Bill O’Reilly giddily “corrected” an answer Obama gave during his press conference last night on “The O’Reilly Factor” relating to the torture of detainees in the United States. Here is the clip.
That's the biggest projection since Ryu's Ultra-Hadoken.
For those of you who haven’t seen the above video, I’ll try to give a fair interpretation of what was said by both Obama and O’Reilly.
Obama: Churchill understood that if you start taking intelligence shortcuts by torturing detainees, then that corrodes the character of a country.
O’Reilly: Obama should have used a better example than the British Government. Afterall, they tortured several members of the Irish Republican Army.
Does Bill O’Reilly think that the average viewer of the O’Reilly Factor is so dumb, that they do not know that Winston Churchill was out of power and even dead by the time things started heating up the IRA in the 1970s? Clearly Obama was evoking the pedastool that the world puts Churchill on when discussing war and foreign policy, not the actions of the entire history of the British government.
What’s next O’Reilly? Maybe we can’t fully trust the marriage vows of Gordon Browne because Henry VIII went through so many wives. Different times, different leaders, different situation.
I’m about to pull a Fox News. Bill O’Reilly is sympathetic to terrorists. With a name like O’Reilly and a proven track record of agressive attacks on the Britsh Government’s handling of the terrorist-Nazi-socio-fascist-communists of the IRA, I have to wonder who O’Reilly really pals around with on the weekends. He’s got his eyes on Northern Ireland.
If you’ve been watching cable news lately, you’ll know that Dick Cheney won’t keep his mouth shut about how unsafe we all are now that Barack Obama is President. Cheney contends that terrorists provided crucial information to the United States when they were tortured. Now that Obama has stopped all torture, they are less likely to provide more. Click here to see a bit of what I will be discussing.
Cheney's a hater.
Cheney is banking on the fact that the American public doesn’t know much about the confessions of the supposed terrorists. He is also saying that the methods, especially waterboarding, are so damn effective that we can’t possibly get good intel without their use. Let’s analyze each of these premises in some detail.
Even though few people in the United States know it, torture is what got the United States to invade Iraq, at least if you are to assume that Cheney and company went to the waterboarding table in good faith (ie, had a conclusion to invade Iraq and just wanted to find any reason to do so). Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, a trainer for al-Qaeda, was tortured by the United States until he “confessed” to a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda. al-Libi said that “Iraq trained al-Qaeda in bomb-making, poisons, and gases” (George W. Bush, October 2002).
Now we now that this intelligence was completely bogus. There was absolutely no link between Iraq and al-Qaeda. No training, no trading, nothing. The methods led to a false confession, which led to an illegal invasion. So much for good intel.
Imagine if that were a US troop, in the hands of al-Qaeda.
The second premise from Cheney is that the torture methods used under the Bush Administration were so damn effective that no terrorist could resist a good waterboarding. Unfortunately for Cheney, this is bullshit.
Recent memos released by the Obama Admistration that were written by the Bush Justice Department say that Abu Zubaydah, an operator of an al-Qaeda training camp, was waterboarded 83 times in a single month. If waterboarding were so effective, why the additional 82 sessions? Even worse was the torture of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who was waterboarded 183 times in one month. Once again, if torture is so effective, why doesn’t KSM confess sooner?
Dick Cheney knows that torture doesn’t work. He knows it leads to bad confessions. But it’s almost as if he is on the campaign trial right now, disparaging Obama’s foreign policy constantly. And that is exactly what he wants you to believe.
If the Obama Justice Department were to begin a special prosecution against Bush Administration officials that knowingly violated the Geneva Conventions and the United Nations Convention against Torture, Cheney wants the public to view it as a political hitjob. If Obama is seen by the public as playing politics by going after Bush officials, it may hurt him politically and may actually affect the outcome of the investigation.
Obama has to realize that the American people are on the side of law. Torture is a crime in the United States. Period. If a lawyer from the Obama Justice Department were to write a memo justifying rape, rape would still be illegal. And this whole “let’s just concentrate on looking forward” business is stupid. Bernie Madoff could tell a judge that he already stole the money, let’s just look forward and not get bogged down in an investigation. It sets a terrible precedent.
Now is the best time for this investigation. If it gets dragged out, it’s more time the Republicans will have to convince the public that it is all a political game rather than justice for a group of thugs. Leave the CIA agents that administered the torture alone. But nail every motherfucker that ordered the Code Red to the wall.
