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Hey Rick, froth this. The good news is that our outrage helped. Virginia’s governor Bob McDonnell is now backing off his unconditional support for the bill that would require women to have a horribly invasive procedure known as a “transvaginal ultrasound” before getting an abortion (something that was still legal last time I checked!).
Just a short time ago, McDonnell issued a statement
Mandating an invasive procedure in order to give informed consent in not a proper role for the state. No person should be directed to undergo an invasive procedure by the state, without their consent, as a precondition to another medical procedure.”
Good for him. Perhaps the rest of the Republican party will wake up soon too.
In case you hadn’t seen a visual depiction of just what this trans-vaginal procedure looks like, here you go:
Of course, the sycophantic and idiotic Dana Loesch thinks that’s just like having sex!
I just can’t wait for tonight’s debate to hear the four old white guys up on the stage tell us women what we can and can’t do with our bodies!
This morning on the show, after stewing for a while again about the insanity in today’s GOP, I spoke with Lois Frankel, congressional candidate from Florida’s 22nd District – you know, the one that Allen West is running away from.
In the second hour, I chatted with my buddy Jason Leopold, one of the few remaining investigative journalists. Jason takes advantage of the Freedom of Information Act regularly – and just last week filed a lawsuit against the FBI and a number of other governmental agencies over their apparent disdain for following the laws regarding FOIA.
And thank you once again Lee Camp…
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Well, that was fast! As you may know, I went to California for a week to enjoy lots of music and old friends. Included in the trip came a nasty 24-hour stomach flu for both Alison (my daughter) and myself. Although my 24 hours are long up, I’m still feeling the residual effects – and the lack of sleep from flying home on the red-eye last night, so this will be both late and brief!
Today on the show, I was joined by two people I got to see while in Los Angeles! Howie Klein, who blogs at Down With Tyranny and runs the Blue America PAC (and its Senate page) with Digby and John Amato, guested in the first hour.
And being Tuesday, the second hour was a visit from The Political Carnival’s GottaLaff who brought us these stories this morning:
VIDEO- Newt Gingrich: “You can’t put a gun rack in a Volt.”
VIDEO- Rick Santorum: Prenatal care leads to abortions
Rick Santorum: Liberals “border on disdain for the common man.”
VIDEO- Michele Bachmann: “The Republican party is extremely pro-woman.”
Pat Buchanan: “My days as a political analyst at MSNBC have come to an end.”
More tomorrow…
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It is Valentines Day, after all.
I’ll be taking the next few days off… heading out to California for the 15th annual Sunset Sessions. The wonderful Shane-O will be filling in for me the next few days, and I’ll be back next Tuesday morning, fresh from the red eye flight back home.
Today on the show, I spoke with Jean Altomore of 350.org about the GOP Keystone XL pipeline amendment they added to the transportation bill that will be voted on today. Go to 350.org/kxl and sign the petition to stop it now!
Lee Fang joined me from his new job at Republic Report (part of United Republic) – an investigative blog that tackles the corrupting influence of money in both political parties, the media, and American institutions!
And we finished it up with GottaLaff of The Political Carnival and these stories:
Android app cites the Bible, calls abortion “wrong… murder… thanks!”
30 second vid I made: VIDEO- Mitt Romney: I’m Severely Conservative, dammit!
VIDEO- Mitt Romney heckled about Cayman Islands, fracking
VIDEO- Mitt Romney: Welfare recipients should be drug tested, “a great idea.”
VIDEO- Shallow Thoughts: Media bias edition
VIDEO: At CPAC, Newt Gingrich jokes about tracking immigrants using FedEx, UPS
Video- Andrew Breitbart Loses It At Occupy CPAC Protesters
VIDEO: Conservative rappers at CPAC appear to use N-word, then claim they were saying “Knickers”
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Ian Dury and the Blockheads with a good description of today’s show.
Sex and Drugs
Those santimonious hypocrites posing as the religious righteous on their high horses can go fuck themselves, and they soon may have to do so. Hey guys – you take away our birth control, you will never get laid again.
Hey Marco Rubio, I’m talking to you with your sanctimonious Religious Freedom Protection Act of 2012.
I called Rubio’s office this morning on the show and asked why he hates women. This pandering piece of horrible legislation would allow ANY business or corporation to refuse its employees coverage for birth control based on their personal religious beliefs or moral convictions.
I asked if they’d put an exemption in for the Church of Scientology so they wouldn’t have to cover psychiatry and psychiatric meds. How about the Jehova’s Witnesses who don’t believe in blood transfusions. Should they not be required to provide insurance coverage for that for their employees?
And what about the Christian Scientists, who don’t believe in using doctors at all?
This isn’t about others putting their beliefs on the Catholics/ anti-choice people; it’s about the Catholics / anti-choice assholes pushing their beliefs on us. It’s not about religion, it’s about stupidity.. And they want to impose their stupidity on the rest of us. No, thanks.
It’s about them not wanting you to have sex and drugs, I guess.
Rock and Roll
Congratulations to Adele! It’s great to see real music win accolades from across all styles. Bruce rocked it. “We Take Care of Our Own” speaks to the moral conscience of this country. Hey GOP and the 1%, listen to Bruce.
Also on the show today, I was joined by David Dayen of FireDogLake news who brought us up to date on the shitty foreclosure fraud settlement deal.
And as she does every Monday, Nicole Belle of Crooks and Liars joined in with Fools on the Hill - the Sunday talking head shows…
Another Sunday, another day of Republicans telling us that their extremist views are the norm, all polls to the contrary.
Like Peggy Noonan, who calls the “left of the Democratic base” *extreme*. Why? For supporting reproductive rights. No, seriously.
On the issue of reproductive rights, Mitch McConnell—who really needs to lay off the Botox—tells Bob Schieffer that any employer should be able to deny contraceptive services. I seriously can’t wrap my head around the notion that we must re-litigate contraception services. But again, never let it be said that there isn’t anything Republican Party wouldn’t do to appeal to the one percent. Even if it’s the one percent of the population who wants to deprive women of contraception (and the therapeutic medicinal value of many contraceptive drugs).
Rick Santorum got into the fray as well on contraception. He told David Gregory that lack of insurance coverage wouldn’t deny women access to birth control. They could just pay for it, doncha know? Of course, he doesn’t explain how women living in reduced circumstances now, thanks to Republican Party policies, are supposed to pay for it.
Speaking of paying for contraception, Paul Ryan told George Stephanopoulos that the Obama administration’s compromise to say that religious employers wouldn’t have to pay for contraceptive coverage but the insurance companies would was nothing more than an “accounting gimmick.” Hard to argue the point, but considering that the entire Bush administration was nothing more than accounting gimmicks to hide the burgeoning deficit, thanks to tax cuts and two wars in the Middle East, not to mention his own ridiculous budget proposal, I’d say that Ryan shouldn’t throw stones.
But I don’t want you to think that it was nothing but conservatives slut-shaming women for having sexual lives. Jack Lew, the new White House Chief of Staff, had to really talk down David Gregory from demanding the austerity measures here in the US that have worked oh-so-well across Europe. David Gregory, happy member of the DC Village Elite, comfortably ensconced within the one percent, thinks that the only answer for America is to reduce the services we give to the poor and elderly.
And if there’s time, George Soros wins the award for the most obvious soundclip—which not one member of the media will admit that they know and never acknowledge with their guests: Republicans are cynically hurting the American economy for political gain.
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Today’s show was about all of these! Music and politics are probably my two favorite topics. Religion, notsomuch, which is one of the reasons we need to talk about it today!
The show began with politics. Details are emerging about the 49 state settlement with the five big banks on foreclosure fraud. (Which state didn’t sign on? I know that’s what you’re asking yourself right now. Answer in a moment.)
David Dayen at FireDogLake probably had the best explanation of this piece of shit deal (which I read from on the air today) … and Mike Lux has some good commentary on the subject at Daily Kos.
Basically, offering people who are underwater in their homes a mere $20,000 principal reduction is wholly inadequate, and giving those who lost their homes due to foreclosure fraud $2000 is despicable.
More as the deal is finalized, I’m sure…
Religion has been the topic for the past few days, as the Catholic Bishops seem to think they were elected to run our government. The Constitution says we are all equal, and are all entitled to the same protections. That includes access to health care. If all insurance companies are mandated to offer contraception coverage, that means that the Catholic church must off it to their employees too.
If they don’t want to, then they need to stop taking federal funds (and that includes enjoying their tax-exempt status).
The other solution, which I favor, is getting employers out of the health insurance business. We can do that quite easily with Medicare for All…
Religion was also the topic I discussed with Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. As he details in his new book, No Snowflake in an Avalanche, and in the Washington Post yesterday – “Religious intolerance is rampant in today’s Army, Air Force and Navy” – well, the title of that article says it all.
