Cheney Nods Off While Bush Is Talking
Maybe it’s time for the vice president to retire so he can rest up before he’s arrested and tried for his crimes.
Category: Politics
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O’Reilly in Uproar Over Gay Dumbledore
It was, I suppose, predictable that professional bloviator Bill O’Reilly would get his panties in a twist over author J.K. Rowling’s (yawn) revelation that a character in the Harry Potter novels was gay. Rowling told an audience at Carnegie Hall last week that the headmaster of Hogwarts Academy, Albus Dumbledore, was gay.
Despite the fact that Rowling offended my English major’s sensibilities by telling something outside the novel (“So, Mr. Twain, what career track did Huck follow when he grew up?”), O’Reilly is trying — very hard, apparently — to cast Rowling as a “provocateur” who is pushing “gay indoctrination” by saying a character in her novels is gay, even though he apparently never did anything gay-like in the novels. Here’s Bill at his usual, courtesy of Media Matters:
Huckabee, Media’s Nice Guy, Was the First Republican to Smear Gays in ’08 Debate
New York Times columnist Gail Collins perfectly captures the conventional wisdom about Mike Huckabee in today’s edition:
Why would the family values crowd prefer a batshit crazy adulterating New Yorker, a Hollywood actor/abortion lobbyist or a Mormon to one of their own?
Like Bill Clinton, Huckabee was born in a town called Hope and became a pretty good governor of a state that doesn’t make it all that easy. (Plus, you have to love the fact that he lived for a while in a mobile home on the Arkansas Statehouse grounds.) He’s extremely inclusive, defending minorities who are illegal immigrants as well as the ones registered to vote.
Inclusive? Preacher Huckabee was the first and only ’08 candidate (so far) to slur a gay person, who also happens to be a member of Congress:
“Let’s face it,” he recently told a crowd of Christian conservatives in Iowa… “In our lifetimes, we’ve seen our country go from ‘Leave It to Beaver’ to ‘Beavis and Butt-head,’ from Barney Fife to Barney Frank, from ‘Father Knows Best’ to television shows where father knows nothing.”
Collins continues:
On the downside, I think he’d be a terrible president. He doesn’t know beans about foreign affairs, he wants to replace the income tax with a national sales tax, and his positions on social issues are far to the right of the general populace. But why aren’t the social conservatives rallying around this guy? Unlike any of the major candidates, he’s still on his first wife and first position on abortion.
Why would the family values crowd prefer a batshit crazy adulterating New Yorker, a Hollywood actor/abortion lobbyist or a Mormon to one of their own?
Because the Cheney-Bush crowd has spent the last six years scaring the bejesus out of them. These feeble-minded souls are convinced that Osama has an army of suiciders on its way to blow up every Walmart store in America. They want someone who will protect them.
Perhaps types Establishment (or maybe non-Southerners) can’t see Huckabee as his own peeps do. They sense weakness, or at least a decided lack of toughness. (His signature accomplishment is losing 110 pounds.)
Huckabee’s jab at Barney Frank, which was briefly a soundbite from a debate in March, was a pathetic attempt to pander to the haters. It didn’t work because it was way too mild.
If he can’t smear a queer better than that, how can he protect me Osama bin Laden?
California’s Top Dem: Bush’s Fire Photo Op Will Interfere with Firefighting
Lt. Gov. John Garamendi:
“How about sending our National Guard back from Iraq, so that we have those people available here to help us?”
“I’ve got some doubt about the value of President Bush coming out here. How many times did he go to New York or to New Orleans and still made promises but hasn’t delivered. We have the Terminator out here, Gov. Schwarzenegger is doing a good job, and we’ll see.”
Asked if Bush’s trip is about PR: “Of course it’s public relations. The actions taking place by the hard working firefighters, the men and women and the police that are out there on the line, and the community that’s pulling together to support wach other, that’s where the action is taking place. I know, okay, President Bush comes out, we’ll be polite, but frankly, that’s not the solution. How about sending our National Guard back from Iraq, so that we have those people available here to help us?”
Asked if Bush’s visit will distract from fire fighting efforts: “Absolutely, no doubt about it. The president goes some place, you’ve got a huge entourage, you’ve got secret service all over and all the chaos that comes with whenever the President arrives, wherever the President happens to arrive. But listen, what we really need are those firefighters, we need the equipment, we need, frankly, we need those troops back from Iraq. We’ll get on here, whether he comes or not, that’s not really the issue. I just hope if he does come, he brings more than he brought to New Orleans” (“Hardball,” MSNBC, 10/23).
Video: Condi Confronted in Hearing Room By Protester with Bloody Hands
Woman screams ‘War criminal!’ at Rice and ‘Take her to the hague!’ Cops drag Code Pink members out screaming even though it’s unclear they were involved
Colorado Rockies Only Hire Players Who Are Born-Again Christians
I’m not a baseball fan, but I will be rooting against the Rockies in the World Series this year:
“We truly do have something going on here. And God’s using us in a powerful way.”
— Keli McGregor, club president
In a remarkable article from Wednesday’s USA Today [June 2, 2006], the Colorado Rockies went public with the news that the organization has been explicitly looking for players with “character.” And according to the Tribe of Coors, “character” means accepting Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior. “We’re nervous, to be honest with you,” Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd said. “It’s the first time we ever talked about these issues publicly. The last thing we want to do is offend anyone because of our beliefs.” When people are nervous that they will offend you with their beliefs, it’s usually because their beliefs are offensive.
Club president Keli McGregor said, “[We] truly do have something going on here. And [God’s] using us in a powerful way.”
One ex-player said team officials inspected the lockers to ensure players weren’t hiding “Playboy” magazines or other immoral contraband on the premises.
League of Fans, Ralph Nader related resource, reports that the Rockies received a $161 million subsidy from Colorado taxpayers to build Coors Field, which opened in 1995. It’s doubtful those taxpayers knew they were supporting a private organization whose membership would be restricted to Christian extremists.
Should They Put Al Gore on the Florida Ballot?
‘To be or not to be.’
Co-editor Trish is all in a dither these days over the state of Democratic politics in Florida. Since her ballot would not be counted in Florida’s (in the eyes of the national Democratic Party — illegal) Jan. 29 vote, she says she’s not sure she’ll even vote in the presidential primary. But maybe there’s something that would get Trish to cast a ballot for a presidential candidate after all: Al Gore.
It’s almost Shakespearean.
The St. Petersburg Times’ Buzz column suggests that leaders of Florida’s Democratic Party easily could add Gore to the ballot they draw up this weekend:
Heck, most of the other Florida-snubbing Democratic candidates say Florida’s primary is so meaningless they won’t even send their spouses to mix with party regulars in Orlando this weekend. Why not have some fun with it then, and add a Nobel Peace Prize winner to the Florida ballot? Call it a favor to those Palm Beachers who accidentally voted for Pat Buchanan in 2000 and want another chance to vote for Gore. Hillary and company probably wouldn’t love the idea, but she and the rest of the field haven’t exactly been dolling out favors lately to Florida Democrats.
Why not, indeed. Although Buzz does admit to making the suggestion just to create some, ahem, buzz at this weekend’s state convention, it makes this piquant observation:
Al Gore back on the Florida ballot, after the national Democrats opted not to count Florida’s Democratic votes. It’s almost Shakespearean.
As he Bard himself might have suggested: hoist the Democratic candidates on their own petard and be done with it.
Nearly 1 Mil Evacuated in California – Limbaugh Says Crisis Is ‘Hyped’
Local news here in Southern California is reporting that upwards of 1 million people have been evacuated because of the fire storms. Last night, when the number was about half that, Keith Olbermann suggested that this could be the largest forced migration of Americans since the Civil War.
“I am very confident in our ability to do just about anything. You said not on to get overconfident but, I’ll tell you what, the Republican Party is more, gosh, we’re stronger than God Almighty himself.”
— Dittohead caller on Limbaugh’s show yesterday
But yesterday Rush Limbaugh told his easily deluded listeners that the mainstream media is “hyping” the wildfires — and the poor semi-retarded Dittoheads are believing it:
RUSH: No, I’ve been wondering about this, having not been out there. I know how media works. They love this kind of stuff. The worse they can make it sound, the better. The more crisis-prone, the more disaster-certain it is, the more excited by it they are — and I’ve been e-mailing people in Los Angeles. I’ve been e-mailing friends in Southern California. “Are you in trouble from the fires?”
“No, not really. It’s not anywhere near us.”
In fact, a couple people I e-mailed on Sunday didn’t even know about it ’til they got back home Sunday night, even though the fire has been raging through the weekend. You’re right. A lot of people are losing a lot of property here, but the idea that it may not be quite as bad as it is, is an interesting media study.
This is standard Limbaugh. “Global warming can’t real because it’s chilly in my living room. And if I can’t feel it, it is not happening.”
