Banned Words of 2012™: The Final Cut

I did a crappy job of updating the list throughout this year. In fact, I did a crappy job of blogging this year, too. I'm not going to bore you with excuses and explanations, though. I am, however, going to outsource at least part of the Banned Words of 2012™ list. This list is a good start, although:

(a) I would just like to point out that both Baby Bump and Amazing made our list a long time ago,
(b) I've never heard the word "Trickeration", and
(c) I am A-okay with "Occupy" (the word and the movement) staying around and thriving throughout the new year, and
(d) I would add the following:

1. Foodie (Shut up and eat.)
2. Grand Bargain (If Bob Kerrey runs for that seat we'll never hear the end of this phrase.)
3. These (Are these as ubiquitous where you live as they are here in New York?)
4. Tweet (No one cares about your Tweets.)
5. Like (You can't, like, ban, like "Like" enough, like times for me, like.)

Happy New Year, Hegemaniacs.

Banned Words of 2011™
Banned Words of 2010™
Banned Words of 2009™
Banned Words of 2008™

Reading is Fundamental: 2011 Edition

A selection of books I read this year below. Tell me what you read and and would recommend for 2012 in comments.

1. The Imperfectionists, by Tom Rachman




2. Wishful Drinking, by Carrie Fisher




3. Nebraska: Stories, by Ron Hansen




4. A Drinking Life, by Pete Hamill




5. About a Boy, by Nick Hornby




6. Impatient with Desire, by Gabrielle Burton




7. My Antonia, by Willa Cather




8. The Indifferent Stars Above, by Daniel James Brown




9. Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, by Ayelet Waldman




10. On Persephone's Island: A Sicilian Journal, by Mary Taylor Simeti




11. Imagining Argentina, by Lawrence Thornton




12. David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens




13. Howards End, by E.M. Forster




14. Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer




15. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, by Helen Simonson




16. Homer and Langley, by E.L. Doctorow




17. Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson




18. Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay




19. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood




20. Open City, by Teju Cole




21. A Man Called Intrepid, by William Stevenson




22. Heliopolis, by James Scudamore




23. Mr. Peanut, by Adam Ross




24. Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class, by Owen Jones




25. The Fall of Rome & The End of Civilization, by Bryan Ward Perkins




26. Just Kids, by Patti Smith




27. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon




28. Envy: The Seven Deadly Sins, by Joseph Epstein




29. Against Love: A Polemic, by Laura Kipnis




30. The Leftovers, by Tom Perrotta




31. In the Garden of Beasts, by Erik Larson




32. Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld

"I was born a poor black child"

This mash up of a bunch of rich white guys (the balance of them upper middle class to filthy rich from the beginning) talking about their poor, deprived, childhoods is fictionally hilarious.

So, you going to move?

Rick Perry is in favor of self-disqualification:

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry said Friday he would like English to be made the national language of the United States, agreeing with a frustrated voter who railed over the presence of multiple languages in everyday American life.

Yes, kiss the ass of a bigoted Iowan who hates a Mexican Restaurants menu.

Awwwww

Is there anything more special than a new North Korean leader's first insane statement?

"On this occasion, we solemnly declare with confidence that foolish politicians around the world, including the puppet forces in South Korea, should not expect any changes from us,"

So, more shitty monster movies, fewer lights.

Sheet (metal) for Brains

I don't think so.

Thatcher was many things (many of them not good) but she was capable and sentient.

Going out to the same organ grinder tune she came in with

Yes, she's a "victim"... of her own stupidity.

Signs you are too crazy for crazy people:

Bachmann’s own Iowa chairman, state Sen. Kent Sorenson — who just hours earlier had appeared with her at a campaign event — suddenly turned up onstage at a rally for Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) and announced that he was ditching her. She fired back with an accusation that Sorenson “personally told me he was offered a large sum of money to go to work for the Paul campaign.” Then came another twist: Wes Enos, Bachmann’s political director, contradicted his candidate, saying in a statement that Sorenson’s switch “was in no way financially motivated.”

Classy in any language

Oh Rupert, could your companies be any more assholish?

Fox Latin America has apologized for a poll on whether Jews killed Jesus Christ that one of its staffers put on a Facebook page promoting the National Geographic Channel's Christmas special.

What's a little slander, privacy invasion, abetting and maybe a little treason if not the cost of doing business?  

Rupert Murdoch's News International is thought to have prepared a legal fund of £100m to settle civil litigation actions brought by victims of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal ahead of a High Court showdown in the new year.

And get them settled before trial which can often be a tad messy:

High Court trials hold the potential to reveal more details of wrongdoing by NOTW and deliver further damaging publicity about the invasiveness of hacking and the distress of victims.

Oh those British doling out punishment for wrongdoing by large companies. So unbecoming of a capitalist country. [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

A bunch of randy harlots

One thing about the GOP-base in Iowa, they'll sleep around...until they think they've hit the slump buster.

Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum moved to third with 16 percent of the vote, after months of campaigning in the state seeing little traction.

Santorum makes Newt Gingrich look likable and Michelle Bachmann look slightly less insane. The Obama campaign couldn't be happier.

Why not just make him a NASCAR driver

I really do think for Mitt Romney it's all about the giggles he gets when he hears the words "Supported by the Chubb Group". Mitt Romney: I'll Put Ads On Big Bird

They're neck-to-neck as they circle the drain

The latest Iowa Republican poll is out trying to predicting a the caucus, a process of people often coalescing around their second choices -- in this case, the person who hates gay people who have abortions the next most intensely.
And what does it show?

Twenty-five percent of people questioned say if the caucuses were held today, they'd most likely back Mitt Romney, with 22% saying they'd support Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Romney's three point margin is within the poll's sampling error.

And what's more, Rick Santorum's support has tripled in the last few days, leading to a most unfortunate headline.

 I'll bet it is. [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

It's not a dream

Just sitting in the airport terminal in Arizona waiting to be returned to snowless Des Moines. They have Airport CNN on, like regular CNN with less comfortable seating, the anchor just talked to two political reporters standing below the Iowa Capitol Building after comments about the lack of snow and wished them a "white caucus".

