Notes: The American Civil Liberties Union is a honorable entity. It’s America’s guardian of liberty — working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country. The ACLU tracks HATE and RACISM — hence the vitriol from Republican racist gas bag Ann Coulter.
It is totally dishonest for Osama Bin O’Reilly a.k.a Bill O’Reilly to claim that the ACLU has a WAR ON ‘STUPID’ CHRISTMAS.
Nope!
The ACLU protects ALL Religious delusions — including Islam, both of which I do not really care about. It is Fox News and dingbats like Coulter who are conducting a war on people practicing faiths other than Christianity, by condoning biased, bigoted and racist behavior — such as this case in Florida or these.
Right-Wing Christianity has been the catalyst of almost all forms of racism in America since colonialist #1Christopher Columbus set his rotten European foot on the Americas, in 1492. [ READ MORE ]
Coulter: ACLU is “America’s leading anti-Christian hate group”
More in Republican Hate, Lies, Sexism and Racism:
Fox & GOONS names health care “court“: Lieberman the “king,” Snowe the “queen,” and Burris, “a royal pain in the neck“
‘UNBATHED & UNSHAVED‘ Comedian Dennis Miller compares Speaker Pelosi to WWE: “Both have loud obnoxious women with increasing power whose faces scare little children“
WSJ’s Moore’s suggestions for Person of the Year: Tea partiers or “maybe somebody like Rupert Murdoch or Roger Ailes” — Who have created aracist rattlesnake pit — they callFOX News
WSJ’s Taranto: John Kerry is “really intellectually overmatched” by Sarah Palin. LOL! You have to be equally decrepit to think that Palin has any intellect!
Malkin’s conspiracy theory: Immigration bill is incentive for undocumented immigrants to stay for census, tipping elections. An immigrant attacking other immigrants — READ THIS DESPICABLE UNTIE-TOM’S STORY HERE
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi advanced the nonsensical conservative idea of “going forward” when she refused to hold impeachment hearings. In a poetic sense of justice, her strategy of “not looking back” is coming back to bite her. Rather than the architects of the criminal war being investigated, she now is on the hot seat. It is possible that this same “going forward” agenda – which has also been accepted by President Obama – may come back to derail the president’s seemingly naïve agenda.
By: Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez It is apparent that regardless of who is in power, conservative ideals are firmly entrenched not simply in the American psyche, but are an integral part of U.S. policies. One could blame liberals for not having a backbone when combating conservatives, but chances are that the real reason may be even more onerous; one likely explanation is governmental psychological warfare.
Why did Congress last week quietly approve almost another $100 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars? Why are displaced Mexican migrants scapegoated for all the ills of U.S. society? Why does the United States escape blame for its insatiable thirst for drugs [ in fueling the drug wars in Mexico ]? Why is the United States always supposed to side with Israel, without ever having a debate? Why does “war as peace” continue to be U.S. policy?
With President Obama, things were supposed to be different; the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars were supposed to come to a screeching halt. Guantanamo would be immediately closed down and torture would unequivocally be denounced and those flouting U.S. and international laws would finally be held to account in a court of law.
Instead, we see vacillation or escalation on virtually every front. Just on economic grounds alone, one would think that shutting down both wars would be a no-brainer. So the question is logical; with Obama in the White House and Democrats in control of Congress, why do conservative ideals and policies – such as the right to permanent war – continue to be entrenched throughout the U.S. political landscape?
Most assuredly, the answer lies in the lies that this nation has swallowed as part of its national narrative. For example, several years ago, as I was finishing up my PhD studies, one of my professors was explaining how language and minds can be manipulated – simply by the words we employ and the order in which they are employed. Such a sophisticated process can pre-determine not only what we think and discuss, but when we do this. Who delivers the words and ideas can also influence how people will feel towards any given issue. One example is the use of Colin Powell [ and his contrived account ] to convince a skeptical world before the UN about the need to invade Iraq [ Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld and Rice had zero credibility ].
