Saturday whorage

Doing the detail work in the new dining room this weekend. Yeesh, what a pain in the ass.

As always, the next chapter of Birthright is up at The Practical Press.

And a little prog-rock for your Saturday night:

Yes - And You And I

Landslide

Caught a little of Stevie Nicks on Soundstage last night. I got reminded of how good this gal is, and picked this one out of 257 versions on YouTube. I like the one with The Dixie Chicks as well.

This is a song about getting older, which I hope to continue to do for a long time to come, and about things changing and resistance to that. Here's what I've learned - change happens and there's nothing you can do about it, but you can pick and choose. Choose the changes that you like and that help you grow and learn, and fuck the changes that don't, but be prepared to accept them anyway. F'rinstance, I still ain't comfortable with overhead cams. Heh.

Also, The Serenity Prayer ain't just fer drunks anymore, although that's how a lot of us came to learn about it. It esplains my Buddha-like countenance. Well, the chile rellenos and enchiladas help too...

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Enjoy.



Aw, what the hell, let's have a Stevie Nicks blowout!

Stevie Nicks and Don Henley performing their classic hit "Leather and Lace" live in 2005. Still sounds as awesome as it did back in 81!

Yeah, what skippy said ...

Whatever respect I had for John Edwards, whatever hope I had for his being different, went out the window today. He's just another politician.

Top 9 best new drugs

Now that I gotcha in the proper frame of mind, go read Mark Morford on the latest crop of pharmaceutical lunacy and its devastating side effects.

1. Scientists at the Ronald Wilson Reagan School for Pschyoeconomic Paroxysms have reportedly developed a new drug that, after just a few weeks, induces random bouts of forgetfulness combined with the ability to reverse ideological direction in an instant, most notably when large amounts of cash are placed directly in front of the face.

Code-named "the McCain," users report random outbreaks of very bad jokes coupled with an extremely combative nature, acute desire to detonate large explosive devices across multiple desert nations and a general feeling that the real problem with the world today is all the gul-dang gay young peacenik whippersnapper environmentalists who like to rub their iPods all over their Googles. Common prescription: "Take two McCains and call me in 1957."

8 more...

All things considered, I think mass quantities of 'shrooms, cow shit and all, would have been far better for the nation, particularly if they had been prescribed for wingnuts.

Add End 'Em:

I adore Grace Slick:

Slick and Tricia Nixon, former President Richard Nixon's daughter, are both alumnae of Finch College. Grace was invited to a tea party for the alumnae at the White House in 1969. She invited the political activist Abbie Hoffman to be her escort, and planned to spike President Nixon's tea with LSD. The plan was thwarted when they were prevented from entering after being recognized by White House security personnel.

Oh, if only...

21st Century Motorcycle Manufacture

Normally, I would post something like this at Fixer & Gordon, but I'm not all that normal and neither is this video and I wanted to share. Listen closely to the rather fast-talking narrator.



Update:

I sent a link to this video to my old friend Gary. He worked for Triumph in England years ago, and is now in charge of their dealer network in Australia. Of course he was way ahead of me.

Hi Gordon

And its all true ! We ran this at the motorcycles shows in Ausytralia. It was a picture looking at the punters! Some got it –some didn’t ! Its true pythonesque isn’t it! Who said the limeys cant laugh at them selves!

It tickles me pink every time I watch it. By the way,do you know what a Gurning fool is ?

TTFN

Gary

'Gurning fool' is referenced in the video. I looked it up on the Google, but have cabled Gary for clarification. Later.

Quote of the Day

The last paragraph of a 'must read' column by Paul Krugman, with which I heartily concur:

In any case, remember this the next time someone calls for an end to partisanship, for working together to solve the country’s problems. It’s not going to happen — not as long as one of America’s two great parties believes that when it comes to politics, stupidity is the best policy.

Get him, grandma ...

Heh ... Talk about not getting what you expected:

HELL'S KITCHEN - (WABC) -- An 86-year-old woman attacked in broad daylight in front of her church took on her attacker.

The man was more than twice her size.

