The Truffle

Once upon a time, I was an X-men fan. And this was in the 1980s, before mutant comics flooded the market, back when there were only The Uncanny X-Men and The New Mutants. Back when you could actually keep track of the continuity among the mutant comics. Via Elayne Riggs, I found out that X-Men artist David Cockrum has passed away. This is so sad. He was a great, great artist, and an underappreciated one to boot.

Bill Frist, the quintessential rubber-stamp Republican, the most inept Congressional leader in recent memory, the man with the uncanny ability to offer diagnoses via video recordings, has announced that he is not running for president in 2008. Bummer. While he's not quite as comedic as Dan Quayle (whatever happened to Quayle anyway?), he's provided plenty of unintentionally hilarious moments during his ill-storied career as Senate majority leader. And now Trent Lott has his old leadership position back. Everything old is new again. Just as I was preparing the bags of popcorn in anticipation of the forthcoming presidential election. Go ahead, enjoy your life as a private citizen, you party pooper.

You know, these Kool-Aid servers are starting to sound alike. Glenn Beck has joined Neil Cavuto in calling "Happy Feet" "an animated version of An Inconvenient Truth ." I suspect the obsession with Al Gore's movie is a holdover from the Clinton years. Blaming Clinton is passe, so now they're obsessing over all things Gore. Including a movie about cute little penguins. Anyway, there was a CNN segment on this latest fuss and they pointed out that there's no mention of global warming anywhere in the movie. Oh, but it gets better. Soooooooo much better. Michael Medved claims "there’s a subtext that appears to plead for endorsement of gay identity." Yes, that again. A subtle endorsement of the homo-sek-shul lifestyle--which is mainly apparent to professional bloviators--seems to be lurking under the surface of even the most innocuous kiddie movies. Okay, now it's settled. I have to see this movie. I'm sure it'll be an ador...

Via Glenn Greenwald, we find that the wingnutocracy is still unnerved over the election of a Muslim (!) to Congress. The Muslim in question is a Minnesotan with the very un-Arabic name of Keith Ellison, who converted to Islam in college. First we had Glenn Beck, saying, "Prove to me that you are not working with our enemies." Now Dennis Prager, is angry because Congressman-elect Ellison will be taking his oath of office on the Koran. It is, after all, the holy book he believes in. Being a busybody with no understanding of how the Constitution works, Prager doesn't like this: He should not be allowed to do so -- not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization. Gee, really? Will American civilization suddenly, inexplicably collapse because Ellison places his hand on a Koran? Is this some weird part of God's plan we don't know about? Could Prager explain how this is possible? First, it is an act of hu...

What's the latest film that the far right hates? No, it's not "An Inconvenient Truth," but rather a movie dubbed "an animated 'Inconvenient Truth.'" I am talking about "Happy Feet," a too-cute-for-words animated feature featuring too-cute-for-words penguins. Here's Neil Cavuto, explaining why he's ticked off about it. Okay, now I've got to see this movie! New slogan idea: "Annoy a wingnut--go to the movies!" (Via Moxiegrrrl .)

Here's the inimitable Hawkwind performing "Silver Machine," their big, big British hit single, sung by future Motorhead dude Lemmy. And here's Amon Duul II. On the one hand, it's a pretty weird video. On the other hand, it features Renate Knaup on vocals.

...And I'm probably one of three people who doesn't care about Michael Richards. I'd already heard rumors that the guy was an asshat, so I wasn't too surprised by this meltdown. Maybe he and Mel Gibson could collaborate on a comedy about two politically incorrect grumps. Sounds like box office gold, doesn't it? Remember Richard Adelman? The loyal Bush foot soldier who kept his mouth shut for so long out of, erm, "loyalty" (read: the desire not to look stupid)? USA Today quotes Mr. Adelman in a piece on embarassed neocons trying to distance themselves from the Iraq debacle. Okay, so the good guys don't always win. Jean Schmidt still has a job to go back to. You have to wonder what color the sky is in Ohio's district 2... The Happy Feminist weighs in on the best analysis of Girls Gone Wild and similar raunch culture I've read in a long time. No, disliking Girls Gone Wild does not make you a prude. No, feminists do not have a probl...

Here's the Rummy-Saddam handshake! I'm sure that Rummy, in his retirement, would prefer not to dwell on certain embarassing aspects of his political career. Which means he'll try not to think about his career at all. Meanwhile, Karen Kwiatkowski weighs in on his legacy. At this point, analyzing his handling of the Iraq war is like using a machete on a pinata, but this article is a must read.

I just turned in a proofreading assignment--a fantasy/horror anthology about vampires. Now all I have to do is wait for the check to come in. I love extra money. Doesn't everyone? Spent Turkey Day at the home of Le Sweetie's family. It's a little weird to do that, because I was new to the way they do things. But everyone had a good time, except for Le Sweetie's grandma, who had vertigo and had to stay in bed. For Christmas, we're going to my mom's. Le Sweetie's family is Jewish and thus won't be doing much for Christmas. Le Sweetie and I are going to Miami at the end of December. The week between Christmas and New Year's is generally dead, so my office is closed that week and so is his. To avoid the end-of-the-holidays funk, we're going to be where it's sunny and sandy. Should be fun.

If the GOP establishment can't read this WaPo article and figure out what's seriously wrong with their party, then they're more fucked up than anyone imagined. The weekend after the statue of Saddam Hussein fell, Kenneth Adelman and a couple of other promoters of the Iraq war gathered at Vice President Cheney's residence to celebrate. The invasion had been the "cakewalk" Adelman predicted. Cheney and his guests raised their glasses, toasting President Bush and victory. "It was a euphoric moment," Adelman recalled. Forty-three months later, the cakewalk looks more like a death march, and Adelman has broken with the Bush team. He had an angry falling-out with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld this fall. He and Cheney are no longer on speaking terms. And he believes that "the president is ultimately responsible" for what Adelman now calls "the debacle that was Iraq." Cakewalk. Right. Because we all know invasions are just easy ...

The awesome clip below is X in their early 1980s prime, performing "White Girl," from their masterpiece Wild Gift . The quality ain't so hot, but the performance is amazing. For proof, click the mouse.

Christmas season hasn't even started, yet I still predict that the annual "War on Christmas" will be waged yet again, for a third straight year. How do I know this? Well, first, there's the news that Toys for Tots has rejected 4,000 Talking Jesus dolls. Bill O'Reilly and John Gibson are going to be pissed. Why did Toys for Tots reject their Savior-in-toy-form? Well, since the Marines are government employees, they can't be seen to favor one religion over the other. Yes, it's that pesky little First Amendment thing again. Toys are donated to kids based on financial need and "we don't know anything about their background, their religious affiliations," said Bill Grein, vice president of Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, in Quantico, Va. As a government entity, Marines "don't profess one religion over another," Grein said Tuesday. "We can't take a chance on sending a talking Jesus doll to a Jewish family or a Muslim f...

Does he own incriminating photos of CNN executives? Does the network have some affirmative action policy where they have to fill a certain wingnut quota? After reading this transcript , I'm curious.

Today's crybaby is Poppy Bush , who blames the bloggers for today's hostile political climate. I mean, you go back in history and you’ll find that there was always adversarial politics. There was always gut fighting. And it’s probably a little worse now given the electronic media and the bloggers and all these kinds of things. Poppy reminds me of an overly indulgent parent who spoils his kid silly and then acts all surprised when the kid turns into an overindulged loser who keeps getting into trouble and whom nobody likes. Maybe because...well, that's the kind of parent that Poppy really is ?

Yes, the schadenfreude continues, as Jon Friedman explains why we have Rush to thank for helping the Democrats win. At last, Rush Limbaugh got his comeuppance. And he did it all by himself. As a matter of fact, my favorite Election Day moment occurred at the very end of the process, when newly elected Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill slyly thanked Limbaugh for his role in her victory. Yes, revenge was sweet for the Democrats. And why not? Limbaugh had delighted in kicking sand in their faces for years, luxuriating in the GOP's dominance in national politics. In contrast to Limbaugh's trademark, piercing proclamations, McCaskill made her remark while flashing a big, triumphant smile. But she clearly relished in twisting the knife. Fair enough. Limbaugh went too far when he blasted actor Michael J. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, on the eve of the midterm elections. One view is that all's fair in politics, and Fox had put himself in the public arena by becomin...

I am what you could call an on-again, off-again feminist. There have been times in my life when I've strongly identified myself as one as well as times when I just didn't think about it that much. Nevertheless, I've always objected strongly to right-wing attempts to demonize the movement. After all, what's feminism? The belief that women are equal to men. That they are entitled to the same rights and opportunities that men are. Of course, that's the way I've always seen it, but the truth seems to be more complex. There is not simply one version of feminism, but many. There are the radical feminists, the moderate feminists, the libertarian feminists, the eco-feminists, the egalitarian feminists, the womanists...heck, there's probably some newly emerging branch of feminism I don't know about. Just check out Wikipedia's entry and you'll see 'em all listed. That said, there are plenty of feminists who've mangaged to completely distort what f...

According to the latest issue of Newsweek , Bush 41 has come to pull Bush 43's ass out of the fire. Again. So what do you call this? Bush 41.5? If I'd wanted Poppy in the White House, I would've voted for him in 1992. At this point, the best thing the Bush family could do for their country would be to get out of politics and stay out. Once Junior leaves office, maybe they'll all just go away. We can hope, right?

There are gonna be changes on the Senate committees. For one thing, Democrats are going to be chairing them. Instead of James Inhofe, who doesn't believe in global warming, we're gonna have Barbara Boxer. And instead of Arlen Specter's (lack of) leadership on the Judiciary Committe, we're likely to have Pat Leahy. Says Dick Durbin, “It means send us more moderate people or don’t waste your time." In other words, no more Scalitos or Janice Rogers Browns. The Federalist Society must be fuming.

From Iddybud Journal. Feels so good after so long.

Rove stooge Ken Mehlman is stepping down as RNC chairman. More here.

Already, the alpha conservabot of right wing talk radio is distancing himself from the GOP. Yes, it's the new, independent-minded, principled Rush Limbaugh! I feel libertated. I'm just going to tell you as plainly as I can why. I no longer am going to have to carry water for people who I don't think deserve to have their water carried. Now, you might say, well, why have you been doing it? Because the stakes are high. Even thought the Republican party let us down, to me they represent a far better future for my beliefs and therefore the country's than the Democrat party and liberalism does. Orcinus deciphers Rushbo's blather into plain English. Gotta laugh at Wart-on-Ass's comment about "beliefs." What beliefs? And he's implying that his beliefs are the same as the rest of the country? Now I know he needs to check into rehab--fast. Plus using "Democrat" party instead of "Democratic" party is, like, so 1998. Still, it ...

Tester wins in Montana. Just one more vote and the Democrats have the Senate.

Yes, Rummy has quit. And just days after Li'l George said he was doing such a fabulous job and how Unca Don would be staying until the end of the term. Gee, what brought about this turn of events?

Yaaaaaay! We won! We won! We won control of the House! We won! Oh, happy happy day!

See here for more. On the minus side there are a bunch of stupid laws banning civil unions that somehow passed. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Hillary's giving her victory speech, looking happy as a pig in slop. They're playing Tina Turner's "Simply the Best" on the NY1 broadcast. Third cool quote of the night comes from La Hill: "I think democracy is great."

From former House majority leader Dick Armey: "It's very hard to watch."

I'm watching footage of Jeanine Pirro at campaign headquarters. She got a measley 26 percent of the vote for attorney general. I predict she's going to vanish after this year.

"Not a single Democratic incumbent has been defeated." Of course, it's only 10 PM, but right now, the outlook in the House is good. The Democrats have all kept their jobs. No Daschles this year.

The results of all this electoral hand-wringing thus far: La Hill is still a senator. Gee, who didn't see that one coming? Bob Menendez is also still a senator. Socialist Bernie Sanders has gone from congressman to senator. Yes, you heard that correctly. A socialist in the Senate. Somewhere in Wingnutville, someone's brain is exploding. Li'l Ricky Santorum is, alas, no longer a senator. Oh well, maybe he can get a job as a commentator on Fox News. Mike DeWine is also no longer a senator. New York, Massachusetts, and Ohio now have Democratic governors. Polls in New York closed about half and hour ago. More results will be coming in as the night goes on. I've been wringing my hands all day, but right now I'm pretty happy. Exit Li'l Ricky. Enter a socialist senator. 2004 seems like a century ago. Update: NBC projects that Ben Cardin will become Maryland's next senator, replacing Paul Sarbanes. In other words, this seat stays blue. Second update:...

Via Neomugwump, I came across this post from a military veteran. For this guy, the attack on Jim Webb was the straw that broke the camel's back. George Allen has cost the Republican Party two members in Texas. And one in Staten Island. It breaks my heart, but I won't soil my name by supporting this party anymore. Winning isn't so important that we should stoop this low, and if this team has forgotten that, then it's not a team I want to be on. I was wondering how long it would be before people became disgusted with smear campaigns against military veterans. Now I know.

Note to Republicans in office: Your fellow Americans in the reality-based community are being nice and trying to help you. So nice, in fact, that they're offering you some guidelines the next time GOP crybabies the party of personal responsibility needs to exonerate itself. Try this fun quiz and see how well you do! (Via Parenthetical Remarks )

For today's prog blog, we revisit the wild, anything-goes spirit of late-sixties/early-seventies Germany. Here's the incomparable, ever-morphing, ever-restless German commune dwellers who became known to the world as Amon Duul II: This is ADII performing "Eye-Shaking King" from the Yeti album. Missing in action here is the band's vocalist, Renate Knaup. She took a brief hiatus from the group and doesn't appear on their Tanz der Lemmings album. I've tried to find a clip featuring Miz Knaup, but for now, this will do. Looks like Chris Karrer handles the vocals for this one. Below is the legendary Can performing "Paperhouse" from Tago Mago . From the looks of things, they're on the German program "Beat Club."

One yahoo suggests Ted Haggard strayed because, well, Wifey let herself go. No, this is not a joke. Here's a photo of Ted Haggard with his beard wife, Gayle. Does this look to you like someone who's "let herself go"?

"Time for Rumsfeld to Go." That's the title of the soon-to-be-published editorial that will be appearing in all four papers published by Military Times Media Group. The papers in question are Army Times , Navy Times , Air Force Times , and Marine Corps Times. As you can guess, these newspapers are published for and sold to men and women in the U.S. military. When is this editorial going to appear? Monday. The day before the election. Great timing, isn't it?

Comin' up on the Psycho-Christian Chronicles: "How Ted Haggard Conquered Temptation!" An inspiring true story! Think CBN would be interested in the TV movie rights? The Rev. Ted Haggard said Friday he bought methamphetamine and received a massage from a male prostitute. But the influential Christian evangelist insisted he threw the drugs away and never had sex with the man. *snicker* All the people who thought "I didn't inhale" was silly have to admit that this excuse is way dumber. I've always suspected that this guy is a serious closet case as well... Of course, in a few days, he won't be a senator anymore, so nobody cares.

...in the newspaper! Yes, she's been hired by King Features Syndicate as an op-ed columnist. Great news!

Apparently not. Thankfully, his former constituents weren't subjected to his latest jackassery. No, he came to Nassau community college. I just love the headline for the article: "DeLay promotes his vision." Talk about jokes writing themselves... This part wasn't so funny, however: "I don't think water boarding is torture," DeLay said. "My definition of torture is you physically harm someone by cutting them, by cutting their fingers, sticking things in their eyes, sticking their fingers in electric sockets. Water boarding is a frightening experience. But the person does not have physical damage." And to think, he couldn't get off the GOP ballot in his district, and now it looks like Democrat could take his place soon. Stinky, isn't it? (Via Juanita's .

The man does not have much of a future in comedy. That is all.