Now that's a 'Happy Ending'

World's greatest (and occasionally fattest) supervillain goes free, just because there isn't much in the way of evidence.

This kind of stuff never stops Republicans from invading countries, you think they'd be more determined this time.

Great White Hoax update..

You now the really irritating -- nay, maddening -- thing about all this is that when there is a lineup for aqualungs the rich assholes who have been denying global warming and proclaiming it a lie, they'll already have them.

So not only will live, they won't even have to wait in line.

Fuckers.

A British research team studying the Greenland ice sheet has discovered evidence of a rapidly accelerating rate of melt...

Greenland's ice sheet holds 10% of the world's freshwater reserves - at its centre it is more than 3 km thick.

Its rate of reduction has tripled in the last ten years.

But Al Gore, at various times, has been fat.

I had no idea this happened..

But it's amazing, leaping manta rays!

Shit for Brains

I'm sure this sounded better in the original German:

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich twice called on the United States to attack North Korea and Iran Thursday because the United States has only attacked "one out of three" of so-called "Axis of Evil" members by invading Iraq.

Insufferable jackass

What John Cole said, absolutely.

Dear Anti-Defamation League

You realize by the standards you laid down today -- "You can build an Islamic Community Center within a few blocks of Ground Zero, but you shouldn't as it might offend some people" -- the modern State of Israel would not have been created as it might have upset many of the people living in Palestine at the time?

Nice logic train ADL, well done.

I must have missed this?

When did Bill Donohue get to take over the Anti-Defamation League? Quite an accomplishment really, all things considered.

I'm against a Christian Science Reading Room being too close to a hospital, where's the ADL for me?

Pathetic and unintentionally hilarious quote of the day

What we’re also doing by the burning of the Quran on 9/11 is we’re saying stop. Stop to Islam. Stop to Islamic law. Stop to brutality.

We have nothing against Muslims...

-- Terry Jones, author of the book “Islam Is Of The Devil” — and host of “International Burn A Quran Day”


With that name you might think such a blatantly stupid statement came from the Terry Jones of Monty Python fame as a joke, but no, it is today's frighteningly stupid and repulsive statement of the day.

Generally -- and specifically -- I do not give a shit

Lavish spending on weddings is IMO disgusting enough, but add the media dry-humping themselves into a frenzy over it is just more poisonous grist for the vomit-inducing mill.

There is, however, one nice thing about Chelsea Clinton's nuptials to report (and it's all I'm going to report):

WaPo's Sally Quinn is out of the wedding writing business. And it looks as though she won't get a chance to revive the genre anytime soon.

This morning Quinn told MSNBC's dayside anchor Tamron Hall that she and her hubby, Ben Bradlee, are not invited to what's turning out to be the royal event of the year - Chelsea Clinton's wedding. She blushed as she said between clenched teeth "We're not close to the Clintons." All the while, she offered a hard smile.

She'll just have to settle for making the help work overtime on the weekend cooking, serving, cleaning and carrying them to bed from wherever they've passed out this time -- under threat of turning them in to the INS.

One Simple Question

Regarding claims that the BP oil spill is not as bad as it seems...ask yourself (and suggest that those making the claim ask themselves) one simple question: would you let your kid swim in the Gulf of Mexico?

On an entirely unrelated note, watch this.

P.S. I can think of a few offsets.

Update: I may keep adding to this post. No theme here. Just random stuff I'm coming across as I read the internets while I do my laundry.

Another reason to root for Elizabeth Warren (via The Baseline Scenario). I remember reading that case. Same no-need-to-question-my-assumptions-which-spring-from-years-of-being-fed-rightwing-horseshit-and-which-I-simply-refuse-to-question arguments in my class (in this case, civ pro), I'm afraid.

Since I gave up cable (and Joe Scarborough), I torture myself with Bloomberg radio in the AM. It's also a load shit, but it bubbles away in a slightly different crock. This morning: a lot of stuff about Charlie Rangel and Nancy Pelosi (the hosts are always after Pelosi, whom they despise), but nary a word about the Wyly Brothers.

This trailer would have been terrific, if only someone had stopped it at 0:53 with the words, "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies."

On a related note, is there a bad cover of Radiohead's Creep? If there is, I haven't heard one.

We all remember that substantive stuff you did as Governor

Gobble, gobble.


Okay, first of all "lotso'"?

Second, she quit being governor so she could devote all of her time to keeping Bristol and Levi apart and tweeting bullshit.

So, 1 outta 2.

I believe that Star Trek Alternative Universe Jon Stewart pulled out his ceremonial dagger and thrust it deeply into this stupidity quite well:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Leader's Digest
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

That really important stuff

I'm glad that Brian Williams has a chance to obsess over Mad Men errors rather than petty bullshit like domestic spying.

Funny, Brian seems to listen to Rush Limbaugh without writing up corrections?

Shame is only for when your price hasn't been met

Fred Barnes, FoxNews pitch man and author of the seminal (literally) work on George W. Bush, is outraged, OUTRAGED, about the whole Journolist thing, the greatest scandal ever.

As a conservative, I normally write more favorably about Republicans than Democrats and I routinely treat conservative ideas as superior to liberal ones. But I've never been part of a discussion with conservative writers about how we could most help the Republican or the conservative team."

But enough about ignoring the entire premise of "The Beltway Boys", Joe Conason finds a fertile field of Barnes' laughable hypocrisy. It appears that like the swallows returning to Capistrano, the Buzzards returning to Hinckley, and Peggy Noonan returning to rut around on Reagan's grave au naturale, Fred Barnes annually pockets thousands from Republicans to make some asinine, partisan speech. In the name of journalism, of course, or prostitution.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Pathetic and unintentionally hilarious quote of the day

"[Muslims] hate Jews, they hate Christians [sic], they hate women, they hate dogs."

