Putin Rides American Iron!

Everything today is about the Clusterfuckistan war's "Pentagon Papers" moment and Fixer covered that, so until the brouhaha sorts itself out a little (and there's more to come) there's not much use in my adding to the din.

Here's something a little more fun. Prime Minister Putin could no doubt have ridden anything he chose to this Ukrainian biker rally, but he chose a Harley-Davidson Lehman trike. Hey, why ride something practical (or Russian!) when you can go hideously expensive and flashy?

Note how he leads his motorcade, followed by what appears to be a Honda Gold Wing trike, possibly an older model Lehman, pursued closely by (I think) a Dodge van which is no doubt full of his security detail and parts that fell off the trikes.

Let's see - The Harley-Davidson is from Milwaukee WI and York PA, the Gold Wing was probably assembled in Marysville OH, the Lehman is from Spearfish SD, and the Dodge...well, perhaps the less said about that the better, probably Hecho en Mexico. Heh. A pretty good representation of American products for a bike rally in Sevastopol, I'd say.

The rally is like bike rallies anywhere. Badass lookin' guys young and old, pretty girls, a vast assortment of 'sickles smokin' an' roarin', probably food, music, booze, vendors and tattoos.

Note to Tony Hayward of BP: Shave yer head and let yer beard grow. You'll fit right in at next year's rally.

From motorcycles.about:

According to the Associated Press, the leader-- wearing sunglasses, black jeans, fingerless gloves, and no helmet-- proclaimed motorcycles as "the most democratic form of transport," and praised the free spirits of bikers.

Tell us something we don't know, Mr. Prime Minister.

Thanks to nocommenttv and euronews.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Paper: Intelligence Community Has Grown Out of Control
One in four Americans now operates clandestinely.

Pakistan: Elite Pay Few Taxes, Causing Huge Gap Between Rich and Poor
Unlike U.S., where rich pay no taxes.

Jobless Reap Windfall as Congress Extends Unemployment Benefits
They laugh condescendingly at working stiffs with regular good-paying jobs with health plans and pensions and a chance for advancement and lifetime security who aren't eligible to receive such government largess.

The last time I got unemployment bennies, it was $55 a week. I really lived it up!

Marijuana Use by Old People Rises
Widespread reports of grandparents eating cookies meant for grandchildren.

Quote of the Day

Digby:

Did you know that you can attend Glenn Beck University for the amazing deal of only $9.95 per month? The thing is that most of [us] would probably agree that $9.95 a month is $9.90 more than we would be willing to spend.

...

Digby, honey, I wouldn't part with the nickel.

Sunday Hot Rod Rock 'N Roll Music Blogging

Thanks to bulletroll, Estonia.

RedState’s Erickson to GOP: ‘Stop lying’

Yeah, like that'll happen...

Think Progress, with video:

Yesterday, ThinkProgress caught up with RedState founder Erick Erickson and asked his thoughts on the “Party of No” moniker. Erickson took the GOP to task for clouding the issue. He advised them to “stop lying” about being the “Party of No” because “everyone knows you are”:

TP: They are saying, if you accuse them of being the party of no or not having ideas, they will say “oh no!”

Erickson: That’s such crap. Say you’re the “Party of No.” Of course you are. Everyone knows you are. Stop lying.

Bozo The Neoclown sums it up in 'comments':

pretty bad when red state starts attacking you…

Heh. Even the wingnuts don't like the Repugs. For all the wrong reasons, of course, but at least it divides them and that's good.

Quote of the Day

From a column in Time by Joke Line entitled "Apocalypse Not: Are the Dems Really Facing Doom?":

[...] Charles Krauthammer, the neoconservative columnist, argued that the worst part of Obama's failure was that he was succeeding — he was reversing Reaganism [...]

Heh.

There’s a Battle Outside and It Is Still Ragin’

Daddy Frank on the GOP/Teabagger racism of the past week:

This country was rightly elated when it elected its first African-American president more than 20 months ago. That high was destined to abate, but we reached a new low last week. What does it say about America now, and where it is heading, that a racial provocateur, wielding a deceptively edited video, could not only smear an innocent woman but make every national institution that touched the story look bad? The White House, the N.A.A.C.P. and the news media were all soiled by this episode. Meanwhile, the majority of Americans, who believe in fundamental fairness for all, grapple with the poisonous residue left behind by the many powerful people of all stripes who served as accessories to a high-tech lynching.

[...] But an executive so easily bullied by Fox News has no more business running a government department than Ken Salazar, the secretary of interior who let oil companies run wild on deepwater drilling until disaster struck. That the White House sat back while Vilsack capitulated to a mob is a disgraceful commentary on both its guts and competence. This wasn’t a failure of due diligence — there was no diligence.

