Mock, Paper, Scissors

Even the podium has an enthusiasm gap, and chucks off the Preznintial seal.

If you read the article that Mooselini references, you will see that in essence Thomas Sowell is accusing the Administration of Fascism on the way to Nazi-ism. Given the way that the Right continually pulls out the trope that the Left (MoveOn.org in particular) compared Chimpy to Hitler (which isn’t true) and the way they scream foul to this day, it seems a little beyond the pale that the intellectually lazy and disingenuous Sowell is being given any accommodation, let alone by Mooselini, who often wails about how she is so mistreated and compared to Hitler.

So what did the right say when two contributors to MoveOn submitted commercials to a contest that depicted Chimpy as Hitler?

The Google tells us…

…the whole thing seemed, as far as I could tell, to be motivated by an incoherent and sputtering animus toward Bush.

–Rich Lowry

I don’t say this because I feel a passionate need to defend George Bush. I would make the exact same points if Al Gore were president. I would make the exact same points if anybody running for the Democratic nomination were president. This has nothing to do with partisanship. It has to do with the fact that such comparisons are slanderous to the United States and historical truth and amount to Holocaust denial. When you say that anything George Bush has done is akin to what Hitler did, you make the Holocaust into nothing more than an example of partisan excess.

– Jonah Goldberg

A staple of Bush-hating is the portrayal of the president as a Nazi. That has, of course, been a prominent part of other attacks against other presidents, but today it seems to be deployed with particular aggressiveness against Bush. There are thousands of references, across the vastness of the Internet, linking Bush to Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich.

– Byron York

…portrayals of Bush as Adolf Hitler — as we saw and heard in the “human-rights” protests — betray an ignorance of liberty, an ignorance of right and wrong, an ignorance of commonsense.

– Bill Bennet

So what gives with this crazy popular analogy—one that on a typical Internet Google search of “Bush” + “Hitler” yields about 1,350,000 matches? …But something has gone terribly wrong with a mainstream Left that tolerates a climate where the next logical slur easily devolves into Hitlerian invective.

–Victor Davis Hanson

(I just did a query on Obama and Hitler and got back over 7 Million hits, something of an increase over what VDH experienced. It’s a silly unit of measure, but the very silly Hanson used it first, so this is just as legitimate as his first use of it.)

Okay, so where are these same outraged gentlemen now? Jonah, because you said you would defend anyone (even Al Gore) against these types of accusations, where are you? Why are they not speaking up?

Oh, I forgot the mention: the Sowell piece appeared on the NRO, so I guess that means that they all endorsed it, especially ol’ Starburst who is the editor, and presumably made the decision to let ‘er rip.

Heh.

They won’t take my photoshop or my laptop though, right? Do I have any rights left?

Secret Service Warns Public That They Would Confiscate Any Cameras Used to Take Pictures of First Family

This story on the First Lady taking the kids to a Broadway show in New York has an interesting element: a warning by the Secret Service that anyone taking their picture would have their cameras confiscated. Perhaps the Secret Service General Counsel could point us to where in the Constitution and federal law the Secret Service has the authority to ban photographs by the public and the confiscation of cellphones and pictures to enforce the ban.

Michelle Obama – with Sasha, 8, and Malia, 11, and about a dozen other people in tow – attended the matinee performance of “Memphis” Sunday. After the block was cordoned off, the large group entered the theater. Secret Service members did not like all of the pictures being taken that issued the warning. If the First Family wishes to avoid pictures, they may want to watch the play on video rather than confiscating cellphones and cameras of citizens. I find it outrageous that the Secret Service would consider it within its authority to confiscate phones to avoid annoyance to the First Family. The Secret Service at times seems to view itself as a Praetorian Guard rather than a public law enforcement agency.

For the full story, click here.

via Jonathan Turley

“…yadda-yadda-yadda.”

¡Hola Scissorheads!

Lou Dobbs threatens the United States that he will remain in the public eye, and then Noted Bachmann stalker, long shower taking, dirty talking, falafel monger, Bill O’Reilly asks him if the Carebear is the devil.

This is better than Saturday Night Live.

Compare and contrast Obama’s speech to school children tomorrow with Mooselini’s repiglican rebuttal.

If you had to pick one editorial cartoon to represent what’s happening in the health care debate, which would it be?

I like this one, except that I don’t actually think Obama’s holding onto the public option as tightly as he seems to be in this cartoon.

What about this one?

Or this one?

What would you draw?

“He’s a coward! He’s a patriot! Obama isn’t the president! Birth certificate!” — I can only imagine the cognitive dissonance.

U.S. Army Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook filed a request last week in federal court seeking a temporary restraining order and status as a conscientious objector with the intent to stall and eventually prevent an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.

In the 20-page document — filed July 8 with the United States District Court, Middle District of Georgia — Cook’s California-based attorney, Orly Taitz, asks the court to consider granting his client’s request based upon Cook’s belief that President Barrack Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and is therefore ineligible to serve as commander-in-chief of U.S Armed Forces.

Get yer minds outta the gutter.  Not THAT Obama.  It’s the first puppy! Look how cute!!!

ABC News’ Yunji de Nies reports: The newest White House resident now has his own official portrait. In the photograph, First Dog Bo, the Obama family’s Portuguese Water Dog, sits on the South Lawn with his new home shining in the background.

Along with the picture, the White House has also created a Bo baseball card, which features fun facts about the presidential pooch.

His favorite hobbies? Playing on the White House Lawn and walking with the Obamas. After his favorite exercise of running, Bo is said to enjoy napping near First Tweens Malia and Sasha. And Bo’s got goals: “make friends with foreign dognitaries.”

via ABC

Or why else? Why are we letting fear dictate these sorts of decisions?

Obama Gives Up On Bringing Released Gitmo Inmates To U.S.

from Huff Po

The Obama administration has all but abandoned plans to allow Guantanamo Bay detainees who have been cleared for release to live in the United States, administration officials said yesterday, a decision that reflects bipartisan congressional opposition to admitting such prisoners but complicates efforts to convince European allies to accept them.

and

Obama Gives Up on Resettling Cleared Guantanamo Detainees in U.S., Officials Say

from wa po politics by Peter Finn and Sandhya Somashekhar

The Obama administration has all but abandoned plans to allow Guantanamo Bay detainees who have been cleared for release to live in the United States, administration officials said yesterday, a decision that reflects bipartisan congressional opposition to admitting such prisoners but complicates…

Also on topic ….

(more…)

to the insurance company executives and their lobbyists, right?

WTF?!? Universal Healthcare advocates forcibly removed from US Senate Hearing on … (wait for it) …. HEALTHCARE

from Sacramento for Democracy

[More from Laura Flanders]

Baucus v. Democracy

By David Swanson

I can’t recall a better corporate news video segment in at least the past decade than the story that Ed Schultz just aired on MSNBC in which he interviews Margaret Flowers of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) and Senator Debbie Stabenow on the topic of healthcare reform.Here’s video.

Sure, Ed slaps a gratuitous insult on the heroines of Code Pink, says he’s against protesting and “getting arrested” as a rule but thinks it’s OK if doctors in suits and “educated professional people” do it, and pretends to believe (or actually believes) that President Obama favors considering the possibility of creating single-payer healthcare. But the heart of this story is the gaping chasm between majority opinion and the corporate agenda of the United States Senate.  And Ed Schultz hits it out of the park.

Ed goes after the health insurance companies, the pharmaceutical companies, and the HMOs. He plays video of activist Kevin Zeese speaking up at the recent Senate Finance Committee hearing and being arrested. He explains perfectly what single-payer healthcare is. (I recommend this flyer (PDF).) And he denounces the anti-democratic exclusion of single-payer advocates by Committee Chairman Max Baucus.

And then Ed brings on Margaret Flowers who absolutely nails every question he asks, and he asks the right questions. Flowers lists the polls showing that over 60 percent of Americans and 60 percent of physicians want single-payer, explains that PNHP has 16,000 members and is part of the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Healthcare which has 20 million members. Flowers points out that the next senate hearing is on March 12th and that advocates are asking for at least one supporter of single-payer to be included.

That sort of mention of an upcoming event and very nearly inclusion of exactly what people can do to improve their country is rare indeed on our televisions. Let me take it a slight step further: Senator Max Baucus’s phone number is (202) 224-2651.

“But their resumés were written in Word! On a computer!”

It does seem like it was eons ago. Can anyone remember back that far?

Check here to see if transcript has been posted. Not up as of 11 AM.

I Kent Jones!

A newly discovered species of lichen – a plant-like growth that looks like moss or a dry leaf – has been named after President Obama.

I have the sort of job where I need to dress professionally (dress with jacket or suit of some sort) twice a week and can wear jeans and a very specific collared shirt twice a week, and pretty much something in between on a fifth day. I teach from home on Sundays and do so in sweats. Depends on the role I am playing that day. But I am not president. And when you’re president, these things are IMPORTANT! In fact they’re RULES!

Is wearing or not wearing a suit jacket such a big deal?

from AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth by Chris in Paris

When I started working in the business world almost 20 years ago, there were still a few holdouts such as EDS or IBM where everyone had to wear a suit and tie. (EDS people could take off their jackets while sitting in their office or cubicle as I recall.) Much has changed since then and Bill Gates even goes without a tie. Microsoft people and may in the tech industry never wear ties when meeting with clients. It’s rare that I wear a tie when visiting my own corporate clients and they’re not wearing them either.

Of course Obama is in the White House but I don’t see where it’s important for him to wear a jacket if he doesn’t want to wear a jacket. Formal meetings or functions are another story, but really, this is a non-issue. Bush was another generation and from a stodgy old money family. Besides, wearing a jacket in the Oval Office didn’t do much for him or the country.

I’m with Obama on this one. It’s 2009 for goodness sakes.

It’s the same Oval Office. The same desk. Even the same curtains. But President Obama has already made one major change: Go through eight years of White House photos, and you won’t find one of former President Bush in the Oval Office without his jacket on.

It wasn’t just a personal preference. In the Bush administration, it was a rule: Jackets in the Oval Office — and now, it seems, one of the first Bush-era regulations to get scrapped in the Obama White House.

Update! SOMETIMES even Bush allowed men in the room who were not wearing jackets.

Image via Americablog.

8 yrs ago today

4 yrs ago today

TODAY!

In Honor of Rosh Hashanah. Awwwww.

h/t Sharonlee.

Thanks to Newsweek via KOS via Alfred.

TexBetsy, 1 US-made station wagon, 1 rental apt. You?