prss002048Coming on the heels of the successful debut of our new feature, “Debate Night Live”, we are launching a new live event which will debut this Friday night, “The Weekly Planet”.

It will begin here at The Planet at 7pm PST Friday night. The link can be found under “Live Event” at the top of the page but so it’s handy, here it is (please feel free to Bookmark it): http://planetpov.com/live-events/the-weekly-planet/

The Weekly Planet is a humorous and thoughtful roundtable discussion about the week’s events. Think of it as a live chat version of Real Time with Bill Maher….without the celebrities and with more frequent references to legalizing marijuana. However, if Bill Maher sues, think of it as a totally original concept that is not at all similar to Real Time with Bill Maher in any way.

I will be your host and two of our members will join me as guests. The event should last around 45 minutes so we will be limited as to how many topics we can discuss. We’d like the members to suggest specific topics they would like to see discussed. We’re especially interested in having members be guests on topics  in which they have professional or personal experience or have a strong passion for discussing.

So, please comment below to let us know which of this week’s news stories you’d like to see discussed on The Weekly Planet and if you are interested in being a guest on this week’s chat and available (on this Friday Night at 7pm PST until at least 8 pm PST), please add that in your comment too!

BTW, Debate Night Live will now be on Tuesday nights, more on next week’s debate shortly!

Should be fun, hope to see you here for the debut on Friday night!

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javaz
Member

My husband has a suggestion for a topic –

Which do voters care about – deficits or unemployment?

And if unemployment remains high through 2010, do you think voters will vote out the Democrats and vote for Republicans, even though they should remember that Republicans are the ones who brought us this mess?

javaz
Member

Oh, I just do not know where to put this, and apologize if this is off topic, but this article steams the bejeebers out of me.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/19/806106/-Palin-holding-anti-Obama-rallies-on-military-bases

Sister Sarah holding anti-Obama rallies on military bases to sell her freaking book just – well – I try so hard not to swear, but this story makes me want to swear like a truck driver.

And the officials at the military bases are not allowing any media.
WTF?

HITO
Member
HITO

Good evening Javaz.

Not much about this out there, yet. Wait for RM and KO to run with it.

I am outraged. Just like the kos’ survey indicated, would they let Michael Moore on those bases for his next book signing?

Here’s the one other link I found:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/19/politics/main5712824.shtml

See you later, I’m supposed to be doing college apps with my daughter, and you can tell I keep pushing it off. Sigh

nellie
Member

I’d like to know who made the decision to let her do that. I’d also like to know who makes the decision to let Rush Limbaugh (it’s nice to be able to type out his actual name) broadcast over Armed Forces Radio. I think both are seditious.

I understand certain segments of the military have practically been taken over by Christian fundamentalists.

bito
Member

From my understanding Rush was put on by a congressional resolution years ago. Same with Ed Schultz. May be a something to look into. This chit on S’arah is just that,CHIT.Worth an email to Rachel/ KO shows.

Pepe Lepew
Member

Why is the military allowing her to do that. Are they in cahoots with her somehow?

javaz
Member

Everyone go to the main page, where once again, I could not attach an image, and please, it’s all about race.
My God, I’ve never been so angry.

BigDogMom
Member
BigDogMom

Morning everyone, I would like to see some discussions on the following topics:

1.) Starting a grassroots movement to demand ‘fair and balanced’ coverage from MSM. There is so much that is not being reported on in our news today and what is reported is lop sided, to say the least. How do we get back to ‘Walter Cronkite’ type of news reporting?

2.) Exposing Christian Fundamentalism in our Govt, Corporations and American belief systems and how do we change this? nellie touched on two key phrases, ‘Personal Responsibility’ and ‘Political Correctness” that the GOP has manipulated to their advantage. Are there others?

3.) How can we as citizen’s change the atmosphere of this stand off between the GOP and Dems in the Senate. Can we influence our representatives? Can we expose the Party of No?

Talking about these are all fine and good, but what I would like to know, can we change things as citizens? I guess I’m just getting frustrated with all this BS….

javaz
Member

Hi BDM!

I like all of your suggestions, but particularly the very first one about accountability in news.

