Olbermann's WTF? Moment: Rush Limbaugh's Ego

I'm really starting to enjoy these "WTF!?! Moments" on on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. No one but no one deserves a skewering more than Rush Limbaugh. And, hoo-boy does KO live up to his initials here. Just awesome.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Fall TV Season: Medium Picked Up by CBS

Image from source, TV Squad

Before Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was cancelled, there was a lot of Internet buzz about it being picked up by another network or a cable channel. Warner Brothers seems to have shot that down. And many a blogger pooh-poohed it, saying that it basically never happens. Well, T:TSCC may not be getting a new life elsewhere, but the same can't be said for NBC's Medium.

NBC cancelled the psychic procedural, which stars Patricia Arquette and Jake Weber, but CBS is picking it up. And to that I say, "woohoo!" Medium is a surprisingly addictive show for a procedural, thanks mostly to the cast. Arquette and Weber are an unusually believable couple, and the actors playing their kids (at least the older two) are a notch above the usual child actors. Add to that the twist of psychic phenomena, and you have an exciting show that manages to reset to "status quo" every week without getting boring.

I've loved Patricia Arquette since A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. She's an amazing actress in the most unbelievable situations. And her on-screen hubby does a great job too, particularly at disguising his English accent. I'm glad to see that the show will be back. And this means that the only "favorite" show of mine that won't be back is T:TSCC. I'll take it.

[Excerpt]

CBS picks up Medium, insults NBC

Well, this is a rather interesting development, and a good one for fans of NBC's Medium: CBS has picked up the show after NBC canceled it. . .

Read more at: TV Squad

Fall TV Season: The Human Target

Love DC Comics. Love Chi McBride. Love, love, love Mark Valley (criminally underused on Boston Legal, and whacked too early on Fringe). So, I'm on board. And you know what that means. It'll be cancelled faster than the 90s Rick Springfield version. And that's fast.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell: Decorated Veteran Being Discharged

If you're on the fence about the military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, watch this video, and tell me how the discharge of this particular serviceman is a good thing. For all of the "we support the troops" blather you hear, there is very little clamor to protect the gay men and women of the military. In fact, if you patrol the right-wing blogs, you'll find outright hostility of them. Some support.

Rachel Maddow interviews Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach

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Quote of the Day: Michael Steel and Tea Bagging

"Change…is being delivered in a tea bag. And that’s a wonderful thing."

--RNC Chairman Michael Steele



Read more at: Think Progress

Engineer's Guide to Cats, The Sequel!

A year ago, I posted a clip called An Engineer's Guide to Cats, a fantastically dry but hilarious video on how to torment your cat. Well, the Engineers are at it again! The sequel features Advanced Cat Yodeling! Enjoy.

Funny or Die: Betty White, Ryan Reynolds & Sandra Bullock

I'm a big Betty White fan, especially when she "works blue." This clip might go on a little too long, but it's funny. Oh, and I have heard of Ryan Reynolds, and would pay to see him stare at the camera, but that's just me. Sandra Bullock's not bad either. This is for the film The Proposal.

Sandra Bullock & Ryan Reynolds: Behind the Scenes of The Proposal from Betty White

And one of my favorite images of Betty. . .



Source: Kenneth in the (212)

This Modern World on Obama Protecting Bush

I don't ordinarly excerpt entire works by other persons, but since it's already up around the internets, I'm hopeful that I'm not stepping on any toes. This comic is just fantastic, summing up exactly how I've been feeling about certain aspects of the Barack Obama Administration. I'm still glad I voted for the guy, but this cartoon shows exactly where some of my growing skittishness is coming from.



Source: Salon, via Democratic Underground

Olbermann's WTF? Moment: John Ensign and Gitmo Health Care

Having just trashed Sen. John Hairdo Ensign (R-NV) in a previous post, I could not resist letting Keith Olbermann keep slugging away at him. For years, as a resident of Nevada, Ensign seemed like the invisible Senator, only appearing around election time. But lately, he's been popping up all over the place, usually saying something supremely stupid. He's still at it. This time, he says that prisoners in Guantanamo Bay get better health care than the average American. D'oh!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Minnesotans Want Norm Coleman to Concede to Al Franken

Image from source, Talking Points Memo

I still can't believe that Senate Democrats aren't screaming bloody murder about the ridiculously protracted 2008 Senatorial election in Minnesota. But then, I'm quickly losing patience with Senate Democrats, and have no shortage of things about them that I don't understand. Republicans may be the party of "NO!" but at least they're predictable.

C'mon, Harry Reid! I live in Nevada, and I already have one clueless boob, Sen. John Ensign (R-Obviously) to worry about. Do you really have to keep making it two? Republicans--even out of power--would never stand for this. Norm Coleman is dragging out his fight with no real chance of winning. He's stalling, it's obvious, and Reid is doing nothing. Ridiculous.

[Excerpt]

Poll: Majority Of Minnesotans Want Coleman To Concede Defeat To Franken

A new Rasmussen poll reaffirms that Minnesotans want their disputed Senate race to finally end and for Norm Coleman to concede defeat to Al Franken, with the result still bottled up over six months after Election Day. . .

Read more at: Talking Points Memo

Sean Hannity Owned by Jesse Ventura

I know asking for you to watch any clip of Hannity is asking a heck of a lot. But watching a clip where Sean Hannity gets clobbered on his own show? Priceless.

Fonzie Jumps the Shark

Coming up a little dry for blog ideas at the moment. Truly, bone dry. Nothing I've found is blogworthy. I've jumped the shark.

OK, that's just a reach for the phrase. "Jumping the Shark" is the moment when a TV show hits a point of no return, and begins to die. Usually very, very slowly. You've probably heard it used out of context, since it has sort of become part of the lexicon. But if you're not in the know, you probably have scratched your head wondering what it means.

The phrase was born from an episode of Happy Days, at the height of Evel Knievel motorcycle jumping stunts (and Jaws). Fonzie had already jumped a few different things as an homage (rip-off) of Knievel's stunts. But in one special "whole cast goes on vacation to the beach" episode, The Fonz actually jumped a shark while on water skis! It was a supremely stupid stunt, ranking right up there with Batman and his "Bat Shark Repellent." And all of this is just a way for me to post the actual video from the episode. So here you go.



The website that made the phrase famous had a fantastic catalog of most major shows' "Jump the Shark" moments that was a lot of fun to read. You could lose a lot of time there like you can now at IMDB.com or at Wikipedia. But alas, the site has jumped the shark too. It was acquired by TV Guide, and is now a shadow of its former self. Still there may be some fun to be had at: JumpTheShark.com

Olbermann's WTF? Moment Michael Steele & Gay Marriage

I'm quickly becoming a fan of Countdown with Keith Olbermann's "WTF?!? Moments." They're much lighter-hearted, but still hard-hitting editorials than the hosts's "Special Comments." These are more in the spirit of "Really?!? With Seth and Amy" from Saturday Night Live. This one's pretty good too.

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Rove's Alternate Reality Machine is Alive and Well!

I've written a lot about Karl Rove's "alternate reality machine," a device that could spin reality into something altogether different. It could defy video and audio evidence, defy transcripts, defy your very eyes and ears. It affected a huge percentage of the population, and those of us it didn't work on sat here incredulous, eyes and mouth agape like Jon Stewart, wondering what the hell was going on.

I had thought that with the 2008 election Rove's machine had rusted, broken down, lost some key parts, and could only occasionally sputter and cough out a brief warp bubble that would last for a little while, and then be popped by reality. But I was so wrong. The machine is just a strong as ever, though Rove may have put it on autopilot to provide deniability or something. The thing is, the machine now only works on Republicans. And not just Republicans, but the hard right-wing variety that populate FreeRepublic.com.

What is my evidence? Well, frankly there is too much to list. I'd have to copy their entire site and post it here. But this one picture I found there pretty much sums it up. Check out this "PhotoShop Fun" job. Technically it's just fine, good work. But the subject matter? Utterly and completely laughable. They apparently think that Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin are formidable and to be feared, instead of cartoon characters to be laughed at.

And that little car with Anderson Cooper in it? I'll be honest, I've never understood Rush Limbaugh's little "drive by media" phrase. It's a very weak analogy, having something to do with the media having a "hit and run" modus operandi or something. It's completely un-catchy, but Rush's ditto-heads (and his imitators and also-rans) use it religiously. More evidence of an alternate reality, I suppose. Anyway, the picture was so funny to me, I had to share.

Source: FreeRepublic

Justify My Blog (A Response to Randi Rhodes)

I want to start this post by saying I adore Randi Rhodes, and am thrilled that she has returned to the radio airwaves. Her show is the highlight of my work day. But being a fan doesn't mean being slavishly in agreement with all that she says. And today, she pissed me off.

Randi got into the topic of newspapers, and the fact that their readership numbers are down, and that they're going out of business. From there, she launched into an attack on bloggers, demonizing them (us) as the reason for that, seemingly. Bloggers were pretty much maligned as one of the scourges that is keeping America down. That doesn't sit very well with me, a blogger.

I gather that what drives her anti-blogger sentiment is having been featured on them in unfair, unflattering, or inaccurate ways. She did discuss having been written about without ever having been contacted. I'll confess to having written a great many Randi Rhodes pieces here on this blog, though I had absolutely no way of knowing how to contact her, or any realistic expectation that she'd take the call.

But Randi's criticisms of blogging didn't just annoy me because I'm a blogger. The criticisms just didn't ring true. After all, many, many of my blog posts are dependent upon newspaper reporting, and link directly to them so that they may be. . .um. . .read. Also, while it is true that a subject of a blog article is very likely going to find fault with it, the very same is true about newspapers, radio and television. If you have ever been involved in an incident that becomes news, you are aware that the facts of the story--whatever the venue--are very often inaccurate.

What Randi ought to know about blogging is that there is a symbiotic (and not altogether different) relationship between blogs and talk radio, which is her format. One example would be the effort of many of us bloggers to find out what was up with The Randi Rhodes Show after it went off the air unexpectedly. We had little to go on, and much of the speculation was crazy and silly. But it kept the topic alive, and kept interest alive as the months wore on. I got more "hits" to the site when I'd post something about her than I got on much of anything else.

The blogosphere is a loose community, with very close ties to Randi's audience. We find places here to congregate, meet, argue, whatever. And we talk about a variety of issues, including talk radio and the hosts that populate it. We are probably very much a part of why the Democrats now hold sway in Washington. We generate interest in "below the radar" stories, much like Randi does.

I don't think most of us profess to be professionals, or pretend that our word is law. Right at the top left of this page, under "mission statement" I make it very clear that I'm not the final word. Much like Randi, I want you to read anything I say with a critical eye, and not take my word--or anyone's--as gospel. When it comes right down to it, even the experts and the real journalists can't always be relied upon to be accurate. Look at CNBC or the Wall Street Journal and their inability to predict our current financial woes.

The truth is, many of the people who dispense information aren't all that much different from me, the humble blogger. What are Rush Limbaugh's or Sean Hannity's qualifications for being know-it-alls? None. Zero. I will not put Randi into this category (because just, ugh), though many would. I happen to know that she's prepared, has countless sources, and does her homework. But on the issue of bloggers, she was being overly general, and didn't get it right.

Rant over. Still love ya, Randi!

Greenlee Gazette Plagiarised! Happy Monday!

Well, it's Monday (actually, for me, it is late Sunday night), and I'm at a loss for a post to start the week. I used to be able to depend on Democratic Underground's "Top 10 Conservative Idiots" column, but it has gone bi-weekly. So, what to do, what to do. After a lazy Friday and Saturday, I posted a boatload of things yesterday, so I'm plumb out of ideas.

So, how about this? This weekend, I discovered--quite by accident--that another blog has been copying my blog posts in their entirety for many months. They seem to have stopped late last year. But more peculiar than the plagiarism, is the fact that they date their blog posts all the way back to 1995. Since I've only been blogging since June 2, 2007, this is very odd.

I tried contacting the blogger, but have had no success. I have to wonder, did this person need to establish a blog for a job or for a school project? What would inspire a person to completely copy someone else's blog? Especially considering that many of my posts are personal, and identified as Greenlee Gazette?

Now, I have no problem with people excerpting my work. It's right there at the bottom of my page. But attribution is essential. I'd never intentionally purloin someone else's work without explicit attribution. And if I ever have, I'd want to be notified so that I could immediately give credit where it is due. In any event, the discovery was baffling.

The site is called The Hawley Home. But even more confusing is the fact that the blog address includes my own. You can see it at: http://greenleegazette.endofinternet.org/

Here is a comparison (click to embiggen).

