Perpetual Overcompensation

Shorter Bill Kristol:

"WAR! Good God, y'all. WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?!

Well, me actually, it's quite awesome for me."

Third times the charm. You know it's going to be a Kristol column when it starts out with a Hitler analogy.

Tears of a Clown

From David Frum's now-infamous "Waterloo" post:

I’ve been on a soapbox for months now about the harm that our overheated talk is doing to us. Yes it mobilizes supporters — but by mobilizing them with hysterical accusations and pseudo-information, overheated talk has made it impossible for representatives to represent and elected leaders to lead …

Hmm. Now where do you suppose they learned the power of "overheated talk", "hysterical accusations", and "pseudo-information"?

NY Magazine, May 29, 2005:

[Dworkin had] been reaching out to other writers and had gone to dinner at Christopher Hitchens and Carol Blue’s apartment, where Dworkin and Stoltenberg were joined by the former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum and his wife, Danielle Crittenden. “Andrea had fun that night—she had wicked fun,” says Stoltenberg. They found common ground talking about how much they hated Bill Clinton and how they thought he was a rapist.

Frum is interesting only in that he's got the world's shortest memory. He hasn't changed his core values. Mister "Axis of Evil" is merely advocating less inflammatory, but no less pernicious, rhetoric to get the public to swallow them. He got fired because he was no longer useful (the Dollars, always the Dollars) to one wingnut think tank. Given his own history of overheated talk, hysterical accusations, and dissemination of pseudo-information, I put that in the "Reaping and Sowing" category.

One of his better rants

...some objectionable language and metaphors...

This about sums up their relevance

When Bishops start talk about threatening pro-choice Catholics with ex-communication or being banned from communion, this is the appropriate retort...via Mary Ann Sorrentino:

A quarter-century ago -- at a time when about 10 priests in Rhode Island had already been accused of sexually abusing children -- the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence tried to stop my then-14-year-old daughter from making her confirmation because of her mother's work with Planned Parenthood. When that conversation took place in our pastor's office (and was taped by me), I was also told not to come to the rail, since I'd been excommunicated for that work.

My reply?

"Let me understand this, Father. Because of my work with women at Planned Parenthood, you don't want me to come to the rail and take communion from the hands of a man who sexually abuses children? Is that what you're telling me, Father?"

The whole article is well-worth a read.

I was busy yesterday

Getting closer to mortality -- so I missed all the hubbub of the worst reunion tour since Loggins & Messina that Res & others were writing about.

Apparently, John McCain is combating JD Hayworth's lunacy by campaigning with a Dominatrix.



Where'd she get that flag pin...from outside a Perkins?

"My Offer is This: Nothing."

NYT: For Years, Deaf Boys Tried to Tell of Priest's Abuse

They were deaf, but they were not silent. For decades, a group of men who were sexually abused as children by the Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy at a school for the deaf in Wisconsin reported to every type of official they could think of that he was a danger, according to the victims and church documents.

They told other priests. They told three archbishops of Milwaukee. They told two police departments and the district attorney. They used sign language, written affidavits and graphic gestures to show what exactly Father Murphy had done to them. But their reports fell on the deaf ears of hearing people.

The GC and I (both still technically Catholic, by the way) were talking this evening and he said the following, which I think is all true (paraphrasing here, of course)...

Joey Rats will never step down. Ever. Get the thought out of your head. Because if he did, the Vatican will be broken. Whatever authority it still has -- and that authority remains considerable in parts of the world -- will crumble, and that simply will not be allowed. The worst that will happen to Ratzinger (or any number of other church creeps) is that they will become virtual prisoners inside the Vatican so as to elude some ambitious and enterprising little prosecutor from a place like Russia or China, where people aren't as squeamish as we are here about frog marching a guy in a clerical collar to a county lockup while he awaits trial. If anyone even alludes to it, the "Holy Father" will go Michael Corleone on whichever little Senator Geary had the temerity to suggest such a thing. Would you expect anything less of an institution that kicked Bernard Law upstairs to Mary Major? Joey Rats is as high as it gets. With nowhere to go but down, he isn't going anywhere.

That NYT article is sickening, by the way.

Guesses?

What did it take for McCain to get through this without flying into one of his patented Ragegasms? Bet he was flipping over couch cushions looking for strays from Cindy's old stash.

Update: Ooo, look. Sarah wore her leathers.

Country First!

And You Look Like One, Too!

Happy Birthday, Attaturk!

xxx...res

All that's left is an admission from Monsignor Alexander Butterfield that there's a tape

Oh dear, Pope Nixon just keeps having new information revealed:

The future Pope Benedict XVI was kept more closely apprised of a sexual abuse case in Germany than previous church statements have suggested, raising fresh questions about his handling of a scandal unfolding under his direct supervision before he rose to the top of the church’s hierarchy...

And here are today's classy words from Bill Donahue, aka Cousin Kevin to the Pope's Uncle Ernie:

The Church preaches an ethic of sexual restraint -- a profoundly countercultural idea -- so when a priest fails, it's tempting to highlight it. Human nature being what it is, that's understandable. But it's also immoral. Quite frankly, if sexual abuse is wrong, it should not matter what the identity of the abuser is. Selective justice is the highest form of injustice.

Yeah, as TS at Instaputz notes, to Bill Donahue criticizing the Church is a much greater injustice than abusing 200 deaf kids over a period of years.

Nice sense of proportion there a-hole.

I'll go with an even shorter Digby

The right-wing claims about how the left is causing them to be violent can be summed up as the most frequent line on "Cops":

"Bitch made me hit her"

Yeah, it is about that eloquent and about that morally fucked.

By the way, the latest update:

Cantor office incident, confirmed random unintentional shot fired off by Yosemite Sam impersonator. But the deliberately lie served it's purpose as it got saps in the media to suck it up so that they could proclaim "both sides do it" -- a theme that shall continue wherever David Gregory is allowed to speak.

Meanwhile,

Albemarle County fire marshals and the FBI have confirmed that the gas line cut at Congressman Tom Perriello's brother's house was cut intentional.