A 5-foot-10, 180-pound ex-con mugged Elizabeth Maropoulos this past weekend.

She has been known to chase men off with a broom stick from the pub underneath her apartment in Hell's Kitchen.

...

Video at the link. Good on ya, grandma.

TGIF. Off to work ...

Police states ...

They'd better pray they don't run into an asshole like me who has no qualms about shooting back:

Mayor Cheye Calvo got home from work, saw a package addressed to his wife on the front porch and brought it inside, putting it on a table.

Suddenly, police with guns drawn kicked in the door and stormed in, shooting to death the couple's two dogs and seizing the unopened package.

In it were 32 pounds of marijuana. But the drugs evidently didn't belong to the couple.

...

I gave up being scared of assholes with guns, especially cops, about 30 years ago. Amazing how you look at things after having people actually trying to kill you. Badge or no badge, you try to kick in my front door, you're gonna get blown off the porch by a load 00-buck in your chest, period.

Like I told one young cop when a buncha idiots were trying to make a crack house in the abandoned home across the street and I had to handle the situation myself: "I was killing Communists before you were a gleam in your daddy's eye. The next time I call you, it'll be to bring bodybags."

Don't fuck with the crazy white boy ...

Fiscal stewardship ...

Not!

Pic thanks to Logan @ C & L.

[A big welcome to Avedon's readers.]

Quote of the Day - Zwei

Our pal UL:

... What is the fucking deal with these sexually repressed sick fucks [That would be conservatives. - F] ? Is it that they couln't get laid until they were in their thirties by an aging old semi toothless hooker and now they want to make up for lost time? ...

As someone who has gotten oral sex from a toothless old hooker, I can safely say, these guys never experienced it (actually ranked up in the top five). More like they got sex in their thirties from their sisters.

Weird Warning of the Day

Click to, er, tumesce...

More at LATimes.

Holy shit!

Raw Story

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the nation would be safe under a Barack Obama presidency and that she is ruling out a shot at the vice presidency under either Obama or Republican John McCain.

She damn sure just ruled that out, all right!

As much as I dislike the things she's done, and as much as it puzzles me why she went along with Bush's insanity (love conquers all, I guess), this is one smart woman. She and Obama talk a lot, and maybe the kool-aid's wearing off.

Don't anybody tell 'em about 'run flat' tires!

Click to emflate

The Secret Diaries of Dick Cheney

Check your blood pressure before you take a walk on the Dark Side and go read this. Not far off the mark.

Someone's got to be deep down there in the cave, making the decisions on the dark side that keep America one step ahead of China and Russia. The future is built upon our giant corporations. Congress doesn't matter much anymore. It's a quaint artifact, just a bunch of posturing popinjays. All that matters is that Exxon/Mobil could buy half of the nations in the world with a year's worth of company profits. Now, that's power. And my pals don't have to go to 435 representatives and 100 senators for permission to pull in that kind of dough and make a lot of people very wealthy -- and it's the wealthy who pull the rest of America along with them. You're darn tootin' about that. Only the big multi-nationals can keep us afloat, as long as we give them the military support that they need to expand their markets and extend their control over fossil fuels. And Americans just aren't equipped to understand all of this. We do it for them -- the forgeries, the manufactured provocations, the invasions, the torturing, the killing -- because you can't be a great nation and be wimpy when it comes to conquest.

Yes, he's done his best to see that we are no longer a 'great nation'.

“Make Way for the Trucker”

Go read an inspiring story about a lady running for Congress in Alaska against all odds. She's a Dem running against the well-funded Dem choice as well. She is my kind of candidate.

Katrina Vanden Heuvel

In these times, when the number of women in Congress has leveled off, it is great to see Diane Benson waging a spirited fight for Congress in traditionally Republican Alaska.

In 2006, Benson ran an impressive race against Republican Representative Don Young for Alaska's single at-large seat. She spent approximately 10% as much as her opponent but still won over 40% of the vote – only the third time in 33 years a Democratic challenger had crossed that threshold in vying for the seat.

I asked Benson how she responds to the fact that the Washington Democratic establishment hasn't supported her – or, at the very least – stayed out of the primary given her success in 2006.

"I think people are always scared of somebody who challenges their values," she told me. "I believe I have challenged the values of the party. I'm asking them to really step up to what they claim to be. And sometimes that's tough for people…. Not just in terms of the issues, which is one thing. There's a certain safety net in a good ole boy network. Insiders support insiders too often. And trying to break-up the game – it's like standing in front of a bunch of guys [who are watching] Monday Night Football [on] the TV set. Good luck."

But if there's one thing Benson has in abundance it's toughness. In her attempt to become the first Native American woman in Congress – as well as the first Alaskan Native man or woman – she calls on that toughness every day.

Benson's strength and determination stems at least in part from her background. She "grew up in logging camps, boarding schools, foster homes and even on boat houses," according to Indian Country Today. At times she was homeless. She worked her way through college as a Teamster truck driver and was one of the first women tractor-trailer drivers on the Alaska Pipeline – she often was the only woman on the jobsite. Benson said that was a tough job to get.

"I could prove that I could do the job and the union stood up for me," she said. "And they stood up for me time and time again, and I will never forget that."

Ms. Benson is one stand-up gal. We need more Reps with balls like that, men and women both.

Good luck, Diane.

Vote for Bush? Pay up

Mark Morford

Did you help put America's worst prez into power? Time to make amends

Sure, you could start with an open-palmed apology, a profoundly contrite on-your-knees sort of thing, maybe an open letter in your local paper or a heartfelt speech at your next dinner party whereby you stumble though some sort of "I don't know what the hell I was thinking" or "I must've been blind" or "Wow, that mescaline sure was potent" type of defense for your unfortunate and reprehensible choices.

But the fact is, that's not really gonna cut it.

So then, what can you do, all you increasingly humiliated, disillusioned, deeply mistaken Bush voters? How can you, having hopefully realized by now the violent error of your ways, take steps both small and large to try and make amends for shoving Dubya down the throat of the world, for your tiny but oh so poisonous contribution to the worst and most demeaning eight years in modern American politics?

Mr. Morford offers several ways for them to atone without seeming to. Example:

While you're at it, mention to your buds that the steaks they're eating are actually locally raised and grass-fed, not because you give a good goddamn about humane animal treatment or toxic industrial feedlots (though you really should), but because the meat tastes better and costs less and you wanna save some dough to, you know, buy more guns and porn. Hey, whatever works.

But don't stop there. Might as well tell your homies to throw their food scraps in your new compost bin, too, not because you care about garbage, but because you learned how to cultivate some great topsoil in which to grow your heirloom tomatoes for your famous spaghetti sauce for NASCAR night. Look at you! Actually caring about the health and the environment, but pretending not to! Hey, it's a start.

You get the idea? Really, compared with the disgusting levels of damage wrought by your support of the dark armies of Bush, these suggestions are nothing. You actually owe quite a bit more. OK, a lot more. Incalculable, really.

But for now, let's be reasonable. After all, the sooner you realize that the world is, in fact, not America's bitch, that it's actually a living, humming organism, interconnected and interdependent in ways and on levels no organized religion or fear-based neocon political agenda can possibly comprehend, much less bomb into submission, well, the sooner we can get our collective s— together and move the human experiment forward once again.

And after what you've put us all through, it's the very least you could do.

There is very little that I can add to this gent's work. Please read the rest.

Groups predict prostitution spike at RNC

Denver Post

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Advocacy groups that fight prostitution in the Twin Cities are gearing up for what they believe will be a surge in activity during the Republican National Convention—even though police say they aren't expecting it to be a problem.

It shouldn't be a problem for the cops. It won't be out on the street. The Repugs have money, so it'll all be in the hotels.

Vednita Carter, executive director of Breaking Free, a St. Paul organization that helps women escape from prostitution, told the Star Tribune that talk among prostitutes is that there will be a lot of money to be made.

They're the ones who know.

And by the way, what's this 'spike' of which they speak? Is this something new I don't know about yet?

Mom wins! And so do we.

BuzzFlash

Randi Rhodes and Air America Win Big Court Victory Against Alleged "Torture" Contractor

CACI International had sued Rhodes (now with NovaM radio) and Air America for remarks she made about the alleged involvement of CACI "interrogators" in abuses at Abu Ghraib.

In what is considered a "conservative" federal appeals court, a three judge panel ruled that Rhodes was well within her First Amendment rights in making her comments about CACI:

"Rhodes's criticism of CACI's role and conduct was unbridled, caustic, and indignant," Judge M. Blane Michael wrote. But the right to speak freely is an "essential privilege" that "minimizes the danger of self-censorship on the part of those who would criticize, thus allowing robust debate about the actions of public officials and public figures (including military contractors such as CACI) who are conducting the country's business."

A district course judge had earlier dismissed CACI's lawsuit as groundless and without merit. CACI appealed and its claim resoundingly rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond (4th Circuit).

The ciruit court decision in favor of Rhodes and Air America was made on August 5 and was unanimous.

Thanks to the Court for affirming that we can still call 'em as we see 'em even if we're not nice about it. Free speech ain't dead yet despite some mighty efforts against it by the criminal elite.

Quote of the Day

Avedon Carol on the guilty verdict in the first Gitmo 'trial':

... Interesting; war crimes have been defined down and up at the same time. Torture isn't a war crime, but driving is ...

Skitchin' ...

Anybody who's grown up in a place where they get snow knows what that is. Here's the non-snow version. Heh ...

...and she gets to keep the pickle!

This is getting to be fun! At long last, politics is oozing into my motorcycle world with McCain offering up his ol' lady for the bimbo pageant at The Black Hills Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis SD. Speaking as a certifiable old fart, I think we need more 54-year-old broads in wet t-shirt contests and the like, as long as they don't get pleurisy in their knees from the dampness...

Following up on my video post about Mrs. McBuffalo Chip, go see The Pickle-Licking Contest. Try to disregard the inevitable (try not to get it now! Heh.) visual of "licking 'Pickles' Bush" (Ohmigod! I didn't really say that, did I?). Didja ever think ya'd see shit like that at HuffPo? Ha!

By way of background, the pickle-licking deal is an offshoot of a game played at motorcycle field meets for probably a hundred years, but more easily done on a stage for an audience. In the old days, and probably still, a hot dog was suspended by a string, and the rider would position his motorcycle under it, stopped or moving very slowly without putting his feet on the ground, while his main squeeze, standing on the passenger pegs, would try to take a bite out of it. The fun came in when the rider couldn't balance the bike anymore and he and the m.s. would go tumbling off to the delight of the assembled throng of spectators.

Who's Raising Race?

Subtitled "The Messages Loaded Into a McCain Surrogate's Words" by Eugene Robinson, a brother of note. The surrogate of whom he speaks is Lindsey Graham, the poster boy for thin-skinned southerner AF weenies and McCain operatives, but that doesn't matter, they're interchangeable and disposable.

As the kerfuffle of the past week indicates, it's apparently even problematic for Obama to attempt to describe the Republican Party's obvious game plan of defining him as different, exotic and risky.

Obama could note, however, that the tactic doesn't seem to be working. A new poll by The Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University shows him leading McCain by 10 points, 47 to 37 percent, among white low-income workers. These people have to be made to fear or distrust Obama, and in a hurry, or McCain loses.

I gotta admit, I got kinda worried when Obama showed he couldn't bowl for sour owl shit, but I got over it in a heartbeat when he sank that 40-footer in Kuwait while refusing to visit the troops.

Bowling is a good American sport, fun, and easy to do if you've been doing it for fifty years like I have.

Basketball is also a good American sport, but the last time I was any good at it was 1957, when I played it on a dirt court and we had to wear long pants so we wouldn't get our knees all skinned up.

I'm sure there's a cultural reason as to why a brother is better at hoops than bowling, and I don't really know where I'm going with this, but it is of such small things that trust/distrust is made.

I trust a smart black b-baller a hell of a lot more than I do an old dumb white moron who, if he could raise his arms high enough, would probably play golf with corporate execs to figure out how to screw us.

As one of the gasbags said, "Many Americans base their vote on information that makes Cliff's Notes seem like an encyclopedia".

Quote of the Day

From "The Rotting GOP and Its Conservative Refugees":

For eight years we've suffered from the Bush administration's two exclusive and alternating modes of operation: When it wasn't engaging in prosecutable criminality, it was busy with impeachable incompetence.

The two-pronged approach to truly awful governance, aided and abetted by forked-tongue lies and propaganda.

Gorillas in the mist ...

About 10 years ago, Mrs. F and I took one of our nieces for a day to the Bronx Zoo (a must-visit if you're ever in NYC). As we went through the primate exhibit, I looked up, to the branch of a gnarly old tree about 10 feet above. I made eye contact with a mother gorilla who was just sitting there, holding her little baby who slept in her arms. She and I considered each other for a few minutes and I saw something in her eyes that told me this was no 'lower order' of life.

In our three minute trance, I was convinced there was more humanity in that mother gorilla than in a good portion of the humans I ran across in a day. We moved on but that experience touched me to my core. I will never forget it and it was on that day I made a promise to myself that I would see these amazing creatures in the wild before I die. Fortunately, they might not be extinct by the time I get there.

...

A grueling survey of vast tracts of forest and swamp in the northern Congo Republic has revealed the presence of more than 125,000 western lowland gorillas, a rare example of abundance in a world of rapidly vanishing primate populations.

As recently as last year, this subspecies of the world’s largest primate was listed as critically endangered by international wildlife organizations because known populations — estimated at less than 100,000 in the 1980s — had been devastated by hunting and outbreaks of Ebola virus. The three other subspecies are either critically endangered or endangered.

...

And being the Mrs. and I are cruise junkies:

Holland America Line offers three distinct Africa itineraries including a 20,500 nautical mile circumnavigation that visits 28 unique ports of call in 18 countries for the ultimate Africa Voyage. Experience Africa's animal kingdom on a 3-day safari in Kenya; explore the markets of Casablanca, shop for diamonds in Namibia, relax on the beaches of Durban and journey through the Suez Canal to Egypt and discover the pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, and the extraordinary antiquities in Cairo's museums. Enjoy "at sea" days being completely spoiled by our crew and indulging in relaxing or invigorating onboard activities. All this aboard our most intimate ship, the 793-guest ms Prinsendam*.

You never know. One day you might catch me blogging from a Masai village. Heh ...

*We'll be aboard Prinsendam in a few weeks and of course I'll be bringing you guys along.

In the U.S.?

POP and her husband help out their fellow man and find out just how bad things are:

...

As we got back into the car, the tears were streaming down my face. Mr. Pop asked if I was okay. I told him I was and that was the reason for the tears. If, when I was a little girl anyone had told me that some day I would be bringing donations to a pantry like this rather than more aptly shopping at the pantry, I would never have believed them.

...

And unfortunately, things will get worse before they get better.

Motorcycle McMama

Total liquid alert! Watch McShame turn out his ol' lady, and K.O. and R.M.'s take on it! Note: "Mama" is not exactly a term of respect amongst some bikers.



Thank you, Countdown.

"So, like, white-haired dude..."

Liquid alert! No dry-cleaning or keyboard-drying-out bills please.

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

The kid done good! I'm not even going to make any jokes about wanting to be in Paris...

From Funny or Die.

Forgetting the evils of communism - NOT!

I will not link to Jonah Goldberg, but you can find his junior-high-level spew at the LATimes if you must. This one kinda got my blood boilin'.

Forgetting the evils of communism

An entire generation that remembers the threats posed by the Soviet empire is fading.

He mostly goes on to praise Reagan and other cold-warriors - Repugs of course - and pushes his recent inane book. Which will go unsold for $3 on the remainder table at the supermarket.

And, oh yeah, pretty much calls everybody who ain't a wingnut appeasers of communism.

Note to J.G.: Shut yer fuckin' pie-hole, you punk sonofabitch. Don't tell me that about three generations of Americans are getting amnesia about the Cold War. You weren't even born then. Don't tell me that I'm forgetting air-raid siren tests on Fridays, or that I'm forgetting diving under my school desk during air-raid drills at about age six and up, and basically kissing my ass goodbye while I was under there.

There's two generations of servicemen right here at the proudly progressive anti-right-wing Brain who served during the Cold War. Fixer actually had to go fight the sonsabitches in Grenada, and I served with guys who mounted out for the Cuban missile crisis, which was the main reason for the later Caribbean deployments like the one I went on.

Tell us about your service, ya draft-dodgin' little snot. Oh, that's right - you didn't have to go, and certainly didn't want to like some of us. You don't know jack shit about defending this country. Someone else has always done it for you.

You think we're gonna forget the conflict that shaped a good part of our lives you arrogant little piss-ant?

As far as us dying off, I'm a pretty healthy 62, and Fixer's just a kid. Either one of us could kick your ass up around your ears with one hand tied behind our back, although in concession to aging, the F-Man could do it while I was thinkin' about it. We ain't kickin' the bucket anytime soon, ya little bastard.

Just sit there in yer jizzed-up Fritos dust in yer shorts in yer mother's basement, play a fantasy game where the neocons are heroes with your free hand, and STFU about shit you know nothing about, dickhead.

Is DEA using mercenaries?

Take a close look at this photo. Then go read this.


Disturbing, as I put nothing past DEA scumbags, but ¿quien sabe?

A thin veneer...

Flyshit now to lie on behalf of Packers

Firedoglake

FOXSports.com has learned that the Packers will employ former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer for one month as a consultant.

Why? I have no frickin' idea. I thought Ari Fleischer was busy this Summer heading groups slandering Obama -- but I guess since the McCain campaign decided to cut out the middle-man on such things and do it themselves he has time on his hands.

This just in, the Chicago Bears, the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions are the new axis-of-evil.

Sadly, Matt Millen of the Lions just hired Scott McClellan.

The irony here is that, given the Repugs' proclivity for screwing the nation in the butt, that Flyshit would go to work for the 'Packers'. Heh. He may be over-qualified...

Ya can't make this shit up, folks! Well, I can't...

Why Misgovernment Was No Accident in George W. Bush's Washington

Thomas Frank with today's 'must read'.

So let us begin on the solid ground of these simple facts: this spectacular episode of misrule has coincided with both the political triumph of conservatism and with the rise of the Washington area to the richest rank of American metropolises. In the period I am describing, gentlemen of the right rolled through the capital like lords of creation. Every spigot was open, and every indulgence slopped out for their gleeful wallowing. All the clichés roared at full, unembarrassed volume: the wines gurgled, the T-bones roasted, the golf courses beckoned, the Learjets zoomed, the contractors' glass buildings sprouted from the earth, and the lobbyists' mansions grew like brick-colonial mushrooms on the hills of northern Virginia.

Yes, today's conservatives have disgraced themselves, but they have not strayed from the teaching of their forefathers or the great ideas of their movement. When conservatives appoint the opponents of government agencies to head those government agencies; when they auction their official services to the purveyor of the most lavish "golf weekend"; when they mulct millions from groups with business before Congress; when they dynamite the Treasury and sabotage the regulatory process and force government shutdowns -- in short, when they treat government with contempt -- they are running true to form. They have not done these awful things because they are bad conservatives; they have done them because they are good conservatives, because these unsavory deeds follow naturally from the core doctrines of the conservative tradition.

But this is only the beginning of the story. As we make our rounds of conservative Washington, we glimpse something much greater than single acts of incompetence or obstruction. We see a vast machinery built for our protection reengineered into a device for our exploitation. We behold the majestic workings of the free market itself, boring ever deeper into the tissues of the state. Ultimately, we gaze upon one of the true marvels of history: democracy buried beneath an avalanche of money.

Ever so much more. Damn, he's good!

Denzel or the Cryptkeeper?

Ya gotta go read The Rude One!

Here’s the moment of high-larity that the Rude Pundit is awaiting: it’s a week or so after the election in November. Barack Obama has won, handily, and yer TV and newspaper pundits everywhere are declaring how inevitable it all actually was, how McCain never really had a chance, and, in the name of balance, how one or two demographics actually make the race closer than it is. Back at the McCain manse in Arizona, a state he will not carry, Team Maverick is trying to figure out what went wrong, how a man with as much “experience” and how a man who was, didn’t the public know, a war hero because he got tortured, could possibly lose to this uppity upstart mulatto motherfucker.

Once McCain decided to get on his torture-stiffened knees and guzzle that Rove chowder like a tranny whore at a fireman’s bachelor party, he was once again signing enemy propaganda. Hell, his ads may as well call Obama a “black pirate,” as he once called himself. It was a lie then, so why not now?

[...] You can rest assured, though, that the ads are gonna get worse and worse until the hints aren't even subtle: a reference to his "shiny" smile and a couple of bongo beats is all it'd take. Still, ya gotta think, at some point, McCain's gonna have to offer a plan, which will be the doom of his campaign.

Buck up, worried liberals. This was over a long time ago. Of course the polls are gonna tighten like McCain's urethra. That's because we haven't reached the benchmark image of Obama and McCain appearing on stage together with the nation watching, getting to that "Oh, fuck" moment of "Who do you wanna have to look at for the next four years? Denzel or the Cryptkeeper?"

Caveat: Obama could still fuck it up. Badly. More on that later.

It's Obama's to lose, but he'll have plenty of help. McCain's been fuckin' up by the numbers, but the 'press' either ignores it or spins it in his favor.

Let Obama get caught saying 'shit' and the press will scream "Is this trash-talkin' buck ready to lead?"

I told ya ...

McCain is a racist piece of shit. I made up his masturbatory fantasy the other day, but reality proves much the same thing:

...

Price was among at least three other reporters, and the only black reporter, surrounding McCain's campaign bus — Gov. Charlie Crist and his fiancee, Carole Rome, were already aboard — when a member of the Arizona senator's security detail asked the reporter to identify himself. Price had shown his media credentials to enter the area.

...

"I explained I was with the state press, but the Secret Service man said that didn't matter and that I would have to go," Price said.

When another reporter asked why Price was being removed, she too was led out of the area. Other state reporters remained. [my em]

...

Now, I'm not saying they tossed him because of his 'blackness', but I'm certain they figured he'd probably be asking uncomfortable questions of McCain because his race foreshadowed his probable political leanings. Because Price writes for a paper called the Tallahassee Democrat, they wouldn't think it was affiliated with the Democratic Party; would they? Hey, you never know, the stupid runs deep on the other side of the aisle. You can never disregard ignorance and stupidity when trying to divine their motives for racism.

Great thanks to Avedon for the link.

No more ...

Seems, like Joke Line did, Jonathan Alter has weaned himself off the McCain Kool-Aid:

...

I misread McCain. On the night of the 2000 South Carolina primary, I was in his hotel suite and watched Cindy weeping over what Rove and his goons did. Her husband was plenty mad, too. Now he's got Rove's protégé, Steve Schmidt, running his campaign. Eight years ago, McCain profusely apologized for playing racial politics in South Carolina by backing efforts to fly the Confederate flag at the state capital. Now he's content to see race crowd out the economy in the battle for precious media oxygen. McCain argues that Obama opened himself up to attack by saying, "They're gonna say he doesn't look like those other presidents on the dollar bills." But if his campaign hadn't leaped on that Obama comment, it would have been another. Accusing the other guy of playing the race card is a not terribly subtle form of, well, playing the race card—and the victim.

...

Quote of the Day

Digby:

... In fact, McCain's personality seems like the perfect amalgam of Junior and Cheney --- juvenile, arrogant, bullying and mean ...

And just to be clear ...

As a successful professional mechanic for 35 years, Obama is absolutely correct regarding tire pressures and regular maintenance saving you gas. I'd also add changing your air filter every 10,000 miles.

Are ya gonna tell me I'm wrong?

Ahem ...

