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I'd say Ronald Reagan's nine most terrifying words should be replaced with "I'm from the Republican Party, so you're pretty screwed."
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Q: Does Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann understand history?
A: Nope
How do I know this?
Let's see. At CPAC, aside from showing off her street cred, she stated this little gem:
I just wondered that if our founders thought taxation without representation was bad, what would they think of representation WITH taxation?
At CPAC, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell asks a very important questions:
"Conservatives are more fun and more interesting than liberals. I mean let's be honest, tho wants to hang out with guys like Paul Krugman and Robert Reich when you can be with Rush Limbaugh?"
This isn't really a fair question, because the most fun liberal is probably not Paul Krugman, and I can't think of a conservative who I would classify as fun. It's a sorry state of affairs when the most fun figure in your party is losing his hearing due to an oxycotton habit.
Well, I know my answer to this burning question. What's yours?
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You gotta love CPAC. Hundreds of crazy conservatives mingling, chatting up Joe the Plumber, and getting down and dirty. Which for a conservative either means exchanging promise rings or calling up transvestite hookers. Either/or.
Highlights so far: Congressman Mike Pence thanking Cliff Kincaid for introducing him. (I wonder if that's an endorsement of the part of Kincaid's introduction where he said Obama wasn't born in the US.) John Bolton asking how Obama would feel if "an American City, let's say Chicago" got nuked. And Ana Marie Cox's awesome tweet " 'Culture Wars' panelist kept referring to how the Right has been TOO SILENT in the culture wars. Also he called it "moral laryngitis."
If only Sarah Palin had made it to CPAC this year, then things could really heat up.
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This week's giveaway closes tomorrow at 11:59 EST. Winners will be announced Sunday.
The prize is a 3"x3" and professionally printed original Pop Civics sticker touting the Obama quote "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility." Check out the design here.
To enter:
Send an email to popcivics@gmail.com.
In the subject line, write: "Weekly Giveaway: Inaugural Challenge #2 Sticker"
In the body, tell me who your favorite senator is and why. Can be as short as one sentence or as long as a paragraph.
Bill Kristol's reaction to Obama's Address. He's just so loveable, isn't he?
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Bill O'Reilly has an obsession wit NBC. This was already apparent as far back as January '07:
"NBC News has gone sharply to the left," the Fox News star said on his radio show in early January. "They are an activist network now. They hate Bush across the board."
Such comments prompted MSNBC's Joe Scarborough to break with his fellow conservative. "Why does Bill O'Reilly hate NBC so much?" Scarborough declared on his show.
Olbermann delights in ridiculing "Bill-O" virtually every night for his style, his interviews and his opinions, lambasting what he calls "Fox Noise" and often bestowing on O'Reilly his "Worst Person in the World" award.
O'Reilly has denounced NBC just as vehemently but now aims higher on the corporate ladder. On his Fox News show this month, O'Reilly said that Immelt "is doing business right this minute with Iran, who are killing our soldiers. . . . That Immelt man answers to me. . . . That's why I'm in this business right now, to get guys like that."
Last night in Bobby Jindal's speech, he made the same tired Republican point that government can't solve all your problems. Yeah, we know. But there are problems that government is supposed to be able to solve. When government fails, it's a problem.
Republicans are like surgeons who don't believe in surgery. Not every health related problem in your life will require surgery. In fact, most won't. But when you need a kidney transplant, for the love of god, you want a surgeon who believes in surgery.
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Rahm Emmanuel + Josh Lyman = Tim Geithner
Just showing you what you know you're already thinking.
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My response to this interview today on MSNBC:
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Cross posted at Saved by a Towel.
9:46: Complete and competitive education.
9:48: expand commitment to charter schools? wasn't some conservative claiming the just the opposite today?
9:49: speaking of the corner's drivel, jonah goldber posted this earlier:In fact, I'm so goofy on cold drugs, I could swear Nancy Pelosi is wearing some kind of puke green San Francisco hippy flophouse hoodie, or maybe a couch cussion cover from the same house. That can't be right, can it?
9:50: Kennedy introduction was awkward, but a Hatch/Kennedy health care plan sounds impressive.
9:52: 'deficit we inherited' gets a standing ovation? man we live in a different world in '09 huh.
9:53: did the gop boo when he said a 'stimulus free of earmarks?' they know what an earmark is, right?
