Democrats in the state Senate elected 32-year-old freshman Sen. Chris Larson of Milwaukee as minority leader on Tuesday -- a surprise decision that Republicans instantly cheered.
Larson was first elected to the Senate in 2010 after beating a more conservative Democrat in a primary and since then has been a reliable part of the caucus's liberal wing. With his relative youth and inexperience, some Republicans immediately signalled Tuesday that they thought he would be ineffective as a leader.
"Obviously, I'm new," Larson said in a brief interview after the caucus vote. "But I think I've made that up in the work that I've done over the last two years speaking up and speaking to the issues that matter to our constituency, the middle class, the people who are blue-collar workers."
Larson was elected on November 2, 2010, when Wisconsin elected Gov. Scott Walker and U.S. Sen. Ron Johson and a slew of other Republicans. He's only been in the State Senate for two years, and much of that time was spent doing interviews on MSNBC. Larson runs to cameras, whether national or local. He had the audacity to consider himself a hero for going AWOL, running away to Illinois.
Without question, Larson has a massive ego.
Almost nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to the Democrats, but the choice of Larson is surprising.
He's inexperienced. He's an extremely extreme liberal, which is probably why Larson is so loved by the likes of the foul-mouthed, misogynistic Ed Schultz and other MSNBC/NBC wingnuts.
Larson is also a crook. Literally.
Larson's illegal activities didn't bother voters when he successfully ran in 2008, to become Milwaukee County supervisor for the 14th District.
Larson's criminal past didn't bother Milwaukee voters two years later when he challenged incumbent Jeff Plale, vying for the 7th District seat. Milwaukee voters chose Larson to represent them in the State Senate.
Now, the crook, darling of the radical Left media, has been chosen to be the Democrat minority leader in the Wisconsin State Senate.
Christopher Larson is a 27-year-old business manager for a series of sports stores who is the favorite to win a seat on the County Board.
But things were much different in March 2000.
Larson was a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and, by his own description, struggling to make ends meet.
That's when he was busted for retail theft.
"I made a dumb mistake," Larson said Friday.
The details of the case are fuzzy. He said he was caught stealing food from a Milwaukee grocery store. He said he can't remember exactly which items he tried to obtain with a five-finger discount. A copy of the city ticket, which carried a $331 fine, and the court file were not available late Friday.
As part of a deal reached with a Municipal Court judge, Larson agreed to take a course in exchange for having the ordinance violation dropped, he said. Asserting that he has not stolen anything since, he credited the situation with "completely turning me around."
Asked if voters should take this matter into consideration when voting April 1, Larson said he didn't think so because he has changed so much in the past eight years. Larson, a political liberal, scored a surprisingly easy victory in the five-way primary contest to replace longtime Supervisor Richard Nyklewicz Jr. in the south-side district.
"Everybody makes dumb mistakes," Larson said. "It happened so long ago."
His opponent, Steven Kraeger, said he was shocked to hear about Larson's run-in with the law. He said he was not the source of an anonymous letter to No Quarter containing an official summary of the case.
Kraeger, a 50-year-old conservative, said he thought the matter should be made public. But he would leave it to the voters to decide its relevance and importance.
So Larson is a crook. He doesn't think it's a big deal. He minimizes it. "Everybody makes dumb mistakes." True, we all make mistakes, but we all most definitely do NOT commit crimes like Larson.
He's also a flamethrower, regularly spewing incendiary rhetoric. Larson is not someone likely to work well with the Republicans.
...and Senate Republicans have officially gone 'round the bend. Next up, dropping puppies from the top of the Capitol onto protestors.
Expecting elected officials to remain in the state to do what they were elected to do, serve as legislators, is NOT akin to "dropping puppies from the top of the Capitol."
What a sick thing to imagine!
Yes, that's Chris Larson, the Senate Democrats' chosen leader.
Their selection of Larson tells you all you need to know about the mindset of the Dems and the path they intend to take.
____________________
Today marks one week since Wisconsinites gave Governor Scott Walker and Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch a decisive victory in the historic recall election.
As promised by Gov. Walker in his victory speech, there will be brats.
Brats and beer are what Governor Scott Walker hopes will help bridge the divide in Wisconsin.
Tuesday afternoon the governor is having legislators stop by the house for a brat summit.
It seems those on both sides of the political aisle are initially optimistic, but some question the end result.
Just one week after winning the historic recall election, Governor Scott Walker is trying to mend the fences with brats and beer.
In a statement from the governor's office, Governor Walker says," We've got some fantastic, authentic Wisconsin products that we will be sharing with legislators of both political parties and their staff. I am hopeful this get-together will forge relationships that will make it easier to work together to help create jobs."
"We got to trust what Governor Walker on his word that he wants to do it differently and we'll see what happens," said State Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay).
Hansen says he'll be there.
He was one of the 14 democrats who fled the state for three weeks in an attempt to block the contentious collective bargaining bill.
Now, more than a year later, Hansen says there may still be hard feelings, but he's optimistic.
"I guess that's all we ever asked for is that somehow we'd be at the table to talk about compromise and collaboration and working together and if this can take us in that direction and make us more unified, as divided as this state is, it's a good thing," Hansen explained.
If the Democrats don't like the beer and brats, will they flee, flee into the waiting arms of Ed Schultz?
Perhaps.
Will they avoid the Johnsonville brats, target of a Democrat/union organized boycott last year?
Maybe.
Will the Democrats choke on the Sprecher root beer with the "Moving Wisconsin Forward" label?
•Sprecher Root Beer with specialized labels •Brats from Trig’s •Brats from Johnsonville •Brats from Brat Stop •Large cheese tray from Cheesers •Italian sausage and cheddarwurst, and buns from Sardino Brothers Sausage •Bison burgers, bison bratwurst – onion leek, and bison bratwurst – jalapeno cheddar from Northstar Bison •Beer from Sconnie Beer •Potosi Beer from Rep. Tranel •Beer from Title Town Brewing Company •Brats from Usinger’s •Beer from MillerCoors •Burgers from Roundy’s Supermarkets •Brownies, cookies, veggie burgers, cheese from Sendik’s Food Markets •Buns from Pan-O-Gold •Plates, napkins, utensils, cups, condiments, potato & pasta salad, baked beans, pickles and candy from Lipari Foods •Lettuce, tomato, onion, green salad w/ dressing, fruit from Russ Davis Wholesale •Soft drinks and water from Coca Cola Refreshments •Soft drinks and water from Pepsi of Madison •Soft drinks and water from Dr. Pepper/Snapple •Iced tea and juice from Kwik Trip •Chips from Frito Lay •Ice and a chiller truck/trailer from Arctic Glacier Ice •Propane canisters from Tru-Gas
Emboldened by Rush Limbaugh’s public apology over the weekend to a law school student whom he had called a “slut” and a “prostitute,” critics of the radio talk show host are intensifying their online campaign against his advertisers.
The apology, they said, was a signal that the campaign was working. On Sunday, a seventh company, ProFlowers, said that it was suspending all of its advertising on “The Rush Limbaugh Show” despite his apologetic statement a day earlier.
For now, the ad boycott is uncomfortable but not crippling for Mr. Limbaugh, who is estimated to make $50 million a year and whose program is a profit center for Premiere Radio Networks, the company that syndicates it. The program makes money both through ads and through fees paid by local radio stations, and while it often has sparked outrage during more than two decades on the air, efforts at ad boycotts in the past have had no measurable effect. Liberal groups and activists, however, hope that this time is different.
...By the time he apologized, online protesters had been organizing for days on social networking Web sites and liberal hubs like Daily Kos. They called on companies like ProFlowers to remove their ads from “The Rush Limbaugh Show” and appeared to be having some success, as companies like Sleep Train said they had suspended advertising.
One such company that had been a longtime sponsor of Mr. Limbaugh’s, Carbonite, said it would reconsider its ad spending; after the apology was issued, it announced that it would suspend its ads anyway. “We hope that our action, along with the other advertisers who have already withdrawn their ads, will ultimately contribute to a more civilized public discourse,” the company’s chief executive, David Friend, said.
If Leftists think that they are going to destroy Limbaugh and cause his massive audience to abandon him, they're delusional.
The Daily Kos crowd can break advertisers, but there is no way they can break the conservative audience.
An apology from Limbaugh isn't enough for some advertisers. Instead, they're bowing to the radical Leftists. That's their choice.
Of course, actions have consequences.
If ProFlowers and Carbonite really think pulling their sponsorship of Limbaugh's show will be good for them from a business standpoint, then they're doing the right thing.
I think in the end these advertisers will suffer far more than Limbaugh, but it's their choice.
Naturally, Media Matters, an Obama White House appendage, is trumpeting Limbaugh's loss of some advertisers.
...Eric Boehlert of the liberal media monitoring group Media Matters for America predicted on Sunday that the apology would not “stop the pressure that’s being applied to his advertisers.”
“His comments were so egregious, naturally advertisers will have doubts about being associated with Limbaugh’s brand of hate,” Mr. Boehlert said in an e-mail message.
Premiere’s parent company, Clear Channel, deferred questions to Premiere, which declined to answer questions about the effect of the ad boycott or the widespread anger at Mr. Limbaugh.
In a statement, Premiere — best known for conservative talk shows — said it was committed to giving listeners access to a broad range of opinion and commentary. “The contraception debate is one that sparks strong emotion and opinions on both sides of the issue,” the company said. “We respect the right of Mr. Limbaugh, as well as the rights of those who disagree with him, to express those opinions.”
Eric Boehlert's pontificating is absolutely sickening.
The Leftists' selective outrage really, REALLY is reprehensible.
Limbaugh's "brand of hate" pales in comparison to the stuff spewed by the rabid Left.
The difference is the Left's hate is propped up by the mainstream media. Much is even considered entertaining.
I'm not just talking about the likes of haters such as the disgusting, vile Bill Maher and the crazed Ed Schultz and nearly everyone with a show on MSNBC.
David Letterman has shown what a hateful man he is on many occasions in his merciless, obsessive trashing of Sarah Palin and her children.
Jay Leno, unfortunately, has also taken an ugly turn to the Left. Can't stomach him either anymore.
Did advertisers abandon these "entertainers" for their egregious behavior?
Limbaugh's comments are certainly no worse than what these Leftists have put out.
I don't like the coarseness of the remarks. They're inappropriate. Whether they're from those on the Right or the Left is irrelevant. Inappropriate is inappropriate.
What is relevant is the way the Left's "brand of hate" is excused.
That is utterly unacceptable.
So, LegalZoom, ProFlowers, Carbonite, Quicken Loans, Citrix, Sleep Train, and Sleep Number:
Apparently, Limbaugh's comments are unforgivable. "Sorry" doesn't cut it.
All right. Say goodbye to lots and lots of customers.
Obama, the Democrats, and their Leftist media mouthpieces seized on Limbaugh's comments.
MSNBC's despicable Ed Schultz talked about "the war on women" and interviewed Fluke. Schultz is aghast that Limbaugh used the term "slut" in his discussion about Fluke's remarks regarding contraception and her needs.
Around 5:00 PM CT yesterday, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee used Limbaugh's statements in a fundraising e-mail:
Dear Mary,
Once again, our grassroots donors stepped up when we needed them most, and we made our February FEC goal. We have the resources we need for another few weeks of taking the fight straight to the GOP’s doorstep.
And today Rush Limbaugh gave us a vile reminder of why this fight is so important. The GOP’s top megaphone viciously attacked law student and women’s health advocate Sandra Fluke on air.
First he called her a “slut” and a “prostitute.” Then added, “So Miss Fluke, and the rest of you Feminazis, here’s the deal. If we are going to pay for your contraceptives ... We want something for it. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.”
What did Sandra Fluke do to invoke this wrath? Simply suggested during a Democratic congressional hearing that insurance should cover contraception. Which it should.
This is misogyny, plain and simple. And it must be called out. Will you sign our petition and stand with us against these vile attacks?
Personal attacks on a student – and all women – simply can’t be ignored. Stand with us, and denounce Rush Limbaugh’s vile attacks. Send Republicans the message that we’re not going to sit by and take it. Sincerely,
Guy Cecil DSCC Executive Director
The Democrats are treating women like children.
I strongly object. I'm insulted.
I am a capable, responsible adult.
THERE IS NO WAR ON WOMEN!
There is, however, a war being waged on the First Amendment and the Constitution and our freedom. Obama and the Democrats are attacking our liberties, the very heart of our national soul.
THERE IS A WAR ON CATHOLICS!
Fluke is attempting to force a Catholic institution to violate the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Fluke is attacking Catholics.
Now, Obama has personally called Fluke, the woman apparently incapable of taking care of herself and reproductive matters, to see if she's OK.
President Barack Obama on Friday phoned the Georgetown University law student who was called a “slut” by Rush Limbaugh to find out if she’s OK.
“He encouraged me and supported me and thanked me for speaking out about the concerns of American women,” Sandra Fluke, a third-year law student said. “And what was really personal for me was that he said to tell my parents that they should be proud. And that meant a lot because Rush Limbaugh questioned whether or not my family would be proud of me. So I just appreciated that very much.”
Fluke, who said she had received Obama’s call while waiting in the green room before her interview with Andrea Mitchell, also said of the phone call, “He did express his concern for me and wanted to make sure that I was ok, which, I am. I’m ok.”
The New York Times is running with the story, too. Big stuff. The New York Times did get a significant fact wrong. Fluke isn't an undergrad, a mere teenager. She's a law student, a 30-year-old woman.
Correction: March 2, 2012
An earlier version of this post misstated Sandra Fluke's status at Georgetown University; she is a law student, not an undergraduate.
How very, very lame!
What a stupid stunt!
This phone call takes the trumped up contraceptive issue to new heights.
It's going by the Saul Alinsky handbook. Personalize.
Fluke, 30 years old, is playing the role of the poor little poster girl, rather than behaving like a 30-year-old adult woman. Thirty! She's 30 and she can't or won't take care of herself.
Meanwhile, Limbaugh is demonized as misogynistic and targeted by the Left.
I expect the president of the United States to have better things to do than call Fluke. What political crap!
Speaking of WAR, Obama should call the parents and spouses of our military men and women to see if they're OK.
UPDATE: Another "War on Women" e-mail from the DSCC, sent this afternoon, subject line "Misogyny":
Denounce Rush's Vile Misogyny
Rush Limbaugh, the GOP’s top megaphone, viciously and disgustingly attacked college student and women’s health advocate Sandra Fluke on air yesterday.
First, he called her a “slut” and a “prostitute” for suggesting that insurance should cover contraception. Then he elaborated, “So Miss Fluke, and the rest of you Feminazis…If we are going to pay for your contraceptives…We want something for it. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.”
Personal attacks on a student – and all women – simply can’t be ignored. Stand with us, and denounce Rush Limbaugh’s vile attacks.
This is so Alinsky. ________________
Greg Gutfeld tweets some thoughts about the contraception entitlement mandate:
For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.
I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? Will we be debating if taxpayers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit? In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone's bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level.
My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.
So Limbaugh apologizes for his insulting choice of words in referring to Fluke.
That's appropriate.
By issuing the statement on Saturday, Limbaugh defuses the topic as fodder for the Sunday news shows.
While he apologizes for the insult, he doesn't apologize for his stance on the larger matter.
It's kind of funny that Obama's phone call to Fluke drew the nation's attention to the story, giving Limbaugh the opportunity to capitalize on that attention.
His statement includes the reiteration of his position on the issue.
The Leftist media and Obama did Limbaugh a favor. They gave him an expanded forum to deliver his message. _________________
Chocolate butter, cheese butter & butter butter at a Green Bay restaurant. I didn't have any, swear. No, for reals. I didn't. But I was told the cheese butter is the best.
This clip isn't the complete segment that ran on Friday's Tonight Show. It ends with Ross' exchange with Clay Matthews.
Missing is the Glee segment. Ross belts out "Don't Stop Believin'" while Packers defensive tackle Jay Ross, defensive ends Jarius Wynn and C.J. Wilson, and practice squad members Antonio Robinson and Curtis Young sing backup.
The unions, the Democrats, the class warfare contingent, and Obama lost big yesterday.
All the Leftists' horses and all the Leftists' men couldn't make the Wisconsin State Senate Democrat again.
I'm so proud of the people of Wisconsin for having the sense to understand that what Governor Scott Walker and the Republicans have accomplished is good for working families. I'm so thankful they came out and voted to keep Wisconsin on the right path. I'm so glad they weren't influenced by the scare tactics and the intimidation of the unions and the Democrats.
Wisconsinites made a bold statement yesterday by reelecting Rob Cowles, Sheila Harsdorf, Luther Olsen, and Alberta Darling.
We like a balanced budget without higher taxes.
In spite of the Left's massive defeat, the plan to recall Scott Walker is expected to proceed.
Clearly, the Leftists don't learn from their mistakes.
Democrats are forging ahead with efforts to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker next year, one day after losing four of six recall elections to oust GOP state senators.
The Tuesday night losses left Democrats a single seat short of overturning GOP control of the state’s upper chamber, although Democratic officials and operatives on the ground insisted Wednesday that their two wins in Republican-leaning areas exposed Walker’s weaknesses.
“If we can do all of this against entrenched Republicans on their own turf, imagine our success … when all of Wisconsin can have its voice heard on Gov. Walker’s extreme, divisive agenda,” Wisconsin state party Chairman Mike Tate wrote in a memo to reporters Wednesday.
“The historic gains made tonight to restore balance and accountability to our state, and restore Wisconsin values, will continue when the entire state weighs in on the November 2012 elections — and with the recall of Scott Walker himself,” Tate said.
Standing before a cheering crowd of partisans on the Majestic Theatre stage late Tuesday — when it was still uncertain whether Democrats would flip control of the Senate — an animated Tate was even more defiant: “We will not stop, we will not rest, until we call Scott Walker from the state of Wisconsin.”
Both of the districts in which Democrats prevailed Tuesday were carried by Walker in 2010 — although in Senate District 32, where Democrat Jennifer Shilling easily unseated incumbent Dan Kapanke, Walker’s margin was a single point.
Tate and the Democrats are delusional.
It's really rather pathetic.
I suppose they're willing to be the puppets of Big Labor, the Democrats' national party, and the White House.
Or maybe Wisconsin Dems just like being the darlings of Ed Schultz and the other Leftist extremists at MSNBC, the state television station of the Obama administration.
Bringing AWOL state senators back to Wisconsin to do their jobs after they shirked their duties as public servants and brought the functioning of the state's government to a halt is out of line?
Dave Hansen, one of the Democrat senators who fled the state and ran to Illinois to avoid permitting the Wisconsin legistlative branch of government to function, has been rewarded.
Democratic state Sen. Dave Hansen of Green Bay was the first of nine state senators to face a final recall election, and he easily survived Tuesday.
Hansen won a lopsided victory over his Republican challenger, wind farm developer David VanderLeest of Green Bay, against whom Democrats and their allies have been hammering away on his personal and legal problems.
Watch Hansen and his comrades appear on Ed Schultz's show.
Nauseating.
This is a long, torturous video clip. The Dems appear at 3:15.
DAVE HANSEN: I just wanted to say that as a former public employee I really appreciated what labor organizations did for me. I drove a truck for the city of Green Bay sanitation before I became a state senator. And without that we wouldn't have had any pay or any benefits, and that's what they're trying to do. They're trying to remove ANY right to bargain, negotiate, and remove collective bargaining that's been in place for 50 years. It is a sad, sad day, and it's ridiculous what those 18 Republican senators did today. And our Governor should be ashamed of himself.
Good grief.
Hansen retains his seat. That's not an upset given his opponent.
If I were a union hack/Dem, I wouldn't get too cocky.
Attorney Jonathan Steitz has won a Republican primary in a Wisconsin recall election, and now advances to challenge Democratic state Sen. Robert Wirch next month.
Steitz has 64 percent of Tuesday's vote, with 73 percent of precincts reporting. He defeated Fred Ekornaas,a retired Kenosha County sheriff and current county board vice chairman.
Robert Wirch, like his fellow AWOL Democrat senators, revealed that he's not fit to serve in the state legislature.
The first requirement: SHOW UP AND DO YOUR JOB.
Wirch, of course, did not. He ran to Illinois, refusing to fulfill his duty to represent his constituents.
ROBERT WIRCH: This is a day of infamy for Wisconsin workers. Tomorrow, they're second class citizens thanks to the Republicans who took that terrible vote tonight.
Charlie Sykes shares a profanity-riddled e-mail sent to Wisconsin State Senator Michael Ellis from a raving Leftist lunatic.
* LANGUAGE ALERT *
From: bismarc otto [mailto:ikonsareholy@yahoo.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2011 3:59 PM To: Sen.Ellis Cc: Sen.Fitzgerald Subject: Fake Dems by you fake Americans ass***s NAZI BITCHES.
***Hey Ellis SHUT THE F*CK UP & SIT DOWN like the KOCH Bitch you & your sister/wife ARE. Fitzgerald your sex butt Banging buddy is now telling us you inbred NAZIs are running fake Dems & he supports it like he loves raw gay sex w/his brother. This is what the f*ck you UN AMERICAN asswipes are. Liars, cheats like Hopper(oh yeah has his children seen him since last year?)& criminals like Walker. You support a C*NT like Palin which we saw dead people in Tucson, AZ. This is what you want, F*CK YOU as we want our nation back. We don't want your f*cking nite mare. You assho**s should if you had any ethics RESIGN NOW & GET the F*CK OUT of America. I hear Libya is looking for a new dictator, you can go NOW. GET THE F*CK OUT, please. Scott Mann PS The US Supreme Court has ruled 21 to 0 swearing is FREE SPEECH, get used it to NAZI WHORES.
Yikes.
This one gets really rough.
So much for liberals occupying the moral highground.
ED SCHULTZ (02:52): And what do the Republicans thinking about? They're not thinking about their next-door neighbor. They're just thinking about how much this is going to cost. President Obama is going to be visiting Joplin, Mo., on Sunday but you know what they're talking about, like this right-wing slut, what's her name?, Laura Ingraham? Yeah, she's a talk slut. You see, she was, back in the day, praising President Reagan when he was drinking a beer overseas. But now that Obama's doing it, they're working him over.
Why does MSNBC give someone like Ed Schultz, good buddy of Chris Larson, a platform?
There's a problem when an outlet like MSNBC is willing to tolerate its hosts denigrating women like that.
Does MSNBC really want Ed Schultz to be on its team?
Do Brian Williams and NBC News approve of the MSNBC extremists dragging down the credibility of the NBC News brand?
I guess it doesn't matter.
NBC News lost credibility long ago. _________________
MSNBC has suspended Ed Schultz, host of the “The Ed Show,” for one week without pay for calling conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham a ‘right-wing slut’ on his syndicated radio program Tuesday.
“Remarks of this nature are unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” MSNBC said in a statement.
MSNBC said Schultz will address the remarks on his show Wednesday night, and begin his leave immediately afterward. He will return on June 6th.
“MSNBC management met with Ed Schultz this afternoon and accepted his offer to take one week of unpaid leave for the remarks he made yesterday on his radio program,” MSNBC said.
MSNBC should fire Schultz.
Why would management want him to be one the main faces of the network?
MSNBC pounded a message on Tuesday: Donald Trump is a racist. The Tea Party and Republicans are racist.
