August 2009

The answer to your question, lizard bitch, is that the advertiser boycott of Glenn Beck is working just great.

Here’s the full list of companies that have distanced themselves from Beck’s show: (Note: companies that have just pulled out are highlighted

• Progressive Insurance


• Proctor & Gamble


• Lawyers.com


• GEICO


• Men’s Wearhouse


• Sargento Cheese


• Wal-Mart


• CVS


• Best Buy


• Travelocity


• Allergan (maker of Restasis)


• Ally Bank (a unit of GMAC Financial Services)


• Broadview Security


• Re-Bath


• Radio Shack


• Roche


• Sanofi-Aventis


• SC Johnson


• State Farm Insurance


• GMAC


• Airware Inc. (makers of Brez anti-snoring aids)


• AT&T


• Ancestry.com


• Cambell Soup Company


• Verizon Wireless


• Lowe’s


• Johnson & Johnson


• Ditech


• Blaine Labs Inc.


• Clorox


• Sprint


• The UPS Store


• Farmers Insurance Group


• Experian (creator of FreeCreditReport.com)


• The Elations Company


• NutriSweet


• Applebees


• Bank of America


• Bell & Howell


• DirecTV


• General Mills


• Kraft


• Regions Financial Corporation


• SAM (Store and Move)


• Travelers Insurance


• Vonage

For those keeping score at home – that’s 46 companies he’s lost since sticking his big foot in his mouth, and counting the sixteen he lost two days ago, that’s 26 this week alone.

The simple fact is that the boycott isn’t aimed at Beck’s viewers. It is aimed at Beck’s advertisers, who are voting with their wallets. It’s quite clear that these advertisers do not care to have their products associated with a race-baiting, fearmongering liar.

Ain’t capitalism great?

MediaMatters makes just one mistake while taking apart the latest horsecrap from Betsy McCaughey — they refer to her as a “serial misinformer”.

She is, in fact, a serial liar. It does not serve the cause of honest, rational debate in this country to softpedal the fact that someone is outright lying to the public.

 
(via Crooks and Liars)

Remember Derek Foley, the lying “Christian” who claimed that torturing detainees is just peachy because “the techniques used were also applied to our special forces as part of their training”? Turns out, Derek’s claim was utter horseshit, as is the norm for an ignorant, morally vacant wingnut.

Glenn Greenwald points us to a relevant passage from the 2004 CIA Inspector General’s report:

OIG’s review of the videotapes revealed that the waterboard technique employed at XXXXXXXXX was different from the technique as described in the DoJ opinion and used in the SERE training. The difference was in the manner in which the detainee’s breathing was obstructed. At the SERE School and in the DoJ opinion, the subject’s airflow is disrupted by the firm application of a damp cloth over the air passages; the interrogator applies a small amount of water to the cloth in a controlled manner. By contrast, the Agency interrogator XXXXXXXXX continuously applied large volumes of water to a cloth that covered the detainee’s mouth and nose. One of the psychologists/interrogators acknowledged that the Agency’s use of the technique differed from that used in SERE training and explained that the Agency’s technique is different because it is “for real” and is more poignant and convincing.

(Emphasis mine)

In other words:

1. US torturers did not use the SERE technique

1. The technique was used because it was, in fact, real torture

   It will be most amusing to watch Derek Foley twist and wriggle, trying to explain how his “facts” turned out to be so very very non-factual. Entertain us with some more of your clumsy lies, scumsucker.

The Bush administration made a concerted, deliberate, cynical effort to keep Americans afraid of phantom terrorist threats. News Hounds has the play-by-play:

2001

Oct 11: The FBI warned of imminent terrorist attacks in the US “in the next several days”. Of course there was no indication of when or where these attacks would occur. There were no attacks.

Oct 29: The Administration warned of plans to strike the US “in the next week.” No specifics such as dates or targets were given. There were no attacks.

Dec 3: Ridge warns that terrorist strikes “could happen within the next few weeks,” possibly connected with the Muslim religious festival of Ramadan. There were no attacks.

2002

Jan 17: Ashcroft warns that suicide attacks “might be expected because of confidential information” the US government had received. No dates or places were given. Nothing more was ever heard about the “confidential information.” There were no attacks.

Feb 10: The FBI warned there was a threat of “imminent attacks on the US that might happen as early as Feb 12.” There were no attacks.

Mar 27: The government issued a warning that American citizens in 4 Italian cities “would be attacked on Easter Sunday.” There were no attacks.

May 19: VP Cheney states that he is “certain of new attacks against the US”. There were no attacks.

May 21: The FBI warned of imminent threat of “attacks against the Brooklyn Bridge & the Statue of Liberty”. There were no attacks.

Sep 10: The government raised the National Alert Level to orange stating that there would be “strikes against American sites on the anniversary of the Sept 11 attack”. Air patrols were instituted & access to government buildings was prohibited. There were no attacks.

2003

Feb 8: Ridge & Ashcroft announceded a high National Terror Alert, claiming they had “evidence that terrorists would attack American hotels & apartment buildings.” There were no attacks.

Mar 17. National Alert Level raised to orange. No reasons are given. There were no attacks.

Mar 18. The Arizona National Guard was alerted & sent to a nuclear plant because “an attack by al Qaeda agents was imminent”. There was no attack.

Dec 21: Ridge raised alert levels & warned that the” threat of imminent attack is now the most serious since 2001”. There was no attack.

2004

Apr 2: The Administration warns about “pending terrorist attacks on buses & trains”. There were no attacks.

May 26. Ashcroft & Mueller warn of a “plane attack inside the US” & that terrorists “were poised for an immediate attack”. There was no attack.

Aug 1: Ridge raised the alert level to orange, claiming knowledge of plots against US financial institutions. It was later discovered that his “knowledge” was 4 years old & very unspecific. There was no attack.

Has anyone noticed a parallel with the current debate regarding healthcare reform? Once again, the right in this country has nothing to sell but fear. It’s “They’re gonna kill Grandma! They’re gonna dictate what treatments you can have!” all the time.

The right wing in America wants and needs the public to be terrified. Why? Because fear shuts down reason — and the right knows that their views cannot withstand the sunlight of reasoned debate.

(hat tip: Crooks and Liars)

Digby is once again spot on:

Lesson #1 about modern conservatism: You cannot have a serious conversation with movement conservatives.

Lesson #2 about modern conservatism: Lesson #1 plus About anything.

Lesson #3 about modern conservatism: Lesson #1 plus Lesson #2 plus Ever.

Shorter Paul Mitchell:

• Want to protest the actions of the Obama administration? Lie on your W4 withholding form and claim nonexistent dependents. Nothing says ‘patriotism’ like committing perjury.

  ‘Shorter’ concept created by Daniel Davies and perfected by Elton Beard, and shamelessly pilfered from Sadly, No.

Over at Big Dogs House, the lying mongrel “Big Dog” apparently needs help churning out the lies. His co-blogger “Blake” squats down and shits out a whopper:

This Is Why I Call Him Hussein

Remember when the National Day of Prayer was, back in the spring? Do you remember how Hussein observed it? Do you?

He ignored the day- unlike his predecessor, President Bush, Hussein just totally ignored a nation’s religious heritage, which is mainly Christian and Jewish, and went on down the road, figuratively speaking. Okayyyyyyy — not the smartest move, but then, unlike others, (mainly left- wing loons) I have never said that this guy was smart- indeed, I have said repeatedly that I thought he was dumber than a bag of hammers.

Well, Blake, “dumber than a bag of hammers” is a description that fits you perfectly — because you were stupid enough to think that you could lie without getting caught. From the official National Day of Prayer website:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release     May 7, 2009

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER, 2009

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

Throughout our Nation’s history, Americans have come together in moments of great challenge and uncertainty to humble themselves in prayer. In 1775, as the Continental Congress began the task of forging a new Nation, colonists were asked to observe a day of quiet humiliation and prayer. Almost a century later, as the flames of the Civil War burned from north to south, President Lincoln and the Congress once again asked the American people to pray as the fate of their Nation hung in the balance.

Read the rest of this entry »

You simply do not argue, debate, or discuss with wingnuts. You point out their lies and their lunacy, and move on. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) illustrates how it is done:

 
Thank you, Mr. Frank.

(hat tip: Boing Boing)

Digby:

Apparently, it’s a constitutional right to go to public political events, get red in the face and hysterically shout down everybody who doesn’t agree with you while packing heat.