For Kah-lee-forn-yahns

Is Meg Whitman Like Arnold Schwarzenegger? Yes (In the Wrong Ways)

It's only March and I'm already sick and tired of Whitman's "Why you shouldn't vote for that Liberal Poizner, Reason No. 666" ads. It's gonna be an awfully long time 'til November.

That esplains it...

HuffPo


Well, not all Repugliklans...

Another Self-Loathing Gay GOP Scumbag is Pushed Out of the Closet

Just say whatcha mean, pal. Ya don't hafta sugar coat it for us.

Free markets!

Unless they conflict with conservative talking points I presume:

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China has a dirty reputation as the world's factory, but its emerging green energy sector is threatening to leave the United States in its dust.

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That's a problem for America, according to Kenneth Lieberthal, a China expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

"We're going to have to end up using those technologies on a very large scale," Lieberthal said. "The question is whether we are producing them - or whether we have to end up buying them from the Chinese or others because we didn't get our act together."

...

As Oliver Willis says:

If you’re standing in the way of the green economic revolution, you’re standing in the way of American capitalism.

Of course, if you're a short-sighted conservative, your only motivation is opposing something progressives want. If conservatives really cared about capitalism - in reality they'd embrace any system that makes the rich richer - they'd realize that getting in on the ground floor of the 'green energy' market would make them so much more money in the long run. Instead, they continue to act like petulant 5 year olds.

"I can tell ...

If a man is guilty just by looking at him." That line has got me out of jury duty more times than I can remember. Thing is, when applying juris prudence it's not the best road to travel:

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I think this is a terrific idea. In fact, I don't see why we shouldn't apply this new category to other people we just "know" have committed crimes but for a variety of reasons we don't think we can convict in a court of law. Surely you cannot tell me that people suspected of serial murder or child molestation are less dangerous and more deserving of human rights.

I think it's only a matter of time before this becomes obvious to lots of people. Once you give up the principle of due process and the rule of law it only goes one way.

Quote of the Day

Maru (of course):

I always imagined God using a legal pad, but that’s just me.

Pardon the light blogging today...

...but I had a domestic emergency that simply couldn't wait. My coffee grinder took a dump and I had to replace the power cord. First things first. Without coffee, there is no blogging!

Butt Implant Scandal

The doctor is in...

HuffPo

NEWARK, N.J. (Associated Press) -- Six women in New Jersey are recovering after they received buttocks-enhancement injections containing silicone used to caulk bathtubs.

Bathtub caulk? What charlatans! Where did they go to medical school anyway?

I use only the finest - whichever 30-year outdoor caulk is on sale.

Bend over and smile, ladies, and the procedure will commence. Guaranteed not to leak.

Headline and Last Line of the Day

Think Progress

Limbaugh vows to flee the country if health care passes.

Limbaugh’s self-imposed exile should be all the incentive needed to pass health care reform.

Comment by EnnuiDivine:

I’d also like to point out the irony of that fat, impotent slug threatening to flee this country if healthcare reform passes to a country that has…universal healthcare.

Costa Rica’s system is government funded, with the option to purchase private insurance.

As much as we'd like him to go somewhere, anywhere, else, the sad truth is he's lying as usual.

Porn ...

Yesterday I applauded The Hurt Locker for bringing the reality of war home to Americans. The hope is that more folks will [not] look at war as something benign that happens 'over there'. If more people knew what went on, maybe they'd be a bit more reluctant to jump on the bandwagon the next time some idiot politician starts beating the war drum. What I didn't realize is that conservatives will never look at it that way. The look at it like porn.

The right has always had their boogeymen, and "Hollywood" has always been an easy catch-all target for them. At last night's Oscar Award ceremony, the movie Hurt Locker won numerous awards, and because the movie showed American soldiers in a positive light, the idiots at Fox News determined that the film and it's director are champions for Republican causes.

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As long as they're not the ones ducking bullets, it's all good. I'm unbelievably sick and tired of people talking about going to war so casually as if it's the accepted response to anything that displeases us. Until you can run a war where the innocents escape injury, I'll prefer to see it as a last resort.

Definitions ...

Steve Benen via Digby:

...

"Tyranny" is found when an elected Democratic majority passes legislation that Republicans don't like.

"Reconciliation" describes a Senate process that Republicans are allowed to use to overcome Democratic "obstructionism."

"Terrorism" refers to acts of political violence committed by people who aren't white guys.

"Bipartisanship" is found when Democrats agree to pass Republican legislation.

"Big government" describes a dangerous phenomenon to be avoided, except in cases relating to reproductive rights or gays.

"Treason" refers to Democrats criticizing a Republican administration during a war.

...

You too can speak like a Republican. Steve asks for reader submissions in his comments section. Have a nut!

