Her mother had a stroke.
Please send your good wishes and support, in whichever means you usually do.
Take care, Cindy.
(Energy Dome tip to Pepper.)
Cindy Sheehan leaves the camp
Comcast’s At It Again
This time, they’re blocking “www.meetwithcindy.org.” BradBlog’s got the dirt.
Fuckers.
New Axis
You know, it’s stories like this that make me glad we’ve pissed away our military power and political capital on a fool’s errand in the Middle East.
Imagine if you will, a new Cold War, one where our antagonist is not only bristling with atomic weaponry, but is also bankrolling our economy and providing us with all of our manufactured goods. Instead of doing something to avert such a disastrous strategic outcome, we've spent the last few years building sand castles in Iraq, in an effort to control the flow of a soon-to-be-obsolete energy resource.
Let the good times roll...
Kanye West Says No More Homophobia in Hip-Hop
A timely story, following up on the post below, referencing Pam’s ongoing series about the splinter in the black community over gay rights. Good for him:
During an interview for an MTV special, the 27-year-old rapper launched into a discussion about hip-hop and homosexuality while talking about "Hey Mama," a song on his upcoming album, "Late Registration." West says that when he was young, people would call him a "mama's boy." "And what happened was, it made me kind of homophobic, 'cause it's like I would go back and question myself," West says on the show, "All Eyes on Kanye West," set to air Thursday night (10:30 p.m. ET).That’s a brave message for a hip-hop artist to wax philosophical about, unprompted, in a promo interview. The real credit, though, goes to West’s cousin, who had the courage to come out, and forced West to think about something he otherwise might not have.
West says he changed his ways, though, when he learned one of his cousins was gay. "It was kind of like a turning point when I was like, `Yo, this is my cousin. I love him and I've been discriminating against gays.'"
West says hip-hop was always about "speaking your mind and about breaking down barriers, but everyone in hip-hop discriminates against gay people." He adds that in slang, gay is "the opposite, the exact opposite word of hip-hop." Kanye's message: "Not just hip-hop, but America just discriminates. And I wanna just, to come on TV and just tell my rappers, just tell my friends, `Yo, stop it.'"
The New GI Bill...
...is the one you get handed after coming back from two tours of duty in Iraq.
Go read Gordon. He’s pissed, and I don’t blame him a bit. What bullshit.
More Crackpot Converts for the GOP
Pam’s got another excellent post on the GOP sticking its “values” wedge into the black community.
I'm tired of the denial and the bullsh*ttery on the left, who deny that there's a sickness infecting the black faith community, mostly the pastors that are being bought-off by Mehlman and his squad.Seriously, please read this post—it’s a very serious problem, and it needs attention. The Dems need to wake up and start noticing to what’s happening within one of their most loyal constituencies before it’s too late (if it’s not already). And aside from the political issues involved, the social issues are troubling, too. First, this nasty little GOP outreach program is reinforcing the homophobia that already plagues the black community. Secondly, the same thing that happened to the white working class, divided and conquered on the brawny back of homobigotry, will happen to the black community next. And just like the white working class, they’ll be voting against their best interests on a slew of other issues, throwing their support to a party who cares diddly-shit about them.
It stems from the faith-based payoffs, homophobia, Republican smokescreens, and the years of inattention by the Democratic Party to its loyal base. Oh well, I'll just keep on posting this crap. Maybe someone will pay attention eventually and call out these bible-thumpers.
Pam’s so right when she deems this a sickness. Anyone whose ledger doesn’t carry the same number of 0s as the country’s current leadership stands to gain nothing from the GOP, regardless of color, gender, sexuality, religion, or anything else—and anyone who believes otherwise is totally delusional. Her post is titled “The black and white AmTaliban hop in the sack,” and the first thing I thought is that, not so long ago, the white folks with whom these black pastors are so eager to align themselves would have gone to unimaginable lengths to prevent blacks and whites from hopping in the sack together—both politically and quite literally. And some of these same jagoff crackers still refuse to vote anti-miscegenation laws off the books, but black pastors, without a trace of irony, are lining up with them to spread the hate about gays in exchange for promises of inclusion that will never be realized.
Feingold
This is good stuff. Not only is this a direct counter to Bush’s insistence that setting a timeline plays into terrorists’ hands (even while clearly trying to maneuver out of there by the ’06 mid-terms to give the GOP their best shot at retaining dominance), but it’s also a brilliant strategy to see where the rest of the 2008 competition stands. Ezra has the same two notions, and has some good inside dish, so I’ll turn it over to him (emphasis mine):
Russ Feingold is calling for a pull-out date of December 31st, 2006, and, so far as I can tell, he's going to do so loudly. Yesterday, I was invited to two major national security speeches and a media Q&A Russ is giving in Los Angeles early next week. So he's definitely taking the message nationwide and is, if I can speculate, hoping to use his "firstness" on the topic to carve out a Deanesque maverick position in advance of 2008…For anyone who’s interested, I like Feingold a lot, although I still have practical concerns about how his personal life could create problems for him as a national candidate (even though it shouldn’t).
It'll be interesting, as Kevin notes, to see how the Biden/Clinton wing reacts. If they're solicitous of the move and publicly supportive of the motivations behind it, you'll know that a) the polls have got to them and b) they're hedging their bets. If they condemn it and say something about not aiding the insurgency, you'll know they're a bunch of douches determined to avoid another Vietnam-style meltdown of the party's national security credentials.
I told you not to be stupid, you moron.
Greg at The Talent Show has a post up in defense of Michelle Malkin, and I'm joining in with him.
Apparently, someone created a fake URL, "MichelleMaglalang.com," and directed it towards a google search for the terms "Michelle Malkin" and "whore."
I agree with Greg. This is not fucking funny.
Should I bother pointing out that Ms. Malkin's next book, Unhinged : Exposing Liberals Gone Wild, is all about "the utter hypocrisy of Democrats who fashion themselves as role models of tolernace and civility"? Thanks for giving her more ammo for her book tour.
Exactly. Duh. And as he points out, directing searchers to this is much more effective than taking a cheap shot. If there is one thing we know, conservatives just love to point to examples of liberal "intolerance" and scream "where is the supposed 'tolerance' of the left?" Thanks for giving them another example, morons.
Another thing that is bothering me about critics of Malkin: far too many idiots are more than willing to attack her with racial slurs.
Racism is a Republican Value. If there's one thing I never want to see progressives, Democrats, and liberals associated with, it's racism. So when someone posts on their blog complaning about Malkin, it does no good to make comments about "slants." Or "that gook bitch." (Which is ridiculous as well as racist.) Or even something as crass as "And people wonder why I don’t date Filipinas."
Look, if racial slurs are the only way you can express your anger and frustration against Michelle Malkin, do us all a favor and join the Republicans. Surprise! You're a racist. And we don't want you on our side.
Malkin is the queen of the strawmen, her own racism is legendary, she's willing to smear a grieving mother to protect the worst members of the Republican party, and her writings are so full of holes, you could write a blog about them. Let me spell this out: she is an easy target; if you need to rely on racial slurs to "discredit" her, congratulations! You're even worse than Malkin herself.
I'm almost positive that MichelleMaglalang.com wasn't registered by somebody on the right to embarrass liberals. I'm not going to give out the person's info, but a little research showed that this is the product of someone on our side.
Thanks for nothing.
UPDATE: Apparently, the url owner changed the link to the PBS one above. Nice gesture, but the damage is already done. Next time, think first.
(Energy Dome tip to The Liberal Avenger.
Cross-post, Meet the Cross-Post, It's a modern stone-age family...)
A Face Only a Mother Could Vote For
Apparently, Vice President Scowlypuss is now considering running for president. According to the AFP, Sportsbook.com has him trailing after three other possible candidates, but there’s been a marked improvement in his odds. Frankly, I find the possibility that there are people suddenly warming up to Cheney a sickening thought. But there you have it. Although a more cynical and snarky part of me attributes his improving odds to my suspicion that some Americans are so resolutely opposed to evolution, they’re actually getting dumber in protest, I doubt that’s really the case. The only thing I can think of that might be vaguely plausible is that there’s probably a correlation between his favorable ratings increasing and the length of time since the spine-rattling specter of his animated visage during the campaign debates. Rarely does Cheney give interviews or otherwise make himself available for public consumption, and perhaps people have forgotten how loathsome and grim he really is. I imagine if he tried to run for president, and Americans were forced to become intimately familiar with his vile, glowering countenance and graveled doomsayer monotone, his odds would tank but quick. In fact, I hope he gets the nomination, because I really think you could run just about any joker and beat him.
