Locking lug nuts are more trouble than they're worth

You know you're in for a good time and some learnin' anytime you see this:

Dear Tom and Ray:

TOM: The inside of your locking nut is stripped. We see this all the time. Once the inside of a locking wheel nut is stripped, you have to resort to extraordinary measures to remove it.

RAY: These may include jumping up and down on the car, cursing at it and, in rare instances, setting it on fire and shrugging when the customer comes to pick up the charred wreckage.

Hey, whatever it takes.

I've been damn lucky when it comes to locking lugnuts. I've never seen a stripped one, and I've found some neat stuff pawing through the customer's car looking for the key. Heh.

Song for Dick Cheney

Johnny Cash - I Got Stripes Town Hall Party, Los Angeles, California August 8, 1959

Thanks to Carters01, Canada.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

I've put this one up before. It's so good I'm doing it again. This is from The Transatlantic Sessions.

Emmylou Harris with Mary Black and Iris Dement ~ Wheels Of Love

Thanks to tomtscotland, Glasgow.

Life's a bitch, ain't it?

Click to embiggen

Thanks to YubaNet.

The Big Barge ... revisited

Our travel agent was aboard Oasis of the Seas a couple weeks back and I stole some pics from her. It's a technological marvel but too big. They even have to post directions to get around.

Heh ...

NYers would rather vote for this guy sooner than Rudy "9/11 All The Time" Giuliani for mayor.

Bad Sex Writing

Fixer did a post on porn today. My 2¢ is that I'd rather read than watch. Gives yer imagination a chance to work and yer other hand something to do.

I didn't know they gave awards for bad sex writing, but they do:

Sometime nominee Ian McEwan, one of Britain’s greatest novelists, once graciously described the Bad Sex Awards as the prize every writer longs to win. He has yet to join the ranks of John Updike, Norman Mailer, and Tom Wolfe, all of whom, in the awards’ 17 years, have been judged to have inflicted on readers the worst piece of erotic writing of the year. Every year the Literary Review compiles a short list of offending new fiction, with debut novelists as vulnerable as big stars.

The awards, held at the In and Out Club in St. James, a conservative, members-only London club chosen purely for the bad-joke value of its name, are conducted in a Carry-On-Up-the-Literati spirit, which means that I can only describe myself as a Bad Sex Awards virgin. On a freezing night, while publishers are cutting back on lavish launches, here the Champagne flowed freely, and around 200 people were squashed into the usually sedate venue. Novelist Howard Jacobsen and historian Andrew Roberts, alongside just about every literary editor in London, all listened intently as the nominated passages were read aloud. This is the circus of smut and schadenfreude that is the Bad Sex Awards.

Mmmmmm...smut and schadenfreude. In a room full of people. Sounds like a dream night out to me.

Go read. Enjoy.

Did Asians Scare Palin Out of Hawaii?

The Daily Beast

The Palin story of the day seems to be her semi-endorsment of the birther movement, but there's another question now being asked: Why did Sarah Palin leave Hawaii after one semester when she was an 18-year-old student? The New Republic draws attention to a startling passage from Sam Tanenhaus’s recent New Yorker review of Palin’s book: In Going Rogue, Palin says “Hawaii was a little too perfect. Perpetual sunshine isn’t necessarily conducive to serious academics for eighteen-year-old Alaska girls.” But Tanenhaus then flags another passage from Scott Conroy’s and Shushannah Walshe’s biography of Palin, in which Palin’s own father says she left because she was uncomfortable around Asians and Pacific Islanders: “They were a minority type thing,” her father says, “and it wasn’t glamorous, so she came home.”

Read it at The New Republic.

Good grief.

American Airlines Hauls Some Serious Ass

MSNBC passes along this picture of a slightly awkward situation on an American Airlines flight.

It was 'awkward' all right:

"[...] Seems the guy paid for only one seat and the gate staff let him board."

I think the stews oughta move him a little to the left so he's in the center of the plane. Trim tabs can only do so much.

"Cobra's Anger"

At first, I thought "Cobra's Anger" was a reference to my health insurance premium which is going up in January in time to thwart any cost-lowering legislation, damn their eyes, but it's the name of a new Marine op in Effedupistan.

KABUL — U.S. Marines and Afghan troops on Friday launched the first offensive since President Barack Obama announced an American troop surge, striking against Taliban communications and supply lines in a southern insurgent stronghold, a military spokesman said.

Hundreds of troops from the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines and the Marine reconnaissance unit Task Force Raider were dropped by helicopter and MV-22 Osprey aircraft behind Taliban lines in the northern end of the Now Zad Valley of Helmand province, scene of heavy fighting last summer, according to Marine spokesman Maj. William Pelletier.

A U.S. military official in Washington said it was the first use of Ospreys, aircrafts that combine features of helicopters and fixed wing aircraft, in an offensive involving units larger than platoons.

In my day, we came off those goddam flat-bottomed Mike boats* ready to fight. ANYTHING was better than throwing up and getting thrown up on in those bobbing little vessels of the devil. Pretty good psychology on the part of the Marine Corps, really. It worked great from Guadalcanal to Inchon and beyond. The Corps never lost a fight if it woulda meant getting back on those things. Heh.

It almost woulda been a relief if the damn things had sunk. Most of us could swim.

Things have been amped up in our fast paced modern world, but as good as they are, Marines can't fly. I can only imagine that today's young Jarheads are so thankful to get outta those Ospreys alive that they're ready to assault Hell with a bucket of water. The fuckin' Tallyban directly in front of 'em don't stand a snowball's chance. Heh.

Get some, three-four!

*Actually they were 'Papa' or 'Peter' boats due to the 'P' in LCVP. LCM's were 'Mike boats'. Too much for simple minds to remember so we called 'em all Mike boats, or maybe it was because the word 'Peter' made us giggle and the brass thought a boatload of giggling Marines wasn't quite the image they wanted in case we landed on a beach with photographers. Wasn't all that much difference between 'em anyway.

Dick Cheney’s Steno Pool

Mad Kane

Somebody please explain why the garbage and lies spewed by Richard Cheney are routinely treated like they’re gospel. Dick makes George W. Bush look like a statesman, for heaven sakes. And yet media outlets (read this one! - G) love to present the former Veep’s vicious distortions and malicious rants virtually without challenge.

The latest example is Politico’s regurgitation of Cheney’s lengthy tirade against President Obama. A tirade, I might add, made on the eve of Obama’s Afghanistan troop buildup speech at West Point.

Politico deserves a double limerick, don’t you think?

Dick Cheney’s Steno Pool (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Dear Politico, kindly explain
Why you act like Dick Cheney is sane.
You repeat all his lies
Like they’re truthful and wise.
Your stenography’s worse than inane.

Richard Cheney has harmed our great nation.
Yet you act like each Cheney quotation
Is golden and true,
Worth transcribing on cue.
You’re not journos — you just take dictation.

I think if I got the chance to interview Cheney, which is not really what I would like to do if I got within arm's reach of him, I would ask him this question:

"While you're in prison awaiting the gallows, are you likely to get into arts and crafts or would you rather work in the laundry?"

Quote of the Day

Dr. Myers:

A study that tried to analyze how pornography affected men's views ran into an unfortunate problem: no control group. It seems there does not exist a population of males that doesn't see some porn regularly ...

Heh ...

Sometimes, even a blind squirrel ...

Or two, finds a nut. Last night on Goofball, Chris Matthews asked Howard Fineman a question. That and the answer were quite telling. Paraphrasing:

Matthews: Would Obama have voted for this [the "surge" in Afghanistan] were he still a senator?

Fineman: No.

Amazing how things change with your perspective.

Thank fucking god it's Friday ...

Quote of the Day

Maru (again, I know, but she's the best):

...

Um, Huck, what part of “long and violent criminal history,” “repeated, in writing, that Clemmons should remain in prison” and “108-year prison sentence” didn’t you understand? You fucking imbecile? [!!!!!1!!]

Take 30,000 and call me in the morning ...

Jon Stewart:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
30,000
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Vid stolen from Heather.

Light Blogging Today

Mrs. G has a rare local dentist appointment this A.M. and I'm going along to visit with the Doc and his lovely wife who is the brains who runs the joint. He is a Vietnam Vet Navy dentist who worked with Marines and later retired from the Air Guard as a General. Also to go to lunch after at this joint. Yum. Won't need any supper tonight, you betcha!

Thought I'd leave ya with a little light entertainment:

NEW YORK - A home movie showing a relaxed Marilyn Monroe apparently smoking marijuana has surfaced, retrieved from an attic some 50 years after it was filmed.

The reel-to-reel silent, color film taken at a private home in New Jersey was recently purchased by collector Keya Morgan for $275,000 from the person who took the film, who has asked to remain anonymous.

