Something you want to tell us about your particular qualifications there...

Rusty?

Rush Limbaugh: "Michelle Obama's Never Been Gay A Day In Her Life" So How Can She Advise Obama On Gay Marriage?

Well, that was timely

30 Rock had a line last night that was well-done -- when discussing what has occurred to a newly returned wife from North Korea, Jack Donaghy states:

"There's an iPod 3 ... oh ... and there is a Mitt Romney 4, they worked out the bugs -- he's no longer killing hobos now!"

Something you don't see everyday

Prince Charles doing a job:

Oh, now you are getting around to that huh?

Boehner's reaction to Obama's gay marriage statements are rather muted:

"The president can talk about it all he wants," Boehner said. "I'm going to stay focused on what the American people want us to stay focused on, and that's jobs."

Oh, now you want to get around to that huh bub?

There was one little kicker:

 Boehner said he believes marriage is "the union of one man and one woman."

In particular one Orange Man and one very pale Woman joining together to create Tangerine children.

Read more here: http://blogs.mcclatchydc.com/washington/2012/05/boehner-on-gay-marriage-im-going-to-stay-focused-on-economy.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://blogs.mcclatchydc.com/washington/2012/05/boehner-on-gay-marriage-im-going-to-stay-focused-on-economy.html#storylink=cpy

Mitt Romney, a rich brat of the first order

Sorry this is a long ass excerpt. But Mitt Romney is who the folks in the "It Gets Better" videos have to try to recover from.

It isn't just that Lord Romney doesn't like to be questioned by the proles -- it's that even more than Commander Bunnypants he as born rich and thought he earned it from a young age.

Mitt Romney returned from a three-week spring break in 1965 to resume his studies as a high school senior at the prestigious Cranbrook School. Back on the handsome campus, studded with Tudor brick buildings and manicured fields, he spotted something he thought did not belong at a school where the boys wore ties and carried briefcases. John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn’t having it.

“He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann’s recollection. Mitt, the teenaged son of Michigan Gov. George Romney, kept complaining about Lauber’s look, Friedemann recalled. 

A few days later, Friedemann entered Stevens Hall off the school’s collegiate quad to find Romney marching out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber’s hair. Friedemann followed them to a nearby room where they came upon Lauber, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors. 

...

“It happened very quickly, and to this day it troubles me,” said Buford, the school’s wrestling champion, who said he joined Romney in restraining Lauber. Buford subsequently apologized to Lauber, who was “terrified,” he said. “What a senseless, stupid, idiotic thing to do.”

“It was a hack job,” recalled Maxwell, a childhood friend of Romney who was in the dorm room when the incident occurred. “It was vicious.”

“He was just easy pickins,” said Friedemann, then the student prefect, or student authority leader of Stevens Hall, expressing remorse about his failure to stop it.

The incident transpired in a flash, and Friedemann said Romney then led his cheering schoolmates back to his bay-windowed room in Stevens Hall. 

Friedemann, guilt ridden, made a point of not talking about it with his friend and waited to see what form of discipline would befall Romney at the famously strict institution. Nothing happened. 

Romney is now the presumed Republican presidential nominee. His campaign spokeswoman said the former Massachusetts governor has no recollection of the incident.

“Anyone who knows Mitt Romney knows that he doesn’t have a mean-spirited bone in his body,” Andrea Saul said in a statement. “The stories of fifty years ago seem exaggerated and off base and Governor Romney has no memory of participating in these incidents.”

Mr. "Not a mean bone in his body" the Bain Corporate Raider laying off thousands ("I like firing people")... but oh he's such a swell guy...well maybe just a swell. In short, prick then, bigger prick now.

Plus, notice how rather than apologize or say it was a youthful error -- the asshole just denies having any memory of it -- while five of his school friends remember it and regret their part in it quite distinctly, many even going out of their way to apologize.

But ol' Mittster has never committed an admitted wrong in his life.  Not on Joe Smith's grave has he done anything wrong ever.

Today in Chuck Grassley's attempt to master technology and just one language

He launches campaign to take down world's second highest mountain peak...and apparently murder a constituent in cold blood.

Oh yeah, let's go back to that guy

Aside from being a "franking" wanker:

The war, which President Barack Obama officially brought to an end Dec. 31, cost the U.S. government around $3 trilllion, left 4,487 U.S. servicemembers dead and killed more than 100,000 Iraqis. The Pentagon counts 32,226 U.S. servicemembers wounded, but the toll, including cumulative psychological and physiological damage, may be as high as half a million.

And, as an extra bonus:

 An analysis of the historical record by the National Security Archives in 2010 concluded that, “In contrast to an extensive record of planning for actual military operations, there is no record that President George W. Bush ever made a considered decision for war. All of the numerous White House and Pentagon meetings concerned moving the project forward, not whether a march into conflict was a proper course for the United States and its allies. Deliberations were instrumental to furthering the war project, not considerations of the basic course.”

What I really want to know

Is George W. Bush's position on austerity?
I'm sure it is completely hypocritical, as ever.

George W. Bush is slated to receive $1.3 million in taxpayer dollars for fiscal year 2013, including $85,000 in phone costs and $26,000 in printing costs, according to a budget proposal compiled by the General Services Administration...

Bush's anticipated phone bill is five times higher than the next closest request, which was submitted by George Bush senior. George W. Bush also had the highest requests for unspecified office equipment ($86,000), travel ($60,000), postage ($20,000) and "other services" ($26,000).

"Other services" involves a flight-suit with a special flap...

Oh no

Apparently his position on same-sex marriage is going to cost Barack Obama voters who were not going to vote for him anyway.

Too bad.

Better late than never

Sure President Obama would have been braver to express his support of gay marriage sooner, and certainly a stronger statement that marriage is a right could have been expressed. But it is not like he went out and announced awarded himself two Pulitzer Prize nominations. It is still a significant moment.

And it must have been a conflicted news day for FoxNews Viewers.

Which puts him a century ahead of Rupert, two ahead of Roger Ailes, and three ahead of Hannity, who's still miffed about the Emancipation Proclamation.

Speaking of the Emancipation Proclamation it was nice of the Log Cabin Republicans to cut and paste the response of Jefferson Davis nearly 150 years later.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

All the usual wise-ass remarks aside

This is a big and historic day in the United States -- while it may have been a braver stance somewhat earlier, it is still a big one for the President of the United States to come out for marriage equality.

And it shows a big difference between Barack Obama and the smug pettiness and cramped morals of Mitt Romney.

Little known fact

Jonah Goldberg AND Mitt Romney both claimed to have first diagnosed the illness Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome.

Congratulations to me, nominated for People's Sexiest Man of the Year

Thanks mom.






 

So Jonah claimed not one, but two, Pulitzer Prize nominations as if he "almost" won one. It must have been us conniving "liberal fascists" or more accurately "liberal factists".

By the way, Goldberg's newest *cough* book?

 “The Tyranny of Cliches: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas”

What a gigantic tool.

Things that get reported 24/7 if from a "modern black panther" but get a big shrug when they come from the GOP

How very very quaint indeed:

A monthly newsletter published by the Greene County Republican Committee in Virginia is raising eyebrows for including a column in its March edition that calls for an "armed revolution" if President Barack Obama is elected to a second term in November.

Meanwhile, I'm sure FoxNews is screeching about Hillary Clinton without makeup or something.

Well that's "real" classy

After one of her teabagging supporters says "We have to kill" Claire McCaskill, Sarah Steelman shows a profile in courage only Mitt Romney could envy.

"I may disagree with the words Mr. Boston chose in his statement, but I understand his frustration and I emphatically support his right to express his views,"

That's Missouri conservative candidate Sarah Steelman, who apparently is saying:

I don't agree with saying you want to kill someone, but I can understand why it is okay.

Wait a minute, that's Newt Gingrich's strategy!

He's gonna be pissed:

Rep. Michele Bachmann is now officially a Swiss miss.

Bachmann (R-Minn.) recently became a citizen of Switzerland, making her eligible to run for office in the tiny European nation, according to a Swiss TV report Tuesday.

Now she thinks with her dream of a Wheaties Box Cover over, she'll make it on to Swiss Miss.

Nice job assholes

So North Carolina is now First in Flight and Last in Equality -- (and what a proud history it is).  The Wright Brothers and the God Botherers.

[engage asshole mode]

This is ironic as North Carolina's state motto in Latin means "to be, rather than to seem (to be)" and its seal contains two ladies who are so gay married:

This says it best

I saw something along this line somewhere on the intertubes yesterday and cannot recall where, sorry. 

So Obama is arrogant to claim ANY credit in the killing of Bin Laden, but Mitt Romney gets to claim credit for saving America's Auto Industry?

The Maidenform Terrorist - You never know where they'll turn up

I know that to be a patriotic 'murican yesterday I was supposed to soil my pants over Al Qaeda's new and improved "super-explosive underwear". But alas, plot devices straight out of "The Pink Panther" do not really have that effect on me. I just cannot get over this alleged bunch of criminal masterminds deciding to terrorize the world via 'Fruit of the Boom'.

Yes, Al Qaeda has committed heinous acts of mass murder -- but they are also buffoons -- who were dealt with exclusively in a completely moronic way for years.

Oh, and once again the vilified and mocked police actions that John Kerry mentioned as the most effected way to fight international terrorism came through.

Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agency, working closely with the CIA, used an informant to pose as a would-be suicide bomber. His job was to convince the Al Qaeda franchise in Yemen to give him a new kind of non-metallic bomb that the militants were designing to easily pass through airport security.

But the double agent instead arranged to deliver the explosive device to U.S. and other intelligence authorities waiting in another country, officials said Tuesday. The agent is now safely outside Yemen and is being debriefed.

Serpico not Gitmo works again. [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Lies Away!

The he'll say anything strategy in action:

EUCLID, Ohio (AP) — Campaigning in the backyard of America's auto industry, Mitt Romney re-ignited the bailout debate by suggesting he deserves "a lot of credit" for the recent successes of the nation's largest car companies.

That claims comes in spite of his stance that Detroit should have been allowed to go bankrupt.

Next up,

* Unlike some people, Mitt Romney will ACTUALLY claim to have invented the internet.

* Last Spring you didn't see much of Mitt Romney because he was the leader of Seal Team Six.

* Mitt Romney personally, at the age of 9 dressed up as a middle-aged black woman named Rosa Parks and launched the Civil Rights Movement...as black people did not yet exist in 1955.  Simultaneously, though he doesn't want to admit it, Mitt Romney invented drag and lauched both Milton Berle's and Ru Paul's career (job creator!!!)
  
* Mitt Romney also invented dental floss, Sponge Bob, the Jarvik Heart and Kettle Korn.


* Mitt Romney saved Latin, what did you ever do?


* He also gave a kidney to save Ferris.

* Spent much of 1967 brainwashing his dad.

* Mitt Romney would have won the Vietnam War from France...telekinetically, but for the fact his conduit was shot in the back by John Kerry AND Bob Kerrey.

* Romney once had a conversation with Nixon that lasted 18 minutes...and it saved the world. Although it was also coaching pointers for Don Shula's 1972 Dolphins before the season started.

* Mitt took a bullet for Reagan.

* Mitt Romney spiked the hippies acid at Woodstock.

* Mitt Romney tried to warn NASA about cryogenic tanks, but took matters into his own hands to bring Apollo 13 home, only to have liberal Tom Hanks and Opie Cunningham write him out of the script.

Allow me to be the first to say

Dinosaurs, JUST LIKE HITLER!

A new study suggests that dinosaurs may have helped keep an already overheated world warmer with their flatulence and burps 200 million years ago.

I'm just proud to live in the world

Where we start panicking over the possibility of our semi-manufactured "Bond Villains" creating a more sophisticated underwear bomb.

And he, on this saluting/slandering Mitt theme, I'm going to say this inspired by the Church of Latter Day Saints.

In this post

In honor of his "bravery" in public today...

I will sit idly by and not comment as you call Mitt Romney a variety of insulting names and engage in a mixture of truth and slanders.

What Atrios said

If you as an editor are completely incapable of y'know e-d-i-t-i-n-g you should probably not be paid to do your job anymore.

When we published Naomi Schaefer Riley’s blog posting on Brainstorm last week (“The Most Persuasive Case for Eliminating Black Studies? Just Read the Dissertations”), several thousand of you spoke out in outrage and disappointment that The Chronicle had published an article that did not conform to the journalistic standards and civil tone that you expect from us.

We’ve heard you, and we have taken to heart what you said.

We now agree that Ms. Riley’s blog posting did not meet The Chronicle’s basic editorial standards for reporting and fairness in opinion articles. As a result, we have asked Ms. Riley to leave the Brainstorm blog.

Of course, if you do quit, as a non-editing editor you'd be perfect for National Review.

If Bush was still "the decider"

This would probably be accurate:

Following today's reports of a Yemen-based underwear bombing plot thwarted by CIA operatives, TSA officials have acted swiftly and rationally to ensure the safety of all American airline passengers.

Beginning tomorrow (May 8) at 7 a.m. EST, passengers will no longer be permitted to wear undergarments of any kind on all domestic flights originating from within the contiguous United States.

But we're more rational now. I'm sure we'll just be required to wear thongs.

Golly, sounds fair

Well, this seems quite equitable -- Wells Fargo managed to help guide the country into an economic collapse as well as robo-sign and otherwise abuse tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of home owners out of their mortgages and only on occasion received a mild talking too.

But if you are but a worker for Wells Fargo, well, the rich -- especially when they come in the personhood of a large corporation -- are just better people than you:

Yolanda Quesada was fired when a background check revealed she shoplifted in 1972.

"[I'm] very good at what I do for Wells Fargo," Quesada says.

Quesada says she was a good employee, and has the pins, certificates and photos to prove it. But, her supervisor walked her out the door last week after more than five years of service at Wells Fargo...

Quesada says she worked in phone customer service and never handled cash.

Obviously her real problem was not working in management.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Leadership

What craven assholes -- but of course IOKIYAR!

The no-holds-barred Texas rocker told CBS' "This Morning" that Romney's campaign told him to "stay on course" and not to tone it down after Nugent said he will "either be dead or in jail by this time next year" if President Obama is re-elected.

As John Avarosis notes, the Romney Campaign isn't denying the story. God forbid the national media inquire further as to why they are encouraging violent, insane, conduct.

Oh the nerve

So how many former USS Abraham Lincoln sailors should be recruited to talk about how Commander Codpiece delayed their well-earned leave so he could play Top Gun?

And one named Inhofe refused to believe it was happening

Apparently Cypress Trees were around to see the break up of Pangaea. 

And they did nothing about it, lazy bastards.

People versus Austerity Weekend

Late last week gave us a taste of things to come when the British local elections revealed that the ruling Tories and their austerity program took a good thrashing.


But the weekend revealed more discontent, it was relatively close, but one of the parents of Europe's austerity measures Nicholas Sarkozy went down to defeat to Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande. Sarkozy becomes the first French President to lose an election in more than three decades. Hollande becomes the first Socialist President in 17 years.

And in the land where austerity has bitten the deepest, Greece, the ruling party lost so many votes they may not be able to hold their coalition together. Although the fact that they may be able to do so, despite Greece's disastrous economy, makes you wonder how ineffective the opposition manages to be.

But in some places the governments really know how to make sure democracy doesn't break out too strongly.

Russian riot police beat protesters about the head with batons and detained more than 400 on Sunday after clashes broke out at a Moscow rally by thousands of people against Vladimir Putin on the eve of his return to the presidency.

Opposition leaders Alexei Navalny, Boris Nemtsov and Sergei Udaltsov were among those detained during violence that showed the depth of divisions and tensions in Russia as the former KGB spy starts his six-year third term on Monday.

That's another kind of austerity altogether.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

But of course...

Arizona government does study that privatizing prisons costs more than having the state continue to run them. So, in the name of good government, the GOP kills such studies to continue privatizing prisons.

Maybe if Planned Parenthood took up arresting and housing people of Hispanic ancestry it can get its funding back?

Too good not to post as well

Saw this over at Watertiger's place from Twolf...and far be it form me to do anything creative.

Republicans, Get In My Vagina! from Kate Beckinsale

Att'n veterans of the Kreigsmarine

The next National Review Booze Cruise is heading out of port the week after the election. All of your favorite self-floating and gas propelled incoherents will be there Jonah, K-Lo, and as a special bonus Elliot Abrams and John Yoo will be bringing the ball-gags and gimp suits.

Plus every other trust fund white guy who inherited daddy's wingnut column you can think of -- to lecture you about the evils of affirmative action.

Yeah

Sounds like a terrible system they got there:

We own them, we tell them what to do and if the directors don't, we sack them and get people who can.

