The Truffle

The following comes from Newsbusters.org , a right-wing site dedicated to "exposing and combating liberal media bias." And when they're not doing that, they're searching for ritual Satanic cults, alligators in the New York City sewers, and WMDs in Iraq. Anyhow, the latest bit of (don't laugh, whatever you do) liberal media bias comes from an exchange between Michael " Cartoon penguins are TEH GAY! " Medved and Li'l Tucker Carlson. I know what you're thinking. Medved and Li'l Tucker are conservatives. What's this "liberal media bias" crap? Read the transcript and the answer shall be revealed. TUCKER CARLSON: Why exactly do you think -- let's put our shrink's hats on here -- why do [conservative radio talk show hosts] hate McCain so much? MICHAEL MEDVED: Well they're acting like liberals, and I know that's a terrible thing to say about people I like and respect -- I have great respect for Rush. But he's ...

Yosemite, who hired illegal aliens for yard work, says illegals should go home. Nobody's mentioned La Hill, Reagan, or George W. Bush thus far. It's just a matter of time, though. Tomorrow Keith Olbermann has a special comment on FISA. I'm sure it's more inspiring than the GOP debate. Then again, the commercial break is more inspiring than the GOP debate. Yosemite doesn't blame Bush for the sorry state of the GOP. Yeah, he's hoping for the movement conservative vote. I imagine Ron Paul is sitting there, thinking a third-party run is a really good idea. And Yosemite, meanwhile, is sniping at the Democratic candidates, accusing them of being more interested in leaving Iraq than in winning in Iraq. Which isn't true; they didn't say that. For one thing, Iraq is unwinnable. And Yosemite thinks a timetable for withdrawal is "offensive." Poor guy sounds unnerved, while McCain looks like Yosemite just farted in the seat next to him. McCain says...

Why do Yosemite Mitt and his ilk call Medicare, Social Security, et al. "entitlement programs"? What do you call corporate subsidies, eh?

Ron Paul got a chance to speak after Huckabee's state's rights spiel. Now, he's talking about property rights. Then he gets cut off. And of course, Huckabee cites a Heritage Foundation study of tax rebates. Wingnut welfare groups? Huckabee should be the GOP establishment's dream candidate. But the wingnuts love Yosemite Mitt. What's wrong with this picture? Still, Huckabee has a point about the country's infrastructure. Meanwhile, Yosemite looks like he's trying to stifle a laugh. Twit. Ron Paul addresses the infrastructure question by...talking about American Empire and cutting spending. "Lower taxes, less regulations." Doesn't solve the infrastructure questions. And they don't let him talk about the monetary system. This debate is going to hurt everyone on Super Tuesday. Republicans will sleep right through the primaries.

Poor Nancy Reagan. She looks like she'd crumble if you tapped her shoulder. And now she's got to try and say hello to the yahoos of the 2008 slate. Yosemite Mitt is talking about how he saved Massachusetts from financial ruin. He avoids the question of whether the USA is better off than they were 8 years ago. Of course he won't say no. Just says there were problems. See? McCain says everything's just ducky. Despite the housing crisis and the coming recession and the stock market, uh, wait...some things need to be fixed. "I think we are better off overall if we look at the entire 8-year period," McCain said. But still, "we've got to get our fiscal house in order." Dude, it's okay to raise your voice when you talk. Finally, Huckabee says no we are not better off. Somewhere, a National Review editor is yelling at the TV screen. They've all been caught in a trap, it seems. Can't wait for Ron Paul's response. And, of cour...

I told you the GOP slurs were getting stupid, didn't I? Now John "Maverick? That must've been someone else" McCain has stooped to attacking Yosemite Mitt the old-fashioned way: gay baiting . "Mitt Romney thinks he can fool us. He supported abortion on demand, even allowed a law mandating taxpayer-funding for abortion. He says he changed his mind, but he still hasn't changed the law. He told gay organizers in Massachusetts he would be a stronger advocate for special rights than even Ted Kennedy. Now, it's something different." McCain's voting record on gay rights mirrors that of every other Republican: basically, he's against gay marriage, gays in the military, hate crimes legislation, you name it. Note to the Log Cabin Republicans--if you even think of endorsing this guy, you've got a worse case of battered spouse syndrome than previously thought. Meanwhile, wingnut talk show hosts still hate the guy, for reasons nobody can understand...

The FISA bill, complete with retroactive immunity for telecoms, seems to have stalled in Congress yet again, thanks to Senator Dodd's filibuster. The netroots, led by Daily Kos, Firedoglake, and Glenn Greenwald, have been at the forefront trying to stop this bill. Meanwhile, Kos is confused about something. For all the talk of "freedom" that the Paulbots claim to believe in, they sure as heck have been silent on the horrible FISA bill we're fighting to fix in the Senate right now. Same for Ron Paul. Why the silence? And the CATO people and the libertarian publications like Reason, where are they? Here we are engaged in a huge civil liberties issue, and progressives are being forced to fight this thing alone. It's easy to talk about "liberty". It's much more impressive to actually do something about it. I've tried to give libertarians the benefit of the doubt. But given their numerous double standards on the concept of "freedom" ...

I didn't bother to liveblog the SOTU address. I'm just miffed that it pre-empted Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Honestly, Bush should quit thinking about his legacy. It's too late. He can't fix it. He can't do anything positive that would make anyone forget eight years of scandals and disasters. Most Americans think he's a crappy president who's made America and the world a worse place. The only people who like the guy are mouthbreathers, dittoheads, neocons, wingnut welfare recipients, and the staff of the Weekly Standard. Really, people are just sick of him. They want his presidency to be over. They want him gone. They want a president who isn't an empty suit. They want someone who'll actually govern and who actually holds some American values. Hopefully, the GOP will avoid nominating Jeb Bush in 2012. Really, let's pass a constitutional amendment banning all descendants of Prescott Bush from running for political office ...

Forget La Hill and Obamarama. For real mudslinging and general campaign ugliness, check out John "2003 All Over Again" McCain and Yosemite Mitt, who are calling each other... liberals. (Wonder what they think of Ron Paul.) Ya know, as a lifelong liberal (not just progressive, but LIBERAL ), I can assure you it's a perfectly normal state of mind. I think McCain and the Mittster have been visiting too many wingnut talk shows and CPAC conferences. This is the GOP in 2008. Even their campaign slurs are stupid.

The Center for Public Integrity documents 935 lies George W. Bush told on Iraq. Only 935 lies? Now that's astounding. Note to Speaker Pelosi: Put impeachment back on the fucking table.

...Rudy is trailing badly and his campaign is even more FUBAR than Iraq, if that's even possible.

Now, the discussion turns to healthcare. La Hill explains her healthcare plan would cover everyone--"It is a universal system." But it's not government-run. I have my doubts about this. Insurance companies would be required to cover everyone at "affordable rates." Again, I'm suspicious. Folks? Free markets and healthcare don't mix. But I guess it's socialist to say that, eh? Obamarama is up next. The universal healthcare plan wouldn't cover illegals. There are not enough resources, he says. "The only way we're going to be able to overcome the insurance companies, the drug companies, and the HMOs is if we are having all the negotiations in a public setting," he said. No drawing up plans behind closed doors. Inform the American people. At least there aren't any wires under anyone's jackets. Edwards claims that his rivals took money from drug/insurance companies. Obamarama denies this. "The problem is not that...

Le Sweetie is watching wrestling right now. According to him, all the others sports are fake. Right now, I don't see any difference between wrestling and this debate.

Ya know, La Hill's sniping at Obamarama really makes me dislike her. Yo, Hill. Shaddap already. He never said he was a fan of Reagan. He said Reagan was a "transformative figure" in American politics. Just a statement of fact, and what he's doing is no doubt trying to attract Republicans and independents. You yourself said you admired Reagan's communication skills. Enough already. She got booed, too. Yikes! Anyway, it's MLK Day and the Congressional Black Caucus is hosting a debate. Edwards is talking about subprime mortgages and proposing new laws to crack down on predatory lenders. "We need a national predatory lending law." He also wants to teach financial literacy. La Hill's moratorium on foreclosures sounds way weak. Now for Barack, who says that America has "a history of preying on low-income people." He also supports laws against predatory lending and "access to financings." Since I am not a homeowner, I ...

King Crimson live, 1973.

Seriously, I'm bummed by these generic Blogger templates. I need a new template. Any ideas? Anyone?

Why is Duncan Hunter still in the race? Does anyone really support this guy?

Britney Spears is thinking of converting to Islam. Four years ago, she couldn't identify Hinduism ("Is it like Kabbalah?"). But now she's dating some sleazy married paparazzo and she's ready to change religions for him. In the words of a Moroccan blogger: And all I can say is: Our nut house is full, Britney. Please take up another religion, we have enough crazies of our own. Still, it would be hilarious of Britney converted and Bin Laden issued a fatwa against her, seeing as how she's the symbol of Western decadence. Speaking of Bin Laden, one of his kids is thinking of becoming a peace activist. Alas, the kid hasn't figured out that his father is a really bad guy, and thus has yet to renounce him. "My father is asking for a truce but I don't think there is any government (that) respects him. At the same time they do not respect him, why everywhere in the world, they want to fight him? There is a contradiction," he said. See? I told you...

For years, Mr. Neiwert has done his best to remind the reality-based community the real source of American terrorism--namely, the far right. Think Timothy McVeigh, the Klan, and assorted racists and fundies who make the news in local papers and news channels, but whom you'll never hear about on Faux News. Why? Because it's easier for Faux and company to pretend that there's big conspiracy among "the left" (i.e., about two-thirds of the country) to undermine America. Well, a former congresscritter has just been indicted in a case related to a charity that funded terrorists. Guess his party affiliation. A former Republican congressman from Michigan was indicted Wednesday on federal charges of money laundering and obstruction of justice. The allegations involve his work as a lobbyist for an Islamic charity accused of illegally funneling about $130,000 to an Afghan warlord considered a terrorist by the United States government. The former congressman, Mark D. Si...

Yosemite Mitt wins Michigan. "It's a victory of optimism over Washington-style pessimism," Romney said in an Associated Press interview, echoing his campaign speeches. "Now on to South Carolina, Nevada, Florida." You go right on believing that, dude. In other news, Duncan Hunter is still in the race. Why is anyone's guess. In other news, Joe Lieberman's robocalls on behalf of fellow right wing water carrier pragmatic centrist John McCain didn't exactly help the latter in the primary. In fact, it pissed off liberal and conservative bloggers alike.

James Pinkerton has resigned from Newsday to go work on Huckabee's campaign. Those wanting right-wing comedy in the "liberal" media will have to stick with William Kristol, who's already inspired a flood of letters to the editor. Mostly wondering how this guy is always so wrong.

The latest in primary hijinks is a move by Daily Kos , Firedoglake , and other netroots denizens to get out the vote for 2008's most unintentionally hilarious presidential candidate. Following the victories of Huckabee and McCain elsewhere, they are determined to muddy the waters in GOP-land. How? By trying to ensure that Yosemite Mitt wins the Michigan primary today. Kos explains: Now here's the thing -- without a real Democratic contest on the ballot, and a lack of party registration in Michigan, this is an open primary. Anyone can pick up a Republican ballot. So Michigan Democrats and independents who want to see the Republican battle royale continue should just take a few minutes on Tuesday, January 15th to cast a ballot for Mitt Romney in the Republican primary.... If we can help push Mitt over the line, not only do we help keep their field fragmented, but we also pollute Romney's victory. How "legitimate" will the Mittster's victory look if liberals ...

Some poor soul--actually CNN's Jack Hannah--had the unfortunate job of liveblogging the most recent Britney custody hearing. Aren't you glad you don't have to do stuff like this for a living?

This is a musical clip from the 1969 Hanna-Barbera cartoon show "Cattanooga Cats." It is called "Birthday Suit." Millions of elementary school children watched this on TV. And people thought "Scooby Doo" was subversive...

Why do Bill Maher and Chris Matthews keep pretending that they're still in grade school and it's still cool to join the He-Man-Woman-Haters Club? Also, at what point will the freaking DLC be considered irrelevant? I ask, because it can't be soon enough.

...comes an open letter to the SciFi Channel from Entertainment Weekly writer Marc Bernardin. I happen to totally agree with him. Dearest Sci-Fi, Why are you not way more awesome? Don't get me wrong, when you're good—like with Battlestar Galactica or Eureka (and I'll even give you credit for Doctor who, despite that being a BBC show you just imported)—you're a phenomenal destination network. But let's be honest here, there's not a lot of "good" on your schedule. The Stargate franchise is stale, Flash Gordon (left) is a derisible, stillborn remake, and ECW Wrestling is…wrestling! (And I swore an oath never to speak of Who Wants to Be a Superhero again.) (Wrestling? WTF?!? Braveheart was bad enough. But wrestling ?!?!?) The thing that infuriates me is that you have so much potential. We're living in the Age of the Geek, where pop culture has finally come around to our way of thinking. Where the most-watched shows on TV are geek-nip like Heroe...

Dear Bill Kristol: When professional loser Bob Shrum manages to be more insightful and perceptive than you, perhaps it's time to rethink this new op-ed gig of yours. Sincerely, A Helpful Person P.S. Dig this money quote, dude : "Methinks that Hillary Clinton's unexpected surge in New Hampshire is attributable entirely to Bill Kristol's inaugural column in Monday's New York Times. Call it the 'Kristol factor.' He's always wrong."

Nodoro, the male answer to the vaginal douche. Sheesh, are some people so dumb that they wouldn't, like, use soap and water first? Via Hill Country Gal .

Faux libertarian and closet America hater Neal Boortz sounds like he's scared of a possible Democratic tidal wave. So what does he do? Whine, fume, complain about people on welfare, write things that make no sense, and try to discourage people from voting. Note how he wants to get "tens of millions of parasites off the voter roles [sic]." Yeah, it's petty to mock a typo. I guess Boortz was just really steamed up about all this democracy nonsense that he hates.

It was one of life's little "WTF?" moments as William Kristol was hired as a New York Times op-ed columnist. First of all, Kristol has written mean things about the Times. Second of all, he is a neocon laughingstock who has been proven wrong about everything. There is no reason for anyone to take him seriously anymore, or to use the Weekly Standard as anything other than mulch. In fact, Keith Olbermann suggested that the paper hired Kristol to make him their very own Alan Colmes. It's an interesting thought, and one that the "media is TEH LIBRUL!" crowd might consider. However, there's another, more boring reason. And like everything else in the conservative universe, nepotism plays a big part: Outrage was followed by bafflement after editorial page editor Andy Rosenthal described Kristol as "a captivating writer and keen observer of the political landscape." *** Kristols and Rosenthals go back a long way together. Bill's father...

For Christmas, Le Sweetie gave me a whole buncha DVDs. All animated DVDs. Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. Surf's Up. Happy Feet. The last movie was attacked as some sort of leftie eco-propaganda film when it came out two years ago. Oh yeah, and Michael Medved said it had a gay subtext. So far, the movie has daddy penguins taking care of baby penguins. I guess that's pretty gay, isn't it? Le Sweetie also gave me a Schoolhouse Rock DVD. It's got all the songs on it. Songs about the Constitution and saving energy and women's suffrage. I bet Michael Medved hates Schoolhouse Rock. UPDATE: Looks like Queen's "Somebody to Love" is on the Happy Feet soundtrack. Yeah, that's definitely gay.

Y'know, two years ago the ever combative Bill O'Reilly told a Newsday reporter he was thinking of retirement. Maybe it's time to move past the thinking stage. O'Reilly just made a fool of himself at an Obama rally. Obama staffer Marvin Nicholson, a personal aide always at Obama's side during rope line handshakes, said O'Reilly yelled at him to get out of the way of his cameraman's shot. Nicholson said O'Reilly came around the waist-high barricade separating Obama from well-wishers. "Then he grabbed me with both of his arms and tried to push me out of the way," Nicholson said after the campaign agreed to make him available to reporters. O'Reilly, interviewed afterward by phone on Fox News, said he tried "to gently remove" Nicholson because he was standing in front of Fox's camera. Yeah, it really sucks when a politician's paid staff does that, right? In yet another one of those right-wing projection moments, O'R...

Among my Christmas gifts were volumes 1 and 2 of Ella Fitzerald's Irving Berlin Songbook. Below, here's Ella singing "Mack the Knife," which is not an Irving Berlin composition, but is a cool song nonetheless.

For the past week, it's been All-Iowa, All the Time on the cable news channels. Mornings, I'd flip on the TV to hear more punditry on Iowa. Le Sweetie would then ask, "When is this all going to be over?" Iowa has come. Iowa has gone. The netroots denizens are pleased as punch about 2008's new state of Obamarama. La Hill, meanwhile, is scrambling to regain her footing , because--soo-priiiiiize!--her current tactics aren't working. Some advisers say that the campaign miscalculated in having Mr. Clinton play such a public role, that Mrs. Clinton could not effectively position herself as a change agent, the profile du jour for Democrats, so long as he stood as a reminder that her presidency would be much like his. Other advisers say that Mr. Obama now owns the “change” mantra and that Mrs. Clinton needs a Plan B. “Hillary says she’ll change things, but then voters see Bill and hear them talk about the 1990s, and it’s clear that the Clintons are not offering c...

Yeah, I love seeing established musical stars go the indie route as much as anyone else. Take Dolly Parton, who's releasing her new album, Backwoods Barbie on her own indie label. Why did Dolly decide to go the indie route? Well, because the music industry sucks and is more concerned with releasing crappy paint-by-numbers records by people whose voices are clearly pitch-shifted and processed until listeners are convinced they can sing. Oh yeah, and veteran artists who are, like, national institutions can't get their music on the radio, because radio programmers suck as much as major labels. Okay, those weren't Dolly's exact words. Dolly's exact words were this: "When new country came along several years back, most artists my age got shoved off to the side, no matter how talented they might still be," she said. "I tried a few country albums after that, but to no avail and no chart play. "In between I did continue to write. I recorded a few f...

One drawback to the holidays--all the shopping, celebrating, gift opening, and scarfing of Christmas treats cuts into your blogging time. Spent Christmas in Dutchess County with Le Sweetie, my mom, my brother, and assorted friends and relatives. Two days later, Le Sweetie and I flew to Memphis to spend about a week visiting assorted museums, record stores, and barbecue restaurants. Oh yeah, and we also went to Graceland. Came back to 20-degree weather, which has dipped into the teens. Went back to work today. Yup, things are now back to normal.