Thursday night musical respite

This one's for the biggest Journey fan I know.

I don't even care that Atrios posted it first. I just like it, ya know?

UPDATE (2:42 pm 9/28/09): Crap. It got taken down and I can't find it on YouTube, either. Guess Fox decided to be dicks about it. Oh well ... sorry.

GOP convention seating chart

A week ago Sunday, I showed you the seating chart for the state delegations at the Democratic National Convention.

The Republicans' chart, however, is a little different, albeit much more appropriate:


(h/t to Eschaton commenter Richard)

Blast Off! Radio today at 4:00 pm EDT: Live from the Big Tent in Denver

Well, here I am. Sitting in the Big Tent, snarfing down lunch and dealing with a dead communal battery (which, to give the BT staff credit, they are in the process of replacing). There are about 150 bloggers in here, which should make the radio show interesting. But, as you know, the show must go on.

Assuming I find her in here somewhere (and she's supposed to be here by showtime), I'll be interviewing the lovely and talented Athenae of First Draft, along with anyone else I can arm-twist (Atrios is in da house, but he looks busy. Kos is here, too, but ... well, you know. Kenny Quinnell will do it if I ask him, of course. Anyway, we'll see ...)

I'm sitting with bloggers from Oklahoma and Colorado, and of course others are all around me. Should be fun, if it's not too loud to broadcast from here. One way or the other, though, I'll be on, and here's how you can listen and, I hope, call in (assuming I get a power connection before 2pm local time):

TIME: 4:00 pm Eastern TODAY

Click here to listen

Call in number: (646) 716-7543

E-mail: blastoffradio-at-gmail-dot-com

Hope you'll listen and call in! Don't forget chatroom and e-mail, too ...

Lots to talk about! Talk to you soon.

New Huggy Bear commercial

My hardcore Atriot friends have already seen this, but for the rest of you, it's a Can't Miss.

Kudos to Thers, watertiger, and Dan McEnroe for outstanding work on this, the newest Huggy Bear campaign commercial, "The TRUTH About Barack Obama."



Good thing I don't have a sister. Or not.

Today, the meme ... tomorrow, a link

I knew "Huggy Bear" would catch on. It just needed a little help ...

The last word on the tax rebate

Once again proving that I am a complete fucking moron for even trying to write about economic matters, I must update my post from this morning about the economic stimulus package. Turns out that you don't have to pay it back next year.

Do I have to pay the rebate back?

No. And here's why.

Your rebate is a one-time tax cut - an advance on a credit you'll receive on your 2008 return.

It's based on your 2007 income initially. If it turns out that your 2008 income and number of children would have qualified you for a larger rebate than the one you received, you'll be sent the difference. If it turns out your 2008 income was lower than in 2007 and you should have gotten a lower rebate, you get to keep the difference.

"If you were supposed to receive a larger payment than you did, you will get the extra money," said Treasury spokesman Andrew DeSouza. "If you received more than what you should have gotten, you will not be penalized."

Of course, I also learned from the article that I won't be getting a rebate at all. [Insert frowny face.] At least not till I file my 2008 taxes next year. Thanks to a certain game show, my 2007 income was artificially high, beyond the limit for a single filer ... so no soup for me, until I show the IRS how much little I really make this year. Add to this the fact that I actually owe California more money -- despite having it withheld originally -- and I'm beginning to question the whole exercise ...

Anyway, it's patently clear that I need to leave the economic stuff to sweaty lunks who, you know, actually understand that shit. If I ever try to get into economics again, please, for the love of all that is holy and decent, hit me in the nose with a rolled-up newspaper or something. Thanks in advance.

Wanker of the Day: updated statistics

As the self-appointed Wanker Chronicler for Eschaton, I've tallied all of the the Wanker of the Day awards to date; perhaps you've seen the previous reports here, here, and here.

I'll work on finalizing the full list of all WOTD honorees (there are 547 awards and probably upwards of 400 honorees total, so it'll take a while), but in the meantime, here are your Top Ten Wankers of the Day as of today (Hall of Famers in italics):

1. Fred Hiatt - 23 24 (see below)
2. Glenn "Instawanker" Reynolds - 22
3. Joe Lieberman - 21
4. Joe Klein - 16
5. John McCain and Andrew Sullivan (tie) - 11
7. David Broder and Jonah Goldberg (tie) - 10
9. Richard Cohen - 9
10. John "Assrocket" Hinderaker, Michelle Malkin, Tim Russert, Rick Santorum, and Marshall Wittman (tie) - 7

There definitely is room for additional Hall of Famers, and it's probably time for another induction. So stay tuned ...

UPDATE (10:04 am 10/28/07): Proving himself a wanker for the ages, Hiatt took the honor again yesterday (Saturday), giving him 24 and a two-wank lead over Instawanker.

No, I won't update like this every day, but at least now I have a spreadsheet so I can keep track more regularly. (Goddamn, I'm a loser ...)

Steny Hoyer's coming to town

The Florida Democratic Party, despite all the signs that point to the desirability of a more progressive position, refuses to budge from its "centrist" (read: stupid, DLC-influenced) perspective.

First, we have the bizarre instance of "moderate" (read: wolf in sheep's clothing) Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Barely) suing the national Democratic Party over the primary date fiasco.

Then, just when I've finished trying to figure that little tactic out comes this e-mail a few minutes ago from Florida Democratic Party chairperson Karen Thurman:

Dear [Sinfonian],

I'm proud to announce that my old friend, Steny Hoyer, the Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, will deliver the keynote address at the Florida Democratic Party's 2007 State Convention Victory '08 dinner.

The Convention opens in just three weeks so purchase your tickets to the dinner today!

Congressman Hoyer, the second highest-ranking Democrat in the House, has built a reputation as a skilled legislator and a strong consensus builder. In the past few months, he helped score major victories for the American people, including the first raise of the federal minimum wage in over a decade, a 50% cut to student loan rates to make college more affordable, and the toughest Congressional ethics regulations in history. His current priorities include fighting to bring new accountability to the war in Iraq and overturning the President's veto of children's health insurance.

Ugh. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) (right) is one of the least progressive Democrats in Congress. He's been bending over backwards (no, Larry Craig, not literally) to appease Republicans in the old "can't we all just get along?" style, the style that demonstrably doesn't work. Okay, I call it "appeasement" and Thurman calls it "consensus build[ing]." Either way, it's a travesty.

Why, just today, Atrios taunted Hoyer for being forced to back down from announcing new FISA rules -- you remember, the law that allows the Bush crime syndicate to eavesdrop on your conversations and all that -- that didn't include critical safeguards against overreaching surveillance. At a time when the Florida Democratic Party should be reaching out to progressives and embracing us for representing the majority of the party, as they did in June by bringing bloggers into the "inner sanctum," they instead insult us by bringing Hoyer in, presumably to talk a good game ... but he backs down every time to Republicans when push comes to shove. All talk, no action, that's Steny.

I was considering changing my plans to attend the Party's convention, since I'd originally planned to be out of the state that weekend. But, if Hoyer's there, I assure you, I will not be there.

Best Family Guy quote ever

We were chatting at Eschaton today about Sarah Jessica Parker ... which reminded me of a line from Family Guy.

Peter was complaining about censorship on television, and he uttered the immortal line, "They let Sarah Jessica Parker's face on TV and she looks like a foot!"

Positively sublime.

D.C. recap, part one

Now that I'm finally back online -- I got home last night from Tampa and almost immediately fell asleep -- I can share some observations (and pictures!) of the event(s) in Washington.

First of all, the Atriots with whom I spent the weekend swear like longshoremen, drink like Drunky McStagger, and are uniformly gorgeous/handsome, brilliant, hilarious, and fun. But then you knew that. Good times, indeed.

Next, the media coverage was poor at best. But then you knew that, too.