That's the Swedish Finance Minister explaining how the Swedes have avoided great economic difficulties by owning their banks. (via Atrios)

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

Yet another of Rupert Murdoch's publication embarrasses itself, although the NY Post being full-on racists is hardly a new phenomena.

"Why the Brooklyn Nets when they can be the New York N------s? The cheerleaders could be the Brooklyn B----hes or Hoes. Team logo? A 9 mm with hollow-tip shell casings strewn beneath. Wanna be Jay-Z hip? Then go all the way!"

In any other publication not owned by Rupert Murdoch the columnist Phil Mushnick and his editor would be heading down to the unemployment office.

But with NewsCorp. I am pretty sure promotions await.

Blogging that makes you want to gouge your eyes out

Via TBogg comes perhaps the creepiest Ann Althouse statement ever:

Imagine being a heterosexual man and feeling that you weren’t supposed to be attracted to a woman who reminds you of your mother.

pic from here.

Diplomacy is once again ... working

Naturally, well-experienced, foreign-policy expert (he knows about that lost Israeli tribe after all) Mitt Romney was totally on-the-ball when he called it a dark day for freedom (as is everything for conservatives when a black-guy is President apparently).

To half-wit:

China hinted at a possible, face-saving way out of a diplomatic standoff with the United States over legal activist Chen Guangcheng, saying Friday that he could apply for permission to study abroad.

Oh no, once again it appears that something will be accomplished without threatening to bomb somebody or telling them to go fuck themselves.

On to the next thing to huffpo-and-puff about.

Nice Diplomatic way to put it Josh and Co.

But...

These are mostly guys...and it isn't their hands they're contemplating sticking in there.

Time for Mitt's big "Reverend Wright" type speech

About how important in this country it is to allow crazy white assholes to threaten the life of the President...as long as he's a black guy.

Austerity goes to the polls

Voters in two countries that have had conservative governments impose austerity measures...and seen their economies struggle...have gone or are going to the polls. And not surprisingly, the governments are not doing well.

In France, Nicolas Sarkozy, along with Angele Merkel the main proponent of austerity measures that have taken economies in Europe dumpster diving already lost  the first round of the election. Now he looks set to lose the final two-person race against milquetoast Socialist candidate Francois Hollande -- who opposes most  austerity measures.

Not that Sarkozy will go down without a last bit of ugliness:

President Nicolas Sarkozy, running from behind for a second term, has veered sharply to the right in the final days before Sunday's runoff in the French presidential election, increasingly appealing to nationalism and anti-immigrant fears to gain support from members of the far-right National Front party.

Meanwhile, in the UK the local elections are taking place and the Tories are set to lose big to Labour in the austerity measures that has dragged the country back into recession.

How the Silly Party did is unknown...or is it?

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Even worse than I could have imagined

Over at Balloon Juice comes this additional factoid about Minuteman Zealot, Family slaughtering asshole JT Ready...he knew how the Michelle Malkins, Drudges, and Instapundits of the world work in plotting his final act.

The Arizona Republic reported the victims were Ready’s girlfriend, her daughter, the daughter’s boyfriend and the daughter’s 18-month-old baby. Ready still somehow managed to use the event to blame immigrants even after his death. A posting on his Facebook page appeared hours after the massacre took place.

“Reports are unconfirmed that a cartel assassination squad murdered JT Ready and several of his friends and family this afternoon in Gilbert Arizona,” the posting said. “This page’s admin will keep you updated of the situation as soon as possible.”

What is a better trending topic than "creepy" and "illiterate?"

About that rapture thing...

Just so you know

The next right-wing jackass who wants to bomb Iran because they are in league with Al Qaeda here is the status of their relationship in the Spring of 2011 from the soon to be fishfood Osama bin Laden:

The third section discusses al-Qa`ida’s relationship with Iran and Pakistan. With respect to Iran, the documents show that it is an antagonistic relationship, largely based on indirect and unpleasant negotiations over the release of detained jihadis and their families, including members of Bin Ladin’s family.

This, of course, is what policy analyst who give a shit have been saying for more than a decade...Neo-Cons, not so much.

The Rapture, or hell, a giant meteor, cannot come soon enough

I know that handy little things to make life easier are nice and important but really?

Tired of getting your hands all greasy when greasing up a baking dish or pan before putting it in the oven? Maybe you want an easier way to butter your toast in the morning? This hack takes an old—and very clean—roll-on deodorant container, some melted butter, and a little patience and gives you an actual roll-on butter pen, perfect for all of your fat-making needs.

You are too lazy to take a butter-knife, slice off a hunk of butter and put in in a hot pan and then shake it around? Really?

How about this...he stands up and says "You assholes really have some goddamned nerve"

Like Obama would ever deign to say such a thing...but a person can dream.  What a self-satisfied prick:

One of the guests raised his hand; he knew how to solve the problem. The president had won plaudits for his speech on race during the last campaign, the guest noted. It was a soaring address that acknowledged white resentment and urged national unity. What if Obama gave a similarly healing speech about class and inequality? What if he urged an end to attacks on the rich? Around the table, some people shook their heads in disbelief.

Yeah, uh, how do I put this diplomatically.

Oh yes.

"Fuck you, you fucking fuck"

Isn't this pretty much the 24/7 speech of the Romney campaign anyhow?

I wonder if Newt Gingrich woke up this morning

And decided he's going to run for President of the next available country.  Maybe Mexico?

I guess it beats "Waste Management"

I know few people give a crap in this country about the football that actually uses the feet almost exclusive, but I'll take my petty ironies where I can get them.

One of the more famous teams in a now decrepit league, the Scottish Premier League, are the Glasgow Rangers...or simply "Rangers". Due to a sport that competes for players internationally and with no monetary controls (free market baby) and a collapsing TV contract (because while people love soccer, they don't love Scottish soccer) they are bankrupt and in administration where they are either bought or collapse.

So who rides to the rescue to get this team out of the ditch?  An American Tow Truck tycoon.

It is like Downton Abbey where everyone is an in-bred cousin of Branson.

I guess it beats Bain Capital.

Self-centered much?

John Cole has Andrew Sullivan summarized in one pithy post.

I had to settle simply for video.

What a fucked up movement

For at least the second time in the last couple years one of these gun-crazy, right-wing Arizona border obsessives has managed to shoot and kill an entire family including an 18-month old child
(but I bet this ass was "pro-life"!).

Modern 'Murica

Well clearly this makes absolutely all the sense in the world:

In the politically-charged and likely protest-filled streets of Tampa, Fla., during the Republican National Convention in August, water guns will be strictly prohibited. Concealed handguns, on the other hand, will be perfectly legal...

Specifically no...

...super soaker" water guns, sticks, poles, portable shields or glass bottles.

No "portable shields"...you take that bullet in the body the way God and the Second Amendment intended.

[cross-posted ... in part ... at Firedoglake]

Here's what I get from Barack Obama, young man about town

One -- at 22 he was far more smooth and sophisticated than I have ever been in my 47 years.

Two -- he's a significant upgrade over Commander Codpiece at any age as well.  Shall we ever recover from love poetry where his most demanding rhyme scheme is words that go with "Lump"?

Anyone who's pet name for their wife is "Lump" should not only not be President but should never ever have their penis in anything other than their right hand.

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

Look who recently stated:

Murdoch said that The Sun was the purest representation of himself anyone could find in the press: "if you want to judge my thinking, look at the Sun."

And he is undoubtedly correct...as look at the Sun today, mocking England's newly named Manager for the national soccer team:

Making fun of someone's speech impediment on the front page of your prestige paper.

That's certainly handy at judging Rupert's thinking.

BTW, Roy Hodgson speech impediment or no, can speak five languages -- which is a quintet more than Sean Hannity.

What's the bigger scandal

The fact that self-proclaimed "everywoman" Ann Romney was wearing a $900 t-shirt -- or that this particularly hideous t-shirt costs $900?

Seriously, what does that depict, parakeet 69ing?

At least Edwards got a decent haircut for his extravagance.

Maybe in Europe

Krugman is, of course, right that austerity was a horrible idea and has been shown to be so in practice and is getting rejected now in Europe.

But in the United States, I fear, not so much. Without quality economic reporting from our 24/7 talking heads and our business cable networks focused solely on the portfolios of the 1% we have not yet been so educated. The Republicans will not rest until its gated communities versus the rest of us.

Another Republican victory for intolerance

Last week I wrote about the Romney press operative who should never have been hired because, well, even among press flacks he's a well-known asshole.

Oh, he's also gay -- and the GOP base cannot have that.

Rubin adds that “officials from the Romney campaign and respected Republicans not on the campaign contacted Ric Grenell over the weekend in an attempt to persuade him not to leave the campaign.” Grenell was upset that there was no public statement of support for him “by the campaign and no supportive social conservatives were enlisted to calm the waters.”

So again, he had to resign because he is gay. As opposed to not being hired in the first place because again, he' an asshole -- but of course those are the qualities that made him a perfect Romney team member:

 Former Reuters reporter Irwin Arieff told HuffPost that Grenell "often lied," adding that he was the "most dishonest and deceptive press person" he'd worked with in over two decades on the job.

Hey look 1913 called

People dumb enough to be entrapped by the FBI unite!

Five alleged anarchists have been arrested after a months-long sting operation, charged with plotting to blow up a bridge in the Cleveland area, the FBI announced Tuesday.

What, were they tired of being juggalos?

Which is the greater line befitting FoxNews from an authoritive agency

Is it?

"Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company"

Or is it?

[Fox News] is "wholly without merit, both factually and legally."

Virginia is for lovers, you leave that shit at the border when you visit Tennessee

Tennessee, the land that time, humor and rationality forgot has passed themselves another mighty fine piece of ledge-ooh-slay-shin:

The Tennessee Legislature on Friday sent a bill to Gov. Bill Haslam’s desk that, according to the Tennessean, would require sex-ed classes to “exclusively and emphatically” promote abstinence and ban teachers and outside groups from promoting “gateway sexual activity.” The bill defines “gateway sexual activity” as: “sexual conduct encouraging an individual to engage in a non-abstinent behavior.”

No kissing, no hugging, no looking and of course...

Self-Awareness Watch...

Oh boy, here we go, John McCain:

(Y)ou know the thing about heroes, they don't brag

Which is either hilarious...or quite accurate considering this is a guy whose "Auto"-biography is all about portraying himself as a selfless (and not at all self-promotional) hero who deserved to be elected President in 2008 for that reason alone.

Sounds like the right guy to run the American right-wing though...

The British Parliament gives Rupert and company a gigantic "Fawkes You!":

“We conclude, therefore, that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company”

Re-branding

In a bizarre story, (what else is there with this guy anyway, other than weird or frightening stories?) Osama bin Laden thought that al-Qaeda had an image problem (ya' think?) and thought a name-change, or rebranding would help.

There's nothing in the story that says what he was thinking of changing it to, but I'm going to guess, "Qwikster".*



(*oh a little something for us nerds)

The Chemical War on Women

When we last saw short-fingered vulgarian Donald Trump he was embarrassing America in Scotland by declaring wind-power the worst thing that ever happened to that country. 

Somehow a nation that had to deal with the Romans, the Vikings, the English, the black death, starvation -- and when not starving -- haggis,  laughed at him.