On Lawrence O'Donnell's The Last Word, PBS host Tavis Smiley declared that the 2012 presidential race would be the most racist in the nation's history, thanks to the Tea Party and Trump.
TAVIS SMILEY, PBS: I said over a year ago that this was going to be, this presidential race, Lawrence, was going to be the ugliest, the nastiest, the most divisive, and the most racist, the most racist, in the history of this republic. I did not know that that race to the bottom would begin so quickly. One can disagree with the Tea Party…
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL, HOST: Why did you see this coming?
SMILEY: I saw it coming because it’s pretty clear given how the Tea Party has acted, given that Donald Trump is now playing to the worst in the Tea Party, that this would be possible. I don’t want to demonize or cast aspersions on the Tea Party broadly. I believe that there’s a certain angst that many people in that entity feel, and I share that angst about government. I don’t believe that it’s the solution to reduce government.
Government does have a role to play. We’ve got to figure out, we can figure out and debate what that role is, but there have been semantics they’ve engaged in that made it clear to me: showing up at rallies with guns, and the Secret Service, you know, working overtime to protect this president. More threats against his life than any president in the history of the nation, indeed, presidents combined.
So the evidence is pretty clear that they would do anything and say anything in order to make sure he does not get reelected.
When in doubt, whip out the race card.
MSNBC stuck with its "Trump is a racist" theme after O'Donnell's show ended.
The crazed Ed Schultz, host of MSNBC's Ed Show, said, "I think Donald Trump is a racist."
Here's the video and transcript, also from NewsBusters:
Transcript
ED SCHULTZ: You mean to tell me that [Trump’s] questioning the academic prowess of one of the smartest presidents we’ve ever had? Mr. Trump, when you start getting your advice from all of the special, special Republican advisers that we’ve seen step to the plate in the past instead of Jerome Corsi. Dude, you could do better than that.
This is what the Republican Party stands for, though: racism. I think Donald Trump is a racist.
MSNBC and its radical Leftist hosts and guests are a disgrace.
Don't they have a conscience or any concern about the consequences of their ugly, irresponsible rhetoric?
Apparently not.
The Republican Party does not stand for racism. The Tea Party isn't about racism. From what I've seen, Trump is not a racist.
Good grief.
The band of extreme Leftists at MSNBC really have done so much damage to the NBC News brand, but they keep plugging away, peddling their propaganda.
Thankfully, MSNBC languishes in the ratings cellar. Americans reject it. _________________
Last night on MSNBC's The Ed Show, ten of the 14 Wisconsin Democrat state senators, cowardly runaways thwarting the will of the people as expressed in the November 2010 elections, reacted to the Wednesday evening vote on the budget repair bill.
These AWOL legislators, stars on MSNBC, spewed their venom. It's truly stunning.
As if they hadn't embarrassed themselves enough already, they continued their streak.
Tim Carpenter calls the vote a "sneak attack" and "Pearl Harbor."
Robert Wirch refers to Wednesday being "a day of infamy for Wisconsin workers" and Republicans making Wisconsin workers "second class citizens."
Lena Taylor calls Governor Walker "a liar."
Each one of them uses horrible rhetoric and shamefully distorts the truth. It's as if they are from another planet, operating under some foreign, bizarre reality. They are really weird and scary. They're like members of a cult.
They are an absolute disgrace to Wisconsin.
This is a long, torturous video clip. The Dems appear at 3:15.
FRED RISSER: I have never seen anything like this in my life. You know, the Governor, instead of acting like a leader and trying to negotiate with people, decided that he wanted to get this bill passed so bad that he not only bent the rules, but he broke the rules. I think it's disgusting, and I think the public will get, react accordingly.
...
DAVE HANSEN: I just wanted to say that as a former public employee I really appreciated what labor organizations did for me. I drove a truck for the city of Green Bay sanitation before I became a state senator. And without that we wouldn't have had any pay or any benefits, and that's what they're trying to do. They're trying to remove ANY right to bargain, negotiate, and remove collective bargaining that's been in place for 50 years. It is a sad, sad day, and it's ridiculous what those 18 Republican senators did today. And our Governor should be ashamed of himself.
...
MARK MILLER: Absolutely, we're gonna go back to Wisconsin. It's just a first of many battles. Uh, this is a battle that needs to be joined and every way we can to use every bit of our effort, every bit of our wisdom, because this outrage cannot stand. It's absolutely essential that we go back and fight this. We join the citizens of Wisconsin who've been demonstrating and protesting and writing letters and doing everything they can to tell the Governor that this cannot be, that this cannot be the future of Wisconsin. And we are gonna be back there right shoulder to shoulder, arm hold to arm, to fight this battle right along with them. But not tomorrow.
...
JULIE LASSA: Well, Ed, I think that it's absolutely shameful what the Republicans have done in the State Senate, what they're going to do in the State Assembly tomorrow. You know, it really does take away from our democratic process in Wisconsin. This bill, they were so desperate to strip away 50 years of worker rights that they had to go and break the Open Meetings Law, according to the Republican attorney general. They voted on a bill that wasn't even, they didn't even have before them, and it wasn't even available to the public anywhere. So, in their desperation to strip away workers' rights, they broke the law and they rammed through this bill that will have significant ramifications for, as you said, you know, well over a hundred thousand workers in the state of Wisconsin. But we are going to take this fight, and we are going to fight it out in every part of the state, and we are gonna get the Senate back, and we are gonna make sure that Gov. Walker and his radical agenda that he has set to work against working families and the middle class will not stand.
...
KATHLEEN VINEHOUT: People feel tonight angry, and they feel betrayed. And they feel like they wanna do something, and I would appeal to all those people who have worked so hard to try and help their voice be heard that the way to have their voice be heard is to now turn to the ballot box. If we can't have the voices of the people heard, we've gotta change the faces of those who represent the people. And it's very important that everyone get involved in the recall elections in any way that they can because we need to make sure the people's voice is heard. And it will be heard on election day.
...
ROBERT WIRCH: This is a day of infamy for Wisconsin workers. Tomorrow, they're second class citizens thanks to the Republicans who took that terrible vote tonight.
...
JIM HOLPERIN: Well, Ed, when the Governor initially introduced this budget repair bill, he described these changes to our collective bargaining law as a modest change, a small, uh, amendment to Wisconsin law. One reason we left the state was because we knew very differently, and I think that's been demonstrated abundantly across the state over the last couple of weeks. And I think when the Governor talks now about our state budget bill and starts describing programs as merely slight reductions in spending, something people can easily absorb, we need to be very, very skeptical about what we hear out of this governor. I think his credibility has been severely damaged by the way that he's described this action that the Senate took tonight and I think Wisconsin citizens will be properly very doubtful about the way he characterizes his agenda and the things he intends to do to the state if he gets his way over the coming weeks and months.
...
LENA TAYLOR: Ed, I think that Sen. Holperin was kind. I think the truth is that our governor is a liar, and he's been shown to be that, and that the Republicans have been shown to be rubber stamp legislatures [sic]. They are not going to stand up to him. They are not going to do what is right. They are not gonna keep the people's interest over profit. They have shown that they are not going to allow people to have access to government, to petition their government. It's as Julie said, they're gonna break the rules. I mean, they're gonna defy the constitution. It is a shame, and I always keep saying that my favorite candy is Now or Laters. And they didn't hear them now, but they will have to deal with the people later. And Kathleen said it, we couldn't change their minds, then it's time to take your anger, people, Wisconsinites, take your anger and your frustration and it's time to change their faces through recall.
...
DAVE HANSEN: I just wanted to say everything that went on in the last several weeks that we've been gone, I'm so proud of the Wisconsin 14 for standing up for what we believe in. What the Governor is doing was not fair. It was not balanced. It was not respectful, and it certainly didn't talk at all about what impact it's gonna have on our communities and it's not positive at all. Stand together. Believe in the dream. We can win this fight, and it is truly at the ballot box.
