Monthly Archives: August 2010

Breitbart’s Defense

Andrew Breitbart has come in for a lot of criticism since he posted an edited, misleading video of USDA employee Shirley Sherrod. Breitbart claims that he was sent just the clip by a tipster and I guess his defense was that he couldn’t figure out how to find the full video. So, I figure his hiring of Dr. Kevin Pezzi for his website is all a part of his “I’m a moron” defense.

Dr. Kevin Pezzi might not have won yesterday’s Asshat award (hey the competition is fierce!) but he has won the heart of Twitter smartasses. He has quite an interesting self-reported biography:

  • “A government official once claimed that Dr. Pezzi achieved the highest score ever attained on an IQ test administered nationwide, although Pezzi dismisses this as disingenuous pandering.”
  • He has “information about a new cure” for cancer, which he “stumbled upon while reading an editorial and article in one of the many journals I read. The editor said there is good evidence that this new treatment works, and that it truly cures cancer — not just temporarily treating it, as so many cancer therapies do. However, he lamented that the cure is being overlooked, which he felt stemmed from the fact that there isn’t any way for pharmaceutical companies to profit from it.”
  • His “penis size went from embarrassingly small (at least to me) to bigger than some porno stars.”
  • He “declined an offer to go on a blind date with Katie Couric,” because, in part, “my political beliefs would clash with Katie’s well-known liberal bias” and “Katie’s career will keep her in New York (or some similar megalopolis) for the indefinite future. I can’t stand cities.”
  • “He has beaten Bill Gates, an acknowledged math and computer genius who is Chairman of Microsoft, Inc. and the richest man in the world, on a test of mathematical ability and logic.”
  • “A producer who won an Emmy for a blockbuster film contacted me because he is interested in turning one of my books into a movie or TV series.”
  • “[W]hile a college student at Michigan State University, he once went into the wrong room to take a final exam. Even though he was not enrolled in the class, he scored 147 out of 150, easily the highest score achieved by any of the hundreds of students taking the test.”
  • “As a sophomore in college, he decided that his future was in the CIA, not medicine, so he skipped most of organic chemistry. Three days before the final, he changed his mind, crammed, and received a 4.0 for the course.”
  • “In spite of seriously misjudging the optimal strategy for taking the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), he scored astronomically.”

    • I mean, how could you not hire such a smart, talented guy? Obviously a guy with the genius (and large penis) of Kevin Pezzi would be immensely qualified to write about race. In his sensitive and nuanced writings he’s referred to “Japs” and “Chinks.” When some people complained he explained how there were “bad Chinese” and “good Chinese” d’uh. He also wrote that African-Americans and Native Americans should thank us for helping them with our superior technology.

    Really, there’s just too much crazy to excerpt here. He claims to have 850 inventions, a cure for cancer, a way to tighten the vagina, penis enhancement technology and a robot chef. He also created his own legion of female followers to praise his book of sex advice.

    Asshat of the Day

    UI had one great submission, but after listening to C-SPAN this afternoon, our Asshat of the Day winner is Sen. John McCain (Teabag/Confederate – AZ). A simple motion to bring up the Defense Department Authorization Bill was met with an objection by McCain because it has the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell contained in it. He claimed that the committee chair, Carl Levin (MI) “filled the tree” with unnecessary amendments and that rethuglican amendments didn’t get a fair hearing. Levin responded that the place for debate was on the floor of the Senate, which is why he was trying to bring the bill up for debate. McCain wouldn’t have any of it. Call McCain at 202-224-2235 and ask him why he hates our service members. His refusal to allow this bill to come up for debate will only delay benefits, pay raises, and materiel that our service members need.

    John McCain, you’re our Asshat of the Day (actually, you should get it for the rest of the decade for dumping Sarah Palin on us).

    Welcome Associate Justice Elena Kagan

    Solicitor General Elena Kagan has just been confirmed as a justice on the Supreme Court. Congratulations Justice Kagan!

    Elena Kagan’s nomination to be associate justice of the Supreme Court was just approved by the full Senate, in a 63 to 37 vote. The Senators sat in their appointed desks on the Senate floor, Rising to deliver their votes, in a more formal and stately process than is generally seen in that body.

    There were few surprises in the voting. Republicans voting yes were Collins, Graham, Gregg, Lugar, and Snowe. Ben Nelson voted no. She was confirmed with a larger margin than Alito, who was confirmed 58 to 42, and Thomas, who was confirmed 52 to 48, but with fewer votes than the remaining justices, a reflection of the heightened and toxic political environment this election year.

    What Goes Around Comes Around [The DE GOP Civil War]

    Dave Burris and his associates at Delaware Tomorrow have been doing good work in exposing radical right whackjob Christine O’Donnell for what she is recently. So good that I wish he’d stop, because I actually want Christine’s campaign to remain intact as a servicable vehicle for the Teabagger whackjobs.

    Christine’s rabid followers, like EvanQ and others, have been fighting back. Today Evan went on Delaware’s Rush Limbaugh wannabe’s (Rick Jensen) show to charge that Burris, Michael Stafford and the other writers at Delaware Tomorrow are being paid by the Castle campaign to write horrible things about Christine, like the truth.

    Burris then laments…..

    All [EvanQ and Christine’s followers] have is conspiracy theories, wild accusations with no proof and more “attack the messenger” politics. And trying to bring Stafford’s employer into the conversation is the worst kind of awful there is. He didn’t even have anything to do with Wanda’s post. Should we start talking about your employer & what you do for a living?

    And all I have to say is what goes around comes around. Burris has practiced this exact kind of politics for years. It is the kind of politics that defines both the Delaware and national Republican Parties. Indeed, he outted Kavips’ name, addresss and I believe employer when Kavips dared to criticize the Casear Rodney Institute (CRI). And he recently said he was proud of that and would do it again. So Burris, how does it feel? I hope it burns.

    Mike Castle In Trouble Is Going Mainstream

    Could the fact that perhaps Mike Castle is not a shoo-in for election to the Senate be breaking through into the mainstream? Now it’s Fox News (which is highly influential for a propaganda outfit):

    And he appears to be doing just that. His slow but steady rise in the polls, coupled with a first for Castle as he dipped below the 50 percent mark in a mid-July Rasmussen poll, has some Republicans scratching their heads in wonder. Could this be a sleeper race?

    By all accounts, Castle is the odds-on favorite. Cook Political Report senior editor Jennifer Duffy says the Republican still has a comfortable lead with plenty of money in the bank, there has been no “forcing event” – that is, an unpredictable game-changer, so the respected publication sees no reason, as yet, to change its rating for the race from “Leans Republican.”

    “Part of it is Castle. He was the candidate Republicans needed to run,” Duffy said, though noting, “No doubt, Castle does have a race.”

    I totally agree with this so far. There hasn’t been an event to change the race much but Castle is moving back to under 50% to where he was polling going against Beau Biden. I like this next part, and this is exactly what Chris Coons wants to see.

    Democrats then quickly embraced the young, energetic county executive, trying to hold onto the seat that would have comfortably stayed in Democratic hands under Sen. Biden, while Republicans relished a potentially embarrassing pick-up that could also include the Illinois seat Obama once held, as well.

    Remember early on when Coons first jumped in, many thought the secret to success was for Coons to contrast “young, energetic, good campaigner” with Castle’s age. And Coons needed to do this without explicitly saying Castle is old. In this case, Fox is doing it for him.

    The rest of the article lays out the challenges for Coons – the money disadvantage, name recognition and Castle’s popularity. It also briefly mention’s O’Donnell’s challenge to Castle before dismissing her.

    I find it a bit ironic that Fox’s take on the race is much, much smarter than David Broder.

    Asshat of the Day (For Wednesday)

    It’s a day late because I and many others were celebrating the overturning of Proposition 8 in California.

    Without a doubt, yesterday’s winner is Dan Maes (Teabag – Colorado) for all of his talk about the evils of bike riding. Seems that a program to get people out of their cars and on to bikes in the City and County of Denver is actually an evil plan to place Denver, and then the rest of Colorado, under the control of the UN. But all of this crazy talk didn’t stop Maes. Apparently, he’s been able to link this program, and probably bike riding, to abortion. Go to www.denverpost.com and check out what this wingnut is saying and his problems with filing campaign and business paperwork on time.