Thanks to EmAminee.

More contractors!

Our pal Montag points out that along with the "surge", we'll be getting more Blackwater (or a reasonable facsimile):

Along with the increase of 30,000 troops to the Kabul Quagmire, there will be an increase in the number of private contractors and mercenaries hired to support their effort. As the Army Times reports, we would be much better off without some of that "support".

...

How we'll win ...

We won't. If you read anything today, read D-cap:

...

Defeating Al Qaeda does not equate to rooting out terrorism - but 8 years since 9/11 and many in this country actually believe that if we capture (and execute) Osama bin Laden or any of his thirty-four #2 lieutenants, terrorism will stop. This is true 1984 - endless war. Fighting will not kill the ideals behind the terrorists. But it will keep the bottom lines of many companies very happy.

...

More "light distraction" ...

I could watch this all day. Heh ...

Hey Santa ...

Take yer kettle and bell and shove it up yer ass. Ain't getting shit from me except for maybe a loogie.

The most useless ...

Governing body ever devised by humankind. That would be the New York State Legislature:

ALBANY — The State Senate defeated a bill on Wednesday that would legalize same-sex marriage, after an emotional debate that touched on civil rights, family and history. The vote means that the bill, pushed by Gov. David A. Paterson, is effectively dead for the year and dashes the optimism of gay rights advocates, who have had setbacks recently in several key states.

...

They've been useless since this nation was founded and seem to have no qualms about continuing the tradition.

A little light distraction

Barf bag alert! This is the scariest cruise ship video I've seen. Apparently she lost her engines in a big storm in the western Med.

If ya look close, you can see the always unflappable Fixer with his toes curled under the bar rail, holding a quintuple Jack Rocks with a perfectly gimballed wrist lest he spill any. Nothing messes with his enjoyment of a cruise!

Looks to me like anyone barfing over the lee rail (as they should) got their face wet.

Cruise ship Voyager makes way through Rough seas.

Beeb article here.

Thanks to mytube308, Oz.

Effedupistan Speech Analysis

For a more thorough and knowledgeable same-day analysis of Obama's Afghanistan speech than you will get from the soundbite gasbags and bumpersticker pols, please go see last night's 55-minute Charlie Rose. The link might be a little iffy as the vid is on the home page now and that might change. Let me know if you have any problems with it.

Of particular interest to me are the opinions of Martha Raddatz and Dexter Filkins, who between them have more war zone cred than the gasbags and pols due to the fact that they've been shot at in Iraq and Afghanistan more than all the rest of them put together and are real journalists.

Obama, the great disappointment?

Here's a column by Mark Morford that I needed to read and its timing in the wake of last night's speech is uncanny:

But not so fast. Back here in the dwindling twilight of the '00s, there is much puling from the liberal left that Obama has not done nearly enough, quickly enough, that his list of accomplishments is no list at all and is more of a giant, infuriating shrug. Many are saying he's not all he's cracked up to be because he has yet to completely revolutionize every aspect of human life as we know it by instantly turning everything organic, curing all diseases and setting all gay military personnel free to romp in the fields of boot camp.

Where is the complete ideological overhaul of the entire federal government? Where is the Gandhi-like pacifism? Why are we sending 30K more troops to Afghanistan? What about my new job, my single-payer health care and my tiny car that runs on sunflowers and hemp popsicles? Indeed, rabid impatience has combined with impossible expectation to give many liberals a free ticket to the land of nonstop bitching. Alas.

Conversely, there is all manner of incoherent noise spewing like radioactive urine from the far right, a nonstop wail of childlike panic claiming that, because Obama behaves with unnerving calm, shakes hands with foreign dignitaries and doesn't seem interested in bombing everyone in a turban, he must be a socialist Muslim Nazi hell-bent on banning machine guns and killing all old Republicans in their sleep and replacing them with French-speaking hip-hop jazz musicians.

The good news is, both sides are wildly, fantastically, delightfully wrong. [...]

But somehow, as I delved in a bit more deeply, as I scanned those lists and noted all the changes in a single year, I found myself reenergized, invigorated, slapped awake at the new tone and direction, the sheer scale of all the changes, and how we are no longer the rogue macho cowboy laughingstock jackass of the world.

Sure, there's still a long way to go. Yes, we're still invading Afghanistan. Wall Street is still packed with jackals and demons. DOMA still exists. All is far from perfect. But times have changed indeed. Things are most definitely not what they once were. I can think of no better news to report.

