Murtha!

Sirota!

Fitz?

Lamont! Strickland! Rootz!

THAT PHOTO OF OUR PRESIDENT makes me laugh, Christy! Until I cry.

Thanks for this goody. Any word from Jane yet today?

lotus at 3 — haven’t spoken with her as yet this morning. I hope she and her sister have been able to get a little sleep. When we spoke yesterday, things sounded not so good for her mom, so if everyone could please keep them in thoughts and prayers (since I can’t think of anything else we can do at the moment), I’d appreciate it. And I’ll update as soon as I have any news.

Thanks for that, Christy, and for the boffo job you’re pulling off, blogging for two!

The best thing about the Murtha clip, which isn’t represented in the transcript, is when he says Karl Rove is “sitting on his big fat backside”. The transcript doesn’t really do this justice. It should be “big fat” (pause) “backside”. We all know the word he wanted to use.

Christy, what had me “dying” last week was the Bukkake Festival. Poor Margaret, so easy to picture the blogacity! I was crying, honestly.

lotus — it’s doesn’t feel so boffo this morning. I may need to start mainlining coffee. lol

Seriously, though, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Jane needs to worry about her family right now, and anything I can do to take the blog load off, I’m more than happy to do it. That goes double for all the fabu folks who’ve offered to pitch in and guest post — the progressive blogosphere is an amazing family.

murtha was fabulous yesterday. i have been enjoying the connecticut papers really giving it to holy joe like this one… http://www.journalinquirer.com…..&rfi=6

ccmask at 7 — you know, I missed all of that since I was at the Take Back America thing (I think — it’s such a blur at this point.) Should probably go back and take a peek at everything, since this is the second time that’s come up in the last coupla days…

One of the funniest videos ever made: “Thank You Mask Man,” from a Lenny Bruce stand-up routine. Genius.

Not necessarily work friendly!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZMTPGc0Z6A

Pretty much any post at Jesus’ General, TBogg or Sadly, No! does it for me.

Along the same lines as the Murtha and Colbert clips, there’s a link from BoingBoing.net to a Science Friday NPR debate between Tom Bethell and Chris Mooney (look for “Science advocate destroys global warming/AIDS dismisser”). It’s not so much funny as it is satisfying, because Chris calmly obliterates anything Bethell says, even though he says it in Authoritative Britsh English ™.

If you have the time, go listen … and tell me if I’m wrong for thinking that Ira Flatow focuses on Bethell and has Chris there just for color and rebuttal, because he constantly lets Bethell prattle on while Chris waits patiently to debunk whatever he’s blathering about. To make it worse, Chris gets the shaft for program breaks and has to wait to give some of his rebuttals. Unwarranted deferrence to right-wing mouthpieces extends to NPR as well. Nevertheless, it’s no contest about who comes across better.

when in need of a smile, I’ll often motor over to sadlyno.com

I generally get a good laugh out of NPR’s “Wait, Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me” news quiz show on Saturday mornings. For those who are not familiar with it, it’s kind of an audio “Who said that?” or “who were they talking about?” taken from the week’s news. Plenty of PG-rated snark, all in good fun.

Love and strength to Jane, and to you as well Christy!

MUST STUDY for a nat’l licensing exam tomorrow (she says over and over). Will check back later.

DairyMaid at 15 — good luck on your exam! :)

its about 5:36pm in Baghdad and the temperature is up to 110ºF — without reliable electricity, air-conditioners are probably down …

Thanks Christy!!!

Without meaning to amuse, a link I’ve just had EPU’d is pretty droll from our standpoint, so here ’tis again:

Whoa. Jay Rosen (online-only WaPo) just missed contributing a goody to our latest Book Salon:

“A decade after major news providers such as The Washington Post began publishing on the Internet, they are finally beginning to ask the right questions about what the Web can do for them and their readers – and to realize how disruptive web technology is to traditional journalism. …”

What makes me laugh these days?

I have two cats,one of which is just plain goofy.Al,a big black and white oaf.I haven’t figured out if he’s just a little slow or flat out insane.

My son,the smart ass.His rendition of the chicken dance in big Tazmanian Devil slippers is not to be missed.

Good Snark.I’m a smart ass too.

When Jon Stewart is on his game and does a righteous smackdown of some hacky conservative.

My favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon,the one with the Evil Scientist and the “innnnteresting monster”.Pinky and the Brain is good too.

George Carlin.

Right now my son is outside my office window making ridiculous faces at me.And armpit farts.

I take my laughs where I can get them,lol.

An umbrella group that includes al-Qaida in Iraq claimed in a Web statement Monday that it had kidnapped two U.S. soldiers reported missing south of Baghdad.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13380881/

Oh *ilson, thanks sooo much.

To quell my outrageous and pathological test anxiety, I can take solace in the fact that not only am I not being cooked alive while I am (not) studying, but come tomorrow a.m. I will probably not be dragged from a bus and murdered on my way to the exam, like children in Iraq were a few weeks ago.

Angry Old Broad at 20 — oh, man, that is one of my fave Bugs Bunny cartoons as well. “Bobby pins, please.” Mwahahaha. Thanks for the reminder — it’s pouring the rain down here at the moment. We need it, but it’s awfully gray and dreary outside. (Of course, the birds on my feeder don’t seem to care at all…)

Pogo always makes me laugh! Last night some good person here linked to a whole Pogo site, too. Thanks, whoever you were.

http://www.igopogo.com

My big laugh of the week was Lewis Black’s new special on HBO. The whole thing is a riot, but I particularly liked his bit about the Old Testament. Basically he goes on about how fundamentalist Christians always get it wrong because, hey, it’s not their book! If their confused, they should just a friendly local Jew to clear up any misunderstandings of the text.

So funny I nearly pitched off of my couch…

His overarching theme of how the Republicans fuck up so badly so often that he can’t write jokes fast enough to keep up is great too.

John Murtha made me feel warm and fuzzy all over this morning when I saw the clip from MTP.

Most of my laughs these days are coming from the FDL community.

I’m still getting mileage out of punaise’s comment about Molt ‘n Bolt Coulter, and that was weeks ago.

Of course my kids and dear mr. s keep me laughing too.

Thanks to everyone for the laughs in these difficult times.

Speaking of Bugs Bunny, the “Flight of the Valkyries” opera one should be deemed a national treasure. Everytime I hear that song all I can think is “Kill the wabbit!”

Bwahahaha!

Susan, yer right — awful hard to beat FDL-homegrown goof!

The Colbert interview with Mr. Ten Commandments was a hoot; this is what we send to Congress? Quite a commentary about the “quality” of our representation in Washington, but didn’t stop me from laughing at what a tool that guy was.

Re: Murtha – you just know he really wanted to say “ass” and checked himself; he was on fire yesterday.

Two stories from my own life that always make me chuckle.

Years ago, my husband had an old computer – an Apple – that he decided to sell. He put an ad in the paper, describing the computer and ending with “$1,500 or best offer.” A couple people called, but not much was happening. Last guy who called was clearly foreign. My husband answered the phone, and man said he was calling about the computer. Husband answered a few questions, and the guy finally said, “Okay, how about $1,600?” My husband tried to explain the concept of “or best offer,” but the guy just wasn’t getting it – he tried to offer $1,700. Finally, husband gave the guy directions to the house, and sold him the computer for $100 over his asking price.

Second story is an “out of the mouths of babes” story. The girls were about 4 and 1, and we were in the grocery store on a busy day. We’re standing in line, and talking about the things kids talk about. Older daughter is asking her usual million questions, and I’m patiently answering them, while distracting the 1 yr old from all the neat stuff in the checkout lane. At the point where our conversation has quieted down, and there’s a general hush in the crowd, older daughter announces, in her loud voice, “Mom, I saw those pictures of you and Daddy having sex.” Now it’s really quiet in my line and the lines around us, as all wait to hear the rest of THIS story…brain scrambling for how to address this announcement without making it worse, I ask her, “Umm, what pictures are you talking about, honey?” (people are, I’m sure, wondering whether there really might be such pictures) She says, “You know, the ones on the shelf in the living room.” (people are snickering now) So, I say, “Honey, I’m not sure I know which pictures you mean.” She says, “You know, Mom – the ones where you’re wearing the pretty dress (at this point, she puts her hand over her mouth as she tried to hide her grin) and you and Daddy are kissing!” People are laughing out loud as I say “Oh, the wedding album!” and I’m relieved that I don’t have to explain what sex is to a 4-year old while standing in a crowded grocery store.

I suspect there are other people who tell the story about the curly-headed blonde kid in the grocery store!

Murtha just keeps getting better every time he is on national TV. My dream ticket for 2008 would be Murtha as VP on a Gore ticket. Imagine him taking on all the Washington Chickenhawks!

Just back from vacation…
Will keep Jane’s mom in our prayers.
Didn’t let Rove’s high wire act spoil the week,
but I sure was disappointed until I tuned in to the FDL reporting dial yesterday…
It’s hot and muggy in Boston, but no rain.
Summer is here…

Bay State Librul

Christy @ 23:
I like the neon sign on the top of the Evil Scientist’s castle/lab thingy.It alternates flashing the words,”Evil Scientist”and “Boo!”Heh,heh.

The opera one is funny too,”I killed the wabbit,killed the wabbit…”

Of course some of the older Bugs/Loony Tunes cartoons are full of racist stereotypes,but there are some classic truly funny ones that aren’t.

Anne–wedding pictures–lol

SamaraiSam: I caught Lewis Black’s HBO special too. It wasn’t as funny as his previous but the Testament skit was priceless.

Ed,
I’d like to see Murtha as Secretary of Defense personally, though VP would be good as well. He’s just too valuable as a Democrat well-connected and respected within the military to leave him sitting in the House.

Given all the accolades that pols like Murtha, Feingold and Gore get when they set aside the CYA rhetoric and just talk straight, one would think other politicians would pick up on the idea. After all, isn’t that why a whole bunch of the Republican sheeple voted for Bush: his straight-talkin’ persona?

Oh,I almost forgot,if you haven’t seen Meercat Manor on Animal Planet,it’s just freaking ADORABLE,you can’t help but smile.

And Lewis Black’s new HBO special is hysterical.How that man keeps his blood pressure from causing him to keel over is a medical marvel,lol.

Whoa, Anne, did you ever handle that one just right — and talk about multi-audience-analysis skill! WHEW.

Good Morning Firepups -

well, well, well, clicked on the Sirota link for a good chuckle and man!

David Sirota is HOT!

that was my first exposure to him other than his name or a brief quote on my screen. Been reading his stuff the last half hour. Wonky smart, solid progressive values, oh, and he works for economic justice – Good God. When we’re all so mainstream we have Men of the Blogosphere calendars, he should have at least three of the months all to his fetching self !

This one made me laugh out loud. I think I read it on HuffPost last week following Ann Coulter’s attack of the 9/11 widows. The blogger (and I apologize for not remembering precisely who it was) said:

“I’d call Ann Coulter a scumbag, but I don’t want to offend bags filled with scum.”

Happy Monday!

cbl @38: saw him at YKos. yep, he’s hot.

The funniest thing I recall happening in my life was when I had a restaurant in Fort Lauderdale and the code inforcer told me I was missing two trees on my property and he gave me 24 hours to plant them. When I arrived at Target I saw the trees he wanted planted were $129 each. I left the store, went to a friends house and we cut off two large branches off his tree. That night I planted them both in their perspective holes. The next morning, while waiting for the inspector to arrive, a great wind kicked up and the branches started doing 360’s….it was so damn funny. I had to quickly take a couple of sticks and kite string to tie them babies down. I dig a well around the branches and filled it with water and passed the test.

Once again, Corrente asks the hard questions:

So how big is Karl Rove’s big, fat, backside?

Take the poll!

I loved how Murtha hesitated before saying backside, I guess he thought bette of what he was going to say initially.

But all this talk of Rove’s backside is making me feel a bit squemish – perish the thought.

Yuch.

I hope all those mealy mouth dems were taking notes yesterday.

Punaise cracks me up more often than not. The man has some serious skills.

My son, Luke, makes me laugh everyday. One day we were driving home from preschool. There comes a big, heavy sigh from the back and he says, in this serious 4 year old voice – “You know, Mom, I really love my pe*is. I wish I had two of them.”
Yeah, you and every other male on the planet, honey.

This site: http://www.overheardinnewyork.com

Jane and Christy in full snark mode. TRex. Emptywheel (so snide sometimes). Darkblack and the rest of our community.

We can giggle all we want…but I am afraid the big.. but sad joke is the vast swath of “progressive dem timidity” that still exists….

Until the GOP realizes that we are more than willing to gleefully and just as outrageously, cut their nuts… day in… day out…just as they do ours…

Case in point was the way many of our own were so quick to condemn Larry Johnson for his remark about the suicide of Rove’s mother. Yes it was an incendiary remark…but was it not the same as so much of the rabid shit that is constantly heaped on us?

If your foe doesn’t play by any rules.. than why should you? After all, whats the goal again..?

Something to think about…

Hate to post and run but work demands it…will check back in later.

It doesn’t make me laugh, but Paul Krugman had another great column this morning in the NY Times, [behind the firewall] http://select.nytimes.com/2006…..an.html?hp

“Rabbit season!”
“Duck season!”

But if you want a Chuck Jonesesqe YouTube experience, you gotta go to the link below to see how one everyday guy solved the customer service problem with his VOIP carrier. Or substitute whatever you like as the object of the exercise: Paste Boy columns, forged Niger documents, an old SOTU, a PNAC manifesto, your a-hole neighbor’s SUckV, whatever:

(Warning: runs ~ 5:30)

http://www.dealbreaker.com/200…..gence.html

I’m sure glad I stayed with my land line!

cbl can we put Stirling Newberry on our calendar? Smart, progressive, smart, smart.

Whenever I need some comic relief, I go over to the sneeze “half blog, half magazine, half not good with fractions.” The funniest bit is in “Steve, don’t eat it!” Here:

http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-ar…..eat_it.php

Morning all —

Very groggy this AM. So, will need a bit o’coffeee…

Here’s some Courant news from Joe:
…”"If the unexpected happened, do I want to keep open the option of taking my case as an independent Democrat to all the voters of Connecticut so that they can have the last word in November?” Lieberman said. That’s an unanswered question, he said.”…
http://www.courant.com/news/po…..lines-home
—-
The Globe has an OpEd on Coulter by Cathy Young…I seem to be denied access for now, so if anyone gets there, take a look.
—–
The late lamented Dad (thinkin’ of you, kid) had quite the pre-snark wit. He’d go with these:

http://www.searchlores.org/contract.html
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/humor4.shtml

—-
Now, for coffee…

Give ‘em Hell, Jack!

Since we’re on a light topic here, can anyone explain to me what *g* means? I’ve successfully figured out a lot of the acronyms on my own, and EPU gets defined periodically. But *g* really baffles me.

Howard Stern always makes me laugh. And he has been hammering the Gambino republicans for a while now, especially about the war. Had the Dixie Chicks on recently and apologized to them for criticising the stand against Bush, told them they were right.

mommybrain

oh heck yeah ! saw lots of good stuff about Stirling in many of the post YKos write ups

we’re probably gonna need one of those 18 month numbers.

your post about Luke and ‘little Luke’ reminded me of my youngest – having a bridal shower and entertaining full set of new in laws for the first time. Let’s call them staid, oh hell, three of the 4 had large sticks up their ass – 3 yr old Oliver wakes from his nap with the requisite stiffy and comes running in to the living room holding the waist band of his underoos with one hand, staring down in to them – and flexing his muscles with the other – and in his best Hulk Hogan voice -

“Mother !, look!, my penis . . . it’s STRON-GER!

Two DVDs that make me laugh helplessly, both of Eddie Izzard: Glorious and Dress to Kill. Really wonderful humor.

“What’s been giving you the giggles?”

Christy: a shopping list of them…but they’re bitter, black-humor giggles. As follows:

Bush, still threatening the Iranians with either JDAMS or sanctions, while the Teheran Mullahs have a hot game of marbles, using his ‘nads, and the Russians and the Chinese, murmur soothing sounds of support for bushCo, while fondling their new zillion dollar energy contracts with Iran.

The bushCo asshats cheering a 3 point “bounce” for killing Zarquawi, while a couple of hundred people died in attacks in the few days after his death.
(Their learning curve is improving; at least they didn’t put up another “Mission Accomplished” sign.)

The joyous announcement that the brits are very near to handing over “security” (”Here! I’m tired of carrying this bucket of shit and mayhem. YOU take it!”) to the Iraqi (Read: militia!) forces in the “quiet” south.
Followed by the announcement by the Japanese government that they would be withdrawing their 500 man contingent soon. (With the Aussies main job having been protecting the “coalition’s” prize Koi, John Howard will now have to redefine the “mission” for the cobber troops.)

At which point, the brits hastily called a press conference and said that the “turnover”, as interpreted by the Japanese, was “100% inaccurate”.
They said that it would only be a partial turnover, since “more work needs to be done in Basra and Karbala.” I’ll say!

Lawrence Eagleberger, responding to Russert’s question of “how long should we stay”, with, surprisingly, some bushCo-cum-Churchill bullshit to the effect of; “as long as it takes to win”.

Tim, ever the hard-nosed media newshound, knew which question not to ask:

Define “winning”?

So many bitter giggles; so little time. But also, so little time, for junior’s corporate 4th reich, before the meat-eating petro-dactyls come winging their way home to their oval office roost.

See everybody at the mid-terms! :o)

*g* = grin
*s* = sigh

This is off topic I know but I haven’t seen much reaction yet to Senator Ted Stevens proposed “compromise” on website impartiality so I thought I’d alert those of you who might be interested.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=1141

umm…I seem to be moderated.

But that’s an opportunity to chip in that Punaise is quite the artiste.

And, anyone who’s NOT read the HST ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ is missing something worth advice from a ‘300-lb Samoan lawyer.’

Larry #45:

Saw your post at the end of that thread. Have you lima-charlie. I went over there and gave LJ some love. Could say more, maybe some other time.

mommybrain #48:

Sterling’s meta-analyses are wonders to behold. I gather he’s quite the renaissance man, too.

It’s “its”, not “it’s”.

This is funny every time I hear it.
http://www.chumfm.com/MorningShow/bits/march24.swf

lotus – kids will test you like nothing else, that’s for sure! It probably helped that I knew there were no sex pictures, and I was darned if I was going to leave that store with all those people thinking there were!

not au courant but the joke that appeared at FDL not too long ago–the why is Laura always on top one…

Fafblog was a new laugh for me. Thank you FDL & Watertiger. TDS, Colbert – esp Colbert’s The Word.

The NRO fundraiser piece made me laugh out loud (I have to thank FDL for TBogg too). The reaction I got from telling someone that the same Tony Snow who cannot tell two black Congresswomen apart learned, on his 4-5 hour Iraqi greenzone jaunt, that to a man, Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites, Iraqis want us to stay in Iraq.

Scarlett, the dumpster kitten who grew to maybe 5 lbs and who contantly terrorizes her 14 lb brother and the 90 lb Ger. Sheps and lab, makes me laugh. If we win the war on terror, I’m afraid Scar will go *poof*

FDL makes me laugh – It might be a usual suspect – GSD, Hugh on language, punaise, etc. and sometimes it is just out of the blue from a new post or someone I think of as very serious.

sofistic, thanks so much for The Sneeze. Tears streaming while reading *g*

cbl – There are so many great ones, we could do a five year plan , call it “Some Like It Hot”. No swim suits, just laptops and pj’s (now THAT could get interesting. I know what MY hubby wears to bed ;-)

Love and light to Jane’s mom and Jane.

Top 10 conservative idiots does it for me on Monday mornings.

http://journals.democraticunde…../top10/248

That 10 commandments dude is a moron. Please don’t think everyone from GA is that bad…case in point, TRex – snarkmaster.

mommybrain 44 – double LOL!

Christy,
Best wishes to Jane and her Mom. I certainly hope things work out okay. Hopes and prayers are coming her way from down here in Florida.

pdxlaw at 62-
That is real funny. I had to pass it on to my sister.

Mommybrain-
Try the Sneeze main page, in which Steve tries to acquire a taste for scotch. Heh.

btw, Y’all make me laugh – daily !

al-Scooter – ‘It’s Duck Season, It’s Rabbit Season’ (with Daffy & Elmer)

is probably my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon.

we were recently lamenting how our kids don’t have any ’smart/funny’ cartoons like Bulwinkle or Beany & Cecil, but Fairly Odd Parents, despite the fact it’s on 20 out of 24 hours is pretty damn funny.

Lewis Black is hilarious

10? years ago, as a b-day gift, took a girlfriend to see Luther Vandross at the Paramount in Oakland. this ‘unknown’ comic: Chris Tucker opened the show. OMG! quite literally, thousands of folks dressed to the nines, rolling on the floor, gasping for breath – 4 encores – Luther called him out half way through his set and I thought the house was coming down

Unbeknownst to any of us, it was his last stand up appearance ever and I have only seen fleeting glimpses of that in his films, I would put that performance up against any I’ve seen which include a young Robin Williams at the dinky little, up close Holy City Zoo

The Cunctator 61
It’s “its”, not “it’s”.

either that, or it’s
It’s It” (an old SF ice cream sandwich)

…the witty repartee, snark and graphics here at FDL

…watertiger’s captions at dependable renegade

If anybody’s interested, I have a Dean/Goldwater and 2000s/1960s post (the first of many) up over at Good Nonsense at the moment. It’s going to be a pretty long series of posts, so I’d love to get some feedback about it…thanks!

beaming out best wishes to Jane and family

You’re a wag, punaise.

mommybrain, I’m not going to touch that one. :~)

“I know what MY hubby wears to bed ;-)”

OMG, my husband didn’t sneak on here and tell ya all how I made him dress up like Finegold and read . . . pheew!, that would’ve been embarassing

What’s making me laugh?

I’m still getting some mileage from Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

Thanks for the Colbert clip. That really starts my day on a high note.

cbl *g* read what?

Yup, that’s a 10-footer, punaise.

gotta get to work. The promised new kitten pix are back here.

(Christy, the placeholder name for this cat at the shelter was….Henry.)

cbl #72:

You might enjoy this site. It has a lot of classic sound clips from WB toons:

http://www.nonstick.com/sounds/

It’s one of my sanctuaries when I don’t think I can stand much more of the world.

Punaise, he’s adorable. Um, did you happen to notice that all your furniture (and your floor) are the same color as the cat? How about Oakie? I used to have a cat named Fitzzz, long before Fitz. He got coyote’d.

Christy, thanks a lot for the update on Jane’s Mom.

punaise– what a cutie pie he is!

I thought of Viktor, Ringo, Lucas or Marley before I saw him this morning. I kinda like Mr. Tibbs, too.

Love all your possibilities: esp Louis, Thibault, Lazlo and Hugo.

PS– check out cspan 2 to meet some of the war profiteers if you dare. Shays held hearings on 6/13.

No giggles … just a sense of the sad waste of energy the progressive blogosphere represents. We make ourselves feel good with the tribal identification and the snarky observations, but when it comes down to it, nobody DOES ANYTHING to turn the ship of state around. And no, Yearly Kos doesn’t count. And what about those rubber stamps delivered to Congress? Boy, we got ‘em on the run! Heh! Oboy!!

We are exactly the same as the 101st Fighting Keyboarders. They say they are fighting for their country, and so do we, but neither side risks losing the soft chairs its butts are resting on. We’re all just muddling along, hoping we won’t be hungry or homeless or locked up forever. I’d say “there has to be a better way,” but this is probably just the human condition, so I will endeavor to lighten up.

Onward.

One more for me: The snarkfest that is the Stephanie Miller Show. Jeebus, they’re funny.

Is it just me, or has Josh Marshall really kicked up the snark meter a couple notches?

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.c…..php#008779

And you, John? WHat are you doing that makes you say this? ARe you full of ideas? Action? Please, let us know what you think we should be doing. Besides, I mean, the local activism many of us engage in.

Oh Punaise – he is adorable, and Henry is a perfectly good name – thanks for the pics

thanks for the link al-Scooter, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it

hey Frank Probst – hope you and all other Houston FDLers are ok – good god, 8 inches in less than 2 hours

Let’s stop allowing the advocates of aristocracy to define the terms of discourse.
Old frame: New frame:
war on terror =endless conflict
war in Iraq =occupation of Iraq
misplaced funds =stolen money
social security debate =social security destruction
patriotism =nationalism
conservative think tank =propagandists
talking points =propaganda
unitary executive =dictatorship
stay the course =refuse to acknowledge reality
ban gay marriage =deny civil rights
allow public school prayers =proselytize in public schools
trickle down economics =aristocracy economics
socialism =cooperative human interaction
defense spending =war expenses
compassionate conservatism -well, you get the idea
If Karl can project, then it is only fair that I can projectile vomit.

Oh hell, I did it again.

Reports that the business community is reallocating donations from the R’s to the D’s.

The $ quote:

“Companies understand that the government is run by Republicans, but the kind of draconian arm-twisting that you’ve had for the last five years is gone now,” he said.

Well, if it sounds like extortion.

Suddenly the big R machine is running like someone pissed in the gastank.

-GSD

PLEASE don’t start out the morning with a picture of George W. Bush. It is too startling for the early morning. Specially the way he is baring his teeth. Too much. Don’t know if I can handle work now. Ugh………

John,
Are you advocating a “riot in the streets, tear down the government” approach? If not, then you seem to be woefully uninformed about the activism engaged in by FDL readers. Beyond that, FDL and other blogs help build a sense of community and shared purpose, which is essential to any political movement. Just look at the conservative movement over the past 30 years to understand that.

The Republican party has been around for 150 years. The netroots? About 2-3 years maybe. Give us some time already. Conservatives spent the last 50 years ruining the country; we’re not going to fix it in 6 months.

punaise 82 — whatta face on that boy, and looky, his ears are still intact too!

Of the candidates still on your list, I’m inclined to either Louis or Thibault. (Once had a Roscoe myself, but the poor little guy’s kidneys failed before he was quite a year old, so that one has a cloud over it for me.)

This made me laugh. Hard.

One of George Bush’s daughters attended Radiohead’s show in New York, despite the band’s well documented hatred for the US president.

….
Yorke added that he was unsure how to react, explaining: “hmm I dont know if we should be
A. honoured
B. amused
C. bemused
D. ask if she had a valid ticket
E. object belatedly on moral grounds
F. ask again if she had a ticket and question whether this really what our gigs are about
G. don’t blame the daughter for the father
H. shut up and smile
answers on a postcard”

The appearence by member of the Bush clan is suprising considering the title of Radiohead’s last album ‘Hail To The Thief’ was a direct attack on President Bush’s narrow election win.

From previous thread…

Phillip and spider (and any others interested hehe)…

If you are fond of the fugue, check out some of Beethoven’s later piano sonatas. While not technically fugues, a few of the movements have been explicitly listed as “fugue”, while others are very fugue-reminiscent. I’m sorry I don’t have my sheet music here, but check the later sonatas, Op. 100ish and up. It’s interesting that he decided to incorporate the fugue form this late in his life, and in the middle of the Romantic period of music. Bach’s fugues tend to sound like studies in architecture, exquisitely formed, while Beethoven’s fugue-inspired pieces are a lot more emotional.

Oh well enough thread derailing hehe.

Whoopsie, that story was at:

http://www.nme.com/news/radiohead/23374

Not enough coffee yet:)

al-Scooter,

“Blaque Jaque Shellaque, that’s who.”

I haven’t heard that one in a long time.

-GSD

Laughing at Anne’s story, reminds me of telling my own older son about how babies are made.
He heard me say that a daddy puts his penis in the mommy’s vagina, and immediately looked down.
“It comes OFF?”

What’s with these WaPo reporters who take my question in their chats, but never answer it? I’m up first with Shailagh Murray, but she never answers my question! (Maybe they are getting tired of me!)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..00990.html

John at 8:13.
One of the first FDL Book Salons was on Rick Pearlstein’s BEFORE THE STORM. The rise of the conservative movement began with Barry Goldwater, who as you know got his clock cleaned by LBJ in ‘64.

The Colbert interview with the do-nothingest republican is hilarious though seeing that interview made me wonder if we might in fact be better off having lobbyists write our federal legislation after all. that’s a big yikes.

punaise –

Beautiful little kitty — looks to be 10 weeks old to me. I vote for Henry; kind of a calm name, for a kitty that has enough exitement in him to last a while. Maybe multiple names; Henry and something else, for when he’s an older layabout.

Lots of good posts at TPM — Liebersplat and more.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/

This one especially, for the arm flappers and hand wringers –

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.c…..008778.php

Political insiders consistently overstate the importance of slogans and programs. Political tides aren’t unleashed or weathered because of message discipline or thematic fine-tuning. They come about because of failures or victories abroad, big motions in the economy, or judgments coalescing in the public mind in ways that are as inscrutable in their origins as they can be transparent in their effects. …

I’m not suggesting that anyone just sit back and let history happen. Politics matters. Organization matters. Message matters. But there’s a line from Seneca in which he says, “Fate leads the willing and drags the unwilling.” And there’s a political corollary to this as well. Voters are making a decision about Bush’s presidency and the Republican ascendency in Washington. If voters aren’t happy with them, Nancy Pelosi’s unoriginality or tone deafness won’t be able to stop that judgment any more than President Bush’s handlers can goose his poll numbers.

So, yes, the new theme is dopey and flaccid. But the only thing worse than that would be getting too upset about it. On the Democratic side, the punch of this election is going to come from individual candidates willing to be fiercely candid with voters and fight Republicans tooth and nail.

Let’s be honest. What is this election about?

It’s not about the Democrats. 2008 may be about the Democrats. Maybe 2010. Not 2006. 2006 is about George W. Bush and the Republican party. And, specifically, how many people are fed up with what’s happened over the last six years and want to make a change? The constitution gives the people only one way to do that in 2006 — put a hard brake on the president’s power by turning one or both houses of Congress over to the opposition party.

That’s why Newt Gingrich was so on the mark, ironically, when he suggested the Democrats’ slogan should be “Had Enough?” (As a way of understanding Gingrich’s particular genius, consider that “Had Enough?” and “A New Direction for America” are actually two ways of saying the exact same thing — with the first forceful and infectious and the second limp and denatured.) Everything else the election is allegedly about is chatter. The details are so many fine points about making the sale, framing the question. And, yes, those are important. But that is the question. And nothing the geniuses on either side do will change that from being the question. …

Kurt – 98 :

fugue-etaboutit :~)

This week, front page of the Globe. Laura leaves George because of Condi. Not playing well in the south, as all the KKK christians file by the rags to buy their groceries. Can’t miss it. End times if you can’t believe the Globe. If history is a pendulum..Clinton was impeached for sex. We can hope.

I enjoy any chance to laugh for medical reasons — I think you live longer if you laugh regularly.

I’m enjoying the posts today and I’d like to give special shout out to whoever posted the court transcripts of silly things people say. I laughed until I cried reading that.

For my own “moments with children” where you laugh about it later but it was touch and go at the time:

In 1990 my husband was away working in a city called Kingston doing decorative painting for themed hotel rooms. Any Canadian readers will know that Kingston is famous for the five penetentiaries it has. It is a common phrase to say some has been “sent to Kingston” meaning a long term jail sentence.

At the time I had a four year old, an under one and I was pregnant with my third. My daughter was very chatty and articulate and charmed people when she spoke with that combination of enthusiasm and wisdom that 4 year olds possess.

We were riding on the street car and she was holding forth with the bus driver. Everyone was listening in and smiling or chuckling at what she said. Finally the driver asked what her daddy did.

“My daddy’s in Kingston! He paints clouds!”, she said in a loud proud voice.

You could hear everyone sigh and I don’t think everyone believed me when I explained “Not in Kingston. Working in Kingston. Painting clouds. Working in Kingston, painting clouds. And other stuff. Really.”

I think some of them thought he wasn’t the only one who should be locked up in the loony bin.

Front page of the Globe. Laure leaves George because of Condi. Not playing well in the south.Not mainstream MSM but has a good track record on dem. infidelities.

Sorry for the double post. I’m so excited over the crack in the repub. PR machine.

TeddySanFran,
Great question at the WaPo’s online chat.
IMO, the best we can hope for out of those John F. Harris monitored chats is that they publish your/our questions and comments. In the past imo there was a much stronger tendency to publish only the neocon questions/comments.

Froomkin is the only one I have seen (and Edsall, but he’s retired), who actually dare to respond substantively in his chats.

I still think there is great value in submitting questions, as it lets the reporters know what their readers are interested in. The chats also offer a pretty direct conduit wrt stories we think deserve more coverage.

Well, I’m going to buy a copy of the Globe — have to encourage them, when they get it right.

YESSSSSSSSSSS>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
June 19, 2006
Gore Refuses to Back Lieberman
Interviewed on Bloomberg TV, Al Gore refused to endorse his former vice presidential running mate, Sen. Joe Lieberman (C-CT), in his re-election race.

Said Gore: “I am not involved. I typically do not get involved in Democratic primaries. Joe is my close friend, Joe and Hadassah are close to Tipper and me and it would be very difficult for me to ever oppose him. But I don’t get involved in primaries typically. He’s a great guy and he’s right on a lot of other issues.”

Of course, Gore did get involved in the 2004 Democratic presidential primaries and backed Howard Dean over Lieberman.

Update: Lieberman challenger Ned Lamont is announcing “a major endorsement” this afternoon.
http://politicalwire.com/archi…..erman.html

“This time, we didn’t forget the gravy.”

Bill Murray in Caddyshack and Stripes always get me.

Some of the old Carol Burnett shows were great.

The Three Stooges.

Bailiff: “Please drop the vernacular.”

Curly: “Vernacular? That’s a derby.”

Much of John Belushi in SNL.

-GSD

I zoomed by that Globe cover yesterday but didn’t have time to check out its effect on others behind me. Well hey, everybody else is bailing on him, Laura might as well too.

My campaign slogan for 2006.

“George Bush, what a dick!”

Please feel free to recommend to your nearest congresman or senator.

-GSD

John,I don’t think you can make a blanket statement and say none of us do anything that makes a dent in things.I can only speak for myself,but I do as much as I can away from the keyboard.

I sponsor a Lakota child on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.I’ve got to know his family through that sponsorship and they’re wonderful people.I’ve sent all kinds of things to the reservation schools(which are scandalously falling apart and underfunded),helped with a fund to pay for heating oil in winter,and got local vendors to send sewing machines to a woman’s quilting guild there.Conditions on many remote reservations are appalling,we should all be ashamed of that one.

I spent a year making a pest out of myself advocating for our school district to provide a classroom for autistic kids,with the help of many wonderful educators,our county now has a few classrooms for these kids.I wouldn’t call that nothing.My next pesky project is to try and get schools here to see the logic to having their own source,on school grounds,for organic produce and to start dealing with organic food distributors,our schools have horrible food and none of it is cooked on site anymore.

I’m trying now to form a small progressive coalition to meet and kick around ideas over potluck suppers.I live in a red state,I can’t fight the powers that be by myself.I need help,and it’s been slow going.

If we don’t communicate with one another,no ideas get shared and refined.That’s what we try to do on progressive blogs.Kick around ideas and look for ways to bend the system to our will.This is a battle that takes years,we didn’t get ourselves into this mess in a couple of days.We are NOT like the fighting keyboarders on the right,for one,we aren’t warmongers.

Okay, kids make you laugh…

My daughters were about 6 and 8 years old, and going to visit their dad for the the summer. Their dads neighbor had rainbow stickers and a lot of dogs, so I figured they were “family”.

I said to my youngest daughter, in some vain attempt at normalization, “You know, your dad’s neighbors, the ones with the dogs, I think they are gay too.

Her response, with a twinkle in her eye was

“The dogs are gay?”

molly thanks for the news about the Globe.
It reminded me of what Tommy Lee Jones’ character said about the tabloids in MEN IN BLACK, “best investigative reporting on the planet.”

punaise, if you’re around, that kitten appears to be a mouthy redhead, hence the only name you could possibly give him is Rex.

TRex, that thought came to mind!

I just received my paper copy of Harper’s this month and there was a little story regarding a clarification posted in December on the US website wrt Reverend George Bush and a book entitled “Life of Mohammed” in 1830. Reverend Bush was the cousin of Obadiah Bush, who was the great great great grandfather of the current president, five generatio0ns removed, but NOT his direct ancestor.

the story sends the reader to this link:

How to Identify Misinformation

How can a journalist or a news consumer tell if a story is true or false? There are no exact rules, but the following clues can help indicate if a story or allegation is true.

Does the story fit the pattern of a conspiracy theory?
Does the story fit the pattern of an “urban legend?”
Does the story contain a shocking revelation about a highly controversial issue?
Is the source trustworthy?
What does further research tell you?
http://usinfo.state.gov/media/…..95713.html

Other than Waas and a few of his colleagues, it might be the only investigative journalism left in the US. I’ve always wondered why the Enquirer was hit with anthrax. And what ever happened to that investigation, anyway?

In case you’re waiting, Leopold/Ash have not posted their comprehensive accounting on confidential sources as of 11:51 EST as they stated on Friday, “Expect a more comprehensive accounting of this matter on Monday, June 19.”

http://forum.truthout.org/blog…..182858/234

this little animation from HuffPo will make you smile (or cry if you’re a Gooper): Mary Cheney’s Closet — http://marycheneysbook.cf.huffingtonpost.com/

GSD #101:

My all-time fave is Daffy, especially when I see some wingnut talking head:

“Eaaaaaaaasy, stomach! Don’t turn over, now!”

I cracked up when I saw Joaquin Phoenix wearing a tin-foil hat in “Signs”. The movie was tedious and obvious but Joaquin was a hoot.

Bush/Rove/Cheney have created an America beset on all sides.

Italy seeks to indict US soldiers invloved in killing the Italian special agent who was with journalist Sgrena.

Now go to Xinhua and Pravda and read what the Russians and the Chinese are up to these days.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200…..ly_us_iraq

-GSD

T-, thank you.
I wish I could remember where I read it, Truthout = Fakeout.

John – first and foremost, if we lose all ability to engage our sense of humor, we really will be lost, and might as well go sit in a corner, suck our thumbs and rock to some inner rhythm.

Activism is happening on many levels. There are many people here who have been inspired and encouraged by the conversation and information they have found here, to become active in their local, state and federal communities. Armed with information they have found in the blogoverse, they have been able to engage others in meaningful dialogue, and change a few minds along the way. Letters to the editor, participating in on-line chats and sending rubber stamps to Congress may not seem terribly productive to you, but they are all things that, over time, begin to distinguish our voices and educate the media and Congress that we are paying attention, and remind them that this is about us – the people – and not about them. Some are even more active, and have related this to us on a regular basis.

I think we’re all a little cranky these days – I know I am. Humor helps fend off the tendency to fly off the handle, and if we can engage in humor here and enjoy it elsewhere on the ‘net, perhaps it allows us, when we do engage with the opposition, not to come across as the raving lunatic fringe they so want and need us to be.

I’m just sayin’…

Bugs: “He’s not hiding in this stove.”

-GSD

I always get a laugh out of The Pain Comics, which ought to be required reading for all progressives.

http://www.thepaincomics.com

Un-disclaimer: I have absolutely no connection to or investment in the success of The Pain Comics. That would be Republicanesque.

Speaking of bailing on Bush, Zoellick hits the silk:

http://tinyurl.com/nu3sd

Goldman must really heart the Chicoms.

*ilson46201

Okay too funny!

Damn, I forgot the bitch was rich….

“Dat Rocky, he’s such a kidda!”

Josh Marshall’s been taken hostage! Check out the banner at TPM.

Court Split Over Wetlands Protection… NYT and WAPO, a good time to discuss Justices Roberts and Alito. If some of you legal interpreters could sort it out for the rest of us.
Thanks.

I still like Purrrnaise for a name for your new kitty…

After having gone through the travails of naming cats for some years, I finally decided to give one the null set of names: no name whatsoever. It was a hard concept for some folk to grasp — it often got called “NoName”. Some louche friends called it “The Cat That Dare Not Speak Its Name.”

In last weekend’s match-up of middle-age screen idols, Al Gore whupped Tom Cruise in weekend box office grosses. An Inconvenient Truth: $1,750,000 — Mission Impossible: $1,183,000.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.c…..009035.php

*ilson – LOL

punaise #137:

Asked this earlier, what’s with Josh lately?

But then, the whole zeitgeist seems to be heating up. VRWM all over Murtha this a.m., K Street courting Dems, Iraq war types hanging their hats (with all the scrambled eggs on the visor, natch) on al-Zarqawi (bad bet, IMO), and we’re still four months away from the election.

Oh, and speaking of laughs, the Joe commercial.

Only time for a drive by (at work) but I’m really upset you found and posted this picture of me without asking my permission. I could at least have gotten a haircut. Darn.

*ilson @ 139 and punaise @ 141

Sadly, purrnaise would turn up a nose at mere milk . . . gotta have that purrnaise sauce.

new thread

al-Scooter 142,
Sometimes I wonder if Josh doesn’t feel like he has to be the “grown up” in the room. His reporting is impeccable; let’s hope he’s starting to shake off the frustrating DLC ball and chain.

Peterr 144, maybe for a Burmese.

John #87-
I think you have the wrong group to accuse US of being the 101 Fighting Keyboardist…

This group shut down e-fax due to the number of faxes sent on the Supreme Court nominations.
This group bought and sent thousands of rubber stamps with the phrase of “Rubber Stamp Republicans” which were presented on the floor of the house.
This group bought 250 plus Crashing the Gate books, volunteers delivered one to every one of our Democratic Congresspersons and Senators.

Many of us participated in Yearlykos where we learned a lot about taking our activitism to the next level. For myself, I am an apointed PC, will be on the ballot in September to become an elected PC which will grant me voting rights in the county & state party. I am a member of PDA & DFA, Chair for my local DFA group. This profile is reflected over and over again in FDL’ers. Also I am a member of my state roots project which is outgrowth of FDL activism.

THE reason why I LOVE FDL is the activism. WE do not sit around and whine (well sometimes when the AC is still out and it will be 112 today) but we cook ideas up and DO things.

Purrmese?

NEW THREAD !

Oh, well, they got it close:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sun…..86868.html

My current aphical take on the topic:

http://www.bgladd.com/Just_a_Number.jpg

Good for you with that LTE, Bobby G

“Sounds of applause” BobbyG

cbl @ 54:

Last Thanksgiving, my then-4-year-old son was wrestling on the floor with some of his cousins and had a painful and unfortunate, but ultimately minor, crotch-related accident involving a piece of furniture. A day or so later we were out driving and spotted some horses in a meadow. My daughter, who loves horses, asked if she could go riding sometime, and we said, yeah, sure. Then I asked my son, “What about you, buddy? Want to go ride a horse someday?”

“No thank you, Daddy,” he said earnestly. “I don’t think my penis would like it.”

I guess that’s a not-entirely-harmful example of letting the little head make the decisions.

Read rawstory today to see how Jerome of Kos and MyDD makes his money. And is it true Armando works for a law firm that represents Wal Mart. Is this why you can be too progressive for Kos if you support dems. who believe in unions and a decent wage?

Raw Story just passed along this excerpt from today’s Roll Call, re the biggest goof we Floridians can offer the rest of yez:

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier for Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) and Co., it has. Her latest shoeless episode, the one last week in which a Prince Charming-like intern was spotted hurriedly delivering a pair of heels to the Congresswoman off the House floor, has a couple of more bizarre twists to it. A flurry of mishaps, essentially, that involved a shoeshine stand and a car wreck.

…

“What kind of shoes?” the employee asked. “Women’s shoes,” the young man replied, provoking a quizzical look from the woman working the shoeshine stand. The aide explained he was looking for a pair of shoes belonging to “Congresswoman Katherine Harris,” our informant said.

He took the shoes and rushed toward the Capitol, where, along the way, he was spotted by a reporter for the Kansas City Star who reported on the newspaper’s Web log that he saw a “strapping young man” hurrying across the Capitol complex “holding a stylish pair of mid-heel blue-and-white ladies’ shoes.”

…

A source tells HOH that while the shoe carrier was inside the Capitol, another Harris aide, a staff assistant, was driving the Congresswoman’s brown convertible BMW over to the Capitol to pick up the tow-headed shoe carrier. And, of course, the staff assistant got rear-ended on the way over to the House.

As if that weren’t enough, after he picked up the shoe carrier, who we are told is an intern, the aide who was driving got pulled over by a Capitol Police officer and was given a $40 ticket for “distracted driving.”

Too bad about that brown Beemer. Prolly matched Alligator Bag’s makeup perfectly . . .

Molly at 154 — if you are referring to the NYPost article on Jerome, my understanding is that it was not entirely accurate. I’d check the facts before you get too up in arms about it. Plus, griping about progressives not supporting union issues on a blog that does a regular weekly union series…not such an effective move.

When you write/call/fax, you might want to mention that Senator Ted Stevens’ so called “compromise” has no real consumer protection value whatsoever.

Let’s say VeriZomcast decides to route certain traffic (e.g., traffic to websites that tend to work against the political or financial interests of VeriZomcast) through the older/slower segments of their network. How would a consumer ever be able to provide evidence of such chicanery?

Lets say a media giant (e.g., Fox) procures a stake in VeriZomcast (or vice versa). Which local affiliate do you think will stream video of the local news the fastest?

http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=1141

Diane Rheme Show today had a House member call in with a snark on “cut and run”. “The Republicans, the party that sits and watches.”

*ilson46201 – My late tuxedo cat was named Emanon (read it backwards). She came to us as a stray with a wicked respiratory virus. I didn’t want to bring her home to pontentially infect our cats, so she boarded at the vet for a couple of weeks. They insisted on a name for her, so that was it. Emma for short. Tuxedo cats rock.

Awww—

just forget it.

Either I wasn’t pc or was out of order.

Tomorrow Dumbya is in town.

And the security is beyond belief. And he turned Vienna into a Prison.

But you all aren’t interested…

Nite

This bit of TBogg snark from a couple of months back never fails to bring a smile to my face:

“Nick and Nora Charles for Dullards”
http://tbogg.blogspot.com/2006…..lards.html

Ump

RenB at 160 — it’s not that no one in interested so much as this is now two threads behind, and everyone’s pretty much moved on to the latest thread at the top. Sorry! Thought you’d want a heads up on this.

aw, sweet lil orangutan,

what a lovely little guy – he makes me smile!

thanks christy.

This diary from Kos –

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/6/19/6146/35599

the last line makes it..