..."I want you to stress this -- I'm not prejudiced."

- Diane Serafin, leader of a group trying to prevent the building of a Mosque in Temecula, California

And now a moment of sports

Larry King, still dead.



Dear Larry, in reality and located in a land that isn't on the left or right coast lives this guy:

He's 27, he's won three-batting titles (as many as all other cathers in Major League History combined) and was AL MVP in 2009, the first catcher to lead the league in batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage in a single year, and the first player to lead the American League in all three since George Brett did it nearly 30 years earlier. He only batted .365! highest batting average by a catcher in history -- lifetime average .325 -- as a catcher!

He led the American League in batting average (.365), on-base percentage (.444) and slugging percentage (.587). This is rare stuff, the Sabermetric Triple Crown. Alex Rodriguez hasn’t done this. Nor has Albert Pujols or Ken Griffey Jr. Nor did Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays or Henry Aaron. It’s the kind of thing done by men like Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Barry Bonds and Ted Williams — the absolute dominant hitters of their eras. And now Mauer stands with them...

Of the candidates for best catcher in history, only Mickey Cochrane — not coincidentally the catcher Mauer seems most similar to — ever led the league in even one of the percentage categories. He led the league once in on-base percentage (1933).

He's also regarded as one of the best, if not the best, defensive catcher in baseball, has been for sometime, two gold gloves, many more to come.

Something tells me, like the evidence, that Buster Posey while a promising player, is not better than Joe Mauer and has a way to go to catch up.

You have a "teabagger's knowledge" of baseball Larry.

Sometimes Truth cannot be spoken

Doctor Who would know what's cool:



Suck on that one, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.

Oh, right.

But there were some emails and shit!!!!!!

Time for the deniers to go "la la la" and keep pursuing the Kenyan Usurper's Real Birth Certificate...bring your dogs!

Scientists have discovered that the phytoplankton of the oceans has declined by about 40 per cent over the past century, with much of the loss occurring since the 1950s. They believe the change is linked with rising sea temperatures and global warming.

If the findings are confirmed by further studies it will represent the single biggest change to the global biosphere in modern times, even bigger than the destruction of the tropical rainforests and coral reefs, the scientists said yesterday.

That would be 2/5ths of the Ocean's primary source of food and the biggest supplier of oxygen on Earth.

AWESOME!!!

But hey that northwest passage thing isn't just of 18th century dreams anymore!

Oh, and this, all undoubtedly part of Earth's dastardly-Nazi-like plot.

Let them eat wedding cake

Hi, I'm Gail Collins, I am paid a LOT of money to write a column for the New York Times -- whereupon I can write about the important -- very important -- issues of the day.

Therefore, let me write about the most important thing EVER!

Chelsea Clinton's Wedding! Woo-Hoo!

Please send all appreciative money orders because of my awesomeness to...this email address.

Read it while you can kids, before they put quality like this back behind a pay-window.

So, how much gay porn do you watch every night Tony?

I'm guessing at least 5 to 10 minutes worth.

Y'know it's completely predictable

That our six and seven-figured "jounalists" hyperventilate over the private emails on "Journolist" while they have spent well-over a decade ignoring constant and blatant right-wing spinning of the news, and the creation of false controversies that go on 24/7 on FoxNews.

I apologize

On behalf of all rational Iowans, no matter their party, but really GOP?

Iowa GOP Supports Amendment To Strip Obama’s Citizenship Because He Won The Nobel Peace Prize

At its state convention in Des Moines last month, the Iowa GOP adopted a new party platform that includes the repeal of mandatory minimum wage laws, the elimination of the U.S. Department of Education, and even clarification on the definition of manure. Out of the “387 enumerated planks and principles,” Newsweek’s Jerry Adler found the most “startling” section of the platform calls for “the reintroduction and ratification of the original 13th Amendment.”

It’s never the time — to not be a hypocrite

Behold Kent Conrad "Mr. Deficit Hawk". What do you think of those Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and the Republican plan for loving them?

[A] “formula for the decline of the United States.”

Naturally, Kent continues...

There’s no question in my mind that taxes have to go up on the wealthiest among us. The question is when. I don’t think this is the moment.

Yes, god forbid the fabulously wealthy, who have had huge swaths of the national wealth the last eight years concentrated in their hands, release a fraction (now, then, or ever).

It's just never the moment for them to help reduce the debt, is it "Mr. Deficit Hawk"?

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

(pic from walknboston at flickr.com)

A Crude Stereotype Firebreak

If I was a member of the Islamic Community of Riverside, California and knew that certain intolerant Christian yahoos were bringing their dogs in some ill-thought (what else?) form of slander I would do this.

I would talk to a member of the local Korean Community and ask if they want to fight stereotype with stereotype as performance art? Have a group of Koreans show up in butcher's aprons and stare hungrily at certain people's pets.

A Modest Proposal

Rather than beat the drums of actual war, stupidly, let's just compromise with Stupid English Mangler vs. Stupid Farsi Haranguer.

Twitter War between Sarah Palin and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Alert that jackass Jeffrey Lord

One of his ideological fellow travelers agrees with his definition!



Thank goodness Republicans are bringing back hate and ignorance to debates again. I can hardly wait for that Glenn Beck rally on the anniversary of the "I have a Dream Speech"



(pic from here)

And their little dogs too

Is there no amount of ignorance these morons will not come up with?

