I have argued until my keyboard keys are worn out that our current crop of Republicans in Washington do not care one whit about government spending….and really never have cared. The same goes for the deficit and the national debt. Talk is cheap and with today's Tea Party inspired Republicans….cheap talk has been on sale.

Every Republican administration in my lifetime has not only expanded government but has also expanded the deficit. Richard Cheney, the much beloved chicken hawk warmonger of the conservative persuasion, cynically told Paul O'Neil, former Treasury Secretary under Bush, the Younger, that "deficits don't matter…Reagan proved that."

Just three months ago, the same Tea Party inspired Republicans who will see to it that the federal governmnet closes later today, held the American governmental process hostage until President Obama agreed to add another $2 trillion to the national debt in the form of tax cuts primarily going to the top 5%.

The Republican Party, the same people who continually voted to double the national debt under their Commander Guy a few short years ago, are currently in the middle of the biggest confidence scam the country has ever witnessed. Using the outrageously dishonest pretext of cutting government spending, deficits and debt….the GOP is attempting to force their radicalized, 19th century version of what America should look like……down our throats.

You've probably heard about the policy "riders" which Republican extremists have made into a huge barrier to a compromise which would keep the government open. Those "riders" are a stereotypical social conservative wish list…. everything that the majority of Americans have repeatedly rejected over the past 50 years as too extreme and out of touch with a modern world.

The policy disputes involved a handful of provisions. One would greatly limit financing for Planned Parenthood and other family-planning agencies — in the United States and overseas — and prevent the District of Columbia from using its own tax dollars to help poor women pay for abortions.

Also at issue were measures that would restrict the regulatory powers of the Environmental Protection Agency, a favorite target of Republicans since they took over the House this year, by preventing the agency from enforcing significant portions of the Clean Air Act and regulating carbon emissions.

Read 'em and weep for your country. A minority of faith-based social conservatives have willingly joined forces with the worst of corporate-sponsoring henchmen to playact as though they really, really, really give a damn about government spending…..when all they care about is their theological-oligarchy kingdom. A kingdom where the rich get richer, women's lives are ruled over by men in black robes and the environment is destroyed for the sake of filthy lucre…..as Jesus intended.

The federal government will shut down later today. 800,000 Americans will lose their jobs in an 8.8% national unemployment environment……BECAUSE…..a minority of theo-cons want to dictate what women can and cannot do with their private parts. The "smaller government" slogan slingers are preventing the Armed Forces members from getting paid all because poor women in Washington D.C. currently have access to abortion services, and all reproductive age women have access to birth control.

National Parks and recreation centers will be shuttered later today because huge corporate titans, like the Koch Brothers, are not currently able to foul our atmosphere as they wish. The IRS will stop processing paper tax returns later today all because the EPA currently prevents the full-metal-jacket destruction of the air we breathe and the water we drink. The agency which guarantees 30% of all home mortgages, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), will quit working after today unless the Supreme Court rescinds it's ruling that the EPA can control carbon emissions.

All of what we've been hearing, reading and watching…..all the posing, lies, deceptions, and doubletalking we've seen and heard….all of it….has nothing whatsoever to do with cutting government spending or closing budget holes.

Instead, we're witnessing the grotesque ugliness of today's conservative movement gone to seed. The desperate and extortionistic last stand of a political group which has nothing to offer to a modern American civilization. Nothing, that is, but hate, division, greed, xenophobia, and the destructive exploitation of all that is valuable.

The day after the midterm election I wrote a blog posting entitled "Turn Out The Lights."

Later today…..Tea Party Republicans are flipping the switch.

Ever notice how news about God often comes in a series? Kind of like HBO. You know, you won't hear anything about God for awhile, and then all of a sudden, he makes his presence known in several rapid fire earthly stories. Seems odd…but then we're talkin' about God here, not your regular Joe. His ways are not our ways and our ways are not…….

Let's start with the video TPM has up of House Representative, John Shimkus, (R-IL). Shimkus is seeking the chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which deals with climate policy, global warming….among other issues.

The first couple minutes are the crux of the issue…

Some Republicans want to issue subpoenas over the "fraud" of global warming science. Shimkus from 2009….

"I want to start with Genesis 8, verses 21 and 22. 'Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. Never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.' " ….

Shimkus: "The earth will end only when God declares it is time to be over. Man will not destroy this earth. Earth will not be destroyed by a flood."

Couple things here…..first, notice how fond the Creator is of his created. I mean seriously….."every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood"?? Second, obviously the Divine One has a genocidal streak to go along with his more, you know, creative side. God comes right out and takes credit for drowning virtually all life in a flood.

How about some sympathy for this genocidal God? You come home, the kids are loud and they're fighting, occasionally breaking things….they're always naughty….and you're at the end of your patience. So you just drown the rugrats…….and then tell the cops you'll never do it again, drown kids that is. You might just burn kids later on in some big fire you start…..but drowning? no more of that.

Seems to me that actively drowning almost all life in a flood would fall under the category of "evil." But hey, this is God we're talking about. The God of John Shimkus.

