Right Winger Michael Savage Rips On Autistic Children

If anyone out there needs a reason why not to listen to right wing lunatics on the radio (and sadly, there are millions) then Michael Savage should be able to make my point many times over. Day in and day out, he utilizes hate and anger to rile up his audience to lash out at those with different (and saner) views than his own. However, there are things that should be beyond partisanship and autism is on the high end of that list along with not killing puppies and kittens. Yet to wingnuts like Savage, not even that is beyond his sphere of hate.

From Media Matters:

On the July 16 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage claimed that autism is "[a] fraud, a racket." Savage went on to say, "I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.' " Savage concluded, "[I]f I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, 'Don't behave like a fool.' The worst thing he said -- 'Don't behave like a fool. Don't be anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't act like a girl. Don't cry.' That's what I was raised with. That's what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training. You're turning your son into a girl, and you're turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men. That's why we have the politicians we have."

That is the mark of a heartless man. Perhaps Mr. Savage has never met a family that have autistic children. Perhaps he doesn't have friends or neighbors that let him near them because he is a disgusting human being. Whatever the reason, there is no excuse for what comes out of his mouth and Talk Radio Network should be ashamed of themselves for putting that crap on the air, even if there are 8.25 million sad souls out there that choose to listen to it.

Would The Right Find It Funny If Barack Said It?

Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow discuss McCain's sense of humor:

McCain Camp's War On Muslims

While Phil Gramm left the McCain campaign kicking and screaming today, there are still plenty of bad apples on the rotted tree that is the "straight talker's" operation. Take Bud Day for instance. We commend him for his service to our country and respect him for sticking with his fellow POW buddy McCain, when he starts talking out of his ass...then we get to call him on it (of course being associated with McCain, it happens often).

From The Miami Herald:

One of John McCain's fellow POW's in Vietnam defended the war in Iraq, saying, "The Muslims have said either we kneel or they're going to kill us.''

In a phone call with reporters arranged by Republican Party of Florida, Colonel Bud Day added: "I don't intend to kneel and I don't advocate to anybody that we kneel, and John doesn't advocate to anybody that we kneel.''

Bud, if you remember, was also a swiftboater that attacked John Kerry four years ago. So despite his military service, he is political scum, willing to do whatever it takes to elect Republicans, even if it means destroying another soldier's integrity or an entire religion.

Iraqi PM Endorses Obama

It isn't a full-on endorsement and it would be bad form to do so, but Nuri al-Maliki hinted at who he wants to see as the United States' 44th President. When it comes to our Presidential election, what matters to the people of Iraq is how we treat them and how quickly we get out of there. So what do you think he had to say?

From Reuters:

BERLIN (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months.[...]

Asked if he supported Obama's ideas more than those of John McCain, Republican presidential hopeful, Maliki said he did not want to recommend who people should vote for.

"Whoever is thinking about the shorter term is closer to reality. Artificially extending the stay of U.S. troops would cause problems."

Hmmm, 16 months or a hundred years? You know the answer to that, and it means we know who the leader of Iraq wants to see as our next President. Thanks Nuri!

Oh and by the way, Nancy has been bloviating and making ridiculously obvious statements in the Q & A. She even referred to Lewis and Clark when asked about Net Neutrality. Thankfully, Al Gore "surprised" us and saved her from that lackluster performance.

Nancy Pelosi At Netroots Nation LIVE! Al Gore Too!!!!

Break out the popcorn!



Honestly though, despite everything she's done, I give her props for coming out to talk to us this morning.

Thank god Al Gore showed up to save Pelosi from her bloviating!

Netroots Nation Day 2

O.k. so this is coming from the morning of day 3, but honestly I was too tired last night to type. Yesterday started out bright and early, meeting friends for breakfast at eight and (gasp) actually working out beforehand. The first event I attended was the much talked about "Law and the Next President" with John Dean, Cass Sunstein, Michael Waldman and Adam B. The topic went smoothly until it went to Q & A and all hell broke loose. People were attacking the panelists for not wanting to go after Bush et al for their crimes and it got quite personal (from the commenters). So once the dialogue broke down, I was off to the next event.

