The loverly people over at The Young Turks were kind enough to have me on their show again. I talk to Cenk Uygur about the Young Turks, the Ottoman Empire, Turkish Nationalism-- just kidding! I talk to him about Elena Kagan and The Supreme Court. Have a listen/ a look.

More people seemed more upset over Helen Thomas's gaffe than they were over the killing of 9 people on board a Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. While Thomas's of-the-cuff comments were insensitive, they were not a call for Jews to "go back to Auschwitz" as some have suggested. Comments like Helen's, which call on a people to leave Israel and go back to where they come from, are made all the time by people who never apologize. If only Helen had called for the Palestinians, not the Jews, to get the hell out of Israel, if only her bias had been pro-Zionist, like most everyone else's in the mainstream media, not anti-Zionist, her comments would have been ignored or lauded. Those shouting the loudest for Helen's head are people who have little to no moral authority, having lied and/or displayed bigotry on several occasions without apologizing, being asked to apologize or being dropped by their speakers' bureau. Many of those who shamed and banished Thomas should hang their heads in shame, and promptly retire themselves from the stage of American politics and media.
For more examples of double standards or bigotry visit RetireAriFleischer (http://retirearifleischer.tumblr.com/) where you can also submit examples.
(I am Jewish, so when attacking me, please refer to me as a self-loathing Jew, not an anti-Semite)
Ari "the kettle calling the teapot ethnic cleanser"

Fleischer, who had been schooled on many occasions by Thomas, sent an e-mail to several publications and sites saying, "She should lose her job over this.... As someone who is Jewish, and as someone who worked with her and used to like her, I find this appalling. She is advocating religious cleansing. How can Hearst stand by her?"

Well, as someone who is Jewish, and as someone who has never liked Ari Fleischer, I find this appalling. By this I mean, both Fleischer's statement and the media's legitimization of Fleischer as a serious voice. And how can Washington Speakers Bureau (which represents Fleischer) stand behind him? Fleischer lacks the credibility and moral authority to call for anyone's firing but his own. To put it subtly, Ari Fleischer is a liar with blood on his hands who, unlike Helen Thomas, never apologized for his statements though they encouraged and supported a war that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths. n addition to lying to the country about Saddam Hussein's weapon's of mass destruction, as White House spokesman, Fleischer has freelanced as a liar after, pushing the falsehood that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11 as recently as 2009! Fleischer claims that Helen Thomas is advocating ethnic cleansing, but you would think he would avoid the subject of ethnic and religious cleansing, after he helped start the war in Iraq marked by hundreds of thousands ethnic and religious cleansing deaths and millions of ethnic and religious refugees.

Lanny "Defenders of Coups from Honduras to Helen"
Davis

The former Clinton White House counsel turned lobbyist quickly echoed the call to fire Thomas: "She should be at the least suspended from all privileges in the White House press room since bigots don’t merit such privileges. And I believe Hearst should consider a similar suspension of her position as a nationally-syndicated columnist until she owns up to her bigotry." Davis was so distraught, he had to cry on the shoulder of bigotry-battling Don "nappy-headed hos" Imus.

Davis shares Fleischer's penchant for lying both for himself and for governments he advises. As a lobbyist, Davis represents client known for their bigotry and ethnic/religious cleansing leanings, including the Pakistan dictatorship of the 1990's and the current coup government in Honduras, which in addition to being illegal, has committed countless human rights violations, assassinated 43 citizens and 9 journalists (as of today, June 15), and discriminates against union activists, lgbt, and indigenous people. See Lanny Davis and his lies in action as he debates historian Greg Grandin, who offers a fact check here.

