The Drudge Report Goes After First Lady Michelle Obama's Outfit, Targets Her "Bondage Belt," Misses Point of Her Speech

They are after First Lady Michelle Obama again over her clothes. This time, The Drudge Report is targeting her "bondage belt," as they called it. Okay, not to knock her, but that is hideous. Michelle Obama has had some major fashion hits and a few misses. I would say that this is minor in the grand scheme of things. Considering how frumpy Barbara Bush and Hillary Clinton were, I think it's safe to cut her some slack.

Lost in this hoopla over her belt is the fact that Mrs. Obama spoke on health care legislation at the White House complex September 18, 2009, in Washington, D.C. She amplified the President's message on the need for health insurance reform and its impact on women and families during the event.

Columnist Charles Krauthammer Says President Obama's "Persona is More Cool, Distant, Imperial & Charming Scoundrel Can Get Away With Deception"

Well, conservative syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer has written a scathing article questioning the truthfulness of statements made by President Barack Obama. I really expected no less from Krauthammer because of his political persuasion. This is music to the ears of President Obama's critics. He is implying that Obama isn't a man of his words and that he slithers like a snake in and out of his positions. I guess that speaks to some of the same traits as President Bill "Slick Willie" Clinton, but in Krauthammer's eyes, there is a twist -- Clinton possessed an irresistible charm. He states that Obama's persona is more cool, distant, imperial. Wow, I wonder what he thought of President George W. Bush? Don't get me wrong, Mr. Krauthammer is a brilliant man and he has made a valuable contribution to the world of political analysis, but I have to wonder why we are still talking about "you lie."

Does He Lie?
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, September 18, 2009

You lie? No. Barack Obama doesn't lie. He's too subtle for that. He . . . well, you judge. Herewith three examples within a single speech -- the now-famous Obama-Wilson "you lie" address to Congress on health care -- of Obama's relationship with truth.

(1) "I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits -- either now or in the future," he solemnly pledged. "I will not sign it if it adds one dime to the deficit, now or in the future. Period."

Wonderful. The president seems serious, veto-ready, determined to hold the line. Until, notes Harvard economist Greg Mankiw, you get to Obama's very next sentence: "And to prove that I'm serious, there will be a provision in this plan that requires us to come forward with more spending cuts if the savings we promised don't materialize."

This apparent strengthening of the pledge brilliantly and deceptively undermines it. What Obama suggests is that his plan will require mandatory spending cuts if the current rosy projections prove false. But there's absolutely nothing automatic about such cuts. Every Congress is sovereign. Nothing enacted today will force a future Congress or a future president to make any cuts in any spending, mandatory or not.

Just look at the supposedly automatic Medicare cuts contained in the Sustainable Growth Rate formula enacted to constrain out-of-control Medicare spending. Every year since 2003, Congress has waived the cuts.

Mankiw puts the Obama bait-and-switch in plain language. "Translation: I promise to fix the problem. And if I do not fix the problem now, I will fix it later, or some future president will, after I am long gone. I promise he will. Absolutely, positively, I am committed to that future president fixing the problem. You can count on it. Would I lie to you?"

(2) And then there's the famous contretemps about health insurance for illegal immigrants. Obama said they would not be insured. Well, all four committee-passed bills in Congress allow illegal immigrants to take part in the proposed Health Insurance Exchange. But more important, the problem is that laws are not self-enforcing. If they were, we'd have no illegal immigrants because, as I understand it, it's illegal to enter the United States illegally. We have laws against burglary, too. But we also provide for cops and jails on the assumption that most burglars don't voluntarily turn themselves in.

When Republicans proposed requiring proof of citizenship, the Democrats twice voted that down in committee. Indeed, after Rep. Joe Wilson's "You lie!" shout-out, the Senate Finance Committee revisited the language of its bill to prevent illegal immigrants from getting any federal benefits. Why would the Finance Committee fix a nonexistent problem?

(3) Obama said he would largely solve the insoluble cost problem of Obamacare by eliminating "hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and fraud" from Medicare. That's not a lie. That's not even deception. That's just an insult to our intelligence. Waste, fraud and abuse -- Meg Greenfield once called this phrase "the dread big three" -- as the all-purpose piggy bank for budget savings has been a joke since Jimmy Carter first used it in 1977.

Moreover, if half a trillion is waiting to be squeezed painlessly out of Medicare, why wait for health-care reform? If, as Obama repeatedly insists, Medicare overspending is breaking the budget, why hasn't he gotten started on the painless billions in "waste and fraud" savings?

Obama doesn't lie. He merely elides, gliding from one dubious assertion to another. This has been the story throughout his whole health-care crusade. Its original premise was that our current financial crisis was rooted in neglect of three things -- energy, education and health care. That transparent attempt to exploit Emanuel's Law -- a crisis is a terrible thing to waste -- failed for health care because no one is stupid enough to believe that the 2008 financial collapse was caused by a lack of universal health care.

So on to the next gambit: selling health-care reform as a cure for the deficit. When that was exploded by the Congressional Budget Office's demonstration of staggering Obamacare deficits, Obama tried a new tack: selling his plan as revenue-neutral insurance reform -- until the revenue neutrality is exposed as phony future cuts and chimerical waste and fraud. Obama doesn't lie. He implies, he misdirects, he misleads -- so fluidly and incessantly that he risks transmuting eloquence into mere slickness.

Slickness wasn't fatal to "Slick Willie" Clinton because he possessed a winning, nearly irresistible charm. Obama's persona is more cool, distant, imperial. The charming scoundrel can get away with endless deception; the righteous redeemer cannot. Source: Washington Post

Wow, doesn't this person sound a lot like George W. Bush and the eight years of waste and fraud we endured? Now the President is being called a "scoundrel." Wow. This is amazing.

RNC Chairman Michael Steele: "Bad Form" For President Obama To Invoke Kennedy During His Speech to Congress

It is amazing that all RNC Chairman Michael Steele could find to talk about President Barack Obama's address to Congress was to state that it was "bad form" and "a political tool" for him to talk about a letter he received from the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA). Wow, is he that daft?

"I'm sorry, but I just felt a bit unnerved by it, in the sense he just passed," said Steele. "His wife was still clearly emotional," Steele added. "I just thought that was bad form. We all understand and appreciate the role Sen. Kennedy has played in this debate and the passion he brought to health care. I just thought that was a little bit much for me, so soon after his death, using that as a political tool." Source: Talking Points Memo

Steele also seemed to be under the impression that this was a surprise to Vicki Kennedy and that it was some kind of coincidence that she'd been invited to sit as a guest of Michelle Obama during a speech. Wow, this was only one of her late husband's biggest political issues. This is the leader of the RNC? Wow.

That just shows you how out of touch and ignorant Michael Steele is. It is common knowledge that the president and Sen. Kennedy were very close and the contents of the letter were meant to show the urgency of getting health care reform passed. That was an issue of paramount importance to Ted Kennedy.

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) Yells Out "You Lie" When President Obama Says His Health Care Bill Won't Mandate Coverage for Illegal Immigrants

Once again, the Republican Party shows that it has no class. During President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress tonight regarding health care reform, Republican Congressman Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) yelled out "lie" when the President said his health care bill would not mandate coverage for illegal immigrants. I can't recall hearing any member of Congress interrupt President George W. Bush or President Bill Clinton during their address to Congress. Why should President Obama be continually subjected to such crass behavior at the hands of his opponents? We have lost all sense of decorum in this country. This is a travesty and this congressman is a disgrace.

I can't recall hearing Rep. Wilson calling Governor Sanford a liar and a cheat when he left his office to go for a booty call in South America. Sen. John McCain, during an appearance on CNN after the president's speech, said Wilson's outburst was "totally disrespectful -- [there's] no place for it in that setting or any other and he should apologize immediately." Now, that's the John McCain I liked before the presidential campaign. First Lady Michelle Obama, overhead in the visitors' gallery, shook her head from side to side.

FactCheck.org described the claims made by Rep. Joe Wilson as "false" and noted that one version of the legislation already includes an explicit bar on federal funding for illegal immigrants' health care. There is an http://act.ly/iqpetition going viral, asking @CongJoeWilson to apologize for yelling "YOU LIE" in President Obama's speech.

If you'd like to sign,please click here. 

UPDATE #1: Joe Wilson is being challenged by Rob Miller for SC-02. You can donate to Miller's ActBlue page here.

UPDATE #2: In less than two hours, challenger Rob Miller has raised over $11K. Joe Wilson is shaking like a leaf at the outrage being leveled at him and the prospect that this outburst could, and should, cost him reelection. He has issued the following apology:

“This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the President’s remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill. While I disagree with the President’s statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility.”

