The Hidden Venom and Subtle Fury

Remember the Republican National Convention?

Here's what they were hiding.

Nutjobs or wackjobs? We report, you decide.

PropaGannon

The folks hanging off the right wing of our fine country have recently been bragging about the "scalps" in the MSM they've "collected" - meaning Rather and Eason Jordan. They compare this to Gannongate and scoff "Jeff Who?" The implication being that the right wing bags big name journalists, while the rest of us merely expose Talon News operatives.

Putting aside the fact that I had never heard of Eason Jordan prior to his unsubstantiated accusations against our military (oh Eason, we hardly knew ye), the bloodthirsty right simply misses the key point.

Gannongate is not about Jeff Gannon. It's not about Jim Gluckert. It's about the White House. The White House that ushered this online gay escort in under a false name for a press briefing with Scotty McClellan as early as February, 2003 - before Gannon was even working as a fake journalist- and for two years thereafter.

So the question becomes, just how did this character get White House press
credentials, despite supposed post-Sept. 11 security requirements? Bruce
Bartlett, a conservative columnist who worked in the Reagan and first Bush
administrations, says that "if Gannon was using an alias, the White House staff
had to be involved in maintaining his cover." In other words, the White House
wanted him at those briefings and wanted him to ask his softball questions, most
likely to divert attention when legitimate reporters were getting too pushy.

Bizzare.

And there is a part of me that thinks that this White House could never be so sloppy. Get a former online gay prostitute to ask President Bush in a press conference about Democrats "who have divorced themselves from reality," and expect it to fly over the heads of the American people? It's so outrageous, so preposterous, that I'm left wondering if this is some elaborate Oswaldian frame-up. Will Gannon take the fall for exposing Valerie Plame? Can't be... someone in the Administration had to tell Gannon, and therein lies the felony. So what's going on here?

The other part of me thinks that maybe the White House actually does think we are dumb enough to skip right over this plant in the pressroom. Hell, the MSM did it for two years. It took the blogs to expose this phony. And is it any more bizzare really than the White House paying a quarter million dollars to another "journalist" to write love letters about its policies?

The Incomparable M.J.

I appreciate your post 3G comparing Lebron James to Michael Jordan. I grew up on the Southside of Chicago watching every one of M.J.'s games on WGN. Although we could only afford tickets during the pre-Dynasty era (that is, before the string of championships), I remember as if it were yesterday staying in on Friday nights until Bulls games were over just to watch "poetry in motion." Later in college, when I was abroad in France, I stayed up until 4 am watching each game of the championship series against the Sonics, amazed at his grace.

As we all were, I was devastated when he retired prematurely in 1993, but who could blame him? His dad was just murdered at a rest stop for Michael’s ring. Lucky for us, his Airness made a triumphant return to the hardwood against the arch nemesis Knicks a couple years later scoring 55 points and feeding Bill Wennington for the winning hoop, all en route to 3 more championship rings.

Years later, when I got to DC, he followed in what was his second comeback. Unlike many in the Chicagoland, namely Sam Smith, the writer for the Trib, I thought his 2d comeback was a success. The guy could still flat out play. Maybe he couldn't sky like before, but he was still getting double and triple teamed nightly and still finding a way to score. Besides, his arrival in the nation’s capital created a huge buzz. Tickets to the Wiz suddenly became impossible to get.

The problem was that he was surrounded by “CBA-type players,” to be generous. Laettner, Popeye Jones, Jahidi White? Come on. Jordan would make some ridiculous no-look pass to one of them and the ball would always seem to bounce off the hapless player’s chest out of bounds.

It was frustrating, to say the least, but again, I'd stay in on weekends until the games were over.

The next year, though, Jordan developed knee problems, which plagued him the rest of the year. His final year became anticlimactic, but I still got a warm feeling inside seeing his face on billboards and in commercials, and every once and a while the greatness of old would turn up, showing us again with some fantastic play, the memory of which I could live off for days.

Man, that guy was good.

The problem though for me in comparing some new hotshot player, as 3G does below, to the "greatest player to ever live" is that it's a fruitless exercise. J.R. Rider, Labradford Smith, Harold Miner, Greg Minor, Roderick Rhodes, Courtney Alexander, Joe Forte, Dajuan Wagner, and even Jerry Stackouse, are all names of players who have been compared to him and who have failed miserably to live up to the billing. Even Kobe Bryant has failed. He lacks the charm, the charisma, the panache, and most importantly, the class of Michael. His entire career has been in his shadow; moreover, it's a different era. The NBA is not the NBA that I remember and the comparisons never match up.

