Friday, October 17, 2008

Friday Cat Blogging


Tigger gets under the covers...which he really, really likes, believe it or not.
Last Minute Reprieve
From 2Millionth Web Log


Looks like the the Republicans have flip-flopped and decided to make a last stand here in the Gret Stet with John N. Kennedy after all. I dunno--at this point it might not matter where the money gets spent.

And I doubt it will make any difference. It looks like Landrieu will win, but this race has all the enthusiasm of a taste test between RC and Dixie cola.
The Incredible Shrinking President
From 2Millionth Web Log

Pretty soon we'll need a magnifying glass--if not a microscope--to see him.

President Bush addressed the nation today...and nobody gave a shit, except to maybe note in passing that he's the jackass who got us into this mess.

Eventually he's going to fade away like the image on an old TV--when you'd shut it off, the picture would shrink into a little white dot before disappearing.
There's Joe the Plumber...

And then there's Joe the Water Carrier:
Undead "News"


The Fox Network welcomes Glenn Beck.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Tinfoil Time for Camp McCain
From 2Millionth Web Log


We're about a half step from John McCain being the political equivalent of a not-entirely stable street corner "orator" or similar individual...he's seeing conspiracies in his own mind of the likes you normally hear from those special someones who patiently wait their turn to alert the C-Span viewership (as I mentioned at First Draft) to the linkage between the Illuminati, Free Masons, Paul McCartney, Franklin Roosevelt's ghost, and lesiure suits.

Meanwhile, the voices in Sarah Palin's head are telling her that hydrocarbons are God's blessing, which means God decided to bless the dirty Ay-rabs quite a bit more than the Him-fearing good Christian Americans, I guess. Hmmm. Also, Joe the Plumber may not be quite the proverbial uncommitted salt of the earth, either.

And today's supposed to be a good day for the McCain campaign--after all, punditry crowned him victor last night...or was it a "participation" trophy that he really received?
Who Knew?


That Orleans Parish public schools were the envy of the nation?
Time to Get Off the Bus, John

We're throwing you underneath it.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is pulling their ads from The Gret Stet, effectively ceding it to Mary Landrieu.

via
Senator Obama, I Am Not President Bush

"I'm President Nixon."

Actually, McCain's Mr. 90 percent supportive of Bush, which has turned out to be a lousy bet: Mr. 90 percent support of Mr. 20 percent approval. Stuff happens...particularly if you've got such a manifestly unqualified Chief Executive.

Duh.

I posted my impression of last night's event at First Draft--as bad as McCain appeared in relation to Obama, certain elements of the punditry did their damndest to declare him "the victor," which tells you more about Villager mentality than anything else. I mean, it's beyond astonishing that they'd claim someone a winner who at times looked more like he wanted to crawl out of his own skin, and whose ultimate moment of grandiloquence was the solemn declaration that he was NOT George W. Bush...which took about as much political courage as a strong statement in defense of freedom.

They really DO live on a different planet than the rest of us.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

It's All About the Mouth Breathing


Wondering who McCain's, um, 'winning' over? Take a look.
Red (State) Alert


Playing defense--particularly 'prevent a blowout defense'-- isn't good at this point in the political calendar.
You Must Be THIS Tall to Play the Stock Market


Enjoy the Wall Street Cyclone.
W--The President Torturer


Link.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

What's Wrong With This Picture


There's just something deeply disturbing about the concept of even calling this clown an "executive." It's like Ronald McDonald applying for a Michelin star.
Because Hey, Them Cigars Don't Light Themselves, You Know
From 2Millionth Web Log


Ah, there's a sucker born every minute the beauty of the free market.
Just Plain Pathetic
From 2Millionth Web Log


On the one hand, you've got the most mindless of prattle, on the other, the political equivalent of drunks with guns.

I just doesn't get any cheaper.

Sorry for the slow couple of days...it's not been slow at work.
Frum: Will Hissy Fit for Consulting Fees
From 2Millionth Web Log


Nice to see him get, um, well, pwned by Rachel Maddow last night. I mean, seriously: someone who represents the Republican party--which over the last twenty years can look upon "highlights" like Willie Horton, Ozone Man, the Federal Government Shutdown, Bill Clinton's impeachment, Bush v. Gore, Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Old Europe, "OK, you've covered your ass," Iraq, Bring 'em on, Mission Accomplished, Catastrophic Success, Last Throes, Warrantless Wiretapping, The "Patriot" Act, and on and on and on...is concerned at the decline of political discourse?

That's like Ted Bundy telling Ann Rule to "be careful out there."

Monday, October 13, 2008

Chronicle of a Welfare King


IOKIYADCL--it's ok if you're a defense contractor/lobbyist:

There were easy ways to cheat. The prototype missile nose cone and heat shields that the Army had paid the Maine company to design for the Alaska tests. Why not hire the business to pretend to design them again? Mr. Cantrell asked.

The ballute -- an odd cross between a balloon and a parachute -- had been rejected by experts as a tool to strike an enemy missile. But why not pay the Maine company to develop them anyway? Mr. Cantrell suggested.

He could pull off such shenanigans because, by then, he had an extraordinary degree of independence. Mr. Cantrell’s experimental missile program, which had cost nearly $250 million, was about to be canceled. No working missile system had been built -- and almost none of the components had ended up being tested in real launchings as planned. The effort had produced some benefits for the players involved: Congress sent an annual allotment of extra money to the Alaska launching site now totaling more than $40 million, and one of the contractors that had worked with Mr. Cantrell initially to pitch the space port, Aero Thermo Technology, had secured a no-bid federal contract to provide launching services.

Now Mr. Cantrell was on to another assignment overseeing missile defense research in Huntsville, and through his friends on the Hill, he was once again getting money for projects that the Pentagon did not want.

Mr. Cantrell, who by now was helping to oversee 160 or so contractors and managing a $120 million a year contracting budget, said he knew that if he only requested a few million dollars at a time for his scheme, there would be little scrutiny of his requests or demands that he prove that the work was actually done.

For example, the missile nose cones and other parts now made round trips from Huntsville to Maine with little or no change. Mr. Cantrell or his deputy simply marked off the work as complete, and that was the end of it.

For nearly six years, from 2001 to 2007, the men collected kickbacks from contractors. During one visit to the US Airways Club, Mr. Ennis picked up a briefcase stuffed with $75,000 in cash, according to federal court records. Mr. Cantrell also got checks, ranging from $5,000 to $60,000, once or twice a month, court records show.

The Maine contractor, Maurice H. Subilia, is under investigation; his lawyer, Toby Dilworth, a former federal prosecutor, declined to comment. Dennis A. Darling, a Florida contractor who got government research grants and then divvied them up with Mr. Cantrell, was indicted last month on a charge of paying Mr. Cantrell $400,000 in bribes from 2005 to 2007.


Cantrell got caught, but, c'mon, does anyone really think he's the one bad apple in the Pentagon rot? If so, I've got a bridge in Alaska I'd like to see you...
Broken Record, Empty Rhetoric
From 2Millionth Web Log


You know, it speaks volumes, and not in a good way, to Sarah Palin's character when, without even a hint of understanding the irony, she'll fire this dud of a salvo.

It also demonstrates pretty clearly just exactly how shallow her understanding of Christianity is...
Only in Wingnuttiastan...
From 2Millionth Web Log


...will "wheels falling off" be interpreted as "comeback."