Quote of the Day
The disgusting piggish yob Rush Limbaugh, who always manages to get scummier with each passing day:
“There's nothing about [Cindy Sheehan’s story] that's real, including the mainstream media's glomming onto it. It's not real. It's nothing more than an attempt. It's the latest effort made by the coordinated left.”
This from a man who’s greatest tragedy is that law enforcement officials have the audacity to request his medical records because of his criminal drug habit. What a heinous bastard he is. She lost her son, you unimaginable shitbag. That’s got to be about as fucking real as it gets in this life. Prick.
Letter from John Conyers
I’m on every progressive email list in the world now, it seems, and I don’t even know how it happened. I try to read everything, but sometimes it just gets away from me and I miss a few. But there’s one name that always means I open it right away, because it means something good is happening—Congressman John Conyers. And this morning’s missive didn’t disappoint. John Conyers rocks.
Cindy Sheehan’s vigil outside in Crawford, Texas has clearly struck a nerve in this country, and her willingness to speak truth to power resonates as a model of courage and dedication to us all.
I am proposing that we take three steps to support Cindy in the face of a ferocious assault by the right wing.
First, I am organizing an effort to write our local papers to support Cindy and her efforts to meet with the president. I have set up a form on my web site as part of a Crawford Action Center (which includes news reports, pictures, video, audio, and talking points) to allow you to submit a letter in your own words simultaneously to all papers in your region. I will be able to keep track of the number of letters submitted, and have set an initial goal of generating at least 1,000 letters to support Cindy. This is a follow-up to the letter that I, along with 40 Members of Congress, sent to the president urging him to meet with Cindy.
link
Second, I have made a $500 donation to the Gold Star Families for Peace. If you are able to, you can go to the following site to make a donation to the Gold Star Families or the Crawford Peace Center to support Cindy’s efforts.
link
Third, arm yourselves with the facts about Cindy so that you are prepared to respond to the smear attacks coordinated by the right wing. Correct these misconceptions in your communications with the media, on the internet, and in your day-to-day conversations. I have added a talking points section to my website that provide simple, direct refutations to the lies that are being spread besmirching Cindy's character. Grassroots word-of-mouth is the first line of defense in responding to these attacks.
link
Let’s help Cindy in her pursuit for truth and justice in the face of a right wing smear campaign.
Sincerely,
John Conyers
Blogswarm Round-Up: New Documents Confirm DSMs
The All Spin Zone
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
Blogenlust
Virtual Matter
The Impolitic
In Search of Utopia
Thoughts of an Average Woman
The Tattered Coat
Liberty Street
A Mockingbird’s Medley
Rob’s Blog
Poetic Leanings
Liberals Against Terrorism
Why Are We Back in Iraq?
It’s a Wonderful Lie
A Curmudgeonly Crab
Blanton’s and Ashton’s
Alternate Brain
Upon Further Review…
You Have No Idea…
The Supreme Irony of Life
Adventures of the Smart Patrol
Laughing Wild
Daily Pepper
The Disgruntled Chemist
Agitprop
Brilliant at Breakfast
Pharyngula
Brother Kenya’s Paradigm
Frogs and Ravens
Science and Politics
After School Snack
Loaded Mouth
San Francisco Liberal
American Documents Appear to Confirm Downing Street Memos
Link (not blockquoted due to length):
State Department experts warned CENTCOM before Iraq war about lack of plans forpost-war Iraq security
Planning for post-Saddam regime change began as early as October 2001
Washington, D.C., August 17, 2005: Newly declassified State Department documents show that government experts warned the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) in early 2003 about "serious planning gaps for post-conflict public security and humanitarian assistance," well before Operation Iraqi Freedom began.
In a February 7, 2003, memo to Under Secretary of State Paula Dobriansky, three senior Department officials noted CENTCOM's "focus on its primary military objectives and its reluctance to take on 'policing' roles," but warned that "a failure to address short-term public security and humanitarian assistance concerns could result in serious human rights abuses which would undermine an otherwise successful military campaign, and our reputation internationally." The memo adds "We have raised these issues with top CENTCOM officials."
By contrast, a December 2003 report to Congress, also released by the State Department, offers a relatively rosy picture of the security situation, saying U.S. forces are "increasingly successful in preventing planned hostile attacks; and in capturing former regime loyalists, would-be terrorists and planners; and seizing weapons caches." The document acknowledges that "Challenges remain."
Since then, 1,393 U.S. military fatalities have been recorded in Iraq, including two on the day the report went to Congress.
The new documents, released this month to the National Security Archive under the Freedom of Information Act, also provide more evidence on when the Bush administration began planning for regime change in Iraq -- as early as October 2001.
The declassified records relate mainly to the so-called "Future of Iraq Project," an effort, initially run by the State Department then by the Pentagon, to plan for the transition to a new regime after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003. They provide detail on each of the working groups and give the starting date for planning as October 2001.
Entire sections of a Powerpoint presentation the State Department prepared on November 1, 2002 -- including those covering "What We Have Learned So Far" and "Implications for the Real Future of Iraq" -- have been censored as still-classified information.
(Hat tip to Cookie Jill of Skippy and The All Spin Zone.)
More as more information becomes available.
G. Gordon Liddy is Bugshit Insane
Yeah, I know, this is news?
Seriously though, go watch this video at Crooks & Liars.
Liddy spouts some Tom Clancy "if he wanted to, he could conduct a war from the crapper" pointlessness, hilariously draws comparisons to Bush's vacation and FDR's "vacation" for Polio treatment, and when Huffington makes a coherent argument, what does he do?
Why, he makes a racial slur, of course.
Just watch Huffington's face after he makes his "gratuitous assertion" comment. It's obvious how amazed she is by his racism and insane ramblings. She just shakes her head and laughs with amazement for the rest of the "segment."
(By the way, I really liked the "Sacrifice it." statement Arianna made. This is a mantra we can start using. The Bush Administration has called upon all of us to make sacrifices; why can't they sacrifice anything? Why do they get to have all the fun?)
Paula Zahn, of course, gives Liddy the "last word" (after she already gave him the first word), and spouts some of the most sycophantic stuff I've ever heard. (I found her flippant "So what's your gripe?" comment particularly embarassing and disgusting.) She parrots the "Bush already met with her" Republican Talking Point and dismisses Huffington's response with a sarcastic "OK." If CNN thinks any of this segment was actual reporting or news, they really are beyond the point of no return.
Liddy's "face blown off" speech was just... weird. Creepy weird. He talks about his son as if he were a bald patch on his lawn.
I seriously don't understand how people can use the word "unhinged" when talking about liberals. Show me ONE liberal speaker on any show that is this unhinged, and I'll buy you lunch. Liddy simply isn't living in the real world anymore.
(Cross-Post and I are getting old and we still haven't walked in the glow of each other's majestic presence)
Can’t Choose Your Neighbors
Ha. One of Bush’s Crawford neighbors has given Cindy Sheehan and her fellow protestors use of his land, affording them a nicer place to camp out—and bringing them closer to Bush’s property:
CSB News Correspondent Mark Knoller reports that protest leader Cindy Sheehan says a local landowner is making his private property available.The article doesn’t make mention of this, but I wonder if the generous Fred Mattlage is related to Larry Mattlage, the wanker who fired shots at protestors. (Or did the article just mix up names?) In any case, well done, Mr. Fred Mattlage. Good on ya, pal.
"This is going to be a better place. We can spread out," said Sheehan. "We don't have to stay in a ditch," referring to the roadside encampment where she's been for over a week.
"I just think people should have a right to protest without being harassed. And I'm against the war," says Fred Mattlage, an Army veteran who owns the land where Sheehan and her supporters will now be camping out at his invitation. "I don't think it's a war we need to be in."
Knoller reports that the new campsite will put Sheehan even closer to the president's ranch, and she vows to continue her vigil and demand for a meeting as long as the president is there.
Perfect.
I missed this I Drew This strip, but you really shouldn't.
People in Publishing: Please, give David a book deal.
Adam Carolla Stinks
I first saw Adam Carolla, as many of us probably did, back when he was the irritatingly bombastic sidekick of Dr. Drew on MTV’s LoveLine, and the only purpose he served seemed to be to interrupt any discussion that verged on becoming interesting or genuinely informative. He had the personality of a two-bit morning show radio host (which is maybe where they drudged him up; I don’t know), and his ubiquitous references to his own compulsive masturbation and his perpetually itchy ass made the show truly unwatchable. I’m not a squeamish or easily offended girl, and, to be honest, I find sex and toilet humor funny to a degree that I probably ought to be more embarrassed to admit than I actually am. But, like anything, there’s good lowbrow and bad lowbrow—and I love good lowbrow. When it’s well-done, lowbrow humor can just be relentlessly funny (Dumb and Dumber), and the truth about good lowbrow is that there’s a sweetness to it, a fondness for its foils. (Good highbrow, especially a well-crafted black comedy, conversely, often depends on the absence of such sweetness.) Adam Carolla is the worst kind of lowbrow humorist (a term I must use loosely here)—one whose nasty insults and infantile jokes are infused with no love whatsoever for their targets. But, too unsophisticated a comedian to discern that good highbrow substitutes apathy for the sympathy of good lowbrow, Carolla has instead substituted contempt.
Another lesson Carolla has failed to learn, and understandably so, cloistered in the bizarre world of The Man Show for years, is that being a post-feminist man isn’t especially impressive. On his new show, he ends a riff about fat girls with a grin that clearly anticipates a big reaction from the audience, and instead receives scattered chuckles. His material on gays and Jews is met with similarly unenthusiastic responses. Part of it is his terrible delivery, but the biggest problem is that it’s just not funny.
In front of an audience stacked with men who would hoot and holler about anything that degrades women and gays, simply pointing out women are so womany or that gays are so gay, was plenty to elicit a laugh. But that wasn’t comedy—the post-feminist man is a ruse; The Man Show is no more than a last-gasp outlet for pre-feminists, men clinging to a time of undeserved primacy that is slipping away, to flex and flaunt their quickly waning cultural superiority before it slips away into the ether, and they’re left (the horror!) equal to the rest of us. Carolla seems to think we haven’t cottoned on. Or maybe he hasn't.
The result is that he comes across as a boor and a jerk, and worse than that, painfully unfunny—a state of affairs accentuated by Comedy Central’s strange decision to air his disastrous new show directly after The Daily Show, whose host, the inimitably charming and likeable Jon Stewart, can effortlessly move between low- and highbrow, and rarely hits a bad note. Stewart can project either the intrinsic nice guy-ness or aloof detachment required by either end of the spectrum, leaving him able to serve as the centerpiece of a show that makes fun of everyone and everything (even fat girls and gays and Jews—and when they do, it’s funny, because they know how to do it well). The juxtaposition of the two men leaves Carolla looking like a mean-spirited amateur.
Mr. Shakes, who will never be accused of being politically correct, finds him utterly unbearable, and especially can’t stand to listen to him talk about women, because, as Mr. S. astutely noted, “He hates them.”
And that’s the problem with Carolla’s whole show. It doesn’t matter about what or whom he’s talking—he holds his subjects in such low regard that anything he says about them seems altogether devoid of the affection required for good lowbrow. And as he sits with his desperate grin plastered on his face, clearly wanting to be liked as he embarks on a new show that is wholly his own, I can find as little fondness for him as he finds for his marks.
I really hope Comedy Central ditches the mess he’s made and gets busy getting the Colbert Report on the air ASAP instead.
Exhausted Eminem…
…cancels European Tour.
Too much pants-dropping and farting into microphones can really take its toll on a lad.
Too Stupid to be Ashamed
Yes, I'm an intellectual snob, and this is disgusting:
Victoria Beckham claims she has never read a book.In case you don’t know, and lucky for you, Victoria Beckham is the imbecile formerly known as Posh Spice, current extending what ought to have been 15 minutes of fame by being married to internationally famous footballer David Beckham.
She told a Spanish journalist she prefers magazines and music even though she has her name on the cover of one autobiography.
According to the Daily Mail she said: "I haven't read a book in my life. I haven't got enough time. I prefer to listen to music, although I do love fashion magazines."
I can’t believe anyone would admit to having never read a book.
I’ll just turn it over to Morrissey:
What really lies
Beyond the constraints of my mind;
Could it be the sea,
With fate mooning back at me?
No, it's just more lock-jawed pop stars,
Thicker than pig shit,
Nothing to convey.
They're so scared to show intelligence;
It might smear their lovely career.
This world, I am afraid,
Is designed for crashing bores.
— Morrissey, “The World Is Full of Crashing Bores”