Protesters of a planned mosque and Muslim community center in Riverside County, California are calling on locals to come to a rally outside an existing mosque with their pet dogs because, as the protest organizer says, Muslims "hate dogs."

This will come as news to various American muslim families I've known over the years who had various and sundry mutts -- one of whom had a real predilection for owning Scotties -- just like Bush.

Many layers of fail

How many layers of fail is the Iraq invasion and occupation onion going to have?

The Defense Department is unable to properly account for $8.7 billion out of $9.1 billion in Iraqi oil revenue entrusted to it between 2004 and 2007, according to a newly released audit that underscores a pattern of poor record-keeping during the war.

Of that amount, the military failed to provide any records at all for $2.6 billion in purported reconstruction expenditure...

Hey, they can account for a whopping 4% of revenue. But you have to concede, that's a lot better than the percentage of WMD they found to justifying the whole enterprise to begin with.

Though there is no apparent evidence of fraud...

As the 0% of WMD ever found clearly shows...it certainly shows something.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

The Afghan War has been going on so long...

* It started when we only saw TV in 480i
* I'm pretty sure I had just gotten broadband -- I'll have to go to my porn archives to denote the point this occurred (and also marked the point I just stopped giving a shit shortly thereafter).
* "Atrios" was still an occasional commenter on Salon's Table-Talk
* Markos Moulitsas was not Orange, not Satan, and had no secret island lair.
* People thought Mel Gibson was a likable actor.
* People assumed that Glenn Reynolds was in touch in reality
* Not only did Facebook not exist, not even Friendster existed.
* People still bought VCRs.
* Twitter was what people may have referred to as the location of Twits...so TMZ headquarters (which also did not yet exist).

IOKIYAR files

I'm waiting for Jeffrey Lord's denunciation of Clarence Thomas assertion of a "high tech lynching".

There's a guy who is so pathologically awful he needs a prime time show on FoxNews -- not as much as he needs a dictionary, but put the two together and he's highly qualified to work at News Corp.

Meanwhile, Glenn Beck has turned into a Nubian Princess

Via Balloon Juice, the Times has apparently started hiring from FoxNews' captioning pool.

Not just for 'Hogan's Heroes' repeats any more

BP will actually send Tony Hayward to the Eastern Front!

...will he take his special collection of Bob Crane porn/snuff films with him?

Preempt THIS!

I mentioned this briefly yesterday, but you would think considering the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan has us hoping to get, in soccer parlance, two whole points from a pair of draws that the war lovers would shut their traps for a while.

But fools and their ability to be fools are not easily squelched in the modern media:

Gen. Michael Hayden told CNN's Candy Crowley Sunday that an attack on Iran now "seems inexorable."

"In my personal thinking -- and I need to emphasize that -- I have begun to consider that may not be the worst of the possible outcomes," he said.

Especially since he has no risk and stands ONLY to profit from the situation.

If there is a Hell, and sadly I don't think there is (other than here sometimes) there should be a special "ballsack kicking room" reserved for these fuckers.

Circle the Wankers, er, Wagons!

The fruit of nearly nine-years of occupation revealed at Steve Clemons to be pretty much something from the Afroman collection.

For some reason (*cough* Fred Hiatt *cough*) the Washington Post did not get in on the original release of the latest Wikileaks documents. Naturally, the Post's merry band of war enablers have shrugged their collective shoulders and declared it no biggie, the war is still nine years of mostly awesome.

Of course, America's Concern Troll, Richard Cohen is in on the action, after all he's been hoarding his armies in Siam, he's got three matching cards and is ready to strike -- if only Obama is MAN ENOUGH!, as defined by manly man Dickie.

But nobody passives the aggressive like Fred Hiatt and damn if this whole thing is going to ruin his pathological chubby over watching shit blow up!

The archive is not comparable to the Pentagon Papers or the secret files of the East German Stasi secret police, as Julian Assange variously claimed on Sunday and Monday. Nor does it provide evidence for war crimes prosecutions -- though in making that assertion, Wikileaks' founder revealed his organization's antiwar agenda.

Keep trying to avoid that accessory charge Fred.

But What Kind of Countertops Does He Have?

Apparently, Julian Assange has no official home base, but I'm sure the Usual Suspects will find a dozen alternate way to direct attention away from the substance of the Afghanistan documents.

Sometimes the obvious is obvious for a reason

Nice, well,...kitties, fill in your own joke kids:



This one is quite the winner too. Somebody is expecting an 7.8 pound chewtoy.

Off to the Yacht Races!

Look who's "getting his life back":

After a weekend of detailed negotiations over Mr Hayward's severance package, it now appears almost certain that he will announce his departure ahead of BP's half year results on Tuesday.

So, how far into the 8-figures will Tony's golden parachute end up being?

Heckuva job.

Outside of Dana Priest nobody

Golly, funny how the Wikileaks folks managed not to work with the Washington Post for the release of the Pentagon Papers 2, home of such persons of integrity as Charles Krauthammer, Fred Hiatt and Richard Cohen.

Which of the three is going to come out for punishing leakers even more harshly now?

Freedom?

One does wonder about a political system that punishes those who exposed the fact that for years government officials have been lying to your face about a war. Meanwhile those who started the war and authorized torture are allowed to not only escape punishment, but get seven and eight-figure book contracts.

To be confirmed in a decade or so...

By which time, of course, it being modern America we'll be involved in another couple of conflicts we are assuredly winning according to the President at the time.

A huge cache of secret US military files today provides a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, Taliban attacks have soared and Nato commanders fear neighbouring Pakistan and Iran are fuelling the insurgency.

