the beast wakes from her snooze...

in space no one can hear you scream...

This explains a lot (well, not really):

"He became vice president well before George Bush picked him," Wilkerson said of Cheney. "And he began to manipulate things from that point on, knowing that he was going to be able to convince this guy to pick him, knowing that he was then going to be able to wade into the vacuums that existed around George Bush — personality vacuum, character vacuum, details vacuum, experience vacuum."

Woof! And the space between his ears? Is that a vacuum too or does the wind whistle thru?

love me some kinison...

Christmas night, the Bro was kind enough to drive me back from Portland as I was feeling poorly. When we got to my place, we figured some stand-up on Comedy Central would be the ticket. But Jeff Dunham, who is decidedly not funny, was all there was.

Sooo before I finally crash 2nite, I thought I'd post this for Bro, wishing him & his lady a Happy New Year, 'cause I jest know it'll make him laugh.

世界的末端...

This supersedes the previous post.

The beauty of it all is that it's apolitical -- unless, of course, it was God who threw the rock.

the 2nd american civil war: circa 2010...

And this time to the foreign nationals go the spoils:

He based the forecast on classified data supplied to him by FAPSI analysts, he says. He predicts that economic, financial and demographic trends will provoke a political and social crisis in the U.S. When the going gets tough, he says, wealthier states will withhold funds from the federal government and effectively secede from the union. Social unrest up to and including a civil war will follow. The U.S. will then split along ethnic lines, and foreign powers will move in.

And then whitey becomes the illegal.

I love that the east coast (although KY? TN? SC? Not!) joins the EU. Enlightenment is not yet dead. However, that Texas gets gobbled up by the "Messicans" is hysterical to me, not to mention poetic justice. Let it be Mexico City then that brings Dubya to trial for his War Crimes (or is that just "gallows" humor?).

Canada gets the breadbasket (smart move, Ottawa!). Of course, China getting California is a sad development. I figured Japan as putting in a claim beyond just Hawaii.

Ahem, note the Ruskies reabsorbing Alaska. Allll that oil! I can see ol' Putie Poot's head floating over Wassila, moaning, "Sarrrrrahhh! Sarrrrrahhh!"

My sense is 2010 as being a hair early, although the scenario does have a more palpable certainty about it, thanks to a certain hair-brained boy president.

Put Sarah in charge, of course (You betcha!), and I'd be bumpin' zero-hour up to January '09.

says the lib blogger...

Sometimes it pays to be far down the food chain.

it's getting easier being green...

Leo DiCaprio's new ride: the all-electric sports car...

Yes, bartender, I'll have one of those.

i feel yer pain...

Shhhhh... !!

A South Philadelphia man enraged because a father and son were talking during a Christmas showing of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button took care of the situation when he pulled a .380-caliber gun and shot the father, police said.

This oughta give ol' Naahm, a.k.a., CCG2 a chubbie.

montezuma's revenge: north of the border...

It would be more than mere cliche to say some of my best friends are Republicans. Hell! I was a Republican once myself. At the time, however, I was also a teenager. Read from that what you will.

But -- dear God! -- the party has totally devolved into a cabal of vile little assholes:

Included on the disc was a musical parody of "Puff the Magic Dragon" entitled "Barack the Magic Negro," sung by Shanklin imitating black civil rights advocate Rev. Al Sharpton, first played by Rush Limbaugh on his syndicated radio show in March 2007.

Tennessee, eh? Think that coal sludge getting into the drinking water has fermented a little more quickly than they anticipated?

But then, what's Alaska's excuse?

engaged...

Tom Brady & Gisele to tie the knot...

another one bites the dust...

Eartha Kitt: 1927-2008

My first exposure to her was as Catwoman in the Batman TV series. Later was drawn to her performance in St. Louis Blues.

Awesome CD Miss Kitt To You (C'est Si Bon) -- favorite cut: Avril au Portugal.

yah, so what... !?

There was a time when something like this would've made me insane.

freaky deaky...

Look-alike city:

Current "in the news" gay-bashing Evangelitan Rick Warren...

Washington Caps owner Ted Leonsis...


Whack-a-doo character actor Victor Buono...

----------
Update:

Luciano Pavarotti?

No? Did I go too far?

a maine winter's evening...

Dateline:  Maine Street -- The temperature at last check was 12 degrees (indeed feeling like minus something). The walk home was bracing, no lie, and I am made to once again look forward to spring.

another one bites the dust...

Majel Barrett Roddenberry: 1932-2008

Her romance with Roddenberry earned her the title "The First Lady of Star Trek." A fixture in the "Star Trek" franchise, her roles included Nurse Christine Chapel in the original "Star Trek," Lwaxana Troi in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and the voice of the USS Enterprise computer in almost every spin-off of the 1966 cult series. She recently reprised the voice role in the upcoming "Star Trek" film directed by J.J. Abrams.

it's ok if the jews are gay (mantra o'the day)...

Well here's an interesting turn for the worm:

[S]ome interesting quotes from Warren from 2006, talking about how he'd visited Syria and found it to be a place of moderation and religious tolerance -- including tolerance towards Jews, who in reality are barred from government jobs and who are singled out for special identification and discrimination in other ways.

Wow! Quite the mess he's stepped in, our Prez-elect. Just having thrown the LGBT types under the bus with his selection of Rick Warren to invoke a prayer at his Inaugural party, turns out these pro-Syrian comments will most assuredly piss off the much more powerful Jewish lobby. So if he pulls the plug on Warren now, could that not be interpreted as a second smack of the gay?

It was only last night that I was thinking the pick to be fairly stupid because one could tell Obama would never pick an anti-semite or a Klan symp to prove his "broad-mindedness," although that reeeeally would've been, uhm, broad-minded had he done so.

Turns out my thoughts could've been a tad hasty. And Dubya hisself couldn't've done a more heckuva job.

bill o'reilly, call yer ofc...

Al Franken projected winner in Minnesota.

Dog gone it! People like me.

another one bites the dust...

Deep Throat: 1913-2008

Mark Felt, Bob Woodward's great mysterious unnamed source, 2nd most central character in All The President's Men, integral in bringing down the most corrupt presidency in American History, that is until 2001.

----------
Update: a little late, but, well, the dust is bit: Linda Lovelace: 1949-2002

a provisional thank you to manny...

Never thought I'd say it...

Scott Boras is agent to both Mark Teixiera and Manny Ramirez. If the Yankees signed Teixiera, where does Manny go? The Yankees would be less likely to sign him, given they already would have two $20M ballplayers, inc. A-Rod; the Red Sox don't want him; the Dodgers can't afford him; and the Angels manager Mike Scioscia would kill him before they got out of spring training. So Boras wants Teixiera to sign with the Sox so Manny can go to the Yankees.

Unless the Washington Nats sign Teixiera.

But who in their right mind would choose the Nats over the Sox? Chaatoes? Baker? HAMstah?

Does a body really need the extra $20M after getting $180M?

Sox get Teixiera then; Manny gets booed at Fenway 9-10X-a-year.

feedback to the feedback to the irreverence...

Old poker-buddy and fellow former UMie/DC softballer H-Mac takes exception via email to my contempt for all things Bush:

You can't really mean what you said on your blog about the 3rd shoe being the charm. No matter how much you might hate a US President you can't be in favor of any President being attacked . . . This is like a fight outside the family. You and your brother I assume fought plenty when you were kids and at times felt like you "hated" each other but god forbid if some outsider tried to pick a fight with you or him I assume the other one would have come in full steam swinging to protect the other one. We can fight amongst ourselves plenty but when outsiders attack one of us with such blatant disrespect it demeans all of us.

... to which I responded:

you and i differ on who the outsider is... or isn't... the incident happened in iraq... the shoe-thrower is an iraqi... ipso facto: bush was the outsider...

and, to borrow a time-tested metaphor that works aptly as a pun: put yourself in the other guy's shoes:

imagine if uniformed "outsiders" from an invading force came crashing through your house door, blew you away and did unspeakable acts to your wife and kids... or let others do so, when you were only a while ago safe & secure in your persons...

or maybe you weren't blown away, but were made to watch said unspeakable acts, then taken away to a prison where less-unspeakable acts were done to you, including being sodomized, bitten by dogs, tortured with electrical devices, smeared with feces, etc...

now wouldn't you want to throw a shoe at the bastard who ordered that done... ?

not that i'm into conjuring such images, big guy, but that sh*t went down, and most of it was done to bystanders and other assorted innocents, not just actual "insurgents"...

america can't be "america" anymore, old boot, not until bush is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law... or gets hit in the mush with a freakin' shoe...

the demeaning of the office, and our country, wasn't done by the shoe thrower but the occupant himself...

when told of this, the president is quoted to have said: "so what?"...

Thinking of buying a fir for that special someone?

When undercover investigators made their way onto Chinese fur farms recently, they found that many animals are still alive and struggling desperately when workers flip them onto their backs or hang them up by their legs or tails to skin them. When workers on these farms begin to cut the skin and fur from an animal's leg, the free limbs kick and writhe. Workers stomp on the necks and heads of animals who struggle too hard to allow a clean cut.

When the fur is finally peeled off over the animals' heads, their naked, bloody bodies are thrown onto a pile of those who have gone before them. Some are still alive, breathing in ragged gasps and blinking slowly. Some of the animals' hearts are still beating five to 10 minutes after they are skinned. One investigator recorded a skinned raccoon dog on the heap of carcasses who had enough strength to lift his bloodied head and stare into the camera.

Stay warm now! And Happy Holidays!

baby needs a new pair of shoes...

A shame this dude wasn't three-legged, the third being the charm and all.

----------
Update: From HuffPo:

Bodyguards quickly wrestled Zaidi to the floor and hauled him, kicking and screaming, from the room. Two other Iraqi journalists were briefly detained after one of them called Zaidi's actions "courageous."

Amen!

i use'ta be catholic but i gave it up for lent...

So what's the big deal? Had I known mother Mary was such a babe, I'd still be going to confession.

----------
Update: That the simple-minded see the Virgin's image in buttered toast, on fence-posts, or on MRI scans fergawdsakes! -- and proceed to fall to their knees, I am left to the position where I cannot be bothered when they get so blamed exercised over such displays. Begone, simple-minded!
----------
Update: Dare to resist: More on The Virgin Maria.

well, alrighty then...

Dig UMass upsetting defending nat'l champs Cans-Ass!

anything to get laid...

One stunningly amazing bird! (Click YouTube window a second time if the embed is disabled, which should take you to the vid at YouTube directly.)

A chainsaw??

another one bites the dust...

Bettie Page: 1923-2008

The pin-up girl is dead.

Long live the pin-up girl!

yahoo chess update...

Wow! I just had one of my better games in a while. I'd been in a slump of late, losing to mediocrities, also-rans, other assorted losers & thugs, and, by doing so, joining their ranks. Usually, my rating is in the high-1300s with extended dalliances in the low-1400s. Once or twice I've gotten over 1500, but my water usually seeks its level 'round the 1390s to 1420s and assumes the shape of its container. And with this last win, I am once again within hailing distance of said shape:

Rating: 1316
Games Completed: 4539
Games Abandoned: 327
Wins: 2768
Losses: 1605
Draws: 166
Streak: 1

The guy I beat came to the table with a rating of 1512 and left at 1487. I started at 1291 (sucking the pipe, as I've said) and, as you can see above, stand at 1316, less of a leap for beating a 1500s type than I would've thought, but what're ya' gonna do?

Like I say, I rather liked the game I played. Here it is:

;Title: Yahoo! Chess Game
;White: its.poonam90
;Black: gpammons
;Date: Thu Dec 11 08:46:55 GMT 2008

1. e2-e4 c7-c5
2. f1-c4 e7-e6
3. g1-f3 a7-a6
4. o-o b7-b5
5. c4-e2 c8-b7
6. d2-d3 h7-h6
7. a2-a3 d7-d5
8. e4xd5 b7xd5
9. b1-c3 b8-c6
10. c3xd5 d8xd5
11. c2-c4 d5-d8
12. c1-f4 c6-d4
13. f3xd4 d8xd4
14. f4-e3 d4xb2
15. e2-g4 a8-d8
16. f1-e1 b5xc4
17. d1-a4+ b2-b5
18. a4xb5+ a6xb5
19. d3xc4 b5-b4
20. a3xb4 c5xb4
21. e1-b1 g8-f6
22. g4-f3 f8-e7
23. c4-c5 f6-d5
24. f3xd5 d8xd5
25. b1xb4 o-o
26. b4-b5 f8-c8
27. a1-c1 f7-f5
28. g2-g3 g8-f7
29. b5-b7 f7-f6
30. c5-c6 e7-d6
31. b7-d7 d6-a3
32. c1-c2 d5xd7
33. c6xd7 c8-d8
34. c2-d2 a3-b4
35. d2-d1 f6-e7
36. g1-f1 d8xd7
37. d1xd7+ e7xd7
38. e3-d4 g7-g5
39. d4-g7 h6-h5
40. g7-f6 g5-g4
41. f1-e2 b4-c5
42. f6-g5 d7-d6
43. e2-d3 c5xf2
44. d3-e2 f2-d4
45. g5-f4+ d6-d5
46. e2-d3 e6-e5
47. f4-d2 e5-e4+
48. d3-e2 d5-c4
49. d2-f4 d4-g1
50. e2-f1 g1-d4
51. f1-g2 c4-d3
52. h2-h3 d3-e2
53. h3xg4 h5xg4
54. f4-g5 e2-e1
55. g5-f4 e4-e3
56. f4-d6 e3-e2
57. d6-b4+ e1-d1
58. g2-h1 e2-e1+
59. b4xe1 d1xe1
60. h1-g2 e1-e2
61. g2-h2 e2-f3
62. White resigns.

And we move on.

kopbusters...

i LOVE this story!

Wondering if my favorite public defender does as well.

Next time, could we, like, "sting" the cops with Tasers? I mean, fair's fair -- yah?

assalaamu 'alaykum, my people...

That's right, don't let 'em forget it:

In case you were wondering, yes, President-elect Barack Hussein Obama will use his full name when he is sworn in on January 20th.

Because it needs repeating and often: Stupid people (and only stupid people) think Barack Obama's a Muslim. The really stupid people have a problem with his middle name, and I say rub their noses in the concept that the world's changing despite them.

I've said it before, I've come to know and, from time to time, work with Muslim people, and have found, like everybody else I know, there are some very decent folk within the community as well as your serious jag-offs.

You know: It takes all kinds... ?

In fact, I'd've been delighted if he was Muslim and still got elected.

----------
Update: Of course, he could be one o'them Ay-rabs, like I been sayin', and the plan all along is to wipe us good Christian white folk off God's good Earth...

... but I digress.

war on christmas science...

'Jesus Was Born in June', Astronomers Claim

And that is why these Evangelitan bastards have conniptions, my children: They're challenged to think twice about all their religious bullshit, and they, instead, decide it's simpler to make war on science -- and whine about a war on Christmas.

h/t to HuffPo...

in other words: lie... !

The Bush Legacy - Talking Points

Tell them I brought "Honor & Dignity" back to the White House.

vintage polaroid swinger commercial

Oh my Gahd! I was just reading about Polaroid ending it's production of instant film in 2009. So I looked up the Polaroid Swinger, my first camera in, like, 1960-something -- ONLY $19.95!! -- and found the original commercial jingle right hyar. Wow! I'm TOTALLY having groovy flashbacks!

[P.S., That'd be a young Ali McGraw taking the pic.]

another one for the history books...

Just blew the last game of chess online, forgetting I set a timer when I mostly play without -- and Ding! But then I'm driving a cab in an hour and I really don't have any time for this nonsense anyhow.

Last night was the slowest shift I've had since starting with the company (netting me all of a coupla Jacksons) and I'm getting the sense that Obama's right, that it's gonna get worse before it gets better. All very disturbing, thank you.

I have images of breadlines in front of billboards depicting American prosperity and my being too weak from hunger and depression to not give a shit about the irony anymore. Then I snap out of it, sample some caviar and sparkling wine and I'm all better.

That last sentence is meant to be ironic too.

oprah, call yer ofc...

As much as I loathe Karl Rove, this looks like it'd be a fun read:

Also reserved for between the covers of Rove’s book is his checklist of the “great many of the political actors in this town (who) never accepted him as a legitimate president.”

“I’ve got behind-the-scenes episodes that are going to show how unreceiving they were of this man as president of the United States,” Rove said, adding: “I’m going to name names and show examples.”

Maybe he could call it "Profiles in Courage"?

What? Oh!

a claustrophobic cul de sac, that...

There goes the neighborhood:

"I am afraid with all the negative press the president has been getting, the whole neighborhood is going to be a target," said the woman, who refused to give her name.

Credits to Navy beans the Bushies don't actually move to a cul de sac. Imagine, if you will, a march of tens of thousands -- the kind you see every so often from, say, the White House to Capital Hill.

Oh! Did someone mention it was racially exclusive? Ironic in this case given it'll be the white guy who devalues the neighbors' properties.

yoo stinkah... !

I knew I liked Berkeley for a reason:

On Monday, Berkeley's city council will vote on a proposal by its Peace and Justice Commission as to whether they will recommend war crimes charges for the UC Berkeley constitutional and international law professor. If passed, the measure would also order UC Berkeley to provide alternative courses to Yoo's class at the Boalt Hall School of Law.

I'm unclear as to the jurisdiction and what the city thinks it can do to modify a state college's curriculum; maybe enforce it by zoning their parking spaces over to Oakland. Regardless, what's important is making certain the spotlight burns ever hotter on this loyal Bushie sociopath.

And may they all burn thusly.

another one bites the dust...

Paul Benedict: 1938-2008

Coupla items with this guy: I loved the mad painter, having watched Sesame Street well past the age limit, mine that is. (Hey! I dug Maria.) But here the guy says, "I'm going to paint an '8'," then sneaks up on some bald schmoe lazing in a pool, paints an '8' on his chrome dome, and then books it when Baldo discovers he's been, uhm, scalped.

That and Benedict seriously looks like my brother-in-law. So adieu, Mr. B!

the greatest dog trick ever...

Empathy.

worstest... !

There is what I think to be a humorous anecdote, and which I like to tell, about my father, with whom I'd been frequently at odds. During my adolescence and young adulthood, we would constantly argue. And one day I was telling my mother about the most recent dust-up, the circumstances of which illustrating perfectly the absurd proportions of the relationship:

Dad: "You always argue with me."

Me: "I don't always argue with you."

Dad: "There you go again!"

Curiously, the headline of this piece -- Rove Defends Bush: He's Not Worst President Of Past 50 Years -- reminded me of that back & forth with dear old Dad. The world at large has been saying for at least over the course of his second term that Bush is the worst president in the last 50 years (and, for my money, since the dawn of time). And here we have the most aptly named "Turdblossom" -- give or take the blossom -- begging to disagree.

The point being, the mere denial of a circumstance cannot alone define whether the circumstance exists or not. And in this case, a Rovian denial notwithstanding: George Bush is the worst president in the history of the planet, including the last 50 years... and, uhm, maybe I always argue with my father.

----------
Update: Of course the neo-dicks hang their hats on Jimmy Carter's reign of ineffectualism in response to the question as to who might've been the worst president. It says here, however, that at the very least, Carter brought Israel & Egypt to the peace table... and, uhm -- Oh yeah! -- he left office with a budget deficit of a now-miniscule $50 billion. Now what the hell has Bush ever done that could be deemed as remotely worth a damn?

why won't they die... ?

Jeb Bush Ponders Florida Senate Run

Oy! -- Bush fatigue, anyone?

was he ever on the wagon... ?

Apparently Jesus' work here is done, either as a prop or as a crutch.

----------
Update: Dubya: That Jesus thing? It was all bullshit!

the biggest "change" of all...

Barack Obama isn't George F'ing Bush!

signed, One Happier Progressive!

in the year 2525 (if man is still alive)...

"Trillion" is the new "billion."

Here's betting the news will be covering "quadtrillions" within 10 years.

jesus... !

I mean, the days are cold up here already...

"There is a storm coming," Friedman continued, "and it hasn't hit yet. And I believe the decisions made, possibly in these next two months, could determine the next four years. This administration could be over before it starts -- over in the sense that it will spend the next four years digging out of a hole that has been created right now, that may be deeper and darker than anyone realizes."

this explains much...

I suppose that if the NSA showed me its file of my proclivities, utterances, browses, or other assorted misbehavings, and wanted me to bark like a poodle (or send troops to Iraq and keep them there for no good reason), I'd likely be thankful that's all they wanted.

bonus... !!!

Hmm... Gee! Do I want universal health coverage if it means the end of the Republican party?

Is this, like, a trick question?

lennon was right...

Mighty white of the Vatican to "forgive" John Lennon for telling the truth. The Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Christians and Christianists don't know who Jesus was or is, they just wish they do. And the the 60s crazies plum forgot Him (no, not Lennon!) during the era of Beatlemania -- that is, until Lennon spoke his truth, and which apparently snapped them out of that particular mania. And Lennon got a taste of what happens when you're a buzzkill on a massive scale.

the anti-midas...

Given King Midas is said to have had the power to turn all matter into gold simply by touching it, I had, for some time, dubbed Dubya the "anti-Midas" as everything he touches turns to excrement.

Looks here like the world leaders have caught wind.

the benefit of the doubt...

In case you were wondering, I'm keeping my powder dry with respect to the kid-gloves treatment of Lieberlips in lieu of burning him at the stake. It says here Holy Joe wants to keep his job in 2012, and the only way he does that is to play ball with the Dems for the next four years. There's a lot of buyer's remorse to overcome in Connecticut, eh, Mr. Shays?

Meanwhile, I'm hearing Rahm Emanuel saying the Obama Administration plans on "going long & deep" with respect to reforming healthcare and energy, hiring Tom Daschle at HHS because he knows how to push legislation through the Senate like nobody's business, or the fact House Dems just bumped off John Dingell and replaced him with Henry Waxman on the Energy Committee, etc.; or the mere fact Emanuel and Hillary piss off the Republicans by merely looking cross-eyed at them -- all of which indicates to me that a strong wind is a'blowin' toward significant change...

... and presumably for the better.

So put me on simmer and check back in about 20 minutes.

a capital idea...

Have Big Oil bail out the Big 3.

the question is begged...

Which is more unbelievable -- Joe Lieberlips keeping his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security Committee or Dustin Pedroia winning the AL MVP?

Yo, Dustin! Can I borrow yer bat for a sec?

those who don't learn from history...

The book I'm reading at present...

An excerpt from which explains why the Republicans don't want you to learn about the American Revolution:

From the testimony from the Governor himself, the rebellion against him had the overwhelming support of the Virginia population. A member of his Council reported that the defection was "almost general" and laid it to "the Lewd dispositions of some Persons of desperate Fortunes" who had "the Vaine hopes of takeing the Countrey wholley out of his Majesty's handes into their owne." Another member of the Governor's Council, Richard Lee, noted that Bacon's Rebellion had started over Indian policy. But the "zealous inclination of the multitude" to support Bacon was due, he said, to "hopes of levelling."

"Levelling" meant equalizing the wealth. Levelling was to be behind countless actions of poor whites against the rich in all the English colonies in the century and a half before the Revolution.

So there it is. Barack Obama talks of "spreading the wealth," and the upper class calls it Socialism or Marxism, not factoring into the equation the fact the American Revolution came about precisely because greedy bastards back in the day, many of whom were direct ancestors of George Dubya and "his base," had fixed the system to the detriment of the many, who, in return, took exception to being ripped off by the select and often took matters in their own hands.

A shame, perhaps, that we are thus preempted by the historic vote on Nov. 4th of a more bloody and, hence, viscerally satisfying revolt -- the kind which would've been applauded by Thomas Jefferson... and, uhm, me.

----------
Update: Oh wait! Wasn't George III a direct ancestor to the Bushes? 232 years after the fact and the apple still doesn't fall far from the rotted tree.

thanks but...

Great! Recommendations from a war criminal and a wannabe from the Federalist Society... Mom would be so proud!

before throwing money at them, make them leave...

Sen. Levin: Big Three Auto CEO's Should Resign

A new era where the CEOs get a taste of what it's like to be ordinary...

Ah yes, but will Levin and the Dem leadership follow thru on doing the right thing? After all, the minority Repos are prepared to let the Big 3 die if for no other reason than to let the unions die too. Fair's fair means letting the Boards of Directors hang too.

another one bites the dust...

Estelle Reiner: 1914 - 2008

Estelle Reiner, who died on October 25 aged 94, uttered one of the most famous lines in modern cinema – as a customer in a New York deli in the 1989 film When Harry Met Sally she observed Meg Ryan's character faking an orgasm at a nearby table and told the waiter asking for her order: "I'll have what she's having."

Proof positive that Nora Ephron is best left writing the script as long as Rob Reiner gets to direct.

so it isn't just us... ?

Yah! 50 years from now History'll look smilingly on Dubya. Meanwhile:

Mr Sarkozy, using the familiar tu, tried to reason with him: "Yes but do you want to end up like [President] Bush?" Mr Putin was briefly lost for words, then said: "Ah -- you have scored a point there."

leahy to lieberlips: screw... !!

Oh so nice to see some spine in the Dem Senate Caucus:

"I'm one who does not feel that somebody should be rewarded with a major chairmanship after doing what he did."

And while you're at it, Dem Senators, give your leader Mr. Reid a final squeeze out the aft chute too, eh?

----------
Update: Bernie Sanders to Lieberlips: Screw 2!

"heritage," my left glute...

So I'm parked at the corner, waiting for my next call on the radio. I'm watching as this pick-up blows past. Attached to the bed in the back is a huge flag-pole festooned with an oversized Confederate flag flapping furiously and flatulently.

"Dickheads," I thought, shaking my head.

Yeah, yeah! "Heritage," is their argument. Gotta keep the faith, dude. Yeh, I get it. I mean, half my lineage is North Carolina/Virginia-way anyhow. I enjoy the people, they talk funny, I have a good time when I'm there. So to the good ol' boys of the deep south: the flag offends, but I believe you mean it, those of you who indulge in flying the Starz'n Barz, when you say it's about your heritage. I'm nuanced, I can go there.

But these assholes are from Maine! How many Confederates were in Maine during those, uhm, Heritage days? If there was one, he was a spy. Know what I mean?

Homey don't play that, and neither do I.

----------

Update: And don't get me started on the wind-drag a flag that big can increase in gas costs there, bud!

using the lord's name in vain...

... this being what was meant in der Bible:

"I'm like, OK, God, if there is an open door for me somewhere, this is what I always pray, I'm like, don't let me miss the open door. Show me where the open door is."

"I'm like, here's the open door, Sarah," said God. "The one at the far side of the bridge to nowhere, leading to that ice floe over there, okayyy? Like, just go on."

And then there was light. And it was good.

----------
Update: Matthew 6:5-6

5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

6"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

center-right-left-center-middle-up-down-wtf... ?

Word is Rahm Emanuel has taken the gig at the White House, Chief of Staff for President-elect Obama. Meanwhile, the lefties are in freak-mode at Nancy Pelosi's stated intent to govern "from the center." I too would like the hard lurch to the left, and, indeed, feel governing from the center would properly require a hard lurch to the left, but understand what needs be done to maintain success, more important than merely attaining such.

Clearly, the corporate media and the Oligarchy are highly resistant to "real change" -- say, from crony capitalism to market capitalism, which the cronyists like to call "socialism." And scaring the bejeebus out of those entities, while viscerally satisfying, is certainly a guarantee that any victories would be pyrrhic as they would likely be short-lived.

So the talk that is talked will continue to be corporate-speak. The marriage of gays, for example, will be put off, as the gays in the military were not in the first 100 days of Bill Clinton's presidency. The assumption here is Obama is at least the intellectual equal of Bill Clinton but is clearly 20 times smarter, and should learn from Clinton's mistake of lurching too far too soon in '92, consequently losing his Democratic majority in Congress in '94.

Any transition promises to take considerable time to smooth frictions with a hard-right minority -- a hardened-right at that, what with the decimation of Republican moderates -- one still with the capacity to filibuster anything and everything under the sun. "Hope" in this context, then, means a belief that more long-term liberal policies will be effected, and the push to the left will not be as obvious but will nonetheless be palpable.

So I'm a practical progressive (possibly naive), not to be confused with a compassionate conservative, whom I'd consider a fraud at his face. I'm perfectly willing to let Barack Obama play his hand and see where this all goes. I'm encouraged, meanwhile, to hear Robert Kennedy, Jr., is on the short list for EPA while Caroline Kennedy is being seen as the U.N. Ambassador. These are good things.

so, spark 'er up already... !

American voters more pro pot than ever (though not necessarily for the reasons above, but okay!)...

another one bites the dust...

Michael Crichton: 1942-2008

Author: Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, etc...

Creator of E.R. television series...

Global Warming Denier... alas!

the day after...

Unlike a letdown that may come, say, post-Christmas, the day after America shows the rest of the world we're not all assholes, the sensibility carries with it a fairly euphoric hangover. "Yes We Can!" "Hope!" "Change!" -- lovely buzzwords they. Following up is akin to having to maintain success, which is decidedly more difficult than achieving it. Of course one cannot maintain what one has yet to achieve, so one step at a time -- hey?

The elements apparently approve, the day is a hazy, 60-something, temperate experience, facilitating the buzz and making for a pleasant drive to the Y and a swim.

Of course, one cannot ignore the walking malignancy still in the White House endeavoring to metastasize itself by way of further deregulation of environmental and consumer safeguards (and so little time!!) and utterly ignoring how its presence made necessary an Obama presidency -- the will of the American people to the contrary be damned.

Meanwhile, I'm under little illusion as to the corporate-friendly policies this new president will implement (Rahm Emanuel as COS? Hello!?), but it is also apparent that he is aware he has to actually effect "change" to the old way of doing business. Economic stimulus: infrastructure and universal healthcare for starters; this new president, at the very least, knows that government has a much greater roll -- not bigger, necessarily, but certainly better. And that means re-regulation on a massive scale.

I suspect it'll take at least his entire first term, and likely well into his second, to fix what Dubya broke.

----------
Update: Ol' Morning Sickness has his rightist probs w/Emanuel too. Then it dawned: Of course, Emanuel is the ultimate behind-the-scenes triangulator, which means Obama is planning to stick it to both sides. Oy!

a gaming analogy...

Pennsylvania was 'check.'

Ohio was 'checkmate!'

yeah, baby, yeaaaaah... !!

Courtesy of DKos...

are we on... ?

Naahm rightly spanks me for not having blogged extensively of late, particularly during this politcal season of potential upheaval. My apologies to the three of you who actually read this space religiously, I have been running ragged, working 4 part-time jobs whilst looking after my mother who, back in January, was deemed terminal with cancer (bile duct now spread to the lungs) as you may know. Not that I'm needing sympathy, I rather enjoy the mix of driving a cab, substitute teaching, writing for the weekly paper (though not on a weekly basis, but in due time), and now working the front desk of an area hotel affords me the privilege at least of not having to draw another unemployment check -- sorry Naahm, times've been tough. Meanwhile, my mother I have discovered, as an adult whereas I could not when I was a more self-absorbed adolescent or child, just what a stout-hearted old girl with a heretofore undetected joi de vivre. She makes me proud of who she is and what she's done in her 81 years.

Also astounding that she says she's been hanging on if only to see Obama kick McCain's ass, which ought be today -- and she, a lifelong Republican. She loves the red & black Obama poster I brought home, it with "HOPE" as caption, a poster, which, by the way, resembles in somber if prideful tone those old Soviet/Prolitariat workers-of-the-world thematics you'd see in Chaatoes' basement (and I knew you'd appreciate that comparison, Naahmy).

And so this being my fancy way to segue into the political analysis -- where to begin?

another question that'll get you kicked off the "straight talk express"...

Oh, hey, Senator -- now that we have "Joe the Plumber," what do we need you for!?

ergo the phrase: "holy shit"...

"Another Jesus Movement"...

... Jesus had movements?

knock knock...

Lord love the imbecile:

"One of my favorites last night, it was 'I am Joe Mama,'" Palin concluded, to laughs and shouts from the audience.

Let's see... I think the joke -- that dates back to the 70s, by the by -- is as follows:

Knock knock...

Who's there... ?

Joe...

Joe who... ?

Joe Mama... !!

way i see it...

You have your Obama supporters...

... and then there are the mentally ill.

Any questions?

no poetry here, mister...

Joe McCain: The guy who called me a Commie:

Operator: "911, state your emergency."

Caller: "It's not an emergency but, do you know why on one side at the damn drawbridge of 95 traffic is stopped for 15 minutes and yet traffic's coming the other way?"

Operator: "Sir, are you calling 911 to complain about traffic?"

Caller: "F--k you."

Up until now I gave John McCain a pass on his anger as something borne from his brutal handling in the Hanoi Hilton. Turns out he's always been a prick like his brother.

maine street station...

Oh hey! I'm a journalist.

judy judy judy...

Judy Miller joins Faux News, ever the opportunity to link to one of my favorite posts on this blog.

my kingdom for a better democrat...

I've been recuperating Downeast since my hospitalization last winter, affording me the displeasure of having to monitor Tom Allen running a more anemic political campaign than, say, John Kerry ever could in Ohio:

Crazy, huh? If a year ago, you would've told me that ME-Sen was safe but GA-Sen, KY-Sen, and MS-Sen (B) were neck and neck, I would've never believed it. Perhaps this is testament to Collins' political skills, but I think it has more to do with Allen's timid campaign. The campaign has been so obsessed with Collins' popularity that it has refused to aggressively attack her record. And when you play defensively -- as a challenger -- you will lose 100 percent of the time. At this point, it feels as if Allen is already running for governor in 2010 than closing out this particular race.

Okay, I exaggerate. Mike Dukakis ran a more robust campaign than Kerry did in Ohio. Even so, Kos' suspicion is the very speculation among journalist types who work here every day -- that Tom Allen felt a need to soft-pedal his challenge of Susan Collins in an era when Republicans were on the rout solely for the purpose of obtaining his preferred post -- the statehouse in 2 years -- vs., say, the Senate in a month, and consequently saddling 200-million or so U.S. citizens who crave the evisceration of the Republican party, with another 6 years of this tedious Bush-bot in drag, is unconscionable.

So somebody please put up a challenge to Mr. Cheese Whiz Tom Allen come 2o10, hey?

is that "southern," as in "southern strategy"... ?

This ex-pat Arlingtonian takes offense at the implication:

There is no level of desperation to which the flailing McCain campaign will not stoop. It is now their official position that the suburbs of our nation's capitol, home to millions of Americans, are not "real" because they aren't "Southern in nature."

Real or not, southern or not, here's betting Virginia kicks ol' Flathead's ass!

we're votin' for the n***er...

That fivethirtyeight savant has a riveting anecdote to tell:

So a canvasser goes to a woman's door in Washington, Pennsylvania. Knocks. Woman answers. Knocker asks who she's planning to vote for. She isn't sure, has to ask her husband who she's voting for. Husband is off in another room watching some game. Canvasser hears him yell back, "We're votin' for the n***er!"

Woman turns back to canvasser, and says brightly and matter of factly: "We're voting for the n***er."

the stupids...

Sarah Palin, sigh, again:

"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation."

A coupla thoughts:

1) I've lost the meaning of "America" here. To hear this Stupid (read as noun) dictate who or what "America" is is beyond an affront to me.

Like, what happens when the Dems take over the White House and expand their control over Congress? Couldn't've done that without the "American People" signing off on that, right? So if the Stupids rant & rail on about big government, they'll be in the minority and then who will be "anti-America," huh? Yup!

2) Love the appellation my mom's given McCain & Palin supporters, i.e., "The Stupids!" It goes without need for explanation of course. But what really cracks me up is her reference to "Flathead," originally meaning McCain, but now to also encompass Palin. It takes a discerning ear sometimes to know whom she's referring to as "Flathead over there." And here, she was such a good Republican once.

A new era to be sure.

ma/nuvaring...

My (and Busby Berkeley's) new favorite commercial, pharmaceuticals as a veritable festival of hottie lesbians seeking to avoid pregnancy...

quote of the week...

Dana Gould on tonight's episode of Real Time with Bill Maher regarding Sarah Palin:

"It's the ultimate irony: she's a pin-up girl for people who won't masturbate!"

another reason why sarah palin is a fraud...

And George W. was from Connecticut before he was from Texas... and George "Macaca" Allen grew up in southern California but learned to affect a Virginia accent, etc...

h/t to Digby...

works for me...

john warner off into the sunset...

g. interviews Sen. John Warner in his Senate office on Capitol Hill...
-- photo by SM... June '94

... he stopped Ollie North! Worth my vote over Democrat Mark Warner (no relation) in 1996, who later became Governor, and is soon to be elected to the U.S. Senate over Republican former Gov. Jim Gilmore in 20-some days, replacing the man who beat him.

So long, Senator Warner! Thanks for your time, the Liz Taylor story, and the metaphoric boot'n the ass.

beijing, china reads barking up trees...

Barking Up Trees: scandal in bohemia... - [ 翻译此页 BETA ]
... a long winter already) but I can only summarize viscerally: ... Scandal In Bohemia loves you, man! Thanks so much for the kind words-for a guy who ...
barkinguptrees.blogspot.com/2007/02/scandal-in-bohemia.html - 102k - 网页快照 - 类似网页

that one...

color me as one who thought obama blew mccain outta the water 2nite... and well he might've...

n'est-ce pas... ?

----------
Update: So say they all? Well, these'll do... !

what going on offense looks like...

I figure the next 4 weeks may get ugly but it's also looking more & more like McCain is outta his league against Obama and his people, so it'll be fun too.

it must be true...

I'm a communist?

John McCain's campaign surrogate and brother Joe McCain this weekend called Northern Virginia "communist country."

Apparently on orders from the campaign, he later apologized.

Jeez Louise! I spend 16 years in the Arlington/Fairfax area and they hunt me down. And this just after having grown up in the People's Republic of Massachusetts.

So I can only conclude: It's All About Meee!

Oh, wait! That'd make Naahmy my fellow traveler... !! GawdIlovagudirony!

a daily prayer...

Lest we forget:

We’re not civilized. The idea that we’re more civilized than people in the Middle Ages went out the window with secret torture chambers in Baghdad . . . we are no better morally than we have been in the past, and we need to recognize that. The idea that moral progress goes with technological progress is nonsense.

gun rights & other sacred institutions...

I'd be willing to wager these two will never get married:

The teenage pregnant daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her boyfriend are considering a summer wedding.

But whatever happened to this idea?

John McCain's campaign may have another surprise up its sleeve: the pre-election wedding of Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter, Bristol. Rumors are swirling in campaign circles about the 17-year-old and 18-year-old Levi Johnston tying the knot, the London Times reports. A wedding “would be fantastic" for the campaign, a McCain insider says.

Yes, a shotgun wedding would be just the ticket... for the Obama campaign.

can't get much earlier saturday morning than this...

Color me convinced of the theory, mine actually, that it was the advent of the T.V. remote that made America fat... that, the barka-lounger, and the availability of food beyond need and to the mere oral of fixations. I conclude this after finishing off the coffee Haagen Daz while flipping betwixt the Sox/Angels and John Grisham's The Rainmaker from my Lay-Z-Boy. (Hey! Gi'me a break, I went swimming last night!) As Matt Damon reviles ambulance chasing to Danny Devito, Terry Francona leaves Hideki Okajima in to pitch to Vladimir Guerrero representing the tying run with Mark Teixiera on first.

I have other theories, of course; for example, the proliferation of SUVs during the 90s leading to an uptick in road rage. Who the hell wants to be driving behind the ass-end of a gas guzzler -- keep to the right, motherfucker!

Ach! Guerrero singles, Teixiera to 2nd and Oki takes a trot off so Justin Masterson can see if his lead-lined sinker'll do the trick. Can somebody shoot the goddamned monkey down off the scoreboard already?

And get a load of the thundersticks. You lay serious coin for a coupla playoff grandstand seats, and a seawave of douchebags insist on obstructing your view with -- fuck me! -- thundersticks! Another reason, Mr. Disney, to hate Anaheim.

Oh! Commercial! Time to flip!

there he goes again...

[Pat] Robertson: Nuke Strikes in US After the Election

... which is fine, provided, of course, one of those nukes is tucked in Pat Robertson's shorts.

rawhide... !

The hilarity out of the north side of Chicago is reminiscent of B4 (i.e., before '04) of bleaker days ('72, '75, '86, '03, etc.). The invective spewed and uttered on Broad Shoulders Radio via ESPN is understandable, especially after Cubs fans were made to endure Ryan Dempster discovering the Yips, walking the bases loaded in the 5th, and then choking up his two-run lead by way of a James Loney moonshot salami. And, oh hey, was that Manny or Tiger Woods 3-ironing one deep into the bleachers later?

But enjoy it while you can, Cubs fans! No really! There is a certain cachet in bandwaggoning loveable if perennial losers -- once you win it all, yer nothing special hanymore! A 100-year slide even beats 86.

Assuming, for the sake of argument, my beloved Carmine Hose maintain their dominance over the Anaheim Rally Monkeys, I'll be rooting for the White Sox, meanwhile, to beat the Rays. I'm a traditionalist and have a deep antipathy toward dome baseball, and the Rays, while the Cinderella of the Ball this year, have a remarkably bland color scheme as it pertains to watching baseball on TV, I strongly feel a Sox/Sox ALCS would be far more aesthetic.

And which is why I root for the Brewers to go quickly. Is there possibly a blander town than Milwaukee other than Detroit? And having said what I said about the Cubs, I still prefer them over a Manny/Nomar revenge scenario, again assuming either of those teams can boot the Phillies.

Prediction: Carmine Hose to win 3rd Series this early 21st Century.

obama camp falls short in vetting brokaw...

As if I hadn't noticed it before, the venerated though highly overrated hack, that is Tom Brokaw, is the 2nd Debate's moderator.

Any money on whether he asks Obama if the presumptive next POTUS isn't in fact the Antichrist?

round on the edges & hi in the middle...

Old buddy old pal Chaatoes glibs on Paul Newman having been a good Ohio boy. Well, fine, we can use all the good Ohio boys (& girls for that matter) to get the lead out and get out the vote for Obama, and I do mean now!

McCain cannot win the election without Ohio. That's not just a political axiom, it's a fact. There's virtually nowhere on the board he can make up the loss of 20 electoral votes there. If you know anyone in Ohio, you should let them know that they can register and vote this week only.

Of course, Newman's pushing up daisies now, but when did being dead inhibit a good ground game getting out the vote in the midwest, hmm? So, Chaat, m'man, get on the blower to yer fellow Buckeyes, eh?

the original survivor...

Does anybody else get the sense the North Vietnamese did John McCain a big favor by holding him captive for 5-1/2 years? Otherwise he'd've ended up a nobody who may or may not have have had his integrity questioned as an individual, rather than survive the ordeal with a plastic badge of "hero"ism pinned to his chest thus prompting him to pursue a higher profile career where the temptation to sell his soul for the mere placement to the proximity of power's pinnacle, the sad fuck?

And tell me again why surviving the ordeal of captivity and torture makes one a -- quote/unquote -- "hero?"

another one bites the dust...

Paul Newman: 1925-2008

A committed liberal, Newman openly campaigned for several Democratic Party candidates -- which got him onto Republican president Richard Nixon's famous list of enemies in the 1970s.

"Being on president Nixon's enemies list was the highest single honor I've ever received," Newman said in a 2006 interview. "Who knows who's listening to me now and what government list I'm on?"

Really wished he went ahead with his thought of going up against Lieberlips back in '06. 'Course he wouldnt've finished his first term, but even an empty seat is better'n Ol' Joe Lieberlips.

Loved Newman's movies too. Gonna miss the big lug...

corporate welfare...

I'm sure I'll have much to add on the goings-on on Wall Street, and let it be said here & now: I'm delighted Congress and the World At-large are now seeing things my way vis a vis CEO pay and such abominations with gossamer handles as "golden parachutes."

Listen, I don't want to engage in anything untoward that may upset a legitimate clean-up of the unregulated collapse of our financial system. After all, I'm a proud American.

I just want to fuck the CEOs over!

Is that so wrong?

now *that's* accountability... !

I say give this cookie her own Reality TV series:

[The GOP Delegate] met her in the bar of the swank hotel and invited her to his room. Once there, the woman fixed the drinks and told him to get undressed.

And that, the delegate to the Republican National Convention told police, was the last thing he remembered.

When he awoke, the woman was gone, as was more than $120,000 in money, jewelry and other belongings.

The thief's take stunned cops.

And so, for kicks, the cops Tasered the Delegate.

sarah palin is filth...

Meanwhile, Dick Cheney, in his secret lair, fondles his rifle barrel.

normally i'd have a problem with an all-white jury sitting in judgment of a black man...

... but this is O.J.

dubya in drag...

looks like a dubya (condescending facial tics), quacks like a dubya (over compensatory disorder), smells like a dubya (we hold these truths to be self-evident)...

comforting the comfortable; afflicting the afflicted...

Another compassionate conservative heard from:

Eight years ago, complaints about charging rape victims for medical exams in Wasilla prompted the Alaska Legislature to pass a bill -- signed into law by Knowles -- that banned the practice statewide.

"There was one town in Alaska that was charging victims for this, and that was Wasilla," Knowles said.

Ah Sarah, such a sketch.

par for the course at the RNC...

The very definition: desecration of the flag (with a little "hating the troops" for good measure)...

----------
Update: More at C&L...

just because the conspiracy's a theory doesn't mean it doesn't exist...

Anybody else get the feeling that should McCain/Palin get elected, some religious nuts will work, uhm, religiously to bump off the president?

And they thought Whitey (no, not Bulger) wanted Biden to be prez?

live-blogging mccain putting us all to sleep...

10:15 - What? They're going with the green background again? There you go: he and/or his people don't learn from their mistakes.

10:17 - Wow! They let a guy in with the sign "McCain votes against vets"! MSNBC shows it; count on that guy getting bludgeoned before the end of the speech.

10:19 - 90-something Mama McCain takes a kiss-blow. And she looks spryer than Mr. 5-1/2-years-in-a-box.

10:21 - To Obama: "You have my respect and my admiration. More unites us than divides us." Okay, Senator -- two points.

10:21 - The background switches to blue. And two points to Cindy who actually doesn't look skanky 2nite. Although Sarah P. still looks like she should be dressed in leather & fishnets and crackin' a whip. Whee!

P.S. Who knew Repubs could spell "U.S.A."?

10:23 - A dark-haired hooker gets escorted (get it?) out of the center. Bring back the band "Hookers & Blow"... !

Update: Just read it somewhere she was Code Pink. Uhm, nevermind!

10:24 - Don't stand on my side, Senator. No need for another bowel obstruction.

10:25 - The Dominatrix (Palin) takes a bow.

10:26 - "She knows who she works for." Right! Karl Rove! Atta go, Senator!

10:27 - "I can't wait until I introduce her to Washington." - Yup! Escort services at Nexus on Capitol Hill. Been there. Done that. Oh, wait! Did I say that out loud!?

10:28 - This speech is par for McCain's course. Unpersuasive.

10:29 - Ridin' a trail to who knows where, luck is his companion, easier to tame. Riverboat, ring your bell. Fairwell, Annabelle! Luck is the lady that he loved the best. Back in New Orleans. Livin' on Jacks & Queens. "Maverick" is the legend of the west.

10:30 - You will know their names. You will know their names. Whatever.

10:31 - OMG! This is such a lame speech! Hahahahah!

10:32 - Aha! David Betray-us! McCain's real soulmate.

10:33 - Bill & Sue Neevy?? WTF?

10:34 - Ever notice when they mention the odd American family by name, they always live in a battleground state? Feh!

10:35 - "... When some Republicans gave into temptation." (But not me -- John McCain -- Noooo!!)

10:36 - Dying to find out if the talking heads lie thru their teeths about "how good this speech was."

10:36 - "We're all God's children. And we're all Americans!" Good t'know.

10:37 - Ooo -- another shot of the Dominatrix.

10:37 - Judges who don't legislate from the bench. Last time a liberal did that was 1971. The four horsemen do that all the time now.

10:39 - Shopping list of things t'do. Sounds like a Dem here, but who's paying attention?

10:40 - Nice tie. Bet Cindy-bags spent $10K on it.

10:42 - "Education is the civil rights issue of this century." Is this not a Dem?

10:42 - Crowd shot: underwhelmed hooters & hollerers, all of whom must be thinking, "Oh Christ! This guy sucks big dogs!"

P.S. The Dominatrix' hooters are the only ones not underwhelming.

10:44 - Oop! The cams caught a yawner.

10:44 - "We're not gonna send money to countries that don't like us very much." Standing Oh! But then this means we get to keep all our money.

10:45 - Drill! Drill! Drill! And a shot of the Dominatrix brings home that point. Mm-hmm!

10:46 - "Hybrid & electric automobiles." Definitely a Dem.

10:46 - Uh oh. The crowd is looking more & more bored.

10:48 - Oh! I just yawned too. Won't be long now.

10:48 - What's this? A black woman in the audience? Doesn't looked pleased, but that could mean just about ANYTHING!!

10:50 - "When I was 5 years old, a car pulled up in front of my house." Right, and Abba kept him company in the Hanoi Hilton.

10:51 - Definitely a nice tie.

10:52 - Definitely a subdued audience. An audience that knows a pig in a poke when they have to listen to one.

10:53 - BORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRINNNNNG!!

10:53 - "Instead of fighting over who gets the credit, lets try sharing it." And the Bushie in the crowd is thinking, "I came to Minne-f'ing-appolis to hear this??"

10:55 - I got shot down over North Vietnam because I'm a total fuck-up, and this is how I found that out.

10:57 - Multiple VFWers in the crowd. Thanks, boys! Now go vote Obama!!

10:58 - "They broke me." And now here I've signed off on breaking others in Guantanimo. After all: Fair's fair, eh?

11:00 - And now the flag GIF on the blue screen in the background hangs limp.

11:02 - Advocating a bigger government? Comfort the afflicted? Champion the rights of the oppressed? Repubs feel betrayed.

11:03 - Fight with me. Fight with me. And if you didn't hear me, fight with me.

11:03 - Stand up. Stand up. Stand up. (No exclaimation points necessary).

11:04 - End of speech. And there you have it, America, the Maverick & the MILF!

Que the balloons!

----------
Update: Josh Marshall's live-blog. Great minds, etc.

dustin pedroia: AL MVP...

I still say he looks like a googly-eyed football.

an intellectual question...

Is it sexist, Repub gals (Won'tcha come out tonight?), to observe that Sarah Palin is an asshole?

How 'bout if she's an asshole?

An asshole?

Asshole!!

John McCain?

ahh, sweet justice... !

Blumenthal:

Almost certainly, Bush had to cancel his planned speech while Gustav loomed. But the sources say he didn't like the idea and felt pushed. Bush is described by sources as "furious" at McCain for being deprived of his last appearance before his party, which nominated him twice, as a sitting president. He believes he is being treated disrespectfully.

Any day Dubya's feelers get bent is a good day. Now I'd settle for indictment, arrest, trial, punishment... with prejudice!

Now that'd be a good day!

-----------
Update: And this is what I get for posting on a piece before I finish reading it: the other shoe -- Hee!

Shuttering the convention for a night was probably inevitable given the hurricane, but to provide a cover-up for scratching Bush and Cheney it became absolutely necessary. But once the hurricane passed, Bush asserted his primacy as president and forced his way back on the schedule to deliver a satellite speech to the convention.