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July 12, 2008
Republicans Aren't Funny
This is an on-going fascination of mine. It turns out -- not only are they unfunny, but when they try to be funny, they just come off as goddamn maniacs.
11:16 AM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Fake, Fake, Fake Part 2
This makes two corporate media feargasms this week that turned out to be faked.
11:04 AM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Morning Awesome
MST3K Saturday. "Truck Farmers!"
Also, on this day in history, during "the brutal realities of that foul year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy one," I was born.
06:29 AM | Comments (21) | Posted By Bob Cesca
July 11, 2008
Fake, Fake, Fake
I hate quoting Drudge, but for now no-one else has this:
Many of Iran's claims related to missile tests during "Great Prophet III" war games -- appear to be smoke and mirrors!The missiles tested DID NOT not have 2,000-kilometer range, the NEW YORK TIMES is planning to report on Saturday. [...] And a video showing what appeared to be many missiles being fired -- is actually one missile, filmed from different angles!
Yep. If the McBushies had their way, we would've attacked Iran based on those videos and pictures.
09:08 PM | Comments (3) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Slow News Day?
12:27 PM | Comments (5) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Manchurian Candidate
One percent of voters think Senator Obama is Jewish.
I like to joke about selling monorails to certain gullible hillbilly types who believe every e-mail they read. But seriously -- I'm contacting Pew about tracking down the "Obama is Secretly A Jew" people. Monorails for everyone!
09:59 AM | Comments (9) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Heckuva Job
And instead of doing what's right, Congress spent the last two weeks capitulating to President Fail -- and for what? Giving civil immunity to major corporations. Good job, Congress!
This kind of CYA behavior -- this kind of distraction from the real issues -- is as old as the nation itself, but when it's this obvious and brazen, a single-digit job approval for Congress is too generous.
09:15 AM | Comments (4) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Morning Awesome
(Had to drop the NBC video player and replace it. It was gunking up the site with NBC video player gunk, making everything load too slowly. If you want to watch the Eddie Murphy "White Like Me" video, go here.)
06:37 AM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
July 10, 2008
Dr. Phil Gramm
I don't know why the McCain campaign and their barbeque-slathered friends in the corporate media are shocked by Phil Gramm's "nation of whiners" remarks. We've known for a while that Gramm was a lobbyist for UBS -- urging Congress to ignore predatory lending practices.
So financials like UBS have crippled our economy and when we seek accountability, Gramm says we're whiners. We'll see who's whining when some of these CEOs are indicted.
(By the way, the "Dr. Phil" joke is Senator Obama's. Naturally Senator McCain's too-funny response was to call Senator Obama "Dr. No." HOO-HOO! Zinger!)
UPDATE: Video...
UPDATE THE SECOND: Commenter "natashacrk" is in the black shirt over the senator's left shoulder (our right). She got a terrorist fist jab, too. Luck-eee.
02:21 PM | Comments (10) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Tour De Google
We can follow the Tour de France at street level via Google Maps.
Next thing... Google Doping!
(I know, I know. There are like two people here including me who dig cycling. Indulge me.)
(h/t Sullivan)
02:20 PM | Comments (6) | Posted By Bob Cesca
The Axis of Photoshop
When the news broke yesterday about the Iranian missile tests, my honest first reaction was: Yeah, right. In other words, it had to have been a hoax by either the Iranian government or -- why not? -- the Bush administration.
Well, that doesn't sound too crazy considering that the photo of the missiles launching has been revealed as a Photoshopped fake.
Agence France-Presse said that it obtained the image from the Web site of Sepah News, the media arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, on Wednesday. But there was no sign of it there later in the day. Today, The Associated Press distributed what appeared to be a nearly identical photo from the same source, but without the fourth missile.
01:54 PM | Comments (4) | Posted By Bob Cesca
I Think I'm Gonna Barf
President Bush is about to sign the FISA Amendments Bill and of course he's playing it like it is: a huge victory for him and his fellow criminals. AND he's invoking 9/11 and the victims who died in the World Trade Center.
One of the chapters in my forthcoming book is called "The FISA Feargasm," in which I document the lengths to which the Bushies used fear to get to this point with FISA. I can't begin to describe how awful it is that he got what he wanted -- especially given the bottomless record of fear mongering he used to get here.
01:11 PM | Comments (3) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Crazy McAuliffe
Why has McAuliffe been on TV for the last 24 hours talking about how Jerry Brown and Jesse Jackson took their delegates to the convention?
Note to the very serious corporate media: Terry McAuliffe's campaign was a FAIL. He doesn't get to be on TV for a while.
01:04 PM | Comments (3) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Wingnut Mailbag
I get e-mail from wingnuts...
You are just another piece of liberal shit! Get out of my country. I hope the next terrorist attack, there will be one because of appeasers like you, takes out something or someone important to you.
...hoping for more terrorist attacks. Patriotic!
09:40 AM | Comments (5) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Chuck Todd Has Barbeque On His Face
Weird. I thought it was a beard. Anyway.
Our corporate media stooges commenting on Senator McCain's "joke":
NBC’s Chuck Todd: “That’s what makes him real and that’s what makes people who disagree with him say ‘ah, you know what? The guy seems like any guy you’d want to have around the dinner table or the bar stool.’”CNN’s Jessica Yellin: “People who love him think his a maverick and think he’s a real guy who makes a joke off the cuff just like real people do [but] we’re all waiting to see if something explodes, this kind of comment doesn’t.”
Genocide jokes are cool. And I love how the Bush years have dissolved any standards we might've had for the Republican candidate. In other words: if you can sit on a stool and tell an undignified joke, then you're qualified to be the leader of the free world.
09:31 AM | Comments (5) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Political Science
Following up on a "scientific method" metaphor I wrote yesterday in my Huffington Post item.
So the corporate media treat the Republicans like the control group... They're allowed to stand pat and be far-right reactionary conservatives without much of a challenge on their positions from the media.
Meanwhile, liberals, progressives and Democrats are the experimental group -- our positions are poked and prodded by the corporate media until some of us (not naming names) shift to the center or center-left.
The same goes for crazy statements caught on tape. Chris Matthews yesterday referred to Senator McCain's "kill them with weaponized cigarettes" remark as McCain's "antics." Yes, "antics." The control group. Leave it alone. Don't challenge it. But when Senator Obama uses an off-script word to describe a trip to Iraq, suddenly everyone goes batshit claiming that his position is changing. Experimental group. Add pundit spit and watch for physical reactions.
08:56 AM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
The Thing With Congress Is...
...With all of the problems we're having right now, the can't-live-without-it bill on the table for the last two weeks has been about electronic eavesdropping. It's like being in the desert, dying of hunger and thirst, and wishing for a lawn mower.
What a disgraceful week. Especially for those of us who worked so hard two years ago to elect a Democratic majority.
08:48 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Morning Awesome
08:39 AM | Comments (4) | Posted By Bob Cesca
July 09, 2008
WTF?
The Drudge headline:
REV. JESSE JACKSON APOLOGIZES TO SEN. BARACK OBAMA FOR 'CRUDE AND HURTFUL COMMENTS' CAUGHT BY OPEN MIC... CNN DESCRIBES AS 'UGLY WORDS,' 'VERY, VERY DISPARAGING'; JACKSON IN 'DEEP DISTRESS'... FOX NEWS IN POSSESSION OF TAPE AND WILL PLAY IN ENTIRETY TONIGHT ON 'O'REILLY', 'HANNITY AND COLMES'; OBAMA: NO COMMENT... DEVELOPING...
I guess Senator McCain picked a good news cycle in which to joke about attacking Iranian civilians with lung cancer.
UPDATE: Drudge is awful. So here's the word from the less awful CNN:
(CNN) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson issued an apology to Barack Obama Wednesday for criticizing the Illinois senator's recent comments directed toward some members of the black community.According to Jackson, a Fox News microphone picked up comments he meant to deliver privately that seemed to disparage the presumptive Democratic nominee for appearing to lecture the black community on morality.
04:34 PM | Comments (7) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Senator Obama Screwed Up
Senator Obama voted for the FISA Amendments Bill which passed this afternoon by a large margin.
No sir. I don't like it.
This was a major mistake by the senator. Even though it's terrible for the country, it's not irreparably bad for the campaign, but it certainly won't help his netroots fundraising efforts.
04:14 PM | Comments (8) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Aw Crap
All three FISA amendments failed today.
Both Senators Clinton and Obama voted for the Dodd, Specter and Bingaman amendments.
Also, I don't understand what Greenwald meant when he wrote today:
But today, the Democratic-led Congress -- with the support of both John McCain and Barack Obama, neither of whom will even bother to show up and vote -- will cover-up those crimes.
I don't know about Senator McCain, but Senator Obama definitely voted in favor of the amendments today.
02:37 PM | Comments (4) | Posted By Bob Cesca
New Huffington Post Item
Guess what it's about today? If you guessed Senator McShecky's remarks about killing Iranian civilians, then you'd be correct.
02:12 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Worst Person In The World
This is the most awful thing I've read this week:
McCain was also asked about an Associated Press report indicating that exports to Iran have increased largely on the basis of cigarette sales, to which he quipped:"Maybe that's a way of killing them."
I don't know if that would've been worse with or without Senator McCreepy's psychotic chuckling, but he laughed afterwards anyway because he's such a zany jokemeister.
The Morning Joe crew thought it was hilarious, by the way. If Senator Obama had said the same thing, this would be a scandal of massive proportions.
07:59 AM | Comments (10) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Morning Awesome
The Reel Geezers review Wall-E. Possible spoilers.
07:57 AM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
July 08, 2008
They've Run Out of News!
We began the day with Morning Joe discussing which script to use for this election: 1976 or 1980.
And tonight, this was also a topic on Hardball.
In other words, two different MSNBC shows today (one of them airs twice) focused on whether to present all further election news through the prism of elections that happened around 30 years ago. Very serious!
08:48 PM | Comments (3) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Bankrupt
Senator McCain's soul, that is. Senator Obama blasted McCain today for supporting that awful and unnecessary 2005 Bankruptcy Bill. And what was the McBush response?
“Eighteen Democrats and John McCain worked together on the bipartisan Senate Bankruptcy Bill, and Barack Obama’s rigid partisanship and self-promoting political attacks show that he’s a typical politician – which is the problem in Washington, not the solution. The difference is clear, John McCain wants to grow jobs, keep Americans working and out of bankruptcy, while Barack Obama has shown he’ll tax job creating small businesses and Americans making as little as $32,000 a year.”
Senator McCain actually embraced the Bankruptcy Bill today -- a law that makes it a thousand times more difficult and a billion times more humiliating for any of us normal folk whose wives don't run Budweiser to file Chapter 7.
BooMan notes, too, that only 13 Democrats voted for the bill. Bad. Bad Democrats.
04:29 PM | Comments (6) | Posted By Bob Cesca
They're Effing Pickles, Malkin. Sheesh.
Here's a classic Michelle Malkin post in which she brings us a wingnut two-fer... She starts with some concern trolling, then follows with some outrage over the fact that Senator Obama's kids like Grey Poupon and gherkin pickles in their tuna salad mixture.
First the concern troll remarks:
So, is [the Access Hollywood piece], to borrow a bitter phrase, good for Michelle Obama’s children? Just asking.
Awww. How sweet. Michelle Malkin is concerned about the well-being of the Obama kids. Next thing you know she'll be driving by their house... every day... like a stalker... you know, to check and see if they're safe.
Then the Gherkin-Gate:
Who the hell puts Grey Poupon and gherkins (don’t ask me what those are, I have no idea) in tuna sandwiches for kids?
They've got nothing.
01:02 PM | Comments (9) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Obama Defends His Progressivism
Senator Obama in North Carolina:
“Look, let me talk about the broader issue, this whole notion that I am shifting to the center,” he said. “The people who say this apparently haven’t been listening to me.”To this, he adds, parenthetically: “And I must say some of this is my friends on the left” and those in the media.
“I am someone who is no doubt progressive,” he said...
And he adds...
Voters should understand, he said, that they rarely will find themselves in 100 percent agreement with him. “But don’t assume that’s because I’m just doing it for “political reasons, he said.“That just means we disagree,” he said.
I don't recall another election in which so many voters decided to stay at home or vote for a third-party just because they disagree with the nominee on a couple of issues. Or maybe there aren't many -- they're just louder this year. I don't know which it is yet.
12:43 PM | Comments (3) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Oh You Stupid Rednecks
Sacha Baron Cohen is in the midst of filming his next movie, titled "Brüno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt" (actual working title). And it wouldn't be a Cohen film without angry, homophobic hillbillies:
Lured by $1 beer and the prospect of "hot chicks" and "hardcore fights," thousands of Arkansans were duped last month into appearing as extras in comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's latest staged mayhem. Cohen and his confederates organized cage fighting programs on consecutive days in Texarkana and Fort Smith. Both cards ended with two male grapplers (one was identified as "Straight Dave" and wore camouflage) tearing each other's clothes off and, while in underwear, kissing down their opponent's chest. This man-on-man action triggered Fort Smith fans to throw chairs and beer at the ring, according to one cop present at the city's Convention Center.
Oh yeah. That's...that's a beautiful thing. This could actually be funnier than Borat.
Meanwhile, here's a classic...
