Pro-GOP mouthpiece Dana Loesch baselessly accuses Robin Carnahan and Eric Holder of neglecting Joplin Tornado victims b/c the area voted Republican

Pro-Kinder mouthpiece Dana Loesch and the rest of the right-wing lie machine are seizing on this falsehood that "Obama, Carnahan, Koster, Holder, and Nixon are ignoring 10,000+ voters in tornado-ravaged and heavily Republican Joplin."  The fact-free imbecile Loesch used multiple falsehoods on this story, including the smear that she was linked to the now-defunct ACORN and blamed this on Holder and Obama.

Dana Loesch's BFF Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder (R):

#WhereIsRobin? RT @tookiew: @edmartin4mo @peterkinder are fighting for #Joplin where is Holder , Obama or Carnahan
— Peter Kinder (@PeterKinder) August 4, 2012

RT @dloesch: Fascinating that the ACORN-linked SOS Carnahan who ignored more voters than people in 15 counties is silent. #Joplin #MO
— Peter Kinder (@PeterKinder) August 4, 2012

Ed Martin:

We have a legal & moral obligation to ensure that each of the displaced voters in Joplin can vote on Aug 7 ow.ly/cJNDc
— Ed Martin (@EdMartin4MO) August 4, 2012

Big Government::

Eric Holder accused Florida lawmakers of disenfranchisment when the state took to cleaning up ineligible voters (due to death or felony) from its voter rolls. That same DOJ has been silent about a story brewing out of southern Missouri; after suffering through one of the worst tornados in history, Joplin residents will now face losing their vote. 

Asking Robin Carnahan for assistance when she's already refused to clean up Missouri voter rolls seems fruitless, but it can't hurt. Carnahan has in the past been linked to ACORN, and the state has fought voter fraud for years. It seems only logical to question whether or not the Secretary of State and DOJ's reluctance to intervene is because the 10,000 Joplin tornado victims are heavily Republican. 

President Obama and Eric Holder often talk of how the government can help, and they preach against the evils of disenfranchising voters. So where are they? 

She [Dana The Distortion Artist] is indeed out of touch with what's going on.

The actual facts, NOT the GOP-biased spin on 10,000+ voter registration cards returned in Jasper County, Missouri (via the Joplin Globe):

JOPLIN, Mo. — Registration cards for more than 10 percent of Jasper County’s approximately 80,000  voters have been returned by the post office, County Clerk Bonnie Earl said Monday.
New cards, which must be sent to voters each two years, were mailed out earlier in July. But about 10,000 cards have been sent back because the addresses on them were no longer valid. That’s going to pose a problem for voters — and election officials — at the Aug. 7 primary election, said the clerk.
Election officials say many of the cards being returned were sent to residents in Joplin and Duquesne who moved after their homes were damaged or destroyed in the May 22, 2011, tornado but have not yet changed their address with election officials.
Voters can make address changes at offices of the county clerk in the Carthage courthouse and on the second floor of the county courts building at 6th Street and Pearl Avenue in Joplin. Offices are open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during the week, and will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.

The always-reliable Randy Turner has more on the Joplin story (via Daily Kos):

I am anticipating that the scandal will continue to grow over the next few days with all of those who are attacking the president, the attorney general, the governor, the secretary of state, and other Democratic officials overlooking a few facts. 

1.    The chief election official in Jasper County, County Clerk Bonnie Earl, is a Republican. And I don’t say that to cast any blame on her. If she were needing help, she would have asked. Sending out the voter ID cards gave her the first indication of what the situation is in Joplin and Jasper County. Some might ask why that step has not already been taken since numerous elections have occurred between May 22, 2011, and now. 

2.    The Joplin Globe article that first revealed the problem did not have any mention of people not being allowed to vote. It said that those who do not have the new voter ID cards will probably face some problems. In other words, it is likely it will take longer for them to vote or they may have to cast provisional ballots. 

3.    It would not do the Democratic Party any good for those voters to be disenfranchised this Tuesday. It is a primary election so it will not have any effect whatsoever on the race between President Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney. Election officials now have three months to fix the problem and certainly have incentive to do so, especially since those election officials are Republican in a state where close races are expected for some statewide offices and for a U. S. Senate seat. 

4.    Don’t think there are any Jasper County Democratic officials who will stand in the way. County Republican primary winners are guaranteed election because no Democrats are running. Nor are there any Democratic officeholders.
All of these things were conveniently overlooked as statewide Republican officials and so far, one national right-wing rabble-rouser (with more undoubtedly to come) sought to capitalize one more time on the Joplin Tornado.

A look at Dana Loesch and the STLTP split-up

The St. Louis Activist Hub has reported extensively on Dana Loesch and Jim Hoft's exit from the astroturfed St. Louis Tea Party group. And now, RFT's Chad Garrison broke this news yesterday:

The co-founder of the St. Louis Tea Party has officially left the organization.

In a tweet this morning Dana Loesch writes: "Yes, I am finished with the St. Louis Tea Party. Not keen on grassroots organizing under a candidate, even unofficially. Never will be."

The St. Louis Tea Party this morning issued its own press release this morning, confirming the split. "The St. Louis Tea Party certainly benefited from Dana's rising stardom and talent," wrote St. Louis Tea Party board president, Bill Hennessy, who founded the organization along with Loesch in 2009. "And we can't help but think our energetic and effective grass roots have propelled Dana's career."

 Since helping to found the Tea Party, Loesch has had a meteoric rise on the political landscape, getting a job as a CNN pundit and editor of the right-wing website Big Journalism.

Daily RFT has messages out with Hennessy and Loesch for comment. At this point it's unclear exactly why Loesch left the organization, but Hennessy suggests in today's press release that the two leaders had different opinions on conservative candidates.


 Progressive blogger Adam Shriver, who often chronicles the goings-on the Tea Party, reported yesterday that Loesch and Hennessy disagreed on which Republican to support in Missouri's Second Congressional District, with Loesch backing the establishment candidate of Ann Wagner and Hennessy favoring Ed Martin.

Shriver also reported yesterday that Loesch's husband, Chris Loesch, demanded that the St. Louis Tea Party quit using the logo that he designed. That logo (right) no longer appears on the Tea Party site.

Loesch will do anything to further her career, even if that means abandoning her principles and throwing her friends under the bus. She is a GOP shill, while supposedly pretending to "hate all political parties equally." For this reason, she's known as Dana The Diva.

 The St. Louis Tea Party put out a press release today confirming what I reported yesterday: they broke up with Dana Loesch. Loesch, naturally, is convinced this proves how heroically principled she is:

 And, of course, there's the fact that the St. Louis tea party appeared to have violated their 501(c)4 by using their money to support Ed Martin's candidacy with advertisements. Oh, and by systematically putting their logos on "Taypayers for Ed Martin" signs. Did Loesch complain then about organizing for a candidate? Sure didn't.

It's funny. Loesch threw the St. Louis Bloggers Guild under the bus when she no longer needed them. She threw her former website designer under the bus when she no longer needed him. She pushed Gina Loudon out of the tea party. And now she's throwing the tea party under the bus cause they're a drag on her minor celebrity status. Amazingly, it's always someone else's fault.

 Dr. Gina Loudon still has a radio show on KJSL from 4-6 in St. Louis, and is a big-time Evangelical Conservative homophobic racist bigoted buttmunch kook.

Back to Loesch. Proof that she will do anything to gain influence in the conservative movement at large:

 This was a result of a fight between two different factions in the St. Louis Tea Party. One group (the Loeschs, Gateway Pundit, and Jen Ennenbach) supported GOP establishment candidate Ann Wagner (a candidate for the head of the RNC and the campaign chairman for Roy Blunt) and another group (John Burns, Ben Evans, Michelle Moore, Bill Hennessy, and Darin Morley) supporting nutty Ed Martin.

 For the record:

• Dana Loesch voted for Mitt Romney in the 2008 Republican primary.
• She explicitly said that she liked RomneyCare.
• She supported Roy Blunt over the more conservative Chuck Purgason for the U.S. Senate.
• She supported Ed Martin over John Wayne Tucker, and in fact attacked Tucker on her show after Ed Martin paid her husband to make a commercial for him.
• Now's she's supporting the ultimate GOP establishment candidate Ann Wagner over the comparably more conservative Ed Martin.
• Oh, and she's "edgy" for some reason.

 Her BFF, Jim Hoft, also decided to side with the establishment.

 Obviously, I have no love for Ed Martin. And I'm on record as being critical of the St. Louis Tea Party for claiming to be principled while supporting Roy Blunt over Chuck Purgason and Ed Martin over John Wayne Tucker. But I have to say I actually do have some sympathy for the core group that, unlike Dana Loesch and Jim Hoft, is at least attempting to move forward by holding true to their ideals and opposing the GOP establishment. Though I think they're wrong in believing that Ed Martin is a principled conservative, it is at least clear that they felt like voting for Blunt was merely an imperfect step towards their ultimate goal, and that they would have to try to more actively oppose the crony capitalism of the modern Republican party in the future if they really wanted to live up to their ideals.

On the other hand, Dana Loesch, who voted for Mitt Romney in the 2008 primary and explicitly said that she liked RomneyCare before realizing that it was more profitable to be a "tea party spokesperson" on national television, is unsurprisingly abandoning Ed Martin in favor of Roy Blunt's 2010 campaign manager, GOP insider Ann Wagner. And Jim "Gateway Pundit" Hoft, writing on Loesch's website Big Journalism, also recently launched an attack on Ed Martin. However, members of the St. Louis tea party leadership Michelle Moore, John Burns, and Ben Evans wrote a recent post dismantling Hoft's attacks on Martin. You can read the full post here, but I'll share a few highlights:

• First, they point out that Martin didn't turn the race ugly; he was actually the target of an attack from Dan Riehl earlier in the year on Breitbart's Big sites (where Loesch is an editor).
• They reiterate Darin Morley's point that it was ridiculous for Hoft to try to imply that Ed Martin is more connected to Roy Blunt than is Ann Wagner.
• They criticized Hoft's attempts to pretend that Wagner's husband is no longer involved in advocating on behalf of Enterprise Rent-a-Car:

  As everyone in the Tea Party knows Ray delisted himself in preparation for Ann’s campaign; however, he is still Enterprise's Government & Public Affairs Vice-President. In that capacity, he oversees Enterprise's lobbying and he helps determine where their campaign funds go. Again, Jim knows this, but deliberately ignores it in the post.

• They point out that Chip Gerdes, a familiar creepy scuzzbucket for readers of this blog, said that he wrote Dan Riehl's original attack on Ed Martin as a "warning shot:"

  As mentioned at the top, Hoft was quoted in the first hit piece against Ed Martin that came out last August on Big Government. That piece, supposedly written by Dan Riehl, sparked a firestorm among Tea Party conservatives in Missouri. Upon questioning, Chip Gerdes, another paid political consultant, stated that he wrote the piece as a “warning shot” to Ed Martin because of comments that Martin made on a Christian AM radio station.

• They also question where Hoft got his data and whether he even did his own writing:

  If Gerdes is writing hit pieces for Ann Wagner and publishing them under Dan Riehl’s name, what else has he written?...We ask: Where did those figures come from? Dan Riehl and Dana Loesch have written on Twitter and in Tea Party emails that hundreds of thousands of dollars were given to Ed Martin by Ann Wagner’s Enterprise connections. This has been proven false. Who gave Jim the data and where is it? Let’s see some research.

Could this be the beginning of the end of the Loesch Crime Mafia's (aka the Breitbart/Loesch/Hoft Axis of Evil) influence on St. Louis politics or will be the beginning of national prominence for her cronies? There might've been signs of this happening back in
 September 2010.

Dana Loesch baselessly blames Obama for high prices at the gaspumps at the K and N Rally

Local hate yakker and serial distortionist Dana Loesch was at the K&N Patriots/Americans For Prosperity-held Rally in O'Fallon, Missouri (the home to raging liar Cynthia Davis) yesterday, entitled "Running On Empty," which was a barrage of "The Liberals/Democrats/RINOS and Barack Obama want to gouge the prices higher" and "They're taking our energy use freedom away"-type talking points from the Koch Bros and GOP Special Interests. To all the brainwashed Teahadists out there, President Obama's NOT gouging the prices of oil, but if anyone should be blamed for price gouging at the pumps, it is the Republicans (and some DINOs) who kiss the backsides of Big Oil, speculators, and the greedy CEOs and execs of Big Oil.

Dana Loesch addresses "Running on Empty" Tour from Doug Edelman on Vimeo.

Who else was at the rallies? Two candidates to replace Todd Akin for MO-02 (Ann Wagner and Ed Martin) and potential challenger to Claire McCaskill for Senator Achy Breaky Akin.

Adam Shriver at the St. Louis Activist Hub calls out Martin's buddies on Gas Prices and Energy:

This Saturday (June 10), wrong wing 2nd Congressional District candidate Ed Martin (Yes, the same Ed Martin who resigned in disgrace for legal and ethical problems as Gov. Matt Blunt's Chief of Staff) is heading a rally at the intersection of K & N at 10 AM. The main purpose is to showcase Ed Martin's corporate give away programs, but that is hidden under the guise of erroneously blaming President Obama for high gas prices.

Before Martin and his crew can spew waste worse than a BP oil rig and flood this busy intersection with raw, unvetted, mind numbing sewage, voters should know the facts about today's high price of gas

UPDATE: Dana Loesch told even more lies, such as falsely claiming that Al Gore's truthful film An Inconvenient Truth was banned from British Schools.

At a rally this weekend organized by astroturf Americans for Prosperity, which just happens to be funded by the Koch brothers, who just happen to own a number of oil refineries and bankroll the leading climate change denial groups in the country, Dana Loesch declared that Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth" was not allowed into British schools because it was "fiction."

Here's the typical fact-free nonsense of Loesch:

And the British high court, told the educational system that they're not allowed to show this film. Why? Because it's fiction. Because it's propaganda. They said there was a number of things wrong with the film...wrong with the facts used to support this theory in the film. Nine of them were super-huge...they had a bunch of other complaints...but they're not allowed to show it in school districts.

Actually, Loesch's claim that An Inconvenient Truth was banned in British schools is indeed dogpoop.

Actually, the judge wrote that the film was, "substantially founded upon scientific research and fact" and said that he had "no doubt" that, "Al Gore's presentation of the causes and likely effects of climate change in the film was broadly accurate." The judge did note 9 errors, but allowed the film to be shown in schools as long as it was accompanied by a"guidance note" that presented a contrarian point of view on those nine claims.

Dana Loesch: Certified Insane

As everyone knows, Dana Loesch is a certified lunatic and a modern-day version of Phyllis Schlafly. She was on her high horse being a baby when things don't go her way.


Dana The Diva doing her "Libel and Defamation Card" routine.

From the St. Louis Activist Hub's article entitled: Is Dana Loesch suing herself for libel

Dana Loesch was upset about my previous post pointing out her criticisms of third party candidates, so she went back to her dusty old bag of tricks:

Blah blah, libel, defamation, blah. At this point, is there anyone in St. Louis who hasn't been accused of libel and defamation by Loesch?

From the 11.03.2010 edition of The Dana Show:


Even prominent Conservatives went after Dana Loesch for her remarks about Hedrick and Ivanovich costing Martin a seat in Congress.

The tea party does not tolerate dissent, especially from other conservatives.Recently, a local conservative on Twitter criticized Loesch for attacking third parties. Loesch responded by claiming that he didn't know what he was talking about, and that he should listen to her radio show before he said anything. Here's the conversation (in reverse chronological order):

Bungalow Bill, another conservative, criticized Loesch for blindly supporting a "joke" like Ed Martin:

I first heard Dana Loesch speak at the Branson Tea Party earlier in April. I was inspired by her passion, but today I am conflicted with her blind enthusiasm for a GOP that also turned its back on the Constitution. Totally ignoring what a joke Ed Martin was claiming to be Constitutional conservative, Loesh blames the Constitution and Libertarian parties for Russ Carnahan's win.

He quotes Loesch as saying the following:

Good job constitution partry and libertarian party candidates. How does it feel to be solely responsible, along with massive fraud, in possibly handing a victory to a Carnahan? Livid at these foilers. LIVID. Your strategy sucks. You wanted liberty and you got socialism because you have no idea how the hell to win.

And then Bill responds:

It's no wonder the Tea Parties on a path to fail. They would rather compromise with a GOP guilty of killing the Constitution than take a real stand. I know I won't be attending another Tea Party in which Dana Loesch speaks at. It's just like Tera Sukman over at the Tea Party Patriot HQ who doesn't even have the clarity to see the sins of the GOP as she labels Roy Blunt as a Constitutional conservative.

God bless you Libertarians and Constitutional Party members for doing something most Americans don't have the guts enough to do. Vote against both parties which have violated our Constitution. I know I did this year and it felt great to break the shackles of the Republican Party. Screw Dana Loesch and her ignorant comments!

Loesch's fellow employee and former KMOV journalist Jamie Allman slams her and Hennessy.
From the 11.04.2010 edition of Allman In The Morning:


Dana may as well be getting coal for Christmas.

==
From the 11.05.2010 edition of AC360:


As expected, Paul Begala owned Dana Loesch. Loesch was repeating her own falsehood-laden talking points.

Transcript:
KAYE: It looks like job one, as they say in the auto industry, will not be jobs but health care repeal. Or else. The New York Times reporting the pressure is on from Dick Armey's FreedomWorks which was a big supporter of Tea Party candidates during the campaign. A FreedomWorks memo being sent to all incoming House Republicans, it says in part, "Politically speaking, your only choice is to get on offense and start moving boldly ahead to repeal, replace and defund Obama care in 2011, or risk rejection by the voters in 2012".

And one footnote, there is new economic data out tonight. It shows private sector job growth for the fourth straight month but the unemployment rate stuck at 9.6 percent.

Joining us now, Democratic strategist Paul Begala and Dana Loesch, blogger and talk radio host and co-organizer of the St. Louis Tea Party Coalition.

Paul, let's start with you. Will we see a fresh GOP move to repeal health care, do you think?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Oh, I think so. I think -- I -- I do think, in fairness to the Republicans, many of them and probably most of them, did campaign promising to repeal Obama care. They're not going to be able to do it, and they knew it when they said that. Our Constitutional system does not allow one Party and one House to repeal legislation. They know that the Senate would never pass repeal, these new House Republicans, so they know the president would never sign it.

So it's a bit of a false promise to begin with. But I do think they risk being wound around the axle of a year-long fight trying to undo or defund Obama care when in fact people do want jobs. I hope the president will step into that breach with the new ideas, with new proposals to create jobs and -- and make that contrast. Democrats can then be for jobs and let the Republicans be for trying to empower insurance companies to -- to have more control over your life.

KAYE: And Dana isn't this really what happened to President Obama? He said we could do both jobs and health care but the perception politically that his energy was split, it cost him, and the fact is, as Paul said, Republicans don't control the Senate. They can't repeal this bill. So was this really a genuine promise on their part?

DANA LOESCH, BLOGGER, TALK RADIO HOST: I do believe so. I mean, there's a lot of things that the Constitution doesn't necessarily provide for, including what we saw the -- the -- the thing with the commerce clause and the health control law.

But at the same time, when we listen to everything that Nancy Pelosi said and everything that President Obama said, Nancy Pelosi herself on video, it's all over YouTube, saying that the health care bill will bring about four million jobs or some such. Health care is tied so closely to jobs.

So while I think it's really important for Republicans to focus on the economy and make things easier, lessen up so that these businesses can create jobs, you also have to note that health care has been so unbelievably wound in with jobs that -- I mean you kind of have to address both sort of simultaneously.

KAYE: So if nothing changes, are you saying voters will be happy with just a symbolic gesture?

LOESCH: Oh, no, voters are not going to be happy with just a symbolic gesture. Republicans need to go whole hog with this. They really do. They need to put forth more than just a symbolic gesture. And I think their -- their speech has been strong, but whether or not they're going to follow that up in the next couple of years, that remains to be seen.

KAYE: And Paul, let's talk about --

BEGALA: And here's -- here --

KAYE: -- go ahead.

BEGALA: -- here's my proposal, and maybe Dana will agree to it -- with this.

These Republicans who ran, they said they hated Obama care, they hate government-funded, government-guaranteed, government-mandated health care. They can't repeal it but you know what they can do, repeal their own.

So repeal your own, Mr. Speaker Boehner, Mr. Speaker to-be- Boehner. They can decline to accept the Congressional health care package, which is a really generous package of health care coverage, paid for by the taxpayers, guaranteed by the government. So they could at least repeal their own. And they should become the change they seek. They should lead by example and reject government-funded health care for themselves and their family.

How is that, Dana? Don't you think they should do that? Because it's socialism you know.

LOESCH: Well, Democrats -- the Democrats exempted themselves from this law. Democrats already exempted themselves from this law.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: Well, that's -- that's not true -- actually. That's actually not true. That's actually not true. But -- but shouldn't they --

(CROSSTALK)

LOESCH: Oh, so they are going to subject themselves to it, then?

(CROSSTALK) BEGALA: -- shouldn't they -- shouldn't repeal their own health care.

LOESCH: So you're saying that it's not true, so are Democrats going to subject themselves to this legislation then?

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: Right. Well, of course they are. They're covered by it. They're -- they're going to be covered by the law. There was --

(CROSSTALK)

LOESCH: So -- so if they choose to not go on government care, will they accept the penalties that go along with that when those are enacted?

BEGALA: Dana, here is my point. The Republicans say they hate government health care. Democrats like it, so of course they're going to accept it. Why don't the Republicans decline -- why does not John Boehner who has almost 20 years now been on government health care, why doesn't he decline it? Because it's good. That's why. It's a heck of a good policy.

(CROSSTALK)

LOESCH: Well, why don't we just actually -- why don't we rework it and make it -- Paul, why don't we rework it and have actual good health care that really addresses being able to have affordable insurance and across state lines.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: It's fine, repeal their own law, it is -- it's pernicious socialism. Oh, scary.

(CROSSTALK)

LOESCH: Why can't we address that, let's be serious for a moment and let's really address the problem.

KAYE: All right, you two. Let me -- let me jump in here for just a second.

One thing the GOP could try and do is -- is defund health care. Could we see a government shutdown possibly, Paul?

BEGALA: Oh, definitely. Yes. You're going to see a government shutdown and then maybe, you know, impeachment. And there's nothing going to stop these folks.

LOESCH: Impeachment?

BEGALA: They -- they have -- oh, sure. You watch. Hide and watch. There's already -- Rush Limbaugh has called for it, Mr. Beck, who's this -- this TV clown over at Fox News has called for it. LOESCH: Oh, come on.

BEGALA: A whole variety -- by the way, about a third of Republicans back in March before the negative ads and everything, back in March, one-third of Republicans, 38 percent, actually, in a Harris poll said they wanted to see Obama impeached.

So they'll get to that. But they'll start with the government shutdown. Sure they will. Now, they -- they have that power under the Constitution. The president, I doubt, would go along with some of their kind of radical plans and so we -- I -- I think we definitely, late 2011, you're looking at a government shutdown.

KAYE: Dana --

LOESCH: I think it will be gridlock. I do think it will be gridlock.

KAYE: You do.

LOESCH: But shutdown, I'm not so sure. Yes.

KAYE: Do you think that -- that -- that -- I mean voters are saying, that we -- that we saw the numbers in the -- in the intro, I mean, a very small minority of the voters are saying that health care is their top priority.

LOESCH: Right.

KAYE: So is this a push that's really more about scoring political points than -- than really addressing the country's priorities?

LOESCH: Yes and no. I think one of the reasons that Republicans are prioritizing this is because the -- the Grassroots Movement which really sustained the life of the Republican Party this past couple of years I think that they're sort of -- it's sort of a gesture towards the Grassroots but at the same time I think that they recognize some of the unconstitutionality of the provisions that were included in the law to begin with.

But at the same time, it is unbelievably tight with jobs. You're talking about the Congressional -- the Congressional Budgetary Office is just -- I think like this year they released a report, their economic report, which said that this could cost up to 800,000 jobs. That's more than like Ford, GM and Chrysler combined. You have 550,000 union workers with those three auto plants. That's -- that's more than those -- that's more than that combined.

So that's, when you're talking about jobs, when you're talking about the economy, that absolutely has to factor in. But at the same time, I think that there's a million things that we could do in the interim before we really go aggressively and look at health reform, and -- and talk about remedying things to -- to increase jobs, and like the Bush tax cuts, for instance after the first of the year. That's -- that's one of many steps that could be taken. KAYE: All right, Paul, Dana, stick around.

Let us know what you think. Join the live chat now under way at AC360.com.

Up next, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann has done plenty of complaining about money and politics. Tonight, he is on suspension without pay for injecting money into politics. We'll explain.

Later, the $200 million myth: conservative talk radio slamming President Obama's trip to Asia, saying it's costing $200 million a day. They don't have the facts to back it up and they also don't have our Ed Henry who will join us from Mumbai, India, after doing a little price checking of his own.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: We ordinarily don't talk much about the competition around here, but, tonight, it seems like everybody is.

Keith Olbermann, who anchors Countdown over at MSNBC, is off the air, suspended indefinitely without pay. You'll see why in just a moment.

First, you should know that he is a vocal critic of money in politics, especially big corporate money, especially undisclosed money.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEITH OLBERMANN, HOST, COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN: Fox has not only employed numerous Republican politicians, at least two of whom actually were Republican governors, many of whom are active GOP fund-raisers on air and off, but many of its media employees have also raised money for the party or openly campaigned for or endorsed Republican candidates.

We now have another million reasons Fox News is the Republican news channel, correct?

Congressman Clyburn, is there a legislative response to the idea that there is a national cable news outlet that goes beyond having a point of view, and actually starts to shill for partisan causes and actually starts to donate to partisan groups of one party?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: That's Keith Olbermann railing against media figures spending money to influence politics without disclosing it. He gets pretty worked up about it.

With that in mind, take a look at a bit of some interviews he did with Raul Grijalva, a Democratic congressman from Arizona.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLBERMANN: Congressman, good to talk to you again.

REP. RAUL GRIJALVA (D), ARIZONA: Good to talk to you, my friend.

OLBERMANN: Congressman Raul Grijalva, who is one of the great representatives of that state. Great thanks for some of your time tonight. Good luck with this, and we will stay in touch with you on it, if we can.

GRIJALVA: Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Very friendly, very complimentary. In fact, you would be hard-pressed to find an interview in which the two men disagree on anything, which is not unusual. Congressman Grijalva is a friend of "Countdown" and, by all appearances Keith Olbermann is a friend of the congressman.

What is unusual and until undisclosed is this. Keith Olbermann was also a donor to Mr. Grijalva's campaign this year. In a statement to Politico, Olbermann writes: "One week ago, on the night of Thursday October 28th, 2010, after a discussion with a friend about the state of politics in Arizona, I donated $2,400 each to the re-election campaigns of Democratic Representatives Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords."

He goes on: "I also donated the same amount to the campaign of Democratic senatorial candidate Jack Conway in Kentucky."

The revelation, prompting quick action from his boss. Said MSNBC president Phil Griffin in a statement today: "I became aware of Keith's political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay."

Before taking this any further, some disclosure of our own: All three parent companies of all three cable news outlets give hundreds of thousands of dollars to candidates and political parties, Democratic and Republican. As a matter of policy, neither CNN, nor MSNBC permit employees to do the same, with the exception of our political contributors. And, there, we try to be as up-front and open as we can about any conflicts of interest.

But Keith Olbermann was not up-front, while expecting others to be.

Back now with our panel, Paul Begala, Dana Loesch, also Joan Walsh, editor of Salon.com and, a few years back, Keith Olbermann's editor.

Paul, let's start with you once again.

Keith's criticisms of the -- of News Corporations' political contributions seem utterly hypocritical, now that it's clear that he's done the very same thing, would you say?

BEGALA: Well, I -- you know, I don't know. The guy, he's a liberal, obviously, and he gave money to liberals. Congressman Grijalva is the Chairman of the Progressive Caucus. And Keith's a progressive.

I suppose, you know, what's fair for one -- obviously, you know, he did criticize Fox News, which gave $1 million. And that was apparently legal under the Citizens United ruling from the Supreme Court. So, I guess it's -- you know, it's not my network. It's not my job. It seems to me an employment dispute. There was a rule there.

MSNBC apparently says he violated that rule, so I guess they are going to sanction him for it. But -- but I don't know. I just -- to me, it's not all that big a deal.

KAYE: You're not surprised at all? And you don't think anybody would be surprised --

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: Right. I would be surprised --

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: -- given that he --

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: -- views on the air?

BEGALA: Yes. I would be surprised if he gave money to Michele Bachmann, one of the leaders of the conservative movement in the Congress.

But it seems to me like, dog -- not even dog bites man. It's like dog barks. What the heck?

KAYE: Joan, you're the editor of a liberal publication, and you know Keith. But you think the decision to suspend him may actually be the right one. Explain.

JOAN WALSH, EDITOR IN CHIEF, SALON.COM: Well, I -- I think that there are still a lot of questions open, Randi.

There is a question about whether everyone knew that this policy of NBC News actually applied to MSNBC. There's some reporting on that today that said it -- it didn't necessarily apply. And Keith has not spoken since the Politico story. And Phil Griffin has not spoken. So, the actual clarity of the policy is now in dispute.

There's also a question, did it apply to CNBC? Because we've got plenty of hosts over at CNBC who -- Larry Kudlow, the main one, who have also contributed to Republicans.

So, you know, and I think NBC and -- and MSNBC are going to have to answer some more questions about whether this rule, if it was a rule, was applied fairly. There are other hosts. My friend -- again, my friend -- full disclosure -- Joe Scarborough, gave money to a Republican. Pat Buchanan gave money to a Republican.

So, there seems to be now a lot of murkiness about what NBC's policy actually was and when it began. And I'm not going to judge Keith at this point without having more answers to those questions.

KAYE: And Dana, we know you don't see eye to eye with Keith on many things, so it may come as a surprise to people that you actually don't agree with the decision to suspend him.

LOESCH: Well, I think as -- honestly, I'm trying to figure out what all the drama's about. For anyone to be surprised that Keith Olbermann would donate to -- to congressional Democratic campaigns is -- if you're shocked, I have a bridge to sell you.

And plus, GE owns NBC, and I know that they contribute to organizations and causes and campaigns and all of that nature. But, at the same time, to me, I -- I kind of side with Paul on this, in that this seems to be a rule that a private business had, and if anything, it would be insubordination, if that.

I think the thing that -- I don't know -- I don't really quite understand why anyone's shocked over this, unless they think it's a credibility thing. But I don't look at Keith Olbermann as a news anchor. I look at him as sort of an editorial-like figure. And so, I think, because of that, I don't understand the drama. I just don't see the need for it.

KAYE: Well, I think the drama or the shock goes back to the idea that he didn't disclose it. It wasn't that he gave money to these people.

LOESCH: Right. Well, yes, right.

KAYE: It was that he didn't disclose it after criticizing News Corporation.

(CROSSTALK)

WALSH: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

LOESCH: Yes, it was completely hypocritical. But --

(CROSSTALK)

WALSH: Disclosure is an issue. And I'll -- I'll just stand up for -- you know, Salon actually has a policy of not allowing editorial employees to contribute to political campaigns.

And I'll tell you why. It's important to us to be a news organization. And also, even though we are liberal, liberals disagree. So, you know, back in the 2008 campaign, I didn't want the problem of somebody reporting on Barack Obama, but having given to Hillary Clinton or vice versa. So, there are reasons to have those policies. But, if have you them, they should be crystal-clear and they should apply to everyone, and there should be no ambiguity.

So, is it in Keith's contract? I would ask that. I would just ask how widely this policy was known about and how -- how fairly it was enforced at this point.

BEGALA: Right and --

(CROSSTALK)

LOESCH: Well, and I have an addendum to this, too.

(CROSSTALK)

LOESCH: Go ahead, Paul.

WALSH: Paul.

BEGALA: Go ahead, Dana.

LOESCH: Oh, I was just going to say --

BEGALA: The reporting I have seen suggests that --

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: One of you wrap this up for us.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: I think -- the reporting I have seen says the policy is that not that one cannot donate, but that one must disclose it to MSNBC or NBC bosses and then get permission.

So, maybe that explains the disparity that -- the allegations are that apparently Mr. Olbermann didn't get his bosses' permission before he donated --

(CROSSTALK)

WALSH: Well, that's --

(CROSSTALK)

WALSH: My understanding, Paul, is that that's the NBC policy and so one of the disputes is whether that even applied at all to MSNBC.

(CROSSTALK)

WALSH: And I'm sorry to come on here and be, like, not as informed as I would like to be, but nobody's informed right now about this.

BEGALA: Right. WALSH: That's going to be the thing that we keep talking about.

LOESCH: Well, from -- from what I looked at it --

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Well, when we see their policy, I'm sure we will get some answers.

(CROSSTALK)

LOESCH: Well, the statement given by his boss --

KAYE: What was that, Dana?

LOESCH: -- the statement that was given by his superior said that it could also be applicable on a case-by-case basis.

But the bottom line is that Olbermann's bosses didn't know about it until the Politico piece ran.

WALSH: Right.

BEGALA: Right.

LOESCH: So, he possibly could have gotten permission from them. But --

WALSH: Right.

KAYE: Well, we will -- we will know when --

LOESCH: We don't know. We never will.

KAYE: -- when all sides start talking, we hope.

We'll -- we'll stay on this, I'm sure.

Dana, Joan, Paul, thanks very much, as always.

WALSH: Thanks.

KAYE: Up next: We're one step ahead of President Obama with a live report from India, where he will be staying and where critics are trying to claim it'll be costing taxpayers $200 million a day. We will separate fact from myth -- straight ahead.

Later, we'll talk with Sean Penn in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, about the storm coming through, on top of the cholera outbreak and all of that earthquake damage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Loesch falsely claims that "Liberals quiet on Conservative Assaults"

So, Dana Loesch is back to her usual tactic: Blame the Liberals... this time regarding on how "Media Matters's Eric Boehlert suddenly cares about women."

Libs Quiet on Conservative Assaults

September 25, 2010

by DanaLoesch

I’ve been watching Media Matters fake concern over the Reid-supporting chick punched at a townhall forum this week.

Suddenly Eric Boehlert is a defender of women. Except when those women are conservative, because hey, Kelly Owens and Allee Bautsch TOTALLY had it coming, right?

Because Media Matters likes to portray itself to its three readers as being objective and high enough to serve as a faux-journalism critique, I expected to find tons on the on-video, cop-witnessed (as per police report) assault of Kelly Owens by the SEIU crowd. So I did a little search in the Media Matters’ archives:

What? That bastion of media purity, the calvary to the rightwing media, the Soros-funded “media” outlet didn’t have anything about the assault of conservative Kelly Owens?

OK, so I imagine that they’re hurriedly drafting a post now to remedy that glaring oversight, since, afterall, they’re such huge defenders of women all of a sudden.

News for you, Dana: Media Matters is NOT funded by George Soros (unlike what the Republicans claim), but there are many Republican groups who do the EXACT same thing and do they bat an eye? NO!

- More lefty assaults, lefty screeching and intimidation, threats of assault, advocating violence, hateful rallies.

Meanwhile, the tea parties repudiate any such things.

Violence in lieu of discourse is wrong, period. Party, ideology is irrelevant.

Why are only the conservatives saying this, though?

Maybe Media Matters can do a story on it.

Dana Loesch is still harping on Gladney (and likely will never stop) and claiming that the "Liberals are violent," when it's the Conservatives doing these vile things.

And since the exact women of whom I speak couldn't bring themselves to repudiate the threats against my family, the Owens assault ...

. @JustinSnyderFL Prove racism. You are a typical sexist liberal male. Congrats for taking ur hand out of ur pants long enough to Tweet. 9:32 PM Sep 24th via Seesmic Desktop in reply to JustinSnyderFL

What a diva this woman is.

She (like rest of the STL Teabagger Hate Cabal) is also endorsing the dishonest Ed Martin in MO-03, Todd Akin in MO-02, and Roy Blunt in MO-Senate.

Paying Chris Loesch's business $5,000 while wife Dana Loesch attacked Martin's Republican primary opponent.

Hypocritically hiding from debates with John Wayne Tucker

Cheering on his supporters and campaigners booting and torching a photo of Russ Carnahan.

http://stlactivisthub.blogspot.com/2010/09/st-louis-tea-party-endorsements.html

A Recent tweet from @STLActivistHub:

It's excuse for Loesch to attack looks of women she disagrees with. For example, she has said that women in Emily's List have "hair lips."

9/12 Teabagger Rally in STL: The STL Teabagger Hate Cabal's run-up + Tony Perkins claims that "Christian Television will be off the air"

The STL Teabagger Hate Cabal is leading the charge on that the "rallies aren't political," when fact they are really nothing more than anti-Democrat/Obama rallies, because they can't stand the fact that we have a duly elected Black Democratic president in office.

First, the Ultimate Satan of the St. Louis Area has this piece, intercepted by Adam Shriver.

Unintentional Irony Alert: The Astroturf St. Louis Tea Party

Dana Loesch was angry about the fact that singer Kim Massie backed out of the 9/12 tea party rally because she didn't want to be used as a political pawn, and had the following to say on her blog:

Something to note: Massie was invited by the Lt. Governor of Missouri and was reportedly excited to debut her song about 9/11 at the 9/12 event. It was never marketed as anything but a tea party event.

Sad that the left is so uncomfortable with the idea of a huge grassroots movement which isn’t under the sway of a political party.

So Loesch says that the tea party "isn't under the sway of a political party," just two sentences after noting that the Republican Lt. Governor was helping to book guests for the rally! When Republican politicians are scheduling your guests for you, yes you are under the sway of a political party!

The St. Louis tea party has been astroturf from the very start, and their support of Republican insiders like Roy Blunt and Ed Martin only reinforces that fact.

Kim Massie WILL NOT Perform at Tea Party Rally

Out of the long list of usual suspects who will be speaking at this Sunday's tea party, there was one pretty surprising guest: renowned vocalist Kim Massie. I guess we found out why: apparently, the tea party didn't inform her that this was going to be a political rally.

At least Kim Massie has the balls to say no to the hatemongers, unlike LaRussa and Pujols.



Next, the Astroturfing whacko Ed Martin had this from his blog:

I'm all for people sharing their memories of and reflections about the tragic events from September 11, 2001. It was a catastrophic loss of life and something that is indelibly imprinted on all Americans who lived through that time. Its anniversary should be an event that brings us together in mourning and contemplation, but unfortunately shameless politicians like Ed Martin try to exploit that tragedy to attack their political opponents. Check out these paragraphs from Martin's post today titled "September 11th – Nine Years Later:"
http://stlactivisthub.blogspot.com/2010/09/ed-martin-exploits-911-for-political.html
http://edmartinforcongress.com/3197/september-11th-nine-years-later/

Next up: Islamophobia at the 9/12 Teabagger Rally: They really are racist whackjobs who hate ANYTHING that isn't white, straight, Christian, Republican, and/or Conservative.

Tea Party Attendee: "Wish Me Luck and No Muslims"

A member of the Dallas tea party flying in to St. Louis for the 9/12 rally had this to say today:



Every one of these idiots is implying that ALL of Islam is evil. I have no idea how anyone could grow up in a population center like St. Louis or Dallas and be so completely ignorant about the fact that decent, hard-working, peaceful Muslims are integrated throughout American society. They have to be locking themselves in a basement 24 hours a day with a radio that only plays 97.1. And even that wouldn't work perfectly, since I heard Dave Glover on the radio making some reasonable comments as he guest hosted Glenn Beck's show. Honestly, I don't understand how people can be that clueless.

Anyway, if the tea party wants their claims to be "open-minded" and "tolerant" to be taken seriously, they need to condemn these types of comments at their rally.

http://stlactivisthub.blogspot.com/2010/09/tea-party.html


If you think that the Teabaggers are just "average Americans who are trying to save our freedoms," then you better think again with this next article in that the Astroturfed Tea Party is encouraging the use of Public Transportation after they demonized it back in April and in other past instances (St. Charles County back in the 90's, etc...)

Tea Party Asks People To Use The Light Rail They Tried to Destroy

Only a few months ago, the St. Louis tea party was screaming "SOCIALISM" and claiming that St. Louis did not have the population density to support light rail. They tried to block a sales tax increase that was needed to restore the public transportation system in St. Louis. Fortunately for them, their attempts to defeat EVIL SOCIALIST public transportation failed miserably, because they are now encouraging people to use MetroLink to get to the 9/12 rally:



http://stlactivisthub.blogspot.com/2010/09/tea-party-asks-people-to-use-light-rail.html


ThinkProgress has this dandy: Tony Perkins is falsely trying to claim that "TBN, Daystar, EWTN, INSP, TCT, the whole Right-Wing Pro-Israel Lobby Religious Networks will be shut down." In fact, that will NEVER happen, as long as greedy, Right-Wing Bible-thumping snakeoil preachers are making money. They also love to say that "The Liberals/Anti-Christians are taking our rights away to preach the 'truth' and throwing us in jail" nonsense. A preacher WON'T go to jail for preaching against abortion, homosexuality, etc...

TBN, Daystar, EWTN, TCT, CBN, and all of the countless other channels ARE aiding and abetting not only the GOP/Focus On The Family/First Things (who Hoft blogs for)-issued talking points, but also peddling the Creationist, Messianic Jewish (Daystar and TBN especially), and the Prosperity Gospel Movement.

When David Boies debated Family Research Council president Tony Perkins on Face The Nation, he pointed out that while “it’s easy to sit around and debate and throw around opinions, appeal to people’s fear and prejudice, cite studies that either don’t exist or don`t say what you say they do, in a court of law, you`ve got to come in and you`ve got to support those opinions.” “And what we saw at trial is that it`s very easy for the people who want to deprive gay and lesbian citizens the right to vote to make all sorts of statements and campaign literature, or in debates, where they can`t be cross-examined, but when they come into court and they have to support those opinions and they have to defend those opinions under oath and cross- examination, those opinions just melt away,” he said.

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/09/09/perkins-religious-belief/

Loesch tweets that "Union Thugs have ruined Labor Day," Rita calls her out.

There goes Dana Loesch bashing the Unions as usual, this time suggesting that "'Union Thugs' have ruined Labor Day."

Ah, spending the day remembering what labor used to be like before our working class was bossed around by thugs and co-opted by a party. 2:36 PM Sep 6th via Twitter for Android

If that nonsense wasn't enough for STL Teabagger Ms. Loesch, She also falsely accused Adam Shriver of cyberstalking, libel, and Defamation.

@WUSTL Who to report a member of your staff cyberstalking, defaming, libeling ppl? Investigation whether use WashU resources to do so? 10:52 PM Sep 2nd via Seesmic Desktop

Reboot Congress and Berger's Beat falsely claims that Mayor Slay is for Ed Martin.

"Ed Martin will give Carnahan a run for his money. . .I like Ed," said St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay of Martin, who will duke it out with incumbent Cong. Russ Carnahan.

That's from Sunday's Berger's Beat. It's pretty surprising to see an elected Democrat speak so kindly of Ed Martin. Perhaps Mayor Slay will walk that back in a few days.

http://rebootcongress.blogspot.com/2010/09/does-st-louis-city-government-back-ed.html

Now, the real truth from Adam Shriver's STL Activist Hub:

Actually, Slay pushed back against Berger's quote in a couple of tweets. First, he took issue with the quote being used out of context:

Second, he mentioned his own involvement in a fundraiser for Carnahan (not entirely clear whether he's hosting the fundraiser or just participating in it):

So anyway, yes, Slay is clearly "endosring" Russ Carnahan. I suppose one can ask just how much Slay supports Carnahan, but it's obviously a far different story than what Morley is presenting

http://stlactivisthub.blogspot.com/2010/09/mayor-slay-is-fundraising-for-russ.html


Now, today, Russ Carnahan put out this statement to rebut Ed Martin.

Carnahan's Office Responds To Ed Martin's Ridiculous Request... and calls out Martin

Ed Martin filed a Freedom Of Information Request asking for a combination of easily accessible public information and confidential emails from constituents. The response from Russ Carnahan's office was a thing of beauty. You can read it below. As someone on my facebook wall said, "Caroline Battles is my new heroine."

Also At: http://www.box.net/shared/vgn5h7tjff


We have this goodie that Dana Loesch has been caught lying about how much Ed Martin gave to her. She has no ethics whatsoever and should've been nominated Assclown Of The Week at least a few times this year.


Dana Loesch lied about her $2,500 claim all along, actually $5K

Earlier in the year, I pointed out that Dana Loesch had been ignoring Ed Martin's Republican primary opponent John Wayne Tucker until finally going on an unprovoked, unhinged Twitter rampage against him. Throughout this whole ordeal, Loesch never once disclosed that her husband's business Shock City Studios had received $2,500 from Ed Martin, apparently for the production of a campaign video. The story was picked up by Chad Garrison at the RFT, and this caused the Loeschs to freak out.

But what I find very strange is that while Loesch was ranting about how clear she is about her ethics, and explaining how she'd never sell her soul for $2,500, she somehow forgot to mention that they actually received $5,000 from Ed Martin, not $2,500. That's right, the $2,500 check previously mentioned was just one of two checks. Shock City Studios received another $2,500 check from Ed Martin in November of 2009. Here are the two different sections of financial reports:

Finally, on the Second Hour of The Dana Show today, she had a discussion which Rita called in and refuted her Right-Wing anti-Islamic screed and better yet, caller Rita told Loesch: "You're an Idiot." She gets a ton of Cool Points, even though Dana will probably nominate her for Tool Of The Week.

At around the 22:40 mark of that hour, Rita's exchange with her starts there. At 28:22, the caller (who I agreed with) told the Teabagging Watercarrier "You're an Idiot! Goodbye."

http://www.971talk.com/dana/podcast.aspx

Dana Loesch complains about the prosecutor let go, Mark Schnyder of KMOV falsely peddles Loesch's talking points

Adam Shriver of STL Activist Hub reports that KMOV's Mark Schnyder was falsely peddling Dana Loesch's talking points about the Carnahan's firebombing.

KMOV Is Confused

Mark Schnyder at KMOV is extremely confused. He can't seem to figure out how Congressman Carnahan feels about having his office firebombed. Schnyder wrote that he shockingly got "weird vibes" from Carnahan's staff the day after someone tried to burn their office down:

When I went by the building this morning I got a weird vibe. I saw a campaign worker coming out of the back of the office with big Bread Company to-go bags. I jokingly said, "Are you with Bread Company or the Carnahan campaign?" He said, "Bread Company," then tossed the bags in the dumpster and went to the front of the building, presumably back in the office. Weird.
(I talked to a reporter at another station who worked on this story who told me when she was there, she met a campaign worker outside the building who also denied being associated with the campaign. When she went inside to talk to a spokesperson, she saw that person who denied being with the campaign IN Carnahan's office.)

