Now...

You may call him President Barack Obama.

As in President of the United States of America.

President Obama.

President Barack.

President B.H. Obama.

Dude...is this like real?

PS: Here's a forecast for you. He's going to be the most awesome president ever.

PPS: You wanna know why? Because he's going to call on the most awesome team to back him up.

PPPS: Dude, do I need to tell you who that team is?

PPPPS: Did you vote?

PPPPPS: You did? Good.

PPPPPPS: Now look in the mirror. Is that you? It is?

PPPPPPPS: Well then, welcome to the party pal.

PPPPPPPPS: And yes, that includes you Cros :)

If You Read One Blog Today...

Don't make it mine, make it Sully's. He's been posting up people's recollections of their voting experiences as history unravels. I'm man enough to admit that stories like this make me a bit weepy:

"Got up at 6:00am to vote. Put on my sweatshirt and my jeans that reek of Korean barbecue. I arrived at my polling place, a church, at 6:15. I counted. I was number 50 in line. We still had 45 minutes before the polling place opened. You had to stand. You coudn't sit or even lean against the building. It rained all night. The sidewalk was wet. When the polls opened...there were 200 people waiting. Some in heels. Some in ties. Some in pajamas. Lots of hair pulled back in ponytails. Lots of baseball caps. Dodgers. Red Sox. Indians.

"The line stretched from the church to the Burger King around the corner. Kinda fitting. That's America. Faith and french fries. I watched people walk out with their "I voted" stickers. You could see the smiles...and a few tears. An older woman got her ballot and told the poll worker..."I've voted my entire life, but this is what I have been waiting for.""

May God bless America. May God bless the world.

Election Day

You know what do to.

Sarah Palin's New Job

Cast member of SNL. Seriously, she's provided the funniest material they've had since Will Farrell left.

Hey, she'll need a job after Nov. 5th.

"No Racism Over Here!"

This is an actual GOP flier. Words elude me, but I will tell you my first gut reaction was, "Hey, I miss that Kool-aid guy. OOOOH YEEEAHH!"

Then I was like, "Damn this is some racist shit."

The Last Debate

Seriously, this is what it has come down to. How sad.

Hat Tip: Sully

NameBirdie

When the Teethwife and I got married we found out what a hassle it was for my wife to change her name over to mine. I mean for us to gather all the paperwork, fill it out, pay the charges, and then ship them out to each individual bureau took alot of precious time out of our busy schedule.

Of course, as it always is, it turned out that a friend of mine developed a site called NameBirdie.com that, for a nominal fee, will allow you to download all the forms from one place and tell you where to send them. Plus it's 100% guaranteed. I don't know if anyone who reads my blog happens to be getting married, but if you are, or if you know someone who is, you REALLY need to head over to NameBirdie.com. Take it from me, name changing is something you don't want to go at alone. The time you'll save will let you do more important things--like reading my blog.

SNL Nails It

I'll be the first to say that SNL has fallen off, but this is perfect:



Allow me to make one more point. I don't think there is a liberal around that doesn't have more respect for Hillary now than pre-Palin. Seeing what a sham Palin is really brings into focus how qualified and good a politician Hillary is. Frankly Palin's not fit to carry Hil's bra...

God I want to say something else but I won't.

Why I Haven't Been Posting Up Much

The answer to the above question could be easily answered by saying that I've begun my PhD classes and that I've been incredibly busy. But that wouldn't be the full truth. The real reason I haven't been posting that much is that as a rational human being I don't have much time, or energy, or willpower to write about a what has increasingly become a candidacy of lies; or to be exact, McCain-Palin's candidacy of lies.

Let's be very clear and realistic about this: They are liars. Period. No equivocation. No ambiguity. They are liars in everything they say from claiming that Palin never supported the Bridge to Nowhere, to saying that she never asked for earmarks or McCain saying that the only piece of important legislation that Obama passed was teaching little children sex education. These are all lies.

Here's the video:




What's sicker? The McCain camp has even acknowledged that lying is their strategy:

“We recognize it’s not going to be 2000 again,” McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said, alluding to the media’s swooning coverage of McCain’s ill-fated crusade against then-Gov. George W. Bush and the GOP establishment. “But he lost then. We’re running a campaign to win. And we’re not too concerned about what the media filter tries to say about it.”

Got that? So, to 'win,' we're not concerned by what 'the media filter' (the truth) tries to say. And this is all supposed to sit well with the American public.

Not that the media has been doing much of a job recently. If they were they might as well switch their whole paradigm over to Factcheck.org. (Which probably wouldn't be a bad idea). I understand their need to handicap the race and keep it close, but at some point it wouldn't be a bad idea for us to put on our little patriotic hats and say, "hey, maybe this shit is bad for America." But for some reason we seem to have a problem calling out lies and liars. Even more frightening, we seem to have the hardest time doing so when these lies have the most disastrous results. Sure, the media had no problem calling Clinton a liar when he got caught with Monica, but why is it so hard to call Bush a liar when we found no WMDs, and books have been writing exclaiming the fact that our president knew that was the truth and yet still led us to war? Why?

It's one thing to debate the merits of a particular position when both sides have veracity, but to debate a lie is like masturbating with a vise grip. It's painful and probably won't get you anywhere. The only thing you can do with a lie is expose it and ostracize the liar.

The good news? The truth is out there and the American public, white, black, Latino and the thousand million others in between of all creeds and cultures are reaching their threshold for bullshit. As Sully writes:

"I still believe that the actual truth matters in the world. If propaganda could win in the end against truth, then Bush's approval ratings would be somewhere in the high 80s. They are in the lower 30s. In the end, the American people are not fools. And facts are facts."

You know, I'm going to vote for Obama because I think he's the best man for the job. I have never said that people should vote for him simply because he's a black man or a Democrat. But now I think I have found a simple reason to vote for him. You may disagree with his policies or philosophy, but in the end not only should you vote for him, you must vote for him because Obama in all his liberalness has argued with you honestly, earnestly and truthfully. Against an opponent who's modus operandi is deceit and lies you must, I repeat, must side with the candidate who has treated you in good faith. To reward McCain, a man filled with toxic cynicism, is to endanger and threaten our country, our planet and, perhaps more importantly, reason and truth, which are the building blocks of all human progression.

I Get Rebutted!

Bill Starlin over at AllHipHop.com shouted me out. I think he didn't really respond to my post but you be the judge.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Racism: A Follow Up

Hold on—wait a minute.

When I wrote my last piece for AHH I really had no idea it would set off as much debate as it did. Personally, I figured I’d get a couple of comments along the lines of, “Yawn,” and “Check out my Myspace page!” But I had no idea that so many people would get so heated about a concept that I thought was remarkably redundant. But as I read through some of the comments I realized that much of the anger came about because we really don’t have a definition for institutionalized racism in this day and age. Either we’re using our parents and grandparents definition, or we’re using the signifiers pushed on conservative television. (Did someone say that article was a ‘lame attempt to get African Americans riled up so they can keep passing along racial hatred.”? The last time I heard the term ‘African-Americans’ and ‘riled up’ I think Morton Downey Jr. was on the air.) Both definitions are outdated and polarizing. In fact it’s those very same definitions that keep our discussion on race from evolving. So let’s try to clear it up.

When we talk about racism and in particular, as is the case in my last write up, institutionalized racism, we are talking about two things. The first is the general pattern of the socio-political and cultural foundation of America, which I will refer to as the status quo and the second is the many tools used to maintain that status quo. I don’t need a link to make the point that when this country was founded there was already a built in power hierarchy with English-Protestant whites at the top and African slaves at the bottom (excluding Native-Americans because they were completely outside of that hierarchy, which is why they were nearly exterminated) with non-English whites and people of color in-between. And I shouldn’t need a link to tell you that today, when you look at economic variances between the races; they still echo that same wealth distribution. Why is that the case? Well various segments on the right would like us to think that it’s biological; that, for some reason, people of color lack the motivation, the gumption to pull themselves out of socio-economic positions. But the truth, or at least the truth as I see it, is the primary reason many people haven’t broken out of their pattern yet (and I stress yet, because we are) is because of the historical institutionalized racism that has inhibited growth. It is that tool that maintains the idea that what people of color do is inherently incorrect, sloppy, untrustworthy, and probably, most likely, criminal.

Listen, like millions of Americans I went to see Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and without giving away any spoilers I’d like to quote something the Joker said that is right on the money to this conversation:

“You know what I noticed? Nobody panics when things go according to plan, even if the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow I tell the press that like a gangbanger will get shot, or if a truckload of soldiers will be blown up—nobody panics, because it’s all part of the plan. But if I say that one little old mayor will die…well then everyone loses their minds! Introduce a little anarchy, upset the established order and everything becomes chaos. I’m an agent of chaos. And you know the thing about chaos? It’s fear.”

Love that Joker.

Racism is part of this plan. It is part of the pattern that helps keep the social order and maintain the power structure in the United States. It is one of the many ideas that keep things in its place and it’s based on the fact that, as people, we’d rather stick to the plan even if the plan works against us. Our minds tell us that it’s better to hold on to our cold comfort rather than seek out the warm unknown.

I say this not to be polarizing. I’m not even saying it as a reason not to vote for McCain. Personally, while I happen to be an Obama supporter, I don’t think a person should vote for Obama just because he’s black or just because they want to strike a blow against racism. I personally think that Obama is just the better man for the job and I happen to agree with his relatively moderate liberal views that I believe will negate the negative neo-conservative policies of the Bush admistration. I bring this up only to explore and look at what part racism plays in Republican campaign techniques and why it works or doesn’t work.

Many people were upset with me because they think that the political attacks on Obama are status quo political attacks. Well of course they are! The question isn’t, are they unique, but rather what tool did they pull from their tool box to make these attacks? With Gore they attacked his personality—that’s Xenophobia, he’s not like us. With Kerry they attacked his patriotism—that’s Nationalism, he hates our country. But with Obama they use all of the above plus tons of disrespect and an almost delusional and willing ignorance of his accomplishments, and when you bang that down to the nitty-gritty the fuel that helps them make that argument is racism. You see, it’s easy to believe that what Obama did doesn’t matter, or doesn’t exist because it doesn’t fit in with those racist stereotypes we know about blacks today. It doesn’t fit into the pattern. It’s not part of the plan. OJ is part of the plan. Pac-Man Jones is part of the plan. Flava Flav is part of the plan. But Obama, his biography and his current stature isn’t. Why do you think that the memes of ‘Muslim’ and ‘Terrorist’ and ‘Unpatriotic’ stick so well that they can write whole books that go best seller even though a few minutes on the Internet can expose the lies those books are based on? Because it’s better to just stick to the plan, and, to me, this plan is called racism.

Finally, I just want to make one more point: Racism is stupid, and people who are racists are stupid. Chris Rock once made the point that people who adhere to an ideology without looking at the reality of a situation are idiots, and racism is one of those ideologies. When someone sees a white guy in a suit and automatically thinks they’re a racist Republican—you’re being dumb. And when someone sees a black guy in an SUV and automatically thinks they’re selling drugs—you’re being dumb. But that’s easy and that’s why we do it, both black and white, against ourselves and others. It keeps us safe and insulated against harsh reality that everyone not only has the right to be judged as individuals, but that they should be judged as individuals because it’s the most intelligent and productive decision to make. But in our quest to be color-blind let us not forget that there are people and institutions who use racism to achieve their own ends, and let us not confront them with anger but rather let us look at them eye-to-eye boldly, confidently, and rationally. My post was not meant as an excuse to call people ‘Cracker’ or ‘Nigga’ or to rail off on ‘white supremacy’ and it wasn’t so people can say that people use race as a ‘crutch’ to excuse their own weaknesses. Maybe I did come off a bit heated at some of the blatant hypocrisy of the GOP and McCain, but all in all I intended only to study how racism was being tossed around at the RNC. This election is too important to get bogged down in the tools used by the few rather than to observe the big picture.

The only way to evolve is to first recognize the pattern and then step beyond it never to look back.

O'Reilly's Surprising Column

You know, just when you don't think the world makes any sense you hear something that makes sense and in that rationality the world gets even more Topsy-turvy. For example, Bill O'Reilly just wrote a column summarizing his series of interviews (still airing) with Barack Obama. What occurred in that column was nothing short of amazing. It was pretty darn...fair:

"Like him or not, you have to give Barack Obama credit for waging a smart, focused campaign. Destroying the Clinton machine was a major achievement and so was putting together a successful convention in Denver. Obama is now firmly a part of U.S. history, no matter what happens in the presidential election.

"The problem some Americans continue to have with the Senator is that he is long on charisma but short on detail. This frightens some voters. Who the heck is this guy, anyway? So when Obama finally agreed to speak to me this week, specifics were on my mind.

"First, the man. The Barack Obama I witnessed is self-confident, determined and driven. He was acutely aware of his surroundings from the moment he entered the room. He looks you in the eye and touches your shoulder. He understands how to connect one-on-one.

"As far as philosophy goes, Senator Obama is convinced that the federal government should be in control of income distribution and, to some extent, should regulate the free marketplace. That is a classic liberal position, and Obama promotes it well.

"The Senator also believes that poor Americans have a basic right to free health care and monetary supplements from the government with no strings attached. The American substance abuser, for example, would derive the same benefit as a hard working, laid off worker would. Again, classic liberalism. No judgments made regarding entitlements.

"So, if Barack Obama does become president, there will definitely be change. His left-wing base will demand it, and he will come through. You can decide if that's change we should believe in, but keep in mind that the unintended consequences of government interference in the marketplace are impossible to predict. Free markets have a way of chafing under government imposition.

"On the foreign policy front, Obama has convinced me that he is tough but cautious. He rose up quickly because he vehemently opposed the Iraq war. But now I see a man who understands the victory that has taken place in Iraq. I don't believe he wants to screw that up. I could be wrong.

"After going mano-a-mano with Obama on television, I am also persuaded that he is a sincere guy—that he wants the best for all Americans. He's an ideologue, but not a blind one. He understands that his story is incredible, and, I have come to believe, he is grateful to the American system for allowing it happen.

"It is true that we don't know whether Senator Obama has the ability to solve complex problems, but you can say that about all presidential contenders.

"Like most politicians, Obama has used guile and good luck to accumulate his power. He can be ruthless, kind, unfair, and generous. In short, he's a real person trying to achieve an unreal position—that of the most powerful person in the world.

"God help him."

Just particular to note, O'Reilly, consciously or subconsciously, has completely undermined the GOP's whole strategy by stating that Obama is tough--the subtext being that he'll keep America safe. If that's so then what does McCain really have to offer?

PS: "Mano-A-Mano" Are you kidding me? I thought Ford Fairland put an end to that shit?

RNC: The Empire Strikes Back

My wrap up of the Republican National Convention back on AllHipHop.com.

And yeah, I'm still mad.

Yep, That Crazy American Dream

I'd almost forgot about this:

"The one moment that stays with me tonight, oddly enough, was not Palin's speech. It was a line from Giuliani, a New York mayor with a young second third wife and gay friends, mocking a "cosmopolitan" who was brought up by a single mother. It was that Barack Obama's rise could "only happen in America." And it was designed to mock him, the first African-American candidate for the presidency of the United States."

Hey Rudy, wanna know what else can only happen in America? Only in America can the descendants of Irish immigrants grow up to be a complete Douchebag on television.

Palin Comes on Strong

Some day I'm going to have to pay CNN for these pics.

Well Palin gave her speech tonight; she had to nail it and she did. Regardless of her experience, or lack of, there is one thing that is striking-- she's got gumption to spare. She came out swinging and she left swinging attacking Obama with everything in the GOPs arsenal. She didn't come out as an appeal to Hillary supporters, she came out as an answer to Joe Biden, with a thicker spine than Rudy Guiliani but better legs. Without a doubt she will energize the Republican base.

And yet, I feel desperation coming off of them in waves. Everything about, not only Palin's speech, but the entire RNC platform reeks of fear, from their complete lack of respect for Obama to their blatant hypocrisy, to their attacks on the media (been a long time since they were your 'base' huh McCain?), to their outright lies (Let's see Palin's "Maverick status" hold up for the next couple of weeks) all tell of a blitzkrieg ploy that sees no farther than the end of the week.

If McCain follows the plan then he'll get his bounce. People will eat this stuff up. But when the mist settles and the last piece of confetti is swept up the GOP will still be the party of Bush and his cross will be theirs to bear, and no amount of cute jokes will alleviate that weight.

These debates will be killer.

PS: Seriously, what up with everyone playing hot potato with Palin's kid? I mean isn't it past that kid's bed time, or is this just more Republican family values?

The Republican National Convention Day 1

Didn't watch it. Sorry I was out in Hoboken where they have a restaurant that serves a bucket of wings and a picture of wings for 12 bucks watching the Yankees beat, I don't know, some team. Now that I think about it, I might as well have been watching the RNC. After all, both teams have no shot at a championship but they both keep swinging for the rafters. As for me though I'd rather watch Jeter, A-Rod and Giambi any day over Bush, Thompson and Lieberman.

In any case if you're dying for coverage (and who wouldn't!) check out Klein and AL for their take.

The Downside To Palin and Tall (Copyright pending)

Ponnuru's got 'em.

On the upside: Gib's now got a reason to vote for McCain.

It's Official

Sarah Palin and Tall will be McCain's running mate.

Game on.

PS: I want credit for that pun!

Another Take On Obama's Speech

Substitute Obama for Juggernut and McCain for Charles, and his speech last night was something like this:



And of course, Black Tom is Joe Biden.

Will McCain Pull a Rabbit From His Hat?

Danger Will Robinson! Danger!

According to the AP, it looks like McCain might tap Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. This does not bode well for the Obama campaign. I first heard of Palin over at Cros' Blog, where he made the case, sucessfully, that she'd be McCain's best choice:

"It's no secret that I think the best GOP #2 is Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. And I swear it's not just because she's 1) female, and 2) hot, although neither of those is a drawback. The narrative Palin brings would be compelling if she were an ugly dude. She ran as a Republican against a corrupt Republican establishment in Alaska, and is the best spokesperson to argue for continued Republican leadership while acknowledging and addressing the problems that started happening once the GOP got used to being in power. She is so popular in Alaska that if she had the approval ratings of Strickland or Sebelius, she'd resign in disgrace. And it bears repeating that she is the only potential candidate who could "out-hot" Obama.

"What? He's a good-looking guy."

Cros later goes on to say that her main problem was the same criticism that the GOP was trying to glue to Obama, which is that she's inexperienced. However, after last night that criticism might not have the same strength that it used to. It's still a long shot, but if Palin did accept then Obama's Joe Biden selection is going to lose some of its power. Biden would have been free to beat the crap outta just about anyone in the GOP but it won't look nearly as palatable if he starts chopping off this woman's head, especially with the bio she brings. This isn't a game winner, but she would definately make alot of independants think twice, as well as show that the mainstream GOP is looking to grow and evolve.

UPDATE: Looks like there is a bit of rust on Palin's armor, but by Alaskan standards it doesn't seem too important.

I'm Calling It Like A Medical Examiner...

Time is (checks wristwatch as I chew on my cigar) 10:54, yup the McCain campaign is dead.

I'll get more into it tomorrow but Obama won the election tonight. When both Pat Buchanan and Bill Kristol can't come up with shit to complain about, AND say that he exceeded expectations then you know it's over. Like a Klansman pulling off his hood and saying "Well gee, maybe I gotta rethink this whole lynching thing..." Obama came like Onyx with the lightening and the thunder. (Ha top that Coates!)

Anyway, the full text is here. Hope you saw it, cause if you didn't you just missed a bit of American history.

Just A Point

Have you seen the crowd at mile high? I think if anyone looks at Obama too hard he's going to get smothered by a multicultural crowd all trying to catch a bullet.

Did You Catch 'Em?

Al Gore gave a speech. I think it was actually a half hour long but he fit it into five minutes like that Fed Ex dude. Anyway, it was a hell of a speech, profound and intelligent. I'll be sure to post it up as soon as I can.

PS: Did anyone watch Stevie Wonder on Msnbc? Yeah, it's gay but I probably enjoyed the shots of the panel dancing WAY too much.

The Best Speech of the DNC

Someone check John Kerry, because I'm not sure if it was him up there last night or a reverse pod person. His speech (which I missed because our great and powerful media Oz's thought it would be better to let their talking heads speak) was not only the best speech of the convention, but the best speech of Kerry's life. It was personal, it was hard, it was the definition of 'red meat'. Last night John Kerry was the man who we thought he was going to be in 2004 and then some, a fighter, a thinker, a man. If you haven't seen it then check the vid below. Simply amazing.

The Bill Clinton Speech: DNC Night 2 part 1

Sully hit all the notes here. Pres. Clinton, who's had me pulling out my hair several times this primary season, nailed it tonight. Like Hillary, Bill also gave his unequivocal support to Obama, plus, for the first time since the convention began, he started focusing the Dems attack strategy with specific and harsh condemnations of the Bush policies that have led to our abysmal ecomonic plight.

Now the ball's in Biden's court.

Update: Swish--Biden drops the trey. Uses Michelle's intro format, but then, after establishing his credentials bashes McCain over the head with them. The 'Obama's right, McCain's wrong' piece worked perfectly. I hate to be Mitt Rommey, er, I mean McCain's VP when he's got to debate Biden.

The Obama cameo at the end...I thought it was a bit too theatrical, dare I say, WWE for me. I almost expected him at the end to ask if they knew what Obama was cooking. But I suppose they loved it at the convention.

Either way, the table has been set, the intros have been made, and the Dems are about as unified as they'll ever be. In the end, it's all about Obama.

DNC Day 2

For your full recap check out Sully and Kiko. My thoughts? Time for the Dems to pull out the stops during prime time. While they've had some good lines (Sebelius': ""You all remember a girl from Kansas who said 'there's no place like home.' Well, for John McCain, there's no place like, and home, and home, and home, and home.") there haven't been any hard body blows. Well now is time to bring home the disaster of the Bush adminstration and how McCain will continue those policies. It's time to say the words "torture", "civil liberities", and "secret prisions". Until then, this DNC is heading to be a complete snoozefest.

Ever Wonder Why...

...some people get teeth-gnashing, eyes-bulging, angry about politics? Ezra's got the answer:

"There's a tendency to want to sugarcoat the outcomes of elections. You can say you disagree with McCain's policies because universal health care is important and humane and social programs are just and decent and upper-crust tax cuts are regressive and shameful and he's on the other side of all those opinions. What you're not supposed to say is that if John McCain is elected, the policies he has signaled he will pursue will harm the country's health, defund its safety net, lead to untreated illnesses, reduce mitigation of the ravages of poverty, and, in many cases, the outcome will be sickness and death and homelessness and, for those cut off from health coverage and help, probably hopelessness, too. McCain, for his part, would argue that even so, tax cuts are a matter of fairness and it's more important that health insurance is primarily private than that health insurance is actually accessible. And fair enough. But no reason we should ignore the implications of that philosophy."

But too be fair, too much outrage, no matter how righteous it might be, can become banal. "Bush lies, people die" may be true but it's not a persuasive argument to most.

The Heart of The Matter

Must Read Of The Day

Gib answered my call and then proceeded to take me to school. I'm reprinting his comment here. Read it, and then pray you never show up on the opposite side of his court room:

"First, the author of the post you link is wrong when he says drunk drivers who kill never get such sentences. It's harder to convict drunk drivers of murder, because a mental state such as "reckless disregard" or "depraved indifference" must be found, but it can, and has, happened. (Martin Heidgen in New York being the example that springs to mind) Drunk driving killers have also been convicted under the felony murder rule in states where your 3rd DUI is a felony, for instance. I think much of this writer's outrage is predicated on this erroneous assumption. Also, Brian Nichols (to name another) has claimed to be mentally ill as well, and may very well have a diagnosed mental illness. But because he used a gun to take his lives, rather than a car, I suspect the author has less sympathy for him. If Alvarez had gotten drunk, tried to "play chicken with the train," and caused the death and destruction he had done, I am virtually certain he would be in the exact same legal position he is in now. There may be an argument that the legal system doesn't properly address crimes committed by the mentally ill, but the argument linked to isn't it.

"Also, terms relating to mental illness have very specific meanings in the legal field. That Alvarez had something wrong with him mentally may be true, however, since it didn't prevent him from understanding what he was doing or why he shouldn't have done it, he's as legally culpable as you or I would be. Mental health defenses rarely succeed - basically, since whatever illness he has, he's still capable of understanding the world around him, which means he can be expected to follow society's rules.

"Next, if you read the orginal article, you'll see that the jury did not believe his claim that he was trying to commit suicide. It was in the defendant's interests to portray himself as crazy as possible, but that doesn't make it true, and disputed facts should be viewed in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict. (At least, that's what I tell the Court of Appeals, and they seem to agree.)

"Finally, his mental illness probably did benefit him to some degree - he was convicted of capital crimes, which allow only a sentence of death or life without parole. He was not sentenced to death, despite a crime with a staggering human cost, and the only reason I can think of to spare his life would have been some variant of mercy shown because of mental illness.

"How was that?"

Teddy's Farewell and Michelle's Introduction: DNC Night 1

For those of us who've been following Barack and Michelle's story what we saw last night was nothing new, but the platform of the 2008 Democratic National Convention placed their narrative in a whole new light. For the first time we saw the most popular national party cheer, and rally behind an African-American family and the starkness of the images; the standing ovations, the tears and the laughs displayed that we have reached a turning point in American history. If you watched Olbermann and Matthews gush and tear up at the end you could tell that something had happened; it was a watershed in our country's politics and it seemed pretty apparent that what the Democrats had hoped for last night: that the Obama's could re-introduce themselves to the American voters, was a complete success--no matter what rain Fox News could drop on this event. It's become clear, at least to this writer, that Michelle completed the first goal of the DNC, which was to prove to the American public that her story is their story and that she and Barack, not John McCain, shares American values and the 'pull yourself up by your own bootstraps' mentality. You'll find that not everyone believes her. Some people will assume that everything from her narrative to the kids hamming it up at the end was completely fake. So be it. There is nothing you can say or do with naysayers. But for the rest of us the entire spectacle was extremely emotional and honest.

Furthermore, considering some of the issues the Obama's are having with the Clinton side of the party, I think Michelle's speech went a ways to wooing them to Barack's side. Her praise of Hillary Clinton came off as natural and admirable, but beyond that her story seemed like a liberal success. To paraphrase Chris Matthews, if you believe that social reforms can make a difference, if you believe that sometimes hardworking people need help to get on their feet then the Obama's are proof that such things can work. Coming off of the heels of Teddy Kennedy's speech (another emotional moment), Michelle made it clear that it was proposals such as those the Senator pushed in his tenure that has made this moment possible and it will these same programs that Obama will strengthen and continue. Yes, Rove and Pat Buchannan were correct that Michelle didn't really make an effort to extend a hand to conservatives but it's become apparent with the selection of Joe Biden that this ticket is finally going to take the chance that Americans are liberal and want what liberals, and only liberals, can offer. It's a gutsy proposition but after the past two presidential defeats this might be the time for that particular strategy. After all, watching the entire Obama family up on stage last night with the nation around them it has become apparent that now is the time for miracles.

Hey Gib!

Have you heard about this story? Your thoughts?

And of course I welcome input from the rest of my readers as well. (That means you Kiko)

Not For Nothing...

But I think McCain does have a reason for this:

"This is interesting. Part of the McCain Celebrity, as packaged for the evangelical base, is the rescue of two Bangladeshi girls at the behest of Mother Theresa, one of whom, Bridget, they subsequently adopted. During my live-blogging of Saddleback, I described the McCain adoption story as "peerless." And it is indeed an admirable, selfless thing - and a completely legitimate aspect of a candidate's life to be part of his campaign message. The story of how Mother Teresa talked them into it makes it all the more poignant.

"The only trouble is: it's not true."

If anyone remembers McCain took the whole shaft from Bush in 2000 when Rove pushed polled the story that this adopted kid was sired by McCain, out of wedlock with a black woman and that might have destroyed his presidential hopes. Probably trying to arm himself against a similar attack, McCain embellished the story so that people would remember, a) that the kid was adopted and b) that it was such a good thing since Mother Theresa (a good person) was behind it.

What sad about this, besides the fact that Americans could be so racist as to actually believe the Rove tactic, is that now McCain is using some of the same BS against Obama. But I guess if you can't beat them...

Counting is Fun!!

By the way, I think 1,2,3,4 has now become the most useful song since 'Happy Birthday' and 'Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuttin to F_ck Wit!' How was the latter useful? Well I was planning to F with the Wu-Tang but then I heard the song and I didn't. Smart move on my part.

The Bottom Line

Sully's got it:

"If your house just got foreclosed on, or you can't afford the mortgage any more, this is not someone you can easily identify with:

Those real estate holdings include a Sedona ranch with three dwellings, worth $1.1 million; a Phoenix condominium suite that had originally been two units, worth $4.7 million; an $847,800 three-bedroom high-rise condo in Arlington; an oceanfront condo in La Jolla, Calif.; a half-million-dollar loft in Phoenix purchased for their daughter Meghan; another Phoenix condo, worth $830,000; and two beachfront condos in Coronado, Calif, one of which is valued at $2.7 million. The other was purchased just this year, as McCain was lamenting the difficulties that struggling Americans were facing just to make their mortgage payments. Cindy McCain told Vogue magazine the family needed the second condo because the first was getting too crowded as their family grew.

I don't know about you, but this is more distant to me than someone who just earned a bunch of royalties for a book he actually wrote himself."

Yes, Yes, YES!

More of this please:



Thank you sir may I have another? Ok then:

Allow Me To Correct Myself

Turns out neither John McCain not Tom Cruise is the original Maverick. It's actually James Gardner, as the evidence shows.

Must Read Of The Day

Ezra Klein on John Edwards downfall, and the media's hypocrisy. Money quote:

"This year, the Republican primary was composed primarily of confessed adulterers. Fred Thomas, Rudy Giuliani, and John McCain – yes, the very same John McCain who the media lionizes and who may indeed become president – have all cheated on their spouses, some of them multiple times, some of them in cruel circumstances. McCain’s infidelity came while his first wife was crippled by a car accident. When McCain stood on the stage of Saddleback Church on Saturday night and said "I was responsible for the breakup of my first marriage, due to my immature and very bad behavior,” that’s what he was talking about. Yet, somehow, the establishment manages to forgive him. Michael Barone does not write columns on McCain’s transgressions. His election is not considered implausible.

"That is because there’s no ache to tarnish McCain’s sainthood. No desire to construct a narrative incorporating the Keating Five and personal infidelity and dizzying ideological shifts keyed to political ambitions into some sort of incoherent whole that wrecks McCain’s reputation. With Edwards, by contrast, there is. In 2004, running as a cautious and quiet centrist, he was a darling of the establishment. But his populist reinvention enraged them. Unlike McCain’s transformation from an unpredictable renegade who almost joined the Democrats in 2002 to a doctrinaire conservative who out-Reaganed the competition in 2008, Edwards’ drift to the left cast immediate doubt on his basic integrity. From there, it was almost a competition to decisively prove his essential phoniness: His $400 haircut was somehow far more damning than McCain’s $500 loafers. His willingness to raise taxes on his lavish lifestyle showed hypocrisy, while McCain’s eagerness to cut his own taxes by about $370,000 hasn’t detracted from his “country first” posturing. Edwards’ apologetic admission of an affair now discredits his politics, even as McCain’s leverages apologetic references to his own affairs in order to burnish his reputation as a somber straight-talker willing to accept responsibility for his actions."

And Lets Get One Thing Straight...

This is not the "Original Maverick":























This is:























Now could you shut up with that stupid, lame ass ad? Jesus John don't re-break your arm patting yourself on the back!

Move Over Jon Voight

You're not the only loonie running free:

"Regardless of law, marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down, so it can be replaced with a government that will respect and support marriage, and help me raise my children in a society where they will expect to marry in their turn. Biological imperatives trump laws. American government cannot fight against marriage and hope to endure. If the Constitution is defined in such a way as to destroy the privileged position of marriage, it is that insane Constitution, not marriage, that will die," - Orson Scott Card, Mormon Times."

That was almost as silly as Empire.

Hat Tip: Sully

21 Should Only Be Blackjack

According to Ezra, some powerful people want to lower the drinking age:

"A 100 college presidents -- including the executives of Dartmouth, Duke, and Syracuse -- have signed a letter calling on Congress to lower the drinking age to 18. "Twenty-one is not working," they say. "A culture of dangerous, clandestine 'binge drinking' -- often conducted off-campus -- has developed.""

Not quite sure about the logic of this argument. After all, why should making drinking legal stop binge drinking? I've been binge drinking since I was 17, and if they had of lowered the legal drinking age to 17 I...would have still been binge drinking. People binge drink not because they're "rebelling against the system" but because, like Samuel Jackson Beer, "It'll get cha f_cked up!"

By the way I'm all for lowering the drinking age. I think it's obscene that we, as a nation, can send kids to die and kill but don't allow them to have a nice, soothing Colt 45. Also, as a patron of bars, I think 18, 19, and 20 year old women should have the chance to hang out with me. It's only right.

Don't Go There

Over at Sully's blog, Andrew notes that a couple of other bloggers have been criticizing him for questioning the authenticity of McCain's "Cross in the Dirt" anecdote:

"Dean Barnett thinks the cross in the dirt wild goose chase betrays a sense of panic among Obamaphiles:

By all means, let’s focus more attention on McCain’s stint at the Hanoi Hilton. Maybe the Obama campaign will offer up as a counterpoint Obama’s supremely courageous opposition to the Iraq War while on the front lines of the Illinois state legislature. And by all means, let’s have the left continue its campaign to minimize McCain’s service in Vietnam. That should work wonders for Obama!

Megan is similarly puzzled:

The only way this would actually hurt McCain is if you found a signed letter from him saying that this never happened. Since it's very unlikely that such a letter exists, the very best that this effort will achieve is sowing seeds of doubt in a few minds, making themselves look desperate to almost everyone else (and thereby making people wonder what's wrong with Obama, that they're this desperate), and outraging a number of people that you would call McCain's honor into question with absolutely no evidence, or hope of obtaining [some]."

Allow me to add in my voice to Dean and Megan's. While there's no doubt that the story does seem like it was, at best, pieced together from other material (not going to put in links, just check out Sully's blog from the last week for evidence) it doesn't belie McCain's greater narrative, and in the public sphere this questioning is undoubtably going to look desperate and nitpicky. And if any real hard evidence did pop up proving that McCain made the whole thing up, he'll probably just hold a press conferance claiming that he forgot. After all the American public seems to be very forgiving of old white guys with soft heads.

Seems to me that a more productive attack would be to remind people that McCain is a cheater who has no idea about the value of money.

Been Fishing

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that I've been on extended leave from WOTP because I've been tanning in Puerto Rico and busy working on a screenplay. I will be back to work shortly, hopefully before the conventions.

Did You Know...

That Jon Voigt was out of his mind? Check out a snippet of this op-ed he wrote in the Washington Times:

"Sen. Barack Obama has grown up with the teaching of very angry, militant white and black people: the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Louis Farrakhan, William Ayers and Rev. Michael Pfleger. We cannot say we are not affected by teachers who are militant and angry. We know too well that we become like them, and Mr. Obama will run this country in their mindset.

The Democratic Party, in its quest for power, has managed a propaganda campaign with subliminal messages, creating a God-like figure in a man who falls short in every way. It seems to me that if Mr. Obama wins the presidential election, then Messrs. Farrakhan, Wright, Ayers and Pfleger will gain power for their need to demoralize this country and help create a socialist America."

The good news? This totally gives me a chance to post up a pic of Angelina Jolie.

Roar.

More Honest Poltics

Now they're just being silly:

"Only a celebrity of Barack Obama's magnitude could attract 200,000 fans in Berlin who gathered for the mere opportunity to be in his presence. These are not supporters or even voters, but fans fawning over The One. Only celebrities like Barack Obama go to the gym three times a day, demand "MET-RX chocolate roasted-peanut protein bars and bottles of a hard-to-find organic brew -- Black Forest Berry Honest Tea" and worry about the price of arugula."

I said it once, and I'll say it again: If McCain wins in this election then the US will have to be the DUMBEST country in the world.

This Video Makes Me Feel Like A Loser

But good at the same time. Just to note, I've been studying guitar and bass on an off for the last 10 years and I can barely play scales. This guy...well just check out the video:



Hat Tip: Dish.

Multi-Million Dollar Advice

Guess we now know why Hillary lost. She was listening to this idiot.

And here's the kicker...she paid him 4.3 million! That's not leadership I can believe in.

Asshole of the Day

Jesse Washington with his article, "Can minority journalists resist applauding Obama?"

I'm foaming at the mouth right now so I'll let MY inject the snark:

"Say what you will about Michelle Malkin, but I'm pretty sure she can resist applauding Obama. Meanwhile, can white journalists resist applauding John McCain? I'm sure a handful of them can, but McCain's received some instances of favorable press coverage over the years and the vast majority of that has come from white journalists."

Will McCain Credit the Surge For This?

From Atrios:

"The war is still over.

A suicide bomber helped kill at least 36 people and wounded 116 others after detonating explosives during a rally in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, a police official told CNN.

Three female suicide bombers killed at least 29 people and wounded 85 others in central Baghdad, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. Most were Shiite pilgrims

On Sunday afternoon, seven pilgrims were gunned down in a town south of Baghdad."

Obama is right. The decrease in violence is because the Iraqis created a political solution that had little if anything to do with the surge. Pumping in 20,000 troops to a country the size of Texas was bound to have little effect, and even those sagacious 'generals' who have to be consulted on everything said that, ultimately, the problem of violence in Iraq would have to be solved through political means. It should be remembered that stuff like the above can happen at will in Iraq and the troops, who do perform admirably, can do little to stop it. Debating on how great the surge is really misses that point.

People Are A-Holes: Germany Speech Edition

So you're the first African-American candidate seriously considered for President of the United States. You're very popular world wide and following the advice of your opponent you decide to visit Iraq. And while you're out there you decide to make a lap around the rest of the middle east and Europe because the weather's nice and they're like important or something and you might have to like deal with them later. And while you're in Europe you decide to give a speech in Germany cause they have a really big space and you wanna talk to people cause people (200,000 in fact) want to hear you speak.

And so you give this speech, which is historical for many reasons: a black US Presidential candidate speaking across the sea talking to people who don't even speak his language and look, well, less tan, and you talk about coming together and you talk about fighting poverty and you talk about combating the terror of violence, of hunger, of suffering, and you compliment your audience on their accomplishments and you compliment your own country as well and you tell them that you're 'a citizen of the world', a way to bridge the gap between you and them. You're as eloquent and inspiring as you've always been and for the first time since 9/11 you see Europeans waving American flags rather than burning them.

For a moment shit seems pretty damned good.

So what happens then?

Well of course you're attacked and criticized.

This reminds me of that Chris Rock skit about how men can't satisfy women:



He calls himself a 'citizen of the world', oh he's saying he's too good or too big or too much for just America. He says he loves America, oh now he's ignoring the world. He doesn't wear a flag pin, oh now he's too good for us. He wears a flag pin, oh now he's pandering. He makes a good speech, he's too intelligent, he makes a bad speech...oh wait that hasn't happened, so he's an elitist.

If Obama discovered a cure for AIDS people would probably complain that the cure gives you headaches. I'm done.

A Response to Feist

Homothugs.

Conversation With the Wife

So last night I came across this article from Mickey Kaus regarding the supposed John Edwards' affair. I didn't really read it but knowing what a big fan of Edwards my wife is, I decided to play around with her. I went to the bedroom, where she was just about to fall asleep, and said:

Teethwriter: Hey honey, guess who had an affair and a love child?

Teethwife: I'm trying to sleep.

Teethwriter: Come on, guess.

Teethwife: I don't know. (Snicker) You?

Teethwriter: Har har. No, your favorite politician John Edwards.

Teethwife: I don't believe it. John Edwards wouldn't do that. (And yes, I swear to God that's what she said)

Teethwriter: They reported it in Slate.

Teethwife: Sounds like a National Enquirer story. Now let me go to sleep.

So I leave her and look more into the story, and guess what? It IS a National Enquier story! Seriously, is the Right now looking to the National Friggin Enquirer to dig up dirt on DEMs? If your source is the NE, it might be time to hand in that reporting badge or at least your credibility.

PS: Honestly though...I sorta do believe Edwards did it. A married man doesn't take such good care of their hair unless they're getting a piece on the side. Fortunately for me I shave my head.

Feist Takes Over the Earth

It wasn't enough that Apple already had everyone over the age of 16 singing that damned 1,2,3,4 song, now thanks to this appearance on Sesame Street every child in America will be singing it and then teaching it to their children--forever.

In other news John McCain will be on Sesame Street to sing the song S-U-R-G-E (100 years in Iraq).

Is Wrestling Still Fake?

