Video Of Oregon Occupier's Final Moments Contradicts Claims Police Killed Him With His Hands Up | ThinkProgress

Video of the deadly encounter between police and some of the men who’ve occupied an Oregon wildlife preserve since the start of the year seems to contradict claims that occupier Lavoy Finicum was surrendering to officers when they killed him...
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/01/29/3744307/lavoy-finicum-video-oregon-reaching/

WATCH: OR Militant Went for Gun Twice Before Being Shot Dead

--The FBI has released an aerial video of the Oregon militia arrest and shooting; LaVoy Finicum appears to reach for something near his waist twice before being shot and killed...
https://youtu.be/LlVuBivECvU

Novelist Obliterates The Bundy Militia -- And Oregon’s Largest Newspaper -- In 194 Words | ThinkProgress

The Oregonian’s A1 headline on Sunday, Jan. 17, “Effort to free federal lands,” is inaccurate and irresponsible. The article that follows it is a mere mouthpiece for the scofflaws illegally occupying public buildings and land, repeating their lies and distortions of history and law. 

Ammon Bundy and his bullyboys aren’t trying to free federal lands, but to hold them hostage. I can’t go to the Malheur refuge now, though as a citizen of the United States, I own it and have the freedom of it. That’s what public land is: land that belongs to the public — me, you, every law-abiding American. The people it doesn’t belong to and who don’t belong there are those who grabbed it by force of arms, flaunting their contempt for the local citizens. 

Those citizens of Harney County have carefully hammered out agreements to manage the refuge in the best interest of landowners, scientists, visitors, tourists, livestock and wildlife. They’re suffering more every day, economically and otherwise, from this invasion by outsiders. 

Instead of parroting the meaningless rants of a flock of Right-Winged Loonybirds infesting the refuge, why doesn’t The Oregonian talk to the people who live there? 

Ursula K. Le Guin
Northwest Portland

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/01/19/3740829/ursula-k-le-guin-oregon-lte/

Ted Cruz Embraces Fringe Monetary Policy That Went Out Of Style In The 1930s

Ted Cruz wants to party like it's 1929.  ... Read more

Charles Koch To CBS: Dark Money? Me? Nahhhhh.

Charles Koch is continuing his public relations push to deflect attention away from what he does on a daily basis with regard to dark money. Watch him...  Read more

Meet the Goat Blood-Drinking Senate Candidate Calling for Civil War

"...I have prophesied for years that I was born for a Great War; that if I did not witness the coming of the Second American Civil War I would begin it myself. Mark Well: That day is fast coming upon you. On the New Moon of May, I shall disappear into the Wilderness. I will return bearing Revolution, or I will not return at all..."

https://youtu.be/j6To5NkZ9EM

The Republican Party’s Secret Sauce: A Poisonous Cocktail of Nationalism, Libertarianism & Theocracy

Pundits have called Trump a populist hero. But the truth of his appeal lies at the core of the GOP philosophy.
...  Read more

How The Koch Brothers Are Shaping The 2016 Presidential Race

For the last three days, the Koch brothers and their donors have taken over a fancy seaside hotel in Dana Point, California. The annual summer meeting usually takes place behind closed doors. This year, Charles and David Koch are going a different route: They invited reporters to cover some of the weekend’s events. It’s part of larger strategy by the Kochs to become more transparent about their activities. But, as many observers point out, how they raise and spend money is anything but transparent. Guest host Laura Knoy and her guests discuss the Koch brothers’ influence in 2016 and how candidates are financing their campaigns.
Interview:
https://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-08-03/how-the-koch-brothers-are-shaping-the-2016-presidential-race

Unrestrained Capitalism and the Colorado Mine Disaster...

Thom Hartmann says the mine spill that led to contamination of two major rivers in Colorado and New Mexico is the result of Libertarian capitalism.
https://youtu.be/pHZ6dcPepEY

Kochs Rebrand Themselves As Champions Of Poor, Fight To Slash Wages And Eliminate Their Health Care

"We, too, are seeking to right injustices that are holding our country back," Charles Koch told the room full of donors and ... Read more

Even the Father of Modern Libertarianism Criticized the Kind of Austerity That's Crushing Greece

Milton Friedman went public with concerns about imposing austerity on debt-ridden countries in return for loans.
...  Read more

Delusion in the Desert

"LAS VEGAS -- I'm here at Planet Hollywood as the token liberal to participate in two debates -- one on what is killing the American Dream; the other a..."  Read more

Rand Paul Wants To Sell Off America’s Public Lands

Paul met with outlaw rancher Cliven Bundy, who infamously caused an armed standoff with federal officials after he refused to ... Read more

Why Ayn Rand Is a Fan Favorite Among Christian Theocrats

Anything that unifies extreme groups and reinforces their ideology should set off alarm bells.
...  Read more

Penn Jillette and Glenn Beck talk Atheism, Libertarianism, and Church/State

"This has been edited from the original. The entire interview can be found at the link below and I highly recommend it, especially if you are interested in libertarianism."
http://youtu.be/vZnE1XEv0xU

Libertarianism Is For White Men: The Ugly Truth About the Right’s Favorite Movement

Republicans' demographic challenges have been well documented. Libertarians' problems are even worse.
...  Read more

A Christian Nation? Since When? (The New York Times By KEVIN M. KRUSE) (repost)

"...Back in the 1930s, business leaders found themselves on the defensive. Their public prestige had plummeted with the Great Crash; their private businesses were under attack by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal from above and labor from below. To regain the upper hand, corporate leaders fought back on all fronts... But nothing worked particularly well until they began an inspired public relations offensive that cast capitalism as the handmaiden of Christianity..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/15/opinion/sunday/a-christian-nation-since-when.html?action=click

"...The Rev. James W. Fifield — known as “the 13th Apostle of Big Business” and “Saint Paul of the Prosperous”...

Viral rewind: Rand Paul said he opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — and Rachel Maddow eviscerated him

His silence around Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act starts to make some sense You held out for as long as you could, but one day — against your better judgment — you clicked on a viral video. A song about chocolate rain. A man going full-psycho over double rainbows. Rebecca. Effing. Bl...

http://www.salon.com/2015/05/23/viral_rewind_rand_paul_said_he_opposed_the_civil_rights_act_of_1964_and_rachel_maddow_eviscerated_him/

Rand Paul is talking. Here's why we should all be listening.

On the surface, Rand Paul held the Senate floor for nearly 11 hours Wednesday to protest a new version of the Patriot Act provision under which the Na...  Read more

Rand Takes Left Turn on the Road to Bulls**tville on Clinton and Mass Incarceration

One of Rand Paul's emerging angles in his hoped-for race against Hillary Clinton is to put the former Senator and Secretary of State on the line for her husband's role creating the system of mass incarceration which many on both sides of the political spectrum now believe was either a mistake or at least should be reined in. “I’ll ask Hillary Clinton," he said earlier this week, "what have you done for criminal justice? Your husband passed all the laws that put a generation of black men in prison. Her husband was responsible for that.”... Read more