BOR bores with more Kos crap

I have to confess, I'm beginning to have a fetish for Bill O'Lielly's fetish about Daily Kos. It's actually getting pretty hilarious. His latest outrage is a picture that appeared on DK. Here it is...

Personally, I laughed for about five minutes when I first saw it. Okay, no one ever accused me of being the most mature person in the world, 24 hours a day, nor to I portray myself to be. But, this picture is using humor to make a serious point, and that point is that Joe Lieberman is a flat-out liar. Where do I get that from?

When Lieberman ran as an Independent in 2006 after he lost the Democratic Connecticut Primary to Ned Lamont, he promised that if elected he would caucus with Democrats that that he would remain a Democrat in spirit. I'm still waiting to see it.

He has continuously supported the Bush administration regarding the War in Iraq since he was elected last year.

BOR calls Lieberman a patriot. Hardly. As far as I'm concerned, Lieberman has just as much blood on his hands as Bush and Cheney.

Oh, and as for BOR whining that DK traffics in hate? Hmm, I wonder if Bill's brain is out to lunch, perhaps sexually harassing someone other than Andrea Mackris so he doesn't get sued. (More on that in a minute.)

But seriously, where was BOR when Rush Limbaugh was accusing the Clintons of murder, or when he called Chelsea Clinton the White House dog? Or when Ann Coulter was on television saying that the 9-11 widows are enjoying their deaths? How about this doozy - when Dick Cheney suggested that people who don't side with the administration on terrorism (Read: Democrats), they are siding with Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden or fill in your terrorist here that the administration tries to scare the American public about: _________. Oh, and Cheney has been on Rush Limbaugh's program numerous times, most notably early this year.

I'm not going to make a laundry list here, because why bore you with what's already mostly understood - that BOR merely spits out GOP-authored subjects and ideas.

Even one of the segments on his show is dubbed Talking Points Memo !!

Bottom line, and I've written it so many times it's bordering on trite - if you dare disagree with O'Lielly or Fox News and you call him/the network out on their lies, then you're a hate monger or you're operating a hate site.

Color me happy - O'Lielly thinks I'm a hate monger. Sweet.

Please do me and yourself a favor - visit Daily Kos each and every day. (Click logo above to go right to the home page.) Take a look around. Kick some tires. If you're a Progressive, you're going to like what you read. In addition to that, it's a way to support the Website, which is more than worth supporting. I just signed up for a Daily Kos premium account a few hours ago - it takes about two minutes. I urge you to do the same - it's a way to support the site and keep it going to fight the good fight against blow hards like Bill O'Lielly.

Print out your own SiCKO health care card

Check this out - you can print your own SiCKO health care card. There are already documented cases where mentioning the movie and threatening insurance companies have actually worked in patients' favor.

To download a PDF of the card and to find out more information, click Here.

This one's gonna hurt

I'm guessing that this guy had a headache

THIS BIG

after this crash landing.

Via

WSJsells out; I get out

This morning, it appears to be official - enough members of the Bankroft family have voted to approve the sale of The Wall Street Journal to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. It's all over but the paperwork now. In light of that, it was time for me to put up my nano-sized protest to the paper this morning.

I guess now's the time to write that I was a reluctant subscriber to the paper in the first place. Its blood-soaked editorial page was awfully hard to swallow, and while I was a subscriber, I largely ignored it. (For a flavor of just how bad the WSJ's editorial page is, go back in time to the idiotic, moronic, misguided and hateful pieces it did on Vince Foster, President Clinton's friend and legal adviser. Ultimately, those editorials played a small but notable role in Foster's suicide.)

Anyway, I became a subscriber because of the WSJ's first-rate reporting, but even that is not reason enough to remain a subscriber. Sooner or later (bet on sooner), the paper's quality and integrity will be eroded by Murdoch's meddling. It's not a question of will he meddle, it's a question of when. For solid proof of what Murdoch does to a publication, look no further than The New York Post, a paper the RM saved from bankruptcy, but also a paper that serves as a political tool to advance his right-wing agenda.

Anyway, here's the letter I wrote the WSJ's customer service this morning...

Dear Dow Jones:
Please immediately cancel my subscription and refund the remaining balance to my credit card.

With news of the impending sale of The Wall Street Journal to News Corp., my decision is easy - I will in no way support a Rupert Murdoch entity, if I can help it, and there are plenty of alternatives to the WSJ that Murdoch does not own where I can get my news. (Hello, New York Times)

Thanks for your prompt attention.

Sincerely,
RJ

A water bridge, over a river!

This is 'way cool - one of the neatest things I've found on the Internet this year. It's a water bridge over the River Elbe near Berlin, in the city of Magdeberg. The bridge joins the former East and West Germany. For you history buffs, you'll remember that the Elbe is where Eisenhower halted the American advance into Germany at the end of the World War II. Little did anyone know at the time, but where the Americans halted their advance is roughly where the borders would be that formed two new countries for nearly 50 years - the two German states.

Anyway, this is quite a technological feat, and the photo is still hard to believe - I caught myself staring at it for about five minutes. A few more facts about this amazing bridge...

• It was built to observe reunification of the German state, which took place in 1990 (the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, but Germany was officially reunified in 1990)

• This ingenuity didn't come cheaply; the bridge was built at a cost of €500 million, which translates to over $1 billion American dollars (and rising since the dollar is doing so poorly these days).

• And finally, a little quiz in physics. Does the bridge have to withstand the weight of the water, or the water and the ships crossing it?

Think about it for a second...

Think you know the answer?...

(I'll confess that I didn't - physics was not my strongest subject in high school, that's for sure)...

Answer: The bridge only needed to be designed to withstand the weight of the water.

Why? A ship always displaces an amount of water that weighs the same as the ship, regardless of how heavily the ship may be loaded. (When you read about ships, you always read about "displacement" and it's usually given in tons - that's the amount of water the ship displaces when it's in the water.)

What a sight this bridge is though - I'd love to see it in person some day.

Givin' it up to get the picture

I don't know if this is a real picture or a product of someone's Photoshop abilities, but assuming it is real, it's impressive that someone could give it up like that to get the shot he or she wanted.

It's also worth noting that this photographer is holding one expensive rig. The EOS 3 is one of Canon's finest film cameras, and the white lens, while I cannot tell you the focal length from this picture, is not cheap. Any of Canon's white lenses are almost always of the "L" variety, and they are pricey indeed, and a professional quality lens. I hope the photog's persistence paid off and the risk was worth it, because one trip or a wrong maneuver would probably cost four figures with that equipment.

Mall of America Vs. Baghdad

Sadly, this is the all-too-real reality in Baghdad these days. Too bad President Bush's urge to surge has been nothing short of a tragedy for our soldiers as well as the people in Baghdad and Iraq. Honestly, do we really need to wait for General Petraeus to give his report in September or October to find out how poorly the war or surge is going? As long as one watches any channel but Fox News, the reality is there for everyone to see.

Of course, the way cable news is these days (or any news broadcast, for that matter), I don't rely on any television station to get any sort of accurate, relevant information about what's going on around the nation and world. Unless, of course, you want to know how Lindsay Lohan's rehab is going, or the debate that raged about whether Paris Hilton was getting human treatment in jail.

Getting back to Iraq - I've said it once and I'll say it undoubtedly dozens of times more - is it really realistic to ask General Petraeus how the surge is going in Iraq? No general worth the stars on his shoulders will ever say that his soldiers aren't getting the job done and that we ought to go home.

But, you have to give President Bush credit - he plays the role of neo-conservative to a T, especially when it comes to the war. I laugh to myself every time I see him on TV saying, "I don't think politicians should be telling generals how to wage the war in Iraq." And when he says this, he's also implying that the generals should determine when we've lost and when we've achieved "victory" in Iraq.

As usual, Bush needs another history lesson (just like Rudy Giuliani, but that's another post for tomorrow). The last time I checked, our military leaders answer to Washington, not the other way around. But, Bush is playing the idiotic, debilitating oversimplification that Reagan practically made a national motto: "Government isn't the solution, it's the problem." Does anyone else notice the irony that the people who most despise and mistrust government - Republicans - are running part of it?

Sure, that makes sense.

Urban surfing - a craze flooding America

I love these photos, and I'd love to try it someday - urban surfing/water boarding. It reminds me of what we used to do after snow storms on country roads - skitching. It works best with smooth sneakers or shoes and a water ski tow rope, on roads that have not been plowed. Those were the days, although it's a miracle we never had a busted ankle, leg or worse.

I imagine in flood waters it's not much safer, with the flotsam and jetsam that's usually present in storm run-off. It still looks fun though.

Don't try this at home

Just a few more funny items, then I'll get back to some more serious stuff. I really got a kick out of this one - I don't think he really much cared for eating the habanero chile - do you? What a tool - what fool would try this? The things people do to get on the Internet...

Laugh Break - only guys will understand

Any guy will understand this - any woman probably won't. Uncouth, yes, but funny more than anything else.

Pat Tillman's death: Dial "M" for murder?

It's no surprise that the government covered up the circumstances surrounding Pat Tillman's death. What's now being revealed is just how ugly the circumstances were surrounding his death, and even the possibility of his murder at the hands of other U.S. soldiers.

This is one of the most disturbing stories to come from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and certainly one of the saddest.

From AP:

Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman’s forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player’s death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

“The medical evidence did not match up with the, with the scenario as described,” a doctor who examined Tillman’s body after he was killed on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2004 told investigators.

The doctors - whose names were blacked out - said that the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.

Read more Here.

A Congressional hearing is planned next week to determine just how high up in the government and the military the cover up went. I still don't believe anything will come from this story, because if the barbarians get too close to the gate, Bush will just claim Executive Privilege, and really, who can blame him? As long as it continues to work and keep him out of trouble, he'll continue to do so.

The only way stories like the Tillman death will have any consequence for this government and this administration is if the Democrats develop a backbone, and soon. I'm not holding my breath, but my Congressional representatives will be hearing from me, often and soon.

It's only a matter of time for McCain

I meant to get to this one the other day - but it bears mentioning now. John McCain's campaign is about out of gas. Talk about a ray of sunshine on a cold Washington State day - I've been waiting to type those words for some time now. I wonder how Judas John feels now that he realizes that this dream of becoming president will never, ever become a reality.

Too bad it's all of his own doing. By trying to appeal to the radical-right, conservative base, he lost the abandoned the principles that made him an attractive bi-partisan candidate in the first place.

The latest blow is that his media team has resigned, or as I like to call it, rats jumping off a sinking ship.

From AP:

Sen. John McCain's advertising consultants have resigned from his presidential campaign, the latest in a rash of staff shake-ups in recent weeks.

McCain communications director Jill Hazelbaker on Wednesday described the departure of Russ Schriefer and Stuart Stevens as amicable and said the Arizona Republican "appreciates their service" but accepted their resignations when they were offered Monday night.

Schriefer and Stevens were part of George W. Bush's campaign team in 2000 and 2004 and were part of Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign. The Wall Street Journal first reported the departures Wednesday night.

While the two had an agreement to work for the McCain campaign, FEC records indicate that they had not been paid and were not owed any money.

Read more Here.

I can't blame them for leaving - maybe there's still time to get aboard another failing campaign - maybe America's Mayor is looking for help - they could swim over to that sinking ship so they could jump off that one later on as well. Okay, Giuliani's campaign isn't quite sinking yet, but a guy can wish, can't he?

In a way, it's too bad about McCain, though. I really would have considered voting for the John McCain circa 2000 - I don't know where that McCain went, but we haven't seen him in quite some time, and we probably never will again.

As Crooks & Liars opined the other day, probably the only reason he's staying in the race is to get matching federal funds so he can pay down his mounting campaign debt.

Specter disses Gonzo... on Air Force One

My first thought when reading this story? It's about time that some Republicans start speaking up and speaking out about the Bush administration and its seeming indifference to the rule of law.

However, to me, this story is notable for two reasons: Arlen Specter is a Republican Senator from my own Pennsylvania, and Specter piped up aboard Air Force One. That ought to get the attention of his Republican colleagues in Congress, much less President Bush.

From The New York Times:

Guests of President Bush aboard Air Force One generally know that he expects them to behave in a certain way: No showboating or mingling with the on-board press corps and, certainly, no criticizing the commander in chief or his team.

Senator Arlen Specter violated both points of decorum on Thursday. He visited with reporters aboard the presidential airplane before it lifted off for Philadelphia and lambasted the attorney general.

Mr. Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, wandered back into the press cabin as the plane sat on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base before the president arrived from the White House.

According to a pool report of the encounter, Mr. Specter expressed anew his criticism of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales but said he saw no signs that Mr. Gonzales would be forced to resign. Mr. Specter attributed Mr. Gonzales's job security to Mr. Bush's "personal loyalty" to him.

Mr. Specter spoke derisively of Mr. Gonzales's appearance Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he faced accusations that he misled Congress last year when he said there had been no disagreement within the administration over the National Security Administration’s domestic surveillance program.

Read more Here.

Will this change much? I'm not sure, but there seems to be a steady Drip, Drip, Drip of Republicans who are finally beginning to wake up to the excesses and abuses of the Bush administration. I'd like to think that the drips will turn into a deluge, but only time will tell.

It's about time.

Early Sunday cartoons

I hope you brought your appetite for political outrage to the table, because this week's recipe for political cartoons is a tasty one - lots of War in Iraq, with a pinch Hurricane Katrina, and some Alberto Gonzales, if your stomach can handle it.

The Elizabeth Edwards cartoon and the second one down about political theater brought a smile and a laugh - they are among the wittiest I've seen yet this year. It's going to be awfully hard to hand out the CMB Award for Best Cartoon at year's end.

On to the cartoons - enjoy.

F. Thompson's campaign gets a life vest

I got a kick out of this one - people from the Democratic National Committee delivered a life vest to Fred Thompson's campaign, because it's already taking on water. With revelations coming to light about conflicts of interest and some questionable ethics practices surrounding his lobbying efforts, his campaign may take a torpedo or two before it even begins.

I know, I know - it's pretty immature, and if I were on the DNC, I would have said no to it - this kind of chest thumping always has a way to come back and bite you in the butt, and that's the last thing Democrats need right now. But, sometimes you need to have fun at your job, so to this I say well done, sort of.

But, the "deeply dissatisfied in our government" side of me thinks that maybe people over at the DNC should consider how they are going to begin impeachment proceedings against Cheney, Bush and Gonzales, not how they can pull off pranks like this one.

I know, fat chance, but that's really what needs to be done. I'm working on a piece that I'll probably finish tomorrow about impeachment, and why it needs more than a casual look from Democratic "leaders" in Congress.

H/T to C&L for the video

Pickling the Poor, by Mark Fiore

Mark Fiore, a brilliant political commentator, has been putting out some great stuff for quite some time. His latest animation, which commemorates Hurricane Katrina, is one of his best yet. (Click on either screen capture to go to his Website, where Pickling the Poor, his Katrina animation, will automatically begin.)

For those of you who have not followed the saga of New Orleans since Katrina literally blew away a once-great American city, the topics Fiore covers in this piece are true, from formaldehyde-laced trailers to the planned rebuilding of New Orleans to drive out the poor, it's all been in the news. However, with the many other disasters the Bush administration is tending to, it tends to be relegated to the back pages of the paper, not the front of them.

Heckuva job, Fiore, heckuva job.

Potty-mouthed Fox reporter

This is sort of funny - Hey, if you can't hear s---, you can't hear s---!

Olbermann's Nexus of Terror, redux

Olbermann feels that this administration might be manipulating the mass media to deflect attention away from bad news. Nah! That's never happened before, has it? Only in the spring in fall of 2004 prior to the '04 election, when there were more color alerts than a Crayola factory; in the days and weeks prior to the '06 election (remember the announcement of the Saddam Hussein verdict?); and too many times to count since the start of the investigation into the Valerie Plame Affair, the firing of U.S. attorneys, etc.

What I find most amazing of all about these manipulations, when they happen, is the White House Press Secretary, whomever the sad sack happens to be at the time, going on TV and feigning surprise that someone would even have the thought that this administration could possibly ever even consider manipulating the news.

You decide, but there have been at least a dozen high-profile cases in Bush's second term where announcements were times to trump revelations of bad news. And in many cases, what's packaged as news to distract from the unpleasantness is often old news.

It's so wonderful to see that our mass media is still willfully playing the roll of cheerleader for our morally rudder-less president and vice president.

GOP operative: impeach Gonzo

This is a pretty interesting exchange on Chris Matthews from last night, and you have to know that things are starting to turn when Republican operatives are beginning to speculate that impeachment might be the only course of action, Gonzo might finally be Gone-zo. However, as long as President Bush is behind him our amnesia-stricken attorney general is going nowhere. Because God only knows the our Democratically "led" Congress appears to be perfectly content to do absolutely nothing, no matter what the Bush administration does.

I'm in Washington, but stay tuned!

We landed in Washington State yesterday, and we are now happily relaxing, ensconced in the Olympic National Forest on the Duckabush River. (No, I didn't take the photo above - I've included it here strictly for aesthetic purposes.)

Fortunately, Vandra's parents have broadband access at their remote oasis in the forest. Sweet! Relaxation, away from civilization - this place was almost custom made for me. No TV, on a river, but I can still get the laptop and peck away or work on my digital photos.

In the coming days, I'll be posting lots of stuff - I finished a book on the flight out, and I'm pretty far into another. I have four more to read if I have the time between photography, visiting with my in-laws and our day trip to Seattle.

So, please stay tuned - I'll be posting lots and lots of stuff while I'm out here. After all, the idiocy in the world of politics and sports doesn't take time off for vacation. Now, I finally have time to catch up with all of my thoughts with lots of writing. More in a bit.

Stupidity not limited to Earthlings

The Weekly World News has silenced its presses. The fantasy paper has announced that it will no longer publish a physical issue; it will just maintain a Website, and that's it.

Above, then-Texas Governor George W. Bush holds up an issue of the WWN in this May 3, 2000 AP file photo. Apparently, aliens in outer space have only managed to tap into Fox News satellites. However, this could be a positive - maybe they'll think that Earth isn't even worth invading if that's all they've looked at.

On a much brighter note, I can never look at pictures from the 2000 campaign without pondering what America would be like today had the Supreme Court not crowned King George president in the fall of 2000. It's likely 9-11 would have still happened; the planning was too far along at that point, and our intelligence agencies too hamstrung, but the War in Iraq? It almost certainly never would have happened.

But, there's no use pining about what might have been, because it doesn't change a thing, because when the fantasizing is over, I still find myself living in a country being "led" by George W. Bush. Less than 545 days to go.

AP Photo/Eric Draper, file

Land of the Free, sort of...

Just about on a daily basis, I see a story in the media that makes me wonder just how "free" we as Americans really are. From President Bush only allowing Republicans at his campaign events in 2004, to designated "protest zones" when people who are displeased with the president want to let him know, this government goes out of its way to stifle dissent and freedom. Here's one of the latest examples...

A 74-year old man has been arrested for selling "Impeach Him" buttons in Kensington, Maryland. Alan McConnell (left), a retired math teacher, has been selling anti-Bush buttons at a farmer's market for months when officials began harassing him for not having a permit to sell the buttons.

But really, is that what's at work here? A permit to sell freaking buttons? I highly doubt it. What's really at work here is silencing a voice who some smackdass in government views as Not Supporting the Troops.

After town officials warned McConnell about not having a permit, he was also warned that he would be arrested if he returned to the market, even though it is public property.

After defiantly showing up last weekend despite threats from town officials, McConnell was arrested and charged with trespassing. He faces 90 days in jail and a $500 fine, in addition to the $500 fine he received three weeks ago.

Officials said kicking him out has nothing to do with politics but with
fears that the atmosphere fostered by McConnell and his supporters would create a safety hazard. (Mayor Peter Fosselman even cancelled last Saturday's market.)

Phew! Thank GOD we are removing 74-year old men from the streets - their presence and their opinions are safety hazards and a threat to law and order.

Photo from The Washington Post

Latest Fox News "Mistake"

It's no longer a surprise when Fox News pulls stunts like this - identifying Republican Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter on screen during a broadcast as a Democrat. It's now a surprise when the network doesn't do it. This is anything but a mistake. C&L has a short list of other instances of Fox's, ahem, "mistakes."

I wonder, if Specter would have made supportive statements today AG Alberto Gonzales during the latter's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, would he "earn" an "R" from Fox News? What, is Fox News now the athletic department of Congress? I guess so - Republicans now have to prove their conservative mettle to earn the much coveted "R" during Fox's asinine and absurd "news broadcasts."

And Rupert Murdoch wants to buy more media outlets in the United States? This is precisely the reason why we must demand strictly enforced, reasonable limits on any person, corporation or entity of any political persuasion from owning too many media outlets in the United States.

I have over 20 letters I've been meaning to write to my Congressional representatives, and this is near the top of the list - the FCC needs to roll back media ownership limits. NOW.

During vacation next week, my fingers are going to be sore from pounding away at my laptop keys. Of course, I will share these letters with you and encourage you to write your leaders about a host of issues as well.

Today's GOP non-issue issue

Earlier today I mentioned Fox News and Mitt Romney lamely attempting to smear Barack Obama for suggesting age-appropriate sex education for kindergarten-age children. Here's an interesting exchange between advisers to the Obama and Romney campaigns. Well really, it's mostly just Romney's advisor talking to herself.

From a sexually repressed conservative standpoint, this is mighty impressive indeed. Romney's advisor touched pretty much all of the Republican bases (talking points) about premarital sex and sex education:

So-called "partial-birth abortion" (which is not a medical term, just a GOP PR one)
Planned Parenthood
Condoms
Abstinence

...You get the idea. Never mind the fact that this administration's abstinence-only sex education program, to the tune of over $1 billion, has been an unqualified failure. However, Barack Obama isn't going to say that, because he'll be painted as a sex maniac or worse by Romney, and of course Fox News.

But really, the crown jewel of this piece is how Romney is busted for his position change on the 39th issue. John Kerry, meet Mitt Romney.

Obama advocating children safety = sex education for 5-year olds?

Oh yea, about the madrassa story... Here's a refresher from Fox Attacks. This is also a pretty good piece detailing how Barack Obama supposedly advocates birth control and condoms for five-year olds, when all he was really saying was that five-year olds should be educated about the dangers of child predators and pedophilia. Notice in the clip that they show on Fox, how there's a cut in the footage right before Obama says, "I think it's a good idea."

Does this really fool anyone, other than elderly Republican voters who will believe anything they see on GOP TV? The sad answer is Yes, it does undoubtedly resonates with some people.

The comedic brilliance of Bill Maher

What I love about Bill Maher is that he can make you laugh, but between the lines, he really does have some coherent political points. I especially enjoyed Maher's comments about Bush and religion. I'll never forget Bush's comment when asked if he ever asked his father for advice. He answered, with a straight face, "I have a higher father I ask for advice." Example number 9,084,911,390 of why evangelical Christians in high office are frightening.

Latest TMW: Inside the CheneyVerse

[Click for larger image]

Talking clock from Dem debate

Here's the talking clock from last night's Democratic debate from Chris Dodd's Website. I can't say that I have much issue with it - it's pretty evenly spread, and the two candidates lowest in the polls got the least amount of speaking time. Honestly, who among us wants to hear 10 minutes of Mike Gravel? I don't.

BOR... making s--- up again

Pathological Liar Bill O'Reilly's pathetic jihad against the Website Daily Kos continues. His latest? That the site "advocates the overthrow of the U.S. government." Umm Hmm. I read the site nearly every day, and nowhere, anywhere have I ever read anything even remotely close to that. But hey, why let truth get in the way of a good "story," right? Notice that BOR neglects to give specific examples of how the authors of Daily Kos want to overthrow the government, he just throws it out there.

This is from a well-worn page right out of the Republican playbook:

Throw a lie out there, and the damage will be done. Even though the truth will eventually come out, that won't spread as far and wide as the lie itself.

The list of lies by the right that have been debunked is getting rather lengthy. A fraction of that list...

• The Clintons murdered Vince Foster
• Bill Clinton could have had bin Laden, but turned him down
• Al Gore invented the Internet
• John Kerry didn't deserve his purple hearts
• Sidney Blumenthal abused his wife
• Media Matters is funded by George Soros
• Al Gore's carbon footprint is bigger than Greenland
• Barack HUSSEIN Obama was educated in a madrassa
• Daily Kos authors want to overthrow the government

I can't wait to see what the GOP Network comes up with next.

By the way, BOR actually says this in the clip above, and it bears repeating: "Doing business with people who traffic in hate-filled diatribes is unacceptable."

Jon Stewart must be delighted that BOR has gone to work for Comedy Central.

Oh, and that Pepsi boycott regarding Ludacris? Totally phony, just like his boycott against France and Jet Blue. I just remembered that I have to write Jet Blue to tell them to keep up the good work. Thanks for reminding me, Billy.

KO apologizes for Wendy Vitter remark

Keith Olbermann has apologized for a remark made on Countdown last week while the show was hosted by Alison Stewart. Some comments were made about Wendy Vitter, wife of Senator David Vitter (R-LA), who is caught up in the D.C. Madame Scandal.

I give Olbermann props for apologizing, but it shouldn't have run in the first place, really. Without knowing how the show is produced and who decides what airs, especially when Olbermann is absent, I'm guessing the producer is at fault here. However, Olbermann sets the tone, and he should know better.

There's no need to attack Republicans, or their spouses, for what they wear. These bumbling buffoons are doing a terrific job of hanging themselves for other misdeeds, so KO's nightly rants need not get personal in most cases. Just give us the facts, KO, because the facts are damning enough.

Neither Olbermann, nor his producer(s) are perfect though, and I give him credit for saying so. Therein lies the difference between the likes of Keith Olbermann and Bill O'Reilly. Both make sometimes inappropriate remarks in the heat of the moment (BOR much more frequently), but only Olbermann has the words "I apologize" in his vocabulary.

Imagine if Bill O'Reilly said this. First, there would have been no apology. Secondly, if someone brought it up six months from now, this is what BOR would scream: "Nope. Never said it. Bring me the tape of it, then. You don't have tape because I never said it." What O'Reilly hates about Websites like DailyKos and Media Matters is that they actually save this stuff and call him on his b.s.

At any rate, kudos to Olbermann for admitting a mistake. Hopefully it won't happen again.

Preview: chickenhawks of tomorrow

This video is a tiny preview of what we can expect from tomorrow's conservatives, most of whom in this video are Chickenhawks (a.k.a. Cheney Republicans).

For those of you unfamiliar with the word Chickenhawk, it means, in a political sense, war-mongering hawks, mostly Republicans (and Joe Lieberman), who successfully skirted military service during the Vietnam War, or who have never served in the military for other reasons. These politicians will shamelessly criticize those who oppose war, painting them as Defeatocrats, Cut & Runners, Weak on Terror, etc.

Some excellent examples of grown-up Chickenhawks that these college Republicans no doubt look up to:

Rush Limbaugh
Sean Hannity
Rudy Giuliani
President Bush
Vice President Dick Cheney
Bill Kristol
Paul Wolfowitz
Newt Gingrich
Ann Coulter
Michael Weiner (who uses the last name Savage, in a pathetic and fruitless attempt to sound more manly)
Glenn Beck
Mitt Romney
Joe Lieberman
Trent Lott
Tom DeLay
Rick Santorum
John Ashcroft
Orrin Hatch
Pat Buchanan
Phil Gramm
Clarence Thomas
George Will
Dan Quayle

The list goes on and on, but I don't have all night.

Candidate vid of the night from debate

I wrote about this before, but I think this was easily the best political advertisement that was shown during the Democratic debate tonight.

I like the fact that Edwards is taking on this early embarrassment head on, thereby largely taking it away as any sort of campaign issue. His frickin' hair and how much he spends on it is immaterial to me - I don't really care. It's just the mainstream media's infotainment reporting that should have no bearing on the campaign, just as Mitt Romney's money spent on a make-up appointment before a debate is equally stupid.

Live Blog: The Democratic Debate

Photo from AP

The Democratic Debate is about to begin. This should be a very interesting format - it's certainly one that reflects technology's growing impact on our political process. I'm glad the debate is being hosted by CNN's Anderson Cooper (above, rehearsing for tonight).

It's about to begin, so here we go...

7:09: The first weighty question of the night is about the war, and Kucinich, Obama and Clinton all take their turns. If you are a "peace-at-all-costs" voter, Kucinich is your candidate. However, I'm not a one-issue voter, even though there will be a great many of them in the '08 election, and that one issue will be Iraq.

7:11: Uh oh - a "liberal" question! How would Hillary define liberal? "In the last 30-40 years, it's been turned on its head, and twisted to mean 'big government,'" says Hillary. Not a bad answer. She goes on to describe herself as "Progressive."

7:11: Gravel and Obama get in a little testy exchange, but, to me, it falls flat. Gravel has about as much name recognition as a presidential candidate as I do. Although, I'm in favor of having all of these candidates here. The more candidates we have, and the more voices we have to choose from, the better.

7:12: Joe Biden sounds a bipartisan note by saying he would pick Chuck Hagel as a running mate. Hmmm. An interesting choice, and remarks like that aren't going to court any more Democratic voters, I suspect.

7:14: A Chris Dodd white hair video is sort of funny, and I'm not against humor, but c'mon - there isn't enough time for all of the serious issues that need to be covered.

7:15: I cannot believe that CNN chose to air a question about reparations for slavery. I'm a true, dyed-in-the-wool liberal, but this is the most ridiculous question I've seen yet during any debate this year. I'm not saying this because I'm white - I'm saying it because I'm an American who wants issues that are relevant to Americans who are living today. Is there one survivor of slavery today? A son or daughter of someone who survived slavery? No. The only candidate who is for reparations is Kucinich - what a surprise - a desperate candidate who will pander to anyone who could vote for him. A truly pathetic answer to a patently absurd question.

7:19: Good - a Hurricane Katrina question. Richardson is kicking butt and taking names answering this question. He slams President Bush for "posing for photo ops," that more should have been done, even before the storm.

7:20: A question to Clinton and Obama about gender and race. It's a fair question, but really, Cooper phrases the question to Obama by asking him, "What about the charge that you are not black enough?" which is outrageous. Honestly, I didn't hear how the questioner phrased the question, so maybe Anderson was just repeating it, but that's despicable. Just because someone asked something stupid doesn't obligate CNN to repeat such a question.

7:21: Hillary responds to a similar question about her gender by saying, "I can't run for anything other than as a woman." Slam dunk - that's right, and I'm really getting tired of her gender and Obama's race being an issue. I realize these questions aren't going away, however, so I'm just going to have to deal with it.

7:23: Edwards and Hillary and having a virtual love fest when Edwards is asked a question about what his wife Elizabeth said last week, that John Edwards would be a better advocate for women's issues than Hillary would.

7:27: Kucinich just crashed the boards and came up with a nice rebound about gay marriage. Well said, Dennis - he believes gay marriage should be legal. Good for him.

7:29: "I would advocate full civil unions with full marriage rights," says Bill Richardson in response to the same question. It sounds like Richardson is for gay marriage, just not for calling it gay marriage. From my point of view, that's acceptable - he's just differs with language use. It sounds to me that in the Democratic Primary in 2008, gays have another candidate they can look to who are for their getting full rights, benefits and civil unions, and that man is Governor Richardson.

7:31: John Edwards is answering a question about using religion to justify his opposition to gay marriage. He seems to be answering it, but they go to the questioner, a Southern Baptist minister seating in the audience, who feels Edwards "didn't really answer the question." Interesting - it's the first time I can remember someone getting a chance to come back at a politician for not answering a question.

**
A commercial break. I'd love to see a question about Bush's new Executive Order giving him virtually unlimited powers in the event of another terrorist attack or national emergency. I'm completely outraged by this action, and I'll be blogging about it later tonight. I'd also really like to hear a question about media conglomeration, especially with the likely sale of The Wall St. Journal from the controlling Bankroft Family to Rupert Murdoch. I seriously doubt I'll hear either question, but it never hurts to hope.

Okay, back to the debate...

7:39: A Darfur question, and it goes first to Bill Richardson. "It's called leadership," is how he begins. I also like how he mentions that it shouldn't be just about our interests. Yes. (Read: Is there any oil there? If there were no oil in Iraq, we wouldn't be there, and if you don't believe that, you know nothing about American foreign policy during the last 30 years.)

7:42: "We haven't owned up to our responsibilities to a sense of global governance," says Gravel in response to the Darfur crisis. He tries to keep talking, presumably about another topic, and Cooper cuts him off. Some of the lesser candidates have complained about not getting as much time as the leading candidates. No debate format is perfect, but I don't believe they deserve as much time. Anyone want to hear Gravel talk for as much time as Clinton or Obama? I dunno, but I don't think I would want to.

7:45: Anderson Cooper acknowledges all of the people who have served from The Citadel in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is over 1,100 troops. That's a nice touch.

7:46: A question from Barry Mitchell right here in Philadelphia - "How do we pull out now?" he repeats over and over. First to Obama, and Cooper gets a little testy with him when he sense that he's not answering the question. Obama gets his footing when he cites White House Press Secretary Tony Snow excusing the Iraqi Legislature for taking off the entire month of August because "it's hot." Nice job, Obama.

7:48: Biden says it will take "one year" to withdraw all American troops from Iraq if we started right now. I'm not a member of the military and I'm anything but an expert on military strategy, but this seems patently absurd. A year to remove 165,000 troops? Maybe if they are walking to Paris. That just seems stupid to me.

7:50: Hillary is talking about a timeline for bringing the troops home, in response to a question from a mother of a son who's about to go back to Iraq for the second time.

7:50: Kucinich rightfully says that Congress does have the power to stop the war - "tell the president no more funds." Absolutely, but the Democratic Congressional leaders do not have the courage to "cut off funds" because of the GOP PR machine, period.

7:52: Hot diggity - a question to Mike Gravel from someone who was offended at his saying that our troops in Vietnam "died in vain." To Gravel's credit, he stands his ground and defends his comments. I think there's a pretty big difference between a candidate with zero hope of winning the White House, and the front runners, including John Edwards and Barack Obama, who won't risk offending a significant number of voters by saying any of our troops die in vain.

7:56: Should women register for the draft? I say yes, and just about all of the candidates agree. Women have proven that they can be every bit as effective in military combat as men, and that includes driving tanks or flying jets. Just as there are some men who aren't fit for combat, there are some women who are not, either, and the opposite also holds true for both genders; many men and women are more than fit and capable of doing extraordinary things in combat. One gender should not be included.

8:00: A question from California that mentions that Egyptian President Anwar Sadat travelled to Israel "in 1982." He was assassinated in 1981. Oops. Someone needs to fact check these questions, but it's a fair question. Clinton courageously states that she "will not pledge to meet with these leaders in the first year of my presidency" and "I will not be used for propaganda purposes," in response to a question about meeting with enemies of the U.S. such as Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, etc. A good question.

8:04: A powerful question by Gary Berry, who has three flags over his shoulders that covered the coffins of his grandfather, father and oldest son, and he wants to know when the troops will be home.

8:05: An irrelevant grammar observation - Chris Dodd doesn't know the "that/who" rule when referring to a person. (It's who, Senator.)

8:07: Biden is very strong on foreign policy - probably the strongest of all the candidates on the stage tonight. This guy should be secretary of state if a Democrat wins the White House. If I were president, that would be the first call I'd make, because Biden knows foreign policy, and he knows the value of diplomacy. Will he be president? Fat chance. But, I love how he highlighted the fact that funds to send IED-proof Hummers to Iraq were not approved, which I find just incredulous.

8:10: Thus far, Kucinich gets the zinger of the night (and the most powerful, accurate one) when he says, "It's not right to say that you were against the war from the beginning when you've voted to fund the war," and he's absolutely right.

**
Another commercial break - thank God. I don't like it when these networks go for two straight hours of debating with just one short break. If I remember right, CNN had one break in the middle of a two-hour talkfest last time. Okay, they're back...

8:16: "Who is your favorite teacher today, and why," is the next question. Really? This is lame - just a chance for the candidates to give a shout out to people from their past. I'm all for education (I'm a professor, so I'd better be), but a better education question should have been selected. Okay, looks like I'm getting one - a No Child Left Behind question.

8:18: Richardson wants to scrap NCLB, and I agree. It's a half-baked attempt by the Bush administration to address education, with a title that sounds like it was selected by a PR Agency. Let's put it this way - the best thing about NCLB is the name, but plenty are being left behind.

8:20: Public or private school? A good question. Edwards has sent all four of his children to public school, and Chelsea Clinton went to public school from grades K-8. Obama gave the best answer about this question - that "any U.S. Senator can get his or her child into a good public school, but I want to fight for people who can't game the system." Score a direct hit for Obama.

8:25: A sex education question, and I think it's an important one. It's very illustrative about the sexual repression in our country - Mitt Romney accused Barack Obama of "wanting sex education for five-year olds." I guess Romney has a lot of time on his hands. I loved Obama's response - that "Romney supported the same program while he was running for governor of Massachusetts."

8:27: Some global warming questions - excellent. "How do you get Americans to conserve energy?" Gravel mentions reversing the tax structure - snore. The government must do more than changing the way it taxes people by how much energy they consume - it has to entice alternative energy source development.

8:29: I like Dodd's answer about global warming until he mentions a carbon tax. I don't support the idea of "tradeable carbon credits" - I think it's a total crock. But, more on what I think about global warming at another time.

8:32: I'm delighted to hear Edwards slam the idea of liquefying coal - another horrible idea that the energy companies have come up with to use the internal combustion engine. It's time to come up with something completely different.

8:34: I'm very, very happy to hear a question about elections, and why there isn't a standardized way for people to vote. Richardson is calling for universal paper trails, same-day registration, and de-politicizing the justice department that has been used under this administration to suppress voters. A great answer, but the topic gets short shrift, because after Richardson answers the question, CNN cuts to commercial. That sucks, because it's an issue that has gotten shockingly little attention by the mainstream media. In fact, it's a miracle the question was aired at all tonight.

**
Another commercial - back in a minute. Waiting for CNN to come out of commercial. Again, it's too bad that election reform didn't get more coverage, because I will go to my grave believing that the 2000 and 2004 elections were hijacked by the Republican Party. And there's a very good chance that 2008 could be, too - Bush, Rove and Co. have had eight years to put the machinery in place to insure that a Republican wins the White House in 2008. Okay, the debate is back.

8:41: Would the candidates work for minimum wage if elected president? Most said they would. Hmm, store that footage away.

8:43: I'm delighted that a question has been asked about Social Security - why are earnings not taxed above $97k? Obama dodges the question - raising the limit is "an important issue on the table." It should be done, immediately. It's a burning question - why in the world do the rich get off without paying FICA taxes, other than their first $97K earned? The limit should be $5 million or maybe even $10 million. Or, how about no limit? It's outrageous that there's a cap.

8:45: Biden wants to eliminate the tax cuts to the top one percent. Good - and that's a matter of semantics (take that, Howdy Doody Frank Luntz) - it's not a tax increase, it's ending unnecessary tax breaks for the rich. A very good answer.

Now we are getting a buffet of health care questions. Let's see how the candidates handle these...

8:48: Obama states his plan does provide universal coverage. Anything has to be better than what we have now - 45 million people are without coverage. Obama rightly criticizes the lobbying effort on the part of the health care industry.

8:50: Edwards says that Obama's plan "is a very serious proposal," and that he's "not casting dispersions on his plan." It's a love fest tonight - the candidates are not attacking each other. I guess that's a good thing - I don't want to hear fights; I want to hear ideas, and we are hearing some of that tonight. Edwards, voice rising, nearly shouts that "it's about time we stand up to these insurance companies." That sounds good during a debate, but there's nothing to stop the insurance and medical industries from the same misinformation campaign that they did in 1993-1994. The way to stop that? Real, meaningful election finance reform - public financing of elections is the answer. If I live to 100, I doubt we'll see it, but we need to fight for it.

8:54: Another great answer from a candidate - Dodd mentions stem cell research, a topic that is firmly in the corner of the Democratic Party.

8:56: Gravel has a good point - that the Democratic Party has sold out and is not really about the working man (and woman) any longer. He's right - the Democratic Party doesn't take marching orders nearly as much as the GOP does, but that's because the GOP takes much more money from big business than the Democratic Party does.

8:57: A great question about a potential Democratic president "paying lip service" to the religious faction of the American public. I love Edwards' answer, that he will not let his religious views influence what he does as president. (I'm paraphrasing here.) In other words, I took that to mean that he won't try imposing his religious views on America, something that has become so commonplace under Bush that it barely even registers with anyone any longer.

9:00: Biden's got balls - a question from some loon who boasts that his gun is his "baby." Biden slams him and brags that he helped author the assault weapons ban that President Clinton signed into law. Well said, Senator Biden.

The debate is ending on a light note - what do the candidates like about the person to their left? Again, I like the light-heartedness, but why not one more issue question? I liked the exchange between Kucinich and Cooper - Kucinich joked that CNN didn't put anyone to the left of him, and Cooper gibes that "we couldn't find anyone to the left of you." Witty, Anderson, witty. I liked it.

Anyway, that's it - I'll have a little bit more in a minute. I'm going to be watching the "Wrap-Up Show" with Wolf Blitzer, but not for the analysis, but for the usual interviews of candidates, which I always enjoy - it's a chance to hear more from the candidates, and that's what this is all about and that's why we watch, right?

I forgot to mention this, but the ad of the night was, without a doubt, from Edwards, who poked fun at himself about the hair issue, but poked even more fun at the media coverage of this idiotic, moronic story. I've written it before, and it bears repeating - I'm already tired of the mainstream media's coverage of these non-story stories, and that's been on both sides - from the Edwards haircut to how much Mitt Romney spends on pre-debate cosmetics. Enough of this crap.

I did like the format though. However, this still has the stench of the mainstream media; after all, CNN still gets to pick which questions make it on the air. I realize that some moderation is necessary, or you would have ridiculous questions and even some pranks would get asked. In the end, though, I think the format is much better than a moderator picking and asking questions.

Anderson Cooper did a pretty good job keeping the candidates on topic, too; on more than a few occasions, he chided candidates to stay on message. I'm off to watch the post-debate interviews - hopefully there will be plenty of candidate interviews, and not just talking heads.

A little more quick analysis - the questions, for the most part, were pretty well-versed and appropriate, but again, the light-hearted stuff could have been 86'd. After all, we got nothing specific about stem cell research, immigration, impeachment or election reform (other than the one question election reform answered by Richardson right before a commercial).

Check out the latest Kitlers

I ran across this last week, and it's one of the oddest things I've found on the Internet, and one of the funniest, too, in a very weird way.

It's Cats That Look Like Hitler! - a site that features cats that bear a resemblance to one of the most murderous butchers that humanity has ever known. The "models" on the site are known as Kitlers. You can even vote for your favorite Kitler. If you have a 20-spot and absolutely nothing better to do with it, you can even by Kitler apparel.

As much as I love cats, I don't think I'd ever want one that looked like the one above, though. I can just imagine going to pick out a kitten - if I saw one with a Hitler 'stache, I'd pass.

Funniest pic so far in '08

This is one of the funniest pictures I've seen in a long time. Our friend Mandy just got back from Thailand a week or so ago, and while she was over there, she saw this dog on the beach, and she couldn't stop laughing.

Someone actually took the trouble to dye eyebrows on a stray dog. How funny is that? Please note that this pic is NOT Photoshopped or altered in any way - this one is the real deal. Of all the beautiful pics that Mandy came back with from Thailand, she said this one is her favorite. After looking at all of the pictures that she took, and there are some truly breathtaking ones, it's my favorite, too.

LiveBlog: Dem debate tonight at 7

The Democratic debate tonight on CNN should be an interesting one - viewers can submit their questions via YouTube, and their questions may get used during the debate.

I will be live blogging the debate tonight - it begins at 7 p.m. EST on CNN.

I just saw a piece this morning that opined that some people are already tired of the presidential candidate debates. Perhaps many do already have debate fatigue, but in my view, that's absurd. With the myraid of issues and their consequences, every American should be following the issues and voting accordingly.

After all, following the Bush Presidency, never again will anyone in America be able to say, "What happens in Washington, D.C. doesn't affect me."

Sunday comics (early)

I triple-dog promise to have lots and lots of commentary later on in the weekend (most likely Sunday evening and well into the night). We are headed up to the Poconos to visit family and friends in a bit. I've been giving my photo blog and photography lots of love, and CMB has been a bit neglected. I promise to make it up to you on Sunday - I've got lots to say and even more juicy footage to bring you.

Anyway, here are some great cartoons from the past week. Most of them have a Bush administration and Iraq War theme. Hey, what can I say? We're about to enter the dog days of summer, and there's not a whole lot happening right now other than pop culture idiocy and the War in Iraq. I guess it's a good time to note that the war goes on for our troops every day - there is no vacation like most of us get in the summer, and like the entire goddamn Iraq Parliment is taking for the month of August. I can't help but be overly angry about that last point, so pardon my language - but really, when you hear about something like that, it's not a stretch to say out loud, "Our troops are giving their lives for this?!? On to the comics...