Uh, I guess it is a "try" but not worthy of a "Nice try"

First of all there is no dumber name on cable than "S.E. Cupp" -- it sounds like the name "Chuck E. Cheese" would give a no-spill cup for two-year olds to keep the frightening animotronic mouse from getting matted fake-hair. But perhaps just saying "no one dumber" (not on FoxNews) would be better:

S.E. Cupp's revelation today that the well-researched months long investigation of Fast and Furious by Fortune Magazine had been debunked, was something special. Touré: Who did the debunking? S.E. Cupp: Oh, you can read about it at Townhall. Touré: Ooooooooh. I love how he just about fell out of his chair on that. And you can tell that as she's saying it, depending on a right wing opinion blog for her argument, she knows she's just climbed way out on a limb. Way out.

Hey, Maybe if you had learned ... oh I don't know...

Critical thinking skills?

Contacted by TPM on Thursday, Republican Party of Texas (RPT) Communications Director Chris Elam said the “critical thinking skills” language made it into the platform by mistake.

What is this "language"?

We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.

In other words...a Jesus Horse is all you need.

David Cameron's model for the UK economy in three seconds

As usual all manner of political acts can be defined in clips from the Simpsons, Python, Arrested Development, or in this case MST3k:

The UK has fallen deeper into recession than previously thought, confirming that the country has officially entered a double-dip. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the economy shrank faster than previously estimated between October and December last year, with a decline of 0.4%.

via Atrios

Yes indeedy

Pareene:

CNN is failing because CNN sucks. It doesn’t fill its daylight hours with hard-hitting reporting from far-flung locales, it fills it with Wolf Blitzer sputtering softballs at politicians followed by shouting partisans (from both sides!) having idiotic arguments. For hours.

I was going to post something

About the latest stupid thing Palin said, but really, who the fuck cares?

Good ol' slimy Drudge

Keeping it classy:

Drudge linked to a Real Clear Politics post that contains a clip of right-wing radio host Michael Savage claiming that "if you look at Roberts' writings you can see the cognitive disassociation in what he is saying."

Yeah, citing Michael Savage, there's a real authoritative voice.

Somebody sees an opportunity

Curious?

Limbaugh Vents On Supreme Court Over Stolen Valor Act Ruling: "I Don't Know If They Legalized Pedophilia Or Not"

Yep, curious.

A Compendium of Idiocy

There is a website now tracking the conservative geniuses so angry about the Supreme Court approving of "socialized medicine" that they are saying they will move to Canada.

Seriously.

Shhh, Nobody tell them.

John Boehner said he wouldn't "spike the ball"

If Health Care Reform was found unconstitutional.

He never promised not to pitch an orange-juice flowing hissy fit if it was upheld.

But he's just keepin' up with his fellow juveniles.

Oh no, not at all...idiot.

Health Care Reform upheld

5-4 under Taxing power.  Which is the bottom line.

But only 4 justices viewed it as permitted under the Commerce Clause, which is a troubling trend toward the Lochner fans redux from the Court.

In case you are wondering, that alone is enough reason to vote for Obama.

About those death panels

FoxNews -- an entertainment division of NewsCorp -- goes the scary movie route:

Megyn Kelly hosted a panel of doctors to discuss the Affordable Care Act (aka Obama Care) yesterday – and I’m sure you’ll be shocked to know that all three of them opposed it. But what really was shocking was their reasoning that it would create too many patients which would negatively impact those who already have coverage. Rather than consider ways to increase health care providers, they all seemed to think the solution was to make sure there weren’t too many health care consumers. In other words, people should go without treatment so that those who already have coverage are not inconvenienced. Even worse, the doctors complained that too many people would “overuse” medical services.

Yes, the death panel applies to those who should just sit at home (or in the street) and die.

It's all right there in the Hypocritic Oath these "FoxNews" entertaiment doctors took.

No wonder the GOP fawns over Jamie Dimon

He does math like a Republican estimates tax cuts or war costs:

Losses on JPMorgan Chase’s bungled trade could total as much as $9 billion, far exceeding earlier public estimates, according to people who have been briefed on the situation.

When Jamie Dimon, the bank’s chief executive, announced in May that the bank had lost $2 billion in a bet on credit derivatives, he estimated that losses could double within the next few quarters.

That's okay though, no austerity likely for Jamie Dimon.

So you know it's official

In case you ever had any doubt of where Murdoch places FoxNews and its mission:

One company will house entertainment businesses like 20th Century Fox, Fox broadcast network and Fox News Channel while another houses the publishing assets, which include The Wall Street Journal and the Times of London along with HarperCollins book publishing and News Corp.'s education business.

Any company with Steve Doocy could not possibly be placed in a news or education section.

Via Digby.

Let's try this again

A few days ago, I was certain that the Ever-Less-Supreme Court would be coming down with the health care reform decision that day. So let's try it again...today the Court will come down with the decision.

If for some reason there is a concurrence or dissent from Justice Michael Savage Scalia what will be his archaic antebellum precedent this time?  I can guess:

"Notwithstanding "[t]he myth of an era of non-government provided health care" in the first 100 years of the Republic, the States enacted numerous laws enabling private individuals to steal the leeches of any non-propertied person, or even compel a Native American to provide them with a leech, newt, toad, pig's blood, or ram penis.  All manner of medical care was provided not by the state but by private individuals such as witches, witch doctors, barbers, druids, medicine men and shamans.  The fact that the state did not require an individual be provided with a leech from the communal swamp did not harm a person's medical care whatsover, other than free market provided malaria and dropsy.  Oh, and ditto.

C'mon Scalia, you are always the Justice that puts the "dick" in dicta.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

The only "cultural" watershed even I've ever been to

Well two things, such as they are -- Obama's victory speech after the 2008 Iowa Caucuses when I looked at my friend DeDurkheim (at least I think it was me, it may have been him) who was also there and said, "this guy is going to be President" and we both knew we were seeing history.

And then there was that other time, also with DeDurkheim, when I was clerking for a law firm in Chicago in the Summer of 1991 and we saw what turned out to be the last performance of The Replacements.

Well, maybe the last one isn't quite so accurate.

Stop the Madness

If only it could be prevented (oh, it can?  Nevermind)

All I know is

If I was a kid, I wouldn't give a damn about the political message...but anything with that much frosting...

I would have had to have it.

BTW, I always liked "hydrox" more.

Our programs are failing...full speed ahead

Oh that austerity:

Britain had a larger budget deficit than economists forecast in May as the recession depressed tax receipts and government spending surged. 

The shortfall, which excludes government support for banks, was 17.9 billion pounds ($28 billion) compared with 15.2 billion pounds a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said in London today. Economists forecast a deficit of 14.8 billion pounds, according to the median of 16 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Spending jumped 7.9 percent and revenue rose 1.6 percent. Income-tax receipts fell 7.3 percent. 

The figures may provide ammunition to the opposition Labour Party, which says the government is making the recession worse by trying to cut the deficit too quickly. With the euro-region debt crisis intensifying, the data cast doubt on whether the government can achieve its goal of cutting the deficit to 120 billion pounds in the current fiscal year. 

...

The Treasury said in a statement the government is committed to dealing with the deficit and that it is too early to draw conclusions about borrowing in the fiscal year as a whole. 

Romney is a Native American and a Construction Worker short of being each of the 'Village People'

Just a Youthful fetishist.  Yet more stories of Mitt Romney's past -- showing he liked to play dress up.

 In May, supporters of Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney decried the mainstream media for focusing on a Washington Post piece that broke news of the candidate’s youthful pranks, including a penchant for impersonating a police officer. Now, conservative website The Daily Caller has dug up two more tales of odd Romney pranks, these involving dressing up like a fireman and a Prohibition-era gangster.

We all know the tell-tale qualities of guys who like playing dress-up who become President.

Glower Power

The last week has demonstrated that the self-styled "hepcats" of conservatism just want to rock.
Exactly one week ago Washington Post readers had to endure perhaps the most unrequested combination of all-times.

George Will writes about the Beach Boys

One would think it could not go down from there, but the well is indeed very deep. By Friday, June 22nd, Jeffrey Goldberg was sticking up for New Jersey's "Girthy Pamela Des Barres" Chris Christie and his constant stalking of Bruce Springsteen with love unrequited -- why won't you love me, Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce?

Perhaps because you are an asshole?

But amazingly, the Boss's nightmare was not at an end, and he could not escape right-wing camp followers no matter what preventative measures he took, just yesterday it was David Brooks:

They say you’ve never really seen a Bruce Springsteen concert until you’ve seen one in Europe, so some friends and I threw financial sanity to the winds and went to follow him around Spain and France.

First, who the hell is "they"? Second, Is there a greater sign of cultural danger to rock music than David Brooks and his "friends" (can I dub them the "BoBros"?) traipsing around foreign nations to see it?

Now I'm just waiting for Charles Krauthammer's report on his love of REO Speedwagon.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Is Francis Urquhart involved?

Yeah, it's British Miniseries about espionage jokes!

Although this is more of a series trend:

Cyprus has become the fifth eurozone country to seek outside financial help to shore up its ailing economy after a day of heavy selling on financial markets prompted by fear that this week's European summit will end without a blueprint to rescue the single currency.

But of course

Oh by all means -- less regulation:

A research director for Pfizer was positively buoyant after reading that an important medical conference had just featured a study claiming that the new arthritis drug Celebrex was safer on the stomach than more established drugs.

The truth was that Celebrex was no better at protecting the stomach from serious complications than other drugs. It appeared that way only because Pfizer and its partner, Pharmacia, presented the results from the first six months of a yearlong study rather than the whole thing.

What's a little fraud on thousands, no millions, of people's health if we can shake a little more profit out of the deal?

It's what Mitt Romney would want!

Worst war ever

To know one's surprise who knows -- and not to be known to the rest:

The war on drugs is a failure that is fuelling the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, according to a new report from an international panel of experts.

The report from the Global Commission on Drug Policy — which includes six former presidents, British business magnate Richard Branson and former Supreme Court of Canada Justice and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour — condemns tough enforcement policies that focus on criminalization and punishment over prevention and public health programs.

In fact, says the study:

 The war on drugs has led to increased availability, lower prices and higher potency of drugs, as well as a heightened role of organized crime

All this and lifetime tenure too

It's one thing to call yourself an "originalist" as a jurist, but one would think a Supreme Court Justice in the 21st Century would not treat a "State's Right" to harass ethnic groups like Roger Taney would. But Antonin Scalia is determined to ignore that whole Civil War thing, let alone Amendments 13 through 15 and -- in short and only with a little irony --about the last 3/5ths of American history:

Notwithstanding "[t]he myth of an era of unrestricted immigration" in the first 100 years of the Republic, the States enacted numerous laws restricting the immigration of certain classes of aliens, including convicted crimi­nals, indigents, persons with contagious diseases, and (in Southern States) freed blacks. State laws not only pro­vided for the removal of unwanted immigrants but also imposed penalties on unlawfully present aliens and those who aided their immigration.

Okay, where to start? Amongst those restrictions in the nation's first century are the kind of laws that discriminated against ethnic groups like, oh I don't know, Italians because they were predominantly Catholic. Yet Scalia just throws these laws out there like, hey they were good back then, so how can they be bad now?

And then, of course, there are those tasteful references to the repression of African-Americans.
But hey, at least Rush Limbaugh approved.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Your Liberal Media

Dancin' Dave's kind a people. Just think how the percentages would change if a female black/hispanic/asian Democrat replaced John McCain alone.

Mittens the Corporate Raider...

How fitting, Michael Milken -- the poster child for 80's Wall Street sleaze and insider trading, was key in taking Mitt Romney from fabulously wealthy, to Super "Fuck You" Duper Wealthy  ("but but Obama was once in the general physical proximity of William Ayers!!!!")

