MATLOCK!!!

Broder truly the Matlockiest column ever...allow me to summarize:

Bipartisanship ALWAYS means giving the GOP what they want. ALWAYS!

A Fantasy

The scene: Tomorrow. Any one of the Sunday political talk shows.

Dramatis personae: Any one of the Bobbleheads ("BOB"), plus a BHO administration official ("ADMIN").

BOB: "But ADMIN, the stimulus bill passed the House without a single Republican vote.

ADMIN: "So?"

BOB: (stunned into silence)

And when will the AP be hiring an Editor?

Perpetual Wingnut Welfare

Why this insipid business model doesn't die out is beyond me, but once again, just because you are a shameless moron with a mouth that doesn't stop, doesn't mean you'll make good TV.

Jane Velez-Mitchell, the HLN host who replaced Glenn Beck when he jumped ship for Fox News, is already topping Beck’s ratings from when he held the time slot.

In its third full month on the air, “Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell” posted HLN’s largest 7PM audience since it launched its primetime block in February 2005. For January 2009, “Issues” averaged 531,000 total viewers and 221,000 Adults 25-54, a 50% increase in total viewers and a 46% increase in the demo over Beck’s January 2008 ratings.

God forbid the "liberals", let alone a few moderates, have more than a couple shows on four different cable news networks.

God forbid we'd have someone on a Business News Channel that wasn't a supply-sided Reaganite.

Part of the Problem was Bush didn't believe in the 'Big Bang'

Golly, I hope, as Res Ipsa noted, it has a provision for paying taxes on time:

The Obama administration is gearing up for a “big bang” announcement next week that will combine a bank clean-up with measures to reduce home foreclosures and probably steps to kick-start credit markets.

The plan will involve an overhaul of the troubled asset relief programme – the $700bn bail-out fund – including strict curbs on compensation at banks receiving public aid. The Tarp overhaul is intended to restore public confidence in what is a deeply unpopular programme and ensure that taxpayer money is not used to fund excessive pay, bonuses and dividends to shareholders.

Oh, and new and grossly unpopular Rush Limbaugh and therefore GOP talking point on 3..2...1:

“There will definitely be a cap of some sort on bonuses,” said a Wall Street executive who has taken part in talks with the authorities. “The political climate is such that there is a need to punish Wall Street.”

Damn right there is.

One of the benefits of getting up early

Is you can turn on the tee vee to see stuff like the Australian Open finals.

But apparently, I still got up too late.

I have to say the "blue court" of the tournament confuses me, I keep thinking they are playing the finals at Boise State's football stadium.

Am I the Only Fool in America Paying Her Taxes?

I agree with Brad re Daschle.

Oh, what do you know? I agree with Brad again. This time with regard to the "Bad Bank". (Nationalize the damned banks, please.)

And lookit the pretty little chart Brad posted. Please notice the point at which our long, national nightmare began.

Anyway, today is Brad Day. I'll spend at least part of it wondering why in the hell I am paying my taxes when the people in charge of the joint don't bother to be doing so. Sheesh.

Change We Haz

Compare and contrast five years ago and yesterday...you'll be glad you did.

(f/t Watertiger)

"SEE YOU IN HELL CAMP SNOOPY!"

Notice what he doesn't deny:

A Colorado man has been indicted on charges of threatening to kill President Barack Obama and blow up the Mall of America in suburban Minneapolis. The man said the threat against Obama was a prank.

Because I'm lazy

Cue up the Liberty Bell March

A statue built for Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, who hurled his shoes at former U.S. president George Bush, is seen in Tikrit, 150 km (95 miles) Baghdad, January 27, 2009. An Iraqi town has unveiled a giant monument of a shoe in honour of the journalist who threw his footwear at former U.S. President George W. Bush. The letters on the sign reads "Muntazer is fasting until the sword breaks his fast with blood, silent until our mouths speak the truth". Picture taken January 27, 2009.
REUTERS/Sabah al-Bazee (IRAQ)


"until the sword breaks his fast with blood..." ? Who writes this stuff, a FoxNews mole?

Fudgy Bottom out of Foggy Bottom

Trimming the Shrubbery:

The smell of fresh paint wafting last week through the hall heading to the State Department cafeteria signaled the demise of the Bush Diplomatic Hall of Glory -- that series of lovely photographs that touted the 43rd president's world leadership and diplomatic victories.

With Bush out, the State Department has eliminated the "Glory Hall",

Loop Fans will recall that the exhibit of about 20 large color photos caused a bit of a stir back in 2003 when it replaced the long-standing array of black-and-white shots of historic moments. That included an original political cartoon from the Jefferson era and Woodrow Wilson at Versailles and Roosevelt and Churchill signing the Atlantic Charter and so forth.

The George W. Bush exhibit, the old-timers complained, was hardly more than a family travel album, showing him and Laura Bush traveling about the world, hanging out with foreigners, not exactly making history.

Now on to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and painting over the hallway murals showing Karl Rove "helping" various livestock over rural fences.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Fuad Ajami

Idiot, toady.

Hmmmmmmmm.....

Maybe Blago and Abu Gonzales will have to open up a law firm together?

I'm sure people would really trust them to keep their hands out of the trust account as well as perform high-quality legal services.

Shorter Blago

"I am not a crook, and if you toss me out, so help me I'm putting Checkers to sleep!"

Try not to laugh too goddamned loudly

Truly an inspirational monument.

I'm not going to say much about it, I'll let you discover it for yourself.

(Fez tip Watertiger)

Even more Awesome

Considering that each day this business week so far has contained one or more major businesses cutting thousands of jobs, this only looks to swell:

The number of people receiving unemployment benefits has reached an all-time record, the government said Thursday, as layoffs spread throughout the economy.

The Labor Department reported that the number of Americans continuing to claim unemployment insurance for the week ending Jan. 17 was a seasonally adjusted 4.78 million, the highest on records dating back to 1967.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwesome

This is going to help so very much in the Muslim world.

ABC reports that two women have come forward to accuse the CIA's Algeria station chief of raping them. (Via TPMmuckraker.) The Justice Dept. has an investigation open into this guy, and he's innocent until proven guilty and all, but it's extremely hard to imagine two Muslim women living in a country where rape carries such an awful social stigma making a frivolous accusation.

But fear not, for the Debbie Schlussel's of the world the cause of the rape is the fact the guy is a Muslim. Always willing to toss more gasoline on the fire.

Yes, Debbie because we all know a Christian has never raped anybody ever so nobody can impute the entire faith because of it...just ask your local Catholic Parish.

Morons. Just stupefyingly bigoted morons.

Those who are late, do not get fruitcup!

In a fluff piece about the less formal style of the new Administration two items are revealed.

First, how did Colin Powell get chosen to go to the UN and lie:

Under Mr. Bush, punctuality was a virtue. Meetings started early — the former president once locked Secretary of State Colin L. Powell out of the Cabinet Room when Mr. Powell showed up a few minutes late —

Second...

When Mr. Bush moved in, he exercised his presidential decorating prerogatives and asked his wife, Laura, to supervise the design of a new rug. Mr. Bush loved to regale visitors with the story of the rug, whose sunburst design, he liked to say, was intended to evoke a feeling of optimism.

The rug is still there, as are the presidential portraits Mr. Bush selected — one of Washington, one of Lincoln — and a collection of decorative green and white plates. During a meeting last week with retired military officials, before he signed an executive order shutting down the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Mr. Obama surveyed his new environs with a critical eye.

"He looked around," said one of his guests, retired Rear Adm. John D. Hutson, "and said, 'I've got to do something about these plates. I'm not really a plates kind of guy.' "

Uh, oh, I guess this is out of the question then.


I have to admit, the "cheese-factor" in this commercial is well beyond condition red ("...his kind eyes..."). I giggle every time I see the guy who stops and looks at the fucking plate and and smiles contentedly before he writes a check (probably to the RNC, it is after all, America).

Peter Principal meets Conservative Corallary

No wonder the Washington Post snatched Bill Kristol up, you cannot be so wrong so consistently and not catch the affections of Fred Hiatt.

Yesterday in a Howie Kurtz putz-kiss Kristol says:

Since Election Day, the GOP has been nowhere to be seen and Obama's popularity has soared, but the Democrats' edge over the Republicans in the generic congressional ballot of the Rasmussen poll hasn't increased at all.

Yeah, Rasmussen...I prefer polls not endorsed by Larry Kudlow...and until Michelle Obama or Stokely Carmichael (same diff) tell me otherwise, I'll look to more reliable sources...

Forty-six percent of those questioned in a Diageo/Hotline survey released Wednesday say they would support the generic Democrat in the 2010 elections for the House of Representatives, with 22 percent backing the generic Republican candidate. That's a 24 point lead for Democratic congressional candidates in the so called "generic ballot" question

Bill Kristol is going to demand a raise.

(pic via Driftglass)

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Yep

Still a dick, still an old fart, still a sexist, and still, blessedly OUT OF POWER. Ladies and Gentleman, Dick Armey (R - Of Course)



If Republicans are this unhinged in Week Two, what's going to happen when Senator Al Franken comes to town? Pass me some popcorn, y'all!

Yes

This out of the mouth of George H.W. Bush is quite low-class:

One time we thought we'd outsmarted the crowd. We sent a decoy limosine off in one direction while I snuck out the back entrance. And we rounded the corner -- I'll never forget it -- and I saw one of the ugliest and angriest women I have ever seen in my entire life. Boy, she was really bad. And she charged my car with a sign... and came up right next to the window: "Stay out of my womb!" No problem, buddy.

Oh that's a rib-ticklin', knee-slapper there.

But I do think it calls for this:

File under assholes

Y'know maybe some day we'll have Democrats in Congress that the cable nets actually listen to so stories like this can be covered, rather than "Dems cave on Contraception Funding".

Because this is abhorent -- we're giving these assholes money and they turn around and use it to fuck you over again:

Three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America Corp. hosted a conference call with conservative activists and business officials to organize opposition to the U.S. labor community's top legislative priority.

Participants on the October 17 call -- including at least one representative from another bailout recipient, AIG -- were urged to persuade their clients to send "large contributions" to groups working against the Employee Free Trade Act (EFCA), as well as to vulnerable Senate Republicans, who could help block passage of the bill.

God forbid this get any coverage in broadcast media.

I'm not an unfrozen caveman

I'm just some law-talkin' guy -- but as one of those, I have to say the last thing you want when presenting your case, are a couple of your witnesses making the other sides case.

Ladies and gentlemen, what several hundred thousands of dollars has gotten Norm Coleman...a table full of D.A. Burgers.

Coleman's Supposedly Friendly Witnesses Backfire

Is there no Continent Michael Gerson won't defile?

Michael Gerson and Africa...you know this can't be good. Today he has a fit over Mark Dybol, Bush's Africa AIDS czar being told to submit his resignation and depart on Inauguration Day.

Golly, hard to believe the incoming Obama Administration may have wanted a guy who said this to leave:

Acknowledging that women are increasingly at the center of the pandemic, Dybul claimed that the Administration's ideologically driven program that focuses on promoting abstinence until marriage and faithfulness in marriage "might be the best way to encourage men to treat women better."

Ah yes, the famed shut up, put out and make me a sandwich method of "faithfulness". There was a special de-emphases on the use of condoms.

“There is a high incidence of infection amongst faithful wives of errant husbands. The woman most at risk is a woman in a monogamous marriage.” ...[M]any Ugandan women are not only powerless to resist their husbands’ sexual demands; they are also unable to compel their husbands to stop sleeping with multiple partners and/or to use condoms. For some women, the Human Rights Watch authors conclude, “rape and battery had literally become part of the fabric of their daily lives.”

Yeah, that sure sounds like a keeper of a policy.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Tony Blair shows off his Medal of Freedom

Not all that hard to believe

But depressing nonetheless.

Sir David Attenborough has revealed that he receives hate mail from viewers for failing to credit God in his documentaries. In an interview with this week's Radio Times about his latest documentary, on Charles Darwin and natural selection, the broadcaster said: "They tell me to burn in hell and good riddance."