Colin Powell: The Speech [ LIES ] that led to WAR (1 of eight) [ Click on Thumbnails To View Videos 7 Through eight ]
As the seminar professor was explaining this process, I raised my hand: “This sounds like psy-ops – like CIA work.”
At this, the professor laughed: “You must not be too familiar with our field. The great majority of all mass communications research is funded by the defense department.”
This confirmed what I had always suspected; this would explain how the Iraq War was sold – through an unquestioning media that simply acted liked stenographers – repeating complete fabrications, affirmed by “military experts” (in the employ of Defense contractors) that even grade school children could see through. Yet that would not have been enough to have convinced a skeptical public.
For such a special operation to work, fear, hate and ignorance had to be thrown into the mix, helping to advance the nonsensical argument that Iraq constituted a grave threat to the world. Yet, on the heels of the Cold War – in which the United States was pitted against a superpower that actually had a nuclear arsenal of thousands – Americans were supposed to be afraid of a country that, in effect, used slingshots as part of its air defense. While fear, hate and ignorance usually work in any society, all this was not enough to sell this war.
To sell the war – in fact, to sell the notion of a right to permanent worldwide war (The so-called War on Terror) – required bringing in three additional factors: God, hyper-nationalism and a homeland.” If Bush could convince the public that God was siding with the United States against fanatical Arab/Muslim terrorists who were responsible for 9-11, then all that remained was to convince the public that it was their patriotic duty to support the president in this God-inspired civilizational war to protect the Fatherland against infidels. This civilizational Jihad or Crusade included warring against Iraq, a nation that had nothing to do with 9-11 and that had not ever been a threat to the United States (see Rumsfeld’s “religious” memos to Bush at this week’s GQ Issue at: http://men.style.com/gq/features/topsecret)
This war – for the hearts and minds of Westerners – appears to have failed except amongst the FOX-TV-viewing public and its right-wing radio auxiliaries.
And yet, even with a change in administrations, conservative ideals and the conservative agenda continue to dominate the national agenda. Specifically, in regards to Iraq and Afghanistan – the wars continue and Dick Cheney and his ultra-conservative cohorts continue to dictate the nation’s political agenda. The reason: think psy-ops and think subterfuge. While we discuss the proprieties of torture and other enhanced interrogation techniques – we never get around to discussing illegal wars that have resulted in the deaths and maiming of tens of thousands and the displacement of millions. Within this context, we ignore the larger crimes against humanity by the Bush administration and instead debate whether torture works or not.
In a nation of laws – beyond a bad cliché, “going forward” – or not pursuing justice – has now become “conventional wisdom.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi advanced this nonsensical conservative idea when she refused to hold impeachment hearings. In a poetic sense of justice, her strategy of “not looking back” is coming back to bite her. Rather than the architects of the criminal war being investigated, she now is on the hot seat. It is possible that this same “going forward” agenda – which has also been accepted by President Obama – may come back to derail the president’s seemingly naïve agenda.
“How the journalistic elite got taken for a ride on the Straight Talk Express is one of the revelatory sagas of modern-day Washington. Matt Welch has the audacity to think that John McCain’s views matter, not only his legends, and he smokes out McCain with gusto. You don’t have to follow him every inch of the way into libertarian politics–as I do not–to be dazzled by the light he casts on a telling tragedy of American politics.”–Todd Gitlin, author of The Bulldozer and the Big Tent: Blind Republicans, Lame Democrats, and the Recovery of American Ideals
“John McCain’s love affair with the news media is a decade old. But McCain makes clear that that love affair is over.”–Glenn Reynolds, author of An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths, and blogger at Instapundit
Praise for Matt Welch’s Op-Ed piece on John McCain in the Los Angeles Times, “Do We Really Need Another T.R.?”:
“I hope a lot of Americans read Matt Welch’s definitive LAT editorial on the subject of McCain’s political philosophy…. [I]t should be a reputation-maker for Welch.”– Colby Cosh, columnist for Canada’s National Post
“Congratulations to the LAT’s Matt Welch for this morning’s penetrating column on John McCain…. Listen up, pundits. Matt Welch has sent you a signal. It won’t kill you to look into the mind of the desert angel and see what he thinks.” — Todd Gitlin, author of The Intellectuals and the Flag
“The redoubtable Matt Welch does the unconscionable today: he writes an op-ed for the LA Times in which he examines John McCain’s actual views on the issues…. Hear hear…. [McCain's] flip-flops get a lot of attention mainly because they’re easy to find and satisfying to point out. Actually looking past his occasionally “maverick” views is far more important.” — Kevin Drum, The Washington Monthly
“Matt Welch of the Los Angeles Times does a significant public service in exposing John McCain’s intrusive, statist agenda.” –Doug Bandow, author of Foreign Follies: America’s New Global Empire
“Kudos to Matt Welch for managing to reveal some truths about St. McCain without falling into the usual trap of trying to argue about where he actually fits on the imaginary political spectrum and instead just telling us what the dude thinks about things.” –Duncan Black, proprietor of the Eschaton (Atrios) blog
“Great op-ed by Matt Welch on what John McCain actually thinks about the world.” –Matthew Yglesias, The American Prospect
“Matt Welch, now with the Los Angeles Times, perspicaciously sizes up everyone’s favorite politician — especially given that no one seems to actually care about his political beliefs — Sen. John McCain. [...] [R]ead the whole thing, before this whole “McCain for President” thing goes too far.” — Brian Dohery, Reason
Product Description:
John McCain is one of the most familiar, sympathetic, and overexposed figures in American politics, yet his concrete governing philosophy and actual track record have been left curiously unexamined, mostly because of the massive distractions in his official biography, but also because of his ingenious strategy of talking ad infinitum to each and every access-craving media person who happens by. The more he has spouted, the less journalists have bothered trying to see through the fog.
McCain gives the voting public what it wants but can’t find — a flesh-and-bones political portrait of a man onto whom people are forever projecting their own ideological fantasies. It is a psychological key for decoding his allegedly ‘maverick’ actions, and the first realistic assessment of what a John McCain presidency may look like. McCain will quickly lay out in overlapping detail the root cause of the senator’s worldview: his personal transformation from underachieving punk to war hawk uber-patriot, in which he used the “higher power” of American nationalism to save his life and soul.
As McCain wrenches himself inside-out in pursuit of the prize that eluded him in 2000, McCain will look behind the war hero, behind the maverick reformer. Journalist and pundit Matt Welch brings to this project an investigative eye and a coolly analytical mindset to provide Republicans, Democrats and Independents a picture of the man in full before they enter the voting booth in 2008.
The St Petersburg Times: “McCain’s straight talk has become a toxic mix of lies and double-speak. — John McCain and Sarah Palin stand accused of trying to “lie” their way into the White House with discredited claims and advertising.
The Palin Lie Dossier
1. She never went to Iraq — Her trip was to an Iraq/Kuwaiti border post.
2. Her claim that she is in charge of 20% of America’s ENERGY SUPPLY is a monstrous exaggeration — Alaska’s share of domestic energy production last year was 3.5 percent, according to the official figures kept by the U.S. Energy Information Administration….[FactCheck.org].
And, if by “supply” Palin meant all the energy consumed in the U.S., and not just produced here, then Alaska’s production accounted for only 2.4 percent.
Alaska is the ninth largest producer of ENERGY(includes oil and natural gas) in the United States, more specifically — Alaska produced the second largest amount of CRUDE OIL (771,000 Barrels/Day) in 2006, behind Texas, which produced 1,088,000 Barrels/Day. — [Ref: Historical U.S. Crude Oil Production, 1954 to 2006]
Alaska produces very little Natural Gas, most of which (76.6%), was produced in the Gulf of Mexico area.
Also, McCain’s claim that Palin is a “major world authority” in Energy is ridiculous and laughable.
3. To bolster her foreign policy credentials, she lied that she has traveled to Ireland — She never went to Ireland. The Ireland trip was a refueling stop on her trip to military installations in Germany and Kuwait. Maybe she went to Bosnia Too — and was under fire while landing.
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin stand accused Monday of trying to “lie” their way into the White House with discredited claims and advertising — and it’s not just outgunned Democrats crying foul.
Non-partisan fact-check operations, newspapers and opinion columnists are also charging McCain, once a darling of the press, of cloaking the election in sleaze and unfairly smearing Democrat Barack Obama.
With the United States locked in two foreign wars, punished by its thirst for Middle Eastern oil and with the economy plummeting, the race was consumed for two days last week by McCain camp claims Obama called Palin a “pig.”
US election campaigns and hardball advertising always push the limits of truth and often amount to outright distortion — the Obama camp has not hesitated to blur McCain’s record too.
Campaigns and experts usually steer clear of blatantly accusing a candidate of lying, but the term is being bandied about following McCain’s latest hard-hitting assault on Obama’s character and defense of Palin’s record.
Last week, the McCain campaign accused Obama of wanting to teach sex education in kindergarten. In reality, the bill he voted for as an Illinois lawmaker mandated warnings for young children about sexual predators.
Palin was accused of saying she visited Alaskan troops in Iraq when it emerged her trip was to an Iraq/Kuwaiti border post.
She is also taking heat for repeatedly saying she blocked a notorious multi-million dollar project to build a bridge to a sparsely-inhabited island in her state which she initially backed and of not fully returning all the federal dollars doled out for it.
“Generally those come out as outright lies, not just not incorrect,” said Larry Powell, a professor of communications of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The McCain camp is also now being accused in news reports of embellishing attendance figures at campaign rallies.
The Obama camp derided the volley of accusations as “disgusting lies” and questioned McCain’s honor.
Newspapers and independent fact-checking groups also accused Republicans of peddling untruths.
“The claim is simply false,” said FactCheck.org of the sex education ad.
The St Petersburg Times complained: “McCain’s straight talk has become a toxic mix of lies and double-speak.
“It is leaving a permanent stain on his reputation for integrity.”
Republicans, like President George W. Bush’s guru Karl Rove, have been playing hard knocks-style politics for more than 20 years, often taking a Democrat’s perceived strength and turning it into a liability.
Ironically, McCain was a victim of such treatment, bowed out embittered by the 2000 primary campaign against Bush and apparently not willing to take the high road again.
Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota Sunday said Democrats were descending into “hysteria.” Another top McCain aide Carly Fiorina said McCain’s foes were panicking and accused them of unfairly exploiting McCain’s age.
McCain himself denied on Friday that his attacks were rooted in untruth.
“Actually, they are not lies,” McCain said on the ABC show “The View.”
Whatever its morality, the final judgement on McCain’s strategy will be dictated by whether it works.
An earlier negative barrage that branded Obama an empty “celebrity” seemed to jolt the Democrat last month, changing a race McCain appeared to be losing.
Latest broadsides slowed Obama again: for every hour he spends defending himself, he is not talking about the failing economy or comparing McCain to Bush.
“They are trying to put Obama on the defensive… to make a whiner out of him,” said Powell.
Latest polls give McCain a slight edge, but can a scorched earth policy work all the way through to November 4?
“If that is the only thing they are doing, then they would be in serious trouble,” said Kathleen Kendall, a communications professor at the University of Maryland.
“A lot of things are happening at once,” she said, mentioning positive advertisements the campaign is running and speeches by McCain on issues. Palin is also reinvigorating Republicans.
Obama’s response is also critical.
“I love this country too much to let them take over another election with lies and phony outrage,” he said before launching a fight-back.
But he does not seem comfortable in the political gutter.
“He doesn’t want to go as sulphorously negative as his opponents are if he can avoid it,” said Bruce Buchanan, of the University of Texas at Austin.
McCain’s aides are like “guerrilla fighters fighting those who are following Marquis of Queensbury rules,” he said.
The sleaze debunked
Reference:Moo — People should stop picking on vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin because she hired a high school classmate to oversee the state agriculture division, a woman who said she was qualified for the job because she liked cows when she was a kid. And they should lay off the governor for choosing another childhood friend to oversee a failing state-run dairy, allowing the Soviet-style business to ding taxpayers for $800,000 in additional losses….[Read More]