Sarah "I love Jews (for Jesus)" Palin
Sarah Palin rushed to her blackberry to condemn Helen, tweeting "Helen Thomas press pals condone racist rant?Heaven forbid"esteemed"press corps represent society's enlightened elite;Rest of us choose truth" Though barely, intelligible, Palin seems to be calling Thomas a racist, indicating that she has not yet been taught the word antisemitism, bless her heart. Turning on a television, reading other tweets, or going onto the internets would have shown Sarah that the press was anything but condoning of Thomas. Palin is a paragon of tolerance, who upon hearing that Obama beat Clinton in a primary said, "So Sambo beat the bitch. Despite Palin's love for Israel--which she can see from her window on a good day--evident in her Israel flag pin, she herself has pal's around with many an anti-Semite. She herself attends a church where preachers say things like "It's high time that we have top Christian businessmen, businesswomen, bankers, you know, who are men and women of integrity running the economics of our nations... if you look at the Israelites, that's how they work. And that's how they are, even today" and believe that Palestinian attacks on Jews are God's "judgement" for their not converting to Christianity.

Palin supports radical Jewish settlers who make the right wing Likud party look like refuseniks and wants them to kick out the Palestinians: "I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon,because that population of Israel is, is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead. And I don’t think that the Obama administration has any right to tell Israel that the Jewish settlements cannot expand.[ Even if it’s [in] Palestinian areas] I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expand." Sarah Palin loves Jews so much she wants us to have plenty of space to move into for the rapture when we can either convert or burn for all eternity. Sarah Palin is a Pro-Israel anti-Semite!

Mike "Helen and Palestinians Should Pack Their Bags" Huckabee
Mike Huckabee thinks he's pretty clever when he attacks Helen for telling the Jews to go home and says "Helen, I got a suggestion. Maybe it's time for you to go home." Huckabee, who calls Thomas's comments "outrageous, anti-Semitic, racist, indefensible," backs himself up with the ultimate authority, the bible. "They are home. Read Genesis 15, Exodus 23, Numbers 34, that’s why they are where they are." Firstly, I'm pretty sure when a Muslim cites the Koran to justify political policy, we call him a Fundamentalist. Secondly, like Thomas, Huck himself advocates a one state solution which expels a group from their home. So why doesn't that anger people? Where are the accusations of ethnic cleansing and bigotry? (In case you don't get my rhetorical question, the answer would be, because while it's anti-Semitic to advocate that Jews leave, it's A OK to advocate that Palestinians leave.)

Huckabee may not tell the Palestinians to get "the hell out" but he's Southern, not nearly 90 years old, and is talking on TV program and not on the fly. Who knows what Huckabee would say if an imam shoved a camera in his face at a White House event celebrating Muslim Heritage Day. That would never happen because the White House and this country doesn't "do" Muslim Heritage Day. But imagine what an unprepared Huckabee might say. "Basically, there really is no such thing — I need to be careful about saying this, because people will really get upset — there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian. " Phew! He actually said that and nobody got upset or even noticed! Except for Matt Druss of Think Progress's The Wonk Room.

Chuck "Peace in the Middle East Through Strangulation" Schumer
Speaking of theocratic discussions of geopolitics, the bigot police described above must be preparing their attack on Chuck Schumer who, speaking at an Orthodox Union event last week explained just how different Palestinians are from Jews: The Palestinian people still don’t believe in the Jewish state, in a two-state solution... “they don’t believe in the Torah, in David." Speaking as a true mensch, Schumer stated that to strangle them [Gaza] economically until they see that’s not the way to go, makes sense." It certainly does make sense unless you want to weaken Hamas, limit the entry of arms and weapons, make Israel safer. But if you want to inflict collective punishment on a population AND strengthen Hamas, delegitimize Israel, and marginalize moderate Palestinians, strangle on!

