Fox News' Sheppard Smith wakes up, and he's not happy:
I like Barbara Radnofsky. She just keeps growing on me as a tireless campaigner, thoughtful candidate and trustworthy. How annoying is that? Is anybody sure she hasn't slept with a farm animal or something?
The old Huely Long Edwin Edwards quote was never more real. What's worse than being a congressman having wildy inappropriate instant message conversations with a teenage boy? Being on the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children.
What's worse than that? Knowing that a member of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children was a pervert and doing nothing about it while holding town halls on how to keep children safe in cyberspace.
Rep. Foley is just a pervert. Rep. Dennis Hastert is a slimebag for covering it up for a year.
[via Americablog]
Read the whole chat here: View image
A teacher in Frisco has been fired for taking her students to a musuem after one parent complained that her child saw a nude statue. Exposure to the arts is indeed a reason to fire a teacher in Frisco, otherwise how would they people that live their maintain their amazingingly high level of ignorance? [via DMN]
"Protecting" our children from exposure to the Arts (yes, I capitalized it) is an abomination. The Arts are an important part of their development as well rounded and educated adults. Once and for all, this is not pornographic.
This, on the other hand, is terribly obscene.
Which reminds me, get your t-shirts here.
Republican Rep. Foley from Florida has just resigned from office following an interview with ABC regarding sexually-suggestive emails he sent to a (minor) page [ABC Blotter]. I hadn't even heard about this scandal til this afternoon. Apparently the story has been moving very speedily this afternoon. ABC's Blotter has it all.
update: It actually came to light yesterday, according to the Blotter. I'm just confused about what day it is. Is it the weekend yet?
another update: You can see the e-mails here. Now if the Rep. had been a family friend with this page, these might have a different meaning. But apparently the page didn't even work in Foley's office. He just wrote the Rep. a thank-you note, and got these emails in return.
I'm guessing ABC picked up the story from Wonkette (since their post is from Weds.), but perhaps not.
- Senate approves the interrogation measures viewed illegal under Geneva Conventions [Guardian Unlimited]. Obviously human rights groups and other countries are not happy with this bill. But Bush is excited!
- Also passed yesterday - a bill legalizing warrantless wiretapping [AP on Yahoo!]. Republicans say that this will show whether Dems are soft on terror or determined to catch terrorists. Never mind about our civil liberties, or privacy, or anything. No, what matters is that Dems are soft on terror, right?
- "The State Department had put in a huge amount of effort to ensure there was a proper civilian administration put in straight away afterwards": former UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says US was in too big a hurry to go to war in Iraq [BBC].
- And surprise, surprise! Karen Hughes says it will take a while to fix our nation's image overseas. NO, REALLY?
... let's slow down here.
I'll be honest - a little bit of bile rose up in the back of my throat when I went to the Statesman website this morning and saw this headline: Perry might want eight more years:
Four more years just might not be enough for Gov. Rick Perry.No, I'm pretty sure that noise came from the electorate, not potential gubernatorial candidates. And it wasn't so much a clang as it was a "I think I shit myself."Trying to bat down speculation he might be vice presidential material in 2008, Perry has been telling editorial writers and reporters not to assume too much.
Perry says he might seek a third four-year term as governor in 2010. That would mean Perry, who followed George W. Bush into the governorship when Bush was elected president in 2000, is at least contemplating being governor for 14 years.
That collective clang you hear is a generation of statewide wannabes, particularly Republican gubernatorial hopefuls, dropping their spoons into their Cheerios.
Why does Perry feel the need to "bat down speculation he might be vice presidential material in 2008?" Doesn't polling in the low 30s - in Texas, as a Republican - pretty much do that for him? Or, what about him just being Rick Perry - doesn't that bat down speculation, too?
Geh. I feel like I should go brush my teeth or something.
Try Slate's "The George Allen Insult Generator" and then ask the senator to explain himself. Perfect for those days when you're feeling a little too big for your britches.
