Stories to Watch: 12/28/11

I made a ham and cheese frittata last night and tonight it's grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. Ham is probably my favorite leftover. Now here's the news...


Rick Santorum moves closer to becoming the next GOP fad candidate. Erick-Erick is less than impressed.


In case Rick is the next flavor of the month, let me be the first to remind everyone that he's a clown who tried to claim that we'd found those WMD in Iraq.


This is fun; Newt Gingrich blames his failure to get on the Virginia ballot on "one guy" who turned in about fifteen hundred fraudulent signatures. Gingrich had been paying a bounty for signatures, so he's basically admitting that "free market" incentives encourage corruption.


And it's time once again for reporters to explain how the Iowa caucuses work. Let me save you a little time; they're stupid and practically designed to keep the casual voter out of the primaries.


Rick Perry desperately struggles to be seen as the most acceptably crazy candidate, but no one bites.


A book put out by the Girl Scouts tells kids not to believe everything they hear and to check Snopes.com and Media Matters to see if stuff they find on the internet has been debunked. Needless to say, this is the worst thing ever. Can't have sweet little girls finding out that Fox News is a bullshit factory.


The Obama administration has a disturbing love for the killing machines known as drones.


Finally, even as Hispanics find Obama's deportation record appalling, they figure he beats the alternatives.

Related articles

• New CNN Iowa Poll: Romney Now Leading, Paul Second, Gingrich Nosediving & Santorum (themoderatevoice.com)
• Paul maintains Iowa lead in first post-Christmas poll (thehill.com)
• Iowa GOP to Count Votes at Secret Location (newser.com)
• Perry Sues to Get On Va. Ballot (newser.com)

Stories to Watch: 11/2/11

Pot roast tonight. Just throw it in a slowcooker with carrots, potatoes, and what have you, then walk away and leave it. Started it about noon and now all I'll have to do is make gravy and I'm good to go. Easy-peasy. Now here's the news...


Today in "it's silly to worry about rightwing extremists" news: rightwing militia-types are arrested in a plot to commit mass-terrorism using botulinium toxin. "There is no way for us, as militiamen, to save this country, to save Georgia, without doing something that’s highly, highly illegal: murder," said one. "When it comes time to saving the Constitution, that means some people have got to die."


Phase one of the GOP's laser-like focus on jobs: pass a meaningless resolution reaffirming "In God We Trust" as the national motto.


Occupy Oakland's general strike closes Mens' Warehouse. The retailer locked its doors in solidarity with the strikers.


Video shows Herman Cain losing it a little bit with reporters, who refuse to stop asking him about his sexual harassment problems; "What did I say? Excuse me. Excuse me! What part of no don't some people understand?"


And, of course, Herman plays the victim card.


As always, anti-internet piracy legislation has been written by people who don't understand the internet.


Not only does it start your tap water on fire, but fracking causes earthquakes.


Finally, 40 House Republican sign a letter saying they're open to taxes increases. You read that right.

Related articles

• Third Employee Claims Harassment By Herman Cain (businessinsider.com)
• House Reaffirms 'In God We Trust' (abcnews.go.com)
• President Obama Ridicules Congress For Wasting Time With 'In God We Trust' Vote (mediaite.com)
• Herman Cain's Accuser Wants to Tell Her Story (littlegreenfootballs.com)

News Roundup for 10/5/11

Rep. Steve King believes there's just way too much voting going on in America

-Headline of the Day-
"Rep. Steve King Pines for the Days When Only Male Property Owners Voted."

A high-ranking member of the House Conservative Moron Caucus, Rep. Steve King, used his time on a hearing on a Balanced Budget Amendment to long for the good ol' days when only male property owners could vote.

"As I roll this thing back and I think of American history, there was a time in American history when you had to be a male property owner in order to vote," Steve said. "The reason for that was, because they wanted the people who voted -- that set the public policy, that decided on the taxes and the spending -- to have some skin in the game."

See people who rent or are women don't have that "skin in the game," because "47 percent of American households don't pay taxes, 51 percent of American wage-earners don't have an income tax liability." According to the report, "King made the disclaimer that he was only making 'a historical observation' about the era of property-owner-only voting, but the rest of his dialogue made it seem as though he thought the Founding Fathers might have been on to something."

Here's the problem with his "historical observation" -- it's not historically accurate. Or, at least, apt. The income tax didn't actually exist until 1861, when it was first implemented to pay for the Civil War. The only people running around in stockings and powdered wigs at that point were lunatics, not founders.