Of course, if you've ever been to a GOP caucus in Iowa, you've got yourself the whitest caucus imaginable..

Well, he and Liberace did share a tailor

Canadian performance artist Don Cherry: via here.

Gluehorses battle for 3rd Place

The latest Iowa Poll shows the caucuses will be Beyond Thunderdome.

Oh no, the worst Democrat in the Senate is leaving

The man who never met a Republican talking-point he didn't adopt, from unemployment assistance to killing the public option is retiring.

Democrats on Tuesday lamented Sen. Ben Nelson's decision to retire rather than seek a third term in Nebraska, fearing the move sets up Republicans for an easy and crucial victory in their effort to reclaim control of the chamber next year.

And somehow he jeopardizes the Democrats ability to keep the Senate...and do nothing at all with it. Oh no. If only there was a really white douchebag knight on a white steeds flaming bag of horse manure to keep the world safe for inanity?

Mission about to be accomplished. [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

"But, but...our August History!"

South Carolina's voting restrictions blocked by the DOJ after the evidence provided by the State itself shows the GOP's plan was to pretty much keep blacks from voting.

Who could have anticipated the place that gave birth to John C. Calhoun, the Civil War and Strom Thurmond would do such a thing?

Oh I am shocked, SHOCKED

To find out ol' Newt has been lying about his marital history: What next, Ron Paul didn't like Sammy Davis, Jr.?

The System works...

For them...

Between 1984 and 2009, the median net worth of a member of the House more than doubled, according to the analysis of financial disclosures, from $280,000 to $725,000 in inflation-adjusted 2009 dollars, excluding home ­equity. Over the same period, the wealth of an American family has declined slightly, with the comparable median figure sliding from $20,600 to $20,500, according to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics from the University of Michigan.

Behold the new gilded age.

Taking it like a man...well sort of

When Rick Perry heard that Newt Gingrich compared his failing to be on the Virginia ballot to the attack on Pearl Harbor, Perry just shrugged and said "Aw, Newt should leave the Germans out of this."

So lemme get this straight

Right-Wing Jackass Cal Thomas who doesn't want a single gun regulated because of the Second Amendment, thinks the First Amendment would be fine with a "committee" to determine who can practice journalism? Yeah, brilliant as always.

If this means they'll be less relevant

Then bad perhaps for Iowa, but good for the nation as a whole.

This year, there is no contested Democratic primary, given that President Barack Obama has no serious challenger. Only Republicans are competing, and those candidates are approaching the state differently, both visiting and hiring less. Also, like it did everywhere else, the race here started slowly – months later than usual – as a slew of GOP politicians weighed candidacies, only to abort White House bids.

Of course, it may all get super-freaky in 2016.

Mainstream

One of my less favorite Holiday traditions with my retired father in Arizona is his affection for FoxNews. But there has been a long-standing, occasionally violated, understanding between us not to discuss politics. I'm sure a few of you have similar arrangements. So while I tried to do other things, he watched Mike Huckabee being interviewed Sunday morning and heard him say a number of things about Ron Paul:

Huckabee blasted Paul on Iran, saying Paul's views were disqualifying and outside the mainstream.

Now, of course, there are many reasons which can be spelled out in black and white or in simple gold coins why Ron Paul will never be President and is on many issues, rather nuts. But his position on Iran and the bomb is completely sound and valid. While we may not want Iran to get the bomb because it would give them even more political leverage, it is not like they are going to use it to bomb Israel. Such an event would ensure their complete annihilation. The Iranian government may be kept under the control of religious conservatives, but not lunatics (that's reserved for U.S. Congressional districts). Yet, Paul's clearly accurate and logical statement proclaimed to be the one out of the "mainstream". It's going to be another long year. [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Quite the Historian

Remember when FDR didn't get enough people to sign his Petition to keep the Japanese from attacking Pearl Harbor?

Newt Gingrich does.

Next up, Newt compares his campaign to Shiloh and Little Big Horn.

And now shut up

A very good post about the repeal of DADT and the non-effect of allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the military from Pam Spalding.

And look at what a few predicted in opposing.

“I hope that when we pass this legislation that we will understand that we are doing great damage, and we could possibly and probably—as the commandant of the Marine Corps said and I’ve been told by literally thousands of members of the military—harm the battle effectiveness, which is so vital to the support, to the survival of our young men and women in the military.” - Sen. John McCain, 2010

So much bullshit in one long drone-on sentence. Can you imagine John McCain being the guy who talks about gays to thousands of members?...ok, I could have phrased that less pithily.

If the law is overturned and open homosexuals are welcomed into the military, the number of homosexuals in the armed forces can only increase—leading to a corresponding increase in same-sex sexual assaults.” – Peter Sprigg, Family Research Council, 2010

i.e. "I prefer military straight and traditionally rapey."

I think Mr. Sprigg has other issues.

Merry Christmas

From John Boehner:

Just reach in and pick one, you don't get the whole bag.

Have a little irony for the Holidays

Pope urges people look beyond 'artificial glitter'.

Not him, mind you, but people.

Crackpots one and all

Well, ten days out from the Iowa Caucuses -- and it appears the biggest crank of all may very well get the most support.

This is very, very good news for Democrats, but better news for Mitt Romney.

I know it seemed hard to believe a couple weeks ago, but eventually even people supporting Newt Gingrich have a tendency to remember they are supporting Newt Gingrich when push comes to shove.

Sadly, though, supporting an inveterate crackpot and racist is their fallback position.

Paul is not up by that much though, and though I've predicted he'll win, I wouldn't be surprised if, at the end of the day, Romney's money pulls this one out.

But of course...

The National Review (K-Lo's former Mitt Romney Fan-Fic site) would publish something that:

Is stupid...


...is probably not true...

stupid, even if true...

publish ...

confirmed not true. 

That's quality.

Save that one for the fund-raising solicitations.

Polifact, doesn't care.

Well, this seems rather an easy answer

Based on past performance...

Analysis: What's the plan if North Korea collapses? Reuters

By Bill Tarrant and Raju Gopalakrishnan | Reuters – 15 hrs ago

Obviously, it will be to give large banks taxpayers' money...

Release The Tax Returns!

You know how dumb @$%^s shrieked at Obama to "Release the birth certificate" for years?

Our cry in 2012 should be for Mittens to release his tax returns.

Come on, Mitt. What have you got to hide?

Merry Christmas, Hegemaniacs.

It's Festivus

Airing of the Grievances in comments.

This is my relatives' favorite holiday. No doubt, the phone calls will commence shortly.

/mixes martini

I'm sure it's just a big misunderstanding

As PoliFact will soon point out:

A direct-mail solicitation for Ron Paul's political and investment newsletters two decades ago warned of a "coming race war in our big cities" and of a "federal-homosexual cover-up" to play down the impact of AIDS.

Helter Skelter...Paul/Manson 2012

Yep, the Orange Cave

Occurred, but just think how pathetic this lot is going to be in February when the next issue of the extension of the payroll tax cut comes up.

Polifact saves world says Polifact

Atrios is right, pathetic:

Yes, PolitiFact is dangerous. We have disrupted the status quo because we're doing what journalists should have been doing for a long time — holding politicians and pundits accountable for their words.

At this rate we can imagine Polifact's other holdings of accountability...

*Ron Paul not racist, he wasn't at any cross burnings.
*Newt Gingrich not serial philanderer, that requires three-mistresses at a time says Polifact ... therefore Mitt Romney not much of a Morman as well.
*Sarah Palin may be able to see Russia, we can't really tell.

PoliFact knows all...other than checking to make sure.

And it had all be going so well.

It had been all-in-all a good week for Mitt Romney...in that he was sort of being ignored while...

* Newt Gingrich imploded "Newt Gingrich Style"
* Ron Paul almost became the flavor of the month, until people actually noticed he really likes hanging out with racists.
* The only person left without a surge is Rick Santorum...and that isn't going happen.

Yes, it had been a good week, when Mitt found himself back in charge of the GOP nomination race. And then this happened:

Former President George H.W. Bush told the Houston Chronicle he believes Romney is the best candidate in the race—though he stopped short of officially endorsing his 2012 bid.

The Republican base may have been more satisfied with an endorsement from Ted Kennedy's ghost.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

You leave me the fuck alone 'War Horse' commercial

As a rule I try to avoid any movie so cloying that it attempts to make me cry in the advertising (for example "Starring Adam Sandler...and Adam Sandler", ok that one isn't cloying it just makes me cry).

So fuck you and your hoofed-Ol' Yeller Spielberg, fuck you.

Their tender sensibilities

Like many people the owner of this Wisconsin hotel does not appreciate the sale of his fair state to the Koch Brothers.

Naturally those giving the brothers virtual handjobs are affronted:

You know, people with kids are driving by. And you know there are little kids who are 8, 9, 10 years old who are old enough to be able to read that and might say, ‘Mommy, what does that mean?’” said Andrea Lombard, a Sauk County supervisor and first vice chairwoman of the Republican Party of Sauk County. “Well, how does Mommy explain that? I’m not sure.”

Yes, how can mommy explain something she has no experience doing? (via Balloon Juice)

Priorities

Raising taxes on working people is not the only winning political strategy the Republicans in Congress are giving the average American this holiday season.

The payroll tax bill sent by House Republicans to the U.S. Senate included two polluter poison pills, the Keystone XL provision for the oil industry and Boiler MACT language to protect toxic coal pollution. In an underreported move, the Senate stripped the coal poison pill. Now GOP members of the House are “committed” to put coal back in the Christmas stocking.

At least they are looking out for the intellectual property rights of polluters and pornographers. [cross-posted at Firedoglake] (pic via mikenitro94 at flickr.com)

Mitt rebounds as Republicans settle into sexless marriage

Let's face it the reason Romney has improved his standing a bit with the GOP is that since he tried to make that $10,000 bet Bill Bennett and his followers suddenly have a favorable opinion of him.

Something happy for the Holidays

As one of many getting on a plane (tomorrow for me) the next few days for the Holidays, here's some cheer:

Tracing influenza transmission on long-haul flights in 2009 with passengers infected with the H1N1 flu strain, Australian researchers found that 2% passengers had the disease during the flight and 5% came down within a week after landing. Coach-cabin passengers were at a 3.6% increased risk of contracting H1N1 if they sat within two rows of someone who had symptoms in-flight. That increased risk for post-flight disease doubled to 7.7% for passengers seated in a two-seat hot zone.

It is true that flying ... once you are actually flying ... as opposed to arriving early at the terminal, waiting in line at security, sitting in the terminal for seemingly ever...waiting for what seems even longer ON the tarmac...does speed trips. But it always galls me (and most others I imagine) to spend hundreds of dollars for the right to be treated like cattle and exposed in a giant test-tube of viruses and bacteria.

There are the tips for avoiding getting sick (and good luck with that).

(Via AmericaBlog)

Because so little rhymes with Koch Sucker

Scott Walker tried to institute policies punishing civil protest against his precious Administration, that policy kicked in yesterday.

It didn't work out so well and makes for a catchy holiday tune.

Truer Words Never Spoken

Well, one cannot say that all truth has been removed out of politics: My favorite part is Wolf Blitzer stating he could not understand what the man called Gingrich. Such language is so foreign to Blitzer's virgin ears...he certainly is known for his smarts. [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

I Have Something To Say

About this.

Dear Bankers and Other Assorted Rich Folk,

I think you must have been absent the day they taught this, so allow me to clue you in.

There used to be a time when rich folks like ya'll would just STFU and be rich. You wouldn't whine. You wouldn't brag. You wouldn't moan. You wouldn't thumb your noses at anyone. You would just, quite simply, and very quietly, be rich. You'd silently enjoy your money and the rest of us would only hear from you when you endowed a chair at a university or funded a wing of a hospital or underwrote some vast collection of heretofore obscure art that would draw sellout crowds to a museum for months on end. If any of you deviated from that path, there was usually some Elder Rich Person to explain, patiently but persistently, that whining, bragging, moaning, and thumbing were Simply Not Done.

There were practical reasons for this, the first being that it is, at a bare minimum, unseemly, and leads to all manner of resentment. Alternatively, it could make said resentment escalate to people hating your fucking guts. Which could lead to all manner of unpleasantness beyond mere resentment.

In any case, you need to go back to that.

Seriously. Just go quietly enjoy your money and everyone will leave you alone. Think "stay under the radar", "keep your head down", "lay low", and "be understated" and you'll be fine. Anything else is, well, nouveau riche. You remember the nouveau riche, don't you? Everyone hated them, too, for the simple reason that, like you, they never knew when to STFU. Edith Wharton wrote reams about them. It never ended well.

There are plenty of places in this country where a respectable rich person can just kick back and quietly enjoy their dough. You should find one of those places and take a lesson from the folks there.

Anything else is just an engraved invitation to Occupiers to set up camp on the east patio of your place in East Hampton.

xxx...res

Funny

How North Koreans are filmed crying after Kim Jong-Il's death like Peggy Noonan did when trying to dry hump her way through Reagan's casket.

So, when is he getting a postage stamp

Republicans seem determined to honor Kim Jong-Il by governing like him.

Barclay’s analyst: Failure to pass payroll tax extension likely drop GDP by 1.5 percentage pts

They clearly love his spending on public works projects...

But, of course

How could he not be?

...since Mr. Romney’s payouts from Bain have come partly from the firm’s share of profits on its customers’ investments, that income probably qualifies for the 15 percent tax rate reserved for capital gains, rather than the 35 percent that wealthy taxpayers pay on ordinary income.

He's a common man of the people with a personal fortune just under $200 million.

Suck on this

And after so many Friedman Units (the "F.U."):

Iraqi authorities issued an arrest warrant for Sunni Muslim Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi on Monday for suspected ties to assassinations and bombings, a decision likely to fuel sectarian tensions after the U.S. troop withdrawal.

Literally the day after. (via Atrios)

Finally bipartisanship

We may live in a world where nothing gets done in Congress, but thank goodness Republicans are not so intransigent and will be bipartisan about the really important stuff:  

On Thursday, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers directed the federal government to deploy radical new powers to enforce and protect copyrights on pornography...

The vote came during a hearing to modify the text Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, a bill which gives filmmakers and the federal government the ability to shutdown entire websites that they claim are involved in piracy -- without a trial or even a traditional hearing.

Meanwhile, they cannot get Republicans to allow advancements on light bulbs...Republicans even hate the traditional representation of a good idea.

But "Big Porn", well what could be more American than a money shot?

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

"You ate all my Toblerones, I have no son!"

"Cry, let it out. Baste your chubby cheeks in tears of gravy."

(photo AP)

"Hey, I'm going home and having sex with a supermodel tonight..."

But you have fun pretending you don't even jerk-off."

(AP Photo by Jack Dempsey)

I'm sure that butt-plug was for Jesus

Another Republican family-values crusading hypocrite another day ending in "y":

Receipts show Southaven Mayor Greg Davis, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2008 on a family-values platform, charged the city $67 for a purchase at a gay sex shop in Canada. The Mississippi auditor on Nov. 2 demanded Davis pay back more than $170,000 for personal expenses billed to taxpayers.

I'm guessing the other $169,933 went for Hustlers.

Farewell, "It's Pat" the Despot

Farewell to you and your round of 19 the first time you played golf:

Kim Jong Il, North Korea's mercurial and enigmatic longtime leader, has died of heart failure. He was 69. In a "special broadcast" Monday from the North Korean capital, state media said Kim died of a heart ailment on a train due to a "great mental and physical strain" on Dec. 17 during a "high intensity field inspection."

So two wetsuits and a ball gag then?

Meanwhile, North Korea is surely making such decisions on "merit", y'know like the Republican Party or cable news punditry:

Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il's youngest son, was named by North Korea's official news agency KCNA as the "great successor" to his father, which lauded him as "the outstanding leader of our party, army and people."

He's the Luke Russert of Pyongyang!

I think the thing I really need to notice the Iraq matter

"Sort of" officially ended is for a Republican President to be in charge doing a victory lap and being called a traitor when I pointed out how much of an asshole they are for doing so and for being a gigantic wimp for not waiving the flag as we go to war in Iran, Syria and Yemen.

I guess that's just my problem.

Look out Hyde Park

I read the New York Times piece on how the thrice-married middle-aged Republican like Newt Gingrich suddenly converted to become a Roman Catholic.

And like Masaccio in his post at Firedoglake yesterday I was drawn to this particular passage:

“As he got involved with the history, it blew his mind. There was just so much of it and I don’t think he had understood that before, that he really had a sense of the intellectual tradition behind it.”

Given his own history, and his self-proclaimed love of history I think I can imagine just what history Newt is inspired by:

Probably around January 897, Stephen VI ordered that the corpse of his predecessor Formosus be removed from its tomb and brought to the papal court for judgement. With the corpse propped up on a throne, a deacon was appointed to answer for the deceased pontiff. Formosus was accused of transmigrating sees in violation of canon law, of perjury, and of serving as a bishop while actually a layman. Eventually, the corpse was found guilty.

That's the kind of intellectual tradition Newt Gingrich can get behind.

I'm guessing Newt has a dream of sending backhoes to Hyde Park for FDR.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Shocking News

Really Old Guy with rather demanding job is acting old.

Who could have anticipated one of the oldest guys (sorry Joan) ever elected Pope, would start to wear down after a half-dozen years.

Shocking!

The Kiss of 'Not Quite' Death

If there's one thing that unites most of the base of the Iowa Republican Party it is how much they hate all press in general outside of FoxNews...but especially the Des Moines Register, a formerly great paper, emasculated by Gannett, but still generally loathed amongst those that show up to participate in the GOP caucus.

So naturally they endorsed Romney.

Good luck with that.

"Hypocrisy?!, Moi?!!"

