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Yes, you read right. Mike Malloy crosses over from the traditional world of terrestrial radio to the alternative ...or not world of the interwebs. Well, for a short while, anyway, as he is my guest on the show this morning.
I'm writing this early, as I have a very busy day, and want links and videos posted ... so who knows where our conversation will go. All I know is you won't want to miss it.
We'll chat with another outspoken voice - Cliff Schecter - in the first hour.
And I have lots of videos to share with you too... Here's a peek:
and
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I don't know about you, but Mitt Romney's nervous laughter at the most inappropriate moments is truly unsettling. I can just imagine him meeting with foreign leaders calling him out on a lie, and Mitt's response is a creepy cackle. I know, perish the thought....
Mittens does lots of other inappropriate things too. Just take his commencement address yesterday at Liberty "University". To quote Rodney Dangerfield, take them, please... But seriously. I don't usually watch Lawrence O'Donnell, but he hit the nail on the head last night concerning Romney's "Christians rule" speech which included the unbelievable line," There is no greater force for good in the nation than Christian conscience." I'm not kidding. Watch for yourself:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Good stuff. More good stuff today comes via my friend, rapper Jasiri X, who reminds us that June 5 is coming soon. That's the day Wisconsin goes to the polls to recall Scott Walker. It's also a good time to tell the DNC to get off their asses and support the recall effort!
Of course, tongues are a-wagging about the massive $2 billion lost by JP Morgan Chase last week. As usual, it's the awesome Elizabeth Warren calling for a return to Glass Steagell (the rule put in place after the Depression to stop these practices, but repealed under Clinton administration), and more regulation.
This morning, in my continuing quest to understand better the insanity of the banksters, I was joined by Bart Naylor, financial policy advocate with Public Citizen's Congress Watch division, who told us of their new report on the history of derivative deregulation. (Remember the importance of history, as the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result.)
And in the second hour, as she does every Tuesday morning, I was joined by The Political Carnival's GottaLaff. After her latest Blunt video, some of the other stories we talked about....
GOP official: Mitt Romney’s V.P pick will be “a deliberate anti-Palin”… an “incredibly boring white guy.”
VIDEO- RNC Chair Reince Priebus: Gay Americans who want marriage equality don’t deserve civil rights, dignity, or respect.
VIDEO: Hey conservatives! If you don’t like what Mitt Romney says, just wait a minute…
Arizona high-school baseball team forfeits rather than face a girl
Tomorrow on the show, the one and only Mike Malloy!
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Happy Monday!
It's a busy day, as I'dd do my show, then head up to West Palm Beach to guest host the Randi Rhodes Show this afternoon... So, bear with me on brevity on the blog.
This morning, there's a lot of news to cover.... we'll do that, speak with Rep. Patsy Keever- who won her primary against the DCCC conserva-Dem last week in North Carolina (the one bit of good news out of that state) in the first hour.
In hour two, as we do every Monday, we'll hang with Crooks and Liars' Nicole Belle, in our Fools on the Hill segment. Here's what she brought us today.. (and come back later for the guest list for Randi Rhodes' show!)
Happy Mother’s Day! Of course, you wouldn’t know it by watching the Sunday shows. Earlier this week the Save the Children organization issued a report on the State of the World’s Mothers. Guess where the US ranked? Twenty-fifth. And that’s an improvement over last year. The richest country in the world is outranked by Lithuania and Belarus and well below Iceland with just 8% of the GDP of the US. But was this outrageous and shameful report brought up to point out how for all our jingoistic notions of American exceptionalism, we are actually failing our neediest citizens? Only on Up with Chris Hayes.
Instead , we get to be told by John Cornyn that President Obama’s historic backing of equal rights for LGBT Americans is nothing more than him trying to divide the country.
And Ralph Reed (who should never be given a platform on a network news show for all the criminal activity he’s been involved in) accused the liberal media of “dumpster diving” to come up with the Romney school bully story. Because all those “Obama trained in a Muslim madrassa” rumors were hard-hitting journalism.
You know who else doesn’t think that the gay bully story means anything? Brit Hume. I wonder if Brit’s son would have felt the same way, before he committed suicide.
And in the we-think-you’re-too-stupid-to-remember-what-we-said-last-week department, Mary Matalin bravely contorted what few movable muscles she has left in her face to utter these laughable words: There is no -- nor has there ever been -- any Republican position that's been no regulations. We are for regulations and always have been. Right. There’s only 60,000,000 hits on Google for “Republicans want to cut regulations”, so it’s not a recurring theme for the GOP or anything.
And finally, can we just give Barney Frank his own show when he retires? Because I really enjoyed his exchange with Marsha Blackburn regarding the shallowness of the Republican talking points on women and the economy.
And a postscript...
At the top of the show, I spoke about reading the 50 Shades of Grey books this weekend, and mentioned my experience with the Anne Rice Sleeping Beauty triology, written under the nom de plume A.N. Roqueilaire. Do check them out.
I also have to add the video of the crazy anti-LGBT woman rant from Lincoln, NE.... just because. Enjoy!
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It's been a while since I've unequivocally applauded President Obama, but I am thrilled to do so today.
I doubted on the show yesterday that he'd come out of the closet in support of marriage equality, especially by way of a televised interview. But I was wrong, and I'm really glad to admit it.
And to those of my brethren on the left, give the man some fucking credit where credit is due. Watch it for yourself, then thank him for doing the right thing!
This is a giant leap forward for civil rights, especially poignant coming from our first African America president, who certainly knows of civil rights battles.
And, to draw an even greater contrast between President Obama and wannabe president Mitt Romney, the Washington Post this morning published a piece centering on a horrific, homophobic episode led by the then-high school bully, "Mitt Romney's prep school classmates recall pranks, but also troubling incidents."
" John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn’t having it.
“He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann’s recollection. Mitt, the teenaged son of Michigan Gov. George Romney, kept complaining about Lauber’s look, Friedemann recalled.
A few days later, Friedemann entered Stevens Hall off the school’s collegiate quad to find Romney marching out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber’s hairFriedemann followed them to a nearby room where they came uponLauber, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors. The incident was recalled similarly by five students, who gave their accounts independently of one another. Four of them — Friedemann, now a dentist; Phillip Maxwell, a lawyer; Thomas Buford, a retired prosecutor; and David Seed, a retired principal — spoke on the record. Another former student who witnessed the incident asked not to be named. The men have differing political affiliations, although they mostly lean Democratic. Buford volunteered for Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008. Seed, a registered independent, has served as a Republican county chairman in Michigan. All of them said that politics in no way colored their recollections.
“It happened very quickly, and to this day it troubles me,” said Buford, the school’s wrestling champion, who said he joined Romney in restraining Lauber. Buford subsequently apologized to Lauber, who was “terrified,” he said. “What a senseless, stupid, idiotic thing to do.”
“It was a hack job,” recalled Maxwell, a childhood friend of Romney who was in the dorm room when the incident occurred. “It was vicious.
“He was just easy pickins,” said Friedemann, then the student prefect, or student authority leader of Stevens Hall, expressing remorse about his failure to stop it.
The incident transpired in a flash, and Friedemann said Romney then led his cheering schoolmates back to his bay-windowed room in Stevens Hall. "
I know... this happened in 1965. Let me respond with two things.
First, a tweet from Jeremy Scahill on the subject which nailed it:
Everybody does dumb shit in high school. Not everyone targets a gay student because he is gay & assaults him.
And second, Romney's own reaction this morning when interviewed on Fox's Brian Kilmeade's radio show. Note the nervous laughter from Mittens, his denial that Lauber was gay, and his "apology" - if anyone was offended.... Blecch.
Today on the show, I talked about President Obama's historic statement yesterday with a new twitter friend - screenwriter (Wedding Crashers) Steve Faber, who also happens to be a bit of a political junkie and writes about his obsession for Huffington Post.
And, though he was away for a few weeks, John Fugelsang joined me once again to close out the week with a mix of laughter and conversation. John is in Madison, WI for Guilt: A Love Story tomorrow night at the Barrymore Theater, and next Saturday (5/19) here in Ft. Lauderdale at the Parker Playhouse!
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Thanks to the immensely talented Shane-O, Radio or Not has a new home. In these first few days, we'll likely be working out a few bugs, so please report any problems you encounter either via email or in the comments section below. But please explore the site and, more importantly, share it with everyone you think might be interested in what we do here.
I'm still learning my way around here, so bear with me....
We have a great show this morning. Back by popular demand, Amy Simon of She's History will weigh in on the war against women (and the GOP denial of such). Of course, this Sunday is Mother's Day, so a visit from my favorite mom and cultural herstorian is necessary!
Regular listeners of my show know that my chat room is filled with people unhappy (to put it lightly) with President Obama, who have stated unequivocally that they will be voting for the Green Party candidate for President, Dr. Jill Stein. Dr. Stein will be my guest in the second hour of today's show, so I hope you'll tune in for that..
Once again, welcome to the new site, and big thanks to Shane-O (who'll have some amazing news to share very soon)!
**Update** It figures, the day we premiere the new site, Ustream is hacked. Apparently, a citizen journalist in Russia who's been showing the protests was the target. So, ustream was down for many people today. The podcast, however, is full...