Charley James: According to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, news reports that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab – the man accused to trying to blow up NW253 – concealed explosives in his underpants are accurate “so we want to be sure that, along with making people walk barefoot through check points, and banning shampoo and deodorant, no one is trying to sneak explosives aboard in their knickers.”

Florida’s 22nd Congressional district is where Allen West, a former lieutenant colonel who was drummed out of the Army for torturing an Iraqi prisoner by holding a mock execution after allowing men under his command to repeatedly beat the detainee, has the GOP endorsement to run for Congress in 2010

This weeks articles, on Afghanistan, immigration reform, joblessness and the economy, gay rights and more.

would say I’m sorry and give you my condolences, but that seems almost insulting considering the decision you’ve made.

Who other than His Nuttiness would praise nurses for their knowledge, care, and understanding when they tended to him after he was hospitalised following botched hemorrhoid surgery only to turn on them a year later for supporting health care reform so people who don’t have Fox News’ lush group plan can get insurance?

These signs are good for a laugh, but I agree with Sharon that there is also cause to be very frightened – especially since many of these folks are armed.

Somehow, I suspect Pawlenty is more interested in the impact of his idiotic comments on the GOP’s dwindling base of lunatics than he is in my comments. If I hear back, I’ll let you know.

Glenn Beck once insisted that he started his “9/12 Movement” to recapture the sense of unity in the nation the day after the terrorist attacks in 2001. That idea lasted about four minutes Saturday morning …

I do find it amusing, however, that the right wing wants people to trust insurance companies over government. Insurance companies have been the most incredibly grotesque example of service and loophole digging I have ever witnessed. The idea that my life would be in the hands of a company that exists solely to make profit and who hires people whose compensation is based on finding ways to deny claims, would be incredibly horrifying.

‘Socialized Medicine’ and Hamas: Big Lies Thrive. The conflict between The Big Lie and The Big Truth is really about which side can repeat its points most often. It’s an endurance contest. With so much …

FURTHER UPDATE: Okay, I’ve now been able to get independent information from multiple sources that all of this precedes what are said to be possible federal indictments against Palin, concerning an embezzlement scandal related to …

No Nonsense Census — Carl Matthes
Illusion, Reality & Courage in Iran — Carl Bloice
Experts Wrong: Newsom Clear Beneficiary of Villaraigosa Non-Entry — Randy Shaw
Iran’s Youth and Women’s Movement — Herndon Davis
The Politics of Mourning Michael …

Don’t conservatives, ConservaDems, the Republican Party, and the rest of the “climate change is a hoax” crowd ever get tired of being wrong?
For several years, business lobbyists along with GOP and other right wing mouthpieces …

This Week’s Newsletter Here
Does the Obama Plan for Reforming Wall Street Measure Up? —Robert Reich
California Democrats: “Spreading the Pain” from Sacramento —Joseph Palermo
Black Victims of ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ —Herndon Davis
The Italian Job: Border Police …

The Other N Word: Nappy—Sharon Kyle
Affirmative Action the Chicago Way—Steve Ybarra
New Jobless Stats: Still “Less Terrible”? Not for Some—Carl Bloice
Will Obama Save the Mideast from Itself?—David A. Love
Department of Homeland Security Suspends “Widow Penalty”—Michele Waslin—
Get …

According to the loonie chorus on the right, we’re all sons of bitches now.
When they’re not bashing Sonia Sotomayor for asking sharp questions from the bench – which would seem to be a pretty basic …

Single-Payer Health Care versus Individual Mandates: A Dilemma for Democrats. –Gene Rothman
What’s Not Being Said About the Obama-Netanyahu Talks. –Carl Bloice
A White Gay’s Guide for Dealing with the Black Community. –Jasmyne Cannick
Lieutenant Dan Choi Takes …

Every Friday the LA Progressive features a comment that was particularly noteworthy. This week we are featuring a comment submitted by Roman  commenting on Charley James‘ “Why TV Is the Pits.” Here’s Roman’s comment:
Another thing …

A Modest Plan for Paying College Costs. –Robert Reich
Budget Baloney. –Adam Eran
Local Police Report Makes the Case for Federal Enforcement of Immigration Laws. –Michele Waslin

“Of Course (The CIA) Misled Congress. We Were Trained How.” –Charley …

Every Friday the LA Progressive features a comment that was particularly noteworthy. This week we are featuring a comment submitted by Magic StarER commenting on Charley James‘ “Suppresssed Abu Ghraib Photos Published Down Under.” …

Revisionist History Cannnot Override Long Racial Legacy. If the LAPD is really trying to establish a “new” image, the “new” police headquarters will not have William H. Parker’s name on it. –Anthony Samad
AB 1017 Would …

The Tea Baggers and the Bizarro Revolution. –John Delloro
Human Rights Organizations Say Immigrants Caught in Detention Dragnet. –Michele Waslin
Stimulus Mania: Is It The 21st Century Soup Line? –Anthony Asadullah Samad
A Short Citizen’s Guide to Kooks, …

After thinking about Attorney General Eric Holder’s unfathomable court filing defending the Bush-wacked “states secret” defence and a claim of “sovereign immunity” in lawsuits involving illegal wiretapping, I sent this e-mail to The White House.
TO: …

Every Friday the LA Progressive features a comment that was particularly noteworthy. This week we are featuring a comment submitted by Lisa, commenting on “Easter Reflections on a ‘Christian Nation.’” by Charley James. Lisa writes:
As …

Equal Access, Equal Justice
Rejecting Post-Raciality: An Ode to the Life of John Hope Franklin. Franklin proved that within our story is America’s story and America “Negro problem” was a refusal to acknowledge the equality of …

