The New Funny Liberal Word: Tenther

I was a Tenther before it was cool!

Since Teabagger, Nazi, and right-wing terrorist are pejoratives that have been so overused to defend the hapless Obama administration that they have lost all meaning, Washington Times notes that the new keyword to show your hate for the red states is "Tenther". This is a reference to those radical right-wing populists that believe in the 10th amendment, I guess. From Washington Times:

Liberal activists have a new name to disparage conservatives: "tenthers."

The nickname refers to those who cite the 10th Amendment to argue that federal intervention in areas not authorized by the Constitution, like health care for example, is unconstitutional.

This follows other names such as "birthers," "deathers" and "tea baggers."

Health care reform supporters at the Center for American Progress, the American Prospect, MSNBC and other outlets have deployed the term against Republicans who cite the 10th Amendment as reason not to create new programs. Some of the leading Republican proponents of the allegedly "dangerous" and "conspiratorial" theory include Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina, and Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.

Apparently, the term stems from this American Prospect last month and Digby, Yglesias, and Crooks and Liars have both incorporated it into their musings. If taking a strict interpretation of the constitution makes you a square, I'd sure like to know where these progressives think the power of the federal government to intervene stops.

Moral Authority Paul Krugman Sez We Should Be Ashamed of Ourselves

I understand that many folks onboard the Team Obama train would like nothing more than to see the "bitters" locked up with the Unabomber and Bernie Madoff, or at the very least silenced. And, predictably, many bottom-feeders chose to use the latest act of domestic terrorism for their own political purposes of slandering conservatives, like they have in the past. Now, they're out to justify the horrendously written and poorly researched DHS report, which sought to profile right-wing veterans as a bunch of Ramboes running around the woods with white supremacy literature. From Krugman at NYT:

Conservatives were outraged. The chairman of the Republican National Committee denounced the report as an attempt to “segment out conservatives in this country who have a different philosophy or view from this administration” and label them as terrorists.

But with the murder of Dr. George Tiller by an anti-abortion fanatic, closely followed by a shooting by a white supremacist at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the analysis looks prescient.

There is, however, one important thing that the D.H.S. report didn’t say: Today, as in the early years of the Clinton administration but to an even greater extent, right-wing extremism is being systematically fed by the conservative media and political establishment.

Yes, domestic terrorism is a problem, as America has always had its share of crazies. But, the DHS report barely provided any specifics and was about as useless to law enforcement as an ACLU lawyer looking to make name for themselves. The Greyhawks point out that the criticism a few months back was because of the veteran issue, not that extremism didn't exist. So, I wish these weenies at the NY Times would quit beating around the bush and just come out and fucking say that, yes, they would like veterans with conservative-oriented political views on firearms ownership and abortion or whatever to be investigated by the police. If not, kindly piss off and go back to writing about neo-Keynesian economic theory.

At least dictators are honest about who they want rounded up for "re-education", not hiding behind their halo of progressive self-righteousness.

Talking Point Du Jour: The Republicans Caused the Swine Flu or Something

Politics never ceases to amaze me with it's sleaziness. That's probably why I feel so at home blabbering about it from time to time! The swine flu outbreak is, indeed, not good, and the CDC (annual budget $8.8B) is addressing this public health problem. But, never letting a good crisis go to waste, the left is using recent public paranoia about all things pork to take a few whacks at the GOP. Politico has the scoop on a new push by the SEIU:

The union accuses Senate Republicans of delaying the confirmation of nominee Kathleen Sebelius to “curry favor with extremist outside groups” and depriving the department of leadership as the nation confronts a potential flu pandemic.

“This is simply unacceptable,” the union says on its website. “This disease is spreading as we speak, but right now, a Bush-appointed accountant is running the department. We need an HHS secretary NOW. Sign the petition telling the Senate to vote immediately to confirm Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. If we don't act, the swine flu might just turn into another Hurricane Katrina.”

Some other blogs (e.g. Kos, C&L, The Nation) are piling on by saying that flu preparedness was killed in the stimulus bill. If memory serves correct, Obama's first HHS nominee, Daschle, had a bit of a tax problem, and Sebelius is having similar issues with back taxes. So the Dems can blame themselves for that one. As for adequate funding to deal with the swine flu, is there any indication that the CDC is not manned up to manage this threat? So they don't have a bunch of self-promoting, political appointees to answer questions from the media, do photo-ops, and take responsibility for other people's work. Big fucking deal. Personally, I'd much rather see the bureaucracies and organizations of the federal government being managed by experienced professionals rather than a rag-tag bunch of politicians who performed enough sexual favors to get where they're at. I honestly believe that is why law enforcement and the military have a better public image and function more properly than some of the other agencies.

Of course, then we wouldn't be able to inject the right vs. left mouth-frothing into every single news event.

Vultures Descend Upon Tragedy in Pittsburgh

The bodies of the fallen police officers in Pittsburgh were still warm when some of the net denizens on the left were already licking their chops that the murderer had some hang-up about Obama's gun control policies. Here's the shit flying around:

• David "Everyone Who Doesn't Agree With Me is a White Supremacist" Neiwert tries to attributeconservative ideology.
• Kos fears that Glenn Beck is going to come kill his 2-year old daughter.
• Bob Cesca says you can sure as hell blame right-wing rhetoric, but nothing else (video games, movies, etc.) because it's convenient for the progressive cause to portray your opposition as loony.
• Tbogg has a lazy post about "bitters", and then some doggieblogging.

Just like when they reveled in the death of U.S. soldiers in Iraq, these people will exploit any tragedy for their own political benefits. It's an absurd argument. Should we blame the progressive idea of egalitarianism as resulting in events like JonesTown and the Manson Family? No, some people are just goddamn batshit. Whether it be a talking neighbor's dog or a bizarre obsession with their own mother, crazies have all sorts of psychological problems that can drive them to murder. But, on the plus side, JammieWearingFool notes that the netroots finally give a fuck about law enforcement.

Update: Hot Air has evidence on Kos calling all conservatives "cop-killers". What a classy dude.

Left-Wing Cabal Totally Not Frightening

Entrepreneurial Hippies Do Not a Cabal Make

The excellent site Politico has a not-so-excellent investigation into the so-called "left-wing conspiracy". Apparently, the Skull N' Bones-type shenanigans going on behind the scenes of a bunch of prominent lefty bloggers/journalists is...a secret message board known as JournoList! Oh noes, good thing I have a bunch of ammo stockpiled in my bunker. From Politico:

For the past two years, several hundred left-leaning bloggers, political reporters, magazine writers, policy wonks and academics have talked stories and compared notes in an off-the-record online meeting space called JournoList.

Proof of a vast liberal media conspiracy?

While the "conspiracy" moniker is a tad overblown, this sort of thing will have negative ramifications for blogland in general. It's pretty obvious that many liberal blogs follow the same tune in an effort to rev up a "unified message". However, being publicly chastised to criticize things which some well-funded think tank has blessed off is a form of censorship that goes against the internet ethos of saying whatever. Too many of the big liberal blogs are so limited in what they can say due to this collective mentality, that all you get is the same schnoozer posts about "Faux News is racist!" and what dumb thing Bush did today (he's out of office guys, who gives a fuck).

In a way, it resembles conservatism's problem in 2002-2006 of never acknowledging the Bush Administration's boneheaded moves and just re-packaging whatever was coming out of the White House or the Heritage Foundation on teh internet. But, hey, at least they weren't knocking on your door to talk about the awesomeness of Obama.

Unbelievable! WaPo Op-Ed Makes Apologies For Blago, Says He Committed No Crime

Eugene Robinsons Thinks Blago's Sole Crime is His Goofy Hair

Nothing has been as bizarre as the Gov. Blagojevich media campaign to profess his innocence. Appealing to suburban housewives by appearing on The Biew, comparing himself to Gandhi, and talking with Geraldo for a solid 10 minutes during an ambush interview. But let's not lose perspective. He abused the authority of office to benefit himself and shake down others for campaign contributions. Governors have been run out of town for less (see Gov. Spitzer). It is an embarrassment to America that Blagojevich was not suitcase-tossed out of office the day these FBI tapes surfaced. This is not a conservative vs. liberal issue, but rather a rule of law vs. corrupt oligarchy issue.

But, Blago's schmoozing with the media and hiring Drew Peterson's PR people seems to be achieving it's desired effect. A regular WaPo Op-Ed contributor proclaims the man's innocence (yes really). From Eugene Robinson:

But it is unclear to me what else Blagojevich has done that a duly constituted jury would find illegal. Even in the matter of his menacing mop, at worst he's a co-conspirator in a dastardly act committed by his barber.

The liberal Crooks and Liars echoes sentiment that Blago is guilty by suggesting that this is Republican hit job on a guy who has the misfortune of being goofy. Political opinion has become so ideologically polarized that pundits and analysts rush to defend politicians "on their team", no matter how damning the evidence. A sad state of affairs.

Should We Write the Epitaph on Lefty Blogs?

Provocative Liberal Photoshopping Maybe Be Out of Vogue

The reason I gave up any other semblance of a hobby to blog the weekday nights away is because it's enjoyable to see regular people gripe about everything from politics to the decline of American porn industry. Indeed, we live in some interesting times, and lurking in RSS feeds and writing a few posts now and then forces someone to at least be somewhat aware of what the fuck is going on. I attempt to not just read sites I'm probably going to agree with (Hot Air, Mudville, etc.), but venture into liberal land to get some perspective.

My fundamental political beliefs come from the fact that I believe politicians (and tyrants) will attempt to subvert the public consciousness with false rhetoric. I also believe that patriotism is important for a cosmopolitan nation like America to prevent internal strife based on factional rivalries and that mankind has "natural rights". From there I take a pragmatic approach and end up in the libertarian-conservative camp somehow, but that doesn't mean I hate liberals or anything. I grew up in a liberal city (Ann Arbor) and have spent most of life in liberal states (California, Hawaii, Washington, etc.), so categorically hating lefties would mean I'd have to board up all my windows and live on a diet of canned goods. Sometimes their ideas really piss me off, particularly when they pull stunts like using dead soldiers to get a political point across, but that hatred is probably necessary in a modern democracy.

So I was pretty bummed out when some of the big liberal blogs read like a press release from the Obama camp today. Whatever happened to eternal vigilance?!? Anyways, many of the big lefties were plugging the new Whitehouse.Gov site about two seconds after it went live in some diabolic, orchestrated plot. Daily Kos, Yglesias, and Sullivan were a few of the culprits. Crooks and Liars actually had this to say:

The entire Whitehouse.gov website has been renovated to reflect our new President, Barack Obama. It is a thing of beauty and nearly brought tears to my eyes - again.

Shit, this ain't North Korea, feel free to criticize once in awhile. And the only thing that should make you cry on the internet is 2 Girls, 1 Cup, only because available women shouldn't do such hideous acts. These sycophantic blegs are really advancing the cult of personality that The Obama somehow transcends criticism. He even tried to squash any muckraking during his inaugural speech [Reason]:

"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them—that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply."

Scared yet? But, at least Spencer Ackerman and David Weigel are explaining why they laughed at Wheelchair'd Cheney and booed Bush. And Wonkette had some funny pics of tourists leaving trash all over the place in DC. Maybe cynicism and snark aren't totally crushed yet, but give it a few months...

Juan Cole Thinks 2008 Weblog Awards are a Neo-Con Conspiracy (yes, really)

From the department of sore losers comes Middle East commentator and UofM prof, Juan Cole. After becoming enraged that the 2008 Weblog Award for Best Middle East blog was "dominated by neocons" and "must have been orchestrated", some bloggers rightfully considered an "Anyone But Cole" campaign for the prestigious award. Juan Cole has since altered his whiny post to make himself appear the victim of bloggin' bullies, but Sandbox has the original post (damn print screen key).

Michael Totten, who does actual independent journalism in combat zones instead of armchair speculation, has taken the lead by over 5,000 votes. Instead of gracefully congratulating Mr. Totten, Juan Cole has a lengthy post accusing him of being nothing more than a Rovian agent. That's probably a little bit of an exaggeration, since "thug neocons" tend to not write "A Defense of Barack Obama" and usually don't hail from Portland, Oregon (as Totten does). Cole explains Totten's agenda:

So that's how you do it. 1) You assassinate the character of your opponent. 2) You make his correct statements into a liability by propagandizing that they are false or unpatriotic. And 3) you mobilize a base of single-issue true believers that you can depend on to dominate the discourse because most people don't care and are not invested.

A bit ironic, as Juan Cole was the one who compared Sarah Palin to terrorists only 4 months ago. I can assure you my hatred of Juan Cole has nothing to do with a cabal-like agenda to denigrate his political views. It's simply my dislike of pompous jackasses.

Creepy HuffPo: We All Are Getting Inaugurated Jan. 20th!

We Are the Mediocre Presidents!

Sure, you might tell your 7-year old kid that one day he or she can be president to boost self-esteem. But hopefully that youngun will grow up and realize that it was a bit of white lie. Some people are best suited to lead the country through difficult times and others are best at repairing disc brakes. Both professions are honorable and essential to a properly functioning society. The principles of our country were founded by well-educated masons and colonial nobility, and they were able to lead a revolution that has worked out pretty well for all of mankind. So, it's odd that democracy, which Thomas Jefferson referred to as "mob rule", has been perverted so badly that everyone gets a seat at the White House in the 21st century. That's what Arianna Huffington is promoting in her new campaign. From HuffPo:

To illustrate this we are putting together a video that will symbolize that we are all stakeholders -- all being inaugurated on January 20th -- by having people from across America send us video of themselves taking the presidential oath of office: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Being in the military, I understand the need for patriotism and public service that Arianna sorta advocates, but the concept that Obama is here to elevate everyone to his level of leadership is frightening. Maybe it's my time in an institution with a very strict "chain-o'-command" hierarchy, but you don't want a multitude of leaders not educated for the job. Sometimes, when the shit hits the fan, you're pretty glad you aren't the guy in charge, and just hope that the guy (or gal) that is knows what the fuck they are doing based on their experience and competence. A virtual army of would-be Presidents with "great ideas" is not what a constitutional Republic is about, but it certainly does bring up images of an angry mob of power-hungry loons. The scary part is Obama, during his victory speech in November, sounded like he actually believed this crap.

Huffington Post Empire To Spread Its Tentacles Further

Independent Bloggers Taking on Arianna "Mother Brain" Huffington

It's sites like The Huffington Post that make me long for the bad-old-days of the internet, circa 1999, with failed start-ups producing zero profit who ran stupid blinking banner ads and pop-ups everywhere you surfed for your evening porn. Ironically, the dreaded Huffington Post had help getting launched in 2005 by Hollywood conservative and all-around good guy Andrew Breitbart, but this liberal beast of a site (#1 blog according to Technorati) has transformed into a Leviathan and produced enough wretched dotsam and netsam to clog up the innertubes worse than a Britney Spears twat shot.

Sure, there are a few decent archived bits there, notably from veterans Rieckhoff and Soltz, plus some hilarious commentary from Greg Gutfeld, but they are the exceptions not the rule. Time after time again, Arianna Huffington has been disastrously wrong about the War in Iraq. The guest posts are chocked full of morans, including agitating that Bush has already declared martial law and why billions in bailout money needs to go to fund Neil Young's electric car company. Other postings include anti-semitic commentary, that isn't even grammatically correct, from imbecile celebrities like Roseanne Barr, and Clinton flaks referring to our President-Elect as "boy" during the primaries.

You'd think this would be enough to sink a political blog's credibility faster than Larry Johnson and his crazy rumor about the "Michelle O Whitey Tape", but Arianna just keeps raking in the dough. From the London Times:

Arianna Huffington looks set to cement her position as the Queen of Capitol Hill in the next few days.

The Times has learnt that the Huffington Post, her influential political website, will confirm within the next week that it has completed a $15 million (£10 million) fundraising from investors.

The money will finance the expansion of HuffPo, as it is known, into the provision of local news across the United States and into more investigative journalism. And it will ensure that Ms Huffington's influence continues to spread across the US political scene.

Dear god, why do you internet people have no taste? Seeing how Arianna is nothing more than a shameless PR shill for the incoming administration, perhaps people will get tired of being force-fed kool-aid and seek commentary elsewhere. Don't give up hope and meticulously plan your apocalypse fantasy just yet.

Wacko Netroots Praise Hijacking of Saudi Supertanker

Fortunately, their blogging might be hampered by that straitjacket

With the entire developed world being dependent on trans-oceanic commerce, and the long-standing right of passage for ships in international waters, you'd think it'd be a no-brainer on whether or not you support the Somali pirates. Even the Daily Kos called for putting a boot up their ass in response to the most recent hijacking of a Saudi supertanker. But, alas, it appears some bloggers are so hell-bent in protesting every perceived injustice in the modern world, that they actually support these marauders. Ahmadinejad-apologist Juan Cole's post is simply a picture of poverty in Somalia contrasted to wealth in Riyadh. Presumably, this is to offer justification of why high seas thuggery should be tolerated. Charles Mudede of The Stranger takes it one step further:

Does this boldness have anything to do with Obama? Are Africans now feeling that the whole world is possible? Certainly the scale of this theft has defeated my imagination.

Whatever few marbles are rolling around in Mudede's moral compass might get shaken up a bit if these pirates run the supertanker up onto shoal water, causing an environmental disaster worse than the Exxon-Valdez. These are the same people who wear around mass-murderer Che shirts and praise Moqtada al-Sadr for fighting our troops, so it's really no surprise.

Greg Gutfeld blames this muddled thinking on Johhny Depp, who never should've left 21 Jump Street.

HuffPo Moran Calls Joe the Plumber a Parasite

After the media & netroots spent the last 24 hours digging through Joe the Plumber's garbage and connecting him with the Keating Five somehow, Joe continues to get smacked upside the head with a monkey wrench for daring to ask The Obama an unscripted question. This is the latest smear job against a guy who works for a living over on the Huffington Post (h/t Libertarian Republican):

No, Joe, you're not a typical American. You're a leech who wants to beat the rest of the hard-working Americans who worked hard to build a country where you can make a good living. You're a parasite who's bought the message of the Newt Gingrich-Ronald Reagan right wingers who have worked hard to destroy the US government one regulation, one agency at a time.

Ouch! Mr. Kall's commentary against working stiffs might be a bit overbearing, because why would a voter dare question how his tax dollars were being spent by the federal government? With the Ponzi scheme of Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid which loses billions of dollars a year in corruption, and other essential Federal Government functions like researching how BeeGees music helps with CPR, it's hard to see why Joe might be disillusioned.

Of course, Mr. Kall stands to gain big from people schlepping over their tax dollars in tough economic times. His business, Futurehealth, sells EEG machines in the $2,000 - $3,000 range. While average Joes might think that's a bit expensive and be hesitant to purchase such an item for home use, huge federal subsidies would help Mr. Kall rake in the profits. This is just like the Scooter Store, which advertises that its designer geezer-mobiles can be billed to the federal government from the Medicare program. Of course, we're all "unpatriotic" because we have these concerns about our federal budget which is running a massive deficit, but at least we're not morans.

Could Joe the Plumber Actually Be Jihad Joe the Terrorist?

A shocking resemblance!

Joe the Plumber has captivated the nation's heart as an allegorical representation of the ultimate swing voter. This hapless fella from Ohio even was subjected to a press conference, and he seems completely baffled as to why he has reached 15-minutes of fame. Says Joe:

"I'm a flash in the pan, not a megastar," Wurzelbacher told reporters today. "I'm not Matt Damon. I'm not any of those guys who have droves of women and men who want to be them or will vote for them because Matt Damon said so. I love his movies but I don't have that kind of power."

Joe's questioning of Obama seemed to trip up the presidential candidate a bit, so, naturally, surrogates in the netroots were quick to fully disclose Joe's personal information [Daily Kos], accuse him of being a devious Keating Five operative [Crooks and Liars], and even mentioned that a tax lien was placed against him for the shocking amount of $1,183 [Politico]. But this is all small potatoes compared to the question they should really be asking: Is Joe actually a terrorist out to derail the Obama campaign? There's that Adam Gadahn Al-Qaeda fatso still at large, and Joe himself is really packing on the pounds and bears some resemblance (he's from the state of Ohio which is known for trouble). Joe also has a pack of smokes prominently displayed on his coffee table, presumably to lace with PCP and give to children on Halloween to get them to vote McCain. So you netrootsy people really need to dig deeper into this incredible controversy.

Unfortunately for Joe and through no fault of his own, he will be discarded into the cultural abyss of other one-hit wonders like Jared from Subway and Vanilla Ice. Maybe Wek's idea to have Joe the Plumber and Joe the Sixpack hold a thunderdome-style Battle Royale would be a good way to make the last few weeks of this election not completely unbearable. Other than that, leave Joe alone, you assholes.

Naomi Wolf Freaking Out the Puget Sound With Lies About the Military

Moran Naomi Wolf Continues To Not Heed Advice

Feminist moran, Naomi Wolf, has advocated some very silly ideas in the past. Presumably because she can't get any, Ms. Wolf has argued for abolishing our beloved pornography because it kills men's libidos, while simultaneously advocating for women to rock the hijab/abaya to cover themselves from the prying eyes of men (you're ruining it for everyone, lady!). After last week's criticism of her unhinged paranoia at The Huffington Post, you'd think she'd give it a rest. But, on Friday she appeared on Seattle's NPR to talk about the 3ID working for NORTHCOM. CJ and Jason already explained why this homeland deployment is no reason to run to the mountains and take up cause with The Wolverines, but Naomi doesn't want to hear it.

The radio segment is absolutely painful to listen to. The normally liberal NPR station in the normally liberal town of Seattle isn't even buying this nonsense, as evidenced by the radio host laughing when Naomi Wolf says "Everything I've predicted has come true!". She then calls 3ID the "blackshirts", criticizes police for having a "Rovian S&M fetish" for their riot gear, and somehow the Mayor of NYC is involved in all these fascist shenanigans, which veers sharply into LaRouche territory. An ex-military recruiter calls in and cites the last time an American was killed by the military was in the 90s, which was the result of Clinton stationing Marines on the border in the misguided drug war. It is ironic that Naomi Wolf actively campaigned for then Vice President Al Gore's to be prez in 2000 by becoming an "Alpha Male". Even though the Blackshirts comment satisfies CHUD criteria, she sidesteps the issue of not supporting the troops by saying she adores them, and that they should actively desert to save their souls.

While being weary of government abuse is an important part of being a citizen, her alarmist and illogical ramblings about a coup that has already taken place are both ridiculous and offensive. Obviously, she's just a partisan hack trying to whip up support for her lame book. Unfortunately, many Puget Sound residents are taking this bs seriously and flipping out in the comments section of Slog:

From the start of the Obama campaign I've had the feeling that Bush will never leave office. I firmly believe the elections will be cancelled and some bullshit "we're at war" proclamation of martial law will be issued. The neo-cons have it all figured out. That's why all the National Guard units have been weakened by deployment and de-equipping. Just you wait and see.

I find it disturbing that people believe the military would try and pull off an "October Surprise", so I feel obligated to let everybody know if I get tipped off that the entire Pacific Fleet is underway to siege Seattle. If you see this blog transform from lame posts about Palin Sex Tapes into unadulterated praise for our glorious President for Life kicking off the "Year Zero" this month, then I advise heading to Canada with bottled water and an assault rifle.

Kos Diary on McCain's Gambling Problem

It's Never Too Early to Start!

It's not just the usual cadre of snake-handling Jesus freaks getting up in arms about the great American past time of gambling, it's politically opportunistic lefties too! From Kos (based on a NY Times story):

Does John McCain need help? McCain gambles away thousands of dollars of his wife's money, reportedly playing craps for eight hours straight. If he were an ordinary guy, without his wife's millions to fritter away, I'd expect to see him go bankrupt and enter rehab any day now.

Shaddap, you puritan busybody. Everyone knows that gambling is a fun way to escape the crushing reality of daily life. Where else can you ride the emotional roller coaster as the dollar signs in your eyes turn to tears...then back to dollar signs again as the Filipino lady on the other side of the table hits a Hard 8. Besides, with the way the stock market has been going lately, I'm more likely to throw my Roth-IRA investments on a double-down than some mutual fund which is going tits up.

Chicken Littles in Hollywood

Adam McKay is best known for the hilarious romp of a comedy, Anchorman, but now that the election season is upon us, he feels the need to swim way outside his lane and self-righteously pontificate to all the little people out here in blog land. Where else to do this but the Huffington Post, a place where you can get lame celebrity gossip mixed up with god-awful political commentary about that evil Halliburton-controlled conservative media (fuck you Rove!). Basically, Mr. McKay says that all morally, upright citizens need to start putting their noses to the grindstone or "We're Gonna Frickin' Lose This Thing!" Many on the right (Jules Crittenden, Moonbattery, Dirty Harry) have stated that this is a sign of the inevitable demise of the Obama campaign apparatus, but I was most taken aback by this comment:

Something is not right. We have a terrific candidate and a terrific VP candidate. We're coming off the worst eight years in our country's history. Six of those eight years the Congress, White House and even the Supreme Court were controlled by the Republicans and the last two years the R's have filibustered like tantrum throwing 4-year-olds, yet we're going to elect a Republican who voted with that leadership 90% of the time and a former sportscaster who wants to teach Adam and Eve as science?

C'mon, dude. The last 8 years haven't been swell, but the worst ever in American history? What about the Civil War: 600K Americans dead, gangrenous limbs getting hacked off left and right, and a schism in the country that still sorta exists 150 years later? That shit sucked.

Did Guns N' Roses lie to us?

This campaign is incredibly passionate for a lot of people, but silly hyperbole just confirms a certain nuttiness that liberals have long been accused of (see yippies invading Disneyland, as an example).

The Anti-Christ in Politics and Some Maiden

So, Daily Kos thinks that this McCain ad is a subliminal message that Obama is the anti-Christ. Sounds a bit crazy, as the ad was probably just appealing to snarky Gen Xers who think Obama's hubris knows no bounds...which it doesn't. The netroots have been over-analyzing these dumb ads since earlier in the week, when they thought the celebrity ad was a trigger for someone to assassinate Obama. Next up, any attack on Obama's drilling flip-flop will probably be dubbed racist by weenies in the lefty blogosphere (crude oil is black after all, and your attack of Obama on this issue represents a deep-seated hatred of all things black). Whatever.

But, in honor of McCain possibly calling Obama the anti-christ, here's Iron Maiden's Number of the Beast, which satisfies the axiom that any metal song about Satan is destined for greatness:

Blogger Justice

So some knut in Knoxville brutally massacred two people at a Unitarian church. Apparently, he did it because he didn't like liberals, the voices in his head told him to, or some combination of both (who knows, he's crazy). The forensic investigation wasn't even completed, when HuffPo already started equating this lunatic with every right-winger in America (h/t Hot Air):

Who really killed those Unitarians? Was it the preachers who spread hatred and intolerance? The politicians who court and flatter them instead of condemning their hate speech? The media machine that attacks liberals, calls them "traitors" and suggests you speak to them "with a baseball bat"? The economic system that batters people like Jim Adkisson until they snap, then tells them their real enemies are gays and liberals and secular humanists? If you ask me, it was all of the above.

For a site that sounds the outrage alarm by creating a fictitious narrative of racism in the campaign, they are being a bit hypocritical by utilizing a recent tragedy in their endless quest for political power. So much for that moral authority. Would you compare all liberals to the SLA or FARC? Are all military members like this guy? Obviously not.

Huffington's Strawman Torched

Poor Arianna Huffington doesn't like it when there's been a steady drumbeat of good news from Iraq, such as the rapid decline in violence and the reduction of five combat brigades as the Iraqi Security Forces become stronger. She has been rather mute on the Iraq conflict in the last few months, and has taken to more idle banter such as "Memo to Obama: Moving to the Middle is for Losers" and some self-righteous ceremony called "The Webby Awards". But, on occassion, she will find opportune times to chime in with her foreign policy expertise. One good time was when LT Nixon and his peers were hitting the deck 8 times a day as the Green Zone got shellacked, and she found it in the goodness of her heart to say to take a potshot at McCain about the situation. Wow, we were all so ecstatic to be the human sacrifices to her little bit of coyish punditry while there was a war going on. Ariana Huffington has no interest in whether or not violence ceases in Iraq, only in how the war can be charecterized for her own political purposes to seize power in an election year.

This is most evident today when, rather than constructively criticize foreign policy as some do, she launches an unhinged attack at a strawman that is as flimsy as the secret stash of nazi-midget-porn that all non-liberals supposedly posses:

John McCain, aided and abetted by his loving protectors in the media, is running a victory lap on Iraq. To hear them tell it, the surge has "worked" -- indeed, it has been a huge success -- and this, like a last second Hail Mary pass, has vindicated the entire disastrous Iraq misadventure.

Seriously, Ms. Huffington, what the fuck are you talking about? Media coverage of Iraq is currently on the order of magnitude of Mr. Belvedere re-runs and the cat that was under house arrest. The American media lost interest in Iraq somewhere around late 2007, which is precisely the time there were major reductions in violence (might just be a coincidence, or it might not...)

One fascinating bit of propaganda today to enrage some factions that have a political interest in Iraq getting worse:

Admiral Mullen, head of the whole damn U.S. military, thanks Iraqi troops in Mosul for booting out terrorists (pic from The Herald)

Bong!

Update: The older, wiser, and better bloggers at This Ain't Hell already wrote about this Huffington garbage. Damn! Albeit, their post is more about political progress. Go check out the site that one surly commenter called a gaggle of angry, old vets.

Obama Ditches The Netroots

Netroots Left All On Their Lonesome by Obama

It is common knowledge that, while talk radio is generally conservative, the top blogs are generally liberal (see the top political blogs on Technorati). It would be natural for Senator Obama to side with the netroots on key issues they find important to earn their support. But the Huffington Post reports that the Obama camp and the netroots are diverging:

Obama's decision to embrace a compromise on FISA legislation -- a virtual slap in the face to some progressive bloggers demanding no legal immunity for telecommunications companies -- was the catalyst of the recent chatter. Other concerns arose days prior when Obama cut an advertisement on behalf of a conservative southern Democrat whose primary challenger was favored by the liberal blogosphere.

This rift has prompted The Next Right to begin questioning the relevancy of the left-leaning blogosphere, as netroots shamelessly change their tune to be more in line with Obama's policies. Obama voiced his disappointment with yesterday's SCOTUS decision to not allow capital punishment in the case of child rape. The "progressive" response has been totally weak to this ridiculous "eye for an eye" logic (espoused by guys like BillO, Townhall, and uh, I guess Obama), for criminal prosecution . Daily Kos gives a roundabout argument, so does Ygleisas, and only John Amato of CnL dares to speak out against the messiah by saying "He's running much farther to the right than he has to". One of the few issues I agree with the netroots on to prevent our society from looking like the dark ages, and they weasel out of it. What a bunch of pussies.

Pic From Jawa