In A Nutshell
While I don't think that Barack Obama is an elitist, America-hating negro the fact remains that Barack Obama is an elitist, America-hating negro.
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May 09, 2008
May 08, 2008
A Fool And His Money
From e-mail:
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Why Mark Penn Should Be Driven Out Of The Party
As aides looked over the campaign calendar, chief strategist Mark Penn confidently predicted that an early win in California would put her over the top because she would pick up all the state's 370 delegates. It sounded smart, but as every high school civics student now knows, Penn was wrong: Democrats, unlike the Republicans, apportion their delegates according to vote totals, rather than allowing any state to award them winner-take-all. Sitting nearby, veteran Democratic insider Harold M. Ickes, who had helped write those rules, was horrified — and let Penn know it. "How can it possibly be," Ickes asked, "that the much vaunted chief strategist doesn't understand proportional allocation?" And yet the strategy remained the same, with the campaign making its bet on big-state victories.
If this is true, that Penn doesn't understand how his own party's primary process works, then he has no business being in the business. (Well, I'd be OK with it if he jumped to the Republicans.) And if Bill and Hillary went along with him then they deserve to lose. This alone calls into question their grasp of facts and judgment.
Tumulty's article is worth a read - though, to be clear, I'm not vouching for her accuracy.
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UPDATE: Penn denies he's a rank idiot.
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May 07, 2008
Mittens!
Former presidential contender Mitt Romney increased his criticism of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Wednesday taking direct aim at Obama’s experience, telling CNN’s John Roberts that “the presidency of the United States is not an internship.”“He can read a prompter very well and energize a crowd,” said Romney. “But he has not accomplished anything during his life in terms of legislation, or leading an enterprise, or making a business work, or a city work, or a state work. He really has very little experience.”
And Willard's qualifications for being president are...? [crickets]
(And no, running a corporation isn't the same as running a government. As Republicans have proven time and time again.)
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Unable To Distinguish
Former BushCo™ speechwriter Michael Gerson:
For the most part, these accusations are a political ploy -- actually an attempt to shut down political debate. Any practical concern about the content of government sex-education curricula is labeled "anti-science." Any ethical question about the destruction of human embryos to harvest their cells is dismissed as "theological" and thus illegitimate.
From there Gerson goes on to demonstrate that he doesn't know the difference between "science" and "theology" or, for that matter, what "facts" and "evidence" are.
And, yes, Gerson brings Nazis into the mix.
Are there any honest, intelligent Conservatives left?
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ADDED: Kevin: "The disingenuousness here is breathtaking."
Chris Mooney (who literally wrote the book on this subject): "In short, Gerson's oped is a joke. No need for debunking, just laughing."
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May 01, 2008
April 30, 2008
April 22, 2008
Better Copy Editors Please
Misleading (to say the least):
In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, 28% of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing; 69% disapprove. The approval rating matches the low point of his presidency, and the disapproval sets a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt.
That makes it sound like FDR was an extraordinarily unpopular president. He wasn't. What they mean is that presidential popularity polls began since he was president.
That's the sort of thing a competent editor catches.
Now for the good bit:
President Bush has set a record he'd presumably prefer to avoid: the highest disapproval rating of any president in the 70-year history of the Gallup Poll.[...]
The previous record of 67% was reached by Harry Truman in January 1952, when the United States was enmeshed in the Korean War.
Furthermore, ARG pegs George's approval rating at 22%.
272 days.
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April 20, 2008
Undereducated
In a story about HBO's John Adams we get this bit:
George Washington (David Morse) so quickly tired of the infighting among his Cabinet and vagaries of public opinion that he stepped down from the presidency after a single term.
And Washington chopped down a cherry tree whilst tossing a silver dollar across the Potomac River.
[Via Attaturk.]
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April 17, 2008
Electrifying
TBogg reads David "The Dean" Broder and concludes:
If the terrorists are smart, they will give up on trying to attack us and just sit back and wait, because eventually our entire country is going to be so stupid that people will start sticking their tongues in wall sockets just to see what electricity tastes like.
That's some quality snark and it has the added benefit of being true.
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April 16, 2008
The Problem
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), the Democratic Party’s 2000 vice presidential nominee, is leaving open the possibility of giving a keynote address on behalf of Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) at the Republican National Convention in September.
Two top Senate Democrats:
Even though [Majority Leader Harry] Reid may not need Lieberman next Congress to claim a Senate majority, he told Lieberman in private conversations that he would protect his seniority...[w]hen asked Tuesday if Lieberman’s chairmanship was at risk next Congress, Reid said succinctly: “No.”[...]
“We have one difference of opinion, maybe two with Sen. Lieberman,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a prominent supporter of Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) presidential candidacy. “As a whip, I can tell you time and again, he’s been there when we’ve needed him.”
One top Republican:
“I think Sen. Lieberman would be a very powerful spokesperson,” said Sen. Mel Martinez (Fla.), a former general chairman of the Republican National Committee. “I think he really is someone who helps Sen. McCain break through to independent voters.”
Furthermore, "Reid offered words of praise for the senator, saying he would not “turn on Joe.”" Apparently Harry Reid is too dim or too delusional or too corrupt to understand that Holy Joe has already turned on him.
So even if the Democrats gain 5 or 10 or 20 seats in the Senate Harry would still leave Joe on his various committees including the all important Homeland Security Committee which, under Lieberman, has yet to hold one significant oversight hearing.
The reason people see Democrats as losers is because the party is lead by cowards and weaklings like Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein, &c., who don't even try to win.
And then they wonder why Democrats lose.
[Via LG&M.]
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133t
CNN's Roland Martin gets it:
Can we all just stop the silly nonsense over who is an elitist and whether an "average American" will occupy the White House?Listening to the punditry today, you would think folks who revel in the comedy of Larry the Cable Guy or Katt Williams really would have a shot at the White House.
It's totally absurd.
[...]
One more thing: Don't buy fully into the nonsense tossed out by some of the loudest voices on television, radio and in print who decry these "elitists" and trumpet that they are for the blue collar, middle-class worker in middle America.
Many of them pull down multimillion-dollar salaries and run into these same candidates on Martha's Vineyard and in the Hamptons when they all vacation. They, too, will pull every favor they have to get their children in the posh private schools and Ivy League institutions.
Yes, we even have elitists in the media.
I think that of all the nonsense that surrounds our elections the "regular guy" obsession is the most annoying if not most damaging to the polity. Remember, more than a few people voted for George because he's a guy you can have a beer with (notwithstanding the fact that he's a recovering(?) alcoholic).
Paul Waldman of the American Prospect has a terrific piece on those salts-of-the-earth political pundits. That blue collar roughneck Chris Matthews' annual salary exceeds $5,000,000 per year and he owns a vacation house on Nantucket Island valued at $4,530,000. Just the sort of guy who hangs out in bowling alleys and quaffs Pabst Blue Ribbon. Perhaps Matthews is a neighbor of that Working Class Hero from Buffalo Tim Russert who, too, retires to his home on Nantucket for some rest and relaxation. No Motel 6's near Yellowstone Park for him. And the list goes on.
Does wealth mean that these politicians and pundits are unable to relate to the majority of Americans? Not necessarily; think FDR or even maybe JFK. Hell, while we're at it let's toss in the Elitest of the Elites: The Founding Fathers. Just think, under the current "rules" Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and Madison would be simply dismissed as "out of touch".
Now, maybe I'm "out of touch" because I've never voted for a drinking buddy. My hope whenever election day rolls around is that I can cast a ballot for someone who has more knowledge than me and who has better judgment than me.
Perhaps that makes me an Elitist. If so, I'm fine with that.
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April 12, 2008
Your Liberal Media
Please make it stop:
But last night's exchange between Matthews and Shuster was far worse. Offered coffee, Barack Obama asked for orange juice instead. And Chris Matthews and David Shuster pounced, aghast that he would dare do such a thing as ask for orange juice. A preference for orange juice was supposed to demonstrate that Obama is out of touch with "regular" people. (For what it's worth, neither Matthews nor Shuster so much as hinted that a single, actual voter who was in that diner was put off by Obama's interest in orange juice. But Matthews and Shuster were upset enough for everyone.)
