Happy Halloween

The Misfits : Halloween



Ministry - Everyday Is Halloween

Friday Night Drum-And-Bass Music Chain

Noisia - Stigma



Spor - Aztec



Visage - Fade To Grey ( Noisia Mix )

And They Believe In Man-Bear-Pig Too

According to a recent Pew Research, there's a perculiar set of people that believe something that really doesn't exist.

14% of people polled about Fox"News" and their coverage identified the network as "liberal".

Really?

I'd really love to see some more data in relation to that particular group. I mean, do they believe that Xenu brings them pillow mints everytime they stay at Holiday Inn?

Shorter Ed Morrissey

The Courageous Breast Self-Examination News Spot Debate

How dare a news organization promote wellness in women in showing how to properly check for potential breast cancer lumps. We've got better things to talk about, like "tea-parties" and how Obama is going to rot your tits off anyway.

Reading Is Fundamental

Someone reall needs to get John Boehner a "wambulence".



Don't you just love the way that conservative Republicans continually talk about all these great ideas, and great plans, and how their version of healthcare reform is so much better, yet they can't enunciate any of these. It's far easier for them to slam a bill that THEY haven't read. It's far easier for them to talk about something that they have never wanted to be a part of by making false claims about what is in the bill that THEY haven't read. It's like commenting on a film that you haven't watched.

It turns out that there are actually serveral components of the proposed legislation that conservatives have been talking about doing, but it was the Democrats that actually did.

- Deficit Neutral
- Reduces Longterm Costs
- Coverage Across State Lines
- Malpractice Reform
- Allowing Children To Remain On Parents Plans
- No Public Funds For Abortions
- Small Business Protections
- Wellness Programs

Having started reading the bill today, I can assure you that the pages are read rather quickly. But yes, it is quite lengthy - as is ALL legislation that comes from Congress. So, it's a bit of a disingenuous statement for Boehner to whine like a little girl with a skinned knee, saying it's not fair that he has to read it.

Naturally, the healthcare refom bill is going to be massive in size due to the fact that massive reforms are required. It's not like you can have comprehensive and realistic changes in just 7 pages.

The Linguistics Of The Future

In which we explore the Jargon Watch seciton of Wired Magazine

Dark Flash

n. An invisible burst of infrared and ultraviolet light used for clandestine night photography. While the greenish pictures can be color-corrected, the system can’t yet pick up freckles, a hitch for paparazzi stalking Lindsay Lohan

It almost sounds like some Phillip K. Dick inspired piece of technology that allows people like Dick Cheney to distribute their fear-laden rhetoric across multiple media platforms without ever having to answer for what he's trying to do.

Galápagos syndrome

n. The scourge of Japanese mobile companies, whose superadvanced 3G handsets won’t work on foreign cell networks. It’s named for the birds of the Galápagos, whose specialized beaks don’t cut it on the mainland.

Much in the same way that Tucker Carlson's particular brand of inane drivel hasn't worked on any network that has employed him, so he is forced to bounce from channel to channel in order to find some place that will accept him.

Saser

n. Sonic laser. Employing the same technique lasers use to focus light, sasers emit perfectly aligned terahertz sound waves — once a purely theoretical phenomenon. The tech could be adapted for medical and security imaging.

You know that annoying sound that eminates from Michelle Bachman's face whenever you see her on television or hear her on radio? Yeah, same principle.

EATR

n. The Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot, a Darpa-funded machine able to forage for its own biomass fuel. Fox News suggested that EATR could feed on dead soldiers, eliciting reassurances from the maker that the bot is “strictly vegetarian.”

I think the description provided by Wired is all we need on this one.

Beer Summit Success?

I can still hear the drooling, nonsensical, blatherings of conservatives when Obama brought together Henry Gates and James Crowley at the White House for a brew. There were even people that I worked with that claimed that it was somehow "prejudiced" to hold this "summit", even though it was designed to bring together men of divergent racial backgrounds.

But it seems that these men have met again, and of their own will

Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and Cambridge police Sergeant James Crowley were spotted at a pub in Cambridge Wednesday night.

The owner of "River Gods" told WBZ the two sat in a booth together and talked for about an hour.

Score another win for Obama's diplomacy.

Shorter Mitch McConnell

Public Option In Healthcare Reform?

Holy shit, you want a Public Option? You're gonna fuckin die! But don't challenge me on the fact that taxpayers pay my healthcare coverage. If you do then you're stupid. Don't you know that other countries with universal care kill their population. We're all gonna fuckin die!

Found In Translation

Has anyone really thought about why conservative Republicans haven't done any of the heavy lifting in healthcare reform? While some will point out - though not on any of the 24-hour news channels - that it was primarily Republicans that pushed and helped pass the Medicare Prescription Drug Act, it should be noted that this was nothing more than a nod to the drug companies and put wads of cash into the coffers of Republican politicians. The reason that it won't be mentioned is that it flies directly in the face of conservatives "anti-entitlement" mentality. And the last thing that Republicans want to have to defend is their actions that created any form of entitlement.

There are two things that conservatives continually and unflinchingly will claim: America has the greatest healthcare in the world and the currently proposed legislation will harm the economy and the American public. The only problem is the two fundamental flaws in these statements are simple to see. The former leaves out the reality of why sweeping change is needed in healthcare reform - far too many people can't afford it. And what they can afford ultimately isn't enough. The later continually makes members of the Republican party look like rank amateurs, as they can't craft any proposed legislation tha would accurately reflect their alleged ideals without wrecking healthcare even more.

The single most lauded form of healthcare reform is for "competition" - the ability for companies to sell their coverage across state lines. And while this sounds like a fantastic idea, it would ultimately create such mass deregulation that insurance companies that the level at which people would be insured would plummet. It would completely remove the mandiate that is supposed to dictate what providers have to cover.

And even though this deregulation would be harmful to the American public, conservative Republicans don't seem to understand this. Much in the same way that deregulation was one of the primary catalysts of the financial meltdown that began several years ago, deregulating the healthcare industry is precisely what the insurance providers want.

The larger question is whether or not Republicans realize that their ideals, their belief system, isn't able to me married with reform of healthcare or any industry that damages the nation. They don't realize that shopping for healthcare is in no way comparable to shopping for a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk on payday.

That is precisely why Republicans have literally done nothing to reform healthcare. It is precisely why they never will.

Conservatives Don't Understand Expressionism

Just about all Americans have appreciation for the flag that represents us. It's hung on homes, on polls in city parks, and in town squares. But conservatives seem to love the flag so long as they can use it to push their own ideology, their own agenda.

So when a graf artist takes the mentality of the modern conservative movement, how they have consistantly obstructed healthcare reform at every literal turn, and created a visual expression of what exactly these people are doing - well, let's just say that they aren't too pleased.



Personally, I think that this is one of the greatest examples of how the modern conservative movement, in their behaviors in every facet of society, have attempted to destroyed what America was intended to be and what it should be.

And just so you know, conservatives are more than willing to alter the appearance of the flag and violate US Flag Code, so long as their message is presented to the mouth-agape masses.

To Guarantee The Freedom To Still Not Afford It

Logan Murphy over at Crooks And Liars highlights this video of State Senator Mary Pilcher-Cook of Kansas attempting to explain how the public option is going to destroy essential freedoms and the very soverignty of her state.



The tea-bagger mentality of Mrs. Pilcher-Cook is so glaringly obvious, that the mind recoils in horror when attempting to disect her rationalization of how providing healthcare to the populous of Kansas is actually a threat to them. But, such is how these reationary creatures function.

But this style of legislative obstructionism brings up a valid point - if states have the ability to craft legislation to block a public option or they are offered an "opt-out" stance, isn't this going to be an incentive for people to leave Kansas and other states that follow suit? Certainly, not eveyone is going to be able to leave their particular state, should they not consider the health and well-being of their citizens, but it is not a great leap of logic that some very well may choose to do so.

People like Mrs. Pilcher-Cook don't have any solutions to help struggling members of her state, she is simply concerned with advancing a failed ideological point of view.

Money For Nothing

It seems that conservatives in Iowa have just learned what the real cost of loving Sarah Palin is.

$100,000

A conservative Iowa group’s effort to lure Sarah Palin to its banquet next month has had an unintended effect: Rather than exciting conservatives about the prospect of a visit from the former Alaska governor, the group’s plan to raise a six-figure sum to bring her to the state has GOP activists recoiling at the thought of paying to land a politician's speaking appearance.

The Iowa Family Policy Center’s effort to cobble together $100,000 for Palin would represent a striking departure from customary practice in the first-in-the-nation state, these Republicans say, noting that a generation of White House hopefuls has paid their own way to boost their party and presidential ambitions.

I suppose it's her "mavericky" side coming out, or perhaps her bizarre sense of entitlement that makes her ask for such a massive wad of cash.

But what are these conservatives really expecting to get for their money?

- 4 mentions of "you betcha"
- 2 "pallin arounds"
- no less than 7 mentions of "reform"
- a healthy sprinkling of fear
- 3 moments of "mother of special needs child"
- 1 dig at David Letterman
- 27 instances of the following words: "terror", "radical", and "far-left"
- 3 "death panels"
- and at least 2 winks

Iowa, I just saved you money and time.

Humpday Rock-tacular Music Chain feat. Tenacious D

I've been watching Jack and Kyle since their debut on HBO. And no matter what anyone says about the "Pick of Destiny" film, I enjoyed every minute.

So, here's three awesome D moments.

Conservatives Rail Against Standard Business Practices

Unfortunately, one of the aspects of conservatives much diefied Free Market is that many businesses have dress-codes. Dependant on your place of employment, you may be required to wear things that you would never be caught dead in out in the "real world". And it stands to reason that your job attire is not only going to NOT mirror your wardrobe at home, but your particular religious beliefs.

Enter the reactionary commentors from Fox"Nation" as they respond to the story of one Home Depot employee that defied the rules set forth by his boss and was then later fired.

Last month, when Trevor Keezer started bringing his Bible to work, Keezer says his manager confronted him about the ["One nation under God, indivisible."] button. "That's when I was told it had to come off, or I would be sent home. So they sent me home for six straight days without pay. And then today they terminated me."

What the twitchy, undulating, throng at Fox"Nation" don't realize is that this isn't about how much flare that you wear that espouses a particular ideological bent, about how much flare that you don't want to wear, it's about the rules set forth by the management of the business......



Of course, the Right will consistantly frame this from the standpoint that the individuals rights are being threatened and removed. You do have the right to liberty and the persuit of happiness. But if your happiness and expression of liberty metric is predicated on forklift racing down the paint aisle after lunch, and that is in direct violation of the rules of the job, then you can and will get fired.

Haters Of Understanding

Far more often than people are willing to realize, conservatives will do and say things that speak against their better judgement. This can be seen in a variety of ways. From healthcare reform, to ensuring that information flows freely throughout the internet from all ISPs, and even protecting every American citizen - regardless of sexuality, conservatives have consistantly shown that they are the party that they continually rail against.

But today, there was a fantastic victory for not only the Obama administration, but for the oppressed in modern society.

President Obama signed major civil rights legislation on Wednesday, making it a federal hate crime to assault people based on sexual orientation, gender and gender identity. The new measure expands the the scope of a 1968 law that applies to people attacked because of their race, religion or national origin. The U.S. Justice Department will have expanded authority to prosecute such crimes when local authorities don't.

The provision, called the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is attached to a defense authorization bill. It is named after Matthew Shepard, a gay college student tortured and killed in 1998, and James Byrd Jr., a black man who was chained to a pickup truck and dragged to his death the same year.

Hearing conservative Republicans shriek and moan against Hate-Crimes legislation not only solidifies that they are willing to be against anything that Democrats, liberals, and progressives are fighting for, but it creates the image that conservatives are more than willing to say that people who aren't straight, who "aren't like them" are people of lesser value, that their lives aren't as equal as others. By and large, this aspect of conservativism is filled with abject ignorance and hatred of its own.

The very idea that conservative Republicans were willing to distort the very clear and understandable meaning behind this legislation to claim that freedom of speech would not only be stiffled, but punished, is another example of how they are willing to accept the death of people like Matthew Shepard so that their places in the socio-political landscape is preserved.

The Conservative As Ostrich

It's interesting to attempt to debate conservatives through various social media.

From Twitter, to Facebook, to online blogs and message boards, conservatives are all saying the same thing - no one in America wants a public option in healthcare reform.

Well, that does fly in the face of reports from:



Christian Science Monitor

The Washington Post

CBS News

ABC News

Reuters

CNN

AARP

and multiple other polls show that it's not just the average American, but doctors support a Public Option.

The reality of the situation is that those that are claiming that these polls are wrong, fabricated, or substantively flawed are people that have everything to lose if real, comprehensive, healthcare reform passes. It's not that they are going to lose their coverage, it's that their ideological school of thought will have failed them in a most massive and embarassing fashion. They don't want to lose and they will go against their better judgement, their very well-being, in order to win.

Some Thoughts For Your Morning

- Allahpundit @ HotAir is all in a twitchy rage about the video that I had blogged about earlier this morning. And he takes the issue to the typical, reactionary, end that only a wingnut can.

- If George W. Bush can be a motivational speaker, then there is something very wrong with this planet. Chris Farley made a better motivational speaker on SNL

- Newt Gingrich is joining the ever growing chorus of conservatives that are begining to see Glenn Beck for what he is - a morning-show radio DJ on crystal meth that thinks the voices in his head are Thomas Paine and Geroge Washington.

- For some reason beyond the comprehension of most Americans, more conservatives are standing in solidarity with the "tea-bagger" candidate Doug Hoffman. The GOP is literally tearing itself apart, attempting to get a breakthrough in their ongoing identity crisis. And the destruction is such a wonderful thing to behold

The Next One To Leave?

Shep Smith can often be described as the "black sheep" of the Fox"News" crew. But something tells me that his days there are numbered.



Shannon Bream's insistance that multiple requests have been put out sounds rather familiar, does it not? Who's to say that Fox"News" actually has requested interviews. The only thing we have is their word, which far too often isn't worth much at all.

Shep, you're better than the network you serve. Cut your loses and get out while you still have somewhat of a soul left in you.

Because You're Jealous Of The Car My Dad Bought

The Fox"News" meme of 'they're just afraid' is beyond tired, worn-out, and pointless. As if you needed another example, here is Bill O'Reilly.



I'll push O'Reilly's initial statement that "there hasn't been much news" the past few weeks aside and focus on his 'talking point' thesis.

But who is honestly buying this 'The Obama White House attacked Fox"News" completely unprovoked' line of reasoning? Aside from the average Fox fan that still believes that they are fair AND balanced, that Glenn Beck is a voice of reason, and that O'Reilly actually knows anything about world history, the list is pretty short.

And, as per the norm, Bill O'Reilly claims that he offered Klein a spot on his show, but how can any of us verify that fact? How can any of us know that what O'Reilly says he has done he actually has? We can't and we don't. The viewer is painted into a corner and must rely upon his word. And while there are some that are willing to accept any and everything that this man says - regardless of topic - the remainder of us that are able to assemble coherent thought are rightfully skeptical.

But more to this "they are afraid" clap-trap.

Fox"News" is quite proficient in using deflection when it comes to approaching stories that they are generally powerless against. A prime example is the way in which they continuously defend the conservative, Republican, point of view on a daily basis. Rather than address the message, they attack the messenger. And one of the most common ways that they do this is by stating that whomever speaks against them is somehow "afraid" of the network, "afraid" to come onto a particular program.

While most people outside the realm of the reactionary Right can't be bothered with having to answer to each and every challenge posed by people like Bill O'Reilly, it does provide both he and Fox"News" with a modest amount of covering fire when the intended target doesn't respond immediately. But what do people like Joe Klein, Barack Obama, or any number of Democrats have to gain by kowtowing to the drooling demands of the conservaive movement?

And speaking of "fear", one has to wonder why Bill O'Reilly, the self-ascribed champion of the average American, refuses to have his program air live rather than be taped at 4pm EST. Is he afraid of coming out from the shadow of the editing process and do a real interview with someone? If you've ever seen Bill attempt to do a show live, you'll know straight away that he is nothing more than a rank amateur when standing against someone that he opposes.

The Ultimate Political Operative

In more ways that I can enumerate at this point, I think that Joe Lieberman needs to be removed from the Senate.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, the independent Democrat from Connecticut, emerged Tuesday afternoon from a meeting with his caucus as the center of attention -- again.

On his way in, he told reporters that if a public health insurance option was in the final health care bill, he would join a GOP filibuster to prevent it from getting an up or down vote. HuffPost asked him if there'd been much reaction from his colleagues in the Democratic caucus.

"Not really," he said, "because I think my colleagues know for a long time that I've been opposed to a government-created, government-run insurance company."

Lieberman stressed that he was not opposing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) effort to get a bill on to the floor -- one that includes a public health insurance option. Rather, said Lieberman, he would oppose a final vote on the bill by supporting a GOP filibuster if the public option remained in the bill. The difference is crucial, in that it allows the process to move forward. But it does present backers of a public option with the problem of getting 60 votes for a final vote to cut off a GOP filibuster.

While this is not suprising to hear from Holy Joe, it would be interesting to hear what he has to say when confronted with the fact that the American taxpayer fronts the bulk of the cost for his own healthcare.

After all, Joe is old enough to draw medicare benefits.

How long has he put into the system? Has he stated that he won't accept benefits from a "socialist" system? Has anyone asked him these questions?

From some recent Twitter conversations with conservatives ( that I will be posting later ) I have posed the question of whether these tea-party-set conservatives will not only refuse Medicare and SS benefits, but will attempt to block payments into the system. At this point, I feel that Holy Joe is trying to align himself with a group of people that are currently getting more face-time with the 24-hour news channels ( from a pure ratings perspective ) than what the average American is actually concerned with.

Lieberman is, in more ways than one, a bizarre amalgam of that James Bond villan that doubleo-crosses 007 in the thrid-act and some hackneyed horror movie character that is actually helping the villian. He needs to leave the US Senate, as he is helping no one.

Children Of The Fox

Quite often, I am reminded that people like Michelle Malkin, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and even Glenn Beck are parents. There's a very odd and troublesome feeling that creeps into me when I think about that and when I hear Beck say something like this:



The letter that Beck highlighted is right in many respects. It shows the anger, and rightfully so, of how many people feel in this country. They feel like they can't afford college, a home, even a car. And when it comes to healthcare, the 20-somethings of our nation are slowly realizing that they aren't going to be able to do many things that they want because of the older generation.

Now this isn't to say that everyone over 40 or 50 have coordinated an effort to wreck the future of the younger generations, but you really can't hold it against someone that is 18, 24, or even 30 when they expresss their passions, their feelings, towards an issue like healthcare reform. But, that is Becks schtick and we shouldn't be suprised when he claims that younger kids are potential killers.

When I hear someone like Beck drooling and raving about parenting, about how participation ribbons during competition is going to cause your child to snap and take out a 7/11 with an AK-47, of how he knows more about parenting than anyone else, I am very concerned with the mental and physical well-being of the children that have to live with such insanity.

When I think about the fact that there is a child that has to sit at home and know, perhaps even fear, that at some point this man on the TV is going to come home and confront them because they didn't get an A on their spelling test, that they accidentally broke one of mommy's favorite dishes, that they aren't living up to the ideals of conservativism, I am honestly afraid for that child.

To hear Glenn Beck talk about the "me generation", about how people are selfish, one has to wonder just how much projection is really going on. When have you ever heard a conservative talk about anything but "me"? Sure, they love to use the abstract "us", the editorial "we". When have you ever really seen a conservative do or say anything that actually helps those around them? When have you ever seen them do or say anything that isn't about self-aggrandizement?

Happy Birthday Hillary

Hillary Clinton turned 62 today and continues to prove that strong women can prevail in society. Good on you girl, you've still got it.