It does bring to mind something to the tune of a certain Red-nosed Reindeer:

Mittens the Corporate Raider
Had some sacred underwear. 
But when he engaged in business, 
employees he would fire without care

All of the other denominations 
Loved to laugh and call him names 
But when it came to unemployment 
Mitt wasn't playing effin' games 

Then one day in '88, Michael Milken came to say, 
Mitt with garments and skin so white 
Won't you take my grift on sight? 

Then all the Republicans loved him, 
And they shouted out with glee, 
Mittens the Corporate Raider, 
Please sink our econ-oh-mee! 



Oh, by the way, at the time Mittens took Milken's millions...he knew Milken was under investigation for criminal behavior -- the one's the latter would go to jail for in 1990.

"But what distinguishes this deal from the nearly 100 others that Romney did over a 15-year period was his close work with Milken's firm, Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. At the time of the deal, it was widely known that Milken and his company were under federal investigation, yet Romney decided to go ahead with the deal because Drexel had a unique ability to sell high-risk, high-yield debt instruments, known as 'junk bonds.'"

Bunga Bunga

Somebody is horny:

He may have been jeered from office last year. He may be on trial accused of paying for sex with a 17-year-old girl. And last week a prosecutor in Milan asked for him to be locked up in jail for three years and eight months for allegedly shady business practices. But this weekend, Italy was abuzz with speculation that Silvio Berlusconi is planning a comeback – and could return to lead the right into an early general election, perhaps as standard-bearer of a party bent on withdrawing Italy from the euro.

So, slow news day huh?

Well in about six and a half hours we're probably going to see Chief Justice John Roberts do his best Melville Fuller impression and then head off to his Summer Vacation of Koch-sponsored junkets and government provided health care to handle that seizure disorder.   That good health care coverage is something that he and President Obama have in common -- the rest of us, not so much. 

Good times.

Not much else going on. Oh, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood is now President of Egypt so FoxNews is going to have to try to talk about that during short breaks from the healthcare reform story. But they won't talk about how Darrell Issa wants to hold someone in contempt even though he doesn't have any reason to think they covered anything up other than the (D) behind their titles.

And what is happening in your world?

By the way, this is Melville Fuller:

That is his actual picture, it is not still of some second banana competing for Margaret Dumont's affections with Grouch in a Marx Brothers movie.

[Cross-posted at Firedoglake]

BEWARE HOMELESS DRIFTERS

I foresee a couple dozen headless torsos being found in this area within the decade.

While most Americans will be enjoying the first weekend of summer outside and away from work, Mitt Romney will host his richest campaign donors at a retreat in Utah where they'll have access to high-profile Republicans who would likely be in the candidate's administration if he wins the race...

 And while the guest list of high-profile Republicans is known, the arguably more important list of donors is not. Romney has refused to disclose the identities of his bundlers, breaking a practice set by presidential candidates for more than a decade before him, including President Obama.

"Faith and Balanced"

But of course:

The Vatican has brought in the Fox News correspondent in Rome to help improve its communications strategy as it tries to cope with years of communications blunders and one of its most serious scandals in decades, The Associated Press learned Saturday...

... He defined his job, which he said he had been offered twice before, as: "You're shaping the message, you're molding the message, and you're trying to make sure everyone remains on-message. And that's tough."

Let's see:

* Martin Luther, where's your birth certificate?
 * It was the fault of those kids, they're such trollops.
* When all else fails, "something, something, the Jews".

Well that was a production few hours

For the first time in months, or maybe even years, my DSL system went kaput through whatever server it is located at.

So for several hours I had to do actual work like laundry, vacuuming, dishes, dog-walking, writing for things other than the "innertubes" etc.

It was a weird dystopian early 1990s kind of world.

Not nearly as creepy...but damn creepy

Among the cheering throngs celebrating the Sandusky verdict were parents with their young children.

Who would think that is an appropriate choice for parental bonding?

"Why are we here Daddy/Mommy?"

Uh....

If you were not already depressed enough

Then use this list of things Republicans "know" to be true and get practicing your hangman's knot skills. For example: There are a LOT of Republicans who are about to be certain that Abraham Lincoln really did hunt vampires -- and to be honest at least the movie is slightly more accurate than Bill O'Reilly's book.

Awwwwweeeeeeee-some

Oh shit:

Carbon dioxide emissions have risen by even more than previously thought, according to new data analysed by the Guardian, casting doubt on whether the world can avoid dangerous climate change.

The data has emerged as governments met in Rio de Janeiro to finalise the outcome of the Rio+20 conference, aimed at ensuring that economic growth does not come at the expense of irreparable environmental degradation, but which activists say has not achieved enough to stave off severe environmental problems.

Global carbon emissions from energy are up 48% on 1992, when the original Earth summit took place in Rio – a historic summit at which governments agreed to limit emissions in order to prevent dangerous climate change.

It may be time to start sucking up to Richard Branson and making pacts about how no conservative gets on board -- nor gets provided an aqualung.

Oh and one other thing

In Euro 2012, the Greeks play the Germans.  As is usual, the Germans are going to be favored -- but, since many Greeks are understandably upset about the role the German government has treated their people in the austerity crisis it should be interesting.

Especially since Angela Merkel is planning on showing up.

I have to say the quality of the matches is better than the World Cup...cannot say it will be that way in 2016 when they allow 24 teams instead of 16 to qualify.  Thereby giving the Faroe Islands a chance to qualify.  I understand the Right Sheep has good pace, but has a tough time not eating the pitch.*



*joke courtesy of the year1923

Ah shit

I'm swamped at the moment...

When does Louie Season 3 start?

Now here is something that could be anticipated

Hey, some decisions came down from the Supreme Court yesterday -- but not that one. And look, another pro-business decision from the Roberts' Court:

The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside indecency sanctions imposed by the Federal Communications Commission on two television networks, but sidestepped for the second time a decision on whether the agency’s regulation of the airwaves violates free speech rights.

