So I saw The Dark Knight, and I liked it. I admired its seriousness among the bombast, but did not love it. I had bones to pick about its plot —

A DA is the salvation of his city?
And he uses RICO, a Federal instrument? Without Federal intervention?
And offers himself up as bait, endangering the prosecution of hundreds of criminals to catch one psycho?
And houses his star witness with the psycho in a corrupt precinct house? And orders no metal wanding of the psycho’s henchmen with cellphones visibly sewn into their flesh?
Really?  Read more 

Via Booman, read the whole thing.

Back in the great state of Louisiana, Baron “Scooter” Pikes was spotted by the police while walking peacefully down the street. Given his outstanding warrant for possession, one Officer Nugent gave chase, and Pikes was cornered. Due to his failure to submit, Nugent tased him. Nine times. In 14 minutes. While Pikes surrendered and begged him to stop.

Pikes died shortly thereafter. He was a healthy man of 33 years. Nugent claimed that, in an apparent Bob Woodward-style near-death confession, he told them (in between the screams of pain and death rattles) that he was high on crack and PCP (never heard that one before!) and had asthma. The coroner found no evidence for any of these claims and ruled the death a homicide, but hey, what are you gonna believe, hearsay from a hardly-impartial participant or hard science from a 33-year veteran?

In an apparent goodwill gesture to shock Pikes back to life, Nugent admitted that he tased Pikes twice while he was unconscious and in custody.

I really wish I could link to the part of the Milgram experiment wherein the actor “dies” and the unwitting partipant shocks him again, and again, and again. Gee, I don’t know why. A person administering an electrical shock that they are told is, well, maybe-sorta-safe, but they definitely won’t be held responsible if things go awry… nah, never mind, there’s no similarity there whatsoever. I don’t know what I was thinking.  Read more 

What HCAN is really about…  Read more 

To Zoriah.

Not vouching, Ok, I’ll vouch. FDL says he needs our support. I’m happy to give it.

you can go to Network Solutions where you register domain names and see who the noble Clinton supporters are who own this inspiring site:

clintons ffor mccain
Registrant:
Republican National Committee
310 First Street SE
Washington, DC 20003
US
Domain Name: CLINTONSFORMCCAIN.COM

Administrative Contact , Technical Contact :
Republican National Committee
dns@rnchq.org
310 First Street SE
Washington, DC 20003
US
Phone: 202-863-8500
Fax: 202-863-8851
Record created on 15-May-2008

Always nice to know who your fellow travellers are.  Read more 

So, I have to confess: I can’t find my Muse. Yes, I’m sick and tired over some RL crap that won’t go away, but it’s deeper than that. And I’m not sure exactly why. I keep driving back the little voice, that is so loud and obnoxious sometimes when I’m doing the standard political surfing. She says, “you know you just don’t care about this shit anymore.”

It may come from the horrible primary bullshit that won’t die. It may come from my inability to find affordable health care. It may come from the crushing burden of caring for those for whom no one else will care for, and which my moral values demand that I do. I guess I’m just not sure. Old Timers: is this normal? In the midst of a “hot” political season like we’re having now? All I seem to want to think about is sex with Jewish grrls and my flowers. I feel guilty, lazy, untalented, stoopid, etc.

I think most of you here grok it, even if you express it differently. HRC wasn’t my choice, but I can share with all of you my many fears about what a BHO admin will really mean, bring, create, destroy, etc. Just as I have disdain for his supporters who can’t call- no, I won’t go there. So where should the energy go, or rather, where is it to be found so I can get it back? I crapped out of supporting Harry and Nancy shortly after our Glorious Victory of 06, and I haven’t been sorry about that, those lying fuckwads. These days, my answer to ennui over national politics is “local, local, local.” It’s working, but at the same time, not as satisfying. Anyway, I’m rambling as I’m on the verge of a major migraine and about to go to sleep to fight it off. But I’m wondering, am I alone? So much of what I read on today’s intertubes seems so transient, so fake, so much not of the moment that matters to people who eat food and breathe air. Or, it could just be summer. What do you think?

“A lie told often enough becomes the truth.”

V.I. Lenin

Are there any limits to what can be said about political opponents? Should there be any limits? Does anything go, no matter who is the target? Are we all no better now than Karl Rove?  Read more 

They sure don’t act like winners.

From Reclusive Leftist:

This comment is showing up in moderation queues throughout the Hillary-supporting blogosphere:

When I watched her speech this morning, I felt something genuine in her voice. When she talked about dedicating her life to making America a better place, you could tell that was her deepest conviction.

She seemed a little hesitant endorsing Obama, but she also seemed very confident when she said we cannot afford to allow the Republicans to hold The White House for another 4 years or more.

In the end, I think Hillary’s decision to support Obama was what she feels is the best course for our country to follow. I’ve supported her so far, so there’s no reason for me to doubt her now.

Let’s take back The White House for the Democrats and make America a better place.

Har! The name attached to the comment is different depending on the blog; the pattern seems to be to choose the name of a regular commenter.

So I drop in at the Confluence and I see:  Read more 

Given that, beyond any doubt whatsoever, Hillary Clinton Uttered the Most Dangerous and Hurtful Comment Ever Made, one that could crush the spirit of a nation and inspire race-based political murders….

Was it a particularly good idea for the MSM and the Obama camp to take that statement, which was uttered in an obscure newsroom, and make it the Nightmare Invoked ’Round the World?

That was out loud, guys. Very, very out loud.

Now that reluctant media critic Howard Kurtz has returned from the long weekend, he’s crawling through the lekkage.

He marvels at the assassination-gate feeding frenzy, citing some of the relevant debunkings.

Still, like all Villagers, he can’t keep from feeding the beast a little, making Hillary ultimately responsible for starting the fire, even if he considers the four-alarm response disproportional.  Read more 

From the paper that brought you Judith Miller, Michael Gordon, Tom “Suck on This” Friedman, and Jayson Blair:

Is it even possible that Mrs. Clinton thinks someone out there was not offended by her remark, Kennedy relative, Obama relative, or just plain folks?

I hate to break it to you, Times Editorial Board, but you are fucked in the head.  Read more 

I think that it makes you think that it would be very awkward for a vice president to be on a ticket—for a vice presidential candidate to be on a presidential candidate’s ticket after she’s made repeated references to his potential death. Yes, that would be weird.

Of course, one could link to Cheetopia posts on this subject all night, and why not?

Anyway, here is one in which Hillary is likened to Eichmann and Faust:

…I look at her and can no longer recognize her humanity. She has made a Faustian bargain, and it shows. The banality of evil indeed.

Robert Paul Reyes:

Hillary Clinton is the pinata of politics, she’s such a despicable creature that nobody bats an eye when she’s ridiculed, criticized or condemned. This is not a perfect analogy, a pinata is a brightly-colored paper container filled with sweets and/or toys and Hillary is a dour and bitter woman filled with arrogance, spite, jealousy and all manner of evil.

A pinata does nothing to deserve its horrible fate; we can’t help but feel a tinge of sorrow when we see its shattered remains. But Hillary is so evil that most folks figure she had it coming when pundits and comics tear her apart.  Read more 

Stephan Andrew Brodhead at The Conservative Voice:

Hillary making reference to the RFK assassination was not a ’slip of the tongue ’!  Read more 

Thus sayeth blogger “Desperado” on the Houston Chronicle’s blog:

In my opinion, her intentions were crystal clear, to say that she needs to stay in the race in case some tragedy befalls Barack Obama.

The superdelegates need to convene NOW, not May 31 or June 3, TODAY. They need to throw their unanimous support behind Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee and put and end to this process NOW. They must rid their Party of the cancer that is Hillary Clinton before it spreads any further. Not just for the good of the Democratic Party, but for the country as a whole.  Read more 

Geoff Elliott, Washington correspondent for The Australian, might want to consider taking the FITH self-diagnostic:

HILLARY Clinton has lost it. Her gaffe at the weekend that seemed to imply she’s staying in the race because her rival Barack Obama might be assassinated is one of the bigger blunders ever witnessed in a US presidential campaign.

…

How many nutjobs in the US, wrestling their demons, now might actually think Clinton was talking to them when referencing the Kennedy assassination, perhaps believing she was sending them a message and finding in them some kind of endorsement?

…  Read more 

Huffington Post is still huffing and posting about Hillary Clinton’s scandalous reference to “June,” a racially charged trigger word inexorably linked to the Cleaver family.

Yale professor David Bromwich’s huffy post today is so suffused with FITH Syndrome that an excerpt simply could not do it justice.

But here’s something you can do for justice…

Please send me (vastleft###vastleft.com [substituting an @ sign for the ###s]) links to the most egregious examples of “Hillary Hinckley” finger-wagging you can find.  Read more 

My blog bookmark listing is getting thinner every day. That goes along with the shrinking respect I had for some bloggers in the past. Boy has this primary been a reality check. Here is someone who used to be one of my favorite bloggers, Hilzoy, subbing for Kevin Drum at the Washington Monthly :  Read more 

From CBS:

This afternoon, Barack Obama responded to Hillary Clinton’s comments yesterday when she referenced th assassination of Robert F. Kennedy as a reason she’s staying in the race this year. Obama said he believes that Clinton was not trying to be offensive.

“I have learned that when you are campaigning for as many months as Senator Clinton and I have been campaigning, sometimes you get careless in terms of the statements that you make and I think that is what happened here,” Obama said in a radio interview today.

“Senator Clinton says that she did not intend any offense by it and I will take her at her word on that.”  Read more 

Here’s the latest example of WWTSBQ 2.0:

Obama is going to be the nominee. Those who cannot endure that thought need to turn their attention to down ballot races or issues they care about.

Sorry, but last time I checked this race wasn’t decided yet. Until then, it’s pretty simple.  Read more 

It is clear that Senator Clinton did not imply an assassination attempt against Senator Obama. Listen to the clip.  Read more 

Ah, the NYT is the epitome of accuracy in journalism:

Then in March 2004, Mr. Obama’s political and literary fortunes abruptly shifted. His victory in a tightly contested United States Senate primary in Illinois made him an overnight Democratic Party sensation.

“Tightly contested?” From Wikipedia:

In early media polls leading up to the March 16, 2004 primary election, [Blair] Hull enjoyed a substantial lead and widespread name recognition resulting from a well-financed advertisement effort. He contributed over $28 million of his personal wealth for the campaign.

When allegations that Hull had abused his ex-wife were made by the media, Hull’s poll numbers dropped and he failed to win the nomination. Illinois State Senator Barack Obama later became the nominee.

Obama finished 29 points ahead of the second place primary finisher. Then he cake-walked in the general against Alan Keyes after Jack Ryan withdrew from the race following disclosure of divorce records containing politically embarrassing charges by his ex-wife.  Read more 

Former journalist turned Obama shill Walter Shapiro gives us a top contender for the dumbest quote ever in a campaign filled with dumb quotes:

The Tuesday night story line never varies: Hillary Clinton wins a primary (Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia and Kentucky) and then, bizarrely enough, continues to behave as if she were a realistic candidate for president.

WTF?

Gee Walt, I could see your point if she kept losing, but she’s WINNING!

Now maybe it’s too little, too late, but Obama hasn’t locked up the nomination yet.

BTW - Let’s not forget Texas and Ohio, and all the states she won on Super Duper Tuesday.

“Madrugada Jones | xxxxxxx@yyyy.com | spinachflame.wordpress.com | IP: foo.bar.foo

I respect Hillary a great deal and think she’d make a terrific president. But I’m for Obama and I think you have to ask yourself, if the roles were reversed and Hillary was out ahead in the delegate count (not to mention the superdelegate count) and Barack was trying to get the delegates from MI and FL seated, do you honestly think she’d let them be seated?? You’ve got to be kidding me. She’d do the same exact thing he’s doing, which is well within the rules the DNC established. To me, this proves Obama’s political savvy.

New cartoons here: http://spinachflame.wordpress.com/

Not Spam — May 16, 2:36 PM — [ View Post ]
#

spinachflame | llllllllll@zzzzz.com | IP: Bar.foo.bar

I respect Hillary a great deal and think she’d make a terrific president. But I’m for Obama and I think you have to ask yourself, if the roles were reversed and Hillary was out ahead in the delegate count (not to mention the superdelegate count) and Barack was trying to get the delegates from MI and FL seated, do you honestly think she’d let them be seated?? You’ve got to be kidding me. She’d do the same exact thing he’s doing, which is well within the rules the DNC established. To me, this proves Obama’s political savvy.”  Read more