Move over Borat, here comes Bruno - the gay, conservative Nazi-loving Austrian

I feel like I should be offended, but instead I think this is going to be hysterical. Actually, this sounds awfully familiar - has this other character been done already?

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Judge strikes down Bush's authority to designate groups as terrorists

Everyone hates him now.

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Bush gets snippy over Iraq

Prissy, snippy, pathetic, idiot.

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Are Google and YouTube promoting law-breaking?

I just took a look at YouTube's video home page and found four videos that are of questionable legality. If these videos in fact infringe on someone else's copyright, it's particularly troubling that Google and YouTube would actively facilitate this infringement by highlighting the infringing video on their video home page, thus increasing the damage immeasurably. I mean, they'd be literally begging people to infringe.

After YouTube shut down my account last week for the high crime of showing a Jon Stewart clip, I've turned over a new leaf. I love Big Brother, and now understand that it's my civic duty to help keep America safe from the terrorists and TiVos, so I'm going to help Google and YouTube keep themselves clean, and make America a little more free and beautiful.

Please, Google and YouTube, stop promoting criminal activity on your own home page. It's one thing to claim you clamp down on infringing videos when you find out about them, but it's quite another to promote such videos on your video home page when they sure don't look like they're being posted by FOX, NBC or Comedy Central. That would make the videos a copyright infringement, and YouTube's highlighting of them would make them a co-conspirator which, by their own rules, would mean that YouTube ought to shut itself down.

Why do Google and YouTube hate America?

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The Bush Library

The jokes write themselves. But Arianna writes them anyway. :-)

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Iraq's acne

Bush and co. had the following to say about Iraq today:

The New York Times and other U.S. news outlets have now adopted the term "civil war" to describe the violence.

The White House acknowledged on Monday Iraq was in a "new phase" but denied it amounted to civil war.

Yes, a new phase. Like sporting blue hair, or entering puberty - but with rocket-propelled grenades.

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CNN: Hastings reportedly won't lead House Intell committee

CORRECTION: I mistakenly wrote that Hastings was the guy with the $90,000 in his freezer. That was not Hastings, but instead was Rep. William Jefferson (D-Louis.), who is in a run-off against Democrat Karen Carter on December 9. Jefferson is a hypocritical pig who voted pro-gay and pro-choice, but now is claiming he's anti-gay and anti-choice and is attacking Carter for being pro-gay and pro-choice. The man is a pig. Please contribute to the campaign of his opponent, Karen Carter. More on Carter v. Jefferson here.

Hastings is still a bad apple.

Hastings and a friend, attorney William Borders Jr., were indicted in 1981 for conspiring to solicit bribes from two convicted racketeers in exchange for sentences that wouldn't include jail time. Borders was convicted the following year and sent to prison. Hastings maintained his innocence and was acquitted in 1983.

In 1987 a panel of federal judges ruled that Hastings had lied and manufactured evidence during the trial, and recommended to Congress that he be impeached.

The evidence against Hastings presented during the subsequent House impeachment and Senate trial was largely circumstantial, focusing on calls between Hastings and Borders during the federal investigation of the scheme.

The House in 1988 voted 413-3 to impeach Hastings and the Senate voted 69-26 to convict and remove him from office. Pelosi and her current second-in-command, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland, both voted to impeach.

Representative John Conyers of Michigan, who may become Judiciary Committee chairman if Democrats win the House, led the impeachment effort. Conyers, who is black, said Hastings's status as the first black federal judge in Florida didn't excuse his behavior.

``Judge Hastings has been the architect of his own undoing,'' Conyers said before the impeachment vote. ``Judge Hastings has committed high crimes and misdemeanors and should be impeached.''

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The National Guard just tried to recruit my 9 year old nephew

Seriously. Dad took the call. The person on the other end wanted to talk to my 9 year old nephew. Dad asked why. Because they wanted him to consider enlisting in the reserves or the National Guard. Dad said there's only one problem, the kid is 9. Person on the other end said oh, well I should probably remove his name from our lists. They said that my nephew probably signed up for something online and that's why they called.

Yeah, sure.

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White House staff lies, says Iraq violence just in Baghdad

The Washington Post reports today that Anbar province is a disaster. Violence is out of control based on a intelligence analysis by the U.S. Marines. Yesterday, after NBC said Iraq was in a civil war, a White House spokesperson said the violence in Iraq is limited to Baghdad via Froomkin:

NBC's First Read reports that the response was swift: "The White House is objecting this morning to descriptions of the Iraq conflict as a civil war. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said, 'The violence is primarily centered around Baghdad and Baghdad security and the increased training of Iraqi Security Forces is at the top of the agenda when [Bush and Maliki] meet later this week.'"

Anbar isn't Baghdad. The violence in that country isn't "primarily centered around Baghdad." It is far more widespread. They lied. Again. Everyone at the Bush White House spends a lot of time lying and spinning about Iraq. They should put as much energy in to trying to solve the crisis. But, then, they'd have to admit it is a crisis.

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Gingrich: We must restrict free speech online to stop terrorists from destroying an American city

Go to Russia or Tehran if you hate freedom this much. I have had it with Republicans who hate America, who hate our freedoms, who hate what this country stands for, and who think that the only way to save our freedoms from the terrorists is for us to destroy those freedoms first. Honestly, how do these scaredy-cat, quaking-in-their-boots, America-haters even dare call themselves patriotic Americans? They are terrified of their own shadow, these Republicans.

Interestingly, and incredibly stupidly, Gingrich made this announcement at a freedom of speech dinner in New Hampshire. That's a bit like declaring that we all need to eat more veal at a PETA rally in San Francisco.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich yesterday said the country will be forced to reexamine freedom of speech to meet the threat of terrorism.

Gingrich, speaking at a Manchester awards banquet, said a "different set of rules" may be needed to reduce terrorists' ability to use the Internet and free speech to recruit and get out their message.

"We need to get ahead of the curve before we actually lose a city, which I think could happen in the next decade," said Gingrich, a Republican who helped engineer the GOP's takeover of Congress in 1994.

We already lost a city, Newt. It's called New Orleans. And it was your party, the Republicans, who lost it. You were more concerned about furthering some neo-con agenda abroad than actually protecting Americans at home.

(Hat tip: Networkworld.com)

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Majority Leader Reid: This Senate is going to work

The GOP has left the country a mess. And, the Democrats have to clean it up. Unlike the leisurely, unproductive work pace under the current GOP leadership, Harry Reid is going to make the Senators earn their pay:

Reid also said he's doing away with the ''do-nothing Congress'' that Democrats campaigned against this year as they ousted the Republican majority in both chambers of Congress. The Nevada Democrat, who is wrapping up his final days as Senate minority leader, will take control of the Senate agenda when the new Congress takes the oath of office in January.

''We're going to put in some hours here that haven't been put in in a long time,'' Reid said. That means ''being here more days in the week and we start off this year with seven weeks without a break. That hasn't been done in many, many years here.''

Reid told the AP that ethics reform, stem cell research funding and increasing the minimum wage are his top legislative priorities. But, the GOP is leaving much work from this year unfinished.

And, for all those pundits speculating about whether Bush meant it when he said he would be reaching out to Democrats, here's the answer:

Reid said he hopes that President Bush is willing to work with the Democratic congressional leadership, but the early signs have not been encouraging. He said the White House has not reached out to him since his meeting with Bush in the Oval Office on Nov. 10. ''Sorry to say,'' Reid said.

Bush did his photo op, then it was back to partisan business as usual. Rove still rules. So be it.

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Bush to push al-Maliki to stop violence. This war was Bush's idea in the first place.

Bush is ready to push al-Maliki around later this week. He's going to ask for a plan which is really ironic. al-Maliki needs to ask Bush for his plan. After all, this war was Bush's idea. Bush invaded al-Maliki's country. He is the one who should have had a plan to prevent it:

President Bush said Tuesday morning he will press Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for a plan to contain the escalating sectarian violence, though he refused to characterize the situation in Iraq as a civil war.

Previewing the message he will carry with him to Amman, Jordan, where he will meet Maliki for a summit later this week, Bush said he will ask Maliki, "What do we need to do to succeed? What is your strategy in dealing with the sectarian violence?"

Bush started this war without a plan. None of the Republicans in Congress ever asked for a plan. Now, every day, American soldiers and Iraqi citizens pay a price for their incompetence. But, Bush is acting like none of this is his fault.

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Corrupt Jefferson resorts to gay-bashing. Karen Carter must win in Louisiana's Second District

Help Karen win. Contribute here. Every dollar matters.

It should come as no surprise that William Jefferson is one of the biggest hypocrites of the year. The Louisiana Congressman, who had $90,000 stashed in his freezer, is viciously attacking his opponent in the December 9th runoff for taking the exact same positions that Jefferson has taken.

This tidbit from New Orleans City Business gives the flavor of the race:

In her run-off against Congressman Bill Jefferson, D-New Orleans, state Rep. Karen Carter, D-New Orleans, will face questions about her strong support of gay rights and abortion. Because of her stance, Carter has been endorsed by Emily’s List and received donations from the group, an activist pro-choice organization.

Expect the issue to be raised by Jefferson in the runoff. He is cultivating religious leaders to support his campaign. Many African-American ministers are already supporting Jefferson, and the congressman is hoping to pick up the support of white pastors as well.

When third-place finisher state Sen. Derrick Shepherd, D-Marrero, officially endorsed Jefferson at a news conference last week, one of the reasons he cited was Carter’s stance on social issues. How this will play with voters in the final days of the race remains to be seen.

Jefferson is an affront to the Democratic party. He's the symbol of corruption. Now, he's becoming a beacon of gay-bashing for political purposes. Both of those were almost exclusively the domain of the GOP.

Jefferson has been a strong advocate of both gay rights and choice in his career. He actually had a 100% voting record (pdf version) with the Human Rights Campaign a couple years ago. 100% -- yet, now he's anti-gay. This year, Jefferson has a 100% voting record on choice issues. 100% -- yet, now he's anti-choice. He'll do anything and say anything to win. He's a hypocrite.

Karen Carter won't back down from her pro-gay, pro-choice positions. She has to win. Gay-bashing and corruption cannot prevail in the Democratic party. The runoff is December 9th. This is now a race between a true Democrat and a corrupt, bigoted incumbent who is acting like a Republican. Help Karen win. Contribute here. Every dollar matters.

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Bush is in Estonia and Latvia today playing the role of world diplomat. This trip is designed to get other countries to do more to make up for his failures in Iraq and Afghanistan. Such an embarrassment.

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Even more polonium found in UK

Someone has been very busy lately. The office of another Russian exile living in the UK has been contaminated with polonium 210, the same substance that was found in the body of Alexander Litvinenko who recently died. It will not come as a surprise if and when the police discover additional sites that are contaminated. What is surprising is that Kremlin critics were so easily penetrated in the UK and that so many others unconnected to Russia have been impacted by these Cold War-like attacks. Should attacks like this be so easy? The emergency hotlines have been busy and so far 18 people have been brought in for testing. Very creepy.
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And to think Biden believes he is presidential material

Jumping on the "blame Mexico for everything" doesn't strike me as a winning approach but if that gets him out of the race faster, so be it. I've never really understood the attacks on Latin America for the drug problem that we have in America. If the demand did not exist, the drug production and running would not be there. What is the benefit of attacking Mexico, or is this supposed to be some kind of coded attack on all things Mexican? If Biden wants to talk about great disparities of wealth maybe he can take a drive around DC and tell us about the differences between the northwest and the northeast. What a goof. Who is actually supporting his presidential run?
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Open thread

Wow, I got through the entire day Monday without Joe letting you know it was my birthday. Which one? I think I'm at the point of preferring folks guess, because it's usually the better answer. I did, however, get the best gift ever from my friends Marcus and Rom visiting from Paris. It's a calendar of the French rugby team. That description hardly does it justice. If you're interested in finding out more, and perhaps have a straight woman or gay man in your life who might appreciate a little French rugby come the holidays, Google "Dieux du Stade" from a non-work computer and check it out for yourself. Read the rest of this post...

When you have no ideas left, this is what happens to you

Remember when Republicans weren't crazy? Me neither. What a pitiful shadow of a political party. Read the rest of this post...