Thanks, Mark. I needed that. I can wait for the world of rainbows and unicorns and piles of puppies for a while longer now.

You owe it to yourself to go read the rest.

Oil of L.A.

Go see this interesting video of oil rigs in odd places in Los Angeles and a short history of the 'awl bidness' in the city of my birth. I've known about this since I was a kid and it's amusing to me that it keeps getting re-discovered like it's something new.

The crux ...

Of the biscuit from Comrade Misfit:

...

Too much hinges on Pakistan. If the Pakistani government keeps on covertly supporting the Taliban, which they have done all along, I don't see how this can end well.

We can't run a supply line through there because security is so dismal. Every branch of their armed forces and intelligence machine have been infiltrated by Taliban sympathizers. All of our stuff has to come into Afghanistan by air for fear of it being destroyed while sitting on the ground in Pakistan.

How in Hell are we supposed to support 30,000 more troops?

Obama is also relying on an increased NATO commitment. From where? The British people have had it. The Germans (after the number of innocents killed in the fuel truck incident) want their people out. And Europe in general is war-weary. The NATO commitment will be slow, if it ever happens, in coming.

Gordon said in his post last night this morning:

...

Obama talked me into giving him a shot. 18 months. I don't like it but I can live with it. He's not Bush.

And that's the only thing giving me comfort. He is not Bush. I'm praying the man has a conscience and truly believes he will not be squandering U.S. lives in a futile effort. I'm hopeful he will give the operation more commitment than the previous administration.

What bothers me is Bush's generals are still in charge of the warfighting apparatus. I still don't see how we're supposed to "train" the Afghans up into a cohesive national army and police force when their first loyalties are to their families, their tribe, and money, not necessarily in that order. How do we get a race of people who feel happier in the 10th Century to accept the role we've ordained for them in the 21st? In only 18 months? I can't see it but if it happens, I'll be cheering the loudest.

I just hope, after this is all said and done, our government will give the same commitment to the troops coming home (our record so far has been dismal). You know, those who've left parts of their bodies and minds behind on the battlefield. I hope they planned for that as they talked strategy for "winning" this misguided war.

Rude Pundit's Live Whiskey-Blogging

The Rude One watches Obama's Afghanistan speech.

If it's time for another special primetime appearance by a Commander-in-Chief, it's time to break out the sippin' whiskey (the shots are for press conferences). The Rude Pundit was given a bottle of Tom Handy rye, and, sweet belchin' Jesus, he can tell already that this is gonna kick his ass like a 'roid-rager at the gym arguing over who's next on the lat machine.

8:05: Will he actually say that Bush and Cheney fucked it up?

8:06: Nope. "Decisions were made" that led to war in Iraq. He shall still not be named. But, apparently, in 2011, there better be a few hundred thousand more jobs available in the United States for the returning troops and laid-off Blackwater employees.

8:08: So, yeah, he increased troops, just like he fucking said he would.

8:09: "Disrupting, dismantling, and defeating" al-Qaeda and Taliban are the goals. How soon before right-wingers note that Obama pronounces "Taliban" like he's Harry Belafonte?

8:16: Fuck him for making this sound reasonable. Fuck him for making it seem like it'll work. Fuck him for making this whiskey be sucked down faster than it ought to be.

8:19: Speaks to Afghan people. Pashtun goat herders in their thatch lean-to's feel their ears burning.

8:34: Oh, shit, he's actually talking about how we were allegedly so unified just post-9/11. Look for Glenn Beck to sue right after eating his own face on the air.

Shit, I'd watch him if he'd do that!

8:35: That's good: "Right makes might."

And we're done.

Bottom line: he wants one last shot to make right what Bush fucked up. But that doesn't take into account that maybe it was never possible in the first place to get it right.

Much more.

Obama talked me into giving him a shot. 18 months. I don't like it but I can live with it. He's not Bush.

Quote of the Day

Maru:

To the knowing glances of legions of young Dominican boys, repulsive misogynist Rush Limpbag announced he will marry an actual human female on July 4th. Unless the presumably non-feminazi regains her eyesight and/or gets off the crackpipe.

...

We Need to Stop Pretending That Obama Hasn't Been Consistent on Afghanistan

[A big welcome to our pal Badtux' readers - F.]

