Newly minted Marxists

Ever since Apollo Creed died the Commies have been getting a bad rap. We've fought wars to defeat them, and they and their leftist brethren might be used as a pejorative metaphor more often even than Hitler. Even anti-American cleric edgrimly dislikes them. That's why I was so surprised when some heavy hitters in conservatism began dissing Scott McClellan's new book as something he did 'just for the money', i guess as opposed to doing it 'for the greater good'. Who does these kind of things, writing a book and then getting paid for their writing services, while publishers then create consumer goods in the form of books which all the consumers will purchase from a local bookstore or online retailer. Perhaps it would have been better if he wrote his book by hand with a pencil, in exchange for a regular allotment of food and drink chits, and then reading at aloud at various streetcorners (with no change jars of course) for the nonprofit enjoyment of passerby.

He probably voted for John Edwards

A lawyer is suing Delta for a cool million, and the headline reads

Lawyer sues Delta for ruining family vacation

I wonder if someone with any other job did the same thing would the headline about them mention their profession? '3rd grade teacher sues airline' or 'CPA sues for $1million'
Such bias towards lawyers
But then to read the whole thing, he does come off as a giant douche. His suit claims he was "forced to spend $21,000 on unused hotel rooms in Argentina, replacement clothes, and other costs" after being delayed for 3 days, and 5 days without luggage. If those are his expenses for those few days, his hooker must put Eliot Spitzer's to shame. And only a smug yuppie lawyer's lawyer could write a sentence like this in the court papers:

"Suffice it to say, Mr. Roth's elderly mother was a mess. And she has been suffering ever since. The kids are all upset. And it was Christmas Eve. Mr. Roth had spent one-half of his vacation in Buenos Aires chasing Delta and its incompetent representatives," the lawsuit said.

Best description for this guy
	Douche
	Douchebag
	Gringo
pollcode.com free polls

Bigger than the biggest rubber band ball

A giant ball of sturgeon is hovering near a dam in the Columbia River.

Nice Hat

At a speech today

Hitler Hitler Hitler Hitler Hitler Nazis Hitler Hitler Hitler Hitler Hitler Hitler

No more WWII analogies, no more Hitler comparisons, please stop. It's tired, overused, cliche, passe, lazy, irrelevant, annoying, condescending; just stop. Please come up with a better argument than a Nazi comparison, don't let the office of the President and the national news media become the equivalent of an internet chat room.

The most recent started with the President, then McCain, then every tv station, newspaper, radio show, and all the internets too. Old dependable William Kristol wrote a NYT column that talked about it. The blogs on the internets had a field day with that one, even another NYT writer wrote one the next day that all but ridiculed it.

Is it me or do the dumbest of things always seem to permeate what you could call the right-wing mediasphere the quickest and most thoroughly?

The next alter boys?

A fun filled event with abstinent teens and members of Congress. No it's not the annual congressional page party, its the 'Best Friends' abstinence program shindig in Washington. The National Review talks about it and if it wasn't all so wholesome it would sound creepy. The creepiest line is: "and it is always amazing to see what you can get young boys to do if you just ask and make it fun"

For the team

Another Bush official bites the dust, this time it is Lurita Doan from the GSA. The thrill is slightly gone when corrupt Bush appointees resign now that his time in office is coming to an end, but still it is good to see that the corruption the administration can get away with is lower since Congress became majority Democratic. Mucht of the credit for the shift should go to Henry Waxman.

Poster Boy

I love this guy because he is the personification of dim witted frat boys who grew up to be loudmouth right wingers that are clueless yet always seem to yell the loudest. Way to go Chris Matthews for calling him out as a talking point repeater.

Ants

Texas, already home to killer bees and cockroaches, is now welcoming a new visitor: crazy swarming mini-ants.

Maybe he meant frisbee golf

You might be a yuppie if....


You try to show solidarity with the military by claiming to give up golf.

Your response to a terrorist attack is telling people to go shopping.

Your response to a natural disaster that destroyed a city was 'can't it wait, I'm on vacation'

Your mother states people displaced from said storm have it good.

You think sending out $600 checks will get people to go out and splurge and help out your retail stocks.

You say 'after all, you just go to an emergency room'

You set the presidential record for most days on vacation.

Urgent!

At one time it was of the utmost importance that we pass the Protect America Act. It was so important that it even provoked a republican walkout. If it was allowed to expire there would be gaps in intelligence and terrorists will come get us.

By the way, it could only be passed if it included retroactive telecom immunity.

Now that some time has passed since it expired, it must be even more important to restore those vital tools for our intelligence officials contained in the bill right? Maybe important enough to try and pass them alone, without immunity? Maybe, but not yet. There has been a try or two to slip the immunity bill through but none successful. Seems like they will never give up. Kind of like Hillary.

Ice

I'm spending the week in the lovely wheat field called Saskachewan. There's a disturbing trend in hotels lately that really didn't hit me until this week. It used to be that you could aways find an ice machine in hotel hallwayswhere you could get free ice. You also always had abucket in the room or the ice. Now, I always seem to have the bucket, but the ice machines are gone. All you fin in the hallways are Coca-Cola vending machines. You still always get the ice bucket though on the counter in the bathroom. The hotel I'm in tonight had the ice machines, and it is a small podunk hotel in a small podunk town in the middle of nowhere. I can't remember the last time I was in a larger chain hotel that had ice machines.

Happy 5 Years

Recently we had the 5 year anniversary of Mission Accomplished. Please watch Bill Moyer's piece on the occasion.

Read My Lips, It's Summer Vacation and You Deserve It

You have probably heard about the gas-tax holiday proposed for this summer. McCain started it and then Hillary quickly latched on. This has to be one of the dumbest panders of the campaigns. To his credit, Obama hasn't let himself get caught up in it. He put it in perspective fairly well on Meet The Press today. This pandering can be expected from John McCain, following the classical republican tactic of raising the tax bogeyman to get what they want, but it it disappointing to see Hillary jumping on the bandwagon. Whether it is medical insurance for kids or ensuring voting accuracy, the tough on taxes shtick works as an effective way to get support for what otherwise would be unpopular ideas. In the case of the gas tax holiday, it can be a faux issue to try and win elections, and cast yourself as 'for the working man'.

Notice that the fiscal conservatism and disdain for giving your hard earned money to Uncle Sam only extends far enough to make a good commercial. When it comes to actually limiting spending, the most recent Republican controlled White House/Congress combination did a horrible job. The lower taxes for everyone mantra invariably turns into giveaways to donors and fellow Bushies, and of course to your 'base' of the most wealthy. While doing the easy part with reckless abandon- telling wealthy people and your friends that they can pay less in taxes-the hard work of controlling spending goes not only undone but seemingly not even attempted. Two foreign military occupations and an outsourcing of government services to the private sector with cost-plus contracts in return for shoddy work, tax evasion, more tax evasion, and probably one of the biggest taxpayer money grabs in recent history. The absurdity and shameless hypocrisy of it is best illustrated by, you guessed it, George W with the simultaneous large tax cuts and starting of two (maybe 3 soon) wars.