Telling the magazine that he was asked why he did not give "credit" to God, Attenborough added: "They always mean beautiful things like hummingbirds. I always reply by saying that I think of a little child in east Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball. The worm cannot live in any other way, except by burrowing through eyeballs. I find that hard to reconcile with the notion of a divine and benevolent creator."

Attenborough went further in his opposition to creationism, saying it was "terrible" when it was taught alongside evolution as an alternative perspective. "It's like saying that two and two equals four, but if you wish to believe it, it could also be five ... Evolution is not a theory; it is a fact, every bit as much as the historical fact that William the Conqueror landed in 1066."

Anyone who has ever seen one of Attenborough's immaculate (yes, immaculate) nature shows...from 'Planet Earth' to 'Trials of Life' to 'Blue Planet' to 'Life on Earth' to the "Life of Plants...Birds...or Mammals" ... or any of his many other nature shows knows that the man is one of the great gifts to humanity in the last 5 decades.

I'd take Attenborough over any random assortment of 50,000 theologians any day.

[Fez tip to Moonbotica]

AMERICA'S CONCERN TROLL

Sometimes this seems a unusually harsh thing to say, but not this time.

Richard Cohen would have made a great Nazi.

...we have to be respectful of those who were in that Sept. 11 frame of mind, who thought they were saving lives -- and maybe were -- and who, in any case, were doing what the nation and its leaders wanted.

This column is most effective when humming the Horst Wessel song while reading.

But the $87,000 Persian Rug really tied the room together

How much did this idiot donate to Bush & McCain?

John Thain and whether it was a good idea to spend $1.2 million of Merill's money redecorating his office suite.

"His office was very different than the general decor of Merrill's offices. It would have been very difficult for me to use it in the form that it was in."

This means so much to all those people typing from cubicles, shoveling coal, washing a diaper, or applying for unemployment benefits.

The answer on donations?

He's donated A LOT and OFTEN.

Thain is a "good buddy" to the ol' Maverick John McCain -- who I'm sure managed not to mention this the last few days.

Morans

I enjoy it when the GOP takes its cues on disapproving petty illegalities from a guy who plead guilty to a felony in between visits to Dominican hookers.

It's awesome and so moral!

A nation of stupid wusses

If we could house hundreds of thousands of Germans, including thousands of Nazi officers and SS members behind barbed wire fences in rural America (and very near populations overwhelmingly German-American I might add) in the 1940s, I think we can manage to keep a few hundred terrorist safely away from the populace in a SuperMax facility or high security American prison.

The ability of some Americans to be incredibly blood-thirsty assholes on the one hand and afraid of the thought of these two-bit criminals in a SuperMax being held in this country is astounding.

But then again, George Bush was President for two terms and may have even won once.

Far be it from me to be about the only person to mention this that I know of.

Yep

Dick Cavett in the NY Times,

I felt bad when George Bush was booed.

But only briefly. My sympathy for that man has a half-life of about four seconds.

There was a surprising number of outpourings of sympathy for his having to sit there and, as it was too-often described, “take it on the chin.” Was there ever a chin more deserving of taking it?

“You have to feel sorry for him,” someone cooed. “No. You do not!” I shouted at the screen. I know he “tried” and he “did what he thought was right.” But so does the incompetent surgeon.

What does that excuse?

His brief discomfort “sitting there” can’t have been less endurable than the discomfort of the young soldier describing on the news how he watched helplessly as his gut-shot buddy bled to death on the sands the smirking Texan sent him to.

Except I didn't feel bad for one nanosecond. I'd have felt bad if an attempt to make George Bush uncomfortable wasn't made.

(Fez tip to Eli)

Don't forget

Tickets are still available for 'The Weekly Standard's Annual Sexless Legionnaires Cruise' where Bill Kristol plays Captain Stubing to Fred Barnes' Gopher.

Oh, hoo-fucking-ray!

Fred Hiatt, not content with paying Krauthammer, Broder, Gerson, Parker, Richard Cohen, and a 'Kagan of the Month' column plans to add Billy Kristol to his menagerie of wanks.

It's too bad Debbie Howell stepped down before she could tell us how awesome it all is.

Greg Mitchell has a run down of Kristols greatest wanks.

He's truly the Dick Morris of "Dick Morris Impersonators" (at least the best one with probable testicles).

Still sucks

Clusterfucky after all these years:

Two U.S. military aircraft crashed in northern Iraq in the early hours of Monday, killing four soldiers, the U.S. military said.

"Four coalition forces members were killed when two aircraft went down in northern Iraq at approximately 2:15 a.m.," U.S. military spokesman Major Jose Lopez said. "The cause of the incident is unknown and is under investigation."

All good things come to an end

But then again, so does other stuff:

This is William Kristol’s last column.

Because it's the 'Year of the Ox'

Recessive Hypocrisy

I am reliably informed that on FoxNews this morning Bill Kristol, son of Irving Kristol, informed Chris Wallace, son of Mike Wallace, that the Democrats are the party of heredity.

I'm sure this was in giving a passing nod to George Bush, son of George Bush, son of Prescott Bush.

Oh look, video!



About 3:10 in.

Not announced on "Facebook"

Although it may have been put up on Stormfront:

Pope Benedict rehabilitated on Saturday a traditionalist bishop who denies the Holocaust, despite warnings from Jewish leaders that it would seriously harm Catholic-Jewish relations and foment anti-Semitism.

When Republicans Were Sane

An interesting obituary you may have missed.

Moving Parts

In December, New Yorkers welcomed the citizens of Illinois to the Governor-As-Punchline™ Club, a mere six months after securing our own membership as a result of our then-governor's, em, indiscretions. As you can see, our new governor is now a member of the club (although it is fair to say that, Blago notwithstanding, Sarah Palin remains its Supreme Commander and President-for-Life. But I digress ...)

I want to offer Hegemaniacs a short guide to just some of the moving parts of the Paterson/Kennedy/Gillibrand Fiasco. It may provide non-New Yorkers with a more nuanced -- if no less confusing -- guide to just what the hell is going on in the Empire State.

1. Governor David Paterson's rumored first choice to fill Hillary Clinton's senate seat, Representative Nita Lowey, withdrew from consideration for the seat. This was a nice bit of irony to set off this clusterfuck.
   
2. Caroline Kennedy was owned by New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, who gave her a gig helping Cancellor, Joel Klein, raise private money for NYC schools. Bloomberg, with his "I'm a Democrat! No, I'm a Republican! No! I'm an Independent" opportunism and his presidential fantasies aspirations interferes in everything. His aide, the execrable Kevin Sheekey, pushed Kennedy hard as a fait accompli, pretty much alienating everyone -- citizens and media alike -- in the process.
   
3. Paterson would like Bloomberg's support when he has to run for governor in 2010. Remember Paterson fell into the governor's job after Eliot Spitzer's aforementioned indiscretions vaulted New York into the Governor-as-Punchline™ Club.
   
4. When asked if she would support a Democrat in the 2010 NYC mayor's race, Kennedy would not offer a straight answer. Her friendship with Bloomberg aside, this is Caroline Kennedy. Would she support Paterson in 2010? This question gave more than a few people pause. (See No. 8, supra.)
   
5. Paterson is right to be concerned about a 2010 primary challenge from NY attorney general Andrew Cuomo, so we New Yorkers wondered if he would eliminate that possibility by sending Cuomo to DC, especially seeing that Cuomo was polling well against Kennedy (see No. 7, supra).
   
6. New Yorkers, in turn, fear said gubenatorial primary challenge because they know that Cuomo is dating Sandra "Semi-Homemade" Lee and are terrified of Lee serving one of her concoctions to, say, Barack and Michelle Obama, should these pour souls ever have the misfortune of being stranded in Albany in a blizzard and in need of a place to spend the night. ("You take a box of Ronzoni lasagna noodles and smash them with a hammer. Then you pour a can of Campbell's tomato soup that's been thickened with cornstarch over that. You top it all with three layers of Kraft Singles and a sprinkling of toasted coconut. Bake it in a 350F oven for two hours and serve with over lettuce with fresh lemon wedges and Peeps on the side. Voila! Instant dinner!")
7. When local outfits polled Kennedy against Pete Bada Bing! King, the troglodyte congressman from the south shore of Lawn Guyland who has been mouthing off about running for the senate seat in 2010, Kennedy barely beat King. But when King was polled against Cuomo, King got whipped.
8. Polls showed that New Yorkers wanted Cuomo, not Kennedy for the senate seat. (Note, however, that Gillibrand was not added to the mix.)
9. NY Dems control the governorship and both houses of the NY legislature, but the Dems' hold on the State Senate is fragile. Everyone is worried about 2010.
   
10. Paterson is not winning any popularity contests at this point, although to be fair, this has more to do with the financial crisis than it does with the senate nightmare (although give that time.)
11. In my NYC circle, the biggest objection to Kennedy had less to do with Kennedy herself than with the fact that Sheekey's Mark Penn-like "inevitability" campaign came on the heels of the Bloomberg term limits coup. We felt as though we were having choice after choice shoved down our throats as opposed to having any input in what is supposed to be a democratic process.
12. No one wants to piss off President Obama, who is pals with Kennedy, and whose presence on the campaign trail could come in handy in 2010.

Re Gillibrand ...First of all, I'd just like to congratulate my friend R, who predicted it would be Gillibrand from the beginning. Second, I actually have no strong feeling about her one way or another. Third, I predict that:
(a) her position on guns and illegal immigrants evolves (as her position on marriage equality already has); and
(b) she spends quite a bit of 2009 working hard to secure goodies for NYC; and
(c) she learns to stay out of pictures with putrid wingnut trash like Al D'Amato
all of which would be just fine with me.

Best of luck, almost-Senator Gillibrand.

A whole series of amazing pictures

From the Inauguration on Tuesday found here:



You really MUST go see the series, I cannot begin to tell you how sweeping and poignant some of them are.

Hey FoxNews

By your logic, we've been governed by a terrorist traitor for 8 years (HOLY GREAT ORANGE SATAN liberals right again!). From an interview with Bush's White House photographer:

Q. What was your last assignment?

A. I made a photo of the president walking out, seeing Midland, Texas, for the first time as an ex-president. Midland wasn't the last stop. We went to an event in Waco, where we said our goodbyes and he left for the ranch. Aboard the plane to Waco, he asked me what I was doing. ... Then he said, "Let's keep in touch.'' Instead of a handshake, he gave me a fist bump. That's how it ended.

OMG, OMG, OMG!

Playmobil SWAT Set Anyone?

I can't stop myself.... these things are so funny and sad...

Wish I had Written this!!

      (pic and review below from Amazon.com)

I was a little disappointed when I first bought this item, because the functionality is limited. My 5 year old son pointed out that the passenger's shoes cannot be removed. Then, we placed a deadly fingernail file underneath the passenger's scarf, and neither the detector doorway nor the security wand picked it up. My son said "that's the worst security ever!". But it turned out to be okay, because when the passenger got on the Playmobil B757 and tried to hijack it, she was mobbed by a couple of other heroic passengers, who only sustained minor injuries in the scuffle, which were treated at the Playmobil Hospital.

The best thing about this product is that it teaches kids about the realities of living in a high-surveillence society. My son said he wants the Playmobil Neighborhood Surveillence System set for Christmas. I've heard that the CC TV cameras on that thing are pretty worthless in terms of quality and motion detection, so I think I'll get him the Playmobil Abu-Gharib Interogation Set instead (it comes with a cute little memo from George Bush).

You must read the other reviews...

Still Manufacturing their own reality

This is what it says today on the NRCC's home page.



via the Great Orange Satan.

A Day which will live in Wankery

Let me know when he compares himself to Anne Frank:

"December 9 to my family, to us, to me, is what Pearl Harbor Day was to the United States," [Rod Blagojevich] told the Associated Press. "It was a complete surprise, completely unexpected. And just like the United States prevailed in that, we'll prevail in this."

Can we sink his hair in Lake Michigan and build a memorial?

(pic from here)

Unseen moments in the Obama Presidency...so far

Tuesday, 12:20 p.m.




"That was great Dad. Now, let's go get the puppy."














Tuesday 1:30 p.m.
"Hi everybody, off to get the puppy!"










Tuesday 4:30 p.m.

"So much for hope, I was expecting a puppy."












