Randi’s out today, but our good friend Nicole Sandler is filling in; her guests include:
Bill McKibben, author, journalist, and environmentalist who has written extensively on the impact of climate change will talk with Nicole about the GOP's biggest current science-denier, Rick Perry - and the Tar Sands Protest, which begins this weekend..
Lee Fang, journalist and investigative researcher for the Center for American Progress have the latest example of the revolving door between lobbyists and Congress: Rep. Darrell Issa's (R-CA) top aide on banking regulation changes used to be a vice president for Goldman Sachs, but changed his name apparently to hide from the media.
And world-famous humorist Andy Borowitz of The Borowitz Report will hit all the highlights of the week from Rick Perry's hair helmet to the Iowans who thought they were voting for Batman in the Ames Straw Poll.te.
Call Nicole at 866-87-RANDI (866-877-2634)
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Robert Reich dismantles the gut-government GOP groupthink in just three minutes...
Friday, August 19, 2011
Randi Rhodes: War on Science
Thom Hartmann: Is the right-wing Club for Growth funding the Gang of 12?
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Randi Rhodes: Still Not Satisfied
The Republicans are emptying the bench. They’re like a panicked baseball manager going through all his relief pitchers in the middle innings of an important game. They’re going to run out of righties! They’ll run out living Republicans and start suggesting names like Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater. OK, that could never happen. Reagan and Goldwater aren’t conservative enough to appeal to the base. Heck, Tim Pawlenty should announce that he’s considering a run for president. They’re so desperate they’re liable to forget he already tried and failed.
They keep mentioning Paul Ryan. Really? That’s the best you can do? The guy who wants to destroy Medicare and who looks like a zombie? Paul Ryan would be good for getting out the “undead” vote. Animated corpses would rise from graveyards and flood the polling places like some sick version of “Day of the Dead” narrated by Chuck Todd. Face it, Paul Ryan couldn’t look any spookier unless he had a small rivulet of fresh blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
And Chris Christie? Chris Christie could win... a sumo wrestling match. Puh-leeze! The only time I would want Chris Christie leading my team is in a tug of war, or a hot dog eating contest. Get real. Chris Christie is not going to run. Run? The man can’t even walk 100 yards to his kid’s baseball game. President Chris Christie would be having the Marine One helicopter take him to a TGI Fridays for Buffalo wings six times a week.
Republicans should do like Tibetan Buddhists do with the Dalai Lama, and just search the land for an infant who is the reincarnation of the chosen leader of the Republican people.
Today’s Homework | Discuss
Christine "I'm Not A Witch" O'Donnell is making the rounds again pimping a book. Last night she walked out on Piers Morgan rather than discuss her views on gay rights...
Thom Hartmann: It's time to slam shut the revolving door on Capitol Hill - and bolt it closed...
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Randi Rhodes: Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest
Rick Perry is not disavowing the threat he made against Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in which he said “we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas.” Of course, it’s a little hard to back pedal from after making a threat. What are you going to say? I “mis-threatened”? When asked about the comments, Perry’s campaign said “The Governor was expressing his frustration with the current economic situation and the out of control spending that persists in Washington.” Maybe we need a leader who doesn’t express his frustration in such a juvenile way. I would say that this raises big questions about Rick Perry’s fitness to be President, but those big questions were all raised the second he announced. This merely reinforces them.
Don’t be cruel, Michele. Yesterday Michele Bachmann gave a big birthday shout out to Elvis Presley… on the anniversary of his death. At a rally yesterday Michele announced “Before we get started, let’s all say ‘Happy Birthday’ to Elvis Presley today.” It’s not so much that she got the wrong date, it’s that part of me suspects that she’s not aware that Elvis died. OK, it’s a simple mistake. But it’s like the 500th mistake in a row. Does Michele Bachmann ever get anything right? Somebody check to see if her name is actually Michele Bachmann. At the very least, I assume she’s been misspelling it all these years. Michele has been playing Elvis’s version of “Promised Land” at her rallies. Elvis released that song in 1975. Leave it to Michele Bachmann to pick a song by the old, fat Elvis. Really Michele, couldn’t you have chosen a more appropriate Elvis song for your rallies, like “Hard Headed Woman,” or “Devil in Disguise”?
Finally, fresh off his “Corporations are people” quote, now Mitt Romney says it’s no use raising taxes on the rich, because rich people are smarter than you. Really. You know, for a really rich guy, Mitt Romney sure says some stupid things. Romney put it this way: “The problem with rich people is that many of them are smart.” Yes. So let’s tax the middle class, because they are too dumb to figure a way around it! I have news for Mitt: the rich aren’t successful at avoiding taxes because they’re smart. They’re successful at avoiding taxes because they’re rich.
Today’s Homework | Discuss
FLASHBACK 2010: Watch Rick Perry do his George W. Bush impression while dancing around Texas's failed abstinence education policy...
Thom Hartmann: Big tobacco is suing the FDA because they say - they're people!
Norman Goldman: This Week in Tweets
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Randi Rhodes: Tex-Ass
That didn’t take long. If you were wondering how long it would take for Rick Perry to cross the line, it looks like he’s starting out from across the line. When asked if he was suggesting that President Obama does not love America, Perry said “You need to ask him.” Congratulations, Rick. You’ve been in this race something like 48 hours and you’ve already broken Sarah Palin’s “pals around with terrorists” record for incivility.
Rick Perry isn’t just attacking President Obama. Yesterday Perry warned Federal Reserve Chairman Bill Bernanke against “printing more money.” And since in Rick Perry’s world, no warning is considered serious unless it’s accompanied by a threat, he threw one in. Perry said that if Bernanke “prints more money between now and the election, I don’t know what y’all would do to him in Iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas.” What kind of thing is that to say? I’d be very angry if I were Ben Bernanke. And I’d be infuriated if I were from Texas. Then Perry said that printing more money is “almost treasonous in my opinion.” Wow. Perry is a guy who has openly advocated secession. I didn’t know if ANYTHING could be treasonous in his opinion. Ever notice that people with a southern accent often intentionally make their southern drawl more extreme when they want to intimidate people? They know we’ve all seen the movie “Deliverance.”
When Rick Perry was asked if he wasn’t a little bit too much like George Bush, he said “one of the quick you can tell the difference is that he’s a Yale graduate; I’m a Texas A&M graduate.” Got that? The only problem with George Bush was that golldarned Ivy League education. I never thought that the fact that George Bush went to Yale University said anything bad about George Bush. It said plenty of bad things about Yale University.
As far as Rick Perry’s “Texas Miracle” goes, it seems like Texas ranks last or next to last in every ranking for things you don’t want to be last in. The only reason Texas is not dead last in everything is the existence of the state of Mississippi. It’s like the Third World is coming to America, and it’s going through Texas to get here.
Today’s Homework | Discuss
Bill Clinton weighed in on Rick "Good-Looking Rascal" Perry and the GOP's anti-government religion yesterday in NYC...
Thom Hartmann: Rick Perry is wasting no time resorting to violent rhetoric
Monday, August 15, 2011
Randi Rhodes: Crazy Squared
Lost in all the hoopla over Michele Bachmann coming in first in the Ames straw poll is the fact that Ron Paul also virtually came in first in the Ames straw poll. Ron Paul got 28 percent of the vote to Michele Bachmann’s 29 percent. You could take that to mean that Ron Paul is a serious candidate, but it’s more likely it indicates Michele Bachmann is not really a serious candidate. So Michele Bachmann’s big win—the win that makes her a frontrunner—was by 152 votes over a guy everyone agrees has zero chance of winning. That’s like being considered a Grammy favorite because you beat William Huang in a sing-off.
Tim Pawlenty came in a distant third, and quit the race. There is a big empty space where Tim Pawlenty used to be. Actually, it was a big empty space when Tim Pawlenty was still there. But now to fill that void we have the big void from Texas! Rick Perry announced his candidacy for president this weekend in Charleston, South Carolina—which is geographically and demographically about as far right as any place in this country. One problem though, Rick—I don’t know if Charleston, South Carolina is the best place to make your announcement after you’ve already called for your own state to secede from the Union. Really, Rick, why not go all the way and fire a symbolic cannon shot at Fort Sumter? It’s right out there in the harbor. But then Rick Perry has to talk about having Texas secede because he has no idea what it takes to make Texas succeed.
Now the GOP presidential field has a whole new landscape. And in honor of the newcomer from Texas, it’s a very arid, dry, and barren landscape.
Today’s Homework | Discuss
CNN's Fareed Zakaria had some harsh words for Obama-bashing liberals yesterday...
Thom Hartmann: Let's listen to Warren Buffett
Friday, August 12, 2011
Randi Rhodes: GOP Fight Night
Last night’s GOP debate was at least entertaining, as long as you’re convinced none of this bunch can ever really become president. Republicans would like this field of candidates to be a “Field of Dreams,” but looking at the group that gathered last night, if they had to be described using the name of a baseball movie, it would be “Eight Men Out.” OK, Michele Bachmann is not a man. And nobody is more disappointed in that than Marcus Bachmann.
Hardly anyone even tried to lay a hand on front-runner Mitt Romney. The most damaging quote against Mitt Romney from yesterday came from Mitt’s afternoon campaign appearance where he declared “Corporations are people, my friend!”
Things got a little heated last night. I had expected sparks to fly, but frankly, I thought the sparks would be from Michele Bachmann’s brain short-circuiting, not from an attack by Tim “Pit Bull” Pawlenty. Last debate, Tim Pawlenty was afraid to go after Mitt Romney. This debate he went after a girl… and lost. Tim Pawlenty attacked Michele Bachmann’s record of legislative accomplishments. Hello, Tim! Michele Bachmann is not in Congress to make laws. She’s there to make trouble. And that, she has accomplished. Tim said of Michele “It’s not her spine we’re worried about, it’s her lack of results.” To be fair, Michele Bachmann is only one of 435 members of the House. There isn’t a lot she can do as one person. And that’s the reason the United States of America is still standing. Michele Bachmann proved that she can let criticism just bounce off of her. But then Michele Bachmann can let reality just bounce off of her.
The worst moment of the night came when every single candidate raised their hands to indicate they would reject a budget with ten times more spending cuts than revenue increases. Essentially they were saying “Nobody on this stage can or will do anything to address the deficit problems.” Why stop at 10-to-1? They all would have said they’d reject a bill with a ratio of 100-to-1, or a million-to-1, or if the only tax increase was $1 to be collected on Casey Anthony alone.
Today’s Homework | Discuss
Thom Hartmann: Why not one question about the Republican plans to voucherize Medicare & turn Social Security over to Wall Street?
