Archives: October 2007
Five scariest goals of the Bush administration and the neocons
- 1. To start a war with Iran with no intention of winning it
- 2. To systematically dismantle all social programs like Social Security, Medicare, welfare, and eventually public education
- 3. To allow illegal immigration to continue by any means possible because corporate America demands cheap labor
- 4. To ensure that the US is in a constant state of war because for big business wars are highly profitable
- 5. To systematically eliminate controls and oversight of corporate America and enact policies that favor the wealthy and fortunate over the middle class
Winning a Million in Style
Now, THIS guy is one cool cat. I'd rather have this guy be president than the doofus we have now.
Five simple reasons why this Congress has such low approval ratings
- 1. Democrats have been unable to force the president and Congressional Republicans to end the unpopular war in Iraq
- 2. Democrats have not voted to impeach the unpopular president or vice president
- 3. Democrats have not even voted to censure the unpopular president or vice president
- 4. Democrats have not set fire to the White House, nor have they arrested its occupant for war crimes
- 5. Democrats have not risked enough to stop the man millions of Americans believe to be the worst president in US history
W. Is For Wildfire
I found Phillip Wilburn's YouTube Channel a few weeks ago and decided to tag it for later. The guy does some pretty gnarly impressions. Not bad for a YouTuber, not bad at all.
» There's more to this entry. Click here for the rest of it.
GRAPHIC VIOLENCE: Casualties from the war on cartoons
Excerpt, by David Wallis
Adolf Hitler understood the power of cartoons. They made him crazy ... crazier. Long before World War II, David Low of Britain's Evening Standard routinely depicted Hitler as a dolt, which infuriated the Führer so much that the Gestapo put the British cartoonist on a hit list.
The CIA also appreciated the influence of little drawings. Declassified documents detailing the 1953 U.S. overthrow of Iran's Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadeq reveal that the "CIA Art Group" produced cartoons to turn public opinion against the democratically elected leader.
Meanwhile, over at the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover placed Alfred E. Neuman under surveillance. According to Britain's Independent newspaper, after a 1957 spoof in Mad magazine mocked Hoover, two FBI agents turned up at the magazine's office to "insist that there be no repetition of such misuse of the Director's name." More than a decade later, in a memo titled "Disruption of the New Left," Hoover proposed commissioning cartoons. "Consider the use of cartoons," he wrote. "Ridicule is one of the most potent weapons which we can use."
As the humorist Art Buchwald observed, "Dictators of the right and the left fear the political cartoonist more than they do the atomic bomb." The political cartoon acts as a democracy barometer, and when despots rule, cartoonists die. In the 1970s, during Argentina's "Dirty War," Hector Oesterheld enraged leaders of the military junta that ruled his country by depicting them as space aliens. He and his four daughters disappeared in 1976.
In 1987, unknown assailants murdered Palestinian cartoonist Naji Salim al-Ali on the streets of London. More recently, the Danish cartoonists who created the infamous Muhammad cartoons were forced into hiding because of death threats from the likes of Osama bin Laden. Incidents of cartoonists being intimidated, imprisoned and exiled are too numerous to mention.
Finish the article here...
The Man Song
If it weren't for the canned laughter I'd have liked this even more... but it's still worth a watch for the puppet. You know me and puppets!
Soldier Is A Barbie Girl!
HA!
Look at the face of the soldier on the left as he watches his buddy. That's classic. He's like, "Uh, man, you're scaring me. I ... I don't know how to respond. This is very strange. Wait -- please don't put your arm around me. Uh ... sarge? I feel funny."FEMA's fake news conference designed to divert attention and lay blame
I still can't get over this happened. If you'd been publicly humilated for the job you did on something a few years ago and were presented with an opportunity to show how you've changed, would you take it? Well, FEMA (and by extension the Bush administration) had an opportunity with the SoCal fires to show that they've changed. While it wouldn't have erased the damage their previous carelessness caused, it still would have been a step in the right direction.
No, instead, FEMA holds a mock press conference, which it said it did because of the fast-moving nature of disasters, and to get the word out to the public as quickly as possible. Uh... no. As busy as things were, these were fires, and FEMA is FEMA. They have staff across the country, satellite phones, and enough resources to do what the NYPD can do in emergencies on a daily basis. FEMA could have taken an hour to arrange a "real" press conference. Their excuse is just that: an excuse.
I'll tell you why they did it: they thought they could manufacture some positive press. They thought they'd stage a little skit to again blame the governor of Louisiana for the federal response to Hurricane Katrina. Nevermind that every American with a TV watched what was happening, and the excuses just don't jive with me. In a disaster of massive proportions, one in which thousands of American lives are at grave risk, the President of the United States doesn't need the governor of one of our poorest states to sign a form or call someone before they're allowed to send help. Bullsh*t on that. This is America, not The Office.
But, of course, this only makes the Bush administration and the federal response to Katrina look even worse, and rightfully so. To catch this after the fact, to reprimand FEMA now -- yeah, that's peachy, but the fake conference still happened, another pitiful embarrassment, another national disaster, another reason we have to be skeptical of our government's ability to protect America during a serious threat.
Politicizing the fires
Obviously, my heart goes out to the people of California (my home) hurt by the fires. By the same token, this is California, not Louisiana. Where was GW a couple years ago when people in another part of the country needed him most?
Frank Caliendo - FrankTV - Movie trailer promo
Gotta set the Tivo for this one. Caliendo is such a great impressionist. He does probably my favorite George Bush impression. Here's a link to a bit he did on Letterman: click me
KEITH OLBERMANN: Leave Dumbledore alone
"Revolting...
Dumbledore is a gay homosexual who doesn't deserve to live on God's green earth."
-Psychout at Blogs4Brownback
George Carlin also chimes in on this video: "This country is finished."
George Bush Job Interviews: A Career in Comedy
And here's a previous episode: George Bush Job Interviews: Those who can't do...
Jane Skinner FOX News Blooper
Ha! Hahaha! Ouch. Something tells me they frown upon this sort of thing in broadcasting circles.
It's like there was something in her subconscious willing her to say it.
Five interesting things Rudy Giuliani said in last night's Republican debate
- 1. When accused by Fred Thompson of not being a real Republican, Giuliani said he "drove pornography out of Times Square. I had the most legal city in the country. And I took the crime capital of America and I turned it into the safest large city in the country..." (and all it took were a few well-placed liberal policies to get the job done)
- 2. He said he "outperformed any expectations" in dealing with high rates of crime in New York City and got a "heck of a lot of conservative results..." (again, by being a liberal).
- 3. Despite sharing positions on issues like gun control and gay rights, Giuliani offered these bizarre words when compared to Hillary Clinton: "You've got to be kidding."
- 4. Giuliani said he now supports a constitutional amendment barring gay marriage, yet as mayor of New York City fought hard for the rights of gay people.
- 5. Giuliani said he would draw lessons from former President Reagan's approach to foreign policy, including becoming so strong militarily that attacking the United States would be unthinkable... yet every other remark out of his mouth and the mouths of the other Republicans on the stage was a jab at Hillary Clinton's allegedly expensive ideas.
RED STATE UPDATE: Ellen DeGeneres' Dog
Dunlap asks, "What kind of country do we live in when you're not free to give your dog away in peace?"
Last week had been filled with doggie drama and tele-tears as talk show host and genuine nice gal Ellen DeGeneres took on the animal rescue center Mutts and Moms. The comedian adopted a dog named Iggy from the center, but after caring for him a short time came to the realization that she couldn’t give him the care he needed because of her cats. So, she gave the dog to a friend, her hairstylist, who was looking to get a dog for her children. However, due to a contract issue, Mutts and Moms reclaimed the dog, stating that ownership wasn’t allowed to be passed from one person to another.
Doggy-gate 2007 started when DeGeneres begged and pleaded with the company to return the dog, while breaking down crying on her show.
Yes, Ellen acknowledges that a contract is a contract, but then there's this little problem with something called real life. Bottom line: what is the objective of the contract? To ensure that dogs are placed in good home, right? So, if all the legal bases can be covered to protect Mutts and Moms from liability and assurances can be made to show that Ellen's hairstylist's family can give this dog a good home, that should be the end of it, right?
Nope, not in America circa 2007.
Study finds growing gap between America's rich and super-rich
My favorite line: "Our pool did not have a waterfall in it."
Five reasons why the Republicans don't like their candidates
- 1. Mitt Romney is Mormon, and Mormon teaching says that Joseph Smith, Jr. translated the Book of Mormon into English by divine inspiration from golden plates that he received from the angel Moroni in the early 1800s. Yeah... evangelicals hate that story.
- 2. Rudy Giuliani used to be a liberal, and asking Republicans to conveniently forget his previous positions on abortion and gay rights is a lot to ask of an elephant. Remember, elephants never forget.
- 3. No matter how much they pray, they can't turn Fred Thompson into Ronald Reagan.
- 4. Because Sam Brownback's name for some odd reason reminds many of them of Sam Brokeback.
- 5. Because Mike Huckabee's name is ... Mike Huckabee.
BAM! Bill Maher heckler physically ejected from audience
Bill Maher PHYSICALLY REMOVED a 9/11 conspiracy theorist heckler from his show, saying "This is not a debate."
I'm not a huge Maher fan, but I'm with him across the board on this one: 1) he has every right to eject a heckler from his place of business, and 2) I don't believe 9/11 was a controlled demolition.
Alternate video link in case YouTube pulls the one above: HERE
RED STATE UPDATE: Halloween Pranks
Yeah... the tone of Jackie's story abruptly changes around 1:08, doesn't it?
J.K. Rowling reveals 'Harry Potter' character Dumbledore is gay, breaks millions of intolerant hearts
Rowling, finishing a brief "Open Book Tour" of the United States, her first tour here since 2000, also said that she regarded her Potter books as a "prolonged argument for tolerance" and urged her fans to "question authority."
Not everyone likes her work, however. Christian groups have alleged the books promote witchcraft. Her news about Dumbledore will give the haters another reason to hate and will surely lead to a few church-run book burnings or hate-filled sermons.
Dog Video Dating- The Meth Minute 39
Rated (IM) for Immature. But seriously, for adults only.
This has nothing to do with politics, but it's an accurate reflection of my sense of humor so I'm posting it.
CNN's Election Center 2008: Presidential Pong
CNN's amusing politically-inspired take on Pong, the 1970's arcade game that made terms like "bashasaurus" a household word. Well ... in my house, at least.
BBC unveils 2,500 job cuts
On Wednesday, Thompson met the governing body of the BBC Trust (What is the BBC and how does it operate?) to detail his strategy for plugging a two-billion-pound shortfall which opened up in January when the government announced how much public funding the BBC would receive through financial year 2012-13.
News and current affairs will be one of the departments worst hit -- the BBC said it expects to slash up to 490 posts over five years.
Put your face in a JibJab movie
What better way to celebrate the most dreadfully ghoulish time of year than by having your picture put into your very own 2-minute political horror film to share with your legions of undead political partners in crime? The geniuses at JibJab (the two brothers behind the "This Land is Your Land" musical animation that poked fun of Kerry and Bush before the 2004 election) devised this pretty cool tool that lets you upload a picture of yourself directly into either "The Night of the Living Democrats" or "The Night of the Living Republicans."
Eli's Dirty Jokes - Hoshimota
More of Eli's Dirty Jokes
Eli's Dirty Jokes - BBQ BootyEli's Dirty Jokes - Moose Hunting
Eli's Dirty Jokes - Rawr
Eli's Dirty Jokes - Five Birds
Eli's Dirty Jokes - Nice to Meet You
Eli's Dirty Jokes - Piano Man
Eli's Dirty Jokes - The Farmer's Daughter
Veep's Wife Says Hubby and Obama Related
"This is such an amazing American story that one ancestor ... could be responsible down the family lines for lives that have taken such different and varied paths as Dick's and Barack Obama," Lynne Cheney told MSNBC.
According to Cheney's spokeswoman, Sen. Obama is a descendent of Mareen Duvall, a French Huguenot who married the granddaughter of one Richard Cheney in the late 1650's from England.
A spokesman for Obama offered a sober response to the news: "Every family has a black sheep."
Jeff Foxworthy With Redneck Fashion Tips
My Top 3:
"If the most expensive thing you ever bought from the mall was at the food court ... you might want to pay attention."
"If your bra is a darker color than your shirt ... you might want to pay attention."
"If you've mastered the art of putting on makeup with your non-smoking hand..."
Five former right wing darlings turned pariahs
- 1. Donald Rumsfeld
- 2. Alan Greenspan
- 3. Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez
- 4. Federal Emergency Management Director Michael Brown
- 5. Pastor Ted Haggard
They Might Be Giants - The Mesopotamians
This is for all those They Might Be Giants fans out there (like me).
THE DAILY SHOW: Unsolved Histories
I enjoyed this clip, but why does this bill condemning Turkey for something it did almost 100 years ago have to go through Congress now? Why now, when the U.S. is in the middle of a war in Turkey's back yard? Why not five years from now or 15 years ago?
Speaker Pelosi had this to say about the timing of the measure:
"When I came to Congress 20 years ago, it wasn't the right time because of the Soviet Union. Then that fell, and then it wasn't the right time because of the Gulf War One. And then it wasn't the right time because of overflights of Iraq. And now it's not the right time because of Gulf War Two.
"And, again, the survivors of the Armenian genocide are not going to be with us."
I'm sorry, but I don't see Pelosi's logic there. If it's a bad time to pass this resolution, then it's a bad time to pass this resolution. Period. The right thing to do would have been to pass it decades and decades ago, but that opportunity was lost. To say that we have to do it now before the remaining survivors of the genocide pass away is a day late and dollar short. How many have already passed away? The vast majority of them, right? This was almost 100 years ago.
I think the window of time to pass this resolution under the right circumstances closed a long time ago. To do it now would cause more harm than good. That's my take on it.
SNL: Classic Mike Myers, Japanese game show
I grew up in Hawaii watching Japanese game shows on TV, and I, for one, love 'em, even though I only understand a few words of Japanese, and even though this classic Saturday Night Live skit stars Chris Farley, one thing it's missing that many Japanese game shows have is extreme violence. One thing I've learned from watching Japanese game shows on TV is this: never, ever sign a waiver in Japan for anything, because if a game show can get away with doing some of the things I've seen done to people on Japanese game shows, those waivers must be iron clad. The shows usually have someone getting their ass kicked, slammed, or run over.
Japanese Game Shows
Paper, scissors, rockViking challenge
Laugh and ye shall pay dearly
Al Gore, UN Panel Share Nobel for Peace
Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change jointly won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize today for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and to lay the foundations for fighting it.
Gore's Statement
I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. This award is even more meaningful because I have the honor of sharing it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- the world's pre-eminent scientific body devoted to improving our understanding of the climate crisis -- a group whose members have worked tirelessly and selflessly for many years. We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level.My wife, Tipper, and I will donate 100 percent of the proceeds of the award to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan non-profit organization that is devoted to changing public opinion in the U.S. and around the world about the urgency of solving the climate crisis.
Limbaugh: "A Pure, 100% Joke"
As usual, Americans are divided....
Bush's Speech Writer
Cool! I posted this precious gem months ago as an outside link to the clip, but this morning I found an embeddable URL.
The Illegal Gun Markets Of Pakistan
The Illegal Gun Markets Of Pakistan - A funny movie is a click away
This certainly isn't a funny video, but I'm posting it because it blew me away.
"Lots of sons, lots of guns." Lovely.
5 reasons why conservatives hate Al Gore so much
- 1. Because his very existence prompts daily reminders of the 2000 election and the painful realization that George W. Bush's presidency has been a historic mistake.
- 2. Because his message of reasonable environmental action at every level from personal to national is annoyingly reasonable and difficult to undermine.
- 3. Because the worse George W. Bush looks, the better Al Gore looks.
- 4. Because he owns a large, energy-hungry home, drives an SUV, and uses jet aircraft for travel, yet isn't halted by right wing accusations of hypocrisy.
- 5. Because he doesn't retreat from his convictions, and a reasonable liberal of great conviction frightens the hell out of extremist conservatives.
Noted conservative broadcaster wonders why Republicans are treated differently than Democrats when they talk of building kingdoms on earth
Five things a Democratic politician is able to say that a Republican politician can't get away with
- 1. My hairdresser is gay, and she's the sweetest man I know.
- 2. America is a Christian country.
- 3. I may be white, but I sure can dance.
- 4. My favorite show on TV is Everybody Hates Chris.
- 5. Gay couples deserve the right to marry and be just as unhappy as the rest of us.
Senator Larry Craig & The Village People
Who cares if he's gay or not gay, but it's the denial that I think most folks don't buy at this point.
Electric Avenue: Courtesy of US Armed Forces in Iraq
People are people, and guys everywhere, no matter the circumstances, will find ways to unwind ... but what I can't help but think while watching this is "What a shame."
I know that the vast majority of our soldiers are in Iraq trying to do what they believe is the right thing, and that on a personal basis for many of them, individual acts of kindness are being done hundreds if not thousands of times a day in Iraq. Most of our soldiers are good, honorable, decent people, but all that goodwill and effort has been undermined repeatedly by poor leadership. The big problems in Iraq are and have always been with the people here at home calling the shots - the politicians - not with Iraq's broken government. Their government was broken before we got there, and it's still broken today. One Abu Ghraib or Blackwater incident undermines months and months of work, tens of billions of more dollars and countless more lives.
To change the rules now to better regulate security contractors like Blackwater is great, but why wasn't it done BEFORE a major incident occurred? Here's why: the White House and Republicans in Congress weren't concerned. Republicans talk in terms of winning versus losing the war in Iraq and do their best to paint the Democrats as the "defeatocrats," but as the U.S. has waged this war now, year after year, the reasons why the war hasn't yet been won rest solely with one party in our country, the party that was in charge of rubber stamping the president's plans since Day 1 of the war, and the party that continues to support the president's bad decisions: the Republican Party.
The GOP presidential candidates are working to distance themselves from President Bush, who a great many conservatives agree is a failure as a leader, but they've been failing at that, too, because they're too afraid to take a real stand. To say you disagree with the president is one thing, but if your representatives in Congress continue to support his mistakes, the words alone are meaningless.
SNL: Top 6 Episodes of the Ambiguously Gay Duo
I think we should celebrate our differences, instead of feigning outrage over things that obviously weren't meant to hurt anyone's feelings.
Best of the Rest
Don We Now...The Third Leg
Safety Tips
Blow Hot, Blow Cold
Ace & Gary's Fan Club
Stan the Stupid Virus: Bush 'n boots
The creator of the above cartoon calls himself didereaux. Check out more of his work here on his Flickr page. I think these are great. Stan the Stupid Virus is my new hero!