UPDATE #3: True to form, Fox News stepped up to the plate and showed just have right wing they are. On Fox Business News, Karl Rove and host Neil Cavuto thought Wilson shouting at the President was hilarious. "Joe Wilson, good guy," said Rove. "Lovely," agreed Cavuto.

Sorry, but if he wasn't called out on his despicable behavior, he would not have apologized. These are the bottom feeders who are making decisions for Americans. Time for this moron to go back to South Carolina!

UPDATE #4: It turns out that Joe Wilson was once a member of Sons of Confederate Veterans. According to Crooks and Liars, this is an organization that, as the SPLC has detailed assiduously, has been taken over in the past decade by radical neo-Confederates who favor secession and defend slavery as a benign institution. Leading the takeover is a radical racist named Kirk Lyons, who's been an important legal figure on the far right for some years.

Joe Wilson, as a state legislator, was one of only seven Republicans to go against their own party and vote to keep the Dixie Rebel flag flying over the South Carolina capitol:

The flag came down that year after Republicans in both houses went for a compromise that would put it on Statehouse grounds at the Confederate Soldier’s monument. The “Magnificent Seven” of Senators who voted to keep the flag up included current Congressman Joe Wilson (who I served with in the 218th Infantry Brigade of the National Guard.) Source: Crooks and Liars

Joe Wilson's contact information:

Joe Wilson
South Carolina-2nd, Republican
212 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515-4002
Phone: (202) 225-2452

Wilson Joe Congressman
1700 Sunset Blvd
West Columbia, SC 29169 Map
(803) 939-0041

And email him at http://www.joewilson.house.gov/

To watch the video, CLICK HERE

Watch the entire speech:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Michele Bachmann (R-MN) Tells Activists: Slit Our Wrists And Become Blood Brothers Against Obama's Health Care

I tried my best to avoid writing about Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) since the last time she put her foot in her mouth, but I couldn't resist this time. The woman is a complete imbecile.  According to the Colorado Independent, she spoke yesterday to the right-wing Independence Institute and she called on conservatives to really come together in the fight against President Obama on health care. Why people come out to listen to this woman is beyond me.

"What we have to do today is make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing," said Bachmann. "This will not pass. We will do whatever it takes to make sure this doesn't pass."

The sanguinary rhetoric continued. "Right now, we are looking at reaching down the throat and ripping the guts out of freedom," she said. "And we may never be able to restore it if we don't man up and take this one on." Bachmann also denounced a system under which some Americans pay half their income in taxes: "It's nothing more than slavery." Source: Talking Point Memo

Talking about slitting one's wrist and slavery in the same speech is abhorrent, given America's history where slavery is concerned, not to mention the obvious dig against people who have tried to commit suicide by slitting their wrists. It was insensitive and just plain wrong. I am amazed that people actually vote for this woman. But judging from the dirty tactics by both the Republicans and the Democrats, why am I surprised?

Jon Voight Appears on Mike Huckabee's Show: Says President Obama 'Arrogant,' Causing 'Civil Unrest' (VIDEO)

Actor Jon Voight is giving his two cents about the arrogance of President Barack Obama. I have no issue with him criticizing the president, but how is his relationship with his daughter, Angelina Jolie? I thought she wasn't speaking to him. What's the relevance here? Well, if he can't get his relationship right with his own daughter, I think he should be the last person to call anyone arrogant. I have yet to see Jon Voight in the forefront rallying for all the poor senior citizens in this country.

He appeared on Mike Huckabee's show on Faux News last weekend. He also accused the president of playing God when it comes to healthcare.

I'm here to validate all the millions of people who are opposed to the Obama healthcare. We're witnessing a slow and steady takeover of our true freedoms. We're becoming a socialist nation, and Obama is causing civil unrest in this country... The stimulus didn't work... We're being told what cars we can drive, how much we can make...

Obama has made this [healthcare} a personal crusade now... As we can see it really is about him. He is arrogant and he's adamant that he's going to get this passed...

He's trying everything, even the so-called God card. If you love God, he tells us, then it's your duty to vote this healthcare bill in... They're taking away God's first gift to man. Our free will. Source: Huffington Post

Gee, I can't seem to remember any time in recent memory when I saw Jon Voight crusading for anything other than a role in a movie. Here's someone with zero credibility trying to sound knowledgeable.

