The Liberal Doomsayer

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Friday Stuff
2009-04-18 05:50:00
Stephen Colbert does it again...The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cThe Colbert Coalition's Anti-Gay Marriage Adcolbertnation.comColbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorNASA Name Contest...and praise be, the weekend is here too.
More About: Stuff , Friday

Saying ?No? To Another Flowers Fraud On Koh
2009-04-17 21:40:00
(And I also posted here.)I really didn?t like this column when it was written for the Philadelphia Inquirer last week by Former Senator Man-On-Dog (and by the way, why am I not surprised by this?), and I like it even less today after seeing that it has been regurgitated by Christine Flowers in The Daily News.Specifically, stuff like what follows, in a criticism of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had the temerity in Flowers? view to note that our jurists should consider the rulings of international courts in their deliberations (and it is a continual source of astonishment to me that Flowers can concoct this drivel, given that she is a lawyer ? and try not to laugh too hard as you read about her supposed defense of the Constitution, seeing as how she?s made a career of providing cover for our previous ruling cabal)?Ginsburg apparently doesn't believe in the supremacy of the Constitution because to do so would apparently be arrogant. She implied that the failure to con...
More About: Fraud

Thursday Stuff
2009-04-17 05:35:00
K.O.'s "Special Comment" on the latest torture memos to seep out from the fetid, still-remaining Bushco sewage (this from Glenn Greenwald via Atrios sums up the awfulness)...Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy...and if torture was one of the evil manifestations of our former ruling cabal, here is perhaps the other most notorious one ("blessed" by the Dems, if you will, last year of course, amplified in this interview with James Risen of The New York Times)...Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy...and I've had some thoughts on all of this "teabagging" business that I haven't been able to quite put into words, though Janeane Garofalo manages to do it for me here (and here's more on the person at the mic)...Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy...and here's a note for some local-area folk; I have to tell you that I found myself stuck in a horrendous traffic jam today whil...
More About: Stuff , Thursday

Sarko Est Très Stupide En Obama!
2009-04-16 23:52:00
Remember back when Nicolas Sarkozy took over in France while Dubya was still president, and gosh, so many people were happy that that boring, stodgy Jacques Chirac was gone, and Former President Brainless went out of his way to be ?buds? with the new guy?And remember how Sarkozy was supposedly so much better even though he still stiffed us on sending troops to Iraq, as noted here (and no, I never agreed with the war either, but I?m talking about ?sharing the pain? of the brave men and women of our military, which is and always will be an entirely separate issue from how we feel about the politicians who put them there).Well, I?m not sure exactly what spurred this on, but ?Sarko? just laid a first-class hissy fit on just about every world leader but himself of course, including President Obama , about whom he said?On the US President, Mr. Sarkozy said: "Obama has a subtle mind, very clever and very charismatic. But he was elected two months ago and had never run a ministry. There are ...

The Robertses Spit On The Memory Of 9/11
2009-04-16 16:57:00
I'm going to say some decidedly un-liberal things here, but I don't care (and I also posted here - "slumming it" a bit, so far).As I've often said, the Bucks County Courier Times ends up attracting a substantial amount of wingnuttery to its Op-Ed page, and the latest from Cokie and Steve Roberts ended up there yesterday (from here, a column that was written a week ago, as it turns out).And what is ironic is that, for a change, there are some reasoned observations about how Obama can (and has) reach(ed) out to Muslims to mark an end to the wholesale demonization of an entire people and religion by Obama's predecessor and his Republican handlers in the political-media-industrial complex (with Dubya talking about how he wasn't waging war against Islam in general on the one hand while condoning torture primarily of Arabs on the other).However, what really got me in the Robertses column was this...No one is minimizing the significance of 9/11, but it happened more than seven years a...
More About: Memory , Spit

Wednesday Stuff
2009-04-16 05:44:00
One of the best "Still Bushed" segments from K.O. (The Murdoch Street Journal allows itself to be used as a mouthpiece of sorts for CIA agents getting the word out to let them do what they want or...gee, maybe they won't play ball with Obama - nice; 300 women protest Hamid Karzai's law legalizing marital rape and are met by 1,000 males - the good news, at least for now, is that the women are apparently still alive, having not been slaughtered in as degrading a manner as possible by life forms pretending to be actual men; and how about those teabaggers protesting how much corporations hide in tax revenue in this country, to the tune of $100 BILLION? Wonder if Fix Noise would help you promote THAT? Do I even need to ask? Oh, and by the way, no-class move by GE/MSNBC not to include this vid from their site)......and I just wanted to extend a little message of sorts to all of the "teabaggers," and though this is out of context, it's the best I can do for now: "Clowntime Is Over," by ...
More About: Stuff , Wednesday

A REAL Protest, And Nary A Teabag In Sight
2009-04-16 00:08:00
As Media Matters tells us here, quoting Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic (h/t Atrios)?Their origins -- organic, programmatic, accidental or otherwise -- don't matter much anymore. If -- and we'll have to see the numbers at the end of the day -- 100,000 Americans show up to protest their taxes, the onus to dismiss them as a nascent political force shifts to the Democrats.Oh, that?s funny.You want to hear about a real demonstration? Check this out from February 2003?Up to 10 million people on five continents are expected to demonstrate against the probable war in Iraq on Saturday, in some of the largest peace marches ever known.Yesterday, up to 400 cities in 60 countries, from Antarctica to Pacific islands, confirmed that peace rallies, vigils and marches would take place. Of all major countries, only China is absent from the growing list which includes more than 300 cities in Europe and north America, 50 in Asia and Latin America, 10 in Africa and 20 in Australia and Oceania.Many coun...
More About: Protest , Real , Sight

Bashing Obama Yet Again With ?The Catholic Crutch?
2009-04-15 23:10:00
(And also posted over here.)As many of us are aware, we observed the most important day of the Christian calendar last Sunday in commemoration of Easter. And if you guessed that that has ushered in yet another round of pundit idiocy about how President Obama is supposedly losing the support of Catholic voters, then you win a free picture of Bill Donahue suitable for mounting on a dart board or insertion into the bottom of your cat?s litter box.The most recent culprit if Amy Sullivan, ?religion correspondent? for Time Magazine here (and I have an issue with reporters from our corporate media pretending to write about faith generally, usually because they use it as an excuse for their own twisted brand of pontificating ? I more or less go along with it from the Bucks County Courier Times, often because they have good writers, but mainly because fighting that battle isn?t one that I?m going to win).Here is an excerpt from Sullivan?s column??Obama's first few months in office have seen...

Tuesday Stuff
2009-04-15 05:19:00
Back to blogging tomorrow, I hope. But meanwhile...O joy of joys! Is the state of Texas...actually seceding from the Union here??!!Are you actually going to return to Mexico?No? Then shut your pie hole, Perry! Besides, where the hell was this wave of anti-federal-government bravado when your predecessor took up space at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?Oh, and one more thing - the only president in the last 20 years who actually shrunk the federal government was Bill Clinton......and yeah, I guess there's no escaping the lunacy due to unfold tomorrow; as I and others have said, at least they won't be shooting anyone instead - at least, I hope not (thanks to The Daily Kos for these two)......and K.O. and Richard Wolffe give this nonsense the proper treatment (and really, after this, how dumb would a human being have to be to watch Fix Noise and think they're hearing the truth - never mind, I'd better not ask)...Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy...a...
More About: Stuff , Tuesday

