Sound The Dog Whistles!

Obama has a "ghetto behavior" problem, is crass and lacks grace says Michael Meyers.



I don't know if Michael Meyers knows what those words mean. By the way, who the fuck is Michael Meyers? Notice how Fox News looks for these types of crackpots to throw incendiary racist bombs who just happen to be black? Way to cover your ass, Sean Hannity.

Presidential Protection

I'm trying to remember when the last time anyone questioned the Secret Service's actions as it pertains to protecting the president... I think the answer is never. That is of course until this president.

The latest smear tactic of the rabid right wing is to try and pin "wasted tax dollars" on President Obama for two tour buses at a cost of $2.2 million that were used for his 3 day bus tour; vehicles that were commissioned by the Secret Service over a year ago and actually SAVE the country money as part of the permanent Secret Service fleet, as opposed to retrofitting leased buses every four years. Vehicles that the future GOP presidential nominee will also use. But that doesn't stop hacks like Sean Hannity and Eric Bolling from blaming Obama for yet another thing that he's not responsible for. David Shuster takes the hacks down handily filling in for Keith Olbermann.



After a 400% increase in presidential threats since Obama took office, I suppose Hannity or Bolling would prefer him ride around in a convertible... maybe in Dallas... and wave to passersby in Dealey Plaza.

Nothing Happened Before January 20, 2009

It's the only reason I can think of that Sean Hannity would blame Obama's policies for the mortgage crisis that began four years before he became president. Or, you know, he's a disingenuous hack.



As Media Matters' Jeremy Holden reports, economists noted as early as the summer of 2005 that the bursting of the housing bubble cause an economic recession.

It's amazing how Hannity reaches new levels of buffoonery on an almost daily basis.

Sean Hannity is a Moron

But we knew that already.

Sarah Still Clueless

Sarah Palin's in trouble. And when she gets into trouble there's always an "exclusive" interview with Sean Hannity to lob the softballs (or just outright make excuses for her) and bail her out. But this latest interview showed that Sarah still didn't get it. She's still talking about being attacked in the "lamestream media" while using said media to try and wriggle off a hook of her own making, and still misconstruing the First Amendment while she's at it.

First she tries to backtrack on her use of the phrase "blood libel" even though she admits she knew what it meant historically.

"Blood libel obviously means being falsely accused, or having blood on your hands. And in this case that's exactly what was going on. And yes, the historical knowledge that people have of the term blood libel, it goes back to the Jews who were falsely accused back in medieval European times of using the blood of children. And you know, the criticism of even the timing of this statement is being used as another diversion, because I believe that there are many on the left, many critics, who don't want, for instance, Congress, to buckle down, get back to work."

No, Sarah, maybe the criticism was that either A) you really didn't know what the term implied historically or B) if you did know, it was just an insensitive statement that you should have apologized for, which still hasn't happened yet. Because Sarah's never wrong so why should she apologize for anything? And what does any of the criticism leveled at your idiocy have to do with Congress going back to work? Maybe you'd like to think that the people's business has something to do with you, but it doesn't. I think Congress will get along fine even with criticisms being leveled against you.

But what really shows her to be the thin-skinned, feeble minded person she is, is once again deciding that criticism against Sarah Palin is somehow akin to censorship.

“I will continue to speak out,” she said. “They are not going to shut me up, they are not going to shut you up, or Rush or Mark Levin or the Tea Party Patriots or those who respectfully and patriotically petition their government for change. They can’t make us sit down and shut up, and if thy were ever to succeed in doing that, then our republic would be destroyed.”

Who said anything about shutting her up? As has been explained over and over again, Sarah Palin is free to spout whatever ridiculously stupid thing she wants. That doesn't mean she's immune to criticism. Just as she's free to speak her mind, everyone else is free to respond to her moronic diatribes. And if we're at the point that our "republic would be destroyed" if we didn't hear the o, so glorious words of Palin, Limbaugh, Hannity and Levin, then we're already to late to save it.

An Oldie But A Goodie

Product placement is everything.

I Wonder How Hannity Feels About This?

...according to two top GOP insiders, [Christine O'Donnell] said at a strategy meeting with DC types last week: "I've got Sean Hannity in my back pocket, and I can go on his show and raise money by attacking you guys."

Who am I kidding?! Sean knows she's right.

Hannity: America Caused Muslim Hostilities? NO WAY

Sean Hannity doesn't understand why some believe that American actions in the Middle East has caused anti-American sentiment.

Via GottaLaff:



Convenient time to cut to a commercial after four consecutive legitimate questions from a Frank Luntz focus group in opposition to what Hannity is desperately trying to push.

Obviously, Hannity is not so naive to believe that US foreign policy has absolutely nothing to do with anti-American sentiment by jihadists and terrorist (not "Muslims"), but when your agenda is such that you have to push the GOP/Newscorp line and are laughing you way to the bank because of it, you just act stupid and shrug your shoulders in disbelief.

ADDING... Gee, I wonder what gives the outside world the idea that America is so frightened that it rages against an entire religion?

Welcome to Ohio

I'm visiting my in-laws and you just can't get away from it.

Here's the world famous Hannity charity scam bus sitting in a Marriott hotel parking lot in Deerfield, Ohio.  Apparently there's some sort of teabagger rally going on.



And check this out. Bumper stickers are no longer good enough. Now they spread the Gospel (and probably cause more drivers to meet their maker) with fender stickers!



"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." That's the quote. But in between Jebus and the heavy ladened one on the fender sticker, reads "The Valley of Unbelief." The Valley of Unbelief? Is that like the Pit of Despair? Or the Cliffs of Insanity?

Why Does Sarah Palin and the Republican Party Hate Ronald Reagan?

The current crazy crop of the GOP is a harvest for Jon Stewart and The Daily Show. They can fill hours upon hours of broadcasting just covering the insanity coming from the pieholes of these nitwits.



Absolutely no sense of history, these yokels. And they are elected representatives. It makes me sad for my country knowing there are soooo many that can be so easily duped.

Dana? Get. Out.

Dana Perino: "We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term..."



Well, in Perino's defense, she wasn't the Press Secretary on 9/11. I can only assume she didn't know about it considering she didn't even know what the Cuban Missile Crisis was either.

What was that Fox zero tolerance policy for on-screen errors again? Yeah... nevermind. Something tells me Perino isn't going to last long in her new position.

(H/T Bob Cesca)

A Fox Zero Tolerance Policy for Errors

Hannity mixes 9-12 protesters video with the less impressive footage of Michele Bachmann's loon parade? Oops, we made a mistake. Robo-anchors claiming "pictures coming in just now" of huge crowds at Sarah Palin book signings when those "pictures" were 2008 Republican campaign rallies? Yeah, our bad. But the final straw was when a mistake wasn't in their favor.

During the umpteenth debate about whether Sarah Palin is a savior or a stooge, the producers flashed up the book cover not of Palin's "Going Rogue", but of Richard Kim and Betsy Reed's "Going Rouge", the counter argument brought to us by the editors of The Nation magazine, and had to air yet another apology.

So, in an effort to reduce or even eliminate careless mistakes maligning one of their own instead of their intended Democratic or liberal victim, mistakes that an eight year old wouldn't make, the powers that be at Fox have issued a "Zero Tolerance for On-Screen Errors" memo, describing immediate consequences, including possible termination, for gaffes like these in the future.

My guess is that these sorry producers got this memo and realized that they have to unlearn everything they've learned at FNC, because really, this isn't just a recent problem. This kind of stuff have been happening for years. How many times have we seen screwed up chyrons of disgraced Republican politicians with a "D" next to their name? And now that the White House has called them anything except a news organization, they're under the gun to avoid stupid mistakes, which have been ingrained in their psyche as just a little conservative tweaking to drive the point home. Now they must make a half-hearted effort at being "fair and balanced."

And this is just the producers' faux pas on the "news" sections of their programming. This doesn't even address the blatant Sean Hannity lies, or Bill O'Reilly misinformation, or the Glenn Beck lunacy that will continue unabated on Fox "News" Channel. That's still fine with them.

I wonder if this came about after the great Sean Hannity blew a gasket for having to apologize to a peon like Jon Stewart on his show, something I doubt he's had to ever do before with anyone or anything. There sat Hannity in his dressing room rehearsing an apology, probably like watching Happy Days' Fonzie admit he was wrong, before he was able to get through the whole thing without dry heaving.

So this now begs the question, if a FNC producer can get fired from their "news" division for a mistake, how soon before the entire Fox News Channel shuts down? Two or three days tops?

(H/T GottaLaff)

The Non-Existent Double Standard

The more I think about these last few Carrie Prejean meltdown interviews, the more it pisses me off. It may be that the ladies on The View actually gave her her most challenging interview to date. And without fail, Prejean brings up liberal media double standard. Or should I say the non-existent liberal media double standard.