I tell ya'

When you wait to fill out your NCAA bracket until today, it's uncanny how many upsets you can pick. Take that autistic genius kid!

Have fun keeping your share of the TLC Swag from the Duggars

There were stories circulating this week that somehow super-grifter Sarah Palin's "alternative reality show" Baked Alaska was somehow going to end up on the Discovery Channel. The same channel that has given you "Planet Earth" and "Life" shows featuring the undeniable power of nature the evolutionary process -- was going to give you someone who thinks the first Kentucky Derby winner rode a Jesus-Horse.

But alas, you cannot schedule Sarah Palin before or after "Mythbusters" so Discovery shuttled her off to lesser-light TLC, the network that brings you such quality programming as 'Hoarding: Buried Alive', 'Little People, Big World', and the Duggars 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and Counting. And it's great that Palin can come to TLC and save the network because the Duggars are just about out of cipherin' digits to figure out how many they've done birthed.

(pic from here)

Pop Quiz!

NYT:

Ending one of the fiercest lobbying fights in Washington, the Senate voted Thursday to force private commercial banks out of the federal student loan market, cutting off billions of dollars in profits in a sweeping restructuring of financial-aid programs and redirecting most of the money to new education initiatives. ...

Since the bank-based loan program began in 1965, commercial banks like Sallie Mae and Nelnet have received guaranteed federal subsidies to loan money to students, with the government assuming nearly all the risk. Democrats have long denounced the program, saying it fattened the bottom line for banks at the expense of students and taxpayers.

Said George Miller (D - CA) and chair of the House Education and Labor Committee:

“Why are we paying people to lend the government’s money and then the government guarantees the loan and the government takes back the loan?”

Said Lamar Alexander (R - TN) and former federal education secretary:

"The Democratic majority decided, well look, while we’re at it, let’s have another Washington takeover..."Let’s take over the federal student loan program.”

No doubt Senator Alexander is against a Washington takeover of Medicare, too.

Here's the Pop Quiz:

Lamar Alexander:
(a) stupid
(b) lying
(c) contemptuous of his constituents
(d) all of the above

Update on the Cantor office incident

It appears that there is a suspect in the shooting in the general vicinity of the Richmond Office of Virginia Representative Eric Cantor...

A preliminary investigation shows that a bullet was fired into the air and struck the window in a downward direction, landing on the floor about a foot from the window. The round struck with enough force to break the windowpane but did not penetrate the window blinds.

Based upon what is currently known of the incident, Richmond Police have put up an artist's composite of the likely perpetrator of this dastardly act of gravity:





How this moron (Cantor, not the estimable Mr. Sam) isn't being pointed and laughed at after this ridiculous effort at self-pity only reflects just how in the bag the media is.

Keeping it KKKlassy

I'm not a big fan of Bart Stupak, obviously, but he joins the fast growing number of Democratic Congresspersons to receive disgusting threats of violence, slurs, and actual acts of violence.

"Congressman Stupak, you baby-killing mother f***er... I hope you bleed out your a**, got cancer and die, you mother f***er," one man says in a message to Stupak.

"There are millions of people across the country who wish you ill," a woman says in a voicemail, "and all of those thoughts that are projected on you will materialize into something that's not very good for you."

CBS News also obtained copies of faxes sent to Stupak, which include racial epithets used in reference to President Obama and show pictures of nooses with Stupak's name.

Fortunately, on this score at least, I'm just a bit too young to have a memory of the 1960s, but you cannot be a liberal and think of the litany of violence done to figures on the left in that era. John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, and Martin Luther King were all shot down in their primes.

Tim McVeigh was certainly not on the left-side of the political sphere.

All Presidents get threats, but the deluge of threats and racial epithets against Obama have me, and should have every American, concerned about his safety.

This is getting fucking ridiculous, if the GOP doesn't stand up and decry this stuff LOUDLY AND THOROUGHLY they are eventually going to have blood on their hands.

But, of course, they won't -- and when it occurs they will do what many of them already do, blame the victim.

If I was in the motion picture business...

All my movies would be in 3-D.

They'd be shown in 2-D, and the character development would be 1-D.

So add it all up...and I'd be Michael Bay with few explosions.

Good to see

John Boehner and John McCain hitting the town together.

Alert Harry Turtledove

Because it appears that we know what would happen if Nixon became Pope ... or if a whole "College of Nixons" ran the Clergy:

Top Vatican officials — including the future Pope Benedict XVI — did not defrock a priest who molested as many as 200 deaf boys, even though several American bishops repeatedly warned them that failure to act on the matter could embarrass the church, according to church files newly unearthed as part of a lawsuit.

This, of course, is after several years of American Church authorities not acting on the case.

And these are the folks that dictate ... and sadly, have the political muscle ... over reproductive rights in major health care legislation because of their "moral authority".

[Cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Pet experiences FoxNews on Monday

By Jove, I think Roger Aisles (the good one)

Has got it exactly right!

One suspects that [Slate Asshole Mickey] Kaus was canned by Slate but allowed to cover up his termination by disguising it as a career change.

Tucker Carlson's modified hole in the popcorn trick gets a dry run...and hump before Easter

Honestly on a panel of "election" pundits, not only is this guy a lightweight amongst lightweights, but christ-on-a-ritz...


(click to enlarge, something Carlson only dreams he could do in real-life for certain items)

White Capri Pants (it's Old Navy so I guess Tucker considers himself a veteran now); droopy blue socks; and using a Starbucks Tall-Grande as a stand-in for his child-sized fish-stick?

(via Balloon Juice)

Yeah, I sure miss that guy

Look at this guy, continuing his neurosis about other human beings and their "prop-like" nature.

And, this of course, is part of a pattern.

2000:

(sorry about the mediaite thing and its intrusive ads.)

Less Praying more thinking

I admit, years ago I took the Wonderlich Test for shits and giggles in the same fashion NFL players do and scored really high on it, not Ivy League (sans George Bush) high, but not too shabby -- more like Big-10 university high, like a 39 or something. Then I ran the 40 yard dash and did it in like 6.9 seconds, did no pull ups, and fainted during the cone drill and just like that my NFL dream was over (plus I hadn't played since 8th grade and sucked then -- oh, and all this was done in someone's backyard).

Still, I take some satisfaction in this:

At the Scouting Combine, the Wonderlic exam is administered to players in groups. The 12-minute test is preceded by some brief instructions and comments from the person administering the test.

Per a league source, after the person administering the test to [Tim] Tebow's group had finished, Tebow made a request that the players bow their heads in prayer before taking the 50-question exam.

Said one of the other players in response: "Shut the f--k up." Others players in the room then laughed.

Tebow proceeded to score a 22 out of 50, which is slightly below average. So I scored more than Tim Tebow...and this is likely true both for the Wonderlich and in other ways.

What literary giants

Wingnut Welfare has wrought:

This legislation is a superconducting super collider of culture-war conflagrations.

That's "merit" scholar Jonah Goldberg who takes his wit from Oscar Mayer instead of Oscar Wilde.

Oh for the love of a small comb, get over yourself

Dear Tom Friedman, please shut the fuck up. Thank you.

...even though we still have so much more nation-building for America to do — from education to energy to environment to innovation to tax policy. That is why I want my own Tea Party. I want a Tea Party of the radical center.

Occasionally it does work

I know that the health care fight has and will continue to be difficult for Democrats -- after all we're the only ones even trying (sometimes half-assed, but half-hearted still beats no-heart at all).

But there are more than a few moments when having the Democrats in control does more than disappoint:

Jamie Leigh Jones claims she was raped by fellow Halliburton employees when she was working in Iraq in 2005...

Jones employment contract with Halliburton (now known as KBR) contained an arbitration clause that required "any and all personal injury claims' to be heard by an arbitrator. Jones eventually refused to arbitrate, wanting her lawsuit to be heard in court.

The Fifth Circuit eventually held that some of Jones' claims did indeed belong in court because the assault was not related to her employment. KBR had appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, but after initial briefing, KBR withdrew its appeal on March 11.

Why? Sen. Al Franken! Franken successfully advocated a prohibition that keeps contractors receiving federal defense funds from forcing employees to arbitration to resolve certain claims, including civil rights and harassment disputes.

And Franken has done more than just this, he taught Joe Biden how to use profanity effectively.

Thank you Al Franken.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Peppers of Mass Destruction

The weirdest thing I've read today (so far): Indian military to weaponize world's hottest chili.

Shout Out

To my fellow American of Italian descent, Nancy Pelosi (née D'Alesandro), who I've been calling Nancy "Wellington" Pelosi all week.

You done good, Madam Speaker.

David Gregory -- Idiot

Just now on MSNBC that in challenging health-care reform legally

"Republicans will argue you cannot be forced to buy insurance".

-- Yes, this philosophy has really worked for those of us in regards to auto insurance.

Gregory is the laziest talking point machine alive -- now kissing the ass of "President" John McCain.

But I won't cry for the wasted years 'Cos you ain't worth the salt in my tears

Heckuva Job Media

Well, for FoxNews I guess it's "Mission Accomplished"

On the heels of health care, a new Harris poll reveals Republican attitudes about Obama:

* 67 percent of Republicans (and 40 percent of Americans overall) believe that Obama is a socialist.

* 57 percent of Republicans (32 percent overall) believe that Obama is a Muslim

* 45 percent of Republicans (25 percent overall) agree with the Birthers in their belief that Obama was "not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president"

* 38 percent of Republicans (20 percent overall) say that Obama is "doing many of the things that Hitler did"

* Scariest of all, 24 percent of Republicans (14 percent overall) say that Obama "may be the Antichrist."

The degree of stupidity spewed out by Glenn Beck and Limbaugh and countered by no actual intention to state plain facts by the media is truly frightening.

It's the kind of knuckle-dragging vs. foot-dragging that gets people called racial slurs, toss rocks, and threaten -- and eventually carry out violence.

...but using a dictionary, apparently too "extreme"

Via Balloon Juice, the note that was attached to a brick thrown through the local office window of New York Democratic Representative Louise Slaughter.



Genius.

Now local TV station 13-WHAM reports that Slaughter received a death threat: “Assassinate is the word they used…toward the children of lawmakers who voted yes.”

They just had to say it, not spell it, as that might have preemptively caused their brains to blow up. But yes, the crowd that likes to chant "Baby Killer" at pro-choice people is rooting for children to be killed. They're ...JUST...THAT...AWESOME!

And Mistermix's post adds that the guy who led on the cheering and is now half-heartedly backing away from using violence to prevent the Government taking over health care...

...is on Social Security Disability.

As I was saying, G-E-N-I-U-S!

Because it is an otherwise realistic depiction of 18th Century Seafaring

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Will it go before or after 'Mythbusters'?

Because the "faith" brigades will have to change channels quick.

Sources say Discovery Communications has edged out rival A&E Networks in the bidding for the project, titled "Sarah Palin's Alaska."

Old Man just yells

Oh deary me, John McCain says the Democrats are just going to have to negotiate against each other for the rest of the year.

So, Mr. "America First" as full of it as ever, and it's just another day ending in "Y".

Meet the Republicans

Lost over the last few days in a deluge of imbecilic comments by the John Birch Society and the Council of Conservative Citizens Republicans, was this completely over-the-top and unintentionally hilarious statement of Georgia Republican Paul Broun:

If ObamaCare passes, that free insurance card that’s in people’s pockets is gonna be as worthless as a Confederate dollar after the War Between The States — the Great War of Yankee Aggression.

"The Great War of Yankee Aggression"? Really, that's how you are still referring to it? Who the hell is this guy, Theodore Bilbo? (worst hobbit ever -- even the Sackville Bagginses hated that guy [ed. "NERD!"])

But if nothing else, Broun has a history of profound thoughts...

While watching an NFL game, Broun became entranced by a “gentleman with this big type hair wig on” holding a “John 3:16” sign. “As I sat there in my office that fall trying to figure out life, I picked up the Bible and read John 3:16,” Broun said. He suddenly transformed into a true believer, a cadre of the Christian right.

Anyone who grew up in the 70s and 80s and watched sports remembers that guy.

And, as Digby noted a while ago, that ubiquitous guy in the wig with the John 3:16 banner -- is now doing life in prison on multiple kidnapping and terrorism charges.

So he certainly makes an inspirational symbol for a Republican Paul Broun.

(cross-posted at Firedoglake]

That's Life

I watched a little bit of Life last night. Spectacular viewing, but I'll wait for David Attenborough's narrated version to come out on blu-ray so I can enjoy it without being Americanized as some marmot is turned into Mickey Mouse ("nice marmot").

Gawker sums this up:

2. Animals Are Not People: I'm sorry, but the hippo is not going off "in search of love." He is going to try to find a lady to mate with because he has a biological imperative to pass along his genes. Stop trying to make him out to be Hugh Grant in a romantic comedy. He is just a big, stupid hippo who wants to fuck.

Y'know like Rush Limbaugh in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Since I never watch FoxNews...

Just wondering, has Steve Doocy taken a hostage yet?

"No we can't"

Having hit the trifecta of slurs ( "Nigger" , "Faggot", and "Wetback") they must have been disappointed to miss seeing a lynching:

For most of the day, the Tea Party demonstrators had been the most vocal, chanting “We the people,” “No, no, no,” and “kill the bill.” But as it became clear that Democrats had won the votes of key anti-abortion lawmakers, the Tea Party protesters lost their enthusiasm, and their numbers shrank.

They were quickly replaced by those who'd supported the health care overhaul as well as hundreds of demonstrators favoring immigration legislation.

That must have coincided with FoxNews coverage ending.

At this location last night

Some poor undocumented alien teen was applying the most regrettable stress-relief of his life, even if it came with a payoff of several hundred bucks an hour.

He'll never go to the Home Depot parking lot again.

Before we get too angry

You have to remember, amongst male Republicans in Texas, "Baby Killer" is what they yell at themselves in shame after another furious round of masturbation.

And who masturbates more to C-Span than a conservative Republican Congressman? There's a reason you don't want to go near Brian Lamb with a blacklight people.

I had to go to bed last night

What time did Boehner start crying and when did he stop, was it when Nancy Pelosi hit him with Gallagher's Mallet?

What John Cole Said

Classic:

BTW, two hundred thousand people showed up in DC today to march for immigration reform. Using Michelle Malkin and teabagger math, that is like eleventy billion people.

The Coming Dip in the Unemployment Rate

So where do I apply for one of the new death panel gigs?

So he's only got the one ball...

Just like Hitler.

They have the votes -- they're Ramming it through (or is it Rahming it?)

According to the various news networks Nancy Pelosi has done what effective Speakers do, and obtained the votes to pass the version of health, nay, insurance, nay some form of reform through the House today (we'll find out if this is really the case later). If so, I guess this becomes a great day for Patriotism, or Centrism, or Capitalism, or Facism, or Socialism, or Marxism, or perhaps just Jism -- it's so hard to follow when you have Glenn Beck out there and are also a writer for FDL.

In any case, I'm sure that now nothing bad will ever happen to anyone again for all time.

Whew.

(Of course, now is the time that meteorite, aliens, and/or reinvented Mayan mythology will finally strike the Earth, like Hollywood tells me is supposed to happen when there's a black President. Dammit!!!)

In the meantime, as the GOP screams about RAMMING things, it falls upon me, to mark this occasion with the greatest sports video ever produced by the human race (but not as good as anything produced by voles).

MATLOCK!!!

In today's episode:

From what I've managed not to notice, divided government would be AWESOME, let's all experiment via my calcified wetdreams.

Not that you'll ever know it

At least in the 20s they kept in good order, like a right-winger should.

But this weekend there are also protesters in Washington -- against the war, and for tolerant immigration reform.

THOUSANDS of them. Far more than are "teabagging it up" outside the capital complex.

And yet, you'd never really know it would you? You literally have to do a few searches to find something mentioning them.

No, all attention goes to the morons who managed to use words that the Citizens of Rock Ridge and Governor William Lepetomane were too classy to say.

Calling John Lewis a "nigger" is a little bit on par with calling Jesus a "kike". Add in some spitting on another black Congressman and yelling out that Barney Frank is a "faggot" and you get the Teabaggers in all their dubious glory.

Congrats GOP you let 'em be created.

It's 6 in the morning

Where's the socialist paradise John Boehner promised me would be at hand after the vote?

...I mean at least Rush Limbaugh got the fuck out last night, like the last chopper out of Saigon (well, maybe not a good analogy for he and his cyst) right?

It was already an exciting day, getting a chance to meet his wealthy banker heroes

And then it became the best day ever, when Boehner proudly showed he had struck gold!

(AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

Six Years of Sucking

Last Thursday was the Sixth Anniversary of this blog (at this address, and the HTML disaster that was at www.risinghegemon.blogspot.com). Over that time, we've put up thousands of posts, I've probably put up about 10,000 or so.

Which is pretty good considering I used up most of my material by June 2005.

So thanks to all of you for reading; thanks to Res, DeDurkheim and Champollion for their contributions as well -- and for decreasing the suckiness.

Summing up CNN's Daytime Programming

Breaking News: Some Bullshit Happening Somewhere

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The SINGULARITY of stupid has occurred and someone published it.



Remember this day -- for it is the day that the two dumbest people to serve in Congress since Theodore Bilbo and his reflection -- were allowed to write a joint op-ed in Politico.

My only question is -- how did this not run FIRST in the Washington Post?

File Under "STFU and Go Away"

Rice and Greenspan: two colossal failures who have been missed by no one.

I'm sorry, you claim to be more patriotic than me?

Glenn Greenwald lets Ernest T. Bass experience the full Glennzilla -- and he most richly deserves it.

For years that turd has been implying those of us who questioned the wisdom of Operation Clustfuck of being traitors and hoping for the deaths of American soldiers.