[...] But one thing was certain: the N.A.A.C.P. was wrong to demand that the Tea Party disown its racist fringe. It should have made that demand of the G.O.P. instead.

“You think we have come a long way in terms of race relations in this country, but we keep going backwards,” Sherrod told Joe Strupp of Media Matters last week. She speaks with hard-won authority. While America’s progress on race has been epic since the days when Sherrod’s father could be murdered with impunity, we have been going backward since Election Day 2008.

Backwards is as backwards does. Its poster boy is the GOP/Teabaggers.

America: The New Pakistan

Curv3ball:

...

By Saint Reagan’s ghost, is there any doubt that Pakistan’s productive class, unfettered by taxes, is free to strike their globe-straddling poses in full libertarian regalia, molding wonderment with their copious amounts of untaxed money – selflessly allowing second-hand benefits to trickle down the benighted masses who would be lost without their stewardship…what?…oh, wait:

...

Gotta love the trickle-down ...

"Activist Judges"

As with everything Republicans do, if they're bitching about the Dems doing it, they're probably doing it already:

WASHINGTON — When Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and his colleagues on the Supreme Court left for their summer break at the end of June, they marked a milestone: the Roberts court had just completed its fifth term.

In those five years, the court not only moved to the right but also became the most conservative one in living memory, based on an analysis of four sets of political science data.

...

If the Roberts court continues on the course suggested by its first five years, it is likely to allow a greater role for religion in public life, to permit more participation by unions and corporations in elections and to elaborate further on the scope of the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms. Abortion rights are likely to be curtailed, as are affirmative action and protections for people accused of crimes.

...

The End is nigh ...

Thanks to our pal Montag for the link.

"He'll steal yer woman, then he'll rob yer head..."

I suspect this song of having some cleverly hidden drug references...

Panama Red was a big hit (funny vid!) for NRPS way back when, but Peter Rowan wrote it. This video is ancient! Then again, so am I...

Peter Rowan ~ Panama Red

Thanks to coyotesahowling.

Waitin' For the Hard Times To Go

Videos of Mary McCaslin (wiki) and Jim Ringer are thin on the ground so when I find one I put it up.

Their album The Bramble and the Rose is probably my all time favorite. I wore out two vinyl copies and am working on the CD. This song is on Waitin' For the Hard Times To Go.

Thanks to coyotesahowling.

V.A. Easing Rules for Users of Medical Marijuana

NYTimes

DENVER — The Department of Veterans Affairs will formally allow patients treated at its hospitals and clinics to use medical marijuana in states where it is legal, a policy clarification that veterans have sought for several years.

A department directive, expected to take effect next week, resolves the conflict in veterans facilities between federal law, which outlaws marijuana, and the 14 states that allow medicinal use of the drug, effectively deferring to the states.

The policy will not permit department doctors to prescribe marijuana. But it will address the concern of many patients who use the drug that they could lose access to their prescription pain medication if caught.

This is a good thing. Much more in the piece.

Headline of the Day

Strongest ever beer served up in dead squirrels

American Psychosis

Today's 'must read'.

What happens to a society that cannot distinguish between reality and illusion?

Just go.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

No video. Close your eyes and enjoy this pretty song.

Mary Black & Emmylou Harris ~ A Woman's Heart

Thanks to AlbanachNEireannach, Ireland.

CAFKIA can crash with me ...

But if Zach Wamp wants Tennessee to secede (or if any other state wants to for that matter), I say we let 'em go.

Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN), who is running in a heated three-way Republican primary for governor of Tennessee, has a dire warning about the new health care reform law: If a new Congress and president aren't elected in order to repeal the bill, states might just have to secede.

"I hope that the American people will go to the ballot box in 2010 and 2012 so that states are not forced to consider separation from this government," said Wamp, who has also promised to refuse to implement the law at the state level if he is elected, in an interview with the Hotline.

...

The Union is in tough shape financially, and if they're offering to go, I say it'll save us some money. See yas!

Palin's Shocking Admission

Excellent piece by David Corn:

Sarah Palin can't expect anyone to take her seriously as a presidential candidate -- not after what she said this week.

Thanks, Dave. That's a load off...

But Palin was offended. In responding to The Daily Caller piece, though, she conceded a major point about herself: She does not posses a hardy enough constitution to be president. In that interview, The Daily Caller reports, Palin

said the media became a key reason she decided not to finish out her term as governor.

Consider that for a moment. Eight months after the grueling 2008 campaign was over, Palin, by her own admission, was not tough enough to handle the media and had to quit her job as Alaska governor. After confessing that, how can she possibly present herself as presidential timber? If she allowed herself to be hounded out of office in Juneau by the big bad press, could she withstand the slings and arrows of the media while under pressure in the White House?

This part of her reaction to The Daily Caller article is a tell. Looking to scapegoat the media for her decision to quit -- a decision widely described at the time on the left and right as bizarre -- she displays her own weakness. Does a true commander in chief turn tail when "sick puppies" bark?

Usually they just delegate their Quick Reaction Spinmeister to respond.

I wonder if Palin meant to reveal this much. Possibly, she was lazily exploiting the latest Journolist revelation. Bashing the liberal media is good for Sarah Inc. It sells books and six-figure speeches. And it's good politics, for this theme is an oldie-but-goody relished by the GOP base and Tea Partiers -- the sort of voters who will dominate the Republican Party's 2012 presidential primaries. Still, saying that she could not do her job in Alaska because of pesky reporters is a true admission of weakness. If you can't stand the heat from reporters (including the ferocious liberals of Journolist), how can you be strong enough to deal with the Russians, the Chinese, the North Koreans, the Iranians, the Taliban, and, oh yes, the terrorists? They're a bit more fierce than Katie Couric.

There's a phrase in there that bears repeating:

...the GOP base and Tea Partiers -- the sort of voters who will dominate the Republican Party's 2012 presidential primaries.

The candidates they select could be the best thing that could happen for this nation. As long as Non-Brain Dead Voters outnumber the Dead End Quarter in the general, we're safe. The results aren't in on that, of course. Let's wait and see how the teabagger candidates do later this year.

Headline of the Day

CNN's Cooper detonates Breitbart's NAACP applause falsehood

Somebody's gotta call bullshit and keep calling it on Breitfart and F**Prop for the liars and scumbags they are. Get 'im, Andy!

Run, Sharron, Run!

I get exactly one Reno TV station and I watch it for a half hour every evening M-F because I like Jeopardy! The three commercial breaks are chock-a-block with political ads these days. The back-and-forth between Reid and Angle is like watching a Roadrunner cartoon as Wile E. Angle trots out her Acme politics. The poof!s and puffs of smoke are coming fast and furious...

The Ostroy Report, with video:

It was the first time since she won her Republican primary over a month ago that Nevada Senate candidate and Tea Party darling Sharron Angle invited the press to one of her speeches. At a local business Thursday she spoke for three minutes about her pledge to repeal the estate tax. She then stepped back and stood in line with workers as a moderator announced she'd be taking questions from the press. At that point she did a military-worthy 90-degree turn and bolted out the door like a fleeing shoplifter as reporters chased her down asking why she's refusing to answer questions....at her own press conference! She hurriedly got in her SUV ("S" for "Safety") and sped off. Not very Senate-worthy behavior.

Let's face it: Sharron Angle is a right-wing fringe candidate who seeks to abolish the Education Department, the EPA, Social Security, Medicare, seeks to repeal health care reform, supports Wall Street excess, called the $20-billion BP fund a "slush fund," claims unemployment benefits deter people from looking for work, and scoffs at global warming. These Tea Party radicals like Angle and Kentucky's Rand Paul lack any real political experience, and for some strange reason salivate at the chance of joining a government they don't believe in. They're all about freedom and freedom of speech, yet refuse to follow conventional practices like being accountable to a free press and a voting public.

It's hard to imagine how Angle can recover from this sort of constant public humiliation. Outside of her teeny Tea Party constituency, she's giving mainstream Republicans and independents absolutely no reason to vote for her. Her repeated refusal to face the media and answer questions about her positions demonstrates a supreme lack of confidence and a mortal fear of public embarrassment. Neither of which are qualities we want in a U.S. Senator. To Reid, she's the gift that keeps on giving, and his best asset in his campaign for re-election.

Harry needed someone like her to run against him or he was going to get beaten. After this latest incident I'm more positive than ever that she's a Reid plant.

Shudder...

Here's the first and last ¶ of a disquieting piece you should read by Paul Krugman:

For a couple of years, it was the love that dared not speak his name. In 2008, Republican candidates hardly ever mentioned the president still sitting in the White House. After the election, the G.O.P. did its best to shout down all talk about how we got into the mess we’re in, insisting that we needed to look forward, not back. And many in the news media played along, acting as if it was somehow uncouth for Democrats even to mention the Bush era and its legacy.

Again, Republicans aren’t trying to rescue George W. Bush’s reputation for sentimental reasons; they’re trying to clear the way for a return to Bush policies. And this carries a message for anyone hoping that the next time Republicans are in power, they’ll behave differently. If you believe that they’ve learned something — say, about fiscal prudence or the importance of effective regulation — you’re kidding yourself. You might as well face it: they’re addicted to Bush.

And if they get back in power, our nation will be found dead with the needle still in its arm.