Surviving the Wingnut Family ... again

Thanksgiving is a time for sharing and conviviality, for family, food, and football. And for me, at least every other year, it's a time for trying to survive being the only liberal in a family full of arch-conservatives -- and not the basically harmless, small-government, Goldwater kind but the rabid, Beck-and-Palin-adoring neo-con kind.

If you've been reading this crappy blog for a while, you've seen me mention my own wingnut family on several occasions -- my mother, my aunt and uncle, even my estranged father. Well, once again I made it through another week with the Right Wing Gang, but it wasn't the smoothest sailing the whole time. Before heading north, I vowed to stay away from political discussions altogether ... and I almost did it. Almost.

You see, my ultra-wingnut aunt and uncle were in attendance this year, having moved to spend their winters near my widowed mother, and while I know Mom is a lifelong Republican, I hadn't realized the influence her sister and brother-in-law had been having on her. For starters, I had forgotten that Mom has become a loyal Fox News viewer. Several times I noted that she was watching "the propaganda channel," and each time, Mom retorted that "Fox [News] is the only one that actually does news." This probably comes as a surprise to CNN and, despite their all-criminal holiday weekend, even MSNBC. But when I noted that, she scoffed and said CNN was too "slanted." I think she actually meant slanted left, which is laughable, but I digress....

I also had forgotten that Mom had turned into somewhat of a climate change denier, which still troubles me because I always considered her intelligent. Even though her college degree was in speech, and she earned it in 1954 when, admittedly, science was a tad less advanced, Mom ought to be aware of the scientific basis for climate change, shouldn't she? Naturally, she called it "global warming," which is a classic right-wing misnomer, as it causes them to think it should be sweltering hot year-round or something (as though a blizzard in Buffalo in January is "proof" that climate change is hokum). I patiently explained that when you increase the temperature of any system, whether it's a manufacturing plant or a planet, you don't necessarily see it get hotter but rather more volatile, which Earth's climate undoubtedly is doing. But her Fox News-addled mind didn't grasp that, or didn't want to ....

The coup de grâce, however, was my avowedly wingnut uncle, who on the way to a holiday light display at a local botanical gardens was regaling us in the minivan with the story of how Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, the so-called "Fort Hood shooter," was "a homeland security adviser to the Obama administration." Recognizing a classic wingnut fantasy/talking point when I hear one, I innocently (well, kind of innocently) asked my uncle, "So where did you learn about that?" His response was almost too predictable: "I got an email about it."

So naturally, thanks to the magic of an Internet-enabled Blackberry, I immediately Googled it up and the first hit took me to Snopes.com, the definitive myth-debunking website, which not only had the text of the email my uncle received but all the evidence debunking it. Indeed, plenty of websites, like this one, have the truth -- which, of course, is that Maj. Hasan had nothing to do with the White House or the Department of Homeland Security whatsoever (big surprise there) -- and anyone with half a brain can investigate as quickly as I did and discover that the email in question is bullshit; Maj. Hasan attended a private think tank's task force meeting that was open to the public.

Sadly, though, apparently my own uncle, like so many wingnuts, lacks that half-brain. Odd, given his graduate degrees and having been an Air Force officer and pilot and all .... oh well. The topper, though, was my uncle's response after I read him the salient part of the Snopes post and concluded, "He attended a think tank meeting as a member of the audience!" Uncle sarcastically shot back, "Oh, I guess that's okay?"

Well, yeah, it is, actually.

If, like me, you suffer through a wingnut family, I know exactly how you feel. (You can vent about it in Comments....)

Stuff you may have missed

I keep saving little bits of tid to use on the blog and then I manage to let it go because more timely things come up. Please allow me to clear my saved browsers and hit you with some knowledge about, well, how deranged the Right is in this country and this state.

First, everyone should read this op-ed by Neal Gabler, "Politics as Religion in America," from the October 2 Los Angeles Times. In it, Gabler neatly deconstructs why the wingnuts continue to push their destructive agenda even in the face of all factual evidence and sense to the contrary: they don't see it as politics anymore, but as a religion -- they believe the things Rush and Glenn and Sean and related gasbags say as a matter of blind faith:

When politics becomes religion, however, policy too becomes a matter of life and death, as we have all seen.

That is one reason our founding fathers opted for a separation of church and state. They recognized that religion and politics could coexist only when they occupied different domains. Most denominations, which preach and practice tolerance, have rendered unto Caesar what is Caesar's. Religious groups may have found a community of interest with a political party to further their aims; they have not, by and large, sought to convert the political system into a religious one. Until now.

The tea-baggers who hate President Obama with a fervor that is beyond politics; the fear-mongers who warn that Obama is another Hitler or Stalin; the wannabe storm troopers who brandish their guns and warn darkly of the president's demise; the cable and talk-radio blowhards who make a living out of demonizing Obama and tarring liberals as America-haters -- these people are not just exercising their rights within the political system. They honestly believe that the political system -- a system that elected Obama -- is broken and only can be fixed by substituting their certainty for the uncertainties of American politics.

As we are sadly discovering, this minority cannot be headed off, which is most likely why conservatism transmogrified from politics to a religion in the first place. Conservatives who sincerely believed that theirs is the only true and right path have come to realize that political tolerance is no match for religious vehemence.

So, no, it's not you. They really don't care that facts have a liberal bias. They'd rather believe their High Priests of Prevarication.

Meanwhile, here in America's Wang™, our old friend Jeb! Bush recently threw a little hissy fit because those mean American people keep picking on his big brother and they should just stop because he's been out of office for a whole 8½ months (or, as Fox News douchebag host Brian Kilmeade distorted said, "ten months" (emphasis added)):

KILMEADE: It’s been 10 months. Should Leader Hoyer be looking backwards, and is he accurate?

BUSH: I was on the plane coming up to Washington yesterday, and I heard someone complaining that their child’s acne was because of George Bush. Of course, last week the Olympics didn’t come to Chicago — that was my brother’s fault. And at some point, people are going to have to put on their big-boy pants and assume responsibility for the great challenges and opportunities our country has. I don’t know how much longer leaders — responsible leaders in Congress — can continue to say these things.

Well, Jeb!, excuuuuuuuse us if it takes longer than 8½ months to undo the eight disastrous years your brother had to fuck things up. I mean, think of it like the eight years you had to drive Florida into the ground, except we still have to wait another year-plus before our cleanup crew (led by Alex Sink) can get to work. It takes a while, y'know?

No, Jeb!, I guess you wouldn't know. Seriously, it's unconscionable to hear the same people whine "why hasn't Obama fixed the economy yet?" (or whatever the issue may be) and in the next breath speculate whether the Dow Jones hitting 10,000 is indicative of a "Bush recovery." You can't have it both ways, folks.

But it sure is hard to dissuade the religious zealots of the Church of Batshit Crazy.

Too stupid to breathe: Jay Wolff

Occasional Blast Off! commenter D.P., Clearwater Wingnut has brought my attention to today's letters to the editor in the Naples Daily News. The letters, which actually were posted last night, led off with a really odd missive about how they can't speak freely in Uzbekistan and so they wouldn't have a health care debate. Um, okaaaay ...

But what really caught my eye was this unhinged screed by one Jay Wolff of Naples, who unflinchingly spewed forth wingnut talking points in this classically fact-free letter:

Editor, Daily News:

The Obama administration has, indeed, moved the Census Bureau from the Commerce Department — where it was since it was created — into the White House.

The president signed the order on Jan. 27, in his first week. I wondered why.

I wondered why he put the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) in charge of the counting of the census.

July 30, on its own Web site, the Census Bureau announced that in the 2010 census it would count every resident of the United States, citizens and noncitizens. The count will control the apportionment of congressional districts for the 2010 elections.

If they include illegal aliens in that count, I understand why.

— Jay Wolff

Naples

Two assertions highlighted above: first, that the Census Bureau has been moved to the White House from Commerce, and second, that ACORN will be doing the counting. Now, how can I put this ... oh, I know: WRONG and WRONG.

It took me all of five seconds to go to the Census Bureau's website and see the link at the bottom to the U.S. Department of Commerce. But just to make sure, I dug a little deeper and found this:


What's that, Mr. Wolff -- a liberal conspiracy on the website? Or maybe, just maybe, you're a dumbass. You make the call ... (Also, I can't figure out what January 27 order Mr. Wolff may be referencing. Odds are he -- or Fox News -- just made that up, too.)

Turning now to ACORN ... okay, this took a little longer than five seconds to track down. More like twenty seconds:

Q: Is ACORN providing workers for the 2010 census?

A: No. ACORN employees will not be taking the census. The group is one of more than 30,000 "partners" that will help publicize the event.

The article continues:

We’ve received questions about ACORN’s activities in connection with the headcount ever since a Fox News story, headlined "ACORN to play role in 2010 census," appeared in March. As retold by and filtered through blogs and chain e-mails, the news left some people with the impression that ACORN, the liberal community organizing group whose voter registration activities became an issue in last year’s presidential campaign, would be a big player in running the census effort.

ACORN "will be in charge of going door-to-door and collecting data from the American public," said Rep. Michele Bachmann in mid-June. "This is very concerning." Saying she was worried about ACORN’s supposed involvement in gathering census data, the Minnesota Republican announced that she won’t participate in the census beyond answering how many individuals reside in her household, "because," she maintained, "the Constitution doesn’t require any information beyond that." Actually, the Constitution, under Article 1, Section 2, simply requires that an "enumeration" be done every 10 years to apportion the members of the House, but that it be done "in such manner" as Congress "shall by law direct." And Congress has seen fit to require everyone to answer truthfully whatever census questions they are asked, under threat of a $100 penalty for failure to answer and $500 for lying.

And Bachmann is flat wrong about ACORN going door-to-door and gathering data. Being "partners" with the Census Bureau doesn’t entail as close a relationship as one might think. For the most part it involves getting the word out that it’s important for everyone to participate in the decennial event that helps determine where federal money goes and how House of Representatives district boundaries are redrawn.

Michele Bachmann wrong? Who could have thought? Obviously not Jay Wolff, who, by virtue of his fawning reliance on the propaganda broadcast (and likely invented out of whole cloth) by Fox News, also is indisputably, inarguably, immutably wrong.

Which, in turn, makes Jay Wolff, according to Blast Off!'s rigorous standards, too stupid to breathe.

Today's Daily Schadenfreude: Glenn Beck

Following the summer/bar exam hiatus, today Blast Off! brings back its popular barely tolerable series, the "Daily Schadenfreude," with a regular honoree: ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the most execrable person on television, a cretin among cretins, the one and only Glenn Beck!

Poor Glenn is finding that advertisers aren't taking to his customary lies and hate very well anymore.

GMAC Financial Services has "ceased advertising on the Glenn Beck program"

That's the word this morning from spokesperson Sue Mallino, who confirmed to Media Matters that the company recently pulled its ads off the Fox News program. Mallino would not comment on whether the move was made in response to Beck's claim that President Obama is a "racist," an allegation that sparked a grassroots campaign by ColorofChange.org to get advertisers to stop supporting Beck's program.

Mallino said only that the company has final say over which programs are "not appropriate" to advertise on, and that GMAC Financial Services will continue to advertise on Fox News. But she reiterated the company "has ceased advertising on the Glenn Beck program."

GMAC Financial Services joins a growing list of advertisers who have recently abandoned Beck's television show, including ConAgra, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, RadioShack, Men’s Wearhouse, State Farm Sargento, LexisNexis-owned Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble, and Progressive Insurance.

Yes, as noted, GMAC will continue to advertise on Fox News generally, as will, undoubtedly, many of the other advertisers who have ditched Beck. So they'll still be supporting the lies and distortions of the rest of the so-called news network.

However, this is definitely a step in the right direction. In the media, money talks, and seeing this mass exodus from Glenn Beck, whether directly because of his lies or because no one wants to be associated with such an odious person, is both refreshing and long overdue. And the more that the remaining advertisers see their own bottom lines affected through boycotts and other such actions against them in response to their support of this pustulant purveyor of propaganda, the more likely that Fox will see that continuing to employ Glenn Beck is damaging to their bottom line. And while they surely want to spread his message of filth and foulness, further defections by advertisers could mean they simply can't afford to do so anymore.

So, Glenn, you despicable pile of excrement, enjoy the desertions, because no one deserves to be shunned more than you. In the meantime, perhaps you can salve your wounded pride with this meager award, because today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!

UPDATE (8:30 pm 8/18/09): Eight, count 'em, eight more advertisers pulled their ads from Beck's show today, deciding that they, too, couldn't countenance his disgusting racism and hatred. And one of them is, believe it or not, Wal-Mart.

Dude, if you're a wingnut and you've lost Wal-Mart, well, you might as well just give up.

Reason #744 why Fox News should not be trusted

Courtesy of Fail Blog:


Yep, that's Faux News in a nutshell.

Pensacola Tea Party video #4: playing the Obama = Hitler card

Now this speaker, a retired U.S. military veteran (as so many at this particular teabaggers' ball were) was faithful to his talking points memo from Fox News. It took him a minute, but he finally got around to saying what nearly everyone there was thinking: President Obama is taking the country down the primrose path to fascism.

Again, transcript follows the video.

TRANSCRIPT:

... know what he earned. Everybody had equal opportunity. Along came the Great Depression and the 1920s, 1930s, and the New Deal came along. [from audience: “Raw Deal!”] That was the seed of socialism [laughter -- mine], and it's been creeping up every now and then, little bit every time. Next thing you know, we have the Great Society: more socialism. Now we've got Obama and his bailout for the fat cats can't manage their businesses, and more socialism. Half of the money that was just appropriated is going for pet projects and not for actual, uh, funding that will improve the economy.

Let's go back in history again to the 1920s. Two men came to power in Europe under similar circumstances as we have today. They went from socialism to fascism. If we don't take back our government, take back our Constitution and make it be what it was written to be, we are going to be a fascist country rather than the stupid socialist country we are today. [crowd: cheers, “Amen!”] [Unintelligible] and stop this horse manure. Thank you.

UPDATE (11:21 pm 4/19/09): You know how I said I would get all the videos and pictures posted today? I lied. Sorry about that.

Tomorrow's a travel day for me, heading back to America's Taint™, so while I'll do my sucky radio show and a post or two, it'll be a challenge for me to put up pics and video until late tomorrow night.

Anyway, thanks. I just didn't want to leave my loyal readers -- either one of you -- hanging.

Blast Off! Radio PRIMETIME: Teabags and pirates and whiskers on puppies

NOTE SPECIAL TIME FOR TODAY'S SHOW: 7pm EASTERN

I knew the rightwing nutjobs were angry because Obama and the Democrats spanked them (electorally, of course -- even though some would have preferred literally) last November, but their behavior is landing them somewhere between "ridiculous" and "dangerous" on the scale of douchebaggery. I mean, laughing and pointing is great and all, but when Glenn Beck pours faux gasoline on an actor and pretends to be President Obama holding a lit match, well, a rather broad line has been crossed.

So on this Tax Week, we have a lot to discuss on Blast Off! Radio, which moves to a special evening time just for today (real life interferes sometimes with blogging -- yeah, I know it's hard to believe). Besides the Beck fiasco, we'll get ready for some teabagging ... wait, that came out wrong ... um, we'll look at the latest from the wingnut "Tea Parties" in Florida and around the country, we'll laugh at the Predictable Outrage from the Right over Obama's handling of the Somali pirate situation and the addition of a puppy to the First Family (preview: Fox News' Brit Hume thinks the puppy is "girly"), and we'll talk about the latest corporate slap in the face as Amazon.com summarily removes rankings from gay-related books. All this plus, as always, your calls, emails, and chatting.

Space and time do not permit me to share with you all the excitement, snark, and substance that will be part of tonight's special primetime show. So, I guess you'll just have to tune in and hear it for yourself:

TIME: 7:00 pm Eastern TONIGHT

Click here to listen

Call in number: (646) 716-7543

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

If you listen to one webradio show this week, make it this one. Hell, even if you listen to a bunch of them, don't miss this special edition of Blast Off! Radio. It's going to be one to remember!

(cross-posted at FPC Blog)

What exactly is Fox News talking about?

I've got to hand it to Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), who asked Fox Business Channel anchor Douche J. Bag* the question we've all been wondering forever:

(h/t the Pride of Ocala, rayseaman, via Twitter)

---

* Probably not his real name.

More proof that Brevard County is home to the stupidest fucking morons on the planet

Having lived in Brevard County, Fla., I thought I knew firsthand just how batshit crazy people are there. (Okay, not everyone, but damn near everyone ...) Little did I know that they would continue to exceed my expectations at every turn.

The latest is the super-duper-megafantastic Glenn Beck watch parties that are all the rage in Brevard. I don't know what's sadder: the parties themselves, or the fact that the wingnutty Florida Today thinks they're newsworthy. Either way, it's completely fucking sick ...

Local conservatives are hoping that a mighty movement will spring from a viewing party Friday night at the Mighty Mushroom.

The Melbourne restaurant is one of four Brevard County locations hosting groups set to watch the Glenn Beck television program as the popular talk show host unveils the nine principles and 12 values of his “We Surround Them” theme.

He has asked viewers nationwide to set up viewing parties to be able to watch the show together and then discuss it.

More than 500 people are expected to pack the Dairy Road eatery. Other Brevard locations hosting parties are Beef O’Brady’s on Wickham Road, The Old Spanish Mission Inn in Titusville and the Depot Café on Merritt Island.

“It’s amazing that the government does not fear the people anymore,” Beck said Wednesday morning on the Bill Mick radio show on WMMB in Melbourne. “You have to be men and women of integrity and you have to put your country before your party.”

Beck says it’s time for the American people – regardless of party affiliation – to end the corruption in Washington, the kowtowing to special interests and to regain integrity and honesty that’s been lost. He said there is no reason to fear the government since “we surround them.”

The values and principles in his plan stress honesty, hard work, responsibility and courage among others.

Where to begin?! Honesty, hard work, responsibility, and courage indeed might be needed in Washington, but (1) the Republicans in Washington haven't been within spitting distance of those values for decades, if ever, and (2) Glenn Beck is just about the last person who should be touting those qualities, since he lacks each of them in equal measure. Special interests practically funded John McCain's campaign all by themselves, and I don't think any commentator whose preferred political party includes Mark Foley, Larry Craig, and Blowin' Bob Allen ought to be pontificating about integrity and honesty.

Lest we forget, Glenn Beck is the commentator who favorably compared Hitler and Jesus. His old show on CNN Headline News regularly was the first- or second-lowest-rated program on cable news, before Fox cunningly predictably added him to their stable of brownshirt dickweeds. Of all the douchebags in the mainstream corporate media incessantly spouting GOP talking points, it would be hard to dispute that Beck is the douchebaggiest.

But this post was intended to be more about the utterly ignorant cretins who infest Brevard County than about the patent stupidity of Glenn Beck, a Mormon who is just as aptly described without the second "M" in that word. I mean, 500 people cramming into a restaurant to watch Beck? Maybe they think it's Beck the musician. Or perhaps it's Pork Rinds Night at the Mighty Mushroom. Surely there can't be that many idiots in one place at one time -- it might tear the fabric of the space-time continuum!

Actually, there can be that many idiots around -- when it's Brevard. (And don't call me Shirley.)

A few weeks ago, Joyce Arbic had no idea who Glenn Beck was. But after looking at the principles and values associated with “We Surround Them,” she agreed to host the viewing party at her restaurant of 27 years.

“I’m tired of being beaten upon,” said Arbic, owner of the Mighty Mushroom. “I’ve worked a lifetime building up my restaurant and then last year hit. I’ve never seen anything like it in 27 years.”

Arbic, who said her business has dropped 50 percent, wants people to start speaking up because things are not getting better. While Wall Street is getting bailed out, small businesses like hers suffer, she said.

Holy. Fucking. Shit. People like this think Glenn Beck is their messiah, to lead them out of economic ruin ... but who was in charge last year, Ms. Arbic? Who's bailing out Wall Street, or more accurately, who wanted to, before the grown-ups stepped in and ratcheted that little scheme way down? Why, it was the Republicans -- Beck's pals on the right! Go figure ...

"We Surround Them." A more vapid, meaningless phrase has never been foisted upon a viewing audience, even one as vapid and meaningless themselves as the wingnuts of Brevard County. Hope they enjoy their pork rinds ...

Sticking it to Faux News

I unfortunately missed this a week or so ago, but I thought it was good enough (and meant enough to me personally) to resurrect it here ...

I lived in the Lansing, Mich., area from 2001 until 2004, when I returned to Florida. During that time, I got to know Virg Bernero, who then was a member of the Michigan Senate. A good guy who really cared about the average person, Virg ran for mayor of Lansing in 2003 but lost in a squeaker. However, he tried again in 2005 and won handily.

That was probably the biggest victory of his life ... that is, until this interview with Fox News aired last week. Watch Mayor Bernero take apart the propagandist anchorman:

Yeah, okay, so it was a little shouty. But it's so refreshing to see someone stand up to the asshats at Faux News and give them what they deserve: a firing squad good tongue-lashing.

You go, Virg!

(h/t Progressive Junction)

Same media, different president

You know, I really had high hopes that some of the massive right-wing influence on the mainstream corporate media might have been neutralized, or at the very least lessened, by the advent of a new administration: the Democratic, truth-based, transparent administration of President Obama.

My hopes were dashed today, though, following the first press briefing by new White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, when CNN's White House correspondent Ed Henry and the ubiquitous Leslie "Wolf" Blitzer criticized Gibbs on "The Situation Room" for evading questions. Now, granted, I expect that from the wingnut propaganda outlet and porn site Faux News -- and naturally they didn't let me down -- but the others are piling on, too.

I watched most of the presser, and I actually found Gibbs to be both engaging and informative, certainly far more so than his predecessor, Barbie Dana Perino. But of course they can't possibly acknowledge that on teevee! That would be sacrilege to their right-wing masters!

So, the more things change, the more they stay the same ... guess we'd better buckle up and enjoy the ride.

More photographic goodness: Tuesday roundup

Okay, I need to get you the rest of the pictures from yesterday before today ends. Maybe I'll catch up by, say, next week.

Florida delegate Rhett Bullard of Lake City is rockin' the safety patrol vest.

This is the view from the print press tables. Objectively speaking, it sucks.

The Florida delegation puts on their dancing shoes.

The line going into security Tuesday afternoon. In Denver, patience is a virtue. (Also alcohol tolerance.)

Remember when I called CNN's on-site headquarters a "brick shithouse?" I spoke too soon.

"What do you mean, you can't find the body? It was there when I left the office!"

I've given you some pics from inside the Big Sweat Tent, so how 'bout one from outside?

Okay, that's all the pictures through yesterday, and it's about time for me to head over to the Pepsi Center. I'll be blogging from there if I don't break the internets again. Stay tuned for more photo goodness, too, including me with a certain flat-topped, fuckin' awesome senator from Montana ...

First look at the Pepsi Center

I'm sitting right now at the German Press Agency's seat in the Pepsi Center. I've been roaming around the floor for the last hour or so, including an appearance on PaxLive. It's pretty cool. Except the live band is so fucking loud!

I saw Bill Hemmer, Dana Bash, Wolf Blitzer, and the rest of the Hitler Youth.

Bill Hemmer and Blonde Bimbo #3 ... or maybe #4 (how do you tell them apart?), from Fox News. No, the picture isn't blurry; they actually are blurry. That's how they can keep blurring the truth the way they do.

Here's an insider's secret: Gov. David Paterson of New York is speaking right now, and because not all of the N.Y. delegation is here, they were running around supplementing from other states, including Florida. So the huge roar when Gov. Paterson was introduced? Yeah, kinda like the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies ...

Too cool for the White House?

You've got to hand it to Fox News.

Even though their Golden Boy, Huggy Bear, already is on the ropes, and their Golden Party faces an historic, crushing defeat at all levels in November, they're still trying to find chinks in Barack Obama's seemingly impenetrable electoral armor. This time, they're suggesting that maybe Obama is too cool to be president.

Oh, and who's their expert on coolness? Former MTV VJ Kennedy (right).

But cool won’t matter so much this year, said ... Kennedy, now a talk show host for KFI AM radio in Los Angeles. Kennedy said voters have learned from the past.

“People credit Bill Clinton playing the saxophone … with helping him win in '92 by drawing in a young audience who went and told their parents about it,” she said. “Now it’s 16 years later, and those people have kids and they’ve been through what a cool president can get you. It’s not really worth it.”

[...]

Former “Survivor: China” contestant Mike “Frosti” Zernow, a 21-year-old who identifies himself as a Democrat, might be exactly the kind of voter swayed by the coolness factor.

“When Will.i.am makes a music video about you with a bunch of celebrities and you’ve got videos up on MySpace and everything, I know it sounds dumb, but it does have an effect on me,” Zernow said. “People my age notice when a celebrity we like, like Scarlett Johansson, supports a particular candidate.”

But Kennedy said voters like Zernow are unlikely to come to the polls in November.

“Barack Obama is the most implicitly cool presidential candidate we’ve ever had,” Kennedy said. “It’s part of his mystique, but that’s not going to matter to people that actually vote. People that like to say they’re going to vote, they’ll be drawn in by that, but they never actually [vote]. So aside from a very small bump that he might receive from people under 25, no one is going to vote on coolness.”

Okay, first of all, Kennedy is a wingnut? Yeah, she is, complete with a pink GOP elephant tattoo. Go figure.

And secondly, when did she become the arbiter of cool? And how does she know how many young people will go to the polls this year? Barack Obama and the rest of the Democrats brought record turnouts to nearly every primary, and the biggest increase was among the youngest voters. They see something that apparently Kennedy doesn't: a country that is in the crapper thanks to failed GOP policies over the last fifteen years, and they don't want to spend their late teens and early 20s watching the country disintegrate further -- like my generation did with Reagan and Bush 41.

Young people are voting, Kennedy, more than ever before. And whether they're voting for Obama because he's "cool" or because they believe his leadership will bring a new, fresh perspective into Washington doesn't really matter. The fact is, they're voting for Obama. And your guy -- your party -- is going to be marginalized just as they so richly deserve.

Oh, and Kennedy? We might have gone through eight years of a "cool" president, but we've also seen almost eight years of a stupid, dry-drunk, warmongering, lying president. Given that choice (and, in large part, I believe we have that choice in 2008), I'll take the "cool" president every time.

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.

Tales from a Wingnut Family

I'm in North Carolina as we prepare for my stepfather's funeral on Tuesday. (I've been asked to sing "Amazing Grace" at the services, which should be interesting. If you hear of lightning striking a church in eastern North Carolina on Tuesday, now you'll know why.)

