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If you've been to a tea party you already know there are Independent tea partiers, and Democrat tea partiers, and yes, even black tea partiers (despite what you might have heard).  People like Keith Olbermann, Jeanine Garofalo, Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, are saying tea partiers are all white racists.  They are obviously woefully ignorant of the facts, explaining the black Americans in attendance at the tea parties by calling them names like Uncle Tom.  They need to watch this video. 

Celebrity Apprentice -- Trump Owes Adkins as Much as Adkins Owes Trump

I love watching Celebrity Apprentice, partially because Donald Trump is so entertaining (in a train wreck kind of way), but if he tries to take credit for Trace Adkins' success one more time I am gonna scream.  Evidently The Donald does not realize how ignorant it makes him sound every time he tries to claim credit for the popularity of Trace Adkins.  He has done it numerous times.  In the Celebrity Apprentice finale when Trace Adkins sang his song, "You're Gonna Miss This," Trump claimed credit for the song going to #1.  Tonight when Adkins showed up as part of a country music artist task, Trump made another reference to himself as the reason Adkins is such a big country music star. 

I realize that there are many people who don't follow country music who didn't know Adkins before Apprentice, and were introduced to him and his music through the show.  But for goodness sakes, Adkins has a been a huge country star for quite a few years.  Believe it or not, his huge hit Honkey Tonk, Badonka Donk had nothing to do with The Donald and there were a whole lot of people singing that song who didn't follow country music or watch Apprentice.  Speaking of reaching a non-country audience, Adkins has been appearing on Bill Maher's show since way back when Maher was on ABC.  Sorry Donald, but you probably owe as much to Trace Adkins for him introducing his fans to Apprentice as you do for introducing him to your fans.

UPDATE:  Spoiler Alert!!  Don't read further unless you have watched the episode.  

A few thoughts about tonight's board room... Donald Trump fired project manager Goldberg.  Last week he fired Selena because she didn't do enough and didn't have enough fire.  He could have fired the project manager, Holly, who clearly targeted the wrong consumers (moms) and did not focus on the endurance aspect of the product as they had been instructed.  Instead he fired the person who had the least to do with the task.  Tonight he could have fired Brett, who did the most on the task.  I don't think he should have done that because Brett did a really good job.  His only limitation was the singer who refused to be made over to much extent.  He could have fired Curtis, who said he was managing time for the task.  Curtis did not manage time well, spending the majority of the photo shoot time sitting in traffic with the singer's wardrobe.  If Brett had more time to focus on styling the singer for the shoot he might have gotten him to try more new things.  Instead they were rushed to do the majority of the shoot in about 20 minutes.  Instead he fired Goldberg, saying he should not have volunteered to be project manager since he was not the one with knowledge of the task.  I just thought it was interesting to see how different the criteria for firing was this week from last week.  I think it all comes down to who Trump wants to fire.  It is his show and that is part of what does make it so interesting.  You never really know who is safe and who isn't.  I guess that is one of the reasons I never miss an episode. 

Teaching Your Children About ObamaCare

Blogger Bookworm has already experienced ObamaCare indoctrination through her middle school age child. 

My daughter’s history teacher, when pressed by her students about Sunday’s health care vote, couldn’t keep her mouth shut.  (Keeping her mouth shut would have involved saying, “This is a history class, not a politics class.  You should ask your parents these questions.”)  Instead, she blithely opined that “all civilized societies have universal health care.”

Fortunately, despite years in the public school system, my daughter is still amenable to logic.  In the face of her teacher’s certitude, I challenged my daughter with a few facts and asked a few questions.

Follow the link to read the conversation Bookworm had with her daughter.  More from Kim Priestap.

Health Care Vote Today

Michelle Malkin has a good rundown of today's schedule including the estimated timing of the GOP's Motion to Recommit. Sister Toldjah has more commentary. According to all the reports I am seeing, the Democrats have the votes they need. If they don't then they are going to look especially foolish since they have led everyone in the press to believe they do. Of course that was the strategy though -- create the illusion, then the reality will follow. Of course that reality required more than an illusion. Lots of threats, arm twisting and pay offs were necessary. The Chicago Way.

