Stories to Watch: 4/10/12

All right. Starting to get back on track here. The roundup should be back any day now. Now here's the news...


Sign that Gingrich is as done as Santorum: the $500 check that Gingrich 2012 wrote to cover the filing fee for Utah's primary bounced. No, I didn't leave out the comma. Gingrich stiffed Utah for the huge sum of five hundred bones.


And what does it mean when a candidate "suspends" their campaign? It's mostly face-saving weasel words to avoid saying, "We lost." But there are some real world ramifications, as well.


Meanwhile, Ron Paul (remember him?) says he's still in it for the long haul.


George Zimmerman's lawyers fire him. It seems he can't be bothered to give his attorneys the time of day -- he's too busy chasing celebrity with Sean Hannity. No, really.


There's a mole at Fox News, leaking what's basically celebrity gossip about the on-air talent. I guess they're not high up enough to get the skinny on the execs. But the insight into Fox Nation is pretty good; Mole says it's "like an unholy mashup of the Drudge Report, the Huffington Post and a Klan meeting." Maybe we can get someone in the media to notice that Fox Nation commenters are really racist and, more importantly, that the site goes out of their way to attract racists.

Santorum 2012 in memoriam; ThinkProgress collects a sampling of all the crazy-assed stuff Rick's said.


Paul Ryan makes a comically ridiculous claim.


In related news, Ryna's budget is hard to defend. Ask Republican Rep. Dan Benishek.


It's not over yet; Limbaugh loses another station. This time, in the big Philadelphia market.


Finally, if this is the kind of "help" Republicans can expect from Herman Cain in trying to dispel the silly notion of a War on Women, Democrats should encourage him to help more.

Related articles

• Newt Gingrich's racist campaign is dying (thehill.com)
• Breaking: Santorum Holding News Conference (To Bail Out?) (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Santorum leaves campaign: It's over (tampabay.com)
• Santorum - For Whom the Bellwether Tolled (aarp.org)

News Roundup for 3/16/12

2012 is starting to seem very familiar

-Headline of the Day-
"Romney, Santorum Stir Less Enthusiasm Than McCain Did."

Remember back in 2008, when all the Republicans were all like, "Oh crap, I guess I have to vote for John McCain?" Well, it turns out that GOP voters in 2012 are feeling even more oh-crapper than they did then.

According to the report, "A little more than one-third of Republicans say they would vote 'enthusiastically' for either Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum if either candidate were to win their party's nomination for president. Slightly fewer say they would vote enthusiastically for Newt Gingrich. This level of enthusiasm is similar to Republicans' feelings about voting for Romney in early 2008, but lower than the enthusiasm level for that year's eventual GOP nominee, John McCain." In fact, enthusiasm for Mitt Romney was about where it was in 2006, when he -- you know -- lost.

If you ask me, you can blame Super PACs here. They've bought contests all over the country and the people the billionaires want don't really match up with what the people want. To be fair, what those people wanted seemed to be Herman Cain, but then he went and turned out to be a serial buttpincher and that ruined that dream.

Still, it doesn't seem very likely that the GOP electorate would go from Herman Cain to Mitt Romney all on their lonesome. Mittens has been winning races not because everyone thinks he's so awesome, but because he and his Super PAC buddies have been running "don't vote for Mitt's opponent -- he's even worse than Romney!" ads. People are settling for what they see as the lesser of two evils -- which is kind of tough, since those evils are like Satan and Beelzebub.

Of course, there's still a way to juice things up again come the general. It's the John McCain way: grab some random featherheaded lunatic who knows all the empty talking points and buzzwords by heart as a running mate, then hope they aren't exposed as a lightweight before election day.

Romney-Hannity 2012! (Gallup)


-On a related note-



"Now go ahead and pledge allegiance to the Koch brother, kids -- or do you hate America?" (McClatchy)


-Bonus HotD-
"GOP Strapped to the Roof of Romney's Car."

File under "Perfection in Metaphors." (Political Wire)

Stories to Watch: 3/1/12

Not sure what I'm going to do tonight. Chili and a period of no-thinkin' in front of the teevee machine, maybe. That sounds like fun. Now here's the news...


Last night, Andrew Breitbart spent what little time he had left engaging in his favorite hobby -- being a Twitter troll. Writes Steve M. of No More Mister Nice Blog, "Spending your final hours on earth yelling at people with your thumbs. Wow, that was a life well lived."


I hate it when I agree with Rick Santorum.


Mittens admits he's worn a garbage bag.


Public Policy Polling sees Wisconsin as a bellwether state and things are looking good for Obama.


