BOOM!

Colbert and I are on the same page. If I didn't already know that you knew that I loved Colbert, I'd tell you.

Triple Reverse Fake-Out

I'm not blogging because I have too much to say.

More to come later.

Plus, it seems I have to fix my picture and change the theme of the blog again.

Suspense

I try not to bore you all with the comics too often, but this made me laugh out loud and I thought you might enjoy.

The Perils of Blogging While Drunk and Republican

This astute political analysis was posted on a the Willamette Week (Portland indie paper) blog by the Vice-Chair of the Marion County (Salem, OR) GOP:

I Hope the Democrats have enjoyed their short lived pouncing of peoples paychecks while giving more to Illegal Aliens and Communist sympathizers.

Republicans will take back Oregon next year, I will make sure of it.

Oregon will not become a Communist State no matter how hard the Dem's keep trying to do so, as people wake up to their cradle to grave-Gov't (Unions-Mafia)knows best agenda, people will flee that backwards Damn the people, Party of far left wacko's.

America has hundreds of Millions of peoples from all over the World that want to live here for Freedom & Independence, not Oregon's Gov't dictators or Union's that also take your paycheck(Making them worse than Corp.s, at least you voluntarily give them $), very similar to where they live now and why they want to leave their Country and come here. Democrats keep forgetting that, because they are drunk with power and can't get on the 12 step program because they hate God.

It's OK people, the responsible, keep the money YOU earned & put American workers 1st, real Republicans will make it better soon.

I WILL MAKE SURE OF IT!

Rick Hickey, New Vice-Chair Marion Co. R's

Zing!

Hilzoy on Golberg:

Jonah Goldberg has no such fears: he sees that contradiction is not a peril to be feared, but the narrow footbridge that allows us to cross over the great abyss of incomprehensibility into a world of sublime and transcendent certainty, in which, freed from niggling doubts and hairsplitting distinctions, our soul can fuse with the world-soul, and we can simply know, with every cell in our body and every fiber of our being, that whatever we did in Iraq was justified, that history will redeem our grand vision, and that liberals are always wrong.

Adult Engrish

I have no idea if this is racist or appropriate, but I'm drinking the High Life and I found it funny.

Adult Engrish | Index

AWESOME!!!!!!

I am giving Baptists for Brownback my highest endorsement ever! Spend the time, read the comments. It is what I would do if I had the talent (because Lord knows, I have the time).

Colbert Freaking Nails It (Again)

This Is Why We Don't Let Conservatives Into the Academy (Just Kidding, David)

Via Lawyers, Guns, and Money:

Conservative commentator/gadfly/scholar wannabe Myron Magnet has an explanation for why African Americans are finding themselves in jail and in poverty all these years after racism was ended in the United States. Can you guess what it is? It's the same reason Michael Vick raised dogs to kill each other. That's right, hip hop.

For those of you without the time to read it, let me summarize.

We know that racism isn't the problem because blacks flourished in the US during Reconstruction and in the north where there was no Jim Crow. Because we have Clarance Thomas, Condi Rice, Barack Obama, and three (three!) CEOs of Fortune 500 companies who are all black, we can say for sure that racism is over! Nope, the roots of the sufferings of the black community can be traced to that cocksucker Lyndon Baines Johnson and his Great Society. Welfare made blacks lazy. Oh, and the Civil Rights movement, led by "elites." Here you have all these happy-go-lucky Negroes and then these liberals come along and tell them there oppressed and that they don't have to respect massah no more and then you've got discontent.

You can tell "elites" have run our education system into the ground by the fact that they believed the Duke rape story and Tawana Brawley. We've lost our reasoning skills. Because the elites believe that everything, including social order, is "man-made" (that's socially constructed to you and me, Russ), they can't handle the thought that maybe not all whites are racists and then they fire Larry Summers. That the Duke lacrosse players, apparently, didn't rape anyone that night, all liberal "hyperventilating" about race issues has been proved false. Or, "Emmett Till outrages are long over in America," as Myron tells us. Then the elites go and drive a good man like Don Imus off the air, but ignore the cause of all that ails the black community and Don Imus...hip hop.

