My conservative mom who often watches Hannity & Colmes seemed genuinely surprised when I told her last week that liberals don't like Colmes or consider him to be an actual liberal. She asked me who I consider an influential liberal and I said Paul Krugman. She didn't seem to know who Krugman was.

For as much as she seems to know all about what liberals believe and why they're wrong, she doesn't seem to know very much about liberals. Somehow, the rightwing's caricature of liberals is more real for her than her own son (me) and doesn't believe me when I tell her what liberals actually believe. I've found this to be quiet common among conservatives. When you get past the talking points, they're actually liberals who don't realize it because they've got a demonized idea of what "liberal" means.

Chris Mathews just stupidly proclaimed that it was "..very Democratic for congressman Ackerman to rail against Royal-ism" --by insisting that J.Lo (Jennifer Lopez) has as much eligibility to be NY senator as Caroline Kennedy.

WRONG AGAIN MATHEWS!!

Caroline Kennedy is a very good candidate. She has written six books on Constitutional Law. Yes, SIX! She has always had an interest in history and politics and law. It's not just her name that qualifies her. She is a bright, capable woman who is seriously interested in making a political difference and who has given this position serious thought.

FYI, MATHEWS:

This was not a case of 'railing against royalism' or anything of the kind. Although I can see how you would like this, as it has a nice ring to it, this prhase. You really are the dramatic one, are you not? Never mind the facts.

Comparing Caroline Kennedy's ability to assume the Senate seat with J.Lo is as "Low as you can go", Mr. Mathews... an instance of stupid apples and oranges.

Just a note about sooo stupid Reyes. A commenter mentioned at Glen Greenwald's site that when he asked Reyes who comprised Al Qaeda Reyes responded "both Shiites and Sunnis but it was pre dominantly Shiites that made up Al Qaeda".

Must have been a secret McCain foreign policy adviser huh?

Welcome to POP...the People's Obstructionist Party...formerly referred to as the republican party. This is and always has been their function having done nothing for the good of the nation in the last 8-12 yrs but enrich themselves and protect the holdings of the wealthy. Their only function now after having obtained nearly everything Bush asked for is merely to obstruct any and all policies that might induce change for the good of the people. Thanks POP.

"As expected, Fox News will not replace Alan Colmes."

Who'll notice?

* I don't suppose House Democrats can replace Rep. Silvestre Reyes as chairman of the Intelligence Committee, can they? -- Steve Benen

They probably *could* but I doubt they *will*. Too bad, because the guy is a stinker that we could do without, especially in a prominent position.

****Posted by: Doctor Biobrain on December 11, 2008 at 5:38 PM....

Dear Doctor B.... My suggeation is to get her to listen to Thom Hartman. He has a show on Air America Radio that airs 11-2pm central time. He is by far one of the most informative/ educated liberal spokesmen out there who has frequent discussions with opposing viewpoints which are very rational. He educates and teaches liberal views with extreme rationality and is never offensive. If your mom would but listen she would get a good sense of what it means to be a liberal. Good luck.

So the bank bailout was rammed through because of wall st. fear and the auto bailout gets held up because of?

btw/ How long before Paulson's kept boy gets put in leg irons. That guy strikes me as one corrupt fucker.

Steve,

When I have only five or ten minutes here or there, it's Washingtonmonthly.com that I check out. Because you are so up to date, so concise, so cogent and you provide fantastic researched links and citations for further exploration as time allows. You leave out the rhetoric, but you are not shy to give your opinion.

Just wanted to say thanks again! Yes, I know there are other great blogs out there too, but your style is the best organized IMHO.

Today was no exception.

Hope to see you on Maddow's fantastic new show soon!

And Mikey your doin' a heckuva job.

And finally, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has been using a cleaning company that utilizes illegal immigrants. I'm not sure how they passed the Secret Service screenings.

How fucking stupid can you be? I wonder, how many laptops have gone unattended or missing from Jerkoff's house?

How many sensitive documents casually thrown into the trash?

So the bank bailout was rammed through because of wall st. fear and the auto bailout gets held up because of?

Because it doesn't immediately dissolve the UAW and ban all unions.

Besides, the majority of the people who will suffer if the auto industry goes under make less than $100,000 a year, so why should anyone in Congress care when there are multimillionaire hedge fund managers who need to be propped up?

"I don't suppose House Democrats can replace Rep. Silvestre Reyes as chairman of the Intelligence Committee, can they?"
I hope so. That's the representative from my father's congressional district, and about the last reason he still has to be a Republican. (Actually, he's a Democrat, because if he's not his primary vote is meaningless. Tells you something.)

Did you hear of the IG Office reporting, out today or so, that Bush/Rummy Pentagon didn't properly prepare for IEDs etc?

Millions or billions of dollars in cash, in stocks, in gold or in banks are of no value if the people you have to hire to feed you, clothe you and shelter you would rather see you dead than fed.

I don't know when this realization will dawn on all of us. The power is not in the money but in what it will buy. If the politicians and so-called power brokers cannot hire trustworthy workers, whether unionized or not, to do their bidding, they are impotent. The machine will stop when the people who oil it quit. The CEO who owns the shop probably does not even know where the oil can is. The person with that information becomes the master. These are the lessons that have to be learned before there can be resolution of the current problems.

I am committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation
peace,
st john

In the open thread vein/open vein thread:

The White House not only knows who's the real boss; they're now admitting it in public:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/11/perino-slips-obama/

American War Hero: Pistol-whipped. Pissed-on. Left for dead.

McCain in late October:

...an American hero and a great citizen of Ohio, and my role model, and the man I am fighting for, and small businesses all over America like him, JOE THE PLUMBER.

Joe the Plumber the other day:

'Joe the Plumber' told conservative radio host Glenn Beck on Tuesday that he felt "dirty" after hitting the campaign trail with Republican presidential nominee John McCain and "seeing some of the things that take place," Politico reported.

Allow me to slip into the vernacular: Un-fucking-believable.

This is important, and should get more attention here if it didn't (pardon if I missed it) but Obama promoted reform laws trying to stop the sort of stuff that Blago did. Check the below, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/10/how-obama-fought-through_n_149937.html:

The New York Times reported on Wednesday morning that the President-elect played an important role in helping pass the ethics bill that ultimately was responsible for Blagojevich's downfall. Several months ago, Obama placed a call to his mentor Emil Jones, imploring the state Senate president to let go of a hold on legislation that would have prohibited contractors from donating to politicians who oversaw their work. The bill, passed over Blagojevich's objections, compelled the governor to quickly press state contractors for donations before the new law took affect on January 1. That, in turn, pushed authorities to ramp up their case against Blagojevich.

Foreclosure, USA.

Did you hear of the IG Office reporting, out today or so, that Bush/Rummy Pentagon didn't properly prepare for IEDs etc?

I did Neil, and the topic is right in the center of my wheelhouse. If you will indulge me a bit of blogwhoring, I'll give you the link.

Sean Insannity's huge ego and his incessant psychological need to be heard will be realized; however, he is marginalized since the election of Obama.

HA HA HA

The Mainstream Media especially Chris Mathews is exploiting Blagojevich for what ever reason, sure they are trying to tie in Obama.

If one takes a look at how one of the worst scandals in America’s history went down with hard political ties to Bush and Company, one can see Bush received especial treatment and in contrast is repulsive to as criminal as it can get. That is the ENRON scandal totally something in the billions plus destroyed hundreds perhaps thousands of personal lives based in Houston Texas. Totally not accounted for and buried by the media.

Then Chris Mathew’s wants know if Bush should be considered a good president. Of course Bush gave special favors to ENRON executives for money of an undetermined amount. But we harp on Blagojevich making a deal for the Senate seat perhaps not getting anything. For me, this stuff has been the regular deals going on in politics.

Chris Mathews said Blagojevich got caught, for what? So Mathews might very well know who did not get caught. Or, who else is out there that needs to be arrested. Chris Mathews should be subpoenaed in this case to open up the crime spree.

I will be honest, sometimes Blagojevich comes across harsh and snappy, but does that mean he is a “PUNK� as CNN Wolf Blitzer says? For me it looks like frustration in a long, long investigation, perhaps Blagojevich is just pushing the envelope to put this thing away by doing outrageous stuff. Getting the FBI to shit or get off the pot.

For me anyone might make wild crazy actions under FBI investigations for five years. It is teaching all of us something, investigations should be done with limits, or just say well lets do elections the American way and go for an elected office coupled with perpetual FBI investigations.
Take a look at Tom Lay and how he was treated.

And look at this the Indictment remained under seal which meant Tom Lay friend of Bush was given the opportunity to give himself up. None of this secret stuff being arrested and grandstanding.
>“�The indictment remains under seal and is expected to be unsealed Thursday. The Justice Department declined to comment.

>"I have been advised that I have been indicted," Lay said through a spokeswoman. "I will surrender in the morning. I have done nothing wrong, and the indictment is not justified."

>“�Enron filed for bankruptcy Dec. 2, 2001 after investigators found it had used partnerships to conceal more than $1 billion in debt and inflate profits. The company once ranked as the countries seventh-largest.��

And get this

“�Enron's third quarter 2001 Form 10-Q filed with the SEC, the company claimed debt totaling $14.3 billion as of Nov. 16, 2001. In a private presentation given to its bankers just three days later, the company admitted to debts totaling more than $38 billion.�� Sheesh.

And CNN sounds like America should have fits because of some political gossip telephone calls? Ladies and Gentleman of America in most states you can say anything on the phone were it only leads to a misdemeanor and or with a jail sentence and or a fine. But it does not result in a felony. Anyway a whole lot of people would be charged with FBI complaints. There should be long lines around the court houses.

Here in the last analysis and something the media is suppressing, law and corruption is not corrected or resolved by just looking for perjury statements.

Everyone should be able realize we have an FBI hero just looking at perjury statements is just low class partisan if you ask me especially at this time. This is all he said she said stuff to be able to catch someone making a misstatement.

Consider the ideal is shallow and sells commercials. Maybe that what it is for?

Where as we the people here by make this complaint of report treachery, go get' em give them Fitz...

[Knock it off. Skip that part of the roundup. I guarantee you that the other regular readers are far more sick of your whining about this item you see no value in, than you are of said item. -Mod]

"And look at this the Indictment remained under seal which meant Tom Lay friend of Bush was given the opportunity to give himself up." Megalomania (well named) -- maybe ya shouldnt've said it.

There I Said It -- ya definitely shoudnt've said it. Go picket the Wall Street Journal. This stuff is important. If you don't get how it ties into the health of the country, back to Econ 101 with the Republicans.

'There I Said It' has made a substance-free, derogatory comment about Steve's stock market tidbit in the mini-report for three days straight now.

While I don't think opposing view points should be banned, I do think blatant, repetitive trolls should be, and 'There I Said It,' is just such a specimen.

"...will not, however, prevent wingnut lawsuits."

Oh, Steve. Don't you know? *Nothing* can prevent wingnut lawsuits.

As if the $4500 bail for Blagojevic was an insult.

Ex-Nasdaq Chairman, Bernard Madoff was arrested in NYC for fraud, $50 billion lost, told employees it was a ponzi scheme.

Released on $10 million bail secured by his signatures and that of his wife's.

Before Madoff surrendered to police, he distributed $200-300 million to friends & family.

DEREGULATION!!!!!

It should not matter who the person is they should receive the full rights to the Law.

If that includes the right to defend ones self for just a complaint, even or especially by the FBI, is not a public violation. If convicted for the complaint then it is a public violation. Obama better bone up on the basics, more over what America views and hears on the public broadcasting system is not the law.

Swearing on the telephone is not a violation, of course it is abrasive or undesirable but it is not illegal. From my view the media has already screwed up and hyped this thing beyond fair. Basic Constitutional rights or basic violation towards the Governor, or any person have been breached by the media. Absolutely disgusting especially by MSNBC,CNN, and FOX. Actually the usual crap done.

Even Rachel Maddow who I like was infinitely disappointing with this message. Perhaps she would try to get an interview like MSNBC does every Sunday with long time hardened criminals. It’s so laughable, MSNBC gives grossly mentally displaced criminals more favor then Blagojevich, just because Patrick Fitzgerald says Blagojevich is on a crime spree with out with any court process.

Impeachment according the way the law in Illinois reads, it must proceed upon a felony conviction. Other words, if Blagojevich plays this out in court in an open public environment perhaps it will reveal what is going on. But for me a lot of what Patrick Fitzgerald missed in Ryan’s prosecution will be revealed. Because he is Bush and Company, Ryan’s conviction was not the total to be condemned. A whole lot more should have gone with Ryan to jail.

What needs to be done is Fitzgerald needs to publish his disposition for public display.

Illinois Constitution SECTION 8.1. CRIME VICTIM'S RIGHTS.

(6) The right to timely disposition of the case following the arrest of the accused.

Chop, Chop lets see, lets see the disposition Fitz…

You people are mighty sensitive.

You people are mighty sensitive. -- There I Said It, @23:07

Nah. Just intelligent enough to have a low boredom threshold. While you're soooo repetitive; not a new thought in your head day, after day, after day...

I have to say, Steve, I'm very dissapointed that you mentioned Wall St without giving the numbers. That is hardly acceptable in a min-report!

For the record: Dow Jones was down 196.

There. I said it.

Some kind of a fifty billion dollar scandal scheme now? Sheesh… So, after watch Olberman talk about matching crooks compared to Blagojevich it appears there is something covered up that I don’t remember seeing on the news? It is incredible by just Googling Senators and scandal up came the Pentagon Papers, the Bobby Baker scandal, and the best of the that Olberman missed. The BNL scandal which is titled as Bush’s Water gate.

Check this out, there is web site address, sorry I am rookie at this stuff never saw this and it really sounds unbelievable, incredibly crazy if real. And we wonder why Chicago turns out to a center of bank records that the FBI wants for prosecution or secure to cover up? Titled BNL which is something to do with the Iraq war.

Chicago, it is now emerging, has been the central point for vast,
International, illegal transactions involving the BNL and BCCI banks and
Secret deals with American oil companies, military manufacturers, the CIA,
And possibly U.S. politicians. (According to a London source, unreleased
BCCI documents in the possession of the Bank of London list the names of
At least 105 members of U.S. Congress - of both Houses and both parties -
Who have received money through the Chicago branch of BCCI? The U.S.
Federal Reserve is said to have a copy of the same secret BCCI list).

http://www.paranormalnews.com/textfiles/conspiracies/BNL_IraqGate_Scandal.txt

Another

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE6D61E39F934A15757C0A964958260

Olberman should talk to Andrea Mitchell, as I said before Andrea is central to all this big money banking stuff, being privy to trillion dollar deals as wife of former federal reserve board chairman Allen Greenspan, and now political commentator on MSNBC what a connection> Sorry, from my view a huge huge corruption ring including CNBC. These people tell you where to put your money. Sheesh…