Hot Potato Mash

BUSHED! Ignoring the Constitution-Gate & FISA-Gate

Technorati Tags: Bushed!, Don Siegelman, FISA, Karl Rove, Rachel Maddow

BUSH LEAGUE JUSTICE: Rep. Wexler: 'IT'S TIME FOR CONGRESS TO STAND UP AND GET ANSWERS'

Dan Abrams revisited the political prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman in light of Karl Rove's refusal to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in an excellent segment last night with Gov. Siegelman and Florida Representative Robert Wexler.

Towards the end of the piece Gov. Siegelman gave an excellent summary of where we stand:

“Karl Rove and this administration have thumbed their nose at Congress. They have clearly engaged in systematic and calculated abuses of power relating not just to the abuse at the Department of Justice but to other areas of importance to the American people. And Congress, rightfully so, should press Karl Rove to come and testify under oath and answer these questions.”

And Rep. Wexler agreed by calling on the House Judiciary Committee to issue a subpoena to Rove:

“We need to literally uphold the checks and balances that this administration has so abused.” And, “no American citizen has the right to ignore a Congressional subpoena. Not Karl Rove. Not anyone else.”

Beyond agreeing on the need to subpoena Karl Rove all three men also agreed that the Siegelman case is much bigger than about the innocence of one man. Here's Rep. Wexler on the bigger picture:

“What we are witnessing is a pattern of abuse of power by the Bush administration. It happened when they fired several US Attorneys for political reasons and Mr. Bolton and Ms. Miers refused to testify before Congress. It now is happening with the issue of torture. We have asked, subpoenaed, the Vice President's Chief of Staff to come before Congress and answer whether or not the administration illegally ordered the use of torture. It's time for Congress to stand up and get answers”.

And speaking of the bigger picture, you will note that I get almost 4 seconds of air time beginning at the 2:05 mark! 

Technorati Tags: Dan Abrams, Don Siegelman, Karl Rove, MSNBC, Bush League Justice, Robert Wexler

Danny Schechter Takes On CNBC In Never-To-Be-Broadcasted Interview

Visit Danny Schechter's News Dissector blog.

Technorati Tags: CNBC, Danny Schechter

OUTRAGEOUS: MSNBC Gives Ann Coulter Forum To Hawk Book And Slam Presidential Candidates

 

Is there nothing one can do or say to get barred from appearing on MSNBC? Allowing Ann Coulter on to spread her vile, hate-filled, rhetoric is disgusting. And she does not fail to offend, repeatedly calling Barack Obama, “B. Hussein Obama” because she thinks it's funny. In light of Coulter's antics it's worth reading Naomi Klein's article about the use of such racist tactics. 

But MSNBC doesn't stop there, the cable news outlet also helps the hatemonger pimp her latest book. This is seriously outrageous. Some MSNBC email addresses follow below should you agree and desire to express yourself to the MSNBC management: 

MSNBC Feedback: feedback@msnbc.com
MSNBC President: Erik.Sorenson@MSNBC.com 
Booking Unit Producer: cynthia.antoniak@msnbc.com

Soulless: Ann Coulter and the Right-Wing Church of Hate; (Susan Estrich)

Technorati Tags: Ann Coulter, MSNBC

BUSH LEAGUE JUSTICE VIDEOS: Dan Abrams Calls For Gov. Don Siegelman's Release From Prison

Dan Abrams once again tackles the Don Siegelman case in his stellar “Bush League Justice” series on MSNBC. Tonight's guests included Scott Horton of Harper's, former Alabama GOP operative Dana Jill Simpson and Governor Siegelman's daughter, Dana Siegelman.

Abrams and Horton opened the segment discussing the remarkable 60 Minutes blackout of the Siegelman story in Alabama on Sunday. According to the local CBS station the blackout occurred because of a faulty receiver. An incredulous Abrams then proceeded to make a mockery out of the laughable excuse:

“It's sooo hard to believe - the notion that a receiver, in Alabama, just during the Siegelman story, just during 60 Minutes - I mean, they got it resolved, right? Right at the end, just as the story is finishing up, right?”

