Huckleberry Tries Out His Teabag Kneepads

Huckleberry Cracker reveals himself through his ignorance:

According to the Jerusalem Post, Huckabee addressed the controversial issue surrounding the disputed West Bank, saying, "It is inconceivable in many ways that we would have to even argue and debate whether or not Israelis could live in Israel, not just in parts of Israel but anywhere in Israel they wished to live."

"I cannot imagine as an American being told that I could not live in certain places in America because I was Christian, or because I was white, or because I spoke English."

I'm sure you can't, you cracker bigot.

L. Brent Bozell, Victim of Pro-Gay Bullying

They are not celebrating diversity. They are intimidating dissidents.

You're the Aung San Suu Kyi of the Dish Network, el-Brent.

It gets better, Brent. Just not for you.

The Crushing of Dissent

Paul Mirengoff made some intemperate remarks about a Native American prayer at the Tuscon memorial, but then, upon reflection, conscientiously and humbly apologized for his remarks. In so doing, Paul reminded us that we're all imperfect and that we can all learn from our mistakes. Regretably, Paul has been punished for his candor. In a terse post dated January 28, Paul states:

I have made the decision to discontinue blogging at this time. I thank John and Scott for bringing me along on this ride and I thank our readers as well. I couldn't have hoped for better writing partners or for better readers. Best regards to all.

What are we to make of this bizarre "resignation" post? If the statement had been videotaped, would we see Paul reciting it in a monotone while his left eye blinked Morse code? I'd like to think that his partners Assrocket and Johnson did not force Paul out because he refused to toe the wingnut line of religous intolerance and bigotry. But they have not returned Paul's thanks, at least in print.

Paul, if you're reading this, I invite you to guest post at Roger Ailes at any time. Your opinions will not be censored here, even if I disagree with them. Let's show people that we can disagree without me crushing your skull metaphorically and taking your share of the Blogads money.

Update (1/30): Commenters are suggesting that Paul's decision to stop blogging is the result of pressure from the law firm in which Paul is a partner, a possibility which never occurred to me. Surely if that was the case, the conservative blogosphere would offer a full-throated defense of Paul -- calls for a boycott of Paul's lefty law firm, creation of a "Big Law Firm" or "Big AB [American Bar]" website to expose hostility toward conservatives in the legal services industry. Would the admittedly fearless John Hinderaker and Scott Johnson sit quietly by while their pal Paul was silenced by P.C. LLP? Of course, only Paul can answer that question, and I'm ready to host him when he's ready to speak.

Scandalous

From the New York Daily News:

The National Enquirer is reporting that Sarah Palin's husband, Todd, is embroiled in a sex scandal involving an extramarital affair with a massage therapist who has been "busted for prostitution."

The Enquirer claims it has unearthed official documents showing 36-year-old Shailey Tripp was arrested for maintaining a house of prostitution in March and that cops have confiscated physical evidence that could tie Todd to the alleged affair.

The tabloid did not disclose when the alleged rendezvous took place or what evidence was seized by police.

The Palins, who have previously been dogged by cheating allegations in 2008 and 2009 and have vehemently denied each and every accusation, though they have not commented on the Enquirer story.

Incredible. What kind of newspaper would publish an ungrammatical sentence like that last one?

Fun With Straw Polls

A straw poll of Republican Party bigwigs and muckety-mucks in the Granite State shows that Willard Romney has bought 35 percent of them.

A full 11 percent support former racist newsletter publisher and lunatic Ron Paul. Eight percent support future punchline Tim Pawlenty, and seven percent support GOPtomom/circus freak Sarah Palin. Newt Gingrich is circling the drain with Mike Huckabee and Mitch Daniels at three percent.

Conditions have never looked so favorable for Fred Thompson.

Self-Knowledge, Thy Name Is Not Whitman

Sources say Whitman in the last months has sought a detailed explanation regarding what went wrong in her resounding defeat by Brown.

The latest press release:

MSNBC ANNOUNCES FURTHER PROGRAM CHANGES

NEW YORK – January 22, 2011 – Starting Monday, January 24, 'The Rachel Maddow Show' will be replaced with 'Evening Joe,' hosted by Independent Democrat Joseph I. Lieberman.

'Joe Lieberman will continue this network's tradition of bringing independent progressive voices to cable news,' said Phil Griffin, President of MSNBC. Since his days as frequent guest on 'Imus in the Morning,' Joe has delighted MSNBC's base with his irreverent humor and common-sense approach to foreign policy. In his last election, Joe ranked #2 among Democrats A25-54 and #1 with all voters A85-104. Until Sen. Lieberman's term expires in 2012, MSNBC contributor Patrick J. Buchanan will fill in when the host is performing his official duties.

Also starting Monday, MSNBC is replacing 'The Ed Show' with 'Chris Hansen's Pedo-Political Roundtable,' the network's first joint venture with the website Politico.

{GOLF CLAP]

Why Is Fox News Dissing The Powertools?

Even after Powertool Paul Mirengoff's sincere refudiation of his ill-conceived attack on Native Americans, Fox News continues to promote Mirengoff's original rant. No mention is made of Mirengoff's recantation, or his law firm's apology; there is only a link to the deleted Powertools post. I would have referenced the recantation, but Fox News has disabled comments.

I call on Fox News to report on, and link to, Mirengoff's apology, in the interest of fairness and balance.

Junior High School Elects Class Treasurer

"And if Obama brings a gun to the fight, we'll challenge him to a match of extreme croquet."

Civil Discourse

Via Sadly, No!, I see that the President's call for civil dialogue already has worked wonders. Witlness Powertool Paul Mirengoff:

In a post last night, I criticized the use of a Yaqui prayer as the invocation to the memorial service in Tucson. In doing so, I failed to give the prayer the respect it deserves. Although I did not intend this as a slight to the religion or to the Yaqui tribe, it can clearly be interpreted as one. For this, I sincerely apologize to my readers, to the Yaqui tribe, to all tribal leaders and Indian people, and, specifically, to Carlos Gonzales who delivered the prayer. I regret my poor choice of words, and I have removed the post.

I call on all men and women of goodwill to link to Paul's post, multiple times if necessary, the ensure that Paul's epistle to the Powertoolians gets the recognition it deserves. We can all learn something from Paul's example.

Where Are They Now?

Is Ken Gladney still recovering from the massive beatdown he suffered at the hands of SEIU thugs? I can't seem to find any recent news about him, though his name continues to appear regularly on wingut websites. Surely those who recite his name with such regularity can tell us where he is now, and how he's doing.

Kurtz Impaired

Howard Kurtz corrects the record:

In late November, I asked Rep. Darrell Issa's spokesman, Kurt Bardella, for an interview with the congressman. He said he would see what he could do.

That afternoon my phone rang, I heard the words "please step away from the car" and I thanked the congressman for calling. I asked why "you" made various statements about the president and congressional oversight, and he responded, "please step away from the car." I called him "Congressman" several times during our discussion. I later emailed Bardella, on Nov. 24, and said: “Hey, thanks for getting me the congressman so quickly. He mentioned the minority having sent 46 letters to the chairman or subcommittee chairmen and getting only six responses. Would you have some or all of the ones that drew no response? Thanks."

...

On Nov. 29, after my story ran on The Daily Beast, I got a note from Bardella saying there had been "a little confusion" and "it wasn't the congressman you spoke with, it was a car alarm."

After thinking about it for six weeks, I have concluded that I am stupider than a bag of rocks. But smarter than Tina Brown, who continues to pay my incompetent ass.

Snowbilly Grifter Quotes Hillbilly Cracker

Update: Eh, in the end, who gives a fuck? Go do something that makes your two-sentence obituary in the Congressional Record look better than some reality show dimwit's.

Sully on Kurtz's Smears

As much as it pains me to say it, Andrew Sullivan concurs with me on Howie Kurtz's deliberate dishonesty. And he says it much better than I did.

And then there's the second straw man. No one is saying Sarah Palin should be viewed as an accomplice to murder. Many are merely saying that her recklessly violent and inflammatory rhetoric has poisoned the discourse and has long run the risk of empowering the deranged. We are saying it's about time someone took responsibility for this kind of rhetorical extremism, because it can and has led to violence and murder.

The facts, moreover, are these: Palin singles out Giffords as a "target" for attack, illustrated by cross-hairs in gun sights, and urges supporters to "reload". This is pointed out at the time and Giffords herself worries that it took things over the edge. Palin had a chance to apologize or retract or soften the rhetoric. She did nothing of the kind. An individual subsequently guns Giffords down. What more, in many relevant respects, do we need to know than this? Any humane person who had published the kind of material Palin published and used the langage she did would surely now regret it.

Kurtz is just another one of the scumbag wingnuts who has seized on a political assassination from a position of safety to claim victim status for himself and his political allies. And who is rewarded for doing so.

Triumph of the Hacks

The Giffords assassination attempt is making morons out of many a political reporter.

Dancin' David Weigel writes on Slate:

Politico quotes "veteran Democratic operative" [sic] today:

One veteran Democratic operative, who blames overheated rhetoric for the shooting, said President Barack Obama should carefully but forcefully do what his predecessor did.

"They need to deftly pin this on the tea partiers," said the Democrat. "Just like the Clinton White House deftly pinned the Oklahoma City bombing on the militia and anti-government people."

The quoted "Dem" seems to believe that the Oklahoma City bombing wasn't the work of anti-government people.

Meanwhile, Weigel opines:

Dick Morris wouldn't have been much of an operative if he'd admitted what he wrote in his 1995 memo to reporters at the time. This Democrat's willingness to give a blind quote about how to capitalize on the murder of several people speaks well of the Politico team's reporting skills, less well of said Democrat's savvy.

Weigel's willingness to assume that the "Dem" quoted is someone other than Pat Caddell or Lanny Davis speaks poorly of Weigel's intelligence. But maybe the Dem's Zell Miller, or Mickey Kaus even! Why would Weigel take Politico's word that the unnamed "veteran Democratic operative" is even a current Dem? Plainly, it's not someone who has the ear of the Obama Administration, or the best interests of the Administration at heart. Rather, it's someone who seeks neutralize criticism of Republican extremists.

By the way, the entire Politico article is worth a read, if only for this quote:

Conservative intellectual William F. Buckley denounced the conspiracy theories and darker rantings of the John Birch Society, this Democrat said, "but these guys don’t seem to be willing to do that."

In this morning's incoherent FOX News Channel rant (referenced below), Wan Juilliams mentioned, apropos of nothing, Buckley's supposed denunciation of Birchers. I suspect Wan's attack on Dems came from reading the Politico article while smoking Bill O'Reilly's crack.

Howard Kurtz's Moronic Equivalence

Greasy-wigged Republican Howard Kurtz has finally found a victim in yesterday's massacre in Arizona. It's Sarah Palin.

I hate to say this [sic], but the blame game is already under way.

It began within hours of Saturday's horrifying shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and nearly 20 others, even before the gunman was identified.

Political Target Map as seen on Sarah Palin's website. Inset: Sarah Palin and Gabrielle Giffords (AP Photo)

One of the first to be dragged into this sickening ritual of guilt by association: Sarah Palin. Last March, the former Alaska governor posted a map on her Facebook page with crosshair targets representing 20 Democratic lawmakers she was singling out for defeat after they voted for President Obama's health care plan. One of them was Giffords. Palin, who touts her caribou-hunting heritage, also tweeted, "Don't retreat, RELOAD!"

This kind of rhetoric is highly unfortunate. The use of the crosshairs was dumb. But it's a long stretch from such excessive language and symbols to holding a public official [sic] accountable for a murderer who opens fire on a political gathering and kills a half-dozen people, including a 9-year-old girl.

It will not surprise you to read that "Howie" does not quote anyone who seeks to hold Sarah Palin (let alone a public official) accountable for the attempted assassination and multiple murders committed Saturday. Many have criticized Palin for her use of violent rhetoric, lies and pandering to the mentally unstable for financial reward. That sound criticism happened long before the events of Saturday morning, and continues today. But it's only the craven Kurtz who would use the slaughter of innocents for his own political goal, namely, the rehabiliation of Sarah Palin.

Of all those covering themselves in shame in the aftermath of the attempted assassination of Representative Giffords, none have covered themselves more deeply than Wan Julliams.  On FNC this morning, during a particularly incoherent rant, Wan claimed that "some Democrats" were attempting to use the attempted assassination for political gain.  Wan lacked either the balls or the issued talking points to name names.

Wan also reworded "Second Amendment remedies" as "Second Amendment rights" to pretend that Sharron Angle wasn't talking about violent assault on elected representatives.

Shut The Lid After Flushing?

A Plea for the Internet's Neediest Cases

Did Roy Edroso break stories such as the recent Helen Thomas video?

I doan' thin' so!

Did Roy Edroso break the story of the J-Street tax return that proved that George Soros was funding the Anti-Israel group?

No way, Jose!

Did Roy Edroso break the story of the code-pink attempted attack on CPAC?

Nein, nein, nein!

And did he break the story of the extent of the underfunding of union pension plans?

Aw, hells no!

And I'm pretty sure that Roy didn't scoop the blogosphere this past week with the stories "Some Guys Are NEVER Satisfied - Fashion Model Massager Hates His Job" and "New Congressional Report Shows Obamacare Will Kill One Million Plus Jobs, Raise Defict." Or with the groundbreaking 2008 expose "Senator Obama Signed A CONTRACT WITH THE CHICAGO SOCIALIST PARTY."

So how could anyone think that Roy Edroso is deserving of consideration while "Yid With Lid" struggles to raise $54,000.00 by the end of March, even after his (the Lid's) tireless efforts to expand "the reading base for the site by writing for all four Breitbart sites, Right Wing News, Red State, and Liberty Pundits, while continuing my association with Pajamas Media and American Thinker." (The Lid appears to be suggesting that those sites don't pay for his content.)

Edroso may know a thing or two about capitalization and grammar; he may be too modest to claim that he broke stories originated by others; he may be dynamite in the sack. But he's no Yid with Lid.

So give to the Lid 'til it's slightly uncomfortable. If you don't, the April Fools' Joke may be on you.

Meet Your Media Dumbfucks

Huma Khan:

The original Constitution has several controversial sections, such as the Three-Fifths clause, which states slaves are "three fifths of all other persons," and the clause prohibiting alcohol, which was later repealed.

Daou 1,460, Or, Why The Democratic Party Gets Its Ass Kicked

In her pointed response, Huffington made no mention of Daou or Boyce, who were at the all-day gathering of the 30 or so influential progressives and Hollywood types—including comedian Larry David and his then wife, Laurie, Hollywood mogul David Geffen, movie producer Brian Grazer, screenwriter Sorkin, legendary TV producer Norman Lear, actress Meg Ryan, and David Thorne, a close friend and former brother-in-law of John Kerry and Obama's ambassador to Italy—trying to figure out how to win back the White House. "Arianna put together this room," Boyce recalls. "It was a very powerful room. There's never been a room like that before."

Dynasty

In a later Slate article, Carlson called Norquist a “mean-spirited, humorless, dishonest little creep,” and said that Norquist was “an embarrassing anomaly [in the conservative movement], the leering, drunken uncle everyone else wishes would stay home.”

This culminated in the legendary drink-in-face evening, on which Tucker “accidentally” poured a Bloody Mary onto Grover’s head. “The celery stuck behind Grover’s ear, making him look like a conservative Carmen Miranda,” said one valiant source, according to the New York Post. Audrey Mullen, a colleague of Norquist’s, retaliated by tracking Carlson down and throwing a full glass of wine in his face.

This feud had legs and longevity. As recently as 2008, Tucker told The Hill that Norquist was “just a finger-sniffer. I’m not sure what that means, but it sounds sort of repulsive.”

Why did they leave out the episode where the two conservative intellectuals got into a fight while wearing evening gowns and pushed each other into a swimming pool?