Bedazzled!

Wingnut Comment Policy & The Coming Republican Minority

"A new comment from “Talus” was received on the post “"Our Greatest Fear" Directed By Danny Elfman” of the weblog “Bedazzled!”.

Comment: "Very misogynistic but it's okay because she is a 'breeder' right?"

Dear Wingnuts*,

Though not generally a Political Blog, this is a blog run by a liberal Democrat, although I'm not gay, as your comment seems to imply (not that there's anything wrong with that). Also, I don't hate people who have children, as your comment also seems to say. (Wow! - you're extra nutty!) I basically don't want to get into arguments with Wingnuts* because it makes having this blog a lot less fun, and wastes my time. I've heard all of your talking points already. So if you want to come here and enjoy the video and other content, that's fine. I probably won't even be posting much political stuff in the near future as I probably won't feel as compelled, since A) we won in a landslide, and B) the Republican Party seems bent on relegating themselves to permanent minority status (Palin 2012! Yay!). But that said, any Wingnutty comments will be deleted and the commentors banned from commenting. Too many Wingnutty comments and I'll have to close the comments for that post. It's just easier that way. For me.

*From the Wikipedia: "Wingnut, a term derived from the phrase "right-wing nut," is used in United States politics as a political epithet referring to people who hold extreme conservative far right views"

Firedoglake » Republicans Seek Permanent Minority Status
The Coming Republican Minority - Marc Ambinder

"No Maverick"

Obama Did Not Call Sarah Palin A Pig

Obama Did Not Call Sarah Palin A Pig

Marc Ambinder lays it out:

"The first McCain truthsquadding telephone call is taking place right now, and ex-MA Gov. Jane Swift is complaining about an idiom Barack Obama used today:

    Obama poked fun of McCain and Palin's new "change" mantra.
    "You can put lipstick on a pig," he said as the crowd cheered. "It's still a pig."
    "You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still gonna stink."
    "We've had enough of the same old thing."

Suddenly, common analogies are sexist?

The McCain campaign has little respect for Obama, but they don't think he is stupid. And the only way one can conclude that Obama meant to refer to Gov. Sarah Palin as a pig is to have concluded that Obama is as dumb as a doornail.

Obama is fond of this particular phrase. To wit, in 2007:

   'I think that both General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker are capable people who have been given an impossible assignment,' Sen. Barack Obama said yesterday in a telephone interview. 'George Bush has given a mission to General Petraeus, and he has done his best to try to figure out how to put lipstick on a pig.

And so is John McCain. Speaking about Hillary Clinton....

McCain criticized Democratic contenders for offering what he called costly universal health-care proposals that require too much government regulation. While he said he had not studied Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's plan, he said it was "eerily reminiscent" of the failed plan she offered as first lady in the 1990s.
    
    "I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig," he said of her proposal.

Airline Could Pull Ads From ABC

Please, please, please, pull all your ads and then sue everyone. Please?

Airline Could Pull Ads From ABC
September 12, 2006
By Richard Williamson

DALLAS "American Airlines is prepared to pull its advertising from ABC in order to protest its portrayal in the network's recently aired movie The Path to 9/11, according to a source. The carrier also said it is considering legal action against the network.

American officials declined comment on the possible withdrawal of ads, and ABC representatives could not immediately be reached for comment on any facet of the situation.

The airline spends $25 million annually on broadcast TV ads; it could not immediately determined how much is spent on ABC, but according to one source, "It's extensive."

Roger Frizzell, vice president, corporate communications and advertising, American, confirmed that the client is mulling its legal options.

The film in both its first and second parts appears to suggest that chief hijacker Mohammed Atta was flagged as a security risk at Boston's Logan Airport by American Airlines personnel. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, that incident occurred earlier that morning, in Maine, and the airline was U.S. Airways." Link.

Poll: Many Americans Feel Less Safe

(CBS) "Do Americans feel safer now than before 9/11? For many, the answer is no, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll.

Fifty-four percent of Americans say they generally feel safe, but 46 percent say they feel somewhat uneasy or in danger.

Compared with five years ago, 39 percent of Americans say they feel less safe now, compared with only 14 percent who say they feel safer. Forty-six percent say they feel the same." Link.
Americans are not stupid. If only the media could catch up.

Bush Tops List As U.S. Voters Name Worst President

Bush Tops List As U.S. Voters Name Worst President

"Strong Democratic sentiment pushes President George W. Bush to the top of the list when American voters pick the worst U.S. President in the last 61 years. Bush is named by 34 percent of voters, followed by Richard Nixon at 17 percent and Bill Clinton at 16 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.  Leading the list for best President since 1945 is Ronald Reagan with 28 percent, and Clinton with 25 percent.

President Bush is ranked worst by 56 percent of Democrats, 35 percent of independent voters and 7 percent of Republicans, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.  Best ranking for Reagan comes from 56 percent of Republicans, 7 percent of Democrats and 25 percent of independent voters. Among American voters 18 - 29 years old, Clinton leads the "best" list with 40 percent."

Bush managed to double Nixon's score. That's impressive.

"We're Not Brainiacs On The NerdPatrol" T-shirt!

From Sneakmove "We're Not Brainiacs On The NerdPatrol" T-shirt! Go buy some!

"No one can deny that Stephen Colbert's speech at the White House Correspondent's Dinner was anything less than inspiring, brave and amazing (well, some bums actually did say otherwise, but they're wrong!). Show your support for those who are strong enough to say what needs to be said with this awesome shirt. Wear it loud and wear it proud! It costs just $16 (plus shipping) and proceeds will go to savedarfur.org."

"Unfunny" Colbert Speech #1 on iTunes

That After-Dinner Speech Remains a Favorite Dish By NOAM COHEN

"The after-dinner speech that refuses to go away has scored another distinction: top of the charts.

An audio version of the roast of President Bush by Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central rose to the rank of No. 1 album at  Apple's iTunes store on Saturday, three weeks to the night of the White House Correspondents Dinner. Also in the Top 10 were new releases by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam and Paul Simon.

The audio version of Mr. Colbert's speech was delivered to iTunes through Audible.com, a company that provides audio content for downloading, including books, radio shows and shorter performances, and costs $1.95 to download. Neither C-Span nor Audible was able to say how many downloads there had been. Mr. Colbert was traveling and could not be reached.

By many accounts, Mr. Colbert's performance landed with a thud among his influential audience of journalists and politicians, who were more overtly enthusiastic about a comedy routine involving Mr. Bush and a professional George W. Bush impersonator. But the broadcast of the speech is enjoying a lucrative afterlife online, an unusual development for its owner, the nonprofit cable network C-Span."

I just don't understand how the media could be so freaking liberal, yet universally think that this speech wasn't funny. That's alot of people spending $2 to download an unfunny speech. Thank God for the internet because if we didn't have a free internet, you would never have known that Colbert even GAVE a speech. Liberal media my ass. Anyone who even uses that term with a straight face deserves to get punched.

Bill Bonds-Some Bigot from Detroit

Some bigot from Detroit.
Bill Bonds.mov
Bill Bonds.mov.m4v

Poll: Clinton Outperformed Bush or "My Favorite Poll Ever!"

This is gonna give Chris Matthews a really bad headache. "Only the real nut jobs don't like Bush", right Chris? And on most issues, it's not even close. Clinton outpolls Bush more than 2 to 1. Hilarious. It's kinda funny that the right-wingnut blogs are TOTALLY ignoring this poll. I searched Technorati for links and could find nothing from the "right" about it. It must be sad watching your party take a dive like this. And it's gonna get SO much worse with Karl getting indicted this week.

Poll: Clinton Outperformed Bush

In a new poll comparing President Bush's job performance with that of his predecessor, a strong majority of respondents said President Clinton outperformed Bush on a host of issues.

"The poll of 1,021 adult Americans was conducted May 5-7 by Opinion Research Corp. for CNN. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Respondents favored Clinton by greater than 2-to-1 margins when asked who did a better job at handling the economy (63 percent Clinton, 26 percent Bush) and solving the problems of ordinary Americans (62 percent Clinton, 25 percent Bush).

On foreign affairs, the margin was 56 percent to 32 percent in Clinton's favor; on taxes, it was 51 percent to 35 percent for Clinton; and on handling natural disasters, it was 51 percent to 30 percent, also favoring Clinton.

Moreover, 59 percent said Bush has done more to divide the country, while only 27 percent said Clinton had." Link.

Bush Approval Rating Hits New Low

Thank You America.

Bush Approval Rating Hits New Low

By Susan Page, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — President Bush's approval rating has slumped to 31% in a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, the lowest of his presidency and a warning sign for Republicans in the November elections.

The survey of 1,013 adults, taken Friday through Sunday, shows Bush's standing down by 3 percentage points in a single week. His disapproval rating also reached a record: 65%. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points.

"It is a challenging political environment," acknowledges Tracey Schmitt, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, "but we are confident that ultimately voters in November will recognize that a Democrat Congress would simply not be equipped to ensure either economic or national security for our nation."

Bush's fall is being fueled by erosion among support from conservatives and Republicans. In the poll, 52% of conservatives and 68% of Republicans approved of the job he is doing. Both are record lows among those groups.

Moderates gave him an approval rating of 28%, liberals of 7%.

"You hear people say he has a hard core that will never desert him, and that has been the case for most of the administration," says Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin who studies presidential approval ratings. "But for the last few months, we started to see that hard core seriously erode in support."

Only four presidents have scored lower approval ratings since the Gallup Poll began regularly measuring it in the mid-1940s: Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and the first George Bush. When Nixon, Carter and the elder Bush sank below 35%, they never again registered above 40%.

Truman twice sank into the low 30s and then rose into the 60s, but the third time his rating fell, it stayed below 40% as well.

"Historically it's been pretty devastating to presidents at this level," Franklin says. Even Republican members of Congress are "now so worried about their electoral fortunes in November that he has less leverage with them than he normally would with his own party controlling Congress."

Bush's Reaction to Colbert's Audition Tape

When the President Joked About Not Finding WMD

I had to shut off Keith Olbermann last night when Dana Milbank said that Stephen Colbert had not been funny at the Press Dinner the other night. Of course Milbank thought Bush was hilarious 2 years ago with his missing WMD routine. Dana Milbank, you are a fucking tool. Keith Olbermann please dump his ass. Thank you Greg Miller & Editor & Publisher!

When the President Joked About Not Finding WMD

"Many say Stephen Colbert went too far in lampooning President Bush at the White House Correspondents Dinner, or was just "not funny." Where was all that disapproval when Bush, at a very similar gathering two years ago, built a whole comedy routine around not finding WMD in Iraq? By Greg Mitchell

(May 01, 2006) -- For two days the battle has raged on the Web: Did Stephen Colbert go too far in lampooning President Bush, to his face, at the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday night? Is that why his barbs did not generate more laughter around the room of 2700 journalists, celebrities and other guests? Or was it because he suggested the press was spineless in failing to confront the president on Iraq? Or was Colbert just not that funny?

In any case, the event has inspired debate on hundreds of political and media blogs, the posting of the video on dozens of sites, and massive traffic to the E&P, where the first in-depth account of Colbert’s performance was posted Saturday night.

You’d think from all the criiticism that the guy had based his routine on joking about launching a war and not finding the WMDs that inspired it. Oh, right, that was President Bush, two years ago.

Nevertheless, Dana Milbank of The Washington Post, appearing on Keith Olbermann’s MSNBC program Monday night, joined the ranks of those who attended the dinner who felt Colbert “was not funny.” On the other hand, he said the president’s routine that night with a Bush impersonator was a howl.

This is the same Milbank who last June mocked a congressional forum on the Downing Street memo, and said it was led by a “hearty band of playmates.”

(snip)

Still, with the knocks on Colbert increasing, I have to ask: Where was the outrage when President Bush made fun of not finding those pesky WMDs at a very similar media dinner—in the same ballroom--two years ago? It represents a shameful episode for the American media, and presidency, yet is rarely mentioned today."

(snip)

"In any case, another 1900 Americans have died in Iraq since Bush’s ha-ha home video. As it happens, the Downing Street memo, and a similar British document that surfaced recently, suggested that Bush doubted WMDs existed and “fixed” the intelligence to take the nation to war. What a riot.

At that same Downing Street memo forum at the Capitol last year that Milbank mocked, former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, after cataloguing the bogus Bush case for WMDs and the Iraqi threat, looked out at the cameras and notepads, mentioned the March 24, 2004 dinner, and acted out the president looking under papers and table for those missing WMDs. “And the media was all yucking it up ... hahaha,” McGovern said. “You all laughed with him, folks.” Then he mentioned soldiers who had died “after that big joke.” Read the whole thing.

Stephen Colbert at the The White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

Stephen Colbert gave a ballsy, shock and awe-inspiring performance at the The White House Correspondents' Association Dinner the other night, skewering the Pres. and the Press. So what does our "liberal" mainstream media do? Pretend it never happened. If you don't read progressive blogs you would never know about it. And these are the same losers that thought it was hilarious when Bush was looking under his desk for the weapons of mass destruction.
Watch it on YouTube
Click here for a transcript
Two great articles from the Huffington Post
Ignoring Colbert: A Small Taste of the Media's Power to Choose the News
Ignoring Colbert, Part Two

Controversy May Sap Bush's Credibility

MAY sap his CREDIBILITY?
May!?!
Credibility!?!
"That liberal media" is just ripping him a new one, huh? He's already down to 36% job approval in even the wingnuttiest of polls, and still it's only a POSSIBILITY that he MIGHT be losing some credibility. I hope we keep that sort of "benefit of a doubt" for the next Democratic President, but I ain't gonna hold my breath. Somehow, I'm pretty sure the press will miraculously get it's collective balls back when the Democrats regain power. IOKIYAR.

Here's some headlines from at home and around the world. I think the next few years are gonna (almost) make up for having to live through the last 6 hellish years. Wait'll someone actually starts investigating this shit. Filegate and Memogate and all that other fake BS they threw at Clinton will seem fucking quaint. Hell, Nixon's crimes will seem quaint compared to this crew's. What am I saying, they already do.
Controversy May Sap Bush's Credibility
A Leaky President
The Leaker in Chief?
White House: Leak In `Public Interest'
White House Defense: That's No Leak
Spin Cycle Springs A Leak
Leaker-In-Chief?

Another Republican Liar

Baghdad Photo Scandal
"On March 28th 2006, Howard Kaloogian's campaign website contained a photograph which he claims to have recently taken in downtown Baghdad. It was accompanied by the description: "We took this photo of downtown Baghdad while we were in Iraq. Iraq (including Baghdad) is much more calm and stable than what many people believe it to be. But, each day the news media finds any violence occurring in the country and screams and shouts about it - in part because many journalists are opposed to the U.S. effort to fight terrorism."

Upon further analysis by members of a discussion forum on Democratic Underground, it was found that this photo was actually a fake photo of Baghdad, because it was most likely taken in Istanbul, Turkey. Many inconsistencies, including the following, were found: Many signs are written in Turkish, but none in Arabic, Women are seen wearing revealing (western) clothes, Taxi cabs are similar to those seen in Istanbul, Uniquely Turkish traffic signs are present, Signs of businesses based solely in Turkey are present."

And he claims he took this photo himself in Baghdad. Are these people fucking idiots or do they think everyone else is? I'm not going to ever take anything a Republican says at face value ever again. If you are a non-lying Republican, you should really think about calling yourself something else, 'cause let's face it, "Republican" is now synonymous with "Liar". This would be a HUGE story if there were some Democrats involved. But, as we all know, it's okay if you're a Republican.
More links from Talking Points Memo, Busted!, Kaloogian's Website Bamboozlement & In For A Dime In For A Dollar. And from Editor & Publisher: Congressional Candidate Slams Press Coverage of Iraq--With Bogus Photo

The Washington Post Is Officially A Fucking Joke: UPDATE

UPDATE: Box Turtle Ben Domenech resigns. That took what, 2 days? Plariarism makes little baby Jesus cry, Ben, didn't your parents "home-school" you those facts? Wonder who they'll replace him with? Bet Jim Brady knows some other Republican operatives with kids who blog. Should only take him a phone call or two to find a replacement.

So you may have heard that those geniuses at The Washington Post hired  Republican operative Ben Domenech to run their new "Redstate" blog. Why? For "balance". Jane at Firedoglake says it best: "You went straight to the Red State racist woodpile and extracted a full-on jingoistic feces flinger to feature on the Post web site, an unrepentant GOP operative without a shred of journalistic credibility. Nice touch. Because he balances out what, Froomkin’s IQ?"
heh..."Froomkins IQ". Nice one, Jane.
Some other good links on this subject
All of a Sudden, It's a Great Job Market for Wingnuts
Letter to Wash. Post Online Executive Editor Re: Blogger Ben Domenech
If I Were Ben Domenech
Read the Comments On Post.Blog
Domenech’s Red State Ramblings
Ben Domenech: Creationist
Ben Domenech, Confedsymp
Washington Post Blogger Called Coretta Scott King a "Communist" On The Day Of Her Funeral

Grand Ole Docket

Yep. You need a scorecard to keep track of all the corrupt Republicans. You really do. TPM Grand Ole Docket

Majority Believe White House Should Release Abramoff Records

Majority Believe White House Should Release Abramoff Records

By Richard Morin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 27, 2006; 10:27 AM

"A strong bipartisan majority of the public believes President Bush should disclose all contacts between disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and White House staffers despite administration claims that media requests for details about those contacts amount to a "fishing expedition," according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The survey found that three in four--76 percent--of all Americans said Bush should disclose contacts between aides and Abramoff while 18 percent disagreed. Two in three Republicans joined with eight in 10 Democrats and political independents in favoring disclosure, according to the poll." Link.

Kickback Mountain

The lobbying that dare not speak its name...