...
TIM CARPENTER: Well, Ed, I guess the best way to describe this is the, uh, this is our Pearl Harbor of workers' rights. The governor has really been out of bounds and did this sneak attack in the middle of the night without any public notice, without any input for many hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites that have expressed their views. It's a sad day for Wisconsin. I'm kind of ashamed that this has happened. And I don't know what the governor will do next.
...
CHRIS LARSON: Yeah, Ed, I think this is, there's people who are very disheartened right now and have a lot of anger. Um, but I think that what comes of this, if we, they may have won this battle today, um, but I think that he just awoke a sleeping middle class that wasn't sure if there was a difference between the Democratic party and the Republican party. And now, tonight, it's never been clearer which party sides with the middle class, which party sides with the workers, which party will go and stay away from the state that they love for three weeks in order to stand up for rights, and then which party is going to use anything they can in the books to try and undercut that, no low that they will not go to in order to undercut the people, and which side will go for corporations and, um, against the public interest. So, I think that as we are disheartened tonight, I think that there's gonna be thousands of people who will wake up tomorrow and grab clipboards in order to give the Republican recalls new life as we take back our democracy.
Unbelievable.
These comments show just how extreme and radicalized these people are.
Did something happen to them while they were in Illinois?
Were they always like this?
Did union thugs brainwash them? Were they bribed?
They do not speak for mainstream Wisconsinites.
PEARL HARBOR???
They're creepy. They're irresponsible. They're unfit to serve in office.
Keith Olbermann was fired by MSNBC sources tell TMZ, and we're told it had everything to do with Comcast's acquisition of NBC.
Sources connected with the network tell us ... Comcast honchos did not like Keith's defiance and the way he played in the sandbox.
Our sources say Keith has around two years left on his contract, and he'll be paid his salary -- around $7 million a year.
We don't know if Comcast will let Keith make a deal with another network as part of an exit agreement, but it's a good bet he'll be benched for a minimum of 6 months, and probably longer.
Here's video of Olbermann's sign-off, from Breitbart:
Olbermann was very dramatic, taking on the role of martyr.
Maybe his followers were moved, but I wasn't feeling it at all.
Olbermann's departure is really good news. Maybe there's still hope for the NBC News brand, but MSNBC still has a lot more housecleaning to do.
Keith Olbermann, the highest-rated host on MSNBC, announced abruptly on the air Friday night that he is leaving “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” immediately.
The host, who has had a stormy relationship with the management of the network for some time, especially since he was suspended for two days last November, came to an agreement with NBC’s corporate management late this week to settle his contract and step down.
In a closing statement on his show, Mr. Olbermann said simply that it would be the last edition of the program. He offered no explanation other than on occasion, the show had become too much for him.
Mr. Olbermann thanked his viewers for their enthusiastic support of a show that had “gradually established its position as anti-establishment.”
In a statement, MSNBC said : “MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract. The last broadcast of ‘Countdown with Keith Olbermann’ will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC’s success and we wish him well in his future endeavors.”
MSNBC announced that “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” would replace “Countdown” at 8 p.m., with “The Ed Show” with Ed Schultz taking Mr. O’Donnell’s slot at 10 p.m.
The crazed O'Donnell and the vile Schultz at 8:00 and 10:00 respectively?
As I said, MSNBC has a lot more housecleaning to do.
Mark Levin has responded to Matthews' remarks. Levin has put $100,000 on the table, challenging Matthews "to find any example where Sarah Palin has promoted the murder of anybody."
Levin also dares Matthews to cite an instance where he has called for the murder of a politician or anyone else he disagrees with politically.
MARK LEVIN: I challenge Chris Matthews now. I'll put $100,000 on the table to find any example where Sarah Palin has promoted the murder of anybody. I'm not talking about terrorists and the Taliban and so forth, in the context of the allegations.
$100,000 on the table if Chris Matthews can find anywhere where Mark Levin has urged the murder of people who have different political viewpoints. That is the murder of politicians, the murder of... I'm not talking about terrorists. I believe they should be killed and as fast as possible and as many as possible. But I mean where I have said, 'Go out there and kill X-Y-Z. Go out there and kill A-B-C. Go out there.' I challenge him right now. Sarah Palin, me. Go ahead, Chris.
Now I'm going to tell you something. Maybe I shouldn't, but I will. I'm waiting for an allegation that is very specific against me because I'm going to sue. I don't care if they're bloggers. I don't care if they're television hosts. I don't care if they're radio hosts. I'm going to drag your ass into federal court. Oh, you'll have due process. It will all be nice and legal. I'm going to personally depose you. I'm going to drag you in front of a jury and I'm going to get your assets.
Somebody has to stand up to this. Somebody has to draw the line.
Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Joe Scarborough - test me. Test me. David Frum, you little weasel, test me - all of you.
I believe in the law. I believe in free speech. I believe in responsible speech.
Now, you want people to tone it down? OK, good. Anybody who accuses me of inciting mass murder in Tucson, Arizona is going to be sued. Period.
I don't mean, 'Oh, his rhetoric is incendiary.' I don't... anybody who tries to tie me to that monstrous event. I'm going to tell you why. When you get behind this microphone everyday, and you speak from the heart, and millions of people are listening, and family and friends, they're listening, too; they're affected by all these things. Now, I'm a public figure. I'm a big boy. I can handle this. The question is whether these other boys can handle it.
You think I'm kidding? Try me, because I'm not kidding. The laws of libel are actually older than the First Amendment.
Levin has made a smart move.
He has put the Left-wing hate talkers on notice. They will be sued if they dare to accuse Levin of inciting murder.
I agree that someone has to stand up to the trash being transmitted by MSNBC and being disseminated by the Leftists.
By telling the Left-wing hate machine of his intentions, I'm sure they won't mess with Levin.
The fact that someone finally promises to hold them accountable for what they say must strike fear in them as well as the MSNBC executives.
I'm not surprised that Republicans are being targeted.
With all the vitriol and violent rhetoric coming from the Left, including Obama, it's understandable that unbalanced people would be influenced by it. Naturally, troubled individuals are looking for an ass to kick, just like Obama.
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin uses gory, bloody imagery to attack Walker. Its bumper sticker is far worse than the use of crosshairs in campaign literature. The sticker is terribly graphic and sure to incite those prone to act out violently.
Paul Krugman and the New York Times, the Washington Post, the MSNBC crowd - Ed Schultz, Chris Matthews, and Keith Olbermann - NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, and NPR all bear responsibility for the threats.
Terrible statements routinely made by elected Democrats also play a role. Tom Barrett and his allies certainly must held accountable.
Haters on the Internet are some of the worst purveyors of the dangerous rhetoric.
Day in and day out, they demonize Republicans. It should be no surprise that threats would be made against Walker and Kleefisch.
It's important to remember that whatever evidence the investigation unearths, it's the Democrats and their mouthpieces in the media and other assorted liberal extremists that are directly responsible.
Oh, and Sheriff Dupnik. It's his fault, too.
And the 2nd Amendment and the entire Constitution.
The statistics on African American abortions are shocking. Even though African Americans are only about 13 percent of the U.S. population, one of every three abortions in the United States is performed on a black woman. Three of every five African American women will abort a child. Some 1,452 African American babies are killed each day in abortions.
ED SCHULTZ: If this follows through now that we‘ve got 59 million Americans without insurance, the number is growing, if they repeal health care, what are we facing in this country? A social pushback of some sort? What do you think?
JESSE JACKSON: Well, a kind of creeping genocide. What is hypocritical is those who voted against the health care bill, themselves, have comprehensive health care for their families. You‘re talking about more infant mortality and short life expectancy. You‘re talking about more working poor people, more poor people and not only on welfare, they‘re not derelicts they work. Half of the veterans who are homeless, men who are homeless are veterans. A million and a half children who are homeless and often go to school without adequate health care. So, this really is a mass march for the kind of humane—a human destruction, in the likes in which we‘ve never known. We deserve better.
