I am far too important to be part of Blogroll Amnesty Day

Not long ago, I became one of the most important bloggers in the known universe. I was featured in the New York Times, The Huffington Post, Witchy Woman, and numerous other national and international publications. It was a great time for me, as well as a turning point in my career. Finally the stars had aligned. I had made it and I no longer had to care about less popular bloggers.

That’s why, when I received word from Blue Gal, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo and Jon Swift about Blogroll Amnesty Day, I was furious. Why would they think that I, now a massive presence in the blogging world, care about Blogroll Amnesty Day?

Blogroll Amnesty Day is a three-day long concert held in the woods of upstate New York. There, like-minded people get together, groove to music, do copious amounts of drugs and learn to live in a communistic setting of peace and sex.

Wait, that was Woodstock. Easy mistake.

Actually, Blogroll Amnesty Day is a chance for liberal bloggers to write a post and link to up to five smaller blogs, in order to get more in the habit of linking to smaller blogs throughout the year, do copious amounts of drugs and learn to live in a communistic setting of peace and sex.

On the surface, it’s a nice enough plan. For other bloggers, of course. Because while I readily admit that there are a lot of talented and dedicated bloggers out there that toil in near-complete obscurity, it doesn’t make a lot of sense for me to be involved. As I mentioned before - thus making it fact - I am one of the most important bloggers in the known universe now. I get to attend all the big blogger parties, and hang out with big-time bloggers like Boatboy. For me to reverse fields now and give attention to blogs with less readership than mine would just be foolish. If they want inclusion in my blog, they need to also become incredibly important bloggers.

I am living proof this can be done. And I am not alone. Through the years other bloggers have broken away from the field and become huge mega-stars in their own right. Bloggers like Dgun, Margalis, Chet Scoville, Historiann and Phillip Barron have all broken free from the chains of obscurity and have become big stars in their own right. Not as big as me, mind you, but big enough to be noticed and appreciated by the masses.

In conclusion, let me just say that I’m insulted that Blogroll Amnesty Day was even brought to my attention. My importance as a blogger makes it impossible for me to be involved, and the only real interest I have in smaller bloggers is that they get my order right when I dine in a restaurant where they happen to work.

Me involved in Blogroll Amnesty Day? What a joke. Atrios will really get a kick out of this at the next party that you aren’t invited to.

-WKW

Remember when “buying American” was cool?

Growing up in the 1970s, the term “Buy American” was bandied about almost as often as “good morning.” At the time, it mainly had to do with the influx of foreign cars hitting the market, and many car buyers would gloat about their American-made car in much the same way today’s car owners gloat about driving a hybrid.

Alas, those days are long gone.

The stimulus bill passed by the House last night contains a controversial provision that would mostly bar foreign steel and iron from the infrastructure projects laid out by the $819 billion economic package.

A Senate version, yet to be acted upon, goes further, requiring, with few exceptions, that all stimulus-funded projects use only American-made equipment and goods.

Proponents of expanding the “Buy American” provisions enacted during the Great Depression, including steel and iron manufacturers and labor unions, argue that it is the only way to ensure that the stimulus creates jobs at home and not overseas.

Opponents, including some of the biggest blue-chip names in American industry, say it amounts to a declaration of war against free trade. That, they say, could spark retaliation from abroad against U.S. companies and exacerbate the global financial crisis.

Expect the GOP to fight this one hard. Because when it comes to the GOP and business, the term “capital flight” takes precedence over “buying American.”

-WKW

Yet another reason to love Boston Terriers

Sheriff: Dog Stopped Rape Attempt

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. — A Boston terrier stopped a rape attempt in Pompano Beach, sheriff’s deputies said.

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office said a 46-year-old woman allowed a man inside her apartment Wednesday after he said he was a repairman. Once inside, however, the man attacked her, deputies said.

Her female dog then bit the man on the shoulder, and he fled the apartment, according to the sheriff’s office.

The woman was treated at a hospital and released.

She described her attacker as 40 to 55 years old, about 6 feet tall and 180 pounds. She said he has wavy brown and gray hair and very white teeth.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office.

-WKW

Great, now we have to deal with zombies

Oh well, maybe humanity will come together to fight back the brain-thirsty zombies.

HT Dvorak

-WKW

Kurt Warner: An evil, dastardly bastard who must be pummeled by the Pittsburgh Steelers defense

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner is held high on a pedestal by almost everyone. And sure, he’s done some nice things and seems like a nice guy. His First Things First Foundation has likely done some very positive things for kids. But one needs to look at the bigger picture.

Because the simple fact is this: Kurt Warner is an evil, dastardly bastard who must be stopped at all costs, especially by the Pittsburgh Steelers defense in Super Bowl XFSJSF (or whatever).

So, just in case the Pittsburgh defense starts thinking too highly of Warner, I just wanted to point out that, as a radical Christianist, Warner doesn’t really understand the real world all too well, which makes him evil. Take stem-cell research. Warner equates the use of an embryonic stem cell for research to taking a human life.

