7.29.2008

Hey, a post!

So Richard Cohen fired one out w/r/t, who else, John McCain. Sick to damn death of his ad hoc bullshit, as I am want to be, I e-mailed the pecker:
You love John McCain. Love love looooove him. Love him with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. Love him like a red, red rose. Love him to death, back to life, from this mortal coil to whatever hereafter floats whatever boat you and him choose to take beyond the seven seas. Love him until all life is extinguished in the explosion of all things, or chilled stiff in the frozen embrace of a universe lost. Love him enough to cover up his blunders, love him enough to cover up his lies, love him enough to cover up whatever awaits him in November. You love him. You're in awe of him. He inspires you, he teaches you, he challenges you. He makes you drool. He gives you hope, reason, the will to fall out of bed in the morning only to get off the floor and make something of yourself because YOU, Richard Cohen- YOU have indeed made something of yourself. And you owe it all to John Sidney McCain III, that giver of life, that prince of decency, of kindness, of freedom, gosh darn it, freedom. Your anaconda don't want none unless it's McCain's buns, hun. And oh, the things you would do for John McCain, the things you would say, the places you'd go. Tallest mountain, deepest ocean, darkest forest, dustiest desert. You'd leap planets, you'd skate black holes, you'd wear, think, eat, say, do whatever for him. You, Richard Cohen, love you some John McCain.

With that being said, it has ceased to be interesting. Get some new material, holmes.
I expect nothing in return.
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Posted at 8:03 PM



7.14.2008

I'm here.

Really. I am.

So as mini-hiatus sunk into true hiatus, was still here. Promise. Promise there's a new idea. But, you know, all the heh-indeedies and PUMA bullshit and friends becoming enemies and enemies becoming worse enemies, tired, tired, sure, but still have that new idea, despite new not so much. But still contextually new, I guess. No more shorters. Sick of it. No more trips to Instadoofus or ClownHall or any of the shitweasels. Opportunities everywhere. Here, mostly. Not there. Fuck there. Still here, just waiting. Maybe tomorrow, probably this week, so.

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Posted at 11:27 PM



5.07.2008

Why I did it

Mini-hiatus, that is, ceasing in the mission of exposing wingnut ridiculousness almost on the hour it seemed...

Why? Simple. Got sick to damn death of it, grew under the sad assumption that no matter how many times I could roast Glenn Reynolds and point out every single thing wrong, to boil essences down to subatomic and post-atomic, to be frank or frank enough about this that and the other epic fail from the right, no matter how many, no matter how much, no matter, that they all live to roll onto the next point, then the next point, then I'm back in their thread basements growing moldy and old.

And so fuck that sideways, let the experts don suits to deal with the right-wing spew. Me, I'd become lost without realization of the scene, without realization of the pose (readily admit that, and yes, look up and down and it's here too), without my shitty great writing. And so here I am, at your doorstep once again, asking for some strange version of forgiveness and saying I'll do better, I'll do better, I'll me and that's that, letting the definitive bullshit play itself out while I'm doing something else in the other room, my room, my blog.

So hi again.

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Posted at 9:30 PM




It's over (but the crying).

There's a reason why I've held off posting for a while...which I'll discuss, natch, later today. But for now, turn your ears to John Cole, who Gets It(TM):
And don't get me wrong- I am not for Obama because of what I am against. I am for Obama because he is a decent man, a break from the past, and really a once in a lifetime opportunity. He has treated us like adults throughout this primary, and it is time to act like adults. There will be times we feel he lets us all down, but we are not electing a diety. We are electing a leader, and Obama is that leader. It is time to get past the bullshit of the last 20 years, the battles I am really tired of fighting, and time to turn our attention to the really important issues of the day- the economy, the budget, our international presence, our crumbling infrastructure, our military, medicare and medicaid and social security, and on and on and on.

If Barack Obama was not your your preferred candidate, I am sorry that person did not win, but it is time to remember that the target is John McCain and the Bush/Cheney way of doing things. If you can not accept that and help move us forward, please at least get out of the way.
Indeedily.

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Posted at 8:43 AM



4.29.2008

Bingo

Greenwald. Read the whole damn thing.

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Posted at 3:53 PM




ATL(TM)

So the AJC has this lovely thread up (and now locked) on the Atlanta Falcons' new era. Par for the course for Falcons threads on the AJC: Various accusations of bigotry, various accusations of thuggitry, everyone holding hands and singing about how much we love hating each other. Oh, and about 1,000 mentions of Michael Vick.

Nothing new there, but here's a post worth noting:
BTW Terrance Moore go F yourself you racist. Next time I see you in Panera in Vinings you will get a earful from me you hate monger!
If any quote were to cover both Atlanta's barely hidden racial tensions and its ubiquitous sprawl, this would be it. Well done, crazy internet person.

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Posted at 1:03 PM




Jonah Goldberg: Great American Thinker

The Pantload pontificates:
If John McCain wore a confederate flag lapel pin, very few of these people would be saying "it's just a lapel pin." Symbolism matters. Symbols stand for something. That's why we call them symbols.
1. 'Scuse me. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NICE writing, Jonah!!!!1

2. Also, NICE argument, Jonah. Obama's flag pin matters because if we create a completely unrelated scenerio that would cause us to get upset, then that's why. Or something. Also, get out of the house more, man- if you think the higher realms of wingnuttery have completely divorced themselves from the Old South, you're in some serious denial. Because you're denying something. That's why we call it denial. (Can I has job now, National Review?)

