Thursday, April 26, 2007

Tom Tomorrow on "Great" Moments in Punditry



From the huffpo column, here

He quotes Cal Thomas at length: When the Berlin Wall fell and Eastern Europe escaped from the shackles of communism, I wrote that we must not forget the enablers, apologists and other "fellow travelers" who helped sustain communism's grip on a sizable portion of humanity for much of the 20th century. I suggested that a "cultural war crimes tribunal" be convened, at which people from academia, the media, government and the clergy who were wrong in their assessment of communism would be forced to confront their mistakes. While not wishing to deprive anyone of his or her right to be wrong, it wouldn't hurt for these people to be held accountable.

In 2003, he wanted nay-sayers on Iraq to face a similar tribunal. I think we should form one for pro-sayers, myself. And I volunteer to turn state's evidence.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

When "Christians" Attack



Master Storyteller Mike Daisey had his "Invincible Summer" show interrupted last night. Apparently a Christian group was in attendance and, when they realized the show wasn't what they thought it was going to be, they all walked out.

All well and good, but one of the walkers got on stage and poured water all over his notes. As Daisey puts it:

I doubt I will ever forget the look in his face as he defaced the only original of the handwritten show outline--it was a look of hatred, and disgust, and utter and consuming pride.

It is a face I have seen in Riefenstahl's work, and in my dreams, but never on another human face, never an arm's length from me--never directed at me, hating me, hating my words and the story that I've chosen to tell. That face is not Christian, by any definition Christ would be proud to call his own--its naked righteousness and contempt have nothing to do with the godhead, and everything to do with pathetic human pride at its very worst.


I'm applauding the man's restraint. Me, I just might have gotten up and decked the fucker. Daisey settled for calling them cowards.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Portrait of the Artist as a Complete Dumbshit



The scary thing is that, even now, we're doing what he would have wanted - putting his sorry-ass face up all over the place, wondering about his motives, jerking off for the cameras and keeping his name in the air.

"When archaeologists dig this up they'll either laugh or cry."

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

A fair and balanced obit for Vonnegut?



"Courtesy" of FOX News, we discover that one of the greater literary minds of the latter half of the 20th century was "irrelevant" by the 70's.

Fuck you, assholes. Fuck you in the ass with a hot lead pipe.

The only thing Mr. Vonnegut did wrong was die from complications from an accident. He should have gone out from an aneurysm after delivering the smackdown to end all smackdowns on some sorry-ass FOX News roundtable program - something that would have made Sean Hannity break down and cry like a little kid with a skinned knee.

VA Shooting triggers Islamophobia

Looking at the carnage coverage from yesterday's shooting, I found myself wondering who the perpetrator was, and what set it off. Eyewitnesses said it was an Asian male, but that could mean anything, really - Asia's a wide area with many different nationalities and religions. So I wondered how long it would be before some Moonbat flew out of the dark, dank cave of ignorance and cried "Jihad!"

Wonder no more: the freaks at Free Republic are already figuring it was a Muslim up to no good. Why am I not surprised?

(According to WaPo's sources, the student was of Korean descent, with parents in Fairfax. Not one of the usual suspects, then?)

Monday, April 16, 2007

Don we now our big old earmuffs...

You know, the more I think about the Don Imus kerfluffle, the more I have to call shenanigans on his firing.

Was what he said mean, stupid and wrong? Absolutely. But Don Imus' job, up until now, has been to say mean, stupid and wrong things for his listeners to cackle over.

What really made this different? The fact that he used language that sounds racist if it comes out of a white mouth and funny if it comes out of a black one? The fact that he insulted a group of inoffensive kids? The fact that the right people complained in the right way at the right time?

Or was it that, much like Bill Maher after 9/11, the furore caused the company that paid Don Imus too much money, and they tossed him overboard in order to stop hemorrhaging cash?

The real issue here isn't a shock jock being too shocking. It's the fact that enough people listen to shock jocks to make advertising on their shows a profitable venture for broadcasting companies.

Put it this way - Don Imus might be on the way out of his job, but there will always be another Don Imus out there, somewhere.

Case in point: one of them called John Edwards a "Faggot" not long ago, and seems in no danger of losing her job anytime soon.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Kurt Vonnegut, RIP

Kurt Vonnegut has died, age 84.

... what else is there to say?

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

BCCI: The Osama - Saddam Link?

Now that the U.S. Congress is investigating the truth of President George W. Bush's statements about the Iraq war, they might look into one of his most startling assertions: that there was a link between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

Critics dismissed that as an invention. They were wrong. There was a link, but not the one Bush was selling. The link between Hussein and Bin Laden was their banker, BCCI. But the link went beyond the dictator and the jihadist -- it passed through Saudi Arabia and stretched all the way to George W. Bush and his father.


From the article here by Lucy Komisar, author of a chapter on BCCI in "A Game As Old As Empire".

I dunno that this is entirely accurate. My understanding is that OBL was just one of the many Saudis who flocked to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets with the Mujahadeen, and nothing more than that. He wasn't high up enough in the struggle to be privy as to how the CIA shifted money around. And, frankly, this whole "America funded bin Laden" story is getting old: we didn't give him a dime, per se.

(A excellent take on how the funding was done can be found in "Charlie Wilson's War", which explains how the "Lufkin Liberal" and a CIA Officer on the outs engineered the whole thing.)

But... the article is full of intriguing info as regards to the extended Bush clan, its ties to secret political deals and the kickbacks they got along the way.

Maybe someone should ask some questions about that "link," after all.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Richard Poe...



Richard Poe:

... built my hot rod

... stole our robot

... swiped my brewskis

... put the eels in my hovercraft

... is secretly David Icke

... shot President Garfield

... stole 'The Scream'

... did the above under alien orders*

... seriously needs a new haircut

... makes a mean beef brisket

... worships Cthulhu

... is still in love with George Soros

... has seemingly developed a narcissistic streak, as evidenced by this weird Net Chatter thing over at poe.com

... probably won't put this up there, though.

Hi, Richie!




* okay, no, he didn't do any of of the above.

But! Has anyone seen Richard Poe and David Icke in the same place at the same time?

I'm just saying...

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Newt It To Me One More Time (pubbed)

The real story about Newt Gingrich's finally admitting his adultery isn't what he said, but whom he said it to. Yet another piece in the puzzle of the man has been unwittingly revealed, and we should all be wary.

The article is here, at long last.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Someone's got some 'hasbarah' to do...

The Israeli consular official based in New York approached Maxim six months ago. His proposal: the government and other pro-Israeli groups would fly a camera crew across the Atlantic in an effort to remake the Jewish state's public image. ... Israel's real PR problem, according to Saranga, is that Americans—particularly men aged 18 to 35—either associate the country with war or holy relics, or don't think of it at all. "We have to find the right hook," he says. "And what's relevant to men under 35? Good-looking women."

From the article, here

"Come see our beautiful women... our downtrodden underclass... our frightening beaches... occasional bombers... did we mention the women?"

I can get good looking women anywhere in the world, thank you. And I ain't giving Israel a dime more than I have to (taxes fuel foreign aid, you know) until things change there in a major way.

Is Maxim that desperate for a photo shoot?

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Terry Jones on the Iran Hostage Situation

from the article, here:

I share the outrage expressed in the British press over the treatment of our naval personnel accused by Iran of illegally entering their waters. It is a disgrace. We would never dream of treating captives like this - allowing them to smoke cigarettes, for example, even though it has been proven that smoking kills. And as for compelling poor servicewoman Faye Turney to wear a black headscarf, and then allowing the picture to be posted around the world - have the Iranians no concept of civilised behaviour? For God's sake, what's wrong with putting a bag over her head? That's what we do with the Muslims we capture: we put bags over their heads, so it's hard to breathe. Then it's perfectly acceptable to take photographs of them and circulate them to the press because the captives can't be recognised and humiliated in the way these unfortunate British service people are.

I mean... what else is there to say?