Damn the Arugula, Full Speed Ahead

Yes, I know it's blogging-lite this week. (Yawn). Netroots Nation in SL hangover or something. There were some great people I heard for the first time there, it was really impressive. Larry Lessig, Van Jones. Others I'd heard of but really liked what they had to say -- H. Dean, Pelosi, J. Dean, Clark. Pelosi especially sounded waaay spinier. I had to get over my Great Kos Purge grudge (well, not get over it, just put it aside for a few days) in order to attend, even virtually, but I'm glad I did.

However, speaking of get-over-itism, my inner Frenchwoman points out that: La lutte continue.

Here is Shakespeare's Sister on the Obamatopians' continuing effort to drag bloodied, half-dead Clintonistas out from under the exact Obama bus used to run them over in the first place, turn them upside down, and shake them hard enough that all their money falls out of their pockets while they beg for mercy and admit that's it all their fault in the first place. Not to mention insulting actual Obama supporters who are now rather pissed off at the Boy Wonder for having sold out on FISA, choice, faith-based programs, etc. etc. during his total tap-dance toward the right.

Catch this letter, one that was actually written, and actually sent out. No really.

Don't it make you want to whip out your checkbook, having seen the error of your immature, unresourceful ways? Don't it make you wanna really get over it, all over again, long after you had already gotten over it? Doesn't it not make you remember why you didn't want to get over it in the first place, and leave a really bad taste in your mouth, or something?

This is from Don Fowler, former chair of the Democratic National Committee:

I supported Hillary Clinton and am proud and pleased that I did. But she lost. Barack Obama won. It's over.

It is time for all Democrats, supporters of Senator Clinton and all other contenders for the nomination, to stand with him to secure his election and the election of Democrats at all levels of competition.

I must confess a bit of fatigue and irritation with people who continue to carp, complain, and criticize the results of the primary and lay down conditions for their support. The Los Angeles Lakers didn't establish conditions to recognize the Boston Celtics as NBA Champions; Roger Federer did not demand concessions before recognizing that Rafael Nadal defeated him at Wimbledon.

It is time to act in a mature and resourceful fashion. It's time to put the primaries behind us. It's time to support Barack Obama without conditions or demands.

Oh yes.

Unconditional positive regard. No naughty carping. Shut up about FISA, dears -- what are you, riding the (cotton) unity pony or something?

Just shut UP.


There. That's better.

Please pass the arugula.


(Hat tip to Corrente)

And an older post from TalkLeft, worth a reprise, Obama channeling Scalia and Thomas on choice.

Oh Lookee a WaPo Story On Netroots Blogtopia! (Skippy Coined That)

Liberal Bloggers Brace for Victory.

Oh?

Hmm.

Netroots Nation In Second Life

It's free.

It's fun.

And you can dance your little political hearts out.
Don't miss Netroots Nation in Second Life.


Come on down, fractured little Democratic Party, come on down to Netroots Nation in SL, listen, talk, interact.

Nice big virtual tent, grounded in civil political passion. Please come -- I'm especially extending an invitation to my sublime fellow pumatopians. Let's work on things out while we tango and swing, virtually speaking. Because why not, eh?



READ THIS PIECE BY MELISSA McEWAN ALL THE WAY TO THE END PLEASE OR THE DEMIURGE WILL KILL OFF UNITY PONY.

My favorite paragraph includes her pointing out that

nothing is quite so effective as using Roe v. Wade as This Issue, thusly reframing the argument from "Vote for the Democrat to get what you want" to "Vote for the Democrat to not lose what you've got."

It's a nasty little bit of blackmail, which fails utterly to take into consideration that the veiled threat of losing legal abortion because of one's uncompromising belief in one's own equality and autonomy is so bitterly ironic that it would be laughable if it were not so profoundly sad.

Instead of demonstrations of commitment to protecting Roe as one among many commitments to the basic feminist principle of women's equality, we are meant instead to be motivated by menace and intimidation.

We're supposed to gleefully hop on board with people who ominously warn that failure to do so will evoke tragedy by our own hands -- and, if we succumb, we find that even asking for basic respect, for sexist words and images and behaviors to not be used, is considered too much, an impertinence.

Yes. What she said.


-------
(Previously at NBFH: BLUDGEON ME NOT WITH ROVE V. WADE)

Department of Spare the Rod Spoil the Child

Letting the child's punishment really really fit the child's crime, eh?

WEBSTER – A child abuse suspect who police say repeatedly threw her 8-year-old stepdaughter down a flight of stairs was arrested yesterday in Florida.

Cara LeBlanc, 29, will face charges of first-degree assault and criminal restraint when she returns to New Hampshire, police said.

WBBH-TV in Fort Myers reports that Cara LeBlanc waived extradition in a court hearing this morning.

Webster police Lt. Phil Mitchell said the girl suffered kidney and liver damage, three broken vertebrae in her neck and three broken ribs as a result of the attack Thursday.

"I've never seen a child-abuse case this severe,'' he said yesterday. [Note from NBFH: I have.]

