At South Carolina's Secession Gala, men in frock coats and militia uniforms and women in hoopskirts will sip mint juleps as a band called Unreconstructed plays "Dixie." In Georgia, they will re-enact the state's 1861 secession convention. And Alabama will hold a mock swearing-in of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.In the New History, we learn the real reason for the Civil War:
Across the South, preparations are under way for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. And while many organizations are working to incorporate both the black and the white experience, there are complaints that some events will glorify the Old South and the Lost Cause while overlooking the fundamental reason for the war: slavery.
Mark Simpson, commander of the South Carolina Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, acknowledged that an event such as the Dec. 20 Secession Gala in Charleston is seen by some Americans as politically incorrect. But "to us it's part of our nature and our culture and our heritage."See that? The War of Northern Agression was not about slavery as much it was about freedom!
"Slavery was a very big issue. Anyone who denies that has his head in a hole somewhere," said Simpson, a Spartanburg businessman who counts 32 ancestors who fought for the South. "But slavery was not the single nor primary cause, and that's where the line gets drawn." [emphasis added.]
Simpson said the primary cause was states' rights — the purported right of states to nullify federal laws and freely leave the Union they voluntarily joined.
The Obama administration's astoundingly counterproductive practice of releasing captured enemies is no way to fight a war.And:
A new report to Congress from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence says 150 of 598 Guantanamo Bay detainees released as of October are "re-engaging in terrorist or insurgent activities" or suspected of doing so, according to The Washington Times. And of those 150, 83 remain at large.
Catch-and-release consequences are deadly. Victory in the war on terror is less likely. Future terrorism is more likely. If this administration doesn't stop putting politics ahead of war's grim realities, it risks ending up with terror victims' blood on its hands.That's some pretty serious stuff, right?
As of 1 October 2010, 598 detainees have been transferred out of Department of Defense (DoD) custody at the U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (GTMO) detention facility. The Intelligence Community assesses that 81 (13.5 percent) are confirmed and 69 (11.5 percent) are suspected of reengaging in terrorist or insurgent activities after transfer. Of the 150 former GTMO detainees assessed as confirmed or suspected of reengaging in terrorist or insurgent activities, the Intelligence Community assesses that 13 are dead, 54 are in custody, and 83 remain at large.And now the part the Braintrust omits (btw, it's the very next paragraph):
On 22 January 2009, the President signed Executive Order 13492, calling for a comprehensive interagency review of the status of all individuals currently detained at Guantanamo Bay. Every decision to transfer a detainee to a foreign country under this review was made after a full assessment of intelligence and threat information. Since the implementation of Executive Order 13492 and under the enhanced interagency review process, 66 of the 598 detainees noted above have been transferred. Of those 66 individuals transferred since January 2009, 2 are confirmed and 3 are suspected of reengaging in terrorist or insurgent activities. [Emphasis added.]Wait wait wait!
I guess I picked a bad week to start sniffing glue because I could have sworn I saw President Clinton giving a White House press conference today on my teevee.
.
As the debate over the health-care public option heated up, a Fox News executive told staffers to change the way they talked about it. Howard Kurtz on the memo that echoed a GOP talking point.And guess how (and why) they shaded the "way they talked about it." The "why" first:
As the health-care debate was heating up in the summer of 2009, Republican pollster Frank Luntz offered Sean Hannity some advice.And now the email itself (from Mediamatters):
Luntz, who counseled the GOP on how to sell the 1994 Contract With America, told the Fox News host to stop using President Obama’s preferred term for a key provision.
“If you call it a public option, the American people are split,” he explained. “If you call it the government option, the public is overwhelmingly against it.”
“A great point,” Hannity declared. “And from now on, I'm going to call it the government option, because that's what it is.”
From: Sammon, BillOf course they are. Unless it's something from Andrew Breitbart or Glenn Beck. But that's a story for another day.
Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 8:23 AM
To: 054 -FNSunday; 169 -SPECIAL REPORT; 069 -Politics; 030 -Root (FoxNews.Com); 036 -FOX.WHU; 050 -Senior Producers; 051 -Producers
Subject: friendly reminder: let's not slip back into calling it the "public option"
1) Please use the term "government-run health insurance" or, when brevity is a concern, "government option," whenever possible.
2) When it is necessary to use the term "public option" (which is, after all, firmly ensconced in the nation's lexicon), use the qualifier "so-called," as in "the so-called public option."
3) Here's another way to phrase it: "The public option, which is the government-run plan."
4) When newsmakers and sources use the term "public option" in our stories, there's not a lot we can do about it, since quotes are of course sacrosanct.
Sammon's email appears to have had an impact. On the October 27 Special Report -- unlike on the previous night's broadcast -- Fox journalists made no references to the "public option" without using versions of the pre-approved qualifiers outlined in Sammon's and Clemente's emails.Of course the defense of Fox News gets it wrong. First the strawman of it being a "ban" on the term "public option". Look back at Sammon's email. No ban. No one said "ban". Execpt Kate Pickert when defending Fox. Hmm. Here's what she says:
Reporting on health care reform that night, Baier referenced the public option three times. In each instance, he referred to it as "government-run health insurance" or a "government-run health insurance option" -- precisely echoing the first wording choice laid out by Sammon.
On the same show, correspondent Jim Angle referred to "a government insurance plan, the so-called public option"; "a government insurance option"; and "a government insurance plan."
Here's what Kurtz and Media Matters fail to note: Most Americans did not understand what the “public option” was. The term, in fact, seemed almost intentionally non-descriptive. Scores of journalists asked me during the health care debate to explain to them what the public option was – and these were folks interested in the news and paying attention to the issue.And then after going through an explanation of what the "public option" would have been she concludes:
There's nothing wrong with saying “government-run plan.” That's what the public option would have been.Thus missing the point. It wasn't about what Fox called it. But why. Look back at what Luntz told Hannity. Calling it "the public option" people were split on it. Calling it "the government option" and people are overwhelmingly against it. By telling his staff to change the way they called it, he was framing the discussion. Away from supporting something the GOP didn't want supported.
“Today marks a lot of tragedy. … Tragedy comes in threes... Pearl Harbor, Elizabeth Edwards’s passing and Barack Obama’s announcement of extending the tax cuts, which is good, but also extending the unemployment benefits.”- Christine O'Donnell, speaking at the launching for her new political action committee, "ChristinePAC."
Better late than never? Yes -- but the newfound eagerness of Republicans vying for the House Energy and Commerce Committee's chairmanship to repeal the impending ban on incandescent light bulbs raises another question: What was Congress smoking when it banned them?Interesting question, no?
Another Western Pennsylvania community has buckled to the politically correct Nativity scene crowd. Canonsburg, fearing a lawsuit that taxpayers could not afford, has moved its creche, long displayed outside its borough building, to private property a few blocks away. The late Canonsburg native Perry Como surely is turning in his grave.It's not "political correctness" my friends. It's unconstitutional. As spelled out in County of Allegheny vs. ACLU which was a Supreme Court case from way back in 1989. According the decision, the Establishment Clause:
[A]t the very least, prohibits government from appearing to take a position on questions of religious belief or from "making adherence to a religion relevant in any way to a person's standing in the political community."Huh. I thought conservatives respected the Constitution. I thought they believed in what it said.
Some enterprising Pittsburgh women are leveraging their social "media" capital this holiday season -- or just hopping on a bicycle and smiling for the camera -- to help those less fortunate.The CHS Holiday Gift Project showed up on 2PJ here.
Five female bloggers are using their online clout to promote the Community Human Services Holiday Gift Project, which provides gift cards for people experiencing homelessness, mental illness, or both, so they'll have a little extra cheer in their day -- from a free Starbucks cup of coffee to a toy for a child to a meal at Eat'n Park.