Shimkus is confident in a proven-genocidal God, especially when that God says he will not destroy earth with ANOTHER flood. And there-freaking-fore, global warming is a hoax.

See any apparent disconnects in that logic? Any wildeyed jumping to conclusions? Me either.

If Shimkus is chosen to Chair Energy…..just think of the Serious leadership he will bring to that Committee.

More God…..

The Pope wrote a book. Seems like all fallible humans are writing them these days, so why not the human who is the closest to John Shimkus' God? Benedict's new book is humbly titled, "Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Sign of the Times."

Perhaps you've heard about one of the more controversial Pope-book quotes. The one where Benedict allows for a few humans, those whose hearts are inclined to evil from childhood, male prostitutes,….to use those evil condoms. In so doing, these wretched souls would be taking moral responsibility for not spreading AIDS, a disease which Benedict said last year was made worse by…..the use of condoms.

This is the first time that God, through his representative on earth, has given the divine thumbs up on condom use. A first for God. Kind of a big deal. However, the God who changeth not, is going to ease in to this condom-approval stuff slowly.

Pope Benedict, who actively supervised the coverup of many of his pedophile employees' crimes against minors, wants to link condom use with…morality. At first, when I read what Benedict said in his new book, I thought he might be referring to some of his own employees when he mentioned "male prostitutes." But that would be too shrill, even for Benedict.

It is not moral, according to the pontiff, for married heterosexuals to use condoms for contraceptive purposes. That isn't moral. I suppose it would be moral for a married heterosexual male to use condoms with his wife if the husband was also a male prostitute, but if he wasn't, no can use.

It is not moral for unmarried heterosexuals, or homosexuals, to use condoms to prevent conception or the spread of disease (unless one of the unmarrieds is, of course, a male prostitute)…..because unmarried people who have sex have evil inclinations in their hearts from childhood…..and it is only through marriage that the evil inclination to have sex can be purged of it's wickedness before God. Homosexuals, according to the pontiff, cannot be moral unless they are abstinent,……or…..unless they are working as male prostitutes.

Which means that a young male, (not a prostitute), would be acting immorally if he had sex with a female outside of wedlock……and even though the young male thinks he's being morally responsible to his partner by using a pregnancy-obstructing barrier….that thinking, too, is immoral.

I'm glad that God doesn't make news all of the time…..you know, like Sister Sarah does. When God makes news….it's simply astonishing.

Much of what's wrong in the political arena of America today is caused by Fox News-That-Isn't.

During the unbelievable and despicable lynching of the community group, ACORN….it was Fox who put pressure on their competitors in the media to run the Jimmy O'Keefe-fabricated, fraudulently edited video sting tapes that Fox had been yammering about non-stop for days. CBS, ABC, NBC and others soon caved, not wanting to be late to the ratings-boosting, pile-on party. Within days, Congress was passing a bill to defund ACORN.

That's simply one example of the power behind the faux-news empire run by Rupert Murdoch. Not only do Fox interviewer-impersonators bully their centrist-left interviewees…..simply watch O'Reilly or Hannity on any week night for proof…..Fox also bullies their fellow media competitors into follow-the-leader "reporting" on phony or fraudulent stories. Competitors of Fox cave to fear. Fear that they will miss out on potentially profitable ratings from "popular" news narratives which Fox is already profiting from.

Here's another example…..

At a climate-change conference in South Carolina on January 5, 2010, Senator Lindey Graham (R-SC) started to sound a little like Al Gore. "I have come to conclude that greenhouse gases and carbon pollution" are "not a good thing," Graham said. He insisted that nobody could convince him that "all the cars and trucks and plants that have been in existence since the Industrial Revolution, spewing out carbon day in and day out," could be "a good thing for your children and the future of the planet." Environmentalists swooned. "Graham was the most inspirational part of that triumvirate (Kerry, Lieberman, Graham) throughout the fall and winter," Michael Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club, said. "He was advocating for strong action on climate change from an ethical and a moral perspective."

You may remember back earlier in the year when it seemed like Congress was actually going to bring a climate change/carbon limiting bill to the President's desk. You may remember how at the last minute Senator Lindsey Graham backed out and blamed Harry Reid for introducing an immigration bill before the climate change bill.

Even though the AB Journal, at the time, defended Graham's backoff…..in an editorial blaming Reid instead…..here's what Lindsey Graham was really afraid of……

But, back in Washington, Graham warned Lieberman and Kerry that they needed to get as far as they could in negotiating the bill "before Fox News got wind of the fact that this was a serious process," one of the people involved in the negotiations said. "He would say, 'The second they focus on us, it's gonna be all cap-and-tax all the time, and it's gonna become just a disaster for me on the airwaves. We have to move this along as quickly as possible.' "

"before Fox News got wind of the fact that this was a serious process"

Lindsey Graham, sometimes referred to as a moderate Republican because he actually engages on legislative issues, was most afraid of what Fox News-That-Isn't could do to him over climate change legislation….even though he isn't up for re-election until 2014.

That's the power that Fox holds over our political process. It is the power of fear. Even though Graham was convinced that climate change legislation was essential to our nation's future, his fear of Fox, and what they would do to him, how they would portray him if he cooperated with Democrats……finally scared him away from the process altogether.

That is the power of Fox News.

Ryan Lizza's piece is well worth reading in it's entirety. Legislation is rarely, if ever, "debated" in front of the C-SPAN cameras…..rather, it's orchestrated behind closed doors, with small groups of very powerful people. Lizza's New Yorker article is a case study on how our modern system of goverance actually works.

Back in 2002-2003, The Reverend was astonished at the national media's campaign to defend, and cheer for, the Bush-Cheney crime of attacking the sovereign and non-threatening country of Iraq. That disgraceful time led me to start blogging.

Since 2002, our media-problem has only worsened…..and worsened exponentially. The most often viewed "news" network in America is Fox. Just as Fox works hourly to stoke fear in it's audience…..fear of gays, fear of Muslims, fear of Obama, fear of Hispanics, fear of courts, fear of prisons, fear of progress…..so too, does Fox instill fear in elected officials…..just like with Lindsey Graham and climate legislation.

Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, inadvertantly speaks some truth……

"It's very easy to make a mistake nowadays, especially because everything is recorded…or video, whatever, it can go up on YouTube."

The context of Cornyn's warning is the Tuesday GOP Senate primary win of the Tea Party favorite in Nevada, Sharron Angle.

What Cornyn means, of course, is that it's harder today to endure a grueling campaign without a candidate slipping occasionally and telling voters what he/she really believes. Modern campaigning is all about NOT telling voters what you really think. Damn odd…..but that's how it is.

Embarassingly, I think, John Cornyn seems worried that in the upcoming fight to defeat Democratic Senator Harry Reid, Sharron Angle, a wild and crazy candidate, just might let the truth slip out once in awhile…..something Cornyn describes as "making a mistake."

Also notice in Cornyn's warning who he blames for this threatening situation. Modern recording methods and YouTube. Stupid, stupid YouTube, you know, accurately recording what a candidate says. Stupid YouTube.

Sorry, Johnny Cornyn, it's way, way too late for any warnings to be given to Sharron Angle. See….that's the beauty of Tea Party candidates. We saw it with Rand Paul in Kentucky. Tea Party candidates think they can simply tell voters what they really believe in their hearts…no matter how shocking, no matter how hateful and devisive those things that they believe in….really are.

So just for the helluva-it…..here are a few of the more "interesting" policies which Sharron Angle removed from her website 12 hours after winning the GOP primary Tuesday night…..and just like Cornyn warned….those "interesting" policies are still available thanks to those pesky new recording methods….

Angle…

*supports the repeal of regulations that prohibit offshore drilling.

Sharron Angle would legislate to repeal regulations that prohibit offshore drilling, drilling in ANWR and development of American owned petroleum resources.

*believes that Global Warming is “a hoax.”

Cap and trade, which is based on an unscientific hysteria over the man-caused global warming hoax, steps over the constitutional boundaries of the federal government and is merely another way to tax the people.

*wants to remove all regulations on mining implemented since 1872.

Sharron Angle believes that the 1872 Mining law is important….and needs to remain in place, with no further regulatory erosion of the original intent of the law. Furthermore, the withdrawal of public lands from mineral development, through pressure from environmentalists, is restricting the nation's growth and development.

*plans to phase out Social Security.

Free market alternatives….must be developed…as the Social Security system is transitioned out. Young workers must be encouraged to investigate personal retirement account options.

*demands that the U.S. withdraw from the United Nations.

The United States needs to withdraw from the United Nations and work soley with America's willing allies.

What John Cornyn recognizes, after years and years of shilling for the largest corporations in America, after years and years of practicing his skills in the arts of deception…… is that it's okay to believe the things that Sharron Angle had listed on her website….before she removed them Wednesday morning. You just can't put them down for just any-old-body to read on the intertubes or see on the anti-American YouTube.

To be up front and honest with voters, telling them, unashamedly, what you would do if elected Senator, would simply not be prudent.

Con men and deceivers, like John Cornyn, are right…..It's just too easy….."to make a mistake" that way.

P.S. Do you even know how easy it is to "make a mistake"?

Here's GOP Tea Party Senate candidate from Kentucky, Rand Paul…..

‘What I don’t like from the president’s administration is this sort of, ‘I’ll put my boot heel on the throat of BP,” Paul said in an interview with ABC’s ‘Good Morning America.’ ‘I think that sounds really un-American in his criticism of business.’

A GOP candidate can believe that BP is worthy of defending, you see. Hell, all Republicans believe that…..that's why they are calling for even more offshore drilling. But it's a "mistake" to actually, you know, say it out loud.

Damn modern recording devices.

Predictions now coming forth suggest that the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could become the worst environmental tragedy….ever.