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April 11, 2008
Trainwreck
This morning I opened my e-mail box and found this:
Standard rightwing attack on Soros. Except that...oops.
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April 10, 2008
Why Predicting And Cluelessness Don't Mix
By way of Pony Boy we see that Harris has found:
This pessimistic attitude is not just towards the country as a whole. Just one-quarter (26%) of Americans give President Bush positive ratings on his job while just under three-quarters (72%) give him negative ratings. This is down from February when 28 percent gave him positive marks and 69 percent have him negative ones. This current rating also ties his lowest ever positive rating which was first reached in July of 2007.
Whenever I see one of these presidential popularity poll I think back to this David Broder column published on 16 February, 2007 - well over a year ago:
It may seem perverse to suggest that, at the very moment the House of Representatives is repudiating his policy in Iraq, President Bush is poised for a political comeback. But don't be astonished if that is the case.
It should be noted that Broder still has his job.
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April 09, 2008
April 08, 2008
Republicans At Work
He should resign in shame:
Yesterday, Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT), who voted for the Iraq invasion, admitted in a town hall meeting that he never read the pre-war National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, the faulty intelligence that the Bush administration used to justify the invasion of Iraq. Shays added that he still hasn’t read the document:No, I didn’t, thank you. I did not read it. .. I did not read it. But I could still read it, and I probably should. So, who’s on my staff?
No wonder Congress is about as popular as scurvy.
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April 05, 2008
Onward And Upward With The Arts!
Unless you're a high school student. For 36 years the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot has held an art contest called "Student Gallery" which is open to juniors and seniors attending local high schools. It worked well until this year when two students entered works that featured - gasp! - nudity. Nancy "Beth" Reid was initially awarded first place which included a $1,000 prize.
Beth said her self-portrait was inspired by books such as Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness.” She wanted to reflect the idea that humans have a darker, animal side as well as a social facade.Because the dark side is bestial, she said she felt she should portray herself in the nude. In the rendering, she is crouching, with most of her private parts hidden, except for a small portion of her backside. “I’m comparing that inner darkness to what an animal feels. They don’t have religion or philosophy or art, or anything that separates humans from animals, from running around in packs naked.”
But here's the thing: Beth's portrait was included in the show anyway. It was the award that was taken away. Says one of the funders of the award:
Says one of the funders of the award:
“I could not believe it,” Trish Pfeifer said. “I thought it was so unethical of The Pilot to take away this award from this child. It brings up issues of censorship and freedom of speech. It was so unethical to hire a judge and not honor that judge’s decision.“The thing I was so amazed at was the fact that they still included the work but took away the award. If it was so offensive for people to see, why did it stay in the show?”
Beth:
“I think it seems ludicrous,” she said. “And, of course, there’s naked men on the front porch,” referring to a monumental statue of torch bearers at the museum’s main entrance.
So a double (triple?) standard is at work here.
The publisher of the Virginian-Pilot, Bruce Bradley, defends his decision thusly:
“While it’s true we don’t specifically address this in the rules and regulations, the concern I had was to have a 17-year-old girl do a self-portrait of herself in the nude,” Bradley said. “I thought that was inappropriate for the contest.“This is why we did not name it the first-place winner.”
Worse still:
Bradley told the newspaper’s editor not to publish a photograph of that work, for the same reasons. “I feel it’s an inappropriate picture to run in The Virginian-Pilot.”
Another accepted piece, by Jasmine Childs, was initially accepted then thrown out. Here's the offending artwork:
Such pornography!
But there's some good news: Members of the community are working to raise the $1,000 for Beth Reid and both students have been accepted into Virginia Commonwealth University where they plan to study art.
Perhaps someday publisher Bradley and so many other Americans will grow the hell up.
(As a side note: The commenters on the story are overwhemingly critical of the newspaper's decision but this one strikes me as all to typical of too many:
WORKS OF ART? Submitted by davidm22987 on Fri, 04/04/2008 at 7:38 pm.This ain't works of art, this is nothing more than SEX! Everybody knows sex sells. A nude painting of a minor? Thats jail offense! Thank you VP for having some moral standards even if the art world don't.
Imagine if davidm22987 ever saw his namesake by Michelangelo. Instant aneurysm!)
[Via Romanesko.]
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April 04, 2008
Republican Patriotism
Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry:
We spent the night in the Green Zone, in the poolhouse of one of Saddam’s palaces. A little weird, I got to be honest with you. But I felt safe. And so in the morning, I got up early — not that I make this a great habit — but I went to the gym because I just couldn’t sleep and everything else. Well, sure enough, the guard wouldn’t let me in. Said I didn’t have the correct credentials.It’s 5:00 in the morning. I haven’t had sleep. I was not very happy with this two-bit security guard. So you know, I said, “I want to see your supervisor.” Thirty minutes later, the supervisor wasn’t happy with me, they escort me back to my room. It happens. I guess I didn’t need to work out anyway.
More than 4,000 "two-bit security guards" have died for McHenry's favorite war.
Video at link. If you can stand it.
From Atrios:
Washington, D.C. Office224 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515Telephone: 202.225.2576
Republican Rep. Darrell Issa yesterday:
San Diego GOP Rep. Darrell Issa was under siege for suggesting the federal government had already done enough to help New York cope with "a fire" that "simply was an aircraft" hitting the World Trade Center.
More than 3,000 died when those aircraft hit the WTC, Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field.
WHAT. THE. FUCK. IS. WRONG. WITH. REPUBLICANS?
But I'm sure they were wearing flag pins on their lapels so it's OK.
As Steve Benen says, "Let’s play, ‘Imagine If A Democrat Had Said This’"
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April 03, 2008
Stretching
David Gregory praises George:
If [Obama] talks about what you do in response to a crisis, either you have the right intelligence and you have the right response. Well, there’s not a lot of argument that Bush had the right response to 9/11. He didn’t jump to invade Iraq even though there was some argument that he should do that in the room.
Oh, good for George.
It would seem that MSNBC traded in the inane kneebiter Tucker Carlson with the inane kneebiter Stretch Gregory.
A fine state of affairs, indeed.
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Great Moments In Legislation
Arkansas' marriage-age crisis is over. A law that mistakenly allowed anyone — even toddlers — to marry with parental permission was repealed by a measure signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Mike Beebe, ending months of embarrassment for the state and confusion for county clerks.Lawmakers didn't realize until after the end of last year's regular session that a law they approved, intended to establish 18 as the minimum age for marriage, instead removed the minimum age to marry entirely. An extraneous "not" in the bill allowed anyone who was not pregnant to marry at any age with permission.
So for a brief period a newborn could marry in Arkansas but allowing consenting adult gays and lesbians to marry would be wrong.
We live in a very silly country.
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April 02, 2008
Annals Of Idiocy
Glenn Beck says that people who have suffered brain-damage are terrorists.
And CNN thinks this creep belongs on their networks.
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ADDED: By way of reader DustPuppyOI in comments, Michael Stickings:
Allow me to coin a new word: glennbeckery. As in, the glennbeckery of Glenn Beck. Does that make sense? Perhaps this will: the glennbeckery of Bill O'Reilly, the glennbeckery of Sean Hannity, the glennbeckery of Ann Coulter.
It goes on.
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The Mind Of The American Voter
Welcome to Hazleton, Pennsylvania:
Of Obama, Duser said: "I'm not crazy about voting for a colored guy, but that's not why I don't support Obama. I'm not prejudiced. I just like Hillary."
He's not prejudiced!
She scoffs at the idea of voting for Obama: "I don't want to be a Muslim!" She looks dubious when told Obama is Christian. "Then why did he go see what's-his-name over in Iraq, that Lama?"
Well at least she didn't think Obama visited a llama.
Now, I'm not saying these Hazletonites (?) are typical of all Pennsylvanians. But they're not atypical, either.
Another three weeks of this. As digby said, "This election is worse than being stuck in seventh grade for the rest of your life. Jesus H Christ."
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April 01, 2008
Soothing Music
The Transportation Security Administration want to make your airport experience a little more hellish pleasurable:
The TSA's Checkpoint Evolution project aims to soothe passengers in the screening line with "ambient music," described as specially chosen to be "not too melodic, not too rhythmic,"Light panels complement the screening muzak by emitting colors in the "cooler end" of the spectrum.
While being calmed in line, passengers can read stories about the security officers, which the TSA hopes will "put a face on and show the personal side of our screeners."
Once passengers get to the screening system, bins for putting your shoes and jackets will be easier to find and there will be a new generation of x-ray machines, known as millimeter wave portals.
These are capable of seeing through your clothes and revealing both pistols and penises to the TSA screener.
[...]
Once you are collecting your bags and shoes, you can put your belt and shoes back on at an ergonomic "composure bench" and then proceed to the "end zone."
Golly, won't that be fun! No word yet on special nipple ring sensors.
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March 28, 2008
Feel Safer Now?
Your Transportation Safety Administration at work:
The female TSA agent used a handheld detector that beeped when it passed in front of Hamlin's chest, the Dallas-area resident said.Hamlin said she told the woman she was wearing nipple piercings. The agent then called over her male colleagues, one of whom said she would have to remove the jewelry, Hamlin said.
Hamlin said she could not remove them and asked whether she could instead display her pierced breasts in private to the female agent. But several other male officers told her she could not board her flight until the jewelry was out, she said.
She was taken behind a curtain and managed to remove one bar-shaped piercing but had trouble with the second, a ring.
"Still crying, she informed the TSA officer that she could not remove it without the help of pliers, and the officer gave a pair to her," said Hamlin's attorney, Gloria Allred, reading from a letter she sent Thursday to the director of the TSA's Office of Civil Rights and Liberties. Allred is a well-known Los Angeles lawyer who often represents high-profile claims.
[...]
She said she heard male TSA agents snickering as she took out the ring. She was scanned again and was allowed to board even though she still was wearing a belly button ring.
We live in a very silly country.
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March 27, 2008
Is He Having A Laugh? Pt. 2
President Bush, saying that "normalcy is returning back to Iraq," argued Thursday that last year's U.S. troop "surge" has improved Iraq's security to the point where political and economic progress are blossoming as well.[...]
"Some ... seem unwilling to acknowledge that progress is taking place," Bush said in a speech at the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. He accused war opponents of constantly shifting their critique, adding: "No matter what shortcomings these critics diagnose, their prescription is always the same — retreat."
In Basra, there seemed to be no breakthrough in the fighting by either side. As much as half of the city remained under militia control, hospitals in some parts of the city were reported full, and the violence continued to spread. Clashes were reported all over the city and in locations 12 miles south of Basra.[...]
As a possible sign of the rising instability in the region, saboteurs blew up one of Iraq’s two main oil export pipelines from Basra, Reuters reported. The oil pipelines were regular targets for insurgents earlier in the Iraqi conflict, but Thursday’s sabotage was the first time in several years that the southern oil supply route had been disrupted, and oil prices rose briefly after the attack.
Government by delusion.
ADDED: "Normalcy":
The State Department has instructed all personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad not to leave reinforced structures due to incoming insurgent rocket fire that has killed two American government workers this week.
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Is He Having A Laugh?
George touts his "rebate checks":
There's a rough patch right now in our economy, but I'm confident in the long term we'll come out stronger than ever before. One of the most decisive actions a government can take is to give people their money back so they can spend it, and that's exactly what we've done. In the second week of May, a lot of folks are going to be getting a sizable check. And I'm looking forward to that day, and I know they are as well.
There's no doubt that George, as he has all his life, will build on his millions thanks to "friends". The rest of us...
[Via Think Progress.]
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March 26, 2008
Democratic Self-Destruction Watch™
A sizable proportion of Democrats would vote for John McCain next November if he is matched against the candidate they do not support for the Democratic nomination. This is particularly true for Hillary Clinton supporters, more than a quarter of whom currently say they would vote for McCain if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee.
Unsurprisingly, the Clinton's have the lion's share of petulant little egomaniacs.
But no worries, it's only the future of the country at stake.
[Via John Cole.]
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Enough
It's time for Hillary to go. Marc Ambinder:
The Clinton campaign is distributing an article in the American Spectator (!) about Obama foreign policy adviser Merrill McPeak and his penchant for.. well, the article accuses him of being an anti-Semite and a drunk. Principally, the author takes McPeak to task for supporting a Middle East map that would require Israel to withdraw to its pre-1967 border. It also makes the case that McPeak supports the Walt-Mearsheimer view of the influence of the Israeli lobby on foreign policy.The author's sudden conclusion: "Obama has a Jewish problem and McPeak's bigoted views are emblematic of what they are. Obama can issue all the boilerplate statements supporting Israel's right to defend itself he wants. But until he accepts responsibility for allowing people like McPeak so close to his quest for the presidency, Obama's sincerity and judgment will remain open questions."
This would be the same American Spectator that inflicted "Troopergate" and Paula Jones on an unwilling public and, it should be noted, played a large roll in bringing about only the second impeachment of a president in our Republic's history.
That president was Bill Clinton, in case you've forgotten.
And now the Clintons are using that rag for their own sleazy, grasping ends. It's time for both of them to go.
That the Clinton family would dignify the American Spectator, of all publications, is astonishing to anyone who was alive in the 1990s.That they would bless this attempt to paint Merrill McPeak as an anti-Semite is grotesque.
[...]
I can easily believe that the Spectator would publish such an article. That the Clinton team would circulate it I'm still trying to deal with.
And to add insult to injury I give you this photograph:
Sidney L. Davis/Tribune-Review
That's Hillary with Pittsburgh Tribune Review owner and publisher Richard Mellon Scaife. For those of you who don't remember Scaife bankrolled the so-called Arkansas Project which sought to destroy utterly a sitting president.
That president was Bill Clinton, in case you've forgotten.
I expressed tepid support for Barack Obama a while back but have tried to stay out of the nasty Democratic civil war which threatens to rip the party apart. I didn't want to contribute to that. But now that the Clintons have turned not only to their worst enemies to save Hillary but have turned to the most extreme, most hateful, most insane elements in our polity I can't stay aloof even if it means turning this blog into a Clinton-bashing site. Them's the breaks.
It's time for Hillary to go.
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March 25, 2008
Physics Made Simple
Terror in the skies:
A gun belonging to the pilot of a US Airways plane went off as the aircraft was on approach to land in North Carolina over the weekend, the first time a weapon issued under a federal program to arm pilots was fired, authorities said.The "accidental discharge" Saturday aboard Flight 1536 from Denver to Charlotte did not endanger the aircraft or the 124 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants aboard, said Greg Alter of the Federal Air Marshal Service on Monday.
"We know that there was never any danger to the aircraft or to the occupants on board," Alter said.
I hate to be the one to inform Mr. Alter of this but a small chunk of metal emerging from a tube at supersonic velocities is, in fact, a "danger to the aircraft or to the occupants on board" in and of itself.
And a note to airline pilots: Nearly all handguns have a little thing called a "safety." It's a little lever-looking thingy on the side. Go ahead, look for it, I'll wait. Okay? Now, can you see a little red dot? Because if you can that means the gun can fire at any time. Just click the little lever thing into a position so that you can no longer see the little red dot. There! Now your gun won't fire unless you really, really want it to.
A further note to the FAA: How 'bout a round of remedial gun safety classes for our civilian pilots? Good idea, yes?
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March 23, 2008
Democratic Self-Destuction Watch™
I hope everyone will be satisfied with President John McCain:
In a sign of just how divisive and ugly the Democratic fight has gotten, only 53% of Clinton voters say they'll vote for Obama should he become the nominee. Nineteen percent say they'll go for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and 13% say they won't vote.Sixty percent of Obama voters say they'll go for Clinton should she win the nomination, with 20% opting for McCain, and three percent saying they won't vote.
Good job as usual, Democrats.
[Via Keystone Politics.]
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March 22, 2008
Those Who Forget History And Whatnot
Indeed, the past decade has seen a number of investing fiascoes that Wall Street doesn't appear to have learned much from. Krosby noted the go-go Internet days — when untested high-tech companies reaped piles of cash in public offerings. The lesson then was, don't put a lot of money into a venture that isn't on fairly solid ground — but mortgages granted to people with poor credit are quite akin to high-tech firms that had never turned a profit. In both cases, investors gleefully looked past the risk.Now investors are smarting from what happened to Bear Stearns. And traders are somewhat chastened, for now.
Golly, do ya think Wall Street needs a bit of regulation? Just a little? Hmm?
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Why?
Two sisters from Virginia sold their Illinois-shaped corn flake on eBay Friday night for $1,350.
Why?
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March 21, 2008
March 20, 2008
The Mind Of The American Voter
Welcome to Pennsylvania:
Peter Contacos, 42, the fourth generation of his family to own and operate Coney Island Lunch, a downtown Johnstown business that survived two floods and the loss of thousands of regular customers when Bethlehem Steel eliminated 15,000 jobs in the 1970s and ’80s, will not vote for Senator Barack Obama, “because his name is Barack Hussein Obama — case closed.” Mr. Contacos, an avid hunter who proudly displays pictures of himself with a magnificently maned lion he killed in Botswana, said he considered Mr. Obama “a terrorist.”
I suspect Mr. Contacos voted for George because he's the sort of regular guy you can have a beer with.
We live in a very silly country.
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March 16, 2008
(shhhhh...secret!)
(john mccain is in Iraq but it's a secret. shhhhh!)
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March 14, 2008
Your President
Honestly, what can one say?
U.S. President George W. Bush got an earful on Thursday about problems and progress in Afghanistan where a war has dragged on for more than six years but been largely eclipsed by Iraq.[...]
"I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed."
"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," Bush said.
Would it be churlish to point out that when George was younger and not gainfully employed he did have a chance to help a young "democracy" succeed? To experience the romance of confronting danger? Y'know, a little place called "Vietnam"?
After 7+ years I'm still occasionally surprised by Little Boots' complete lack of self-awareness.
[Via Steve Benen.]
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March 13, 2008
Random Thought
Toe Tappin' Larry Craig and Diaper Dave Vitter are still respected members of the Senate.
Why is that?
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No Surprise
Because, so far as the "news" media is concerned, Iraq doesn't matter anymore nobody should be shocked by this:
Twenty-eight percent of the public is aware that nearly 4,000 U.S. personnel have died in Iraq over the past five years, while nearly half thinks the death tally is 3,000 or fewer and 23 percent think it is higher, according to an opinion survey released yesterday.[...]
Related Pew surveys have found that the number of news stories devoted to the war has sharply declined this year, along with professed public interest. "Coverage of the war has been virtually absent," said Pew survey research director Scott Keeter, totaling about 1 percent of the news hole between Feb. 17 and 23.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Korea has long been called the "Forgotten War." It appears that that title belongs now to our current war.
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March 11, 2008
Client-9
Jane has some interesting questions concerning le mess du Spitzer.
That said, I concur with watertiger.
Idiot.
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March 08, 2008
Civility
Rep. Steve King (R-Simpleton) on Obama:
"The radical Islamists, the al-Qaida … would be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11 because they would declare victory in this war on terror," King said in an interview with the Daily Reporter in Spencer.
Now for the punchline:
King said his comments were not meant to demean Obama but to warn how an Obama presidency would look to the world.
Nope, didn't demean Obama at all.
Perhaps King should stick to model-making.
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That Worked Out As Planned, Didn't It?
It's 3AM:
Rasmussen Reports says this morning that when it surveyed Americans about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's 3 a.m. ad and asked which candidate voters would want to answer the telephone when the White House is alerted to a crisis the answer that came back from the greatest number of folks was Sen. John McCain.
Whoopsie!
[Via John Cole.]
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March 07, 2008
Scary Monsters
So Barack Obama's foreign policy adviser, Samantha Power, made an intemperate remark...
"We f***** up in Ohio," she admitted. "In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it, because she knows Ohio's the only place they can win."She is a monster, too – that is off the record – she is stooping to anything," Ms Power said, hastily trying to withdraw her remark.
...and Hillary's campaign starts squealing that Power Must. Be. Fired.
So Obama promptly fires Power.
The Republicans are going to roll over this guy. And I say that as a (however tepid) Obama supporter.
Grow some, Barack.
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Memo To Hillary
Please stop telling us that St. John would make a fine president.
That is all.
Love and kisses,
spork.
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February 28, 2008
Hitlers! Hitlers Everywhere!
According to the ever-rational Billo the latest Hitler! is none other than Arianna Huffington.
To paraphrase Andy Warhol, in the future everyone will be Hitler! for fifteen minutes.
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February 27, 2008
February 24, 2008
Pure Ego
I doubt that this will affect the election in any way but still it's sad to see someone who has accomplished so much for so long trash his reputation for...what, exactly? As Steve Bennen notes, "By his own admission, Nader doesn’t expect to win, he doesn’t expect to change the Democratic Party’s agenda, he doesn’t expect to appear in the debates, and he doesn’t even expect to make the ballot in every state."
Now let's go back to ignoring him.
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February 22, 2008
The Hell?
Rightwing propagandist Frank Luntz:
On the February 21 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, while conducting a focus group analysis of the February 21 Democratic presidential debate, Fox News contributor Frank Luntz asked focus group participants if they "wanted" to see Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton "argue." When several of the participants responded, "Yes," Luntz asked, "You want them to take it on? You all agree with that?" After more participants concurred, Luntz asked: "How many of you want them to really argue? Raise your hands." Luntz then asked: "And how many of you want them to make love to each other?"
It wouldn't surprise me in the least if Luntz was trying to plant the idea of miscegenation in people's heads. That sort of thing is effective with some of the lizard-brains out there.
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They Can Put A Man On The Moon...
...but they can't write software that recognizes apostrophes and hyphens:
It can stop you from voting, destroy your dental appointments, make it difficult to rent a car or book a flight, even interfere with your college exams. More than 50 years into the Information Age, computers are still getting confused by the apostrophe. It's a problem familiar to O'Connors, D'Angelos, N'Dours and D'Artagnans across America.[...]
It's not just the bad luck o' the Irish. French, Italian and African names with apostrophes can befuddle computer systems, too. So can Arab names with hyphens, and Dutch surnames with "van" and a space in them.
And in this age of electronic voting it can even affect elections:
That's what happened during the Michigan caucus in 2004, when thousands of O'Connors, Al-Husseins, Van Kemps and others who went to the polls didn't have their votes counted."It was a real slapped-together computer system the party put together and a lot of people were left out who were registered to vote, it was a real pity," said Michigan political consultant Mark Grebner.
What leads to this?
"It's standard shortsightedness," he said. "Most programs set a rule for first name and last name. They don't think of foreign-sounding names."[...]
"It depends on the form filters and it depends on the database program," he said. "Basically, there are a lot of programmers out there who forget that a growing portion of the American public are not called John Smith or Mary White."
Quite.
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Dallas, Texas
I'm with Steven D. You just can't be too paranoid these days. To wit:
Security details at Barack Obama's rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena.The order to put down the metal detectors and stop checking purses and laptop bags came as a surprise to several Dallas police officers who said they believed it was a lapse in security.
Dallas Deputy Police Chief T.W. Lawrence, head of the Police Department's homeland security and special operations divisions, said the order -- apparently made by the U.S. Secret Service -- was meant to speed up the long lines outside and fill the arena's vacant seats before Obama came on.
[...]
Several Dallas police officers said it worried them that the arena was packed with people who got in without even a cursory inspection.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because, they said, the order was made by federal officials who were in charge of security at the event.
"How can you not be concerned in this day and age," said one policeman.
Deputy Police Chief Lawrence also said that the crowd "looked friendly."
I'm reminded of something that was said in 1963. Nellie Connally, wife of then Texas governor John Connally, turned around in her seat in the presidential limousine and said to President Kennedy, "You can't say Dallas doesn't love you, Mr. President!"
Apparently there was a bit of a to-do a moment later.
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