What a fucking day - honestly!
At work, we started the day with a leaky ceiling, then the electricity went out (for a totally unrelated reason, no less), then once it was back on, the internet was on and off all frigging day, then Mr. Shakes' train was late, and I'm tired and crabby as fuck.
To top it off, Sandra Day O'Connor has to go and quit, the bitch.
And Luther Vandross died, whose music I didn't even like, but he always seemed nice, so it makes me sad.
Thank the motherloving fates for a three-day weekend; I need one.
TFIF
Asleep at the wheel? They're not even in the car.
A recent sobering post by John at Americablog has me infuriated at the may-as-well-not-exist American MSM, and brought to mind a thought that's been rattling around in my head the last few days.
Why the hell is the media not responding to all the criticism against it?
It's a basic "rule" if you are running a business, organization or group, when someone publicly criticizes you, you had best get off your ass and respond before public opinion is irreversibly turned against you. The only entity that seemed to be immune to this was the Bush administration. Thinking they could do no wrong, they have indulged in one insane scheme after another, assuming that wrapping themselves in the flag and shouting “9/11” over and over would be enough to placate the American people. However, even the seemingly bulletproof Bushies are beginning to feel the heat. (Energy dome tip to Francesca for the link.)
Half of all Americans, exactly 50%, now say the Bush administration deliberately misled Americans about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the Gallup Organization reported this morning.
"This is the highest percentage that Gallup has found on this measure since the question was first asked in late May 2003," the pollsters observed. "At that time, 31% said the administration deliberately misled Americans. This sentiment has gradually increased over time, to 39% in July 2003, 43% in January/February 2004, and 47% in October 2004."
Of course, the White House still feels no need to have to explain themselves to the likes of common Americans; serfs are not worthy of explanations or (heavens!) apologies from their leaders.
The spineless media, terrified of the Bush team, has allowed them to do this. And taking a cue from the monster they created, they are behaving in the same way.
The American Media has become a joke. The cash cow of Fox’s “news as entertainment” meme has corrupted this supposed informer and protector of the American people into a 24/7/365 infomercial. The deliberate killing, distorting, and dismissal of highly important news stories by the media in this country has done as much damage as the reckless, dangerous policies of the Bush Administration. They have helped keep Americans lazy, uninformed, ignorant, afraid, and complacent. "We're giving people what they want" and sucking up to your advertisers is not an excuse.
Time and again, bloggers and webmasters, writers and independent journalists, documentary filmmakers and independent news sources, and entire conventions have stood up, made their voices heard, and bashed the media for becoming the shameful laughingstock that it is today.
And the response from the media? Absolute silence.
It’s jaw-dropping. There is not one person out there in the media that is willing to stand up for their camp? Not one person that’s willing to refute all the charges against it?
Not one person that is willing to eat a little crow and say “Yes, we have been the tools of the Republican Extremists and Radical Right for too long. We have failed the American People, and we apologize. “
Ha! I crack myself up.
The American Media has finally arrived at the point where they cannot defend themselves, because their actions are 100% indefensible. They have been the puppets of a bully administration, and no amount of apology, wheedling, and backtracking will come close to repairing any of the damage they have done. The American Media has failed The American People. And not one person has the balls to stand up and try and explain him/herself.
I suppose I’m answering my own question, here. How in the world can they defend their “news reporting” at this point? It’s impossible.
Still, if someone came into my office and said I was doing a really shitty job, even if they had reasons to say this, I’d still get riled and try to defend myself.
Unless I’d been ignoring my work and playing Tetris online all day.
There’s really no excuse for that.
UPDATE: Some of these links are wonky. I think I've fixed them.
MORE UPDATE: Jeri pointed me to this cartoon that pretty much sums it up.
(If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some cross-posts in your hair...)
Information is Power
In a post on Justice O’Connor’s retirement, The Heretik points to a CNN article which notes in part:
Possible replacements include Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and federal courts of appeals judges J. Michael Luttig, John Roberts, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Michael McConnell, Emilio Garza and James Harvie Wilkinson III. Others mentioned are former Solicitor General Theodore Olson, lawyer Miguel Estrada and former deputy attorney general Larry Thompson, but Bush's pick could be a surprise choice not well known in legal circles.As it happens, back in February, when talk about Chief Justice Rehnquist’s illness prompted speculation he would soon be retiring, I did a bunch of research on the people who were being named as possible additions to the Supreme Court, which includes five names on that CNN list. We need to get familiar with these guys immediately; hopefully, this will provide you with a good start.
Read about McConnell and Roberts here.
Read about Wilkinson, Luttig, and Alito here.
SCOTUS Resignation: Fasten Your Seatbelts
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has resigned from the Supreme Court.
All I can say at the moment is get ready for some kind of ugly. Brace yourselves for a serious, serious battle.
And wave good-bye to all other news for the foreseeable future.
Moving Target
Raw Story, in conjunction Ron Brynaert of Why Are We Back in Iraq?, reports: U.S. changed Iraq policy to begin airstrikes months before war.
The change meant that the U.S. began systematically bombing air defense systems and other buildings, even beyond the No-Fly Zones established in the wake of the Gulf War. The U.S. justified these pre-emptive airstrikes under a 1991 UN Security Council resolution which says that Iraq must “remove the threat to international peace and security in the region.”What else can I say at this point? We need a formal inquiry. I can’t imagine how much more evidence of unethical (at best) and/or illegal (at worst) activity needs to be unearthed about this president and his administration before an inquiry is warranted. If it turns out this country was taken to war on a pack of lies, then there’s nothing we owe to our troops and their families more than an apology.
The resolution, however, never specifically called for the use of force. Nor did it authorize the no-fly zones, a joint venture of the British and U.S. governments.
Some suggest the change indicates President George W. Bush lied to the nation when he declared in October 2002 upon signing the Congressional authorization on the use of force, "I have not ordered the use of force. I hope the use of force will not become necessary."
[…]
…President Clinton also bombed Iraq aggressively during his term… But unlike Clinton, Bush explicitly changed the rules under which strikes could be conducted, allowing pre-emptive attacks on sites they felt could threaten their forces in the future after an apparent decision to go to war.
Friday Blogrollin’
Couple of overdue additions. You might know them already; if you don’t, check them out:
uggabugga
The Brutal Truth
Girl or Dog
And someone who’s name you might have seen in the comments thread here, or at AMERICAblog, or at Lance Mannion’s place, or elsewhere round about, sfmike, has started his own blog, Civic Center. I’m really digging it so far, and I encourage you to give it a peek.
Meme Theme
I’ve never seen anyone take a meme so seriously as Mannion. He worked very hard on it, paying particular attention, I feel, to thoroughly embarrassing me in retribution for tagging him in the first place. A good tactic,* but risky. It may come back to haunt him.
She lifts an eyebrow…
----------------
* (and damn funny to boot, the fucker)
Lil
It wasn’t long after my grandfather died that we were in New York City again, visiting my grandmother, and we all went out to dinner at her second favorite German restaurant. Her favorite one was a short walk, six blocks or so, from her house in Queens, where they always had her Dewers waiting for her and she was known as Mrs. Noble; we had to take a cab to this one, but it was more convenient for Aunt Lillian—my grandmother’s best friend, an aunt by design rather than blood—who was taking the bus to meet us.
We’d already been seated when Lil came in with her usual bluster, her hand wrapped in a pile of bloody tissues. Her ring, the wedding band she still wore years after Uncle Herb had died, had somehow been caught on the door of the bus, which had started to pull away while she was still attached. It had torn her finger terribly, and we wanted to take her to the emergency room. “I’m fine,” she said. “Bring me a drink and some ice. Let’s eat.”
We had a lovely meal, only interrupted by Lil’s waving away the occasional furtive glances at her hand, which rested in a champagne bucket full of ice.
What I remember most about Lil was her sparkling eyes and her personality, which managed to be bigger than life and yet completely unaffected at the same time. She was utterly charming and loved and related to my sister and I, even though she and Herb had never had kids of their own; I don’t know whether by choice or circumstance. Lil was a working woman, long before such creatures were meant to exist, and she was great at her job. Witty and wicked, with a bawdy sense of humor and a raucous, infectious laugh, she didn’t take any shit from anyone, and was forced by her boss to keep a note on her desk that read: Don’t use the word fuck on the phone.
Lil was never one for advice giving, or trying to teach lessons about life or anything else, even though there’s no doubt there was a wealth of information and experience worth imparting. She traveled extensively—had been to all 50 states, and loved to talk about how beautiful Alaska is—but her stories were never laden with surreptitious meaning. She just was, and I don’t think it ever occurred to her to be any other way.
She died very suddenly when I was still quite young. At the time, I don’t think I realized how much she had affected me, nor what she really meant to me—I never expected how often I would think of her in my own adulthood. I wonder sometimes if she had any inclination. Did my wide eyes at I sat in her lap listening to her talk convey a sense of how much her words meant, how much she meant…and would mean in my future? I hope so. And I think so, too. Lil was wonderfully perceptive that way.
Sneer and Loathing at Alternate Brain
Which is, of course, why it’s a daily read.
First up, Fixer says it’s time to impeach President Stupid.
We should not have to wait until '08. We should refuse to be led by a criminal organization.I can’t say I disagree. If perjuring oneself about a blowjob is an impeachable offense (and frankly, you won’t ever find me arguing that it’s not; perjury is perjury, regardless of how resolutely asinine were the circumstances that provoked it), then lying to take the country to war ought to register, too. (See G.D. Frogsdong for the pertinent reference.)
And you know what? Zogby reports today that 42% of Americans don’t disagree, either:
In a sign of the continuing partisan division of the nation, more than two-in-five (42%) voters say that, if it is found that President Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq, Congress should hold him accountable through impeachment.Us crazies is findin’ ourselves in ever-larger company these days.
Meanwhile, Gordon at Alternate Brain also takes on the College Republicans who support the war but aren’t too interested in fighting it. Says G in response to a College Republican who claims his “old hippie” parents don’t want him to go:
"Oh, I would mos' def love to kick some raghead ass but Mommy won't let me" seems just a little lame, but that's just me. Whatever works. Those old hippies are savin' your worthless life, dipshit.No kidding. If I was the mom of some little shit who turned out to be a College Republican that supported the war but wouldn't fight it, I'd forge his name on the enlistment papers myself.
Stormtroopin’
White House Announces Formation of Domestic Secret Police
What can a girl who’s sure to end up on the domestic enemies list in no time say?
Fuck.
Energy Blues
As if the administration’s new energy bill isn’t disgraceful enough (“Another controversial issue is a House provision to protect major oil companies and gasoline refiners from lawsuits over MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, a gasoline additive that has contaminated drinking water in hundreds of communities.”), now the administration has designated Joseph Kelliher to chair the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency which controls the country's natural gas industry, hydroelectric projects, electric utilities, and oil pipelines, and has played a critical role in the deregulation of those industries.
President Bush had previously picked Rebecca Klein, the former Republican head of the Texas Public Utilities Commission and a close friend of the president, to chair FERC but red flags were raised recently during a routine FBI background check on Klein which forced the president to choose a new chairman at the last minute. The White House would not comment on the FBI’s probe on Klein. Klein did not return numerous calls for comment.One of those bigwigs whose ideas for our national energy policy he solicited: Stephen Craig Sayle, an Enron Corp. lobbyist, who was the brain child behind market-based emissions trading, which found its way into the administration’s national energy policy.
Still, news of Kelliher’s appointment to chair FERC came late Wednesday as a welcome surprise to many industry lobbyists and energy executives who view him as a staunch supporter of the free-market principles of deregulation and an advocate for eliminating regulatory restrictions that interferes with the free-market, despite the fact those rules are in place to protect consumers from energy price gouging and market manipulation that took place prior to the Enron scandal four years ago and, to some extent, is still somewhat routine in various parts of the country.
However, what’s most troubling about Kelliher’s appointment to head FERC, a role in which his main priority will now be to protect consumers from the manipulative tactics of the very industry he enjoys a cozy relationship with, is the relentless lobbying of bigwigs in the energy industry in early 2001, as a member of Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force, to help write President Bush’s National Energy Policy in such a way that would be financially beneficial to energy corporations—at the expense of consumers.
Funny how the White House Personnel Announcement doesn’t mention that part of his résumé.
I believe I can say with some certainty, though, that if a reporter happened to question the administration about this decision (oh, ho ho ho—how I do make myself laugh with such preposterous hypotheticals!), the administration would assure us that suggesting this appointment might reflect poorly on their assertions that they are stewards of the environment, as opposed to soulless favor farmers, constantly dumping ever more egregious amounts of slop into the trough at which feed the corporate pigs who will richly reward them in their post-White House repose, is pure partisan nonsense, and that Mr. Kelliher will do a fine, fine job on behalf of the American people. So we can all breathe easy.
At least for awhile.
*cough cough*
(Hat tip Freiheit und Wissen, who’s doing a blog round-up of anyone writing on this one, so if you do, leave him a comment or a trackback.)
..And somewhere, lying on a filthy mattress reeking of PBR and Vicks Vap-O Rub, Fred Phelps has a minor seizure.
Spain has just legalized gay marriage, including with it the right to adopt children, and inheritance rights.
Bravo, Spain. You know, I do take it as a good sign that the rest of the world is still marching forward, even as the US tries to crawl back into the past. Hopefully, one day, we'll be forced to catch up.
(Don't sleep in the Cross-Post, darling, don't walk in the pouring rain...)
Sweet.
You are Napoleon Dynamite and a buttload of gangs
are trying to recruit you.
Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Here’s a curious fact about Shakespeare’s Sister… I can do dead-on impressions of both Napoleon and Kip Dynamite. Also, sometimes when Mr. Shakes is grumpy, I put on the Napoleon Dynamite soundtrack and do some funky dance moves for him. It blows his mind that I remember all of Napoleon’s crappy choreography.
(Hat tip Kip, aka Evil Li-brul Overlord.)
“Bush: Sorry and Sorrier”
Go read The Heretik, who never fails to amaze, and truly outdoes himself today.
Call Bush a lame duck, a cooked goose, or a roast tom turkey—this foul fowl is done.
He'd Know, I Guess
"One of the things I like to say about the leader’s job is that it is somewhat similar to being the groundskeeper at a cemetery: There are a lot of people under you, but no one ever listens."
-- Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN), quoted in Roll Call.
Mmmffff. Blurrrggghhhhhhhh.
Brains taste good.
Blair is Full of Crap (Just Like his Yankee Masters)
So Blair claims that the Downing Street Memos distort the facts. Bullshit they do. This is, for my money, the best quote from the AP wire story (which is being picked up by seemingly every newspaper from here to Hiroshima, including papers who haven't even reported on the DSMs until now):
"I am a bit astonished at how this has received such coverage in the U.S. because the fact is, after the memo was done, we went to the United Nations," Blair said.Ah, the Cheney defense. Well, here's the problem with that: executing the scheme outlined in the Memos is technically proof of the scheme, not a means of discrediting documentation of the scheming. The originally leaked memo states:
The NSC had no patience with the UN route…So Blair's big attempt at discrediting the Memos is to say that because they did exactly what the Memos suggest they considered doing in order to make the war more politically palatable, somehow the Memos distort the facts. I guess trying to give people whiplash is their best option at this point.
The Prime Minister said that it would make a big difference politically and legally if Saddam refused to allow in the UN inspectors…
The Foreign Secretary would send the Prime Minister the background on the UN inspectors, and discreetly work up the ultimatum to Saddam.
What a bunch of pricks.