(Yes, the article is this rambling, but not this smart-ass)

It all started with the Black Panthers. They posed at being liberators, but were really just criminals (not unlike your hip-hoppers today). Then came Ice T and his cop killer song and the elites told us he was just reflecting what was being said in the streets, but you and I know that until then no black man had ever thought about killing a cop, but now that's all they think about. Then you've got all these rappers raping about how racist society is and how the cops are profiling them (my man Chamillionaire gets an extensive mention for his song "Ridin'"). Except that you and I know that racism was ended in 1864 (North) and 1964 (South), so these rappers cannot be reflecting black experience in America. Instead, they are creating it. This is why blacks are poor, because Ice T, Chamillionaire, Jay Z, and Came'ron told them that being a gangsta was cool. So they deal drugs and don't get jobs, resulting in high rates of incarceration and low employment. It's really all pretty easy to understand. If you're not an elite.

Oh yeah, and hip hop speaks of sex in terms of porn, not love. Music and literature is supposed to be about love and marriage (ah, Frank), but this hip hop stuff is just about "fucking" and this breaks down the bonds of marriage, which is the foundation of civilization. And Wynton Marsalis and Bill Cosby agree, so there you have it.

Union Tactics

Ah, those Change to Winners, what will they think of next?

I believe we briefly discussed the wisdom of using outside agitators to help on picket lines and protests. At that time, I questioned the wisdom of relying on a group of "professional" organizers, as the community would see through this tactic and it made it seem like the union wasn't strong enough to win on it's own. I remember the reaction being that unions need to resort to tactics like this to fight huge corporations. Unstated, but there nonetheless, was the comparison of these tactic to say an AGEL "flying squad" (or, say the IWW flying squad), a tactic which I endorse.

Now, does anyone want to take a shot at defending hiring the homeless at $8 an hour to run "informational pickets" at non-union worksites? The Carpenters don't seemly terribly interested in defending themselves, but maybe because they could tell that the WaPo was doing a hit piece. But, again, this gets to the "don't do anything you wouldn't want made public" idea that I advocate.

Thoughts?

For a Certain Someone

On and on with their chisels of words did they continue to chip
away at her with their higher then minty and raucous approach.

Post-Election [Update]

Do people actually watch the CNN post-debate shit? Watch and believe, like, listen? It's painful.

Holy fucking shit. Did Wolf just say that it was "unfair" that Hillary would get a lot of coverage for her pick jacket, but that there wouldn't be much commentary on the fact the men wore dark suits?

Why the hell are we talking about their clothes at all. Other than to comment on Edwards' sexism.

Edwards on Women

I look at the woman next to me and I think, "Her husband did a great job, but I'm not big on her fashion sense."

Joe Biden Is Telling the Truth

No snark this time. That was a great answer to the gun question. I am sure the right-wingers will use it against Dems for some time.

I Think We Can Forgive Gravel

for checking his watch. I want to hear his view because I have no idea what they might be.

Except Maybe Gravel

Hillary says anyone of the Dem candidates would be better than Bush. Do you agree?

A Debate Breaks Out

Between Anderson Cooper (on behalf of Hillary) and Bill Richardson.

Oooo, Joe Biden has been shot at in the Green Zone. I guess he knows what he is talking about.

In What Freaking World

could the accusation the Dems are blocking withdrawal to play politics get seriously asked? I believe there was a freaking 30 hour debate on this.

Now Kusinich has gone off the rails.

Joe Biden Is Telling the Truth

Partition is the truth.

That Hillary Video Sucked

Unless you have no idea that doesn't support universal health care and supported the war. Then, I guess, it would be funny.

Edwards

This is why I can't support Edwards...his blatant reframing of any question to fit within what he wants to answer, not what is asked. Especially in this format, it is important to answer the question asked.

Goddam It

I like that Kusinich.

Edwards Ducks First Question

When the audience applauds the question, is it smart to duck it?

Will She...?

Hillary rejects "liberal," embraces "modern progressive." Gee, she rejects one badly defined word and embraces another.

