I Don't Like You Either

Colbert Tackles AIG Crisis with More Right-eous Anger

From Colbert Nation:  "Stephen wants CEOs to be stripped naked and locked together in a rusty steel cage in an arena packed with screaming taxpayers."

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - Keeping Our Heads
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Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Mark Sanford

The Charisma of Bobby Jindal

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Obama's Congressional Address & Jindal's Response
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Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

It's Still an Option: "C'mon, Move to Canada!"

Progressives who are disappointed with Obama still have the option! Personally, we're on a "wait and see" basis!

Department of Valedictions: Lefty Bloggers Reflect on W

Did you know that Bush is still president?  It's true.  BUT NOT FOR VERY MUCH LONGER.

Bloggenfreude at Agitprop mourns W's passing.  "We will never see his like again."

As a lefty blogger, I will miss him. Sure he’s a dangerous sociopath, a pathological liar, and a national embarrassment.  But he’s also The Decider, The Commander Guy, and Commander Codpiece.  Think about that as January 20, 2009 approaches....

The photographic tributes are particularly choice.  We recommend clicking.

Snark O' the Day: Roy Edroso's Top Stupid Wingnut Moments for 2008

Roy Edroso posts his "top 10 stupid right-blogger tricks" for 2008 at The Village Voice.  An excerpt:

Pop stars made a video for Obama and the American Spectator compared it to Triumph of the Will. National Review called Obama's national service plan the "Obama Youth." Obama spoke in Germany, and Melissa Clouthier compared his signage to that of the Third Reich.

Jonah Goldberg said liberals only liked Obama because they didn't know any real (that is, poor and dangerous) black people; Taranto said Democrats were intimidated into nominating him, as an old lady might be intimidated into surrendering her purse to a mugger.

Jim Cramer: Show Me the Bailout Money!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Snark O' the Day: Betty Cracker on Camille Paglia

by Damozel | I read Sexual Personae Vol. 1 in---what was it? 1992?  A LONG time ago, anyway---and I really enjoyed it.  I love reading other people's literary hallucinations, even when I don't buy into them, and Paglia's hypnotic hyper-visual prose style is exceedingly well suited to the discussion of painting and literature. 

Though I couldn't agree less with her fundamental premises, I enjoyed reading her strange and wondrous reframings of my favorite works of art and literature.  It was like looking at them...um, through a glass, and darkly. Some of her eerier interpretations (on Sade, on Blake, on Baudelaire, on Coleridge on Swinburne) are forever seared upon my memory, not necessarily in a good way or in accordance with my wishes.

So I wish she hadn't ruined it all for me by trying to get herself positioned as some sort of cultural (including popular culture) arbiter.  Not satisfied with being a critic and commentator, she wanted to be Ye Supreme Arbiter of American Popular Culture. 

InstaSnark: All Sorts

Hey!  Go easy on them, dude; they're not used to it.  Fact-esque: Squealing Like Stuck Pigs: Bushies Respond to a Modicum of Truth

We knew there had to be a reason....  Bats Left, Throws Right: Oh, So That's Why The Times Hired Kristol

The war on the War on Christmas..... Brilliant at Breakfast: Ah, yer all a buncha pagans... :.  Heh.  Indeed.  Hehindeed.  Heh indeedie deedie do....

Right-wing male theocrats:  indistinguishable the world over, especially as regards their views on women and teh gays......Betty Cracker:  Mullah Warren;  Alas, a Blog;Rick Warren Blatantly Lies; Katha Pollitt on Warren’s Misogyny;  Chicken, er um Turkey Yoghurt: Benedict XVI: making a list, checking it twice

Sean Mullen ain't surprised.    GOP:  They Don't Get It.  They Never Will. We ain't surprised either.

JibJab: 2008 in Review

Best O' Wingnut Douchebaggery 2008: Vote Now for the Year's Greatest Smears (& Blots); Bonus Poll: Vote for Your Favorite Right-Wing Loathly Hag

by Teh Nutroots | WHICH WINGNUT NOMINEE SHOULD WIN EACH OF THESE COVETED AWARDS FROM THE POOR MAN'S INSTITUTE?

