Archive for April, 2009
David Souter – Thanks For Waiting
Rumor has it that Supreme Court Justice David Souter is going to take his robe off.
Insofar as Souter was appointed by George H. W. Bush I think it’s telling sweet that he waited until a Democrat was in the White House before he did so.
Give to The Matthew Shepard Foundation in the Name of Virginia Foxx
You heard the news.
Give what you can — be it $1 or $100 — to The Matthew Shepard Foundation with a h/t to Virginia Foxx.
Comca$t
Just paid the Comca$t bill. $70+. It seems like yesterday when it was $35. Love that free market deregulation that was supposed to increase competition and drive costs down.
Fox News Calling Carrie Prejean
She’d fit right in with their other girls reporters.
(Screen shot from the homepage of FoxNews.com taken @ 11:15 p.m. ET on 4-30-09, more than a day after the boob-job story came to light (see above) .)
“National Council for a New America”
It was one of the big, BIG stories today but ah, do they have a website?
Can’t find one as of this evening. Let me know.
Wouldn’t be surprised if they blew another big one.
“Swinophobes” – The Headline on FoxNews.com
This would be the headline on FoxNews.com @ 6:58 p.m. ET:
Hey, Obama’s just trying to get attention with this flu virus garbage so why not have some fun with it, huh?
Lots of News Organizations Didn’t Get Called on Last Night
Fox wants to know why they didn’t get called on during last night’s news conference.
I don’t presume to know that Obama intentionally ignored Fox (but in my heart of hearts I’d like to think he did). Nonetheless, this whining by news organizations about who gets called on and who doesn’t is already getting old. Hey, “far left” liberal host Ed Schultz didn’t get called on either.
I don’t know how many news organizations were represented last night but surely there were dozens. Obama only took, what, maybe 10 questions? So lots of news outlets were passed over.
I suspect that over time Obama will try to call on everyone and there will be times when the spoiled brats who are used to being called on every single freakin’ time will just have to sit it out.
Geez.
Cat Fight
There are times when I want to tear my hair out at stories about First Dog Bo or what Michelle Obama wore, but suffering through those is nothing compared to what’s going on in Italy.
FoxNews.com Headlines Teeny, Tiny Ultra-Conservative Radical Group
One of the headlines on FoxNews.com at this moment (3:55 p.m. ET – see screen shot below) is this: “The School of Right – Ultra-Conservative Group that Bills Itself as ‘America’s Right-Wing Conservative Youth Movement’ Riles Students Nationwide.“
Per the article, the group, “Youth for Western Civilization” (check out their logo) hopes to “inspire Western youth on the ‘basis of pride in their American and Western heritage,’ counter and ultimately defeat ‘leftism on campus’ and create a social movement in which a right-wing subculture is an alternative to what it calls a ‘poisonous and bigoted’ campus climate.”
YWC debuted in February at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Its honorary chairman is former Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo. Its membership is estimated to be, “roughly 10 active members at each of its college chapters. Aside from UNC, DeAnna said YWC has a presence at Vanderbilt University, American University, Elon University, the University of Rhode Island, the University of Connecticut-Storrs and Bentley University.” It is currently being monitored by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
So. Here we have an ultra-conservative group of radicals consisting of roughly 70 people – that would be 70 PEOPLE – being given headline news status on the website of the largest and most conservative “news” organization in the country.
Interesting indeed.
News You Can’t Use: CNN Assesses Obama’s “Swagga”
I saw this segment while I was eating lunch but I was too lazy to get up to post about it so I’m glad CJR did.
As I’ve said before, you can practically feel your brain atrophying when you watch daytime cable “news.”
Sarah Palin Changes Her Mind About Accepting Stimulus Money and Sneaks in a Lie or Two While Doing So
Just this morning I was thinking about how nervous I’d be right now if Sarah and John were guiding us through the mess we’re in, including the flu thing.
Get Ready for a “Republican Revolution” in 2010
James Inhofe (R-OK) — continuing in his quest to be top loon — was just on Fox claiming that there’s going to be a Republican revolution in 2010.
Whatever Jim.
Photoshop This
Something funny coming out of one of the stupidest things to happen in a long time.
Rachel Maddow’s Ratings Are Down
Her ratings are down quite a bit since October.
MSNBC – don’t give up on her!
Our Debts
This is interesting: America’s Biggest Types of Personal Debt.
Payday loans are #1. Ugh. Sad.
Duh. What was I thinking? Too many things going on. Payday loans are #10 (h/t David) but still, they’re way too prevalent.
Smithfield Ham, Swine Flu and Paula Deen?
The Smithfield company’s (homepage screen shot — as of today — below) production and labor standards have been controversial for a long time. This for example, from 2006. And this, from April, 2007. Now we learn it might be at the heart of the Swine flu epidemic.
More as this develops.
Not So Deep Thought
I’m dubious about what Specter will bring to the party but I sure am having a good time watching the snarling Repubs on teevee today.
Democrats as the Battered Spouse
Thom Hartmann talked about this article on his show today: Democrats’ Battered Wife Syndrome, by Robert Parry. It’s fairly long but Parry explains the 40-year “marriage” between the abusive husband, the Republicans, and the battered wife, the Democrats.
Money quote:
The Democrats hope against hope that if they tolerate the latest Republican outrages maybe there will be some reciprocity, maybe there will be some GOP votes on Democratic policy initiatives.
But there’s no logical reason to think so. That isn’t how the Republicans and their right-wing media allies do things; they simply get angrier because belligerence has worked so well for so long.
On the other hand, Democratic wishful thinking is the essence of this political “battered wife syndrome,” dreaming about a behavioral transformation when all the evidence – and four decades of experience – tell you that the bullying husband isn’t going to change.
Democrats have got to get this. They have got to realize that being nice won’t work; it won’t make the Republicans change. This is working for them. For God’s sake, I’ve seen Democrats on “panels” on teevee sit there like a bump on a log while their Republican counterpart refers to the Democratic party as the “Democrat party.” They can’t even stand up to THAT!
Meanwhile, we the people, the nation as a whole — the kids in the dysfunctional relationship — suffer the consequences.
Fox News Pouts About Specter the Defector
This is the headline on FoxNews.com right now (4:35 p.m. ET): “PARTY POOPER – Specter Ditches GOP for Dems and Obama:”
Waaaah. Poor babies. They’re pouting. But I’m sure they’ll come back with a vengeance once they get their message lined up; coordinated, you know, with the winger wing of the GOP.
Rove’s Lame Spin on Specter
After decades as a Republican, Specter suddenly moved to the left.
Come on Karl. I know it’s early but you can come up with something better than that. How about it’s due to brain damage caused by his cancer meds?
The Righties Hate the Humane Society Too?
Not to defend Rush Limbaugh for God’s sake but he’s in big trouble with the righties because his,
new pet project — fighting animal cruelty for the Humane Society of the United States — is riling sportsmen from coast to coast, prompting fears that the talkster typically supportive of gun rights is aiding a group they say has a secret agenda to end all hunting in America.
Man. There’s just no end to the perceived “secret agendas,” is there? “They” are going take our guns; bring back the “fairness doctrine,” kill us all by infecting us with a bio-terrorist tool, i.e, flu manufactured in Mexico and brought in by construction workers…
No wonder they’re scared and angry. I would be too if any of it were true.
The NYT Claims CNN’s Reporting is “Middle Road.” What?
On Sunday the New York Times ran an article written by Bill Carter titled, With Rivals Ahead, Doubts for CNN’s Middle Road. In it, Carter claims that CNN’s strategy of late has been, “to steer the middle course in its news coverage.” Still,
Since the beginning of March, CNN has fallen behind both the longtime ratings leader, Fox News Channel, which, as the voice of disaffected conservatives, again has an imposing lead, and the upstart MSNBC, which has tried to mirror Fox’s success by steering to the left.
First of all, what’s “middle course” news coverage? The “news” CNN reports is essentially the same as that covered by Fox and MSNBC — typically the same four or five stories that the three of them sit on and repeat all day long.
What distinguishes the cable “news” outlets is their slant; their spin. Fox is obviously conservative. MSNBC is leaning left, but it runs the gamut from Scarborough and Buchanan to Olbermann and Maddow. CNN is most decidedly slanting right, not going down the “middle course.” Name one liberal over there. Jack Cafferty, sometimes. Name one conservative. Lou Dobbs, Mary Matlin, Dana Milbank, David Brody and Fran Townsend come to mind. CNN’s problem is that it has been trying to grab the conservative viewer, but conservatives are already loyal to Fox, so trying to mine that audience is a waste of time. Conversely, progressives tend to watch CNN, but as CNN becomes more conservative, they are gravitating toward MSNBC. In the end, CNN is the loser.
Arlen Specter Switches Parties
Arlen Specter Switching Parties from Republican to Democrat.
I’m not impressed or excited about this. It smells of desperation to me and Democrats don’t need another Lieberman.
“Keeping Us Safe” Goes Berserk
U.S. Authorities Divert Air France Flight Carrying ‘No Fly’ Journalist to Mexico.
A French author, critical of the United States, is such a threat to its existence that he can’t even be allowed into its airspace.
Culling through the 50,000-some names on the “No Fly List” is another thing that I hope is on President Obama’s to-do list. Thanks again boy George.
“Illegals”
The Swine flu gives us another reason to hate those Mexicans “illegals,” huh?
4-28: Sure enough. That didn’t take long.
