Sarah Palin

This will be my last Sarah Palin post. I have never been a fan and do not understand the media attention this woman garners.

Contrary to right-wing opinion, I do not dislike Palin because she did not attend an elite East Coast University, or because she is moderately attractive, or that she has five children or owns guns. I dislike Sarah Palin because she has NO substance, no intellectual curiosity, no stick-to-itiveness (as my grandmother used to say). The McCain campaign is partially to blame for the Palin frenzy, but now with the election over for more then a year we can blame the MSM. Here's a memo guys, just because Faux News is covering her doesn't mean she's a story. Stepping down as Governor of Alaska, with one & a half years left to her term that was news, more proof of just how unfit a choice she was for VP.

The rest of it; her book & book tour not really news. Nobody really cares, the damned thing is already on the bargain tables. Judith Warner in the New York Times this week called her pat, scripted answer to Oprah about Levi gracious. Are you kidding me, the venom that was dripping from her when she made that statement was far from gracious. She is not that good of an actor, but apparently Ms Warner was fooled. Now, I will admit, I do not watch Oprah and certainly did not watch the Palin interview; the woman holds no interest for me. She has proven to be an excellent media whore and has even dragged her oldest daughter into the fray; forcing her to shill for abstinence only education. Hypocrisy much?

Anyone who thinks a woman or anyone for that matter who can't fulfill her commitment to a small state as governor certainly has no business being discussed as a potential presidential candidate for 2012. I know small children with longer attention spans than Mrs Palin. We saw this again recently, she left a book signing before everyone who was guaranteed a signed book was seen, she couldn't even manage to finish a 5K turkey trot in Washington State this week. She lives for the limelight, but the reality there is nothing to see here; it's time everyone in the media; inside & outside the beltway moved on.

Wanker of the Day

David Brooks of the NY Times thinks because he saw a few white folks eating food from black vendors and listening to rap music that none of the current criticism against the President is racially motivated. Can you say clueless white guy? Douche, asshat.

"http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/opinion/18brooks.html"

Beyond No

Republicans have gone beyond simply being the party of 'NO'. They have become the party of no facts, no questions, no solutions and absolutely no clue. The protesters in DC this past weekend were an amalgam of I don't know what. No one really seemed to know exactly why they were there.

Plenty of Obama as Hilter posters-I don't even know where that comes from. Nazi analogies are just bizarre; no matter what side uses them. No one is suggesting genocide as a solution to anything, so let's tone down the rhetoric. Lots of anti-socialist screeds too. I wonder how many of them really know what socialism is? According to Webster socialism is (noun):
1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

Last time I checked that was not what was going on. But, if socialism doesn't get your blood boiling maybe Oligarchy will. Again from Webster's:
Oligarchy (noun)
1 : government by the few
2 : a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes; also : a group exercising such control
3 : an organization under oligarchic control

Let's try Fascism (noun)
1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control

Often the President is depicted as all three at once. Though I'm not quite sure that is possible, but I dwell in the reality based community and inhabitants of right-wingnuttia well, don't. They don't care what words mean, as long as they sound scary. The truth is optional, especially if it gets in the way of their story line.
Let's face it Fox News rails against Mainstream Media as if they are not a part of Main Stream Media. They rail against NBC & MSNBC as if it's a workers collective over at the GE owned conglomerate; MSNBC has three liberal anchors fox has how many psycho rightwingers anchoring shows? It's hardly a level playing field.

I want to be clear I love disagreement; I love to debate a point to death; I don't have a problem with dissent. I do have a problem with dishonesty and that's what this boils down to inherent intellectual dishonesty. President Carter was right when he said on NBC News the other night people are angry. The sad part is people don't really know why they are angry. I take that back, they do know some of the reasons, the budget deficit is huge and banks got bailed out by the government and people continue to lose jobs and we aren't getting any bailout money. I get that all understandable to an extent, I'm pissed about that stuff too. Difference is I know the deficit wasn't created by the President who was sworn into office 9 short months ago; I know the bailout wasn't voted on the current congressional makeup. All this stuff happened before President Obama was President-elect Obama. The wars in Iraq & Afganistan are the reason the budget deficit is larger than it was under Reagan. The financial industry was able to run hog-wild because Reagan, G.H.W Bush, Clinton & G.W. Bush decided regulation was a bad thing and that industry should just police itself. We had already tried that once at the turn of the last century and it didn't work out really well then either. But Americans have no sense of history, we think prior mistakes can't happen again, even when we toss aside the lessons learned from those previous mistakes.

We need to get away from this silly idea that government is bad, and all it wants to do is take your money. Taxes are the price we pay for citizenship. We need roads,

Wanker of the Day

Mr. I was all for the invasion of Afganistan back in 2001; but now well, maybe it's not a good idea. Tom Friedman




Friedman actually has a point in this piece today, but Bob Herbert & Nick Kristoff have already covered this information and it took an article in the Times earlier this week to make Friedman aware that the situation in Afganistan is untenable. There's that forward thinking for ya. He is such a tool.

Fed says economy leveling out

That's nice for the Fed and I'm sure the investment bankers, but what about we mere mortals? Can we get some extra unemployment dollars? Something? I'm sick of hearing about how we are bailing about industries and yet people are left to their own devices. I have been looking for a job for 17 months now, I keep hearing you're overqualified, you're underqualified oh and by the way because you have no children we can't help you. That last is from state & federal agencies, I'm waiting for someone to tell me I should have gotten married and then I wouldn't have to worry my pretty little head about paying those nagging bills like rent, electric etc.

I really wish the Government and the MSM would stop reporting that the financial crisis is over, it may be for business but it still isn't for real people. Maybe someone from CNBC should look into that.

Wit's end

I'm done, I have no idea what my next move is. Or even what it should be. I've been out of work since 29 February 2008, my severance and unemployment benefits have run out and because I have always worked and paid my taxes the only help I am entitled to is food stamps. No medical no financial assistance from the state, now, if I was irresponsible, never worked, never paid taxes, never used birth control and as a result of this lack of judgment had children I was emotionally and financially unable to support I could get anything I needed.

Don't get me wrong I think children should get all the help they need, we have too many children in this country living below the poverty level; but we are in a situation now where somewhere like me also needs help. I shouldn't have to suffer because the child brides of polygamists in the state of Utah suck up all the available resources. I know the common wisdom now is that illegals are sucking up all the resources we are back to Regan's welfare queen argument, which was a fallacy in the 80's and is still one today, but it's a good sound bite and no one wants to look deeper.

The social safety net was designed for folks like me caught up in times like these and yet there are no options for someone like me. There is not a single job that I have not applied for. I hate not working!

Like many people I get a sense of myself from my job, not working for the past 18 months has made me question not only my abilities but also my sense of worth. I am a hard worker, I am a good employee and yet I can't even get a job at Whole Foods working a cash register or stocking shelves. I don't understand what is going here. I am lost, completely and totally lost. Honestly, I don't know how I manage to get up and keep going everyday except I have no other choice.

I have many friends who are in situations where they are out of work, but they have one advantage I don't, a spouse or partner with a job and while I know things are difficult for them financially, they at least have one income coming in. I'm all I've got and it's scary out there. I'm out of money, options and time; I don't know what my next move is

Worst Disaster Movie EVER!

I consider myself something of a disaster flick aficionado. It probably has something to do with growing up with disaster flicks like the Towering Inferno; The Poseidon Adventure; and Earthquake. So imagine my disappointment tonight when I turned on Meteor on NBC this evening and it sucked ass!!

This is the worst disaster flick ever! It had most of the usual elements of a standard disaster flick, it just lacked everything. There was the crazy convict guy, but you never knew why he had a vendetta for the cop and his family and the cop was a really bad cop. I mean after shooting him they just assumed he was dead even though the viewer could tell he had only been winged in the arm. The sad part was you kind of hoped for the end of the world, because no in this movie grabbed you and made you want to care.

this wasn't even bad in a campy some day this will be a cult classic sort of way, it was a low-budget made for summer teevee movie and they didn't even care how bad it was. That's two hours of my life I'll never get back. At least my dinner was lovely and delightful; salade nicoise with rosemary & pepper encrusted grilled tuna and lemon mint vinagrette. It was excellent! So the evening wasn't a total waste.

Friday night cat blogging

Hate speech deconstructed

Mike Papantonio gives a reasoned "Pap Attack" about the rise of Right Wing Hate Speech. Everyone should read The Eliminationists by Dave Neiwert of Crooks & Liars

Jonah Goldberg

Wanker, Jonah Goldberg not known for his insights or great timing really blew it this time. WORST TIMED ARTICLE EVER:


A Letter to Sarah by Jonah Goldberg on National Review Online

Shared via AddThis

Politico misses the obvious

I know it's shocking that the Politico missed the most obvious reason Norm Coleman lost the Minnesota Senate seat; Al Franken garnered MORE Votes.

Here's their silly take on the issue:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24391.html

The Election of 2008 is finally over

Congratulations Al Franken, you will finally be able to take your seat in the US Senate. It was long time in the making but hopefully, it will be worth it for the residents of Minnesota and the rest of the country. Now get busy on making sure we have a public health option in the Healthcare bill.

For the record the Democrats only hold 58 Senate seats; Bernie Saunders is a Socialist who caucuses with the Democrats & Joe Lieberman, is well Joe Lieberman who caucuses with whoever promises him the power he craves.

Nico Pitney

I'm very confused by all the flak Nico Pitney is getting from the Mainstream Media over the question he asked at the presidential presser this week. Did he know in advance he may be asked a question? yes. Did the White House ask him what the question would be? No. Was the question legitimate & not a softball a la Jeff Gannon (the male hooker)? Yes. The question was legit the President sidestepped it. So the problem Dana Milbank and the rest of the 'traditional' Washington media have with it is that the 'slacker' blogger dude got asked a question before they did. All I have to say about that is get over it; grow up; New Media exists and it now deserves just as much attention as the rest of you. Maybe more, since the bloggers are the one who are doing a great job of covering the real stories out there these days and not just the death of Michael Jackson. Think about it, how much would we really know about what is going on in Iran if it weren't for 'New Media'? Not much since the 'major' outlets didn't have anyone on the ground after the election.

Here's the Nico Pitney Dana Milbank segment from Reliable Sources on CNN

Today's Vocabulary lesson

Tragedy: Noun: Middle English, tragedie, from Middle French from Latin tragoedia 14th Century.

1 a: a medieval narrative poem or tale typically describing the downfall of a great man b: a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that elicits pity or terror c: the literary genre of tragic dramas
2 a: a disastrous event : calamity b: misfortune
3: tragic quality or element


Sad: adjective: Middle English from Old English soed 13th Century

1 a: affected with or expressive of grief or unhappiness : downcast b (1): causing or associated with grief or unhappiness : depressing "sad news"
(2): regrettable, deplorable "a sad relaxation of morals" — C. W. Cunnington
c: of little worth
2: of a dull somber color
Courtesy Merriam-Webster Online

So for the record, the death of Michael Jackson is sad NOT Tragic. His life was much more tragic than his death. Now can we please move on to real world news??

My top stories of the day

While the 'news' outlets were busy 'breaking' news about the deaths of Michael Jackson & Farrah Fawcett for hours on end today; the world kept turning and here are some of the stories that got lost in a feeding frenzy of abject laziness.

Seven bombs were exploded in Iraq today marking an uptick in violence at least five people were killed & eleven wounded in a bus station bombing; nine allied forces were wounded when roadside bombs detonated near a convoy. Targets were wide-spread and no one was immune, civilians, Iraqi security forces and allied forces. Violence is expected to continue as the withdrawl date for American forces draws closer.

Just a few moments ago another bomb exploded in Baghdad, a motorcycle bomb this time, killing eleven @ a market and still Michael Jackson's death leads the headlines.

Don't get me wrong, I know the families and friends of Mr Jackson & Ms Fawcett are grieving, as well they should be; but we need some perspective here folks.

Iran is still reeling protests and death of citizens at the hand of their own government are being killed and US news outlets would rather talk about celebrity death or politicians who are incapable of honouring their marriage vows. Juicy stuff yes, but with rising unemployment and lots of people falling off the unemployment rolls without finding work we have more important things to be focused on.

News organizations need to stop being sloppy and going for the soft story when the world is in turmoil and start focusing on what is going on not only at home but abroad and give us real reportage, not stenography.

Another republican with a zipper problem

Not only does Governor Sanford have a zipper problem he is the worst kind of hypocrite. Gays can't marry because it somehow impunes the sanctity of marriage; I think not; the straight married fathers of four seem to be doing a good enough job of it themselves.

Unless Mark Sanford's and John Ensign's mistresses are lesbians I sincerely doubt their marital infidelity had anything to do with teh Gay. Here's an idea; let us get married and let's see if we can do a better job of it then these guys.

The high-minded debate

I love it when the privileged white men start their debate about how oppressed they are as a group. That men like Pat Buchanan and Rush Limbaugh have the gall to call anyone a racist just slays me. Whenever I hear anyone go on the way these guys do, I wonder just how insecure they are. I understand the impulse to try to hang on to what you have, but when you have so much why is it so difficult to want others to share in the same advantages? I can only surmise they realize what absolute frauds they are and think if the playing field is leveled they will be discovered as such.

So many wankers

So many wankers....so little time. Here's a short list of today's total wankers on the subject of Sonia Sotomayor:

Alberto Gonzalez
Stuart Taylor
Orrin Hatch
Limbaugh
Hannity

I'm in the airport so not much time to add much detail. Needless to say, GOP trying to not look like a bunch of racists...EPIC FAIL. Trying to claim Judge Sotomayor isn't smart enough Gonzo ought to know about the dumb part, he never finished 2nd in his class in anything except maybe eating paste.

Everyone needs to lighten up!

There has been much uproar over the President's Iowa joke from the left and tsk, tsking of Wanda Sykes for her Limbaugh jokes. The bottom line on both of these jokes is they were funny.

President Obama's Iowa marriage joke was delivered well, and it was funny, topical and on point. Do I agree that we need to change Don't Ask Don't Tell as soon as possible? Of course, I do, it is a horrible policy and Clinton was spineless to accept it. Does it merit the outrage from the GLBT community I have seen on the blogs? Absolutely not. It was a joke, lighten up, just a little. The President has a lot to do and he's just getting used to job give him a break.

Wanda's entire schtick was great. I didn't think the Rush 20th hijacker was out of line, not was the kidney failure line. Rush seriously wishes for the President as by extension the country to fail daily, and it is treason and Wanda was funny. So, once again, everyone lighten up. I can't believe it took a comedienne to take that Big Fat Liar to task and everyone is upset with Wanda. Get over it.

Wanker of the Day

Arlen Specter newly minted pseudo democrat wants Norm Coleman to win in MN.
Specter=Wanker

So wrong so often

I often wonder how the Republican party has manage to stay as relevant as they did for the past two decades. It certainly isn't because of deep thinkers like Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC)

Why so afraid of the truth??

If the Republicans are so sure that the Bush Administration did not torture detainees, why are they so afraid of calling for a Special Prosecutor?

If one has nothing to hide shouldn't you want the truth to come to the fore? Ah, but we are dealing with republicans and hypocrisy reigns supreme.

Remember it was imperative we get all the salacious details of a Democratic Presidents sexual misdeeds; but the violation of national and international law by a Republican President is a "witch-hunt".

Are you freaking kidding me??

I'm done

while I was trying to get some news this morning from the tee vee machine, I realized I'm done. I no longer want to hear stories of the latest american tragedy replayed over and over again with no salient information just a way to fill airtime. When did the Media get so lazy, if a story requires some leg work and doesn't come with salacious details, or murder or kidnapping and an opportunity to talk for hours without saying anything informative they just can't be bothered.

While watching MSNBC this morning, some blonde spokesmodel was describing a mass casualty attack in South Carolina,(i think) and used the present tense while describing the attack. When did the basic rules of grammar disappear? I'm done, I'll stick to watching certain news shows at certain times, KO, Maddow, The News Hour, Jon Stewart and for real information I'll continue to access the bbc online but by and large I realize no one is reporting the news, no one is doing indepth analysis except the fake news guys. when did we get so lazy as nation that we don't want to hear the truth we want tabloid news all the time.

When I was taking classes at Hunter College in NY in the early '80's Ted Turner came to my journalism class to talk about his start up-Cable News Network. the idea was to delve into the issues and take a real look at the news not just the standard airbrushed 2 minute soundbite you got on the Networks evening news. Now CNN is 24 hours of tabloid stenography, this morning, they were covering the death of Anna Nicole Smith. Hate to break to you-I didn't care about her when she was alive.
Honestly, I didn't even know who she was until she died and we had 24 hour coverage of it for a month and guess what? I still don't care.

I want someone to cover the news. I want a comprehensive look at the omnibus spending bill; I want the bs over earmarks and pork barrel spending to end. It is one percent of the the overall bill; let's look at the real expenses. Also, I'm sick of listening to the 'conservative' viewpoint 3:1 over democrats. They 'conservatives' LOST, they should be relegated to the sidelines until they can offer an alternative to any policy that has been put forth by the Obama legislation. Since all they have to offer right now are failed policies. See Boehner's idea to stop spending reference Herbert Hoover and the worsening of the Great Depression. (Shouldn't our legislators have some grasp of history??) Until they have ideas and not ideology they should be relegated to cheap seats; maybe then they would realize they have to come up with an argument other than NO.

The Economy

Watching the market fall yesterday, did not instill me with the sense of running around with my hair on fire that it did with all the news networks. I often wonder if anyone actually listens to anyone anymore. Back in late October, early November some of the smartest economic minds said the bottom would near 6400.

The Dow fell below 7000 yesterday; I see it more as the end of the beginning instead of the beginning of the end. It is almost impossible to think that no one in the MSM or the business media remember saying 6400 would be the bottom. I know they have researchers on staff; I hope they have researchers on staff and one would think that the responsible thing to do would be to look through all the projections made during the waning days of the previous administration and instead of acting all panicy remind the public that this was predicted and there are signs of hope that we are coming to the close of the economic downturn.

But what do I know, I just read everything I can get my hands on and watch from the sidelines and know that eventually things will turn around and I certainly can't panic every time the market finds a new low. One would think brokers and economists would be more pragmatic and less apt to panic than me. I seem to be wrong, since most news organizations can't seem to understand basic tax information.

A-Rod

As I sit here watching the A-Rod press conference; all I see is someone who keeps saying he's sorry. If one actually listens to the words one can't help but wonder if he is truly sorry or just sorry he got caught and outed.

My money is on the sorry he got caught and someone caught wind of the report.

The bottom line is MLB condoned steroid use in the late '80's and early '90's; to hold individual players up to ridicule is just plain nuts. Bud Sellig needs to get a spine, create a real drug policy and move on.

Super Bowl

Okay, so I watched the Super Bowl, the last ten minutes were worth it; otherwise it was a rather boring game. Bruce at halftime was great, others have commented in the crotch shot, I have nothing to ad.

The ads have sucked for the at least the last ten years; once the general public became aware of the ad industries interest in them. but this years ads were the worst yet. Nothing at all memorable, all in all it was rather a waste of time. Where have all of the creative people at the agencies gone?

The Inaugural Speech

I thought this was brilliant

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Godspeed to BuchCo

The Bushes are getting ready to leave the building and it certainly couldn't have happened sooner. before I move on to joy of the day and the hope for the future I just want to say-goodbye and good riddance to the thugs who have done their best to destroy this country over the last eight years. You will not be missed.

The Panetta choice

I must admit, that when I first read about the choice of Leon Panetta for CIA chief I was surprised. Then I thought about it a little more, he was by all accounts an excellent White House Chief of Staff and had access to all of the most sensitive information. We certainly can't have the people who were complicit in the Bush administrations dismantelling of the constitution running the place.

The bonus in all of this is that the choice makes Diane Feinstein & Jay Rockefellor insane. The two of them allowed the Bush administration to run roughshod over the constitution and geneva conventions without so much as a peep. The decision to nominate Leon Panetta has them frothing at the mouth; which tells me in no uncertain terms it's a good choice. A reminder to everyone Democrat and Republican that elections do have consequences.

It riles me no end that the formerlly spineless Democrats now want to fight over every little thing, except instead of fighting the republicans who are still acting as if they run the show; they are fighting the head of their own party.