Friday, November 23, 2012
P.S. Confederados: A Presidential Connection
In 1972, GEORGIA GOVERNOR (PRESIDENT, FOUR YEARS LATER) JIMMY CARTER AND HIS WIFE ROSLYN visited the grave of her great uncle, one of the original Confederados, at Campo. He said that the Confederados sounded and seemed just like Southerners.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
THE (CONFEDERATE) BOYS FROM BRAZIL
MEMO TO THE SECESSIONIST MOVEMENTS IN TEXAS, ALABAMA, LOUISIANA, et al: It would please, and probably surprise you to know that some 10,000 to 20,000 of your brethren emigrated to Brazil after the Civil War rather than accept surrender to the Yankees. They settled in many regions of that vast nation, but concentrated mostly in the state of São Paulo. Unfortunately, a guest on a Hardball segment dealing with the latest secessionist movement, "author" James Moore, trivialized and ripped this colorful aspect of Brazilian culture by referring to these settlements as "New Texas" — WRONG! The Confederate immigrants actually came from most, if not all the states currently with secessionist petitions — then had the GALL to call them "El Confederados," when anyone with an OUNCE of NON-ETHNOCENTRIC education knows that SPANISH IS NOT THE LANGUAGE SPOKEN IN THE COLOSSUS OF SOUTH AMERICA; IT IS PORTUGUESE. Therefore, the correct name is "OS CONFEDERADOS." Naturally, all of this was received with untoward and OBNOXIOUS mirth by Chris Matthews, who has the belly-laugh of AN IDIOT. (But we knew that.)
Anyway, here's the Confederados annual cookout/party (2011), introduced by none other than a Portuguese-speaking Robert E. Lee! (Did you know there are hail storms in São Paulo?) Most of the revelers depicted in the video are direct descendants of the Confederate rebels who refused to surrender to the North, and they are very proud of their traditions. Word of advice, however, for any secessionists considering an exodus to be with their Southern relatives in São Paulo: Brazil is a very generous and welcoming nation; but moochers, deadbeats, and principally RACISTS need not apply. This ought to limit applications quite a bit.
Anyway, here's the Confederados annual cookout/party (2011), introduced by none other than a Portuguese-speaking Robert E. Lee! (Did you know there are hail storms in São Paulo?) Most of the revelers depicted in the video are direct descendants of the Confederate rebels who refused to surrender to the North, and they are very proud of their traditions. Word of advice, however, for any secessionists considering an exodus to be with their Southern relatives in São Paulo: Brazil is a very generous and welcoming nation; but moochers, deadbeats, and principally RACISTS need not apply. This ought to limit applications quite a bit.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
HOT HIL!
LET'S FACE IT FOLKS, OUR SEC. OF STATE LOOKS HOTHOTHOT playing the diplomatic power game at the highest level, negotiating a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. The difference between her visiting a Buddhist temple in Thailand with the President, and this pic, is like night and day! Hillary in profile looks 20 years younger and totally in command. IMPRESSIVE, to be polite.
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Tuesday, November 20, 2012
How ANONYMOUS Saved American Democracy
THIS IS FOR THE BELTWAY ELITISTS, PARTICULARLY CHUCKLES TODDY AND CHRIS MATTHEWS, who scoff at persistent reports that our electronic voting system is eminently hackable, and that elections have been stolen — on the presidential level in Ohio (2004), and nearly stolen once again in 2012, were it not for the vigilance of those unsung heroes, ANONYMOUS. Toddy and Matthews are two sides of the same coin; they refuse to consider mountains of evidence, as if it's all too tin-foil hat for their rose-tinted, good guys (us) worldview.
While Chuckles was poring over his demographics statistics — important, no doubt — Harper's Magazine in its November 2012 issue gave us a chilling account, largely ignored by the Beltway pseudo-cognoscenti, of how an election could be rigged, but thanks to ANONYMOUS was cut off at the pass. See, if Toddy were the least bit honest he would understand, and probably does, that to steal an election it's margin that counts. Considering how close the "experts" anticipated this election to be, its theft in Ohio, at least, was within reach for Karl Rove and his criminal co-conspirators. After all, they'd done it before, in 2004. Read more about it here; from the GAO report, commissioned by Senior Judiciary Committee Democrat, Rep. John Conyers, which concluded "some of [the] concerns about electronic voting machines have been realized and have caused problems with recent elections, resulting in the loss and miscount of votes;" more from Harper's yeoman's work (2005 issue).
Meanwhile, Chuckles Toddy, like a good card-carrying member of the Beltway elites, perpetuated the false narrative by brushing off claims of voting machine fraud with the following tweet: "The voting machine conspiracies belong in same category as the Trump birther garbage." Oh really, Chuckles? Then why haven't you (a) provided any hard evidence to back up your claim, much less (b) addressed the 17 specific examples of voting machine "irregularities" outlined in The Brad Blog, who stated, "Todd does an extraordinary disservice to the electorate with Tweets like the one above, and I'd be happy to come on his daily MSNBC show any time to explain why, as I have told him via Twitter in response to the above." Chuckles' reply: *CRICKETS*.
Enter ANONYMOUS with a dire warning for Karl Rove before the election of 2012:
Progressive radio host and author Thom Hartmann who, thankfully for us, takes the hacking theft of our elections as a clear and present danger to our democracy, puts meat on the bones of how this was attempted; Karl Rove's totally bizarre reaction when Ohio was called for Obama, his frantic phone exchanges with the Romney camp, or with who knows who, are perfectly understandable in this context. Pay attention, Chuckles and Chris. Not only is it fascinating, but you might learn something:
Here is part of the ANONYMOUS text, post-election (reproduced in full, below) in which what they did is explained:
FINAL NOTE: One doesn't have to be a RATIONAL conspiracy theorist to FIX OUR VOTING MACHINE problem. Here are but a few suggestions: (a) Nationalize/legislate presidential elections by taking their management AWAY FROM PARTISAN SECRETARIES OF STATE, and hand them over to nonpartisan, neutral blue ribbon citizens groups; (b) create a PAPER TRAIL WHICH RECORDS EVERY SINGLE VOTE, in the same way one gets a paper receipt from an ATM machine; (c) de-privatize the vote count so that it is managed and supervised by nonpartisan, highly respected groups, such as the League of Women Voters. And (d) prosecute Karl Rove and his henchmen.
While Chuckles was poring over his demographics statistics — important, no doubt — Harper's Magazine in its November 2012 issue gave us a chilling account, largely ignored by the Beltway pseudo-cognoscenti, of how an election could be rigged, but thanks to ANONYMOUS was cut off at the pass. See, if Toddy were the least bit honest he would understand, and probably does, that to steal an election it's margin that counts. Considering how close the "experts" anticipated this election to be, its theft in Ohio, at least, was within reach for Karl Rove and his criminal co-conspirators. After all, they'd done it before, in 2004. Read more about it here; from the GAO report, commissioned by Senior Judiciary Committee Democrat, Rep. John Conyers, which concluded "some of [the] concerns about electronic voting machines have been realized and have caused problems with recent elections, resulting in the loss and miscount of votes;" more from Harper's yeoman's work (2005 issue).
Meanwhile, Chuckles Toddy, like a good card-carrying member of the Beltway elites, perpetuated the false narrative by brushing off claims of voting machine fraud with the following tweet: "The voting machine conspiracies belong in same category as the Trump birther garbage." Oh really, Chuckles? Then why haven't you (a) provided any hard evidence to back up your claim, much less (b) addressed the 17 specific examples of voting machine "irregularities" outlined in The Brad Blog, who stated, "Todd does an extraordinary disservice to the electorate with Tweets like the one above, and I'd be happy to come on his daily MSNBC show any time to explain why, as I have told him via Twitter in response to the above." Chuckles' reply: *CRICKETS*.
Enter ANONYMOUS with a dire warning for Karl Rove before the election of 2012:
Progressive radio host and author Thom Hartmann who, thankfully for us, takes the hacking theft of our elections as a clear and present danger to our democracy, puts meat on the bones of how this was attempted; Karl Rove's totally bizarre reaction when Ohio was called for Obama, his frantic phone exchanges with the Romney camp, or with who knows who, are perfectly understandable in this context. Pay attention, Chuckles and Chris. Not only is it fascinating, but you might learn something:
Here is part of the ANONYMOUS text, post-election (reproduced in full, below) in which what they did is explained:
"After a rather short time, we identified the digital structure of Karl's operation and even that of his ORCA. This was an easy task in that barn doors were left open and the wind swept us inside. So what do we do with these doors? Do we leave them open and catch the thieves as they steal the prize? Or do we close them so they cannot steal the prize?Our decision — protect the citizens.We coded and created, what we call, The Great Oz. A targeted password protected firewall that we tested and refined over the past weeks. We placed this code on more than one of the digital tunnels and their destinations that Karl's not so smart worker bees planned to use on election night. We noticed that these tunnels were strategically placed to allow for tunnel rats to race to the server sewers from three different states. Ah yes, Karl tried to make it appear that there were more than three but we quickly saw the folly of his ploy. We watched as Karl's little boys and girls confidently ran their tests while Karl told his barons to smoke cigars."