The bloggers include Virginia Montanez at That's Church (thatschurch.com), Lindsay Patross at I Heart Pittsburgh (iheartpgh.com), Frances Monahan at Ms. Mon's Salon (http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/opinion/ms-mons-salon), Laura Miller at Secret Agent L (secretagentl.com) Sue Kerr of Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents (pghlesbian.com and pghwomenbloggers.blogspot.com), Brad Reichbaum at The Pittsburgh Comet (http://pghcomet.blogspot.com/), and Maria Lupinacci and David DeAngelo at 2 Political Junkies (http://2politicaljunkies.blogspot.com/).I have to clarify something. The decision to blog about the CHS gift project was the OPJ's entirely.
More people are out of work, working part-time or working in jobs that don't come with health insurance. Still more have been denied insurance due to pre-existing conditions. Now, those lucky enough to be covered through adultBasic are at risk of being kicked off their insurance early next year.
We cannot let this happen!
The folks on adultBasic are trying to do the right thing: they are working hard and buying coverage through adultBasic instead of turning to the ER and driving up our costs. All of these folks, their families, their employers or businesses, and their communities will be hurt if the clock runs out on adultBasic.
We fought hard all summer to keep adultBasic funded, and the Blues announced in July that they would continue their contributions through June 30th. Now, they're looking to go back on their word.
It's time to send a message to the Blues and our elected leaders that we won't stand by while time runs out on adultBasic.
If no additional funding is identified, 43,000 working Pennsylvanians will lose their health insurance in February and the 464,000 on the waiting list will have no hope of getting the care they need.
Join us to stand up for the hardworking Pennsylvanians who rely on adultBasic.
Republican Reps. Michele Bachmann and John Kline, as part of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, chastised President Obama for not portraying America as a more Christian-like nation to the rest of the world. In a letter on Monday, the caucus complained that Obama omitted the word “God” five times during his recent trip to Indonesia and called on him to correct the record.I'd love to know how they know he omitted the word five times. How many times have I omitted the phrase "separation of church and state" in this blog posting? Anyone have a guess?
The caucus wrote that Obama used e pluribus unum (“out of many, one,” in Latin) as the motto of the United States instead of “In God We Trust.” While e pluribus unum is part of the nation’s seal and has been an unofficial motto since the country’s founding, the group was upset he didn’t use “In God we Trust” in its place.
But I believe that the history of both America and Indonesia should give us hope. It is a story written into our national mottos. In the United States, our motto is E pluribus unum -- out of many, one. Bhinneka Tunggal Ika -- unity in diversity. (Applause.) We are two nations, which have traveled different paths. Yet our nations show that hundreds of millions who hold different beliefs can be united in freedom under one flag. And we are now building on that shared humanity -- through young people who will study in each other’s schools; through the entrepreneurs forging ties that can lead to greater prosperity; and through our embrace of fundamental democratic values and human aspirations.But let's look at the differing meanings of the two mottos; the National Motto ("In God We Trust") was made official in the mid-50s in order to differentiate the US from those godless atheists, the Communists running the USSR. The other ("E pluribus unum") is actually the motto of the Great Seal of the United States and dates back to the founding of the Republic:
Compromise is usually good. But when the people you have to compromise with don't want to compromise with you and just want everything (EJ Dionne described the Republicans' negotiating tactic as "What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine.") little good can come of it. Giving in to bullies only makes them bully more.
Think Progress on her legacy:
With her trademark courage, activism, and strong sense of justice, Elizabeth directly confronted the inequalities of the American health care system and the politicians who perpetuated them.
[snip]
Through congressional testimonies, public speeches, blog posts, and countless television appearances, Elizabeth emphasized the human and moral dimension of the health care debate. She pressed lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to pass a law that not only offered insurance to those who went without it, but did so at affordable rates. After all, nine out of every ten people who sought individual coverage in the current system “never got it,” Elizabeth reminded the protectors of the status quo. “People who have had cancer are denied coverage and those who get cancer run the risk of simply being dropped by their insurer for any excuse that can be found.” Elizabeth also highlighted the inequality facing women, who pay more for health insurance than men because they can potentially become pregnant.
Elizabeth was indispensable to the Democratic push for health care reform not only because of her persuasiveness and breadth of knowledge, but also because of her dedication to extending the health benefits she herself enjoyed to every American.
Last month, several Tea Party activists formed a right-wing coalition to oust Rep. Joe Straus (R) as Texas House Speaker. They began circulating emails with anti-Semitic messages against Straus, who is Jewish. The groups ran robo-calls and sent out e-mails demanding a “true Christian leader,” and calling Straus’ opponent, Rep. Ken Paxton (R), “a Christian Conservative who decided not to be pushed around by the Joe Straus thugs.”Thinkprogress then links back to the reporting at the Texas Observer.
When emails first appeared calling for dumping current Speaker Joe Straus in favor of "Christian conservative" leadership, Straus' more visible opponents initially dismissed accusations of anti-Jewish/pro-Christian bias. "I've never heard any one talk about Mr. Straus' religion," said Michael Quinn Sullivan, the head of Empower Texans and a vocal leader of the anti-Straus crowd. "There is no place in the speakership race for discussions of people's religion or lack thereof." Shortly afterwards, Straus' opponents took a new approach, condemning the emails and distancing themselves from the statements. "There is absolutely no place for religious bigotry in the race for Texas Speaker, and I categorically condemn such action," said state Rep. Ken Paxton, who's challenging Straus for the position.You can see the emails here.
It seemed like things had died down, until I obtained an email exchange Tuesday between two members of the State Republican Executive Committee—Rebecca Williamson and John Cook. After Williamson sent a fact sheet to SREC members defending Straus, Cook responded by dismissing her claims and saying that "We elected a house with Christian, conservative values. We now want a true Christian, conservative running it."
"When I got involved in politics, I told people I wanted to put Christian conservatives in leadership positions," he told me, explaining that he only supports Christian conservative candidates in Republican primary races.She continues:
"I want to make sure that a person I'm supporting is going to have my values. It's not anything about Jews and whether I think their religion is right or Muslims and whether I think their religion is right. ... I got into politics to put Christian conservatives into office. They're the people that do the best jobs over all."
Then our conversation somehow turned to history. If someone couldn't see the connection between Christianity and government then "you don't like our founding fathers," Cook said. "They were Christians.... Why would I not what to be like our founding fathers?"See? We ARE a Christian Nation! And in order to make sure our guv'ment more closely matches the Christian intent of our Christian founding fathers we have to make sure that only good Christian men are in positions of power.
Mayberry Sheriff Andy Taylor wouldn't have fallen for the dishonest TV ads in which the actor who played him, Andy Griffith, touted ObamaCare -- and surely wouldn't have cottoned to the Obama administration spending more than $3.1 million so self-servingly.Here's the initial "Sheriff Andy" posting from Factcheck and it says, basically, though not exactly what the Trib says it says. The important part:
Government documents obtained by Judicial Watch through the Freedom of Information Act show the Department of Health and Human Services spent $404,000 on production and $2.78 million on airtime for three such ads. The documents also show that a former Obama campaign spokeswoman worked on the ads for the public relations firm that produced them.
The first ad falsely claimed that senior citizens will have their guaranteed benefits under ObamaCare. In truth, benefits for about 10 million Medicare Advantage recipients will be cut by about $43 a month, according to nonpartisan FactCheck.org.
As we wrote most recently last December, about 10 million Medicare Advantage recipients could see their extra benefits reduced by an average of $43 per month, according to the Congressional Budget Office.While it's true that an average of $43/month is not exactly the same as about $43/month (though it's close enough) that's beside the point, I think. The gateway to the Trib's spin is Medicare Advantage. What is it, exactly?
