On Shaky Ground

Making fun of the guy with Parkinson's Disease:
Har dee har har!

Making fun of the guy who makes fun of the guy with Parkinson's Disease:
Well, I never!

Letterman Kicks Dick

Funny because it's true.

Confronting Demons

In his May 4th column, Dan Froomkin includes this comment by Deepak Chopra:

"People don't want to hear about bad things from the past when the present is loaded down with more than enough bad things. But inconvenience and fatigue aren't good excuses. There is anger from the left — and not just the left — about an inexcusable Bush policy. There are demons in the closet, and shutting the door on them won't make them go away. Better to deal with it now, when a new president's idealism is still fresh. It will take idealism to face the torture issue. Otherwise, any truth commission will either turn into a vengeance squad or go the other way and sweep too much under the rug.

"The more the right wing tries to justify the torture policy, the worse they look. Using national security to justify torture is just a bald-faced attempt to hide the truth. What really went on was simple. The Bush administration felt that Al-Qaida could not be defeated while still preserving what America stands for."

“Enemy fighters at two o'clock!" "Roger. What should I do until then?”

Conservative beacons Hannity and Coulter show their deep respect for combat veterans.

History Lessen

Michele Bachmann (R-Cuckoo For Cocoa Puffs), the gift that keeps on giving.

Mother Whacking Conservative Principles

Shorter Byron York: "Obama popular? Sure, if you count what those people think."

The First One Hundred Days!!!1!!

From our You Can Please Some Of The People None Of The Time dept.

Remember how outrageous it was when Barack bowed to the Saudi King and remember how outrageous it was when Michelle Obama touched the Queen?

How obsequiously disrespectful!

Probably Should Have Been Nixed At The Storyboard Stage.

Worst. Photo-shoot. Concept. Ever.

Update: Hilarious because it's true.

Can't Spell "Got Pandemic?" Without G O P

The visionary geniuses of the Grand Obfuscation Party rock!
First they mock volcano monitoring. Oops.

Now this.

Bursting Bubbleheads

Sadly No educates the sadly wrong.

Standing Up To Rush

Here's one person who won't be crawling to Rush, begging for forgiveness.
The reason? He's not a Republican politician.

Shane Murphy, second-in-command aboard the ship seized by Somali pirates:

"You gotta get with us or against us here, Rush," Murphy said. "The president did the right thing...It's a war.... It's about good versus evil. And what you said is evil. It's hate speech. I won't tolerate it."

Mr. Murphy won't, but I know someone who would and often does while clapping like a trained seal.

Buzzing Cheney's Harsh

From McClatchy

CIA official: no proof harsh techniques stopped terror attacks

You were saying, Dick?

"This doesn't happen in America! Maybe in Ohio, but not in America!"*

An example of what the right thinks DHS has no business being concerned about.

*

Update: Dave Neiwert explains, in depth, the willful distortion of fact that on right-wing oly served to heighten Obama-rage among the Sgt Furious set when the infamous DHS document was released:

"This is, in fact, precisely accurate -- and as we pointed out from the get-go, this is the view not merely of DHS, but of the FBI. A July 2008 assessment of the situation by the FBI (titled White Supremacist Recruitment of Military Personnel Since 9/11) found that the numbers of identifiable neo-Nazis within the ranks was quite small (only a little over 200), but warned:

Military experience—ranging from failure at basic training to success in special operations forces—is found throughout the white supremacist extremist movement. FBI reporting indicates extremist leaders have historically favored recruiting active and former military personnel for their knowledge of firearms, explosives, and tactical skills and their access to weapons and intelligence in preparation for an anticipated war against the federal government, Jews, and people of color.

... The prestige which the extremist movement bestows upon members with military experience grants them the potential for influence beyond their numbers. Most extremist groups have some members with military experience, and those with military experience often hold positions of authority within the groups to which they belong.

... Military experience—often regardless of its length or type—distinguishes one within the extremist movement. While those with military backgrounds constitute a small percentage of white supremacist extremists, FBI investigations indicate they frequently have higher profiles within the movement, including recruitment and leadership roles.

... New groups led or significantly populated by military veterans could very likely pursue more operationally minded agendas with greater tactical confidence. In addition, the military training veterans bring to the movement and their potential to pass this training on to others can increase the ability of lone offenders to carry out violence from the movement’s fringes."

But we can assume from the anger and scorn present in so many online posts from the right that this particular security matter is best left unexamined. Because keeping America safe comes second to not making their side look bad. Now that's national security they can believe in!

Update 2:
Balloon Juice:

"Here is a suggestion if Michelle still needs shoulder to cry on. Go find a cop. There’s no need to come to southwestern PA; I saw squad cars from Michigan, Massachusetts and Canada at Thursday’s funeral. Tell him or her how completely unfair it feels to have the government keeping an eye on paranoid gun fetishists. She can explain to her new friend how the government was never meant to use unrestrained police powers on her kind of American."

Fractured Fairytale

Another rightwing lie gets the viral treatment among wingnut bloggers and conservative media.


Must be one of those deeply held principles of theirs that I keep hearing about.

Somewhere Over The Storm Clouds

Oh no! The Gathering Gay Storm is a comin'!!!
And we all know after the storm often comes the rainbow.
So for The National Organization for Marriage, their moral discomfort is really just beginning.

But please don't tell them. It's an awesome video and they worked so hard on it.