Does Rush have Palin Envy?

I am sitting here listening to Rush Limbaugh freak out because I called him a lovable buffoon on Fox News this morning for his bizarre "We Just Proved Climate Change is One Big Hoax" jag. Listen to his over-the-top reaction when "Snurdly" told him he was being attacked on TV.

There is a link to the MP3 audio on my website at www.nancyskinnerlive.com.

That's right. I said it. Who are you going to believe: the entire world's scientific community or a high-school drop out? OK - I was wrong. He was a college drop-out, not a high school drop-out. But at least I can admit when I'm wrong.

Watch today's exchange here (Fox News -America's Newsroom. Cap and Trade vs. Climate Change Hoax). You can also watch it at the top of the row of videos at the right on my YouTube channel.

Rush Limbaugh is once again leading the crazy chorus on the "climate change is a hoax show" with the most outrageous lies to date about climate scientists, whom he calls "a cabal of thugs masquerading as scientists to advance a world-wide leftist agenda." He went on to call Al Gore a terrorist and a crook. (He really should be more specific because it matters terribly whether one would be tried by a military tribunal or in a federal criminal court.)

Is my honey bunny el-Rushbo trying to turn "Climate Hoax E-mails" into his "Death Panels" moment to grab the spotlight back from Sarah Palin? That is sad indeed.

It was the hundreds of hate mails I received from people who actually buy his crap that really befuddled me though. I even have something called ResistNet.com (The Home of the Patriotic Resistance) after me because I believe in global warming. I feel Galileo's pain.

So just in case you haven't been following the "expose of the largest hoax in history," some anonymous hackers commit a federal crime by hacking into one climate research facility in the UK (East Anglia University), selecting and releasing a few e-mails between scientists. Rush and his Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Conspiracists then hilariously spin them totally out of control as proof that all scientists have conspired to deliberately deceive the world about climate change. Where is Dan Brown when you need him?

He concludes that the entire body of science supporting evidence of climate change has been fabricated all these decades in the world's largest hoax and cover-up in history, calling it bigger than even the Flat Earth Hoaxers.

The irony is delicious, is it not? If Rush had a microphone back then, I'm quite sure he wouldn't be deluded by the majority of "scientists" who believed since the early 15th century (and many much earlier) that the earth must be round - and would have called Christopher Columbus, who set out and proved it definitely, a terrorist.

Yes, Rush darling, the world is round and climate change is real.

Hold the Blue Dogs Accountable at BlueDogHunt.com

Friends,

We are in the critical hours for healthcare reform. We all know that a few Democratic Senators are threatening to hold hostage true reform, which must include the public option in order to bring competition into the healthcare market place, reduce premiums and ultimately long-term budget deficits.

The only choice for "fiscally responsible" Senators is the public option because without it, federal spending on healthcare will skyrocket from one in six dollars to one in three. Longterm, our national debt would be close to 400% GDP. That is what we call meltdown.

So the gang at www.nancyskinnerlive.com has created a new site, www.BlueDogHunt.com, which is helping Blue Dogs to "Go Public"! We are identifying Senators who are "on the fence" and sending them a message with our pocketbooks.

We know that giant insurance companies are spending millions to influence them and our message is simple "We will have your back if you have ours!"

Blue Dogs need to do the right thing for the American people and we'll help them get re-elected if they do. We're too close to start over after a new election.

So please visit www.bluedoghunt.com and spread the word, because a 60-vote majority is a terrible thing to waste!

Nancy Skinner



P.S. Sign up on the forum at BlueDogHunt.com and start a conversation.

Nancy doing another show on WGN this Sunday

Nancy will again be doing a show from 50,000 watt WGN in Chicago this Sunday, September 20 from 12-3 p.m. CT (1-4 p.m. ET; 10-1 p.m. PT).

The show can be streamed online at http://www.wgnradio.com/about/listen, Nancy will be taking callers at 312-591-7200 during the show.

Be sure to spread the word and tune in on Sunday.

Nancy will be doing a show on 50,000 watt WGN this Saturday

Do you miss hearing Nancy on the air?

Tune in when she does a show on Chicago's 50,000 watt WGN this Saturday, August 29, from noon-2:30 p.m. CT (1:00-3:30 p.m. ET).

You can stream the show at http://www.wgnradio.com/about/listen and call in during the show at 312-591-7200.

Tune in and spread the word!

My message to my listeners sent out 5-8-2009

Dear Listeners and Friends:

Whether you've written me, called into the show or just listened these past few months, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your lives. So many of you have shared your thoughts with me and made me feel like I touched you in some way -- whether you agreed or disagreed with me, we were able to have a dialogue.

Today will be my last show for a while. We have decided to go on hiatus to regroup and spend some time building the Nancy Skinner brand through multiple media -- my TV appearances, my blog and the book I'm going to be writing. But, I will be back on the air causing more trouble by the fall, and will keep you up-to-date during the time I'm gone -- I will not disappear.

Remember to sign up at http://www.nancyskinnerlive.com/ if you haven't done so yet, and check back there and at my blog often. You can also keep up with me on Facebook (you must be logged into Facebook for this link to take you to my official public page) and by following me on Twitter -- there are also links at the website and the blog. Archives of all of my shows will continue to be available at http://www.whiterosesociety.com/ (and, to thank Ben Burch for all he does, please consider donating at the White Rose site so he can continue his wonderful work).

Clips of my appearances on CNBC this week are posted on my blog, and I have a new blog post up as well. Also, I will be making the following TV appearances tonight:

• The O'Reilly Factor tonight on Fox News at 8:00 p.m. ET (pre-taped)
• CNBC Reports tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET - (two segments - live)

Keep in touch and take care. I'll definitely be in touch with all of you.

Nancy

Cash For Clunkers: (Not cars, I mean banks)

Two developments happened over the last two days.

The House of Representatives passed the oddly named, but very smart "Cash for Clunkers" bill, which will give cash vouchers to people who turn in their low mileage vehicles for higher mileage ones. According to the "Detroit Free Press," the vouchers would be worth $3,500 if the mileage improvement is at least four miles per gallon for a car or two miles per gallon for a small truck, and $4,500 if the difference is 10 miles per gallon for a car or five miles per gallon for a small truck.

In both cases, the old vehicle must get less than 18 miles per gallon, and new cars must hit at least 22 miles per gallon for a car and at least 18 miles per gallon for a small truck.

"The upgrades in mileage may not sound huge, but if the program spurs a big turnover in the vehicles Americans drive, both oil consumption and climate warming emissions could decline substantially. And the standards have to be accessible for most Americans -- otherwise, even vouchers of this size might not lure many buyers."

To my point on banks. The stress test results are released after markets close tomorrow officially, but we all know the deal: They need another $65 billion to weather the storm. They may raise private capital (good luck with that) or convert government-held preferred stock to common, which means we, the taxpayers, become even bigger shareholders in the banks.

Those stress tests were based on assumptions on the economy that many say were a tad optimistic. I'm dying to know if they envisioned a collapse of the U.S. auto industry. The storm they are supposed to weather will go from a Category 1 to a Category 5 if the U.S. auto industry does not survive, people, and anything that stimulates sales is a pre-requisite to that survival.

Since the banks will be clunkers if we don't get the autos back up and running (one in 10 jobs is tied to the industry), then we should first pass the Cash for Clunkers as a standalone bill. Getting Main Street straight is the key to the Wall Street's ability to weather the storm, or else we shouldn't consider putting more cash in clunker banks and consider Chapter 11 reorganization for the banks, too!

Detroit to Rachel – Ouch That One Hurt!

Ok – Let me set this up right. I’m a huge Rachel Maddow fan. I enjoyed her radio program, and often quote her and credit her insightful interviews on my show (i.e. this is not an Alec Baldwin thing). I respect intelligent, likeable women like Rachel who have been able to break the male political host opinion barrier as she has done. Kudos.

But I gotta say….On my show over the last two days we’ve had this raging dispute among listeners as to whether there will be enough media oxygen to allow both the prosecutions of Bush administration officials for violations on torture and passing cap-and-trade (a/k/a climate change a/k/a the biggest preventable future threat to humanity) legislation, or whether we should time them with a little more political calculation. We could have a good (and rightfully deserved) bloodletting now, which will make us all feel better, but Obama’s capital reserves will surely pay a price that any stress test could readily detect, and we’ll spend all our energy bailing out the Dems in a partisan food fight while watching our dream of finally passing cap and trade (READ: kiss green jobs, oil independence and a rescued planet bye-bye).

We were essentially debating tipping points in media coverage. Tonight I got my answer. I live in Detroit. The Detroit Free Press headlines in the local paper TODAY included these gems.

• “GM to furlough all US plants for 9 weeks.” Sales down 49% in Q1. Won’t make June 1st debt payment. Thousands to lose wages and rely on state unemployment (which is already well over 12%).

(Note to the US: Michigan has been in a technical recession for eight years, not one like the rest of the country).

• “Anxiety over Chrysler’s fate runs high. Health care, plant closings, pay concerns as April 30th deadline draws near.”
• After repeated “Let’em go bankrupt” rants from cable TV pundits, and polls show 75% of Americans don’t seem to care if their companies fail .
• “Governor Granholm: Bailed out banks suffocating. Chrysler: Who knew that bailing out the banks would mean that they would kill the auto industry,” said Granholm.
• “Cash-for-Clunkers plans run into competing legislation.” (Turns out that even though the Big 3, the UAW and environmentalists are all behind this bill, “foreign automakers are strongly opposed” and it’s holding up because they want US tax dollars to help them even though they’ve been subsidized for decades by their own governments.)

So, an industry that created the middle class and is now desperately trying to re-invent itself is being held hostage by banks that care only about liquidating an industry, an event that will have enormous shockwaves on the economy. And people, good, decent hard-working people, and businesses have pulled together in a time of crisis in this, the most favored of punching bag cities to pull through together.

(When GM could no longer afford to sponsor the Detroit Tigers Fountain for $2 million dollars, Little Caesar’s Pizza and Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch, who had offers from foreign car companies, declined and has donated the sponsorship to all Big Three automakers in a show of solidarity for the love of a city that apparently the whole country reviles.)

We’re now eight days and counting from the Katrina-like slow motion collapse of a state – and real human suffering will be a consequence. (Chrysler’s deadline is May 1st, but we all know the domino effect with suppliers and the other Big Two.)

So after a good 40 minutes on Rachel Maddow’s show on the torture memo reporting (courtesy of our beloved Carl Levin), I was beyond shocked that the next story was devoted to ridiculing the perfect 0-16 record of the Detroit Lion’s football team and the fact that the team had changed its mascot design a bit to “be scarier.”

Not eight days until auto Armageddon, no rallying cry to maintain the manufacturing base in our country, no concern for the legacy of the autoworkers who lost their lives to form unions to give us a middle class and became the arsenal of democracy during World War II, the same retired folks who stand to lose the lion’s share of their pension and health care. Hell, even Arnold Schwarzenegger was here this week and said he believed that Detroit was not far behind in building the advanced technology to meet even California’s emission standards and deserved the government’s help to get there.

But just eight days from collapse, we got ripped because our football team totally sucks. Ouch, my friend Rachel. There are real people here who are hurting in ways the rest of the country hasn’t yet seen (and we don’t want them to). That was a kick in the gut to a player down on the field. I’m sure you didn’t intend it that way, but someone from Detroit had to say “ouch.”

And I can’t help but think my point about media oxygen and tipping points just may have some merit.

For Mattresses Only

On Friday's show, I was talking to James Boyce about the tea parties, and when the subject of Janeane Garofalo's appearance on Keith Olbermann's show came up, I mentioned that I thought Janeane was a little over the top in that she essentially called all Republicans racists. (NOTE: I did not call her a hater; I called her “over the top” with her comments.) [Start listening at approximately 14 minutes by going to this link, clicking on Friday's show (SkinnerShow-(17-4-2009).mp3) and giving it a few minutes to open up. Or, you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and get it from there.]

(If you didn't catch Countdown Thursday night, here's the link)

And, wow! I got some nasty e-mails from a few listeners condemning me for not marching in lockstep and condemning and labeling everyone else right back. It was quite a show, and I admit, I’m a pretty sensitive person, so it upsets me. I thought long and hard about it. I mean, I can play the game that many radio hosts do, and fire up the base with hate. Like ACME’s, just add water and you’ve got a fine hate stew. (Yeah, sure, every single Republican I have ever met is a card-carrying racist.) My "honey bunny," Rush Limbaugh has made a fortune this way, after all…. and Glenn Beck is a Michelangelo at building the “fear Obama” sculpture.

Problem is: one, it isn’t true, and there are plenty of racist Dems.

And, two: Even if there was a racist draw to the faux populist made-for-cable-TV “tea parties,” it doesn’t get any of us where we want to go. It just makes things worse.

When President Obama met with Chavez, he didn’t point a righteous finger at him and challenge him to a duel, he tried a new tact: respect, hoping to eventually win over the people of Venezuela.

And, over the weekend, I had my own sign, if you will, that we’re on the right track.

I received an e-mail from a self-described white male, conservative, Rushbo-listening, evangelical working in the nuclear weapons arena (not exactly what we call my T1 in radio) named Rick in Albuquerque. I’m sharing it with you below because this is what I was hoping for when I started this show. Now, I'm not saying we have converted Rick into a post-nuclear metrosexual or anything, but he is listening, and we can start to have a dialogue again on the multiple crises on our doorstep. Hearts and minds, my friends. That’s where change starts.