The girl's body was also covered with black and blue welts from having been repeatedly whipped with a belt over a nine-hour period Thursday, he said. The beating ended when the belt broke, police said.

Police say LeBlanc dragged the girl up the stairs by her hair seven times, then pushed her down each time. Leblanc also tied the child to a door by her hands and feet and force-fed her cereal during the ordeal, police said.

Mitchell said the girl was originally listed in critical condition at Boston Children's Hospital.

"She's getting better and is expected to recover, but it's going to take some time before she's well again,'' he said.

Police interviewed her Monday at the hospital.

The girl's father, Dan LeBlanc, took her to Concord Hospital Saturday, police said. Professionals there called police.

She was later taken to Boston for treatment of liver and kidney problems.

Two other children who were in the home during the assault -- a 7-year-old boy who police say is LeBlanc's biological child and a 5-year-old girl -- were not harmed. Mitchell said the state Division for Children, Youth and Families received a court order Monday to take custody of the children.

This is not the first abuse allegation investigated at the LeBlanc home, Mitchell said. Two years ago, police filed a complaint with state officials, but an investigation concluded it was unfounded.

More recently, a complaint was filed with the DCF by a former high school boyfriend of Leblanc's, Bill, who asked that his last name not be used.

He said LeBlanc is the mother of his 11-year-old daughter, who has lived with him for the past several years but still visits LeBlanc.

In March, he said, his daughter told him the 5-year-old was punished by being made to run up and down the stairs of LeBlanc's home for 20 minutes without stopping. The girl was also locked in her room from time to time, Bill said.

"I reported it to the state, but they said it was unfounded,'' he said.

Don't get me started.

No, really, don't.


Full story here.

And a related Spare the Rod Spoil the Child kinda story, here, via Buddhist Jihad.

NETROOTS NATION IN SECOND LIFE -- BE THERE OR BE SQUARE DUDES LIKE CLUELESS JOHN MCCAIN WHO CAN'T EVEN DO HIS OWN EMAIL OMIGOD

Come on down, fractured little Democratic Party, come on down to Netroots Nation in SL, listen, talk, interact, get all politically passionate, and work things out while you tango, virtually speaking.

Couldn't be easier.

Really.


Click on "there's more" and read through Pb's diary. Then click through to nninsl.org.

(And somewhere around here is poor little party Unity Pony with her big round sad eyes, and yes, you can -- you can feed poor little Unity Pony a virtual carrot if she'll open her mouth which she probably won't till she calls for her food-taster; yes, you can -- you can bash her over the head with a virtual FISA stick and rip out her timid centrist IV or feed her to a PUMA or hassle her silly about refried bushist fascist faith-based initiatives ugh.

Or even unaccountably fall suddenly back in love with her, holding her pink little hoof to your heart, offering to put her up for canonization while you tantalize her with platefuls of cheap arugula.

Yes, you can.

It's virtual reality so you can virtually do whatever you virtually wish . . . well, kinda . . . just follow the trail of virtual spangles . . . . or are they virtual sparkles . . . . a virtual trail of blood and sweat and spangles and sparkles and tears . . . a trail of tears that leads to virtual Unity Pony's vast flower-filled suite in Intensive Care at Netroots Nation in SL, metaphorically-speaking.)

We can do it, can we not?

Yes, we can.

People Who Love You Get to Hit You & Hurt You: In Jesus' Name, Amen?

Oh. My. God.

How about a little traditional wife spanking in a Christian marriage?

See, it's gay marriage that is so ruining happy traditional sadomasochistic Christian marriages like these.

"What is Christian Domestic Discipline?

A domestic discipline marriage is one in which one partner in the marriage is given authority over the other and has the means to back the authority, usually by spanking.

A Christian Domestic Discipline marriage is one that is set up according to Biblical standards; that is, the husband is the authority in the household. The wife is submissive to her husband as is fit in the Lord and her husband loves her as himself. He has the ultimate authority in his household, but it is tempered with the knowledge that he must answer to God for his actions and decisions. . . .

CDD is so much more than just spanking. It is the husband loving the wife enough to guide and teach her, and the wife loving the husband enough to follow his leadership. A Christian marriage embodies true romance and a Christian man a true hero.

Though this seems unusual in today's United States, this kind of marriage has been practiced throughout history and is still practiced in many parts of the world today."

Mm, that's a fine argument, lady, and one which would support many other interesting traditional practices such as child prostitution,slavery, boiling in oil, and the death by a thousand cuts, eh?

It's a great site, right from its top to its (bruised) bottom.

There's a page called "When to Show Mercy." There's info on after-care, applying aloe to wounds. Everyone is referred to as a "lady" or a "gentlemen."

Don't miss the glossary for gentlemen husbands.

Which includes:

Corner time: An alternative form of punishment where a wife is required to stand facing a corner, often with her bottom on display, before, during, or after a spanking.

Diaper Position: Spanking position where wife lies on her back with her legs raised upwards toward her head.