12:05 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Public Service = Slavery
Far-right translucent sack of cottage cheese, Jonah Goldberg:
There’s a weird irony at work when Sen. Barack Obama, the black presidential candidate who will allegedly scrub the stain of racism from the nation, vows to run afoul of the constitutional amendment that abolished slavery.For those who don’t remember, the 13th Amendment says: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime … shall exist within the United States.”
I guess in Obama’s mind it must be a crime to be born or to go to college.
He's talking about Senator Obama's plan to engage young people in public service. Somehow this is slavery to Jonah. You know, like those slaves who were drafted to fight in World War II and Vietnam. Asking "what you can do for your country" is slavery.
Then again, Jonah knows slavery -- slavery to cinnamon-buttered anything.
11:55 AM | Comments (4) | Posted By Bob Cesca
McCain = Bush
This is unbelievable. Also, don't miss the guy in the McBush pea pod costume. Classic.
11:44 AM | Comments (4) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Tomorrow's FISA Votes
The Senate will be voting on various amendments to the FISA bill tomorrow. Now, Senator Obama isn't responsible for the new FISA bill and he certainly isn't the tie-breaking vote. But if you're interested in contacting Senator Obama, go here and let him know that you support the rule of law.
10:38 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Bush v. Jefferson
Via Steve Benen, here's President Bush quoting Thomas Jefferson at Monticello:
On the 50th anniversary of America’s independence, Thomas Jefferson passed away. But before leaving this world, he explained that the principles of the Declaration of Independence were universal. In one of the final letters of his life, he wrote, ‘May it be to the world, what I believe it will be — to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all — the Signal of arousing men to burst the chains, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government.’”
But the president left out a line. Here's the actual Jefferson quote:
“May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government.”
"Monkish ignorance and superstition persuading them to bind themselves." Sounds like #3 was perfectly warning us against #43. No wonder the president left that part out.
09:03 AM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
You're On Notice!
Congress is one step closer to smacking down oil speculators:
Before legislators left town, the House overwhelmingly approved legislation that would require a federal regulatory agency to employ its rarely used emergency powers to crack down on any “excessive” speculation in domestic commodity markets.“We put oil speculators on notice,” the speaker said afterward.
If they can pull this off, and gas prices drop before the election -- AND if they can sufficiently take credit -- there's no telling the congressional pickups they'll win in November. But it's hard to envision a bill reaching the president's desk before his too-long super power vacation next month.
08:44 AM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
McBush Can't Read, Part 3
Sargent at TPM has a weird video of Senator McCain speaking at a town hall meeting, complete with inappropriate chuckling. How does a guy who is clearly uncomfortable in his own skin get this far in politics? He might actually be more herky-jerky and jittery than President Bush -- and I didn't think that was possible.
08:23 AM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Morning Joe
There's a great discussion happening now with Chuck Todd in which they're trying to figure out which script they should use for this election: 1976 or 1980. Weird because I thought they were trying to use the 2004 script. But they seem to be liking the Carter-Ford script from 1976.
And up next on Morning Joe... Suze Orman and her crazy sharp badger teeth to nag me about money.
08:05 AM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Morning Awesome
JFK's convention acceptance speech... delivered in a stadium.
06:27 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
July 07, 2008
E-mail Of the Day
On Senator Obama, FISA, etc...
You put it in a better perspective on your blog, but, I feel like my girlfriend just farted for the first time.
I can't argue with that. I just can't.
07:57 PM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Another Scary McCain Photo
I saw the following scary photo of Senator McCain over at the Political Carnival...
And I couldn't help but to imagine him making the same face while on the wing of an airplane peeking in the window.
"Oh God! Look! There's a McCain on the goddamn wing!"
02:10 PM | Comments (5) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Staying Home
I thought I'd share this e-mail exchange with a voter who's thinking about staying home in November. Here's his e-mail:
This 'ain't' what I signed up for. My life is progressive politics and this shit Obama is doing is complete horse-shit. Furthering that bile called faith based initiatives, late term abortions, evangelical ass kissing, the death penalty for any human being let alone for sick ass rapists, FISA (he's telling me 'fuck me' on FISA) and now his out and out childish babblespeak on exiting Iraq (fuck a timely exit, I want out 'now' the body count from staying and exiting like our cloths were burning amounts to the same thing--dead is dead and fuck how you got dead). Don't ask the generals, ask 'them' the people doing the dying how they'd like to exit and they'd tell you they'll all be out by 4pm this sunday left up to them if they had to walk to the Kuwaiti border backwards.Bob, I love your writings, my brother, I read every posting on Huff with your name on it--and think very highly of you, but I'm not going to have the murder of NOT ONE Iraqi on 'my' head when I stand one day before Almighty God because of Obama's bullshit (and I'm a 'black-black man,' the blackest of black men who has waited his whole life for this moment).
I've had enough. I'll be sitting this one out. I'll just have some explaining to do when asked in 40 years did I vote for the first black man to be president. I'll just say 'no' and if they want to know why I'll tell them why. I'm a Liberal Democrat first -- a black man second when it comes to what I believe in.
I know, he doesn't want his presidency 'dogged' by Bush talk 25/8 so that's why he's doing the FISA shit but that's what's happening and there ain't no way around that for the 44th guy in the house -- it comes with being the '44th' president, period. He can't have it both ways. And neither can I.So I'll be sitting this one out and there ain't one fucking word you or (the equally brilliant) Tom Hayden can say that will be changing my mind. Barack Obama can go fuck himself.
And my response:
>>I've had enough. I'll be sitting this one out.
That's a real shame... We won't have another candidate like Senator Obama for a long, long time, especially if he loses. In addition, I think it's important to give the man a chance to actually BE president first. If he governs to the center, then we can pick him apart for it. But meanwhile, this election is too important to put a few statements in the heat of a campaign above the greater history of this moment in time. John Kerry was pro-death penalty, anti-late-term-abortion, pro-faith-based, and he voted for the invasion of Iraq (as did John Edwards). As for Iraq, Senator Obama is our best shot at getting out. Staying home won't absolve any of us from the atrocities of Iraq. However, voting for the best shot at getting out will certainly help.
I'm sure you know that candidates of both parties run to the center during a campaign. Senator Obama needs indepedent voters in order to secure the overwhelming mandate he'll require in order to govern 'his way'. While I disagree with some of his remarks, I'll concede that he knows way more than you and I about how to win an election -- after all, he beat the unbeatable Clintons.
Anyway, let's get him elected, then hold him accountable... because the alternative is more death. McCain wants you to stay home. He's counting on it.
Agree or disagree with Senator Obama's recent statements, I will admit that he has to do something soon to smooth things over with voters like this e-mailer.
12:10 PM | Comments (11) | Posted By Bob Cesca
High Fructose Folks
It used to be that there was a direct correlation between being skinny and being poor. Not in America.
(h/t Sullivan)
10:53 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
The Summer of Awful
The Optimist Club isn't so optimistic:
They use words such as “terrified,” “disgusted” and “scary” to describe what one calls “this mess” we Americans find ourselves in. … One member’s son is serving his second tour in Iraq. Another speaks of a daughter who’s lost her job in the mortgage industry and a son in construction whose salary was slashed. Still another mentions a friend who can barely afford gas.Joanne Kontak, 60, an elementary school lunch aid inducted just this day as an Optimist, sums things up like this: “There’s just entirely too much wrong right now.”
08:51 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
McBush Can't Read, Part 2
The latest scuttlebutt is that McCain strategists are trying to figure out an alternative to the traditional convention acceptance speech because Senator McCain can't read a Teleprompter. One of the options is a town hall meeting.
I would also suggest perhaps a shuffleboard round-robin or an all-blue stand-up act featuring nothing but jokes about spousal abuse.
McCain Fever! Catch it!
08:38 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Heavy Mysteries
Archaeologists in Jordan have discovered pre-Jesus tablet that mentions the resurrection of a messiah after three days.
If such a messianic description really is there, it will contribute to a developing re-evaluation of both popular and scholarly views of Jesus, since it suggests that the story of his death and resurrection was not unique but part of a recognized Jewish tradition at the time.
Also... The tablet is in Dan Brown's handwriting. Weird.
08:27 AM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Morning Awesome
08:17 AM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
July 06, 2008
Blood Doping in '90s
The Tour de France started yesterday and Drunk Cyclist has a distressing look at blood doping and Greg LeMond, whose clean career ended early due to the rest of the field discovering EPO.
Imagine being a three-time winner and having the highest VO2 level possible, but still being dropped by a group of riders who are artificially boosting their red blood cell volume. It'd make anyone spiteful and paranoid.
08:30 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
McBush Hates The Bloggers
Now we’ve got the cables. We’ve got talk radio. We’ve got the bloggers. I hate the bloggers. We’ve got all kinds of sources of information.
Amato has the video.
The cables?
08:07 AM | Comments (4) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Morning Awesome
06:31 AM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