I suppose it feels real to her after participating in softball interviews on Hannity or some other Fox show. But as she appears on other shows, as evidenced on Larry King, I think she thinks she can dictate how the interview goes. Sure, you're going to get uncomfortable questions when not surrounded by supporters, but that's how these things work. If you write a book about yourself and start publicizing it at the same time that it's revealed that you made a sex tape, lied about the age at which you made it, then the fact comes out that there could be a couple of dozen of them at a LEGAL age, which you also lied about, you might wind up being in a couple of situations that don't feel so homey.

And her accusations continue to have the mainstream media by the balls. For any criticism by talking heads or news outlets about a Republican or Conservative, especially when that criticism is truly warranted, they are all accused of the "double standard" that Carrie Prejean was whining about. How many times has that idiot already said, "If Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly said some of the things about Michelle Obama or Sonia Sotomayor that Keith Olbermann has said about me, they would be off. The. Air." They know it's coming. They've seen previous interviews. And they know that that pretty, little vacuous head of hers can't hold too much information except for the usual talking points, but do they prepare for a rebuttal?

Something like, "Well, actually, Hannity has constantly taken quotes from Michelle Obama's Princeton thesis completely out of context to make it sound like some racial views she was quoting were her own. Did you know that? Did you watch Fox News Channel at all during the election when pretty much every program was characterizing Michelle Obama as a bitter, militant, angry black woman?" But nothing. Prejean, and every other Republican or Conservative frankly, attacks the non-existent "liberal" media bias and the talking heads walk to the corner with their tails between their legs and don't bother challenging that lie for fear of being labeled "liberal."

But fine. Let them keep propping up Prejean's tome, the life of a 22 year-old beauty pageant queen. Riveting reading. Let Oprah hawk Sarah Palin's new, five chapter book. Then let's see Palin run in 2012. It's a win-win, and you know the GOP is quaking in its shit-kicking boots. If she runs on a Conservative ticket she'll fracture the party and the Democrats win just like NY-23. If the Republicans are stupid enough to nominate her, they'll lose the Independents and the Democrats win. Sit back and think for a minute on a debate between President Obama and Sarah Palin. Oh. My. God.

Do you think he'll have to bone up on some winking and some fancy pageant walkin'?

Hannity: Jon Stewart Was Right

Of course, he still has to admit his mistake in that slimy, condescending Hannity way.



"It was an inadverdent mistake, but a mistake none the less."

Inadvertent? Sure it was.

UPDATE (4pm): Chez Pazienza: Sean Hannity's Act of Neo-Contrition

Jon Stewart Busts Hannity

Fox News' coverage of the Michele Bachmann Monkey Circus last Thursday included some suspect footage, as Jon Stewart shows and calls out Sean Hannity in the process. Awesome.



So the next time you see "Earlier" in the top left corner of your screen on Fox News, just remember you could be looking at footage that is TWO MONTHS earlier. Every once in a while I have to ask, "Why is it that a comedian makes for a better reporter than most other talking heads on TV?"

Have You No Sense of Decency?

"The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama Bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States."

-Michael Scheuer

Isn't that something? Michael Scheuer, along with other neocons and wingnuts care about our country soooo much, they would prefer to have Osama Bin Laden, Mr. Wanted Dead or Alive, the man wanted for the 9/11 attacks, they'd prefer to have him commit another attack, possibly killing thousands of Americans in the process, just to further their warped, twisted agenda.

These are the 'Country First' people. These are the people with 'Support the Troops' magnets on their cars. These are the Birthers, the Palin supporters, the Joe the Plumber fans.These are the people that wanted to bomb Iran before they wanted to save Iran's tainted election in the name of democracy.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think any other, ANY OTHER talk show/news show host would allow a statement like that to go unchallenged, let alone agree with it. When does the hysteria end? When does Glenn Beck realize what's over the top? When does he realize what's over the line and what stops being useful discourse?

I know these are all rhetorical questions, because scumbags like Glenn Beck, and Neil Boortz, and G. Gordon Liddy and Michael Savage don't care about decency. Rats like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity worship the Almighty Dollar and could care less what they read off their faxed talking points. To them, it's like a little kid armed with a magnifying glass and watching the reaction of the anthill population after causing a little havoc. They're above it all. Whether they believe in their own bullshit or not, it doesn't affect them.

When do network executives realize it's NOT okay to yell fire in a crowded movie house?

