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Sunday, November 30, 2003
We are shopping ourselves out of jobs.
Via No More Mr. Nice Blog is a must read story about just how much Wal-Mart sucks.
Which is: a lot.
posted by tbogg at 11:50 PM
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Honey? Have you seen my kevlar Chamber of Commerce jacket?
Yes. The investment dollars should just start rolling in:
Open for business: In a tightly guarded ceremony, the governor of Saddam Hussein's home province declared that the region was open for business and thanked foreign businessmen who attended a gathering wearing flak jackets and helmets. The visitors were invited to Tikrit in the Salahuddin province by U.S. military and Iraqi officials under tight security to attend the opening of a refurbished building that will serve as a business center for potential investors. "I hope you'll take the idea of Salahuddin being unsafe out of your minds," said Gov. Hussein Jassim al-Jbouri, adding the region is "safe more than 100 percent
Executive recruiters from Phillip Morris have their eye on Mr. Jassim al-Jobouri. They like the cut of his jib....
posted by tbogg at 11:34 PM
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Saturday, November 29, 2003
Puppies!
Awwwwwww.
Satchmo the Wonder Basset looks like the one second from the left.
posted by tbogg at 2:50 PM
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Something is seriously wrong with us...
A mob of shoppers rushing for a sale on DVD players trampled the first woman in line and knocked her unconscious as they scrambled for the shelves at a Wal-Mart Supercenter.
Patricia VanLester had her eye on a $29 DVD player, but when the siren blared at 6 a.m. Friday announcing the start to the post-Thanksgiving sale, the 41-year-old was knocked to the ground by the frenzy of shoppers behind her.
"She got pushed down, and they walked over her like a herd of elephants," said VanLester's sister, Linda Ellzey. "I told them, 'Stop stepping on my sister! She's on the ground!"'
Ellzey said some shoppers tried to help VanLester, and one employee helped Ellzey reach her sister, but most people just continued their rush for deals.
"All they cared about was a stupid DVD player," she said Saturday.
Paramedics called to the store found VanLester unconscious on top of a DVD player, surrounded by shoppers seemingly oblivious to her, said Mark O'Keefe, a spokesman for EVAC Ambulance.
She was flown to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, where doctors told the family VanLester had a seizure after she was knocked down and would likely remain hospitalized through the weekend, Ellzey said. Hospital officials said Saturday they did not have any information on her condition.
"She's all black and blue," Ellzey said. "Patty doesn't remember anything. She still can't believe it all happened."
Ellzey said Wal-Mart officials called later Friday to ask about her sister, and the store apologized and offered to put a DVD player on hold for her.
How very nice of them.
Wal-Mart wouldn't want to miss out on that $29.
posted by tbogg at 10:23 AM
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Friday, November 28, 2003
Another I Don't Like The Drugs But The Drugs Like Me moment
Rush has an I've Never Been To Me (warning: sound) revelation:
“If you've been to the website you've seen some of the e-mail that came in during my absence. It brought me to tears, a lot of it, which is a new thing for me. I did not know how to cry, I really did not know, I had not cried in 30 years, and I've been touched more than ever in my life because I finally have learned how to be.”
posted by tbogg at 11:23 PM
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Worst CD Ever
I stumbled across this on Amazon.
Song list:
1. Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree - Tony Orlando & Dawn
2. Night Chicago Died - Paper Lace
3. Billy, Don't Be a Hero - Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods
4. (You're) Having My Baby - Paul Anka
5. Playground in My Mind - Clint Holmes
6. Feelings - Morris Albert
7. Sometimes When We Touch - Dan Hill
8. Candy Man - Sammy Davis, Jr.
9. Afternoon Delight - Starland Vocal Band
10. Torn Between Two Lovers - Mary MacGregor
11. Escape (The Pina Colada Song) - Rupert Holmes
12. Muskrat Love - Captain & Tennille
You can buy it here if you are so...inclined.
posted by tbogg at 11:03 PM
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Speaking of giving thanks...
I just wanted to say that I'm thankful that I finally finished reading Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian.
Not exactly the feel-good book of the year...
Sample:
They began to come upon chains and packsaddles, singletrees, dead mules, wagons. Saddletrees eaten bare of their rawhide coverings and weathered white as bone, a light chamfering of miceteeth along the edges of the wood. They rode through a region where iron will not rust nor tin varnish. The ribbed frames of dead cattle under their patches of dried hide lay like the ruins of primitive boats upturned upon that shoreless void and they passed lurid and austere the black and dessicated shapes of horses and mules that travelers had stood afoot. These parched beasts had died with their necks stretched in agony in the sand and now upright and blind and lurching askew with scraps of blackened leather from the fretwork of their ribs they leaned with their long mouths howling after the endless tandem suns that passed above them. The riders rode on. They crossed a a vast dry lake with rows of dead volcanoes ranged beyond it like the works of enormous insects. To the south lay broken shapes of scoria in a lava bed as far as the eye could see. Under the hooves of the horses the alabaster sand shaped itself in whorls strangely symmetric like iron filings in a field and these shapes flared and and drew back again, resonating upon that harmonic ground and then turning to swirl away over the playa. As if the very sediment of things contained yet some residue of sentinence. As if the transit of those riders were a thing so profoundly terrible as to register even to the uttermost granulation of reality.
Fun.
posted by tbogg at 9:16 PM
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The 150-minute man
Kos points out that President Cafeteria Lady spent two and a half hours in Iraq. Hillary spent ten hours.
Looks like another case of George Bush premature evacuation.
Hey. It happens....
posted by tbogg at 9:05 PM
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Black Friday
In America, retailers refer to the day after Thanksgiving as Black Friday. They don't mean black as a negative exemplified by the 1929 Stock Market Crash dubbed Black Tuesday, but in the sense that profitability for the year (getting into the "black") is generally dependent upon sales during the twenty-odd days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Today's Black Friday gave us scenes like this and this:
Retailers make 25 percent to 40 percent of their annual sales during the holiday season. Customers reach out for the season's hottest video games at a Kmart in Philadelphia
Today I think it's helpful to remember that for some people everyday is Black Friday and they're not trampling each other to buy Madden NFL 2004.
posted by tbogg at 8:48 PM
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After desert the Vice President wil be serving up lies....
Dick Cheney out collecting money and dishing red meat falsehoods:
As we stand here today, many of al Qaeda's known leaders have been captured or killed. Those still at large are living in fear -- because we're on their trail. In Afghanistan, the Taliban regime brutalized an entire population; they harbored al Qaeda -- and that regime is no more. In Iraq, a ruthless dictator cultivated weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them. He gave support to terrorists and had a relationship with al Qaeda -- and his regime is no more.
posted by tbogg at 7:30 PM
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Sadly no
...has moved to here. React accordingly
posted by tbogg at 4:03 PM
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Funny. I had him pegged as a Zima kinda guy.
Rich Lowry, who usually spends his days flogging the book he wrote about Bill Clinton which is the only book about Bill Clinton on the market no matter what anyone else tells you, today takes up the banner and defends beer ads.
Beer, of course, is one of the great social lubricants of American life, and breweries have contributed more than their share to the enjoyment of TV viewing. For every mindless and tasteless beer ad (yes, "twins," that's you), there is one that is clever and memorable. Budweiser has, in recent years, given us the frogs, "Wass-up?" and "True." Miller Lite's "Taste Great/Less Filling" debate is iconic, as is Foster's slogan "Australian for beer."
Actually I agree with Lowry. I just find the idea of Rich, who strikes me a chino's and polo-shirt-with-the-collar-up kind of guy, talking beer, funny. Sort of like listening to Ann Coulter talk about mental health issues.
posted by tbogg at 10:10 AM
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As white and blank as her mind
We haven't forgotten. Still nothing from Ann as her publisher searches frantically for a font called "Screech Sans Serif".
posted by tbogg at 9:50 AM
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Selectively using intelligence
David Ignatius smacks around all the war lovers who can't understand why no one is taking Doug Feith's memo seriously. It's just more of the same.
posted by tbogg at 9:41 AM
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Unimpressed by the visit
Four mortar shells hit a U.S. military compound Friday in the northern city of Mosul, killing a soldier from the 101st Airborne Division, the military said.
Apparently someone didn't get a transcript of George Bush's nipple-hardening speech.
posted by tbogg at 9:36 AM
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Thursday, November 27, 2003
I'm sorry. Freedom of speech is kinda awkward right now. Can you come back later?
I don't know what's worse. Oliver North whining about Natalie Maines complaints about the Coward in Chief or his calling Wayne Newton "one of the world's great entertainers".
