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And no, you don't have to buy the Palin book. Ed's already read it for you.

Starts with B, Rhymes with Flack.

The WH press corps still have not gotten Obama on the record about Tiger Woods. However, that hasn't stopped the rank and file idiots from asking questions:

Is the Secret Service taking a fall for Obama even as Tiger Woods is (perhaps) taking a fall for Elin Nordegren?

Interesting question! Here's another: What exactly do Obama and Tiger Woods have in common?

Reagan saved the economy from the damage done by Nixon and Ford.

I'm really sick and tired of hearing about how Jimmy Carter wrecked the US economy and St. Ronald of California cleaned up his mess.

Classy

Daniel Pipes on America's Shittiest Website^tm

On one level, the vote to ban minarets in Switzerland is a triviality. The constitutional amendment does not ban mosques, it does not pull down the country’s four existing minarets, nor does touch the practice of Islam in Switzerland or bear on the many issues concerning Swiss Muslims. In all likelihood, the political establishment in Bern, which abominates the amendment, will find some way to overturn it.

But on another level, the 57.5 to 42.5 percent vote represents a possible turning point for European Islam, one comparable to the Rushdie affair of 1989. That a large majority of those Swiss who voted on Sunday explicitly expressed anti-Islamic sentiments potentially legitimates such sentiments across Europe and opens the way for others to follow suit. That it was the usually quiet, low-profile, un-newsworthy, politically boring, neutral Swiss who suddenly roared their fears about Islam only enhances their votes’ impact.

"On the one hand this is irrelevant. But on the other, OMG MUSLIMMMMMZ!!!11!!!ONEONE!!!! Also, this may be the long awaited first step in allowing Europeans to openly voice their prejudices against the brown people they fear."

Any Bets?

How long before a member of the WH press corps asks Obama about Tiger Woods?

Red state welfare queens.

Look who's using food stamps.

Cheney 2012!

Newsweek's stupidest column ever.

Congrats Jon!

OMG GLOBAL WARMING IS TOTALLY FAKE SCREW ALGORE!!!11!

Yes, wingnuts. Jim Inhofe is right, Algore's a big fat liar, the world is cooling, whatever.

Lou Dobbs supports SHAMNESTY!!!11!1!

Lou Dobbs just kissed whatever chance in hell he had at holding some political office goodbye.

Dana Perino: no terror attacks under Bush.

WTF?

Just in Time for the Holidays.

Incredibly enough, there are no bidders.

Mathemagic

EDIT: please note that the poll is sourced to "Opinions Dynamic," which must be the plural of the polling group Opinion Dynamics. Safire would be proud of them for proper pluralization.

Dennis Prager's Randian Pilgrims.

The way wingnuts imagine American history and the way American history actually is are two very different things.

Oh Look...

Rod Dreher suddenly thinks it's bad to take a political position -- Israeli settlements, in this case -- based on an interpretation of the Bible! "Astonishing!" he says.

 Now perhaps this pious turd, who thinks that homosexuality "contributes to the debasement of one's character, and the death of the soul," will tell us why he uses the Bible as argument number one against gay marriage.

Subtle.

By the way, deep into a Washington Times article on the Republican "snub," we learn this:

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican who is of Indian descent, also has been invited.

I guess he's no longer on the A-List?

Wingnut Humor.

Heh heh gay turkey! 

Jesus is not pleased, Lopez. Tsk tsk.

Moral authority

Have you been watching the debate over trying terrorists in NYC and wondering, "What does John Yoo think about this?" Yeah, me too. Wonder no more.

Check back with the Philly Inquirer next week for Michael Vick's tips on raising dogs.

Palin consults with Billy Graham on foreign policy.

I wonder what the bible says about China?

Sarah Palin, the hottest name in the Republican Party, took a detour from her book-signing tour Sunday to dine with Billy Graham at his mountaintop home in Montreat.

"He's followed her career and likes her strong stand on faith," said son Franklin Graham, who was present for the 2 1/2-hour get-together. "Daddy feels God was using her to wake America up."

The former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate told Billy Graham about how she came to faith in God as a girl in Bible camp.

She quizzed him on the presidents he's known and wanted his take on what the Bible says about Israel, Iran and Iraq, Franklin Graham reported.

God help us if this nut gets within 1000 yards of the button.

Points for Honesty.

Forty-eight seconds into yet another Palin fan fest, we're treated to this bold fresh piece of candor:

DOOCY: Seven and half a hours... You know, a lot of people watching this right now would say 'That seems to be an awfully long time.' What is it about Sarah Palin that had you stand in line that long?

JODY CHAMPION: Well, I didn't want to miss an opportunity to meet her, and her book signing coincided with the opening of the Nordstrom Rack in the same shopping center.

This goes as well as you might expect.

Hot off the presses from loyal reader Evan S., here are some interviews with Palin supporters in line at a book tour stop in Ohio.

Politico is a Quality Publication.

From the very prestigious Arena comes intended funny from Bradley Blakeman:

Glen [sic] Beck is an entertainer/talk show host not a politician or party leader. Glen [sic] has never been elected to anything nor has he appeared on behalf of the RNC. The fact that he has a popular cable show and a radio program does not make him a champion of anything except his own career. He lives or does [sic] by ratings not votes. He is no more a leader of the Republican party as Jon Stewart, Bill Mahr [sic], Michael Moore, Orpah [sic], Olbermann, Maddow or Ed Shultz [sic] are to the Democrats. Do these popular celebrities hit on populist themes? You bet. Can they influence elections? Probably not.

Not kidding. For posterity:

Can the Cheneys please just go the hell away?

Apparently, losing two wars isn't enough to shame these people into S'ingTFU.

Gateway Putz: 70% of Americans are mentally ill.

The latest from the 20-percenters.

Anyone who believes that this woman [Palin] could not perform the duties of President adequately must have some kind of mental illness, which is likely liberalism.

Turns out there's a whole lotta crazy liburls in this country.

Fewer than three in 10 Americans think Sarah Palin's qualified to be president, according to a new national poll - the least of any of the five potential candidates included in the survey.

They make this so easy.

Tell Me What Company You Keep and I'll Tell You What You Are.

