The Day Fox News Lost it All, Finally! Daily Show does what news media gave up long ago.

The Daily Show destroys Fox News once and for all:

The Daily Show - Tone Def Poetry Jam


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Scooter was a bad liar, Rove exposed Plame-James Stewart, author "Tangled Webs"

James Stewart lays into Scooter Libby in this great interview from Lawrence O'Donnell, explaining so much of what happened behind the scenes, and who was really responsible for exposing Valarie Plame.

The Victim of Liberal Protesters? Sen. Kapanke Knew Cracked Windshield wasn't Vandalism, but still Canceled Appearances for his "Safety."

The poor picked on conservatives have lost another reason to complain today, after it was revealed they were played for fools by Sen. Dan Kapanke, over "liberal vandalism" to Kapanke's car.

There is no question Kapanke lied to gain sympathy and to promote an atmosphere of fear. 

Politifact: (When) Republican state senators approved Gov. Scott Walker's plan to strip most collective bargaining rights from public employees … Tensions were high, along with concern for lawmakers’ safety. A damaged windshield soon joined that list -- and quickly drew national attention. 

It came to light a week later when state Sen. Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) and an aide told several news outlets, including the Journal Sentinel, he was scaling back public appearances in his district out of concerns for his safety. In doing so, they cited vandalism to his car while it was parked at the Capitol.

This is where Kapanke's wheels came off. This isn't based on my own opinion, or anyone else's. That vandalism was determined to be the result of a stone chip while driving by professionals. 

According to the report, an officer and two state troopers, including an accident reconstruction specialist, looked over the windshield that day.  The Capital Times first reported April 5, 2011 on the police report. "I informed Kapanke after looking at the chip and the crack it looked to me like a stone chip and not someone hitting the windshield," Capitol police officer Chris Weiss wrote in the report. 

The troopers came to the same conclusion. The report also said police reviewed surveillance video of the parking area and saw no one damaging cars.

But from this point on, Kapanke shaped the story of protester vandalism, and a reason to lay low after his controversial vote.

The report says Kapanke, one of the GOP senators facing a potential recall, was informed of the findings and the case closed on the day it was reported -- March 16. But the public heard about the damage for the first time the following day, when the senator cited the damage while discussing plans to scale back his public schedule out of concerns for his safety.   

La Crosse Tribune reporter Chris Hubbuch inquired ... on March 16, 2011 … aide Rose Smyrski called him back and listed the broken windshield as among the matters that was causing concerns for the senator’s safety. "She said his window was broken," Hubbuch said.

If that were't bad enough, Kapanke's campaign of fear and victimhood went for all the apples:

Kapanke told a La Crosse TV station in a story that aired March 17 that he was concerned for his safety. He reminded viewers of the Jan. 8, 2011 shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. 

The broken windshield story went national. Websites including the Drudge Report and The Weekly Standard picked up on the story using headlines such as "More Leftist Violence: Senator’s Property Damaged." Fox commentator Glenn Beck also weighed in.

Politifacts final conclusion:

Kapanke allowed the myth of the smashed windshield to run wild and uncorrected for almost three weeks after he knew it was not true. 

Fox News VP Bill Sammon Spins Obama Socialism Fears with Gullible Viewers.

MSNBC's Cenk Uygur exposes the whole propagandist mess spewing from Fox News.

Ditto Heads Stunned!! Rush stumped by liberal on actual Ronald Reagan record. Listener exodus coming.

Having been a radio host for over 25 years, I can recognize one thing without equivocation; When a phony wind bag talker gets exposed as a empty prevaricator, ON THE AIR. When you hear a guy like Rush Limbaugh grasping at straws like he does in the video below, you can't help but think how stunned dittoheads across America must have fallen off their chairs, realizing their conservative authority just got his shorts handed to him.

Thanks to Crooks and Liars for catching this ultimate example of vacuous conservative banter about the mythical Reagan legacy, and how easy it is to expose these fakes.




Caller: "I want to know why an amnesty-giving, tax-raising, cut-and-running, negotiating-with-terrorists kind of guy is a hero to the conservative movement."

Rush has no answer other than to blame Media Matters and suggest that liberals "just wouldn't understand." Predictably, he turns it into proof that liberals just need to be destroyed:

So you, sir, a nice individual, I'm sure you're a fine guy (probably not too much fun at a ball game, unlike Bill Clinton), but still, you illustrate that people like you just have to be defeated, not met halfway and gotten along with. I mean politically.

Fact:
Think Progress: Reagan grew the size of the federal government tremendously.Reagan promised “to move boldly, decisively, and quickly to control therunaway growth of federal spending,” but federal spending “ballooned” under Reagan. He bailed out Social Security in 1983 after attempting to privatize it, and set up a progressive taxation system to keep it funded into the future. 