After playing more of his interview with Karl Rove accuser Simpson from yesterday's show, Abrams made his first of many calls for Governor Siegelman's release from prison:

“But there are serious questions that should lead the Justice Department and the judge to, at the very least, release Siegelman while he appeals.”

Amazingly, Siegelman is unable to appeal his case because the government has failed to produce a transcript of the trial which was completed over 18 months ago.

Later Dana Siegelman tries to answer some of the many unanswerable questions regarding her father's case before flat out telling Abrams that the judge is “trying to keep her dad hushed as long as he possibly can” and that her father “knows Karl Rove is behind this.”

Part 1 (9:49)

Part 2 (2:08)

Note that my encounter with Karl Rove on Monday makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the segment.

Technorati Tags: 60 Minutes, Alabama, Bush League Justice, Dan Abrams, Dana Jill Simpson, Don Siegelman, Free Don Siegelman, Justice, Karl Rove

Tucker Carlson: Sex Lies And Hyprocrite

Tucker Carlson mashed up to reveal his usual self...

VIDEO MASHUP: Thought Control - The MSM's Role In Silencing Anti-War Voices

Cross-posted at Brad Blog

LET DENNIS KUCINICH DEBATE MASHUP: MSNBC Propaganda, NBC Censorship, GE War Profits & The Killing Of Our Democracy

In a promo airing on MSNBC Chris Matthews states that “politics at its best is a battle of ideas where one person with some guts and belief takes on someone else with some guts and belief and those who watch get to decide who is right”.

Unfortunately, those who watch the January 15th Democratic debate in Las Vegas will not see one of the gutsiest candidates since NBC recently revamped its own rules in order to kick Congressman Dennis Kucinich out of the debate. One can't help but wonder if this is because of some of Kucinich's ideas - bring the troops home now and vehemently anti-war - are anathema to NBC's parent company, General Electric (GE), which is also a large military defense contractor.

At a minimum, the exclusion of Kucinich certainly makes Matthews a hypocrite. As he says, “those who watch get to decide who is right”, not those who run media conglomerates. Should one feel inclined to ask Matthews to stand by his words and let the people decide, his email is hardball@msnbc.com.

VIDEO MASHUP: Chris Matthews Is A Lying Piece Of...

Chris Matthews takes his job of representing the establishment elite very seriously. That's why he was up in arms over the New York Times piece exonerating his boy, Rudy G., of any wrongdoing regarding the accounting in the Judith Nathan trysts matter. Matthews believes that the one-week long story might have cost Rudy 10 points in the polls and may ruin his chances at the presidency.

But, Matthews fails to exhibit any remorse when it comes to his eight years of propaganda filled coverage of Al Gore dating back to his presidential campaign against another Matthews favorite, George W. Bush. Throughout that campaign Matthews was quick to spread the ridiculous propaganda about Gore being a constant fibber and a prolific exaggerator.

As this mashup evidences, that entire line of propaganda pushed by Matthews and others was bullshit from the start and despite numerous articles proving such, Matthews has continued to promulgate his lies about Gore eight years after the fact. No where does Matthews show concern for contributing to Gore's loss in 2000 and the subsequent harm his antics caused the country via the Bush presidency.

But one should not expect anything more from the rank propagandist, outright liar and ultimate hack that is Matthews.

Bonus 'Bush League Justice' Segment On Tanner Resignation

Former DoJ attorney David Becker and The Washington Post's Dana Milbank joined Dan Abrams on MSNBC to discuss the resignation of John Tanner as chief of the voting section of the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department. Throughout their conversation all three repeatedly credit Tanner's ridiculous comments at the National Latino Congreso, which I caught on video and reported about with Brad Friedman at The Brad Blog, for his downfall:

Milbank: “This guy simply became too difficult to handle, not  necessarily because of the policies you've been talking about, but because of that one line.”

Milbank: “Let's remember, he was sort of abused before this committee in the House, they wanted him to come before this committee to explain his record, to explain the Georgia Voter ID law. The Justice Department wasn't letting him go. Then he let his mouth slip. Then they let him go. They weren't apologizing for the record here, they were saying, well, we're gonna have to cut him loose because of this one bad line.”

Abrams: “Right. And this is the line about saying, ”white people tend to live longer“.

Abrams: ”The bottom line is that it is this comment in conjunction with the fact that everything they have done in the voting rights section is consistent with a guy who says things like, “white people live longer”, and that's the reason this is significant.“

Becker: ”Yeah, it's nice that they are now, once they get caught, concerned about the feelings of voters whose feelings they might hurt...

Well thank you very much!

Bush League Justice Series

MSNBC's Live With Dan Abrams ran a four-part series this week titled, “Bush League Justice”, which investigated the administration's abuse of the Department of Justice to expand its power.

Day 1 - Bush Administration's Use Of The DoJ To Expand Its Own Power

The series began with a look into the “department's almost unrecognizable Civil Rights Division” and even includes a snippet of my infamous John Tanner video (without credit!) first posted and reported about on The Brad Blog.

Day 2 - Bush Administration's 'Unprecedented Use' of Signing Statements To Subvert The Law

A signing statement is a president's written interpretation of legislation passed by congress which accompanies his signature when he signs a bill into law. Bush has used signing statements almost twice as much as all the presidents that preceded him combined and has often done so to circumvent the law.

For example, in 2005 congress voted overwhelmingly to ban torture which Bush signed into law. However, Bush also included a signing statement which basically allowed him to ignore the new law.

Day 3 - Partisan Investigations and Prosecutions

Despite the overwhelming criminality of Republicans since Bush was gift wrapped the White House by the Supreme Court, Democrats have been investigated and prosecuted at nearly six times the rate of Republicans at the federal level.

Day 4 - The Controversial Prosecution Of Former Democratic Alabama Governor Don Siegelman

Evidence suggests that Siegelman, who remains in prison, was wrongly prosecuted by prominent Alabama Republicans with the help of Karl Rove.

Dan Abrams concludes the series by stating, “Now while this was the last episode of this series, our ”Bush League“ investigations are far from over. A new Attorney General has taken over. We are going to be watching very closely. The days of Justice Department malfeasance remaining under the mainstream media radar are over. You are on notice.”

VIDEOS: Bill O'Reilly Targets Mark Cuban In Latest Joseph McCarthy Act

Who needs Joseph McCarthy when you have Bill O'Reilly? O'Reilly's latest and greatest victim is Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban who, according to O'Reilly, should be imprisoned.

The original attack came Monday night, undoubtedly because Mark Cuban called the demagogue a “moron” in response to a Brad Friedman question at BlogWorld last week.

A mashup (5:08) of O'Reilly's attacks on Cuban on Tuesday.

Keith Olbermann puts the O'Reilly smears in context.

KO interviews conservative constitutional lawyer, Bruce Fein, about the legal b.s. being spewed by Bill-O.

UPDATE: O'REILLY ATTACKS CUBAN FOR THIRD STRAIGHT DAY

O'Reilly brings Dennis Miller into the ring to further his attacks on Mark Cuban.

MSNBC's Dan Abrams smacks O'Reilly good in just a half a minute (0:41).

UPDATE 2: KO KO's Fox 'News' and O'reilly

Brad has more.

Why Bush Invoked Vietnam On Wednesday

The real reason for Bush's insane Vietnam remarks Wednesday was to appeal to his conservative base in the run-up to the coming “Surge” debate next month. It is common knowledge among the far right loons that still support Bush that we would have won Vietnam if it were not for the hippies and liberal politicians that forced the country to pullout too early. Seriously.

Couple Arrested For Trespassing For Wearing Anti-Bush T-Shirts

Couple arrested at 2004 Bush speech for wearing anti-Bush speech awarded $80,000.

Who Is Classier: Porn Star Ron Jeremy Or A Conservative Talk Radio Host?

The Justice Department wants to keep a registry of all porn stars. This is absurd. More absurd is the conservative talk radio host, John DePetro, who MSNBC's Dan Abrams pits against adult film star Ron Jeremy to discuss the issue.  The guy comes off as a sleazy, pervert, hypocrite. In other words, just like a conservative talk radio host.

And while one would think it difficult to out sleaze a man that has appeared in 1900 adult films, DePetro does so with relative ease. As such, I couldn't help but mashup his ridiculous comments at the end of the clip.