I knew it would be a challenge dealing with my wingnut family -- especially the Chief Wingnut, my aunt -- but it's happening far more quickly than I expected. First, the beach house where my kids and I are staying had every television tuned to Fox News when we arrived. I blame my aunt. Turns out she watches almost nothing but FNC ... like, that's the background noise in the house at all times. Now, we're not staying with her, but I'm worried the insanity will affect my kids by osmosis or something. Jeebus.

Then, just got off the phone with my mother. We were chatting about the record heat this area is experiencing, and I made a remark about global warming. I shouldn't have. Mom explained that, well, it's been hot before and will be hot again, and the earth is just going through a natural cycle. (Her bachelor's degree, I should note, is in speech, not anything scientific ... but I digress.) But here's what really got me: she said "it's like they were saying" [no idea who "they" are] "since volcanic ash cools the earth so much, what we really ought to do is create more smoke and soot and that will keep temperatures down."

[pause to let that sink in]

I think she was serious. My brain hurts.

UPDATE (11:06 pm 6/8/08): For the record, yes, I know that the so-called "global warming" phenomenon really should be termed something like "global climate change," since it involves extreme changes in weather beyond just warming. But I just didn't feel that pedantic today.

However, I did attract the attention of a global warming climate change denier, which is hilarious. Dude has a degree in electrical engineering, which I guess makes him think he's qualified to arrive at the "scientific" conclusion that greenhouse gases have no effect. Kind of like my mother's speech degree, I suppose ...

And by the way, not to cast too many aspersions on the guy who derisively linked me up, but how many people with graduate degrees do you know who still boast that they were a National Merit Scholar? That's a high school distinction, dude ...

Today's Daily Schadenfreude: this dude who sent me an e-mail

I love getting angry, pointless e-mail from angry, pointless wingnuts. It keeps me in fighting shape.

However tempted I am to share the writer's real name, though, I instead will choose to shield his identity out of pity. No one this ignorant needs to be outed. Besides, you might just find him on a different website someday.

No, strike that. He wouldn't be with a hot chick.

Anyway, here's the e-mail I received today from someone upset with me about my Daily Schadenfreude award to Robert Linger of Tampa's FOX 13 News:

You are obviously just another paranoid angry liberal where the FOX brand is concerned. WTVT FOX 13, while owned by Newscorp, has nothing to with the business of the FOX News Channel. They are separate entities entirely. Of course a liberal elitist like you conveniently paints everything FOX with one brush. The one and only reason Mr. Linger should earn your award is because he is in a high profile position, has a family and he blindly ignored each in his quest for instant gratification. Unfortunate for him it has most likely earned him a lifetime of humiliation. I think its time to give yourself a Daily Schadenfreude.

A question for my correspondent: How many times did I state, insinuate, indicate, or suggest in that earlier post that FOX 13 is part of or connected to Fox News? ZERO? Yeah, that's what I thought, moron. Look, I'll be the first one to laugh at myself when I make a mistake -- and I make plenty of them, I assure you. But today, the only derision I'm enjoying is aimed squarely at you, a classic deluded right-wing windbag.

Wingnuts, sadly, tend to come up significantly short in the area of reading comprehension, as I've learned over my time as a DFH blogger. At the risk of redundantly stating the obvious, for my addle-brained correspondent, I never said FOX 13 was part of FOX News Channel (FNC). I did, however, point out accurately that it is a FOX station, and as you helpfully pointed out yourself, it, like the FOX Network and its subsidiaries, is owned by Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp.

Sure, I know as well as you do that FNC is a propaganda factory for the right wing in America, and its use of "News" in its name is misleading at best. But the real power behind the right-wing noise machine that is FOX is, of course, Murdoch himself and the sycophantic, mouth-breathing minions who worship him and his twisted world view. Everything Murdoch touches, from FNC to his individual stations in markets around the country, ultimately is intended to spew venom, hate, and right-wing talking points, usually directed (like my correspondent's e-mail) at so-called "liberal elitists." (As Jon Stewart once asked, "Doesn't 'elite' mean 'good?' " Besides, few people are more elite than, say, Huggy Bear or nearly any member of the Bush crime syndicate. I always laugh at the "elitist" tag ...)

So if you actually were capable of reading, dear correspondent, you'd understand that my criticism isn't of FNC alone ... it's of the entire FOX broadcasting cartel. Hell, if it weren't for sports, I don't think I'd ever watch anything FOX-related, just because I hate the idea of helping to feed advertising dollars into the gaping maw of the lying scum who own, operate, and populate FOX properties. At any rate, Mr. Linger is a FOX (read: Newscorp) employee, and therefore it's entirely appropriate to point and laugh at his (and FOX's) misfortune.

Speaking of pointing and laughing, thanks for allowing us to point and laugh at you, Mr. Correspondent ... because for your lame attempts at literary criticism and your stereotypical Republican lack of reading comprehension, today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!

Today's Daily Schadenfreude: Robert Linger

Who, you might ask, is Robert Linger (right)?

He's the general manager of WTVT-TV, Channel 13 in Tampa. And he was arrested last night at a Tampa adult video store, charged with exposure of a sexual organ and lewd and lascivious behavior.

Oh, wait ... did I mention that Linger's station is a FOX affiliate? Now you can start laughing.

According to the arrest reports, the six men formed a circle around the undercover officers inside the movie theater and began masturbating.

Linger was also seen sitting on a couch while masturbating, the arrest report states.

Actually, I think the truly newsworthy part is that we now have proof of a FOX employee masturbating without footage of the "war" in Iraq or a picture of Drunky McStagger. I really thought that wasn't possible ...

When I was a kid, my own father was the GM of another Tampa Bay area television station ... so perhaps I should have some sympathy for Mr. Linger.

[thinking, remembering it's FOX]

Naaaaaah.

So, congratulations, Mr. Linger -- today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you! (No, no, that's okay, Bob ... you don't have to shake my hand ... really, I mean it ...)

War with Iran? BOHICA

Oh, this is fucking ridiculous. We always knew Fox News was a sham news organization, but for them to actively and at least somewhat openly participate with the government in an effort to turn public sentiment in favor of war with Iran, that's unbelievable. Yet, it's true:

New Yorker writer George Packer wrote that the White House is reportedly planning a PR blitz to begin right after Labor Day to garner support for a war against Iran. Packer wrote

"[the source’s institution] have “instructions” (yes, that was the word used) from the Office of the Vice-President to roll out a campaign for war with Iran in the week after Labor Day; it will be coordinated with the American Enterprise Institute, the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, Commentary, Fox, and the usual suspects. It will be heavy sustained assault on the airwaves, designed to knock public sentiment into a position from which a war can be maintained."

FOX and Friends led the charge this morning, with Weekly Standard Editor and PNAC Chairman Bill Kristol telling Steve Doocy that the US will probably have to take action against Iran, not for their nuclear program so much as for their aggressive support of Iraqi insurgents.

Holy shit. Shouldn't the FCC be all over this?

Oh, yeah .... never mind.

This is why we need the Republicans out of power. This is why we need a return to the Fairness Doctrine in mainstream media, and why Fox News needs to be exposed once and for all as an "entertainment" outlet (and I use even that term loosely) -- it's as much news as pro wrestling is competition. Although I don't think even a collusive PR campaign can save the Bush crime syndicate and bolster their warmongering scheme, it's appalling that this kind of "agreement" can take place in a supposedly "free" country.

Meanwhile, here we are, "right after Labor Day," awaiting the next shoe to drop ... or the next bomb to fall. How much is too much, people?

Nancy? Harry? Hillary? Al? Anyone?

Illegal War II: Electric Boogaloo

Oh, shit.

Yesterday, Raw Story pointed out that former CIA operative Bob Baer told Fox News that the Bush administration will likely attack Iran in the coming months. “Iran policy is on close hold, but the feeling is we will hit the Islamic Revolutionary Guard corps sometime next six months or so,” said Baer.

Today, former U.N. ambassador John Bolton appeared on Fox News and responded. He said that while he couldn’t confirm Baer’s statements, he “absolutely” hoped they were true:

HEMMER: One final step here, too, that I want to take with you. You told one of our producers earlier today that you don’t know if it’s true — and you’ve made that clear in our interview here, that you don’t know what the odds are or are not against that — but you hope it’s true. Why do you hope it’s true?

BOLTON: Absolutely. I hope Iran understands that we are very serious, that we are determined they are not going to get a nuclear weapon capability, and unless they change the strategic decision they’ve been pursuing for close to 20 years, that that’s something they better factor into their calculations.

The Bush crime syndicate is oh, so seriously considering (if not planning) further destabilization of the Middle East, at the incalculable cost of more American lives and countless Iranian lives just as they've done in Iraq, spending untold billions of dollars (that won't be spent to help our own country's problems) and for what? More oil? Greater hegemony? National security?

Of course, it's ultimately none of the above (well, maybe oil, just a little). All the fighting and bloodshed and flag-waving and shit is for nothing more than fulfilling their own dick-swinging, hyper-masculine "my army can beat up your army" masturbatory fantasies. That's it.

So, the next question is, just how far are the Democrats in Congress willing to go to stop this ... or are they going to be enablers for the Bushies' war addiction yet again?