June 23, 2008

R.I.P. George


George Carlin was one of the greatest. Don't expect wall-to-wall Tim Russert-like coverage of his death.

Here's George on war (or, in his words, "Prick Waving"):


(NSFW)

and here's some classic early Carlin (quite a contrast):



FMU's got a lot more.

June 16, 2008

Someone Had To Say It


Jonathan Schwarz over at This Modern World:
How Tim Russert Helped Plant the Seeds for Iraq War

December 19, 1999: With Al Gore as guest, Tim Russert says on Meet the Press: “One year ago Saddam Hussein threw out all the inspectors who could find his chemical or nuclear capability.” Russert asks Gore what he’s going to do about this.

Soon afterward: Sam Husseini leaves a message on Russert’s answering machine, and speaks to two of his assistants, telling them the inspectors were withdrawn by the UN at the request of the United States.

January 2, 2000: With Madeleine Albright as guest, Tim Russert repeats the error on Meet the Press: “One year ago, the inspectors were told, ‘Get out,’ by Saddam Hussein.” Russert asks Albright what she’s going to do about this.

January 21, 2000: Sam Husseini writes a letter to Russert, again laying out the facts, and requests a correction.

January 22, 2000-March 19, 2003: Russert never corrects his error.

March 19, 2003-present: Hundreds of thousands of people die in Iraq War. Russert dies, not in Iraq War. Official Washington weeps copious tears for Russert and his Extraordinary Journalistic Standards.
Here's an "obscene" example of tears shed for Russert:
It's surely no consolation to his family if we note that Russert dedicated himself to the pursuit of a noble cause: journalism, the free flow of information, the First Amendment, the need (more than ever) to hold politicians accountable for their words and actions. That, in fact, is more than a noble cause. It is patriotism. And his passing is sad proof that a patriot can sacrifice himself for the country he loves without dying in battle.
I'll only accept this argument if I never have to hear someone question Barack Obama's patriotism ever again.

June 09, 2008

John McCain's a Bigger Dick Than You Thought


The Maverick's first wife speaks:
...She was the woman McCain dreamed of during his long incarceration and torture in Vietnam’s infamous ‘Hanoi Hilton’ prison and the woman who faithfully stayed at home looking after the children and waiting anxiously for news.

But when McCain returned to America in 1973 to a fanfare of publicity and a handshake from Richard Nixon, he discovered his wife had been disfigured in a terrible car crash three years earlier. Her car had skidded on icy roads into a telegraph pole on Christmas Eve, 1969. Her pelvis and one arm were shattered by the impact and she suffered massive internal injuries.

When Carol was discharged from hospital after six months of life-saving surgery, the prognosis was bleak. In order to save her legs, surgeons had been forced to cut away huge sections of shattered bone, taking with it her tall, willowy figure. She was confined to a wheelchair and was forced to use a catheter.

Through sheer hard work, Carol learned to walk again. But when John McCain came home from Vietnam, she had gained a lot of weight and bore little resemblance to her old self...

(snip)

Carol insists she remains on good terms with her ex-husband, who agreed as part of their divorce settlement to pay her medical costs for life. ‘I have no bitterness,’
she says. ‘My accident is well recorded. I had 23 operations, I am five inches shorter than I used to be and I was in hospital for six months. It was just awful, but it wasn’t the reason for my divorce.

‘My marriage ended because John McCain didn’t want to be 40, he wanted to be 25. You know that happens...it just does.’
Ah, the sanctity of marriage...

June 05, 2008

Elmo Auditions for Scorsese's Casino


SoooooooooNSFW:

It's About Time


Hillary for Obama

Here's the context:

Hillary/Barack

(photos taken by "the mrs." in nyc)

Question: I've been reading a number of articles (for example, this one) that puts the primary onus of "healing" the Democratic Party on Barack. I know he will (because he's good like that), but shouldn't Hillary be the one charged with that task? She's the one who has continually tried her darnedest to rip the party apart. Just sayin'...

"McCain's YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare"




Pass it on. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEtZlR3zp4c&feature=email

June 03, 2008

This Is Why We Need A Change (Sorry John, Sorry Hillary)


Fearless leader George W. Bush on his decision to go to war in Iraq (from a new book by NBC News' Richard Engel):
"'This is the great war of our times. It is going to take forty years,'" [Bush told Engel]. "Bush said in forty years the world would know if the war on terrorism, and conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, had reduced extremism, helped moderates, and promoted democracy."

- Bush admits to Engel that going to war was a decision based on his personal instinct and not on any long-range strategy for the Mideast:

"I know people are saying we should have left things the way they were, but I changed after 9/11. I had to act. I don't care if it created more enemies. I had to act."
Can we have the election tomorrow?

June 02, 2008

This Is Humbling


I will never, ever refer to myself as a sort-of-musician again:



More here.