The whole idea of a democracy is accepting you’ll never fully get your own way in government. Yes, I know we celebrate the imagined rugged individual pulling on his sole-proprietorship bootstraps fully autonomous while enjoying socialized infrastructure and tax subsidies – it’s what makes America great….and charmingly peculiar. But letting consensus dictate means all individuals… Continue reading
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MSNBC Clip: The Power Panel on Cenk’s Show
The Atlantic: Sarah Palin Movie Maker Wants You to Love Her Like He Does
Jun 20 2011, 7:30 AM ET 687 Conservative filmmaker Stephen Bannon thinks his film can win hearts and minds — and maybe even, one day, votes — for the former Alaska governor MINNEAPOLIS — He says his publicists didn’t think he should meet with me. “Why?” I ask. “They said you wrote something bad about… Continue reading
The Atlantic: Conservative Fun with Andrew Breitbart et al. at Right Online
Jun 18 2011, 3:45 PM ET Why is there a giant Koch-funded conservative gathering at the same time and in the same city as Netroots Nation, anyway? Over the last couple of decades plenty of women have thought they were going into a medical clinic to get a free pregnancy test only to enter what’s… Continue reading
The Atlantic: Solidarity Meets the Blogosphere at Netroots Nation
Jun 17 2011, 11:27 AM ET Progressives have often suffered for what can be called “micro-cause-ism.” Meaning when you arrive at anti-war rally or the like, suddenly there are people clamoring to save the whales/polar bears, stop sexism/racism, free Tibet/Mumia and go raw/vegan/organic/local, etc., etc. Each of these causes believes it is the most important… Continue reading
The Atlantic: Netroots Nation Dispatch: Organizing Organized Labor
Jun 16 2011, 10:57 AM ET The sixth annual Netroots Nation (nee Yearly Kos) is being held in suddenly swampy downtown Minneapolis, Minn. The pre-conference events Wednesday consisted of two all-day marathon strategy sessions for two largely separate groups who both just so happen to have breaking news this week: the LGBT community and the… Continue reading
We Get the Media We Want
“The media” is our favorite whipping boy. It’s shallow, petty and often stupid. It misses points, focuses on the wrong things, and completely ignores the bigger issues. It’s prone to obsess on trivial rivalries and scandals instead of thoughtful substantive discussions about things which affect us most. Essentially, the media is a mirror of us…. Continue reading
The Case for Actual Death Panels
Dr. Death is dead. Murad (Jack) Kevorkian, whose name has been synonymous with doctor-assisted suicide, died last week at 83. He spent eight years in a maximum-security prison for helping the sick end their suffering. It was clear Kevorkian was no angel” of death. He was eccentric, flamboyant and obstinate about his pet cause. He… Continue reading
The Young Turks: Second Hour Sub
Sarah Palin’s Enemies List
David Letterman Wall Street Journal/Sudeep Reddy Senator Lisa Murkowski (R) Levi Johnston Shannyn Moore Katie Couric Nicolle Wallace Steve Schmidt Kate Gosselin The Fed/Ben Bernanke Pete Rouse Joe McGinniss Peggy Noonan Ashley Judd Congressman Spencer Bachus (R) Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten Joe Miller Politico Karl Rove State Department (Ahmadinejad’s birthday) Rahm Emanuel Family Guy/Seth… Continue reading
The Rich Don’t Create Jobs ” We Do
The rich don’t create jobs. The bottom 80% of Americans have 15% of the net worth, and the top 1% has 35% of the net worth in what is still the richest country on earth. So, when I say “rich” ”” I mean really really rich. “The rich create jobs” is a well-worn catch phrase… Continue reading
Regardless of Belief,’ Climate Change is Real
According to Oakland, California’s Harold Camping, the Rapture was supposed to hit American Samoa (the location of the International Dateline) at 6 pm on Saturday, May 21, 2011. Despite what all the billboards claimed, that would have been 11 pm PST on Friday for the west coast. And from there the Rapture was to roll… Continue reading
The Atlantic: The Rapture Is Not Saturday — It’s Tonight
May 20 2011, 8:02 AM ET Doomsday prophet Harold Camping tells The Atlantic what to expect when the end of the world begins LOS ANGELES — In his relentless study of the Bible, 89-year-old Oakland-based Harold Camping has seen the signs. You may have also seen them recently. They read, “Judgment Day: May 21, 2011… Continue reading
GOP on Heath Care: Twist and Shout
The best thing about the upcoming 2012 election is that the ominous “Obamacare” was a Republican idea. But now since this alternative to Hillarycare was signed into law by a (gasp) Democratic president the GOP has been trying to peg as a radical socialist Kenyan ”” Republicans now have to be against their own ideas…. Continue reading