SNL: Will Farrell and Celebrity Jeopardy!

Given how many guest stars there were on Saturday Night Live last night (Maya Rudolph, Tom Hanks, Amy Poehler, Norm MacDonald and host Will Farrell), the episode could have been a lot funnier. But the Celebrity Jeopardy skit was a winner, with Darrell Hammond as Sean Connery, Kristen Wiig as Kathy Lee Gifford, MacDonald as Burt Reynolds, Farrell as Alex Trebek and Hanks as a dumber version of himself. Enjoy.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Cancelled

Image from source, TV by the Numbers

Exasperatingly, this is not 100% confirmed, but the writing has been on the wall for some time. I had high hopes for the 1-2 punch of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dollhouse, and they both became my favorite shows. The irony is, both shows became insanely good in their last few episodes. The good news is (again, not 100%) that Dollhouse did make the cut.

I've written a lot about both shows, and there is no need to rehash here. I had my fingers crossed pretty hard, and I got half of what I wanted. Still, this following video clip from the 70s series Good Times will give you an idea of how this cancellation makes me feel.

[Excerpt]

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles canceled

Sources confirm that not only has FOX officially passed on renewing Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, it’s even dead as far as Warner Brothers is concerned and they are no longer shopping it to other networks. . .

Read more at: TV by the Numbers

CNN Almost Gets Torture News Right

I found this video at AmericaBlog, and while I try not to use the same source more than once in a given day, this one is too good not to post. The most outspoken person in this video, David Waldman, did an amazing thing. He almost cracked through the usual cable news tripe, and talked about the real issues.

I say almost, because even though he got to say a whole lot, none of the other three people--who all seemed to be in opposition to him--were backing him up. Whoever the woman in the upper left was needs to just never go on a news show again. "The American people aren't interested?" The Bush Administration is over, so we're supposed to sweep everything under the rug? A nation that once urgently needed to go after a president who committed the horrific crime of lying about sex, now doesn't care about torture, war crimes, and being lied into war?

What kind of thinking is this? What will people allow the current or future presidents to get away with? I will cop to a strong desire to see Bush Era people get some justice, but it isn't out of the blue. It isn't some sort of pre-existing hatred for Republicans, like the people who hated Barack Obama (and Bill Clinton before him) before he'd even taken office. I, like much of America, cut Bush slack early on. And even while he was becoming a punchline in his first year, we all gave him a ton of rope after 9/11. It wasn't until things started to seem out of whack, and when Republicans began acting all dictatorial that I started acquiring "Bush Derangement Syndrome." I came by it quite honestly.

So, no, this is no vendetta. This is about history, the present and the future. This is about not setting a precedent that lets future presidents get away with absolutely anything they want--which ignoring this issue would surely do. This is about the rule of law. And we as Americans are supposed to be a nation of laws, not men, right?

I've wandered a bit afield of the video, I suppose, but not too far. This DailyKos reporter/blogger, Waldman, is the only one making sense in this video. He's the only one pointing out the sideshow of Nancy Pelosi for what it is. And while we don't get to see if anything more happened after the end of the clip, it would appear that the host was ineffectual too. Waldman was very close to cracking through, but the host pretty much waves him away. Too bad.



Found at: AmericaBlog

GQ: Rumsfeld's Creepy War Briefings to Bush

Image from source, AmericaBlog

Last night, I read in several locations that GQ Magazine (of all sources) was about to release a "bombshell" story, wherein Donald Rumsfeld's religion-laden war reports to George W. Bush would be revealed. The thing is, most Democrats can't have their feelings toward Bush, Rumsfeld, and the entire Bush Administration pushed any lower. And Republicans--by and large--seem to have an endless capacity for overlooking anything negative about the whole crew.

So while this story is just one more thing that proves we Democrats were right all along about this insufferable cabal, it probably will have very little effect in changing anybody's mind. After all, the evangelical GOP base will probably be thrilled by these revelations, right?

[Excerpt]

Rumsfeld sent Bush creepy Top Secret religious updates about the Iraq war

Frank Rich reported on this last night. GQ has copies of the documents (I show two of them above, GQ has lots more). I'm a Christian. This is creepy. They look like "end of days" propaganda created by a cult or the Unibomber. . .

Read more at: AmericaBlog