Some are predicting that the, now, 30 mile wide oil slick will enter the Gulf Stream waters, go around the tip of Florida, and move up the eastern seaboard. I can't even imagine the damage.

My hopes are that the oil slick can, somehow, be contained and that BP can successfully "crown" the well head with huge funnel like devices now being constructed. The goal of this "crowning" is to channel the 5000 barrels of oil a day into tankers…thus, minimizing, or stopping, any further spillage.

Let's all hope that it works.

Setting the galactically moronic "SWAT team conspiracy" espoused by Rush Limbaugh….aside for a moment….

I believe that with the recent coal mine disasters now followed by the BP oil rig blowup……a larger-picture question should be examined. What price are Americans willing to pay for carbon-based energy? Not what price are we willing to pay with our dollars and cents…..but at what price to our nation?

If coal mine inspections, notices of violations, and appeals of violations are simply the cost of doing business for the 5% of coal mining operations who game the system……a gaming that results in the deaths of mine workers…If oil companies can simply wiggle out of costly redundant shut-off valves by helping to write the federal regulations for 'we the people'…..a wiggling-out-of that destroys the Gulf Coast or even more….then please tell me…..what aren't we willing to sacrifice for our unquenchable addiction to carbon-based energy?

Is there anything we won't sacrifice?

We're obviously willing to accept the deaths of 30, or so, mine workers. No arrests….no charges filed. Move along, nothing to see here. Just hundreds of grieving family members…no one cares about them. We need larger dividend checks, larger corporate profits. What dare stand in the way of more corporate profits? Ask the Banksters…..they know that the answer is…'nothing.'

The deaths of those coal miners in West Virginia was a case of negligent homicide. Does anyone believe for a second that anyone will be charged with negligent homicide?

In the case of the BP oil rig…..the yet-to-be-stopped oil spillage could have been prevented. Probably the initial explosion as well. Both Norway and Brazil require a secondary automatic shut-of valve for just the kind of situation BP found itself in last week down in the Gulf. The secondary automatic shutoff valve costs $500,000.

Nevertheless, regulators in two major oil-producing countries, Norway and Brazil, in effect require them. Norway has had acoustic triggers on almost every offshore rig since 1993.

The U.S. considered requiring a remote-controlled shut-off mechanism several years ago, but drilling companies questioned its cost and effectiveness, according to the agency overseeing offshore drilling. The agency, the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service, says it decided the remote device wasn’t needed because rigs had other back-up plans to cut off a well.

Before the oil rig blowup, BP had stated that an accident leading to a giant spill at their Gulf rigs was a "virtual impossibility."

Coal mine explosions resulting in the deaths of dozens of miners, offshore oil rig explosions with possible historic damage to the environment…… what cost won't we accept while continuing our addiction to carbon-based fuels?

At what cost?

Our yearly national defense budget is over $1 trillion. Some have calculated that we spend 53 cents of every tax dollar on national defense. Much of our military might is positioned to secure the flow of raw materials and goods. The costly military occupations in two middle eastern nations, Iraq and Afghanistan, cannot be separated from our national addiction to oil. We've sacrificed the lives of over 4000 U.S soldiers, so far, and tens of thousands more wounded, in oil rich Iraq.

It seems clear that America will sacrifice anything and, possibly, everything, to feed the carbon based fuel monkey on our national backs.

Can the madness be stopped? Can the U.S. make a course correction? Is it possible….do we have the moxey….to address our addiction? This problem has been a ticking time bomb for over 30 years. We've been playing a very dangerous game of Russian procrastination, if you will.

Is it even possible anymore for the U.S. to recover from our addiction to carbon-based fuels?

And if the answer is no….won't we finally sacrifice everything to fill our carbon-based fuel crack pipes? Sure looks that way to me.

Remember the good ole' days when presidential candidate, Barack Obama, was described by less-than-honest Republicans and conservatives as the "most liberal senator in the Senate?" Remember that?

This liberal is still waiting for a few of those, you know, "green shoots", of new liberal goverance in America, to sprout. I'm relatively sure at this point that I'll be waiting a long time.

We're 15 months into Obama's presidency…and it should now be clear to anyone paying attention….that Obama is a moderate, centrist leader.

Yesterday, this "most liberal ex-senator" unilaterally surrendered to yet another big corporate interest group. Obama now joins the cerebral and Very Serious, ex-1/2-term-governor-puffball, Sarah Palin….and the WTF, Republican National Committee Chairman, Michael Steele….in the wingnut chorus of "drill, baby, drill." The "most liberal" Obama has lifted the ban on a good portion of offshore oil drilling.

Will drilling more offshore lead America to a place of independence from foreign oil? Don't make me laugh. Lifting the ban on offshore drilling will not make one bit of a difference in addressing our dependency issue.

Why, then, would the "most liberal" ex-senator, now president, announce such a surrender to wingnut talking points?

Some say that Obama has made a deal with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-Huckleberry-SC). I guess the idea is that Graham will now work with Obama on climate change legislation. I suppose that Obama really learned his lesson during the health care debate-breakdown of 2009. Or maybe not.

President Obama worked with not-interested-in-working-together, Republicans all of last year….and wound up with ZERO GOP votes for a much needed national health care reform bill. Obama was patient, allowing people like Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Olympia Sowe (R-ME), and Mike Enzi (R-WY) to drag their feet in Max Baucus' Senate Finance Committee Gang of Six….from which came health reform's end product.

What Obama received in return for being unilaterally bipartisan….was 8-10 months of getting his political teeth kicked in by enraged conservative fools holding signs, busting up townhalls, and threatening violence…..all enthusiastically replayed nightly by corrupt, corporate media. That's what Obama received for being unilaterally bipartisan.

So, here we are again. Apparently, the Democrats think it's time to move on climate change and energy in the Senate….and caving to Republican talking points is Obama's first move.

But The Reverend has a slightly different take on what Obama is doing.

Few people know why it is that the Gang of Six,….3 Senate Democrats and 3 Senate Republicans,…..were anointed by Obama as the channeling-source for his health care bill. The NY Times has revealed that President Obama, before the process got started, told Max Baucus, Chair of the Gang of Six, to negotiate directly with hospital leaders…..get them to give in, compromise, not actively fight the final legislation….and in return Obama's promise, via Baucus, to the hospitals was a guarantee that a public option would not be included in the final bill.

Moreover, we now know that Obama sat down, privately, with Billy Tauzin,..Big Pharma lobby honcho and former congressional member….and cut a deal before congressional work on health care reform began in earnest. That deal extended a promise that Obama and Congress would not negotiate for lower drug prices for seniors through bulk purchasing or reimportation in return for a promise from Big Pharma that they would cut some $80 billion from their pricing structure over 10 years.

The final bill had no public option….and no bulk purchasing or reimportation of drugs provisions.

I think what President Obama is doing by allowing more offshore drilling is similar to what he did with health care reform. He's giving Big Oil what they want up front, probably in return for Big Oil's handshake agreement to not actively fight the Democrat's climate and energy legislation.

My deepest cynical self thinks that what Barack and Rahm are really doing is securing future corporate contributions to Democrats by giving the Bigs what they want right now. It's the worse kind of surrender and enslavement to the very industries who have, regrettably, become too big to be governed.

Expect something very similar in any bank regulation "negotiations."

In a capitalistic society like ours where even "news" is consumed according to brandname, FOX, NBC etc, just like Cheerios or Wheaties……disinformation becoming rampant, I guess, is inevitable.

Today's capitalistic information providers seem to be pulling off the impossible, i.e., convincing Americans that they can have whatever facts they so desire. A kind of designer-news-and-information boutique, if you will, where whatever you want to believe, or already believe to be true,….is, viola!….true.

My good blog friend Da King provides today's case study on this topic.

Da King on Wednesday…

"Right now, we have a majority government who is telling you that what's best for you is to have the government FORCE you to buy health insurance, and next up, they are going to tell you that adding over $1,700 to your annual utility bills is a really great idea."

The $1700 in that sentence is disinformation. It is not remotely true. Here's where it came from…..

A group calling themselves the Competitive Enterprise Institute filed a Freedom of Information Act to the Treasury Department back in April asking for all documents, "concerning proposals or programs….involving cap and trade schemes that deal with carbon, carbon dioxide, or greenhouse gases."

The Treasury responded on September 11. This is the "information" the Treasury released from which Da King's disinformation was derived….

"In his Feb. 24, 2009 Joint Session address, Pres. Obama called for a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program, underscoring his commitment to domestic climate policy. While such a program can yield environmental benefits that justify its costs, it will raise energy prices and impose annual costs on the order of (redacted) dollars. At the same time, given the Administration's proposal to auction all emission allowances, a cap and trade program could generate fedeal receipts on the order of $100 to $200 billion annually……"

Here is the problem that led to Da King's insistence that Obama's cap and trade policy would raise everyone's electric bill by $1700 per year:

See the emboldened sentence in the above quote?….that's not part of Obama's cap and trade policy proposal, nor is it part of the Waxman-Markey legislation reflecting Obama's proposal. Obama's proposal and Waxman-Markey would not, "auction all emission allowances", it would only auction 1/3 of all emission allowances, thus cutting down the initial cost to power producers….costs that would then, most likely, be passed on to consumers.

The $1700 per year number makes it appear as if average electric bills, if cap and trade goes into effect, would go up by $160 per month….which would be disastrous. But the $1700 per year number has no relationship-in-fact with Obama's proposal or Waxman-Markey cap and trade legislation.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute, either by accident or on purpose, made phony conclusions from the Treasury Department's release of FOIA information. The energy plan by Obama and the Democrats will only auction 1/3 of the carbon credits….not all of them. The CBO estimate is approximately $13 per month in new costs to consumers. Big difference.

How then, did this disinformation get so widely circulated?

John Boehner (Embarrassment-OH) said on PBS Sept. 17th…

"It's a cap-and-trade proposal that came through the House that we now find out from the Treasury Department would cost each American family over $1,700 per year."

