Archives: July 2007
Yeah, can I get a neverending war, a medium corporate giveaway and an order of trickle down economics to go?
Fox News broadcaster reveals penchant for ad libbed comedy
I don't watch a lot of Fox, but I might start because this broadcaster is a riot. He must have been a standup comic in a past life.
Who the hell is this guy? He's like Robin Williams on crack. Scratch that. He's like Robin Williams on more crack than usual.
Five great things about last night's Democratic debate
- 1. Democrats shine when they're asked real questions by everyday people
- 2. The informal setting helped the candidates connect with voters
- 3. Reality-based answers like this one by Obama
- 4. Showed that Hillary Clinton really can sound just like a Republican
- 5. Showed that unlike the others, Obama gains in popularity every time he gets this kind of opportunity
COLBERT: Gilmore drops out of the race!
YES! With Republican Jim Gilmore finally out of the way, nothing stands between the Democrats and the White House in 2008.
Comedian Jo Koy on how Mexicans cook better orange chicken than Asians do
One of the funnier standup comedy routines I've seen in a while... According to his MySpace page, Jo Koy is just 19 years old.
The Tonight Show: Congressman on the DC madam's list
Congressman holding a fruity drink during an interview says, "It's very dry in this room."
George Lucas presents... MCCAIN WARS
This is so totally horrible that it has reached the level of becoming funny to me.
RED STATE UPDATE: Jackie & Dunlap at the Harry Potter Book Release
Oh, my God! Harry goes berzerk at Hogwart's and slashes Dumbledore's face open with a straight razor!
Five unfortunate truths about Congress
- 1. Bills are far too long to easily explain or even comprehend
- 2. Lawmakers represent the country but must win in specific districts
- 3. A 2/3 majority is difficult to achieve
- 4. Candidates simply cannot win elections without huge amounts of money
- 5. The American public is emotional and do not care about Congressional rules
Five things that should be obvious about Congressional Democrats
- 1. they're incapable of all agreeing on anything
- 2. they wouldn't know a good political stunt if one bit 'em on the ass
- 3. they do sound like they're constantly whining
- 4. their heart is in the right place but you know what they say about the road to hell....
- 5. with as clueless as we Americans have become, they really have their hands full
Edwards, Clinton discuss limiting debates
Did Edwards and Clinton reveal something unappealing about themselves the other day when an open mic caught them whispering about eliminating the lower-tier candidates from upcoming presidential debates?I kinda feel that at some point it makes sense to "trim the fat" and eliminate from debates candidates who are not pulling a predetermined minimum requirement of support in nationwide polling. It would be unhelpful to allow everyone and anyone to participate in a presidential debate because the result would be a disorganized mess. The line must be drawn somewhere, but were Edwards and Clinton right in this instance?
Five things that reveal how out of touch Neil Cavuto of Fox News is about the U.S. economy
- 1. record corporate profits don't equate to "good economy"
- 2. record iPod sales don't equate to "good economy"
- 3. 4.5% unemployment doesn't equate to "good economy"
- 4. a richer stock market doesn't equate to "good economy"
- 5. that he keeps saying this is a "good economy"
Enjoy hours of free fun making President Dubya talk gooder with Current TV's Soundboard
OOPS! Looks like Current TV moved the Bush Soundboard game to a different spot without telling us, so this here link is broken. My apologies to all, but I did find an alternative right here. Bye, all! -Blue"The Democrat Senate has lots of medical marijuana, lots of medical marijuana."
-President George W. Bush, July 14, 2007
Reformed fatty GOP Gov. Mike Huckabee blames Michael Moore for your insurance premiums
"I know how much more my health care cost when I didn't take care of myself than when I do take care of myself, not only in terms of doctor visits but regular diseases, illnesses, chronic things that come up, monthly prescription bills," Huckabee said. "All of those things have gone dramatically down since I've taken care of myself and worked to live a healthier lifestyle."
Displaying brilliantly helpful acumen for stating the obvious, Huckabee went on to say that doctors should pay closer attention to preventative medicine and doling out advice to patients on how to live a healthier lifestyle. Nevermind, of course, that the cost of such friendly advice would inevitably run in the thousands of dollars and be classified "elective" by insurance providers and therefore uncoverable under most insurance plans.
You know it'll happen....
What I find amusing is how someone like Gov. Mike Huckabee, a man who's really only running for president on paper since he's even less popular in real life than John McCain and has almost NO fundraising to speak of (1st quarter total was about $500k, which sounds like a lot but isn't when running for president) can become front page -- or even back page news. Why is that?
Here's why: Michael Moore. And what's worse is that the press makes "Michael Moore The Personality" 95 percent of the story while the healthcare issue itself gets almost totally overlooked. Sure, CNN will run a couple "Closer Look" stories at healthcare prices, but mainly in a way to debunk Michael Moore's points in "Sicko," not to try to actually educate and inform -- aka help -- Americans on the REAL reasons why our healthcare system has been getting worse and more expensive each and every single year.
Bush, in another episode of..."Saying Something Doesn't Make It So"
Thankfully, the actual report isn't one of those 3,000-page monsters, so most people can just skip the spin entirely and breeze through the actual report themselves, which I hope people do. Matter of fact, here's a PDF copy of the report. After skimming through it this morning, I came away from it with at least this much: the REAL results are actually worse (before you dismiss me as a liberal hack, please read it for yourself) than the president is letting on. In at least one of the benchmarks, what the administration is characterizing as a satisfactory grade isn't anywhere near satisfactory to me.
What I wonder is how many Americans will stop thinking at the headlines, and how many will actually put forth the effort to skim through the report? Is 25 pages too much to ask of Americans today? How much is it worth? Ten minutes of their time?
They've already made it clear that they won't tolerate higher taxes to pay for the war, won't tolerate too much negative news coverage of the war, many of the wealthiest among us won't ask our children to fight in the war -- will they sacrifice 10 minutes of their time to read this report and consider it thoughtfully?
(i) Forming a Constitutional Review Committee and then completing the constitutional review.This benchmark clearly called for the completion of the constitutional review. Formation of the review committee indicates progress, yes, but not satisfactory completion of the benchmark in my mind. Where I work, it's easy to form committees; anyone can form a committee, but actually finishing the work assigned to that committee is the goal. This is a missed benchmark; not a satisfactorily met one.
The Council of Representatives (COR) formed the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) on November 15, 2006. The Constitutional Review is now underway. The CRC presented a partial list of recommendations on May 23, 2007, in an interim report and received an extension from the COR until the end of August to resolve outstanding issues concerning: (i) Presidential powers, (ii) the powers of the regions vs. the central government, and (iii) the status of Kirkuk (Article 140 of the Constitution). The political blocs still need to reach an accommodation on these difficult political issues.
The Embassy will continue to discuss with the CRC Chairmen and the COR Speaker and Deputy Speakers the need to develop a well-defined plan for the COR debate of the report. The Embassy is also continuing to discuss with the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) the necessary preparatory steps for a public referendum on proposed constitutional revisions. As noted in the Iraq Study Group Report Recommendation 26, there is a role for UNAMI in the constitutional review process.
Read through the rest of the report yourself. It's more of the same, trying to paint a pig. The touted 8 of 18 met benchmarks spin coming out of the right wing camp is untrue.
RED STATE UPDATE: France
Dunlap on Lance Armstrong's Tour De France victories: "Even our sickest athletes can defeat the French."
CRAIG FERGUSON: Nature's Platform
Craig shares his favorite cable access show and addresses the importance of, ahem, going green.
Signed up for DeeperRight.com today
Today I submitted Pollyticks.com to a site called DeeperRight.com because 1) they sent me an email solicitation and 2) I'm desperate for attention.It's a right wing site that kinda pretends to be fair and balanced and all newsy and smart, but, you know, obviously it isn't. =) No offense, guys. But I figured, what the heck, maybe I'll get a link and a few wayward visitors out of it. And maybe if I'm really lucky, a hard core conservative will stop by some time to tear me a new one for being such a candy-@ss liberal wuss-tard. Dare to dream!