Dem Debate

I may try to live blog it. I have a hard time watching the Dem debates. I have a hard time watching Anderson Cooper.

DeFazio Denied

This probably won't get a lot of national play, so I thought I'd pass it along.

WASHINGTON -- Oregonians called Peter DeFazio's office, worried there was a conspiracy buried in the classified portion of a White House plan for operating the government after a terrorist attack.

As a member of the U.S. House on the Homeland Security Committee, DeFazio, D-Ore., is permitted to enter a secure "bubbleroom" in the Capitol and examine classified material. So he asked the White House to see the secret documents.

On Wednesday, DeFazio got his answer: DENIED.

"We're talking about the continuity of the government of the United States of America," DeFazio says. "I would think that would be relevant to any member of Congress, let alone a member of the Homeland Security Committee."

Young Love

Did everyone else have the same thought about this that I did?

Early Withdrawal

Last week I expressed my frustration with the constantly moving deadline for when we'll be able to judge the surge a success or failure. I (half-assedly) cataloged how this deadline has been moving from day one. An update is in order:

BAGHDAD - U.S. military commanders said Friday the troop buildup in Iraq must be maintained until at least next summer and they may need as long as two years to ensure parts of the country are stable.

Now this new "deadline" seems to be coming exclusively from General Lynch who seems like a "bomb 'em back to hell"-type General in the best tradition of Patton and MacArthur, so maybe he's just speaking for himself. Oh hell, why am I giving these sumbitches the benefit of the doubt? Gen. Lynch will be in charge of this whole thing pretty soon, as he constantly says what Cheney wants to hear.

Michael Vick: Victim

For those of you who, like me, enjoy sublimely ridiculous journalism, dial it on over the the Kansas City Star for a fine example of the genre. Jason Whitlock attempts to put this dog fighting thing in some perspective and put the blame where it firmly belongs: hip-hop culture.

As much as I love dogs — and I really do have an affinity for them — this case primarily repulses me because I believe Vick got involved with breeding vicious pit bulls because rap-music culture made it the cool thing to do.

Does he think Vick, if guilty, should get jail time? No. "Honestly, I don’t wish jail on the people who despise me the most. Incarceration is that dehumanizing." Should Vick be suspended before the season starts? Again, no. "I believe in treating everyone fairly. Suspending Vick would be too prejudicial (legal term, not a race term) and inhibit his ability to receive a fair trial."

So Michael Vick, allegedly, owned a farm and a "business" that raised and trained dogs to attack and kill each other for the entertainment of him, his friends, and his family. Who's to blame? Jason Whitlock names names.

Vick has destroyed his athletic reputation while trying to keep pace with T.I.

N.W.A., the late-1980s rap group, hijacked hip-hop years ago, and calls to return it to something resembling decency and self-respect have fallen on Def Jam ear$.

Allen Iverson and his sneaker/jersey sales hijacked the image of black professional athletes years ago...

And, if you have a scorebook at home, we now know that Russell Simmons is adamantly opposed to the killing and brutalization of dogs, but he is in favor of the glorification of killing black men in music.

There you have it. T.I., NWA, Allen Iverson, and Russell Simmons are the real culprits here.

I know I join Whitlock is sincerely hoping that Vick grows and learns from this and becomes a better person so he can be a leader to his teammates and an example to all of us of a person who can learn from his mistakes and "evolve" away from hip-hop destructiveness.

Ah, GTFs

Umm...I, like, totally assumed that if I was working the summer my insurance would be free, so I didn't even read that notice you sent me.

Necessary Compromises

From LG&M:

Jonah Goldberg, 18 July 2007:

Democracy — by which I primarily mean a liberal order marked by the rule of law and political accountability of government officials — is morally preferable to tyranny and it is always worth some measure of our effort to advance it wherever tyranny reigns. That doesn't mean we should deliver liberalism at gunpoint around the globe. But even if it is a matter of rhetoric and soft diplomacy, we should always be on the side of freedom. Necessary compromises with reality are forgivable, even advisable, but that shouldn't change our conviction. Charges of hypocrisy as we deal with the Musharrafs of the world is [sic] a small price to pay for championing liberty. I thought this was the sort of stuff Reaganites believed.

Jonah Goldberg, 18 July 1979:

Necessary compromises with reality are forgivable, even advisable, but that shouldn't change our conviction. Charges of hypocrisy as we deal with the anti-Soviet mujahedeen in Afghanistan is a small price to pay for championing liberty.

Jonah Goldberg, 18 July 1984:

Necessary compromises with reality are forgivable, even advisable, but that shouldn't change our conviction. Charges of hypocrisy as we deal with Saddam Hussein is a small price to pay for championing liberty.

"Charges of hypocrisy," if recent history is any help, are the least of our worries when it comes to "dealing with Musharraf."

Why We Hate Dislike

It is seemingly random crap like this that does it for us.

President Bush yesterday rejected entreaties by his Republican allies that he compromise with Democrats on legislation to renew a popular program that provides health coverage to poor children, saying that expanding the program would enlarge the role of the federal government at the expense of private insurance.

The president said he objects on philosophical grounds to a bipartisan Senate proposal to boost the State Children's Health Insurance Program by $35 billion over five years. Bush has proposed $5 billion in increased funding and has threatened to veto the Senate compromise and a more costly expansion being contemplated in the House.

It must be a very small world indeed where this makes sense. Poor children really should be looking to the private insurance world for their insurance needs. Or, I guess, the parents of poor children should be looking to the private insurance world to provide insurance for their children. You know each one of these families probably has a line of insurance agents out the door with low cost, quality health care plans for the choosing.

And for those who don't make to the end of the article check out this tasty tidbit of Bush logic:

Bush said he is opposed to a bipartisan legislation that would allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco products, which could lead to stronger warning labels and limits on nicotine and other ingredients.

"We've always said that nicotine is not a drug to be regulated under FDA," Bush said.

Leavitt [Secretary of Health and Human Services] added that one danger is that the FDA could be seen as giving its stamp of approval to a product "that will never be safe."

That's right. We can't regulate tobacco because it is too dangerous to regulate.

For Those Who Missed It

Kirstin Dunst hates your freedom.

My World

Spring health insurance expired on June 15th. There are still GTFs wandering in here to make their summer insurance payment.

Ah, Johnny McCain

McCain has gone, in less than an hour, from saying that we must listen to the Generals to now it is okay to disagree with them, but one mustn't denigrate them. About

Half-an-hour ago:
These are the people we've entrusted to lead the greatest army in the world, we should listen to them. These are the people on the ground. They have the knowledge. Congress should listen to them.

Now: It is okay to disagree with the Generals, he did over the original war plan. Disagreement is fine. But one is not allowed to denigrate them by dismissing their statements because you've heard "from the Generals before."

Uh.Oh.

So far the Dems have spent more time debating the history of cloture votes on defense bills than on pointing out that the GOP record on prosecuting the war is six years of failure.

Another GOP Talking Point

Here's why comparing the failure of the Iraqi parliament to get anything done and the failure of the Democratic Congress to get anything done is offensive: The United States is not paying billions of dollars and sacrificing the bodies and lives of men and women in order to create "political space" to get things done in Washington.

I've resisted the bullshit argument that the US won the war, but the Iraqis couldn't keep the peace. This is bullshit. But, also bullshit is that these motherfuckers plan on taking August off. So we're going to spend a month of treasure and lives creating safe space in Baghdad while these mofos will be on vacation.

This fact could be used be the Dems to argue that we already know what the September progress report will say, given that there will be very little political movement between now and then. Will they be able to pull this off, or will our 30 hours of debate be the Reps attacking the Dems for failing to accomplish anything either and the Dems weakly coming back at them?

And while I am ranting, I notice that the Generals have already pushed the date when we'll be able to know if the surge is working to next March. I remember watching the Sunday shows (something I rarely do, because I am not up that early on the West Coast) in early Feb. while I was helping out in Columbus. I was promised that we'd see immediate results with the surge and we'd know by March (2007) if it was working. Then it was early summer, maybe July, 2007. Then the big September report. We'll know in September. We'll see results by September alright. Now, of course, we've learned that September is just a check in. Will we be making progress by September (oh, let me guess "yes.")? Then, we heard that after the September check-in, we'll definitely see progress by December. The end of the year. Might even be able to think about drawing down the troops. Success by December. Now we have next March. Jesus "Fucking" Christ.

Jesus "Fucking" Christ.

Probability: 0%

Anyone else noticed that one of the new talking points for the dead-enders is that they will fully support bringing the troops home the moment that General Petraeus says that the war is unwinnable. I could link to some shit, but, at this point, this is a throw away line, usually followed by "listening to the Generals, not politicians."

I know some historians and military people peruse this blog on occasion. Can anyone think of a time in modern military history when a General has announced a war unwinnable long before his troops were crushed?

Graham and Webb

Dial it on over to the Crooks and Liars and check out why I'm guessing that Senators Graham and Webb really don't like each other.

You Know What I'm Talking About

Biodiesel Discussion

The discussion over at Daily Kos is a good one, no pro-petroleum trolls (yet). If you're looking for some background into the complexities of the issue, here you are.

Progress

I don't know why this shit is especially driving me crazy today, but it is.

Lies

I am so sick and tired of this argument from the right:

The White House didn't lie the country into Iraq. The consensus opinion of the intelligence community was that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. The Democrats in the Congress agreed with the White House that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and had to be removed.

If I may, the consensus opinion was not that Iraq had WMD. Intelligence was cherry-picked to make it seem like there was consensus for this opinion. Any evidence or opinion to the contrary was ignored or relegated to footnotes.

Yes, the Dems agreed with the White House. This is, however, proof that the Dems did not contemplate that the White House could be systematically lying the country into a war. This is evidence of gullibility. It is not, however, proof that the White House did not lie.

Too Soon?

The WWE is having a contest where their fans create videos "proving" they are the WWE's biggest fan. A trip to Summer Slam and $25,000 is on the line.

My initial thought was to involve Patrick and recreate something like this or this or this from the heyday of wrestling. My plan had a couple of flaws. One, none of these speeches are actually associated with the WWE or WWF, and, two, I couldn't imagine how we'd score that much coke.

My new idea is this: we recreate the crime scene video from Chris Benoit's house. I think we could do it with taste and respect. Who's in with me?

Oh, and here's this:

Duke Rape Case

As long as we're discussing it...

Maybe I'm living in the wrong world or have seen a small slice of it, but is my reading on this correct that a woman accused three Duke lacrosse players of raping her. These charges proved to be unprovable and (possibly) false. The entire country is acting as if three white men being falsely accused of raping a black woman is perhaps the greatest crime in the history of the US.

That's it right? The "overzealous" prosecutor has been fired. The "boys" have been given an extra year to play lacrosse. Crazy right-wing pundits are allowed to babble on about "name rape" and "emotional murder." College sports announcers are allowed to go on and on about how the Duke lacrosse team had their season "stolen" by this woman. Less crazy right-wing pundits use this case to show that the Times is a far-left paper because the editors believed the accusation. Everything wrong about the liberal rush to judgment has been exposed, right? This is the narrative I am seeing.

Ash, please tell me in Durham there is someone pushing the counter-narrative of 400 years of white men raping black women with no punishment whatsoever. Someone is mentioning the history of lynching in the south (other than to try to say these innocent angels were lynched by the prosecutor, which I pray, but don't doubt, is being said) where black men were summarily executed with no evidence at all. Please tell me that someone is pointing out that normally the assholes who want the prosecutor to go to jail don't really mind it when black men go to jail on drug possession, which is almost solely based on the word of the arresting officer and prosecutor. Everyone knows that black men go to jail on completely bogus stops with no probably cause. In other words, everyone knows that the judicial system in this country is set up in favor of whites and against black men and women. Is this narrative being discussed?

