The Truffle

Seriously...you can't get more 1970s than this clip:

Mike Murphy and Peggy Noonan caught on live mike, dissing Precious Princess Palin.

Poetry that doesn't scan, that is. From The Stranger , some tea partier channels his/her inner Allen Ginsberg: I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW BLIND OBAMA YOU HAVE WAKEN UP A SLEEPING GIANT WE THE PEOPLE UNITED WE STAND AS ONE NATION TO SAY NO YOU MUST GO WE THE PEOPLE SAY NO YOU MUST GO IMPEACH OBAMA AND BRING HIM TO JUSTICE IMPEACH IMPEACH BRING HIM TO JUSTICE WITH ALL THE OTHER TRADERS TO WE THE PEOPLE AND THE CONTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WHO STAND TOGETHER AND WILL NOT FALL PLAY WE MAY BUTT WHEN NEEDED WE COME STAMPEDING PROWD AMERICANS READY TO FACE ANY ENEMIES FOREIGN OR DOMESTIC WE THE PEOPLE SAY THE CONTITUTION IS IN OUR HEARTS ONLY A TRUE AMERICAN KNOWS ITS TRUE PATH AND WILL DEFEND UNTIL DEATH YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOW'N FREEDOM WILL STAND FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE Well, despite the line about bringing Obama to justice "with all the other traders," at least this person can spell "impeach." Then again, perhaps this particular te...

Via Tomfoolery , a comparison between the GOP of Barry Goldwater and the GOP of Sarah Palin. To quote Barry the G: [T]he use of God’s name on one’s behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I’m frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C,’ and ‘D.’ Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? I suspect that if Goldwater were alive today, he'd be an independent or a member of the Libertarian Party.

You have some of the most ugly-ass general templates I've ever seen. Can't you design some new ones? Why do you think I downloaded a template from outside? Seriously guys, those templates are eyesores.

(Via Balloon Juice )

...care of Badtux : If your every criticism of Obama starts with "I'm not racist, but..." or ends with "it's not about color"... dude. Quit being in denial and get fitted for your bedsheet and pointy hat ASAP, 'kay?

The wonderful and underrated jazz singer Blossom Dearie passed away last year. To my generation, she's best known as the lady who sang "Unpack Your Adjectives" and "Figure Eight" on Schoolhouse Rock . Here she is, performing in the mid-1980s.

Via Brilliant at Breakfast , a blast from the past: Bobby Jindal scoffs at volcano monitoring. Can't wait for the Icelandic government's response to this one.

Stephen Bates wonders why the heck Republicans would want to derail financial reform. It's the Waterloo approach: Jim DeMint telegraphed their moves last year, claiming that if health care reform went down in flames, it would be Obama's Waterloo. Of course, health care reform did not go down in flames. Now, the GOP has decided to give the Waterloo strategy another shot. At some point, some wingnut welfare recipient will point out that this is completely nuts and will be shown the door.

Via Balloon Juice comes this tale of rich conservatives with sour grapes--erm, I mean, right-wing populists : I stopped by Freedom Plaza on Tax Day to check on the progress of the nation's populist revolt. On the stage, I saw the great populist leader himself: Grover Norquist, who, after getting two Harvard degrees, developed his common-touch lobbying for the tropical island paradise of the Seychelles. Norquist spoke from a lectern bearing a Tea Party emblem and a simple message: "The people speak." And which people might those be? The people of the Seychelles tourist industry? Or the people of British Petroleum, Fannie Mae, the Distilled Spirits Council and the Interactive Gaming Council? Norquist represented them all, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. It gets better from there. Seriously, these teabaggers are being played like a cheap kazoo.

This article at The Nation is a must-read. Basically, Rupert Murdoch is going green while Faux News tries to debunk global warming.

He blames Iceland's volcano on the health care bill. And claims it's "God speaking."

Ben Domenech was recruited several years ago as a Washington Post affirmative-action hire: They needed a conservative blogger to balance...uh, I guess to balance journalism that conservatives didn't like. Ben was then revealed as a serial plagiarist and had to resign this position. So what happened? CBS News hired the guy. They wanted to outdo CNN, I guess. CNN, of course, had hired Eric "Gimme my wife's shotgun and I'll point it at them thar census workers, pardner!" Erickson. How can CBS outdo the conservative crazy? By bringing in a winger with less ethics than Erickson, I guess. Benjy delivered the goods, repeating a rumor that potential supreme court nominee Elena Kagan is a lesbian . I'm on Team Who-Gives-A-Shit-If-She's-Gay. The White House denies she's gay. While I don't want to assume anything on Mr. Domenech's part, I'm sure he was aware that his right-wing readers might have certain opinions (possibly negative) about ...

Tomorrow, I begin jury duty. Time to stock up on paperbacks. This is gonna be soooooooooo fun. I'm one of those people who keeps getting called while others are called once or twice in their lives. What's up with that?

C'est Francoise Hardy, avec "Voila."