I also received far more e-mails saying amen, sister – keep not hating! We’re so, like, over that. Now, you know I love a good debate, and I can get pretty worked up (especially when it comes to autos), but I can only be what I am – a very progressive and often idealistic person. But I do have friends across the spectrum, Democrats and Republicans, white and black, gay and straight. It's confusing at times, but the one thing I do know is that labels suck and should be restricted for use on mattresses only.

From: Chelsea Morning
Subject: Kudos

Nancy,

I am probably everything that most of your listeners hate. Dyed-in-the-wool Republican. Social conservative. Evangelical Christian. White male. Work in the nuclear weapons arena.

For years I listened to Rush, Sean, et al but started hunting for
something different when I grew tired of their continual bashing of the Left and their cutting off callers who had a different point of view. That's when I found Air America. It was interesting to hear the other side but also disappointing because Randy, Thom, and the others were doing the same things as their right-wing counterparts. I really wanted to understand what the world looked like through progressive eyes and all I was hearing was a continual stream of bile being spewed out against people who held toconservative ideals.

Today,however, was wonderfully different. At one point on your show you relayed a message from a listener promising to never listen to you again because you had something decent to say about Republicans. I thought your response about treating people well was great.

That comment and all of the calls leading up to it crystalized for me what I had been understanding at a subconscious level but could never put words on until this afternoon. I don't believe that nuclear weapons, the economic crisis, global warming, or any of the
other things normally discussed on these shows are the greatest threat to our nation. The real threat is ourcollective arrogance and selfishness.

It dawned on me today that the host of every show on TV and radio focused on politics comes from the perspective of "I am right on everything that I say and the opposition is completely wrong." Maybe it is all just theater, in a sense -- a way to bump ratings -- but I think that it is more than that. Some of the folks who called into your show today had hearts full of hate. One guy would have been comical if the irony hadn't been so tragic. He complained about the tea parties being a cover for hateful white racists even as every syllable he spoke was overflowing with his own poisonous hatred for the "haters" he was condemning. And it's not just on the liberal side you see this. Much of what happens in conservative talk radio is callers genuflecting to right-wing dogma and getting the same kinds of verbal strokes of approval from the right wing hosts that I hear being handed out by left wing hosts to their callers.

It struck me today that the whole lot of it is overflowing with arrogance and selfishness. If I believe that I am absolutely correct in every opinion that I hold, if I believe that I have nothing to learn from someone with differing opinions, if I don't take time to try to understand what "the others" believe and why, then I am an arrogant fool. If I insist that our national leaders work only those issues that are important to me, that they advance only my causes and in my way, then I am selfish.

Years ago I heard Tip O'Neill, commenting on how American politics used to be, say that they would fight like cats and dogs during the day in Congress and then go out after work and all have beers together. In the bar, it didn't matter who was Democrat or Republican. They generally respected one another.

My fear is that our nation is a house deeply divided and I wonder how much longer we can stand if, at the end of the day, we can't be civil to one another when the debating is done. We should each be able to hold our own positions passionately but should never allow these differences to foment hatred. Calling each other "idiot" or "mentally deficient" simply because we don't see things the same must come to an end if we want our nation to regain its strength. More than anything we need to grow big hearts and listening ears. We need to embrace humility ("I am sure that I don't see things the way you do; help me understand what you believe and why") and respect ("I will see you as a fellow American -- as my brother -- and not as my enemy").

Today, I saw a glimmer of that in your comments. Keep it up. Encourage dialog, not division, and I'll keep listening. I don't believe the Right is right on everything (there is much that has happened over the last few years that really disappoint me). I don't believe the Left has a monopoly on truth either. Maybe if we seek to understand more that we seek to be understood, we will all be better off.

Rick C.Albuquerque, NM

Save 300,000 Jobs--Boycott Chase (cross-post from DailyKos)

by emptywheel
Wed Apr 08, 2009 at 10:51:46 AM EDT

Michigan and Chrysler have about 2 weeks to get JP Morgan Chase to renegotiate Chrysler's debt--or 300,000 people will lose their jobs. To pressure JP Morgan to negotiate, FDL and Progress Michigan are calling on people to boycott Chase.

JP Morgan Chase wants to push Chrysler into bankruptcy so it can jump the line ahead of retirees and US taxpayers to get paid back.

If JP Morgan Chase does that, 300,000 people will lose their jobs.

That's sorry thanks we get from a company that has gotten $25 billion in TARP funds from American taxpayers--plus billions more in other benefits from the Wall Street bailout.

My husband and I decided the only way to pressure JP Morgan Chase to negotiate in good faith with Chrysler was to close our Chase accounts. We want our money to go to a bank that is investing in rebuilding Michigan--not bankrupting it.