SCHULTZ: How do we get the attention of the lawmakers to realize the seriousness of the numbers that you just quoted?
JACKSON: People have to rise above the ideology, it seems to me. And I‘ve seen people who, in fact who are working poor, supporting people who voted against their interest. I‘ve seen people who need the jobs in the south where I am tonight, so, foreign people who are against to having a Senate bill for jobs. And so, we just cannot give up on the facts of the matter whether you‘re in Appalachia or rural Alabama. This is the one place where white, and black and brown find common ground. We need for a health care system for all people.
SCHULTZ: Reverend, would you consider the—or describe the republican position on this is heartless?
JACKSON: Well, it is heartless and I‘ll tell you what, there are people who have—we spent the last month focusing on pre-existing conditions and women and men with cancer, for example, who in fact need treatment and cannot afford to stop working. Too much children going to school with toothache. And some cannot see, they have eye problems. Among the children do not have the capacity to function. Again, I cannot help get out of my mind going homeless shelter in San Francisco, more folks in that shelter work every day and can‘t afford rent and don‘t have health care. Who are these people?
These are fast food workers who serve us these hamburgers. They don‘t have health care. These are cab drivers who don‘t have health care. These are people who come to our homes and take care of our children who work sick before our children and they pick up a disease. And so, this is—we as Americans deserve a greatest sense of humanity and the return on investment. Prenatal care, health care and day care on the front side, and jail care and welfare on the back side and shorter life expectancy when it‘s unnecessary.
It's ridiculous for Jackson to suggest that before ObamaCare passed America was the land of a "creeping genocide," and its repeal would mean a return to the genocide.
Words have meaning. Does Jackson understand what "genocide" means?
I don't think so.
Schultz considers the Republican position heartless.
The majority of Americans didn't want ObamaCare in the first place and now they want it repealed.
They aren't all Republicans.
Are the majority of Americans heartless?
Are the majority of Americans in favor of genocide?
Dana Milbank, the Washington Post, and his fellow Leftists are getting all bent out of shape because of what Milbank's calls Bill O'Reilly's "thuggish tactics."
Milbank is horrified by O'Reilly's "threats" of violence.
Milbank writes:
Bill O'Reilly wants my head.
No Milbank wants attention via a feud with O'Reilly.Beyond that, he wants to discredit FOX News.
On Thursday night, the Fox News host asked, as part of a show that would be seen by 5.5 million people: "Does sharia law say we can behead Dana Milbank?" He then added, "That was a joke."
Hilarious! Decapitation jokes just slay me, and this one had all the more hilarity because the topic of journalist beheadings brings to mind my late friend and colleague Danny Pearl, who replaced me in the Wall Street Journal's London bureau and later was murdered in Pakistan by people who thought sharia justified it.
The next night, O'Reilly read a complaint from one of his viewers, Heidi Haverlock of Cleveland, who said: "I thought the joke about whether sharia law would allow the beheading of the Washington Post guy was completely inappropriate." O'Reilly replied to her on air: "Well, let me break this to you gently, Heidi. If Dana Milbank did in Iran what he does in Washington, he'd be hummus."
O'Reilly is partly right about that. As an American and a Jew, I probably wouldn't last long in Iran. And criticizing the government there, as I do here, wouldn't add to my life expectancy. But what was he trying to say? That America would be better if it were more like Iran?
Certainly, O'Reilly isn't calling for anyone to behead Milbank. He has to know that.
Personally, I don't like "jokes" about beheading people and other barbaric acts. I find no humor in it.
That said, Milbank is being such a wuss.
I thought he liked "jokes" about violence.
In 2006, Milbank had a lot of fun making fun of Dick Cheney's hunting accident. He showed up on MSNBC wearing blaze orange while talking to Keith Olbermann.
When Olbermann asked if the blaze orange attire was intended to mock the Vice President, clown Milbank replied, "Oh, not so, Keith. It just happens that your studio's — I'm using the one uptown, which is not far from the Naval Observatory, which is his residence. So we can't be too careful."
Shooting jokes! Hilarious!
Milbank is such a hypocrite.
Milbank continues:
O'Reilly's on-air fantasizing about violent ends for me was precipitated by a column I wrote describing Fox News's election-night coverage as a victory party for the Republicans. This didn't strike me as a terribly controversial point, but it evidently offended O'Reilly.
...I suspect O'Reilly's fury - he went after me on three consecutive nights last week - has less to do with one sentence in one column than with a book and a series of columns I've written about O'Reilly's colleague Glenn Beck. I've argued that Beck, with his talk of violence, Nazis and conspiracy theories, is all but inviting fringe characters to take up arms. I've held O'Reilly up as a responsible alternative to Beck - but O'Reilly seems determined to prove this wrong.
On Thursday night, he made an eerie reference to The Post's editorial page editor. "Would you put Fred Hiatt's picture up on the screen here?" he asked. "This is the editor, Milbank's editor, Fred Hiatt. And, Fred won't do anything about Milbank lying in his column. I just want everybody in America to know what The Washington Post has come to. All right, you can take Fred's picture off. Fred, have a nice weekend, buddy."
Shortly after this, O'Reilly proposed to his fellow Fox News host, Megyn Kelly, a way to handle their disagreement with me: "I think you and I should go and beat him up."
The two continued on to a discussion of the attempt to bar sharia law in Oklahoma. That's when he made his little "joke" about beheading me, which led to his talk the next night about garbanzo puree.
Kelly, too, took issue with what I wrote, but to her credit she didn't join in O'Reilly's violent fantasies. "When somebody missteps, especially when it comes to any sort of speech or expression of opinion, the answer is to have more speech and opinion," she said.
"I'm not trying to muzzle the guy," O'Reilly replied.
True. You don't need a muzzle if your head has been cut off.
O'Reilly has every right to quarrel with my opinion or question my accuracy. But why resort to intimidation and violent imagery? I don't believe O'Reilly really wants to sever my head, but if only one of his millions of viewers interprets his message otherwise, that's still a problem for me. Already, Beck fans have been accused of a police killing, threatening to kill a senator and having a highway shootout en route to an alleged attack on liberal groups.
Let's drop the thuggish tactics - before more people get hurt.
It is ridiculous for Milbank to take this holier-than-thou stance, whining about "O'Reilly's violent fantasies," given the humor he finds in violent imagery.
The Leftists have no problem with "violent fantasies" when the subjects are conservatives.
Just one of countless examples of "violent fantasies" by Leftists, from NewsBusters:
Once gain, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann seems entertained by the thought of conservatives being shot. Less than five months after depicting the image of Rush Limbaugh as the target of gunfire during his Countdown show, on Wednesday's show Olbermann included a joke about shooting Dick Cheney during the regular "Top Three Sound Bites" segment of the show. One of the featured clips was from the Tuesday November 14 Daily Show with Jon Stewart in which Stewart asked his guest, former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards, whom he would have "accidentally shot in the face" if he had been elected Vice President, to which Edwards responded "Dick Cheney."
Hilarious!!!
Milbank knows that O'Reilly isn't calling for him to be decapitated, yet suddenly the jokester Milbank gets very serious.
I think Milbank's real agenda is to do his part in the liberal media's orchestrated effort to marginalize FOX News.
_________________
More of the MSNBC Leftist media's "thuggish tactics" and "violent fantasies":
"And my job is to shut other white people down when they want to interrupt."
"We have to, at the DNC, provide training. We have to teach them how to communicate, how to be sensitive, and how to shut their mouths if they're white."
"Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if we kick 'em all out, you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts."
"When I would deny that there was a significant racist component in some of the politics on our side, it was because the people I hung out with were certainly not. When suddenly, this rock is turned over, there is this—'Oh shit, did I not see that?'"