Janeane Garofalo needs to shut her organic free-trade pie-hole before she ends up as the token liberal douchebag on Fox News. During an appearance on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Garofalo pulled the racism card faster than George W. Bush repealed the Kyoto Protocol.
Olbermann started the segment by showing a video of a liberal blogger pwning a bunch of eager teabaggers with memories that can only be measured in nanoseconds. Here is the video:
After the video was played, Garofalo immediately pulled the race card, immediately delegitimizing any real criticism:
You know, there’s nothing more interesting than seeing a bunch of racists become confused and angry at a speech they’re not quite certain what he’s saying. It sounds right and then it doesn’t make sense. Which, let’s be very honest about what this is about. It’s not about bashing Democrats, it’s not about taxes, they have no idea what the Boston tea party was about, they don’t know their history at all. This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up. That is nothing but a bunch of teabagging rednecks. And there is no way around that.
When will progressives realize that branding any dissenters with the racist label is a losing strategy? It doesn’t convince anyone that you’re right. It’s stupid, childish, and easy fodder for the anti-PC crowd. Fox then uses videos like this (of course, without showing the above video) to show that the criticism coming from the left is from the “usual suspects” of PC nutjobs.
Stop making the rest of us look bad. If they break out the white sheets and lynching supplies, then we can start breaking out those words. But until then, let’s attack substance and not resort to ad hominem.
Welcome to our first volume of the Dumbest Comment where we nominate two of the dumbest comments from the blogosphere for a battle royale for supreme stupidity.
Call him in for absolutely any reason — underhand real estate dealings for the library, jay-walking or whatever. Once he’s there, lock the door and throw away the key. There is ample evidence that this man is a dangerous criminal, one guilty of hundreds, if not thousands, of inane, immoral, illegal and treasonous deeds. All that remains is to incarcerate him.
No matter how many different parties you have you will never please everybody. This is why the party that can lie the best is the one that wins. There are many people that supported Obama that couldn’t tell you how many judges sit on the supreme court. Many for the first time because of color or how much they would get. Than there are the the ones with white guilt that in their minds makes them non racist by voting for a black man that clearly was not the right person for the job. This country has come to the point where everything must be politically correct, we must sacrifice integrity, morals, honor, and now security all in the name of affirmative action. The GOP needs to get back to basics, starting with honesty being the best policy. Than they need to educate the people on the fact that they do much better, and the country does better when they support themselves. “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link” and we wonder why the country is about to snap!!!
It’s the battle of the thesaurus gone awry (benjaminblue) vs. thinly-veiled racism (The Proctologist). Who will come out on top for today’s dumbest comment?
A big damn smile may have just crossed Paul Krugman’s fuzzy face. After weeks of lamenting the poor decisions of the Obama Treasury Department, new information from the New York Times suggests that the money used to shore up the banking giants during the bailout may soon be converted to common stocks.
Fuzzy Wuzzy.
The effect of such an action is consequential for anyone tired of giving free public money to private banks. Essentially, this course will nationalize several of the banks because the United States government (taxpayers) will become the majority shareholder. Apparently, the U.S. government has already arranged this type of relationship with Citibank.
Before this decision was made, a great number of tax dollars were given to the troubled banks without any strings attached. Instead of buying up all the troubled assets (securities that can be difficult to value) of each bank, we would get common stock in the company.
This could be good news and could be bad. If the stock price absolutely tanks (which the government could actually be anticipating), then the tax payers could end up suffering. However, as a majority shareholder, the government will be on the board of directors for the company and will be able to influence decisions that are made regarding our investments. We already know that the troubled assets are next to worthless, so if we can get a decent deal with the stock conversion plan, we may end up getting a lot of our money back.
When the credit lines open up again, we can expect the United States government to sell taxpayer shares in each bank. Hell, we could even make money on this.
Expect this to be a rallying cry for the “Obama = Socialist” crowd. But it’s a hell of a lot better than handing your federal taxes to the nearest AIG executive and expecting nothing in return.
To kick things off we’ve got a few early goodies. An opener to Sean Hannity’s show last night featured a geriatric Thomas Paine lamenting the new direction our country is going (or not going, depending on your particular brand of radical political ideology).
Once again, Tea Party “logic” fails. The fraud Paine tells a story of “no taxation without representation,” a staple of the mock movement that makes absolutely no sense in modern context. Every protester on the streets today has 3 representatives in Congress voted to that office by their given districts. There is representation. Your side lost. Get on with it.
Paine was a populist, make no mistake about it. He was a French Revolution fan and a proponent of social programs that would help commoners with their day to day lives.
Paine was a deist and did not believe that any organized religion offered a sound explanation of life. In The Age of Reason, Paine wrote:
I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.
Later in life, he was given honorary French citizenship.
Not exactly the type of guy you would expect to see given a voice on Fox News, eh?
Believer in social programs to help bridge the gap between rich and poor.
Non-Christian.
Fan of European culture and politics.
Fox has blasted Obama from all three of these positions. You’d think they’d rather bury Thomas Paine then dig up that godless European socialist.
No, it just doesn’t quite work as well, which is ultimately the story of the Tea Party Revolution. Smoke and mirrors and idiots that don’t quite know why they are mad will be taking to the streets in disappointing numbers to protest tomorrow.
The problem is that none of them know what the hell they are yelling about. But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt for now and go into a little history.
You will not see this tomorrow. You will see overweight white people.
Why the Tea Party Revolution?
There isn’t really a good answer for this one. The original Boston Tea Party occurred on December 16, 1773 in opposition to a 10% additional duty on tea imported into the United States. Sam Adams, of delicious beer fame, organized a mass dumping of 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. The key motto during the Boston Tea Party was “No taxation without representation.” Colonists were pissed that they did not have any representation in Britain and could not have an impact on legislation.
Fast forward to now. The Republican party is damn close to irrelevancy and is becoming more and more fringe. They lost seats in 2006, 2008, and will more than likely lose additional seats in 2010 if the latest polls from Gallup (left-leaning) and Rasmussen (right-leaning) are considered.
Tomorrow, when thousands of people wake up and take to the streets for the Tea Party Revolution, every single one of them has three representatives in Congress. This is not the Boston Tea Party. Every single one of the people tomorrow are represented by two democratically-elected Senators and a Representative. If they are unhappy with the way things are going in their district/state, they can vote that person to the curb. Hell, if it is the people’s will, then people like Ron Paul could have been elected to the presidency in 2008 and we could have cut all kinds of taxes.
But that isn’t what the people want.
The Tea Party Credo
If you sign up to attend one of the Tea Party events, you will be asked to print out two documents to share with people who see the protest. One is an elected officials checklist (what does your Rep, Senator, etc. think about a variety of issues) and the other is 12 American Solutions for Jobs and Prosperity.
Because the checklist can vary (and it’s really easy for Republican representatives to say what they want when they don’t have any power to set the budget/agenda), let’s look at the “Solutions” handout.
Whosoever has the gold, shall make the rules.
12 American Solutions for Jobs and Prosperity
Payroll Tax Stimulus. With a temporary new tax credit to offset 50% of the payroll tax, every small business would have more money, and all Americans would take home more of what they earn.
Real Middle-Income Tax Relief. Reduce the marginal tax rate of 25% down to 15%, in effect establishing a flat-rate tax of 15% for close to 9 out of 10 American workers.
Reduce the Business Tax Rate. Match Ireland’s rate of 12.5% to keep more jobs in America.
Homeowner’s Assistance. Provide tax credit incentives to responsible home buyers so they can keep their homes.
Control Spending So We Can Move to a Balanced Budget. This begins with eliminating Congressional earmarks and wasteful pork-barrel spending.
No State Aid Without Protection From Fraud. Require state governments to adopt anti-fraud and anti-theft policies before giving them more money.
More American Energy Now. Explore for more American oil and gas and invest in affordable energy for the future, including clean coal, ethanol, nuclear power and renewable fuels.
Abolish Taxes on Capital Gains. Match China, Singapore and many other competitors. More investment in America means more jobs in America.
Protect the Rights of American Workers. We must protect a worker’s right to decide by secret ballot whether to join a union, and a worker’s right to negotiate freely. Forced unionism will kill jobs at a time when we can’t afford to lose them.
Replace Sarbanes-Oxley. This failed law is crippling entrepreneurial startups. Replace it with affordable rules that help create jobs, not destroy them.
Abolish the Death Tax. Americans should work for their families, not for Washington.
Invest in Energy and Transportation Infrastructure. This includes a new, expanded electric power grid and a 21st century air traffic control system that will reduce delays in air travel and save passengers, employees and airlines billions of dollars per year.
Besides being a Who’s Who of failed John McCain campaign economic tactics, this list should be ridiculed for its complete lack of rational thought. Most of the steps reduce taxes, yet step five brazenly maintains that they want to balance the budget. How the hell are you supposed to balance the budget when you cut all of these taxes?
