Sunday Talk – Let’s Get Ready To Grumble!

While President Obama was busy laying out his agenda for the country this week, Republicans were busy CPAC-ing, teabagging, and generally having a gay old time.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

In fact, it’d be downright hypocritical of you to say that there was.

And, as all right-thinking Americans know, hypocrisy is the enemy of democracy.

Or something.

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CNBC Hoaxes America

It’s starting to look like we may all be victims of the biggest product placement ad ever staged, and the product being placed is pure right wing astroturf. In short, America may have been scammed by a collaboration between CNBC and conservative media consultants.

According to an article appearing in Playboy, CNBC’s “Chicago Tea Party” was a hoax planned well in advance of Rick Santelli’s trading floor meltdown.

But was Santelli’s rant really so spontaneous? How did a minor-league TV figure, whose contract with CNBC is due this summer, get so quickly launched into a nationwide rightwing blog sensation? Why were there so many sites and organizations online and live within minutes or hours after his rant, leading to a nationwide protest just a week after his rant?

What hasn’t been reported until now is evidence linking Santelli’s “tea party” rant with some very familiar names in the Republican rightwing machine, from PR operatives who specialize in imitation-grassroots PR campaigns (called “astroturfing”) to bigwig politicians and notorious billionaire funders.

If this article is correct, then CNBC has staged the news, not just a single incident, but a whole string of discussions and programs that have been at the center of CNBC’s programming since Santelli’s staged rant. And from the evidence — including the fact that the website used to organize the so-called tea party was created well in advance by the same right wing sources who orchestrated the Obama-Ayers story — it appears that at least some of those involved were in on the scam.

What we discovered is that Santelli’s “rant” was not at all spontaneous as his alleged fans claim, but rather it was a carefully-planned trigger for the anti-Obama campaign. In PR terms, his February 19th call for a “Chicago Tea Party” was the launch event of a carefully organized and sophisticated PR campaign, one in which Santelli served as a frontman, using the CNBC airwaves for publicity, for the some of the craziest and sleaziest rightwing oligarch clans this country has ever produced.

Maybe this is part of their new cost-cutting measures on CNBC. After all, it’s a lot easier to just create the news yourself rather than report it. Or maybe Santelli, whose contract is up soon, was collecting a paycheck from other sources than just NBC.

But if there’s any truth to this, more than an apology is going to be necessary.

Update [2009-2-28 23:56:22 by Devilstower]: An fuller explanation of the connections pointed out in the article can be found in whenwego’s diary.

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Open Thread and Diary Rescue

This evening’s Rescue Rangers are vcmvo2, a synthetic cubist, sunspark, noddem, shayera, and mem from somerville, with watercarrier4diogenes dipping the quill at the old editor’s desk

Tonight is yet another night for great dKos diarists, both well-known and newly minted. We invite you to enjoy the crew’s top picks from the last 24 hours (3pm to 3pm).

• Barth believes that we may just be seeing the start of an epochal change in American politics, one for which we can tell our grandchildren, We Were There. (sunspark says)
• ILLJustice reports on citizens in Arizona taking it to the streets in Rage against the Machine’s Zack de la Rocha Kicks off Arpaio Protest. (mem from somerville)
• Bcgntn examines the irony inherent in Republicans suddenly asking, “Where is the restraint in spending?” (a synthetic cubist)
• dilford provides a well-researched response to the latest fringe anti-Obama effrontery in A pushback to “Mayflower MUSLIMS!!!” (sunspark says)
• Avenging Angel sheds some light on The Republicans’ Faith-Based Free Agents. (shayera)
• In a state-by-state analysis, Nathaniel Ament Stone explains why the Redistricting Fights Start Now. (a synthetic cubist)
• In another installment of the series, TPau carries us on a jump forward from today’s reality to a possible future with Utopia 4: Movie Day. (mem from somerville)
• Casual Wednesday writes an informative piece on how the budget process really works in Earmarks: A rant about smokescreens. (vcmvo2)
• kellogg has some fun and gives us Obama Address to Congress in 14 stanzas. (shayera)

jotter has High Impact Diaries: February 27, 2009

carolita has Top Comments 2-28-09 — Stimulus Rejecters Edition.

Enjoy and please promote your own favorite diaries in this open thread (even if you’re the author! Here’s where that’s actually appreciated). And, of course, since it’s an open thread, PLAY NICE, OK? 8^)

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Sinking fast

So Bobby Jindal is locked in a close race with Sarah Palin for…most outstanding Republican liar. The latest chapter in his factually-challenged story about Sheriff Harry Lee: last year he told the story to a group of Iowa Republicans, giving himself an even bigger role in the yarn.

Even though his chief of staff has admitted that Jindal did not meet with Sheriff Lee until after the height of Hurricane Katrina, on Tuesday, he made it seem like he was a key part of rescue effort. And last November, he actually made it seem like he was on the ground, right there at the boat launch.

Here’s a video recap of Jindal’s lying ways:

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VA-Gov: Hazards On The Campaign Trail

Terry McAuliffe, to put it mildly, loves chicken waste.

Seriously. He’ll be the first to admit this: he adores the stuff, particularly in the context of converting it to fertilizer and methane gas, and subsequently an energy resource, with the end of lighting 40,000 Virginia homes on some of the universe most intolerably foul-smelling filth.

So one week ago, Terry McAuliffe set out towards the blood-red heartland of Rockingham County, Virginia (a county McCain won with 67% of the vote), to tread around in some fine country manure and chat with farmers and scientists alike about the potential to turn chickenshit into gold.

His visit to Rockingham County was announced that morning on the radio, so one intrepid conservative named Myron decided he would have some fun with the former Democratic chairman.

Seems that in order to get from the chicken-litter farm to the cow-manure farm (McAuliffe also likes cowpies), Terry McAuliffe would have to drive by this fellow’s house. So without an instant of haste, our man designed an enormous sign, hung between two trees, proudly proclaiming his home to be a

Checkpoint 4 Liberal Gun Grabbers: This Means You, Terry!

Naturally, McAuliffe’s car (a Chevy Tahoe hybrid), did indeed stop by. And as it turned out, Myron was not a typical protester (he is a political junkie with his own blog, Republitarian, which one assumes means “libertarian Republican”). Nor was Terry McAuliffe a shrinking violet.

Witness the exchange:

NLS? The guy who made this six-foot sign reads Not Larry Sabato? And read McAuliffe’s liveblog?

Apparently so.

McAuliffe ended up taking a picture with Myron and his family, holding Myron’s gun in his hands, with the anti-Terry sign proudly featured, at McAuliffe’s own insistence. He even gave him a signed copy of his book.

“Are you going to pay me a thousand dollars for that sign?”

“No! You pay me! I give you great press, man!”

The postscript is a nice touch for McAuliffe: Myron (who is apparently a really nice guy) wasn’t lying when he said he’d read the book.

I’ve been reading T-Mac’s book over the last several nights before going to sleep. I obviously don’t subscribe to some of his ideology, but I do find common ground with him on how you approach life in general, and that is to go WIDE OPEN and STAY POSITIVE.

I’ve always bored with a big auger and taken chances, and so has Terry. He’s just been a whole lot more successful…..

It’s doubtful that this episode swayed any primary voters, but it’s nice to see candidates – and activists – who don’t take themselves to seriously and can have a laugh with the other guys on occasion.

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Conservatives playing defense

You can debate the merits of bipartisanship, but there’s no debating the fact that Republicans have trapped themselves by allowing Rush Limbaugh to dictate their political strategy. Now, after the latest ad from AFSCME and Americans United For Change, some of them are doing their best to backpedal from the Rush association, but in this interview with conservative Amanda Carpenter, MSNBC’s David Shuster holds the GOP accountable for its record.

(There’s also a bonus reference towards the end of the video to Netroots Nation, which Carpenter calls “the Daily Kos conference.” And just to be clear for Carpenter, no, NN would never invite anyone as useless as Joe the Plumber to be an honored guest)

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The Radical Right Republicans at CPAC

The Wingers are on day three of CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference. Over the last few days they cheered when John Bolton talked about a possible nuclear strike on Chicago. They demonstrated that they’re still obsessed with Barack Obama’s birth certificate. And former Republican Senator Rick Santorum declared his wish that Barack Obama’s policies fail, which of course implies that he wants the country and his fellow citizens to suffer.

They’re sure a hilarious bunch, aren’t they?

Tonight their keynote speaker is the de facto leader of the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh. Count on our friend Rush to continue the conference’s string of great talks about bringing all Americans together for the common good.

To warm the crowd up for GOP leader Rush Limbaugh, the great folks at CPAC brought in another great American, Ann Coulter. True to form, Coulter’s engaged in such well-meaning hyjinx as joking about the possibility of mass destruction of American cities and Hillary Clinton poisoning Barack Obama. Yuk yuk yuk, that’s witty stuff!

What intrigued me, though, was not her answer to this question—where she calls for raising the voting age to 40—but the question from the audience:

“Consumers of…public school services.” That’s how the questioner sees public school students. Right there is one of the most pernicious assumptions of the radical rightwingers who’ve taken over the Republican party, the idea that we aren’t citizens for whom there are public goods, but that we’re merely “consumers” to be served by unfettered free markets.

Many of the assumptions of the radical right are based on that notion that we’re nothing more than people who buy things, thus marginalizing or completely repudiating the notion that we’re citizens bound together in numerous ways, including the shared costs and shared benefits of public goods (in the double meaning of that phrase) such as public schools, community and national security, a social safety net, regulation of the economy, laws that protect the environment, mass transit and just about every other governmental good that the radical right hates.

If we’re just consumers, as the radical right wants everyone to believe, government can’t or shouldn’t do anything, because the markets will eventually fix everything free of any intervention. However, as we know, our current economic crisis is deeply rooted in the Bush administration not meeting its obligation to oversee the economy and regulate markets in the interest of the common good. Government intervention, through prudent regulation, by providing a proper safety net, and when necessary, as now, through increased public spending to stimulate economic activity, helps ensure that markets and the economy can work for everyone.

The radical right that’s taken over the Republican party will do whatever they can to obstruct the work of responsible government. The beliefs that we’re not simply consumers but citizens, that the government serves citizens and not non-existent market forces that always bring about the best results, and that government can make markets and the economy function more efficiently and with benefits for everyone rattle the deepest faith of the radical right. But they GOP’s radical right also want Obama to fail because for many of them, what matters is not the good of the country, but merely the possession of political power. They want political power so they can dedicate government to unfettered markets, ostensibly on behalf of the all-powerful consumer, rather than to govern with a dedication to regulating and overseeing markets and the economy so that it serves the best interests of a nation of citizens.  

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Late afternoon/early evening open thread

• Dana Houle aka DHinMI will review James K. Galbraith’s The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too.
• Devilstower will look at Japan’s “Lost Decade” and what finding it means for our own situation.
• DarkSyde will profile one of the most exciting space misisons of all time with help from its Principal Investigator.
• brownsox will talk redistricting.
• BarbinMD will catch you up on the latest from Roland Burris … the Senator who gives new meaning to the phrase, “that statement is no longer operative.”
• There’s more to all those Bush administration midnight regulations than meets the eye. They weren’t all just sops to Bush cronies and to industry, but are rather a series of little land mines President Obama and the Democrats are going to have to maneuver through. mcjoan will attempt to map out some of their route.

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Sebelius For HHS

From the WaPo (and multiple sources):

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius accepted President Obama’s nomination to become Health and Human Services Secretary this afternoon, according to administration officials. Sebelius will replace former senator Thomas A. Daschle, who withdrew from consideration last month.

“This evening, the President asked Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to serve as his Secretary of Health and Human Services, and she accepted,” one administration official said. “The President will formally announce the nomination on Monday afternoon at the White House.”

Several Democratic sources said, however, that it is less likely the moderate Democrat will be offered the job of director of a new White House Office of Health Reform, a post Daschle had negotiated for himself as a way to increase his influence in the new administration.

Tom Daschle was uniquely positioned to serve both roles, so this comes as no surprise that Sebelius is the pick, and for the HHS position only.

Wingnut response should also be no surprise, but is of little consequence.

National anti-abortion groups promise a vigorous fight if President Barack Obama nominates Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as U.S. health and human services secretary.

Abortion foes said Friday an important issue is a reception Sebelius once had with a late-term abortion provider who’s now facing criminal charges.

Administration officials disputed the idea that abortion is an issue as to whether Obama nominates Sebelius. She is considered a leading candidate for the HHS job, although the White House has said others are being considered.

It’s tough to find middle ground in this debate when the wingnuts are so nutty.

In any case, Sebelius brings excellent credentials as former insurance commissioner and a Governor’s perspective on where HHS should be spending its money. Kansas is no stranger to natural disasters, so that’s a plus as well (anyone with that kind of experience has an innate appreciation for public health and government intervention where needed.)

The announcement will come Monday.

Added: the fact that this takes her out of consideration for the Senate seat in KS vacated by Sam Brownback says volumes about this administration’s commitment to health reform. And as far as the wingnuts in KS go, this is from the KC Star:

No surprise there. Sebelius is public enemy No. 1 among the Kansas anti-abortion activists because she consistently blocks efforts to place restrictions on clinics, including the one in Wichita that performs late-term abortions.

They can huff and puff about Sebelius but her appointment to the federal post would likely have no impact at all on abortion policy.

Obama’s not looking for a fight, but then again, not everyone in this country is reasonable.

Update [2009-2-28 18:59:43 by DemFromCT]: Why we love Brian Schweitzer:

A switch to national health care coverage will be tough, Schweitzer said. Sacrifices will be required.

“In Kansas, you’ll have to give your governor,” he said.

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Throwing big business overboard

DougJ notices that the party of big business has suddenly grown hostile to big business.

The days of pro-business conservatism are over now. The US Chamber of Commerce begged Republican Congressmen to support the stimulus package to no avail. Conservatives are actively rooting for the liquidation of automakers and banks, with “Let them fail” replacing “drill baby drill” as a rallying cry. And that’s when they’re not urging us to boycott Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Notes for supporting the United Pastry Jihad.

And while this might be a bit surprising, it’s really all part of the same pattern of a party who systematically has betrayed all of its allies.

Republicans once called themselves the party of Lincoln. Then they began to use opposition to Civil Rights as a staple of their “southern strategy”. They once described themselves as defenders of freedom. Then they started supporting wiretapping and the suspension of habeas corpus rights. They once called themselves pro-business. Now they laugh at American companies that face bankruptcy.

Another reason Michael Steele says no one trusts his party anymore.

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