Squash him like he was a bug

Politics Daily

On his daily radio and television shows last week, Fox News personality Glenn Beck set out to convince his audience that "social justice," the term many Christian churches use to describe their efforts to address poverty and human rights, is a "code word" for communism and Nazism. Beck urged Christians to discuss the term with their priests and to leave their churches if leaders would not reconsider their emphasis on social justice.

Later, Beck held up cards, one with a hammer and sickle and other with a swastika. "Communists are on the left, and the Nazis are on the right. That's what people say. But they both subscribe to one philosophy, and they flew one banner. . . . But on each banner, read the words, here in America: 'social justice.' They talked about economic justice, rights of the workers, redistribution of wealth, and surprisingly, democracy."

Not only is he lying, he's so wrong that I'm ashamed that we have so many ignoramuses in this country that listen to his shit and actually believe it. That asshole's a fucking pervert.

Just for fun, go to Facebook's 'Squash Glenn Beck' page and become a fan.

While you're there, become a fan of the Brain as well.

Palin Crossed Border For Canadian Health Care

HuffPo

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- who has gone to great lengths to hype the supposed dangers of a big government takeover of American health care -- admitted over the weekend that she used to get her treatment in Canada's single-payer system.

"We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada," Palin said in her first Canadian appearance since stepping down as governor of Alaska. "And I think now, isn't that ironic?"

The irony, one guesses, is that Palin now views Canada's health care system as revolting: with its government-run administration and 'death-panel'-like rationing. Clearly, however, she and her family once found it more alluring than, at the very least, the coverage available in rural Alaska. Up to the age of six, Palin lived in a remote town near the closest Canadian city, Whitehorse.

Perhaps if her parents had not been more sensible and less partisan than she grew up to be, she would have croaked young and we wouldn't be saddled with her hypocritical self-serving bullshit. Damn those Canadians!

For Joe The Troll

We tried the agave syrup. Plenty OK. Mrs. G says it reminds her of honey, to which I add 'without the bees'.

Yes We Could Have!

Ad execs come up with new slogans for Dems!

Daily Beast

A year ago, the Democratic Party was a brand on the rise. [...]
...

Today, the brand that most closely resembles the Democrats is Toyota. With Tiger Woods as its spokesperson.

No back window and a 9 iron?

Perhaps it’s all in the tag line. Perhaps it’s as simple as finding a worthy successor to the suddenly inflammatory Change we can believe in slogan. On the eve of a make-or-break week for the Democratic brand we asked some of adland’s finest to find their inner Axelrod and share a few ideas:
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The Democratic Party. Not the one that Sarah Palin is in.
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Death Panels, tea parties and Glenn Beck? There’s an app for that.
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The Democratic Party: Now We Got 'Em Where They Want Us!
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Democrats. Kicking our own ass
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The road to good intentions is paved with hell.

My favorite:

'The rain it raineth every day
Both on the just and unjust fella
But chiefly on the just because
The unjust stole the just's umbrella'

Many more.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Insurance Companies Suddenly Raise Premiums Drastically
Unexpected acceleration of price hikes blamed on faulty regulations.

Bill Introduced in House to Replace Grant With Reagan on $50 Bill
If that doesn’t fly, on the $2 Trillion IOU.

In New Book, Rove Defends Bush, Iraq War
Covering his years in the White House, it's titled What the Hell Did You Think I Was Going to Say?

Anti-Government Groups Tripled Last Year
With the addition of Fox News and the Republican Party.

Are there any "leftist girls" ...

Out there willing to do it again?

Good ...

... The Hurt Locker, the gritty Iraq War drama about an Army bomb disposal squad, won best picture and nabbed an Oscar for Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman to win best director ...

Hopefully, more people will see the movie and understand the horror and tragedy of war. It would be a good thing if people weren't so eager to send troops at the drop of a hat.

Sunday Crazy Limey Redneck Music Blogging

Thank goodness for British TV! I'd never heard of Kirsty MacColl but when I read her bio I realized I'd heard of a lot of the folks around her.

Kirsty on her 1981 UK hit.

Pretty good tune, definitely a hoot to watch!

Kirsty MacColl ~ There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis

Thanks to 1000Magicians, UK.

Sunday Blues Blogging

Of all the old time country blues men, Mississippi John Hurt is my favorite.

Thanks to scmo08, Norway.

In case you forgot ...

Why we went to war in Iraq:

(Bloomberg) -- BP Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp. took the best deal they could get in Iraq last year when they won the largest oil contracts since addam Hussein was toppled in 2003. Oil companies may wait a long time to get a better one.

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Western producers haven't had access to oil fields in southern Iraq since 1972, when the country nationalized production including concessions owned by the companies now known as BP, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Exxon.

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Any other excuse is just so much bullshit.

Great thanks to our pal Nunya for the link.