Emergency Rooms are overburdened. The news angle this time is that our ERs wouldn't be able to handle a crisis such as a terrorist attack or that old fake out fear the 'bird flu' and something must be done. Congress wants to get involved, thereby proving that a.) no good will come from this and b.) someone spots an opportunity to criticize America's health care crisis.
It's pretty simple why emergency rooms are overburdened. Here's the real facts:
According to a highly scientific and indisputable research study, Republicans are having more babies than Democrats. Since children follow their parent's political beliefs, the conclusion is that Republicans will outpace Democrats for generations to come.
"They're for abortion policy, they're for same-sex marriage, they're for many of the agenda items that eventually mean you probably don't have children in the household," [conservative pollster Kellyanne] Conway said.That's right, folks. If liberals weren't out killing their babies and taking birth control the Democratic party wouldn't be facing extinction.
I see absolutely no flaw in this 'research' at all. It is completely reasonable and should set every Americans heart at ease to know that the Republicans will win elections for years to come.
Jesse Ventura campaigning for Kinky Friedman. (Thanks Tipster)
New York Republican candidate for Attorney General Jeanine Pirro is under state and federal investigation for illegally spying on her husband [WNBC]. Just go read the story; it's too crazy.
The GOP will hold their 2008 convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Good. The further away from me, the better. That goes for you too, DNC.
AmericaBlog had this screenshot from the Boston Herald.
Kinky Friedman was overheard to say, "What's the big deal they all look alike anyway."
TPMmuckraker has obtained documents that officially prove Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) is Jack Abramhoff's bitch - and in the worst possible way, too.
How so?
In November of 1997, Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) publicly questioned the credibility of a teenage girl's claims that she'd been the victim of the sex trade in the Northern Mariana Islands. The statement, which Rep. Hall entered into the Congressional Record, was prepared by Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist for the islands."[S]he wanted to do nude dancing," Hall's statement said of the fifteen-year-old girl. She had earlier told federal investigators that she'd been forced to work for a local nightclub in a nightly live sex show. You can read the entirety of Hall's statement here.
Now go donate some cash to Hall's opponent, Glenn Melancon, so that he can at least build a new website as soon as possible.
Thanks to our tipster for the heads up.
At the rate that Vernon Robinson's ads are going, I fully expect the next one to involve the words "buttplug" and "champagne enema."
[via Wonkette]
- You know we're all scared when an opera by Mozart gets cancelled for fear of terrorist acts. And it's not even The Abduction of the Seraglio!
- Dallas-based 7-Eleven (oh, thank heaven) is saying "Adios" to Venezuela's Citgo as their fuel supplier [Yahoo!]. They say politics has nothing to do with it, but HA!
- Kerry running for President again? Please no. I mean, he's a nice guy and all, but no.
- War is *$((: PBS, scared of the FCC, is cutting the curse words of soldiers from future documentaries [NY Observer].
"Unless the parties involved can show evidence that the funds paying for a particular asset were a gift, inherited or owned at the time of marriage, it is presumed to be community property," [a local lawyer, board certified in family law] said.So prove it, Seaman. Or has your bluff been called?If Gene Seaman provided his wife with the funds to buy the condo, it would constitute a gift and would be viewed as community property, lawyers said.
Doesn't sound like anyone is really looking forward to the coal-burning power plants that Perry and his big energy cronies so desire. On my way home from work yesterday I heard this great story on NPR about how these plants will make Texas more bass-ackwards than we already are and why Texans are against them. Towards the end of the story the reporter talked about how in the hearings this fall, the bizarre teaming of farmers, big-city mayors and environmentalists will go up against Perry and the utility companies. Should be something to see, alright.
Did you know the Texas Department of Criminal Justice provides a handy database of the last words of inmates just prior to their execution? I read through many of them. Aside from the predictable, "I didn't do it," there were a few realizations that hopefully spread the word that crime doesn't pay. If you are anti-capital punishment you'll focus on the ones where convicted criminals claim innocence and cry for the injustice of our courts. If you are pro-capital punishment you'll focus on the ones where the convicted criminals repent for their sins and ask forgiveness.
