KristolFail

By GottaLaff



Think Progress has a piece up about a possible neocon resurgence, but this passage stood out like a throbbingly sore thumb:

According to Newsweek, neocons, other Republicans, and even his own late father have criticized him:

“He would rather take an interesting wrong position than a dull correct one,” says a longtime neocon who did not want to be named because the two are friendly. Several people who know Kristol describe his Palin boosterism—his very public campaign to persuade John McCain to put her on the Republican ticket—as a schoolboy-like infatuation, sparked when a Weekly Standard cruise docked in Juneau. [...] “Bill’s a very close friend of mine, but he does an awful lot of things just to get publicity,” says one prominent Republican who also did not want to be named for fear of offending Kristol. [...]

Even his father had his qualms. “My poor son has got it wrong again,” he sometimes lamented to an old family friend.

And again... and again... and again.

HuffPostNews Twitter Hacked By Crude Rightie Wingnuts

By GottaLaff

(click on image to enlarge)

Some wingnuts hacked the HuffPost Twitter account and gave a few of us some free advertising. I must say, being promo'd as an elite lefty has made my day... not to mention the resulting uptick in followers.

Oh, and then there's the screengrab (above) that made it to Mediaite. Nice publicity, courtesy of a self-proclaimed conservative with a limited vocabulary derived from that of drunk eighth graders who stubbed their toes after having just been grounded following a rejection by the objects of their lust.

I really must remember to send a thank you note to those thoughtful little hackers, whoever they are.

"Going Rouge" being "censored by proxy, by a corporation"

By GottaLaff

My pal Micheal Stinson, co-author of Going Rouge: The Sarah Palin Rogue Coloring & Activity Book has a great post over at The Mudflats. Please read the whole thing, but here's a sample:

So, here’s the skinny. We called the local chain bookstore outlet, offered to do a signing while Sarah would be “YouBetcha-ing” at another corporate chain across town. The manager, a young guy, was totally into it, said it would move a LOT of books, and be a lot of FUN. [...]

A few hours later the manager called back, feeling sheepish, and for good reason. He’d talked to the marketing geniuses and they’d emphatically refused, on the grounds that it would be “too polarizing”! [...]

[I]t’s not his fault that our book at that moment was being censored by proxy, by a corporation. A book that attained Best Seller status on both Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in categories from Humor to Political Biographies. One that is being distributed to bookstores across the nation (and Alaska) by Baker & Taylor. [...]

One thing we we’d like people to know about our book, just to be clear – is that Sarah didn’t write this one either.

A little scary, isn’t it?

I guess selling fancy Palin mockin' directly across town from the real (well, "original"; nobody can call her "real" with a straight face) Barbie McLipSchmutz would have caused a real brouhaha and scared all the kiddies away:

If there's one thing we wouldn't want, it's a snarky, satirical book signing allowing people to recognize another side of Barbie at exactly the same time as she hawks her polarizing, ghostwritten pack of lies.

New rule: It's best to avoid controversy or dissent anywhere near the vicinity of a corporate book store chain. It might be bad for business.

Big business, lobbyists had IWRC* Palin's ear

By GottaLaff

Here's the sub-headline of the blog post title:

Alaska's governor met with them at least 36 times, according to her calendar. Other groups were not as fortunate.

Oh dear. She's not nearly as mavericky and outsidery as she claimed! Does that make her a liar? Or just someone who suffers from ethics lapses?

Big business was granted wide access to Sarah Palin's office during her first 20 months as Alaska governor, but she rarely met with labor, environmental or other groups pressing alternative views, her official calendar shows.

On at least three dozen occasions, Palin, now the Republican vice presidential nominee, spoke with executives and lobbyists working for an array of energy, mining and tourism firms with major investments in Alaska.

Among those who visited Palin's Juneau office multiple times were the chief executives of Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, as well as several dozen other top oil and gas company officials.

Bush III, Cheney II.

In an August interview with National Public Radio before being named John McCain's running mate, Palin declared: "I've had about two lobbyists, two, maybe three lobbyists who have snuck in [to her statehouse office] with a group of people. So I can't say they've never been in, but we don't invite lobbyists in."

According to her calendar, however, Palin has met with more than a dozen registered lobbyists since taking office in December 2006.

Maybe it simply means she can't count. I wouldn't doubt it, considering she also doesn't read.

[...] Palin's aides were aware before the meetings that lobbyists would be coming.

"My personal experience is they've always welcomed discussions," Reed said.

In several cases, registered lobbyists met with Palin and returned for second sessions.

But... but... IWRC said that she doesn't invite lobbyists in. Gosharootie! What's a voter to believe now?

The Times obtained Palin's calendar under a Freedom of Information Act request. The governor's office turned down a similar request for calendars and schedules pertaining to her husband, Todd Palin, who reportedly has played a prominent role in her decision-making.

Gov. Palin's office said her husband does not keep a calendar.

In addition to meetings with big business and lobbyists, Palin's calendar indicates that she filled her daily schedules with dozens of media interviews.

That access seems a far cry from her recent complaints that the national media has "filtered" her message as a vice presidential candidate.
According to aides, Palin wooed reporters in Juneau with plates of brownies and telephone calls on their birthdays.

My stars! Would ya look at that? IWRC was so anxious to get noticed that she made brownies for all those snoopy, filtery reporters! She must have had more coherent answers back then... way back in the old days... so, so, long ago... when she was still reading newspapers and answering questions.

"She craved publicity and the poll ratings that came with it," said Larry Persily, a former Alaska journalist who worked for Palin in Alaska's state office in Washington until earlier this year.

The calendar also details Palin's frequent stays at her home in Wasilla, Alaska -- which became a source of controversy when it was learned that she collected per diem allowances while away from the governor's mansion in Juneau.

Toast.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

U.S. to Fund Pro-American Publicity in Iraqi Media

By GottaLaff

$$$$$:

The Defense Department will pay private U.S. contractors in Iraq up to $300 million over the next three years to produce news stories, entertainment programs and public service advertisements for the Iraqi media in an effort to "engage and inspire" the local population to support U.S. objectives and the Iraqi government.

The new contracts -- awarded last week to four companies -- will expand and consolidate what the U.S. military calls "information/psychological operations" in Iraq far into the future, even as violence appears to be abating and U.S. troops have begun drawing down. [...]

Some inside the military itself have questioned the effectiveness of the defense program. "I'm not a huge fan" of information operations, one military official said, adding that Iraqi opinions -- as for most people -- are formed more by what they experience than by what they read in a newspaper, hear on the radio or see on billboards.

"A lot of money is being thrown around," he said, "and I'm not sure it's all paying off as much as we think it is."

It's good to know we have all this cash to put into this. For a split second, I thought we were in dire straits.