Articles for July 2006

Much Twonkery In-The-Marsh, USA

Thank you so much, Alicublog for pointing at this little pile of twaddle from Josh Trevino about the 7 July London bombings’ anniversary.

“It is this shattering inability to reckon with reality that kindles in me a desire to simply turn away, to turn away so as not to witness the insalubrious spectacle of a society so etiolated

Etolated, wooo, there’s posh.

as to manifest no righteous anger, but only either indifference or further rounds of self-inquisition. It is this spiritual torpor, this unconscious despondency of the national soul, in which, bewitched by the illusion that there is virtue in national self-abnegation, Britain imagines that she will manifest virtue by courting the favour of those who, if they only remain true to what they are… “

….blah blah blah, yeah, we get it, you’re not one of the ordinary dumbfuck wingnuts, you’re an educated wingnut. You’ve got couth, and a full set of Dickens.

You’re still a bloody wingnut though, and that outweighs everything else.

Cartoon by Harry Bliss

Harriet Miers Redux

It’s just so embarassing when a femme d’une certaine age gets a crush.

I sense Mrs Merkel indulged in some furtive gusset-typing in the ladies after this photo was taken. She certainly has an air of, shall we say, damp nether regions about her.

Ew.

UPDATE: It gets worse. From Taylor Marsh…

Bush Gropes Germany’s Merkel –updated below–

President Bush took time out from the G-8 Summit to grope German Chancellor Angela Merkel. I’m not kidding. It boggles the mind.

Here’s a pic,

and there’s video of the whole incident here.

US Judiciary Chair To Committee: You’re All My Bitches

Because there are no pressing judicial affairs of state to deal with – no Gitmo, no torture, no signing statements, no consitutional crisis… Sensenbrenner thinks it’s hilarious to taunt the judiciary committee:

Ever since Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) said House Judiciary Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) treats members of the committee like dogs, Sensenbrenner really has been rubbing Lungren?s nose in it.

Lungren was quoted in Mark Leibovich?s New York Times profile of Sensenbrenner last week saying, ?I would describe Jim as ? what?s a nice word ? how about ?idiosyncratic???

Lungren went on to compare Sensenbrenner?s leadership style to that of Vince Lombardi, repeating a line once used to describe the legendary Green Bay Packers coach: ?He treats us all equally. He treats us all like dogs.?

Boy, did he ask for it. A day after the story ran, Sensenbrenner took copies of the Times story with him to a meeting of GOP members of the panel before the start of a laborious markup. In the center of the conference table, instead of cookies, he set out a tray of Milk-Bone doggie treats for his well-behaved brood.

A GOP aide cranked up the Baha Men?s ?Who Let the Dogs Out? on the audio system at the end of the meeting, as Republicans filed into the hearing room. And during the markup, Sensenbrenner, clearly relishing the characterization of himself, even wielded a dog bone instead of a gavel.

Via Raw Story

What a joke the Republicans have made of government.

That Nuanced US Foreign Policy In Full

Chimperor to Poodle at the G8:

“See, the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s— and it’s over,” Bush told Blair as he chewed on a buttered roll.

Links For The Day

A bit on the meta side this morning…

It looks like journos have been reading the progressive blogs’ archives, if this Rolling Stone article about a possible return of the draft is any proof. Still, the fact that it’s now being openly discussed as a mainstream issue shows how far things have gone.

I have draft-age sons. A forever war? Over my dead body.

The Independent has an interesting piece that attempts to justify the continued existence of a tightly-knit, class-based, paid political commentariat, which touches condescendingly in passing on the role of bloggers:

[…]
Of course, political bloggers are becoming a threat, but there will still be a place for the professionally crafted column, for the “balanced observer and explainer” (Parris). Indeed, Rees-Mogg, affectionately known by fellow journalists as “Mystic Mogg”, predicts a vast expansion in the demand for well-researched, accurate comment.

While cynics might reply, well, you highly-paid columnists would say that, such forecasts are in fact very much in keeping with academic opinion on the growth of the “information society”. Research indicates that as the quantity of data, statistics and news explodes, there will be a corresponding need for “information professionals” who can find patterns, navigate and make sense of it all

And while we’re on the subject, Poputanian at Digby notes a new online enterprise by beltway types, who aim to co-opt the blogosphere for financial and political gain, a sort of safe Anti-Kos for the previously-mentioned, professional, self-promoting commentariat, if you like. The comments are the best part of the post: Paul Lukasiak takes down the organisation behind it for the snake-oil salesmen they are and another commenter discovers the etymology of the new site’s name, HotSoup ( and this is the only definition that’s worksafe)

4.hot soup

(adj) feeling superior or higher than everyone else.

After Bubba drained a 3-point jump shot, he strutted back down the court like he was hot soup.

Heh.

In more rarified fare the Voltaire Lecture for the British Humanist Association is now available online and addresses some of the most perplexing current conflicts between faith and science in terms of relativism versus scepticism. I don’t agree with all of his conclusions but it’s a lucid and readable overview of the humanist position.