In the wake of the Washington Post's article Sunday on John McCain's legendary temper, pundits, politicians and armchair psychologists alike are weighing in on the Arizona Senator's litany of f-bombs, fisticuffs and frothing. But while McCain spokesman Mark Salter called the Washington Post piece "99% fiction," one national Republican leader has already taken great pains to back up its account. Mitt Romney, the man who would be John McCain's running mate, in January decried "the McCain way" of uncontrolled fury towards friends and foes alike.
You probably haven't heard of the Dallas-based Trinity Foundation, but might be familiar with some of their work. The Daily Show's classic "God Stuff" segment with Joe Bob Briggs (a.k.a., John Bloom) was their brainchild. They also publish the Wittenburg Door: "pretty much the world's only religious satire magazine." They live in a kibbutz in one of the roughest neighborhoods in East Dallas, routinely taking in the homeless. But what they are most famous for is their (often sub rosa) exposes of televangelists like Benny Hinn, Paul Crouch, and the ubiquitous Kenneth Copeland.
Most of the hypocrisy they uncover is just plain funny, like the report in the Los Angeles Times that TBN founder Paul Crouch was (allegedly) having sexual relations with a former drug addict working at the station -- who also happened to be male. But occasionally, they come across a diamond in the rough.
Looks like they've got the Huckster in a bit of a bother....
The UK's Guardian is running a piece, "US journalists ignore Sunday Times scoop on FBI nuclear scandal," criticizing the US media for not picking up on the latest revelations by their competitor, the UK's Times, in the case of former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds.
The author of the piece is the Guardian's media commentator, Roy Greenslade, a Professor of Journalism and former Managing Editor of the Times. He writes:
It looks to me as though the Sunday Times has landed a genuine world exclusive that should surely have been broken ages ago by US-based reporters.
I agree entirely. Consider what any journalist in the US has known, or should have known, for years.
My pledge I will NEVER vote for any of my Representatives/Senators who does not take clear and decisive action against torture, waterboarding, and more recently, the destruction of tapes of detainees.
As some of you may have noticed representatives is plural, this is because I am currently a student and I have not decided in which district to vote yet. And I may be moving back there for Law School.
Also, this will be linked to my letter (I am writing this first) as a way to show them how I feel about this. Sections in italic blockquote are not part of my letter. Last, please recommend and/or comment, I want to show how many people care about this issue.
We recently learned that Republican Senator Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is investigating six prominent charismatic televangelists to determine if their lifestyles are consistent with the non-profit status of their ministries. Naturally the charismatic fundamentalists are all atwitter over this investigation.
I'm not a big fan of Charles Grassley, though I confess to having voted for him once on the basis of his service to his constituents. Senator Grassley has endeared himself further to me over the past few days by demanding the financial records of six televangelists. This is in response to a request filed by the Trinity Foundation, which has been collecting information on the god-mongers' opulent lifestyles.
Several weeks ago I became convinced that the President and the other Republicans' opposition to S-CHIP was on behalf of big tobacco companies.
Tonight I spent a few hours with some friends. While I participated in their conversation (I think) the truth is that I just couldn't stop thinking about the SCHIP veto. Why? Why? Why? Bush's veto hands Democratic opponents another issue. By Bush's standards, SCHIP expansion doesn't cost that much more. Purportedly the insurance companies and Big Pharma are on board and didn't oppose SCHIP. All day long I've been wondering...who got to Bush?
Then, a few hours ago, it hit me like a ton of bricks...the Tobacco Companies!
en. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has followed the lead of Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) in pushing colleges and universities to make greater use of their endowments — echoing a proposal of the New America Foundation. Needless to say, associations representing wealthy colleges have not reacted favorably. Several higher education organizations recently submitted testimony to the Senate Finance Committee outlining why their funds should remain protected. But do these arguments really hold any water?
Finally! I admit the August recess (and yes, I'm aware it's September 25) caused me to take my eye off this ball. It's time for a whirlwind reorientation, mainly an opportunity for me to catch up with what's been happening; I hope those with additional news, insights, and corrections will add those in the comments. So what's going on, these days, with the Farm Bill, which passed the House in July and is now on to the Senate?
First of all, timing. A lot of other things have been on the Senate’s plate this month, including the post-surge Iraq assessment. Poor Tom Harkin and his farm bill have been put off, again. Since the 2002 farm bill expires on September 30, a 30-day extension will be sought (for the time being, though further short-term extensions are certainly possible). Harkin still says he intends for the Agriculture Committee to take up the farm bill in the first week of October, before the Columbus day break. It’s unclear to me how likely that actually is.
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley tells us what to do next to override the expected Bush veto in the House. (The Senate has a veto-proof majority.)
Grassley said if he were the Democrats, he would send the SCHIP expansion to a vote every three months, along with campaign advertisements accusing Republicans of abandoning children. That way, pressure would mount either on Bush to sign the bill or on House Republicans to override the veto.
Farm subsidies Corporate Welfare, Dead Farmers get Billions, Corporations get millions and needy farmers get nothing but for Willie Nelson!
A week and a half ago I became aware of another corruptive program I never realized before because it was well hidden by corruptive Politicians. I keep seeing more and more related information and because of all the unfolding corruption and problems this is getting no attention and it should!
Having gone to an Agricultural High School I am a Farmer by Vocation in worked on and managed many farms. Struggling small farmers was to me normal and just thought that was part of the hard but fun life of today's farmers. That was before I served my country, became an accountant, then turned to writing the truth about Bush and the ever growing corruption.
Thinking that Farm Subsidies were out there to help average farmers, I should have known better but I was really caught off guard when I became aware that Washington spends more on corporate welfare than on homeland security and farm subsidies are America's largest corporate welfare program.
On Friday, July 8th, nineteen peace activists were cited for criminal trespass in downtown Cedar Rapids offices of U.S. Senators Harkin and Grassley just hours after 11 people were sentenced on the same charge for a similar event on Feb. 26.
I agree with the main aim of the Re-Occupation Project (getting out Iraq) but I stongly disagree with the means. Twenty people going to jail is not enough. We need millions of people to bear down on the Bush Administration. Write letters, march in mass numbers large enough to disrupt traffic, commerce and get in people's comfort zone. Flood Congress with physical proof, send them flowers for the dead and get their attention. Breaking the law won't work, you have got to get the law to try to break you, attack you, deny you your freedom of speech, assembly and human rights. Let America see it is own hypocrisy. We aren't fighting for freedom in Iraq. We can't because we are denying it here at home! Our army is dying in Iraq and people stage pointless sit-ins!
Never - and I mean never - underestimate the willingness of Beltway journalists to fabricate power-worshiping, politician-glorifying storylines out of thin air. I say that after reading the Wall Street Journal's piece today that describes a top U.S. Senator as "A plain-spoken populist [who] is a frequent critic of powerful entities, including big companies, that he views as putting regular people at a disadvantage." Is it a profile of Jim Webb or Bernie Sanders or Sherrod Brown or Russ Feingold? Why, of course not - it's an article about Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, who over his career has served as one of Corporate America's most steadfast allies in beating back almost every major piece of legislation that proposed to challenge the economic status quo.
Yesterday was a bad day for working Americans... the Employee Free Choice act failed to pass and cloture was invoked on the very worker unfriendly Immigration Bill...