Harry Jackson, Conservative Black Bishop, Calls Universal Health Care 'Reverse Classicism'

There's a fool preaching in a pulpit near you. Bishop Harry Jackson from Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md., made some incendiary and inaccurate claims about health care reform, labeling it "reverse classicism." Say what? Jackson said the following in his speech at the National Press Club in Washington:

If I'm going to have to lessen the care of some folks and people who are worthy of service, worthy of care don't get served, we have a real problem. In other words, my life is not worth less because I'm worth more financially...There's a reverse classicism in this whole issue.

Bishop Jackson continued by picking up on a common misnomer that the right invented and then railed against, spending tax dollars to pay for abortions. "It's absolutely immoral to say that you're going to pay for an abortion," said Jackson. Source: Huffington Post

He got his digs in about his own race. He claimed that the health care reform would increase abortion rates especially among the Black community. The truth is that the politicians have not proposed spending tax dollars on abortion procedures except for instances of rape, incest or when the mother's life is in danger. Of course, Bishop Jackson in all his "glory" didn't bother to mention the fact that there are 47 million Americans without health insurance and I am sure there are a few in his congregation as well.

Rep. Barney Frank Confronts Constituent Who Asked Him Why He's Supporting a Nazi Policy (VIDEO)

Rep. Barney Frank confronts a constituent at his town hall meeting in Dartmouth, MA, when she asked, "Why are you supporting this Nazi policy?"

Frank's response: "On what planet do you spend most of your time?" He then calls her approach "vile, contemptible nonsense." He closes by saying: "Trying to have a conversation with you would be like arguing with a dining room table."

Dick Armey Says “In September or October there will be a Hyped Up Outbreak of the Swine Flu to Scare Bedwetters to Vote for Health Care Reform"

Dick Armey resigned from DLA Piper, the Washington-based lobbying firm that he has advised since leaving Congress in 2002. He said he decided to resign in order to spare the firm, which counts pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb among its big healthcare clients, any further embarrassment by association with Freedom Works, his pet project. Mr. Armey has inferred that the Obama Administration will use another swine flu outbreak expected in September or October to force "bedwetters" to vote for the health care reform. Those comments are not only reckless, but deeply divisive and makes light of a serious situation.

Mr Armey, 69, predicted that the “grassroots” backlash against what he called Mr Obama’s “hostile government takeover of a sixth of the US economy” would cause the reform to fail spectacularly. But he predicted that supporters of reform would attempt to win over the “bed-wetters caucus” – a group of wavering lawmakers who spanned both parties, he said – with a fear campaign in the autumn.

“In September or October there will be a hyped up outbreak of the swine flu which they’ll say is as bad as the bubonic plague to scare the bed-wetters to vote for healthcare reform,” said Mr Armey. “That is the only way they can push something on to the American people that the American people don’t want.”

Democrats have portrayed groups such as Freedom Works as demagogues out to disrupt town-hall meetings rather than enter into civil debate. Mr Armey said he doubted members of Freedom Works attended meetings to shout down people with whom they disagreed. “I know people have been doing that but that is not the tactics we recommend,” he said. Source: Financial Times

So, it's pretty obvious that Dick Armey hasn't lost his old rabble-rousing ways. Bed-wetters? Wow. Swine flu is nothing to take lightly or even have the hubris to joke about. There have been hundreds of deaths as a result and yes, there will be more cases of the swine flu in the Fall, whether the Democrats or Republicans want to see this or not.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Glenn Beck's Operation

Glenn Beck is such a hypocrite. Only 16 months ago he trashed the health care system in the United States. Today, he's saying that it is the best in the world. Which is it Glenn Beck?

Phil Duckham, Jackson County (Mich.) Commissioner Attends Rally held by Rep. Mark Schauer Carrying Sign with Swastika on it

Phil Duckham, (Michael J. Metts, Jackson Citizen Patriot)

Michigan's Jackson County Commissioner Phil Duckham attended a rally held by U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer. He was there for in opposition to the proposed health care reform plan of President Barack Obama. What's unconscionable is that he carried a sign with a swastika on it and compared Obama to Adolf Hitler.

"This is how Hitler started out," Duckham said. "First, Obama took over the auto industry, then the banking industry. We don't need him to take over the health-care industry."

Members of the right wing shrug their shoulders and say that the Democrats are the ones crying racism, but here you have an elected official walking around with a sign with a swastika on it. What is the extremist fringe of the right wing suppose to deduce from that? A sense of empowerment for their cause.

Phil Duckham's information

Work Number: (517) 536-4900
E-mail: PDuckham@co.jackson.mi.us

Duckham, Philip S. III
11610 Waterman Road
Brooklyn, MI 49230

John Mackey, Whole Foods CEO, Says: "The Whole Foods Alternative To ObamaCare" -- Just Eat Whole Foods!

For those of you who shop at Whole Foods Market, it is time to revisit that decision and find an alternative. John Mackey, Whole Foods CEO, wrote an op-ed on health care reform in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, in which he said,"Recent scientific and medical evidence shows that a diet consisting of foods that are plant-based, nutrient dense and low-fat will help prevent and often reverse most degenerative diseases that kill us and are expensive to treat." Really? Is Whole Foods Market, AKA "Whole Paycheck," the solution for America's health care crisis? The exorbitant prices they charge aren't for the feint of heart.

For those of you who think that Whole Foods Market is a godsend, news flash -- not all of the foods sold there will actually make you healthier. In fact, last week Mackey said it best, even though he put his foot in his mouth, he admitted, "Basically, we used to think it was enough just to sell healthy food, but we know it is not enough. We sell all kinds of candy. We sell a bunch of junk."A boycott of this company should be the next move for all those people who have been genuinely insulted by his comments. I used to shop at Whole Foods, but I found Trader Joe's to be a viable alternative, with more attractive prices. So, my parting words to John Mackey is to stick to his day job and stop selling junk at your stores at such exorbitant prices.

Rep. Broun (R-Ga.): Obama Part Of A Socialistic Elite That Plans To "Take Over"

It never ceases to amaze me how absolutely ignorant some of our elected officials are. The good times rolled at a town hall event in Athens, Georgia, where anti-health care protesters had no need to get rowdy because they had an ally in their corner. Rep. Paul Broun seemed to basically agree with their concerns and then some. Gee, I wonder why Rep. Broun didn't push his proposal for health care reform during the last administration, since he cares so much about his constituents? He also said that he will vote against any health care reform bill that comes before him. So, even it is the result of bipartisanship, he will deliberately abstain from voting on the basis of his ridiculous conviction. Sounds very selfish to me.

Broun described a "socialistic elite," led by Obama and senior congressional Democrats, which might use the occasion of a pandemic or a natural disaster to seize dictatorial powers. "They're trying to develop an environment where they can take over," he said. "We've seen that historically."

U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, walked into a North Georgia Technical College auditorium Tuesday evening to a standing ovation, holding three thick white binders. "Folks, this is Obamacare," he said, holding the binders over his head. "Let me start this by telling you what I think of this bill and (President) Obama," he said, and slammed the binders on the ground.

With that, Broun set the tone for a town hall meeting on health care reform. The Democrats' proposal is too expensive and will threaten millions of Georgians' jobs and lives, he said. "This is a stinking, rotten fish, and they don't want you to smell it, and they want to shove it down your throat and make you eat it before you smell how rotten and stinky it is," he said.

At another point, Broun, who last year made national news by comparing Obama to Hitler, called Cuba's former dictator Fidel Castro and leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Obama's "good buddy."

Many speakers in the senior-heavy audience honed in on a clause in the health care proposal that would require insurers to cover end-of-life counseling sessions to help healthy patients decide beforehand what types of treatments they want to keep them alive if they are about to die. "(Obama) is going to let the old folks die, and I don't like that at all," Oconee County resident Gene Aycock said. Source: Athens Banner Herald

Gee, I wonder why Rep. Broun didn't push his plan when President Bush was on office? I guess that would be more work than he cares to engage in. This is the same idiot who said that President Obama was a good buddy of Venezuelan leftist nutjob Hugo Chavez. The Rethuglican Party continues to push nothing but lies and continue to foment the extremist fringe of the party. I have some real concerns about this proposed health care reform, but I would not embellish my position with a lot of mistruths and dirty smears.