And then Glenn Beck took it from there…..

"You have what came out today, the outright lies coming out of the White House. I hate to call anybody a liar. You tell me. It’s the cap and trade energy bill. We want to thank our friend Chris Horner at CEI for pointing this out to us.

……

"Look at the document, because in the document, it says “a cap and trade program could generate receipts on the order of $100 to $200 billion annually.” Wow, that’s a lot. In fact, it’s so much it’s the equivalent of hiking personal income taxes by about 15%. Huh. Bigger is always better. That’s $1,761 a year, per household, all of us, every one. "

Then unbelievably, Beck said this….

"I have a question. Did the President of the United States tell the people in Congress about this? Facts are stubborn. Don’t they suck?"

Watch Glenn Beck make a total fool out of himself. It is only slightly better than watching a car wreck in slow motion.

Paul Krugman…a Nobel economist, on Beck's disinformation….

Thus, last week Glenn Beck — who seems to be challenging Rush Limbaugh for the role of de facto leader of the G.O.P. — informed his audience of a “buried” Obama administration study showing that Waxman-Markey would actually cost the average family $1,787 per year. Needless to say, no such study exists.

But we shouldn’t be too hard on Mr. Beck. Similar — and similarly false — claims about the cost of Waxman-Markey have been circulated by many supposed experts.

A year ago I would have been shocked by this behavior. But as we’ve already seen in the health care debate, the polarization of our political discourse has forced self-proclaimed “centrists” to choose sides — and many of them have apparently decided that partisan opposition to President Obama trumps any concerns about intellectual honesty.

Multiply this story exponentially…..and it helps to explain why Americans today hold such contradictory views of the "facts."

Da King was simply passing along bogus information he had received, apparently, from very unreliable, and possibly purposely misleading, sources. Da King was a participant in Glenn Beck's 9-12 event and has said that he watches Beck occasionally. The question now is whether Da King, as other conservatives have been forced to do, will issue a correction.
__________

Must reads on this topic.

Brad Johnson at Think Progress is all over this disinformation story.

8 Republicans pass along false information.

Media forced to issue retractions..

UPDATED below.

Just what does it mean when radio host Rush Limbaugh, and now many others, say they hope Obama fails? What does that mean? And what would it look like, if indeed, Obama failed? Is "hoping for Obama failure" the same as hoping for American failure? And if it is….is it treasonous to root openly for America's failure?

Here's a one minute piece of…Rush, when he first called for Obama to fail….

Here's 46 seconds of Rush from Saturday's CPAC, where he flounders while seeking some equivalency for his "I want Obama to fail"….

In addition here, I also heard Tom DeLay and Rick Santorum call for Obama to fail….so this is not simply the brain-damaged, rage-trash of one sick radio emcee.

Let's evaluate the exact wording of Limbaugh….

"If his mission is to restructure and reform this country so that capitalism and individual liberty are not it's foundations. Why would I want that to succeed?"

I love this part. The deconstruction part. Just love it.

Barack Obama, as he campaigned, has proposed, now as president, that he would lower taxes on 95% of working Americans, while raising taxes on 5% of tax paying Americans, the richest 5%, those making more than $250K per year. Additionally, Obama has proposed an increase in the capital gains tax rates, from 15% to 20%, keeping the estate tax but raising the minimum estate value exempted from such a tax, and limiting the amount of mortgage interest that is deductible.

How does returning our tax schedules to 1993 levels eliminate as the nation's "foundation", "capitalism and individual freedom?" During the 90's, when some 20 million new jobs were created, when average working Americans actually saw their buying power increase slightly, and when capitalistic freedom was never more apparent with all the investment monies that were available……during the 90's, had Bill Clinton eliminated the American foundation of capitalism and individual liberty?

The answer to Rush's, admittedly, rhetorical question, "why would I want that to succeed?"…..is….so the nation succeeds as it did under virtually identical tax rate circumstances during the Clinton administration. That's the correct answer. Rush knows that's the correct answer….but if a Democratic President Obama's economic plan succeeds, then Republican Party hopes are futher diminished. Republican open resistance to Obama's plan would be rewarded with a futher kicking to the curb by the voters of the already-under-seige GOP.

If Limbaugh wants Obama to fail on the two other major fronts, health care and energy…..which, theoretically, could be included in the rant statement about, "individual freedom",…..then further deconstruction is necessary.

First, energy. Scientific experts agree N. America doesn't have enough oil under the ground to ever sustain U.S. current demand. Commodities-trading shysters, aware of the last statement, openly and unforgiveably manipulated an oil bubble that resulted in $4 per gallon gasoline, $5 per gallon diesel, as well as a sense of powerlessness throughout the nation.

President Obama wants to remove that ever-present threat by seriously going all-in on alternative energy. From cap and trade, to wind and solar, to electric and battery powered vehicles, Obama's "restructuring" of America's long neglected energy situation is anything but a removal of "indivual liberty" as our nation's "foundation." It's just the opposite. Obama's energy plans are strengthening our indivual liberty and insuring our "capitalistic" survival.

Health care. The best that can be said about our national health care system is…"clusterf*ck." Not because doctors, nurses, technicians,……you know, those who actually provide health care,….are doing anything wrong, but because of the layers of for-profit paper and money shufflers who dictate health care terms while simultaneously working to deny as many American health care claims as possible.

This system has greatly hampered American employers, provided lower overall health care quality as compared to other industrialized nations, and made health insurance unaffordable. President Obama's plan is to give Americans more choices by allowing one of those choices to be Medicare. This plan will force health insurance companies to lower their prices or face extinction by the, you know, "market."

In a crisis situation, which is what our health care system has created, capitalism will be maintained through the offering of more choices to consumers, individual liberty will be maintained by allowing consumers to MAKE those choices.

How does that, according to Limbaugh, amount to a "restructuring and reforming of our country", so that "capitalism and indivual liberty" are not it's "foundations?"

In summary. President Obama's plans, as I've set forward, do not change America's foundation of capitalism and individual liberty, assuming those ARE the foundations….and not the Constitution. Rush Limbaugh's wanting Obama to fail, wanting Obama's plans to fail, is admitting, really, that he wants America to fail. Rush wants America to have fewer health care choices and he wants those choices to remain unaffordable. Rush wants taxes on the wealthiest, the group he belongs to, to never go up and always come down. Rush wants America to moronically,"drill, baby, drill", rather than pursue a new energy agenda that might cut into the profits of his rich friends for a time.

Rush Limbaugh wants Obama to fail. He wants him to fail so that Republicans can rush back into power and save the day. Limbaugh would rather see the nation, all 300,000 million of us, endure more hardship and suffering, than for his alleged god, economic conservatism, to be proven out by Obama to be a hopeless failure.

Someone who openly cheers for his country to fail is, by definition, a traitor.

UPDATE
From the Onion….

"NATION APOLOGIZES TO RUSHBO: WE’RE SORRY FOR ELECTING OBAMA!

The entire country today admitted that it “didn’t mean it” when it elected Barack Obama president, in direct disobeyance of orders from petulant American dictator, Rush Limbaugh."

"

Have you heard about the new resistance movement? It's a resistance movement against the not-yet-president Barack Obama.

Conservative Republicans have proven in the last eight years that they can't govern successfully on a federal level, and really don't want to anyway. The next eight years will be a clinic on what conservative Republicans do well…..obstruct progress. Block the people's will.

Barack Obama promised to end our occupation of Iraq, extend health care to virtually all Americans, end the disastrous trickle down, top-heavy economics of the past 28 years by investing in the middle class and ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest, boldly confront global warming, restore America's status in the world, and close Guantanomo, among other promises.

The American voters elected Obama with 53% of the popular vote and 365 electoral votes. An inarguable mandate from voters to implement his campaign agenda.

So…if Americans want what Obama is offering….and they clearly do….then what of conservative Republicans who voted against Obama, who don't want anything to do with his mandated agenda?
Well, their job is to stop Obama from doing the will of the people.

The "resistance" is calling….

Welcome to Obama’s nation…
The “transformational” figure who will “change the world” is now in charge, and he’s on a mission. Emboldened by an overwhelming electoral victory and a near-supermajority in Congress, President-elect

Obama and his allies are preparing to implement his liberal, “post-American” agenda. Simply put, what President-elect Obama and the Pelosi-Reid Congress have in store has the potential to rapidly move America to the socialist Left.

1 million citizens resisting…
Who can stop the Obama agenda? Only an unprecedented idea-based Resistance from freedom-loving citizens can prevent the full implementation of Obama’s march to the Left. That’s why Grassfire.org is seeking to identify and mobilize grassroots citizens who will Join The Resistance— an alliance of patriotic, resilient and determined conservatives who will not forsake their principles. Our goal? One million citizens joining together by Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009.

The Resistance States:
As an American citizen, while I will show respect to President-elect Obama, I oppose the far-Left and socialistic elements that comprise the centerpiece of his agenda. I recognize that it will take a patriotic and resilient Citizen Resistance to block implementation of this agenda and I join with others who oppose these threats to our liberties.

Specifically, I Resist:

Socialistic wealth redistribution including any and all tax increases and big-government welfare programs. Silencing conservatives through the Fairness Doctrine and other efforts that restrict free speech.
Open border anarchy including amnesty for illegal aliens and promotion of multi-nation “unions”. Government-run health care that weakens our system and imposes more tax burdens on citizens.
Weakening of our military through rapid pullback from Iraq, defunding our troops and overall disarmament. Social liberalism including radical pro-abortion agenda, the end of marriage and the homosexual agenda.
Liberal court activism that undermines faith, family and liberties while expanding government control. Post-American globalismthat diminishes our global role and threatens our national sovereignty.
Environmental extremism, the CO2 tax, undermining coal and nuclear, and bans on exploration. Weakening the 2nd Amendment through unconstitutional gun laws that take away or penalize us for owning firearms and our right to defend our family, our property, and ourselves. Link

The "resistance" has signed up about a quarter million "patriotic, resilient, conservatives" thus far, the goal is one million.

