Poppy Gets Sloppy at Forum With Clinton

Good old G.H.W. Bush tells a story about the time he left his glasses in the limo and as a result he confuses his wife for a pro-choice protester. I think that's what happened here.

Power To Join Administration

One of the only times I felt that Barack Obama made a mistake during the campaign was when he dismissed foreign policy adviser Samantha Power after Power called Hillary Clinton a monster.

Ten months later, Power is back and the fact that she now works for Hillary Clinton at the State Department serves to reinforce the image Obama was strenuously trying to cultivate, which Power undermined with her emotional characterization of Clinton.

Once again, Obama's patience and discipline proved to be the better way.

By the way something, Clinton is not a monster. She's a cyborg sent from the future.

Will Rush Bail Out Clear Channel?

Last week Clear Channel cut about 9 percent of its staff nationwide. LTR commenter Coop puts it into perspective:

It's ironic Clear Channel is laying off all these people in an attempt to cut $400 million in spending.

Just this past July, Clear Channel gave Rush Limbaugh a contract extension worth...you guessed it...$400 million. ($100 million signing bonus and $38 million a year for the next 8 years, according to the New York Times)

So many families being flushed down the toilet to keep Rush Limbaugh happy.

Nice.

Of course, Rush is too busy rising to Obama's bait to think or care about the people around him going down in flames. Wonder how long it's going to be before Clear Channel realizes that their deal with Rush is a suicide pact for their company.

Break Room Live's Sam Seder had a little fun with Rush and his loyal minion Rep. Phil Gingrey. If you don't get the reference, Gingrey was critical of Rush, then went on the air with Rush and kissed his ass. Even Harry Reid thought it was pathetic.

By the way something, Clear Channel is a dear channel and we'll miss them very much. Just like we'll miss the outgoing FCC Chair, Vice President Cheney and the outgoing head of the EPA. Here's Eric Idle saying what he thinks of all of them as only he can.

'Irreversible' is Bad, Right?

Yesterday, Al Gore testified before Congress on the severity of Global Warming. He does this every year or two. Guess now is a good time to reiterate the situation, but some serious legislation needs to come soon. Too late, Vice President Gore, According to a team of US environmental scientists, Global Warming is "irreversible". Maybe we'll do better with Mars.

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

Blago on Rachel Maddow Show

Blago should fire his PR team for sticking him in the room with Rachel Maddow. Matt Wilstein at Gotcha Media writes, "Over the course of a single interview with Rachel Maddow, Blagojevich manages to admit wanting to get something in exchange for Obama's Senate seat, discouraging the Chicago Tribune from criticizing him and purposely making phone calls from his home to avoid government scrutiny."

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

I posted more on Blago at Political Machine.

Lesley Stahl interviewed Maddow here.

Next, No Talking or Smiling

South Carolina State Senator Robert Ford has introduced legislation that would outlaw profanity, making the utterance of the word "fuck" punishable by five yeas in prison and a five thousand dollar fine.



Thankfully I don't live in this jackball's state. He's also going after sagging pants and rap music.

Iceland's Economic Collapse Brings Down Government

In the wake of their economic meltdown and the dissolution of their government, Iceland likely has a new Prime Minister--Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir. If she assumes office, she will be the first openly gay prime minister in the world. That accomplishment was buried in the seventh paragraph of the article linked above on Iceland Review Online. They have more important things to worry about.

So what happened to Iceland's economy? This should sound familiar:

[A] small group of aggressive businessmen whose high-risk investing bloated the island’s economy to 10 times its GDP, buying up chunks of the British and Continental European high streets in the process. French Connection, Debenhams, Karen Millen, Oasis, Warehouse, Mappin & Webb, Hamleys and many more fell into Icelandic ownership. So did West Ham United football club. When Icelanders visited Copenhagen, they would strut into its smartest department store to buy expensive fashions from “their” shop. Like many British chains, it too was owned by the “Viking” Jon Asgeir Johannesson’s Baugur group: one in the eye for the mother country. Few stopped to consider, let alone fret over, whether their swift financial ascent would end in an equally steep plunge into oblivion.

Since it wouldn't be a post about Iceland without mentioning Bjork--Bjork, has started a green venture capital firm that will help rebuild her country by investing in environmentally sustainable businesses. Ecorazzi has more.