Something for everyone! Milton-Bradley should jump on this. [via Boing Boing]
The Texans for Public Justice have a report out detailing the campaign contributions in the governor's race. It's a very interesting read and here are some highlights:
Rick Perry is getting his funds exactly where you'd think. Bob Perry, James Leininger, AT&T and Wal-Mart.
Carole Keeton Strayhorn is doing pretty well in raising money for someone they keep saying has no shot. I don't know about you, but $12 million ain't too shabby. (By the way, the cartoon depiction on that link to her page cracked my ass up. She looks like a grinning white lady Fat Albert. HA!)
Richard "Kinky" Friedman got a lot of money from hair products people. WTF is that about? Plus, he's apparently selling a lot of crap on his web site. Great, eBay for Governor.
Chris Bell is getting a late momentum but lags tremendously in the fundraising game. The people in Houston seem to like him, though.
A quick riddle: What's Wong with this headline? What's wrong with this picture? Hint: They both dropped the "R". State Rep Martha Wong's yardsigns:
Rep Wong's yardsigns uncovered:
Just a thought, maybe instead of being afraid of your constituents you could be proud of them. Go pay Ellen Cohen a visit.
Dear Ethicist, When media reports present a glaring violation of state ethics rules for elected officials do you have an ethical obligation to ensure the Texas Ethics Commission investigates the 'alleged' violation?In unrelated news, an ethics complaint was filed against Gene Seaman for paying his wife 'rent' on community property he shares with his wife in Austin, Texas. Sticky wicket, indeed.Thank you for your question. I believe the answer is a resounding yes. As a citizen it is up to each and everyone of us to perform our civic duty and ensure the public trust is not violated by our elected officials or ordinary citizens. If you become aware of a violation of state rules, it becomes your moral obligation to report them and ensure they are pursued to a responsible conclusion.
Have an ethical question? Email me and get an objective and responsible answer!
ASSIMILATE, BITCHES. I love the irony of John Rocker starting a movement to tell immigrants how to act. The same John Rocker who, in 1999, said:
On ever playing for a New York team: "I would retire first. It's the most hectic, nerve-racking city. Imagine having to take the [Number] 7 train to the ballpark, looking like you're [riding through] Beirut next to some kid with purple hair next to some queer with AIDS right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It's depressing."By the way, this is the image he's using on his website to hock the shirts. Pinche idiota.On New York City itself: "The biggest thing I don't like about New York are the foreigners. I'm not a very big fan of foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?"
[via Deadspin]
Here we have the four current Newsweek covers: Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the U.S. Guess us 'Mericans don't like real, hard news. Give us pretty pictures!
[via Rising Hegemon]
Rick Bolanos, the Democratic candidate for congressional district 23, cracked us up with an email news release.
Just so you know, come shine or rain we'll be watching. If you've got other campaign bloopers via email or print send them to us via email and we'll point and laugh so you don't have to! (Thanks to our tipster for this one)
Once again, Jerry Falwell, opens his mouth and shows his insincere adherence to Christian values. He announced to a group of pastors that if Hillary Clinton were the nominee in 2008 nothing would energize evangelicals more...not even if the devil himself were to run. You know, it kind of got me to thinking what exactly what the devil's platform for the office of president be? I mean, surely the devil would be a wildly popular candidate...after all only 85% of Americans adhere to a religious belief so I'm sure the devil would take that 15% of non-believers and really make them into a majority in no time.
If only we could say Jerry Falwell is irrelevant, but...sadly we cannot. This perverter of Christian beliefs twists and manipulates and terrorizes politicians and ordinary hard working Americans into believing his hate filled spew that comes from whatever pit he crawled out of.
