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CDC will ration H1N1 vaccine?

03 Oct

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Recently, the GOP’s resident leprechaun, Sean Hannity, used his television program to attempt fear mongering regarding health care rationing, claiming that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) “literally [has] a list of priorities” regarding which populations receive the H1N1 flu vaccine, and that people age 65 and older are “last on the list,” which amounts to “a form of government deciding rationing.”

Fact is Sean, the CDC’s advisory board explained that it does not anticipate a shortage of H1N1 vaccine but issued the priorities list because “availability and demand can be unpredictable” and said that the “risk for infection among persons age 65 or older is less than the risk for younger age groups.”

The CDC advisory board has said, “The committee does not expect that there will be a shortage of novel H1N1 vaccine.” In a press release titled, “CDC Advisors Make Recommendations for Use of Vaccine Against Novel H1N1,” CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices created a list of “groups of the population [that] should be prioritized if the vaccine is initially available in extremely limited quantities” but stated, “The committee does not expect that there will be a shortage of novel H1N1 vaccine.” The committee added: “But availability and demand can be unpredictable. There is some possibility that initially the vaccine will be available in limited quantities.”

CDC advisory board: People age 65 or older are less at risk than younger age groups. The press release also stated, “Current studies indicate the risk for infection among persons age 65 or older is less than the risk for younger age groups.”

From the CDC press release:

“There is some possibility that initially the vaccine will be available in limited quantities. In this setting, the committee recommended that the following groups receive the vaccine before others:

  • pregnant women,
  • people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age,
  • health care and emergency medical services personnel with direct patient contact,
  • children 6 months through 4 years of age, and
  • children 5 through 18 years of age who have chronic medical conditions.

“The committee recognized the need to assess supply and demand issues at the local level. The committee further recommended that once the demand for vaccine for these prioritized groups has been met at the local level, programs and providers should begin vaccinating everyone from ages 25 through 64 years. Current studies indicate the risk for infection among persons age 65 or older is less than the risk for younger age groups. Therefore, as vaccine supply and demand for vaccine among younger age groups is being met, programs and providers should offer vaccination to people over the age of 65.

“The committee also stressed that people over the age of 65 receive the seasonal vaccine as soon as it is available.”

The sad and amazing fact is that Hannity is deliberately lying, and he knows it. Or at least he should know it. He’s supposedly a “great American” but he spends a great deal of his time and energy spreading half-truths and out right lies.

While attacking the current CDC’s decision, Hannity conveniently forgot that during the Bush administration, the CDC also released a flu shot priority list.

In 2004, the CDC “announced priority groups” for seasonal flu shots due to a shortage. The CDC announced that the United Kingdom had suspended the license of a company that was making that year’s seasonal flu shot for use in the United States and stated that “[t]his will reduce by approximately one half the expected supply of trivalent inactivated vaccine (flu shot) available in the United States for the 2004-05 influenza season.” As a result, CDC issued a list of “priority groups for vaccination with inactivated influenza vaccine this season”:

The CDC in 2004 also put out its list of priority groups for vaccination with inactivated influenza vaccine:

  • all children aged 6-23 months,
  • adults aged 65 years and older,
  • persons aged 2-64 years with underlying chronic medical conditions,
  • all women who will be pregnant during influenza season,
  • residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities,
  • children 6 months-18 years of age on chronic aspirin therapy,
  • health-care workers with direct patient care, and out-of-home caregivers and household contacts of children aged <6 months.”

At the time, Hannity defended Bush administration and declared that certain people “don’t need a flu shot.” On the October 21, 2004, edition of Fox News’ Hannity & Colmes, Hannity stated, “The Kerry campaign has slammed Vice President Cheney for getting a flu shot while many Americans cannot”.

Hannity later asserted to Democratic strategist Bob Beckel: “You and I have been friends a number of years and I’ve had other friends that had this. You need a flu shot. I’m pretty healthy. I don’t need a flu shot. Dick Cheney needs one. Bill Clinton needs one. I understand Hillary got her flu shot.” Hannity also said: “I thought this was a cheap shot.”

Of course for some the idea of rationed health care is the current mantra, one from which Hannity has repeatedly drawn.

Recently, June 19, 2009, he said Government rationing body will “tell women with breast cancer, ‘you’re dead.’ ”

“We’re going to have a government rationing body that tells women with breast cancer, ‘you’re dead.’ It’s a death sentence.”

Hannity has attempted to scare people into believing that the Federal Government is going to decide who lives and who dies through the President’s health care reform, “Welcome to the brave new world of Obamacare,” he said. “We’re going to encourage, you know, inconvenient people to consider ‘alternatives to living.'”

There are never any real examples of these allegations. Sean – the great American – says it and therefore it is true.

During his July 17 he declared that the government would be pulling the plug on grandma, “It sounds to me like they’re actually encouraging seniors in the end, ‘Well, you may just want to consider packing it all in here, this is — ‘ what other way is there to describe this?”

“So that they don’t become a financial burden on the Obamacare system? I mean, that’s how they intend to cut cost, by cutting down on the health care we can give and get at the end of our lives and dramatically cutting it down for senior citizens? You know, welcome to the brave new world of Obamacare. We’re going to encourage, you know, inconvenient people to consider ‘alternatives to living.'”

Sean this is – how would a certain Congressman from South Carolina put it? – A Lie! Fact is that your favorite form of health care, insurance agency owned and run health care, is already rationing health care. Tens of thousands of Americans die each year because they have been rationed. They’ve been told they can’t get coverage.

Truth is there will be no death panel. There will not be rationed health care, as there is now. The plug will not be pulled on Grandma. Flu vaccinations are not being rationed. Truth is that you Sean Hannity are a liar. You are preying upon fear and using that fear to spread your lies.

 
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Posted by on October 3, 2009 in Health Care, Right Wing Radio

 

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Hannity Says Dems are the ones “calling names”

13 Aug

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Self-promoting “great American” Sean Hannity has claimed that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called health care town hall protesters “Nazis.”

Hannity said during his Aug 11 television program, “Now we’ve had hardworking Americans called Nazi and Brown Shirts and un-American by Nancy Pelosi.”

“It’s Nancy Pelosi attacking the American people, it’s the Democrats comparing them to Nazis – the Democrats are doing that,” he said.

Hannity has long been one of the conservative spin doctors, and now he’s trying to spin the hate from those who are yelling, and disrupting town halls across the country on to the victims.

“The only people that are yelling here and calling names – it’s Obama telling the American people to shut up, it’s Nancy Pelosi attacking the American people,” he said. “It’s the Democrats comparing them to Nazis – the democrats are doing that.”

Even when guest John McWhorter, a senior Fellow with the Manhattan Institute, told Hannity that he thought, “a lot of people who are yelling in these town hall meetings do have some problems with misinformation.”

Hannity couldn’t sit still and jumped in on the misinformation line questioning his guest’s use of words, “Wait a minute. What misinformation?” He asked. “You know what I see? I see fathers with their kids in wheelchairs. I see veterans that are speaking.”

Hannity’s argument is that these “passionate” Americans are upset because their country is going to hell in a hand basket, “Because they see their country’s going bankrupt. They see that every promise that has been made has been broken, and they’re being attacked and called Nazis by people that are supposed to be public servants.”

Sean? Sean? Anyone? Bueller? Sean? Bueller?

Actually Sean, what the House Speaker said, when asked if she thought there was legitimate “grassroots opposition” at recent town hall events; the Speaker responded, “I think they’re Astroturf; you be the judge,” she said. “They’re carrying swastikas and symbols like that to a town meeting on health care.”

Sean? Sean? Anyone? Bueller? Sean? Bueller?

There are people showing up at the town hall meetings carrying signs with swastikas, and “SS” symbols. They are screaming at members of Congress and not allowing those men and women to speak to their constituents. Gee, I don’t know? Just like the Brown Shirts of the Nazi party did in Weimar Germany to quash opposition.

The Speaker of the House has not said anyone is un-American. Mr. Hannity has once again proven, all by himself, that he is a liar.

 
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Posted by on August 13, 2009 in Health Care

 

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Sean Hannity is a Coward?

15 May

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On his Fox News Program on April 24, 2009, while talking to actor Charles Grodin, Sean “I’m a Great American” Hannity said he would consent to be waterboarded for charity, specifically to benefit families of our fallen troops.

Here’s how the discussion played out.

Grodin asked Hannity, “You’re for torture?”

Hannity replied, “I am for enhanced interrogation.”

Grodin asked again, “You don’t believe it’s torture. Have you ever been waterboarded?”

Hannity glibly replied, “No, but Ollie North has.”

Grodin then asked, “Would you consent to be waterboarded? We can waterboard you?”

Again Hannity glibly replied, “Sure.”

To which Grodin asked, “Are you busy on Sunday?”

Hannity bravely answered, with a smile upon his lips, “I’ll do it for charity. I’ll let you do it. I’ll do it for the troops’ families.”

The next evening MSNBC host Keith Olbermann offered to pay the families $1,000 for each second Hannity withstood the torture – enhanced interrogation technique – and he said he would double the payment if Hannity acknowledges he feared for his life and admits that waterboarding is torture.

As of today, Mr. Hannity has failed to locate his manhood and accept the offer.

Come on Sean, if you really believed in your heart of hearts that it’s not torture then what are you afraid of? If you really wanted to show support for our troops, and for their families, and you really wanted to shut Keith Olbermann up you’d do this.

Then again I guess great Americans like Sean Hannity don’t follow through on what they say. It’s easy to support shoving our soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors into harm’s way, but you won’t allow yourself to undergo some “enhanced interrogating techniques” for them?

You, Sean Hannity, are not a great American. You are a hypocrite, and a coward.

 
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Posted by on May 15, 2009 in Politics

 

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Arlen Specter a Traitor?

29 Apr

Senator Arlen Specter (R/D) Pennsylvania decides to switch parties, and everyone on the GOP side of the political spectrum is surprised? Come on Republicans, wake up. What exactly did you expect him to do?

As early as his January 6, 2009 broadcast, Sean Hannity was threatening that Specter and others who voted for the President’s stimulus package should be driven from the party. Hannity said he feared that Specter would sell us out (meaning the GOP) on the stimulus package and added “that any Republican [Senator] who supported the package needs to be thrown out of office.”

Senator Specter said he made his decision based partly on the GOP slide to the far right, “As the Republican Party has moved farther and farther to the right, I have found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican philosophy and more in line with the philosophy of the Democratic Party.”

He also said he made it because it had become increasingly more obvious that he wasn’t going to be able to win the Republican primary in 2010. So, once again my question to the GOP propaganda ministers, Rush, Hannity, et al, still stands; what would you expect him to do?

Specter’s a senior United States Senator, with a lot of power which translates into benefits for himself and especially for his state. I suppose he should have just kept running along as a Republican, and then lose the primary? Specter may be a lot of things but he isn’t stupid.

I thought it very telling that this morning I received an e-mail message from the “alleged” head of the GOP, Michal Steele. He of course wasted no time throwing out the hate, blame and fear cards.

On the Senator’s decision to switch Steele said, “Specter claimed it was philosophical–and pointed his finger of blame at Republicans all over America for his defection to the Democrats.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t believe a word he said.”

I suspect this is not so much a case of “don’t believe” as it is a case of “won’t believe”. Steele and the propagandists won’t allow themselves to believe there is anything wrong with the Republican Party. The patient is dying and they don’t want to hear it. The patient is dying and they don’t want to think about what might be necessary to save it. How can anyone leave the party of Rush and Hannity? Why would they ever want too?

Steele continues, “Arlen Specter committed a purely political and self-serving act today. He simply believes he has a better chance of saving his political hide and his job as a Democrat. He loves the title of Senator more than he loves the party–and the principles–that elected him and nurtured him.”

So, a United States Senator’s loyalties, according to the RNC chairman are to the party? I thought they were to the state from which they were elected? To the people who voted for them? Ever watch the movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” Mr. Steele? I wonder which set of characters you, Rush and Hannity would be supporting? Here’s a hint, you wouldn’t be with Jimmy Stewart.

Chairman Steele then moves from the world of “I can’t believe anyone would leave the GOP” to the land of “The leftists are coming the leftists are coming”! Along these lines he said, “Arlen Specter handed Barack Obama and his band of radical leftists’ nearly absolute power in the United States Senate.”

“…his band of radical leftists”? Band meaning a group of thieves, or outlaws? Like Robin Hood’s band of merry men? So, the attempts by the GOP of spreading fear and gloom just never seem to go away.

Steele continued, “In leaving the Republican Party–and joining the Democrats–he absolutely undercut Republicans’ efforts to slow down Obama’s radical agenda through the threat of filibuster.”

“…radical agenda…”? As in “relating to or affecting the basic nature or most important features of something”? Or did you mean the more contemporary definition, “excellent, admirable, or awe-inspiring”? No, what Steele meant was the sweeping move away from the traditional GOP way of doing things. Things like torturing prisoners, wire tapping homes, deregulating financial institutions to the point of collapse, cutting taxes while starting two wars, you know, those good old fashioned American values everyone loves and admires.

“Facing defeat in Pennsylvania’s 2010 Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record, and an end to his 30 year career in the U.S. Senate, he has peddled his services–and his vote–to the leftist Obama Democrats who aim to remake America with their leftist plan”, Steele said.

See, what did I say earlier? The land of, the leftists are coming! The leftists are coming!  This of course contrasted to the path of the GOP; The path that was quickly heading down a dangerous slope into fascism. Don’t know what else to call a political way of thinking that supported torture, invading other countries based on lies and deception, willingness to wire tap private citizens homes, and talk of sending military troops into private citizen’s homes without warrants. Sounds like fascism to me. But I digress.

Steele continued to attempt to work the GOP into frenzy, “His defection to the Democrat Party puts the Democrats in an almost unstoppable position to pass Obama’s destructive agenda of income redistribution, health care nationalization, and a massive expansion of entitlements.”

“…to pass Obama’s destructive agenda…?” Come on Steele, “destructive agenda”? This is second rate fear mongering at its lowest form.

Now after all of these arguments came Steele’s appeal to the patriots of the Republican Party, “You and I have a choice. Some will use Specter’s defection as an excuse to fold the tent and give up. I believe that you are not one of those people. When Benedict Arnold defected to the British, George Washington didn’t fold the tent and give up either.

“He grit his teeth more determined than ever to succeed. That’s what I’m asking you to do today.”

So, now Senator Specter is Benedict Arnold? Well I suppose that’s preferable to being Joseph Goebbels, you know what I mean here, Rush, Hannity et al, “if a lie is audacious enough and repeated enough times, it will be believed by the masses.” Or perhaps a Heinrich Himmler type of Republican Mr. Steele? You know the type. Developing ways to torture your enemies, and to justify all in the safety of the state? Of course there wouldn’t be anyone in the GOP supporting those kinds of ideas.

Of course Steele wasn’t the only Republican to go after the senator. Not long after Specter met privately with Republican senators to explain his decision, the party’s “so-called” leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell, said the switch posed a “threat to the country.”

The issue, he said, “really relates to … whether or not in the United States of America our people want the majority party to have whatever it wants, without restraint, without a check or balance.”

Well now, Senator McConnell, let’s see? American voters voted overwhelmingly (53% to 46%) to elect Barack Obama as President, and also voted in more Democrats than Republicans in both the House and Senate. I don’t know, but that appears to me to be the voice of the American people saying they want “the majority party to have whatever it wants”. As far as claiming that President Obama, and the majority party, having no restraints and no check or balance; We the People established a Constitution to provide those. It was you – the Republican Party – that for the last eight years that seemed to conveniently forgot we had any checks or balances.

In the end, the Republicans have no one to blame but themselves for losing the last general election. They have no one to blame but themselves for losing control of the Congress. So, Mr. Steele, Senator McConnell, Sean, Rush, et al, what did you expect Senator Specter would do? Did you expect him to stay in a Republican Party which is becoming more and more filled with the rhetoric of hate, block and blame? You all, helped create this political mess for your party when you allowed your spokesmen – people like Sean Hannity – to call for “…any Republican [Senator] who supported the package needs to be thrown out of office.” The GOP – like Victor Frankenstein – created monsters in talk radio, and now – just like Victor Frankenstein – you can’t control what is occurring. Your creations have become your nightmare. Your move to the far right will not pay off in additional voters, it will pay off in further losses in the Congress and an eroding base of support from the electorate.

 
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Posted by on April 29, 2009 in Politics

 

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Hillary Clinton is a Worthless Bitch?

22 Apr

On the April 21 edition of his Fox “News” show, Sean Hannity asked Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean: “What did you think when [blogger Perez Hilton] went on this rant and actually used the “B” word? I mean, I can’t think of anything more vicious, more mean, more insulting, more degrading, just because you have a different opinion.”

Hannity was referencing a remark made by Miss. Prejean during Saturday night’s Miss USA Pageant. Miss USA judge, the gossip blogger Perez Hilton, asked about her stance on same-sex marriage. Prejean responded, “I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised.”

My question would be, Sean, when is it OK to use the term “bitch” and when is it not OK? Looking at your remarks from Tuesday night it would appear that Perez Hilton has some how offended your good old fashioned conservative Irish Catholic sensibilities. OK, fair enough. You think there is nothing more “vicious, mean, insulting, and degrading” for anyone to call a woman. Is that right?

But wait a minute? Wasn’t it you Sean Hannity who not only didn’t find it offensive, but actually defended your “friend” Ted Nugent last August – during your television program – when during a concert Nugent not only called Democratic candidate Senator Barrack Obama a “piece of shit” and said that Democratic candidate Senator Hillary Clinton was a “worthless bitch”? Why yes it was you, Sean “I’m a great Irish Catholic Conservative American” Hannity.

During the same concert, shown in a video clip on your very own program, Nugent also made threatening remarks towards both candidates while waving what appears to be an M-16.

Why would Ted speak this way Sean?

Gee, I don’t know? Maybe because then Senator’s Obama and Clinton had a? What were your words? Oh yes, “different opinion”?

So, Sean “I’m a great Irish Catholic Conservative American” Hannity did you say anything to disavow yourself from these comments by Ted Nugent?

No you didn’t.

What did you say?

 Ah yes, here it is, “That was friend and frequent guest on the program Ted Nugent expressing his feelings towards Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.”

So, why didn’t you disavow Ted Nugent Sean?

Well because, “I like Ted Nugent. He’s a friend of mine.”

So, it’s OK to refer to a liberal woman as a “worthless bitch”, and a liberal black man as a “piece of shit” because they have a different opinion, but it’s not OK to say a conservative woman is a “bitch” if she has a different opinion?

So Sean, if your wife, mother, or daughter were to be a Democrat, and not agree with your opinion,  would your good old fashioned conservative Irish Catholic sensibilities allow you to call them a “bitch”?

Hypocrisy thy name is Sean Hannity.

 
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Posted by on April 22, 2009 in Obama Cabinet

 

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Pro-Life Advocates May Engage in Violence, Extremism?

21 Apr

The Department of Homeland Security has warned law officials across the country to the possibility of a rise in “right-wing extremist activity,” saying the poor economy and presence of a black president could spark problems.

According to the Washington Times, a footnote attached to the nine-page report from the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis say the activities of pro-life advocates is included in “right-wing extremism in the United States.”

“It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single-issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration,” the warning says.

Note, that no where does the DHS documents say, “It may include all groups and individuals that are dedicated to single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration”, it says “it may include groups and individuals”. It never says “every single group and individual”, or “all groups and individuals”. This of course doesn’t stop the defenders of truth, justice and the American way – or as they are otherwise known, Hannity, Rush, et al. – from taking a warning from DHS to law enforcement agencies, and turning it into a political three ring circus, complete with the little GOP Clown car.

Sean Hannity on his April 16th Fox “News” program talking to that pillar of American virtue, that upholder of the Constitution, that former Marine hero who had to retire in disgrace, Oliver North made this statement, “…they’re (Obama Administration) using harsher language towards conservative talk hosts and people that are pro-life and want to obey immigration laws and that are pro-Second Amendment than they are against Kim Jong-Il and Ahmadinejad and Al Qaeda and some of our enemy combatants and terrorists.”

First Sean, I could be mistaken, but I don’t recall “conservative talk hosts” being mentioned in the DHS report. Hold on let me check…Nope, nothing there.

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (April 16th talking to Fox “News” host Neil Cavuto) “I think it’s absurd. I mean, to suggest that the threat should be characterized in partisan philosophical terms is ridiculous…So, at a minimum, it’s unfair, and I think more candidly and bluntly, it’s absurd.”

You’re right Governor Pawlenty, it’s absolutely absurd to think anyone associated with “pro-life” advocates, or “individuals that are dedicated to a single-issue, such as opposition to abortion,” would ever commit a violent or possibly extreme act; just absurd.

December 25, 1984: An abortion clinic and two physicians’ offices in Pensacola, Florida were bombed in the early morning of Christmas Day by a quartet of young people (Matt Goldsby, Jimmy Simmons, Kathy Simmons, Kaye Wiggins) who later called the bombings “a gift to Jesus on his birthday.”

March 10, 1993: Dr. David Gunn of Pensacola, Florida was fatally shot during a protest. He had been the subject of wanted-style posters distributed by Operation Rescue in the summer of the year before. Michael F. Griffin was found guilty of Dr. Gunn’s murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

August 19, 1993: Dr. George Tiller was shot outside of an abortion facility in Wichita, Kansas. Shelley Shannon was charged with the crime and received an 11-year prison sentence.

June 29, 1994: Dr. John Britton and James Barrett, a clinic escort, were both shot to death outside of another facility in Pensacola. Also shot in the attack was Barrett’s wife June. Rev. Paul Jennings Hill was charged with the killings, received a death sentence, and was executed September 3, 2003.

December 30, 1994: Two receptionists, Shannon Lowney and Lee Ann Nichols, were killed in two clinic attacks in Brookline, Massachusetts. Five other individuals were also wounded in the shootings. John Salvi, who prior to his arrest was distributing pamphlets from Human Life International, was arrested and confessed to the killings. He committed suicide in prison and guards found his body under his bed with a plastic garbage bag tied around his head. Salvi had also confessed to a non-lethal attack in Norfolk, Virginia days before the Brookline killings.

December 18, 1996: Dr. Calvin Jackson of New Orleans, Louisiana was stabbed 15 times, losing 4 pints of blood. Donald Cooper was charged with second-degree attempted murder and sentenced to 20 years.

October 28, 1997: A physician whose name has not been revealed was shot in his home in Rochester, New York.

January 29, 1998: Robert Sanderson, an off-duty police officer who worked as a security guard at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, was killed when his workplace was bombed. Nurse Emily Lyons was severely injured in the attack. Eric Robert Rudolph, who was also responsible for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing, was charged with the crime and received two life sentences as a result.

October 23, 1998: Dr. Barnett Slepian was shot to death at his home in Amherst, New York. His was the last in a series of similar shootings against providers in Canada and northern New York State which were all likely committed by James Kopp. Kopp was convicted of Dr. Slepian’s murder after finally being apprehended in France in 2001.

October 1999: Martin Uphoff set fire to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He was later sentenced to 60 months in prison.

May 28, 2000: An arson at a clinic in Concord, New Hampshire on resulted in damage estimated at $20,000. The case remains unsolved.

September 30, 2000: A Catholic priest drove his car into the Northern Illinois Health Clinic after learning that the FDA had approved the drug RU-486. He pulled out an ax before being shot at by a security guard.

June 11, 2001: An unsolved bombing at a clinic in Tacoma, Washington destroyed a wall, resulting in $6,000 in damages.

November 2001: After the genuine 2001 anthrax attacks, Clayton Waagner mailed hoax letters containing a white powder to 554 clinics. Waagner was convicted of 51 charges relating to the anthrax scare on December 3, 2003.

July 4, 2005: A clinic Palm Beach, Florida was the target of arson. The case remains open.

December 12, 2005: Patricia Hughes and Jeremy Dunahoe threw a Molotov cocktail at a clinic in Shreveport, Louisiana. The device missed the building and no damage was caused. In August 2006, Hughes was sentenced to six years in prison and Dunahoe to one year. Hughes claimed the bomb was a “memorial lamp” for an abortion she had had there.

September 13, 2006:David McMenemy of Rochester Hills, Michigan crashed his car into the Edgerton Women’s Care Center in Davenport, Iowa. He then doused the lobby in gasoline and then started a fire. McMenemy committed these acts in the belief that the center was performing abortions; however Edgerton is not an abortion clinic.

April 25, 2007: A package left at a women’s health clinic in Austin, Texas contained an explosive device capable of inflicting serious injury or death. A bomb squad detonated the device after evacuating the building. Paul Ross Evans (who had a criminal record for armed robbery and theft) was found guilty of the crime.

May 9, 2007: An unidentified person deliberately set fire to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

December 6, 2007: Chad Altman and Sergio Baca were arrested for the arson of Dr. Curtis Boyd’s clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Altman’s girlfriend had scheduled an appointment for an abortion at the clinic.

January 22, 2009:Matthew L. Derosia, 32, who was reported to have had a history of mental illness, rammed a SUV into the front entrance of a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Paul, Minnesota.

May 31, 2009: Scott Roeder, 51, fatally shot Dr. George R. Tiller while Dr. Tiller was acting as an usher in his Wichita, Kansas church. Tiller was one of three doctors in the United States who performed late-term abortions. Roeder’s ex-wife, Lindsey, told reporters that her ex-husband was looking to become a martyr for the cause. Roeder had once posted a message on Operation Rescue’s web page, “Tiller is the concentration camp ‘Mengele’ of our day and needs to be stopped before he and those who protect him bring judgment upon our nation.”

Just 22 examples of how absurd it is to suggest pro-life Americans could ever be capable of extreme actions; 22.

Of course it’s absurd to think anyone attached to the pro-life movement could be considered a domestic terrorist Governor Pawlenty.

I mean, seriously, just because a few fringe organizations in the United States opposing abortion either explicitly or implicitly advocate violence against abortion providers doesn’t make them extreme. Absurd Sir! Completely, and utterly absurd!

It’s just ridiculous to think that fine upstanding organizations like The Army of God, an underground network of activists that believe that the use of violence is an appropriate tool for fighting against abortion, and the American Coalition of Life Activists, who published the Nuremberg Files, a controversial anti-abortion web site which published the names, home addresses, telephone numbers, and other personal information of abortion providers – highlighting the names of those who had been wounded and striking out those of which had been killed.

What’s really absurd is that people like Sean Hannity and Governor Pawlenty are so anti-Obama that they will attempt to vilify a DHS warning against homegrown terrorist threats.

 
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Posted by on April 21, 2009 in Abortion

 

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Tea Parties Demonstrate Right’s Impotence

20 Apr

According to America’s Truth Detector, the de facto leader of the Republican Tea Party (GOTP), Rush Limbaugh, “There were 800 tea parties, and I think some outfit has calculated based on the estimates from law enforcement officials and others on all the sites, something like 189,000 Americans showed up yesterday total for all the tea parties.” 

Let’s do a little math. Rush claims to have 20 million listeners; so, 189,000 divided by 20 million = 0.009 multiplied by 100 = 0.945 percent of his so-called listening audience.

According to most media outlets, Rush is heard on 600 radio stations nation wide with some 14 million listeners. So, 189,000 divided by 14 million = 0.013 multiplied by 100 = 1.35 percent of his listeners.

In 2004 there were 55 million registered Republicans; 189,000 divided by 55 million = 0.003 multiplied by 100 = 0.34 percent of total Republicans.

According to Talkers Magazine, Sean Hannity has about 13 million listeners. 189,000 divided by 13 million = 0.014 multiplied by 100 = 1.45 percent of his listeners.

Laura Ingraham is estimated to have around 5 million listeners. 189,000 divided by 5 million = 0.037 multiplied by 100 = 3.78 percent of her total listeners.

Michael Savage has approximately 8 million listeners. 189,000 divided by 8 million = 0.023 multiplied by 100 = 2.36 percent of total listeners.

Glenn Beck has approximately 4 million listeners. 189,000 divided by 4 million = 0.047 multiplied by 100 = 4.72 percent of total listeners.

So, what does this mean?

It means that Rush, Hannity, Beck, O’Reilly, FOX PAC, Ingraham, Boortz, Savage, Crowley, et al., do not have near the amount of political power, nor political clout that they, or the Democrats think they have. This was the best they could do? This is all they could muster? Best case 4.72 percent of Glenn Beck’s total listeners? The GOTP couldn’t get more then 0.34 percent of its total numbers to come out? 189,000 disgruntled voters out of 169 million registered voters in the United States? 0.11 percent of all the registered voters in the whole country turned out?

If this is the best they can do, then the conservative movement in America and especially the Republican Tea Party has had its day. It appears that Ronald Reagan truly was the GOP’s high water mark. If I were a member of the Democratic Party leadership I would simply smile every time Rush, or Hannity, or any other member of the conservative media attacked me, and then I would turn to them and say, as Glenda said to the Witch of the West, “You have no power here, now be gone before someone drops a house on you too.”

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2009 in Right Wing Radio

 

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Tea Parties Responsible for Market Recovery?

19 Apr

Just when I was beginning to wonder how curious it was that six weeks into a market recovery no one on the right had given any credit to President Obama, especially after continuously laying the blame at his feet for its seemingly endless downward plunge for the past 3 months; remember when Hannity, on opening his FOX  PAC program on 6 Mar 09, said, “And our headline this Friday night: Welcome to Day Number 46 of Obama’s Bear Market. Now, that’s what some news organizations are calling it tonight as the Dow Jones industrial average actually finished up about 30 points today at the end of a disastrous week.” And he concluded, “According to Bloomberg News, the Dow has now dropped faster during the first six weeks of the Obama administration than any other administration in at least 90 years. But is that a surprise after weeks of talking down the economy?”

Well today opening her FOX PAC program Bulls and Bears hostess Brenda Buttner cleared up what is responsible for the upturn when she said, “Call it a tea party rally. Wall Street’s sure partying, up six weeks in a row. The bulls came out about the same time these guys started to shout, saying no to big government, big taxes, and big bailouts. Will that keep investors saying yes to stocks?” Buttner finished, “After months on its back, the market comes back the same time Americans fight back against big government. Is that a coincidence?”

Now we all know why conservatives couldn’t give any credit to the President. They’ve been waiting for anything, and I do mean anything, else to explain it. It was the Tea Parties!

The next phase of this will occur on Monday, when it will begin with Rush, and then Hannity, Ingraham, O’Rielly, Beck, when they’ll all begin to echo that the “groups that have aspects of spontaneity” – as the Tea Parties were described by FOX PAC commentator Geraldo Rivera Thursday – are what’s really responsible for the new found confidence in the stock market.  It will all become crystal clear. The economy couldn’t possibly be responding positively to anything a democrat liberal could have done! It can only respond negatively to democrat efforts. If it is going to move upwards, it can only do so due to something happening on the conservative side. The Tea Parties! Aha! They spontaneously began on the GOP side!

Pay attention now as I describe how the conservative talk jocks will try to validate this claim: A group of village idiot types – we’ll call them Hannity, Beck and O’Reilly – are attempting to claim that “groups that have aspects of spontaneity” – we’ll call them Tea Parties – are responsible for the stock market recovering.

Sir Bedevere – aka Rush – arrives on the scene, and asks them why they’re claiming this.

The village idiot types – Hannity, Beck and O’Reilly – first say that credit couldn’t possibly be given to anyone with the middle name Hussein, but then grudgingly have to admit he didn’t give himself the name.

The village idiot types – Hannity, Beck and O’Reilly – then make some more outrageous claims (Hannity says that the economy couldn’t be rebounding from anything that someone who palls around with terrorists could have done; while O’Reilly claims that there’s no doubt attending a church of a left wing extremist would definitely cancel out anything positive a democrat president could do; and then Beck shouts that he turned him into a newt – though he later ‘got better’).

Sir Bedevere – aka Rush – then talks the village idiot types – Hannity, Beck and O’Reilly – through the ‘logic’ for checking that it – “groups that have aspects of spontaneity” – you remember, the  Tea Parties – are responsible for the stock market recovering – and after some false turns and lots of dim stares, they all come to the following basic conclusions.

First, “Groups that have aspects of spontaneity” – the Tea Parties – burn (actually they combust). This one is fair enough, though the idiot types – Hannity, Beck and O’Reilly – suggest trying to actually burn the “groups that have aspects of spontaneity” – Tea Parties – as way of testing this.

Second, Wood Burns. Hence “groups that have aspects of spontaneity” – or Tea Parties – are made of wood. How do you check that “groups that have aspects of spontaneity” – Tea parties – are made of wood? Try building a bridge out of it, Hannity suggests – but Bedevere – aka Rush – points out that you can also make bridges from stone.

Third, Wood Floats. Bedevere – aka Rush – gently leads them to this point, and asks them if they know anything else that floats.

Fourth, Ducks Float. The village idiot types – Hannity, Beck and O’Reilly – actually have a lot of trouble thinking of something else that floats – Beck shouts that really small pebbles float! But it is Arthur (Buttner), who has just arrived on the scene, who says: ‘A Duck!’ (Stunned amazement and dramatic music.)

