Dead Sexy that Dennis

This is pretty clever. Glenn Beck is a tool.

Witness the end

Well, mark your calendars, that yesterday, the grand presidential experiment by the GOP starring Chimpy McClusterfuck has died.

Look no further for proof than this video. Put a fork in 'em. He's done.

If it wasn't of his own making, I might actually even feel sorry for him, but anybody who has spoken to me in the last 6 years or so knows that ain't close to happenin'.

Sicko

Hey, don't forget that Michael Moore's Sicko Opens this weekend.

We saw Fahrenheit 9/11 in the theatre on its opening night and it was a great event. Of course, Sicko is not as politically charged as F 9/11, it's still a blast to see MM's flicks with a bunch of like minded Patriots.

Speaking of Patriots, this woman is true blue.

Watch the video and weep along with the rest of the nation. You can't watch this and not feel the pain of these people and their loss. So sad. So wasteful.

Friday Random Ten

In the Backseat--Arcade Fire

Otherside--Red Hot Chili Peppers

Maybe, This Time--O.K. Go

Big Legged Woman--Jerry Lee Lewis

Red Dragon Tattoo--Fountains of Wayne

The View--Modest Mouse

Heart of Stone--Rolling Stones

P Funk (Wants to Get FunkedUP)--Parliament

No Complaints--Beck

Tea and Theatre--The Who

Bonus track:

Real Love--Regina Spektor

(From the Instant Karma/Save Darfur John Lennon Tribute)

Go buy it. It's really fuckin' good.

Microsoft

Okay, I give. I'm officially amazed...

Radio, Radio

I'm a bit late to the dance on this issue, but it's an important one.

Go here and hit the "Call your Senators and Congressman" link.

And, of course, courtesy of EC...

Radio, Radio

I was tuning in the shine on the light night dial

doing anything my radio advised

with every one of those late night stations playing songs bringing tears to me eyes

I was seriously thinking about hiding the receiver when the switch broke 'cause it's old

They're saying things that I can hardly believe. They really think we're getting out of control.

Radio is a sound salvation

Radio is cleaning up the nation

They say you better listen to the voice of reason

But they don't give you any choice 'cause they think that it's treason. So you had better do as you are told.

You better listen to the radio.
I wanna bite the hand that feeds me.

I wanna bite that hand so badly.

I want to make them wish they'd never seen me.

Some of my friends sit around every evening and they worry about the times ahead

But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference and the promise of an early bed

You either shut up or get cut up; they don't wanna hear about it.

It's only inches on the reel-to-reel.

And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools tryin' to anaesthetise the way that you feel.

Oh, and speaking of Elvis, I found this ad that was not only sung by Declan's dad, Ross, but is alleged to also have Elvis as the drummer on the tune.

Locked and Lugered

And now for something completely different, let's hear from the smartest guy in the room for change. It's a link to Salon so you may have to click though a couple of times to get there, but it's worth it.

Ladies and gents, I give you...

Dirty Fucking Hippy, Juan Cole.

Life during wartime

Find a city, find myself a city to live in*

Yeah, well, this is America in our age. We've convinced ourselves that the Desert Southwest, Florida and Texas are the best possible places to live in this country.

Okely-dokely. That's all well and good, but what exactly happens in 20 years when the water and hydropower and electricity and...gulp, gasoline aren't around in enough supply to sustain the enormous growth that these new cities require.

I'm thinking that Baltimore and Pitttsburgh and Cleveland might start looking right attractive by then. Just sayin'.

Detroit can still go fuck itself though.

Behind the curtain

Here's a very insightful and lengthy interview that provides us a glimpse as to how things really work in the media churn. Equal parts fascinating and frightening.

Oh, really, O'Reilly?

O'Lielly gets it good from this kid in Boulder.

Flustered, bullying, finger pointing...it's classic Bill-O.

The beginning of the end

I listen to Rush so that you don't have to. It's just my cross to bear. So, here's the deal...El Rushbo (deliciously ironic self appointed nickname) is kinda like Dear Abby. Just read the letter writers and not Abby 'cause you know that the "answer" is always going to be predictable.

Big Pharma's show is the same. His blather remains a constant, it's only the rare opposing view that slinks through his screeners that is the interesting part of the show.

Anyhoo, some woman just called in to say that she is of Puerto Rican descent and that she used to love Rush but his position on Immigration reform has lost her as a fan.

This is telling.

The right will quickly crumble under the weight of their opposition to Immigration reform. They're continually DOA on this issue and will certainly lose the oh-so coveted, "Latino" vote that "W" and his zombies have so long sought to win.

An Army of people of Latino background will drown the "Republic" Party and flee from their embrace.

A sleeping giant indeed.

Oooh-ooh that smell

I thought that I had caught an enhanced whiff of desparation lately. Here's the proof.

Neverland

As I've said before, these kinds of stories just don't surface in American newspapers.

We luv our Dear Leader. No Dissent.

Birthday Boy

Yeah that's right gentle reader, it's my birthday.

It's always fun to look up who was born on the same date. I always get the same return: Lou Gehrig, Salman Rushdie, Kathleen Turner, Paula Abdul, and by far, the most recognizable face in the mix...Garfield.

Speaking of dates, history and the like, my golfin' pal, Shooter McCombover gave me these observations as a digital birthday present. Truer words were never truer...

In 1923, Who Was:
1. President of the largest steel company?
2. President of the largest gas company?
3. President of the New York Stock Exchange?
4. Greatest wheat speculator?
5. President of the Bank of International Settlement?
6. Great Bear of Wall Street?

These men were considered some of the world's most successful business titans of their day. Now, 84 years later, the history books ask us, if we know what ultimately became of them.

The Answers:

1. The president of the largest steel company. Charles Schwab, died a pauper.
2. The president of the largest gas company, Edward Hopson, went insane.
3. The president of the NYSE, Richard Whitney, was released from prison to die at home.
4. The greatest wheat speculator, Arthur Cooger, died abroad, penniless.
5. The president of the Bank of International Settlement, shot himself.
6. The Great Bear of Wall Street, Cosabee Livermore, also committed suicide.

However: in that same year, 1923, the PGA Champion and the winner of the most important golf tournament, the US Open, was Gene Sarazen.

What became of him? He played golf until he was 92, died in 1999 at the age of 95. He was financially secure at the time of his death.

The Moral: Screw work. Play golf.

Swirly

And with it so goes the Nation down the collective toilet.

Take care and don't stare at this image (click on it for better viewing) for too long as it's been reported that it may cause one to have visions of the floating head of St. Ronnie of Raygun which, as we all know, has been known to cause epileptic seizures in Libruls.

Dirty Fuckin Hippies

Doncha just hate guys with pink hair who are trying to change things for the better?

A tad corny, but a nice story regardless.

Values

I don't know what exactly possessed me to look this up, much less post it.

Oh, wait a minute, yes I do. I'll be going out to dinner tonight with several work colleagues from our Red State Phoenix office and I want to ask them calmly and objectively why exactly they continue to support Dear Leader.

Before I did that, I wanted to remind myself of what the GOP is alleged to stand for before it became the party of abject cronyism and blind allegiance so if they reply with some horseshit about Republican values, I'll be armed with what the party USED to stand for.

I'll let you know the results of my polling. And if I perchance get the opportunity to knock a few teeth out of their mouths and the stupid from their brains.

Star Struck

I'm in the Valley of the Sun for the remainder of the week. IMHO, Phoenix is really a dump. Lots of tire stores selling fancy rims with razor wire being the ubiquitous architectural accoutrement.

Anyhoo, so I'm waiting for my flight yesterday afternoon to depart the Cleve when who walks right by me but the Hon. Rep. Dennis Kucinich. It took me a second to recognize him and of course, I trotted over to say hello. I really had nothing of import to say save a few "atta boys" but at one point I do believe that I told him, "You Rock Dude!"

He was gracious as could be and we soon parted for our respective flights. It was cool.

I'm such a geek.

Amnesty International

I kind of got jaded about musicians saving the world a long time ago.

But I love John Lennon and since there are a slew of talented folks on this CD, I'm down wid it. Buy it, play it and tell you friends about it.

It's 5 to 12

Tom Engelhardt finds the time to write these highly detailed and cross referenced pieces and we should all be thankful. They're long and complex, but he's proven to be one of the most reliable truth tellers since the beginning of Dear Leader's crusade.

These permanent bases have been a big issue for me for some time now. I still don't think most people get it. Yet. This will open a few more eyes I suppose.

Another milestone

We're losing 4 soldiers a day now. I remember when Little Timmeh asked Cheney on MTP in 2005 if the loss of two G. I.s a day was going to continue to be an acceptable limit for the 'Murkan people.

Crashcart said sure because things would be "mopped up" very soon.

Huh. How come that isn't on the front page this morning?

Manchurian Scooter

"Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life."

Sid Blumenthal weighs in on Scooter's pals letter writing campaign.

Commencement time

As many of us attend the ceremonies surrounding graduating from High Schoool and various Universities over the next weeks, keep in mind the Bush class of 2007 in Iraq.

Here's a terribly poignant article from the intrepid Damien Cave of the NYT.

Such folly, waste and blood has been spent on W's imperial war, it's hard sometimes to put it into safe, middle class terms that most of us can even relate to. This piece does exactly that.

Permanent FUBAR

Lance Mannion, one of the cooler names in Left Blogistan, goes off on a rant. Boffo stuff.

Read it here.

Hello out there

Er, this is kind of a big deal. We've got a real flashpoint situation that could prove to blow a big hole in the northwest side of the Iraq conflict.

Of course with Paris Hilton going to jail and such, there's no real need to discuss these kinds of trivial dust-ups, right?

Yeah, I thought so.

L'il Mikey B

Hey this is a good thing, huh?

I guess the main person responsible for the growth spurt in this coalition of Mayors is Michael Bloomberg.

I've never been a fan of the shortest mayor in the world, but if he's even partly responsible for putting a burr under the saddle of one Wayne LaPierre, that's more than okely-dokley with me.

And yes, for you Clevelanders, Frank Jackson is also on the list.

Wimpy, wimpy, wimpy

Yeah, this seems about right.

Cavs Win

Haw-haw indeed.

Well, well, well. Not that I'm normally one to gloat, let me take this opportunity to bid farewell to the short and brutish reign of the Detroit Pistons.

Mitch Albom captures it thusly..

It was the Cleveland team beating the Detroit team, undeniably and decisively in, of all places, the fourth quarter, which once upon a time the Pistons used to own.
Not anymore. Detroit's swagger is gone, along with its poise. Despite vows of confidence, of having been here before, this game was the worst loss of all.
"You gotta give them some credit," Chauncey Billups said after the 98-82 blowout -- the second straight year the Pistons have been eliminated in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. "It wasn't us just losing. They won."

Read the rest here.

RIP Gilly

What Jane Hamsher says. This guy rocked.

Mort Kondracke

And the Third Act of the Great American Tragedy begins.

And guess what, I flipped to the last page and read it to see what happens. Psst, it's all the Democrats fault...

Crazy Fundie Freaks

Get a load of this video from the wackos from ol' Fred Phelps' House of Horrors.

Watch the whole thing, it gets really funny in the middle.

So everyone get out there and start sinning pronto!

Personally, I'm gonna go have a drink, and it's not even 9:00 a.m.

Bring it on, Satan!