Oh, and by the way, all the wingnuts who have been yowling about how the Memos are probably fake? They're not. Once and for all, they're not. If nothing else, Blair's dissembling has proved that much.
Jim Belushi is 24% Republican
Misty at Expostulation emailed me the link to a site that tracks celebrity campaign contributions. It tells you how much they contributed and to what political party.
The Liberal Dream Celebrity Award goes to Steve Bing, most famously the father of Elizabeth Hurley’s baby, who has donated $10,888,319, 88% of which went to the Dems and the other 12% to Special Interests, with nary a dime falling into the hands of the GOP.
Here are some other random stats for you:
For Bob Barker, the price was right to the tune of $2,000 to the GOP. 100% Republican.
David Blaine’s $2,000 vanished right into the GOP’s pockets. 100% Republican.
Drew Carey proves the rule—there are no funny conservatives. $3,000 to the GOP. 100% Republican.
Tom Clancy knows who butters his bread by creating international conflicts his ghost writer can turn into a poorly written novel. $147,750 to the GOP. 100% Republican.
Tony Danza can’t decide who the boss is. His $2,300 went 43% to the Dems, 43% to the GOP, and 14% to Special Interests.
Clint Eastwood, who I believe became a mayor on a Republican ticket, seems to have changed his mind. 80% of his $1,250 of contributions went to the Dems.
Joe Eszterhas, purveyor of such family values films as Showgirls, is 100% Republican, which made the GOP $1,000 richer.
With a donation of $6,500, Sammy Hagar is 100% Republican, except perhaps for his hair which looks more Libertarian, if you ask me.
Dr. Phil spared $1,000 for his favorite models of psychological health. 100% Republican.
It turns out Ted Nugent, heinous heir aficionado and lunatic gun nut, who I always regarded as the original rightwing nutzoid, is only 33% Republican. The remaining 67% of his $1,500 contribution went to the Dems.
What do Maury Povich and Prince have in common? They’re both 100% Republican, although Prince outspent Maury’s $2,000 by another grand.
Mr. Smith, aka Jimmy Stewart, was 93% Republican, with total donations $56,097. He was a Bob Dole fan, it seems.
Some other funny things I noticed—all game show hosts seem to be Republicans, and although most country stars are Republicans, there are a couple of notable exceptions: Tim McGraw, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, and Faith Hill (as examples) are all 100% Dems (except for Raitt, who’s 1% Republican). Sex and the City author Candice Bushnell is solidly GOP, but Sarah Jessica Parker is solidly Dem.
Jon Stewart and Conan O’Brien were both 100% Dems, which means I can go on enjoying their shows…not to mention The Golden Girls: Rue McClanahan is 100% Dem! I love you, Blanche Devereaux.
Pi
I’m reading Life of Pi right now, a book with which I have fallen madly in love, and I just found out it’s being made into a movie directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Cream!
WTF??
Angry Old Broad pointed this out to me in comments: (Over in Spudville)
US Suspected of Keeping Secret Prisoners on Warships
"Rumors," yes, but seriously... WTF is up with this???
They're seriously going off the edge of looney and into full-blown insane cartoon evil territory.
(Ooo-eee-oo-ah-ah, ting-tang, walla-walla cross-post)
Justice Desserts
Justice Souter's vote in the "Kelo vs. City of New London" decision allows city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another if the government will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner.Honestly—how bad was that decision that I’m even finding wingnuts’ responses genuinely funny?
On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home.
Clements, CEO of Freestar Media, LLC, points out that the City of Weare will certainly gain greater tax revenue and economic benefits with a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road than allowing Mr. Souter to own the land.
The proposed development, called "The Lost Liberty Hotel" will feature the "Just Desserts Café" and include a museum, open to the public, featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America. Instead of a Gideon's Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged."
(What I don’t find funny is their constant refrain that this crackpot ruling was because of liberals. I haven’t heard a liberal yet who agrees with that shit, so shut it with the “liberal activist judges” crap. Here’s finally an issue on which we can agree; stop ruining it.)
