The Truffle

Karoli's response to the Eric Altermans and Jane Hamshers. Worth reading.

Via Blue Wave News , Van Jones' speech at the Campus Progress National Conference, which rang true to this cautiously optimistic liberal. More from Mr. Jones, via HuffPo: We are trying to build a pro-democracy movement in a country that, at least for eight years, was run by [inaudible] authoritarians. And it is not going to be easy. But I tell you, the most important thing I can say is... We feed the fearmongers. We feed the politics of division, by giving it so much attention and letting it fill up the space in our mind. We have to feed the hope. This country is an extraordinary -- I get choked up -- this is an incredible, beautiful country... That little idiot box off in the corner trying to depress you and make you feel like this is a horrible country and everybody believes evil things about the president... it is just not true. Cut it off, just cut it off and walk down the street and talk to real people in this country. They are sophisticated. They are wise. They don't kno...

Next time a teabagger blithers about spending and deficits, won't some nice journalist ask if he supported Bush--and, if so, whether he did anything to speak up against Bush's spending?

Some Jan Brewer-type yahoos have come up with a brilliant idea: Deny citizenship to native-born children of illegal immigrants! Screw that 14th Amendment! Who needs it? Jonathan Blanks has an even better idea. As you may recall, beginning in 1860, millions of Americans renounced their citizenship and took up arms against their former country. Their deeds, through direct confrontation or diseases brought on by wartime conditions, ended up in the deaths of over 300,000 loyal Americans--100 times the number killed on September 11, 2001. By the logic outlined above, that treason should be recognized and all the descendants of those who took up arms, aided their traitorous comrades, or participated in the government of the insurrectionists should have their citizenship revoked as they are progeny of traitors. They owe their heretofore recognized citizenship to the birthright. That is, of course, unacceptable. These descendants often still fly the flag of treason and commemorate their for...

Always loved this song and band. Remember "American Bandstand"?

Chicago money columnist Terry Savage has written the most unintentionally hilarious column of the year thus far. First a question: What is up with these people named Savage? They think that just because they have a unique surname, they have to turn it into a lame-o brand or slogan. There is Dan Savage, of the Savage Love column. There's Michael Savage and his Savage Nation (which sounds better than Weiner Nation). And Terry Savage, for some reason, ends every single column of hers with "That's the Savage Truth." As if adding her surname makes it truer. The Savage Truth, alas, is that she is one screwy individual. Okay. You could chalk it up to the heat, which makes people a bit crabby. But the incident I'm about to describe took place in what was presumably an air-conditioned car. So what's her excuse for getting mad at little girls? See, Ms. Savage was riding along with her brother and his fiancee in a tony Chicago neighborhood. They came upon thre...

Forget Bobby Jindal. Lindsey Graham is truly the GOP's answer to Kenneth the Page.

Now, Fox Chicago suggests that Chicago get rid of its public libraries. As a librarian's daughter, I have a two-word response to this: Up yours. (Via Badtux .)

Wingnuts are mad at Joe Biden for using the word "blitzkrieg." "Waaaaaaah! He's bein' mean an' comparin' us to Nazis!" On that note, a music break. Note: I interviewed Tommy Ramone once. Kewl dude. He now plays bluegrass and looks like a hippie. 'Tis true!

It's early 1970s German R&B/prog outfit Frumpy, fronted by the incredible Inga Rumpf. Ms. Rumpf has had a nice, long career as a band frontwoman and a solo artist but remains unknown, alas, in the US. Seriously, it's weird being one of six people in the US who've heard of her. Her more recent output is R&B rather than prog. And I love R&B, so...

Yes, President Obama isn't perfect. Yes, he should just close Gitmo already. Yes, it would be great if he'd act on his campaign promise of more transparency in government. But c'mon, people, he's not another George W. Bush. A quick comparison of their administrations will show this. Criticize the guy, sure, but let's not pretend it's still 2005, hear?

...here's William Shatner's interpretation of the Harry Chapin classic "Taxi." How did this clip go unnoticed for so long?

"Loony left" and "moonbat" are now synonyms for "proven right all along."

Sarah Palin's latest quest to find something to stand for has led her to call herself a feminist and talk about "mama grizzlies." Why feminists don't simply laugh their asses off is beyond me. Oh, I know why--it's because somehow Palin's new schtick has earned her a Newsweek cover story, which means that Very Serious Media People are supposed to take it seriously. Jezebel , at least, is having fun Photoshopping said Newsweek cover. Let's leave aside the part about Palin making Wasilla's rape victims pay for their rape kits. And her stand on abortion. (Here, I should emphasize that I believe it's possible to be a feminist and oppose abortion. It would be really cool, however, if Feminists for Life and their ilk would push contraception, work to make adoption easier, and promote responsible, realistic sex education. It would also be helpful if they'd admit that the days of botched abortions are not an era any woman would want to revisit....

Seriously, I have finally found one of those bands that's really, truly unlistenable. Besides Nickelback, of course. The band in question is Brokencyde (it's supposed to be pronounced "broke inside"). The only people who know about this band are commenting on how terrible they are. They're not even lovably bad like Final Placement . For one thing, there probably will never be an online petition to get Brokencyde to play SXSW. Click if you dare.

GWB's daughter, Barbara, supports health care reform AND is glad the health care bill was passed. Something tells me Chris Wallace won't invite her back any time soon. I have a mental image of Wallace screeching, "Get me Liz Cheney next time!"

The Kentucky Senate race is looking to be fuuuuuuuun. Now, Rand Paul is complaining about liberals . Yes, according to him, liberals are displaying "intolerance." Just for once, I'm going to dispense some advice to one of these people: Stop whining. Mr. Paul, you were on the Rachel Maddow Show and Ms. Maddow gave you an opportunity to explain yourself. You dodged her questions, and it was really cringe-worthy. If you can't handle it, go back to eye surgery.

From Balloon Juice , a story involving a teabagger trying to free another teabagger from jail and conduct a citizens' arrest. Actually, Commander Guy has the whole, complete story. Oh yeah, and the perpetrator of this wingnut jail break informed law enforcement in advance. I guess it's more exciting than standing around with misspelled signs.