Former GOP Congresswoman Susan Molinari: Gingrich’s Nazi Comparison Is ‘Crazy’ And ‘Outrageous’

THINK PROGRESS

With the release of his latest book, To Save America, former House speaker Newt Gingrich has been on a media tour, arguing that liberals in Congress and the Obama administration are trying to create “a country which no longer resembles America.” In his book, Gingrich claims that “the secular-socialist machine” — by which he means “the Obama-Pelosi-Reid team” — “represents as great a threat to America as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union once did.” On Fox News Sunday this past weekend, host Chris Wallace challenged Gingrich on that quote, asking if it was a “wildly over the top” comparison. Gingrich said it wasn’t:

WALLACE: You also write this, and let’s put it up on the screen. “The secular-socialist machine represents as great a threat to America as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union once did.” Mr. Speaker, respectfully, isn’t that wildly over the top?

GINGRICH: No, not if by America you mean the historic contract we’ve had which says your rights come from your creator, they’re unalienable, you’re allowed to pursue happiness. I mean, just listen to President Obama’s language.

On her CNN Headline News show last night, Joy Behar asked former GOP congresswoman Susan Molinari — who served in Congress while Gingrich was speaker of the House — if Gingrich was “losing his marbles” by making such comparisons. Molinari replied that Gingrich’s comments were “outrageous” and “crazy”:

BEHAR: Susan, when Bush was called a Nazi, the right wing went berserk on him. And yet, Gingrich just throws the word around as if it’s nothing. What is up with him? What is he, losing his marbles?

MOLINARI: This has always been — let me distance myself from that remark first of all in all seriousness. To compare anything that is going on in this country to the atrocities of Nazi Germany in any way, shape or form is just crazy. And you know that Newt was so smart. He got the Republican majority back in a generation, contract with America. And then, you know, moved quickly into a government shutdown and complained about his seat on President Clinton’s plane.

This is Newt. He can be really smart sometimes and sometimes he can just say some absolutely outrageous things. I would be like to be in that corner of saying that is outrageous.

Watch it:

Later in the show, Molinari tried to change the subject, saying, “let’s just take Newt off the table because that’s just not even worth talking about.” “Let’s put him under the table,” replied Behar. “Right. Exactly. Thank you,” responded Molinari.

Rep. Souder And Mistress Recorded Video Praising Abstinence

TPM

Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) had an affair with a part-time staffer named Tracy Jackson, Fox is reporting. Jackson played the role of interviewer for a Souder Web video show on the issues of the day -- including one on the value of abstinence.

Dubbed "Congressional Update with Congressman Mark Souder," the show hit on issues like intelligent design and fencing the border.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Conservative Sex Scandals]

In the November 2009 abstinence video, Jackson introduces Souder this way: "You've been a longtime advocate for abstinence education and in 2006 you had your staff conduct a report entitled 'Abstinence and its Critics' which discredits many claims purveyed by those who oppose abstinence education."

Watch:

Souder announced today he is resigning effective Friday. According to Legistorm, Jackson first came on Souder's payroll in late 2004 with the title "Special Assistant/Communications."

Media Matters Daily Summary 05-17-10

Quick Fact: Fox's Bream mischaracterizes AZ immigration law
Fox News' Shannon Bream stated that the Arizona immigration law "requires police responding to potential crimes to ask for proof of citizenship if there is a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the country illegally." In fact, the law also directs police to check the immigration status of those stopped for non-crimes, including violations of city and county ordinances and civil traffic violations, if the officer suspects those individuals are undocumented. Read More

Fox's Peter Johnson, Jr. still pushing smears about CMS nominee Berwick
Fox's Peter Johnson, Jr. continued to push smears of Donald Berwick, Obama's nominee to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, by distorting Berwick's comments on redistribution, the British NHS and rationing after they had been shown to be innocuous. Read More

The conservative media's religious test
Conservative media have invoked Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's Judaism in order to suggest that she may be a radical or that the court would not represent mainstream America if she is confirmed. Read More

CBS' Schieffer pushes right-wing falsehood that Kagan "would not allow military recruiters on campus"
CBS host Bob Schieffer falsely claimed that Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan would not allow military recruiters on campus when she was the dean of Harvard Law School. In fact, Harvard students had access to military recruiters during Kagan's entire tenure as dean, and Harvard's data show that her actions did not hurt military recruitment. Read More

WND's Klein invents controversy over Kagan's past support for women's issues group
WorldNetDaily's Aaron Klein suggested that Elena Kagan is controversial because she has donated to the National Partnership for Women & Families (National Partnership), an organization that, among other things, supports abortion rights. However, conservatives have previously said that personal and political views should not determine whether a justice is fit to serve on the Supreme Court. Read More

UPDATED: Myths and falsehoods about Elena Kagan's Supreme Court nomination
Media Matters for America has compiled an updated list of 29 myths and falsehoods about Solicitor General Elena Kagan's Supreme Court nomination. Read More