Pork spending is a small fraction of the budget in Washington and seven out of the ten biggest piggies this year were Republicans. Many of these ideas sound like they will help the average worker, but this proposal really helps billionaires. With no capital gains taxes, billionaires will have a heyday on Wall Street. So why are they trying to help the rich, when the middle class is seeing record unemployment?
Who funds the Tea Party Revolution
Even though Fox News will have you believe that the Tea Party Revolution is a spontaneous reaction from “The People,” it really was started by FreedomWorks, the conservative version of MoveOn. Along with Dick Armey, FreedomWorks is organizing and funding many of the larger Tea Parties. In other words, protesters are going to be paid tomorrow to protest. It has nothing to do with outrage over the bailouts (which should cause protests), it has everything to do with a bunch of billionaires that don’t want to pay higher taxes under Obama.
Dick Armey wishes he still had power.
The FreedomWorks web page is a joke. Any rational person that peruses it will find more lies than an OJ Simpson trial. Armey says that Obama is going to cap all executive pay…which isn’t true at all. Obama is capping how much money can go to executives that receive money from tax payers. Do you want your federal income tax money going to buy a 12th home for some asshole AIG executive? If Microsoft wants to pay their executives millions a year then I have no problem with that. They haven’t accepted any bailout money at all. Obama is saying the exact same thing. That doesn’t stop the BS from flowing from Fox News and CNBC with comedic consistency.
Go to the Tea Party and take pictures of signs. Count the number of protesters.
Interview people participating in the Tea Party. Ask them if they have heard of FreedomWorks. Ask them who organized the party and attempt to speak with the person in charge. If you are able to, ask them if they are being compensated for their work.
Write up your impressions of the protest. Whether positive or negative, we will give you a voice on Real Weird Politics. You can comment with a link to your blog, youtube videos, or photos.
Real Weird Politics will have stories all day tomorrow with impressions from demonstrations around the country.
We’re already ready with one delightful video from The Young Turks. One protester at a Tea Party Revolution event started spouting off about how the Communists had infiltrated America in a plan hatched during the 1950s. He wants you to take your kids out of college and stop paying your taxes. A woman in the crowd thinks you should burn all your books. Sounds like a great way to succeed! Here is the video:
Barack Obama is hosting on Passover Seder meal at the White House on Thursday night. He will be the first United States President to host a Seder meal while in office.
Will this affect the Jewish vote in the 2012 Election? Maybe I’m a cynic…
Except for the San Francisco Chronicle. It is indefensible that the media in this country completely ignore the Big Brother shaped dent that was delivered to our Fourth Amendment yesterday.
The following news sources have run stories about the warrantless wiretapping story so far:
San Francisco Chronicle
The Register (UK)
The Atlantic
Bay Area Indymedia
Electronic Frontier Foundation
BuzzFlash
Washington Post (Blog section, web-only)
Raw Story
Dslreports
Alternet
SecuObs
Lew Rockwell
Think Progress
Salon
The media should be RAGING about this story. Instead, CNN currently has a goddamn Somali pirates story on their front page. FoxNation is whining about Obama not going to fucking church since he became President and The Huffington Post is riffing about Farrah Fawcett’s cancer. What the fuck are you people thinking?
The American public have had it so good for so long that they don’t realize that the Obama Administration is chipping away at our Constitution. Hell, I voted for Obama in November and I am infuriated. This is not what he was elected to do.
Fuck you, Obama. Fuck you, Media. Both of you need to do your fucking jobs.
Real Weird Politics 
Dumbest Comment Volume 1: Huffington Post vs. Fox Nation
April 20, 2009Welcome to our first volume of the Dumbest Comment where we nominate two of the dumbest comments from the blogosphere for a battle royale for supreme stupidity.
Without futher ado, let the dumbassery begin!
Huffington Post
Story: Bush Should be Deposed in Lawsuit Over Presidential Library, Judge Rules
User: benjaminblue
Fox Nation
Story: Rush: Should Tea Parties Lead to 3rd Party?
User: The Proctologist
It’s the battle of the thesaurus gone awry (benjaminblue) vs. thinly-veiled racism (The Proctologist). Who will come out on top for today’s dumbest comment?
Tags:Barack Obama, Blogs, Comment, Conservative, Democrats, Dumb, Fail, Fox Nation, Fox News, George W. Bush, Huffington Post, judge, Liberal, Library, Media, News, Politics, Poll, Racism, Republicans, Rush Limbaugh, Stupid
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