And on that score, see the next round pushed by the Right, after they get done calling Obama Hitler and an appeaser simultaneously:

A former CIA director says military action against Iran now seems more likely because no matter what the U.S. does diplomatically, Tehran keeps pushing ahead with its suspected nuclear program.

Michael Hayden, a CIA chief under President George W. Bush, says that during his tenure a strike was "way down the list" of options. But he tells CNN's "State of the Union" that such action now "seems inexorable."

Tune seems familiar.

A Show Me State of Mind

Sounds good, but please follow through:

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said that allowing tax cuts for the wealthy to expire would be "the responsible thing to do."

That it is responsible goes without saying. After all, the deficit hawks who go on and on about the dangers of deficits ... seem to ignore this:



Of course for most of the deficit scolds, the fact that the filthy rich will have their taxes go up is what only a Commie-Fascist-Socialist-Maoist-Kenyan-America hater could want.

Tim Geithner and even Alan Greenspan with the bulk of the American people versus the really, really rich.

So, will you actually have the guts Mr. President?

[cross-posted to Firedoglake]

Our buddies

The extent to which we have fucked up in Afghanistan starts with the fact we should have realized things could not be anything but fucked up.

However, this one is on those just delighted to pump money into Pakistan without regard for the likely consequences of trusting them...this one is on Bush and Cheney for their incredible naivete...though there's not much sign the Obama Administration has gotten a grip on it either.

The documents, made available by an organization called WikiLeaks, suggest that Pakistan, an ostensible ally of the United States, allows representatives of its spy service to meet directly with the Taliban in secret strategy sessions to organize networks of militant groups that fight against American soldiers in Afghanistan, and even hatch plots to assassinate Afghan leaders.

Taken together, the reports indicate that American soldiers on the ground are inundated with accounts of a network of Pakistani assets and collaborators that runs from the Pakistani tribal belt along the Afghan border, through southern Afghanistan, and all the way to the capital, Kabul.

Meanwhile, the right-wing wants to bomb Iran...over to you Bibi.

Today on Fox News Sunday

Fox News Sunday: Newt Gingrich and Howard Dean on the 2010 Midterms. Plus, Rev. Jesse Jackson. Fox News AllStars: Brit Hume, Mara Liasson, Bill Kristol, Juan Williams.

I'll tell you what will happen so you need not watch it...unless you're into that sort of thing, and I'm a liberal so y'know I'm not into that, but whatever makes you happy.

Bill Kristol places a "deuce" atop the table, all behold how little it stinks.

The never ending quality of the jabbering class

Yes, the don't talk just to hear their voices at all:

Chris Matthews: ... Topics
: Will African Americans Stick With Obama This Year?

Yes, given the many demonstrations of racial harmony we've seen from the Teabaggers, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck this year, it's hard to see how the nations African Americans won't go GOP in droves.

His brain seceeded some time ago

I guess if I was going to guess what the "patriotism" level of a guy named Zach Wamp would be I would guess hypocritically low.

Rep. Zack Wamp (R-Tenn.), in an interview with Hotline on Call, was the latest to raise the idea [secession]. "I hope that the American people will go to the ballot box in 2010 and 2012 so that states are not forced to consider separation from this government," he said.

..."Patriots like Rick Perry have talked about these issues because the federal government is putting us in an untenable position at the state level," said Wamp.

Yes, not wanting to be part of the United States is the very height of patriotism.

Real Grassroots

Thanks to the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United, American democracy is more or an oligarchy than ever.

Rove’s RNC ‘grassroots’ rival, American Crossroads, raised 97 percent of its money from four billionaires.

Quality Opposition

Bernie Kerik, presently an incarcerated felon -- is a character witness against the 1st Amendment.

He wants no mosque near the sex-pad he used to keep (well actually given for the purpose of providing a place for rescue workers to rest, but not used that way) in order to commit the most-Christian crime of adultery with Judith Regan just after 9/11 -- that's right, Bernie used a tragedy to get himself laid -- repeatedly.

Let no Muslim defile the place where Bernie doth spilled his most righteous seed.

Truly classy.

ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNO-TOAD!

Apparently not having the location of the latest military funeral or teen suicide, Fred Phelps odious bunch decided to protest a Comic-Con.

The geeks responded in hilarious kind:



Fez tip PZ Meyers. Click picture to enlarge.

UPDATE:

More on the awesome counter-protest here. These people were great.

Louisiana

The original Florida/South Carolina, making a comeback.

Just when David Vitter is changing his diaper from the fear of having a strong primary challenger, the challenger sees if he can shit-himself worse than the incumbent:

Traylor is also currently involved in a romantic relationship with Denise Lively, the estranged wife of his stepson, Ryan Ellington, the son of Noble Ellington.

He's banging his daughter-in-law?

This guy certainly has the makings of a Republican giant.

But what about all the "little people"?

I guess the combined intelligence will have to do:

"America's Two Most Polarizing Moms" television special - coming soon, to TLC?

The Silver Spring-based cable network went into full "No Comment" mode yesterday in response to a media pile-on over a report Kate Gosselin and Sarah Palin were going to meet up in one spectacular "Kate Plus 8" TV special being shot for the cable network.

(fez tip Watertiger)

Those surpluses would buy a lot of catfood

Good thing health-care reform preserved the ability of so-called non-profit insurance groups not to have competition in the form of a public option:

The report released Thursday by Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, found that seven of 10 Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates examined had amassed surpluses more than three times the level regulators deemed necessary for them to remain solvent.

For instance at the close of 2009, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona had a surplus of $717 billion million, more than seven times the regulatory minimum. The same year the company raised premiums for its individual market customers between 8.8 percent and 18.4 percent.

