RIP Les Paul

Les Paul invented the solid body electric guitar and innovated with multi-track recording so artists could play more than one instrument and overdub their voices.

A tinkerer and musician since childhood, he experimented with guitar amplification for years before coming up in 1941 with what he called “The Log,” a four-by-four piece of wood strung with steel strings.

“I went into a nightclub and played it. Of course, everybody had me labeled as a nut.” He later put the wooden wings onto the body to give it a tradition guitar shape.

Paul, born Lester William Polfus, was …

Rick Santorum Took Dead Baby Home To Meet Family

With the prospect of former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum running for president (Iowa is nice this time of year), former Bush adviser Mark McKinnon is scared by the thought of such a possibility.

“Santorum represents, in my view, much of what is wrong the in the Republican Party. While I disagree with him on some fundamental issues, I am much more concerned with his lack of character.”

And then there is this little known tidbit: “I’m a pretty tolerant guy, but beyond his ideology, some of Santorum’s behavior is just a little bizarre. For example, Santorum has …

Focus On The Family Cutting Back On Gay-To-Straight Counseling

Funny how the economy can affect just about everything. Focus on the Family is cutting back by selling transitioning its gay workshops to Exodus International.

“The economic challenges led us to this strategic decision,” Focus vice president Gary Schneeberger said Wednesday. “Love Won Out is not an inexpensive event to stage, and rarely, in over 50 cities where it’s been held, have we ever made back our investment, despite good attendance.”

Maybe it’s an issue of supply and demand.

Wayne Besen, a gay activist with the group Truth Won Out, said conference crowds are getting smaller and drawing less …

The Rise Of Right-Wing Militias: “Revolution Is Brewing!”

The Southern Poverty Law Center is seeing a surge in the anti-government militia movement.  The report put out by the SPLC has some startling information.

“Paper terrorism” — the use of property liens and citizens’ “courts” to harass enemies — is on the rise. And once-popular militia conspiracy theories are making the rounds again, this time accompanied by nativist theories about secret Mexican plans to “reconquer” the American Southwest. One law enforcement agency has found 50 new militia training groups — one of them made up of present and former police officers and soldiers. Authorities around the country are …

On Wednesday’s Radio Show…

• How can beneficiaries of of government health care say they don’t want government health care? Alan exposes the hypocrisy.

• Alan asks anti-reform activist William Kostric why he felt it was appropriate to bring a gun to President Obama’s town hall meeting.

• “Rotten and Stinky”: Alan examines the latest wingnuttery of Georgia Congressman Paul Broun.…

Rosa Parks Poster Ripped From Woman At McCaskill Town Hall

Peter Glickert set up hatingnotdebating to follow the Sen. Claire McCaskill town hall meeting.  An angry attendee went over to a woman who was showing a reporter a poster, ripped it out of her hands, and threw it away.

A photographer/reporter approached the woman on the end and wanted to see what the poster was. As the woman went to show the photographer/reporter what the poster was, a man from the bleachers stood up and snatched the poster from the woman and photographer/reporter. As the woman went to retrieve her poster the police stepped in and escorted the woman and the …

Wingnut Of The Day: GA Congressman Paul Broun

US Rep. Paul Broun of Athens, Georgia, already infamous for comparing Obama to Hitler, and saying that climate change is a hoax,  slammed the president to the ground in effigy during a public meeting.

“Let me start this by telling you what I think of this bill and (President) Obama,” he said, and slammed the binders on the ground.

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“This is a stinking, rotten fish, and they don’t want you to smell it, and they want to shove it down your throat and make you eat it before you smell how rotten and stinky it is,” …

Government Health Care Beneficiaries Protest Government Health Care

Steve Benen at the Washington Monthly points to a Wall Street Journal article about the protests outside President Obama’s health care town hall in New Hampshire. The gathering “verged on a street brawl,” with “opposing forces lined up like screaming armies on either side of the street.”  But most notable was one of the protesters who benefits greatly by government assistance.

Diane Campbell (pictured) of Kingston, N.H., held a sign with Mr. Obama’s face superimposed on a Nazi storm trooper, a sign, she said, that was made by her chronically ill mother.

Her mother’s hereditary autoimmune disease is treated …

Why Did This Guy Bring A Loaded Gun To Obama’s Town Hall Meeting?

Chris Matthews kept at William Kostric to attempt to understand why he decided to bring a gun to President Obama’s town hall meeting.  Kostric’s answer: “That’s not even a relevant question,” Kostric said, shrugging. “The question is, why don’t people bear arms these days.”

Okay, you bought a sign that said ‘The tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants’ and you’re carrying a god damn gun at a Presidential event. I think those things make people wonder what you’re about.”

Kostric for his part, was unrepentant, and maintained that he was there in a totally …

On Tuesday’s Radio Show…

• Rep. David Scott (D-GA), whose office was defaced with a swastika, speaks with Alan about the troubling incident.

• Can we have a civil discussion? Alan weighs in on today’s Town Hall action.

• The Amazing Kreskin stops by to discuss the secrets revealed in his latest book, Kreskin Confidential: The World’s Greatest Mentalist Speaks Out.…

Sen. Claire McCaskill to Disruptors: “Do You Think You’re Persuading People When You Shout Out Like That?”

McCaskill also pledges, “I will not vote for a bill that’s not deficit neutral.”

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