The GOP had really painted themselves into a corner over contraception coverage.


The Koch brothers are attempting what is basically a hostile takeover of the Cato Institute.


Herman Cain is back. He's a very, very, very, very strange man. And illogical. His goldfish needs more water, not less.


After getting into a scandal over an offensive anti-Obama email, a federal judge files a complaint against himself.


Finally, Occupy Riverdale?

P.S. Zemanta ispretty much broken today. I can barely get it to bring up anything other than months old headlines about Breitbart.

Related articles

• Charles Krauthammer Blames Santorum's 'Self-Inflicted' Defeat On 'Kennedy, College And Contraception' (mediaite.com)

Stories to Watch: 2/14/12

Been a hectic few days, but things are finally starting to settle down. At least, I hope so. Now here's the news...


After the birth control controversy, President Obama suffers no backlash from Catholic voters. GOP pander fail.


Mitt Romney's view of the auto bailout veers off into incoherence.


Google recognizes same sex couples with its Valentine's Day doodle and destroys the holiday forever.


After all the brouhaha over Mitt Romney's tax documents, it seems the fact that Santorum hasn't released his has been overlooked.


Obama beats everyone.


Satorum doesn't think anyone should have contraception coverage.


Mittens may not be able to count on Michigan.


Finally, Herman Cain won't appear on Dancing with the Stars. Try to contain your grief.

Related articles

• Inevitability Fading: Poll Numbers Now Show Trouble for Romney in Michigan (swampland.time.com)
• Mitt Romney attacks 'crony capitalism' of Obama's auto bailout (guardian.co.uk)
• US politics live: Rick Santorum's surge threatens Mitt Romney (guardian.co.uk)
• Romney's Offensive Against Santorum Will Be Weak But Well-Funded (huffingtonpost.com)

Stories to Watch: 1/29/12

Shorty today. It looks like a fairly quiet weekend -- at least, outside Florida. I finally got Zemanta back. Turns out they've vastly improved their bookmarklet. When there's a choice between an add-on and a bookmarlet, always take the bookmarklet. Trust me on this one; you'll have a faster browser. Now here's the news...


Mitt Romney collects more money from the five biggest banks than the entire presidential field -- combined.


And all that money's finally bought him a big lead in Florida. Herman Cain's endorsement won't be enough to turn the state around for Newt. Nor will the work of Sarah Palin. In fact, at this point Mittens would have to actually die or something for the lead to switch back. Gingrich is the de facto candidate of the Tea Party and the religious right and, once again, I marvel at how little influence those two constituencies actually have over Republican voters.


Mittens is really, really rich.


This is screwed up: NBC asks Romney to pull an anti-Gingrich ad, because it features Tom Brokaw delivering the news about Gingrich being fined and booted from the speakership. It's an entirely accurate ad, nothing' taken out of context, it's just a freakin' quote. If Romney doesn't say to NBC, "Sue me," he's a fool. Campaign ads cost money and NBC doesn't have a legal leg to stand on. Not only is this fair use, it's practically the definition of the term.


Finally, the use of social media to organize opposition to repressive regimes may be a thing of the past -- at least, if Twitter has their way.

Related articles

• Herman Cain Endorses Gingrich (newser.com)
• NBC Demands Mitt Romney Remove Ad Using Tom Brokaw (huffingtonpost.com)
• Romney, Gingrich Make Final Appeals to Republicans in Florida - BusinessWeek (businessweek.com)
• Tom Brokaw 'Extremely Uncomfortable' With Starring In Romney Ad, NBC Lawyers Want It Removed (mediaite.com)

Stories to Watch: 1/21/12

OK, I'm back. I've still got a little work at the end of the driveway, where the snowplow got me last night, but otherwise I'm set. Luckily, we were spared the larger portion of the mess, which passed to the south. Now here's the news...


Nate Silver has Gingrich 8 points up as South Carolinians head to the polls, giving him an 82% chance of taking that state. A big part of the story here: Mittens sucks at playing defense.


And it's not just South Carolina. Romney's numbers are nosediving nationally, as Gallup has him down 10 points in one week. He's still in the lead, but the media's beloved "momentum" narrative is becoming a "stalled momentum" narrative.


All of this has to make Democrats happy, since Newt would be an astonishingly poor choice as his party's nominee. In fact, don't be surprised if Team Obama starts talking about Gingrich more than Romney. It'd lend Newt's campaign more legitimacy and drive the rabidly anti-Obama -- led by their jerking knees -- to Gingrich. It's what I'd do, anyway.