A little background: Medicare recipients since the 1970s have been able to choose to receive their benefits through private health plans, rather than through the traditional, government-run, fee-for-service form of Medicare. Medicare Advantage is the most recent incarnation of this alternative. Republicans have generally favored these private options more than Democrats, and in 2003 the GOP Congress and president increased the amount Medicare paid to the plans to handle Medicare beneficiaries.So what does this mean? It means exactly what the ad said it meant. The guaranteed benefits stay the same - it's the extras (the ones that are increasing the cost by $156 billion of the overall program) that are being reduced.
At this point, government payments to Medicare Advantage plans are 14 percent higher per enrollee, on average, than the cost of traditional fee-for-service in a given geographical area, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. What do the plans do with the additional money? Often they use at least some of it to reduce premiums or cost-sharing for recipients. In some cases, though not all, seniors have been able to save money by signing up for a Medicare Advantage program.
But according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee, which is an independent congressional agency, the additional spending for Medicare Advantage programs – which adds up to billions each year – is hastening the depletion of the Medicare trust fund. It has also meant higher premiums for all Medicare beneficiaries, according to the Government Accountability Office, another nonpartisan arm of Congress. As GAO put it, "beneficiaries covered under Medicare FFS are subsidizing the additional benefits and lower costs that MA beneficiaries receive."
Long recognized as a possible source of savings – and mentioned as such by Obama during the presidential campaign – payments to Medicare Advantage programs under the House bill would be reduced over several years until they are equal to the costs of traditional Medicare. (Medicare payments are calculated by county.) The measure would reduce the growth of future Medicare spending by $156 billion over 10 years. The result, based on prior experience with tinkering with the payment formulas, could be that some plans decide to withdraw from the Advantage program, said Brian Biles of George Washington University’s Department of Health Policy in a telephone interview, leaving them to choose from surviving Medicare Advantage plans or return to the traditional Medicare fee for service program that currently covers the other 78 percent of beneficiaries.
"[Glenn Beck] teaches you how to become educated on things that really matter in everybody's life, especially your own. How you can make a difference in the world," said Rachel Kosko, 63, of Baldwin, who attended the show with her husband, Joseph.So according to Kosko, Beck's a much more reliable source for "what's going on" and certainly much better than the "news programs". To this audience member, Beck's a source for "the truth".
Mrs. Kosko, a retired religious director of education now studying at Duquesne University, said she is not bothered by the controversy and criticism that have surrounded Mr. Beck.
"He's the only person telling us what's going on. The news programs aren't telling us anything," she said. "When you speak the truth, you always get criticism. People don't want to hear it. They just want to believe fantasy."
Ginny Kathary, 65, of Franklin Park said she has attended Beck shows that have been simulcast and she wanted to see him live for once.But is what Beck says, you know, at all true? I am sorry to say that neither piece quotes much of what Beck said on stage - so I have no idea whether what he said there was true. We can only go by what he's said elsewhere.
"He gets in-depth into his knowledge of what he presents," she said. "He puts fact checkers on everything. He's just true to form, and I believe in him."
Radio host and Fox News personality Glenn Beck has likened Wilmington, Ohio, to Bedford Falls, the fictitious town in the holiday classic, It"s a Wonderful Life.It's such a huge un-truth that they gave it their "pants on fire" tag.
Wilmington, Beck said on his Nov. 22 radio show, is ground zero of the recession because it has lost about 8,600 jobs since DHL Express, it largest employer, pulled out in 2008. What makes Wilmington really special, he continued, is that the town refuses government assistance.
"It went from the No. 1 most up-and-coming city, and a city everybody wants to live in, to ground zero. And this town hasn"t taken any money from the government. They don't want any money from the government," he said on the show.
PolitiFact Ohio checked the facts and found it was a great tale, but not the truth.
Immediately after DHL announced the closing of its Wilmington air hub, elected officials at the city, state and federal levels began seeking help for DHL workers. The federal government awarded a $3.87 million national emergency grant to Ohio in November 2008 specifically to provide job training and other aid to DHL workers in Wilmington and the surrounding area. It was administered through the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The area has since received a second national emergency grant worth $4.1 million.But Glenn Beck, reliable source for "the truth" who "puts fact checkers on everything" he says, said exactly the opposite.
Wilmington and Clinton County benefited handsomely from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly known as the stimulus bill, that was passed in February 2009.
The tracking website for the stimulus program allows anybody, including Beck, to search by ZIP code to find the total money spent within the postal district.
Using Wilmington’s zip code – 45177, which includes the surrounding county – the site shows that the area received $7,009,811 in stimulus money through September
T. Corey Brennan, a classics professor at Rutgers University and current visiting faculty member at the American Academy in Rome, told Media Matters, "The triumviral period (from 15 March 44 BC down to Octavian's victory over Marc Antony at the battle of Actium in 31 BC) was one of the bloodiest and most deeply traumatizing in Rome's history." Roman history professor Ray Laurence, of the University of Kent, similarly stated by email: "This is way off. From 44 BC to 31 BC, entailed the most violent series of civil wars Rome had seen."And this from New York University classics professor and Roman history expert Michael Peachin:
But just for example: "without violence" is absolutely incredible nonsense. Augustus began his career as a mass murderer - just think of Cicero, murdered, his hands cut off and tongue cut out, and these nailed up on the speaker's platform in the Forum. He was only one of thousands proscribed: i.e., their names published in lists hung up daily, announcing that these people were sought, and that anyone who brought the person, or the person's head, would receive a reward. And then, a series of horrific civil wars.The ironical thing about the coverage goes back to Kosko's quotation.
Gov. Steve Beshear said Wednesday that a creationism theme park, expected to open in Northern Kentucky in 2014, would have a $250 million annual impact on the state’s economy.And:
Ark Encounter, which will feature a 500-foot-long wooden replica of Noah’s Ark containing live animals such as juvenile giraffes, is projected to cost $150 million and create 900 jobs, Beshear announced at a Capitol press conference.
“Make no mistake about it, this is a huge deal,” he said.
The project is a collaboration between Ark Encounters LLC, a for-profit company in Springfield, Mo., and Answers in Genesis, a non-profit organization that runs the Creation Museum in Boone County.Beyond whatever Chuch-State issues are present when an obviously religious project like this could be reimbursed $37 million in tax incentives, I want to take a look at what they're teaching in this "museum."
Ark Encounters plans to build the park and Answers and Genesis plans to operate it.
The 66 books of the Bible are the written Word of God. The Bible is divinely inspired and inerrant throughout. Its assertions are factually true in all the original autographs. It is the supreme authority in everything it teaches. Its authority is not limited to spiritual, religious, or redemptive themes but includes its assertions in such fields as history and science.And:
Scripture teaches a recent origin for man and the whole creation, spanning approximately 4,000 years from creation to Christ.Young Earth Creationism.
The days in Genesis do not correspond to geologic ages, but are six [6] consecutive twenty-four [24] hour days of creation.
The Noachian Flood was a significant geological event and much (but not all) fossiliferous sediment originated at that time.
The gap theory has no basis in Scripture.
The view, commonly used to evade the implications or the authority of biblical teaching, that knowledge and/or truth may be divided into secular and religious, is rejected.
By definition, no apparent, perceived or claimed evidence in any field, including history and chronology, can be valid if it contradicts the scriptural record. Of primary importance is the fact that evidence is always subject to interpretation by fallible people who do not possess all information.
The National Center for Science Education asserts that “students who accept this material as scientifically valid are unlikely to succeed in science courses at the college level.”Ignorance begets ignorance.
