Caption Contest

Here's Drunky McStagger at the Olympics in Beijing, just minutes ago. Throw your own caption in the comments.

This'll get you started: "Who am I? Why am I here?"

click image for larger version

Yep, that's his pal Pooty Poot there in the lower left corner of the screen grab. Glad they could sit near each other ...

Republican Standard Time

Let's see ...

Evangelical president who claims to take instructions directly from God? Check.
Rampant, machine-like corruption? Check.
Racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic policies? Check.
War against brown people, with constant reminders of a single terroristic event fomenting hysteria? Check.
Nearly catatonic First Lady? Check.
Exploitation of the environment and ignorance of the potential for catastrophic changes? Check.
Ridiculously puritanical social mores? Check.

Yep. It's obvious.

Republicans are trying to set America's clocks back ... to 1898.

WATB of the Week: Kathleen Parker

Did you see the latest inanity spewed forth by WaPo syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker? This week, Parker whined about the supposed slamming of her BFF Laura Bush following the First Robot's donning of a Muslim head scarf during a visit to Saudi Arabia.

Check this out:

Unlike most who have commented, I was there. The controversial photo shows Mrs. Bush donning a black headscarf decorated with the iconic pink bows signifying breast cancer awareness. It was the only time Mrs. Bush covered her head during the trip, and the episode lasted perhaps a minute.

The scarf was a gift to Mrs. Bush from a dozen Saudi women who shared their experiences fighting breast cancer with the first lady. The morning meeting was touching and intimate, the sort of bonding experience that opens hearts and minds in diplomatically useful ways.

Upon receiving the gift, Mrs. Bush did what any decent, well-mannered person would do. She demonstrated her appreciation by placing the scarf on her head. In Saudi Arabia, it was a sweet, wordless gesture of friendship and mutual respect.

Yet to read and hear remarks over the past few days, you'd think Mrs. Bush had organized a pilgrimage to the stoning fields.

Oh, puke. Look, Kathy, if you love Laura that much, why don't you just marry her? Or just, you know, rearrange her circuitry?

It gets better:

On Monday, a column posted on The Jerusalem Post's Web site carried the headline, "Our World: Laura Bush's embrace of tyranny." Huh? Columnist Caroline Glick wrote that Mrs. Bush's donning of the scarf and her visit in general were symbolically "deeply disturbing."

Ms. Glick's point, reiterated elsewhere throughout the blogosphere, was that Mrs. Bush was effectively endorsing the subjugation of Saudi women by wearing the scarf.

And that, my friends, is basically the last you hear of Laurabot's scarf episode, as Parker takes a sharp right turn (what else?) to harp about what a wonderful diplomat Mrs. McStagger was as she traveled to raise awareness about breast cancer, yadda, yadda.

Could it be that Parker subtly sidestepped the scarf issue -- after bringing it up and whining about it -- because it would seem hypocritical? A right-wing columnist hypocritical? Perish the thought ...

But the Right hammered Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for doing the same thing six months (or, if you prefer, one Friedman Unit) ago! HuffPo collects the atrocities.

Now, I can't find a specific example of Parker criticizing Pelosi for the scarf, but since so many of Parker's ideological allies do, it stands to reason that she would have, given the opportunity. And if there's one thing I can't stand, it's hypocrisy. So, Kathy, I'd like to offer you a frosty mug of shut the fuck up. Come back when you think you have the moral high ground again, so I can slap you down once more. It's fun!

Caption contest

"Well, close, but usually you bring the foot up higher for a true goosestep."

Caption contest

Take a crack at this one. Drunky McStagger arrives in New Orleans.

Like shooting fish in a barrel ...

Making Laura Bush proud

I hope former librarian Laura Bush would be proud of me. My latest Amazon.com order arrived over the weekend:

The Assault on Reason, by Al Gore

A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency, by Glenn Greenwald

Special Plans: The Blogs on Douglas Feith & the Faulty Intelligence That Led to War, edited by Allison Hantschel

Don't bug me. I'm reading.

What did she just say?

Sometimes it's just too easy.

(h/t to Pony Boy)

Eye bleach needed

Please tell me this didn't happen. Please. For the love of God, PLEASE!!!

The Bushes dancing with an African troupe at the White House? Captured on video. As part of a "Malaria Awareness Initiative?!"


Please excuse me while I go bleach my eyes.

Hide the children and lock the doors - it's Laurabot!!

I'm sorry, I don't mean to criticize the appearance of others - I mean, I'm not going to win any beauty contests myself (in a manly way, I mean) - but what the hell happened to Laurabot?



Damn. That's going to put me off my kibble for a few days.

Laurabot's carcinoma

Even I'm not deranged enough to use a Daily Schadenfreude award on this:

First lady Laura Bush had a skin cancer tumor removed from her right shin in early November. The procedure was not disclosed until Monday night. The cancer was identified as a squamous cell carcinoma, a malignant tumor that is the second most common form of skin cancer.

A former boss of mine died a few weeks ago from skin cancer, so this is no laughing matter. However, what struck me was the apropos-of-nothing paragraph at the end of the article:

Monday's revelation was the second case this year of a belated White House announcement. In February, the White House waited almost a day before disclosing that Vice President Dick Cheney had shot a fellow hunter during a quail-hunting trip.

And, of course, now there's an explanation for the Bot wearing such hideous long gowns of late. (Explanation for the "long," not so much the "hideous" ...)