Huckabee goes birther.


Many on the left want to make the Citizens United ruling a campaign issue, drawing parallels to Romney's Bain past.


Some of the Justice Department's evidence against Megaupload is sketchy. Meanwhile, people who used the service to store legit files are screwed -- making government anti-piracy efforts even less popular than they were before.


Ghosts on the campaign trail; top billing on South Carolina's Republican Primary ballot goes to Michele Bachmann, followed by Herman Cain. They'd already qualified for the ballot before they dropped out and the names are listed alphabetically.


Finally, the three little words every Republican candidate has so much trouble saying; "George W. Bush."

Related articles

• In Conn., Romney Wins GOP Fundraiser Straw Poll As Voting Underway In South Carolina (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• Gingrich's Race Baiting Strategy Pays Off in S. Carolina (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Early Voting Starts Saturday Across South Florida (miami.cbslocal.com)
• Derailing the Romney Express (capitolhillblue.com)

Stories to Watch: 1/11/12

Got a call yesterday from a buddy vacationing in Florida. I heard seagulls. It was horrifying. Now here's the news...


Talking Points Memo has a photo gallery of things that aren't as steep as Rick Perry's plunging poll numbers.


Note to first-term Republican Rep. Diane Black: don't try to claim the House isn't in recess while talking about how you went on recess.


As if the recall weren't enough trouble, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is accused of over 1,000 campaign finance law violations, which could cost him over a half a million in fines. Once again, I point out that voter ID won't solve election fraud problems -- but getting rid of Republicans will.


Warren Buffett is once again awesome.


Gingrich walks back his criticism of Mitt Romney's corporate predator past. The brief Gingrich flirtation with reality is over -- for now.


And so Newt goes back to favorite themes: frootloop paranoia about the Homosexual Menace and a war on Christianity.


How do you prove that voter fraud is a big problem? If you're stupid, you commit some voter fraud and make sure you get it one tape.


The clown show effect strikes again; waning GOP enthusiasm was as evident in New Hampshire as it was in Iowa.


Finally, Herman Cain announces that he won't endorse anyone, as every single GOP candidate breathes a huge sigh of relief.

Related articles

• James O'Keefe Commits Voter Fraud to 'Prove' Voter Fraud (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• The man who could stop Romney (cnn.com)
• Who Will Bail Next? (thedailybeast.com)
• Newt Gingrich's Gay Sister Backs Obama For 2012 (gunnyg.wordpress.com)

Stories to Watch: 12/22/11

The Republicans caved and I made pasties (ABC's Jonathan Karl was right on the money, BTW). It's a wonderful day. Now here's the news...


This Vander Plaats guys is starting to sound like a crook.


Ron Paul does not react well to substantive criticism.


On a related note, Mediaite's Alex Alvarez offers the poorest defense of Ron Paul's racist newsletter possible; this is all old news, the newsletter was years ago, Paul's already answered the questions. Let's see how that reasoning holds up in another context; this is all old news, the newsletter sexual harassment was years ago, Paul's Herman Cain's already answered the question. Didn't work the last time, not gonna work this time.


PolitiFact digs in on their embarrassing "Lie of the Year" flub.


Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner says he's sorry he's such an insufferable prick.


Mittens says his tax returns are a secret that you can't know about.


Hey Republicans, here's some of that election fraud you've been looking for.


Finally, while the White House doesn't exactly run a victory lap, they should.

Related articles

• Ron Paul Touted His Controversial Newsletters In 1995 C-SPAN Interview (huffingtonpost.com)
• Ron Paul Walks Out Of CNN Interview (huffingtonpost.com)
• House GOP caves on 2-month payroll tax cut (abclocal.go.com)
• Fat-Assed Lawmaker Overheard Bitching about Michelle Obama's 'Large Posterior' [Polidicks] (gawker.com)

News Roundup for 12/7/11

Rick keeps his girlish figure by pummeling poor people

-Headline of the Day-
"Santorum: We Don’t Need Food Stamps Because Obesity Rates Are So High."

Good news, everyone; Rick Santorum has noticed that the problem of hunger in America has gone away!

Where'd it go? Who knows. But he doesn't see any hunger around anywhere. See, Rick's -- oh, let's go ahead and call it "reasoning" -- works this way: we've got a lot of people on food stamps and there are overweight people. The end. So it's safe to cut funding for food stamps.

"If hunger is a problem in America, then why do we have an obesity problem among the people who we say have a hunger program?" Rick asks.

Fair question, fair question... I'm sorry, no it's not. It's a stupid question. Not everyone receiving food stamps is overweight, for one. For another, being overweight doesn't mean you're eating right. Need me to draw you picture? Here you go:



Rick probably doesn't know it, being a fabulously well-to-do former Senator, but cheap food is shitty food. And shitty food makes you gain weight. People don't have a weight problem because they're eating too healthy, you know. It's mostly because they eat junk. I always say that if all you can afford for dinner is a 99 cent mac and cheese dinner and a can of Orange Faygo, you're going to put on weight. It's almost unavoidable.

But that's what you call yer "facts and logic."

Rick Santorum doesn't do facts and logic. (ThinkProgress)


-Things ain't looking good for Mittens-


Click for full comic

They probably have Sandusky confused with Herman Cain. (GoComics)


-Bonus HotD-
"Bolling Apologizes To 'Froggy,' Challenges Him To Debate."

Remember how Fox idiot Eric Bolling accused the muppets of being commies? Now he wants to debate Kermit. Kermit is a puppet. He isn't real. Apparently, some people haven't figured that out.

And, no. He didn't really apologize.

Proof positive Fox is the channel for complete morons. (Media Matters)

Stories to Watch: 12/4/11

Went out yesterday in the petition drive to recall Gov. Walker. It was fun. In fact, only one person refused outright and she was pretty nice about it -- all the rest of the doors that didn't sign had already signed elsewhere. Mostly, I got thanks. Seems to be going strong. If you're in Wisconsin and interested in volunteering, either find a petitioner and sign up through them (that's how I did it) or contact One Wisconsin Now or United Wisconsin. There's tabling and phonebanking too, so if you're not up to trekking through Wisconsin weather this time of year, you've got options. Now here's the news...


In related news, PolitiFact confirms that it is indeed perfectly legal to sign the recall petition more than once, if you feel you might've been scammed by someone collecting signatures to keep them from being turned in. Just don't sign every time someone puts a petition in front of you.


In a sign that Mittens' troubled past is going to be an issue, the LA Times runs an article on Romney's time with Bain Capital. It's the second time I've seen that exact photo illustrating a piece; the other was a similarly less-than-complimentary New York Times article on the same subject.


Sen. John McCain suggests we should find a "humane" solution to illegal immigration and that several states, including his own Arizona, might be "up for grabs" as Republican rhetoric on immigration drives away Hispanic voters.


Powerline's John Hinderaker joins Herman Cain in blaming Democrats for Herman Cain's fall -- proving once again that John Hinderaker is an emptyheaded lightweight. When Herman Cain went down the drain, I'd imagine they held a wake at the White House, just as they would've thrown a party had he been nominated. He was just such a poor frontrunner, an Obama win would've been guaranteed.


Presidential pardons still bias white.


Sen. Tom Coburn, who was a mere House member at the time, does not have fond memories of Speaker Gingrich's leadership.


Ron Paul says he won't attend the Donald Trump-moderated celebrity game show GOP debate.


Finally, Michele Bachmann seems to confuse Occupy Wall Street with Wall Street execs. "If you go to the essence of what Occupy Wall Street stands for, it’s having other people pay for their stuff," she told CNN. "That’s not where the American people are at." Meanwhile, the bank bailouts + huge executive bonuses = huge taxpayer-funded executive bonuses.

Related articles

• With Herman Cain out, Newt Gingrich storms to the lead in Iowa poll (100gf.wordpress.com)
• Top 10 Tweets: Herman Cain's #CainWreck Speech (mashable.com)
• Michele Bachmann And Ron Paul Say They'll Pick Up Herman Cain Supporters (huffingtonpost.com)
• Ron Paul pans Donald Trump as false GOP deity (politico.com)

News Roundup for 12/2/11

Herman Cain's women's outreach manager

-Headline of the Day-
"Cain highlights female supporters on new website."

And by "highlights" he means... Oh, make up your own joke. It's easy.

Anyway, despite coming down to the wire on his decision whether to keep going or not, Herman Cain has a new website up featuring all the women in America that Herman Cain either hasn't sexually harassed or had an affair with. Which so far is about 50 of them. If you're a woman who hasn't been harassed by or had an affair with Herman, you're invited to tell your story about why you think he's wonderful.

If your opinion of the Cain Train is somewhat different, you probably shouldn't waste your time submitting it. Criticism is not taken well there. According to the report, "The site features testimonials from female Cain supporters offering words of support and attacking the women who have alleged sexual harassment and an affair with Cain as 'scheming' and 'desperate.'"