So what does Instawanker blog forth:

If I were the Israelis, not only would I bomb Iran, but I'd do so in such a way as to create as much trouble for China, Russia, Europe and the United States as possible.

How many American troops would get killed in Iraq and Afghanistan if his little dream scenario would come to be?

God, what an asshole.

Whoopsy

Neocons, not exactly popular the world over -- though you'd never know it from the cable news or the WaPo editorial page.

Let the laughter begin:

Israelis view Obama favorably, mixed on Netanyahu

Jon Stewart

A national treasure:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Conservative Libertarian
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

"Anderson Cooper"

Who is shockingly, only marginally more intelligent than human doorstop Wolf Blitzer?

And yet, they still managed to lower the collective IQ of the place by hiring Erick Erickson.

Remember kids

Your NCAA bracket sucks because Jesus hates you as much as the "Prince of Peace" hated social justice.

By the way, I understand that Fred Hiatt and Howard Kurtz proclaimed that Obama didn't seem to enjoy filling out his bracket enough this year.

Lines I wish I had thought of

Last night's '30 Rock'

"GE, we brought great things to life, and bad things to Chinese Rivers"

Wanker on Wanker violence

Oh Dear, incredibly racist generally fact-free blogger Debbie "Muslims in my Alpha-Bits" Schlussel accuses fact-free racist Sean Hannity's abysmal charity concerts of being fraudulent (and not because they promise entertainment).

I say settle this in the Octagon!

Poor Bart

Sad sack superdouche Bart Stupak says his lying and moaning about health care reform and abortion has made his life hell, why people have been calling and mocking him.

Tell it to the families of Barnett Slepian and George Tiller, jackass.

Why Alex Chilton Mattered

Someone asked me today, who was Alex Chilton and what did he do anyway besides write a song that was used by That 70's show? ("In the Street)"  Challenge accepted.

Alex Chilton mattered:

1. Because he merged soulful and pop singing that did not insult the listener's intelligence.  An off-kilter delivery that made the listener feel the pain or joy or ambivalence that the singer was feeling.  And he could do that when he was an adolescent singing in The Box Tops ("Cry like a Baby", "Soul Deep") as well as in Big Star and later as a solo artist.

2. Because he could write an incredibly aching teenage lyric that again did not insult anyone's intelligence. (listen to "Thirteen" or "I'm in Love with a Girl" or "September Gurls")  And the raw emotion in those songs was real.  No auto-tune or computer manipulation of his voice was necessary.

3. Because he did not have to scream and shout and yell until polyps grew on his vocal chord, he could convey teenage angst with a simple guitar chord and a vulnerable delivery that sent shivers down your spine. (Just close your eyes and listen to "I'm in love with a girl")

4. Because he did not take himself too seriously yet understood that he mattered to an entire generation of post-punk musicians (The Replacements, The Lemonheads, Husker Du, Eliot Smith, R.E.M.) and fans after Chilton himself had given up on the music industry. (listen to "No Sex")

5. Because he showed pop musicians that you do not have to make music in LA or New York.  You can make music near a home that matters to you. (see Ardent Studios)

6. Because some days at some times in rough situations - a beautiful guitar part reminds us that maybe, just maybe music can make the world a better place for just a little while.

7. Because he realized that sometimes when you are trying to make music, you need to fight the label rather than trying to create the next hit.  Chilton famously refused to write music that the executives at the labels demanded and instead recorded music that mattered to him and his fans. 

There are many more reasons - we can talk about his work with The Replacements and The Posies but does it matter?  Either you have experienced the music and then you understand.  Or you didn't and don't.  So, go get #1 Record, Radio City, Sister Lovers/Third, High Priest, and 19 Years - just sit back and enjoy.

"Alex Chilton" - The Replacements - from Please to Meet Me

If he was from Venus, would he feed us with a spoon?
If he was from Mars, wouldn't that be cool?
Standing right on campus, would he stamp us in a file?
Hangin' down in Memphis all the while.

(chorus:)
Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes'round
They sing "I'm in love. What's that song?
I'm in love with that song."

Cerebral rape and pillage in a village of his choice.
Invisible man who can sing in a visible voice.
Feeling like a hundred bucks, exchanging good lucks face to face.
Checkin' his stash by the trash at St. Mark's place.

(chorus)

I never travel far, without a little Big Star
Runnin' 'round the house, Mickey Mouse and the Tarot cards.
Falling asleep with a flop pop video on.
If he was from Venus, would he meet us on the moon?
If he died in Memphis, then that'd be cool, babe.

The One Reason

...You should not discuss politics with your colleagues is not because you'll discover that you're on opposite sides of the fence, but because you'll discover just how ignorant they are. It's scary.

"Who cares what a bunch of broads thinks?"

That's pretty much the summation of Bart Stupak's reaction to the Catholic Nuns organization's breaking from the Bishops to endorse health care reform.

“When I’m drafting right to life language, I don’t call up the nuns.” He says he instead confers with other groups including “leading bishops, Focus on the Family, and The National Right to Life Committee.”

This can mean only one thing...

Nobody could have anticipated

Sorry, but if I hadn't been filling out my Census form, I could have had this posted a minute earlier...

Jim Cramer is Still Very Bad with Numbers:

It seems that TheStreet.com, a financial website co-founded and chaired by Cramer, is losing a ton of money and will be filing its annual numbers a little late to the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a report in the Post. So the SEC is taking a look at Cramer's magic numbers.

Golly, the market is up about 30% in the last year, and somehow Jim Cramer's stock tips STILL lost a shit load of cash.

Is he going to be extra sweaty and whiny about Jon Stewart again? For it was just over one year ago...

For that inevitable and repeated moment

When alleged Constitution lovers Glenn Beck and Michelle Bachmann suggest the Census is some thing that Obama just came up with...

Article 1, Section 2:

[An] Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.

Just preparing.

I just filled out my census form...ooh, 60 seconds of my life I could have spent on porn sites or Gawker.

How will I ever recover?

Kagans by Proxy

Ah, the Netanyahu family, keepin' it classy with a "K" take it away Brother-in-Law:

It's not that Obama doesn't like Bibi. He doesn't like the nation of Israel...

When there is an anti-Semitic president in the United States, it is a test for us and we have to say: We will not concede. We are a nation dating back 4,000 years, and you in a year or two will be long forgotten. Who will remember you? But Jerusalem will dwell on forever.

Imagine him on with Glenn Beck where the latter makes him wear that shitty Christmas Sweater.

Well, that sucks

Alex Chilton dies at 59...and a little bit more of my awkward years (sorry, my pre-awkward years, when I was a mere amateur) passes on.

Fanfare for the Common Asshole

If you could play Aaron Copland's classic tribute to the ordinary citizen using only one hand and your armpit -- you might approach the intellectual quality of Megan McArdle's discourse on public behavior.

You may have already seen this...Ohio teabaggers show kindness and affection toward an individual with parkinson's disease, obviously influenced by noted humanitarian Rush Limbaugh:

To be sure, the people mocking the counter-protester come across as louts. But their behavior doesn't exactly seem to be out of bounds by the standards of protest and counterprotesters...No matter how frail his condition, could the fellow on the ground possibly have been seriously endangered by having two bills hurled his way?

I'd certainly be willing to take such harsh treatment from the nice folks at Progress Ohio.

Yes, mocked, abused and patronized for a serious disability or illness is the price you pay for not being "put down" or something in Megan's libertarian paradise. Awesome.

Megan is willing to have people throw money at her in Columbus, Ohio? She could likely find the perpetrators of this abuse here -- so have at it McArdle..

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Follow-up: Taibbi & Pierce at the Mark Twain House

Just remembered that I meant to follow-up on this. Anyway, The GC and I drove to Hartford with a mutual friend in this nor'easter from which the tri-state is still trying to recover. It wasn't the smartest thing we've ever done and when we got back to The GC's place at about 1 AM and saw the condition of the neighborhood I think we both realized that we'd lucked out, but I digress.

I really enjoyed the tour of the Mark Twain House. If you're ever near Hartford, you should check it out. The house is lovely and our docent, Mallory, was entertaining and chock full of fun facts about Mr. Clemens and his family. I was genuinely impressed when told I was standing the billiards room where The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (among others) was written and I realized that I really need to read A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. I also saw this painting of a cat in a ruff, which I picked up in postcard form and mailed off to my plushie-loving pal. Did you know that Harriet Beecher Stowe lived across the way, too? The block parties must have been interesting.

Anyway, enjoyed the conversation, which was moderated by Colin McEnroe, who's got a lovely voice in addition to an understated Yankee wit. The guests talked about journalism (especially campaign journalism), among other topics. Pierce mentioned that he thought that sports journalists these days were able to serve their readers better than political journalists are, and given some of the horseshit you read from outfits like Politico you know what he's talking about. Taibbi talked about how utterly surreal (and maddening) it is to cover a campaign and not only do I believe him, but I think if I ever find myself covering a political campaign that I will do at least some of it on mushrooms, too.

One thing about these sorts of events always bugs me -- and this has absolutely nothing to do with Taibbi or Pierce -- is that when the inevitable Q&A arrives, the audience winds up beseeching the guests with cries of, "What can we do?" Why do people ask journalists this question? It's not that Messrs Taibbi and Pierce don't necessarily know what to do (maybe they do), but that's not why I read them or attend their talks. I do so for their reporting, for their ability to flesh out stories in a way that the simple-minded establishment hacks at, say, the NYT, refuse to do, and for their unique perspective. Do such skills and/or talents make journalists any better at prescriptions than anyone else? I read a profile of Noam Chomsky once in which his wife said that people always wanted to feel hopeful at the end of his talks. Given how depressing most of Chomsky's topics are, I can see that, but Chomsky's at least a part-time activist, so it makes more sense to ask him, "What do we do?"

Anyway, I'm quibbling. Saturday's was better than most of the Q&As I attend, which usually start with the moderator warning the audience not to make speeches and end immediately because the first question comes from some local nut who starts off by saying, "Before I get to my question I'd first like make a point on the Palestinian issue" or "I know you said no speeches, but I'd just like to say that there really are legitimate questions about the government's involvement in [insert historical calamity here]". I saw that happen at Town Hall in NYC at a Lawrence Wright talk once and at least half the audience (include yours truly) up and abandoned the joint before the woman had even got through one-third of her speech. I mean, her question.

Ah, the picture of screaming

Is one thing, but the out-and-out cruelty toward a guy with parkinson's is where the piggishness truly comes in.

What the "troops" think

Is apparently better known in the mind of draft shirkers like Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney, and Newt Gingrich than those who actually served in the trenches:

– 60% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans believe that being gay or lesbian “has no bearing on a service member’s ability to perform their duties.” Only 29% disagree.

– 73% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans say it is “personally acceptable to them if gay and lesbian people were allowed to serve openly in the military.” Only a quarter (25%) would find it unacceptable.

– 73% Iraq and Afghanistan veterans say “they are personally comfortable in the presence of gays and lesbians.” Only a quarter (23%) is uncomfortable, and hardly anyone is very uncomfortable (only 7%).

What TBogg says

"SPLITTER!"

There has been an awful lot of yelling and screaming about who's a real dirty fucking hippie and who's a poser and who is getting punched by who.

I never really get these dust ups...well, I do...but it always gets down to somebody screaming betrayal and telling other people how to do their jobs...and then they get personal.

I'm just a rather ridiculous and smart-ass blogger who does something else for a living between the manifestations of this obsessive/compulsive disorder that is blogging. Hence, I sit here and post almost everything in rapid succession between 3 and 6 am every fucking day, including my shift on FDL where you'll notice I pretty much do the same type of blogging I do here (often, because I'm lazy, the EXACT same thing).

(Nice try on turning something that is rather pathetic into something seeming noble...and failing, but I digress).

I am decidedly not an activist...I have neither the time nor inclination to be one. But I'm glad they exist. You cannot agitate without causing agitation. But again, not everything and every post that I'm not the author of is something I endorse either there or here (hell, I may not endorse everything I write) -- however, nobody has ever told me what the fuck to write about anywhere.

As far as the constant range-war between the left and the, uh, left on health care, what can I tell ya'? But I endorse what TBogg says...

In a few months we are going to be looking at the 2010 elections and you will find that all of your purity trolling and finger pointing and blame casting and the self-righteousness that is turning the Democratic party into an open-air abattoir will not, in the long run, prove to be helpful.

Therefore, I would like to slip on my dad sweater, plop all of you on my knee, take a puff of my pipe and give you some fatherly advice:

Chill the fuck out.

Thank you. You may now go back to destroying America.

The Shame of the Corn Belt

Last week there was a pro-health care rally in Washington, D.C. that had a rather large attendance. Not that you heard much about it from the media. On FoxNews they briefly claimed the peaceful protests as a mob, ready to storm the gates of the Ritz Carlton to get their point across. But as shown here, this group included a women in a wheelchair, never a great accessory for storming.

Meanwhile, there was another round of teabagging yesterday and it had the usual assortment of grammarians and amateur literacy buffs -- oh, and some nice irrational threats like accusing Pelosi of treason.

But with Michelle Bachman physically in attendance (if not mentally), Iowa Congressman Steve King knew he had to up the crazy to "11" (ah, who am I kidding it's always at 11 for that guy) in order to impress George Will. And what did this sworn upholder of the Constitution preach?

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) urged a smaller-than-expected crowd of Tea Party protesters on Tuesday to launch a Velvet Revolution-style uprising against the federal government, saying the parallels are striking between America's current government and Eastern European communist rule.

Yes, the striking parallels…which explains all those tanks and soldiers the Obama Administration has rolling in the streets.

Oh, and who can forget Joe Biden claiming Dick Cheney's fall from the top floor of the Executive Office Building being an unfortunate suicide?

Or the millions of American's sneaking into the Canada to get a taste of freedom...from health insurance?

Although if a Velvet Revolution gets Slovakia the South to leave... (I kid).

(pic from here)

[Cross-posted at Firedoglake]

What up with the lack of comments?

Is the fact we don't have the awful JS-Kit/Haloscan that big a loss?

Or do the posts just suck today?

Oh sure, it's a pititful move

And also rather lame and comedic:

Prominent conservative commentator and RedState.com editor Erick Erickson will join CNN as a political contributor, appearing primarily on CNN’s new show John King, USA¸ the network announced Tuesday.

But don't worry, CNN will surely balance this out by hiring Harold Ford to present the "liberal" view of things.

Obsequious much?

Hey look it's Tweedle-Dumb and Tweedle-Putz!

Barack Obama's happiness...

...this WP column by Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt crystallized what I've been thinking about.

Yeah, I fucking bet. Has the Eric Massa thing deprived Washington Post employees of the shame-free reach-around, so they have to kiss ass metaphorically?

Jesus, I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THIS AND NOT ONE OTHER PERSON IN THE WORLD GIVES A SHIT!

He's the President, not Morrissey.

Sums it all up pretty well

Never too detached from reality...

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops confirmed its opposition today to the healthcare reform bill making it's way through the House, arguing it's too lenient on abortion.

So remember kids.

When it comes to the treatment potential children one must be strict. Abuse of ACTUAL CHILDREN is where the Catholic Bishop's leniency kicks in.

This should end well

It appears Grandpa and his CNA at the assisted living facility are going to hit the shopping malls before the dinner rush on Saturday.

(pic from here)

What's the next Right-Wing Talking Point

Yesterday it was:

-- Kamikaze - Suicide Concern Trolling

and

-- The Ides of March - Um, you guys realize that's assassination talk, right?

What of today?

-- The Holocaust of Health Care Reform?

-- Obama's Attending Ford's Theatre!

I merely foretell.

Your 3 cable news networks a snapshot in time

Says it all:



Apparently, the ice-melting channel also has some explaining to do!

Pope Nixon's the One!

This is just so totally reprehensible, and completely emblematic of how the Catholic Church has fucked this up...and we should give a shit what an association of Catholic Bishop's say about Health Care Reform and reproductive choice because?

The priest at the center of a German sexual-abuse scandal that has embroiled Pope Benedict XVI continued working with children for more than 30 years, even though a German court convicted him of molesting boys...

Benedict not only served as the archbishop of the diocese where the priest worked, but also later as the cardinal in charge of reviewing sexual abuse cases for the Vatican. Yet until the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising announced that Father Hullermann had been suspended on Monday, he continued to serve in a series of Bavarian parishes.

In 1980, the future pope reviewed the case of Father Hullermann, who was accused of sexually abusing boys in the Diocese of Essen, including forcing an 11-year-old boy to perform oral sex. The future pope approved his transfer to Munich. On Friday, a deputy took responsibility for allowing the priest to return to full pastoral duties shortly afterward. Six years later, Father Hullermann was convicted of sexually abusing children in the Bavarian town of Grafing.

And one parishioner posed a VERY VERY VERY good question that gets down to the central point of all this hypocrisy.

“If you get divorced and remarry you can’t take communion, but someone convicted of molesting children can celebrate Mass for the rest of his life,”

It says something about Swampland

That while Karen Tumulty and Kate Pickert write about the health care reform vote...

Michael Scherer is writing about Rielle Hunter in her panties.

Hey look everybody

The Mickey Kaus for Senator Club has a themesong!

Nobody could have anticipated

Who could have anticipated Fred Hiatt would concern troll on Bibi Netanyahu's behalf?

Everyone, that's who...

A larger question concerns Mr. Obama's quickness to bludgeon the Israeli government. He is not the first president to do so; in fact, he is not even the first to be hard on Mr. Netanyahu. But tough tactics don't always work

Like bombing other third-world nations because your propaganda says you should, right Fred?

Honestly, "bludgeon" now equals demanding a country not to violated international law and follow the precedent of every American President since Nixon. But bombing and occupying a country because of mythical weapons is a-okay.