Richard Terry Young, 62, Arrested at President Obama New Hampshire Town Hall Meeting, Had Loaded Gun, Pocket Knife

Chris Matthews soundly berated William Kostric for having an unconcealed legal weapon across the street from where President Obama held his town hall meeting, but there was another problem that manifested itself yesterday morning, The police arrested another person for having an illegal weapon and a knife. Richard Terry Young, 62, of 821 Ocean Blvd. in Hampton, was arrested around 9:40 a.m., hours before Obama's arrival, and charged with the misdemeanor crimes of criminal trespass and carrying a loaded pistol without a license.

Young was reportedly found inside Portsmouth High School, where Obama later in the day held his town hall-style forum. He was detained by the Secret Service and arrested by Portsmouth Lt. Corey MacDonald. The police said that he was also carrying a pocket knife. A subsequent search of his vehicle, parked on school property, revealed a loaded handgun, police said.

According to Seacoastonline.com, Police said Young is being investigated by the Secret Service for possible federal crimes. There was absolutely no reason for this man to go to a town hall meeting with a pocket knife and a loaded gun, unless, of course, he was up to no good.

Photo Credit: Seacoastonline.com

Tampa Town Hall On Health Care Reform Led by Rep. Kathy Castor, Disrupted By Violence (VIDEO)

Is this occurring in the United States of America? I cannot believe that many in this country have sunk to such low levels, spurred by people like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and others. The latest scuffle broke out in downtown Tampa, Fla., this evening and the police was called in to calm down an unruly crowd outside a health care reform town hall meeting. According to local media reports, angry protesters screamed, yelled and banged on windows as officers hurried to guard the entrances to the facility, where U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor was trying to discuss the various health care reform proposals being debated in Congress.  Get this,  many of the hundreds of protesters said that they had been inspired by a conservative activist group promoted by Fox News host Glenn Beck and some received emails from the county Republican party, according to the St. Petersburg Times:

Instead, hundreds of vocal critics turned out, many of them saying they had been spurred on through the Tampa 912 activist group promoted by conservative radio and television personality Glenn Beck. Others had received e-mails from the Hillsborough Republican party that urged people to speak out against the plan and offered talking points to challenge supporters

The Tampa Tribune reports that some of the protesters carried racist caricatures of President Obama and added details of more fights and scuffles:

Several of the protesters' signs bore an image of Obama with his face painted as the Joker, an image that drew protests of racism locally when it appeared on a Web site thought to be associated with the Pinellas Republican party.

There were at least two scuffles between protesters trying to enter and organizers manning the doors. One of those involved in a scuffle, Randy Arthur, of Oldsmar said he was injured by those manning the doors and said he would file a police report... Randy Arthur, who owns an air conditioning service company, later talked to police officers, his knit shirt ripped and a few scratches visible on his chest. "They slammed him into the wall,'' Kathy Arthur said.

This is a shame and if we cannot agree to disagree respectfully, then how can we say that we are a shining example for the whole world to emulate? This is disturbing on so many levels. It is a shame. Why am I not surprised that Glenn Beck and Fox News' names came up in the middle of this show of raucous and racist behavior? If Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes do not take heed of the unrest that Glenn Beck and others on Fox News are fomenting, then they will be in for a rude awakening. I am calling on more advertisers to pull their business from Fox News completely. This is a disgrace. Glenn Beck is no better than a common thug on the streets.

Rush Limbaugh Compares President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler: "Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, Ruled by Dictate"

For the past several weeks, I decided to ignore the Republican Party's de facto head, Rush Limbaugh's comments, but he has sunk to a new low with his latest rants during his radio show this morning. He compared President Obama to Hitler: "Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, ruled by dictate." Limbaugh said he also believes the "Obama health care logo is damn close to a Nazi swastika logo." Now if this vile garbage is being tolerated by leaders of the Republican Party, aren't we left to believe that they agree with his ridiculous comments and they feel the same way too?

White House uses Web Against The Drudge Report Attack on Health Care Reform Misstatements

The White House is turning to the Internet to hit back at a Web posting on The Drudge Report that claims to show President Barack Obama explaining how his health care reform plans eventually would eliminate private insurance.

The three-minute White House video features Linda Douglass, a former network television correspondent and now White House Office of Health Reform communications director, sitting in front of a computer screen showing the Drudge Report Web site. The right wing site carries a series of video clips from another blogger who strings together selected Obama statements on health care to make it appear he wants to eliminate the private health insurance business. It is quite obvious, as Douglass states, that the site is "taking sentences and phrases out of context, and they're cobbling them together to leave a very false impression."