A few examples:
… there are thousands of … horrifying examples of military-imposed religious predation. Some of the most shocking are detailed in my new book, No Snowflake in an Avalanche (Vireo, 2012)
The roll call of oppressive shame includes:
• Disabled Navy veterans being aggressively and involuntarily proselytized in VA hospitals while hooked up to heart monitoring devices;• Air Force pilots being stripped of their wings for failing to adhere to mandatory Christian prayers;
• Army and Marine recruits being savagely beaten for refusing to renounce their minority faith and converting to Christianity;
• The Air Force being caught infusing its official nuclear missile launch officer training with “End Times” Armageddon biblical citations and accompanying justifications;
• Almost 1 million rifle scopes branded with New Testament biblical citation
The list is almost endless and the lesson is crystal clear: When you oppress members of the U.S. armed forces by telling them that they lack integrity, intelligence, courage, character and honor because of their chosen religious faith, or lack thereof, there is absolutely no difference between that inhumanity and telling someone that they’re inferior because of the color of their skin or because they are a female.
This MUST stop!
As for music, it’s usually on my mind! This morning, the news broke that Clarence Clemon’s son Jake will join Bruce Springsteen on their 2012 world tour. This, from BruceSpringsteen.net:
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS FOR 2012 `WRECKING BALL’ WORLD TOUR
The expanded lineup for this Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band tour features singers Cindy Mizelle and Curtis King, trombonist Clark Gayton and trumpeter Curt Ramm, all of whom have toured with Bruce Springsteen in the past, along with newcomer Barry Danielian on trumpet. E Street stalwart Eddie Manion and first time tour member Jake Clemons will share the saxophone role.
Very cool!
Also, I’m about to embark on a musical weekend, as Alison and I attend Michele Clark’s 15th Annual Sunset Sessions! I’ve been to at least five or six of these amazing musical gatherings, and I’m so excited to go back. Michele joined me on the show this morning to talk about all the spectacular places we’ve been and the fantastic music we’ve heard!
And to close the show, John Fugelsang joined me to pull it all together and talk about all three topics…
I did promise to post this video sent to me by OccupyDCRob regarding the conflict over whether or not there is a “Black Bloc” trying to undermine the Occupy movement. This is courtesy of Anonymous, and it’s perfect:
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This morning I was pleased to speak with someone who minces no words when it comes to Global Warming. Max Boykoff is an assistant professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and just wrote the book, Who Speaks for the Climate?: Making Sense of Media Reporting on Climate Change.
He also recently wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post, “A Dangerous Shift in Obama’s ‘Climate Change’ Rhetoric”
In the first hour, I chatted about Romney’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day yesterday with the awesome Cliff Schecter…
Before the show ended, I got a call asking if I could fill in for the still-bronchitis-suffering Randi Rhodes, thus the lateness and brevity of this post.
Sorry… Please accept my apologies along with some humor from Andy Cobb:
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Today’s show will cover a lot of territory…
We’ll speak with FreePress.net‘s Tim Karr… A lot of listeners have asked about ACTA and its supposed role as the more evil step-sister of SOPA/PIPA. So, I asked Tim to join us to tell us about it, as he’s my arbiter of all things internet. He’ll give us what little he knows about it, as ACTA is NOT US legislation…
The NY Times had a good piece on ACTA on Sunday, “A New Question of Internet Freedom”.
What Tim has been working on lately is a study on the effects of the SCOTUS Citizens United ruling. The result is Citizens Inundated:How big-money politics and broadcast media are poisoning democratic discourse and undermining U.S. elections … and what we can do about it.
For a quicker read, check out Tim’s OpEd in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
This afternoon (actually 10am PT), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will rule on California’s Prop 8. Adam Bink is Director of Online Programs for Courage Campaign, and has been blogging about Prop 8 at Prop8TrialTracker.com. He’ll give us all the background on the case… and will hopefully join us tomorrow morning too to give us the post mortem on the ruling!
And, as we do every Tuesday morning, I’ll spend the second hour with The Political Carnival‘s GottaLaff. Today, she brings us these stories and more:
VIDEO- Ron Paul: “If it’s an honest rape,” go to the emergency room, get “a shot of estrogen.”
Video- Michelle Bachmann: ‘I was the perfect candidate’
Clint Eastwood: ‘I am Certainly Not Affiliated with Mr. Obama’
Reporter banned from Nevada caucus: “Spy! She’s a spy!”
Random amusing GOP Nevada moments
Newt Gingrich press secretary: “I am already tired of you, I need to take a nap.”
Mitt Romney does it again: Rapper K’Naan seeking legal action against him for using his song
In the middle of the show, the news broke that Karen Handel had resigned from Susan G. Komen… read the story and her resignation letter here.
