Shocking proof of Barack Obama's Jew-hatred, first revealed by Glenn "Instacracker" Reynolds.

Update: Link fixed.

George Wallace Returns

The wind whipped U.S. and Alabama flags behind Palin as she stood on the makeshift stage, holding a microphone and her notes as she spoke to the crowd.

Teabagger of The Day

Tom Grimes.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — When Tom Grimes lost his job as a financial consultant 15 months ago, he called his congressman, a Democrat, for help getting government health care.

...

Mr. Grimes, who receives Social Security, has filled the back seat of his Mercury Grand Marquis with the literature of the movement, including Glenn Beck's "Arguing With Idiots" and Frederic Bastiat's "The Law," which denounces public benefits as "false philanthropy."

"If you quit giving people that stuff, they would figure out how to do it on their own," Mr. Grimes said.

...

Mr. Grimes, for his part, is thinking of getting a part-time job with the Census Bureau. But he is also planning, he said, to teach high school students about the Constitution and limits on government powers.

"I don’t think that the unemployment thing is going to change," he said.

I'm still scratching my head as to how this guy lost his job as a financial consultant.

Glennvy

I see Glenn "Instacracker" Reynolds is craving some of the attention that Glenn Beck has been getting. Says the Victoria Jackson of the Wingnutosphere:

Possibly Obama just hates Israel and hates Jews. That’s plausible -- certainly nothing in his actions suggests otherwise, really.

Certainly Glenn Reynolds hates America and Americans. Everything in his actions suggests exactly that.

The Axing of Evil

Once I sold a war machine
Made it run
Lied about all it the time
Once I was the Right Man
Now I'm scum
Conrad, can you spare a dime?

Times are hard for a neo-con Canuck. His primary patron's in stir, and Sugar Daddy II is pleading poverty:

{David] Frum wrote on his Website today that he and AEI president Arthur Brooks "came to a termination" of their relationship. That led many to suggest that Frum was fired because he got so much attention for excoriating the party for refusing to compromise on health care.

...

"He asked me if I'd like to work for AEI on a non salary basis," Frum added. "He said it had nothing to do with my work and that after all these are hard times."

The market has spoken.

David, I'll offer you 50 cents per post (with a reasonable cap) to blog for Roger Ailes, The Blog. You'll have complete editorial freedom, and will only be edited for style and grammar. Sure, you could go to work for the Daily Choler, but you'll just be back here before your second paycheck bounces. And you can use your real name here too.

The Road to La Brea

The teabagger threats are getting out of hand:

Gary Armstrong, a tea party organizer in East Tennessee, said he recently unsubscribed from FreedomWorks's e-mail list after learning of Armey's record and said "right now, I think we should tar-and-feather Dick Armey."

This is a threat to our national resources. Tar doesn't grow on trees, you know.

Never Buy A Used Textbook From K-Lo

On Karl Rove's Advice [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

From a reader: "I would add bold and italics and lots of additional emphasis to one phrase of what Karl wrote: 'lay out a competing vision.'"

Dammit, We Don't Even Get Credit For The Succcess Of Our Cover Up!

Bill Donahue, Catamite League for Religious and Civil Rights:

But the time has come to ask some serious questions about why the Times is working overtime with wholly discredited lawyers to uncover dirt in the Catholic Church that occurred a half-century ago.

Shorter Bill Donahue, Catamite League for Religious and Civil Rights:

It you rape 'em young enough, by the time they grow up and overcome the shame, you can call it old news.

Is rape a religious right or civil right, Bill?

Isn't It Odd That John McCormack, A Putative Journalist, Makes Shit Up Without Consequences?

In regard to Congressman Bart Stupak, Weakly Standard punching bag John McCormack simpers:

Yes, threats are despicable and should be denounced by all. But wouldn't it have been nice if CBS had informed readers that the "onslaught of threatening messages" he received last week were from those who supported the health care bill? Isn't it odd that CBS didn't cover this story last week?

Odd? Not as odd as the fact that the McCormack Weaper's post contains a link to a story by CBS News dated March 18, 2010 -- that would be last week -- which details Stupak's claim that he got obscene and threatening calls for opposing health care reform.

McCormack's such a fucking infant that he can't be bothered to verify his own bullshit claim. Like many a wingnut, he asserts things because he believes they should be true -- things that he desparately wants to be true -- without making any effort to ascertain the truth. McComack accuses CBS of bias and, in so doing, demonstrates that he's so biased against CBS that he will smear the network with actual malice, that is, reckless disregard for the truth.

Any assertion of fact McCormick makes in the future is guaranteed bullshit. The only question now is whether McCormack will double down on his dishonesty and make his post disappear, now that he's been caught in a lie.

The Krappy Kaus Kampaign

The Krappy Kaus Kampaign consists entirely of Kaus posting the same old poorly-written anti-Dem blogposts under a campaign slogan instead of under the Slate.com logo. One suspects that Kaus was canned by Slate but allowed to cover up his termination by disguising it as a career change.

Meanwhile, Kaus' "campaign" consists of peddling fraudulent Palin/Teabagger claims as "common-sense" thoughts. Says the hairless hack:

They–we–know there will almost certainly be a big additional bill to pay down the road. It will be even bigger if, as we can hope and expect, government attempts to restrict potentially useful treatments in the name of economy prove unsustainably unpopular.

Yes, Kaus plays the Death Panels canard. Contrast his concern about government attempts to restrict potentially useful treatments in the name of economy with insurance company attempts to rsetrict potentially useful treatments in the name of economy. What's that? You can't find any posts reflecting Kaus' concern with insurance company restrictions on potentially useful treatments in the name of economy?

But I'm sure Democratic voters will ignore his attacks on health care reform as long as Kaus continues making pointless references to the "Feiler Faster Thesis" and his fake editor. Tell us what you really think about Brian Williams and Meg Whitman's "hotness," Mickey. Who needs health care when you can read self-masturbatory crap on the internets?

Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Meegan McArdle thinks health care reform is all about her:

Obviously, yes, I was upset yesterday. I'm glad that this could bring so much joy to peoples' hearts, and of course to know that for many people, the happiest part of passing health care reform seems to have been knowing that it made people like me unhappy.

That's just a side effect. How much a policy upsets Meegan is only a measure of the policy's virtue, not an independent source of euphoria.

On the other hand, much joy is derived from the fact that HCR pisses off Instacracker and the Cornerites.

Death Panels Are Go

In anticipation of passage of health care reform, the first death panel will be meeting on April 15, 2010 (natch!) at my house.

Nominations are now open.

Steyned Depends

Our first cramming victim is a Canadian poodle. Fortunately, the poodle was neutered long ago and the bill doesn't address veterinarian services, so the impact on him will be minor.

Cram!

Cramberry Beret

Why are the people who complain about having something crammed down their throats the people who most deserve having something crammed down their throats?

Terror Suspects Allowed to Play Minesweeper and Spider Solitaire

Usual Wingnuts Evacuate Bladders on Cue; Seek Ways to Blame Time-Traveling Obama Administration

Freedom and Fraud

The pissing match between lunatic Debbie Schlubbel and more widely known lunatic Sean Hannity is escalating. Hannity is slamming the Flomax and is ready to return fire.

Here's Lt.Criminal Ollie North's apparently retroactively dated response to Schlubbel. Absolutely none of the donations to the scholarship fund were used to fortify the North Family Compund -- Ollie will swear to that fact, under oath!

In the end, the wingnuts will line up between Hannity, who can deny them access to FOX and the wingnut radio waves if they defy him. Plus, they've already bought their tickets for Freedom Concert '10, starring the Rossington-Colmes Band.

