On Thursday’s Radio Show…

• Clive Stafford Smith of Reprieve, which has represented several prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, responds to new revelations about the treatment of Gitmo detainees.

• William Helmreich, author of What Was I Thinking? The Dumb Things We Do and How to Avoid Them, explains why smart people do dumb things.

• Suffering from Royal Wedding Fever? Alan’s got the cure.…

Ralph Nader Says Obama Needs A Challenge From The Left, But It Won’t Be Him This Time

Ralph Nader has no intention of running for president in 2012, but he makes an argument that President Obama, although likely to be reelected, could use a challenge from the left to pull him that way. His book, Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us, is out in paperback. Posits that the wealthy can save the country much better than the government can. He was on radio with me Tuesday night.

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com…

Headline Schmooze For April 28, 2011

Hawaii government hands over Obama’s birth records
How they got to Hawaii from Kenya still a mystery to nutters on the right

What can Obama do to bring down gas prices?
He can find a way to convert political BS into gasoline

Haley Barbour decides against running for president
Brothers and Sisters of the Confederacy scramble for new candidate

Ron Paul Launches Presidential Campaign
Was just waiting to see what Haley Barbour was doing?

Teleprompter Inventor Hubert Schlafly Dies in Conn. at 91
Barack Obama Sends Lots of Flowers…

Can Gary Johnson Make The Republican Party More Appealing?

Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson skipped the “exploratory committee” phase of the campaign and is running for the Republican nomination for president. He has been compared to Congressman Ron Paul in that he has many non-traditional positions for a Republican. For Governor Johnson, it’s all about cost-benefit analysis. He often visits my radio show and is always up for talking about the issues. He refused to even comment on other candidates and potential candidates, and side issues like the birther controversy. I wanted to know how he can square himself with the Republican Party and how they can square …

Allen West: “If You Support Medicare (As Is) You Can Kiss (America) Goodbye”

Newly-elected right-wing Congressman Allen West told a town hall meeting that if Medicare continues as is it will be the end of our country (h/t Think Progress).

WEST: I gotta tell you something: if you support Medicare the way it is now, you can kiss the United States of America goodbye.

West is attacking a program that is hugely popular with Americans. He took no unauthorized questions and answered only one pre-screened query that was read by a staffer.

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Rick Santorum: U.S. Shirking Its Responsibility To Fight “Militant Socialism”

Former Pennsylvania Senator and president wannabe Rick Santorum believes we are laying down on the job by not standing up to “militant socialism.”

In prepared remarks for a speech on Thursday, the former Pennsylvania senator said U.S. policy under Obama is “premised on vague notions of hope and change that has scrambled America’s foreign policy relationships — both with our allies and our enemies.”

“From acquiescence to China’s saber rattling in the South China Sea to impotence in the face of Venezuela’s use of petro-dollars to expand his Bolivarian revolution in our hemisphere, President Obama has at best refused to …

Trump’s Birtherism Hurting His Apprentice Ratings

It’s not only America Donald Trump is hurting. His foray into politics via birtherism is hurting ratings of Celebrity Apprentice (via Political Wire).

…Nielsen rating for “Celebrity Apprentice” are lower than they were a year ago — and dropping fast. One reason Trump’s audience is abandoning him may be that, according to demographic research of primetime television viewers provided exclusively to The Atlantic by National Media Inc., a firm that places political ads on television, the audience for “Celebrity Apprentice” is among the most liberal in primetime television (see graphic). Rather than add viewers, Trump foolishly appears to be …

Bob Woodward Likens Donald Trump To Joe McCarthy

On Morning Joe, writer Bob Woodward said Donald Trump aspires to be the new Joe McCarthy (h/t Mediaite).

“Let’s call things what they are. Donald Trump, I think, was or maybe still is aspiring to be the new Joe McCarthy. No evidence, but you make an assertion and you look at these things Trump said . . . people interviewing him at that moment should have said ‘what’s your evidence.’ Trump has no evidence, and when you have no evidence you have nothing and the discussion of the subject should end.”

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When Good Agencies Get Corrupted

by Stuart Shapiro

Political scientists used to write a lot about “agency capture.”  The idea was that government agencies became so entangled with the industry that they were regulating that they couldn’t help but do what the industry wanted.  The idea was largely discredited by the 1970s.  It was so discredited that few noticed when Congress started passing statutes that allowed significant portions of agency budgets to come from fees paid by the industry they regulated.  The result, as detailed in the Senate committee report on the financial crisis, looks a lot like agency capture (OTS is the Office …

Next Week’s First Republican Presidential Debate Currently Features Nobody

by toma

I know that current big-name Republican presidential candidates generate golf tournament-like excitement, but they won’t even show up for the first 2012 campaign debate? Won’t bother with South Carolina’s kickoff to the season, hosted by Fox News?

The debate is set for May 5 in Greenville, South Carolina, and the deadline for candidates to register has already been pushed back, from April 29 to May 3.

The requirements for participation, according to a joint press release from Fox News and the South Carolina Republican Party, include formation of an exploratory committee, filing paperwork and paying fees to …

Now That Obama Has Produced His Birth Certificate, Time For Right-Wingers To Get Out Their Checkbooks

by toma

It’s done, it’s out. The president’s birth certificate has been produced, it’s all official. So what’s this mean? Barack Obama is actually president of the United States? YAWN, we already knew that. No, this means a few over-confident and over-heated conservatives will have to pay up.

Oh, the high cost of foolishness. Let’s start with the “King of the Birthers,” Joseph Farah:

“More than five months ago now, around Obama’s alleged Aug. 4 birthday, I stepped out publicly and offered a $10,000 charitable gift to the hospital found on his long-form birth certificate. All he or the …