Would You Buy a House From This Person?

Ashley Dupre becoming a real estate broker

Call girl turned gossip rag sex columnist turned songstress turned... real estate broker? ...Okay.

Must Reads

Matt Taibbi: Lara Logan, You Suck

Christopher Brauchli: Indians and Immigrants

Michael Winship: This Fourth of July, Celebrate "1776" -- The Movie

Paul Krugman: Myths of Austerity

Andrew Sullivan: In Breitbart's World

JHW22 recommends...

Matt Osborne: False Sense of Security

Greg Boyd: For (Too Much) Love of Country

Armadillo Joe recommends...

Anita Lee: Is BP rejecting skimmers to save money on Gulf oil cleanup?

Richard Heinberg: Solarize the White House

Francois Cellier: A Road Not Taken: Solar Panels, Jimmy Carter, and Missed Opportunities for Change

President Obama's Weekly Address - July 3, 2010

A Solar Recovery

Ads That Make Me Want To Quit Facebook

Who paid to have this advertisement on Facebook?

Michael Steele is An Idiot - Afghanistan Edition

It's time for the weekly Insert Foot in Mouth moment for Michael Steele. This time, Steele tries to blame Afghanistan on Obama as "a war of his choosing" failing to realize that not only was this yet another fixer upper of the previous administration's debacle, but also that the RNC Chairman is in direct opposition of most likely EVERY Republican member of Congress.

"This was a war of Obama's choosing," Michael Steele said at the event. "This is not something the United States has actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in."

..."Well, if he's such a student of history, has he not understood that, you know, that's the one thing you don't do is engage in a land war in Afghanistan, alright, because everyone who's tried over a thousand years of history has failed," Steele continued.

Where was Steele and his criticism about history in 2003?   Oh, right.  There was a Republican in the White House.  It goes to show how much the RNC is in disarray when this guy hasn't been fired for his foot in mouth disease. And they say Joe Biden is bad!

Cartoon of the Day

Dumbass Quote of the Day

"Well, President Obama is trying to bind the United States into a global economy where all of our nations come together in a global economy. I don’t want the United States to be in a global economy where, where our economic future is bound to that of Zimbabwe."

~ Michele Bachmann (R-Freakland) on Fox "News"

I suppose no President before Obama ever met with other world leaders in a summit such as the G-20.  And as John Amato notes:

Using racist code words is built into the psyche of all conservative pols so when Mrs. Crazy spouts off that the USA could become "Zimbabwe," they understand that what she's really saying is Obama is not a citizen, but an African/Muslin [sic] hiding out in the White House...

I guess if she had said "Kenya" it would have been too obvious.

President Obama's Immigration Reform Speech

Lazy Journalism

You know, I don't envy journalists. If you do your job properly, it can be a difficult task between fact checking and research, multiple sources and looking for the scoop. So imagine my surprise when I saw this from the LA Times:
Mississippi officials blast BP, U.S. government as oil hits coast -
Gov. Haley Barbour condemns a lack of resources; Rep. Gene Taylor is 'dumbfounded' by 'wasted effort, wasted money and stupidity.'

Yes, Heehaw reject Haley Barbour is pointing fingers at the federal government for the lack of response and failure to capture the oil offshore before hitting Mississippi's shores. Rep. Gene Taylor, whom I've written about before regarding the BP disaster, was equally outraged:

At a news conference Monday, Barbour said that "the plan we agreed to with the unified command and BP wasn't being given the resources to be totally effective." As a result, he said, "there continues to be more oil in the [Mississippi] Sound than we have the capacity to deal with, unless we get lucky."

Speaking at the same event, Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), whose district lies on the coast, said he flew over the spill Saturday and "was dumbfounded by the amount of wasted effort, wasted money and stupidity that I saw."

I scanned the rest of the article for mention of Barbour's dismissal of the oil spill, tar balls and it's non-toxicity. I looked for quotes from Gene Taylor saying the oil would evaporate within a week. But I saw nothing. The two actors were being reported on, were shaking their fists at the evil government, but there was no perspective. There was no ironic twist being that said actors shrugged their shoulders two months ago, with Barbour especially whining about the media making such a big deal about the spill it would hurt his state's tourism.

So I e-mailed Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Richard Fausset, the authors of the article.

Subject: Re: Mississippi officials blast BP, U.S. government as oil hits coast

From: [Broadway Carl]

Date: June 29, 2010 10:31:39 AM EDT

To: richard.fausset@latimes.com, molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

Dear Mrs. Hennessy-Fiske and Mr. Fausset,

Perhaps a little perspective on Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Rep. Gene Taylor would have behooved your article of June 29th, "Mississippi officials blast BP, U.S. government as oil hits coast," such as the fact that for weeks, Barbour has been downplaying the oil spill in an attempt to get tourists to go to the beaches, or that he's had 6,000 National Guard troops at his disposal to prepare for the oncoming oil slick and has only deployed 58. Or that's he's called the oil not unlike a food mousse and not poisonous. Now he's singing a different tune that the oil has reached his shores.

Or Rep. Gene Taylor, who said the oil would evaporate within a week during the first few days of the disaster, also calling it chocolate mousse in consistency.

For these men to dismiss this catastrophe weeks ago when it first began and now turn their flippancy to blaming and finger pointing is absolutely disgusting and should be called out.

[Broadway Carl]

Mr. Fausset was kind enough to respond:

From: Fausset, Richard 

Subject: RE: Mississippi officials blast BP, U.S. government as oil hits coast

Date: June 29, 2010 4:54:12 PM EDT

To: [Broadway Carl]

Mr. [Broadway Carl]:

Hi there. I agree that I should have mentioned Barber's earlier downplaying of the spill. My bad.

Richard Fausset

LA Times Atlanta bureau

That's it. No update on the web article. Sigh. At least he answered his e-mail.

Robert Byrd Dies at 92

NY TIMES: Robert C. Byrd, who used his record tenure as a United States senator to fight for the primacy of the legislative branch of government and to build a modern West Virginia with vast amounts of federal money, died at about 3 a.m. Monday, his office said. He was 92.

...Byrd’s death comes as Senate Democrats are working to pass the final version of the financial overhaul bill and win other procedural battles in the week before the Independence Day recess. In the polarized atmosphere of Washington, President Obama’s agenda seemed to hinge on Mr. Byrd’s health. Earlier this year, in the final days of the health care debate, the ailing senator was pushed onto the Senate floor in his plaid wheelchair so he could cast his votes.

Sen. Byrd Seriously Ill

Via TPM: Byrd was admitted to the hospital late last week suffering from what was believed to be heat exhaustion and severe dehydration as a result of the extreme temperatures. He was expected to remain in the hospital not more than a few days.

However, upon further examination by his doctors, other conditions have developed which has resulted in his condition being described as "serious."

Politics Is Like A Box of Chocolates...

... you never know when you're gonna get a moron.

The Forrest Gump of the GOP, Sarah Palin had yet another speaking engagement at a California State University campus.  One in which credentials were not distributed to the school newspaper's student reporters.  And one in which an open mic caught many critical statements of Palin, allegedly uttered by the reporters who were present and completely dumbfounded by The Sarah Palin Experience.

“Now I know the dumbness doesn’t just come from sound bites.”

“She didn’t finish a statement.”

“I don’t know how you’re gonna make a story out of that.” “Well, that’s the story.”

“Did she even make a point?”

You'd think by now, realizing the success she had in her VP nomination acceptance speech, she would have realized she should hire a speech writer.  Maybe she could use the same person who writes her Facebook entries.  Or her book ghostwriter.

In any case... RUN, SARAH! RUN!

(Via GottaLaff)

Quote of the Day

"I worry, and I told President Obama this, that it's reached the point that if he had nominated Moses the Law Giver some would have said, 'We can't have him because among other things, he hasn't produced a birth certificate.'"

~ Sen. Patrick Leahy on Face The Nation, regarding the Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan.