2011 archive
False Equivalences, One More Time 0
Donald Luzzatto, Editorial Page Editor for my local rag, is normally on target with his columns. That doesn’t mean that I always agree with him, but that his opinion is normally well-reasoned and worth a listen.
Today, however, in a column regarding the Gingrinch’s recent flippity-flops, he said something quite out of touch with reality, but illustrative of the media’s need to insist that, for each “on one hand,” there must be an “on the other hand.”
Follow the link for the full column; this is the bit I’m interested in (emphasis added):
Name for me one prominent Democrat who has been forced to retract and apologize for a policy position because of uproar from the herd of cats sometimes called the “Democratic base” or from, say, for example, MSNBC.
(. . . . . . . .)
That’s what I thought.
On the other hand, there is no other hand.
Twits on Twitter 0
Secret twits.
Ticked Off 0
Lisa Scottoline has had enough. Follow the link for the whole story:
The other day, I fell asleep with Little Tony and Peach, and I woke up with a tick on my chin, like a mole. It works for Cindy Crawford, but not for me. I’ll never get a date if I wear bugs.
I ran yelping to the bathroom, where I took off my nightgown and found another tick on my back.
Don’t ask me how it got under my nightgown.
Obviously, ticks find me superhot.
Q. What’s Blowing in the Wind 0
A. The Opinions of the Gingrinch.
Afterthought:
If the Gingrinch is a “Republcan intellectual,” then “Republican intellectual” is an oxymoron.
Via TPM.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
A little better, but this over 400k.
Declining firings and gains in hiring are helping sustain consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy, even as food and fuel costs increase. While payrolls have climbed for seven consecutive months, a jobless rate close to 9 percent underscores the need for a pickup in employment that will spur growth.
There Be Dragons 0
The Eye of Sauron turns to Hungary:
Actually, this is rather clever.
Area 51 0
Terry Gross opens Area 51 to some Fresh Air. From the website:
In Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base, Jacobsen details how several agencies — including the Atomic Energy Commission, the Department of Defense and the CIA — once used the site to conduct controversial and secretive research on aircraft and pilot-related projects, including planes that traveled three times faster than the speed of sound and nuclear-propelled, space-based missile launch systems.
Follow the link above to listen or read the transcript here.
On! Wisconsin, Wanton Random Cruelty Dept. 0
Signs of Spring 0
The UPS guys’ knees are in bloom.
Little Ricky Bondage Master 0
The Republican sadistic streak resurfaces:
Santorum was on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, and responded to a question about Sen. McCain’s (R-AZ) repeated assertions that torture doesn’t work and that there’s no evidence that it led to the killing of Osama bin Laden.
(snip)
“And so this idea that we didn’t ask that question while Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was being waterboarded, he doesn’t understand how enhanced interrogation works.” I mean, you break somebody, and after they’re broken, they become cooperative.
Why don’t they just go buy some magazines from one of those yellow (why are they always yellow?) stores with the windows blocked out and satisfy their needs in private?
I’m tired of hearing their skeevy fantasies.
The Comcastics 0
Contextual Criticism 0
Noz has an excellent suggestion.
Follow the link to find out his reasoning.
Dog Whistles 0
Political blogs will frequently refer to rhetorical “dog whistles,” meaning statements that sound innocent until their connotations are dissected.
One famous “dog whistle” was Ronald Reagan’s references to “welfare queens.” It said, “welfare fraudsters,” (and anyone can deplore fraud, unless it’s committed by Wall Street banksters, apparently), but it meant “persons of the not-white persuasion.”*
At We Are Respectable Negroes, blogger chaunceydevega challenges us to understand the dog whistles, using the Gingrinch as his example:
I think it would be more fun to rehab Gingrich’s logic.
Follow the link to see the rehab treatment.
________________
*One attempt to trace the history of Mr. Reagan’s remark to see whether it contained any truth concludes that it did contain an eensy-weensy itty-bit, but that the facts were completely contrary to the tune played on the dog whistle.
Sovereign Dangerous Silliness 0
Except it’s not all that silly.
Folks who call themselves“sovereign citizens” have been known to kill people.
According to the search warrant affidavit:
Simmons stopped Jones because he saw hand-written words “Virginia” and “private use” placed over the man’s license plate.
Jones locked his doors and barely cracked open his window and refused to identify himself. He told Simmons he was a “free citizen on a free highway” and provided different names. The trooper asked for identification at least 10 times.
Humpty-Dumpty Huckster History 2
Am I the only person who sees parallels between Republicans’ making up history to suite their cause and Soviet Russia’s making up history to suite its cause?
Click to see the image at its original size and location
August J. Pollack, the cartoonist, comments. A nugget:
Follow the link for more about the cartoon.
If you feel particularly brave (or foolhardy) Mr. Pollack links to the Huckabee Hucksters History site.
I’m not going to help the Huckster’s Google juice.