When they start fighting amongst themselves, they have already lost

Ah, the right-wingers are left to fight amongst themselves. It would be a lot more fun if so many of them would rather have the nation completely collapse rather than give an inch on their ideologies.

From Crooks & Liars:

I haven’t had a chance to post about the Billo/Levin War until now. This whole bail out mess has really upset the equilibrium everywhere. Bill O’Reilly (audio) actually attacked his fellow right wing talk show hosts for being against the bail out.

“It gets me angry,” said O’Reilly. “I do talk radio and most talk radio is conservative-dominated ideologues; Kool-Aid drinking idiots. Idiots. Screaming at you that this is socialism, this is this, this is that. ‘It’s Clinton’s fault.’ It’s Clinton’s fault? He hasn’t been in office in 8 years. It’s Bush’s fault! It happened under Bush’s watch.”

But then O’Reilly’s tirade seemed to aim at Rush Limbaugh-without actually naming him.

“But let’s get back to this talk radio stuff,” said O’Reilly. “These idiots. I mean, they’re misleading you. They’re lying to you. They’re rich, these guys. Big cigars. All of that. ‘Yeah, oh yeah, my private jet!’ And they’re saying, ‘Oh, no! No bail out!’ Uh, uh, no way!

“Hey! You’re going to get it, not them!” O’Reilly continued. “That foreign investment pulls out, we are toast! And they’ll pull out if this bailout doesn’t happen. Are you getting the message here? Walk away from these liars, these right-wing liars. Walk away from them! They’re not looking out for you.”

Mark Levin didn’t like that one bit and actually brought up BillO’s sexual harassment suit. Wow!

“And I’m not talking to some of you backbenchers, and you know who I mean,” said Levin. “These blowhards. You get arrogant, stupid people who get paid a lot of money to be on radio and TV to be arrogant and stupid. And one of them, one of them is on the Fox News Channel, my favorite cable channel. And he has a fledgling radio show that has no ratings, and he’ll be off radio soon because he’s a failure. It’s the non-factor: Bill O’Reilly.

“And he is no conservative,” said Levin. “He’s another mainstream, moron, phony journalist. That’s what he is. And, oh, jealous like hell of Rush Limbaugh. Did you notice that? The cigar and the airplane? Let me tell you something else, jerk. You can’t hold a candle to him.” Your ratings suck.”

“You paid more in hush money for your little phone sex than I’ve ever earned.”

Listen to them go at it. The right-wing zanies are going Lord of the Flies on us.

-WKW

Gotcha!

That awful liberal media, always setting traps for John McCain and Sarah Palin. The latest example of “Gotcha Journalism” comes at an economic forum, where clever and deceitful journalists let McCain believe Venezuela was in the Middle East:

If the liberal media would just translate McCain correctly and stop just reporting what he says, the McCain campaign would skyrocket.

-WKW

The U.S. Financial Crisis = Great opportunity for Republicans to play politics

Maybe it’s just me, but the current era of the “Endless Campaign” doesn’t seem to be helping anyone.

From Ben Smith at Politico:

RNC ad, was cut, sent out before package failed

The Republican National Committee’s new advertisement critical of the the Wall Street “bailout” was produced and sent to television stations in key states before the package failed, officials at two stations said.

“Wall Street Squanders our money. And Washington is forced to bail them out with — you guessed it — our money. Can it get any worse?” asks the ad’s narrator, as the words “BAILOUT WITH OUR MONEY” cross the screen. (The answer: Obama’s plans would make it worse.)

The ad, however, seems to assume that it can safely attack a successful plan. And the reason may be the timing: Though it started airing this morning, the spot was released to stations yesterday morning, ad executives at stations in Michigan and Pennsylvania said.

Kae Buck of WLNS in Lansing said her station received the at at 7:55 a.m. Monday. Luanne Russell of Pittsburgh’s WTAE said her station received it at 10:49 Monday morning.

That’s putting “Country First,” wouldn’t you say?

