Submitted by whynowwhyme on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 1:36pm.
BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Jeffrey Joseph
It was probably just a matter of time before Glenn Beck starting making accusations that would put him at odds with Christianity as a whole. Based on statements from his radio program and his FOX show, he has willingly endeavored to do just that.
Attempting to incite his audience into mass action, Beck decided to warn his listeners and viewers to beware churches that preach about the need for social justice. He pleaded, "I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words." To ensure that no one misinterpreted Beck's call to action, he followed that immediately by saying, "Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!"
Indeed, Beck, under the guise of a concerned Christian, unconvincingly compared calls for social justice with extremists from both ends of the political spectrum and demanded people leave their churches over the topic. "Communists are on the left, and the Nazis are on the right," said Beck. "But they both subscribe to one philosophy, and they flew one banner... But on each banner, read the words, here in America: 'social justice.' They talked about economic justice, rights of the workers, redistribution of wealth, and surprisingly, democracy."
Submitted by meg on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 11:21am.
BUZZFLASH GUEST COMMENTARY
by Alison Hamm, Media Consortium Blogger Just when the Democrats need to be tougher than ever on financial reform, Senate Banking Committee Chair Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), seems to have given up completely and put the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) at risk. Last fall, Dodd called the Federal Reserve's regulatory efforts an "abysmal failure." And yet, on March 1, he proposed housing a consumer protection agency within the Fed instead of establishing the CFPA as its own independent entity. This drastic change in strategy has left many Democrats shaking their heads. WTF, Senator Dodd?
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 10:28am.
When I see looters there going berserk
On every big and small street
I’m reminded what investment bankers
Did back here on Wall Street.
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 8:21am.
NAOMI WOLF FOR BUZZFLASH.COM Hi all, I am writing with an urgent appeal for you all to support Buzzflash.com. Buzzflash.com, a website devoted to news overlooked by the corporate media--news with a focus on civil liberties and with an editorial eye that calls corporations to accountability. It is run on a business model that hopes to create sustainable, truly free journalism. The site also sells books, DVDs and so on in an effort to subsidize a non-corporate-owned journalism.
But in an internet era in which news is taken for granted to be consumed for free, Buzzflash desperately needs readers to put their financial support where their interests lie. Buzzflash has consistently broken important stories in the fight for liberty, including being regularly at the forefront of reporting on stories about interrogation abuse and even deaths in custody that the mainstream media have been determined to ignore.
Think about all the things we spend money on that are not as critical for our collective well being as fearless, not-corporate-owned, accountable news reporting. Then please dig deep and give whatever you can to help Buzzflash keep giving you cutting edge, non-corporate news and investigative reporting-- real Republic, and journalism that lives up to Jefferson's ideals, it is up to us! Sincerely, Naomi Wolf
The following background on BuzzFlash's wideranging progressive journalistic, advocacy, and funding of the progressive community mission appeared on Naomi Wolf's Facebook page at Naomi's request:
We can't change America by continuing to enhance the profits of the mega-corporations who suppress the rule of the people.
Submitted by pmcarpenter on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 5:33am.
THE FIFTH COLUMNIST by P.M. Carpenter
"Let us now praise Rahm Emanuel.
"No, seriously."
With those eight catnipping words, the Post's Dana Milbank ignited a classic Washington firestorm last month, which has yet to die out. Within the commentariat, the shortest route to Beltway notoriety is to gather intelligence on what most everyone else is writing, and then just write the opposite. In Milbank's curmudgeonly case of the 21st of February, however, a certain truth also inhered, which is what made the flames of outrage burn so hot and hurtful.
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Submitted by mark karlin on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 3:47am.
MARK KARLIN BUZZFLASH EDITOR'S BLOG There once was a somewhat principled -- even if selfish and objectionable -- movement in America called Conservatism. But that is no more: as much a victim of the public relations-named "Reagan Revolution" as are America's middle and working class and the once robust economy of the United States. The modern "conservative" movement is nothing more than a massively funded and highly effective communications strategy to shift America into an oligarchy that functions for the super wealthy through tax cuts and for corporations through the elimination of safety regulations for the public good and the privatization of government. That's not conservatism; that's highway robbery. It's a crime. All this came about through the organized strategy and financing of wealthy financiers and corporations to build a network of think tanks, media-owned outlets, reporters toting the oligarchy line on the "benefits" of unrestrained "free trade," public relations initiatives, and front organizations to move America from an evolutionary society relying on the strength of innovation and a dynamic educated middle class to a relatively static society in which those at the top are in a members-only club growing obese with wealth while kicking others down from the ladder to the top and demanding tithes from them.
