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Another Fact Ignored in NYT Boehner Hit Piece: Pelosi Gets Far More Lobbyist Cash

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

“Mr. Boehner’s ties to lobbyists seem especially deep,” New York Times reporter Eric Lipton wrote of the House Republican Leader yesterday. Well, they’re not, and therein lies the problem: Lipton apparently premised his article not on facts and data, but on what he thought seemed reasonable. Had Lipton stooped to investigate some of the serious claims he was making, he might have discovered that Nancy Pelosi has raised almost twice as much money from lobbyists this cycle as has Boehner. He might also have revealed that Sens. Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, and Blanche Lincoln all raised more money from lobbyists this cycle as Boehner has since 1999. Washington Examiner columnist Tim Carney, who did the legwork on these numbers, also noted that Boehner’s name does not appear on the Center for Responsive Politics’s list of the top 20 recipients of lobbyist cash. Eighteen House Democrats have received more such money than Boehner has this cycle. “Sure, Boehner is too close too lobbyists,” Carney writes, “but the money trail says he isn’t closer than Nancy Pelosi.” So why didn’t this (quite obvious) fact make it into Lipton’s Sunday article? It doesn’t fit the narrative. As I wrote yesterday , the Times has spent the past two years playing up GOP connections to lobbyists, while all but ignoring prominent Democrats’s blatant connections to powerful industry groups and their paid representatives. The Times’s omissions are all the more shady given the timing of Lipton’s piece – it came mere days after the Democratic attack machine set its sights on Boehner. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs heavily promoted the piece on the White House press office’s Twitter feed. This week, the DNC is slated to run a series of television ads targeting Boehner’s lobbyist ties. Hypocrisy in the political realm is nothing shocking. Politicians are not “objective,” and they don’t claim to be. But the New York Times seems to be throwing its weight, and its self-proclaimed mantle of non-partisanship behind a political attack ground in total hypocrisy. Perhaps the Gray Lady should adopt a strict policy of reporting what is, not what “seems” to be. Isn’t that the purpose of the news media?

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Another Fact Ignored in NYT Boehner Hit Piece: Pelosi Gets Far More Lobbyist Cash

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Bob Schieffer Bashes Boehner for Smoking and Taking Tobacco Money

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

President Obama and the Democrats began a full court press this week smearing House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Oh.), and CBS’s Bob Schieffer made it crystal clear Sunday that he’s going to do his part to stop the Ohio Congressman from replacing Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as Speaker in January. In a hard-hitting interview about a variety of subjects on “Face the Nation,” Schieffer actually hammered his guest for smoking cigarettes and taking campaign contributions from the tobacco industry. “How do you square that with the fact that cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in this country; 435,000 people — their deaths are linked to cancer. That`s one in five,” scolded Schieffer. “How do you justify that in your own mind?” (video follows with transcript and commentary):   BOB SCHIEFFER, HOST: Mr. Boehner, I`m going to ask you this question because I`m not objective about this. I`m — I`m a cancer survivor. I used to be a heavy smoker. Do you still smoke? JOHN BOEHNER, HOUSE MINORITY LEADER (R-OHIO): I do. SCHIEFFER: You have taken $340,000 from the tobacco industry. They`ve been the largest contributor to your political campaigns over the year. How do you square that with the fact that cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in this country; 435,000 people — their deaths are linked to cancer. That`s one in five. How do you — how do you justify that in your own mind? BOEHNER: Bob, tobacco is a legal product in America. And the American people have the right to decide for themselves whether they want to partake or not. There are lots of things that we deal with and come in contact with every day, from alcohol to food to cigarettes, a lot of things that aren`t good for our health. But the American people ought to have the right to make those decisions on their own. SCHIEFFER: Well, I mean, they have a right to shoot themselves if they choose to. Actually, Bob, suicide is against the law in America. Nice try!  SCHIEFFER: But, I mean, shouldn`t we do something to try to encourage them not to? I mean, do you think that`s a good example? BOEHNER: Well, listen, I wish I didn`t have this bad habit. And it is a bad habit. You`ve had it. You`ve dealt with it. But it`s something that I choose to do. And, you know, at some point maybe I`ll decide I`ve had enough of it. SCHIEFFER: Well, I mean, if you should become speaker, you could set a good example for the country by saying, I`m going to try to stop smoking. Maybe you could get the president. I understand he smokes too. Maybe the two of you could find a way to try to stop smoking. That would be kind of a good thing, wouldn`t it? BOEHNER: Bob, I appreciate your suggestion. The hypocrisy on display here was astounding. After all, as Schieffer noted, Barack Obama is a cigarette smoker. But something Schieffer didn’t mention was that in 2008, Obama took more money from the tobacco industry than Boehner did . Yet, according to LexisNexis, Schieffer has never scolded Obama for his smoking or asked him to quit in order to “set a good example.”  Why might that be, Mr. Schieffer? Is this something else you’re not “objective about?” 

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NYT Tees Up DNC Talking Points With Ethically Questionable Piece on Boehner’s Lobbyist Ties

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The New York Times’s lobbyist double standard lives on. Since Barack Obama became president, the paper has routinely overlooked the vast disconnect between his rhetoric on lobbying’s role on the political process – there really isn’t one, if you believe Barack – and his actions on the issue. But while the Gray Lady all but ignores Obama’s deep ties with lobbyists and the industry groups they represent, the paper has hammered Republicans for their ties to “special interests.” The latest such attempt is a hack job in Sunday’s New York Times. Reporter Eric Lipton claims that House Miniority Leader John Boehner “maintains especially tight ties with a circle of lobbyists and former aides representing some of the nation’s biggest businesses, including Goldman Sachs, Google, Citigroup, R. J. Reynolds, MillerCoors and UPS.” The story makes some serious allegations – the most damning of which was sourced to an anonymous lobbyist. Intriguingly, some of the same claims undergird an upcoming DNC ad blitz against Boehner. The Leader’s staff, meanwhile, claim they were not asked for comment before the story went to press. Byron York reported Saturday: Boehner spokesman Michael Steel says he received a fact-checking email from Times reporter Eric Lipton Friday evening asking if Boehner did in fact oppose the cap on greenhouse gases, the tax change for hedge fund executives, the debit card fee cap, and increased fees on oil and gas companies. “Yes, that is correct,” Steel responded to Lipton, adding “I can tell you why, if you care.” Steel says he received no further notes from Lipton. Steel says Boehner has long held those positions and does not hold them as a result of lobbying. Hours after the email exchange, the Times story was published online, with the statement from the lobbyist that he had “won” Boehner’s backing on those matters. After Boehner’s aides complained, the paragraph was changed to read, emphasis added: One lobbyist in the club — after lauding each staff member in Mr. Boehner’s office that he routinely calls to ask for help — ticked off the list of recent issues for which he had sought the lawmaker’s backing: combating fee increases for the oil industry, fighting a proposed cap on debit card fees, protecting tax breaks for hedge fund executives and opposing a cap on greenhouse gas emissions. Mr. Boehner’s office said these were positions he already agreed with. The statement that a lobbyist “won” Boehner’s backing was changed to one in which a lobbyist “sought” Boehner’s backing. That’s a rather critical change. The Times also added Boehner’s defense that these were long-held positions. To call Boehner’s aides angry at the account would be an understatement. “They were offered the opportunity to find out if this was true, and they chose to rely instead on the word of an anonymous lobbyist,” says spokesman Michael Steel. “They intentionally refused to get the information to prove that this allegation was false.” That allegation itself is pretty serious. But it would hardly be out of step for a paper that has previously sought to demonize Republicans’ relationships with lobbyists in either complete ignorance of or contradictory to the facts. Remember Vicki Iseman? The New York Times suggested in a February 2008 article that Iseman, then a lobbyist with Alcalde & Fay, had a romantic relationship with then-presidential candidate John McCain. Not a shred of evidence was offered to support the allegation, and the Times later printed a correction claiming it had no intention of making that suggestion. If making baseless accusations against Republicans and their relationships with lobbyists were not sordid enough, the Times has also made a habit of blindly accepting any claim made by President Obama regarding ethics and lobbying at simple face value. Here’s a sampling of Times headlines since 2008: On First Day, Obama Quickly Sets a New Tone Obama’s Transition Team Restricts Lobbyists’ Role Victory for Obama Over Military Lobby ‘All Kinds of Yelling’ Expected From Obama’s Lobbyist Crackdown Obama Returns Lobbyist’s Donations Obama Issues Sharp Call for Reforms on Wall Street White House, Lobbyists Still at Odds The President Orders Transparency The Times does occasionally run watered-down, statistic-ridden pieces such as “As Donors, Lobbyists Often Favor One Party” (since it’s not in the headline, I’ll bet you can guess which party). But neither the immeasurable hypocrisy of this administration’s rhetoric on “special interests” nor the administration’s ties to those special interests are explored in any detail. So when President Obama claimed that he had “excluded lobbyists from policymaking jobs” despite the 50 lobbyists he employed (and continues to employ) in policymaking jobs, the Times failed to note any disconnect. Instead, the paper ran a story claiming Obama’s new lobbyist rules would “revolutionize how lobbyists disclose their activities and contribute money to candidates for federal office.” Beyond simply ignoring the specific hypocrisies in Obama’s rhetoric, the Times has taken a see-no-evil approach to the president’s extensive ties to the largest industry groups, while trumpeting relationships between Republicans and “special interests.” The pattern was on full display this summer, when the Times had to be reminded that Obama received seven times as much in campaign contributions from Goldman Sachs as George W. Bush did from Enron. Yet while the Times had vaguely alleged some sort of unethical relationship between the defunct energy company and the Bush administration, it made no such suggestions concerning Goldman. Given its history, the Times’s approach to the Boehner story is, though underhanded, hardly shocking. The agenda in its coverage of lobbyists and lawmakers is quite clear. And given the Times’s clear willingness to toe the Democratic line on this issue, it’s worth pondering this interesting chain of events. Just this past week, President Obama began directing his ire towards congressional Republicans, and Boehner specifically. Mere days later, as Yid With Lid notes , the Times also took up that line of attack. Then, Sunday morning, as NewsBusters reported , White House press secretary Robert Gibbs tweeted a series of quotes from and laudatory remarks about the Times piece, from the official Twitter feed of the White House press office. The Times’s piece also plays pefectly into the DNC’s election strategy. In fact, it kicks off a week in which Democrats are hoping to paint Boehner, well, exactly as he is painted by the Times piece. A DNC official told Talking Points Memo : We are going to tell Americans exactly who he is: a special interest and lobbyist loving typical Washington politician who always puts the well heeled and well-to-do ahead of middle class families and small businesses and who would, if he became speaker, return the capitol to the anything goes, DeLay-Abramoff days and ways of doing business.  So the Times blasted Boehner in the Sunday paper with a line of attack taken up by President Obama last week and touted by the White House the morning of its publication, and teed up a week of Boehner-bashing by offering the laughable veil of objectivity to de facto Democratic talking points. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the mainstream media.

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Obama Press Secretary Gibbs Uses Twitter to Push NYT Hit Piece About Boehner

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The midterm election campaign is now in full swing, and with Democrats looking at historic losses in Congress, the folks at the New York Times did their job by publishing a front page hit piece on House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Oh.) Sunday: He maintains especially tight ties with a circle of lobbyists and former aides representing some of the nation’s biggest businesses, including Goldman Sachs, Google, Citigroup, R. J. Reynolds, MillerCoors and UPS. They have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaigns, provided him with rides on their corporate jets, socialized with him at luxury golf resorts and waterfront bashes and are now leading fund-raising efforts for his Boehner for Speaker campaign, which is soliciting checks of up to $37,800 each, the maximum allowed. The woman he hopes to replace, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, derided him on Friday as having met “countless times with special-interest lobbyists in an effort to stop tough legislation” that would regulate corporations and protect consumers. And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, through a spokeswoman, charged that he “epitomizes the smoked-filled, backroom, special-interest deal making that turns off voters about Washington.” So marvelous a hit job was done by Eric Lipton that Obama’s Press Secretary Robert Gibbs sent four consecutive messages on Sunday to his 93,000 followers on Twitter: Politico’s Mike Allen decided to “retweet” one of Gibb’s messages to his 36,000 followers : Allen followed this with a tweet of his own concerning Boehner: Gibbs must have liked that and retweeted it himself:    So, you can see how this campaign is going to work now:  The White House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and/or Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will send their talking points to “news” outlets like the Times “News” outlets like the Times will dutifully echo such talking points The White House, Pelosi, and/Reid will broadcast the “news” to all that are interested “News” outlets like the Times will dutifully echo such broadcasts.    This is the state of “journalism” in America today. Any questions?

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Chris Matthews Accuses Sarah Palin of Aiding and Abetting Koran-burning Pastor

Posted on September 10, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Chris Matthews on Thursday accused Sarah Palin of aiding and abetting Pastor Terry Jones, the man threatening to burn Korans on Saturday’s ninth anniversary of 9/11. For days, Matthews and his colleagues on MSNBC have been calling upon Republicans to speak out against Jones. On Wednesday, the former Alaska governor did exactly that at her Facebook page and at Twitter .  But this wasn’t enough for Matthews who repeatedly on the 5PM installment of “Hardball” attacked Palin for being too “soft” in her admonishment of Jones, and actually accused her of giving the Pastor the linkage between burning Korans and the controversy surrounding the Ground Zero mosque. Matthews also included House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Oh.) in his pathetic plot (video follows with transcript and commentary): CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Democratic strategist Steve McMahon joins us now, along with Republican strategist Leslie Sanchez. You know, this is one of those moments where, OK, I`m going to take you on, Leslie, here. Ready? LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: All right. MATTHEWS: I think that people like Boehner and Sarah Palin are the first people in the news cycle to put out the word there`s some linkage between burning the Koran on national — international television and the mosque a couple blocks away from the World Trade Centers. Honestly, was Matthews being intentionally naive or lying? The whole reason media have given Jones all this attention is because of the Ground Zero mosque. Any suggestion to the contrary is absurd:  MATTHEWS: And now these people down there, this minister, discovered, hey, this is handy. I will trade one for the other. It turns out the trade wasn`t real, but at least he`s pretending. Your thoughts about accomplices before — accessories before and after the fact here. SANCHEZ: I think that`s a stretch. (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: Why is that a stretch? SANCHEZ: Because — MATTHEWS: Have you ever heard these ministers talk about a link with the mosque before Mr. Boehner or Sarah Palin mentioned it? SANCHEZ: Well, I don`t read everything with the mosque. But let`s look at the realities. You have got 50 people in a garage that say these crazy things and, all of a sudden, we have all the networks, the president, and everybody responding to them. Look at it for what it really is. (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: So, is Sarah Palin one of the 50 crazy people in the mosque, or what? How disgraceful!  SANCHEZ: I think what is interesting is that Sarah Palin is brought up again. She puts a tweet out there. She starts talking about it, and everybody wants to say she has directed and shaped this debate. MATTHEWS: “People have a constitutional right to burn a Koran if they want to, but doing so is insensitive” — I would say it`s more than insensitive — “and an unnecessary provocation.” That`s pretty soft language compared to the way she talked about the mosque. Actually, why don’t we look at Palin’s entire posting at Facebook: Book burning is antithetical to American ideals. People have a constitutional right to burn a Koran if they want to, but doing so is insensitive and an unnecessary provocation – much like building a mosque at Ground Zero. I would hope that Pastor Terry Jones and his supporters will consider the ramifications of their planned book-burning event. It will feed the fire of caustic rhetoric and appear as nothing more than mean-spirited religious intolerance. Don’t feed that fire. If your ultimate point is to prove that the Christian teachings of mercy, justice, freedom, and equality provide the foundation on which our country stands, then your tactic to prove this point is totally counter-productive.  Our nation was founded in part by those fleeing religious persecution. Freedom of religion is integral to our charters of liberty. We don’t need to agree with each other on theological matters, but tolerating each other without unnecessarily provoking strife is how we ensure a civil society. In this as in all things, we should remember the Golden Rule. Isn’t that what the Ground Zero mosque debate has been about?  That seems like a pretty strong condemnation of Jones’s plan, doesn’t it? Yet Matthews never once read the entire thing to his viewers. Instead, he continued with his pathetic plot:  SANCHEZ: They`re — not judging her, it`s the fact — MATTHEWS: It`s insensitive? We have a travel alert. (CROSSTALK) SANCHEZ: But why pick out Sarah Palin? I guess that`s my point. MATTHEWS: Because I`m looking at the news that came in this morning. And, all of a sudden, she`s getting her fingers into this thing. Your thoughts, Steve. I think it`s incredible that she would be so soft — taking such a soft line on this guy burning the Koran, because you never attack to the right when you`re on the right. That`s what I think is going on here. Excuse me! Matthews and his network have been criticizing Republicans for not speaking out against this guy. Now that some have, he accuses them of aiding and abetting the Pastor! How pathetic:  SANCHEZ: But for what political purpose? That`s what I`m saying. (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: — with as far out, with as far out with the fringe as she can, because that`s her base. (CROSSTALK) STEVE MCMAHON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: That`s right. It`s not just her base. It`s the people that are taking over the party. It`s the Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh — MATTHEWS: You can`t hurt by being friendly with the right. MCMAHON: –. base of the Republican Party. Exactly. You cannot be too far right, because especially if you`re thinking about running for president or if you want to have a controversial talk show on FOX, you need to do these things. And they generate headlines. They get people like us talking. And it works for Sarah Palin, who wants to be an entertainer and a provocateur. I`m not sure it works very well if she wants to be the president of the United States. MATTHEWS: Do you think that`s a statement you could live with, Leslie, people have a constitutional right to burn a Koran if they want to? Do you like the phraseology there? People have a constitutional right to burn a Koran if they want to? Do you like that — The hypocrisy on display here was astonishing. For weeks, folks like Matthews have been telling the American people that the backers of the Ground Zero mosque have a Constitutional right to build it there, and this supersedes the public’s overwhelming opposition. By contrast, the conservative position has been to recognize the Constitutionality in play while questioning the wisdom of doing something that would offend so many Americans. As such, Palin – and Boehner as you’ll see in a bit – were making the exact same argument concerning Jones: he has the right to burn these Korans, but they wish he wouldn’t. Not only didn’t Matthews see the consistency in these positions, he was the one being inconsistent by now claiming Jones’s Constitutional rights were irrelevant and represented a “soft” position on Palin’s part. The net result is that the Constitution in Matthews’ mind must only protect those involved with the Ground Zero mosque but not Pastor Jones:  (CROSSTALK) SANCHEZ: First off, I`m not going to put Sarah Palin`s words in my mouth. Let`s put it that way. MATTHEWS: OK. Good. SANCHEZ: I can speak for myself. But I will say this much. I think you play too much into this game that Sarah Palin wants you to do, which is — talking from a conservative Republican perspective, I think we were very clear, both bipartisanly, from a bipartisan perspective, of how people felt about how ludicrous his statements were and his actions to be. MATTHEWS: Whose were? SANCHEZ: The reverend in this case. MATTHEWS: Sure. SANCHEZ: And I think why can`t we talk in solidarity about that? It`s all this — this ruse that it`s Sarah Palin pulling the strings – – (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: I just want to know — I will go back to my question — why did she throw him the life jacket and say, put this on, tie it to the mosque? Why did she do that? Why did Boehner do that? Nobody else was doing it in the media. I wasn`t drawing the connection. Then you’re either an idiot or a liar, Mr. Matthews, for there not only is a connection here, but also people like you and the rest of the media would have totally ignored Jones if the Ground Zero mosque wasn’t currently an issue:  SANCHEZ: She — MATTHEWS: These characters were sitting, were on the show right here, talking to me, both these pastors, Sapp and Jones — neither one of them mentioned the mosque. Both long interviews. I said, is there anyone who could appeal to, we could appeal to you to stop this? Or any — nobody mentioned the mosque until today, after these stories moved by your — people on the far right. Not on the right. People like Boehner, just a Republican golfer. (LAUGHTER) SANCHEZ: Well, the tan is important. But to be fair to that point, I think a lot of people were talking about it. If you want to see that`s a lifeline, I think you`re going to see it regardless of anything that I have to say. MCMAHON: It`s interesting — it`s interesting here, though, if people continue to draw a connection between the actions and the words of John Boehner and Sarah Palin and suggest that somehow the leaders of the Republican Party and the woman who is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president — I mean, that`s why this makes so much news — if there`s some suggestion that the Republican Party is sort of behind this guy, and manipulating this guy, I think it further alienates the Republican Party — SANCHEZ: Further. MCMAHON: — from the majority of Americans who feel differently about this. (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: There`s a big difference between the difficult question of building a mosque a couple blocks from the World Trade Center, which I`ve always said on this program is a difficult question. I`ve admired Michael Bloomberg for the courageous position he`s taken given the fact of his job up there. But I think there`s two sides of that argument. Can we agree there`s no two sides to the argument about burning religious books on world television? Can we agree on it? No, we certainly can’t agree for they both involve folks exercising their Constitutional rights in a fashion that the majority of citizens find offensive. They are indeed the exact same issue, and any suggestion to the contrary demonstrates ignorance, willful dishonesty, or both:  MCMAHON: Yes. Yes, we can agree. MATTHEWS: OK. We just got the word that Gates — Secretary Gates did make a call to the reverend to try to smooth this thing out or end this thing. Maybe that was influential. Here`s John Boehner making the point I was trying to relate to here, conflating — there`s a word I don`t like, but it`s big these days on the right — conflating Koran-burning with the Islamic center near Ground Zero. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: To Pastor Jones and those who want to build the mosque, just because you have a right to do something in America, does not mean it is the right thing to do. (END VIDEO CLIP) Exactly. And this is the same position the Right has taken concerning the Ground Zero mosque. Not surprisingly, Matthews was having none of it:  MATTHEWS: That was healthy. We call that in the NBA, an assist. (LAUGHTER) MATTHEWS: That`s called an assist. SANCHEZ: No, I mean — MATTHEWS: Or an alley-hoop actually. SANCHEZ: Wow. MATTHEWS: Get it near the top of the rim so the other guy can put it in.  I ask you: do you need a better example of liberal media bias? Matthews and his colleagues complain for days that Republicans aren’t doing anything to stop Jones from burning Korans on Saturday. Two top GOP figures do, and they’re accused of helping the Pastor. Makes you want to throw your television set out the window, doesn’t it? 

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Unbuttoned Obama Strikes at GOP with Folksy Sayings In Labor Day Speech [Videuoh]

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Man, Obama was fired up today during his speech to a union festival in Milwuakee. Sure, he announced a big $50 billion infrastructure initiative , which is important. But he also went after his political opponents with uncharacteristic glee. More

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Newsweek’s Alter: ‘Radical Republicans’ Have ‘Extreme Agenda,’ Progressives ‘Need to Learn What the Stakes Are’

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Appearing as a guest on Tuesday’s Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter repeatedly characterized the conservative wing of the Republican party as “radical” and “extreme” as he and host Maddow discussed the possibility that conservative talk radio host Bill Cunningham would broadcast his radio show from House Minority Leader John Boehner’s office on Election Day. Alter asserted that the Republican party became radical in 1994, and soon advised “progressives” that they “need to learn a little bit about what the stakes are” because Republicans currently have a “radical agenda.” Alter: You know, it began in 1994. That was where we got radical Republican leadership for the first time. The reason that they succeeded was that the moderate Republican leadership of the old days had failed to regain control of the House of Representatives. So the lesson after ‘94 was: Be radical and maybe you can come back into power. … so the message is not really for other Republicans. The message is for Democrats and how much do Democrats care about turning over a branch of our government to extremists, to radicals. He soon concluded: I do think it’s a challenge for progressives, who are saying, ‘Oh, I’m not, you know, I’m disappointed in Obama. I’m not that excited, you know. I’m not going to work the way I did the last time.’ Well, they need to learn a little bit about what the stakes are. So an incident like this reminds us that we’re talking about a different crowd with a radical agenda that they want to impose on our country. It is no wonder that Alter would find the views of conservatives “radical,” since last November, as he recounted that conservatives like former Congressman Bob Barr, Grover Norquist and David Keene are “principled conservatives” as they disagreed with Rudy Giuliani on the trying of terrorist suspects in civilian courts, Alter admitted to disagreeing with conservatives 98 percent of the time. Alter: “But, you know, they are principled conservative – even if you disagree, as I do with, you know, 98 percent of what they stand for.” Below is a complete transcript of the segment with Jonathan Alter from the Tuesday, August 31, Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC: RACHEL MADDOW: So if we believe [Bill Cunningtham], the “Obama’s a Muslim” radio guy who so horrified the Republican leadership in 2008 that they apologized for him and repudiated him and said they regretted him being at a John McCain event, he now says he has been invited by the Republican leadership to broadcast from House Republican Leader John Boehner’s office on Election Day. Now, we asked John Boehner’s office to confirm talk show host Bill Cunningham’s claims about this invitation. Mr. Boehner’s office replied to us tonight saying in part, quote, “Leader Boehner has made no plans for election night.” So maybe it will happen, maybe it won’t. But if the anti-Obama attacks that were deemed out of line and out of bounds by Republicans during the smash mouth presidential campaign are now back in bounds, that stuff’s now okay, then I want to know is there any new line? Is there anything anymore that is too much of a low blow? Joining us now is Jonathan Alter, Newsweek senior editor and columnist and MSNBC contributor. His latest book is The Promise: President Obama Year One. Jonathan, thanks very much. JONATHAN ALTER, NEWSWEEK: Hi, Rachel. MADDOW: Hi. Is there less of a down side in a midterm than there is in a presidential election to latching the party onto one of these “Obama’s a Muslim” far-right guys? ALTER: You know, I don’t think they’re even kind of making that kind of cool, political judgment. They have just become a talk show