Click image to enlarge and see in full.
"Enlarge" is right. Possibly NSFW.
(Tip 'o the Energy Dome to my buddy Grendel.)
I Am Buying These Pants for Mr. Shakes
Click image to enlarge and see in full.
"Enlarge" is right. Possibly NSFW.
(Tip 'o the Energy Dome to my buddy Grendel.)
On Meeting BlogPals
Rox has a post about meeting other bloggers today, which in turn prompted PSoTD to ask the question which bloggers you’d like to meet and what you’d like to talk about with them.
Something I’ve found interesting during the times I’ve met other bloggers (and commmenters) is that we don’t tend to talk politics very much. There are a couple of bloggers with whom I speak regularly via phone and/or IM, whom I haven't met in person, and I don’t discuss politics overwhelmingly with them, either. That’s not to say there’s no political talk, or blog-related grousing and gossip (I did make a rather fine arse of myself gushing admiringly at Driftglass at the first Shaker meet-up), but it’s certainly no more the main feature than it is with other friends. There’s lots of the usual stuff—movies, jobs, kids, life. As I recall, the primary topic during the after-hours part of the last Shaker meet-up was beer, with a particularly uproarious (and prurient) tangent on one of Mr. Shakes’ most embarrassing moments. In other words, exactly what you’d expect when a bunch of like-minded dorks get together.
Related: Constant Comment emailed me to say the next Yearly Kos will be in Chicago. That should provide a chance for some more meetings—if we haven’t all met already in our friendly regional Halliburton Detention Centers for Domestic Enemy Combatants by then.
Just for SAP
Because I only exist to torment him with news and pictures of... CLOWNS! OMG!!!!11!!
Clown Running for Mayor of Almeda
ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) -- A real clown is running for mayor of Alameda, and even his sister won't vote for him.Seriously, they could just end the article right there. It says it all, and qualifies for the best article ever written in the history of time.
Kenneth Kahn, 41, a professional joker known as ''Kenny the Clown,'' admits he's running a long-shot campaign for City Hall's top spot. Kahn has not previously run for an elected position and has never sat on a public board.Uh, what? What a sourpuss. And how is running for mayor not "community involvement?" Jesus, lighten up, sister.
''People ask me, 'Do we really want to elect a clown for mayor of the city?''' he said. ''I say, 'That's an excellent question.'''
Kahn's mother, Barbara, said her son doesn't have a chance, and Sylvia Kahn, a teacher, said her brother's candidacy is a ''mockery of our system.''
''I don't think it makes any sense, because, to me, running for mayor is not where you start as far as community involvement goes,'' she said.
I always liked Jello Biafra's idea when he was running for mayor of San Francisco: require that all businessmen wear clown suits. If Kahn required that, he'd have my vote in a second. Think of it, a clown mayor, and clowns running all the businesses. Finally, a realistic picture of America!
Plus, how can you not love a mayor named Kahn? Every time he did something that pissed you off, you could stand in the middle of the street, shake your fists at the sky, and scream "Kaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhnnnn!" in your best Shatner.
Oh, my goodness. I hope he moves to Chicago.
(Tip 'o the Energy Dome to Article of Faith, and to Shakes for hipping me to the story. Cross-postin' across the universe...)
Hastert to appoint sure-fire, can't miss investigator for Foley scandal
Addendum: Word is out that Nancy Pelosi says freedom isn't Freeh, nixes former FBI head's involvement in Foley investigation. She must have seen the Pink Panther flicks...
Sources say that embattled House Speaker Dennis Hastert will name Inspector Clouseau to head an investigation of the House page program. Whoops, my mistake - that's Louis Freeh, former FBI director. You remember Freeh: the guy under whose tenure the FBI missed terror warnings that might have prevented 9/11. Republicans love the guy, though, despite his bumbling:
Freeh was expert in political survival, some say, forging an alliance with top Republicans after he'd turned against the president who appointed him. And though he still wins strong grades from some lawmakers and analysts, the critics say his eight years on the job may have left the agency -- and the nation -- vulnerable."If people are looking for a scapegoat, I'd nominate Louis Freeh," says Ronald Kessler, author of "The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI."
It's no secret the FBI suffered a series of embarrassments during Freeh's tenure, some of them deadly. They include the botched handling of the investigations into Waco and Ruby Ridge; the bombing at the Atlanta Olympic Village and the heavy-handed tactics used against Richard Jewell; the breakdown of the FBI crime labs; the inept pursuit of suspected atomic spy Wen Ho Lee; the belated discovery of turncoat agent Richard Hanssen; and the failure to deliver thousands of documents to defense attorneys during the trial of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
The FBI fiascoes seemed to come like clockwork under Freeh, and they continue to roll out to this day. A recently uncovered March 2000 memo reveals that agents mistakenly destroyed evidence gathered in an investigation involving Osama bin Laden.
Freeh sounds like the perfect guy to handle Hastert's investigation of, uh, Hastert and his party's leadership.
(Cross-posted.)
Hastert Won’t Step Down
House Speaker Dennis Hastert won't step down as speaker now or after the election, a senior GOP leadership aide told CNN Thursday.And by “the buck stops here,” of course he means “If anyone comes to me with any complaints about GOP Congressmen, they will die in my office.”
That word came as Hastert prepared to hold a news conference in his home district near Chicago to detail what actions he will take to deal with the spreading scandal over former Rep. Mark Foley and his contacts with teenage pages.
"As the speaker I take responsibility for everything in the building," Hastert said in a statement earlier Thursday announcing a hotline where anyone could report information about Foley or any concerns about the page program.
"The buck stops here. The safety and security of the students in the page program is imperative," the statement said.
Meanwhile, the House Ethics Committee has voted to “set up a subcommittee to investigate improper conduct between lawmakers and teenage pages, members announced today.”
Splendid.
Newt the Craptacular
This guy is a real piece of work.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday that Democratic sex scandals have been far worse than the suggestive Internet messages sent to teenage congressional pages by former Rep. Mark Foley.You know what? Let’s say that’s true, for shits and grins. Let’s say that Democratic sex scandals have been far worse than Pagegate. So fucking what? By Gingrich’s logic, we shouldn’t have been all that concerned about Jeffrey Dahmer because he only killed and ate 17 people, since Andrei Chikatilo killed and cannibalized 52. Anyone want to go along with that ethical paradigm?
And, mind you, this is the knob-end who brought us the Contract With America, which promised to “transform the way Congress works” and “be the beginning of a Congress that respects the values and shares the faith of the American family.” The GOP cruised to victory in 1994 on a platform promising to do things differently, which wasn’t defined as “Still doing the same shit, but not as bad!”
"What we don't have to do is allow our friends on the left to lecture us on morality," Gingrich said at a party fundraiser in Greenville. "There's a certain stench of hypocrisy."As Mr. Furious’ grandma likes to say, “You’re just smelling your own upper lip!”
The Democrats aren’t the party who has endeavored to legislate morality for the entire country based on a very narrow prescription for what make a moral life. It isn’t the Democrats who are chipping away at reproductive rights. It isn’t the Democrats who keep bringing a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage up for a vote. It isn’t the Democrats who brought the nation to a virtual standstill while they moved heaven and earth to interfere with a husband’s attempts to honor his wife’s wishes regarding a right to die. It isn’t a Democratic president who signed a veto on stem cell research. Etc. etc. etc.
Naturally, I’m not telling Gingrinch anything he doesn’t already know. He’s just attempting to save his shipwreck of a party from the condemnation it so richly deserves, but since there’s no reasonable and truthful way to do that, he’s engaging his usual shtick of dissembling, insincere obfuscation.
And for that, he gets The Shakespeare’s Sister Hairy Balls of Hypocrisy Award. Congratulations, Newt!
drinking liberally
What could be better than good conversation and drinks (and perhaps some food)? Not a whole lot. With everything going on and the upcoming elections, I thought I'd point out Drinking Liberally for anyone who wants to meet up with local liberals for the aforementioned conversation and drinks.
Hmm
The Foley emails known about for months “were classic examples of the tactics predatory adults use to approach young people and called for close and immediate examination, psychiatrists and other clinical experts on sexual misconduct said Wednesday.” Conservatives, House leadership, and the media continue to refer to them simply as “overly friendly.”Just a thought, but maybe House Leadership should have checked with their chair of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, who might have been able to clarify the nature of the emails for them.
Oh wait. That was the guy sending the emails.
Warning: Scary Clown Pictures Ahead
Just so you all know, my movie review website, "Get Down With the Klown!" launched this week. If you're a fan of cult trash, b-flicks, and general sleaze, I hope you'll check it out. There's only two reviews at the moment... you've probably seen my review of Slither here, and I just recently reviewed Target Earth for our first review roundtable, "Alpaca Lips Now," where several brave reviewers have tackled the worst cinematic post-apocalypse cheese for your enjoyment. They're all well worth your time... check them out!
And by the way, my site is hosted by Shaker and frequent commenter Deeky as a sister site to his amazing cult flick site, Surfin' Dead. He's celebrating a year anniversary and 100 reviews... stop by and say hello!
Lawyer Up!
As Waveflux noted below, “principals in the FBI investigation are lawyering up.”
Maybe the FBI needs to lawyer up, too. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which sent copies of Foley’s emails to the FBI on July 21 of this year, is now writing to the Department of Justice asking for an investigation into why the FBI is now claiming that they couldn’t investigate because the emails were “heavily redacted.” CREW is calling bullshit.
The FBI is also claiming that it came back to CREW and asked for more information so that it could follow up, but that CREW refused to provide anything further. Reporters from several other news organizations have repeated this allegation. The FBI is lying.Seems like no one in D.C. had any interest in pursuing a matter that would embarrass the GOP…until the GOP couldn’t avoid embarrassment any longer. And now it’s everyone else’s fault that no one in a position to do anything did.
On Monday, October 2, CREW sent a letter to the DOJ I.G.’s office, attaching exact copies of the emails CREW had sent to the FBI on July 21, 2006. Both the former page’s name and the person to whom the page forwarded Rep. Foley’s emails were clearly visible. Moreover, after CREW sent the emails to the FBI, CREW’s only subsequent contact with the Bureau was one telephone call from the special agent to whom CREW had sent the material confirming that the emails were from Rep. Foley. CREW had no further contact with the FBI.
In contrast with this new explanation for failing to investigate the Foley matter, The Washington Post has reported that an unnamed FBI official stated that the Bureau decided not to investigate after concluding that the emails “did not rise to the level of criminal activity.”
Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director said today, “the FBI cannot have it both ways; either it failed to investigate the Foley emails because they did not rise to a level of criminal activity or because it did not have adequate information to do so. Pick one.”
Ruh-Roh!
"With midterm elections less than five weeks away, the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that about half of likely voters say recent disclosures of corruption and scandal in Congress will be very or extremely important when they cast their vote next month."Imagine how pissed off Americans would be if the media had also informed them so thoroughly about the fact that Bush is a terrible president with pretensions of despotism!
"More troubling for Republicans, the poll found that by a margin of nearly 2-to-1 likely voters says Democrats would be better at combating political corruption than Republicans."
Hanging out at Denny's
Nothing much to do but wait until Hastert decides to come out and say something, apparently. One assumes he's spending a lot of time on the phone, trying to rally support for his continued employment. One also assumes that he hasn't bothered to call Majority Whip Roy Blunt, who made his stand fairly clear yesterday.
Regarding Blunt: His political opponent, Jack Truman (who commented here a couple of days ago), has some things to say - and none of them good - about Blunt's role in the ever-expanding Mark Foley scandal.
Also: newly-unemployed congressional aide Kirk Fordham says he told the Speaker's office three years ago of Foley's predatory nature, the ethics committee probe into the Foley mess gets underway, and principals in the FBI investigation are lawyering up.
Related posts:
The man who knew...nothing?
Roy Blunt makes his move
(Cross-posted.)
Things Look So Different Across the Pond
When Mr. Shakes’ best friend was visiting recently, he and I were talking about attitudes toward the LGBT community in Britain, and how much it’s changed in the past few years. Gay marriage is now legal, and M, who was living in London for a few years and recently returned to Edinburgh, was saying people are out at his work now in noticeably higher numbers, and the gay community in Edinburgh is visible in a way they weren’t before—the kind of things that don’t get talked about when genuine equality under the law is being debated. Fear has diminished; people feel safe to be who they are. Everywhere.
And I certainly don’t think I would have read this a few years ago (via):
West Yorkshire police officer Mark Carter, 23, was crowned Mr. Gay U.K. 2006 as about 50 of his police colleagues cheered him on -- in T-shirts bearing his picture.That’s the beauty of equality. That’s the happiness of knowing that your government, your countrymen, your laws are willing to protect you and embrace you as a full member of society.
…Carter had the full backing of the West Yorkshire Police in taking part in the contest. He appeared in a police-style outfit, including a stab-proof vest, during a "dress to impress" section.
"I am absolutely 100 percent over the moon," Carter said. "Two years ago I used to cry myself to sleep at night, I was so daunted by the prospect of coming out, but when I did, it was the best thing ever. I was so happy I could finally be myself.”
That’s what we need in America.
Lower than You Ever Thought Possible
The Right Wing has absolutely no shame whatsoever.
I wonder if Michelle Malkin will come out and condemn this vile behavior?
Watch me hold my breath.
UPDATE: Well, ruffle my hair and call me Frankie. Malkin actually is speaking out against this. True to form, apparently they're "sinking to the level" of those unhinged liberals. Whatever. Enjoy the stink of corruption, Michelle. About time you finally woke up and realized where it was coming from. (Thanks to coturnix for the heads-up.)
Oh, you mean it wasn’t the Democrats?!
Well, gee—that certainly puts a wrench in the misdirection works.
The source who in July gave news media Rep. Mark Foley’s (R-Fla.) suspect e-mails to a former House page says the documents came to him from a House GOP aide.Indeed. If it’s “dirty tricks,” it’s dirty tricks being played by their own party. Just like Uncle Karl taught them.
That aide has been a registered Republican since becoming eligible to vote, said the source, who showed The Hill public records supporting his claim.
…These revelations mean that Republicans who are calling for probes to discover what Democratic leaders and staff knew about Foley’s improper exchanges with under-age pages will likely be unable to show that the opposition party orchestrated the scandal now roiling the GOP just a month away from the midterm elections.
Get a Grip
“Raising images of war and stressing his experience as a Vietnam veteran, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Republican challenger says in a new fundraising letter that her ‘ruthless campaign to seize power is a serious threat to a secure future for America.’”
To seize power? Oy. This is reminiscent of Hastert’s whinging on Rushbo’s show yesterday that Democrats are having the temerity to try to “affect our election.”
Fucking crybabies, the whole lot of ‘em. All they ever talk about is “spreading democracy” all over the world, yet they can’t stop bitching and moaning about the most basic tenet of a democracy here at home—that is, if you do a shite job, you just might lose.
Boy, whoever it was that said “A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it” sure was right, eh?
Happy Blogiversary…
Two years ago today, I started Shakespeare’s Sister. I had no idea, and certainly no expectation, that Shakes would become what it has—but I’m sure glad it did. For which I credit, of course, John Howard, for being my first commenter (aside from my beloved Mr. Shakes and Mr. Furious, who always support me in any of my crackpot schemes).
Many thanks to the amazing contributors and guests who have joined me along the way, turning Shakes into the Best Group Blog in the blogosphere, to the innumerable bloggers who have supported us with links, guest slots, and words of encouragement, and to everyone who’s commented, emailed, blogwhored, and become a part of the Shakes community.
Onward...
Question of the Day
Is there anyone crazier than William Donahue? And by crazy, of course, I mean deliberately and willfully hateful via asinine, fact-free rantings.
This is not a rhetorical question. There are a lot of folks in the running: Pat Buchanan, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Michael Savage, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin... Who's the worst of the lot? Make your case!
