A Jewish humour magazine, Heeb, has a photo spread featuring Rosanne Barr dressed as Hitler baking Jew cookies. Something here doesn't smell right. As expected, and quite rightly so - the blogosphere lit up with indignation, causing Barr to post this on her blog:Heeb is a humor magazine for young hip jewish people, and I was asked to be in the "germany" issue. I always thought Hitler had some extreme self loathing about not being "male enough", and i thought it was funny to show him in housewife drag. After all, the german housefraus loved the guy and did whatever he told them to do. They were falling all over themselves, screaming in the streets as if he were a rockstar, pressing their children to him for a kiss, as he exiled them back into the kitchen and out of the professions, and blamed everything on "liberals".Hitler served the german industrialists who put him in power, as if he were their little housefrau. When they thought they could turn a buck by cooking and gassing their minority groups, he helped set up their lines of federal credit to do so.I thought that Hitler in drag making jew cookies was a very accurate way of depicting the whole German Gestalt. Also, I hate Hitler, because he thought that artists should be censored. I also hate everyone else who thinks that way.
It won’t get done, because that’s not the way our government works. Our government doesn’t exist to protect voters from interests, it exists to protect interests from voters. The situation we have here is an angry and desperate population that at long last has voted in a majority that it believes should be able to pass a health care bill. It expects something to be done. The task of the lawmakers on the Hill, at least as they see things, is to create the appearance of having done something. And that’s what they’re doing. Personally, I think they’re doing a lousy job even of that. I lauded Roddick for playing out the string with heart, and giving a good show. But these Democrats aren’t even pretending to give a shit, not really. I mean, they’re not even willing to give up their vacations.
This whole business, it was a litmus test for whether or not we even have a functioning government. Here we had a political majority in congress and a popular president armed with oodles of political capital and backed by the overwhelming sentiment of perhaps 150 million Americans, and this government could not bring itself to offend ten thousand insurance men in order to pass a bill that addresses an urgent emergency. What’s left? Third-party politics?
The seven Blue Dog Democrats holding up health care reform legislation in the House Energy and Commerce Committee have received tens of thousands more dollars from health and insurance interests than other Democrats on the same committee, a new report finds.
An analysis of campaign finance data by the Public Campaign Action Fund finds a fairly strong correlation between private industry donations and opposition to health care reform. Lawmakers in both the House and Senate who voted against proposed legislation this congressional cycle, the report found, received roughly 65 percent more money from health and insurance interests than those who supported the bills.
When it came to the Blue Dogs in particular, that data showed that the seven members who sit on the Energy and Commerce Committee -- Reps. Mike Ross (Ala.), Baron Hill (Ind.), Charlie Melancon (La.), Jim Matheson (Utah), John Barrow (Ga.), Bart Gordon (Tenn.) and Zach Space (Ohio) -- have received, on average, $711,828 from the health and insurance sectors. Other Democrats on the committee, by contrast, have received an average of $628,023.
The seven Blue Dog Democrats holding up health care reform legislation in the House Energy and Commerce Committee have received tens of thousands more dollars from health and insurance interests than other Democrats on the same committee, a new report finds.
An analysis of campaign finance data by the Public Campaign Action Fund finds a fairly strong correlation between private industry donations and opposition to health care reform. Lawmakers in both the House and Senate who voted against proposed legislation this congressional cycle, the report found, received roughly 65 percent more money from health and insurance interests than those who supported the bills.
When it came to the Blue Dogs in particular, that data showed that the seven members who sit on the Energy and Commerce Committee -- Reps. Mike Ross (Ala.), Baron Hill (Ind.), Charlie Melancon (La.), Jim Matheson (Utah), John Barrow (Ga.), Bart Gordon (Tenn.) and Zach Space (Ohio) -- have received, on average, $711,828 from the health and insurance sectors. Other Democrats on the committee, by contrast, have received an average of $628,023.
WATSON: Is the President and Rahm Emanuel -- former member of the House -- are they treading too lightly here, are they not bringing out the big stick against some of those Blue Dog Democrats and saying "we've got a once in a four-decade opportunity to get this passed, everyone knows how easy it is for momentum to dissipate, you guys have to get on board and we've got to go forward and make sure that everyone has better health care, is covered, and hopefully better quality of outcome?
WATERS: Well that may be difficult for Rahm Emanuel, because don't forget -- he recruited most of them. As when he was over in the Congress, in the leadership, Rahm Emanuel recruited more conservative members and based on some of the information I'm getting, they told them that they could vote the way they wanted to vote, that they would not interfere with what was considered their philosophy about some of these things. So, now the chickens have come home to roost.
Not to just keep flogging a dead horse endlessly, but it does strike me as worth noting that when you read a puff piece in The New York Times about the Gang of Six bipartisan dealmakers in the Senate that vast power is being wielded by people who, in a democratic system of government, would have almost no power. We’re talking, after all, about Max Baucus of Montana, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Susan Collins of Maine, Mike Enzi of Wyoming, and Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Collectively those six states contain about 2.74 percent of the population, less than New Jersey, or about one fifth the population of California. The six largest states, by contrast, contain about 40 percent of Americans.Krugman's take:
Yglesias points out that the Gang of Six negotiating the Senate Finance version of health reform all represent very small states — in fact, the combined population of their states is less than that of New Jersey.
So hey, why not let New Jersey do this instead? We can get a committee of, say, three corrupt mayors and three money-laundering rabbis to draw up a plan; it could hardly be worse than what Max Baucus has come up with.*
As we say here in the Garden State, “You got a problem with that?”
*People in the know say not to worry too much about the awfulness of the Finance proposal; the important thing is getting it out of committee, so that it can be fixed in later negotiations. I hope they’re right.
After weeks of secretive talks, a bipartisan group in the Senate edged closer Monday to a health care compromise that omits a requirement for businesses to offer coverage to their workers and lacks a government insurance option that President Barack Obama favors, according to numerous officials.
"We got too many Jim DeMints and Tom Coburns," Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) told the Columbus Dispatch. "It's the southerners."
Voinovich, a native Clevelander who retires after the 2010 election, continued after the southern elements of the GOP.
"They get on TV and go 'errrr, errrrr,'" he said. "People hear them and say, 'These people, they're southerners. The party's being taken over by southerners. What they hell they got to do with Ohio?'"
Of course, Ohioans aren't much more sophisticated or bright than their southern counterparts but it is good to hear Voinovich call it like it is. The Dems have much better geographical representation and it shows with intelligent sounding politicians on the airwaves. On the other hand, most GOPers on the airwaves have silly southern accents which prompt one to expect some racist comment or something stupid.
Drudge, whose judgment for the riveting, relevant, and bizarre remains unmatched, posted the video later Monday. And he propelled the (riveting, and weird) scene into the bloodstream -- he alone sent 255,488 viewers -- onto cable, and thence into, among other places, finally the Times (twice), which reported that ... everybody was talking about it.
In a series of consecutive tweets Sanchez explained that "if i didn't believe in doing right thing, i'd be rich anchoring at fox news," and then followed up by saying, "do u know how much money i'd make if i'd sold out as hispanic and worked at fox news, r u kidding, one problem, looking in mirror." He then added, "me? what? i live in burbs, wife, four kids, dog, turtle.. two jobs... yeah... i'm a real rich guy, right?"
Everyone knows that Rick is an industry joke, he shows that he's a hack everyday. And he doesn't have to worry about working at FOX because we only hire talent who have the ability to generate ratings.
Newly declassified photos taken during Bush's years in office show the extent of the damage caused by global warming. The question is: why did Bush hide these photos from the public? The photos appear to be in the public best interest to be viewed. Was it his anti-science stance that hid the photos? Was it Bush did not want any evidence to surface to embarrass his denial of global warming?Graphic images that reveal the devastating impact of global warming in the Arctic have been released by the US military. The photographs, taken by spy satellites over the past decade, confirm that in recent years vast areas in high latitudes have lost their ice cover in summer months.The pictures, kept secret by Washington during the presidency of George W Bush, were declassified by the White House last week. President Barack Obama is currently trying to galvanise Congress and the American public to take action to halt catastrophic climate change caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.One particularly striking set of images - selected from the 1,000 photographs released - includes views of the Alaskan port of Barrow. One, taken in July 2006, shows sea ice still nestling close to the shore. A second image shows that by the following July the coastal waters were entirely ice-free.
The stories of hellish recording sessions with Phil Spector are legendary. The reality is much worse. Ditto plus some for Charlie Manson. Them together in a cell over a recording machine? That would a recording session from hell.CHARLES Manson -- a third-rate musician before he turned homicidal cult leader -- still has twisted delusions about becoming a pop star and wants to consult with fellow jailbirdPhil Spector.
Rachelle Spector says her legendary music-producer hubby, now serving 19 years to life for the fatal shooting of actress Lara Clarkson, was recently transferred to Corcoran State Prison in central California, where Manson -- who masterminded the savage Tate/LaBianca killings 40 years ago -- is housed in a separate wing.
Soon after he settled in, "a guard brought Philip a note from Manson, who said he wanted him to come over to his [lockup]. He said he considers Philip the greatest producer who ever lived," Rachelle told Page Six. "It was creepy. Philip didn't respond."
Speaking of doddering old men, Rex Murphy does a George Will and blows it again on the climate crisis. Give the man a cane. And a brain. Really, just ship him off the US, where he belongs.
The Perez of all Iran fires his Biden dude. He was given an alternative: do what we want (Allah) or you go away (humanity on a skateboard with bombs in the wheels). Big deal. Small cogs don't make a big wheel. But a prick in the wall can cause repercussions. That's why the wading pool suddenly got small. Who's your daddy? Easy. It's Khammeni, theocracy and too many evil dudes. Circulatory disease deaths per 100,000:
Child maltreatment deaths per 100,000:
Digestive disease deaths per 100,000:
Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births
Intestinal diseases death rate
Proability of not reaching age 60:
Respiratory disease child death rate per 100,000
Heart disease deaths per 100,000:
HIV deaths per million people:
Today, our nation is fighting two wars: one abroad and one at home. While the war in Iraq is in the headlines, the other war is still being fought on our own streets. Its casualties are the wasted lives of our own citizens.
I am speaking of the war on drugs.
And I cannot help but wonder how many more lives, and how much more money, will be wasted before another Robert McNamara admits what is plain for all to see: the war on drugs is a failure.
While the politicians stutter and stall - while they chase their losses by claiming we could win this war if only we committed more resources, jailed more people and knocked down more doors - the Drug Policy Alliance continues to tell the American people the truth - "the way it is."
Pew Research has new data showing that Obama has elevated the favorability ratings for the US over much of the world. Muslim countries and places like Poland and China are still reticent to approve of the US under Obama.The image of the United States has improved markedly in most parts of the world, reflecting global confidence in Barack Obama. In many countries opinions of the United States are now about as positive as they were at the beginning of the decade before George W. Bush took office. Improvements in the U.S. image have been most pronounced in Western Europe, where favorable ratings for both the nation and the American people have soared. But opinions of America have also become more positive in key countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia, as well.
I’d suggest the rare agreement on homosexuality has a fair amount to do with how both white evangelicals in North America and Muslims around the world read their scriptures in the same way – literally.“Half of Muslim Americans (50%) view the Koran as the word of God to be taken literally, word for word. Majorities of both white evangelicals (66%) and black Protestants (68%) hold a similar view of the Bible,” says the Pew Forum.
Dr. David McKalip, a Florida neurosurgeon, sent this image out to his tea party cronies Sunday night. Like most conservatives, when faced with their racism, they fly the coup.Asked about the email in a brief phone interview with TPMmuckraker, McKalip said he believes that by depicting the president as an African witch doctor, the artist who created the image "was expressing concerns that the health-care proposals [made by President Obama] would make the quality of medical care worse in our country." McKalip said he didn't know who created it.
But pressed on what was funny about an image that plays on racist stereotypes about Africans, McKalip declined to say, instead offering to talk about why he opposes Obama's health-care proposals.
"I have a busy day," he said eventually, before ending the call.
Digby adds this insightful comment from Fineman on Chris Matthews show about Bush:He’s the Texas Ranger of the world, and wants everyone to know it. He’s the guy with the silver badge, issuing warnings to the cattle rustlers.
"If he’s a cowboy he’s the reluctant warrior, he’s Shane… because he has to, to protect his family."
