Cold War At Home

My God, they really are freaking out:

As I stood on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Midway twenty-five years ago, I was fully aware of the enemy we had been confronting since the end of WWII. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be fighting a Cold War at home a quarter-century later, and against that very same rigid Marxist ideology. But that is where we find ourselves today. And our Cold War at home must be fought as the old one was: tooth and nail. Go to your town halls and Tea Parties in force. Sign petitions. Speak out when you see something amiss. Evil flourishes when good men do nothing. And I see far too many evils flourishing today to sit silently on the sidelines.

Our very democracy and way of life is at stake here. Is there any greater battle worth fighting?

Chelicerata Cams

Some Saturday morning chelicerata-cams for you.

Tarantula:



Scorpion:


(via kottke)

Opposite

TPM reader BN writes:

The Wellstone Effect is conservatives successfully portraying the legitimate grieving of progressives as dangerous hysteria so they can ram through political outcomes exactly opposite to the causes for which the departed stood.

Don't forget it.

Most Important

George Will must be a hoot at funerals. Perhaps he could sell a service of arriving at your next one and giving a speech on whether the deceased was the most important among his or her siblings.

(I notice that in the actual online article, the phrase is changed to "most powerful")

Oscar

DougJ:

More than anyone else on the unhinged right, Breitbart strikes me as possibly being a performance artist. I’m comforted by the knowledge that if he snaps and does something terrible, Philip Seymour Hoffman will win an Oscar playing him in the biopic.

Beret

Fake Steve Jobs:

As for all the rest of you, listen up. I'm back in charge, and I'm not going to ship this tablet unless it's perfect. Remember when I told you to make me a phone with only one button, and you said it couldn't be done? But then we did it. Sure, you all complained about me being a dick about the user interface, and making you redo the buttons and reshape the back and make the corners a tiny bit smoother. But in case you hadn't noticed, that product has done pretty well out there in the marketplace.

So listen up. The tablet, as it stands today, is a piece of shit. It's got Tim Cook's stink all over it. Tim's a great supply chain guy, I'll give him that. But when I was away he kind of went crazy and started wearing a beret and holding design meetings in his office. Jonny Ive would complain to me about it, but I was like, Jonny, dude, I'm lying here with a bunch of machines like from the Matrix all hooked up inside my guts, okay? Just deal with it till I get back.

Just So He Knows

Josh Marshall asks:

Has anyone told Giuliani that New York state doesn't get to have a foreign policy any more than New York City?

Copies

I agree, the new Library Finder thing is cool, but how insane is this limit?

My favorite part of Sony's Reader announcement was probably Library Finder, powered by OverDrive, which lets you check out eBooks from your local library—and "thousands" have signed up—for free, wirelessly, direct to your reader. But there's a catch.

There aren't an unlimited number of ebooks—each library has an actual "stock" of ebooks (because the library had to pay for each copy). So, if they have a stock of 5 books, and they're all checked out, you have to wait in a queue for somebody else's book to expire when they hit the 21-day mark. When it's available, you get an email, and then you can go check it out.

Funny Or Rebellious

"Jude" at Big Hollywood suggests you use Barbara Boxer's book signing as an opportunity to protest health care reform, but says you might want to go easy on the Nazi stuff here. Why?

No Townhall meetings with her constituents are scheduled for our renaissance Senator during this national debate on health care, so this might be as close as you can get.  You read that right.  She’s very busy.   Last night she did take some general questions, so if you attend, be civil and please, leave any Nazi garbage out of it.  It may seem funny or rebellious since Pelosi launched it as a smear, but it only undermines important discussion. 

Calling Democrats Nazis may seem "funny or rebellious?" That's fucked.

More To Help

What is it with these people?

The fact is, from a public health perspective, fast food restaurants like Burger King and McDonalds have done far more to help people than harm them. The fat-bottom line: people in America and around the world aren’t dying from malnutrition because places like BK have made food fresh, cheap and simple to prepare. Seriously, wherever you find a fast food restaurant, you’ll find fat kids, but not starving ones. But in this easy age of value-free moralism, experts are more inclined to demonize Ronald McDonald than Robert Mugabe.

Sometimes it seems like the rightwing exists to provide a kind of political candid camera for the rest of the country.

Proving Peacefulness

Ron Paul claims that William Kostric, the man show showed up outside Obama's healthcare speech with a handgun, "was remarkable in proving his point that he was a peaceful man, and caused no trouble."

Mike Lillis wonders:

Guess this means that the hundreds of unarmed protesters in Portsmouth didn’t prove that they were peaceful because they lacked the proper display of firepower.

Make Yourself Laugh

Great interview with Ryan North, creator of my favorite ever webcomic, Dinosaur Comics:

Where does the inspiration come from daily? How do you keep yourself from creatively burning out?