Wednesday, 8:07 a.m.


"Look, my bedroom is nice Dad, but it could really use a PUPPY!"
















Wednesday, 3:05 p.m.
"Okay old man, here's the deal. Puppy by Monday, or FoxNews finds out where the cigarettes are stashed."










(in order Jim Young - Reuters; Susan Walsh - AP; Jonathan Ernst - Reuters; Stan Honda - AFP; Emmanuel Dunand - AFP)

Fashun Tawk from Duh Five Towns

O.Moy.Gawd. Pammy Gelluh, the aging housefrau eliminationist with boots that would make a Trenton hooker blush, has a problem with Michelle Obama's clothes.

Before designing Michelle Obama's inaugural gown, Jason Wu toiled in toys creating dolls of the First Lady of Drag, RuPaul, and the self-appointed "World's #1Transexual", Amanda Lepore. Michelle's in good company!

Um, yeah.

"I'm just smart enough to know I've been called a moron"

Poor Michael Gerson, doesn't like this from Michael Hersch...finds it insufferable:

But there was a second, less sympathetic, Obama enthusiasm at work. In a Newsweek essay, Michael Hirsh mentioned Obama's racial achievement. But he went on to say that "there's something else that I'm even happier about -- positively giddy. . . . What Obama's election means, above all, is that brains are back." Hirsh declared that the Obama era means the defeat of "yahooism" and "jingoism" and "flag-pin shallowness" and "religious zealotry" and "anti-intellectualism." Obama is a "guy who keeps religion in its proper place -- in the pew."

Golly Gerson, as a guy who helped facilitate a Presidency that fucked up virtually everything it could fuck up, from gross negligence to deliberate indifference to depravity, I think you hate being called out accurately.

Suck.On.That.

And your little dog too...

Yes, George Bush and Condi Rice, followed the yellow cake road:

There are great hopes for Hillary at State. I met last week with a number of career State Department employees and was surprised when one said she was looking forward to the “Glinda Party” next week. I asked her: if Hillary was Glinda, the Good Witch of the South from the Wizard of Oz, did that make Condoleezza Rice the Wicked Witch of the West?

“You’re on to it,” she said. Another person pointed out to me that after Rice’s arrival in 2005 the tone of official State Department publications changed; they began to praise and glorify Rice. “No prior secretary,” said the twenty-year veteran, “did anything like this.”

Of course, Condi wasn't alone in self-glorification. Bush's Interior Secretary Dick Kempthorne gave a farewell address to employees that was all about him,

“about 600 slides, each picturing the distinguished secretary, many of them taken at a national park.” One “longtime employee” groaned, “Slide after slide after slide. It was special. That’s all I should say.”

I just hope there wasn't one of him in his quarter-million dollar crapper.

Cults of no personality, the Bush Administration was rife with them.

There were others, of course, Alphonso Jackson of HUD and his multiple displays of self-glorification come to mind.

And, of course, the stuffed-flightsuit moment that encapsulates it all.

But there are others, what comes to mind for you?

[mostly cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Truly more in sync than ever

Never more "DRUDGICO" than now.

Yeah, I heard the first George Bush and Babs did the same to keep things fresh

Golly,

You think the State Department is happy to be under new management? It's like Sully the Airplane pilot came to a USAir stockholders' meeting.



via AmericaBlog.

Health Care Realpolitk

For a glimpse of how "American health care without the routine cruelty" might come to be, please read this.

Hmmm, when's Tony Blair coming to Dallas?

In the words of Andrew Sullivan, know hope (non-bear division):

Former French President Chirac hospitalised after mauling by his clinically depressed poodle

There are times a person must salute supreme snark

In reaction to Michelle Malkin's 19th freak-out of the 20th -- the Lowry benediction, Gavin replies:

They might then express their hope for a future in which Malkin would stop talkin’, one in which Fox News would take a snooze and Glenn Beck would hit the deck, where right-wing choads would hit the road, where Dan Riehl would cop a deal, Ace would shut his face, Bill Kristol would become distal, K-Lo would go blow; one in which the National Review would go screw and the Ol’ Perfesser would be keiner desto besser, where Mary Katherine Ham would scram, where Brent Bozell would go to Hell.

Nice.

What privacy?

INVESTIGATE!!!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

TICE: Well, I don't know what our former president knew or didn't know. I'm sort of down in the weeds. But the National Security Agency had access to all Americans' communications, faxes, phone calls, and their computer communications. And that doesn't -- it didn't matter whether you were in Kansas, you know, in the middle of the country, and you never made a communication -- foreign communications at all. They monitored all communications.

Hungry for change

Unbelievable numbers:

Six in 10 Americans tuned in live to the presidential inauguration ceremonies on Tuesday.

That's somewhere north of 180 million people.

And once again, Obama is more in tune with the public than the villagers:

[C]lose to half -- 46% -- say Obama's speech was "excellent." That compares with a 25% excellent rating for Bush's 2005 inauguration speech. Another 35% say Obama's speech was good, while only 15% consider it "just okay" or worse.

So 81% liked the speech, half of them very much.

A legacy of leisurely failure

Froomkin:

Mark Knoller of CBS News tallies Bush's final numbers:

"U.S. Military Deaths In Iraq: 4,228.

"U.S. Military Deaths In Afghanistan: 634.

"Number Of Visits To Camp David: 149, totaling all or part of 487 days.

"Number Of Visits To His Texas Ranch: 77, totaling all or part of 490 days.

"Number Of Visits To His Parents' Home In Kennebunkport, Maine: 11, totaling all or part of 43 days."

And yes, that totals 1,020 days -- or just over 34 percent of his 2,992-day presidency. Ronald Reagan, the previously most-vacationing president ever, clocked a mere 866 days during his two terms.

Even subtracting days at Camp David, that's a year and a half on vacation.

The drugs still talkin'

Yes, knowing what your government does and has done is sooooooooooooooo Banana Republicky. Hidin' shit is the American way.

What I’m afraid of is that what Obama did with this executive order is actually make it easier for the media to go get Bush documents. Because you know Pelosi and some of the guys over in congress are talking about war crimes trials and charges and so forth. […]

What I’m afraid of is what Obama’s done here is made the gathering of the information for this kind of stuff– This is not American. This is not America. This is not what America does. We don’t– This is Banana Republic kind of stuff.