If the bill does pass expect the media to declare it the fix all for all that has ailed Obama and the Democrats in Congress. Expect their rehabilitation efforts to have some effect, which may or may not be short lived. The media will not remind voters of all that made Obamacare unpopular, and many of the negative ramifications of the policies will not be felt for a while, but candidates will be reminding voters -- from now til November.

Could This Be the Best Way to Kill Obamacare?

It is being reported that President Obama will refuse to campaign for those voting "no" on Obamacare. This might just be the best strategy possible -- for those wanting to kill Obamacare. Okay, maybe not really. It sounds like he is refusing the fund raising kind of visits that make lots of dough for the candidate, but don't necessarily result in pictures of the candidate with the president. When I saw this headline on Drudge though, "Obama refuses to campaign for Dems voting NO on health care," my first thought was that if Republicans could convince Democrats that a "Yes" vote would result in a high profile presidential visit to their district we might be able to kill this thing in a hurry. Just putting it out there.

An Interesting Read

This article about how Andrew Breitbart has changed journalism and politics is an interesting read.  Money quote, "Breitbart is, in short, expert in making the journalism industry his bitch."

RIP - My Favorite Corey Haim Movie

Actor Corey Haim died early this morning at the age of 38. I didn't follow Corey Haim's recent reality show career, but was aware that he battled problems with addiction. Early reports said he died of an overdose, but other reports say he was no longer taking drugs. He recently filmed a new movie, which has not yet been released, and was attempting a comeback.

I was past the Tiger Beat age when Haim enjoyed his biggest popularity so I never had posters of him on my wall or anything, but I always liked him. I thought he was an adorable kid (who happened to look a lot like one of my cousins when he was young) and he starred in one of my favorite movies of all time, Silver Bullet. It is not as well known as The Lost Boys, which I liked as well, but (in my opinion) is every bit as good. The movie is based on a Stephen King story about a little boy in a wheelchair who battles a werewolf with the assistance of his sister and his kinda crazy, sometimes sober uncle played by Gary Busey. It was made in 1985 so the special effects are not spectacular, but the story is funny and kind of scary and sometimes even a little bit touching -- for a Stephen King werewolf movie anyway. I am not big on what critics think of movies, but they didn't all hate this one. If you have never seen it, I recommend you give it a look.

Actor Corey Haim died early this morning at the age of 38. I didn't follow Corey Haim's recent reality show career, but was aware that he battled problems with addiction. Early reports said he died of an overdose, but other reports say he was no longer taking drugs. He recently filmed a new movie, which has not yet been released, and was attempting a comeback.

I was past the Tiger Beat age when Haim enjoyed his biggest popularity so I never had posters of him on my wall or anything, but I always liked him. I thought he was an adorable kid (who happened to look a lot like one of my cousins when he was young) and he starred in one of my favorite movies of all time, Silver Bullet. It is not as well known as The Lost Boys, which I liked as well, but (in my opinion) is every bit as good. The movie is based on a Stephen King story about a little boy in a wheelchair who battles a werewolf with the assistance of his sister and his kinda crazy, sometimes sober uncle played by Gary Busey. It was made in 1985 so the special effects are not spectacular, but the story is funny and kind of scary and sometimes even a little bit touching -- for a Stephen King werewolf movie anyway. I am not big on what critics think of movies, but they didn't all hate this one. If you have never seen it, I recommend you give it a look.

Tea Party Continues to Confuse and Anger Liberals

Shawn at Wizbang shared video of MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan going berserk in a segment on "Anger in America" saying Tea Party members allowed those who wanted to "kill black people and kill Jews" to be associated with them. Today Hot Air links to Michael Bader's piece at AlterNet about those nutty Tea Party people.

These Tea Party folks seem to most liberals -- well, to most of us who live in the "reality community," or, as I like to call it, "reality" --- like crazy f*ckers.

As a recent New York Times article reports, this hodgepodge of people and groups spout frankly paranoid beliefs as received wisdom, e.g. the Federal Reserve is our enemy and should be abolished; citizens should stock up on ammo, gold; and survival food in anticipation of an impending Civil War; states should "nullify" federal laws and even secede; medical records are being shipped to federal bureaucrats; the army is seeking "Internment/Resettlement" specialists; and Obama is trying to create crises in order to destroy the economy, convert Interpol into his personal police force and create a New World Order.