-WKW

NASA discovers snow on Mars - Sarah Palin claims Martian expertise

Phoenix lander spots falling snow on Mars

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — NASA’s Phoenix spacecraft has discovered evidence of past water at its Martian landing site and spotted falling snow for the first time, scientists reported Monday.

Soil experiments revealed the presence of two minerals known to be formed in liquid water. Scientists identified the minerals as calcium carbonate, found in limestone and chalk, and sheet silicate.

But exactly how that happened remains a mystery.

“It’s really kind of all up in the air,” said William Boynton, a mission scientist at the University of Arizona at Tucson.

A laser aboard the Phoenix recently detected snow falling from clouds more than two miles above its home in the northern arctic plains. The snow disappeared before reaching the ground.

Phoenix landed in the Martian arctic plains in May on a three-month mission to study whether the environment could be friendly to microbial life. One of its biggest discoveries so far is confirming the presence of ice on the planet.

In related news, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has announced that she has interstellar policy experience due to the fact that it snows a lot in Alaska and that she “can relate.”

-WKW

NBC, Tom Brokaw working hard to get McCain’s love

Well, at least NBC practices diplomacy:

Mr. Brokaw said he had also conducted some shuttle diplomacy in recent weeks between NBC and the McCain campaign. His mission, he said, was to assure the candidate’s aides that — despite some negative on-air commentary by Mr. Olbermann in particular — Mr. McCain could still get a fair shake from NBC News. Mr. Brokaw said he had been told by a senior McCain aide, whom he did not name, that the campaign had been reluctant to accept an NBC representative as one of the moderators of the three presidential debates — until his name was invoked.

“One of the things I was told by this person was that they were so irritated, they said, ‘If it’s an NBC moderator, for any of these debates, we won’t go,’ ” Mr. Brokaw said. “My name came up, and they said, ‘Oh, hell, we have to do it, because it’s going to be Brokaw.’ ”

Mr. Brokaw will moderate the second debate, on Oct. 7, in Nashville.

Funny, but I’m pretty sure Britt Hume and Fox News aren’t holding any diplomatic sessions with Barack Obama.

One-Liner: Ignorance

Every media outlet has about three “People on the street” interviews about the U.S. financial crisis and none of the “people” interviewed really has a clue what it all means. And the media dutifully reports the public’s ignorance, not noticing for a second that it’s their job to help inform said public.

-WKW

Quote of the year

“I do believe that we could have gotten there today had it not been for this partisan speech that the speaker gave on the floor of the House.”

- House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio

George W. Bush: Finishing with a flourish

Few lame-duck Presidents have done so much in the waning days of their administration to cement their status. Many have wondered for years if George W. Bush has been the worst U.S. President. But Bush isn’t having any of it. He’s busy working on becoming the worst leader in world history. Suddenly, Idi Amin’s legacy is looking pretty good.

Just over the last few months Bush’s has been busy in his fight to be the worst.

• The economy is in full melt-down mode with Bush desperately trying to completely clean out the federal reserve.
• Russia is again an enemy.
• North Korea is back to building nukes.
• Attorney-gate is heating up again.
• Bush and Dick Cheney’s role in ordering torture are becoming more clear.
• E-coli conservatism is as strong as ever.

And on and on. Let there be no doubt that the world will be busy cleaning up George W. Bush’s legacy for decades to come. This won’t be a President that Americans will look back fondly on.

-WKW

One-Liner: Shane Mosley

Shane Mosley is 37. But he’s a young 37. His 12th-round TKO of Ricardo Mayorga proved he can still stand up with anyone. I’m very proud of you, Shane.

-WKW

One-liner: Andre Berto

Watching journeyman and Contender star Steve Forbes give Andre Berto all he can handle, I’m convinced that someone like Antonio Margarito or Miguel Cotto would take out Berto inside of five rounds.