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Monday, November 19, 2012
Crystal-Unclear: Pins Climate Change Solutions On Gadfly Senators
SENS. RON WYDEN AND LISA MURKOWSKY GIVE YOU OPTIMISM, CRYSTAL?! You've been hanging around your resident false asymmetry scion — "both sides do it" — S.E. too long! (Yeah, right Cuppster; go ask Baby-Face Rubio HOW OLD THE EARTH IS.) Face it, Crystal, by 2100 the Earth will be 10 degrees warmer; too hot for human life. Better start planning for that Mars timeshare.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
NYT's Maureen Dowd Plays Inside Beltway Game
HAS ANYONE READ MAUREEN DOWD'S LATEST COLUMN, "IS RICE COOKED"? The title, by itself, is revealing, and it's more interesting than most of Dowd's usual fluff of clever phrases and breezy, opinionated assessments of her subjects. This time, Dowd was actually fed information on "background" by "one administration official" and "one intelligence official" who signaled their desire to throw UN Ambassador Susan Rice under the bus, through Dowd's more than willing and flattered auspices. The "beheaded Head Spook David Petraeus" (visions of Ichabod Crane) — who did speak on the record at those not-so-closed sessions of the intelligence committees —
Perhaps Susan Rice was the designated point person, period, rather than her boss Hillary Clinton, our current Secretary of State. Could it be that the administration did not wish to elevate the profile of its response, while they were still gathering intelligence on the matter? So rather than send out their heavy hitter, Hillary, with sketchy talking points, they designated their junior diplomat for the job, in the spirit of informing the public of what they (the intelligence agencies) knew at the time, and could divulge. Government bureaucracies typically respond in this fashion; longstanding protocols dictate it, with nothing more nefarious going on. Actually, a departure from established protocol would be the more unusual response.
Instead, Dowd the intelligence and foreign policy expert, claims:
Maureen's flights of fancy don't stop here, though. She tells us "[s]ome have wondered if Rice, who has a bull-in-a-china-shop reputation, is diplomatic enough for the top diplomatic job." C'mon, Dowd. CUT THE BULLSHIT. First of all, I love it when members of the Beltway commentariat refer to "some" people, as if it's common knowledge that they are expert analysts with irrefutable inside knowledge. For all we know, "some" of these people could be Chuck Todd, or Moron Joe, or Mark Halperin, or Dick Morris. Get my drift?
Secondly, Susan Rice's supposed "bull-in-a-china-shop reputation" is the first I've heard of it. Not that we, the informed public, follow Amb. Rice's career at the UN that closely, but the President's laudatory adjectives — "exemplary" and "grace" — describing her are certainly much closer to her public image. Word of advice, Maureen: If you're going to use such charged language, please provide specific examples. After all, you write for the venerable New York Times. Maybe a note to their ombudsman is in order.
Dowd's fantasies, no doubt propelled by her pet anonymous Susan Rice backstabbers, continued with unfounded speculation of "zealous" White House staffers with a "tendency to gild the lily" and cast the President in a more "flattering" light vis-a-vis Al Qaeda. She speculated breathlessly, "[d]id administration officials foolishly assume that if affiliates of Al Qaeda were to blame, it would dilute the credit the president got for decimating Al Qaeda?"
It seems an absurd premise, given that the attack was widely described (1) as an intelligence failure, so the President's actions were not at fault, and (2) the administration has always cautioned, or issued the caveat, that while Al Qaeda may be "decimated" its operational capability, particularly in the region, is not. Therefore, we should not take our foot off the accelerator in going after them.
Maureen is apparently baffled by the "virile flare" of the President's "fierce defense" of Amb. Rice. Once again acting as mouthpiece for her pet anonymous Rice backstabbers, she argues the President "might have been better off leaving it to aides, so he did not end up going mano a mano with his nemesis John McCain on an appointment he hasn’t even made (though now Obama might feel compelled to, just to prove that he can’t be pushed around), and so he could focus on fiscal cliff bipartisanship."
In short, the President should have thrown Amb. Rice under the bus, rather than tackle his formidable "nemesis" John McCain. Funny, but to most of us outside observers, the President's "nemesis" has come across as an embittered, pathetic old fool, who is no match for the President's ire. Moreover, the President's reaction wouldn't be so baffling, rather a normal and human expression of anger if he actually believes Amb. Rice wasn't playing for "venerable" but following instructions from her boss. Being a good soldier Rice got a raw deal from an old fart calling for her scalp. One can see how the President would be pissed in such circumstances. Here's Maureen's grand finale:
Maureen is obviously getting a rise out of playing the inside Beltway cloakroom-and-backstab-dagger "spook" game, with her precious anonymous sources ... and everything. Obviously, the vermin who spoke to Dowd anonymously (one, a Petraeus, possibly GOP, loyalist, and the other, who knows, an administration double- or triple-agent) have their own ox to gore, which is to throw Susan Rice under the bus. But here's the kicker: All of a sudden, Dowd embellishes by feeding us largely unsubstantiated "dirt" on Susan Rice. Whose conclusion was it that Rice, "[a]mbitious to be secretary of state ... wanted to prove she had the gravitas for the job and help out the White House"?"said the C.I.A. knew quickly that the Benghazi raid was a terrorist attack.“It was such a no-brainer,” one intelligence official (emphasis mine) told me." [Oh, really?]
Perhaps Susan Rice was the designated point person, period, rather than her boss Hillary Clinton, our current Secretary of State. Could it be that the administration did not wish to elevate the profile of its response, while they were still gathering intelligence on the matter? So rather than send out their heavy hitter, Hillary, with sketchy talking points, they designated their junior diplomat for the job, in the spirit of informing the public of what they (the intelligence agencies) knew at the time, and could divulge. Government bureaucracies typically respond in this fashion; longstanding protocols dictate it, with nothing more nefarious going on. Actually, a departure from established protocol would be the more unusual response.
Instead, Dowd the intelligence and foreign policy expert, claims:
Please. First of all, Maureen should have been well enough informed that Libya, post-Qaddafhi, is a country teeming with RPGs, mortars, and weapons of all sorts; a virtual arsenal, which is of great concern to the U.S. It does not follow that their use alone signaled an organized Al Qaeda attack, at least in the initial stages. And that is precisely the intelligence that was provided to Amb. Rice. Secondly, as stated above, the "wily" Secretary of State was following established protocol by not weighing in on the attack until more was known."An Africa expert, Rice should have realized that when a gang showed up with R.P.G.’s and mortars in a place known as a hotbed of Qaeda sympathizers and Islamic extremist training camps, it was not anger over a movie. She should have been savvy enough to wonder why the wily Hillary was avoiding the talk shows."(Emphasis mine.)
Maureen's flights of fancy don't stop here, though. She tells us "[s]ome have wondered if Rice, who has a bull-in-a-china-shop reputation, is diplomatic enough for the top diplomatic job." C'mon, Dowd. CUT THE BULLSHIT. First of all, I love it when members of the Beltway commentariat refer to "some" people, as if it's common knowledge that they are expert analysts with irrefutable inside knowledge. For all we know, "some" of these people could be Chuck Todd, or Moron Joe, or Mark Halperin, or Dick Morris. Get my drift?
Secondly, Susan Rice's supposed "bull-in-a-china-shop reputation" is the first I've heard of it. Not that we, the informed public, follow Amb. Rice's career at the UN that closely, but the President's laudatory adjectives — "exemplary" and "grace" — describing her are certainly much closer to her public image. Word of advice, Maureen: If you're going to use such charged language, please provide specific examples. After all, you write for the venerable New York Times. Maybe a note to their ombudsman is in order.
Dowd's fantasies, no doubt propelled by her pet anonymous Susan Rice backstabbers, continued with unfounded speculation of "zealous" White House staffers with a "tendency to gild the lily" and cast the President in a more "flattering" light vis-a-vis Al Qaeda. She speculated breathlessly, "[d]id administration officials foolishly assume that if affiliates of Al Qaeda were to blame, it would dilute the credit the president got for decimating Al Qaeda?"
It seems an absurd premise, given that the attack was widely described (1) as an intelligence failure, so the President's actions were not at fault, and (2) the administration has always cautioned, or issued the caveat, that while Al Qaeda may be "decimated" its operational capability, particularly in the region, is not. Therefore, we should not take our foot off the accelerator in going after them.
Maureen is apparently baffled by the "virile flare" of the President's "fierce defense" of Amb. Rice. Once again acting as mouthpiece for her pet anonymous Rice backstabbers, she argues the President "might have been better off leaving it to aides, so he did not end up going mano a mano with his nemesis John McCain on an appointment he hasn’t even made (though now Obama might feel compelled to, just to prove that he can’t be pushed around), and so he could focus on fiscal cliff bipartisanship."
In short, the President should have thrown Amb. Rice under the bus, rather than tackle his formidable "nemesis" John McCain. Funny, but to most of us outside observers, the President's "nemesis" has come across as an embittered, pathetic old fool, who is no match for the President's ire. Moreover, the President's reaction wouldn't be so baffling, rather a normal and human expression of anger if he actually believes Amb. Rice wasn't playing for "venerable" but following instructions from her boss. Being a good soldier Rice got a raw deal from an old fart calling for her scalp. One can see how the President would be pissed in such circumstances. Here's Maureen's grand finale:
Really? Nice alliteration, Maureen, but you have missed the point: As the saying goes, "when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.""His argument that Rice “had nothing to do with Benghazi,” raises the question: Then why was she the point person? [ASKED AND ANSWERED, DOWD.]The president’s protecting a diplomatic damsel in distress made Rice look more vulnerable, when her reason for doing those shows in the first place was to look more venerable."
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Mitt Romney, John McCain Come Unhinged
THIS IS WHAT PRESIDENTIAL HAS-BEEN BITTERNESS LOOKS LIKE. FIRST, ROMNEY 2012:
David Letterman is brilliant, of course. But on a darker note, isn't it interesting that one day after the President sounded a personal note of generosity and conciliation regarding a possible Romney contribution, Mitt goes off on an extended "47%" rant to contributors, accusing Obama voters (African Americans, women, Latinos) of being bribed for votes with "gifts" from Obama. How despicable, delusional, and SICK is Mitt Romney? You read it here FIRST, MSNBC censors. Romney won despite the Beltway's media malpractice in steering clear of his flawed character and IN-SANITY.
As for John McCain, he's a bitter, unhinged old man who hasn't gotten over 2008. Asked by entertainer Matt Lauer why the Condi Rice State confirmation wasn't analogous to a possible Amb. Rice nomination for the post, Gramps harrumphed that they're "not the same" because four Americans died in Benghazi.
You're right, Senator. You signed off on nonexistent "WMD" including the Condi-Bush-Cheney "mushroom cloud" fearmongering as a pretext to invade Iraq, leading not to four but more than 4,000 American deaths.
Go away, Senator McCain. RETIRE ALREADY. You're an embarrassment to this nation and to what's left of the skeletal remains of your reputation.
David Letterman is brilliant, of course. But on a darker note, isn't it interesting that one day after the President sounded a personal note of generosity and conciliation regarding a possible Romney contribution, Mitt goes off on an extended "47%" rant to contributors, accusing Obama voters (African Americans, women, Latinos) of being bribed for votes with "gifts" from Obama. How despicable, delusional, and SICK is Mitt Romney? You read it here FIRST, MSNBC censors. Romney won despite the Beltway's media malpractice in steering clear of his flawed character and IN-SANITY.
As for John McCain, he's a bitter, unhinged old man who hasn't gotten over 2008. Asked by entertainer Matt Lauer why the Condi Rice State confirmation wasn't analogous to a possible Amb. Rice nomination for the post, Gramps harrumphed that they're "not the same" because four Americans died in Benghazi.
You're right, Senator. You signed off on nonexistent "WMD" including the Condi-Bush-Cheney "mushroom cloud" fearmongering as a pretext to invade Iraq, leading not to four but more than 4,000 American deaths.
Go away, Senator McCain. RETIRE ALREADY. You're an embarrassment to this nation and to what's left of the skeletal remains of your reputation.
MSNBC A-HOLE OF THE WEEK: LUKE "NEPOTISM IS MY MIDDLE NAME" RUSSERT
AKA; RIGHT WING TOOL, FOR HIS SEXIST, AGE-IST questions regarding Nancy Pelosi's intention to remain as Leader at age 72, presumably keeping back "younger" aspirants. Twitter lit up. Said Hillary Rosen: “Note to Luke Russert: Mitch McConnell is 70, Harry Reid is 73. Oh and Bob Schieffer is 75. Think they should step aside? #NewGuysRule?”
Others, considering Russert's limited skills, and right wing views, raised the obvious nepotism questions: “Well, Luke, you got your job due to nepotism. I think you should questions regarding legitimacy of employment.” He added, “BTW [how] did your balls taste, because Nancy served them up to you.”
Others, considering Russert's limited skills, and right wing views, raised the obvious nepotism questions: “Well, Luke, you got your job due to nepotism. I think you should questions regarding legitimacy of employment.” He added, “BTW [how] did your balls taste, because Nancy served them up to you.”
LUKE: “MMM-MMM-NN-MMM ...”
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Wednesday, November 14, 2012
CONGRATS TO LADY ALEX ON HER ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHOW!
SHE'S SMART, BEAUTIFUL, FUNNY, CHARMING ... So, in our eyes, Lady Alex Wagner can do no wrong;
well, almost ... but that's all part of her mystique, too.
well, almost ... but that's all part of her mystique, too.
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Memo To Lady Alex: In Re: Rather, Joy-Ann Reed
"ULTRA-LEFT WING OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY"?!??
Alex, Alex, ALEX, ALEX!!! PLEASE, PLEASE, DROP THE HYPER-CHARGED BELTWAY LINGO, DAMMIT! THERE IS NO SUCH THING! EVIDENTLY, YOU GOT AWAY FROM THE HALPERIN HYPNOSIS ONLY TO FALL INTO THE MATTHEWS ORBIT ... Joy-Ann Reed, who is an OASIS OF SANITY AND POLITICAL PERSPICACITY, said "far be it from me for disagreeing with the great Dan Rather" ... but she really meant, "the lovely ingenue to my left" ... then went on to explain how progressive positions, historically, are actually, MAIN-EFFIN'-STREAM!
FINALLY, I wish someone would ask Dan (I know you won't) but I'm so curious: WTF happened to his vaunted "GUT FEELING" which told him it would be "a good day" for Romney?!
Memo To Beltway: Your Sexual Arousal Is Showing (Ha-Ha ...)
WATCHING THE BELTWAY MEDIA REPORT THE PETRAEUS SEXUAL SCANDAL is like an involuntary peek at a bunch of sexually repressed voyeurs getting off on a porn show. Especially those who get weepy with reverence for institutions like our military and the ironically named "J. Edgar Hoover building" (look up Hoover in Chris Matthew's semi-whitewash JFK book, and you'll know what I mean) — Chuckles Toddy is always good for laughs in this regard, and Chris bemoans reporting "sex" instead of politics before going ALL IN with his double-fisted approach, obviously enlisting a dude who knows of political dirt, John Heilemann, for commentary.
Whitewash, you say? How inconvenient for Chris Matthews that his "colleague" Rachel Maddow is around to correct the record and fill in the gaps in his Hardy Boys account of American History. Listen up, Chris: You may commit sins of historical omission in the Beltway bubble which regards that plagiarized trash Game Change as high literature, but as long as we and your inconvenient "colleague" Rachel Maddow are around, we won't let you get away with a whitewash of American History:
None better than Glenn Greewald to describe the Beltway Bacchanalia surrounding the Petraeus sex scandal: "[T]heir titillation and joy is palpable as they revel in every last arousing detail. This giddy package is delivered draped in a sanctimonious wrapping: their excitement at reporting on these scandals is matched only by their self-righteous condemnations of the moral failings of the responsible person."
Here's Greewald's priceless observation of the Queen of the Beltway's reaction: "On MSNBC, Andrea Mitchell appeared genuinely grief-stricken when she first reported Petraeus' resignation letter. "This is very painful", she began by announcing, as she wore a profoundly sad face. Her voice quivered with a mix of awe and distress as she read his resignation letter, savoring every word as though she were reciting from the Dead Sea Scrolls. On the Rachel Maddow Show later that night, Mitchell began her appearance by decreeing that "this is a personal tragedy" and said she was particularly sorrowful for "the men and women of the CIA, an agency that has many things to be proud about: many things to be proud about" [emphasis in original]."
Greenwald blows the cover wide open on the DEIFICATION of our military in the most cogent, MUST-READ examination of what is REALLY IMPORTANT about this sordid affair. I should only add that the MIS-behavior of certain FBI agents in their "investigation," namely the shirtless pictures and seemingly politically motivated reporting of the affair to Eric Cantor, Tea Party darling and way off the chain-of-command scales, suggests the (revered by Chris) J. Edgar Hoover culture may be alive and well in the FBI. Another high-level resignation is in order: FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, a Bush holdout, followed by a total housecleaning of the agency.
Whitewash, you say? How inconvenient for Chris Matthews that his "colleague" Rachel Maddow is around to correct the record and fill in the gaps in his Hardy Boys account of American History. Listen up, Chris: You may commit sins of historical omission in the Beltway bubble which regards that plagiarized trash Game Change as high literature, but as long as we and your inconvenient "colleague" Rachel Maddow are around, we won't let you get away with a whitewash of American History:
None better than Glenn Greewald to describe the Beltway Bacchanalia surrounding the Petraeus sex scandal: "[T]heir titillation and joy is palpable as they revel in every last arousing detail. This giddy package is delivered draped in a sanctimonious wrapping: their excitement at reporting on these scandals is matched only by their self-righteous condemnations of the moral failings of the responsible person."
Here's Greewald's priceless observation of the Queen of the Beltway's reaction: "On MSNBC, Andrea Mitchell appeared genuinely grief-stricken when she first reported Petraeus' resignation letter. "This is very painful", she began by announcing, as she wore a profoundly sad face. Her voice quivered with a mix of awe and distress as she read his resignation letter, savoring every word as though she were reciting from the Dead Sea Scrolls. On the Rachel Maddow Show later that night, Mitchell began her appearance by decreeing that "this is a personal tragedy" and said she was particularly sorrowful for "the men and women of the CIA, an agency that has many things to be proud about: many things to be proud about" [emphasis in original]."
Greenwald blows the cover wide open on the DEIFICATION of our military in the most cogent, MUST-READ examination of what is REALLY IMPORTANT about this sordid affair. I should only add that the MIS-behavior of certain FBI agents in their "investigation," namely the shirtless pictures and seemingly politically motivated reporting of the affair to Eric Cantor, Tea Party darling and way off the chain-of-command scales, suggests the (revered by Chris) J. Edgar Hoover culture may be alive and well in the FBI. Another high-level resignation is in order: FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, a Bush holdout, followed by a total housecleaning of the agency.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Quotable: Sarah Elizabeth Surprises Me!
OMG! HERE I WAS, LICKING MY CHOPS READY TO DECONSTRUCT AN S.E. CUPP "HISTORICAL" COMMENTARY on Lincoln and, particularly, that little-known president James Garfield, and their relationship to the current "civil war" within the Republican Party ... but, nooo; Sarah Elizabeth produced a perfectly scholarly and informative essay on the topic. Even our friend Martin Bashir, kept his ever anticipated zingers at S.E. in check:
Jon Stewart's Bang-Up Job Unpacking Petraeus Hagiographer
SHOULD BE FUN GETTING THE LADY ALEX TAKE ON THE DUELING VIXENS ...
Music Break: Sweet Home Alabama, America's Most RACIST State
ALABAMA, HOME TO TEABAGGERS, WHITE CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISTS, OBAMA HATERS, AND O-DERANGEMENT SYNDROME secessionists, attained the infamous distinction, along with Mississippi, of being the state where the most racist tweets originated during election week. Now they've joined other states to petition the White House for secession from the U.S.
I say cut these antebellum crackers loose; these white trash freeloaders rank 11th in total federal spending in Alabama (OUR TAX DOLLARS!): "salaries, contracts, Social Security, Medicare and hundreds of other direct payments to individuals and institutions — averaged $11,819 per capita, above the national average of $10,459. The federal government sent almost $56.5 billion to the state, which was about evenly divided among four broad categories: defense, healthcare, Social Security and all other agencies combined." Mississippi brings up the rear as the FIRST at the federal government trough. Definitely Romney country. Cut the white trash moochers loose; let's see how long they last before anarchy set in.
I say cut these antebellum crackers loose; these white trash freeloaders rank 11th in total federal spending in Alabama (OUR TAX DOLLARS!): "salaries, contracts, Social Security, Medicare and hundreds of other direct payments to individuals and institutions — averaged $11,819 per capita, above the national average of $10,459. The federal government sent almost $56.5 billion to the state, which was about evenly divided among four broad categories: defense, healthcare, Social Security and all other agencies combined." Mississippi brings up the rear as the FIRST at the federal government trough. Definitely Romney country. Cut the white trash moochers loose; let's see how long they last before anarchy set in.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Memo To MSNBC: If You Replace Big Eddie With Ezra Klein ...
I WILL PERSONALLY CAMPAIGN TO TAKE DOWN ALL YOUR RATINGS GAINS, for which BIG EDDIE holds a great deal of the credit. I don't know who came up with this "brilliant" idea; perhaps Phil Griffin (the corporate weather vane) along with Matthews (who HATES Big Eddie's true blue collar middle class roots; along with Chris's backstabbing Beltway cohorts), but I can assure you, if implemented, it will go down like a lead balloon.
Let me clue you corporate MSNBC ASSHOLES in on a little secret: I (ME) represent your preferred demographic. Check with any of your SMART producers and hosts who riffed off of this little blog's "suggestions" — including who's hot and who's not in punditry —and you will notice the cause-and-effect results in the ratings upticks. Now let me clue you in on another little secret, held back only out of personal consideration for Ezra Klein: The fact of the matter is, Ezra IS INCAPABLE OF CARRYING AN ENTIRE SHOW. Sorry, Ezra, but whenever he's replaced Rachel or Big Eddie, my reaction was a groan followed ten minutes later by a flip to mindless entertainment TV. Yes, I said so myself, Ezra is BRILLIANT dissecting and deconstructing things like the budget and health care, but an entire program which includes the weirdness of politics, human interest, and ENTERTAINMENT, is just not Ezra's bailiwick. He's too wonkish; too un-cool, especially in his cringey attempts to be cool; I'm sorry Ezra, but his diction and weird pronunciation of words is annoying to no end. And so it goes.
Whatever this anti-Big Eddie trial balloon is, from the anti-labor, anti-middle class, BELTWAY wing of the MSNBC high command, it's not going to work, because we, the viewers, will TAKE YOU DOWN BIG TIME. You're fucking CRAZY if you think we're going to hang around for an hour to watch a wonkish killjoy DEPRESS all subsequent programming, beginning with Rachel (if Ezra precedes her, Rachel's ratings will take a nosedive), even more so with Lawrence.
A word to the WISE ... if they even EXIST in MSNBC's corporate boardrooms.
Let me clue you corporate MSNBC ASSHOLES in on a little secret: I (ME) represent your preferred demographic. Check with any of your SMART producers and hosts who riffed off of this little blog's "suggestions" — including who's hot and who's not in punditry —and you will notice the cause-and-effect results in the ratings upticks. Now let me clue you in on another little secret, held back only out of personal consideration for Ezra Klein: The fact of the matter is, Ezra IS INCAPABLE OF CARRYING AN ENTIRE SHOW. Sorry, Ezra, but whenever he's replaced Rachel or Big Eddie, my reaction was a groan followed ten minutes later by a flip to mindless entertainment TV. Yes, I said so myself, Ezra is BRILLIANT dissecting and deconstructing things like the budget and health care, but an entire program which includes the weirdness of politics, human interest, and ENTERTAINMENT, is just not Ezra's bailiwick. He's too wonkish; too un-cool, especially in his cringey attempts to be cool; I'm sorry Ezra, but his diction and weird pronunciation of words is annoying to no end. And so it goes.
Whatever this anti-Big Eddie trial balloon is, from the anti-labor, anti-middle class, BELTWAY wing of the MSNBC high command, it's not going to work, because we, the viewers, will TAKE YOU DOWN BIG TIME. You're fucking CRAZY if you think we're going to hang around for an hour to watch a wonkish killjoy DEPRESS all subsequent programming, beginning with Rachel (if Ezra precedes her, Rachel's ratings will take a nosedive), even more so with Lawrence.
A word to the WISE ... if they even EXIST in MSNBC's corporate boardrooms.
Memo To Chris Matthews: Here's Why Religion Should NOT Be Off The Table
IN THE WANING WEEKS OF THIS CAMPAIGN, MATTHEWS FELL BACK TO THE DARK SIDE, qualifying every statement to not sound partisan, which blew up in his face anyway, censoring use of the word "LIAR" to correctly describe Mitt Romney's historically unprecedented unprincipled campaign. (And I'm being generous.) But his justification for taking religion off the table was astonishing: He said the kids somehow inherit their parents' religion, and therefore it's unfair to hold them to it. Excuse me, Chris, but kids become adults and adults have free choice. In fact, it is only the most FUNDAMENTALIST religions whose grip on the kids-adults is the strongest, and which happen to be the most patriarchal. And that is absolutely worthy of discussion in the public square, if we are to make an informed choice for the leader whose finger is on the nuclear trigger. Not to denigrate the religion, but to inform, and, most of all, discuss how the candidate's religion will inform and influence his policy decisions and choices should he become president.
Watch this, Chris, and tell us we didn't DODGE A BULLET by wisely rejecting Mitt Romney, despite your smoke and mirrors media malpractice. And thank your MUCH SMARTER friend, Joan Walsh, for staying grounded in reality:
Watch this, Chris, and tell us we didn't DODGE A BULLET by wisely rejecting Mitt Romney, despite your smoke and mirrors media malpractice. And thank your MUCH SMARTER friend, Joan Walsh, for staying grounded in reality:
KARMA-KARMA-KARMA CHAMELEON!
WHEN ALL THE VOTES ARE IN, MITT ROMNEY'S TOTAL POPULAR VOTE WILL BE CLOSE TO:
"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for [FOR ME] the FOR president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent [OF YOU — HA-HA] who are with him ME, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they WE are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them US [TAX CUTS, FOREIGN TAX SHELTERS], who believe that they WE are entitled to health care [MAYO, CLEVELAND CLINICS], to food [CAVIAR], to housing [I HAVE FOUR HOMES AND I HATE PAYING PROPERTY TAXES ... HOW ABOUT YOU?], to you-name-it. That that’s an OUR entitlement [WE BUILT IT — HA-HA]. And the government should give it to them US. And they will vote for this president [ME] no matter what . . . These are people who pay no income tax [YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! I STUCK MY NECK OUT FOR YOU — HA-HA]. . . [M]y job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them YOU they should TO take personal responsibility and care for their lives [THE LESS FORTUNATE ... LET THEM EAT CAKE — HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!]." ~ Mitt Romney
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Friday, November 09, 2012
President Obama Gets Emotional Addressing Staff
THIS REMARKABLE VIDEO GIVES US A RARE GLIMPSE AT WHAT MAKES President Obama tick. All we can say, Mr. President, is that those of us who voted for you are just as proud of you; for we could always see in you, not "platitudes" claimed by the cynical brainwashed on the right, but your character and humanity and idealism that have always inspired and moved us, from the start, through thick and thin:
Quotable: Dee Dee Myers, Beltway Creature Par Imbecilence!
"THE PROBLEM IS, HALF THE PEOPLE VOTED AGAINST THE PRESIDENT." ~ Dee Dee Myers, former Clinton press secretary and material girl about Georgetown, getting Chris Matthews all aroused with her sweet nothin' centrisms. First of all, Dee Dee, if "half" the country had voted against the President, this election would be in the House of Representatives.
This election was an electoral college WIPEOUT with 332 votes for Obama versus 204 for Romney. Nor was it a popular vote squeaker, with the President racking up roughly 3 million more votes than Romney. I've seen Republicans claim a "mandate" with far less impressive results. HOW FED UP AM I WITH THE BELTWAY IDIOT PUNDITOCRACY?! Don't ask, you EFFIN' JERKS! Particularly DISGUSTED with the Beltway's FUZZY MATH!
You may get RIGHT WING Chris 'Clintonista' Matthews aroused, Dee Dee, but as for us, progressives, we're reading the Matthews RIGHT WING ELITIST BELTWAY TEA LEAVES AND WE'RE RARIN' FOR A FIGHT! THIS WAS OUR ELECTION; and despite what the Beltway's Baghdad Bob has to say, this was a progressive victory by a LEFT-OF-CENTER country.
One more thing: How friggin' USELESS have you become, David Corn ... HUH?!
This election was an electoral college WIPEOUT with 332 votes for Obama versus 204 for Romney. Nor was it a popular vote squeaker, with the President racking up roughly 3 million more votes than Romney. I've seen Republicans claim a "mandate" with far less impressive results. HOW FED UP AM I WITH THE BELTWAY IDIOT PUNDITOCRACY?! Don't ask, you EFFIN' JERKS! Particularly DISGUSTED with the Beltway's FUZZY MATH!
You may get RIGHT WING Chris 'Clintonista' Matthews aroused, Dee Dee, but as for us, progressives, we're reading the Matthews RIGHT WING ELITIST BELTWAY TEA LEAVES AND WE'RE RARIN' FOR A FIGHT! THIS WAS OUR ELECTION; and despite what the Beltway's Baghdad Bob has to say, this was a progressive victory by a LEFT-OF-CENTER country.
One more thing: How friggin' USELESS have you become, David Corn ... HUH?!
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