The fact that John McCain’s idiot daughter thinks she’s qualified to be a political strategist is surprising enough. But even more surprising is the fact that she wants to be a Republican strategist.
The fact that John McCain’s idiot daughter thinks she’s qualified to be a political strategist is surprising enough. But even more surprising is the fact that she wants to be a Republican strategist.
And when Meghan finally lands a client, she'll have three boobs
Politico.com has details of the daughter’s delusion:
Speaking at the Miami Book Fair International to promote her book, “Dirty Sexy Politics,” the daughter of Sen. John McCain expressed an interest in working as a Republican “strategist.”
“I’ve already had people interested in me working, which is unbelievably flattering,” McCain said. “I want to go out and do it all over again with somebody else — I want to go get a Republican elected. I want to kick Obama’s ass the next election and get a Republican elected.”
Three comments, Meghan, honey:
One, we’re pretty sure the people who want you to work as a Republican strategist are all Democrats.
Two, If you’re going to kick an Obama’s ass, go for Michelle’s. It’s a much bigger target.
And three, when a candidate says he’s “interested in working with you,” it really means, “I wonder if she’ll let me touch her boobs.”
We’re not sure how this old story slipped by everyone, but it did. Dan Rather called Katie Couric a whore. We’re sure you’ll agree that there’s no other way to interpret the wizened old newsman’s words.
We’re not sure how this old story slipped by everyone, but it did. Dan Rather called Katie Couric a whore. We’re sure you’ll agree that there’s no other way to interpret the wizened old newsman’s words.
Whore Katie Couric doing a whore dance
The Media Research Center has the details:
Speaking of sexism, on the June 11, 2007 Morning Joe, Rather attacked Katie Couric, his successor at the CBS Evening News, this way: “The mistake was to try to bring the ‘Today’ show ethos to the evening news and to dumb it down, tart it up in hopes of attracting a younger audience.”
Tart it up? That didn’t sound very nice to us, so we checked the definition of “tart” at Princeton.edu’s online dictionary:
Tart: prostitute, a woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money
Now in interest of full disclosure, the second definition of tart is “a small open pie with a fruit filling.” But we doubt that that’s what Dan Rather meant.
No, Rather clearly called Katie Couric a whore, a prostitute, a harlot, a hooker, a fallen woman, a slut, a strumpet, a tramp, a working girl, a streetwalker, a lady of the evening news, if you will.
Damn. First time we’ve ever agreed with Dan Rather on anything.
Consider this the purest example of the media’s complete detachment from the American people: NBC has named Ground Zero Mosque developer Sharif El-Gamal one of its “People of the Year.”
Consider this the purest example of the media’s complete detachment from the American people: NBC has named Ground Zero Mosque developer Sharif El-Gamal one of its “People of the Year.”
Sharif el-Gamal, deadbeat, tax cheat and, of course, one of NBC's People of the Year
Pundit Press has the story:
NBC and its affiliates have been trounced in ratings over the last several years. With stations like MSNBC under their belt and liberals such as Matt Lauer and Keith Olbermann hosting programs, NBC is clearly disconnected with the average American. Another clear sign of their mismanagement: naming Sharif El-Gamal, developer of the Ground Zero Mosque, one of their “People of the Year.”
In an interview set to air on Thanksgiving Day, Matt Lauer sat down with El-Gamal and discussed the “Park 51 Project.” El-Gamal, who was apparently pleased to be named one of NBC’s people of the year, seemed very comfortable answering questions. The excerpt released so far shows that Mr. Lauer gave El-Gamal a decidedly softball interview.
No comment necessary on this one. None. Except that we hate the media.
The day before North Korea began shelling South Korea, a 13-year old moonbat American and his moonbat mom staged a protest in China’s Tiananmen Square, demanding the establishment of a “Peace Park” in the Korean demilitarized zone.
The day before North Korea began shelling South Korea, a 13-year old moonbat American and his moonbat mom staged a protest in China’s Tiananmen Square, demanding the establishment of a “Peace Park” in the Korean demilitarized zone.
Anyone know how to say “never mind” in Korean?
UKPA has the hilarious details:
A 13-year-old American boy campaigning to turn the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea into a peace park was taken away by Chinese police after staging a brief protest near Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
Jonathan Lee unfurled a sign saying “Peace treaty” and “Nuclear- free DMZ children’s peace forest” as he stood outside the Forbidden City.
A man believed to be a plain-clothes officer grabbed the teenager’s sign less than a minute later and waved away journalists who had been contacted by the boy’s family ahead of the event.
Jonathan and his mother, from Ridgeland, Mississippi, were then escorted away by police.
Jonathan made a rare visit to Pyongyang in August to propose his idea of a “children’s peace forest” in the demilitarised zone.
If these morons are lucky, the Chinese will put them in a re-education camp where they’ll be assigned the noble task of beating plowshares into intercontinental missiles.
Where the hell are they? Have you seen any global warming refugees on the evening news? Noticed any of them wandering around your neighborhood? Spied any of them hanging out down at Home Depot looking for day worker jobs?
The United Nations may not be good at much, but they are absolutely world class when it comes to issuing scary press releases. Unfortunately, they’re not quite as good at reality.
You have two options: Either take swimming lessons or take U.N. predictions with a grain of salt.
Andrew Bolt revisits one of the corrupt organization’s dire warnings from 2005:
Amid predictions that by 2010 the world will need to cope with as many as 50 million people escaping the effects of creeping environmental deterioration, United Nations University experts say the international community urgently needs to define, recognize and extend support to this new category of ‘refugee’.
Where the hell are they? Have you seen any global warming refugees on the evening news? Noticed any of them wandering around your neighborhood? Spied any of them hanging out down at Home Depot looking for day worker jobs?
Hmmmm. You don’t think the U.N. might have exaggerated this just a tad, do you?
This news has us pretty upset. Why, we tell you, the Al Sharpton is the last person we ever thought would be crooked. He just seems like such a fine, upstanding, respectable sort of chap. After all, he’s a reverend, you know.
This news has us pretty upset. Why, we tell you, the Al Sharpton is the last person we ever thought would be crooked. He just seems like such a fine, upstanding, respectable sort of chap. After all, he’s a reverend, you know.
Remember that America hates them because they're black, not because they're a crook and a socialist
The New York Daily News has the details that have us so depressed:
The Rev. Al Sharpton paid himself a six-figure salary for the first time last year – even as his civil rights group drowns in red ink and his tax bill hit nearly $1 million.
After back-to-back years in which he took no compensation from the National Action Network,Sharpton pulled down $250,000 last year, the organization’s federal tax filings show.
The payday comes even as his group, a Harlem-based nonprofit organization, lists $1.1 million in unpaid city, state and federal payroll taxes as of Jan. 1, the group’s auditor told the Internal Revenue Service.
At the same time, the reverend has three outstanding warrants totaling $988,000 in unpaid personal income taxes from 2002 to 2007, the state Department of Taxation and Finance says.
Well, we suspect that you are just as shocked by this revelation as we are. In fact, we’re sure you’ll agree that this is just some phony baloney scheme cooked up by whitey to keep the black man down.
We’re behind you all the way, Reverend Al. All the way.
The Editor and the Administrator and our families will be spending the day together, thankful for all the wonderful people who visit IHTM every day.
Please try not to get in any fights with the idiot liberals at your Thanksgiving dinner.
The Editor and the Administrator and our families will be spending the day together, thankful for all the wonderful people who visit IHTM every day and especially thankful that neither of us have a Safelink cell phone.
Well, we’ll be damned if global cooling from global warming hasn’t already started. Seattle is now digging out from its biggest snowstorm since 1977.
You may have missed the story last week that said scientists now believe that global warmingclimate change global climate disruption may cause much colder winters.
Well, damned if it hasn’t already started. Seattle is now digging out from its biggest snowstorm since 1977.
Time.com has the flaky details:
At least three people have died. Schools are closed. Flights were delayed after a cargo plane skidded off an icy runway. The city’s main freeway was turned into a large parking lot with abandoned cars. Tens of thousands are without power. What’s the fuss? Seattle got 2.5 inches of snow.
Yes, apparently that’s all it takes.
The record-setting snowfall — the previous record of 1.5 inches was set more than 30 years ago, in 1977 — has crippled the city that rarely sees much of the white stuff.
Our prediction: We will soon learn that Al Gore is heavily invested in snow plows.
We didn’t even know Joan Baez was still alive – always figured she was as dead as her career. Remarkably, though, Joan Baez is still alive, but considerably less than well after channeling her inner Julia “Butterfly” Hill and falling out of tree.
We didn’t even know Joan Baez was still alive – always figured she was as dead as her career. Remarkably, though, Joan Baez is still alive, but considerably less than well after channeling her inner Julia “Butterfly” Hill and falling out of tree.
Joan Baez, this week's Wacky Liberal of the Week
What’s that? You don’t remember Julia “Butterfly” Hill, either. Well, please allow us to jog your memory. She was the liberal lunatic who spent two years living in an old growth California redwood in an attempt to keep loggers from cutting it down. She named the tree Luna.
But we digress. The San Jose Mercury News has the Baez story:
1960s songbird Joan Baez had a treehouse built — without walls — 20 feet high in an oak tree behind her Woodside home because she wanted to sleep with birds.
The folksinging legend, who once performed the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome” before a half-million people at Woodstock, fell from that treehouse Wednesday as she climbed down from the platform.
Paramedics drove the singer to Stanford Hospital, where she was treated and released after it was determined she had suffered only minor injuries.
Baez, 69, was “resting comfortably” Thursday, according to Nancy Lutzow, who runs Baez’s Menlo Park production company.
“I sleep in a tree all summer long,” Baez told an English blogger in 2008. “I climb up on a ladder, with ropes and things. The birds are right there in the morning. Sometimes they’re flying so close to my head I can feel the wind.”
“Those things are heaven to me.”
To quote Baez’ friend Bob Dylan, the lunatic folksinger is damn lucky she isn’t “knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door.”
We’ve searched through thousands of photos of Obama shaking hands with world leaders and can only find two in which he does the bro’ shake — South American socialists.
On the way back from the President’s latest European excursion, CNN White House reporter Ed Henry tweeted that Obama “joked” that he might divert Air Force One to South America so he could visit his buddy Hugo Chavez.
And that brings up something we’ve been wondering about since we saw President Obama greet the outgoing President of Brazil at last week’s G-20 meetings:
Why does President Obama reserve his special soul brother handshakes only for South American socialists?
We’ve searched through thousands of photos of Obama shaking hands with world leaders and can only find two in which he does the bro’ shake.
The first was with Venezuela strongman Hugo Chavez at Obama’s first U.N. conference back in 2009.
The second was with Brazil’s outgoing communist President Luis Inacio Lula de Silva at the previously-mentioned G-20 meeting in Seoul.
Scores of other world leaders, apparently not hip enough to exchange bro’ shakes with Obama or, perhaps, just not politically-attuned enough, just received the regular, boring kind of handshakes heads of state normally exchange.
President Obama and Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez display their brotherhoodPresident Obama and Brazil's outgoing communist President Luis Inacio Lula de Silva show their unityPity the Pope. He is not worthy of a soul brother handshake.
We can’t find any photos of President Obama shaking hands with Raul Castro, Evo Morales or Daniel Ortega, but if and when he does we assume they’ll receive the same show of unity and brotherhood that their South American socialist brothers received.
The always-loquacious vice president had a colorful message for the Afghans regarding the timeline for transferring security by 2014, a plan that will be outlined here at the NATO summit in Lisbon.
If it weren’t for the right wing blogosphere and, maybe, ABC’s Jake Tapper, the media would have given Joe Biden a free pass on his stupidity for the last two years.
Joe "Big Daddy" Biden talks tough
Tapper explains the Veep’s latest loopiness:
Last night Vice President Biden sat down for an interview with Larry King – his 49th appearance on the CNN host’s program.
The always-loquacious vice president had a colorful message for the Afghans regarding the timeline for transferring security by 2014, a plan that will be outlined here at the NATO summit in Lisbon.
“Daddy is going to start to take the training wheels off in October — I mean in next July, so you’d better practice riding,” he said.
July. October. Daddy. Uncle Joe. Uncle Sam. Win. Lose. It’s all sort of the same inside the head of Joe Biden.
Can you imagine if, say, Sarah Palin had uttered those same words? The liberal media would have said that “Daddy’s going to take off the training wheels” was the mother of all stupid statements.
But with Biden, a good liberal, what you’re hearing right now is the sound of silence. All crickets, no critics.
Joe Biden is a national treasure. Of course, we also think the Three Stooges are national treasures. The Vice President did an interview with GQ and didn’t disappoint.
Joe Biden is a national treasure. Of course, we also think the Three Stooges are national treasures.
"Oh, yeah, this Obama guy, his brain is a big f'ing deal."
The Vice President did an interview with GQ and didn’t disappoint:
For instance, reporter Lisa DePaulo pressed Biden repeatedly on why President Obama isn’t connecting with the American public and is instead viewed as professorial and aloof. “So what is it?” asked DePaulo.
“I think what it is, is he’s so brilliant. He is an intellectual,” Biden said.
Being called an intellectual by Joe Biden is the very definition of being damned with faint praise.
Is it just us or does NBC News turns itself into an oxymoron when it covers an event that happened 47 years ago. Note that there is no question mark at the end of that sentence, making it purely a rhetorical question.
Is it just us or does NBC News turns itself into an oxymoron when it covers an event that happened 47 years ago. Note that there is no question mark at the end of that sentence, making it purely a rhetorical question.
"Camelot" is what passes for news on the NBC Nightly "News"
Camelot still exists in the minds of the Washington-New York-Hollywood axis and they will attempt to reinforce it every damn chance they get, whether it’s calling Barack Obama the last Kennedy brother or finding a new way to mark the anniversary of JFK’s assassination.
For example, here’s Brian Williams on last night’s NBC Nightly “News”:
For more than one American generation, November 22nd will always be the day President Kennedy was shot. A new book just out is full of the imagery of those years. It’s called “Portrait of Camelot,” full of rarely seen family photos by the White House photographer back then, Cecil Stoughton.
They include JFK’s Christmas Eve in Palm Beach, making sure the stockings were hung by the chimney with care. The incredibly cute John Jr. on a boat in August of ‘63. Jacqueline Kennedy on a boat off Cape Cod while Caroline naps on a summer day.
Video released along with the book includes a First Family dip in the fountain, the backyard of the White House on the South Lawn. And for the First Family, of course, it all came to an end on this day, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.
In the misty world of liberal memories, JFK wasn’t a womanizer. Teddy Kennedy wasn’t a drunk. Joe Kennedy wasn’t a Nazi-sympathizing rum runner. The family’s men had no warts and its women were perfectly-coifed paragons of virtue.
Don’t you just know that we’re going to have to live with this same sort of nonsense for the next 50 years after Obama leaves office.
Covered from head to toe in a burqa, with just a slit through which to see, a Muslim woman charged with making a false complaint to police now argues she has been a victim of mistaken identity.
If this were a Perry Mason novel, Erle Stanley Gardner would have called it The Case of the Baffling Burka.
The Sydney Daily Telegraph uncovers the story:
Covered from head to toe in a burqa, with just a slit through which to see, a Muslim woman charged with making a false complaint to police now argues she has been a victim of mistaken identity.
Carnita Matthews was stopped by an Australian policeman, who attempted to give her a random Breathalyzer test. She accused him of racism and said he attempted to forcibly remove her veil. Unfortunately for Carnita, the judge didn’t believe a word she said, found her guilty of making a false accusation and sentenced her to six months in jail.
In case you’re wondering, that’s Carnita on the left. Or maybe that’s her on the right. Hmmm. We’re really not sure.
You had to be a black farmer to qualify to get paid the federal government. There were only 18,000 black farmers. 92,000 “black farmers” signed up to get their share of the government gold.
Think of Pigford v. Glickman as back door reparations and you’ll know damn near everything you need to know about the case.
Except for these fascinating facts: You had to be a black farmer to qualify to get paid the federal government. There were only 18,000 black farmers. 92,000 “black farmers” signed up to get their share of the government gold. Congress approved it, but now they want to pay out even more. It’s like the lottery on a much grander scale.
Wikipedia explains it this way:
Pigford v. Glickman was a class action lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), alleging racial discrimination in its allocation of farm loans and assistance between 1983 and 1997. The lawsuit ended with a settlement in which the U.S. government agreed to pay African American farmers $50,000 each if they had attempted to get USDA help but failed. To date, almost $1 billion has been paid or credited to the farmers under the settlement’s consent decree.
Turns out $1 billion isn’t enough for the income redistributing socialists in Congress. No, not nearly enough. Democrats think it would be a really good idea to ante up another $1.2 billion to pay off all those black farmers who aren’t black or aren’t farmers or aren’t both.
“Just relax.” Without warning, he reached down and I felt his strong, calloused hands start at my ankles, gently probing, and moving upward along my calves slowly but steadily…
He grasped me firmly but gently just above my elbow and guided me into a room, his room. Then he quietly shut the door and we were alone.
He approached me soundlessly, from behind, and spoke in a low, reassuring voice close to my ear.
The Encounter, a tale of two strangers doing what strangers do in romance novels, coming soon to bookstores near you
“Just relax.”
Without warning, he reached down and I felt his strong, calloused hands start at my ankles, gently probing, and moving upward along my calves slowly but steadily. My breath caught in my throat. I knew I should be afraid, but somehow I didn’t care. His touch was so experienced, so sure.
When his hands moved up onto my thighs, I gave a slight shudder, and partly closed my eyes. My pulse was pounding. I felt his knowing fingers caress my abdomen, my ribcage. And then, as he cupped my firm, full breasts in his hands, I inhaled sharply. Probing, searching, knowing what he wanted, he brought his hands to my shoulders, slid them down my tingling spine and into my panties.
Although I knew nothing about this man, I felt oddly trusting and expectant. This is a man, I thought. A man used to taking charge. A man not used to taking ‘no’ for an answer. A man who would tell me what he wanted. A man who would look into my soul and say …
“Okay, ma’am,” said a voice. “All done.”
My eyes snapped open and he was standing in front of me, smiling, holding out my purse. “You can board your flight now.”
As he guided me out of the room and into the terminal, he said, “You might want to consider the full-body scann next time. It’s much quicker.”
I smiled inwardly as I walked down the aisle. Not bloody likely, I thought, not bloody likely.
Is it just us or do all these descriptions of enhanced pat downs sound like they come from a novel with Fabio on the cover?
Barack Obama was the greatest orator in American history. He mesmerized adoring crowds. He hypnotized mere humans. His tongue was golden and his words were like honey. Until the Teleprompter broke.
Barack Obama was the greatest orator in American history. He mesmerized adoring crowds. He hypnotized mere humans. His tongue was golden and his words were like honey.
Until the Teleprompter broke.
This clip is a great compilation of Obama’s misadventures with that greatest of all inventions.
The guys on Yemen’s men’s volleyball team have come up with a novel excuse for their recent loss at a tournament in China: Chinese cheerleaders.
The guys on Yemen’s men’s volleyball team have come up with a novel excuse for their recent loss at a tournament in China.
The Telegraph UK has the scantily-clad details:
Organisers of the games in China have hired four cheerleader squads, each made up of eight girls, to entertain fans during breaks in the volleyball action, according to the Tianfu Morning News.
But Yemen beach volleyballer Adeeb Mahfoudh has now accused the squads of being distracting, and partly to blame for their defeat to Indonesia.
“They had an effect on how we played,” he said. “I think they had something to do with our losing the match.
Besides cheering, the girls also perform routines that include traditional Chinese elements including martial arts and fan dancing.
“These girls are very beautiful. With them here, more people will pay attention to beach volleyball,” Mr Mahfoudh added.
“If I can, I hope to watch them perform at the next match.”
This is a huge advance in international relations. As far as we can recall, it’s the first time any Arab loss wasn’t blamed on the Jews or George Bush.
Texas Governor Rick Perry was a guest on Fox News Sunday and told Chris Wallace that Medicaid is such a huge Ponzi scheme that, “It would even make Mr. Ponzi feel bad if he were still alive today.”
Texas Governor Rick Perry was a guest on Fox News Sunday and told Chris Wallace that Medicaid is such a huge Ponzi scheme that, “It would even make Mr. Ponzi feel bad if he were still alive today.”
As a side note, doesn’t Perry look like he should be laying on hands, screaming, “Heal,” and making cripples walk in a big, drafty tent set up somewhere on the outskirts of town?
Tom Bergeron, the genial, long-time host of Dancing With the Stars spoke to Movieline. It appears that he has some very strong feelings about the liberal lunatics who see some dark conspiracy behind Bristol Palin’s success.
Tom Bergeron, the genial, long-time host of Dancing With the Stars spoke to Movieline. It appears that he has some very strong feelings about the liberal lunatics who see some dark conspiracy behind Bristol Palin’s success.
Tom Bergeron is not happy with the Bristol Palin conspiracy theorists
Let’s talk about this season of Dancing with the Stars. Can you gauge audience reaction during the taping? Is there noticeable commotion when Bristol Palin gets the lowest scores but isn’t eliminated? Or when—
Here’s the thing. Let’s address the Bristol thing. That’s the thing I get the biggest kick out of on the show. I’m going to put on my political hat. I’m a liberal Democrat, and I state that proudly. But I have no patience with my friends who believe there is a conspiracy keeping Bristol on the show. They’ll say, and they’re friends of a similar political persuasion though I have friends across the spectrum, “Oh, well! She’s still on the show! She’s obviously not the best dancer! She gets the lowest scores!” My response to that is similar to my response to the midterm elections. I’ll say, “OK, right. So who did you vote for instead of Bristol?” “Uh, well, I don’t vote!” “Well, then, f*ck you.” I mean, basically! You can clean that up. I have no patience for that! If you don’t participate to create a different outcome — and this can be true in national politics or a TV reality show — then don’t piss and moan if you don’t like the way it’s playing out. You know, I’m sorry! I think Bristol is clearly not the best dancer here, but she’s a charming young woman who’s shown an incredible growth from week one to this week. If she happens to get more votes for whatever reason, more power to her. If you don’t like it, vote for someone else. But that’s been the part of the show that’s amused me, how quickly people are to seize on conspiracy theories when people aren’t involved in the process.
Don’t you hate these mealy-mouthed, namby pamby TV show hosts who won’t express an opinion?
Good lord. We just realized this is Gloria Allred. Please poke out our eyes with an ice pick and put an armed guard on our penises.
Good lord. We just realized this is Gloria Allred. Please poke out our eyes with an ice pick and put an armed guard on our penises.
We sincerely hope none of you are desperate enough to even consider offering Gloria what she seems to be looking for in this video. C’mon, at this point even Gloria’s adult daughter is too old and too ugly to be worthy of cougarhood.
According to our friends over at iOwnTheWorld.com, lovely Fresno, California hosted the second annual California Cougar Convention last Saturday.
We just checked with Travelocity.com and it looks like there are about 20 flights a day between Los Angeles and Fresno. We don’t know for sure if Gloria attended the convention, but considering how much she seems to enjoy the TSA’s enhanced pat down, she may have flown up just to get felt up.
Chris Wallace tried to ask Hillary Clinton is she would ever run for office again. Her answer? She cackled. It’s her standard non-answer whenever she’s confronted with a tough question she doesn’t want to answer.
Chris Wallace tried to ask Hillary Clinton is she would ever run for office again. Her answer? She cackled.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb-ZLxo67MM
Is a cackle an answer? Well, in Hillary’s case, it’s really more of a non-answer. In fact, it’s her standard non-answer whenever she’s confronted with a tough question she doesn’t want to answer.
Here’s a Glenn Beck video (from back in his HLN days) looking at the history of the world’s most annoying cackle.
There seems to be a bit of a culture war going on at Time magazine. First it praised a novelist and his novel, a work containing what has to be one of the most disgusting sexual passages ever written in a work of “literature.” Then its online Newsfeed service mocked that praise.
There seems to be a bit of a culture war going on at Time magazine. First it praised a novelist and his novel, a work containing what has to be one of the most disgusting sexual passages ever written in a work of “literature.” Then its online Newsfeed service mocked that praise.
American novelist, yes. Great is questionable.
Here’s how the magazine reviewed Jonathan Franzen’s novel Freedom on August 12, 2010:
Franzen isn’t the richest or most famous living American novelist, but you could argue — I would argue — that he is the most ambitious and also one of the best. His third book, The Corrections, published in 2001, was the literary phenomenon of the decade. His fourth novel, Freedom, will arrive at the end of August. Like The Corrections, it’s the story of an American family, told with extraordinary power and richness.
Hey, based on that review you might assume that Freedom is one hell of a novel. Yet there seems to be disagreement about that even within the Time family. On Friday, its online Newsfeed website said:
Jonathan Franzen has been lavished with praise — and if TIME says he’s good, he must be — so NewsFeed was ever so slightly disappointed to learn that he’s been nominated for the tongue-in-cheek prize, dished out by the Literary Review for — ahem — the most embarrassing passage of sexual description in a novel.
Our only dispute with Literary Review is that they deem the passage merely “embarrassing.” No. Accidentally leaving your fly open in public is embarrassing. Intentionally writing, in fact, taking nine years to carefully craft every word of this novel is not embarrassing, it’s an indictment of the author and any magazine that praises it.
Newsfeed notes that “Freedom, which is ostensibly about the breakdown of an American family, was singled out by judges for a depiction of a ‘phone sex’ encounter.”
CONTENT ALERT: The following passage from Freedom is graphic, disgusting and, considering that it took nine years to write, pretty poorly written. We are taking the liberty of italicizing and dyslexia-izing several words not because we want to censor it, but because we don’t want Google’s algorithyms to tag us as a porn site.
OK. Ready? Here’s the offending passage with key words italicized and dyslexia-ized.
One afternoon, as Connie described it, her excited lcitoirs grew to be eight inches long, a protruding pencil of tenderness with which she gently parted the lips of his pneis and drove herself down to the base of its shaft. Another day, at her urging, Joey described to her the sleek warm neatness of her utrds as they slid from her anus and fell into his open mouth, where, since these were only words, they tasted like excellent dark chocolate.
Literary Review said that Franzen exhibits a “propensity for innuendo which comes over a bit Benny Hill.” We say that is an insult to Benny Hill.
The tongue-in-cheek (perhaps a poor choice of words in this case) prize is awarded to ”draw attention to the crude, tasteless, often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description in the modern novel, and to discourage it.”
Is it a sign that we’re making progress in the culture war when the online edition of Time attacks the print edition of Time for praising this author and this novel? Or is the very existence of this novel a sign that we’re losing ground?
The Obama Administration plans to withdraw National Guard troops from the Texas, New Mexico and California borders by the end February under a new Southwest security plan, even as turmoil in Mexican border cities grows.
As if he hasn’t violated enough laws, President Obama is now violating Newton’s Third Law of Motion. That’s the one that says “to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
In February of this year the President announced that he was sending troops to the Mexican border.
"Do you see any troops, Estacio? I don't see any troops."
That action was accompanied by lots of hoopla in the media, but in a completely unequal reaction, the withdrawal of those troops has now been quietly announced in a letter to a Texas congressman.
The Washington Examiner has the details:
The Obama Administration plans to withdraw National Guard troops from the Texas, New Mexico and California borders by the end February under a new Southwest security plan, even as turmoil in Mexican border cities grows, according to documents obtained by The Washington Examiner.
A letter sent to various members of the Texas Congressional delegation from Texas’ Gov. Rick Perry’s office says, “In February, 2011, the Texas, New Mexico, and California National Guard forces that were deployed to the border in September, 2010, under President’s Obama’s Southwest Border Augmentation Plan, will have 30 days to complete a total draw down of forces.”
The roughly 550 troops will have the month of February to redeploy back to their units, Texas Congressman Ted Poe told The Examiner. Troops would not be pulled off the Arizona border under the plan, and about 100 of the troops would re-deploy there from other states, officials said.
Poe received the letter today. His office confirmed with Department of Homeland Security officials that the plan came from the administration.
“I’m surprised the president would so quickly remove troops from Texas. They’re not supposed to leave until July,” said Poe.
Fact is, Obama withdrew those troops faster than the French front lines fleeing a battle.
Congressman Poe shouldn’t have been surprised. It doesn’t matter where the President sends troops – the Mexican border or Iraq or Afghanistan – he seems to be incapable of doing it without simultaneously announcing a date that they will be pulled out.
He just wishes he could surrender in Afghanistan as quickly as he surrendered on the Mexican border.
Jesse Jackson said, “and until the rich have serve with the poor in the military, that’s why I’m for the draft, because I think we must share the burden of war.”
Jesse Jackson must realize that his race war schtick is getting pretty old, because he seems to have added class warfare to his repertoire.
Jesse Jackson prepares to apply the Vulcan mind meld to gullible white Americans
“Our 21-year-old children join the military to avoid unemployment,” Jackson said, “and until the rich have serve with the poor in the military, that’s why I’m for the draft, because I think we must share the burden of war. So long as only the poor go to war it’s academic, but when Harvard and Yale has to go to war they figure out a way to end it.”
Only the poor go to war? Liberals just can’t make the argument that the rich don’t serve and also define the rich as family income over $75,000.
And don’t look now, Jesse, but John McCain’s son is in the military. So was Sarah Palin’s. Pat Tillman left the NFL, enlisted and got killed in Afghanistan. And they all qualify as rich by liberal standards.
Oh, wait. We don’t have a draft, do we? All those damn rich kids enlisted.
Why does President Obama reserve his special soul brother handshakes only for South American socialists?