Now, FireDogLake and Progress Michigan are calling on others to join our Chase boycott.

Sign the petition

Join the FaceBook group

Find your Michigan Chase branch and close your account

Update: Progressive radio host Nancy Skinner--who drives a Chrysler and lives in Michigan--is going to join the boycott and close her two Chase accounts. She will have Jane Hamsher on her show today, at 3PM ET, to talk about this action.

Tune in to hear Jane and Nancy at 3PM ET

Yes, Detroit Can Make a Green Turnaround

(The following is an Op Ed I wrote that was published in The Detroit Free Press on November 20, 2008)
Let's face it. No one believes us. That's the crux of the problem in fashioning a bailout for the three Detroit automakers.

Let's face another reality: Why should they? Resistance to change has long been part of the culture of the domestic auto industry. When President-elect Barack Obama came to the Detroit Economic Club and said we need to do better, he was pilloried almost universally by the media and establishment types.

Many of those folks would rather spend enormous sums lobbying against CAFE standards than use that money to get the job done. Now we are on the brink of collapse, and the American public is not feeling our "fierce urgency of now."
We need to rebuild the trust of the American people and capture their imagination.

Here's one way to do that:

Forge a complete "green turnaround" restructuring plan for the auto industry that is built into an economic aid package sufficient to get the job done: a Detroit Compact of sorts. This would not be just another unpopular bailout, but an energy, environmental and economic program all rolled into one.

It sounds enormous, but all change on this scale is. We can break it down into steps.

• Convene three working groups: technology, industry and financial.
The technology group -- including the best and brightest, not just from here in Detroit, but across the country -- would determine the best technology mix (EVs? fuel cells? plug-in hybrids?) for the immediate, near-term and long-term future, as well as the obstacles that need to be overcome to make it happen. For example, battery swapping at gas stations may be an intermediate option until a long-mileage battery is developed.

The industry group -- the American-based automakers and the UAW -- would make an honest assessment of assets and liabilities (pension, health care, etc.), and current finances, including cash flow based on current sales, then determine whether a consolidation or strategic partnerships make sense. This would be based on factors such as the most promising technologies in development, time to market and economies of scale.

The financial people -- private and government economists -- would determine the needed mix of public financing, tax incentives and outside private capital for the reinvented auto industry, and how the funds would be allocated. Most urgently, this group would determine how best to provide the bridge financing while the Detroit Compact is put in place.

• Integrate the work products.
What technology mix, alliance mix and financing options, if any, will best help achieve the goals of ensuring the industry's survival, avoiding bankruptcies and the resulting economic shock, and producing the most fuel-efficient vehicles possible as quickly as possible, with an escalation plan to make even more advanced vehicles in second- and third-generation cycles?

• Build public and congressional support for the agreed-upon plan. The audience is the American public and Congress.
Our new president has said it clearly and consistently: Yes we can. And Detroit can, too. We can take a great American industry, one that created the American middle class, and reinvent it to produce the most advanced vehicles in the world. This will reduce our energy and financial dependence on other nations, rescue our climate, and reinvigorate our economy when we need it most.

The American people and our leaders in Washington need to hear Detroit say it loudly, and at long last: Yes, we can.

Go to http://www.YesWeCanDetroit.com to read more about my proposal and to sign my petition to Congress. Change starts from the ground up and we all need to work together to make this happen!

Nancy to be on TV this Saturday

Tune in to watch Nancy on Fox News' Bulls & Bears at 10:00 a.m. ET this Saturday, March 28.

Tune in to see Nancy on TV on Saturday, March 21

Nancy will be appearing on Fox News' "Cashin' In" this Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET. Tune in to watch her in action.

Free archives of the show are now available

Free archives of the show are now available, beginning with the March 9 show! Ben Burch of the White Rose Society has been kind enough to archive the shows until Nancy's podcasting becomes available when her full-featured Web site is up and running.

Go to http://www.whiterosesociety.org, scroll down to the Table of Contents and click on The Nancy Skinner Show. A list of the available shows will then appear. Note that it may take a few minutes for a show to open and play once you click on it. You also can save the files to your computer to play at your convenience.

Now, even if you can't listen to the show live, you can listen to the show!

Post your comments here

Please post any comments about my MSNBC appearance here.

Tune in to MSNBC at 11:30 a.m. ET this morning

I will be appearing on MSNBC this morning at 11:30 a.m. ET. Sorry for the late notice. Please tune in if you can and then come back here and comment!

Stay tuned...trouble is coming!

Watch this space for my first blog in the near future.