Salon has this The Real Reagan.

Republican House Adding to Deficit, Breaking Pledge to Voters, Listening to the People, Open Government, and Self Destructing.

Republicans won the election! The people have spoken! The message was clear; lower the deficit, open government and create jobs.

The results are not so honorable, like cutting $100 billion. Not even Fox News is taking the BS.

 

The promise of open government, daylight on bills and an amendment process. Not even Fox News is happy:



Not listening to the what the people say?



And this was just the first day.

Fact Checking now a "Feature" on the local news!! How did it get this bad?

I'm supposed to be happy with 27 News' Spin Check, a once a week feature. It should every night, shouldn't it?

Obama gets a much deserved Reality Check!

President Obama's declining ratings have more to do with disappointed Democrats. Blue Dog conservative Democrats are self destructive enough, but what we didn't expect to get was a compromiser and centrist as president. What we wanted to see was an FDR like force. Guess I wasn't the only one with high expectations.



While Republicans have marketed Obama as a left wing socialist, nothing could be further from the truth. It just proves how effective advertising can be.

By the way, I don't recall anyone asking questions like this at any Bush town halls, especially about borrowed spending and low job creation.

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Lying Republican BSers Caught Making things up about Feingold, just to look better than Carnival Barkers. Guess that didn't work.

I really want to use more colorful language here about the scum bags in the Wisconsin Republican Party, but instead, I'll let the story inspire your own imaginative wording.

Jsonline.com: Sen. Russ Feingold accused the state GOP Thursday of “complete fabrication” for saying he was “silent (on the issue),” ("no where to be seen") during the recent blow-up over potential job losses at Bucyrus International. The Democrat also released a letter from Bucyrus CEO Tim Sullivan backing him up on the matter.
“I just think everybody ought to be aware they’re just fabricating things. It’s pretty egregious,” said Feingold.

But the facts have an ugly way of making the Republicans look like complete liars.

In a subsequent letter to the state GOP, Bucyrus CEO Tim Sullivan said “the facts do not support” its charge that Feingold was silent, saying Feingold lobbied the bank’s chairman in two letters and a phone call.

In response, state GOP chairman Reince Priebus issued a statement, “Sen. Feingold’s perceived silence was apparently mitigated by two letters and a phone call," said Priebus, who nonetheless defended the party's press release, saying the real point was Feingold's broader record on jobs.

"Perceived silence?" Is that like getting the "perceived truth" from the Republican Party. Caught in the lie, Priebus still defended the statement and made up its "broader" message. Oh please will the real Barney Fife replace Michael Steele.

So what about the Teflon terminator (of social programs) Paul Ryan, who never seems to be held accountable for anything? What did Ryan do to retain Bucyrus jobs? He co-wrote a letter with Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner "ripping the decision." CO-WROTE a letter. Hope he didn't take too much time out of his day to help retain jobs in Wisconsin or his district.

And Feingold's business appeal:

U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold … issued a letter to Hochberg noting that the bank's decision would not impede the progress of the Indian plant. "(I)t would be tragic to miss this opportunity for bolstering employment," Feingold wrote.

Rep. Scalise Sweats BS on Hardball, Does not know details about $20 billion fund

Just about anyone paying attention knows how the BP $20 billion fund is going to be administered. Anyone that is, except Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise. It's very simple:

According to BP: Payments from the fund will be made as they are adjudicated, whether by the Independent Claims Facility (ICF) referred to below, or by a court, or as agreed by BP. The ICF will be administered by Ken Feinberg, who oversaw the 9/11 victims compensation fund.

The ICF will adjudicate on all Oil Pollution Act and tort claims excluding all federal and state claims. Any money left in the fund once all legitimate claims have been resolved and paid will revert to BP.

But on Hardball, Scalise unleashed the great GOBP straw man ploy, where the most improbable "what ifs" are offered up as if they were sane possibilities. Scalise is not embarrassed by appearing completely removed from the available information out there when he asked, "Where's that money going to go, how is it going to be spent." Scalise wildly imagines this: "I don't think people want to see it wasted on government bureaucracy here in Washington." Chris Matthews calls this one right when he accuses Scalise of "pure partisan politics."

Vilifying the fund by attaching to it fantastical evil intentions, on the backs of the victims of the Gulf oil spill, is standard operating procedure for these bottom feeders. This is red meat for the base, which says a lot about the low information fire breathers worried about the end of our constitutional democracy.

Scalise too is afraid of ruffling Rush Limbaugh's feathers, siding with him, and not his party leadership.

Rep. Mark Kirk Lies about his Military Service and More. Where is the Conservative Outrage?

I was surprised when I saw the details of this story from Rachel Maddow, since I heard nothing about it on conservative talk or Fox News. Did Maddow just...make it up.

Now if a Democrat went this far....

Warning! Palin's new book Coming out in time to Compete with Christmas. Only $14.

Borders Books just announced:

America by Heart celebrates the values that have made this country what it is today.

Framed by her strong belief in the importance of family, faith, and patriotism, the book ranges widely over American history, culture, and current affairs..."

And it looks like Palin took the easy way out, filling the new tome with other peoples inspiring work. It adds length and a bit of professionalism to what would normally be another empty contribution to a fan base enamored by platitudes and "the show."

Written in her own refreshingly candid voice, America by Heart will include selections from classic and contemporary readings that have moved her—from the nation's founding documents to great speeches, sermons, letters, literature and poetry, biography, and even some of her favorite songs and movies.

She will also draw from personal experience to amplify these timely (and timeless)
themes...

Maybe she'll finally tell us all about those death panels....

Accidental Democratic Congress and President. How did that happen?

With a Democratic president, and huge Democratic majorities in congress, did you know 70 percent of the country is "center right?" Who the hell voted in '06 and '08? Newt's got the answer:

Media Matters: Gingrich says it's an "accident" that we're governed by "very left-wing radicals"

I'm Tired of the Republicans Telling ME What the People Want. Stop it! Stop it NOW!

I've been waiting to put together a good video clip to demonstrate this tired one liner from the GOP, "the people don't want this," but haven't come up with a compilation yet. Too much work in the edit room.

Suffice it to say, these authoritarians dictators would love to tell us what the American people "want" and "don't want," but they can't speak for everyone.

So please stop it. It's driving me mad.

Tony Blankley on Tea Party Protesters Spitting and Using the N Word on Black Congressmen: "Nonproven event."

So did one black congressional lawmakers get spit on and another called the n word? Can we believe black congressmen? Is it so hard to imagine them lying to us to make us think racism fuels the tea party movement?

Tony Blankley doesn't know, because to him, it's not at all clear.

Blankley: "But we understand what this drill is, this is a drill, the conversation, the repeating of the nonproven event, is an effort to increase the energy on the left side of the equation because that was the problem in the election coming up that conservatives are more energized than the left, so these kinds of messages, these claims..."

It's a formula that has worked many times before. It's also a form of "projection," a "defensive mechanism by which their own traits and emotions are attributed to someone else."

If conservatives can muddy the waters enough to diffuse the issue, they can get racist tea party members off the hook for their actions, while vilifying a few lying black lawmakers. Joan Walsh is on point and exposes the ploy on the Ed Show.

Does Fox News' Bill O'Reilly Lie? Without a Question!

I know I'm posting this a little late, but it's too good not give some added blog space to this outright gotcha.

Bill O'Reilly flatly lies about his network never suggesting that people would be hauled off to jail if they don't buy health insurance or pay the tax. Despite the video proof, days later O'Reilly continued to make the claim. How do you debate or take seriously a party that ignores reality?

Oddly, that's why they're winning the message war.

ACORN Brought Down by Right Wingnuts! Ends Justify the Means! Who's Next?

Rachel Maddow wraps up the phony ACORN pimp story out of California. Thank you Fox News for the extensive coverage, who could have known?

New Rule for Radio and TV hosts: Guests who lie are not invited Back.

Tired of the "both sides do it" lie that seems to be so eagerly excepted by media news? Ed Schultz ripped apart "the BIG LIE" from yesterday below. Let's start with the "both sides" camouflage whipped up by Republican Rep. Eric Cantor.

ThinkProgress: Yesterday, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) falsely charged that his office was “directly threatened” in a gun attack. Cantor used the incident to provide partisan cover to his unruly GOP colleagues, who have been pandering to tea party activists with increasingly unhinged and extreme rhetoric.

The quick aside by Schultz was this; He wondered by he should even try to have any Republicans on his program, since they all lie.

I would go one better; Put in place a rule where any guest who lies, whether it's the over the top fictional "what if" scenario or just outright BS, is never invited back on the show. This wouldn't include half truths, where only a few well chosen facts are used to spin the issue in a way to benefit the guest. The host is expected to know something to balance the conversation.

Remember, even the wacky politicians are looking for on-air time and can't afford to lose face time. It would also help to have in place a basic expectation of quality and truth.

Cantor Pushes Ear Mark Ban, at Least until Republicans are Back in Power.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen tried like hell to hold back his laughter while listening Rep. Eric Cantor, who tried to defend the Republican 10 month ban on ear marks. It seemed obvious to everyone, except the GOP, that the ban would end around the same time Republicans would supposedly take congress back.

Cantor: "There's a reason why we're in the minority now, I think we've tried to learn our lesson here...we took a significant step the other day in our conference, and we said we will not be seeking any ear marks. A total ban...on ear marks THIS YEAR!

Van Hollen: "Your decision was a temporary ban...for eight months."