I Hate What You Just Said

Is it wrong to love James Wolcott so much?

Fox News is so good because its writers are such fine, upstanding citizens.

We all know that marriage between one man and one woman is the keystone that balances the grand arch of civilization. Were we ever to remove it, the entire edifice would crash down upon us, destroying all we know. Just imagine it. In the false twilight of dust and choking ash, ghostlike figures layered in white powder have man-on-dog sex among the smoldering rubble and twisted rebar.

Chilling.

Thank God for proud Americans like Nevada Senator, John Ensign, who has spent his entire career in the Senate defending the citadel of marriage against the barbarian hordes of sodomites and lesbians locked outside the city walls.

Oh wait.

He just screwed some other guy’s wife.

UPDATE:

Thanks to Buffy in the comments who found this perfect video:

More right-wing domestic terrorists. I’m sure that the fine folks at Fox will discover that they were closet Marxists.

These guys just can’t bring it like my homeboy.

Object lesson in why it’s best not to torture people.

Nobel prize-winning author, José Saramago, on Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi:

I don’t know what other name I could give it. It’s a thing that looks dangerously like a human, a thing that throws parties, that organises orgies and rules a country called Italy. This thing, this illness, this virus threatens to become the cause of the moral death of Verdi’s country. If a deep vomit doesn’t succeed in ejecting it from the consciousness of Italians, the poison will end up corroding the veins and destroying the heart of one of Europe’s richest cultures. The basic values of human coexistence are trampled daily by the viscous feet of the Berlusconi thing; amongst its many talents, it has a funambulesque ability to abuse words, perverting their intention and meaning, as in the case of the People of Freedom, the name given to the party with which the thing took power. I’ve called the thing delinquent and I don’t regret it. For semantic and social reasons that others will be able to explain better than I can, the term delinquent has in Italy a much stronger connotation than it has in any other language spoken in Europe. I use the meaning given to the term by Dante’s language in order to translate clearly and forthrightly what I think about the Berlusconi thing—though it is more than doubtful that Dante ever used the term. In my Portuguese, and according to the dictionaries and the current practice of communication, delinquency means ‘the act of committing crimes, disobeying laws or moral codes’. This definition fits the Berlusconi thing without a wrinkle, without any jarring, to the point that it seems more like a second skin than the clothes that the thing puts on itself. For years and years the Berlusconi thing has been committing crimes of a variable but always demonstrated seriousness. It’s outrageous that it not only disobeys laws, but worse, it invents them to safeguard its public and private interests as politician, businessman and the companion of minors. Where the moral codes are concerned, it’s not even worth talking about it, there is not a person in Italy or the rest of the world that doesn’t know that the Berlusconi thing fell into the most abject of states a long time ago. This is the Italian prime minister, this is the thing that the Italian people have elected twice to serve them as a role model, this is the path to ruin which is dragging along the values of liberty and dignity that suffused Verdi’s music and the political actions of Garibaldi—the ones that, during the struggle for unification in the 18th century, made of Italy a spiritual guide for Europe and for Europeans. This is what the Berlusconi thing wants to throw into the rubbish bin of History. Will the Italians end up allowing this to happen?

Barack Obama’s Inauguration Speech:

To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

Mahmoud Achmadinjad’s Inauguration Speech:

Today, thanks to great achievements, the threat to Iran has been lifted, and no power in the world entertains the notion of taking action against the Iranian nation. Even if someone were to entertain this notion and want to undertake any act of aggression against the nation… he should know that the Iranian nation is ready, and any hand outstretched in order to attack will be cut off.

Could this guy be any more right?

Today, as global geopolitics is shaken to its core by events in Iran, I turned on cable news this morning, and saw endless ads for a Larry King Jonas Brothers “interview”, Morning Joe yukking it up discussing Kuwaiti massage therapists, a video of a tomato throwing contest on CNN, talk radio blowhard Bill Bennett…and occasionally a phone call from Christiane Amanpour in Tehran.  I can’t even bring myself to turn on the network morning programs, I might vomit.

And the NY Times rubs it in.

Juan Cole has a meticulous analysis of what seems like a “stolen election.”

I’m not sure where Andrew Sullivan got this graph; it isn’t clear from his post. It purports to track the official vote tallies during six counting announcements. And you’d have to say that there is an unmistakably stable ratio involved in the data.

There are widespread reports and accusations of fraud. Some suggest a military coup.

People don’t seem happy:

Glenn Greenwald on the childish, self-centered tribalism that lies at the core of the conservative mind.

Clearly this guy is a liberal:

Center City employees and shoppers were given quite a scare this morning by a man who was ranting and wielding a knife for nearly an hour at 8th and Market streets, police said.

What they didn’t see was the hand grenade that police later recovered from his bag.

Witnesses said that the man, with the knife pulled, began ranting on the sidewalk shortly after 8 a.m., but police weren’t contacted for nearly an hour, said police spokeswoman Officer Tania Little.

When police arrived, they saw the man threatening passers-by with a large army knife. Authorities detained the man and found a hand grenade inside a camouflage backpack he wore, Little said.

Andrew Sullivan with today’s must read.

Voting is tomorrow; glad nobody bombed you.

Conservatives don’t go on shooting sprees, that is an activity wholly owned by The Left:

Hey guys, remember this?

h/t Atrios

Scott Roeder, the Christian religious extremist who killed an abortion provider in Kansas City told reporters that “many other similar events [are] planned around the country.” Today, an 88 year-old man shot up the Holocaust museum in our nation’s capital.

We need to find out if these two incidents are connected. Were these men working together? Is there a network of angry white terrorists lurking in our cities, planning to kill other Jews and physicians?

Clearly, there is only one way to discover this critical information before any more attacks occur: enhanced interrogation.

Building rapport with prunes isn’t going to work, goddamnit — I want to see that 90-year old man strung up from the rafters and deluged with freezing cold water until he tells us where the other geriatric terrorists are hiding and what their next objective is. Roeder needs the waterboard. And find out if he’s afraid of any bugs, menstrual blood, dogs, tight spaces, or deafening levels of gangsta rap.

And it’s time for the good, law-abiding folk to arm ourselves in our museums — along with our national parks, churches, schools, and bars.

Eric Cantor is quickly becoming the “Baghdad Bob” of the Republican party. He’s in the reality business:

These may be dark days for the Republican Party, but a top GOP congressional leader predicted today that Republicans would trounce Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections and could take back control of the House of Representatives.

For once I agree with Charles Krauthammer:

Fox has done a great service to the American polity — single-handedly breaking up the intellectual and ideological monopoly that for decades exerted hegemony (to use a favorite lefty cliché) over the broadcast media.

[. . .]

What Fox did is not just create a venue for alternative opinion. It created an alternate reality.

The Bush administration was marked by secrecy and a lack of respect for core principles of democratic governance.  And so far, the Obama administration is on rather the same page:

The CIA argued yesterday that Bush-era documents detailing the videotaped interrogations of detainees should not be released, citing national security concerns, reports the Washington Post

…

CIA director Leon Panetta argued in a statement that releasing the material “could be expected to result in exceptionally grave damage to the national security by informing our enemies of what we knew about them, and when, and in some instances, how we obtained the intelligence we possessed.”

Panetta wrote that the “disclosure of explicit details of specific interrogations” would give al-Qaeda “propaganda it could use to recruit and raise funds.” He called it “ready-made ammunition.”

An ACLU lawyer told the Post that Panetta is in effect arguing: “The greater the abuse, the more important it is that it should remain secret.”

Many Americans need a can to turn blue in order to know if the beer is cold.

The NY Times reports the arguments of those who oppose the creation of a “public”  health care option:

But critics argue that with low administrative costs and no need to produce profits, a public plan will start with an unfair pricing advantage. They say that if a public plan is allowed to pay doctors and hospitals at levels comparable to Medicare’s, which are substantially below commercial insurance rates, it could set premiums so low it would quickly consume the market.

Wow, that sounds like a serious problem that will definitely keep me up at night. I can’t even bear to imagine a world where Americans have an inexpensive, efficient, not-for-profit health care system that can provide care for every man, woman and child. Truly chilling.

From today’s Boston Globe:

Senior Justice Department lawyers in 2005 sought to limit tough interrogation tactics against terror suspects, but were overruled.

The NY Times’ article on the subject has serious and misleading errors.

Dude, the bloomin’ onion at Outback isn’t that good.

The South has gotten a little nuts since Obama was elected.

Exhibit A:

Handguns will soon be allowed in bars and restaurants in Tennessee under a new law passed by state legislators who voted to override the governor’s veto.

Exhibit B:

A Kentucky pastor is inviting his flock to bring guns to church to celebrate the Fourth of July and the Second Amendment.

New Bethel Church is welcoming “responsible handgun owners” to wear their firearms inside the church June 27, a Saturday. An ad says there will be a handgun raffle, patriotic music and information on gun safety.

Nothing makes me more proud to be an American than when our inalienable rights become alienable:

A federal judge on Wednesday threw out more than three dozen lawsuits claiming that the nation’s major telecommunications companies had illegally assisted in the wiretapping without warrants program approved by President George W. Bush after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Why would someone who luxuriates in those tropical breezes kill himself? What a world.

Inside the National Statuary Hall, located inside the US Capital building, stands the imposing bronze figure of Thomas Starr King. A Unitarian minister of humble beginnings and a preternaturally gifted orator, King became one of the most famous preachers in all of 19th-century New England. After hearing the call to minister to the people of California, King accepted a position leading the First Unitarian Church of San Francisco. There King not only spoke ardently and persuasively on spiritual matters, he also took a profound interest in social issues, working tirelessly to improve the lives of his fellow Californians and the nation as a whole.

King is credited with personally raising $1.5 million for the US Sanitary Commission — the forerunner to the American Red Cross — which cared for wounded soldiers during the Civil War. King’s efforts amounted to a full one-fifth of the total donations which came from every state then in the union. His care and support for the troops alleviated the suffering of many and undoubtedly saved countless lives.

During the Civil War, King spoke ceaselessly and fervently against a movement in California that argued for secession. He was lauded as “the orator who saved the nation” and was credited for preventing the dissolution of the Union by none other than president Abraham Lincoln.

In short, Thomas Starr King was a great American.

Too bad that soon he will be unceremoniously chopped down and replaced with a statue of Ronald Reagan, an actor who worked with monkeys:

Here’s the syrupy, misleading, childish vision of the Reagan legacy that right wingers love so dearly, expressed through the famous “morning in America” ads:

Here’s more evidence, from Paul Krugman this time, of just how far-reaching the negative effects of Reagan’s deregulating, mindlessly flag-waving, race-baiting, tree-hating, union-busting presidency have been.  The emphasis here is on the deregulating part:

“This bill is the most important legislation for financial institutions in the last 50 years. It provides a long-term solution for troubled thrift institutions. … All in all, I think we hit the jackpot.” So declared Ronald Reagan in 1982, as he signed the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act.

He was, as it happened, wrong about solving the problems of the thrifts. On the contrary, the bill turned the modest-sized troubles of savings-and-loan institutions into an utter catastrophe. But he was right about the legislation’s significance. And as for that jackpot — well, it finally came more than 25 years later, in the form of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

…

Attacks on Reaganomics usually focus on rising inequality and fiscal irresponsibility. Indeed, Reagan ushered in an era in which a small minority grew vastly rich, while working families saw only meager gains. He also broke with longstanding rules of fiscal prudence.