“To pass an amendment that allows for the opportunity to abort and to kill a life to me makes no sense,” Warner said when he made an anti-stem cell research ad. “It contradicts everything I believe, everything that I stand for and I think everything that Missouri stands for.”

Basically, it comes down to this: Kurt Warner believes in Jesus. Thus, he believes that people suffering from Alzheimer’s and a host of other diseases should just suck it up and die, rather than let science take its natural course.

Kurt Warner is a hypocritical jerk. There, I said it. Screw him, anyway. He contradicts everything I believe in. And if you care a whit about humanity, you’ll join me in praying to whatever deity you believe in that Warner is totally humiliated in Super Bowl IUGPIX (or whatever) and forced to leave the country and go on permanent missionary work in Afghanistan.

-WKW

No one expects a blogaround VI

Let me just say this, I wish all of you could be my wives. Or whatever. But all I have to offer, sadly, is a blogaround.

• Glenn Greenwald: Non-partisan? Haven’t we done this all before?
• AlterNet: Sarah Palin and “free-market feminism.”
• Paul Oberjuerge: Boomers have been at the bottom, top, and now back to the bottom of the print media world.
• Bitty’s Back Porch: Like a bad neighbor, State Farm tells Florida homeowners to get lost.
• Konagod: Let’s talk Facebook.
• Fan Nation: Former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Rod Woodson picks Arizona in the Super Bowl. Thanks for stellar play all those years, Rod, but screw you.

-WKW

Breaking: John McCain suspends Presidential campaign to save U.S. economy

WASHINGTON - As the economy continues to fall into even greater crisis, Sen. John McCain has announced that he will be “suspending” his Presidential campaign in order to head to the nation’s capitol to help Republicans scuttle President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus bill.

“Sen. McCain is once again doing the honorable thing and putting country first,” said McCain campaign manager Rick Davis. “Since November, we feel that we’ve made up a lot of ground in some important key states, but now is not the time for politics.”

For his part, McCain said the nation needed the GOP and his leadership now more than ever, and that his Presidential aspirations would have to be put on the back burner for the time being.

“We had an election. I think the message the American people are sending us now is they want us to work together and get to work,” said McCain, who garnered 173 electoral votes in the Nov. 2008 election. “That’s why I feel it’s time to suspend my campaign in order to work with my fellow Republicans.”

Davis added that Americans have proven that they were solidly behind McCain and the GOP.

“Just take one look at the voting results on the House stimulus bill. Zero Republicans voted for it. Zero,” said Davis. “This proves that America is a right-of-center nation and that John McCain is truly the candidate for change.

“But now is not the time for politics. It’s time to put country first, and John McCain is once again showing off his Maverickness by suspending his campaign and going to work with his fellow Republicans to try and block any and all liberal legislation,” Davis added.

Despite suspending the campaign, Davis said the McCain team will continue airing anti-Obama ads in key battleground states.

-WKW

Iraq gives Blackwater the boot

No one could have ever expected that having mercenaries fighting wars could end badly.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq will not renew the license of Blackwater Worldwide, the private security firm accused of killing Iraqi civilians while protecting U.S. diplomats, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday.

“The operating permission for the firm Blackwater will not be renewed. Its chance is zero,” said Alaa al-Taie, head of the press department at the Iraqi Interior Ministry.

“It is not acceptable to Iraqis and there are legal points against it, like killing Iraqis with their weapons.”

A U.S. embassy official confirmed that the embassy had been informed that the license would not be renewed, and said it was working on finding a new arrangement to cover its security.

“We don’t have specifics about dates. We are working with the government of Iraq and our contractors to address the implications of this decision,” the official said.

U.S. forces who occupied Iraq after the 2003 invasion granted their Western security contractors blanket immunity from Iraqi law. But that was revoked at the beginning of this year, and security contractors can now be prosecuted in Iraq.

Thus far, Barack Obama has drawn a line in the sand against torture. One wonders what his plans are for continuing the privatization of war.

-WKW

Bernard Goldberg’s “A Slobbering Love Affair” attacks a maverick media

Perhaps the mainstream media had “A Slobbering Love Affair” with Barack Obama leading up to the 2008 Presidential election. But one would think that if they did, Bernard Goldberg wouldn’t have had to play so fast and loose with the facts in his opening salvo against the Obama Administration.

Of course, while it’s easy enough to Google the information and disinformation Goldberg is spreading on his Fox News book tour, one can also use Google to see how well the mainstream media pushed the “John McCain is a Maverick” meme (more than 5 million hits). Damn liberal media.

-WKW

AC Milan making an ass out of David Beckham

Things like this never happen in the U.S. Which is why David Beckham will likely stay in Europe:

LONDON, England (CNN) — From four leaf clovers to a severed rabbit’s foot, when it comes to lucky mascots reason and taste often go out of the window.

