Sen. Kelly Ayotte Caught Lying About “National Registry” Linked to Gun Background Check Bill

newsvideoclip — Fri, 03 May 2013 01:18:53 +0000

New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte claimed today that she didn’t vote for universal background checks because it could lead of a “national registry,” which the background check bill actually forbids.

Sen. Ayotte falsely said: “I will tell you in terms of a universal background check, as it’s been framed, I have a lot of concerns about that leading to a registry that will lead to a privacy situation for lawful firearms owners.”

Again, for the record, Manchin-Toomey background check proposal would have expanded background checks for gun purchases, it wouldn’t have created a national firearms registry. In fact, it would have strengthened existing law barring the creation of any such registry and stiffened penalties against any official who violated or tried to violate the prohibition.

(Sources: DailyKos.com and HuffingtonPost.com)

Why America is Anti-Intellectual, Under-Educated, Irrational

newsvideoclip — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 04:41:06 +0000

Progressive radio host Mike Papantonio sang the praises of author Susan Jacoby on his radio show on Friday, echoing the theme of her 2008 book The Age of American Unreason in saying, “Anti-intellectualism and anti-rationalism have become almost epidemic in America,” and saying the only hesitation one should have in reading the book is how scary her findings are.

“Chances are, if you are one of those corporate media-following bone heads who still believe that weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq, or Saddam Hussein blew up the Twin Towers, or Obama is a secret Muslim, or Obama wants to take your guns, or Obama has FEMA prison camps set up for Teabag Republicans, then search no further,” said Papantonio, who is also president of the National Trial Lawyer Association. “You truly are the undereducated, child-like, impressionable, irrational, dangerous cog in America’s political system that puts Democracy most at risk.”

In her book, Papantonio explained, Jacobs found that more than 40 percent of Americans under the age of 44 did not read a single book over the course of the previous year. And their concentration had deteriorated to the point that politicians needed to condense their messages into 8-second soundbytes to grab their attention, leading her to conclude that the country was now “ill with a powerful mutant strain of intertwined ignorance, anti-rationalism and anti-intellectualism,” compounded by schools’ increased emphasis on passing standardized tests instead of comprehensive education on subjects like civics and humanities.

“If the Susan Jacobys are right and anti-intellectualism is a trend in America, then spoon-feeding our children with facts and figures designed merely to pass a standardized test will never prepare them to preserve democracy,” Papantonio said. “The truth is when we firmly grasp timeless themes that can be found in novels like The Grapes of Wrath, Elmer Gantry or 1984, we are on our way to better protecting democracy against the Mitch McConnels, the Rush Limbaughs, the Rand Pauls, Peter Kings, Louie Gohmerts, the Bill O’Reillys and Glenn Becks who infect the process of intelligent conservative rational thinking.”

(Source: RawStory.com)

President Obama Slams Gun Lobby For “Willful Lies” About Background Checks

newsvideoclip — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 01:14:16 +0000

President Obama appeared in the White House Rose Garden Wednesday afternoon to deliver a passionate and frustrated speech reacting to the Senate’s failure to pass an expanded background checks bill for gun purchases. The president’s remarks were preceded by an emotional introduction from the father of one of the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School last December. During the nearly 15 minute speech, with families of the Newtown victims standing behind him and former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords at his side, the president tore into the senators who opposed the compromise bill as well as the NRA and other pro-gun rights lobbying groups who fought to defeat it.

Laying out the facts of the Senate proceedings, President Obama remarked that “90% of Democrats” voted yes but “90% of Republicans” voted against it. And even though there was an overall majority in favor, he said, because of the “continuing distortion of Senate rules, a minority was able to block it from moving forward.” Noting the polls that say 90% of Americans support expanded background checks, Obama asked, “how can something have 90% support and not happen?”

President Obama largely attributed the bill’s failure to efforts by “the gun lobby and its allies” who “willfully lied about the bill,” claiming it would create some sort of “Big Brother registry” even though it expressly prevented that. He said the “intimidation” tactics by those groups worked to convince senators from more pro-gun states that their jobs would be in jeopardy if they voted yes. So, Obama said, “they started looking for any excuse to vote no.”

Obama acknowledged that the legislation was far from perfect and “wouldn’t have prevented all gun massacres.” But, he said, “if actions by Congress could have saved one person, one child, a few hundred, a few thousand” then “we had an obligation to try.”

Going after those who will call today’s Senate session a “victory,” Obama asked “A victory for who? A victory for what? All that happened today was the preservation of the loop hole that lets dangerous criminals buy guns without a background check.” And with such a large majority of Americans in support of the measure, Obama asked, “Who are we here to represent?”

Finally, Obama went after critics who accused him of using the Newtown families as “props,” asking, “are they serious? Do we really think thousands of families whose lives have been shattered by gun violence don’t have a right to weigh in on this issue? Do we think their emotions and loss is not relevant to this debate? All in all, this was a pretty shameful day for Washington.”

Despite his obvious anger over the lack of progress on an issue that has come to dominate his second term, President Obama attempted to end his remarks on a positive note. “I believe we’re going to be able to get this done,” he said “Sooner or later, we’re going to get this right.”

(Source: Mediaite.com)

Focus on the Family Distorts, Misquotes MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry

newsvideoclip — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:07:20 +0000

Stuart Shepard and Carrie Gordon-Earle of Focus on the Family’s political arm, Citizen Link, distorted and misquoted MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry’s call for a greater investment in education America’s children, in which she stressed the responsibility of society. They falsely claimed that Harris-Perry and NBC were saying that children “belong to the state.”

(Source: CitizenLink.com)

Secret Recordings Prove NYPD Targeted Blacks for ‘Stop and Frisk’

newsvideoclip — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 20:55:49 +0000

This week, the court heard a troubling recording secretly made last month by Officer Pedro Serrano, of the 40th Precinct, in the South Bronx. Mr. Serrano is one of a handful of officers who began tape-recording conversations with their colleagues or superiors to document what they saw as wrongdoing.

In the recording, Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack is heard urging Mr. Serrano to stop, question and, if necessary, frisk “the right people at the right time, the right location.” When Mr. Serrano asked for clarification about who the “right people” were, the inspector replied: “The problem was, what, male blacks.” He continued, “And I told you at roll call, and I have no problem telling you this, male blacks 14 to 20, 21.”

On its face, this would seem to violate the Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens against unlawful search and seizure. Police officers can legally stop and detain a person only when they have a reasonable suspicion that the person is committing, has committed or is about to commit a crime.

The trial court also heard this week from Officer Adhyl Polanco of the 41st Precinct, who had taped proceedings in his station house. Mr. Polanco testified that officers were subject to a quota system, which required them to write more summonses, make more arrests and create stop-and-frisk encounters. He said that his superiors wanted “20 summons and one arrest per month.” The plaintiffs argue that a quota system put officers under pressure to make unconstitutional stops.

(Source: NYTimes.com and RT.com)

Sen. Rand Paul Says Eliminate Department of Education, CPAC Crowd Cheers

newsvideoclip — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:38:09 +0000

Speaking Thursday afternoon at the Conservative Political Action Conference(CPAC), Rand Paul demonstrated exactly the sort of thinking that really turns on conservatives, eliminating the Department of Education, which provides aid to students and educational standards.

Sen. Paul said: “This month I will propose a five year balanced budget.My budget eliminates the Department of Education. (10+ seconds of ecstatic applause.)”

(Source: CrooksandLiars.com)

Rep. Jim Bridenstine Falsely Claims Supreme Court Doesn’t Decide Whether Laws Are Constitutional

newsvideoclip — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 23:50:13 +0000

Freshman Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) dismissed the idea that the Supreme Court decides whether or not laws are constitutional.

“Just because the Supreme Court rules on something doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s constitutional,” Bridenstine said in a Daily Caller interview posted Sunday. After accusing Democrats of “stacking the courts in their favor” — five of the current nine justices were appointed by Republican presidents — Bridenstine dismissed the idea that Congress must write laws within the boundaries set by the Supreme Court. “That’s not the case,” the Oklahoma congressman said.

The interviewer, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife Ginni Thomas, didn’t correct Bridenstine’s wrong view of the Court’s role.

(Source: ThinkProgress.org and DailyCaller.com)

Americans Pay Much More for Internet Than Most Countries, Get Worse Service

newsvideoclip — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 20:04:43 +0000

Bill Moyers sat down with Susan Crawford, a former special assistant to President Obama in science, technology and innovation and the author of Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age, to discuss internet inequality — and how internet providers grossly overcharge for subpar internet service.

Crawford says that a lack of competition and tacit government approval has fostered the current environment: “What’s happened is that these enormous telecommunications companies, Comcast and Time Warner on the wired side, Verizon and AT&T on the wireless side, have divided up markets, put themselves in the position where they’re subject to no competition and no oversight from any regulatory authority. And they’re charging us a lot for internet access and giving us second class access.”

While some may view internet access as a luxury, Crawford says we have entered an age where its a necessity for essentially everyone: “You can’t apply for a job these days without going online. You can’t get access to government benefits adequately, you can’t start a business. This feels to 300 million Americans like a utility, like something that’s just essential for life. And the issue of how it’s controlled and how expensive it is and how few Americans actually sign up for it is not really on the radar screen.”

It’s yet another realm in which the divide between the rich and the poor continues to grow and deepen, she said.

But it’s not just the economically impoverished who lose out. Even those who can afford internet are getting a bad deal, she argues, claiming that in Hong Kong, “you can get a 500 megabit symmetric connection that’s unimaginably fast from our standpoint for about 25 bucks a month. In Seoul, for $30 you get three choices of different providers of fiber in your apartment. And they come in and install in a day because competition’s so fierce. In New York City there’s only one choice, and it’s 200 bucks a month for a similar service.”

“In most of America there is no government factor keeping these bullies from charging us whatever they want,” she said, adding later, “A few companies control access in America and it’s not in their interest to bring that fast, cheap access to us all.”

(Source: PBS and RawStory.com)

Fox News’ Chris Wallace Slams NRA’s Wayne LaPierre for Hypocrisy

newsvideoclip — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 06:45:59 +0000

Fox News host Chris Wallace tore into National Rifle Association’s contention that President Obama and other elites are hypocritical for employing security guards to protect their children, while downplaying the importance of armed protection in preventing gun violence.

During a heated exchange with NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre on Sunday, Wallace played a clip of a now infamous NRA ad criticizing Obama for relying on Secret Service to guard his children and asked if the organization believed that every child in America faces a threat similar to that of the Obama kids. LaPierre said that they do, leading Wallace to forcefully push back against the gun chief, saying, “that’s ridiculous and you know it, Sir!”

(Source: Fox News and ThinkProgress.org)

Sen. Harry Reid Lies to Democrats About Filibuster Reform

newsvideoclip — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 09:21:58 +0000

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow slammed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Thursday night for watering-down his filibuster reform proposal at the last minute.

“This was the day that everybody had been waiting for in terms of changing how the Senate operates, and if you hear sad trombones, that’s why,” she said.

Maddow played a series of clips of Reid calling for strong filibuster reform to prevent Republicans from blocking legislation, a tactic they have used excessively in the past years.

The filibuster reform approved by the Senate will prevent Republicans from killing bills before they can be debated, but still allows Republicans to block legislation by calling for a supermajority threshold. Many Democrats had hoped Reid would push for a reform that required legislators to speak on the floor until one side gives in, which is the common conception of a filibuster.

“Now they’re not going to be able to get anything done faster,” Maddow mockingly remarked.

“And that is the apex of Senator Harry Reid’s achievement today after those months, those years of promises that this time he was really going to do it… The stuff that they can’t do anything on is just going to fly by from here on out.

(Source: MSNBC and RawStory.com)

How Republicans Are Trying to Rig Future Elections

newsvideoclip — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:44:22 +0000

On Tuesday night’s edition of “The Rachel Maddow Show,” host Rachel Maddow took aim at Virginia’s Republican party, which she said is using gerrymandered electoral maps to rig elections in its favor.

There were, by some estimates, a million people in Washington for the event. One of those people was Democratic state senator from Virginia named Henry Marsh. Marsh was a civil rights pioneer and now sits on Virginia’s board of state legislators.

That state senate, however, is an evenly divided chamber, 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans. Republicans seized the opportunity presented by Marsh’s absence for the inauguration to redraw the state’s electoral districts, stacking the state’s population distribution in their party’s favor.

The gerrymandered map takes away one Democratic seat entirely. They could be left with only 16 winnable seats, which would potentially put them in a permanent minority on the state’s legislative board. Republicans argue that the move was justified because they created a new all-black district. The trouble is that they did it by carving a big chunk of out Marsh’s district while he was in Washington.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell decried the Machiavellian maneuvering of his party on Tuesday, but declined to say whether he would sign the redistricting bill into law should it reach his desk.

Meanwhile, Virginia Republicans are also trying to change the way the state elects presidents, using the new gerrymandered district maps to determine the state’s electoral vote distribution. Similar efforts are underway in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Florida, all states that went Democratic in 2012.

“This has very quietly and very quickly become one of the most important political stories in the country,” said Maddow. “Republicans are not in power in Washington. They control the House, but that’s it. Republicans didn’t win the last election. They don’t control the Senate and President Obama is going to serve a second term. That is the message this week in Washington.”

But away from Washington, she said, Republicans are working to use their power in the states to make it structurally impossible for Democrats to win.

She was then joined by Virginia state Sen. Donald McEachin (D), one of the Democrats who voted against the Republican redistricting plan. He said that the Republican maps are neither germane to their districts nor are they constitutionally sound.

“It’s our hope that the system will correct itself,” McEachin said, “and that cooler heads will prevail.” Should the decision reach the governor’s desk, Democrats in the state hope that he will veto it. He calls the redistricting measures “sore loser bills.”

(Source: MSNBC and RawStory.com)

Jon Stewart Mocks Fox News’ Hypocrisy Over President Obama’s Executive Orders

newsvideoclip — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 08:14:58 +0000

On his show Thursday night, The Daily Show host Jon Stewart tore into conservatives who insisted President Barack Obama was a tyrant because of his proposals to reduce gun violence.

Obama on Wednesday called on Congress to renew the assault weapons ban, restrict high-capacity magazines, and require universal background checks for gun purchases.

“OK, two things. Those measures enjoy, I believe, majority support in the latest polls,” Stewart said. “And two, when tyrants want something done, they generally don’t ask their legislative bodies if that would be OK.”

What has really riled gun advocates, however, is the 23 executive orders that Obama issued regarding gun violence.

Conservative pundits like Fox News host Sean Hannity and others have claimed the executive orders were everything from unconstitutional to “fascistic.” But Stewart noted the executive orders were all within the president’s powers, and consisted of such actions as directing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research gun violence.

“I guess folks like Hannity just really want to protect Americans’ liberties,” Stewart remarked, before playing a clip of Hannity defending Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program.

Stewart said conservatives appeared to be “confusing tyranny with the unpleasant burning sensation of losing democratic elections.”

(Source: Comedy Central and Mediaite.com)