is just about as ridiculous as saying that George Soros "brought about the Holocaust." Here's why the latter is that much more awful...

I want to piggyback on Andrew's post (and disagree with one of SDF's comments): I think the right has been incredibly successful at demonizing Soros. The pundits need only to refer to something as "Soros-funded"--no other evidence is needed--and people buy it, as if the group receiving money is automatically the spawn of the devil. Even lefties don't have much to say in response to this label; we usually just get defensive, which makes us look guilty and ashamed. So it's very effective. The right gets away with it because most people (again, lefties included--that's why we get defensive) don't know anything about the dude, except that he gave millions to groups trying to defeat Bush in '04.

Now, Soros is constantly labeled both a fascist and a communist (come on now, which one is it?). So what makes that and the Holocaust comment from the lovely Michael Savage so hilarious, ironic, and repugnant is this: Soros escaped both Nazi and Soviet control in his homeland of Hungary and then went on to become a quintessential capitalist! And then he spent his billions funding small-d democratic movements in the USSR, to the tune of about 3 million dollars a year. Check this shit out. Read the whole thing. There's some weird stuff that I don't really understand about currency speculation, so he's no perfect saint, but it's almost unbelievable how much they've slandered this guy given his background.

On top of all that, Soros' Open Society Institute funds a ton of very well-regarded and important public health, pro-democracy, economic development, and human rights programs worldwide. These are issues that have bipartisan support, though, honestly, I've always wondered where the pro-democracy and human rights groups are on the right...Anyone?

Oh, and p.s., how could he have brought about the Holocaust if he was a mere pre-teen at the time?

Point is, even though he doesn't give as much to lefty groups as the right thinks he does, we have no need to be ashamed of having him as a donor. Au contraire. I'm glad a small fraction of my Campus Progress paycheck comes from Soros. I've said for months that I want to get a button made to pin on my shirt that reads, "Soros-funded."

Also, here's some great commentary by our own August J. Pollak on this issue.

For those of you who couldn't make it to the Save Darfur Rally on Sunday, Campus Progress would like to share some pictures that we took at the event. We'll let them speak for themselves.

Also, the Washington Post has some excellent coverage of the rally here.   Read More »

I don't fully agree with Todd about this Hilary thing--on top of the fact that it was a clumsy metaphor for the particular circumstances, it had the added effect of being offensive because House Republican scandals are decidedly not nearly as awful as slavery was. Her choice of words came across as exploitative considering her audience. She messed up. I see Todd's "No, I Won't Back Down" advice the same way I see Bush's stubbornness to "Stay the Course." The inability to admit your own errors is always weaker in the long run.

That said, the media is seriously blowing this up. The extensive cable news coverage is muddling the debate (as usual), and the right is taking advantage. Conservatives' references to "Democratic Plantations" are making the rounds on the blogs right now, and they're pretty amusing/nauseating. Doubt the media will jump on that one. They play to the controversy, not the merits and facts of arguments themselves.

A few pertinent questions (according to me):

1. Has anyone asked any African-Americans, especially those to whom Clinton spoke in the church that day, if they're offended by her language? Seems so far on the news like it's a lot of right-wing outrage on behalf of the black community, and this often smacks of insincerety.

2. Can we come up with a more apt metaphor than "plantations" to describe the insidious activities of the Republican-controlled House? I'm not so creative with things like this, but there must be some better ones out there. Let's give Hilary a hand. Brainstorm below.

I just noticed this as I was looking back through Senator Cornyn's statement from Day 1 of the Alito hearings:

When I was attorney general, I argued a case -- helped argue a case called -- Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe. The school district in that case had the temerity to permit student-led, student-initiated prayer before football games. And, of course, someone sued. I repeat, this was student-led, student-initiated, voluntary prayer. The Supreme Court held by a vote of 6-3 that this was unconstitutional…No wonder many in America seem to believe that the court has become one more inclined to protect pornography than to protect religious expression.

Senator Cornyn fails to mention that this lawsuit was filed by two religious families - one Mormon, one Catholic - and that the prayer was done over the PA system in the stadium, which the court considered enough to be in violation of the Establishment clause.

So did I miss something, Senator? I had no idea that students were being forced to watch pornography on the jumbotron before public high school football games. And not just generic, non-sectarian porn. Little Tommy normally enjoys girl-on-girl action, but at his public school, he is subjected to the hetero porn that exemplifies good ol' traditional American values.   Read More »

Campus Progress was up bright and early today to be on the scene for the Alito nomination hearings.

After standing in line outside the Senate office buildings, the Judiciary Committee staff handed out tickets to the hearing that will begin at noon. (They also very kindly reminded us that we won't be allowed to wear shirts or hold signs that make a political statement for or against Alito, but we can wear our totally hip "Alito's America: It's Not Our America" stickers.)

After receiving our tickets, we headed over to the Supreme Court, where dozens of protesters were camped -- mostly pro-choice and pro-life groups, including Planned Parenthood and Rock for Life. Nothin' says "We love Alito" like a groovy pro-life tune at 8 a.m. on Monday.

More to come later today after we sit in on the hearing introductions.

So by now you know about our Alito's America campaign and how important it is that young people speak up about how the Supreme Court affects our everyday lives. (And CNN viewers just joined you in this knowledge - the Alito's America website was just featured this afternoon on The Situation Room!)

With all of Washington gearing up for the start of the confirmation hearings on Monday, we wanted to give you an update on our campaign activities.

Yesterday, we held a press event at our Center for American Progress headquarters in conjunction with fifteen other national youth- and student-oriented organizations to announce our mutual opposition to the Alito nomination. This event was noteworthy because it provided a platform for youth organizations from different constituencies and issue backgrounds to work together - not just to defeat the nomination of Judge Alito but also to build relationships for the future. We know we can make things happen if we stick together.

Click here to watch video from the event!

Be sure to check the events page to see if the campaign is making a stop at your school or one near you, and go here to submit your picture to our photo petition and for tools to conduct a petition on your campus. We're getting some really creative contributions…You want to win that iPod nano, right?

Stay tuned for updates as we send out on-the-ground organizers to schools in key states and get photo submissions from people in line outside on the confirmation hearing on Monday.   Read More »