Tag Archives: government

Sleeping 8-Bit Style with the Nintendo Bed

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER! Rpaxton definitely deserves an award for “Best Nerd Sister.” The Instructables user and her mother decided to give her brother the ultimate gift for any Nintendo fan, an entire bedspread replica of the Nintendo Entertainment System. Now he may not get laid for awhile, but I’m sure he’ll eventually find that special lady that appreciates it just as much as he does. http://nerdreactor.com/2010/09/15/sleeping-8-bit-style-with-the-nintendo-bed/ added by: NerdReactorTV

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Rare Asian Unicorn Spotted for the First Time in Over a Decade in Laos

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

However the animal died after been captured by villagers in a remote region of Laos. The critically endangered mammal, which is found in the mountains of Vietnam and Laos, was first discovered in 1992. The saola, which looks similar to the antelopes of North Africa, but is more closely related to wild cattle, is so elusive it has been likened to the unicorn, despite having two horns, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said. It has never been seen by conservation experts in the wild and the last confirmed sighting was from camera traps in 1999. The animal is listed as critically endangered, with just a few hundred thought to exist in the wild. Conservationists said that with none in zoos and almost nothing known about how to keep them in captivity, if the species vanish in the wild they will be extinct. The Laos government said villagers in the country's central province of Bolikhamxay captured the saola in late August and brought it back to their village. When news of the capture reached the authorities a team was sent, advised by the IUCN and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), to examine and release the animal. Unfortunately the adult male saola was weakened by several days in captivity and died shortly after the team reached the remote village. It was photographed while still alive. IUCN saola working group coordinator William Robichaud said: ''The government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic and WCS are to be commended for their rapid response and efforts to save this animal. ''We hope the information gained from the incident can be used to ensure that this is not the last Saola anyone has a chance to see.'' The provincial conservation unit of Bolikhamxay province said the animal's death was ''unfortunate'' but the incident confirmed an area where it was still found and the government would immediately strengthen conservation efforts there. And Dr Pierre Comizzoli, a member of the IUCN saola working group, said study of the animal's carcass could yield some good from the incident. ''Our lack of knowledge of saola biology is a major constraint to efforts to conserve it. ''This can be a major step forward in understanding this remarkable and mysterious species. ''It's clear that further awareness-raising efforts about the special status of saola are needed but the saola doesn't have much time left. ''At best a few hundred survive, but it may be only a few dozen. The situation is critical.'' It is not clear why the villagers, who reportedly found the animal in the village's sacred forest, took the saola into captivity, but the authorities are urging villages in the area not to capture them and to release any they might encounter. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/8006076/Asian-unicorn-spotted-for-firs… added by: EmperorThan

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Harsh Attacks Against Christine O’Donnell Continue on ABC: Carville Slams ‘Deadbeat’ Nominee

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

For the second day in a row, Good Morning America featured degrading descriptions of Delaware senatorial candidate Christine O’Donnell. Democratic strategist James Carville appeared on Thursday’s show and fumed about the Republican’s past financial problems: ” Christine O’Donnell doesn’t believe in spending, particularly her own money, because, she’s a deadbeat. She doesn’t pay her loans back .” Wednesday’s GMA included host George Stephanopoulos reading quotes against the “mentally unhinged” “liar.” The show on Thursday showcased an extended conversation on masturbation and remarks O’Donnell made about the subject in 1996. Stephanopoulos played a clip and then Carville joked, “And she equated masturbation to adultery. And, boy, if that’s the case, the Iranians would be stoning a lot of people in this country.” In fairness, after playing the snippet of O’Donnell’s 14-year-old comment, the ABC host wondered, “But, I think a lot of people might watch [the clip] and say, what’s wrong with she said?” The segment also featured conservative radio host and Tea Party activist Dana Loesch who chided, “She’s talking about masturbation. It’s not like she’s wearing black socks and getting caught in hotel rooms with call girls and stuff. If we want to point fingers on bedroom antics, we can do that.” Stephanopoulos did bring up the gloom hanging over the Democrats in the midterm, but he turned to the subject of whether the “extreme views” of Tea Partiers will “cost Republican seats that they otherwise would have won.” A transcript of the September 16 segment, which aired at 7:05am EDT, follows: GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s get into the debate now. We’re joined now from St. Louis, Missouri, by radio talk show host and tea party activist, Dana Loesch. And from Washington, Democratic strategist James Carville. And, Dana, let me begin with you. You saw Joe Biden out there last night. There’s the White House message. Moderates need not apply to the Republican Party. DAN LOESCH: Well, I’ve seen several elections where moderates in the Democrat Party have been run out on a rail, like Elijah Lovejoy. What we’re seeing with the Republican Party in the particular case of Mike Castle, I think calling him a moderate is especially generous. This guy’s record was indistinguishable from the Democrat to which he wanted to run against in the general election. And what we saw- This was the people of Delaware that spoke. This wasn’t a group of Republicans. They tried to nominate Mike Castle. But, the primaries are all about getting the people’s voice out there. That’s what we saw in this primary with Christine O’Donnell. And the people made their voices heard that they were unhappy with Mike Castle’s record. STEPHANOPOULOS: And, James, there is some evidence out there that Tea Party is not just on the fringes right now. Want to show you the numbers from our latest Washington Post/ABC News poll. It shows that Tea Party supporters now make up 44 percent of the primary electorate. Those who really, strongly support the Tea Party, almost a quarter of the electorate. And these guys overwhelmingly are focused on Democrats. 92 percent Of them believe that Democrats don’t deserve re-election. That is a warning sign for the Democrats in November. JAMES CARVILLE: Well, certainly. And congratulations. The Tea Party- This comports with the research we did at the Democracy Corps. The Tea Party is more powerful to the Republican Party than African-Americans and organized labor combined are in the Democratic Party. And you’re exactly right, George. People like Christine O’Donnell are part of the mainstream Republican Party right now. If you look at what happened in New York State. Elijah Lovejoy? What about Robert Bennett? What about Murkowski in Alaska? What about Mike Castle? I mean, been these people have been going on about Elijah Lovejoy, but I know what’s happening over there. And the Tea Party is the Republican Party. This is not a fringe element of the Republican Party. This woman, O’Donnell, is right in the middle of it. And it’s exactly right. They are a very, very powerful force. And they’re running that party right now. STEPHANOPOULOS: And, Dana, the Democrats are hoping that candidates supported by the Tea Party, candidates like Sharron Angle in Nevada, like Rand Paul, like Christine O’Donnell, because they lack experience or have what some would consider extreme views, will cost Republican seats that they otherwise would have won. LOESCH: I don’t know if they have extreme views. I don’t think the Tea Party movement is mainstream- I think it’s mainstream America, period. We’ve seen so much data coming up from the past year, that the majority of Americans, they believe that the Democrat congressional agenda is too extreme. They identify with the individual liberty and smaller government that the grassroots movement espouses. And candidates like Sharron Angle and Rand Paul, these are people- it’s not beltway experience or abstain that they don’t have. It’s the fact they’re standing up for principles that the majority of Americans want. I want the government out of my pocketbook and my bedroom, and everything else. And hat’s what the majority of Americans want. That’s the platform that these candidates stand upon. STEPHANOPOULOS: As someone wrote in the Wall Street Journal this morning, James, it’s the spending, stupid. CARVILLE: Well, clearly, Christine O’Donnell doesn’t believe in spending, particularly her own money, because, she’s a deadbeat. She doesn’t pay her loans back. There’s a lien on her house. We could really classify her as anti-spending . In terms of getting in the bedroom this, woman has run against masturbation. I don’t- That seems to be a lot of government intrusion, to be honest with you. It’s right in the New York Times this morning. I’m sorry. She’s really against spending. She’s not going to spend any of her own money. But again this, is the Republican Party. It’s anti-spending. It’s promoting a bunch of deadbeats. STEPHANOPOULOS: I think we have the clip that James may be referring to. So, why don’t I show that and get you to respond? Here it was, I think, in 1996 on MTV O’DONNELL: The reason that you don’t tell them that masturbation is the answer to AIDS and all these other problems that come with sex outside of marriage is because, again, it is not addressing the issue. You’re going to be pleasing each other. And if he already knows what pleases him and he can please himself, then why am I in the picture? STEPHANOPOULOS: James brought it up. But, I think a lot of people might watch it and say, what’s wrong with she said? LOESCH: Yeah. She’s talking about masturbation. It’s not like she’s wearing black socks and getting caught in hotel rooms with call girls and stuff. If we want to point fingers on bedroom antics, we can do that. I mean, this is- She didn’t say anything- some of the stuff she said in her past, I don’t think anybody, if you look back at the history of everything Mr. Carville has said and, George, you and myself, not everyone is going to be perfect. Perfection, if it were required for public office, nobody would be fit to run. But, I don’t like the class warfare, sort of, angle that Karl Rove seemed to have taken when he was speaking about her. That’s something that bugged me a little bit. STEPHANOPOULOS: James, you get ten seconds to end this. CARVILLE: Well, look, again, like I said, she’s a very fiscal conservative. She doesn’t believe in paying her bills. And she equated masturbation to adultery. And, boy, if that’s the case, the Iranians would be stoning a lot of people in this country. I’ll tell you that.

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Harsh Attacks Against Christine O’Donnell Continue on ABC: Carville Slams ‘Deadbeat’ Nominee

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‘Draw Mohammed Day’ cartoonist goes into hiding / changes identity

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

You may have noticed that Molly Norris' comic is not in the paper this week. That's because there is no more Molly. The gifted artist is alive and well, thankfully. But on the insistence of top security specialists at the FBI, she is, as they put it, “going ghost”: moving, changing her name, and essentially wiping away her identity. She will no longer be publishing cartoons in our paper or in City Arts magazine, where she has been a regular contributor. She is, in effect, being put into a witness-protection program—except, as she notes, without the government picking up the tab. It's all because of the appalling fatwa issued against her this summer, following her infamous “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” cartoon. Norris views the situation with her customary sense of the world's complexity, and absurdity. When FBI agents, on a recent visit, instructed her to always keep watch for anyone following her, she responded, “Well, at least it'll keep me from being so self-involved!” It was, she says, the first time the agents managed a smile. She likens the situation to cancer—it might basically be nothing, it might be urgent and serious, it might go away and never return, or it might pop up again when she least expects it. We're hoping the religious bigots go into full and immediate remission, and we wish her the best. added by: Stoneyroad

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Bill Clinton Fires Back at Rachel Maddow Riff Describing Him as ‘Best Republican President’

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

When lefties turn on each other … never a pretty sight. Former president Bill Clinton, he of the elephantine memory, still nurses a grudge against MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow for a crack she made about him way back in March. In an appearance with former British prime minister Tony Blair in Philadelphia on Monday, Clinton said that “one of the leading television commentators on one of our liberal cable channels said I was the best Republican president the country ever produced, which would come [as] quite a surprise to the Republicans, half of whom still think I’m a closet communist,” according to Politico . Politico also quoted Clinton as follows — “What she meant by that was I didn’t necessarily follow their ‘conventional wisdom’,” he said. “I said, ‘What do you mean?!’ ” “We had 100 times as many people move out of poverty during those eight years [I was president] than the previous 12 years because we had an earned income tax credit, not because we had another traditional anti-poverty program hiring people,” he said. “What gave birth to the Third Way in America was that the Democrats kept getting beat because people saw us as the party of big government, and our own political base very often was more concerned with means than ends,” he said. “I think the people on the right that say that, ‘government is the enemy, we don’t need it,’ are wrong, particularly in this economic time. And I think that people on the left that say, ‘the only way to deliver services or solve problems is with a bigger state,’ are not always right and are more often wrong than not.” While Clinton did not mention Maddow by name, it was apparent from the specifics of his remarks that he was referring to her. According to The Huffington Post , Maddow said this about Clinton on her MSNBC show March 31 — “What we ended up with is what we ended with, in my opinion, is the two terms of the Clinton administration, which is that Bill Clinton was probably the best Republican president the country ever had, if you look at the policies that he passed.” … a view shared by enough left-wingers in 2000 that they preferred inadvertantly helping elect Republican George W. Bush by casting their ballots for purist soulmate Ralph Nader instead of Clinton vice president Al Gore. The Huffington Post wasn’t alone in picking up on Clinton’s belated testiness in response to Maddow’s arch criticism. So did the satirical World Weekly News site, providing this unique take on what I devoutly hope is a burgeoning feud.

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Bill Clinton Fires Back at Rachel Maddow Riff Describing Him as ‘Best Republican President’

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CBS’s Smith: Is GOP Making ‘Miscalculation’ At Their Own ‘Peril’ By Supporting Tea Party?

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Talking to Republican strategist Dan Bartlett on Wednesday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith wondered if the electoral success of the tea party could harm the GOP: “Are all of these tea party victories good for the Republican Party?…I wonder if you’re making a miscalculation at your own peril at, you know, this perceived enthusiasm gap, these people are literally changing the face of a party.” Bartlett admitted difficultly in electing Christine O’Donnell, the winner of Tuesday’s Republican Senate primary in Delaware, but staunchly defended the overall impact of the movement: “…the intensity gap that we’re seeing between the two parties this election cycle is mainly being fed by the tea party movement on the Republican side….The prospect of taking over the House of Representatives would not happen without this vibrant activity within the tea party.”          Smith turned to his other guest, Democratic strategist Tanya Acker, and continued to stress Republican difficulties: “…as Democrats are watching this all unfold, with the rancor and derision within the Republican Party , with the tea party really catching fire out there, how – how do you view it?” Acker ranted: “…I think that more Democrats are going to be motivated to go to the polls when you hear what some of these tea party candidates are saying. I don’t think most of the country wants to repeal the Civil Rights Act.” Only at the very end of the segment did Smith even acknowledge serious problems for Democrats in November: “And Tanya, very quickly, you have to confess, there really is a kind of a ‘throw the bums out’ mentality that has gotten some real traction.” Acker, who seemed to offer nothing but over-the-top sound bites, argued: “I think that what Democrats have to do is to demonstrate that they are interested in governing, not simply coming up with good sound bites for talk radio shows.” In a report prior to Smith’s discussion with Bartlett and Acker, correspondent Nancy Cordes proclaimed of O’Donnell’s primary win: “This is the most stunning victory yet for the tea party and crushing blow to the Republican Party leaders who thought that Vice President Biden’s former Senate seat would be an easy pick-up for them in the fall. Not anymore.” Cordes wrapped up her piece by declaring: “…if Republicans don’t win Delaware, their chances of winning back the Senate are almost nonexistent. Democrats are seizing on this upset to argue that the Republican Party has been taken over by the right wing, that moderates need not apply, that’s an argument they’re going to be taking into the fall.” Here is a full transcript of the September 15 segment: 7:00AM ET TEASE: HARRY SMITH: Tea party triumph. An upstart takes on the Republican establishment and walks away with a big upset on primary day. How will all this tea affect the GOP? 7:01AM ET SEGMENT: SMITH: We begin, though, this morning with politics as the Tea Party Express bowls over some more well-known Republican candidates in Tuesday’s primary election. The biggest surprise, the Senate primary in Delaware. CBS News congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes is in Washington with the latest. Nancy, good morning. NANCY CORDES: Good morning, Harry. This is the most stunning victory yet for the tea party and crushing blow to the Republican Party leaders who thought that Vice President Biden’s former Senate seat would be an easy pick-up for them in the fall. Not anymore. [ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Tea Party Triumph; Big Wins For Upstarts On Primary Day] CHRISTINE O’DONNELL: Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Delaware have spoken. No more politics as usual! CORDES: It is perhaps the biggest upset of the political season so far, newcomer Christine O’Donnell defeating veteran Congressman Mike Castle. O’DONNELL: And I also want to thank the Tea Party Express. CORDES: The chair of her own state party called O’Donnell, ‘a liar who could not be elected dog catcher,’ and yet, the tea party conservative easily defeated the well-known Mike Castle, 53 to 47%. O’Donnell, a former marketing consultant with a checkered financial record, was a dark horse until two weeks ago, when the Tea Party Express barreled into town bearing $250,000. An endorsement from Sarah Palin followed. The Republican Party scrambled, fearing the tea party would upset yet another GOP establishment Senate candidate as it already had in Utah, Alaska, Kentucky and Nevada. A last-minutes robocall recorded by her former campaign manager- ROBOCALL: O’Donnell just wanted to make a buck. CORDES: -wasn’t enough to turn the tide. MIKE CASTLE: The last several weeks have been spirited, shall we say. CORDES: In New Hampshire’s Senate primary, former attorney general Kelly Ayotte was slightly ahead of the tea party-backed Ovid LaMontagne in a race too close to call. A tea party newcomer did win in New York, defeating former Hillary Clinton opponent and well-known GOP candidate Rick Lazio, in New York’s primary for governor. CARL PALADINO: I want everybody in the Republican Party who opposed me to know this. You’re welcome to join the people’s crusade. CORDES: But it’s the defeat in Delaware that really stings for the GOP because the moderate Castle, who has won in the blue state of Delaware ten times, was considered a shoo-in to defeat the Democrat Chris Coons come fall. O’Donnell is a decided underdog. O’DONNELL: Hold onto your hats, folks, because we’re in for a fight. CORDES: And if Republicans don’t win Delaware, their chances of winning back the Senate are almost non existent. Democrats are seizing on this upset to argue that the Republican Party has been taken over by the right wing, that moderates need not apply, that’s an argument they’re going to be taking into the fall, Harry. SMITH: Nancy Cordes in Washington, thank you. Joining us now to talk about the primaries and what happens in November are Democratic strategist Tanya Acker in Los Angeles and Republican strategist Dan Bartlett in Austin, Texas. Good morning to you both. DAN BARTLETT: Morning, Harry. TANYA ACKER: Good morning. SMITH: Dan, let’s talk about this, you got Delaware, you got Kentucky, you got Alaska, you got Utah, one after another, after another. Are all of these tea party victories good for the Republican Party? DAN BARTLETT: Well, when you have a situation like with Mike Castle getting beat in Delaware, it obviously gives you pause because it’s going to be very difficult, if not impossible, for Republicans now to gain that seat in the United States Senate. Having said that, though, Harry, the intensity gap that we’re seeing between the two parties this election cycle is mainly being fed by the tea party movement on the Republican side. So, net/net, it’s still a gain. The prospect of taking over the House of Representatives would not happen without this vibrant activity within the tea party. So while you’re going to have these types of anomalies like we saw last night with Mike Castle going down, net-net, I still think this is going to be a positive thing with a lot of long-term consequences for government. SMITH: Yeah, because even Karl Rove came out and said last night this is – that’s not going to help us get the seat in the long run. Let’s talk about this from a Democratic perspective, Tanya, as Democrats are watching this all unfold, with the rancor and derision within the Republican Party, with the tea party really catching fire out there, how – how do you view it? TANYA ACKER: Well, I think it really presents Democrats an opportunity. I mean, I think that they do have to be very careful. It’s one thing simply to call a lot of these candidates extremists, which I happen to think they are, but I think that the Democratic message has to be bigger than that. The choice the country’s going to be presented with is that between one party that seems to be auditioning for a talk radio show host. You know you’ve got folks like Sharron Angle saying things like taking up arms against the government and whereas the Democrats want to talk about extending unemployment benefits and regulating Wall Street. So I think that the voters are going to have a very clear choice and I do think that, you know, Dan is right, there is something of an enthusiasm gap but I think that more Democrats are going to be motivated to go to the polls when you hear what some of these tea party candidates are saying. SMITH: Is it- ACKER: I don’t think most of the country wants to repeal the Civil Rights Act. SMITH: Dan, this is interesting, you listen to Tanya, because I wonder if you’re making a miscalculation at your own peril at, you know, this perceived enthusiasm gap, these people are literally changing the face of a party. Dan? BARTLETT: Well, look, I mean, it is the case in the United States Senate, with some of these candidate races, the candidate themselves is going to make a difference in whether there is a victory or a loss. But let’s not lose historical sight here, and that is the first midterm election of a new president is a referendum on that White House and on that leadership. And what we’re seeing right now is a rejection of how the governor – the governance by Democrats over the last 18 months has taken place, both in the White House and the United States Congress. And that’s why Republicans, while they’re going to have issues like they’re seeing in Delaware and there’s going to be other candidates that are not going to represent the entire Republican Party, the bottom line is that right now, things are shaping up for Democrats to be a very long night in November. SMITH: Alright. And Tanya, very quickly, you have to confess, there really is a kind of a ‘throw the bums out’ mentality that has gotten some real traction. ACKER: Well, I think that that, that movement, that mentality, seems to be relatively constant in Washington, but I think that what Democrats have to do is to demonstrate that they are interested in governing, not simply coming up with good sound bites for talk radio shows. SMITH: Well, we shall see. This is still unfolding, even as we speak. Tanya Acker and Dan Bartlett, we do appreciate your time this morning. Thank you. BARTLETT: Thanks, Harry. ACKER: Thanks.

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CBS’s Smith: Is GOP Making ‘Miscalculation’ At Their Own ‘Peril’ By Supporting Tea Party?

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Maher Charges GOP w/ Racism & Invokes N Word, New Yorkers Should ‘Forget About’ 9/11 Because Mastermind Caught

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Appearing as a guest on Tuesday’s Larry King Live on CNN, comedian Bill Maher picked up on a recent contention by Newt Gingrich that President Obama is motivated by anti-colonialism which his Kenyan father felt as the Real Time with Bill Maher host smeared the potential 2012 Republican presidential field as racist: How are they going to out-firebreathe each other? I mean, where this rhetoric has gone to at this point. It’s only 2010, and we’re having Newt Gingrich, as we were talking about before, calling him an anti-colonial Luo tribesman. … That’s the new Kenyan, Larry. And Kenyan, of course, was code for n*****. But that’s where they are. They can’t say it out loud. But that’s where this whole campaign is going to be. You asked about racism. It’s all about racism. They cannot fathom this idea that there is a black President. And that’s what they are going to fight about. Maher also declared that, while he personally likes Delaware GOP senatorial candidate Christine O’Donnell because she is a “nice person” who used to be a frequent guest on his Politically Incorrect show in 1990s, that he was also cheering for her and other “tea baggers” to win GOP primaries, declaring that “she’s going to get her Christian ass kicked in the general election.” And, as the topic turned to the Ground Zero mosque, while Maher acknowledged that there is a substantial amount of Islamic extremism in the world, he believed using the military against it makes it worse, and suggested that, because 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has already been captured, America should declare victory and New Yorkers should “forget about it.” Referring to the 9/11 mastermind, Maher declared: He was not really al-Qaeda. He went to bin Laden for financing. Bin Laden was like the studio. You know, he gave notes, but he gave financing, and he did his own thing. Okay, we got this guy. We water boarded him 183 times in one month. He’s behind bars. Why can’t we just say, okay, we got the guy who was behind 9/11. Now, hey, New Yorkers, forget about it. Not forget about it entirely, but, you know, we’re the land of the free and the home of the brave. We should act like it. Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Tuesday, September 14, Larry King Live on CNN, with critical portions in bold : LARRY KING: Bill, I know you have a personal interest in Delaware, which is, could be the big story of the night because the Republican establishment figure looks like he’s going to get beat. The Republican establishment saying they won’t support the woman who’s going to beat him, a Tea Party person, who you brought us. BILL MAHER: I really did. I mean, Christine- KING: Tell us. MAHER: -O’Donnell was one of our most frequent guests on Politically Incorrect. People who may not remember Politically Incorrect because they’re too young or they were watching Johnny Carson or something, no, I guess JJ was there in the ‘90s, may not remember that we created people like Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham. Oh, I could go on about the number of female- KING: How did you find them? MAHER: We used to, we liked to book, I don’t know. I drank a lot in those days, Larry. But we did like to book a lot of female conservatives. They were good press and they were good for the show. We loved Christine O’Donnell. I still like her. You cannot not like her. She is such a nice person. We have a great clip that used to be in our highlight reel of Ben Affleck on that show just saying, “Please, Christine, shut up.” Because I guess she would just go on. She was known back then as the girl from SALT. SALT being the Savior’s Alliance for Lifting the Truth. And I guess that’s still the shtick that she’s- KING: Evangelicals. MAHER: Right, absolutely. So part of me for sentimental reasons is rooting for Christine O’Donnell in Delaware. The other part of me is rooting for her because she’s going to get her Christian ass kicked in the general election. This is the great thing about the tea baggers and the Republican party. A year ago, we were debating whether tea baggers were even Republicans. Remember? They were very independent, and then a poll came out and we blew the lid off of it, okay, they’re really Republicans. Yeah, they’re really Republicans. And they’re taking over that party. KING: So who should worry about them more, Republicans or Democrats? MAHER: Democrats should be very happy that people like Christine O’Donnell are winning elections because in the general election, I think, now, of course, the Democrats are going to lose some seats, probably a lot. But not as many as they would have if the tea baggers weren’t winning the primaries because I think voters are generally conservative. And when I mean, when I say conservative I mean they’re not comfortable with people who are out there on the left or the right. And these tea baggers are out there. I’ve said it before probably on your show. When people get in a voting booth, it’s like when they go on an aeroplane. They get scared. They tend to do things that are conservative in nature, even if they’re liberal. And I don’t think even conservative voters will look at people like Sharron Angle or maybe Joe Miller in Alaska, although Alaska is a separate case because they’re very conservative there. But certainly Christine O’Donnell could not win in a state like Delaware because she’s just crazy. Even people who know- KING: How out there, when you say crazy, give me an example. MAHER: Well, I just think that people, they understand our country is in a lot of trouble. Even people who are angry understand that crazy people are not going to make it better. Christine O’Donnell like all these tea baggers has no plan, no agenda. No policy points. They have one advantage: They’re running against Democrats. That’s their big advantage. 　 9:05 p.m. KING: How did we get to this, though? MAHER: Well, you know, I have a theory that the Internet makes people stupider. And Also Fox News makes people stupider. You know the Pew group did a study recently and they found out that 10 years ago, Democrats, Republicans and independents basically got their news from the same sources, probably more from CNN, for example. Then we had this polarity. And now, you know, John Edwards said we have two Americas. We do have two Americas. We have the America that’s living in reality, the people who understand that Obama is a centrist liberal from Hawaii who’s trying to dig us out of the hole we’re in. And then we have this other Fox/Matt Drudge/Rush Limbaugh reality where he’s a Muslim sleeper cell, Manchurian candidate who was sent over by his Kenyan father- KING: What kind of intelligent person would believe that? MAHER: Intelligent person? Larry, we’re broadcasting in America. How ridiculous. Well, no, I don’t think intelligent people do believe it. But, you know, then we’re going to get into partisan bickering because more than half of Republicans agreed with a statement that said Obama is trying to impose Islamic law on America. I mean, that is a very radical thing to believe. And it’s more than half of Republicans – not tea baggers, not radicals – the mainstream Republican people. KING: Is there a racist tone in this? Is there a, in other words, is this racist, is this inherent racism? Where’s it coming from? MAHER: Does the Pope go to the bathroom in the woods? (LARRY KING LAUGHS) MAHER: Yes, Larry, it’s extremely racist. I mean it’s so funny because the tea baggers, the one thing they hate is when you call them racist. The other thing they hate is black people. (LARRY KING LAUGHS) MAHER: But they won’t say it. I mean, if you saw what Newt Gingrich was saying. KING: Oh yeah, oh. MAHER: Okay. For those who know, and I don’t even know if I can even recount it in a way that makes sense to people. But he was quoting from an article by Dinesh D’Souza who is, by the way, is an amoral person who was the guest on my show on the night six days after 9/11 when I got into all that trouble for saying that the people who flew planes into the building were not cowards. He was the one who started that discussion. He said it over and over. He, I was agreeing with him when I got thrown off the air. But he never ever came out and said, you know what, I started that, I should defend Bill Maher . Rush Limbaugh came to my defense and a lot of other people, but not the guy who actually made the statement. Anyway, Dinesh D’Souza, who said a lot of crazy things, he is saying now, and Newt Gingrich says this is what he believes, that Obama is getting his philosophy from his father who he spent about a month with in his whole life when he was eight years ago old. And that his father was a Luo tribesman from Kenya who was mad at white people. And so Newt says that he’s anti-colonial like that’s a bad thing. You know, like when George Washington was fighting the British. … MAHER: The girl from SALT, praise Jesus, has won the election. She will never win in November, by the way. That is an impossibility … KING: How do you defeat terrorism? MAHER: You don’t. That’s the key, Larry. You don’t defeat it. You have to understand it’s always with us. It’s like saying how do you defeat crime? You can’t defeat crime. This idea- KING: Violent crime is down in America. Three straight years. MAHER: Down, right, and we’ve made terrorism go down. And, by the way, Obama has been President for 20 months and there has not been an attack. Bush was President for nine months when we got hit. So on that score, he’s kept us safer. KING: But they’ll, you’re saying there will always be, a terrorist is born today? MAHER: Of course. Especially since we do things like invade Muslim countries. KING: Should we not have called it a war on terrorism? MAHER: Exactly. We should not have called it a war. KING: Because there won’t be a victory day? MAHER: There will not be a victory day. Exactly. And, you know, this war in Afghanistan, I never read a good thing about it. The longer we’re there, the stronger the Taliban gets. I mean, I read bad things about the government of Karzai. I read bad things about the Afghan army, about the Afghan police. I read bad things about our soldiers. And, of course, they’re put in an impossible situation and they’re doing the best they can and they’re very brave, but five of them are now up for murder charges. I read horrible things about what ordinary people in that country do. They stoned a woman a couple of weeks ago for eloping, for the crime of eloping. And this wasn’t just the Taliban. This was the whole village came out, her own relatives. That’s got to hurt when the rock comes and it’s from your mom. (KING LAUGHS) Mom, I’m- (ACTS LIKE HE’S BEEN HIT IN HEAD WITH ROCK AND LAUGHS) MAHER: You know. It’s not- KING: And Pakistan? Where do we deal with that? How do we deal with them? MAHER: Well, we’re not dealing with them. What, I mean because they’re a Muslim country who has nuclear weapons? (KING LAUGHS) KING: Yeah. MAHER: And, well, that happened while we were trying to get the nuclear weapons that weren’t in Iraq out of Iraq. I think that genie is out of the bottle. 9:28 p.m. KING: Okay, Sarah Palin. I don’t have to say anything else. MAHER: Well, I don’t either, you know. She’s got a show on the Learning Channel. That’s like me having a show on the Christian Broadcasting Network. (KING LAUGHS) I think she’s going to run for President, for one. KING: Could win if there’s enough candidates- MAHER: Well, I’ve, I don’t know about that. KING: I mean to win the nomination. MAHER: I cannot wait to see the Republican debates in 2012 when you think about who is going to be on that panel. Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Haley Barbour, John Bolton, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney. How are they going to out-firebreathe each other? I mean where this rhetoric has gone to at this point? It’s only 2010. And we’re having Newt Gingrich, as we were talking about before, calling him an anti-colonial Luo tribesman. Luo tribesman. That’s the new Kenyan, Larry. And Kenyan, of course, was code for n*****. But that’s where they are. They can’t say it out loud. But that’s where this whole campaign is going to be. You asked about racism. It’s all about racism. They cannot fathom this idea that there is a black President. And that’s what they are going to fight about. The other thing about Sarah Palin is that if you read that Vanity Fair article this month, if you read the Newsweek cover story a few months ago where she was praying on the cover, she’s a true religious nut. I know people are saying, oh there goes, Bill Maher. He’s always talking about religion. Well, read the article. Read about her. There’s a part where it says they were giving her books to study up on. And they came back and said, did you read any? She said, No, I haven’t looked at the books. I’m just reading the e-mails from my prayer warriors. Prayer warriors. These are people, and she’s one of them, who believe there are demons in the world. Everything in her world view is about demons or angels, people who are with us and people who are against us. You know, when liberals say things like, well, when you fight the mosque, building the mosque in New York, you’re just encouraging a war with Islam, they don’t understand, people like Sarah Palin want a war with Islam. That’s what it says in the Bible, bring it on, let’s get it over with. So that’s who could be running our country in four years, two years. … 9:37 p.m. MAHER: And the third thing I would like to say is that when people say, and some liberals get mad when they say, that Islam is a religion that is more prone to violence, yes, we have to recognize that, too. I think I misspoke on Leno last night when I said what would happen if they burned the Koran – nothing. Well, no, plenty would happen. There would be protests. There would be probably deaths. People would die if we, if they burned the Koran. That’s not going to happen if they burn the Bible. Okay? We have to recognize that civilization-wise, the radical fringe of the Muslim religion is bringing up the rear. And it’s the duty of Muslim people to deal with that. … Bush used that guy. Bush, that administration sent him overseas. Yes, that’s the way to fight terrorism. That’s the way to win the war, is to get those people on our side, not to alienate them. KING: How big do you believe the Muslim fringe is? MAHER: Bigger than our fringe. I think it’s sizable, but not the majority, for sure. I mean, the biggest population of Muslims in the world is Indonesia. They’re not crazy. The second biggest is India. There’s 150 million Muslims in India. They’re not crazy. But Saudi Arabia, they’re crazy. The Taliban in Afghanistan, they’re crazy. Parts of Pakistan are crazy. Hamas is crazy. There’s enough of them to worry about. KING: How does a civilized world deal with crazies?

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AP, Crutsinger Publish Three Clear Falsehoods in August Report on Deficit

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

I tried to find a nicer way to put it in the headline. But I can’t. At the Associated Press, Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger’s apparent plug-and-play report less than an hour after the issuance of Uncle Sam’s August Monthly Treasury Statement on Monday (his item is time-stamped at 2:56 p.m., which follows the Treasury Department’s 2:00 p.m. release by less than an hour) contains three obviously false statements that a news organization which really subscribes to its own ” Statement of News Values and Principles ” would retract and/or correct. The specific AP standard in question is whether it has violated its promise not to “knowingly introduce false information into material intended for publication or broadcast.” The only conceivable excuse at this point is that Crutsinger and his employer don’t realize what they have done. The three falsehoods involved are not arcane or open to interpretation. Rather, they are significant obvious, irrefutable, and in need of correction. What follows are the three statements, the first of which contradicts itself in the report’s own subsequent sentence: 1. ” Deficits of $1 trillion in a single year had never happened until two years ago. The $1.4 trillion deficit in 2009 was more than three times the size of the previous record-holder, a $454.8 billion deficit recorded in 2008.” The fiscal year that ended on September 30, 2008 was “two years ago.” The reported deficit that year was $454.8 billion, as reported. $454.8 billion is less than $1 trillion. There was not a $1 trillion deficit “two years ago.” 2009 was one year ago. That’s the year the deficit first topped $1 trillion for the first time. There is no way to twist the meaning of the bolded statement above to make it true, because it’s false. Is this breathtaking carelessness, or an indicator that AP is bent on assigning any and all economic blame to the previous administration? 2. “Through August, government revenues totaled $1.92 trillion, 1.6 percent higher than a year ago, reflecting small increases in government tax collections compared to 2009. ” Tax collections have not increased, as shown in the following graphics: The first graphic comes from Page 2 of the Monthly Treasury Statement, and identifies the major sources of federal receipts. The second contains the August 2010 detail of “Miscellaneous Receipts” obtained from “Page 5(2)” of this year’s Statement, and compares it to the related year-to-date detail found in the August 2009 Monthly Treasury Statement (there is a $235 million difference between the two reported “Miscellaneous Receipts” amounts that is not relevant to this post). The third boils things down, and proves that tax collections have declined. Even if one dubiously considers every line except “Deposits of Earning by Federal Reserve” to be “taxes,” those Federal Reserve Deposits are not. Don’t take my word for it. Here is how the Congressional Budget Office described these deposits in its Monthly Budget Review last week: In case the AP and Martin Crutsinger need to be reminded: “Profits” are not “taxes.” Thus, as seen in the final graphic above, deposits from the Fed must be excluded when comparing year-over-year tax collections. When one does that, the result is that tax collections are down from a year ago by over $9.5 billion, or about 0.5%. Crutsinger’s statement that the overall increase in federal receipts “reflect(s) small increases in government tax collections compared to 2009″ is false. 3. ” Spending has totaled $3.18 trillion, down 2.5 percent from the same period a year ago.” Yes, reported “outlays” — a contrived term the government uses as a proxy for “spending” (but is not the same thing) — are down. But Crutsinger wrote that “spending” is down. The definition of “spending,” taken from the word ” spend ,” involves “pay(ing) out, disburs(ing), or expend(ing) funds.” As described back in April (at NewsBusters ; at BizzyBlog ) after it occurred in March, Uncle Sam’s reported “outlays” were reduced by means of a $115 billion non-cash entry to reflect the government’s revised estimate that it will ultimately lose less on its Troubled Asset Relief Program “investments” than originally thought. This entry did not involve “spending,” nor did the extra identical amount incorrectly added to “outlays” last year. As I wrote in April: In essence what happened is that the administration pushed as much “bad news” (asset writedowns) as it could into last year’s (i.e., fiscal 2009’s) financial reporting, since last year was going to be a disaster no matter what. But since they overdid it with the writedowns last year (”Gosh, how did that happen?”), they can make this year (fiscal 2010) look better than it really has been. Good old Martin played along by calling it “dramatic.” As noted, Crutsinger and AP should know about this $115 billion item. After all, the AP reporter discussed it in his April report on the March Monthly Treasury Statement. After appropriately adjusting for the non-cash item, “spending” (the word Crutsinger chose to use) has not totaled $3.18 trillion; it has really been $3.29 trillion. Last year’s “spending” wasn’t the $3.26 trillion shown in Table 3 of August 2010’s Monthly Treasury Statement; it was $3.15 trillion. “Spending” is not “down 2.5 percent from the same period a year ago,” as the AP reporter claimed. “Spending” is up by $.14 trillion ($3.29 tril – $3.15 tril). That’s a 4.4% increase ($.14 tril divided by $3.15 tril). Since “spending” means what the dictionary says it means, Crutsinger’s statement about federal “spending” is false. As seen in the graphic at this link , which shows Monthly Treasury Statement data comparing 2010 and 2009 spending in all major functional areas, spending is up in the large majority of them. The following is supposed to represent what the Associated Press does when it commits errors of fact in its reporting: CORRECTIONS/CORRECTIVES: Staffers must notify supervisory editors as soon as possible of errors or potential errors, whether in their work or that of a colleague. Every effort should be made to contact the staffer and his or her supervisor before a correction is moved. When we’re wrong, we must say so as soon as possible. When we make a correction in the current cycle, we point out the error and its fix in the editor’s note. A correction must always be labeled a correction in the editor’s note. We do not use euphemisms such as “recasts,” “fixes,” “clarifies” or “changes” when correcting a factual error. A corrective corrects a mistake from a previous cycle. The AP asks papers or broadcasters that used the erroneous information to use the corrective, too. For corrections on live, online stories, we overwrite the previous version. We send separate corrective stories online as warranted. The three demonstrably false statements described here have misled and will continue to mislead readers and other news consumers into erroneously believing that trillion-dollar deficits go back to 2008; that fiscal year-to-date tax collections are greater than last year; and that federal “spending” in 2010 is down from 2009. AP has “introduced false information into material intended for publication or broadcast” — something it says it won’t “knowingly” do. Your move, guys and gals. You know what you should do. Will you do it? If you choose to do nothing, could you guys at least spare us the sanctimony and remove your “Statement of News Values and Principles” web page? Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com .

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AP, Crutsinger Publish Three Clear Falsehoods in August Report on Deficit

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NBC’s Andrea Mitchell Relays Iranian State Spin on Today

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reporting live from Tehran on Tuesday’s Today show, on the American hikers held hostage in Iran, relayed Iranian government spin, that the Ground Zero mosque protest and controversial Koran “desecrations” have “added to the tension here, the anti-American spirit.” Spurred by a question from substitute anchor Carl Quintanilla about the protests in New York city, Mitchell actually held up one of the state-owned newspapers and relayed that “if the government needed any excuse to drum up more anti-American fever,” they have it, as she noted “all the headlines” in Iran are about the “desecration” and “burning” threats of the Koran. The following segment was aired on the September 14 Today show: CARL QUINTANILLA: But we begin this morning, in Iran, where tense negotiations are underway to free one of the three American hikers detained there for more than a year. NBC’s chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell is in Tehran. Andrea, good morning. ANDREA MITCHELL: Good morning, Carl. As you say it’s been tense, feverish negotiations led by Swiss diplomats here representing the United States and an Iranian lawyer retained by the Shourd family, trying to win her release, trying to get prosecutors to relent on their demand for that bail, $500,000. And it’s been a roller coaster, as you point out. There were plans to release her, then those were retracted. So they’re waiting to see, but there are some signals today that she could be released at any time. And they are, of course, hoping for that to happen. Carl? QUINTANILLA: Andrea the discussions about this, this potential release, the discussions in this country about the would be mosque near Ground Zero, what has all of that done to the political climate there, where you are? MITCHELL: Well it has really added to the tension here, the anti-American spirit. And, in fact, if the government needed any excuse to try drum to up more anti-American fever, you can see the state owned newspapers today, all the headlines are about the desecration threat, the burning threat and also what happened in Washington last weekend, on 9/11, when some pages were torn out of Koran, out of the holy book. That has inflamed the anger here and they are planning big protests today. Carl? QUINTANILLA: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell in Tehran. Andrea, thank you for that.

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ABC’s George Stephanopoulos: Will GOP Landslide Be a ‘Blessing in Disguise’ for Obama?

