The Truffle

STFU. Seriously. First, Rudy makes a fool of himself, and now Sam Brownback is trying to rewrite history. Republican Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas learned a lesson today that other John McCain surrogates might be wise to learn: Before you say Barack Obama never worked across the aisle, make sure he never worked with, for example, you. On a McCain campaign conference call with reporters this morning, Brownback — who was briefly one of McCain’s rivals for the Republican nomination — said Obama was all talk and no action when it came to working across the aisle. “John McCain’s a maverick. He’s fought for a bipartisan fashion,” Brownback said. “I think that the biggest thing I’ve seen from Barack Obama is a willingness, aggressiveness, to talk bipartisan and yet to vote the hard left — most liberal member of the United States Senate.” So Obama’s rapid-response team quickly fired off an e-mail listing the projects on which he worked with Brownback. They include a Brownback bill that au...

...And a rather strong stomach. Image shamelessly swiped from Yellow Doggerel Democrat . A couple of years back, I blogged about the obvious homoerotic subtext of today's Republican party. Other people have also noticed this; hence, the existence of an actual Livejournal devoted to slash fiction about politicians. Most recently, it includes a Bush/McCain slashfic (but, alas, no Larry Craig/David Vitter pairings). It seems politician slash is too tame for some fanfic writers. Teresa Nielsen Hayden has discovered...don't read this on a full stomach... Punditslash . Yes, you read it correctly. Punditslash. Sadly, none of the fan stories feature Fox News' crew of dreamboats. I suspect there'll be a Bush/Lieberman fanfic before Hannity and Colmes get the slashfic treatment.

And guess who's sponsoring it? This is like Wile E. Coyote opening a chain of vegetarian restaurants.

This is her. Lily, my favorite cat ever. I was fifteen when she showed up at our house, a brown tabby kitten with a dulcet meow. She'd come from who knows where, and she trailed the other two family cats, Stray and Basta. Basta was black and white and friendly. Stray was long-haired and extremely territorial; he hissed at Lily the minute he saw her. My family had owned lots of cats and one dog to boot. But Mom wasn't in the mood for taking the umpteenth stray cat. She told my brother and me to just ignore this new feline. If we didn't feed her or--God forbid--let her in, she'd go away. You can see where this is going, right? I'd already named her Lily. A sweet name for a sweet kitten. She wasn't white, of course, but she just looked and sounded like a Lily. One afternoon, Mom came home and said, "See? I told you the cat would go away if you didn't feed it. And look--no cat!" My brother and I looked at each other. "Oh. Lily....

Happy anniversary to Ms. and Mr. Sideshow. Ms. Sideshow, meanwhile, breaks down the whole FISA debacle here . My own congresscritter and senators can be counted on to vote the right way on this issue. Still haven't forgiven Schumer for his Mukasey vote, however. Colliding Softly , meanwhile, deconstructs yet another dopey bit of Bushco hypocrisy and shows how much Bush/Cheney and the Islamofacists have in common. Elayne Riggs , conoisseur of online generators, has discovered a really great one. The generator has been removed per the request of LucasFilms. Sigh. Ann Telnaes and David Horsey keep hitting 'em out of the ballpark. Horsey, meanwhile, gets lots of angry comments for whom his toons hit too close to home. Angry Black Bitch takes on the current right-wing Obama-as-monkey-humor. No, she ain't gonna lighten up. C’mon people…this is America, for the love of all that is built on a foundation of ig’nance towards others! We are not post racial...we do not have ...

I mean, look at one of their sources: Rafid Ahmed Alwan, aka Curveball. An Iraqi crackpot with a reputation as a total liar . Maybe Bushco should have checked this guy out before believing his tripe. If they had, they might have gotten the following character references. "He was corrupt," said a family friend who once employed him. "He always lied," said a fellow Burger King worker. They also would've learned that he accused a 16-year-old kid of smuggling WMDs. And that he couldn't hold a job because he was such a hopeless liar, thief, cheat, and general con artist. That he "told 5 or 10 stories a day." And that he also pretended to be spying for the Iraqi government. From the article: In early 2002, a year before the war, he told co-workers at the Burger King that he spied for Iraqi intelligence and would report any fellow Iraqi worker who criticized Hussein's regime. They couldn't decide if he was dangerous or crazy. "During b...