Chickenhawk of the Year:

We are talking about rhetorical courage, the puffed-chest bravado and keyboard-rattling grandiloquence from which true heros are made.  Whether they are warning off the Moorish hordes, threatening to start a civil war if they don’t get their way, fearlessly yelling racial slurs from behind a pseudonym on the internet, or steadfastly proclaiming their indomitable will to continue blabbing on about all the super-butch things they’d do if only they hadn’t already made plans to play Starcraft, these Warriors of Words are truly our last line of defense against not having to listen to them.(The Poor Man)

Department of Valedictions: This Final Christmas Under Bush, Give the Gift of Satire to a Fellow Progressive: "Songs of the Bushmen" by Harry Shearer

 Though it was nominated for a Grammy, we just don't think there's been nearly enough screaming about Harry Shearer's musical send-up of the Bush administration's main players.  If you've had all the peace and good will you can handle, you might enjoy a bit of black comedy, in diverse musical stylings. 

If you're looking for a last-minute Christmas gift for a progressive friend, we don't see how you could do better than this album (available at I-Tunes):

Department of ValeDICKtions: Dick Cheney---Going Out with a Growl, Not a Whimper

We're all caught up in holiday activities at the moment, but who could resist all these cherishable Cheney moments?  Certainly not us.   It's just the right time for the Anti-Claus!

As Jon Stewart has so rightly said, we don't know Dick.  Yes, he's still douchebag wrapped in an enigma and dipped in a  mystery! And---in the immortal words of the Turtles, c. 1960-something---the more we see, the more we see there is to see! 

So it seems Dick Cheney, Man of Mystery, had quite the little gabfest on Fox News:

WALLACE: Did you tell Senator Leahy, “bleep yourself”?

CHENEY: I did.

WALLACE: Any qualms, second thoughts, or embarrassment?

CHENEY: No, I thought he merited it at the time.... (Think Progress)

Attackerman: "Dey Know (Blago)"

Like Ackerman said, he's so gangster.  Via HuffPost.

A Daily Show Tribute to Liberal Whipping Boy Alan Colmes (by Hall & Oates)

Any time you need a token liberal....

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

Hall & Oates Pay Tribute to Alan Colmes

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Dept of Valedictions: It's Herbert Hoover Time! or, Even Dick Cheney is Sometimes Right

Via HuffPost:

Senate Republicans' dramatic revolt against a White House-backed auto industry rescue plan is fraught with political risk.

Colin Powell Speaks About Limbaugh, Palin, and the Military's "Don't Ask--Don't Tell" Policies

In an interview with Fareed Zakaria, Powell slams Palin and Limbaugh and says the military should rethink its "don't ask--don't tell" policies.   HuffPost has relevant portions of the conversation here.

Blago Found Guilty by Association with His Own Hair

Wonkette and Princess Sparkle Pony are all over this one.  Princess Sparkle Pony has courtroom drawings!  And says:

I love the dominance of Blagojevich's mighty hairdo. ...It's like the artist got dazzled by the enlarged coiffure, pulled into its vortex. I can't blame him! Me, too!

Ken Layne at Wonkette:

Here’s a quick tip for voters on the lookout for “clean” candidates: If they have hair like this, in 2008, they are a complete fucking criminal. No exceptions. (Rod Blagojevich’s Terrible Hair Found Guilty of Everything)

Olbermann: They're All the Worst Person in the World

Keith Olbermann hits "the conservative trifecta," says Danny Shea, with O'Reilly winning the gold medal, Hannity winning the silver, and Will coming in last with the bronze.

Bill Ayers on "Hardball"

Here's "the washed-up old terrorist," as McCain called him, speaking for himself but also with strange prescience.  Highlights:

Asked about his reaction to Palin's "palling around with terrorists remark, Ayers said: "I thought it was outrageous and profoundly dishonest, and I chose not to react to it at the time."

Ayers added, "I was on a board with President-Elect Obama, we did live in the same neighborhood, but the dishonesty of the narrative is that if you can place two people in the same room or prove that they took a bus downtown together, that they're somehow responsible for one anothers politics, policies, outlook, and behavior, and that seems to me to be patently absurd."

Tweety concluded that  "Ayers is a changed man." Uh, as Jason Linkins said, make of that what you will.

Ride the Wayback Pony: The 10 Worst Prognostications of 2008

William Kristol made number 1, with his prediction that Hill had the Democratic nomination all sewed up. Kristol is, of course, reliably wrong, which is why we love him so.  Cockney Robin wrote a piece back in 2007 deconstructing Kristol's "Why Bush Will be a Winner" that still makes us laugh out loud.  (Naturally, we're laughing at Kristol rather than with him).

But our personal favorite, which ranks number 2, will remain forever and always Jim Cramer.

H/t to Wall Street Jackass---whose tagline ("This is me not listening to you") we can only envy---for the link.

The Daily Show: Blagojevich--What Isn't He Being Charged With?

Jon Stewart:  "Rod Blagojevich is quickly going from being a sleazy politician to something out of a 19th century German children's fable."  

Corruption:  an Illinois tradition!

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

(D-IL) Weed

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Snark O' the Day: Obama's Birth Certificate---The Ongoing Questions

Now that Obama has a real scandal on his plate, this birth certificate one looks sort of sad and sketchy and tattered.  At the rate we're going the Right will be calling for impeachment before he's inaugurated.... But anyway, here's Gavin M. bringing the eyerolling fun. 

Dept of Valedictions (the Present Day): President Goofus & President Gallant

Obama unveils a stimulus package.

Bush unveils his self-portrait and says something (intentionally) funny.  Jon Stewart: "Is it possible that his entire administration was a set-up for that joke?"

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

Clusterf#@k to the Poor House - President Goofus and President Gallant

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

InstaSnark: Jeb Bush for Senator?

He did not actually get Florida involved in an illegal war.  But when you have said that, you have said it all.

The Department of Valedictions Daily Show Threefer (Jan 2006): This is Wire Tap

If someone from al-Qaeda was calling you, Bush wanted to know why.  And he was going to protect our civil liberties, with or without a warrant!

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

Headlines - This is Wire Tap

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

The Pointlessness of Religionizing Politics

Among us are a couple of religious people---even one very religious person---and we all agree that when Jesus said "Give what belongs to Caesar to Caesar and what belongs to God to God", he was endorsing the view that mixing religion with politics just makes everyone mad.

John Cole has an excellent post on why citing God as your authority never really persuades anyone.

The Department of Valedictions Daily Show Threefer (Dec. 2006): When Bush Was in "Listening Mode" About Iraq

In celebration of Gen. Shinseki's selection, let us ride the Wayback Pony to that later time when everyone knew he was right.  Rumsfeld wanted to take his hand off the bicycle seat; Bush wanted to hear "from as many ideas and opinions as possible." And he wasn't going to stop fighting and put diplomats on the ground till all violent means were utterly exhausted!

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

Mess O'Potamac - Listen, Bush Will

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Thirteen Ways of Looking at Chris Matthews (An Updated Poetic Tribute)

by Damozel | Full disclosure:  Ashamed though I am to admit it, I am---like Nora Ephron---practically in love with Chris Matthews.  This does not make me blind to his faults (with his Hillary-hatred topping my personal list), but it does impel me from time to time to compose a poetic tribute.

This one, for which I tender in advance my profoundest apologies to the late and very great Wallace Stevens,  was composed in honor of Matthews' recently announced political aspirations and their (apparent)  soon-to-be-announced deferral or retraction. 

Attack of the Blue Meanies (Mean Progressive Blogger Round-Up)

So mean.  No wonder the wingnuts moan, rage, and clutch their pearls.

The Economic Crisis: A Tragedy for Those Who Feel

At The Left Coaster, Paradox has put up a post arguing that it's time for a little less detachment about the impending Depression [see The Agonist] and a little more thought about the damage that's already been done, and being done, and the suffering that's already started.