Surprise, surprise.

And for those doubters out there who keep asking the question is America ready for a black president-- I say, why not? We just had a retarded one.
By the way, Live from New York, it's Saturday Night.

You take better care of us than that scrappy looking dude.

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... that Kristol article isn't fit for the bottom of a bird cage.
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An earlier version of this column attributed a quote by Michael Medved to Michelle Malkin.

You know your work is baseless when Medved and Malkin are your go-to sources.

Oh, and Glen is disclosing his butt surgery after the commercial. He prolly got a Mitt Romney action figure doll stuck up there.

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I was watching the debate at the home of a savvy, moderately conservative New Hampshire Republican. It was at this moment that he turned to me and said: “You know, I’ve been a huge skeptic about Huckabee. I’m still not voting for him Tuesday. But I’ve got to say — I like him. And I wonder — could he be our strongest nominee?”

This is how they play to the reptilian-brain-stem of the authoritarian dependent party faithful.

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..the price is falling faster than the popularity of the Republican party.

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I think Glen Becks "ass surgery" - his term... acted as a lobotomy.

Will he sue the hospital for that lobotomy? How do we donate to the hospital defense fund?
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... oh if there really is a God, the writers strike will end tonight!

Let us pray...

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Unlike the average American, the president, vice president and members of Congress all enjoy government-financed healthcare with few restrictions or prohibitive fees. They are never turned away for pre-existing conditions or denied care for what an insurance company labels "experimental treatments."

http://www.guaranteedhealthcare.org/

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Unavoidable Complications In Ass Surgery When the Patient is a Total Ass
Surgeons pondered for hours where to make the initial incision...
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Glen Beck saw his inner self while on drugs. Dogs gnawing off childrens faces and such. He was treated as an annoyance. This is really compelling bullshit.

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so what are we talking about here? hemmorioids the size of mt. rushmore? or something more subtle like a cranial anal inversion?

sorry - i was watching jeopardy after my wife made me turn rachel off.

like a veteran Senator watching a Presidential bid go down the tubes.

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Glen Beck had a Mitt Romney action figure extracted from his ass I think. And the nurses didn't cuddle. And the Dr.s gave him drugs that had him see where his soul is really at. Then he talked about getting in the shower with his wife.

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coming up soon on KO-- with puppet theater

January 07, 2008
Killer of U.S. Soldiers Becomes a Hero

Inter Press Service
By Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail*

BAGHDAD, Jan 7 (IPS) - The recent killing of two U.S. soldiers by their Iraqi colleague has raised disturbing questions about U.S. military relations with the Iraqis they work with.

On Dec. 26, an Iraqi soldier opened fire on U.S. soldiers accompanying him during a joint military patrol in the northern Iraqi city Mosul. He killed the U.S. captain and another sergeant, and wounded three others, including an Iraqi interpreter.

Conflicting versions of the killing have arisen. Col. Hazim al-Juboory, uncle of the attacker Kaissar Saady al-Juboory, told IPS that his nephew at first watched the U.S. soldiers beat up an Iraqi woman. When he asked them to stop, they refused, so he opened fire.

"Kaissar is a professional soldier who revolted against the Americans when they dragged a woman by her hair in a brutal way," Col. Juboory said. "He is a tribal man, and an Arab with honour who would not accept such behaviour. He killed his captain and sergeant knowing that he would be executed."

Others gave IPS a similar account. "I was there when the American captain and his soldiers raided a neighbourhood and started shouting at women to tell them where some men they wanted were," a resident of Mosul, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IPS on phone. "The women told them they did not know, and their men did not do anything wrong, and started crying in fear."

The witness said the U.S. captain began to shout at his soldiers and the women, and his men then started to grab the women and pull them by their hair.

"The soldier we knew later to be Kaissar shouted at the Americans, 'No, No,' but the captain shouted back at the Iraqi soldier," the witness told IPS. "Then the Iraqi soldier shouted, 'Let go of the women you sons of bitches,' and started shooting at them." The soldier, he said, then ran off.

The Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni organisation, issued a statement saying the Iraqi soldier had shot the U.S. soldiers after he saw them beat up a pregnant woman.

"His blood rose and he asked the occupying soldiers to stop beating the woman," they said in the statement. "Their answer through the translator was: 'We will do what we want. So he opened fire on them."

The story was first reported on al-Rafidain satellite channel. That started Iraqis from all over the country talking about "the hero" who sacrificed his life for Iraqi honour.

The U.S. and Iraqi military told a different version of the story.

An Iraqi general told reporters that Kaissar carried out the attack because he had links to "Sunni Arab insurgent groups."

"Soldier Kaissar Saady worked for insurgent groups who pushed him to learn army movements and warn his comrades about them," a captain of the second Iraqi army division told IPS. "There are so many like him in the army and now within the so-called Awakening forces (militias funded by the U.S. military)."

One army officer speaking on condition of anonymity described Kaissar's act as heroic. "Those Americans learned their lesson once more."

Sheikh Juma' al-Dawar, chief of the major al-Baggara tribe in Iraq, told IPS in Baghdad that "Kaissar is from the al-Juboor tribes in Gayara -- tribes with morals that Americans do not understand."

The tribal chief added, "Juboor tribes and all other tribes are proud of Kaissar and what he did by killing the American soldiers. Now he is a hero, with a name that will never be forgotten."

Many Iraqis speak in similar vein. "It is another example of Iraqi people's unity despite political conspiracies by the Americans and their tails (collaborators)," Mohammad Nassir, an independent politician in Baghdad told IPS. "Kaissar is loved by all Iraqis who pray for his safety and who are ready to donate anything for his welfare."

Col. Juboory said Kaissar who had at first accepted collaboration with the U.S. forces "found the truth too bitter to put up with." The colonel said: "I worked with the Americans because being an army officer is my job and also because I was convinced they would help Iraqis. But 11 months was enough for me to realise that starving to death is more honourable than serving the occupiers. They were mean in every way."

Independent sources have since told IPS that Kaissar was captured by a special joint Iraqi-U.S. force, and he is now being held and tortured at the al-Ghizlany military camp in Mosul.

Despite a recent decline in the number of occupation forces being killed, 2007 was the deadliest year of the occupation for U.S. troops, with 901 killed, according to the U.S. Department of Defence.

(*Ali, our correspondent in Baghdad, works in close collaboration with Dahr Jamail, our U.S.-based specialist writer on Iraq who has reported extensively from Iraq and the Middle East)

just did the national anthum at the BCS bowl in new Orleans

good version, a slow blues.

.=.=.=.=.=
Jamesbennett

Media Torn Over Whether To Cast Clinton As ‘Weak’ Or ‘Calculating’ For ‘Emotional’ Display

THINK PROGRESS

Today at a campaign event in New Hampshire, Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) “eyes welled up with tears” as she spoke about why she was running for president. “It’s not easy, and I couldn’t do it if I didn’t passionately believe it was the right thing to do,” she said.
In a piece entitled, “Can Clinton’s Emotions Get The Best Of Her?,” ABC News wrote, “Whether Clinton has appeared too emotional, too sensitive or too weak in her recent public appearances is still up for debate.”

Many in the media have been quick to compare Clinton’s emotions to former 1972 Democratic presidential candidate Ed Muskie, who was taunted as weak and unpresidential after he became emotional on the campaign trail. Fox News pundits Michelle Malkin and Bill Kristol, however, took a different tact, calling Clinton’s emotions a “calculated” moment.

The media’s excoriation and mocking of Clinton contrast with their treatment of prominent conservative politicians who have cried in the past. Their tears, according to these pundits, are “genuine,” “poignant,” and “extraordinary”:
On Mitt Romney:
Mitt Romney’s eyes filled with tears Monday as the Republican presidential contender recalled watching the casket of a soldier killed in Iraq return to the United States and imagined if it were one of his five sons. Adding a poignant twist to a story he often tells on the campaign, Romney recalled the scene at Boston’s Logan International Airport while he was Massachusetts governor. [AP, 12/17/07]

But the fact that he teared up, people said, “Whoa, we thought he was so wooden and robotic, and there he is actually tearing up.” So actually, I think it does have an impact. It’s a genuine moment. It seems genuine. [Newsweek’s Richard Wolffe, MSNBC, 12/17/07]
President Bush:
The pictures were just what the White House wanted: A teary-eyed President Bush presenting the Medal of Honor posthumously to a slain war hero in the East Room. [Washington Post, 1/12/07]

A tear rolled down Bush’s cheek during the event, an extraordinary display of emotion by the commander-in-chief. Bush has been known to tear up and reportedly once cried in a private meeting with war widows. [Chicago Sun-Times, 1/12/07]
The president is tremendously sentimental. Forget about putting his parents anywhere near him. At his inauguration he purposely kept them out of his line of sight so he could stay as dry-eyed as possible. He has learned not to brush the tears away. [Newsweek, 4/02]
Defense Secretary Robert Gates

Robert Gates almost broke down as he gave a speech at a Marine Corps dinner. … Mr Gates’s show of feeling suggests that he brings a more human side to the role of defence secretary. [BBC, 7/19/07]
What is less often visible is the toll this war takes on the people who run the operation. Tonight we have a rare glimpse of emotion from a man who normally carefully chooses his words, the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates. … a rare public display of emotion from the civilian in charge of this war effort. [NBC News, 7/19/07]
George H.W. Bush

Wiping away tears as he recalled praying at Camp David before ordering the start of the Persian Gulf war, President Bush today offered a testimony of emotion, politics and faith to a cheering crowd of thousands of Southern Baptists. [New York Times, 7/7/91]
UPDATE: Matt Stoller at OpenLeft observes, “When Edwards almost gets choked up and talks about how personal XYZ person is on the trail, he’s just passionate. When Clinton does it, she suddenly becomes a hysterical weak woman.”

Free Democracy

May be puppet theatre!

Sorry, this trumps the game (and I'm in Columbus, OH) ;-)
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Nevermind...I'm a freakin' echo chamber these days.
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....that I have zero compassion for Glenn Beck's problem.

Free Democracy

In a surprise move, the editorial board replaced the well known conservative geru with an unknown right-wing blogger. The board released a terse, uncharacteristically blunt statement regarding the new hire; shortly after Kristol wrote his first column: "We can get canned Newsmax junk anyware. We just aren't going to fork kingly sums out to obnoxious prima donnas anymore for garbage writing. We got enough of that already. Part of 97 will save us millions, and meet our new goals just fine."

During NH debate, ABC's Gibson characterized Obama's Pakistan position as "essentially the Bush doctrine," ignoring Bush contradictions

During the January 5 ABC News-Facebook Democratic presidential debate, moderator Charlie Gibson referred to Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) August 1, 2007, foreign policy speech -- in which Obama said that, as president, he would take action against "high-value terrorist targets" in Pakistan -- and asked Obama, "You stand by that?" Obama answered: "I absolutely do stand by it" and went on to say, "[B]ack in August, I said we should ... press them [the Pakistani government] to do more to take on Al Qaeda in their territory.

What I said was, if they could not or would not do so, and we had actionable intelligence, then I would strike." Gibson replied, "[W]hat you just outlined is essentially the Bush doctrine: We can attack if we want to, no matter the sovereignty of the Pakistanis." But as Media Matters for America has repeatedly documented, Bush and administration officials have taken contradictory positions on the question of whether the U.S. would act on actionable intelligence against Al Qaeda in Pakistan regardless of the sovereignty of Pakistan. Indeed, within a span of five days Bush said both that he would and would not go after Al Qaeda in Pakistan without the permission of the Pakistani government. Gibson's assertion of a "Bush doctrine" ignores these contradictions.