Schadenfreude indeed. Step One:

Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch (GOP) resigned her leadership position Thursday after fellow Republicans confronted her about an "inappropriate relationship" she was having with a direct subordinate.

Step Two:

rumors began flying this afternoon that it was Republican powerbroker Michael Brodkorb, Koch's communications chief.

Step Three:

Both political figures have families. Koch is married, and met her husband, Christopher, in the 1990s while serving in the Air Force. The couple have a young daughter.

Step Four -- HILARITY!

Brodkorb previously operated the site Minnesota Democrats Exposed, where he often trafficked in scurrilous gossip to make his political enemies look bad.

Oh shut the fuck up

You moron:

Cameron told Church of England clergy gathered in Oxford that a return to Christian values could counter the country's "moral collapse" and blamed a "passive tolerance" of immoral behaviour for this summer's riots, Islamic extremism, City excess and Westminster scandals.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the classic British example of Christian values...

Of course, there is the Irish version next door:

The crisis erupted in November with the publication of an explosive Irish government investigation detailing the crimes and revealing that church leaders in Dublin had spent decades protecting child-abusing priests from the law. The Murphy Report found the Church had "obsessively" hidden child abuse from 1975 to 2004.

And then there's the particularly hypocritical American brand:

Greg Davis, the mayor of Southaven, Mississippi, "who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2008 on a conservative, family-values platform" according to the Commercial Appeal, has been forced out of the closet over receipts uncovered in a criminal investigation over misused expenses. The receipts included "thousands of dollars worth of liquor, expensive dinners at a local restaurant and a visit to an adult store catering to gay men"

via AmericaBlog

Yeah, Pretty much

(via Balloon Juice)

Your bumbling dose of the usual idiocy

Breitbart and his cast of idiots copy and paste a Nazi-era piece of anti-Semitic artwork and go back to masturbating.

I wish I didn't think he was all but done

And the vast amount of hot air he possesses was leaking from his balloon - (happy to be wrong on 1/3) but this about Newt Gingrich by Will Bunch is awesome.

Never heard of Ashley Madison? Me neither, but according to my email in box, AshleyMadison.com (Link? Are you serious?) is, ahem, "the world's premier extra-marital dating site with over 12 million members in 17 countries." And here you were bemoaning the lack of entrepreneurship in America.

Anyway, the other claim to fame at Ashleymadison.com is that they're big fans of current Republican 2012 frontrunner Newt Gingrich. How big? They've erected (where are Beavis and Butthead when you need them?) a giant billboard monment to fhe former house speaker which is located, for reasons known only to them, on Route 1 in Bucks County in what their e-mail release calls the "sleepy town" (Blogger's note: Ouch!) of Morrisville, just across the Delaware River from Trenton.

Hard to believe

That debate number 9,259 was the last debate before the Iowa Caucuses. Fitting that it occurred in Steve King-land of Sioux City and its predominant scent of pig-shit.

Black Label supplies just increased

Christopher Hitchens, the occasionally maddening contrarian and drinking enthusiast of the old school, has died of cancer. He is officially, as of now, not finding out he was right about his lack of Faith.

The Brotherhood of Extraordinary Dickweeds

As he is wont to do, future Iowa Caucus second-place at best finisher, Newt Gingrich has a tendency to say rather stupid things in an extra dickish manner -- how dare a day go without him dropping a verbal deuce:  

We’ve had an invented Palestinian people who are in fact Arabs and are historically part of the Arab community and they had a chance to go many places. And for a variety of political reasons we have sustained this war against Israel since the 1940s.

Of course, the United States has long stood in theory for a people's right to self-determination (as long as they aren't commies) including the Palestinians both Republican and Democratic Presidents. But who cares there are votes to get. And there are many in the GOP more than willing to go along with the moronic talking point de jour.

I jumped up out of my chair and cheered for Newt when he said what he said about Palestine. -- Rudy Giuliani

I hope Bernie Kerik didn't hurt himself when he was knocked off Rudy's lap during visitation.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Fucked over

Millionaires cannot have their taxes increased even a smidge, while entitlements are cut to make up the difference.

Combined with sluggish job growth that our nations "blessed CEO's of privilege" cannot possibly be bothered to stimulate causes what?

Poverty:

Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans – nearly 1 in 2 – have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income.

Staying bought

And to the surprise of no one the cave is on...those without great wealth to get screwed to compensate.

Oh sure, that's the opposite of what the filthy masses of our "great" Democratic Republic want, but fuck them.

And the bad news just keeps coming

Bill O'Reilly, of course, blames women for this:

An exhaustive government survey of rape and domestic violence released on Wednesday affirmed that sexual violence against women remains endemic in the United States and in some instances may be far more common than previously thought. Nearly one in five women surveyed said they had been raped or had experienced an attempted rape at some point, and one in four reported having been beaten by an intimate partner. One in six women have been stalked, according to the report

. One in Five?!!

The researchers defined rape as completed forced penetration, forced penetration facilitated by drugs or alcohol, or attempted forced penetration. By that definition, 1 percent of women surveyed reported being raped in the previous year, a figure that suggests that 1.3 million American women annually may be victims of rape or attempted rape.

Beyond depressing.

"FoxNews" really hates Romney

Just as they get ready to cheer for a government shut down they will simultaneously blame Obama and the Democrats for, FoxNews is making sure they get all their current dislikes out there right away.

Next up, FoxNews reports Lowe's signs an endorsement deal with Tim Tebow.

[cross-posed at Firedoglake]

Dear NFL, please hire this guy

I know he doesn't know tackle football, but what a glorious quote machine Harry Rednapp Manager of the EPL's Tottenham Hotspur (best team name in the world next to the Hartlepool Monkey Hangers).

 Plus, he'd be a bigger giver to charity than James Harrison and Ndamukong Suh combined:

On the performance of referee Chris Foy: "He'll look at it tonight, on TV, when his wife is making him a bacon sandwich and think, 'Oh fuck me, what have I done there?'"

Also accurately describes the feeling for most independents who voted Republican in 2010.

It's not political suicide, it's an attempted Murder-Suicide Pact

I guess I'm still one of those "Newt-Skeptical" guys (I think Ron Paul will somehow win here -- that's my prediction) that just doesn't think he's going to win and the air is coming out of the balloon starting January 3rd. Because nominating that guy is idiotic...and electing him is a virtual political death-sentence for all of us. ...and then he'll leave us about 2 and a half-years in for Qatar or something. BTW, if Paul actually does win Iowa, it will feel like a victory for Mitt Romney.

No stopping him now

Newt has picked up another crazy diamond (Tiffany' carries a lot of weight):

The GOP presidential candidates just got another pair of crazy eyes on their side: Gary Busey appears to be endorsing Newt Gingrich. The Celebrity Apprentice star told TheWashingtonScene.com, “I’ve never met Newt but I know what he stands for.”

Infidelity and Imbecility -- two things Gary Busey can get behind, along with a return visit to Celebrity Rehab and Celebrity Apprentice.

Good luck in your defense Mr. Sandusky

So intentionally incompetent defense or just incompetent?

Joe Amendola, the attorney for Jerry Sandusky who thus far has been lawyerin' like a man who got his J.D. from the bottom of a cereal box, did some more lawyerin' in front of the cameras this morning. The choicest moment: At one point, Amendola discussed the possibility that Mike McQueary witnessed a rape, told Joe Paterno and two university administrators, and no one did anything except tell Sandusky to stay out of the locker room with kids. To anyone who believes that version of events, Amendola said, "I suggest you dial 1-800-REALITY."

Naturally, 1-800-REALITY exists...it's a gay phone-sex service.

Hey, look it's "Old Unindicted" and his ever-pending sixth deferment

Pulse-less Dick Cheney is still getting news channel airtime they would otherwise devote to Ann Coulter:

Earlier on Monday, President Barack Obama had explained that U.S. officials asked Iran to return the RQ-170 Sentinel surveillance drone. "The right response to that would have been to go in immediately after it had gone down and destroy it," Cheney told CNN's Erin Burnett. "You can do that from the air. You can do that with a quick air strike, and in effect make it impossible for them to benefit from having captured that drone."

Yes, that would have made things all better, what better solution than a Dick Cheney endorsed one? Of course, there is this little problem:

The U.S. violated Iran’s airspace and must be held accountable for infringing on international laws, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in Tehran today.

That's undoubtedly true.

I know Dick Cheney and most every other Republican (and too many Democrats) don't think International Law applied to American actions, just to everyone else, but that makes a bad legal defense -- amongst other obvious moral problems a Dick Cheney doesn't care about.

Newt Gingrich has a new favorite place for pizza

Even shittier than Godfathers:

You can go there for your birthday kids...but you can never leave.

It would be wrong to speculate

It is too hilarious not to:

Is the "missionary position" going to be renamed "Tebowing?"

When does click-whore Ben Smith (formerly of Politico)

Just make the natural move for web-hits and go write for Vivid.com or something? As Balloon Juice points out this morning this is their big story:

The Huffing(ton) Post only WISHES they could come up with something that shallow. 

Which is saying something.

Returns diminishing faster than neurons

Apparently no one is interested in a snowmobile extravaganza featuring Todd Palin.

Hard to believe, no doubt.

Maybe TLC will renew their interest as long as it features "little people" driving snowmobiles ... no muslims.

This is depressing

Google has assembled a viewable street map of the area surrounding Fukushima.

It is incredibly depressing, but important to see.

(via Gizmodo)

How convenient

Newt Gingrich has been involved in the writing of another book wherein he concedes global-climate change is occurring...but naturally the book is being delayed until 2013.

Golly gee I wonder why?

Link includes photo of next planned "Mrs. Gingrich"

The timeless classics

Why change a winning formula?   Via Steve Benen we have Mitt Romney's current stump speech:

“We have on one side a president who wants to transform America into a European-style nation, and you have on other hand someone like myself that wants to turn around America and keep America American….”

And via Booman the whitest hits of the 1920s:

Why you should become a klansman : of interest to white, protestant, native born Americans who want to keep America American.

There's even a lovely visual display that may or may not be in the public domain. But, of course, they recycled it from someone else, the original base of the current GOP, the Know Nothings:

As the party gained support, however, the secrecy gave way to public awareness. “America For Americans,” Know Nothings chanted, demanding a twenty-one year period of naturalization and the banning of any non-native born Americans from office-holding.

I'm sure it is just a coincidence.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

I'd believe it

A things "Rick Perry hates" mash up:

And now we see the "violence" inherent in the system

This is hilarious and sad at the same time:

Two gay conservative leaders have blasted Texas governor Rick Perry’s antigay presidential campaign ad while also using a gay slur to out Perry strategist Tony Fabrizio. Following the release of Perry’s ad condemning the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and calling for more religion in schools, GOProud cofounder Jimmy LaSalvia wrote on Twitter Wednesday, “I’ve just about had it with faggots who line their pockets with checks from antigay homophobes while throwing the rest of us under the bus.” He later added that he was talking about a Perry strategist.

This is pretty much the equivalent of Herman Cain calling Alan Keyes the n-word. Time, place and who you are speaking to is always worth remembering.

Classy bunch.

(via Balloon Juice)

Truly sir, you are a true warrior for the common man

Mitch McConnell denies the GOP is the Party looking out for the interest of millionaires:

Look, we’re not here to defend high-income people. In this bipartisan package that we’re just discussing, we make sure millionaires don’t get unemployment, don’t get food stamps.

Because that's a real problem.

The Base

Your up-to-date list of what the Republican base is for, judged by audience response:

* As many people executed as possible;
* Attacking Iran -- repeatedly;
* Assassinations are awesome too;
* Hating Muslims;
* Letting the uninsured die;
* And just this Saturday, Child Labor;
 

And against: * American soldiers.

At least most of them will be out of my home-state in three weeks.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

"Man of the People"

Nothing says common-touch more than having five-figures to throw around:

Mitt Romney is tired of hearing about the change made to his book that touts Massachusetts' CommonWealth Care as a "model for the nation." But Rick Perry keeps bringing it up. So Romney proposed a $10,000 wager

We hate you most of all, everyone

Well, this certainly seems understandable:

About three-quarters of registered voters (76%) say most members of Congress do not deserve re-election, the highest such percentage Gallup has measured in its 19-year history of asking this question. The 20% who say most members deserve to be re-elected is also a record low, by one percentage point... ...The 76% who say most members of Congress "do not deserve to be re-elected" is six points higher than the previous high of 70%, measured in August.

Look at the chart...criminy.

(via AmericaBlog)

The Barbarian becomes the Most Civilized of Men

Dennis G. is right, the turd held at arm's length, the piggish and patently absurdly arrogant Gingrich (never to be called so by those who proclaim it of Obama [fills in for "uppity"]) will be dressed up in the finest purple ermine by those that would otherwise disdain them.

Bobo Brooks will amongst the first-in-line.

Pathetic

Lowe's apparently wants to keep America's greatest bigots from shopping at Home Depot.

American Muslim, a TLC reality show that depicts the lives of Muslims in dangerous anti-American professions like "police officer" and "high school football coach," is obviously the most egregious example yet of creeping Sharia. So thank (the Christian) God that all-American retailer Lowe's has decided to pull advertising from the show! The reason for Lowe's decision? The same reason any decisions get made in this country: irritating Christian bigots

Well why not?

Lanny Davis has spent the last few years being an asshole on FoxNews and lobbying for LITERALLY the world's worst people.

Naturally he joins Louis Freeh, and the former Cover-Up Chief at Merck in giving Penn State the a-hole trifecta to try to spin Penn State out of its current legal predicament at "barebacker U for Minors".

Nice ad, jackass

The YouTube tally on Rick Perry's ad claiming Obama is anti-religion:

He needs to spend more time outside the jurisdiction of his family

Deadbeat Dad not giving up:

Rep. Joe Walsh has confirmed he will in effect say, “Redistricting be damned” and will seek reelection to the House by vying for Illinois' 8th District.

Menage a Twats

Michele Bachmann is out of the Trump "debate", leaving only Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum in attendance. Once again, I reiterate that the sum and substance of this debate shall be the following:

"Gays have ruined the sanctity of pre-nuptial agreements between a man and a woman"

Flomax to armageddon

In yet another of their myriad plans to do everything possible to make life worse for the non-wealthy Republicans have another "clever scheme":

...House Republicans are considering making their vote to reauthorize unemployment insurance contingent on a mandatory drug testing requirement: The bill by Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) would require unemployment claimants to pass a drug test if they are identified in an initial screening as having a high probability of drug use.

Because it has worked so well on a state level:

Earlier this year, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) signed a likely unconstitutional law requiring the state’s welfare recipients to take a drug test before they could receive benefits. An effort to save money in a tight budget situation, test runs of the law failed when only 2 percent of the state’s recipients failed the drug test. If those results hold true, the state would save between $40,000 and $60,000 on a program that cost $178 million to implement.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Signs of a tough year for my team

Ouch, that's got to be record-breakingly bad.

In the Vikings' past seven games, opposing quarterbacks have completed 73% of their passes (146-of-200) for 1,808 yards, 18 touchdowns and no interceptions.

That's a QB rating of 130.6.

The Vikings secondary sucks like K-Lo on a crab-leg.

The most vile name in broadcasting

This is the same woman who cancelled Mystery Science Theatre 3000, so naturally:

Bonnie Hammer Reveals E! Rebranding Plans; Wants Up to Four New Kardashian Spinoffs

Certainly the man to tackle the deficit

As much a policy as a moral paragon:

Although campaigns often operate in the red, Gingrich’s debts are unusually high — he spent nearly $3 for every $2 he raised. Mitt Romney, by contrast, reported no debt last quarter. Many of the bills date to the start of Gingrich’s campaign in the spring, a time marked by extravagant spending on $30,000 jet flights and upscale hotels. The high campaign expenditures, along with Gingrich’s personal spending on Tiffany jewelry and a cruise in the Greek isles, contributed to a mass resignation of staffers in June that nearly torpedoed his presidential aspirations.

Many mornings of late

I think to myself as I look at the polls with Gingrich leading in Iowa and nationally and wonder when a number of Republicans wake up and ask,

"What the fuck are we doing?"

But then again, I thought they'd be asking that for most of the last dozen years.

Not satisfied merely doing nothing to create jobs while violating many of their claimed morality laws by being Grover Nordquist ventriloquist dummies, the GOP-led House of Representatives passed the following yesterday:

A bill that would give the controlling party of either chamber of Congress veto power over any major new regulation passed the House of Representatives Wednesday. The measure, dubbed the Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny -- or REINS -- Act, would require Congress to sign off on any new rule estimated to cost more than $100 million. It passed 241 to 184, with a handful of Democrats crossing the aisle.

Other than possibly being unconstitutional, one does wonder where Congress would get the time to consider such regulations between fund-raisers and, well, fund-raisers.

Unless, of course, they were determined to make sure there are no regulations ever, creating a government that cannot possibly ever function.

...Oh, right. (pic via mikenitro94 at flickr.com) [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

When will the outrage come

From the Right about not enough Pearl Harbor Day remembrance at "the Google"?

It's just sitting there, not even an add for the $3 blu-ray of Tora Tora Tora!


I'll be more moved by these sort of things when next February 15th comes around and they get pissed about the lack of remembrance of the USS Maine blowing up.

I'll believe it when it happens

I know the Newt is the flavor of the month (EWWWWWW) and the better organization doesn't always win in Iowa (but it usually does, Obama's organization in 2008 was a wonder to behold) but at a caucus your operation does kind of matter.

Newt Gingrich’s Iowa campaign office gets a telephone one month before the caucus

If he wins the caucus, y'know, congrats I know Democrats will be happy, but to me it will still be a surprise -- people really do not warm to Romney, and considering what a visceral prick Gingrich is that really says something. Oh I know he can be nice and mean for the base and they love that, but he is not likable on any level.

