[cartoon by Claus Seidel]
Michael Bloomberg spent a reported 105 million dollars on his re-election campaign, the same amount Norway donated in 2007 to The World Bank for a health care initiative for the poorest nations.
Open Thread below...
Please join us TOMORROW for a live book chat with Craig Crawford, co-author of Listen Up, Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do. The chat will be held at 1 pm Eastern/10 am Pacific.
Open thread below.
George W. Bush the motivational speaker, from Urantian Sojourn. Open thread below...
Billy Mays comes back just in time for Halloween...
Open thread below...
Thomas Frank is, admittedly, the token liberal op-ed writer at The Wall Street Journal. And it's hard to say whether Murdoch's minions let this one slip through on purpose to lend credibility to the newspaper, or by accident:
To point out that this network [FOX News] is different, that it is intensely politicized, that it inhabits an alternate reality defined by an imaginary conflict between noble heartland patriots and devious liberals—to be aware of these things is not the act of a scheming dictatorial personality. It is the obvious conclusion drawn by anybody with eyes and ears.
The comment section had me splitting a gut laughing, especially this one:
Dr. Charles Krauthammer is a conservative respected on both the right and the left.
Far be it for me to speak for the right. But is there anyone on the Left who has "respect" for Charles Krauthammer? (Tweety doesn't count.)
From the wonderful artist Zina Saunders (click here for larger):
"Double, double, toil and trouble," chant Michele Bachmann, Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh as they stir up the pot against health care reform.
A few incantations from the trio's trick or treat bag: Congresswoman Bachmann says sex clinics will result from Health Care Reform, Ann Coulter says Obama's plan encourages assisted suicide for the elderly, and Rush Limbaugh says Obama's health care plan is right out of Hitler's playbook.
Boo!
Open thread below and John Amato has a World Series thread going as well...
Daily Motion and Steve Martin are holding a music video contest. The rules are, you have to use Steve Martin's song "Wally on the Run" as your soundtrack, and the video must have a dog or dogs in it. I don't expect to win, but I had fun with this.
Open thread below...
To hear Joe Scarborough on Meet The Press, you would think he was sitting on Harry Reid's lap clutching an E-Ticket during the healthcare bill negotiations. Not only does he know exactly how many votes the "opt-out" option has in the Senate, he knows for a bonafide fact that the White House wants to protect "conservatives and Blue Dogs" during the 2010 election cycle by favoring a "trigger" scheme over the public option.
Scarborough is really good as usual at hoping we will read his loud, pompous 'certainty' as honesty. But not so fast, Joe: The White House issued an official communique Sunday afternoon:
A rumor is making the rounds that the White House and Senator Reid are pursuing different strategies on the public option. Those rumors are absolutely false.
Where does Joe Scarborough get his leaks? Who, exactly would take Scarborough's call? Could it possibly be...opponents of a public option?
In his September 9th address to Congress, President Obama made clear that he supports the public option because it has the potential to play an essential role in holding insurance companies accountable through choice and competition. That continues to be the President's position.
Senator Reid and his leadership team are now working to get the most effective bill possible approved by the Senate. President Obama completely supports their efforts and has full confidence they will succeed and continue the unprecedented progress that is being made in both the House and Senate.
Okay that last paragraph is a bit of Rahm-approved blah blah blah, which points to the urgent task at hand: to continue to pressure the White House to get much more involved in pushing for a public option in the final bill. Mister President? It's double overtime, and if you really want to score on the public option? Mere cheerleaders do not put the ball in the net.
Sadly, No!: According to the Virgin Queen of the Right Wing Baloney-sphere, the title of "Teabagger" was worn with pride by our colonial forebearers. No, really.
Dependable Renegade: Seriously Meghan, put the iPhone DOWN. But first, tweet Carrie Prejean a message from the General.
Earth Bound Misfit: "Republicans for Rape" isn't just a vote, it's thirty votes. And now it's a blog. Susie Bright (NSFW) points to a simple statement on "how to prevent rape." Highly recommended.
Distributorcap NY: Discovered at Schwabs.
Mike Finnigan returns tomorrow; send tips to finnsagain AT aol DOT com.
Philly2Philly: This post is from June, but we thought the White House needed a reminder that Fox News won the right to LIE TO THE PUBLIC in a 2003 appellate court decision.
Gin and Tacos: Wall Street is Too Clever by Half.
Race Wire: “Progressive” cities aren’t red or blue, but another color entirely: white.
If you haven't heard Philip Spooner's wonderful speech on marriage equality yet, don't miss it.
Tom Dispatch: We can win in Afghanistan with 10 years of $5 billion a month. No, really.
For the low, low price of $12.99, you can own a high quality 4X6 lustre print of Peggy Noonan, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, James Baker, and Henry Kissinger snubbing John McCain at the Reagan Foundation Dinner held at the US Capitol Building.
It's brought to you by Washington Life Magazine, which has it categorized on its "blog" under, and I am not making this up, "Pol-lywood Events."
Some days, satire just fails me.
Open Thread below....
The thing that's been completely left out of the Dick Cheney "how dare anyone dither when it comes to blowing up our enemies and rewarding our torturers" speech is the context in which that speech was given.
The Villagers don't like to talk about specifics when it comes to the beltway dinner circuit at which so many of them feed.
This dinner, minimum $500.00 a plate, was to given by the self-described, and I am not making this up, "non-partisan organization" The Center for Security Policy. Dick Cheney was speaking at their 20th anniversary dinner, at which he received the, hold back your breakfast now, "Keeper of the Flame" award. Cheney was introduced by, among others, Don Rumsfeld, a former awardee himself. You know who else has this prize sitting on a shelf in their well-appointed Georgetown dens?
Joe Lieberman
Duncan Hunter
James Inhofe
Paul Wolfowitz
Newt Gingrich
Ronald Reagan
Jon Kyl
Caspar Weinberger
Okay, then. So why would anyone not expect a bowl full of neocon crazy in his acceptance speech? He's among friends.
Why can't the press be honest? And how, at this point in history, has that become a completely rhetorical question?
crossposted from Blue Gal
Lawyers, Guns, & Money: Poor FOX, for them being ignored is the same as being muzzled.
William K. Wolfrum: Wow, come to think of it, Fox Business Network isn't much of a business network.
Oh No They Didn't: Sesame Street Disavows American Apparel. No, really.
Joe My God: Whoops, male McCain voters lost more than an election last November, if ya know what I mean.
Jack & Jill Politics doesn't sugarcoat it about Cheney, and here's some motivational speaker advice for Dubya.
I made this video one year ago this week and can't believe I didn't run it then. My, how times have changed: now the entire GOP is in the toilet.
Open thread below....