On September 20, 2006, Bush said to CNN host Wolf Blitzer that he would "[a]bsolutely" order U.S. troops into sovereign Pakistani territory "to bring [bin Laden] to justice." Bush reaffirmed that position on November 28, 2007, during another interview with Bush. Blitzer asked: "[A] year ago September ... you told me that 'absolutely' -- that was your word -- you would authorize U.S. troops to go into Pakistan if you had actionable intelligence on Osama bin Laden's whereabouts or other top-ranking Al Qaeda members. Is that still your position?" When Bush replied, "Yeah," Blitzer asked, "Hasn't changed?" Bush responded: "No, hasn't changed."

On the other hand, during a September 15, 2006, press conference -- five days before his 2006 interview with Blitzer -- Bush ruled out "sending special forces to Pakistan to hunt down [Osama] bin Laden" in part because "Pakistan is a sovereign nation." Additionally, on August 1, 2007, then-White House press secretary Tony Snow said: "[O]ur approach to Pakistan is one that not only respects the sovereignty of Pakistan as a sovereign government, but is also designed to work in a way where we are working in cooperation with the local government," as Media Matters documented......

--MORE HERE--

O'Reilly "runner-up" in "Worst Person" for failing to acknowledge error about the Constitution in his book

During the January 4 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann awarded Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly "runner-up" in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment for, as Media Matters for America documented, not acknowledging that he falsely suggested in his book Kids Are Americans, Too that the phrase "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is from the U.S. Constitution. Olbermann stated: "In his book, Kids Are Americans, Too, Bill O. opined, quote, 'For openers, the Constitution guarantees all of us, in a famous phrase, "life liberty and the pursuit of happiness." ' " Olbermann continued:

OLBERMANN: For openers, that famous phrase is in the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. Bill O. was called on this fabulous error by a kid. He had the nerve to read the letter on the air and turn it into a plug. And when the girl named Courtney Young asked, "Isn't that from the Declaration of Independence?" He replied, "Another excellent question, Courtney. The reason the Constitution was forged was to assure new American citizens the right to free life and access to pursue happiness in his or her own way. The Declaration was the statement. The Constitution, the instrument."

Olbermann responded: "No. No, bonehead. The Declaration was the thing that had 'life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness' in it. The Constitution was the thing that didn't. Just say 'oops' and get out." .......

--MORE HERE--

Bummer !

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

SALEM, N.H. - Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign stop was interrupted on Monday when two men stood in the crowd and began screaming, "Iron my shirt!" during one the New York senator's final appearances before New Hampshire voters cast primary ballots Tuesday.

Clinton, a former first lady running to become the nation's first female president, laughed at the seemingly sexist protest that suggested a woman's place is doing the laundry and not running the country.

"Ah, the remnants of sexism — alive and well," Clinton said to applause in a school auditorium.

The two men were removed from the hall after raising a pair of signs that said, "iron my shirt!" They also shouted the same slogan........

... that Kristol article isn't fit for the bottom of a bird cage. maggiesboy

I just cleaned out my birdie today - and boy Im glad I didn't use that article on the bottom of his cage. I wouldn't want my little bird (Mick) to read that shit anyways.

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get his own head stuck up his ass?
Is that why he had surgery??? Ha - Ha

..if you so much as put one shred of Kristol's article in your birdie's cage I'll turn you into the ASPCA! That's a promise!

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for Grand Rapids tonight. January and tornados in Michigan?

... up his ass butt couldn't figure out what to stick where? This happens when you suffer from TAS. (Total Ass Syndome). A conundrum like no other. Kinda like an Escher painting where it's hard to tell where something starts and ends.

You get the drift.
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The Politics of the Smooth Mood
http://www.counterpunch.org/nader01072008.html

No bets? No rivalry? Damn... I was hoping for sumthin'...

The only thing playing on at least 3 different tv's in my house is yallz teams going head to head.