The Rude Pundit

Let's not kid ourselves here:

"This is a war that we have to win. I will send at least two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan...We need more troops, more helicopters, more satellites, more Predator drones in the Afghan border region." - Then-candidate Barack Obama in his last big speech about Afghanistan, July 15, 2008.

Several more quotes like that.

How many more quotes do you need on this? 'Cause there's probably a couple of hundred or so more, every single one of them with Barack Obama calling for an escalation in the number of troops in Afghanistan. Hell, it was an easy applause line.

His acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination? "When John McCain said we could just 'muddle through' in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11."

Then he'd better invade fucking North Africa 'cuz that's where al Qaeda is these days. What the fuck is there for us in Afghanistan except goats and the men who love them?

So let's be grown-ups here as we get ready for President Obama to make his new, big Afghanistan speech and say that the man didn't lie to us. He told us for the last two years that he was gonna send more troops. In fact, about the only thing he's guilty for during this long period of contemplation and meetings is getting our hopes up that he might be changing his mind. Out here in Left Blogsylvania, we desperately read things like his delay in announcing a strategy and his trip to Dover Air Base as the signs of transformation. Nope. Turns out that he was just figuring out how much to up the number from two brigades.

Americans are also finally getting to the point of accepting that Afghanistan is not the "good war" we had hoped it was. It's just, now that there's at least some movement on Iraq withdrawal, we're paying attention, and, oh, wow, hell, there's actually people dying and we're not really sure why. For so very long, many on the left were willing to use Afghanistan as a way of demonstrating how tough they could be while condemning Iraq.

Guilty, I guess. I supported the war in Afghanistan. Times change.

But this isn't about Obama or even the Afghanistan war. It's about us. As we see Obama capitulate, hedge, or hesitate on all the liberal things he promised, it's just goddamned depressing to see him so readily follow through on the hawkish promises. And it also forces us to realize that all that protesting of the Iraq war was far, far too narrow in scope.

That's what we get for letting profit-driven warmongers hijack our country and now we have to live with it.

Tonight: Live whiskey-blogging the speech.

For some reason, Rude-o's 'live whiskey-bloggings' get a little looser as they go on...

"You gonna say anything bad about boardercross, eh?"

Amy Goodman ran afoul of a batcrap crazy Canadian border guard. Go here and scroll down and watch the video.

Afghanistan: Can Obama Sell Bush's Used Car?

The last paragraph of a piece by David Corn:

There's much for Obama to address, maybe too much for one speech. He's inherited a mess of a war from George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. But with this increase in troops, Obama is fully claiming possession of this conflict—assuming the task of selling one of Bush's leftover used cars. With the public, especially members of his own party, skeptical about the war, Obama will have to demonstrate that he has truly considered (and reconsidered) all the fundamental premises of this endeavor. Relying on familiar or vague—and sometimes contradictory—rhetoric will not help him accomplish that mission.

Fuck sellin' Bush's load. Grind off the VINs, pull the license plates, leave the keys in it and some gas money on the seat and GTFO of there.

Whatever's gonna happen there is gonna happen, sooner or later, with us or without us. Better without us.

Seattle police kill suspect in officer slayings

AP

SEATTLE – The man suspected of gunning down four police officers in a suburban coffee shop was shot and killed by a lone patrolman investigating a stolen car early Tuesday. Four people were arrested for allegedly helping the suspect elude authorities during a massive two-day manhunt.

Authorities in two states were criticized amid revelations that Clemmons was allowed to walk the streets despite a teenage crime spree in Arkansas that landed him an 108-year prison sentence. He was released early after then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted his sentence.

Huckabee cited Clemmons' youth in granting the request. But Clemmons quickly reverted to his criminal past, violated his parole and was returned to prison. He was released again in 2004.

"This guy should have never been on the street," said Brian D. Wurts, president of the police union in Lakewood. "Our elected officials need to find out why these people are out."

Huckabee said on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" Monday night that Clemmons was allowed back on the street because prosecutors failed to file paperwork in time.

Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley, whose office opposed Clemmons' parole in 2000 and 2004, said Huckabee's comments were "red herrings."

"My word to Mr. Huckabee is man up and own what you did," Jegley said.

That'll happen when pigs fly. It's not Repug or fundie policy to admit mistakes or own up to anything.

Clemmons was charged in Washington state earlier this year with assaulting a police officer and raping a child, and investigators in the sex case said he was motivated by visions that he was Jesus Christ and that the world was on the verge of the apocalypse.