Oh, what to do...say, bring back the public option?

What, save money and help tens of millions of Americans?

Nah, rich people gotta be richer, the rest of us have to work until we die...in debt for our medical expenses though, so that will show 'em.

Hey, this plan worked for the Romanovs, sort of.

(h/t AmericaBlog)

(pic via Abu.Hummus at Flickr)

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

*note error in original WaPo article corrected thanks to commenter Showman at FDL

Just Ugly

Well now Newt Gingrich has entered the business of telling New York City residents what they should think -- and I use that word "liberally".

And what they should "think" is that the United States should restrict the First Amendment based on what other countries do.

Those Islamists and their apologists who argue for "religious toleration" are arrogantly dishonest. They ignore the fact that more than 100 mosques already exist in New York City. Meanwhile, there are no churches or synagogues in all of Saudi Arabia. In fact no Christian or Jew can even enter Mecca."

Yeah, and no more Synagogues until a Lutheran gets to be Israeli Prime Minister, and no more Cathedrals until we have a Unitarian Pope! No more Presbyterians until the Queen of England becomes Baha'i! Or until the early 90s, "No White Person can run for office in the United States until South Africa ends Apartheid" -- same logic pretty much as "No black person should complain about civil rights in the United States because of Apartheid in South Africa" opposite sides of Newt's same stupid coin.

BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THE FIRST AMENDMENT IS ALL ABOUT! We're better than Saudi Arabia, so American Muslims should shut the fuck up when we emulate it in the smallest fashion. USA! USA! USA!

I guess it's a quid pro quo notion of your rights based upon what other countries do. I'm sure having the United States emulate in some fashion other countries was the whole point of the Bill of Rights...except, of course, it was exactly the opposite.

So, just to clarify, apparently the only Amendment that means anything is the second half of the Second Amendment.

A real people person

Boner!

“I’ve got real empathy for those who are unemployed, as most of you know I’ve got 11 brothers and sisters. I know that three of my brothers lost their jobs, I’m not sure whether they’ve found jobs, yet, so I’ve got a lot of empathy for those caught in this economic downturn,”

Uh, wouldn't an empathetic person know if their brothers had found jobs?

This is hardly a shock

The same old cast of bigots is undoubtedly involved.

Anti-mosque protests on the rise, say Muslim advocates

I'm glad you apologized

That's better.

Now if only I could believe that you'll actually show some balls in the future when this happens.

"You can't go after them, they're all I've got!"

The other day, ABC News took note of what has long been suspected. Potential bait-and-switch tactics by Glenn Beck's sponsor Goldline.

California authorities have launched an investigation into claims that Goldline International — the favorite investment arm of Glenn Beck and Mike Huckabee — is scamming people into buying coins and is sending them "something different from what they had ordered."

And how do they pull this off?

Some angry customers say Goldline invokes Glenn Beck as a way to steer them to their collectable gold coins, citing his frequent warnings that only gold coins are safe from government seizure."

Meanwhile, thanks to the efforts of several sane interest groups Beck has lost many of his sponsors -- but not, of course, Goldline.

Even Beck is able to put down the "magic hat' containing Joseph Smith's Big Book of Crazy History long enough to know if Goldline's in trouble, he'll have real tears.

Beck called the recent ABC News report about Goldline "the biggest spin you've ever seen" and suggested it was part of a government conspiracy to deprive mainstream Americans of choices in how they invest their savings.

That's right, in Glennbeckistan only Goldline sells gold. Obviously, these are very savvy investors.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

I don't want my criticism of Obama to get in the way of the real villain here

Andrew Breitbart.

What.an.asshole!

I'm sure he's booked on each of the cable networks though for the next year, 3x a week each.

Sure he's a lying, soulless, scummy SOB, but he's a available and right-wing.

I just wish Steve Gilliard was around

For many reasons, but this reason in particular comes to mind.



For those of you who don't recall, Steve was a great blogger and died about three years ago or so.

And man did he hate those three, but not as much as he hated the fucking Yankees.

Andrew Breitbart presents...

Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech:

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, little black boys and little white girls shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

As pondered here.

I was thinking along these lines and agree wholeheartedly

With Blue Texan:

Surely, there’s a few good lawyers out there who’d love to come to Ms. Sherrod’s assistance. Since, you know, there’s no one at the White House who will.

Even applying New York Times vs. Sullivan, Breitbart has put himself in a vulnerable position for a defamation claim.

What Peter Daou said

They're allowed to lie, fabricate, and race-bait without consequence. The lie goes round the world while the truth is still putting on its pants (Twain). And then they get invited back ASAP to lie all over again.

Dear Shirley, please return to the back of the bus that just ran you over

The President has, as Oliver Willis says, ceded the government over to Glenn Beck.

I guess that means he has for all intents and purposes placed his balls in a blind trust.

Mr. President, suddenly you do seem the kind of person that would have told Rosa Parks to sit quietly in the back of the bus. And THAT appearance is the unkindness cut of all.

Meanwhile in unreported news

Remember the jackass that got arrested after shooting up Oakland a few days ago? What was he planning to do?

The Tuolumne County man accused of shooting at CHP officers on Interstate 580 in Oakland over the weekend was headed to San Francisco to kill people at the ACLU and the Tides non-profit organization.

The ACLU offices are in the Financial District and the Tides Foundation has offices in the Presidio.

I wonder what cable news channel he watched, or radio programs he listened to?

Donkey Show

ACORN, Van Jones, and now Shirley Sherrod all quickly dispatched due to a heavily edited video by race-baiting provocateur Andrew Breitbart or a Glenn Beck tantrum.

Such bravery Mr. President, such an incredibly principled stand.

I mean you didn't even invite the woman and the white farmers she helped (and love her) over to the White House for a beer. Nope, you just let Vilsack force out her ass, because you were afraid of frauds like Breitbart and Glenn Beck.

And how's that working out for you?

She was expendable, to you at least.

You could, of course, overturn the especially spineless Tom Vilsack and hire her back -- but that would require a modicum of courage over convenience and I'm not sure Rahm will let you do that. He might make a scene and we know you like to avoid a situation that would cause a scene.

So, on to the next bit of heavily edited race-baiting which will no doubt cause you to immediately panic.

Very inspiring.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Pathetic

Black woman official helps out southern white couple, who I'm watching interviewed right now, cannot sing her praises enough.

Instead of Breitbart being rightfully excoriated for ruining this woman's life over a falsehood and a shamelessly edited video, the Ag Secretary (or the White House) was completely and utterly gutless in firing the woman.

Somebody should be fired and it isn't Shirley Sherrod.

Way to stand up to right-wing bullshit guys, REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL inspiring.

Your daily dose of tragic-irony

FoxTelegraph BREAKING NEWS May 1862

"Good afternoon, I'm Fox strumpet Megyn Kelly from our News Headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, C.S.A., with a breaking and SHOCKING story.

It seems that the so-called President of the United States, the great Satan Abraham Lincoln, in addition to his multitude of other crimes -- from violating State Rights to loving the Darkies -- can add another one. Abraham Lincoln has been linked to CANNIBALISM.

FoxTelegraph has learned that a group calling itself the New Donner Party engaged in various acts of Cannibalism while carrying documents bearing the signature of the most heinous and vile monster ever to inhabit these shores.

With us now is Kirsten Powers, a well-known Darwinist, Marxist, and undoubted practitioner of miscegenation.

Kirsten, clearly these documents reveal Lincoln to be a eater of man-flesh, a truly reprehensible cannibal and baby eater, especially a white southern baby eater?

Kirsten: Well, actually Megyn they reveal no such thing. They are merely documents bearing the signatures of various people about unrelated...

Megyn: YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, HOW CAN YOU BE SO UNINFORMED?!!!

Kirsten: Actually, I'm not at all...

Megyn: HE'S A CANNIBAL!

Kirsten: There's absolutely no evi...

Megyn: HE SUCKLES ON THE CHARRED FLESH OF HUMANS, IT'S PEOPLE!!!

Kirsten: I really don't....

Megyn: CUT HER TELEGRAPH WIRE, CUT IT! I apologize ladies and gentlemen for the ignorance of our last guest. Time for a quick break, when we come back, is Frederick Douglass determined never to serve his sentence and submit to the lash as an escaped slave? Also, residents, nay, heroes of Atlanta vow to defeat an effort to build a Catholic Church because it is a moving force behind abolitionist terror. And, later, President Davis, handsome man, or the embodiment of the living Christ? We report you decide, Fair and Balanced on real America's news.

I suppose "I'm going blind" will be his alibi

After all, he couldn't see that his gold coins were actually washers...

California authorities have launched an investigation into claims that Goldline International — the favorite investment arm of Glenn Beck and Mike Huckabee — is scamming people into buying coins and is sending them "something different from what they had ordered."

... Once they get people on the phone, they basically steer them into these so-called collectible coins and that's where the rip off becomes really profound," Weiner told ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross.

"So there's no other value that these coins have because they're unusual or because there's a mistake in them?" Ross asked.

"There's no doubt about it, that there's a whole universe of rare collectible coins and I know nothing about that field," Weiner replied. "Except to say this: Goldline doesn't sell those coins."

Of course, the average Glenn Beck viewer or listener probably cannot tell the difference.

Close enough for FoxNews...

Hard to believe BP would lie about something after all these months of evidence of their lying about one thing after another, isn't it?

An appearance of impropriety -- quack quack

Memories of Nino Scalia's duck hunting and ducking live ammo trips with Dick Cheney:

A federal judge who overturned the Obama administration's initial six-month moratorium on deepwater oil drilling has refused to disqualify himself from the case.

Several environmental groups had asked U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman to withdraw from the case because of his investments in several oil and gas companies. Feldman refused in an order issued Friday and posted Monday.

As always, this has something to do with the three members of the New Black Panthers.

Good News Everyone

Despite the "heroic" efforts of more than three-dozen "brave" and fabulously wealthy Senators, almost all Republicans, to deprive those God has damned with joblessness, it appears that the Senate has 60 votes to reinstate unemployment benefits. I hope those of you lucky enough to be without a job for a long-time appreciate their efforts.

Undaunted these wealthy elites will now move on to their next holy crusade, preserving the Divine Right of Perpetual Tax Cuts for the "elect".

I'm sure our nation's major media figures and their six, seven, or even eight-figured salaries will report on this with all the journalistic integrity they can muster.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Your smiting seems to be off a bit oh Lord

Limbaugh, Bush, Beck.

Almost deaf, pretty dumb, and almost blind.

Be Almightier!


(So now we can start predicting the "miracle" cure for Beck...will come suddenly, like the cancellation of Oral Roberts trip to Heaven some time ago.

I bet he cries...in all seriousness his "illness" is degenerative and causes legal blindness...like I have with my 20/200 vision...and a corneal transplant -- now a common surgery fixes it -- in other words, Beck as usual is full of shit)

I bet it was all the Vaseline -- you cannot double dip on those kind of multiple uses out of the same vat Glenn.

Every Picture Tells a Story

Not sure if you have read the New Yorker article about Wikileaks founder Julian Assange from a few issues, back, but if you have not, it's here.

John Cole just pointed his readers to an interview with Assange by an outfit called TED.

I'm curious about my reaction to Assange based on the photographed published in the New Yorker story vs. the TED video. I thought the New Yorker photo (and story) made Assange seem flakier than he seems the TED video (which is to say, not at all).

Shorter Rich Lowry

"We're winning."

Now that B.P. has finally capped the well, the temperature on the story is going down considerably because so much of it was driven by the irresistible cable-bait of the live video of gushing oil. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if within the next couple of months a major newspaper runs a story on how the most extreme scenarios of destruction from the spill aren’t coming to pass and the Gulf might bounce back sooner than expected.

But I got an email from Lord Monckton?

Wheee..... Oh those "Nazi-like" climate conspirators.

...last month was the warmest June on record worldwide. Last month also saw the lowest recorded level of Artic sea ice.

I'm sure Steve Doocy has a New Black Panther to talk too that looks suspiciously like Mark Williams wearing Kiwi polish.

"Shall I compare thee to Summer's Eve?"

Yeah, I'm sure she's quite the scholar of The Bard.

I bet she loves the whole notion of Othello.


(please feel free on to go to the Twitter-machine and add your "quotes" to the #sarahpalinshakespeare trend. All the cool kids are doing it...and also me.)

You may notice a trend in the world's happiest countries

That both Forbes and Glenn Beck want you to ignore.

Capitalist nations with socialist expansive and broad safety nets and universal health care one and all.

Oh, and not exactly teaming with religious zealots either.

Republican outreach to the Hispanic Community

Engaged!


And keep up that mighty journalism HuffPo.

"Musn't hate, at least so overtly"

Teabagger favorite of cable news has on too many sheets and allegedly gets demoted from amorphous, yet well-funded, alleged grass roots organization.

Now they can go back and listen to Limbaugh and buy Ann Coulter books guilt AND conscience free.

So you see it's the NAACP (or as it is known in the Palin household the NCAA) that is really racist.

I'm going to go out on a limb

And guess it's painful to play Sarah Palin in Scrabble.

An easy win...but painful.

Freedom's just another word...

We've all heard about the Islamic community center in New York City that is the favorite subject of FoxNews whenever the three members of the New Black Panthers are unavailable.

But on the left-coast in Riverside, California there is another dispute over whether a mosque can be built in that community. In opposing the construction let Republican Karen Fensi demonstrate the "brilliance" of her logic in opposing Muslim-Americans exercising their Freedom of Religion:

Right now we're at war with the Taliban and the Muslims and our boys are over there fighting and dying for our freedom.

So God forbid we let someone exercising them.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

The more things change, the more things also stay the same

Apparently, the National Review is aghast that, according to them, the NAACP is not the great organization it used to be.

...of course, as Instaputz points out, for the National Review the NAACP has never been a great organization -- more than a half-century of race-baitin'.

"[The] NAACP is fast becoming—like the Anti-Defamation League—a routine pressure group for the Liberal Left." -- 1958

Of course, 52 years later, the Anti-Defamation league is but a tool to bring about the rapture and finally bring about the blood-libel -- but the negro colored black African-American continues to offend them.

MATLOCK!!!

Remember how I never complained about Reagan's massive budget deficits?

I don't, but they tell me I didn't.

Peggy Noonan has but one item left on the bucket list

No. 1: Inflatable Reagan.

(pic from here)

Late to the Party

While I appreciate Dana Milbank's effort to get the message out...

These sentiments have long existed on the fringe and always will. The problem is that conservative leaders and Republican politicians, in their blind rage against Obama these last 18 months, invited the epithets of the fringe into the mainstream. Godwin's Law has spread from the chat rooms and now applies to cable news and even to the floor of the House of Representatives.

We need to remember that the phenomenon is not now and never has been "fringe".
















The author has been a conservative "thought leader" since his mommy appointed him one by fiat and his magnum opus was brought to you by the charmers at the very large and very mainstream book publisher, Random House.

Dear ESPN,

Having Ian McShane do your voice-over narration for the British Open is a good idea. But I keep waiting for him to drop a few choice "fucks" and "cocksuckers" into the mix.

Guns don't kill people, people kill people...and if they use guns, they are AWESOME!

Via Jay Ackroyd at Atrios' place, comes this story of just how disgusting the NRA has become:

What does the leadership of the National Rifle Association have to do to finally convince anyone paying attention that they are extremist, self-interested, and devoid of all principle? Here's an idea: They could blatantly lie about the law in an attempt to block authorities in Daytona Beach, Florida, from accessing information that would help law enforcement catch a potential serial killer.

Oh wait, they've already done that.

Crazy and bitter vs. Crazy and Dumb

McCain debated Hayworth in Arizona yesterday. Allow me to summarize...

SARACEN DOG!

SPARTAN PIG!

And let's face it, McCain should be familiar with both of these insults.

Feels like

Newt Gingrich just got to know his next wife better.



(Al Gore can't do everything)

I am deflowered

How dare the world's olive oil be revealed as rampart harlots!

Researchers analyzed popular brands and found 69 percent of imported oils and 10 percent of domestic oils sampled did not meet the international standards that define the pure, cold-pressed, olive oils that deserve the extra-virgin title.

Looks like my plan to market a brand of "Extra Latent with STDs Olive Oil" is back on track.

When are they putting in a bid on

Jeremy Bentham, because they seem to be on a binge?

