They're Just Not Funny

A new show on Fox News ... the 1/2 Hour News Hour. Apparently it's Fox News' version of the Daily Show, determined to provide the conservative side of comendy. Pans of the show are already coming in ... that the laughter is canned and doesn't make any sense with what is occurring on screen, and gay penguins are funny? Tom Tomorrow had this to say:

A preview of Fox’s other foray into “comedy” (adding: don’t miss the link to a second clip at the bottom of the post). The thing that really strikes me, apart from the utter lack of anything remotely resembling humor, is that the notion of a news channel producing a fake news show seemed like a good idea to anyone — especially a news channel which is already widely criticized for producing fake news. I mean, Comedy Central can do this because it is a comedy network. Fox is ostensibly a news network (albeit one which features “news” anchor John Gibson, who also hosts a partisan radio talk show, and a former “reporter” like Tony Snow, who was able to seamlessly segue into his role as White House press secretary). Point is, it makes sense for a comedy network to produce a fake news show. For Fox to do so serves only to underscore what a joke the rest of their supposed “news” operation is.

Apart from that, the flaw in the entire premise is the idea that the liberal bias of the Daily Show must be countered. I mean, I have no doubt that Jon Stewart is a liberal, in a pleasant, middle of the road, sensible kind of way, but a hardcore partisan he is not. If and when we ever see a Democratic administration again, the Daily Show will skewer them just as relentlessly as they do the Bushies. And I’m going to go way out on a limb here and predict that it’ll be much funnier than anything the Fox Fake News and Pretend Comedy Channel can come up with.

I'm Sorry, I Didn't Know

Working for Change

I'm Not to Blame

h/t Jonathon Schwarz

Because I am so pissed off because of the stupid Amanda Marcotte brouhaha and because I’m sooooo concerned that some conservative bloggers will read something I write and scream “hate speech,” I have decided to consider hiring Dennis Perrin. He says:

For an affordable, privately-negotiated fee, I’ll allow you to insert my name in your blog archives, making me the source of any or all hostile opinions you may have typed in the heat of the moment. When your political enemies are searching for something that can embarrass your candidate, instead of finding this:

The crypto-fascist Christers are trying to shove their blood-stained crucifix up our collective ass.

They’ll see this:

The crypto-fascist Christers are trying to shove their blood-stained crucifix up our collective ass,’ said Dennis Perrin, discussing the GOP’s 2008 campaign strategy.

Isn't capitalism wonderful?

Too Bad

Considering Catholic opposition to gay marriage, choice and the often negative role it has played in the lives of millions for centuries (all in the name of politics and power), I have this to say to those Catholics offended by Amanda Marcotte's exercise in free speech:

Boo hoo.

The End of the Dark Ages

TOPEKA, Kan. - The Kansas state Board of Education on Tuesday repealed science guidelines questioning evolution that had made the state an object of ridicule.

The new guidelines reflect mainstream scientific views of evolution and represent a political defeat for advocates of “intelligent design,” who had helped write the standards that are being jettisoned.

At least until the next election.

Odd Like Daddy

Our baby girl is soothed by the running of my wife's hair dryer. So we have made a tape recording of it.

A Putz Again

Paddy Mac doesn’t like Jay Bullock. The Macmeister’s blog post titled: So, Folkbum, is 'mother...' how you want your religion referred to?, is so waggish and drips of so much pathos that I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Basically, Mac-the-dull-knife attempts to take folkbum to task for supporting John Edward’s blogger, Amanda Marcotte. He says this about her: “She is not about being colorful and outspoken in support of some view. She is about insulting Catholicism in gutter terms.” Fine. Edward's choice (sorry, not a very bright choice, though). But, this from the same guy who said Ann Coulter could be “mean.” MEAN.

A little perspective, please.

Of course, the Macman, who is a quiver short of being a full arrow, leaves himself open to this thought … what about the pious Muslims in the world who might not like having their faith dragged through the gutter, or does pathos only work one way?

Piss off, Putzmeister. And, your prose is still too gooey.

Mea Culpa

Yes, I admit it. I go over the top sometimes. I am truly trying to be better and so, with much humility, I must say that the last line in the post "Limbaugh Again" was really uncalled for. I have no proof whatsoever that conservatives drool, or nod their heads in unison and mutter "Uh huh" whenever the voice of Limbaugh comes within hearing range.

So absent any proof, I apologize to all conservatives who do not drool. To those who do, get a mop.

But it was fun imagery while it lasted.

FYI: I'm reading a book written by John Brunner and titled "The Sheep Look Up." It's the story of the future, a future in which breathing the air at lower altitudes is painful, and only the poor drink tap water.

Limbaugh Again

From the February 5 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: And before we go to the break here, folks, I've got to get something off my chest. You know, the game was the game. And the game was what it was. But I - I can't handle anymore press criticism of Rex Grossman. They're writing his name W-R-E-C-K-S. They're just -- worst quarterback ever to play in the Super Bowl. And it's been like this since the Green Bay game -- actually since the Arizona game, a little crescendo of it in the Green Bay game, the last game of the season for the Bears. And it's just unrelenting! It's just -- they're focusing on this guy like they don't focus on anybody! And I tell you, I know what it is. The media, the sports media, has got social concerns that they are first and foremost interested in, and they're dumping on this guy -- Rex Grossman -- for one reason, folks, and that's because he is a white quarterback.


Limbaugh knows he is being viewed and probably recorded, and yet he continues to spew this racist nonsense. The sad thing is that wing-nuts everywhere are nodding their heads in unison, drool oozing from the corners of their mouths and muttering “Uh huh.”

Can You Say Bigot

Patrick McIlheran and Thomas Sowell once again show their true colors in the “marriage” debate. I don’t have a problem their nitpicking about the stats used in a story that claimed that only 51% of women were married, the story, I guess, insinuating that marriage as an institution is fading away. I do have a problem with this sentence:

“In one way or another, however, the left has for more than two centuries tried to undermine families -- including today redefining the words ‘marriage’ and ‘family’ to include whatever kind of people want to live together in whatever way for whatever reason.

Whatever kind of people? The sentence would have worked perfectly well if the word “whomever” had been used instead. No, the use of this phrase enunciates quite clearly what Sowell and McIlheran think of gays … somehow they are a different kind of people.

Both should be ashamed, but you know that won’t happen. Both obsfuscate. Because, it’s not liberals who are tearing down the institution of marriage. It’s multiple divorce people like Newt Gingrich, Charlie Sykes, etc. who are doing it fine all by themselves.

Changed My Mind

Nah, decided not to make a post regarding Rush Limbaugh's blatant racism. I'll let Media Matters do it.

From the February 1 edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show:

"U.S. blacks -- young U.S. blacks believe in politics, according to a new study. "Many U.S. blacks are as confident" -- and we're talking about the clean ones here, folks, I must stipulate this -- young, clean U.S. blacks -- "believe in politics. Many young U.S. blacks are as confident as their white and Hispanic peers that they can use politics to make things better, but a majority of young blacks feel alienated from today's government." Why would that be? The government's been taking care of them their whole lives. Why would they feel alienated from -- maybe "today's government" means the Bush administration.

Hey, I Went to J-School

This is for my wing-nut friends who truly believe they are doing the job the MSM used to do (so they say). So, I thought I would do some investigative reporting on my own. Here's my scoop for Monday, February 5, 2007.


It's really, really cold outside.

Rejoice in the Winds of Prayer

Follow the farting preacher.

Cats Are Smarter

If only our dogs could be trained. Max used the carpet the other day, the little bastard.

Old Crabby

That ideologically moribund old crustacean, Cal Thomas, has pissed me off again. His latest diatribe is against those who protested against Vietnam, and now exercise their right to protest the excesses of the Bush administration in Iraq. His target? It’s an old and useful one for soulless crabs like Cal … the elite(?).

He addresses the protestors, who recently showed up in Washington to express their anger. He calls them “aging hippies” and says that they are responsible for hundreds of thousands, nay, possibly millions of deaths after the end of Vietnam, and now are encouraging the enemy in the same way in Iraq.

He calls them the “pampered generation that eschewed self control for self indulgence (not to be confused with Dick “I had other priorities” Cheney, who could not be bothered).” Cal calls them vain for idealistically wanting to end war, racism, hunger, etc. Cal proclaims that it was all about them.

Bullshit.

Cal is the crab that wouldn’t, couldn’t shut up. If Cal had the wherewithal, Vietnam would still be fought. Never mind the hundreds of thousands, nay, possibly millions of deaths that would have occurred in Vietnam had the war continued in the manner that Cal and his minions wanted. Never mind a land maimed beyond repair, it's rivers polluted with death-inducing chemicals, it's plant life crushed, flattened. Nope, the deaths caused because of the bombs dropped, bullets shot and the multitude of other death-causing devices in the glorious arsenal that man built would not have been Cal’s fault. He would have found a way to blame that on the left, too.

A Cal column would not be complete without a stab at Hollywood. These lines from the book of Cal are especially odious:

Hollywood is the land of make-believe where love means never having to say you're sorry and acting means never having to take responsibility for your words and behavior, which are written and directed by others. These stars live behind gates with security alarms and guards to protect their privileged lives.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the double entendre Cal obliviously makes. I mean, the entire run of conservative governance from Reagan forward to Shrub has been one of not taking responsibility for words and behavior. Conservatism means never having to say you’re sorry for obfuscation of the truth. Heck, if you’re the Shrub, nothing you say is original anyway, ask Rove. Oh, and next time down the road, ask Ollie North how is personal home security system built with taxpayer dollars is functioning.

Bullshit.

Cal rebukes the Hollywood types, but when convenient uses them to try and make a point. Proving that fantasy is not just for perverts, Cal uses the "vision" of the hit television show, 24, to make his point that they’re out to get us. Earth to Cal. No one has ever said differently. We know that terrorism is a threat to the world. It’s just that we, most of us, believe in taking a legal approach to tackling this issue, not lying, listening in on communications secretly, denying habeus corpus … yeah, poor Cal and his buds … it’s little things like the Constitution that get in the way of total power.

Wasn’t it our fearless Shrub who said: Stop throwing the Constitution in my face. It's just a goddamned piece of paper!"

This is what Cal and the others can't stand, that so few stand with them.

Molly Ivins

AUSTIN, Texas - Best-selling author and columnist Molly Ivins, the sharp-witted liberal who skewered the political establishment and referred to President Bush as “Shrub,” died Wednesday after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 62.

I have been a regular reader of Molly Ivins’ columns. Her spunk and willingness to stand unafraid and rustle the shrub named Bush will be missed. I, too, am proud to be a liberal. Thank you, Molly, for putting our thoughts into words.


UPDATE: Tribute to Molly Ivins, written by Anthony Zurcher. "May your heart always see clearly."

UPDATE: Molly Ivins' final column.

Stand Up Against the Surge
The purpose of this old-fashioned newspaper crusade to stop the war is not to make George W. Bush look like the dumbest president ever. People have done dumber things. What were they thinking when they bought into the Bay of Pigs fiasco? How dumb was the Egypt-Suez war? How massively stupid was the entire war in Vietnam? Even at that, the challenge with this misbegotten adventure is that WE simply cannot let it continue.

Gore Might Be Onto Something

Still don’t believe in global warming?

TAMPA, Fla. - Raymond Rodriguez was changing a tire when an 18-inch chunk of ice plummeted from the sky with a piercing whistle, then a metallic crunch. The ice chunk crushed the roof of a nearby Ford Mustang on Sunday morning. No one was hurt.
"I was scared," Rodriguez said, who was only feet away. "It's crazy, man."

No word on whether the owner's insurance covers for damage from climate changes.

Steve Irwin and Ross

This is funny!

Rough Rider for Truth

h/t Glenn Greenwald

Teddy Roosevelt’s thoughts on criticism of the President. ‘Nuff said.

The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole.

Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile.

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else.

It's a Crime to be Different

Tacit approval is being given to neocon bloggers, by talk radio and people like Jessica McBride, to pry into the private affairs of individuals like the fellow who made the intemperate remarks to the soldier. He and the company he worked for are now being "investigated" by some, including Peter DiGaudio (author of Texas Hold ‘em Blogger) and by a blog named, Euphoric Reality. This blog lists not only the name of the person who made the comment, but the names, ages, jobs held, etc. of other people associated with the company. There is much more information posted, so it is best to just jump over to the site using the link provided. They’re frightening in their disregard for others … scary in the delusion they are performing the job of the MSM … they are nothing more than vigilantes.

What is frightening is these people have no qualms about abusing technology to “out” their fellow citizens. None! These people who are being attacked have a right not only to privacy but to a presumption of innocence before guilt, whether citizens or legal aliens. They are being electronically raped before our eyes. One is being raped for engaging in a freedom of speech exercise (reprehensible though it was) and the others for being associated with him.

These bloggers, children really in their regard, remind me of this quote from George Orwell’s epic, 1984:

"Nearly all children nowadays were horrible. What was worst of all was that by means of such organizations as the Spies they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet this produced in them no tendency whatever to rebel against the discipline of the Party. On the contrary, they adored the Party and everything connected with it... All their ferocity was turned outwards, against the enemies of the State, against foreigners, traitors, saboteurs, thought-criminals. It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children."

Be very frightened citizens. Be frightened of these self-proclaimed patriots. They are the real traitors to the American idea.


Oh, Jessica McBride provides another reason why she should not be teaching journalism. Regarding the issue examined above, she had this to say:

They raise a good question about the terminated employee. Who is it?

Another Happy Ending

-- Working for Change

Hot Air Blimpoids

One butthead says something absolutely stupid and the entire wing-nut brigade goes into mass hyper-ventilation. One dummy says that bloggers and talk (hate) radio are irresponsible for challenging this person, and the hot air gets hotter.

Let’s get one thing clear: what this employee said was unfortunate and wrong. Our troops deserve support. This soldier did not deserve to hear this. However, the employee also had a right to say what he said, regardless of how unprofessional and immature it was.

Right wing bloggers and talk (hate) radio have a right, too, to mouth off in response. However, contrary to what Jeff Wagner or Paddy Mac might think, it is not the left that needs to GROW UP. The right needs to rein in the rhetoric and stop making mountains out of molehills. Charlie Sykes tried to say today that liberals were using the victim card. After eight years of victim card usage by Sykes and his fellow card players on the right, all I could do was laugh (and turn the channel).

Beneath Contempt

A commenter at Media Matters said this about Ann Coulter:

The only difference between Ann Coulter and a streetwalker is the streetwalker's honest about being a whore.

Remember that our own local brilliant mudwrestler, Pat McIlheran, has referred to Ann Coulter as genius. Snicker.

Mayberry Values

h/t Greg Saunders at This Modern World

Nothing like good old American values. Too bad this administration has forgotten and so many others are so quick to give them up.

"Please, don't kill me."

Billiam has asked me why I hate George W. Bush. I countered that I, personally, do not hate the man, but that his policies leave a lot to be desired. But I can understand if there is hate out there in the wide wide world. Any hate that does exist is fueled not only by Bush’ actions, but by hate radio and hate personalities like Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, Melanie Morgan, etc.

Leaving that aside, there is another aspect of the man that I wonder why Billiam and other conservatives have refused to ponder … his seeming disregard for others. I don’t believe for a second that he ever considers the toll that is being taken on the thousands of innocents in Iraq. Certainly he, personally, is not responsible and certainly many lives have been lost due to the often indiscriminate attacks by Iraqis themselves and foreign fighters who have come to Iraq to bleed the “Great Satan.” But, Bush’ policies must take on some of the blame for the deaths of these thousands. This I believe he refuses to do, despite the charming photos showing him with a tear on his cheek. Where are his tears for humanity?

Well, below is a piece from the National Review regarding a profile of Bush that was done by Tucker Carlson back before the first Bush election. The callousness of Bush is openly on display, so much that even Carlson is appalled.

In the week before [Karla Faye Tucker's] execution, Bush says, Bianca Jagger and a number of other protesters came to Austin to demand clemency for Tucker. "Did you meet with any of them?" I ask.

Bush whips around and stares at me. "No, I didn't meet with any of them," he snaps, as though I've just asked the dumbest, most offensive question ever posed. "I didn't meet with Larry King either when he came down for it. I watched his interview with [Tucker], though. He asked her real difficult questions, like 'What would you say to Governor Bush?' "

"What was her answer?" I wonder.

"Please," Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, "don't kill me."

This charming little vignette comes from Tucker Carlson's profile of George W. Bush in the premiere issue of Talk. Carlson's attitude toward Bush is clearly positive. But the profile is nonetheless devastating, because Carlson is a good reporter who's captured his subject's unattractive aspects as well as his appealing ones.

Carlson's major theme is that Bush is "comfortable with himself" and "doesn't give a damn what you think of him." (Message: I don't care.) He has risen above the obsession with what other people think that marks most politicians. Yet the Bush who emerges from the profile is remarkably thin-skinned. Carlson notes that while "the Larry King–Karla Faye Tucker exchange Bush recounted never took place" on television, "Tucker did imply that Bush was succumbing to election-year pressure from pro-death penalty voters. Apparently Bush never forgot it. He has a long memory for slights." If this is what Bush considers payback, remind us to stay on his compassionate side.

For sheer ugliness, nothing else in the article matches Bush's remarks on the death penalty. (When he sees Carlson's horrified reaction, Bush "immediately stops smirking": " 'It's tough stuff,' Bush says, suddenly somber, 'but my job is to enforce the law.'")

Bush is an ugly little man. I wonder what sort of payback is Bush willing to continue to take on the Iraqi people?

The Ever Insightful McBride

Our favorite bimbo, Jessica McBride, is at it again. This time she’s defending hip hop. Is it because she truly believes that liberals are the reason for its demise in Madison, or is she, a women in her late 30s, a fan of Justin and the boys and their contemporaries?

It would make sense, chronological age notwithstanding, that McBride would be a fan considering her adolescent screeds. Time to grow up, Jessie.


And then there is this “Thought of the Night” from our tortured genius:

I see from the Green Bay Press Gazette that Hmong leaders are imploring the community to start a dialogue on race relations in the wake of the Cha Vang case.

Did white leaders implore the Hmong community to start a dialogue on race relations in the wake of the Chai Vang case?

Oh, that's right. The Hmong community implored the white community to start a dialogue on race relations in the wake of the Chai Vang case.

Huh? Note to Jessica, if you are going to label something you write a thought, make sure it is thoughtful.

To Everything ... Spin, Spin, Spin

Does this surprise anyone?

Without a majority in Congress, the Bush administration has suddenly decided that allowing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court to oversee the National Security Agency’s wiretapping program, which it was created to do in the first place, is a good thing. That the administration still believes it did nothing wrong is illustrated by its continued assertion (from the NY Times) …

… on Wednesday that the N.S.A. program had operated legally, but it also said the time had come to allow the intelligence surveillance court, known as the FISA court, to review all warrants on all wiretaps in terrorism investigations.

“There’s obviously an advantage to having all three branches involved,” said a senior Justice Department official, who briefed reporters on the decision on condition of anonymity. “This issue of the terrorist surveillance program is one that has been under intense public debate and scrutiny on the Hill, and just considering all these circumstances, the president determined that this is the appropriate course.”

Bullshit.

I'll be curious to see the spin from local conservative bloggers.

Vulcans and Klingons in Government

Ideology aside, this is funny. There are faux Klingons in the White House, he huffed and puffed.



(Chris, I'm being nice. I thought you'd find this funny.)

Conservative Values (er, lies)

Only in Texas, and the homes, presumably, of many conservative voters in Wisconsin (like dad29, Owen Robinson and Tom Reynolds). Weird science.

Hypocrites

Doesn’t it strike you as inappropriate that Republican lawmakers and conservative talk show hosts who stridently backed the President and the course he’d staked out in Iraq, and condemned as traitors anyone who questioned his policies, now are questioning his policies, but only after an election in which the public overwhelmingly spoke against the course of action chosen by this President.

No Room for Hate

This is so wrong and F. James Sensenbrenner is partially to blame. Rather than come up with a legitimate plan to deal with the problem of illegal immigration, Sensenbrenner and his racist cohorts instead fueled the fires of bigotry for votes and now it’s getting out of control. A Texas pizzeria decides to accept pesos because 60% of its clientele is Mexican and suddenly they're hit with death threats.

The problem is national. Just the other day, here in Wisconsin, one local blogger referred to Mexicans as “chattering Chihuahuas” and said he told them off at a local Wal-Mart because they were not speaking English. This same blogger says he is not anti-immigration, but is anti-illegal immigration. Yet, he insulted a group of people without determining whether they were here legally or not (not that insulting anyone is okay).

Fortunately, not all conservatives react this way. James Wigderson, author of the blog Wigderson Library and Pub, rightly sees this as a problem and has no qualms exposing this behavior.

Let’s hope others everywhere have the same cojones.

Bring Our Brave Troops Home ... Now

Twice before the Bush administration has tried to quell sectarian violence in Iraq by sending in more troops. Both times these efforts failed miserably and the only result was an increase in the cost in human life to both innocent Iraqis and to our brave, but misused troops.

Now, Bush wants to embed American troops with Iraqi units. This didn't work for the German troops in WWII who were mixed in with their hapless Romanian, Hungarian and Bulgarian brethren. It sure as hell won't work now.

Bush is acting like a desperate man who sees his place in history going down in flames.

Bring the troops home!

Joke of the Day

I like good jokes. The problem is once the joke as been told to me, I promptly forget it (other than two ... for another time). Anyway, it dawns on me that this blog is a perfect place to store these jokes. So, without further adieu ... here is the first from my friend Linda, who nows lives all the way down south in Atlanta ... no, Alabama (that's an inside joke).

The Godfather

A Mafia Godfather finds out that his bookkeeper has cheated him out of ten million bucks.

His bookkeeper is deaf., which is the reason he was hired in the frst place. The Godfather assumed that a deaf bookkeeper would not hear anything that he might have to testify about in court.

So anyway, when the Godfather goes to confront the bookkeeper about his missing ten million bucks, he brings along his attorney who happens to know sign language.

The Godfather tells the lawyer, "Ask him where the ten million bucks he embezzled from me is."

The attorney, using sign language, asks the bookkeeper where the money is.

The bookkeeper signs back, "I don't know what you are talking about."

The attorney tells the Godfather, "He says he doesn't know what you're talking about."

The Godfather pulls out a pistol, puts it to the bookkeeper's temple and says to the lawyer, "Ask him again!"

The attorney signs to the bookkeeper, "He'll kill you if you don't tell him!"

The bookkeeper signs back, "OK! You win! The money is in a brown briefcase, buried behind the shed in my cousin Enzo's backyard in Queens!"

The Godfather asks the attorney, "Well, what'd he say?"

The attorney replies, "He says you don't have the balls to pull the trigger."

It Could Happen To You

A blogger named Spocko has been shut down by his Internet provider ostensibly because ABC Radio complained. The reason why ABC Radio complained is because Spocko …

“… began spotlighting inflammatory rhetoric common to several talk radio hosts on KSFO, an ABC Radio-owned station in San Francisco. Spocko compiled a litany of examples on both his weblog, Spocko's Brain, and in numerous letters to corporations advertising on KSFO. He noted that KSFO hosts had claimed to have put "a bull's-eye" on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), advocated hanging various New York Times editors, called for the murder of millions of Muslims, and so on. This letter-writing campaign apparently got results, as major advertisers such as MasterCard, Bank of America, and Visa reportedly pulled their ads from the station.”

Listen to the YouTube piece below, which has been posted in support of Spocko and his right to call conservative blowhards on their evil machinations.

The reason that Spocko was shut down is because for these big corporations it is truly all about the advertising dollar. Wonder why the JournalSentinel has taken a decided turn to the right? Come on, don’t be so clueless. It’s because profits were dwindling and they decided to jump on the conservative bandwagon. Too bad it’s broken a spoke.

These blowhards and their cousins here in Wisconsin, Charlie Sykes, Mark Belling, Patrick McIlheran, Jessica McBride, etc., don't, fortunately, speak for all those with conservative beliefs. There are quite a few who are decent people. But, there are too many that go along for the ride and get caught up in the rhetoric. One recently referred to a group of Mexicans speaking their own language at a local Wal-Mart as "chattering chihuahuas." He has claimed he is only anti-illegal immigrant. How did he know these people were not here legally?

It's time for hateful conservative rhetoric to end.



More on this at Crooks and Liars.

Lily Munster Passes Away at 84

Bear/Packer Relations Improved in 2006

Life

By Marjorie Rock

Life is going too fast, it’s going out of control!. I don’t know what is wrong. It’s as though inside my head is going millions of miles a minute while on the outside I am standing stock-still. I can’t seem to get into a groove. I barely accomplish any of the things that are whiling through my mind. My arms and legs are like lead. My back is tired of trying to hold up my neck and busy head. When did this happen?

I think I just grew old!

Oh how I long for the days when my body was under my control. I was the Queen. I would command and my body would follow. The Queen would say, “It’s time to dance!” And off my body would go – “time step – shuffle off to Buffalo – do the riff step – and now break into the soft shoe, turn to the left four times – turn to the right four times, one more time step, cross-over, one-two-three and bow! “Now do it again” she would bellow!”

Where did I get the idea that my body would be immune to this ‘aging disease.’ Why I thought it was going to continue forever. What a cruel joke to have a mind that is still young, full of so many ideas. And then to have a body that is practically frozen in place.

When I allow myself to meditate for awhile, I can harness the energy in my mind and watch the pictures fly past my inner eye. I see my childhood, my grandparents - parents. I am going to school - kindergarten, grade school, high school, graduation. Right after graduation I came close to dying. I had planned on going to college to become an art teacher. However, I put it off for a year with the intention of making some money to help pay for my schooling – the truth was: I was scared of life. So in no time at all, while looking for the ‘easier, softer way,’ I managed to get married. We moved seven times in the first eight years and during this time, I had five children. I was full of energy and loved to daydream. I would dance with my children and chase them around the house.

After twenty three years of marriage, we divorced. My children were grown mostly. They were dancing on their own. I started another period of my life – I felt renewed. I had hope again; and in my fertile mind – a picture of a bright, though unknown future. I supported myself as a counselor, and I had married again. I didn’t get to dance as much as I would like – I sat a lot. However, in ten years or so, I was on stage having the time of my life – feeling inspired and fulfilling much of the creativity that would rush into my mind. I was in love and I was in love with life. It was going to last forever! But then cancer came to visit – however it was only a bump in the road. In two and one half weeks after surgery, I was back on stage, in costume and make-up – nothing to worry about. I was alive! Chemotherapy, radiation therapy – I couldn’t’ stop – I had a life to live – I had to make money. “I will heal, I will be all right.”

Then came retirement and dreams of traveling, doing community theatre – acting, directing, choreographing, painting, writing.

Three years of illness brought all these dreams to a grinding halt. It’s interesting how the illnesses lasted just long enough to use up nearly all of the energy I had left for wanting to live. I just ran out of juice. AND so here I am – sitting with my buzzing head – wanting so much to be a vital part of life and my body is slowing down.

Today I had a glimpse of my future. An 88 year old friend is in the hospital with compression fractures in her spine. In the past, I have said to her: “When I grow up I want to be just like you.” However, right now she is suffering with terrible pain. This is the same pain my mother had just before she died. So, reality says to me, “Marge, this is the dance of life.” It’s as though there is a veil that prevents us from seeing and hearing this most of the time. Apparently, we are meant to live in the NOW – in the moment. But now and then I do get a glimpse - a reminder that life here in this body is temporary; a reminder to take care of myself to the best of my ability and to surrender to the Will of God. There is no point in fighting. As my mother would say, “Marjorie, it’s rather like being at the head of a long, long line of humanity. We are all marching along. I am coming closer and closer to the edge of the cliff and those behind me aren’t stopping and they don’t care…. soon I will be the next to go.” And so she did and so it goes.

Just for today this is my story. Tomorrow this story may change. Tomorrow I may focus on another part of my life – my quest, my searching – along with the question, “What indeed am I searching for?” I have to smile as I realize that all we have are our stories – they often don’t have much to do with the “reality” – they just fit the view we hold of our lives and mostly to justify some behavior. History is rewritten again and again to help explain the past from our own point of view. When I have an opportunity to read or hear about the same period of recent history written from another point of view, I wonder, “Where was I?” It’s then I realize again, we all have a story and that’s all it is. There may be some facts that are truth, but the interpretation around these facts is just a story – a story often carefully honed by us until it’s just right and puts us in the light we would like to be seen, often a sympathetic light but sometimes not – depending on our mood.

Wisdom tells me, as I read histories, biographies, traditions from various countries, listen to preachers, teachers, counselors and doctors and politicians, read the results of investigations, newspapers, watch TV – its best I remember to say, “Maybe so and maybe not.” AND wisdom also reminds me that when most of us finish doing our thing – it’s best we add “That’s my story and I am sticking to it.”

The Neocons Did It

Bank robberies increased in Wisconsin in 2006. Using wingnut logic, the rise in robberies must have been the fault of Republican policies because they did hold power in the legislature. Governor Doyle could not have done anything about it, his ability to do so hamstrung by intransigence on the parts of conservatives.

Doing a Pilate

-- Steve Sack

Doing the Job of the MSM ... Hah!

There is a great article by Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory about the utter lack of credibility possessed by the right-wing blogosphere. He writes:

Packs of right-wing bloggers spent the last several weeks trying to destroy the credibility of Associated Press's war reporting by claiming that one of its sources, an Iraqi policeman named Jamil Hussein, does not exist, that AP simply invented him. As it turns out -- and as AP itself had the great pleasure of reporting (and then rubbing in the face of its irresponsible, taunting accusers) -- the Iraqi Government, which previously denied it, now acknowledges that Jamil Hussein does exist and he is a police officer in Iraq, just as AP reported accurately.

Oops.

There is more to the story. It’s best just to link over there and follow up yourself. However, the main point I want to cover is that what Greenwald says is true nationally is also true here in our own little corner of the blogosphere. Not only do right-wing blogs insanely leap to erroneous conclusions on a regular basis, they are also, as Greenwald says:

… wrong over and over and over -- and not just in error, but embarrassingly so, because so frequently their claims are transparently, laughably absurd, and they spew the most righteous accusations without any sort of evidence at all. The New Republic has its Stephen Glass and The New York Times has its Jayson Blair. But those are one-off incidents. The right-wing blogosphere is driven by Jayson Blairs. They are exposed as frauds and gossip-mongerers on an almost weekly basis. The only thing that can compete with the consistency of their errors is the viciousness of their accusations and their pompous self-regard as "citizen journalists." (bf mine)

These right-wing bloggers love to piously masquerade around as "media watchdogs," keeping a watchful eye on the "MSM" and compelling them to adhere to facts. And ever since their involvement in the use by Dan Rather of fraudulent documents, and then heightened by Charles Johnson's oh-so-monumental observation that a Reuters photograph of Lebanon had been photoshopped to give the appearance of more smoke during an Israeli air strike on Beirut, the media has largely recited this storyline.But they are nothing of the sort. Nobody is less interested in media accuracy than they are. Correcting media mistakes is so plainly not their agenda. They are nothing more than hyper-partisan hysterics who jump on any innuendo or rumor or whispered suspicion as long as it promotes their rigid ideological views and political loyalties and hatreds.

Here in SE Wisconsin we have our own righties whose claim they are here to do the job of the MSM is so hilarious. Just recently, during the last election, they were fed a load of crap regarding some documents that mysteriously appeared supposedly indicting the Democrats for plotting dastardly deeds and, like sheep, they nodded their heads and repeated the story until … oh, oh, everyone discovered it was not true. Suddenly, sites like Texas Hold ‘em Blogger and most notoriously, Boots and Sabers, were sent scrambling to cover their butts.

Instead of accepting any blame, they blamed the source of their woes. For someone claiming to do the job of the MSM, there surely was a lack of confirmation that the blarney was true. Pomposity levels (and testosterone levels) dropped a little that day.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions. The beauty of blogging is it’s free and one is free to spew stupid things like the trash tossed about by Michele Malkin, InstaPundit and our own Jessica McBride.

Just don’t claim you was had when you’re had and expect sympathy … no one will accept your pleas of innocence.

She Makes Me Sick

Jessica McBride implies in this post at her blogsite that there are those (hmmm … liberal leaning maybe) who feel sorry for the execution of Saddam Hussein. She uses as an example of how people should not feel sorry for the spectacle of his execution a link to a site which shows gruesome photos of the execution of Benito Mussolini, former WWII Italian dictator who met his fate after being captured by partisans near the end of that war (I'll let you link to her site to link to the photos).

McBride clearly displays her bloodlust and lack of character. There is no one I know that feels sorry for what happened to Hussein. What is of concern is the undignified way the execution was carried out. One can paint it anyway they want, but though Iraqis may have been operating the gallows mechanism the execution was still carried out with the approval of the U.S. military. The affair is troubling and augers nothing but continued bad news from that sad corner of the world.

But she doesn’t get it. This woman is a pathetic excuse for a human being. She was wildly supportive of the despicable website that her husband, Paul Bucher, used to smear Kathleen Falk (the site has been dismantled). She continues to spout lie upon lie about our involvement in Iraq, though the evidence every day makes her look foolish. She makes a mockery of the profession she professes to teach by spewing crap of bias about it while exercising no restraint herself.

Her husband was soundly defeated even in his home county, even though she wrote a column in its major newspaper, has her own blogsite and her own show on WTMJ … none of this could help stave off defeat. That he was defeated speaks volumes about how voters viewed his and her character.

But, give her credit. She does continue to play the role of “Eva” exquisitely.

More Pics of the Birth of Mighty Quin (4)

And finally ... mom and baby are doing fabulously.

More Pics of the Birth of Mighty Quin (3)

The birth of our daughter.

More Pics of the Birth of Mighty Quin (2)

After quite a few hours of sometimes painful, and ultimately fruitless labor, it was decided to go ahead with a caeserean section. I was allowed to enter the operating room and provide support to Kelly with the proviso I wear this sterile suit. Rumors that the suit was actually for comic relief of the surgeons are false.

More Pics of the Birth of Mighty Quin (1)

The first picture is of Kelly between contractions. Later, they were to become quite intense.

Another Nail in the Coffin of Freedom

The Bush administration just doesn't give up. If you see any reference to an Enabling Act in the future, run very far away.

WASHINGTON - A statement attached to postal legislation by President Bush last month may have opened the way for the government to open mail without a warrant.

The White House denies any change in policy, but civil libertarians are alarmed, saying the government has never publicly claimed that power before.

Federal law has long required a search warrant to open first class mail unless postal inspectors suspect it contains something dangerous, like a bomb or a hazardous chemical, reports NBC News' Pete Williams.

The Bush administration says that the law has always allowed these types of search. But, if that is the case, what is the point of the signing statement? I’m waiting for our electronic versions of the Volkischer Beobachter (Fox News and/or talk radio) to parrot their agreement with the Bushies.

Won't Say It

Nope. I'm not going to use the word chickenhawk to describe those 18-22 year old young Republicans who talk on and on about needing to continue fighting the war in Iraq, but give no serious thought to joining up. Nope. Using the word chickenhawk is demeaning and just not very nice.

Besides, I don't need to.






















-- Working for Change

First Picture

Here's a teaser picture of the new addition to the Rock family. More to come ... running back and forth between hospital and home (Kelly had a c-section, so staying for a few extra days).

And, thanks to all who offered their congratulations and best wishes.

It's A Girl!

Quin Elyse Rock was born at 7:36 pm on December 31, 2006. She weighed in at 7 pounds 6 ounces and was 20.25" long (this being important information apparently).

Baby and mom are doing well, pics and more info later. Got to run back to the hospital.

Another Suggestion to Reduce our Rights

Another prime example of conservatives' disregard for our rights. Newt Gingrich opens his mouth and freedom of speech is disavowed.

-- Joe Conason

The flimsy philosophizing of Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House and aspiring Presidential candidate, isn't designed to bear any great weight. For many years, he has been willing to say anything that would win him the public attention and political power he still craves. Yet in the mainstream media and among Republicans, his intellectual pretensions are often taken seriously -- and when he promotes authoritarian "solutions" to national problems, that must be taken seriously too.

His latest insight is that America can only survive if we impose severe curbs on freedom of speech.

At a recent event in New Hampshire -- where he shows up often these days -- Mr. Gingrich explained why he believes that the First Amendment must be reconsidered in these trying times. He chose to deliver these remarks at an annual dinner held in memory of the late publisher of the Manchester Union-Leader, honoring individuals who stand up for free speech.
He told the stunned audience that we are facing a "long-term war," or what former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called "the Long War," which requires new strategies and tactics to thwart Islamic jihadism. We confront an existential threat "that will inevitably lead us to want to know what is said in every suspect place in the country, that will lead us to learn how to close down every Web site that is dangerous, and it will lead us to a very severe approach to people who advocate the killing of Americans and advocate the use of nuclear or biological weapons."
He went on to advocate measures that "use every technology we can find to break up [the terrorists'] capacity to use the Internet, to break up their capacity to use free speech, and to go after people who want to kill us, to stop them from recruiting people before they get to reach out and convince young people to destroy their lives while destroying us."

Such vague prescriptions sound sensible enough. Certainly no sane person wants terrorists using the Internet, and nobody wants them recruiting young suicide bombers on the Internet, either.

The problem is in the details. Exactly how the former Speaker would deter the enemies of freedom from using free speech was anything but clear.

About a week after his New Hampshire speech, he expanded on his remarks in an article for the ultraconservative Union-Leader newspaper. "The fact is that not all speech is permitted under the Constitution," he wrote. He noted the ominous remarks of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the outreach by Hezbollah to sympathizers in Latin America, and the stated determination of Islamist militants to "use the Internet for the sake of jihad." He suggested that the government be empowered to shut down Web sites that recruit suicide bombers and urged "an expeditious review of current domestic law to see what changes can be made within the protections of the 1st Amendment to ensure that free speech protection claims are not used to protect the advocacy of terrorism, violent conduct or the killing of innocents."

That's only a sample of the many big mouthfuls of rhetoric emanating from Mr. Gingrich on this topic, but you get the idea.

When he appeared on Meet the Press on Dec. 17, host Tim Russert asked him how his fantasy would work. Who would define such murky offenses as "advocacy of terrorism" or "violent conduct"?

Mr. Gingrich seemed to be annoyed by the question. His answer was not only unimpressive but also unintentionally funny.

"You close down any Web site that is jihadist," he said.

"But who makes that judgment?" insisted Mr. Russert.

"Look, I -- you can appoint three federal judges if you want to and say, 'Review this stuff and tell us which ones to close down.' I would just like to have them be federal judges who've served in combat," replied Mr. Gingrich.

Considering the source, that was a remarkably weird response. A panel of three judges who've served in combat? As a qualification for making crucial decisions about combating terrorists, combat service would surely eliminate Mr. Gingrich -- a certified chicken-hawk who loves war but successfully avoided the Vietnam draft -- from running for President.
Logic aside, he has offered at least one example of how he would apply his new set of speech standards. He believes that the six Muslim scholars who were removed from a plane in Minneapolis last month for such suspicious behavior as praying in the airport "should have been arrested and prosecuted for pretending to be terrorists."

That ridiculous assertion could only have thrilled the leadership of Al Qaeda. Nothing they can ever put on a Web site or videotape will be nearly as effective in encouraging young Muslims to hate America and reject freedom as Mr. Gingrich's cloddish demagogy.

Some moron out there will acuse the media of being biased for asking tough querstions of Newty. I'm not feeling nice ... tough shit.

This is Happening

h/t Tom Tomorrow

After reading this, my suspicions of this administration only grow grimmer. Do you really believe they aren’t listening in on the telephone calls of other than suspected terrorists? Has there ever been another President in our nation’s history who cultivated such a disregard for basic human rights?

One night in mid-April, the steel door clanked shut on detainee No. 200343 at Camp Cropper, the United States military’s maximum-security detention site in Baghdad.

American guards arrived at the man’s cell periodically over the next several days, shackled his hands and feet, blindfolded him and took him to a padded room for interrogation, the detainee said. After an hour or two, he was returned to his cell, fatigued but unable to sleep.

The fluorescent lights in his cell were never turned off, he said. At most hours, heavy metal or country music blared in the corridor. He said he was rousted at random times without explanation and made to stand in his cell. Even lying down, he said, he was kept from covering his face to block out the light, noise and cold. And when he was released after 97 days he was exhausted, depressed and scared.

Detainee 200343 was among thousands of people who have been held and released by the American military in Iraq, and his account of his ordeal has provided one of the few detailed views of the Pentagon’s detention operations since the abuse scandals at Abu Ghraib. Yet in many respects his case is unusual.

The detainee was Donald Vance, a 29-year-old Navy veteran from Chicago who went to Iraq as a security contractor. He wound up as a whistle-blower, passing information to the F.B.I. about suspicious activities at the Iraqi security firm where he worked, including what he said was possible illegal weapons trading.

Give Thanks

Merry Christmas all. Enjoy the holidays.

Pony Up to the Bar

A recent shot of conservative bloggers at Drinking Right, their favorite reason for drinking at their favorite watering hole. Note the suspicious attitudes.

Another Immaculate Conception

More Cheney grandchildren?

CHESTER, England - As Christmas approaches, a virgin mother is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her offspring. She’s Flora, the Komodo dragon.

In an evolutionary twist, Flora has managed to become pregnant all on her own without any male help. It would seem the timing is auspicious: The seven baby Komodo dragons are due this festive season.

“We were blown away when we realized what she’d done,” said Kevin Buley, a reptile expert at Flora’s home at the Chester Zoo in this town in northern England. “But we certainly won’t be naming any of the hatchlings Jesus.”

A Paddy Mac Love Affair With Right-Wing Dictators

Patrick McIlheran, known in liberal blogging circles as Paddy Mac, takes the Brew City Brawler to task for the Brawler's evisceration of McIlheran’s post about the death of former right-wing Chilean dictator August Pinochet, and his favoring of Pinochet over Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. McIlheran had this to say:

Pinochet killed a lot of people unjustly, I said, but his reign could not be seen as unrelieved darkness: At least he left peacefully and he did liberalize the economy.

The Brawler retorted in fine fashion and I have nothing to add except this thought: Using McIlheran’s logic I suppose that the relieved darkness of Adolf Hitler was preferable to the Marxist, Josef Stalin. Hitler did cause the Autobahn system to be created and he provided the impetus for the modern use of rocketry for warfare.

What a putz!

Cokehead Gets My Vote

Bruce Tinsley, creator of Mallard Fillmore, is a knob. Greg Saunders at The Talent Show repurposes one of Tinley's strips and exposes the knob for what he really is ... a hack cartoonist with tired material.

Bite Size

This is gory.

BOSSIER CITY, La. - A pit bull puppy chewed off four of a baby girl's toes while the child's parents slept, police here said Monday. The parents were booked on charges of child desertion and criminal negligence and were being held in the Bossier Parish Jail pending an initial court appearance.

Police said the parents were sleeping on a mattress in the living room of their residence and the month-old girl was in an infant seat beside them when the puppy began chewing on their baby's toes.

And they didn’t hear the baby cry, or scream? My gosh. I know that in the past when my kiddies were babes, I would not could not sleep because I kept both ears open for ANY noise (or lack of) from my children … and will do so when the baby is born next month. These parents were laying right next to the baby. They should be tossed away and the key lost.

This comment, though, is SO Louisiana …

Teresa Miller, who sold the puppy to the Hansches, was skeptical the dog did it. "He didn't chew on anything while he was with me. Out of all of them (in the litter), he was the least chewy."

The least chewy?

I'm waiting for some clown to say this is a result of liberal policies.

Words of Wisdom

A gem from my six-year old daughter. When I asked whether she was getting her jammies on, she replied, "Sorry Daddy. I accidently forgot."

Diversity is a Good Thing

This is stupid.

SEATAC, Wash. - The official Christmas trees are still down at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, but a few little trees have popped up at airline counters.

An employee at Frontier Airlines took up a collection on Monday and bought a few foot-tall trees for the counter.

The initiative followed a decision by airport officials to remove its nine Christmas trees instead of adding a giant Jewish menorah to the holiday display as a rabbi had requested.

Their excuse is other religions and/or groups would have wanted to include symbols. My response is: And what problem would that have been? It would have been a wonderful opportunity to display Americans’ tolerance for all beliefs.

Serious People

For those who like to say that anyone who doesn’t agree with their idiotic spewings is an “appeaser,” this prediction from Jonathan Schwarz (posted at This Modern World):

If the U.S. ever deteriorates to the point where we’re rounding up Muslims in extermination camps, Victor Davis Hanson will criticize Americans who oppose this as “appeasers” who “haven’t learned the lesson of Munich.”

Must be said with a serious look, because Hanson is, you know, a serious person.

Morons, all.

Conservative Values

You just got to love Christian conservatives.

KATY, Texas - A plan to build a mosque in this Houston suburb has triggered a neighborhood dispute, with community members warning the place will become a terrorist hotbed and one man threatening to hold pig races on Fridays just to offend the Muslims.

Many neighborhood residents claim they have nothing against Muslims and are more concerned about property values, drainage and traffic.

But one resident has set up an anti-Islamic Web site with an odometer-like counter that keeps track of terrorist attacks since Sept. 11. A committee has formed to buy another property and offer to trade it for the Muslims’ land. And next-door neighbor Craig Baker has threatened to race pigs on the edge of the property on the Muslim holy day. Muslims consider pigs unclean and do not eat pork.

All right, I don't know if they're Christian conservatives, but it is a good bet that most are. Craig Baker says later in the article that he has to go ahead with the pig races or he'll look like an idiot.

Sorry ... you already did that.

More Frank Zappa

More Frank Zappa. A little Cosmic Debris and a kick butt solo by Frank.

Immaculate Conception?

Dick Cheney to be a grandpa again. Mary Cheney, his 37-year old daughter is expecting according to a source.

WASHINGTON - Mary Cheney, the openly gay daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney and wife Lynne, is pregnant, according to a published report. Mary Cheney, 37, and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, 45, are "ecstatic" about the baby, due in late spring, The Washington Post reported in Wednesday's editions, quoting an unnamed source close to the couple.

Some of the more weird elements of the Christian Right will see this as either the advent of the apocalypse, or the answer to their prayers.

Just having some fun, so keep the comments cool. Other Side wishes the best to Mary Cheney and Heather Poe. Mary Cheney especially has maintained herself with dignity and I must say this about Dick "The Mouth" Cheney ... in this regard his behavior has been beyond reproach.

Duped and Used

Saw the article first in the JS Online, then went to the humble folkbum to see if he had latched onto it. I then let it sink in a bit ... in the end, I decided (as others have also) two words apply to Owen at Boots and Sabers and Peter at Texas Hold'em Blogger, two of the loudest conservative bloggers.

Duped!

Used!

This is what happens when someone untrained in journalism attempts to be a journalist. Guys, you are bloggers, not reporters. You don't need to apologize to anyone. I would offer, however, the proverbial towel to wipe the egg off your face.

First Contact

Made unexpected contact today with the local Klingon blogger, Chris at spotted horse 2. That encounter caused me to pop in Star Trek: First Contact. I am such a Star Trek geek. I always get choked up when the Vulcan ship lands and James Cromwell (Zephran Cochran)makes first contact in the form of a handshake.

Will we ever meet another spacefaring race? The odds are not good, considering the distances to be covered. But you never know. There is already alien life in southeastern Wisconsin.

Don't Eat The Yellow Snow

This is for my 11-year old son, Ian. He took the doggies out during the first snowfall of the year and marveled at the yellow snow ... in a way only an 11-year old can. A little Frank Zappa ....

So Much for Meaningless Studies

Having read another meaningless piece about who gives more, conservatives or liberals (this one by Thomas Sowell ... sorry, no link), I decided that I would produce my own scientific work.

Considering this is the last weekend of work at my part-time job, I decided to determine who was less rude, conservatives or liberal. There were exactly twenty-seven people whom I extended my hand to, to receive either cash or credit card to pay for gas or other consumables. In each case in which my hand was ignored and the aforementioned cash or credit card was ignorantly tossed onto the counter, I asked afterward whether the person considered themself conservative or liberal. Twenty-six replied they were conservative.

Accordingly, I have come to the conclusion that conservatives are mostly arrogant pricks.

Do I truly believe this? No. No more than I believe that more conservatives give blood than liberals, as the study Sowell relies on states (or the reverse for that matter). How in the hell does one quantify that anyway?

It's Where You Live That Matters

There seems to be some confusion yet regarding the racist encounter last year in the Town of Merton, home to defeated attorney general candidate Paul Bucher, and his wife, talk show pundit, newspaper columnist and erstwhile lecturer at UWM, Jessica McBride.

Town of Merton - Next week, the public will know what criminal penalty two former North Lake firefighters will serve over their racist encounter with a Milwaukee fisherman and his family.

But the public remains in the dark about what kind of money was paid to Mark Bratton and his relatives to settle a federal lawsuit filed against the North Lake Fire Department; the two firefighters, then-Fire Chief Terrence J. Stapleton and Mark J. Weber; and the Town of Merton.

Fire Department and town officials contend that they don't know the settlement figure. They and their attorneys insist that no paper record exists of the settlement.

Hmmm … racist firefighters from the Town of Merton. Bucher and McBride live in the Town of Merton. According to the rules of association played so often by McBride and other conservative lackeys, doesn’t this mean that Bucher and McBride are … firefighters too? Maybe not.

Only in Wisconsin

Only in Wisconsin can it be 55 degrees and raining cats and dogs November 29th, and the next day I can't get my car doors open because they are frozen shut.

The Remarkable World of McBride

The Brew City Brawler usually does a bang up job exposing Jessica McBride’s mockery of professional journalism. But after reading the entire McBride piece, I can understand why the Brawler doesn’t take the time to launder the entire mess, rather resorting to steam cleaning. His frustration oozes from the printed word as he responds to McBride’s lengthy attempt to cover up for a corrupt administration. I imagine the Brawler as he types the following paragraph, each subsequent keystroke heavier and with more emphasis, the last so forceful that the keyboard considers ending its life and jumping off the edge of the desk:

Umm, yellow cake? Aluminum tubes? Relying on sources who we had reason to believe were full of shit? These are just off the top of my head. Has she read a book about Iraq? Watched a newscast?

I can forgive the Brawler this brief foray. McBride is perplexing. How she can take the talking points provided to her and still prove unable to piece together a cogent argument is mind-boggling (Perhaps not, it would explain much about the current administration). And it’s mind-boggling that a major university continues to pay her to instruct students.

Nonetheless, as I was rested, I decided to continue for the obviously exhausted Brawler.

Her first few paragraphs are meaningless drivel regarding the innocence of the Bush administration's motives. As the Brawler correctly noted above, where has McBride been all this time? How can she say with a straight face the Bush administration has not dishonestly manipulated information? They’ve been doing it for four years.

She examines the process of hallucination when she writes that the reason we went to war in Iraq was because “… we’d decided that our national security mandated that we preempt threats before they are directly upon us.” How in the world was Iraq a threat? There were no WMDs. There was no army. It had been devastated in the previous war. It is true that Saddam was a tyrant. But if being a tyrant is enough reason to garner a response from our military, then why aren’t we writing up plans to invade one third of the nations on this planet?

A McBride piece would not be complete without a mention of 9/11. This time she out does herself. She was there she says … the day after. What was she doing there, one must ask? I'm sure she bandaged and comforted the wounded, gave blood twice that awful day after, advised the President and helped develop the administration’s subsequent course of action. And, she had tea with Condi.

Actually, we don’t know why she was there. She doesn’t say. There’s no reason to. Isn’t it enough for us to know she was?

Just asking, but was she in New Orleans the day after Katrina?

Anyway, she then places this amazing piece of nonsense for us to digest. Saddam was bluffing the world about his WMDs.

Huh? There might have been a time before Desert Storm that this was true, but since then he had been stating loudly for all to hear that he had no interest in WMDs. It was a rare moment in his life to be telling the truth. To be sure, Saddam put up roadblocks to U.N. inspectors, but doing so was certainly not enough reason to invade.

And when it was discovered that the rationale for our assault was so much hocus pocus, a new rationale was slipped in before our distracted eyes and "whallah," (inside joke for those who do not know McBride ... her spelling of the French word voila) planting democracy is the reason for being there. For McBride, this sleight of hand brings no confusion … nor is it a problem. Hmmm, the real reason we went to war never really existed so now this is the real reason for going to war.

Actually, in the words of McBride, the reason we went to war was to foment revolution. And she’s right (this happens occasionally) revolution is not easy ... to sell. I’m sure the parents and siblings of the 3,000 American servicemen and women who have given their lives for the Iraqi revolution will be relieved to know this is the REAL reason their loved ones were sent overseas.

I’m beginning to understand the Brawler’s reasoning. The more I type, the angrier I get. Conservatives like McBride are quick to trot out the “angry left” mantra as a means to color their views objective and reasoned. Sadly, it’s just another sorry attempt at deception and distraction. One wishes conservatives were more thoughtful.

So, I think that I too, have reached my fill of McBride. However, not before dissecting this silly statement:

I also believe that Iraq has made monumental progress in a few short years. I don’t believe those stories are emphasized enough by the media.

Monumental progress?

Monumental progress towards what … civil war? More innocent Iraqis have been killed in the past four years than in all of the time that Saddam was in power. The country is split along religious fault lines more than ever before. The insurgency is everywhere and getting stronger and Iraq has become the focus of terrorist groups around the globe. Additionally, we have alienated the people of more than half the world with our arrogance.

There was a time that America was looked upon as that shining beacon of hope. In six short years, conservative policy makers (serious people, you know) have taken any good will people might have had for us and thrown it away in useless partisanship and disregard.

McBride wants the Democrats and media to reframe the debate toward one of victory, not failure. Is McBride saying that what has been wrought through Republican intransigence must be solved with more of the same?

UPDATE: The Brawler recharges.

UPDATE: The humble folkbum lets us in on what McBride really missed.

You've Got to be Crazy to Vote for Bush

h/t Tom Tomorrow

If Pat McIlheran can write a piece (with a straight face) claiming evidence that conservatives give more to charities than liberals, then I think it only fair to provide proof (after all these years) that psychotics vote for Bush.

A collective “I told you so” will ripple through the world of Bush-bashers once news of Christopher Lohse’s study gets out.

Lohse, a social work master’s student at Southern Connecticut State University, says he has proven what many progressives have probably suspected for years: a direct link between mental illness and support for President Bush.

Hey, please note I didn't say conservatives were psychotic. Though, there are a few that should be on medication. Chris, are you still hallucinating (wait for it ...)?

Hello Dolly

When at a loss for words, as I have been of late ... there's always Satchmo!

More Tom Tomorrow

Paddy Mac IS Generic Conservative Guy.

















-- Working for Change

They're Still Not Listening

This is too funny.

















-- Working for Change

I Need a Vacation

Just when I thought I might be able to breeze into the Thanksgiving holiday without anyone getting my dander up and simply enjoy the season, two items cross my path and remind me why conservatism is such a bankrupt philosophy.

The first is a blog post by, none other than Patrick McIlheran. No surprise there, the man is a weiner. In this post, entitled: “Who cares? Quantitatively, that is: Who cares?", McIlheran drones on about a piece of fieldwork done by Syracuse Professor Arthur C. Brooks. Brooks apparently proves that (in McIlheran’s words) “…it’s religious conservatives who give more to compassionate causes than secular liberals.”

Four things came to mind while reading the post. One: Beliefnet, which is where McIlheran grabbed this piece of flotsam, is hardly unbiased. Disregard.

Two: The sentence written above in point one by McIlheran was obviously done without the aid of any serious thought (uh, since over 90 percent of the population has some sort of a belief in God, it’s unlikely that secularism rules the liberal side). Disregard.

Three: Brooks was a Democrat, then a Republican and now is independent … oh, okay … I believe him now. This apparently qualifies him as unbiased. More likely it qualifies him as confused, or paid. Disregard.

And lastly: Did it ever occur to Paddy Mac that liberals don’t advertise their charitable works because, well, they don’t need the “pat” (bad pun) on the back. It’s conservatives and mostly conservative Christians who whine most about being picked on (except for dad29, his thoughts are straight forward, without any whining, I can forgive him his hallucinations). Disregard.

The other thing was directed to my attention by Charlie Sykes (hey, I was listening to the game the previous day). Anyway, this from Owen Robinson at the popular SM site, Boots and Slippers.

The MJS Editorial Board really is infuriating sometimes… okay, most of the time. For a prime example, let’s look at a few moist morsels of their latest shit burger that they expected us all to swallow this morning. At issue is the DOT’s proposed 46% hike in the registration fee that they requested two months after it was due and conveniently after the election.
First, the MJS completely blows off the issue of the timing.

The timing of the recommendations was suspect because the recommendations, due two months ago, came after the Nov. 7 election. DOT officials say the timing was not political. Maybe, but it looks funny. And inconsequential. Does anyone seriously think that the announcement would have turned the election against Gov. Jim Doyle?

The thought that crossed my mind was this: If Green had been governor and this had occurred, do you think Owen would be complaining? Nah! Owen would probably be explaining that Green was above the fray and had in fact not wanted to introduce something like this so close to the election. Kind of like Bush and Rummy. Hmm, using Paddy Mac’s logic above, does this mean all conservatives are liars?

Well, happy Thanksgiving all. Enjoy the time with family.

Dearly Beloved

I hate to admit it, but hat tip to Charlie Sykes for this story.

Prosecution of a Douglas County case involving alleged sexual contact with a dead deer may hinge on the legal definition of the word “animal.”

Bryan James Hathaway, 20, of Superior faces a misdemeanor charge of sexual gratification with an animal. He is accused of having sex with a dead deer he saw beside Stinson Avenue on Oct. 11.

A motion filed last week by his attorney, Public Defender Fredric Anderson, argued that since the deer was dead, it was not considered an animal and the charge should be dismissed.

“The statute does not prohibit one from having sex with a carcass,” Anderson wrote.

Add this to the litany of slippery slope issues surrounding gay marriage. I’m sure James Dobson, his carnival sidekick, Pat Robertson and the mutant woman, Ann Coulter, would agree it’s a natural progression.

My favorite part was this comment from the judge, Michael Lucci: “I’m a little surprised this issue hasn’t been tackled before in another case.”

Uh, you know something we don’t judge?

Mindless Automaton and Friends Return

Local pundits share their views on Tom Tomorrow.



















-- Working for Change

Get Off Your Phone

Having dodged two people today who were chatting on their cell phones when they decided to make lane switches without using signal lights, I’m all in favor of this.

Glendale - This city has passed an ordinance, believed to be the first of its kind in the metro area, that will allow police to ticket people who are yakking on their cell phones if they are involved in an accident or stopped for another violation.

It all resulted from a drive to work along Good Hope Road about three weeks ago by Frederick "Rip" McManus, whose wife, Cindy, is a member of the Glendale Common Council.

Within the space of just a couple of blocks, he saw an accident and a near accident involving drivers talking on cell phones.

Joke for the Day

50th Wedding Anniversary

A couple was celebrating their 50th anniversary at their local church's marriage marathon. The minister knew this and asked Brother Ralph to take a few minutes and share some insight into how he managed to live with the same woman all these years.

Brother Ralph replied to the audience:

"Well, I treated her with respect, spent money on her, but mostly I took her traveling on special occasions."

The minister asked where they took trips.

"For our 25th anniversary, I took her to Beijing, China.

"The minister said, "What a terrific example you are to all husbands. Ralph, please tell the audience what you're going to do for your wife on your 50th anniversary?"

Brother Ralph said, "I'm going to go get her."

Aren't You a Little Old to be Playing With Dolls

This is funny … I’m waiting for Jessica McBride: “I don’t care if Muslim kids receive one of these dolls, when was the last time they ever attended church?” Anyway, from Los Angeles:

A company that sells Bible-quoting Jesus dolls said it was surprised and disappointed that the Marine Reserves’ Toys for Tots program turned down its offer to donate 4,000 of the talking dolls.

“I believe as a churchgoing person, anyone can benefit from hearing the words of the Bible,” said Michael La Roe, director of business development for Valencia-based Beverly Hills Teddy Bear Co. and its one2believe division, which makes the line of Bible
character dolls.

Bill Grein, vice president of Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, in Quantico, Va., said the offer was turned down because Toys for Tots doesn’t know anything about the religious affiliations of the children who receive its gifts.

Anne Quimby Mathias was quick to jump into the fray. She says she is not really offended by the donation, but offers this Christmas morning scene:

… some poor little poor kid, excited to open what is likely one of a very few presents. He’s hoping for a Tonka truck, football, maybe a GI Joe or Spiderman action figure…and he gets the One Foot Talking Jesus Doll.

The horror.

Meanwhile, this post title at Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy caught my attention: “Why Do Our Troops Hate Christmas.” Bill O’Reilly was too slow.

I for one have no problem with the doll as long as equal representation is ensured. I have a view gift ideas for the holiday season. For instance, we should not forget those touched by his noodly appendage, the followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. His dolly could spout the abridged version of the FSM’s Eight “I’d Really Rather You Didn’ts.”

1. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Act Like a Sanctimonious Holier-Than-Thou Ass When Describing My Noodly Goodness.
2. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Use My Existence As A Means To Oppress, Subjugate, Punish, Eviscerate, And/Or, You Know, Be Mean To Others.
3. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Judge People For The Way They Look, Or How They Dress, Or The Way They Talk, Or, Well, Just Play Nice, Okay?
4. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Indulge In Conduct That Offends Yourself, Or Your Willing, Consenting Partner Of Legal Age AND Mental Maturity.
5. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Challenge The Bigoted, Misogynist, Hateful Ideas Of Others On An Empty Stomach. Eat, Then Go After The B*******.
6. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Build Multimillion-Dollar Churches/Temples/Mosques/Shrines To My Noodly Goodness When The Money Could Be Better Spent (Take Your Pick): Ending Poverty, Curing Diseases, Living In Peace, Loving With Passion, And Lowering The Cost Of Cable.
7. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Go Around Telling People I Talk To You. You're Not That Interesting. Get Over Yourself. And I Told You To Love Your Fellow Man, Can't You Take A Hint?
8. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You If You Are Into, Um, Stuff That Uses A Lot of Leather/Lubricant/Las Vegas.

The beloved Buddy Christ could be distributed by Marines to not only tots, but to Iraqis suspected of pissing the Marines off.

Lastly, to celebrate the inevitable third coming of Tom Reynolds into Wisconsin politics, there is the cute “Tom as Jesus” doll. All you have to do to get the doll talk is push a button on the dolls butt. A lawyer pops out and says one of these three timely phrases:

1. Thou shalt not make fun of me.
2. Thou shalt not spake the address of my print shop in vain.
3. Hav you herd the wurd of my campaign manerger, Boob?

Janis Joplin

Some classic Janis. A celebration of what made the difference in the elections, Tuesday. We tried just a little bit harder.

Reliving the Exorcism of November 7th

Exorcism complete. Democrats control Congress (unlike Republicans who tried to own it).

















-- Working for Change