Video

AlterNet Video

Just How Destructive Will Bush's Last-Minute Deregulations Be?
Posted by Staff, Democracy Now! on November 20, 2008 at 7:12 PM.

As the media focuses on President-elect Obama and the transition of power here in Washington, the Bush administration is quietly trying to push through a wide array of federal regulations before President Bush leaves office in January.

Up to ninety proposed regulations could be finalized by the outgoing administration, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment. According to the Washington Post, the new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era. They include rules that could weaken workplace safety protections, allow local police to spy in the so-called “war on terror” and make it easier for federal agencies to ignore the Endangered Species Act.

While it’s nothing new for outgoing administrations to try and enact these so-called “midnight regulations,” the Bush administration has accelerated the process to ensure the changes it wants will be finalized by November 22nd. That’s sixty days before the next administration takes control. Most federal rules go into effect sixty days after they’ve been finalized, and it would be a major bureaucratic undertaking for the Obama administration to reverse federal rules already in effect.

We speak to Matthew Madia of the watchdog group OMB Watch.

Ultimate Snub Fest: World Leaders Refuse to Shake Bush’s Hand During G20 Photo-Op
Posted by Ryan Powers, Think Progress on November 20, 2008 at 8:50 AM.

CNN’s Rick Sanchez highlighted yesterday that during last weekend’s G20 Economic Summit, leaders from around the world refused to acknowledge or shake hands with President Bush as they walked on stage for a photo-op. As Sanchez explained, everyone was “greeting each other and shaking hands, but Bush walks with his head down like the dejected most unpopular kid in high school.”

Home Depot Founder to CEOs: You 'Should Be Shot'
Posted by Michael Whitney, SEIU on November 19, 2008 at 6:40 PM.

In the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill in Congress that would give workers the free choice to form unions, we've seen some crazy hyperbole from greedy CEOs and their front groups who oppose free choice for workers.

Anti-free choice groups have thrown around tired union mob stereotypes, including actors from the Sopranos, bad "24"-style parodies, and photoshopped pictures in GOP election mail.

But next time anyone asks about "union intimidation," tell them to watch out for Home Depot founder and ex-CEO Bernie Marcus.

Thomas Frank in the WSJ this morning has the Home Depot Founder saying any CEO that doesn't contribute to Republicans opposed to Employee Free Choice "should be shot."

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Huckabee Claims Civil Rights of Gays Are Not Being Violated: They Aren’t Getting Their 'Skulls Cracked'
Posted by Ali Frick, Think Progress on November 19, 2008 at 7:38 AM.

On ABC’s “The View,” former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabe discussed his pride that an African-American has been elected president. When host Joy Behar asked if he feels the same about gay rights, he said that the two were “a different set of rights,” and suggested that the gay rights movement hasn’t suffered enough violence to be a real issue:

HUCKABEE: It’s a different set of rights. People who are homosexuals should have every right in terms of their civil rights, to be employed, to do anything they want. But that’s not really the issue. I know you talked about it and I think you got into it a little bit early on. But when we’re talking about a redefinition of an institution, that’s different than individual civil rights.

BEHAR: Well, segregation was an institution, too, in a way. It was right there on the books.

HUCKABEE: But here is the difference. Bull Connor was hosing people down in the streets of Alabama. John Lewis got his skull cracked on the Selma bridge.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Obama Sends a Strong, Clear Message on Global Warming
Posted by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly on November 19, 2008 at 4:06 AM.

A two-day gathering called the Bi-Partisan Governors Global Climate Summit convened this morning in Los Angeles, and Barack Obama made an unexpected video presentation, vowing a "new chapter in American leadership on climate change."

If you can't watch clips online, the Washington Post has a full transcript of the text, but I'd note that Obama offered unambiguous remarks on the issue, criticizing the federal government's recent failures, touting a federal cap and trade system, promising to "invest $15 billion each year to catalyze private sector efforts to build a clean energy future," and citing specific annual targets on emission reductions.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Bill O'Reilly Attacks the Entire City of San Francisco
Posted by Nicholas Graham, Huffington Post on November 19, 2008 at 4:00 AM.

Bill O'Reilly is scared. As a daring crusader on the side of "traditional America" in the war against "secular progressives," O'Reilly fears that the "far left" will push President-elect Obama to embrace their values. As an example of the horrors that would befall us if this were to happen, O'Reilly offers up a surreal pseudo-documentary of San Francisco. O'Reilly sends producer Jesse Waters, whose sole journalistic value seems to be his utter lack of shame at chasing after and ambushing anyone O'Reilly points his finger at, to San Francisco because it represents 'far left government' at work.

Watching this video, one would think that ninety percent of San Francisco's population are either homeless, addicted to drugs, prostitutes, crazy, or some mix of all these. The video is an unbelievable smear on a great American city. The only thing worse than the video's message is the production value. After showing the video, O'Reilly interviews Waters for insight into how San Franciscans can live in such moral and physical squalor. Waters basically says the citizens of Frisco have accepted, and adjusted to, the fact their city is a hell hole. Actually, the city is so beyond the pale that O'Reilly once said he wouldn't mind if Al Qaida attacked the city. Watch and judge for yourself.

Click here to watch it and judge for yourself.

Bush White House Flat Out Lies: 'We Did Not Torture'
Posted by Ali Frick, Think Progress on November 18, 2008 at 2:01 PM.

The Bush administration repeatedly insists that it does not practice torture: "We do not torture," President Bush declared in 2005. The U.S. "is not torturing any detainees," White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said last April. Dismissing a Red Cross report describing interrogation techniques that were "tantamount to torture," Bush proclaimed last year, "Haven't seen it, we don't torture."

Today, Perino took the Bush administration's torture denials to a new level when she insisted that it had never engaged in torture:

PERINO: This president has said that we did interrogate terrorists, and we did so to protect the country from possible imminent terrorist attack. We did not torture.

Watch it:

It is simply a lie to say that the United States "did not torture." Even setting aside the infamous Abu Ghraib incidents, Bush's own CIA director Michael Hayden confirmed that his agency had subjected at least three detainees to waterboarding. And as Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has explained, waterboarding is clearly torture:

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Senate Democrats Allow Lieberman to Go Unpunished
Posted by Staff, Think Progress on November 18, 2008 at 10:16 AM.

Today in a closed-door meeting, Senate Democrats voted 42-13 to allow Joe Lieberman (I-CT) to keep his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, despite his attacks on Barack Obama during the campaign season. Shortly afterward, Senate Democrats held a press conference during which they stood by Lieberman and surrounded him with their support. Some highlights of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) remarks:

– "We’re looking forward, we’re not looking back."

– "I understand anger. … I would defy anyone to be angrier than I was. But is this a time when we walk out of here and say, 'Boy, did we get even?'"

– "I am satisfied with what we did today. I feel good about what we did today. I don’t apologize to anyone for what we did today."

– "The question is, do I trust Senator Lieberman? The answer is yes, I trust Senator Lieberman."

Wanda Sykes Rallies Against H8: 'I'm Proud to Be Gay'
Posted by Melissa McEwan, Shakesville on November 17, 2008 at 1:14 PM.

"I am very proud. I am proud to be a woman, I'm proud to be a black woman, and I'm proud to be gay. And I love you all. Now let's go get our damn equal rights!"—Wanda Sykes, coming out at the Las Vegas Prop 8 protest and announcing she and her wife were married in California in October. (Via.)

I didn't think I could love her even more after she called herself a feminist on The Tonight Show; I was wrong.

Paul Krugman Schools George Will on the Great Depression
Posted by Staff, Huffington Post on November 17, 2008 at 9:55 AM.

On ABC's This Week, conservative pundit George Will took up the case against Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, arguing that it sent confusing signals to capitalists (who apparently might otherwise have pursued lucrative deals in the 1930s market place) and turned a depression into the Great Depression.

Thankfully, Nobel laureate Paul Krugman was around to remind Will of some history -- that the economy improved after the New Deal, and that it was FDR's attempt to balance the budget in 1937 (a move favored now by many conservatives) that then cut into that progress.

Watch:

Only One Day Left to Tell Your Senators 'Lieberman Must Go!'
Posted by ZP Heller, Meet the Bloggers on November 17, 2008 at 7:29 AM.

Our Lieberman Must Go campaign is gaining Joe-mentum! Over 1,600 people have already made a call to their Democratic Senators, requesting they take away Lieberman's plum Homeland Security Committee chairmanship this Tuesday, when Dems will gather behind closed doors to determine Lieberman's fate.

The press is also taking notice. Our own Communications Director Leighton Woodhouse explained what Lieberman Must Go is all about to The Connecticut Post:

"This is not about retribution or vengeance...This is about the fact that Lieberman has been very clear that his world view and agenda are contrary to the vision that Obama has espoused." 

The reality is that Lieberman spent the recent election actively campaigning against Democrats, most notably Barack Obama.  But as Leighton suggested, stripping Lieberman of his committee chairmanships is not about exacting revenge.  Lieberman has careened to the right on both foreign and domestic policy issues.  He has stood with McCain on everything from the Iraq War to fear-mongering about Iran to offshore drilling, and he has represented everything the GOP stands for by speaking at the Republican National Convention.  Rewarding him with a powerful committee chairmanship would be, as Sen. Bernie Sanders has said, "a slap in the face of millions of Americans who worked tirelessly for Barack Obama and who want to see real change in our country."

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Obama: Close Gitmo, Ban Torture to 'Regain America's Moral Stature'
Posted by Staff, Huffington Post on November 16, 2008 at 11:31 PM.

60 Minutes aired its interview tonight with Barack and Michelle Obama, they're first interview since Obama won the presidential election. In the interview, Obama repeated his commitment to close Guantanamo Bay and ban torture in order to "regain America's moral stature in the world."

The interview covered many other topics, including national security, the financial crisis, Obama's thoughts on Lincoln and FDR, and an update on the new First Dog.

From AP:

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Former G&R Guitarist Slash Shreds in Support of Gay Marriage
Posted by Lisa Derrick, Firedoglake on November 14, 2008 at 3:25 PM.

Guitarist Slash and his wife Perla Ferrar send out this message in support of marriage rights, created by by the couple and Scout Productions. Says Perla:

I married my sweetheart. You should be able to marry yours, too. So say no to hate and yes to equal rights. Keep up the fight ... Be loud, be proud and stand up for your rights.

 Slash and Perla urge everyone to go to JointheImpact.com and find out where to protest in your city tomorrow in support of equal marriage rights for all.

Join the National Day of Protest Against Prop 8
Posted by ZP Heller, Brave New Films on November 14, 2008 at 12:00 PM.

This Saturday, November 15, is a national day of protest against the recent passage of California's controversial anti-gay marriage initiative Prop 8.  Beginning at 1:30pm ET, people will stand up for the rights of the LGBTQ community all across the country.  

You can find out where your local protest will meet at Join the Impact.

Jon Stewart Mocks Bill O'Reilly for Unfounded Obama Fears
Posted by Staff, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on November 14, 2008 at 10:05 AM.

"You've got a 'no spin zone,' I've got a safe zone." Stewart tries to calm down Bill O'Reilly (who stayed for two segments) after Obama's win. Watch both segments, they're hilarious.

Watch part 1:

Watch part 2:

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »