Political Theatre category archive

From the Booman.

Jon Swift writes the ultimate paean epitaph for the Current Federal Maladministrator.

Jon Stewart gives Mr. Obama a lesson:

Can you say, “Not ready for prime time“?

Via John Cole.

One last lie.

Well, there’s still a week left. Let’s hope it’s the last lie.

Oh, probably not.

“A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.”

–Franklin D. Roosevelt

Stolen from the comments at the Booman Tribune and independently verified.

And here’s a bonus quotation.

Talk big. Fold.

Pretty much his track record for the last two years.

I’d rather see someone who talked real, then didn’t fold.

Addendum:

Possible nickname: Origami Reid.

With 30 minutes of posting this, I got this link in my email thingee. (Link updated.)

Nothing captures the vapidity of modern coverage of political news more effectively than Josh Marshall’s compilations:

H/T Alison for the vid.

Christopher Lee to play Ann Coulter? Inquiring minds want to know.

Follow the money.

Josh Marshall announces the winners of this year’s Golden Dukies (the video is worth watching to see the acceptance speech right there at the very end):

Read the judges’ comments here.

Sign the petition.

Via Eschaton.

Vanity Fair chronicles what went wrong. And how.

er, And How!

Via the Booman.

Listen here.

Josh Marshall looks deeper into the Toussie almost-a-pardon. He has his doubts:

Needless to say, I’m not an attorney or a constitutional expert. But I’ve seen few if any press write-ups with quotes from people with relevant expertise who say the president is actually able to do this. And my discussions with people with relevant expertise give me the strong impression that the president’s action is highly dubious in constitutional terms, even if no Court case has specifically addressed this combination of facts.

Using “Bush” and “highly dubious in constitutional terms” in the same sentence. NOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo!

Addendum, the Next E-ve-ning:

Josh has more strengthening the case that Toussie may be able to hang on to his pardon.

Typical Bushie incompetence. No. Strike that.

A new high in incompetence, even for the Bushies.

And they’ve set a high bar in that field of endeavor.

H/T Karen for the link.

Steve lays it out over at ASZ.

Wrapping up the year, from Fact Check dot org:

We’ve often said that the spin never stops in Washington. And the weeks since Nov. 4 offer further evidence of that.

Consider some of the bogus claims we’ve debunked just since Election Day:

• It’s not true that unionized auto workers at Detroit’s Big Three make more than $70 an hour, as claimed by some opponents of federal aid.
• And no, 3 million workers won’t be tossed out of work if aid is not forthcoming, as claimed by those favoring a taxpayer bailout.
• President-elect Obama never promised to seek a ban on all semi-automatic weapons, as claimed by some fearful gun owners.
• And no, Obama did not propose a Gestapo-like civilian security force as claimed by a Republican member of Congress from Georgia and any number of overwrought bloggers.
• Democrats in Congress are not discussing any plan to confiscate the assets in 401(k) retirement accounts, another falsehood spread about by chain e-mails and Internet postings.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not demand a 757-size personal jet, a false claim resurrected when Democrats criticized Big Three executives for flying to D.C. on their own private jets to beg for aid.
• And Pelosi’s husband doesn’t own a $17 million stake in a food company that she may (or may not) have tried to help with an exemption from a new minimum wage law.

For details, plus bonus features including video of misleading TV spots by the United Auto Workers and by auto dealers, please read on to the Analysis section.

TPM selects the five sleaziest commercials of the fall 2008 campaign: