War On Christmas: FOX "News" vs. Atheists

Photo from source, Raw Story

So let me get this straight. Everyone is supposed to say "Merry Christmas" to everyone, whether the speaker or the listener is Christian or not. We're apparently supposed to do this from somewhere around Halloween to some time after New Year's. Otherwise, we're enemy agents in the War on Christmas.

You're supposed to respect Christians' beliefs utterly for the entire holiday season. Oddly though, if you are a non-believer, you are to be afforded no respect, and to be treated with suspicion. Not surprisingly, this is the attitude being furthered on FOX "News."

[Excerpt]

Fox: 'Atheist Outrage' over holiday 'Tree of Knowledge'

Fox & Friends launched a salvo in the War on Christmas Monday, attacking an atheist group's "tree of knowledge" erected in front of a Philadelphia courthouse alongside a creche and menorah, while ignoring a 32-foot tree dedicated to "commercial attraction" in the same public square. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

White House Blocking Congressional Probe?

Photo of Rep. Henry Waxman from source, Raw Story

“If the government has nothing to hide,then why are they hiding everything?” -- Dr. Robert Bowman

[Excerpt]

White House blocking congressional Plame probe, chairman says

President Bush is doing everything possible to delay, obfuscate and obstruct a congressional investigation of his possible role in exposing an undercover CIA agent, a Congressional chairman alleges. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Wolfowitz Primping for the Camera

Right-wing World, and of course FOX "News" (is that redundant?) have made a lot of hay out of John Edwards' primping. The price of his haircuts somehow became an issue of critical importance.

Well, since Paul Wolfowitz is in the news again, I thought I'd remind everyone of his own primping video. At least Edwards didn't lick his comb. . .

Wolfowitz May Become New Arms Control Advisor

Photo from source, New York Times

Sometimes you just throw your hands up and say, "well of course, why not?" This administration has proven adept at appointing their favorites to positions they're wholly wrong for, so why not? Good grief, I really don't know what else to say.

[Excerpt]

Wolfowitz May Return as Arms Control Advisor

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has offered [Paul D.] Wolfowitz … a position as chairman of the International Security Advisory Board, a prestigious State Department panel, according to two department sources who declined to be identified discussing personnel matters. . .

Read more at: New York Times

Bush Wants to Cut Anti-terror Grants?

Photo of Michael Chertoff from source, USA Today

The excuse made for why the 110th Congress has consistently capitulated to the whims of this unpopular President, is that they're terrified that they will be branded "unpatriotic" or that they don't support the troops. Strange, of course since those things and worse are said about Democrats every single day on talk radio and FOX "News." But I wonder what that bunch of bozos would have to say about this?

Somehow, President Bush himself can blatantly disregard or disrespect the troops, and can make policy decisions that seem to undermine the "global war on terror," yet get a pass from the Limbaughs and Hannitys of the world. How odd. It's almost like they have a double-standard or something. . .

[Excerpt]

Bush seeks cuts in anti-terror grants

The Bush administration intends to slash counterterrorism funding for police, firefighters and rescue departments across the country by more than half next year, according to budget documents obtained by The Associated Press. . .

Read more at: USA Today

Bush Getting Cranky Again Over Congress

There are probably legitimate claims that could be made against Congress for their performance so far in the 110th session. Liberals, certainly, are irritated that they keep giving the Republicans in general, and the President in specific exactly what he wants.

But here we have an instance where Congress isn't giving that to him, so he gets petulant and whiny, and demands that they give him what he wants with no conditions. Feh. Go pound salt, Mr. President.

[Excerpt]

Bush blasts Senate over pro forma sessions

President Bush Monday welcomed back Congress by criticizing Democrats for their priorities and blasting the Senate for using a procedural maneuver to prevent him from making recess appointments. . .

Read more at: The Hill

Top 10 Conservative Idiots - December 3, 2007

After a Thanksgiving sabbatical, it's back. Yay! My favorite weekly internet feature always makes me smile, even as I'm groaning at the ridiculousness. Enjoy.