Monday Stuff
2009-04-14 05:21:00
Another questionable posting day coming up tomorrow, sports fans - I have a feeling there will be more in store...I'll keep you posted.Also, I don't know what else to say but RIP Harry - I'm sure he and Whitey are doing play-by-play in the great beyond, as it were - they both went out the same way as it turned out......and gosh, whaddaya know - they actually DO convict celebrities of murder in Southern California (the composer of this song by name, as noted here - have fun in the joint, Phil)......the real "money quotes" from Gore Vidal come at about 4:30 or so here, by the way, in this recent episode of "Real Time"......and with the passing of Harry The K, I think the whole world could use a "Little Bit Of Red," preferably with pinstripes too.
More About: Stuff , Monday

Bolton Cheerleads ?Blackhawk Dumb? Wingnut Bombast
2009-04-13 23:17:00
Leave it to former Bushco U.N. Rep John ?Blow ?Em up? Bolton here to call for an invasion of Somalia by a new ?coalition of the willing? in response to the rescue of Maersk ship captain Richard Phillips (above, right) by our special forces; commendations to all (and I heartily agree with John Cole here via The Daily Kos; approving stuff like this comes with the territory if you?re president ? sometimes it works, and sometimes you get sand in the gyroscopes of your helicopters while trying to rescue U.S. hostages in Iran and people get killed?and yes, I really said that).(Besides, I?ll be perfectly honest with you; while I?m definitely glad that a Democrat occupies the White House at this moment as opposed to a certain Republican senator from Arizona and his clueless former governor as veep dontcha know, I would like to know just what the hell kind of a game our chief executive is playing when he codifies and actually expands the surveillance activity of his predecessor as noted here...
More About: Dumb

Happy Easter 2009
2009-04-12 16:40:00
May you all have a happy and blessed Easter (if you don't observe anything, may you have a happy and blessed long weekend).
More About: Happy

Saturday Stuff
2009-04-12 03:09:00
By the way, let's not forget that this weekend marks the 70th anniversary of acclaimed contralto Marian Anderson's performance at the Lincoln Memorial (more here)......and again, haven't done the birthday thing for a little while, but Joss Stone hit 22 today, so...
More About: Stuff , Saturday

Friday AM Stuff
2009-04-10 17:55:00
As you endure watching this, please keep this Obama approval number in mind (about 59-60 percent according to Gallup - more here).....and yep, you just go "full-steam ahead" with your little "teabag" party, wingnuts (as kos points out, at least you won't be shooting anybody)......oh, and Karl? Before you call Biden a "liar" and a "blowhard" here, maybe you ought to pay attention to Chuck Todd first (more here - thanks to The Daily Kos for the first three videos - and by the way, I never did get an answer to this question)......and Mrs. Doomsy thinks these guys sound like Coldplay, but I think they're OK (I hope they don't get sued now that I've said that).
More About: Stuff , Friday

Where The Rubber Meets The Road (4/9/09)
2009-04-09 23:38:00
As reported in last Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week (and I thought I'd provide extra reading material for the long weekend, seeing as how posting will be highly questionable from tomorrow into early next week - just that kind of a guy).HouseTobacco regulation. Voting 298-112, the House on Thursday sent the Senate a bill (HR 1256) to begin federal regulation of tobacco products. The bill empowers the Food and Drug Administration to regulate cigarette content, require disclosure of product ingredients, ban cigarette marketing to children, and require more prominent health warnings. The bill would preempt state tobacco laws.A yes vote was to pass the bill.Voting yes: John Adler (D., N.J.), Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.) Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo ...
More About: Road , Rubber , The Road

Wednesday Stuff
2009-04-09 05:07:00
"Best Persons" with K.O., including Ebert's open letter to Bill Orally (here it is, but sorry Roger, nothing "admirable" about Krauthammer - stay well, dude, and the person telling Coleman to give up at long last was Ramesh Ponnuru, by the way)...Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy...and I don't know about you, but I'm diggin' this new tune from Incubus (thanks to YouTuber Christi0v for the way cool vid).
More About: Stuff , Wednesday