No wonder Huckabee let him go. Yeesh.

A Tragic Mistake

Bob Herbert

Politicians are seldom honest when they talk publicly about warfare. Lyndon Johnson knew in the spring of 1965, as he made plans for the first big expansion of U.S. forces in Vietnam, that there was no upside to the war.

A recent Bill Moyers program on PBS played audio tapes of Johnson on which he could be heard telling Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, “Not a damn human thinks that 50,000 or 100,000 or 150,000 [American troops] are going to end that war.”

McNamara replies, “That’s right.”

Nothing like those sentiments were conveyed to the public as Johnson and McNamara jacked up the draft and started feeding young American boys and men into the Vietnam meat grinder.

Afghanistan is not Vietnam. There was every reason for American forces to invade Afghanistan in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001. But that war was botched and lost by the Bush crowd, and Barack Obama does not have a magic wand now to make it all better.

The tougher choice for the president would have been to tell the public that the U.S. is a nation faced with terrible troubles here at home and that it is time to begin winding down a war that veered wildly off track years ago. But that would have taken great political courage. It would have left Mr. Obama vulnerable to the charge of being weak, of cutting and running, of betraying the troops who have already served. The Republicans would have a field day with that scenario.

Lyndon Johnson is heard on the tapes telling Senator Richard Russell, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, about a comment made by a Texas rancher in the days leading up to the buildup in Vietnam. The rancher had told Johnson that the public would forgive the president “for everything except being weak.”

Russell said: “Well, there’s a lot in that. There’s a whole lot in that.”

We still haven’t learned to recognize real strength, which is why it so often seems that the easier choice for a president is to keep the troops marching off to war.

We haven't heard what the President is going to say as of yet, but the word on the street isn't good. We will see.

Will we never learn?

Little Green Footballs

To quote a certain Twitter account "An extraordinary moment in the political blogosphere".

Why I Parted Ways With The Right

Opinion | Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 6:49:45 pm PST

1. Support for fascists, both in America (see: Pat Buchanan, Robert Stacy McCain, etc.) and in Europe (see: Vlaams Belang, BNP, SIOE, Pat Buchanan, etc.)

2. Support for bigotry, hatred, and white supremacism (see: Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Robert Stacy McCain, Lew Rockwell, etc.)

3. Support for throwing women back into the Dark Ages, and general religious fanaticism (see: Operation Rescue, anti-abortion groups, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins, the entire religious right, etc.)

4. Support for anti-science bad craziness (see: creationism, climate change denialism, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, James Inhofe, etc.)

5. Support for homophobic bigotry (see: Sarah Palin, Dobson, the entire religious right, etc.)

6. Support for anti-government lunacy (see: tea parties, militias, Fox News, Glenn Beck, etc.)

7. Support for conspiracy theories and hate speech (see: Alex Jones, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Birthers, creationists, climate deniers, etc.)

8. A right-wing blogosphere that is almost universally dominated by raging hate speech (see: Hot Air, Free Republic, Ace of Spades, etc.)

9. Anti-Islamic bigotry that goes far beyond simply criticizing radical Islam, into support for fascism, violence, and genocide (see: Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, etc.)

10. Hatred for President Obama that goes far beyond simply criticizing his policies, into racism, hate speech, and bizarre conspiracy theories (see: witch doctor pictures, tea parties, Birthers, Michelle Malkin, Fox News, World Net Daily, Newsmax, and every other right wing source)

And much, much more. The American right wing has gone off the rails, into the bushes, and off the cliff.

I won’t be going over the cliff with them.

And Tony Blair ...

Should be occupying a cell right next to Bush and Cheney:

Tony Blair made it clear to George Bush at a meeting in Texas 11 months before the Iraq invasion that he would be prepared to join the US in toppling Saddam Hussein, the inquiry into the war was told today.

The prime minister repeatedly told the US president that British policy was to back United Nations attempts to seek Iraq's disarmament, Sir David Manning, his foreign policy adviser, told the inquiry. [my em]

...

Though I doubt the 3 of them, and their enablers and henchmen, will ever meet the justice they deserve.

Great thanks to Chris for the link.

Judgment ...

Mike Huckabee has none:

...

Michael Huckabee's behavior towards both the Clemmons and DuMond cases graphically demonstrates that he doesn't have the intelligence, judgment, emotional balance, or strength of character to be president of the United States. Yet, he persists in being touted by both the media and many influential Republicans, as a serious candidate for the most powerful office in the world.

This is a very, very dangerous man who has no business holding any political power anywhere.

...

There are 9 children in Washington State who no longer have a parent (let alone the 13 year old girl this guy raped who will be emotionally scarred for life) thanks to then-Governor Huckabee. Regardless of the Washington authorities dropping the ball, had Huckabee not let this guy loose, none of his post-Arkansas offenses there would have taken place.

There should be a special place in Hell set aside for this stupid Jesus freak.

If you didn't see ...

Olbermann's "Special Comment" last night, you should (transcript and video at the link):

...

Mr. President, it now falls to you to be both former Republican Senator George Aiken and the man to whom he spoke, Lyndon Johnson. You must declare victory, and get out.

You should survey the dismal array of options in front of you -- even the orders given out last night -- sort them into the unacceptable, the unsuccessful, and the merely un-palatable, and then put your arm down on the table and wipe the entire assortment of them off your desk -- off this nation's desk -- and into the scrap heap of history.

Unless you are utterly convinced -- willing to bet American lives on it -- that the military understands the clock is running, and that the check is not blank, and that the Pentagon will go to sleep when you tell it to (even though the Pentagon is a bunch of perpetually 12-year old boys desperate to stay up as late as possible by any means necessary) -- get out now.

...

As we've been saying here for a long time, Afghanistan is an unwinnable proposition, since the days of Alexander the Great, through the British, through the Soviets, and once again, somewhere down the line, through our occupation as well.

President Obama, you are making a big mistake.

Update:

George puts it succinctly:

...

note to obamarahma - vastly superior invading armies have always exited afghanistan - just not on the terms they were expecting.

...

Tiger Quits Golf; Will Become Politician

ORLANDO (The Borowitz Report) - In a development that rocked the worlds of sports and politics, golf superstar Tiger Woods announced today that he was hanging up his clubs to become a politician.

"After two days of refusing to speak to the media about suspicious aspects of my personal life, I have proved to myself that I am qualified for a career in politics," Mr. Woods told reporters in Orlando.

His stunning decision immediately drew praise from such disparate politicians as Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, who called a press conference to welcome Mr. Woods to the Republican Party.

"Tiger Woods has not yet revealed what his party affiliation will be, but based on what I've seen, he has what it takes to be a Republican," Sen. Ensign said.

Note to Tiger: You better clean yer act up or you're likely to end up hangin' with the wrong crowd. Heh.

Yo, Santa, ya better put in some serious shopping...

Strip club owner’s dog shelter named for Gingrich opens.

Think Progress

Last September, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich retracted an “Entrepreneur of the Year” award he accidentally presented to Dallas strip club owner Dawn Rizos and refunded the $5,000 donation Rizos made to Gingrich’s American Solutions for Winning the Future. At the time, Rizos said she would take the money to build a shelter for unwanted pit bulls. The Dallas Morning News reported yesterday that “Newt’s Nook: A Home For Pit Bulls” is now open:

So...I guess when ya adopt one, ya gotta get it 'newtered'?

Top 10 uses for "Going Rogue"

Mark Morford

5) Iranian revolution, trigger for. Right now, the last thing Iran's cretinous leaders want is another pro-democracy uprising from the educated classes. What better way for the U.S. to inspire a new round of violent unrest than by air-dropping hundreds of thousands of copies of "Going Rogue" all over the streets, each with a personal note saying, "With love, Ayatollah."

Iranian citizens will be so insulted by this obvious effort to keep them ignorant and oppressed, a new bout of aggressive resistance is bound to be unleashed, leading to inevitable government overthrow. Viva la revolucion!

6) Torture device. A no-brainer, really. Got a suspect in custody? A nasty Taliban leader hell-bent on undermining America's love of shopping malls and sparkling vampires and free streaming porn? No problem. Strap 'em down, gag 'em up, and watch their eyes widen in horror as you pull up a chair and begin reading. "Going Rogue." It's the new waterboarding!

7) Unruly child becalmer. (Similar to above, only family friendly). [...]

My favorite:

10) Apocalypse detector. It has been widely rumored that HarperCollins secretly embedded a tiny sensor in the cover of thousands of copies of "GR" to be sold in various welfare states and Glenn Beck's Elmo fetish dungeon. When the Rapture is nigh, the sensors will cause Sarah's breasts to glow bright red and start blinking furiously. Soon after, the book will begin smoking, and quickly burst into flame. Then Jesus will reappear, laugh hysterically, and with a friendly wink, whisk all fundamentalist Christians away to the great monster truck rally/moose hunting lodge in the sky. Then the real peace on Earth begins. Rejoice!