Congresswoman Katherine Harris got some support from her own party when President Bush flew to town and the State Party GOP Chair offered a hug and this statement: "Katherine has overcome tough times. She's a gutsy lady and we love her."
State party officials, including the chair, Carole Jean Jordan, actively tried to knock her out of the race and only since she's narrowly won the primary and the GOP is in danger of losing seats nationwide have they begrudgingly thrown some support behind her.
This is the kind of politics that makes you feel icky. If you were Katherine Harris (don't worry, you'd never be able to pull it off...you don't have the boobs for it) wouldn't you just rather punch the state chairman in the face when she tried to give you a hug?
I can't help but wonder how this would play out in a Lifetime Movie Event starring Miss Jane Seymour and Jaclyn Smith.
Man, you leave town for one week and things turn nasty in Texas! The blogs and the print media are now obsessed with Kinky Friedman...in a bad way. The Burnt Orange Report has become Kinkyisaracist.com while I was gone.
I do not know Kinky Friedman. I have not read one of his books. I have never heard him speak in person, or sing? But, from what I understand he is some sort of 'humorist' and often does satirical commentaries and parodies of political subjects before a large audience of people.
Media outlets all over are blasting him for using the "N" word. What exactly is the "N" word? The word, in case you don't know is nigger. It is a disgusting word, yes. Can you sometimes use it? From my time in Texas and throughout the South, I can tell you plenty of people DO use it. The fact that in polite society we're 'outraged' at its mere mentioned is mock outrage at best.
The man is a humorist. A satirist. While his usage and content may not be up your alley, the mere fact that the words are used in a satirical context are just that. SATIRE. Look it up. Attack a candidate on issues and political beliefs, not on the fact that you don't know what the definition of satire is.
This concludes the portion of PinkDome where you force me to defend a Jew.
Click here to read the entire transcript. It's scheduled to air on Fox tomorrow. Here's a sample:
WALLACE: When we announced that you were going to be on Fox News Sunday, I got a lot of email from viewers, and I got to say I was surprised most of them wanted me to ask you this question. Why didn't you do more to put Bin Laden and al Qaeda out of business when you were President? There's a new book out which I suspect you've read called the Looming Tower. And it talks about how the fact that when you pulled troops out of Somalia in 1993, Bin Laden said "I have seen the frailty and the weakness and the cowardice of US troops." Then there was the bombing of the embassies in Africa and the attack on the USS Cole.CLINTON: OK..
WALLACE: ...may I just finish the question sir. And after the attack, the book says, Bin Laden separated his leaders because he expected an attack and there was no response. I understand that hindsight is 20/20.
CLINTON: No let's talk about...
WALLACE: ...but the question is why didn't you do more, connect the dots and put them out of business?
CLINTON: OK, let's talk about it. I will answer all of those things on the merits but I want to talk about the context of which this arises. I'm being asked this on the FOX network...ABC just had a right wing conservative on the Path to 9/11 falsely claim that it was based on the 9/11 Commission report with three things asserted against me that are directly contradicted by the 9/11 Commission report. I think it's very interesting that all the conservative Republicans who now say that I didn't do enough, claimed that I was obsessed with Bin Laden. All of President Bush's neocons claimed that I was too obsessed with finding Bin Laden when they didn't have a single meeting about Bin Laden for the nine months after I left office. All the right wingers who now say that I didn't do enough said that I did too much. Same people.
[... snip ...]
CLINTON: What did I do? I worked hard to try and kill him. I authorized a finding for the CIA to kill him. We contracted with people to kill him. I got closer to killing him than anybody has gotten since. And if I were still president we'd have more than 20,000 troops there trying to kill him. Now I never criticized President Bush and I don't think this is useful. But you know we do have a government that thinks Afghanistan is 1/7 as important as Iraq. And you ask me about terror and Al Qaeda with that sort of dismissive theme when all you have to do is read Richard Clarke's book to look at what we did in a comprehensive systematic way to try to protect the country against terror. And you've got that little smirk on your face. It looks like you're so clever...
