New York Times investigation shows that nearly half of the $140 million in contributions the Chamber got in 2008 came from just 45 donors. So the Chamber may have 300,000 members, but it’s really being run by a tiny handful of powerful corporations. And that’s the model they have for America as a whole. The Chamber defends its secretiveness on the grounds that the corporations who donate get hassled by protesters. Wow, it turns out that, not only are corporations human—they have feelings too! The Chamber’s chief lobbyist said that the companies are “confronted with protests at their corporate headquarters, protests and harassment at the C.E.O.’s homes.” So they’re basically saying they don’t want to disclose their actions because people don’t like their actions. Here’s a basic rule of thumb, Chamber People—if you have to hide what you’re doing, maybe what you’re doing is wrong.

Today’s Homework Discuss

Randi appeared on the Joy Behar Show Wednesday night to discuss Virginia & Clarence Thomas… http://www.randirhodes.com/pages/videovault/videoplayer.html?uri=channels/358790/1053126

Thom's blog
Get ready for President Palin
Remember when I told you that the tens to hundreds of millions of dollars that billionaires and transnational outsourcing corporations are spending in this election was really just practice for 2012? I even suggested that these big funders let some whackos in to play, people with room-temperature IQs who will parrot a line regardless of how ridiculous it is, like Sharon Angle, Joe Miller, Rand Paul, and Christine O'Donnell, just to see how much money it would take to get voters to put into office somebody who's obviously and patently unqualified for a powerful office like the senate, so they'd know how far they can go in 2012 in putting into office wholly owned candidates. Apparently I was right. Today's news reports that a secretive network of Republican donors is heading to the Palm Springs area for a long weekend in January, but it will not be to relax after a hard-fought election - it will be to plan for the next one. Koch Industries, the longtime underwriter of libertarian causes from the Cato Institute in Washington to the ballot initiative that would suspend California's landmark law capping greenhouse gases, is planning a confidential meeting at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa to, as an invitation says, "develop strategies to counter the most severe threats facing our free society and outline a vision of how we can foster a renewal of American free enterprise and prosperity." In other words, how the rich guys can completely take over our government, including the White House, in 2012. Get ready for President Palin.

http://thomhartmann.com/

Randi Rhodes: Who is Ginny Thomas?

We haven’t heard from Virginia Thomas for a couple of days. Maybe Clarence confiscated her cell phone. It’s not likely Clarence did that, though—that would involve making a good decision. The phone call from Virginia Thomas to Anita Hill stirred up a lot of disturbing emotions—kind of like Clarence Thomas himself. You’d think a guy who was best known for the stuff that Clarence Thomas was best know for would work hard to build a resume. Instead, he’s just sat on the Supreme Court like a lump—a lump that votes the wrong way when it comes down to it.

Virginia Thomas likes to go up in front of Tea Party crowds and rail against “Washington elites.” Really, Ginny? You’re working up the Tea Party people against “Washington elites”? That’s like Louis XVI inciting the French peasants against the aristocracy. Or more accurately, like Marie Antoinette doing it. Virginia and Clarence Thomas ARE the elites of Washington. And that’s perhaps the scariest thought of all.

Ginny Thomas runs a far-right, secretive group called Liberty Central. And her husband is part of a far-right, secretive group called the John Roberts Supreme Court. Ginny’s group doesn’t have to disclose its donors. And Clarence’s group makes sure that they don’t have to. Ginny’s political activism could raise serious questions because her husband is on the Supreme Court. (Actually the fact that Clarence Thomas is on the Supreme Court raises a lot of serious questions on its own.) But with her political activism, and her husband’s place on the Supreme Court, there is definitely a conflict of interest… especially since both of them are so interested in conflict.

In a debate Christine O’Donnell was unable to name a single sitting Democratic senator. Really. Don’t worry, Christine, you won’t be required to know that. It’s not like you’re going to be working with any of these people in the future. Asked to name a Democratic Senator she would be willing to work with, all Christine could come up with was former Senator Hillary Clinton. Actually, I’m a little surprised that she came up with Hillary Clinton. I would think Christine would be more familiar with the work of Hillary Duff.

Today’s Homework Discuss

Randi appeared on the Joy Behar Show last night to discuss Virginia Thomas…

http://www.randirhodes.com/pages/videovault/videoplayer.html?uri=channels/358790