Harlan Ellison

I was reading a post by Driftglass when he mentioned Harlan Ellison. I have not thought of him in years. I used to read everything that I could get my hands on. His interviews on Tom Snyder's Tomorrow show were great. If you want a good idea of how he thinks watch this interview.. 

d r i f t g l a s s: Voice of Empire, Ctd

d r i f t g l a s s: Voice of Empire, Ctd

Maybe He's Busy

Remember Governor Rick Perry had a super duper prayer thingy a couple of weeks ago? You know, to cure our country's ills and maybe drop a little water down on Texas?

Did Perry ever stop to think maybe God's away on business?

Rick Perry Will Fuck The Shit Out Of America

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One Of The Best Live Recordings Of All Time

They Are Not Even Trying To Hide It Anymore

Here is Fox Nation's picture and caption about President Obama's birthday party yesterday.

You guys left out "where da white women at?"

Amateurs.

One Of The Reasons I Admire Bill Maher

This is something he says time and again and I can find no evidence to the contrary (and I am paraphrasing here):


"...politicians say 'the American people are smarter than that', They're not; they're morons."

Now That Congress Has Laid That Turd Of Legislation On Us...

They are off on vacation for a month.

Good!

They can do no more harm if they are not in Washington, right?

Wrong! They can go on cable news and yammer on about what the 'merican people want. Which is not what we want.

You know what we really want? Economic security. Not tax cuts for rich people, not wars, not more corporate welfare. We want to be able to know that the job we have today will be there tomorrow. And if that job were to go away we want to know that another one will be out there if we want it.

bc

While We Await Finacial Armagedon...

I can't take much more of the bullshit coming from Washington and our overlords in the Media. So enjoy this fantastic song from Jesse Winchester. Watch Neco's reaction to Jesse's performance.

It's Friday Bitches!

Congratulations, you've almost made it through the week.

Here's some Kings of Leon for you.



You know you deserve it.

The Tea Party's Messiah

Ayn Rand:


Read this account of the Teatard's darling.

She was Allen Greenspan's influences if that tells you anything about his reign of the Federal Reserve.

The Republican Caucus

Gibberish All The Way!

bc

Well, Hello...

...haven't seen you for a while.

I want to say that I have been busy and I have. But the truth is blogging is hard and I'm not that committed to it. I poke my head in here every now and then to see if anyone is looking. And they are not.

Summer's here. That means yard work and fixing things that I have put off because I hate working in the cold.

I was running 3 miles a day but I had an injury to my ankle. I have taken up the bicycle again. I'm riding 8 miles a day now.

As far as politics go : Republicans are still assholes and Democrats are pussies. Some things never change.

bc

Happy 70th Birthday Bob Dylan!

How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away

I am against torture. I believe it is counter-productive.
That being said could we at least waterboard this guy?

I Can't Help Myself

Did You Know There's A Ni... In The Whitehouse?

Here is a very good post by Dennis G over at Balloon-Juice.

Trump really does think that he is the "Great White Hope":

"Trump has added a new unofficial “Primary” on the road to the Republican Presidential Nomination: The “Who can save us from that uppity nigger” primary."

bc

Devastation

Alabama took the brunt of the massive storm system that began in Arkansas, swept through Mississippi and then into their state. I'm not a prayerful person but my thoughts are with all who were affected by the storms.

You Can't Win

The President released the birth certificate today. Of course the first thing you hear from Republicans is why didn't he release it sooner.You can't win with fuckers who will not listen to reason or acknowledge facts.

Just look at the folks the Republicans have lined up to run against Obama. Republicans should just save their money for 2016 and run Alan Keyes. In other words, just sit this one out.

bc

Phoebe Snow

RIP Phoebe. I don't know anyone who did not have a copy of this album. Such a lovely singing voice.

S&P Can Suck It

Did they not disgrace themselves over the financial crisis of 2008?

Why the media giving them a pass?

Our Local Tea Party Is Up To No Good

Really, Tea Party?

What's Islam got to do with Taxed Enough Already? From what I read in this article no one in this group has done anything to deserve a protest. It looks to me that the Tea Party ought to be celebrating this group of Muslims for doing good things for the community.

bc

UPDATE: It seems the Tea Party has better things to do with their time.

The Dumbing Down of America

I had a co-worker stop by my office this morning to discuss the tsunami that ,at the time, was coming from the Japan earthquake heading for the U.S.

She asked me if I thought it would affect the Gulf of Mexico. I could only sit there slack-jawed. I could not believe that someone would think that there was a straight shot from the Pacific Ocean to the gulf. I explained to her that there is a land mass called Mexico and Central America between the two bodies of water. "Oh," she said and walked away.

The mind reels.

bc

Fat Tuesday

I have to post this from Greg here. I can't add a thing.

Greg Dworkin (that's me):

"These aren’t hearings on homegrown or domestic terrorism (Oklahoma City and Atlanta Olympic bombings and cold-blooded murder of Dr. George Tiller all had nothing to do with Muslims.) They are singling out one group for scapegoating. Peter King’s fear and bigotry hearings raise the question “on how many simultaneous fronts is the GOP willing to look extreme?” Let’s see, there’s the budget in DC, immigration in AZ, union-busting in WI, Boehner defending anti-gay bigotry in the defense of DOMA, repeal of the only true health reform in a generation, birtherism by Presidential candidates Gingrich and Huckabee, social issue legislation in lieu of jobs legislation... wow, are Republicans really that tone-deaf? Are they really willing to alienate anyone who’s not a rich conservative white guy with a job? Apparently by their actions, yes, they are. My guess is that King’s hearings are just a little more than the market can bear. But who knows, really? It’s the GOP, after all. See Terri Schiavo hearings, 2005."

bc

I Just Don't Have Anything To Say

My blogging has been non-existent because, well, I don't know. I get worked up over things I see on my TeeVee and read in my newspaper and the interweb but can't seem to be able to put anything down here at this site.

There is so much bullshit being passed around for "intelligent" commentary. Since their big wins in last November's elections the GOP has gone completely off the rails. They ran on the promise of job creation, but since then they have gone after women's reproductive rights, deficit reduction and labor unions. None of this will create a job for anyone except the lobbyists and propagansists that feed the GOP's message machine.

bc

Listening to Records Again

I grew up in the heyday of vinyl records. Albums and album rock to be exact. I have missed my albums.They are sequestered in a closet in the spare bedroom.

For Christmas my wife gave me the CD "The Promise" by Springsteen. I have enjoyed it but it makes me want to listen to "Darkness on the Edge of Town" and my only copy is vinyl. So I got out the turntable and listened to it. I had forgotten how good vinyl sounds. No compression, just good warm sound.

After that I had to dig out a few other gems to listen to:

One Size Fits All - Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
Station to Station and Low - David Bowie
Deceptive Bends - 10cc
Sunburst Finish - Be-Bop Deluxe

bc

When boy, when are you going to get your act together

When I first saw this movie I was 23 years old and thought I knew everything. I never imagined that I would one day feel the same way as Strother Martin does in this scene.

Arizona, where the American Dream went to die

Arizona, where the American Dream went to die

Thank you Will.

Keep This In Mind Tea Party Folks

From Matt Taibbi's article in Rolling Stone Magazine:

""They're all worried the government would shut down," says Littleton, the head of the Ohio Liberty Council. "I don't care if it shuts down! So what?" Whether the Republican establishment led by Boehner can keep the support and approval of Tea Party leaders like Littleton over the next year or so is, right now, the most fascinating story line in all of American politics. The whole system of entrenched Beltway hackdom that Boehner represents is at stake. The GOP leadership largely succeeded this past fall in appropriating the political energy of the Tea Party for its own ends, pulling off a brilliant coup by using Tea Party rage to push through the long sought-after extension of the obscene Bush tax cuts. This was always going to be the model of how Republican Party hacks would deal with the Tea Party: Bash the living hell out of hated blue-state Gorgons like Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama, jack off the mob by incorporating the Tea Party's Constitution-and-liberty rhetoric, hand the Tea Party those reforms that the GOP's big campaign contributors want anyway (most notably, tax breaks for the rich and deregulation of big business), and then cough up a note from the doctor or some other lame excuse when the time comes to actually cut spending."

So, Let Me Get This Straight

We traded in a strong Speaker of the House (who happens to have a pussy)





For a real live pussy.

Say Hello To The 112th Congress!

Brought to you by Fox News. They succeeded in getting this new group of firebreathers elected. Don't look for Fox to hold any of them accountable.

The Cost Of Media

I was thinking on the way to work today about how much media costs us today. I remember when cable TV was installed in town back in the day. I think the cost was around $20 a month. Everyone thought that was just outrageous!

Now we pay on average anywhere from $60 for basic cable to $150 a month if you want premium channels, HD content and internet service.

Add to that cell phone and smartphone service. That also is anywhere from $50 for basic service to $150 a month if you have 2 or more lines with a data plan.

That's $110 to $300 a month just for TV, internet and wireless phone service!

How did we get to the point where we spend as much for entertainment and communications as we used to spend for a month of groceries when cable was first installed?

bc

I'm Impressed

I haven't heard of this band before I saw them on SNL this weekend.



The girl has some pipes.

You're welcome.

bc

Everything You Need To Know Before You Vote

...is in this one 30 second commercial.



See you at the polls.

bc

The SawsAll Does It All

I started in the upstairs bathroom last weekend. I took the trusty sawsall and just cut out the entire shower. What I found was as bad as I had expected. I have 2x10 floor joists and 3/4" plywood for the floor. On top of that was 1/4" lewon plywood and ceramic tile. The leak(s) from the shower had gotten between the lewon and the 3/4" plywood. It was quite rotten so I just pulled up all of the tile and lewon.

As a side story, we have had problems with palimino bugs in the kitchen. The kitchen is underneath the bathroom. Well, I could never find where the bastards were coming from. These pests need moisture to survive. The kitchen and underneath the house are dry. When I pulled down the shower I exposed a nest of the bugs! That is where they were getting their moisture. So, at least that mystery is solved.

Also, the water pipes that go to the shower come in from the ceiling of the bathroom, down the shower wall and, for some reason, into the floor under the shower. Where the hell were they going? They went to the bathtub on the other side of the room. I cannot fathom why it was plumbed this way because the tub and the sink are on the same wall. But instead of coming off of the sink to the tub, the plumbing was routed under the floor from the shower.

Anyway, the 3/4" plywood where the shower was will have to be replaced but only one piece. So that's pretty good. However we have not decided whether to just replace the shower or do we do a complete change up of the layout of the room. The bathtub is a deep soaker tub with jets and it only gets used two or three times a year. I don't see any reason to keep it. A shower is all we need.

I Don't Want To Do This...

...but it must be done.

The shower in the upstairs bathroom has been leaking. So I'm going to tear it out and see what's what underneath.

I'm afraid.

I've got the feeling that this is going to end up being a complete renovation.

$$$$$$$$!

Oh,yeah.

bc

Had To Share This

I have read that this was done in one take. If it was it is truly amazing.



Also, John Lennon rules!

Jon Stewart's "Postcards From The Pledge"

I had to share this...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Postcards From the Pledge
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

They are not even trying. Really, it just insults my intelligence that they think that I am stupid enough to buy their into their "pledge" to the American people. These are the same people who got us into this mess in the first place. Who didn't lift a finger to help get the country back up on it's feet. Who said "no" to everything for two years, not because of their principles but because it is politically expedient to oppose everything. What did they have to lose? Rush Limbaugh gave them cover on January 20,2009 when he said, "I hope he fails". That was his signal to the loser Republicans that he had their backs if any of them want to follow him.

Behold!

Nothing like a fresh coat of paint to make you fall in love with your house again.

Geez

Just when I thought the American people couldn't get any stupider.

"The number of Americans who say President Obama is a Muslim has nearly doubled since March 2009, according to a new poll from Pew out today. The poll finds that 18% of Americans say the president -- who, it should be said for the record, is a practicing Christian -- is a Muslim. That's up from 11% who said the same thing in March of last year.

At the same time, a new poll from Time magazine shows a widespread distrust of Islam among Americans, and an overwhelming opposition to the Cordoba House project in Manhattan. The Time poll also found that 24% of Americans say Obama is a Muslim.

No group is more convinced of the president's Muslim faith than conservative Republicans. The Pew poll found 34% of them say Obama is a Muslim, which is an increase from 18% in the March 2009 survey. The number is not that much different from Republicans overall -- 31% of all Republicans surveyed by Pew said Obama practices Islam, and 24% of "moderate and liberal" members of the GOP said the same thing."

I take it that Muslim is the new "nigger".

bc

William The Bloody Strikes Again

TBogg goes after Bill Kristol one more time. With feeling. And more cow bell.

Kristol can suck it.

bc

Has It Been A Month?

Today is the first day of August or as we say here in the South, "the dog-days of August", even though we have been in high heat and humidity since I posted the first of last month.

I have been very busy working on "This Damned Old House". Just finished painting the exterior. I am currently sanding the old paint off of the front porch floor so I can stain it. I rented a floor sander that got 98% of it done but the remaining 2% has been a very slow process. I am hoping to get it ready for stain within the next few days.

The house looks great but now all I see when I look at it is the black stains on the roof. I have found that can be cleaned off with a combination of bleach and Tri-Sodium Phosphate. That is next on my agenda.

I'll post a picture when it is all complete.

bc

and it has the WiFis

A Best Buy employee created this video and I believe he got into some trouble over it even though Best Buy was never mentioned.

Be that as it may, the video is funny...and a little scary. There are people out there as dumb as the one that is asking for the new iPhone.

bc

The Green Hornet Trailer

I don't know if it is going to be any good. From the trailer it looks as if it will be successful. At least with the 13 to 18 year old crowd. The Greeen Hornet was one of my favorites from my childhood. I couldn't wait for the TV show to come on each week just so I could see Kato (Bruce Lee) kick someone in the face.

I'm On A Boat!

BP chief executive Tony Hayward, often criticized for being tone-deaf to U.S. concerns about the worst oil spill in American history, took time off Saturday to attend a glitzy yacht race off England’s Isle of Wight.



I guess he got his life back.

bc

Well, The Weekend Is Upon Us...

Now, the real work begins.

By now you have probably seen this video on the news or the internets, but here it is again.



Have a great weekend and try to stay cool. It's going to be a hot one.

bc

I've Got To Get Back To Work To Get Some Rest

I cleaned out the shed for the second time this year. It had gotten to the point that I had to climb over things to get what I needed out of there. Then I mowed the lawn, took a swim and went for a walk. That was Saturday.

Sunday my daughter's Volvo A/C quit. I worked on that all morning. Still haven't figured it out. The A/C is kicking in but the blower isn't coming on. Blower doesn't work on heat either. I'll get it eventually.

We are in the middle of having our house painted so today I took the front porch lights down. My wife painted them and I moved them to the back porch. We replaced those lights with ones my wife bought Saturday.

On inspection of the columns on the front porch I can see a lot of what looks like alligator or reticulating in the finish. So, I have started stripping them by use of a heat gun and scraper. I got one side of two columns done. There are 8 columns in all. This might take a while.

bc

Man, It's Hot Out There!

11 o'clock pm and it's still 80 degrees here. This weekend it will be up to 99 degrees without the heat index. And summer won't be here for 10 more days.

I guess Al Gore was right after all.

bc

Thank God!

Nolan says no to Mr. Freeze too.

bc

RIP - Dennis Hopper

This scene from Easy Rider with Jack Nicholson is one of my favorites.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

I present for your enjoyment- The Black Keys

For The "Lost" Souls Out There

The internets are all torn up over the last episode of Lost. I was pretty satisfied with it. That is because of the characters in the show. The first 2 seasons I was caught up in the mystery and questions about the island but as the series continued I found myself interested more in what happened to the people in the story. I know that a lot of questions were left unanswered, but who really thought that everything would be? All I know is that I went to bed a little sad because I am going to miss them.

For a good recap of the episode go here.

Oh, yeah, the Jimmy Kimmel show that was scheduled to come on after Lost last night was pre-empted here for 2 episodes of Two and a Half Men by the local cable company. In case you did not see it, here is the alternate endings to Lost that was shown....

Rand Paul Bee's Tired

John Cole's prediction will come true.

That's my prediction.

bc

Brilliant!

I would say that Andy Sandberg is a comic genius but he also does the Laser Cat videos.
Not a big fan of the Laser Cat.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Now, show me your papers!

Thought Of The Day

It seems like being named the world's oldest person is a death sentence.

bc

Books I Have Read So Far This Year

My wife and I seem to have a running contest to see how many books we can read. Believe it or not she is way ahead of me.

Here is the list so far this year:

1. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
2. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4. Catching Fire (sequel to #3)by Suzanne Collins
5. City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments Book 1) by Cassandra Claire
6. City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments Book 2) by Cassandra Claire
7. City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments Book 3) by Cassandra Claire
8. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
9. The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
10. The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond
11. Timequake by Kirk Vonnegut
12. God Hates Us All by Hank Moody
13. The Host by Stephanie Myers

Currently reading "World Made by Hand" by James Howard Kunstler after that it will be "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig.

bc

The Party's Over

via cosmicnavellint:

The Old Fart tells it like it is---



--calmly as I could not.

The reason I'm down on the so called "movement" is because they are spouting the same talking points that I hear every day here in Mississippi. I'm not down on the people of my state, they are truly some of the most friendly folks you would ever want to meet. But when things are going on that they don't understand they become a little unhinged. They look for someone to blame and it sure ain't them.

I Could Not Agree More

Heather Friday at crooksandliars.com has the best description of the tea party people I have read so far:

"It would be nice to see these wingnuts challenged by our sorry excuse for a "main stream media" as well as Cenk did here. They'd be marginalized in the manner they deserve to be rather than propped up as some sort of grass roots movement, which they're not.

This tea party movement is one part Dick Armey and company fake astroturf protest, one part angry McCain and Palin soreloserman, one part abortion clinic protester, one part white nationalist militia movement/gun rights nuts, one part ClusterFox/Glenn Beck brain dead watcher, one part anti-immigration Lou Dobbs/Tom Tancredo fan, one part southern racist that isn't done fighting the Civil War yet and one part Ron Paul/Libertarian."
-emphasis mine.

I should put this on my facebook page but I try to keep away from politics there so I won't alienate my family.


bc

Dumb Fucks

Some guys are out showing off their dick sizes today.

Role Reversal

What do you get when you have a bunch of over-weight white people flinging shit at "the monkey in the White House"?

The Southern Republican Leadership Conference.

bc

I Get No Respect

At home all I seem to be good for is bringing in a paycheck and doing all the heavy lifting.

I'm asked about my opinion about things only to be ridiculed or rejected. So, why bother.

I'm the Rodney Dangerfield of my family.

Whoo Weee!

Booman is hot! It seems Doocy "The Douche" on Fox and Friends has pissed him off royally.

I can't say that I blame him. Doocy is a dink.

Read it.

How does the media continue to believe that Fox News is a real news organization?

bc

Dreaming

Lately I have been having the most vivid dreams. Not only can I dream a dream and remember it the next day, I can also wake up from that dream and go right back into it.

Last night I had a dream that I was in a golf foursome with George W. Bush. Can you believe that?

Anyway, when his turn came to tee it up, he could not hit the ball. He swung and he swung but could not hit it. It became almost painful to watch much like listening to him give a statement "on-the-fly". Finally, after about twenty tries we had to scratch him.

I have no idea what brought that dream about but it was good to see him standing there with egg on his face.

bc

Media's False Equivilences

During the HRC debate and its subsequent passage many threats and intimidation tactics have been used against Democratic members of Congress. They were right to call them out and admonish their behavior. It is striking to me that the Republican leadership is cheering them on.

Yesterday we learned that a deranged individual posted a threatening video to Republican Congressman Eric Cantor and has since been arrested. Good. Violent threats to anyone are not to be tolerated. However, this morning on MSNBC's Monin' Joe all Mika Brzezinski wanted to talk about was this example of how the left is just as bad as the right on this subject. She nor anyone at the table ever said that this person also threatened many other people including Barack Obama. How can Ms Brzezinski claim that he is from the "far left"? Because he threatened a republican? This makes no sense.

I would bet dollars to donuts that by the evening news hour this guy is "far left" and that the right can now make the claim that both sides do it.

Thanks Mika. Great reporting there.

bc

UPDATE: The Rude Pundit has to be quoted here:

"'Cause, see, whenever anyone tries to make some kind of moral equivalence between the actions of leftist protesters in the 1960s and 1970s and those of the teabaggers (or, indeed, the militia movement), they are forgetting context. And context, as we know, will take your sad little rhetorical point and spank its ass until it begs context to stop."

I just love the last sentence.

Quote of the Day

"the GOP just had a premature political ejaculation. Obama, meanwhile, has just got his groove on."

- Andrew Sullivan from the Atlantic's Daily Dish

For Alex

Rest in Peace

A Typical IT Call For Me

I love people like the guy in this video. They keep me in a job.

Call The Waaamulance

Now that the health care summit is over I am willing to bet that the spin out of Fox News is how the President was so mean to the Republicans. For a party who acts so tough and Billy Bad Ass all the time they sure spend a lot of time on the TeeVee crying about people being condescending to them.

I swear they are like a bunch of 5 year olds.

bc

UPDATE: That did not take long...

Happy Valentines Day

.


If you find yourself down just listen to this song. It always puts a smile on my face whenever I hear it. This clip is from the excellent movie "Stop Making Sense" by Jonathan Demme.

Now, Here Is What Political Satire Looks Like

Sandberg hits it out of the park.

bc

I Hear There Is A Football Game Sunday

.
I predict that one team will win.

bc

I'm so Excited!

Happy Lost Day!

The sixth and final season of Lost starts tonight. If you have not been watching this show you don't know what you have been missing. It is really the only reason I watch ABC except for Modern Family another terrific show.

We have been promised that this season all questions will be answered. That remains to be seen. If it ends up that it was all in Hurley's head I'm going to to be pissed.

bc

The Death Of The Kindle?

Apple ( Steve Jobs) introduces the iPad Tablet. It looks like it would be more enjoyable to read from it than Amazon's Kindle.

We Are All Truly Fucked Now!

"Government cannot restrict corporations from spending money to influence political campaigns, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday in an opinion that immediately reverberated across the political landscape and drew strong criticism from the White House.

The decision upends the political battlefield in time for November's high-stakes congressional elections. It also is likely to affect state contests. Twenty-two states prohibit corporate spending in state candidate elections, and two more, New York and Alabama, impose limits on such spending."

-USA Today

The court ruled some time ago that corporations are "super citizens" . That means they have more rights than we as individuals have in this country. You think we have crooked politicians now, just wait a couple of more election cycles.

bc

UPDATE: There may be something that can be done about this:

I know I was going to leave politics alone for a while. But every time I do they keep pulling me back in.

bc

It's Been A While

The holidays are behind me now. I haven't had much to blog about, at least anything anyone would want to read.

I know one thing, I am sick of politics. I'm taking a break from that stuff.

So:

Which makes me nostalgic for this video.

bc
.

When All You Can Do Is Laugh

.

Thanks Thad

The Grand Obstructionist Party strikes again:

GOP senators block effort to freeze credit card interest rates.

Good to know you're looking out for us, Thad (Cochran...my Senator).

bc

This Here Is Real...

SNL's Scared Straight -



bc

Nuttin' But The Truth

Read John Cole's analysis today.

He's right. Even though the GOP has been epic fail time and time again, the news media can't wait to put a republican on air to spout his or her bullshit. Then they won't call them on their bullshit.

I certainly cannot remember when the minority party or the party that lost the last presidential election gets so much press coverage. But when most media outlets are owned by very powerful corporations that are controlled by conservatives and/or republicans, you can see how they get treated with kid gloves.

bc

I'm Sure That This Is All Obama's Fault

At least seven people are dead and between 12 and 15 wounded in shootings at Fort Hood in Texas on Thursday, senior Pentagon official told CNN.

I'd also be willing to bet that someone will try to make political hay out of it.

Also, teabag anyone?

Oh, yeah: Wolverines!

bc

If You Pulled This Stunt In the U.S.

...you would get your ass shot!

I Hate Banks

Here's a song by Mojo Nixon that is on his "Frenzy" album that came out in 1986 but relevent today:

The White House Is Right

Fox "News" is not a news organization. They are a propaganda wing of the GOP:

Damn, It's Been A While

Been out of it lately. Lots of personal stuff happening but basically not having anything to say.

Still don't. But in the mean time:

A PSA I Can Get Behind

Funny:

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Here Is Something To Think About

Steve Benen adds this:
"During their reign, Republicans took an annual surplus of a quarter of a trillion dollars and, in just eight years, turned it into a $1.2 trillion deficit. The GOP added $5 trillion to the national debt, and inexplicably put two tax cuts, two wars, Medicare Part D, and No Child Left Behind on the national charge card, left for some future generation to worry about.

If fiscal responsibility is the new chief concern of voters, they literally couldn't find a less qualified, less credible bunch than the congressional Republican caucus.

But wait, our conservative friends remind us, that was the recent past. What about the ongoing deficit problems on the Dems' watch? The answer isn't complicated. As Michael Ettlinger and Michael Linden recently explained: "The policies of the Bush administration, which included tax cuts during a time of war and a floundering economy, are clearly the primary source of the current deficits."

And what of those recent reports about deficit projections rising from $7 trillion to $9 trillion? The bottom line, Kevin Drum recently noted, is simple: "[P]roperly accounted for, the deficit actually goes down when you compare Obama's budget proposals to current policy, not up."

If Americans want to prioritize deficit reduction, fine. But they should at least recognize who has credibility on the issue, and who doesn't."

Driftglass raises his hand to ask the President the right question

"When do we publicly stop pretending that the modern Right does not despise this country -- our country -- and can never be appeased and will never be satisfied until everything that we care about and everything this nation should be proud of is buried in an unmarked, mass grave beneath a single, White, Christian Conservative WalMart that stretches from sea to shining sea, and whose Electronics section shows nothing but acre after acre of teevees, all turned to FoxNews -- now just called The News -- featuring an endless loop of President Palin and Vice President Beck ranting and baiting about the next group of sinister, imaginary enemies at which they have decided to point their army of slack-jawed, single-digit-IQ "patriots".

That is the hard truth about what is breaking this nation's back, and your job above all else is to look the American people in the eye and tell us the hard truths that we don't want to hear, and that our media categorically will not discuss for fear of losing market share.

Your job is to lead.

To. Lead. Us.

And if you are not up for that hard job, then what in the world are you doing in our White House?"


bc

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The "Success" Of The George W. Bush Administration

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We progressives look at the last administration and see nothing but failure. We are not looking at it with the right pair of glasses. Oh, no. It was anything but a failure.

You see, the republican party believes that government cannot be trusted. It cannot do anything right. But they were unsuccessful in getting large numbers of Americans to believe what they were saying. Then along came W.

W was successful in letting our guard down long enough for Al Qaeda to launch an attack on our country. W started a war with a country that had nothing to do with that attack.

Though he did not personally send hurricane Katrina to New Orleans, his administration's incompetence in it's aftermath certainly galvanized a lot of people's thinking about the limits of government competence.

His greatest success was by far the economy. His love for tax cuts for the wealthiest .1% of the nation and for deregulation created a tsunami of debt for almost every American with corporations "too big to fail" needing gigantic federal bailouts to keep us all out of a depression.

Now that they are out of power the republicans can sit on the sidelines, shout insults and throw rocks at the current administration who is trying to right the wrongs that were done.

So, the success of George W. Bush is the fact that the republican party can say to the American people, "You can't trust the government, it can't do anything right" and the American people believe them.

bc

Is There No End To The Stupid?

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GOP party head in Florida says it's "socialism" to have the president talk to school kids about working hard.

Good God, Gurty! My brain hurts.

bc

Catch-22

My favorite book is Catch-22.

Here is the quote that describes the essence of the entire book:

"There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle."
"That's some catch, that catch-22," he observed.
"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.

bc

Mental Health Break

The theme song of the Republican Party (The Party of No!)

Healthcare, Smealthcare

I read Matt Taibbi's article in Rolling Stone about the Healthcare debacle now working it's way through Congress. Very depressing indeed. You can read part of it online. Search the internets to see if any one has posted the whole thing if you want to read it all. And you should. If for no other reason than to re-inforce your belief that Congress is there for no other purpose than to fuck us all over.

Meanwhile Driftglass posted a link to movie critic Roger Ebert with his thoughts about universal healthcare. It's worth a read.

Early Winter Here In Northwest Mississippi

I see signs.

The sap is rising in the trees already.

My oak tree is shedding tiny acorns - lots of them.

I could be wrong.

bc

Good!

Robert Novak dead at 78.

I hope you're rotting in hell right now.

I dance on your grave.

bc

We Lost Another Music Man

Jim Dickinson died yesterday. Memphis music has lost a very good friend.

He lived just up the road from me in Coldwater, Mississippi. I am sorry I never met him.

My condolences to his wife Mary and his sons Cody and Luther.

bc

Wow...

Read P.M. Carpenter's post today.

I might have to comment on this later.

Sad News...

Les Paul dead at 94.

I saw a documentary about him on PBS last year. There is nothing in the recording business he hasn't touched or influenced.

Rest in Peace Les!

bc

Does The Ends Justify The Means?

I have been thinking about this brew-ha-ha over the healthcare debate and why all of this anger is coming to a head over it. If you really thing about it, it all began with Rush Limbaugh saying he hopes the President fails.

Then the stimulus bill had no votes from the republicans in the House. The GOP really thought they had traction opposing it.

Then the "tea parties" started and all of the folks who did not vote for Obama got whipped up into a tizzy by Limbaugh and other wingers on the radio along with sponsership from Fox News.

When the healthcare debate first started Senator DeMint (R-NC) stated that if they can get the President's proposal to fail it would be his Waterloo. That has turned out to be the clarian call for the Right. Everything they say, everything they do is to this end. The birther stuff, the tea-bagging, the deather stuff is about making the President fail. I haven't seen anything like this since the Clinton administration.

I look at the people raising hell at these meetings and think " I am willing to bet not one of these folks voted for Obama". I don't know why the media doesn't ask this question to the people who oppose healthcare reform when they have them on air. The truth is they hate the President, didn't vote for him and they want him to fail.

But does this help the Right's cause? And what is their cause anyway? I cannot think of one thing besides tax cuts for the rich the Republicans have ever proposed in the last two Republican administrations. They don't seem to know how to govern for the people of the United States. They know how to make their base happy but 30% at the most is the support they get. They have alienated the Latino vote and most of the black vote.

Republicans cannot tell you what they are for but they sure as hell can tell you what they are against. Right now it is President Obama.

bc

I Don't Wanna

Feeling kinda blah so I haven't posted lately. It's the dog days of August here in Mississippi but I have to say the weather hasn't been as oppressive as usual this time of the year. So I really can't blame it on the weather.

Maybe it's the 'birthers, the tea baggers and the deathers that have me down. Watching everyone at their town hall meetings melt down into a bunch of old men in their front yards shouting "Get off my lawn!"

Most of the people I see ranting against the government look like they get a government check every month. I am willing to bet they have a Medicare card in their wallet too.

I am also willing to bet that they are all the same type of folks who say things like, " Everything was alright 'til the niggers moved in."

Just sayin'

bc