Happily, 2007 was not the end of Coney Island's legendary Mermaid Parade. June 21 (the summer solstice, natch) brought the return of the parade in the face of Thor Equities' plan to replace Coney Island's amusement park rides, hot dog stands, and assorted games with glassy condo buildings. Sheesh, how many luxury condos does this city need, anyway? I really can't wait for Bloomberg to leave, because he's just continued the bland-ification of NYC. (Note the Amy Winehouse impersonator registering her protest.) Here are more photos from the event. Now why would anyone want a bunch of boring old condos when you've got all this local color? (Note: at least one photo might count as NSFW. You've been warned.) Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. Mermaid Parade King and Queen Reverend Billy and Savitri D from the Church of Stop Shopping . One of the first parade floats. There are generally lots of floats and brightly colored wigs at the Mermaid Parad...

Lately, the wingnutosphere had developed a fun new game. It's called "Alienate the Voting Bloc." Pick a certain voting bloc that may have traditionally voted Democratic--say, women or black people--and start writing and saying offensive things about them. You get extra credit if you attack, say, Michelle Obama, who's both black and a woman. The wingers have now picked a new target: young voters . Who are also a mostly Dem-leaning bunch, and therefore, have no business voting in the first place. (Dear College Republicans: See what a bunch of ingrates you hooked up with?) Someone really should warn America's senior citizens that Townhall's cast of idiots is coming for them next. Someone on the far, far right is going to notice all those old coots and blue-haired biddies collecting Social Security (read: living off the government) and propose that anyone age 75 and older be booted off the voter rolls. You know it's coming.

Because then your political career outside of 9/11 would've been examined in some more detail. And your national security credentials would've been found somewhat wanting. Specifically by Democrats. You know, like Obama, the guy you just attacked for agreeing on the proper way to fight terror. You said that the law was the most potent weapon to fight terrorism. (You know, as opposed to torture and Gitmo.) The Democrats have decided they don't like being attacked for being soft on terror. And Rudy? They're calling you out. The DNC takes its shot at Giuliani with an e-mail with a title, parroting Joe Biden’s Greatest Debate Hits: “Rudy, ‘Noun, verb, 9/11’ Giuliani returns.” “Democrats are not going to be lectured to on security by the mayor who failed to learn the lessons of the 1993 attacks, refused to prepare his own city’s first responders for the next attack, urged President Bush to put his corrupt crony in charge of our homeland security, and was too busy ...

Somehow, I can't see Team McCain using this: Via Yellow Doggerel Democrat .

Take Michelle Obama. She's the very image of the self-made, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps type that the wingnuts claim is the American ideal. She grew up working class on Chicago's South Side (which isn't exactly the Elysian Fields, folks). Instead of relocating to Cabrini-Green, popping out babies left and right, and living like...well, a welfare queen, Michelle Obama went to Princeton and Harvard. She became a lawyer and is happily married with two little girls. I bet she even says "ask" instead of "ax." So what happens? Faux News gives her a "cute" nickname: "Obama's baby mama." "Baby mama" is a term given to women who aren't married to their children's biological fathers. Angry Black Bitch has THE BEST TAKEDOWN of the most noxious race-baiting since the Obama t-shirts with Curious George. Fast-forward ahead. Obama gives a speech about absent fathers. (Given that his own father abandoned h...

The political wonks are speaking. They're consulting election patterns. It doesn't look so hot for McCain. Specifically, the above linky-winky takes you to history professor Alan Lichtman's "13 keys to the White House." Basically, if you OR your party has problems with one of these keys, your chances are pretty much--what's the word?--fucked. Key 1: Party mandate. After the midterm elections, the incumbent party holds more seats in the U.S. House than it did after the previous midterm elections. 2006 elections anyone? Key 2: Contest. There is no serious contest for the incumbent-party nomination. Remember Rudy? Yosemite Mitt? Mike Huckabee--who WON IOWA?!?!? Heck, remember Ron Paul? (Don't worry if you don't remember Duncan Hunter.) Key 3: Incumbency. The incumbent-party candidate is the sitting president. Key 4: Third party. There is no significant third-party or independent campaign. McCain has no problems here. Bob Barr's Libertarian Par...

Sigh. Who's going to give a galvanizing speech for John McCain? Dubya? Yosemite Mitt? Karl Rove? In his speeches, he looks as if he's this close to telling his supporters, "You know, I don't know how I got this far, and I don't know what I'm doing here." Shades of Warren G. Harding, who allegedly once said: "I am not fit for this office and should never have been here." Presidential scholars generally agree, considering Harding to be one of the worst presidents of all time. And speaking of Harding...if he hadn't died 80 years ago, I'd swear he and McCain were separated at birth...

This suspense is killing, ain't it. Gorebama is running somewhat late up in Detroit. Jennifer Granholm (Michigan's governor) is giving the required rousing intro to Gorebama while Olbermann and Dana Milbank are indulging in the required news analysis. Milbank claims that Gore is practically "above politics" at this point. He does not, however, believe Gore wants to return to politics. Granholm just took off her shoe. Interesting. Now, Dan Abrams is up, with the usual slate of professional blabbermouths. And heeeeeeeeere's Gorebama! Al Gore congratulated Detroit on the Redwings. He's giving a really rousing speech. Best quote: "After the last eight years, even our dogs and cats have learned that elections matter!" Boy, is he ripping the current idiots regime. And nobody can dispute what he's saying because...well...it's true. Who said Al Gore was a block of wood, again? I'm going to call/e-mail my friend Sheryl, who lives in A...

...As in things people obsess over during the silly season. Latest source of pontification: a photo of Barack Obama riding a bicycle and looking a little dorky. As Obama himself noted, at least he wore a helmet. Reminds me of a guy I saw while biking by the East River yesterday. He wore a suit and was chatting on a cellphone while riding. And I don't think he was wearing a helmet. Then again, this is New York, where people live on the edge.

If (Gawd forbid) McCain does become president, Keith Olbermann's going to giving him televised bitch-slaps from now until 2013. Last night's Special Comment, in two parts, is here:

Ron Paul has dropped out of the race. I didn't even know he was still in the race.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!!!!! Rahm Emanuel thinks Dick Cheney would be a great asset on the campaign trail: “The last time they put him on the road was for the Mississippi special, and look at how he worked there,” crowed Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the former House campaign chief for the Democrats and currently the caucus chairman. “I look forward to and I will pay the travel fees to put Vice President Cheney out on the road to talk about energy policy. Because it will remind this country of where this administration has been and who their friends are. And their friends are doing very well.” Please, send Dick to West Virginia. I'm sure he'll be a hit.

I think it's a good one, too. If you didn't cringe when John McCain buddied up to Pastor Hagee; If you looked the other way when the GOP actively courted religious nutcases; If you didn't say anything in protest when Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson blamed 9/11 on the evil feminists/atheists/secularists/liberals/gays/insert wingnut bogeymen here; Then you automatically forfeit the right to complain about Jeremiah Wright. Dig?

Despite the schedule on the IRS Web site , I found out yesterday that I'll have to wait at least two extra weeks for my stimulis check. Drat. I want my $600 NOW. I knew I should've gone with direct deposit.

It's Duffy singing "Warwick Avenue."

Lindsay Beyerstein writes about all sorts of Etsy-related Obama goodies for sale. Including doll clothes. Perhaps an Etsy entrepeneur can create a line of Barack and Michelle Obama poseable dolls that do the dap. They'll sell like hotcakes and maybe make Brian Williams' brain explode. Who else agrees?

Granted, the source is the Daily Mail over on the other side of the pond. It focuses on John McCain's first wife, Carol, disfigured in a 1969 accident and then cast aside for a prettier, wealthier trophy wife. (Via Media Girl .)

Dear Fox News: I don't watch your network; in fact, I'm mostly familiar with your programming via Crooks and Liars, Media Matters, and other outlets. That's how I found out about your latest "Obama is TEH TERRIST!!1!1!!" meme. The dap is not, as you call it, "a terrorist fist jab." It's a common gesture of camaraderie and affection among African-Americans. Really, you probably want your party to avoid total bloodshed in November, and offending voters of color is not a good way to go about it. Sincerely, The Truffle P.S. While you're at it, could someone ask why Brian Williams has a problem with the dap? It's not an "inside gesture" if millions of black people are doing it. 'Kay? (Via Balloon Juice .)

...and because this video is timely, here's "Choice of Colors" from Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions. You have to sit through a minute-long intro, but it's a killer song. And just perfect.

Yahoo has a breakdown of Obama's potential running mates. My take on some of these guys is as follows: Joe Biden: Would be more effective as a secretary of state than as a vice-president. Wesley Clark: A Southerner and Hillary supporter who could bolster Obama's foreign policy/national security credentials. Will probably be appointed to a cabinet post and be more effective there. Hillary Clinton: Dream ticket blah blah blah women's vote blah blah blah. Yeah, as the article points out, she would draw working-class white voters. However, so would, say, Jim Webb or the aforementioned Wesley Clark. And I don't really think Obama needs to worry about women voters. But I'm just an optimist. Speaking of Hillary, any of her supporters want to defend this , assuming it's true? I'm not sure how enabling La Hill's power trip is a good way to advance women's rights. Chris Dodd: Naaaaaaaah. Dodd's a decent guy but I don't know what he'...

Le Sweetie and I were walking home when we noted an army of news vans lined up around the Baruch College campus. La Hill is there making a speech even as I type this. Obama, meanwhile, is giving his victory speech on TV. It's up to Bill and La Hill to be gracious losers and throw their support behind Obama. My prediction? If they don't, they'll harm La Hill's political future more than they harm the party. Judging from the wholehearted support for Obama coming from Blue Dogs and Clintonistas alike, it appears that the Clintons' clout is not as strong as it once was. Part of it is simply that the Clintons didn't figure out that they couldn't campaign like it was 1996. Obama's being awfully classy about La Hill, saying that she "has made history in this campaign, not just because she's a woman...but because she is a leader who inspires millions of Americans." La Hill should return the favor.

Dear Vice President Cheney: Stick to hunting. On second thought, don't go out in public. At all. From WaPo : Did Dick Cheney just hand West Virginia to the Democrats, or what? 'Cause his remark at the National Press Club today is bound to rub plenty of folks in the Mountain State the wrong way, especially those who are sick and tired of hearing West Virginia incest jokes. Already, members of the West Virginia congressional delegation - Republicans and Democrats alike - are ticked off. Cheney was at the Press Club to congratulate this year's winners of the Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency. During a question-and-answer session toward the end of the luncheon, someone asked the vice president about his wife Lynne Cheney's revelation on MSNBC last year that "Dick and Barack Obama are eighth cousins." The questioner jokingly asked the vice president if he and Obama were going to have a family reunion, to which Cheney r...

Drifting Through The Grift has a tactful way of explaining that the wingnut echo chamber has jumped the shark: Barack Obama - 57 states? Confusing Buchenwald with Auschwitz? And do I even need to say Rachel Ray? This is the continuous crap feed which almost caused me to stop writing? Then, I think to myself, if this is the best the right wing noise machine can gin up, why the hell should anybody worry? The One True Tami would rather not be lumped in with those Americans who were duped by the president and his cast of idiots. It's small comfort to see that my own bullshit detector was working properly circa 2003. Maybe now that Scott McClellan has confirmed what was long suspected among the reality-based, perhaps we'll get a nice apology from all those war cheerleaders who were screaming at us for being nasty, ugly, evil, horrible, un-American traitors. Hmmmmmmm? Bark Bark Woof Woof points out the true purpose of William "Kick Me" Kristol: There's been a lot...

After La Hill's atrocious campaign, I don't want to hear anyone complain that she's trailing Obama because of TEH SEXISM!!1!1!! Nor do I want to hear anyone whine about Obama getting special favors or special treatment because he's a black man. Hillary's floundering for reasons that have nothing to do with her being a woman and everything to do with the fact that she's trying to be some horrific cross between Rove, Nixon, and Atwater in how she campaigns. And she's doing a lousy job of it. AND the American people are tired of this crap. In fact, plenty of Democratic voters are judging La Hill by standards that have nothing to do with gender. Which is how it should be. She totally blew it, people. Time to accept that and quit blaming sexism.

Her campaign drafted a bunch of McCain and Huckabee supporters (along with Obama supporters) to protest this weekend's RBC meeting at the DNC. Americablog has more. If La Hill can't be persuaded to bow out of the race (yet), could someone at least remind her what party she's in? Please?