Report: Blago's contribution list included Senate hopefuls

By GottaLaff

Blagoeouqalfjopqiujvich makes the news again:

A list of people targeted for contributions by former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's campaign committee included four possible candidates for appointment to President Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, according to a published newspaper report. [...]

It's dated Dec. 3 — six days before Blagojevich's arrest on federal charges of scheming to sell or trade the Senate appointment, among other misdeeds. [...]

The list published by the Sun-Times contains the names of J.B. Pritzker, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Rep. Luis Gutierrez and Roland Burris. All were reported to be under consideration and Burris ultimately won the governor's appointment to the Senate.

None is reported to have contributed. About 150 names are on the list, some with dollar amounts as goals and adding up to more than $2 million.

"They may have had him on the list," said Pritzker spokesman Dave Lundy. "But they had a lot of quirky ideas that didn't have a basis in reality." Pritzker was being targeted for $100,000, according to the list.

Schakowsky said she never was asked for a donation. "The empty space next to my name speaks volumes and shows that Blagojevich knew better than to approach me," Schakowsky said.

Gutierrez had taken himself out of the running for the seat in late November. Burris, a former Illinois attorney general, has acknowledged he attempted to raise money for Blagojevich, but has denied wrongdoing.

Also listed are at least six Blagojevich appointees to state boards or other jobs.

Can we just be rid of him now? Please?

Radar Online: "Vice President Biden’s Daughter Caught Up In Cocaine Scandal"

By GottaLaff

I don't like posting this. It feels creepy. But I posted it, because I'd rather you read it here on a sympathetic site, before she's slimed all over the media. Let's hope this is nothing more than a lame attempt at smearing the Bidens:

An explosive video being shopped to media outlets has plunged the White House and Vice President Joe Biden into a cocaine scandal, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively.

The video shows a woman, who is represented by the seller and his attorneys to be Biden’s daughter Ashley, snorting several lines of cocaine.

The tape has been viewed by a RadarOnline.com freelance reporter who confirms the woman looks identical to Ashley Biden. [...]

[S]everal news organizations have seen the footage.

In addition to RadarOnline.com, representatives for the New York Post, a large British newspaper and the National Enquirer have all viewed the tape. [...]

The tape was shot this year.

On the tape a man cuts up five lines of what is said to be cocaine. The woman who the seller says is Ashley then jokes with the man that the lines aren’t big enough.

The man hands her a rolled-up dollar bill and she proceeds to walk a few steps to a table where the cocaine is cut. She pulls her hair back, bends down and snorts a line.

Four lines of white powdery substance are clearly visible on the table, which is in front of a computer.

After she snorts the first line, the woman said to be Ashley lifts her head and wipes her nose. She then snorts a second and third line before the tape cuts off.

The tape was made without her knowledge. It is being shopped for $250,000.

The events on the tape are represented as taking place at a party in Wilmington, Delaware and the woman said to be Ashley is with a boyfriend.

The cocaine is done amid a party scene with loud music playing and several people talking at the same time.

The tape is approximately two minutes in length. [...]

RadarOnline.com is attempting to reach Ashley Biden for comment.

If true:

--Ashley is not an elected official, yet she will be judged and condemned as if she is, undoubtedly.

--The footage has been shown to the very outlets that will exploit it ad nauseam.

--Think about how the Rushpublics reacted when news came out about the various antics of Jenna and Not Jenna. Of course, they clucked, post-9/11 was no time to dish dirt on the Bush twins.

--Nobody squawked when they found out Bush snorted his way into the presidency.

--Michele Bachmann will demand that Ashley be hunted down.

--I'll be very sad, and will wish her and her family the best.

Photo: Earth Hour in Australia

By GottaLaff

(via)

Via our wonderful Wotching, Earth Hour in Toronto:

Obama names more choices for Treasury posts

By GottaLaff

Three more for Treasury:

President Barack Obama on Saturday named three choices for senior posts in the U.S. Treasury Department as his administration seeks to fill the ranks of officials to help confront a deep economic downturn.

Michael Barr, a Treasury official under former President Bill Clinton, was selected to serve as assistant secretary for financial institutions, and George Madison, a financial industry attorney, was chosen to be general counsel.

Helen Elizabeth Garrett, a vice president for academic planning and budget of the University of Southern California, was nominated to be assistant secretary for tax policy. All three nominations must be confirmed by the Senate.

Go here for short bios.

Tim Geithner flies coach

By GottaLaff

Walkin' the walk:

The man who was grilled by Congress last week over the AIG bonuses took the Delta shuttle from New York to Washington on Saturday, riding in the coach section. Asked why not first class, Geithner said he always rides coach, "never first class".

Photo Phun: Got 0 Plans

By GottaLaff

(via)

Spy System Loots Computers in 103 Countries

By GottaLaff

I'm not feeling paranoid. No, not one bit:

A vast electronic spying operation has infiltrated computers and has stolen documents from hundreds of government and private offices around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama, Canadian researchers have concluded.

In a report to be issued this weekend, the researchers said that the system was being controlled from computers based almost exclusively in China, but that they could not say conclusively that the Chinese government was involved. [...]

Their sleuthing opened a window into a broader operation that, in less than two years, has infiltrated at least 1,295 computers in 103 countries, including many belonging to embassies, foreign ministries and other government offices, as well as the Dalai Lama’s Tibetan exile centers in India, Brussels, London and New York.

The researchers, who have a record of detecting computer espionage, said they believed that in addition to the spying on the Dalai Lama, the system, which they called GhostNet, was focused on the governments of South Asian and Southeast Asian countries. [...]

Still going strong, the operation continues to invade and monitor more than a dozen new computers a week, the researchers said in their report, “Tracking ‘GhostNet’: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network.” They said they had found no evidence that United States government offices had been infiltrated, although a NATO computer was monitored by the spies for half a day and computers of the Indian Embassy in Washington were infiltrated.

The malware is remarkable both for its sweep — in computer jargon, it has not been merely “phishing” for random consumers’ information, but “whaling” for particular important targets — and for its Big Brother-style capacities. It can, for example, turn on the camera and audio-recording functions of an infected computer, enabling monitors to see and hear what goes on in a room. The investigators say they do not know if this facet has been employed. [...]

The electronic spy game has had at least some real-world impact, they said. For example, they said, after an e-mail invitation was sent by the Dalai Lama’s office to a foreign diplomat, the Chinese government made a call to the diplomat discouraging a visit. And a woman working for a group making Internet contacts between Tibetan exiles and Chinese citizens was stopped by Chinese intelligence officers on her way back to Tibet, shown transcripts of her online conversations and warned to stop her political activities.

VIDEO: "Jabba the Rush"

By GottaLaff

Boss Limbaugh gets the full treatment:



I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but h/t: Meghan McCain

Newsweek: "The left's anti-Obama"

By GottaLaff

via Politico

H/t: BuzzFlash

UPDATE: The awesome Bob Cesca has more.

Another Alaskan blogger's p.o.v.: Hate mail from Team Sarah (Palin)

By GottaLaff

Earlier I posted about The Mudflats' run-in with Alaskan Rep. Mike Doogan after he "outed" her. Now we have another Alaskan blogger to whom I often link, Celtic Diva, who did a little outing of her own.

You'll have to read this to believe it, but here's a tiny morsel:

When hate email started rolling into my inbox, I needed only look to one of the many posts on Team Sarah calling for my head to find contributors to that onslaught:

Reply by Douglas Timbie

Is there a lawyer in the group? Can the frivolous charge-filers Andree McLeod, Zane Henning, Linda Kellen Biegel etc. be given a dose of their own medicine with counter law suits seeking restitution for harrassment. Doesn't Alaska have laws to reimburse the governor when these suits are found to be without merit.

If not, can we get pictures of these locusts, email addresses, and the home addresses, place of work, with maps distributed so these people can be given the Acorn AIG treatment. We should be very pleasant and non-threatening, but flood their emails with thousands of complaints...

Here's a sampling of the hate mails I've gotten, the majority of which were anything but "pleasant":

**WARNING: THE EMAILS AFTER THE FOLD ARE NOT WORK OR CHILD SAFE**

Now by all means, go read the rest of this not-child/work-safe post. It's a doozy.

Finished? Swell. Now everyone has seen for themselves what happens if you dare exercise your first amendment rights around conservative wingnuts.

Speaking of Governor Crassy McClassless, here's another assignment, if you're so inclined: Go read this and this. They are two very revelatory pieces over at HuffPo about our bestest friend and date from hell, the one, the only Palin (wannabe) filmmaker John Ziegler, brought to us via an e-mail from my pal Mark Karlin over at BuzzFlash.

Dick Armey: For the First Time I Have a President That Scares Me

As a commenter on YouTube says-

I'd be scared too if I were a Repub. That party may never have a say in American politics again after the what they did to our country.

Thanks to Heather for the vid.

Afternoon Distraction

The Secret Affair of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Philip Morris

By GottaLaff

I have this thing about smoking. And Big Tobacco. And death. And transparency:

The best-kept secret in the halls of Congress -- until today -- may have been the extent to which New York's new senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, helped cigarette maker Philip Morris during her former employment as an attorney with the global law firm Davis, Polk & Wardwell. Information about her relationship with the cigarette maker wasn't included in her official biography or her campaign materials, but on Friday, March 27, 2009, the New York Times published an article describing in detail how Gillibrand, under her maiden name Kirsten Rutnik, was involved at high levels in the legal affairs of Philip Morris.

In 1998, as an attorney at Davis Polk, Gillibrand served on Philip Morris' Privilege and Crime Fraud Committee, an elite group of attorneys from both inside and outside Philip Morris. Some of Gillibrand's colleagues on the Committee were full partners in their respective law firms, which reveals the respect she earned in her service to the company.

That information should have been made public.

UPDATE:

Here it is, better later than never -- and apologies to Gillibrand's staff, who passed it along Friday morning:

An unbiased look at Senator Gillibrand’s record shows that 100% of the time she has stood up for the health of our children, and stood firmly against big tobacco.

Senator Gillibrand has voted repeatedly to tax tobacco products to pay for children's health insurance and demand the FDA regulate tobacco products. She also strongly and consistently supports smoke-free laws, education initiatives and tobacco cessation programs to help tobacco users quit and prevent young people from ever starting to smoke. She is also advocating for tough Internet access regulations to ensure that children can’t purchase cigarettes online.

Spanish Court Weighs Inquiry on Torture for 6 Bush-Era Officials

By GottaLaff

Hey delusional, apparently well-off, oddly defensive, spare-time-endowed former Bush aides, check this out:

A high-level Spanish court has taken the first steps toward opening a criminal investigation against six former Bush administration officials, including former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, on whether they violated international law by providing a legalistic framework to justify the use of torture of American prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, an official close to the case said.

The case was sent to the prosecutor’s office for review by Baltasar Garzón, the crusading investigative judge who ordered the arrest of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. The official said that it was “highly probable” that the case would go forward and could lead to arrest warrants.

While the move represents a step toward ascertaining the legal accountability of top Bush administration officials for allegations of torture and mistreatment of prisoners in its so-called war on terror, some American experts said that even if warrants are issued their significance could be more symbolic than practical, and that it was likely that they would not lead to arrests if the officials did not leave the United States.

Party poopers.

The complaint under review also names John C. Yoo, the former Justice Department lawyer who wrote secret legal opinions saying the president had the authority to circumvent the Geneva Conventions, and Douglas J. Feith, the former under secretary of defense for policy. [...]

Judge Garzón, however, has built an international reputation by bringing high-profile cases against human rights violators as well as international terrorist networks like Al Qaeda. His arrest warrant for General Pinochet led to his detention in Britain, although he never faced a trial. He has also been outspoken about the treatment of American detainees at Guantánamo Bay.

Spain claims jurisdiction in the case because five citizens or residents of Spain who were prisoners at Guantánamo Bay have said they were tortured there. [...]

The other Americans named in the complaint were William J. Haynes II, former general counsel for the Department of Defense; Jay S. Bybee, Mr. Yoo’s former boss at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel; and David S. Addington, who was the chief of staff and legal adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Okay, we get it, it's going nowhere. But we can dream, can't we?

Former Aides Come to George W. Bush's Defense

By GottaLaff

Delusional? Desperate for attention? Feeling the need to justify eight years of abject failure? Sociopaths? I ask. You decide:

[W]hen Barack Obama took over, some Bushies vowed to play defense when W's record was maligned. Thus was born www.43alumni.com, an online community of former Bush team members. "In the age of Facebook," says Bush spokesman Rob Saliterman, "it made sense to create the page to stay in touch with each other." Besides networking, 43alumni will be countering stories about Bush that his team feels are unfair.

Unfair? Really? I'm pretty sure they never saw this then.

A section called Setting the Record Straight, says Saliterman, "will be responding to misleading and inaccurate comments about the president's record." The site [...] will be funded with dues paid by Bushies.

They really should save their money for all those lawyers they're going to be hiring.

Biden says U.S. does not plan to lift Cuba embargo

By GottaLaff

I'd like an explanation:

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday the United States would not lift the country's embargo on Cuba.

"No," Biden told reporters at a meeting in Chile when asked if the United States planned to lift the embargo.

Unfortunately, that's all the info Reuters provided. I'm sure more will come out eventually.

Blogger identity exposed by Alaskan Rep. Mike Doogan

By GottaLaff

As you know if you read TPC regularly, I link to the Alaskan blog "The Mudflats" a lot. In fact, I rely on them for much of what I post about Sarah Palin.

Mudflats is a friendly, reliable, well-written blog that provides accurate and steady information and insight that is hard to find elsewhere.

Now, for whatever reason, Democratic Alaskan Rep. Mike Doogan has chosen to reveal the identity of this blogger. Everything I am feeling and thinking is expressed by her in this post.

Please go read it. I'd love to hear your comments. I value my anonymity for many of the same reasons that she writes about. And I share her outrage and shock.

What was this guy thinking?

Jonah Goldberg Sticks Up For Marty Peretz’s Racism

By GottaLaff

Jonah Goldberg is on my Least Favorite People list. Here's another reason why he's inching up to the top five:

[...] Slate’s Mickey Kaus posted an e-mail thread from the off-the-record e-mail list serve JournoList, in which various left-leaning bloggers and journalists (including Matt Yglesias and the Wonk Room’s Matt Duss) discussed whether New Republic editor-in-chief Marty Peretz is “a Crazy-A** Racist.” The thread was a reaction to a blog post by Peretz [...]:

Well, I am extremely pessimistic about Mexican-American relations, not because the U.S. had done anything specifically wrong to our southern neighbor but because a (now not quite so) wealthy country has as its abutter a Latin society with all of its characteristic deficiencies: congenital corruption, authoritarian government, anarchic politics, near-tropical work habits, stifling social mores, Catholic dogma with the usual unacknowledged compromises, an anarchic counter-culture and increasingly violent modes of conflict. Then, there is the Mexican diaspora in America, hard-working and patriotic but mired in its untold numbers of illegals, about whom no one can talk with candor.

National Review’s Jonah Goldberg responded to Kaus’s post yesterday by asking “why will no one defend Marty Peretz?” and claiming that he is “quite surprised no one will defend the man from the charge that he’s a ‘f***ing racist’” [...]:

The “near-tropical work habits” line is unfortunate. But is this whole thing really so beyond the pale? If it is, no wonder it’s hard to have that long-overdue conversation about race people keep talking about.

But it’s pretty clear that racism — real or alleged — isn’t the real issue. These guys hate Marty, hate TNR (no doubt in part because some of them couldn’t get jobs there), and are willing to use racism against their own the same way they use it against conservatives: as a branding tool against heretics.

[...] Peretz is claiming that Latinos are born corrupt. That’s racist.

There’s also Peretz’ well-documented bigotry towards the Arab world…so, to answer Goldberg, perhaps no one is stepping up to defend Peretz because his bigotry is indefensible.

Birds of a feather.

Quickie: White Hose edition

By GottaLaff

I'm still playing catch-up, so allow me to put up a pointless, silly little Quickie:

I was reading the news crawl rolling by just before MSNBC cut away to a commercial. Along came a little something about the Obama "White Hose..." So many bad one-liners come to mind, and I'm struggling to censor myself in the worst way.

That was today's Quickie. Will you still respect me in the morning?

Shallow Thoughts: Overexposure edition

By GottaLaff

Today's Shallow Thought:

After watching the punditiots on MSNBC this morning excoriating President Obama for actually, you know, communicating to America during this time of multi-crisis, it occurred to me that Pat Buchanan is overexposed.

That was Today's Shallow Thought. Thank you for wading in.

Drug Testing For Welfare Recipients

I have no problem with this as long as they start with the Bank Bailout Federal Welfare Recipients. Line AIG, CitiGroup, Merrill Lynch etc. up and hand them their specimen containers. Seriously, is Nancy Reason back in the White House? Shades of 1980.

CNN falls to 3rd in prime time

Ouch. This is kind of disturbing, because no matter what you think of Campbell Brown, she is sort of in the the middle ideologically.

NEW YORK — CNN is poised to finish March third in the prime-time weeknight ratings behind Fox News Channel and MSNBC, the first time this has ever happened for the channel that pioneered the cable news genre nearly three decades ago.

CNN says its overall business is healthy and it is not straying from its straight news path. But it is suffering more audience erosion than its rivals since the peak days of the presidential election, further proof that the opinionated prime-time shows on Fox and MSNBC have greater audience loyalty.

CNN's weekday prime-time ratings are relatively flat compared to last year during the primary campaign, up 1 percent from March 2008, according to Nielsen Media Research. Fox's ratings have jumped 30 percent and MSNBC, the new No. 2, is up 24 percent. The biggest growth in cable news is for CNN's partner, Headline News, which is up 62 percent.

Matt Taibbi slams Michelle Bachmann on Hardball

I almost forgot about this until Heather reminded me. Truly beautiful.

Taibbi: You know it's funny this morning outside of Penn Station I saw a guy huffing glue out of a paper bag, and he was making more sense than Michelle Bachmann was making. I can't believe it. You need to pass a written test to drive a car in this country but I bet this woman can't even write her name in the ground with a stick. I mean it's just unbelievable to me that this person is in the Congress.

Obama Outpacing Bush on Nominations

Hmm, I don't remember anyone squeeing over Bush not having all his positions filled, but then again, Bush was perfect.

Despite the need to backtrack on some nominations and some key vacancies, President Obama is still sending the Senate more names and winning confirmations faster than his predecessor, CQ Politics reports.

Of the 385 posts at Cabinet-level agencies that a president must appoint, Obama had sent 100 names to the Senate as of March 24, of which 38 were confirmed. In contrast, Bush had sent 40 and gotten 30 confirmed by the same point in 2001. Obama has also announced more than two dozen other nominations that haven't yet been submitted to the Senate.

Cartoon of the Day

Click to enlarge, via.

Saturday Links

What a weird week. Who wants to come over and fertilize my lawn? Free beer!!

G20 demonstrations kick off as thousands of protesters join march to Hyde Park

Internet Worm 'Time Bomb' Set For April 1

Obama, Medvedev to sign declaration on nuclear arsenals

Sydney first major city to mark Earth Hour 2009

India develops space curries

Vet's 'extraordinary' care for animals spans globe

Doctor acquitted by Kansas jury in late-term abortion trial

Dog crashes truck into vet office, Pug was scheduled for orthopedic surgery

Headmaster of top US private school writes to parents to deny vampire rumours

President Obama's Weekly Address

VIDEO: CNBC airs 'bullshit' comment during Obama town hall

By GottaLaff



Oopsie daisy there:

[Obama] says, "One last point I want to make and I know I'm not supposed to talk this long."

"Bullshit," a female voice interjects.

That CNBC. They're always full of surprises, aren't they?

Chartage: The Sequel

By GottaLaff

Nate the Great at Five Thirty Eight has the answer to this chart. The Rushpublican Recovery Road to Nowhere:

Although some elements of the proposal are still under discussion -- Eric Cantor is said to want to eliminate North Dakota rather than Idaho, while Thaddeus McCotter has suggested using the balance of TARP funds to purchase scratch-off tickets -- the final plan can be expected to contain most or all of these components.

H/t: Seattle Dan

Guess who benefits from the GOP budget plan...?

By GottaLaff

The "zero" in Got 0 Plans? That comes close to the amount of taxes the wealthiest Americans would pay under the Rushpublic plan:

While reporters hooted at the comically simplistic charts and lack of details in the House Republican leadership’s budget plan, the green eyeshade types at Citizen’s for Tax Justice crunched the numbers (PDF). They conclude that a quarter of all households, most of them poor, would pay more taxes under the GOP plan, while the richest one percent would pay $100,000 less.

As laughable as the Party of No is, this crosses the line into pathetic. Meaning, this is typically Rushpublican. Stick it to the poor and cater to the rich. This should send their poll numbers soaring... right into the minus column.

VIDEO: Sham OW! Sham Wow pitchman busted for battering hooker

By GottaLaff

Vince Shlomi, aka Sham Wow Guy

I sweartogod I came up with that blog title before I looked at the Tee Vee Machine and saw Keith had the same one. Swear. To. God. 'Cause Keith and I so, like, share a brain, right?

The Smoking Gun has the story ("TV pitchman battered hooker in South Beach hotel room brawl"), mug shots of the hooker, and images of the arrest affadavit.

Here's the video from CountdOWn:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Sham WOWzers. Way to make a lucrative gig come to a screeching halt.

After this, it's doubtful even the people in the ever-lengthening unemployment lines will allow you anywhere near them.

FOX (yes, Fox) Bags Trove Of Secret TARP Emails

By GottaLaff

This is getting good. Too bad it was Faux News that got the scoop. Via TPM:

...Fox Business News has obtained a much-redacted 10,096 pages of Treasury Department documents on the bank bailout. Scrubbed of "proprietary" information and what would presumably be their most explosive revelations, the communiques exchanged between the Bush Administration and executives at Citigroup and AIG read something like "Dumb and Dumber and I Know It Seems Impossible But Even Dumber Than That." The first role would be played by the TARP overseer and cheerleader for the Italian automobile industry Neel Kashkari, whose aides nervously emailed one another as they watched him testify before the House Financial Services Committee on what exactly he was doing with their money.

Nason: How's it going?

Zuccarelli: Bad. Serious questions, too, not "chump" type questions. They're going to start to break Neel down soon, I'm getting worried he's going to start snapping.

Nason: This AIG stuff is tough to watch.

Zuccarelli: They killed him on exec comp. He didn't know answer. [...]

But maybe because their $45 billion bailout was so puny compared to AIG's, Citigroup seemed most oblivious of all:

Though the details of what specifically held up an agreement with Citigroup at the end of last year are muddy, it's clear from the documents it dealt with compensation. What's also clear is that government officials were amazed that, even at the eleventh hour, Citi officials still didn't seem to understand that they would have to make concessions.

"Unbelievable," wrote Stephen Albrecht, the counselor to the general counsel at Treasury, summing up the situation.

There is more here. I felt too guilty to steal the entire post.

MUST SEE VIDEO: When @pourmecoffee Met Michele Bachmann

By GottaLaff

Someone Tweeted the link to this video, touting it as "the best thing I've seen all day". She wasn't far off, not at all:

Implosion of the Got 0 Plans party

By GottaLaff

The Got 0 Plans party is imploding fast. I just read a piece over at Politico, and I'm going to post a few choice phrases and excerpts. Don't worry about context. You can always go read the whole thing here.

A thing to behold:

• Cantor and Ryan ultimately caved in, and what they got was the worst of both worlds: a thin, glossy “blueprint” that was ridiculed by Democrats and cable news anchors, and a nasty internecine scrap that culminated with one GOP aide telling POLITICO that Pence had thrown Ryan “under the bus” in an “egocentric rush” to grab the spotlight.
• ...internal squabbling that afflicted the party during the height of its power at the beginning of the Bush administration.
  
• “It was an unmitigated disaster. We’ve got to figure out why this happened — and fix things fast.”
• four-car pile-up
• the Boehner-Pence and Cantor-Ryan camps split publicly
  
• the ultimate “CYA” bill – shortly before Cantor, his No. 2, stood in the well of the House to cast his vote in favor of it.
• simmering tensions between aides to Cantor and Pence
• Democrats are clearly savoring the squabble.
  
• “Obama’s getting in their heads. They are totally obsessed with not being called the Party of No – and it’s forcing them to make mistakes.”

Was it good for you?

More than 10,000 of you have stood up to Bill O’Reilly

By GottaLaff

I'm sure Think Progress won't mind my copying and pasting this one in full:

Since the launch of our Stop Supporting The O’Reilly Harassment Machine campaign on Wednesday afternoon, more than 10,000 of you have taken action. Thank you for all your support! In just two days, here’s all the successes we’ve had:

– UPS announced it will no longer advertise on The Factor [Laffy Note: Paddy posted about that here]

– Capital One expressed “regret” for O’Reilly’s insensitivity and explain that it does not endorse his views.

– A Ford spokesman candidly told us that he agreed with us about the “rantings of the hopelessly pig-headed Mr. O’Reilly.” (Ford then clarified that the statement did not speak for the company)

– AT&T said it makes “every effort” to ensure their advertisers are in keeping with the company’s “corporate values and philosophy,” but it would not say whether O’Reilly’s show was in keeping with that philosophy.

– Bill O’Reilly lashed out at us, calling us “insects”

– Amanda appeared on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann to discuss the campaign

Let’s urge more companies to follow the lead of UPS. Please join our campaign.

Billo is messing with the wrong crowd. How nice that we are mobilizing so effectively for such a good cause.

VIDEO: Chuck Grassley Jokes About Having Sex With Kent Conrad’s Wife

By GottaLaff

This speaks for itself, loudly, clearly, and cringe-worthily:



UPDATE-- Clarification from Rachel Maddow:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Fundraising jump for marijuana group after Obama snub

By GottaLaff

Remember this clip from the president's online town hall meeting? An ironic twist, courtesy of the Department of Dazed and Confused:

Marijuana backers aren't laughing about President Obama's flippant dismissal of a pot-related question during Thursday's online town hall meeting — and the country's leading marijuana advocacy group, The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, has seen its donations quadruple over the last 24 hours.

What they don't tell you is that half of those donations were Twinkies and Cheetos.

Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of NORML, told CNN "our donation boxes started to flood" after Obama laughed off a Web question about whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation. St. Pierre said traffic to the group's Web site has "increased precipitously" since Thursday.

"About half of the donation comments have a reference to Mr. Obama's comments," St. Pierre said. "As far as I'm concerned, he could show up every single day and rag on marijuana."

Those would be the Twinkie/Cheeto crowd. I should know. I was really good friends with them in college.

But St. Pierre said the anger among marijuana legalization advocates is real.

Bill Maher could be heard grumbling, "Wtf? I thought Prez O was cool."

St. Pierre acknowledged that marijuana legalization is "by no means at the top of national concerns" like two wars and a troubled economy. However, he said the online question was a serious one, arguing that marijuana legalization would help law enforcement officials cut costs. He also said a legal marijuana industry, like tobacco and alcohol, would create billions in tax revenue for the government.

Agreed.

St. Pierre believes the president and his attorney general, Eric Holder, will be friendlier to marijuana advocates than the previous administration, but he said he knows the topic remains "political dynamite" for any elected official.

That's what I said in my post (see link above). He couldn't very well advocate for legalization in that format. It's too complicated to devote a mere minute or two in a new and novel arena.

He needs time for a more serious, substantial discussion, not just a sound bite op for the Rushpublics to jump on.

DNC Web Ad: The Number Zero, Brought To You By The Party Of N-O

Michelle Obama to give 2 commencement speeches

I really like that she'll be giving one of them to a District high school.

WASHINGTON— The White House says first lady Michelle Obama will be the commencement speaker at two graduations this year.

She will deliver the commencement address to the University of California, Merced's first full senior class on May 16.

The university opened in 2005.

Mrs. Obama also will address graduates of Washington Mathematics Science Technology Public Charter High School in the District of Columbia on June 3.

UPS Announces It Will Stop Advertising On Bill O’Reilly’s Show

This was over the horrid treatment of Amanda Terkel of Think Progress by O'Reilly and his minion. Not sure if it really means they will never advertise on the show again, but it's sure to get Billo all frothy tonight. I'll be watching.

In response to our Stop Supporting The O’Reilly Harassment Machine campaign, UPS told us yesterday that it was investigating whether to continue supporting O’Reilly’s show. “We are sensitive to the type of television programming where our messages and presence are associated and continually review choices to affect future decisions,” spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg told us.

Today UPS announced it will stop advertising on O’Reilly’s show.

More background here and here and here.

Obama on AG Holder's 'audacity'

All the good news today is in vid form.

Voices of Power: White House Press Secretary Gibbs on Obama's Press Conference

Gibbsy gets a nice little smackdown in. More video here, transcript here .

Heads up! Overexposure red alert! Obama Faces the Nation!

By GottaLaff

Odear. Omigod. Ogeez. Ocrap. Ono (not the Yoko kind). Prez O is heading for.... ::dun-dun-dunnn:: ... the dreaded overexposure! Hide the kids!

In his first Sunday show interview, President Obama will be on Face the Nation this weekend, according to CBS News.

Host Bob Schieffer hinted at the questions he'll ask: "The economic crisis continues to dominate the news, but there are so many other issues which are getting less attention... We'll ask the president to weigh in on those issues he has not discussed as much in addition to the economy."

Watch out! He's about to... communicate again! Gaaaaaaaa!

The Republicans' "fetid wading pool"

By GottaLaff

Fetid. Isn't that a great word? Fetid. Now let's use it in a sentence:

"One of the reasons why Barack Obama's political team is so confident," Marc Ambinder observes, "is that even while some of Obama's signature policies are viewed with healthy skepticism, Republicans are still splashing around in a fetid wading pool. Obama has room to maneuver because Republicans are giving him room. And while Rove was a master at strategic communications, his lessons didn't seem to stick. Take the appearances in the public square of Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh..."

Oh, ouchers! And I mean that in the best way, as in, "It hurts so fine".

"Limbaugh's ratings have surged since the White House made him the subject of their derision, which is exactly what the White House wanted. The more Republicans identify with Limbaugh, the better; the more Republicans apologize for Limbaugh, the better... So as Democrats focus on Limbaugh, Cheney and Rove, the result is a twofer; remind independents of why they voted for change and continue to perpetuate the Republican identity crisis."

I adore brilliance, don't you? I knew that you did. Oh, and before I forget:

Suh....


nap!

Sarah Palin's prayer remark angers former staffers

By GottaLaff

The Praying Can'tis (original video/post here) is getting some mighty negative feedback. That's what happens when you diss your former (running mate's) staff who knocked their brains out for you, don'tcha know also too:

Some of Sarah Palin's former campaign aides are frustrated with the Alaska governor for remarking in a lengthy, freewheeling speech that she had refused to pray with them before last October's vice presidential debate. [...]

A handful of the McCain campaign staffers who traveled with the former vice presidential nominee nearly every day for two months caught wind of Palin's remarks on Thursday morning — and they aren't thrilled with her quip.

"We all talked this A.M.," said one former Palin aide in an e-mail. "This set off a nerve for sure with a lot of people."

What?! The Praying Can'tis abrasive? Insensitive? Tin-eared? Offensive? Reeee-dicklus!

Just kidding.

If only someone would speak candidly:

"It's yet another example of the few staff still loyal to Palin questioning their loyalty and ardent defense of her over the several months since the campaign," said the aide, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about campaign colleagues.

Since election day, Palin has publicly griped about the way she was handled by the McCain team and pushed back against some of the campaign advisers who attacked her anonymously in the press.

But another former staffer said that in doing so, Palin is failing to distinguish between the strategists at McCain headquarters and the people who were at her side every day from late August through election day.

She's not too bright, is she? Not too aware. Not too wise. Everyone who already knew that, raise your hand. ... Wow! I can't see the sky any more! Hands down!

"It's about us people who were on the plane, who showed extreme loyalty to Palin, continually getting thrown under the bus or slapped in the face by her comments, whether she means it or not," the staffer said, adding that Palin's remarks "cause you to question not only your loyalty but her judgment as a leader."

Isn't that cute, how Praying Can'tis is digging herself into a hole all by herself with no help from anyone? Isn't she just precious? What a big girl is she!

The former aides said they place part of the blame for Palin's post-campaign candor on the governor's staff in Alaska. Several have reached out individually to offer advice or assistance to the governor, but "have gotten only pleasantries in response," said one aide.

And who hired that staff, if you don't mind my asking?

"Who is the one making the decision that she needs to be out there saying these things?," the second staffer asked. "Someone needs to be telling her, 'Listen, let's not talk the campaign any more.' We need to talk about what's relevant and thinking about her influence as a voice in the Republican Party."

"The people that she has, either working at her PAC or advisers in Alaska, aren't exactly making the best decisions for her," the staffer said.

Palin's office in Alaska did not respond to a request for comment.

Apparently the staff (that she hired) that make all those decisions (which she approves) didn't want her to get in more hot water with a comment (that she would okay).

BuzzFlash has a little something to add.

Spin and bear it

By GottaLaff

Email Picture

Mladen Antonov / AFP/Getty Images

A computer screen in Paris shows President Obama’s virtual town hall meeting. The event drew more than 104,000 questions, and 3.6 million votes on which questions he should answer.

What ever happened to actual news reporting? Here are a some examples of the spin the L.A. Times put on just about every Obama story today. These were not found on the Op-Ed pages. These are front page and/or Section A reports that are supposed to represent real news, not editorializing:

On Thursday, the president took another step in embracing the power of technology -- hosting a virtual town hall that elicited more than 104,000 questions and drew 3.6 million votes to determine which the president would answer.

In the end, given that the questions were vetted by the White House, it felt about as spontaneous as an infomercial. [...]

What Obama had to say Thursday about the economy, education and healthcare was nothing new. [...]

Which may be why at 9 a.m. in the airy lobby of USC's Annenberg School for Communication, a dozen students who were sprawled on armchairs or sitting at tables barely seemed to take note. A wall was filled with TV screens, but only one was showing Obama holding forth.

"They'll probably be playing it on repeat at CNN," said Susy Garcia Salas, 26, a conference coordinator who recently graduated from the communications school. "I might go look for the highlights online." [...]

USC communications major Laurel West, 20, said: "I like that they're trying to get people more involved with the process.

"But I'm not sure about its effectiveness."

She said she didn't have time to watch. [...]

But was the event truly engaging the public, or only creating an illusion of doing so?

Can't get more objective than that, right? There were a few parts that weren't negative, but the overall tone was a big ho-hum review of the president's online town hall meeting. Key word: Review.

Then there was this piece about the White House Easter Egg Roll:

Maybe we should go back to standing in line.

The White House's Internet distribution of free tickets to its South Lawn Easter Egg Roll appears to have begun with a splat.

Yes, there were glitches:

Thursday's release of tickets in batches produced what some described as large gaps in availability, creating frustration and confusion.

In recent years, most people wanting tickets for the rite of spring -- a free event held the Monday after Easter -- would stand in line, often for hours, the Saturday before.

In the years before that, huge lines would form Easter Sunday and into the next morning.

The switch to online distribution was envisioned as a way to ease the process and make tickets available to people across the nation. By 6 p.m. Eastern time Thursday, the tickets had been snatched up by people in 41 states, a spokeswoman said.

Complaints began surfacing early Thursday, shortly after the tickets became available.

Again, the overall tone seemed unnecessarily critical. Come on, huge lines and endless hours of waiting wasn't a piece of cake, either.

It's fine to point out flaws or have opinions, but after reading these two "news" articles, I came away with a feeling that President Obama's attempts to bring us into the 21st century were being scoffed at instead of reported dispassionately.

Transition isn't easy, whether it's into a new world of technology or a new administration. But why the negative spin? Or am I just being overly sensitive?

Clinics may have infected veterans

By GottaLaff

This is inexcusable:

Thousands of military veterans are waiting to find out if they were exposed to infectious diseases by government clinics that performed colonoscopies and other procedures with equipment that wasn't properly sterilized.

Veterans Affairs spokeswoman Katie Roberts said officials are working to determine if mistakes that may have exposed patients to infections at medical centers in Tennessee and Florida and a clinic in Georgia could have happened at other VA facilities too.

The VA recently warned some veterans who had colonoscopies as far back as five years ago at its hospitals in Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Miami that they may have been exposed to the body fluids of other patients and should get tested to ensure they haven't contracted serious illnesses.

President Obama boosted "Tonight Show" ratings even higher than originally thought

By GottaLaff

One of our trolls came around the other day all huffy and puffy about the president's declining popularity. Um, wrong:

President Obama's appearance on "The Tonight Show" last week provided an even larger ratings boost than initially thought.

Early reports based on preliminary data were that Jay Leno's late-night program had drawn its largest audience in more than four years. But when the final numbers were released Thursday by Nielsen Media Research, it turned out that 14.6 million people tuned in -- the fourth highest number since Leno took over from Johnny Carson in 1992.

NBC said the only three Leno shows that attracted bigger crowds were his debut telecast, the night of the "Cheers" finale in 1993 and the night of the "Seinfeld" finale in 1998.

So much for Prez O's slide down the slippery slippage slope.