The Coming GOP War on Women

A war is coming.

Congressional Republicans have already made clear that their top priority, once they take control of Congress in the next session, is to make sure President Obama is a one-term president.

But there is a second priority that many Republicans in Congress, and in state legislatures around the country, have promised to pursue: the further restriction of women's reproductive rights.

As Mother Jones reported in December:

If you thought the abortion battle during the health care debate was fierce, just wait until Republicans take over the House in January. Strengthened by congressional victories in the midterm elections, Republican abortion foes plan to push hard in the new year. Their top goals: enshrine tough restrictions on abortion funding into federal law and defund Planned Parenthood.

The incoming Speaker of the House, John Boehner, is a staunch opponent of women's reproductive rights, with a 100 percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee. In fact, last year, he received the 2010 Henry J. Hyde Defender of Life Award for his “extraordinary leadership in the fight to prevent taxpayer-funded abortion and for his work to protect women’s health in his own state of Ohio.” After the November election, his staff held a meeting with terrorist Randall Terry to receive Terry's list of forced birth demands for the new Republican majority.

And then there is the selection of Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Penn.) as the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health. As the New York Timesreported:

The selection...presages a major shift on abortion and family planning, according to opponents and supporters of abortion rights.

...

Mr. Pitts was chosen last week as the chairman of the subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over private health insurance, Medicaid and much of Medicare, as well as the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.

In urging Republican leaders to choose Mr. Pitts, the National Right to Life Committee said he had “made the protection of the sanctity of innocent human life the cornerstone of his service in the House.”

Forced birthers acknowledge that even with the additional 45 seats they picked up in the midterms, it will be difficult to enact their desired legislation with a still Democratically-controlled Senate and a pro-choice president. But forced birthers have, in the past, succeeded in passing restrictive legislation with the help of even self-described pro-choice Democrats. In 2003, for example, the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act passed with the help of 63 House Democrats and and 17 Senate Democrats, including then-Senator Joe Biden.

And of course, who can forget how Democrat Rep. Bart Stupak held health care reform hostage in order to extort further restrictions on women's access to reproductive health care?

Last year, state legislators introduced more than 600 bills to restrict reproductive health care rights, dozens of which were enacted into law. Often, the laws are overturned by the courts for their blatant unconstitutionality, but that doesn't stop forced birth legislators from continuing to introduce these bills in the hopes that they will reach the Supreme Court and ultimately be upheld.

As the Washington Independent reported:

With a wide swath of state legislatures in the GOP’s control beginning in January, Republicans across the country will have a new opportunity to subtly create laws restricting access to abortion.

...

“They have so many things in their arsenal to use — starting with an outright ban on certain types of abortion procedures (saline abortions have been a favorite target in the past) to banning abortion insurance coverage in the still- to-be-developed health care exchanges, to preventing any state funding to go to organizations that provide, refer or support abortions, to overturning the Doe v. Gomez case, which provides funding for abortions for women on Medicaid,” Linnea House of NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota told Birkey.

Every year, the forced birth advocates invent ever more creative ways to chip away at women's rights to reproductive health care. Like the Personhood Amendment, which was on the ballot in Colorado in the last midterm election.

Personhood is a term that conservative groups have taken to using, arguing that life needs to be defined, essentially, at the most original point possible, starting with the zygote and calling it a person. The restrictions of such amendments like Colorado’s have major implications on a woman’s legal right to choose: If personhood were codified into law, not only would all forms of abortion become illegal, but stem cell research would be banned and women would no longer have access to certain forms of birth control.

The amendment was soundly defeated, but that won't stop legislators from continuing to push for personhood laws throughout the country. Such legislation is currently being pursued in 30 more states.

And then there are the fetal pain laws.

Abortion rights foes emboldened by a new Nebraska law that restricts late-term procedures based on the disputed notion that fetuses can feel pain after 20 weeks are pushing for similar legislation in other states, particularly those where Republicans won big in November.

National Right to Life held a strategy conference this week in Arlington, Va., to offer its state affiliates guidance for the 2011 legislative session. Indiana, Iowa and Kentucky lawmakers have already started drafting bills similar to Nebraska's law, and abortion opponents are pushing lawmakers in Kansas, Maryland and Oklahoma to do the same.