Because, you see, not knowing Herman Cain at all, they'd be the experts about that. Of course the site is run under Herman's wife's name, Gloria Cain, who would be an expert. But according to at least one report, Gloria may not be as enthused with Herman as the site would suggest. Friends describe "a woman angry that her life has been turned upside down by her husband's need for attention and power by any means."

And, of course, this is Herman Cain we're talking about, so this thing can't go by without a gaffe. "[T]he group quickly came under fire after media organizations noted that the photo of four women giving the thumbs-up signal on the Web site was not truly of Cain supporters but a stock photo," reports the Washington Post.

Never let it be said that the Herman Cain campaign did not die as it lived; completely FUBAR. (The Hill)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, I was out yesterday, trying to recall this knuckleheaded governor we've got here, so I didn't get a chance to put this up. Anyway, here's two cavemen discussing science. Yay!


Click for animation

Wow, it's almost like it's a metaphor for something... (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"Saudis fear there will be ‘no more virgins’ and people will turn gay if female drive ban is lifted."

Wow, Saudi Arabia has Republicans too! (Daily Mail)

News Roundup for 11/30/11

At least Herman still has a way with the ladies

-Headline of the Day-
"Cain: 'Stupid people are ruining America.'"

And, as America's leading stupid person, Herman Cain ought to know.

"Here’s what I need you to do," Cain told a crowd in Dayton today. "Stay informed, know the facts because stupid people are ruining America."

"They are," he went on. "We just have to out-vote them."

And so far, it seems to be working. The more people know about Herman, the less they seem willing to vote for him.

"The former Godfather's Pizza CEO has referred to Uzbekistan as 'Ubeki-beki-beki-stan-stan,' didn’t seem to know that China has nuclear weapons, asked Cuban-Americans how to speak 'Cuban,' struggled to remember the U.S. role in ousting Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, worried that the Taliban was forming a new government in Libya, and decided that CNN host Wolf Blitzer’s name was simply 'Blitz,'" the report reminds us.

Herman Cain will be happy to know that Herman Cain is one stupid person who doesn't stand a chance of ruining America. (Raw Story)


-Minor blessings-
Voters react to Herman Cain.


Click to embiggen

Thank goodness for small miracles. (Truthdig)


-Bonus HotD-
"Herman Cain's campaign a study in ineptitude."

Won't get any argument from me. (Politico)

Stories to Watch: 11/28/11

Herman Cain gets out in front of his latest scandal, by breaking the news himself on CNN. A woman in Georgia claims to have had a 13 year affair with Cain -- something Cain denies. At this point, it hardly matters anyway.


You've probably already heard that Barney Frank is retiring when his term is up. He's giving Newt a good kick on the way out.


Revelations of a $13B secret bailout highlight one of the biggest problems facing America -- too big to fail. Bust the trusts.


Newt Gingrich's Potemkin campaign.


Fox News totally misrepresents a NYT op-ed. Imagine my shock.


Greg Sargent reports that Democrats are definitely going to make income inequality and the 99% an issue in 2012.


Krugman points out that if you want to reduce the deficit, you're going to have to tax the rich -- a lot. Needless to say, this is the worst thing ever.


Congress is on the verge of wrecking the internet. Again I have to ask, if our deficit is such a big problem, why are we so eager to police companies' copyrights for free? This is something that the court system exists for -- if they want to protect copyright, let them sue like everyone else. I haven't noticed any media execs starving to death, so everything seems to be working just fine.


Finally, the GOP argument that the US has "the best healthcare in the world" is their other zombie lie.

Related articles

• WATCH: Barney Frank's Parting Bitchslap To Adulterer Hypocrite Newt Gingrich (queerty.com)
• Herman Cain denies affair allegations after woman claims 13-year extramarital relationship (nj.com)
• Barney Frank Bids Farewell, Wishes Newt Gingrich Luck (timesunion.com)
• Barney Frank Calls Newt Gingrich an 'Ideal Opponent' in 'Sanctity of Marriage' Debate Over DOMA: VIDEO (towleroad.com)

Stories to Watch: 11/18/11

Occupy Congress! An idea whose time had come along time ago. Better late than never.


Have you seen those clips of Occupy Wall Street slogans projected onto the side of the Verizon Building? Meet the projectionist.


David Mooney, chief executive officer of Alliant Credit Union in Chicago and former JP Morgan Chase exec, tells the ugly truth; "I don't say this lightly, but the consumer is simply an income stream and exploiting that is the purpose of the banking organization." They don't work for you, you work for them.


Did Newt Gingrich -- Newt Freakin' Gingrich -- really think he could get away with pretending to be a Washington outsider?