I don't know, this looks real to me:


http://view.break.com/539758 - Watch more free videos

Hat Tip: Sully

Sen. Patrick Leahy Will Not Be Intimidated By Thugs

Yep that's him:



I can see his reelection slogan now: Sen. Leahy stood up against the Joker, what do you think he'll do in Congress?

Breaking the N-Word Down

Ta-Nehisi Coates nails it.

I'm a writer and thus words are sacred to me. I don't believe in censorship, even when I am offended, and thus I believe people should be able to use the n-word. That being said, everything has context and consequences, and just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it. Use it at your own risk.

Will the Media Discuss Uncle Joe's Jewish Problem?

Looks who's more popular among Jews:

"Among the most high-profile Jews in Congress, Lieberman is viewed far more unfavorably than the presumptive Democratic nominee, according to a new poll. Only 37 percent of Jews view the Connecticut Independent in a favorable light compared to 48 percent who have a negative perception. As for Obama, 60 percent of Jews view him favorably while 34 percent view him unfavorably."

To be fair though, Lieberman's not popular among Democrats, Republicans, whites, blacks, Latinos, Cylons, Terminators...

Is Obama's World Tour a Success?

John Cole seems to think so:

"And one last point, one that seems to not be mentioned enough. All of this, everything positive that is happening for Obama on this trip- the coverage, the schmoozing of the media and the glowing coverage that will follow, the framing of Obama as capable to act on a world stage, etc., all of this is a direct result of an unforced error on the part of the GOP and the McCain campaign. They were the ones who demanded he go there. They were the kids who thought it would be cute to place a countdown ticker on their websites. I bet they disappear that bad boy pretty quick."

Looks to me that Obama is outwitting McCain every step of the way. I wonder if McCain will sound like Teddy KGB the day after the election:

The Obama-Maliki Thing Made Simple

From Elliot:

"Wow, take a break from the computer and television for a weekend, and look what I missed: The Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, has basically endorsed the Obama plan for setting a withdrawal goal of 2010. The government of Iraq just walked up and kicked the McCain Campaign right in the nutsack. That's going to leave a mark."

That's probably why McCain's crew is set on the Super-Spin cycle. I'd say this makes a difference, but people probably don't care what Maliki thinks even if the happen to know who he is.

By the Way...

For those of you that thought that Greg Norman might win the British Open, you forgot one key fact...

He's Greg F'ing Norman!!!!

How Hard is it to Become Batman?

Apparently, it's pretty hard. But not as hard as being Batman.

For me Batman is cooler, but being as lazy as I am--I better be Superman. Less work, more flying.

How Deep Is Your Website?

According to Hilzoy, Obama's is much MUCH more deep than McCain. What a shock.

And Speaking of Superheroes...

...or rather Super-Villains, was I the only one who was surprised by the end of Dr. Horrible? Talk about dark! But it was precisely that conclusion that gave it some profundity. I liked it, and the music was pretty good too, that is, er, if you like music...

It sucks that you can't watch it on the web anymore, but for 4 bucks it's worth the itunes download.

The Dark Knight

No surprise, The Dark Knight was the winner at the box office this weekend trouncing its competition. It set the record for opening weekend sales coming in for 155 million. Second place was taken by Mamma Mia! which made 27.6 million.

And yes I saw it, and I thought it was phenomenal. I can't say much more about Heath Ledger than what's been said already, but what really got me was the depth of Chris Nolan's script that brought out the nuances in all of it's characters. More than just the best superhero movie, this deserves the mantle of the best movie of 2008. Sorry Tony Stark.

PS: To echo Orr and MY this was NOT a PG-13 movie.

The Most Awesome Blog Thread Ever

In response to criticism about blogs from David Appell, who says most blogs are worthless, MY ups the ante and wholeheartedly agrees:

"The only thing I have to say to defend myself from those charges is that I don't think the post was really about why I suck, it was about why the punditsphere as a whole sucks with me just as a prominent example. And he's right. To gain any worthwhile information about any topic whatsoever, you need to be reading the work of someone with real expertise. To develop real expertise requires years of study, research, etc. And years of study, research, etc. can't be adequately condensed into a blog post. Thus, blog reading is a completely worthless exercise and nobody should really engage in it. I started writing this blog as a hobby; I thought it would be a fun thing to do. And I not only continue to enjoy writing it, but people pay me to write it. But the mere fact that I'm writing it doesn't make it a worthwhile thing to read, which is why the overwhelming majority of Americans have never read this blog and never will."

To add to the irony Jason Zengerle then links to the above posts adding "amen" to the end of his, which then leads me to blog about it making this thread quite possibly the greatest waste of my time ever! Man, if this was any more awesome I'd be a ninja.

Quote of the Day

From Gib, on my post on Hancock:

"It's perfectly acceptable summer fare - it's fun, it's quick, and it's your duty as an American to see Will Smith movies that come out on the 4th."

:)

Question

I think I know the answer to Cole's question:

"One of the things I don’t understand about the whole McCain contraception/viagra thing this week is why insurance agencies wouldn’t want to provide coverage for birth control.

"Pregnancy costs lots of money and medical care, and that is if there are no complications. Babies cost money. Not only does pregnancy and the ensuing birth cost money, as every insurance policy I have been part of would offer coverage to dependents, doesn’t that mean the insurance company is also on the hook for the next 18 years? Not only do they have to pay for the pregnancy and the birth, but then they also get to eat every single health care cost for a child. Every e-room visit because they wrecked their bike and broke their arm. Every doctor’s visit for strep throat. And so on.

"So putting aside all the other issues (should government tell companies what they can cover, etc.), what I don’t understand is why WOULDN’T an insurance company want to provide birth control. From where I am sitting, it looks a helluva lot cheaper. Adding to that, why WOULD they want to provide coverage for viagra, as that will possibly lead to… more expensive babies.
Could someone break this down for me- is this just something in the actuarial modeling that I do not know, and that it is cheaper to deny birth control than it is to take the chance on paying for pregnancies? Or is it really just as simple as there would be a boomer riot if they had to pay for Viagra, but there is no such comparable pressure from people who would use birth control?"

Here was my comment:

Simple answer. They want women to have children, and are willing to pay the cost for the kid, because eventually...that kid grows up to get health insurance so the company can eventually screw them out of their money and the wheels on the bus go round and round.

Also this explains why they cover the V-pill--more kids.

Later on I'll be solving that middle east problem.

Those Damn Gay Nazis

Jesus knows this, this I know:

"Part II: In today's program Brannon exposes that lie that Hitler killed homosexuals. Even a homosexual writer admits that is false. Some of Hitler's inner circle were homosexual and bi-sexual. The Brown Shirts started as a homosexual and bisexual organization."

Obviously, that explains this:

Media Orgasm

Ambers:

"The press has a pretty good idea of Barack Obama's overseas schedule, although we've been asked to keep the details private for the moment and we don't know when he's going to Iraq and Afghanistan. Right now, swarms of Democratic advance folks are in Europe or traveling there, and the pressure on them to produce flawless events will be acute.

"Obama's trip to Europe will be a huge event...maybe as big as his convention, maybe as big as a debate. Sheer curiosity will translate into enormous crowds, even as most of Obama's events will be small and pooled. The European press will go ga-ga, uncritically. If Obama does speak at the Brandenburg gate -- and it's unclear whether he will at this point -- you could envision a crowd of more than 200,000 watching and cheering him."

So it's no surprise that Bush is pushing his weight around to stop him. By the way, doesn't it seem a bit ironic that Obama is going to attract such a huge crowd in Germany? Man what a difference 60 years makes.

The Hipster Timeline of Hip-Hop

Yep, just about sums that up. Happy gentrification everyone!

Hat Tip: Sound Taste

How Good Are Companies at Self-Regulating?

According to this they're very good at discovering what will hurt people. It's just...they don't care:

"The sordid saga of elevated formaldehyde levels in the trailers supplied to Katrina victims is the kind of incident that makes you shake your head in awe at the shameful behavior of damn near everyone involved: The trailor manufacturers knew their products had unsafe levels of formaldehyde. One company, Gulf Stream Coach, even conducted internal tests on the issue back in 2006--but then hushed up the findings as "irrelevant" since FEMA apparently already knew about the problem.

"FEMA, meanwhile, did nothing with its knowledge--except reject Gulf Stream Coach's later offer to run addtional tests.

"Better still, corporate chiefs (and some Republican congressmen, of course) are now insisting that the trailer makers, despite knowing that their products were unsafe, should not bear any of the responsibility, because the government should have been clearer in establishing binding, consistent air-quality standards. "Instead of beating up manufacturers, we ought to give them a little vote of confidence," recommended Indiana's Dan Burton, citing the dearth of formaldehyde complaints pre-2006.

"Whatever else this line of argument accomplishes, it certainly draws into question that whole notion of self-regulation by industry. These manufacturers knew their products posed a health hazard. They had even conducted tests to prove it! But they apparently didn't feel compelled to do anything about the risk, because they hadn't been specifically ordered to by the federal government. Can't you just hear the board meeting debate now: Well, if the government isn't going to tell us exactly how far we must go to stop poisoning consumers, why on earth should we bother to try?

Katrina and FEMA: the disasters that keeps on hurting.

Hancock?

Stuff like this piques my interest.

Though it should be noted that Will Smith, historically, doesn't do his best work on Independance Day weekend.

What a Cakehole

Not a joke:

"President George Bush signed off with a defiant farewell over his refusal to accept global climate change targets at his last G8 summit.

"As he prepared to fly out from Japan, he told his fellow leaders: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."

Cobra Commander has more tact. Please God, give me an impeachment for my birthday.

File This Under...

I'll believe it when I see it:

"Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said this morning that the House Judiciary Committee may hold hearings on an impeachment resolution offered by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio).

"Kucinich is expected to offer a "privileged resolution" this afternoon calling on the House to look at whether President Bush should be removed from office for lying to Congress and the American public when he sought congressional approval back in 2002 for taking military action to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein.

"Pelosi has said previously that impeachment "was off the table," so her comments this morning were surprising, and clearly signaled a new willingness to entertain the idea of ousting Bush, although no one in the Democratic leadership believes that is likely since the president has only six months left in this term."

I'd love for this to be true but, as John Cole recounts, the Dems haven't exactly been icons of opposition for a while.

Blowback?

If this is true, and sadly I can't see why it wouldn't be, then Pat Buchannan needs to lose his jobs:

"Pat Buchanan Advertises His Book On Neo-Nazi Radio Show


"You read that right. On June 29th, MSNBC personality and three-time presidential candidate Pat Buchanan appeared on a neo-Nazi radio program to promote his new revisionist history of the Second World War, Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World. James Edwards is the host of the program "Political Cesspool," the stated mission of which is to "represent a philosophy that is pro-White." Edwards and his colleauges seek "to revive the White birthrate above replacement level fertility and beyond to grow the percentage of Whites in the world relative to other races" and believe that "Secession is a right of all people and individuals. It was successful in 1776 and this show honors those who tried to make it successful in 1865."

"According to the researchers at the Anti-Defamation League, who listened to the show, Buchanan defended Charles Lindbergh, saying, "…his reputation has been blackened because of a single speech he gave and a couple of paragraphs in it where he said that … the Jewish community is beating the drums for war … but frankly, no one has said what he said was palpably untrue."

"Buchanan is in good company. Perusing the guest list of Political Cesspool, one sees Willis Carto, (perhaps the most prominent anti-Semite in America), Mark Weber (Director of the Institute for Historical Review, a Holocaust denial outfit) and Jared Taylor, the editor of American Renaissance, a eugenicist publication. A political cesspool indeed. Calling Buchanan a "brownshirt" a few weeks ago may have seemed a little impertinent at the time, but it's entirely accurate.


"As someone with an interest in the far-right and who has been following Buchanan's career for quite some time now, none of this is particularly surprising to me. What is surprising is that this man continues to fill airtime on MSNBC."

I don't know quite what makes me sicker; the fact that Buchannan did a neo-nazi show, or that this story was reported by James Kirchick who, in a recent bloggingheads episode with Matt Yglesias said that both Jesse Helms and Jimmy Carter were "malevolent forces in the United States." Ok, the former makes me sicker.

Grudging Respect

After reading this posting from Swampland, I suppose I have to give Lil' Wayne is due.

Nutty News Of the Day

Yeah, I'm not one for calling the Eucharist 'the magic cracker', but this seems really over the top:

"Webster Cook says he smuggled a Eucharist, a small bread wafer that to Catholics symbolic of the Body of Christ after a priest blesses it, out of mass, didn’t eat it as he was supposed to do, but instead walked with it. Catholics worldwide became furious.

"Webster’s friend, who didn’t want to show his face, said he took the Eucharist, to show him what it meant to Catholics.

"Webster gave the wafer back, but the Catholic League, a national watchdog organization for Catholic rights claims that is not enough. “We don’t know 100% what Mr. Cooks motivation was,” said Susan Fani a spokesperson with the local Catholic diocese. “However, if anything were to qualify as a hate crime, to us this seems like this might be it.”"

The, "We don't know 100% what Mr. Cooks motivation was..." irks me. Hey! Let's convict someone without looking at the evidence or giving him due process seems rather, I don't know, anti-American, or otherwise known as par for the course in the Bush admistration.

The Ultimate American Contest

I was wondering who'd won the great gluttony game this year:

"NEW YORK (AP) — Joey Chestnut achieved frankfurter immortality Friday, outdueling his celebrated Japanese rival in an epic hot-dog eating contest that pushed both of the gluttonous gladiators to the brink.

"In a seesaw struggle for the ages, Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi each consumed an eye-popping 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes, forcing an unprecedented showdown that tested the very depths of their distended stomachs.

"Under the glare of ESPN and facing a boisterous and sweaty crowd of thousands on Coney Island, Chestnut, the reigning champ, and Kobayashi, the six-time title holder, were forced to gobble down another five hot dogs in overtime."