White House Directly Points Out Glenn Beck's Lies

I really enjoy it when I seeI see the White House pushing back against some of the insanity being spewed by some of the wackjobs on the right. This morning, they did it with the nuttiest nut of them all, FOX's Glenn Beck.

RHETORIC: BECK SAID VANCOUVER LOST $1 BILLION WHEN IT "HAD THE OLYMPICS." Glenn Beck said, "Vancouver lost, how much was it? they lost a billion dollars when they had the Olympics."

REALITY: VANCOUVER'S OLYMPICS WILL NOT TAKE PLACE UNTIL 2010. Vancouver will host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games from February 12 – 28, 2010 and March 12-21, 2010, respectively

RHETORIC: VALERIE JARRETT "WAS LAST SEEN WITH THE NEA." Beck's guest, FOX News contributor Pat Caddell, said, "[Obama] is going to go [to Copenhagen] with Valerie Jarrett who was last seen with the NEA pumping up their use of, you know, money." [Transcript, Glenn Beck Show, 9/29/09]

REALITY: VALERIE JARRETT WAS NOT ON THE NEA CONFERENCE CALL. Valerie Jarrett was not a participant in the August 10, 2009 United We Serve/NEA conference call.

RHETORIC: CHICAGO IS CLOSING THE GOVERNMENT SEVERAL DAYS A WEEK BECAUSE THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO BE OPEN. Beck's guest Caddell said, "Chicago is closing the government several days a week because they cannot afford to be open. They are going to go and reward -- this is the biggest scandal." [Transcript, Glenn Beck Show, 9/29/09]

REALITY: CHICAGO HAS HAD ONE REDUCED-SERVICE DAY IN 2009, AND WILL HAVE TWO MORE ON THE FRIDAY AFTER THANKSGIVING AND ON CHRISTMAS EVE.

RHETORIC: VALERIE JARRETT WILL BENEFIT FINANCIALLY. Beck asked, "Is it possible that she is going to benefit if the Olympics come to Chicago?" Caddell responded, "Well, that’s the word. She has certainly had a lot of dealings going on in real estate."

REALITY: UPON ENTERING GOVERNMENT, VALERIE JARRETT DIVESTED ALL HER REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT HOLDINGS EXCEPT FOR A SINGLE INVESTMENT THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OLYMPIC BID.

Truth About the Max Baucus Health Care Bill

Sick For Profit is a campaign being run by Brave New Films and Robert Greenwald that emphasizes the absurdity of the way the American health care system currently functions, and they've just released a quick two minute video explaining why the bill proposed by Democratic Senator Max Baucas of Montana isn't going to address the real problems of our system:



They also have a fun little contest going on now where you can vote for what you think is a more accurate tagline for the insurance company CIGNA. Presently, their slogan is "A Business of Caring," but Sick For Profit thinks one of these would be much more suitable:

• A business of caring less
• Walk it off
• Coverage to die for
• We deny. You die.
• Patients try our patience.
• Denying care, one patient at a time
• We love you... to death
• Your pain is our gain
• We put the "Hell" in healthcare
• Bend over

Halloween Comes Early for Humana Insurance!

Americans United For Change are running a great spot in DC and Kentucky (Home of the insurance company Humana AND it's biggest senatorial defender, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell):



This organization has also come out with a few other well-done and hard hitting ads dealing with the opposition to health care reform that is shared by Republicans AND the insurance companies:

The Real Death Panels:



GOP Rx: Wanna Be Healthy? Just Be Wealthy! Like Insurance Execs!

Rachel Maddow Takes on the Birther Infomercial

Rachel Maddow of MSNBC takes on the recent absurd birther 30-minute infomercial in her typically awesome fashion:

Your Science Knowledge Better Than the Average American?

Pew Research Center, an organization that refers to itself as a "non-partisan 'fact tank,'" released this quick 12-question quiz that will help determine your science knowledge relative to the average American.

An explanation from the site:

To test your knowledge of scientific concepts and recent scientific findings and events, we invite you to take this 12-question science knowledge quiz. Then see how you did in comparison with the 1,005 randomly sampled adults asked the same questions. You'll also be able to compare your Science IQ with the average scores of men and women; with college graduates as well as those who didn't attend college; with people who are your age as well as with younger and older Americans.

This quiz was part of the Pew Research Center's new study of science and its impact on society, conducted in collaboration with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The analysis of the findings from the poll can be found in the full report. (No peeking! If you are going to take the quiz, do it first before reading the analysis.) The discussion of the knowledge quiz can be found in Section 7 of the report.

Meg Whitman's Passion for California Politics Doesn't Involve Voting.

Meg Whitman, former president and CEO of Ebay, is trying to woo voters in California with her lifelong passion for California issues...

Apparently, she's sooo passionate about it that she didn't register to vote until she was 46. Her passion for politics has for some inexplicable reason been unable to compel her to vote in any election in the last 28 years.

Wisely, her opponent is pointing that out in a recent ad:

Glenn Beck Protest At Mount Vernon

A couple of my favorite protest signs from the people protesting Glenn Beck receiving the keys to Mount Vernon, Washington...More at Talking Points Memo: