On Friday’s Radio Show…

• As the Senate nears a critical vote on health care, Alan explains why conservative conservative criticisms of the cost of reform have no merit.

• Spritual guru Deepak Chopra, whose latest book is The Ultimate Happiness Prescription, discusses how people can still find happiness in troubled times.

• It’s the Friday Night Free-For-All!…

Four Ways Republicans Say Obama Will Kill You

Talking Points Memo counts the ways Republicans believe Obama is willing us to die.

4. Surrendering the war on terror

3. Daring the terrorist to attack us again

2. Allowing Muslims to walk around like “regular” Americans

1. Trading safety for good paying government jobs…

Utah Lawmaker Doesn’t Mind Gays, “But I Don’t Want ‘Em Stuffing It Down My Throat All The Time”

Utah State Sen. Chris Buttars may be against gay marriage, but he does believes gays should not face discrimination from employers and landlords.  But he doesn’t want gays adopting children.  And he once proclaimed that gays “are the greatest threat to America going down.” So he’s got patchwork quilt of views on gays. As he says, “I don’t want ‘em stuffing it down my throat all the time.  Certainly not in my kid’s face.” 

(via Think Progress)

…

Rudy Giuliani: Then And Now

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani who, it is rumored, may be seeking the Senate seat now held by Kirsten Gillibrand, had no problem with our criminal justice system when it prosecuted Zacharias Moussouai in a trial where the one-time presidential candidate was called as a witness.  During that 2006 trial Rudy sang a very different tune, as Chris Wallace reminds him: (h/t Crooks and Liars)

Rudy Giuliani in 2006: “At the same time, I was in awe of our system,” the former mayor continued. “It does demonstrate that we can give people a fair trial, that we are …

How Can We Afford War But Not Health Care?

Gene Lyons in Salon wonders how we can afford $1 million per solider per year for war, but the same people who have no trouble with $6.73 trillion for fighting in Afghanistan are stingy when it comes to spending money for health care.  (via Crooks and Liars)

Almost every time you turn on the television, somebody’s carrying on about the projected trillion-dollar cost of Democratic health-insurance reforms — derived by multiplying the $100 billion yearly cost by 10, and often by ignoring the projected $11 billion yearly savings to the U.S. budget deficit.

Pentagon spending this year alone, …

Oprah Ending Her Talk Show

Oprah Winfrey will end her talk show on September 9, 2011 and focus on her new cable channel, the Oprah Winfrey Network, or OWN.

OWN will have its premiere on cable in January 2011, according to a person with knowledge of Ms. Winfrey’s decision who insisted on anonymity. That timeline will theoretically give Ms. Winfrey about nine months to promote her cable channel on her existing show.

The show began syndication in 1986 and is regarded as the most successful show in syndication, with an audience of 7 million viewers a day.…

On Thursday’s Radio Show…

• Does every American have a fundamental right to health care? Bioethicist Dr. Arthur Caplan examines this moral question with Alan.

• FireDogLake Founder Jane Hamsher joins Alan to dissect the details of the Senate’s combined health care reform bill.

• Alan analyzes the increasingly ridiculous rhetoric behind the latest partisan gridlock on Capitol Hill.…

Fred Thompson Declares Afghan War Lost; Attacked Reid When Reid Said Iraq Was Lost

Fred Thompson says the Afghanistan war has been lost, and nothing President Obama does will make a difference because he doesn’t have the will to win it. He also accuses the president of emboldening our enemies.

“It really doesn’t matter how President Obama divides the Afghan baby, how he splits the difference between McChrystal and Biden. Because the war has been lost,” Thompson said on his radio show today. “I say this because of one sad and simple fact. The president does not have the will and determination to do what’s necessary to win it. His heart’s not in …

Report: Rudy Decides Not To Run For New York Governor

After months of dithering on the issue, former New York mayor and presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has decided not to run for governor of New York.  Many Republicans may be disappointed with this decision, as he is the highest profile GOP-er likely to seek the post.

It was not clear what prompted the decision, but the prospect of potentially facing Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, who is quietly planning his own run for governor, may not have appealed to Mr. Giuliani, who suffered a bruising defeat in the 2008 Republican presidential primary. While many political analysts believe Mr. Giuliani would …

Now We Know What Sarah Palin Reads: It’s Newsmax

No, it’s not Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Crooks and Liars, Atros, Kos, or Media Matters for America. It’s Newsmax.com, as they are gleefully blaring today.…

Orrin Hatch Calls Fight For Health Care Reform “A Holy War”

Republicans are planning a series of delaying tactics, such as reading the entire bill on the Senate floor.  And Utah Senator Orrin Hatch says,”It’s going to be a holy war.” (h/t Americablog) And that is in spite of a number of concessions already made to conservatives:

Unlike the House bill, which would establish a national public option, Reid would give states the option to “opt out” of the government plan, a concession he made in a bid to win the support of conservative Democrats.

Reid has also been working to defuse concerns about limiting federal funding for …