Obama Dines, The Conservatives Whine

The division of the country under George Bush is getting better. Liberalism, science, facts, oversight, transparency, competency, engagement, debate, and the desire to to bring people together are all back in vogue.

Whereas Bush needed his coterie of cave-dwelling thugs to isolate him from new ideas and conflicting points of view, Obama has no problem meeting with his perceived enemy, the conservatives. Witness last night when Obama went to George Will's house for a dinner with fellow echo chamber and perennially wrong pundits Bill Kristol, David Brooks, and Charles Krauthammer. Who cares?

But as Jonathan Chait of TNR points out:

"Imagine this counterfactual: George W. Bush (or maybe a victorious John McCain) sat down before his first inauguration with Paul Krugman, E.J. Dionne, and Frank Foer. Would conservatives have reacted with the same equanimity? No, I think they'd have gone nuts. And the reason is that they wouldn't have confidence in Bush or McCain to be surrounded by liberal ideas without being deeply influenced by them. I don't think they'd have reacted this way if, say, a President Mitt Romney did the same thing.

And that's why liberals aren't having a cow. They know that Obama understands far more about policy than any of his right-wing dinner companions, is used to being exposed to opposing ideas, and won't come out of that dinner telling his staff, "Hey, did you know we cut half the capital gains tax and raise more revenue?"

A dinner with liberals would have put O'Reilly, Limbaugh and Hannity on Code Orange. Their fear of intellect is so obvious. The world of Bush and McCain, where hitting your head against the wall and not blinking is rewarded, is over.

Andrew Sullivan adds:

"I found the lack of liberal snittiness about last night to be a sign that Obama has us all on a learning curve. What matters is not who's up or down, or who's in or out. What matters is what he's proposing to do and whether it makes sense. This is quite a change for Washington and it will take adjustment. But it makes a lot of sense.

I mean: If you're concerned with government before politics, as Obama is, and intellectually confident, as Obama is, you are not afraid to encounter any number of countervailing opinions. Obama isn't afraid. Increasingly, I think his greatest strength is simply his emotional intelligence in this respect. He knows that people need to feel engaged, respected and not neglected - especially his domestic opponents and America's enemies.

I also predict that Obama will win over the conservative intellectual elites in Washington as effectively as he did at Harvard and Chicago. He won't win over the pure partisans. But the intellectually honest and open-minded ones? You watch."

I'm sure George Will is in the Book of the Dead to most hardcore conservatives.

Source: Andrew Sullivan

Make Your Own Oba-icon

No need to get artist Shepherd Ferry involved to make you an icon like Obama's "Hope", you can do it yourself.



Obamicon. Obamacon. Obam-icon. Obama-icon. Obama-con

Source: Obamiconme.com

Obama Official Presidential Portrait

Just think of the impact as this is hung up in schools across the country. The kids will have a true role model to live up to. Viva la revolucion!

How long before it ends up on a collector's coin set info-mercial?

No Press, No Worries, Israel Bombs Away

With Israel refusing to let journalists and press into the Gaza warzone, the internet will be where most accounts disseminate. This is testimony from Jawad Harb, who works for CARE in Gaza:

The leaflets came yesterday, telling us our neighbourhood would be attacked. The whole population of the area is terrified. We have nowhere to go. My neighbour checked at the UNRWA shelter but it was full. Overflowing. There is nowhere to go. We waited to be bombed.

The bombs came today. It was terrifying. We have nowhere to run. There was an air strike every five minutes. Thick black smoke 100m-150m away from us. People were scared, ran outside of their houses and gathered together in the street. 300-350 people in the street. The street was the safest place. If our house is bombed, we'll get trapped and die like the people we saw on television.

My children have seen the dead bodies of children on television.

With 1000 dead, these attacks show our value system and what certain lives are worth. 1000 dead Americans and we greenlight a third world war. 1000 dead Palestinians and it's just another Wednesday.

Source: http://we.care.org

Sarah Palin's Pregnancy Decision Map

You're a 44 year-old mother of a 7 1/2 month old premature fetus with Down's Syndrome. You're from Alaska but you find yourself in Texas when your water breaks.

What do you do?



Source: Click here for bigger image

Huckabee Sucker Punches Palin

Republicans need to call each other out before they are all go down the drain with Bush. Mike Huckabee, former fat guy and failed Presidential nominee, took a swipe at Sarah Palin. Right idea, just 3 months too late. Sadly these are 2 people who have an eye on 2012.

Huckabee: "Now I must say I did not think that either the Charlie Gibson interview or the Katie Couric interviews were unfair. In fact, if anything, Katie Couric was extraordinarily gentle, even helpful. [Palin] just... I don't know what happened. I can't explain it. It was not a good interview. I'm being charitable."

Source: Esquire

Virgin Visions? Shudupaya Face

Your made-up story is not official until the biggest maker of tales, contradictions and venerations of hysterical visions approves you. They need to figure out true and false claims? All miracles shall happen according to their book of rules? No exceptions.

Here's a heads up, broseph, they are all false.

Catholics who claim they have seen the Virgin Mary will be forced to remain silent about the apparitions until a team of psychologists, theologians, priests and exorcists have fully investigated their claims under new Vatican guidelines aimed at stamping out false claims of miracles.

The Pope, Benedict XVI, has instructed the Congregation for javascript:void(0)the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly the Holy Office of the Inquisition, to draw up a new handbook to help bishops snuff out an explosion of bogus heavenly apparitions.

The Catholics are very good about telling people to keep quiet, especially little boys. Control issues.

Too bad they can't stop the "Virgin Mary on a grilled cheese" from being sold on eBay.

Source: HuffPo

Bush In Full Denial Over Katrina, Still

"Don't tell me the federal response was slow," Bush said in regard to Katrina. OK. How about it didn't exist for a few days. You abandoned an entire city. Part of the reason you had 30,000 rescues that you brag about is that you totally left everyone there to die. What about the elderly that drown at the nursing home?

BTW, he called them "helicopter and Coast Guard drivers". S my D, George.



Campbell Brown: "Mr. President, you cannot pat yourself on the back for that one," she then said. "We will debate the war in Iraq, debate national security, the economy, and the rest of your legacy. Those debates will continue for years to come. But on how you handled Katrina, there is no debate."

Source: HuffPo

Obama: Run DC

Barack Obama will RUN DC.

Lawrence Lessig On The Colbert Report

Larry Lessig announces the Change Congress "donor strike" from the greenroom of The Colbert Report.

Commit to not give to candidates!



Source: http://change-congress.org/video/

Might Does Not Make Right

Letterman: Cheney Lie Count

David Letterman's "Dick Cheney Lie Count" from 01-09-2009

"One of the great successes in the intelligence business in the last century"

Bush is Type A[**hole]

Bush on writing his book no one is waiting for and no publishers are bidding on:

"I am a Type A personality that -- you know, I require things to do, and I bet once I get going on this book, I'll be able to get 'er done."

Does he know what Type A means? I think because he has been called an asshole so many times time, he thinks that is what it means.

Source: Fox Noise

Medvedev Odds Spike In Death Pools

Office betting pools that put odds on who is about to die, or Death Pools, will see spikes in Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's odds.

He "took another apparent swipe at Vladimir Putin, rebuking the prime minister's government for moving too slowly to alleviate the country's economic crisis," the Financial Times reports.

"Most Russians had believed Mr Medvedev would play second fiddle to Mr Putin, who named him as his chosen successor ahead of presidential elections last year."

Source: Financial Times

Job Losses Dramatic No Matter How You Look At It

Worst year for jobs since '45. And Bush also has 2001 to brag about, too.



To be fair, the civilian labor force today is 40% larger than it was in 1982 and more than twice as large as it was in 1945. Job losses last year amounted to about 1.7% of the labor force, but in 1945 the equivalent number was nearly 5% and in 1982 it was nearly 2%.

You can fight over percentages for dramatic headlines, but when you lose your job it doesn't matter. The bigger story is Bush and modern Republicanism drove this country into the ground.

NOTE:"Factoring in discouraged workers, unemployment is closer to 9.4%," said Peter Morici, an economist at the University of Maryland. "Add workers in part-time positions that cannot find full-time employment and the hidden unemployment rate is 14.5%."

Source: Kevin Drum

Gaza: Sowing The Seeds

Gee, if only there were a popular saying that conveyed the idea that you could win many battles and still lose the war.

I'm sure all those bombs know to avoid hitting innocent people.



Photo: Artillery shells explode in the air to lay down smoke cover over Palestinian homes as the Israeli army battles Hamas militants in the central Gaza Strip January 12, 2009 as seen from Israel's border with the Palestinian territory.

Source: Andrew Sullivan

Joke The Plumber In Israel: Let's Get Rid Of People Like Me

Joke the Plumber is now a journalist. Some right-wing website sent him to cover the recent Israeli attacks in Gaza. As per the low thresh hold for Republican intellect, Joe Wurzelbacher continues to show the world what an 80 IQ is all about.

First off, Joe claims the media never gets it right, there's always something left out of the story. Must be the filter and bias he is alluding to.

"I think media should be abolished from, uh, you know, reporting. You know, war is hell. And if you’re gonna sit there and say, “Well look at this atrocity,” well you don’t know the whole story behind it half the time, so I think the media should have no business in it."

The media should have no business in reporting it? Then who should? What about all those great stories about war, Joe? Oh, war is hell. I forgot.

I think what he is saying is he should have no business reporting it because he is media's dim celebrity of the day, he is not a reporter. I'll give him credit for eliminating his own job as he is doing it. Does he show up for a leaky sink and say plumbers should be eliminated?

But getting back to Joe's stellar reporting. He must have some insight as to how the media only gets half the story. I mean journalism is all about cutting through to the facts. Maybe he can counter by showing how to ask real questions

While touring a facility of spent rockets with the head of the Government Press Office, Danny Seaman, and an official government photographer, Wurzelbacher provided smiles for the veteran journalists watching him at work.

"I have thousands of questions but I can't think of the right one," he said at the start of his interview with Seaman.

The Right Wing has accepted a clown for a President for 8 years, I guess they have no problem with a clown like Joe covering complex Middle East issues.

Source: AmericaBlog