ElBaradei Says Bush Team Should Face Criminal Investigaton

Mohamed ElBaradei, the former UN inspector and Egyptian activist, says BushCo should face a criminal investigation for “the shame of a needless war” in Iraq.

Freer to speak now than he was as an international civil servant, the Nobel-winning Egyptian accuses U.S. leaders of “grotesque distortion” in the run-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion, when then-President George W. Bush and his lieutenants claimed Iraq possessed doomsday weapons despite contrary evidence collected by ElBaradei’s and other arms inspectors inside the country.

The Iraq war taught him that “deliberate deception was not limited to small countries ruled by ruthless dictators,” ElBaradei writes …

Koran-Burning Pastor Jailed For Refusing To Pay $1 Bond

Florida pastor Terry Jones and his cohort, Wayne Sapp, were remanded to jail in Detroit by Judge Mark Somers for refusing to pay a $1 bond each because of a judge’s ruling that they would breach the peace.

The stunning development came after a Dearborn jury sided with prosecutors, ruling that Terry Jones and Wayne Sapp would breach the peace if they rallied at the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn.

Prosecutors asked Judge Mark Somers for $45,000 bond. Somers then set bond at $1 each for the two pastors.

They refused to pay. And Somers ordered them remanded to …

The Truth About Social Security

By Yashwanth Manjunath

Politicians in both political parties who cannot wait to cut Social Security love to fear-monger on the issue and propose deep cuts to the program. Meanwhile, most people who follow Social Security propaganda closely know that based on much publicized current projections the program is expected to remain solvent until 2037, at which point there would need to be a 22% reduction in benefits in order to keep the system in balance. But it turns out that even those numbers are nonsense propaganda.

Thanks to some outstanding work on the part of Manny Goldstein at Democratic …

On Friday’s Radio Show…

• Activist Naomi Pitcairn tells Alan why she spent over $75,000 for the opportunity to protest President Obama.

• Tennessee State Sen. Stacey Campfield defends his controversial “don’t say gay” bill.

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

Videos Of The Week: McCotter, O’Keefe, Animals In The House, Textual Healing

Republican Congressman Thaddeus McCotter does a video supporting Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi against charges he slept with underage prostitutes, and does so while strumming a guitar and singing a parody of the Rolling Stones song “Satisfaction.”

Conservative huckster James O’Keefe, who was arrested for breaking into the office of Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu and allegedly tampering with her phone system, performed in a video featuring his mentions on news shows and his attempt to impersonate Michael Jackson while presenting an operetta about his travails. It needs no further explanation, but you may need Pepto-Bismol.

Tennessee Democratic State Rep. Joanne …

Middle Class Finally Standing Up To Right Wing Efforts To Hurt Them

Rep. Paul Ryan was booed a town hall meeting when he talked about preserving tax cuts for the rich. Now comes a video of Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy being challenged for his stances on privatizing Medicare and tax breaks for the rich (via Think Progress).

CONSTITUENT: I hear you saying two contradictory things about taxes. One you want to reform the tax code so that corporations to pay more, and two you don’t want corporations to pay so much so that they’ll somehow stimulate business. So I don’t understand that contradiction. The CBO […] the Ryan program proposes …

Rep. Peter Welch Of Vermont On Paul Ryan’s False Numbers

Progressive Caucus Congressman Peter Welch of Vermont has 114 members on board urging a clean debt ceiling bill to make sure we can pay our bills. He echoes Matt Miller’s understanding that Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget creates $5 trillion in debt. Welch actually says it’s $8 trillion.  In fact, it’s the progressive plan that has us debt-free sooner, with a more sustainable and more compassionate array of cuts than what the GOP is offering. Welch explained on my radio show Thursday night:

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com…

Muslim-Hating Florida Pastor’s Gun Goes Off In Detroit Parking Lot; He’s There To Fight Islam

Terry Jones, the Koran-burning Florida pastor, headed for Dearborn, Michigan, where he planned to fight the evil forces of Islam.  As he was entering the passenger side of his car in a Detroit parking lot, his 40-caliber gun went off by mistake, sending a bullet through the car’s floorboard. Jones was appearing in court there for a hearing to determine if he could conduct a rally at Dearborn’s largest mosque. He said he had been up since 4:30AM and that the firing of his gun was “an accident.”

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Allen West’s Name-Calling Tour Continues: Reiterates Obama Is “Low-Level Socialist Agitator”

Rep. Allen West reiterated to Greta Van Susteren what he said to radio host Laura Ingraham, that Obama is “a low-level socialist agitator.” He justified it by claiming the president called Congressman Paul Ryan a “simple little accountant.” Only, President Obama didn’t say that. What Obama said was, “When Paul Ryan says his priority is to make sure… he’s just being America’s accountant and trying to be responsible– this is the same guy that voted for two wars that were unpaid for, voted for the Bush tax cuts that were unpaid for, voted for the prescription drug bill that …

Donald Trump’s Hair, Explained

h/t Political Wire

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Time For Democrats To Show They’re The “Values” Party

Greg Sargent suggests that President Obama is “finding his voice” and he’s doing so by focusing on values. At a West Coast fundraiser Thursday night he drew a distinction between what Republicans want to do and where he wants to take us:

“These budget debates that we’re having now crystallize the debate that we’re going to be having in this country over the next 18 months about who we are, what we care about, what our values are, what our commitments are to each other,” Obama said.

He added that America should be “a country that is generous and compassionate, …