Conspiracy theories involving shadowy elites like the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations have resurfaced. Self-defense and armed resistance are frequently called for. Racist stereotypes, innuendo and hostility run rampant. The Constitution is its sacred text and Glenn Beck its most beloved prophet. They don't usually wear aluminum hats but perhaps they should.

I hate these folks but I also understand them. And, well, uh, I also empathize with them. They share the same psychology as the paranoid patients I treat every day. The only difference is that the paranoid beliefs of the Tea Party movement are political while those in my consulting room are of a more personal nature. The causes and dynamics, however, are the same.

I wonder just how many tea parties Michael Bader has attended. Is he basing his hatred of these folks on anything other than a New York Times report? He thinks tea partiers are "paranoid," engaging in "racial stereotypes" and "innuendo"? Has he seen an episode of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, or Dylan Ratigan's show for that matter? Instead of analyzing the MSNBC paranoid haters on parade, or the "left-wing conspiracy theorists" he later mentions, he focuses on a NYT description of tea party participants and psychoanalyzes them. Then he offers his analysis of the role the "right-wing media" plays in feeding this paranoia.

It is also obvious that left-wing conspiracy theorists share much of the same pathology as those on the right wing of the spectrum. For new Tea Party members, however, the drift toward paranoia is facilitated by the right-wing media machine that offers several ready-made narratives perfectly designed to help its consumers clear up their confusion, understand their helplessness, absolve them of any blame and offer a way out. The conspiratorial alliance of business and government, a growing tyranny intended to disenfranchise, disarm and exploit ordinary citizens, secret pacts to overthrow the Constitution, etc. all currently led by an un-American, godless, colored, elitist, contemptuous foreigner: Barack Hussein Obama.

Goodness, that is an awfully long sentence fragment. Where the heck is Bader getting the reference to the "colored" president? What is the obsession liberal critics of the tea parties have with race? I have been to two tea parties -- one in North Carolina and one in DC. I have read and looked at pictures fro dozens more over the past year. I know a few wackos have shown up at some tea parties (just as some wackos show up at liberal protests), but they are a tiny minority of those associating themselves with the tea party movement. You have to make an effort to specifically look for them and then you have to ignore 99.9 percent of the hard working, rational, respectful participants in order to define the tea party groups as racist and paranoid. On the other hand, all it takes to find paranoid, race-obsessed wackos associating themselves with those on the left is to turn on a television and set the channel to MSNBC's prime time lineup.

Crossposted at Wizbang.

Shawn at Wizbang shared video of MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan going berserk in a segment on "Anger in America" saying Tea Party members allowed those who wanted to "kill black people and kill Jews" to be associated with them. Today Hot Air links to Michael Bader's piece at AlterNet about those nutty Tea Party people.

These Tea Party folks seem to most liberals -- well, to most of us who live in the "reality community," or, as I like to call it, "reality" --- like crazy f*ckers.

As a recent New York Times article reports, this hodgepodge of people and groups spout frankly paranoid beliefs as received wisdom, e.g. the Federal Reserve is our enemy and should be abolished; citizens should stock up on ammo, gold; and survival food in anticipation of an impending Civil War; states should "nullify" federal laws and even secede; medical records are being shipped to federal bureaucrats; the army is seeking "Internment/Resettlement" specialists; and Obama is trying to create crises in order to destroy the economy, convert Interpol into his personal police force and create a New World Order.

Conspiracy theories involving shadowy elites like the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations have resurfaced. Self-defense and armed resistance are frequently called for. Racist stereotypes, innuendo and hostility run rampant. The Constitution is its sacred text and Glenn Beck its most beloved prophet. They don't usually wear aluminum hats but perhaps they should.

I hate these folks but I also understand them. And, well, uh, I also empathize with them. They share the same psychology as the paranoid patients I treat every day. The only difference is that the paranoid beliefs of the Tea Party movement are political while those in my consulting room are of a more personal nature. The causes and dynamics, however, are the same.