The right wing is deliberately twisting the truth in so many ways. According to White House Briefing Room blog, the President has consistently said that if you like your insurance plan, your doctor, or both, you will be able to keep them.  He has even proposed eight consumer protections relating specifically to the health insurance industry. If you don't agree with the proposal that's one thing, but to deliberately misstate the statements of the president is another.

Dr. David McKalip Apologizes Directly to President Obama via PR Firm, for Racist E-mail Showing him as a Witch Doctor with a Loin Cloth

Remember the above racist email sent by the right wing critics of President Obama's health care plan? Well, according to Talking Points Memo, David McKalip, a Florida neurosurgeon and healthcare reform opponent who sent a racist email showing the same racist picture portraying President Obama as a witch doctor with a loin cloth and a bone through his nose, has apologized directly to the president.

Through a Public Relations representative, Mr. McKalip put out the following statement:

DR. DAVID MCKALIP SENDS APOLOGY DIRECTLY TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

McKalip apologizes for sending insensitive image via e-mail

St. Petersburg, FL (July 23, 2009) - David McKalip, M.D., brain and spine neurosurgeon of St. Petersburg has never been shy in expressing where he stands regarding President Barack Obama's health-care reform. Despite McKalip's position on health system reform, he sends a sincere apology for a forwarded image of President Obama in an e-mail depicting the president in Papua New Guinean tribal garb with a logo beneath it saying, "Obama Care."

"I genuinely regret the decision I made in passing this e-mail message along. Directly to President Obama, I sincerely apologize for offending him. This was, in no way whatsoever, my intention. The image has nothing to do with my feelings or thoughts on any race or culture. I recognize that this image is offensive and hope that the nation refocuses on assuring all Americans have access to high-quality, affordable health care with no party interfering in the patient-physician relationship.

My intention is to focus directly on the issue at hand, which is putting financial and decision-making power into the hands of patients and taking it from government and insurance companies," said McKalip. The image forwarded was from a long chain of e-mails and not created by McKalip. Source: Talking Points Memo

According to TPM, McKalip wasn't always so contrite in his response to the flap. I think someone with a lot of might and influence leaned heavily on him. This apology is hollow and does not ring true to me. He's only seemingly contrite because he got caught.

Pat Buchanan Says President Obama's Administration Maybe Heading for Trouble, Compares to Storm Clouds that Gathered Before Pres. Richard Nixon's Fall

I came across a very interesting article written by Pat Buchanan, who I have considered to be very racist in many of his positions, much like his sister Bay Buchanan. Nonetheless, I am amazed that he has jumped from earlier criticisms of President Barack Obama as exhibiting traits of former President Jimmy Carter, to now comparing him to former President Richard Nixon. Below is the article in its entirety as found on right-wing propaganda machine World Net Daily, which has pushed the issue of President Obama's birth certificate ad nauseaum.

Has Obama's luck run out?
by Pat Buchanan, posted on World Net Daily

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: July 23, 2009
10:30 pm Eastern © 2009

"The sound alone was worth the $24 billion!"

So said fellow Nixon speechwriter Ray Price as the mighty Saturn V rocket lifted Apollo 11 and Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins off the launch pad, three miles away, on the start of their voyage to the moon.

It was a splendid moment in that first year of the Nixon presidency, a year that had gone remarkably well for a minority president who had come to office with both houses held by the opposition.

Within weeks of taking office, Nixon had taken a grand tour of the European capitals. He had proposed a Family Assistance Plan, cooked up in Pat Moynihan's shop, to wide applause. He had announced a withdrawal of 100,000 troops from Vietnam.

He would greet the astronauts on the aircraft carrier in the Pacific on their return, travel to Guam to announce the Nixon Doctrine, journey on to Vietnam and visit the troops, thence to Romania – the first U.S. president to travel behind the Iron Curtain.

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Returning in triumph, Nixon departed for his August vacation.

When he returned to D.C., the storm clouds had gathered.

In mid-October, hundreds of thousands of protesters surrounded the White House demanding an immediate withdrawal from Vietnam, egged on by a media establishment that had cheered JFK and LBJ all the way into liberalism's war.

With David Broder writing of the "breaking of the president," Nixon went on national television to implore the "great silent majority" to stand with him for peace with honor in Vietnam.

