HBO's Real Time host Bill Maher says America's republican leaders are immature children compared to the adults leading England's Conservative Party

Bill Maher, HBO's Real Time, host just published a great piece about the absurdity of republican leadership in America, as compared to the leaders of the England's Conservative Party:

"New Rule: The Republican leadership in America must produce their birth certificates! Not because I doubt they're Americans, I just want to make sure they're not eight-years-old. I mention this because a major talking point on Fox News and hate radio these days is that, after a year and a half of Obama, it's time to bring the "adults" back into power, so they can rein in our deficit, defeat terrorism, and focus on America's real enemy: cleaning ladies in Arizona.

But I must protest the premise, because conservatives are the ones who tend to believe in magical ideas, like: America is never wrong; you can defeat terrorism militarily; and lower taxes will somehow fix the deficit. And I'm not even mentioning the stuff about how Jesus used to fly around on a pterodactyl and just hated it when homos ate wedding cake.

Now, am I saying there are no adults in today's Republican Party? Absolutely not, there are -- but like a lot of parents today, the adults let their kids cow them. And silence them. And rule over them. Rush Limbaugh is a child, a primal scream of a man, but he gets his way because he's the fat bully on the playground; and Glenn Beck is the weepy kid who's always crying because he's insane and you don't know what he's going to do and who he's going to take with him.

For example: to solve our debt crisis, a bunch of Republican senators suggested a bipartisan debt commission, which is the adult thing to do. But when Obama agreed to it, immediately seven of them said no -- now they're against it. Because Obama has cooties. Democrats have cooties, so you can't vote with them, or work with them, and compromise is treason.

Compare this to England, where they just had an election two weeks ago and, power changed hands -- but the party that lost is working WITH the part that won -- they are not accusing them of being Bolshevik Zulus out to destroy the Magna Carta. Because the English are grown ups, including their conservatives who enjoy a wonderful luxury that conservatives on this side of the pond do not. They're allowed to be sane. They don't have to pander to creationists and anti-intellectuals. Only in this dumb country do liberals and conservatives argue over things like "evolution" and "climate change" and whether "sick people should be left to die in the street."

The conservative who won in England, David Cameron, was asked if he's religious, and he said, "I don't feel I have a direct line." That's right, he distanced himself from God. If Obama did that we wouldn't see him again until neighbors called the cops about the smell. Conservatives in England don't care about the 3 Gs -- God, guns and gays -- that tilt so many elections in America. And they don't get their policy ideas from TV shows, like 24. You never hear a Brit say, "I'm for torture because it worked on The Avengers."

The Washington Post said David Cameron won by running as a sort of "anti-Sarah Palin." Let those words settle in: "anti-Sarah Palin." They feel so good coming out of my mouth it's like I bit into a refreshing burst of civilization.

Finally, one hallmark of not being adult is a tendency to exaggerate. Like this week when Newt Gingrich said "the Obama administration represents as great a threat to America as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union once did." Which is basically saying Obama is a billion times worse than any president ever! No, he's infinity times worse!

And it made me think: were we this deranged when Bush was in office? I don't think so -- and Bush merited it: We once did a sketch on this show where we sold George Bush fuck-up collector plates, which included: starting and mismanaging the Iraq War, not catching Bin Laden, Katrina, Abu Ghraib, transforming a budgetary surplus into a giant debt, not doing anything about global warming, sitting on his ass on 9/11, outing Valerie Plame, firing federal prosecutors for political reasons, nominating Harriet Miers, Terri Schiavo, trying to sell the ports to the Arabs...I mean, giant, tangible horrific fuckups that Obama could never equal.

Although with the way he's solving this oil spill, he's off to a good start."

MSNBC anchor: Glenn Beck and Goldline are ’snake oil salesmen and scumbags’

Glenn Beck is under fire for his connection to a precious metals seller that is ripping off American people, according to critics.

In a report released Wednesday, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) called for an investigation into Goldline's alliance with conservative personalities. Weiner claims that Goldline sells gold coins for 90 percent over melt value and some radio and television hosts are aiding in the scam.

Highlighted in Weiner's report are names such as Glenn Beck, Fred Thompson, Dennis Miller, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, Lars Larson, Michael Smerconish, Monica Crowley and Mike Huckabee. All are on the Goldline's payroll.

Weiner complained that Goldline had formed "an unholy alliance" with conservative commentators who suggest gold as "the only safe investment alternative for consumers who want to safeguard their livelihoods."

“Goldline sponsors talk shows during which the hosts praise investment in gold. When the show then cuts to commercial break, viewers are treated to an advertisement from Goldline," Weiner's report said.

Beck recommends Goldline but advises viewers to pray for guidance on which company to trust.

“Call Goldline, study it out, pray on it. If it's right thing for you, then do it…. Find the people that you trust. The people I trust are the people at Goldline," Beck said in one advertisment.

Beck likened Weiner's report to McCarthy-style tactics. "This is, again, another arm of this administration coming out to try to shut me down. Any sponsor that stays with me now they're targeting through -- you want to talk about the McCarthy era, look at what this country is becoming!" exclaimed Beck on his radio show.

MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan ripped Beck Wednesday for his support of the company. "Glenn Beck and Goldline are largely snake oil salesmen and scumbags trying to create money for themselves at the expensive everybody in this country," warned Ratigan.

Watch MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan on Glenn Beck and Goldline here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J_YzqYHWDA

Enjoy Kanye's Gold Digger while you read this story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REYOJDANQ0k

Fox News legal analyst believes that a controversial new Arizona anti-illegal immigration law will result in racial profiling by police

Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano believes that a controversial Arizona anti-illegal immigration law could be tied up in court for years. 

The Judge told Fox News host Gregg Jarrett that he expects a federal court to enjoin a law that requires people to prove their residency if stopped by police.

Several civil rights groups filed suit against the Arizona law Monday morning. They allege that the law encourages racial profiling, and endangers public safety and betrays American values.

They include the American Civil Liberties Union, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, National Immigration Law Center, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Day Laborer Organizing Network and Asian Pacific American Legal Center. Theirs will be the fifth lawsuit challenging the law, which is scheduled to go into effect July 29.

After a huge outcry with the Arizona anti-illegal immigration law’s passage, it was modified in an attempt to prevent racial profiling. "A law enforcement official... may NOT solely consider race, color, or national origin. A person is presumed NOT to be an alien who is unlawfully present", the new  language reads.

Napolitano says this language will not be enough to prevent racial profiling. "You know how police can find a pretext to stop someone," Napolitano told Jarrett.

“They may really believe that the person is an illegal immigrant who doesn't belong here. They have to find some way to have the lawful contact so they can so they can get to the illegal immigrant," explained Napolitano.

It could be as simple as "I looked at him and he looked the other way," according to the Fox legal analyst.

"The basis for a lawful contact, the threshold is so low and so easy to achieve. That's the fear," said Napolitano.

"Will all cops do that? No. Will some cops do that? Probably," he suggested.

Based on that, Napolitano believes a court will at least temporarily block the law. "I think a federal court will enjoin it -- stop it from being enforced and then litigate the issue," he said.

"It could take years," Napolitano and Jarrett both agreed.

Republicans who voted for TARP are faced with a serious dilemma; the Wall Street bailouts worked, but tea baggers hate them

Republicans are faced with a serious political dilemma in the upcoming 2010 elections; almost all of them voted for TARP and supported some of the other bailouts in response to during former President Bush’s financial crisis. The good news is that the bailouts worked, preventing a deeper economic catastrophe. The bad news is those bailouts are now considered political poison by the tea bagger party base.

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), who's retiring at the end of the year and is therefore unencumbered by the need to defend himself from the GOP base, has nothing to run away from.

"It was extremely effective," Gregg told me. "Not only was it effective and stabilized the financial industry, it also returned to the taxpayers almost $20 billion in interest and dividends that they would have otherwise not have."

Compare that to John McCain, who will face a primary of his own this summer. He says he and the rest of the country were lied to.

Who lied, exactly?

"The former administration," McCain said. "Paulson and all of them, whoever else was in charge. Primarily it was Paulson."

Of course, by late September 2008, everyone was calling the TARP legislation "the bailout bill" and McCain himself referred to it as a "financial rescue."

Other Republicans aren't so conspiratorial, though. Regrettable as the circumstances were, bailing out the financial sector was ineluctable--"a necessary evil," according to NRSC Chairman John Cornyn.

"We were all told by Hank Paulson that the financial system would collapse," Cornyn said. "What I'm so upset about is that the previous administration used the TARP for purposes never contemplated by Congress."

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) had a similar take. The bill was necessary, and indeed effective, but the executive branch abused it and we'd all be better off if the entire episode--from the collapse of the economy to the ensuing political fallout--had never happened.

"I can explain it," Alexander said. "I wish we didn't have to deal with it."

After primary voters in Utah ousted Sen. Bob Bennett this past weekend, the republican Senator says he'd do it all over again, even if he knew it would cost him his career. He just wishes he got more of a fair shake.

"There was a widespread misinterpretation, because I voted for the first tranche of TARP, the assumption was that I voted for the second tranche of TARP and the stimulus package and the auto bailout and the omnibus bill, none of which was true," Bennett told me. "They put it all together with a lot of help and encouragement from the Club for Growth."

For that to work, though, Republicans will need their voters to be willing to listen. For the time being, they're not.

"It was not hard at all if I could get the voters to listen," Bennett said. "My challenge was that the delegates chosen at the precinct caucuses would not come to my meetings to give me an opportunity to explain."