Random thoughts, dubious rants, curiosities and worthy citations on the media, politics, marketing, music, inanity, and animals, among other things. Words and pictures and stuff, mostly from south central Wisconsin USA
Good luck. This is a prime example of how the "journalists" at FOX "News" present "facts."
Funny in a way, especially when Jon Stewart is the de-bunker. But there are a lot of people -- sadly, many that are even somewhat educated -- that believe this shit.
Sad. But true. People go off about how they don't want some government bureaucrat coming between them and their doctor. As if some insurance company bureaucrat who gets rewarded for denying coverage coming between you and your doctor is somehow better?
Wow. I mean WOW. P.T. Barnum was right. A sucker IS born every minute.
What a tool Illinois Governor-for-now Rod Blagojevich is. He claims he is not being allowed to call witnesses in his impeachment hearing before Illinois State Senate. But, as the Chicago Tribune points out...
Blagojevich said the Senate rules effectively don't allow him to call witnesses. The rules do allow Blagojevich to call witnesses, but he skipped deadlines to submit his witness wish list. Senators will have to vote to approve any witnesses called by the prosecution or the defense.
Blagojevich, portraying himself as the victim, said the impeachment trial rules are "a gross violation of every constitutional principle that exists."
"If they can do this to a governor, they can do this to any citizen in Illinois."
The impeachment trial, however, is a political procedure, not a legal one.
This report comes from the same Chicago Tribune whose editorial board Governor Douchebag tried to extort into firing some of its editorial board members. These would be the same editorial board members he is now begging for help in swaying public opinion...
Blagojevich pleaded with newspaper editorial boards to lobby in his favor to change the rules of the impeachment trial to make them what he says would be fairer. In the criminal complaint following his Dec. 9 arrest, federal authorities accused Blagojevich of scheming to get Chicago Tribune editorial board members fired in return for helping the Cubs baseball team, which is owned by Tribune Co., a deal with the state to buy Wrigley Field.
Of course, this is all a ploy on the part of the Illinois Legislature to raise taxes on the good people of Illinois that elected this fool...
"This is politics," he said on the "Don Wade and Roma" show on WLS. "This is about raising taxes. Pat Quinn has cut a deal with Democratic leaders....It's all about getting rid of me to raise taxes on people." Both income and sales taxes on gasoline would be increased by May, he said.
So he's fighting the good fight to help the people of Illinois. I gather he was just helping them when he was allegedly selling one half of their representation in the United State Senate as well. Uh huh.
As a native of Illinois, I cringe every time this asshat opens his mouth. I mean, honestly, what a complete and total idiot this man is... in addition to being a first class jerk. As a native also of the City of Chicago, however, I love Mayor Richard M. Daley's one word summation of Governor Douchebag:
"I said 'cuckoo' once, I'll say it again," Daley said said. "Cuckoo."
[CLTV video of Da Mare here via the Chicago Tribune]
This is so very telling. I'm glad we have Jon Stewart to point out what idiots and assholes they are in the right wing noise machine of Fox News and its ilk.
OK, I admit, that isn't exactly accurate. But it might as well have been what Rod Blagojevich and his attorneys were saying today at the so-called news conference held in Chicago. He pretty much says he is innocent, even though the Feds have him on tape incriminating himself, among other things. And Patrick Fitzgerald, the US Attorney handling this case, is about as honest and thorough as the day is long.
But the Governor says that, apparently, his own voice on tape incriminating himself is some how irrelevant. Paging Mr. Lying Sack O'Shit, your table is ready.
"I will fight. I will fight. I will fight until I take my last breath," he said. "And I'm not going to quit a job that people hired me to do because of false accusations and a political lynch mob." Blagojevich, however, did not get into the specifics of the political corruption charges he faces, saying he's "not going to talk about this case in 30-second sound bites ... on the TV news."
"I am dying to answer these charges. I am dying to show you how innocent I am," he said.
Yeah, Rod. Me too. I'm dying... laughing at your lame ass self and being glad I am not a resident of Illinois these days. Even though it is my home state, and I am proud to have been born in Chicago, you have done tons to make both the state and city look like shit in the past few weeks.
Sure, Chicago has a reputation. "Chicago Politics" is a tough game, and not always pretty. But however often the players flirt with illegality, they have a certain kind of code of honor among thieves, as it were. Good lord, Old Man Daley must be spinning faster in his grave than Lincoln is.
"Afford me the same rights that you and your children have. The presumption of innocence.
"The right to defend yourself," he said. "Now I know there are some powerful forces arrayed against me. It's kind of lonely right now. But I have on my side the most powerful ally there is: the truth. Besides, I have the personal knowledge that I have not done anything wrong."
Gimme a break, you tool. As a friend of mine who is with the Illinois Attorney General's office said earlier today, "Children are frequently criminal or civil defendants, so their rights in the legal system are really relevant."
And then there's this: Blogo's attorney seems to be claiming that the
evidence against his client is not on the up and up. He was quoted by
the Chicago Sun-Times as saying "I think you're using evidence that was illegally obtained," [Ed] Genson told the [House impeachment] committee.
Ah, yes, the old "the evidence was not legally obtained so I am
innocent" thing. Maybe in a court of law, that will work. But, dude,
you said what you said. It pretty much proves what an asshat you are,
don't you think?
What an embarrassment... and I say that as a Democrat. This is hardly a proud moment for Illinois. But this idiot Governor doesn't care about the people of Illinois, only himself. His own attorneys as much as said so, when they set the threshold for him resigning thusly:
"If the people of Illinois are suffering, he will step aside," [Attorney Sam] Adam said.
Suffering. That's what it will take. Classy to the end, huh Rod?
ALBUQUERQUE - The chairwoman of an Otero County Republican women's group on Tuesday defended a letter to the editor in which she wrote, ''I believe Muslims are our enemies.'' Marcia Stirman, a 56-year-old interior decorator, also called Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama ''a Muslim socialist.'' ... Stirman told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that she was surprised by reaction to her letter, which she said included support from all over the country. She wrote it after the newspaper recently published another reader's letter titled ''Why I'm a Democrat.'' Asked for a response to [Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations]'s concerns, she said of Muslims: ''I don't trust them at all. ... They've sworn across the world that they are our enemies. Why we're trying to elect one is beside me.''
So where is the New Mexico Republican Party on all of this? You know reporters went looking for their input...
Officials with the Republican Party of New Mexico had no immediate comment.
Uh huh. That was the public response. In private, I'd wager it went something like, "She said what?! What a fucking moron! Thanks for nothing, you idiot!" Or maybe worse. Not because they are are warm and fuzzy about Muslims. Just because they know how bad this makes them look. Kind of reinforces the stereotype of uninformed bigots running your local operations, it would seem.
There are a lot of people who don't want Barack Obama to be president. I get that. It's how a democracy works. But, seriously, for the state Republican Party to not immediately repudiate this nut-job? That speaks volumes about New Mexico's Republicans.
Marcia Stirman and I agree on one thing: we are all entitled to our opinion, and we are all free to express that opinon. My opinion is that Marcia Stirman is an ignorant, hateful moron.
Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin denied Saturday that she had abused her power as Alaska's governor, a conclusion reached by a state investigator in a report released the day before.
"If you read the report, you will see that there was nothing unlawful or unethical about replacing a cabinet member," Palin said as boarded her campaign bus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "You got to read the report." [nice grammar]
Palin violated state ethics law by trying to get her former brother-in-law fired from the state police, a state investigator's report for the bipartisan Legislative Council concluded Friday.
"Gov. Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda," the report states. [italics mine]
Notice anything odd here? Read the governor's quote in the second paragraph from CNN. Seems her position is built on the words nothing unlawful or unethical. And yet, in the very next sentence, CNN seems to be saying pretty clearly that the bipartisan report says she violated state ethics law.
Hmmm. How very Cheney-esque. How Nixonian. How Bullshitarian. Haven't we had enough of this kind of above-the-law leadership in our current president and vice president.
Palin and the Teleprompter(September 15, 2008 8:42 PM)
At a fundraiser in Canton, Ohio, this evening, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin had an interesting description of her speech to the Republican convention.
“There Ohio was right out in front, right in front of me," Palin said. "The teleprompter got messed up, I couldn’t follow it, and I just decided I’d just talk to the people in front of me. It was Ohio.”
This struck many of us -- who, as she spoke, followed along with her prepared remarks, and noted how closely she stuck to the script -- as an unusual claim. (Especially those of my colleagues on the convention floor at the time, reading along on the prompter with her, noticing her excellent and disciplined delivery, how she punched words that were underlined and paused where it said "pause," noting that "nuclear" was spelled out for her phonetically.)
There was no reason for her to tell this lie. And yet, she did. She just said it, even though it was ever so easily debunked. WTF? I don't know what to say, but Hunter does, so I'll defer in this case...
I mean, c'mon. We've already gone past Mencken's prophecied point, happily electing an outright moron, but is it truly necessary to make Orwell obsolete as well? This one is just stupid -- lying for the sake of lying. Lying, frankly, like a child.
McCain and Palin don't just lie about big things, like tax policy, Iraq and the economy. They even lie about petty trivialities -- any tiny little thing is fair game, if it lets them preen for a moment in front of their audiences.
"It's all true. And I'm her press secretary, no press secretary general, Tommy Flanagan. And she can see Russia, no China from her sofa, umm, throne at the governor's mansion, um castle, palace. Yeah, that's the ticket."
In a recent post, I pointedly accused the McCain campaign, and generally Republicans, of lying. For that, I was taken to task by a conservative friend whose opinion I respect although we find little to agree upon from a political standpoint. He made a case for his point that the word "liar" is a harsh and seemingly drastic word that doesn't help in encouraging dialogue between two parties who do not agree.
In thinking about this and agreeing that elevating the discourse, as a more refined person may call it, is an honorable position to take, I keep coming back to the thought that if an "untruth" is not called out, then in some ways it is given implied approval... it's a tacit agreement.
My friend had me for a while, and I told him I thought I could do better than using that word. But one thing kept bugging me. As part of his argument, he included the video clip of former president Bill Clinton's infamous "I did not have sex with that woman" quote. The rhetorical statement my friend was making was that if we wanted to talk about who made calling a person a liar more acceptable in political debate, we can look to the person who told that Big Lie as the one who made lying somehow OK.
The more I thought about that, the more I realized that my friend had made my point for me with that Clinton quote. Clinton did lie, as a certain blue dress and a little DNA proved conclusively. For that lie -- and it was a pretty bold lie -- the Republicans decided to enter into impeachment proceedings. Even though it was a matter of personal failure -- that's what extramarital sex is by most people's definition -- they felt he lied and he should be removed from office for that untruth. They called it what it was: a lie.
So what is a lie? Why is that word considered too harsh for civil conversation, but openly used as grounds for impeachment of a sitting president when he denied getting a blow job? Webster's Dictionary offers this definition of the word:
verb Inflected Form(s): lied; ly·ing \ˈlī-iŋ\ ... intransitive verb 1 : to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive 2 : to create a false or misleading impression transitive verb : to bring about by telling lies "lied his way out of trouble" ... synonyms: lie , prevaricate , equivocate , palter , fib mean to tell an untruth. lie is the blunt term, imputing dishonesty "lied about where he had been".
The blogosphere and now, finally, the mainstream news media, are calling the McCain campaign out for what has become apparent: they are employing a political strategy of lying. That word is being used, and used a lot. It's used with that second intransitive verb definition about creating a false or misleading perception. The untruths, half-truths, distortions and, well, lies, are out there. Rather than cherry pick a link from an opinion writer who shares my point of view, I suggest Googling any one of these topics regarding the McCain/Palin campaign:
Palin supports "bridge to nowhere" before she doesn't
Palin sells state jet on eBay for a profit
McCain + campaign staff + lobbyists
McCain commercial + Obama for sex ed for kindergartners
Alaska + earmarks
There are several more, and they are finally getting a little light shed on them because even the media, who have gone easy on McCain and even easier on his running mate, are catching on. Perhaps that's because the media don't like to be lied to either, especially after being used to disseminate lies. I expect that my friend will start looking for examples of (hopefully recent) Democratic lies. There probably are a few floating around. Through mistake or stupidity, lies occur. But within the Obama campaign, there isn't a pattern -- a strategy -- of intended deception. There seems to be such a strategy in play with the McCain campaign. A pattern is showing itself, and it is part of a larger strategy to win at any cost including character assassination, co-opting of the Obama message, and a whole lot of smoke and bullshit. Why? Because they can't run on the issues. If they do, they lose.
Politics ain't bean bag, as the late mayor of Chicago, Harold Washington, used to say. It's not a field for the faint of heart or the easily offended or hurt. But it should be honest. (I can dream.) Part of that honesty is calling out lies -- yes, lies -- when they are being repeated as truth even after they have been debunked. Democrats have continued to take a high road. With all due respect to their spirit of being more intellectually honest than their Republican opponents, fuck that. How in the world can we trust anything that a President McCain and Vice President Palin say if it is obvious they are very comfortable distorting, misrepresenting and bending the truth -- lying -- as candidates. Our country's future is too important, and at this time too precarious, for Democrats to let lies stand unchallenged.
And that's what they are: lies.
Update #1: John Aravosis at Ameriblog has a post up that contains many links to demonstrating how the media are finally calling McCain out for his dishonest campaign tactics. And the media does not seem to shying away from the L word.
Update #2: Robert Greenwald offers his take on this subject in the video that follows...
[original diary version cross-posted on Daily Kos]
From Madison's Capital Times comes this story off the AP state wire:
Green Bay Mom allegedly used daughter's ID to be cheerleader
GREEN BAY -- A 33-year-old woman is charged with stealing her daughter's identity to attend high school and join the cheerleading team.
Wendy Brown, of Green Bay, is charged with felony identity theft after enrolling in Ashwaubenon High School as her daughter, who lives in Nevada with Brown's mother.
The criminal complaint says Brown admitted to telling school officials she was 15 because she wanted to get her high school diploma and join the cheerleading squad.
She did make it through her first day of classes, but that was all. Her mistake: going truant the second day af classes. FAIL!
I have to think that there are at least a few high school football players who are thinking, "Damn. I came this close, too."
Regrettably, the AP offered no picture with this dispatch. Fortunately WFRV-TV got a copy of the mug shot to use in this video report. She looks like she could be 15... if she were a 15 year old meth head or she was following the Amy Winehouse diet.