So what I propose is to accept the fact that Jordan—and include in the mix, Magic and Bird--were a unique set of players. The best of their time, perhaps all time. I propose that we move on and all agree not to compare Jordan to any new player. I propose we avoid it like the plague for the sake of the new players and, most importantly, for the sake of the Greatest Player to Ever Live.

Our Little Brown One is Cleaning House

And just when I blogged this,

This is a basic earmark of the phenomenon, absolutely consistent across its
decades long history. Abortion is never halted. Affirmative action is never
abolished. The culture industry is never forced to clean up its act.

they did this and this. Thanks to our little brown one that is now Attorney General my kids have the chance of growing up to be productive and good people. Thank God we have government to regulate these heathens. So long as the do not regulate this, the people's best interests will be protected.

King James v. Air Jordan: Wouldn't that be a match up?

I was watching LeBron James play the other night and I have been simply amazed at his abilities. Seriously, he is 20 years old and dominates. I compared his statistics thus far in his short career to Michael Jordan's:

Field Goal Percentage (first 2 yrs)
James was 42% from the field in '03-'04, his rookie year, and is 49% so far this year.
Jordan, my biggest childhood idol, was 52% (that's sick) from the field in '84, his rookie year and 46% from the field in '85*.

Avg. Rebounds Per Game (first 2 yrs)
James averaged 5.5 rebounds a game last year and 7.2 rebounds a game this year.
Jordan averaged 6.5 rebounds a game his rookie year and 3.6 the following year*.

Avg. Points Per Game (first two years)
James averaged 20.0 pts a game his rookie year and 25.3 thus far this season.
Jordan averaged 28.2 (equally as sick) pts a game his rookie year and 22.7* his second season

*MJ's second season was the year he broke his foot. Factoid: MJ was the third pick in the '84 NBA Draft, Hakeem Olojuwan went first and Sam Bowie went second. Sam Who?

I like watching LeBron, he seems to be a class act and an easy going guy. The NBA needs a guy like this, especially after dealing with a guy like Kobe and the Piston and Pacers brawl. LeBron isn't full of himself, he seems to be a good guy who was raised right. Even though Jordan's first two years were a little better (assuming he would have done as well his 2nd year without the foot injury), Jordan had, I believe, 3 years with North Carolina and was 21yrs old his rookie year. LeBron was freaking 18 his rookie year and out of high school. This guy should be fun to watch for the decade to come and more importantly, he revives a little hope in me that there are still a few cool cats in professional sports. Hopefully, he will decide to restore the NBA dunk contest, but it looks like he is wavering.

Queer Hate: Republicans choose Hate over family

This is amazing to me, it's one thing to discriminate against gay folks when you have no connection to them, but it's quite another thing to discriminate against your own daughter because she is gay. Alan Keyes, a good representative of today's Republican Party disregards his own daughter to advocate discontent with this segment of society. It's a good thing Mr. Keyes is a good strong Christian because Christ's word taught all moral Christians to not accept people for who they are and to discriminate against homosexuals. Heck, I am pretty sure JC told us to hate these sinners. Take a look, I am getting scared I need to go and lock my door, the gay people are coming to change me.

Calvary Charge's TOD: A Hannity Nazi in Training

I once read that if you pretend to be something you are not you will eventually believe your fantasy and not be able to distinguish that from reality. The Republicans talk about how it was Kerry and the liberals that divided America, but just take a look over at Cavalry Charge. Doesn't the post about Eason Jordon drape itself in this feeling of personal hate for the individual? I just always thought, and call me naive, that we were concerned about the USA, not about destroying people for party gain. Guys like this fellow TOD are little Hannity Nazis in training. I think guys like this should be imprisoned for life. The only downside to that would be one less dude I like on spring break trips.

Turning the Worm

Keeping it civil over at the DKos. . .

The High Road According To Glenn

The blogosphere has been all aflutter recently about (1) Jeff Gannon, a non-journalist hack who the White House granted full press credentials under his fake name so that Gannon could lob softballs at Scotty during the gaggle; and (2) Eason Jordon, a CNN executive who made an ass of himself by making unsupported off the cuff remarks about the military targeting journalists.

Here's Glenn Reynolds on how the right wing is taking the high road, while the folks who relate "Gannon's" bizarre background of online escort services are simply stuck in the mire:

I also agree with Kurtz that it was the stuff about Gannon's personal life that led to his resignation, and that there's something rather sleazy about that. Backstage or not, targeting parts of people's lives that don't have to do with the story -- like, say, Eason Jordan's love life -- seems inappropriate to me, and likely to lend support to the bloggers-as-lynch-mob caricature.

Not so fast, Glenn. We'll let our buddies over at Cavalry Charge take this one...

There was a juicy sex angle too: Several CNN staffers say Jordan, who was distraught about the controversy, saw the handwriting on the wall in tendering his resignation. But top executives are also said to have lost patience with the continuing gossip about Jordan, including his affair with Marianne Pearl, widow of the murdered reporter Daniel Pearl, and subsequent marital breakup.

In fact, Mr. Reynolds, the house from which you lob stones appears quite brittle.

What's the word I'm looking for? Oh yeah: "heh"

Marriage: one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.

As we've discussed before on 2GL, we have yet to hear a single reasoned argument against gay marriage. All anti-gay arguments are rooted in a sort of personal religious belief in the divine order of things.

As Colbert King so eloquently details, the right wing tried to put the same lipstick on the pig of anti-interracial marriage laws less than fifty years ago. As a white man with a longtime girlfriend who is black, it's hard to explain the disgust with which I read this:

Almighty God created the races, white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.

An American judge wrote that less than fifty years ago. Shameful.

I can only image how gay couples must feel when they hear this very same bullcrap espoused as a cornerstone of the platform of the party controlling Washington in 2005. How must they feel when the President of the United States himself is peddling this tripe?

I only hope that in fifty years, gay folks will read the words of todays' Republicans and see nothing more than the last gasps of a dying ignorance.

If You Don't Drink Pina Colada,

And like the hajj in the rain...


This is too sweet.

Give me a break!

Today is a monumental day for Republicans due to the unveiling of the President Ronald Reagan stamp. I find it funny that the conservatives despise Hollywoood because of its liberal tendencies, but they elect actors to high offices. Goes to show that the party votes on emotion and not substance. The better the actor, the better chance at getting elected, look at W. he pretends to be a cowboy of modest means even though he is not a Texan by birth, nor did he live any serious amount of time in Texas during his childhood. Hat Tip: Republican Suckers

Bush Lied

Oh no! About a blowjob? Please in the name of heaven not about a blowjob!

No, only about torture.

Whew. All's well.

Scalped?

This girl might need a good supply of Head and Shoulders for that burning sensation on her dome. I find it surprising she was punished for disrespecting women. Wouldn't a woman wearing a mohawk in and of itself constitute disrespect of a woman. I don't know, but watch your dome, scalping is back

Who said the Amish weren't into American Culture?

This sports writer writes about his experience watching the Super Bowl with an Amish group in Pennsylvania. Kind of interesting.....I wonder what they thought about TO's bird dance after that first down.

Early Polling News from New York: Pataki Down

Yeah, I know it's early, but 2006 is right around the corner. Tagaen's got the scoop on races involving Hillary, Giuliani, Pataki, and the people's choice, Eliot Spitzer.

Cole v. Goldberg

If you haven't been following this, you're missing out. I'll fill you in so far: Goldberg is getting slapped up by Cole for his anti-intellectual parroting of the Bush line, and is left whining that the reason his warmongering a$$ is not in Iraq is because he has a kid and doesn't want to give up the money he's making. Tell it to the troops, Jonah. What a dick.

It's A Hell of Hoot Says the General

I finally found some time to sit down and attempt to write a decent post for 2GL and the multiple pressing stories of the day all came to mind for possible commentary. Then, I thought back to last night as I was getting ready to head over to a friend's house to play Friday night poker. I turned to CNN first, as I always do when searching for the news of the day. I caught the last five minutes of Paula's interview with Ward Churchill, the U. of Colorado professor who compared 9-11 victims to Nazis. I heard his argument and position and sure, if you take it to its logical conclusion, you kind of get it. But, there is no forum is this country for a comparison of 9-11 victims to Adolf Eichman, that’s simple. My point is that he likely could have been a little more delicate with his use of terms and laid out the same argument. Right or wrong on his point, he's a little full of himself to think that he is not wrong for saying what he did. But that's not what really caught my attention last night. I then turned to my beloved tabloid journalism channel, Fox News, fair and balanced; if you're a conservative at least. As I maneuvered through and around the flashing boxes and rocketing icons that flew past the screen with audio that made me think a plane was seconds away from hitting my room, I saw good ol' Sean Hannity. Beside him, as always, was Fox's proof positive of fair and balanced news, Alan Colmes. I like Alan, he is the sacrificial lamb for the network and he either one, takes his destiny on nobly or two, has no idea that he is a human punching bag for Hannity who takes control of the segment at any time things start heading too far to the middle.