Headline of the Day

Conservative Senators Embrace Putting Off Health Care For Americans In Favor Of Escalation In Afghanistan

Related Update:

The Rude One, more links at site:

Few things are more revolting than the self-righteousness of Republicans over the federal deficit and national debt. Karl Rove, a man who should have to spend one day a week standing still so people can kick him in the nuts, recently cavilled in the Wall Street Journal (motto: "Actually, our editorial policy isn't so different since Murdoch bought our ass"), "When Mr. Obama was sworn into office the federal deficit for this year stood at $422 billion. At the end of October, it stood at $1.42 trillion."

Or, in other words, Karl Rove, as ever, can go fuck himself or fuck whatever gnarled, cloven-hoofed, demi-demon mutant dwarf that would have him.

There's finally creeping talk about the big damn elephant in the room: that we might actually, horror of horrors, have to think about raising taxes in order to get our fiscal house in order, something that was verboten during the Bush administration. Seriously, did George Stephanopoulos's hair ever ask a member of Congress or the Bush White House if we should maybe, perhaps think that, if they wanna throw a huge fuckin' war on America's tab, we oughta pay for it together? Because he did ask Lindsey Graham yesterday on This Week with George Stephanopoulos's Hair, "If we're going to fight a war, shouldn't the American people pay for it?"

And, like every good barking bitch Republican, whenever confronted with a question about spending so profligate and unnecessary that it makes it look like Eliot Spitzer got a bargain on his diamond-pussied whores, Graham blathered on, "I'd like to see an endeavor to see if we can cut current spending and find some dollars that we're spending today to pay for the war, and prioritize American spending." And, in a remark that instantly rendered him one of the most useless, out-of-touch fuckers in the Senate, he said, "Our national security future depends on getting it right in Afghanistan, and there is no better use of taxpayer dollars than to defend America, in my view." You know whose security depends on "getting it right" in Afghanistan? Afghanistan's. And then Pakistan's. And then Europe's. Ours? Not so much. Oh, at one point it did, but a Republican administration fucked that up.

Sometimes, the craven greed of many Americans is unbearable. We so fucking want something for nothing. Until it wasn't popular anymore in about, oh, what, 2005ish, people loved them some Iraq War, but the notion of asking people to pay for it? That was political death. For the most part, we acknowledge that some vague "something" needs to be done about health care costs, but the solution, that maybe we'll have to pay a little bit more in taxes and make do with 40" HDTVs instead of 45", is somehow anti-American.

Yes, everything that might do Americans some good has to be paid for in front. Everything that does them no good at all in the pursuit of obscene profit for a few can be borrowed from the Chinese and paid for by the taxpayers later. And paid for later. And paid for later. And...

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Design for Bush Library Unveiled
Will include animatronic Bush reading My Pet Goat.

Eight In Minneapolis Accused of Recruiting Poor, Impressionable Youths to Train in Military Skills, Use as Fighters Abroad
Shadowy organization known as “U.S. Army.”

Car Remotely Controlled With iPhone Tested in Berlin
Soon you'll be able to drive the kids to school without getting out of bed.

I wonder ...

If Mike Huckabee is gonna blame Clinton for this one too?

The man whom police are seeking as a "person of interest" in the slaying of four police officers was released from an Arkansas prison nine years ago after a controversial decision by then-Gov. Mike Huckabee to commute his sentence.

...

Long before coming to Washington, Clemmons was serving a 35-year prison term in Arkansas for armed robbery but his sentence was commuted by then-Gov. Huckabee, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in his 2008 presidential bid, according to the Arkansas Times Web site.

...

Ain't the Rethugs supposed to be all about 'law and order' and 'justice'?

Great thanks to Watertiger for the link.

East Of Woodstock, West Of Vietnam

Tom Russell performs "East of Woodstock, West of Vietnam" on Letterman.

Hear selections from Blood and Candle Smoke.

Thanks to johntaine.

Break time ...

Well, I got the Mrs' office done yesterday (just waiting for the TV to show up so I can hang it on the wall) and she's all moved in. Now I get to take the winter off from building shit. So now that the boss has her 'corner office' she can start being really productive come tomorrow morning (she had the last week off).

Dolly Parton - 9 to 5