I'd say the crowd of "peace protestors" (an actual sign, as Thers has pointed out) probably was in the neighborhood of 30,000. This is based on some quasi-scientific counting by racy mind (estimating the number passing a given point per second and extrapolating therefrom for the length of the march); it certainly was more than the "several thousand" mentioned by the Washington Post, and it far exceeded the counterprotestors -- the "Gathering of Eagles" and Freeper "morans" -- who numbered perhaps 1,000 at best. (More on the media coverage shortly.)

I behaved myself fairly well. My best line, I think, was to an older Freeper type holding up a pink sign with a well-known picture of the guy with his head up his ass. It was meant to be a commentary on Code Pink, but of course I told him (yelled to him, really) that it was a great picture of George Bush. That seemed to make him and his colleagues mad, because they started telling me that I was Number One. (At least I think that's what they were saying ... I couldn't really hear them over the "You Were Lied To" chant we were doing.)

I did not have a chance to see, nor (therefore) to flip off, Ralph Nader. More's the pity.

I'll post pictures shortly. They are profound, moving, fun, and hopefully entertaining.

To be continued after a conference call ...

First views of D.C.

Sitting in Starbucks along Pennsylvania Avenue at about 9th St. NW, and preparing to meet my peeps at a nearby Metro stations.

The barricades are up, the police are out in force, and the "Support the Troops" wackos are everpresent and far more numerous than I ever anticipated.

Apparently the rally is continuing up by the White House, so I probably won't see marchers for about an hour. But so far it's all flag-wavers ... even saw a Swift Boat Vietnam Vets T-shirt on a large, bearded guy. I opted not to engage him in conversation ...

Ah, more Atriots just arrived ... watertiger and Culture of Truth are here! Holy shit - the world-famous Steve Simels just arrived and he's looking over my shoulder this very moment!

Fun and frolicking ... until we get thrown in jail, I guess.

Food for thought

From the always entertaining late-night comment thread at Eschaton:

Except for the 19th-century diseases, the looming Balkanization, the complete reign of terror arresting all progress, the fact that women were better off under Saddam, the lack of the hallmarks of civilization (water, electricity, hygiene, etc.), the inability to dispose of corpses properly, the utter ruin of the oil industry (oil is being imported from Kuwait), the pollution of two of the greatest rivers in the world, the loss of America's superpower status, self-confidence and ability to fight a two-front war, the fact of the matter is that Iraq is a runaway success story.

Blowin' Bob Allen Comment of the Day

From Eschaton:

"Bob Allen (R-Wingnut) is Pro-life. In fact, he's so pro life that he's willing to pay a guy money to deposit life in his mouth."

Hat tip to cosmosis.

Gimme just one more year, 'cause I can't surge forever

If I had a Wanker of the Day award like Atrios, I'd give it to Maj. Gen. Richard Lynch today. He's the commander of the 3rd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army in Iraq, and he wants to go at least another couple of Friedman Units to nail things down over there:

"It's going to take through (this) summer, into the fall, to defeat the extremists in my battle space, and it's going to take me into next spring and summer to generate this sustained security presence," he said, referring to an Iraqi capability to hold gains made by U.S. forces.

Lynch said he had projected in March, when he arrived as part of the troop buildup, that it would take him about 15 months to accomplish his mission, which would be summer 2008.

He expressed concern at the growing pressure in Washington to decide by September whether the troop buildup is working and to plan for an early start to withdrawing all combat troops.

Okay, Dick (may I call you "Dick?" Seems fitting ...), here's the thing: the "war" has gone on for, what, five years now? If memory serves, it's now second in duration only to the Vietnam War (again, not really a war at all, but bear with me) among all American military operations since the Revolution. And you say you need another year before you can settle things down? Way to move those goalposts back another 366 days, pal.

Lynch said that Iraqi security forces are not close to being ready to take over for the American troops. So if the extra troops that were brought in this year are to be sent home in coming months, the insurgents - both Sunni and Shiite extremist groups - will regain control, he said.

"To me, it would be wrong to take ground from the enemy at a cost - I've lost 80 soldiers under my command — 56 of those since the fourth of April - it would be wrong to have fought and won that terrain, only to turn around and give it back," he said in an interview with two reporters who traveled with him by helicopter to visit troops south and west of Baghdad.

