At Last: The Mystery of their Origins Revealed!

There is nothing particularly unusual about this picture, at first glance:

Or IS there?

Let’s see: The bald guy on the left is either in a law office or on the set of an old hemorrhoid medicine commercial. The sleazy mustache-Pete on the right is clearly in Washington, D.C. and Dan Abrams, above, is standing on the roof of a tall building in downtown Los Angeles. All well and good.

And then there’s the one that doesn’t fit.

To Mock The Killing Birds

Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics

And call me “Boo.”

The worthless shitballs of the Whiney Right have no more sense than God gave a jackass. But still they persist in their endless quest to emulate their hero, Robert E. Lee ‘Bob’ Ewell. (From Harper Lee’s book and the film To Kill a Mockingbird). A typical Bob Ewell quote:

Bob Ewell: I’m real sorry they picked you to defend that nigger that raped my Mayella. I don’t know why I didn’t kill him myself instead of goin’ to the sheriff. That would have saved you and the sheriff and the taxpayers lots of trouble…

You think that’s harsh? That’s what they’d LIKE to say.

Somebody’s House is Burnin’ Burnin’

The AP reports, one hour ago:

SEC extends restrictions on short-selling
By RICHARD JACOBSEN – 1 hour ago

Federal regulators on Tuesday extended through mid-August a temporary order banning a certain kind of short-selling of the stocks of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and 17 large investment banks.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said the ban on so-called “naked” short selling will be in effect until 11:59 p.m. EDT on Aug. 12 and will not be extended.

Short sellers make a bet that a stock’s price will fall so that they can profit from it. They borrow shares of the stock and sell them. If the price drops, they buy cheaper actual shares to cover the borrowed ones, pocketing the difference….

What it’s actually about is VULTURES and other carrion feeders of Wall Street. The actual point isn’t this story, but, rather, that what you are seeing is the equivalent of a coal-seam fire. It burns but you can’t see it until it appears aboveground. The dominoes are crashing as the banking system and “drunken” Wall Street reel from the consequences of their metaphorically crapulous behavior.

As I’ve noted before, now that the brown stuff is hitting the rotating blades, the financial press WILL NOT tell you what is happening, lest they be BLAMED for causing a “panic” by telling you the truth.

This is the perversity of unrestrained capitalism, and the financial press.

But be forewarned, and continue to be afraid.

It’s been great for the economy so far, right?

Courage.

Twilight of the GOPs part ii.

[Note: this post was featured on Crooks and Liars 7-29]

In Part the First, we followed Nixon from McCarthy to Reagan, and Reagan to Bush The Elder (chair of the RNC under Nixon). And we concluded with the cliffhanger:

… and for eight long years, Clinton was hobbled, body-checked, cracked back on. Which was when we learned what the legacy of the Fall of the House of Nixon was.

It’s a good place to start, since it so epitomizes what we’ve come to (The Knoxville News-Sentinel):

Police: Accused shooter hated liberals, expected to be killed
4-page letter outlines frustration, hatred of ‘liberal movement’

By Hayes Hickman , Don Jacobs
Originally published 07:44 a.m., July 28, 2008
Updated 11:28 a.m., July 28, 2008

The shotgun-wielding suspect in Sunday’s mass shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church was motivated by a hatred of “the liberal movement,” and he planned to shoot until police shot him, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV said this morning.

GÖPperdämmerung

Götterdämmerung literally means “The Twilight of the Gods.” Part The First:

photo by Jostein Sand Nilsen

It seems so long ago, when the nation was in thrall to Terri Schiavo and GOP hate operatives waffle-stomped the national rhetorical landscape with bloodthirsty abandon. When Dick Cheney was going to march down to the Senate to break a tie vote on doing away with the filibuster and no one dared criticize our “War President,” the “Decider.”

Continue to Hold, Please …

Please Leave a Message ….

The Mot That Never Bonned

OK. I’ve been waiting all night for some professional comedian to spout the obvious punchline. No dice.

Obama spoke today in front of a crowd in Berlin estimated at 200,000 (fig. 1). John McCain appeared in front of a  restaurant that serves bratwurst and fudge (fig. 2). Got that?

To paraphrase Mark Twain, who said that the difference between the right word and almost the right word is the difference between “lightning” and “lightning bug” …

The difference between the right political staging and almost the right political staging is the difference between “Germany” and “a German restaurant.”

(That creepy little guy standing next to McCain is Carolina senator Graham the Cracker, BTW. Baghdad’s own Bargain Rug Hunter, hisownself. Looks like the Botox™ is working great for him!)

‘Nuff said.

Courage.

UPDATE July 25: (hat tip to dave h.) The New York Times follows up with detail on just WHY that difference has spelled out a disastrous week for McCain. This includes confirmation of the bratwurst lunch, and the additional revelation of the Republican National Committee’s counter-advertising choices — showing a deft political sense only rivaled by Harold Stassen’s”

The campaign’s choice of restaurant was consistent with the Republican National Committee’s decision to run anti-Obama advertisements in Berlin, N.H.; Berlin, Wis.; and Berlin, Pa.

Just think of the money missed by Obama’s not having visited Russia that Moscow, Idaho,  Moscow, Indiana,  Moscow, Iowa,  Moscow, Kansas,  Moscow, Maine,  Moscow, Mississippi,  Moscow, Ohio,  Moscow, Pennsylvania,  Moscow, Rhode Island,  Moscow, Tennessee,  Moscow, Texas,  Moscow, Vermont,  Moscow, West Virginia,  Moscow, Wisconsin,  Moscow Mills, Missouri,  Moscow Township, Michigan and Moscow Township, Minnesota all never received.

(Not to mention Berlin, Connecticut, Berlin, Georgia, Berlin, Illinois, Berlin, Kentucky, Berlin, Maryland, Berlin, Massachusetts, Berlin, Michigan, Berlin, New Jersey, Berlin, New York, Berlin, North Dakota, Berlin, Holmes County, Ohio, Berlin, Williams County, Ohio,  Berlin, Vermont, Berlin, West Virginia and Berlin Heights, Ohio.)

Oy.

Requiescat In Pace

They say that 90% of politics is just showing up. Dorthy showed up for the Democratic Party of Lane County 100% of the time.

Courage.

Small Craft Advisory

Due to an exceptionally compelling DVD of My Fair Lady, today’s blog has been delayed until tomorrow.

The management regrets any inconvenience to our readership.

Courage.

A Thought on Franklin’s Grave

Moon Day Plus One.

Making the pilgrimage to the final resting place of Ben Franklin, I had wandered the mall with the gigantic buildings dedicated to what happened in two smallish rooms in Independence Hall and at Carpenter’s Hall up the street.

Click to enlarge