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Posted at 9:28 AM




Note to InstaDoofus:

In order for you to engage in political humor, we must first start with the assumption that you're not full of shit. Which you are:
But a joke needs some basis in truth to be funny, unless it is aimed at fellow partisans who find any insult of political enemies to be funny. [Reynolds'] belated admission that Gore doesn’t uncritically support corn ethanol undermines the premise of the joke.
Hehindeedy!

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Posted at 8:43 AM



4.28.2008

Bill (Kristol) and Hillary, sittin' in a tree

That Bloody Bill and the various members of the wingnut frog chorus would take to praising Hillary these days isn't surprising; Obama's the frontrunner now, so they're doing all they can to take him down. Just as they went after HRC when it seemed she had the easiest path to Denver. There's something maybe to be said for the shamelessness of their transparency, but mostly: Yawn. Greenwald covers that well enough.

But I just love this line from Kristol's spew:
The fact is Hillary Clinton has turned out to be an impressive candidate. She has consistently defeated Barack Obama when her back was to the wall — first in New Hampshire, then in several big primaries on Super Tuesday, on March 4 in Ohio and Texas, and then last week in Pennsylvania, where she was outspent by almost 3 to 1, yet won handily.
Clinton was the frontrunner as late as Super Tuesday, you dumbshit. Remember? Remember when you and your pals spent the day after praising Obama for heading off frontrunner Hillary's eeeevil charge?

Remember, New York Times: This is your money on display. Well done.

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Posted at 11:27 AM




Shorter Burt Prelutsky

Placing Liberals Under A Microscope
This list of already-debunked right-wing spam e-mail talking points proves just how right I am.
Burt, because I care, I'm going to let you know that the following line:
Well, recently, a friend of mine reminded me that just prior to the 2006 election, consumer confidence was unbelievably high; regular gasoline sold for about $2.25-a-gallon; and the unemployment rate was 4.5%.

Since then, consumer confidence has plummeted; gas now costs about a dollar-and-a-half-a-gallon more; unemployment stands at 5%; American homeowners have seen their home equity drop by over a trillion dollars, with one percent of our homes in foreclosure; and, for good measure, the liberals refuse to eliminate earmarks.
...won't resonate with anyone who wasn't going in wingnut lockstep anyway. Blaming the liberal Congressional majority for economic problems stemming from massive deregulation (not a liberal pet issue) and the Iraq war (continuation of such not a liberal pet issue) is preposterous.

Also, glad to see you care about earmarks. Now.

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Posted at 11:15 AM




Shorter Dinesh D'Souza

What Muslims Really Think
We wouldn't have this problem with radical Islam if the damn atheists would just shut their yappers.
I will give D'Souza credit for breaking with his ClownHall and Corner bretheren by refusing to paint the War On Terra as the latest battle in a never-ending Muslim vs. Evangelical Christian holy war...but he's still full of shit. Just, you know, a different kind of shit.

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Posted at 11:09 AM




Keep digging that hole, Tony

So as I noted, Indiana Republican Tony Zirkle did a bad thing and gave a speech at a Nazi party. Then he did another bad thing and compared the talk to one he gave with...black people. This after he had done yet another bad thing and campaigned for more segregation in America.

He can't keep doing this, right? He'll STFU eventually, right? Welllll....no:
I've been getting a flood of e-mails and phone calls, some of which include death threats, about my attempt to raise awareness of how the great porn dragon inspires Jews into pornography and prostitution and then, like the snake he is, turns the public against the Jews. Some have questioned whether there is any link to Jews and porn-prostitution.
Or between you and complete insanity. Just stop, man.

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Posted at 9:33 AM




Did I do that?

Don Surber has some particularly idiotic ruminations on Obama and the flag pin. Not new, not intriguing. But we've been here before. What actually caught my eye was this:
He’s looking less like Kennedy, and more like Steve Urkel.

In the 1980s, a smart, talented, hard-working, young intellectual came to Chicago and skyrocketed to success.

But enough about Steve Urkel.
Um, nice telegraph on the "humor," Don. Additionally, Urkel? I probably wouldn't say that about a guy like Obama, who seems reasonably tall/fit. And I definitely wouldn't say it if I looked like this:



Surber's ramblings are linked to, of course, by Glenn Reynolds, who as we know, looks like this:



Now, I try not to be a lookist- really, I do- but it's hard to resist when pathetic wingnut nerds whip out the manly card. Project much, fellas?

And mercy, Surber, this isn't even remotely funny.

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Posted at 9:13 AM




As easy as that

His Nader-love in 2000 grated me to no end, but Tom Tomorrow is pretty great otherwise. Had a veritable assload of foresight w/r/t Iraq back in the early days of the war and shows similar skill in this week's cartoon, in which he dispenses with the laughable "elitist" argument in four simple panels.

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Posted at 8:36 AM




An additional observation

When K-Load's got something up over at The Corner called "Observation," you know some silliness is afoot. Let's check it out:
Barack Obama's autobiography makes the "African-American" section in the Barnes & Noble on M Street in Georgetown. Clarence Thomas's autobiography does not. Wonder how that decision was made.
Well, given her past work, I will give her props for not saying "wander." As for why the decision was made, I’m sure it had something to do with simple marketing and economics…you know, those things that wingnuts love about 95% of the time but go batshit nuts over that funny 5%. So yeah, Grimace Jean, they probably put it in the "African-American" section because that's where most people went to find it. Same goes for the decision to put Clarence Thomas' book in the (I'm assuming) political section. And FWIW, I'm willing to bet that Obama's autobiography is less political than Thomas', and that both writers would agree.

Also, yeah. WGAS? Did this crew get this outraged over the torture memos? (No.) Doesn't K-Load have some Google logos to disapprove of?

(h/t: S,N!)

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Posted at 8:20 AM



4.25.2008

Dissonahhhhnce! Dissonahhhnce!

(done in Eddie Vedder voice)

So John McCain's big let's-learn-what-poor-people-are trip has taken him to N'awlins, where he's got the chest all puffed up about Katrina:
Asked at an outdoor news conference if he traced the failure of leadership straight to the top, Mr. McCain, who has vowed to campaign with President Bush, said, emphatically, "yes."
How very bold! Thankfully, McCain was doing something different than Bush during the early, disastrous days of Katrina:



You know, receiving a birthday cake rather than offering one.

Okay, so making a Big Important Point about Katrina leadership was a bad idea. Thankfully, he's got some other ones about helping the downtrodden:
More than four decades ago outside this small Appalachian town, President Johnson began his War on Poverty. In the 1980s, President Reagan scoffed that poverty had won the war.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) tried to position himself somewhere between Johnson and Reagan while campaigning here Wednesday, styling himself as a compassionate conservative but emphasizing his crusade against "wasteful" government spending.
Okay, sure, we've heard it before. Sucks that you're poor; all you need is a tax cut. Big ups to McCain's balls for bringing it up as the public essentially refudiates supply-side voodoo, much in the same way you gotta give a dude a strange set of ups for jumping out of a building.

But hey, at least it's a plan. He won't raise your taxes. Now, say, McCain...anything else you'd do? Like, say, if a woman was a head of a poor household and found out she was getting screwed out of wages because of her gender? You'd likely be against that, yes? Yes?
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who skipped a Senate vote seeking equal pay for women last night in order to campaign for president, said he opposed the measure because it would prompt a flood of lawsuits.
Aaaaand there you go. John McCain: Fighting for forgotten America by...not fighting for forgotten America. Or something. Leave me alone. Nap time.

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Posted at 1:00 PM




Shorter Brent Bozo

Obama And The Hip-Hop Problem
Obama's embrace of a wildly successful musical genre is a bad strategy.
I love Bozo. The man gets his knickers in a twist when Hollywood doesn't promote popular cheese at award time, but also has broad, sweeping disdain for rap music. Which is popular. It's like he knows we slam him for being a hypocrite, then busts his ass living up to the bill. Additionally, this is totes funnay:
This Jay-Z song boasts about a "middle finger to the law." Harris-Lacewell touted that Obama would like the song "99 Problems," which has an entire verse about being racially profiled by the "mother f---ing law" for "doing 55 in a 54." Jay-Z also tells critics to kiss his whole (rectum).
As do I, Bozo. Often.

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Posted at 9:16 AM




w00tzzzzzz

Wooten seems like his heart wasn't in it today. I wonder why...
An 11-county poll for the Transit Planning Board, another of those groups involved in the process of talking about transportation fixes, finds that 58 percent of Metro Atlantans say they would support a 1 percent sales tax to fund a specific list of transportation projects.
Ahh, but he's hiding the real reason why- the poll showed that most Atlantans would be just fine with (oh noes!) more commuter rail. Whatsa matter, w00t? Did you actually think that we'd simply agree with you that toll lanes and the usual glibertarian think tank underground road plans were the solutions to Atlanta's traffic woes?

Gas at $3.50 has a funny thing about getting pro-car-or-die people like Wooten laughed off the stage.
If a Katrina occurs on his watch, John McCain says he would immediately fly to the nearest Air Force base, presumably to direct operations. "Never again, never again, will a disaster of this nature be handled in the disgraceful way it was handled." Once again, the locals and then the state are responsible for preparation and for first response to disasters. McCain shouldn't use this dead time in Republican presidential politics to federalize those roles.
Ahh, the old standard- Drown the government in the bathtub types get all philisophical when their concepts get people fucking killed. Remind me, w00t, did 9/11 not Change Everything(TM)? Aren't we supposed to have more national responsibility to disaster response? Or does this only apply when the brown people are the enemies, rather than the victims? Explain.

And yeah, that's a cheap shot, but hackery deserves mockery. And in that regard:
Quiz the school kids: Do they know more about Earth Day or the Declaration of Independence or World War II. I’m guessing Earth Day.
I'm guessing you fail. Do you actually believe the stuff that you pull from your ass? Or do you care more about reaffirming the usual crew's belief that OMG LIBERALS IN SCHOOLS!!!!1.

Here's what school kids know about the Declaration of Independence and WW2: Some dates, some names, general causes, general outcomes.
Here's what school kids know about Earth Day: That it exists. When I was in school, we noted the day, planted some shit, then went about our business. When's the last time you were in a school, smart guy?

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Posted at 9:04 AM




Friday Random Ten

1. Arctic Monkeys- Mardy Bum
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Maps
3. Interpol- PDA
4. Be Your Own Pet- Thresher's Flail
5. LCD Soundsystem- Sound Of Silver
6. We Are Scientists- The Great Escape
7. Radiohead- Videotape
8. Elliott Smith- No Name #4
9. Bloc Party- Compliments
10. Sufjan Stevens- To The Workers Of The Rock River Valley Region, I Have An Idea Concerning Your Predicament (Ed. note: Ahh, Sufjan, you and your song titles.)

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Posted at 9:00 AM



4.24.2008

IOKIYAR

Well, well, well. It would appear as if all the huster and bluster in the world from wingnuts over Obama'spastorgate couldn't stop the huge elephant in the corner, McCain's best bud John Hagee:
On September 18, 2006, Pastor John Hagee — whose endorsement Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said this past Sunday he was "glad to have" — told NPR's Terry Gross that "Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans." "New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God," Hagee said, because "there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came."
So, in short, John Hagee said "God damn(ed) America." Which is precisely what the ubiquitous Jeremiah Wright story was all about.

Or was it? Here's what Wright was pissed off about- racial inequality, fiscal inequality, war. Blast him for the way he conducted himself and for apparently a deep-rooted paranoia, but I think the issues he worked himself up over were a slight bit more important than friggin gay parades. If we're to get all in a heap over someone whipping out GD when referencing racism, poverty, and war, shouldn't we throw someone completely under the bus for using GD w/r/t just freaking gay people?

No, I guess, because after all...It's OK If You're A Republican. And so that's that, trouble averted, nothing to see here. The double standard is so huge it's difficult to tackle without being baffled at the entire human condition...which is probably the point. Lie, lie, bullshit, bullshit, get elected, never look back.

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Posted at 12:34 PM



4.23.2008

Oh yes, those two things are equal

Instaputz links to this piece of insanity. Check in for perhaps the worst reasoning a politician has ever attempted:
Tony Zirkle, who is seeking the Republican nomination in northern Indiana's 2nd District, stood in front of a painting of Hitler, next to people wearing swastika armbands and with a swastika flag in the background for the speech to the American National Socialist Workers Party in Chicago on Sunday.

"I'll speak before any group that invites me," Zirkle said Monday. "I've spoken on an African-American radio station in Atlanta."
Ohh, that Tony Zirkle! He's an equal opportunity sort of guy. He'll speak to Nazis one week, but the next week, it's off to their equivalent on the other side. You know, black people!
"Some people are going to impute motives and say things that I mean, but many of these people have never even talked to me. So their ability to say what I intended is not very credible," Zirkle said.
Yeah! The ball's in OUR court, man! We've got to prove our credibility, not the guy who showed up to a Hitler rally!

Of course, we could be getting ahead of ourselves. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe the Nazi douchbaggery has never found a place in Zirkle's political life.
The event was not the first time Zirkle has raised controversy on race issues. In March, Zirkle raised the idea of segregating races in separate states. Zirkle said Tuesday he's not advocating segregation, but said desegregation has been a failure.
Oh, nevermind.

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Posted at 3:03 PM




Shorter Hugh Hewitt

What's A Superdelegate To Do?
OMG Hillary totes DESTROYED Obama last night BIGGEST WIN EVAR!!!!!
In what universe does a 9% margin of victory that was pretty much expected constitute the epic ass-kicking Hooters is discussing? Also,
This is a huge part of Obama's advantage: The MSM has attached an "inevitability" tag to Obama that protects him against the realities of his awful month of political ineptitude
That saw his national support and $$$ both see big gains. Again, Hooters, just because you've adopted the Obama = Screwed narrative doesn't mean, you know, the actual voters have.

Also, note that Obama was still competitive throughout the Worst Month Ever, unlike Hooters' mancrush Romney, who got his ass kicked anywhere that wasn't Michigan. Did Hewitt note an "awful month of political ineptitude"? Or did he keep saying "Romey Rising!" and point to irrelevant metrics that said Mittens would sweep every state in sight? Gee, I wonder.
This sense of entitlement is so large among the Obama backers that it has created a gravitational force pulling in the media, which in turn reinforces the anger among Obama voters at the Clintons. "We have already won," they are thinking. "Why is she doing this?"
Hewitt does know that HRC is trailing, crippingly so, in the delegate race, right? Right?
Hillary could win in Indiana. She could keep it close in North Carolina, and win in Oregon and West Virginia and Kentucky, but even then the Obama will be furious at any superdelegate who betrays Obama.
Yes, she could do this, and if she does this, the storyline will change, natch. How is this hard? And keep in mind that pretty much every storyline Hewitt whips out (Romney Rising! GOP to cruise in '06!) crumbles and dies.

Also, Hooters, Mitt Romney lost. Lost lost lost, lost lost lost. Just reminding you.

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Posted at 2:54 PM




On to Guam

So a grand-damn total of nothing changed after PA. Hillary won just enough support to stay in the race, but not enough to make a big dent in the long-term outlook. The MASSIVE CONTROVERSIES!!!!!! that were supposed to dog (especially) Obama and (somewhat) Hillary didn't do anything at the polls. Sowwy, The Corner and ClownHall.

I've grown to not really mind all this; both candidates are running solid operations, and it appears as if this country really does give a shit about healthcare, the economy, the war, etc. As rancid as the last ABC debate was, I'm left with a better taste in my mouth because of the almost unanimous disgust the American people felt for it. Yeah, Brent Bozo rubbed one off, but who cares. It's easy to equate the expected ravings of wingnut welfare recipients with the feelings of The Heartland(TM), but it's bogus.

I still think Obama'll pull it out, but HRC will have to get a big prize coming her way to step down quietly. So we're where we were a month ago.

Not worried about McCain’s national poll standing, either. He’s been given a fairly free pass after that insipid NYT lobbying scandal story. Once his hodge-podge of economic and foreign policy ignorance comes to light, his already-tepid support (seriously, 72% in an uncontested election?) will begin to erode.

