On Friday’s Radio Show…

• Guest host Ellis Henican fills in for Alan.…

How To Rebrand The Republican Party

Courtesy of Lester and Charlie.

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Ban Guns From Public Poltical Events: David Sirota

David Sirota reminds us that no right is absolute, that the Amendments are purposefully sequenced, and that there is clearly an agenda on behalf of those who show up at Obama events with guns.

…this past week, 12 armed men – including one with an assault rifle – not only showed off their firearms at Obama’s Arizona speech, but broadcast a YouTube video [below] threatening to “forcefully resist people imposing their will on us through the strength of the majority.”

These and other similar examples are accurately summarized with the same language federal law employs to describe domestic terrorism. …

Senator Jim DeMint: Why Are We Becoming Like Iran?

Appearing on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint continues the GOP meme about how America is moving away from freedom and toward socialism.  He bemoans that people from other countries come up to him and wonder why they came to a country not too different than the ones they left. (h/t Think Progress)

DEMINT: And we’ve seen a lot of countries over the years collapse when they’ve gone down the road that we’re going down. Probably the most heart-wrenching experiences I’ve had over the last several days is when naturalized American citizens who have immigrated here …

Idaho GOP Leader Arrested For Aggravated Assault

Challis McAffee, the GOP party chair from Garden City, Idaho, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. McAffee, a contractor with Wells Fargo, was taking pictures of a house where the mortage was past due and wound up in a confrontation where he pointed a gun at the homeowner.

McAffee, a backer of libertarian-leaning former GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul and an activist in this year’s anti-big-government “Tea Party” protests, helped organize Paul backers who aligned at last June’s Idaho State Republican Convention in Sandpoint with other foes of then-state GOP Chairman Kirk Sullivan. Sullivan was …

Surveys Show America Wants A Public Health Care Option

You would think the White House and Democrats, who were elected to change things, would sit up and take notice.

More than three out of every four Americans feel it is important to have a “choice” between a government-run health care insurance option and private coverage, according to a public opinion poll released on Thursday.

A new study by SurveyUSA puts support for a public option at a robust 77 percent, one percentage point higher than where it stood in June.

Before conservatives get all glowy about the survey being commissioned by Moveon.org, note that a June …

On Thursday’s Radio Show…

• Guest host Ellis Henican fills in for Alan.…

Ridge: BushCo Pressured To Raise Terror Alert To Sway Election

In a new book, former Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge claims that the Bush administration pressured him to raise the terror alert level to sway the November 2004 election.

Then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft pushed him to elevate the color-coded threat level, but Ridge refused, according to a summary from his publisher, Thomas Dunne Books.

“After that episode, I knew I had to follow through with my plans to leave the federal government for the private sector,” Ridge is quoting as writing in “The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege … And How We …

NFL Sells Vick Jersey For Your Dog

Always looking for new revenue streams, the NFL has found a way to help make your dog into a Michael Vick fan.

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Bush CIA Hired Blackwater For Secret Assassination Program

Under Bush43′s CIA, private security firm Blackwater was hired to find and kill al Qaeda leaders without the knowledge or consent of Congress.  Current CIA head Leon Panetta pulled the plug.

Executives from Blackwater, which has generated controversy because of its aggressive tactics in Iraq, helped the spy agency with planning, training and surveillance. The C.I.A. spent several million dollars on the program, which did not successfully capture or kill any terrorist suspects. The fact that the C.I.A. used an outside company for the program was a major reason that Leon E. Panetta, the C.I.A.’s director, became alarmed and …

Is Scotland A More Compassionate Country Than The US?

Scotland’s Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill announced that Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi (right), convicted for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 that killed 270 people when it exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, will be released from prison because he has prostate cancer and has three months to live.

Recent speculation about Megrahi’s early release angered families of the victims — many of whom were American college students returning from studies in Europe. A White House statement Thursday said the United States “deeply regrets” the Scottish decision. It also extended sympathy to relatives of the victims.

al-Megrahi has maintained his innocence …