Buck Naked Politics

Bill Maher on the Tonight Show: Obama a Socialist? "He's Not Even a Liberal."

by Damozel | Bill Maher says -- among much else -- to an exceedingly discomfited Conan O'Brien:

"[Obama] should get mad, stop dicking around [and] get health care done."

"Bush had horrible ideas, but he said, "I'm just going to get it through.  Suck on it, America!"... [Obama] should wake up tomorrow and say "Jesus told me to fix health care."" 

"We do not have the right two parties [for a two-party system].  We have one party that is good if you're defending banks,  credit card companies...and the pharmaceutical lobby.  That would be the Democrats.  On the other side, we have a party of religious lunatics, flat-earthers, and Civil War re-enactors who call themselves the Republicans and take their orders from Rush Limbaugh.  They think Obama is a socialist.  Socialist?  He's not even a liberal.  What we need in this country is a progressive party and we don't have it."

PS.  He also calls Bill O'Reilly "a doody face."

Arianna is so right.  More after the jump!

Media Morons Heart the Tea-bagging Fools of the Party of No: A Compendium of Progressive Snarkery

by Teh Nutroots | curv3ball over at The Toot, commenting on the relationship between astroturfers and attendant loonies and our useless media:

The stupid has reached supernova and all the media can do is applaud the ability of those firing up the stupid to capture the media’s attention with a particularly shiny stupid.  Rather than, you know, point out that stupid mendacity is actually stupid and mendacious, and its purveyors likewise (or, in the alternative, cynical and mendacious). ("Nobody Dumbs It Better")

TBogg:

A coalition of 'concerned citizens'...have banded together to make sure that abortion funding is not included in whatever half-assed  health care plan the gutless Democrats finally cobble together. The idea being that....women will wake up in the morning and be all, "Hmm.... should I go to the mall or have an abortion today?" because woman just love abortin',  particularly if it's free, just like a makeover at M•A•C.

Abortion is only for those who can afford it. The uninsured Poors will just have to have their babies.

The cycle of poverty demands it. (Keeping Abortion Out of the Reach of the Riff-Raff)

Gah. Megan McArdle, Glibertarian, Live at WaPo

by Teh Nutroots | Gah. Whoever offered her a platform at The Washington Post needs to be forced to read her musings every day for the next year as a penance. 

McArdle: "Facts I Did Not Know"

TBogg:  "We're gonna need a bigger internet."  

Even so.  If you want a break from reality, catch McArdle in the process of demonstrating how much her reach-- as TBogg points out (though he's funnier) -- exceeds her grasp.

Update:  TBogg reviews McArdle (First we get rid of all the sick people.  Then we won’t need insurance. Profit!)  "I think, after this, we can officially designate Megan McArdle as the America's Stupidest Blogger™."

Brad at Fire Megan McArdle:  "Note that every single number she came up with to support her argument was hypothetical, and based on willful ignorance of reality..."

Susan of Texas: "A hypothetical is not a statistic. A statistic is a fact that can be verified, not a guess, and McArdle just admitted she made a guess. That guess was the entire basis for her argument against health care reform."

The Daily Show: Jon Stewart High-Fives Barney Frank for Standing Up to Town Hall Name-Caller

bartleby the scrivener | Barney Frank asked on what planet the protester spends most of her time.

Jon: "Apparently, a planet where a mixed race president and a gay Jew qualify as Nazis."

The Daily Show: Obama Needs to Stay on Message in Health Care Debate

Jon Stewart can't tell if Obama is a Jedi 10 steps ahead of all the rest of us or a guy getting his ass kicked just a little bit. After the jump...

The Colbert Report: Glenn Beck Loses Ad Revenue; The Daily Show: Glenn Beck on Health Care -- Then and Now

"Glenn didn't say Obama is a racist.  He said he believes he is a racist...."

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
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The Daily Show: The Obama Town Hall & Some Guy with a Gun Strapped to his Leg

Obama in New Hampshire, talking about his health care plan. After the jump...

The Daily Show: The Diplomacy of Hillary Clinton

She won't channel her husband, so don't even think of asking her his opinion of anything.  After all, who is Secretary of State, Hill or Bill?  Hmmm?  JS:  "Damn, random person in the Congo.  You just got served!"  You go, Ms. Crankypants! 

After the jump....

Senator Franken

In the wake of Al Franken’s long-awaited Senate victory in Minnesota, Steve Young has an interesting insight in the Huffington Post that should shed some light on how Franken made the transformation from comedian with a conscience to US Senator.  After all, Franken wasn’t looking to become a politician a few years ago, but after he was moved to write a scathing parody ripping Right Wing talk TV and radio, something happened.

Young has this take:

 

The straw that broke the far right wing's back came in the form of a 2003 law suit where the right-wing elevated the comic/author Franken from comic and author to Michael Moore danger level.
 
Penguin Books published Franken's book "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right," which included a cover photo of O'Reilly and a chapter accusing O'Reilly of lying. The book had sold fairly well, but would have run its course until Fox News, pushed by O'Reilly taking the bait, sued claiming infringement of its registered trademark phrase "Fair and Balanced." A federal judge found the lawsuit to be "wholly without merit" and Fox then filed to dismiss it. With the media attention drawn by the legal folly, Franken's sales and his public image went bonkers. He not only beat O'Reilly and made him appear thin-skinned and toothless, but his books and satirical approach taught the Democrats to fight back creatively. More importantly, he gave open-minded Republicans a bit of the truth behind far-right talk show zealots claims. Claims that had pretty much gone without scrutiny even by the so-called liberal mainstream media who were happy to book people like Limbaugh, O'Reilly and Ann Coulter to get their take on politics.  

The Daily Show: "Transparency" and "Accountability" Under Obama

by Damozel | After eight years of redactions, Obama gives the public only the information the public needs to know and protects Dick Cheney against the likes of Jon Stewart.  Let the sun shine in!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
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Colbert Interviews Historian Simon Schama

Colbert makes British historian Simon Schama -- author of American History:  a Future -- admit that we're Number 1, history-wise.  After the jump....

Bill Maher: New Rules + "Democrats are the New Republicans" (Why [1] Obama's Not a Liberal & [2] Progressives Need a Political Party)

by Damozel |  The closing monologue is beyond awesome. "Over the last 30 years, Democrats have moved to the right...and the right has moved into a mental hospital.....What we need is an actual progressive party to represent the millions of Americans who aren't being served by the Democrats."

Bush Emerges from His Lair to Criticize Obama's Policies to "Local Business Group" (with Illustrative Video on W's Deep Thoughts)

by Teh Nutroots | Give the man this:  he kept his mouth shut for five whole months.  Between them, Bush and Cheney are setting a whole new precedent for past administrations to abuse new ones -- just as they set new precedents for current administrations to abuse their power and to create an atmosphere of fear and represession.  

But give Bush this as well....he didn't go on national TV to do his blathering.  Yet. 

"I know it's going to be the private sector that leads this country out of the current economic times we're in," the former president said to applause from members of a local business group. "You can spend your money better than the government can spend your money."

Colbert Interviews Obama Economic Adviser & Harry Potter Teacher, Austan Goolsbee

by Damozel | Goolsbee, economic adviser, wants you to know that we're going to end up in a happy place economically. Obama "has taken responsibility" and is "going to fix things." Yay!  Stephen just wants to know if Goolsbee's arm is tired from throwing money at problems.  After the jump....

Bill Maher Criticizes Obama for Acting Like a Celebrity Instead of Taking on Corporations & Lobbyists; Audience Cheers

by Damozel |  After all:  if not now, then when?  Bill roughs up Obama for acting like a celebrity instead of going full throttle after measures that we desperately need.    

Needful Diversions: "Wizard! You Shall Not Pass!" -- Stellar Actor Sir Ian McKellen Schools "Andy Millman" in Technique

by Damozel |  Probably my favorite scene ever from English comedic genius Ricky Gervais' Extras and an instant classic for all fans of Sir Ian, Lord of the Rings, or British comedy.  Jump to watch it....

The Daily Show: AIG Buys a Vowel & Obama Drops a Cap on Executive Compensation's Ass by Dropping the Cap on Executive Compensation

by Damozel | ...annnnd Ken Feinberg becomes the Master of Compensation, a/k/a "the pay czar". 

So if AIG is "rebranding" itself, can recovery be far behind?  The economy:  Fixed! Or... f##cked?

After the jump....

Colbert, Operation Iraqi: Stephen Stresses Importance of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

by Maggie Temple-Smith  | Stephen Colbert debates the issue with his most formidable opponent, Stephen Colbert.  After the jump...

Jon Stewart Interviews PJ O'Rourke

by Damozel | P.J.'s one of the few right wingers I can stomach, so I admit that I enjoyed this, even though it was all about "the car culture", which: meh.   

The Daily Show: Dick Cheney versus Obama (The "Dueling Speeches")

Conflict, easily juxtaposed on tape, gives the media a woody....And one of the main cheerleaders of the Iraq War finally admits he was always on Darth Vader's side!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
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