With the Quickness

I confess to being a horny hypocrite for lusting after a woman whose every utterance makes my skin crawl, but can someone PLEASE stop Sister Sarah from using the phrase "kicking it old school"?! For the love of God!

Palin's most recent usage was in the article she penned praising fellow nut job Glenn Beck on the occasion of his making Time magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential Americans. Ugh.

By the Time They Come from Arizona

So, Arizona has a new immigration law that, rightfully, has very many folks--especially Hispanics--up in arms about its leading to racial profiling. It has even drawn criticism from such Republicans as Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.

But while I find this new measure to be quite insidious, I just can't summon the strength to be upset. As with the health care reform--which I felt should only be enacted in those states where the people wanted it, leaving those opposed to fend off the insurance vampires on their own--I find myself willing to simply let people carry on their stupidity so long as it doesn't affect those in my home state.
I'm not proud of this, but I'm tired of fighting the fight against those entrenched in maliciously misguided ideas. I'm truly sorry for the residents of Arizona who would be targeted by this measure, but that's what you get when you live in the belly of a bigoted beast.

One interesting twist is that capricious law enforcement can use this new legal mandate to stop and ask papers of anyone they feel like, regardless of their racial/ethnic appearance, since they could argue the supposed non-bigoted nature of the new law. Hmm...

1600 Welcomes #27

Oh, the Hypocrisy! (Grassley edition)

Remember when the president called out those Republican politicians who railed against the stimulus, only to then turn around and partake of photo-ops in ribbon-cutting ceremonies for public works funded by said stimulus? Well, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has joined the club. In his case, the man who famously stated health care reform would "pull the plug on grandma" is now trumpeting his achievements in getting health care reform passed. Yup. See for yourself:

American Muslims: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The recent South Park controversy brought about more talk of the moderate voices of Islam being largely silent when it comes to denouncing the acts and rhetoric of their most extreme brethren.
I guess, in part, these folks fear for their own safety due to the very real possibility of violence at the hands of those same radical muslims.

But those residing here in the US have another problem: if--and hopefully, not when--another successful Al-Qaeda-sponsored attack occurs on American soil, they will have to contend with folks like the one who owns the subtly adorned truck shown above. And with racism and xenophobia reaching almost fever pitch levels of late, it won't be pretty. Let's hope, for everyone's sake, none of this comes to pass.

[h/t: Xmastime]

42

Much has been written and said about the man who on April 15th, 1947 broke the color barrier, especially on the anniversary of the date when the Brooklyn Dodgers decided it was time to end segregation in baseball. Without a doubt, it truly was the first step in what later became the Civil Rights movement. Many African-American players have voiced their gratitude; the player for my team who was named after Mr. Robinson had a great day, both at the plate and on the field. Quite poignant, yes.

But to me, a significant measure of Jackie Robinson’s influence and legacy became clear at the same Yankees-Angles game played in the Bronx on Thursday night. You see, I was unaware that young Halo outfielder Reggie Willits, a Caucasian player from Oklahoma, was actually named for Reggie Jackson. That, right there, says it all.

Pretty sweet.

Disingenuous Basterds

A few nights ago Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly had former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on his program discussing the similarities and differences between the recently enacted national health care reform law and the universal health care available in the latter’s state, particularly how the federal government assumes a chunk of the financial cost in both cases.

As you know, I believe ‘sink or swim’ to be the basic tenet of Republican/conservative philosophy, so I was not surprised to hear O’Reilly repeatedly emphasize how “folks in Idaho” would find themselves subsidizing with their taxes something they may not want to contribute to.

But what really irked me about O’Reilly’s position on this particular point is his failure to address how federal taxes from all over the country are pooled and distributed according to necessity. More importantly, he overlooked how states like Massachusetts contribute the most in federal taxes; yet receive a much lower percentage in return from the federal government.

So, does O’Reilly suggest that each state receive federal funds in accordance to how much they contribute in federal tax revenue? I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to bring up how some of the poorer states in the nation get so much more than some of the big, bad blue states that fund many of their public works, right? That wouldn’t be a good Fox talking point, now, would it?

Once again, this kinda talk brings me back to why health care reform should’ve been a state-by-state choice. In other words, the idea would be to let those of us who want it to find a way to obtain it in our own states; those who choose to continue under the draconian practices of the health insurance companies could remain with the status quo. Maybe that would shut up these selfish, egotistical fucks for good.

Earmarks Drop 10%; GOP says...zzzzzz

CNN:

The number and costs of congressional pork projects dropped this year, the Citizens Against Government Waste said in its "2010 Congressional Pig Book Summary," issued on Wednesday.

The 9,129 projects in the report "represent a 10.2 percent decline from the 10,160 projects identified in fiscal year 2009, and the $16.5 billion in cost is a 15.5 percent decrease from the $19.6 billion in pork in fiscal year 2009," the group said.

The nonpartisan group, which has been shining the light on how members of Congress use the earmarking process to steer money to projects in their districts, attributed the decrease in part to "reforms that were adopted when Democrats took over Congress in 2006."

h/t Xmastime

Palin & Bachmann: Geniuses at Work

"I knew that we'd be buddies when I met her when she said, 'Drill here, drill now.' And then I replied, 'Drill, baby, drill' and then we both said, 'You betcha!'"

-- Sarah Palin, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, recalling a previous meeting with Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN).

h/t Xmastime

Haiti

In the era of the 24-hour news cycle tragedies occupy a fleeting place in the media, their place quickly taken over by a newer concern. But the sad aftermath, of course, lingers.

Here's a couple of fave Haitian tunes of ours:

"Inflación", a killer track by the legendary, NY-based Tabou Combo, from their album The Masters [Barclay-1975];



and "Pwazon Rat" (Rat Poison) from Vodou Adjae [Mango-1991],
the stellar debut album by Boukman Eksperyans:

Sugarcoating the Confederacy

Truly, we liberals and Northerners are such pansies: nowhere else in the world would a treasonous and immoral endeavor--seceding from the country in order to continue the enterprise of slavery--be allowed to reinvent itself through blatant historic revisionism as regional pride;
its leaders and symbols proudly and publicly displayed. Once again, these folks committed TREASON, not some minor faux pas. And yet,
a decade into the 21st century they're ballsy enough to have a Virginia governor issuing a proclamation declaring April, "Confederate History Month" and omitting the wicked evil that was slavery in the process.
All that blood spilled for this?

And what did we get for keeping them in the Union? Eternal derision. They, on the other hand, get a huge chunk of our tax dollars. How's that working out for ya, liberal elite? Let's try this: next time these folks want to break off from our Union, what do you say we let them, huh? No wonder this guy was SO pissed.

Why Was O'Reilly on Centerstage?

This week, Fox Noise's Bill O'Reilly was the first guest of the new season of the YES network's Centerstage with Michael Kay. Now, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that guests were culled form the world of entertainment and sports--that's what the "e" and "s" in the network's name stand for. I don't recall ever seeing a political pundit/commentator on the show. So, why was Mr. Falafel on there? Does it has to do with Fox--particularly its business channel--advertising heavily on the network? The Yankees and YES-owning Steinbrenner family's political inclinations, perhaps?

It's a well-known fact The Boss is a die-hard Republican who got in trouble for some Nixon-related shenanigans years ago. According to Wikipedia, "...he was indicted on 14 criminal counts on April 5, 1974, then pleaded guilty to making illegal contributions to Nixon's re-election campaign and a felony charge of obstruction of justice on August 23. Steinbrenner was personally fined $15,000, while his firm was assessed $20,000 for the offense...U.S. President Ronald Reagan pardoned Steinbrenner on January 19, 1989, in one of the final acts of his presidency."

Is politics seeping into the editorial room over at YES? And, all personal bias aside, if they were going down the political punditry/commentator route, wouldn't Keith Olbermann have been a better option, having been a sportscaster for most of his professional life, and thus more in tune with the show's other choices in guests? (Olbermann is actually a friend of Kay's.)

I dunno...it's hard enough being a liberal and a Yankee fan. Anyway...

Fox Complicit with O'Keefe in Fake ACORN Video

Remember the outrage over San Diego ACORN employees caught on tape last year, purportedly helping right-wing "journalists" James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, posing as pimp and prostitute, respectively, set up a prostitution ring by smuggling in girls from Tijuana? Would you be surprised to know that the unedited tapes paint a different story? More importantly, did you know the person O'Keefe and Giles spoke to about their plan, immediately reported them to the police, and that the Attorney General's office backs up the ACORN official's account of the story, but Fox Nuisance overlooked that part? No, right? Scumbags.

Rachel Maddow uncovers the truth:

Stewart Rags on CNN (yet again)

It's bad enough that conservatives have poisoned the well of reasonable political discourse by forever engraving the bogus "liberal media" meme into the conversation. But it's even worse when CNN gives credence to it by nervously hiring a known conservative firebrand--and in the process, pulling a McCain and not vetting the guy properly--thereby legitimizing the disingenuous conservative argument.

I get that their ratings have slipped incredibly, and the folks over there have a reason to be concerned, but c'mon. Are they trying to dig up their own version of Glenn Beck? Please. This would be an ideal time for CNN to truly become an impartial editorial observer and not a Hollywood casting agent looking to find a similar hot property to the one the other studio had a blockbuster hit with.

Anyway...here's Jon Stewart's take on CNN's hiring of RedState blogger Erick Erickson (btw, the Larry King/Snoop Dogg sitcom would be awesome!):

Hutaree Motivation Not an April Fool's Joke (but sure comes close right?)

Freep.com:

"A member of the Hutaree militia charged with federal crimes was upset because she thought that President Barack Obama had signed into law this month a bill that would spend $20 billion to help the terrorist group Hamas settle in the U.S."

Fox Skews Poll; Millions Shocked (not!)

As fair and balanced as a meeting of Saddam Hussein's cabinet: Fox Noise's sister channel, Fox Business, is running an online poll which gears answers towards an anti-health care reform outcome. I'm so surprised! Daily Finance has more on the poll.