I wonder just how many tea parties Michael Bader has attended. Is he basing his hatred of these folks on anything other than a New York Times report? He thinks tea partiers are "paranoid," engaging in "racial stereotypes" and "innuendo"? Has he seen an episode of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, or Dylan Ratigan's show for that matter? Instead of analyzing the MSNBC paranoid haters on parade, or the "left-wing conspiracy theorists" he later mentions, he focuses on a NYT description of tea party participants and psychoanalyzes them. Then he offers his analysis of the role the "right-wing media" plays in feeding this paranoia.

It is also obvious that left-wing conspiracy theorists share much of the same pathology as those on the right wing of the spectrum. For new Tea Party members, however, the drift toward paranoia is facilitated by the right-wing media machine that offers several ready-made narratives perfectly designed to help its consumers clear up their confusion, understand their helplessness, absolve them of any blame and offer a way out. The conspiratorial alliance of business and government, a growing tyranny intended to disenfranchise, disarm and exploit ordinary citizens, secret pacts to overthrow the Constitution, etc. all currently led by an un-American, godless, colored, elitist, contemptuous foreigner: Barack Hussein Obama.

Goodness, that is an awfully long sentence fragment. Where the heck is Bader getting the reference to the "colored" president? What is the obsession liberal critics of the tea parties have with race? I have been to two tea parties -- one in North Carolina and one in DC. I have read and looked at pictures fro dozens more over the past year. I know a few wackos have shown up at some tea parties (just as some wackos show up at liberal protests), but they are a tiny minority of those associating themselves with the tea party movement. You have to make an effort to specifically look for them and then you have to ignore 99.9 percent of the hard working, rational, respectful participants in order to define the tea party groups as racist and paranoid. On the other hand, all it takes to find paranoid, race-obsessed wackos associating themselves with those on the left is to turn on a television and set the channel to MSNBC's prime time lineup.

Crossposted at Wizbang.

Why is this so hard for Oprah to understand?

I am only just now watching the Oprah interview with Andrew Young and his wife Cheri that I DVR'd yesterday.  The topic of the interview was, obviously, Young's book about the role he played covering up Edwards' affair with Rielle Hunter, even claiming to be the father of Edwards' baby.  Throughout the interview Oprah asks over and over again why the Youngs would even want John Edwards to be President or Vice President once they had seen him perpetrate such a deception.  She asked if he lied about something like this what else might he lie about when in office. 

I found it hard to watch the interview because I could not stop yelling at the television.  Am I the only person watching Oprah's questions who could not stop thinking of Bill Clinton?  Was Oprah asking Vernon Jordan or any of the Clinton protectors how they could try to paint a young intern as a lying stalker when they knew Clinton had a sexual relationship with her and she was not lying?  Did Oprah ask why we would want a President who would do such a thing?  Did she ask what else such a person might lie about if he could tell such a lie as that?  Of course not. 

I don't know what Oprah would say if asked what the difference between Edwards and Clinton was, but suspect the fact that a child was involved might be one reason given.  Another might be the fact that Edwards' wife has a terminal illness. My belief, however, is that the biggest difference is that by the time Edwards' sex scandal and deception were revealed he had no chance at the presidency.  Oprah was pulling for Edwards' opponent, Barack Obama, anyway.  By the time Clinton got busted, however, Democrats were so invested in him and his presidency that they vigorously defended his outrageous behavior.  It is amazing what Democrats can forgive and even attempt to cover up when a political office is at stake.

Health Care Theater

If you are planning on following the big show today (the so-called "Bipartisan Health Care Summit"), check out the RNC's live response for live coverage and real-time fact checking. The RNC live feed is already underway and you can even submit your own questions and comments. The RNC research department will also be updating their Twitter feed in response to issues arising during the "summit."

Update: The live feed is embedded below:

Update II (11:00 a.m.): So far the so-called health care summit has been about as expected -- lots of throwing around of bogus "facts" and telling of tear jerker stories, but now getting interesting with President telling "Lamar" his facts are wrong and Lamar actually speaking out in response.

Update III (11:40 a.m.):Melissa Clothier has a hilarious and pretty accurate summary of the summit thusfar.