[Excerpt]

The Top 10 Conservative Idiots, No. 316

This week Rudy Giuliani (1) realizes that he probably should never have run for president in the first place, Mike Hucakbee (2,3) enjoys God's support, Dennis Hastert and Trent Lott (9) call it quits, and the Republican Presidential Candidates (10) have a great debate.

Photos from source, Democratic Underground

Read the list at: Democratic Underground

Sen. Larry Craig Tapped LOTS of Men?

Photo from source, Idaho Statesman

Interesting. Larry Craig has former fellow toe-tappers coming out of the wood-work, it would seem. I'm with Kathy Griffin and Larry Flynt; I don't care what you're up to, or who it's with, just don't be a hypocrite. Larry Craig was actively pursuing legislation against gay people's rights, and yet seems to have been having a gay old time for quite a while now. Check it out. . .

[Excerpt]

More gay men describe sexual encounters with U.S. Sen. Craig

David Phillips. Mike Jones. Greg Ruth. Tom Russell.
Four gay men, willing to put their names in print and whose allegations can't be disproved, have come forward since news of U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's guilty plea. They say they had sex with Craig or that he made a sexual advance or that he paid them unusual attention.

They are telling their stories now because they are offended by Craig's denials, including his famous statement, "I am not gay, I never have been gay." Those words, spoken on live national TV on Aug. 28, are now memorialized on a just-released-for-Christmas Talking Senator Larry Craig Action Figure. . .

Read more at: Idaho Statesman

David Gregory Gets Blogs Wrong

I've always really liked David Gregory, and thought he was one of the best of the White House Press Corps. In the last year or so, that opinion has dropped a bit. Particularly when he was on stage, gangsta rappin' with "M.C. Rove," a particularly stomach-churning sight to see.

If you dare, watch:



Now, Gregory's opinion that the Internet and bloggers are responsible for the divisiveness in politics these days, really misses the mark. For a generally astute guy, he just doesn't get it. For the real reason behind the divisiveness, he need look no further than the puffy, porcine, pasty ersatz rapper he was dancing with.

[Excerpt]

Gregory: Blogs are to blame for polarization

When Helen Thomas asked Gregory what was responsible for the polarization, Gregory answered:

"I think it’s because of the internet largely. The polarized atmosphere in the internet and blogs and whatnot have been a major contributor to that."

Read more at: Think Progress

Sunday Roundup: Karl Rove is a Pig

As I've mentioned before, I usually get up on Sunday and watch at least one or two of the Sunday morning political shows. Since Las Vegas is in the Pacific time zone, we get those programs whenever our local stations deign to air them, which means it can be impossible to watch them all without multiple DVRs. It may be bad for your health to watch them all anyway.

So, what usually happens is that I watch NBC's Meet the Press when it airs at 8:00, ignore CBS's Face the Nation, which airs at 8:30 (it's only one half hour anyway), watch FOX's FOX "News" Sunday delayed on the DVR (allowing me to zip through it quickly), and catch ABC's This Week only when our local station isn't airing golf or something.

It takes most of Meet the Press to fry a pound of bacon. If I hadn't had that activity, MTP would have put me to sleep. But since I was active and awake, I noticed something slightly disturbing. In their "round table" (in quotes, because the table is totally not round), one of panelists was David Brody (lots of Davids in their panels, by the way) of the freakin' Christian Broadcasting Network! I really couldn't believe that is counted as a valid news source. Any un-hypnotized person who's ever watched the "news" segments on The 700 Club would know that they are the most biased, unbalanced "news" it's possible to get.

Which brings us to FOX "News." It takes about 25 minutes to watch FOX "News" Sunday, if I can stand the creepiness of Chris Wallace, the combined evil of Brit Hume and Bill Kristol, and the lack of fight in whichever centrist-to-barely left-wing panelists they put in for "balance." But it was today's first segment that both gave me the creeps and had me screaming at the TV set.

It was a discussion between Chris Wallace (the host), freakin' Karl Rove (the swine from hell), and Chris Van Hollen (a guy I've never heard of, from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, whatever that is). While it would be quite impossible to "balance" Karl Rove, they could have gone for Terry McAuliffe or James Carville, someone known to be stridently partisan. But Van Hollen did have some fight in him, I have to say. He also showed much more decorum, maturity and professionalism--by far--than Rove did.

Turd Blossom was petulant, rude, and dishonest. He interrupted the host and the other guest, and showed no respect to either of them. He also continues the use of "Democrat Party" or "Democrat Congress," deliberately leaving the -ic off of "Democratic" because it tests well for Republicans to talk that way. This may seem like a small point, but Rove isn't using the term because he doesn't know any better. He's using it because he knows that saying "Democratic Party" sounds better to people, and he can't have that. Of course, the man disgusts me on so many levels, I wonder if just sat there and didn't say anything, whether I could quietly tolerate him.

Next up is This Week which just started. I'll spare you a recap, only to say that Huckabee is on now, and he scares me because he isn't creepy, he's articulate and funny, but he's the exact opposite in just about everything politically that I believe in. Yikes.

Donny Osmond Acting Un-Mormonlike

Just a few posts ago, I commented that I'd like to lighten the mood around here a little. The political posts are important, and really interest me, but can really be a dark cloud. I want this blog to be a fun place to visit too.

In that spirit, I found this on Kenneth in the (212), one of my favorite blogs. It's a YouTube clip from Jimmy Kimmel's ABC show. It's the perfect medicine to lighten the mood, and falls neatly into my "kid of the 70s" pop culture sweet spot. Try as he might, Donny Osmond will always be "a little bit 70s" more than he's "a little bit rock and roll." And here, Donny gets his ya-yas out. It's pretty cute. Enjoy.

UPDATE: The video was removed, but I replaced it. If it's gone again soon, I'll try to replace it again. If not, sorry guys!

Evel Knievel Dies at 69

Photo from Wikipedia

I generally only post items that interest me in some way, be they political, pop culture, or unclassifiable. I can't say I was an Evel Knievel fan exactly, but you couldn't be a kid in the 1970s without being influenced in some way by his stunts and his persona.

Were it not for Evel Knievel, Fonzie (on TV's Happy Days, if you're too young to remember) never would have jumped all that stuff on his motorcycle--and ultimately a shark on water skis. So, when you're reading JumpTheShark.com, you have Knievel to thank for the inspiration.

Evel Knievel and Muhammed Ali were the icons of the 70s, at least to kids, all wrapped up in stars and stripes. I tie together in my memory those two icons, along with the bicentennial, the 1976 Olympics and all of those old Battle of the Network Stars specials. It was all a very innocent, kind of bland but kind of sweet period in American pop culture history. And Evel Knievel was a huge part of it.

[Excerpt]

Iconic Daredevil Evel Knievel Dies at 69

Evel Knievel's hard life killed him -- it just took longer than he or anyone else might have expected.

The hard-living motorcycle daredevil, whose bone-breaking, rocket-powered jumps and stunts made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69.

Read more at: New York Times

Featured Blog: I Hate Crocs

Photo from source, I Hate Crocs Blog

Here's a shout-out to a blog doing a great job pointing out the obvious: Crocs are hideous. No one knows how a fad forms. Why do strange and ridiculous things catch the public's fancy? Off the top of my head, I can think of "pet rocks," Cabbage Patch Kids, and Earth Shoes. Each was an enormous fad, each pretty stupid.

Pet Rocks was a micro fad, one that lasted long enough to make a pop culture dent, make its inventor rich, and then fade from the scene. Cabbage Patch Kids had a little longer shelf-life, and had people getting into brawls to try and snap up the (deliberate) limited supply. They still pop up in one incarnation here and there. And Earth Shoes were a quieter, gentler fad. They sort of oozed through the 70s, and can still be found today. I'm hoping that Crocs are closer to the Pet Rock in scale, though they seem to be a little more tenacious.

To the uninitiated, Crocs are an ugly plastic shoe, little more than a flip-flop with a top, though they now have many varieties--all of them ugly. If they were a car, they'd be a Pontiac Aztek, Honda Element, or a Scion xB. They have deservedly earned a hate blog, and I happily offer it up to you. Check it out!

I Hate Crocs Blog

Blogiversary: 6 Months, 1,165+ Posts!

It's tootin' my own horn time again. . . Greenlee Gazette is half a year old tomorrow! It's been a pretty good month around here, too.

I managed to keep my average at about seven posts a day, which is quite a feat with a full-time job, a vacation (thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet and The Other Half for filling in), and the Thanksgiving holiday. I had no idea how difficult it is to round up interesting stories during a holiday. Even with all that extra time, the news is still almost nonexistent. I'm trying to backlog a few ideas for the upcoming Christmas break.

I've also reached a milestone regarding visits to the blog. While we are still (decidedly) a small-time operation, the daily visits were way up in November. Not only that, total visits for a six-month period have eclipsed my employers' web site, one that has been in existence for nine years. Granted, theirs isn't a blog, but that kind of put a little wind in my sails.

I'm going to try a little harder to throw in some more fun posts this month, since I still have a tendency to get stridently political in this space. I've come up with a few fun things, from Kathy Griffin to Cute with Chris to (my favorite) the Christmas Shoes review and parody. Hopefully, with Christmas around the corner, that will be a little easier to do. Of course with the Presidential primaries also around the corner, I can't make any promises. . .

I'll end with another plea to my readers. Leave comments. Bring your friends. I'd really like for this blog to become a community. A smallish one, to be sure, but one where there's two-way communication. It's gratifying to know that 9,000 of you have stopped by, but I'd like to know who you are! Thanks, everybody.

White House Declares Abramoff Meetings "Secret"

Photo from Daily Kos

In this White House, is there anything that isn't a "secret" or "Excecutive Privilege?" For a party that is very fond of the phrase, "personal accountability," this particular administration seems to have none. Why isn't Right-wing World up in arms about that? Cognitive dissonance?

[Excerpt]

Secrecy invoked on Abramoff lawsuits

. . .The Justice Department, citing a Cold War-era court ruling, declared that the contents of the "Sensitive Security Records" cannot be publicly revealed even though they could show whether Abramoff made more visits to the White House than those already acknowledged.

"The simple act of doing so ... would reveal sensitive information about the methods used by the Secret Service to carry out its protective function," the Justice Department argued.

"This is an extraordinary development and it raises the specter that there were additional contacts with President Bush or other high White House officials that have yet to be disclosed," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group that filed the suit. "We've alleged that the government has committed misconduct in this litigation and frankly this is more fuel for that fire."

Read it at: Raw Story

Kathy Griffin Takes on Sen. Larry Craig

Photo from Queerty

I just loves me some Kathy Griffin! Her latest comedy special on Bravo, Kathy Griffin: Straight to Hell just aired this past Thursday, but I'm sure its available in reruns over the month of December.

It's a shame that Kathy only gets an hour to strut her stuff. Her comedy is rather long-form, and thrives on digressions. She needs more space for that. Anyway, here is a clip from the show, with Kathy pantomiming Senator Larry Craig's infamous bathroom toe-tapping and hand signals. Because this video is naughty (even the censors at Bravo couldn't clean it up), I'm putting it "below the fold." Click the line at the bottom of this post that says If post says "Continued," click here! to see it.

Continued

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Evolution vs. Creationism: Texas Science Director Resigns

Photo of the Creation Museum's saddled Triceratops

There are a few different reasons I am motivated to write this blog. One is a strong sense of justice and fairness, and a converse anger when unfairness and lack of justice prevail. Mixed in with that is a overriding distaste for illogic, a profound dislike for "end-run" politics (ends-justify-the means, no matter what the means are), and a disgust for people who have an utter lack of respect for their own supporters and their intelligence.

Ah, intelligence. For those of you not paying attention, "Intelligent Design," (or ID) is the latest sheep's clothing on the wolf that is "Creationism." Creationists have tried for years to have their "theory" taught alongside--or instead of--evolution in school science classes. ID itself punches a few of my "hot buttons" listed above. They try to circumvent laws against religion in public schools by painting ID as science, when it is not. They try to get their supporters (and gain new ones) to believe that ID is a science, when it is not. They're counting on you to buy their line of bull or, failing that, get you to play along because you sort of agree with them, even if it isn't strictly legal. Kind of like "In God We Trust" on the money. . .probably un-Constitutional, but we kind of like it there, so we'll just play along.

Anyway, that is a long-winded way to get to this story, about a woman who was the Texas State Science Director, who had to resign over an email she wrote. In the email, she was forwarding information about a book that is anti-Creationism. And Texas just can't have that.

Hey, Texas! She's the Science Director! Creationism ISN'T SCIENCE!!!

[Excerpt]

Texas official resigns, cites creationism conflict

The state's director of science curriculum said she resigned this month under pressure from officials who felt she gave the appearance of criticizing the instruction of intelligent design.

The Texas Education Agency put Chris Comer on 30 days paid administrative leave in late October, resulting in what she described as a forced resignation. . .

Read more at: USA Today

Michigan Loses its Democratic Delegates?

This has got to be one of the strangest Presidential races we've ever been through. First of all, we don't have an incumbent in the race, which hasn't happened since, well I was going to say 1968, but Hubert Humphrey ran that time. I truly don't know when the last time was.

Second, we had a race that started very early. The "front runners" have been in place for months now already, and we still have nearly a year until the Presidential election. My theory, of course, is that the people are so sick of the current administration, they are desperate to focus on the next one.

Third, we have this bizarre jockeying for position among the states for primary and caucus dates. I'll be honest, I have no idea why Iowa and New Hampshire get the plum spots each time, or why that needs to remain in place. I do understand why a state might want to have a little more voice in selection of candidates. But it has gotten absurd.

Michigan and Florida have dropped their primaries into the calendar at a time that breaks their party's rules. This has led the Democratic Party to punish those two states by disallowing their delegates. Which is justified, but may be cutting off your nose to spite your face. And where is the Republican Party on this issue? Are they allowing their rule-breakers to get away with it? Perish the thought. . .

[Excerpt]

Democrats punish Michigan for early primary

Leaders vote to strip state of all delegates for violating party rules

Democratic leaders voted Saturday to strip Michigan of all its delegates to the national convention next year as punishment for scheduling an early presidential primary in violation of party rules.

Michigan, with 156 delegates, has scheduled a Jan. 15 primary. Democratic Party rules prohibit states other than Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina from holding nominating contests before Feb. 5. . .

Read more at: MSNBC

Another Straw Poll: Edwards and Kucinich

Photo from Democratic Underground

I what has sort of become a weekly feature, Air America's The Thom Hartmann Program ran another straw poll yesterday, dumping the phone lines, and accepting only calls giving a choice for President in 2008. Here are the results

Edwards - 36
Kucinich - 32
Clinton - 7
Obama - 7
Al Gore - 3
Biden - 1
Nader - 1

Though this is a decidedly small sampling, it is also remarkably consistant with Hartmann's earlier straw polls. All have shown Edwards strongly out in front, Kucinich a strong second, and everyone else trailing (or not even placing). The difference this week was a boost in Kucinich votes, higher numbers for both Clinton and Obama (though they are both neck-and-neck each time), and a few missing names.

I continue to find this intersting. I wonder if Edwards' strong showing says something about his hidden potential, or if his supporters just tend to listen to The Thom Hartmann Program.

Clinton Campaign Hostage Taker Update

Photo from source, MSNBC

You all probably know this already. But I've been taking some personal time with the other half since the story broke, so I thought I'd get to the update first off. It would seem this guy was not a whack-a-doodle right-winger (that we know of). It is a strange story though, since the guy seems to have been bonkers, but was together enough to make a convincing looking bomb.

As for my speculation about the guy's likely ties to right-wing world: no apologies. I guessed wrong, but sheesh, who could blame me? It's surprising that something like this hasn't happened yet with all the nastiness the Limbaughs and Savages of the world stuff their audiences brains with. On to the story.

[Excerpt]

ROCHESTER, N.H. - Leeland Eisenberg was already in trouble before he walked into one of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign offices.

Three days earlier, his wife had filed for divorce; he was due to appear in court with her for a domestic violence hearing in about half an hour.

Then, the nicely dressed, gray-haired man peeled open his jacket to reveal what looked like dynamite strapped to his chest, authorities said, and things got much worse. . .

Read the whole story at: MSNBC