H&C had author Bill Press on discussing the story of three star general Lt. Gen. James Mattis' off the cuff remarks regarding the enjoyment of shooting people. Bill Press' demeanor really made the segment into the disgusting display that ensued. Not by him, but by Hannity. Here is the bulk of the statement from Mattis, and I think it would be difficult to argue that its been taken out of context:

"Actually it's quite fun to fight them, you know. It's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up there with you. I like brawling." To be fair, I will add this second portion of his statement. "You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."

Wow! Sure sounds like a psychopath to me. I think most reasonable Americans, or at least somewhat intelligent Americans could agree that there is no room in a civilized society for talk of this sort. Hell, I bet even Rocky would agree with that, as every now and again, I see a glimmer of hope in the guy. Sean Hannity without reservation, ON NATIONAL TV, stated he saw nothing wrong with the statements. I searched for the transcript of the interview, but Fox News has not updated its site since yesterday. But, take a look for yourself when you get a chance. Bill Press in a non-argumentative way made reasonable comments about how leaders of our military should act more responsibly than this and that you would expect to hear things of this sort from leaders of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Other comments included the idea that it’s never "fun" to kill and that while the General is having "fun", many collateral casualties are also happening. Hannity, without hesitation, commented on how the General was a "great American" as he says about anyone in line with his views. He also stated that he should be applauded for his understanding of the circumstances. Hannity then spoke about the pursuit of freedom and reasoned that the General's statements were precise in that light. I have been appalled by Hannity so many times, but this took the cake, and quite frankly, I think guys like him are destructive to America. He's destructive because his commentary actively divides Americans. His livelihood depends on this and he will say whatever he wants to meet this end. Sure, he would never think he does that, but he does. By vilifying "liberals" and using that word to describe evil people or folks against America, it serves no positive purpose except for his own personal gain and ego-stroking, if you do not see this then that’s unfortunate.

I find it even more interesting that not a peep has come out of the White House about this. No comment whatsoever from Bush. These comments are despicable and this General should be relieved of his duties. I understand a military has to be good at killing and have the mentality of a warrior. In a certain sense, I want this General to somewhat think that killing the enemy is his passion, but politically, we continue to incline the slope America has to climb to reach our goals because of irresponsible and ignorant people like this.

THE PLAN TO DO NOTHING

If you listened to the President string more than five words together in the last month, you've heard him talk about how Social Security is a ticking bomb. A bomb your grandma is sitting on. A bomb which will explode in about forty years, slaughtering all of our chances for retirement and forcing our children to work until they collapse, dead from exhaustion at 95.

You've also heard him talk about his plan to partially privatize Social Security. Of course, now he's stopped saying "private" and started saying "personal" accounts. In any event, he assured us that he has a plan.

Too bad the plan is not intended to defuse the bomb.

In a significant shift in his rationale for the accounts, Bush dropped his claim that they would help solve Social Security's fiscal problems — a link he sometimes made during last year's presidential campaign. Instead, he said the individual accounts were desirable because they would be "a better deal," providing workers what he said would be a higher rate of return and "greater security in retirement."

A Bush aide, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity, was more explicit, saying that the individual accounts would do nothing to solve the system's long-term financial problems.

Jockeying for Position

As an alternative to Hillary in '08, the Dems could do a lot worse than run with this guy.


I don't belong to any organized political party; I'm a Democrat.
--Will Rogers

The General has some tips for Bush's SOU.

Welcome to the ownership society. If you have not been assigned an owner
yet, please report to Iran for duty.

Be Careful What You Pose For

When I see an old black and white photograph of some random person, long-dead, hanging on a wall of some trying-hard-to-be-vintage restaurant, I sometimes muse, I wonder if that person back in 1889 had any idea that she was posing for a photograph that would someday hang conspicuously in a Pot Belly Sandwich Works on 12th and F in Washington, DC?

Well, what if that person were not dead and the photo made its way onto the jar of one of the most well-known, recognizable instant coffees selling in the US, and it took you 16 YEARS to realize it?

Enter, the Taster's Choice Guy, and you know who I'm talking about:

A jury in Los Angeles has awarded the model-turned-kindergarten teacher more than $15 million for using the image without Russell Christoff's permission. Nestle said it will appeal.

Christoff said he didn't know Nestle was using the picture he posed for in 1986 until he spotted himself on a label in 2002.

Why did it take the man so many years to spot his image on the coffee jar? He says he doesn't drink freeze-dried Taster's Choice. As he puts it, "I do beans."

Swish.

Heh.

Now let's see one from the free throw line. Off the backboard.

Hat Tip: reader ARM