Monthly Archives: July 2009

Open Letter To David Gregory, NBC, and all American Journalists

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Documents requested in the Mark Sanford debacle have revealed this correspondence between Meet the Press host David Gregory and Sanford’s staff:

Look, you guys have a lot of pitches.. I get it and I know this is a tough situation… Let me say just this is a place to have a wider conversation with some context about not just the personal but also the future for him and the party… This situation only exacerbates the issue of how the GOP recovers when another national leader suffers a setback like this. So coming on Meet the Press allows you to frame the conversation how you really want to… and then move on. You can see you have done your interview and then move on. Consider it.

Is this what Mr. Gregory considers journalism?  The American people deserve an apology for this display of utter brown-nosing, pandering, and overt bias on Mr. Gregory’s part.  This is an insult to Tim Russert, and in the context of this weekend’s loss of the great Walter Cronkite, an insult to all those who once considered news to be about getting to the truth, not currying favor with the powerful.

NBC, Meet the Press, and David Gregory should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.  The American people deserve better.

Where is our apology, Mr. Gregory?

UPDATE: Mr. Gregory was kind enough to respond to my email, clarifying his remarks:

Thanks for the email. I wasn’t promising a friendly forum. I was offering a fair forum to discuss his problems. I meant my forum allows him to have the time to discuss the situation in a fullsome way, to say what he wants and move on. I appreciate your sensitivity on this. It’s a fair question to ask. I have never pulled punches in an interview.

Thanks.

David.
David Gregory
Moderator, Meet the Press
NBC News

So take from that what you will.

A Modest Proposal Redux

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The economy is tumbling.  Americans are suffering.  Nearly 50 million of us don’t have health care.  College education provides little in terms of job opportunity while mounting the average American with massive debt.  After much deliberation, I’ve devised a modest proposal to set right again the ship that is our nation.

Have you ever seen that movie “Logan’s Run”?  I’m not suggesting we kill anyone over the age of thirty, but let’s be honest, do we really need more than 70 years on this planet?  We could rein in health care costs, open new jobs, and provide much needed organs for those of us who have more years ahead.

Sure, maybe we could raise taxes by two percentage points on those who make millions of dollars, but politically, that’s a climb uphill — those uber-wealthy Americans obviously deserve every penny they earn, which is why we should target our efforts at a demographic no one cares about.

If you have a mother, grandmother, or other elderly relative who you are looking to dispose of, then please, donate their bodies (living or dead) to the U.S. government.  Not only can we teach future doctor’s with them, but we can then take their most valuable organs and use those funds to plug the hole in our national budget.

In short, we simply must cease to give way to the political obstructions that prevent us from using our own citizens remains for the benefit of our national economy.

If we’re so willing to send our young and brightest talent to die on foreign battlefields, then what is the hold up of taking the assets of those who’ve yet to sacrifice to their nation’s military?

So I say to you, America, now is the time to sell off our geriatric division in order to pay for those programs we need now.  Health care, education, and the environment.

Repeat with me: Yes We Can!

Caption Contest!

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(AP Photo/Journal Times, Tom McCauley)

(AP Photo/Journal Times, Tom McCauley)

via Huffington Post

Knock yourselves outs, folks!!

BTW, consider this your early cesspool party.  ;)   The chimps are in the pool, so good luck getting a drink from them.

dbadass brought snacks — chanterelles!  — Well, it’s better than nothing.  Which is what I was going to bring.

Thanks for finding the picture, Cats r Flyfishn!

Tina Fey ‘s Emmy nomination for playin’ Palin..

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David Shuster looks back on Saturday Night Live’s interpretation of the past political season. Tina Fey is nominated for Emmy’s for her role as Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live as well as her role on “30 Rock”.

Nobody captured the true essence of Sarah Palin better than Tina Fey. She played Palin even better than Palin. You betcha …

The Watering Hole: July 18th – 101 uses for a (wo)man

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www.karenchronicle.com

www.karenchronicle.com

I meant this as a party thread initially, but then I will be sound asleep when you all  get started to comment.  The Times brought us the list and there are gems like..

Ensuring that the children learn to play happily on their own by applying special male method of childcare, namely sitting on the sofa reading the paper while they set fire to the house.

Replace “sitting” with “lying” and “reading” with “snoring” and it rings a bell. That one definitely  never happened to me..

Reading, and actually understanding, instruction manuals for small electrical devices.

I am the only one in this house who reads manuals. The men toss the manual in the bin, start the device, get it wrong and send it back for warranty replacement.

Get the whole list here and as we are an equal opportunity blog, here’s the list for you guys: 101 uses for a woman.

And THAT’S the Way it is…

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Walter Cronkite

1917 – 2009

The dash represents a remarkable life – one in which Walter Cronkite became the most trusted man in America, a familiar voice and a familiar face to us all.

I leave the obitutuary and tribute writers to their professions. My humble words cannot do justice to all he has done. I can offer but a simple Thank You.

namaste

you may write your words of remembrance below:

Music Night: Lamb of God

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Lamb of God is the band that fired us up for Metallica. The guys hail from Richmond, Virgina. I like the lyrics. The Reduced Instruction Set Music? Well, if you like it loud and mean, have fun.

Lyrics:

Now you’ve got something to die for
Now you’ve got something to die for
Infidel, Imperial
Lust for blood, a blind crusade
Apocalyptic, we count the days

Bombs to set the people free, blood to feed the dollar tree
Flags for coffins on the screen, oil for the machine
Army of liberation, gunpoint indoctrination
The fires of sedition
Fulfill the prophecy

Now you’ve got something to die for
Now you’ve got something to die for

Send the children to the fire, sons and daughters stack the pyre
Stoke the flame of the empire, live to lie another day
Face of hypocrisy, raping democracy
Apocalyptic, we count the days

We’ll never get out of this hole, until we’ve dug our own grave
And drag the rest down with us, the burning home of the brave
Burn
Now you’ve got something to die for
Now you’ve got something to die for

Metallica Zurich 07/16

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and here’s a short bootlegged clip from yesterday.

I’m not too old, I’m not too old. Even if an 11 year old and a 12 year old were the real fans and responsible for my going there. What a ruckus! They didn’t pull any punches. But hey, it was fun after all. I made the kids wear earplugs and they really enjoyed themselves. And my age group was represented, too. All them elderly Harley owners, you know.

Music Night tonight?

Pat Buchanan is 100% pure racist

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“White men were 100% of the people that wrote the Constitution, 100% of the people that signed the Declaration of Independence, 100% of the people who died at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, probably close to 100% of the people who died at Normandy. This has been a country built basically by white folks.”

And Pat’s Klan robes will be 100% white as well.

Rachel did a fine job allowing this hardcore racist expose him so completely.  There is not a single doubt remaining as to what Buchanan is about.

Will MSNBC finally stop giving this racist an almost daily platform to spew his hateful rhetoric?  Afterall, there are no self-proclaimed neo-Nazis employed as “regular contributors” on any other reputable news organizations — as far as I know.  What makes Pat Buchanan so different?  Wearing a nice suit and combing his hair?

Please…

HT:  ThinkProgress

The Watering Hole: July 17th – Science Trivia

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Forty years ago three men were on their way to the moon. At that time Neiman Marcus sold a kitchen computer to store recipes for $ 10’600.00. The device had a 0.6 Mhz processor and 16 KB storage. Compare that to your computer of today and let’s find out where in space man would be today if space travel had developed at a comparable pace. (Hint: The Earth – Moon distance, core to core, is 384,403 km)

Or just let us know what else is on your mind. It’s an open thread.

Sen. Al Franken Asks Sotomayor About Abortion & The Law

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Sen. Al Franken asks Sotomayor, “Do you believe this right to privacy includes a right to have an abortion?”

The new kid on the block is doing good, but I never doubted it for a moment.  He asked a legitimate question, which we can see that the Republicans are having a very difficult time doing =)  I have come to the conclusion, they would rather beat a dead horse!