Palin talking points written on her hand
By: David Phillips
Las Vegas Democrat Examiner

The Tea Party held it’s first and maybe its last National Tea Party convention in Nashville TN. at the Opryland Hotel. The convention which was held February 4-6 at a cost of $549.00 to attend, featured guest speaker former Alaska governor and rogue, Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin was paid $115,000 dollars to give the keynote speech yesterday and she did not disappoint the 600 Tea Party teabaggers in attendance. She bashed the President, she bashed the Democrats and she hit on all the key buzz words such as small government and less taxes.

But it was the Q & A session that followed her speech that may overshadow her $115,000 dollar speech.

In the Q & A she used crib notes written on the palm of her hand. Maybe she didn’t know the Q & A was being recorded, but as you will see in the two video’s she reads from her hand, then she nonchalantly rubs her hand on her leg to remove the notes written on it.

Palin and all the other right wing talking heads love to demean the Presidents ability to give rousing speeches with the use of a teleprompter, and he does use a teleprompter for speeches, but not when he answers questions from an audience at a Town Hall event or when he is answering questions from the press. In fact the ONLY time he uses the teleprompter is for speeches, when he’s not giving a speech, he‘s not using a teleprompter and its all from him..

So, the next time Palin spouts the line that Obama only sounds good because of a teleprompter (which she has used herself, see third video below), she will be reminded of her use of the palm-prompter to answer the pre-approved softball questions.

Here are the two video’s of Sarah the Palm reader, you be the judge, the third video is from a Palin speech to the RNC where she is using a teleprompter.

David Letterman's Top Ten Things Overheard During Scott Brown's First Day In The Senate

10. "Wanna throw on some pants, Scotty?"
9. "Where's the tanning bed?"
8. "You wanna throw on a shirt now, Scotty?"
7. "Palin's accusing you of being a dope who's  skating by on looks"
6. "John Edwards wants to ask if you have any interest in pretending to be a father"
5. "The Senate will now come to . . . Oh my God, he's even hunkier in person"
4. "An underpants model in the Senate — Yeah, that's what the Founding Fathers had in mind"
3. "Barney Frank wants to know if you're available"
2. "Look out! Runaway Toyota!"
1. "No, Senator, we do not want to see your 'situation'"

Rep. John Murtha passes away

Thinkprogress.org

John Murtha Democratic Rep. John Murtha (PA), who served in Congress since 1974, passed away today. Murtha had been in intensive care after complications arose from his gall bladder surgery a couple of weeks ago. The statement from his office:

Congressman John P. Murtha (PA-12) passed away peacefully this afternoon at 1:18 p.m. at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, VA. At his bedside was his family.

Murtha, 77, was Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in February of 1974, Murtha dedicated his life to serving his country both in the military and in the halls of Congress. A former Marine, he became the first Vietnam War combat Veteran elected to the U.S. Congress.

This past Saturday, February 6, 2010, Murtha became Pennsylvania’s longest serving Member of Congress.

James O’Keefe wiggles and squirms in Hannity interview
By: David Phillips
Las Vegas Democrat Examiner

Toyota chief apologizes for massive global recalls
By Yuri Kageyama And Malcolm Foster
Associated Press

TOKYO – Toyota's president emerged from seclusion Friday to apologize and address criticism that the automaker mishandled a crisis over sticking gas pedals. Yet he stopped short of ordering a recall for the company's iconic Prius hybrid for braking problems.

Akio Toyoda, appointed to the top job at Toyota Motor Corp. last June, promised to beef up quality control, saying, "We are facing a crisis."

Toyoda, grandson of the company's founder, said he personally would head a special committee to review checks within the company, go over consumer complaints and listen to outside experts to come up with a fix.

"I apologize from the bottom of my heart for all the concern that we have given to so many customers," said Toyoda, speaking at his first news conference since the Jan. 21 global recall of 4.5 million vehicles.

Toyota's failure to stem its widening safety crisis has stunned consumers and experts who'd come to expect only streamlined efficiency from a company at the pinnacle of the global auto industry.

"Toyota needs to be more assertive in terms of providing consumers comfort that the immediate problem is being addressed ... and that it can deal with these crises," said Sherman Abe, a business professor at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo.

It took prodding from the U.S. government for Toyota to recall the vehicles, about half of them in North America, for gas pedals that can stick and cause sudden acceleration.

British intel: Breast implants may hide bombs

WASHINGTON, DC -- British intelligence agencies have reportedly monitored terrorist communications bragging that women suicide bombers have already undergone surgery to hide explosive bombs in their breast implants.

"You could certainly put a liquid of any kind in a saline device, and a gel implant theoretically could be opened and replaced with a different type of gel," said Maryland plastic surgeon Dr. Craig Person.

"I believe that any liquid in a breast implant, or any gel with a silicone-type of implant would be hard to detect with a body scanner," Person told 9NewsNow.

Terrorism experts agree.

"The federal government has not put into place any system for detecting explosives at passengers' screening checkpoints," said Larry Johnson, the Managing Director Of Berg Associates.

The flip side is more encouraging.

"What we've seen is, at least, the al Qaeda explosives competence, while they are visionary with their devices, they're not terribly competent with actually being able to get something to detonate," Johnson said.

Super Bowl 2010 Nabs The Largest Audience Ever
By: Gillian Reagan

We guess CBS Sports ad sales chief John Bogusz was right.

Nielsen reports that 106.5 million people watched the New Orleans Saints win against the Indianapolis Colts -- the largest audience in TV history for a single Super Bowl broadcast.

According to the Washington Post, M*A*S*H* still holds the record for the most-watched TV broadcast. Its last show aired on Feb. 28, 1983 with 308 million viewers tuning in (with numbers adjusted for market), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Still, 106.5 million is a whole lot of people seeing that Google ad.

Bachmann’s Plan: To Deal With Debt, We Must ‘Wean Everybody’ Off Social Security, Medicare

This past weekend, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) addressed the right-wing Constitutional Coalition’s annual conference in St. Louis. She had dropped out of the Tea Party Convention occurring on the same day in Nashville to make the appearance.

Speaking to a small group of conference attendees and ThinkProgress during lunch on Saturday, Bachmann outlined how the Republican Party and its 2012 nominee must address the national debt. Bachmann referenced Glenn Beck, who falsely warned about a $107 trillion in supposed “unfunded liabilities” from Social Security and Medicare. She then called for a “reorganization” of entitlements where people “already in the system” would continue to receive benefits, but “everybody else” would be weaned off:

BACHMANN: Is the country too big to fail? No, the country can fail. We can, we’re not invincible. And we’re so close now to being at that point because the thing is, as Glenn Beck said last night, it is true. The $107 trillion that he put on the board. We’re $14 trillion in debt, but that doesn’t include the unfunded massive liabilities. That’s $107 trillion, and that’s for Social Security and Medicare and all the rest. You add up all those unfunded net liabilities, and all the traps that could go wrong we’re on the hook for, and what it means is what we have to do is a reorganization of all of that, Social Security and all. We have to do it simply because we can’t let the contract remain as they are because the older people are going to lose. So, what you have to do, is keep faith with the people that are already in the system, that don’t have any other options, we have to keep faith with them. But basically what we have to do is wean everybody else off. And wean everybody off because we have to take those unfunded net liabilities off our bank sheet, we can’t do it. So we just have to be straight with people. So basically, whoever our nominee is, is going to have to have a Glenn Beck chalkboard and explain to everybody this is the way it is.

Bachmann is echoing a growing chorus in the GOP caucus. Recently, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) introduced an alternative budget plan which would privatize both Medicare and Social Security. As the Wonk Room’s Pat Garofalo has noted, the type of private Social Security accounts Ryan proposes would have cost seniors tens of thousands of dollars in the 2008-2009 market plunge. But Bachmann takes Ryan’s effort a step farther and seems to be suggesting a full repeal of the retirement safety net.

Bachmann, who has gained influence within Republican leadership circles, was a star at the event. At his speech on Friday, Glenn Beck proclaimed that Bachmann was the only person he trusted in Congress. Other accolades for Bachmann were heard throughout the conference. At one point, Heritage Foundation scholar Matt Spalding, who had been whispering in Bachmann’s ear while other panelists spoke, exclaimed, “if there’s one person who everyone at Heritage has a crush on, it’s Michele Bachmann.”