Wednesday Open Thread
Is it only Wednesday? It already seems like this week has been too long. It’s open thread time, what’s catching your interest today?
I found this amusing – progressive activists crashed an organizing phone for the Teaparty Movement and conservative bloggers. Personally I think the progressive activists are lying, Sarah Palin told us that organizers don’t do any work unlike the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
On Tuesday evening, several organizers of the Teaparty Movement and of the ultraconservative website 73wire.com, including healthcare executive and conservative activist Michael Johns, hosted a telephone conference call for Teaparty activists. Twitter user @Strwbrry_Blonde learned of the call and enlisted Twitter-based community organizer @Shoq to disseminate the dial-in number. In the end, several liberal or satirical Twitter users, including Comedy Central’s Elon James White (@ElonJames), Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead (@LizzWinstead) and a few dozen other tea-party-crashers participated in the call, livetweeting comments among themselves under the Twitter hashtag #teapartycall.
[…]
The best parts, in terms of voyeuristic entertainment value, came in the last 10 minutes when the line was opened to questions. At one point, after a caller asked what she should blog about, an organizer told her to “watch Drudge.” Later, two other callers repeatedly interrupted each other with worries about the Obama administration’s “dithering! dithering!,” “terrorists,” “hesitation,” and “lying” — to the point that the organizers had to mute all participants’ phones.
At one point, a caller who identified herself as “Marge in Minnesota” — actually, Winstead — asked what issues she should care about. The organizers answered, providing her with conservative talking points.
You can listen to the call at the link.
Lindsay Beyerstein has an interesting take on the Palin/Newsweek controversy:
There’s nothing scandalous about Palin showing some skin, or wearing Spandex. But this cover image is deliberately styled to make the then-governor of Alaska look like a Vargas pinup girl. Unlike the other images in the series, this one references her status as a governor. As she poses like a swimsuit model, she’s clutching one icon of political power–the Blackberry–and leaning on another. The theme isn’t Sarah Palin, athlete. The theme is Sarah Palin, Sexy Governor. (As in: one of those dime store Halloween costumes: sexy cop, sexy lady bug, sexy sanitation worker…)
Predictably, Palin complained that Newsweek’s use of the image was sexist. Yes, the image was plucked from its original context. The whole point was that the picture was appalling it its original context. Newsweek is holding this picture up to the world and asking: Who does this?
The bottom line is that Palin’s a clown. She doesn’t get a pass because her chosen clown persona is stereotypically feminine.
She caricatures herself. Day in and day out. Good for Newsweek for pointing and laughing.
In the Runner’s World photo spread there isn’t one picture of Palin actually running.
Tags: Open Thread
GOP filibuster hypocrisy ended for Judge David Hamilton yesterday.
Sorry if this was done yesterday, but the hypocrisy was ended by a 70-29 vote, meaning that 10 Republicans bitch-slapped Jeff Sessions yesterday.
According to FDL, the Senate merged health care bill is supposed to be released to the Senate around 5pm today.
Actual running is bouncy.
Another Obama nominee runs into tax problems
Associated Press ^ | STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama’s choice for a top job with the Treasury Department is having tax problems. A congressional report says Obama’s nominee for undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs, Lael Brainard, was late in paying real estate taxes in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
The report by the Senate Finance Committee staff also challenges the accuracy of a deduction Brainard claimed for running an office from her home. The challenge led Brainard to reduce the deduction on her 2008 return.
The committee’s top Republican is unhappy that the committee staff had to submit 10 sets of questions to Brainard before getting complete information about the discrepancies.
Brainard is the fifth Obama nominee to have tax problems.
voted 70-39 ??? do we have 109 senators from 57 states now?
she said 70-29 you dumbass. is your hatred for america such that you misread things when it serves your Right Wing Uber Alles needs? dumbass
70-29. congrats lizard. you found a typo. give me your address so i can mail you a lollipop.
there isnt even a typo. its a read-o on lizard’s part. of course “he” will never own up to it. “he’ll” blame it on Obama’s failure to die quickly enough.
I listened to the first 10 minutes of that call and that in itself was interesting — they are creating their own blog site (presumably so they won’t be censored, but wonder how they’ll figure out how to get money from the suckers) AND they are trying to get blogs in 50 states so that they create their own “go to” news. You heard that right — this is a topdown effort to create just one more venue for the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Teabagger Edition. 🙄 Too bad these people still don’t get the business of grassroots. Too bad the media will rush to legitimize this bullshit they same way they legitimize the rest of their bullshit.
You know, I was about to make just a quick, snarky remark, then I thought about it a bit, and it frightens me. I was going to say, “Can’t you see — they have figured out that if you get enough people to say something, no matter how ridiculous, enough times, it becomes real.” I could call it something like The Pinocchio Fact Effect. Sadly, though, there is actually some truth to this. With the explosion of blogs and the erosion of real journalism, it becomes even easier. Look at just about the entire health care reform “debate”. God, I need a drink…
Republican leadership sent a letter to the President, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today requesting more input from Republicans on HCR. The closing line: “Cooperation, not confrontation, is a better approach.” Anybody find that line downright hilarious from the party of tea smokers?
They had their chance, anone. They chose lies, deceit, obstruction and opposition. Indeed, many Republican ideas have already been incorporated into the bill, i.e. the Mandate and the McCain exchange.
The fact that we started with a public option instead of full-on, single-payer, universal health care was a HUGE accomodation to the Corporatist GOOPers and the Blue Dogs. Well we see where that got us.
Actaully Rebecca, this is one damn good bill Mr. Reid submitted. A preliminary Congressional Budget Office analysis, finds that the bill will cost $849 billion over the next decade. It would cover 94 percent of eligible Americans, including 31 million currently uninsured Americans. The bill would also lower the federal budget deficit by $127 billion over the next decade and by $650 billion during the decade after that. It elimiates pre-existing conditions, has a stronger public option than most people would have thought, softens the abortion language, and they may still strip the insurance industry of their anti-trust exemption. I have to admit this is far better than I thought would be possible. Democrats have been trying to pass universal health care for 60 years. There are now going to do it. As Bill Clinton said, no bill is perfect, but we have never been closer to real reform and a better system. My guess is Obama will be signing a bill similar to the bill released today sometime early next year.
anone,
I couldn’t agree more, but my point was that the whining and whinging from the conservatives (both R’s and D’s) doesn’t reflect the fact that we already conceded the real-deal and are starting from some point far less than perfect. I don’t believe in letting perfection stand in the way of progress and this bill is progress. But my hackles rise when they start to complain that they were’t given a chance to participate. Their very existence defined the opening salvo on health care reform.
Rebecca,
I see your point. BTW, I noticed the democrats health care bill is now online. Can anyone tell me where the GOP Health care bill is? Is it online somewhere? Oro they not believe in transparency? Or did they just fail to get a bill done to present their solutions and ideas to the American public?
ole’ Joe is doing a bang-up job of keeping track of that porkulus money!
Four Hawaii Phantom Districts Receive $45,639,408 Million in Stimulus Funds for 3.4 Jobs
watchdog.org ^ | November 17, 2009 | Watchdog.org
Hawaii received $2,284,000 million of federal stimulus funds for the 11the Congressional district, $40,903,941 million for the 15th Congressional district, $1,651,811 for the “00” Congressional district, and $799,656 in the 99th congressional district creating a combined “3.4” jobs or $13,423,355 per job, according to the federal government’s transparency web site for stimulus funds, http://www.Recovery.gov/.However, Hawaii has just two congressional districts, 1 and 2. Those districts received $592,211,484 million and $174,075,308 respectively, according to the federal web site, creating combined total of 1,541.5 jobs. See the full report on Hawaii here: http://www.recovery.gov/Transparency/StateSummaries/Pages/statesummary.aspx?StateCode=HI
Over 130,000 reports submitted, they’re going through them one and a time to verify.
But you already know this.
I believe Biden explained it the other night on The Daily Show. I think it was no more devious than some people marking down the wrong district.
And since I know lizzie loves typos so much, I hope this is one. 45,639,408 Million dollars is a lot. If true, they got over $45 trillion dollars. Sweet.
$45 trillion? We don’t see that kind of money a lot unless we’re talking about how much U.S. government money that Halliburton and KBR have wasted in Iraq.
What makes more sense, lizards comment at 9:58 or this:
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I have the answer! It’s a trick question! They BOTH make no sense.
However, it does raise the longstanding point that I just made up that the publishing industry could $1,000,000 millions by just doing away with vowels.