party. You know, Obama asked them, the Republican leadership, point blank in February of 2009, in a private meeting that I have in my book, “”Do you want to be the party of Rush Limbaugh?” And they didn’t answer the question, but the answer is apparently yes. They are willing to latch themselves to these extreme folks. And this represents a pretty big change in American politics because we’re not talking about obscure back benchers. We’re talking about the leadership of one of our major political parties, and there is a very strong possibility that John Boehner will be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, in line in presidential succession. MADDOW: In terms of John Boehner’s role, though, we talked a week ago about whether or not him becoming an opposite number to President Obama for these elections was a good thing for Democrats or a good thing for Republicans. We thought it seemed like a bad choice for Republicans. But if they really are having talk show hosts broadcast from his office on election night, that not only says they think they’re going to win, but it says that they really do want him to be the center of attention, doesn’t it? ALTER: Well, they just are, you know, looking forward to a big victory. I mean, Boehner is getting kind of cocky at this point. So whether they’ve made these plans with this guy Cunningham or not, who knows? Cunningham insists that he has been invited in there. But the larger point still obtains that they are willing to be associated with people who are out of bounds. Now, the clip just showed, you know, that he called him Barack Hussein Obama. At this point, since Obama decided on Inauguration Day to be sworn in as Barack Hussein Obama, that insult doesn’t sound that terrible. But this is a guy who has said that Obama has the mark of the beast on him, that he’s the anti-Christ. Cunningham has said that. So we’re talking about some pretty wacky stuff, and I think one of the big stories of our politics is that the wacky has now moved from the fringe into the center of our politics. MADDOW: But it does imply some sort of calculation that that’s a good move, that the excitement that you get for people who are far right, from bringing in people like that, compensates for any price you’ll pay with anybody who considers themselves a moderate. Is it just a calculation that there are no moderates anymore? ALTER: Well, remember, they’re still in primary mode. And in primary mode, there’s a great danger within the Republican party in seeming moderate. It’s almost a dirty word to be moderate. Look at what happened to Senator Bennett of Utah, which is a classic example, a very conservative Senator. But, you know, he dared to work with some Democrats on some moderate legislation. And he was just, you know, thrown out of the party. So this is not your father`s Republican party. This is a different kind of political party nowadays, and I think the entire political system is just beginning to accommodate itself to this. You know, it began in 1994. That was where we got radical Republican leadership for the first time . The reason that they succeeded was that the moderate Republican leadership of the old days had failed to regain control of the House of Representatives. So the lesson after ‘94 was: Be radical and maybe you can come back into power. MADDOW: Yeah, count on your base. Don’t count on the middle. ALTER: Right, so the message is not really for other Republicans. The message is for Democrats and how much do Democrats care about turning over a branch of our government to extremists, to radicals. And so if this can’t close the so-called enthusiasm- MADDOW: Enthusiasm gap? ALTER: -gap, you know, what can? And I do think it’s a challenge for progressives, who are saying, “Oh, I’m not, you know, I’m disappointed in Obama. I’m not that excited, you know. I’m not going to work the way I did the last time.” Well, they need to learn a little bit about what the stakes are . So an incident like this reminds us that we’re talking about a different crowd with a radical agenda that they want to impose on our country. MADDOW: Jonathan Alter of, Jonathan Alter, I’m sorry, an MSNBC contributor, the author of The Promise about President Obama’s first year in office. It is great to have you here. Thanks, Jon. ALTER: Great to see you, Rachel.

