CBS Poll: 71% Don’t Want Palin For President

A CBS poll shows that 71% of Americans don’t want Sarah Palin to run for president.

When the results are split out by party, 56 percent of Republicans say they do not want her to seek the office and 30 percent do. Meanwhile, 88 percent of Democrats do not want her to run. Among independents, 65 percent do not want her to run and 25 percent do.

The poll also finds that more people view Palin negatively than positively and that her book tour did not improve overall views of her.

Among those who identify themselves as conservatives, 58% don’t …

FBI Illegally Gathered Phone Records From 2002-2006

The FBI broke the law by invoking terrorism emergencies that did not exist in order to persuade phone companies to provide 2000 telephone records.

E-mails obtained by The Washington Post detail how counterterrorism officials inside FBI headquarters did not follow their own procedures that were put in place to protect civil liberties. The stream of urgent requests for phone records also overwhelmed the FBI communications analysis unit with work that ultimately was not connected to imminent threats.

A Justice Department inspector general’s report due out this month is expected to conclude that the FBI frequently violated the law with its …

New Jersey Governor Corzine Signs Medical Marijuana Law

On his last day on the job, outgoing New Jersey Governor John Corzine signed into law the medical marijuana bill, making New Jersey the 14th state to make the herb legal.…

On Monday’s Radio Show…

• Alan discusses the earthquake relief efforts with Former FEMA Director Michael D. Brown.

• Gen. Paul Eaton (U.S. Army – Ret.) explains how our military’s performance in Haiti can redefine American power.

• As our nation honors the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., Alan examines how the words of Dr. King apply to today’s most important issues.…

Coulter: Bill “Horny Hick” Clinton’s Haiti Involvement An “Embarrassment”

Ann Coulter goes out of her way to impress with her fine humor and deep analysis on Geraldo’s show (h/t Mediaite)

“It’s not like there aren’t other ex-Democratic presidents out there,” Coulter said. “As long as there aren’t any Jews in Haiti I think Jimmy Carter would be just fine. He would be better than The Horny Hick,” she continued as Coulter’s counterparts stifled more laughter.

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GOP Tries To Claim The Mantle Of Martin Luther King

RNC Chair Michael Steele applauded Martin Luther King for his “epic and historic fight for civil rights.” Sarah Palin used her Facebook page to cite King for fighting “for liberty and equality because he knew they were God-given and he knew that no government should be empowered to thwart our freedom.”  However, as Think Progress notes, King fought for the kind of things today’s right wing opposes, such as the labor movement and living wage laws. And King supported universal health care, stating:

Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and …

What Would Martin Luther King, Jr. Tweet?

Baratunde Thurston, in Vanity Fair, wonders how Martin Luther King, Jr. would have used social networking had it existed in his day (via Mediaite)

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Martin Luther King: The Dream Lives On

From August 28, 1963

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Hate At A Scott Brown Rally: “Shove A Curling Iron Up Her Butt”

Such lovely people, these Brown supporters.

The crowd responded enthusiastically as Brown made his case against AG Martha Coakley (D) — even interrupting frequently to make Brown’s case for him.

“I’ll tell you what,” Brown said, using a megaphone to address the crowd. “There’s negative campaigning, and then there’s malicious campaigning.”

“She’s malicious!” a man in the crowd cried out. “She’s a phony!” shouted another. “Shove a curling iron up her butt!” a third man interjected a few moments later.

Video via Kos; see :45 seconds in.

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Why Scott Brown Is A Contender: Anger

Anger is what’s driving the rise in the polls of Massachusetts senate hopeful Scott Brown. Anger at Barack Obama and at Democrats. Anger that the seat should somehow stay Democratic out of respect to Ted Kennedy. Anger that Washington spent money it didn’t have to save the economy.  And Brown isn’t going out of his way to identify as a Republican.  It’s enough for voters like Luis Rodriguez that Brown’s opponent, Martha Coakley, supports President Obama.

“We don’t buy what we can’t afford. We don’t spend what we don’t have,” said Rodriguez, echoing the anger expressed by other voters who …

Why Your Professor Is Likely A Liberal

Sociologists Neil Gross of the University of British Columbia and Ethan Fosse of Harvard studied why professors tend to lean left, and came up with some interesting answers.

Nearly half of the political lopsidedness in academia can be traced to four characteristics that liberals in general, and professors in particular, share: advanced degrees; a nonconservative religious theology (which includes liberal Protestants and Jews, and the nonreligious); an expressed tolerance for controversial ideas; and a disparity between education and income.

Ironically, the more conservatives complain about academia being too liberal, the more it’s likely to stay that way because it …