And who’s to blame for the fires — that, as Big Dan pointed out — he says are not happening? Take a guess:
RUSH: [And] these environmental groups, they are to blame for this … They are the ones that are making these fires.
Gotta love this from a caller — a Dittohead who is a Christian but apparently hasn’t gotten the word from church central that you’re not supposed to put mankind above the Almighty:
DITTOHEAD: I am very confident in our ability to do just about anything. You said not on to get overconfident but, I’ll tell you what, the Republican Party is more, gosh, we’re stronger than God Almighty himself.
I’ll bet God is pissed and She will smite this sinner very soon.
H/t: Big Dan
GOP’s Boehner, Who Said U.S. Troop Deaths Were a ‘Small Price’ to Pay, Led Censure Move Against Pete Stark Over Anti-Bush Remark
Last month, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said the lives of U.S. troops were a small price to pay in the U.S. occupation of Iraq and its intervention in the Iraqi civil war:
Stark was wrong, of course, troops aren’t dying for the president’s amusement. The reality is much worse. They are dying so that Bush and his cronies can control Iraq’s oil.
BLITZER: Mr. Leader, here’s the question. How much longer will U.S. taxpayers have to shell out $2 billion a week or $3 billion a week as some now are suggesting the cost is going to endure? The loss in blood, the Americans who are killed every month, how much longer do you think this commitment, this military commitment is going to require?
BOEHNER: I think General Petraeus outlined it pretty clearly. We’re making success. We need to firm up those successes. We need to continue our effort here because, Wolf, long term, the investment that we’re making today will be a small price if we’re able to stop al Qaeda here, if we’re able to stabilize the Middle East, it’s not only going to be a small price for the near future, but think about the future for our kids and their kids.
Boehner has never apologized, nor did the Democrats attempt to censure him for denigrating the sacrifice of American soldiers.
Yesterday, however, Boehner led the charge to censure Rep. Pete Stark over these comments:
First of all, I’m just amazed that they can’t figure out — the Republicans are worried that we can’t pay for insuring an additional ten million children. They sure don’t care about finding $200 billion to fight the illegal war in Iraq. Where are you gonna get that money? You gonna tell us lies, like you’re telling us today? Is that how you’re going to fund the war? You don’t have the money to fund the war or children, but you’re going to spend it to blow up innocent people, if we could get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President’s amusement.
Stark was wrong, of course, troops aren’t dying for the president’s amusement. The reality is much worse. They are dying so that Bush and his cronies can control Iraq’s oil.
Did CNN’s Rightwing Nutcase Glenn Beck Say Malibu Liberals Hate America, So Deserve Wild Fires?
Most of the 300,000 Evacuees Are from Republican Enclaves
On his radio gabfest yesterday, CNN’s resident rightwing crackpot Glenn Beck implied that because residents of Malibu, Calif., “hate America,” they were therefore unluckily suffering the loss of their homes to wildfires:
I think there is a handful of people who hate America. Unfortunately for them, a lot of them are losing their homes in a forest fire [sic] today.
Leaving aside the fact that there isn’t a “forest” within miles of Malibu, just seconds before that outrageous, though half-baked, assertion, Beck made a statement that contradicted what he was about to say:
[We’re] all one America, that just because I disagree with you doesn’t mean you hate America, and I love America. We all love America. We just disagree on how we should function…
He then contradicted himself in the same sentence a second time, saying he was not referring to Democrats but to nefarious people (liberals? terrorists?) who pretend to be Democrats:
There are a few people that hate America. But I don’t think the Democrats are those. I think there are those posing as Democrats that are like that.
Huh? It’s always dicey trying to parse logic from the ravings of an unbalanced mind, but since the fires being reported in the national news yesterday were mostly in the Malibu area, it appears that Beck’s “America haters” are Hollywood liberals who live in Malibu.
Or maybe he was referring to Muslim terrorists who are hiding out in Malibu pretending to be Democrats. (If so, they are rapidly burning through Osama bin Ladin’s fortune.)
Ironically, while the wildfires on Sunday did significant damage to the tiny but wealthy and politically liberal beachfront enclave of Malibu, the widespread and horrendous destruction that is going on now is in the politically conservative areas of inland Los Angeles County, coastal Orange County and throughout northern San Diego County, where around 300,000 people have been evacuated.
This recalls TV preacher and diamond-mine owner Pat Robertson’s prophesy in 1998 that God would destroy Orlando, Fla., with a hurricane because Disney allowed a gay group to host activities in its theme park. Instead, God smote Robertson by hurling Hurricane Bonnie directly at his headquarters in Virginia Beach that August.
