I Don't Like You Either

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.

Snark O' the Day: Not Your Grandma's End of the Year Review

No, it's Flying Rodent's!

And as he says, and we agree, it was a very odd year.   For example,

It was the year when it finally became apparent that the West's economy was entirely based upon the ruling class's willingness to believe in the literal existence of golden unicorns that shoot rubies out of their eyes and gold bricks out of their arses, leading to massive government investment to shore up the ruby-shooting, gold-shitting unicorn industry...

...And it was a year in which the great and the good leapt to their feet in spirited defence of lowly Georgia, finally opening their mouths to righteously denounce the mighty Russian bastards, before slowly sitting back down, opening their newspapers and pretending they'd never spoken as it emerged that the Russo-Georgian War was a bit more of a level-bastardry field than we had initially been led to believe.

Here are a few specifics (he worked backwards starting with December 2008) from Part 1:

Department of Needful Diversions, Presenting: The Beijing Olympics (Alternate Universe Version)

This is a whole ship full of awesome, and we found it via The Red Tory 3.0.

The Red Tory said, and it was a true word:

I think this deadpan (東京オンリーピック　開会式＜フルバージョン＞) animated take-off of the Olympics may be one of the subversively funniest videos of the year....

As he says, "the giant motorized pigeons feasting on acrobats [and]...[t]he giant Buddha sweeping teams of competitors off his tongue into the Olympic pool" are alone worth the time.  But there so much more. 

It is a veritable televisusal feast.

Ride the Wayback Pony: A Southpark Christmas (Santa versus Jesus)

Dave Neiwart at C&L reminded us of the first episode evah:

(Not for the sensitive or pious).

Needful Diversions: Shirtless Presidents (Meme O' the Week)!

HuffPost has a whole slideshow of presidents OTHER than President-elect Obama whose pecs became public domain.   (Reagan frightened us, and we were sad to see that when he isn't leveling his razor-like stare at the camera, Putin is kind of a....well, a hottie.) 

Even more shirtless presidents (American) here at Gawker.    And if that ain't enough, go here.

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)

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.

Joe the Plumber Rips on McCain; Thinks Palin is "the Real Deal"

"Who in the what now?"  I hear you thinking.  "Joe the---oh, you mean this guy?"

No:  Joe.  JOE WURZELBACHER. Joe the Plumber?  McCain's pal?  Remember him?  Sure you do.  Big block-headed guy---claims to be a plumber--- summoned up out of obscurity by McCain during one of the debates?   Nothing? 

Needful Diversions: Remembering Odetta Holmes

One great musician, gone from us on Tuesday.  

Dept of Valedictions (Sep. 2005): Jon Stewart Looks at the Bush Administration at the Time of Katrina

Come; let us ride the Wayback Pony & consider together this EPIC FAIL.

Hurricane Katrina

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Dept of Valedictions: Bush Rocks Out ("It's the End of the World As We Know It')

And he feels FINE! 

Follow-up to Bush classic "Sunday, Bloody Sunday."

Ride the Wayback Pony: More Nixon Tapes! (Snark O' the Day)

Remember back in the day when we only got to hear the tapes with the expletives deleted? 

But we always knew there would be more and now they're here!  For the best round-up of Nixonian quotables for the aspiring Republican pol, see Amygdala. The thing about Nixon you have to like---if, that is, you subsequently lived through Reagan and Bush---is that he didn't bother to conceal his ruthlessness or cynicism under a genial mask or a crimp-browed chimp-like smirk of good-natured puzzlement. 

Ride the Wayback Pony: Bush Being Briefed on the Potential Collapse of the New Orleans Levee (Daily Show 4-7-2006)

Remembering W as he was when it was his world and we just lived in it. 

Hurricane Katrina - Tape Delay

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The High Cost of Every Day Low Prices

Time to resurrect this prophetic Jib-Jab song from 05.

Big Box Mart | Funny Jokes at JibJab

Compassionate Conservatism & the Katrina Victims: How Dare Those People Lose Everything They Own?

from Nicholas  |  Always keen to explore what’s out there, to seek out new blogs and new civilisations, I boldly went today to a blog called Five Feet Of Fury.    Fury is right.  It’s one of those angry right wing blogs written by someone who is seemingly consumed with loathing for anyone who is not exactly like her.  The conservative blogosphere is like that – they seem perpetually angry, always wanting to make life as miserable as possible for everyone else. Go have a look, if you’re not trying to digest something.

Ride the Wayback Pony 4-15-2008: Why Was Bush Absent from the Torture Committee?

Let me say that again to you:  we don't torture people, except in the lawyer-created space between cruelty and enhanced interrogation techniques.

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

House of Pain

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
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Colbert: A Recap of the Final Week of the Campaign

Needful Diversions----"Glory" from Pippin: A Tribute to War

Blue Stockings | This is Ben Vereen doing it Fosse-style in a celebration of war (from the seventies musical "Pippin.")   I loves me some Ben Vereen. Charlemagne, you lead us on to power!   

This one goes out to McCain, Palin, Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Gonazalez, and all neocons wherever they are.. 

Ride the Wayback Pony: The George W Bush Singers Sing "The State of the Union"

Inspirational!  From "Songs in the Key of W"

Ride the Wayback Pony! Joe Scarborough to Rachel Maddow in March 2008: "It's Not the Economy, Stupid!"

