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Maybe this is the debate you REALLY want to see…
The event will run 90 minutes and will be live streamed online on moderated by CNN’s E.D. Hill. This is going to be good!
Huffington Post is now reporting the debate will be on October 6 at 8 pm ET. There will be a fee ($4.95) for the livestream, with half the proceeds going to charity. HuffPo has a video of O’Reilly announcing the debate, and Stewart has also made an announcement.
Related articles
- Bill O’Reilly and Jon Stewart to debate (politico.com)
- Jon Stewart, Bill O’Reilly to Debate (abcnews.go.com)
- Jon Stewart to debate Bill O’Reilly on October 6 (piedtype.com)
- Fox News’ O’Reilly announces 90 min. debate with Jon Stewart (theblaze.com)
- Video: Jon Stewart to Debate Bill O’Reilly Oct. 6 (boiseweekly.com)
- Bill O’Reilly To Take On Jon Stewart In Mock Presidential Debate (m.deadline.com)
Racism raises its ugly head at the RNC…
“This is how we feed animals,” were the words shouted at an African-American CNN camera woman while throwing nuts at her at yesterday’s RNC session.
Two people were removed from the Republican National Convention by security and police. Multiple witnesses observed the exchange and the convention released a statement saying:
“Two attendees tonight exhibited deplorable behavior. Their conduct was inexcusable and unacceptable. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated.”
A CNN representative said:
“CNN can confirm there was an incident directed at an employee inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum earlier this afternoon. CNN worked with convention officials to address this matter and will have no further comment.”
No information has been released as to who the two offenders were nor what has happened to them
Related articles
- Two people removed from RNC after taunting black camera operator (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
- What Right Wing Racism? “This Is How We Feed the Animals” (littlegreenfootballs.com)
- 2 RNC Racists Taunt Black CNN Camera Operator, Throw Nuts (distriction.com)
- Black Camerawoman Heckled at RNC (theroot.com)
- Two Republicans Do Something Racist Enough to Get Them Bounced from the Republican Convention (slog.thestranger.com)
- Black CNN camera operator allegedly pelted with peanuts, told ‘this is how we feed animals’ at RNC (thegrio.com)
- RNC Attendee Hurled Nuts at Black CNN Camerawoman, Called Her an ‘Animal’ (towleroad.com)
- RNC attendee tossed for harassing black CNN camerawoman (rawstory.com)
- Report: Black CNN Camerawoman Had Nuts Thrown at Her at GOP Convention, Assailant Shouted “This Is How We Feed Animals” [Rnc Tampa] (gawker.com)
Moderators for Presidential Debates Announced Today:
And here they are:
PBS’ Jim Lehrer will moderate the first presidential debate on Oct. 3 at the University of Denver.
Candy Crowley, host of CNN’s “State of the Union,” will host the second—a town-hall format—on Oct. 16 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
CBS News‘ Bob Schieffer—who snagged the first joint interview with Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan on Sunday—will moderate the
third presidential debate, Oct. 22 in Boca Raton, Fla.
Martha Raddatz, ABC News’ chief foreign correspondent, will host the lone vice presidential debate on Oct. 11 in Danville, Ky.
Lehrer and Schieffer were both moderators in 2008.
Related articles
- Jim Lehrer, Bob Schieffer, and Candy Crowley will moderate 2012 presidential debates (insidetv.ew.com)
Two Quotes: What do Republicans think of Romney’s tax release stance?
“There is no whining in politics. Stop demanding an apology, release your tax returns.”
— GOP strategist John Weaver, calling on Mitt Romney to disclose his tax returns.
“If you have things to hide, then maybe you’re doing things wrong. I think you ought to be willing to release everything to the American people.”
— Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R), calling on Mitt Romney to release his tax returns.
Hey, Mitt… how about the returns for 2000, 2001 and 2002? Do they show your income from Bain Capital?
(Thanks to Taegan Goddard.)
Related articles
- Alabama’s GOP Governor Calls On Romney To Release More Tax Returns: ‘Release Everything To The American People’ (thinkprogress.org)
- GOP governor calls on Romney to release more tax returns (news.yahoo.com)
- Mitt Romney Says He’s Unlikely To Release More Than Two Tax Returns (lindaluke.newsvine.com)
- Romney says he’ll only release 2 tax returns (newsday.com)
- More GOP Calls for Romney to Release Tax Returns; Take a Look at His $77K Dancing Horse Tax Deduction (pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com)
- Romney says he’ll only release 2 tax returns (newsobserver.com)
- Romney: I had nothing to do with running Bain. I just owned it. Oh, and no more tax returns! (dailykos.com)
- MITT ROMNEY: I’m NOT Releasing Any More Tax Returns (investmentwatchblog.com)
How do we deal with American illiteracy?
Perhaps you are disturbed, as I am, that there are large numbers of Americans appearing in this political season who cannot interpret either the needs of the nation or the words of various experts in how to fill those needs. It is very apparent in the repetition by average Americans of things they hear from sources like Fox News, or even CNN and MSNBC, without evaluating whether they are true.
This has a lot to do with literacy, defined by ProLiteracy.org as “the ability to read, write, compute, and use technology at a level that enables an individual to reach his or her full potential as a parent, employee, and community member.” The statistics?
- 63 million adults — 29 percent of the country’s adult population —over age 16 don’t read well enough to understand a newspaper story written at the eighth grade level.
- An additional 30 million — 14 percent of the country’s adult population — can only read at a fifth grade level or lower.
- Forty-three percent of adults with the lowest literacy rates in the United States live in poverty.
- The United States ranks fifth on adult literacy skills when compared to other industrialized nations.
- In the U.S., 63 million adults — 29 percent of the country’s adult population —over age 16 don’t read well enough to understand a newspaper story written at the eighth grade level.
- An additional 30 million — 14 percent of the country’s adult population — can only read at a fifth grade level or lower.
- Forty-three percent of adults with the lowest literacy rates in the United States live in poverty.
- The United States ranks fifth on adult literacy skills when compared to other industrialized nations.
- Adult low literacy can be connected to almost every socio-economic issue in the United States.
- Low health literacy costs between $106 billion and $236 billion each year in the U.S.
- Seventy-seven million Americans have only a 2-in-3 chance of correctly reading an over-the-counter drug label or understanding their child’s vaccination chart.
- Low literacy’s effects cost the U.S. $225 billion or more each year in non-productivity in the workforce, crime, and loss of tax revenue due to unemployment.
Got the idea? How do you think the result of these statistics show up during the election season? Take a look:
This is not something that can be corrected in the short term… mores the pity. It requires long-term support of education and the increased employment of teachers. It mandates aiming the majority of our youth to college education as opposed to the military. It means encouraging reading and writing on continuing upgraded levels.
It also requires a massive reduction in the influence of current television programming, something that is the least likely to happen anytime soon.
Related articles
- ProLiteracy Urges President Obama to Remember Adults at Lowest Level of Literacy (prweb.com)
- Guest Commentary: Subsidized preschool in Denver is key (denverpost.com)
- Literacy Program Has Adults Reading, against the Odds (blog-aauw.org)
- Literacy Month: Know the Facts, Make an Impact (lulu.com)
- National Assessment of Adult Literacy (thirdworldliberator.wordpress.com)
- The NFECs’ Adult Financial Literacy Program Designed for Low- to Moderate-Income Participants Launches (prweb.com)
- You: Non-formal education stressed for prosperity (nation.com.pk)
- BOOK PREGNANT: The Importance of Literacy in My Life, and Yours (alenaslife.wordpress.com)
Newt’s dropping out on May 1st…
…according to CNN. It’s expected he will formally endorse Romney on that day as well.
Having come up very low in the five primaries yesterday, Mitt is looking at no more money to survive with and no viable reason to stay in the race (even though he promised not to pull out before the convention.
According to CNN, Gingrich is likely to hold his final campaign event Tuesday in Washington, D.C., where he will make the announcement surrounded by his family and supporters.
Pathetic Quote for the Afternoon
So whose fault is it that Newt isn’t on top of the Republican pack? Fox News?
“I assume it’s because Murdoch at some point said, ‘I want Romney,’ and so ‘fair and balanced’ became ‘Romney.’ And there’s no question that Fox had a lot to do with stopping my campaign because such a high percentage of our base watches Fox.”
Newt’s assumption, of course, is that Fox controls the Republican campaign.
A Fox News representative said Newt was just saying this because he is angling for a post-primary broadcast position at CNN. (Gingrich has already stated that he’ll be attending the White House Correspondent‘s Dinner at the CNN table… how about that?)