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I’ve been busy getting our new chatroom up and running… If you registered today here on the website, you might have to re-register tomorrow using the chat registration. But after that, we’re done!
In the first hour of the show, I was joined by Howie Klein of Down With Tyranny and the Blue America PAC, talking about the need to elect real progressives to office, and a few of them who are worthy of your votes and donations!
In hour two – as we do every Monday – I was joined by Nicole Belle of Crooks and Liars for our Fools on the Hill segment. This week, she brought us the following…
The Susan G Komen/Planned Parenthood sucked the air out of the room for Mitt Romney’s victory in Nevada. It also didn’t help that Romney refused to go on any of the Sunday shows and all Newt wanted to do is whine about Romney.
So of course, instead we’re going to get conservative males—because that’s mostly the only type that’s ever booked—opining on the Komen controversy.
Proving his firm grasp on pseudo-science, Rick Santorum justified Komen’s defunding of Planned Parenthood because abortion increases the chance of breast cancer, donchaknow? Of course, this is the same guy who inserted himself in the Terry Schiavo debacle, so medical science is clearly not his forte.
Meanwhile, Matthew Dowd, chief strategist for Bush-Cheney, bemoans the messy kind of democracy evidence by the Komen pushback, where the little people rose up and said that the 1% cannot just push their agenda on us.
Tired of men talking about Planned Parenthood? You’re in luck, because Dana Loesch (and someone please tell me why she deserves a place on a national television show) opts to pimp a completely debunked “sting” by Lila Rose of Live Action as proof that Planned Parenthood should have started offering mammograms if they wanted to keep Komen funding. Except that PP never offered mammograms, just offered patients access to one.
Along the same lines, women’s reproductive health was definitely in discussion and on Meet the Press they segued from Komen to the new HHS regulation demanding that institutions—including religious ones that offer insurance to other non-church-going employees—offer contraception as part as their comprehensive care. Of course, David Brooks and Alex Castellanos use this to further the Gingrich meme that Obama has declared a war on religion. Thankfully, Rachel Maddow is there to remind these conservative white men that refusing contraceptive care in the 21st century is just not going to fly.
Contrast those examples, if you will, with the thoughtful discussion had on Up with Chris Hayes with *gasp* four women of the Komen controversy. Is it any wonder that Desmond Tutu at the World Economic Forum last week called for women to have a greater voice in government?
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I’ve long believed that the so-called War on Drugs does much more harm than good.
The good folks at Drug Policy Central have come up with a War on Drugs Clock. The amounts reset on January 1 of each year. The numbers below are are cumulative from the first of the year only!
Arrests for drug law violations this year are expected to exceed the 1,663,582 arrests of 2009. Law enforcement made more arrests for drug abuse violations (an estimated 1.6 million arrests, or 13.0 percent of the total number of arrests) than for any other offense in 2009.
Someone is arrested for violating a drug law every 19 seconds.
Source: Uniform Crime Reports, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Police arrested an estimated 858,408 persons for cannabis violations in 2009. Of those charged with cannabis violations, approximately 89 percent were charged with possession only. An American is arrested for violating cannabis laws every 30 seconds.
Source: Uniform Crime Reports, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Since December 31, 1995, the U.S. prison population has grown an average of 43,266 inmates per year. About 25 per cent are sentenced for drug law violations.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics
Our jails are getting fuller (a good thing for the for-profit private prison industry being pushed through in state after state) , the costs of the so-called War on Drugs is out of control, and many guilty of nothing more than smoking a joint see their lives destroyed.
I believe the legalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana could help turn a number of states’ troubled economies around, including Florida, where I live. But that’s just one of the many reasons to end the war on drugs.
I’ve interviewed a few people from LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) a number of times on my show because they hit the nail right on the proverbial head. I invited them on again today, as they were in the news…
You may recall that the White House and YouTube held a “Your Interview With the President” event on Monday. People submitted video questions, and the public voted on them. Unfortunately, the topic that received the most votes, and the actual question that had the second highest number number of votes, was completely ignored.
The question was submitted by former LAPD Deputy Chief, Stephen Downing -
It’s time that this very important issue be debated and discussed, not ignored or laughed off as the President did the last couple of times it came up at similar events. So, this morning, I had a lengthy discussion about it with LEAP co-founder Peter Christ.
In the wake of yesterday’s discussions about Occupy Wall Street, I invited my friend Jesse LaGreca back on the show to discuss where the movement is headed. I suggest you listen to the whole thing, but he agrees with me that we need to occupy the ballot box, big time!
