LIBERADIO(!)

Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN, The Fightin’ 5th!) just announced that he and Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA, The Fightin’ 10th!) will introduce bipartisan, bicameral legislation that addresses the country’s long-term fiscal crisis. They will hold a press conference this Wednesday to discuss it, joined by Sen. Judd Gregg, U.S. Comptroller General David Walker and members of the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour.

Freddie wrote about the Tour back in July when Congressman Cooper brought the bipartisan members of the reality-based economic community to town:

The whole notion of the tour is that America is about to be hit by a fiscal hurricane. So top policy experts from both sides of the aisle have gotten together to let people know that our nearsightedness on policy issues should not continue.

The President’s response, of course, was to come to town a few days later and crow, “We project if we can continue to have fiscal sanity in Washington, D.C. that we’ll be in surplus by the year 2012.”

Whatev. We can only hope that this Wednesday Coop! (He lets us call him that. OK, no he doesn’t.) & Co. will offer us what they have spent the last 3 months crafting – legislation that addresses the Bush Administration’s out of control spending.

Citing security concerns, the NYC Police Department is refusing to allow Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to lay a wreath at Ground Zero when he attends the opening of the United Nations General Assembly next week. Although he’s obviously looking for a photo op, Ahmadinejad should be allowed to come to NYC and travel anywhere he wants – but without a security detail. I’m just saying…New York streets can be tough. And the press should ignore him too. I mean, really, if an Ahmadinejad travels to NYC and lays a wreath at Ground Zero and no one is around to see it, does it make a sound?

You probably think I’m talking about O.J. or Brittney or Phil Spector. Wish I were. I’m talking about faux legitimate distractions manufactured by right-wing talk radio with the goal of sucking in even the most serious of us. Say for instance, U.S. Senators. One would think the men and women of this lofty body would have better things to worry about than a newspaper ad. No. While people are dying in Iraq our Senators spent valuable time debating and then disavowing MoveOn.org for their rather silly, but ultimately harmless, General Petraeus ad. Seriously. Borsage sums it up:

It doesn’t matter what you think of the Moveon.org ad or title. Individually Democratic politicians can say whatever they like. But we’re trying to end a foreign policy catastrophe in Iraq. People are getting killed. Billions are being squandered. Our security is being eroded; our military weakened. Minority Republicans are blocking majority support for bringing the troops home. They are denying troops a guarantee of decent home rotations. That Senate Democrats would allow them to consume the time and the attention of the Senate and hijack that debate to vote for criticizing an ad by an independent group is simply craven and foolish.

And you would think the President of the United States would have something else to attend to:

I thought the ad was disgusting. I felt like the ad was an attack not only on General Petraeus, but on the U.S. Military.

But even he continues to play politics during this national security crisis:

And I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad.

Here it is in cartoon form:

And is it really a coincidence that the last three months have been spent glorifying Petraeus and his credentials? File under: You Must be Freakin’ Kidding Me.

Things like what happened this morning do nothing to quell the voices in my head. Freddie and I were supposed to be live on the air this morning at 8:00 on our new internet radio station. Unfortunately, our producer (moi) forgot to connect the audio board to my computer so what you herad was dead air. What you missed was a discussion about the Jena 6 and the Iraq war. What I’m hearing now is, “You Idiot!”

One of these weeks I’ll get it right.

From TCASK: Today Judge Aleta Trauger ruled that Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol violates the Eighth Amendment ban against cruel and unusual punishment. As a result, Judge Trauger’s ruling prohibits any executions in Tennessee under the new protocol, including E.J. Harbison’s which is scheduled for next week.

The state will most likely appeal the ruling to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, which means that this stay could be vacated in time for the exeuction to move forward. However, the ruling is a huge statement concerning the state’s problematic protocol and the way that the death penalty is administered.

Please call or email the Governor for two reasons:
1) Thank him for commuting the death sentence of Michael Boyd because of Boyd’s inadequate representation. The decision was fair and appropriate.
2) Tell the Governor that E.J. Harbison’s death sentence is also arbitrary and unfair, in large part because of inadequate representation. Ask him to grant clemency for E.J. Harbison.