TMI, but hey, it's inspirational. Really. It inspired me to write this post.

Call me buddhist for the past 30 years, but before that, I spent 10 years in Sunday School, from which I graduated, btw, and I sure don't remember Jesus teaching any shit like this

Regular garden-variety Talibangelicals also don't bother practicing the Beatitudes, much less the Golden Rule, but them I'm used to.

But these Christians -- they're really special. So Story of O Meets The Last Supper kinda special.

These people -- I don't know -- God help them. They're um like so deluded, how can they stand it?



Hat tip to Jesus' General.

And some related kiddie-spank posts via Buddhist Jihad.

What Goes Around Comes Around: Rummy, Dirty Bush, Big Dick Recycle Commie Brainwashing at Gitmo

This is a nice story.

It's the kind of actual in-depth journalism that, had the NY Times been so doing all along, one wouldn't still be thinking of the New York Times as belonging to the media whore media.

The cool thing is that Rummy/Dirty Bush's 21st century All-American torture techniques were originally designed by their original designers TO ELICIT FAKE CONFESSIONS.

Haha.

I mean, really, hahaha.

WASHINGTON — The military trainers who came to Guantánamo Bay in December 2002 based an entire interrogation class on a chart showing the effects of “coercive management techniques” for possible use on prisoners, including “sleep deprivation,” “prolonged constraint,” and “exposure.”

What the trainers did not say . . . was that their chart had been copied verbatim from a 1957 Air Force study of Chinese Communist techniques used during the Korean War to obtain confessions, many of them false, from American prisoners.

The recycled chart is the latest and most vivid evidence of the way Communist interrogation methods that the United States long described as torture became the basis for interrogations both by the military at the base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Original report, here.

Unity Pony Flutters Sparkle-Ridden Eyelashes

Oh my GOD.

Markos comes out as a PUMA Obamist!

In the New York Times, no less! Be still my heart!

"I will continue to support him,” Mr. Moulitsas said in an interview. “But I was going to write him a check, and I decided I would rather put that money with Democrats who will uphold the Constitution."

w00t!




Guess I'll have to stop calling him a nappy-headed ho, eh?

Sayin' It Don't Make It So. (well unless you say it 3x thats different)

What is it about the Unique Power of Three?

Third time's a charm? Three's a crowd?

Is it the short form of the Big Lie?

Well, way back in my days with the Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell (had I forgotten to mention that, dear?) the mantric formula for membership consisted of a three-fold chant -- "I am a W.I.T.C.H., I am a W.I.T.C.H., I am a W.I.T.C.H.! -- and poof! The deed was doned.

Who knows, but there is certainly something very special about three if you're a Bushist fascist with the Great Egg of Torture all over your face (and what's that other sticky stuff there, dear? No dont tell me.).

If one asserts a fact thrice, it becometh fact, for those who create their own realitiez.

Except, some uppity judges think that that's really stupid.

They're so uppity they make, like, literary references 'n stuf.

As in --

The Hunting of the Snark

"Just the place for a Snark!" the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.

"Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice:
That alone should encourage the crew.
Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice:
What I tell you three times is true."

From AP:

The three-member court was particularly pointed in its criticism of the argument that says s evidence is reliable because it appears multiple times.

"The government insists that the statements made in the documents are reliable because the State and Defense Departments would not have put them in intelligence documents were that not the case. This comes perilously close to saying that whatever the government says must be treated as true.

Lewis Carroll notwithstanding, the fact that the government 'said it thrice' does not make an allegation true."

COURT: GITMO LOGIC NONSENSE

Does this mean someone's starting to wake up from the long Bushist fascist nightmare? God, one hopes so.

------
But on the downside, here's another hammer to the ankles of Unity Pony: A New Campaign Charge: You Supported Clinton.

Yet on the upside, there's Two Great Men Stand Up For Marriage.

Official No Blood for Hubris Mental Health Interlude

"According to the Washington Post, Barack Obama and actress Scarlett Johansson are email buddies. Apparently they email each other back and forth. So, you've got a 23-year-old gorgeous, blonde actress emailing a married presidential candidate. Well, what could go wrong there? Not to be outdone today, John McCain admitted he had been exchanging flirty emails with Angela Lansbury." --Jay Leno


"CNN reports that John McCain is aggressively trying to win over the independent vote. Yeah, of course, to John McCain, independent means anyone who can make it to the toilet without help." --Conan O'Brien


"And John McCain is campaigning very hard. Every day I pick up the newspaper, he's someplace else. He's got a new strategy. Well John McCain just announced he wants to do a series of town hall meetings where he'll meet with the public. Yeah, it's all part of McCain's 'Speak Up, I Can't Hear You' tour." --Conan O'Brien


"McCain came out this week with a list of 20 possible running mates. He would not reveal the names of all of them, but he said they all share certain traits, like knowing CPR. He said he wants someone who is ready take over on day two." --Bill Maher


"Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain have all been arguing, claiming that they're the most qualified person to answer the White House phone at 3 a.m. Yeah, McCain said, 'I'm the most qualified, because I'm usually up at that hour peeing anyway.'" --Conan O'Brien


"John McCain is now crisscrossing the United States campaigning. Or, as they're calling it, Antiques Roadshow." --Jay Leno


"We're leaning more and more about John and Cindy McCain. He's on this big biography tour. I guess his wife Cindy is worth over $100 million because the family made money selling Budweiser beer. So he has a wife 20 years younger than him, free beer, and unlimited money. I think I speak for all guys when I go, 'Why is he running for president?'" --Jay Leno


"Did you hear about this? Two State Department employees were fired -- this is a bit of a scandal -- because they were looking at Barack Obama's passport file. Not only that, but the same person was also looking at John McCain's Civil War records." --David Letterman


"John McCain's daughter is in the news. John McCain's daughter says that a lot of guys don't want to date her because her dad makes her too high-profile. Yeah. That's part of the reason. It's also because McCain's daughter is 63 years old." --Conan O'Brien


UPDATE: Yes, you read it here, an entire post that is naught but a vast festival of ageism, posted by oneself, apparently unable to blog more at present about Elephant-in-de-Room Dem on Dem internecine bloody warfare.

I visited the Fully-Abandoned Orange Cheeto on a mission for a friend, and learned that being concerned about FISA makes one a "traitor" and a "purity troll." O-kay. I went elsewhere and learned that I am not allowed to be a PUMA Obamist for that would betray PUMA purity. O-kay. Then I went to the Confluence and learned about widespread cyber-attacks against PUMA bloggers. O-kay.

It all makes me want to put a big paper bag over my head and go into a deep corner of the room and have a good long sulk. And then rip out Unity Pony's IV.

How about you?

Oh Frabjous Day Upon Which Barry & Hilly Will Strongly Assert the Utter Non-Death of Unity Pony !!!

It's Unity Day, progressive Dem boyz and girls!

Let's all be very nice to one another, okay? No more petulant PUMA-bashing! No more reminding the bloggerboyz of their long-term pustulant intra-party bad manners!

Why?

Because -- we like you! We really like you!

We really like us! (We like us?)

Whatever.

Anyhow, let's all cheer for the
Barry-Hilly Dog & Pony Unity Pony Show in Unity, New Hampshire!!

In celebration of this important media event occasion, I announce my a new personal political career goal -- turning timid centrist Barry into a dyed-in-the-wool progressive! What do you think about that, prog-Dem boys and girls? I mean, if he'll say anything to get elected (and he has, he has), why shouldn't he be saying what I want him to say, eh?

Feet to the fire 24/7. Power to the people.

Every solicitation for money I get -- and I'm getting a lot -- I am returning by mail, marked with comments, like "FISA?"? "Single payer universal health care?" "Endless list of liberal dem pet cause principled stands to be taken asap?"

I want Barry to know how I really feel, because Hilly already knows how I feel, and I don't care how Hilly feels anymore, alas, due to her losingness. Sorry, Hilly. I have listened to Barry's call for getting overness, and I've gotten over it. (Sniffs. Wipes away tears. Chokes a little). I'm throwing you under the bus, Hilly. Rilly. Under which you have already thrown yourself, I'd like to point out, Hilly. Really. It's for our own good. It's just not about you anymore.

Now, it's all about Barry. I don't know how to love him -- as he is.

But I see no reason why he should not change his ways. Barry is just so very Cirque-du-Soleil Mongolian acrobat flexible, is that not a good thing? Can I not use this flexibilitude therefore to mold him, scold him, knock him into shape? Can I not use netroots nation power and tiny-donor checkbook power to create real new shiny new new change, for a change?

I mean, why not?

It's so -- creative class-y!

I want a real progressive president.


Why can't I just make one up?



.

Would Someone Please Hold Obama's Feet to the Fire So I Don't Have To? I'm a Little Busy Today. Thx.

Yes, I know that Unity Pony is back on life support.

Too many frickin' spangles. Too much arugula. I told her so, but would she listen, the bitch? Nah.

The cure is here, via Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy posting at correntewire. (One really needs the hypertext to appreciate the brilliance of this post, and of the most of the comment thread that follows).

(Those of you who litmus-test party loyalty are directed to this here post here wherein VastLeft endorses you-know-who, just as I did, but he did it a day earlier).

Some of us have become personae non grata by noticing again and again how far from a tonic for what ails Bush-afflicted America Barack Obama really is. One of the great, undertold stories of this campaign is the complete meltdown of the left blogosphere, where virtually no intelligent intra-party debate remained possible because major forums like Daily Kos and Democratic Underground — and practically every A-list blog’s comments threads — turned into echo chambers for Clinton hate and Obama infallibility.

Nearly every leading blog put its thumb on the scale for Obama, willing into reality the idea that this equivalating fellow with minutes’ worth of experience in the Senate was an ideal standard-bearer for progressive values – despite rhetoric that gave ground to the radical right with every syllable, and despite throwing Democratic constituencies under the bus at every turn.

