Man, the Republican hyperbole machine is in overdrive today. Earlier I posted on Bush national security advisor Frances Townsend’s comparison of George W. to George Washington.
Now we have former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman drawing a parallel between former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton and Atticus Finch.
Bolton reminds me of the Swedish Chef — he’s got the mustache, the reckless style …
Man, the Republican hyperbole machine is in overdrive today. Earlier I posted on Bush national security advisor Frances Townsend’s comparison of George W. to George Washington.
Now we have former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman drawing a parallel between former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton and Atticus Finch.
Bolton reminds me of the Swedish Chef — he’s got the mustache, the reckless style …
Conservapedia is Wikipedia for right-wingers. Guess what their favorite subject is:
This is inexcusable — you’d hope Bush would take time out from clearing brush on the ranch, get on the phone and make things right:
The U.S. Military is demanding that thousands of wounded service personnel give back signing bonuses because they are unable to serve out their commitments.
To get people to sign up, the military gives enlistment bonuses up to $30,000 in some cases.
Now men and women who have lost arms, legs, eyesight, hearing and can no longer serve are being ordered to pay some of that money back.
Saudi Arabia defended on Tuesday a court’s decision to sentence a woman who was gang-raped to 200 lashes of the whip, after the United States described the verdict as "astonishing".
This is one of those times you just want to throw your hands up in the air and say to the fanatics, "Call us when you’re ready to enter civilization." Unfortunately, we’ve allowed ourselves to become dependent on — and, in Saudi Arabia’s case, subsidized — barbarians.
My gift to you, a mixed tape, well-worn:
*"Some Mother’s Son" The Kinks
*"Murder Sounds" Enon
*"Gnossienne n.4" Erik Satie
*"Out of Time" Blur
*"Valentine" The Sun
*"Hot Love" T. Rex
*"White Girl" X
*"Mr. Tough" Yo La Tengo
*"Twilight Showdown" Starlight Mints
*"Stand and Deliver" Adam and the Ants
*"Zoloft" Ween
No matter your thoughts on the war, every American should welcome this news:
The security improvements in most neighborhoods are real. Days now pass without a car bomb, after a high of 44 in the city in February. The number of bodies appearing on Baghdad’s streets has plummeted to about 5 a day, from as many as 35 eight months ago, and suicide bombings across Iraq fell to 16 in October, half the number of last summer and down sharply from a recent peak of 59 in March, the American military says.
As a result, for the first time in nearly two years, people are moving with freedom around much of this city. In more than 50 interviews across Baghdad, it became clear that while there were still no-go zones, more Iraqis now drive between Sunni and Shiite areas for work, shopping or school, a few even after dark. In the most stable neighborhoods of Baghdad, some secular women are also dressing as they wish. Wedding bands are playing in public again, and at a handful of once shuttered liquor stores customers now line up outside in a collective rebuke to religious vigilantes from the Shiite Mahdi Army.
Questions remain, of course. Will this return to nomalcy outlast the surge? Once the troops leave, will Baghdad descend back into chaos?
No matter your thoughts on the war, every American should welcome this news:
The security improvements in most neighborhoods are real. Days now pass without a car bomb, after a high of 44 in the city in February. The number of bodies appearing on Baghdad’s streets has plummeted to about 5 a day, from as many as 35 eight months ago, and suicide bombings across Iraq fell to 16 in October, half the number of last summer and down sharply from a recent peak of 59 in March, the American military says.
As a result, for the first time in nearly two years, people are moving with freedom around much of this city. In more than 50 interviews across Baghdad, it became clear that while there were still no-go zones, more Iraqis now drive between Sunni and Shiite areas for work, shopping or school, a few even after dark. In the most stable neighborhoods of Baghdad, some secular women are also dressing as they wish. Wedding bands are playing in public again, and at a handful of once shuttered liquor stores customers now line up outside in a collective rebuke to religious vigilantes from the Shiite Mahdi Army.
Questions remain, of course. Will this return to nomalcy outlast the surge? Once the troops leave, will Baghdad descend back into chaos?
Seems like my distrust was well-placed, and a bit ahead of the curve. On 11/16, I wrote, in regards to the anti-Mormon, anti-Romney push polling controversy:
What does make sense is that Romney is looking to create sympathy for his religious views by having supporters pretend to attack it. Then he can pin the blame on his opponents. The evidence certainly points in that direction.
National Review Online is likewise suspicious (in a post dated 11/19):
News broke Thursday that voters in New Hampshire and Iowa had received phone calls from pollsters raising questions about aspects of Republican Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith. Who made the calls? Although the Romney campaign denies involvement, evidence points in its general direction
.
Many questons — all disturbing — surround the alleged rape of an 11-year-old girl by three boys, ages 8-9.
In no way am I attempting to minimize the seriousness of this case, but is it even possible for boys that age to commit a sexual assault?
Again, I don’t know all the facts, but I can’t help wonder if we have another overzealous prosecutor on our hands. Or maybe I just want to ignore the possibility that such heinous acts can be perpetrated by children.
Besides the fact that his movies suck. Same with his music. And there’s his slick, media-approved, family-friendly, focus grouped “hipness.”
No doubt that appeals to the Church of Scientology, which appears to have nabbed a new recruit:
“I’ve studied Buddhism and Hinduism, and I’ve studied Scientology through Tom [Cruise]. Ninety-eight percent of the principles [in Scientology] are identical to the principles of the Bible. . . . I don’t think that because the word someone uses for spirit is ‘thetan’ that the definition becomes any different.”
The rest of the article is similarly gag-worthy:
Remember, this is the Willenium, and you’re just living in it. Whether the camera’s rolling or not, whether he’s getting jiggy or getting real, the 39-year-old Smith exudes the same appeal—an organic hyper-likability that has helped make him the most bankable star in the world, surpassing even Pitt, Clooney, and those white dudes named Tom. With Smith’s last four movies—The Pursuit of Happyness, Hitch, Shark Tale, and I, Robot—each grossing over $300 million, and his total worldwide box office topping $4.4 billion, he is as sure a thing in Hollywood as celebrity DUIs, Botox, and paternity suits. Not that you’d ever find him indulging in all that. “I’ve never met anybody at that place who is as grounded and non–full of bullshit,” Theron attests. “I don’t say this kind of stuff about people, but he’s godly.”
No, he’s Xenuian.
And you thought Harriet Miers was bad –
Bush national security advisor Frances Townsend today delivered to President Bush a three-page handwritten resignation letter on White House stationery. At its core was this heart-rending tribute:
In 1937, the playwright Maxwell Anderson wrote of President George Washington: There are some men who lift the age they inhabit, til all men walk on higher ground in their lifetime.
Mr. President, you are such a man.
Whatever Kool-Aid they’re drinking must be laced with copious amounts of booze.
Brace yourselves: Rosie O’Donnell has given her blog a a makeover, and it really, really matters a whole lot:
dear god
a new blog design
hold on kids
here we go
change is hard
for all
fear freezes us
always
trust the light
follow ur gut
live what u know
can b
Now you know what I go through every other day when I revamp my blog’s appearance.
This is what he told a group of high school students in New Hampshire:
“You know, I made some bad decisions that I’ve actually written about. You know, got into drinking. I experimented with drugs,” he said. “There was a whole stretch of time that I didn’t really apply myself a lot. It wasn’t until I got out of high school and went to college that I started realizing, ‘Man, I wasted a lot of time.’”
Compare that to Lonesome Rhodes’ famous “didn’t inhale” lie, and to Hillbot, who was never cool enough to experiment (at least not with drugs).
Man, the Republican hyperbole machine is in overdrive today. Earlier I posted on Bush national security advisor Frances Townsend’s comparison of George W. to George Washington.
Now we have former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman drawing a parallel between former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton and Atticus Finch.
Bolton reminds me of the Swedish Chef — he’s got the mustache, the reckless style …