I did enjoy this quote in more ways than I can count:
Two years ago, "Mr. Las Vegas" was named the chairman of the USO Celebrity Circle. I asked him how he recruits other performers to join him. "Like everything else, Colonel," said Newton, "there are those that run for the woods when times get a little tough and those that pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey, you're going, count me in.' Those are the kind of people we have."
Hmmmm. "those that run for the woods"? Why does that ring a bell?
posted by tbogg at 10:51 PM
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Me talk pretty one day
Did anyone know that Andrew Sullivan is paid to be a writer?:
ONE OF HIS FINEST MOMENTS: We know the Bush family likes to keep secrets, to spring surprises on unsuspecting outsiders, to hold decisions close and unveil maneuvers and initiatives with some aplomb. But the visit to Baghdad was spectacular even by those standards. The president said what almost all of us feel: that those troops out there are doing enormously difficult work and they deserve immeasurable thanks. By also serving them dinner, he demonstrated something important: that even the president is essentially indebted to these men and women. He is their servant, not they his.
Nicely put, Andy.
The president's message to Iraqis was also important: we have to convince the Baathists that we will not falter an iota in accomplishing a peaceful transition to democracy. Some have interpreted the plans for some troop reductions next year as a sign that the president is micro-managing the war to time with his election prospects; or that we are about to pull a Clinton and wriggle out of a commitment. This trip is the best response to both doubts. It reaffirms resolve, raises morale, and asserts our intention to get this done right. It's called leadership. And we just saw some.
It is also a sign to the Iraqis that he had to sneak in under cover of darkness and slip out again two and a half hours later from a country that is far from being under control. And, lo and behold, Karl Rove was able to release the well-timed footage to the people who are sitting in front of the tube watching the Macy's parade or NFL football, which might explain why the soldiers had to wait an hour without explanation.
The upside is that he gets to knock two and half hours off the time he owes for going AWOL in the National Guard.
Michael Graham writes:
WHAT CAN PRESIDENT BUSH DO IN BAGHDAD THAT SADDAM HUSSEIN CAN'T? Appear in public.
Appearing at a heavily fortified military base before 600 soldiers doesn't exactly qualify as "in public", Mike. Actually, when you get down to it, George Bush can't appear in the United States in public unless it's on a military base or at a tightly secured fundraiser. Graham may also want to take this up with 16,000 police and security officers in London.
And then there is this:
"We did not charge hundreds of miles into the heart of Iraq, pay a bitter cost of casualties, defeat a ruthless dictator and liberate 25 million people, only to retreat before a band of thugs and assassins. We will prevail. We will win because our cause is just."
What do you mean by "we", Sparky? Next time try "you" unless you're willing to not only suit up, but play in the game...
posted by tbogg at 9:59 PM
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Remember when reporters were...reporters?
Mr. Bush sneaked out of Crawford on Wednesday in an unmarked car, then flew to Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, where a few advisers and a small number of reporters sworn to secrecy joined him. They then flew on to Baghdad International Airport, arriving around dusk.
Looks like the Boys on the Bus are helping to drive the bus. I guess they'll do anything to get out of Crawford even if they have to fly halfway around the world for a two-hour dinner.
posted by tbogg at 12:13 PM
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Sticking up for choice
Dear Abby takes on some of her dumber readers.
And the "Planned Parenthood is racist" argument is below contempt.
posted by tbogg at 11:55 AM
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Contributing to our nations Stupidity Reserves
Even by The Corner's standards, this is pretty dumb:
WONDER WHO JOE WILSON IS WORKING FOR? [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Wonder no more: his advice to Saddam and co.
So what treason is Joseph Wilson commiting?
From Wilson to Saddam: hide-and-seek advice
Think what you want about controversial diplomat Joseph Wilson, hubby of the CIA secret agent outed in revenge for his opposition to the Iraq war. But don't say that the last American official to shake Saddam Hussein's hand doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to the ex-dictator. Not that they were friends, but Wilson understands Saddam and has good insight into what the Iraqi would do to hide from U.S. troops. "If I were advising Saddam's security," says Wilson over breakfast, "it would be to put him in a rabidly [supportive] Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad where you have a lot of lookouts and you can move around the neighborhood more quickly than the Americans." Maybe grow a beard and stop using hair dye. "Let everything go white." And consider plastic surgery to your eyes and nose. Finally, shuck the uniform for one of those long robes. Good advice? Maybe, but Wilson says Uncle Sam hasn't asked his opinion. Explains a senior U.S. official, "Joe Wilson is the last guy I would go to for advice on how someone would maintain a low profile."
If you're one of the millions who have lost their job in the Bush economy, the fact that Lopez still has one must be pretty friggin' depressing....
posted by tbogg at 11:51 AM
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Wow. This Thanksgiving holiday thing really caught on. Congratulations Hallmark!
Talking turkey.
posted by tbogg at 11:33 AM
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Thanksgiving prayers
According to the Presidential Prayer Teams Kids Page, all the right-thinking little yard-apes are supposed to be praying for Donald Rumsfeld and a stern and scary looking John Snow today.
Now, do it!..........Again, or no Line Dancing Elmo for Christmas this year.
posted by tbogg at 11:27 AM
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My Big Fat Thanksgiving Day Publicity Stunt
President XBox visits the troops:
President Bush made a Thanksgiving Day visit to Baghdad, appearing before delighted soldiers taken completely by surprise.
After appearing before some U.S. troops in Baghdad and the Iraqi Governing Council, Bush left Baghdad at about 8 p.m. Iraq time, or noon EST. Air Force One stayed on the ground for just two-and-a-half hours, the White House said.
News of the trip was not released until the president's plane was airborne and headed back to the United States, The Associated Press reported.
"You are defending the American people from danger and we are grateful," Bush told some 600 soldiers, cheering his appearance.
Bush slipped away from his Texas ranch Wednesday night at 8:25 EST, flew in and out of Andrews Air Force Base and landed in Baghdad Thursday morning at 9:31 a.m. EST, according to reporters traveling with the president.
The troops, mostly from the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division and the 82nd Airborne, had no idea Bush would be there.
Without mentioning first that the commander-in-chief was waiting in the wings, Iraq's U.S. civil administrator L. Paul Bremer told the soldiers he wanted the most senior person in the room to read the president's Thanksgiving proclamation and asked who was there to do it.
Then Bush emerged, misty-eyed and wearing a U.S. Army exercise jacket. As soon as the soldiers spotted him, the room erupted in cheers. He told them he had arrived for a warm meal.
No word on whether the troops were forced to recite "We who are about to die salute you".
Meanwhile, back in Crawford, the twins have finished off the mini-bar and ransacking the house looking for Laura's private stash.
posted by tbogg at 10:56 AM
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Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Snark never sleeps...
For those who will be taking the next four days off and feel the need to waste time at home just like you're wasting it now at work, I will be posting intermittently through Thanksgiving and the weekend.
Stop on by for leftovers.
posted by tbogg at 1:14 PM
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Another I Don't Like The Drugs But The Drugs Like Me moment
Speaking to the average dittohead who makes about $22,000 a year working at the screen door factory, Rush said:
“The company that Michael Jackson charters jets from videotaped him - with no audio track - talking to his lawyers. Ladies and gentlemen, let this be a lesson to you. This is why it pays to own your own jet.”
How true that is.....
And now it's back to Washing The Blog's latest installment of the Rush Limbaugh Rehab Journals.
posted by tbogg at 1:09 PM
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Harried by the holidays?
World O'Crap saves you a world o'time by condensing down all the Townhall columns.
posted by tbogg at 8:33 AM
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Little did Neil know that the Spinning Basket Sex might be construed as "spiritual suicide"
David Brooks:
Anybody who has several sexual partners in a year is committing spiritual suicide. He or she is ripping the veil from all that is private and delicate in oneself, and pulverizing it in an assembly line of selfish sensations.
Neil Bush:
The Bush divorce, completed in April, was prompted in part by Bush's relationship with another woman. He admitted in the deposition that he previously had sex with several other women while on trips to Thailand and Hong Kong at least five years ago.
The women, he said, simply knocked on the door of his hotel room, entered and engaged in sex with him. He said he did not know if they were prostitutes because they never asked for money and he did not pay them.
"Mr Bush, you have to admit it's a pretty remarkable thing for a man just to go to a hotel room door and open it and have a woman standing there and have sex with her," Brown said.
"It was very unusual," Bush said.
Afterward, instead of feeling pulverized, Neil had a cigarette and took a long hot shower...
posted by tbogg at 8:27 AM
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Shit so thick you could stir it with a stick
Is there any doubt that Matt Drudge is making up quotes involving the return of the remains of Howard Dean's brother?
Active duty soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines are upset over being forced take part in a military repatriation ceremony today for remains believed to be those of the none-military brother of presidential candidate Howard Dean, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
"His brother will receive full military honors...flag over the coffin and all!" fumes one soldier, who asked not to be named.
..and who also spoke in both the past and present tense.
Additionally, JPAC is being pressured to push up Dean's brother's identification ahead of approximately a hundred other service members remains, it is claimed.
Says one source: "These service members were recovered from all US wars, whose families are waiting to finally get word that their loved one, who gave his life for his country has been identified and is finally coming home. It usually take 2 years plus for an identification. Apparently, this 'rush job' will be done in 4-6 months. That's not all, we are repatriating his Australian friend, with military honors, and pushing his identification ahead our service members also."
The military source continues: "We feel it is not only a slap in the face to the servicemembers who gave their lives for our great country, but also the men and women who are currently in harms way"
First of all, nobody really talks that way. "..... slap in the face to the servicemembers who gave their lives for our great country...". Give me a break. And it's not like Drudge is a real journalist out in the field conducting interviews. The guy sits around in his condo wearing his little hat and linking to other people's work.
Secondly, now that it looks like Dean may be the Democratic nominee, the half-vast Rightwing Smear Machine (of which Drudge is a major part) is starting to shift into gear with much ado about nothing mini-revelations about Dean. These, in turn, will be picked up by the fringes of the media (the Corner, Fox News, various whore pundits) until they percolate up (or down as the case may be) to the Tim Russerts of the world. Then, like the Al Gore invented-the-internet, earth-tone clothes, dropped out of college stories, they become the focus of the campaign instead of dealing with the real issues.
For most journalists these days, it sure beats working.....
(Added): Atrios has more evidence that Drudge made it all up.
posted by tbogg at 8:14 AM
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Tuesday, November 25, 2003
"Patriotism...the first refuge of politicians"
After reading, oh, about fifty blogs today, I was suprised that I didn't see a link to today's Richard Cohen column (maybe I just missed it). Anyway it's a good one, very blunt, and must reading...:
If patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, as Samuel Johnson said, then it is the first refuge of politicians. That at least is the case with the Republican National Committee -- and by implication the White House -- which has started running a television commercial defending George Bush's handling of the Iraq war, saying the president's various Democratic opponents are attacking him "for attacking the terrorists." Not really. It's for doing such a bad job of it.
This despicable attempt to muffle criticism by throwing the flag over it may or may not work. Whatever the case, it does not change the fact that the United States went into Iraq for reasons that now appear specious and so distantly related to the war on terrorism that the connection seems merely rhetorical. Saddam Hussein lives and Osama bin Laden lives and yet somehow the Bush White House wants nothing but congratulations. Mine will have to wait.
posted by tbogg at 3:57 PM
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It's like the Oprah Book Club, but with fewer dysfunctional families....
Kevin at CalPundit has Bill Clinton's favorite 21 books up. I can proudly say that I've read five of them and I just bought King Leopold's Ghost about two weeks ago. I'm sure I'll get to it soon just like another of President Bill's favorites The Confessions of Nat Turner, which I bought in 1972 and read in January of this year.
I've been busy, okay?
Anyway, his list is a little heavy on the non-fiction and, like many of Kevin's readers point out, a little "calculated" looking. Would it kill him to admit that he liked The World According to Garp or Lonesome Dove?
This will, of course, cause many bloggers (including myself) to start compiling our favorite 21. Prepared to be...bored.
posted by tbogg at 2:02 PM
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Apparently he was terrorizing www.nakedbritney.com
Remember the big hoopla over the Incredibly Evil Terrorist Muslim Chaplain of Guantanamo? Big Drudge headlines? Moles within our military?
It was porn.
A Muslim chaplain who served at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was charged Tuesday with adultery and storing pornography on a government computer, a U.S. Southern Command spokesman said.
Army Capt. James Yee (search), who worked at the prison camp for terror suspects in eastern Cuba, was released from custody Tuesday after being served with the additional charges, Raul Duany, a spokesman for U.S. Southern Command in Miami, told The Associated Press.
He was arrested earlier this year in Florida and confined to the military brig in Charleston, S.C.
Military officials brought the additional charges after an investigation, Duany said. The charges include storing pornographic images on his computer, having sexual relations outside marriage, disobeying an order and making a false official statement.
Meanwhile at the Pentagon, hard-drives are being frantically cleaned up....
Josh Marshall is a bit more serious about what this means.
posted by tbogg at 1:38 PM
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I have an erection and I not afraid to use it.... If only I knew how...
Virgin Ben.
Virgin Ben when he realizes what he's been missing.
Lookin' mighty butch, I must say....
(Thanks to the many readers who sent me the link)
posted by tbogg at 1:06 PM
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Bring on the Teamsters....
The Teamsters link arms with the UFCW in the Southern California grocery strike.
Good.
posted by tbogg at 10:24 AM
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Are you a RoveHo?
Via Whitehouse.org we bring you:
I Love Karl Rove
Make sure you read this entry.
posted by tbogg at 9:45 AM
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Dancing on the edge
Nathan Newman has a terrific post up about the character of Alan Shore on television's The Practice.
As a rule I don't watch a whole lot of TV, what with the blogging and the reading and the life that needs to be lived. But on Sunday night, as a family, we watch Alias and The Practice as part of our Mormon-inspired-but-we're-not-Mormons "family night". Actually, I don't really pay much attention to Alias except to see what wig and how few clothes they put on Jennifer Garner, and I pay only slightly more attention to The Practice ...until this season. I love the character of Alan Shore. I love his lack of ethics and his moral relativism in the pursuit of doing the right thing, and I think that Nathan hits the nail on the head when he writes:
we may be seeing a turn against procedural liberalism and a new idea that justice winning is more satisfying than a noble loss that obeyed the rules.
I hope that everyone sees that, when the other side is busy playing Calvinball with the rules, it's foolish to restrict yourself to the straight and narrow.
Winning is better than losing.
posted by tbogg at 9:34 AM
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Banzai!
It was a sleepy November morning when suddenly from out of the south:
A sneak-attack caller yesterday launched Rush Limbaugh into a defense against charges he was a hypocrite for demanding tough sentences for drug users while he himself was taking black-market pain killers.
"It's not hypocritical because my behavior doesn't determine the value of right and wrong - nobody's does," Limbaugh told listeners.
The caller "Mike from Miami" had made an innocent comment about a congressional vote and then suddenly blurted, "How do you equate hypocrisy and addiction, pillhead?"
Limbaugh, who seemed slightly rattled, responded to "Mike's" original comment, delivered a warning to crank callers that "we are prepared here," and moved on - returning to discuss the hypocrisy issue later in the show.
"If I were to admit I'm a hypocrite, then I'm going to be disqualified from being able to say what I think is right and wrong.
"I'm not going to let anybody take that away from me," he said.
"Whatever I did I did, but it doesn't change what right and wrong are."
Which, of course, didn't answer the question. Then Rush used an unfortunate analogy:
"The liberals do the same thing with defense," he said. "They try to say that people who didn't serve in the military can't talk about defense. People who wish to be exempt from any moral judgment [are] taking the occasion of my story to try to weaken the whole concept of right and wrong by taking shots at me," Limbaugh said
...which brings up that whole pilonidal cyst thing all over again.
The drugs...they keep talkin'.....
posted by tbogg at 8:56 AM
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Monday, November 24, 2003
That tingly feeling...
Porn for Rush
Bill Frist...what a tease...
posted by tbogg at 11:11 PM
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"...the rightist makes a compelling argument, as long as you don't actually count reality"
Skippy on how, when it comes to culture, the Right Wing crossed the fifty-yard line and then claims it scored a touchdown.
Meanwhile Young Republicans keep claiming South Park as their own, hoping for reflected "coolness".
...they're still waiting.
posted by tbogg at 10:37 PM
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All right-thinking, god-fearing, patriotic, serious Americans....
I love it when Conservatives throw in qualifiers that allow their readers to be on the right side of any issue.
All right-thinking Americans know that George Bush is God's annointed one and those that don't believe that are just silly and should be incarcerated and later shot.
You know. Stuff like that.
Having said that, all right-thinking serious lovers of music should own Beth Orton's Pass in Time: The Definitive Collection and those that don't are just silly and will be mocked at your local indie record store.
posted by tbogg at 10:22 PM
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The I Don't Like The Drugs But The Drugs Like Me Watch
So, we're, like, totally wasted and then he says:
“Someone wanted to know if I was a hypocrite about my use of painkillers because I have ostensibly said in the past that people who use drugs ought to be punished for it. My answer was, 'No, it's not hypocritical because my behavior doesn't determine the value of right and wrong. Nobody's does.'”
Dude, relativity totally rocks. Later we ate a box of Ding Dongs and played GTA Vice City...
posted by tbogg at 10:02 PM
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Well, it hates you, so I guess we're even.
Mona Charen writes:
I hate popular culture
During the Clinton impeachment year, one got used to viewing television with a trigger finger on the remote, lest the children overhear with too much precision what all the fuss was about. My children are older now, but I still find myself in great sympathy with those home-schooling religious types who simply abjure television and radio altogether; walling off their homes and their lives from the putrescence that swirls outside.
Yeah. Andrea Yates springs to mind...whoops, bad example.
Anyway, Charen rounds up the usual suspects: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al Sharpton, Scott Peterson, Kobe Bryant, Jayson Blair, Eminem, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, and Catholic priests in a column that she obviously knocked out while her Orville Redenbacher finished popping in the microwave. I guess if she had spent some real time on it she could have told us about the killer, the junkie, the gambler, the adulterer, and the drunk.
That would have been fun.
posted by tbogg at 9:55 PM
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Digging in the dirt
You scrape and you scrape and soon you bust through the bottom of the barrel and you get to all the yucky things that dwell beneath. For example:
David Horowitz joins The Corner:
RAMESH, HOROWITZ & FMA [David Horowitz]
My friend Ramesh thinks it’s idiotic to regard amending the Constitution as an alternative to winning hearts and minds. Stated thus it is. But that is not my argument. Of course if you get the amendment passed you have won American hearts and minds big time. But what if you don’t? The Equal Rights Amendment came within one state of passing (if memory serves). Did the feminists win America’s heart and mind? The problem is that not succeeding eats away at the sanctity of the Constitution and encourages others to try it, but even worse to regard it as a rewritable document. Of course the Founders made it rewritable, but at this historical juncture my argument was that that itself is a bad idea. It will remain so until the anti-American left is defeated. Not to recognize this is to put your head in the sand.
Just in time to promote his new book. Hey. It worked for Rich Lowry and Peter Robinson.
I give him two days before he mentions that he was a former "student radical".
posted by tbogg at 9:15 PM
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Reasoning so stupid you can't argue with it
News from a Biblical Perspective:
Militant homosexuals do not deserve equal rights in marriage, because they are not equal to heterosexuals. Heterosexuals produce children, which become the next generation and save the human race from extinction. Two homosexuals do not have the ability to produce children and are not entitled to the benefits of those who can.
Why should it be thought a strange thing that those who choose to find their sexual pleasure with a same sex partner, do not get the benefits of those who choose a heterosexual relationship?
We do not give equal rights on the football field to those who are not equal. The small, weak, do not get equal playing time. They do not get football scholarships because they do not have the capability of contributing to the football team. Likewise, homosexuals do not have the capability of contributing to the future of the human race.
I believe that the "Biblical Perspective" on this one can be found in Leviticus 19:30 where it says:
When pinned deep within thine own territory and faced with fourth and long, thou shalt punt, for there is time enough for a field goal when the LORD allows it and it is within the kickers range. Preferably within the 35.
posted by tbogg at 1:46 PM
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But what is most important is: how much richer will this make Bill Frist?
Since it looks like the unholy alliance between the AARP & the AARP is going to shove the Medicare bill through, it's worth remembering that this bill probably has a silver (and gold) lining for Bill Frist.
Here's a blast from the past:
Frist was born rich, and got richer — thanks to massive criminal fraud by the family business. The basis of the Frist family fortune is HCA Inc. (Hospital Corporation of America), the largest for-profit hospital chain in the country, which was founded by Frist’s father and brother. And, just as Karl Rove was engineering the scuttling of Trent Lott and the elevation of Frist, the Bush Justice Department suddenly ended a near-decadelong federal investigation into how HCA for years had defrauded Medicaid, Medicare and Tricare (the federal program that covers the military and their families), giving the greedy health-care behemoth’s executives a sweetheart settlement that kept them out of the can.
The government’s case was that HCA kept two sets of books and fraudulently overbilled the government. The deal meant that HCA agreed to pay the government $631 million for its lucrative scams — which, on top of previous fines, brought the total government penalties against the health-care conglomerate to a whopping $1.7 billion, the largest fraud settlement in history, breaking the old record set by Drexel Burnham.
The deal also meant that HCA can continue to participate in Medicare. And, as part of the Bushies’ deal shutting down what Deputy Assistant FBI Director Thomas Kubic called "one of the FBI’s highest-priority white-collar crime investigations," no criminal charges were brought against the top HCA execs who presided over the illegal bilking of federal programs designed to aid the poor — and that includes Senator Frist’s brother, Thomas, HCA’s former CEO (and current director), who’s been described by Forbes magazine as "one of the richest men in America," with a personal fortune estimated at close to $2 billion.
posted by tbogg at 1:29 PM
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Nuptials
Until Elvis Costello marries Diana Krall, this is the coolest wedding of the year.
posted by tbogg at 1:10 PM
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That fine line between pornography and getting a hummer in a Hummer.
Personally, I think that disclosing the fact that he had Viagra on him was just rubbing salt in the wound:
A vice chairman of a Louisville anti-pornography group was arrested Saturday night on a prostitution charge.
Police took John W. Riddle, 65, into custody after seeing him in a car at 17th and Rowan streets with a "known prostitute," according to the arrest report.
Riddle, of Clay Avenue in Okolona, is a vice chairman of the anti-pornography organization COMPASS. The organization, whose full name is Citizens of Metro for Property and Safety and Security, has been trying to stop adult bookstores and sex shops from opening near residential neighborhoods.
Riddle resigned his post yesterday, "and we have accepted," said Barbara Davis, another vice chairman of the group.
Police said that Riddle and Mary M. Perry, 42, were each charged with one count of prostitution after they told officers that Riddle had picked her up to have sex for money.
Riddle had a bottle of Viagra in his possession, according to the police report.
I guess the tipoff was that his name is....John.
posted by tbogg at 9:44 AM
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Added to the links...
Freewayblogger.
Because I admire what they do.
posted by tbogg at 9:21 AM
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Now playing...
I'm sure Amazon will be taking this down soon, but go here to their link to Michael Jackson's Number Ones and scroll down to Our Customers' Advice where you'll read:
1 person recommended At Folsom Prison [EXTRA TRACKS] [LIVE] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] in addition to Number Ones
1 person recommended When Your Child Has Been Molested : A Parent's Guide to Healing and Recovery instead of Number Ones
Ouch.
posted by tbogg at 9:16 AM
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"The Americans are like a tribe for us."
I'm getting tired of using "hearts and minds" when it come to describing the relationship between the US Military and the people of occupied Iraq, but this is the type of thing that illustrates that things are not going to get any better in Iraq.
It was a fateful turn in the road. Traveling home one night from a local farm -- where the al-Jumaidy family had bought live chickens for their store in town -- the driver turned the pickup truck on to the highway to Fallujah, which has been the flashpoint for anti-American attacks for months.
Fifteen minutes later, the driver and four passengers lay dead in the vehicle, their bullet-riddled bodies battered by a volley of heavy fire from an American tank, which was part of a mobile checkpoint set up on the dark road.
Among the dead was 10-year-old Khalid al-Jumaidy -- his sweatpants, with the word "Italy," soaked in blood -- as well as his father and two young cousins, ages 18 and 21.
Those are about the only details that are not in dispute. What occurred during those chaotic 15 minutes late on Nov. 11 depends on whom one asks -- American soldiers or Iraqi residents.
Their starkly different versions of how Iraqis are killed by American soldiers is an increasingly familiar feature in the conflict, where neither side speaks the other's language and the truth is often lost in the confusion, leaving rage and frustration on both sides.
"Sometimes I think some of the attacks against American soldiers are not resistance against the occupation," says Shata Ali al-Qurashi, 34, a Baghdad attorney who represents several claimants against U.S. forces, some for wrongful death. "I think they are revenge by people who have claims against the military."
[snip]
Four months after 12-year-old Mohammed al-Kubaisi was mistakenly shot dead on the family rooftop by a passing American patrol, the family has yet to receive any compensation, although U.S. military officers apologized.
The al-Kubaisi's tribal sheikh in Baghdad says he is now considering other forms of redress, which could include killing American soldiers. That decision would be made by a meeting of sheikhs, who regularly rule on inter- tribal disputes.
"If they don't pay our settlement, we'll kill four of them," said Sheikh Abdul Salam Mohammed al-Kubaisi, sitting in his tribal office in central Baghdad near the Tigris River. "The Americans are like a tribe for us."
Similarly, the tribal sheikh representing the al-Jumaidy family in Fallujah says tribal justice seems simpler than applying for U.S. military compensation.
An eye for an eye
posted by tbogg at 8:57 AM
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Democracy...Iraqi style
I see that the Iraqi Governing Council didn't get Paul Bremer's memo about a 'free press". Then again, maybe they did:
The Iraqi Governing Council ordered the Arab language television network al Arabiya to shut down its operation in Baghdad on Monday, sending the Iraq Interior Ministry to the network's headquarters to "seize their uplink and transmission equipment until further notice."
"This is in response to their broadcasting the full Saddam Hussein audiotape" released November 16, according to a spokesman for Jalal Talabani, the council's president.
Meet the new boss....
Juan Cole has another example.
posted by tbogg at 8:35 AM
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Black is white...whatever.
South Knox Bubba provides you with a guide to how the Bush Administration works.
posted by tbogg at 8:06 AM
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The Paglia follies....
...over at Rittenhouse.
posted by tbogg at 8:01 AM
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Sunday, November 23, 2003
Better count the towels too...
Really. It's how he has led his life:
THE Queen is furious with President George W. Bush after his state visit caused thousands of pounds of damage to her gardens at Buckingham Palace.
Royal officials are now in touch with the Queen's insurers and Prime Minister Tony Blair to find out who will pick up the massive repair bill. Palace staff said they had never seen the Queen so angry as when she saw how her perfectly-mantained lawns had been churned up after being turned into helipads with three giant H landing markings for the Bush visit.
The rotors of the President's Marine Force One helicopter and two support Black Hawks damaged trees and shrubs that had survived since Queen Victoria's reign.
And Bush's army of clod-hopping security service men trampled more precious and exotic plants.
The Queen's own flock of flamingoes, which security staff insisted should be moved in case they flew into the helicopter rotors, are thought to be so traumatised after being taken to a "place of safety" that they might never return home.
The historic fabric of the Palace was also damaged as high-tech links were fitted for the US leader and his entourage during his three-day stay with the Queen.
The Palace's head gardener, Mark Lane, was reported to be in tears when he saw the scale of the damage.
"The Queen has every right to feel insulted at the way she has been treated by Bush," said a Palace insider.
posted by tbogg at 9:42 PM
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Some of her best friends are...Oh. Who gives a shit?
Kathleen Parker on gays and marriage and restructuring society and....:
Thus, marriage - for all its flaws and miseries - has evolved to promote, support and nurture that basic necessary unit. If the state goes out of its way to make marriage attractive, it is because marriage is so difficult and, in many ways, unnatural. It is far more natural for humans, animals that we are, to enjoy gratification whenever and wherever than it is to settle for decades into a system of monogamy.
That many fail, however, is no justification for eliminating the goal of the nuclear, male-female, monogamous family, which has worked well if not perfectly for most of civilized memory.
...and she should know:
...Parker's column focuses on social issues related to family, children and gender. Having grown up in Florida with four stepmothers and a variety of siblings -- half-, step- and whole -- Parker says, "I know of what I speak."
Look at how she turned out.
posted by tbogg at 8:36 PM
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Barbarians inside the gates
Nov. 23 — Iraqi teenagers dragged the bloody bodies of two American soldiers from a wrecked vehicle and pummeled them with concrete blocks Sunday, witnesses said, describing a burst of savagery in a city once safe for Americans. Another soldier was killed by a bomb and a U.S.-allied police chief was assassinated.
Tacitus:
Lovely people, keeping alive the grand tradition of lynching and all. What is it with folks in this part of the world and the frenzied public desecration of dead bodies? Mogadishu, Ramallah, and now Mosul. (Not to mention the similar horrors they perpetrate on one another, whether it be to a Palestinian with the misfortune of not hating Jews and saying so, or a Hashemite caught in Baghdad in '58.) Lynching! Alive and well alongside slavery, female genital mutilation, and religious apartheid in places populated mostly by....well, here we go again with the Islam versus culture versus "it's all exaggerated" versus "the Tamils do it too" arguments. I don't have the energy for it.
Barbarous savages.
Back in "this part of the world":
Byrd had his hands up here," Brewer testified, motioning with hands to his face, "and I guess that's when Shawn cut his throat."
The testimony was a startling twist to a brutal story that has attracted global attention.
Prosecutors allege Byrd's murder was carried out to draw attention to the racist gang to which Brewer and King belonged.
While juries in two trials had heard the grisly details of Byrd's death -- chained by his ankles to a pickup and dragged to pieces along three miles of road -- not even law officers were aware Byrd's throat had been cut first.
Gray wasn't convinced Byrd's throat was slashed, saying there wasn't enough blood at the fight scene to confirm it happened. And the autopsy showed Byrd was alive and attempting to hold his head up as he was being dragged, which Gray said doesn't jibe with a victim whose throat has been slashed.
King already has been sentenced to death. Berry's trial is pending. Brewer's trial was moved to Bryan, 150 miles west of Jasper, on a change of venue.
Brewer said he and King, both shaken, retreated to the cab of Berry's pickup after the slashing.
"I was in like a state of shock and I went to sit down directly in the truck," Brewer said.
Berry continued to savage Byrd, Brewer said.
"Tell him to leave that guy alone," Brewer testified that he told King. "He's already cut his throat and now he's kicking him."
Brewer testified Berry then pulled a logging chain out of his truck bed and tied it to Byrd's limp body.
"I said personally, 'You're not going to drag this man like you did that mailbox?'" Brewer said. "And he said, 'I know where we're taking him.'"
Berry backed up over Byrd's body, then drove along the dark roads.
"I told Shawn again, 'Pull over and take the man off ' the chain, Brewer testified. "He said, 'We're almost there. Don't worry.'"
They stopped in front of a predominantly black church, where the remainders of Byrd's body were left.
This is someone's son. Maybe someone's brother, husband, father, uncle.
This is George Bush's Mogadishu moment.
posted by tbogg at 8:11 PM
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Saturday, November 22, 2003
Thought for the weekend.
Sorry, I'm late on this one.
Achievement
posted by tbogg at 10:02 AM
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Friday, November 21, 2003
Then. Now.
Julia has it.
posted by tbogg at 2:03 PM
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A Descent into Maelstrom
Washing the Blog peeks into the journal of a certain drug-addicted, money-laundering, doesn't-wipe-his-ass, bigoted Conservative blowhard.
No. Not him. Not that guy either. Nope, guess again. Look. I know there's lots of them. Keep trying.
This guy.
posted by tbogg at 12:32 PM
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Decomposing
Hide the women and children...especially the children.
posted by tbogg at 12:15 PM
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With great relief, California's blind no longer feel the need to hoard Alpo......
Scenes, and quotes, from the new kid:
When asked during the Sacramento radio show what would happen if legislators don't regard the recall election last month as a demand for change, Schwarzenegger said voters will punish legislators if "politics as usual" does not end.
"If they don't get it, there will be some severe casualties come the election in March," Schwarzenegger said of next year's primary. "There will be some severe casualties on their side come the election in November."
[snip]
"Remember, I won in almost every county in this state," Schwarzenegger said. "I will travel up and down the state again and campaign for those issues."
[snip]
The governor referred to cuts proposed by former Gov. Gray Davis, but rejected by the Legislature, that critics said would prevent the blind from feeding their guide dogs and keep Medi-Cal recipients from obtaining false teeth and artificial limbs.
"I'm not going to cut dog food from blind people," Schwarzenegger said. "It won't happen. I'm not going to (take) prosthetics from people that have disabilities and all that stuff."
posted by tbogg at 11:42 AM
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However the companies called le Halliburton and der Halliburton were given a nice tote bag and a copy of the home game for participating....
Lambert at Corrente points out how the Administration screws over their friends in the Coalition of the Easily Suckered...
Anyone know what the Czech word is for punk'd?
posted by tbogg at 11:30 AM
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The horns! The tail! Oh, the humanity...!
Brent Bozell without comment:
But rock critic Sean Daly saw the new Pink effort as ear-blistering competition for Spears. Pink is "much more intriguing," he wrote, since she had been "smoking, drinking, engaging in same-sex liplocks for the tabloids -- long before Brit snogged Madonna on MTV." In her competition with Britney, Daly reported Pink "comes on like a fighter jet in thigh-highs, dropping jarring F-bombs all over the 13 tracks and machine-gun-delivering a between-the-sheets play-by-play that would make (thoroughly filthy) Lil' Kim blush." In case the lyrics weren't shocking enough, Pink recently appeared on an MTV Europe awards show in a full devil jumpsuit, complete with red horns and a pointy tail.
posted by tbogg at 11:16 AM
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One pill makes you dumber...
Yeah. He's off the drugs. But it looks like we need drugs to understand this:
“We will never eliminate the ozone layer protecting us from disaster, murder, death, pillage, rape and thirst because we'd have to put out the sun if we were to get rid of the ozone.”
I guess it's true. The ones that mother gives you don't do anything at all...
posted by tbogg at 11:06 AM
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Smacking him upside his enormous really creepy Star Trek alien-like forehead.
