Did General Stanley McChrystal Cook The Books On Pat Tillman?

As General Stanley McChrystal’s advice about how many, if any, more Americans will be sent into harms way is being considered, author Jon Krakauer is promoting his book, Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman.  The Army created a myth around Tillman’s death, says Krakauer, as everyone involved knew within 24 hours it was the result of friendly fire.  And Krakauer told David Gregory that the idea of McChrystal not knowing this is “preposterous”.

Krakauer: McChrystal was told within 24 hours it was friendly fire. Also, immediately they started this paperwork to give Tillman a …

GOP Congresswoman Virginia Foxx: Health Care Reform Bigger Threat Than Terrorism

Think Progress has kept tabs on the hyperbolic statements of Republican North Carolina Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, and so have we. For example, in 2008, Foxx attacked Democrats who voted against drilling in ANWR, saying:

“We had a great opportunity to pass a bill yesterday that would have created more American energy, but my colleagues on the other side don’t seem to be in favor of more American energy. They seem to be anti-American energy, just as many other things that they support seem to be anti-American power and anti-American control.”

Now, Foxx may have topped herself, railing on …

Glenn Greenwald: Lieberman And Bayh Enriching Themselves While Opposing Health Care Reform

Glenn Greenwald points out that even though Connecticut voters favor a public option 68-21 percent, Senator Joe Lieberman may have other reasons to oppose a public option.  He receives huge donations from the health care industry and his wife, Hadassah, was hired in 2005 by PR and lobbying firm Hill and Knowlton as a “senior counselor” in their health and pharmaceuticals practice. Meanwhile, another conservative Democrat, Evan Bayh, also threatens to filibuster the vote.  Bayh’s wife, Susan, is on the board of directors of health insurer Wellpoint, and the Bayhs own between half-a-million and a million dollars in Wellpoint stock.  …

Republican Ex-Candidate Endorses Democatic Former Opponent

Republican Dede Scozzafava, who dropped out of the NY-23 congressional race because all the national money was going to her conservative opponent Doug Hoffman, has endorsed Democrat Bill Owens for the seat vacated by John McHugh.

“I am supporting Bill Owens for Congress and urge you to do the same,” she said. “In Bill Owens, I see a sense of duty and integrity that will guide him beyond political partisanship. He will be an independent voice devoted to doing what is right for New York. Bill understands this district and its people, and when he represents us in Congress …

RNC Slow To Remove Racist Photos From Facebook Page

It may be labor-intensive to keep track of every nutball who posts something to the Republican National Committee’s Facebook page, but one would think they wouldn’t want this imagery hanging around for a week.  That’s how long it took them to remove a series of photos that don’t reflect well on them.

Among them was a picture of President Barack Obama eating fried chicken, subtitled with a call to prohibit interracial marriage. The photo’s caption read: “Miscegenation is a CRIME against American Values. Repeal Loving v. Virginia.”

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Richard Viguerie: “Tea Party Acitivsts Are The New GOP”

His direct mail campaigns helped empower and elect many Republicans, including Ronald Reagan.  He believes George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are too liberal.  Richard Viguerie now can celebrate.

With the decision of moderate Republican Dede Scozzafava, the party’s nominee in New York state special election for an open congressional seat, to suspend her campaign, the new “new right” — which Viguerie describes as “Tea Party activists, town hall protesters, and conservatives across the country” — can claim a clear victory in its struggle to define the GOP as a far more extreme party than that envisoned by …

Frank Rich: Hoffman Victory Good For Democrats

Frank Rich says that although it’s still conceivable that Democrat Bill Owens can win in NY-23, it’s even better for Democrats if conservative Doug Hoffman wins.

Punch-drunk with this triumph, the right will redouble its support of primary challengers to 2010 G.O.P. candidates they regard as impure. That’s bad news for even a Republican as conservative as Kay Bailey Hutchison, whose primary opponent in the Texas governor’s race, the incumbent Rick Perry, floated the possibility of secession at a teabagger rally in April and hastily endorsed Hoffman on Thursday.

The more rightists who win G.O.P. primaries, the greater …