...I think I ought to say something about the torture memos — namely, that there is now no way to view the people who ruled us these past 8 years as anything but monsters.
For a Nobel Prize winner, you catch on kinda slow, Paulie.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Quote of the Day
Paul Krugman
For a Nobel Prize winner, you catch on kinda slow, Paulie.
For a Nobel Prize winner, you catch on kinda slow, Paulie.
Republicans Less Popular Than Venezuela
Open Left, links at site.
Shit, I wouldn't doubt that sexually transmitted diseases are more popular than Repugs.
As part of my irregular series documenting unpopular stuff that is more popular than Republicans, (see Legalizing Marijuana more popular than Republicans, and Republicans less popular than China), new polling from CNN indicates that anti-American, oil-cartel, socialist block forming Venezuela is now viewed more favorably than the Republican Party.
"Next, we'd like to get your overall opinion of some people in the news. As I read each name, please say if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of these people -- or if you have never heard of them. The Republican Party."
Favorable: 39%--54% Unfavorable
Overall, Venezuela comes out 42% favorable, 54% unfavorable in this poll, providing the country a slightly more positive rating than Republicans. China and Russia also easily outpace Republicans. Cuba, at 38% favorable, 61% unfavorable, isn't too far behind Republicans.
This has been another edition of "stuff more popular than Republicans."
Shit, I wouldn't doubt that sexually transmitted diseases are more popular than Repugs.
Oh. My. God!!!1!1!!!
Obama shook Chavez' hand!
The terrorists have won!
What, now we have to have an Outrage of the Week? Seems the Rethugs never got the moral of Chicken Little.
Update:
The Rude One:
Pic stolen from Maru.
The terrorists have won!
What, now we have to have an Outrage of the Week? Seems the Rethugs never got the moral of Chicken Little.
Update:
The Rude One:
...
Okay. So, like, if Obama was caught giving Chavez a hand job under the conference table, if Obama had been seen in the cloak room having seven minutes in heaven with Chavez, if Obama had been getting a reacharound while Chavez was giving him a Venezuelan pipeline treatment in his ass, we might, and that's "might," have something to talk about.
...
Monday, April 20, 2009
Thought for the Day
I gotta go move my truck because my buddy Marty's comin' over in a little bit to restore my plastic headlight lenses.
I'll leave ya for now with a thought on President Obama's progress up 'til now. This is the mantra of automotive and motorcycle Service Managers everywhere:
When you're up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember that your main objective was to drain the swamp.
The alligators, of course, are the customers and mechanics, or in Obama's case, Congress, the Repugs, and the Dead End Quarter.
I don't like everything he's doing, but I like most of it. With a couple of exceptions, I don't give a shit what he does. He's orders of magnitude better than what came before.
I'll leave ya for now with a thought on President Obama's progress up 'til now. This is the mantra of automotive and motorcycle Service Managers everywhere:
When you're up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember that your main objective was to drain the swamp.
The alligators, of course, are the customers and mechanics, or in Obama's case, Congress, the Repugs, and the Dead End Quarter.
I don't like everything he's doing, but I like most of it. With a couple of exceptions, I don't give a shit what he does. He's orders of magnitude better than what came before.
Quote of the Day
Meghan McCain
Mostly they're scared shitless of a future without them. No more power, no more gravy train. The dinosaurs may have been more cognizant of what was going on around them.
She summed up what she learned while campaigning for her father in three points:
"(1) Most of our nation wants our nation to succeed; (2) most people are ready to move on to the future, not live in the past; and (3) most of the old school Republicans are scared shitless of that future."
Mostly they're scared shitless of a future without them. No more power, no more gravy train. The dinosaurs may have been more cognizant of what was going on around them.
Thoughts on Pot vs. Alcohol from a Former Police Chief
BuzzFlash, with comments, and HuffPo
More.
Over the past four years I've asked police officers throughout the U.S. (and in Canada) two questions. When's the last time you had to fight someone under the influence of marijuana? (I'm talking marijuana only, not pot plus a six-pack or a fifth of tequila.) My colleagues pause, they reflect. Their eyes widen as they realize that in their five or fifteen or thirty years on the job they have never had to fight a marijuana user. I then ask: When's the last time you had to fight a drunk? They look at their watches.
More.
Oh, the irony...
Ironic Times
Standup comedian Ron White told a story on TV last night about how he got busted in Florida for having 3/4 of a gram of weed. Said he thinks their priorities might be a little misplaced. I paraphrase:
"Shit, folks, this was Florida. They had ta drive past three meth labs and a dead hooker to get to me!"
It's worth another try.
U.S. May Drop Key Condition For Iran Nuclear Talks
Conversion to Christianity.
U.S. Normalizes Relations With Cuba
Move prompted by our desperate need for old American car parts.
CIA Torturers Won’t Be Prosecuted
Freeing up justice system for crackdown on illegal parking.
New Drug Czar More Progressive Than Previous Ones
If roach clip tie clasp is any indication.
Standup comedian Ron White told a story on TV last night about how he got busted in Florida for having 3/4 of a gram of weed. Said he thinks their priorities might be a little misplaced. I paraphrase:
"Shit, folks, this was Florida. They had ta drive past three meth labs and a dead hooker to get to me!"
Texas Governor Expresses Sympathy for Secessionists
Because it worked so well last time.
It's worth another try.
Same old ...
Same old.
While I was doing wallpaper yesterday I had Little George's Hair on as background noise (it was either that or Whore-me Kurtz) and who does he have on but John "The Tan"Boner Boehner.
Seems the Rethuglican climate change policy is the same as their economic policy and the same as their energy policy. That is, clearly stated, to do nothing (if they could work tax cuts for the rich into it without sounding completely unhinged they probably would). No matter what the Dems put forth, the only answer is "no".
As the storms get worse and more frequent every year, as the temperature swings get more pronounced, the Party of No continues to keep their heads in the sand. Or at least that's what it looks like. In reality, they are working overtime to hold on to all the entitlements the rich and big business accrued over the last 30 years.
To us thinking folks, it looks like they got nothing. No plan for anything. But you must keep in mind that they don't want a "plan". A plan would mean they'd have to admit there is something wrong with their policies, something in need of change. At this point, they have what they want. The rich get richer and multinational companies have no rules. Change would destroy all that.
So, ladies and germs, don't expect any plans coming forth from the GOP in the near future and don't expect any cooperation from them on pending legislation if it has to do with changing the status quo. At this point, after most Americans have awakened from their 8 year stupor, the only appeal the Republicans have is to their base -- the American jihadi, white supremacist crazies and the big business community who supports the party financially. Any 'change' in the party line would lose them as well. It's not that they're bankrupt of ideas, it's that they're afraid of new ideas for it would render them completely irrelevant.
***
Addendum: And while we're discussing what was said on This Week, Dday has a good post up about the moral equivalency White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel spreads around regarding torture investigations.
As Olbermann said last week, we must prosecute those who broke U.S. and international law, no matter how distasteful it seems now. We will never reclaim our standing in the world if we let these people escape punishment.
While I was doing wallpaper yesterday I had Little George's Hair on as background noise (it was either that or Whore-me Kurtz) and who does he have on but John "The Tan"
Seems the Rethuglican climate change policy is the same as their economic policy and the same as their energy policy. That is, clearly stated, to do nothing (if they could work tax cuts for the rich into it without sounding completely unhinged they probably would). No matter what the Dems put forth, the only answer is "no".
As the storms get worse and more frequent every year, as the temperature swings get more pronounced, the Party of No continues to keep their heads in the sand. Or at least that's what it looks like. In reality, they are working overtime to hold on to all the entitlements the rich and big business accrued over the last 30 years.
To us thinking folks, it looks like they got nothing. No plan for anything. But you must keep in mind that they don't want a "plan". A plan would mean they'd have to admit there is something wrong with their policies, something in need of change. At this point, they have what they want. The rich get richer and multinational companies have no rules. Change would destroy all that.
So, ladies and germs, don't expect any plans coming forth from the GOP in the near future and don't expect any cooperation from them on pending legislation if it has to do with changing the status quo. At this point, after most Americans have awakened from their 8 year stupor, the only appeal the Republicans have is to their base -- the American jihadi, white supremacist crazies and the big business community who supports the party financially. Any 'change' in the party line would lose them as well. It's not that they're bankrupt of ideas, it's that they're afraid of new ideas for it would render them completely irrelevant.
Addendum: And while we're discussing what was said on This Week, Dday has a good post up about the moral equivalency White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel spreads around regarding torture investigations.
...
Never mind the moral backflips you have to make to let people off the hook for torture. Never mind the fact that the interrogators did not even follow the guidelines and meager safeguards set out in the OLC memos - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times in one month. Let's put all of that aside for a second. Rahm Emanuel is calling on the President and the Justice Department to willingly break the law.
...
As Olbermann said last week, we must prosecute those who broke U.S. and international law, no matter how distasteful it seems now. We will never reclaim our standing in the world if we let these people escape punishment.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Sunday Great White North Way Down South Music Blogging
This is a pretty song and a good video shot in NOLA. Disclaimer, from another video of this song with a history of this Canuckistanian group:
Planting trees? Wes' Coas'? COMMIE ALERT! Heh.
Formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, The Be Good Tanyas first played together at tree planting camps in British Columbia.
Planting trees? Wes' Coas'? COMMIE ALERT! Heh.
The Be Good Tanyas ~ The Littlest Birds
Thanks to NettWerkMusic.
Twit(ter)s From Texas
I'm sure Governor Goodhair's 'secesh' remarks are just about played out, but one more reference to it won't hurt.
Gail Collins, NYT
The Dead End Quarter (y!Fctp*).
*Yes! Fixer coined that phrase.
Gail Collins, NYT
Have you ever noticed that the states where anti-tax sentiment is strongest are frequently the same states that get way more back from the federal government than they send in? Alaska gets $1.84 for every tax dollar it sends to Washington, which is a rate of return even Bernard Madoff never pretended to achieve. Yet there they were in Ketchikan waving “Taxed Enough Already!” signs and demanding an end to federal spending.
Also, have you noticed how places that pride themselves on being superpatriotic seem to have the most people who want to abandon the country entirely and set up shop on their own?
And how, by the way, can you stand at a rally waving the American flag while yelling “Secede”? It’s like an employer handing out “worker of the week” certificates to employees who just learned that he was moving the plant to Mexico.
The big mystery here is why the tax-protest crowds were behaving as if the world was coming to an end when all Obama’s infant presidency has done is lower taxes for a vast majority of the public. And why people like Perry seem to feel compelled to egg them on.
The answer is that what’s left of the Republican Party is intent on cutting off the knees of the administration before it actually manages to fulfill any campaign promises on reducing the huge economic gap between the top 5 percent of the country and the rest of the populace. In pursuit of that mission, fortune favors the hysterical and rewards politicians who behave like gerbils that just bit into an electric wire.
We don’t want to blame all Texans for the high jinks in Austin. It’s a state full of lovely people, three-fourths of whom, according to a recent Rasmussen Reports poll, have no desire whatsoever to secede from the United States.
But Perry really understands how that other quarter feels.
The Dead End Quarter (y!Fctp*).
*Yes! Fixer coined that phrase.
Lone Star Blues
Every time I get pissed off at some Texas asshole like Governor Goodhair or Karl Rove or Tom DeLay or George Dubya and want the whole goddam shithole to float out to sea and go fuck with Venezuela or someplace, eventually I remember that there are things about Texas I like. I must be getting soft in my old age, but I think we have to keep the place. Sigh. Below are a coupla examples. For every ten, or fifty, or a hundred thousand like the assholes mentioned above, if we're lucky we'll get a couple like these who shine like pearls in a mountain of rotten oysters.
Recorded at Celtic Connections 2009 Glasgow, Scotland. featuring - Jerry Douglas - dobro Aly Bain -fiddle Todd Parks -bass
Thanks to tomtscotland.
Tish Hinojosa (San Antonio) ~ By The Rio Grande
Thanks to BONAMANTE13 who is even older than I am!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Saturday Emmylou Blogging
The truth is out! Fixer really goes on those cruises to listen to country music where none of his friends can see him...
Here's the next one.
Here's the next one.
Buddy Miller and Emmylou Harris perform on the Lido Deck of the Carnival Victory as we sail away from Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Thanks to willalda.
Payback's a m*****f*****!
MySANews
Bwahahahahahahahahaha....oh my sides hurt!
AUSTIN — If they liked him any more, maybe they’d take away his parking space, too.
The Texas House Friday voted to drain most of GOP Gov. Rick Perry’s office budget and instead spend the money on community mental health crisis services and veterans’ services.
The move, which came during House debate on a $178.4 billion proposal for the two-year period starting Sept. 1, immediately drew a reference to Perry’s recent comments about Texas’ ability to secede from the union. The comments have drawn national attention and some lawmakers’ ire.
Bwahahahahahahahahaha....oh my sides hurt!