Call Governor Phil Bredesen at (615) 741-2001 or email phil.bredesen@state.tn.us.

More details about the E.J. Harbison case can be found at TCASK.org.

For more information on the connection between the 8th amendment, the American penal system, and the recent prisoner abuse scandals at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay, listen to our interview with Colin Dayan, the Robert Penn Warren Professor in the Humanities at Vanderbilt and author of “The Story of Cruel & Unusual,” a powerful book takes a hard look at the dismantling of the prohibition of “cruel and unusual” punishment.

We all knew ’twas only a matter o’ time afore th’ Bush Administration sent someone out t’ attack former Fed chief Alan Greenspan fer makin’ nah-so-veiled criticisms in his new book, “Th’ Age o’ Turbulence: Adventures in a New World,” about th’ Bush Administration’s fiscal incontinence. Th’ chosen one? Dick Cheney, who had t’ do somethin’ t’ defend his buddies from his other buddy ( I know, ’tis confusin’) Greenspan’s astute observations

• On the Cap’n: “My biggest frustration remained the president’s unwillingness to wield his veto against out-of-control spending.”
• On politicizin’ o’ th’ budget: “Much to my disappointment, economic policymaking in the Bush administration remained firmly in the hands of the White House staff.“
• On th’ 109th Congress: “The Republicans in Congress lost their way. They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose.”
• On Dread Pirate Roberts’s (Cheney’s) Pet Project Iraq: “I’m saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows — the Iraq war is largely about oil.”

Without a glimmer o’ self-awareness, Cheney writes in todays Wall Street Journal

Alan tells of his first meeting with then President-elect Bush on Dec. 18, 2000, at the Madison Hotel in Washington. I recall this breakfast meeting very well, especially Alan’s comments on the state of the economy.

Interestin’ that he can recall this 7-year-ole meetin’ but can nah recall authorizin’ a clandestine visit t’ Ashcroft:

T’ be fair, though, he “doesn’t know” (as in, “I dunno who sent Joe WIlson”) more than he “doesn’t recall.” (12 times in one interview, arrrrrrrrrr!).

He also “doesn’t remember,” as in “I don’t remember wha’ I said in 1994!”

Cheney ‘n th’ Wench, who can nah remember th’ plot o’ her owns book, must ‘ave awesome grub natters (dinner conversations)!

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day! Convert yer posts from English t’ Pirate wit’ this handy dandy online translator!

Summary: Mary and Lonnie continue their discussion on how to end the war in Iraq and the abdication of Democrats’ responsibility in doing so. They also get a call and a seranade from Rob the singin’ truck driver and new friend of the show. Welcome aboard, Rob!

Listen: Petraeus’s Report, Part 2 (19.9MB, approx. 20 minutes)

Summary: Lonnie Atkinson fills in for Freddie and gives General David Petraeus’s report an “F” for plagiarism and his army record a “D” for deception. In an unexpected twist, however, Senate Republicans, get an A for asking the General just the right questions.

Listen: Petraeus’s Report, Part 1 (20.7MB, approx. 20 minutes)

Summary: Once again it’s time for the Media Matters for America Smackdown with Media Matters Research Fellow, Elbert Ventura. This time, the media pretends that some Iraq war critics are supporters and some Iraq war supporters are critics. Elbert tells us why and what effect it’s having on the mainstream media coverage of the news.

Listen to: The Bizarro World of the Media’s Iraq War Coverage (10.39MB, approx. 10 minutes)

Summary: In this segment of the show, Mary and guest co-host, Lonnie Atkinson, interview State House Representative Mike Turner of Nashville’s 51st district (the Fightin’ 51st!). Topics include Rep. Rob Briley, Gail Kerr, the death penalty, and innocent death row inmate, Paul House.

Listen to: The Fightin’ 51st! (14.13MB, approx. 14 minutes)