kpete
kpete's JournalMy break with the extreme right-"The new hysterical right cares nothing for truth or dignity"
My break with the extreme rightI worked for Reagan and wrote for National Review. But the new hysterical right cares nothing for truth or dignity
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Gosh! When did I end up in bed with Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber? Could it be because I did specialize in blowing things up while serving my country for four years as an airborne combat engineer? I also watched human beings blown up. I had friends and Navy SEALs I was in battle with blown up. My own intestines exploded on the first of my four combat embeds, three in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Took seven operations to fix the plumbing. I later suffered other permanent injuries.
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You see, I’ve published articles saying I do “believe in global warming.” Yes, I’ve also questioned the extent to which man-made gases have contributed to that warming and concluded that expenditures to reduce those emissions would be as worthless as they’d be horrifically expensive. No matter; just call me “Ted.” Or “Charlie.” Or “Fidel.”
This is nuts! Literally. As in “mass hysteria.” That’s a phenomenon I wrote about for a quarter-century, from the heterosexual AIDS “epidemic” to the swine flu “pandemic” that killed vastly fewer people than seasonal flu, to “runaway Toyotas.” Mass hysteria is when a large segment of society loses touch with reality, or goes bonkers, if you will, on a given issue – like believing that an incredibly mild strain of flu could kill eight times as many Americans as normal seasonal flu. (It killed about a third as many.)
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But no longer. That was the old right. The last thing hysteria promoters want is calm, reasoned argument backed by facts. And I’m horrified that these people have co-opted the name “conservative” to scream their messages of hate and anger.
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http://www.salon.com/2012/05/24/my_break_with_the_extreme_right/
New Study: FOX - STILL Makes You Stupid-Worse Than Those Watching "No Media At All"
Another study has concluded that people who only watch Fox News are less informed than all other news consumers.
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The largest effect is that of Fox News: all else being equal, someone who watched only Fox News would be expected to answer just 1.04 domestic questions correctly -- a figure which is significantly worse than if they had reported watching no media at all. On the other hand, if they listened only to NPR, they would be expected to answer 1.51 questions correctly; viewers of Sunday morning talk shows fare similarly well. And people watching only "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" could answer about 1.42 questions correctly.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/23/fox-news-less-informed-new-study_n_1538914.html
The Ryan Budget, illustrated
http://yobaba.tumblr.com/post/23675659825/sad-a-couple-of-months-ago-i-was-at-safeway
Another Reason the Left Should Just Suck It Up
Another Reason the Left Should Just Suck It Up
By Charles P. Pierce
at 11:20AM
I have my differences with the president, Lord knows. I hope to continue to have them for the next four years. There are a number of reasons for this, primary among them the fact that I don't think I'd like the looks of the what's left of the executive bureaucracy when President Romneybot and Vice President Cabana Boy get through with it. And I don't want the Supreme Court moved so far to the right that it inconveniences people reading in the Library Of Congress down the block.
(By the way, did you notice that, the other night, Willard went to a fundraiser at Dick Cheney's house and pronounced that evil sack of flesh to be exactly what he's looking for in a veep? If we hadn't looked forward, and we'd "relitigated" the previous eight years just a tad — I want to hit Axelrod with a pie every time he says that — the president's campaign might could've made an issue of Romney's praise for a truly horrid man. Like I said, I have my differences.)
Case in point: a judge from the NLRB whacked Target around for engaging in tactics during a union election that would've embarrassed Vladimir Putin. Anybody want to guess how this all would've worked out under the Romney administration?
Thought so.
Of course, and here's my bow to what Robert Gibbs calls "the professional Left," if the administration hadn't taken a dive on the Employee Free Choice Act, Target wouldn't have been able to blackjack this election the way it did. Politics is hard
Read more: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/romney-cabinet-woes-9090975#ixzz1vkZO4KZn
Colin Powell to Romney: 'Think'
WASHINGTON -- Former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday questioned Mitt Romney's choice in foreign policy advisers, saying that some are so right-wing that the advice they give deserves "second thought."
"I don't know who all of his advisers are, but I've seen some of the names and some of them are quite far to the right. And sometimes they might be in a position to make judgments or recommendations to the candidate that should get a second thought," Powell said during an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
He gave the example of Romney recently saying that Russia is the "number one geopolitical foe" to the United States.
"Come on Mitt, think," Powell said. "That isn't the case."
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/23/colin-powell-mitt-romney-foreign-policy_n_1538945.html
The Nine Zeros Club
WED MAY 23, 2012 AT 06:50 AM PDT
The Nine Zeros Club
byJen SorensenFollowforComics
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/23/1093909/-The-Nine-Zeros-Club
THE PATRIOT ACT
http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/12e779bc-372a-4bfa-9feb-56085a151273.html
Austerian vampires
Austerian vampires
by digby
For those who still think the US escaped austerity these past few years, perhaps this will finally clear it up:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/obama-spending-binge-never-happened-2012-05-22?pagenumber=2
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/austerian-vampires.html
Bush and Blair’s pre-Iraq conversation must be disclosed, U.K. tribunal rules
Source: Raw Story
Extracts of a phone conversation between Tony Blair and George Bush a few days before the invasion of Iraq must be disclosed, a tribunal has ruled.
The Foreign Office lost an appeal against an order by the information commissioner, Christopher Graham, to disclose records of the conversation between the two leaders on 12 March 2003. Graham’s order was made in response to a freedom of information request by Stephen Plowden, a private individual who demanded disclosure of the entire record of the conversation.
“Accountability for the decision to take military action against another country is paramount,” Graham had said in his original order.
Upholding that ruling on Monday, Judge John Angel, president of the information tribunal, said Foreign Office witnesses had downplayed the importance of a decision to go to war, a view the tribunal found “difficult to accept”.
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/22/bush-and-blairs-pre-iraq-conversation-must-be-disclosed-u-k-tribunal-rules/
Bain and Financial Industry Gave Over $565,000 To Newark Mayor Cory Booker For 2002 Campaign
Bain and Financial Industry Gave Over $565,000 To Newark Mayor Cory Booker For 2002 Campaign
By Josh Israel posted from ThinkProgress Election on May 21, 2012 at 7:15 pm
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A ThinkProgress examination of New Jersey campaign finance records for Booker’s first run for Mayor — back in 2002 — suggests a possible reason for his unease with attacks on Bain Capital and venture capital. They were among his earliest and most generous backers.
Contributions to his 2002 campaign from venture capitalists, investors, and big Wall Street bankers brought him more than $115,000 for his 2002 campaign. Among those contributing to his campaign were John Connaughton ($2,000), Steve Pagliuca ($2,200), Jonathan Lavine ($1,000) — all of Bain Capital. While the forms are not totally clear, it appears the campaign raised less than $800,000 total, making this a significant percentage.
He and his slate also jointly raised funds for the “Booker Team for Newark” joint committee. They received more than $450,000 for the 2002 campaign from the sector — including a pair of $15,400 contributions from Bain Capital Managing Directors Joshua Bekenstein and Mark Nunnelly. It appears that for the initial campaign and runoff, the slate raised less than $4 million — again making this a sizable chunk.
In all — just in his first Mayoral run — Booker’s committees received more than $565,000 from the people he was defending. At least $36,000 of that came from folks at Romney’s old firm.
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the rest:
http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/05/21/488002/bain-financial-industy-gave-over-565000-to-newark-mayor-cory-booker-for-2002-campaign/
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