No more so than at AC Milan where one charm is being held responsible for the team’s recent upturn in fortunes on the pitch: David Beckham’s bottom.

Since Beckham’s arrival at the San Siro, the England midfielder has started every game and scored his first goal in last weekend’s demolition of Bologna.

But as he walked away after celebrating the goal, Clarence Seedorf and Andrea Pirlo both stroked his left bum cheek.

This was apparently because they believe Beckham’s posterior has as much to do with Milan’s revival as his sweet right foot.

“Italy is a superstitious country, people touch things for luck,” an AC Milan spokesperson told UK newspaper “The Sun.”

Note to Major League Soccer: Just take the $4.5 million and call the Great Beckham Experiment a wash.

-WKW

One headline to rule them all

“GOP fails to limit children’s health program”

-WKW

Words of wisdom from Rush Limbaugh, the Leader of the Republican Party

When Republican Congressmen Phil Gingrey apologized profusely to Rush Limbaugh for comments he had recently made, the groveling signified something larger. Because while some media types had wondered aloud if Limbaugh had become the de facto leader if the Republican Party, it was in a more figurative sense. But seeing Gingrey and other GOP officials react fearfully at the possibility of upsetting Limbaugh and his listeners, it was obvious that it was literal. Rush Limbaugh and his minions runs the GOP.

So, Republicans, here are some pearls of wisdom from your Dear Leader:

“Take that bone out of your nose and call me back.”

“The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.”

“They’re 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?”

“Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?”

“Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.”

“Hugo, Cesar — whatever. A Chavez is a Chavez. We’ve always had problems with them.”

“We’re not sexists, we’re chauvinists — we’re male chauvinist pigs, and we’re happy to be because we think that’s what men were destined to be. We think that’s what women want.”

“He is exaggerating the effects of the disease. He’s moving all around and shaking and it’s purely an act… This is really shameless of Michael J Fox. Either he didn’t take his medication or he’s acting.”

“Feminism is a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.”

“Barack Obama is an affirmative action candidate.”

“I hope he fails.”

Rush Limbaugh, a thrice-divorced, draft-dodger is now running the GOP. So, Republicans, you have your marching orders. Now follow your leader.

-WKW

‘Jessica Simpson is fat’ meme destroyed by sister Ashlee

Yesterday, Fox News ran a breaking entertainment story about Jessica Simpson’s weight, which quickly ran wild among other media outlets. It seems that Simpson didn’t fit the (anonymous) author’s ideal fitness level, and the article was pure hit job - not just against Simpson, but essentially against every woman on the planet.

But instead of focusing on Fox’s faux story (which you could read here if you wish), let’s focus on the response from Jessica Simpson’s sister, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz:

“I am completely disgusted by the headlines concerning my sister’s weight. A week after the inauguration and with such a feeling of hope in the air for our country, I find it completely embarrassing and belittling to all women to read about a woman’s weight or figure as a headline on Fox News. …

All women come in different shapes, sizes, and forms and just because you’re a celebrity, there shouldn’t be a different standard. …

Is this something you would say to your wife, daughter, mother, grandmother, or even a friend? I seriously doubt it. How can we expect teenage girls to love and respect themselves in an environment where we criticize a size 2 figure? Now we can focus on the things that really matter.”

Amen, Ashlee.

-WKW

If Obama can’t use his pull to delay digital TV, we’re all screwed

I’ve made one simple point to many friends and relatives concerned that Barack Obama would bring sweeping legislative changes to the U.S. - regardless of Democratic advantages in the House and Senate, Republicans will do everything in their power to obstruct any and all legislation in Congress. And Democrats will let it happen.

Case in point: Obama said he wanted to delay the transition from analog to digital television broadcasting by four months. And Republicans stopped him:

House Republicans succeeded in scuttling a bill to delay the transition, which is scheduled for Feb. 17, less than two days after the Senate unanimously passed the plan.

The defeat is a setback for the Obama administration and Democrats on Capitol Hill, who fear too many Americans are not ready for the switchover.

The Nielsen Co. estimates more than 6.5 million U.S. households that rely on analog television sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals could see their TV sets go dark next month if the transition is not postponed.

Welcome to the next two years, at least. If you thought the GOP were obstructionist the last two years, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Update: But this is a positive piece of legislation that got through.

-WKW

Critical thinking - National Review style

The National Review’s Andy McCarthy, getting philosophical:

Let’s assume we are talking about a coercive method that undeniably is torture—say breaking fingers. Let’s also say the interrogator has been entrusted with the well-being of a community. And finally, let’s say we are certain a captive is culpable in a plot to bomb a city, he knows when and where the imminent bombing is to take place, and he won’t tell interrogator. If the interrogator begins breaking his fingers, he will almost certainly give up the information and lives will be saved.

24. To Conservatives, it’s a reality show.

-WKW

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