Just look at his recent gaffes. Saying that the economy is A-OK in front of a closing factory, and then telling the last of the workers that they can still get lucky. Creating a situation wherein no aid would be given to Israel. Continually saying “Al-Qaida in Iran,” then expecting his press lackeys to explain it away as a one-time screwup. Acting like he supports a GI Bill, then refusing to sign it. Etc., etc. Straight Talk(TM) or not, he’s playing himself like a doddering old fool. He won’t have staying power over the summer.

Yeah, The Corner and ClownHall don’t/won’t support Obama or Hillary against McCain. Not news. The average voter’s going to see McCain stammer and stammer and check out. Bush got away with that during Pax Americana ‘00, but it won’t fly now.

A commentor over at Sadly, No! noted that Bush received miles of slack during the summer of 2004. Yes, but keep in mind that Bush had the advantages of

1) Being the incumbent in a nation that wasn’t entirely unhappy
2) Having the Iraq war only be 1.5 years old
3) Having an OK economy
4) Having an opponent without much…pizzazz
5) Having an opponent who almost steadfastly refused to go on the attack

Numbers 1-5 for McCain in 2008:

1) Would continue unpopular president’s policies in a very unhappy nation
2) Iraq war now 5 years old
3) Faltering economy; shows no signs of knowing what it’ll take to fix it
4) Will either face a feisty debator or a masterful orator, both of whom do miles better than My friends, my friends, my friendzzzzzzzzzz, and both of whom will
5) Blast his ass for all it’s worth on the war, the economy, Bush, etc.

In short, we're still doing OK.

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Posted at 12:55 PM




Hypocrisy

hy.poc.ri.sy
-noun
1. a pertense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess
2. a pretense of some desirable or publicly approved attitude
3. When Brent "The government should turn off my TV for me" Bozo says this:
Seeing the storm of response underlines one obvious fact. Liberals are censorious. They expect the liberal media to dwell only on matters that advance the liberal agenda.
That's right. Bozo, who wants movies to contain no curse words 'cause it pisses him off, wants schools to teach intelligent design because he likes it, wants government to censor rap because it's scary, etc., etc....is accusing liberals of all this.

What a fucking load this guy is. Also, Bozo-
Any issue that challenges liberal orthodoxy, or in any way might paint a liberal in a negative light becomes a "phony" issue, and bringing those up is embarrassingly unprofessional. Any hostile question is an egregious naked pyramid of surrender to Republican talking points.
Um, the economy, the war...those things aren't "liberal" talking points, you flailing dummy. They're valid regardless of political affiliation. You're a vapid little man, you know that?

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Posted at 11:30 AM




Shorter Stanley Kurtz

Identity Politics Rules
Obama only wins cuz of black people. Hillary only wins cuz of chicks. Welp, that's a wrap. Good blog entry, me.
Interesting hedge by Kurtz here. The fairly irrelevant "devastating revelations" that the clowns over at The Corner have been ignored by voters. Does that mean the revelations were pointless to begin with? No, it just means that these voters are secret racists! Boom!

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Posted at 10:04 AM




He asks, I answer

Glenn Reynolds thinks he's got the anti-American, anti-freedom, anti-him ACLU snared in a trap:
KATIE GRANJU looks at the raids on Texas polygamists and asks where is the ACLU?
D.N. Nation reads the friggin news and answers, right here:
The ACLU said it had a representative at the court hearing and the organization was concerned about human rights violations.
But don't let that get in the way of your Very Important Point, Glenn. Perhaps the InstaDoofus should spend his time focusing on what his fellow wingnuts are saying w/r/t the ACLU.

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Posted at 9:53 AM



4.21.2008

Recipegate

Small thought: I'm no McCain fan, of course, but a few choice people making hay out of his wife's recipes is getting on my damn nerves. Thankfully these haven't been campaign insiders, but rather, dummies like Megan McArdle. Let's keep it that way.

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Posted at 10:41 AM




Obamacantbowlgate

You know, I've resisted this "issue" because I actually don't give a shit. But since Obama's friggin bowling score keeps being revisited as a serious campaign disaster, well...

I hate to be the bearer of bad news for these media mental midgets, but there are a few things about the OMG OBAMA CAN’T BOWL!!!!!1 story they keep leaving out:

1) He wasn’t actually trying. He even had a little girl bowl a frame for him.
2) He didn’t even finish. IIRC, he went to do other flesh-pressin’ activities around the lanes in the 7th frame.
3) Pretty much all of the bowlers who were at the event- you know, the people he was there to see, as opposed to David Brooks or InstaDoofus or Bill Kristol or whatever- had fun and enjoyed his company. Which makes the event a success.

But hey, I know that's more difficult to comprehend than the usual slate of talking points. And I know your brains can only handle so much…and with John Edwards' haircut *still* taking up room, it's hard. But if you could kindly, if at all possible, refrain from completely acting like a dumbshit w/r/t Obama's bowling experience, that would be oh-so-nice for me and, if not for me, than the state of our democracy.

I know I ask a lot, wanting you to not be full of crap and all. But please…at least…try, maybe?

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Posted at 9:30 AM




Bill Kristol sums up his essence

Bloody Bill has given us probably the best definition of his contribution to American political discourse:
Still, differences among formulaic statements can be revealing.
And that's what Bill Kristol cares about.

UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald smacks Kristol all over the place. A taste:
Given that accusations of "elitism" are all the rage, is there anything more definitively elitist -- more repulsively elitist -- than continuing to sermonize to a tiny segment of the population that they must continue to give up everything -- even their lives -- while the sermonizers give up absolutely nothing?
Yeah, but...um...Obama didn't eat a cheesesteak! La la la la, I can't hear you!

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Posted at 9:27 AM



4.18.2008

Poor poor persecuted Bozo

Brent Bozell hates him some evolutionists:
Ben Stein's extraordinary presentation documents how the worlds of science and academia not only crush debate on the origins of life, but also crush the careers of professors who dare to question the Darwinian hypothesis of evolution and natural selection.
Because they have no place in the laboratory, you belching oaf.

Listen to me. My wife, targeted in this insipid movie as a member of "Big Science," whatever the crap that even means, currently works to find cures for childhood stomach diseases. The kind of nasty stuff that afflicts and cripples the third world. The kind of thing that brutalizes young children. That sort of thing. Big philisophical debates- the kind that Bozo pretends to want (in actuality, he just wants evangelical dittoheadedness, and he knows it)- have no damn point in her work. They don't help her run any test, or report any findings, or find any cure. You cannot, cannot, cannot do any sort of work in microbiology w/r/t infectious diseases without a background in evolutionary theory. Not because Big Science is full of meanie heads, but because "Intelligent Design" doesn't have anything to do with actual scientific practice. It is akin to demanding that ID supporters be given cushy jobs in Major League Baseball just because we need that viewpoint allowed. It doesn't help, it doesn't support, it doesn't belong based solely on its own merits (semi-sic).

I cannot budge on this. It's a simple fact. Outside of this, all Stein's ramblings prove is that certain athiests are assholes. Wow, so compelling.

ID and concepts of the Creator are fine for religion. Fine for philosophy. Don't help at all in the lab. It takes a real shithead like Bozo to cynically deny children future cures just so his Christianist itch is scratched. That this man has any place in our national discourse is unacceptable.

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Posted at 4:05 PM




Longer Glenn Reynolds

A double standard on polygamy?
Instead of focusing on that Mormon polygamy case, we should be weary of the shifty sand people and their "religion."
"Longer" InstaDoofus because, as they say, Shorter Glenn Reynolds on many occasions is like summarizing a burp.

Also, does Reynolds have an intellectual template that says "instead of ___________, we should BASH MUSLIMS"? Because this seems to come up an awful lot.

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Posted at 11:31 AM




That's it.

Every time a Hillary Clinton supporter cynically degrades whatever argument I have against said candidate by accusing me of simple misogynism, I'm donating $1 to the Obama campaign. I'm keeping it that low because this lunacy seems to be on auto-repeat at various feminist message boards, and I'd just assume have some money at the end of the month.

Calling Hillary out on supporting the Iraq war initially != Calling her a bitch.

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Posted at 11:24 AM




Give me a break, Cassandra

Jay Ambrose ate something rancid for breakfast yesterday:
I don't tune in to the Bill Maher show on HBO because I figure those who do so regularly bear at least some slight resemblance to the racists who used to show up for lynchings, aiming thereby to vent hateful bigotry and satisfy lust for the pain of others.
Dude, knock it off. I expect this sort of nonsensical equation out of a knob like Jonah Goldberg, but you at least pretend to have some semblance of moderation in you. Maher's a dick, sure. People who think he's funny are like the stalwarts of Jim Crow? Puh-leeze.

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Posted at 9:18 AM




w00t! There it is!

Jimbo's pretty non-crappy today, and to be fair, he's been tolerable for a month or so now. So good for him. Doesn't mean there's no wingnuttish double standards to be found.
Wonder how many of the women's advocates expressing dismay at the gender imbalance under the Gold Dome would be thrilled to see more who are pro-life and social conservatives? Ah, that’s what I thought. It's not women. It's women with particular political leanings.
Really? See, judging by the various feminists I know (who aren't exactly the monolothic group this clown makes them out to be), I think they'd be happy for more women of any particular persuasion. With that being said, though, the pro-life conservatives in Georgia state government are maaaaassively anti-woman no matter how you slice it; no good could possibly come from sentencing abortion doctors to death, unless you're a big fan of how they do things in sub-Saharan Africa. I mean, you're NOT, right w00t?
The feds intend to collect DNA samples from everybody arrested by any federal agency. Some express concerns about privacy and about potential for misuse of the information. Not a concern here. Existing laws prevent it from being used to identify genetic traits, diseases or disorders.
Wooten's brand of "libertarianism" = Don't make me pay money but SAVE ME FROM SCARY PEOPLE!!!!!

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Posted at 9:06 AM




Friday Random Ten

The "I hate allergies" edition:

1. Elliott Smith- Seen How Things Are Hard
2. Be Your Own Pet- Stairway To Heaven
3. Clipse- Dirty Money
4. Clipse- Momma I'm Sorry
5. Be Your Own Pet- Super Soaked
6. Incubus- I Miss You (Ed. note: Wife's section of my iTunes)
7. Battles- Prismism
8. Sahara Hotnights- The Difference Between Love And Hell
9. Clipse (Ed. note: WTF?)- Trill
10. The Dodo's- God?

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Posted at 9:03 AM



4.17.2008

Shorter David Brooks

No Whining About the Media
Last night's debate was great because the candidates got really pissed off!
Sigh, sigh, sigh. I love how Brooks isn't even aware of the muck his type has created:
We may not like it, but issues like Jeremiah Wright, flag lapels and the Tuzla airport will be important in the fall. Remember how George H.W. Bush toured flag factories to expose Michael Dukakis. It's legitimate to see how the candidates will respond to these sorts of symbolic issues.
Yeah, I remember: It was stupid then; it's still stupid now. Our grandchildren, still paying the debts of the Iraq war, will not look back with fondness on jackoffs like Brooks' attention to "symbolic issues" in lieu of, you know, actual fucking issues.

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Posted at 1:17 PM




I didn't watch the Democratic debate

...which most people seem to agree sucked. Things I did watch: Part of a Braves game, a South Park re-run, part of the pretty bad 1997 disaster movie Volcano, and part of a re-run of Top Chef. Now, was I a lousy citizen of this democracy? Maybe. Did I at least maintain my dignity? Take it away, Steve Benen:
Put it this way: at 9:04 — 64 minutes into the debate, and with just 26 minutes remaining, Stephanopoulos said, “Let me turn to the economy. That is the number one issue on Americans’ minds right now.”
I stand by my decision. Did a "debate" like this savage the Founding Fathers anymore than having "Ben Franklin" join the Philadelphia Eagles' cheerleading team on the Colbert Report?

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Posted at 10:07 AM




K-Load: Romney totes LOL!!!1

Grimace Jean really thinks the Mittstah's a laugh riot:
Check out number 7 of Romney's top ten reasons for dropping out of the presidential race tonight at the Radio and TV Correspondents dinner:
No. 10: There weren't as many Osmonds as he thought.
No. 9: Got tired of the corkscrew landings of his campaign plane while under fire
No. 8: As a lifelong hunter, I didn't want to miss the start of varmint season.
No. 7: There wasn't room for two Christian leaders in the presidential race
No. 6: Word leaked out that nobody had bothered to search my passport files.
(Ed. note: And on and on and on.)
Wow, hilarious. Just as good as, say, Letterman on a slow Wednesday.

For all the guff these clowns give the Mainstream Media(TM) for not properly going after Obama (sic, sic, etc.), they sure do a bad job at hiding their lust for every single thing Romney does, no matter how completely banal.

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Posted at 9:58 AM



4.16.2008

Shorter Glenn Reynolds

A truly unforgivable act by John Yoo
Ha ha, this whole John Yoo controversy thingy is just so funny! WhatEVER, giggle!
I know it seems like I'm sliding over to Instaputz territory w/r/t how much I harp on this noxious jackass, but mercy...this man goes nuts over the slightest Obama gaffe, and yet shrugs off torture advocacy in the most glib way possible. What a knob.

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Posted at 2:59 PM




Maureen Dowd, voice of the common man

MoDo:
Behind closed doors in San Francisco, elitism's epicenter, Barack Obama showed his elitism, attributing the emotional, spiritual and cultural values of working-class, "lunch pail" Pennsylvanians to economic woes.
Says the gazillionaire superstar pundit who lives in New York City, which I'd call the real spicenter of elitism.

Shame. Get some.
Just as Dukakis chatted about Belgian endive, Obama chatted about Whole Foods arugula in Iowa.
Um, Obama won Iowa, you fucking dope.

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Posted at 12:23 PM




For the damn win

The Village Voice chronicles the right-wing blogosphere. I would have had to take a shower afterwards.

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Posted at 10:45 AM




Shorter Jay Ambrose

Give up on Friedman? Nothing doing
The usual slate of right-wing think tanks agrees with everything I say about the economy. I win again, liberal biznitches!
A note for Scripps Howard: This is punditry at its extreme laziest, and yet, it's pretty much half of Ambrose's semiweekly output. It's the same old same old for Jay...the economy's great, the economy's great, the economy's great, and even if it isn't, it'll be great soon! Just ask, um, the Heritage Foundation! And the Cato Institute! And on and on! They're certainly objective voices in this debate!

Is this what Scripps wants to pay for? Banal, incestuous blather?

I will give Jay a small amount of credit for at least noticing that the economy isn't all kittens and bunnies and flowers like he was arguing throughout 2007. He, like Larry Kudlow, seems to have realized that no one's buying that line of BS anymore. So, you know...yaaaaay. You win teh prize, Jay.

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Posted at 9:16 AM




Shorter Michelle Malkin

Introducing Barack "Arugula" Obama
LOLOLOLOLOLZ!!! Obama likes veggies! BAHAHAHAHA!
Aaaand our democracy dies just a little bit more.

You know, Stalkin' Malkin, I saw a bag of arugula at freakin Kroger the other day for $1.99 (yay for manager's specials). Kroger happens to be damn near as ubiquitous as Wal-Mart in your beloved imaginary Heartland Of America. What the hell are you even talking about, anyway? Arugula just tastes like bolder lettuce.

Additionally, my father, who grew up in the impoverished swamplands of South Carolina, is an excellent chef who uses a diverse assortment of ingredients. Cajun cuisine, one of our national treasures, was almost entirely born out of the inspirations of poverty. I hate to break it to these ridiculous wingnuts and their enabling millionaire Beltway media superstars, but Middle America(TM) hardly subsists only on twinkies, cheesesteaks, and Hungry Man TV dinners. To me, continually implying this is a far, far greater slight against Americans than Obama's accurate description of how useless wedge issues find their way into our national consciousness.

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Posted at 8:52 AM



4.15.2008

Bittergate! Cheesesteakgate! Wrightgate! Muslimgate!

Keep 'em coming, Wingnuts. Voters don't give a crap.

Or a damn.

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Posted at 1:30 PM




Why do we mock Thomas Sowell?

Why do we call him a drastically overrated intellectual? Why do we say he can't write worth a damn? Why do we say he butchers the English language on a regular basis?

Well, that's because he is, he can't, and he does. Witness:
People who have been cheering whistle-blowers for years have suddenly denounced the person who blew the whistle on what Obama said in private that is so contradictory to what he has been saying in public.
Er...okay. So people who want to make sure we don't have thumbs in our meat, or that companies aren't boning their workers' pension plans, or that government isn't illegally spying on its citizens...these people are hypocrites because they don't pop woodies bashing Obama for being an elitist Marxist hate-America guy?

Know what? This isn't absurd. I like the Shame of Stanford's reasoning here. Thus, Thomas Sowell, who has for years (for years! for YEARS!) been championing economic liberties, is a big bad hypocritical doodoo head cootie queen because he doesn't champion my right to live on his lawn. A horrible, self-serving contradiction, this Thomas Sowell!

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Posted at 10:54 AM




Shorter Glenn "I Want Robot Lovin'" Reynolds

Dale Carpenter Defends John Yoo
Deeeep breath...Okay, so it's totally wrong that we're going after torture memo author John Yoo because, um, it's bad and like a McCarthyist witch hunt or something, and it's a farce that war criminals be tried for human rights violations because, um, well, it's like a witch hunt, and law professors like me should have jobs in the government, heh indeed, and it's so hypocritical of the left to oppose torture while being OK with, um, stopping global warming and what would they say if we did, like, a McCarthyist witch hunt on them? Also, we should seek out the murderous socialist Obama and kill him, or something.
This is the type of educator your tax dollars are paying for, dear Tennesseans.

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Posted at 10:35 AM




A glimpse into the dark heart

So remember what this whole Jeremiah Wright flap was supposed to...really mean? That Obama was some subversive Nazi Commie racist thingy and Black America had constituted a fifth column that was seeking to destroy America from the inside? Remember how we were to demand answers from Obama that he would not actively seek to overthrow the government? Remember how decades of injustice against Blacks was no excuse and that they were really plotting against us all that time anyway? Or just whatever? Well, then, wingnuts...please inform me what we're to take from this?
"That boy's finger does not need to be on the (nuclear) button," Rep. Geoff Davis, R-Ky., said of Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama at a GOP fundraiser Saturday night.
Oh noes! GOP shills are seeking to start a race war in America! Genocide! Strife! Other stuff! I mean, that's what we're supposed to say, right? No?

Well, probably not. But I do know it's some cheap shit to say this:
Davis is going to take a lot of heat for his use of the word "boy," which likely will obscure the more important question of Obama's performance in the simulation. What couldn't Obama do and why should his performance be disqualifying?
Oh brother. Tell me, Bainbridge, if I were to go into pundit-ville and say that Jeremiah Wright brought up some pretty good points...what would their reaction be?

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Posted at 8:58 AM



4.14.2008

Glenn Reynolds, defined

Ohhhhhh mercy:
IN THE MAIL: David Levy's Love and Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships, No doubt this will set off a storm among the narrow-minded robophobes out there. Stand up to the haters!
This is the man who complains about the loss of masculinity in modern America. This is the man who questions our resolve to fight endless wars. This is the man who pleads for this country to revert to Wild West forms of law-and-order.

This guy.

I...can't really say anything else.

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Posted at 4:58 PM




See, a real journalist would have asked

NRA executive VP Wayne LaPierre what he thought of the Bush Administration's systematic dismissal of the Fourth Amendment when he said:
The same few who look down their nose at the people who respect basic American traditions like flying the flag, going to church, owning a gun, and believing in the Bill of Rights. Obama's statement is a crack in the door that gives all of us a peek as to how the 'special' people look at the rest of us. Americans can read that code.
See, a real journalist would have asked LaPierre what he thought about executive policy towards torture, and whether or not he believes the Bill of Rights stops at the Second Amendment.

Jake Tapper, of course, is not a real journalist.

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Posted at 2:18 PM




Thankfully, none of this goes on right now

Glenn Reynolds is really rubbing one off about this latest nonsensical Obama flap. This isn't exactly news, of course...InstaDoofus is the kind of ad hoc magician who'll say that Obama's choice of breakfast cereal is somehow a blow to the Democrats. But damn...this guy's self love never ceases to get on my nerves:
"Four years of talking down to me and asking me to pay for it." That sounds about right.
Says the third-rate intellectual fraud who has spent the better part of 7 years getting his tonsils beaten by whatever war-and-fearmongering cause du jour happened to be pulsating from the member of centralized wingnuttery...the pudgy coward who continues to champion war and torture on the fucking American dollar while deeming anyone who doesn't agree with the storyline to be a traitor...the laughable nerd who supports a war that no one much else does anymore, even though we and our children and our children's children will enjoy all the terrible benefits thereof, ranging from long-standing debt to losing our position as freedom's beacon in the world.

Yes, that does sound about right, Glenn. A man would dare say that yeah, the system has screwed people big time and yeah, they've become reactionary because of it...and then warmongering and chickenhawkshit you would make endless hay out of it. Seriously, man, screw you. Screw you, screw you, screw you.

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Posted at 1:12 PM





archive, blogger!