    So, Dan Maes, for all of your kooky talk about bikes leading to the establishment of a New World Order and the subjugation of millions of Coloradans, you are our Asshat of the Day.

    Thursday Open Thread

    Welcome to your Thursday open thread. Yesterday was a pretty exciting day with the Prop 8 decision. I got polled last night! Some polling agency was really focused on Jack Markell’s favorables but the survey seemed to be probing support for a 10-cent-per-gallon increase in the gas tax for road maintenance funds and whether I would support cutting state workers benefits to “bring them in line with the private sector.” So, I expect these issues will come up soon. I didn’t catch the name of the polling organization but my questioner was from Indiana. Heh, one question they asked was whether I considered myself “Tea Party.”

    Several commenters have been talking about Basil Marceaux. Here’s the Colbert Report where the nation was just introduced to Basil Marceaux dot com.

    The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
    Republican Gubernatorial Primary Battle Watch ‘010 – Tennessee
    www.colbertnation.com
    Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News

    The Tennessee primary is today. Republicans in Tennessee have the choice between Ron Ramsey, who thinks that the 1st amendment doesn’t apply to Islam, Zach Wamp, who thinks Tennessee should secede from the union over health care and Basil Marceaux dot com. Between those three, I choose Basil Marceaux.

    Marceaux’s become a sensation, sort of like those bad American Idol tryouts. Last night he was on Jimmy Kimmel’s show and he sat down for a long interview with Mediaite.

    On the other hand, he doesn’t want to strictly be the butt of jokes. After speaking with him at length, I can say he’s definitely a character, the sort of which gives our country its character. A former marine, he has interpreted the several iterations of the Freedmen’s Bureau Act to mean that every US Marine is also a federal judge for life, and that DUI checkpoints constitute slavery. We all have our Captain Ahab-esque obsessions, and Basil has chased this whale through the courts for years. He told me he was even banned from entering a federal building for 3 years, which was used as justification to expel him from the Pachyderm Club.

    If Basil has an overarching theme to his campaign, it is that most American ideal of correcting injustices. One of his campaign promises is to “give everyone dental,” because poor people like him can’t afford to have their teeth taken care of. This has left him with only 3 teeth, which partially explains his unusual manner of speech. Contrary to what Colbert and others have said, Basil not only wasn’t drunk during his TV debut, he doesn’t even drink.

    He also told me that he attended Penn State, but then transferred to a non-accredited school that basically swindled him out of his Veteran’s Administration loan money.

    While it has been established that Basil Marceaux is not one of our great communicators, he seems to deserve his metamorphosis from cruelly-mocked laughingstock to shrewdly-marketed, adorable eccentric.

    There’s More To This Nefarious Bicycle Plot

    Yesterday’s asshat of the day was Colorado GOP gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes for revealing the UN’s secret plot to use bicycles to turn us all into commies or something. Dan Maes did a subsequent appearance where he explained in detail more about this secret plot:

    The group to which Maes was referring, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, is an association with more than 1,200 communities as members, half of which are in the United States. Denver became a member in 1992.

    …

    “This is bigger than it looks like on the surface, and it could threaten our personal freedoms,” Maes said in comments that were first reported Wednesday by the Denver Post.

    Maes’ campaign said the candidate was illustrating the “larger picture of what this organization represents” and its “extreme” views on global warming.

    Nate Strauch told The Associated Press that Maes was trying to say that the biking initiative is a “gateway program” being pushed by ECLEI on cities that eventually lead to extreme measures, such as the promotion of abortions and population control.

    Encouraging people to bike to work is a slippery slope that will lead to abortions. I’m glad Dan Maes is here to warn us of this danger. Maes knows this sounds crazy, but he’s unafraid to tell you the truth.

    Maes said he thought promoting more bicycling was pretty harmless at first, but he realized later “that’s exactly the attitude they want you to have.”

    “It’s all part of this population control mentality that we as humans are the disease,” Strauch said, adding: “He never said that biking is inherently wrong.”

    Dan Maes, true American patriot.

