Charlie Jarvis, chairmen of USA NEXT appeared on Inside Politics and tried to spin his way out of that disgusting ad.

Woodruff: ...is USA NEXT going to run this ad some more, and why'd you only have it up for one day?

Jarvis: We were testing to see if the left liberal groups would over react and they did. The hypothesis was that they'd focus on one single, tiny image on one website ..

Woodruff: It worked.

Jarvis: It worked. By the end of yesterday, to show you how crazy the left liberal groups are and that they have a death wish on Social Security. They were literally having people call (pause)television stations all over the country to pull the ad that didn't exist. Remarkable.

His rational that a scathing reaction to a sickening ad is a "death wish" is ludicrous. That death wish will ultimately rest on the head of Jarvis, and USA NEXT.

Michael Tanner, from the Cato Institute was appalled.

TANNER : Well, we're very disappointed in this ad. full transcript ....We don't think that we should be going down the road to in essence a bigoted approach to gay rights or things of that nature in order to sell the very positive approach that we have for individual accounts.

Video

When you put an ad on a website, it's real.. This kind of sleazy, disgusting display reflects the moral values that your company holds true and ultimately USA NEXT will be thought of not as an alternative to AARP, but as a bigoted, conniving company that will say anything to make a buck. Let's say we believed your bullshit excuse Charlie, that it was a tiny, little ad to trick the left wing groups. (our influence is appreciated) What do you think the reaction of the right wing sites would be to an ad the AARP ran that said this Charlie?

"A starving, elderly couple with graying hair, homeless and in tattered clothes are scavenging through a dumpster looking for food. The Word "Hopeless" is stencilled across the center in red / Flip side: A well dressed Wall Street executive is laughing, smoking a big cigar, drinking some champagne at a casino with a hot chic on his arm while throwing a pair of dice. The word "Jackpot" stenciled across the center in blue. The copy:

George Bush’s Social Security plan will deprive the elderly and the youth of our country the security they might need to live and eat in dignity. While the fat cats at Wall Street will be gambling away the safety net that Social Security provides for their own personal gain. Thanks President Bush. We know who you really care about."

How do you think that one, tiny ad would play out?

I'm not sure why this was done, but it's cute. Beats the hell out of throwing a rock in a lake.

Continuing with my recognition of the intrepid bloggers who filled in so ably while I was away...
Politics in the Zeros: Money for nothin', chicks for free

Lance Mannion: If Democrats think that Hussein and Muslim and madrassa and black are dirty words, just think what fun the Republicans are going to have with them.

Shakesville: Liss has some reading recommendations.

The Largest Minority: The Palestinians are still under occupation, so throwing $7 billion at the corrupt Fatah government won't change anything.

Over at Steve Audio's place, we're reminded it's not just the week before Christmas.

Media Bloodhound: Big news for democracy aint big news at the Paper of Record.

The redoubtable Blue Gal--the blogosphere's answer to Chone Figgins--shares about her breakfast with Santa and 71 Kindergarten kids.

Emotions are running high right now...there's a lot of justifiable anger out in the blogosphere (or blogtopia, for skippy).  The question now falls to you how you want to manage that anger.  I see a lot of disgust that I fear will result in low voter turnout.  I see a lot of ranting and raving on comment threads.  But rather than throwing up our hands in defeat, Christy at FireDogLake has a suggestion to put our frustration into action:

Dear Elected Members of Congress:  Welcome to the "You Work For Us Summer Tour."  Coming to a public venue near you.  And that is a stone cold promise.

This is your LiLo Don't Drink And Drive Night at the minor leagues accountability moment, members of Congress.  What group am I with when I call to make an appointment for me and a few hundred of my closest friends?  I'm with "people who vote."  We are pissed off and disgusted.  And you work for us, so we'll be discussing your performance evaluation every opportunity that we get.  We'll be calling for an appointment shortly, so make a little space on your calendars.

You thought you were getting the month of August off to head out to friendly little senior centers and county fairs where you get to do your political shuck and gladhand and eat some homemade pie?  Not so fast, slick.

Now that Congress has handed over the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the standard of probable cause as if they were mere wisps of nothingness that weren't hard won from Runnymede through to the American Revolution and beyond, I have to wonder what has become of the fourth amendment in all of this mess?  And, worse, whether Congressional leadership on either side of the aisle cares beyond getting the legislation out of the way so they can head out for vacation?

This is why I love the activism of the netroots.   We've been able to manifest our voices into real change in the past and we'll do it again.  I don't care if your reps are Democrats, Republicans or Joe Lieberman.  Call them.  They're at home this month.  Make an appointment.  Make them answer to you.   And if they voted on the right side of the FISA bill (as mine did), then CONGRATULATE THEM.  Positive reinforcement goes a long way.

The Belgravia Dispatch: The American Way: Induced hypothermia, sleep deprivation and water-boarding? It's always worth recalling that it's not a coincidence that torture is associated with authoritarian regimes.

Faithful Progressive: Many costly project failures are part of Bush's legacy as president. These white elephants should be campaign issues.

All Things Democrat: The next President will select two or three new Supreme Court justices in his or her first term.  All three will come from the Court’s liberal wing.  Now, consider this...

CorrenteWire: Bush domestic policy czar: "I am never going to hire another woman because they just get pregnant and leave." Bitch Ph.D. has more...

Norbizness: If Jesus came back and saw what what's going on in His name, he'd never stop throwing up

Martini Revolution: Jimmy Carter merely stated the obvious about the disaster that is the Bush administration. Part of the GOP response was the invocation of their plaster saint

Truthdig: The “good German,” was one who would have sought to deny facilitation of the Holocaust by refusing to support the war which empowered it. The "good American" is driven by a sense of moral responsibility to speak out against acts perpetrated in Iraq and elsewhere by American fighting forces ostensibly in support of freedom, but in reality an extension of illegitimate policies reeking of global hegemony and American empire.

SuperFrenchie: To believe that the French vote for Sarkozy indicates some sort of approval for Bush is silly.

Greatscat! Conservative pundit Ann Coulter has been cleared of allegations that she falsified her Palm Beach County voter's registration and voted illegally — this, after a high-level FBI agent made unsolicited phone calls to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office to vouch for Coulter.

Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog: Condi inspires Iranian artists to cross their arms, look away, or just stay home

The Democratic Daily: Ouch! The L.A. Times reported on Friday that “Retail sales slumped 2.4% compared with April 2006, slipping to $52.6 billion in the most wretched year-over-year showing by major retailers since the International Council of Shopping Centers began tracking the data in 1970.”

Wise Bread: The 'founder' of Mother's Day wants you to stop throwing money away!

(Guest blogged by Logan Murphy)

On Friday's "Countdown" Keith talks to the founder of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, Paul Rieckhoff, about the latest developments surrounding the death of Pat Tillman. We've known many of these facts, but there's something about actually seeing the gory details that adds a whole new level of sadness and outrage to this national tragedy.

Ah, but the fun doesn't stop with Pat Tillman. Rieckhoff points out that during his press conference on Friday, President Bush channeled Geraldo by giving out sensitive information about the locations of American military posts around Baghdad.

Download | play Download | play

"One of the things that did happen today that concerned me was that during Bush's press conference he actually showed a graphic that showed 24 urban military outposts in downtown Baghdad. I would argue that showing that to the world and potentially to our enemy might compromise moral - might actually compromise operational security."

"Our enemies aren't stupid. They can look at that and figure out a grid coordinate and try and drop mortars on those exact locations. I mean, this is like a Geraldo moment during the invasion when Geraldo started drawing troop operation movements in the sand. I mean, this is unprecedented in my experience and maybe I'm missing something, but this is a real worry and I wouldn't go throwing this out on the airwaves for everybody to see if I were the President."

You can find out more about Paul Rieckhoff's new book, Chasing Ghosts: Failures and Facades in Iraq: A Soldier's Perspective here.

The mainstream media never ceases to amaze. They have been attacking Kerry left and right for his comments, yet they never once attacked Bush for making jokes about the very reason we have lost over 2,800 soldiers. John reminded me of this yesterday with his post. After being reminded, I decided to take my first stab at throwing together a somewhat political ad:

Download | play -WMV Download | play - QT

Today the RNC released their own ad attacking Kerry and demanding an apology. Perhaps the DNC should release an ad demanding an apology from Bush for his joke about the WMDs two years ago.

Jane has more on this subject

I posted this on 7/17/05. Bob wanted to know why Bush never demanded to know who the leakers were. I think we have the answer today.
Bob Schieffer rips the White House

You know it's bad when Bob comes out throwing daggers at the President.

Download | play -WMP Download | play -QT

Digby nails it: "I see that Bob Schieffer takes the president to task for not just hauling in his top aides two years ago and telling them he wanted to know who talked to the press. This is a good question and one which I think the press should be asking every day. But then, Bush has always been a little cagey on this, hasn't he? Why you'd almost think he already knew all about it."

A lot has been written about John McCain's sudden courting of Jerry Falwell in the last few weeks so that he can try to win over the extreme Christian right that permeates the GOP these days. Let's take a listen to what Falwell and Pat Robertson said right after 9/11 on the 700 Club.
Download | play -QT

JERRY FALWELL: The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this.

PAT ROBERTSON: Well, yes.

JERRY FALWELL: And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way-all of them who have tried to secularize America - I point the finger in their face and say "you helped this happen."

How can McCain suddenly say that Falwell is not an agent of intolerance? I haven't heard them apologize for their statements.

SFGate has more back in '01.