Trump the self-proclaimed self-made man inherited only two things: four-hundred million dollars and no sense of shame -- so he returned to this country to be laughed at further. 

Surely when you see Donald Trump you look at him and say, now there's a man who knows a quality women's perfume...an "ewww" de toilette if you will:


And just think, if Trump somehow floats himself as a Vice Presidential nominee he can talk about how he's the best smelling potential running mate.  Which is yet another moronic statement because we all know that would be Chris Christie.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Or as Karl Rove and Mitt Romney would say...

Obama's quite a disappointing underachiever!

Untouched by Irony, but definitely touched by bullshity

Old Man John McCain, who spent most of the 2008 campaign saying he "had a secret plan to get Osama Bin Laden" that Obama did not not, is now angry that Obama is claiming credit for a decision to kill Bin Laden that in the past Mitt Romney had no interest in making.

Which is rather rich, in and of itself. But considering that other Republicans are now whining this...knowing that their standard-bearer deliberately trumped up terror warnings in 2004 to curb any momentum Kerry had from the Democratic National Convention, this is rather rich.

Obama is claiming some credit for something that actually did happen -- not creating some fictional "shit your pants on pain of death" bullshit.

Oh, something for Fox & Friends

To deal with awkwardly.

One theory is that homosexual urges, when repressed out of shame or fear, can be expressed as homophobia. Freud famously called this process a “reaction formation” — the angry battle against the outward symbol of feelings that are inwardly being stifled. Even Mr. Haggard seemed to endorse this idea when, apologizing after his scandal for his anti-gay rhetoric, he said, “I think I was partially so vehement because of my own war.” 

It’s a compelling theory — and now there is scientific reason to believe it. In this month’s issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, we and our fellow researchers provide empirical evidence that homophobia can result, at least in part, from the suppression of same-sex desire.

The Orange Man tells you all you need to know

About how Republicans feel about all 99% of us:

CROWLEY:Do you think that someone who is as wealthy as he is, who has had as much privilege as he is, has a hill to climb to overcome that?

BOEHNER: No. The American people don’t want to vote for a loser.

Nobody wants to vote for a "loser", like you Mr. and Ms. voter.

Oh, that's not good

I imagine if you are behind in the polls there might be worst news to come out, but you'd have to think about it for a while:

A left-wing political website, Mediapart, claims to have documentary evidence that Mr Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign received 50m euros ($66m) from the Gaddafi regime.

The document - dated 2006 and written in Arabic - appears to have been signed by the then Libyan foreign intelligence chief Musa Kusa.

It refers to an "agreement in principle to support the campaign for the candidate for the presidential elections, Nicolas Sarkozy, for a sum equivalent to 50m euros."

Sarkozy denies this with the classic retort that he didn't like Gaddafi a few years later...which, of course, is the defense a series of American Presidents could have made about Saddam Hussein.

Maybe the message to the world's despots is, there's no honor among western politicians when it comes to bombing for poll numbers. Keep that in mind Koch Brothers.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

USA! USA! USA!

Huzzah, the Republicans have really won!

Shake that Etch-a-Sketch

The man who coined that phrase provides a perfect example of it -- rewriting history in 180 degree swaths:

Top Mitt Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom vowed that President Obama's auto bailout was the GOP presidential hopeful's idea...

 Fehrnstrom's Saturday comments marked a different drawing on the auto bailout than what Romney penned in a November 2008 New York Times op-ed. Headlined "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,"

Maybe some more people should look into this?

Boy, when it comes to "sound" decisions nobody ever fucked it up like the Bush II Administration:

Iron Man, whose unit also developed original intelligence on al-Qaeda targets, which determined that the "most likely buildings to be attacked in the U.S." were the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, claimed JFIC was told to stop tracking Bin Laden, suspected al-Qaeda terrorists, and members of the Taliban some months prior to 9/11.

"Iron Man"? Was Cheney's real Secret Service moniker "Nick Fury"?

Negative editorials from the Washington Post to follow

Good, now go after them for the population at large:

In front of thousands of service members, President Obama today signed an executive order aimed at protecting veterans from for-profit educational institutions trying to "swindle" and "hoodwink" them instead of providing the education they deserve.

Yeah, about that

Yesterday John McCain took to the Senate floor and shook his fist in the air at the sky and proclaimed there is "no Republican War against Women". Meanwhile in reality: The Violence Against Women Act was renewed by a vote of 68 to 31.

The 31 votes against looked like this, obviously all Republican and naturally...:

But it got Cheney's calcified rocks off so...

There's a reason so many people condemn torture because it is ineffective and it is...y'know...torture:

A nearly three-year-long investigation by Senate Intelligence Committee Democrats is expected to find there is little evidence the harsh "enhanced interrogation techniques" the CIA used on high-value prisoners produced counter-terrorism breakthroughs.

People familiar with the inquiry said committee investigators, who have been poring over records from the administration of President George W. Bush, believe they do not substantiate claims by some Bush supporters that the harsh interrogations led to counter-terrorism coups.

It is pathetic that the Republicans did not join in this report, but then many of them are little Cheney's themselves.

A little common deception amongst friends

Oft-mentioned potential VP nominee Marco Rubio is, by Republican standards, a moderate on immigration. Perhaps in large part because of a portion of his family's history he may not wish to dwell on. It seems that his maternal grandfather came to the United States illegally during the Batista Regime. Three years later when Castro came to power he saw an opportunity and went back to Cuba to try to take advantage.

Three years later, and now disaffected, the same grandfather hopped on to an airplane for the United States without a visa.  Once here, he was adjudicated to be in the United States illegally.  However, he remained in the United States and gained legal residency in 1967 -- by lying about when he came to the country, saying it was 1965. In other words, an illegal aliens -- in Antonin Scalia's words "a virtual bank robber."