Did you hear this one from Santorum?
Source: Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire:
“You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who’s just going to be a little different than the person in there. If you’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk with what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate of the future.”
— Rick Santorum, quoted by NBC News, suggesting Republicans may be better off with President Obama than Mitt Romney.
This reference to Romney as the “Etch A Sketch candidate” is showing up everywhere today… on public radio as I drove to my morning meeting, in my search for political cartoons for Sunday, on all the TV news shows today.
Here’s my favorite political cartoonist, Mike Luckovich’s view of the Etch A Sketch attack (and a pretty accurate view of the results):
So let’s be clear. The Repiglicants get closer and closer to nominating Romney, but clearly he is a candidate they wish was not there.
I wonder what toy you would compare Santorum to?
Related articles
- Romney’s Etch-a-Sketch (bagnewsnotes.com)
- Politics puts Etch A Sketch back in the picture (newsok.com)
- Etch A Sketch Comment Paints Mitt Romney As A Flip Flopper (inquisitr.com)
- Etch A Sketch stock price jumps (politico.com)
- GOP boosts Etch A Sketch maker (cbsnews.com)
Quote of the Day – The Value of Donald Trump’s Endorsement
After Santorum won all three primaries/caucuses yesterday and Mitt came in really far behind, Donald Trump, who had claimed credit for Mitt’s Nevada win, told CNN he was puzzled:
“Rick Santorum was a sitting senator who in re-election lost by 19 points, to my knowledge the most in the history of this country for a sitting senator to lose by 19 points. It’s unheard of. Then he goes out and says oh ‘okay’ I just lost by the biggest margin in history and now I’m going to run for president. Tell me, how does that work? … That’s like me saying I just failed a test. Now I’m going to apply for admission to the Wharton School of Finance. Okay? He just failed a test…. And now he’s going to run for president. So, I don’t get Rick Santorum. I don’t get that whole thing.”
Looks like The Donald’s political expertise is somewhat questionable. Do you think Mitt won Nevada for some other reason than Trump’s endorsement?
Related articles
- Donald Trump Takes Credit for Romney’s Win in Nevada (slog.thestranger.com)
- Donald Trump cites bad hair for Mitt Romney’s Nevada win (dailykos.com)
- Trump: I’m The Reason Romney Won Nevada (businessinsider.com)
- Only In America: Piers Morgan on the power of a Donald Trump endorsement (piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com)
- Bachmann: I Was Perfect Candidate (newser.com)
- The mysteries of Donald Trump’s endorsement | Ana Marie Cox (guardian.co.uk)
- Does it matter whom Donald Trump endorses? (csmonitor.com)
Wow… an unexpected Quote of the Day…
I assume this was said in error… but there are many who say that such accidents let out the true beliefs of torchbearers.
“By the way, I’m in this race because I care about Americans. I’m not concerned about the very poor…”
–Mitt Romney, February 1st, 2012, while talking on the air to Soledad O’Brien of CNN.
You know, I believe his true beliefs actually came out here.
Here’s something for Memorial Day: Dance at the Jefferson Memorial and get arrested!
This happened last week. Did you know you can’t dance in a public place? Can’t kiss your girlfriend either.
Welcome to America.
I don’t usually give such coverage to Libertarians… but this is something that really bothers me. I don’t care if there are demonstrators doing what we really saw as demonstrating in the 60s and 70s… public spaces like National Monuments should be open for such demonstrations as long as there is no violence, no interference with others getting to go to or pass through the area, and no profanity or pornography, etc. This little police action… plus the shutting off of a Press camera (freedom of the press should extend to public places)… is more than irritating. It is frightening.
Adam Kokesh is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War and former US Congressional candidate from New Mexico. Adam has testified before Congress and has been interviewed on CNN, Fox, and ABC. As a Marine, Adam was sent to Fallujah in 2004 and received the Combat Action Ribbon and Navy Commendation medal as a sergeant. Kokesh attended graduate studies in political management at George Washington University and holds a B.A. degree in psychology from Claremont McKenna College.
A Quote for the Morning from Chris Hedges:
“The systems of information, owned or dominated by corporations, keep the public entranced with celebrity meltdowns, gossip, trivia and entertainment. There are no national news or intellectual forums for genuine political discussion and debate. The talking heads on Fox or MSNBC or CNN spin and riff on the same inane statements by Sarah Palin or Donald Trump. They give us lavish updates on the foibles of a Mel Gibson or Charlie Sheen. And they provide venues for the powerful to speak directly to the masses. It is burlesque.”
Read the rest of the article, The Corporate State Wins Again, on Truthdig.
Related Articles
- The Corporate State Wins Again by Chris Hedges (dandelionsalad.wordpress.com)
- “Power Concedes Nothing Without a Demand” by Chris Hedges (via Dandelion Salad) (reclaimamericafromthelunaticfringe.wordpress.com)
- As the world unravels before us, we have decisions to make… (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)
- Lighting your hair on fire (ticketpolitics.wordpress.com)
- Scheer, Hedges, Sirota, Gross and Tucker: Building a Powerful Left in the U. S. (dandelionsalad.wordpress.com)
In Case You are Gearing Yourself Up for Michelle Bachmann’s Personal Response to Obama’s State of the Union Message, Maybe you should take a look at her grasp on history…
We started learning about the Civil War and the ending of slavery around the fourth grade or so, and certainly we knew about Lincoln freeing the slaves by the time we entered high school. I thank Anderson Cooper for presenting this astounding look at Bachmann’s understanding of our history on CNN last night:
Are there conservatives out there who still support this dindong for the Presidency? She claims to be a leader of the Tea Party Movement and, frankly, I believe her.
Related Articles
- History Ignorance, By Michele Bachmann (lezgetreal.com)
- Liars Like Michele Bachmann Makes Anderson Cooper Feel So Unsexy (queerty.com)
- Michele Bachmann Rewrites History, Says Founders Fought Tirelessly Against Slavery (towleroad.com)
- Michael B. Keegan: Scalia Teaches First of Bachmann’s Constitutional Mythology Workshops (huffingtonpost.com)
- Michele Bachmann Erroneously Gives Our Founders Credit For Ending Slavery (alan.com)
- Dueling SOTU Responses, Cont’d (washingtonmonthly.com)
- Michelle Bachmann Has Released Her Own Budget (oliverwillis.com)
- Michele Bachmann to deliver Tea Party Express response to SOTU (hotair.com)
Most Americans want it, the Administration wants it, McCain doesn’t want it. Who’s right?
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Related Articles
- Majority of Americans support repeal of DADT except Tea Partiers/extremists and John McCain (crooksandliars.com)
- McCain attacks ‘inexperienced’ Obama for promising ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ repeal (crooksandliars.com)
- John McCain continues jihad against repealing ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ (dailykos.com)
- Sunday Late Night: McCain Blames Obama’s “Inexperience” for DADT Repeal Promise (firedoglake.com)
- Pentagon study shows gay service would not harm military (capitolhillblue.com)
Taking the Rap: Iranians Arrest Teenagers Across Country For Playing Rap Music and Using “Western Musical Instruments”
This from Jonathan Turley:
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Related Articles
- Young rappers arrested in Iran (cnn.com)
- Rappers Arrested in Iran [Video] (gawker.com)
- Lindsey Graham Makes The Case For Strike On Iran (capitolhillblue.com)
- Sean McBride: ThinkProgress ” Graham Calls For War To ‘Neuter’ The Iranian Regime (thinkprogress.org)
Polls in the East will be closing in a couple of hours…
…and then the television chatter will begin, especially on CNN, MSNBC and FOXnews. All of these stations started blabbering early today, pushing the polls and debating possible upsets and surprises. I’m not sure there will be any surprises, but that’s me. It would sure be nice if there WAS a surprise… like the Dems kept control of both the House and Senate, the Tea Party Crazies get voted down, or voter turnout meets no one’s expectations.
I’ll tell you one thing, this election season has made me much more of a Liberal (and I didn’t say “Progressive”.) But that’s me… I usually side with people who seem to be meeting a real challenge. Tomorrow I’ll be posting to this blog results and comments and
guesses as to the future… then we can start working on 2012.
As of now, I’m taking the night off. See you all tomorrow.
Related Articles
- High voter turnout predicted as polls open ()
- Strong Turnout May Be Democrats’ Last, Best Hope (crooksandliars.com)
- Night Watch: Already Reading Tea Leaves (thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com)
- Midterm election: At a glance (cnn.com)