Flashback--2008 State of the Black Union

About a year ago Dick Gregory brought the house down with a passionate disquisition about the notion of a black president at an the State of the Black Union. It's been a long year.



More of Gregory's appearance here.

The Pivot Away From Bipartisanship

There's just no being bipartisan with some people. I don't so much mind the bullshit games being played with the stimulus package--$825 billion is a lot of money and if the GOP wants to play chicken on that issue then the outcome will be plain for the American people to see. But delaying confirmations of nominees with qualifications far in excess of the stooges they're replacing is becoming infuriating.

If this is a sign of things to come, then the whole bipartisanship thing is not going to work out. Clearly Obama saw this coming, so he has to have a plan. If he doesn't, you Rahm Emmanuel remembers very well how to not be bipartisan.

How long before President Obama has to release the Kracken?

Atrios hopes it's sooner rather than later:

I actually hope every Republican votes against the stimulus package, and I hope that instead of trying to please them the Obama team comes up with what they think the right package will be. The Republicans should lay out a competing vision, which won't pass because they aren't in charge. Then, 2 and 4 years from now voters can judge the results and if they aren't pretty they'll know who to blame and decide that the competing vision would have been a better one.

And what about President Obama's dinner buddies? They're stabbing away.

At least the President will have the advantage of saying that he tried, and then he can double down on that advantage by succeeding without Republican cooperation.

Cheney Wanted Libby Pardoned

Keith Olbermann talks to former Nixon Administration White House Counsel John Dean about why Bush didn't pardon Sccoter Libby, something Dick Cheney has criticized Bush for since they left office. Bush did commute Libby's sentence before Libby would have had to go to jail.



By the way something, one of the Clinton Administration's lawyers thinks that Obama's executive order on presidential records could pry loose key documents from the Bush White House that pertain to the outing of Valerie Plame and the firing of the US Attorneys among other Bush administration scandals.

I'm Screaming Howard Dean for the MSNBC Gig

Last week MSNBC President Phil Griffin expressed his desire to fill his network's 10pm slot with a live program. Although this announcement immediately touched off a storm of speculation over who would fill the slot, I highly doubt that Griffin would put this out there without an agreement in place with someone behind the scenes.

The Black Snob does a great job of breaking down some possibilities.

After first putting forward Bill Maher, Portfolio.com throws Alan Colmes and Chuck Todd into the mix.

Personally, I want the pick to come from the independent progressive media, or a big name progressive politician. From the latter category, I can think of one very charismatic former DNC chair who would probably like to establish a base away from the ungrateful dicks that ran him out of the Democratic Party in the wake of his greatest triumph. Yeargh! With Howard Dean would be an awesome counter to Hannity and Hannity's Comb.

Short of giving Howard Dean the job, MSNBC should consider three programs built almost entirely on the internet. Breakroom Live (With Marc Maron and Sam Seder), Democracy Now or The Young Turks would allow the show to be the most in tune with the internet of any show on cable news. All the principles involved with these shows would come relatively cheap and they all know how to build and cultivate an audience in untraditional ways. Of the three, Cenk Uygur of the The Young Turks provides the most conventional punditry, with one small caveat--accuracy. BRL provides the most comedy, something that, despite being wildly successful for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, has not been tried on cable news. Amy Goodman of Democracy Now would provide the network with something lacking in all of cable news--a news show. That's a novel idea whose time has come.

Beck and Dobson Do Comedy Right

All you atheists out there, don't mess with God on Beck's watch.

We Knew It Was Coming

Will Ferrell's Bush imitation from before the Supreme Court ended the 2000 recount was about as prophetic a look ahead as sketch comedy gets.

Don't Look Back in Anger

Unless you want to. And I do. Here's a timeline of the downs and the even further downs of the Bush error.

Nevertheless, for now, this is more where I'm at mentally, still back at the ball:

When I Say Everybody Got Spied On, I Mean...

...everybody.

Keith Olbermann jumps on it:

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

And here's the rest:

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

"You Are Like the Buzzing of Flies to Him!"

Here's a Ghostbusters II/politically themed SAT question:

Today's biggest asshat in the universe, Rush Limbaugh, is to Barack Obama as the buzzing of flies is to _____.

Yep. Vigo the Carpathian. Born 1505, died 1610. Also known as Vigo the Cruel, Vigo the Torturer, Vigo the Despised, and Vigo the Unholy.

Point is, neither have any effect on those they are respectively trying to make fail.

Here's the invective from Rush:

I could say I hope he fails and I could do a brief explanation of why. You know, I want to win. If my party doesn't, I do. If my party has sacrificed the whole concept of victory, sorry, I'm now the Republican in name only, and they are the sellouts.

I'm serious about this. Why in the world, it's what Ann Coulter was talking about, the tyranny of the majority, all these victims here, we gotta make sure the victims are finally assuaged. Well, the dirty little secret is this isn't going to assuage anybody's victim status, and the race industry isn't going to go away, and the fact that America's original sin of slavery is going to be absolved, it's not going to happen. Just isn't, folks. It's too big a business for the left to keep all those things alive that divide the people of this country into groups that are against each other. Yes, I'm fired up about this.

Never trust a right wing pill popper and never trust a Carpathian. Oh, and don't cross the streams, that would be bad.

They Used to Joke About It

Whether or not King's dream was realized by the election and inauguration of President Obama, the once far fetched concept of a black President will never again be the premise of a stand-up comedy routine or a sketch.

Here's a look at some of the greats riffing on the formerly unattainable dream.

RICHARD PRYOR

Things get progressively more stereotypical in this SNL sketch featuring Pryor playing Carter's successor.



EDDIE MURPHY

During the Reagan administration, Eddie Murphy talks about the prospect of Jesse Jackson running for President.



DAVE CHAPPELLE

Dave has a plan to stay alive if he became the first black President--appoint a Mexican Vice President. It doesn't reflect well on me, but this was a plus in my column when I was considering the benefits of Obama selecting Bill Richardson.



MUHAMMAD ALI

This isn't a comedy situation, but Ali gives an all too prophetic assessment of the job facing the first black President--the ship is going down.

On Obama's Speech

Obama's speech was a useful tool for full scale political realignment, especially in our foreign policy. It was a very blunt, forceful speech that may have traded a bit of poetry for purpose. He grasped the mantle of power with both hands. Absolutely stirring.

On Rick Warren's Invocation

Booooooooooring. I was surprised. Despite my deep disagreement with Warren on gay rights, I actually thought he would, you know, manage to be inspirational. Not so much.

Reverend Joseph Lowry, however, gave an exceptional benediction with this lovely bit of light rhyme:

We ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to give back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right.

By the way something, did anyone else notice the President's reference to non-believers? That hit me right here.

He's Just One of Those Guys

Since news broke that Bill Clinton did it with an intern the President and all the major candidates for President--Bill Clinton, G. W. Bush, Gore, Kerry, Dean, Hillary Clinton, Giuliani, McCain--have been the butts of easy jokes from the nation's comedians.

Chris Rock explains why President Obama is different (via Oliver Willis).

One of Andrew Sullivan's readers takes a shot at this conundrum as well.

Get Hopper to the Chopper

There goes the helicopter...

In someways Bush's departure is more official than the swearing in. See ya, Dubya. Good luck in Dallas, dude.

I can't process it fully, but the partial processing I've done so far feels good.

Bush Is Leaving, The Movement Is Staying

I'm setting this post to publish automatically at noon on January 20, 2009.

As of now, we have a new President and that feels damn good. Congrats to everyone reading this, we made it. It's over.

Now we have to make sure it stays this way. Political activism helped us enormously these last eight years. As bad as it was, believe me, without the fierce pushback that we sustained for years against this maniacal regime, we would be in an even worse position. While our victories were few and far between against Bush and Cheney, keep in mind they didn't privatize social security and they didn't invade Iran.

The immense effort it took to make those victories happen will bear far more fruit from the Obama Administration. But the new President needs the political cover of a dynamic and active progressive movement. Obama wants to do the right thing, but we have to make it look it like he has no choice.

Today is a proud day. We made it. Thank you all for helping me get through this messed up administration.

We're just getting started.

IST LIST--Top Ten Talkers

A couple weeks back LTR's readers voted on their top ten talkers of 2008. The poll was freeped mercilessly, but that's all part of the online polling game. Check out Alex Bennett at number three! Sure thing. Then again, I haven't heard Bennett since he blew through Miami waaaaaaay back in the day. LTR's writer also made a top ten list.

Clearly this is leading up to the IST top ten talkers of 2008 list:

10. Radio Or Not--Nicole Sandler lost her job as a regular talk host in Miami, but thanks to the internets, she started her own podcast and did lots of spot duty filling in on Air America.

9. Unusable Signal--My fellow PM'ers Tommy Christopher and Caleb Howe along with some other great bloggers bring it on BlogTalkRadio--the most open of forums.

8. KPOJ Morning Show--Local Portland show featuring Carl Wolfson, Paul Pimentel, Christine Alexander and, in their third hour, liberal workhorse Thom Hartmann took a while to grow on me, mostly because I don't live in Portland. The group has a warm chemistry and covers state and national politics quite well. The show kinda makes me want to move to Portland.

7. Democracy Now--Amy Goodman is the best news anchor in the business.

6. Thom Hartmann--Sadly, his show still has a lot of dead spots, but he has so many insightful ideas that the occasional boring rote debate with a neocon think tank guy is worth the trade-off.

5. Randi Rhodes--A lot of people tell me they find Rhodes abrasive, however, I don't think she's anymore abrasive than any strong talk host who has the courage of his or her convictions. Randi's research is top notch and she often finds angles on stories that even the best bloggers miss.

4. Rachel Maddow--No one deconstructs the news better than Maddow. She has also been the most consistent critic of Barack Obama in the media. In fact, those criticisms are the only times I seem to disagree with her.

3. The Young Turks--Cenk Uygur's crew is the essence of independent media. I love that they cover political events live and better than the so-called pros. Their election coverage kicked Wolf Blitzer in the ass. The loss of co-host Ben Mankiewicz to TMZ and now to At The Movies was a blow that the rest of the Turks have covered admirably. Furthermore, Cenk is one of the best bloggers around as well.

2. The Neil Rogers Show--A polarizing voice doing local South Florida radio remotely from Toronto, WQAM's Neil Rogers doesn't let anyone off the hook for old time's sake. A thirty plus year veteran of South Florida radio, politics isn't even a big part of his show, but when Bush started messing up the world, Neil dedicated hours every day to expertly debunking the administration's bullshit by reading the best opinion pieces on the internet. Neil was also calling Barack Obama "your next president" since early 2006. He's also the most militant atheist you'll hear on the air anywhere. His co-host/producer Jorge Rodriguez runs a tight ship when Neil's on vacation. He's deserving of the top spot himself, if QAM Station Manager "Jolly" Joe Bell had the sense to give him a show.

1. Breakroom Live (with Marc Maron and Sam Seder)--These guys aren't even on the radio--yet. But 2008 marked the return to daily programming, internet style, for the great Marc Maron and his friend Sam. Just kidding, Sam. Seder kicks ass in his own right, Air America replacing him with Lionel was ridiculous, and he's at his best working off of Maron. The show is extremely innovative, offering a half hour of structured bits, analysis and guests then offering another half hour of interaction with their audience via chat, email and phone calls. The show is wildly entertaining, and since they do it in the Air America break room, you never know who may drop by. So far the show has been graced by the likes of Jeneane Garofalo and Sarah Silverman.

UPDATE: Crooks and Liars has a bit from BRL up now on its site that peers into the future in order to see just how historians have judged President Bush. I believe the dude in the platinum wig is Jon Benjamin from Dr. Katz.

Watch This While I Tidy Up a Bit

I'm still ditteling with the code, so here's a really awesome clip from the show Firefly. Best. Sci-Fi TV show. Ever.

Word[s] On The Street: "Let Us Seek a Better World In Our Time"

The President-elect stopped in Baltimore (that's where I live!) yesterday on his train ride from Philadelphia to DC by way of Delaware to pick up VP-elect Joe Biden and his wife, the fantastic Dr. Jill Biden. Sadly, we were unwilling to get there early enough to ensure that we could get into the area around the War Memorial, so we wound up with a couple thousand other Obama supporters in the spill-over zone nearby. So, essentially, we took the light rail downtown in 20 degree temperatures to watch the same thing that was on our television and then took a $25 cab ride back because I was too cold to stay outside any more. Sounds pretty disappointing, right?

Nope.

It was awesome. Even though I didn't lay an eye on the next President, just knowing he was around the corner was exciting. More importantly, sharing the same optimistic perspective with a diverse crowd of thousands of people who may have worked with the campaign, probably voted for Obama, or at least has invested some degree of faith in him and his call for a better world in our time, was more than worth it. Hearing them murmer my own thoughts as we watched another great speech from Obama, was more than worth it.

In All Fairness

Last week I criticized SNL's parody of Rachel Maddow. Well, this week they took a shot at Ann Coulter. And again, not funny. See for yourself.

Transition to a New Template

As you can see, I'm going for a new look here at IST. Things could be looking funky here for quite a while. I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this. I just needed something different to look at. Probably wasn't a good idea to start designing a new template at one AM after a long week.

UPDATE: Despite the fact that there's over 100,000 people gathered downtown, where it's 20 degrees out, to see the President-elect speak sometime in the next two hours, we're going to go down there too. More later.

That's Not How You Do A Press Conference!

Jon Stewart wants the President-elect to work on his attitude toward the press. He's treating them like professionals and that shit won't fly.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

President Goofus and President Gallant - Peer Pressers

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

By the way something, Paul Krugman took Obama up on his offer to contribute ideas. Hopefully they are heard and implemented.

When It All Went Amiss

What would a second term for Carter have meant? Four years to turn around the poisoned economy he inherited from the Vietnam War presidencies. That economy and his mishandling of the hostage situation in Iran clouded his sparkling environmental and human rights legacies. More importantly he would kept us from falling prey to Reagan's Voodoo Economics and the crappy attitude that government can't help people.

Here's a slice of the 1980 campaign, just because I ran across it on DU.


By the way something, did you see the hair on that news anchor? Holy crap!

Media Neutrality is Garbage

Fairness is not neutrality. Not every story has two sides. It's not a new concept, but Cenk gives us a refresher. Are you watching LSM?

Now Break Bread With Bloggers, Mr. President-Elect

Mr. President-elect, genius move chowing down with the highly inaccurate columnists of the right. Those guys need face time with someone who can straighten them out. Charming them along the way is not a bad idea either. Now, sir, isn't it time to pick up the check for a nice meal with members of the highly accurate left-wing blogosphere, like John Amato, Nate Silver, Josh Marshall and about three hundred other extremely smart, accurate political analysts.

Oh, and by the way something, ours don't just do it right, most of them do it for free.

The Cheney Gang's Weak Link

In many great heist movies there's clearly one character, one weak link, that everyone in the audience knows from the beginning is going crack under pressure and inadvertently give up the rest of the crew. In the perfect crime that was the bankrupting of America, the weak link that's going to blow the gang's cover is President Bush.

Crusty Political Cliche Resurfaces

RNC Chair candidate and 2004's version of Katherine Harris, Kenneth Blackwell, said "Homosexuality is a compulsion that can be contained, repressed or changed." Plenty of science says that it can't, but what if it could? Should people pass on a harmless, consensual, legal act because some assert that their religion deems it immoral? Mind your own business, Mr. Blackwell and stop imposing your ideas about God on the rest of us.

When Michael Moore Met Sanjay Gupta

Paul Krugman recently reminded us of this heinous exchange between Sicko director Moore and the next Sugeon General Gupta.

PSA From Wanda Sykes

A lot of people will say this PSA (h/t Monkey Muck) is just political correctness run amock, it's not. This (probably fake) story from Australia is P.C. run amok.



Wanda, on the other hand, is dead on.

Peru Plants a Model For Fighting Global Warming

Peru’s Ministry of Agriculture plans to plant 40 million trees by February 20th, over half a million per day. These trees will remove an estimated 570,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year.

DiFi Takes Umbrage

Senator Dianne Feinstein has a problem with Rachel Maddow's repeated (correct) assertion that Feinstein is complicit in torture, rendition and wiretapping. Nice.