…

The increase in public debt was, however, dwarfed by the rise in private debt, made possible by financial deregulation. The change in America’s financial rules was Reagan’s biggest legacy. And it’s the gift that keeps on taking.

If only someone had tried to warn us about this guy.  Oh - right.

I hate what you just said.

We’re all going to die.

David Petraeus admits that the US violated the Geneva Conventions.

Sotomayer should rule according to the law, not empathy . . . unless the case is about a white dude.

America’s suckiest laywer challenges the intellect of Obama’s Supreme Court pick.

Something tells me Senator Burris won’t be around for too long:

Sen. Roland Burris promised to “personally do something” for Rod Blagojevich’s campaign fund while pressing for the then-Illinois governor to appoint him to President Barack Obama’s former Senate seat, according to a wiretap transcript released Tuesday.

Did North Korea just declare war?

How can you not click through after reading this:

Disney officials declined to say how much it cost to build an Obama.

It’s cute how little Liz is trying to keep Daddy out of jail.

Barack Obama:

Now, finally, there remains the question of detainees at Guantanamo who cannot be prosecuted yet who pose a clear danger to the American people. And I have to be honest here — this is the toughest single issue that we will face. We’re going to exhaust every avenue that we have to prosecute those at Guantanamo who pose a danger to our country. But even when this process is complete, there may be a number of people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes, in some cases because evidence may be tainted, but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United States. Examples of that threat include people who’ve received extensive explosives training at al Qaeda training camps, or commanded Taliban troops in battle, or expressed their allegiance to Osama bin Laden, or otherwise made it clear that they want to kill Americans. These are people who, in effect, remain at war with the United States.

Let me repeat: I am not going to release individuals who endanger the American people. Al Qaeda terrorists and their affiliates are at war with the United States, and those that we capture — like other prisoners of war — must be prevented from attacking us again. Having said that, we must recognize that these detention policies cannot be unbounded. They can’t be based simply on what I or the executive branch decide alone. That’s why my administration has begun to reshape the standards that apply to ensure that they are in line with the rule of law. We must have clear, defensible, and lawful standards for those who fall into this category. We must have fair procedures so that we don’t make mistakes. We must have a thorough process of periodic review, so that any prolonged detention is carefully evaluated and justified.

This is just the “open source” version of Bush and Cheney’s policy — an illegal and unconstitutional government practice with some meaningless “checks and balances” grafted onto it. It moves us beyond the idea that the president is a monarch, but only to leap into a more democratized form of illegality.

The problem was never merely that the president was acting alone; the problem was that the president was acting alone and in violation of the law — and hundreds of years of jurisprudence. A pretty significant difference.

How can you imprison people for thought crimes? If the evidence you have is “tainted” (since it was gotten through torture) and will not hold up in a legitimate court of law you have to let them go. Blame the Bush administration for destroying all hope of trying these individuals in a legitimate legal framework. But you still have to release them. And yes, that might endanger us. It might make us less safe.  But so does violating the foundational priciples that guarantee our liberty. For a laudible speech that argued we must return to our nation’s first principles, this idea is a gigantic detour.

Another conservative takes the waterboard challenge, and loses. Turns out it was torture after all.

Dick? Liz?

Patent Pending.

Nothing says bipartisanship like celebrating an idiot-savant from Texas. It was beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of my government and so confident that my tax dollars were being used for good purpose:

Dick Cheney:

If fine speech-making, appeals to reason, or pleas for compassion had the power to move them, the terrorists would long ago have abandoned the field. And when they see the American government caught up in arguments about interrogations, or whether foreign terrorists have constitutional rights, they don’t stand back in awe of our legal system and wonder whether they had misjudged us all along. Instead the terrorists see just what they were hoping for - our unity gone, our resolve shaken, our leaders distracted. In short, they see weakness and opportunity.

Yes, merely engaging in debate will leave us vulnerable to attack. Unless we immedately unify under the banner of Dick Cheney’s ideas we’re all f*cked.

If you didn’t see it, you should read it.