Occupy Memphis and Tea Party members meet. The body count was zero. In fact, they discovered points of agreement.


Herman Cain said something stupid again.


Journalism ain't what it used to be.


Michele Bachmann said something stupid again. Now with extra irony.


The super committee remains super-useless.


Finally, Louie Gohmert did something stupid again.

Related articles

• Why Newt Gingrich Is Surging Now (usnews.com)
• How Can Newt Gingrich Possibly Live Down His Past? (outsidethebeltway.com)
• WATCH: Jon Stewart Mocks 'Zombie' GOP Frontrunners (huffingtonpost.com)
• Being a Washington insider has made Newt Gingrich a wealthy man (csmonitor.com)

Stories to Watch: 11/16/11

The Herman Cain fiasco is starting to die down, so I pulled the Google feed for him from the Superfeed. Instead, I've added "Wisconsin Recall," which is now officially under way. I'm also working on a Twitter Newsroom, because Twitter is a great way to catch news for ongoing events like election nights, debates, breaking news, etc. So keep an eye out for that. It should be up as early as tonight. No promises there, though.


Speaking of recall target Gov. Scott Walker, he's unveiled his new jobs plan -- abstinence-only education. And people wonder why we'd want to recall this clown.


In bad news for Walker on the recall front, a new poll shows a majority support it. This is a change from previous polls, which showed the larger percentages opposing a recall, but with most voting against Walker anyway. Confusing, I know, but that's the way they panned out.


Oh, and just how good is twitter for following developing stories? This good.


The Secret Service searched the Occupy DC encampment for a man who's suspected of taking potshots at the White House. Authorities went through "searching for a so-called terrorist who shot at the White House, with no warrant, they went into everybody’s tents," said one protester. While there's no reason why Occupy DCers should be above suspicion in a case like this, anyone should find warrantless searches of personal property disturbing.


And, of course, the search of Occupy DC came up empty. The mentally ill suspect, Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, was finally arrested at a hotel in Pennsylvania.


On the campaign bus with Herman Cain.


Some Republicans are starting to get the crazy idea that most of their party's presidential candidates are dumber than sacks of doorknobs.


Finally, House Republicans' hearing on a doomed anti-piracy bill was a disgusting, embarrassing sham. "[Google's copyright lawyer] was the only witness invited who opposed the legislation," reports Politico, "causing critics to charge that the hearing was stacked." The Soviets had fairer show trials.

Related articles

• White House Shooting Suspect Arrested (abcnews.go.com)
• Majority Say Walker Should Be Recalled (politicalwire.com)
• Wisconsin's Walker takes on critics as recall effort begins - Reuters (reuters.com)
• Small Business Owner On Why Walker Must Go (npr.org)

News Roundup for 11/14/11

Photo of the most prominent Muslim Herman Cain knows

-Headline of the Day-
"Cain: Majority of US Muslims share extremist views."

Rapidly plummeting in the polls, Herman Cain has decided to go back to what was working for him before this whole frontrunner/human scandal thing happened to him -- hating Muslims.

At a fun "pizza party" interview with GQ, the Hermanator took off his party hat and set aside his balloon for a moment, to make a serious point. "I have had one very well-known Muslim voice say to me directly that a majority of Muslims share the extremist views," Cain said.

Asked who the "very well-known Muslim voice" was voice was, Cain refused to answer.
None of your business, that's who. Herman would only repeat that it was a "a very prominent voice in the Muslim community." And, by "Muslim community," I think Herman Cain might mean his own head. Asked if he believed said unnamed voice, Herman said he did he did he really really did.

"Yes, because of the respect that I have for this individual," Herman said. "Because when he told me this, he said he wouldn't want to be quoted or identified as having said that."

Would this be the same Herman Cain who went on a jihad against Politico for using then-anonymous sources to "smear" him? Yes it would. And now here he is, using an anonymous (and likely made-up) Muslim to smear the majority of Muslims.

Once again we see a hard and fast rule of Republican politics; it's only OK when a Republican does it. (The Hill)


-Think Rick Perry "and the third one is..." jokes are played out?-


Click for full comic

How wrong you are. (GoComics)


-Bonus HotD-
"Confirmed Serial Adulterer Passes Alleged Serial Harasser in GOP Race."

The "family values" party. (Crooks and Liars)

Stories to Watch: 11/13/11

Dealt with leaves again yesterday. There's this Norway maple in the back that holds onto it's leaves until the last minute, so when everyone else is done with their raking, I'm just getting started. It's about done now, but there's no guarantee they'll all fall before the snow comes. Now here's the news...