OK, so someone acted "weird," the day after arson was attempted. Big deal. And as for his story from "a reporter at another station," I sincerely hope he's not basing his claim that she was speaking to "a campaign worker" only on the fact that they saw the person inside the building later. There are millions of possible explanations for why someone who doesn't work for the campaign could be in the office.

This story is already fueling conspiracies by the usual wingnuts. Jim Durbin wrote that Carnahan's staff, "did take out a bunch of documents hidden in St Louis Bread Company bags to the dumpster. " Durbin also curiously sent someone over to take photos of the office to take photos. Hmmm, wonder if they were planning on doing any dumpster diving while they were there? Keep in mind that Durbin is the conspiracy theorist who claimed that ACORN is housed in Carnahan's office, a theory still believed by the tea party's other "expert" on this case, Jim Hoft. Yesterday, Hoft said that "inside sources" told him that it was a burglary. Later, his "inside sources" completely changed their story to arson, naturally without any explanation or correction from Hoft. Nice that Schynder is so willingly adding fuel to the conspiracy theorists' fire.

But Schnyder's later comments were even more strange:

Meantime, opponent Ed Martin wasted no time condemning the action on his campaign website. He agreed to an interview outside his headquarters, too...He says there are lots of things to disagree on as far as the campaigns are concerned, but he says there's no place for violence.
Weird how the Carnahan campaign couldn't or wouldn't put similar words together.

Huh? As one commenter put it:

What kind of "comment" were you looking for, anyway? "Well, it sucks that someone tried to burn our office down, and violence is wrong"? Duh!

Yup, it's pretty obvious to thinking humans that Carnahan and his staff are not happy about having someone try to burn down their campaign office. They did issue a statement after the event happened, and it's not clear what else Schynder expects from them. Does he want them to rush to judgment, like the tea party no doubt would, and start publicly blaming people even though the police investigation has thus far not been conclusive? Does he want them to cry on camera and say how scared they are for their lives, thus giving the arsonist satisfaction? Their office was firebombed. They feel like crap. Give them a break, dude.

http://stlactivisthub.blogspot.com/2010/08/kmov-is-confused.html


Then there is Dana Loesch making up her phony claims out of thin air about the prosecutor lets the firebombing suspect go.

Prosecutor Lets Carnahan Firebomb Suspect Go?

August 19, 2010

by DanaLoesch

Um, dude?

Police have released a man taken into custody Tuesday in connection with a firebombing at the campaign office of U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan.

The man, whose name was not made public, was let go after the prosecutor’s office declined to immediately issue charges. The case was “taken under advisement” by the prosecutor, a step that can mean more evidence is needed before a case can be made.

Does reporter Jake Wagman know what a “firebomb” is? From what I’ve seen of the carefully controlled photos in circulation, this looks nothing like the damage caused by such incendiary devices.

Jim Hoft has more.

Then there’s this report from KMOV Channel 4 reporter Mark Schnyder:

Russ Carnahan may be a bad congressman, but he’s our bad congressman and if someone is bombing offices of elected officials in St. Louis then I want to see a federal investigation and that person shipped off to jail. No joke. In fact, I think an investigation is warranted considering it’s a FEDERAL OFFENSE to do such a thing to the office of an elected official.

http://thedanashow.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/prosecutor-lets-carnahan-firebomb-suspect-go/

Then, Daily RFT's Chad Garrison, a truthful man, has this:

Man Arrested for Firebombing Russ Carnahan's Campaign Office

By Chad Garrison, Wed., Aug. 18 2010 @ 7:20AM

Comments (8)

Categories: Crime, Politics

Share7

Source: Carnahan Campaign

The firebombing left some papers charred but created no major damage.

​St. Louis police have arrested a 50-year-old white man in connection to the bizarre firebombing early yesterday of Congressman Russ Carnahan's campaign headquarters.

The incident occurred around 2:20 a.m. Tuesday. St. Louis police received a call moments later from someone who heard glass break and smelled smoke emanating from the building at 7000 S. Chippewa.

Police aren't releasing the man's name until charges are officially filed. No motive was given for the attack, though one could suspect that the perpetrator is not a fan of the congressman. Given what we know of him -- 50, white, angry -- he certainly fits the demographics of a Tea Party member.

Perhaps, he joined his fellow "patriots" earlier this year when they burned Carnahan's photo in effigy or placed a coffin on the sidewalk outside his home. On second thought, maybe he's not a Tea Party member. Firebombing your opponent's office seems a little too, um, sane for that group.

Angela Guyadeen, communications director for Carnahan's re-election campaign, issued a statement confirming yesterday's incident. "There is minor damage to the office and the campaign headquarters
remains open," said Guyadeen. "The St. Louis police and fire departments are
investigating."

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2010/08/man_arrested_for_firebombing_russ_carnahans_campaign_office.php

Then here is KMOV's Mark Schnyder's take on this:

Campaigns react to Carnahan fire

by Mark Schnyder

KMOV.com

Posted on August 18, 2010 at 12:34 PM

Updated yesterday at 12:34 PM

Related:

• Congressman Carnahan's office burned, suspect arrested

I went to talk to people from both Congressional campaigns about Tuesday morning's fire in Russ Carnahan's office. Someone broke a window and tossed a burning object inside catching some of the office on fire but doing minimal damage to the building.

Hours later a company installed security cameras in the front and back of that building.

When I went by the building this morning I got a weird vibe. I saw a campaign worker coming out of the back of the office with big Bread Company to-go bags. I jokingly said, "Are you with Bread Company or the Carnahan campaign?" He said, "Bread Company," then tossed the bags in the dumpster and went to the front of the building, presumably back in the office. Weird.

(I talked to a reporter at another station who worked on this story who told me when she was there, she met a campaign worker outside the building who also denied being associated with the campaign. When she went inside to talk to a spokesperson, she saw that person who denied being with the campaign IN Carnahan's office.)

Then when I talked to a campaign spokesperson she refused to comment on anything beyond what police already told us. I tried to ask "What do you make of this?"... "How are workers and volunteers inside dealing with the fact their office was attacked?"... but Angela Guyadeen would have none of it. She wouldn't even tell me why she wouldn't answer these simple questions.

Meantime, opponent Ed Martin wasted no time condemning the action on his campaign website. He agreed to an interview outside his headquarters, too. He told me his campaign workers are careful. They're off busy Hampton Avenue where he says people drive by yelling nice things and not so nice things sometimes. He's had his big sign hit by a Dairy Queen Blizzard, but other than that nothing headline-grabbing like a burning object being tossed inside.

He says there are lots of things to disagree on as far as the campaigns are concerned, but he says there's no place for violence.

Weird how the Carnahan campaign couldn't or wouldn't put similar words together.

Mark Schnyder is a reporter at KMOV-TV. He can be reached at mschnyder@kmov.com.

http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Campaigns-react-to-Carnahan-fire-100994029.html

It looks like KMOV's pandering to the teabaggers more and more.