Therefore… The logic goes: that if “groups that have aspects of spontaneity” – Tea Parties – weigh the same as a duck, then they’re responsible for the stock market recovering, and they can burn the president. So they put the “groups that have aspects of spontaneity” – Tea Parties – on a set of scales with a duck, and wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles, they weigh the same

At this point we cut to a commercial: Scene opens with an egg being held over a red hot frying pan, cue voice over: “This is your brain.”

Egg is broken and dropped into red hot frying pan begins to fry, cue voice over, “This is your brain on conservative talk radio; any questions?”

 
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Posted by on April 19, 2009 in Economics

 

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Where have the flag lapel pins gone?

13 Apr

Who said the following about wearing a U.S. flag lapel pin?

“Why do we wear pins? Because our country was under attack…And to politicize once again the war to this extent. Well, who cares about the war? Are you proud of your country? Do you believe in America? Do you believe that America has been, continues to be the greatest force for good in this world?” 

“I think it’s, you know, the greatest gift God gave us and continues to be a force for good.”

If you said Sean Hannity; you win!

Notice anything missing from Hannity’s lapels?

Does this show us what you – Sean (I’m a Great American) Hannity – really thinks of our country? Doesn’t it demonstrate how you really feel about the Constitution and the sacrifice our brave soldiers? Don’t you care about the war? Aren’t you proud of your country? Don’t you believe in America? Don’t you believe that America has been, continues to be the greatest force for good in this world?”

But wait! Hannity isn’t alone in this; during his October 27 2008 broadcast, Rush Limbaugh – the leader of the GOP – criticized candidate Barrack Obama for not wearing a flag on his lapel, “Obama, ladies and gentlemen, calls himself a constitutional professor or a constitutional scholar. In truth, Barack Obama was an anti-constitutional professor. He studied the Constitution, and he flatly rejected it. He doesn’t like the Constitution, he thinks it is flawed, and now I understand why he was so reluctant to wear the American flag lapel pin. Why would he? I don’t see how he can take the oath of office” because “[h]e has rejected the Constitution.”

Notice anything missing from El Rushbo’s lapel?

Does this mean you’re “anti-constitutional” Rush? Could it mean that you have rejected the Constitution?

Bill O’Reilly also chimed in on this “controversy”, saying about Candidate Obama, “I didn’t take Obama’s lack of the lapel pin as anything other than he’s either too lazy … to put it on, or he doesn’t want to put it on.”

billoreilly-port

So Billo? Which is it? Are you just too lazy? Or do you just not care? You just don’t want to put the flag on?

Not to be left wanting, during a broadcast where he was discussing Barrack Obama’s lack of flag wearing, Neal Boortz said, “I think that maybe the reason he doesn’t wear a U.S. flag on his lapel is because the U.S. flag — regardless of what he thinks — the flag of this country irritates a lot of Democrat [sic] voters.”

NealBoortz

Neal? Where’s your flag pin?

Does this mean that the flag of this country irritates a lot of Republican voters? Or Libertarian voters?

Surely the guy who just loves America so darned much he cries just thinking about it will have…

Congressional Leaders Honor Fresco Painter Of The Capitol Constantino Brumidi

Sniff…?

Of course no discussion on patriotism or on loving the Constitution and what it stands for would be complete without a comment from that Pilar of Constitutional Liberties Karl Rove, who once questioned President Obama’s patriotism on not wearing a lapel pin, stating, “I think it speaks to the values of the candidate.”

Mortgage Bankers Hold Nat'l Conference in S.F

Wait a minute! Where’s your pin Karl? Isn’t this a question of your values?

Mr. Speaker! Mr. Speaker!

Where’s your flag pin?

But surely the former GOP presidential candidates will…

No.

Nope.

Nein.

What about the newbies in the GOP presidential circle?

Don’t see your patriotism Bobby.

Sorry, that’s not a flag Eric.

Governor Huntsman? No flag pin?

graham

Lindsey! Where’s your patriotic spirit?

sarahpalin_a

Oh no! Say it ain’t so Sarah! Where’s your big gaudy flag pin you were sporting just a few months ago?

large_sarah-palin-flag-pin

Oh, there it is, along with your blue star mother’s pin you were wearing before your son deployed. Trying to appear even more patriotic were we? Oh well, never mind you’ve still got that whole family values thing working for you.

I think what this demonstrates is, if we are going to proclaim other’s allegiance to our country based upon if they are wearing a lapel pin, or not, don’t you think those casting the first stones should be wearing one? Or that those who represent the political party which thought this was a legitimate campaign issue should always be wearing one too. After all, if they truly loved their country…

Makes you wonder about everything else they claim to care about doesn’t it? Or it should.

 
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Posted by on April 13, 2009 in Politics

 

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Obama press kit downgrades US-UK relationship?

03 Apr

During the April Fools Day edition of his Fox News show, Hannity, Sean Hannity attempted to criticize the White House press kit on the United Kingdom claiming the Obama Administration had downgraded our view of the UK, saying that the UK was “once referred to as our closest ally, to, quote, ‘one of the United States’ closest allies.’” Hannity also claimed the press kit: “read more like a children’s book.” Taking issue with the statement that the U.K., “was, quote, “slightly smaller than Oregon.'” Interestingly Hannity failed to report that the exact phrases he was criticizing were used in the State Department’s “Background Notes” issued during the Bush administration.

Hannity began his attacks saying, “And tonight in “Hannity’s America”: School is in session on board the White House press charter yesterday, as it traveled to the G-20 summit in London. Now, according to the Telegraph reporter Toby Harnden, White House staffers distributed press kits to members of the media that was supposed to help inform them about their destination. But instead, it read more like a children’s book.

“Like the description of the U.K., which said it was, quote, “slightly smaller than Oregon.”

Work with me Sean, the official CIA description of the United Kingdom and Ireland, from the CIA Fact Book (the CIA Sean, and all you ditto-heads out there, is the Central Intelligence Agency) reads, “Slightly smaller than Oregon”.

To further clarify, the CIA describes its use of “Area – comparative” in its Fact Book as,“…an area comparison based on total area equivalents. Most entities are compared with the entire US or one of the 50 states based on area measurements (1990 revised) provided by the US Bureau of the Census. The smaller entities are compared with Washington, DC (178 sq km, 69 sq mi) or The Mall in Washington, DC (0.59 sq km, 0.23 sq mi, 146 acres).”

Ok Sean, now let’s compare the sizes of the two: the state of Oregon’s total area is 255,026 sq. km, and the United Kingdom and Ireland have a total area of 243,000 sq. km. Now I don’t know Mr. Wizard, but it would appear to me that the UK is, how should I put this? Oh, I don’t know, slightly smaller than, oh say, Oregon?

What phrase should the United States Government use Sean to describe the total area of the United Kingdom and Ireland?

How about this: “The United Kingdom and Ireland have a total area of 243,000 sq. km, about 2,000 times larger than Akrotiri”.

Akrotiri Sean, and all you ditto-heads, is one of two areas in southern Cyprus of which the UK retained full sovereignty and jurisdiction by terms of the 1960 Treaty of Establishment that created the independent republic of Cyprus.

Oh, and by the by Mr. Wizard, this phrase was also used by the Bush Administration in its description of the total area of the UK in its “official” background notes. When, you might ask, did the Bush Administration use this description? Well let’s see, just a few times really, July 2001, June 2002, April 2003, November 2003, April 2004, October 2004, May 2005, August 2005, May 2006, February 2007, August 2007, January 2008 and golly gee, as late as July of 2008, pretty much throughout the entire Bush Presidency. But you already knew that, didn’t you Sean? Or is your so-called “reporting” really this sloppy?

Having supposedly proved his point on the “size” of the UK, Hannity then attempted to attack the administration’s “downgrading” of the UK’s relationship with the U.S., “It seems that the Obama team has downgraded our view of the country, once referred to as our closest ally, to, quote, “one of the United States’ closest allies.”

So, saying that the UK is “one of the United States’ closest allies” is bad because it implies we have a lot of close allies?

Hey, and guess what Sean? The Bush Administration’s State Department used a slightly similar phrase in its “official” background notes on the UK; it described U.S. and UK relations: “The United Kingdom is one of the United States’ closest allies…”And what is the “official” Obama Administration’s State Department’s statement in its background notes? The United States State Department said in its March 2009 background notes on the UK:  “The United Kingdom is one of the United States’ closest allies…” Wait a second, that’s not just similar to what President Bush’s State Department said, it’s identical! Now to be fair however, the Bush Administration only used this phrase a few times; July 2001, June 2002, April 2003, November 2003, April 2004, October 2004, May 2005, August 2005, May 2006, February 2007, August 2007 and January 2008. But, as stated above, you already knew that, didn’t you Sean? And if you didn’t know it then you’re so-called “reporting” truly is sophomoric at best, and pathetic at worse.

Continuing his sniping, similar to an annoying little kid down the block, Hannity took a swipe at the short biographies listed in the press kit, “And even the bios included were a bit, well, liberal with the facts. Hillary Clinton’s didn’t mention that she ran against Mr. Obama for president, but instead says only that she, quote, “campaigned for the election of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.”

Sean, I think unless a reporter just arrived here from, oh let’s say Pluto, they already know that Secretary of State Clinton “ran against Mr. Obama for President”. Sean, exactly which bio were you reading from by the way? The one listed by the State Department says, of Secretary Clinton, “…in 2007 she began her historic campaign for President. In 2008, she campaigned for the election of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and in November, she was nominated by President-elect Obama to be Secretary of State.”

Now let’s see, it says of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “in 2007 she began her historic campaign for President”; and President Barrack Obama began his run for the presidency in January of 2007. Wait a minute! That would mean they ran for the presidency at the same time! Even against each other.

You’re really reaching now Sean.

In finishing his little rant Hannity tried to take one more punch at President Obama’s foreign policy saying, “Another brilliant foreign policy move by team Obama. You know, they’re truly hitting the reset button on all of our relations with countries all over the world. Ladies and gentlemen, that is not a good thing.”

As compared to the wonderfully successful eight years of the United States’ relations with countries all over the world under the “leadership” of Bush, Cheney, Rice and Rumsfeld? Actually Sean, hitting that particular reset button, is not just a “good thing” it’s a great thing. Our “relations” under Team Bush were strained at best, and the “diplomacy” of running around the world brow beating not only our enemies, but also our friends, was not diplomacy at all; and the Bush Doctrine of invading other sovereign countries because we could was a foreign policy nightmare.

By the way, did Team Bush ever get Bin Laden? No, but we managed to kill almost 90,000 innocent people who had nothing whatsoever to do with the 9-11 attacks, spent nearly 660 billion dollars invading a sovereign country that had nothing to do with the 9-11 attacks, lost 4,263 American service personnel and left another 31,000 wounded invading the same country that had nothing to do with the 9-11 attacks.

You, Sean Hannity, are a shameless, gutless, lying fraud. You are one of a number of propaganda mouth pieces for a political party that is grasping at whatever straws it can grab in a pathetic attempt to regain any amount of political power possible. You – in spite of what your misinformed listeners think – are not a great American. Great Americans don’t promulgate lies, and misrepresent facts.  

 
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Posted by on April 3, 2009 in Foreign Policy

 

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