A dumbfuck speaking to even bigger dumbfucks.

Hey, one cult at a time

If you don't believe in Evolution, shouldn't you be prohibited from this?

After 22 years with a PC, I switched to a Mac and love it. I was not sure I could make the transition, but the learning curve isn’t that bad—even for an old geezer like me. My computer is not a toy, but is my lifeline to my work. I write scripts, keep up correspondence and my calendar, book travel, and even record my daily radio commentaries on it. It has to work and be reliable.

-- Mike Huckabee

MATLOCK!!!

Good god, he's pathetic:

Obama, by virtue of his birth date and birthplace, is spared the psychological burden of those battles. He simply has no dog in those fights. So when he is arguing economic or tax policy with contemporaries such as Eric Cantor, the House Republican whip, or Jim Cooper, a leading conservative Democratic congressman, they can focus on the issue at hand, unimpeded by emotional baggage from the past.

Has he ever bothered to listen to Eric Cantor?

Yes...not impaired by baggage, just stupidity:

He pores over newspaper columns, he says, seeking wisdom "from the George Wills of the world, the Bill Kristols of the world, the Charles Krauthammers of the world."

And, of course, Eric Cantor endorses Rush Limbaugh attacking the troops.

Hard hitting interviews only please

What could be more challenging for Cindy McCain than being interviewed by Meghan McCain?

What with all that allowance money on the line.

What was the worst hotel you ever stayed in?

Ohh my, that's a really tough one. That one in Iowa that had the bathtub in the middle of the room was pretty bad. I have forgotten the name.

I'm going to take a stab at this one. I bet this is a hotel in Coralville, Iowa -- literally adjoined to Iowa City (home of the University of Iowa). The hotel advertises this feature. They are known as "fanta-suites" -- where people early in their relationship go and do it for y'know the 3rd or 4th time -- or the first time, where one of the party charges a "rate". Prominently placed in the room (and really rooms, they are suites) is a large sunken tub, a whirlpool really -- large enough to accommodate two people at once so they can, y'know -- do it. Now, I have been forced to reveal a pathetic event from my young adulthood -- thanks so fucking much! (And a sincere thanks also to the woman who accompanied me, completely uncompensated I may add -- solely for the purpose of conversation, of course)

Still for a wealthy couple running for President an even nicer, classier choice. Don't blame the hotel for your staff's sick sense of humor there Cindy.

My Favorite Photo from Yesterday

Larger image here.

Isn't she pretty?

Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times

NICE!

Found here.

Lovably hoaky

The Hawaii float.

Frankly, I thought it was spam (see below). I guess that's a Volcano...held together by jumper cables.


(AP Photo/Jae Hong)

Hey, just be happy they weren't clinging to their guns at the same time Dana

It isn't bitterness, it's what happens when you hit 22 percent, ie appropriate:

Bitterness among Obama's supporters was also in evidence. When George Bush and Dick Cheney were announced for the final time as president and vice president, thousands on the Mall sang: "Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, hey hey hey, goodbye." When Bush's helicopter took off from the Capitol's East Front to take him to Andrews Air Force Base for his flight to Texas, shouts from the ground followed him: "Go home!"

After endorsing Bush in 2004

Don King brings a little class (very little) to the Inauguration.

Tasteful without being gaudy.

Apparently some don't love a parade

What Digby says.

One thing about an Inaugural Parade -- it is wonderfully silly. I mean I swear I saw a Hawaii float that saluted either ham or even better, Spam.

But the thing is, almost all these people traveled long distances, engaged in a lot of work and discomfort and feel the honor of performing before the President. Many of them are also young and this is the honor of their lives.

But two things pissed me off. First, the chatterers for the most part, couldn't be bothered to even identify who was taking part in the parade. I had the misfortune of watching CNN's coverage and after the first band, they completely skipped identifying the next performer in the parade (which just happened to be the Isiserettes Drill and Drum Corps from Iowa) and continued on not identifying everyone else. ABC did a little better from what I saw. But still shut up and let the people actually marching in the cold be acknowledged.

Second, there were a LOT of reserved seats close to the Presidential Review Stand that were empty. I assume those were reserved (as they always are). Those folks didn't bother to show. Maybe there's an explanation other than "I didn't feel like it" but I imagine there were a lot of people...say family members of the marchers who would have liked to have those seats.

They're not booing, they're going Boooooooosh

As a citizen, of America and the world, I'm damn glad they're gone. But as a blogger, I tell ya' Mitch McConnell and Boehner are just not as ripe a target. If the GOP nominates an over-tanned, teary-eyed, chinless wonder in 2012 the material is going to seem awfully stale. If the Republicans would be so kind as to keep the talk shows ass-deep in Eric Cantor or Adam Putman it would help.

And speaking of ripe targets, even as Bush was booed and people pointed and laughed at Dick "Mr. Potter Blofeld Strangelove Judge Doom Ironside" Cheney, there was one man particularly beloved by the millions on the National Mall via National Review blogger Yuval Levin:

This was, understandably, a very partisan crowd in which I was badly out of place. The loudest boos, to my surprise, were not for Bush and Cheney, who got plenty, but for Joe Lieberman when he was shown on the huge television screens — more than one voice could be heard shouting “traitor” around where I was standing...

Welcome to the rest of your life Joe, and you didn't even get a dinner out of it.

Crowd reports

CNN and MSNBC say approximately 2 million people were there to see the swearing in.

However, FoxNews disagrees and says, at best, the number was 3/5ths of that!

A final review

The sound of a job completely fucked up.

Summing Up Bush's Exit

How does it feel? Like that pit in your stomach you get after eating something that didn't sit right, a thud, followed by gas and cramps as the bad food works its way through the pipes. Inevitably it work its way out, an explosion, and ultimately, sweet relief as the mess finally exits. Goodbye mal carne.

Funny

I do not know where this comes from but I had to share it:

Dear World:

We, the United States of America, your top quality supplier of the ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service. The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located, and the software responsible was replaced November 4. Early tests of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly, and we expect it to be fully functional on January  20. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage. We look forward to resuming full service and hope to improve in years to come. We thank you for your patience and understanding.

Sincerely,
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

If anyone knows who wrote this, please send us the attribution.

Updates from CNN

Updates that you want to see that is:

At 11:50am:

-- The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States is under way.

>+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Can't make it to the Inauguration? Watch it LIVE on CNN.com
today. Coverage begins at 8 a.m. ET. http://www.cnn.com/Live
>+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

At 12:09pm:

-- Barack Obama has been sworn in as the nation's 44th president.

>+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Can't make it to the Inauguration? Watch it LIVE on CNN.com
today. Coverage begins at 8 a.m. ET. http://www.cnn.com/Live
>+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

For One Moment Hope

For a moment today the world seemed beautiful and just. I know the ugliness and injustices are still there.  But for a moment, things changed.  I hope for more of those moments in my life, and I wish them for everyone.

May our energy in the face of our continuing struggles be renewed.

"They call me, Mr. President"

REUTERS/Jim Young

Cheney's new endorsement deal

Now this is AWESOME to See!!!

Great to see you Teddy!

(AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

"I'm ready for my close up Mr. Kubrick"

REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES)

So Much to Savor

Peggy Noonan, November 4, 2004:

I do not know what the Democratic Party spent, in toto, on the 2004 election, but what they seem to have gotten for it is Barack Obama. Let us savor.

Enjoy the day, Old Girl!

Facebook Status Updates for Bush Devotees, Dimwits & Dead-enders (Part II)

With special Inauguration Day updates!

RICH LOWRY is sucking on little Starbursts.

CLAUDE ALLEN is formulating strategies for his new gig as Director of Loss Prevention at Linda Tripp’s popular shop, The Christmas Sleigh, in Middleburg, VA.

MONICA GOODLING is thinking that government work is highly overrated and searching for a Republican to design napkin rings for her wedding.

JOE THE PLUMBER is considering going back to installing water filters instead of babbling about media filters.

KEN MEHLMAN is thinking about the myriad of ways in which George W. Bush really is like Harry S. Truman.

BEN DOMENECH is thinking about the myriad of ways in which George W. Bush really is like Harry S. Truman.

JAMES INHOFE is unrepentant in his insistence that global warming is a hoax as he pumps four feet of water out of his Tulsa basement.

HARRIET MIERS is dreaming about what might have been as she stages a mock-wedding for her cats.

MITT ROMNEY is thinking about this February's Westminster Kennel Club 133rd Annual Dog Show.

COKIE ROBERTS is very concerned that Democrats will overplay their hand and wonders if "Beyonce" is an overly exotic name for a performer at an inaugural event.

BRISTOL PALIN is wondering re the whereabouts of Levi Johnston.

LEVI JOHNSTON is on the road.

KENNETH TOMLINSON is not watching inauguration coverage on PBS.

LYNNE CHENEY is pondering a return to writing.

RICHARD PERLE is reminding anyone who will listen that he was not an architect of the Iraq war.

BARBARA BUSH is packing.

DAVID BRODER is spending the day watching a "Matlock" marathon on TVLand.

ALBERTO GONZALES is sending out resumes.

NICOLLE WALLACE is very definitely not reading inauguration coverage in "Time" magazine!

SCOOTER LIBBY is waiting for a phone call.

TOM DELAY is thinking about comebacks.

MICHELLE MALKIN is enraged.

JOHN BOEHNER is weeping while tanning.

JIM O'BIERNE is wading through resumes from laid-off Heritage Foundation employees.

L. PAUL BREMER is avoiding Jim O'Bierne's calls.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE is dreaming of peace while shopping for shoes in the middle east.

PIPER PALIN is still carrying her Lunchables in the RNC's her $865 Louis Vuitton "Montorgueil GM" handbag.

SEAN HANNITY is looking forward to his inauguration day address to the Nassau Community College Chapter of the College Republicans.

ASHLEY TODD is discovering the joys of L'Oreal True Match Liquid Make-up in "Classic White".

JOHN YOO is grateful for tenure.

MICHAEL BROWN is thinking that George W. Bush has done a heckuva job.

GEORGE ALLEN is watching the inauguration from America and the real world of Virginia.

LURITA DOAN is thinking about how she can help her candidates in the next election.

ALAN GREENSPAN is pondering legacies shattered.

JUDITH MILLER is enjoying her new gig as lead local affairs correspondent for the Sag Harbor Pennysaver.

CHRIS COX is looking for his shredder.

STEVE SCHMIDT is tired of pro-Obama advocacy organizations and is avoiding all MSM inauguration coverage.

SARAH PALIN is organizing her closets and keeping an eye on Russia from her bedroom window.

JACK ABRAMOFF is wondering (a) if it was all worth it and (b) if the person in charge of the TV at Federal Corrections Institute at Cumberland, Maryland at noon tomorrow is a Republican or a Democrat.

RACHEL PAULOSE is reading about the inauguration and remembering her investiture.

DICK CHENEY is resting comfortably within reach of his shredder.

BRADLEY SCHLOZMAN is pondering a career outside the law.

PEGGY NOONAN is not savoring.

Just so you know

According to the New York Times Chimpy & Lump depart at 12:32 eastern time from the east side of the Capitol in a reenactment of the climatic scene from Miss Saigon.

Awesome

But some of the musical choices make me wonder about the number of lame people attending (I keed, I keed, I actually love this):

(3rd and C St. NW) -- As the crowd that now stretches north about four blocks awaits to be let on the Capitol grounds in about 50 minutes, a wave of singing begins.

A small group of Howard University students began singing songs from musicals such as "A Whole New World" from Alladin and Rent's "Seasons of Love." Then many voices joined in as the crowd, as in a wave, began singing "Lift Every Voice". By the time the crowd reached "true to our God, true to our native land" black, brown and white fists were in the air.

The biggest chorus of voices joined in on "The Star Spangled Banner" as voices bounced off the concrete barriers on both sidewalks.

Golly, why so bitter?

Oh, the poor right they just cannot stand all this coverage of Obama and why it is so positive. It's all a media creation, blah blah blah:

Attendance at the Inauguration of George W. Bush 2001 (people, not tossed eggs):

almost 250,000 people in attendance

Obama will have somewhere well north of 1,000,000.

Update:

Already at 5 in the morning in D.C.:

Thousands of spectators have already packed the mall in front of the Air and Space Museum, throwing down blankets and in some cases jumping right into sleeping bags.

Live pictures make it clear there are already huge crowds before the Capital building.

Na na na na, hey-hey-hey, goodbye!

It's a good thing nothing is really going on because otherwise Dick Cheney's determination to go out looking like Lionel Barrymore in 'It's a Wonderful Life' would be worth more notice.

Vice President Dick Cheney pulled a muscle in his back on Monday while moving boxes and will be in a wheelchair for Tuesday’s inauguration ceremony.

Considering his alleged heart problems (the problems are real, it's the heart that's alleged) and his wealth what boxes were so important that only Dick could move them? Must be his line of CIA Operative trading cards.

In any case, I guess the old "history will vindicate me" line is not off to a good start when even Assrocket at Powerline tries to walk it back.

From this in July 2005:

It must be very strange to be President Bush. A man of extraordinary vision and brilliance approaching to genius, he can't get anyone to notice.

To this:

Everything considered, I give the Bush administration a B-.

Four letters off, but it's a start.

(picture via krystalynn)

[Cross-posted at Firedoglake]

And it just hit me...

I have been waiting for this moment for 8 fucking years now. That I get the benefit of a great new President is icing on the cake. About one year ago I was sitting in Attaturk's living room, talking with Attaturk and Dedurkheim about the scenes we had all witnessed at several different caucus sites in here in the unofficial hometown of this bloggy blog. Fair to say I think none of us saw this coming except in those weird dreams that only happen early in the morning, right before you wake-up (as opposed to the Bush-induced dreams that wake you at 1:28 a.m., the stranger standing over you with an axe...).

Good riddance to Bush and Cheney, the Malachi brothers of the whole nation. May they have many sleepless nights.

The enjoyable final moments

As we enter the last 18 hours of the Bush Administration there was something quite enjoyable about the crowd I just saw behind Keith Olbermann mocking Dick Cheney straining a back muscle.

Followed by the change of "Nah nah nah nah hey-hey-hey-GOODBYE!"

In the words of Peggy Noonan and Res Ipsa, let us savor.

Facebook Status Updates from Bush Devotees, Dimwits & Dead-enders (Part I)

Inauguration Eve Edition

CLAUDE ALLEN is formulating strategies for his new gig as Director of Loss Prevention at Linda Tripp’s popular shop, The Christmas Sleigh, in Middleburg, VA.

MONICA GOODLING is thinking that government work is highly overrated and searching for a Republican to design napkin rings for her wedding.

JOE THE PLUMBER is considering going back to installing water filters instead of babbling about media filters.

KEN MEHLMAN is thinking about the myriad of ways in which George W. Bush really is like Harry S. Truman.

BEN DOMENECH is thinking about the myriad of ways in which George W. Bush really is like Harry S. Truman.

JAMES INHOFE is unrepentant in his insistence that global warming is a hoax as he pumps four feet of water out of his Tulsa basement.

HARRIET MIERS is dreaming about what might have been as she stages a mock-wedding for her cats.

MITT ROMNEY is thinking about this February's Westminster Kennel Club 133rd Annual Dog Show.

COKIE ROBERTS is very concerned that Democrats will overplay their hand and wonders if "Beyonce" is an overly exotic name for a performer at an inaugural event.

LEVI JOHNSTON is on the road.

KENNETH TOMLINSON is not watching inauguration coverage on PBS.

LYNNE CHENEY is pondering a return to writing.

RICHARD PERLE is reminding anyone who will listen that he was not an architect of the Iraq war.

BARBARA BUSH is packing.

ALBERTO GONZALES is sending out resumes.

NICOLLE WALLACE is very definitely not reading inauguration coverage in "Time" magazine!

TOM DELAY is thinking about comebacks.

MICHELLE MALKIN is enraged.

JOHN BOEHNER is weeping while tanning.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE is dreaming of peace while shopping for shoes in the middle east.

PIPER PALIN is still carrying her Lunchables in her the RNC's $865 Louis Vuitton "Montorgueil GM" handbag.

SEAN HANNITY is looking forward to his inauguration day address to the Nassau Community College Chapter of the College Republicans.

ASHLEY TODD is discovering the joys of L'Oreal True Match Liquid Make-up in "Classic Ivory".

JOHN YOO is grateful for tenure.

GEORGE ALLEN is watching the inauguration from America and the real world of Virginia.

LURITA DOAN is thinking about how she can help her candidates in the next election.

ALAN GREENSPAN is pondering legacies shattered.

STEVE SCHMIDT is tired of pro-Obama advocacy organizations and is avoiding all MSM inauguration coverage.

SARAH PALIN is organizing her closets and keeping an eye on Russia from her bedroom window.

JACK ABRAMOFF is wondering (a) if it was all worth it and (b) if the person in charge of the TV at Federal Corrections Institute at Cumberland, Maryland at noon tomorrow is a Republican or a Democrat.

RACHEL PAULOSE is reading about the inauguration and remembering her investiture.

BRADLEY SCHLOZMAN is pondering a career outside the law.

PEGGY NOONAN is not savoring.

Deep Thought

Does the fact that I am not feeling the whole "First Black President" thing (except insofar as it pisses off racist Republicans) as much as I am feeling the whole "Holy Crap! A fellow Generation Jones-er is taking the reigns of power and he is smart, competent, good-looking, and a decent human being" thing mean I am emotionally disconnected from history and/or post-racial?

Soon-to-be-President Barack Obama: I am rooting for you!

Welcome to BizzaroWorld

Reading accounts of BHO's Saturday train trip, the spectators at the Baltimore rally yelling "We love you!", BHO responding, "I love you back!", seeing all the happy faces, feeling just great myself, and thinking, "When was the last time Americans let loose so much love on a politician?" We have entered some sort of BizzaroWorld -- one I've certainly never experienced -- and you know what? I like it. I like it a lot!

Best of luck to almost-President Barack Hussein Obama!