Go read it. All the way to the arugulous end.

Oh come on. What do I have to do, beg?

Threaten?

"Read his post, and its hypertext, and the comment thread, or else I'll kill off Unity Pony?"

Work with me here, people.

Takes two sides to do the Unity Pony Tango.



After you're done, read Arthur Silber. It's good for your complete recovery from Bushist fascism and its ceaseless moral bankruptcy. at powerofnarrative).

(And send Arthur some money, like good progressive bodhisattvas, eh?)

And what's up with FISA? Can we hold everyone's feet to the fire so they support Feingold and Dodd, pretty plse.? Thx?

Here's Act Blue re FISA accountability (h/t to JC)

And here's another condescending post to make Unity Pony just a little sicker than she already is. Not to mention, this one, Invisible Women. I hadn't even noticed how de-materialized I've become.

Happy Blogiversary to Us!

Lookee, lookee -- it's our third blogiversary, for a blog that was started by mistake, and is still mistaken. How did we manage?


We must feature blasts from the past. We'll no, we mustn't, but we are anyhow because why not.

Torture Recipient John McCain Caves In, Supports Dirty Bush's Pro-Torture Program

Dirty Bush's Pro-Atrocity Crowd: Water Torture By Any Other Name Would Be -- Waterboarding

Canned Hunts: Killing For Fun

First We Maim Your Minds. Then We Dump You. It's Hard Work. Still.
In Nightmares Begin Responsibilities
Bubble Boy: Sending Our Kids Out to Die For His Right to Remain a Maroon
Huzzah! Bubble Boy Brings Back Burqas

Who Will Rid Me of These Booger-Chomping, Testosterone-Deprived, Sniggering Sexist Fratboys?

None Dare Call It Sexist


And one's own weal favowite:

Wook! It's Officiaw Snowfwake Adoption Week At No Bwood for Hubwis!!
----------------------------------------------------------------

Its My Party & You'll Cry If I Want 2 Not Send U Munny Cuz Yr Not Sayin The Right Stuff Yet Sweetie

Whee. He wants my money. He wants money from former Clinton supporters. Can he ask for it? Why yes, he can!

Obama's FISA Cave-In, fundie courting, netroots dumping, crowd-booing Gov. Granholm via throwing of Clinton Dems under bus whilst soliciting munny from them; driving Dem bus all the way to Chicago without asking anyone's permission because of being the Chosen One, running campaign that happily uses racist frames to demonize Clinton & Clinton Lee-Atwaterly in the name of "whatever makes one's candidate win is ethical 4 the end justifies the means," sweetie, dissing Clinton by pressuring Dean to keep her name off the ballot in Denver, la-di-da, la-di-da, la-di-da.

But--it's all good. Obama wants our votes and our money. Me, I want my party back.

Out of respect for some parts of blogtopia (Skippy coined that) I have promised my vote, as a Puma Obamist, though I came really really really really close to joining Dems Who Fucking Hate McCain 4 McCain (VastLeft coined that). (Oh, and I am in love with Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy, btw. Please read all his posts, referenced above. Then we can talk.)

Vote, ok. Because John McCain is a fascist pig.

But not my wallet & not my heart. Not so far, not so fast.

What's wrong with me, eh?

This is what's wrong with me. Part of it, anyhow. (There are more things, but let's do that later.)

"Tensions Remain Betwen Obama and Clinton Supporters."

BLOGGER READS ARTICLE ON INTERNETS TUBES, SMACKS RIGHT HAND ON FOREHEAD LOUDLY, CRYING OUT IN ANGUISHED INCOMPREHENSION.

Obama meets with Hillary Clinton supporters; he's looking for money. They're talking about him addressing the concerns of Clinton supporters.

(And remember, he JUST said this. This is not a quote from months ago. He JUST said this. After all the brouhaha about sexism.)

Does he listen and respectfully respond?

F*ck, no. It's like FISA. (Where he listened respectfully and caved in.)

The Chosen One listens, and responds with this:

“However, I need to make a decision in the next few months as to how I manage that [the inexplicable continuing wrath of Clinton-supporters] since I’m running against John McCain, which takes a lot of time,” Obama said.

“If women take a moment to realize that on every issue important to women, John McCain is not in their corner, that would help them get over it.”

BLOGGER SPITS COFFEE AT THIS JUNCTURE RIGHT HERE. COUGHS, CHOKES.

"Get over it"?

Okay, you bitchez, you heard what the man said -- he's got important GUY shit to do, ladies. He's running against Johnny-boy! This is the big leagues, not the League of Lady voters! He's way too busy for our whiny shit.

Just f*cking get over it!


Obama Campaign Targets Clinton Donors.

You Don't Own Me - The most amazing bloopers are here

Silence Gives Consent

Our Presumptive Democratic nominee's recent powerful statement denouncing FISA, and denouncing those who would support this most recent hideous Bushist fascist attempt to get the telecoms off the hook for having rolled over, belly-up and played dead when Dirty Bush and Big snapped their Bushist fascist fingers:

(crickets )

"Feingold and Dodd on the FISA Cave-In," via Common Iowan.

Glenn Greenwald, here.






.

You Don't Own Me

You Don't Own Me - The most amazing bloopers are here

I had a dream.

A dream of the meaning of what being a PUMA Obamist is all about.

My dream was a song.

What is my dream telling the Democratic Party and the nominee-to-be?

Will they get it?



Update: Who's not coming out swinging against FISA?

Answer: you-know-who.


(And on this happy note, see VastLeft's "I don't know how to love him" at Vast Left-wing Conspiracy.)

McCainist Sexism: Classic Rape Joke Still A Real Knee-Slapper

Rape, anyone?

Hands up?

No, really, raise your hands? It's okay.

Anyone for rape?

No takers?

Gee, it's like that commenter here who, oddly enough, minded when I called him sweetie. Mind? Mind being called sweetie? Why would anyone mind, eh?

Now there's this one:

"Rape is like bad weather. As long as it's inevitable, why not lie back and enjoy it?"


Haha.

Classic joke! Classic!

One had forgotten this classic joke, really, one had! One had not recalled, however, its funniness! Which might have something to do with one's being a certified rape crisis counselor, or maybe it is that special time, and one is just feeling sensitive to the point of periodically wanting to attack. You know, suddenly the claws come out.

Anyhow, the classic fun-rape joke turns out to be a favorite of a McCain donor. And John McCain, who himself seems a little over-sensitive at times, is annoyed that some people are finding his donor's fondness for the classic fun-rape joke something objectionable.

And, the swine, they keep asking him about it!

McCain was asked why his staff had even scheduled a fundraiser with Williams, who in 1990 joked that rape was like bad weather: “As long as it’s inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it.” McCain was visibly agitated. He furrowed his brow, fidgeted with his notes, blinked rapidly, scowled, squinted, scoffed and grimaced before answering.

Well, ok, then, so he's not giving back that donor's money, and he hasn't said it was a not so funny joke. Obama gave back all the money from the Ferraro/Clinton big fucking whore fundraiser oh wait wait no he didn't nor did he apologize. He did apologize for "sweetie" and then revealed he calls people sweetie all the time but its just a bad habit so nevermind. But hey its way better than calling them cunts so he sure wins my girlie vote by golly.

On the upside, at least some reporters are asking candidates about this kinda stuff. Is that progress?

"After canceling a fund-raiser to be held at the home of Texas Republican oilman Clayton Williams, Republican presidential candidate John McCain will not be returning $300,000 raised by the controversial oilman.

During an unsuccessful 1990 bid to unseat late Texas governor Ann Richards, Williams remarked that women should give in while being raped. “As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it.” Williams also said he would campaign against Richards like you would a cow on his ranch, “head her and hoof her and drag her through the dirt,” said Williams.

Democratic National Committee spokeswoman, Karen Finney, called Williams's comments, “not only outrageous and disgusting, they degrade our values as Americans.” Finney continued, “Senator McCain should know that you cannot expect the American people to trust you if you say one thing when you stand on the stump and turn a blind eye to this kind of language when you think no one will notice.”'

Pot calleth kettle black a bit there, sweetie.

Some of us noticed some blind-eye turning, yep. Not to mention some actual use of degrading and disgusting kinda stuff by those who ought to know better but so far don't.

PUMA Obamist = Zero Tolerance.

Anyone paying attention?






(Lie back and enjoy these sweets, sweeties: America's Favorite Progressive Candy: Keith Olbermann Gummi Penises!)

(Feel Free to Bludgeon Me With This One, However) ;)

Our dear John.

His Bush-brown-nosed nose sniffing up Bubble Boy's stinky armpit as if it it held the last line of coke.


Why does John McCain hate the Constitution so much?

"McCain: Guantanamo Decision One of the Worst Ever."

I think John just lost the election.



(Please note my official change in affiliation. All credit goes to John McCain, story above. I read what John said. I heard a roar of thunder. There was a magical flash, a puff of smoke, a soft rain of sparkles, and suddenly I found myself riding on Unity Pony!

But wait -- is Unity Pony beginning to look a lot like a Unity Puma? Yes, yes, I think she is. No DNC Kool-Aid for this PUMA Obamist. There are scores to be settled with the parties who have done us wrong, & attention must be paid.

I retain hold on my wallet and heart, and will use them as Archimedes' Lever, just as The Ghost of Dr. Violet Socks, at Reclusive Leftist, says. There's a price to be paid for your bad behaviors.)

Update: A very nervous George Will is begging Barack Obama NOT to choose Hillary Clinton as his running mate because choosing Hillary would make Barack SO look like a pussy in George Will's eyes.

One must always consider George Will's eyes, must one not? I'm sure he's not actually worried about some dumb old Unity Ticket Democratic Party landslide that might roll the Republican party back into the Middle Ages 4-everrr.


McCain

Bludgeon Me Not With Roe v. Wade

I know that John McCain is a sexist pig. He's a Bushist Fascist Republican, after all. I expect him to be a cunt-calling, dumpy-wife-dumping, Chancellor-Merkel-petting, pubic-hair-on-the-coke can, government-forced maternity kinda guy.

Liberal/progressive Democrats I expect not to be cunt-calling sexist pigs.

Or even regular old garden-variety sexist pigs.

Litmus test: IF sexist, THEN non-progressive. Q.E.D.

I mean, how hard is that?

So when those on the left side of the aisle begin shrieking like those on the right, I get a little worried.

I'm worried.

And not just about poor little cotton-candy pink Unity Pony with her big round sad eyes, puking and retching in the ER, waiting for 2 days to be seen because the hospital found out her health insurance was bogus and tossed her out of the ICU.

What worries me is all this stuff about Hillaryists being responsible to save Party Unity Pony.

Uh -- not.

It's the malign acceptance of sexism (in Big Tent Democrat's term) among so-called progressives that is driving large sections of its base into the arms of -- someone.

Someone else. To McCain/The Greens/sitting out this election/none of the above/not sure yet call me later.

This breach was caused by the behavior of deeply gender-biased otherwise adult boyz who just don't get it, and needs to be healed by actual progressive men who do 'get it'. Like sending Nixon to China. Those boyz -- and you know who they are -- aren't going to listen to girlz in the first place, and they haven't. If they'd listened when we first spoke up -- and speak up we girlz did -- they wouldn't still be in the mess that they're certainly in.

And it is their mess, not ours. It is the bilious stench of classic neanderthal testosterone-deficient sexist sniggering fratboy crap, coming from, of all people, "progressives," that has contaminated our Democratic political environment and spread through the body politic like Ebola.

It's got to stop.

Real progressive men can save Unity Pony, so
this is a call to arms.

Arise, cool dudes, and join the Sweetie Rebellion.

Ball's in your court. ;)

(Note to self: did one just indulge oneself in a rescue fantasy? Hm.

Let's reframe: Marine on point discovers dangerous enemy target, calls in airstrike, transmits relevant coordinates.

Yes, it's just a metaphor, people. But it works.)

Unity Pony DeathWatch?/Unity Pony ResuscitationWatch?

I think I'm evolving. That's a little scary. I woke up this morning and found my mind had, of its own accord, changed.

Again. Well, you know how broads are.

A couple of days ago I decided, having teetered on the brink for some time, and with consultation with people I respect and shutting out my experiences with vitriolic persons who behave like Bushist fascists in Liberal Democrats' clothing, NOT to follow the Way of the Puma (and those of you who know what I'm talking about know what I'm talking about).

This morning I discovered that I want Hillary Clinton to be on this ticket any old way at all, even as VP.

Framing it thus: Hillary consents to be VP, and her role as VP changes by specific agreement with her running-mate, from the role of all previous Vice-Presidents: she assertss power as VP, with her own portfolio of issues, such as universal health care. The Democratic party and Barack Obama throw their support behind the ERA. The Democratic party, all of it, figures out that to be sexist equals not being a Democrat. The party re-defines itself in a civil manner, rejecting this odd virus of demonizing that it has somehow caught from Karl "Miss Piggy" Rove.

Demonize the demons of the anti-habeas corpus, moral/fiscal bankruptcy-of-America, pro-torture crowd for a change, why don't we?

Thoughts?


Update:

Remember Bushist George Will, who really really wanted Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race for the good of his party?

Well, now he really really wants Hillary Clinton NOT to be Obama's VEEP. Then George says that Obama would look pussywhipped if he chose her. Hm. Someone's got his panties in a twist. Maybe Unity ticket = Democratic Party landslide?

Paul Krugman, one of the few who really gets it, "Who, us? Sexist?"

HOWARD Dean tells it like it is. At least he knows how to use the S word. A beginning. On the other hand, the article is accompanied by a headless shot of Hillary's cleavage. New York Times. Feh.

This is a great clip, by Sarah Haskins via Shakesville, of Obama and McCain both targeting Hillary Clinton voters: TARGET WOMEN: SUFFRAGE.

Obama & the Equal Rights Amendment

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.



I had almost forgotten about the ERA, first proposed in 1923. I knew it hadn't been added as an Amendment to the Constitution, but somehow it had slipped out of sight.

Turns out that 38 states need to approve the Equal Rights Amendment.

35 States have already done so.

That means there are only 3 states to go, from among these 15: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia.

Surely Florida is ready to ratify. And Illinois. Arkansas is close.

Maybe it's time for Obama to put his money where his mouth is -- and pledge to get the ERA ratified.

That would be a good place to start, if we're still trying to save poor lil' Unity Pony with her big round sad eyes and two broken ankles, lying in ICU on a respirator, struggling, wheezing with COPD. She might have a bit of Ebola, too, I'm thinking that's blood there, not glitter, on her cute cotton-candy pink mane.

