If you want it.
I will learn this song in 2009. I promise.
25 December 2008
17 December 2008
07 December 2008
New Feature
A new feature from your from the Editor/Writer/Purveyor of Shrill:
Fox Personality That Makes Me Drop The F-bomb Today
First recipient: Bill O'Reilly.
What is wrong with these people? I'd like to have a word with his man on the street. Seriously, I know Obama's all about civility but these Fox people REALLY make it difficult, because they're well such....arrogant assholes.
Fox Personality That Makes Me Drop The F-bomb Today
First recipient: Bill O'Reilly.
What is wrong with these people? I'd like to have a word with his man on the street. Seriously, I know Obama's all about civility but these Fox people REALLY make it difficult, because they're well such....arrogant assholes.
04 December 2008
03 December 2008
Ankle Breaker
In case you missed this sick crossover dribble by D. Rose, a sure cure for Chicago sport mediocrity.
via Chris Hayes
via Chris Hayes
What Kanye Said.
Sia.
Love the music, album artwork, and album title. If her voice sounds familiar, Sia was part of Zero 7 which had a song on the Garden State soundtrack.
Have to find a spot for this on my best of 2008 mix.
Love the music, album artwork, and album title. If her voice sounds familiar, Sia was part of Zero 7 which had a song on the Garden State soundtrack.
Have to find a spot for this on my best of 2008 mix.
25 November 2008
Lyrics of the Day
See this needle...a see my hand...
Drop, drop, dropping it down...oh, so gently...
Well here it comes...I touch the plane...
Turn me up...won't turn you away...
Spin, spin...spin the black circle
Spin, spin...spin the black, spin the black...
Spin, spin...spin the black circle
Spin, spin...whoa...
Pull it out...a paper sleeve...
Oh, my joy...only you deserve conceit...
I'm so big...a-my whole world...
I'd rather you...rather you...than her...
You're so warm...oh, the ritual...when I lay down your crooked arm...
-Spin the Black Circle, Pearl Jam
Drop, drop, dropping it down...oh, so gently...
Well here it comes...I touch the plane...
Turn me up...won't turn you away...
Spin, spin...spin the black circle
Spin, spin...spin the black, spin the black...
Spin, spin...spin the black circle
Spin, spin...whoa...
Pull it out...a paper sleeve...
Oh, my joy...only you deserve conceit...
I'm so big...a-my whole world...
I'd rather you...rather you...than her...
You're so warm...oh, the ritual...when I lay down your crooked arm...
-Spin the Black Circle, Pearl Jam
Ummm, what about Thanksgiving?
Isn't it nice when someone can express exactly how you're (in this case, me) feeling?
Thank you, Andrew.
Makes you feel a little less disconnected.
Thank you, Andrew.
Makes you feel a little less disconnected.
23 November 2008
6 Words I Never Want to Say
I felt my eyeball pop out.
The most frightening injury came in 2003, during a game against Brazil. McBride dove over the top of a defender hoping to head a corner kick into the net. The defender threw his head back and caught McBride flush on the left cheek.
"I knew it was a hard hit. I ran with the trainer into the locker room." After some hasty repairs, the coach and the medical staff were ready to send McBride back into battle. And McBride was ready to go until he sneezed.
"I felt my eyeball pop out," he recalls. "I'm not saying it popped out like you see in a cartoon, but I could feel it move forward. So I told coach this might be serious." It was another fractured orbital floor. In all, McBride's still-handsome face contains seven titanium plates and the fading scars of more stitches than he can count. The injuries have deadened the feeling in his face, so much so that he says he scarcely felt the famous elbow in the Italy game.
Despite these injuries, McBride never shows fear or hesitation in going after balls with his oft-damaged skull. "He was, and still is, incredibly brave playing with the injuries he's had," said Moyes, the Everton manager.
In the U.S., soccer is viewed as a kids' game, a tame, mild-mannered sport. MLS thinks McBride can change the image.
"Hopefully, they'll see Brian and they'll see it's a sport for rough-tough competitive athletes," says Don Garber, a former NFL executive who is now the MLS commissioner. "In Chicago, people think of Dick Butkus and Mike Ditka and Mike Singletary when they think of tough guys. But those guys had helmets and shoulder pads. Brian is out there, same as them, in a very physical sport, but he has no protection. He's a true warrior."
21 November 2008
A Million Little Pieces
All I can say is, thank you modernity:
If conservatism is to recover as a force in the modern world, the theocons and Christianists have to understand that their concept of a unified polis with a telos guiding all of us to a theologically-understood social good is a non-starter. Modernity has smashed it into a million little pieces. Women will never return in their consciousness to the child-bearing subservience of the not-so-distant past. Gay people will never again internalize a sense of their own "objective disorder" to acquiesce to a civil regime where they are willingly second-class citizens. Straight men and women are never again going to avoid divorce to the degree our parents did. Nor are they going to have kids because contraception is illicit. The only way to force all these genies back into the bottle would require the kind of oppressive police state Rod would not want to live under.
But how do those who are ready to live in this modern world coexist with those who still believe that it is not only misguided but evil? And, of course, vice-versa? There is only one way.
That way is to agree that our civil order will mean less; that it will be a weaker set of more procedural agreements that try to avoid as much as possible deep statements about human nature. And that has a clear import for our current moment. The reason the marriage debate is so intense is because neither side seems able to accept that the word "marriage" requires a certain looseness of meaning if it is to remain as a universal, civil institution. This is not that new. Catholics, for example, accept the word marriage to describe civil marriages that are second marriages, even though their own faith teaches them that those marriages don't actually exist as such. But most Catholics are able to set theological beliefs to one side and accept a theological untruth as a civil fact. After all, a core, undebatable Catholic doctrine is that marriage is for life. Divorce is not the end of that marriage in the eyes of God. And yet Catholics can tolerate fellow citizens who are not Catholic calling their non-marriages marriages - because Catholics have already accepted a civil-religious distinction. They can wear both hats in the public square.
Why Conservatives Lose
As Nate brilliantly observes, they could care less about persuading anyone.
Wonder why no one likes them?
Visual evidence.
YouTube via Chris Hayes
It is not that conservatism generally permits less nuance than liberalism (in terms of political messaging, that is probably one of conservatism's strengths). Rather, the key lies in the second passage that I highlighted. There are a certain segment of conservatives who literally cannot believe that anybody would see the world differently than the way they do. They have not just forgotten how to persuade; they have forgotten about the necessity of persuasion.They are right. You are wrong. You are stupid. They are smart.
Wonder why no one likes them?
Visual evidence.
YouTube via Chris Hayes
19 November 2008
Lyrics of the Day
The Obama Effect
Al Qaeda is forced to resort to racist attacks.