Shut your blinds! Close your doors! Look what Google is up to now. It is taking photos of everybody’s home!
Apparently, not everyone is happy about it. According to Agence Presse France, angry residents of a …

by Charley James –
I detest the Top 10 lists sprouting up daily: Newspapers, magazines, television, cable, blogs, whatever. One acquaintance in New Mexico sent a mass e-mail to everyone in her Outlook directory asking each …

by Charley James –
By now, no one should be surprised that the White House is taking its usual, uneven and heavy-handed approach in reacting to the gargantuan Israeli shock-and-awe bombing of densely populated areas of …

by Charley James –
Last Saturday, Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus came up with an unusually convoluted bit of punditspeak about forgiving Dick Cheney his self-admitted war crimes and crimes against humanity including lying the country …

by Charley James –
John McCain lost the presidential election only because the Obama landslide was greater than Republican operatives anticipated and local GOP apparatchiks weren’t vigilant enough in preventing legitimate voters from casting ballots. And …

by Charley James –
According to both the 9/11 Commission report and Richard Clarke’s book, Against All Enemies, in the summer of 2001 former CIA director George Tenet raced around Washington clanging “alarm bells” to anyone …

by Charley James –
Appearing last night on Rachel Maddow’s show, Senate Armed Services Committee chair Carl Levin called for an investigation and possible indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney for admitting he authorized waterboarding – …

by Charley James –
Overlooked in the frothing about Dick Cheney’s interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl is a simple truth. Shotgun Dick, Darth Vadar, The Man Who Never Was, Richard Bruce Cheney confessed freely and openly …

by Charley James –
Where is a pair of dirty, old shoes when I need them?
I want to hurl a pair after it became official yesterday when reality was confirmed by no less a reliable White …

by Charley James –
To prove to himself once and for all that everything is going swell in Iraq, George Bush spent one of his last weekends in office sneaking into Baghdad to say, “So long, …

by Charley James –
George Bush is leaving the White House the same way he entered: On a lie and a prayer.
He took office on a lie that he won the 2000 election and a prayer …

by Charley James –

Since neither the Pentagon nor the Veterans Administration seems to show much real interest in the plight of returning Afghan and Iraqi vets beyond a few discredited talking points spouted during interviews, …

by Charley James –

As a progressive, one of the things that I appreciate about MSNBC’s evening line-up is that although its people have a liberal point of view, they stick to actual facts rather than …

by Charley James –
Although I’ve lived in Toronto for going on two decades, Minnesota was my last state of residence in the US, so it is where I’ve voted since moving here. Reading on-line editions …

by Charley James –
Lost in the wake of Henry Paulson’s announcement Wednesday that Treasury is “changing direction” in how it doles out money in the bank rescue plan is a little-noticed lawsuit filed last Friday …

by Charley James –

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada – what Americans call Veterans Day – and everything other than retailing and restaurants shuts down tight. Canada treats Remembrance Day much more somberly than do …

by Charley James –
One of Chairman Mao Tse Tung’s “sayings” immortalized in his Little Red Book deals with stealth in politics and war. “Make a noise in the east,” the Great Helmsman wrote, “and strike …

Every Friday the LA Progressive features a comment that was particularly noteworthy. This week we are featuring a comment that submitted by Lisa in response to “Tears, Joy, Relief, Release,” by Charley James. …

The image of humorless Canada just got whacked apart like a piñata.
A pair of Montreal radio comedians, one of whom pretended to be Nicholas Sarkozy, managed to get Palin to believe she was speaking with …

Claiming that their checks to the Obama campaign were refused and the lobbyists rebuffed, the organization called Billionaires For Bush are fighting back. They ripped out every page from the old playbook, Fear and Voting …

by Charley James –
It might be the supreme, ironic, twist of Republicans efforts to keep people from voting. It turns out that Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher – the infamous Joe the Plumber – may not be …

by Charley James –
For the past several weeks, John McCain, Sarah Palin and their surrogates have been busily dividing America into two categories: Real and, I guess, pretend Americans.
To Republicans, Election 2008 is junior high …

I suppose when the Republican vice presidential candidate is discovered spending $150,000 on a campaign wardrobe, it’s hard for the GOP to remember being shocked – Shocked, I tell you! – over John Edwards’ $400 …

Every Friday the LA Progressive features a comment that was particularly noteworthy. This week we are featuring a comment that was submitted in response to “McCain: Unbalanced, Unglued, and Unfit,” by Charley James. Here’s Allan’s …

by Charley James –

Despite numerous calls from serious conservative columnists over the last week for John McCain to drop Sarah Palin from the Republican ticket, she’s not going anywhere regardless of her debate performance.

Assuming that the Bush-Paulson Wall Street bailout gets changed drastically by the time it’s passed, we can all tip our hat to Mother Jones. With everyone on the Hill screaming about the power grab Treasury …

In recent weeks, our LA Progressive has started getting a regular stream of reader comments on our articles or directly to us as editor and publisher.

by Charley James –
Not many years ago, John McCain tried reforming political campaigns. But now that he is a presidential candidate, he has morphed into the Kevin Trudeau of political commercials.
In 2004, the Federal Trade …

OK, so like every other major, minor, would-be and never was journalist in the world, I want to interview Sarah Palin. Yet when I called McCain’s campaign headquarters in McLean, Virginia, this morning I was …

“So Sambo beat the bitch!”
This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama’s win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic …

Only an American would visit a foreign country and even think of doing what three Yanks just did to me. Here’s the skinny.