Saturday Crazy Redneck Music Blogging
This'un goes out to all y'all WATB wingtard losers. And the horse ya rode in on...
Travis Tritt ~ Here's A Quarter Call Someone Who Cares
Thanks to SoundOnVision.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Now ya tell him! Heh.
HuffPo
Go tell the Iraqis that, Sparky.
I know a right-winger gay Marine knife and gun enthusiast who says the Log Cabin Republicans are a buncha faggots. Heh.
Wow. You lose the left handed Albanian psychic vote, you lose! Oh, that's right, you lost!
McCain Campaign Manager: Religion Could Kill The GOP
"If you put public policy issues to a religious test, you risk becoming a religious party," Schmidt declared. "And in a free country, a political party cannot be viable in the long term if it is seen as a sectarian party."
Go tell the Iraqis that, Sparky.
The remarks came in a passionate, roughly 20-minute speech before the Log Cabin Republican's national convention, in which Schmidt laid out the case for a far more open party -- one which did not consider gay marriage to be a "litmus test" issue. And while he made it a purpose not to offend social conservatives -- they "remain an indispensable part of the Republican coalition," he said -- Schmidt did not hide his concerns that religion had become the predominant thread of the GOP.
I know a right-winger gay Marine knife and gun enthusiast who says the Log Cabin Republicans are a buncha faggots. Heh.
Looking beyond the issue of marriage, Schmidt's diagnosis of the GOP's ills was fairly ominous. "Our coalition," he declared, "is shrinking and losing ground to segments of the population that is growing, whether it is with suburban voters, working class, college educated voters, Hispanics, or left handed Albanian psychics, the percentage voting republican has declined precipitously."
Wow. You lose the left handed Albanian psychic vote, you lose! Oh, that's right, you lost!
Auto Company Repair for Dummies
Swiped from Slate.
The cartoon isn't all that great, but I spotted something that maybe even the cartoonist didn't unless he's really subversive.
The car has been raised on a motorcycle lift*. I think trying to balance a car, or metaphorically a car company, like that is a sure-fire recipe for disaster.
*I refer specifically to the Martin Motorcycle Lift. I googled it up, and the first reference I came to was at Fixer & Gordon in a post I wrote. Sometimes I think the world has done gone on without me...
Sluts & Salvation
That got yer attention, huh? Mark Morford tries to fit oddball news articles into the scheme of things.
Morford's in Frisco. Oughta be easy...
On Obama:
Much more. Enjoy.
Skimming the ocean of news effluvia, trying to make sense of the beauty and the pain, the sacred and the profane, whipsawing between the agony and the ecstasy like a bipolar ferret in God's own meth lab of love.
Trying to work out where the following stories fit in the Grand Continuum. Can you help?
SWF Seeks Love, Redemption, Jell-O Shots
In our perverse, celeb-crazed culture, there's really only one surefire way to redeem your reputation as a young, alcoholic, borderline insane, wannabe Jew/lesbian tabloid queen who trashed her once-promising film career in favor of hopping in and out of rehab until about 2017, at which point she will marry Stephen Baldwin and devote her life to a very creepy version of Jesus that you should never, ever pray to.
In related news, Pope Benedict XIV recently celebrated his 82nd birthday by releasing a new children's book. Contrary to rumors, "Gary, the Scary Gay Pagan Condom" will not be a pop-up book.
Search: Erotic Lesbian Fine Art Jesus Butt Photography
Morford's in Frisco. Oughta be easy...
On Obama:
Upshot: Total frothing extremist gibberish. Secession! Guns! Teabagging! Tears! Fascism! Limbaugh! The right-wing punditry frying itself to a panicky crisp like a giant KFC Family Bucket of frustration! Absolute genius, Mr. President.
In related news: porn, masturbation, iPods, beer, TV, CollegeHumor.com, US Weekly, comic books and general overall slacking report being "totally relieved" to be off the hook for a change. "Hell yeah, it's all Facebook's fault!" exclaimed Ohio State sophomore Dave "The Rave" Filbert's giant skull-shaped bong.
Much more. Enjoy.
Quote of the Day dos
From Think Progress, with video:
A truly wonderful statement on many levels! It's exactly why our domestic pirates are against EFCA.
Maersk crew member on how they gained control over the pirates: ‘We’re union members.’
A truly wonderful statement on many levels! It's exactly why our domestic pirates are against EFCA.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)