Kelly baselessly claims that Kagan "hampered the [military] recruiting effort" at Harvard
Megyn Kelly falsely claimed that as dean of Harvard Law School, Elena Kagan "bann[ed] the military from the campus" and baselessly asserted that Kagan "hampered the [military] recruiting effort" at Harvard. In fact, Harvard's data show that Kagan's actions did not hurt military recruitment, and Harvard students had access to military recruiters during her entire tenure as dean. Read More

Beck pushes false claims about Sunstein, OIRA
Glenn Beck falsely accused Cass Sunstein, head of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, of "saying that every website needs to include links to an opposing view" and falsely asserted that Sunstein wants to "tax speech, stop speech" and "[d]iscredit speech, even speech that ends up being true." Beck also falsely suggested that Sunstein's position in OIRA represents a "new role" created by President Obama. Read More

Wash. Examiner falsely suggested Kagan wanted to "ban pamphlets" by individuals
The Washington Examiner falsely suggested that Elena Kagan wanted to "ban pamphlets" written by individuals. In fact, Kagan argued that government could prohibit corporations and unions -- not individuals -- from spending general funds on pamphlets to directly support or oppose political candidates. Read More

Right Wing Reacts With Rage To First Muslim American Miss USA

THINK PROGRESS

Last night, the Miss USA pageant crowned Miss Michigan Rima Fakih the 2010 Miss USA. Fakih, who hails from the large Arab American community in Dearborn, Michigan, is a Lebanese American and the first Muslim to ever win the crown. (Miss USA 1983 Julie Hayek was reportedly the first Arab American to get the title).

In winning the title, Fakih defeated first runner-up Miss Oklahoma Morgan Elizabeth Woolard, who garnered headlines when she responded to a judge’s question about immigration policy by saying that she was “perfectly fine” with Arizona’s radical new immigration law. Just as they erupted over Carrie Prejean’s loss in the Miss USA contest 2009, the right is again alleging a liberal bias against Woolard. But many more right-wingers are enraged over Fakih’s crowning:

– Conservative radio host Debbie Schlussel blamed Fakih’s win on a supposed “politically correct, Islamo-pandering climate” in America and labeled her a “Lebanese Muslim Hezbollah supporter with relatives who are top terrorists.” [5/16/10]

– Right wing pundit and Fox contributor Michelle Malkin ranted that “Fakih’s cheerleaders are too busy tooting the identity politics horn to care what comes out of her mouth” and that “the Miss USA pageant didn’t want to risk the wrath of the open-borders mob.” [5/16/10]

– Conservative author Daniel Pipes, who was briefly appointed by former President George W. Bush to the U.S. Institute of Peace, opined that “this surprising frequency of Muslims winning beauty pageants makes me suspect an odd form of affirmative action.” [5/16/10]

– Fox News’s Gretchen Carlson complained that Woolard’s “informed opinion” may have cost her the crown, and said that Fakih may have won because we live in a “PC society.” [5/17/10]

“This is the real face of Arab Americans, not the stereotypes you hear about,” said Fakih supporter and Arab American Zouheir Alawieh following her win. “We have culture. We have beauty. We have history, and today we made history. … She believed in her dreams.”

Update - Fakih attended a Catholic high school and told pageant judges that her family celebrates both the Christian and the Muslim faiths.

RONNIE JAMES DIO is dead.

RAW STORY

Heavy metal purist Ronnie James Dio, a powerful voice of the groups Black Sabbath, Rainbow and Dio, died on Sunday, his wife announced on his website. He was 67.

"Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45am 16th May," wrote Wendy Dio.

She did not say how the singer died but he reportedly had suffered from cancer.

"Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away. Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all.... Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever," she added.................

Downplaying The BP Spill, Barbour Encourages Tourists To ‘Enjoy The Beach’ As Dead Dolphins Wash Ashore

THINK PROGRESS

While other Gulf state governors have been racing to mitigate the damage from the massive BP spill, or rethinking their support for offshore drilling, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) has been aggressively downplaying the disaster and bristling at comparisons to the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. Barbour told radio host Bill Bennett last week that if the spill comes ashore, “it will have some effect,” but that “it isn’t anything like Exxon Valdez.” Later that day, on Fox News, Barbour suggested the oil had “turned around” and wouldn’t be “another Valdez situation.” And last Wednesday, Barbour said, “Some in the news media keep forcing this on the public as the equivalent of Exxon Valdez. Well, the difference is just enormous.”

He’s right. New analysis shows the spill is “already far larger” than the Exxon Valdez crash, and that it only takes a “few days, [or] at most a week” for the BP spill to release as much oil as the Valdez did. However, Barbour continues to try to wish away the spill, saying it could have a “minimal impact” on his state, and comparing it to a harmless gasoline sheen found around motor boats:

He told The Associated Press the oil spill could be disastrous for Mississippi’s coastal economy. Then he added: “But it’s just as possible that what happens here will be manageable and of moderate and even minimal impact.”

Oil has not started washing up on shore in any large quantities, and Barbour likened much of the spill to the gasoline sheen commonly found around ski boats.

“We don’t wash our face in it, but it doesn’t stop us from jumping off the boat to ski,” Barbour said.

At a press conference, Barbour encouraged potential visitors to “[c]ome on down here and play golf, enjoy the beach, catch a fish.” But it may be hard to enjoy a beach covered in tar balls and dead fish. Here’s something tourists might find if they visit Mississippi’s beaches:

Barbour is the chairman of the Republican Governors Association (RGA) and as the AP notes, “oil companies have contributed $51,350 to RGA” since Barbour took over. BP America gave the RGA $10,000 in 2003, the first year Barbour ran for governor, and while “[i]ts’ not possible to trace that donation directly to Barbour,” his campaign received about $2 million from the RGA that year.

Maine GOP Forced To Apologize After Convention-Goers Vandalize An Eighth-Grade Classroom

THINK PROGRESS

Although Maine is known for its two moderate Republican senators — Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins — last week’s state GOP convention showed the growing influence of far-right activists. An “overwhelming majority of delegates” voted to “scrap the the proposed party platform and replace it with a document created by a group of Tea Party activists.” Maine Politics called it “a mix of right-wing fringe policies, libertarian buzzwords and outright conspiracy theories.”

The Republican convention was at the Portland Expo, but participants went to the nearby King Middle School to hold their caucuses. While there, they went through eighth-grade teacher Paul Clifford’s items, opened sealed boxes, stole a prized poster, and vandalized the room with Republican slogans. Some details on what they did:

– For seven years, Clifford has had “a collage-type poster depicting the history of the U.S. labor movement” on his classroom door. He uses it “to teach his students how to incorporate collages into their annual project on Norman Rockwell’s historic ‘Four Freedoms’ illustrations.” When Clifford returned to his classroom on Monday, after the GOP caucuses, the poster was gone; in its place was a sticker reading, “Working People Vote Republican.”

– Republicans opened a “closed cardboard box they found near Clifford’s desk” and later objected to the fact that it contained copies of the U.S. Constitution donated to the school by the American Civil Liberties Union.

– After the caucuses, “rank-and-file Republicans who were upset by what they said they had seen in Clifford’s classroom” began calling the school, objecting to student art they had seen and a sticker on a filing cabinet reading “People for the American Way — Fight the Right.”

Although some of these callers said they supported the fact that Clifford’s poster had been stolen, the Maine Republican Party’s leadership has taken a more conciliatory approach, apologizing to the school and promising to return any stolen materials it finds. “King Middle School was kind enough to allow the (party) to use their facilities and we are deeply concerned about the lack of respect shown to the faculty,” said Maine GOP Executive Director Christie-Lee McNally. Local Knox County GOP Chairman William Chapman agreed that the vandalism was inappropriate, but added that it was disturbing that there was “nothing” in Clifford’s room “that appeared to give a more balanced view.”

Even some students are appalled by the GOP caucus-goers’ behavior. Simon Johnson, a graduate of Clifford’s eighth-grade class, wrote an open letter saying that Maine Republicans had gone too far:

I am an unapologetic graduate of Paul Clifford’s eighth grade English class at King Middle School. I participated in the “Four Freedoms” expedition, and I made a poster decrying war quite similar to the one with which the Republicans took issue.

I am not brainwashed, I am not a puppet, I am not anti-American or anti-religious, and I am certainly not stupid. Paul Clifford’s class taught me to think critically, to deductively reason and, if anything, to appreciate America for all the freedoms with which I am ensured on a daily basis.

Clearly, the Knox County Republicans — who took a cherished, pro-Labor poster from Clifford’s room and who now are making slanderous and uninformed claims about Clifford — have a different agenda.

The Portland Press Herald also said that it received “several” e-mails from students “decrying the behavior of their weekend guests.” “I am not being brainwashed in his class under any circumstances,” wrote one student. “I am being told that I have the right to my own opinion. … These people were adults and they were acting very immaturely.”

GOP Senators Say Bailouts Worked -- Just Please Don't Tell Anyone!

TPM

Perhaps the most fascinating political conundrum of the 2010 election is one faced by GOP senators, almost all of whom voted for TARP and supported some of the other bailouts in the thick of the financial crisis. The good news is that, for all their shortcomings, the bailouts did the trick, preventing a deeper economic crisis. The bad news is those bailouts are now considered political poison by the tea partying conservative base.

That puts Republicans in a strange position: unable to say the legislation failed, but at pains to distance themselves from their vote nonetheless. Over the past couple days, I've asked a number of GOP senators whether, nearly two years later, they think the bailout bill was effective. Their answers were revealing.

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), who's retiring at the end of the year and is therefore unencumbered by the need to defend himself from the GOP base, has nothing to run away from.

"It was extremely effective," Gregg told me. "Not only was it effective and stabilized the financial industry, it also returned to the taxpayers almost $20 billion in interest and dividends that they would have otherwise not have."........................