Matt Taibbi & Charlie Pierce

I saw them speak at the Mark Twain House on Saturday. I'm all jammed up at work right now, so I'll tell you about it later, but I'm really glad I braved life and limb to get to Hartford, even if it was kind of a stupid thing to do. Anyway, you should check out their respective blogs in the meantime.

Mr. Pierce: I was the audience member who yelled out the answer to your query re Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad.

Question

Since when does anyone put stock in anything Moody's has to say?

Update: Look at what Michael Lewis has to say about the ratings agencies at approximately 11:15 in Part I of this "60 Minutes" episode.

You IN DEPTH fucking Washington Post Editorial Page!

Fred Hiatt, Let's put a smile on that face!

Here's a theory about why President Obama is having a tough political time right now: He doesn't seem all that happy being president.

I know, it’s the world’s hardest job, and between war and the world economy collapsing, he didn’t have the first year he might have wished for. And, yes, he’s damned either way: With thousands of Americans risking their lives overseas and millions losing their jobs at home, we’d slam him if he acted carefree.

What a tool.

And Ross Douhat's having a Times Column resembles something out of Swift

Insert joke here:

The narrative of the Iraq invasion, properly told, resembles a story out of Shakespeare.

Um, yeah.

"The Comedy of Errors"?
"As You Like It"?
"Much Ado about Nothing"?
"The Two Assholes of Texas"?

On the other hand, Ross's prose seems like something out of this.

And the Sun still rises in the East

Oh no, we have to keep the raping and sexual abuse to the straights only!

"It's a cautionary tale" of a superior officer allegedly seeking to prey upon subordinates that argues against repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, said Elaine Donnelly, head of the anti-repeal Center for Military Readiness.

"That kind of abuse would become far more frequent" if gays were allowed to serve openly, Donnelly said.

Just like the "Tailhook Scandal" argues against having straight naval aviators. I'm sure Ms. Donnelly would take the logical, more practical position, right?

Idiots. Driving homosexuality underground and therefore impermissible and making it some scarlett letter is EXACTLY the kind of thing that occurs because of DADT.

Get "Dan Brown" involved

Yeah, this is what it has come to for Pope Nixon, he's being set up.

The pope's spokesman has launched a vigorous counter-attack against a report linking Benedict XVI to a sex abuse cover-up while he was archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1981.

Father Federico Lombardi appeared to suggest in an interview on Vatican Radio that the pope, who also has strong links to the city of Regensburg, was the victim of a plot.

Where is Sister Rosemary Woods and Monsignor Haldeman?

Bill Donahue will soon be slandering somebody I'm sure.

One does wonder

Well, not really.

Netenyahu is coming to the US this month to speak to AIPAC, one wonders whether giving the literal middle finger to the world, and especially the American President is going to cause consternation amongst these patriots...nah, it will get him a standing o.

...on Petraeus's instructions, they spoke to senior Arab leaders. "Everywhere they went, the message was pretty humbling," a Pentagon officer familiar with the briefing says. "America was not only viewed as weak, but its military posture in the region was eroding." But Petraeus wasn't finished: two days after the Mullen briefing, Petraeus sent a paper to the White House requesting that the West Bank and Gaza (which, with Israel, is a part of the European Command - or EUCOM), be made a part of his area of operations. Petraeus's reason was straightforward: with U.S. troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military had to be perceived by Arab leaders as engaged in the region's most troublesome conflict.

The Mullen briefing and Petraeus's request hit the White House like a bombshell.

So Israel behaving like a 'Dick' (as in Cheney) undermines our nation's interest in having any chance for stability.

But the right-wing here and Israel thinks of that as the real ripoff, perpetual war for their profit.

Oh, and for the Petraeus is running as a Republican in 2012 crowd, him specifically criticizing Israel is not exactly how one gets Bill Kristol's endorsement in the primaries (hey, maybe he is running?!).

They never agreed to make bronzer deductible

Poor Boner:

Ohio Rep. John Boehner says Republicans alone can't stop the legislation. But he says Republicans are "going to do everything we can to make it difficult for them, if not impossible, to pass the bill."

...Democrats never made a serious attempt to incorporate Republican ideas -- and only took "a couple of Republican bread crumbs and put them on top of their 2,700-page bill."

Oh God, he's gonna cry.

The "Referee" has a lot of conflicts of interest

Between Roberts, Scalia, Alito and Thomas there's a lot of embarrassment going around. But this one starts to reign Supreme...but it's always okay if you're a Republican:

"I adore all the new citizen patriots who are rising up across this country," Thomas, who goes by Ginni, said on the panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference. "I have felt called to the front lines with you, with my fellow citizens, to preserve what made America great."

The move by Virginia Thomas, 52, into the front lines of politics stands in marked contrast to the rarefied culture of the nation's highest court, which normally prizes the appearance of nonpartisanship and a distance from the fisticuffs of the politics of the day.

Justice Thomas, 61, recently expressed sensitivity to such concerns, telling law students in Florida that he doesn't attend the State of the Union because it is "so partisan." Thomas, who was nominated by President George H.W. Bush, has been a reliable conservative vote since he joined the court in 1991.

Experts say Virginia Thomas' work doesn't violate ethical rules for judges. But Liberty Central could give rise to conflicts of interest for her husband, they said, as it tests the norms for judicial spouses. The couple have been married since 1987.

But Roberts, Alito, Scalia, and Thomas NEVER recuse themselves from cases. EVER.

In 2000, while at the Heritage Foundation, she was recruiting staff for a possible George W. Bush administration as her husband was hearing the case that would decide the election. When journalists reported her work, Thomas said she saw no conflict of interest and that she rarely discussed court matters with her husband.

Of course Scalia's son was heavily tied in with the Bush position on the vote matter as well -- guess who also didn't recuse himself?

If such conflicts involved, say Ginsburg or Stevens, it would be screamed about on FoxNews 23:54/7. Glenn Beck would cry himself into a dehydration coma (so it wouldn't be all bad).