Forced birthers have already made clear their intention to use the new health care reform law to deny reproductive health care to women. According to the Guttmacher Institute:

In late July, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and some 165 cosponsors introduced the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. Smith argued that the debate over health care reform and its outcome made clear that "it is time for a single, government-wide permanent protection against taxpayer funding for elective abortion." His solution includes refighting the fight over health care to enact the Stupak amendment to essentially ban abortion coverage in exchange plans. He would further solidify the Hyde amendment and its progeny (affecting all women dependent on the federal government for their health care or insurance), by writing the prohibitions into permanent law, instead of their current form in which they must be—and are—renewed annually on the various relevant appropriations bills. The original Hyde amendment has been enacted annually since 1978; most of the other abortion funding restrictions spanning the federal government were enacted starting in the early 1980s.

The Smith bill would go even further, however, into uncharted territory. It would carry the argument against funding abortion to an extreme by preventing employers from taking a tax deduction for insurance plans that include abortion coverage. Moreover, individuals' premiums for plans that cover abortion could not be paid with pretax dollars. In addition, any costs incurred by an individual for an abortion would be disallowed under a flexible health spending account or for the purposes of a potential medical care deduction from federal taxes.

Even though President Obama has repeatedly stated his support for women's reproductive health care, he has already compromised on those issues. And given that he has made clear his willingness to compromise on even his most fundamental principles, there is no way to know what further compromises Republicans will be able to extort, should they decide to again take the American people hostage.

Despite Republicans' promises to re-dedicate the government to focusing on the "real" problems Americans face, it is abundantly clear that they are, in fact, dedicated to restoking the flames of the culture wars, with the battle to strip women of their reproductive rights front and center in that war. The real question is whether self-described pro-choice Democrats, including and especially the president, will have the strength to fight back. Because this is a war women can't afford to lose.

By Kaili Joy Gray | Sourced from Daily Kos 

Posted at January 2, 2011, 2:01 pm

Off The Rails: The Year In Fox News Misinformation

By , Media Matters for America Posted on December 31, 2010, Printed on January 3, 2011 http://www.alternet.org/story/149381/ As the year comes to a close, Media Matters offers a month-by-month look back at Fox News' most outrageous and factually challenged moments of 2010. January Hume Counsels Tiger Woods To Ditch Buddhism To "Make A Total Recovery." On the January 3 edition of Fox News Sunday, Brit Hume commented on the scandal surrounding golfer Tiger Woods: "He is said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, 'Tiger, turn your faith -- turn to the Christian faith, and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.' " Hume's attack on Buddhism was criticized by religious leaders, but endorsed by Hume's Fox News colleagues Tucker Carlson and Fred Barnes. Hume stood by his comments despite the criticism. Fox Hires Palin As A Contributor. On January 11, The New York Times reported that Fox News had hired former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a contributor who "would appear on the network's programming on a regular basis as part of a multiyear deal." Her well-established record of pushing falsehoods notwithstanding, Palin said that she would provide "the fair and the balanced reporting and analysis that voters in this country deserve." One of her first Fox News appearances was an hour-long interview with Glenn Beck on January 13 in which the two misled on the Federal Reserve, and Beck read to Palin from his diary. Fox Campaigns For Scott Brown. In the run-up to the January 19 special Senate election in Massachusetts, Fox News hosted Republican candidate Scott Brown several times for softball interviews and provided a forum for Brown to raise funds. Fox News personalities like Dick Morris made explicit appeals on Brown's behalf, telling viewers to "please, please help" Brown. Stuart Varney claimed that "your 401(k) could do well" in response to a Brown victory, and Bret Baier compared Brown's candidacy to the "Miracle on Ice." February Fox Campaign Season Heats Up. Following Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts, Fox began promoting more Republican Senate candidates, like Illinois' Mark Kirk and Florida's Marco Rubio. Several Fox News personalitieslikened Kirk to Brown; Fox repeatedly aired a National Republican Senatorial Committee attack ad on Kirk's Democratic opponent, Alexi Giannoulias; and the network gave Kirk a platform to attack Giannoulias. Fox alsoheavily promoted "political star" Rubio, reporting extensively on his fundraising appeals and speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference. On the February 1 edition of Hannity, Dick Morris solicited GOP candidatesfor Senate, which precipitated Republican Ron Johnson's campaign in Wisconsin. Fearmongering Over Health Care Reconciliation. Reacting to reports that Senate Democrats were considering using the budget reconciliation process to pass the health care reform bill and circumvent a Republican filibuster, Fox News adopted the GOP framing of reconciliation as a violation of Senate rules, undemocratic, and contrary to thewill of the people. Fox also falsely characterized reconciliation as the "nuclear option" to wrongly accuse Democrats of hypocrisy. March Open Activism Against Health Care Reform. As the health care reform bill moved toward passage, Fox News' opinion and news personalities engaged in open opposition to the bill. Fox news anchors agreed that the bill was unconstitutional and said they would vote against it, while the network's opinion-makers lobbied for the bill's defeat. Commentators like Dick Morris, Glenn Beck, and Mike Huckabee encouraged viewers to contact members of Congress and urge them to oppose the bill, and the network helped to publicize anti-health reform rallies. Fearmongering was rampant as Fox News compared the bill to a tumor and a nuclear weapon. Fox News also pushed misinformation and falsehoods about health care reform, falsely claiming the bill provided increased federal funding for abortion, promoting a non-scientific "survey" of doctors claiming they would leave medicine if reform passed, accusing Democrats of making "special deals" and offering "bribes" to ensure passage, andattacking the Congressional Budget Office's scoring of the bill. Glenn Beck's Fiascoes Multiply. Beck devoted his entire March 9 program to an interview with former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) after Massa claimed -- without any evidence -- that the Democrats had forced him out of the House because he refused to vote for health care reform. The hour-long interview did not produce any evidence of Democratic wrongdoing -- instead, Massa acknowledged that he resigned under allegations of sexual harassment. Beck concluded the program by apologizing to his viewers: "I have wasted an hour of your time." Later in the month, Beck went on a tirade against Democratic leaders, like Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who "wanted to compare themselves to the civil rights activists" as they walked arm-in-arm to the House health care vote. Beck screamed at them: "How dare you!" Lewis is, of course, an icon of the civil rights movement who marched, arm-in-arm, with a group including Martin Luther King Jr. at the Selma Civil Rights March. April Hannity's Tea Party Appearance Canceled. Of the many Fox News personalities appearing at tea party events coinciding with Tax Day, Sean Hannity drew additional scrutiny for the fact that he was set to tape an episode of his Fox News program at an April 15 Cincinnati Tea Party event and