Videocafeblog describes it thus:

Joe Scarborough tries to put some lipstick on the pig that is the Bush economy, and Rachel Maddow tries to interject some sanity into the conversation, and when she brings up the radical economic policies of the Bush administation that have brought us to where we are now, she gets talked over and cut off.

Ride the Wayback Pony 11-07-2006: Bush is Warned About the Breach of the Levees Before Katrina

Hurricane Katrina - Tape Delay

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Bush's Legacy Embraced by McCain: A Party For Which the End Justifies the Lies?

by IDLYE | Steve Benen writes: "John McCain was presented with a choice: lose the election or lose his honor. As has become painfully clear, McCain chose the latter."  He's comforted that others have reached the same conclusion.  I call that "cold comfort." 

Anyway, it's only a symptom of a much graver disorder.

At WaPo, E.J. Dionne marvels at what the GOP's apparent comfort in distorting facts---and the public's willingness to let them justify the end by the means---tells us about the state of political discourse, where a lie is as good as the truth as long as you agree with the objective behind it.  This is the true legacy of the Bush administration, and it scares me way more than McCain does.

Needful Diversions: Spongebob Sings Eminem; Gangsta Teletubbies

"Just Lose It"

MORE:

McTemper, McTemper! or, "He Ain't Mad, He's Just Intense." Also: Fear of Palin

by Teh Nutroots | Via Digby and C&L, read this Kansas City Star account of McCain's temper issues, listing incidents that you might not be aware of.  Allegedly, and surprisingly, families of POW's and MIA's have come in for their share of it.

Families of POW-MIAs said they have seen McCain's wrath repeatedly...In 1992, McCain sparred with Dolores Alfond, the chairwoman of the National Alliance of Families for the Return of America's Missing Servicemen and Women, at a Senate hearing. McCain's prosecutorlike questioning of Alfond - available on YouTube - left her in tears.(KanasCity.com)

Yep.  Watch it happen here:

Chelsea Then, Bristol Now

by Blue Stockings | Republicans are whining that Bristol Palin is getting a bit roughed up.  I wouldn't join in myself, but---as I noted here---this is more of the typical GOP "One law for them, one for the Dems" view of reality.  I mentioned just one outrageous insult hurled back in the day at a barely adolescent Chelsea Clinton by John McCain.  Clif at Sadly, No! has much more.  When Republicans start their usual sanctimonious bellyaching over the cruelty of heartless Dems, remember this link.

Ride the Wayback Pony: Remembrances of Bush Past

Posted by Blue StockingS | From The Guardian, Oct 7, 2005:

George Bush has claimed he was on a mission from God when he launched the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a senior Palestinian politician in an interview to be broadcast by the BBC later this month.  

Mr Bush revealed the extent of his religious fervour when he met a Palestinian delegation during the Israeli-Palestinian summit at the Egpytian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, four months after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

One of the delegates, Nabil Shaath, who was Palestinian foreign minister at the time, said: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I am driven with a mission from God'. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did."

Mr Bush went on: "And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, 'Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East'. And, by God, I'm gonna do it."  (Guardian)

Ride the Wayback Pony: Sarah Palin v. The Polar Bears

Posted by Blue Stockings |  TBogg quoted this idiot Malkin post way back when (okay, it was May but it seems a long time ago):

Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin is taking on the Bush administration’s eco-pandering decision to put polar bears on the threatened species list. Via Reuters comes news that Alaska will file suit to block the move. With staunch, sane, principled conservatives like Gov. Palin and Sen. James Inhofe taking a stand, there’s hope–however dwindling–for the GOP yet.
       Keep hope alive  (The Malkin)

Brad of SN!: The 10 Most Awesomely Bad Moments of the Bush Presidency

by The Puppet Mistress | This piece by Brad of Sadly, No! is a masterpiece, a classic piece of political satire for the ages:  'A Shorter Version of Our Long National Nightmare.'  At Sadly, No!, Reed says:

The damn thing was a literal labor of hate, as I could only do so much research on things like Abu Ghraib and the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina before pounding down a bottle of Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale and calling my friends to bitch about how terrible the last eight years have been.

Stone Temple Pilots "Big Empty" Acoustic Cover

This sort of captures my feelings about the current state of the world.

Ride the Wayback Pony: Edwards' Hypocrisy Gets A Democrat Down

by Blue Stockings | Sometimes The Huffington Post really gets on my last nerve.  I know, I know, THEY TOLD US SO and we told them to shut up till they had proof.  Still: it's a tragedy for Dems and they shouldn't be quite so full of piss and judgment.  Read the smuggery here (Say It Ain't So, Elizabeth -- You Knew But Supported His Run For President?) and here (What is Wrong With Men?)

The first bothers me more than the second.  It's not Elizabeth's fault.  And Stranahan is as wrong as he can be when he implies that there would ever be a time when it wouldn't matter to Edwards' presidential bid.  His rebuke to Clinton would have come back to haunt him no matter what. 

As for what's wrong with men:  same old same old.  You could say it's a refreshing change from Republican-style sex scandals such as this one (involving a 14 year old girl and a Missouri state rep).

But I am not letting Edwards off the hook.  Far from it.  From The Raleigh News and Observer: