In an online discussion of Hillary Clinton’s campaign talking about which states matter and which don’t, someone brought up this classic from C. Montgomery Burns:
“This anonymous clan of slack-jawed troglodytes has cost me the election, and yet if I were to have them killed, I would be the one to go to jail. That’s democracy for you.”
The problem with Iraq “warriors” like McCain is that they want to convince the American people that we have simultaneously won in Iraq (America Fuck Yeah!) and lost (Terrorists can take over at any moment and follow you home to kill your dog!) for all eternity. No wonder he was trumpeting the “100 years” line – because it fits right into this idea. “We are kicking ass in Iraq and we will be kicking ass for the next century or more! Fuck Yeah!”
The thing is, I think this cognitive dissonance isn’t sustainable. It’s lasted for years, because like the bully who finally gets his nose bloodied, we’ve been shell-shocked. But it seems we might be waking up. “War is peace” and “freedom is slavery” are tough concepts for the human brain in the long term. Fool me twice, indeed.
Under the headline “Runaway lawnmower kills Buddhist monk”:
A postmortem examination disclosed that Mr Handa had died of multiple injuries.
Cute cute cute. “Pokeyball” is my favorite. That, and “don’t talk back to Darth Vader!”
First, in the debate in Texas, she’s so mild and conciliatory that people think she’s about to drop out, and save what’s left of her reputation. Then she’s spitting mad and scolding Obama about some hair-splitting issues with his mailings. Then she’s smirkingly condescending about his message of hope. (Leave that stuff to professionals like Brit Hume, Hillary.) All of these within a week’s time. Is this the first manic depressive presidential campaign? The thing is, none of these postures seem like anything more than that – poll-tested strategies that unfortunately are only further alienating people who would otherwise support her. When people don’t think they’ve ever seen the “real” Hillary, it’s no wonder that her moods all seem fake.
You could suffer a bit of depression now as you consider how to make your relationships happier and more supportive. It’s not that anything is so bad; it’s just that you are determined to get what you want, even if your current satisfaction seems far away. Soften your stance and judge yourself less harshly while you consider all your options.
“I don’t want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there’s evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels.”
-Bill O’Reilly on his radio show yesterday, talking about Michelle Obama’s “proud” comments
One question that I often wonder about: is there anything – anything – that people like O’Reilly could say that would have any consequences? Others, from Don Imus to Michael “Weiner” Savage, have felt at least some consequences for outrageous comments. But people like O’Reilly and Coulter seem to feed on these situations, like vampires bathing in the blood of virgins.
Great quote from William K. Wolfram of WorldGolf.com:
For Fox News and O’Reilly, however, this type of inflammatory, racist language is something they do embrace. And obviously, so do a majority of their viewers and listeners. Because in the end, O’Reilly and Fox News won’t get so much as a slap on the hand and won`t consider apologizing. Kelly Tilghman, making a stupid joke about a man she knows, gets a suspension and a huge speed bump for her career. Bill O’Reilly makes a non-joke about a lynching party forming to get the wife of a prominent politician, just adds to his legend as someone who “speaks for the people,” which apparently is the Fox News code for “unrepentant racist.”
UPDATE: For those crapweasels out there who don’t think O’Reilly’s comment was racist, I offer this story from the much-missed Molly Ivins:
I have a correspondent named Irwin Wingo in Weatherford, Texas. Irwin and some of the leading men of the town are in the habit of meeting about 10 every morning at the Chat’n'Chew Cafe to drink coffee and discuss the state of the world. One of their members is a dittohead, a Limbaugh listener. He came in one day, plopped himself down, and said, “I think Rush is right. Racism in this country is dead. I don’t know what the niggers will find to gripe about now.”
UPDATE II: Here are some choice words from the Idiot Son, during his Black History Month comments:
“The era of rampant lynching is a shameful chapter in American history. The noose is not a symbol of prairie justice, but of gross injustice. Displaying one is not a harmless prank. And lynching is not a word to be mentioned in jest. As a civil society, we must understand that noose displays and lynching jokes are deeply offensive. They are wrong. And they have no place in America today.”
UPDATE III: I promise I’ll stop at some point. 
Here are some great lines from Clerks II.
Randal: Since when did porch monkey become a racial slur?
Dante: When ignorant racists started saying it a hundred years ago!
Randal: Oh, bullshit! My grandmother used to call me a porch monkey all the time when I was a kid because I’d sit on the porch and stare at my neighbors!
Dante: Despite the fact that your grandmother used it as a term of endearment for you, it’s still a racial slur! It’d be like your grandmother calling you a little kike!
Randal: Oh, it is not. My grandmother had the utmost respect for the Jewish community. When I was a kid she told me to always treat the Jewish kids well, or they’d put the sheeny curse on me.
“Many observers believe Fidel Castro will either be replaced by his brother Raul, or by his idiot son, Fidel W. Castro.”
-Letterman, last night
So I’m watching the candidate speeches, which begin promptly at 8:01 p.m. Wisconsin time, one minute after the polls close here. First is John McCain, gesturing like a four-year-old who’s lost his blankie in front of a crowd packed into what looks like a small hotel banquet room.
Then comes Hillary Clinton, speaking to an enthusiastic crowd in what looks like 2/3 of a high school gym.
Finally, Barack Obama comes on the screen. The camera pans back to show a massive auditorium, packed to the rafters with cheering supporters.
Words do matter, Hillary. And so do images.
-TurboGrafx-16 game console
-LaserDisc player
-Sega Dreamcast
-HD DVD player (sigh)
In the latest case, I don’t think I did too badly, because I waited until the players had gone down precipitously in price, and the only discs I have I got free with the player. Of course, the only reason the player was so cheap was that the format was in its death throes. And now, Sony has no incentive to lower Blu-Ray prices.
HD is a cruel mistress.
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