I frequent sites from the UK and Australia, and we are not the only people complaining about the media.
Nearly every single day on these sites there are people asking where can we find the real news without bias?

And people in the UK complain a great deal about the powerful Rupert Murdoch and when Americans chime in, the Brits almost always answer that they tried to warn us about his empire and what it would do to our media, but typical of ‘yanks’ we never listen.

I truly believe that so many of our problems could be resolved if we had genuine journalists that would ask the hard questions, do investigative journalism, and report the real news without bias.

Pepe Lepew
Member

I could go to town on No. 2.
That’s the big bee up my bonnet.

nellie
Member

BDM, media reform is one of the things I’d love to see discussed. Information is the coin of the realm, and in this country, we are going broke! There are a lot of measures I’d like to see addressed by congress, a lot of reforms.

javaz
Member

Campaign finance reform would be my suggested topic for discussion.
And the impact of lobbyists on our officials and the revolving door.

Average Americans do not have a voice in our government other than the voting booth, and even then it’s questionable at times – Bush Jr.’s “election” in 2000 and 2004.

Middle class and poor Americans cannot compete with the big dollars that bribe our elected officials.
Is it any wonder why the wealthy politicians legislate in favor of the wealthy elite?

nellie
Member

I’d like a discussion about how to form a functioning progressive movement in this country — one that doesn’t act like a bunch of spoiled children.

Kalima
Admin

At the moment reading through some of the blogs, that would be a Herculean task with so many disgruntled whiners around.

KQµårk 死神
Member

What pitchforks and torches aren’t the way to promote progressive policies?

Kalima
Admin

For the Repugs maybe but you know that they “are clinging to their guns and Bibles” so they would need another pair of hands attached for the pitchforks and torches.

nellie
Member

If they were, we’d be on our way to nirvana!

javaz
Member

President Obama stated during his inauguration that not everyone would agree with his decisions and that he was open to criticism and discussion.

I understand when you say ‘spoiled’ children, but not all progressives are whining over certain pieces of legislation, but questioning the reasons.
That’s an important difference between the Democrats and Republicans, is that Democrats and Liberals can and do disagree on the issues, unlike the Republicans that follow the party line of “with us or against us.”

Just because some progressives disagree with President Obama and certain policies, and some, myself included, are angered by some decisions, doesn’t mean that all of us have lost faith in President Obama’s promise of hope and change.

There are some leaders in the Democratic Party that need to be ousted from their positions and there is not a thing wrong with progressives venting their anger.

Americans are angry and it’s not just the teabaggers.
We see the unfairness of bailing out Wall Street vs Main Street and protecting the wealthy instead of the middle class and poor.

Not everyone who disagrees with President Obama is a spoiled child and thank goodness we have a president that understands that.

Kalima
Admin

You are right javaz, this is exactly what he said, did people conveniently forget his words, become too involved in personal agendas or just forget the grass root promises to this man who doesn’t walk on water, can not change water into wine or even raise the dead, where are we now, the believers in change who abandoned ship after our first disagreement with the man we promised to help accomplish the change, where are they now?

America more than any country, except maybe the fall of communism in eastern Europe, finalizing 20 years ago with the downing of the Berlin wall, should have had to be made to feel despair at missed opportunities to get involved in your President’s hope for a better future because for some reason, your picture is blurred.

You elected the man, I see no excuse to start to criticize him a few months into his presidency, I expect it from the RW, but never from his own party but I read it with my own eyes.

Criticism is good, believing only in your own agenda is not. We share this planet with billions, all have a voice, some will never know it, I believe the time of just thinking about ourselves is over, The world is shrinking, kiss a stranger, it might make you feel good.

nellie
Member

When I say “spoiled children” I’m not talking about disagreement. Who could expect total agreement with anyone’s full agenda? That would be unrealistic. And undesirable.

When I say spoiled children, I mean the whining that Obama is not the man he said he was, that he’s Bush Light, that he’s a fraud, he doesn’t know what he’s doing, “I won’t vote for him again.” That kind of pouting is political petulance, and nothing more.

If progressives can’t learn how the system works, can’t learn patience, can’t learn how to lobby instead of pout — and I would also add, pay attention to what a candidate says when he’s campaigning — then we are going to lose opportunity after opportunity to get things accomplished.