Dan Drezner slaps around Lileks. Good.
posted by tbogg at 10:53 AM
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"....a grueling, chaotic stew of forced whimsy that utterly lacks imaginative integrity or visual spark."
Someone doesn't like The Cat in the Hat:
In 1957 Dr. Seuss published "The Cat in the Hat," a whimsical story of feline misrule written in infectious four-beat anapestic lines, that forever changed the way American children learn to read. The book's rambunctious main character and its giddy, slightly disconcerting treatment of mischief in the absence of maternal supervision have proven remarkably durable as generations of children have grown to adulthood with its antic rhymes firmly lodged in their heads.
And now Hollywood, perhaps inevitably, has gone and messed it up. Under the supervision of Brian Grazer, who was responsible for the monstrous "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" three years ago, and with the permission of Audrey Geisel, the author's widow and the custodian of his posthumous reputation, the first-time director Bo Welch has put together a vulgar, uninspired lump of poisoned eye candy that Universal has the temerity to call "Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat."
posted by tbogg at 10:12 AM
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The pony under the poop
Sullivan:
What exactly is the strategy behind going after Turkey and Saudi Arabia? We know the motivation - they despise Turkey's secular form of government and they loathe Saudi Arabia's connections to the West. But doesn't this strike you as spectacularly dumb from a strategic point of view? They have only helped make the West's case to the Saudis - that they cannot ignore this threat and certainly cannot buy it off. They may well alienate Turkey's Muslim population. And by murdering Brits, they have hopelessly undercut the anti-Western demonstrations in London. Your average Brit, after all, may be a little queasy about American military power. But when al Qaeda starts murdering British subjects abroad, the sympathy for Arab terrorists (which is a clear under-current of the far left in Britain) begins to look to waverers as sickening as it genuinely is. We may have made errors in Iraq - disbanding the army in May seems in retrospect an obvious screw-up. But the enemy is not without flaws itself. Perhaps al Qaeda is now so disorganized that it is practically incapable of any intelligent strategy. Either way, these terrible murders are indicators of something worth noting: the enemy may be falling apart. This may make it more dangerous in the short term. But it bodes well for eventual victory.
More deaths and attacks = "We're winning!"
posted by tbogg at 8:33 AM
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Does it offend you as a Jew?
No. It offends me as a comedian. -J Seinfeld
Via Atrios we see that Johnny Hart is being an ass again.
The cartoon, which appeared Nov. 10 in more than 1,200 newspapers worldwide -- including The Washington Post -- shows a caveman entering an outhouse at night, and then saying, from inside, "Is it just me, or does it stink in here?"
The first public questioning of this cartoon arose in a washingtonpost.com chat Tuesday, when a reader noted that the cartoon seemed to make no sense, except metaphorically. The reader noted that the cartoon contained six crescent moons -- three in the sky, and three on the outhouse door -- and wondered if this might have been a veiled slur on the world's 1 billion practicing Muslims.
The CAIR e-mail mentioned the moons, and also noted that Hart had drawn a prominent sound effect -- "SLAM" -- between two frames to accompany the closing of the outhouse door. The SLAM was stacked vertically, in the shape of an I, and could be seen to signify "Islam." The cartoon appeared on the 15th day of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.
I'm not eilling to give Hart the benefit of the doubt on this. Although his strip has been routinely unfunny for years, usually there is at least an attempt at being clever. This is sub- Mallard Fillmore territory. And it doesn't get any lower than that.
posted by tbogg at 8:08 AM
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Thursday, November 20, 2003
Friday's outrage comes early...
Bastards:
The Bush administration intends to open 8.8 million acres of Alaska’s North Slope to development of oil and gas, including areas considered environmentally sensitive.
THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT was to announce the oil and gas leasing plan Friday, the day the Senate was taking a critical vote on a massive energy bill endorsed by President Bush but denying him his top energy priority, opening an Alaskan wildlife refuge to drilling.
None of the 8.8 million acres are in the wildlife refuge, but they do include some sensitive areas in Alaska that are important for the protection of migratory birds, whales and wildlife.
Thank you, Ralph Nader.
posted by tbogg at 10:22 PM
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A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest....
Reynolds:
HERE'S A LIVE WEBCAM VIEW of Trafalgar Square. Doesn't look like 100,000 people to me, to the extent you can tell from one webcam. Nor to Andy at World Wide Rant.
UPDATE: This BBC story still says 100,000 are "expected" -- but if you scroll down you'll see that it's really more like 30-40,000. That's about 10% of the number who showed up to protest the fox-hunting ban. And yeah, I know these numbers don't mean much in themselves. But the downward trend seems pretty clear.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Email from London suggests that protesters aren't exactly overrunning the place. And here's a photo from a London blogger's office window that makes the turnout seem less than overwhelming, too.
Reality.
You would think that someone who is so immersed in computers would know better than to rely on a webcam.
But then how could he make his case?
posted by tbogg at 3:20 PM
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He ain't heavy, he's my brother bigot....
David Limbaugh. Liar.
Democrats took the gloves off beginning with Judge Robert Bork's nomination, and they've kept them off. Now one of them (Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts ) is even calling minority-group nominees "Neanderthals."
Ted Kennedy:
"What has not ended is the resolution and the determination of the members of the United States Senate to continue to resist any Neanderthal that is nominated by this president of the United States for any court, federal court in the United States."
Rush Limbaugh:
"Take that bone out of your nose and call me back."
posted by tbogg at 11:46 AM
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On the brighter side, he didn't ask the Queen to pull his finger...
Taking George Bush out in public must age his advisors a year an hour. Todays "Oh shit!" moment for Team Bush:
President Bush indicated Thursday that he could send more troops to Iraq, raising questions about Pentagon statements that the number would be reduced rather than increased in the coming year.
In a joint press conference following his talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the president said he would do "whatever is necessary to secure Iraq" whether that means fewer troops or more troops.
His comment appeared to take top aides by surprise. As the president spoke, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice glanced pointedly toward the press corps assembled inside Britain's foreign office as if to suggest that there might be some clarification coming.
The pointed glances are so much more subtle than the early Administration days of forehead-smacking and eyerolling....
posted by tbogg at 10:37 AM
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They only come out at night
Tuesday, December 9 is National Bush in 2004 Supporter Meetup Day where you can:
Meetup with other local Bush supporters to talk about his prospects for the 2004 presidential race.
But you better get there early because:
So far, 1,839 have signed up.
Where?
San Diego, CA and up to 604 other cities.
Which works out to....oh.....carry the three....ummmmm....just a little over three people per city. Find out where they're meeting in your city and go join the fun. Just look for the lonely white guy with the annotated copy of The Art of War...
(Added): A reader pointed out, and I agree, that nothing would be served by showing up at these "meet-ups" and harassing people. On the other hand, it would be in the service of humanity to make sure none of these people "hook up", if you know what I mean and I think you do. So just observe. Unless they start to couple, in which case throw a bucket of cold water on them. We don't need anymore of these.
posted by tbogg at 9:43 AM
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Department of the Blindingly Obvious
You've got to hand it to the braintrust over at Fox when it comes to making bold predictions. My favorite headline of the year:
Jacko's Career May Be in Trouble
Yuh think?
posted by tbogg at 9:11 AM
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Short attention span blogging...
Sadly, no catches Andy Sullivan just reading headlines again:
Andrew Sullivan offers this knee slapper today:
GOOD NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN: 83 percent of a large polling sample say they are better off than three years ago.
The polling sample was large, but it didn't cover the entire country. And why is that you ask? If you clicked on the link, you know why:
The aid groups stressed the survey does not necessarily represent the views of all Afghans, because security concerns prevented them from getting the opinions of those living in the most dangerous areas.
Sullivan concludes happily thus:
There is still much work to do in that country. But liberation has worked there. It can still work in Iraq.
Go read all the links. There is so much more...
posted by tbogg at 9:04 AM
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Now available on tote bags and mousepads...
Won't someone please help out Jonah Goldberg?:
HELP [ Jonah Goldberg]
The suits want me to come up with some ideas for Jonah and/or Cosmo related merchandise. I find this prospect equal parts flattering and weird. I really don't want people wearing my mug on their clothes -- at least not prominently. What I really need are two things: tasteful, clever, and reasonable ideas (a Cosmo blimp, for example, is not reasonable), and short quotes from me that people think might make for good fodder for coffee cups, t-shirts etc. I've been looking thrrough the couple lists of "Jonah quotes" on the web and all of them are just too long to work. This is all very odd, I know. But if you have ideas or nominations, please send them along.
Jonah's picture captioned with Lucianne's Vaginal Discharge might be a hit with all the cool kids. Someone check with John Leo...
posted by tbogg at 8:38 AM
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Hannity, Coulter, and Rush. Oh my...
If depressurizing the cabin of an airplane with an intellectual vacuum is your idea of fun fun fun, World O'Crap shows you what you can buy on eBay. Oh, and she has a tip for those of you tired of standing inline at the ATM. Now, you too, can have bundles of money delivered to home in small unmarked bills from Tony Montana Savings and Loan.
posted by tbogg at 8:28 AM
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Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Bingo
Mo Dowd hits the nail on the head:
Everything Mr. Bush did in London reinforced the idea that this was a trip made not so much to thank the British people for their friendship, but to send a message to the voters back home that he was at ease as a world leader.
The White House spared Mr. Bush from having to endure a session with the rowdy Parliament and flew him by helicopter over the protesting rabble, who think a bullying Bush administration dragged Britain into the war under false pretenses. (Scotland Yard even wanted to keep the president in a "mobile-free bubble" that would block cellphone calls in his vicinity, but the phone companies refused, calling it "Bush hysteria.")
The White House packaged the visit for the viewers at home.
How else to explain the same Bush advance geniuses who brought us the "Mission Accomplished" banner putting up a blue PowerPoint-ish backdrop for the president's speech at Whitehall Palace that stuttered, "United Kingdom," "United Kingdom," "United Kingdom."
posted by tbogg at 11:19 PM
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Not whores.
They all say so.
In all fairness, they don't come across as sell-outs for a lobbying firm (at least not all of them). I think the proper appellation is "beard". The corporate line filigreed with a smattering of bloggers who are flattered to be considered as real honest-to-God writers makes for an awful persuasive cover.
The sad part is how few of them would even consider the fact that they're being used.
"It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place." -- H.L. Mencken
posted by tbogg at 11:02 PM
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Cooler than a big glass of Metamucil and an evening of Touched By An Angel reruns....
John Leo, who once actually wrote a column that insisited that Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box was about cannibalism, has a line on what is "cool". Yeah. This John Leo. He writes:
This is a new paradigm in pop culture: Conventional liberalism is the old, rigid establishment. The antiliberals are brash, funny, and cool. Who would have thought?
Some of the new conservative success is due to the rise of a large crop of commentators the left has not been able to match. Mostly young and often very funny, they include Mark Steyn, Jonah Goldberg, Michelle Malkin, and Jeff Jacoby. But most of the conservative gains have been in new media. Fox News's large audience skews young, and half its viewers are either liberal or centrist. So Fox isn't just preaching to the choir. It's exposing nonconservatives to conservative ideas.
As mentioned here several times, the "blogosphere"--the world of Internet commentators--tilts strongly to the right. Bloggers like Andrew Sullivan, Mickey Kaus, and Glenn Reynolds of instaPundit have a heavy impact. No excess of the liberal media seems to escape their attention. Among other things, they have mercilessly attacked Paul Krugman, the New York Times columnist and idol of America's angriest liberals. It has been an amazing and, I think, largely successful campaign of informed detraction. (my emphasis)
Who could be cooler than Glenn Reynolds, Jonah Goldberg, Jeff Jacoby, or Mickey Kaus? I mean, besides everyone you've ever met in your life including your grandparents?
posted by tbogg at 12:20 AM
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Tuesday, November 18, 2003
We chose Operation Ivy Cyclone because Operation Massive Redecoration sounded kinda gay...
It takes an occupying force to level a village:
The U.S. military has begun leveling houses and buildings used by suspected Iraqi guerrilla fighters in a new tactic which is part of a more aggressive strategy aimed at crushing the anti-American insurgency, Pentagon officials said Tuesday.
Pentagon officials rejected any comparison to the tactics employed by the Israeli military in the West bank and Gaza, saying the U.S. actions are not aimed at punishing sympathizers, but rather are aimed at eliminating legitimate military targets.
Israel Defense Forces characterized its tactics in a September 30 statement: "The demolition of the houses of terrorists sends a message that anyone who participates in terrorist activity will pay a price for their actions."
[snip]
In Saddam's home town of Tikrit Monday, an Iraqi woman sat among the rubble of a house destroyed by U.S. strikes.
"They destroyed our houses and expelled us. We now have no salaries and no house. Our children are sick. What shall we do?" she complained.
U.S. soldiers said the several homes were targeted as part of phase two of Operation Ivy Cyclone after they were determined to be enemy mortar positions.
Asked if the United States risked alienating the Iraqi population with such heavy-handed tactics, Swannack replied, "I like to remember what Viscount Slim said during the Burma Campaign. He said use a sledge hammer to crush a walnut, and that's exactly what we will do. We will use force overwhelming combat power when it's necessary."
Hearts and minds, anyone?
posted by tbogg at 11:29 PM
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From his mouth to their dumbass ears...
The one nice thing that I can say about money-laundering, junkie, blowhard Rush Limbaugh is that he is smarter than his listeners. Here's proof:
CALLER: Hey, Rush, how you doing?
RUSH: Good, sir.
CALLER: The point I want to make is, you know, I've heard a lot of negative stuff out there, people bashing you, giving you a hard time, and they're focusing on this one thing, you know, and what they're not looking at is 15 years of results, you know, 15 years of you going out there, doing it every day. You worked through your mom dying, you worked through your hearing loss, you know, you never made excuses, no excuses, just doing it. Even when you were gone for those five weeks, the show maintained its quality. You know, your signature was still on that.
RUSH: Well, let me see if I can help you out here. I'll tell you, you know, I hear this stuff. I probably don't hear it as much as you do. Well, you're hearing this on radio and TV and the news and all that sort of stuff, is that what you mean?
CALLER: Yeah, absolutely
RUSH: All right. I don't listen to radio so I don't know what's being said there. ....
Dittoheads. Take a hint....
posted by tbogg at 11:17 PM
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"I'm not sure what this can mean"
Roger Ailes (not the asshole from Fox) has a post up on Andrew Sullivan's inability to understand his mother tongue:
The only way to read Sully's response is that he's fantasizing Bush won't lead the fight for a federal constitutional amendment, but will allow other G.O.P. leaders to front for him. Then he can pretend Bush doesn't mean what he says. (Which is often the case, but not this time.)
To put it simply and bluntly so even Andy can understand it: George Bush thinks you're a useful idiot. You have done nothing to convince him otherwise. To George Bush's base you should have less rights than a fetus.
And speaking of useful idiots:
Washington) Log Cabin Republicans applaud the decision today of the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that same and opposite sex couples must be given equal civil marriage rights under the state constitution.
"Log Cabin has always worked for equal, not special rights, clearly this historic decision addresses that. We call on the legislature and the Governor to follow the direction of the court and provide civil marriage benefits to committed couples in loving relationships," said Log Cabin Executive Director Patrick Guerriero.
No word from Log Cabiners on the White House statement. That should be amusing...
posted by tbogg at 11:04 PM
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The whole truth
Bill Safire, who has somehow hung onto his job long after he passed the point of relevance, wants some folks (including himself!) to fess up to the American public because mistakes have been made:
What if, by some miracle, everyone 'fessed up to mistakes made about the surprisingly easy overthrow of Saddam and its unexpectedly bloody aftermath, and mistakes now being made in building democracy?
(1) In London, the amalgam of isolationists, pacifists and anti-Blair leftists — once certain they would spoil a state visit by branding the U.S. president a monster militarist — would generously admit that they had been a noisy minority, and that their discourtesy triggered a reaffirmation by most Britons of the ties between two freedom-speaking nations that lead the world in defeating tyrants.
(2) Gen. Wesley Clark would have to admit that his early reading of the Pentagon war plan on CNN was unduly panicky. Other analysts who feared heavy civilian casualties, masses of refugees, environmental disaster in the torching of oil fields and the mother of all battles in the narrow streets of Baghdad were in egregious error.
3) Hawkish idealists like me who believed that Iraqi scientists, including "Dr. Germs," would come forward promptly to reveal where supplies of biological weapons were hidden were mistaken, at least for now.
(4) SecDef Donald Rumsfeld would freely admit that he did not anticipate the disappearance of Saddam's intact Republican Guard and the formation of a Baathist terrorist insurgency that would kill coalition soldiers and drive out U.N. and other relief agencies. On the same day, SecState Colin Powell and spymaster George Tenet would admit that their bureaucracies' resistance to the pre-invasion training in Europe of Iraqi expatriate volunteers to perform police and anti-guerrilla duties was unfortunate.
...and it goes on and on and on.
And yet.
Some people are missing...
Being the helpful type, I thought I'd give Bill a hand:
(11) George Bush will admit that he's an empty shell of man who is easily manipulated by others. He started an unnecessary war because he is an incurious shallow man who enjoys the perks of power after a lifetime of failure and disappointment to his family. He will also confess that he feels no remorse for the deaths, American or Iraqi, that he causes on a daily basis because it is easier to convince himself that he is doing a good thing than to ponder anything more complex than a baseball boxscore or what he is having for lunch.
(12) Karl Rove will own up to the fact that he advised George W Bush to go to war against Iraq under the guise of fighting against terrorism because it was the only way that Bush could hope to be re-elected since he comes up painfully short in all other issues facing Americans these days.
(13) Condi Rice will admit that she has been a complete failure at her job when it comes to providing Presidential counsel. In her defense she will point out that, on the rare occasions when she has been correct, she has been overruled by #'s 12 & 14.
(14) Dick Cheney will come out of his undisclosed location and confess to being behind the whole boondoggle with the grand convergence of his gaining closure for not finishing off Saddam under the previous Bush administration, paying off all his buddies from Halliburton who took him under their collective wings and made a poor boy from Wyoming richer and more powerful than he ever dreamed, as well as continuing his advisory role to George Bush as they make their contributors wealthier and wealthier at the expense of the American taxpayer.
That ought to about do it.
posted by tbogg at 10:21 PM
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As far as publicity stunts go, this probably wasn't a good one....
Michael Jackson released yet another Greatest Hits CD today and people were busting down the door to get it.
Police swarmed over pop superstar Michael Jackson's opulent Neverland Ranch, near Santa Barbara in central California, on Tuesday as part of an unspecified criminal investigation, police said.
A Santa Barbara Sheriff's spokesman said sheriff's deputies and officials from the District Attorney's office went to the sprawling ranch at 8.30 a.m. PST to "serve a search warrant as part of an ongoing criminal investigation."
The search was still going on two hours later.
Police did not specify the nature of the investigation, but cable channel Court TV said it stemmed from allegations of sexual abuse brought by a 12-year-old boy against the self-styled King of Pop.
Michael Jackson CD's? Aisle 12...right before R Kelly and after Gary Glitter...
posted by tbogg at 1:57 PM
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One half-assed argument plus another half-assed argument only gets you one whole ass
This is weak, even by Conservative blogging standards. John Cole over at Ballon Juice would like to make the case that Ted Kennedy's "Neanderthal" comment was racist, but his heart isn't really in it. He then tries to make a seperate case that it's a class issue but, again, he can't muster the energy to close the deal, so it's back to race again where he publishes pictures of Miguel Estrada and Janice Rogers Brown and asks:
Alrighty Democrats- time for a test. What would your reaction be if ANY Republican called these folks 'Neanderthals.' Be honest, now.
Okay, since we're being honest: where are the pictures of William Pryor, Priscilla Owen, Carolyn Kuhl, and Charles Pickering and what do they all have in common?
Be honest, now.
posted by tbogg at 1:38 PM
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Keeping the lie alive....
Glenn Reynolds keeps moving farther into Ari Fleischer territory with every post:
Compare the non-attention that this story has received with the credulous reception of the Center for Public Integrity's bogus study claiming cronyism in Iraq reconstruction contracts.
Reynold's link goes to Dan Drezner's Slate article for the "bogus" study. But for those with a slightly longer attention span than the Narrow Minded Professor, you will see below the article that CPI answered Drezner's critique:
We are a bit puzzled by Daniel Drezner's critique of our report, Windfalls of War, in which we attempted to answer a rather simple question: Who is getting federal government contracts from the Defense Department, the State Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development to perform work in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dr. Drezner writes in his critique, "The conclusion of the report…is that a clear quid pro quo exists between government procurement and campaign contributions to George W. Bush." That's a rather breathtaking conclusion, but it's not ours. Anyone reading the roughly 60,000 words we published in the report will have a hard time finding us making such a statement. While the campaign contributions show that many of these companies, their employees and political action committees have been players in the political process, we never argue that there is a "clear quid pro quo" between contributions and contracts. There are myriad other ways in which companies can attempt to influence the federal government, including lobbying and the hiring of well-connected former government officials—nowhere do we state, however, that in any case these types of influence have been rewarded by a "clear quid pro quo."
Indeed.
posted by tbogg at 10:32 AM
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Oh, and Iraq and Viet Nam aren't spelled the same. That's another difference, I just thought of.
Former Senator Max Cleland who lost three limbs in Viet Nam said:
"Welcome to Vietnam, Mr. President. Sorry you didn't go when you had the chance."
But, hey, what does Cleland know? Instead, let's hear from Michael Totten who has never served in the military, never fought, never been to war-time Viet Nam, never been to Iraq, yet can say that Iraq is just a " particularly nasty pothole". He writes:
It has become fashionable among the anti-war crowd to say Iraq is the new Vietnam. "Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam," is a popular bumper sticker.
Former Senator Max Cleland recently went on record as well: "Welcome to Vietnam, Mr. President. Sorry you didn't go when you had the chance."
The war in Iraq really only has one thing in common with the Vietnam War. They're both wars. The differences are significant and worth outlining.
First of all, Iraq is a lot less violent. More than 58,000 Americans were killed in Vietnam. Since the March 19th invasion of Iraq, we've lost fewer than 400. At the rate this is going it will take more than one hundred years before the two wars are comparable.
It's not just a question of scale. Vietnam and Iraq are categorically different animals.
There must be good money in deliberately acting obtuse.
When someone calls Iraq the "new Viet Nam" they are generally saying that it is an unpopular war and that it is unwinnable and because of that, there is no end to it.
Why can't the Chickenhawk Keyboard Brigade understand that?
posted by tbogg at 10:09 AM
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Journalisn't.
According to Tapped via Roger Ailes:
STRANGELY, THIS WASN'T IN THE ONION. The Washington Times reports on an awards ceremony at which the paper's head honcho was honored:
Describing the newspaper he edits as "honest, fair, bold, original, and not afraid of anybody," Wesley Pruden, editor in chief of The Washington Times, accepted the 2003 Barbara Olson Award for Excellence and Independence in Journalism at the annual Washington Club Dinner on Wednesday night.
Sometimes parody writes itself.
Here's today's Wes Pruden column so you can get a taste of that high caliber excellence in journalism:
This is old-home week in London, where the lefties, crazies and doofuses from several continents are massing to protest George W. Bush's excellent adventure.
The clangorous fun started yesterday when a granny in a bright yellow windbreaker climbed the gate at Buckingham Palace to mount an American flag upside down at the queen's front door.
George and Laura arrive today with their cast of nearly a thousand (including 200 scribes and other Pharisees), but the big march is later, the last hurrah for the over-the-hill gang, some from Europe and many from the United States. A lot of them look not only over the hill, but ready for the big sleep under the trees.
Those wonderful folks who missed the last hay wagon home from the '60s are desperate not so much to stop the war as to reprise the glory days of their youth, when sex, friendship and "revolution" flowered in the streets. But the times, they have changed, and Viagra and raisin bran can only do so much.
Breathtaking, eh? Usually Pruden only uses the phrase "big sleep under the trees" when writing about lynchings back in those good old days that he's always wistfully looking back upon.
posted by tbogg at 8:59 AM
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Come on Bill
I got the wedding bell blues
Massachusetts’ highest court ruled Tuesday that same-sex couples are legally entitled to wed under the state constitution, but stopped short of allowing marriage licenses to be issued to the couples who challenged the law. The Supreme Judicial Court’s 4-3 ruling ordered the Legislature to come up with a solution within 180 days.
Let the feces throwing begin:
They may have government approval of queer sex, but they ain't married.
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Statistically, Homosexual couples have the highest rates of domestic violence in the household.
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Good! How about if all of the big 10% of gays in this country move there and get their "in your face" sexuality out of mine.
Including my sister....
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Isn't it good to be a judge in America? You can decide for a Nation ALL right and wromg. All morality. You are, pretty much, answerable to no one. You can chuck out social belief going back MILLENIA! You can redefine a sacred institution out of existence. Yeah, its good to be a judge; up until, I suppose, the noose is going around your neck, and you are reconsidering your part in the utter destruction of The Rule of Law.
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LOL!
How about three women or four men? Two men and a woman?
How about two women and a dog? How about three men and a sheep? It could be endless!
On a series note...I would like to see the stats on drug use in gays. I had Lesbian friends who smoked pot as much as they breathed. My sister has become a big pothead since coming out as well.
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I think it's time for bean town to get wiped off the map ..... disgusting.
posted by tbogg at 8:35 AM
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Monday, November 17, 2003
I don't like the drugs but the drugs like me...actually I did like the drugs.
As we wrap up Welcome Home Junkie Day, lets throw it over to the object of our derision:
Limbaugh hastened to add, however, that the pain was only a contributing factor, not the primary cause, of his addiction, telling his audience, "I took the drugs because I liked them and I found excuses to take them, so I'm not weaseling. I'm just saying that one of the things was that I did not put my health first."
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