The Bat Shit Crazy Report: Gohmert And His Invented "Terror Babies" Threat

Following the new right's main m.o., the batshit crazy Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) repeatedly shouts down Anderson Cooper when asked for evidence that there actually is a conspiracy to produce "terror babies." In the end he offers no proof other than to prove that he pulled it out of his ass.

Alabama's GOP Ads: Crazy Land!

Since when is Dodge City in Alabama? Can you sue a political opponent for lible (being accused of being a criminal sounds like lible to me)? Does he thinks he's in a Sheriff's race in Kentucky, swinging a rifle around like that?

NY Times Propoganda Depicts Oil-Spill Containment Efforts as a Success

In its latest endorsement of corporate mania and reckless greed, the front page of yesterday's NY Times (2010, May 17) featured an "article" that blatantly depicts BP's efforts to contain the oil spill that resulted from its exploded rig in the Gulf of Mexico as a success. This interpretation of events follows the same rhetorical trope that shapes popular media discourse about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that are also successes no matter the loss of life, widespread destruction, and all of the many other things that obviously go wrong (like the failure to protect American lives on September 11, 2001, for example). The word "success" is featured in the title of the article and again on page A15 in the title of the article's continued section. The word "success" or close variations of it, e.g. "successful" appear seven times in the 23 paragraph article. But the word "failure" only appears twice and does not appear until the 19th paragraph--even though there wouldn't be anything to report in the first place were it not for the fact that everything about the operation has been a total, abject failure. And the first time an event related to containing the spill is described as a failure it is immediately re-interpreted as a "success" because of what the damage-control people figured out as a result. BP spokesman Tom Mueller is quoted in the article as saying that the oil spill itself and the time it's taken to mitigate its rate of flow into the ecosystem are "not a problem" and spins the environmental tragedy and BP's tortoise-esque urgency at stopping the fucking oil from filling the entire Gulf of Mexico as an educational opportunity: ". . . it's what I'd call learning, reconfiguring, doing it again." Funny how when these virtues are mentioned in support of investment in education and teachers salaries, they are ridiculed as a welfare-state appeal on behalf of people who don't want to be held accountable. Of course, if you're BP, Halliburton, or the U.S. military, you don't have to worry about being held accountable, because major media outlets like the NY Times will fuel the feedback loop whereby Americans tell themselves over and over that those organizations never fail, even when they fuck up colossally.

Civil Rights Movement brought to you by Gillette

Last night I attended "The Civil Rights Game" at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati between the hometown Reds and St. Louis Cardinals. The official title of the game was the "Gillette Civil Rights Game". Apparently, civil rights in America means everyone has the right to shave. I cannot think of a more obvious sign of how shallow this country's interest in civil rights is than to have it turned into a corporate slogan, one that creates an inane and non-existent connection between social justice, razors, and corporate profit.

The game was a hollow ceremony propped up by kitsch and sentimentality. Elderly athlete celebrities (nothing more inspiring than really old jocks waving at people they have no social connection to) who were once civil rights icons from decades ago were paraded around the outfield so people could look at them and clap. Social courage at its finest.

The teams wore "throwback" uniforms as though that somehow teleported all of us back to a time (before I was even born) when civil rights were something Americans took seriously and made a central part of their life's purpose (and when professional athletes just made a pretty good living like many other citizens instead of millions while lots of their fans are losing their jobs). Like anything else progressive or democratic, Civil Rights has become something to symbolize and archive as part of the past rather than a pillar of our culture that we Americans have kept vibrant and adapted to today's society.

I'm sure that Billy Jean King and Willie Mays waving to thousands of people who were texting, drinking, and pissing at the time generated such shock waves that Arizona will secede from the Major Leagues.

Republican Hypocrisy, Bondage Style

Today's CJ [I can't find the article Dave is referring to so here is another article about this same thing. -AM] reports that the Republican National Committee fired director Rob Bickhart and deputy Debbie LeHardy over allegations of lavish expenditures and reimbursements to attend a lesbian bondage-themed nightclub in Los Angeles. These are the same homophobes who want to cut spending on education, the arts, health care, and infrastructure because they are not important and a frivolous expense that supports people who do not act in the best interest of society. Ooooh, it hurts so good!

Pelosi's Pledge Would Make You Laugh But for Crying

The Pelosi Pledge: Change you can’t even believe

By Ken Silverstein

“The American people(1) voted to restore integrity(2) and honesty(3) in Washington, D.C.,(4) and the Democrats(5) intend to lead the most honest(6), most open(7) and most ethical(8) Congress(9) in history(10).” Nancy Pelosi, November 7, 2006

1. “Rep. Peter Visclosky (Ind.) is under investigation by the Justice Department for his ties to the PMA Group, a now-shuttered lobbying shop that focused on winning defense industry projects and was a top source of campaign cash for senior appropriators.”
2. “U.S. Rep. Laura Richardson’s rundown Sacramento house, which became the scourge of the neighborhood and a sore point with an investor who thought he had bought it out of foreclosure, has drawn the interest of a House ethics panel.”
3. “[Rep.] Waters and her husband have both held financial stakes in the bank. Until recently, her husband was a director. At the same time, Ms. Waters has publicly boosted OneUnited’s executives and criticized its government regulators during congressional hearings. Last fall, she helped secure the bank a meeting with Treasury officials.”  more