Graph proving Obama is the best President since McKinley....

...at killing pirates. Suck on this Taft.

(Jamie Mottram)

Homeland Security warns of right-wing terror; Hannity attacked by fellow wingnut

The Department of Homeland Security - the group that was created after 9/11 to prevent us from MORE 9/11 - has warned "that home foreclosures, unemployment and other consequences of the economic recession "could create a fertile recruiting environment for right-wing extremists"..." (Reuters summary here, report in PDF here)

Rightwing extremists are harnessing this historical election as a recruitment tool. Many rightwing extremists are antagonistic toward the new presidential administration and its perceived stance on a range of issues - DHS report, pg 3

At what point, exactly, will we realize that this crazy rhetoric being peddled by Beck, Hannity, et. al, and started by Santelli (who has crawled under a rock and hidden since) is dangerous? Free speech is fine, but when you're crossing the line to hate speech that could result in violence, then it's no longer a First Amendment issue. It's yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater.

And when Bernie Goldberg, who has gone so far off the reservation that he can't even see sane anymore, is telling Sean Hannity that he's gone too far - well, that's when you know you've gone waaaay too far. This is like Idi Amin advising someone to ease up on the killing.

"I don't want to put Barack Obama on Mount Rushmore for simply being the commander-in-chief, but we have to stop going out of our way to find fault with every single thing he does.

If something bad happened here, and thank God it didn't, but if something bad happened here, I'll guarantee you, I'll tell you who would be leading the crusade against him: You. And you may have been right, if something bad happened, you may have said this is because he's seen as soft and they took advantage of him. You might have been right. But it didn't. Look, Sean, the good guy is alive and well. The bad guys are dead. That's all good. It happened on Barack Obama's watch. He gets the credit." - Bernie Goldberg

And of course, wingnut supreme Michelle Malkin is shocked - SHOCKED! - that the DHS report could possibly be referring to her. In fact, now it's an Obama-led hitjob on conservatives who have been doing nothing - NOTHING! - wrong.

****UPDATE****
Glenn Greenwald comments on the Malkin outrage:

When you cheer on a Surveillance State, you have no grounds to complain when it turns its eyes on you. If you create a massive and wildly empowered domestic surveillance apparatus, it's going to monitor and investigate domestic political activity. That's its nature. [...]

As the National Review/Bush-following-Right has been telling us for years now, there's nothing to worry about if you've done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide.

Especially since the U.S. News reported in 2005: "In the 10 years since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing killed 168 people, roughly 60 right-wing terrorist plots have been uncovered in the United States, according to an upcoming report by the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project. The plots, all foiled by law enforcement, reportedly included violent plans by antigovernment militia groups, racist skinhead organizations, and Ku Klux Klan members to use various types of chemical bombs and other weapons."

Shuster gets saucy about teabagging

On Monday night's Countdown, David Shuster and Lawrence O'Donnell started their own comedy team, trotting out their own teabagging material.

The resulting conversation was none too subtle thanks to the use of words like: "lick," "teabag mouthpieces," "nutshell," "uprising," "firm," and "David Vitter" who has "tight lips." It just goes on and on. And yes, props for this line, David Shuster:

And in Cavuto's defense, if you are planning simultaneous tea bagging all around the country, you're going to need a Dick Armey.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

R.I.P. Harry Kalas

I met Harry several times as a kid. He was the same guy out of the booth as he was in it.

"Therrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre's young Misssssssster Waaaaaaaaaaade". He made me feel like a million bucks 1) because he remembered me, and he remembered everyone and 2) because he not only said my name but CALLED it, like I had just hit a home run.

The thrill of my life was being (re)introduced to #20 but by Harry. "Mr. Wade, do you know this guy? Say hello to Michael...... Jack..... Schmidt."

Rest in peace Harry. And say hi to Whitey Ashburn.

CSN tribute to Harry Kalas, check out the call of Schmidt's 500th, around the 4:50 mark. Full screen it:



and.... The Call

The Onion: Prison Economy Spirals As Price Of Pack Of Cigarettes Surpasses Two Hand Jobs

The fruits of Glenn Beck's labor

(Bob Cesca)

A reader sent along the following very disturbing comment from Glenn Beck's 9-12 Project website:

These are the kinds of maniacs who hear calls for battle -- calls to be "armed and dangerous" -- calls to "drive stakes through the hearts of bloodsuckers" -- and take them literally. Beck has to know that his audience includes these sorts of militant jingoists with itchy trigger fingers. And therefore, he has an obligation to be more responsible with his crazy show. Meanwhile, I seriously hope the FBI and Secret Service are keeping an eye on "bulldogusmc".

Douchebaggery: new commerical paints gay marriage as dangerous to..... well, everything

This TV ad from the National Organization for Marriage, running on your favorite cable news channels, paints gay marriage as an oppressive Death Star, squishing out all forms of god, mom and apple pie.

Since when did 5% of the population become a threat to the other 95%?

GOP accuses Gates of slashing budget by adding $21 billion

The GOP is accusing Obama Defense Secretary (a Bush administration holdover) of slashing the budget like a nubile teen at Camp Crystal Lake. The only problem is that while Gates HAS cut useless and/or underperforming weapons systems, he has increased the size of the defense budget by $21 billion. With a "B".

How is that a cut?

Fox helpfully provides "context"


CNN sets it straight


Colbert explains:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
ThreatDown - Robert Gates, Dog Seders & Obama
colbertnation.com