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)

Stories to Watch: 9/25/11

Yet another shorty. Deal with it. Now here's the news...


Occupy Wall Street protests take a dark turn as police begin seemingly spontaneous mass arrests. Widespread reports of excessive force characterize the independent reporting from the scene and although mainstream sources also acknowledge the violence, they don't seem to go beyond reporting press releases.


Herman Cain wins a meaningless Florida beauty contest, while Mittens takes the pageant crown in Michigan.


Ann Althouse simply doesn't understand why people get upset over the death penalty, but not life imprisonment. I pays to remind people that she's a Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin. You'd expect her to be bright enough to understand the difference between life and death.


Also in fun with the death penalty news; NYT's Ross Douthat argues that Troy Davis was kind of lucky there's a death penalty.


Finally, one of those news items you really don't know which way to take; Saudi Arabia will allow women to vote and run for office. Of course, that doesn't mean all that much in a sham democracy.

Related articles

• Following the Murder of Troy Davis, Keith Olbermann and Liliana Segura Discuss the Death Penalty | AlterNet (faktensucher.wordpress.com)
• The Death Penalty: Are We Getting It Right? (theroot.com)
• The road to abolition (dailykos.com)
• Kevin Powell: Troy Davis Is Not Dead (huffingtonpost.com)

Griper Blade: Appeasing the Neocons

It's typical of George W. Bush. He goes to Saudi Arabia to get their help in our energy mess and it doesn't go so well. In fact, the headline in the Telegraph was "Oil leaps after Bush's Saudi trip." Bush's mission did not achieve its desired effect. The Saudis agreed to produce 300,000 extra barrels -- a number the report calls "token." And it's only a token if you believe that Bush had any success at all. The Saudis say that decision had already been made and that Bush's visit had no impact.

Associated Press has a telling paragraph:

When Bush first ran for president in 2000, he criticized the Clinton administration for high fuel prices and said the president must "jawbone" oil producing nations and persuade them to drop rates. At that time, oil was nearing $28 a barrel — less than a quarter what it is now.

The Telegraph piece tells us that "investment bank Goldman Sachs [is] predicting an average price per barrel of $141 in the latter half of the year." The price per barrel is now $127.

No wonder Republicans don't see the value of diplomacy -- their guy sucks at it. Which kind of makes Bush's decision to take a slap at Barack Obama's foreign policy ideas a brand-new kind of ridiculousness. In fact, there are a lot of ridiculous bits to Bush's appearance before the Israeli Knesset. Not the least of which is going to the Israeli parliament to talk about Hitler. Doesn't really seem extremely appropriate to me.

For his part, Bush seems to realize that this election cycle is going to be about him and how much he sucks. So Bush has, apparently, decided that if Barack Obama is going to run against Bush, then John McCain should run against Hamas and Iran. McCain has no reason to thank the president for his help. As this campaign unfolds, the White House and Team McCain are going to find out that there are many things more popular Bush -- and that one of those things are Hamas and Iran. The average person is much more concerned with those who would appease Bush...

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