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday tried to find the upside to a possible Democratic landslide in November. Talking to Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, he wondered if major Republican gains could be ” a blessing in disguise for President Obama. ” [Audio available here .] Stephanopoulos touted the historical model of Bill Clinton losing the Congress in 1994, but being reelected in 1996.The host, who was a senior advisor to Clinton when the Republicans won the Senate and House in 1994, didn’t seem very happy at the time. In his book, All Too Human, he recounted with gloom: ” Our nemesis Newt Gingrich was now Speaker– two heartbeats from the White House. If Clinton really were a prime minister, he’d have been out of a job. ” [Page 322. Emphasis added] O’Reilly dismissed the comparison: “It’s a different world…Bill Clinton was like Martin Van Buren, I mean, as far as the media’s concerned. This is a hyper medium. Everything is blown up the second it happens on the internet and cable.” At one point during the interview, O’Reilly derided the President’s plan to let tax cuts for upper income groups expire as “class warfare.” He pressed the ABC host, “Would you agree with that?” The ABC journalist unsurprisingly quipped, “Not necessarily.” After O’Reilly described a tax rate of 40 percent as too high, the argumentative Stephanopoulos asserted, “That’s what the rates were under Reagan and people did pretty well.” (Of course, the top marginal tax rates under Reagan were actually going down, a point Stephanopoulos ignored.) A transcript of the September 14 segment, which aired at 7:08am EDT, follows: GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: For more now, we’re joined live by the host of The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News, Bill O’Reilly. Also has a brand new book: Pinheads and Patriots: Where You Stand in the Age of Obama. Welcome back. BILL O’REILLY: Hey, George. How are you? STEPHANOPOULOS: I’m doing great. Thank you. O’REILLY: George never looks tired in the morning. Can you get a close-up of George? STEPHANOPOULOS: Not too close. O’REILLY: Eight o’clock at night. Here’s George. STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, you’re my bedtime TV watching. I go to bed early. O’REILLY: I appreciate that. STEPHANOPOULOS: I want to talk about the book. Let’s get into the tax fight first. Because, I was struck by the Wall Street Journal this morning. They think that John Boehner, the Republican leader made a big bungle on Sunday when he said he would vote for the extension of middle-class tax cuts, even if all the tax cuts weren’t extended. O’REILLY: Well, I think he was caught in the tanning bed in the salon and he didn’t really hear what was going on. Look, the whole thing is class warfare. Would you agree with that? I mean- STEPHANOPOULOS: Not necessarily. But, go ahead. O’REILLY: No? But, really though, what the President is selling is he’s saying the upper tier are going to have to be responsible for the tax revenue, primarily. And the other people will get a tax cut. He’s saying, “Look. I don’t care about these people, who earn a lot of money. But, you know, I want to help you.” I think that’s class warfare. STEPHANOPOULOS: He’s saying we can’t afford it. He’s saying there’s $700 billion in costs there that we can’t afford. That’s his argument. O’REILLY: Yeah. And who imposed those costs? STEPHANOPOULOS: Who did? O’REILLY: George? He did. So, you know, look. I think 35 percent to the government is a fair deal. I think it is. And then, if you get over 40, which is where he wants to put it, that’s kind of punishing people. So, I don’t buy the tax cuts for the rich. STEPHANOPOULOS: No. That’s what the rates were under Reagan and people did pretty well . O’REILLY: Look, I don’t care whether it was under Reagan or George Washington. All right? I work hard for my money. Do I want to fork over 40 percent over to the feds and then pay property taxes and sales taxes and every other tax in the world? Come on. STEPHANOPOULOS: What do you think is going to happen? O’REILLY: I don’t know. You know, look, it’s going to be another brawl. Republicans will stretch it out just because they want to create, the Republicans do, an image of chaos for November. They want to say that President Obama just can’t govern. That’s what the end game is. STEPHANOPOULOS: How about these midterm elections? We’re seeing, a lot of these states, the Tea Party on the rise, on offense again. You write about the Tea Party in your book. You say- unfortunately, I hope we can put it up right now- “Unfortunately, some Tea Party people play into the bogus far-right stereotype by demonizing President Obama in crude ways. I admire what the President has accomplished in his life. Please, don’t tell Rush Limbaugh. And how he overcame a childhood that could have ruined him.” So, do you think on balance the Tea Party has been a net plus or a minus? O’REILLY: Well, there’s two separations. I say in Pinheads and Patriots that the Tea Party, primarily, patriots because they tell people what they believe and get involved. That’s patriotic. I don’t care, really, what your ideology is. If you’re out there, and you’re sincere and telling people this is the way I’m see my country and I want to improve it, you’re a patriot. Whether, you’re a liberal, a Tea Party person, whatever. Okay? However, if the Tea Party people basically attack President Obama personally, that diminishes their movement. STEPHANOPOULOS: You say, stick to policy. O’REILLY: If they say he’s a Muslim. If they say he was born in, where, Indonesia. This really hurts their overall message of “Get off our back.” The Tea Party message is “Get off our back.” That’s a good message. I mean, I don’t want the feds on my back. I don’t want them in my living room, George. STEPHANOPOULOS: That message has toppled some Republican establishment candidates. Bob Bennett. O’REILLY: Who are deemed to be wishy washy on that. Look, the tea party is a simple movement. They want local control. They want the feds not to have as much power. Whereas, President Obama wants this huge federal apparatus. That’s a good debate. STEPHANOPOULOS: Bottom line, do you think Republicans are going to take control of Congress? And if they do, is that a blessing in disguise for President Obama? O’REILLY: I have no idea. I don’t really do the party politics thing. Morris over- Dick Morris. He thinks they will. But he’s got, you know, he’s rooting for them. But I’ll tell you what. President Obama has got a leadership problem right now. He has got a leadership problem. If he gets whacked, if he loses the House, that’s going to get worse. This is a huge election for President Obama himself. He has a leadership problem. STEPHANOPOULOS: So, you think if he loses, that spells trouble for him in 2012? O’REILLY: Of course. STEPHANOPOULOS: Not the opposite, where for Bill Clinton lost in ’94, the Congress, it actually helped him. O’REILLY: It’s a different world. It’s a hyper world now. Bill Clinton was like Martin Van Buren, I mean, as far as the media’s concerned. This is a hyper medium. Everything is blown up the second it happens on the internet and cable. So, it’s no longer those rules. And the perception gets out there much quicker than it did. STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, you’ve been weighing in on the controversy over the Islamic center sown at Ground Zero. I was struck yesterday that the imam, Imam Rauf, went to the Council on Foreign Relations, seemed to back off a bit. Said that all options are open. He may even consider moving it. O’REILLY: Did you see the Factor’s exclusive last night? STEPHANOPOULOS: I did. O’REILLY: Rauf is now tied in with this Kahn who is a Truther. STEPHANOPOULOS: But, there’s no evidence that Rauf believes anything like that. O’REILLY: It doesn’t matter. It’s his pal! His pal! STEPHANOPOULOS: They served on a board together. O’REILLY: He’s formed the Muslim organization with him. And the guy, Khan, has been talking down at the Burlington Coat Factory building. I don’t know whether he got a free suit. But, this guy, Khan, says that al Qaeda didn’t do it. And Rauf goes in and says I’m a man of peace. He may be. But who are you hanging around with? And then when we asked Rauf for a comment, he runs and hides. STEPHANOPOULOS: We’re going to talk to him as well at some point.

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ABC’s George Stephanopoulos: Will GOP Landslide Be a ‘Blessing in Disguise’ for Obama?

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