The Pandemic of Stupid (Part Three: The Michele Bachmann Edition)

Minnesotans should be completely embarrassed having this moonbat represent their state. Michele "Armed and Dangerous" Bachmann's latest conspiracy theory involves the evil Barack Obama and the use of information in the upcoming 2010 Census.

Now the Census, for those that don't know, has been around since Thomas Jefferson in 1790. A Founding Father. But that doesn't matter to Bachmann. She's convinced these personal questions are an invasion of privacy and doesn't know what the evil government (the government she is a part of) would do with such vital information like her phone number. Because we all know it's impossible for the government to get that information unless provided by the customer. The telecom companies would never surrender than kind of vital info.

Well, Michele, the U. S. Constitution (Article I, Section II) requires that there be a census every ten years in order to apportion the seats in the House of Representatives among the states. That would be to assure idiots like Bachmann have a job. Census information is also used by federal, state and local governments to assess needs and allocate funding, by academics to study the changing population, by individuals to trace their genealogy, and for many other purposes.

Besides the fact that you are subject to prosecution if you refuse to answer census information and Bachmann insisting she will not comply with the census next year, the killer is this little nugget: she is upset that they ask for all this very personal information, but don't ask if you are an American citizen. Listen to the MENSA conversation between Bachmann and Sean Hannity.



Really? Is there no question in the US Census asking if you are an American citizen? Surely that has to be an oversight, and an egregious one at that. Could Bachmann be correct? ...Of course not.

Section 3: Page 18, Question 8



Of course, Bachmann also brings ACORN into the mix, just one of over 250 organizations used by the government in compiling information of over 300 million people. I always knew that some ultra-conservatives righties were nuts when they were in power, but now that they're out of power they are freaking out and coming out of the woodwork faster than the zombies in Night of the Living Dead.

Here's Stephen Colbert's take on the Census (Thanks to Annette for the video).




(H/T GottaLaff)

UPDATE (3:30pm): Rachel Weiner: Michele Bachmann's Cenus Opposition Worries GOP

Three Republican congressman have publicly chastised fellow Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) for declaring that she would not fill our her census form.

"Boycotting the constitutionally mandated Census is illogical, illegal and not in the best interest of our country," said Reps. Patrick McHenry (N.C.), Lynn Westmoreland (Ga.) and John Mica (Fla.), members of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives in a statement Wednesday.

...Roll Call reports that the three congressmen approached Bachmann privately and asked her to stop the boycott. They went public because Bachmann "appeared unfazed by their request."

President Obama Passed The Test, Douchebags

Oh, that sorry, sorry GOP. Taking a tragic circumstance like the kidnapping of a cargo ship captain by pirates and turning it into a political strategy to discredit the Obama administration and his decision making is now the new low point for this excuse for a political party.

And all the questioning was rather ridiculous. Glenn Beck (what a surprise) was his usual smirky, sarcastic self while, as Bob Cesca notes, criticizing the Navy... you know, not supporting the troops.

Newt Gingrich who, unless I am mistaken, is not currently involved in any official capacity as an elected politician and therefore not privy to intelligence (of any kind), assumes that President Obama is frozen, the administration is in a panic, and not doing anything in the hopes that someone else will take care of the situation so they won't have to make hard decisions.

Talking heads on Fox News wonder why Obama, "the most powerful man in the world" isn't publicly commenting on the situation in real time. Maybe because he's actually doing something in the back rooms instead of added face time on TV pretending to do something.

"The US does not negotiate with terrorists. Are pirates somehow different?" ...Uh, yeah. They're not terrorists. They're pirates. Terrorists have political objectives. Pirates, or at least these Somali pirates have never, to my knowledge, demanded anything but ransom.

The most dismal and disgusting part of all these sad sacks questioning and doubting is that it seems they have no regard for the safety of the hostage. It seems that since we didn't blow the lifeboat out of the water within the first couple of hours, that translated as President Obama trying not to make a hard decision. Captain Phillips? Eh, collateral damage. Why isn't this over yet?

Well, I would say that if this was a "test" for President Obama, he passed - and that's got to stick in the craw of the Newt Gingriches and the Glenn Becks of the world. To his credit, Rush Limbaugh has praised the President for the rescue effort. Yes, he patted himself on the back in the process, but he congratulated the President nonetheless. I'm awaiting Beck's and Gingrich's praise with bated breath.

ADDING... Hannity fail! I'm expecting a lot more of this.

Hannity Uses Dixie Chicks Reference While Criticizing President

Pot, meet Kettle.

The latest Sean Hannity head explosion found Hannity criticizing President Obama for comments made during his European Union trip and accused him of the "Blame America First" meme, said Obama was "doing his best Dixie Chicks impression" and then proceeded to bring up Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers and Angry Michelle Obama.

"America is arrogant. That's what Mr. Obama said today, doing his best Dixie Chicks impression.... [T]he liberal tradition of blame America first, well, that's still alive. But should we really be surprised from a man who sat in Reverend Wright's church, from a man who launched his political career in the home of a man who bombed the Pentagon and is unrepentant. Mrs. Obama may not be proud of her country, but I bet she's proud of her husband tonight. [...]

So remind me again, what were the Dixie Chicks vilified for? Oh, right - for criticizing the President. The irony immunity continues.

The worst part of the whole thing, but par for the Hannity course was the omission of President Obama's statement in which he criticizes the EU for it's range of casual to "insidious" anti-Americanism, being too quick to blame America and ignoring the good that the US does. But that would blow a hole in Hannity's rant, right? Douchebaggery knows no bounds.

(H/T Steve Benen & Bob Cesca)

Gingrey Caves To Dittoheads

Phil Gingrey is a typical Republican coward. That's probably the worst insult I can hurl at the man.

In a post yesterday, I complimented Georgia Congressman Phil Gingrey (and by "complimented" I mean "agreed with his statement") for his rationale in putting Rush Limbaugh's latest outbursts in perspective. It was a pretty innocuous and realistic statement.

"...it's easy if you're Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh or even sometimes Newt Gingrich to stand back and throw bricks. You don't have to try to do what's best for your people and your party. You know you're just on these talk shows and you're living well and plus you stir up a bit of controversy and gin the base and that sort of that thing. But when it comes to true leadership, not that these people couldn't be or wouldn't be good leaders, they're not in that position of John Boehner or Mitch McConnell."

Less than 24 hours later, after a right wingnut pirahna feeding frenzy, Gingrey has apologized for his comments.

"...in 2008 The National Journal ranked me the #1 most conservative Member of the House of Representatives.

As long as I am in the Congress, I will continue to fight for and defend our sacred values. I have actively opposed every bailout, every rebate check, every so called “stimulus.” And on so many of these things, I see eye-to-eye with Rush Limbaugh. Regardless of what yesterday’s headline may have read, I never told Rush to back off. I regret and apologize for the fact that my comments have offended and upset my fellow conservatives—that was not my intent.

... Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Newt Gingrich, and other conservative giants are the voices of the conservative movement’s conscience. Everyday, millions and millions of Americans—myself included—turn on their radios and televisions to listen to what they have to say, and we are inspired by their words and by their determination..."

So, Republican Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-GA), is such a weasel, he can't stand by the one moment of lucidity, probably the one honest statement to come out of his mouth in his six years in Washington, the most recent of which he was voted Most Conservative House member. Instead of choosing to rely on his record, on his National Journal accolades, he pissed in his pants the second he was flooded with phone calls impugning him for daring to suggest that it was easy to criticize when not in a leadership role, like Limbaugh and Hannity and the Almighty Newt Gingrich. How dare he insult the great Rush Limbaugh! Gingrey wriggled like the worm that he is and kowtowed to the frenetic freaks on the right that called his office to voice their anger. And not only that, he admitted listening to, and being inspired by Limbaugh and Hannity. Showing his true color (yellow), Gingrey begged for forgiveness and his political life, apologized and crawled back under his rock.

This comes on the heels of yesterday's Hardball with Chris Matthews. Matthews hosted idiots Pat Buchanan and Heidi Harris who are flummoxed and have no clue why President Obama would make such a grievous error as to give credence to Limbaugh when suggesting to the GOP that they shouldn't listen to Rush if they want to accomplish anything.

Well, judging by Gingrey's poopy pants and his apology, it looks like President Obama was correct again! The more these Republican "strategists" open their mouths to criticize, the more they look like fools. Buchanan should never miss the opportunity to keep his mouth shut. And Harris was two weeks late with the "mob museums" GOP talking point.

I'm sure there are many more Gingreys in Congress who are looking for someone to take the helm of their rudderless ship, and for now it seems like the Republican Party's de facto leader really is Rush Limbaugh. The more they listen to that bloated gasbag, the more they will marginalize their party and further fall into obscurity and irrelevance.

(H/T Greg Sargent)