NYT:

145 evangelical, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian leaders have signed a declaration saying they will not cooperate with laws that they say could be used to compel their institutions to participate in abortions, or to bless or in any way recognize same-sex couples.

If you only read The Times, you'd think the supporters of the Manhattan Manifesto were a bunch of "moderates", like Robert George.

No.

Here, unmentioned in the article, are some of the signatories:

Most Rev. Peter J. Akinola
James Dobson
William Donohue
Dinesh D’Souza
Maggie Gallagher
Jerry Jenkins
Marvin Olasky
Tony Perkins
      
That's a lot of crazy for one room.

You all know the charming Ms. Gallagher, the execrable Mr. Donohue, and the nasty Mr. D'Souza, whose favorite hobby at Dartmouth was outing gay students.

I want to draw your attention, then, to Mr. Akinola, the Archbishop and Primate of Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion. He's a cut above the rest. He believes that "Homosexuality or lesbianism or bestiality is to us a form of slavery." Worse, he supported a proposed (but never passed) 2006 bill that called for five years imprisonment for anyone who "performs, witnesses, aids, or abets" a same-sex marriage, and anyone who engaged in public advocacy or associations supporting the rights of lesbian and gay people.

Said the Reverend: "The Church commends the law-makers for their prompt reaction to outlaw same-sex relationships in Nigeria and calls for the bill to be passed since the idea expressed in the bill is the moral position of Nigerians regarding human sexuality."

Rule of thumb: When Rod Dreher proclaims something like this "great news," you know it's a) extreme and b) gay people are going to suffer.

Hehindeedy.

(h/t watertiger)

BEHOLD THE POWER OF ACORN. KNEEL BEFORE IT.

27% of Republicans think President Obama won the 2008 Election. 52% think "ACORN stole it for him." 21% are "undecided."

Usually these kinds of theories sprout up around elections that are, you know, remotely fucking close.

Garçon, More Popcorn!

Takeaway quote from Richard Miniter:

"I'm sure [the lawsuit will] get the attention not just of The Washington Times, but the rest of Washington."

This could not be more entertaining.

Nativists* Seem Restless: "Thanks But No Thanks, Snowbilly!"

K. points us to the most heartwarming youtube of the day: Sarah Palin fans who are hilariously pissed at their hero, Sarah Palin.

As K. adroitly observes, "wingnuts have learned to protest about everything these days."



I fear for my country these goobers [he says, wiping away a tear]. If they're pissed now, wait til they read the shitty book!

*title changed, obviously for the better

I Would Rather Kill Myself.

(dedicated to John Cole)

Awesome.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Excitement Over Sarah Palin's Book Release
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Glenn Reynolds' sister spotted at Teabagger rally!

(Note: this could be Putz's sister, but it might not be)

Until the End of Days, or Whenever Peretz Dies.

A proposal:

Each time The New Republic mentions Joe Lieberman in an unflattering light, they should be forced to insert  "who we endorsed for President in 2004" after every mention of his name.

It's nice that they're slagging him now, but what took 'em so fucking long?

Tim Geithner punks Texas Republican.

Oh. Snap.

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Tex.) just gave a severe tongue-lashing to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner moments ago in the Joint Economic committee, concluding with a surprising call for Geithner to resign. For a change, Geithner didn't just sit there and take it.

...

Geithner shot back: "It is a great privilege for me to serve this president. I agree with almost nothing you said, almost nothing you said represents a fair and accurate picture of the economy today." He told Brady, "You gave this president an economy falling off a cliff."

Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.

I don't think Sarah told McCain the truth about her religious beliefs.

It's Palin Day!

Yikes.

When Sarah Palin first got to do-over Katie Couric's simple question about what she reads, she told Fox's Carl Cameron in October 2008 that she reads the Economist and New York Times.

But on "Hannity" last night, Palin added a few more titles: the conservative Newsmax, Wall Street Journal, and her local Frontiersman.

She'd be better off claiming illiteracy.

Catfight v.2

David "Hmm, All the Sudden I Realize Everyone Around Me is Absolutely Fucking Bonkers" Frum debates John Ziegler about Sarah Palin.

Now, some key phrases should be encouraging you to click the link, namely the simultaneous presence of "Sarah Palin" and "John Ziegler" in one sentence.

Ziegler: David Frum's made a career move by bashing Sarah Palin.

Frum: I don't think we need to go into who has made career moves.

Ziegler: I've devoted an enormous amount of my life and savings over the past year to correct the historical record about Sarah Palin.... people can see the evidence of what I've done at howobamagotelected.com.

Win the Morning!

Two days after Sarah Palin's long-hyped book hit the stands, but one day after the introduction of landmark healthcare reform legislation, here's Politico's lead story:

Ben, how does it feel to have John Ziegler as your assignment editor?

Bravo, Tim F.

"Moron-to-English translator" is my new favorite expression.

Also.

TS +5.

Palin: Israel should build settlements because those Jews need lots of room.

Or something.

What a nutjob.

Where's the Birth Certificate, Lebowski?

The NRO's resident birther, Andy McCarthy, said this:

What happened at Ft. Hood was a jihadist massacre — a terrorist act, not a tragedy.

Noted.

Also. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

The NRO Palin fluffers may say that "West Michigan seems pumped about Rogue," but the gal at the front of the line looks catatonic, you betcha.

...I love this song. Also.

Good News, Comrades!

A couple of years ago, Anonymous Liberal observed William Kristol's tendency to be wrong about everything. A few examples:

"There's been a certain amount of pop sociology in America ... that the Shia can't get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq just want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There's almost no evidence of that at all. Iraq's always been very secular." (April 4, 2003)


"Just four weeks after the Iraqi election of January 30, 2005, it seems increasingly likely that that date will turn out to have been a genuine turning point. The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, ended an era. September 11, 2001, ended an interregnum. In the new era in which we now live, 1/30/05 could be a key moment--perhaps the key moment so far--in vindicating the Bush Doctrine as the right response to 9/11. And now there is the prospect of further and accelerating progress." (March 7, 2005)


"Last week the Bush Administration's second-term bear market bottomed out." (November 7, 2005)


"All this made me think the 2006 elections could result in a Speaker Pelosi. I now think that unlikely." (November 30, 2005)

 Etc.With that in mind, note well what Kristol told Hugh Hewitt today:

"I think the health care bill, which is another sign of being out of touch, and trying to impose a massive ideological agenda on the American public, I think it will fail in the Senate in the next month."

For the first time in a while, I'm optimistic.

Comment gold

We don't even have a full Erickson-Palin transcript yet and it has already yielded comedy gold.

I was so delighted when she catagorically rejected the global warming nonesense in an interview with Rush today. This is something that she was unable to do during the campaign because of McCain’s climate facisim views. This issue is one of the most important for me. Global warming facisim is the buggest threat to our liberty, prosperity, free markets, and way of life. Sarah is so far the only possible 2012 contender that holds this view. Don’t let Pawlenty’s 180 degree turnabout fool you.

BT adds...

God, what a couple of asshats.

Nation Building

One of the issues that has divided the right lately is nation building. I asked her view and she said “I really do think America is blessed. We have taken a voluntary responsibility to assist other nations,” but we have to do our part at home first to build ourselves up. She said it didn’t do us any good to help lift up other countries if we weren’t lifting up ourselves. She cited “cutting taxes, helping employers, and building up our military” as examples.

Because it's so easy to help other nations and "build up our military" -- which we're already spending $700B a year on -- when we cut taxes, already at historic lows.

This Explains A Lot.

RedState's Erick Erickson interviewed Sarah "Sarah" Palin and the result is, well, kinda revelatory:

I did not want to sound like Katie Couric and ask what she’s read, but I broached the subject and she went right into mentioning Thomas Sowell and Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism.

Of course.

(Goldberg's got quite the fan base, eh?)

Dept. of White Hoods.

Wesley Pruden:

It’s no fault of the president that he has no natural instinct or blood impulse for what the America of ‘the 57 states’ is about. He was sired by a Kenyan father, born to a mother attracted to men of the Third World and reared by grandparents in Hawaii, a paradise far from the American mainstream.

Robert Stacy McCain:

To work for Wes Pruden was not always an easy job, but it was a job to be proud of -- kind of like playing football for Bear Bryant.

Dear readers, we have failed you.

Thanks to SN! for keeping us honest.

Flat-out awesome

Look at this Amazon user review of Going Rogue:

Richard Miniter: Alive, Litigious, Unemployed.

So, Richard Miniter has not eaten himself to death. The truth is far more entertaining.

Washington Times editorial page editor Richard Miniter is filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the paper today, alleging discrimination based on age, disability, and religion -- being forced to attend a Unification Church mass wedding -- and he will ask the government to enjoin the Times' assets, his lawyer tells TPM. The development adds to an already daunting mess of problems at the newspaper, whose top executives were fired last week, and whose executive editor resigned.

"The state of affairs at the Washington Times, to put it mildly, is in disarray," Larry Klayman, Miniter's attorney, tells TPM. "What we're seeking to do is to freeze everything right now." Klayman, whose firm is based in Washington and Florida, is the founder of conservative legal group Judicial Watch.

Jesus. First, he sues Regnery and now the Moonies? Pretty soon there won't be a single wingnut gravy train left that Dick hasn't pissed off.

OMG OBAMA BOWED TO A JAP HE HATES AMERICA!

I wonder what the reaction would be if Obama bowed to the Iranian President, because this is the equivalent.

Dear Internet Ads

RE: The proliferation of "Get Sarah Palin's book free! (with subscription to _____)" ads

It's nine fucking dollars. I know the intended audience of the book is not terribly bright, but come on.


Cordially,
Ed

Have Yourself a Shitty Little Christmas.

Score one for the pagans.

Previous.

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Less than 25% of Americans like Palin.

Meaning something like 75% of America isn't "real" -- according to the 'Cuda.

Creepy.

'Let Sarah Be Sarah'   [Rich Lowry]
I watched the Oprah interview on-and-off and thought Palin was good. She was comfortable and likable. I was always a little skeptical of the "let Sarah be Sarah" school of thought during the campaign, because she desperately needed to be briefed on everything. Given what she needed to learn, you couldn't just let her loose. But this was a different Sarah.

Ick.

There's something awfully weird, not to mention condescending, about the way conservatives continue to call ex-governor Palin Sarah.

Can you imagine, say, David Remnick referring to the president as Barack? At the very least, he'd be rightfully scorned.

I suppose it's not a surprise that Ol' Starbursts has got the bug, but still, it's not healthy for the discourse for the editor of the country's premiere conservative magazine -- and all that that implies -- to be on a first-name basis with the movement's only hot commodity.

Lowry's infantilizing Palin and he doesn't even seem to know it.

Shocked, You Will Not Be.

Michael Yon caught sucking ass.

Again.

Stocking Stuffer.

I look forward to reading the chapter on the shit moat.

Review: Going Rogue

(Cross-posted at G&T. To answer your question in advance, I owe early access to the text to blind luck, persistence, and a helpful friend in the industry who demands anonymity.)

Following American politics for the last two decades (and teaching about it for the last six years) I often feel like our political spectacles have taken on the air of an elaborate Dadaist performance piece, with each “Tea Party,” Fox News segment, and Republican Savior more egregiously blurring the lines between reality, farce, and surrealism. We watch each Sarah Palin or Bobby Jindal speech fully expecting Ashton Kutcher to appear and let us in on the joke, informing America that it has in fact been punk’d and laughing uproariously at our gullibility. Our collective capacity for credulity has been strained to breaking.

Now we are faced with the daunting task of wrapping our minds around the Palin memoir Going Rogue, appearing atop a bestseller list near you. Millions of copies will be sold of a book written by someone who can’t write, intended for an audience that doesn’t read, about the thoughts of a person who doesn’t think. God is dead.

If you are in a hurry, here is the succinct version of this review: Going Rogue is shit. It is groundbreaking in its banality and disregard for facts. If you are sentient, it will pain you to read it. Imagine watching your parents 69 one another while John Madden sits behind you and bellows out color commentary and you will have some idea of how excruciating and profoundly scarring it is to plow through each page of this wholly fictional monument to self-aggrandized mediocrity. Going Rogue is to the art of writing what the Holocaust is to the concept of a just God – the piece of disconfirming evidence so overwhelming that we are left questioning whether it can exist at all.

Going Rogue is not without merit. It certainly delivers what its intended audience wants. Readers who already like Palin will love it, much as America’s pedophiles will find the latest Jonas Brothers DVD to their liking. The authors’ talent for communicating the ex-Governor’s unique rhetorical style in print is remarkable – the Sesame Street cadence of her delivery and the intermittent Tourette’s-like winks leap off the page. The book, recession priced at just $9, is also an ideal gift for the Aunt or Uncle who assaults your email inbox with a dozen weekly communiqués on the President’s Kenyan birth and the constitutionality of income taxes.
Unfortunately that is an exhaustive list of its strengths.

The book is less a biography than an elaborate press release. Its 432 pages (with sixteen pages of pictures – and no index) barely feign interest in describing Palin’s life in detail. It moves as quickly as possible to its real raison d'être – a methodical re-imagining of her entire political career replete with more excuses than a Cleveland Browns post-game press conference. Palin has never done anything wrong. The public have merely been led to believe that she is a dangerously stupid, erratic narcissist. Going Rogue is all about setting that record straight, offering a wildly implausible excuse for every crash and bang in her train wreck of a political career.

The theme that permeates the book – and with all the subtlety of an Oliver Stone film – is Palin’s overwhelming magnanimity. The book itself was written solely for our benefit, to set straight all of our misconceptions. Her Hindeburg interview with Katie Couric was done only because Palin pitied the struggling journalist (no mention of how her personal generosity forced her to answer simple questions like a lobotomized rube who had never ventured beyond Wasilla). Her hillbilly-wins-the-Lotto shopping sprees and misuse of Alaska taxpayers’ funds to take her daughters on vacations in $3000 per night hotels either never happened (er, she “usually” eschewed lavish accommodations for simple ones) or were forced upon her by others; McCain aides practically held a gun to her head and made her buy a new wardrobe. She resigned the governorship halfway through her only term for the benefit of the people of Alaska (admittedly, she may be onto something there). Her enormous legal bills stem from frivolous ethics complaints by her enemies, and she has borne these costs for you – out of the kindness of her heart. Buying her book and electing her to the presidency is the least you can do in return, ingrate.

A serious question arises from her narrative. Is she a sociopath with a messiah complex – i.e. she actually believes the version of events she relates here – or is she simply a shameless liar? Does she honestly fail to realize that the McCain team was bending over backwards to protect her from her own stupidity when she rails on about how they abused, demeaned, and stifled her? Does she honestly believe it when she describes herself as someone who “wouldn’t stand for” a conflict of interest from a public servant, or does she consciously sit down at the keyboard and say, “I think I’m gonna make some shit up here!” with the intention of burnishing her image?

It is not coincidental that everyone – and we can use that term without hyperbole – involved with the McCain campaign and not named “Sarah Palin” has already lambasted this book as, variously, “pure fabrication,” “other worldly,” “blatantly and absolutely inaccurate,” “total fiction,” and “a serious mixing of truth and imagination.” These charges would be predictable from liberal opponents, but they come from fellow Republicans. That is the shocking and crass aspect of this book. It is petty, vindictive, and reads like Palin was checking names off of her Nixonian enemies list one by one as she wrote, and the targets of her limitless bile are almost exclusively other Republicans. Barely a word is uttered of President Obama or his campaign aside from some factually errant potshots at his policies – including the “bailout” legislation signed by George W. Bush, underscoring Palin’s slavish attention to detail. Nary an insult is leveled at Obama, Biden, or other Democrats on a personal level, something that cannot be said for Steve Schmidt and the rest of the McCain team. Schmidt may have seemed to the rest of us like a salty, dumpy campaign pro desperately trying to maintain order in a campaign that, thanks to Palin, skirted the line between chaos and comedy - half Ringling Brothers circus, half Triangle Shirtwaist fire. But Palin once again sets straight the record, depicting Schmidt throughout as a profane, hysterical misogynist hell-bent on destroying her and, she bizarrely claims, forcing her to abandon the Atkins Diet.

Going Rogue is many things, but it is not a good biography. It is a fantastic work of fiction and therefore not totally undeserving of commercial success. Every autobiography – be it from a political aspirant or the latest WWE superstar – massages the truth to some degree. Abraham Lincoln once called tact the art of describing others as they see themselves. This book proves that there is not enough tact in the world for a person with even the most tenuous grip on reality to describe Sarah Palin as she sees herself. If this is her attempt at positive spin, it is cynical and petty. If, on the other hand, she believes a single word of this, she is psychologically unfit to run for dog catcher let alone President of the United States.

In short, the book provides ample proof that Sarah Palin’s version of her own life is like the Turkish government’s version of the Armenian Genocide – and approximately as trustworthy. Going Rogue is an irritatingly vernacular, fantastical, and cloying autobiography of a malignant narcissist, every bit as thunderingly stupid throughout as the person behind it. In what world is it either necessary or desirable to spend $9 and four hours to figure that much out about Sarah Palin?

Kaplan Test Prep Sandbags Its Own Reporters.

Kaplan Test Prep regular Thomas Reese:

If you believed what you read on blogs and in newspapers, you would conclude that the archdiocese of Washington is threatening to withdraw money for food and shelter from the poor in the District of Columbia in order to get its way on gay marriage.

Stupid "newspapers"! Like these jerks!

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.

I would like to know what Tim Craig and Michelle Boorstein, reporters, think about being sandbagged by the paper's website.

QOTD.

BooMan:

I don't care whether terrorists detest our values or rely upon them; that has nothing to do with me. I want my country to uphold its values, not surrender them to the assholes who attacked us. But, then, I'm not a bedwetter.

The 20-percenters' alternate universe.

Powertools doesn't like the NYT stating the obvious.

The Times has so little self-knowledge that it apparently doesn't understand that the "colorful personal narrative" that most "overshadow[ed] policy arguments and actual knowledge" in the 2008 campaign was that of Barack Obama, not Sarah Palin. Obama had less experience than Palin, and he was the Democrats' Presidential candidate, unlike Palin, who was running for Vice-President with John McCain, one of the most experienced Presidential candidates of recent memory. We are now living through the debacle that results from electing a President based on a "personal narrative" rather than "policy arguments and actual knowledge," but it will be a while before the New York Times, always a lagging indicator at best, figures this out.

Despite the fact that the McCain campaign limited media access to her, in the handful of interviews she gave -- without a single press conference -- Palin couldn't define her party's foreign policy, she couldn't name a single newspaper she read, she couldn't name a Supreme Court decision that wasn't Roe v. Wade, and she lost her only debate with Joe Biden.

Over the course of the campaign, Obama granted hundreds of interviews, subjected himself to dozens of pressers, swept McCain in the presidential debates, and again and again, demonstrated a nimble facility -- indeed, a virtuosity -- with a wide range of complex issues.

I can't wait until these idiots nominate her in 2012.

Kneel Before Zod, Obama!

It make me so happy when this happens.

For every hour wingnuts spend bitching about how Obama is bowing to a foreign leader, that's one less hour they're not making up lies about health care reform.

Small price to pay, no?

Hey Sarah Palin! In honor of the American soldier, how 'bout ya stop makin' stuff up?!

Liar, liar.

Althouse finds out what happens when you cross the 20-percenters.

Amusing comments. OMG SHE CALLED PALIN DUMB F*** HER!

The problem with a Bush supporter like Althouse (Frum is guilty of this, too) calling Sarah Palin "dumb" is -- I'm pretty sure she's a hell of a lot smarter than Shrubya.

Yes, she might be pig ignorant and intellectually lazy -- I doubt she can name half the state capitals. But she did a hell of a lot more with what she started out with in life -- pretty much nothing -- than Chimpy did.

Put W. in the Palin family and you don't get a governor, you get something much less than Todd Palin.

Mathew Continetti is even stupider than previously thought.

Wow, even though he was summarily bitchslapped for his last pro-Palin piece, he comes back for more in the WSJ.

Humor. On a base level.

Employees of the RNC have a health insurance plan that covers abortion. At least they did until Thursday when MC Steele was informed about it.

"We are outraged that our insane base has been informed of this fact..."

"Sorry professor. Your credibility is shot."

Althouse states the obvious (" Sarah Palin is dumb.") and gets raked over the coals by her commenters.

Someday AA will realize what a powderkeg of stupid she's sitting on over there.

Dept. of Wingnut Humor.

A few years ago, Putz compared imprisonment in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to spring break at Daytona Beach.

In rather repulsive fashion, he and his PJTV cohorts have taken the analogy to its logical conclusion:

QOTD.

Charles Krauthammer:

Have we totally lost our moral bearings?

See, this is funny because Krauthammer is a monster.

Last Weblog Awards Pitch. Promise.

It pains me a little to mention the Weblog Awards again, but if you just click the (+) button a couple of times here, that would be great.

Also, even though K. calls us "fuckers" (Rod Dreher and his cock do not approve!) please vote for Rumproast as well.

OK, back to our regularly scheduled venom...

This is so surprising like, not at all.

No one could've predicted that white Southern evangelicals don't like Obama.

The George W. Bush Institute of Wrecking the Planet

Can't believe there's no endowed chairs of bible learnin' and brush clearin'.

This is What a Bigot Looks Like.

Last week, Rod Dreher said he wasn't a bigot because:

I don't count moral disapproval as "bigotry" on its face, because the word "bigotry" connotes malicious, unthinking prejudice.

Indeed! I mean, there's certainly nothing malicious or unthinking about the suggestion that gays are intent on repealing the First Amendment.

I have no faith at all that the orthodox churches, synagogues and religious institutions will be left alone once gay rights advocates have the fullest constitutional protection. Tolerance will quickly be insufficient; affirmation will be the minimal standard -- or else.

Loathsome, ain't it?

That Word, "Influential"...

A line from Politico's item about the efforts of Dem and GOP activists to cut off the money supply:

Erick Erickson, editor of the influential conservative blog RedState, called on NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) to step down for his role in the contest.

RedState is many things: Delusional? Check. Stupid? Absolutely. Racist? Totally. Funny? Sometimes.

But influential? I don't see it. The National Review clearly keeps them at arm's length. Sure, Erickson himself sometimes receives coverage, but it's almost exclusively from Ramesh Ponnuru, who is always careful to remind readers that he and Erickson are "friends." Because why else would he bother linking, right?

Beyond that, though, what exactly has RedState accomplished? (aside from providing liberal bloggers with an unquantifiable amount of material)

Doug Hoffman was a major loser. Olympia Snowe last time I checked is still Senator, so apparently she finds the threat of rock salt unpersuasive. Last year, Erickson begged his minions to send rubber balls to still-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell "to remind him he needed to grow a pair and fight the Democrats." Observed Wonkette, "And no one ever heard from Mitch McConnell again." Operation Silly Putty -- RedState sent Kent Williams a message via an inorganic polymer! -- was also a huge failure.

On the plus side of the ledger, sending fake dog feces to Rep. Pomeroy may ultimately reap benefits, but it's just too soon to tell.

So, yeah. I don't get it. Erickson & Co. seem to have the reverse Midas Touch -- everything they touch turns to shit.

Hey. You.

Click the ads.

We read dipshits so you don't have to. And we ask so little in return.

...PS: If you haven't voted, please do so. xxoo, TS

Dan Baum v. Jeffrey Goldberg.

Dan Baum -- author of The New Yorker's finest piece on the Iraq War and, more recently, the excellent Nine Lives, sent around the following e-mail:

From: Dan Baum
Subject: Jews

I'm the last guy in the world to try to organize people by religion, but we Jews may be the only people to whom Senator Joseph Lieberman might listen. He is threatening to filibuster the health-care bill to remove the public option. He has been an obvious problem for years, but this time he can do genuine damage, and it's possible a deluge of calls and emails from Jews nationwide will give him pause. Please take a minute and either call his office -- (fair warning, the mailbox was full) or (860) 549-8463, or send him an email... This is the text of the message I used, but you could compose your own:

"As a fellow Jew, I am appalled by your threat to filibuster the health care bill now working its way through the Senate. I appeal to your conscience. Do not block access to affordable health care for millions of Americans. Please support the bill." This will take only a minute to do. Once you've sent a message to Sen. Lieberman, please forward this email to all the Jews you know. We could make something happen.

Indeed! We agree!

Jeffrey Goldberg, who leaked the e-mail, does not, and replied publicly with more than a little venom:

Baum may have revealed himself to be an "As-a-Jew,"  a particular Semitical sub-type.  As-a-Jews are people who invoke their heritage only when they feel a need to dump on another Jew, or a Jewish organization, or the Jewish state. The classic formulation is, "As a Jew, I want to tell you how embarrassed I am by (fill-in-the-blank)." It's a low practice, particularly from a person who begins his message by overtly distancing himself from the idea of Jewish peoplehood, and religion in general.

Mr. Baum has kindly responded to a few of our questions, after the jump...

I don't think Robert Gates likes George W. Bush very much.

Some more not-so-thinly veiled swipes at Chimpy from his former SecDef.

Wingnut Reparative Therapy Humor.

NPR:

Two psychiatrists who worked with Hasan at Walter Reed and asked not to be identified told NPR that during the six years he worked there, he was frequently distracted and often late for work. They said Hasan also once tried to convert a patient to Islam and that he received a verbal warning.

Dr. Mrs. Putz:

Well, at least Hasan wasn't trying to convert his patients from gay to straight. Now that would definitely have led to an investigation.

Thanks, she'll be here all week!

Dan Riehl: still not very bright.

Words, mere words! Bah!

These people, including Marc Ambinder, are such a joke, they give whistling past the graveyard a bad name. Desperate for any ray of sunshine and hope in a currently failing administration, we're supposed to believe Obama actually accomplished something, making the history books for it, by . . . giving a speech.

How many times have conservatives breathlessly quoted Ronnie Raygun's Berlin Wall speech -- OMG HE TOLD GORBY TO TEAR DOWN THE WALL -- in the past, oh, 10 minutes?


PS
"Currently failing." Mmm-hmmm.

Perfect

I woke up wondering what people who don't think are thinking about the Fort Hood shooting. Naturally, I headed over to Intellectual Chernobyl to see Austin Bay's take on the situation. It makes liberal use of that word wingnuts hate being forced to use all the time.

One word aptly describes Ft. Hood mass murderer Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan: traitor.

Funny, I would have gone with "murderer."

Connecting the dots.

Marcy Wheeler writes the kind of post only she can about Nidal Hasan. Read it.

This comment from bmaz is also rather insightful.

The problem is, sometimes dots are just that – dots unconnected, and reasonably so. I am not sure that if everything had been known and added together that Hasan merited that much more attention than he was apparently given. What would have been done? Arrested? For what? A surveillance team placed on him 24/7? Unlikely. Discharge from the service? Based on what? With the exception of the gun purchase, which was legal, all his activity was at least marginally consistent with his position, duties and religious beliefs.

The White House's Secret Plan to Drive Peggy Noonan Insane.

Via Wonkette, President Obama yesterday announced the formation of something called the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission.

Truthfully, we don't give much of a shit, but for the salient fact that Peggy Noonan has been appointed to serve on said august commission. This, I presume, explains the misspelling of the sainted corpse's name?

Well, if the WH's strategy is to coddle Peggy with one hand and antagonize with the other -- thereby further disorienting her -- sirs, I am impressed.

QOTD.

"Why has the United States sent this woman?"

-- Althouse, regarding the presence of the Secretary of State in Berlin

...So, WE have a "shitlist"! Also, AA thinks it was obvious that the question was "satirically attributed to Merkel and Sarkozy." Our bad! We totally should have assumed that the unitalicized meanderings were not AA's own thoughts, but actually the projected shared musings of a couple of heads of state.

Okay!

Marco Rubio against shamnesty for illegal aliens!

Unless he's related to them.

I must disagree with Mr. Cole.

JC:

The funny thing about all of this is that no matter how bad all their ideas are, no matter how disastrous their governance has been, no matter how many horrible things they have done to the economy and this country, what really is killing the Republican party is that deep down, they are just complete assholes.

That's a funny riff, but they spent the '90s and '00s being complete assholes and they dominated electoral politics.

Big tent party update.

Snowe to be Scozzafava'd?

It looks like Olympia Snowe could have a pretty hard time getting nominated for another term in the Senate as a Republican.

There are now more folks in her party who disapprove than approve of Snowe's job performance. 46% of GOP voters think she's doing a bad job to 40% who give her good marks.

The teabaggers won't rest until literally the entire Republican party is south of the Mason-Dixon.

So. Very. Confused.

I have lots of experience with wingnutese, but this is above my pay-grade:

Anyone speak Pantload?

...Perfect.

What wakes liberal writers up at night -- I mean that eye-snap of soul-gnawing, nauseating dread -- is not social injustice, is not the fear of creeping fascism, is not rage against corporate greed ...

It is the haunting certainty that Jonah Goldberg will die happily in his sleep without ever comprehending that he's an idiot.

Zombie Lies.

I'm tired of this shtick.

President Obama is going to Ft. Hood today for a memorial service there. We will all be sorrowful and our hearts and minds and souls will be with everyone at Ft. Hood. My worry about these services now is that they are a) not angry enough and b) that they are the end and not the beginning. Ever since the week after 9/11/2001, anger has eluded memorial services (with the exception of Paul Wellstone’s memorial—that, somehow, was a moment of anger for the left).

I'm aware 9/11 Changed Everything, but it's news to me that for the last eight years I should've altered my conduct at memorial services. Less quiet mourning, more Malkin Ragegasm.


Got it.

Google Does Love America!

On this day 20 years ago Ronald Reagan single-handedly dismantled the Berlin Wall, brick by laborious brick. As such, I heartily commend Google for honoring the great man with this cartoon rendering, circa Bedtime for Bonzo.

"The Wall’s cold, gray façade was a stark reminder..."

Which ever wingnut hack is writing Sarah Palin's Facebook page really needs to dial it back a notch so that there's at least the illusion that it's the 'Cuda.

The CA Senate Race: Get Yer Popcorn!

The Carly Fiorina/Chuck DeVore race is going to be awesome. The mere presence on the ballot of a disgraced economic adviser to the McCain campaign -- a designation only slightly more prestigious than, say, "Palin Speechwriter" -- would make this race a must-watch. Dayenu.

This year, however, we are truly blessed. Fiorina's opponent not only reviewed Liberal Fascism, he gave it five stars!

This transgression should probably disqualify DeVore for public office. For the rest of his life.

They're Called Nipples.

Chris Muir should learn to draw them.

The passion of the Palinites.

Really is odd.

Matthew Continetti has a piece in this weekend’s Weekly Standard hailing Sarah Palin as the ideal leader of a new populist uprising. One obvious objection to his thesis: The populist Sarah is in fact one of the most unpopular figures in American life.
According to Gallup, 63% of Americans say they would never consider voting for her. By a margin of 62%-31% Americans rate Palin “unqualified” to serve as president – by far the worst score for any leading Republican.

Frummy obviously doesn't know that these so-called "polls" are just libural claptrap.

...TS ADDS: Try to diagram this sentence:

“In order to save government money, government health care has to be rationed… [so] than this elderly person that perhaps could be seen as costing taxpayers to pay for a non-productive life?

She's a statesman!

Still wrong about everything.

Today's NYT:

After two days of inquiry into the mass shooting at Fort Hood, investigators have tentatively concluded that it was not part of a terrorist plot.

Putz, while the bodies were still warm.

Note that early reports are usually wrong, but it sounds quite bad, and likely to have some sort of terror connection.

You could literally get rich betting the other way with this tool.

The view from the 25-percenters' warped reality.

Putz posts this.



And adds,

I think before it’s over, even Jimmy Carter will look okay.

It's like 2001-2008 never happened with these people, isn't it?

BREAKING: Frank Luntz, still a putz.

It seems the country's in such bad shape that people are forced to carry signs comparing Obama to the Nazis.

Not said: why the country's in such bad shape.

The Teaparties worked!!! Victory is ours!!!

Sadly, no.

Think about all of the town hall Putschen over the past 6 months, all of the astro-turfed protests, all of the over-the-top rhetoric -- and it's all for naught.

Hope the teabaggers are enjoying their political irrelevance.

The House Passes HCR.

But Althouse needs more time to read the bill!

Catholic Bishops on board with health care reform bill.

And it came at a price.

K-Lo, spitting as she types, is incoherent as ever.

There are bishops in the Catholic Church who knows [sic] better than to stand for the liberal Democratic bureaucrats in the bishops' conference running the show at such a crucial moment as right now, when the majority party in Washington is looking to ram through a revolutionary government-run health-care scheme, short on details, high on cost, riddled with life and death concerns. I hope some who know the score — the stakes in this debate and the reality of what the conference is — are paying attention today, as the Politico is giving the impression the bishops have endorsed Pelosicare. (Possibly because that's the spin that in from the conference legislative office.)

Yes, the notoriously liberal Politico has conspired with the notoriously liberal Conference of US Bishops (who have favored universal health care since the 40s, by the way) -- to help Pelosi ram through a "revolutionary scheme."

What a whack-job.

Markos bitchslaps Tom Tancredo.

That's how it's done, ladies and gents. Poor Tommy ran home to cry.

Maybe he's still depressed.

The right's reaction to the Tiller assassination.

Very different.

…they admonished us not to “politicize” the killing, and that doing so would “collectivize” the shooter’s guilt and “smear the entire conservative movement.” After all, Dr. Tiller’s murder was just an “isolated incident” — “kooks happen” — so it’s deeply unfair, they argued, to point fingers at anyone but the killer himself. Most importantly, they noted, jumping to score political points while the Tiller’s family was still grieving is crass, uncivil, beyond the pale.

Wonder why?

Weird Confluence.

One of the commenters in this Rod Dreher thread -- in which Herr Dreher spends, like, 5000 words telling us why he's not a bigot -- is Robert "Throbert" McGee.

McGee was a source for Ace of Spades during the Pvt. Beauchamp business.

How much of a reactionary jackass is Putz?

So much that he managed to make John Cornyn - John Cornyn - sound like the calm voice of reason today.

"It is imperative that we take the time to gather all the facts, as it would be irresponsible to be the source of rumors or inaccurate information regarding such a horrific event. Once we have ascertained all the facts, working with our military leaders and law enforcement officials on the ground, we can determine what exactly happened at Fort Hood today and how to prevent something like this from ever happening again."

Good work, Glenn.

OMG ITS JIHAD MUSLIMS EEEEEEEEK!

That's the emerging wingnut narrative, obviously.

Except Ft. Hood has a pretty bloody history.

October 16, 1991: A 35-year-old civilian drives a pickup truck into a Fort Hood cafeteria and fatally shoots 23 people wounding 20 more before killing himself. It was the deadliest shooting rampage in American history until the Virginia Tech Massacre.

July 18, 2009: Thirty-year-old soldier from Wisconsin is shot and killed by a bullet fired during a party at Fort Hood. A fellow soldier is charged with the murder.

Sept. 8, 2008; A 1st Lieutenant goes looking for missing military equipment at an apartment near Fort Hood is shot and killed by a solider from Alabama, who then turns the gun on himself.

Awful. I don't remember that mass killing in '91 at all.

Guns don't kill people. People kill people.

And here's the Virginia Tech take, as I wrote below was sure to come.

ANOTHER UPDATE: How did he shoot so many people? Ironically, stateside military bases are virtual gun-free zones, where most guns are kept locked up and only a few are allowed to be armed.

If only everyone was armed, no one would get shot.

Dispatch from PUMAville.

If the Michelle Obama business didn't convince you that Larry Johnson is a racist piece of garbage, check out his reaction to the Fort Hood tragedy:

Wanted to comment on the news out of Fort Hood that a muslim U.S. Army officer, Major Malik Nadal Hassan,and perhaps two others, went on a shooting rampage today and killed 11soldiers and one civilian police officer. This is not the first time amuslim in the U.S. military has turned his weapon on fellow soldiers. Aword of caution, initial reports can be quite wrong and we should keepour powder dry.

However, if these initial reports are verified as true this will be bad for muslims in America.

Really? Or is Agent Whitey simply looking for a pretext to grab a gun?

...BT adds....

Was Tim McVeigh bad for white Christian gun nuts in America?

Newsflash: Teabaggers Lack Sense of History.

Um...

TPMDC happened upon a crowd that formed around two police vans as the protesters were prepared for "transporting," according to one officer there.

Without those official details, protesters in the crowd watching the arrests were furious. They shouted "Let them go!" and one man yelled at the police that "Martin Luther King" was being dishonored and shouted "Letter from Birmingham Jail!"

Further comment is probably unnecessary.

Glenn Reynolds makes shit up about Ft. Hood shooting.

Putz:

Note that early reports are usually wrong, but it sounds quite bad, and likely to have some sort of terror connection. But stay tuned.

I really think speculating like that is pretty fucking irresponsible, especially since we now know one of the shooters was a soldier.

Looking forward to getting a redux of Putz's Virginia Tech take.

Nobody seems to know much yet on what happened. These things do seem to take place in locations where it's not legal for people with carry permits to carry guns, though, and I believe that's the case where the Virginia Tech campus is concerned.

Too bad no one was armed at Ft. Hood.

Hick tours sticks

The Palin book tour has been announced. No Chicago, Boston, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Washington....well, basically no real cities at all. Sorry, Orlando doesn't count.

After starting in Grand Rapids she heads south to speak to unemployed auto workers and Klansmen in Fort Wayne and Noblesville, Indiana before turning east to America's Favorite City for Race Riots and, shockingly, a bunch of dates in the South.

Ooh, tough crowds!

It's going to be the most postmodern experience of all time watching a woman who can't write speaking to people who don't read about her memoir that someone else wrote for her.

"Waterboard Congress!"

Stay classy, teabaggers!

Maybe They Were Busy Picketing a Planned Parenthood...

"Opposition" is doing a lot of work here, considering the troglodytic assholes actually ceded opposition, not bothering to show up for the vote.

Wank of the Week.

Lanny Davis:

Conservative Republicans who cheer what happened in NY 23rd CD are comparable to political purists who cheered defeat of Joe Lieberman in 2006 Democratic primary by empty suit Ned Lamont.

These ideological nihilists cheered the political cleansing of Republican party from the impure moderate who was Republican nominee, endorsed by local GOP leaders -- and then forced to drop out. Victory! They celebrated.

(His emphasis)

Scary thought? If the Clinton campaign hadn't blown all its money on Super Tuesday, Lanny Davis would probably be in the White House.

There Can Be Only One.

Nominate InstaPutz. Heh.

Apparently, it is on!

Hehindeedy, the Weblog Awards season is here! This time, fellow travelers, we would like to be nominated.

At your leisure, please help InstaPutz geterdone for best very large blog. Click click!

...What? "Ha ha! We are Axelrod to your Penn, Instaputz! Plouffe to your Schmidt.  Quit now before the *thwap* is laid upon you." Looks like someone's asking for a cock-slapping! On balance, I prefer to think of us as Larry Johnson to their Darragh Murphy.

[this post will be up top til the evening]

Tweety smacks MC Steele around.

One for the Bookmarks.

A reader turned us on to this deliciously vicious site, Text From the Ex. Here's the mission statement:

Got a nasty/funny/embarrassing message from your ex? Send it to me! As you can see from my cross-stitch series, I also like artwork that showcases the text from the ex. Ex-lovers, ex-spouses, ex-friends, ex-employees ... I want your photographs, paintings, drawings, knittings, e-mail screen shots, post it notes, whatever! Just e-mail them to TextFromTheEx@gmail.com and I will post them to the site.

Here's her latest, which I may frame and hang in my kitchen.

What the base wants to hear vs. reality.

Putz provides the wingnut-preferred narrative.

And actual journalists supply the reality.

While the economy and jobs were the chief concern for voters in both states, 26 percent of New Jersey residents said property taxes was also a major issue, while another 20 percent mentioned corruption, according to CNN exit polling. In a similar CNN survey taken in Virginia, health care was the most important issue for 24 percent of the voters, while 15 percent named taxes and transportation was mentioned by 7 percent.

Further proof that this election was not solely focused on Obama, 56 percent of Virginians said that the president was not a factor when it came down to their vote. In New Jersey, that number increased to 60 percent of the people who went to the polls on Tuesday.

TEAPARTY!

Hoffman loses! Conservatives win!

Mmm-hmm.

I wonder what their reaction would've been if Hoffman actually won?

Dreher: "Gay marriage: 0 wins, 31 losses"

Rod Dreher gleefully notes that each of the 31 states that have addressed gay marriage at the ballot box has rejected it. He says:

You can come up with all kinds of theories about why this is, blaming the voters for being bigots, accuse the churches of playing dirty, whatever. The plain fact is, every single time it's been put to a popular vote (as opposed to allowing a tiny number of elites to vote on it), gay marriage has been a loser.

Do I think it always will be? No, I do not, in part because homosexuality is far more accepted by young Americans, and in part because heterosexual America has already conceded the philosophical grounds on which traditional marriage was based (which is why younger Americans are more comfortable with gay marriage). Nor do I believe that the voters are always right. But unless you're prepared to call more than half the country bigots -- and I have no doubt that many, perhaps most, gay marriage supporters are, and let that self-serving explanation suffice -- maybe, just maybe, you ought to ask yourself if there's something else going on here.

Really? I'm quite prepared to call half my countrymen bigots.

F*^K TAXES! F%&K THE GUB'MINT!

The two largest employers in NY-23 are Fort Drum and the NY State Department of Correctional Services. And there's not even a close third.

Pack it in

So I think last night made one thing clear: the Democratic Party is finished and should consider disbanding rather than suffer further humiliation.

A truly inspired graf from Thers.

On my boy, Erick Erickson's weird reaction to getting his ass kicked.

So the point is that the until the national GOP stops supporting moderates who can win in moderate districts by being moderate, Erick Erickson will make these moderates lose by supporting a crazy extremist who's probably going to lose. Erick Erickson is the guy with no hair or eyebrows who has yet to learn why when you employ scorched-earth tactics, the classical advice is to not then stand around picking your nose in the middle of the cornfield.

So funny.

Pfffffffffffffffffffffft

Hahahahaha. Ha. Ha. Ahaha. Haha. haaaah.


But Hoffman was endorsed by Palin AND Glenn Beck!

Ruh-roh!

Circular firing squad, take your positions...

Hold......hold.....