The part I like the best is this….. "Only an unprecedented idea-based Resistance from freedom-loving citizens can prevent the full implementation of Obama’s march to the Left."

If the right had any good ideas, Americans would have voted for them. They don't and we didn't. The fact that conservative "ideas" have gone down in flames during Bush-Cheney….umm….hasn't helped much either. The "freedom-loving" spin is amusing as well. Freedom of conscience to deny the rights of others? Freedom of government to torture? Freedom for the executive branch to violate law?
Freedom to be intolerant? I have no idea what freedom these obstructionist wannabes are referring to.

Even the arch-conservative freak, Pat Robertson, has said that Obama has chosen a centrist cabinet which Robertson is "pleased" with….but to the "resistance" freaks, Obama will "march" us to the left.

Naturally, all this was to be expected. The only question remaining is whether or not the corrupt main media will assist the resistors by repeatedly echoing the objections of this "idea-based Resistance."

Smart money says they will.

Pope Benedict is a very, very serious and wise religious leader. Else he wouldn't be Pope. Benedict is not simply world wise, you must understand, he is extra-worldly wise. When he speaks ex-cathedra….he speaks as God. And traditionally, God has been regarded as all knowing. That's some wisdom.

So when Pope Benedict speaks, even when not speaking directly about Roman Catholic Church doctrine, he speaks with authority. People listen.

They shouldn't.

Pope Benedict XVI has launched a surprise attack on climate change prophets of doom, warning them that any solutions to global warming must be based on firm evidence and not on dubious ideology.

The leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics suggested that fears over man-made emissions melting the ice caps and causing a wave of unprecedented disasters were nothing more than scare-mongering.

The German-born Pontiff said that while some concerns may be valid it was vital that the international community based its policies on science rather than the dogma of the environmentalist movement. Link

For the most part, unlike the Pope, I've stayed out of the climate change discussion. Unlike the Pope, I'm not plugged into the invisible heavenly kingdom where all the wisdom files are kept. I don't, unlike the Pope, have divine broadband, stairway to heaven access. It's not available yet in my area. And when it becomes available….man….the cost!

So this post is not about climate change. It is about this one sentence in the article….it's vital, according to Pope B, that, "the international community based it's policies on science rather than the dogma of the environmentalist movement."

Quite breathtaking, really.

The international community should rely on science not dogma. Does Pope Benedict base his understanding of life on science? Does Pope Benedict base his understanding of life on dogma?

Does science have an explanation for the dogma of the Eucharist? Have researchers now discovered how it is that Jesus, himself, is in all those wafers handed out at Mass? What about the science of the resurrection story and the virgin birth and all the rest? These purely fantastical and unscientific beliefs, are all fully embraced by the Pope. Aren't these outside-of-science beliefs what makes up the dogma of the Catholic faith? Would the Catholic Church even exist, would there even be a need for a Pope, if it wasn't for the superstitious and supernatural dogma which is the foundation of all of Christianity? Is this supernatural based Catholic dogma considered by Benedict to not yet be settled? Are Catholic beliefs "living" and flexible or rigid and petrified?

Non-science based old fables of superstition and mythology make up the dogma of the Catholic Church led by this Pope. That same Pope is now saying, "..it was vital that the international community based its policies on science rather than the dogma of the environmentalist movement."

Like I said, I'm no expert on climate change. I'm no expert on anything. However, I do have questions. What would environmentalist dogma look like? Is environmentalist dogma full of exciting fairy tales of magic and miracles, you know, like the Pope's Catholic Church dogma is? Unlike the Pope and his Church, aren't environmentalists using science as their dogma to point out the many destructive forces out there at work in the world?

I mean, are these environmentalists, like, doctoring all those pictures of all that ice melting? Are environmentalists rigging those charts that show a sharp upswing in temperatures over the recent past? Or, are those ice melting pictures and graphs, etc., the empirical data of scientific investigation? And unlike scientific investigations into miraclulous religious claims which always come up empty handed, aren't the environmentalists actually following real empirical data that points in a specific direction?

Or is the Pope actually making a political statement here with a bit of environmentalist bashing? Is he saying that he, Vicar of the Son of God, knows the intentions, the hearts, of these environmentalists? Is it that he thinks (him and God) environmentalists are only trying to bring down western capitalism with all their melting ice photos and charts and graphs?

Does the Pope think, like Rush Limbaugh, that environmentalists use science simply to promote a larger agenda? An agenda that is only made up of hatred for the U.S. and western societies? An agenda that seeks to bring low all industrialized economies for the sake of socialism? Is that the "dogma" the non-scientific-based, religious-dogma-believing Pope….umm….believes?

If so, then it is only proof positive that this modern day Pope, like many ancient and medieval popes before him, still believes in fairy tales.