Graham (Twit-S.C.) tilts at blogmills

Via ThinkProgress:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Republicans would fight back hard if Democrats or liberal groups try to make the Supreme Court confirmation process about Sessions’ record, rather than about Obama’s nominee to replace Justice David Souter.

“If people try to go down that road, it’ll blow up in their face, because Jeff is a good guy,” Graham said. “My hope is that our Democratic colleagues — if you start listening to the bloggers — if we’re going to let the bloggers run the country, then the country’s best days are behind us.”

And your thoughts on, oh say, listening to admitted drug addict radio entertainers?

It's raining irony

Or that could be the remnants of the glass house after all the stone throwing:

"Two Americans banned from entering the United Kingdom because the government feels they have been "stirring up hatred" responded by slamming the country's home secretary, and one of them threatened to sue her.

Radio talk show host Michael Savage and the anti-gay Rev. Fred Phelps were listed Tuesday among white supremacists and radical Islamic clerics who will not be allowed into the country.

Savage, whose conservative daily show can be heard on radio stations across America, lashed out in an audio clip on his Web site and devoted seven stories on his main page to the ban. He is listed under his real name, Michael Alan Weiner.

..."She has painted a target on my back, linking me with people who are in prison for killing people," Savage said. "How could they put Michael Savage in the same league as mass murderers when I have never avowed violence?"

Absolutely right. How could they? It's unconscionable to ban someone who has never committed a crime. Who would say such a thing?

So sayeth the Savage Weiner, himself:

"Only a devastating military blow against the hearts of Islamic terror coupled with an outright ban on Muslim immigration, laws making the dissemination of enemy propaganda illegal, and the uncoupling of the liberal ACLU can save the United States. I would also make the construction of mosques illegal in America and the speaking of English only in the streets of the United States the law." -- 11/27/2006

"What kind of religion is this? What kind of world are you living in when you let them in here with that throwback document in their hand, which is a book of hate. Don't tell me I need re-education. They need deportation. I don't need re-education. Deportation, not re-education. You can take C-A-I-R and throw 'em out of my country" -- 10/29/2007

Frankly, I don't care what bile he spews. It's his right, and he exercises it, extensively. He's even got the right to affect the gag-inducing overwrought "talking about yourself in the third person" martyr pose that he did here, all while exhorting "liberals" to remember the purpose of the First Amendment.

Just don't mistake the right to say something with the right to say it and not be roundly ridiculed as the shameless hypocrite you are...

Pass the Stupid Flakes

Jim Inhofe (R-OK) is hungry:

(Gracias to Wonkette)

"There is no evidence more visible that the American people are already rebelling against the far-left agenda than Senator Arlen Specter switching parties to become a Democrat. He did this for one reason, and that is his advisers told him he couldn’t retain his Senate seat as a Republican. In other words, the same people who supported Senator Specter six years ago have soundly rejected him today.

That, my friends, sounds like 1994. The extreme liberal agenda is not sellable to the American people. Just wait and see."

Make sense?

Didn't think so.

To put it another way, in Inhofe-land--in addition to there being no global warming--forcing a trade from the Detroit Lions to the Pittsburgh Steelers is a sign that the Leos are about to reach the promised land.

Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy.

Snarlin' Arlen couldn't retain his seat as a Republican because he couldn't *make it* to the general, not because he couldn't *win* the general:

I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate. I have not represented the Republican Party. I have represented the people of Pennsylvania.

The agenda is perfectly sellable to the people, Jimmy...just not the mere 23% who identify as "Republican."

Guess I missed the "waterboarding" part of the Sermon on the Mount...

Survey: Support for terror suspect torture differs among the faithful

Well, that stands to reason, wouldn't you think?

Just not the *way* that you'd think:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey.

More than half of people who attend services at least once a week -- 54 percent -- said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is "often" or "sometimes" justified. Only 42 percent of people who "seldom or never" go to services agreed, according to the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

"Differs?" That's what comes to mind with those numbers?

Someone needs a refresher on headline writing.

Really curious as to the sort of circumstances where you apply the ol' "WWJD" test and the answer comes up beatings, sleep deprivation, and "simulated" drowning...

Elections...still having consequences

This is a prime example of what we donated, canvassed, and voted for:

Obama Announces Souter's Retirement

In a surprising move, President Obama personally announced the retirement of Justice David H. Souter from the Supreme Court shortly after 3 p.m. on Friday, arriving unannounced into the White House briefing room. He praised the tenure of Mr. Souter, saying that he served with integrity and “consistently defied labels.”

“I will seek someone with a sharp, independent mind and a record of excellence and integrity,” Mr. Obama said in brief remarks at the podium. He added that he would “seek somebody who shares my respect for constitutional values.”

The 22 percent party's "the President's judicial nominees deserve an up-or-down vote" rhetoric goes back in the drawer in 5...4...3...2...

Saturday Shuffle

3000 - Dr. Octagon
Under the Milky Way - The Church
Catholic Block - Sonic Youth
Rest of Our Lives - Mike Ness
Uh, Zoom Zip (live) - Soul Coughing
Hotel California - Pennywise
11 Ghosts II - Nine Inch Nails
Power Trip - Soundgarden
Rodeo In Joliet - The Jesus Lizard
Bleeder - Hot Water Music

20%

Maybe it's just too many medical drama reruns, but the phrase "bleeding out" comes to mind:

Earlier this week a Washington Post poll made a big splash because it found that only 21 percent self-identify as Republicans. The abysmally low number got pundits and reporters talking about whether the GOP is shrinking to the point of irrelevance.

Now we have another poll that finds that the number of self-identified Republicans has dropped even lower: 20 percent.

My handy Plum Line calculator informs me that this means exactly one-fifth of adults identify themselves as Republican.

And thus, with a spring in my step and a warm fuzzy in my heart, I leave for a well-deserved weekend out of town...

Irrelephants

Numbers make me smile. Via The Hill:

Less than one in four identify as Republican
By Reid Wilson

Less than a quarter of all voters call themselves Republicans, a number that has dropped precipitously over the past six years, according to a new analysis.

In more than 7,000 interviews conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2009, just 23 percent of voters self-identify as members of the Grand Old Party. That's down from 30 percent as recently as 2004, and the trend shows no signs of slowing.

In the first four months of the year, Pew researchers found the number of self-identified Republicans dropping from 25 percent in January to just 22 percent in April.

Alienation and isolation: the keys to winning *any* election.

Mitchy, Mitchy, Mitchy...

You need to make up your mind. Is this a local issue

"Obviously, we are not happy that Senator Specter has decided to become a Democrat," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters, attempting to minimize the blow. "This is not a national story. This is a Pennsylvania story," McConnell said.

or a sign of the apocalypse?

"I think the threat to the country presented by this defection really relates to the issue of whether or not in the United States of America our people want the majority to have whatever it wants without restraint, without a check or a balance," McConnell said during a Tuesday afternoon press availability.

The question is, Mitchy, do our people see one party managing to so marginalizing itself that it slips below the magic filibuster number of 41 as "a threat to the country?"

My guess is "no."

Someone needs to clue ol' Mitch into the fact that but what threatens his directionless, ever more extremist party does not necessarily threaten the nation.

And like that--[poof]--he was gone...

Ruh-Roh:

Specter Leaves GOP, Shifting Senate Balance
Democrats Are Poised to Hold A Powerful 60-Seat Majority

By Paul Kane, Chris Cillizza and Shailagh Murray

Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania provided a boost to President Obama's ambitious legislative agenda yesterday by abandoning the Republican Party in the face of shifting political realities at home and an aggressive courtship by the White House and party leaders.

In an announcement that shocked colleagues on both sides of the aisle, Specter said he had become increasingly uncomfortable as a moderate in a party dominated by conservatives and would join the Democrats. He bluntly admitted that his decision was tied to his belief that he could not win reelection as a Republican next year.

I love the smell of a sinking ship in the morning...

Saturday Shuffle

Guilty of Being White - Minor Threat
Sunday Bloody Sunday (live) - U2
1,000,000 - R.E.M.
Ups and Downs - Saves The Day
Don't Cry - Guns N' Roses
Blowing It - Dinosaur Jr.
Let's Get It Started - Richard Cheese
I Won't Be Left - Teagan and Sarah
Prove Yourself - Radiohead
Purple [Sasha v The Light] - Paul Oakenfold

Comedy

i thinks ur dooin it wrong:

Leno: "Now, are they going to put a basketball -- I imagine the bowling alley has been just burned and closed down."

Obama: "No, no. I've been practicing bowling."

Leno: "Really? Really?"

Obama: "I bowled a 129 -- "

(Laughter.)

Leno: "Oh, no, that's very good. Yeah. No, that's very good for a -- "

Obama: "It was like Special Olympics or something."

Jay doesn't show up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with tips on how to save the economy, so let's not roll into his studio and try to make teh funny, OK, Mr. President?

Apology or not, you cannot make that joke in that venue.

Ever.

Ask Axelrod, he'll tell you the same thing. Once the doctors surgically remove his hand from his forehead after the atomic facepalm that probably followed your late night mirth-storm, that is.

People are inspired by you as a leader, we don't NEED you as an entertainer, too. We've got plenty of people to take care of that. You want to entertain me, let's start with getting Michigan's unemployment back into single digits. If you want applause, that's the way to get it.

I ♥ McCain

Meghan, that is:

"...certain individuals continue to perpetuate negative stereotypes about Republicans. Especially Republican women. Who do I feel is the biggest culprit? Ann Coulter. I straight up don’t understand this woman or her popularity. I find her offensive, radical, insulting, and confusing all at the same time. But no matter how much you or I disagree with her, the cult that follows Coulter cannot be denied. She is a New York Times best-selling author and one of the most notable female members of the Republican Party. She was one of the headliners at the recent CPAC conference (but when your competition is a teenager who has a dream about the Republican Party and Stephen Baldwin, it’s not really saying that much).

...Everything about her is extreme: her voice, her interview tactics, and especially the public statements she makes about liberals. Maybe her popularity stems from the fact that watching her is sometimes like watching a train wreck."

Looks like Meg just jumped, headlong, into the pot at the Republican cannibalism convention...

どうもありがとうミスターロボット

Best. Acceptance. Speech. Evar.

"It's so heavy," said Kato of the award. A native of Japan, he struggled with his English in good humor before a star-studded audience. "Thank you very much. Thank you, my supporters. Thank you, all my staff. Thank you, academy. . . . Thank you, my company. Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto." -- Kunio Kato, Best Animated Short Winner

Saturday Shuffle

Coming Down [Butchered] - The Cult
The Mark Has Been Made (live) - Nine Inch Nails
You Can't Quit Me, Baby (live) - Queens Of The Stone Age
Light My Way - Audioslave
Rolling - Soul Coughing
Spanish Blue - Aqua Velvets
Bellybone - Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise
Making Plans For Nigel - Primus
Safe - Kittie
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side - The Smiths

Axelrod gets it

“This town talks to itself and whips itself into a frenzy with its own theories that are completely at odds with what the rest of America is thinking,” he says. Once the frenzy got going, it didn’t matter that most polls showed support for Obama and his economic package: “If you watched cable TV, you’d see our support was plummeting, we were in trouble. It was almost like living in a parallel universe.”

For Axelrod, the moral is “not just that Washington is too insular but that the American people are a lot smarter than people in Washington think.”

Frank Rich is firing on all cylinders, today.

Overdosing on this culture can be fatal. Because Republicans are isolated in that parallel universe and believe all the noise in its echo chamber, they are now as out of touch with reality as the “inevitable” Clinton campaign was before it got clobbered in Iowa.

The G.O.P. doesn’t recognize that it emerged from the stimulus battle even worse off than when it started. That obliviousness gives the president the opening to win more ambitious policy victories than last week’s. Having checked the box on attempted bipartisanship, Obama can now move in for the kill.

Ah, the pundit class.

I need to find me the kind of job where my--assuredly generous--compensation is in no way impacted by my being so consistently wrong on the very areas and topics I allegedly focus on.

A McDonald's cashier wouldn't last a week with a similar track record for accuracy.

Saturday Shuffle

Valentine Edition

Love Me Do - The Beatles

Strangelove - Depeche Mode

Radar Love - Golden Earring

Love Song - Tesla

Love Me Tender - Elvis Presley

Friday, I'm In Love - The Cure

Lover, You Should've Come Over - Jeff Buckley

Love Bites - Def Leppard

Who Do You Love? - Bo Diddley

Love In An Elevator - Aerosmith

Bonus:

Sea of Love - Tom Waits

Talk about tone-deaf

Someone fetch me my ear trumpet:

Geithner Said to Have Prevailed on the Bailout
By STEPHEN LABATON and EDMUND L. ANDREWS

WASHINGTON— The Obama administration’s new plan to bail out the nation’s banks was fashioned after a spirited internal debate that pitted the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, against some of the president’s top political hands.

In the end, Mr. Geithner largely prevailed in opposing tougher conditions on financial institutions that were sought by presidential aides, including David Axelrod, a senior adviser to the president, according to administration and Congressional officials.

Mr. Geithner, who will announce the broad outlines of the plan on Tuesday, successfully fought against more severe limits on executive pay for companies receiving government aid.

Because with the economy crashing and unemployment and foreclosures soaring, successfully fighting pay limitations for millionaires is JUST the scalp you want for your wall.

Good luck selling this to people whose "night out" (assuming they can still have one at all) involves the Golden Arches.

Somebody needs to remind Timmeh, here, that if you're going to stand up for millionaires, at least stand up for *competent* millionaires. These are the folks that got us here, in the first place, not the ones swooping to the rescue. If someone drives the Caddy off the cliff, you take his keys, not give him a Rolls with the beaded seat cover.

Team Obama better get rid of this seeming inaugural hangover, soon.

Saturday Shuffle

My Body Is A Cage - Arcade Fire
Wolves - Kittie
The Drifter - Clutch
People Equals Shit - Richard Cheese
100,000 Years (live) - Kiss
Online - Gnarls Barkley
To All The Girls - Wyclef Jean
Lorca Not Orca - Coil
Wanted Man (live) - Johnny Cash
At This Moment - Billy Vera and the Beaters

Pretend like you've been here before

Jack. Ass.

Daschle Delayed Revealing Tax Glitch

Thomas A. Daschle waited nearly a month after being nominated to be secretary of health and human services before informing Barack Obama that he had not paid years of back taxes for the use of a car and driver provided by a wealthy New York investor

Daschle, one of Obama's earliest and most ardent campaign supporters, paid $140,000 to the U.S. Treasury on Jan. 2 and about two days later informed the White House and the Senate Finance Committee, according to an account provided by his spokeswoman and confirmed by the Obama administration.

Although Daschle had known since June 2008 that he needed to correct his tax returns, he never expected the amount to be such a "jaw-dropping" sum and "thought it was being taken care of" by his accountant, spokeswoman Jenny Backus said.

A month?

Daschle spent 1979-2005 in either the House or Senate. 26 years on the Hill and he didn't think $140K was important enough to mention before then?

In this economy?

However much truth to it there may be, no one is going to accept "I thought my accountant was taking care of it" as an explanation. Don't know about you, but a "correction" a fraction of that size would have me either in jail or in whatever circle of audit hell the IRS saw fit to put me.

Obama's team is clearly responsible for proper vetting, but it's a mighty tough thing to do when the vet-ee forgets to talk about the pile of taxes he forgot to pay. And Daschle has no excuse for forgetting something else: this isn't about him, it's about the credibility of the administration. Whatever happens, he can go right back and snuggle up to the health care industry--where he's been for years. Obama now needs to try and navigate the laundry list of calamities before him with the egg ol' tax dodge Tommy threw on his face.

If this were anyone else, his ass would be--and still should be--gone.