These facts are at variance with what Rubio long has claimed as his background -- though he himself, obviously, is an American citizen (I won't even demand the long-form certificate), he embellished his family's history -- even more than usual -- and made it a political tool for his ascension.

But the most telling aspect of this is how Marco Rubio's story would play out were his family not historically from Cuba, but Mexico. You know, like Mitt Romney's family.

Oh never mind, they are both Republicans. They weren't born in an exotic, non-American place like Hawaii.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Well, I think we see the campaign commercial now

REPUBLICANS

DEMOCRATS

two alternatives

Paul Ryan, gigantic lying pustule of shit?

Rep. Paul Ryan has decided that he doesn't like Ayn Rand after all, because she's an icky atheist.

Or so dumb, he can't even use Wikipedia? Those are really the only choices.

Unknown Scotsman or Scotswoman, you are awesome!

Found here:

The Vincent Gigante Award

Goes to Rupert Murdoch, currently testifying before a parliamentary committee in Great Britain, and who is putting on a act that is only lacking the public wearing of a bathrobe and slippers.

Rupert Murdoch has apparently lost a great deal of his power of memory, but nature has compensated by endowing him with a vivid imagination. He can surely deploy his new gift in the service of Fox movies. There is the great scene he pitched to Lord Justice Leveson on Wednesday morning where the editor of the Times enters left, closes the door behind him and begs: "Look, tell me what you want to say, what do you want me to say, and it need not leave this room and I'll say it." And our hero proprietor, so famously fastidious about such matters, has to tell Uriah Heep: "That is not my job."

Charles Pierce speaks for me

Another big day of "intellectually bankrupt" Scalia being pathetic about Arizona's "show us your papers" law:

"But does the attorney general come in and say, you know, we might really only want to go after the professional bank robbers?" Scalia said. "If it's just an amateur bank robber, you know, we're going to let it go. And the state's interfering with our whole scheme here because it's prosecuting all these bank robbers."

No, but if the state passed a law saying that you, Antonin Scalia, had to be stopped and forced to produce an ID because of your surname, and your complexion, and because people with similar surnames and similar complexions are notable for their involvement in organized crime, including bank robbery, I suspect you'd object just a little. Whoever first commented on how clever this guy is should roast on a spit for eternity.

Our fastest growing export is Assclowns

People of Scotland, you may have given the world golf, curling, mythical monsters and insolvent football clubs but in return we are giving you ...

Donald Trump:

Donald Trump on Wednesday swept into Scotland's parliament to demand the country end plans for an offshore wind farm he fears will spoil the view at his exclusive new $750-million-pound ($1.2-billion) golf resort...

"Scotland, if you pursue this policy of these monstrous turbines, Scotland will go broke," he said. "They are ugly, they are noisy and they are dangerous. If Scotland does this, Scotland will be in serious trouble and will lose tourism to places like Ireland, and they are laughing at us."

Although if Scotland went bankrupt...repeatedly... it would then have something in common with Trump. And Trump sure thinks people are laughing at other people a lot.

Ireland...China...OPEC...Hamid Karzai...India...

It's almost as if there just might be some projection going on.

Yeah, projection is a strong possibility:

When challenged to produce hard evidence about his claims on the negative impact of turbines, Trump said: "I am the evidence, I am a world class expert in tourism."

The public gallery burst into laughter.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Stephen Colbert is awesome

Read his whole speech at the Time 100 dinner. An excerpt:

Of course, all of us should be honored to be listed on the TIME 100 alongside the two men who will be slugging it out in the fall: President Obama, and the man who would defeat him, David Koch.

Give it up everybody. David Koch.

Little known fact -- David, nice to see you again, sir. Little known fact, David's brother Charles Koch is actually even more influential. Charles pledged $40 million to defeat President Obama, David only $20 million. That's kind of cheap, Dave. Sure, he's all for buying the elections, but when the bill for democracy comes up, Dave's always in the men's room. I'm sorry, I must have left Wisconsin in my other coat.

I was particularly excited to meet David Koch earlier tonight because I have a Super PAC, Colbert Super PAC, and I am -- thank you, thank you -- and I am happy to announce Mr. Koch has pledged $5 million to my Super PAC. And the great thing is, thanks to federal election law, there's no way for you to ever know whether that's a joke.

By the way, if David Koch likes his waiter tonight, he will be your next congressman....

But perhaps the most influential person on the list is here, Sara Blakely. The inventor of the Spanx. Give it up.

No one, no one has done more to control women's bodies, except maybe Cardinal Dolan. Cardinal, congratulations, sir, you are afeminist icon.

Man was I wrong about that guy...

The two Americas are apparently John Edwards and the rest of America:

“He said she [Rielle Hunter] was a crazy slut and there was a 1-in-3 chance that it (the child) was his,” Young testified.

I'm sorry make that 1-in-3 Americas.

Rupert anxious to get back to America

Where he can lie his ass off 24/7 with impunity:

And in their next breath they screamed at the idea of paying more taxes

Your probable Republican poster children of the day:

Scruffy Rubin and Snickers Carter had a wedding many couples dream of, featuring 100 guests, a wedding cake, open bar, receptionist and even security. But while the newlyweds are reportedly happy together, that are not actually human. The Desert Sun reports that actual humans Ernie Rubin and Ann Carter got together to throw Scruffy and Snickers a $5,000 wedding at the Palm Desert Resort Country Club in Palm Desert, Calif., on Sunday.

Somehow I doubt Mitt Romney could pull this off

And I keep hearing that young voters just don't like him anymore. Hmmm... And, of course:

Unlike, of course the last performance of Andrew Breitbart (artist's impression).*

Behold Presidential Dignity:

 *oh how uncivil.