The solution

As Atrios has so often said is, just give people the money instead of the banksters:

  Corporate America is sitting right on top of the solution to the nation's employment crisis, according to a new report from a group of University of Massachusetts economists. 


If America's largest banks and non-financial companies would just loosen their death-grip on a chunk of the $3.6 trillion in cash they're hoarding and move it into productive investments instead, the report estimates that about 19 million jobs would be created in the next three years, lowering the unemployment rate to under 5 percent.

He’ll leave that to a small clique of short-fingered vulgarians

Someone apparently awoke Mitt Romney and told him he had "spice it up" -- having watched all of his DVD collection of 'Top Chef' Romney decided they were right, but shied away from something too spicy (like cilantro) and apparently went with "Mrs. Dash":

Mitt Romney will not be attending the upcoming Republican presidential debate moderated by Donald Trump, citing scheduling conflicts.

Oh he dared pissed off Trump, how brave. Now it looks like it is going to be Trump, Gingrich and Santorum only, sitting around and commiserating about how gay people are making pre-nuptial agreements less awesome.

And Romney devised a new media strategy:

“I’ll be on Fox a lot,” he said. “Because you guys matter when it comes to early primary voters.”

A Republican going on Fox...brave. And he'll be ramping up the campaign with his base...

 

Man of the People! [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

If this turns out to be true

It may be the worst police work of all time.

The FBI could soon solve the mystery of DB Cooper, the man sought by authorities since the 1971 hijacking of a Northwest Orient Airlines flight from Portland to Seattle, according to a witness who has been described by the agency as credible, NWCN reports. Investigators are currently attempting to link fingerprints left behind on the airplane with fingerprints obtained from the toothbrush of a man known as LD Cooper, the uncle of a tipster who contacted authorities with suspicions about her relative earlier this year. Marla Cooper says her uncle was injured when he arrived at her family's home in Sisters, Ore. the day after the hijacking, but he blamed his wounds on a car crash. "I knew he did it, it wasn't speculation, I was there when he pulled into the driveway," Marla Cooper told the news station. LD Cooper died in 1999. The hijacker bought his ticket under the alias "Dan Cooper," but news reports misidentified his name as DB Cooper.

The guy's name was LD Cooper and apparently lived in the Norwest...and somehow they missed him? I can believe it. I still think it was Nixon.

Shorter Jon Meacham

"Sure Newt Gingrich is a clown, but maybe if we elect him President, he'll "walk" out of the Oval Office another another FDR! And now I'm going to Disney World!"

A couple weeks ago, I sarcastically stated that the world's credit agencies were starting to threaten multiple national credit downgrades as if they had a plan to leave the planet altogether. We may be past sarcasm:

The ratings agency placed the ratings of 15 euro zone countries, including top-rated nations Germany and France, on credit watch negative -- a move that signals a possible downgrade in no later than three months.

The U.S., Japan, England were all part of the last round of threats. Meanwhile, they may have found a place to go.

Astronomers have confirmed the existence of an Earth-like planet in the "habitable zone" around a star not unlike our own. The planet, Kepler 22-b, lies about 600 light-years away and is about 2.4 times the size of Earth, and has a temperature of about 22C.

#OccupyThat! [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

But of course...

And Mikey Bloomberg will still sic his personal army after the 99%:

It turns out that the owners of Zuccotti Park — the historic site of Occupy Wall Street — have been engaged in some of the very same tax-dodging that many of the protesters were enraged about. The “city Finance Department says park owner Brookfield Properties and its parent company, Brookfield US Corp., currently owe the city more than $139,000 in unpaid business taxes from 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.”

But he hates brown people...a lot

21st Century Bull Connor, Arizona's Joe Arpaio, seems to have spent all of his last decade glorifying himself rather than doing the most fundamental aspects of his job.

...more than 400 sex-crimes [were] reported to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office during a three-year period ending in 2007 — including dozens of alleged child molestations — that were inadequately investigated and in some instances were not worked at all, according to current and former police officers familiar with the cases. In El Mirage alone, where Arpaio’s office was providing contract police services, officials discovered at least 32 reported child molestations — with victims as young as 2 years old — where the sheriff’s office failed to follow through, even though suspects were known in all but six cases.

And, of course, there is ALWAYS a clear and undeniable bigotry:

Many of the victims, said a retired El Mirage police official who reviewed the files, were children of illegal immigrants.

Well hello, Laaaaaadieeeees

Golly what could they possibly have in common?

(via Balloon Juice)

I don't know if it is better, but luckier than good seems to work

Newt Gingrich may be demonstrably smarter than Rick Perry, but who isn't? Nonetheless he compliments what he has with a nasty combination of saying stupid things and stubbornness that is a wonder to behold.

Doubling down on a plan that stirred controversy about his views on child labor, leading Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich said Thursday that poor kids who have no habit of earning money "unless it's illegal" should be put to work in their schools.

I realize that many Right-wingers get mileage attacking the progressive laws of the first half of the 20th century, but child-labor laws have not lost favor. I suppose it operates as a measure to the base "punishing those shiftless young black kids" as they perceive them, but really pushing child labor?

What could be worse for an economy already struggling to create jobs than to have more of them sapped up by minors, let alone the moral question of it?

But this is Newt and as his many wives are his witness, he will not abandon such a swell sounding social policy -- especially a dickish one. And the Obama Administration could not be happier.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Go Figure

Meanwhile, Rupert is listening to their cell-phones.

The NYPD provides Fox News's midtown Manhattan studios 24/7 protection, The Daily Beast reports, more than any other media organization in the city. ABC, NBC and CBS pay for their own private security details whereas, according to one security expert, Fox News's around-the-clock protection by the boys in blue costs city taxpayers at least $500,000 a year. Reached for comment, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne told The Beast "Each of the networks gets police coverage to varying extents based on threat information." But the other major New York-based media outlets had no knowledge of the offered protection, and one employee at ABC commented, "I would love the special favors."

And in return FoxNews will bash the #Occupy protesters for getting in the way of their batons.

Until, of course, the NYPD wants to get better pay from the City, then they will become the assholes.

(fez tip Watertiger)