"Middle class isn't middle of the road" featured David Sirota among others from across the country to discuss populism and the uprising throughout the country. The people discussing the issue knew their stuff, but as for spreading the message to the audience and coming up with a plan.....eh, not so much. Sirota was twenty minutes late on top of everything, claiming traffic problems coming down from Dallas.

Then the big event of the day was Harold Ford and our very own Markos going head to head. It wasn't so much a rumble, but a discussion between two leaders under the Democratic tent that come from two very different places. At first it went well, but when the debate headed into the realm of FISA, Ford went off into his own delusional world where committing crimes is ok if the President told you to. Obviously he forgot that the rule of law covers everyone, including George Bush.

Quickly after it was over, I was off to the volunteer's table to do my part here at Netroots Nation. For an hour and half, I helped sell t-shirts for the convention in the exhibit hall and at the end, got one myself. It has the flag of Texas with an orange tinge, its simple, but cool and I highly suggest everyone here get one before they're all gone.

I skipped the blog money panel since I was late and one attendee who was walking out told me it didn't teach him anything and if you know the basics, then it isn't worth your time. So I relaxed for a bit and ended the day by watching the screening of "Trouble the Water," concerning the terrible tragedy that befell New Orleans during and after Katrina. There is nothing else like it out there, so this is another thing I highly recommend.

Then it was party time. The candidate's mixer was fantastic. Seeing netroots and grassroots people stepping up to run for office was spectacular. I knew most of the candidates from New York, but getting to meet those from other states was a true honor. Before I knew it, the time was 8:30 and several hundred of us paraded through the streets of Austin to Maggie Mae's. Free drinks, free food, a chocolate fountain (so glad I did that workout in the morning) and great music had the crowd going strong late into the night. I though, was getting tired around 10:30, so it was time to chill back in the hotel. Now it is a little after 9am and time for Nancy Pelosi to grace us with our presence.

McCain Doesn't Know What Party Obama Is In

McCain already said he doesn't know much about certain important issues concerning Americans. People are starting to understand that John is out of touch with the majority of citizens in this country and as the polls show, voters want change. Though I would think the Republican candidate might know what party his opponent was in, but obviously he doesn't.

From The Kansas City Star:

John McCain says Barack Obama was labeled as having the "most extreme" record in the Senate.

"Extreme? You really think hes an extremist? I mean, he's clearly a liberal," interviewer Dave Helling asks.

"That's his voting record," McCain responds. "All I said was his voting record, and that is more to the left than the announced Socialist in the United States Senate, Bernie Sanders of Vermont."

"Do you think hes a socialist, Barack Obama?" Helling asks.

McCain responds with a with a shrug, "I don't know."

That is not a good sign if McCain doesn't even know the political views of his opponent. Despite having disagreements, it is always best to know where the other guy is coming from. Then again, this is John "McSame" McCain we are talking about.

On another note, ThinkProgress took down the article, concerning the piece, but left the comments up at the behest of their lawyers.

Markos Versus Ford: LIVE!!!!!

I'm here in the room, about a hundred feet from the stage. However, everyone should watch this debate between the founder of DailyKos and the leader of the centrist DLC, Harold Ford, Jr.:

McCain Camp On Rape Joke: "Thats What People Want"

Over the course of a campaign, damage control is inevitable because realistically, no candidate is perfect. Now when it comes to John McCain, he is anything but. So when the record showed that he made a disgusting rape joke when he was initially running for the Senate, his campaign spokesman took an interesting stance on the event.

From AmericaBlog:

McCain campaign refuses to deny that McCain used to like to tell rape jokes. In fact, they say rape jokes are the kind of thing that Americans love him for.

"He's long said that he's said and done things in the past that he regrets. You've just got to move on, and be yourself - that's what people want. They want somebody who's authentic, and this kind of a stuff is a good example of McCain being McCain." - McCain spokesman yesterday.

Being yourself in this context may be something that some Americans want, but then you'd have to label them extreme misogynists. If this guy represents McCain, then the campaign is seriously out of touch with the majority of Americans. Rape is not funny, period. It is disgusting, cowardly and an act that completely humiliates and demoralizes the victim. There is no room for humor and making jokes about rape has no place in our society...and is completely unbecoming of a Senator or any human being that is capable of knowing the difference between right and wrong.

Authorities Continue To Waste Resources Spying On Peaceniks

In this day and age, you would think law enforcement officials would have the wherewithal to know that those that wish to do us harm are not advocates of peace. Terrorists believe in violence to achieve their ends (kinda like George Bush). So even after embarrassing stories in the past documenting police officials infiltrating peace groups to obtain information, they continue to do so. Oddly, the Washington Times has the story here.

From The Washington Times:

Undercover Maryland state troopers infiltrated three groups advocating peace and protesting the death penalty — attending meetings and sending reports on their activities to U.S. intelligence and military agencies, according to documents released Thursday.

The documents show the activities occurred from at least March 2005 to May 2006 and that officers used false names, which the documents referred to as "covert identities" - to open e-mail accounts to receive messages from the groups.

Also included in the 46 pages of documents, obtained by the Maryland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, is an account of an activist's name being entered into a federally funded database designed to share information among state, local and federal law-enforcement agencies on terrorist and drug trafficking suspects.

ACLU attorney David Rocah said state police violated federal laws prohibiting departments that receive federal funds from maintaining databases with information about political activities and affiliations.

The activist was identified as Max Obuszewski. His "primary crime" was entered into the database as "terrorism - anti govern(ment)." His "secondary crime" was listed as "terrorism - anti-war protestors." The database is known as the Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA.

Americans that believe in peace group together to air grievances amongst each other and debate on how to have a more peaceful society, both here and with our foreign policy. On the flip side, we have cops that are breaking the law to try and exert more control over these citizens. As Rocah states, this is a symbol of "Kafka-esque insanity." There is no excuse for this behavior and it must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Peace activists have no intention on breaking the law, authorities such as the Maryland State Troopers should be held to the same laws as those they wish to illegally infiltrate

Wes Clark Sits Down With TPM At Netroots Nation

General Wesley Clark is an icon (albeit for only a few years) in the Democratic Party. Yet he reaches out to the netroots community in a way that few politicians do. Not only did he give a keynote speech on the first night here in Austin, but sat down for a one-on-one with TPMtv:

Halliburton, KBR And Others Put Our Troops At Risk

While George Bush and his friends in the wide and diverse military-industrial complex sell us on the benefits of privatizing our armed forces, the reality of what they are doing is far different from their power-point presentations. Instead of bringing more efficiency to the mix, companies like KBR and Halliburton are making things in Iraq far more dangerous....and deadly.

From The NY Times:

During just one six-month period — August 2006 through January 2007 — at least 283 electrical fires destroyed or damaged American military facilities in Iraq, including the military’s largest dining hall in the country, documents obtained by The New York Times show. Two soldiers died in an electrical fire at their base near Tikrit in 2006, the records note, while another was injured while jumping from a burning guard tower in May 2007.

And while the Pentagon has previously reported that 13 Americans have been electrocuted in Iraq, many more have been injured, some seriously, by shocks, according to the documents. A log compiled earlier this year at one building complex in Baghdad disclosed that soldiers complained of receiving electrical shocks in their living quarters on an almost daily basis.

Electrical problems were the most urgent noncombat safety hazard for soldiers in Iraq, according to an Army survey issued in February 2007. It noted “a safety threat theaterwide created by the poor-quality electrical fixtures procured and installed, sometimes incorrectly, thus resulting in a significant number of fires.”

Things in Iraq and Afghanistan are treacherous enough for our soldiers when dealing with insurgents. The fact that our troops are literally being burned by a corporation that gets no-bid contracts and continually screws things up over there is a tragedy. The army did just fine in WWII without KBR, and we would be much better off without them now.