***
Images wider than my center column have always been a problem for me, so I've added another upgrade to the site. Opening the image in a new window has been the solution I've been going with, but I don't like switching between tabs to look at charts, graphs, illustrations, etc. that go along with posts. Maybe it's just me, but I find it breaks the chain of thought.

So now when you see a "click to enlarge" link, click it or the thumbnail to open the image. It'll open in the same window and shrink to fit to your screen, if necessary. To view the image at full resolution, click the diagonal arrow at the bottom center and drag the image with your mouse to scroll. Click the arrow again to return to resized. And click the close button at the top or hit escape to return to the page. In a gallery, hit the left and right arrow icons to navigate. Here, try it. Pick a thumbnail.



This should be universal, but on the off-chance it doesn't work with your browser, images should just open in the conventional manner.

***
Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul complain that last night's GOP debate was unfair -- and they're right. Team Bachmann got hold of a CBS News email saying that she would "not going to get many questions during the debate and she's nearly off the charts." Yes, it's true that Bachmann no longer stands a chance in hell of the nomination, but by using polling to decide how many questions she gets that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Here again, we see presidential debates as a way for the media to generate news stories -- and not as an informative part of the democratic process.


Bill O'Reilly's book on the Lincoln assassination is like everything else Bill does -- it's complete bullshit.


Occupy Portland defies a police order to clear out.


Herman Cain has conversations with God, who -- according to Cain -- told him to run for president. Oh, and Herman's just like Moses. That's what you want in a president; delusional megalomania.


Michele Bachmann thinks America should be more like a China that exists only in her imagination.


Finally, it's back. Republican candidates say we shouldn't torture people -- we should just do things that are torture and call it something else. Because that's what good people do.

Related articles

• Bill O'Reilly: "What's this Kenji Economics?" (notesandobservations.me)
• Cain, Bachmann want to reinstate waterboarding (sfgate.com)
• Live Blog for #Occupy Movement: Day 57, Occupy Portland Survives Night but Still Faces Eviction (dissenter.firedoglake.com)
• Ore. Occupy protesters defy deadline to leave (abclocal.go.com)

Stories to Watch: 11/12/11

RIP Sheba, my mom's 14 year-old Siberian husky. She was a sweet dog who loved running, snow, and tuna melts. At the end, she couldn't run and there was no snow, but there were still tuna melts. I can't think of anything to say, other than to quote Vonnegut; "And so it goes." Now here's the news...


In happier news, I did a major refurbish of the blogspot blogs. I was going to do a complete redesign, but it turned out to be unnecessary. Each blog now features pages with the Superfeed and my latest Tumblr content, as well as redirects to the other blog -- so they're a lot more like just one blog now. I got rid of some widgets made redundant by the pages, so things should load a little more quickly. Other than that, the only real obvious change is a black menubar under my Fighting Bob banners (I might dress that up a little at a later date). Poke around and see how you like it -- and let me know if there's a problem. All the changes should work on all major browsers, but you never know. If you find a bug, please be sure to include what browser you're using.


The economy is still a drag on President Obama's approvals, as his disapproval ratings on that issue hit a new high in a CBS News poll. The question is, will the public find Republicans' economic ideas more palatable? Other recent polling suggests not. If his eventual opponent's diapprovals are higher than his own on the issue, it doesn't seem like it'd make much difference how high Obama's were.


Republicans simply will not let go of the myth that Fannie, Freddie, and government regulations brought down the economy.


Karl Rove's American Crossroads ads are so egregiously false that at they're being pulled off the air in Montana.


With Herman Cain being the latest wingnut darling to crash in a tailspin, Nate Silver predicts the next flavor of the month will be Newt Gingrich. What is it with the Republican voters and their love for vanity campaigners anyway? Trump, Cain, Gingrich. Poor Rick Santorum; all that perfectly acceptable pure, naked crazy and he can't get anyone's attention.


More trouble brewing at Occupy Oakland.


Tennessee state Rep. Rick Womick is a jackass.


Former lobbyist, prisoner, and scandal Jack Abramoff says that members of congress bragged to him about insider trading. For the record, as a lobbyist Abramoff dealt mostly with Republicans and exclusively with conservatives.


Finally, Christian right nutjobs want Jesus to chase the moneychangers out of the temple. Oops! Misread that; they want Jesus to chase away the people chasing away the moneychangers. That's the beauty of the Bible -- it contradicts itself so often that you can get it to say whatever the fuck you want it to say. Sermon on the Mount? Shut up, you commie hippie!

Related articles

• McClatchy-Marist Poll: Strong Sign that Cain is Sinking and Gingrich Is Rising as Anti-Romney? (themoderatevoice.com)
• Romney leads Cain 2-to-1 in electability, says CBS News poll - CBS News (cbsnews.com)
• Mitt Romney's Student Loan 'Non-Plan' Underwhelms (huffingtonpost.com)
• Occupy Oakland will be forced to close after shooting: According... (shortformblog.tumblr.com)

News Roundup for 11/10/11

Proving Herman Cain's innocence -- through science!

-Headline of the Day-
"Great Moments In Journalism: Local News Finds Sharon Bialek To Be Lying Via Voice Analysis Software."

Herman Cain is the finest man to ever walk the earth and the lady accusing him of sexual misconduct is terrible. Everyone knows it. It's not worth discussing.

Still, some crazy drug-addled hippies out there think Herman is the terrible one, so CBS Atlanta was on the job, digging for the truth like their heroes -- Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane. They grabbed a video of Bialek's press conference and took it to a super-science guy. Super-science guy (who's also a private detective) ran it through voice recognition software and learned that her pants were on fire. It's all "very scientific," assures cub reporter Peter Parker, AKA Mike Paluska.

There's just one little problem. According to the report, "CBS Atlanta failed to point out that there remains controversy amongst the science community in the reliability of voice stress analysis tests despite their wide use among law enforcement. 'A number of federally sponsored studies have found little or no scientific evidence to support the notion that existing voice-stress technologies are capable of consistently detecting lies and deceptions,' according to a report by Washington University in St. Louis." Of course, that's because these are all Ivory Tower Intellectuals who want all criminals to get away.

Even the pinkos at the Department of Defense think voice analysis is hooey. A 1996 report (pdf) found that the odds of getting a correct finding from a Computer Voice Stress Analyzer were "not significantly different from chance." In fact, in their study it was worse than chance, by virtue of being correct on a lying/not lying question only 48% of the time -- i.e., wrong more often than right.

So I'd say the "proof" that Herman Cain is innocent is a tad bit sketchy. In fact, if you want to play the Defense Department's odds, these results are a better indication of his guilt. (Mediaite)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, have you heard about this "Super Committee" thing? It's a bunch of people who are going to fix America by solving the things that aren't the big problem.


Click for animation

Maybe they should just fight crime or something... (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"Perry: 'If we're electing the debater in chief, don't elect me.'"

You've got a deal. (The Hill)

Stories to Watch: 11/9/11

It snowed today. Other than that, I don't want to talk about it. Now here's the news...


Big GOP debate tonight. I'll skip it and catch the highlight reel later. The only real reason I can think of to watch is that it's the first debate since the Cain scandal broke. Whether that makes it worth your time or not is up to you.


Today's tempest in a teapot; a 15 cent "Christmas Tree Tax." 15 fucking cents that the industry wanted. Just when you think the rightwing punks have reached the lower limit of their pettiness and fake outrage, you find out that the hole is bottomless.


Speaking of which, just when you think the Herman Cain campaign couldn't get any uglier, Herman Cain PAC puts up a lovely little post on their website; "Herman Cain Accuser Karen Kraushaar works for Obama and she’s ugly." No, seriously. What awful, awful bullies these people are.


But wait, there's more: Rush Limbaugh joins in with an attack on Sharon Bialek's 13 year-old son, who -- according to Rush -- is some sort of a Nazi.


Meet Shelby, Occupy Denver's leader in a "landslide vote." Denver officials had been demanding that the leaderless movement appoint a leader, so they all got together and elected a dog. She's also a border collie, so you know she's smart.


The International Energy Agency warns that we're just five years away from irreversible climate change. "The door is closing," agency economist Fatih Birol said. "I am very worried -- if we don't change direction now on how we use energy, we will end up beyond what scientists tell us is the minimum [for safety]. The door will be closed forever."


Finally, after all the humiliating losses of last night, the right is really worried about Wisconsin recall efforts.

Related articles

• Herman Cain Accuser Karen Kraushaar Wants Other Women To Come Forward (inquisitr.com)
• Herman Cain Could Be Described as a 'Monster,' Accuser Says - ABC News (abcnews.go.com)
• Rush Limbaugh Uses Slurping Sounds to Describe Herman Cain's Accuser [Video] (gawker.com)
• Herman Cain-Supporting Website Calls Accusers 'Ugly B1tch,' 'Fat Bimbo' [Karen Kraushaar] (gawker.com)