I’m not asking for lockstep. I’m an independent. I’m not lockstep with any party. But I try to understand how the system works and I try to keep my expectations realistic. And I’m willing to get in there and work for what I want when it looks like things are going awry. Ten months and people are complaining that the world isn’t repaired.

Not to mention the stunningly long list of things this administration has achieved in this very short amount of time. It seems that too many progressives are all too ready to overlook those improvements because they have an anger agenda. That’s the kind of thing I’m talking about.

kesmarn
Admin

Well said, nellie.

javaz
Member

I have seen such things on HP, and that’s another reason I rarely go there.

I do not believe that most who post such nonsense ever voted for Obama to begin with, or if they did, they did so because he was the popular candidate.
They did not listen to him during his campaign or in the debates.
I do believe there’s been reports published of how people vote, and some people vote for who they perceive to be the winner.
That’s part of the game during elections and the constant poll numbers.

Also, there are those who say they will not vote for Obama again because he has not acted quickly enough to resolve their ideals, such as DADT, health care reform and single payer, climate change, etc.
I believe these people are simply venting their anger, because we’ve become the “I want it all and I want it now” society.

I see nothing wrong with people expressing their anger on the Internet or writing letters to their reps or even in protesting, as long as the protests are non-violent.

I think it’s wonderful that so many people are so passionate about politics.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and the more noise made by we the people, the better chance of our politicians in Washington hearing us.

escribacat
Member

Hi Nellie, I could not agree with you more on this! The “disgruntled left” calling Obama a liar and a sell-out aggravates me far more than the rightwing drones who repeat tweets from Beck. My favorite is that Obama is a “colluding criminal,” because he hasn’t arrested the previous administration. These are also the people who go into pitchfork mode with every incendiary headline that HP can come up with — just like Pavlov’s dogs. And these are also the same folks who will allow another Republican to get back into office in the future.

I also agree that it has something to do with impatience and immaturity. If they don’t get exactly what they want right away, then they’re done. They don’t want to play any more and apparently don’t care if a Republican gets back in. Wild expectations is also a factor — the fact that Obama got elected seemed like such a miracle, that many expected a miraculous transformation in our whole system of government.

Unfortunately, I don’t know what the solution is, especially when you’ve got sites like HP taking advantage of this human foible to generate more hysteria, and hence more traffic.

nellie
Member

And then there are people like Ed Schultz, who has the nerve to call the president “gutless” along with a lot of other choice slurs because of all the public option hype. Schultz really went off on Barack’s character during one segment, and I wrote him an email saying he seemed to expect the president to go off on an angry rant about the public option, and that this was not possible for the president to do — being in the position he’s in and trying work constructively behind the scenes to get this thing passed.

He answered my email from his cell phone in five words:

“FUCK YOU!!! I’m not playing.”

Tell me that’s a mature attitude.

javaz
Member

Oh my gosh, Nellie, that is just an unacceptable response from a supposed Liberal or Democrat show host.

I miss out on a lot of things because we do not have cable or satellite television.
The only way I follow certain shows is because of the Internet and the things posted.
I also cannot click on youtube or any sort of links like that to watch something or listen to something because we have dial-up.

I do know Ed Schultz from Air America being aired on the radio a few years ago.
It’s no longer on in the Phoenix area that I am aware of, but I also wrote Ed back then.
He went off on our then Governor Janet Napolitano and the response in Phoenix for the arrival of New Orleans people due to Katrina.
He was so wrong about the things he said against Napolitano and attacked her unfairly, and I emailed him and let him know.
I never got a reply via email, but he did read my email on the air and made some excuse about not knowing the facts and how was he supposed to know.

I am so sorry that he replied to you that way.
You are absolutely correct in finding him immature and just plain rude.

It’s very sad that not even Liberals can discuss or debate things without that type of behavior.

