Thanks, but, um...

Nothing could cheer me up more than a prominent Republican senator switching sides and giving the Democrats an edge--a filibuster-proof majority, actually--in the Senate. But did it have to be the dude that came up with the most implausible excuse of the 20th century?

Rachel [hearts] Metallica

Drummer Lars Ulrich visits Metallica fan Rachel Maddow during her show's recent stint in San Francisco and pays tribute to the metal legends with a fitting introduction.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

[groan]

Disgusting and humiliating. The (almost) literal definition of adding insult to injury.

The New York Yankees' recent 3 game series against their arch rivals, the Boston Red Sox, consisted of 2 games packed with missed opportunities, and a third which was just plain shameful and stomach-churning. It felt like, in the middle of having sex, your woman gave up on you and brought in a another man to show you how it's done.

It's About that Time

Fellow blogger Xmastime is on point in exhorting President Obama to do his thing and forget about non-forthcoming bi-partisanship:

At some point, Obama is gonna hafta quit worrying about how the public sees any efforts of bi-partisanship and simply start governing. It's clear now that no matter what, Republicans are gonna oppose whatever he brings up. The level of resistance will be the exact same whether he bends over backwards for them, or if simply pushing through whatever he wants. So he might as well do the latter and not the former if it means progressive policy that the majority of millions of Americans actually want, despite the efforts of a half a dozen Republican Congressman.

Take healthcare for an example. Republicans will have you believe this is some 4th quarter boogeyman Obama is pulling out - oh no! radical Marxist healthcare for everyone!! Except he ran his campaign on it, and mentioned it about 86,000 times, and Americans were so freaked out by it we voted him in with a pretty comfy margin.

So maybe he needs to focus more on making sure the system he has is as efficient as possible and pushing it through and less about hurting whiny GOP congressman's feelings. If the shit works, then in 10 years everyone's gonna be sitting around saying "gee, we all have healthcare, isn't this great?" Again, nobody's gonna moan "yeah, but I wish Obama had been sweeter to the Republicans when they were hurling themselves in the supermarket aisle having their tantrums."

Yup.

Pot, Meet Kettle

"...a powerful corporation which controls a major part of the American media may be using its power and the airwaves to influence politics in order to make money from government contracts. That kind of corruption would make Watergate look small. We hope it is not true." - Fox's Bill O'Reilly, referring to NBC

Man, you know, I could've sworn for a minute he was talking about Fox and their blatant Republican lap dancing. Asshole.

Dude, Where's My Brain?

It's one thing to have a difference of philosophy and opinion, but to use a TV show to prove your point--Fox's 24, which Republicans seem to regard as a documentary and not a fictional action/drama--and then trot out as an example of real life courage and patriotism, this criminal:



Well, that's just plain crazy, Glenn Beck.

Oh, the Irony!

Ope over at Unconquerable Gladness, nails it once again:

Hard to argue against someone committed to keeping our country safe; easy to despise someone so committed to executive power he will manipulate that trust to sanction incredible cruelty for executive powers sake. That Dick Cheney is actively making news after attempting to bestow monarchical power upon a president elected by a narrow majority while a Republican minority in Congress deafeningly bellyaches is today's notable irony.

Amen, brother.

When Will the Empire Strike Back?

Aside from the sexist remarks in his hit job on Yankees' GM Brian Cashman and his team, Matt Taibbi proves that he's nothing more than another member of the Greek chorus of Yankee haters in the media. Anyone who welcomes the collapse of a team with "God, is it going to be fun to see" is far from an objective observer and just one more in a long line of haters. Next.

For the record, I'm not a Cashman defender, but if there's one thing that people outside of NY fail to realize—and those of us living here sometimes seem to conveniently forget—is that Yankee fans and ownership are the most impatient of all, and not going to wait 5-10 years while a team grows into a championship. That may fly in Tampa or Kansas City but not in NYC. When it comes to winning a World Series, the Steinbrenner family subscribes to the Malcolm X approach: by any means necessary. And that means spending the big bucks. Does it always work? Obviously not. But, for better or for worse, that's how it is here.

In his quest to underline Yankee mgmt greed, Taibbi failed to mention how the team actually lowered its payroll in '09. But he's too busy vilifying to paint a complete picture. Yes, let's pounce on the evil Yankees who took CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, and Mark Texeira away from the teams they really wanted to play for by luring them with cash. Please, spare me. (Like Tex, who still idolizes Donnie Baseball, was going anywhere else.) With whomever these guys signed with they were going to be set for life anyway, so vilifying the Yankees for offering more—and more importantly, with those players freely and knowingly accepting the loot—is both disingenuous and lame on Taibbi's part.

Could Cashman have done a better job during his tenure? Absolutely.
I think even his greatest apologist would agree with that. But as long as George Steinbrenner is alive, the Yankees will be chasing after the big free agents in pursuit of the ultimate prize. It's always been that way, no matter who's been the GM. (Btw, the vast majority of my baseball buddies who are non-Yankee fans all say they wish their teams had ownership that fiercely invested in trying to win a championship, instead of coasting. So, there you go.)

Man, I've never been into Star Wars, but right about now I feel like listening to "The Imperial March (March of the Evil Empire)"...

Leno and Letterman Offer Up Valid Reasons for Texas to Secede

Reasons Why the Terrorists Wanna Kill Us

I'm borrowing the title of this post from a very succinct regular section in one of my favorite blogs, The JB Random Report, since there is so much nonsense out there frying my brain that I could only get bullet points to come out without losing it completely.

Let's see...

- Rush Limbaugh is up in arms about how the press would've covered the killing of three black, Muslim, Somali pirates if it had been ordered by a white Republican president.

- The Dept. of Homeland Security issues a report that recruitment for right-wing extremist organizations (neo-Nazis, militia groups) is on the rise; wingnuts Sean Hannity, Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin, etc. feel alluded to.

- Then again, Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) openly sides with secessionist right-wing extremists at an astro turf Tea Party, with chants of "Secede, secede!" in the background. (Btw, kudos to whoever obviously flunked American History and decided to organize one of these at The Alamo.)

- Does anyone at these so-called protests know what "teabagging" is? I bet Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) probably does. Also, were the ones carrying placards supporting the Constitution living in a cave during the past 8 years? Where were they then?

- I wonder what Thomas Frank has to say about all of this.

- Finally, EVERY SINGLE MORON who calls the President a fascist, and proclaims the US to be on a path to "tyranny" SHOULD BE SENT TO LIVE IN A COUNTRY WITH AN ACTUAL DICTATORSHIP FOR 6 MONTHS. Is this the Dark Ages redux? (Yes, I get the irony, but still...)

The Voice of the GOP

First Obama was called "Pres. Pantywaist" for his supposed lack of action in the whole pirate affair; then he acts decisively and successfully, only to be mocked and ridiculed by the wingnut blowhards. Man, you guys are a piece of work. Your guy was not only grossly inept in failing to prevent the greatest terrorist attack on American soil but also froze like a statue in the wake of the attacks. And you're ragging on Obama?! Wow...talk about sore losers.

Forget Cantor, Boehner, Newt, etc. THIS is your guy:



[h/t Xmastime]

Macca's Girlfriend Skips MTA Board Meetings

Associated Press via Yahoo:

Since January 2008, [Nancy] Shevell has missed four full board meetings, more than any voting member, according to MTA meeting minutes reviewed by The Associated Press. She attended one Finance Committee meeting in the past year, and has 26 absences total, according to the agency's records.

Shevell skipped an MTA committee meeting approving a controversial fare hike the day she walked the red carpet in London. Since early 2008, the unpaid appointee has the worst attendance of any voting board member, sometimes missing meetings to travel around the world with [Paul] McCartney.

"It is significant. The whole point of the board is to be a check and balance on the MTA's staff work. You've got to be physically present to do that," said Gene Russianoff, a New York City transit advocate. If members can't show up for meetings, he said, "they should resign."

