VIDEO: Tennessee TV News Runs Hysterical Piece Painting Muslim Community as Terrorists

By GottaLaff

Via Spencer Ackerman, we get this insanity (Tennessee Tee Vee insanity, not Spencer's):

A Tennessee TV news report portrays an entire Muslim community in the state as a possible terrorist training program, despite having absolutely no evidence that the secluded community engages in any dubious activity at all. [...]

The title of the report? “Inside Islamville: Is A Local Muslim Community Tied To TERRORISM?” A better question is whether Beres and WTVF-TV, which aired the segment, are tied to journalism.

Well said.

Ackerman goes on to call it slander. I have stronger words running through my head, but I'll behave. For now.

Here’s a clip of the segment:

H/t: Gr8RDH

In Desperation for Funds, "The Nation" Slanders BuzzFlash: Progressive Sites Need More Dollar Support

By GottaLaff

Your Daily Dose of BuzzFlash, via my pal Mark Karlin:

This year, due to the dismal economic situation for just about everyone who is not a Bush tax-cut wealthy person and the ever-growing gap between the rich and the rest of us, progressive publications -- including BuzzFlash -- have had some hair-raising financial close calls as bills pile up while people who can afford donations dwindle.

Through all of this, nearly 10 years, BuzzFlash has never accepted corporate advertising or any advertising at all. [...] The list could go on of how we avoid external influence, but we don't think of ourselves as saints. [...]

Ultimately, we decided to develop the ad piece and how these ads are run for a reason (to soften the toxic or negative image of corporations doing environmental, slave wage, or economic harm -- there are banking ads too), but to give our progressive colleagues their due for how much they sacrifice for a better America. We can assure you that they would all (except the Huffington Post, which is an investment enterprise with the goal of increasing market value) rather not run the deceptive ads, including the Nation. [...]

In the meantime, we were a bit astonished to receive a mass solicitation e-mail on December 16 from Katrina vanden Heuvel (the editorial and marketing genius currently publishing "The Nation") -- whom we deeply admire -- accusing BuzzFlash, among others, of running "Nation" stories "without contributing a penny to support and produce the journalism we invest in."

We don't mind being called out by name by people who have a different opinion, but it's another story when a publication you deeply admire slanders you. The fact is that we post headline links to "The Nation" stories from which they derive more hits because of our size, and they then can charge more money to the likes of Coca Cola and Discover Card for running ads for those corporations. BuzzFlash has never reproduced, copied, nor violated the copyright of any "Nation" article, and many of "The Nation" writers, including Jeremy Scahill whom vanden Heuvel mentions, read BuzzFlash and have been interviewed by BuzzFlash. [...]

BuzzFlash links directly to Nation articles, which drives up their "hits" and page views, which means that they can charge Coca Cola more money to greenwash itself! And BuzzFlash promotes "The Nation" writers and books through interviews. [...]

The truth is that all the publications vanden Heuvel cited need more funding. [...] Against the power of television and radio, we collectively need all the financial support that we can get, because unless our megaphone gets louder, we are going to lose our nation to the Teabaggers and Neo-Confederates, backed by the global corporatists and bankers who pull the strings on Capitol Hill.

Much more here.

Jim Inhofe Rips Obama

Anyone else wonder how the President can meet with these mental midgets without knocking the crap out of them? Guess that's why I could never be President... at least one of the reasons.

At a town hall meeting, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) claimed President Obama "is disarming the military, destroying everything good about America and determined to turn foreign terrorists loose on U.S. soil," Tulsa World reports.

Said Inhofe: "I never dreamed I would see an administration try to disavow all the things that have made this country different from all others. I have never seen so many things happening at one time so disheartening to America."

"Those of you who think like I do hope this country can hang on another 16 months."

McCain Slanders Obama, Scarborough Slanders Olbermann: The video

By GottaLaff

I posted about these remarks here. Now you can see Morning Schmo for yourself.



From my post:

Scarborough said that the issue had been raised by others on MSNBC, and that anyone who raised it (referring to Olbermann) is too stupid to be on television (his phrase).

Ridiculing Keith Olbmermann is not wise. I have a sneaking feeling that Keith will have a few things to say about this.

Big h/t: Commenter Joe

Obama campaign attacks McCain's attack

By GottaLaff

When John Sidney McContemptible came out with his shiny new campaign phrase, the one he's so proud to use that he and his surrogates have repeated it ad nauseam, Team Obama bristled:

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain’s (Ariz.) assertion that Democratic rival Barack Obama would rather “lose a war” than lose his campaign has drawn an angry response from the Illinois senator’s campaign.

In an internal memo containing talking points for surrogates, the Obama campaign says “these kinds of petty, personal accusations are beneath Sen. McCain.”

Actually, they're beneath a cockroach, but Obama and Co. have always been too measured to say anything like that.

The talking points, obtained by The Hill, continued: “They ignore the seriousness of the debate that the American people want to have in this election.

“It’s hard to see how leaving Iraq to a sovereign government that is taking responsibility for its future while we finish the fight in Afghanistan is ‘losing,’ ” the memo reads.

Right. Conversely, you know you're losing when you have to resort to slander. Now, that's the sign of a gen-u-ine l-o-s-e-r.

McCain Slanders Obama, Scarborough Slanders Olbermann

By GottaLaff

I can't find video yet (I've posted the back story here), but who needs video when you have this:

John McCain, presumably advised by Karl Rove and definitely imitating the politics of George Bush, is now saying that Barack Obama would rather lose a war than lose an election.

This is a defamation; this is a slander; this is a lie. McCain should apologize to Obama. This is the latest in a long list of cheap-shot, low-blow politics. McCain has learned nothing about why the American people are rejecting the Republicans and why the Republican brand has been compared to the appeal of defective dog food.

This morning, right-wing former congressman Joe Scarborough essentially said that Keith Olbermann is "too stupid to be on television."

People who live in glass houses...

The piece goes on to explain, as did Paddy, how CBS pulled the real news of John Sidney McOMGDon'tElectHim's big fat lie (..."the candidate who makes a growing list of factual errors wrongly said that the Sunni Awakening was a result of the surge. He referred to a conversation between Sunnis and then-Col. (now Gen.) McFarlane that he falsely claimed resulted from the surge. Problem is, the conversation McCain quoted happened long before the surge."). Keith Olbermann acted like an actual professional, and you can read all the details here.

Enter Olbermann, who did what is far too rare in cable political news: real reporting. He pointed out and documented the latest McCain mistake.

Of course, this was too much for Scarborough, who foamed at the mouth, did not intelligently discuss the McCain misstatement or the Couric protection of McCain when she kept his mistake out of the broadcast.

No, Scarborough said that the issue had been raised by others on MSNBC, and that anyone who raised it (referring to Olbermann) is too stupid to be on television (his phrase).

Nobody on Morning Schmo raised an eyebrow.

For now, two points:

First, McCain repeatedly lowers the quality of discourse in American politics. The man who ran in 2000 has disappeared; the face of Bush 44 has taken his place with these Rove-like low blows. It is McCain who has always been the fair-haired boy of the press.

Second, John McCain has made a long series of substantial factual errors that will become a major issue. Whether the problem is age or sloppiness, partisanship or tiredness, on issue after issue McCain says things that are factually incorrect.

Couric protected McCain by editing out his latest and very substantial factual error, gaffe, falsehood or mistake (call it what you will). Scarborough works to protect McCain by demeaning Olbermann, the messenger, who should be praised for doing real reporting (heaven forbid).

If anyone digs up the video before we do, let us know in Comments. We'll post it. If anyone digs up truth in reporting anywhere but on Countdown, let us know that, too. We'll celebrate it.

Washington State GOP Attacks Michelle Obama

By Paddy


Is anyone going to bother asking McCain why he thinks he can run the country when he can't even control the party that he is titular head of? Yeah, didn't think so.

The Washington State Republican Party -- following the lead of the Tennessee State GOP, and its controversial Web ad vilifying Michelle Obama -- has launched a Web ad of its own "welcoming" Michelle Obama to the Evergreen State.

The Web video makes hay out of her "for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country" comment, featuring various state GOP officials saying they're "proud to be an American," and then pledging allegiance to the flag.

There are times I really regret being a Democrat, because you know if the shoe was on the other foot the Republicans would have no problem going after a pill-popping adulteress felon.

Attack Book On Obama Due August 4th

By Paddy


Ta da!! You knew it was coming. Awww, Regnery, the ultimate wingnut to wingnut welfare scam.

The same publisher that distributed the 2004 best-seller that took aim at John Kerry’s Vietnam service is planning a summer release of what’s scheduled to be the first critical book on Barack Obama," according to Politico.

Regnery Publishing will release David Freddoso’s The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media’s Favorite Candidate on August 4.