He always reminded me of Rush Limbaugh, and now after reading this, well . . .

nellie
Member

Thanks, javaz. I really appreciate your comment. And I do understand what you mean about speaking out. I always say that my favorite interview ever w Obama was done by Rachel Maddow — and she really grilled him. It was tough. But it was respectful.

escribacat
Member

Rachel Maddow has class and smarts.

javaz
Member

I love Rachel Maddow.
We were able to watch her show and Keith Olberman (?) when we dog-sat for neighbors across the street and they have satellite.
(they are Republicans and are not readers, yet they have 2 books by Beck on their coffee table!)
I’ve also tuned into Meet the Press when Rachel is on.
I just love her and if we could afford to buy cable or satellite, well, she’d be the only reason.

escribacat
Member

Wow. What a jerk. I don’t watch him much — this is a good reason to stop altogether.

bito
Member

Ed is beginning to be a great deal like HP, IMO. He hit the big time and he likes it there. Gotta make that controversy to get the listeners to get the money. I liked him so much more when he just came out of N.Dakota.
He shows his ignorance on how the “sausage” is made.

Pepe Lepew
Member

Yeah, since when do you get everything you want… from politics…?
Some people live in a little fantasy world … and I think some people saying those things are plants just meant to discourage our side and hurt morale.

bito
Member

Pepe, do you think that it may be just ignorance on how legislation is passed? That their first foray into politics was the Obama election? That is why I picked this inane screen name for HP. I thought I could add a little knowledge of history and Civics101. Man was I fooled.

Pepe Lepew
Member

Yeah, it could be a lot of people who’ve never been politically engaged much until now.

Pepe Lepew
Member

Yeah, that whining like spoiled children was going on pretty hot and heavy on HP today…
I don’t get it. Since WHEN have people gotten everything they want — everything — from politicians? It just doesn’t work that way. I knew in November Obama wasn’t going to be able to accomplish everything he campaigned on … and I’m not that smart.

javaz
Member

You’re very intelligent, Pepe, don’t sell yourself short.

Obama said it during the campaign and he said it during his inauguration about the problems we face are many and he warned all of us that he could not solve the problems in a matter of months, or even in one term.

I guess people weren’t listening.

KQµårk 死神
Member

I’d like to hear some discussion about the upcoming KSM trial, the evidence the Feds have and especially what people think about the death penalty in a case like his. I don’t know why progressives and liberals seldom talk about the death penalty anymore.

kesmarn
Admin

The death penalty could make for an interesting discussion. I’m very much “anti”–a position I would assume many libs/progressives still hold– although, as you said, we don’t hear much about it these days. I am all too familiar with where the pro-life party stands, unfortunately.

Love that ‘edit’ feature because I can add a good night to all, as I wrap up another day.

Kalima
Admin

Oops, must have missed you when I popped out to feed the cats but good night anyway. Take care.

nellie
Member

Good night, kesmarn!

escribacat
Member

Hello Adlib,
I’m interested in the US relations with China and the notion that we are now “owned” by them, threatened by them, overwhelmed by them. Or, are we just jealous they’re having their day now (if that is true). Specifically, I’ve heard a lot of liberals say we should boycott Chinese goods and I wonder if there isn’t a bit of racism involved in that sentiment. I know very little about the subject and would be interested in knowing more.

Kalima
Admin

Boycotting Chinese goods has to do with the poor quality of them and the often the dangerous materials/poisons used in their manufacturing process, racism is not factor at all.

Kalima
Admin

Come on now folks place your bets,er sorry, your questions and suggestions here. It should prove to be a lot of fun.

kesmarn
Admin

Well, Kalima, there’s always our old favorite: Sarah Palin 2012. Threat or joke?

Kalima
Admin

Yes, we will always have Sarah. ” Just remember this, a joke is just a poke, a miss is not a kiss…………………….”

After just seeing part of her interview with Barbara WaWa, I would have to go with joke. The words didn’t match the eyes, she is full of the brown stuff. Many people are beginning to call her book a web of lies, I believe them.

kesmarn
Admin

As time goes by….

More and more people will wise up to the Twunt (as one HP poster called her)!

Kalima
Admin

Well her book is out now, so there will be witnesses to her blurry accounts of events and as each one disputes her or calls her out for lying, she will sink in deeper than just the tops of her silly waders.

Twunt eh, that’s inventive enough for the HP word filter not to catch but I object strongly to the word the poster was trying to disguise.