Pat Buchanan Off The Deep End And Nuremberg Nazi Nome In The News
A wise old Irishman once told me that most often arguments are merely the results of lies or differences in perspective, such as a short person on a packed elevator on a hot day has a different perspective than someone tall. I’m short and my perspective on this week’s Sotomayor confirmation hearings was that they smelled bad.
If I had any doubts about the problem after listening to the verbal venom of the “Three Blusterteers”, Sessions, Graham and Grassley; Pat Buchanan made the source of the stench crystal clear last night when he got bitch slapped by Rachael Maddow.
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Rachel Maddow got into a fierce argument with Pat Buchanan about affirmative action and the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor on Thursday night.
The epic battle included accusations, interruptions, and strong feelings with Maddow incredulous that Buchanan could not bring himself to admit that discrimination might play a part in the fact that 108 out of 110 U.S. Supreme Court justices have been white.
Buchanan said he considered Sotomayor unqualified and called her an "affirmative-action appointment" by Obama. When Maddow pressed him on why he was critical of affirmative action, Buchanan launched into a vigorous defense of whites who have been discriminated against.
When asked why the overwhelming majority of justices have been white, Buchanan declined to explicitly cite discrimination, but explained that "White men were 100% of the people that wrote the Constitution, 100% of the people that signed the Declaration of Independence, 100% of the people who died at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, probably close to 100% of the people who died at Normandy. This has been a country built basically by white folks, who were 90% of the nation in 1960 when I was growing up and the other 10% were African-Americans who had been discriminated against. That's why."
When Maddow asked whether the reason that 108 out of 110 justice were white is because "white people deserved to have those positions," Buchanan answered: "A lot of people get up there for a lot of reasons."
An incredulous Maddow continued: "I would hope that you would see that picking 108 out of 110 white justices of the Supreme Court means that other people are not being appropriately considered... and the reason we have affirmative action is you recognize that the fact that people were discriminated against for hundreds of years means that you sort of gamed the system unless you give other people a leg up..."
When Buchanan began to interrupt her, Maddow said, "Hold on, I let you talk for a long time."
Later, Buchanan compared the historically white make-up of the Supreme Court to an all-black track team or all-white hockey team, asking Maddow, "Why do you assume discrimination simply because you got one component on the Supreme Court... Where's the genius who is a woman who you think is a genius? Go for her..."
When Buchanan referenced the white firefighters who Sotomayor ruled against in a court ruling, claiming that they "are victims of that evil affirmative action," Maddow replied, "I couldn't disagree with you more."
Later, Buchanan attacked Maddow for being out of touch and seemed to slam judges who support affirmative action when he stated, "You know what they ought to do? They ought to defend the rights of white working-class folks."
Maddow cut him off and snapped, "I don't need a lecture from you about whether or not I know, what I think about working class Americans... For you to privilege race... and say that what we need to tap politically is white people's racial grievance, you're playing with fire and dating yourself."
GOP to Hispanics: Go Screw Yourselves
Jon Stewart has some advice for the folks over at "Fox & Friends:
"If you're just going to make shit up about what happened, maybe you shouldn't do it while the videotape that contradicts you is playing."
Obama threw out the first pitch at the All Star game earlier in the week and the team over at Fox News declared that the catcher had to dig the ball "out of the dirt," when the catcher clearly caught it in the air.
For good measure Stewart also mocked MSNBC's coverage of the event, joking that they showed the catcher being blown back five feet in the air by the president's throw.
Early Morning Update
Obama Should 'Reset' His Presidency - Ted Van Dyk, Wall Street Journal
GOP Throws in Towel in Sotomayor Fight - John Nichols, The Nation
What's Wrong With Legislating From the Bench? - Jeffrey Rosen, Time
A War Between Two World Views - David Warren, Ottawa Citizen
The Joy of Sachs - Paul Krugman, New York Times
Southern Democrats Feel Pressure from Obama Agenda - Jay Cost, RCP
Afghanistan Isn't Obama's Vietnam - Peter Bergen, Washington Monthly
The Moon We Left Behind - Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post
Time for Obama to Step Into Health Care Debate? - Karen Tumulty, Time
Better Off Without Dems' Reform - Sen. Judd Gregg, Washington Times
Health Care: Why 2009 Won't Be Like 1993 - Howard Dean, The Daily Beast
What is the Point of Obama's Speeches? - Dan Henninger, Wall St. Journal
Sotomayor Confirmation a Done Deal - Andrew Cohen, CBS News
Hillary & Sonia Endure Man-Made Perils - Margaret Carlson, Bloomberg
A Personal Inequity - Thomas Sowell, New Hampshire Union Leader
The Lessons of China and Iran - Robert Kaplan, The Atlantic
Much Ado About Hillary - Michael Crowley, The New Republic
PN: Chu Sworn In to Congress | RCP Blog: Sotomayor, 2nd Amendment
CIA Being Used as a Political Football - David Ignatius, Washington Post
Revelations Demand An Investigation - Marie Cocco, Indianapolis Star
Why We Endorsed Warrantless Wiretaps - John Yoo, Wall Street Journal
Why We Must Ration Health Care - Peter Singer, New York Times Magazine
The 'Public Option' Health Care Scam - Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune
You Want Choice? Talk to Ron Wyden. - Jonathan Cohn, The New Republic
Obama as Health Care Salesman: He Sucks! - Mickey Kaus, Slate
Dems' Fortunes Tied to Health Care - Robert Creamer, Huffington Post
Obama Moves the Economic Goalposts - Karl Rove, Wall Street Journal
Retire the 'Ginsburg Rule' - Jonathan Turley, USA Today
The Battle for the Court Will Continue - David Broder, Washington Post
Presidents Aren't What They Used to Be - Victor Davis Hanson, RCP
War on Terror is Over, But Few Feel Safer - Timothy Garton Ash, Guardian
Let Us Count the Ways Obama Loves Labor - George Will, Sacramento Bee
Will Hillary's Gambit Work? - Peter Beinart, The Daily Beast
Time to Boldly Go Once More - Buzz Aldrin, Washington Post
Al Gore Creates Climate of McCarthyism - Bjorn Lomborg, The Australian
Big Pharma Gets Played - Wall Street Journal
Soaking the Rich Wrong Way To Fund Health Reform - Los Angeles Times
Panetta Right to Pull Plug on CIA's Plan to Kill Terrorists - Boston Globe
Under Dem Plan, the Public Option is the Only Option - IBD
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| | Under The Heading Of : "Just When You Thought You Had Heard Everthing"!  LONDON - German prosecutors have launched an investigation into whether a garden gnome with its right arm raised in a Heil Hitler salute breaks the law. According to The Times, the golden gnome has gone on display at an art gallery in Nuremberg, the Bavarian city that hosted huge Nazi party rallies before the Second World War and the major war crimes trials afterwards. Alter Traeg, a spokesman for the Nuremberg public prosecutor’s office, said that investigators had to ascertain whether the gnome breached post-War laws banning Hitler salutes and other Nazi symbols. But he said that they may decide it is in fact a piece of art ridiculing the Third Reich. The gnome is the work of Ottmar Hoerl, the 59-year-old president of the city’s Academy for Fine Arts. Hoerl said that he first designed the Nazi gnome for an exhibition in Belgium. Arno Hamburger, who represents the town’s Jewish community, called it “utterly tasteless. The joke stops here,” he told the Bild newspaper. (ANI) German prosecutors have launched an investigation into whether a garden gnome with its right arm raised in a Heil Hitler salute breaks the law. The golden gnome has gone on display at an art gallery in Nuremberg, the Bavarian city that hosted huge Nazi party rallies before the Second World War and the major war crimes trials afterwards. Walter Traeg, a spokesman for the Nuremberg public prosecutor’s office, said that investigators had to ascertain whether the gnome breached post-War laws banning Hitler salutes and other Nazi symbols. But he said that they may decide it is in fact a piece of art ridiculing the Third Reich. “It is also a question of art a bit .. and a garden gnome,” he said. “It will also depend on what the artist and the owners of the gallery have to say for themselves about the whole thing." The gnome is the work of Ottmar Hoerl, the 59-year-old president of the city's Academy for Fine Arts. Mr Hoerl said that he first designed the Nazi gnome for an exhibition in Belgium. "Portraying the German 'master race' as garden gnomes was an ironic gesture," said Professor Hoerl, who created a stir six years ago by placing 7,000 green hares in Nuremberg's main market square. But Arno Hamburger, who represents the town's Jewish community, called it "utterly tasteless". "The joke stops here," he told the Bild newspaper. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6716658.ece |
| | Were Chinese Agents At Gitmo? A fight is brewing between Capitol Hill and the Pentagon over allegations that Chinese government agents were allowed to interrogate some detainees at Guantánamo Bay. Jay Alan Liotta, principal director of the Defense Department office responsible for detainee policy, told a House subcommittee on Thursday that he would not publicly comment on whether officials from China or any other nation were granted access to foreign citizens held at the detention facility. He offered to release that information to the committee during a closed, classified session. Lawmakers weren’t happy about his answer. Rep. James P. Moran , D-Va., said he would introduce an amendment to strip funding for Liotta’s office if the Defense Department does not disclose, in open session, whether a Chinese delegation was allowed to question Guántanamo detainees who are members of a Muslim minority in China called the Uighurs. “Unless we get a full and accurate answer, I intend to offer an amendment to defund that office, and I intend to go as high as we need to go,” Moran said. “To not allow members of Congress to have communication with detainees, but you allow foreign intelligence agents ... that is an absolute insult to the U.S. Congress.” Members of Congress have been routinely denied access to the Guantánamo detainees. “The American people have a right, without compromising national security, to understand what happened at Guantánamo, particularly in this case of the Uighurs,” said Rep. Bill Delahunt , D-Mass., chairman of the subcommittee that conducted the hearing. “The answer that it should be in a classified setting is absurd.” Ranking Republican Dana Rohrabacher of California agreed, saying he recently was denied access to terrorism detainees. “Elected officials with oversight responsibilities have every right to talk to federal prisoners of any kind, and we thought with the change in administrations there would be a change in attitude,” Rohrabacher said. The dispute over disclosure isn’t partisan, he said: “It’s about protecting the constitutional balance of power between the legislative and executive branches of government.” Three former Uighur detainees submitted testimony through legal counsel on Thursday alleging that all 22 detainees of the Chinese Muslim minority group were interrogated by Chinese government officials during a seven- to 10-day visit in 2002. The former detainees testified that they were forced to provide their photographs and identities to the Chinese agents under the threat of torture and, under those agents’ orders, were denied food and water and isolated in a frigid room. | |
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