Mr. Philadelphia waxes sarcastic:

... But in the world of that mythical heartland, every manly man is an amateur mechanic and forever tinkers with his roadster and, yes, does things like change oil and check tires and keep them properly inflated ...

Shit. 90% of the 'manly men' I know couldn't find the oil filter on their cars, let alone change it. That goes double for changing a tire.

Schadenfreude of the Day

Fire breaks out at 'God Hates Fags' church

ALSO SEE: 'God Hates Fags' pastor blames gays, judges for Saturday church fire

"No doubt the work of fags or fag sympathizers,"...

Yeah, right. Apparently, the Fire Department put it out too quick for him to collect very much on the insurance.

Go fuck yourself, Phelps.

Prosecuting Bush and Cheney

The thought makes ya tingle all over, huh?

AfterDowningStreet

Last week two judges encouraged me to look to courts to help us recover from the damage done by an outlaw executive and a spineless corrupt legislature. The first was Bush-appointed federal Judge John Bates who ruled that people must comply with Congressional subpoenas even if they used to work for the president, and this because - you know - the law requires it. The second was Judge William Price in Iowa who was hearing the case of citizens arrested for trying to make a citizens' arrest of Karl Rove. When told what they had been trying to do, the judge said "Well, it's about time!" (my em)

Sort of makes you want to go out and arrest a war criminal or two, doesn't it? Here's how: http://afterdowningstreet.org/citizenarrest

Lets go for it; war crimes trials could be more fun than impeachment!

Besides the usual suspects within the administration, there are the gutless cowards in congress that actually promoted and voted for war or if they were against it voted to continue funding for war and refused to hold anyone accountable as provided for in the Constitution; which includes most of my state congressional delegation of Arizona: starting with John McCain, John Kyle, my congressman Harry Mitchell, J D Hayworth, John Shadegg, Jeff Flake, Rick Renzi, Gabrille Giffords. Not to mention congressmen that know better and make a big deal about the constitution but refuse to call for impeachment because it might adversely affect their political career, thats right I mean Ron Paul!

Mabe we can't put all these scumbags on trial but it is time to start naming names and hold the collaboraters and enablers up to the ridicule they deserve!

Ridicule, shit. Let's lock 'em up and throw away the key.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Hoped-for Economic Rebound Fueled By Tax Rebates Fails to Materialize
Rebates spent mostly on barrels, suspenders.

Congress Goes on Vacation
Along with lobbyists, escort services.

Sen. Stevens Entitled to Speedy Trial, Presumption of Innocence
Constitution back in vogue for GOP.

Yeah, selectively when it benefits them.

Fridge Magnet of the Day

Available from BuzzFlash.

Sunglasses at Night ...

Hopefully, years from now, we'll look back at this development as the beginning of the end of the oil industry:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine.

Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. With today's announcement, MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy.

Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. "This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," said MIT's Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon." [my ems]

...

Overslept this morning and I'm running late. See yas later ... sometime.

Great thanks to Mary for the link.

Saturday Sunday whorage

Been nuts this weekend. Too much shit happening in the real world.

Over at Worlds, I do a how-to on how I make the arches on the new construction (people have asked). That's moving along, hoping to get everything closed up before we leave for Europe on Labor Day.

We're also up to our ears with trying to keep dad-in-law in his house alone and it's obviously getting difficult, even with the aides we have for him. Looks like we're gonna have the 2000 Year Old Man with us before long. With all that, I'll be leaving my job to deal with it all. Oy!

And yes, another chapter of Birthright is up at The Practical Press.

What's today again?

A little blues from the lovely Susan Tedschi that'll have you tapping your foot at the least:

Susan Tedeschi - Gonna Move

I'm going to bed.

Sunday Not-So-Crazy Redneck Music Blogging

Dedicated to Bush & The Repugs' economic policy. Mechanics will love this one...

Mike Anderson

Quote of the Day

From a good post by Ann Davidow on how McCain is disgracing himself in his shoddy campaign:

[...] Or, as Jay Leno suggested, Democrats could strike back by comparing McCain to Bea Arthur and Zsa Zsa Gabor.