charge audience members for tickets, with proceeds going to the tea party group. Hannity's plan was criticized by veteran journalists as crossing ethical lines, and reportedly "furious" Fox News executives yanked Hannity from the event at the last minute. Earlier in the month, Rupert Murdoch, chairman of Fox News parent company News Corp., said that Fox News "shouldn't be supporting the Tea Party." O'Reilly's Fox News Defense Fails Spectacularly. Responding to Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-OK) suggestion that Fox News perpetuated the falsehood that individuals without health insurance can be sent to prison under the new health care reform legislation, Bill O'Reilly said on April 13: "[W]e researched to find out if anybody had ever said you are going to jail if you don't buy health insurance. Nobody has ever said it. What it seems to me is you used Fox News as a whipping boy when we didn't qualify there." In fact, that very falsehood had been repeated countless times across Fox News' many platforms, including on O'Reilly's own show. Dick Morris Invents, And Then Retracts, Clinton-Reno-Waco Story. On the April 19 edition of Hannity, Dick Morris claimed that Bill Clinton had told him that he had retained Janet Reno as attorney general because she threatened to "tell the truth about Waco." Morris explained that this story "had never been said before." The next day, Rush Limbaugh picked up Morris' story, claiming that "Reno's appointment to a second term as attorney general was to keep her quiet about the Waco invasion." One day later, Morris appeared on Fox & Friends to walk back the false story, claiming to separate "the facts" from his "conjecture based on the facts." May John Stossel Calls For Repeal Of Civil Rights Legislation. Echoing comments made by Senate candidate Rand Paul (R-KY), Fox News' John Stossel argued against the public accommodations section of the Civil Rights Act, which ended lunch-counter discrimination, saying that "private businesses ought to get to discriminate." According to Stossel: "I would go further than [Paul] was willing to go ... and say it's time now to repeal that part of the law." Stossel repeated his argument several times throughout the month, while Fox News' media criticism and news programs steadfastly ignored the controversy surrounding Stossel's comments. Crusading Against Justice Kagan. Not long after President Obama nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, Fox News began their assault on Kagan, dredging up a 30-year-old college quote to claim she has "written derisively about conservatives." From there, the attacks grew only more strident, with Sean Hannity leading the charge, suggesting Kagan was "just another radical," lying about Kagan's experience and suggesting she's a socialist, and falsely claiming she "kick[ed] military recruiters off of campus" at Harvard. Calling For Impeachment Over Sestak Non-Scandal. Reacting to news reports that the White House had offered Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) an unpaid position on a presidential panel if he chose not to seek the Democratic nomination for Senate in Pennsylvania, Fox News personalities falsely claimed that the White House had broken the law and "bribed" Sestak. Even though legal experts across the ideological spectrum rejected such claims, Fox News commentators suggested that the White House committed a "crime" that rose to the level of an "impeachable offense." June Giving Land Back To Mexico. On June 15, Fox News reported that a "massive stretch of Arizona [is] now off limits to Americans. Critics say the administration is, in effect, giving a major strip of the Southwest back to Mexico." The next day, Fox Nation reported: "Obama Gives Back Major Strip of AZ to Mexico." The claim was completely false -- the strip of land in question is part of a national wildlife refuge that, according to refuge officials, was closed to the public in 2006 -- two years before Obama was elected -- and is still very much under the control of the U.S. Border Patrol. Even after the story was debunked, Fox News continued to mislead, reporting that the land had been "quietly surrendered" to "Mexican drug gangs and illegals." Standing Up For BP. As the Gulf oil spill grew worse, Fox News led the conservative media in defending BP, attacking the Obama administration for "demonizing" the company. Many of the attacks were centered on a $20 billion escrow account BP set up, at the urging of the White House, to pay damage claims from Gulf residents. Monica Crowley attacked Obama for "continuing to villainize" the oil company. On Hannity, Newt Gingrich claimedObama was "directly engaged in extorting money" from BP. Stuart Varney called the account a "political slush fund" that was "Hugo Chavez-like." July Fox Hypes Phony New Black Panthers Scandal. A Media Matters report found that in more than 100 instances between June 30 and July 17, Fox News hyped the manufactured scandal that President Obama's Justice Department engaged in racially charged "corruption" in the New Black Panther Party case. The phony allegations, made by GOP activist J. Christian Adams, were largely promoted by America Live anchor Megyn Kelly and, following a familiar pattern, were picked up by non-Fox media outlets. Still, numerous media and political figures, including Fox News contributors and Republicans, have dismissed the phony scandal. Fox Assists Breitbart's Smears of Shirley Sherrod As Racist. On July 19, Andrew Breitbart posted a deceptively edited clip of then-USDA official Shirley Sherrod and accused her of racism. Following Breitbart's post, FoxNews.comran an article headlined "Video Shows USDA Official Saying She Didn't Give 'Full Force' of Help to White Farmer," before the USDA announced Sherrod's resignation on July 19. Following her resignation, Fox News programs amplified attacks against Sherrod. Fox News Senior Vice President Michael Clemente later admitted that a "breakdown" allowed FoxNews.com to run the story about Sherrod's comments. Prior to Clemente's admission, however, Fox aggressively claimed it did not cover the story prior to her resignation. August Fox Provides Megaphone To Park51 Opponents. A Media Matters review of Fox News' evening coverage of the planned Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero found that between May and August 13, the shows hosted at least 47 guests to discuss the project, nearly 75 percent of whom opposed the center. Over the summer, Fox Newsroutinely used anti-Muslim rhetoric and dubious arguments to attack the proposed center. 8-28 "Restoring Honor": Glenn Beck Honors Glenn Beck. On August 28, Glenn Beck hosted his heavily promoted "Restoring Honor" weekend in Washington, D.C. Beck's event was focused on one thing: Glenn Beck. Beck introduced a Beck-sanctionedclergy group that he claimed represented "180 million people," comically associatedhimself with Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, made outlandish claimsabout the impact of the events, and was praised as "one of America's most trusted and honored citizens." Beck's "non-political" rally was also steeped in politics. September Glenn Beck And Fox News' Anti-Semitism Problem. Following a pattern, Glenn Beckpromoted a book by Eustace Mullins, who has been described as an "anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist" and a "nationally known white supremacist"; the ADL called the book "a re-hash of Mullins' anti-Semitic theories about the origins of the Federal Reserve." In October and November, Beck repeatedly attacked financier and philanthropist George Soros with anti-Semitic stereotypes, referring to Soros as a "puppet master" and accusing him of controlling the media, the political process, and the global economy. Fox Calls For Repeal Of The 20th Century. In September, Media Mattersdocumented that since President Obama's election, Fox personalities have expressed opposition to or called for the repeal of virtually every progressive achievement of the 20th century, including Social Security, Medicare, the Americans with Disabilities Act, portions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the 16th and 17th Amendments to the Constitution. Fox News' Christine O'Donnell Problem. Following Christine O'Donnell's surprise victory in the Delaware Republican Senate primary, many Fox media figures coalesced around O'Donnell and took to bullying other Republicans -- including Fox News' Karl Rove -- into supporting her. O'Donnell, who was told by Sarah Palin to "speak through Fox News," reportedly said she had Hannity "in her back pocket" and a Fox source toldMedia Matters that O'Donnell appeared on Hannity after canceling on Fox News Sunday in order to "get a certain kind of treatment." October Kilmeade "Misspoke" About "All Terrorists" Being "Muslims" -- Twice. On the October 15 edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade claimed that "[n]ot all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims." Later that day on his radio program, Kilmeade asserted that it's a "fact" that "every terrorist is a Muslim" and questionedwhether "moderate Muslims" need to prove "you're not one of them." Kilmeade -- who, like his Fox News colleagues, has a history of bigoted and anti-Muslim statements -- later "clarif[ied]" that he "misspoke." Glenn Beck's Violent Rhetoric -- And Its Consequences. In October, nearly three months after Byron Williams was arrested on his way to kill "people of importance at the Tides Foundation and ACLU," Media Matters released "Progressive Hunter," a report from journalist John Hamilton, who spoke with Williams at the California jail where he currently awaits trial. In his interviews with Hamilton, Williams described Beck as "a schoolteacher" and said "it was the things [Beck] exposed that blew my mind." Beck has along history of using violent rhetoric to attack progressives and Democrats. November How Fox News Won The Elections. Throughout the 2010 election cycle, Media Matters documented how Fox News, its employees, and its parent company engaged in an unprecedented campaign in support of the Republican Party. The network served as the communications and fundraising wing of the GOP while fervently promoting -- and sometimes creating -- the party's candidates. Specifically: Fox Parent Company Donates $2.25 Million To GOP-Linked Groups. On September 30, Politico reported that News Corp. had donated $1 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Following the donation, Fox offered little in the way of disclosure. On August 16, Bloomberg reported that News Corp. gave the Republican Governors Association (RGA) "$1 million in June" and that News Corp. was "[t]he Republicans' biggest corporate donor" for 2010. The New York Timesfurther reported on August 17 that the donation "is one of the biggest ever given by a media organization, campaign finance experts said." On October 15, The New York Times reported that News Corp. donated an additional $250,000 to the RGA in July. In the weeks that followed, Fox often neglected to disclose the donation while reporting and discussing gubernatorial races. FoxPAC: Fox News Figures Raise Big Bucks For GOP. Fox News contributors Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, and Rick Santorum all raised tens of millions combined for Republican causes. Contributor Karl Rove ran a shadow Republican National Committee during the election that directed tens of millions to Republican causes and ran tens of thousands of TV ads. And contributor Dick Morris served as a one-man campaign for the Republican Party. GOP Candidates "Speak Through Fox News." Republican candidates took the advice of Sarah Palin, who advised Christine O'Donnell to "speak through Fox News," and participated in numerous softball interviews and fundraising pushes on the network. Fox News Builds Conservative Movement, Creates 2010 Candidates.Media Matters documented how Fox News engaged in conservative movement-building by heavily promoting and taking ownership of the tea parties and guiding them toward the Republican Party. The election also featured Republican candidates who were previously employed by, or inspired by, Fox News. More Than 30 Fox Newsers Support GOP In 600-Plus Instances During Midterms. During the election cycle, more than 30 Fox News personalities endorsed, raised money, or campaigned for Republican candidates or organizations in more than 600 instances. The Republican support was given to more than 300 different races or party organizations in at least 47 states. Media Matters found that Republicans routinely tout the Fox News affiliations of their supporters. Fox News' "Nazi" And "Socialism" Rhetoric Comes Straight From The Top. In a November interview, Fox News chairman Roger Ailes referred to National Public Radio executives as "Nazis" with a "Nazi attitude" and claimed that "[t]hey are the left wing of Nazism." As Media Matters documented, Ailes' employees at Fox News, particularly Glenn Beck, have also used Nazi and Holocaust imagery to smear President Obama, Democrats, and progressives. Ailes also referred to Obama's policies as "socialism." Ailes'opinion is shared by his Fox News employees, who regularly characterize Obama and his administration as "socialist." Lou Dobbs Joins Fox Birther Network. In November, Fox Business Network hiredLou Dobbs. While with CNN, Dobbs repeatedly advanced false conspiracy theories about President Obama's birth certificate. Dobbs has company at Fox, as his new colleagues have a history of embracing birtherism. In December, The Washington Postnoted that Fox is the "second-chance employer" for those who "ran afoul" of liberals, such as Don Imus and former WJLA (DC) anchor Doug McKelway. Andrew Napolitano Pushes 9-11 Conspiracy Theories -- Fox Is Hypocritically Silent. On November 23, Fox News' Andrew Napolitano told 9-11 conspiracy theory leader Alex Jones that it's "hard for me to believe that" World Trade Center Building 7 "came down by itself" -- a central tenet of 9-11 conspiracy theories -- and claimed that "twenty years from now, people will look at 9-11 the way we look at the assassination of JFK today. It couldn't possibly have been done the way the government told us." Napolitano made similar remarks in May on a separate radio program. Despite criticizing 9-11 conspiracy theorists in the past, Fox News was silent about Napolitano's remarks. Fox News' 2012 Presidential Roster. In November, Media Matters released a report estimating that between January 1 and October 31 of this year, five potential Republican presidential candidates who also serve as Fox News contributors or hosts -- Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, John Bolton, and Rick Santorum -- had appeared on the network for a combined total of nearly 66 hours. Media Matters estimates this time to be worth at least $40 million in advertising costs. Figures both within and outside Fox News -- including some of the potential candidates -- have praised Fox News as a helpful vehicle for a potential run for the Republican nomination. December Fox News Vs. The DREAM Act. According to a Media Matters analysis, Fox News gave guests who oppose the DREAM Act, a bill that would provide a path to legal status for certain immigrants who came to the United States as children, more than 40 minutes of airtime from November 23 through December 6, but only about 7 minutes to supporters during that same period. In November and December, Fox News regularly resorted to inflammatory rhetoric and false claims to attack the legislation. Fox Washington Managing Editor Bill Sammon Caught Slanting News Reporting.Media Matters released emails showing Washington managing editor Bill Sammon directing staff not to use the phrase "public option" when discussing health care reform legislation. The emails, which were sent during the height of the health care debate, echoed Republican pollster Frank Luntz's appearance on Hannity in which he encouraged host Sean Hannity not to say "public option," but instead use the term "government option," because "if you call it the 'government option,' the public is overwhelmingly against it." Media Matters also obtained emails from Sammon in which he instructed news staff to "refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period without IMMEDIATELY pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question." This directive was issued less than 15 minutes after Fox correspondent Wendell Goler accurately reported on-air that the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization announced that 2000-2009 was "on track to be the warmest [decade] on record." Sammon's email was sent as the network heavily promoted the fabricated "Climategate" scandal. Media Matters previously reported that sources with knowledge of the situation had raised concerns about the direction of Fox's Washington bureau under Sammon, who took over as managing editor in February 2009. — E.H.H. & S.S.M. © 2011 Media Matters for America All rights reserved. View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/149381/

We're Headed for a Major Battle with the Tea Party Crowd over the Constitution Itself

By Robert Parry, Consortium News Posted on December 31, 2010, Printed on January 3, 2011 http://www.alternet.org/story/149377/ Despite a few victories in the lame-duck session of Congress, Democrats and progressives should be under no illusion about the new flood of know-nothingism that is about to inundate the United States in the guise of a return to “first principles” and a deep respect for the U.S. Constitution. The same right-wingers who happily accepted George W. Bush’s shift toward a police state – his claims of limitless executive power, warrantless wiretaps, repudiation of habeas corpus, redefining cruel and unusual punishment, suppression of dissent, creation of massive databases on citizens, arbitrary no-fly lists, and endless overseas wars – have now reinvented themselves as brave protectors of American liberty. Indeed, the Tea Party crowd so loves the Constitution that the new Republican House majority will take the apparently unprecedented step of reading the document aloud at the start of the new congressional session, presumably including the part about enslaved African-Americans being counted as three-fifths of a white person for purposes of congressional representation. One also has to wonder if these “constitutionalists” will mumble over the preamble’s assertion that a key purpose of the Constitution is to “promote the general Welfare.” And what to do with Section Eight of Article One, which gives Congress the power to levy taxes, borrow money, regulate commerce among the states, and “establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization”? If one were to buy into the Tea Party’s interpretation of the founding document, you’d have to denounce such concepts as “socialism” and/or “intrusions” on states’ rights. Part of the Tea Party’s mythology is that federal taxes are an unconstitutional imposition invented by modern-day “lib-rhuls,” that the national debt is another new thing, and that regulation of commerce is outside federal authority. Surely, there can be honest debates about what’s the best way to “promote the general Welfare,” or the wisest balance between taxation and debt, or the proper role of states in enforcing laws when there is a federal interest (as with Arizona’s anti-immigrant “present your papers” law). But the pretense of the Tea Party is that the U.S. Constitution is definitive on these points and that the Founders favored today’s right-wing interpretation of the federal government’s powers, i.e. that taxes, debt and regulation of commerce are somehow unconstitutional. Another curious “reform” from the new Republican House majority will be a requirement to specify what constitutional authority underpins every piece of legislation, a rather silly idea since every bill can make some claim to constitutionality even if the federal courts might eventually disagree. But the larger truth that the Tea Partiers don’t want to acknowledge is that the Constitution represented a major power grab by the federal government, when compared to the loosely drawn Articles of Confederation, which lacked federal taxing authority and other national powers. The Founders also recognized that changing circumstances would require modification of the Constitution which is why they provided for amendments. Indeed, the primary limitations on federal authority were included in the first ten amendments, called the Bill of Rights. Subsequent amendments included the eradication of slavery and extending the vote to blacks, and later to women. Civil Liberties? Yet, while the Tea Partiers and the Right have embraced a mythical view of the Constitution as some ideal document that opposes federal power to tax, borrow and pass laws that improve “the general Welfare,” they have been less interested in the document’s protection of civil liberties, especially when the targets of abuse are Muslims, Hispanics, blacks and anti-war dissenters. Many on the Right have found plenty of justifications to trample on the rights of these minorities, even when the actions violate clear-cut mandates in the Constitution, such as the Fourth Amendment’s requirement of “probable cause” before the government can engage in search and seizure and the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on inflicting “cruel and unusual punishment.” Especially when the Right’s hero George W. Bush was violating those rights last decade, there were word games to explain the unexplainable. For instance, in 2007, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales argued that “there is no expressed grant of habeas in the Constitution.” But that was a point of sophistry since the Founders took habeas corpus rights for granted under English law and thus limited the reference in the Constitution to the extreme circumstances required before the government could suspend its need to justify a person’s incarceration before a judge. Gonzales’s game-playing was similar to the argument made by Tea Party favorite Christine O’Donnell during a Delaware Senate debate – that the Constitution doesn’t call for the “separation of church and state,” because those specific words aren’t used. The First Amendment does say that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” which Thomas Jefferson paraphrased as the “separation of church and state.” But it has become an article of faith among many on the Right that “separation of church and state” is a myth. O’Donnell later described herself as high-fiving her aides, thinking she had won the debating point. Many on the American Right also insist that the Founders created a “Christian nation,” even though the word “Christian” is nowhere to be found in the Constitution and the Founders pointedly set no religious exclusions for those serving in the U.S. government. One has to wonder, too, how the Republicans on opening day will read the Constitution’s prescribed oath for the president’s swearing in, which ends with a promise to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of United States,” without the add-on “so help me God,” which was freelanced by George Washington but is not what the drafters of the Constitution wrote. Leaving out “so help me God” might be deemed part of the war on Christmas. Radical Revision Curiously, too, while supposedly revering the Constitution and its original intent, the Tea Partiers and their Republican allies simultaneously are proposing a radical revision of the founding document, an amendment that would allow a super-majority of states to overturn laws passed by Congress and signed into law by the president. This neo-nullificationism smacks of South Carolina’s resistance to President Andrew Jackson’s federalism in the 1830s, a clash that set the stage for the Confederacy’s secession and the Civil War in the 1860s. The proposed Tea Party amendment, which is supported by many Southern officials including incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, could again wreak havoc on the nation. A New York Times editorial noted that because the proposed amendment "focuses on giving states power to veto (e.g., taxes) without their shouldering responsibility for asserting it (trimming appropriations because of lost tax revenue), the unintended consequences would likely be at least as important as the intended.” In other words, the Tea Party and the Republicans are positioning themselves as both fundamentalists embracing the Constitution's "original intent" and radicals determined to rip it up. Still, they are not likely to pay any price for their reckless ideas or their blatant hypocrisy. If we’ve learned anything over the past several decades, it is that reason and consistency have little place in the U.S. political/media system. What counts is the size of the megaphone – and the American Right has built a truly impressive one, while the Left has largely downplayed the need for making an alternate case to the public. As the Times noted, the Tea Party’s proposed 28th Amendment “helps explain further the anger-fueled, myth-based politics of the populist new right. It also highlights the absence of a strong counterforce in American politics. … “The error that matters most here is about the Constitution’s history. America’s fundamental law holds competing elements, some constraining the national government, others energizing it. “But the government the Constitution shaped was founded to create a sum greater than the parts, to promote economic development that would lift the fortunes of the American people.” The Times also noted the inability of the American Left to make a case for more government intervention to address the nation’s deepening problems, such as high unemployment and severe income disparity. The Times wrote: “In past economic crises, populist fervor has been for expanding the power of the national government to address America’s pressing needs. Pleas for making good the nation’s commitment to equality and welfare have been as loud as those for liberty. “Now the many who are struggling have no progressive champion. The left have ceded the field to the Tea Party and, in doing so, allowed it to make history. It is building political power by selling the promise of a return to a mythic past.” This means that we can expect the Tea Party’s myth-based assertions about the Founders’ intent to continue, along with the Right’s selective concern about the liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. When those rights are extended to non-white minorities, it’s “lib-rhul” activism. If the rights go to multinational corporations or white folks with guns, then that’s the way it was meant to be. Though the Tea Partiers insist that race is not a factor in their current fury against government power, they don’t explain their relative silence when Republican George W. Bush, a white man, was asserting unlimited executive power. But Barack Obama, a black man, can’t even get away with welcoming students back for the school year without howls about Orwellian totalitarianism. Even Michelle Obama’s well-intentioned campaign for healthful eating has become a target of anger from the likes of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and the Right’s powerful media machine. So, it seems the country is in for a new round of crazy while the voices for sanity stay largely mute. Robert Parry's new book is Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq." © 2011 Consortium News All rights reserved. View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/149377/

[w1]

I Love Keith but this a little much even for me!!!

@KeithOlbermann this stopped me in my tracks your a good sportcenter analysts ...but a leg tat! Amazed lol

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  dana l dillon3 hours ago

  @dlwdillon http://plixi.com/p/67532148 is this a girl or a boy? I love Keith but really!!@KeithOlbermann
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  tsumoi9311 hours ago

  @KeithOlbermann...I knew it Bill just has on a crush on you
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  cheetapizza13 hours ago

  eeh,..Kind of reminds me of a serious Gary Burgoff. (wolveman if unshaved?)
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  Spike Lou13 hours ago

  @deniesevrything http://plixi.com/p/67532148 its real seen it wit my own eyes very real Miami south beach
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  deniesevrything13 hours ago

  Photoshopped, to irritate him. He's not buying it people, move along...
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  CherInPhx14 hours ago

  @KeithOlbermann..Bet she lost a bet with OReilly.
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  Kathy14 hours ago

  @KeithOlbermann http://plixi.com/p/67532148 That can't be real. Who in their right mind would put that on their body. LOL!!
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  ChicoDelainky14 hours ago

  Keith, my mother has the same tattoo of u, on her chest.
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  ChicoDelainky14 hours ago

  Can she put a tattoo pic of Tamron Hall on the other leg,she's hot.
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  noxy_noxy14 hours ago

  What's all that bushy stuff at below your upper body-tatoo? lol.. btw - the actual image is fab.
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  ChicoDelainky14 hours ago

  Mount Rushmore has nothing on her.
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  Spike Lou15 hours ago

  @splendidhammer http://plixi.com/p/67532148 I took it on south beach a chick had it on her leg....

Obama signs 9/11 Health Bill

Added On January 2, 2011

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand reacts to the news that President Obama signed the 9/11 health bill into law.

Issa: Tough GOP Oversight Shrinks Government, Fosters Jobs Growth

oversightandreform | January 02, 2011 
Incoming GOP Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) previewed the tough oversight and spending accountability American taxpayers deserve...and will be delivered by the new House Republican Majority in Congress.

Issa: Cut the Wasteful Spending, Let Economy Flourish and Grow American Jobs

The incoming Oversight Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) outlines a responsible Oversight agenda for the next Congress that focuses its energy on eliminating waste in the bloated federal bureaucracy and restoring certainty and predictability that American jobs' growth needs.