From Holden: Arianna provides an nice analysis of John McCain’s latest foray into TIM-MEH’s world. Just one thing, love. The man you saw on Meet the Press IS the real McCain. Continue reading The Real McCain

From Holden: CUNY’s Graduate Center in Manhattan seems to be biased towards the truth. Behind glass-paneled cabinets set along a hallway inside CUNY’s Graduate Center in Manhattan, the faces of young and old Iraqi citizens killed by American troops peer out. The displays, an art project devised by students in a Ph.D. photography seminar class at the Graduate Center in Midtown, resemble blown-up versions of the “Portraits of Grief” vignettes that the New York Times published in the days after the September 11, 2001, attacks to memorialize and personalize the thousands of victims. In this version, the killer isn’t Al … Continue reading Our Labors Bear Strange Fruit

From Holden: Looks like Condi has intitiated another charm offensive, this time without the charm. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chastised Europe leaders today, saying that before they complain about secret jails for terror suspects in European nations, they should realize that interrogations of these suspects have produced information that helped “save European lives.” [snip] Noting that half-a-dozen international investigations are underway, Ms. Rice did not explicitly confirm the existence of the detentions center. But that was implicit in her remarks. “We must bring terrorists to justice wherever possible,” she said. “But there have been many cases where the local … Continue reading Release The Hounds

is up to 63. Don’t forget to sign up! You don’t want to end up on Holden’s list. A. Continue reading Billy’s List of Christmas Haters, Commies and Moonbat Volunteers

From Tena: The American Family Association is leading a boycott of Target for not using the words “Merry Christmas” in its advertising. (Target denies it has an anti-Merry-Christmas policy.) The Catholic League boycotted Wal-Mart in part over the way its Web site treated searches for “Christmas.” Bill O’Reilly, the Fox anchor who last year started a “Christmas Under Siege” campaign, has a chart on his Web site of stores that use the phrase “Happy Holidays,” along with a poll that asks, “Will you shop at stores that do not say ‘Merry Christmas’?” This campaign – which is being hyped on … Continue reading Shephards are Watching, You Liberal Commie Anti-Christmas Pukes

Baby, baby, baby, right there: Most important, we will talk about Democratic values, which are America’s values. The vast majority of Americans believe it is immoral to lets kids go hungry. We agree. The other party cuts school lunches (they just can’t seem to leave that one alone.) Americans believe it is immoral that not everyone has some kind of health insurance. We agree. The vast majority of Americans believe that government overreaching into personal and family decisions is wrong. We agree. Americans believe that it is immoral to leave huge debts to our children and grandchildren. We agree. Americans … Continue reading HOWARD!

Feminist married manifesto. Go read. It’s fascinating, and not because I agree with everything in it. Changing my name, for example, which I did when I got married. My previous name was my father’s, my first name was given to me by my parents, I don’t feel any particular attachment of my identity to either, and so felt no loss in switching them up. I write under my maiden name because I was already writing professionally when we married, and I didn’t want to fuck with the rsum continuity and have to go into long explanations in job interviews. I’ve … Continue reading Scenes from a Marriage

But Marshall Wittmann is starting to sound like that friend we all have who goes around parties saying, “God, I’m so fat. I’m just so fat. Don’t you think I look fat in this? No? Oh, you’re just saying that. Really, I’m a huge land whale. Look at my enormous ass. Look how big it’s getting. God, I can’t believe what a porker I am.” Now, said friend actually has a nice figure, but her constant self-flagellation over her weight draws attention to the very flaws she’d like to hide. In other words, STFU, Marshall. Seriously, has anybody noticed that … Continue reading I apologize in advance for this sexist metaphor

From Holden: Little Scottie held a gaggle today to trumpet the good economic news, but the press corps had other things on their collective mind. Q Can I ask, when the President came to the Rose Garden this morning, about 10:45 a.m., at that hour did the White House already know about this attack on the Marines in Fallujah? MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, we did. The President was informed about the loss of the Marines last night, and those that were injured, and then he was briefed again this morning. We are saddened by the loss of life, whether it’s one … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: Via Froomkin, Chimpy’s remarks during yesterday’s White House Holiday Tree fell a bit short of the O’Reilly standard. THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Welcome to the Christmas Pageant of Peace. Laura and I are so honored to join you all. The lighting of the National Christmas tree is one of the great traditions in our Nation’s Capital. Each year, we gather here to celebrate the season of hope and joy — and to remember the story of one humble life that lifted the sights of humanity. Santa, thanks for coming. The Official White House Holiday Card … Continue reading War President Attacks Christmas

Little Joe, begging for forgiveness for digging up the litter box and chasing the other ferrets into it. If he didn’t look like this, he’d be a pair of gloves right now. A. Continue reading Friday Ferretblogging

From Holden: Yet another report of the rift between Chimpy and Cheney. The role of Vice President Dick Cheney as the administration’s point man in security policy appears over, according to administration sources. Over the last two months Mr. Cheney has been granted decreasing access to the Oval Office, the sources said on the condition of anonymity. The two men still meet, but the close staff work between the president and vice president has ended. “Cheney’s influence has waned not only because of bad chemistry, but because the White House no longer formulates policy,” another source said. “There’s nothing to … Continue reading Cry Me A River, Dick

From Holden: Ralph Reed’s Abramoff-connected lobbying in Texas has garnered the attention of my county prosecutor. The Travis County attorney [David Escamilla] is reviewing a criminal complaint accusing the former head of the Christian Coalition of failing to register as a lobbyist when he was being paid millions to influence gambling issues in Texas on behalf of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Three government watchdog groups filed the complaint Thursday against Ralph Reed, who left the Christian Coalition in 1997 to become a political consultant. He is now a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of Georgia. [snip] Failing to register as … Continue reading Prosecutor Scrutinizes Ralph Reed

From Holden: As many of us here in Texas maintained all along, Tom DeLay’s illegal mid-decade redistricting plan violated the Voting Rights Act. But just like the FDA’s decision regarding Plan B and and the Department of Justice’s approval of Georgia’s voter identification law, political appointees at DOJ overruled their own experts. Justice Department lawyers concluded that the landmark Texas congressional redistricting plan spearheaded by Rep. Tom DeLay (R) violated the Voting Rights Act, according to a previously undisclosed memo obtained by The Washington Post. But senior officials overruled them and approved the plan. The memo, unanimously endorsed by six … Continue reading Goddamn Republican Asshole Crooks

From Holden: Everyone seems to have one except Chimpy. Two of America’s allies in Iraq are withdrawing forces this month and a half-dozen others are debating possible pullouts or reductions, increasing pressure on Washington as calls mount to bring home U.S. troops. Bulgaria and Ukraine will begin withdrawing their combined 1,250 troops by mid-December. If Australia, Britain, Italy, Japan, Poland and South Korea reduce or recall their personnel, more than half of the non-American forces in Iraq could be gone by next summer. Japan and South Korea help with reconstruction, but Britain and Australia provide substantial support forces and Italy … Continue reading Exit Strategies Are The Shit

I may be the last person on earth to know about this blog but damn, is it ever cool. There’s hours of funny and crazy and sad and funny again in there. A. Continue reading Whoa

Asshat. Christian journalists can bring “a basic moral compass” to their work “that the mainstream media possesses but just so often chooses to ignore. And if you bring that to your work, it will help you when you choose the stories you’re going to write about or broadcast,” Sammon said. “That moral compass will allow you to connect with mainstream America in a way that the mainstream media is not doing right now.” Smackdown. I may be a hick from French Lick compared to Bill Sammon, but I’d like to know where he gets off telling us that he inserts … Continue reading Romenesko Readers Do My Work For Me

From Holden: It’s gaggle time once again, let’s begin with Chimpy’s jury duty. Q Scott? Follow up — another subject. Has the President been summoned for jury duty in Crawford? And if so, will he serve? MR. McCLELLAN: No. Good question, and I can update you on that. At this point, we’ve never received a jury summons from the court. We checked, but when we learned about it, I think through media reports, we did reach out to the court to find out about this jury summons. And apparently, this summons was for Monday, December 5th. We have since called … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: That would be a Kurdish alignment with Israel. Private Israeli security firms have sent experts to Iraq’s northern Kurdish region to give covert training to Kurdish security forces, an Israeli newspaper reported on Thursday. The daily Yedioth Ahronoth said that over the past year and a half the Israeli companies had set up a secret training base in northern Iraq as part of a multi-million dollar project with the Kurdish regional government. It said dozens of Israeli specialists had been sent to teach Kurdish forces “weapons training, self-defence and counter-terror warfare”. [snip] Israel and Iraq have no diplomatic … Continue reading The Best Way to Unite Iraq’s Sunni and Shiia

From Holden: Scottie expresses concern. The White House expressed concern on Thursday at reports that the U.S. military has secretly paid Iraqi newspapers to run dozens of pro-American articles written by a special military task force. [snip] “We’re very concerned about the reports. We are seeking more information from the Pentagon,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. Continue reading Dept. of Yeah, Right

From Holden: After congratulating Iraqi forces for taking the fight to the terraists in Fallujah last year, yesterday he says they didn’t contribute much to the fight. Novembr 13, 2004: Earlier this week, Prime Minister Allawi of Iraq authorized military operations to rid the city of Fallujah of Saddam holdouts and foreign terrorists. American Marines and soldiers, alongside Iraqi security forces, are on the offensive against the killers who have been using Fallujah as a base of operations for terrorist attacks, and who have held the local population in the grip of fear. Fighting together, our forces have made significant … Continue reading Bush v. Bush

From Holden: Looks like Scottie is back in gaggle mode, although yesterday’s gaggle transcript was posted a bit late. Let’s begin with Helen Thomas. Q How is the Secretary of State going to explain the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of some of our combatants — enemies, so-called. MR. McCLELLAN: Well, first of all, we disagree with the premise of your question, because we are a nation that — Q There is an uproar in Europe. MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we are nation that is engaged in a global war on terrorism. And there are many partners in that global war … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: Presidential IPod expert Elisabeth Bumiller tells us that Chimpy’s handlers are gambling that his Vanity War won’t be be an issue in the off-year elections. As for the Chimpster himself — he doesn’t care if he drags his party or the country down, he’s stayin’ the course. At a time of increasing Democratic attacks on Mr. Bush’s handling of the war and a drop in public support for the conflict, Mr. Bush’s political advisers assert that they can still hold Congress next year. By their reasoning, there will be only 35 to 40 competitive seats in the House … Continue reading Steely-Eyed Primate