-WKW

Pardon Jack Johnson

I’ve written several times in the past about Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion who was chased out of the United States and eventually jailed for a violation of the Mann Act. Or, put more simply and honestly, Johnson was jailed for being a a confident black man. Johnson committed no crime, but his name was dragged through the mud for his audacious behavior, that included marrying white women.

Now the House of Representatives have started the ball rolling to clear Johnson’s name.

WASHINGTON — The first black heavyweight champion should be granted a presidential pardon for a racially motivated conviction 75 years ago that blemished his reputation and hurt his boxing career, the House of Representatives recommended Friday.

Jack Johnson became world heavyweight champion in 1908, sparking a search for a white boxer, dubbed “the Great White Hope,” who could beat him.

In 1913, Johnson was convicted of violating the Mann Act, which outlawed the transportation of women across state lines for immoral purposes.

Authorities had first unsuccessfully tried to charge Johnson over his relationship with a white woman, who later became his wife. They then found another white woman who testified that Johnson had transported her across state lines in violation of the Mann Act.

Jack Johnson was convicted of transporting a woman across state lines for immoral purposes and served nearly a year in prison.
Johnson fled the country, returning in 1920 to serve nearly one year in prison in Leavenworth, Kan. He tried to renew his boxing career after leaving prison, but never regained his title.

The House resolution, passed by voice, states that Johnson paved the way for black athletes to participate and succeed in integrated professional sports and that he was “wronged by a racially motivated conviction prompted by his success in the boxing ring and his relationships with white women.”

The resolution urged President Bush to grant Johnson, who died in 1946, a posthumous pardon.

“He was a victim of the times and we need to set the record straight — clear his name — and recognize him for his groundbreaking contribution to the sport of boxing,” said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., author of the resolution.

Jack Johnson is revered in boxing circles. As a fighter, he changed the game. And as an American, he showed millions that a black man could be successful and have self-esteem. Johnson is a vital piece in America’s history. A pardon for him is long overdo. Let’s hope this passes. Johnson deserves honor, not designation as a felon.

-WKW

Chris Matthews is un-ethnic, surprising no one

African-Americans have the NAACP. White folks have MSNBC’s Chris Matthews.

During MSNBC’s post-presidential debate coverage, host Chris Matthews asserted that “we don’t know who won this debate ’til we know how, to put it bluntly, the white working class guy, the regular working stiff out there, responds.” He later asked Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson: “[D]id it surprise you that he [Obama] was so un-ethnic tonight? That he never once talked about the condition of African-Americans in this country, never once talked about poor people, never once mentioned poor people, never once talked about the underclass.”

Matthews has previously questioned whether Obama can “now win over the regular folks, white folks, against John McCain,” and has asked whether Obama can “connect with regular people” or if he appeals “only appeal[s] to people who come from the African-American community and from the people who have college or advanced degrees.”

Chris Matthews - he’s one of us. Provided “us” means rich white men.

-WKW

Well, that was “horseshit”(?)

Update: Mustang Bobby says he hears it as “course not” and after relistening I’m inclined to agree. It definitely makes more sense. This wasn’t McCain’s first rodeo. So I changed the post around a touch to reflect that. Still, McCain’s surliness was definitely on display last night.

Update II: Sullivan himself has backed off his earlier claim. I apologize for not looking into it better. I’ll leave the post up, though, as I believe in being accountable for my blogging sins, as it were.

Courtesy Andrew Sullivan: [Was] John McCain unable to get through his debate with Barack Obama without twice saying “horseshit” while Obama was speaking[?]

See for yourself. At the 4:30 mark.

That John McCain. He’s all class.

-WKW

Paul Newman: Goodbye to a great man

Paul Newman died today. He was a brilliant actor, philanthropist and even a brilliant race car driver. To borrow a phrase used for Joe Louis, Paul Newman was truly a credit to his race - the Human race.

My best wishes go out to his family.

-WKW

The media is in Barack Obama’s pocket

From Google News:

“Jeremiah Wright”: 1,806 results

“Thomas Muthee“: 634 results

-WKW

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