Posts by Amanda Terkel

Amanda Terkel is Deputy Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Deputy Editor for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.

America Can't Wait for Bush to Leave
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on December 28, 2008 at 4:32 AM.

A new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll finds that 75 percent of Americans are glad President Bush is leaving office; just 23 percent indicated that they will miss him. CNN notes that when Clinton left office, more Americans -- 45 percent -- said they would miss him. Twenty-eight percent also believe that Bush is the worst president ever.

RNC Chair Candidate Distributes 'Barack the Magic Negro' as His Christmas Greeting
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on December 27, 2008 at 7:26 AM.

Last year, Rush Limbaugh came under intense criticism for repeatedly airing a parody song called "Barack the Magic Negro" by conservative satirist Paul Shanklin. The song, which dealt with Obama's popularity amongst white voters, was widely attacked as being racist. Doing an Al Sharpton impersonation, Shanklin sings the song to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon." Limbaugh, however, tried to defend it as "creative" and "funny." Listen to the song here:

The Hill reports that for his Christmas greeting this year, RNC chair candidate Chip Saltsman sent out a CD of the "Barack the Magic Negro" song. Saltsman's Christmas message:

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Dick Cheney Still Loves Gitmo, Thinks Obama Will Appreciate Expansion of Powers
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on December 16, 2008 at 5:02 AM.

Yesterday, Vice President Cheney continued the Bush administration's legacy tour by appearing on Rush Limbaugh's radio show. Limbaugh's hard-hitting questions included, "What are you most proud of?" and praise such as, "Over the years when I've spoken to you, you have purposely avoided any partisanship, because I know that this has been a policy of the administration.

At one point, Limbaugh mocked President-elect Obama's promise to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Cheney agreed and defended Guantanamo, saying that it has been "very well run":

CHENEY: I think so. I think Guantanamo has been very well run. I think if you look at it from the perspective of the requirements we had, once you go out and capture a bunch of terrorists, as we did in Afghanistan and elsewhere, then you've got to have some place to put them. If you bring them here to the U.S. and put them in our local court system, then they are entitled to all kinds of rights that we extend only to American citizens. [...]

So Guantanamo has been very, very valuable. And I think they'll discover that trying to close it is a very hard proposition.

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Colin Powell Slams Palin and the Republican Party
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on December 13, 2008 at 5:03 AM.

In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria that will air this weekend, former Secretary of State Colin Powell sharply criticized the Republican party and its "value system," taking particular aim at Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK):

Gov. Palin, to some extent, pushed the party more to the right, and I think she had something of a polarizing effect when she talked about how small town values are good. Well, most of us don't live in small towns. And I was raised in the South Bronx, and there's nothing wrong with my value system from the South Bronx.

And when they came to Virginia and said the southern part of Virginia is good and the northern part of Virginia is bad. The only problem with that is there are more votes in the northern part of Virginia than there are in the southern part of Virginia, so that doesn't work.

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New Unemployment Claims Hit 26-Year High
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on December 11, 2008 at 7:37 AM.

Labor Department reports this morning show new claims for unemployment benefits hit 573,000 last week, the highest level in 26 years. The number of people continuing to claim jobless benefits also "jumped much more than expected, increasing by 338,000 to 4.4 million. Economists expected a small increase to 4.1 million. … The increase in continuing claims was the largest jump since November 1974."

All 50 Senate Dems Call on Blagojevich to Step Down
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on December 11, 2008 at 5:23 AM.

Huffington Post's Sam Stein reports that all 50 members of the Democratic Senate caucus have signed Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) letter calling on Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) to "step down from his post and refrain from appointing anyone to the vacated Illinois Senate seat." The signatories include Vice President-elect Joe Biden and Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton. President-elect Barack Obama has also called on Blagojevich to step down.

Rove Planning to 'Name Names' of Bush Haters in His New Book
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on December 8, 2008 at 11:49 AM.

Karl Rove is reportedly one of the key architects overseeing the "Bush legacy project," predicting that the President will be remembered as a "far-sighted leader." In a new interview with Cox News, Rove rails against all the people in America who never "accepted the legitimacy of George W. Bush," saying that he plans to call them out in his new book:

Rove sees a presidency clouded by the way it began.

"There were people who never accepted the legitimacy of George W. Bush and acted accordingly," he said. [...]

Also reserved for between the covers of Rove's book is his checklist of the "great many of the political actors in this town (who) never accepted him as a legitimate president."

"I've got behind-the-scenes episodes that are going to show how unreceiving they were of this man as president of the United States," Rove said, adding: "I'm going to name names and show examples."

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Obama Taps Shinseki to Head a 21st Century VA
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on December 8, 2008 at 4:06 AM.

Today, President-elect Barack Obama announced that Gen. Eric Shinseki will become his Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary. The nomination of the first Asian-American to the post -- Shinseki, a Japanese-American, grew up in Hawaii -- carries extra poignancy, coming on the 67th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks. Watch it:

Shinseki is most famous for publicly contradicting Bush administration officials' overly optimistic predictions about the war in Iraq. In 2003, then serving as the Army's chief of staff, he told Congress that it would take several hundred thousand U.S. troops to secure Iraq.

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Online Journalists Now Most Jailed Worldwide
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on December 4, 2008 at 4:19 PM.

