Way To Go, Lapdog Media

3:33 am EST February 24th, 2007 | News | 52 Comments

That’s a good fourth estate… don’t ask any hard questions… cozy up to power… good boy, here’s a bone…

Perhaps if we had a press that wasn’t so willing to roll over for the administration to have their bellies rubbed, they would be doing more to inform the people about the war we’re in.

Iraqi civilian deaths are estimated at more than 54,000 and could be much higher; some unofficial estimates range into the hundreds of thousands. The U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq reports more than 34,000 deaths in 2006 alone.

Among those polled for the AP survey, however, the median estimate of Iraqi deaths was 9,890. The median is the point at which half the estimates were higher and half lower.

Oh look, the corpse of Anna Nicole Smith is having an affair with Britney’s bald head! Time for TEAM COVERAGE!

Topic: Iraq

The Upside Of Being On The Side Of The Good Guys

3:29 am EST February 24th, 2007 | News | 15 Comments

Dick Cheney, patron saint of the stupid and ill-informed

Rush Limbaugh: Racist, Drug Addict, Misogynist, Hatemongerer

My hero, Dick Cheney, is back. The highest levels of the administration are not backing down. He was on Good Morning America today from Sydney, Australia. Correspondent Jonathan Karl again talking to him. Question: “The speaker of the house was so upset about your comment that she called the White House to complain.” But Cheney did not back down.

Barack Obama: Husband, Father, Senator, Role Model, Possible President

Obama, speaking at a massive outdoor rally in Austin, Texas, said British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s decision this week to withdraw 1,600 troops is a recognition that Iraq’s problems can’t be solved militarily.

“Now if Tony Blair can understand that, then why can’t George Bush and Dick Cheney understand that?” Obama asked thousands of supporters who gathered in the rain to hear him. “In fact, Dick Cheney said this is all part of the plan (and) it was a good thing that Tony Blair was withdrawing, even as the administration is preparing to put 20,000 more of our young men and women in.

“Now, keep in mind, this is the same guy that said we’d be greeted as liberators, the same guy that said that we’re in the last throes. I’m sure he forecast sun today,” Obama said to laughter from supporters holding campaign signs over their heads to keep dry. “When Dick Cheney says it’s a good thing, you know that you’ve probably got some big problems.”

Now, it is a little unfair. Because in a battle of wits between Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh and Barack Obama… Cheney and Limbaugh are going in unarmed.

Topic: President Obama

A Prostitution Ring, In Bulk

3:18 am EST February 24th, 2007 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Maryland has this reputation as one of the sleepier members of the mid-Atlantic region, but once in a while a news story comes along to alter that perspective.

Rosibel Aparicio Jandres, age 45, of Germantown, Maryland, was sentenced today to 24 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to transport hundreds of prostitutes to Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. also ordered that Jandres forfeit $20,000 in proceeds from the sale of 1207 Kirklynn Avenue in Takoma Park; the residence located at 19325 Frederick Road, Germantown, Maryland; and $8,185 in cash seized on November 16, 2005.

According to the plea agreement presented to the court, from April 2003 to November 16, 2005 Rosibel Aparicio Jandres conspired with her husband, Manuel Jandres, her sister Olinda Aparicio and Olinda’s daughters, Elsy Aparicio and Dorinalda Aparicio a/k/a "Dorinalda Aparicio Gonzalez," and son Eliazor Aparicio and Jair Francis, to transport hundreds of women from New York and New Jersey to Maryland and employ them as prostitutes.

Topic: Crime

The Slow-Drip Massacre Continues

3:10 am EST February 24th, 2007 | News | 8 Comments

Nixon

Drip, drip, drip.

An eighth U.S. attorney announced her resignation yesterday, the latest in a wave of forced departures of federal prosecutors who have clashed with the Justice Department over the death penalty and other issues.

Margaret Chiara, the 63-year-old U.S. attorney in Grand Rapids, Mich., told her staff that she was leaving her post after more than five years, officials said. Sources familiar with the case confirmed that she was among a larger group of prosecutors who were first asked to resign Dec. 7.

…

Nearly all of the dismissed prosecutors had positive job reviews, but
many had run into political trouble with Washington over immigration,
capital punishment or other issues, according to prosecutors and
others. At least four also were presiding over high-profile public
corruption investigations when they were dismissed.

“I’m the ghost of Richard Nixon, and from here in the bowels of hell, I approve this massacre.”

Topic: George W. Bush

Weekend Moment Of Beyonce Zen

8:34 pm EST February 23rd, 2007 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Video of Beyonce’s Sports Illustrated cover shoot.
You know, for kids.

Topic: Video

Alberto Gonzales Has New Love For The First Amendment

6:58 pm EST February 23rd, 2007 | Republicans | 1 Comment

Or… he’s just pandering to the religious far right with your tax dollars.

Wolf Blitzer’s Lost Dignity

6:18 pm EST February 23rd, 2007 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

In the course of pimping the Anna Nicole Smith story, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer has undergone a loss of dignity, illustrated in this video from a friend.

Topic: Humor

Mommy And Daddy Are Fighting

5:30 pm EST February 23rd, 2007 | News | 7 Comments

Raymond Kraft, a right-winger writing at a site called “Family Security Matters” slams the right for fighting over issues like abortion and gay marriage because the liberals are moving ahead with their plans to surrender to Al Qaeda. Extra bonus wingnut points for the Aryan nation masthead that would look more natural if they just went ahead and replaced the red, white and blue with something more in line with their ideology – like the swastika or a confederate flag.

More Iraqi Rape Allegations

3:51 pm EST February 23rd, 2007 | News | 5 Comments

Sigh.

Still reeling from allegations that Iraqi police officers raped a young Sunni woman in Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday confronted a second set of sexual-assault charges leveled against its security forces: that four soldiers raped a 50-year-old Sunni woman and attempted to rape her two daughters in the northern city of Tal Afar.

In Iraq’s conservative society, where rape is considered a particularly heinous crime, two such allegations in a week are likely to deepen sectarian chasms, tarnish the already tattered image of Iraqi military and police forces, and further call into question their ability to provide security in Iraq — a fundamental condition for a U.S. troop withdrawal, some experts warn.

(via)

Topic: Iraq

Jimmy Fallon To Replace Conan?

1:01 pm EST February 23rd, 2007 | News | 24 Comments

From the department of amazingly bad ideas comes this one.

Saturday Night Live alum Jimmy Fallon could be heading back to late night on NBC, but this time as Conan O’Brien’s replacement.

According to multiple sources, Fallon is close to a new overall
developmental deal with NBC, and those sources say one possibility
under consideration as part of the agreement could see the network
developing Fallon as a 12:30 a.m. replacement if and when incumbent
Conan O’Brien replaces Jay Leno on The Tonight Show in 2009.

Then again, these are the same geniuses who gave Carson Daly a tv show. And the same type of geniuses who gave Jimmy Kimmel one. Is it too much to ask that a tv talk host ought to be funny? Kimmel and Daly aren’t and Fallon was one of the lesser performers on a bad era of SNL. So they pick him to replace Conan, the funniest man in late night talk since Johnny Carson? Once again, mediocrity wins.