After sitting stuffed and mounted for more than 40 years in a museum, Roy Rogers' horse Trigger and dog Bullet will be TV stars once more. Rural cable network RFD-TV bought Bullet for $35,000 on Thursday and Trigger for $266,000 a day earlier at an auction in New York City. After sitting stuffed and mounted for more than 40 years in a museum, Roy Rogers' horse Trigger and dog Bullet will be TV stars once more.

Rural cable network RFD-TV bought Bullet for $35,000 on Thursday and Trigger for $266,000 a day earlier at an auction in New York City.

Once again, this is Larry King's destination...or the glue factory.

Good job Mort Zuckerman

Ah, those Freeped-out internet polls.

Who is the worst president in history?

And yes, it is being freeped...

Barack Obama 11.65%
George W. Bush 5.12%
Bill Clinton 0.71%

Some people need to learn how to use the "internets" because the clear winner for 'worst President' ever is...

George Washington 71.07%

Hey, the last time George Washington was considered the worst President ever was January of 1797...just ask a participant in the 'Ye Olde Slave Trader' poll of the time, John McCain.

Whatever, look at Al Gore's waistline

Hey, congratulations to all of us here on Earth, I raise my plastic-water bottle to all earthlings (aka "earthers").

The combined global land and ocean surface temperature data also found the January-June and April-June periods were the warmest on record, according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, which based its findings on measurements that go back as far as 1880.

In June, the combined average for global land and ocean temperatures was 61.1 degrees Fahrenheit (16.2 Celsius) -- 1.22 degrees Fahrenheit (0.68 Celsius) more than the 20th century average of 59.9 degrees Fahrenheit (15.5 Celsius).

But don't panic, sometime this coming December or January the east coast will get some snow and Drudge and Steve Doocy will ponder what global warming?



Silly people, everybody knows the answer to that. Al Gore got a 'rub & tug', or maybe not, but it got reported loudly and that makes it all true enough and therefore all science ever is invalid. Besides, everyone knows science is really controlled by the three members of the 'New Black Panther Party' and those "climate-gate emails" prove it! You will know this when you play a Michael Crichton audio book backwards.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Oh look, two people who can't act

Looks like McCain thinks he's found an identical replacement for Cindy.




(BTW, I love Mad Men, but without a great scripts and good direction January Jones is not exactly Meryl Streep, actually she's well short even with those things)

It was inevitable

Fair to say this may not be safe for work...

Aw, geez

I missed the Espys last night. Who won Best Bowler?

I'm crushed of course -- I don't know how I'll go on. Though. let's face it the only really honest award show is the Erotic Film Awards because after all, that award show gives virtual reach-arounds for actual reach-arounds.

They're right

The House is pissed at the White House, if for no other reason than they've been doing the heavy lifting while Obama has frankly spent too much time worried about being all "bi-partisan" -- all while he gets compared to Hitler. Do I really need to rant about how stupid that all is?

No, good, because I'm fucking tired.

Hell, even Harry Reid is right.

Meanwhile, Barack.

How about just pounding the podium a couple times, just to try it out?

Our long national nightmare is over

Um, nice?

A Nebraska cable TV network ponied up $266,500 for Roy Rogers' stuffed and mounted horse, Trigger, at an auction in New York City on Wednesday.

The movie cowboy's faithful companion was bought by the cable company RFD-TV in Omaha, Neb....

So I guess we'll know the final destination of Larry King.

Damn the facts, false analogies are what makes us strong!

If there's one thing the right-wing can do well it's create a bunch of statements and loudly repeating them no matter how false.

Oh, and it always involves people of color. Meet exhibit infinity:

...by and large, crime is down across the board. In Arizona as a whole, it has dropped 12 percent in the past seven years. But in major Maricopa County cities with their own police forces -- Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale and Tempe -- the rate has dropped even faster...

But all those illegal immigrants are coming into America like Yosemite Sam and shooting things up to undo what James K. Polk hath wrought making our borders so dangerous and unsecure, Lou Dobbs and various and sundry people have said so...very loudly. And we all know they who yell loudest win all arguments on the merits.

Oh, and hey look an exception that proves the principals being screamed so loudly:

...the more telling number may be the crime statistics for the portion of Maricopa County that is under the purview of controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio. According to data compiled by America's Voice, crime in that area has actually increased 58 percent since 2002.

Those would be the man who has provided much of the policy embodied in Arizona's draconian immigration law. Clearly we know who will win this one in the court of FoxNews. Whoever is loudest.

Watch This

I'm glad I don't have cable any more, but Digby is right: you have to see this to believe it.

That was a Taibbi- or Keiser-class rant.

Just when Tiger thought the awkward moments were over...

Along comes a living dedication to Caddyshack.



Seriously, John Daly, that is quite the outfit, did he rob Rip Taylor's estate sale (he's dead right?, oh, nevermind). Even Don Cherry is somewhat aghast.

(Lee Trevino is starting to look like Ted Knight)

And they shall be registered at Sports Authority and Radio Shack

Thank goodness that tattooed hand and posing for Playgirl shant go to waste.

We have video of Bristol and Levi's most romantic moment from their own mind...

That's our job!

This is an outrage, if television shows can start saying "fuck","rimjob", "bukkake" and even "Jonah Goldberg" without fear of penalty then one of the unique joys of blogging has indeed been diminished.

I think I'm going to go on to Twitter and complain about this in 139 characters!

Iowa's 4th Congressional District

Is apparently home to some folks that wish they resided in Iowa's 5th Congressional district (the mystical land inhabited by glue-sniffers and Steve King, or is that redundant?). Not that Tom Latham is particularly awesome.

Good gig

I cannot think off-hand anybody who turned a commercial role into something ubiquitous but cool -- congratulations Isaiah Mustafa: