Thursday TidBits
1. George Will, the Georgetown fashion icon who, on a daily basis, defiantly rocks a dazzling variety of individualistic starched shirts, pressed slacks, and Hermes-like ties, demonstrating his constant, dare we say, heroic, determination to separate himself from the herd, to, as he would say, "differentiate" and rise above, tells America where it can stick its denim--that "discordant" "plague" and "blight" for "people eager to communicate indifference to appearances." Please, George, more of this. Please. You show me how to tie a bowtie, and I'll show you the Diesel store on Wisconsin. We will laugh so hard that our collar stays get dislodged.
2. Nicolas Sarkozy, the excitable French president, demonstrates that he is different from past French leaders in that he does not have any height issues.
3. My fearsome arch-rival on the White House beat, Holly Bailey of the Newsmagazine Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken, explains how President Obama can sell more books and make less money in an election year.
4. The economy still sucks for homeowners.
5. Sen. Chris Dodd is keeping busy (trying to save his job).
6. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano explains that there is nothing extraordinary about the recent security assessment of right wing radicals. (Her claims can be verified by anyone who wants to read past security acessments of domestic threats, which are almost always poorly worded in alarming police jargon, announcing right-wing and left-wing threats around every corner.) But such facts are no match for a good story, which is why Republican leaders are jumping up and down, waving their arms, and claiming an assault on military veterans.
7. John Madden is retiring. Despite all the ribbing he took, much of it justified, he always made the games better to watch. I will miss him, but not as much as I have missed Howard Cosell all these years. I was a little kid when Cosell left the booth, maybe seven or eight, not yet old enough to tell a linebacker from a guard, but I still remember his voice. The game never again sounded the same.
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1
there is nothing extraordinary about the recent security assessment of right wing radicals.
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I hate to put it like this, but didn't 9-11 teach us that independent of the Government's ability to intervene and prevent tragedy the absolutely worst thing it can do politically is appear to have not seen it coming. I'm surprised they don't have security assessments in place for the next UFO attack! -
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George Will had to scrap his column about the significance of the tea parties and this was the best he could come up with on such short notice.
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George Will: Today it is silly for Americans whose closest approximation of physical labor consists of loading their bags of clubs into golf carts to go around in public dressed for driving steers up the Chisholm Trail to the railhead in Abilene.
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Talk about projection! -
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Interesting side note is that the DHS assesment wrt war veterans is based on a 2008 report by Bush's FBI. I patiently await the Republican wingnuts who are freaking out about the DHS report to renounce and reject George Bush's FBI for putting out the report its based on in the first place.
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http://mediamatters.org/items/200904160006?f=h_top
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Oh and the title of that FBI report?
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"White Supremacist Recruitment of Military Personnel since 9/11," -
5
The beauty of being a republican is that you can say anything you want and most don't even raise an eyebrow.
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Last week, KSGO 560 AM San Francisco conducted a little-noticed radio interview with Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) in which the host, Lee Rogers, took issue with the fact that the voters of Minnesota were the first to elect “an openly, avowed Muslim to Congress,” Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN). Rogers asked for Bachmann's reaction to the fact that Ellison helped President Obama find qualified American Muslims to serve in his administration.
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Finding Ellison's efforts to promote diversity in the administration problematic, Bachmann blamed the “very liberal new media” in Minnesota for suppressing news of Ellison's efforts. Later, Rogers asked Bachmann about a 2006 incident in which “[s]ix Muslim religious leaders were taken off a US Airways flight in Minneapolis…and detained for several hours after some passengers and crew members complained of behavior they deemed suspicious.” As the blog DumpBachmann first noted, Bachmann falsely claimed that the religious leaders were in Minneapolis to attend “Congressman Keith Ellison's victory celebration, when he won as a member of Congress”:
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BACHMANN: [Minnesota was] also were the site of the six flying imams. … The imams, the imams were actually attending, ah, Congressman Keith Ellison's victory celebration, when he won as a member of Congress. […]
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[T]hey were shouting phrases anti-Bush, anti-America…and were making these statements and when they got aboard the airplane, they switched seats, they didn't go to their proper seats, and they went in the pattern of the nine-one-one terrorists.
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http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/16/bachmann-ellison-imams/ -
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Shorter George Will:
GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!!! -
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There is no duo I'd rather here call a football game than Madden and Michaels. Madden's enthusiasm for the game has continued to be contagious, and he will be sorely missed.
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What the heck is wrong with George Will? What an elitist curmudgeon, yearning for a time that never existed. Paging Ned Flanders! The column that finally forced me to completely dismiss Will as not only not a serious thinker but also not a particularly effective propagandist was a column he wrote in the fall of last year I believe entitled "Battle of the Billionaires."
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For those who are familiar with Will's targets, Campaign Finance Reform is one of his most hated encroachments upon his interpretation of the Constitution. Its an abomination that equates money with speech. A clear violation of the First Amendment (I don't think his arguments are complete hogwash necessarily). But what was so amusing about Battle of the Billionaires is that he takes an obvious example of why campaign finance needs reforming; the mayoral race between billionaire Michael Bloomberg and his billionaire opponent, and goes on and on (with insufferable snark, of course) about how awful it is that no one can compete with these two billionaires. The final line is "Do you like it?" The irony being, of course, that Will opposes measures that would leve the playing field such that the mayoral race would not by necessity be a Battle of Billionaires. What a tool.
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Sorry for the rant -
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"But such facts are no match for a good story, which is why Republican leaders are jumping up and down, waving their arms, and claiming an assault on military veterans."
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No, I'm pretty sure that they're scared sh*tless of the story and the facts. PETA threatening to turn loose a passel of minks in the middle of of night isn't quite the same as the juxtaposition of the NRA, FOX, Limbaugh, members of congress and the governors of large states, all talking about Obama and threatening, oppressive government, socialism, fascism and sedition 24/7.
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Rush Limbaugh (the intellectual and political leader of the "conservative" movement): "It's us versus them". April 16, 2009 -
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A friend of mine swears that Will wrote a similar piece back in the 80s. I am whistling loudly and ignoring him because I have More Important Things to Do than school grumpy old men about culture and fashion.
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My question is why are we so charitable toward the GOP. I know we value a two party system but really they are a bunch of washed up hacks -- like Letterman said "they've got nothing."
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These constant attempts to keep them relevant are absurd, especially since they take these opportunities to just kick sand in our faces.
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These people are just uncouth and we should simply ignore them until they at least learn some manners. -
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John Madden retiring?!? but but but that means Al Michaels will actually have to pay attention to the football game! Where's Dennis Miller when you need him?
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"These people are just uncouth and we should simply ignore them until they at least learn some manners."
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Ha. I think we're a little past the bad manners stage. At the moment, they're talking sedition with large megaphones to angry mobs who own guns. Lots and lots of guns. -
13
Great news, OlC memos to be released
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http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/secret-interrogation-memos-to-be-released/ -
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I have to say I'll miss Madden. Along with Michaels they were my favorite duo, although I don't think they are the best. His voice came back to the video game this year and hopefully it will continue.
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Sadly for me, since I play video games and wear denim George Will would find me quite the unsavory fellow.
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I would like to see John Madden and George Will on a reality TV show though, forced to live together for a year and have their lives taped....
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Madden: "You see George you take the chip and dip it all around and then BOOM, right in your mouth there."
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Will: "You've got dip on your face. And elbow. And the floor. Are those hot wings? Oh dear."
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Second thought, maybe not a great idea. -
15
George Will couldn't win an argument in a fourth grade debate class. In a recent column about the current economy and the New Deal, he talked about sweaters.
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Scherer did a good job with that first point. I laughed at the image of two dorks in bowties chortling at the unfashionable jean-wearing Neanderthals around them.
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"Fnarr fnarr," they laugh, "fnarr fnarr fnarr." -
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Somepeoplelikeit, haha, no that's a brilliant idea, but thanks a lot cause now I'm gonna have the Odd Couple's theme going through my head for the rest of the day.
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George Will is sooo more in touch with the real Americans than Obama...
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Matt Taibbi has struck again!
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http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/2009/04/15/teabagging-michelle-malkin/#more-185 -
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After reading Mr. Will's "Demon Denim" column I sent him a suggestion. He might consider starting his own clothing line, "Geek Chic". As a greatgrandmother, I tried to get myself riled up about all of those denim wearing people he encounter, but dad gum it, I couldn't. Mr. Will is just too mature for me.
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George Will should write an article about the "plague" and "blight" of bad hairpieces.
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Note to George: Michael Jordan made it okay to let your (bald) freak flag fly! -
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Oh George. I'm wearing jeans with a shirt (untucked!!!) at my well-paid job in my quasi-socialist new media company office today. Does that make your bow tie twirl or what?
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I'm wearing jeans today. Nearly always do, on-campus or off. Have since about 1954. Never going to stop, either. I'll bet Will's jeans are pressed with a crease. elitist dweeb.
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The MediaMatters report showing a whopping nine verified Iraq/Afghanistan vets in collusion with white supremacism. Even though that proof is scarcely greater than the razor-thin McVeigh margin, it's at least something.
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Side note, I hope I never hear any teabagging journalist talk about respectful discourse. EVER. -
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What am I talking about? The FBI report. Silly.
- michaelscherer @alangrayson TIME told your story (http://bit.ly/cdG9qb), tho not how you would have told it, here: http://bit.ly/YSRHh - 8 hours ago
- michaelscherer RT @PElliottAP: Obama makes surprise visit to White House briefing room. Tune in. - 11 hours ago
- michaelscherer RT @ryssiebee: 92 magazine covers, 10 years, 2 minutes. http://bit.ly/5d7oCo - 13 hours ago
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