Youth Reaction to Mitt Romney vs. Barack Obama

Is it even necessary to comment on this? Speaks for itself!

 

Image from Think Progress on Facebook

Quote of the Day: Dana Gould on the GOP

 "[The Republican Party] is the party of Eddie Haskell and the principal from Ferris Bueller's Day Off." 

--Dana Gould on The Stephanie Miller Show

FOX Renews Fringe for Fifth (and Last) Season!

Image from Huffington Post.

If your favorite show was going to be given half a season next year, and then cancelled, you'd probably be bummed out. But we're talking about Fringe here, the wonderfully novel sci-fi series that has lived in perpetual cancellation danger. That it received a fourth season was something of a surprise, so any fifth season--13 episodes though it may be--is fantastic news! And let's face it, some of the best TV series currently running have seasons that long or even shorter. If the show had transferred to Showtime or AMC, it would count as a full season! Anyway, after many heart rending premature cancellations of favorite shows by FOX, I'm sending out a huge thank you for this one!

[Excerpt]


'Fringe' Renewed For 13-Episode Fifth And Final Season On Fox 

"Fringe" fans, consider yourselves lucky: Fox's trippy sci-fi drama has been renewed for a 13-episode fifth and final season. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Like Us on Facebook, Follow Us on Twitter! (Please?)

Yes, it is once again time to whore myself for "likes" and "follows" on Twitter and Facebook. Since I started this part of Greenlee Gazette, I've managed to gather 38 "likes" on Facebook, and somewhere around 111 "follows" on Twitter. The likes are solid but smallish. The follows are very, very fickle. I don't prune my Twitter follows very often, but other people seem to. Meanwhile, Stupid Monkey Planet and his Church of Primatheism has gathered "likes" like nobody's business. What am I, chopped liver?

I am thankful for every reader, and heartened by the fact that I get from 250 to 1,000 readers on any given day. But dammit, I want more! Like me! Follow me! It doesn't cost you anything, and will make a middle-aged Las Vegas denizen very happy. Mmmkay? Mmmkay.

   

Remembering Newt: I'm Going to Be the Nominee!

No, Newtie himself may never have said those exact words, but it was pretty close. Though every other contender to the GOP throne got his day in the sun (except for Ron Paul), Gingrich was the only one whose ego wrote the check his ample butt couldn't cash: he really thought he was going to be the nominee. And he actually had two peaks, if you remember. That's how weak this field really was.

Right Wing World's Faux Outrage Over Obama's Late Night Appearance

I am convinced that there is literally nothing that President Obama could do (or by ommission not do) to avoid the right-wing faux outrage machine. When I saw Obama on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, I was a) struck by how good Obama is at that sort of thing, b) marveled that such a thing would be impossible for Mitt Romney and c) knew that Right Wing World would go all wobbly over it.

Predictably, they did. It was beneath the dignity of the office they said (it wasn't). It wasn't funny they said (it was). I didn't need Lawrence O'Donnell to remind me about Richard Nixon on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, or Ronald Reagan's spot on the Dean Martin Roast. And even recent history had Obama's rivals, Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live, as was Obama himself. Dubya appeared in several different popular programs, notably American Idol.

So, get the stick out of your asses, Right Wing World! You're starting to go from having sketchy senses of humor to being completely humorless.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Mitt Romney Vows to Take Away Your Porn

There are very few really non-partisan issues. Everything no matter how removed from politics, has somehow become political. Global warming, evolution, solar power, birth control, all have a left-right divide. Know what doesn't? Porn. Oh, yes, some severely conservative people will come out as anti-porn. But the users of porn span the political spectrum. Utah is a huge buyer of porn, for instance. People just don't tend to talk about it much. So, from Mitt Romney's perspective, it's probably a seemingly winning issue. Being prudish could be seen as conservative. But I have a problem squaring government screening of any media with "small government," don't you?

As silent as porn fans might be, do you know what else is secretive? Voting. A person who may never speak up when you threaten his porn will not feel that embarrassment in the voting booth. Beware, Mittens.

Found at: BuzzFeed

Ugliest Car, Chrysler Edition: 1979 Dodge Magnum

Not the ugliest car. But it shares the name.
Image from Wikipedia.

I got briefly stuck in a Wiki-hole this evening, first looking up the generations of Mitsubishi Eclipse (the sporty version of my Galant), segueing into the related Chrysler/Dodge products, and winded up landing on the Plymouth Barracuda, Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger. A couple of links later, I landed on the Dodge Magnum page.

The Magnum was a car I pondered when I traded in my old Jeep. By this time, circa 2010, that Dodge model had been discontinued, but I could have gotten a 2008 at a decent price. It was the wagon version of the Dodge Charger, and looked kinda nifty. I ultimately passed, because the Magnum is likely too big for my garage (and if you can find the double entendre there, good for you!). Anyway, what I didn't know is that Chrysler had not just named that wagon "Magnum" out of the clear blue sky. They had resurrected the name of a seventies model. Why on earth they'd ever want to conjure the previous version remains a mystery.

The 1979 Dodge Magnum looks like a joke. If someone showed me the picture, I would have thought it was designed by George Barris like the "Wagon Queen Family Truckster" from National Lampoon's Vacation! It is a hideous beast. A collision of lines and ideas that were never adequately resolved into a presentable finished product. So without further ado, the ugliest Chrysler product ever. It was only sold in Brazil for a reason.

Image from Wikipedia.

President Obama "Slow Jams the News" with Jimmy Fallon

UPDATED: Scroll down for the full video.

Made of awesome. Just try to picture Mitt Romney in the same scenario. No freakin' way.

Bill Maher Renewed for 2 More Years of Real Time

Image from source, Deadline.

Real Time with Bill Maher is one of the main reasons I still have HBO, so I'm happy to hear this. I don't agree with everything Maher says, but we're talking 85/15 here, so it's barely a quibble. Plus, he really, really torques off the rabid right, and we need all of that we can get. I'm not sure how a three-year deal translates into two more seasons, but whatever. Thanks, HBO!

[Excerpt]


HBO Renews ‘Real Time With Bill Maher’ For Two More Seasons

Bill Maher‘s HBO series is sticking around not only for the upcoming presidential election but also for the following mid-term one. The pay cable network has signed a new three-year deal with Maher. . .

Read more at: Deadline

Sean Hannity is a Moron (Again)

Calling Sean Hannity a moron is like calling dust dirty. It's sort of a given. But this man has the second most popular radio show in the country. He also has the second most popular show on FOX "News" (and of all cable news, if you consider that station news). He's got a following, and yet he's a moron. I really don't know why. His latest brain fart is that there are no hungry people in America. Or if there are, beans and rice are cheap. Or something. He's a moron.

Newt is Going to Try Being Realistic

Maybe they can go into a his 'n' hers wig business?
Image from source, Politico.

No, if Newt Gingrich were going to take a realistic approach to his campaign, he would have quit weeks (months?) ago. He got a coda on his political career, one that was seemingly unsalvageable. And that says more about what kind of politician can thrive in today's Republican Party than it does about Gingrich as a candidate. I do understand--sort of--why Newt has held on this long. When it's over, it's really over. Sure, he might have a book or two left in him. Another sham "awards" program to scam gullible Republicans with.  Maybe he can go back to FOX "News" or failing that, CNN or something. But his career as a potential politician is over.


[Excerpt]


Newt Gingrich to look ‘realistically’ at campaign

Following his five-state shutout Tuesday night, Newt Gingrich sent the strongest signal yet that he’s nearing the end of his tottering campaign. “We’re going to look realistically at where we’re at,” Gingrich said at an election -night rally in North Carolina. “We are going to think carefully about how we can be the most helpful to this country. . .”

Read more: Politico

Funny or Die: Rick Santorum Aborts Presidential Campaign

Rarely does comedy work quite as perfectly as this bit does. It's very nearly perfect, amusing and stars several very familiar faces. Faces like Ashley Judd, Michelle Trachtenberg (Buffy), Katy Mixon (Mike & Molly), and Eliza Coupe (Happy Endings). Enjoy.

Rick Santorum Aborts Presidential Campaign from Ashley Judd

Mittens Cleans Up, Assured the Nomination

Image of Willard from source, HuffPo

Well, we've known it for a while. Though Newtie and Ron Paul have been hanging on by their fingernails, Mitt Romney is now assured the nomination, barring a political bombshell or something. The FReepers have pledged not to vote for him. It will be interesting to see if "FReeper" is as useless as "PUMA" was in the 2008 election. And it remains to be seen if anti-Obama hate will equal pro-Romney love.

[Excerpt]


Mitt Romney Sweeps GOP Primaries, Promises 'Better America' 

Mitt Romney laid claim to the fiercely contested Republican presidential nomination Tuesday night with a fistful of primary triumphs, then urged all who struggle in a shaky U.S. economy to "hold on a little longer, a better America begins tonight. . ."

Read more at: Huffington Post

Ron Paul Actually Won Iowa?

I guess this is a lesson: you can play by the rules as they are understood, or you can play by the rules as they are written. Something tells me that Mitt Romney's team is working overtime to sew up any straggling delegates.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Newt Gingrich: Ban Gay Marriage in North Carolina

The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man The late Geraldine Ferraro
Newt Gingrich. From source, Raw Story

I'm no dummy. I'm aware that the constitutional amendment on the ballot in North Carolina to (doubly) ban same-sex marriage will probably pass. It isn't just the fact that these things have passed each time they were tried, and it isn't just the lies and fear mongering used to get them passed. It's just a gut feeling about the politics of North Carolina. I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

I'd be happier if we weren't--yet again--voting on a group of tax-paying citizens' civil rights. Something wholly un-American. I'd be happier if busy-bodies would quit proposing laws that only outlaw the rights of "others." When you have no stake in something, it is infinitely easier to vote against it. And I'd really like it, if that doughy pant-load, Newt Gingrich, would shut his blubbery pie-hole about any legislation to do with marriage. Not only is it brazenly hypocritical, he is an utterly irrelevant voice among a sea of them. His final political achievement is being a barnacle on Mitt Romney's ass. Who gives a flying crap what Gingrich thinks?

The bracketed comment is my own:

[Excerpt]


Gingrich calls on North Carolina to ban same sex marriage

[Gingrich dared to say, with no apparent recognition of the irony,] “Marriage between a man and a woman is at the heart of our civilization,” he said. “It’s a belief that is now under attack, yet it’s at the very core of defining who we are. That’s why I urge you to vote for the initiative right here in North Carolina. The chance to vote for a referendum to declare clearly that marriage is between a man and a woman. . .”

Read more at: Raw Story

Marco Rubio Thinks George W. Bush a "Fantastic" President

No. Not in a gazillion years. Image from Huffington Post.

Okay, Captain Comb-Over, what kind of scale are you running that on? If George W. Bush is "fantastic," how many ticks up from "miserable" is that? Is there a Marcus Bachmann "fabulous" a couple of notches up? Because tell you what Marco!. . . . Rubio! Those ridiculous "Miss Me Yet?" Bush posters just remind people how bad he was.



[Excerpt]


Rubio: George W. Bush 'Did a Fantastic Job as President'



Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio on Sunday refused to explain how a potential Romney administration would be different from George W. Bush's administration, but insisted that the last Republican president "did a fantastic job" and his brother, former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL), would be a "fantastic vice president. . ."

Read more at: Crooks & Liars

Mike in Raleigh Double-Post: Secret Service Man & Cheap Hooker in Paradise

I don't know how he does it. Mike in Raleigh keeps cranking out the gold. Both of these are on the same topic: the Secret Service HookerGate scandal. I'm sure Jimmy Buffett would approve, but I don't know about Johnny Rivers!

Karl Rove SuperPAC Gets Majority "Secret" Donors

Karl Rove.

There are a great many mysteries to me, as it pertains to conservative politics, and American politics in general right now. On Sunday morning, I saw Karl Rove as a panelist on FOX "News" Sunday. The panel included (the always wrong) Bill Kristol, and the discussion was over how Mitt Romney should be going 100% high-road, letting people like Rove be the attackers on President Obama. Rove understandably concurred.

WTF? Karl Rove wasn't being interviewed, he was empaneled in a discussion group, abstractly discussing a campaign that he is a key player in. It's almost surreal. Then you have ALEC, a group that melds corporations with legislators. They've become a bit radioactive since liberals started turning their Geiger counters on them. But--because liberals hate it?--conservatives have leapt to to ALEC's defense. Granted, they are a creator of legislation that then gets mostly Republicans to enact them verbatim. But is it at all conservative to support a group like that?

But back to Rove. Rove runs one of the biggest groups of SuperPACs, two actually, American Crossroads, and CrossroadsGPS. They're the same but different in ways that aren't particularly important. Different money from different people in different pockets. But the one that's allowed to get secret donors has just stuffed its pockets with them. 62% from secret donors! They could be anyone. . .church groups, criminals, illegal aliens, foreign interests, anyone. How is that a conservative ideal?

[Excerpt]


62 Percent Of Karl Rove’s $123 Million In ‘Crossroads’ Fundraising Comes From Secret Donors

The Karl Rove-linked American Crossroads Super PAC and Crossroads GPS 501(c)(4) organizations have the same president, same spokesman, same mailing address, and same right-wing ideology. Both groups can, thanks to the Citizens United and SpeechNow.org rulings, accept unlimited sums of money from individuals and corporations — a privilege they’ve wielded to raise $100 million for the 2012 cycle alone and to run millions of dollars worth of political television ads. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Blast from the Past: Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW)

Well, the weekend has come and gone already. For me, it started early--but painfully--when I was struck with a 102.6 fever on Thursday. I was sick all that day, followed by a wrung-out Friday. Saturday, I forced myself to do several chores around the house that were sorely needed. And today, I'm just enjoying a beautiful--though hot--Las Vegas afternoon, and damn it, it's a school night!

So, what's with Blast from the Past honoring a what. . .law firm? A stock trading company? An insurance broker? No, Stock Aitken Waterman was a music production team. They had a flurry of hits from the mid eighties to the early nineties. Some of their songs are fondly remembered, but their techniques, and much of their output is shunned by a lot of music fans. "Disposable" is what you'll hear from some people. And it's true, you could plug any artist from any SAW hit into a different one, and get essentially the same song.  Seriously, listen to the Donna Summer tune below, and imagine it with Rick Astley's voice. See what I mean?

But they were successful for quite a while, so it can't all be that bad, right?

1. Bananarama, Venus
2. Dead or Alive, You Spin Me 'Round (Like a Record)

3. Kylie Minogue, The Locomotion
4. Samantha Fox, I Only Wanna Be With You



5. Donna Summer, This Time I Know it's For Real
6. Rick Astley, Never Gonna Give You Up

And that's most of the big ones, but you get the idea. SAW made several songs with each of these artists, and many others to less acclaim. Every so often there are new hit factories, explosions of boy or girl bands, and other pop confections. There has been cheese and fakery almost as far back as the industry goes. And let's face it: those "alternative" groups people like my brother used to listen to (while snorting in derision at "pop" music) are now played alongside them on virtually any radio station that plays them at all. Oh, and probably advertising for Burger King.

That does it for me for this week. Have a great Monday, everyobody!