A Big Bowl Of Wrong

[BlogBox]

This week's hot blog topics: morals are only for liberals; BushCo's "strong economy" lies busted; lame-assery and the press; and you really CAN make this up... if you ho for BushCo. The good stuff: punching back; punking back; and EarlG explains it all for you. Enjoy!

Floater #1: Lame-Assery & The Press

Josh Marshall spells out the ethical issue inherent in Lee Siegel's anonymous commenting on his own blog post at The New Republic. According to Marshall...

...the real issue with Siegel -- not that what he did is so shocking in itself but that his postings (once exposed as his) were so pompous, self-glorifying and morally frivolous that I think Frannk Foer must have just thought he embarrassed the magazine.

If other forms of employment have 'morals' clauses, punditry, I think, has a tacit lame-assery clause, which Frank must have thought Siegel violated. Like 'moral turpitude', 'lame assery' is one of those words which is both vague and endlessly extensible and yet so clear-cut and obvious when you see it right there in front of you.

Morals are only for liberals, Josh. You should know that by now.

You CAN Make It Up

Oh, Dinesh! Scooby Doo. I'm NOT in love with you, Dinesh! Scooby Doo. Did you know that terrorists hate us because western women take birth control, and we have no-fault divorce? Dinesh Disouza is dishing dirt in his new book, and The Agitator has the inside scoop on the lies, lies, and even the lies printed on the pages.

Novak's Linda Blair Moment

Quick! Somebody photoshop an animated gif of Bob Novak's head spinning around! Sabra points out Novak's slimy, smarmy Armitage-accusing, blatant contradiction of his original Plame Secret CIA Identity column in 2003. First, Novak said that his revelation of Plame's identity was offhand. Now, he claims Armitage sought him out and planted the leak. Note to Patrick Fitzgerald: go over Novak's testimony with a fine-toothed comb. He's told so many lies that he can't remember which one he's regurgitating this week.

Want more? The Next Hurrah dissects every tidbit Novak has written and/or uttered about the CIA leak scandal to date, and the reader comments are golden.

Tony Snow: Down For The Count?

Tony Snow is in it up to his scrawny chicken neck. JABBS has the blow-by-blow action in this week's David Gregory v Tony Snow, Rounds One and Two. Guess what? Snow's currently down for the count, y'all. Don't miss JABBS' posts!

Just When NBC Looks Decent...

GE/NBC has axed Eric Alterman. His personal response is posted at Editor & Publisher. Truly heavy sigh.

Floater #2: Who Got Punked This Week?

This should've been the headline of the week: Disney/ABC/Scholastic "Path To 9/11 Lies" Punks The Planet. Alas, it wasn't. At least, Kidneystones (at Daily Kos) has posted these screen captures of ABC's international ads:



But turnabout's fair play, isn't it?

Disney Gets Punked

Wooster Collective, celebrating street art, posts these pics of a clever Disneyland weekend punking:


What is that? Let's look closer...


Wow! That's one brave punkster. I wonder what the tourists thought.

Hey, remember that Saddam statue photo fake out? STOP George (at Daily Kos) predicts that Bush himself will soon declare war on wide-angle lenses. STOP George has many more damning wide-angle photos, including the president and first lady standing on the U.S. flag and the Saddam Statue Scamfest photos. All are definite keepers, but these latest show that the Bushes have no shame, whatsoever!



Too sick to my stomach to sigh.

Two Guys, A Girl & A YouTube Video

Posted at AMERICABlog:

ABC, history the way the world has never seen it before

Click here for the video

Bad Week In Bushville

Think Progress has the links. Here are a few gems:

ABC: "Sources close to the project say the network, which has been in a media maelstrom over the pic, is mulling the idea of yanking (The Path to 9/11) altogether."

Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA), the #2 Republican on the Armed Services committee, is "proposing to remove George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld from the military chain of command over Iraq."

Sources tell the New America Foundation's Steve Clemons that John Bolton's confirmation process "is now dead."

Yesterday the Senate unanimously reinstated a special CIA unit dedicated to hunting Osama bin Laden. The CIA received intense criticism after closing the unit in late 2005.

The possibility of compromise on comprehensive immigration reform "is essentially dead."

Oh, but let gasoline go down a dime, and Bush makes an approval poll comeback? The backside of the Bell curve has the attention span of a gnat. Speaking of gnats...

Rudy Knew!

Let's put that whole Guiliani "9/11 endangered my health" deal to bed, once and for all. TPM Muckraker has the money quote:

Most recently, the local New York City CBS affiliate has obtained documents showing that while the EPA and local officials believed the post-attack "toxic soup" of lower Manhattan was unsafe, Giuliani's City Hall assured workers and residents the area was safe to inhabit:

An explosive memo from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to an associate commissioner at the city health department -- dated October 5, 2001 -- told the tale.

"This site ... poses threats to workers related to potential exposure to hazardous substances," the head of EPA's Response and Prevention Branch wrote.

Publicly, however, the EPA maintained the air in Lower Manhattan was safe. That allowed Giuliani's top environmental protection official to announce on Oct. 26, 2001, "For residents and people who are working in the open area that has been created downtown, there is no realistic danger to health."

So... Rudy G.'s office announces: "No realistic danger to health." methinks Rudy wants to ride the triumphant victim train all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, and he doesn't care who gets run over along the way.

Floater #3: MSU (Not Your Alma Mater!)

Making Shit Up was obviously the GOP/Corporate America motto this week. Atrios is on this ABC/Scholastic 9/11 miniseries like white on rice.

Making Shit Up

Ethical people don't play with the Mouse.

James Bamford, an author and journalist who has written about security issues, appeared on MSNBC to discuss "The Path to 9/11." Bamford revealed that an FBI agent who worked as a consultant to the film quit halfway through production of the mini-series because he believed the writers and producers were "making things up."

Atrios also mentions that Scholastic must not be worried about destroying its reputation. Here's what I created and posted on my blog, Delilah Boyd, about their (cough) brand:


One last note on the Disney/ABC/Scholastic 9/11 propaganda piece... my hero this week is Needlenose, who posted this:

Disney's "Path to 9/11" is paved with...
By Swopa
Sep 8 2006 - 6:17am


(Graphics credit: fubar of Needlenose)

I suspect that FCC "cable à là carte" channel choice option is Disney's actual motive: make BushCo look better than Clinton, stand back, and reap the rewards.

Floater #4: Fewer College Grads Need Apply

Housing Bubble bloggers don't just cover prices. In case you haven't noticed, I've been tracking several housing bubble blogs lately, and I've learned a lot about the sad state of our economy from these HBers (housing bubble-ers), including this little factoid from Housing Panic:

Society to graduates: No, you cannot buy a house. No, you cannot have job security. No, those retirement withholdings will not be paid back to you.

You want change in your society? Piss off the young.

Of course, this info is buried so deep within the Census Bureau data report that it'd take those 1950's "Superman" episode earth's core midgets to find it: earnings for new college grads are down 8% since 2002. Pitiful. Just pitiful. Big Gulp & Whopper Flopper jobs fairs, anyone?

Nil desperandum. It's never to late to change, America!

Tastes Good And Is Good For You!

It's time to put down that big bowl of wrong and chew on some good stuff. Eyes On Fox is busy keeping an eye on the henhouse henchmen so we don't have to watch their stupid channel. Fox's latest pig ignorant piece of propaganda: a feel-good foray into the joys of Gitmo prisoner interrogation. Think I'm kidding? Just another heavy sigh, but thanks, Eyes On Fox! More good news: Archy is hosting Carnival of the Liberals #21. Bookmark it. Savor it.

Thank A DUer!

Thanks to Jack Rabbit for posting the best Katie Couric promotional campaign:

Hi. I'm Katie Couric. I'm going to make CBS News Foxy.

And to NanceGreggs, who sums ups the entire George W. Bush era in one word:

Unpresidented

And finally to EarlG (the best editor on the planet, BTW) for this:

For dramatic and narrative purposes, this post contains fictional scenes

Because after all, isn't this how it REALLY happened?

Thanks, DUers! You rock!

Is America Finally Waking Up?

Found at Bartcop this week (Sept 12, 2006 Vol 1836):


In the same edition, Bart answers a truly insightful email question:

Subject: So, which is it?

How can the right wing go from "Osama's no big deal. He's just one guy, killing or capturing him won't make that much of a difference,"

to...

"If Bill Clinton would have killed or captured Bin Ladden when he had the chance 9-11 never would have happened?"

So, which is it? It gets harder to figure out what these people want every time they open thier mouths.

go3

Bart: They're going to have it both ways until someone like you or me calls them on it. The Democrats are too scared to speak, so it's up to us.

Ol' Bart will keep posting that Dems In Tutus pic until the party proves him wrong, y'all.

Focus Group This!

Actually, The Rude Pundit wrote: "Focus group that, motherfucker," advising Dems to use this simple message:

"Don't let Osama Bin Laden tell you how to vote."

Focus group that motherfucker. It becomes shorthand for the bullshit hysteria the Republicans have wanted to provoke. It reminds people that Bin Laden is still out there without explicitly saying it. It says that for the last two elections, the American people have voted because Bin Laden scared them into voting a certain way. It evokes the constant quoting of Bin Laden that Bush has been doing, quotes that'll certainly be echoed by the media and by congressional candidates.

Look at this short speech segment that's possible: "My opponent has said that Osama Bin Laden wants to destroy America. My opponent wants you to be very scared. He says that's why you should vote for him. Well, I say to the people here in , 'Don't let Osama Bin Laden tell you how to vote.'"

Wise words. Short. Sweet. Simple enough for freepers, too.

For the first time in decades, many Dems across the country started their November campaigning the morning after their primary wins on Tuesday. Energy, stamina, and truth will show voters we mean business this time. Pouring that big bowl of wrong down the toilet will take every bit of energy we can muster, but it's not at all impossible. Keep sending those great links, and keep fighting the good fight! As the late Ann Richards used to say, "Get out there and get it done. I mean it, damn it!"

-- Delilah Boyd

[Stardust]

1. I enjoyed that. Kinda like " Best Week Ever" only, being a

Dem, it's more like "Worst Week Ever" (every week.) Welcome to DU.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. Kick for

GOOD STUFF!!

to DU!

[longship]

3. Welcome, indeed, to DU

Looks like you have a promising future here. I hope you are journalling this stuff, Blogbox.

:woohoo:

[dalaigh lllama]

4. Thanks, Delilah. A great collection, as always

:kick: :thumbsup:

[redqueen]

5. WOW!

Nice compilation!

Thanks! :hi:

[JABBS]

6. thanks for mentioning JABBS!!!

:)

[orleans]

7. i don't get this picture...what's going on here?

[kdpeters]

9. I'm not sure I get it either.

The implication wasn't obvious to me. If I didn't know that Bush is incapable of reverence and awe, I'd be more moved by the wide angle shot than the close-up. Then I reminded myself that we're five years past. Now keep that in mind and take another look. That barren emptiness is no longer sacred, but shameful. A giant nothingness left neglected and forgotten like the rest of his presidency.

Click through to the Kos article. The picture that really tells the story shows city workers rigging that slipshod bird bath out of plain wood and a plastic tarp. The wide angle reveals his moral character as much as Ground Zero. They had to make it look as if something is there, but there's nothing there at all.

It's not surprising that he has the gall to go there and display fake respect in front of a fake pool, but it does make for a vulgar image.

[KikiDisme]

8. That pic of Chimpy and Pickles...

What IS up with that? Did they really go down there and lay a wreath (almost dropped it, saw the video) with no one there? How sad is that? I'm sure it was for "security reasons". God forbid the people get anywhere near them.

It reminds me of when Gingrich used to have the Republicans go on the House or Senate floor in the middle of the night and rage about some crap or other to an empty room but it was shown on C-Span so people thought that there was some kind of fierce battle going on but the Democrats were too scared to debate back until Tip O'Neill demanded that C-Span scan the room to show what they were doing.

It's just sick that they will use any opportunity for a photo op.