Even though I voted for Barack, I still have love for you.

iPolitics And The Party Of Crazy Obstructionists

A widely recognized and very minimalist commercial style, but with a new twist.



As per my previous post, this is a very simple, concise, and utterly accurate discription of the modern GOP/conservative movement.

But within the "party of no" there are so many nuanced voices that one begins to lose track of the where the obstructionist ends and the outright crazy begins.



Science Progress explains what Net Neutrality is really all about.

At the most basic level, net neutrality is the principle that Internet users should be in control of what content they view and what applications they use on the Internet; all content on the Internet is equally accessible, and once a person pays for access to the Internet, they alone get to choose how they use it. This means that providers should not be allowed to block access to certain sites or applications, or charge different customers different amounts for services.

You almost want to feel sorry for not only Beck's fansbase, but people that actually fall for these sort of insane conspiracy theories. After all, anyone that uses places like Fox"News", World Net Daily, Hot Air, The Weekly Standard ( et al conservative controlled forms of media ) as their primary news source without even attempting to do any sort of fact-checking has more problems than one can enurmerate at this point.

Obstructionism and Fear: A Primer on the Modern Conservative Movement

Here's my latest Op-Ed piece that will appear in my local paper this week.

I have to ask myself why people would even align themselves with modern conservatives. The meaning behind the term conservative has morphed into something that, should people take time to see what modern conservatives do, would rightfully make them rethink their standpoint on a variety of issues

In the ongoing “debate” over healthcare reform, a variety of polls show people ( between 61% and 71% ) favoring a Public Option, with the CBO scoring the Public Option to show that it will reduce the deficit, with insurance companies fighting to keep their anti-trust exemption – a sure sign there is more concerned with monopolistic powers rather than customers - how can conservatives in the House and Senate not want to support their electorate?

Are conservatives are more interested in protecting big business rather than the average American? While it would be an over-simplification to just say “yes”, it’s not to be discounted that the insurance lobby has had ample amounts of currency flowing to select members of the Republican party. Seeing and hearing people like Mitch McConnell and John McCain continually going to bat for insurance giants and promoting the tactics of fear and irrational thought, it’s no surprise to know that these men are dripping wet with insurance lobbyist cash.

But what of other issues? From the continued fight in Afganistan and remaining occupying forces in Iraq – which conservatives aren’t the least bit concerned in knowing where those trillions of dollars are going to come from – to issues like Net Neutrality and our struggling economy, conservatives are more than willing to fabricate memes, conspiracy theories, and patent lies than address the issues themselves.

They want a “surge” in Afganistan when the “surge” in Iraq only prove to be a band-aid on a massive wound that is still bleeding to this day. They want to ignore the fact that our military strategy needs to be rethought and implemented in a more targeted, coordinated, fashion. They claim that Obama is playing politics with Afganistan when that entire conflict was botched to begin with and summarily ignored for nearly 8 years. The economy is slowly reviving and conservatives are still ignoring how we got in this financial mess to begin with, some even suggesting that Bush is responsible for the DOWs rebound. And there are more issues that conservatives are ignoring or twisting in order to promote fear.

Aside from continuing to play the victim and attempting to convince their audience that White House representatives calling them out for what they are – a propaganda arm of the Republican party – Fox”News” has gone full-tilt conspiracy theory. The man leading the charge is the new bright star of the conservative movement – Glenn Beck. Every night since his debut, Beck has weaved an intricate and often unintellegable web of deception, trickery, and malicious intent within the Obama administration. He’s linked them to everyone from the communist party, Nazis, fascists, and Maoists. Beck is the perfect example of what the conservative party has become – a completely unhinged movement that claims that progress and change means the death of America. They are a movement ripe with willful ignorance, willing to believe anything they hear from their leadership. They welcome and consume fear as a new and useful commodity.

The last true conservative leader this country had was one that you might not expect. Bill Clinton implemented ideals that modern conservatives claim to embrace but never approach with any honesty. From balancing the federal budget, leaving us with a trillion-plus surplus, lowering the welfare rolls, massively expanding the economy, and even making Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act a reality, Bill Clinton was more conservative than liberal. Had he been from Kentucky, there surely would have been an R after his name rather than the D that Republicans continually attacked.

So what does the word conservative mean to you? These days it means a person that is not willing to look forward, someone that is more concerned with the status quo, with creating a climate of fear instead of working to improve this country.

The Rip-Off feat Ricky Nelson and Deep Purple

A pretty straight-forward theft of a riff, even if Deep Purple are known as one of the greatest bands in the world.

But first, Ricky Nelson and Summertime



And now, Deep Purple's Black Night

Maybe This Is Why

In my previous post, I talked about how incredibly stupid it was, for whomever made the decision, to attempt to bar Fox"News" from speaking to Obama administration Pay Czar Kennth Feinberg.

But check out this clip from Fox and perhaps you'll get an idea of what this person(s) were thinking when they tried to keep Major Garrett out of the loop.



What exactly was meant by that statement? What does being from the South ( or anywhere for that matter ) have to do with the issue at hand - attempting to prevent people from profiting off of others losses.

As is the popular hash-tag on Twitter at the moment - #foxisnotnews.

Less Than Meets The Eye?

From the start of this story, if one can believe how it is being framed, it certainly looks bad for the administration - Obama in particular, since he is the centerpiece of attacks. But, one also has to question who's idea this was and what really went on with the other bureau cheifs during their "rally" to bring Fox"News" to the table.

Is this story really all it's made up to be?

Fox News says that the White House "failed in its attempt to manipulate other news networks into isolating and excluding Fox News."

The attempt to shut Fox News out was the latest move in the administration's ongoing battle against the cable news channel, which several senior administration officials have claimed is not a legitimate news organization.

The decision by the network bureau chiefs to stand with Fox News is one of the first instances of the mainstream media defending Fox News against the White House's claims.

Certainly, it's great publicity for Fox's "War On Us" meme and will be given more airtime than other, more important, stories across the US and the world.

But for me, I have to ask, "why would the Obama administration do this"? All they would have had to have done is let Major Garrett try and paint Kenneth Feinberg into a corner, or even have his interview selectively edited to fit the Fox"News" agenda - a common tactic used each and every day, primarily by Beck and the prime-time players - and then had Feinberg set the records straight. It would have been a great opportunity to show Fox's blatant and unblushing bias. But no, someone had to go screw it all up.

In the end, regardless of how ham-fisted this was handled, the Obama administrations complaints against Fox"News" are valid, verifiable, and solid. The only problem now is that this has given Fox a victory, albeit a small one, that they will likely spin into a much more sinister theme.

Be on the look-out for Glenn Beck to assume that Obama has tasked someone with some malevolent plot to bomb a major network news headquarters - a media Reichstag moment that would allow the administration to nationalize all American news organization.

Shorter Dick Cheney

Cheney Goes After Obama On Afganistan

I'm hoping that the fact that myself and George W. Bush largely ignored this particular conflict isn't going to matter to you. But let's also not forget that I was never part of the Executive or Legislative branches of government, therefor I cannot be held responsible for the lack of understanding and support of the mission in Afganistan from 2001 until 2008 - which you are still instructed to never mention in public. In summation, I rule, Obama drools. Thank you.

Under And Outside And Inside The Weather

Seasonal allergies and lack of sleep have been the bane of my existance these last 48 hours. Will have things back on track later this afternoon.

But The Differences Are So Similar

Fox"News" defends themselves by stating that there is a clear difference between their straight-news programs and their opinion programs that air from 5pm EST on through prime-time.

But it's really the opinion programs that set the tone for the entirety of Fox"News" in all of their programming blocks.



It will be interesting to see the shift in programming once Barack Obama has left office - that is if a Republican somehow regains control of the White House in the near future. However, I do believe that once Obama's term ( do you really think he's going to be a single-term President? ) ends that we will see at least a moderate thematic shift. We probably won't see and hear many stories about racism/reverse-racism from conservatives.

If anything can be said of Fox"News", their employees, and those that follow them with unblushingly drooling ferver, they haven't been able to pace their rage since Janurary 20th.

Some Thoughts For Your Morning

- Blogger and citizen journalist Mike Stark has been tracking down all of the Senators that voted "no" on Al Frankens "rape amendment". It seems that not everyone was keen answer Stark's very honest, very relavent questions. What were these men thinking? Not to delve too deeply into the "what if" realm that conservatives continually inhabit instead of what is transpiring in the real world, but what if someone like Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter, or Michelle Bachman were raped by members of an organization they were assiting? Certainly they would claim that justice be swift and unflinching.

- Is Jake Tapper angling to get a job at Fox"News"? Each an every time Tapper goes off on some tangentical, abstract, pointlessness, conservative bloggers cheer his journalistic creds and hoist him upon their pedistal of diefication. The strange part of all this is that some conservatives think that anyone within the executive branch is not allowed to express their opinion on what is and what isn't a news organization. I guess no one told them about all the blathering that Dick Cheney did when he was VP. Oh, that's right, he wasn't part of the executive OR the legislative branch, was he.

- The Public Option certainly looks good in this ad.

- In an obvious attempt by the Senate majority leader from my state of Kentucky, Mitch "Beeker" McConnell, to boost moral within the Republican party, he completely distorts the facts on how Republicans are doing in polls related to the upcoming mid-term elections. The truth of the matter is that fewer and fewer people are aligning themselves with Republicans and the distance between them and their Democratic opponents has remained virtually unchanged in the last 2 years.

- With all the conspiratorial nonsense that Glenn Beck delivers to America each evening, Media Matters thought they would pay tribute to the man by using his own tactics against him. It turns out that the only difference between what Beck does and what MMFA has done is that the later actually fact-checks their research.

Shorter Ed Morrissey @ Hot Air

What Would The Federal Deficit Buy

Nevermind that I had not once questioned the ever ballooning spending of the Bush administration on things like Iraq, Afganistan, and tax cuts that made the cost of healthcare reform look like a value-meal at McDonalds - things that were never truly included in the bookeeping of Republicans - but I am all in on accepting this rationale that spending is absolutely radical, horrible, and anti-American and this video will prove the point what we have never been concerned with for the past decade.

Does He Even Know What Progress Means?

Does Beck even realize that some of those "Founding Fathers" that he claims to love so much actually did own slaves - some even fathering children by them. Ah, the canted mind of the modern, reacitonary, conservative.

By default, the word progress means to improve, to change for the better. It appears that he is confusing that with "regressive", a standard mistake for the twiching masses that make up the fringe element of the conservative movement.

Jeebus, Complete With Preservatives

This post is functioning as somewhat of a coda to my previous post about the crazy-church-halloween-book-burning story.



So let's get this straight. The King James Bible is the penultimate word of God even though:

- it includes schedules for morning and evening prayer ( just like Muslims!!!!!!! No Way!!!!!!!! )

- it's actually the 3rd English translation of biblical text, so does that mean the previous English versions should be burned too?

- the KJV was translated from three different languages by 47 different scholars. Does anyone aside from me see any sort of issue with that to begin with?

- the KJV became the standard text ( in England ) not because of some written decree, but simply because the King told his official printer to stop printing copies of the "Bishop's Bible" - talk about control of the media.

- if the KJV is the definative word of Jesus/God/The Lord/The Man Upstairs, why was it revised four times?

- the KJV translators weren't exactly inspired by God to translate, they were paid by the Church Of England

More questions can be found here.

The Coveted Oprah Interview

It's been confirmed today that Sarah Palin will be appearing on Oprah's talk-show next month to coincide with the release of the book that has Palin's name and picture on the cover - as I refuse to call it her book because she didn't write a damn word in it.

But let's look at this from a variety of perspectives.

Here's Oprah obviously deciding to make this happen because it will be a ratings winner. And that's what all simular television personalities care for - ratings. So what other reason is there? Does Oprah honestly care for what Palin has to say? Considering the former VP candidates inflammatory rhetoric directed toward Obama during the final months of the campaign, and that Oprah was a very vocal very open proponent of Obama, I think it's safe to say that there really isn't any love lost between the two - as their likely never was any.

But what about Palin's position on this? What's her angle? Why Oprah? Considering Palin's vocal opposition to all media not owned by Rupert Murdock, as well as her experiences in being posed with legitimate questions and her abject failure at answering those, this really doens't add up.

I'm fully prepared for her and her mouth-agape followers @ Fox"News" to claim that this was an ambush interview and that Oprah had some agenda to push if Palin even remotely comes off poorly in the process.

Are the questions pre-screened? This wouldn't suprise me.

What of Oprah's primarily female audience? How many of them are honestly looking forward to hearing from Palin? She's not exactly a shining example of what makes the American female experience great. She was, after all, being used as nothing but a tool by the conservative establishment during the election.

I guess we'll find out next month.

Dana, Your Slip Is Showing

......well, her mental slip anyway.

Dana Perino went on Fox & Friends to show her and her former employers' "moral superiority" in relation to the Obama administration calling out Fox"News" for precisely what they are.



To hear Perino, or anyone who was once in the employ of the Bush administration, talk about how it is completely out of bounds - even dangerous to America - that people within the Obama White House to challenge Fox"News" continual and breathless assertion that they are somehow both "fair" AND "balanced" at the same time does tend to cause more than a few spit-takes.

Think Progress digs a little further on this one as well.

Perino said that it would have been “a bridge too far” for her to “go after MSNBC” from the White House Briefing Room. But she seems to be forgetting the public letter that her White House colleague Ed Gillespie sent to NBC News President Steve Capus, in which Gillespie accused NBC and MSNBC of blurring the line between “news” and “opinion.” As ThinkProgress noted last week, Fox News cheered on Gillespie’s shot at NBC.

But wait, Dana, do you not remember this:



It seems to Perino can't remember ever crossing that bridge before her reactionary stance told her that it was time to burn it.

Fox"News", though likely not in direct response to those in the Obama White House being critical, even has a new promo out defending their legitimacy. But the timing is rather coincidental, isn't it.



The reason that I think that this is direct push-back at what the Obama administration is insisting, and an even more direct response to Axelrod and Rahm in specific, is that a generous ( dare I say liberal ) portion of the dialogue in the promo is talking about how Fox"News" has no bias, no agenda.

Raves For Rachel

While Brian Donovan of True/Slant thinks that Maddow taking the reigns of Meet The Press from the absolutely disasterous David Gregory would be great for the show, I honestly think it would be a step down for her.

But let's say that this did happen, what staunch conservatives would come on the show after seeing her take issues head-on and not flinch. Like this:



And if she did take this gig away from Gregory, would she still keep her week-night program that follows Olbermann? It would be preposterous to assume that a woman as talented as Maddow couldn't handle 5 nights and an early Sunday program, the question is would the network be willing to let her do it. They would be fools not to.

The bottom line is that Gregory has completely ruined a program that Russert kept solid. Someone has got to step-up and be a real host.

Some Thoughts For Your Morning

- Glenn Beck's inability to seperate the fantasy from the reality the remainder of American live in is growing to near synesthetic proportions. His stance against volunteering, helping your community in a variety of ways, is grounded in some bizarre notion that volunteering is a communist tactic. He later goes on, in his standard "six-degrees-of-seperation" way, that Hollywood, the White House, and NBC Universal are all conspiring to do something bad to America.

- To actually know that some people actually use Drudge as their primary news source every morning, my thoughts on it have gone from "these people are just down-right silly" to "jesus-harld-ramis-christ, these people are fucked in the brain-pan". The Right's favorite hype artist had a new mashup message when it was released to the Obama administration would not seek the arrest of people who follow state laws in relation to the use of medical marijuana. While the headline was quite vague if you didn't already know what was going on, it was the photo that was used in conjunction that would likely have caused loyal Drudge-ites to assumed that Obama was hoping to target kids.

- With a plurality of Americans supporting a public-option in healthcare reform ( a fact that has not changed since reform was placed back on the table ) why is it that pollsters such as Rassmussen continually tout as fact the complete opposite?

- And finally, have you ever noticed anything strange about the polls that Fox"News" creates?

Conservatives Finally Turning On The Fringe Members

It was only a matter of time before members of the conservative movement began to not only reject, but actively attempt to distance themselves from the drooling sychophants that continually espouse that Sarah Palin is tantamount to the second coming of Christ.

In his movie "Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted," Ziegler went after the mainstream media for perceived liberal bias and slights against the Alaska governor. This weekend at the Western Conservative Political Action Conference (WCPAC), Ziegler went after a target closer to home: David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union. In the end, the documentarian gets cursed at and kicked out of the conference. In response he's put video of the entire encounter on Mediaite.

Ziegler was after Keene for criticizing Palin, but he also attacked the conservative leader for supporting Sen. Arlen Specter (pre-party switch) and reportedly trying to sell his group's support to FedEx.

Because no one in the world, and ABSOLUTELY no one within the conservative movement, can be critical of Palin without facing the drooling, neo-drunken, wrath of John Ziegler.

It's become no suprise that some of the most popular conservative bloggers and their commenting base have not only aligned themselves with Palin, but are increasingly more and more aligning themselves with the more radical, more fringe, elements of conservative ideology.

The modern conservative movement - which is embracing the sophomoric tactics, themes, and ideals of their fringe compatriots - are more concerned with the gimmicks, the tricks and flourishes, of rhetorical gameplay than honesty and intellectual integrity in the socio-political realm.

Some Thoughts For Your Day

- It appears that Palin is now quitting being a quitter. Her resume has been posted up at LinkedIn under the user name "governorpalin" even though she hasn't been the Governor of Alaska since mid-summer. I thought she would have had some sort of game-plan by now, some idea of what she was going to do. After all, the only thing that she has done is to give a speech to investors where she essentially just rehashed some campaign talking points and then had per picture taken for the cover of her book that she didn't even write. And check out the resume - it lists just one college, but she went to 5.

- Conservatives are using a time-test tactic when it comes to addressing the fact that Rahm and Axelrod are calling-out Fox"News" for what they are. Rather than attempting to refute the claim, employees of the network are insisting that the administration is perpetrating a "war" on Fox and that they are spending virtually every day on this issue and not issues that effect the average American. But doesn't Fox"News" continually berate MSNBC and CNN? It's part of their daily thesis in approaching every news story - make it seem like Fox is the only one covering something and that the other networks aren't because of their "liberal agenda".

- Conservatives two favorite things ( fervent opposition to an organized work-force in America and Rush Limbaugh ) were combined to attempt to prove some hidden agenda in Rush being dumped as a potential owner of the St. Louis Rams. And this isn't the first ham-fisted conspiracy theory that the good people at Fox"News" have dreamed up. Juan Williams ( filling in for O'Reilly on The Factor ) did his best Glenn Beck impersonation and weaved a Six Degress Of Seperation theory that directly implicated Barack Obama as bearing responsibility for Limbaugh getting the boot.

- The fine folks over at Fox"Nation" can find an evil, socialist, marxist, communist, fascist theme in anything. Now, they have posted a video of Anita Dunn giving a speech about how the Obama campaign were able to keep their press releases in order, respond to criticism ( both valid and insanely pathetic ) as well as how their message to the American people now. The Nation of Dunces have concluded that to mean that Dunn is somehow admitting that the Obama White House controls the media in total.

The Rip-Off: Featuring The Cure and Wilco

This particlar edition of "The Rip-Off" features two of my favorite bands of all time - The Cure and Wilco.

And while I will defend both Jeff Tweedy and Robert Smith to my dying breath, there is more than just a minor simularity between these two tracks.

First up, The Cure with "In Between Days"

** you'll notice that there is not a YouTube video posted here as the embed function has been disable. So, would someone please explain why anyone would put something up on YouTube and not allow an embed? It rather defeats the purpose of the site, doesn't it.**

And now, Wilco with Pot Kettle Black

Shorter Moe Lane @ RedState.com

The Weeks White House Two Minute Hate

The unblushingly masturbatory way that my ideological friends and I are willing to defend an industry that doesn't care about people is wholly unmatched by anything that anyone might do.

Random Video Action

and now, a piano that can speak









This is probably the greatest musical achievement of the 21st Century





Can you spot RuPaul in this one?





These videos have been delivered courtesy of the wonderful folks at Croniespace

The Comedian That Makes A Better Senator Than Most

The way in which conservatives attacked and attempted to besmirch Al Franken's bid for Senate is the halmark of conservative ideology - rely on gimmicky schtick rather than substance.

Turns out that Franken makes a better representative for not just his state, but this whole nation than many Senators that have held their position for years.

In respect to his amendment that would take a hard stance against companies that shelter rapists ( like KBR ) 30 Senators voted against it, thereby siding with the rapists.

To see Franken in action is something that everyone should pay attention to. This isn't the man that brought us Stewart Smally. This is someone that the Right ( for as many times as they claim that liberals and progressives are somehow afraid of the childish antics perpetrated by their apparent leadership ) honestly fears because he has the knowledge and the constitution to take on even their most arden of supporters.





For the full story behind Jamie Leigh Jones, check my diary on Daily Kos from December 2007 about her horrible ordeal and how conservatives reacted to it.

Conservatives Do Love Them Some Black Men....

....so long as they tow the line without question.

This may be an odd statement coming from a very white person, but I feel that it doesn't do the black race any good to have Fox"News" news literally using select African Americans as tools with which to stave off accusations of racial preference. Each and every time I see Hannity's favorite black man, the alleged "Reverend" Jesse Lee Peterson ( and others ) on Fox it is a consistant reminder that that network will only give credence to not just a black man or woman, but of any "non-white", is if they with unflinchingly kowtow to the conservative ideological mindset.

And for that reason, it is of little suprise that Dr. Mark Lamont Hill was fired from his position as Democratic strategist at Fox"News".

Liberal Fox News analyst Dr. Marc Lamont Hill has been fired, News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch revealed at a shareholder's meeting Friday.

Murdoch made the announcement after being asked about Hill's "reputation of defending cop killers and racists."

"Relax, y'all. Don't believe the internet rumors," Lamont Hill tweeted earlier today, but he would later confirm the news to the Huffington Post, saying, "I am no longer employed by Fox News and grateful for the opportunity and I have nothing bad to say."

And this was something that many conservatives had been hoping for for quite some time.

Former Left-wing idiot turned Right-wing idiot David Horowitz went after Dr. Hill's credibility in a screed that also showed his complete inability to understand modern culture:

Mr. Hill do you think we should give Iran three months or six months to let the UN inspectors in? How would Marc Lamont Hill know? How would he even be in a position to make an intelligent speculation? By his own account, Hill is an expert on “hip-hop culture,” i.e., rap music. His academic degree is in education. What are his views on foreign policy worth, unless putting him on was designed to show up the shallow views of the left? Hill is in fact a knee jerk leftist....

While I would initially like to challenge Horowitz on his own understanding of foreign policy, the very fact that reactionary people such as him automatically associate "hip-hop culture" with rap music is patently absurd. I swear by all that is holy and just in this universe that someone has got to tell people that hip-hop and rap are completely and without a doubt mutually exclusive from one another.

But what does this say of not only Horowitz, but of the entire, willfully ignorant, masses that flock to not only Fox"News" but conservativism as their ideological safe-house? They claim to have the interests of Americans at heart without having any clue as to the very detailed fabric with which this country is made up of. It's as if they are so unblushingly "vanilla" in their knowledge that they are the literal embodiment of the stereotype that black comedians portray of white people.

Days Of Futures Present

While watching the Road Warrior and blogging this afternoon, I started seeing stories about a fantasy gaming-site that must have all the militia types in America creaming their collective knickers with joy.



David Neiwert @ Crooks And Liars even has the turtorial video for this wingnut version of Risk up for everyone to check out. It's a visual interpretation of the mouth-agape droolings and rantings of not just the tea-bagger set, but of people like Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman - who actually have roles in the game along with other sychophants of the reactionary Right.

While alternate futures are no stranger to the gaming and literary world, the difference between the games and stories of others is that conservatives are actively trying to ensure that this game becomes reality. While the very idea that Obama is attempting to destroy America and recreate it in some Marxist, Fascist, Communist image is preposterous beyond belief there are a specific subset of people in this country that actually buy into this nonsensical line of thinking.

This game isn't so much a game to some, it's a training manual for those with masturbatory fantasies of revolution.

Baptism Of Fire

There's something about this story that makes me think that this will create some type of paradox in the time-stream. It seems that a tiny Baptist church near Ashville, SC is going to be having a good ole-fashion book burning on Halloween. Only at this one, they're going to be throwing bibles onto the pyre as well. No, really.

The website for the Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Canton, N.C., says there are "scriptural bases" for the book burning. The site quotes Acts 19:18-20: "And many that believed, came and confessed and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts, brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed."

Church leaders deem Good News for Modern Man, the Evidence Bible, the New International Version Bible, the Green Bible and the Message Bible, as well as at least seven other versions of the Bible as "Satan's Bibles," according to the website. Attendees will also set fire to "Satan's popular books" such as the work of "heretics" including the Pope, Mother Teresa, Billy Graham and Rick Warren.

The bizarre and even radical behavior of the uber-religious fringe in America never ceases to amaze and intrigue. The very idea of the destruction of knowledge is the cornerstone of the fringe religious movement. And make no mistake about it, people that believe and act in such a fashion are going to find some passage in the Bible that will excuse their absurd behavior.

And since when is the King James translation the definative version of the Bible? After all, that text was translated from another. What made the previous version bad? I'm curious what these people think of the Conservative Bible Project?

Clever Conservative Blogging Disguised As Racism

It's hardly a suprise anymore that the increasingly racially divisive language being distributed by various segments of the conservative movement is going to go right up to the edge of using the dreaded n-bomb.

Tammy Bruce's recent post on her site is no different, yet reveals the MO of people who choose to scrape the bottom of the socio-political barrel rather than engage in intellectual discourse.

Breaking: Nobel Committee Announces Another Peace Prize Winner

Just FYI, for context you may also want to take a look at the post which precedes this one, I Just Opened a Box of Cracker Jack. Guess What the Prize Was? As well as my response to those deluded liberals screaming Raaaaacist! at this post When a Raccoon Is Just a Raccoon. In the meantime, if you do think this is Raaaacist!, take that as a sign that you should start spending less time on the interwebs and more time with your therapist. I’m just sayin.’**

Right, and it's not a noose hanging from a tree in Jena, it's just a rope. It's not wrong to suggest that blacks ride on a seperate bus to school, it's making sure that they all have a ride. It's not bad to distribute a photo of a giant watermelon patch in front of the White House, we're just showing the agricultural potential of the lawn.

Clearly, at least to those of use with a fully functional brain-stem, the image has blatant racial intent and undercurrents. The mind of the modern conservative is that since Obama happens to be of mixed ethnicity, they should have carde blanche when it comes to using this sort of dialogue. It's easier for them to say, "it's just a racoon" and sit back and smile at what they have created, a race-baiting situation where they can claim that their rights are being violated. The modern fringe conservative feels that racial animus is not only acceptable, but a requirement.

The Conscience Of A Conservative Killer

I could clearly hear the incessant stammering of Michelle Malkin and her ilk as I read this.

From the San Fransisco Chronicle.

A man stabbed and bludgeoned his sister and her husband to death in El Cerrito in 2006 because he thought the couple were too liberal, were raising their children wrong and because they hadn't invited him over for Christmas, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday.

Edward Wycoff, 40, of the Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights coldly planned the slayings, including getting Lasik surgery and using night-vision goggles so he could find his way around the house where Julie Wycoff Rogers, 47, lived with her husband, Paul Rogers, 48, prosecutor Mark Peterson said.

Just further proof that the inflammatory rhetoric of the modern conservative movement was around well before Barack Obama's election. This story also reminds me of the church killings in Knoxville where the murderer's manifesto was quite up-front with whom he wanted to kill.

Truth In Advertising

It's not so much snark as it is reality.



( h/t to GottaLaff @ TPC )

And these people are often seen as the leaders, the philosophers, the visionaries of the modern conservative movement.

In What Respect Charlie?

I'm sure we all remember this:



Sarah Palin's first big screw-up on the national scene and conservatives lept to her defense by claiming that there isn't and wasn't a clearly defined "doctrine" of George W. Bush like the "Monroe Doctrne" was. It appears that some conservatives are now changing their tune.

From Bloomberg

The Sept. 11 terrorist strikes prompted Bush to alter U.S. policy by stressing the option of preemptive military action against groups or countries that threaten the U.S. Critics said that breached international norms and set a dangerous precedent for other nations to adopt a similar policy.

The doctrine is being reassessed as part of the Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review of strategy, force structure and weapons programs. Hicks is overseeing the review.

Perhaps it's time that conservatives realize that their reactionary stance and naval-gazing in realtion to Sarah Palin has caused them to be the mockery that they are today. There is, was, and has been a Bush Doctrine during and since George W. Bush's presidency.

It's this type of mentality within the modern conservative movement that has caused them to consistantly lose ground. From local, state, and national elections, the Republican party has been a net loser since 2006. They may pose only a handful of gains in the mid-term next year - not out of the American people seeing them as better leaders, but from a historical context.

The doctrine of the conservative movement, however, is widely known and accepted - oppose at all costs, fabricate, scare, and molest reality into the visage of your chosing.

Were We All Just Transported To The 1950s?

Seriously, what year are we living in?

This is what an activist judge looks like.

A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.

"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."

He's not racist? Really? His entire rationale for denying the marriage liscence is predicated on race and a complete lack of understanding of how people of alternate ethnicity interact with one another. I'm pretty sure that that is a classic definition of racial animus if there ever was one. But hey, they do have bathroom privileges at his house, so that must mean that he isn't all that bad.

While the Supreme Court ruled in 1967 to end the draconian practice of the state of Virginia telling interracial couples that they couldn't marry, one has to wonder exactly what this Judge in Louisiana was thinking. He obviously wasn't

Tears Of A Clown

I'm really starting to get concerned. Not for Glenn Beck, but for people who actually take this man seriously.



This was Beck's coda to a show ripe with cropped quotes from members of the Obama administration - a plea for a more Rockwellian time when commercialism was a little more heart-warming.

Is he even making sense anymore? Did he ever?

The Thursday Night Music Chain

Talla 2XLC - Dante's Peak ( Jerome Isma-Ae Mix )




Hustle Athletics - Fearless Funk




Steve Lawler - Sleepwalking

And I Was Only Joking Earlier

Either Rush is that predictable ( which I'm fully aware that he normally is ) or my blog is being monitored by certain members of Rush's production team and high-level conservative bloggers.

From my blog earlier this morning:

Should Limbaugh have a chance at owning a team, owning anything? Of course. He had his chance with the NFL and he lost not because of come liberal conspiracy, not because of fabricated quotations, not because George Soros spoke some cryptic incantation from an ancient tome, it was because of his own ideological and personal follies that he lost.

This was posted on HotAir today:

Was George Soros Involved In The Rams Bid Too

Is Bloomberg merely saying that Soros has partnered with Checketts before and therefore might be involved this time or are they saying he is involved and they know it for a fact? Hard to tell. If it’s the latter then it’s exceedingly odd that Checketts never mentioned it to Rush in order to feel him out on whether he was okay with partnering with Soros. It’s also odd that Soros wouldn’t have used his influence on the left to call off the media dogs this week against Limbaugh: Now that they’ve purged Rush, conservatives will demand that Soros be purged too and Georgie boy surely knows it. Which is why I suspect that he’s not involved in the bid (and, needless to say, won’t be involved going forward).

Sure, Allahpundit attempts to spin away from his original thesis with the last sentence, but the seed has already been planted.

So, a prediction or merely stating the obvious? I wonder what I can predict for tomorrow.

Michelle Malkin runs into the street, strips down, and starts to rub her own shit on her face perhaps?

Breaking News: Meghan McCain Has Tits - Twitter Followers Goes Nuts

I follow lots of people on Twitter - from the average joe and jane, to businessmen, porn-stars, politicos, other bloggers, and yes, Meghan McCain. She's not always someone that I agree with and there is still that spektre of John McCain being her day, but she's still a more tolerable than say Mary Kathrine Ham and not nearly as single-minded as that Scott Baio kid from Happy Days. But when people get incensed about this pic:



Then what's really going on?

I honestly didn't recognize her at first, but realized it was here. What I didn't expect was to hear that she was suddenly branded a slut. Was it the fact that she like Warhol? Was it her pseudo-90s banana-clip hair-style? Oh, it's the boobs.

You know, for all the salivating that men in the Republican party did over Sarah Palin, of all the adoration that was showered upon her simply because of her cougarish looks, why suddenly are people enraged by Meghan McCain's sweater tigers?

Yes, she's good looking and has a great pair of baby feeders. Are Republican women not supposed to be proportionate in this way? Apparently some think so. People are quite perculiar at times in their behavior towards women that are attractive, and this is just another example of that.

It apparently got so bad that Meghan was considering deleting her Twitter account:

why I have been considering deleting my twitter account, what once was fun now just seems like a vessel for harassment.

If she quits, then she quits, but if she lets the puritanical ravings of a small segment of the Twitterati get to her like that, then she really needs to toughen-up. She certainly handled the Laura Ingraham dust-up better than this.