The thing is that the only people in the US nowadays who aren't paying taxes are those who never make or spend money. Everyone has "skin in the game" and if King wants to pretend that the only tax in America is the income tax, then its his prerogative as an American to pretend he's an even bigger idiot than he already is. (Crooks and Liars, with video)


-Meanwhile, in the corporate penthouse...-


Click to embiggen

He probably already does. (McClatchy)


-Bonus HotD-
"IBM Projects It Will Have World’s Most Powerful Supercomputer in Two Years, Artificial Human Brain in 10."

Can you speed that artificial brain project up a bit guys? Steve King needs one now. (Talking Points Memo)

Stories to Watch: 9/11/11

It's going to be a short one today. The tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks is pretty much blotting out the news-gathering sun today. Now here's the news...


***
Paul Krugman -- like myself and so many others -- believes it's shameful the way the right has hijacked 9/11, waving it around like a bloody shirt to score political points. The latest sorry-assed example of this cheap political hackery; Herman Cain tap dances on the grave of 3,000 people with an ad that is nothing but pure 9/11 porn. What's the argument here, Herman? That 9/11 was bad, so you need to be president? Here's a little advice for you:


That's right, have a point. And not the kind you'd wear a hat to cover.

***
Needless to say, Krugman's opinion is the worst thing ever. One is only allowed to say bad things about liberals and Muslims on the anniversary of 9/11.


Remember the "Ground Zero Mosque?" Yeah, in order to win Anthony Weiner's seat, Republicans are bringing the hate back. See above item for context.


RIP Cliff Robertson.


John McCain is making shit up again.


Finally, there are pieces of the World Trade Center on Mars. No, really.

Related articles

• Internet Repulsed By Herman Cain's 9/11 Singalong Video Featuring Twin Towers Attack (mediaite.com)
• It's official, folks. Herman Cain is done. There's... (shortformblog.tumblr.com)
• 'Ground Zero mosque' issue re-emerges in NY special election (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
• Democrats now likely to lose Anthony Weiner's seat (salon.com)

Stories to Watch: 4/21/11

Wisconsin voters are split on recalling Gov. Scott Walker. For a guy who won easily, this is bad news. Here's hoping he hasn't bottomed out yet. Now here's the (rest of the) news...


Amazon's network problems continue, bringing down major internet sites and no doubt improving worker productivity for the day.


President Obama approves the use of predator drones in Libya. Expect plenty of stories about innocent people being killed by drones, because that seems to be what they're best at. If it were up to me, they'd be listed as "technology that doesn't quite work yet" and they'd be back on the drawing board, not out in the field.


Another town hall event goes off the rails over GOP plans to replace Medicare.


Obama takes a shot at global warming deniers in congress.


Scandal-plague Republican Sen. John Ensign will retire in 2012.


The Onion gets it right on Mittens Romney and Republican voters. No, really.


Reason no. 7,346,627,403 why I don't bother with the Drudge Report.

Stories to Watch: 3/28/11

Man, the mayoral race has got me stumped. I get to choose between liberal incumbent Dave Cieslewicz and liberal former incumbent Paul Soglin. I'm having a hard time caring who wins here, so I don't know who I'll vote for. I'd be happy enough with either. This strikes me as the sort of problem you want to have. Now here's the news...


The latest in government shutdown news, from Brian Beutler: "The parties have until April 8 to reach agreement, and the odds of a government shutdown are higher now than they've been since this process began." Harry Reid blames the impasse on freshman Republican Tea Party crazies.

***
Speaking of Tea Party crazies; a short-lived story on the wingnutosphere had Bill Ayers -- of "paling around with terr'ists!" fame -- admitting that he'd written Obama's Dreams from My Father. This had something lunatics had speculated on during the presidential campaign. This time, they had video to prove it!

And then people actually watched the video. Long story short, wingnuts are too stupid to get obvious sarcasm.

***
Here's a crazy idea: maybe revenues in states are so low because taxes have been cut to the bone.


Just when you thought the GOP's 2012 field couldn't get any crazier... Remember Judge Roy Moore? Yeah, he thinks he's got a shot at the White House.


People don't like like Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.


Finally, President Obama will address the nation tonight on the subject of Libya.

Stories to Watch: 2/16/11

Melting snow means fog. Fog, fog, fog, fog. I ain't going out there without a foghorn. New here's the news...


Yet another Republican governor flushes money and jobs down the drain by rejecting high-speed rail funding.


Rick Santorum has a google problem that's a frothy mixture of justice and payback.


The House kills John Boehner's pet pork project.


New White House press secretary Jay Carney has his first day on the job.


In polling, everyone wants to cut spending, but no one wants to cut spending. No, you read that right.


Finally, in the face of massive protests, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker starts to get a little weak-kneed.