Why? I have never been to Ohio nor Louisiana, nor have the men in this house?

Why, Lord? Why must I continually be made to watch football?

Protesters ask Clinton to iron shirts
Submitted by Kevin © on Mon, 01/07/2008 - 9:06pm.
---------------------------------------

their signs should have read
"iron my shirt, bitch"

and they should have worn those "wifebeater" undershirts for effect

Pundit Fight complimented you on the last thread and I agree with him, in that you did a great job presenting your argument and analogy (myself being a WWE watcher, I totally got it.) Unfortunately, I am not qualified to agree or disagree with your conclusion as I pay little to no attention to what people actually say here.

Likely to my benefit.

Heh heh *snark*.

NY Post column: Obama "is like a woman," Clinton "has long been accused of androgyny," Edwards is "a cute 8-year-old boy"

In a January 7 New York Post column titled "Bam: Our 1st Woman Prez?" former London Times staffer Lucy Berrington and poet/playwright Jeff Onore claimed that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) "is like a woman: slim, good looking, with long elegant fingers, appealingly dressed -- all terms more typically ascribed to female candidates," adding: "He embodies many of the positive characteristics we tend to regard as feminine: sensitive and empathetic, seeking to find common ground and minimize conflict, not taking power for granted."

After noting that former President Bill Clinton "was famously dubbed America's first black president," Berrington and Onore wrote: "By the end of this year we might indeed have our first woman president -- but not necessarily Hillary." Regarding Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Berrington and Onore claimed that she "has long been accused of androgyny -- trying to sound like a man, flexing her rhetorical muscle." Regarding former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), Berrington and Onore wrote that his "appeal to female voters is more as a cute 8-year-old boy."........

--MORE HERE--

Sorry for the delay, I was side-tracked (as I often get).

I see you trying to drive a wedge here, but you forget, I'm originally a Jayhawk! I'm supportive of the Buckeyes, but they've never been my "team". I just know when they win, life here is good. When they lose, life here sucks.

Glad to see you back!

Anything new on the sex scandal at the state capital?

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Nope, nothing new. Last I heard, she's claiming he asked her to take pictures of the Republican county prosecutor while he had his pants down, and stuff. She said okay, but once Pauly boy refused to leave his wife for Linda's warm lovin', she squealed on him.

Just like a woman.

You may not get the Bob Dylan reference being a woman of such tender years ;-) but I can't imagine how this story is playin' on the streets back home.

Jeez, ya go away for 50 years and the state turns into Sodom and Gomorrah. Can't wait to see what's next. Heck, I may have to come back home!

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Shall we just trivialize the discussions here? Take down Obama! HoooYaah!

Next week....

... my day starts early.

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that's just wrong. Please reconsider that.

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I knew I'd wake up those anons if I posted something off the wall. Heh. Too bad I had to work! They scrambled to the blog pdq!

Jon Stewart and Colbert are on tonight.

It was 65 today and we had tornedo warnings all evening. Lightening shows too.

Love Bob Dylan myself!

As for Kansas, what else is there to do around here? Hee! :-)

And yeah that's what I was thinkin' 'nando.

Well, night chall!

14 killed in a ’stepped-up campaign of suicide bombings.’ Two suicide bombers killed at least 14 people in Baghdad today, “including the leader of a U.S.-backed neighborhood security patrol.” The strikes were “the latest in an apparent stepped-up campaign of suicide bombings that has seen major attacks nearly every day for the past two weeks.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/07/AR200801...

Gallup: Obama And Hillary Tied — Nationally!
Barack Obama's Iowa bounce isn't just happening in New Hampshire — it's now in the national polling, too.

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2008/01/gallup_obama_and_hillary_tied_nati...

Sorry if you felt trivialized by me. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

I do get discouraged with the progressives who just can't seem to be happy unless Michael Moore is our party's nominee.

Nice of you to bring the window licker talent to the SamSederShow.com

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