There’s not much danger of burnout because I really love doing what I do. It’s the first thing I do in the morning and it’s just so much fun: you wake up, usually discover some emails from strangers complimenting you on the strip, and then try to make yourself laugh by putting words into dinosaur mouths. Best job ever!

Old People

Matt Taibbi on Gingrich:

I know some politicians have kind of a wink-wink nudge-nudge attitude towards lying, and some of them in private will act almost like it’s funny, part of the job description. But there are limits to how much even a politician should be allowed to lie. That’s especially when he’s lying in order to scare a bunch of old people.

That Adult Voted For the President In the Election!

Well, you see, the people who are in this country are often the same people who voted in the presidential election last year, so when adults (or their children) ask questions at political events, there's a good chance that they also, um, voted for one of the two major candidates. In fact, there's a higher than 50/50 chance that any given person actuall voted for Obama.

This reminds me of the struggle to put together a jury on high-profile cases. The jury becomes filled with people who are least curious and/or least-informed about the world around them.

Lack Of Americanism

Wow. I really shouldn't be surprised. But the Right is even blaming Obama for GI Joe being a shitty movie.

Director Stephen Sommers said, “this is not a George Bush movie — it’s an Obama world.” Sounds to me that since Bush is no longer president it is supposed to legitimize the disintegration of patriotism for our armed forces. That would explain why the Joe’s are no longer the all American heroes they once were. Instead, they are a multinational task force that picks up the pieces after the USA fails.

This film represents everything President Obama worshipers stand for, which explains the lack of Americanism. GI Joe has always been a vehicle of unapologetic patriotism. What happened? Obama happened. For some reason, it now feels like multiculturalism was not acceptable until Obama was elected into office?

Um..."Americanism?"

Less American

Big Hollywood: I'm not a birther but stop being so mean to them this country was formed from discontents we the people don't forget who birthed the nation and everyone should have a voice!

Bonus direct quote:

[Obama] may be even less American than the Birthers themselves fear.

Because

Hoffmania asks Do I have that right?

We're Nazis Because We Want Americans Without Health Insurance to Have Health Insurance

Sums Up

FT.com:

President Barack Obama reminds me of Felix the Cat. One of the best-loved cartoon characters of the 1920s, Felix was not only black. He was also very, very lucky. And that pretty much sums up the 44th president of the US as he takes a well-earned summer break after just over six months in the world’s biggest and toughest job.

Really, FT?

(via Atrios)

Woke Up

David Kurtz:

It's like Republicans suddenly woke up in the summer of 2009 and discovered they lost the White House.

Not As Dangerous

I'm really becoming more and more disturbed by these people:

I suspect that because George Bush and Condoleezza Rice were so respectful of Muslims, constantly telling us that theirs is a religion of peace, some otherwise sensible Americans actually began to believe it. Now we have a president who not only kowtows to a Saudi prince, but carries on as if Israeli homes are more threatening than Iranian nukes.

What is wrong with our leaders? Are they worried that they won’t be invited to those cool Ramadan parties? The Islamics have been actively at war with us for 30 years and generally at war with western civilization for well over a thousand years, and still we pay lip service to these people in a way we never did with Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan or the Soviet Union. Is it because the Muslims commit sadism and murder in the name of religion and not country? If anything, I would think that would make their evil acts all the more contemptible.


Still, I would contend that Hezbollah and Al Qaeda are not as dangerous as America’s liberals. The Islamic terrorists can only kill so many people, but those on the Left are doing everything in their power to eviscerate America. Cap and Trade can destroy our industrial might; Obama’s trillion dollar stimulus programs combined with his delusional health care plan will not only bankrupt our nation, but lead inevitably to a rate of inflation that will impress even Jimmy Carter; and the budget cuts directed at our military and our missile defense system will make us increasingly vulnerable to our various enemies.

A Year of Lex

Excellent.

What's More

How does the National Review greet the somewhat optimistic unemployment report from the other day? By talking about TEH BIG GUVNMNT & HITLER!

Second, even if unemployment does start to decline steadily  this year, the larger point is that the growth of government means a lessening of individual liberty. You have less control of your life, and bureaucrats have more. Would it be desirable to live in a country with only 1 percent unemployment — as Germany and the USSR sometimes had in the 1930s — but have almost no ability to earn and accumulate property and wealth?

Tantrums

From rightwing website Little Green Footballs, a breath of clarity and reality:

There’s a place for yelling, screaming, and protesting — at demonstrations scheduled for that purpose. When these Tea Partiers and Glenn Beck drones charge into town hall meetings, shout down speakers, and act like angry children throwing tantrums, they achieve nothing but to further cement the impression that the right wing is going dangerously nuts.

And who thought it was a great idea to gleefully adopt the name “mob?” Here’s a hint: it only works to satirically co-opt a derogatory term like “mob” if you’re not really acting like a mob.

And the freepers attack!

Ack!

(via John Cole)

Hitler! Caesar!

They're desparate and just resorting to a pile of their biggest clubs. Obama's Hitler, and now "American Caesar" from KLo.

Rooting For SUVs

What kind of sick fuck roots for SUVs? Katheryn Jean Lopez.

Oh, right. I forgot the primary guiding principle in these people's lives. Digby, last December:

The only thing Coulter really believes in all that is that Democratic women are hags and that the primary goal of conservatism is to piss off liberals. The rest of it is just puerile taunts and sarcastic bully blather. But that is the essence of Limbaugh conservatism and it is the foundation upon which their comeback will be built.

And it would be a mistake to underestimate the power of liberal hating as an organizing principle. The entire contemporary American political culture is based on it.

After A Bad Hundred, Will They Put Him In The Corner?

John Cole:

Are [CNN] going to grade him every hundred days for the next four years?

Fire Code Enforcement Taken Personally

These people are insane:

The reports from the ground are still sketchy. But in both cases of unrest this evening we appear to have a similar pattern. Relatively small venues (200 to 300 size spaces) get quickly filled to capacity. The doors get closed because of fire codes. And then locked out teabag activists start banging on doors and windows demanding to be let in and yelling about various forms of political oppression. From what I can tell, the shoving and whatever fisticuffs took place grew from that.

In post-event retellings on the right fire code enforcement became a form of political repression of teabaggers.

Forty-Million!

Grassroots or astroturf, you're not helping:

TAMPA – Bitter divisions over reforming America's health care system exploded Thursday night in Tampa amid cat calls, jeering and shoving at a town hall meeting.

"Tyranny! Tyranny! Tyranny!" dozens of people shouted as U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor struggled to talk about health insurance reforms under consideration in Washington, D.C.

"There is more consensus than there is disagreement when you get right down to it,'' Castor offered, immediately drowned out by groans and boos.

She pressed on, mostly unheard among the screams from the audience of more than 200.

"Tell the truth! Tell the truth!"

"Read the bill!"

"Forty-million illegals! Forty million illegals!"

How It Is

Brilliance: If twitter wasn't down right now it would be full of people bitching about twitter being down.

Orly?

I was sure this was a birther joke when I first saw it.

64 Years Ago

I've seen photos my whole life of the aftermath of the nuclear weapon in Hiroshima, and they're still horrifying.

Mock

Joe Sudbay:

Note to the Washington Post: You can't mock "pompous pundits" with pompous pundits.

Getting To Know Her

I'm not much of a student of her work, but holy crap Ann Althouse is nuts!

Prince

There are some truly terrible people in positions of power in this country.

If You Weren't Apple...

Oh, that's fucking quaint.

Most notably, [Apple's] GarageBand '09 5.1 fixes an issue that could lead to your Internet activity being tracked by third parties without your knowledge. Previously, when opened, GarageBand '09 would change Safari's preferences to accept cookies always.

23 Spoons Of Sugar

Phil Bebbington:

A few years back I was between jobs and took a job that was just me and my boss. There was no fun in her, but, I managed to stick it out until I found other employment. I had to have some fun and as she liked 2 sugars in her tea it got me to wondering how much sugar could a person take in one cup of tea and not notice.

I increased her sugar intake by one spoon at a time and generally left a couple of days in between changes. I kept going until I was bored. I guess part of me wanted her to notice, but, she never did. Not even the amount of sugar we were getting through. Anyway, I eventually got her up to 23 spoons of sugar in a cup of tea – yeah, 23! She never said a word and always finished the cup.

The oddest part was, when I got bored and stopped I returned her to 2 spoons over night and she didn’t say a thing. It set me to wondering what our threshold for sweetness was and did 3 spoons of sugar actually taste no different to 23?

People are funny.

Chants

Whatever would we do without the oompah-loompahs of Big Hollywood:

Half-a-century ago, a band of Leftist thugs violently took over the administration building at Columbia University and hijacked the American education system.  From that moment on, they used this system to indoctrinate - in fact brainwash - generation after generation into their cult of Leftism.

For the next five decades (pseudo)-intellectuals, hiding behind tenure and “Academic Freedom,” have been spewing greater and greater nonsense designed for one purpose and one purpose only: sabotaging and eventually destroying all of Western Civilization.

Don’t think so?  Simply consider the fact that one of the most oft-repeated chants of the Modern Liberal movement is “Hey, hey, ho, ho. Western Civilization has got to go.”