The Palin/Soros Chalkboard Connections

Oh, this is just too sweet to pass up.

Glenn Beck spent the past week denouncing the liberal billionaire and philanthropist George Soros as a "puppet master" who is orchestrating a coup "to bring America to her knees."

Given Soros' alleged role plotting to destroy the United States, Beck and his Fox viewership might be surprised to learn that one of Sarah Palin's top aides has been on Soros' payroll for years.

That would be Republican lobbyist Randy Scheunemann, Palin's foreign policy adviser and a member of her small inner circle. He runs a Washington, D.C., consulting firm called Orion Strategies. Scheunemann and a partner have since 2003 been paid over $150,000 by one of Soros' organizations for lobbying work, according to federal disclosure forms reviewed by Salon. The lobbying, which has continued to the present, centers on legislation involving sanctions and democracy promotion in Burma.

Scheunemann's client is the Open Society Policy Center, a DC-based advocacy group founded and funded by Soros. The Open Society Policy Center says on its website that it "encourages Congress and the Administration to press the military dictatorship in Burma to restore political rights and democracy."

( h/t to Ed Brayton )

And while I'm not even going to be so naive to expect Beck to broach this subject from even a damage control perspective - as it's these sorts of revelations that are summarily ignored by conservatives - I do believe this should be blasted from all corners of the liberal/progressive blogosphere.

Here's a little "conspiracy bait" for Beck - Palin actually recommended Randy Scheunemann to do debate prep for a Tea Bagger candidate that Palin and her media masters at Fox"News" were literally drooling over for weeks - Christine O'Donnell.

I can almost sense Beck's chalkboard hand twitching with confusing and horror.

All The Way To The Top

Seems that The Pope knows a little more than he's willing to discuss.

Five years ago he sent out an updated version of the notorious 1962 Vatican document Crimen Sollicitationis - Latin for The Crime of Solicitation - which laid down the Vatican's strict instructions on covering up sexual scandal. It was regarded as so secret that it came with instructions that bishops had to keep it locked in a safe at all times.
Cardinal Ratzinger reinforced the strict cover-up policy by introducing a new principle: that the Vatican must have what it calls Exclusive Competence. In other words, he commanded that all child abuse allegations should be dealt with direct by Rome.

I'm having a harder and harder time reconciling how anyone can be Catholic. Not just in light of this revelation about The Pope, but about how they are so divided when it comes to healthcare reform.

I know that priests touching the alter boy in the cloak room and The League of Bishops opposing healthcare legislation aren't intrinsically linked, but think about this - Catholics are more concerned with preventing healthcare reform than they are stopping the abuse of children. It's very odd way to present yourself, especially if you're a highly regarded religious institution like The Holy Catholic Church.

Paging Anyone That Interviewed Mark Thiessen

I found this at the wonderfully insightful blog Dispatches From The Culture War and wanted to pass it along with a bit of commentary from myself, as Ed Brayton's take on the story is brief, yet poignant.

My gut reaction on reading Marc Thiessen's new book, Courting Disaster, was: "Why is a speechwriter who's never served in the military or intelligence community acting as an expert on interrogation and national security?" Certainly, everyone is entitled to a voice in the debate over the lawfulness and efficacy of President Bush's abusive interrogation program, regardless of qualifications. But if you're not an expert on a subject, shouldn't you interview experts before expressing an opinion? Instead, Thiessen relies solely on the opinions of the CIA interrogators who used torture and abuse and are thus most vulnerable to prosecution for war crimes. That makes his book less a serious discussion of interrogation policy than a literary defense of war criminals. Nowhere in this book will you find the opinions of experienced military interrogators who successfully interrogated Islamic extremists. Not once does he cite Army Doctrine—which warns of the negative consequences of torture and abuse. Courting Disaster is nothing more than the defense's opening statement in a war crimes trial.

This reminds of statements made about how Interpol was going to be given carde blance within the US to arrest anyone they wanted, even that storyline was so full of plot holes that even the most remedial of researchers could have figured the real story out.

And I'm kind of kicking myself for not looking at this book, this story, this narrative, the way that "Matthew Alexander" ( a pen name ) did. But, such is the nature of an insider - they see things differently than anyone and can prove that when necessary.

This begs the question - why do people listen to those that have no first-hand knowledge of a variety of subjects? Why do people listen to Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh when they talk about the economy when they aren't economists? Why do people listen to Michelle Malkin and Ed Morrissey talk about national security issues when they aren't members of the intel community?

Naturally, the response from conservatives would be that liberals/progressives listen to Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow on economic and intel issues when they discuss them on their shows. But the reality is that both Olbermann and Maddow have consistently had members of the intel community and economic minds on their program to discuss the issues at hand. Who does Hannity have on? Dick Morris? Who does Limbaugh have on? Well, no one.

The point is, know your source, rely on hard data, cast aside talking-points, and focus on the reality of the subject you are trying to research.

Questioning Professinalism

And that's exactly what conservatives that are opposed to repealing DADT are doing - telling everyone that those that serve in the military aren't professional enough to handle serving with someone that is openly gay.

From Sprigg to Perkins to Retired Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis - these men are making it crystal clear that they believe the members of the military lack professionalism.

Even John McCain is taking this route.

The ignorance and fearmongering surrounding this issue isn't surprising, and that is a sad fact to have to realize.

Then again, we are talking about the party that has let it's fringe take over since last year.

Life, Liberty, And The Persuit Of Happiness - Unless You're Gay

( h/t to Ed Brayton @ Dispatches From The Culture War for this nugget of crazy )

Christian News Wire, as stated by Ed, is a great place to check out the Fundamentalist-Christian-Craziness. Here's a great example:

"America will learn the hard way that you cannot make straight what God has called crooked, or tolerate what God deems intolerable, or turn moral wrongs into civil rights, and thrive as a people." Rev. Rusty Thomas, Director, Elijah Ministries

"This bill seeks to shut down the message of hope and deliverance from the chains of homosexuality through Jesus Christ. It criminalizes Christians who reach out in the love of God to save those trapped in sexual perversion." Michael Marcavage, Director, Repent America.

Don't you just love how these alleged "Christians" are selective with what they say the bible calls "wrong" and "right".

So do we have to re-write the the Declaration Of Independance now?

A "Prominent" Scientist From Kentucky

Senator James Inhofe has compiled a list of "prominent scientists" in order to show that there is somehow a large portion of the scientific community that doesn't believe in global warming and has facts to back it up.

It turns out there is one of these "scientists" from Bowling Green, KY.

One of the listed prominent scientists is Chris Allen, who holds no college degree, believes in creationism and belongs to a Southern Baptist church.
Allen is a weatherman at the FOX-affiliated TV station in Bowling Green, Ky.

Ed Brayton @ Dispatches has more.

This is what happens when people outside the field of science try to convince those they are tasked with representing that they know what they are doing.

This reminds me of the alleged "list of prominent scientists" that Sean Hannity used to have rapidly scrolling on the bottom of the screen during Hannity and Colmes last year. Sean is also known to use guests whos work has been discredited.