9:53: end no-bid contracts in Iraq? hell yeah, it's time.
9:54: I still believe that the only reason Obama chose Biden was because he has a smile that beams almost as much as Obamas, and the VP in on tv with the president so much. Maybe I'm wrong, but think about it.
9:56: short obama=fix medicare. discuss social security. not quite the same thing.
9:56: "For seven years we've been a nation at war. No longer will we hide it's price." Great line.
9:57: End this war gets a "clap, stand, but chat with Susan Collins so as to look unimpressed" from John McCain. Classic.
9:59: Veterans have earned benefits and care? Close Guantanamo. "Living our values makes us safer and stronger." The PRESIDENT is saying those things.
10:00: We do not torture gets a standing o from the GOP? Did they hear what Obama said?
10:02 : Go Hope!
10:04: Greensburg Kansas! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!
10:06: Damn this man can give a speech.
10:07: 'An America that does not quit.'
10:09: Thank you Cleveland. And he's out.
10:09: Okay, I'm ready for Olbermann and Matthews to tell me why it was even more awesoemtastic than I thought. And then Hannity will tell me how he's ruining America.
10:10: Cartoon will be up shortly.
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I'll be liveblogging the Obama's fake State of the Union, officially titled the "Presidential Address to Congress." Those who are wondering about today's cartoon, the arts is finished, and I'll be filling in the text asa soon as the speech is over.
9:06pm: Olbermann stealthy insults Michele Backmann. The night is getting off to a good start!
9:09: *Fake State of the Union, obviously.
9:10: And we're off...
9:12: Damn we have one handsome president, huh?
9:13: Look how happy John Lewis is.
9:13: Watching on MSNBC, it's awkward whenever Matthews starts on about race. He's too earnest for his own good.
9:14: I like Nancy Pelosi's outfit. It's a great color on her. Obama's tie is fuzzy on tv.
9:17: Michelle is sleeveless. Like it.
9:17: MSNBC what's going on. This isn't CNN. Cut the demo crap.
9:18: Nancy Pelosi just mouthed "my shoe fell off"
9:19: Laboratories up first. Then universities! Go science!
9:19: Confront boldly and responsibility. Like it.
9:21: failed to look beyond the next election? GOP he's talking to you.
9:22: Begins with jobs. Don't believe in bigger government? Interesting.
9:23: Stim gets democratic standing ovation. Republicans sit and sulk.
9:24: Yay broadband and mass-transit! 57 Minneapolis police officers still at work? Rock solid. But you gotta say 'cops' ala barney frank.
9:25: Nobody messes with Joe. I can see K-Lo seething all the way from Philly.
9:26: Whenever Obama says a website, all I hear is hillary.com. Anyone with me?
9:28: how many people at the speech do you think are twittering right now?
9:30: liebermann looks like he's chewing on an old person candy.
9:31: it's weird for obama to get a standing ovation that isn't accompanied by a "yes we can." I can practically hear it, but I know it's not there.
9:33: senator burris looks so happy to be there. i almost feel sorry for him.
9:37: catalyzed private enterprise. good phrase.
9:38: energy, health care, education. three major priorities. well played, obama.
9:39: energy first? stephen chu looked so proud he was about to cry.
9:40: market based cap of carbon pollution...biden is beaming
9:40: clean coal, we're still going with that?
9:41: wake up carl levin!
9:41: "the nation that invented the automobile can not walk away from it."
9:41: Jill Biden looks smashing in turquoise.
9:42: it's time for health care.
9:43: Nancy Pelosi looks so proud of S-Chip. She practically jumped out of her chair.
9:44: cure for cancer in our time? i think i saw that on a west wing episode today on Bravo.
9:44: health care next week? teddy roosevelt called for reform. take that john mccain.
Moving to second post here.
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Shock of all shocks, Andrew Leigh, Big Hollywood blogger and Weekly Standard contributer, would rather watch a conservative movie than a liberal movie. I hope this doesn't challenge the current world order too much.
A preface, recently the National Review published a list of the Top 25 Conservative Movies of the Last 25 Years. The list fails for many reasons, most of which revolve around the fact that many of the movies listed are not conservative. So over on Daily Kos, I asked people to suggest movies and vote on an impromptu list of liberal movies. While the liberal list is not perfect (most people's choice vote lists miss out on good, lesser known stuff) it succeeds in one major point where the conservative list does not: every movie on the list is liberal.