Choad To The White House Capitol

Hairless Republican Mickey Kaus kicks off his Senate campaign by claiming to be a Democrat. His announcement fails to identify a single issue on which he agrees with the Democratic Party. Maybe one of the 80 media suck-ups doing a puffer on Kaus's shampaign could ask him about that.

Kaus does repeat his hatred of unions and immigrants, but wisely refrains from republishing his contempt for Erza Klein's youth and ability to grow hair. Kaus also claims to embody "common sense," repeating the phrase like he's Sharia Plain with Tourette's Syndrome.

Of course, Kaus has done nothing to expand his voting base beyond right-wing bloggers, who are scarce in California, and people who so badly want Slate.com not to suck that they'll do anything.

Why Does Kaus Refuse to Press The Flesh?

Mickey Kaus claims to have gotten the idea for his Senate run from his dermatologist.

The question is: what's Kaus's disorder?

The Kaus Kampaign Kicks Off

In yet another right-wing puff piece, the hairless Republican announces that he wants to run for the Senate on The Washington Post Company's dime:

Kaus said he’s "serious about running and making the biggest impact I can." But he clearly doesn't expect to defeat Boxer. He doesn't have any public speeches or events planned. He envisions a low-cost campaign of ideas, harnessing the Web to spread his message and fundraise.

A key question is whether or not Kaus will continue with his blog, which is part of Slate. He says he wants to keep blogging -- and getting paid --during the campaign. He'll meet with Slate executives this week to try to hash out his status there."

No one ever accused Slate or Kaus of being ethical, so I am sure something can be worked out.

The article also says that Kaus is running because "says he can reach people that he didn't with his blog." Yet he doesn't intend to speak to the public or hold campaign events. So how does he reach people who don't read his blog? Banner ads on LivestockLoving.com?

Shorter Ross Douchehat

It takes dynamite to get me up
Too much of everything is just enough
One more thing I just got to say
I need a miracle every day,
I need a miracle every day,
I need a miracle every day, (got to be the only way)
I need a miracle

When You're Out of Your Depth, You're Out of Ideas

Shorter Instacracker: You can't buy the federal government, you can only rent it.

Why isn't "Doctor" Helen commenting on this horrific story of woman-on-man violence?

At age 9 -- and already a political nerd -- he became a spirited supporter of Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential smackdown against John F. Kennedy. So intense was his devotion that he landed a coveted Nixon bumper sticker and displayed it proudly on his bicycle basket -- until a little girl in his neighborhood who favored JFK beat the stuffing out of him, bloodying his nose and ego.

The psychological damage caused by this assualt, and the resulting consequences for the entire nation, have been devastating. The men's rights movement needs to make such crimes against men -- and Republicans -- more widely known. A Very Special PJTV interview with the victim could get the word out to tens of Americans.

Hate Crimes and Haters

Three men from Hayward, Calif. have been charged in San Francisco with assault with a deadly weapon, hate crimes and attempted mayhem for shooting a gay man with a BB gun. The men allegedly admitted to targeting gay victims, and allegedly videotaped their crimes.

Cretins such as Mark Steyn suspect the suspects are Muslims because of their names. Delusional cretins such as Pam Oshry suspect a cover-up by the District Attorney and the media because the men who are being prosecuted aren't identified as Muslims in the newspaper accounts of the crime. (No link to the delusional cretin.)

Shit Steyn is positively orgasmic over the thought that the perpetrators of anti-gay violence are Muslim. Steyn doesn't know the men's religion(s) or whether their actions were motivated by religious beliefs, but that doesn't matter to him. I'm confident Shit has been equally critical of anti-gay shootings and assaults by people of other religions and nationalities. I'm so confident that I don't even need to look for confirmation. I'm sure it exists. How could it not?

The biggest problem Steyn has (apart from his poodle toupee) is that the men have been arrested and charged, and face enhanced punishment for committing hate crimes regardless of their religion. So Shit can't pretend that our godless liberal enclaves are under the thrall of Sharia law. If convicted, the three gentleman will recieve serious punishment, and that punishment will be enhanced because of their bigotry. And Steyn will remain free to spew his bigotry, as long as he doesn't act on it.

The system works.

Libertarian Shooter Storms Pentagon Dressed As Pimp, Breitbart, FOX News Report

Officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pentagon Force Protection Agency said Mr. Bedell emerged from the Pentagon subway station Thursday evening and made his way to a nearby guard post. When officers asked for his identification, Mr. Bedell, who was wearing a white button-down shirt and blazer, pulled out a pistol and started shooting.

Explanation here.

The best way to protect ourselves from libertarrorists, i.e., trust fund terrorists, is to conduct random stops and full-cavity searches of 20 to 40 year old men who would look at home at CPAC/YAF/VDARE conventions, or in the comments section at Reason Hit & Run.

A world in which 46-year-old, brilliant and generous pseudonymous bloggers die is not a world in which I want to live.

You are missed, Al.

It's a shame that MoDo was in the middle of her annual liposuction rotation when Desiree Rogers resigned her position. Sally Quinn's corpse is too dessicated to provide a proper stoning.

Schmuckmentum

Hairless hack Mickey Kaus already has the endorsement of two leading lights in the Teabagger Party -- Glenn Reynolds and the Doughy Pantload. Moe Lane, however, has refused to endorse.

Michael Barone is already fantasizing about Senator Boxer conducting opposition research on Kaus, which is an effort better left to The Discovery Channel.

Things You Won't Hear On FOX News

Andy Breitbart's little whores have failed again. Gawker has the details:

Things Repeated Often Enough Still Not Actually True

Kings County DA Charles Hynes says "no criminality has been found" after his investigation into ACORN. Earlier reports from the former Massachusetts DA ACORN hired to investigate themselves and the Congressional Research Office also found no evidence of law-breaking.

The Teabaggers Have Their Senate Candidate in California

He's Tancredo, he's rested and he's creepy. But will California vote slaphead?

Pioneering political blogger Mickey Kaus took out papers filed to run for U.S. Senate in California, he told LA Weekly. The Venice resident said he'll run this year against Barbara Boxer for her seat. He said he took out filed papers at with the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters, although a spokeswoman there could not yet confirm the filing.

We can only hope that the Washington Post Company will do the right thing and prohibit the pint-sized wingnut from using its website to promote his campaign.

Kausforsenate.com and kaus2010.com are unregistered, as is votegoat.com. The lack of preparation on Kaus's part is stunning.

This episode smells like a publicity stunt. Kaus wouldn't have the stones to run, if only because a campaign would require him to answer questions rather than rely on his just-asking-questions/I'm-a-clever-contrarian-or-am-I?/I'm-a-Dem-even-though-I-hate-all-Dem-and-all-Dem-policies word games. The Tea Baggers won't support Kaus fully, or with money, until he comes out of the closet and hires Andrew Breitbart as his spokesperson.

Don't Drink and Blog, Kids

Ann Alchouse, reading the Drudge Report over a box of '09 Chateau Kenosha, expresses concern about the President's alcohol intake.

Of course, Altsouse misquotes the report of Obama's physical. But we shouldn't assume she was drunk. Extreme incompetence and bitterness are just as likely to explain her incoherent remblings.

I got a feeling I'm not the only one

The rains fall on the just and the unjust.

WASHINGTON - Former Vice President Dick Cheney was at George Washington University Hospital Monday in Washington, D.C. after experiencing chest pains.

A family member told NBC News he was resting comfortably while doctors evaluated his condition.

Two doctors at George Washington University Hospital said Cheney was stable but may have additional treatment Tuesday. "We don't know what the plan is," one physician told NBC News.

Sounds familiar.

May Dick get the treatment we all deserve.

My undercover investigation into America's health care system is completed.

Takeaway: Don't get sick.

Posting to resume anonish.

The Asspora

Thor Thorasson has banned more than half Republican Party and more than half his fellow crackers from RedState.

In other words, Erick sold his soul to the MSM for thirty cups of Morning Joe. Where will the outcast go? To freerepublic and Atlas Juggs? Maybe Greg Girard will start a website.

A Fearless Symmetry

75 percent of respondents in a national poll stated that gay men and lesbians are fit to serve in the military.

75 percent of respondents in a national poll refused to state Sharia Plain is fit to serve as president.

So: Is the country one-quarter full of morons, or three-quarters empty of morons?

Trickle Down

I wonder which of the following caused the biggest trickle down David Broder's leg?

I will live I will die for the people of America. This party that we call the Tea Party, this movement, as I say is the future of politics in America.

How's that hopey, changey thing working out for ya?

They know we're at war, and to win that war we need a commander in chief and not a professor of law standing at the lectern.

At least the Dean has come out of the closet and no longer pretends to be bipartisan. Did his parents finally die or something?

The RNC came up with a good idea. It goes without saything that it has nothing to do with policy. And most of the gags fall flat, even if you accept the mostly inaccuarate premises of the joke.

Perhaps a series of V.D. cards featuring bloggers might work. Try this one:

Ann Althouse card: "A loaf of bread, a jug of wine and another jug of wine."

Whadda Ya Mean "We," White Man?

Marty "The Wedding Singer" Peretz:

Some place in the prints this morning, I saw President Obama characterized as bi-racial. It led me to thinking about the way we read men and women with different proportions of blackness in them. Pretty much up to now, it was the Nuremberg Law model: a little bit of Jewish blood, you're Jewish … a little bit of black blood, you're black.

Really, Marty? The way "we" think about persons with some black/African ancestry is "the Numerberg Law model?" I can't imagine most people today base their thinking on a Nazi racial purity law. And if "we're" thinking about black ancestry, wouldn't we be thinking about the one-drop statutes in the United States, which actually applied to African-Americans? And have the Jews in Marty's "we" abandoned their own definitions of Jewishness for the Nazi model?

Marty's thinking about multi-racial ancestry is just a lead in for a bash-session aimed Attorney General Eric Holder, the Reverend Al Sharpton, Rep. Elijah Cummings, Michael Eric Dyson (who Marty criticizes for either the amount or content of his writings) and other black gentleman who should have no concern about passing the "one-drop test." But then again, no one ever said Marty had to be coherent.

P.S. to Marty: You mean "reeked." Hire better interns.

That's not ink, that's Rich Lowry's semen

Mary Katherine "Butt" Ham, comedy ethics expert:

Robert Gibbs Goes Dane Cook: Steals Jokes from Sarah Palin to Make Fun of Her Focused like a laser.

BY Mary Katharine Ham

In a White House briefing where the president showed up (because Howard Kurtz wrote a column) to talk about his bipartisan health-care summit and getting beyond politics to solve problems, the White House press secretary used the dumbest political story of the week to take a shot at a former governor and Fox News Contributor from the podium.

...

Gibbs went petty today, as he so often does, by scribbling notes on his palm today, featuring "eggs, milk, bread, hope and change."

This would have been funny if Sarah Palin hadn't already made the joke, and better, herself.

Palin wrote "Hi, Mom" on her hand before a Sunday rally for Rick Perry in the wake of the uproar over her hand notes the day before. It was one of those moments that, for any person not caught up in Palin Derangement Syndrome, should have made crystal clear why people love her. For all his strengths, Barack Obama is capable of nothing like that sort of folksy self-deprecation.

Gibbs' joke kind of loses its punch when its subject has already made it. Plus, now the Left is forced to write about how totally lame Palin's joke was while simultaneously praising Gibbs' truly lame copy of it. That's gonna be some tough blog-writing, but I believe in them.

All this to say...Robert Gibbs is the Dane Cook of political humor. I hope he's proud of himself.

At the risk of being compared to Milton Berle, let me say that Mary Katherine Ham is fucking retarded.

Now there's one Ham that will never be bone-in. *rimshot*

The Highest and Best Use of The Internet

The internet keeps getting better:

Our Assistant Managing editor Michael van der Galien did a great job live-blogging today's episode of Glenn Beck. You can read them all here: Glenn Beck Live Blog Part I Glenn Beck Live Blog Part II Glenn Beck Live Blog Part III Glenn Beck Live Blog Part IV Glenn Beck Live Blog Part V Glenn Beck Live Blog Part VI Glenn Beck Live Blog Part VII NewsReal Blog will frequently live-blog Glenn Beck as well as other cable news programs and presidential speeches. We hope you'll join us for the next one.

Could this be even stupider than it sounds?

Yes.

Much, much, much stupider.

You'll have to read the whole thing to find out how.

Man, I need my own blogging team. Specialization is the wave of the future.

Do Lie, Do Tell

A headline at Tucker Faye Karlason's Daily Choler reads:

Polls show service members oppose gays in military as Gates and Mullen prepare to testify on Don't Ask Don't Tell

How does Bow-Tie Boy lie? Let us count the ways.

1. The story cites one purported DADT poll, not polls.

2. The purported poll cited is a December 2008 Military Times poll. Not a poll taken as Gates and Mullen prepare to testify.

3. The 2008 Military Times survey was not a poll of service members, but a summary of responses to an e-mail sent by Military Times to its subscribers.

As someone once said, "Everything [Tucker] wrote is a lie, including 'and' and 'the.'"

Breach Babies

The University of Chicago wept:

Blodget: The contract is absolutely sacred and what I'm saying is that that's why the contract is there. It is to specify what happens if you do not pay. You're not ripping up the contract and saying I refuse to honor it. That's what it's there for, it specifies exactly what happens in this case.

McArdle: Wait a minute. Now, if your cell phone provider just like unilaterally breached your contract and they paid whatever $50 penalty was in the contract for that, would you be like, "Oh, that's OK," because they had this penalty in the contract and they can pay me the penalty? Or they can live up to the contract they signed. Would you be like, "Well, but it's corporate." No! You'd be furious. I would be furious, I would be on my Web site telling the entire world that they were a bunch of lying, cheating deadbeats.

Which tome takes up less space on the head of a pin -- McArdle on Contracts or McArdle on Ethics?

Link via aimai at No More Mister Nice Blog.

Countdown to 2012

I've complied a 64 list of likely G.O.P. hopefuls in 2012. I've tried to stick to realistic possibilities (meaning that almost all of the people listed think they are a national leader, deluded as they may be).

Iowans and New Hampshiredomites should immediately file for a restraining order using this list. Roger Readers may impress their 20 or so fellow readers by being to first to select the Republican Party's nominee from this list.

ALEXANDER, Lamar!
ALLEN, George
ARMEY, Dick
BACHMANN, Michelle
BARBOUR, Haley
BECK, Glenn
BENNETT, Bill
BLACKBURN, Marsha
BLACKWELL, Kenneth J.
BOENHER, John
BROWN, Scott
BROWNBACK, Sam
BURTON, Dan
BUSH, George P.
BUSH, John Ellis
CANTOR, Eric
CAO, Ahn
CHENEY, Richard B.
CHENEY, Elizabeth
CHRISTIE, Chris
DELAY, Tom
DEMINT, Jim
DOBBS, Lou
DOBSON, Richard
DREIER, David
ENSIGN, John
ERICKSON, Eric
FIORINA, Carleton S.
FLAKE, Jeff
FRIST, Bill
GINGRICH, Newt
GRAHAM, Lindsey
GUILIANI, Rudolph
HUTCHINSON, Kay Bailey
LIEBERMAN, Joseph I.
HUCKABEE, Michael
JINDAL, Piyush
LIMBAUGH, Rush
KEYES, Alan
KYL, John
McCAIN, John Sidney
McCONNELL, Mitch
McDONNELL, Bob
PALIN, Sarah
PAUL, Ron
PAWLENTY, Tim
PENCE, Mike
PERKINS, Tony
PERRY, Rick
REED, Ralph
REYNOLDS, Glenn
ROBERTSON, Marion
ROMNEY, Willard
RYAN, Tim
SANTORUM, Rick
SCARBOROUGH, Joe
SHELBY, Richard
STEELE, Michael
TANCREDO, Tom
THOMPSON, Fred
VITTER, David
WURZELBACHER, Joe
WARREN, Rick

It's a deep bench; an embarrassment of embarrassments.

Tale of the Tape

For those who watched This Week with Barbara Walters (or whatever it's called) this morning, here's the skinny:

At least 100 pounds less
No jowls
A full head of hair
98 percent less gray
No liver spots or lips
Sadly, at least 40 million less in the bank
Equally as unqualified to appear on television
But 100 percent more honest

Howard Zinn. Louis Auchincloss. James Mitchell. J.D. Salinger.

A lot of old people are dying.

No Conjugal Vists for You

Deborah Howell cum James Guckert explains journalistic ethics to Andrew Breitbart's "life story" employee/pimp:

I am shocked by the reports of this behavior. I am well aware that following the law is an integral part of being a good investigative journalist. I take that responsibility and accountability very seriously. I certainly hope these reports are untrue.

Following the law, lying and full-body waxing. In that order.

Necessarily

SLC-GOP Punked:

Salt Lake County Republicans are scrambling to line up a new keynote fundraising speaker after the arrest Tuesday of their scheduled first choice, filmmaker James O'Keefe, on charges of attempting to tamper with the phone system of a U.S. Senator.

"The allegations and arrest today certainly changes our plans," county GOP Chairman Thomas Wright said in a telephone interview with The Tribune . "We'll be announcing a new speaker shortly."

As of Tuesday night, the party's Web site, slcogop.com, still advertised O'Keefe as the guest speaker for the party's Feb. 4 Lincoln Day Dinner. His topic was to be "his national exposé of ACORN's unethical behavior, his changes in Congress and [how he will] inspire our Party's passion for a grassroots comeback."

The fundraising announcement said donations of from $4,000 to $7,500 would entitle contributing groups to have access to elected Republican officials and the guest speaker at a VIP reception. Wright said the web site and other promotions would be altered soon to reflect a change.

"We're disappointed," he said of O'Keefe's arrest on felony charges. "He doesn't necessarily represent the Republican Party."

He's just an aspirational figure for the Party.

O'Keefe's replacement will be the late Roman Grant.

And I thought I was a workaholic

VATICAN CITY – Pope John Paul II whipped himself with a belt, even on vacation....

That's gotta hurt ... Peggy Noonan.

No Light Weight

If only James "Big Government" O'Keefe had written a letter to the editor under a fake name. Then perhaps his "Big" colleague Patterico would go after him!

Update: I stand corrected. Pattycakes did go after O'Keefe -- to kiss his ass. It's all about how "'they never really intended to tap any phones but were simply trying to show how easy it would be to do so.'”

Note to L.A. criminals: Suck up to Andrew Breitbart somehow before committing your felony. Pattycakes will BELIEEEEVVVEEEEEE in you!

It's Gonna Be Tough In There For A Playskool Pimp

Andy Breitbart's littlest pimp may become the Teabaggers' Mumia Abu-Jamal. Andy's deserting his most nortorious blogger like a john deserting a sinking pimp, while Hugh Hewitt tries to rehabilitate Andy like a motherf___er!. Objection! Leading the witness.

Run away, Andy, run away!

Andy's best defense so far is that Vanilla Iceberg Slim is only accused of attempted "interference with a phone system," and that the affidavit doesn't mention buggery. Maybe he was going to have sex with the telephone jack! Don't stop believin', Andy. Hold on to that feelin.'

Update: Andy will have to accept the Reagan Award on Vanilla Iceberg's behalf.

Law and Order: "Special" Prosecutor's Unit

Is there a bigger dumbfuck drawing breath than "Patterico," the very special prosecutor from the City and County of Los Angeles?

Answer: No.

Pattycakes has his briefs in a bunch because an Obama supporter sent the same letter to numerous editorial pages, using a local city as her address for each missive in order to increase the chance of publication. What does Paranoid Pat take away from this episode of little import?

The conclusion is simple: Ellie Light and Mark Spivey are liars. They pretend to be from multiple places to enhance their credibility. In fact, they are from one location — and they are trying to pretend they are individuals from all over America.

And Pattycakes is even simpler than his incorrect conclusion. The letter writer was pretending to be "from all over America." She was only claiming one residence to each paper, and didn't disclose to the papers that she was sending the letter to other papers. She wasn't pretending to be "individuals" -- plural -- from all over America.

Pattycakes also sniffs that the letter writer was engaged in "'astroturfing," which Patty describes as "phony 'grassroots' activity. The term refers to opinions that seem to be genuine — but, in reality, are directed by a Central Planner." Except that the letter writer was expressing her genuine opinion, and she wasn't directed by anyone. That's the opposite of astroturfing.

It's kind of sad that someone would make up addresses to get a letter printed in multiple newspapers. It's pathetic -- and highly amusing -- that a purported professional would spend so much time obssessing over a meaningless event and demonstrate his utter ignorance about the event at the same time.

(No link to Pattycakes.)

Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself/I'm a Man With a Wealth of Ignorance and Don Johnson's 30-Year-Old Taste in Clothing

Shorter Tommy de Seno: God didn't cause the Haitian earthquake, the Devil did. It's history!

New York Times Stereotypes Self, Readers

Not from The Onion:

Therapists Report Increase in Green Disputes

Gordon Fleming is, by his own account, an environmentally sensitive guy.

He bikes 12 1/2 miles to and from his job at a software company outside Santa Barbara, Calif. He recycles as much as possible and takes reusable bags to the grocery store.

Still, his girlfriend, Shelly Cobb, feels he has not gone far enough.

Ms. Cobb chides him for running the water too long while he shaves or showers. And she finds it “depressing,” she tells him, that he continues to buy a steady stream of items online when her aim is for them to lead a less materialistic life.

Mr. Fleming, who says he became committed to Ms. Cobb “before her high-priestess phase,” describes their conflicts as good-natured — mostly.

But he refuses to go out to eat sushi with her anymore, he said, because he cannot stand to hear her quiz the waiters.

“None of it is sustainable or local,” he said, “and I am not eating cod or rockfish.”

As awareness of environmental concerns has grown, therapists say they are seeing a rise in bickering between couples and family members over the extent to which they should change their lives to save the planet.

...

Sandy Shulmire, a psychologist who lives in Portland, confesses that when she is visiting her sister in Abita Springs, La., she cannot resist bugging her about not recycling her plastic and cardboard, even though she knows she will be perceived as “bossy.”

Cherl Petso, an editor of an online magazine who lives in Seattle, says trips to visit her parents in Idaho can be “tense at times,” in part because she and her mother interpret each other’s choices as judgmental.

Linda Buzzell, a family and marriage therapist for 30 years who lives in Santa Barbara and is a co-editor of “Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind,” cautions that the repercussions of environmental differences can be especially severe for couples.

....She warns wives and mothers not to move a family toward vegetarianism before everyone is ready.

“Food is such an emotional issue,” she said.

Christienne deTournay Birkhahn, executive director of the EcoMom Alliance, an organization based in Marin County that provides education to women who want to have their families live more sustainably, finds that disputes over how green is green enough often divide along predictable lines by sex.

...

Her husband, Kurt, an engineer and federal employee, sometimes seems to be baiting her by placing plastic yogurt cups in the garbage or leaving the reusable shopping bags in the car and coming home with disposable bags instead.

If only the article included tips on how to green your second home, and addressed the emotional toll of getting into the best pre-school and Ivy, it would be a New York Times Cliche Classic.

By the way, the article should be titled "Therapists and Others Promoting Their Own 'Green' Services Predictably Report Increase In Green Disputes."

The Future of The Internet

Has anyone read The Daily Choler, Tucker Faye Karlason's visionary new website?

Here's a representative sample, from today's e-dition:

During the past 32 years, I have had the insightful opportunity to work in both public and private sectors in roughly equal portions of time impositions all based inside the Beltway.

My public sector service included counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, career legal positions at Departments of Justice and Education, and political appointments at U.S. EPA and most recently at DoD. In the private sector, I was affiliated with several law firms, a corporate think-tank, and the second-largest U.S. private corporation and a related foundation. Such variety of professional experiences exposed me to myriads of operational and management structures and bureaucracies with disparate arrays of missions, goals, and identifying “success” in job and office.

From an early age, I have been fascinated with our country’s history, particularly surrounding its founding. As I developed my career path, I was inspired to live by and support the principles and beliefs upon which the United States of America was formed out of our Revolution from British colonialism 235 years ago. This inspiration led me to concentrate in public and international affairs in college, pursue a law degree, and then come to Washington, D.C., for government service.

After more than three decades in our nation’s capital, the seat of government birthed with Thomas Jefferson’s ringing cry of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence, I can timely reflect how our country’s mission statement formulated in 1776 is implemented today in the complex structure that is contemporary American governance and society.

In consideration of this question, a corollary concern is the appropriate balance of freedom and security in our nation’s governance and society. If our country’s mission is assuring “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” of individuals living in America, does increased security throughout our society impose decreased freedom? A related factor is how “security” in our society is defined. Is there a difference, for instance, of security from terrorism versus security from ill-health? How conscious are our governing bodies of Mr. Jefferson’s historic national goals as they attempt “good government?” And what, in fact, is “good government?”

That's what I call persuasive writing.

Continuing directly:

These issues and concepts will be the core basis of discussion in future posts.

When does this site go to the pay model? I've got my checkbook in hand already.

Teabaggers Sucked Dry

Who knew the Teabaggers were such whiny Commie babies?

Well, a lot of people, but the point stands.

I Love Sarah Palin, Therefore I Infantilize Her

Oly Olafson, G.O.P. Queenmaker, explains why he's allowed to criticize Sharia Plain, and you're not:

But I also get that there are Republicans who like — even love — Sarah Palin who think some of her handlers might not give her the best of advice or think she should or should not do one thing or another. And i’m finding, both from personal experience and the experience of friends, that when those points are brought up, the person raising the point is often inappropriately attacked as a Palin hater.

Sometimes, yeah. But most times, no. I get that there are people who read RedState and comment here who do not like Palin. And I get that there are people here who love her. Put me on that side. But I also get that there are people who have concerns and get really pathetically attacked for voicing those concerns.

Just consider the reaction to this post I wrote about Palin going to the Tea Party Convention. I did not write it intending at all to be critical of Sarah Palin. In fact, I wrote it hoping her handlers might take some notice and reconsider. That Governor Palin has now publicly said the money is going to the fight really ameliorates the situation.

(No link to Thor Thorsen. The rest of it is pathetic name-dropping.)

The back story is that Wally Walrusson slammed Sharia for headlining the $500-a-ticket Teabag Convention without putting his name on the V.I.P. afterparty list. Sven's fellow Palinists accused him of having double plus ungood thoughts about their Glorious Leader, and demanded a show trial. To appease the rabble, Lars has to explain that he has a duty to criticize Palin because he really, really loves her.

Accordingly, it is perfectly acceptable for Bjorn portray Palin as a victim of her "handlers," without acknowledging that someone who needs handlers, presumably selected those handlers, and isn't bright enough to recognize that she's ill-served by her chosen handlers isn't a particularly good candidate for "federal office" or leader of a movement.

I'm sure Erick truly believes that if he was allowed to handle Sarah Palin, her future would be limitless. Based on Erick's own words, I'm even more confident that Erick's "love" of Sarah is the same type of love he would feel for a special needs child whose disability payments he controlled.

Brody-Do-Do

Beltway-darling Bible-banger and faux journalist David Brody is strangely silent on Marion Robertson's assertion the thousands dead in Haiti were killed because of a deal with the Devil.

Not a word about Robertson from the man annointed to speak for Christ on Meet the Press and Reliable Sources.

Maybe Brody sold his balls to the Devil to get that anchor gig.

Brody does, however, manage to call Sharia Plain a ho:

What? You think Palin and Rachel Maddow were going to co-hos a show together?

You can't afford her, Brody.

And Here's to You, Mrs Robinson

Going to the candidates' debate:

Mrs Robinson — MP for Strangford, member of the Northern Ireland assembly, alderman of Castlereagh borough council and wife of Northern Ireland's first minister — was a frequent customer of William (Billy) McCambley's butcher's shop in Ballyhackamore, east Belfast. His young son Kirk would help out in the shop, and first got to know her in the late 1990s when he was still at primary school.

...

But it was not to remain a mother-son relationship; by mid-summer 2008 the couple were having an affair.

It is difficult to overstate the shock Mrs Robinson's admission on Tuesday provoked in Northern Ireland. Both Peter and Iris Robinson are vocal evangelical Christians from a deeply religious and conservative unionist culture.

Mrs Robinson's transgression was the more astonishing given the controversy generated last year when she described homosexuality as an abomination on a par with paedophilia that made her nauseous. As the BBC programme coyly noted, the passage in Leviticus that she quoted contains similar sentiments about adultery.

Hey hey hey.

More here.

Even the mighty TPM flubs sometimes. On today's front page, TPM highlights this link as "Top News" with the link title "CPAC: Palin Pulled Out!"

Link's from 2009, as evidenced by the fact that Palin is quoted as saying that the "duties of governing" kept her from attending CPAC's Wankapalooza. Palin pulls out so often one can't assume what's she's pulling out of.

Roger's Rules of Personality Disorder

Roger el-Simon:

"3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks."

"No danger of Nancy Pelosi 'jumping the shark.' No self-respecting shark would come within miles of La Pelsoa. No, Madame Speaker is a witch, so she must jump the broom. And jump the broom she did today, winging her way off the reservation with her squadron of flying monkeys by taking nasty swipes at the President for – hold onto your seats – not living up to his campaign promises on health care. (Maybe she can provide some potions from her cauldron to make up for it)."

Homina homina homina!

Shorter Rog-el: I used to be a liberal, but thanks to 9/11, I've lost the ability to understand Latin. My contempt toward women remains unchanged, however.

Big Girl's Blouse has added Mary Rosh as its academic fraud correspondent. Mary's conclusion?

Science and voters both depend on accurate information. Research can’t be checked when organizations University of East Anglia, NASA, the British Met Office, and others are unwilling to share their data or computer programs.

Ms. Rosh is the first transgendered woman to be hired by Andrew Breitbart. As a blogger.

The White Reagan House

This gentleman's problems can likely be explained by his parentage:

Former President Reagan’s grandson is in jail this morning after police arrested him at his parents’ house in Van Nuys, Los Angeles Police Department officials said.

Cameron Reagan, 31, was arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest, a misdemeanor, and is being held in lieu of $10,000 bail at Van Nuys Jail, said LAPD Officer Bruce Borihanh.

Officers responded to a panic button call on the 4700 block of Allot Avenue about 12:20 a.m. and found Reagan exiting a rear door. He was drinking and “very uncooperative,” Borihanh said. Police did not know who was home at the time or who pushed the panic button.

...

Reagan has suffered from attention-deficit disorder since childhood, which attorneys in 2001 said caused him to drop out of college and made him unable to hold a job. At one point, according to court documents, Reagan was destitute and living on the streets.
...

[Updated at 9:20 a.m.: Michael Reagan, who no longer lives in the home, said the alarm goes directly to the police station. “They surround the house with police cars because of who we are,” he told the AP, adding that his son did not understand what was happening and panicked. “There was a lot of misunderstanding at 1 a.m.”].

Given the neglect that Michael suffered at the hands of Ronnie, it wouldn't surprise me if Cameron suffered the same fate. Given what a flaming asshole Michael is, it's no wonder his wife kicked him out of the house.

Little Drudge's third website, Big Girl's Blouse, has finally floated to the surface. This one purports to cover the press, and features such Howard Kurtz-level journos (and I mean that) as "E.V. Bone," Alicia Colon, and a person pretending to be a dog.

The opening post involves Dimbart acknowledging that his other site, Big Gumbmint, makes shit up and that he really doesn't care about accuracy or the truth. It's nice that he set the standard upfront.

The site should be good for a few laughs. but we don't know how many more "Big" sites Dimbart can populate when he's already scrapped the bottom of the sewer with Patterico and Gutfeld. Unless he can lure Mickey Kaus from Slate, there's no lower to go to.

Cruise vs. Cruise

Those of you with only seven thousand dollars burning a hole in your pocket will find it hard to choose between the National Review Benchwarmers' Cruise (see below) and Commentary's Cruise with the Jews.

Featuring:

John Podhoretz

Elliott Abrams

Bret Stephens

Andrew Roberts
England's leading historian of World War II (!)

Michael Medved

Jennifer Rubin

Norman Podhoretz

Midge Decter

Lest you think I am playing up the Jewish element of the Commentary cruise, read on:

Are Kosher meals available...

Strict (Glatt) Kosher always available:

RSSC cannot prepare Strict kosher meals onboard. It is important to inform the guests that Strict Kosher meals will always be pre-prepared and provided by an outside vendor. The meals are purchased frozen and shipped to the vessel.

If the guest does observe Strict (Glatt) Kosher, please inform the guest that the vessels will always have limited quantities of the following Kosher dishes on inventory.

Kosher meals prepared by Weberman of Miami, FL.

...

Will there be a shabbat service...

Michael Medved will lead a shabbat service for the Commentary Cruise group.

Michael Medved will also host a retrospective of Mel Gibson films.

But don't worry, this is a Cruise of Ideas!

The First Annual Commentary Conference of Ideas will bring together our guest writers, thinkers, and scholars with opinion leaders like you from across the nation and the world to discuss dramatic and frightening changes inside the United States and around the world since the election of Barack Obama-how to view them, how to reply to them, how to combat them, and what the elections of 2010 and 2012 portend.

The existential threat to Israel; the new administration's accommodationist approach to world politics; the dangers of premature exits from Iraq and Afghanistan; the threats to American freedoms from aggressive new legislation on Capitol Hill; and the worshipful embrace of the current leadership from the cultural doyens of Washington and the art world; these will be just some of the matters we will discuss.

Not to mention a reenactment of Willy Kristol's discovery of Sarah Palin on a similar cruise in 2006.

Go and Sin No More

So when does Brit Hume advise Charles Krauthammer that if he accepts Jesus as his personal Saviour he will walk again?

55 percent see a duck. 45 percent see a rabbit. Instacracker sees an insolent socialist Negro.

Saddleback Mountin'

Confirmation that the easiest way to shear the flock is to have a really stupid flock:

Rick Warren says 'radical generosity' is behind the $2.4 million in donations netted by the church in just a few days.

The Purpose Driven author issued an "urgent" plea last week to raise $900,000 in just 48 hours so that his California church, Saddleback, could end 2009 debt-free.

To the cheers of the congregation, Warren announced at Saturday night's service that $2.4 million in donations had so far come in via the web and in envelopes dropped off at the megachurch as a result of the appeal. The total does not include mailed donations, he said.

Warren praised the congregation for their spirit of giving, as he read out letters from donors who had given beyond their means.

"This is pretty amazing," said Warren. "That's a record. I don't think any church has gotten a cash offering like that off a letter.

"We're starting the new decade with a surplus.

"It came from thousands of thousands of ordinary people. There was not one big fat cat."

Warren said, then licked his paw and took a dump in a litter box.

By an amazing coincidence, we at the Roger Ailes blog Ministries need to raise $900,000 to end January 2010 debt-free. Give 'til it hurts, and let next month's rent take care of itself.

National Review Cruise

Ship of Z-List Fools

Check out this No-Star Lineup for May 2010's National Review Cruise:

Michael Mukasey
U.S. Attorney General

William McGurn
Wall Street Journal columnist, chief speechwriter for President Bush

Daniel Hannan
Conservative leader of European Parliament

Charles Kesler
Conservative scholar, editor of Claremont Review of Books

Sally Pipes
President and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute

Bing West
Terrorism and military expert

Kathryn Lopez
National Review Online Editor

Kevin Williamson
National Review Deputy Managing Editor

Kate O' Beirne
National Review Institute President

Cruising with Sally Pipes and William McGurn. Now that's a dream come true. The biggest name is a placeholder brought in to clean up cover up Abu Gonzales' mess.

I suspect the dearth of genetic males from the National Review staff and The Corner on the passenger list is due to recent events involving overseas flights. Not even a free cruise and twenty all-you-can-eat buffets can entice those cowards to enlist as reserves in the War on Terror. The Out to Sea crowd will be hopping mad when they learn they're left with K-Lo and Snagglepuss as candidates for shipboard romance.

Stenography For A Sphincter

It might be a stretch to say that CNN is deliberately pushing the far right agenda in the following article; at a minimum, they're allowing themselves to be played:

(CNN) – A mass e-mail was sent on Tuesday from Carly Fiorina's senatorial campaign, appearing to not only come from the candidate herself, but from her personal BlackBerry.

While most campaigns send e-mails appearing to be written from the candidate, this one took the extra step of adding at the bottom, "Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device." This tag has raised questions about why the campaign, and others which have included similar tags, would take the extra step to tell readers what is highly unlikely: it was sent directly from Fiorina's BlackBerry.

...


"I doubt anyone believed Carly Fiorina typed out that entire e-mail on her BlackBerry specifically to the recipient and took the time to add in the FEC disclosure box," Erick Erickson, the editor-in-chief of RedState.com, said. "It's just silly. I think it undermines the credibility of online campaigns for candidates to do stuff like that."

"I think when online outreach tries to be too cute, people stop taking it seriously," Erickson added.

Evidently no one told CNN "Audience Interaction Producer" Eric Kuhn that people stopped taking Yumpin Yiminy seriously when RedState was founded.

More egregiously, Kuhn failed to inform readers that Yumpin has endorsed Fiorina's primary opponent, frothing wingnut Charles DeVore, and therefore has a substantial interest in attacking Fiorina's credibility. Erickson's not just some random asshole spouting off about trivia; he's an asshole who's working with a candidate's rival to defeat that candidate spouting off about trivia. (Sample santorum: "But as we fight our way back to power, I stand with Chuck DeVore because Chuck DeVore stands with me.")

It's not the asshole who's to be faulted for failing to disclose the conflict, he didn't write the article. That we know of. Perhaps it's just that Kuhn is an incompetent. But, at the Alex Castellanos network, that's far from the only explanation.

Howie the Putz is spending today reflecting on his accomplishments of the past year:

HowardKurtz

Yesterday was Tiger's birthday. Bet he wished for a time machine.

9 minutes ago from web

Stay relevant, Howie!

Out With The Old

The prayers of a thousand c-list wingnut talkers have been denid by a cruel God.

The Republican Party has developed laryngitis for the immediate future.

Wingnut welfare is drying up.

And I feel fine.

Happy New Year to all.

Let's have the best decade of our lives. This could be the best decade ever.

Aloha Oe

Ann Alchouse uses the occasion of Rush Limbaugh's Come-to-Cheney moment to wax moronic on health care reform:

I'm impressed that it took 12 comments before anyone at Politico said that (or anything like that) after a report that Rush Limbaugh has been hospitalized with chest pains and is in "serious" condition.

ADDED: Much re-tweeted at Twitter: "The people calling for Rush Limbaugh to die are the same people who ask to control your healthcare."

I suppose lying about political opponents is the most fitting way to honor Big Pharma. Although Limbaugh's problem was always too much access to health care, not too little. When Rusty goes, it's not going to be the people "calling for" his death who did him in.

May Rusty get the care that everyone deserves.

(No link to Professor Pickle.)

So who gets custody of James Guckert?

And does the other one get custody of Perino?

Fight The Power

I've found the perfect case for Dr. Mrs. Instacracker and the men's rights movement.

After they've proven that Charlie Sheen is the real victim, of course.

The way certain women manipulate the legal system to deny fathers their rights is unconscionable. Boys need a father!

Thank God Tedd Petruna was on Northwest Flight 253.

1,270 Miles

The moment you've all be waiting for:

The King William's College Quiz

Update: Here's an easier and quicker one. My score: 44 out of 70 (and I got the Orly Taitz question wrong!)

"The best thing about Mark Steyn's guest-host stint on Hannity last night — other than Jonah's joining him on the panel — was that Mark asked some pointed questions of two brilliant political strategists, Dick Morris and Karl Rove...."

As John Kennedy would have said, that is the most extraordinary collection of human evil and banality that has ever been gathered together in one place – with the possible exception of when Hitler hosted a pedophile convention.

(From The Corner; it's but not worth the effort.)

Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Christmas No. 1

Update: Never would have seen that coming.

Constitutional Commentary From A Christmas Cracker

Ho ho ho:

"Bottom line is Christmas is about Christmas," said Erin Ryan, president of the Redding Tea Party Patriots. "That's why we have it. It's not about winter solstice or Kwanzaa. It's like, 'wow you guys, it's called Christmas for a reason.' "

Ryan said Hyatt's initiative [requiring public schools to play Christmas carols] falls under the umbrella of causes the group supports, which concern limited government, following the constitution and fiscal responsibility.

Totally. For sure.

Sarah, Sexting

Imagine being the stooge who has to write "tweets" in the voice of Sharia Plain:

Copenhgen=arrogance of man2think we can change nature's ways.MUST b good stewards of God's earth,but arrogant&naive2say man overpwers nature BRB PIR

Palin isn't trying to change the debate on climate change, or even to debate climate change, with this dumbfuckery. She's just trying to change the microclimate in Little Dick Lowry's pants and stimulate the suckers who buy books with their other head.

Cockslapalypse Now

900 Foot Jesus Wept

Shorter Richard Cohen

Kati Marton? Never heard of her!

(More here)

By the way, Little Dickie concludes his just askin' column like this:

The reason the Glass Ceiling has not broken is that women have other priorities — maintaining relationships and being a mother. This is the way it is, and this is the way it has always been.

Or perhaps it's the hostile work environment.

Fuck Richard Cohen.

Dr. Strangelove's Son, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Use My Parents' Credit Cards

I'll see you, Roy, and I'll raise you ... in hell!

This shouldn't surprise you:

Special Thanks to:
Dr. Michael Apuzzo
Helene Apuzzo
The Murty and Apuzzo families
Irvin Kershner
Gretchen Brooks
Rebecca Julian

We WERE Greeted As Liberators

Alexander Hamilton is spinning in his grave, and Rupert Murdoch's latest hire is rubbing up against the gravestone:

But I must say, I was buying the Liberator [sex aid] and I was watching the demonstration video for all the different positions and I was thinking about my boyfriend at the time, and it got me super turned on . . . just thinking about him and us, and exploring all the different positions on this thing.

I've gotta say, if Rupe thinks anyone's going to pay for that content, he doesn't know the internet.

Old Ash appears to be wandering into Dick Morris/David Vitter territory. (Link SFW.)

Worst Books of the Decade

"There's nothing worse than being told something is wonderful only to discover it's actually The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru."

Whatever you do, don't send Sam Jordison Liberal Fascism: An I Can Write It All By Myself Beginner Book, which will be topping lists of the century's worst books ninety years from now.

Here's one website's list of the worst books of all times. Seems pretty accurate, except for the omission of the Pantload and Jeffrey Archer's works from the top 100.

Roger's Book Sac

Kudos to Mark Kleiman, whose worthy tome has made the Economist's Best of 2009 list:

When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment. By Mark Kleiman. Princeton University Press; 256 pages; $29.95 and £20.95 America has one prisoner for every hundred adults—a rate unprecedented in American history and unmatched anywhere in the world. Brute-force crime control has been a costly mistake, both socially and financially. Mr Kleiman shows how smarter enforcement strategies are more successful and make existing budgets go further. An important book that deserves a wider readership.

A link to Amazon.com might have helped, Economist.

Video here.

Who will be the first wingnut to cite this story as proof that health care reform is unnecessary?

Or am I too late?

The Patriot Act

Patriot Pat has been a naughty mascot:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A man who acts as a mascot for the New England Patriots is among 14 people who have been arrested for prostitution-related crimes in Rhode Island since a new law went into effect that banned indoor prostitution.

The bill signed into law in November made prostitution a misdemeanor crime regardless of where it occurs. Previously, indoor prostitution was allowed because of a legal loophole.

State Police say Robert Sormanti of Warwick was among those arrested in an undercover sting at a hotel. The Providence Journal reports Sormanti is among the team's mascots.

The Patriots said in a statement that multiple people wear the mascot costume and that the "individual in question" has been suspended.

It was easy to pick Pat out of a lineup.

I'm surprised to hear indoor prostitution was legal in Rhode Island. Who would have sex outdoors in Rhode Island? (More about the law here.)

A White Christmas

The usual bedwetters are up in arms that the New York Times has published an supplement pandering to consumers which highlights on one page "gifts created for and by people of color this holiday season." These automatic splutterers are outraged that non-whites not only manufacture and purchase merchandise, but also are allowed to recieve and enjoy gifts.

Said bedwetters have not yet turned their fauxtrage to the National Review's promotion of merchandise to pale parents which contains the following colorful dialogue:

“Yasser. Fokes dunner w’at bin yit, let ’lone w’at gwinter be. Niggers is niggers now, but de time wuz w’en we ’uz all niggers tergedder.”

“When was that, Uncle Remus?”

“Way back yander. In dem times we ’uz all an us black; we ’uz all niggers tergedder, en ’cordin’ ter all de ’counts w’at I years fokes ’uz gittin’ ’long ’bout ez well in dem days ez dey is now. But atter ’w’ile de news come dat dere wuz a pon’ er water some’rs in de naberhood, w’ich ef dey’d git inter dey’d be wash off nice en w’ite, en den one un urn, he fine de place en make er splange inter de pon’, en come out w’ite ez a town gal. En den, bless grashus! w’en de fokes seed it, dey make a break fer de pon’, en dem w’at wuz de soopless, dey got in fus’ en dey come out w’ite; en dem w’at wuz de nex’ soopless, dey got in nex’, en dey come out merlatters; en dey wuz sech a crowd un um dat dey mighty nigh use de water up, w’ich w’en dem yuthers come long, de morest dey could do wuz ter paddle about wid der foots en dabble in it wid der han’s. Dem wuz de niggers, en down ter dis day dey ain’t no w’ite ’bout a nigger ’ceppin de pa’ms er der han’s en de soles er der foot.”

Just like the gifts in the Times, the Complete Tales of Uncle Remus can be given by or to anyone. Unlike the Times selections, Uncle Remus will be repulsive to people of every hue.

The Hora, The Hora

Orrin Hatch has written and performed a Hanukkah song:

Hanukkah, Hanukkah, the festival of lights
I love my Hebrew brothers; you're almost good as whites
You are moatly bluish; we come from states of red
That's okay, we'll just baptize you when you're dead

Senator Hatch is accompanied by Attorney General John Ashcroft on the violin, and Larry Craig on the shofar. And he's already booked for next year's Chabad Telethon.

Due to other commitments, the annual Roger Ailes gift guide will not be up this weekend, as I'd originally planned.

Just send me cash.

Snopes.com Is Worthless

Not completely. If you need to find out whether that internet coupon for a free small Coke at Mountain Mike's Pizza is fake, Snopes.com is the place to go.  If you're interested in the facts concerning something more substantive, Snopes is worthless.

Look at this recent analysis:

Claim: Account describes Muslims engaging in a "dry run" hijacking of Flight 297.

[Snopes' evaluation:] MIXTURE

Of course, the claim is literally true. There is an "account" -- an e-mail -- which describes such a scenario. But the e-mail is pure bullshit. And even before the airline, AirTran, debunked the e-mail by proving that the purported author wasn't on Flight 297, there was no evidence -- and Snopes cites none -- that the conflict between a flight attendant and a passenger involved a "dry run" for a highjacking or even a Muslim. Yet Snopes doesn't call the account FALSE. (Steves M. and Benen have more details on Flight 297 and the bullshit e-mail.)

Snopes -- by which I mean those frauds, Barbara and David P. Mikkelson -- doesn't have the integrity to dispel the wingnut fantasy for the lie it is. Calling this story a "Mixture" is like applying the same label to the tale that, on Monday, November 30, 2009, I flew to the moon on a lead ballon where I had sex with Linda Evangelista and posted to this blog 17 times. Because part of that is true.

Here's another example:

Letter purportedly written by nonagenarian Navy veteran criticizes President Obama

CORRECTLY ATTRIBUTED

Some codger supposedly writes a letter to Obama, filled with the bullshit he heard on talk radio, and Snopes declares the rumor "Correctly Attributed" because the geezer supposedly wrote the letter. (Snopes claims to have verified the authorship; in truth, they never spoke with the geezer, and relied on a third-hand account that the old fart dictated the letter to a secretary.) But the letter is filled with demonstrable falsehoods(*) which Snopes doesn't even bother to debunk.

No one gives a toss that some obscure doddering fool "wrote" a nasty letter to Obama. There are a million crackpots writing a million crackpot letters to politicians and public figures every year. What's significant is the substance of the letter, which is filled with fabrications. Snopes has no interest in those, even though the the idiot Palin and others are endorsing those lies.

I don't know whether the Mikkelsons are right-wing hacks, but they're definitely incompetent hacks.

Update: The Flight 297 e-mailer, Teddy Petruna, claims, in conversation with a wingnut columnist, that he was in fact on the flight. Let's assess his credibility:

Even as people scrambled to substantiate the e-mail, Muslim and leftist Web sites began characterizing the writer and anyone who thought it might have merit as "right wing racists." They immediately initiated a campaign to discredit and ridicule the writer, who actually had the audacity to speak boldly about the escalating fear and anger on the flight, though he admitted to me yesterday he'd taken artistic license with a couple points, never imagining it would travel beyond his circle of friends. He's not a journalist, and has no wish to become the next Joe the Plumber, he said.

A "couple points" of fabrication. Not surprisingly, Tedd and his scrivener aren't too specific about the specific lies Tedd told. But it was certainly boldly audacious of Tedd to send a private e-mail to friends in which he portrayed himself as a hero, believing his facts wouldn't be checked. The Audacity of Soft-Soap, one might call it. Meanwhile, Tedd's scrivener claims to be "regular folk" looking for "the truth," even as she covers up for Tedd and attacks those attempting to discredit his admittedly bogus e-mail.

* Most are lies about Obama himself, but, among the most eggregious of the falsehoods is the claim that "500,000 men died" in the Civil War "for" "the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man." Sorry, gramps, but your fellow crackers died because they were against that ideal, and nowhere near 500,000 Americans died in the Civil War.

Birther Duh Nation Has A Favorite Daughter*

Now that Sharia Plain has made her bid for the Birther wing of the Republican Party, what will Mittens, Newt, Huckabee and Pawlenty do to up the ante? Surely they won't concede the G.O.P.'s biggest voting bloc to Palin, Dobbs and Keyes.

* Ms. Taitz is barred from becoming President, due to a Constitutional conspiracy involving the Founders and Eric Holder.

NOT On Roger's List

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas at the National Review Book Service's "Christmas For Conservatives" webpage. Bargain-minded shoppers can take advantage of these "twofer" deals on items no literate conservative home should be without:

Buy The "Official 2009 White House Christmas Ornament" with:
Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld that's Conspiring to Islamize America
by P. David Gaubatz and Paul Sherry
List Price : $50.90
Buy Together: $44.90 (Save 12%)


Buy Still Standing [by Carrie Prejean] with:
The American Boy's Handy Book
by Daniel C. Beard
List Price : $40.94
Buy Together: $29.90 (Save 27%)


Buy The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus with:
The Christmas Sweater
by Glenn Beck
List Price : $52.99
Buy Together: $43.90 (Save 17%)

Over at Jake Tosser's Political Cockpunch, one of Tosser's interns smarms it up on behalf of the boss:

Golf Digest Asks -- What Can President Obama Learn from Tiger Woods?

And I do mean intern. Spreading Tosser's sleaze must be better a career path than that peace shit.

Rush and Kate Minus Eight

Big Pharma's marrying a gal named Kathryn. But not named Lopez. Sadly, she was too old for Rush. All that opposition to marriage equality, for nothing!

Obliviously We Roll Along

Yes, he said it:

The role of stigma in a free society is one of the least appreciated topics in modern discourse, I think.