But celebrity observers aren't surprised that Shevell's former private life is taking a back seat to the 66-year-old McCartney.

"Who can blame her?" said Peter Castro, deputy managing editor of People magazine. "How many of us would be happy at an MTA meeting versus stepping out onto the red carpet at a Grammy event with a living Beatle?"

And then people wonder why NYC's Metropolitan Transit Association is a fucking cesspool...

What's Going on at Fox News?

Author David Frum, an advisor to president George W. Bush, poses the above question in a post at The New Majority, which he edits. Meanwhile, over at conservative blog Little Green Footballs, "Glenn Beck's Extremist Rhetoric" is discussed here and here.

Watch your back, level-headed conservatives: the Roger Ailes propaganda machine--which is not just reporting, but actually promoting those wingnut conspiracy theory havens known as "tea parties"--have got their eyes on you.

Dude, Where's My Baby?

The whole Sarah Palin grandbaby saga has been pretty much off-limits 'round here, but I had to quote Xmastime on the latest development:

So Sarah Palin's kid gets knocked up as a teen. Then they let the pop live with them in sin. And now they want the kid to grow up without the father in its life. Seriously, is there anything left to do wrong here? Can we go ahead and assume that come the first hot day in Alaska they'll forget the kid in the car with the windows up in the Wal-Mart parking lot for 6 hours? Am I missing a cliché here? Is it too early to gamble away the community college fund?

Timothy McVeigh is Alive and Well (thanks, wingnuts)

My earlier post regarding President Obama's "satanic invocations" was meant to illustrate the wacky depths that some kooks will sink to. I actually find the whole quite funny.

This, however, is no laughing matter:



Neither is this:

666, Yeah!

Some people need to get a fucking life.

A Sin Tax is a Sin Tax, Right?

I am a smoker. Have been for decades. I enjoy it and have no desire to quit.

I have no problem not being allowed to smoke in public buildings, offices, places of worship, sports and concert arenas, restaurants, etc.

I don’t smoke in the vicinity of children.

I’ve never lit up in the home of a non-smoker, nor have I asked their permission to do so, even during a party where alcohol is being served.

So, it irks me to no end that, here in NYC, there is a smoking ban in effect when it comes to bars where, by definition, NO FUCKING HEALTH-CONSCIOUS ACTIVITY is going on. We couldn’t have ONE place? ONE? Not even the place where PEOPLE VOLUNTARILY GO TO POISON THEIR BODIES WITH ALCOHOL?! We can’t have that one? No?!

Now, six years after the smoking ban in bars went into effect, the city is enacting an abusive tax on cigarettes that would make a pack of smokes cost around $10.

As anyone who’s seen the smug wine-and-cheese crowd in the media condescendingly turn up their noses at the mention of smokers—it seems we are just slightly less disgusting than Bin Laden, pedophiles, and OJ Simpson—this tax increase is one of the more elitist, bullshit moves I’ve seen in my lifetime. Let’s make it fair, non-smokers: how about, from now on we tax a six-pack of Bud so that it costs $24 at the corner bodega; a bottle of cheap wine or spirits a minimum of $50. Hey, a sin tax is a sin tax. And the economy could sure use a jolt, right?

(Btw, this is going to fuel mob-related cigarette bootlegging like never before. I never thought I'd ever say this but, I'm rooting for La Cosa Nostra on this one.)

And, as fellow blogger Rambler recently stated, "No one ever had one too many cigarettes and killed a family of four on the way home from the bar. "

Fuck you all, you arrogant, patronizing, hypocritical assholes. You know who you are.

Colbert Highlights Beck's Insanity, Hipocrisy, Stupidity, etc.

Keith Olbermann has routinely mocked Fox Noise's new ratings darling, by pointing out his practically daily flights of idiocy, delusion and all-around cluelessness, but over on The Colbert Report, the show's titular star nailed Glenn Beck's absurd, baseless posturing like nobody's business. Ouch!