1. In an attempt to "rebrand" Arizona, whose recent immigration law has been called racist, Governor Jan Brewer bans teaching ethnic studies.
2. After smearing Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan for having worked for civil rights icon Thurgood Marshall, GOP furthers discredits her by pointing out that she read The Diary of Anne Frank, saw the film Gandhi, and admires Martin Luther King.
3. GOP's increased bigotry transparency, emboldens Rep. Issa to openly oppose the Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Act.
4. Iowa Republican State Senator fears state park's decision to grant family camping permits to gay families will increase likelihood of bear attacks.
5. Catholic school kicks out student whose lesbian parents are in “discord” with Catholicism, reaffirming the Catholic Church's  ultimate authority on questions of sexuality and children.

for more visit katiehalper.com and
twitter.com/kthalps
1. After obsessing over Muslim background of suspected Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, media becomes enlightened and religiously tolerant, and overlooks fact that the  man who helped foil bomb plot was Muslim too.
2. Anti-gay activist George Rekers's covert operation to save and convert gay male prostitute foiled. Rekers, who co-founded the right-wing Family Research Council with James Dobson, was photographed coming home from a European vacation with a male prostitute he found on the website rentaboy. Rekers, who recently testified against gay adoption, was clearly trying to straighten out the prostitute and explained: "I deliberately spend time with sinners with the loving goal to try to help them." In order to understand the sinner, Rekers had to go undercover, which explains why he was able to convince the prostitute he was gay. Rekers even subjected himself to a move he dubbed the "long stroke," which, the escort describes as "a rubbing down there... across his penis, thigh... and his anus over the butt cheeks."
3. Greece experiences mixed emotions over crisis. Despite economic hardship, social unrest, and violence Greece excited to, once again, influence Western civilization.
4.Obama's response to oil spill criticized by respected policy wonks and intellectual heavyweights. Former Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino, who has admitted, "I really don't know about the Cuban Missile Crisis. It had to do with Cuba and missiles, I'm pretty sure," now says, "I'm not trying to introduce a conspiracy theory, but was this [BP oil spill] deliberate? You have to wonder...if there was sabotage involved." And former Arabian Horse Association Ethics Commissioner/FEMA Director Michael "you're doing a heck of a job, Brownie" Brown  called the fire "exactly what they want, because now he [Obama] can pander to the environmentalists...This president has never supported big oil, he's never supported offshore drilling, and now he has an excuse to shut it back down."
5.Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) wins prize for Most Understated Diplomatic Description of Nazism. When asked his opinion on the Arizona immigration law, McDonnell  said "the whole idea of carrying papers... brings up shades of some other regimes that were not particularly helpful to democracy and civil rights."

Friday, Governor Jan Brewer (R-AZ)  signed an  immigration bill which requires law enforcement to demand immigration papers from anyone who they have a "reasonable suspicion" is in the country illegally. Asking someone to carry around papers is cruel and unusual. How are people expected to not forget or misplace them? A much more humane and efficient policy would be requiring people to wear arm bands stating their immigration status. There could be different symbols for different statuses. For example, a star could symbolize U.S. born, a triangle could symbolize naturalized citizen. Of course this is no guarantee either, as arm labels can fall off or get lost too. So if need be, we can consider some kind of permanent branding. Perhaps a numbers system that indicates a person's origins and allows us to keep track of them?

Though we've been involved now for over a year, we've gotten more serious in recent months.While we've always had our ups and downs, I've become worried that our relationship is overall unhealthy, imbalanced, and that I've become addicted to you. Let me explain.

1. My relationship with you has hurt my relationship with others. Friends and family say my involvement with you has alienated me from them. They complain that even when I'm with them, I'm always checking in on you. They get frustrated and jealous that I don't give them my undivided attention.  I used to think they just didn't understand you, or me, or us. But now I see their concern is appropriate.

2. I spend too much time with you. I remember when I first heard about you, way before I actually got to know you myself,  my friends talked about you all the time. But I didn't really get what all the fuss was about. I just didn't get.... you. When we started our relationship, I'd visit you maybe once a month, if that. But then things intensified and I'd see you once a week, then once a day. Then even that wasn't enough and I needed to see you a few times a day.

3. I devote too much mental space to you.  When I'm not with you, I'm thinking about you constantly.

4. I'm emotionally dependent on you. I am always looking for validation, affirmation, positive feedback-- any response at all, from you. When you respond positively, I'm so happy and feel like you totally get me.

5. Most of the time,I feel like you don't listen to me. Your non-responsiveness makes me feel ignored, dismissed, unappreciated, undervalued. I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall.

6. We don't speak the same language and you're difficult to communicate with. You're impatient and I'm pretty sure you have ADD. I like to process things and not limit what I have to say. With you, everything has to be calculated, counted, packaged, streamlined into a neat message. I either have to be totally direct with you, or totally indirect, but nothing in between. This all makes me feel muzzled, gagged, constrained.

7. You are unpredictable, unreliable and I don't really "get you." Sometimes I'll express something I think is really important to and you ignore it. And yet, other times   I say things that are silly and stupid and am surprised to see that it's these comments you respond to and get excited about.

8. Our senses of humor are not compatible. Sometimes we're totally out of sync and you don't get my humor at all. I'm very sarcastic, but you sometimes think I'm being serious, and become offended. I really don't get how or why you can take these comments seriously, given our history. If you know me AT ALL, you'd get where I'm coming from. I think sometimes you're just reactive, self righteous, lazy and not very critical in your thinking. Other times I say something as a joke that is really corny or cheesy or over the top and it makes me cringe when you think I'm being earnest. When you actually like the very thing I'm making fun of, I feel embarrassed for you.
 

9. Our relationship is imbalanced and not reciprocal.  I put in way more time and energy than I get in return. I pay more attention to you than you do to me. You're involved with a lot of other people, which I thought I was ok with. But I guess I'm seeing that an open relationship just doesn't work for me.

10. You interfere with my work, productivity and creativity. I've definitely learned and gained a lot through our relationship. Everyday I'm with you,  I learn more and more about people, life, the world. And you've introduced me to some really great folks, some of whom I count as friends now. You've introduced me to a community I wouldn't have otherwise met. And, in all fairness, you do often inspire me to be creative. But at the same time, the energy I put into you depletes my creativity and energy and make me less productive.
 

So I think we need to break off our relationship, maybe not forever, but at least for now. I  think we need some time apart. I need to spend less time with you, thinking about you, communicating with you. You probably won't even notice my absence. But I need to do this for myself. I'll never forget you and will always appreciate the important role you've filled in my life. Maybe with some time apart, we can change our unhealthy and dysfunctional relationship into a healthier, more meaningful one.

In case you're at all confused, and to be sure you get what I'm saying, I will say it in your language

Dear @twitter, plz twead this. JSYK I'm not trying 2 Twis u so don't be Tweetsulted. FWIT I think ur gr8. i <3 u SFM but need >indypendence

Vatican Declined to Defrock U.S. Priest Who Abused Boys

 

John Boehner looks like a naughty frat boy showing off in front of "bro's" when he shouts "Hell's no"Less than ten votes btwn civilization & Nazi Communist Black Panther Muslim Socialist govnernment takeover! 

"No You Can't" should be GOP slogan 

"It is the responsibility of this house 2 defend these [unborn] children" til they r actually born, @ which point they're on their own/ freeloaders 

Stupak is like a boyfriend who starts saying all the right stuff after you've decided to break up with him.

Stupak acknowledges that democrats are better on life from birth-death. I'm fine letting anti choice people think they're better for a few months.

The Republicans "born babies-senior citizens-killers." But it doesn't have the same ring as "Baby-Killer."

OMG! The person who yelled "baby killer" @ Stupak had a southern accent. i CAN'T believe it.

OK. The person who called Stupak "baby killer" was me. I couldn't help it!

The President is on TV! do we still call him president? Or is it officially the fuhrer? Or Comrade in Chief?

Getting onto subway. I REALLY hope people aren't waiting in bread lines &/or speaking Russian when i get out.

A great metaphor for the difference btwn MSNBC & FOX: MSNBC still covering healthcare and FOX has moved onto TMZ.

In all fairness 2 GOP & their sour grapes, rich white men advocating 4 rich white men r not used 2 losing. But they did 2nite!