That's exactly right. It's easy to forget how much of the world personalizes foreign policy. (Americans, of course, are no exception.) With an American president as loathed as George W. Bush around the world, it's easy for Al Qaeda to portray the U.S. as venal and stupid and brutish as he's proven. Obama complicates the narrative significantly: the very color of his skin, precisely what Al Qaeda mocks, symbolizes America's willingness to change. That's exactly what Al Qaeda fears most.
That's why I kind of disagree with my friend Eric Martin of Obsidian Wings when he writes, "for no apparent reason, Zawahiri leads al-Qaeda directly into that headwind with a racial insult that serves little ideological purpose." The racial epithet is a botched way of advancing a deep ideological necessity for Al Qaeda: to keep its narrative going, Zawahiri has to define Obama as not authentically American. As guest-poster RockRichard puts it, "It flies in the face of their portrayal of an evil zionist empire."
18 November 2008
No Drama
President-elect Obama is so much better than me.
This temperament is exactly why he will get things accomplished as President.
(By the way, I like saying President-elect Obama.)
This, incidentally, is the other side of No Drama Obama: Part of avoiding drama is refusing to make decisions based on your own drama. You're seeing it with Lieberman and you're seeing it with Clinton. Whatever the objective strategic merits of these moves, Obama is building out his administration with little heed to the resentments and hurt feelings of the campaign. He's letting the campaign drama die so that his agenda may live.I'd take away Lieberman's chairmanship in a heartbeat.
This temperament is exactly why he will get things accomplished as President.
(By the way, I like saying President-elect Obama.)
Dempster's Back
If you needed any other reason to be happy about this other than his 17-6 season and a 2.96 ERA, here you go.
Maybe I'll go get that blank Cubs jersey updated this offseason.
Maybe I'll go get that blank Cubs jersey updated this offseason.
17 November 2008
16 November 2008
What Yglesias Said
Solidarity forever.
Maddow rules.
Full disclosure: This post was not written in a basement nor was I wearing pajamas. I was however, eating Cheez-Its. Yum.
Maddow rules.
Full disclosure: This post was not written in a basement nor was I wearing pajamas. I was however, eating Cheez-Its. Yum.
Why I Can't Be Catholic, Pt. 2
I'm sure they would deny me communion if I already didn't do them that favor, because I believe that women should be able to be priests, that what women do with their reproductive parts are nobody's business but their own, and that love should not be discriminated against.
It appears that the offending priest has been scolded, but he feel like he's getting mixed signals after this.
It appears that the offending priest has been scolded, but he feel like he's getting mixed signals after this.
Memories
I saw this movie when I was 6. Let's just say Tina Turner left an impression. (Anyone who's seen the movie will know what I'm talking about.)
Explains alot.
[YouTube via Atrios.]
Explains alot.
[YouTube via Atrios.]
Chicago Stands Up Against H8
Report from Prop 8 protest on Saturday.
See Andrew Sullivan's blog for reports from all over the United States.
See Andrew Sullivan's blog for reports from all over the United States.
15 November 2008
Happy Belated Birthday
Corin Tucker.
You should know that I'm saving my Sleater-Kinney shirts for my 2-1/2 year old daughter, Kate.
I'll never forget my first Sleater-Kinney show at The Metro in Chicago. I've been in love ever since.
Update: A memento
Not my first show, still need to scan that one.
You should know that I'm saving my Sleater-Kinney shirts for my 2-1/2 year old daughter, Kate.
I'll never forget my first Sleater-Kinney show at The Metro in Chicago. I've been in love ever since.
Update: A memento
Not my first show, still need to scan that one.
13 November 2008
Why I Can't Be Catholic
Why?
The leaders of the church. Sanctimonious hypocrites, so above politics, these cardinals and bishops. (They remind me of Sen. Lieberman)
It's amazing how the bishops couldn't even wait until President-Elect Obama was inaugurated to start attacking? They must have been shocked that their flock didn't vote for MORE WAR and POVERTY and INCOME REDISTRIBUTION UPWARDS.
Is it possible for these leaders of the Catholic church to be more punitive?
How about promoting sex education and birth control to reduce abortions?
Nah, abstinence education. That works really well.
How about some "legal protections" for the children (former unborn) molested by the priests you protect?
Pro-life from conception to birth. After that you're on your own, especially if you're a woman or a child.
How about losing your tax-exempt status?
How about losing my offering? Maybe I'll just tithe to Obama.
Got your attention?
The leaders of the church. Sanctimonious hypocrites, so above politics, these cardinals and bishops. (They remind me of Sen. Lieberman)
"Any one of us here would consider it a privilege to die tomorrow—die tomorrow!—to bring about the end of abortion," said Auxiliary Bishop Robert Hermann of St. Louis.Stridently "anti-life" if you believe a woman has the right to control her own uterus?
[...]
Bishop Joseph Martino of Scranton, Pa., vice president-elect Joe Biden's hometown, called on his brother bishops to be more punitive against Catholic officials who are "stridently anti-life."
"I cannot have the vice president coming to Scranton and saying he learned his values there when those values are utterly against those of the Catholic Church," Martino said.
It's amazing how the bishops couldn't even wait until President-Elect Obama was inaugurated to start attacking? They must have been shocked that their flock didn't vote for MORE WAR and POVERTY and INCOME REDISTRIBUTION UPWARDS.
Is it possible for these leaders of the Catholic church to be more punitive?
How about promoting sex education and birth control to reduce abortions?
Nah, abstinence education. That works really well.
How about some "legal protections" for the children (former unborn) molested by the priests you protect?
Pro-life from conception to birth. After that you're on your own, especially if you're a woman or a child.
How about losing your tax-exempt status?
How about losing my offering? Maybe I'll just tithe to Obama.
Got your attention?
The Questionnaire
Unlike Sarah, I know my limitations.
All they have to do is look at my blog.
Definitely things here that might embarrass the President-Elect.
All they have to do is look at my blog.
Definitely things here that might embarrass the President-Elect.
11 November 2008
Thank You Veterans
We admire and honor your courage, sacrifice, and service, as well as the sacrifice of your families.
What can we do outside of words?
Some ideas:
Make a donation to the USO.
Read this.
Buy this DVD.
What can we do outside of words?
Some ideas:
Make a donation to the USO.
Read this.
While it is fitting that our nation reserves a special day to honor the sacrifice and commitment of our warriors, it also serves to highlight how we, as a country, have fallen short of caring for our veterans, reintegrating them back into our communities, and demanding that our military be used responsibly and only as a last resort. Over 1.7 million men and women of the U.S. military have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and many of them now struggle to cope with physical and emotional injuries, with family relationships strained because of prolonged separation, and with finding employment during an economic recession.Volunteer at a Veterans Hospital.
Members of Iraq Veterans Against the War know that in order to truly honor our veterans, we must listen to them, not just on Veterans Day, but on the other 364 days as well. It is for each other, our military brothers and sisters, and for our country that IVAW works every day to share our experiences, to challenge the predominant narrative of war as heroic and glorious, and to expose people to the brutal reality and true human costs of modern warfare.
Buy this DVD.
09 November 2008
My New Favorite T-shirt
What To Do About Joe
You'll get nothing.
And the simple fact is the Democrats don't need Joe Lieberman. He's not in a position to call anything 'unacceptable'. The Democrats didn't get to 60 votes or at least it now seems highly unlikely -- which was his only hope to have any continued relevance or position to bargain from. And the truth is that filibuster-busting votes are often made on an ad-hoc basis rather than on a party line. In any case, there'd be no more reason to trust he'd be there as a 60th vote as a Democrat than as a Republican.Works for me.
Sen. Reid should take a cue from the one his fictional predecessor once heard in telling Lieberman how it's going to be: "My offer is this. Nothing."
04 November 2008
Public Service Announcement
If you don't know where your polling place is, call 1-866-OUR-VOTE or use Google Maps Voter Info.
If lines are long and you need a refreshment, don't hesitate to give me a call/email/text.
Change is coming. I can feel it.
03 November 2008
Teh Stupids
The Sarah and Joe Show.
Got it, Sarah? No one would complain if you were just looking at Obama’s plan or record and saying he is too liberal or has the wrong ideas. But when you and your buddies run around smearing him as a traitor, a friend of terrorists, or not sufficiently loyal, then you cross the line. This woman is either incredibly stupid, incredibly dishonest, or a toxic combination of both. John McCain’s career should be forever marred for his having elevated her to the national platform.Shame on you Sen. McCain. Joe and Sarah are idiots, but you should know better.
Genius
All parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents will appreciate this innovation.
The people who design children's toy packaging are sadists.
Thank you Jeff Bezos.
The people who design children's toy packaging are sadists.
Thank you Jeff Bezos.
Republican Idiot of the Day
Hank Williams Jr.
link via Marc Ambinder
(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) - At a Sarah Palin rally here tonight, country music star Hank Williams, Jr. took the stage to sing the national anthem, as he has done at Palin events across the country for weeks. But this time, the singer decided to share his personal views about Barack Obama with the crowd.F**k you Hank. You've soiled your dad's name, uh, just like the current President your so, uh, fond of.
“You know, I’m usually at ‘Monday Night Football' tonight, but Colorado, this is a lot more important tonight,” Williams, Jr. said. “Join me now in our national—you know, that song that, uh, Mr. Obama’s not real crazy about, we’re singing it right now.”
link via Marc Ambinder
01 November 2008
Vote For Change
Studs Terkel
Great tribute by Rick Kogan in the Chicago Tribune.
My favorite excerpts:
1. Talking about meeting his wife.
2. Talking about his wife's death
3. Talking about his epitaph and death.
My favorite excerpts:
1. Talking about meeting his wife.
"The first time I saw her she was wearing a maroon dress," Terkel once recalled. "She made a lot more money than I did. It was like dating a CEO. I borrowed 20 bucks from her for our first date. I never paid her back."
2. Talking about his wife's death
"It's hard. It's very hard," he said the day she died. "She was seven days older than me, and I would always joke that I married an older woman. That's the thing: Who's gonna laugh at my jokes? At those jokes I've told a million times? That's the thing ... ... Who's gonna be there to laugh?"
3. Talking about his epitaph and death.
He was in that living room last year when he said with zest that when he "checked out"--as a "hotel kid" he rarely used the word "dying," preferring the euphemism "checking out" and its variants--he wanted to be cremated. He wanted his ashes mixed with those of his wife, which sat in an urn in the living room of his house, near the bed in which he slept and dreamed.
"My epitaph? My epitaph will be, 'Curiosity did not kill this cat,'." he said.
He then said that he wanted his and Ida's ashes to be scattered in Bughouse Square, that patch of green park that so informed his first years in his adopted city.
"Scatter us there," he said, a gleeful grin on his face. "It's against the law. Let 'em sue us."
Your Republican Party
Brain dead acolytes.
Look- the intellectual wing of the Republican party is dead. What is left are brain-dead acolytes spreading meaningless and simplistic anecdotes, trite stories, and distilled nonsense passed on that has a more fitting home in AM radio. The McCain campaign, once again, is just a symptom of the real problem- an intellectually incurious and lazy movement in the final ugly spasms of death. The McCain campaign is now, in their interviews with the press, spreading what we can all recognize as wingnut email chains.I believe this is what Cheney referred to as "the last throes."
RIP, Republicans.
31 October 2008
Lyric of the Day
Quote of the Day (or a couple days ago)
Nate:
It's not a Cubs' World Championship, but most Illinoisans will take it; what kind of odds could you have gotten in 1908 that a black dude would get elected president before the Cubs won the Series again?
27 October 2008
Truth
Judging by who he wrote for, I doubt I would have agreed with anything Dean Barnett said, but this tribute is well worth the read, especially in this heated political climate. (Be sure to Spencer Ackerman's post as well.)
But that is neither here nor there. What matters is that he is dead, and life is too short. Not a day passes when I do not ponder my own mortality, and not a day passes without me wondering how I will continue without my parents and the people who mean everything to me. A very selfish part of me hopes that I die before them.
Life is too damned short, and right now Dean Barnett’s family and friends are going through hell. I hope they are able to cope, and I am going to call my parents and tell them I love them and then hug my cat. I suggest you do the same thing with the ones you love. This whole racket is just way too short, and at times is a cruel hoax. Forty-one is just way too damned young.
Dear Fox News/Drudge/McCain-Palin
Supporting a progressive income tax is not socialism.
If you think so, then we've been a socialist country since the institution of the income tax, and Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower were raging socialists.
We're not all morons.
Love,
steve
If you think so, then we've been a socialist country since the institution of the income tax, and Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower were raging socialists.
We're not all morons.
Love,
steve
Conservatives For Obama
They exist.
Share it with anyone you think might be voting for McCain-Palin. This election is too important.
Share it with anyone you think might be voting for McCain-Palin. This election is too important.
Is This A Joke?
As Socialist As America Gets
Sarah Palin's Alaska
But the truth is, Sarah Palin's Alaska is about as close to socialism as America gets. As Yglesias recently noted, "You have collective ownership of valuable natural resources that generates lots of revenue for the state, and then the government makes 'spreading the wealth around' through the Permanent Fund, etc. its main priority."Learn what they're talking about? That's for anti-American elitists!
The point isn't that there's anything especially wrong with Palin-style socialism; there isn't. The point is, if McCain and Palin want to whine incessantly about socialism, redistribution of wealth, and "welfare," they ought to a) learn what they're talking about; and b) take a good look in the mirror.
26 October 2008
Words Have Meaning
New concept to Republicans.
Look: socialism is a word that has a meaning. It means public control of the means of production. It does not mean taxing the top bracket at 39%. Likewise, "collective ownership" has a meaning, and it does not mean the situation that obtains when the government can repeal tax cuts for the top 5% of the population.Teach them, my friends.
24 October 2008
Apple
Especially proud to be an iMac/iPod/iPhone owner and Apple fan today.
Most corporations wouldn't have the guts.
Most corporations wouldn't have the guts.
17 October 2008
14 October 2008
All You Need to Know About ACORN
1. The Republicans know John McCain is going to lose.
2. They know the media isn't smart enough to distinguish between voter REGISTRATION fraud and voter fraud. People who register as Mickey Mouse are not showing up at the polls.
3. They know they must delegitimize Obama's victory, so they blame ACORN, who is actually flagging the fraudulent registrations before turning them in, and who, by law can't destroy any that they know to be fraudulent, lest they destroy some poor young Republican's legitimate voter registration form.
Key links for you:
Josh.
More Josh.
Fun Q&A with Gawker.
Please use this information when your crazy relatives, friends, or co-workers start talking about how they were robbed by ACORN (even before we've actually voted).
Gawker sums it up well.
If that doesn't shut the crazies up, show them this.
2. They know the media isn't smart enough to distinguish between voter REGISTRATION fraud and voter fraud. People who register as Mickey Mouse are not showing up at the polls.
3. They know they must delegitimize Obama's victory, so they blame ACORN, who is actually flagging the fraudulent registrations before turning them in, and who, by law can't destroy any that they know to be fraudulent, lest they destroy some poor young Republican's legitimate voter registration form.
Key links for you:
Josh.
More Josh.
Fun Q&A with Gawker.
Please use this information when your crazy relatives, friends, or co-workers start talking about how they were robbed by ACORN (even before we've actually voted).
Gawker sums it up well.
What we're dealing with so far is minor voter registration fraud. The questionable registrations number in the double digits in most states, and most of them have been flagged and caught by either ACORN themselves or election officials. Furthermore in many places the false registrations are required by law to be submitted anyway, so that ACORN isn't guilty of, say, tossing out the forms of Republicans they sign up. They do try to flag the fake ones as fake, but regardless, the fake ones are still being caught. Also: voter registration fraud does not coherently lead to voter fraud, because if you register one man 75 times, how will he vote 75 times, exactly?Let me repeat. The questionable registration numbers in the DOUBLE DIGITS in most states. Desperation anyone?
More importantly, the election can't be stolen if it hasn't happened yet, and voter registration fraud does not explain in any way a double digit lead for a candidate in national tracking polls. Like, wtf, how are you making this argument, are you slow? ACORN registering Mickey Mouse is why Barack Obama is up 12 in Pennsylvania? Ok, sure, whatever you say.
If that doesn't shut the crazies up, show them this.
09 October 2008
Got Something to Say, John?
Say it to my face.
Biden agrees.
Biden agrees.
"In my neighborhood, when you've got something to say to a guy, you look him in the eye and you say it to him."
08 October 2008
John McCain Has A Table
That's it.
Look, I know it's nice to think well-intentioned people can sit down in a room and resolve complex problems through discussion and negotiation. But this is just an intellectually lazy way of approaching policy challenges.
Iraq? McCain wants to sit Sunnis and Shiites down at a table. Social Security? McCain wants to sit Democrats and Republicans down at a table. The moral of the story is, if you've got a problem, John McCain has a table.
26 September 2008
Drama Queen
McCain's version of leadership.
That's what I call real leadership: parachute in after other people have been in complicated negotiations for days, trailing the entire national press corps behind you, on the grounds that you are urgently needed, in person -- and then undermine the deal behind the scenes without being willing to publicly take any position at all.
23 September 2008
McCain = Experience
Not the good kind.
"[Y]ou remember the Keating Five scandal that he was a part of, which, by the way, it's crazy but there's been very little about it in the press in the last few weeks," Alter said. "And McCain thinks he's getting a hard time, he's really getting a free ride on the fact that he was in the middle of the last great financial scandal in our country. But his reaction to that, you would have thought, would have been more regulation of the financial services industry. Instead he moved forward on campaign finance reform after being caught in that scandal, but did nothing -- nothing -- to try to prevent another savings and loan crisis from happening down the road. He was missing in action when it came to even learning the basic lessons of a scandal that he said taught him all kinds of things that he would never forget."
[...]
As Josh Marshall concluded, "Let's face it. On major economy-imperiling financial scandals brought about by lax regulation and help from lobbyist-encrusted politicians, McCain really is the candidate of experience."
20 September 2008
All The Way (again)
I obsessively listened and updated the lyrics.
Don't let anyone say that it's just a game.I'll be playing this loud in the garage tonight.
For I've seen other teams and it's never the same.
When you're born in Chicago, you're blessed and you're healed,
The first time you walk into Wrigley Field.
Our heroes wear pinstripes, heroes in blue,
Give us the chance to feel like heroes too.
But whether we win and if we should lose,
We know someday we'll go all the way.
Yeah, someday we'll go all the way.
We are one with the Cubs, with the Cubs we're in love.
Yeah hold our head high as the underdogs.
We are not fairweather, but foul weather fans.
Like brothers in arms, in the streets and the stands.
There's magic in the ivy and the old scoreboard.
The same one I stared at as a kid keeping score.
In a world full of greed, I could never want more.
Someday we'll go all the way.
Yeah, someday we'll go all the way.
And here's to the men and the legends we've known.
Teaching us faith and giving us hope.
United we stand and united we'll fall
Down to our knees the day we win it all.
Yeah Ernie Banks said, "oh, let's play two".
Did he mean two hundred years?
In the same ballpark, our diamond, our jewel.
The home of our joy and our tears.
Keeping traditions, and wishes made new,
A place where our grandfathers' fathers they grew.
A spiritual feeling if I ever knew.
And if you ain't been, I am sorry for you.
And when the day comes for that last winning run,
and I'm crying and covered in beer.
I look to the sky and know I was right to think,
Someday we'll go all the way.
Yeah, someday we'll go all the way.
19 September 2008
All The Way
A song to celebrate games like yesterday's, available now.
Lyrics here:
Lyrics here:
Don't let anyone say that it's just a game.UPDATE: Updated the lyrics. Song available now.
For I've seen other teams and it's never the same.
When you're born in Chicago, you're blessed and you're healed,
The first time you walk into Wrigley Field.
Our heroes wear pinstripes, heroes in blue,
Give us the chance to feel like heroes too.
Forever we'll win and if we should lose,
We know someday we'll go all the way.
Yeah, someday we'll go all the way.
We are one with the Cubs, with the Cubs we're in love.
Yeah hold our head high as the underdogs.
We are not fairweather, but foul weather fans.
Like brothers in arms, in the streets and the stands.
There's magic in the ivy and the old scoreboard.
The same one I stared at as a kid keeping score.
In a world full of greed, I could never want more.
Someday we'll go all the way.
Yeah, someday we'll go all the way.
And here's to the men and the legends we've known.
Teaching us faith and giving us hope.
United we stand and united we'll fall
Down to our knees the day we win it all.
Yeah Ernie Banks said, "oh, let's play two".
Did he mean two hundred years?
In the same ballpark, our diamond, our jewel.
The home of our joy and our tears.
Keeping traditions, and wishes made new,
A place where our grandfathers' fathers they grew.
A spiritual feeling if I ever knew.
And if you ain't been, I am sorry for you.
And when the day comes for that last winning run,
and I'm crying and covered in beer.
I look to the sky and know I was right to think,
Someday we'll go all the way.
Yeah, someday we'll go all the way.
15 September 2008
David Foster Wallace
Thanks to Chris Hayes for sharing his tribute to an author I sadly didn't become aware of until his death over the weekend.
You must read this commencement address he gave. I can only think of one other piece of prose, by Dave Eggers on the topic of selling out, that spoke to me this way.
It's one of those pieces I print out and keep close to me because it connected with me on a personal level, just the way my favorite lyrics do. It tapped into something inside me that makes me want to be better, to live with intention, and to act in accordance with the ideals that these words awakened in me. Every. Single. Day.
It's also one of those pieces I have an evangelical need to share with my friends.
It's one of those pieces that I can't wait to share with my kids when they get older.
It's that good. It reminds me of the power of the written word to move people and affect how they look at the world.
Please read it.
I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about.
You must read this commencement address he gave. I can only think of one other piece of prose, by Dave Eggers on the topic of selling out, that spoke to me this way.
It's one of those pieces I print out and keep close to me because it connected with me on a personal level, just the way my favorite lyrics do. It tapped into something inside me that makes me want to be better, to live with intention, and to act in accordance with the ideals that these words awakened in me. Every. Single. Day.
It's also one of those pieces I have an evangelical need to share with my friends.
It's one of those pieces that I can't wait to share with my kids when they get older.
It's that good. It reminds me of the power of the written word to move people and affect how they look at the world.
Please read it.
I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about.
11 September 2008
Simple Answers to Simple Questions
The answer is yes.
You have credibility because (most of) our media has none, and is following the catnip that the McCain campaign is throwing at them.
You have credibility because (most of) our media has none, and is following the catnip that the McCain campaign is throwing at them.
A Media Experiment
Hillary v. Sarah: the experiment.
There can't be any difference in gender or race bias in treatment of these two cases: they both both involve successful, married white female politicians. There is no essential difference in the falseness of their claims, though there was a greater comic potential in the film footage of Sen. Clinton's "harrowing" arrival. The major remaining difference is that one case involves a Democrat (though the more conservative of the primary-campaign finalists) and one a Republican.
So here are the controlled-experiment questions:
1) At any point will the right-wing press join the effort to hold Palin accountable for her false claim, as all of the press held Clinton responsible?
2) If Palin keeps making the claim, will press critics redouble their debunking, as they did with Clinton, or taper off for fear of seeming biased or boring?
3) At any point will Palin herself -- or, far more significant, McCain -- acknowledge that there are such things as fact and fantasy, and stop making a demonstrably false claim?
McCain's Tax Plan
He wants to tax your employer-provided health care insurance.
This will be popular. I wonder why he isn't talking MORE about this.
That's not a tax cut we can believe in, my friends.
This will be popular. I wonder why he isn't talking MORE about this.
That's not a tax cut we can believe in, my friends.
Earmark Queen
Rape Kit Reform?
If you were raped, Sarah Palin would make you pay for a rape kit to save $14,000/year. Guess she couldn't get any earmarks for that.
Update: Read Josh.
Update: Read Josh.
While Gov. Palin was Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska in the late 1990s, the city's policy was to charge rape victims for the cost of the 'rape kits' used to collect forensic evidence to help prosecute the rapists. Eventually the state had to step in and pass a law banning the practice. And according to former Gov. Tony Knowles, the law was passed specifically in response to Wasila's policy. "There was one town in Alaska that was charging victims for this, and that was Wasilla," says Knowles.She lied. Again.
[...]
But it appears this is another case whether Sarah Palin is lying or in this case deputizing press aides to lie on her behalf. In this case spokeswoman Maria Comella, when asked, told USAToday that "does not believe, nor has she ever believed, that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence-gathering test. Gov. Palin's position could not be more clear. To suggest otherwise is a deliberate misrepresentation of her commitment to supporting victims and bringing violent criminals to justice."
Well, this just appears to be a confident statement of another lie. She does not and has never believed this, only it was her policy when she ran the city in question which was either the only or the most prominent in the state that held to this practice.
09 September 2008
Liar Liar
Pants on fire.
The timeline.
The timeline.
So, to boil it all down, Congress pulled the plug on the Bridge to Nowhere in 2005. Palin was still for it in 2006. And when she finally ended the project because Congress had cut off funding, instead of saying 'No Thanks' she actually said 'Thanks!' because instead of sending the money back to Washington she kept it all in Juneau.Thank you, Josh Marshall, for putting it in a context some of the slower media brethren can understand, and perhaps at some point call McCain and Palin the liars that they are.
Next question?
I Write Letters
I wrote this to Steve Cochran after listening to him talking about Obama's "lipstick" on a pig comment, taking it out of context and from the portion I heard, trying to make something out of nothing, and saying Obama needs to explain the comment. (I tried not to sound like a ranting lunatic in the hopes that he might actually read the entire thing.) Letter starts here.
I'm usually not one to write letters, but I heard you talking about Obama's lipstick comment and it struck a nerve regarding political coverage in this country, especially when the campaign manager of one campaign says that this year's campaign isn't about issues. Why is that? I'd say its because the media in many cases allows it to be that way. The manufactured "lipstick" outrage is a prime example.
I wasn't able to listen to the rest of your show, so you may have covered this but in case you didn't, it might be worthwhile to read an alternative take here before we get all worked up with outrage and head for the fainting couch over a common turn of phrase that Obama has used frequently in the past.
Is this what it's come to? Direct to the internet/print/radio from Republican talking points on a "Truth Squad" conference call. Did anyone actually think Obama was calling Sarah Palin a pig? Was McCain calling Hillary a pig when he used it describe her health care plan? Funny I don't recall any outrage then.
Thankfully some in the media like Jake Tapper and Marc Ambinder are catching on.
Anyone paying attention to the 23 times McCain and Palin have repeated the Bridge to Nowhere lie on the campaign trail? Some of us are counting.
Maybe the McCain campaign should call their conference calls the "Half-Truth" squad.
Attention Media!
McCain and Palin think you are fools.
This is a test.
Call them on their lies.
P.S. It's up to 23 now.
I know you can do it!
This is a test.
Call them on their lies.
P.S. It's up to 23 now.
I know you can do it!
St. McCain
Not so much.
He's.
Not.
A.
Maverick.
McCain likes to present his past as past and his time in a prison camp as a transformative experience, but the fact is that his experience as a POW transformed nothing. In fact, it amplified his fundamental belief in his own self-righteousness, something he's used ever since as an unending justification for his worst impulses. He was 31 years old when he was captured by the North Vietnamese and 36 when he was released. When he was 43 he abandoned his injured wife for a younger woman and married into a fortune. When he was 51 he intervened with regulators on behalf of his pal Charles Keating and ended up enmeshed in the Keating Five scandal — a scandal he initially tried to blame on his wife when his role became public. When he was 61 he was amusing a partisan crowd with boorish jokes about Chelsea Clinton. When he was 64 he was pandering to Southern racism by refusing to condemn the confederate flag flying over South Carolina's statehouse.Quick, somebody tell the media, especially Brokaw and Gibson.
[...]
This year he's 72 but things are no different. Instead of running a decent and honorable campaign, he and his surrogates are reigniting a culture war he doesn't even believe in; relentlessly belittling and trivializing instead of addressing serious issues; repeatedly accusing his opponent of not caring about his country; stubbornly refusing to condemn even the vilest character assassinations; and finally choosing a manifestly unprepared and unvetted running mate in order to gain a momentary political advantage with a Christian right base that has never trusted him but that he needs to win the election. He's doing all this because, as his convention speech made clear, he believes he's on a higher mission. His character is what this campaign is about — or rather his own image of his character — and it's this belief in his own self-righteousness that allows him to justify his every action with a clear conscience. He has to win, you see, for the good of the country. He's the only man who can do it.
He's.
Not.
A.
Maverick.
03 September 2008
Republicans in a Nutshell
Small, small people. From Mitt to Rudy! to Sarah.
Mockery may fire up the mouth-breathers at the convention, but to grown-ups it looks, well, pathetic and sad.
As Andrew noted, I don't recall McCain being mocked at the DNC.
Little do they know of the rude awakening that awaits them.
Mockery may fire up the mouth-breathers at the convention, but to grown-ups it looks, well, pathetic and sad.
As Andrew noted, I don't recall McCain being mocked at the DNC.
Little do they know of the rude awakening that awaits them.
Insipid
Did I mention I love the word insipid?
Apoplectic is a good one too.
This is politics at its most insipid, and while I'm confident Republicans are well past the point of shame, now would be a very good time for some. Their arguments have a certain child-like quality -- if you question the credibility and qualifications of a woman candidate, you must be some kind of misogynist. One assumes that if Democrats had taken a similar attitude -- any and all criticism of Barack Obama necessarily constitutes racism -- the reaction would have been apoplectic.
Apoplectic is a good one too.
16 August 2008
31 July 2008
28 July 2008
20 July 2008
Cubs Win!
13 July 2008
05 July 2008
Agony
So my victory beer all of the sudden turns into an agony of defeat beer.
At least it's good beer.
Still hurts though, but that's baseball.
At least it's good beer.
Still hurts though, but that's baseball.
04 July 2008
Cubs Win!
Why Our Media Sucks (Still)
In fact, most of the political press, as Josh says, are incorrigible morons. Unfortunately, a too large portion of the American electorate still relies on these morons.
For the McCain campaign to put out a memo to reporters claiming that Obama has adopted McCain's policy only shows that his advisors believe that a sizable percentage of the political press is made up of incorrigible morons. And it's hard to disagree with the judgment.I really can't think of a better way to describe them. It does make me sad though, that we don't have reporters with brains. Are they all really that desperate to get invite to St. John McCain's barbeques?
The simple truth is that this campaign offers a very clear cut choice on Iraq. One candidate believes that the US occupation of Iraq is the solution; the other thinks it's the problem. John McCain supports the permanent deployment of US troops in Iraq. That is why his hundred years remark isn't some gotcha line. It's a clear statement of his policy. Obama supports a deliberate and orderly withdrawal of US forces from Iraq. It's a completely different view of America's role in the world and future in the Middle East. Reporters who can't grasp what Obama is saying seem simply to have been permanently befuddled by George W. Bush's game-playing over delegating policy to commanders.
03 July 2008
Deep Thoughts of the Day
30 June 2008
WHO IS BARACK OBAMA?
This is brilliant.
I just received one saying that Cindy McCain is better qualified for President than Hillary or Barack, so you should vote for John McCain because it would be like a 2 for 1 deal. Whuh? I don't even think it's a 1 for 1 deal. What do we know about McCain other than that he likes war even more than George Bush?
From: [Redacted]Send this in response to any (or all) of those less enlightened forwards you get from your "conservative" relatives.
To: [Redacted]
Subject: WHO IS BARACK OBAMA?
There are many things people do not know about BARACK OBAMA. It is every American's duty to read this message and pass it along to all of their friends and loved ones.
Barack Obama wears a FLAG PIN at all times. Even in the shower.
Barack Obama says the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE every time he sees an American flag. He also ends every sentence by saying, "WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL." Click here for video of Obama quietly mouthing the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE in his sleep.
A tape exists of Michelle Obama saying the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE at a conference on PATRIOTISM.
Every weekend, Barack and Michelle take their daughters HUNTING.
Barack Obama is a PATRIOTIC AMERICAN. He has one HAND over his HEART at all times. He occasionally switches when one arm gets tired, which is almost never because he is STRONG.
Barack Obama has the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE tattooed on his stomach. It's upside-down, so he can read it while doing sit-ups.
There's only one artist on Barack Obama's iPod: FRANCIS SCOTT KEY.
Barack Obama is a DEVOUT CHRISTIAN. His favorite book is the BIBLE, which he has memorized. His name means HE WHO LOVES JESUS in the ancient language of Aramaic. He is PROUD that Jesus was an American.
Barack Obama goes to church every morning. He goes to church every afternoon. He goes to church every evening. He is IN CHURCH RIGHT NOW.
Barack Obama's new airplane includes a conference room, a kitchen, and a MEGACHURCH.
Barack Obama's skin is the color of AMERICAN SOIL.
Barack Obama buys AMERICAN STUFF. He owns a FORD, a BASEBALL TEAM, and a COMPUTER HE BUILT HIMSELF FROM AMERICAN PARTS. He travels mostly by FORKLIFT.
Barack Obama says that Americans cling to GUNS and RELIGION because they are AWESOME.
I just received one saying that Cindy McCain is better qualified for President than Hillary or Barack, so you should vote for John McCain because it would be like a 2 for 1 deal. Whuh? I don't even think it's a 1 for 1 deal. What do we know about McCain other than that he likes war even more than George Bush?
25 June 2008
Something I Learned Today
Cubs 2008 Trivia
24 June 2008
Just Sleeping
My blog isn't dead yet, but here are some signs that a blog is in its last throes.
I agree with what one commenter on clusterflock said, "My blog isn't dead. It's just sleeping."
I agree with what one commenter on clusterflock said, "My blog isn't dead. It's just sleeping."
13 June 2008
A New Die-Hard Cub Fan
Christopher blamed the Cubs loss on me and Jenn because we didn't cheer enough in the 9th. He said, "If you're not going to cheer, I'll do it myself."
He wasn't happy.
I told him he should have been a Cubs fan in the 70s when I was.
He's growing up thinking the Cubs should always win, which is great.
Needless to say I grew up with different expectations.
He wasn't happy.
I told him he should have been a Cubs fan in the 70s when I was.
He's growing up thinking the Cubs should always win, which is great.
Needless to say I grew up with different expectations.
12 June 2008
Marathon Training Update
09 June 2008
Your Debut Album
Vitamin Briefcase.
Try it and post your results in comments. Fun!
1 - Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:RandomHere's what my debut album is: Entella - Prefer Not to Hear (artwork)
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2 - Go to Random quotations: http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
If you want to do this again, you’ll hit refresh to generate new quotes, because clicking the quotes link again will just give you the same quotes over and over again.
3 - Go to flickr’s “explore the last seven days” http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
Put it all together, that’s your debut album.
Try it and post your results in comments. Fun!
Sorry Charlie
No exclusive townhall for you (or Diane)!
Accountability for a poor job done in the primaries.
How refreshing.
Accountability for a poor job done in the primaries.
How refreshing.
600
Congratulations Junior.
It is easy to look at 600 and wonder what might have been with improved health. But it is easier and more fun to remember Griffey at his best, a wondrous athlete who streaked through the outfield, climbed an outfield wall and made a catch that only Mays could make, then the next inning, hit a ball to places that very few players could reach. Six hundred home runs is a tremendous milestone, but Griffey at 100, 200, 300 and 400 was simply breathtaking.You also won't hear the word steroids mentioned anywhere near his name.
More Stupids
Yep. Fox News.
Barack and Michelle engage in "terrorist fist bump."
Fox News: Keeping teh stupids stupid.
link via Chris Hayes
Barack and Michelle engage in "terrorist fist bump."
Fox News: Keeping teh stupids stupid.
link via Chris Hayes
More People That Make My Head Hurt
LA Times.
There was a bizarre editorial in the LA Times yesterday about how Obama and McCain are really pretty similar dudes and it's awesome that they're both so centristy and the same. One could debunk this contention, but the editorial itself doesn't really argue for it. They concede, for example, that McCain and Obama have serious disagreements about:Other than those issues, they agree! Awesome!
-Iraq
-Iran
-Health care
-Taxes
-Trade
-Abortion rights
-Gun control
People That Make My Head Hurt
Joe Lieberman.
I'm glad Barack took him aside to chat, since no one else in Democratic leadership is willing to deal with this punk.
November can't come soon enough, when we hopefully gain enough seats in the Senate to kick him out of the caucus.
I'm glad Barack took him aside to chat, since no one else in Democratic leadership is willing to deal with this punk.
November can't come soon enough, when we hopefully gain enough seats in the Senate to kick him out of the caucus.
Day 1, Marathon Training
08 June 2008
Cubs Win!
06 June 2008
Attention Clinton Supporters!
In case any of you super-feminist Hillbots are thinking about voting for McCain, check out this.
Obama isn't so bad now, is he?
I know he's still black but you white "hard-working" Appalachians will just have to get over it.
link via Matthew Yglesias
Obama isn't so bad now, is he?
I know he's still black but you white "hard-working" Appalachians will just have to get over it.
link via Matthew Yglesias
Your Republican Party
Teh Stupids.
Boo! Obama is a Marxist!
Shut the f-ck up DeLay. You don't even know wtf a marxist is, you f-ing stupid former pest exterminator.
These people are embarrassing even for politicians.
Boo! Obama is a Marxist!
Shut the f-ck up DeLay. You don't even know wtf a marxist is, you f-ing stupid former pest exterminator.
These people are embarrassing even for politicians.
05 June 2008
The Ninth
TheRiot! Double!
Now get him in.
Come on D. Lee. No strikeout.
Dammit.
A-Ram. Good eye. 2-0. Make it be your pitch. 2-1. 2-2. Ok. Perfect pitch.
Hit him. Sorry Saito. He didn't swing.
Fukudome. 0-1. 0-2. Come on, Kosuke. Base hit!
Theriot scores!
Fu-ku-do-may!
Let's go Soto. It's ok Geo.
Come on, Jimmy. Ok, go get em KW.
Don't worry about that double KW. Just get the next guy.
Got him. Nasty slider.
96. More than Hu can handle. Pop up. Edmonds catch. 2 out.
1 more, KW.
Nasty slider. Strike 1. Ball 1. 94 mph fastball. Strike 2. Dammit. Hit him. Easy there with the attitude Tiffee. That's the only way you were getting on base.
Go get 5-4-3-2-1 Pierre now. Strike 1. Strike 2. Ball 1. Foul ball. Come on KW. Ball 2. End it here. I don't want a full. Ball 3. Full count. Come on KW. Ball 4. Crap. Why no fast balls?
Throw strikes dammit. 2-0. Now he can't find the strike zone. It is me. I should have gone to bed. 2-1. Thanks for helping us out there. 2-2. 1 strike please. Please. Swing and a miss.
Way to go KW! Please don't make it that interesting next time.
Now get him in.
Come on D. Lee. No strikeout.
Dammit.
A-Ram. Good eye. 2-0. Make it be your pitch. 2-1. 2-2. Ok. Perfect pitch.
Hit him. Sorry Saito. He didn't swing.
Fukudome. 0-1. 0-2. Come on, Kosuke. Base hit!
Theriot scores!
Fu-ku-do-may!
Let's go Soto. It's ok Geo.
Come on, Jimmy. Ok, go get em KW.
Don't worry about that double KW. Just get the next guy.
Got him. Nasty slider.
96. More than Hu can handle. Pop up. Edmonds catch. 2 out.
1 more, KW.
Nasty slider. Strike 1. Ball 1. 94 mph fastball. Strike 2. Dammit. Hit him. Easy there with the attitude Tiffee. That's the only way you were getting on base.
Go get 5-4-3-2-1 Pierre now. Strike 1. Strike 2. Ball 1. Foul ball. Come on KW. Ball 2. End it here. I don't want a full. Ball 3. Full count. Come on KW. Ball 4. Crap. Why no fast balls?
Throw strikes dammit. 2-0. Now he can't find the strike zone. It is me. I should have gone to bed. 2-1. Thanks for helping us out there. 2-2. 1 strike please. Please. Swing and a miss.
Way to go KW! Please don't make it that interesting next time.
Dammit Howry
Obama's Speech
In case you missed it.
Quite cheeky giving the speech where John McCain will accept the Republican nomination.
Keep it coming, Barack.
Quite cheeky giving the speech where John McCain will accept the Republican nomination.
Keep it coming, Barack.
Hillary's Speech
Not exactly what we were looking for.
Thankfully it seems she has come around and will concede and endorse Saturday.
It's a shame it took that long, though.
Can't say I'm surprised.
Thankfully it seems she has come around and will concede and endorse Saturday.
It's a shame it took that long, though.
Can't say I'm surprised.
What We Can't Afford
Investment in transit infrastructure.
Not a problem.
Obviously, though, we "can't afford" massive new federal investments in transit infrastructure. An indefinite expenditure of $200 billion a year in Iraq, however, is easy as pie. And anyone who suggests spending less on war and more on productive domestic investment is an isolationist. Just keep repeating that.$200 billion for Iraq, however, as Matt notices, we can do.
Not a problem.
We Shall Overcome
I vividly remember Barack Obama at a Lake County Democratic function quoting MLK directly about the arc of the moral universe:
It was, to be sure, not entirely unpredicted. On March 31st, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. preached his final Sunday sermon. "We shall overcome," he said, "because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Four days later, he was murdered. But 40 years later, his dream is more alive than he could have ever imagined. Not only might a black man be president, but at times, many forget to even be surprised by it.This a beautiful moment in American history.
04 June 2008
Straight Talk Express
Not so much.
Still in Louisiana today, following his epic speech in Kenner last night, John McCain was asked by a local reporter why he had voted against creating a federal commission to investigate the Katrina disaster.
McCain's response? "I've supported every investigation and ways of finding out what caused the tragedy. . . ."
The problem is that's just not true. He voted against such a commission -- twice.
The Lesson
Ezra:
But among the more heartening and broadly applicable lessons of this campaign is that supporting a misguided, but politically expedient, war in 2002 turns out to have been a serious mistake. It was a mistake for Clinton, and a mistake for candidates like Edwards and Biden, who couldn't claim prescience. Hopefully, future politicians will keep that in mind.
Why Hillary Lost
The war.
The media still hasn't figured it out.
My favorite quote:
The media still hasn't figured it out.
My favorite quote:
The country needed more from her than what she was ready to give, and now she gets nothing.
Why Our Media Sucks (Still)
No, the media can't acknowledge that a reason that Hillary lost because she voted for the war in Iraq.
It would mean that the dirty f-ing hippies were STILL right.
We can't have that.
It also gave Obama an issue with which he could differentiate himself, and he won.
It would mean that the dirty f-ing hippies were STILL right.
We can't have that.
It also gave Obama an issue with which he could differentiate himself, and he won.
Morning Run
30 May 2008
29 May 2008
1992
What really happened, Bill?
Running into June?
Not so much.
I'm shocked he would peddle this bullshit.
It's beyond embarrassing
Seriously.
[via TPM]
Running into June?
Not so much.
I'm shocked he would peddle this bullshit.
It's beyond embarrassing
Seriously.
[via TPM]
Being Vegetarian
The horror.
If you go vegetarian for a week and find that you can't eat well, your problem is not a lack of meat, but that you can't cook and have no access to Asian restaurants or decent pizza or Mediterranean food or vegetables. Otherwise, you'd be fine.Very true.
Why Our Media Sucked Then And Still Sucks Now
People like Anne Korblut.
Let me repeat.
"The job of those employed at the White House to be straightforward."
Huh?
So it's your job just be a f-ing stenographer for whatever "straightforward" information they decide to provide you with.
Now, that's journalism!!!
These people make my brain hurt.
More here if you dare, which basically says, "It's scary asking the Preznit questions about why he wants to bomb a country that hasn't attacked us and doesn't have WMDs. It's easier to let him have his war and send our brave troops to be killed and maimed."
Anne E. Kornblut: I haven't read McClellan's book yet, but really look forward to it, especially on the point you raise. My immediate reaction upon hearing he'd said that was, "Wait, what!? Isn't it the job of those employed at the White House to be straightforward in the first place?" In my experience, reporters do know the importance of the job, and face many obstacles in trying to get information (especially from this administration). But I also do think all of our efforts have been redoubled over the last few years. I'm so proud of my colleagues at the Post who covered Walter Reed for that very reason.Completely f-ing clueless.
Let me repeat.
"The job of those employed at the White House to be straightforward."
Huh?
So it's your job just be a f-ing stenographer for whatever "straightforward" information they decide to provide you with.
Now, that's journalism!!!
These people make my brain hurt.
More here if you dare, which basically says, "It's scary asking the Preznit questions about why he wants to bomb a country that hasn't attacked us and doesn't have WMDs. It's easier to let him have his war and send our brave troops to be killed and maimed."
Hooray Hooray
I'm your silver lining.
Just.
Go.
Away.
If there is a silver lining to this endless primary battle, it has been the public decomposition of Clinton apparatchik Lanny Davis. Davis, you may remember, was a big Bill Clinton defender during impeachment; he now spends his time blogging and spinning for Senator Clinton's campaign.Lanny, please.
Just.
Go.
Away.
28 May 2008
Obama's Speech
This speech makes me feel like I should be doing something different with my life, or at least doing MORE.
This speech is also why I will be so proud when he is elected President.
(Some people/candidates would have you believe that talk is meaningless. I say they're wrong, especially when it's backed up by action. They also have probably never been able to give a speech like this, so what would they know. These people know who I'm talking about, and so do you.)
via Matthew Yglesias
Each of you will have the chance to make your own discovery in the years to come. And I say “chance” because you won’t have to take it. There’s no community service requirement in the real world; no one forcing you to care. You can take your diploma, walk off this stage, and chase only after the big house and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should by. You can choose to narrow your concerns and live your life in a way that tries to keep your story separate from America’s.
But I hope you don’t. Not because you have an obligation to those who are less fortunate, though you do have that obligation. Not because you have a debt to all those who helped you get here, though you do have that debt.
It’s because you have an obligation to yourself. Because our individual salvation depends on collective salvation. Because thinking only about yourself, fulfilling your immediate wants and needs, betrays a poverty of ambition. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential and discover the role you’ll play in writing the next great chapter in America’s story.
This speech is also why I will be so proud when he is elected President.
(Some people/candidates would have you believe that talk is meaningless. I say they're wrong, especially when it's backed up by action. They also have probably never been able to give a speech like this, so what would they know. These people know who I'm talking about, and so do you.)
via Matthew Yglesias
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