I wanted to make sure that you all saw the latest action alert from Media Matters for America.

As most of you know, during a discussion Tuesday night on MSNBC Live with Dan Abrams about Sen. Larry Craig's (R-ID) arrest for "lewd conduct" and eventual guilty plea, Tucker Carlson described to fellow MSNBC hosts Dan Abrams and Joe Scarborough his assault on a man who he said "bothered" him in a Washington, D.C., public restroom.

There's more...

Crossposted at Progressive American Patriot

Conservatives have been extremely good at using deceptive talking points to redefine Ann Coulter's homophobia, Don Imus' sexism and racism, and John McCain's warmongering gaffes into a debate over liberal overreactions, hip hop, and whether Congress is surrendering to the terrorists. Progressives must shift the debate back to reality if they hope to bring the troops home and select a progressive president from a diverse field of Democrats. The Republican party has some explaining to do for its support of bigots and the warmongers.

There's more...

The excerpt below is posted with the full knowledge and permission, even encouragement, of the author, who wants his essays to be read by as many people as possible.

From The Hill's Pundits Blog

Imus, Virginia Tech, Iraq, Pollution: Let's End The War Against Our Kids

Brent Budowsky

All across America today, while we mourn together the tragic loss in Virginia, nuts are buying guns, candidates are bragging they kill bunnies with semiautomatic weapons, and politicians tremble with fear of gun lobbies.

And more young Americans die.

MORE MORE MORE

There's more...

Looking back at the exchange of ideas that started with this story and now continues with this one, I'd like to further engage in the discussion of the Don Imus saga, specifically as it relates to the free-speech issues so important in today's society. To that end, I'd also like to dive into the issues Matt, a journalism graduate school friend, brought up in his latest comments.

There's more...

In response to something I wrote about the Don Imus saga Friday, Matt, a journalism graduate school friend of mine, replied and made his case quite succinctly. Another friend, Karl, weighed in, as did I. With our back-and-forth in mind, I'd like to add some detail to my point-of-view. If I may make so bold, Matt's entire argument can be summarized in his own words: "By calling for (and ultimately causing) the firing of Don Imus, it sets a bad precedent for free speech." I disagree, and, though I am as firm a defender of free speech as he, I would like to take this argument in a different direction, speaking to both the issues of our freedoms and the role of the people-powered movement in the debate.

There's more...