(Here, up and out of the ashes, is the phoenix-like, spontaneously-arisen Sweetie Rebellion section of blogtopia, via Reclusive Leftist.)

The Real McCoy McCain

O-kay.

As part of my bittersweet bittersweetie healing ritual, I'm going to concentrate for a while on the Real McCain, he who cunt-called his (second) wife, he who remained silent when asked how he was going to beat "the bitch," he who told in public the following joke: "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno."

Here, John tells us how he wants to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Here, John tells us that he will "reduce the pain of high gas prices." What's he going to use? Morphine?

Here, John tells us how he wants to stay in Iraq until Al Qaeda in Iraq is defeated. No, honestly, he really said that. About Al Qaeda in Iraq. Which wasn't there, prior to, you know, the invasion that John fully supported. And John is a little bit fuzzy still about telling Shi'a from Shinola. But hey. This guy was tortured. And he's pro-torture! Pro-torture torturees make great Presidents, I'm told.

To illustrate his character, here's John's classic-Republican-ugly-fat-poor-old-first-wife-dumping kinda guy . This isn't the wife he called a cunt, mind you, that's Cindy, the blonde rich one who's young enough to be his daughter, not that there's anything wrong with that. A good catch for John, she bankrolled his run for Congress -- John McCain who also called second wife Cindy a trollop. Because Cindy had too much makeup on and remarked on John's thinning hair. In particular, I like that John left his first wife because she was in a car accident and came out limping. After the war, he came home limping, but that was ok.

Our John seems like quite the sweetie, does he not?



Just to keep the poor traumatized Unity Pony on life support at least, keeping the conversation going, here's The Village is a Sack of Pus Waiting to Burst, from lambert at Corrente.

Here is one of my two favorite Obama-supporting bloggers, Big Tent Democrat, a person who actually gets it, "A New Version of the Malign Acceptance of Sexism.". When I read his short but sweet post, I can almost feel Unity Pony's long curly eyelashes begin to flutter, in a subtle sign of life, perhaps?

Here is the other of my two favorite Obama-supporting bloggers, Jesus' General, featuring John McCain in "I'm So Sexy for the Pundits."

They Shoot Unity Ponies, Don't They?

So, I'm having a moral quandary.

I'm good with being anti-McCain.

But -- every time I think about getting on the Obama bus, I find I want to throw myself under it instead.


Here's Anglachel, on "Bittersweet Acceptance." Yup. What she said.

And a little something from big tent democrat, one of my two favorite Obama-supporting bloggers. What I like best about BTD is that he gets it. May his getting-it-ness increase and pervade the universe.

And more about women and the media whore media's sexist sniggering fratboys (and their fratgirl enablers.)

And here is Bob Somerby, toward whom I, like, totally bow down with folded hands, w00t!ing.

It's All Our Fault If Obama Loses, BTW, Sweeties

Yuh, in case you were wondering.

They're so cute, the Obamists, are they not, when they're trying to shove Party Unity Pony, spandex spangles and all, down your throat?

How about this lil' lady's piece, right , here, from The New Republic.
Watch out. It's proudly sexist and ageist, which seem to be hallmarks of the New Faux Liberalism.

She calls it "Clinton Dead-Enders and the Crisis in the Women's Movement."

"Clinton Dead-Enders"?

What a charmer!

Why would I not support your boundless contempt, eh?


Oh, and here's CNN covering up Obama going golfing while the stupid bitch finally calls it quits. CNN tried to cover it up, because, you know, maybe it makes him look, well, you know, insensitive or Bush-like or something?

Over & Out: Every Man For Himself, Edition

Wednesday night

Dear No Blood for Hubris:

I wanted you to be one of the first to know: on Saturday, I will hold an event in Washington D.C. to thank everyone who has supported my campaign.

Over the course of the last 16 months, I have been privileged and touched to witness the incredible dedication and sacrifice of so many people working for our campaign. Every minute you put into helping us win, every dollar you gave to keep up the fight meant more to me than I can ever possibly tell you.

On Saturday, I will extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy. This has been a long and hard-fought campaign, but as I have always said, my differences with Senator Obama are small compared to the differences we have with Senator McCain and the Republicans.

I have said throughout the campaign that I would strongly support Senator Obama if he were the Democratic Party's nominee, and I intend to deliver on that promise.

When I decided to run for president, I knew exactly why I was getting into this race: to work hard every day for the millions of Americans who need a voice in the White House.

I made you -- and everyone who supported me -- a promise: to stand up for our shared values and to never back down. I'm going to keep that promise today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.

I will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama.

The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise.

I know as I continue my lifelong work for a stronger America and a better world, I
will turn to you for the support, the strength, and the commitment that you have
shown me in the past 16 months.

And I will always keep faith with the issues and causes that are important to you.

In the past few days, you have shown that support once again with hundreds of thousands of messages to the campaign, and again, I am touched by your thoughtfulness and kindness.

I can never possibly express my gratitude, so let me say simply, thank you.

Sincerely,
Hillary Rodham Clinton