Cliff Schecter's blog

Tea Baggers Target Al Gore

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:35:01 -0800

First they organize a tea bagging of a speech by Al Gore, then they vandalize the venue. I wonder if Koch Industries $ paid for the spray paint?

Full Disclosure: While I am not involved with this speech, I do consult for the Alliance for Climate Protection

B.A.R.F.F. Reminds You - Vote No On Issue 2!

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:10:27 -0800

That just about sums up the Agricultural Industrial Complex's effort to take over the Ohio Constitution on Tuesday, so they can self-regulate, because, you know, it worked out so well on Wall Street and with Enron (to name 2 of, oh, a trillion examples)...

In any case, Facebook group here. Video below. Happy Monday all!

Full Disclosure: I am consulting on this effort to beat back a naked power grab to corrupt the Ohio Constitution, Ohio government and put all power to regulate livestock in the hands of 13 political appointees and corporate Agri-Cronies...

The Under-The-Radar Assault By The Agricultural Industrial Complex

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:06:31 -0700

On November 3rd, there will be a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot in Ohio. This is no ordinary ballot initiative. Its very existence and marketing has been bought and paid for--to the tune of millions of dollars-- by national and international agri-business corporations and their front groups, such as Pioneer Hi-Bred International (owned by DuPont and grantee of 100K to the effort),the National Pork Producers Council (113K), and the United Egg Producers (200K!).

(You can join the anti-Issue 2 Facebook Group and help us stop this underhanded effort)

What would it do if passed? It would create a 13-member board, 10 appointed by the Governor of Ohio (and, shockingly, they could all be from the Agricultural Industrial Complex), who would have ABSOLUTE POWER over regulating all conditions on farms in Ohio. The legislature, Dept. of Agriculture, and the people need not apply. Only another Constitutional Amendment could overturn a decision handed down by what will become our very own 18th Century House of Lords in Ohio. And if it succeeds here, expect to see it on your state ballot next.

So if unaccountable government (think "TARP"), wasted taxpayer money, corporate-controlled legislating, E. Coli, environmental degradation, animal cruelty, and bankrupted family farms are not your thing, you would probably be against this.

What can you do? Once again, join our Facebook group. Vote against this travesty if you live in the Buckeye State. If you don't, call and email your friends in Ohio and tell them to vote against Issue 2. Tweet it. Make it your Facebook status. And if you really want to get involved in Ohio, through the Facebook group you will have no trouble finding out how to do that.

Full Disclosure: I am proud to be involved in the effort to protect all that is good and right in the world from Big Ag

Gun Show Undercover

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:13:18 -0700

Great video showing illegal sales that take place at gun shows, due to the gun-show loophole. Watch as one gun seller laughs when told the buyer couldn't pass a background check, and offers that he couldn't either. And you wonder how criminals get their hands on guns....

Full Disclosure: I have consulted on this issue & am passionate about gun safety

Blue Dogs, Birthers and Bullet Fetishes

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:00:18 -0700

Last week, as you may know, the Thune Amendment was defeated. A group I work with, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, took on the task of defeating this inane legislation, which only had a chance of passing due to the extremism of the NRA/Birther crowd and the ever-present cowardice of the usual Blue-Dog Democrats.

I guess they weren't busy enough trying to destroy health-care reform or climate-change legislation, so jumping in with the NRA/Thune's misguided and cretinous attempt to override state laws trying to prevent criminals from enjoying the right to concealed carry seemed like a swell idea.

Thankfully, the NRA lost a gun battle for the first time in five years, but no thanks to squeamish Blue-Dog Democrats. Take Colorado Democratic Senators Udall and Bennet, for example. They waited to the end to vote, as if calculating which way to go right up until the vote, and then voted with the gun nuts. Interestingly, two Republicans from generally pro-gun states, Senators George Voinovich of Ohio and Dick Lugar of Indiana, didn't feel a need to cave to the Bonkers Wing of the GOP. Nor did Democrats from pro-gun states, like Senators Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Bill Nelson of Florida and Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

In any case, a Columbine dad, a man who suffered what is a nightmare for all of us with children in school, decided to remind these two men about what is and is not leadership in today's Denver Post. It says everything that needs to be said on this issue, as well as a host of others.

Sadly, the biggest threat to rational legislating right now is not from Republicans, who are and should be irrelevant, but from Blue Dogs. These people need to be taught not to fear their big contributors, but We The People.

**As I stated in the piece, I am working with Mayors Against Illegal Guns

John McCain's Continuing Hypocrisy On Healthcare

Thu, 01 May 2008 06:30:14 -0700

Roger Hickey has a great post at ourfuture.org on the "dangerous fraud" that is John McCain's healthcare plan. As I point out ad nauseam in The Real McCain, McCain's positions are not simply fraudulent. The "straight-talker" rarely limits himself to simple dishonesty.

First, read the email The McCain Campaign sent out today on this issue:

My Friends,

Today, there are 47 million uninsured individuals in the U.S., and nearly a quarter of them are children. High costs and limited access are the underlying, fundamental problems in our healthcare system.

As you know, both Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are touting outrageously expensive and unrealistic universal health care plans - a government monopoly over health care.

Unlike my opponents, I do not believe that all of our nation's problems can be solved by turning control over to our government, with all the tax increases, new mandates and government regulation that come with that idea.

Today, our campaign began running a television ad focused on health care - that you can view by following this link - to ensure all Americans hear the truth about how I plan to tackle the challenges facing our nation's health care system. To ensure this important ad is aired in as many markets as possible, I'm asking for your immediate financial assistance.

I believe the key to real reform is to restore control over our health care system to the patients themselves. Americans need new choices beyond those offered in employment-based coverage.

That's why, as president, I will seek to encourage and expand the benefits of Health Savings Accounts, tax-preferred accounts that are used to pay insurance premiums and other health costs. These accounts put the family in charge of what they pay for.

In addition, I will reform the tax code to provide every family the option of receiving a direct, refundable tax deposit - effectively $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 cash for families to offset the cost of insurance.

The reality is that both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama, in their haste to garner support for their so-called "solutions," are promising more than they can deliver. And, once again, they are simply out-of-touch with the real problems facing our health care system and how to solve them.

Here are the facts: Under the Democrats' plan, we will have all the problems, and more, of the current health care system - rigid rules, long waits and lack of choices - and we risk degrading the system's great strengths and advantages, including the innovation and life-saving technology that make American medicine the most advanced in the world.

My friends, this is not my definition of real reform. I hope you will join me in my fight to tackle the real problems facing our nation's health care system by making a contribution of $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000, or $2,300 to help fund this important ad.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

John McCain

A good rule of thumb: When John McCain says "my friends," start looking for a bomb shelter. Another good rule of thumb when McCain utters this trite phrase: Dishonesty is about to morph into full scale hypocrisy.

Here is a man who has been on government healthcare his entire life(daddy was an Admiral)--all seven decades--who dares deride it by saying, "Unlike my opponents, I do not believe that all of our nation's problems can be solved by turning control over to our government... ."

No, only his own healthcare is worthy of that.

In case you missed McCain's position: Government healthcare is good enough to pay his hospital bills--with your "taxes" to quote him--but it is not good enough for the rest of us--oh and by the way, can you spare $1000 "my friends?" That means a lot coming from a guy who enjoys lounging at 8 different houses on his wife's inherited dime, and laughably calls other candidates "elitist."

With straight talk like that, who needs mendacity?

Cliff Schecter is the author of The Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him And Why Independents Shouldn't. Every time you buy a copy (for only $10!), an angel gets their wings.

A Trip Down Memory Lane In North Carolina

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:48:13 -0700

One would have to strain to be shocked that a racist ad is finding its way out of the bowels of conservativism in North Carolina. For political observers from the 1980s will remember that Senator Jesse Helms--an early sign of the shift of racially conservative whites in the South from their ancestral home in the Democratic Party to the GOP--was a master of using divisive tactics to undermine his African-American opponent for the U.S. Senate (not to mention white opponents such as Governor Jim Hunt, too).

Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center, recalled this unsavory record upon Helms' retirement in 2002:

Hurrah. Jesse Helms has been a vicious racist politician since he defeated the Greek N.C. Rep. Nick Galifanakis with the slogan "Elect one of us" in his first Senate race in 1972. In his 1992 race with Harvey Gannt, the African-American mayor of Charlotte, N.C., he ran an advertisement showing a black hand snatching away a job from a white hand, harking back to Jim Crow politics. He has been against everything good, decent and positive for America.

Yet, it did not go away with Helms' retirement from politics, nor did conservative claims to have gotten beyond their racial animus in North Carolina or the rest of the country. With an African American likely becoming the Democratic nominee for President this year, the old playbook has come in handy. And once again, as other conservatives sat ildy by and claimed Jesse was just being Jesse, now John McCain throws his hands up in the air as if there is nothing he can do:

ABC NEWS’ Bret Hovell and Russell Goldman report: Sen. John McCain said Thursday that if elected president -- and becomes the de facto head of the GOP -- he would not demand a change in the leadership of the North Carolina Republican Party despite condemning its plan to air an ad attacking Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill, and his controversial minister.

It's good to know where the Senator stands on this issue. In my book, The Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him And Why Independents Shouldn't, I recount his questionable past on issues of race. from the many years he rejected a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday to his serial flip-flops on the Confederate Flag (not to mention his association with a known white supremacist, Richard Quinn). John McCain and his conservatism: Much closer to "pandering" than "straight-talk" on race.

Cliff Schecter is the author of The Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him And Why Independents Shouldn't. It is only $10, and for that low-low price you can help defeat McCain and keep Cliff's kid in diapers--a pretty good deal for all.

Important Questions For George Stephanopoulos To Ask John McCain This Weekend

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:06:27 -0700

Many have already pored over the ins and outs of a Democratic debate tailor-made for "Enquiring minds" earlier this week on ABC. Well guess who just happens to be coming to dinner...or This Week, this weekend?

Why none other than John McCain!

So in the spirit of seeing how all the candidates deal with "scandal," or just being queried about everyone they have associated with since that 6th grade teacher who crossed the street against a red light (do you denounce her Senator Obama? Denounce and reject her!?! Or perhaps just reject?), here are some questions that John McCain should be asked on your show this weekend, Mr. Stephanopoulos (sorry, old habit from when I had you as a professor at Columbia).

First a great list I came across, and then a few of my own I found in my research for my book The Real McCain. This list is from Perrspectives, a fantastic compilation, in my always humble opinion:

1. Do you agree with Pastor John Hagee that war with Iran is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy?
In February, you shared a stage with Pastor John Hagee and said you were "very proud" to have his endorsement. You also called the Reverend Rod Parsley, a man who said of Islam "America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed", your "spiritual guide." Do you believe America's mission is to destroy Islam? Do you join Pastor Hagee in believing the United States must attack Iran to fulfill the biblical prophecy of Armageddon in Israel in which 144,000 Jews will be converted to Christianity and the rest killed? Is that why you joked about "bomb bomb Iran?" If not, why will you not renounce the support of Hagee and Parsley?

2. Doesn't your legendary temper make you too dangerous to be trusted with the presidency of the United States?Your anger, even toward friends and allies, is legendary. You purportedly dropped the F-Bomb on your own GOP colleagues John Cornyn and Chuck Grassley. In the book, The Real McCain, author Cliff Schechter claims you got into a fist-fight with your fellow Arizona Republican Rick Renzi. Allegedly, you even publicly used a crude term, one which decorum and the FCC prohibit us from even saying on the air, to describe your own wife. Which if any of these episodes is untrue? Don't your anger management problems make you too dangerously unstable to be president of the United States?

3. Doesn't your confusion regarding basic facts about the war in Iraq, including repeatedly citing a nonexistent Al Qaeda-Iran alliance, make you unfit for command?
On four occasions in one month, you confused friend and foe in Iraq by describing Sunni Al Qaeda as being backed by Shiite Iran. Then you showed a misunderstanding of the U.S. chain of command when you claimed you would not back shifting forces from Iraq to Afghanistan "unless Gen. [David] Petraeus said that he felt that the situation called for that," a decision which Petraeus himself told you and your Senate colleagues only the week before rests not with him but with his superiors. Doesn't your lack of understanding and judgment when it comes to basic facts of America's national security disqualify you as commander-in-chief?