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Newsweek’s Alter: ‘Radical Republicans’ Have ‘Extreme Agenda,’ Progressives ‘Need to Learn What the Stakes Are’

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Republicans Furious At Idiot Congressman for Apologizing to BP [Whoops]

Posted on June 17, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

John Boehner and fellow Republicans are, naturally, furious at freaking Rep. Joe Barton for apologizing to BP earlier this morning, at the beginning of Tony Hayward’s hearing. Why did he do that? He could lose his fancy committee seat! More

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Tea Party Vigilantes Out for Liberal Blood [Violence]

Posted on March 25, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| 1 Comment

White extremists, angry at the passage of health care reform, are mobilizing to punish the Godless Democratic lawmakers who are responsible for the coming of Armageddon . The FBI is involved after a series of death threats. Here are some highlights. Right-wing nutjobs have graduated from simply yelling racist and homophobic slurs at Democratic lawmakers, to direct action. Bricks have been thrown through windows of several Democratic Party offices, some with Barry Goldwater (?!) quotes attached. Virginia Congressman Tom Perriello’s brother had the gas line to his home severed after Tea Partiers posted the wrong address on the internet. They were encouraging people to visit Perriello and “express their thanks,” for his ‘yes’ vote. The AP spoke with one of the organizers : Nigel Coleman, chairman of the Danville Tea Party , said he re-posted the comment that originated on another conservative blog, including the address, Monday on his Facebook page. The posts were taken down after the mistake was discovered. “We’ve never been associated with any violence or any vandalism,” he said. ” We’re definitely sorry that we posted the incorrect address .” Representative Bart “Baby Killer” Stupak received a voicemail that said: I hope you bleed … (get) cancer and die.” And then he got a fax that read: All Baby Killers come to unseemly ends Either by the hand of man or by the hand of God.” Missouri Rep. Russ Carnahan found a coffin on his lawn . And these are just a few of the incidents so far. But hey, this is just freedom of expression, the way the Founding Fathers intended! Republican John Boehner has denounced the threats and violence, but Democrats are demanding that he come out stronger in his condemnation of the wackos in his own party. Earlier this week, Times columnist Bob Herbert offered this analysis : The toxic clouds that are the inevitable result of the fear and the bitter conflicts so relentlessly stoked by the Republican Party – think blacks against whites, gays versus straights, and a whole range of folks against immigrants – tend to obscure the tremendous damage that the party’s policies have inflicted on the country.” Talking Points Memo is keeping a pin-map of the attacks and serious threats that have happened so far across the country. Sadly, it is bound to grow. Finally, here is a Drudge headline and a subtle advertisement encouraging people to let Nancy Pelosi know how they really feel. [ Image via , Drudge]

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Tea Party Vigilantes Out for Liberal Blood [Violence]

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