However, Andrew Leigh posted a response on Big Hollywood to the Daily Kos list that I would like to address, as the person who set up it up. While I disagree with the majority of his post, there are two main criticisms that I take issue with, one of which deals with politics and one with entertainment.
Leigh writes:One lefty blogger wrote, “In the end, right-wingers cannot excape [sic] from the fundamental fact that great art challenges assumptions and received wisdom and calls on us to look at the world with new eyes — and therefore is inherently progressive.”
If true, then the left’s claim on the arts is about to weaken. Because the “assumptions” and “received wisdom” of the Establishment these days are predominantly progressive.
This is false. The President and the Speaker of the House may be a progressive, but the Establishment with a capitol E most certainly is not. That is the nature of creating a "more perfect union." The countries problems weren't washed away on January 20th. The media and press corps, military, financial industry, etc. didn't magically change either. Gays still don't have civil unions in some places, let alone the right to marry. We are still in two wars. And there are injustices going on all around us. Further, some of the best liberal films of all time were produced during liberal or democratic administrations. To Kill a Mockingbird was produced in 1962 during the Kennedy administration, as was another liberal classic Dr. Strangelove.
William F. Buckley wrote that the mission of the National Review (and by extension, conservatism) is to:It stands athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it.
Liberalism, on the other hand, is a search for more rights and less injustice. As history progresses, we mark our victories and defeats, but liberalism marches forward always. There can never be an age when government catches up with liberalism, only when it tries to correct the injustices that liberals have already found. "Liberal government" or a "progressive government" merely participate with that march forward, whereas "conservative government" may deal with yesterday's battle while trying to stop the march into the future.
The conservative list is composed of battles: fighting against communism, fighting against oppression, tyranny, fighting against America's enemies, etc. Whereas the liberal list is composed of battles for a better country. When you define yourself as the opposition to historical movements, some will be good battles. Defeating communism=good. However, the country has changed since the fall of communism, and conservatism hasn't caught up. Conservatives never stop to wonder why they are not seen as defenders of liberty, or why a cry of 'freedom' doesn't have the same ring to it. Conservatism has become the oppressor in America, and the main form of tyranny at home, and the new freedoms Americans want are the kind that conservatives rally against.
My second objection is to the final paragraph in his post:Looking over the Daily Kos list, however, one can’t help but notice that it seems relatively humorless (only two, maybe three comedies, versus five on the National Review roll) and didactic (six documentaries and five docudramas). So ask yourself, dear reader: assuming you had the means to watch DVDs, which group of movies would you rather have while stranded on a desert island?
The point was to pick the best films that have a liberal or conservative bent, and not which movies liberals or conservatives like the most. This is an important distinction, because liberals love movies like Pulp Fiction or Royal Tennenbaums. But those movies are NOT liberal, they just are the kind of movie a liberal would like. The final liberal list did come out with too many Michael Moore films, but because it was voted on I did not have the right to change it. However, I take it Leigh has never seen a Moore film, because if he had he'd know that they all automatically qualify as comedies. Comedic documentaries, maybe, but hilarious. I remember seeing Bowling for Columbine the first time, and it was a laugh a minute. Sicko, which was sold out the entire opening weekend here in Philly, is the same way. Moore has the ability to open eyes while being humorous. This is a pretty typical form of political comedy, akin to John Stewart, Stephen Colbert, SNL's skits, etc.
Finally, if I had to go to a desert island with some dvds, I would much rather watch Milk, A Few Good Men, and Good Morning, Vietnam than We Were Soldiers, Red Dawn, and Blast From the Past. Plus, I think all the liberal movies (hello The Lives of Others and Juno) that stumbled onto the conservative list would get to come too.
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For those who are having trouble understanding the original New York Post cartoon debacle, the founder of the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia wrote a fabulous account of how he started his collection called "The Garbage Man: Why I Collect Racist Objects."
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Now for the second installment of our ongoing series Senator Chris Matthews 2010 (Please God No) Watch. You can check out the first installment here.
Tonight on MSNBC, Hardball is
a.) live from Philadelphia
b.) features an interview with Jim Cramer, financial disaster and Phila native
c.) includes a Philadelphia shout-out
d.) which occured while introducing the next interview with...drumroll...Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell
I'll continue to keep you posted.
::If you have any tips or info about a possible Matthews senate run, please send them to popcivics@gmail.com. ::
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Watching Governor Jindal on Meet the Press, one finds a well spoken and kind person--a very form of republican indeed, is not going to be a threat. If David "The Hair" Gregory can get him a little flustered, well he ain't ready for the big show.
Some thoughts:
1. His adorability factor is quite high. I want to put him in my pocket or give him a hug. He's ten years younger than Obama, and he'll look quite small on a stage with him. (Both literally and figuratively) But he is a refreshing face to hear the same talking points from. Folksy without the smirk.
2. When he needs to refresh or get out of a sticky point, he says "let's be clear." And then goes on to be anything but cleaer. (Ex. "how does buying government cars create stimulus." I'd say with the US auto manufacturers going for double bailouts, it's painfully obviously how buying cars for the government is helpful.)
3. He sounds more confident when you listen and don't watch him.
4. Is really awkward arguing against federal spending, but for levee repairs in New Orleans. Also didn't have to explain his budget deficit in light of his tax cuts that he initiated in Louisiana.
5. "A train from Disneyland to Las Vegas." a) asshole b) we can keep the nevada electoral votes, thanks!
6. "Conservative-based solutions" is an interesting phrase, but you can't use it in the same sentence as "bi-partisan."
7. He's up for re-election in 2011? It would be extremely hard to do a Nov. 2011 election AND a Jan. 2012 primary. The math doesn't work.
8. Gets flustered like a little school boy when asked if he's running in 2012. Does the whole governor run-around, but it's strained. He probably knows it's stupid to run in 2012.
But you gotta wonder, in light of electing Michael Steele and the fact that he'd be going against Obama, if the republicans would naturally gravitate to him (like they did to Palin) to put up a candidate who isn't a white male. In 2016, the pressure probably won't be there. And if you're being honest, you know that there's no reason that the republican party would pick a diverse candidate if they don't feel backed into a corner. 2012 might be his only realistic chance to get the nomination, regardless of how much hip-hop Michael Steele injects into the GOP's veins.
9. Charlie Crist, who followed him, gives a much better interview. And doesn't seem like he's politicking when he clearly is.
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Want one of these awesome stickers?
Of course you do. This week I'm giving away three Inaugural Challenge #2 Stickers. You can view the full design here.
The sticker is 3"x3" and professionally printed in full color. But you already knew that, because at Pop Civics we offer nothing but the best.
To enter:
Send an email to popcivics@gmail.com.
In the subject line, write: "Weekly Giveaway: Inaugural Challenge #2 Sticker"
In the body, tell me who your favorite senator is and why. Can be as short as one sentence or as long as a paragraph.
Congratulations to the Winners of the first Pop Civics contest. The three winning entries were drawn at random from contest submissions. The prize was an Inaugural Challenge sticker, of the design Inaugural Challenge #1:
Here are the winning haikus:
rjimmyr wrote:
snap snap fizz fizz oh
what a relief it is to
the new prez speak!
progressive4hire wrote:
Guantanamo is
about to close. I have my
America back.
and last, but no least, Lizzie wrote:
the economy
is still fucked--call me when it
is back to normal
Congratulations to rjimmyr, progressive4hire, and Lizzie! Your stickers are in the mail.
Christ Matthews, from his perch at MSNBC's Hardball, is a hard nut to crack. Sometimes he's revealing Michele Bachmann to be a McCarthyite. Sometimes he's recommending W. for installment on Mount Rushmore. So when the rumors started circulaiting about a certain native Philadelphian wanting to run for senate against Arlen Specter in 2010, I was like, whoa, what am I supposed to think about this.
Hear me out. I don't like having Arlen Specter as one of my senators. But I also don't want to vote for someone who considers himself a Steele Democrat. As in, Chris Matthews voted for Michael Steele in '06. I also don't want a senator who was registered in the state of Maryland 2 years ago. So if it were to be Specter v. Matthews, that would be like choosing between Keystone and Miller High Life Light. I'd vote for the champagne of beers, but I'd be longing for a Dock Street. Or maybe a good apple cider.
To complicate matters, I am a very sentimental person. I was at the Colbert Report when Matthews said he was thinking about it. I admit it, seeing a possibel senate candidacy announcement in person was cool. I was a little mesmerized in person, I admit it. But it was not as cool as seeing John Legend perform live at the beginning of the taping, and there are fewer long term repercussions of a gorgeous man singing our nation's national anthem than an elderly blonde maybe-DINO announcing an interest in the US Senate.
Since then, the rumors have supposedly been quashed. Yet, here it is, February '09, Matthews has bough a house in Philly, and there are no whisper campaigns for any good, sensible democrats eyeing Specter like the roadkill he's about to become. What gives?
So today I'm installing an official Senator Chris Matthews 2010 (Please God No) Watch.
Todays new information?
Matthews skipped his show yesterday, leaving Barnacle and Buchanan to their racist insult gabfest, so that Mathews could...drumroll please...
Raise money for the Boyscouts in Pennsylvania. A fact that he announced on-air tonight.
Something to chew over.
::If you have any tips or info about a possible Matthews senate run, please send them to popcivics@gmail.com::
Just when the Bernard Madoff ponzi scheme trial couldn't get any more ridiculous with the evidence that he never bought even a single stock, enter Sir Allen Stanford: ponzi schemer, fraud, money launderer, political financier, and Sean Hannity sponsor. Ladies, he's quite a catch, don't you think?
If you don't know about the Stanford hilarity, Cenk explains it best:
Tonight, I watched the Alexandra Pelosi's HBO documentary, Right America Feeling Wronged. Since I appear to be suffering a new form of insomnia, I thought I'd share some quick thoughts on the subject. Spoiler Alert: Some people really, really don't like Obama.
1. If you have forty-five minutes to watch it, then do. It's beautifully filmed, the interviews are interesting, and it's slightly jarring.
2. It felt a bit like a glorified youtube video of the campaigns. You know the ones. If bloggers can capture this kind of stuff with their home cameras and cell phones, load it on youtube, and send it around the world in an afternoon, then a full-on camera crew and an hour of airtime should reach further than that. I felt like all the people in the documentary were well represented in the media and online before the election. Why release it now, with out adding anything to the dialogue? Why not use that HBO dough to do some follow up interviews now that Obama's been in office.
3. The footage of the McCain election night parties felt overworked. Of course the people who came to see him in Arizona on election night were upset. The kind of people who get invites to fancy televised parties and go, knowing their candidate is about to lose, get to cry. I cried on both Bush election nights. And it wasn't because of anything bad about me. I felt bad that my candidate lost. Plus, I cry easily. This made the last scene feel really weak, which threw off the balance of the whole film.
4. The Sean Hannity cameo was by far the highlight. Alexandra Pelosi should do a Sean Hannity biopic. That would be awesome. She can even focus on his one year in college that he did before he dropped out.
5. Nancy Pelosi's daughters have the same voice. It's weird.
6. I would recommend this film, but it's not as good as it could have been. It was a missed opportunity, and that's really a shame.
Not wanting to be outdone by Pat Buchanan, John Gibson compares Eric Holder to a Monkey with a Bright Blue Scrotum.
K-Lo bait: Employee Free Choice Act could create a min-stimulus. K-Lo hates employees, free choice, and stimuli in all forms.
I second this sentiment, heartily.
Vote for Cenk Uygar!
Pundit hottie Chris Cillizza is going to be a dad!
Emptywheel on Steele being down with the G.O.P (yeah, you know me!) Priceless.
And, Geekadelphia has the McNuggetini. Yuck.
Watching the brouhaha over new Attorney General Eric Holder's speech, I believe I have picked up on the media's rules for black people who want to talk about race.
1. Do not use the word coward. It makes white men want to draw a sword. This gives white men permission to ignore any other part of your speech. Replace coward with the word "immigrants." As in, "we are a nation of immigrants."
2. You must acknowledge any and all failures within the black community before implying that there are harmful things white people are doing to hinder progress. Mentioning absent black fathers, drug use, and crime gets bonus points.
3. When you talk about "self-segregation," you will remind white people about the fact that they only have one black friend. This will make them feel uncool. Instead make this seem like a product of church and geography. White people do not get mad about church, and they do not know geography.
4. Do not mention race relations without acknowledging the election of Barack Obama, which had changed everything and made it impossible for this to be considered a racist country. Pretend the Muslim smears and Palin rallies were washed away in the voting booth.
5. Do not fail to mention that America is the best country on earth, especially for black people. This is especially important if you are going to imply a lack of perfection in our current society.
6. Don't talk about race relations if you are black and your name is not Barack Obama or Bill Cosby. Bill Clinton's black card was removed in South Carolina. If your real last name is Huxtable, or if the Cosby Show was based on your family, then you can talk about how much has changed over the last twenty years.
For those who are like, WTF are you talking about Stiffa, here is Eric Holder's speech:
And here is one example of the media's reaction:
From Huffington Post:
[Bachmann said] the "Community-Organizer-in-Chief" is also orchestrating a conspiracy involving the Census Bureau, which the president will use to redraw congressional lines to keep Democrats in power for up to "40 years." When the host said he was confused, noting that congressional district lines are drawn at the state level, Bachmann said Obama's non-existent plan is an "anti-constitutional move."Read more...
I don't know what the Merle Haggard card is, why you'd play it against the cultural left, and if we should worry about it because it sounds super dumb, but Jerry Taylor is one NRO contributer who talks some sense about Sarah Palin.
Meanwhile, NRO's genius boy Jonah Goldberg is obsessed with the weight of the stimulus compared to battleships.
Obama sides against fictitious democrats in fictitious debate over Fairness Doctrine. Via Nashville for the 21st Century.
From Buzzflash: Play Seat the Senator! Guess the day Al Franken will be seated. The prize is pretty bitchin.
A little drool on the China Town Bus.
Behold, the Glory of Tax Cuts!
Attaturk of Rising Hegemon has the best take on the NY Post Political Cartoon meltdown.
And Wilson's Blogomanac explains globalization.
It's good for your health.
25. A Few Good Men (1992)
24.The American President (1995)
23. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
22. Do the Right Thing (1989)
21. Platoon (1986)
20. The Color Purple (1985)
19. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
18. The Killing Fields (1984)
17. Syriana (2005)
16. Brazil (1985)
15. Dead Poets Society (1989)
14. Thank You For Smoking (2005)
13. Wag the Dog (1997)
12. Erin Brockovich (2000)
11. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
10. Mississippi Burning (1988)
9. Milk (2008)
8. V for Vendetta (2005)
7. Roger and Me (1989)
6. Sicko (2007)
5. Bowling for Columbine (2002)
4. Shawshank Redemption (1994)
3. Goodnight and Goodluck (2005)
2. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
1. An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
For an explanation of how this list was created, go here.
::chuckling to myself about my awesome title::
Shocker. Aerosmith doesn't appreciate Eric Cantor's theft. Not to be confused with the the Generational Theft Act. Only one kind of theft is allowed, apparently.
David Axelrod or Edgar Allen Poe? You decide.
I vote for The Young Turk's Cenk Uygar. You should too. And sign the petition.
Steve Benen always knows how to frame an issue just right. And he does it again, this time about the Pat Robertson/Rush Limbaugh debate.
Dump Bachmann has crazy Michelle on the stimulus or whatever. Priceless.
And Wonkette has Bachmann claiming that we're "running out of rich people."
Finally, in this situation, I wouldn't change my last name either.
Yeah, we never could have seen this coming, huh?
Don't forget to enter the Inaugural Challenge Giveaway. Deadline is midnight tonight, EST. Click here for details.
Oh, K-Lo, how did I miss this gem from yesterday?
House Republicans [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
FWIW, the likes of Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan have long struck me as men who know what they believe and why (and can even explain it). This is the first time they've really had a wheel—albeit a minority wheel in a town where they are outnumbered. I'm in the mood to encourage them.
Cross posted at Saved by a Towel.
That's what one Dallas Border's wants you to believe when they set up this display:
Via Texas Rainmaker.
I'm in New York, sans drawing tablet, so enjoy this installment second in the President Obama Says series. And don't forget to enter to win an Inaugural Challenge sticker.
Announcing the first Pop Civics giveaway contest.
The sticker is a professionally printed 4"x3" of the design Inaugural Challenge #1, and it is the first printed piece of Pop Civics artwork: 
Here's how to enter:
Send an email to popcivics@gmail.com with the subject "Inaugural Challenge #1."
In the body of the email, write a haiku about Obama's first thirty days in office. The emails will be printed, and I will draw three winners at random. The winners' haikus will be posted here.
Include your real first name, a nickname you'd want your poem published under if you win (if different than your first name), and an email address where you can be reached. Only one entry per person.
The contest is open until Tuesday, February 17th at 11:59 pm EST. Good luck, and happy haikuing!
I ponied up the big bucks (ten dollars) to buy www.popcivics.com. In three days the transfer should be complete. Bye-bye .blogspot!
That had the strange consequence of erasing all the digg link info. Oh well. Onward and upward.
So bookmark it: www.popcivics.com
Old links will reroute to the new site address, so fear not.
Senator Gregg becomes the latest republican to refuse to work with this administration. When will Obama decide enough is enough?
Cross posted at Saved by a Towel.
Yes Virginia, they really are this stupid.
Cross posted at Saved By a Towel.
Susan Collins (R-ME) has one of the strangest accents I've ever heard. And since she's been on tv a heckova' bunch lately touting her ability to water-down the stimulus plan, it got me thinking:
What the heck is going on with her voice?
Check it out:
It doesn't seem like an accent, but it also doesn't seem like a speech impediment. Or some kind of tick. It's almost robotic, like her voice box has been replaced with a ladies version of South Park's Ned Gerblanski:
All research efforts to answer this great senatorial mystery appear futile. After a little googling, I have come up with nothing, other than fellow democrats complaining about listening to her railroad intonation where a human voice should be, most of which is unfit to print in this space. So, instead I'll move on to my next random thought:
Evan Bayh (D-IN) has a really weird name. Say it five times fast. I promise, it will lose all sensibility.
National Review doesn't really have much going on these days, do they? Now, the NRO is counting them down, old school style, but the lovely peeps at Free Republic have taken it upon themselves to leak the entire list:
1. The Lives of Others (2007)
2. The Incredibles (2004)
3. Metropolitan (1990)
4. Forrest Gump (1994)
5. 300 (2007)
6. Groundhog Day (1993)
7. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
8. Juno (2007)
9. Blast from the Past (1999)
10. Ghostbusters (1984)
11. Lord of the Rings (2001, 2002, 2003)
12. The Dark Knight (2008)
13. Braveheart (1995)
14. A Simple Plan (1998)
15. Red Dawn (1984)
16. Master and Commander (2003)
17. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (2005)
18. The Edge (1997)
19. We Were Soldiers (2002)
20. Gattaca (1997)
21. Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
22. Brazil (1985)
23. United 93 (2006)
24. Team American: World Police (2004)
25. Gran Torino (2008)
Since there is no great conservative art...
...conservatives are left with these pathetic efforts at a) pretending that movies which simply are not conservative are in fact conservative (Juno) (LOTR), b) declaring any movie postively depicting moments in American history as conservative because of course liberals hate America (the Patriot, United 93 -- though the absense of Glory is quite telling), or c) elevating mediocre movies to greatness simply because of their allegedly conservative themes (300 and again the Patriot, which no serious person seriously considers a great film or even a great Mel Gibson film).
In the end, right-wingers cannot excape from the fundamental fact that great art challenges assumptions and received wisdom and calls on us to look at the world with new eyes -- and therefore is inherently progressive.
Howard Dean for HHS Secretary, right people? This is a no brainer. What is happening in America when Dr. Fifty State can't get an administration gig as second choice in a HEALTH administration?
Cross posted at Saved By a Towel.
From the Times (UK) via Jonah Goldberg:
"THE doctor who sparked the scare over the safety of the MMR vaccine for children changed and misreported results in his research, creating the appearance of a possible link with autism, a Sunday Times investigation has found.
Confidential medical documents and interviews with witnesses have established that Andrew Wakefield manipulated patients’ data, which triggered fears that the MMR triple vaccine to protect against measles, mumps and rubella was linked to the condition.
The research was published in February 1998 in an article in The Lancet medical journal. It claimed that the families of eight out of 12 children attending a routine clinic at the hospital had blamed MMR for their autism, and said that problems came on within days of the jab. The team also claimed to have discovered a new inflammatory bowel disease underlying the children’s conditions.
However, our investigation, confirmed by evidence presented to the General Medical Council (GMC), reveals that: In most of the 12 cases, the children’s ailments as described in The Lancet were different from their hospital and GP records. Although the research paper claimed that problems came on within days of the jab, in only one case did medical records suggest this was true, and in many of the cases medical concerns had been raised before the children were vaccinated. Hospital pathologists, looking for inflammatory bowel disease, reported in the majority of cases that the gut was normal. This was then reviewed and the Lancet paper showed them as abnormal."
A response to this.
