Faith-based politics is like religion, quite resistant to logic.

Well written brother. To watch that video you posted of President Obama saying,"I will crush them" was refreshing. I am sure that President Obama will make Harry Reid hold the Senate GOP's feet to the fire. I want to see them fillibuster and I want President Obama to make an example out of this behavior. If the Dems get 100% of the credit for saving the economy, social security, healthcare, the military, the housing market and 401Ks than there will be very few people to vote for the GOP. So we should feel good that they are crapping their pants over a false document and still believing that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. I believe that was McCain's final moment and if the rest of the GOP want to suffer the same fate so be.

Speaking of suspicious assertions, my very intelligent girlfriend, who is nowhere near as much of a news junkie as I am, told me today that she heard that 25-30 CIA analysts have resigned in the wake of the exec. order closing Guantanamo...possibly in protest over the closing. I can't find any indication of this on the intertubes...is there a story out there about this that I've missed?

I heard about maybe 2 or 3 CIA people (not sure they are analysts) speaking against the Gitmo closing. I have heard nothing about resignations. I don't know why analysts would resign over Gitmo closing, it's not like they get any useful information from there. People that have been out of circulation for half a decade or more seldom have intel that is useful.

The MSM demonstrates again the power of propaganda. If they can create this much dervish whirling using a nonexistent fabricated report, just think what can be accomplished if you have an actual fact to start with.

2nd Law of Advertising:

If no facts support your premise, fabricate some that do. People seldom check your facts, but have a handy cover story if someone actually does. "We made a mistake based on an inadequate review of the facts" almost always works. Never admit to fabrication.

SillyGit:
Your second law of advertising is correct. Liberals have been using that for years; much more successfully than conservatives.

Well said, Bob.

hayday - Gotta disagree...most of the republican agenda is based around, or has been enacted by, the fabrication of facts...

Here's a letter I'm sending to the local paper:

To the Editor, Times Daily:

According to the National Republican Congressional Committee's website on Sunday January 23rd, the economy is just fine.

"Thanks to Republican economic policies," it says, "the U.S. economy is robust and job creation is strong."

Either that is George Orwell's doublespeak, or the Grand Old Party has lost its marbles. Last month brought the highest rate of unemployment claims and the biggest GDP drop in a generation. What planet are they living on?

"Republican tax cuts are creating jobs and continuing to strengthen the economy," it continues. Yes, bang-up job so far with tax cuts. There are fewer jobs today than when Bush took office, and the average worker makes about one percent less today than they did in 1981.

Back then, Ronald Reagan said the rich would invest their money and create more jobs if we cut their taxes. This is called 'supply-side economics,' and Republicans want to solve the current economic crisis with tax cuts alone.

But while tax cuts are included in President Obama's stimulus plan, they are only a part of the solution, for this crisis isn't about ''supply.' There is plenty of supply in our economy, but not enough demand.

Most Americans have cut back on spending. When we don't spend, profits diminish. Businesses fail. Fortunes are lost -- yes, even the rich are getting poorer.

Government can take up a lot of this spending slack, but Republicans think that is a terrible idea. They are so against it, they are willing to tell any lie they can invent, even a bald-faced one.

Just last week, Republican Congressional aides took a partial draft report by the Congressional Budget Office, copied one set of numbers out of context, then leaked the disembodied numbers to the media -- which repeated their inventions as fact, and then invited Republican pundits on the weekend talk shows to talk about this nonexistent CBO report as if it were real.

Lies, a dirty trick, and compliant media: where have we seen this before? Whenever Congressional Republicans talk about the economy, consider the source, the medium, and their track record together.

Bob - while I know that the blogosphere on the left is pushing this story - it seems to me necessary that the blogosphere begin flexing some muscle in the direction of activism. If the media refuses to pick up a story - what can blogosphere readership do to push the truth forward?

Further to my point - last week was a week for dissing the blogosphere on the left - including Chris Matthews completely disregarding information because it came from a blog. This suggests that information will circulate the blogosphere and die - leaving those on the left angry, frustrated, and unheard, while those on the right set the agenda through misinformation. I'd like to see us here on this blog brainstorm a way to push information out - I say this with respect to you and to Lee - Lee particularly because of his diligence on the John Edwards thing, and you because of your early endorsement of Obama. I feel confident that the two of you will be able to strategize ways to get information up the stream, utilizing the grassroots...

QT

It's official. The Official CBO Cost Estimate of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R.1)

http://cboblog.cbo.gov/?p=199

Posted on CBO's Director's Blog: Monday, January 26th, 2009 at 7:37 pm.