Build The Damn Mosque!

I can't help but shout this out to all the irrational fearmongers who are afraid of a mosque being built in Lower Manhattan. So a few muslims want to build a place to pray in New York City, the idealized place of hardworking immigrants coming in to the melting pot that is our great country. Why are people so nuts about this? Irrationality and ignorance is what propels their hatred of anyone that doesn't look and act like themselves, even if freedom of religion is enshrined in the Constitution they claim to admire, adhere to and protect.

Tom Robbins from the Village Voice gives us a glimpse at the insanity observed at the latest hearings to approve the mosque:

Preserving urban landmarks hasn't been high on the roster of concerns in Tea Party land, from where a lot of the protesters were recruited. But many who showed up to denounce a Muslim-sponsored development so near sacred ground tied their cause to municipal art. All were suddenly gung-ho advocates for salvaging this splendid example of 19th-century Italian palazzo mercantile architecture.[...]

Testifying at a microphone on the aisle, a heavy-set woman pointed to a tiny teenager seated nearby wearing a hijab. "How do I know this young woman isn't going to be strapped with explosives?"

That was about par for the course during the three-hour session. One speaker suggested that this is how Muslims took over London. "It's unsafe for a Westerner to go to London's East End," she said. "The mosques are used to subvert the neighborhood." After she sat down, she was asked if she'd been to London. "No, but I've been doing a great deal of reading about it, mostly on the Internet," she replied.

Ah the internet, and I'm sure her reading was fully of well-sourced material....straight out of the tea party websites esteemed for their fact-checked stories and award-winning journalism.

The sight of this melée for the even-keeled Robbins must have been nauseating to say the least. I'd like to say that these displays are infrequent and unrepresentative of the general body politic, but sadly it is not. Too many Americans indulge in ignorant views that help them feel greater than. It has been practiced in America since the beginning of miscegenation laws of 17th century Virginia. It continued with the Know-Nothings of the mid-19th century and the Ku Klux Klan of the late 19th century and well into the 20th century.

Despite all that miserable bigotry, I do hope that the decision-makers in the approval process for the mosque are above that nuttiness. America is supposed to be better and bigger than it's lowest common denominators. Allowing freedom of religion to flower, especially in spite of 9/11 is exactly what will help us win the battle of ideas with the actual terrorists who wish us harm, not muslims like Sharif El-Gamal who are working for the common good.

GOP Should Listen To Scarborough, Stop Hatin'

Joe Scarborough may be a Republican, but at least he's one that has the ability to look at the party and shake his head in shame. Joe has been out of Congress for a few years now and without someone like John Boehner to boss him around, he can see that the whole fear card isn't working out too well for what was once the Grand....Old Party.

From RawStory:

In an appearance Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, Scarborough offered Ronald Reagan as a model of temperamental moderation, saying, “We need to be conservative, but like Reagan. … We can’t scare little kids.” On his own MSNBC program the next day, he emphasized again, “They’ve got to drop the hate.”

“If you know you’re right, then why be angry?” Scarborough asked calmly. “I do a radio show, and a lot of callers that call in expect me to scream and yell and say I hate President Obama. Being against his policies, for some reason with a lot of people in the base that’s not enough. They want you to hate the man.”[...]

“If you’re mature enough,” Scarborough continued,” you realize Barack Obama doesn’t hate America, I don’t hate America — we just have different views of how to make America a better place And if you look at history over 250 years, that’s worked out pretty well.”

The problem though Joe, is that too many Republicans that have made it into office aren't mature. They'd rather stoke the fears of people and make them believe that the other side hates America, and blah blah blah. GOP leaders get caught up in this hysteria and run with it, never hesitating to look back and take stock of the damage they do with that violent rhetoric. It ends up with people feeling like their states should secede from the union. That isn't just wrong, it's insanity.

Boehner Reverts To Fearmongering

Perhaps this is what the "rebranding" effort is all about. Producing videos and making statements about how afraid we all should be now that Barack Obama is in charge. Boehner and the GOP will use whatever tactic, from fearmongering about terror to how bad it is that Obama wants to help the middle class take all the tax cuts away from the rich. The only problem with this is that there is no "rebranding" going on here, it's simply more of the same from a failed national regional party.

Dear Hannity...Love Deepak

Sean Hannity, never one to twist a situation to his advantage while ripping his opponent with false characterizations, did exactly that to the ever spiritual Deepak Chopra last week. It was about the Mumbai attacks and from Deepak's message of love, Hannity misconstrued it as "blaming America." So Deepak did the brave thing and responded on his own show and over at the Huffington Post.

From The Huffington Post:

Dear Sean,

I saw a report about last night's show that quotes you as follows:

"Hannity continued by saying, "We had Deepak Chopra on last night and he's blaming America! ...He was blaming America for the attacks in Mumbai and I challenged him on it and I'm like, 'Wait a minute. You've done so well in America. Why are you blaming us?' We protect 100% of the world's population. We're 4% of it."

I am really disappointed in you. Do you not remember your other guest when I was on, former Defense Secretary Bill Cohen? He made the same point I did about America's policy toward the jihadists: "Are we creating more terrorists than killing them?" Ironically, this question is attributed to Donald Rumsfeld.

It really doesn't matter to me personally whether you agree with me or not. Leaving our debate aside, your habit of taking statements out of context and playing the blaming game is sad. You have a powerful platform that influences many people. Why do you use your influence to monger fear, militancy, divisiveness, and jingoism?

I was hoping to come back on your show and have a reflective, intelligent dialogue, but perhaps the attack mode is the only way you know to make a living. The best excuse for your dishonest accusations against me is that you don't believe what you're saying. The far right has deflated, so you are there to pump it up with hot air. If you stop blowing, you'll be out of a job. I empathize.

Love,
Deepak

All Sean really knows is to monger fear, militancy, divisiveness, and jingoism. He prefers hate to love, war to peace, destruction to reconstruction, disease to cures and on and on. I am really proud to see Colmes leave his show finally. He must have had enough after twelve years of being continually bashed by Sean and liberals for giving Hannity an illusion of balance on his show.

I agree with Deepak one hundred percent on his analysis of Mr. Hannity. He is a sad sight and I....well, I try to empathize. I'd much rather just see him off the air.

McCain Operatives Think You're Stupid

John McCain and his henchmen obviously do not care much for the target voters they're going after. With every legitimate poll showing Obama's increasing lead, the powers that be are afraid of losing the nice hold they've had under Republican leadership (or lack therof). Since their ideas are tired and old, naturally they are employing the usual brand of GOP dirty tricks to get as many fearful votes as they can. The problem in 2008 is, no one is buying it anymore.

From The Guardian:

Barack Obama's campaign for the White House is receiving increasing complaints about scam pollsters involved in dirty tricks operations to discredit the Democratic candidate.

Victims claim the fake pollsters work insinuations into their questions, designed to damage Obama. Those targeted in swing states such as Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania include Jews, Christian evangelicals, Catholics and Latinos.

One of those to protest, Debbie Minden, who lives in a predominantly Jewish neighbourhood, Squirrel Hill, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told the Guardian that the pollster had begun by asking her the usual questions about her background and who she would vote for.

But the pollster went on to ask Minden, who is Jewish, how she would vote if she knew that Obama was supported by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza and was responsible for most of the suicide bombings against Israel. "It is scare tactics. It is terribly underhand," she said.

Debbie didn't believe their crap for one second and many other people are waking up to the fact that McCain and his people are using these tricks to sway voters. Lying comes easy to McCain, so we shouldn't expect anything different from those that work for him or are working to get him elected. As I mentioned earlier this week about push polls, the more that is written about them, the more people realize what is going on when its happening to them. You don't have to disconnect your phone like interviewee Joelna Marcus down in Florida, but recognizing the problem and telling your friends about it (especially ones that live in swing states like Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, etc) is more than half the battle.

We've Heard Bush's Fearmongering Speech Before

Jon Stewart matches up the George Bush of 2003 with the one we saw on TV Wednesday night. Amazingly, both appeal to fear and catastrophe to get their goals of _____ (starting an illegal war/ giving our money to Wall Street) accomplished. Of course, there are plenty more speeches where this deception came from, but it would take to long to show them all from the last eight years.

Uncle Sam Takes On 9/11

The only thing missing is the Bush/McCain hat on 9/11's head:



Current generally makes fun of politics and our society, but this one has a great message as well.

Four Nights Of RNC Trickery And Delusion Are Over

Last night John McCain gave a forty-five minute speech and said absolute nothing. In fact, all of the speakers at the Republican convention said nothing. Sure, words came out of their mouths and people heard them, but still, they said nothing. While the Democratic party showed emotion, compassion and the substance of their platform, all we heard this week was more of the same. The same emphasis on fear, the same emphasis on hate, the same overwhelming hypocrisy of the GOP and the same lies that they told four years ago and eight years ago.

I could delve into specifics from McCain's speech last night and write volumes on them. The topics are diverse, such as lying about Palin's record, his time as chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, the fact that he has helped lead the herd of special interests and employs lobbyists on his campaign and the fear campaign he especially has going on Barack Obama. The way he talked the corrupt nature of Washington, I could have sworn there was a mirror in those teleprompters and he was just talking to himself.