Five Ultra-Quick Wednesday Hits
2009-04-08 23:41:00
Don?t blink?Thumbs Up here to Dem U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan for his spot-on prediction of our economic meltdown over credit default swaps way back in 1994 (here) as well as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley fiasco (here ? I just posted about Dodd I know, but maybe Dorgan should be Finance Committee chairman instead)Thumbs Down to Our Man Arlen Specter for saying the following about Flush Limbore: ?I like him? hereThumbs Up to Patrick Murphy for taking the House congressional lead in trying to repeal ?Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell? here (h/t Atrios ? can?t wait for the howls of outrage from the Bucks County Courier Times over this one)Update 4/11/09: Nice work for Patrick to take the lead in legislation creating the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail - a 685-mile path crossing eight states from Newport, R.I., to Yorktown, Va., as noted here (President Obama recently signed the bill into law).Thumbs Down to pretend Bush Dog Democrat (redundant?) Dan Boren of Oklahoma for a...
More About: Ultra , Quick , Hits , Wednesday

In Defense Of Chris Dodd
2009-04-08 23:07:00
(And I also posted over here.)I have to say that, like many of you I?m sure, I?ve been watching the deterioration of Chris Dodd ?s political fortunes with more than a bit of alarm. And I?ve been reluctant to say anything, that is, until I read this post from Megan McArdle of The Atlantic.I?m sure McArdle is a pretty bright individual, but I really have to wonder why she would write a post sourcing an editorial in the Augusta (GA) Chronicle attacking Dodd over the bonuses paid to executives of AIG (the editorial is fundamentally wrong for reasons I will note shortly). Another clue as to the partisan nature of the Chronicle editorial is the fact that it praises South Carolina Repug Gov. Mark Sanford for ?(doing) his best to wean his state off the cocaine of federal money. He knows it's corrupting. He knows it will mask the state's needs rather than fill them. He knows we are stealing from our children.?Gosh, what noble rhetoric from the Chronicle. Would that I and others had heard it...
More About: Defense

Tuesday Stuff
2009-04-08 04:55:00
Good for Joe here (go howl at the moon...Dick)......yep, this is good news, but I have a feeling the biggest battles have yet to come (EFCA, trying to overcome that traitor Blanche Lincoln and her Senate Repug buddies, along with health care - we'll see; hat tips for these two videos to The Daily Kos)......and you're very welcome, K.O. (referring to this video, which I inexplicably missed last night - anyway, here's "Worst Persons," with Sean Inanity chastising Obama for the latter's entirely correct pronouncement that we're engaged in a struggle against radical Islam, not Muslims in general...duh; and what a charming T-shirt some apparently single-brain-celled life forms in Kentucky concocted, no doubt hoping to goose-step their way to fame and fortune; and I don't know about you, but I just hope and pray that, the next time something terrible happens in this country - and I hate to sound like I'm giving comfort to a thought like that, but it's just about statistically inev...
More About: Stuff , Tuesday

On The Economy, Our Pain Is J.D.?s Gain
2009-04-07 18:53:00
(Also, I posted over here.)I have to admit that the two most recent columns by Bucks County?s big mouth pundit J.D. Mullane (last Sunday and today) have been absolutely startling, definitely ?Exhibits A and B? for not having to pay online if you?re a non-subscriber to the paper (actually, for reasons I will note shortly, I think the paper should pay us if we happen to ingest any of Mullane?s drivel).He told us the following on Sunday (here)?Unemployment has bolted to 8.5 percent, the highest in 25 years. From January through March, 2 million jobs have been lost. It?s grim.So why did I have to wait 45 minutes for a table at a restaurant the other night?The eatery?s parking lot was packed. So was the bar, where people crowded two deep to pay $6 a drink.A couple easily drops $100 on dinner at a chain restaurant like that, which made me wonder: Where?s the recession?If millions are unemployed and the president says it is the worst economy since the Great Depression, where is it???(Last ...
More About: Economy , Pain

Monday Stuff
2009-04-07 05:20:00
Touching tribute on "Countdown" tonight to Keith's mom, by the way - our sympathies...And it sounds like the wingnuts were in winning form again with their little "tea party" (kind of scary when a bunch of terminal adolescents get together for no good reason, I suppose)......and oh yes, didn't I tell you that, on the side, I'm a "reprogrammer" for the Obamabot "reeducation" facility in Bucks County, PA? Uh huh (nice touch on the black helicopter)......something else to consider when you hear about how charging an online fee to non-subscribers is the answer to problems in the media industry......I thought this had kind of a nice ring to it (not much happening in the video - kind of morose like the weather in these parts at the moment).
More About: Stuff , Monday

My Tribute To The AP
2009-04-07 00:06:00
(And I also posted here.)So the AP tells us from here that it and ?its member newspapers will take legal action against Web sites that use their articles without legal permission,? huh?Wow, you mean that the AP would actually seek to punish individuals such as your humble narrator who tries to access some of that service?s glorious content....?from Ron Fournier (here)?from (former correspondent) John Solomon (here)?from Jennifer Loven and Fournier again (here)?from David Espo (here)?from Sam Hananel (here, with clarification by Media Matters here)?from Hope Yen (here)?from Amy Lorentzen (here)?from Andrew Taylor (here)?from Phillip Elliott (here)?from Liz Sidoti (here)?.from Elliott, Calvin Woodward and (wait for it?) Nedra Pickler (here)?.and from (drum roll, please) the one and only Charles Babington (here)The AP really ?wants a piece o? me,? as it were?Well, considering that the news service has produced such sterling content as that which I have cited above, I have only this to ...
More About: Tribute

Sunday Stuff
2009-04-06 04:39:00
The Daily Show's Jon Stewart and John Oliver have some fun concerning the media fawning over the Obamas' recent visit to the Queen...The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10cThe Poisonous Queencomedycentral.comDaily Show Full EpisodesEconomic CrisisPolitical Humor...and boy, that Repug PA State Senator Mike Folmer is a real "rocket scientist," isn't he? With the EFCA, both "card check" and the secret ballot would still be legal, but the employee would call the shots, not the employer (h/t Michael Morrill at Keystone Progress)......actually, though, Cantor and the House Repug "leadership" did offer this, which is way beyond a bad joke (more on Cantor here)...Update 4/7/09: Oh yeah, Cantor and the Repugs sure will overtake Obama and the Dems with stuff like this....and oh yeah, time to rock harder.
More About: Stuff , Sunday

Saturday Stuff
2009-04-05 05:40:00
Two from Rachel Maddow that I couldn't quite get to last night: first has to do with the two women journalists detained in North Korea (here, and what a wonderful Bushco legacy, being lectured on human rights by one of the most oppressive regimes on earth)...Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy...and Repug North Carolina Senator Richard Burr's cowardly "hold" on the nomination of Tammy Duckworth for assistant secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs (more here - I thought "the world's greatest deliberative body" got rid of this stuff, but apparently not...and somewhere, I'm sure Evan Bayh is trying to work out a "compromise").Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
More About: Stuff , Saturday

A Saturday Sports Note
2009-04-05 03:59:00
From here (class)...PHILADELPHIA ? Pat Burrell wondered how Phillies fans would observe his return to Citizens Bank Park Friday....With a little help from the Phils, who warmed up the crowd with a striking and at times emotional video tribute, Burrell turned the page on nine years with the Phillies he vowed never to forget.Burrell went 1-for-3 with an RBI single, a walk, a stolen base and two tips of the cap in his new role as designated hitter to spot the Tampa Bay Rays the lead in the otherwise meaningless exhibition game.The Phils rallied for two runs in the ninth inning to claim a 3-2 victory, minor league prospect Jason Donald plating Eric Bruntlett with a bases-loaded single with nobody out. Drama always seems to mark this rivalry although you pretty much can predict the result.That said, the night belonged to Burrell.The Phils dispensed letter-sized prints of Burrell slugging the seventh-inning double high off the wall to spark a rally against the Rays in Game 5 of the World ...
More About: Sports , Note , Saturday

Friday Stuff
2009-04-04 04:10:00
Yeah, to be sure, Brown is sucking up to Obama, but here's the deal; he's VERY unpopular "across the pond," and he's trying to revive his political hopes by latching onto our Number 44 - and even though I'm sure Sanchez will find a way to sneak in a plug for Flush Limbore in the not-too-distant future, kudos to him for now (h/t The Daily Kos)......and here's a little number to take us on outta here - maybe more stuff over the weekend, but we'll see.
More About: Stuff , Friday

Where The Rubber Meets The Road (4/3/09)
2009-04-04 00:36:00
As reported in last Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week (not a lot going on).HousePublic lands conservation. Voting 285-140, the House sent President Obama a bill (HR 146) that would conserve tens of millions of acres of public land, mostly in the West. The bill would protect 2.1 million acres in California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia as wilderness; add 26 million acres to the National Landscape Conservation System; preserve 2,800 miles of federal trails and add three units to the National Park System.A yes vote was to send the bill to Obama.Voting yes: John Adler (D., N.J.), Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.) Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa...
More About: Road , Rubber , The Road

Trying To Avoid A Census Crisis
2009-04-03 22:28:00
This CNN story tells us the following (and I also posted here)?WASHINGTON (CNN) - A report that the Obama administration will name an advocate of statistical sampling as the next census director has set off a fusillade of Republican criticism even though that choice has not been formally announced.The Associated Press reported Thursday afternoon that the White House intends to nominate University of Michigan Prof. Robert M. Groves as the census director. Groves worked for the Census Bureau during the last census in 1990, and recommended at that time that the national head count be statistically adjusted to compensate for a possible undercount of millions of Americans.By the way, the two House Repugs caterwauling the loudest over this are Darrell Issa (apparently having grown bored with insisting on more transparency from Michelle Obama, as noted here) and Patrick McHenry (taking a break from endangering and harassing our military serving in Iraq, as noted here).And call me just anot...
More About: Crisis , Avoid

Wednesday Stuff
2009-04-02 05:04:00
Another questionable posting day tomorrow, by the way...Yep, I would say this is the treatment that Glenn Beck deserves, the self-appointed spokesperson for every right-wing crybaby in this country (along with Joe The Plumber, Rick Santorum, Christine Flowers, Kevin Ferris, Charles Krauthammer, George Will, assorted letter and Guest Opinion writers to the Bucks County Courier Times, the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, etc., etc.)...The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cThe 10/31 Projectcomedycentral.comColbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorNASA Name Contest...and I wish this were an April Fools joke, but alas...Update 4/3/09: Kudos to MoveOn for this (h/t The Daily Kos)....and to his great credit, filmmaker Robert Greenwald makes a hell of a lot of sense on Afghanistan (more here)......and here's a song for the day by "The King" (I'll get back to the alternative/indie rock stuff, I promise).
More About: Stuff , Wednesday

A ?Filibuster Fable? from The Old Gray Lady
2009-04-01 23:40:00
I came across this intriguing little story in the New York Times today concerning the nomination hearings for some Obama Administration appointees, including David F. Hamilton, Obama?s first selection for a federal appeals court seat, and Dawn Johnsen, nominated to head the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department.What got my attention in particular was this item concerning (you guessed it) methods of Repug obstruction?But so far, facing a solid Democratic majority in the Senate, they have been able to do little beyond briefly delaying confirmation. Now they are weighing whether to use the filibuster ? a threat of extended debate, the tool many Republican senators regularly denounced when it was used by Democrats to block some Republican nominees. These are certainly different times.I would like Times writer Neil A. Lewis to click here and take a really good look at the chart. He will learn that Republican filibusters (or the threat thereof) skyrocketed in the 110th Congres...
More About: Lady , Filibuster , Fable , Gray