4. Given your past adultery, should Americans consider you a moral exemplar of family values?
You are the nominee of a Republican Party which claims to support so-called "family values." Yet you commenced an adulterous relationship with your current wife Cindy months before the dissolution of your previous marriage to your first wife Carol. Should Americans consider you to be a moral exemplar of family values?

5. Doesn't your flip-flop on Jerry Falwell being an "agent of intolerance" show your opportunistic pandering to the religious right?
In 2000, you famously called the late Jerry Falwell "an agent of intolerance," a statement which may have cost you the decisive South Carolina primary. But as you ramped up your next presidential run in 2006, you embraced Falwell and gave the commencement address at his Liberty University. When Tim Russert asked that spring if you still considered him an agent of intolerance, you said, "'no, I don't." Why shouldn't the American people consider you a flip-flopping opportunist who cynically courted the religious right to further your 2008 presidential ambitions?

6. Given your wealth and privileged upbringing, aren't you - and not Barack Obama - the elitist?
You have called Barack Obama an elitist. Yet you recently returned to your exclusive private high school, one which now costs over $38,000 a year to attend. Your wife is the heiress to a beer distribution company, reputedly owns 8 homes and has a net worth well over $100 million. Your children all attended private schools, academies which also happened to be the primary beneficiaries of funds from your supposed charitable foundation. Shouldn't the American people in fact view you as the elitist, and a hypocritical one at that?

7. What is your religion, really? And has the answer in the past changed as the South Carolina primary approached?
I want to ask about your seemingly ever-changing religious beliefs. In June 2007, McClatchy reported, "McCain still calls himself an Episcopalian." In August 2007, as ABC reported, your campaign staff identified you as "Episcopalian" in a questionnaire prepared for ABC News' August 5 debate. But as the primary in evangelical-rich South Carolina neared, in September 2007 you said of your religious faith, "It plays a role in my life. By the way, I'm not Episcopalian. I'm Baptist." But in March 2008, Pastor Dan Yeary of your North Phoenix Baptist Church refused to comment on why you have refused to finally undergo a baptism ceremony. Congressional directories still list you as an Episcopalian. In the past, you've said, "When I'm asked about it, I'll be glad to discuss it." So what is your religion? And couldn't Americans be forgiven for assuming your changing faith is tied to your changing political needs?

8. Didn't President Bush betray you with his signing statement on the Detainee Treatment Act? You claim to be against torture, but aren't you a hypocrite for voting "no" on the Senate waterboaring ban?
You've said that "we can't torture or treat inhumanely suspected terrorists we have captured". And in December 2005, you famously reached a compromise with President Bush on the Detainee Torture Act banning cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees. But just two weeks later, President Bush issued a signing statement making it clear he would ignore the compromise you just reached. Then in February 2007, you voted "no" on a Senate bill banning waterboarding. Isn't it fair to say President Bush betrayed you with his December 30, 2005 signing statement? And isn't it fair to say you caved to the right-wing of your party on the issue in order to win the Republican nomination?

9. Why did you flip-flop on the Bush tax cuts you twice opposed? Why do you now support making them permanent for the wealthiest Americans who need them least?
You twice voted against the Bush tax cuts. Now you support making them permanent. In 2001, you said, "I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who need tax relief." Now, according to the Center for American Progress, your tax plan would cost more than $2 trillion over the next decade and "would predominantly benefit the most fortunate taxpayers, offering two new massive tax cuts for corporations and delivering 58 percent of its benefits to the top 1 percent of taxpayers." Isn't it true that you flip-flopped on the Bush tax cuts? Isn't it fair to say that you now favor a massive expansion of the federal budget deficit in order to fund a tax giveaway to the wealthiest Americans who need it least?