----------------------------
"In any other scenario, Hillary Clinton's lying about her emails, and her pay-for-play relationship with the Clinton Foundation would be disqualifying issues. The only reason they're not disqualifying is because Donald Trump is a fundamentally more repellent, dishonest figure."
"I made a mistake in recalling the events of twelve years ago... I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft."
"I would not look to the U.S. Constitution, if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012. I might look at the constitution of South Africa. That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, had an independent judiciary. It really is, I think, a great piece of work that was done."
"The death of Andrew Breitbart disproves the adage that only the good die young."
--JULIAN BOND
"The National Institute of Health has said that it is a danger to women's health and safety of their families that for 30 years to be exposed to the prospects of pregnancy."
"Why did- Couldn't the President have said at that moment, way back in December of last year, 'no game playing. No hostage-taking. No terrorizing this country with the debt ceiling. I'm not going to negotiate with you guys. You can't play it that way.' Could he have done that?"
"I remember distinctly an image of--we were sitting on his couches, and I was looking at [Obama's] pant leg and his perfectly creased pant, and I'm thinking, a) he's going to be president and b) he'll be a very good president."
--DAVID BROOKS
"I feel like calling her back and smackin' her around."
"[I]f you go back to the year 2000, when we had an obvious disaster and - and saw that our voting process needed refinement, and we did that in the America Votes Act and made sure that we could iron out those kinks, now you have the Republicans, who want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws and literally - and very transparently - block access to the polls to voters who are more likely to vote Democratic candidates than Republican candidates. And it's nothing short of that blatant."
--DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ
"This is probably one of the worst times we've seen because the numbers of people elected to Congress. I went through this as co-chair of the arts caucus. In '94 people were elected simply to come here to kill the National Endowment for the Arts. Now they’re here to kill women."
"The protesters have proven today that they‘re not going away. It was a pretty rough night last night. You can imagine if people said, well, we just can‘t fight the power. Instead, this morning, they came by tens, by hundreds, by thousands. By midday today, it was easily more than 10,000, perhaps as many as 15,000 people on the square here in Madison. Not organized by anyone, just grassroots citizens who came out just like the Minutemen in 1776."
--JOHN NICHOLS
"They're sitting on the money, they're using it for their own -- they're putting it someplace else with no interest in helping you with your life, with that money. We've allowed them to take that. That's not theirs, that's a national resource, that's ours. We all have this -- we all benefit from this or we all suffer as a result of not having it. I think we need to go back to taxing these people at the proper rates."
"Why don't we just raise the taxes and let these folks have their collective bargaining, have their union representation and go back to their jobs? Raise the taxes on the wealthy."
"So I would urge my Republican colleagues, no matter how strongly they feel -- you know, we have three branches of government. We have a House. We have a Senate. We have a president. And all three of us are going to have to come together and give some, but it is playing with fire to risk the shutting down of the government."
"I'm Rebecca Kleefisch. I performed fellatio on all the talk show hosts in Milwaukee. And they endorsed me and that's how I became lieutenant governor."
"[Military leaders] tell us that childhood obesity isn’t just a public health issue; they tell us that it is not just an economic threat -- it is a national security threat as well."
"[Obama] has to realize that Mitch McConnell has virtually said so that politically he wants to cut out his heart and throw his liver to the dogs."
--DAN RATHER
"And the instructions are not to improvise a comedy sketch, but to elect a group of unqualified, unstable individuals who will do what they are told, in exchange for money and power, and march this nation as far backward as they can get, backward to Jim Crow, or backward to the breadlines of the '30s, or backward to hanging union organizers, or backward to the trusts and the robber barons.
"Result: the Tea Party. Vote backward, vote Tea Party. And if you are somehow indifferent to what is planned for next Tuesday, it is nothing short of an attempted use of democracy to end this democracy."
"I gotta wonder when people are gonna start wearing uniforms. I mean they've got an army out there in Alaska of militia people. You've got these guys going around acting like street thugs. I mean it isn't far from what we saw in the thirties, where all of a sudden, political parties started showing up in uniform."
"[Sharron Angle] is a moron on top of being evil...
I'd like to see her do this ad in the South Bronx. Come here, bitch. Come to New York and do it. I'm not praying for her. She's going to hell. She's going to hell, this bitch."
"So people have been hurting and I understand that. And it doesn't give them comfort or solace for me to tell them, you know, but for me, we'd be in a worldwide depression."
"And to play Dick Cheney, all I had to do was find my Dick Cheney. And you can find all the villainy in the world in your own heart, and that's what an actor's job is. I always say to kids, inside you is Hitler and Jesus. And you got to find the appropriate person and bring them out."
"Because I live in the District of Columbia which is so predominantly Democratic, I am a registered Democrat. But I am an avowed neutral. And to put that into practice, I take my young daughter into the voting booth and she votes for me. She's now 14. We've been doing this since she was about age 4. She's now quite informed."
"Sarah Palin's an idiot. Come on. This is a remarkably, stunningly, jaw-droppingly incompetent and mean woman."
"The Democrats may have moved into the center, but the Republicans have moved into a mental institution."
--AARON SORKIN
"Perhaps the greatest threat of all is the undermining of our Constitution and the systematic attack against the inalienable rights of the citizens of this nation, rights that are guaranteed by our Constitution. At the vanguard of this insidious attack is the Tea Party. This band of misguided citizens is moving perilously close to achieving villainous ends."
"Ah, the Tea Party, the nativist bed-wetters who somehow control our national dialogue. Yes, I call them the Pee Party, Jay, because they're always peeing in their pants about something. They're just, they're afraid of a mosque being built in New York. They're afraid of guns. You know, they think Obama, who like every other pussy Democrat has never said a single word about gun control, but they are very sure that he and his Negro army are coming after their guns.
You know what? If you think that he's coming after your guns, you need to get out of your chat room and have your house tested for lead. He's not coming after your guns or your Bible or your fishing pole or your chewing tobacco."
"That's a trade-off society is making because of very, very high medical costs, and a lack of willingness to say, you know, is spending a million dollars on that last three months of life for that patient, would it be better not to lay off those ten teachers and to make that trade-off in medical costs. But that;s called the 'Death Panel' and you're not supposed to have that discussion."
"[If Rush Limbaugh suffered a heart attack in my presence, I would] laugh loudly like a maniac and watch his eyes bug out. I never knew I had this much hate in me. But he deserves it."
--SARAH SPITZ
"You want freedom, you going to have to kill some crackers. You going to have to kill some of their babies."
"If this was Texas, which is the state that, that is directly on the border with Mexico, and they were calling for a measure like this, saying that they had a major issue with, you know, with undocumented people flooding their borders, I would say I would have to look twice at this.
"But this is a state that is a ways removed from the border. And, um, it just, it doesn't make sense to me that when you google this subject, if you put in 'Arizona S.B. 1070,' that you see a picture of the governor of Arizona meeting with President Obama in May of 2010. If you have direct linkage to the president, there are already National Guard troops on the border in Arizona."
"Tell [the Jews] to get the hell out of Palestine. Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not German. It's not Poland. [The Jews] can go home. Poland. Germany."
--HELEN THOMAS
"After the last eight years, it's good to have a president that knows what a library is."
--PAUL McCARTNEY
"By the way, I just want to point out I'm wearing my splash shield because I was told I was going to be in the splash zone (during Harry Smith's colonoscopy on live TV)."
--KATIE COURIC
"And that Word is, we have to give voice to what that means in terms of public policy that would be in keeping with the values of the Word."
----------------------------
"Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance or that people could start a business and be entrepreneurial and take risk, but not job loss because of a child with asthma or someone in the family is bipolar—you name it, any condition — is job-locking."
--NANCY PELOSI
"Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as 'yellow, slant-eyed dogs' that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what's going on today?"
--TOM HANKS
"The 'White Right' is trying to set Barack up to be assassinated.... Here are Christians praying for God to kill Barack Obama."
--LOUIS FARRAKHAN
"I refuse to accept the notion that the United States of America is not going to lead the world economically throughout the 20th Century."
--JOE BIDEN
"Obama's critics keep blasting him for Chicago-style politics. So, fine. Channel your inner Al Capone and go gangsta against your foes. Let 'em know that if they aren't with you, they are against you, and will pay the price."
--ROLAND MARTIN
"Martha Coakley is running to fill the rest of Ted Kennedy's term, and her opponent is a far-right tea-bagger Republican."
--CHUCK SCHUMER
"I tell you what, if I lived in Massachusetts, I'd try to vote ten times. I don't know if they'd let me or not, but I'd try to. Yeah, that's right, I'd cheat to keep these bastards out. I would. 'Cause that's exactly what they are."
--ED SCHULTZ
"We also see how revved up the tea baggers are at the thought of hijacking health care reform and every chance we have at making progress in Washington."
--JOHN KERRY
"A few years ago, this guy (Obama) would have been getting us coffee."
--BILL CLINTON
"I didn't realize I had written a column defending Roman Polanski and minimized his crime - are you sure it was me? I mean, I? There is, apparently, more to this crime than it would seem, and it may sound like a hollow defense, but in Hollywood I am not sure a 13-year-old is really a 13-year-old."
--TOM SHALES
"Joe Wilson yelled 'You lie!' at a president who didn't. But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!"
--MAUREEN DOWD
"One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game... During the 7th inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez."
--DAVID LETTERMAN
"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life."
--SONIA SOTOMAYOR
"We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature."
--REMBERT WEAKLAND, Archbishop of Milwaukee 1977- 2002
"You know, you might want to look into this, [President Obama], because I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker, but he was so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight."
"Rush Limbaugh -- 'I hope the country fails.' I hope his kidneys fail."
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"[Obama] told me I did a great job. The first lady said the same thing. I got a 'well done' from the president, I'm on cloud nine."
--WANDA SYKES
"Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less."
--COLIN POWELL
"[Tea Party goers are] just a bunch of wimpy, whiny, weasels who don't love their country."
--PAUL BEGALA
"I wouldn't want [gay marriage] to go to the United States Supreme Court now because that homophobe Antonin Scalia has too many votes on this current court."
--BARNEY FRANK
"Going forward, my mind will be open to every solution -- except one. We should not -- we must not -- and I will not -- raise taxes."
--JIM DOYLE, Liar
"He's a terrorist. Rush Limbaugh is a terrorist."
--JOY BEHAR
"You know, I just want to say to her (Sarah Palin), just very quickly...F--- you."
--JON STEWART
"Should I be worried about being a slave and being returned to slavery?"
--WHOOPI GOLDBERG
"I also believe that America is the greatest sin against God."
--FR. MICHAEL PFLEGER
"Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken. Today the reason for the Zionist regime's existence is questioned, and this regime is on its way to annihilation."
--MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD
"We'll be eight degrees hotter in ten, not ten but 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals."
--TED TURNER
"Look, [Mitt] Romney comes from a religion founded by a criminal who was anti-American, pro-slavery, and a rapist. And he comes from that lineage and says, 'I respect this religion fully.'"
--LAWRENCE O'DONNELL
"Mexico does not end at its borders... Where there is a Mexican, there is Mexico."
--FELIPE CALDERON
"The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don't say, 'Well, I read a science fiction novel that told me it's not a problem.' If the crib's on fire, you don't speculate that the baby is flame retardant."
--AL GORE
"Don't fear the terrorists. They're mothers and fathers."
--ROSIE O'DONNELL
"Is America ready for a black president? Well, I say we just had a retarded one. When did being black become a bigger deterrent than being retarded?"
--CHRIS ROCK
"Shut the f--- up! Shut up if you can't take a joke [about President Bush]!"
--BARBRA STREISAND
"Right, oh, yeah, Happy 9/11! Celebrate the day, right?"
--JAMES BROLIN, Mr. Barbra Streisand
"I think President Bush very well may have signed an authorization for the 9/11 attacks."
--KEVIN BARRETT, UW-MADISON Lecturer
"I said what I said. I am not guilty."
--SADDAM HUSSEIN
"Terri will not be starved to death. Her nutrition and hydration will be taken away."
--MICHAEL SCHIAVO
"On the eve of the election last month my wife Judith and I were driving home late in the afternoon and turned on the radio for the traffic and weather. What we instantly got was a freak show of political pornography: lies, distortions, and half-truths -- half-truths being perhaps the blackest of all lies. "
--BILL MOYERS
"I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for."
--HOWARD DEAN
"The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not 'insurgents' or 'terrorists' or 'The Enemy.' They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win."
--MICHAEL MOORE
"And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the--of--the historical customs, religious customs."
"I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president."
--HILLARY CLINTON
"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."
--BILL CLINTON
"And let me tell you something -- for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment."
--MICHELLE OBAMA
"If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a Jew, uh, as a janitor, makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor."
"[F]or most of my lifetime, the United States was such a dominant economic power, we were such a large market, our industry, our technology, our manufacturing was so significant that we always met the rest of the world economically on our terms. And now, because of the incredible rise of India and China and Brazil and other countries, the United States remains the largest economic and the largest market but there’s real competition out there. And that's potentially healthy. It makes -- Michelle was saying earlier I like tough questions because it keeps me on my toes. Well, this will keep America on its toes."
----------------------------
"If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, 'We're gonna PUNISH OUR ENEMIES and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us,' if they don't see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it's gonna be harder and that's why I think it's so important that people focus on voting on November 2."
----------------------------
"We don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but THEY GOTTA SIT IN BACK."
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"We can absorb a terrorist attack. We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever... we absorbed it and we are stronger."
"We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers so I know whose ass to kick."
----------------------------
"We're not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money. But, you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if you’re providing a good product or you're providing good service. We don't want people to stop fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow the economy."
"It is a vital national security interest of the United States to reduce these conflicts because whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower, and when conflicts break out, one way or another we get pulled into them. And that ends up costing us significantly in terms of both blood and treasure."
----------------------------
"But I -- I think that the most important thing for the public to understand is, we're not handling any of these cases any different than the Bush administration handled them all through 9/11."
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"One such translator was an American of Haitian descent, representative of the extraordinary work that our men and women in uniform do all around the world -- Navy CORPSE-MAN Christian [sic] Brossard. And lying on a gurney aboard the USNS Comfort, a woman asked Christopher: 'Where do you come from? What country? After my operation,' she said, 'I will pray for that country.' And in Creole, CORPSE-MAN Brossard responded, 'Etazini.' The United States of America."
----------------------------
"I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow was around, and so I want to give a shout-out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner. It's good to see you."
"I am going to teach [my daughters] first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."
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"The reforms we seek would bring greater competition, choice, savings, and INEFFICIENCIES to our health care system."
----------------------------
"Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it."
--BARACK OBAMA
NOTEWORTHY QUOTATIONS
"In a word, freedom is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over for the cause of good.... [A] democracy without values can lose its very soul."
--POPE BENEDICT XVI
"When freedom does not have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything about the rule of law engraved in the hearts of men and women, when it does not listen to the voice of conscience, it turns against humanity and society."
--POPE JOHN PAUL II
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."
--MOTHER TERESA
"To promote choice for its own sake is more akin to self-indulgence than self-determination. It is the philosophy of a pre-schooler in a candy shop."
--BRIAN POLLARD, M.D.
"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people."
--MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
"The house we hope to build is not for my generation but for yours. It is your future that matters. And I hope that when you are my age, you will be able to say as I have been able to say: We lived in freedom. We lived lives that were a statement, not an apology."
--RONALD REAGAN
"Liberalism is the philosophy of the stupid."
--MARK LEVIN
"We are Warriors forever."
--BO ELLIS
"I know how much you're supposed to enjoy every sandwich, you know."
