Echo Chamber

I've Discovered "Hyperbole and a Half"

2011-04-15T19:49:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, a post by Mr. Sullivan led me to Hyperbole and a Half, and I spent much of the day giggling/LOLing uncontrollably at what I found there.

If you have not yet been to Hyperbole and Half, please go right now.

I think my favorite is "Why I'll Never Be an Adult". Like many of the 848 commenters, "I could have written that!":

I literally laughed for days, and still laugh every time I think of this highly personal vignette:

I begin to feel like I've accomplished my goals. It's like I think that adulthood is something that can be earned like a trophy in one monumental burst of effort and then admired and coveted for the rest of one's life.

What usually ends up happening is that I completely wear myself out. Thinking that I've earned it, I give myself permission to slack off for a while and recover. Since I've exceeded my capacity for responsibility in such a dramatic fashion, I end up needing to take more recovery time than usual. This is when the guilt-spiral starts.

The longer I procrastinate on returning phone calls and emails, the more guilty I feel about it. The guilt I feel causes me to avoid the issue further, which only leads to more guilt and more procrastination. It gets to the point where I don't email someone for fear of reminding them that they emailed me and thus giving them a reason to be disappointed in me.
(emphasis totally mine)

Then the guilt from my ignored responsibilities grows so large that merely carrying it around with me feels like a huge responsibility. It takes up a sizable portion of my capacity, leaving me almost completely useless for anything other than consuming nachos and surfing the internet like an attention-deficient squirrel on PCP.

"surfing the internet like an attention-deficient squirrel on PCP"!!! Is that not one of the funniest and most apt things ever written? Again, brilliant. Substitute chips & salsa or a Tombstone pizza (oh yeah, and vodka) for "nachos" et voila - c'est moi.

The final panel is perfect, and all too true.

OK, so as I write this it's only 10:35PM - but I've seen plenty of 3:17AMs in my time - and quite a few 5:17AM or 6:17AMs when I thought: Hey, it's getting light out there - should I go to bed?

Ah, technology.

----------

(It looks like some of the posts have been turned into YouTube clips, complete with Carmina Burana-esque scores - those literally had me in tears. I would link to them, but I've got a bit of the nv4_disp thing going on with this particular laptop at the moment, so I'm avoiding the YouTubes. Sorz. They are easily found, and worth it.)

For Scott G

2011-04-15T02:36:00.000-05:00

Source: The incomparable Mangina Monologues.

Ian Welsh Sounds the Alarm

2011-04-14T23:52:00.001-05:00

The headline reads: "When Medicare is destroyed is only a matter of when".

He predicts a future as slaves - yes, slaves, "in all but name" - for Americans too lazy, stupid, misled, or whatever to do anything to prevent it.

Given the unmitigated cruelty of the current band of Repulicans and the maddeningly wussy Democrats who "oppose" them (including our Bipartisan in Chief), I'm inclined to agree:

Welcome to the Repo culture. Everything you have, everything you are, can be taken away from you, and you are nothing but a series of revenue streams to your lords and masters. Fail to pay, and you won’t even be allowed to be a debt and wage slave, you’ll be in a cardboard box or a debtor’s prison.

Modern Americans are mostly descended from people who didn’t say “this pisshole country is worth fighting for”, they’re descended from people who said “screw this, I’m outta here”. Emulate them and leave, if you can’t leave do the other thing they were willing to do: prepare for a revolution and be willing to die in it.

Or accept your fate as slaves.

Your choice.

Today's Edition of "Why I Love the Rude Pundit"

2011-02-23T23:40:00.001-06:00

Inimitable Rudeness:

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's eyes have the glazed over look of a man who just jacked off to a Facebook album of your niece's fifth birthday party.

Now that you mention it . . .

There's more (saints be praised):

Actually, that's not accurate because that assumes that Walker would try to hide his proclivities. Indeed, Walker seems more like the kind of guy who'd walk into that party with a Koch Industries dildo in his ass and tell everyone to watch while he yanked it to the musical chairs songs. God help the little girl who is in the last chair. For what else do you say about a governor whose official website has a press release titled "Walker Calls Democrat Legislators Back Into State." You got that? Not "Democratic," but the politicized, insulting "Democrat" as adjective. It's like getting a note from your boss on company stationery that calls you a "cocksucker."

Seriously. The Republicans, who love to label themselves the "grown-ups", are actually the asshole in the fifth grade classroom who gets off on disrupting everything by being the most annoying version of his asshole self that his fifth grade brain will allow him to be. How else to explain their joy in perpetuating the use (by alleged adults) of the idiotic, juvenile "Democrat"?

Walker starts this press release with "Out of respect for the institution of the Legislature and the democratic process, . . ." (Wait - should that be the "democrat" process?) Actually, asshole, if you really did have any respect for the institution of the legislature, you would call the other party in the legislative body by its correct name, instead of acting like a Vinnie Barbarino wannabe just to annoy libruls.

Yes, Pavlov would tell me to completely ignore it in order to extinguish that behavior - but it's just so breathtakingly assholish and dumb. I think that part of what makes it all so completely mind-blowing is the fact that these elected officials are supposed to be capable, mature adults - adults that an astonishingly large percentage of the population thinks are worthy/capable of governing - and yet, here they are, saying "Democrat", acting all "Wut?" any time anyone calls them on it, and it's not even clever enough to sniff Beavis and Butthead's crunchy pieces of Kleenex.

Industry Trade Publication . . .

2011-02-05T17:36:00.001-06:00

. . . or is he taking / bragging about the measure of something else?

So that's how we are measuring performance these days? As if anyone ever doubted it.

I swear I've seen a former Advocate Men - ahem, personality - on the cover of this particular publication.

Worst Show Ever

2011-02-05T15:35:00.000-06:00

OK, I've watched more than 10 seconds of Two and a Half Men. I admit it.

At least in doing so I've learned how truly horrible it is, and how frightening its popularity is as well. What kind of society thinks this vile misogynist crap is funny?

If anyone does not already know about a very excellent blog called The Mangina Monologues, please allow this to be your introduction. [The Li'l Bastard Comix are pure genius and some of the funniest, LOL things you will see on teh interwebs.]

Its creator has generated an excellent post regarding that show. An excerpt:

My greatest hope is that ol’ Chuckles dive into rehab sounds the death knell on 2.5 Men.

Oh please! Pretty please?!?

So, for the sake of humanity, let’s hope Chuckiepoo stays in rehab a good long time. In fact, let’s get him the best care money can buy.

What’s the number for Michael Jackson’s private doctor again??

The Michael Jackson's private doctor quote alone is worth a Pulitzer, IMHO.

Galveston

2011-02-02T22:20:00.000-06:00

We have not had enough photos around here lately.

This is Galveston:

(Usual apologies for first-generation iPhone fuzziness.)

At any rate, this is some an Arc de Triopmhe-like (OK that's a stretch), very lit-up structure that they have here on Ship's Mechanic Row. I'm not sure of its purpose - but it is very bright and colorful. When I see it I think of the garish, non-genuine Christmas trees in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Questions

2011-02-02T20:18:00.001-06:00

Let me get this straight:

1.) So - if it gets down to 30 degrees in Houston, and if Dallas gets snow, the entire Houston area (including Galveston, 50+ miles to the southeast) has rolling blackouts because the grid can't handle everyone turning up their heaters? (Same for Chicago when it gets super-hot in the summer.) What year is this? 2011?

2.) Now that Uhmerkah, Jeebus's Favorite Country, the Most Exceptional Land of the Free (Refill) has "spoken" by "electing" John Boehner to be King (or something), our top priorities are re-defining rape in favor of the rapists and undoing the pathetic excuse for health care "reform" that Ronald Reagan's new BFF rammed down the throats of 1000% self-sufficient, totally-private-pay-for-health-care Teabaggers last year??

Just checking.

Land of the Free?

2011-02-01T20:47:00.001-06:00

This. Absolutely.

The ruling class regards you as their greatest natural resource, and theirs to be exploited. America’s wealth was built on exploitation. First we exploited the Native Americans, by killing them and taking their land. Then we exploited the forced labor of African slaves. Then, economic policies have enabled predatory lenders to exploit multiple generations of immigrants and the otherwise poor.

If you think you aren’t being regarded as a slave or an Indian, ask yourself:

Are the richest 1 percent not enjoying the most wild-eyed orgy of prosperity since the time of the robber barons? Have financial lending institutions not taken your homes, after fiscal policies were put in place to enable predatory lending?

Have American wages not been suppressed, since 1980, until they are now essentially incompatible with actual living expenses? (Moyers points out that the income of average Americans — the bottom 90 percent — has increased by only $303 dollars in the last 28 years. The super-rich, on the other hand, have been having a real lulu of a decade.) Have insurance companies not been empowered to deny you health care and medical treatments, because their greed is regarded as being more important than your health? Have corporations not cut your pensions and benefits to the quick, while enjoying record profits? Are American children being given a fair and equal public education which can enable them to reach any goal or opportunity in our new globalized society? (No, actually: 2005, according to an article in the New York Times, was the year that 12th-grade reading and math scores were at an all-time low in the U.S. This is what happens when you keep cutting public school budgets.)

It is not unreasonable to infer from these nauseating statistics that if you make less than $250,000 a year, our leaders are casually planning for your children to grow up desperate and stupid, so that the ghoulish libido of imperial expansion will have warm bodies for America’s “voluntary” army — the employment of last resort. Alternately, they may go to a privatized, for-profit prison — the new American gulag of slave labor. The War on Drugs and the Three Strikes laws enabled a for-profit prison industrial complex to flourish, and now the U.S. incarcerates more people per capita than any other nation in the world, including China. The middle class is the new wretched refuse of our own teeming shore.

This is institutionalized rape of 90 percent of Americans at the hands of a klepto-capitalist, plutocratic minority acting in lockstep with itself. Our Congress and our corporations are now Imelda Marcos, and the boots are walking all over you.

It’s still not a race-war, a holy war, or a culture war. It is, it always has been, a class war.

Waaaa! Socialfascinazicommunism!!! Jesus! Librul media!! Uhmerkanexceptionalism! Guns!

Today in the Nooz

2011-01-29T12:54:00.000-06:00

Peter Daou tweets:

Annoying that these #Egypt protests prevent us from getting continuous updates on Charlie Sheen's drug-fueled parties and his rehab.

I was thinking the same thing this morning when I happened to be in a room with a TV tuned to ~~Showbiz Tonight~~ the Today Show. The Charlie Sheen story (he wants privacy!!) was reported before the latest news from Egypt.

An Absence

2011-01-24T13:40:00.001-06:00

Astute readers of this blog (is there any other kind?) will notice an absence.

I know it's very poor Internet etiquette to remove a post, but I woke up Sunday morning (the day after, as it were) and realized that perhaps an overwrought drama-queen post about a Facebook friend request might not be the best way to "Ignore" something.

Thanks to those who responded with advice/comments! My apologies.

"Rahmageddon"!

2011-01-24T13:40:00.000-06:00

Dang - this was even reported on the BBC.

From Chicagoist:

Whoa. We repeat: WHOA!!!! The Illinois Appellate Court has tossed Rahm Emanuel off the ballot for next month's mayoral election, reversing last month's decision by a lower court.

BEARS * BEARS * BEARS * BEARS * BEARS

2011-01-22T17:20:00.001-06:00

(Apologies to those who may have been expecting something else based on the title of this post.)

For my e-contribution to the GO BEARS effort, I offer this fabulous YouTube vid of Bryan Griffin, presumably costumed for some operatic role or other:

I admit I'm nervous about tomorrow's game! I'm not what you would call a die-hard football fan, but I'm always ready to jump on the bandwagon when it's time and if there's enough room. [Although I grew up mostly in Wisconsin, I've been anti-Packers ever since Reggie White opened his ugly mouth . . . not that I'm under the deluded impression that the rest of the NFL is a bunch of Ben Cohens.]

If the Bears win, it's a glorious victory over their rivals and on to the Super Bowl and all the civic fun and pride that comes with that. If they lose, it's a devastating defeat with them going to the Super Bowl - all of which could have been prevented if the Bears hadn't decided to lose to the Packers back in week 17. Gah.

At least with professional sports I can remind myself that the lowest-paid player on the losing team is making A LOT of money to play a game that he must love. (That's not as easy to do when it's your favorite college team losing.)

Could. Not. Love. More.

2011-01-18T22:06:00.002-06:00

Rude Pundit, last week, after the Idiot Queen of the Pig People opened her illiterate yap again:

Palin responded to Beck's letter with, "I hate violence. I hate war. Our children will not have peace if politicos just capitalize on this to succeed in portraying anyone as inciting terror and violence. Thanks for all you do to send the message of truth and love and God as the answer." The Rude Pundit imagines she was talking specifically about her own kids and not children in general, the majority of whom probably don't give flea fart's worth of thought to who is portrayed as inciting violence. So, sure, feel crappy for Piper having to hear that her mom is an uncontrollable, gun-fellating attention whore who would sell Trig for medical experiments if it got her five more minutes of spotlight time.

"I hate violence." Of course you do, honey.

My MLK Post

2011-01-17T22:53:00.000-06:00

From Harpers, via the excellent (NSFW) Bill in Exile:

Someone Actually Believes This

2011-01-15T15:37:00.001-06:00

Here's a comment on what Peter Daou rightfully calls Charles Blow's "shameful" column.

Let’s get real here. In 2008 an electoral over reaction to the failure of George Bush to communicate effectively policies that remain virtually unchanged under President Obama led to total control over our government by a group of extremists whose philosophy is supported by a small minority of the population. That extremist group used their brief period of control, not to talk about making dramatic changes to our society, but to actually ram them through.

To equate passionate rhetoric on the right to the dramatic damage done to our political system by those whose philosophy is supported by a naïve minority is nothing short of breathtaking.

To use a tragedy to demean the very patriotic folks that successfully rose up to halt this distortion of our system is beneath contempt and deserves the very obvious reaction that resulted.

However, the extreme left will never get over it. They had their chance and failed. The American people have spoken. Their blatant attempt to libel and smear political opponents failed in the 2010 elections. It has failed once again. The election of 2012 has begun and this was the first round.

What a drama queen! Such victimhood, such fantasy! "Passionate rhetoric" . . . "very patriotic folks that successfully rose up to halt this distortion of our system" . . . Gawd.

When the hell was the "extreme left" in power? I'm sorry I missed that. If Obama is "extreme left", what does that make their beloved, sainted Ronald Reagan?

On what planet are the meek Democrats who "rammed through" all this drastic change a radical "extremist group"? If only Obama were one-tenth as liberal as he is in wingnuts' Limbaugh/Beck/Palin, etc.-fueled imaginations.

False Equivalence Alert

2011-01-13T06:14:00.000-06:00

Can we please immediately stop pretending that "both sides do it"?

I'm totes willing to listen to the other side (I don't really remember stopping) . . . as soon as they stop saying I don't have a right to participate in American politics . . . or exist.

Quote of the Day

2011-01-09T19:47:00.000-06:00

Peter Daou:

The imbalance is stark: Democrats and liberals rail against the right’s ideas; the right rails against the left’s very existence.

Perfectly concise and true.

(This, as well.)

Fallows FAIL

2011-01-09T14:54:00.001-06:00

The ~~ordinarily~~ excellent James Fallows, on NPR's All Things Considered yesterday, discussing the horrific shootings in Tucson:

Mr. FALLOWS: Yes. And she was one of the, you know, one of the people who had supported the Obama health care plan and the financial rescue plans and still won this very tough election and what is becoming increasingly - which has been a polarized state. And I think this has been testimony to, as other people have said, her essential centrism and popularity. And she is married to an active service member and an astronaut. And she has been very moderate on many issues. And so that she would perhaps, for a reason, be the target of this kind of political violence is all the more striking and tragic.
emphasis added

Excuse me? Giffords getting shot in the head is more tragic because she's married to an active service member and because she's very moderate on many issues? Does that mean that if she were a DFH then it wouldn't have been a big deal?

Revolting. So now the lives of the mythical "moderates" everyone in Washington loves to love are worth more than those of us crazy, shrill, libruls? I see. Good to know.

Gotta love that librul media.

What Climate Change? Part 1

2011-01-09T14:48:00.000-06:00

Massive flooding in Queensland. Whatever.

Maybe they weren't praying hard enough.

A Beautiful Thing

2010-12-11T21:17:00.002-06:00

So it's just another Saturday night on the A List here - putzing around in cyberland.

Something made me think of Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" >> purchased on iTunes/listend >> I was curious about its historical impact >> Googled >> Wikipedia tells me it was #47 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [Sidebar: Really? Of All Time? The age bias is so obvious it's not even funny.] >> I see that "California Dreamin'" is #89 >> am reminded of Mama Cass >> find her songs on YouTube >> land on this:

Blub Blub Blub.

OK, Who Remembers This?

2010-12-09T21:48:00.000-06:00

Hello, Lehman Sports Club, circa 1999/2000? Anyone?

Ah, those were good years . . .

I'm sure being ten years younger had something to do with it, but still.

In New York . . .

2010-12-09T19:55:00.008-06:00

I admit it - this song gives me chills.

NYC is special - just ask anyone who lives there. (Even the transplants . . . especially the transplants!)

I do love it. I've never lived there, although I've wanted to. It's the home of the nation's first capital/ol, West Side Story, dinners with JT in the early 2000s, many fun nights and days, Tiffane from Queens and Paula from the Bronx at Dr. M's office, Studio 54, first trip to g with RR in 1997, DJ Daddy Bear at Posh, db bistro moderne, meeting V & J in 2000 (town period), MARKT, meeting Eric Leven at the Eagle, all Whit Stillman movies, my 40th birthday party (thank you friends!), DavidDust, Hannukah Hairy at Eastern Bloc, many more fun nights and days, SATC - and the list goes on and on and on.

Let's hear it for New York.

[SORRY - too lazy to adjust the YouTube dimensions.]

Lawrence O'Donnell Will Read You to Filth

2010-12-08T21:44:00.001-06:00

. . . if you dare to question his vast knowledge of how The Congress Works, and The Way Things Are (or at least Ought To Be).

Did bitch just GO OFF on Alan Grayson? I could not believe my ears or eyes.

For 20 years, we have seen every Lying Liar get up on the teevee on Sunday mornings and on every weeknight and puke up whatever bullshit spin they want with only the meekest of objections or follow-up questions or challenges (IF that). However, tonight, on friggin' MSNBC, the odious Villager Lawrence O'Donnell decided that now was the time to go all veins-bulging, spittle-flying pit bull on someone . . . and that someone was Alan Grayson.

Even if Alan Grayson was completely wrong, NOW we decide to erupt in a Mt. St. Helens of indignation? Now?? On MSNBC? On him??

Of all the out and out LIES - I repeat: l-i-e-s LIES - that have been puked up, even on MSNBC, it's Alan f-ing Grayson upon whom someone decides to puke up a gigantic emesis of sanctimony?? FUCK.

Go Here.

2010-11-22T22:02:00.002-06:00

As in here.

Immediately.

Even if it's all virtual, just reading those words and seeing that picture - it's worth something.

(Thank you, once again, Dwight Supremacy.)

This Says It All

2010-11-18T07:54:00.001-06:00

On-screen blurb on Good Morning America: "Furor Over Palin in Finals".

After two and a half terms of George W. Bush, that is what causes furor? Illegal wiretapping? Whatever. Torture? Yawn. Sarah Palin as an actual candidate for Vice President? So?

Wingnuts trying to prove something (What, exactly, btw?) by making a lot of phone calls to a "reality" show? Outrage!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Fellow 'murcans

2010-11-11T10:13:00.000-06:00

Via Mr. Sullivan, this little glimpse of idiocy, brought to us by George Packer:

A Republican poll watcher who only gave her name as Lorna said, “I’m a constitutional conservative and I do not ever approve of distribution of wealth, and I am not a socialist, this country is not socialist, we are founded on Judeo-Christian principles. I will riot in the street if I have to. I have never been so ashamed of the way Obama has diminished the Presidency. He calls certain people enemies. He doesn’t dress properly. He talks about certain networks. He is just what he is—a Chicago agitator.”

That is just so breathtakingly stupid. What a selfish, idiotic drama queen. You will riot in the street? Diminished the Presidency? Really?

"I do not ever approve of distribution of wealth." Fine, you selfish bitch - I assume you're paying for all of your health care out of your pocket. Have fun doing that if you ever get really sick.

"I am not a socialist." Just stop it you morans. Do you even know what a socialist is?

". . . we are founded on Judeo-Christian principles" (or just Christian if there are no Jewish voters around):
A.) Wrong
B.) That is not the opposite of socialism, you fucking idiot.

"He calls certain people enemies" - Oh heavens. She must be referring to the time Obama said "Yer either with us or against us".

"He is just what he is - a Chicago agitator". Oh, snap. Way to puke up the Fox garbage, lady. Can you explain what that means? (Oh and Lorna, fuck you for using Chicago as a negative. You stay put in Puritan Shithole, VA - some of us like it here.)

Finally . . . "He doesn't dress properly."

I'll echo Mr. Sullivan: "He doesn't dress properly?"

Lessons Learned

2010-11-03T06:54:00.001-05:00

1. Facebook is not the place to be right now. I don't need to see what some of my "friends" are saying about the election. (Oh dear - Did Keith Olbermann hurt someone's fee-fees? Was he shrill and rude? My heavens!)

2. From driftglass:

When you have spent two generations and billions of dollars building a Base of reprogrammable bigots, imbeciles and Christopaths, the full, focused power of pure, relentless, omnidirectional, bald-faced lying is truly breathtaking.

3. USA Today is dumb . . . but we already knew that. This morning The Nation's Doormat has a photo of Boehner giving the thumbs-up with the caption: Republicans ready to rule. Rule? Did he get elected king? I know, rules of order and all, but still. And what's with this headline: GOP picks up Senate seats, but not enough. Not enough?? Ladies and gentlemen, your librul media.

4. What Peter Daou said: Dear President Obama and Democratic leaders: for the next two years, listen to the bloggers

5. This, a thousand times. Revisited by driftglass on Friday and excerpted by athenae today. I do like athenae's message of "keep going". It's true.

GODDAMMIT

2010-11-02T21:40:00.000-05:00

Wisconsin . . . WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU?

WATBs

2010-10-23T09:52:00.000-05:00

Dear Teawad Assholes:

Exactly which of your liburtees and freedums that you keep mewling about wanting back have been taken away? Please name them - or even one. I'm curious.

crickets . . .

It must really be very, very bad out there in Teabag Imaginary Scary Amurka Run By a Tyrannical Black Guy and the All-Powerful (snort) Democrat Congress, because I see at AMERICAblog that some knob in Texas (oh, look - he's a pastor - quelle surprise) thinks our gubmint is "tyrannical":

"We have a constitutional remedy," Broden said then. "And the Framers say if that don't work, revolution."

When asked if violence would be an option in 2010 under the current government, the pastor (and candidate for the House) with an intimate knowledge of the Constitution and its origins replied:

"The option is on the table. I don't think that we should remove anything from the table as it relates to our liberties and our freedoms," Broden said, without elaborating. "However, it is not the first option."

Well, at least it's not the first option. That's good to know. How reasonable.

As Peter Daou writes:

If you’re going to ‘defend’ the Constitution, you might want to read it before taking the word of Constitutional scholars like Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Christine O’Donnell.

. . . and add dear Pastor Broden to the list.

Anita Hill, Imma Let You Finish . . .

2010-10-20T18:00:00.001-05:00

. . . and respond to Virginia "Ginny / Creepy Fake Smile" Thomas's voice mail

Good morning, Anita Hill, it's Ginny Thomas. I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband. So give it some thought and certainly pray about this and come to understand why you did what you did. OK, have a good day.

on your own, but allow me to first say to Ginny:

FUCKING FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING CONNIVING RATFUCKING WEASEL . . . and an extra FUCK YOU for that ghastly photo of you and Clarence on the cover of People magazine. "HOW WE SURVIVED" . . . pardon me whilst I vomit.

OK, have a good day.

(source: Mr. Sullivan)

If, Like Me, You're Kind of (or More) Pissed Off at Barack . . .

2010-10-16T10:27:00.000-05:00

Read this, by Ms. McEwan. It's a perfect distillation of Progressive dissatisfaction with our "Fierce Advocate".

In similarly astute Tweet, Peter Daou observes:

In a nutshell, the argument against Obama's progressive critics is this: set aside your core principles and let's win us some elections.

Depressing.

Bitch Did NOT Fucking Say That

2010-10-13T22:28:00.004-05:00

Ah, but she did.

Valerie Jarrett:

Jarrett: Well, I think what we've seen over the last few months are some very tragic deaths of young people, our children. And avoidable deaths. They were driven to committ suicide because they were being harassed in school, and driven to do something that no child should ever be driven to do. And in many cases, the parents are doing a good job. Their families are supportive. Before I spoke at the HRC dinner, I met backstage with Tammy Aarberg, her son Andrew. These are good people. They were aware that their son was gay. They embraced him. They loved him. They supported his lifestyle choice.
(Source: Petrelis Files)

Take it away, FDL:

If the closest adviser to the President on LGBT issues — the one he sent to make nice with the Human Rights Campaign’s black-tie supporters last Saturday — describes a 15-year-old suicide as having "made a lifestyle choice" we are absolutely doomed.

Number one: it’s not a lifestyle.

Number two: it’s not a choice.

Number three: Valerie Jarrett is an idiot.

Yeah - we are absolutely doomed. I don't know how much more of this "fierce advocacy" I can take. I know a few posts ago I couldn't comprehend how people could even compare Dubya and Obama, but here I go: Which is worse for us 'mos? Dubya and company's very very thinly-veiled hostility, or Obama's faux friendship and increasingly frequent (and extremely obnoxious) scolding for not loving him enough for all his broken promises?

UPDATE 10/18/10 9:43PM

Very good post by Jane Hamsher.

There are a lot of factors that contribute to the choices people make about language, and I don’t see any reason to think that Jarrett did anything more than use words that are atavistic and reflect cultural isolation from the LGBT movement. She put herself out there to comfort the parents of those teens and spoke out against the bullying that led to their deaths. That counts for a lot more.

The much greater problem is that the comments do reveal Jarrett to be unfamiliar with the discourse in the LGBT community for the past 40 years. Which doesn’t make her a leper either — it’s hard to be up on the crosscurrents of every community all the time. But Jarrett is ultimately in charge of LGTB relations at the White House.

Stop Blabbing About Things That Actually Happened, Media.

2010-10-12T23:08:00.001-05:00

This, from RudePundit:

By the standards of the current crop of Republican candidates, Ted Bundy, if still alive, could run for office. Sure, sure, Bundy murdered dozens of young women and was one of the most notorious serial killers in American history, but he was a loyal Republican, even engaging in dirty tricks to help the re-election campaign of Washington Governor Daniel Evans in 1972. And if Bundy was running now and some pesky reporter asked him, say, "Howzabout all that raping and bludgeoning?" he could call it a "personal attack" and add, "We've drawn a line in the sand. You can ask me about background, you can ask me about personal issues. I'm not going to answer."

No kidding. I thought the same thing when I somehow ended up paging through The Doormat to Hotel Guests Throughout the Nation, and saw this blurb in a story about Carl Paladino's recent pandering to ~~the Jewish Taliban~~ a "group of Orthodox Jewish leaders" with some particularly ugly anti-gay remarks:

Jul Thompson, chief administrator of TEA New York, a Tea Party group that supports Paladino, said the multimillionaire developer from Buffalo won't lose any supporters based on his comments on homosexuality. "These are just distractions," Thompson said. "I don't fault Mr. Paladino for it. I fault the media for making an issue out of it."

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Age of Idiocy. Up is officially down.

Oh, heavens no, I don't fault Mr. Paladino for saying something hideous - why on earth would anyone do that? I fault the media for ~~sort of doing their job and reporting it~~ "making an issue out of it".

When will that durned librul media learn? Rule #1 (for them as it is for Democrats): Never, ever, hurt Republicans' delicate fee-fees. Don't they know they only exist to provide free air time for politicians to vomit up their current talking points and focus-group approved version of reality?

Oh No She F-ing Di'int.

2010-10-12T21:07:00.001-05:00

Greetings from Washington, DC, "Hollywood for Ugly People".

I cannot stand our politicians - whether it's the revolting, lying, shameless, hypocritical-beyond-belief, malevolent Republicans, or the maddeningly craven, pathetic, spineless Democrats. (Feingold and Grayson excepted, I guess.) Ugh - just being in this town gives me the creeps.

I saw JMG's post with that video by his very funny reader - The HRC Gala in Four Minutes - but I did not know that BFF and "Senior Advisor to the President" Valerie Jarrett had the temerity to co-opt Dan Savage's "It Gets Better" theme. (Mr. Sullivan told me that.)

Gross.

Savage's response is so excellent, I'm just re-printing it here to have it on my blog and to save anyone a click just in case.

Fuck you, you pack of co-opting cowards.

Seriously. You can do a lot more than offer hope. You have the power to make it better. Right now. Suspend enforcement of DADT. Don't appeal the decision by a federal judge that declared DADT unconstitutional. Stop defending DOMA in court. Keep your promises. Make it better. And if you're not going to keep your promises or do what you can to make it better, White House, then you could at least have the simple human decency to shut the fuck up.

State-sanctioned discrimination against LGBT people legitimizes the kind of anti-gay attitudes and beliefs that lead directly to anti-gay bullying at the ballot box and anti-gay bullying in schools. You can do more. Enough with the speeches. Enough with the pretty words—particularly the lifted ones.

Fuck you.

Word.

Guilty Pleasure

2010-10-10T03:58:00.001-05:00

In her weekend question, the wonderful Athenae of First Draft asked about songs people that that they're ashamed of loving.

My answer:

It's The Jets, with "Crush on You" from 1986, thanks. I think I even have an actual 12" of this at my parents' house. Their outfits in this video are the absolute zenith (nadir?) of 80s wear. Good Lord. (Hello, is that Austin Scarlet at 2:23??) I think this is pre-computer video editing, so I have to give them major props for the accuracy of their (somewhat limited) dance moves.

I Give Up

2010-10-10T01:57:00.001-05:00

WTF?

(CNN) - Americans are divided over whether President Barack Obama or his predecessor has performed better in the White House, according to a new national poll.

That is so depressing. Nice job, librul media. Thanks, false equivalence purveyors.

Can Humans Just Become Extinct Now, Please?

2010-10-09T16:27:00.000-05:00

This is absolutely revolting.

He was told there was a party at a brick house on Osborne Place, a quiet block set on a steep hill in the Bronx. He showed up last Sunday night as instructed, with plenty of cans of malt liquor. What he walked into was not a party at all, but a night of torture — he was sodomized, burned and whipped.

All punishment, the police said Friday, for being gay.

There were nine attackers, ranging from 16 to 23 years old and calling themselves the Latin King Goonies, the police said. Before setting upon their 30-year-old victim, they had snatched up two teenage boys whom they beat, the police said — until the boys — one of whom was sodomized with a plunger — admitted to having had sex with the man.

The attackers forced the man to strip to his underwear and tied him to a chair, the police said. One of the teenage victims was still there, and the “Goonies” ordered him to attack the man. The teenager hit him in the face and burned him with a cigarette on his nipple and penis as the others jeered and shouted gay slurs, the police said. Then the attackers whipped the man with a chain and sodomized him with a small baseball bat.

The beatings and robberies went on for hours. They were followed by a remarkably thorough attempt to sanitize the house — including pouring bleach down drains, the police said, as little by little word of the attacks trickled to the police. A crucial clue to the attackers was provided by someone who slipped a note to a police officer outside the crime scene, at 1910 Osborne Place in Morris Heights, near Bronx Community College.

Ah, I see - punishment for being gay. OK, right. Latin King Goonies. Cave-dwelling troglodytes have decided that people need to be "punished" for being gay. Got it. Hey guys, let's have the 7 of us trick one guy into coming over, tie him up, torture him, steal his keys, and beat and rob his brother. That will demonstrate what studs we are.

If there were any justice, each of these monsters, these animals, these cowards would get to experience the same treatment - individually, 9 gay guys against 1 "straight" waste of carbon-based material. Of course, even that would not equal the horror that their victims experienced - so perhaps we leave it up to the 9 individuals who get to administer the punishment whether or not it will result in the death penalty. That still wouldn't even things out, but it would help.

(Sources: Peter Daou's tweet and JMG)

Who Says 'Murcans Are Stupid?

2010-10-09T15:00:00.000-05:00

Listen to this feeble-minded caller tell us how she's "not a racist".

Where to start?

To describe her knowledge of history as incomplete is being incredibly charitable.

(Source: Daily Kos)

The English Language in 24 Accents Guy

2010-10-07T23:54:00.006-05:00

LOVE. HIM.

I f-ing love this stuff. I love to listen to the subtle differences within the US, within the UK, within Australia.

How cool is it that there is a Philadelphia accent? Isn't it so very cool that a Brooklyn accent is not a Queens accent which is not a Bronx accent? That a Chicago accent is so not a Wisconsin accent which itself is so not a Minnesota accent? I love that very subtle but discernible (and impossible to imitate) Detroit thing.

And what about the wide variety of Southern accents? I love trying to guess where they're from - certain North Carolina and Tennessee accents are quite lovely. I also love that Texan Woman Thing - think Ann Richards/Molly Ivins.

[SIDEBAR: Worst 'murcan accent ever? Dubya's fake, bullshit Texas act - duh. Nails on chalkboard times infinity. Of course Heath Ledger studied that as the prime example of fucked-up over-compensating faux masculinity. It just exudes ASSHOLE. Although . . . I must say that Barack's droppin-the-G / "just folks" thing is starting to get just as annoying. It seems that the patrician FDR got his message across pretty well, and I don't think he ever had to dumb it down when communicating with the great unwashed.]

Wow - I'm so very full of love today - but I really do love this stuff.

Naturally, some uptight queens have taken to the comments section of JMG's post to trash the kid. Bitchez, he started and ended with about 2 minutes of disclaimers, and he labeled some of his accents as "stereotypical". It was captivating. Give the guy a break - GAWD. Of course some queen beat me to it in pointing out that having his American say "take the piss" was an inaccuracy, but as he mentioned in his intro, that wasn't the point. I was hoping to hear him try to demonstrate the differences between Kiwis and Aussies, or even give us some distinctive Melbourne (think original Kath and Kim), but we can't have everything.

(Source: JMG)

[SORRY for the f'd up YouTube embed - just double click on the video for full viewing acoutrements.]

UPDATE 10/9/10: Edited for clarity.

An Excellent "It Gets Better" Post

2010-10-03T14:49:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not bragging about something I wrote! :)

Read this beautiful post by Athenae at First Draft and try not to get a little (or more than a little) emotional:

And speaking of shared history, you'll have friends you haven't met yet. God, will you have friends. Friends whose faith will give you faith, whose strength will awe and inspire you, whose company you'll glory in. You'll be courageous with them beside you. You'll laugh so hard your sides hurt. You'll go to baseball games and football games and plays and farmer's markets and out to dinner and brunch and to movies and plays together. They'll come to your parties. You'll go to theirs. They'll e-mail you four times a day and you'll drop everything to answer. You'll babysit their kids and love that their kids know your names. You'll pick them up from the airport and they'll cook for you when you're sick. They'll follow your life like a soap opera and you'll follow theirs. You'll go for months without speaking but think of them every day. You'll think, every day, how lucky you are to have found them. You'll wonder, every day, why they put up with you and sometimes you'll get down and feel broken and unworthy, and they'll come around, and they'll lift you up again.

You'll fill your house with them whenever you can, and as you're in the other room getting drinks you'll hear them laughing and talking. The paint might be peeling and you didn't get a promotion and nobody's making enough money, and everybody in the room is fighting some kind of battle every day and so are you, but you'll hear these people talking and laughing in your home and the love you feel will almost choke you. You'll feel ten feet tall. You'll think to yourself, "I have the life I wanted." And your greatest fear will not be that you'll never get there but that it will all be taken away.

Sniff.

OK at least this never happened* at Cedarburg High School

2010-10-01T16:20:00.003-05:00

Oh dear.

This, from Mr. Sullivan.

Can you imagine?

High school sucks. It's barbaric. Kids are evil. But it does get better!

I got e-mails this year inviting me to my 25th reunion. As if!

I fondly remember my homeroom teacher, the wrestling coach, and my "guidance counselor", one of the football coaches. These were the adults to whom I was supposed to turn with problems? "Yeah, hi - I'm a Senior and a not small percentage of the male population of the freshman class has decided to abuse me because I'm a fag. Can you please help? Thanks."

Mr. Wrestling Coach was also the "psychology" and "sociology" teacher. Our "unit" on homosexuality in Sociology class was a real eye-opener, Mr. Stillman. That was cool when you read the brochure on AIDS (circa 1984) which listed all the hideous things that men having sex with men do with each other aloud to the class in your most sensational, shocked voice while everyone shrieked (not exaggerating) in horror. I learned a lot. Thx.

[OT, but that was also highly educational when we spent an entire class period watching the videotape of your wedding - because you married a Jewish woman and that was all exotic and sociology-ish. Or something. Perhaps I could have gotten some extra credit if I'd brought some artifacts of this unusual and rare civilization to class for added ~~entertainment~~ edumacational value - like my parents, who, like you, actually attended a Jewish wedding--their own.

----------

(* - Never happened to me, or to anyone, while I was there, that is. Who knows what happened at the time the writer describes. I wouldn't put it past some of those troglodytes.)

I Love Peter Daou

2010-10-01T00:01:00.002-05:00

Yes, I said it on the internet.

The latest installment of David Dust's heavenly Afternoon Dance Break series got me looking at the lists of number one dance singles . . . 1994, 1993, 1992 . . . look at all those songs we danced to at the Vortex, Manhole, Roscoe's, etc. Maybe we all romanticize our twenties, but I sure did love the 90s! (OK, yes, some of my 20s were in the 80s.)

The #1 single per the July 11, 1992 issue of Billboard was "Surrender Yourself" by The Daou. The Daou, of course, was Peter and Vanessa Daou.

That's this Peter Daou. Oh, and by the way, he's Erica Jong's nephew (per Wikipedia).

Quotes of the Day

2010-09-25T12:36:00.002-05:00

Here's digby, paraphrasing Chuck Todd's "pearl-clutching" (love that) over Stephen Colbert's appearance yesterday:

Lawdy, lawdy lawdy!! Bring me the smellin' salts Miss Mellie, I almost like to daaaah! Ah have nevah been so appalled in mah laaaahf! Why, po Aunt Pittypat fainted dead awaaay!

[Favorite comment: "Odd that Todd was upset at Colbert appearing in character. Todd impersonates a journalist almost every day."]

Digby links to Peter Daou, where I noticed this unrelated Tweet of excellence:

Democrats better not think O'Donnell will be hurt by embracing Creationism. After all, this IS the 18th century.

To the Know-Nothing wingnuts and teabaggers, it is.

I Bet This Looked HOT From the Front

2010-09-24T00:40:00.001-05:00

Dude, seriously? As if the taking the shoes off thing isn't bad enough (this was Minneapolis to Chicago, not LA to Sydney), nobody wants your nasty feet on the wall.

Typical entitlement - Yup, I'm in First Class, takin' off the tassel loafers, and makin' my self-important self comfortable. Screw everyone else.

Once one dismisses the rest of all possible worlds . . .

2010-09-13T00:03:00.001-05:00

one finds that this is the best of all possible worlds!

Lyrics | Candide Cast - The Best of All Possible Worlds lyrics

Quote of the Week

2010-08-30T23:40:00.000-05:00

. . . and it's only (late) Monday.

Athenae at First Draft.

Responding to this piece of false-equivalence-laden dreck from the execrable Ross Douthat:

Now more than ever, Americans love leaders who seem to validate their way of life. This spirit of self-affirmation was at work in evangelicals’ enduring support for Bush, in the enthusiasm for the Dean campaign among the young, secular and tech-savvy, and now in the devotion that Palin inspires among socially conservative women. The Obama campaign raised it to an art form, convincing voters that by merely supporting his candidacy, they were proving themselves cosmopolitan and young-at-heart, multicultural and hip.

she writes:

Good Lord. His inability to see voting for Obama as anything other than some kind of trendy statement is just so transparently petulant. Ross, I'm sorry the girl in the Obama shirt wouldn't fuck you.

Burn a Confederate Flag Day - September 12, 2010

2010-08-22T22:34:00.000-05:00

The best bumper sticker I've ever seen had the flag of the Confederacy inside a circle with a line through it and the message:

YOU LOST. GET OVER IT.

I'm still shocked when I see someone sporting the Seccesionists' swastiska in any form - bumper sticker, T-shirt, carried aloft at a Glenn Beck ragefest, etc. Yet, they continue to revel in it . . .

Driftglass says all that can be said about the matter here.

What Bill in Exile Said

2010-08-05T23:24:00.000-05:00

Whoo-hoo - was this (site NSFW - but extremely awesome) ever a delicious read:

And what’s with women and their coin purses?

Is there a single man out there who uses coins to make exact change? I know I never have. And when I say “never” I mean that I’m fifty years old and in fifty years I NEVER have.

I bring coins home and throw them into a very tasteful antique Roycroft copper vase and then, when the vase is overflowing in a most unsightly manner, I bag all the coins in a zip-lock bag and take ‘em to the grocery and put them in one of those loose change machines that gives me back real money.

That or I just throw them on the floor of my truck where they will stay for so long that their numismatic value will eventually exceed their face value.

But women have coin purses. And they use them.

And its fucking annoying!

How many times have you been in a grocery line and watched, tapping your foot in ever increasing agitation, as some women in front of you with a $125.18 grocery bill exclaims to the check-out clerk as if she’s just invented the light bulb, “Oh! I’ve got exact change.” And then proceeds to root through her damn coin purse for the eighteen fucking cents?

Every time you go to the store! That’s how many times.

In fairness, I did do this the other day somewhere (no coin purse - I throw my change into a pocket of my extremely masculine Tumi briefcase) . . . but I made damn sure nobody was behind me or even anywhere near getting in line. Thus, I can still join Bill in his righteous indignation.

Love the show, but . . .

2010-07-25T15:05:00.000-05:00

. . . please tell me there's not a Mad Men premiere party anywh--

Oh, wait. There is.

Really, CNN?

2010-07-07T06:02:00.001-05:00

Really? Is this really the top story on your website*?

Yes, it's great that everyone's prayers were answered and little Kayleigh or Breighannah or Kaytelynne was found wandering at a car wash 85 miles away, and I'm sure for her parents it is the top story of the day, but still . . .

What is it with our stupid culture and this obsession that a segment of the population has with missing white girls? How many black kids disappear each day? Does CNN go full Amber Alert when that happens?

* - with the gambling scandal that's rocking the sumo world a close second. What 10 year-old war in Afghanistan? Gulf oil? Unemployment?

Is there anything more fake than a Congressional hearing?

2010-06-28T23:55:00.001-05:00

It's almost like a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court is a reward for the degradation of having to pretend that ~~Beverley Leslie~~ Jeff Sessions is worthy of having his "questions" answered.

I wish I could take credit for the Beverley Leslie comparison. In today's edition of What Driftglass Said:

Alabama Republican Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III Was on a roll today.

He didn't quite get around to whining about interposition and nullification, but as Rachel Maddow pointed out, Little Jeff made quite the cottage industry of trying to figure out how many syllables he could add to the word "Socialist" to make it sound extra scary.

Also -- with a straight face -- the Party of "Bush v. Gore" and "Citizens United" thought it would be a genius move to spend most of the day tarring the late justice Thurgood Marshall with the evil "activism" brush: the man who won Brown v. Board of Education, went on to serve with great distinction as this nation's first African American Supreme Court justice, and for whom Elena Kagan once clerked and spoke admiringly.

Because when your Base has the IQ of Boo Radley, the temperament of Veruca Salt and the memory of Leonard from "Memento"

("Bush who?") it really doesn't matter what kind of gibberish you spout or how incoherent it is. As long as you conjure up an imaginary hippie or uppity Negro to explain every problem and punch him in the face to solve that problem, you're fucking golden with the Pig People.

Driftglass has video of Sessions and his business associate Benjy.

Spelling Error

2010-06-23T22:38:00.001-05:00

Didn't I see some English tabloid with the following headline when the World Cup groups were announced?

England
Algeria
Slovenia
Yanks

Get it? E-A-S-Y.

Last time I checked, the standings were as follows:

Yanks
England
Slovenia
Algeria

That spells: Y-E-S, A-merica! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Ratfuckers in the Midst

2010-06-23T00:22:00.000-05:00

Driftglass reminds us that today's conservatives are "vicious children" (perfect) who:

Have never known a time when smirking in blood-drunk delight at doing things that they believe will irritate and enrage the the imaginary Dirty Fucking Hippie that hides under their bed -- even what the actual outcomes of their filthy, little machinations result in one ecological, economic, constitutional, and foreign policy catastrophe after another -- was not the absolute core of the Modern Conservative Movement.

Read.

Dear Mr. President:

2010-06-13T00:08:00.001-05:00

I understand that you are a graduate of Columbia and Harvard. Effective immediately, I ask that you:

- Stop using the word "folks".

- Start pronouncing the g in words ending in g. Some of us still recognize phoniness and pandering to redneck fucktards when we see/hear it, and that is what you are doing when you drop the g at the end of words. It will not make them hate you any less. It doesn't make you seem "folks"-y - it only makes you look stupid. Clinton could get away with it because he was from Arkansas. But you? Stop it. Right now. It's insulting to those of us with brains. We didn't believe Dubya when he did it, and we certainly don't believe you when you do it. I know that intelligence is a bad thing here in 2010 'murca, but please do what you can to reverse that trend.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Citizen

Look How Evil Israel Is!

2010-06-12T13:09:00.013-05:00

Via Mr. Sullivan, this pic of the Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade:

photo by By Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images.

Did you get that?

The Tel Aviv Pride Parade.

The Tel Aviv Fucking Pride Parade.

In Israel. In the midst of crazed Muslims trying to destroy the tiny nation of Israel - the only country in the depraved Middle East that is advanced enough to find a way to reconcile its ancient biblical bullshit with the realities of modern existence.

Anyone got any shots of the Cairo, Damascus, Riyadh, Tehran, or Karachi parades?

What about Baghdad? Didn't thousands of U.S. soldiers die so that we could bring "freedom" and "democracy" to Iraq?

Here's my primitive, incomplete calculus:

Is Israel perfect?

No.

Should the U.S. unconditionally support any and every Israeli government as it does whatever it wants?

No.

Should we do what we can (maybe not as much and as unconditionally?) to preserve the one vestige of modernity* and civilization in the Middle East?

Absolutely.

----------

* - Yeah, I know many Arab states have skyscrapers and the best airlines. Wevs. The skyscrapers were built by slave labor (not that our government buildings weren't), and let me know how life goes once you get off your Emirates flight.

----------

In closing, Shabbat shalom to everyone in and at the Tel Aviv pride parade! I hope to join you there one day.

Vocal Adrenaline . . .

2010-06-05T01:12:00.001-05:00

are evil!

Just getting caught up on Glee via Hulu. (Yes, another wild Friday night on the A list here.)

Puck's parting shot "See you punks at regionals" made my heart sing. Perfect. (Loved New Directions' Soul Train Line as well.)

Matterhorn

2010-06-04T00:50:00.002-05:00

Here's author Karl Marlantes talking about his magnificent book, Matterhorn.

I just finished it yesterday. It is so profoundly moving - I can't find the right words for it. (Click here for excerpts from more capable reviews.) The only bad thing about a wonderful book is that you eventually finish it. I think I kind of fell in love with the characters - and now I am missing them, hoping that the survivors continue to survive the remainder of the time in Vietnam.

Dennis Hopper - Too Soon!

2010-05-29T18:41:00.000-05:00

Remembering Blue Velvet in his eternal honor.

I suspect that Jeffrey Deitch's first show at LA's Museum of Contemporary Art will have added significance now.

My Small Contribution to the Blogosphere's Musical Excellence

2010-05-29T16:31:00.001-05:00

In the spirit of blogging musical excellence (see this and this), I offer you this:

It is, of course, "Magic Bird of Fire" by the Salsoul Orchestra. Utterly fabulous.

Line of the Day

2010-05-28T11:07:00.003-05:00

. . . and it's only 11:04AM.

Rude Pundit:

No, actually, the point here is to say, "Oh, go fuck yourself with Reagan's femur" to craven columnist and creepy commentator Peggy Noonan

Heavens to Murgatroyd, no kidding.

Read.

UPDATE 5/29/2010

Mr. Sullivan has a less heated but similarly accurate response to Peg's "journalistic" turd (Oh Dog, the title - fucking drama queen) in a post appropriately titled "Noonan Unhinged":

An incoherent tangle of prejudices and feelings wrapped up in hyperbole is the best Peggy Noonan can now muster.

Read.

Suck It SATC Haters

2010-05-26T21:54:00.006-05:00

Was just flipping through channels here in this hotel and I happened upon the first "Sex and the City" movie.

It's impossible to be on the internet and not see some hateful treatise on how awful and ruinous "Sex and the City" is. How ugly and mean was the caricature that accompanied the New Yorker's review of the movie? What was that title on Salon? "Sex and the City - Why Won't It Go Away?" Go away? Why the fuck should it go away? (Where is the article asking why the vile "Two and a Half Men" won't go away?) Anyone else want to offer up some psychosiocologibabble about how SATC is the cause of (or was it the result of?) everything that's wrong with single women/married women/gay men/straight men these days? And then this???:

PLEASE INSTALL ZYKLON B GAS SHOWERS IN ANY MOVIE AUDITORIUM SHOWING SEX AND THE CITY 2. Because sometimes, the best way to help the world is to TAKE lives, not to save them. It's an important cleansing exercise.

Right - because people who want to see this movie should be killed - you know, like they did in the Holocaust - with fake showers an' shit? Ha ha! (Did I just see light bending and a black hole of I'm-so-clever-ness emerge as a result of that piece of over-the-top over-over-over-it-all ugliness?)

I loved, loved, love the show - and then the movie. Are we all really that much better than the four loving friends, whose experiences mirror our own, like it or not? Believe me, my treacly meter is finely, perfectly tuned - and it never went off, ever.

I had the misfortune to see the first SATC movie - in NYC - with some sanctimonious haters. I look forward to seeing the second one in more like-minded company.

UPDATE 5/27/2010 7:09AM

Well, quelle surprise. Look what we have here.

This bloated mess of a movie seems devoted to destroying what little affection you may have left for these women

Yawn. Of course. Who could possibly have more than a shred of affection left for "those women"? And "bloated mess"? Get it? Maybe it just needs some Pamprin and an appletini.

UPDATE 6/8/2010 10:53PM

Ms. McEwan agrees (basically - or maybe even just sort of, but I was glad to see her post on the vile anti-SATC/SJP vibe).

The World's Least Favourite Airline

2010-05-18T17:58:00.000-05:00

So I'm sitting in Terminal Two at O'Hare, or as I like to call it, the Terminal of the Damned, and United "Express" decides to cancel my flight. Not delay - cancel. Something about lack of crew availability. Wevs.

Of course the ogre at the Customer "Service" counter was downright vile when re-booking my flight - she made a point of letting me know that she personally didn't cancel the flight. (No shit, beyotch.)

Since it's a business trip, and I had a refundable ticket, I was able to pull a Cartman and be all "Screw you guys, I'm going to American" - which I've done. That part was fun. If only I'd thought to actually say that - in full Cartman voice.

I heart Glenn Greenwald (re-titled)

2010-05-10T18:20:00.002-05:00

Oh dear.

Poor Jamin Raskin.

I believe he just got his Elena Kagan-apologist-ass totally, completely, and devastatingly owned by uber-mensch and true bold progressive Glenn Greenwald. Raskin phoned in to Democracy Now to bloviate/brag about how he knows Elena Kagan from law school (Harvard Law School, in case you didn't catch that). Beyond that, he had little else to say. How could he not know that his opponent would have an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject, and prime debating skills? It's not pretty. Watch it here. It's so good.

Sidebar: I think we have two 'mos debating each other. It's clear which one won.

Talk about an harmonic convergence: Glenn will be on Rachel tonight. Can't wait.

Love how Democracy Now host Amy Goodman's attempt to thwart Glenn's blitzkrieg with some pablum about Kagan's "stand" against ROTC's on-campus recruiting on the grounds that DADT is discriminatory was demolished by Glenn's more extensive knowledge of the case.

UPDATE 5/28/2010
I have changed the title of the post. The previous title was "OMG OMG I heart Glenn Greenwald". The double OMG (not just one, two) got to be just too embarrassing to look at. I did write it, but at least now I don't see the title staring me in the face.

DO YOU HERE US?

2010-04-18T21:36:00.002-05:00

Driftglass has a fantastic post on the "dozens of confused, pissed-off, pasty White people" who showed up to "protest" in Daley Plaza on Friday. Lots of hilarious (but disturbing) photos.

How stupid does one have to be to spend time making a (poorly constructed) sign that reads: "DO YOU HERE US?"

Fucking idiots.

Doubleplusungood

2010-04-12T21:37:00.003-05:00

My employer's corporate parent issued an "organizational announcement" today.

Today's Quote of the Day . . .

2010-04-04T22:17:00.001-05:00

. . . is actually from Friday. Rude Pundit:

". . . the Scott Roeder conviction demonstrates that we can successfully try terrorists in a civilian court."

Don't tell that to President ~~Bush~~ Obama, though. Glenn Greenwald:

Virtually everyone I know who regularly works on civil liberties issues believes it's a fait accompli that Obama will reverse Eric Holder's decision and deny civilian trials to the 9/11 defendants, sending them instead to military commissions (just as George Bush did).

Whatever . . . OMG did you hear about Sandra Bullock's husband?!?

So Cool . . .

2010-04-01T00:16:00.001-05:00

. . . the White House seder.

[source: Athenae]

A Gay Haiku as Spring Arrives

2010-03-30T00:41:00.001-05:00

Girls in tank tops, meh.
Guys jog - shiny, baggy shorts.
Ah, glories of spring!

Is That The Best You Can Do?

2010-03-28T11:09:00.001-05:00

Via Mr. Sullivan, this idiotic quote from Minnesota Governor (and Malkin Award nominee) Tim Pawlenty:

"The other day I went to look at their platform for the Democratic Party for our nation. I couldn't understand any of it. I don't speak any French,"

The utter stupidity of that is painful.

A Rethug is Lying? Quelle Surprise!

2010-03-25T20:04:00.000-05:00

Via DailyKos:

It's clear from the Richmond police statement that Cantor's office was not directly targeted. Rather, an office that he has used in the past (but not his main campaign office) was randomly struck by a bullet that had been fired into the sky.

I'm not minimizing the dangers of randomly shooting bullets into the air, but for Eric Cantor to describe this as an attack targeting his campaign office is supremely dishonest, an obvious attempt to deflect attention from Republican Party's violent and extreme rhetoric in recent days.

Next thing you know, Cantor will be claiming a backwards B was carved in his face.

What a lying drama queen.

[in Cartman voice:] "Just recently I have been directly threatened." Have you, you sanctimonious twit? By whom, some hippie from the U. of Richmond physics department who calculated the trajectory of the bullet fired into the air, thereby "directly" threatening you?

WATB Watch

2010-03-22T22:50:00.001-05:00

I'll say it again: What the hell is wrong with these people?

Of course, by "these people", I mean the batshit crazy wingnuts who continue to lose their shit over the election of Obama and even more so over health care reform.

Is it possible for them to not act like toddlers having a tantrum? Calling congressmen names? Vandalizing Democrats' offices? If they're such goddamn "patriots", shouldn't they have a little more respect for the democratic process?

At this point, it's time for another installment on What Digby Said:

I can't help but recall hearing a whole lot of patronizing advice from these same people a few years back when anyone breathed that President Bush might not have legitimately taken office since he lost the popular vote, his brother manipulated the system in Florida and he was was installed by a partisan supreme court decision. Back then it was all "get over it," and "I've got political capital and I'm gonna spend it!" Now, these same people are all screaming that it's a usurpation if the Democrats win the majority and then pass legislation that they don't like.

It's fairly clear that Republicans don't understand how democracy works. You campaign, people vote, you win elections, you get a majority, you pass legislation. They seem to think Democracy means that that elections are irrelevant, majorities are meaningless and that all legislation is contingent upon the permission of the Republican Party.

I'm sorry these people are so unhappy. I know how they feel. I used to hate it when the Republicans passed some disgusting initiative that went against everything I believe in. But I don't recall having a mental breakdown at the notion that they could do it even though I didn't want them to. The idea that they were obligated to do my bidding didn't actually cross my mind.

As they used to say repeatedly, "elections have consequences." If the people don't like this bill, they have every right to turn the Democrats out of office and repeal it. But screaming hysterically that it's cheating to pass legislation with a majority just proves that these folks' great reverence for the constitution is based more on their love of wearing funny hats than anything that's written in it.

This is how the system works. If you don't like it, start pressing for a constitutional amendment that requires that all legislation be approved by every teabagger in the land before it can be enacted. Or start campaigning to put your teabaggers in office so they can have a majority and enact the legislation you like. In either event, stop the whining about "abuse of power." They passed a bill you don't like, for crying out loud, it's not like they seized office with a partisan decision by the Supreme Court and then invaded a country that hadn't attacked us or anything...

Pop Culture Excellence

2010-03-21T02:36:00.001-05:00

If you find yourself in a W Hotel, check out this track on "The Sound of Wonderlust" CD that's in every room.

Of course, if you happen to click through that far, ignore any YouTube morons trashing anything about Paul Oakenfold's remix of the Mark Ronson feat. Daniel Merriweather cover of the glorious original by The Smiths. I think it's an absolutely fantastic homage.

Much more importantly, if you want to see Daniel Merriweather's equally glorious mouth in action, go here.

You'll have to endure some dreadful sound quality and a video that is beyond ridiculous, but believe me, it's worth it for the shots of Merriweather singing.

Musts

2010-03-16T23:33:00.002-05:00

Must listen to this: (via Mr. Sullivan)

Must watch this: (via eMackinations)

As well as this:

Nine Days Late: Oscar DOs and DON'Ts.

2010-03-16T17:33:00.000-05:00

A little over a week late, I enjoyed this piece at The Daily Beast on Oscar acceptance speech DOs and DON'Ts.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (perhaps at his most likable?) are fun to watch, as is the clip of Audrey Hepburn.

NO WAY am I going to watch that ghastly Halle Barry spectacle (so wrong - both her winning and then that "speech"), nor do I need to relive the moment that I knew I absolutely could not stand Julia Roberts. So glad they made the DON'Ts list. But where was Gwyneth Paltrow, winner of possibly the most undeserved Best Actress award ever?

Is There A Way I Can Un-See This??

2010-03-15T22:41:00.000-05:00

W-T-F-ing-F??

I found that hideous, hideous . . . thing via Tracy Clark-Flory's piece at Salon. At least I know I'm not alone in my horror:

There are plenty of surprises in GQ's candid interview with Rielle Hunter, John Edwards' mistress and the mother of his child. For starters, the accompanying photos, one of which shows the 45-year-old lounging on a bed in just an oversize dress shirt (could it be John's?) accompanied by a gaggle of stuffed animals and a human-size Dora the Explorer doll.

This happened. Like, this photograph actually exists, people.

I love that last part. When I first saw that grotesque photo I thought it was a funny composite that Salon had generated to accompany the article. Wrong. Does anyone think Kermit and Barney just happened to end up facing they way they are, mouths agape? As if the human-size Dora doll wasn't already bad enough, even when not sharing a bed with a half-naked Rielle Hunter.

Well, That Was Rough

2010-03-15T18:35:00.001-05:00

Just back from a week here:

The small first-generation iPhone pic doesn't do it justice.

One day it was cloudy.

I know, poor me.

I wanted to get some pics from up at what has to be among the best infinity pools in the world, but never brought my iPhone up there . . . unlike one woman who never put hers down. She even took it into the pool. I think she purposefully came over to gab into her phone right next to us after we may have "accidentally" splashed her while she was yakking in the pool. People . . .

[If you happen to find yourself in Los Cabos, Mexico (far, for now, from all the action of the unwanted variety), an absolutely phenomenal meal is to be had here.]

I was welcomed back to the wonderful reality of 60614/60657/60613 living today at my Starbucks by an oblivious mother and her typically loud and annoying toddler. Everybody out of Kate's way - she's having fun at Starbucks! Go right ahead, sweetie, explore your world! Touch all the yogurts in the display case.

Because It Just Needs To Be On As Many Blogs As Possible . . .

2010-03-04T07:47:00.002-06:00

[First seen (by me) here. Larger image found here.]

Happy Birthday, Bedřich Smetana

2010-03-02T21:54:00.002-06:00

Today is Bedřich Smetana's birthday.

I thank WFMT for that factoid. I did not know this until Carl Grapentine told me today on the way to work. They played a lovely version of Má Vlast from the Moldau - perhaps a recording of this very performance:

Carl explained that Conductor Rafael Kubelik left Czechoslavakia in the late 1940s, vowing not to return until democracy was restored. Following the Velvet Revolution in 1989, he did just that, conducting the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the 1990 Prague Spring Music Festival. (So if you saw a guy blubbing just a little bit in his car on Irving Park this morning, it may have been me.)

My very favorite Smetana composition is the overture to The Bartered Bride:

I love my recording by the CSO with Fritz Reiner, but I do wish I could find the Cleveland Orchestra's version that I heard on the radio while in Cleveland a few years ago. Absolutely thrilling.

Olympics Withdrawal

2010-03-01T22:58:00.001-06:00

Goodbye for now, Olympics!

I miss you already . . . (and it's good to know I'm not alone.)

No looking forward to the next skating drama.

No annoying yet familiar Bob Costas and his unchanging eyes.

No bobsledders in their bobsled outfits.

No fabulous figure skaters in their fabulous outfits.

What a wonderful respite from all the world's awfulness the past two weeks have been. It was, yes, comforting to have the Olympics on, be it in the background or very much in the foreground. Either way - no wingnuts, no asshole GOP Senators, no Sara Palin. Now . . . ugh. Even through the reality-based prism of Rachel and company, it's just so - awful - especially compared to the Olympics.

The athletes all seemed so - likable. (OK, most of them.) Oh, I'm sure there's plenty of assholes in the mix, but we didn't see them acting like it . . . except Plushenko and that bratty Dutch guy . . . and all those Koren short track skaters, but besides them . . .

I got a little choked up seeing all the athletes walk into the stadium last night for the closing ceremonies. That must be so cool - especially if you've done well. Anything involving Catherine O'Hara is inherently awesome.

I know the phrase "Olympic movement" sounds rather boastful and idealistic, and certainly his Excellency Juan Antonio Samaranch Torelló, Marquess of Samaranch was quite the pompous ass with his "best games ever" proclamations. NBC's presence seems more than a bit overdone - what was Matt Lauer doing carrying the torch? Is he Canadian? All that aside, there is something to it all . . .

Anyone Got Some Red-Hot Fireplace Pokers?

2010-02-28T20:13:00.000-06:00

. . . because I'd rather drive them into my eyes than see a millisecond of Jerry Seinfeld's new show "The Marriage Ref".

Skin-Colored Skates

2010-02-26T23:34:00.000-06:00

I love Salon's Heather Havrilesky

Before we go any further, a word about skin-colored skates: Blech. Yes, maybe they make your legs look longer, but they're ugly, made uglier by those suntan-colored nude hose that run straight into them. They make skaters' legs and feet look like two orange, misshapen fingers.

Blech indeed. I hope that soon one of the ladies will have the courage to return to white skates.

----------

Before I go any further, a word about bobsledders: Yum.

pweiner pwned

2010-02-25T13:23:00.016-06:00

Glenn Greenwald published a dissection of a Newsweek piece about an internal discussion on who is called a terrorist and why. (Mr. Sullivan summed it up when he said (Newsweek really deserves its irrelevance, doesn't it?")

That led to this comment by a pweiner:

Why?

I'm amazed that you're spending so much time and space on this boring, self-evident issue. Is it just so you can show off your legal chops? Everyone understands the distinctions in terminology being made, however serious, trivial or weighted they are. It's a non-issue. We get it. And if Stack had been a Muslim he'd have been labeled a Terrorist. OK. Terrorist or not, all these people who attack and murder us in any manner are crazy, sick assholes. And our continuing, escalating murder of innocent civilians in Afghanistan isn't helping. You're starting to sound like Keith Olberman.

That in turn, led to this response by the author:

I'm amazed that you're spending so much time and space on this boring, self-evident issue.
I'm amazed that you seem to think there's a law mandating that you read what I write. I tend to convey the topic in the title and first line - feel free to skip whatever doesn't interest you.
Is it just so you can show off your legal chops?
Yes - that's why this post is filled with legalism, citations to court decisions, and discussions of constitutional doctrine.
Everyone understands the distinctions in terminology being made, however serious, trivial or weighted they are. It's a non-issue. We get it.
"I've been anointed spokesman for 'everyone.' And whatever I already understand is what 'everyone' understands, so you should cater your topic choices to my personal interests."

Burn, burn, and burn! I love it. That's how it's done, ladies and gentlemen.

Saying "Everyone knows" is a easy way to lose an argument. I usually ask anyone who uses that how they've had the time to find out what everyone knows.

Charming Bumper Sticker Valentines from the Glorious Heartland of the Homeland

2010-02-24T18:51:00.008-06:00

Up in Wisconsin this past weekend, I saw the following bumper stickers:

One
Big
A(picture of the "Democrat" party "donkey")
Mistake
America

Get it? It spells OBAMA! Please, I beg you, stop - my sides! So "electing" Obama was a big ass mistake but electing John Fucking McCain (and the pestilence of Sara Fucking Palin that he has unleashed upon us) would not have been? Mmm-kay. (This was on a Saab, fer crissakes!)

And how about this:

FOOLSGOLD

Whut? Oh, yeah - FEINGOLD. Cuz voting for Russ Feingold, the most truly progressive Senator in that whole sordid cabal, the only one to vote against the reprehensible "PATRIOT" Act, makes you a fool. Mmm-kay.

Now I'm in the metro Detroit area (within the donut, not the donut hole). It was easy to pick a favorite out of the 7 or 8 angry messages on the back of the Chevy pickup:

IF YOU DRIVE A FOREIGN CAR
YOU CAN SUCK (picture of a "rooster")

Gee, thanks . . . wasn't aware I needed your permission, but I appreciate the go-ahead. Here I thought you were trying to make driving a foreign car sound like a bad thing.

Wish Me Luck

2010-02-24T10:42:00.000-06:00

I'm on my first commuter flight since seeing this Frontline. Good ol' United "Express".

Hope my pilot and $16,000/year FO aren't too tired.

----------

Some of the lights just went out in Terminal One here at ORD. That's encouraging. And we wanted the Olympics?

Meanwhile, the TSA safety professional manning the metal detector had to tell the two putzes who were busy ~~protecting Die Homeland~~ gossiping to STFU and get the belt moving.

----------

UPDATE 2/24/2010 10:42AM

In all fairness, we did arrive safely . . . in a snowstorm. Believe me, I do not mean to malign the pilots. The aforementioned Frontline focuses more (entirely?) on how the ever-present bottom line impacts safety.

Audrey's Dance

2010-02-21T23:39:00.003-06:00

Just because it is so excellent.

And speaking of excellent . . .

Quote of the Day

2010-02-18T20:56:00.033-06:00

"Cancel the halfpipe for sucking."

So sayeth my friend R. and he is absolutely right. 1 hour and 47 minutes into the goddamn Olympics and all I see is women falling on their asses on the slopes and especially in the stupid halfpipe. WEVS!

Have switched to the rerun of Project Runway until the men's figure skating comes on.

Hating NBC's coverage? You are not alone.

Olympics Stream of Consciousness

2010-02-17T22:35:00.002-06:00

After my snarky (or choose your own adjective) post about Evan Lysacek and proclaiming myself to be a member of Team Johnny, I have to acknowledge how fantastically well Lysacek did last night.

Still . . . David Dust did fabulously (and correctly) describe his look as "Big Bird gone bad".

My new Japanese boyfriend (who is 20 years my junior - no, he is not 9, but thank you for asking) is Nobunari Oda. He happens to be the 17th descendant of Nobunaga Oda [1534-1582], a famous Japanese war lord during the age of the civil war in Japan. Isn't that interesting? His bio pic on the Vancouver2010 website is not his best, but he certainly looked mysterious and very handsome in a classic Japanese way (minus the glitter suit) for his short program . . . and he was captivating.

What, of course, can we say about the fabulous Diva that is Johnny Weir? Bitch killed it, and I do think he wuz robbed. He should have been third (sez me). Shakesville has some fabulous photos here. Hilarious Gawker.TV headline, video* of his SP, and many excellent comments here. Thank you, Kayce, in comments on David's post.
(* - No need to download that stupid "browser update" - no thanks, NBC. Assholes).

Random blurbs from moi:

Is it just me or are Korean short track speed skaters a huge bunch of highly-annoying WATBs?

NBC get your fucking camera and microphone out of Lindsey Vonn and her husband's faces. Assholes.

So glad none of the women who totally bit it on the downhill is seriously injured - terrifying falls!! Imagine the disappointment.

Very cool factoid - My friend R. confirms that we've actually skied the run where they're doing the women's downhill in Whistler. (Slightly slower, of course.)

Sk8r boy culture is so cool. Love their clothes. Love the graphics on the boards.

Tony Hawk said: "Massive" . . . "pipe" . . . huh-huh, huh-huh

OMG - Shaun White's coach just told him to "stomp the shit out of" his last run! (And the ten seconds after: "We have to apologize for the language on the air." Can Congress now hold hearings, fine Canada, and cancel the Olympics forever, please???)

Glad Chicago's NBC 5 is on the top stories of the day: "What's behind the shoes Dick Button is wearing." Really?

Get it Julia Mancuso in your tiara.

Tomorrow night: Skating's back!

Miss Stojko Doth Protest Too Much, Methinks

2010-02-15T18:58:00.012-06:00

Yes, we've gone non-stop figure skating here . . .

Seems the extremely masculine Elivs Stojko has opened his trap about how the men of men's figure skating need to butch it up a bit . . . or a lot.

The Salon piece has so much wrong with it I don't even know where to start. As I wrote in my letter to Salon:

The assumption that effeminate = gay: WRONG.

Of course, "feminine" necessarily means not powerful, not strong: WRONG.

Elvis's argument that his whining about effeminate skating "doesn't have anything to do with gayness" is as flimsy as the delicate accoutrements on the costume of a Chinese men's pairs skater. I'm sure that some of his best friends are gay. (huh-huh)

And what's with this?

It got to the point where they said I'd gotten too masculine, and I was like, "What? I'm a guy!"

Really? Is that what you were "like", bitch? We get it - you're a guy. (Guess what? So is Johnny Weir.) Now please STFU about it already.

I'm heartened to read that David Ehrenstein and I agree. He calls it "Pure Unadulterated Homophobic BULLSHIT!", and notes that:

If he thinks skating isn't "butch" enough maybe he should consider a career in cage fighting.

As for Gene Kelly, as fine a dancer as he is his 50's-era special "Dancing is a Man's Game" was a propaganda piece on the level of "Jude Suss." It made life for an entire generation of gay men even worse than it would have been had Kelly shut the fuck up.

Got it, bitchez?? I defer to David E's encyclopedic knowledge of all things "That's Entertainment".

----------

Just perusing the pairs scores and the athletes' bios. Excuse me, but could Mark Ladwig possibly be more adorable, likable, and excellent? He was a volunteer in Salt Lake and here he is competing in the Olympics. (There's hope for me! On that note, I kind of liked the big lug from the Ukraine in his shiny blue jumpsuit and his visible paunch. He had a definite John C. Reilly thing going on.) As a bonus, I think Ladwig would even pass Ms. Stojko's manly man smell test!

Way up in third place, it seems that one of Robin Szolkowy's "hobbies" is "spending time with his girlfriend". Good Lord . . . something must have gotten lost in translation on the way from Chemntiz. How pathetically clumsy and transparent. Do your Turkish relatives know you're wearing a harlequin outfit with sad clown tear make-up?? I declare a fatwa!

----------

It will be difficult to top this comment by stevielee1111 on the Salon piece:

AH...Little men and their eternal need to show that they are not little at all.

"But ya are Elvis, ya are"!!!

(Click on oldest first in the letters section to find it.)

----------

Switching to alpine skiing, can I just say Go Bode Miller?!? I heart you, bro!! You are Bode-licious! [I'm not sure how the fact that you impregnated a female homo sapiens since the last Olympics impacts your skiing, but the 'murcan sportscasters sure love talkin' bout that! Wevs.] Go you.

Unparalleled

2010-02-15T00:25:00.000-06:00

Fantastic job by some of the pairs tonight . . . others fell on their ass in a total Zamboni imitation (I didn't make that one up) and still scored well. Wevs. Some things never change.

Will anyone ever equal these two?

Team Johnny

2010-02-14T09:42:00.005-06:00

A must-see: Salon's slideshow of the Craziest figure-skating costumes ever! (hyphen in figure skating?)

For every elegant Vera Wang-designed confection for Michelle Kwan there have been hundreds of taste-impaired showstoppers -- complete with feathers, capes, bondage straps and enough sequins to outfit all of Vegas (and the Mustang Ranch) for decades to come.

Salon notes that:

American Evan Lysacek -- promoted as the macho answer to Johnny Weir -- let Vera Wang tar-and-feather him for his 'Firebird' short program earlier this year. He's since plucked his outfit.

Uh . . . macho answer?

Yeah - I almost thought he was on the hockey team when I saw that pic. One hopes that Salon was being tongue-in-cheek.

I clicked on over to the New York Magazine piece, where I saw these photos of Evan being extremely macho:

photo: Peter Hapak

The article tells the story of what a big stud Evan is and what a big queen Johnny Weir is and how unmarketable and not "mediable" (gag) Weir is because of that. It features this little piece of ugly:

"I’ve never been scared to have him [Lysacek] talk to anybody on our behalf," says Dina Gerson, the director of Olympic marketing of Coca-Cola North America.

Meow, beyotch. Get me a Pepsi!

Loved these gems from Weir:

". . . they’ve sort of pitted me and Evan against each other like Britney and Christina. I’m Christina, of course."

"I’ve been the underdog all season, and then this Olympics, I can just go and unleash all my diva power."

Get it, girl - unleash your diva power! Unleash it all over that goofy Russian and your macho teeammate.

LOL at the NY Mag headline on the second page above the pics above: The Less Flamboyant One

LOL at many of the NY Mag comments:

"um...evan lysacek...butch? brian boitano is more butch than that guy! skating in a soldier outfit and jumping with his hand in the air is waaaaaay tougher than anything lysacek has done...and, oh yeah, no one had to convince you to like him! i don't what nymag is trying to prove with this fake evan bandwagon."

"I suspect the primary reason why poor Evan Lysacek hasn't not come out may be his mother. While her comments have that "disappointed mother" tone to them, I suspect she'll come around when Evan finally does cop to dating dudes."

I found this one interesting:

"So, Scott Hamilton thinks Evan's got the edge going into the Olympics. Funny that considering Scott has already hired Evan for Stars on Ice. Too predictible. Scott promotes his own skaters and is sooooo biased, but never gives full disclosure of his relationship with them. He did the same at nationals with Sasha. Never once said he was her boss while laying it on thick about how fantastic she is. Gotta sell those $150 SOI tickets any way he can.

Don't know how we'll make it through the Olympics with Scott's braying. Although I love watching Johnny, I'm going with Jeremy Abbott for the silver. He's amazing even if he is costume challenged."

No kidding re: Scott Hamilton - someone get Dick and Peggy immediately!! And could Sandra Bezic be more of a bitch? [Two-time Olympic champion Dick Button, on the other hand, has completely earned the right to be as bitchy as he wants to be.]

Quote of the Day

2010-02-13T14:51:00.001-06:00

This, from Heather Havrilesky's review of the opening ceremonies, is just delicious:

I am flabbergasted. Slam poetry about being polite. I can't believe I'm watching slam poetry at all, this after the grunge 'n' fiddle punk rock festival. Is the entire nation of Canada on about a decade delay with the rest of the world?

"We are an experiment going right for a change!" We make Canadian bacon, and ice! "We believe in generations beyond our own!" We put little maple leafs on our luggage, so no one thinks we're American, because we hate those arrogant bastards! "Canada is the what in 'What's new?'"

Love the part about the maple leafs on their luggage . . . and their hats . . . and their socks . . . and their shirts . . . and everywhere possible.

They Don't Lie

2010-02-13T00:04:00.001-06:00

This is 75% What John Said, and 25% STFU False Equivalency proponents:

The NYT has a story about how MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann are keeping President Obama honest. Naturally, the story gets into the whole "how is MSNBC any different than FOX" argument. Rachel offers up this argument:
Ms. Maddow, however, contrasts her channel’s advocacy with the activism conducted, she says, by others on cable news. “We’re articulating liberal viewpoints,” she said at dinner, “but we’re not saying ‘Call your congressman, show up at this rally!’ ”
I disagree, it's much more than that. The very fact that Rachel calls her show "liberal" is far more than FOX has ever admitted about its network being conservative. That's the difference - Rachel and Keith are honest and up front about where they're coming from. FOX is not.

But it's far more than that.

1. Rachel and Keith don't routinely lie.
2. They're not bat-shit crazy.
3. Rachel's and Keith's liberal views are not echoed in MSNBC's news coverage. On FOX, the "news" hosts push the same conservative talking points as the "opinion" hosts.
4. MSNBC doesn't just have three hours of liberal programming in the evening. The NYT fails to tells its readers that MSNBC also has three hours of conservative programming in the morning, with former arch-Republican congressman Joe Scarborough. Kind of relevant, since it means that MSNBC splits its partisan programming 50-50. FOX has no liberal hosts, period, and when they did have one, for one hour (Alan Colmes), he had to share his show with an outspoken conservative who wouldn't shut up.

If nothing else, "Rachel and Keith don't routinely lie" should be enough to end all false equivalence arguments forever.

As I re-re-read that, what's with the "routinely" part? Does that mean they sometimes lie? Because I don't even think they sometimes lie.

----------

UPDATE 2/13/2009 10:51AM

I guess technically it's 100% what John said since I cut and pasted an entire post.

Daily WBEZ Grumble

2010-02-09T08:31:00.002-06:00

WBEZ's Lisa Labuz, who never met a word she couldn't flub or a sentence she could finish*, just said that the snow is reeking havoc on travel here in Chicagoland.

The current traffic trixie just referred to the CTA's "Service Changes". Changes?? I believe the word is cuts. I guess it's not WBEZ's choice - it's CTA's. Do they have to parrot it?

(I did love this guy, though. Great voice.)

----------

* - No, I probably couldn't do any better (although maybe I could) . . . but I'm not on the radio.

----------

["Daily Grumble" is a registered trademark (or should be) of JMG. This is a one-time thing here.]

If only . . .

2010-02-08T13:01:00.001-06:00

OK, not liking that Progressive Democrats are part of the target here (although if anyone did blab to the WSJ, then they deserve it), but the Palin part is delicious. If only . . .

"You come after me on Facebook?? What are you, fourteen? Here's a status update, grow the fuck up!"

Oh, wait - it's not real. Damn.

[Source: The usual.]

False Equivalence Gone Wild

2010-02-07T21:27:00.002-06:00

Barf, barf, barf: The AP's Liz Sidoti looks at the Teabag convention and shares her "analysis": "No doubt this is democracy at work, a quintessential part of America."

She asks:

Will the latest political phenomenon become a society-changing movement influencing elections and beyond?

"We are people who understand something wrong is going on in this country, and we want to change it," says Dan Garner, a married 40-year-old sales representative from nearby Carthage who is new to politics. Like so many others, he's had enough. "The core thing is a loss of individual liberty."

Had enough of what?? Exactly what individual liberty has been lost? Does Sidoti ask these questions? Of course not! That would ruin her neat little false equivalence-laden narrative. This AP story appeared in the NYT - that's your librul media at work, folks!

Athenae had a great post about the MSM's pernicious stenography.

"The tea party movement has grown out of a sense of frustration about government here in Washington," senior adviser David Axelrod said Friday in an interview that will air Sunday on C-SPAN. "It's not isolated to Democrats or Republicans. . . . There is a sense that this town is consumed by politics, that people are consumed by their own ambitions and that we're not dealing with the real problems."
Jesus Decaf Christ. Can we not? I mean, really, Axelrod. The tea party movement has grown out of a sense of stupidity, racist fuckwaddery, a follower mentality of which first graders playing soccer would be ashamed, and MONEY. That is all this is about. Take it any more seriously than that in public, and you're feeding the angry, rabid porcupine in your yard.

Do you idiots really think if you pay lip service to the "real" concerns of these morons they'll be less pissed at you, less willing to compare themselves to Holocaust victims and your president to Dr. Mengele, less eager to cast themselves in the roles of plantation slaves, less apt to long openly for the days when the different knew their places? Take them seriously behind closed doors, in whatever meetings you have to try to win the morning or the afternoon, but when you're talking to the pretty shiny cameras, treat them with the respect they deserve.

The G-Droppin', Walkin', Talkin', Fuck Doll's Latest Appearance

2010-02-06T22:14:00.003-06:00

The all-too-real and very popular insanity that is Sarah Palin continued its ascension to the head of the Republican party tonight with her speechifyin' at the wingnut gathering in Nashville.

Mr. Sullivan demonstrates incredible fortitude by listening to and live-blogging her speech to the Teabaggers.

He notes two extremely creepy and dangerous quotes:

"I will live, I will die for the people of America."

OK, what the fuck?? That is truly weird and more than a little disconcerting. Don't do us any favors, freak. And then there's this:

"We need a commander-in-chief not a professor of law."

I've just got to say it - shut the fuck up you lying, nefarious bitch. As Mr. Sullivan points out, what Miss Thing is trying to do is delegitimize the duly-elected president of the U.S. "as 'the other' and as a weak-kneed traitor to the troops".

Sullivan warns, and righly so, "If you are one of those people who think this person cannot become president of the United States, think again." That. Must. Not. Happen.

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UPDATE 2/7/10 12:11PM

In the same spirit as my insightful analysis above ("shut the fuck up you lying, nefarious bitch"), Joan Walsh Tweets: "Hours later, a thought that I know is petty and beneath me but: Can somebody please explain the hair?"

LOL - I noticed the same thing in the (muted) clips I saw on the WGN (go Dean Richards!) news last night.

Mel Gibson, WATB

2010-02-04T08:27:00.003-06:00

WGN's Dean Richards interviewed homophobe, anti-Semite, and Opus Dei member Mel Gibson yesterday and had the unmitigated gall to do something other than tell him how totes awesome he is!

From the Sun Times:

The five-minute satellite interview was set up last week to promote Gibson’s new action movie “Edge of Darkness.” But at the end of the Q&A, Richards asked about the “ups and downs” of Gibson’s career, including his drinking problems and anti-Semitic rants. It was a line of questioning Gibson obviously was unwilling and unprepared to entertain.

Gibson said he had done his “mea culpas” for all that and kept telling Richards to “move on, dude.” Then after Gibson apparently thought the interview was over and the camera turned off, the actor muttered the word “a------,” seemingly meant as a derogatory comment about the WGN reporter who had just quizzed him

Richards said he was unfazed by the incident.

Richards said that before the interview was conducted he told the public relations team for Gibson’s movie that he would not talk to the actor unless he could ask questions about controversial issues surrounding Gibson’s life.

“That’s the 2,000-pound elephant in the room,” said Richards, adding “I don’t do puff pieces.” The publicists at first balked at such a request. But they eventually relented, though it’s unclear whether Gibson was ever made aware of the deal struck with Richards.

Well done, Dean.

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I should have known better, but if you really want to be frightened, check out some of the comments from ~~Gibson's PR hacks~~ ordinary people who've stopped by the WGNTV website:

I think this was the most unprofessional interview for a star I've ever seen. How dare you insult an actor coming on your show? Shame on you WGN. I'll never watch your show, You people are embarrassing. I hope your show gets cancelled.
Andria @ 8:57 PM CST, Feb 3, 2010

Who is Dean Richards? Seems like the guy has some serious issues. I have never seen such a terrible interviewer in my life. He should learn how to do his job that I'm sure he gets way overly paid for. Otherwise, he should be fired. Get a grip, Richards.
Jen @ 8:37 PM CST, Feb 3, 2010

interviewer is and idiot
bobby @ 7:56 PM CST, Feb 3, 2010

Dean Richards is a jerk and Mel should never do an interview with him again! Go Mel!
jerka @ 7:41 PM CST, Feb 3, 2010

Let Mel move on. That guy was a A-hole. Only way he can make himself a know man is to bring up shit we all struggle with a times... And thats rough ride every now and then. Good stuff Mel...
ozvirgo32 @ 7:36 PM CST, Feb 3, 2010

Yeah!! Dean Richards is sooooo mean!!!1!!1!11!! How dare he insult a star! He's got serious issues and is and idiot!! We all struggle with shit like drunken arrests, rabid anti-Semitism, and misogyny at times!

Ladies and Gentlemen, your fellow 'murcans!

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I guess I shouldn't be, but I'm surprised to see Richards, not Gibson, being trashed in some segments of the web - here and here for example.

Spare me, New York Magazine.

UPDATE 2/5/2010 9:56AM

Margaret Larkin of Gapers Block has an interesting summary/background.

How Vile and Repulsive is John McCain?

2010-02-02T23:24:00.001-06:00

What an ugly display Grandpa Simpson put on today "speaking to" Mullen and Gates. Loved this comment on Marc Ambinder's piece in answer to his question in the title of the post: "Why Is McCain Red Hot On Don't Ask, Don't Tell?":

Saint John McCain is a petty, vindictive, old man. He'd chew his own arms off if he thought Obama wanted him to keep them.

(My skin crawled when I heard/saw a clip of The Perpetually Constipated Joe Lieberman croaking out some BS, but that's another post.)

The Situation Wants to Trademark His Goddamn Abs

2010-02-02T20:06:00.002-06:00

Please STFU about your stupid abs already. They're nice and all, but come on. This is getting (more) pathetic.

Via Shakesville, we learn that The Situation is trying to patent his abs . . . or something like that.

Smoking Gun reports:

One of the program's [Jersey Shore, natch] characters is Michael Sorrentino, a 28-year-old New Jersey man who has christened his ripped abs "The Situation."

OK, first of all, I would love to have Michael Sorrentino's abs. However, every time I see/hear him bragging about/trying to trademark his abs, all I can think is dude, they're not that awesome.

In that one picture of him where he's actually pointing to his abs (like the biggest douche imaginable - but isn't that completely redundant??), it even looks like he's doing a bit of the suck-it-in thing - and believe me I know all about that. Yes, again, TS's abs would look beyond awesome next to mine, but I don't think that robs me of any credibility - I've seen my fair share of abs - a great many in various forms of (ahem) print and electronic media, and even several live and in person. (le sigh) Click on any number of my oft-visited sites (to the left), and on any day you'll see abs that make The Situation's look - well, just pretty decent.

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ADDENDUM 2/2/10 8:12PM

Oh for fuck's sake, while on the Smoking Gun page about The Situation's trademark application for his abs (that's the last time I'm typing that I swear), I clicked on the Axe Shower Gel "Clean Your Balls" video. Goddammit.