Multi Medium

Monday Media Blogging

Born To Hand Jive Edition:

Awesome.

(h/t Cheryl)

Add comment September 20th, 2010 at 11:35am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Democratic Strategery

Looks like the plan for the 2010 midterms is a mix of unconvincing vague happy talk:

President Barack Obama, seeking to fire up an important part of his support base ahead of November’s elections, told black leaders on Saturday he wanted their support to “guard the change” he was delivering.

“I need everybody here to go back to your neighborhoods, and your workplaces, to your churches, and barbershops, and beauty shops. Tell them we have more work to do. Tell them we can’t wait to organize. Tell them that the time for action is now,” he told the Congressional Black Caucus.

And fearmongering about how scary the teabagger Republicans are:

White House and Congressional Democratic strategists are trying to energize dispirited Democratic voters over the coming six weeks, in hopes of limiting the party’s losses and keeping control of the House and Senate. The strategists see openings to exploit after a string of Tea Party successes split Republicans in a number of states, culminating last week with developments that scrambled Senate races in Delaware and Alaska.

“We need to get out the message that it’s now really dangerous to re-empower the Republican Party,” said one Democratic strategist who has spoken with White House advisers but requested anonymity to discuss private strategy talks.

In other words, they got nothin’.  Essentially their strategy is to say, “Yeah, we know we’re Republican sellouts, but at least we’re not crazy!  So vote for us again in November!”  I know I’m energized and inspired.

Add comment September 20th, 2010 at 07:32am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Great Moments In Irony

Today’s entry comes from Harry Reid’s batnuts opponent, Sharron Angle:

In an interview at a Northeast Washington hotel, she claimed that her critics are using tactics of the late radical community organizer Saul Alinsky to try to discredit her.

“I think it’s right out of Saul Alinsky’s rulebook for radicals, those rules about your opponents,” she said of criticism that her views put her far out of the political mainstream. “Marginalize them. That means push off as far to the side as you can. Isolate them. Make it appear that they’re the only one thinking the way they do. And then demonize them. Make it look like their ideas are way out of the realm of thinking folks.”

Instead, she argued, it is the tea party movement that best represents mainstream America. The country is “nostalgic,” she said, for a return to Reagan Republicanism. “It’s mainstream America that’s finally awakened, and it really doesn’t have anything to do with party so much as the [constitutional] principles,” she said. “There’s an anxiety level, I guess, just among mainstream America that we may not be able to preserve those principles if we don’t get active.”

At the same time, Angle did not hesitate to label President Obama as a socialist, saying the path his administration is on would turn the United States into Western European-style government. “When he moves toward that big centralized government, that [is] what people see as the move toward socialism,” she said.

I guess it’s only okay when Republicans do it.

Add comment September 17th, 2010 at 11:27am Posted by Eli    Permalink

You Say You Want A Revolution…

The Orlando Sentinel has a story about David Barton, a Glenn Beck/Tea Party favorite who is an America Fuck Yeah! evangelical who distorts history to claim that the Founders intended the US to be a Christian nation and that the First Amendment was only intended to protect religion from government intervention and not vice versa.  But this is my favorite part:

Wednesday, Barton’s penchant for absolutes was on display. He told his audience that of the 192 members of the United Nation’s, America stood alone as a beacon of stability.

“We’re a very blessed nation,” he said. “We happen to be the only nation that does not average a revolution every 30 to 40 years. Of 192 nations, we’re the only one with that type of stability.”

Asked later about the accuracy of that – after all, Canada and England had pretty stable 20^th Centuries – Barton said he was speaking “figuratively.”

It sure is a shame that so many of his teabagger fans are so eager to spoil our awesome revolution-free streak.  I’m sure it makes him very sad, and he probably urges them to give such talk a rest all the time.

Add comment September 17th, 2010 at 07:27am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Yet Another Brilliant Compromise

So let’s see:

The Democratic base overwhelmingly wants Elizabeth Warren to be the head of the CFPB.  Wall Street, Republicans, and conservadems overwhelmingly want her not to be head of the CFPB.

Solution: Give her absolutely no power over the CFPB, but pretend that you have.  Surely that will fool all the rubes on the left, right?

As Matt Yglesias tweeted:

With Warren, Obama showing real innovation in developing odd, satisfying to nobody compromises.

Sigh.  I’m almost rooting for impeachment at this point – I’m not sure I can take another 2-6 years of being treated like an irrelevant simpleton.

Add comment September 16th, 2010 at 11:34am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Terry Jones Even Worse Than We Thought

Oh. My. God.