By the way something, SNL's Maddow parody... not funny. I'm not saying that because of my affinity for Maddow, either. The bit stank. It started off with a crappy Roland Burris impersonation then devolved into childish dyke jokes from there. SNL did far better imitating Olbermann, but that was all Ben Affleck. Looks like SNL without Poehler and Fey is back to its old, weak self.

Remember When President Bush Ran on "Humble Foreign Policy"?

Was George W. Bush always the blood thirsty War President we came to know?

In order to find out, we'll need a montage.

Ice Station Radio - Dayman Edition

This week's episode of Ice Station Radio features segments about the fighting in Gaza, Joe the Plummer's new job covering the fighting in Gaza, an interview Dick Cheney did of Face the Nation, tons of great music and this clip featuring Rachel Maddow and Ana Marie Cox talking about the RNC's awkward facebook slapfight over who will be the captain of the Titanic.



MP3 Download available here.



Setlist:

1. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia - Dayman Prelude (Station Agent Re-mix)
2. Conor Oberst - Nicorette (Conan)
3. Rachel Maddow - Anna Marie Cox Discuss Future of Republican Party (01-08-2009)
4. Bishop Allen - You Aint No Picasso
5. Breakroomlive - On Joe the Plummer and Ann Coulter (01072009)
6. Los Campesinos - My Year In Lists
7. Neil Rogers - Amy Goodman's story about Israel and Gaza (01082009)
8. Coconut Records - Microphone
9. Neil Rogers - Cenk's story about Israel and Gaza (01082009)
10. Thao Nguyen - Geography (Daytrotter)
11. Neil Rogers - Robert Sheer's story about Israel and Gaza (01082009)
12. Shins - Caring is creepy (live at Paradiso, Amsterdam 2007)
13. Face the Nation - Cheney interview (01042009)
14. Marling, Laura - Five years (Kimya cover, live, mastered)
15. On The Media - Brooke Gladstone Goes to China (From June 08)
16. Nouvelle Vague - Dancing With Myself
17. Thom Hartmann - Talks About Sanjay Gupta (01-07-09)
18. Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos - ChildrensCrusade On Acid (Live on MOKB SIRIUS Blog Radio)
19. Michael Weiner - Leon Panetta Tirade (01052009)

"...the friend of my friend is my...enemy?"

According to a Washington Post story today, Iran is purchasing bomb parts and other missile technologies from...the United States!

This isn't exactly a "Lord of War" scenario. It's much more sophisticated than anything portrayed in that movie.

"The Iranian businessman was looking for high-quality American electronics, but he had to act stealthily: The special parts he coveted were denied to Iranians, especially those seeking to make roadside bombs to kill U.S. troops in Iraq.

With a few e-mails, the problem was solved. A friendly Malaysian importer would buy the parts from a company in Linden, N.J., and forward them to Iran.

Iran in the past two years has acquired numerous banned items -- including circuit boards, software and Global Positioning System devices -- that are used to make sophisticated versions of the improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, that continue to kill U.S. troops in Iraq, according to documents released by the Justice Department and a new study by a Washington research institute.

The deadly trade was briefly disrupted after the moves against Dubai companies in 2006, but it quickly resumed with a few changes in shipping routes and company names, the officials said."

Maybe we should've let Dubai Ports take over our shipping after all and cut out the middle man or, at best, ensured that some Americans made more money off of the deal(s).

Just another day in Bushdom.

Lightning Round--Barack Obama in the Comics, The Limitations of Reaganism, More

Pandagon: The right wing is freaked out that Barack Obama is paling around with that liberal webhead, Spiderman.

The Debatable Land: The expulsion of Ike, Poppy, Ford and Nixon from the conservative Pantheon has left a very narrow range of Republican exemplars for the conservative movement. Only Reagan remains, and that might very well be the problem.

Paul Krugman: Money quote of all time from Krugman: "[A]ppointing Gupta now, although it’s a small thing, is just another example of the lack of accountability that always seems to be the rule when you get things wrong in a socially acceptable way."

Pandagon: Amanda argues that Coulter needs to be engaged for the fraud she is at every opportunity.

Huffington Post: Geoffery Dunn makes the argument that Bill Richardson is not the best guy.

