Write on!

My BRF* D.P. in Clearwater sent me this nugget the other day. There were some interesting write-in votes for president in Jacksonville this year.

Some voters expecting to vote for Barack Obama or John McCain two weeks ago were surprised to see 11 other names on the ballot. But 736 voters in Duval County weren't happy with any of the choices and wrote in 191 other names.

[...]

George W. Bush got two votes to serve a third term.

Others getting multiple votes were Jesus, God, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Tim Tebow and that perennial favorite, "None of the above."

Perhaps surprisingly, Joe the Plumber and John Doe only got one vote each, tying Bill Clinton, Theodore Roosevelt, Bill O'Riely, Tiger Woods, Bobby Bowden, Tommy Chong, Willie Nelson and Homer Simpson.

It figures that a fan of Bill O'Reilly wouldn't know how to spell his name ...

But my favorite vote of all was "They Both Suck '08." At least that voter is up front about his or her feelings.

---

* Best Republican Friend.

Desperation in the air

Desperate for some kind of hook, something that will keep 2008 from being an epic, prodigious electoral failure for them, Republicans are emptying their bags of dirty tricks faster than they can think of them.

Facing almost certain electoral carnage against Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), Republican candidate Edward Lynch went on The O'Reilly Factor yesterday to air his claim that Wexler's address in Delray Beach is fraudulent.

"Is it not a ruse?" host Bill O'Reilly asked John Fund, author of Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy.

Fund said it is not illegal for Wexler to use his mother-in-law's address, which is in a deed-restricted community for people 55 and over. But that it certainly is not within "the spirit of the law," he said.

"In the next few months, (Wexler) might want to shop around for a little garden apartment in Delray Beach," Fund said.

Edward Lynch, a Republican running for Wexler's congressional seat, has been researching Wexler's living arrangements and took his argument to the Fox News program.

"The house he lists on his voter registration is his in-laws' house, in a gated 55-and-older community," Lynch said. "Legally, he can't move back with children under 18."

Lynch said Wexler's three teenage children attend Charles W. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Md.

A Fox News reporter surprised Wexler in his Maryland front yard.

Wexler, wearing shorts, a T-shirt and a ball cap, said his mother-in-law does own the house in Delray Beach. But he also said he lives there.

"Yes, it is my residence," Wexler said.

A spokesman for Wexler denounced the accusations.

"Congressman Wexler moved to Florida when he was 10 years old and he has continually met Florida's residency requirements ever since," spokesman Josh Rogin wrote in an e-mail. "As members of Congress have since the founding of the nation, he also keeps a home in the Washington area so his wife and three children can be with him while he serves in Congress."

Lynch said he intends to file legal papers about the issue in the coming weeks.

Yeah, good luck with that, Ed. You're not even going to get in the courthouse door with that load of crap. Find me a member of Congress who doesn't maintain a home in the D.C. area, Ed. At least among those whose actual home districts are too far from Washington to commute, you can't find one. But, you know, take your claim to the propagandists at Fox News and they'll put you on teevee, so everyone can see just how foolish you are. Even the hand-picked wingnut pundit said what Wexler's doing isn't illegal.

It's fun to watch Republicans squirm.

Bill-O and the Teleprompter: a love story

Perhaps you saw the video recently of renowned asshole Bill O'Reilly completely losing his shit over a malfunctioning teleprompter during his days as host of Inside Edition.

Well, I'm rather fond of this version, the dance mix. I originally heard the song the other day, but this is the first time I'd seen the video.

Instant classic.


(h/t Eschaton commenter chiggins)

Technology sucks ...

... especially when you run it through the washing machine.

Yes, I discovered last night that a Blackberry does not like to be washed ... at least with clothes, anyway. Although I must admit the screen looks kind of cool with the sudsy water in it, don't you think?

Remarkably, the SIM card survived and it works in my old Blackberry, so at least I have phone service. But for all the people who have dropped a cell phone in the toilet or went swimming with it or whatever, well, you have company.

Also, I think my Bluetooth headset may have survived the laundering as well. So all is not lost.

Do you think Bill O'Reilly ever has problems like this?

UPDATE (9:56 am 10/30/07): The saga continues ... I managed to sync up my old Blackberry, which conveniently was not traded in when I upgraded. So, I'm back in business ... maybe not with music and a camera and all the other goodies the new device had, but I'll take what I can get at this point.

I know everyone was concerned ... ;)

Let's play Celebrity Political Compass!

Remember a few months ago when I showed you the Political Compass, which placed nearly every 2008 presidential candidate on the right half of the ideological spectrum?

Well, this morning I found the following chart, based at least in part on the same concept:


But the interesting thing is where certain celebrities and political figures purportedly fall on that chart. Check this out:


My favorite part here is how Jerry Falwell is right next to Osama bin Laden.

But who's the fascist next to Bill O'Reilly? (No, not Reagan ... the other fascist.) Mussolini? Tito? And Thomas Jefferson between Ted Nugent and the Unabomber? Um, I don't know about that one ...

And what the fuck is Adam Sandler doing on this chart? How incongruous.

Anyway, have some fun with it ... images link to their sources.

Bill O'Reilly, liberal?

Not in a million years. But check out BillO's answers to Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes.

Here's a transcript of the 42-second-long video:

WALLACE: You're pro-gun control, right?

O'REILLY: Correct.

W: Against the death penalty?

O: Correct.

W: For civil unions for homosexuals?

O: For everybody. Not just homosexuals, for everybody.

W: For gay adoptions?

O: As a last resort. I'd rather have [a] nice, responsible, gay home than the system for kids. What else?

W: Any other things that might surp --

O: Environment! Environment! Government's got to be proactive on environment. Global warming is here. All these idiots who run around saying it isn't here, that's ridiculous.

I'm not an ideologue. I never have been an ideologue.

Why am I reminded of Larry Craig's quote: "I am not gay. I never have been gay"?

Today's Daily Schadenfreude: Bill O'Reilly

This is great ... the master of the wankosphere, the titan of the talking points, Bill O'Reilly, had his ass handed to him by a high school student.

Let's go to the video:



The background on the whole situation is here, from the Daily Camera of Boulder, Colo. I guess because they're teaching sex education that's not all about abstinence, then it's okay for Bill to lose his shit on national TV and call a kid a "pinhead." Nice. Sounds "fair and balanced" to me.

Grab a falafel, Bill, and while you do, please accept my congratulations: today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!

Does Colbert have friends in high places?

Last night on his show, The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert issued a taste-off challenge to Willie Nelson who, like Colbert, has had a Ben & Jerry's flavor, "Willie Nelson's Peach Cobbler," created in his honor. (Colbert, of course, has the underwhelmingly-named "Americone Dream.") In fact, Nelson is scheduled to appear on the Report today.

They may have to postpone that taste-off, though, as B&J's has had to recall some of Willie's ice cream:

Ben and Jerry's is recalling 250,000 pints of its Willie Nelson's Country Peach Cobbler ice cream. The containers have the dates January 23, 24 or February 8 or 9, 2008 printed on the bottom.

Company officials announced the recall because the ice cream containers do not list wheat as an ingredient. That's obviously dangerous to people with wheat allergies.

This of course begs the question: what did Colbert know, and when did he know it? The recall appears to have been reported yesterday morning, so perhaps he knew when he taped yesterday's show that the recall was in effect.

No doubt Bill O'Reilly, Sworn Enemy of Colbert (and of Facts) will be all over this. In between falafels, that is.