Has anyone else seen any strong counter-narratives in our supposedly crazy-liberal blogosphere? I think I've seen one or two references in passing putting forth the idea that the rape(s) did happen, but otherwise I see a lot of people trying to distance themselves. What am I missing?

In the Name of the Father

Because He and I love you:


And because I love you more:


And Goff, I want to see this referenced on Free Exchange soon. Maybe this is something you could run by the FED.

All Star Snark

Where is nephew when I need him? Chris Isaak just screwed up the lyrics to the national anthem three times and no one is here to listen to my witticisms.

In the Name of the Father

I watched the movie again last weekend. I watched it because I vaguely remembered that I liked it when it first came out, not really remembering the details of the movie.

If you don't really remember, you should watch it again, as it is very relevant to today.

Basically, the British government, in reaction to a wave of terrorist bombings, seized two Belfast youths living in London, tortured them to get confessions, and then faked forensic evidence to "prove" that an entire cell of terrorists was posing as a perfectly respectable middle-class family living in Ireland and England.

For some reason, I can't help but take the recent allegations against the alleged doctor-terrorists with a giant grain of salt.

I Know You're Not

But pretend that you're a NASCAR fan and sign the petition asking them to stop using anti-union company Cintas for the uniforms.

Thanks.

My Man Dennis

We all have our favorite right-wing-crazy blogger. Some are lucky enough to make their living making fun of them.

My current favorite is Dennis Prager. This guy is hilarious in his insanity. I only know of Dennis what I can learn from his blog--I like to take these people as they present themselves, without finding out too much of the "real facts." Dennis is very religious man. A Christian. But also a genius. All of his columns I have read feature Dennis pointing out how much smarter he is than other people and he invariably calls on people to emulate him as the way to solve the world's problems. His insanity coupled with his firm belief in his own intelligence is what makes me love him.

His most recent column tackles the question of why these anti-religion books are selling so well.

In just the last few months, three books attacking belief in God and making a case for atheism have been national best sellers: The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins; God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens; and Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris. A fourth book, Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel C. Dennett also sold very well

Now just take a second and try to come up with three or four reasons that you might think these books are selling well. Go ahead, I'll wait (ha ha ha ha ha).

Did you come up with radical Muslims? That's right, those bombing sum-a-bitches are leading people to believe that religion can be the cause of evil, making people more likely to seek out books that argue that religion is not all that is cracked up to be.

First and most significant is the amount of evil coming from within Islam. Whether Islamists (or jihadists, Islamo-Fascists or whatever else Muslims who slaughter innocents in the name of Islam are called) represent a small sliver of Muslims or considerably more than that, they have brought religious faith into terrible disrepute.

You prolly came up with the secular schools, which Dennis cites, but did you also get Christians who are too mystical, irrational, and emotional? They undercut the intellectual Christianity that Prager endorses, so they do damage as well.

I love this crazy bastard.

UPDATE:

I just found this about the Duke rape case:

The rape of a name can be as vicious a crime and as destructive an act as the rape of a body. Sometimes the rape of a body is worse, sometimes the rape of a name is worse. But they are both rapes. And morally likening the two is in no way meant to lessen the horror of rape; it is meant only to heighten awareness of the horror of intentionally destroying the name of an innocent person.

Idal Threts

I've never actually stuck a fork in my eye before, but I think I'd rather do that than listen to one more goddamn question about GTFF health care.

Blue Oregon

I made my first comment over at Blue Oregon. Long time lurker, first time commenter.

My Life in a Nutshell

Heard last night on Hell's Kitchen: "Chef, I have barely begun to skim the surface of my potential."

Law Schmaw

Bush never was much of a law and order guy anyway. Unless, of course, the poor, blacks, or the mentally challenged were involved, in which case killing was too good for 'em.

You know what really fucking sticks in the fucking craw? Now we're going to have to listen to the likes of Goldberg, Kauthammer, and Novak all trying to argue that Scooter really is being punished, harshly at that, because he will always have that stain on his record.

Boo, fucking, hoo.

I've resisted saying shit like this before, but, god's be damned, this is what living in Rome must have felt like.