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 10:05pm.
MAX BLUMENTHAL FOR BUZZFLASH.COM "When my book exploring the right-wing machinations, Republican Gomorrah, was published, BuzzFlash was the first to review, promote and sell it online. Were it not for BuzzFlash, I am convinced that my book would not have become a national bestseller. In fact, BuzzFlash has been an essential platform for disseminating my investigative work to progressives ever since I started my journalistic career. For ten years, BuzzFlash has been helping progressive authors find a marketplace and is an online leader in helping to sell books that keep progressive writers employed and in promoting the ideas contained in the books. -- Max Blumenthal, journalist and author of Republican Gomorrah.
Submitted by whynowwhyme on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 2:29pm.
BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Jeffrey Joseph With President Obama working hard to take his message of healthcare reform to the people and health insurers looking to raise rates, it appears rather telling about the larger debate that Sarah Palin, FOX contributor and one of healthcare reform's most public opponents, has been such an overt hypocrite about the topic. Reminiscing about her childhood, Palin recently told a group in Canada about how she and her family used to cross the border to receive healthcare in Canada. It indeed proved an "ironic" admission, as she called it, though Palin left it unclear if she realized in what way. This same woman has denigrated healthcare reform efforts in the U.S., which aspire to move the nation closer to the rankings of the far more successful Canadian system, as "downright evil." Even now, years after she and her family reaped the benefits of Canada's universal healthcare, Palin had the audacity to criticize that system for needing to allow a "private sector takeover" as if that model has always served her well in the past.
Submitted by meg on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 1:36pm.
BUZZFLASH GUEST COMMENTARY
by Bill Berkowitz After spending months defending her father’s decade of misinformation and disinformation about the War in Iraq, weapons of mass destruction, and the use of torture, the daughter of Dick and Lynne Cheney is in all-out attack mode against the Obama Administration. For the Cheney family, it’s the same as it ever was. (For her continued encouragement and inspiration, this column is dedicated to my wife, Gale Bataille, on our eighth wedding anniversary.) In November 2001, just two months after 9/11, an organization called the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) published an inflammatory report that claimed college and university faculty were “the weak link in America's response to the attack” on September 11. The report purported to document statements made by academics that were raising questions about the Bush Administration’s bombing of Afghanistan, and was openly critical of its war on terrorism. Founded in 1995 by Lynne Cheney and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, ACTA’s report -- criticized by many as one of the first examples of a new twenty-first century McCarthyism -- reflected both the organization's mission which includes opposition to so-called “political correctness” on college campuses, and its intention to silence campus “radicals.” The organization’s website maintains that the Washington, D.C.-based ACTA, is “an independent, non-profit organization committed to academic freedom, excellence, and accountability at America’s colleges and universities.” While “Defending Civilization: How Our Universities Are Failing America, and What Can Be Done About It” claimed that it believed in academic freedom, it maintained that this freedom did not make academics immune from criticism. “We learn from history that when a nation's intellectuals are unwilling to defend its civilization, they give comfort to its adversaries,” the report declared. The report went on to name a number of academics that it maintained to be out of step with public opinion on the war on terrorism. At the time, very few people spoke against this blatant attempt to intimidate academic opponents of the Bush Administration’s policy in Afghanistan. Nearly fifty years after the fall of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, the stench of McCathyism was once again in the air.
Submitted by findingavoice on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 1:00pm.
FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow
Why do politicians get in so much trouble often over silly things but get away with lying through their teeth about really important stuff - - apparently, because they think they can engage in whatever behavior suits them because power is its own reward. The thing about recent incidents and those that regaled us in the past is how political enemies use them - - the larger the target, the more venomous the attacks. To be sure President Clinton’s behavior was wanton and careless, but did his peccadilloes make him a less able executive? Did the sleazy anecdotes Kenneth Starr produced add up to an impeachable offense or did he enter a perfect political storm embraced by an opposition hoping to bring down a presidency? In the end the whole exercise wasted precious time and kept leaders from addressing issues of greater significance.
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