Good for her

I hope she wins the gold medal...she's already won one for being awesome:

Ariane Friedrich, a German high jumper expected to contend for a medal at the upcoming Summer Olympics, posted the name and email address of a Facebook stalker who had allegedly been sending her explicit photographs over the social networking service.

Obviously, I'm all for most all internet privacy, but not to the extent people should be abused like this -- good for Ariane Friedrich.

Looking for a Ringtone?

Then perhaps you will want British "football" commenter (and former player) Gary Neville's "orgasm tone" as first uttered yesterday during Chelsea elimination of Barcelona.

Not dead, just dead inside

Lemme guess...

Six more months and we'll know more? *

NATO remains "cautiously optimistic" of progress in the war in Afghanistan, despite the tactical challenges it has faced in recent months, the alliance's top military officer said Wednesday.

Danish Gen. Knud Bartels said Afghan security forces are becoming increasingly more effective in their fight against insurgents.

* (i.e. enough to say we need another F.U.)

How's austerity working?

Double-dipping, good for chips, bad for people:

The UK economy has returned to recession, official figures have shown.

The economy shrank by 0.2% in the first three months of 2012, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. This followed contraction of 0.3% in the last three months of 2011.

Last whirl on the gravy train.

Shocking, I know, but Newt Gingrich managed to lose a primary badly yet again. But with more than $4 million in debt and no financial sugar daddy anymore is he going to face reality?

Well, you know how that goes:

Newt Gingrich hinted this week that his presidential campaign could come to an end soon, but regardless of what happens in Tuesday's five-state primary, Gingrich will not use his election-night speech to drop out of the race, a spokesman for his campaign told Yahoo News.

No this is his last shot at talking about his "fiscal conservative" credentials, that only he can stop government waste (hence Barack Obama = "Food Stamp President").

Behold his valiant battle:

His think tank went bankrupt. His campaign is $4.3 million in debt. He doesn’t hold a prayer of beating Mitt Romney, something he has all but conceded. And yet since March 6th, the Secret Service has honored his request for protection at a cost to taxpayers of roughly $40,000 a day (or, to translate that into a metric Newt might favor, enough to supply 13,333 people a day with food stamps).

As noted here, there are guidelines to qualify for Secret Service protection -- but not really any for ending it, as long as you are technically still in the race.

Newt is going to stay on his last gravy train as long as he can.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Uh, really?

Romney on his Veep selection process:

Romney pointed out that the selection process for a vice presidential candidate is just beginning. "We're looking at various legal resources to help with in that process, accounting staff and so forth to take a look at tax returns and things of that nature,"

As always the "consistency" is the thing that really stands out:

Mitt Romney, who is one of the wealthiest men ever to seek the presidency, said on Wednesday that he had no intention of releasing his tax returns if he became the Republican presidential nominee, breaking with a long tradition in both parties.

I'm not terribly clever and accurate...

Unlike some people:

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Yeah, right

Apparently FoxNews is reporting that Smirk-addict Steve Doocy is going to correct his self-created misquote piehole moment (the latest among a lifetime) this morning about what Obama said re: silver spoons.

I imagine it will go something like this:

"I mistakenly added words and and it is Obama's fault"

Not dead, just dead inside

That's not the 1080i picture I was hoping for

My cable company added a load of high-def channels this weekend, and as usual, they added a couple of shitty channels in a package that had about 10 channels I wanted.  Thus I am getting FoxBusiness in HD.

Let me tell you, Lou Dobbs false-teetch can be heard creaking around in 5.1 sound, even as you channel surf.

A Campaign that is full of Mitt

You may recall that pretty much the first half of April 2012 the main topic of the Presidential campaign was trying to tie Hilary Rosen, a long-time democratic strategist to the Obama campaign because she said something accurate, in a brusque manner, about Ann Ronmey. This became, according to the Romney Campaign, an awesome present and also simultaneously a vile attack on mothers everywhere.

Just as that issue faded, on Thursday, April 18th the Romney campaign hired a new foreign policy spokesperson, Richard Grenell.  And what a "present" he is.  He's managed to scrub hundreds of tweets critical of women far worse than anything Hilary Rosen ever uttered, from Republicans like Calista Gingrich, to Rachel Maddow, to Michelle Obama.

Hired almost exactly at the time the Rosen matter died out. Yet not a peep out of the major news sources that devoted about ten straight days to the Rosen story. It almost makes you think there might be bias.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Who is Arthur Brisbane?

I dunno, I never heard of him.

Although he certainly does like the sound of a dog-whistle which are audible apparently when one sticks one's head up one's ass.

Seriously asking in 2012 "Who is the real Barack Obama?", even Richard Cohen got over that shit sometime in 2008.

Republican Talking Point! Freidman Units

"Six more months and we'll finish this fucker off -- six more months to VICTORY!"

Yuck it up slappy

I will so enjoy the service of the forthcoming indictments:

An audio recording has surfaced of an Arizona sheriff playing his refusal to cooperate in a racial profiling investigation for laughs at a fundraiser for an anti-illegal immigration group in Texas. He ridicules politicians who sought the probe and displayed contempt toward federal authorities who were — and are still — investigating him on two fronts...

In the September 2009 speech in Houston, Arpaio boasted that he arrested hundreds of illegal immigrants after politicians and federal investigators started to pick apart his patrols. He said he wouldn't cooperate with the inquiry, but said he would tone down the patrols — if he was proven wrong.

"But I'm not. After they went after me, we arrested 500 more just for spite," the self-proclaimed "America's toughest sheriff" said, pausing for laughter and applause.

It will be a sweet day when this two-bit charlatan and petty dictator is indicted.