Tag: Fox News

Sen. Trent Lott To Announce Retirement Effective At the End of December

Jon Ponder

Trent Lott, the man who is probably best remembered for saying that the United States would have been a better place if Strom Thurmond, the South Carolina racist, had been elected president in 1948, is retiring from the Senate:

Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, plans to resign his seat before the end of the year, congressional and White House officials said Monday.

Lott, 66, scheduled two news conferences in his home state later in the day to reveal his plans. According to congressional and White House officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement, Lott intends to resign effective the end of the year.

No good news here, however. Lott’s replacement will be appointed by the governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour, the former GOP lobbyist and RNC head, who is undoubtedly scouring the state right now to find the most ardent rightwing racist troglodyte available to fill Lott’s seat.

In fact, Gov. Barbour will be hard pressed to find someone who fits that description better than himself, and if the governor hadn’t just been reelected in a landslide in November, he’d probably put his own name at the top of the list of appointees.

The AP says Lott’s health is not an issue in his retirement, and the fact that no reason has been given for his abrupt departure — not even the standby “desire to spend more time with his family” — suggests he plans to cash in on his four decades as a Washington insider and power broker by becoming a lobbyist.

Lott, who made his comments about Thurmond at the late senator’s 100th birthday party, is the sixth Senate Republican who has announced retirement this year, according to the AP.

Thompson: ‘Gun Show is a Day in Paradise’

Trish

CNN:

White House hopeful Fred Thompson called his trip down aisle of rifles, shotguns and pistols at a gun show “a day in paradise,” and said he wished he could come back to spend more time and money.

It was the former Tennessee senator and “Law and Order” actor’s second trip to a gun show since launching his late bid for the GOP nomination in September…

“It’s a beautiful day in paradise,” Thompson said when greeted by one of the people packing the show’s aisles.

Hate Crime Murder Victim Ryan Skipper’s Parents Are Asking Questions

Trish

The parents of Ryan Skipper, a Central Florida man stabbed to death and dumped on the side of the road earlier this year because he was gay, have a question for the Republicans running for president. Will you take responsibility for the hate and savagery your party has used to manipulate its base into condemning and attacking gays? Will you stop twisting religious tenets into a battle cry? Do you understand your rhetoric fuels ignorance and fear and violence? Do you realize there is blood on your hands?

Ryan’s mom and stepdad recorded this video for the town hall meetings where candidates answer questions from the public. Knowing how Republicans operate, this might be the most light of day this submission ever sees. Pass it along to your friends and to anyone who says homophobia is no big deal.

Worst. Campaign. Commercial. Ever. Chuck Norris Shills for Mike Huckabee

Jon Ponder

Mike Huckabee may have unintentionally created a masterpiece in the art of campaign ads on television. His new ad, on the air in Iowa, is so bad it may just be the “Plan 9 from Outer Space” of campaign advertising.

It is so unspeakably bad that it should automatically disqualify him from high office. No one who seeks to be president (or in Huckabee’s case, vice president) of the United States can have such a tin ear about messaging.

Here’s how bad it is: Even George Bush, as haplessly dimwitted as he is, would never allow something this bad on the air.

Poll: Thompson Drops Below Ron Paul in New Hampshire

Jon Ponder

It appears that Yankees are impervious to Fred Thompson’s charms:

Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson has skidded into sixth place in a new CNN/WMUR poll of likely Republican voters in New Hampshire, edged out by ex-Libertarian and anti-war congressman Ron Paul and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Thompson “has trailed the GOP front-runners in early voting states since entering the race in August, and his support in New Hampshire dropped from 13 percent in a September poll to 4 percent in November’s survey.”

Ron Paul doubled his support from 4 percent to 8 percent since September. Mike Huckabee has 5 percent.

Mitt Romney, who as a former governor of Massachusetts is a hometown boy, relatively, is in the lead with 33 percent, which is up from 25 percent in September. John McCain’s 18 percent support is unchanged. Rudolph Giuliani is in third place with 16 percent, an eight percentage point drop since September.

Christian Parents Stressed Over Giving Media Gifts to Their Kids for Xmas

Buck Banks


“Should I give little Mary the latest Shakira CD and little Johnny the Resident Evil 4 game, and thereby offend the Lord God our Father in Heaven and condemn myself and my children to everlasting suffering in the lower depths of Hell?”

According to the latest Barna Group survey, Bible-banging parents across the land will be stressing like maniacs during the 2007 Xmas Shopping Season as they try to remain relevant to their children while at the same time adhering to their 2,000-year-old superstitions. Whether it was music CDs, movie DVDs, computer games, magazines or computer software, about one in three Christians was not comfortable with the contents of the media gift they gave their little angels. And almost three-quarters refused to buy mobile phone downloads from Satan for their children.

Sadly, this Christmas season will produce enormous stress for numerous Christian parents who don’t want to disappoint either God or their children.
— George Barna

Here’s what George Barna has to say about Christian Xmas Stress Syndrome (I just made that up — catchy, ain’t it):

The process of selecting appropriate Christmas presents for children is a microcosm of the spiritual tension millions of Christian adults wrestle with. Many Christian parents are striving to serve two conflicting masters: society and God. They refuse to believe that they cannot satisfy both. Sadly, this Christmas season will produce enormous stress for numerous Christian parents who don’t want to disappoint either God or their children, but whose ultimate choices will disappoint both God and themselves, while providing gifts that are not be in the best interests of their children. For Christians, the Christmas season should be a time of celebration and appreciation of the life of Jesus Christ. Instead, that joy is being minimized by the pressure and confusion introduced by our focus on material consumption and fulfillment.

Man, are there any more annoying and unforgiving masters than society and God?

The Xmas Shopping Season already is stressful enough without throwing eternal damnation into the mix, but what is a Christian parent to do if they don’t want to become irrelevant to their teenager?

Opt out. I mean, by most accounts, you’ve already missed Baby Jesus’ birthday, which was probably in October or November. And if Baby Jesus is the Reason for the Season, then it seems just bad manners to celebrate the Son of God’s birthday late. There’s your out, Christian parental unit: “Sorry, kids, we missed Baby Jesus’ birthday, so no Satanic media presents for you this year. Now, go in the backyard and flagellate yourselves with birch branches until I call you in for supper.”

There, no stressing about the content of the new R.Kelly CD or whether the kids will understand the themes of death and homosexuality in “Little Miss Sunshine.” No presents equals no stress equals parental irrelevancy but saves the souls of Mommy, Daddy and the kids. If all Christians who felt a little squeamish about giving their 14-year-old daughter a Cosmo subscription or little Timmy a transformer action figure (because after all, it’s a doll, and what message does it send?) opted out of the Xmas Shopping Season, a whole lotta souls would be saved, not to mention about $1 billion, according to Barna.

So go on, you’ve already missed Jesus’ birthday, no since in pissing off the Old man, too, by giving deviled presents.

This has been the first in an ongoing Pensito Review series called “War on Xmas.” Because we believe that there is no reason for the season except to redistribute wealth from the poorer to the richer, increase the rate of personal debt, raise the collective blood pressure of the nation and create a whole bunch of waste while expanding the carbon footprint of most households in America through purposeless over-consumption of natural resources and energy.

Another Word for “Free Rice”

Trish

Here’s a nifty little time-waster that actually isn’t (a waste of time). FreeRice.com donates grains of rice through the United Nations World Food Program to hungry people all over the world. But it only makes these donations if you play a multiple-choice vocabulary game first. The more words you get right, the more rice is donated. And the harder the words get.

Why, you might ask, don’t they just donate the rice without you playing the game? Because while you’re playing, ads are being displayed at the bottom of the page. Your clicks determine the rice donation. Check it out yourself. You’ll be helping the hungry and building your vocabulary at the same time.

Buzzy Krongrad Resigns from Blackwater Board

Jon Ponder

A.B. “Buzzy” Krongrad, the brother of State Dept. Inspector General Howard Krongrad who is under investigation for lying to Congress, resigned from his seat on an advisory board for Blackwater on Friday:

[Krongard’s resignation comes] two days after the relationship with the security contractor was sharply criticized by a congressional oversight committee.

Erik Prince, Blackwater’s top executive, said the conflict of interest questions raised by the connection prompted … Krongard to submit his resignation.

“I have reluctantly accepted it,” Prince said in a statement.

On Friday, Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, announced that his committee will look into Howard Krongard’s testimony last week in which he denied that Buzzy had a relationship with Blackwater, only to recant that testimony when confronted with the facts. After the hearings, Buzzy Krongrad told reporters and then committee staff that, contrary to Howard’s testimony, Buzzy had recently informed him that he was joining the Blackwater advisory board.

BREAKING: House Committee to Explore Perjury Charges Against State Dept. Inspector General

Jon Ponder

In a memo released late today Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, says he and the committee will look into allegations of perjury against State Dept. Inspector General Howard Krongard:

Howard Krongard’s testimony is refuted to committee by his brother

On Wednesday, November 14, 2007, the full Committee held a hearing entitled, “Assessing the State Department Inspector General.” At this hearing, Inspector General Howard J. Krongard testified that his brother, Alvin “Buzzy” Krongard, told him that he was not on the board of Blackwater USA and had no connections to Blackwater. Yesterday, in response to a letter from the Committee, Buzzy Krongard called the Committee staff and said that contrary to Howard Krongard’s testimony, he did tell his brother about his relationship with Blackwater.

The information from Buzzy Krongard raises serious questions about the veracity of Howard Krongard’s testimony before the Committee. To help answer these questions, I expect the Committee to hold a hearing immediately after the Thanksgiving recess at which Howard Krongard and Buzzy Krongard will be invited to testify.

Read the rest of Waxman’s memo:

Read my coverage of Krongard’s House testimony at The BRAD BLOG:

Fox News Porn

Jon Ponder

Keith Olbermann did a segment earlier this week on Fox News’ overuse of porn-style video to illustrate its “news” stories, even when those stories have nothing to do with porn. Last night, I was flipping past FNC and happened to catch the end of a story about a SWAT team’s visit to Hooters in New Jersey (I think) in which still photos of the cops cavorting with waitresses — including some touching that is definitely considered inappropriate in the work place these days. The tone of the piece seemed to be less about reporting on alleged improper behavior and — as the clip above, which I found at Cliff Schecter’s Brave New Films shows — more about showing the naughty photos as many times as possible in three minutes.

I guess they know their audience.