10. With the economy tanking, shouldn't Americans be concerned over your past statements that "the issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should?"
Americans consistently report that the economy is the issue that concerns them most. Yet more than once, you proclaimed your ignorance when it comes to the economy. In November 2005, you told the Wall Street Journal, "I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." Then in December 2007, you admitted, "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should." Shouldn't the American be worried about President McCain's ability to lead the United States out of recession? Given your past statements, shouldn't the American reject out of hand your claim that "I know the economy better than Senator Clinton and Senator Obama do?"

All of these are fantastic questions, now let me add two from The Real McCain:

11) How can you call yourself a straight-talker in light of the fact that you have changed your positions or rhetorically flip-flopped on the following issues: Abortion, Creationism in science class, immigration, intervention abroad, tax cuts for the wealthy, civil unions, a Martin Luther King holiday, the Confederate Flag, the Christian Right, Bob Jones University, whether Rumsfeld did a good job, whether Dick Cheney is doing a good job, whether President Bush is an honest man, a Patient's Bill of Rights, global warming, campaign finance reform in general, public financing of campaigns specifically, lobbying reform, whether the War in Iraq would be "easy," whether Sunni and Shiite are working together, whether "Iraqi blood should be traded for American blood," military readiness, how many troops are necessary for the suge to succeed in Iraq, ehtanol subsidies, the continuing existence of a minimum wage, closing the gun-show loophole, healthcare for children...and I could go on, but how about we start with those?

12) Finally, if Barack Obama must account for everyone he has ever passed within a 100 square mile radius of, then here are some associations you might want to explain, with the indicted, the white supremacists and the downright corrupt: Rick Renzi (indicted), Terry Nelson (racist ads against Harold Ford in 2006), Trent Lott (pining for a Strom presidency), The Wyly Brothers (corrupt), Bob Perry (Chief Swift Boater), Richard Quinn (white supremacist), Rev. Richard Land (homosexual hate), Ken Blackwell (Ohio election suppression), Charlie Black (lobbyist and according to John Gorenfeld's new book, Bad Moon Rising, Reverend Moon lover). That would be a start.

I don't write this to pile on Mr. Stephanopoulos. I have usually found you to be a fair-minded host. Yet, if you are to right the wrongs of that debate, please give equal time, and make John McCain answer for aspects of his political career which are much more relevant than a flag lapel pin to whether he or Barack Obama would make a better president.

Cliff Schecter is the author of The Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him And Why Independents Shouldn't.

I'm A Cartoon Character

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:18:25 -0700

Although, I guess I always have been one. But it is still good fun...

When John McCain And His Sock Puppet Attack!--In This Case Me

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:12:18 -0700

So I wrote a book. You know, because I had nothing better to do for those nine months. And because John McCain is more dangerous than Mel Gibson at a briss.

So, in any case, here is what U.S News & World Report had to say about the book:

A new book by liberal writer and political consultant Cliff Schecter lays out a detailed blueprint for how Dems can mine presumed GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's political and personal past—including already well-documented incidents of his temper—to defeat him in the fall.

Not too too shabby, for a thirty-something, suburban dad like me. The problem is that on a few stories I broke, where McCain referred to his wife as something that rhymes with "runt," and let out his inner pugilist by punching Rick Renzi (in his defense, it was Rick Renzi), I did that crazy thing that right-wing bloggers and the MSM never do! I relied upon thoroughly vetted, 100% credible, yet anonymous sources.

How dare I!?! Because, I have this friend named Max Bernstein, and his dad Carl, well, he never broke a story infinitely more important than this one using anonymous sources. Never. Although, if you watch John McCain's non-denial denial closely here, you might actually see the exact moment when John McCain realizes he's lying.

And he was able to pull all that together after only two cups of Sanka! Wowsers.

Then there is McCain spokesperson, Jill Hazelbaker. She had this to say about my work:

McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker brands the book "trash journalism" and tells us, "The story is completely fabricated."

Which coming from someone naturally imbued with the credibility of a three-dollar bill, really hurts. You may remember Mzz. Hazelbaker from sock puppetry days gone by:

Hazelbaker was caught here at Blue Jersey last year engaged in a variety of blogospheric no-no's. For one thing, she was engaged in an astroturfing campaign to make it seem as if there was a groundswell of Democratic disaffection with Senator Menendez's candidacy. To top it off, she did this by sockpuppeting, or creating a number of Blue Jersey accounts with which to post comments along the same theme.

So there you have it! A woman who is a proven liar is calling me a liar. After much thoughtful consideration, I think I'll choose to believe...me.

PS Thank you for the phenomenal response my book has received! We hit #3 on Amazon's political books list and #18 among non-fiction books, but predictably, no TV yet. So you are my source for getting the message out there. It is only $10. Please pick up a copy and continue to make sure The Real McCain is exposed for all to see

John McCain's Non-Denial Denial

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:49:36 -0700

And if you'd like to learn more about The Real McCain, please pick up a copy of my new book for the low-low price of $10.

John McCain Accuses Me Of "Trash Journalism" While He Engages In "Trash" Propaganda

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 07:44:41 -0700

Apparently some of the straight-talk released from The Real McCain yesterday got Rambo a bit peeved. So I'm glad I'm nowhere in his vicinity, because we know what happens to people when McCain gets a bit peeved at them.

He responded to the factual piece in my book about his calling his wife that four-letter c-word that wives so love to hear from their spouses, with this, according to today's New York Daily News:

McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker brands the book "trash journalism" and tells us, "The story is completely fabricated."

No surprise here. It's far from the first time the "maverick" has made himself into a liar, and today's opening statement to General Petaeus once again showed it won't be the last.

He brought out all the old favorites about those advocating for a "reckless and irresponsible withdrawal," (you know, only 70% of the country). The kind of withdrawal he advocated for in Beirut in 1983, and Somalia and Haiti in the 1990s. Hell he must have had a lot of white flags in storage then, he was waving them so so darn often! I get into his complete foreign-policy flip-flop over his career in much greater detail in my book that he has seen fit to disparage without even reading (c'mon, it's not like he's George W., he can in fact read above a My Pet Goat reading level, I assume).

McCain then trotted out that old saw about Al Qaeda in Iraq, which is only a miniscule part of the fighting force against us there, and is only there because of people like him took us into this war using the time-tested technique of making stuff up.

He said once again he wanted to "succeed" in Iraq. Definition of success: I don't know, and neither does he, as he didn't give it yet again (once again, I discuss this in greater detail). Maybe it's when he can go back to that market and take a stroll their without the Guns of Navarone protecting him, right before he falsely told us that anyone could have taken the same playful jaunt through town (sans protection).

You get the picture. I have hit McCain with a bit of that old straight-talk. Instead of lying about me because of it, he should try it sometime. How about starting today when we are trying to find a solution to this disaster he helped create in Mesopotamia.

UPDATE: Thank you all so much for buying the book, and I am sorry for the self-promotion. But thanks to you guys, we went from #159,000 yesterday to #243 on Amazon. As you can see above, with the New York Daily News coverage, we are beginning to break into the MSM, because of these numbers.

Lunatics And Liars!

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:44:12 -0800

Do you like making funny progressive videos in the comfort of your own home? Do you like to make them go viral? And most importantly, do you like money?

If all three of these answers were a yes, then go to Lunatics And Liars, where you can win up $10,000 in cash and prizes (including a $5K first prize) to mock Republicans in video form and acquire instant Internet fame...

P.S. I will be around these parts quite often in the near future folks. I am a bit embarassed by not having shown my face here since Sean-Paul made the big announcement of my joining the illustrious Agonist team. My excuse: I'm in the middle of edits on my first book, due out this May, called The Real McCain. Wanna guess what it's about?

New McCain and Obama Parody Videos

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 08:39:00 -0800

Great stuff. First "Politics As Usual" and then "The Politics Of Hope":

More after the jump

God's Profits

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 09:44:43 -0800

A fantastic new book by my good friend Sarah Posner, that explains the "Prosperity Gospel," or right-wing preachers ditching the traditional concern for the poor among religious folk for talk of getting rich by being in good with the G-Man.

It is fascinating stuff, and will illuminate a lot of what you're probably already thinking about these hucksters.

Alternet has an excerpt up if you want to check it out.