So yeah, there's plenty of hypocrisy in what he says, but for a while he was dubbed the Straight Talk Express and the media thought he was a nice, honest guy. Now he is hidden away and won't even allow the media to interview his new VP nominee. Frankly, she is a political prop and a gimmick that gave his campaign some life-blood, but that only applies to his base and is exactly why he won't let the rest of us see the real Palin in action. Her scripted speech was full of lies and childish attacks, which is great at the RNC but does no one any good if godforbid she got to live at the Naval Observatory next year.

I will admit though, they did put on a good show. Even Romney's use of red meat on Wednesday night and Giuliani's background of New York was good messaging to the Republican horde. Yet that is exactly what all of that was, a show. They are good at tricks and deluding their followers. The line about reforming Washington sums it all up. They have been running Washington for several years now and have created one of the greatest messes our country has ever seen. We are in more debt, our troops dying in unnecessary wars, the Constitution in tatters and the rich get richer while the rest of us get screwed. For the last four nights Republicans have offered change, their way. In two months time, we are going to get change but instead of it being a political gimmick, President Obama will make it real.

Lieberman Fearmongers For McCain

Joe Lieberman continues to be a huge disgrace to himself and our country. He clearly shows he has no shame when promoting John McCain.

Terrorists Want McCain To Win In November?

That title suggesting terrorists support John McCain is bold, outlandish and completely unsupported by credible evidence. Yet I am just a blogger, when John McCain argues the opposite in front of an audience in suburban Philadelphia, it is campaign rhetoric, also completely unsupported by anything in the factual world.

From Reuters:

SPRINGFIELD, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Friday he fears that al Qaeda or another extremist group might attempt spectacular attacks in Iraq to try to tilt the U.S. election against him.

McCain, at a town hall meeting in this Philadelphia suburb, was asked if he had concerns that anti-American militants in Iraq might ratchet up their activities in Iraq to try to increase casualties in September or October and tip the November election against him.

"Yes, I worry about it," McCain said. "And I know they pay attention because of the intercepts we have of their communications ... The hardest thing in warfare is to counter someone or a group of individuals who are willing to take their own lives in order to take others."

It amazes me that candidates still resort to this type of fearmongering and think that they can spare their conscience. The 3 A.M. ad was equally uncalled for and frankly, both McCain and Clinton use the same type of divisive rhetoric that repels Americans from voting. That of course may be their strategy, but regardless it is a failed path for our country and one that a certain candidate consistently opposes.

The FISA Fight Continues, Bush Starting To Stumble

You won't believe this but the Democrats (in the House at least) are trying to take advantage of the President's ridiculous, fear-mongering arguments. Granted, the formation of a spine in the Democratic caucus is still in its early stages but it is definitely taking shape. Today, in ten minutes, at 3PM Eastern Daylight Time, the House will take up H.R. 3773, which Bush had the following to say about.

From The Washington Post:

This week House leaders are finally bringing legislation to the floor. Unfortunately, instead of holding a vote on the good bipartisan bill that passed the United States Senate, they introduced a partisan bill that would undermine America's security. This bill is unwise. The House leaders know that the Senate will not pass it. And even if the Senate did pass it, they know I will veto it.[...]

Companies that may have helped us save lives should be thanked for their patriotic service, not subjected to billion-dollar lawsuits that will make them less willing to help in the future. The House bill may be good for class action trial lawyers, but it would be terrible for the United States.[...]

The American people understand the stakes in this struggle. They want their children to be safe from terror. Congress has done little in the three weeks since the last recess, and they should not leave for their Easter recess without getting the Senate bill to my desk.

Fear, fear and more fear. Please Mr. President, the people of this country have been seeing through your mindless rhetoric for quite sometime now. Thankfully the Democratic House sees that the people realize it, and are acting in kind.

From The Politico:

“Once again, the President continues to try to bully the Congress and mislead the American people on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) in a statement put out just minutes after the president’s.

“He refuses to accept that under our system of government, neither the President nor the telecommunications companies gets to decide which laws to follow and which to ignore.” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the president's comments "demonstrate an almost complete misreading of this important bill" and that the House bill provides all of the tools the intelligence community needs to protect the country.

That is all Bush is. A bully who misleads the people so that he can get his way and make good on corporations that helped him violate the law. Their lawyers knew what they were getting into and the only thing they have to count on is the President shielding them (and him of course) from being held accountable. He will continue to do this no matter what it takes, because escaping the consequences of his (and others) actions is paramount to respecting the rule of law and therefore, the Constitution of our country.

H.R. 3773 will do more than just protect our country from terrorists, it will help protect us from tyrants.

Fear This GoOPers!

Very nice C & L, very nice!