Is MSNBC doing the dirty work of its future owner Comcast?

Phil Anschutz,  major shareholder and content partner with Comcast, donated large sums of money to the First Amendment Alliance, one of the largest outside groups targeting Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections. The Anschutz Corporation, wholly owned by Phil Anschutz, gave $50,000 on 9/24/2010 to the First Amendment Alliance. The two candidates targeted by the First Amendment Alliance? Jack Conway and Michael Bennet. Keith Olbermann gave to Jack Conway’s campaign along with Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords.

Read about the behind-the-scenes dirty dealings at Crooks and Liars.

And more here.

 
Glenn Beck continues to amaze with his hypocritical rants about Obama. He claims concern for the President’s safety while creating an imaginary scenario in which Obama is beheaded in India. “It’s the classic double-negative: God forbid anything bad happen to the people I so love to hate.”

The audio clip below which was broadcast by The Glenn Beck Show on Thursday, Nov. 4, 2010 is further evidence that Beck is more toxic than the BP oil spill and just as slimy.

Why is the president putting himself in danger? Why is anyone allowing him to put himself in danger, and if it’s not a danger, why do we have 34 warships? I don’t care if you spend $10 billion to protect the President. Nothing can happen to the president, period. I don’t like the man. He’s the President of the United States nothing can happen to him, so I don’t care how much money you spend, but why is he going there? Why are we spending $2 billion to put him there?”

The 34 warships and $2 billion dollar claim is based on bullshit rumors emanating from an anonymous source in India. Its taken on a life of its own thanks to the right wing press. It simply is not true. Beck insinuates that Obama’s life may be in jeopardy because he has turned his back on his Muslim brothers and sisters. Why else would India hold such danger? Once again, the Obama is Muslim lurks as subtext. Is nutjob Beck suggesting that an American President adopt a bunker mentality when it comes to interacting with one of the most important nations on the planet? Xenophobia as public policy. And what’s with Beck invoking Gandhi in the midst of his twisted tirade? It’s a pious smokescreen disguising hate.

Why do I waste my breath? Because millions and millions of people listen to douchebag Beck and take his word as gospel.

“If fantasizing on the radio about the assassination of the President of the United States sounds sick to you, that’s because it is.”

God help us all indeed.

Via The Raw Story

 
The refreshing scent of democracy.
 
Via copyranter

 
Surely I’m not the only one who found Obama’s “concession” speech today nauseating, am I? What the fuck was up with that? The time for civility has long ago passed, Mr. President and it’s depressing to hear you speak of working together with Republicans and all that bipartisan bullshit. Are you for fucking real? Unless your shit gets real bare-knuckled—and soon—you can kiss your historical moment goodbye, pal. If you’re delusional enough to think that this crew of Republicans has any intention of working with you on anything, you are tragically mistaken. They want you and your agenda, dead, dude.

“xyzpdq,” a commenter on Gawker cut straight to the heart of the matter:

Here’s what Obama needed to say:

“Look, you ignorant, Fox News-watching rednecks….I have heard your illogical cries to ‘cut government spending’ and will do just that — starting immediately.

“I’m implementing a 20 percent cut to ALL federal programs, starting with the three federal programs that consume the majority of our tax dollars: Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security and Defense.

“Don’t whine to me about how you ‘need’ your government-subsidized Medicare or Medicaid…you want cuts to government spending; you’ll get cuts to government spending.

“Don’t bitch about how you can’t afford to have your Social Security check cut. You’ve made it clear that federal budget cuts are your priority.

“And just in case you think we need MORE defense spending, let me fill you in — the US military budget is larger than the military budgets of China, Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Japan, Saudia Arabia, Italy, South Korea, Brazil, Canada, and Australia combined.

“YOU may want to piss our tax dollars away in unwinnable wars, but since you’ve demanded cuts to federal spending, I’ll be lopping 20 percent off the the defense budget.

“In short, fuck you brain-dead idiots. Ask for cuts to federal spending and you’ll get cuts to federal spending. Please direct any whining to the Republicans you voted into office, because I’m done with you inbred asshole teabaggers.”

That’s exactly what Obama should have said today. But he didn’t.

Comment of the Day: What Obama Should Have Said (Gawker)

 
Well, well, well, the shakeout from the election results is already yielding some fascinating information. Try this on for size, Harry Reid got 90%—that’s right 90%—of the Latino vote in Nevada, with Sharron Angle’s positions garnering just 8% of Hispanic voter support. This contributed nearly 10 points to Reid’s winning spread, overall.

Conclusion (and the GOP should hear this one, loud and clear, but won’t): You can’t run racist, scaremongering political ads and expect the targets of these ads to support your damned election! Old white people = a dying base; Latino-Americans a fast-growing one. Look what happened to former governor Pete Wilson (R) in California. His last campaign did damage to the GOP in the Golden State for a good, long time. Damage they never really recovered from and still won’t for some time.

As Dangerous Minds pal, Charles Johnson succinctly put it over at Little Green Footballs:

In this election, the Tea Party GOP made a calculation to pander to the racist and xenophobic elements of their base, and this is a glimpse of the backlash to come. The days when they can count on a racist base to put them over the top are numbered, as Latinos and other minorities make up increasingly large segments of the American population.

Angle’s concession speech was fascinating, too. Did someone slip her some Thorazine about a half hour before she took the mike?

The biggest “downside” to Angle’s loss yesterday—if there can be said to be one—it’s that she didn’t lose by a much larger percentage!
 

 
Could there possibly be a more to the point analysis of today’s America’s political landscape? I don’t think so, but if there is one, surely it’s not this funny.

Carlin sure is missed, isn’t he?

via Christina Ward (who is mourning the loss of Russ Feingold, as I am).

 
When you’re watching the TV news in horror (say, like, when a bunch of rightwing lunatics and Facebook friends of Sarah Palin are being freely elected to statewide and national offices by other people you gotta share the same land mass with) it can become almost apocalyptic when you’re suffering from food poisoning (as I was last night).

Or was it food poisoning? Maybe it was just seeing the leathery face of (presumed) new House GOP leader, John Boehner crying his crocodile tears, that turned my stomach so. Maybe it was seeing an asshat like Rand Paul getting the nod or the fact that hooker-hiring diaper-wearing shitfun meister, David Vitter got reelected (or the tragic loss of progressive hero Russ Feingold). Whatever the reasons, I puked my fucking guts out last night. I felt damned sorry for myself and even sorrier for my country.

On the bright side: No Sharron Angle, no Christine O’Donnell, no Carl Paladino (as if!) and no fucking Meg Whitman in my home state. (Full disclosure, I worked for Jerry Brown’s presidential campaign in 1991 in New York. I didn’t work for his gubernatorial campaign, but I did enthusiastically a vote for him yesterday).

This morning, I read that 47% of senior citizens voted for Tea party Republicans. Anyone looking at that figure can easily surmise that there was a very big enthusiasm gap at play this year. Old people and evangelicals ALWAYS vote for the GOP (they don’t seem to really know why, but they do). Had the Democrats been able to fire up younger voters—which they obviously were not—this wouldn’t have happened (certainly not in the same measure). But what reasons did young people have to go to the polls yesterday aside from voting against the GOP/Teabaggers? Certainly not to vote for Democrats. What have the Democrats done for us lately, besides behave timidly like moderates Republicans? Don’t get me wrong, I voted a straight Democratic ticket, but aside from Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer, it was hardly if I was voting FOR anyone.

Memo to Obama and the Democrats: It wasn’t because you were too progressive that you lost. It was that you aren’t progressive enough (although I expect that message fell on deaf ears).

Later this month, when the House refuses to extend UI benefits for the folks that have already used up their 99 weeks, and the freshman class of Republicans ARE going to refuse to extend them, that much seems obvious, the class war implications of what happened yesterday are going to be startlingly obvious. The next two (or ten) years are going to be pretty interesting, as in the Chinese curse “May you live in interesting times.”

But if you didn’t vote yesterday, you have no right to complain.

Photo via Gawker. Talk about a picture being worth a thousand words, eh?

 
Christine O’Donnell concession speech leaked.

Dignified.

Moving.
 

 
Cynthia Plaster Caster (Cynthia Albritton) is running for Mayor of Chicago. Cynthia was the founder in 1968 of The Plaster Casters of Chicago who were notorious for making plaster casts of rock stars’ cocks. Her crowning achievement was immortalizing Jimi Hendrix’s pecker in plaster. Cynthia who is now in her fifties has turned her attention away from the low end of rock stars’ anatomies to the lower depths of politics. She knows a lot about dicks so she should fit right in. Visit her website here.

I am not a politician. I am an everyday citizen that is sick and tired of seeing the problems of our city escalate and I believe we ALL need to participate in helping to make our city the best it can be. Please join me by being a part of this election process. Tell your friends and family to actively engage in being informed about what is REALLY happening in City Hall RIGHT UNDER OUR NOSES! I will do my best to let you know what I learn along the way AND if you know something that we should all know, join me on Facebook and Twitter and tell everyone.

Neil Hamburger endorses Cynthia for Mayor.
 

 
Trailer for the documentary Plaster Caster.
 

 
Caught this lil’ masterpiece of understatement on the Drudge Report this morning:

Armed security guards will be on hand at 36 unemployment offices around Indiana in what state officials said is a step to improve safety and make branch security more consistent.

No specific incidents prompted the action, Department of Workforce Development spokesman Marc Lotter told 6News’ Norman Cox. Lotter said the agency is merely being cautious with the approach of an early-December deadline when thousands of Indiana residents could see their unemployment benefits end after exhausting the maximum 99 weeks provided through multiple federal extension periods.

“Given the upcoming expiration of the federal extensions and the increased stress on some of the unemployed, we thought added security would provide an extra level of protection for our employees and clients,” he said. [Emphasis added]

Increased stress? Is this asshole kidding?

I guess they’re expecting there will be some people who won’t react too kindly to being told they and their children are being left to starve come December.

This is how we live now. If you think it’ll get better by voting for Republicans—or not voting at all—tomorrow, you are sorely fucking mistaken.

Unemployment Offices To Add Armed Guards: 36 Offices Beefing Up Security Before Benefits Set To End (WRTV: The Indy Channel)