Five FoxNews.com stories that made me laugh out loud this morning
- 1. Junk Science: Gross Groupies at Live Earth
- 2. Military Study: Sonar No Threat to Trout
- 3. Blue-Chips Up on Oil Dip
- 4. 'Reverend' Tori Spelling Marries Gay Couple at Inn
- 5. Kimberly-Clark Rolls Out First Auto Toilet Paper
Power Play 2008
Ever wish there was a political news program that catered to the sports lover in you? Well, today's your lucky day as Super Deluxe presents Power Play. Now you can follow your favorite candidates through the same charts and graphs that have helped you pick your fantasy football teams. Kaboom!
Five catchphrases that should be banned from usage for all eternity
- 1. conditions on the ground
- 2. support the troops
- 3. war on terror
- 4. collateral damage
- 5. fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here
LisaNova does George Bush!
Doesn't the guy in this do a great GW Bush impression? It just warms my heart...seeing the next generation of political satirists. AwwWWWWWwwww....
Five great tastes of Oahu
- 1. Matsumoto shave ice rainbow flavor
- 2. Haleiwa Eats yellow chicken curry
- 3. Portuguese bean soup
- 4. Plain Leonard's Bakery malasadas
- 5. Island Manapua (steamed pork buns) from Manoa
Five things I actually like about Governor Schwarzenegger
- 1. He's not Gray Davis
- 2. He's an immigrant in a state with serious immigration concerns.
- 3. He IS politically moderate; just ask the far left and far right.
- 4. Last September he said, "I say the [global warming] debate is over. We know the science. We see the threat, and we know the time for action is now." Then he signed the nation's most sweeping global warming initiative into law.
- 5. He knows he can't run for president, yet still goes to work each morning with a smile on his face and a stogie in his coat pocket.
Five things that make my head hurt about Bush saving Scooter Libby's ass from going to jail
- 1. We expected it, but it still comes as a shock.
- 2. The White House is saying "Bush hasn't ruled out a pardon." Uh...no sh*t. Bush saved Libby from prison love. Honestly, isn't that a pardon?
- 3. These guys simply have no shame.
- 4. Libby still has to pay a $250,000 fine.... What's that, like three paid speeches?
- 5. When conservatives cry, "But Clinton pardoned people too!" As if that changes this.
Politics in the 50th State
From the airport we took a roundabout drive to Kaneohe, where my parents live, via Waikiki -- yes, quite a detour -- and drove past the brand-spankin' new inter-island ferry, a huge catamarn-style ship set to begin taking tourists and locals to and from the islands of Maui and Kauai this August.
We parked along one of Waikiki's many side streets, stripped off the long pants and tennis shoes in the back seat of the car and pulled on the proper Hawaii attire -- shorts and slippers. Then it was off to lunch at Duke's on the beach.
Mr. Steel's dad asked how the website was coming along. He's my biggest fan. I said, "Fine. Still chugging along." Over bottles of Corona and fish sandwiches a few feet from the ocean we recapped the nation's political environment: Harry Reid is a wuss, Barack Obama is from Hawaii too, the Republicans are doing their best to blame George Bush for years of failed leadership, and our education system is why Fox News exists.
It has been great seeing the family. Parents are doing well. Yesterday I met my new nephew, Mr. Steel's sister's baby. He's six months old and has chubby arms and legs. Either he's a sumo in training or it's just a phase. Only time will tell.
Today, Mrs. Steel and I plan to be somewhere in the ocean as soon as possible. Beyond that, who knows?
Five things I love about Oahu
- 1. It feels like a different country but isn't.
- 2. Waking up each morning to a symphony of tropical birds (and chickens, truth be told)
- 3. I spent my childhood here.
- 4. Racially integrated; not just diverse
- 5. Shorts and slippers are a way of life.
