Month: June 2009

So Called Liberal Media5 Comments

If You Read Nothing Else Today

Read this. Whenever I talk about why people like the Interwebs and dislike newspapers, I talk about the mealy-mouthed word-mincing of privileged columnists, about the disappearance of righteous outrage on behalf of the powerless, about the idea that’s somehow crept in in the past decade that it’s uncouth to actually get angry about what’s happening. So when something like that comes along, I feel the need to yell to the world at large THIS THIS IS WHAT WE WANT FROM OUR JOURNALISM THIS IS WHAT WE NEED FROM OUR JOURNALISTS THIS RIGHT HERE. A. Continue reading If You Read Nothing Else Today

Faith11 Comments

They Put Jesus in Show Business

Now it’s hard to get in the door: On this blog and in right wing watch circles in general, we spend a lot of time tracking the religious right’s assault on human rights and secular democracy. But it’s also important to think about how they financially exploit their own followers, who are lured in with Jesus and fetuses and fears of dudes kissing, and told to open their wallets. You can usually tell what’s going on with the wingnuts by what they claim The Left is doing, and so it’s not for nothing that there are constant, baseless claims that … Continue reading They Put Jesus in Show Business

Of Interest1 Comment

Wednesday Reading

Beware the SUPER-POT. ViaNtodd: Rest now, Shifty: In the second-to-last episode of “Band of Brothers,” an HBO miniseries that documented Easy Company’s wartime exploits, Powers spoke on camera about the soldiers he fought and also hinted at the intrinsic tragedy of combat. “We might have had a lot in common. He might’ve liked to fish, you know, he might’ve liked to hunt,” Powers said. “Of course, they were doing what they were supposed to do, and I was doing what I was supposed to do. “But under different circumstances, we might have been good friends.” RMJ questions the unquestionable war. … Continue reading Wednesday Reading

Stupid Republican Tricks4 Comments

Today on Tommy T’s Obsession With The Freeperati – Turncoats and Traitors edition

Hi gang – before we suit up and crack the airlock door, I have to advise you that Levi “Hockey” Johnson (or an amazing facsimile) now has his own column at Something Awful.They’re doing a pretty good job of channeling the Swain Of Wasilla, I think. Take a look, if you dare. All right! I’ve asked Doc to bring some extra blowers online, as this week’s Obsession features Freepers getting theDolchstosslegende treatment from people they once fawned over and rolled over for in the vain hope of getting their collective bellies scratched. First up – I’ll give 8 to 5 … Continue reading Today on Tommy T’s Obsession With The Freeperati – Turncoats and Traitors edition

Marriage Equality4 Comments

Happy Dodd Photo

I knew I loved this man. My young daughters are growing up in a different reality than I did. Our family knows many same-sex couples – our neighbors in Connecticut, members of my staff, parents of their schoolmates. Some are now married because the Connecticut Supreme Court and our state legislature have made same-sex marriage legal in our state. But to my daughters, these couples are married simply because they love each other and want to build a life together. That’s what we’ve taught them. The things that make those families different from their own pale in comparison to the … Continue reading Happy Dodd Photo

So Called Liberal Media8 Comments

Well, YES, For Chrissakes

Journalists should do journalism! The earnest Washington audience — lobbyists, policy types, writers, etc. — picked up on the conventional wisdom that the comics have become the go-to source for America’s news. They kept asking about it in different ways for an hour. The comics took the questions seriously at first, but then they grew more and more uncomfortable with what was starting to sound like a growing social responsibility. As the crowd marveled at the comics’ ability to skewer the very people those in the audience spent their days courting or covering, the comics essentially said, while shrugging their … Continue reading Well, YES, For Chrissakes

Congress9 Comments

Sack Up Already, Democrats

Krugman: The real risk is that health care reform will be undermined by “centrist” Democratic senators who either prevent the passage of a bill or insist on watering down key elements of reform. I use scare quotes around “centrist,” by the way, because if the center means the position held by most Americans, the self-proclaimed centrists are in fact way out in right field. While driving this morning I waslistening to somebody absolutely rip the insurance companies a new one on NPR. Just blistering them. What brave Democrat could this be, I thought? Republican Joe Fucking Barton: Yes.Smokey Joe Barton. … Continue reading Sack Up Already, Democrats

Economy4 Comments

Only 70k

My, my, my… whatever happened to myBush Boom? The Labor Department is forecast to report Dec. 7 that employers added 70,000 workers last month, down from 166,000 the previous month, according to a separate survey of economists. The unemployment rate is expected to increase to 4.8 percent from 4.7 percent. Only 70,000 new jobs? Since our economy must generate 150,000 new jobs each month just to keep pace with growth in the labor force, consider a 70k gain to be a net loss of 80k jobs. Continue reading Only 70k

Stupid Republican Tricks4 Comments

Your Goal

Grassleybecomes a bigger asshole every single day: Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley said on CNN that the Senate Finance Committee is “dialing down some of our expectations” of the legislation in response to an estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that earlier options under consideration would cost $1.6 trillion. “Our goal is affordability,” said Grassley, who is the top-ranked Republican on the finance panel. Well fuck shit goddamn, our goal is to not have more people essentially assasinated by economics, how about that, Chuckles? Our goal is not to make the program the cheapest possible half a loaf it … Continue reading Your Goal

Do Something11 Comments

They Don’t Really Want This

Oliver: We didn’t win the White House, House and Senate to ask Chuck Grassley for permission to do stuff. Readingthis, my first reaction was to get really, really, really tired, because we have done this before. We asked these assholes to do something very simple for us in exchange for getting them elected and they fucked it up in an effort to appear nice to Republicans for no reason at all. Nothing will change, except that people will be forced to pay for something that doesn’t work, will cost them in the long run, and might even kill them, either … Continue reading They Don’t Really Want This

War in Iraq3 Comments

Is Freedom Reigning Yet?

Way to go, Leaders of the Free World! BAGHDAD, Feb 25 (Reuters) – U.S. troops have detained the news editor of a television station owned by Iraq’s most powerful political party and his son, who they accused of attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces, the U.S. military said on Monday. Hafodh al-Beshara, news editor and manager of political programming of the al-Furat television station, was arrested during a raid on the channel’s offices in Baghdad’s central Karrada district late on Saturday night, station officials said. Al-Furat is owned by the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the biggest Shi’ite party in Prime … Continue reading Is Freedom Reigning Yet?

Current Affairs5 Comments

The Cop Who Can’t Stop (and the journalist who didn’t want him to…)

It’s late in the day, but I couldn’t let this one go.The police chief here in Milwaukee, where I’m spending a few days, has admitted to having an affair with a journalist for Milwaukee Magazine. Where to even begin with this… Start maybe with the fact that Jessica McBride and Chief Ed Flynn are both married, she to a former district attorney and he to a woman who didn’t want to come to Milwaukee in the first place. Not a fan of the “moralizing” angle? How about the ethics? McBridewrote a huge article on Flynnfor Milwaukee Magazine, under the truly … Continue reading The Cop Who Can’t Stop (and the journalist who didn’t want him to…)

Immoral Values15 Comments

Coming To Get You

In your schools, in your pools, in a box, with a fox, green eggs and ham, etc.: Studies show, no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted for more than, you know, a few decades. . . I honestly think it’s the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam. They want to get them into the government schools so they can indoctrinate them. …They are going after our young children, as young as two years of age, to try to teach them that the homosexual lifestyle is an acceptable lifestyle. You know, gays are … Continue reading Coming To Get You

Diary4 Comments

A List, in No Particular Order, of 21 Things My Father Has Taught Me

1. Cheetos and chocolate stars are the breakfast of champions. 2. There is no day so bad some shopping can’t make it better. 3. There is no day so good some shopping can’t make it better. 4. Nag enough, loud enough, and eventually you will get what you want. Beach! Beach! Beach! 5. You’re never too old to give kids horsey rides. 6. SIEVE! SIEVE! SIEVE! 7. Sarcasm and mockery are the highest forms of affection. If you’re not loved you’re not worth teasing. 8. Don’t take any crap from anybody just because you’re a girl. 9. Do what you … Continue reading A List, in No Particular Order, of 21 Things My Father Has Taught Me

Stupid Republican Tricks7 Comments

The Juggernaut Rides Again

Funnyjoke at the end. Actress Laura Dern wore a cowboy hat, boots, a super-tight blue T-shirt, equally tight jeans, brunette wig and plenty of makeup as she rode a horse through downtown Monday afternoon. The character she was portraying was immediately recognizable: Katherine Harris.. The blond “Jurassic Park” star is part of the cast of the HBO movie “Recount” being filmed in the capital seven years after the election that for five weeks left the world wondering who would take over the White House. Harris was the secretary of state who certified President Bush’s 537-vote victory. The Longboat Key Republican … Continue reading The Juggernaut Rides Again

Current Affairs4 Comments

Pack Rage

(Few things make me more irate than general scumbaggery, so I hope you’ll pardon an out-of-the-ordinary screed from me.) I spent a glorious Saturday at theVince Lombardi Golf Classic, an event that over the past 39 years has been used to raise money for cancer research. It’s a great chance for the general public to rally for a good cause and meet some local celebrities and former Green Bay Packer players. The rules are pretty simple: You can go wherever you want on the course, talk to anyone you’d like and ask for autographs. However, they ask that you buy … Continue reading Pack Rage

Current Affairs4 Comments

Quitting Time Booster Shot

Welcome to the QTBS, The Birthday Boy Edition… – It’s my birthday this week and that has led to reflection. In dog years, I’m dead. Personality-wise, I’m a crusty 75 or whatever Clint Eastwood was in Gran Torino, minus the racism. Maturity-wise, I’m 12. My body feels like it’s 112 after sanding furniture in the garage for an hour. In dealing with the college kids, I feel like I must be old enough to have double-dated with George Washington. When surrounded by other adults, I feel like I’m 18. Actual age, well, let’s put it this way: I’m probably making … Continue reading Quitting Time Booster Shot

Law/Justice10 Comments

No Dominion

Allison Hantschel

Civilian courts have no oversight: WASHINGTON – Guantanamo Bay detainees may not challenge their detention in U.S. courts, a federal appeals court said Tuesday in a ruling upholding a key provision of a law at the center of President Bush’s anti-terrorism plan. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 that civilian courts no longer have the authority to consider whether the military is illegally holding foreigners. Barring detainees from the U.S. court system was a key provision in the Military Commissions Act, which Bush pushed through Congress last year to set up a system … Continue reading No Dominion

Law/Justice9 Comments

Not nothing, but not enough

I used to have this great therapist. She asked me to name the core beliefs, principles, feelings that I was totally, without a doubt, completely committed to, that meant the most to me, that I was certain of. As sessions went on, she would, fairly frequently, point out when my words, thoughts or actions seemed to be at odds with my commitment to those things. Indeed, some of these things, it turned out, I routinely equivocated about, betrayed, doubted. My point, and I do have one, should be fairly obvious: sooner or later, it doesn’t really matter what you say, … Continue reading Not nothing, but not enough

So Called Liberal Media10 Comments

Nobody Knows What To Do

That’s primarily what I took away fromChicago Media Future this afternoon, that and a dislike ofPatrick Spain of Newser.com, who spent his entire time on the afternoon panel making the following assertions: 1. Nobody with fewer than 5 million hits daily is making any money online. 2. Politico has replaced the Washington Post as a source of good political information. 3. HuffPo will replace the New York Times. 4. The New York Times will not exist one year from today. There’s not enoughbish pleasein the whole world for #1, like, tell it to Dooce and the Fug Girls and Nate … Continue reading Nobody Knows What To Do