WALLACE: [Laughs]
CLINTON: I had responsibility for trying to protect this country. I tried and I failed to get Bin Laden. I regret it but I did try. And I did everything I thought I responsibly could. The entire military was against sending special forces into Afghanistan and refueling by helicopter and no one thought we could do it otherwise…We could not get the CIA and the FBI to certify that Al Qaeda was responsible while I was President. Until I left office. And yet I get asked about this all the time and they had three times as much time to get him as I did and no one ever asks them about this. I think that's strange.
"I want to give Texans the kind of leadership they deserve."
--Rick Perry to the Kerrville Daily Times.
From CBS News last night.
"Dead cats and skunks that have been run over. . . that's what's usually in the middle of the road." - Tony Perkins on moderate Christians. Isn't there some hymn about "In Christ there is no East or West, in Him no South or North"? They must not sing that at his church.
Governor Perry is surprised because _____________.
The image, by the way, is from today's New York Times' article on the Texas guv race. It doesn't really tell you anything you don't already know, though.
It happens to all of us. Late on a Tuesday night, you're feeling horny, and HBO's Real Sex just isn't doing it for you. You hop online to chat with some hot babes/dudes/MSNBC reporters, but that's not working either. So you turn to your last resort: answering the casual encounters posts on Craigslist.
Okay, maybe it doesn't happen to all of us. But it sure did to a 23-year old Austinite, whose night didn't end up as fun as he had hoped. From the Statesman:
The 23-year-old man showed up at the Southwest Austin apartment at 4 a.m. Tuesday after answering a Craigslist post advertising a good time.According to the affidavit, the post was for "partying and hanging out with other men and women." Poor, nameless 23-year-old. Dude just wanted to party and hang out with other men and women.When he walked in, the man who answered the door promised that his female roommate, who he said had left, would soon return, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. That's when Ernest Ray Lamey, 35, offered the 23-year-old a drink laced with Ambien, a sleeping pill, and waited until it kicked in before sexually attacking him, the affidavit said.
And "Ernest Ray Lamey" sounds like a serial killer name. Just sayin'.
You got it. I'm stuck in Memphis and have been here all week on business. I've been entertained by the campaign ads here where the Republican candidate is a Bush loyalist and calls the Democrat the most liberal person in Tennessee. From what I can tell the most liberal person in Tennessee is probably me.
Leaving the bubble of Austin I have seen more W '04 stickers than I've seen in the past two years in Austin. In other words, I can. not. wait. to be home.
Rep. Martha Wong's first ad lies about her support for health care programs for the poor.
Her ad says she "helped the truly needy gain access to government health care programs like Medicaid, Medicare and the Children's Health Insurance Program." In reality, however, she voted to cut almost $1 billion from health program and institute a lot of super user-friendly changes to CHIP, like an assets test, a 90-day waiting period, 6-month enrollment periods, and - the best of all - clusterfuck Accenture running the enrollment and eligibility portion of the program. Thanks to Wong, over 200,000 children were cut from the program. What a sweetheart.
She also eats poop. So there.
Kerry at last week's Iowa-Iowa State game. And for those of you who don't think it's real.
[via Deadspin]
The US House passed a bill to require a photo ID in order to vote. Somehow Mary Denny's brilliant idea passed congressional muster. The Senate also began considering The Great Wall of China America to keep the Mongolians Mexicans out.
Bah, stupid election year discriminatory issues. Someone bring in Mark Strama to slap that ID bill back to that special place where bad bills go to die.
Money buys you access to politicians. Grover Norquist got almost 100 White House meetings between 2001 - 2006. Ralph Reed got 18 meetings including a couple with the President. Carole Strayhorn got on PinkDome. Who woulda thunk it?
Yep, you're right...that is a Carole Keeton Strayhorn ad you see on PinkDome. Some people left comments in the "what the hell?" vein yesterday about it and I just thought I'd address some of the questions.
Let me also just go ahead and say PinkDome still doesn't give a shit about the actual mechanics of politics or individual candidates. Do I like Carole Keeton Strayhorn? Sure. Why not? So don't get your panties all in a wad about it.
Someone guessed it right, but they didn't send me their email address so we'll try yet another clue as to where in the hell is PinkDome. I'm in a city that is home to a global company a lot of you are customers of every day. My business here has absolutely nothing to do with that business.
A sweet remembrance of Ann:
ALSO - Austinist links to the Alamo Drafthouse ad she starred in. What a great find.
Meet Pro-Life Richardson. He's running for governor in Idaho, and, yes, that's his real name. Well, kind of.
He used to be mild-mannered Marvin Richardson. Then, in a vision, Pat Robertson told him to embarrass and bring ridicule upon his family, so he changed his middle name to Pro-Life and filed to run for governor. After Satan incarnate, the Secretary of State, told Richardson that he couldn't use Pro-Life on the ballot, he did what any conservative would do: turn to the activist judiciary.
On Monday, with a judge's approval, Richardson dropped his first and last names, officially giving him a one word moniker: Pro-Life. Kind of like Cher, only no assless chaps.
His explanation for all of this? I quote, "My name being Pro-Life on the ballot will save a number of babies by the time I die." That, of course, doesn't explain why he forced his 10-year old son into taking "Pro-Life" as a middle name. I'm sure Grant Pro-Life Richardson will appreciate his dad's stance on abortion as he's getting his ass kicked throughout middle school.
His new name won't appear on this year's ballot, but Pro-Life intends to run for office every two years until he dies. The unborn everywhere rejoice.
- I didn't see Tucker Carlson's, um, "dancing" on Dancing with the Stars, but Chris Matthews did: "He looked like a guy enjoying a lap dance. She was doing all the work and he was like the bored customer." [FishbowlDC]
- Yahoo! and Current TV (remember? the network backed by Al Gore?) have teamed up for The Yahoo! Current Network. It's like YouTube, only Bono posts there.
- The Environmental Defense Fund wants you to stop TXU from building more coal-burning power plants. . . by emailing Rick Perry. Because that will soooo solve the problem. [Gristmill]
- Well-known user of random racial slurs Sen. George Allen is now plugging the Jewish ancestry on his mother's side of the family [WaPo]. All I could think of when I read this article was this Family Guy episode. Don't ask me why.
If you thought the speeches at the UN yesterday were harsh, just wait. Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela (and already on Bush's shit list), referred to our own Senor Presidente as "the devil" today in his speech [CNN]. Now Bush may be obtuse, inane, and obsessed with torture, but I wouldn't go so far as to call him Satan (warning: turn down your volume a tad before you click on that).
I'm so confused about Chavez. A slight part of me agrees with some of what he says, but most of me thinks he's way out there. WAY, way out there.
You know that nosey guy in your office whose obsessed with finding out how much everyone makes? That dude sucks. But you can pretend to be that guy, at least for a moment, with LegiStorm.com. LegiStorm lets you check on how Congress is divvying up their staff salaries.
The salaries are listed in 3, 4, or 5-month increments, so you have to extrapolate the full year's salary. Regardless, peoples is gettin' paid, man. For example, here's the Texas delegation. Our favorite Congressman, Louie Gohmert, is paying his chief of staff about $90,000. Our favorite Gohmert staffer, Lauren Huly [rowr], is pulling in around $37,500.
Hey, Louie, I think it's time to bump up Lauren's salary. After all, getting famous on PinkDome and The Hill has got to be worth something.
Scour through our other elected officials and report anything interesting in the comments.
[via Wonkette]
News is somewhat slow right now, so remember to send any tips or comments that you think we should know about.
Feel free to send it to one or all of us. Our email addresses are: PinkDome, Rawhide, Bluebonnet, and SuperWow!. Your anonymity is ensured.
Sometimes business interferes wi
