Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

13 Jan 2011 20:46

tags

Politics: Underdog 2012 candidate of the day: Meet The Hermanator

  • From the standpoint of our conservative beliefs and values, Sarah Palin and I are probably identical.
  • Wannabe 2012 nominee Herman Cain (better known as “The Hermanator“) • Emphasizing his desire to become the GOP nominee. Cain, who is black, first drew the attention of political crowds while the CEO of Godfather Pizza, when he successfully got a blow on Bill Clinton’s health-care plan. Since then, he’s done much more in business (he sits on many corporate boards) and entered politics as a late-life hobby. If Cain can get some name recognition out there – he’s trying pretty darn hard – he might just have a shot. He might have a little of that Howard Dean voodoo power, he’s charismatic like Samuel L. Jackson (Joshua Green’s words, not ours), he survived cancer, and that anti-health-care calling card might win over some people. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jan 2011 20:26

tags

Politics: Road rage: Angry DC residents could rename Pennsylvania Ave.

  • cause Despite decades of fighting, D.C. is no closer to true representation in Congress than they were when 73-year-old delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton was born.
  • reaction City officials want to rename part of the city’s most famous street – Pennsylvania Ave. – to something really embarrassing. Too bad Congress has to approve it. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jan 2011 10:05

tags

Politics: Sarah Palin incorrectly uses term “blood libel” to defend herself

  • Especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.
  • Sarah Palin • Defending herself from criticism while using a pretty heavy term incorrectly. From Wikipedia: “Blood libel (also blood accusation) refers to a false accusation or claim that religious minorities, almost always Jews, murder children to use their blood in certain aspects of their religious rituals and holidays.” She may have a claim to being unfairly treated by some, but it certainly wasn’t “blood libel.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

11 Jan 2011 11:04

tags

Politics: Henry Rollins drops some knowledge on Jared Lee Loughner case

  • I could be completely wrong here, but I think there is a much harder-core element in American society that doesn’t listen to these pundits, doesn’t care who is president, and has nothing but contempt and hatred for government in general.
  • Henry Rollins • Offering his little piece of insight on the Jared Lee Loughner thang to Vanity Fair readers. Rollins’ argument? He just thinks the pundits on the right are too simple-minded to truly inspire this kind of rage. Sample: “I saw Glenn Beck in action last summer at his Restore Honor Rally. His speech sucked and his audience looked ancient and out-of-shape.” Oh wait, there’s more: “Rush Limbaugh makes money getting simpleminded people to feel good about their intellectually undernourished brain spasms. He’s very good at it, and I scarcely believe a fraction of what he says.” And finally: “Sarah Palin embarrasses herself almost immediately upon opening her mouth to speak or upon moving her fingers to send messages to her dull flock.” Instead, he feels that a guy like Timothy McVeigh didn’t really care who was president when he did what he did. In other news, Henry Rollins is now upmarket enough to write for Vanity Fair. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Jan 2011 22:39

tags

Politics: “The Hammer” to spend time in the slammer

  • 3 years in prison for former Majority Leader Tom DeLay source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Jan 2011 21:27

tags

Politics: California to Texas: Come, join the Comically Huge Deficit Club!

  • $11billion initial estimate of Texas’s budget deficit for fiscal year 2012-13, as of September
  • $27billion revised estimate of Texas’s deficit for that year, according to the state’s Comptroller source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jan 2011 22:34

tags

Politics: Max Headroom: Sheriff Clarence Dupnik takes on “vitriolic rhetoric”

  • To simply the current societal argument going on right now: Some are arguing that the current anger and rage in our country’s politics have influenced events like the Gabrielle Giffords tragedy in Tucson on Saturday. Pima County, Az. Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has perhaps been the leading voice for this kind of opinion. Many conservatives have been of the other opinion on this whole issue. This piece on Fox News, led by Megyn Kelly narrows the two points into one convenient video. Dupnik has some valid points, but Kelly arguably wins – she sticks to her guns and keeps asking for hard evidence, not speculation. She never gets it.
  • Olbermann’s repudiation hunt “If all of these are not responsible for what happened in Tucson, they must now be responsible for doing everything they can to make sure Tucson does not happen again.” It takes a few minutes for Olbermann’s main point to become clear, but when it does, it shines. The reason why it shines? Because he criticizes himself and his own side in the clip. That’s why it sticks to your bones.
  • The most heart-wrenching Story “I just assumed they got into a car accident.” When Christina Taylor Green went to witness Gabrielle Giffords speak on Saturday, she went with the kind of ambition that most nine-year-olds don’t have. And that’s what hurts the most about this incident. Gabrielle Giffords is still holding on and may make it. But her potential successor did not. You could feel it from the way her mom talks. Our heart breaks for her.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

08 Jan 2011 22:00

tags

Politics: On Gabrielle Giffords, Sarah Palin, tonal problems, etc.

  • Probably the most interesting take we’ve seen on this whole incident comes from James Fallows. “It is legitimate,” Fallows writes, “to discuss whether there is a connection between that tone and actual outbursts of violence, whatever the motivations of this killer turn out to be.” The suspect – we don’t know what was going through his head, and who knows if we will. But a generally vitriolic political environment can have an unwieldy, uncontrollable result in the wrong hands. The reason why things like Sarah Palin’s “Take Back the 20” or her congressional opponent’s gun-shooting event worry us have nothing to do with Palin having a direct role in the shooting, but with the way that general anger and rage has played an influential role in our political climate. You have to be careful with this kind of imagery. A good comparison Fallows makes is the JFK assassination, where he offers a suggestion that Lee Harvey Oswald’s motives may have been influenced by the general anger and discontent in Dallas at the time of Kennedy’s visit. Arizona has a lot going on right now. It’s fair to draw comparisons, even if on the surface, they aren’t so clear. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jan 2011 14:32

tags

Politics, U.S.: Sarah Palin’s “Take Back the 20” site used gun imagery

  • All of a sudden, Sarah Palin’s “Take Back the 20” site is getting slammed. In case you can’t get into it, here’s the main image used. One of those three targets is Giffords, the first congressperson to be killed in the line of duty since Leo Ryan made an unfortunate trip to Jonestown in 1978. (EDIT: There are conflicting reports.) Suffice it to say that Palin has yet to tweet about this. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jan 2011 22:09

tags

Politics: TSA: Don’t try to be cute with your underwear choices, terrorists

  • Passengers should be aware that the use of these types of products will likely result in a pat-down. Some might think this is TSA’s way of getting back at clever passengers. That’s not the case at all. It’s just security.
  • The TSA’s ultra-friendly PR blogger, “Blogger Bob” • Telling people that they can’t wear underwear cleverly designed to block nether-regions from full-body scanners without risking a pat-down. Which is a clever idea, but apparently too clever for the TSA. One commenter put it like so: “Bob, how does it feel telling citizens what kind of panties they should wear?” We’d like to buy that commenter a beer. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>