Maddow on the The Daily Show

Last week Rachel Maddow stopped by the Daily Show to talk to Jon Stewart about MSNBC and Rachel's anger over the Blair House fiasco.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Rachel Maddow

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Program Note

Maron V. Seder is now BreakRoomLive. The show is getting tighter and funnier every day. If you haven't seen the show yet, Friday's show is as good a place to start as any, especially if you like Janeane Garofalo, because she shows up in the Break Room to steal sweetener.

If you're wondering why talented guys like Maron and Seder would have to do their show in a break room, bear in mind, this is Air America we're talking about. It's a miracle they're getting paid. God, I hope they're getting paid.

For the Garofalo fans, here's a clip of her being right about the invasion of Iraq from the beginning and taking shit for it from that jerk O'Reilly.

President-elect Obama, Sooper Genius

Is Barack Obama playing a diabolically ingenious game of The Price is Right with Congressional Democrats over the stimulus package? Nate Silver thinks so.

By the way something, while we're on the subject of the new New Deal deal, the guy who came up with the old New Deal, FD-f'n-R is taking a lot of crap and DU'er Joe Fields has frigging had enough. You go Joe!

Here's a listen to FDR laying down the law (MP3).

Need Something to Do? Go After Reagan

At the risk of becoming a blog about Blue Gal's blog, I would like to point you in the direction of this post, which is about tearing down the legacy of Ronald Reagan. I posted a thorough Reagan legacy debunk-a-thon here.

And while you're clicking around on the internets, do go vote for some progressive blogs.

And on an unrelated note:

Go Gators!

Howard Dean Did It All for the Love

I like the way Howard Dean almost says that he's going to make some money now at the end of this clip. You go get yours, Howie. Just don't get indicted, it would be a crushing blow to my fragile psyche.



Here's a little Tribe Called Quest for Dr. Dean.

Jeb Is Up to Something

Is Jeb Bush beginning a slow burn run for the Presidency by pulling out of the Florida Senate race? Who knows? It's like trying to figure out Al Gore. But Jeb has begun the long, hard process of claiming his own political mantle, not by claiming to be different than his brother, but by actually being different than his brother.

In an interview with the LA Times, Jeb advised his fellow Republicans not to target the new president with partisan attacks like the ones "my brother suffered through in the last eight years". "I don't wish that on President Obama," he said.

Lovely. He's post-partisan, don't ya know. Furthermore, he slipped into his premise the requisite premise that his brother was treated unfairly by his mean old critics. As if Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and most of the rest of the administration hadn't poisoned the atmosphere from day one.

I wouldn't be surprised to watch Jeb compliment Obama right into the White House in 2016. Unless of course Obama becomes politically vulnerable, then Jeb or his surrogates will pounce.

Perhaps I'll Give Buddhism a Try

As if millions of years of magical religious hegemony wasn't proof enough, we have the latest evidence that atheism is doomed to a marginalized existence--lame bus signs all over Europe that say, "There's probably no God. So stop worrying and enjoy your life."

(more at Ragebot!)

Get Out The Vote

The 2008 Weblog Awards voting has begun, and in a significant oversight, this blog was not nominated for jackshit for third straight year. That's cool, I have my own award, it's called the Icee Award and I'm just not going to give it to the dookieheads at The 2008 Weblog Awards. So take that.

I am, however, giving an Icee Award to Blue Gal for keeping it real for the little blogs. Make sure you get your rumps over to the Weblog Awards site and vote for BG and the other prog bloggers (like Driftglass or just copy off Driftglass) of your choice.

So far, the voting is leaning to the right and that just can not stand.

Žižek On Gaza Crisis

From ForaTV:

Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek accuses Israel of a "systematic" political effort to make life difficult for Palestinians, and blames the current Israeli/Hamas crisis on a mishandled approach to religious fundamentalism.

Jeb Not Running, Coleman Not Staying

Two prominent Republicans seem to have vastly different views of the Senate. In Minnesota, Norm Coleman is being a bit clingy, meanwhile, in Florida, Jeb's just not that into the Senate. The former is no surprise while the the latter really caught me off guard. I felt the Bush family's vampiric appetite for power would get Jeb up off the bench, especially after his father telegraphed a potential presidential run just two days ago.

Coleman, on the other hand, had been running the George W. Bush recount playbook until the moment he needed to drop it and pick up the Al Gore playbook. Now he's back to Bush's playbook. He's doing a one man version of HBO's Recount.

Speaking of Norm Coleman, Lou Dobbs, who's been an even more gigantic prick lately, inserted Coleman's opponent Seatless Senator Al Franken into his tidy narrative about corrupt Democrats, it would appear, for no reason other than winning.

Colbert & Colmes

Instant classic.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Colbert and Colmes - Roland Burris Appointment

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

What Unitary Executive?

It looks like the New York Times will publish anything. Either that or they thought we needed a good laugh. Just based on the byline, I would have bounced this piece if I were the editor because it's written by two of the least credible voices in the Bush administration--John Bolton and John Yoo. Get this, they're worried about a power grab from the Obama administration. They want the Senate to approve any treaty we enter into. Hey, kinda like that status of forces agreement with Iraq that Bush wasn't going to send to the Senate... Hmm.

I was going to call this post a new low at the New York Times, but it's not. Probably not even in the top twenty. Still, it's a howl.

It's Hard to Defend Pirates

Johan Hari has a rebuttal for those perplexed by the sudden rise of the Somali pirates.

Suit Up, Steny!

My second least favorite Congressional majority leader, Steny Hoyer, says that Obama's new New Deal deal is going to take a little while to cook up.

“It’s going to be difficult to get the package together [by Inauguration Day],” he said. Instead, he told “Fox News Sunday,” lawmakers hoped to have it to the new president by mid-February.

Steny, sir, we have a sort of an optimistic thing happening. Maybe you missed the campaign, it was more of a 'yes we can' kind of thing. Plus, and I know you may not be aware of this down there in the old DC hubba-bubble, but a lot of Americans have their asses hanging in the breeze. So maybe, instead of going on Fixed News Sunday and lowering expectations, you could drop the Harry Reid impersonation and turn this thing into the political death trap for Republicans and Blue Dogs that it is. That would be great.

Poppy's Messing With My Mind

G. H. W. Bush tells Chris Wallace he would like to see Jebbie run for President.

William "the Bloody" Strikes Again

On Fox News Sunday, New York Times columnist Bill Kristol characterized Israel's invasion of Gaza as a favor for the Obama administration.

If you care about the peace process you should want Israel to embarrass and humiliate Hamas. That's the only chance -- there would be no peace process if Hamas were governing Gaza. That would be the worst thing for Obama. This is a favor for Obama if it de legitimizes and weakens Hamas.

My first reaction to the bombing of Gaza was that Israel's leaders were setting the stage for the inevitable peace process Obama will initiate. But instead of devaluing Hamas's bargaining power with a brief show of force, they're literally trying to wipe Hamas out as if the elections never happened, as if Israel didn't previously use similar techniques to topple Fatah. Worst of all, Israel is acting as if they have no idea that they are radicalizing future jihadists in Gaza and elsewhere.

Party of Whiners

Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman took Former Texas Senator Phil Gramm's incoherent smear of the American people--Gramm referred to America as "a nation of whiners" when the supply side, top heavy, no-trickle economy he helped design blew up in advance of the 2008 election--and applied it to Gramm's party, calling Republicans a party of whiners.

Among the whiners Krugman lambastes in his New York Times column is Alberto Gonzales, who recently got some cheese to go with his whine and took it over to the Wall Street Journal, saying among other things that James Comey should have had the decency to inform the administration about his testimony before going to Congress. If Gonzo can find a publisher, he's going to put all his whining into a book.

For more about Alberto's whining, see my post at Political Machine.

While I'm shilling my PM posts, I also wrote this post about Global Warming deniers because it's their favorite time of the year--winter.

The New West Wing

This is a cute little tear-jerker.

Third Blogiversary

Happy New Year, Station Nation. Not only is it New Years Day, it's also IST's third blogiversary!

You know what that means...

OR

It's been a wild year. Thanks for coming. Here's Eddie.

Schooled!

Very refreshing to see someone who has dedicated his life to studying the vast intricacies of a very serious, very complicated issue tell a TV blow-head that he's essentially talking out of his ass.