A new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists finds that "more Internet journalists are jailed worldwide today than journalists working in any other medium," reflecting the rising influence of online reporting. Forty-five percent of all jailed media workers -- approximately 56 people -- are bloggers, Web-based reporters, or online editors. "Print reporters, editors, and photographers make up the next largest professional category, with 53 cases in 2008. Television and radio journalists and documentary filmmakers constitute the rest." (HT: Huffington Post)

CNN Ordered by Judge to Rehire Workers Fired for Being Union Members
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on November 25, 2008 at 9:11 AM.

In a decision made public yesterday, a judge has ordered CNN "to rehire 110 workers who were fired because they were union members. CNN also was ordered to recognize the workers' unions, National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-CWA (NABET-CWA) locals 31 and 11." From the AFL-CIO blog:

Judge Arthur Amchan found that CNN violated the rights of more than 250 employees at the network's bureaus in Washington, D.C., and New York City when it ended its subcontract with Team Video Services (TVS) [in 2003-2004], whose employees were represented by NABET-CWA. He also ruled that CNN discriminated against TVS employees who wanted to continue working at CNN's bureaus to avoid having to recognize and bargain with the union.

Ed McEwan, president of Local 11, responded, "Everyone in America should know that the network management we rely on to bring us the news are not above the illegal practices that they headline on a regular basis."

Senate Gives Convicted Felon a Standing Ovation
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on November 20, 2008 at 11:32 AM.

Today, Ted Stevens -- Alaska's defeated Republican senator and a convicted felon -- was granted time on the Senate floor to deliver his farewell speech. Steven's said that he still can’t believe that he’s "privileged to speak on the floor of the United States Senate." He also added that he "doesn’t have a rear-view mirror. I look only forward, and I still see the day when I can remove the cloud that currently surrounds me."

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) then took the floor and said farewell to his "distinguished colleague." Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had previously called for Stevens’s resignation, recalled the longest-serving Republican's "extraordinary accomplishments." Watch it:

Matt Yglesias writes: "I cannot believe that (a) Ted Stevens got a standing ovation from his fellow senators, and (b) Harry Reid is now delivering an ode to him. I mean, the man’s a criminal. Senatorial courtesy is a really bizarre institution."

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Thousands Rally Nationwide for Marriage Equality
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on November 16, 2008 at 1:28 PM.

LGBT rights advocates, organized by Join the Impact, turned out in eight countries, 50 states, and 300 cities yesterday in support of marriage equality, with thousands gathering across California to specifically protest the recent passage of Prop. 8. Signs read "Are you better off now that I can’t marry?" and "The same Bible was used to justify slavery," referencing the ban’s heavy support from the Mormon church. Some pictures from today’s events:

Currently, just Massachusetts and Connecticut allow same-sex marriage; all 30 states that have voted on gay marriage have enacted bans. More photos from SFist, Pam’s House Blend, and Good As You.

McCain Adviser Admits America Is Center-Left
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on November 16, 2008 at 12:25 PM.

As ThinkProgress has chronicled, conservative pundits and even some traditional journalists continue to insist that America remains a center-right nation. Today in a Washington Post op-ed, Hoover Institution fellow and former informal adviser to the McCain campaign Tod Lindberg rebuts this myth:

Here’s the stark reality: It is now harder for the Republican presidential candidate to get to 50.1 percent than for the Democrat. My Hoover Institution colleague David Brady and Douglas Rivers of the research firm YouGovPolimetrix have been analyzing data from online interviews with 12,000 people in both 2004 and 2008. It shows an overall shift to the Democrats of six percentage points. As they write in the forthcoming edition of Policy Review, “The decline of Republican strength occurs by having strong Republicans become weak Republicans, weak Republicans becoming independents, and independents leaning more Democratic or even becoming Democrats.” This is a portrait of an electorate moving from center-right to center-left.

Lindberg acknowledges that “the percentage of voters describing themselves as ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ has held relatively constant over many election cycles.” However, he notes that “the views behind those labels” have shifted to be more liberal.

Leahy First Democratic Senator to Go On Record Against Lieberman
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on November 14, 2008 at 12:19 PM.

Since the election, Senate Democrats have been reluctant to punish Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) for the ad hominem attacks he levied at Barack Obama while supporting Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in the election. While a few senators have said that they'd like to see Lieberman apologize, most have said that they'd like him to continue caucusing with Democrats.

Today, Daily Kos diarist terjeanderson caught an interview on Vermont Public Radio with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), during which the senator broke from the pack and said that Lieberman deserved to lose his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee:

I'm one who does not feel that somebody should be rewarded with a major chairmanship after doing what he did. ... I felt that some of the attacks that he was involved in against Sen. Obama, whom I did support -- I was one of the first in the Congress to support him -- I thought they went way beyond the pale. I thought that they were not fair. I thought they were not legitimate. I thought that they perpetuated some of these horrible myths that were being run about Sen. Obama.

I would feel that, had I done something similar, I would not be chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the next Congress.

Listen here:

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Gore Not Interested in 'Climate Czar' Post
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on November 13, 2008 at 9:19 AM.

In recent weeks, there has been increased talk of possibly creating a White House "climate czar" position in the Obama administration, which would "oversee various government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department, to focus on tackling global warming and fostering clean energy to jump-start the flagging economy." While many of these reports have mentioned Al Gore as a possible candidate, the vice president has indicated that he isn't interested:

"Former Vice President Gore does not intend to seek or accept any formal position in government," Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider said. "He feels very strong right now that the best thing for him to do is to build support for the bold changes that we have to make to solve the climate crisis."