    Unconstitutional Conservatives

    If you disagree with this, you are an Unconstitutional Conservative. Remember, Ted Olson is a Republican. He was the lawyer who argued for the appointment of George W. Bush to the Presidency, so you cannot get more Republican and more conservative than him. And he is a real constitutional conservative. Not these fuckwits like Sarah Palin, David Anderson, Christine O’Donnell or Newt Gingrich.

    The Facts

    Hey, all you right wing bigots, pay attention. These are the facts:

    1. Marriage is and has been a civil matter, subject to religious intervention only when requested by the intervenors.
    2. California, like every other state, doesn’t require that couples wanting to marry be able to procreate.
    3. Marriage as an institution has changed overtime; women were given equal status; interracial marriage was formally legalized; no-fault divorce made it easier to dissolve marriages.
    4. California has eliminated marital obligations based on gender.
    5. Same-sex love and intimacy “are well-documented in human history.”
    6. Sexual orientation is a fundamental characteristic of a human being.
    7. Prop 8 proponents’ “assertion that sexual orientation cannot be defined is contrary to the weight of the evidence.”
    8. There is no evidence that sexual orientation is chosen, nor that it can be changed. [David Anderson will no doubt argue that homosexuality can be cured. A delusion that goes against all evidence and all science.]
    9. California has no interest in reducing the number of gays and lesbians in its population. [Indeed, for to argue otherwise is to embrace Hitler and the Holocaust with both arms.]
    10. “Same-sex couples are identical to opposite-sex couples in the characteristics relevant to the ability to form successful marital union.” [Procreation is not a requirement of opposite sex marriage, so it cannot be argued that it should be a requirement for same sex marriages.]
    11. “Marrying a person of the opposite sex is an unrealistic option for gay and lesbian individuals.”
    12. “Domestic partnerships lack the social meaning associated with marriage, and marriage is widely regarded as the definitive expression of love and commitment in the United States. The availability of domestic partnership does not provide gays and lesbians with a status equivalent to marriage because the cultural meaning of marriage and its associated benefits are intentionally withheld from same-sex couples in domestic partnerships.”
    13. “Permitting same-sex couples to marry will not affect the number of opposite-sex couples who marry, divorce, cohabit, have children outside of marriage or otherwise affect the stability of opposite-sex marriages.” [This is the granddaddy of all facts. A straight couple’s marriage is not affected, one way or the other, by same sex marriage. If a marriage succeeds, it is due to the efforts to the two people in the union. If it fails, it is due to the two people in the union.]

    Remember, these are the FACTS that Walker has determined from the testimony and evidence. These facts will serve as the grounding for the legal arguments yet to come.

    It is time for the right wing to realize they have lost not only this battle, but this war. Sure, the appeal process is not done, and yes, the Supreme Court could overturn this, but that will only be the last gasp of bitter bigoted conservatives who currently populate the Court. Should this decision be overturned by the Supreme Court (and I actually don’t think it will be because Anthony Kennedy is big on fundamental rights), then as soon as one of them dies or retires, they will be overturned. Because the reality is, the demographics are on our side. From my generation (late Gen X) on down to the Millennials, homosexuality is not a concern. It is accepted. It is embraced. And the reason why that is so is because most of us know people in our lives who are gay. Some of our friends are gay. Some of our family members are gay. And it is difficult to accept the conservative demagoguery about the evil gay agenda and “special rights” when you actually know and love a person who conservatives tell you to fear.

    Thus, we have rejected the demagoguery. Just as Judge Walker did today. Just as the 9th Circuit should do sometime soon. Just as the Supreme Court should as well. We all love. And we all are equal.

    Big News: California Prop 8 Overturned

    Just breaking now–

    A judge in California has overturned California’s Proposition 8, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

    Big news: According to a source who has seen the 136-page decision, U.S. District Court Judge Walker has ruled Proposition 8, the California voter-approved ban on gay marriage, unconstitutional under both the due-process and equal-protection clauses.

    This is great news! I’ll post more detail when I get it.

    **Update** You can read the whole ruling here.

    Excerpts:

    Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same sex couples.

    Plaintiffs do not seek recognition of a new right. To characterize plaintiffs’ objective as “the right to same-sex marriage” would suggest that plaintiffs seek something different from what opposite-sex couples across the state enjoy —— namely, marriage. Rather, plaintiffs ask California to recognize their relationships for what they are: marriages.