Now, see, Dick, here you're just missing the point. The point is not to waste more lives, it's to save lives, and the very best way to do that is to end the war. I might even grant you that "it would be wrong to have fought and won that terrain," but see, it's been wrong to fight for the last half-decade now. Two wrongs don't make a right, true ... but three rights make a left, and we should have left a long time ago. Get it, Dick?

Near Jurfassakhar, just west of the larger town of Iskandariyah, al-Qaida elements have recently been fighting another Sunni extremist group but could be preparing to resume attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces.

"And that's why we've got to continue offensive operations," he said. "I worry about this talk about reducing or terminating the surge," using the military's term of deploying the five extra combat brigades to the Baghdad area, as well as extra Marines to Anbar province west of the capital.

"We've got him on the run," Lynch said, referring to the insurgents. "Some people say we've got him on the ropes. I don't believe that. But I believe we've got him on the run."

Lynch said he thinks too much focus is being placed on the military part of the solution to Iraq's problems and too little on the need to promote progress toward a functional central government.

Yep, the insurgents are on the run. Remind me of that after the next suicide bombing, won't you? Keep clapping, Dick ...

Oh, and Dick? You say there's too much focus on the military aspects of the conflict in Iraq ... but, um, isn't fighting for another year placing even more focus on military action? Dude, if you're going to be a dumbass, man, embrace it ... be consistent! We'll all respect your idiocy much more if you stick with one point of view and not muddy it up with, you know, bullshit.

What a wanker. Lynch fiddles while Baghdad burns ...

(Cross-posted at Pax Americana)

Wanker of the Day update

By popular request, I am pleased to present the latest installment in the occasional series of Wanker of the Day statistics. For the previous tallies, or if you have no idea what "Wanker of the Day" is, go here and here. I just don't feel like writing all the background. So there.

The Hall of Fame currently has six members: David Broder, Fred Hiatt, Joe Klein, Joe Lieberman, John McCain, and Glenn Reynolds. All of those were in the charter class of inductees except Broder, who was added when Atrios declared him the first Wanker Emeritus.

And now, the updated list, as of today, of those lucky few who have wanked themselves to top honors at least four times:

19 - Joe Lieberman (in 2007: 3/29, 4/12, and 4/20, in addition to those shown in the prior tallies); and Glenn Reynolds (4/7) ... yep, it's a tie for the lead! Who will be first to 20? Maybe not Joe or Instawanker ...
18 - Fred Hiatt (4/5, 5/21, 6/3, 6/4)
17 - Joe Klein (4/23, 5/25, 6/7, 6/11)
10 - John McCain (4/1)
9 - David Broder (4/10 by vote, 4/26 as emeritus, 5/24); Jonah Goldberg (no new honors since last tally)
8 - Richard Cohen (no new honors); Andrew Sullivan (5/30)
7 - Michelle Malkin, Tim Russert, John "Assrocket" Hinderaker, Rick Santorum (no new honors for any of them)
6 - Marshall Wittman (no new honors)
5 - Bill O'Reilly, Peter Beinart (no new honors for either)
4 - Tom Friedman, Hugh Hewitt, Will Saletan (no new honors for any of them); George W. Bush, a/k/a Drunky McStagger (4/3)

Some anecdotes:

• Atrios named himself WotD for the second time on May 27; the first occurred on January 20, 2005.
• Hiatt's honors on June 3 and 4 make him only the second person ever to "win" on consecutive days (after Marshall Wittman, January 10-11, 2006).
• April 1 was the ninth multi-wanker day and the first since January 21, 2007.
• The only non-Hall of Famer to be a multiple honoree in this cycle (since the last tally) is Katie Couric, who wanked her way to the top spot on April 13 and June 9. She still has a ways to go, though, to catch up with the leading female wanker, seven-time WotD Michelle Malkin.

And so it goes until the next update ... the Hall of Famers continue to wank away, but there aren't a lot of current wankers waiting in the wings as potential candidates to join the Big Six. It doesn't take long, though -- if Klein and Hiatt have been WotD as many times since April 1 as Drunky McStagger has been in over two years, then there's real hope for a dark horse to reach the pantheon.

Keep wanking, pundits and pukes. The sky's the limit!

My earliest political memory: 35 years ago today

Recently, I was conversing with some fellow Atriots in our "chat room," and we began discussing our earliest political memories. At first, I said it was Watergate for me, which of course dominated the headlines and the TV news reports through much of 1973 and 1974, around when I was in third grade. But then I recalled the 1972 presidential election, of which I have vague memories ... and then I remembered the assassination attempt on Democratic presidential contender and former Alabama governor George Wallace.

Man, I'm getting old.

Wallace was shot 35 years ago today, in a shopping center parking lot in Laurel, Maryland, outside of Washington, D.C. I was six years old at the time, and it remains today my earliest specific political memory.

Because I was not even three when Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were killed, and of course I wasn't yet born when JFK was assassinated, the Wallace shooting became a sort of marker for me, my earliest awareness of an intersection between politics and violence.

I don't want to place greater emphasis on this event than it deserves, although in historical terms it was significant because it derailed what was a strengthening presidential campaign for the former segregationist known best for barring black students from the University of Alabama. Needless to say, we'll never know if Wallace could have won the Democratic nomination (the eventual nominee was, of course, George McGovern), let alone thwart Richard Nixon's re-election bid. The shooting left Wallace paralyzed and wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life; he died in 1998.

It was, however, precisely the sort of occurrence that stuck in the mind of a certain impressionable six-year-old in suburban Detroit, and that remains to this day an important, albeit ever fading, snapshot in the album of my mind.

An unforgettable experience

I know that the vast majority of you have no idea who -- or what -- I am . But I hope you will indulge me for a moment, particularly for the benefit of anyone who does know me and/or is interested in my trip, to tell you that I had an amazing time in Brazil. As I wrote this yesterday (it was about 5:30 a.m., and it was an hour ahead of U.S. Eastern time) in the Porto Alegre airport, I found myself partly ready to be home, but partly wishing to experience more of this incredible culture and lifestyle.

Yes, certainly Brazil has its problems, and in many places, crime and poverty are persistent and tragic. But for what it's worth, my introduction to this country over the last several days has been enjoyable, enlightening, and definitely worth repeating ... so who wants to join me on a South American escapade next year? ;)

I thought I'd post a few pictures before getting back to the politics and snark. Thanks for your understanding.

A view of condos and apartments overlooking Porto Alegre's "Parcão."

I attended the Rio Grande do Sul state futebol championship Saturday, along with 40,000 of my new friends. The hometown Grémio side defeated Juventude, 4-1, setting off raucous celebrations all night!

This was the center of the action at the stadium -- the home of the true torcedors (fans), who jumped and chanted and cheered non-stop. The best cheer can be translated roughly as "Suck my dick, you son of a bitch! And take it up the ass!" I saw 10-year-olds screaming that to the other team ...

Oh, yes, I was in Brazil for a wedding, after all: a Brazilian Catholic/Jewish wedding. Talk about a melting pot ...!

Finally, here's a special one, just for the Atriots.

Another battle in the blogwars

I began blogging back in 2004, thanks to Wes, and I became very active both at Daily Kos and at Atrios' Eschaton. At dKos, I had a very low "uid," or user ID, number (1142), which presumably was a badge of status and honor, as one of the earliest participants there. (The uid's are well over 100,000 now.)

Over time, though, I noticed dKos getting more and more shrill and exclusionary, and I always felt more comfortable in the chatroom-like environs of Eschaton. The Kossacks didn't just attack right-wing trolls, but essentially they ostracized anyone who even dared to criticize Democrats, as I did when I took issue with Nancy Pelosi's decision to take impeachment off the table in January.

Today, MissLaura posted an open thread at dKos that, among other things, essentially said that the time-honored Atriot tradition of saying "First!" or "Frist!" or, now, "Pelosi" at the start of a new comment thread would not be tolerated at dKos. Well, that's fine -- have it your way. That's not the way I prefer to blog.

So I guess my comment at dKos today is kind of my valedictory, my farewell to a blog that was a great introduction to the blogosphere for me, but which I believe I have left behind. I don't see this as an arrogant attitude, but simply one that recognizes that I prefer to spend my blogging time laughing with online friends, railing at the abuses of power on both sides of the figurative aisle, and feeling free to express what might be less-than-popular viewpoints. In other words, I value my open mind, and I intend to keep it that way.

Thanks, Markos, for the good times.

Wanker of the Day Hall of Fame: new inductee!

This morning over at Atrios' place, David Broder received the first Wanker Emeritus Award.

This gives him automatic entry into the coveted Wanker of the Day Hall of Fame. Broder is the sixth Hall of Famer, joining such luminaries as Glenn Reynolds (still the record-holder with 18 WOTD honors), Joe Lieberman, Fred Hiatt, Joe Klein, and John McCain.

Broder's wank-star rose to meteoric heights during 2007, and while he still trails his fellow Hall of Famers in number of honors, the sheer quality and depth of his wankage surely merits Hall of Fame status. An example, courtesy of Atrios:

Let me disclose my own bias in this matter. I like Karl Rove. In the days when he was operating from Austin, we had many long and rewarding conversations. I have eaten quail at his table and admired the splendid Hill Country landscape from the porch of the historic cabin Karl and his wife Darby found miles away and had carted to its present site on their land.

Truly nonpareil wankage by any standard.

Congratulations to the Dessicated Dean of Wankery, David Broder, the newest WOTD Hall of Famer!

Wanker of the Day: updated statistics

A couple of months ago, having nothing better to do on a Friday afternoon, I performed exhaustive research into the notorious Wanker of the Day ("WOTD") award bestowed by that dirty fucking hippie, Atrios, over at his place. As a result, I proposed five charter members of the Wanker of the Day Hall of Fame: Fred Hiatt, Joe Klein, Joe Lieberman, John McCain, and Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds.

Naturally, Atrios continued to name WOTDs, sometimes even to Hall of Famers (who, of course, richly deserved it). By popular demand, then (okay, like, maybe one person mentioned it, but that's a very popular person), here are the updated WOTD statistics through today, or more accurately, a listing of everyone who's been WOTD at least four times. (I promise to do a complete list, well, sometime.)

Note how the stats have changed somewhat since the last tabulation ... certainly there are more Hall of Fame candidates, but how often can one have a Hall of Fame induction? Note also that the charter Hall of Famers still lead, but others quickly are moving up the list.

Anyway, without further ado ...

18 - Glenn Reynolds (additional honors in 2007 on 2/3, 2/20, 2/22, and 3/6)
16 - Joe Lieberman (2/26)
14 - Fred Hiatt (3/7, 3/23, 3/26)
13 - Joe Klein (3/2)
9 - John McCain (2/21); Jonah "DoughBob LoadPants" Goldberg (2/19, 3/22)
8 - Richard Cohen (1/31, 2/27, 3/27)
7 - Michelle Malkin (1/30, 3/5); Tim Russert (3/18); John "Assrocket" Hinderaker (no new honors); Andrew Sullivan (no new honors); Rick Santorum (no new honors)
6 - David Broder (2/6, 3/9, 3/15, 3/25: ties Reynolds for most WOTDs in the last two months); Marshall Wittman (no new honors)
5 - Bill O'Reilly (2/1); Peter Beinart (no new honors)
4 - Tom Friedman, Hugh Hewitt, Will Saletan (no new honors for any of them)

Stay tuned for a complete list of Wankers of the Day since the inception of the award on January 10, 2005, and if you have any Hall of Fame nominations, please comment accordingly.

I don't have any Hall of Fame predictions, but I'll say that DoughBob looks like a solid bet, as does Cohen. Also, Malkin may have a WOTD Hall of Fame trophy to place on the mantel beside her bronzed ping pong balls.