Here is a snippet of transcript from CNN on September 10:

MALVEAUX: Hundreds of people in Cologne, Germany, have been watching this story unfold with special interest, because they are members of Jones’ former church.

(…)

HEINZ KOOP, FORMER JONES FOLLOWER: He was a charismatic leader. I think he was — the preference was very strong for us.

BLACK: Jones’ church, the Christian Community of Cologne, became the focus of their lives. Jones insisted on it, borrowing an infamous Nazi motto.  . . .

H. KOOP: And we worked the whole week, also Sunday and Saturday.

BLACK (on camera): For the church?

ELKA KOOP, FORMER JONES FOLLOWER: Yes.

H. KOOP: For the church, yes.

E. KOOP: Work made free.

BLACK: Is that what he said?

E. KOOP: Yes.

BLACK: Work makes you free?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

That’s right, Terry Jones adopted the motto of the Dachau concentration camp. In Germany.  But that’s not all:

Outside contact, even with family for weddings and funerals, is prohibited for students who attend the Dove World Outreach Academy in Gainesville. The academy members live on property owned by TS and Company, work in the selling, packing and shipping of furniture and are unpaid.

So not only does Jones think the Dachau motto was just swell, but he has actually convinced parents to pay him to put their kids in an honest-to-God work camp.  This guy truly makes my skin crawl.

Add comment September 16th, 2010 at 07:30am Posted by Eli    Permalink

The Elizabeth Warren Controversy

The Democrats seem to hate her almost as much as the Republicans do…

Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who has been vocal in his opposition to selecting Warren, said Tuesday that he was “not enthusiastic” about Obama potentially appointing Warren to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Dodd has said that the agency needs a leader and that the nominee should go through the full Senate confirmation process and be subject to a floor vote. He said he particularly recommended against making a recess appointment, saying it would “be met with a lot of opposition.” Some Warren supporters had urged Obama to appoint her to the position while Congress was adjourned for the August recess.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), a central player in the financial regulatory debate that eventually led to the creation of the consumer agency, also said naming Warren would be a harmful exercise.

“I would prefer someone who was not going to stir as much controversy in this first round as we establish this new consumer entity,” he said. “We should get off on a strong foot.”

Obama has every right to appoint Liz Warren to CFPB, but he should show sensitivity to the feelings of Republicans, conservadems and Wall Street and appoint her somewhere else.

1 comment September 15th, 2010 at 11:20am Posted by Eli    Permalink

OH NOES TEH ACORN

This is just pathetic:

ACORN may not exist anymore but 20% of Americans still think (or at least say they think) it will steal the election to keep Democrats in control of Congress this fall.

(…)

Perhaps the most interesting thing about all this is that only 40% of voters definitively say they think ACORN will not steal the election with another 40% saying they’re not sure. I guess a lot of folks are just waiting to see if ACORN’s really gone away or if it’s just hiding in the bushes waiting for people to get complacent before it makes its move.

Obviously ACORN is going to be too busy reinstating the Fairness Doctrine, dragging gun owners off to concentration camps, and staffing death panels to tamper with any elections.

1 comment September 15th, 2010 at 07:20am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Still More Boston Photoblogging

More from Boston:

2 comments September 14th, 2010 at 11:29am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Won’t Someone Think Of The Hundred-Thousandaires?

I weep:

On Wall Street, becoming a partner at Goldman Sachs is considered the equivalent of winning the lottery.

(…)

What few outside Goldman know is that this ticket can also be taken away.

As many as 60 Goldman executives could be stripped of their partnerships this year to make way for new blood, people with firsthand knowledge of the process say. Inside the firm, the process is known as “de-partnering.” Goldman does not disclose who is no longer a partner, and many move on to jobs elsewhere; some stay, telling few of their fate.

(…)

“Being partner at Goldman is the pinnacle of Wall Street; if you make it, you are considered set for life,” said Michael Driscoll, a visiting professor at Adelphi University and a senior managing director at Bear Stearns before that firm collapsed in 2008. “To have it taken away would just be devastating to an individual. There is just no other word for it.”

The financial blow can be substantial as well. Executives stripped of partnership would retain their base salary, roughly $200,000, but their bonuses could be diminished, potentially costing them millions of dollars in a good year.

I think their definition of “devastating” might be just a teensy bit different from mine.  I would consider losing your job and healthcare, worrying about how to feed your kids and keep your house, to be a lot more “devastating” than having to downsize from filthy rich to comfortably well off.  I’d take a blow to my ego over the prospect of being out on the street any day.

1 comment September 13th, 2010 at 07:57pm Posted by Eli    Permalink

Monday Media Blogging

For all the Inception fans (and non-fans), I give you the Inception trailer, a capella style:

BWAAAARRRMMM!!!

Add comment September 13th, 2010 at 11:25am Posted by Eli    Permalink

The Incorruptible John Boehner

Boehner’s spokesman explains why the story about his boss taking huge bribes from lobbyists is totally false and unfair:

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel says he received a fact-checking email from Times reporter Eric Lipton Friday evening asking if Boehner did in fact oppose the cap on greenhouse gases, the tax change for hedge fund executives, the debit card fee cap, and increased fees on oil and gas companies. “Yes, that is correct,” Steel responded to Lipton, adding “I can tell you why, if you care.” Steel says he received no further notes from Lipton.

Steel says Boehner has long held those positions and does not hold them as a result of lobbying.

So Boehner isn’t corrupt because he already agrees with corporate lobbyists on everything anyway.  That’s a relief.

Add comment September 13th, 2010 at 07:24am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Friday Quote & Pug Blogging

This week’s quote is from blaxploitation classic, Cleopatra Jones:

By the way – if any of your army tries to mess with any of my army, you’re gonna wind up with a whole lot of army surplus on your hands. See you around, superhonky.

And, of course, there’ll be other people’s white pugs…

Aww!!!

Add comment September 10th, 2010 at 11:30am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Wankers Of The Year

Obama’s handpicked Catfood Commission, continuing to lick the third rail of American politics:

If back-channel sources are correct, the Deficit Commission is finalizing a deal that would increase Social Security benefits slightly for low-income recipients while cutting them for everyone else. The Commissioners apparently believe that putting this “progressive” gloss on a package of unneeded cuts would allow them to move forward with their predetermined anti-Social Security agenda.

The new proposal would pit middle-class seniors against the elderly poor, forcing them to compete for a stripped-down pool of dollars. The end result would be the one that many Commission members have pursued for years: to cut the most stable and successful program in the Federal government’s history.

The cynicism is breathtaking: The commission is essentially trying to use the poor as hostages or human shields for their efforts to gut Social Security, in essence saying, “But you liberals luuurrrve the poor, right?  You do want to help the poor, right?”  It’s a very similar approach to the one the Democrats used on healthcare reform, where they used the people that the bill would help against those of us who had major concerns about the insurance and pharma corporations it would help, and the millions of people that it wouldn’t help, and would even hurt.

The other frustrating – but thoroughly unsurprising – element of this (aside from the fact that Social Security is self-funded and therefore has nothing to do with the “deficit commission’s” nominal purview) is that the commission steadfastly pretends that the payroll tax cap doesn’t exist.  Raising or removing that cap to put more of the burden on the people who can afford it is never even discussed as an option – no, the only way to “stabilize” or “protect” Social Security is to cut it and put the burden on the middle class retirees who rely on it.

If the commission goes through with recommending Social Security cuts, and its proposal gets through Congress and the White House, Obama can forget about a second term.  That’s not a threat, just a prediction.

Add comment September 10th, 2010 at 07:58am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Still More B&W Boston Photoblogging

More random Boston photos.

Add comment September 9th, 2010 at 11:30am Posted by Eli    Permalink

A Crisis Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

Matt Bai has a depressing column in today’s NYT about how Obama had a golden opportunity to put a landslide victory, 70% approval rating, and a once-in-a-lifetime financial crisis to good use and completely squandered it:

That was a moment, perhaps, when Mr. Obama might have given one of his trademark orations to an anxious public, an opportunity to lay out the different dimensions of the economic crisis in a way that had eluded his predecessors. You could have imagined Mr. Obama explaining then that the country had to respond in two related but distinct ways — first by spending hundreds of billions of dollars in the short term to avoid a depression, and then by making a series of large-scale investments over time that would modernize the foundation of the economy.

What happened, instead, was this: The administration turned control of the roughly $800 billion stimulus package over to Congress. Congress decided that the most expedient thing to do was to throw every kind of expenditure one could think of, short-term and long-term, into a single bill, because the public was willing to spend the money right then and the legislative politics required addressing the demands of disparate constituencies.

Sounds a lot like Obama’s approach to healthcare reform, but without the behind-the-scenes sabotage.  But more than anything it sounds like Dubya’s approach to capturing Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora, and look how well that turned out.

Add comment September 8th, 2010 at 07:57pm Posted by Eli    Permalink

Boston Aquarium Photoblogging

I just realized that I want to hoard most of my New England Aquarium shots for my Friday Quote & _____ Blogging, but I did take some pictures of the aquarium’s creepy/cool whale skeleton…

Add comment September 8th, 2010 at 11:26am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Nice To Hear, But…

Officially, Obama is now taking the correct stance on the expiring Bush tax cuts:

President Obama on Wednesday will make clear that he opposes any compromise that would extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy beyond this year, officials said, adding a populist twist to an election-season economic package that is otherwise designed to entice support from big businesses and their Republican allies.

Mr. Obama’s opposition to allowing the high-end tax cuts to remain in place for even another year or two would be the signal many Congressional Democrats have been awaiting as they prepare for a showdown with Republicans on the issue and ends speculation that the White House might be open to an extension. Democrats say only the president can rally wavering lawmakers who, amid the party’s weakened poll numbers, feel increasingly vulnerable to Republican attacks if they let the top rates lapse at the end of this year as scheduled.

It is not clear that Mr. Obama can prevail given his own diminished popularity, the tepid economic recovery and the divisions within his party. But by proposing to extend the rates for the 98 percent of households with income below $250,000 for couples and $200,000 for individuals — and insisting that federal income tax rates in 2011 go back to their pre-2001 levels for income above those cutoffs — he intends to cast the issue as a choice between supporting the middle class or giving breaks to the wealthy.

So yeah, good for him… but he said he strongly supported the public option too, and look how that turned out.

I think the question really is going to be whether he has the guts to veto a bill that extends all the Bush tax cuts if that’s what Congress gives him.  It’s awfully hard for me to imagine him winning a game of chicken with the GOP.

I would point out, by the way, that Obama never promised to veto the healthcare bill if it didn’t include a public option, and he hasn’t promised to veto the tax cut extension bill if it does include the over-$200,000 brackets.  I’ve got a bad feeling about this…

Add comment September 8th, 2010 at 09:24am Posted by Eli    Permalink

More B&W Boston Photoblogging

Up next: The New England Aquarium.  That’s actually the exterior in the second photo.

Add comment September 7th, 2010 at 11:30am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Monday Media Blogging

You haven’t lived until you’ve seen Mr. B rap about cricket in an upper-crust British accent…

Awesome.

Add comment September 6th, 2010 at 04:39pm Posted by Eli    Permalink

B&W Boston Photoblogging

Yep, I was in Boston.  Go figure.

Add comment September 6th, 2010 at 09:51am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Friday Quote & Pug Blogging

This week’s quote is from the Denise Richards-Kirsten Dunst beauty pageant comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous, which was actually surprisingly funny… for about a half hour or so:

Mom says never eat anything that carries its own house around with it – you never know the last time they cleaned it.

And, of course, there’ll be other people’s wee pugs…

OMG!

Add comment September 3rd, 2010 at 06:14pm Posted by Eli    Permalink

BP = Blackmailing Polluters

Nice, real nice:

BP is warning Congress that if lawmakers pass legislation that bars the company from getting new offshore drilling permits, it may not have the money to pay for all the damages caused by its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company says a ban would also imperil the ambitious Gulf Coast restoration efforts that officials want the company to voluntarily support.

“Gee, we’d really love to keep helping out, but…”

Add comment September 3rd, 2010 at 11:35am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Obama’s Republican Presidency Continues

It’s getting harder and harder, if not impossible, to think of Obama as a Democrat.  His administration openly despises progressives, unions, gays, and immigrants; his economic team is a bunch of pro-corporate Wall Street/University Of Chicago hacks; he created a commission built to gut Social Security and stubbornly stands by co-chair Alan Simpson as he spews blatantly anti-Social Security lies and insults; and now this:

With just two months until the November elections, the White House is seriously weighing a package of business tax breaks – potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars – to spur hiring and combat Republican charges that Democratic tax policies hurt small businesses, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations.

Among the options under consideration are a temporary payroll-tax holiday and a permanent extension of the now-expired research-and-development tax credit, which rewards companies that conduct research into new technologies within the United States.

God forbid we should have a stimulus that actually puts money directly into the hands of people who will spend it (because they’re unemployed slackers who don’t deserve it!); no, Obama wants to adopt the Republican approach of handing out tax cuts and hoping for the best.

Tell me why we voted for this guy again?

1 comment September 3rd, 2010 at 07:05am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Random B&W Pittsburgh Photoblogging

Up next: Boston!

Add comment September 2nd, 2010 at 11:36am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Quote Of The Day

From Politico’s story about the GOP’s reform plans if (when) they retake control of the House:

They make clear that they plan not only to change the top-down management style of Speaker Nancy Pelosi but also to pare back the excesses and power plays that occurred during the 12 years of Republican control under Newt Gingrich, Dennis Hastert and Tom DeLay.

A-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  Ha.

Right.  “We’ve learned our lesson, we promise we won’t be dicks anymore.”  That sounds totally plausible, on account of the Republicans are so much more moderate and reasonable now.

This is totally going to suck for Obama and the Democrats, but, well, they’ve kind of earned it.  Unfortunately it’s going to suck for the rest of us too, and we didn’t.

Add comment September 2nd, 2010 at 07:14am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Wednesday Why-I-Love-The-Weekly-World-News Blogging

This week in history, 219 BC:

Experimental surgery on a fire-breathing dragon was a roaring success – doctors successfully made it so the beast misted cool water instead of blowing burning fire.

Demand for the dragon went through the roof for wedding receptions, large parties and outdoor events.

Experts carried out the project during the Qin Dynasty in China in an attempt to propel them to higher power and more prominence.

Shi Ro Chen, the operating surgeon, was given full credit for the amazing reversal.

“We have taken a terrible, terrible beast and turned him into a kind creature who breathes nothing but goodness,” he said.  “He will always be remembered, and with such, so will we.”

Yet another example of just how technologically advanced China was compared to the rest of the world.

Add comment September 1st, 2010 at 08:28pm Posted by Eli    Permalink

Arena Construction Nocturnal Photoblogging

Fun with night photography.  Man, those ducts really look cool in the dark.

Add comment September 1st, 2010 at 11:37am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Palintology

What more appropriate publication to write about Sarah Palin than Vanity Fair?  Michael Joseph Gross has a long but amazing profile of Herself in the latest issue.  Adjectives that come to mind include: thin-skinned, vindictive, secretive, manipulative, callous, angry, selfish, greedy, and phony.  There’s also some interesting nuggets about her nasty sockpuppety supporters and use of suspiciously ephemeral shell PACs to launder her speaking fees.

And then there’s this:

There’s a general consensus in town that, at least since the start of the 2008 campaign, Todd has been shouldering the bulk of the parenting and that Sarah’s relationship with her children has grown more distant. The children did not, as Sarah has claimed, have a chance to weigh in on her decision to run for vice president. She did not even deliver the news to them personally; as has been reported, she asked McCain’s campaign manager, Steve Schmidt, to do it for her. Todd reportedly told Sarah that, if the children spent too much time on the campaign trail, they would pay a price: grades would tumble and discipline would fall apart. When she agreed to serve as McCain’s running mate, one of her children was already failing in school, according to campaign aides. But Sarah, these aides say, seemed comforted by having the children around, and she seemed lonely when they were gone. An aide overheard conversations between Sarah and Todd in which Sarah tried to make a self-serving argument sound selfless, holding that the campaign was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, one that she could not deny the children. “I don’t care what it costs,” she said. “I want them here.” Although the couple hired a nanny to help the children with their homework, little homework got done.

On the road, aides say, Sarah spared the rod. When one child refused to sign autographs unless she was provided with pink or purple Sharpies that had been custom-printed with her name, the staff tried to argue that black Sharpies—the only kind they had—would do just fine. But Sarah ordered them to do what the child said, and personalized pink and purple markers were produced. Another time, when one daughter wanted to have her hair and makeup done by Palin’s campaign stylists (the children’s grooming was not part of their job), Palin’s initial response seemed like an old-fashioned lesson in manners. According to an aide, Palin told the daughter that, since she was seeking a favor from the stylists, she should ask them nicely herself and see what they said. When the stylists apologetically told the girl they didn’t have time that day, Palin, incensed, sent the child back to give them a message: “Tell them they don’t have a choice. They have to do it.” And so they did.  Despite railing at the press for invading her family’s privacy, Palin showed little ambivalence during the campaign about making some aspects of the childrens’ private lives public to serve her interests. Soon after her nomination, she brought up with McCain aides the subject of Bristol’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy by Levi Johnston: “Would it be good for the campaign if they got married before the election?” she asked, and went on to wonder whether one weekend or another would be more advantageous for media coverage.

Enjoy!

Add comment September 1st, 2010 at 07:45am Posted by Eli    Permalink

Random Photoblogging

One construction photo plus some random stuff:

Add comment August 31st, 2010 at 11:25am Posted by Eli    Permalink