Oh by all means, let's avoid actually ruling on the law, but there's no way we can let major businesses have to actually pay a fine - and while were at it let's kick a public union too.

Yes, on principle I am happy that if, for some very bizarre reason I am ever invited on "Reliable Sources", I can fulfill my dream of saying "Fuck You, Howie" repeatedly until I am dragged from the studio without Time-Warner being unduly punished.

 But it is the other trend that is most worrisome. In the six plus years of the Roberts' Supreme Court you could be Mordecai Brown and still count the decisions that were not-pro corporation on one hand -- with enough left over the flip the bird.

Corporation's are not just people, they are Supreme Beings.

I'm surprised there wasn't a collision and a collapse in a singularity of "Who Gives a Fuck?"

If there's a bigger example of two things I could give not a bigger shit about, especially when combined, it's the idea of a column by George Will about the Beach Boys.

But, hey, at least it's a blog post.

By all means, keep this asshole plugging away on TV

Via the Great Orange Satan: Wow, when a Rabbi criticizes Bill Donohue, the latter keeps it all totally professional and not at all stupid, bigoted, threatening, and completely false (hey several sins in one!):

 Ed Koch, my friend, once said that Jews had better not make enemies of their Catholic friends since they have so few of them. Think about that the next time you feel compelled to attack my religion.

And, of course, not only is that completely ass-out unhinged, it is also false:

Koch, the former mayor of New York, said that he never said the quote Donohue attributes to him. "My comments have always been about fostering good feelings between Jews and Catholics toward mutual understanding of our shared interests," Koch said in a statement. "However, I certainly do not believe that Jews, or Catholics, should be threatened for making critical remarks, nor should my name be used when doing so. While I do have a high regard for Bill, his references to me and my remarks were inappropriate and different in substance and tone than what I said on an earlier occasion. My remarks did not and do not refer to the Rabbi's comments."

And in a way the bolded quote is the biggest indictment of the modern punditry scam as their is.

Atlas Cashed In

Being a self-described and self-defined libertarian means never having to say you're sorry:

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) may rail against Social Security insolvency in the public eye, but that hasn't stopped him from accepting the government checks... The Huffington Post's Sam Stein then asked Paul, "A bit of a personal question -- Are you on Social Security? Do you get social security checks?" Paul admitted he does

Obviously he needs it to supplement his meager salary of $174,000 and his Super Pac funds. But why should not the man so enthralled with Ayn Rand that he named his son after her be inspired by her example?

An interview with Evva Pryror, a social worker and consultant to Miss Rand's law firm of Ernst, Cane, Gitlin and Winick verified that on Miss Rand's behalf she secured Rand's Social Security and Medicare payments which Ayn received under the name of Ann O'Connor (husband Frank O'Connor). As Pryor said, "Doctors cost a lot more money than books earn and she could be totally wiped out" without the aid of these two government programs. Ayn took the bail out even though Ayn "despised government interference and felt that people should and could live independently... She didn't feel that an individual should take help."

If only there could be some sort of government sponsored universal health-care coverage Ayn Rand could have been a hypocrite without such a heavy financial burden. Y'know, like Ron Paul.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

(pic via monkey__bob99x at flickr.com)

Putting a dumb peg in a stupid hole

Good to see the National Review kept up their quota:

National Review continued to publish these Islamophobic authors, it has now taken on as a contributor one of the Islamophobia network’s worst offenders, David Yerushalmi. Back in September 2010, ThinkProgress examined Yerushalmi’s long history of extremists statements, which include a proposal making it “a felony punishable by 20 years in prison to knowingly act in furtherance of, or to support the, adherence to Islam.” In a 2006 article, Yerushalmi lamented in the inability to engage in “a discussion of Islam as an evil religion, or of blacks as the most murderous of peoples (at least in New York City), or of illegal immigrants as deserving of no rights” without being labeled a racist. He also wrote that the American founders were on to something when they limited the vote to white men. “There is a reason the founding fathers did not give women or black slaves the right to vote.” As Mother Jones noted, the Anti-Defimation League said Yerushalmi has “record of anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and anti-black bigotry.”

So he should fit right in -- the only surprise is, as far as I know, this idiot is not the scion of a famous earlier crackpot.

Hey it's my pre-pubescent years again

Mubarak is turning into Franco.

Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for three decades until overthrown by last year, was on life support in hospital, military officials said on Tuesday, but they denied a report he was clinically dead.

Noted Scholar

I suppose with the ever present flood of news going from meh to yuck to holy shit the end is nigh there are undoubtedly about 7.1 billion more important subjects than not Joe the not Plumber, the current Republican sacrificial lamb candidate in Ohio's Ninth Congressional District.  But nonetheless, some bullshit is the same tired old bullshit you hear for years and it cannot go unanswered:

Yesterday, Mr. Wurzelbacher released a campaign web video in which he blamed the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide on gun control laws...

“In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917 one-point-five million Armenians, unable to defend themselves were exterminated,” Mr. Wurzelbacher says in the clip. “In 1939, Germany established gun control. From 1939 to 1945, six million Jews and seven million others unable to defend themselves were exterminated.”

Where to start?

First of all, I demand this idiot be required to find Armenia on a Map, new or old -- oh, and Turkey didn't exist in 1911, try Ottoman Empire dumbass. Second, I demand he tell us who the 'Young Turks' were. Third, hey Jackass, you assert that if a person was only able to get a gun and fight back the Holocaust would not have happened? Guess that explains the ineffectiveness of the Horst Wessel song, huh?

Idiot.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

And for our next trick

As we are quickly running out of nations to bomb in Asia (look it up, we've pretty much managed to bomb, gas or shoot up each and everyone of them on the continent except India [if you don't count Union Carbide], Saudi Arabia, Israel depending on how it is defined, and Bangladesh.

So, on to a new "relatively" (hey, Chile) virginal continent:

BP has just released its annual Statistical Review of World Energy in which it claims that Venezuela now holds the largest proven oil reserves in the world, overtaking the original leader Saudi Arabia.

The South American nation’s oil deposits were increased from last year’s figure to an estimated at 296.5 billion barrels, more than Saudi Arabia’s 265.4 billion barrel

Oh that liberal media

Funny that:

Not once in the past twelve months has President Obama logged a seven-day stretch where his positive press coverage outweighed the negative, according to Pew Research analysis. And based on recent media trends, that streak is in no danger of being broken as the Beltway press continues to pile on the Democratic president with routinely negative and increasingly misleading coverage, while at the same time giving his Republican rival a pass.

Bwahahahaha

Pretty funny: 

 After two female legislators were banned from the Michigan House floor last week after saying “vagina” during a debate about an anti-abortion measure, a massive crowd has gathered at the state capitol for a reading of “The Vagina Monologues.” There are an estimated 5,000 people in attendance.

Masters of Destruction

The War Cheerleaders never go away, they just move on to the next place to bomb.
For example:

Iran and world powers on Monday began to “engage” in detail about Iran’s nuclear program for the first time, although fundamental differences could prove unbridgeable at a second day of talks Tuesday, which could jeopardize the diplomatic track and eventually risk another Middle East war.

The P5+1 group (the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany) want Iran to give up its most sensitive uranium enrichment work, close a deeply buried facility and take steps that will forever keep it from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

As part of a seemingly endless series of negotiations that have shown little progress, and which have limited popularity (the secret to being a War Monger is it's always viscerally the easiest path, y'know until the war actually happens).

Meanwhile, the mere existence of diplomacy happening makes the usual suspects like Bill Kristol angry: Somewhere a young girl is picking the daisies Bill Kristol dreams of having pushed up instead. [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

My Originalism depends on Who's the President?

"Strict Constructionist" and "original intent" adherer (according to himself) has a novel approach to literalism:

The justice, arguing that Supreme Court decisions are not merely “a technique for achieving ideological ends,” reportedly names various votes he has cast that contradict his policy preferences as a “confessed law-and-order social conservative.” His critics won’t be persuaded. “I have always had the impression that Justice Scalia’s primary approach to judging is political,” Tim Jost, a professor of law at Washington and Lee University, told TPM. “Therefore, he will interpret the Commerce Clause broadly to support federal laws he likes but narrowly to strike down those he doesn’t.” Indeed, Scalia left some wiggle room to change his mind back in the future. In the preface of his book, per the Times, Scalia adds that he “does not swear that the opinions that he joins or writes in the future will comply with what is written here,” in part because “a judge must remain open to persuasion by counsel.”

So, in short. Election tied...vote Republican.

Republican does it, probably okay.

Democrat does it, no fucking way.

Yeah, model of judicial decorum.

QUACK QUACK

So, Fraud or Stupidity?

This is a pretty neat trick:

Mitt Romney today claimed that he never went to law school, even though he has a JD from Harvard.

Funny, to earn my J.D. I had to go to law school. Though it was one of those silly Big Ten universities so it cannot do things in a novelty fashion like Harvard.

UPDATE: Apparently Romney did not say he "did not go to Law School" but "I went to law school but did not practice law."

If I cared about Mitt Romney, I'd apologize -- but having some affection for the truth I am posting a correction.

So I hear that Mitt Romney's special Father's Day Gift

To his sons; Tagg, Doc, Grumpy, Joffrey and Kublai was telling him they were disinherited.   After the fits and suicide attempts he was nice enough to tell them it was just a joke.

What a guy.

Alleged "apocalypse" postponed another couple months

Actual misery to continue indefinitely:

Fears of an imminent Greek exit from Europe's joint currency receded Sunday after the conservative New Democracy party came first in a critical election and pro-bailout parties won enough seats to form a joint government.

Of course, the conservatives barely won...and had less than 30 percent of the vote.

Sounds like a real victory for misery.

Good for bankers though.

Good job Egypt it took us at least a generation to get there

In addition to the inconclusive Greek Election there was another election of prominence this weekend in Egypt. While there are many difficulties to overcome along the way, you have to admire how quickly Egyptians have come to grips with democratic traditions of voters everywhere:

Turnout, only 46 percent in the first round of the presidential vote, appeared to electoral officials to have been no higher for the decisive head-to-head contest. Many of the 50 million eligible voters were dismayed by an unpalatable choice between a man seen as an heir to Mubarak and the nominee of a religious party committed to reversing liberal social traditions. Some cast a ballot against both men in protest.

I'm sure that match up really meets the expectations of the beginning of the year. Have a revolution only to end up with James G. Blaine vs. John W Davis.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Oh if only Henry Ford was around again

He and Mitt could start quoting from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion again:

Mitt Romney is hoping business owners will "make it very clear" to their employees what their political views are and how the November election results could impact their jobs.

Yes, nothing says democracy like encouraging employers to engage in the "protection racket" like a good mobster.

Because surely America history demonstrates that the wealthier a person is, the more they are automatically right.

You stay on stayin' classy GOP

Yes, yes, unleash the smears.

Simply Awesome

Via Think Progress:

Michigan Rep. Lisa Brown “barred from speaking in the state House after she used the word ‘vagina’ during a debate on an anti-abortion bill will participate in a performance of the Tony Award-winning play, ‘The Vagina Monologues,’ on the state Capitol steps.”

Well, okay maybe we are not THAT big an asshole

I guess this is sort of a relief...or something.

The 39-year-old West Virginian man who was reportedly injured in a random drive-by while hitchhiking in Montana [while he claimed to be working on a book on kindness in America]  confessed to police that he actually shot himself.

If only they'd be demure, barefoot and preggers

You stay Classy GOP:

...in an effort to clarify, a spokesman for the Michigan GOP Leader of the House only made things worse. In a letter to press, he simultaneously did not deny that the women were banned for saying “vagina” and further accused the two of throwing “temper tantrums.”

Aim high pigboy

Glad to see this moron still has his dry-drunk priorities in order.

Glenn Beck Vows To Single-Handedly Destroy ‘Glee’

I missed it

But FoxNews is reporting that President Obama had the temerity to interrupt a white man while the latter was speaking, having interrupted him first -- as God and Roger Ailes intended.

And hey, while on a theme

I'm on the Sun's side when it comes to the White House Press Corps...and I am feeling particularly eloquent today so...

FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING FUCKS!

A brief message from Old Sol

A-hem...

"FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING FUCKS!"

Once again, great job Supreme Court

Sheldon Adelsen willing to spend $100 Millllllllllllion dollars to support Romney. Man that guy sure gets to buy a lot of free speech. Thanks John Roberts.

The Colbert Report
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The Party of 11-year olds (may be overestimating)

What a fabulous shining example of Republicans and their ability to engage in civil discourse yesterday was.

Item One, the Michigan House:

While discussing a bill that would erode the availability of abortion, Reps. Barb Byrum and Lisa Brown introduced an amendment to apply the same regulations to vasectomies that GOP lawmakers wanted to add to abortion services. The debate grew heated, as Republicans sought to gravel down the women. Byrum was not permitted to speak in favor of the measure and Brown was repeatedly interrupted. “I’m flattered that you want to get in my vagina, but no means no,” she said.

What really drove the GOP crazy was the word "vagina". I like broad sweeping analogies as much as the next person, so I'm guessing the GOP males who lead the Michigan House have not spent a lot of time contemplating lady parts. It's just wham, bam, thank you ALEC.

Item Two, Arizona:

After losing the special election in Arizona to succeed Gabrielle Giffords in Congress, two-time Republican candidate Jesse Kelly has announced that he is dropping out of the race for a full term in November.

“I would like to thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, my wife Aubrey, and our supporters for their unwavering commitment to the values that make America great,” Kelly said in a statement.

Yes good ol' Jesus Christ, America's most famous political active citizen.
And finally, Item Three, who says Mitt Romney's grew out of his youthful hijinks and imbecility?






"Jolly ho, Tag, Ben, Craig, Joffrey and uh, Whatsyourname are you up for some japery?" 


[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Getting Harder to tell

Which is the Onion and which is a real news story -- because I think this seems quite accurate:

Oh belated outrage

Having seen the DVD I have to say I would never have noticed this if someone on the right-wing didn't get outraged about it...but now I guess I know what Fox & Freundes will be outraged about today.

There's one hell of a dragon egg hidden in Game of Thrones season one. Turns out one of the many heads on a spike decorating King's Landing belonged to ex-president George Bush. If you keep your eyes peeled when King Joffrey takes Sansa Stark to gaze upon the spiked head of her dead father around 12 minutes in, you'll notice that one of the heads looks slightly familiar. Show creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss explained in their DVD commentary (from Season 1, episode 10) that the decapitated head is actually George Bush. This was discovered by redditor SidIncognito.

"The last head on the left is George Bush. George Bush's head appears in a couple of beheading scenes. It's not a choice, it's not a political statement. We just had to use whatever head we had around."

Obviously, this is Obama's fault.  Now, if you want to make completely inappropriate political statements you do this:





It's also thematically wrong. Bush would be more Lannister or Greyjoy than Stark.

Baseball's whole lost decade

Of tainted drug-use was really awful...but has there been a non-doper champion in cycling the last generation or two?

It seems like everyone is tainted, the awards should just go to who cheats the best.

How many billions wasted on this piece of shit?

Twenty freaking billion just in development...and it constantly crashes:

An Air Force CV-22 Osprey crashed Wednesday during a routine training mission north of Navarre, Florida, injuring five crew members aboard, a military official said.

Nice, but on the other hand...

A nice statement of support of the Obama Adminstration from Simon Peres...until you get the details of what that support may entail.

Peres invoked the memory of Nazi Germany's efforts to exterminate European Jews, and warned that in a new age "the danger is today concentrated in Iran," whose leaders "bring darkness to a world longing for light." "They are trying to build a nuclear bomb," he said. "It is our responsibility to our own people, to our friends throughout the world, to posterity, that the Iranian threat must be stopped, and it cannot be delayed."

Holocaust analogies are not the analogies you use to avoid war.

Egypt: Not so much change as "change-ish"

For years Egypt had a notorious law that allowed the government to round up and imprison dissidents...or potential dissidents...on a whim. The law had been in place for thirty years, passed in the wake of the Sadat Assassination.

It was an important demand of the protestors against Mubarak that this law be gotten rid of. After Mubarak's downfall that finally happened on May 31, 2012.
And for almost an entire week...four whole days.

The Egyptian government announced Wednesday that military police and intelligence officers have been given the right to detain civilians, a move that appears to reflect concern about the prospect of mass protests linked to the upcoming presidential election...

...The decree was dated June 4, meaning it was issued just four days after the expiration of Egypt’s infamous emergency law

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Desperate People do desperately stupid things

Like most people -- thank goodness -- I've never committed -- nor for that matter charged  - anything greater than petty crimes (speeding, parking etc.) never the really big ones.  Most who do such crimes, or are charged with them, are not twisted geniuses, but rather desperate and/or stupid people.

So there's nothing shocking about the Zimmermans' lies really. 

Oh a real knee-slapper

So UEFA (The European Football Association) running the European Championships in its infinite wisdom said, "Hey Poland is playing Russia in Warsaw today, how about we just for shits and giggles assign a German refereeing crew? Wouldn't that be hilarious?"

If one of the Germans was a descendant of the Habsburgs that would have made it extra awesome.

Yeah pretty much

Longtime GOP economics consultant Bruce Bartlett states the truth:

Putting all the numbers in the C.B.O. report together, we see that continuation of tax and budget policies and economic conditions in place at the end of the Clinton administration would have led to a cumulative budget surplus of $5.6 trillion through 2011 – enough to pay off the $5.6 trillion national debt at the end of 2000.

But, of course, the Republicans won the White House and C-Plus Augustus blew up everything from the Deficit to the much of Asia. Not that we'll ever hear about this again. No, David Gregory has to have his Sunday morning biscotti without the agita of truth.

The real villains

Thank goodness.  Yesterday I wrote about how efforts at bailing out Spanish banks were depressing investors because the wealthy just weren't given enough money.

A bailout of up to €100bn for Spain‘s ailing banks failed to calm nerves about the future of the euro on Monday amid confusion over the plan’s details…

But then the markets went up, way up. Why, exactly?

Stocks took their cues from Europe's troubled debt markets on Tuesday, staging a comeback rally to end up more than 1 percent as Spanish bond yields came off euro-era record highs.

But nothing really changed...for the rich, for average folks though:

Investors have apparently concluded that the rescue is potentially a much better deal for the banks and their shareholders than for the government, its taxpayers and bondholders.

As long as everyone but the rich suffer it is all good.  After all they are all obviously reaping what they sowed.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Oh the glories of feudalism

In summary, Bobo thinks the proles do not know their place.
Or simply:

"Not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company" part ad infinitum

It is time to find the politician far more credible than another human being...much more credible:

Major, who was the Conservative prime minister from 1990 to 1997, said he had dinner with Murdoch in February 1997 as part of an effort to get closer to the media baron's newspapers ahead of elections. "It became apparent in discussion that Mr Murdoch really didn't like our European policies, which was no surprise to me, and he wished me to change our European policies," Major told the Leveson Inquiry into press ethics. "It is not very often someone sits in front of a prime minister and says 'I would like you to change your policy and if you don't change your policy my organisation cannot support you.'" Major says he told Murdoch there was "no question on us changing our policies." Murdoch's Sun tabloid, Britain's best-selling daily newspaper, switched its support to Major's Labour rival Tony Blair shortly afterwards, and Blair went on to win the May 1997 election. Murdoch told the Leveson Inquiry on April 25 that he had "never asked a prime minister for anything", as he tried to downplay his papers' political influence.

Pulitzer Prize!

Huffington Post is outraged about the lack of side-boob outrage! Oh no, woman wears ill fitting, but not skin-tight, pants. This must be what the Mayans were talking about -- at least if they had a Greek accent.

Shorter Grover Nordquist

"How dare Jeb Bush say modern conservatives are too extreme. Kill him!"

Well what do you know

The Australian couple made famous (after the were made infamous) for stating "a dingo at my baby" in the movie "A Cry in the Dark" (and for Meryl Streeps extreme cosmotology) have been exonerated more than three decades after the fact.

Alert the Montana Tourism Board!

Another one of our fine gun-totin' states adding to our glorious reputation:

Raymond Dolin may need to change the title of his upcoming memoir. Dolin, 39, is hitchhiking across the United States to gather material for his book, "The Kindness of America." But on Saturday night, the West Virginia man was shot by a random passerby on the side of a highway

Now somebody did pick him up on the side of the highway so he could receive treatment -- therefore we can go back to patting ourselves on the back with a new slogan.

"America, we got your back...with a target on it".

If at first you don't succeed, make it even worse

Well if at first austerity makes most people miserable, blame the same people and give money to the banks...blather...rinse...repeat.  Ta-dah!

A bailout of up to €100bn for Spain's ailing banks failed to calm nerves about the future of the euro on Monday amid confusion over the plan's details...But Spain's borrowing costs rose on Monday, nudging closer to levels that are considered unsustainable and dragging Italy towards the danger zone. Europe's stock markets fell slightly, despite an early bounce, the FTSE 100 in London finishing down 0.05%.

Clearly the problem is not enough suffering and not enough given to the banks.
But don't worry it won't happen too many more times:

...one of 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s economic advisers appeared in a German newspaper. In the piece, Glenn Hubbard criticized the Obama administration’s approach to Europe’s ongoing economic woes, instead calling for the adoption of more austerity

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Whoops

Shouldn't this be the British version of "Veep" (oh, sorry it's already been the other way around):

David Cameron got home from a Sunday lunch with family and friends — and discovered he had left his eight-year-old daughter in the pub.

A milestone

Apparently American's loved the idea of Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton paired together, trying to out "non-act" each other.

History's record-breaking Hatfields & McCoys made headlines last week, but gone mostly unnoticed in the shuffle was news of something even more ground-breaking for the entire TV industry: For the week ending June 3, History ranked as the No. 1 network among total viewers.

Ignorance on parade

There's a reason "Fuck the South" was a hit, not only was it visceral it was accurate.

Drill baby Drill

Apparently Mitt Romney dreams of the day when a drilling platform will make George Washington at Mount Rushmore look like he's wearing a hat.

Romney’s energy plan, including the fact that he would open up “virtually every part of U.S. lands and waters” to drilling regardless of whether they are national parks, national monuments, or protected in some other way. 

We are talking about the Mitt 3000 here

I think his positrons would disagree:

 “No, Mitt, corporations are not people,” Warren said, to applause. “People have hearts..."

Again, not the Mitt 3000, a fully-functional android who now has Michael Fassbender playing him in viral videos.

Secret Agent Comic-Book Supervillian

Good idea Lex Luthor Rick Scott:

Holy backfire, Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s attempt to purge the voting roles in Florida is not only wildly unpopular. It is also helping to solidify Obama’s lead in the state...

Scott’s scheme seems to have destroyed any momentum that Mitt Romney was gaining in the Sunshine State. Romney has been able to make up one point on Obama since April. The president has gone from a 50%-45% lead to a 50%-46% lead.

Prometheus, I'm going to review it the way a conservative would...without conservatism

Really nice summer movie, big, loud, smart and dumb in equal doses, visually stunning.  Really good cast...

And ultimately the message is essentially Pro-Choice.

So there.

Noooooooo!

Not that I listen every week, but I've just assumed they'd be around forever and there was a cloning process in place.  I should have given at a higher level I guess:

Tom and Ray Magliozzi, aka Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers, the comedian mechanics who host NPR's Car Talk, will tell their listeners this afternoon that as of this fall, they'll no longer record new programs..

..."My brother has always been 'work-averse,' " says Ray, 63. "Now, apparently, even the one hour a week is killing him!"

"It's brutal!" adds Tom, 74.

Stunning

As scientists learn more and more, we've managed to create a "faith-based" society that is taught to learn less and less.

As someone else once said, "argue about gravitational theory all you want, but apples still fall from trees".  The fact that people are encouraged to be ignorant and deny evolution, doesn't mean it isn't occurring. 

See yesterday's post about Climate Change and who bears a share of the responsibility.

You might want to pick better examples

In a way this is a depressing reflection of IOKIYAR writ large, or at least the undoing of even the veneer of equality:

If the Transportation Security Administration wants to fix its poor public image, it might want to stop patting down recognizable passengers such as former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

"There are certain people that are just so well-known that you've just got to use your common sense," said Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Transportation Subcommittee.

The rest of you, however, be glad you don't get probed.

First of all, the people of various and sundry other nations from Cambodia to Iraq might strongly dispute whether Rumsfeld or Kissinger are dangerous.  Together they've killed a fuck load more innocent civilians than all of Al Qaeda put together.

Second, if you and I have to be inconvenienced, fuck it so do celebrities.

It is a day ending in "Y"

I could probably alternate posts everyday with the heading being either "Huffington Post Sideboob" or "John Bolton says we must bomb Iran" and have an actual news item for the day.

Someday these two themes will merge and the rapture shall begin.

Well that did not take long

It's a big day for those of us who enjoy soccer with the beginning of Euro 2012 today.  There have been fears of racial abuse taking place in the host countries of Poland and Ukraine -- well founded -- as it started before the tournament even did.

Euro 2012 was plunged into its first racism controversy after the black players in the Holland squad were subjected to monkey chants during an open practice session in the same city where England will also invite the public to watch them train on Friday.

As the story further notes the Dutch team had just visited Auschwitz.

Oh, and as ever, the governing authorities were quick to be idiots:

 Uefa subsequently tried to deny that it was racially motivated, saying they had checked with the Dutch squad and had been told it was not thought to be of that nature.

Ugh.

The future of humanity just not as compelling as tax cuts

Who could not have predicted?

So far, 2012 has been the warmest year the United States has ever seen, with the warmest spring and the second-warmest May since record-keeping began in 1895, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported on Thursday.

Well, okay, Fox & Friends and James Inhofe...but otherwise no one.
Meanwhile,

The earth could be nearing a point at which sweeping environmental changes, possibly including mass extinctions, would undermine human welfare, 22 prominent biologists and ecologists warned on Wednesday.

Acknowledging in a new paper that both the likelihood and timing of such a planetary “state shift” were uncertain, the scientists nonetheless described warning signs that it could arrive within a few human generations, if not sooner.

Well-respected (and thus relatively ignored) James Fallows looked at this report and stated:

I Fear This Will Be the Most Important News of 2012

Well to the future of the human race seems important sure, but compared to the "horserace" and tax cuts? C'mon.

As David Gregory or David Brooks, would say "Save it for the TED seminar nerd" -- or maybe even then, no.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

You get what you make them pay for

You would think the Sub-Continent that suffered so much from the humiliation and economic collapse of another country would realize the potential repercussions (as reprehensible as they are) of repeating history. Of course, like this country the answer is a Belushi-esque "But Noooooooooooooooo!":

A member of the Greek Far-Right Golden Dawn party, Ilias Kasidiaris, has been issued an arrest warrant for his disorderly actions on a live talk show on Thursday, reports The Telegraph. Tempers flared on the private Antenna television station, as guests on the talk show questioned each other on politics and the upcoming elections on June 17. Kasidiaris was infuriated when radical left Syriza party member Rena Dorou made a reference to his ongoing court case. Dorou’s claim that there was a “crisis of democracy when people who will take the country back 500 years have got into the Greek parliament” caused Kasidiaris to leap out and throw a glass of water at his target.

More than that

The fact that Mitt Romney used to dress up like a cop and pull people over... ...leads me to contemplate his youthful stripper career and his choreographed moves to the tune "Macho Man".

Golly wonder who's going to end up with the media coverage?

On the one hand:

Cardinal Timothy Dolan is slamming a report suggesting he authorized payments to priests accused of sexual abuse in exchange for them leaving the church. The New York Times last week cited documents showing that when Dolan was Archbishop of Milwaukee in 2003 he agreed to pay several alleged pedophile priests $20,000 if they left the church... While speaking to reporters Sunday, Dolan claimed the payments were "charity."

On the other hand:

In a spirited retort to the Vatican, a group of Roman Catholic nuns is planning a bus trip across nine states this month, stopping at homeless shelters, food pantries, schools and health care facilities run by nuns to highlight their work with the nation’s poor and disenfranchised...

The sisters plan to use the tour also to protest cuts in programs for the poor and working families in the federal budget that was passed by the House of Representatives and proposed by Representative Paul D. Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who cited his Catholic faith to justify the cuts.

“We’re doing this because these are life issues,” said Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, a liberal social justice lobby in Washington.

But I bet we can guess between Cardinal "Charity for Pedophiles" Dolan and Sister "Liberal" Campbell who will get feted on the Sunday Chat Shows and be routinely quoted on reproductive issues henceforth.

Good job 'Dancin' Dave' and the rest of you.

[Cross-posted at Firedoglake]

The good news for me personally

Is that the clouds stayed away long enough for me to get my solar filter (but not the telescope, too heavy) and watch the Venus transit of the Sun.

See you again in 2117 everybody.

(pic via Doun Dounell at flickr.com) 

 Oh and this from NASA showing the Venus Transit through various filters (and thus in different wavelengths) is incredible. The perspective of course is such that Venus (only very slightly smaller than Earth and thus much much smaller than the Sun [a very average star btw]) looks like it is skittering barely above the surface of Hell. Enjoy a much greater, beautiful, and valuable use of tax dollars than giving it to Bank of America.