The networks trashed the speech. But Vice President Spiro Agnew launched a counter-attack on media power and prejudice. By December, after another 500,000 had marched on Washington, Nixon was at 68 percent approval and Agnew, after Nixon and Billy Graham, was the third most admired man in America.

Though elected in November 1968, it was November 1969 that made the Nixon presidency and produced the New Majority Republicans would rely on for decades. Obama is approaching such a moment of truth.

The universal health insurance plans being advanced all appear too complex, costly and non-credible to pass both houses. The cap-and-trade carbon emissions bill, with its huge costs to be passed on to U.S. producers and consumers, as China opts out, seems an act of national masochism.

The $787 billion stimulus bill has done zip to stimulate the economy. Less than 10 percent of the money has gone out the door, which makes one wonder why it was called a stimulus package. Unemployment is at 9.5 percent, well above what the Obamaites predicted, and rising.

As worrisome is the situation in Afghanistan. The United States has 66,000 troops in country or on the way, as our NATO allies look for the exit ramp. We are seven and a half years in and the Afghan army is not remotely capable of defending the nation or regime.

Afghanistan is now Obama's war. He made the decision to deepen U.S. involvement as we headed out of Iraq. Yet, it is unclear how many U.S. troops will be needed, for how long, to create a stable government and army that can secure the national territory and prevent a return of al-Qaida.

Moreover, Kabul continues to protest U.S. air strikes that continue to kill civilians, as Pakistan protests the Marine offensive in Helmand that is driving the Taliban into Baluchistan, where a secessionist movement is developing.

Pakistan also seems more worried about shifting its army away from the border with India than about defeating an Afghan Taliban with whom it had a working relationship before 9/11.

We are thus today pushing the Afghan regime to do what it is not capable of doing and the Pakistani government and army into doing what it would prefer not to do. This does not appear a formula for victory.

Also looming is the issue of Iran's nuclear program.

Obama has moved up from December to September the deadline for serious discussions to begin. If they have not begun by October, will Obama go to the U.N. for sanctions? If the Russians and Chinese object, will Obama and NATO impose sanctions of their own? Will Obama step on an escalator leading inexorably to war? Or authorize Israel to launch an attack?

Does Obama have the authority to take us to war against a nation that has not attacked us? If so, where did he get this authority? While Congress would readily agree to sanctions, would it sign off on yet another war?

From North Korea to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Honduras, and from the economy to health care to carbon emissions, things are not going Obama's way. He is 10 points below where Nixon was after a full year, and on economic issues – unemployment, the deficit, spending – he is under 50 percent.

This presidency is not yet in trouble, but it is sure headed that way. Source: World Net Daily

I find it amazing that President Obama, six months into his presidency is being made to seem very ineffective. I must admit, that I have wanted to see the President come out swinging on the issue with the health care system overhaul instead of seemingly restrained or even conciliatory to the "blue dog" Democrats and his other critics. Still, that's just one issue and to suddenly write his administration off after six months is ridiculous. President George W. Bush, by far one of the worst presidents in American history, was granted eight years to completely wreck this country. Where was Pat Buchanan and all the right-wing pundits then? I didn't hear them screaming "ineffective president" or "his Administration will fail" afte six months.

Glenn Beck Goes On Bizarre Rant Against President Obama's Health Care Plan: "Be Afraid" (VIDEO)

Could someone please tell me why any media outlet would pay a mediocre television personality such as Glenn Beck millions of dollars to make a complete fool of himself? He contributed in a ridiculous way to the GOP effort to kill President Obama's health care reform plan with a bizarre rant on his show today. He engaged in fear-mongering of the worse kind and direly warned Americans to "be afraid" because Obama is remaking the country "into a place that's a whole lot crappier," and that the United States is becoming a "hybrid between France and Venezuela." Really Glenn?

This rant comes on the heels of Brian Kilmeade's racist rant during a discussion with his Fox & Friends co-hosts about a Swedish and Finnish study which found that married people were less susceptible to Alzheimer's disease than unmarried ones. Kilmeade downplayed the study's significance in America, saying "we [Americans] keep marrying other species and other ethnicities . . . Swedes have pure genes . . . in America we marry everybody..." He apologized this morning for those hateful statements.

News Corporation is an organization made up of bottom feeders and fear mongers from top to bottom of that organization and yes, that includes their foreign holdings.