The Truffle

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.

Via WaPo , we find that Senator Tom Coburn, an Okie like fellow douchebag Jim "I Don't Believe in No Stinkin' Global Warming!" Inhofe, was holding out for one small, slim chance that health care reform wouldn't pass. "What the American people ought to pray is that somebody can't make the vote tonight," he said. "That's what they ought to pray." It was difficult to escape the conclusion that Coburn was referring to the 92-year-old, wheelchair-bound Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) who has been in and out of hospitals and lay at home ailing. It would not be easy for Byrd to get out of bed in the wee hours with deep snow on the ground and ice on the roads -- but without his vote, Democrats wouldn't have the 60 they needed. A sitting senator wishing for a colleague's death. Disgusting. Of course, the reporter, Dana Milbank, went on a "Democrats do it toooooooo!" tirade, referring to Sheldon Whitehouse's speech. Excuse me. ...

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 ...

Somewhere a wingnut's head is exploding. Riding a ratings wave from “Countdown With Keith Olbermann,” a program that takes strong issue with the Bush administration, MSNBC is increasingly seeking to showcase its nighttime lineup as a welcome haven for viewers of a similar mind. Lest there be any doubt that the cable channel believes there is ratings gold in shows that criticize the administration with the same vigor with which Fox News’s hosts often champion it, two NBC executives acknowledged yesterday that they were talking to Rosie O’Donnell about a prime-time show on MSNBC. During the nine months she spent on “The View” before departing abruptly last spring, Ms. O’Donnell raised viewership notably. She did so while lamenting the unabated casualties of the Iraq war and advocating the right to gay marriage, among other positions. Note the operative phrase: "Raised viewership notably." Even though Rosie probably hurt Bitsy Hasselback's feelings a few times. Say, if ...

Take Li'l Ricky Santorum . A press conference was held at 1:30 this afternoon at the Philadelphia Inquirer to announce that it has added former Sen. Rick Santorum to its stable of columnists.... The story in the paper today includes: "Talking about the threat of Islamic terrorism is now Santorum's main occupation, though the Republican sounds laid-back these days. He is pitching a movie idea to Hollywood and laughed off speculation about a political comeback in Pennsylvania." The article explains that he has talked with "Hollywood producer Steve McEveety, who produced the Mel Gibson megahits 'Braveheart' and 'The Passion of the Christ,' on a movie idea that, naturally, has a terrorism element." Yo. Ricky. If Horrorwitz and Pipes won't speak up about MEK, perhaps you should. Right, Ricky? Erm...Ricky? ***cue sound of chirping crickets*** David Sirota notes the irony of a city paper in a Dem-leaning city hiring a disgraced wingnut as ...

Shit, won't the fundies ever quit whining about evolution? Now, they're making a documentary called Expelled! No Intelligence Allowed and are trying to gather horror stories about mean people who believe in evolution. Sheesh! Note to all religious fundies: There is a place where your children can read about deities shaping the world to their little hearts' content. It's called...get ready for it... Sunday school. I bet there are a lot of very nice church ladies who believe in intelligent design and would love a chance to teach it to America's youth.

There's just no nice way to put it. Steve Bates has this bon mot from Texas GOP congresscritter Joe Barton on SCHIP. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig. He's talking about SCHIP. WTF? What is it that makes Texas Republicans act like utter assholes? Something in the water down there? Is there some evil wizard who's got all them under a spell? Not only are GOP congresscritters mean and nasty, but they're utterly clueless as well. That, or they hate their jobs and they want to lose next year so they can go home and make lots of money in the private sector. "Lipstick on a pig." Feh.

Sad news from the Nation of Wingnutia. Jonah Goldberg's oft-ridiculed and still-unpublished manifesto on liberal fascism has been pushed back yet again --to January 8, 2008. Notes Roger Ailes : It now comes out on Elvis Presley's birthdate, (and will probably die on the toilet much soon than did the King). Ha! Obviously, Mommy's money is keeping Doughy Pantload afloat financially and he feels no need to rush this thing. Durig the course of the book's publication, he's been especially creative with subtitles, throwing in names like Hegel, Hillary Clinton, Mussolini, and Whole Foods. Wait a sec. WHOLE FOODS?!?!? Anyway, this week the working title for the book is: Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning. Awwwwwwww. Why can't he stick Hillary's name in there, like he did in the first place? Or at least throw in Barack Obama. I mean, Obama's middle name is Hussein, after all. Which mea...

And check his facts while he's at it. Pat Buchanan was spitting nails over President Gore's Nobel Peace Prize win. (Per Badtux , that's what I'm going to start calling the guy.) Specifically, he ranted about "Swedish socialists" trying to gain political points. Or something. There's just one problem. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Norway, not Sweden. The committee that awards the prize is appointed by the Norwegian parliament. Oops.

And the answer is a big fat no.

The stupid! It BUUUUURRRRRRNS!!!!! After eating dinner at a famed Harlem restaurant recently, Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly told a radio audience he "couldn't get over the fact" that there was no difference between the black-run Sylvia's and other restaurants. "It was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun," he said. "And there wasn't any kind of craziness at all." O'Reilly's been in New York City how long ? And he only just realized that the vast majority of American blacks do not, as he puts it, go into restaurants and yell things like, "'M.F.-er, I want more iced tea"? There's a bright side to this latest foot-in-mouth episode. The New York Times has an article called "Where to Get Soul Food, With or Without Bill O'Reilly." Preferably without. P.S. I love Ridiculopathy.

Today's nugget of comedy gold is brought to you by Stephen Sabludowsky of the Bayou Buzz in Louisiana. Somewhere, in their cozy home offices, the superstars of the wingnutosphere must be quaking, as they contemplate this upstart from the Deep South (home of Bubba, damn it!) and imagine how their rhetorical skills and laundry lists of talking points can possibly can possibly top an article titled...drum roll please... Feingold's Iraq Censorship Resolution Is Bad Policy . Iraq WHAT is bad policy?!?!? Yo. Jonah Goldberg? You there? We don't need you anymore. We've found a new right-wing stupid who makes you look like Keith Olbermann. Maybe, after you're done crying into your beer, you can get back to work on that silly book of yours. What's it called again? Liberal Fascism from Hegel to Whole Foods? On second thought, maybe you should ask your mommy for more money. Ahem. If you think the title is great, wait till you read the article. U.S. Senator Ru...