America is shocked at Professor Gates' arrest, but, as Soledad O'Brien reported on CNN where she was broadcasting live from Times Square, they cheered and applauded the president's remarks deploring his arrest. That's the real America of the 21st century applauding Obama, and you'd have to be even dumber than the Washington press corps to conclude that they were - what did Republicans used to call people who decried racist cops? Oh yes - "soft on crime." That's the real America that is slowly, and with great difficulty, regaining a political voice that has been systematically ridiculed and marginalized over the past 40 or so years from the national discourse.
Bannister [Hendrix roadie who claims Jimi was murdered in new book], who lives in Sydney but was deregistered as an orthopaedic surgeon in NSW for fraudulent conduct in 1992, was the on-call registrar at St Mary Abbots Hospital when Hendrix was brought in on September 18, 1970, drenched in alcohol.
He told The Times newspaper in Britain he believed Wright's version of what had happened to Hendrix that night "sounded plausible because of the volume of wine".
"The amount of wine that was over him was just extraordinary," Bannister told the newspaper.
"Not only was it saturated right through his hair and shirt but his lungs and stomach were absolutely full of wine.
"I have never seen so much wine. We had a sucker that you put down into his trachea, the entrance to his lungs and to the whole of the back of his throat.
"We kept sucking him out and it kept surging and surging.
"He had already vomited up masses of red wine and I would have thought there was half a bottle of wine in his hair.
"He had really drowned in a massive amount of red wine."
H/T: National Newswatch
As you know I'm close to Contessa who has been in my ear on this. She said that the tone in the news room is that Mark could spin this favorably if he talks it up as the outdoors man in the woods etc. For all we know he's contemplating the last year of his term and thinking through his priorities before he goes on his family vacation.
I grew up trusting Walter Cronkite's reporting, from the moon landing to the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King. He had integrity and class. Cronkite didn't bend to the money from the right. He reported and he lived the news for us."He said that mentally it's so hard, that the basiji forces may not be able to hold up. He said he served 10 years ago and he knows what goes in their mind and how much effect it has on them. Otherwise, why are they asking for volunteers now? He said when they were on alert he couldn't get any sleep and he knows how scared the forces are themselves."
"It is the 4th largest entry point into the United States of America so this needs to be one of our most secure border points. And we found some very troubling things," Wallin told CTV's Canada AM.
Sarah Palin's political action committee -- SarahPAC -- raised $733,000 in the first half of the year and is set to push past $1 million in the wake of the recent attention she's gotten herself. On the one hand, this isn't that impressive. Mitt Romney, for instance, has raised twice as much. Kay Bailey Huthcison, Palin's sometime rival who is now running for governor in Texas, raised nine times as much. For somebody with a political celebrity dwarfed only by Barack Obama's, that's just not all that much cashflow.
At any rate, while Buchanan is being repugnant, I do think this is something conservatives are going to want to think about. Consider the case of Jeff Sessions (R-AL). We’re talking about a guy who’s too racist to get confirmed as a judge, but just racist enough to win a Senate seat in Alabama. And it’s not because Alabama is a lilly white state. With 65 percent of its electorate white, and 29 percent of its electorate African-American, Alabama is much more demographically favorable to the Democrats than is the country at large. But while McCain pulled 55 percent of the white vote nationwide he scored 88 percent of white vote in Alabama. And this is what you tend to see in the Deep South, white Americans exhibiting the kind of high levels of racial solidarity in voting behavior that you normally associate with African-Americans in the US political context.
Consequently states with small white populations like Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi can be solid GOP territory. Under the circumstances, it’s not entirely crazy for Republicans to believe that the right way to respond to shifting American demographics is by just trying to amp-up the level of racial anxiety in the shrinking white majority. An analogy might be to religion. When the country was overwhelmingly Christian, Christianity didn’t play much of a role in our politics. But as the Christian majority shrank it became more and more viable to explicitly mobilize Christian identity for political purposes.
ABC News White House reporter Jake Tapper e-mailed Sawyer twice on June 23, both to note coverage of competitor NBC.With a subject line of "NBC spot was slimy," Tapper e-mailed Sawyer a "Today" show transcript of Sanford coverage, calling it "insulting." Later, Tapper forwarded Sawyer a Twitter post by "Meet The Press" host David Gregory.Jeff Schneider, a vice president at ABC News, said Tapper was "carrying some water for producers who knew he had a relationship with the governor's office."
UPDATE II: Jake Tapper has apologized to Gregory and admits he was wrong. He agreed to leave media criticism to others. Good thing.I'm often asked why the right doesn't have a muscular online news presence that mirrors the reporting-intensive, fact-heavy websites that have emerged on the left. The explanation is complicated, but one part of the answer is very simple: Most of the right-wing sites have no interest in being journalists. That's not what they're about and that's not what they see as their primary function, which is advocacy.
You see it in the emails from right-wing media outlets (and others) to Gov. Mark Sanford's office --while he was still "missing" -- offering friendly venues for the governor upon his return and ridiculing the critical coverage from other outlets.
Like most ISPs that have addressed the commission, Rogers argued against any regulation of traffic management methods."The internet is too new and is changing too quickly," Englehart said.Englehart told the CRTC that Rogers throttles P2P uploads all the time as they create traffic throughout that puts a strain on its network that the "consumer-grade internet service" is not intended to support.Earlier in the day, the Union des consommateurs, a Quebec consumer advocacy group, had suggested that large ISPs target such applications not to target congestion, but to prevent competition with arms of their business that deliver services such as video-on-demand.Englehart denied this, saying that it's not the content, but two other characteristics of P2P transfers that the company is targeting:
- Their ability to start and run automatically 24 hours a day without human intervention.
- Their ability to take advantage of any additional bandwidth available.
However, Suzanne Lamarre, regional commissioner for Quebec, noted that evidence provided to support that was purely anecdotal.When asked by CBC News whether its current throttling method would disadvantage Canadian makers and distributors of content such as films and music, Englehart said it would not, as the downloads are only slowed down, not stopped. In addition, he said that ISPs in many other countries also throttle the same types of applications.
Being a leader of a country requires a thick skin, an eye on the issues that most affect the health of your country and a vision for the future. Sweating the small stuff and obsessing on the minutiae does not serve your country nor is it good for your own health, or in Sarah Palin's case, your hairdo.Friends worried that she appeared anxious and underweight. Her hair had thinned to the point where she needed emergency help from her hairdresser and close friend, Jessica Steele.
Thomas 65.63 %
Kennedy 64.06 %
Scalia 56.25 %
Rehnquist 46.88 %
O’Connor 46.77 %
Souter 42.19 %
Stevens 39.34 %
Ginsburg 39.06 %
Breyer 28.13 %
As it begins a novel experiment to hand more road space to cyclists, Vancouver has signalled a commitment to another form of greener transit: the electric car.Although its electric-car owners number in the dozens, the city has become the first in North America to require developers to put electric-car plug-ins in a percentage of new condominiums and apartments.The city vote was unanimous, and supporters say the bold move will draw manufacturers to Vancouver when they look for cities to roll out new electric cars. Nissan and Mitsubishi, both of which produce electric cars, took note of Vancouver's move.
Many Vancouver commuters are adjusting to changes on the Burrard Bridge for the first time Monday after the city turned one of the southbound traffic lanes into a bike-only lane over the weekend.
The controversial six-month trial project also created a second bike-only lane for northbound cyclists on the eastern sidewalk, while the western sidewalk is now reserved for walkers in both directions.
Early Monday morning, traffic on the bridge was light and there are appeared to be few problems with the new traffic patterns.
Mayor Gregor Robertson pedalled his way over the rearranged bridge Sunday afternoon after crews had finished installing the new concrete barriers and signage.
He said the change in traffic patterns might be most noticeable in the afternoon when there will only be two vehicle lanes, instead of the usual three, heading southbound out of downtown.
Like the provisions for the electric car, we'll have to see if the future will
Queen Elizabeth has appointed former prime minister Jean Chrétien to the Order of Merit, placing him in the exclusive ranks of such figures as Albert Schweitzer, Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela.
The award, founded in 1902 by King Edward VII, is given to "individuals of exceptional distinction in the arts, learning, sciences and other areas such as public service," according to a news release from the press secretary of the Queen.
The order is restricted to 24 members as well as additional foreign recipients, the official website of the British Monarchy said.
"There are very few foreign recipients, although those given the order have included Dr. Albert Schweitzer, Gen. [Dwight D.] Eisenhower, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Nelson Mandela," the website said.
Hope for the intervention’s success soon faded. Despite advice to stick close to home and focus on an Alaska agenda, the governor accepted an invitation to attend an anti-abortion dinner in Indiana in April, even though the state budget was hanging in the balance in the Legislature.When Tom Wright, chief of staff for the speaker of the Alaska House, suggested that the governor would catch heat for leaving, Ms. Palin stormed into his office and, according to a person familiar with the conversation, “proceeded to ream him out.”
The Free Republic is the essence of the right wing dementia and pure unadulterated hate towards anyone outside their orb. A Vancouver Sun reporter, Chris Parry, brings to light today some of the vicious garbage the right ins throwing at the Obama's because, well, they're black. And Malia wore a shirt with the peace symbol on it. That really pisses off the hawks, who just happen most often to also be racists."A typical street whore." "A bunch of ghetto thugs." "Ghetto street trash." "Wonder when she will get her first abortion."
These are a small selection of some of the racially-charged comments posted to the conservative 'Free Republic' blog Thursday, aimed at U.S. President Barack Obama's 11-year-old daughter Malia after she was photographed wearing a t-shirt with a peace sign on the front.
The thread was accompanied by a photo of Michelle Obama speaking to Malia that featured the caption, "To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds."
Though this may sound like the sort of thing one might read on an Aryan Nation or white power website, they actually appeared on what is commonly considered one of the prime online locations for U.S. Conservative grassroots political discussion and organizing - and for a short time, the comments seemed to have the okay of site administrators.
The Freepers of course refuse to apologize and the right is accusing Parry of being a leftist 'pussy'. Even Gawker jumps in with a virtually unreadable post about Parry being some lefty who posts racist comments on right-wing blogs. Dunno about that but nobody has stated the obvious. The Vancouver Sun is a CanWest paper and there is nothing lefty about that.
It gets worse, though. Chris Parry, it appears, has advocated on his Daily Kos blog any number of egregious offenses, among them: posting hate speech on sites like Free Republic and blaming it on conservatives.
Parry posted under the name "hollywoodoz" on Daily Kos, where his signature was "Fool me once, I'll punch you in the fucking head." Parry outed himself as hollywoodoz here, where he discloses the company he helped start. In essence: Parry, the journalist, found his story right where he'd been circling it for a very long time, and reported it as news. Sigh.
Bottom line: Parry's noble intentions are paving him a road to hell, by taking the same one the slimeball majority at Free Republic employs. They're probably going to cheer a "mainstream," centrist blog pointing out the offenses of a liberal reporter trying to expose hate speech, but they shouldn't get it mixed up. A quick glance at Free Republic and you'll probably see the same thing I did: some of the most egregious examples that lend credence to the idea that some people just shouldn't be allowed near a keyboard, or to open their mouths, no matter what their political affiliation. Or, as some would have it: STFU.
At least one progressive blogger isn't too happy with the Vancovuer Sun.
"Perhaps the Republican Senator just periodically patted him on the thigh and technically the fingers extended into the inner part."And yes, she was being serious. She's Ann Althouse!
Right wing propagandist Ann Althouse, of course, blames the victim. Her readers are betting on Lindsey Graham. Now Graham is the other high profile hypocritical right-wing closet queen and he likes being billed as a "life-long committed bachelor." Although it isn't just Althouse's readers who are speculating that he was the one responsible for Brooks' dirty grab, folks who actually know Graham also know he is a prissy little queen from South Carolina, and in a committed relationship with a young man; he doesn't grope strangers under tables.
Hey, whatever happend to Jillian Bandes? You remember her. She was the redneck wingnut who was fired from the UNC student newspaper after writing a column advocating that all Arab guys should be strip-searched at airports and that this wasn’t really a problem because Arab guys would enjoy getting all “sexed up” at the airport. Well, guess what? Jillian is now a contributor to the Clown Hall blog — “Where racism isn’t just a philosophy, it’s a job qualification!”
The other great thing about blogging for Clown Hall is you can recycle some stale wingnut blogger talking points from weeks ago, lard it up with ridiculously hyperbolic language à la Atlas’s Jugs, make up some shit to throw in for good measure to get the half-witted Town Hall commentariat all torn up, offer it up as your own blog posting, and then call it a day, collect your wingnut welfare check, and get to happy hour at Smith Point by mid-afternoon. Which is pretty much what Jillian did with her latest offering: “Michelle Obama’s Veggie Garden Is Poisoned!”
[If] political coverage gets the most attention in Washington, more than half Huffington Post’s traffic is driven by gossip and entertainment stories. The day the Froomkin news broke, for example, the site’s most popular story wasn’t about health care - it was “American Flag Bikini Moments: What’s YOUR Favorite?” Indeed, the Washington City Paper’s Amanda Hess called attention to the sometimes schizophrenic nature of the site in a recent piece: “Liberal Politics, Sexist Entertainment.” Similarly, columnist Simon Dumenco, last month in AdAge, wrote that the Huffington Post “likes to pretend that it's a respectable voice in the mediasphere, but it shamelessly pumps up its traffic by being just as trashy as, say, Maxim.”
Public figures who believe they were victims of alleged phone hacking by investigators hired by the News of the World are considering suing the paper.One lawyer told the BBC he has had two enquiries and that more celebrities and politicians were seeking advice.It follows claims in the Guardian that the tabloid paid £1m to settle legal cases which threatened to expose the use of illegal methods to get stories.Scotland Yard has said it will not investigate the fresh allegations.
The right has been all over this photo, sure that it shows Obama and Sarkozy ogling a young woman's derriere. Right wingers from Drudge to Althouse have written about it, certain that it shows Obama in a bad light. A dissection of the video surrounding the event shows something altogether different. Obama is looking down for the hand of another woman who he gallantly helps step down. Can't say the same for Sarkozy, though!In a book published last year, Dunbar argued the country’s founding fathers created “an emphatically Christian government” and that government should be guided by a “biblical litmus test.” She endorses a belief system that requires “any person desiring to govern have a sincere knowledge and appreciation for the Word of God in order to rightly govern.”
[W]hen I asked Palin if she ever decided to pursue national office again, as she did less than a year ago when she joined Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the race for the White House, wouldn't she encounter the same political blood sport? Can such ugliness ever be avoided?
Palin said there is a difference between the White House and what she has experienced in Alaska. If she were in the White House the "department of law" would protect her from baseless ethical allegations.
"I think on a national level your department of law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we've been charged with and automatically throw them out," she said.
There is no "Department of Law" at the White House.
Most of those who sneer at Sarah Palin have no desire to live her life. But why not try to - what’s the word? - “empathize”? If you like Wasilla and hunting and snowmachining and moose stew and politics, is the last worth giving up everything else in the hopes that one day David Letterman and Maureen Dowd might decide Trig and Bristol and the rest are sufficiently non-risible to enable you to prosper in their world? And, putting aside the odds, would you really like to be the person you’d have to turn into under that scenario?Yeah, Steyn, but we're not all crooks like Palin and Sanford and the whole conservative mindset. Keep swimming, Steyn and Palin, in your own filth. More than anything, Steyn and the conservative crew's reaction to Palin's obvious cowardice shows the gullibility of those who write for the right. They are not just corrupt, they are stupid. This is not about Trig, Bristol or Letterman. It is not about being a victim. It is about embezzlement, stupidity and greed. Pure and simple.
Though Todd Palin told Fox News he built his Lake Lucille home with the help of a few “buddies,” according to Barrett’s report, public records revealed that SBS supplied the materials for the house. While serving as mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin blocked an initiative that would have required the public filing of building permits—thus momentarily preventing the revelation of such suspicious information.
Just months before Palin left city hall to campaign for governor, she awarded a contract to SBS to help build the $13 million Wasilla Sports Complex. The most expensive building project in Wasilla history, the complex cost the city an addition $1.3 million in legal fees and threw it into severe long-term debt. For SBS, however, the bloated and bungled project was a cash cow.
[T]his clearly happened so quickly that Palin hasn't even had a chance to come up with a coherent cover story for her resignation. ... Remember that based on the public record, Palin is a wildly unethical public official, guilty at a minimum of numerous instances of abusing her authority as governor. And a lot of very damaging information has come out about her in the last few days --- though mainly embarrassing information about her character rather than new evidence of bad acts. I would not be surprised if this latest round of revelations shook something else loose that we haven't heard about yet."
"The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States."
