On Thursday’s Radio Show…

• Alan evaluates President Obama’s speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize.

• Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States, and producer Chris Moore discuss their new History Channel documentary, The People Speak.

• Higher Education: Alan has a far out discussion with Nick Tennant, the founder of a new college that teaches students how to grow medical marijuana.…

Al Gore Responds To Sarah Palin Calling Global Warming “Junk Science”

Andrea Mitchell interviewed Al Gore, who had something available to him lacking in Sarah Palin’s recent op-ed article: facts.  Mitchell asked Gore for his response to Palin’s comments, both in the newspaper article on her Facebook page, where she accused those in Copenhagen of participating in “junk science.”

GORE: Well, you know, the — the global warming deniers persist in this air of unreality. After all, the entire north polar icecap, which has been there for most of the last 3 million years, is disappearing before our eyes. Forty percent is already gone. The rest is expected …

GOP Candidate For Illinois Comptroller Videotapes Himself Getting Drunk

Bill Kelly is running in 2010 for Illinois comptroller.  He apparently feels the behavior seen in the below video is a bonus (via the Daily Tube)

The self-proclaimed “southsider, comedian-entrepreneur/pioneer” and “proud capitalist” is campaigning against excessive government spending, political favoring, voter fraud and increasing violence in the Lincoln Park area (he was a victim of a violent mugging this summer that went unsolved). His “3Rs” include: Reforming the state of Illinois; Rebuilding the Republican Party in the process; and Redeeming Illinois from its present state of corruption.

…

Obama As Reagan

The similarities between the presidency of Ronald Reagan and that of Barack Obama are summed up nicely by Charles Franklin at Pollster.

Both enjoyed significant gains for their party in both houses of Congress. Both faced “worst since the depression” economic circumstances. And each in his own very different ways attempted to reshape government in the early months in office.

With a bit more than 10 months of approval data on Obama, we can now make a more meaningful comparison than was possible at the first 100 days look.

The similarity of approval trajectories is striking for …

How Stolen Emails Were Used By The Right To Deny Science

Think Progress explains how “Climategate” was manufactured.  And the facts remain:

…arctic sea ice is still at historically low levels, Australia is still on fire, the northern United Kingdom is still underwater, the world’s glaciers are still disappearing and today NOAA confirmed that not only is it the hottest decade in history, but 2009 was one of the hottest years in history.…

On Wednesday’s Radio Show…

• Veronica De La Cruz‘s brother Eric de la Cruz died while awaiting a heart transplant that was denied and delayed because he could not get insurance due to a pre-existing condition. She’ll share her heartbreaking story and discuss the urgent need for reform.

• Just in time for Christmas, new ads in cities across America declare, “No God? No problem!” Are they offensive? Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition debates the man behind the campaign, David Niose of the American Humanist Association.

• What liberal media? Alan questions why rising poll numbers for Obama …

Obama At 50% In Gallup Daily Tracking Poll. Where’s The Hoopla?

The minute the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll showed President Obama at 47%, detractors and news organizations couldn’t wait to highlight that this was the lowest any president has polled at this point in a presidency (even though Ronald Reagan’s 49% was statistically a tie).  One day later, Obama is up 3 points, at 50%.  These are three-day rolling averages, so Obama must have had a really good day, the very day the media was was talking non-stop about his “lowest numbers ever.”

These polls widely fluctuate because of the sample size and the vagaries of daily, ever-changing events.  TPM …

Going Green Means Jobs For California

Jobs are being created in California at at a faster pace than the rest of the economy because of green businesses.

The report from Next 10, a nonprofit research group in Palo Alto, explores California’s “core green economy,” including areas such as research and advocacy, finance and investment, energy efficiency, recycling and building. The study, to be released today, determined that the number of green companies surged 45% from 1995 to 2008, and total jobs in areas such as energy efficiency, renewable fuels and clean tech grew 36%. During the same period general employment in the state expanded …

Sarah Palin Pens False And Misleading Op-Ed On Copenhagen

Sarah Palin’s op-ed in today’s Washington Post, timed for Copenhagen (pictured), begs for scrutiny, and she’s getting it.

Palin says: The e-mails reveal that leading climate “experts” deliberately destroyed records, manipulated data to “hide the decline” in global temperatures, and tried to silence their critics by preventing them from publishing in peer-reviewed journals.

Joseph Romm, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress: No, they don’t reveal that.

Seriously, does the Post have any evidence that records were deliberately destroyed? In fact, that is a right-wing myth debunked weeks ago (see “Santer, Jones, and Schneider respond …

Democrats Have Tentative Deal To Drop Public Option (UPDATED)

In an effort to get moderates on board, Democrats have dropped the public option from the health care bill, reports the Associated Press.

But liberals and moderates have been discussing an alternative, including a private insurance arrangement to be supervised by the federal agency that oversees the system through which lawmakers purchase coverage.

Additionally, talks centered on opening up Medicare to uninsured Americans beginning at age 55, a significant expansion of the large government health care program that currently serves the over-65 population.

UPDATE: Reuters is reporting that Harry Reid says reports the public option have …

GOP Former MO House Speaker Charged With Assault: “You Should Have Said ‘Green Balloons’”

Former Republican House Speaker Rod Jetton is being charged with assault for allegedly rendering a lover unconscious (h/t Crooks and Liars)

The complaint alleges Jetton “recklessly caused serious physical injury to ——- by hitting her on the head, and choking her resulting in unconsciousness and the loss of the function of part of her body.”

The affidavit claims the assault occurred during the night and into the morning of Nov. 16. It says Jetton and the victim agreed on a “safe word” “to use as a stop word during intercourse.”

The safe word was allegedly “green balloons.” …