April 25th, 2007
Just one more illustration of the huge brass-ones that Jon Stewart swings: Jon interviews the war candidate, John McCain — via CrooksandLiars.com.
McCain got very angry that Stewart called them out for using the “you’re not supporting the troops,” theme and was trying to filibuster the segment… He tried to use the troops as a wedge. Stewart got hot and fought back… McCain started to stutter. (rough transcript)
Stewart: All I’m saying is you cannot look a soldier in the eye and say questioning the president is less supportive to you than extending your tour for three months when you should be coming home to your family.
McCain: Every American…
Stewart: And that’s not fair to put on people that criticize…
McCain: Jon…
Stewart: And you know I love you and respect your service and would never question any of that—this is not about questioning the troops and their ability to fight and their ability to be supported. And that is what the administration does and that is almost criminal.
UPDATE: Video courtesy of Comedy Central.
April 22nd, 2007
It’s official: Steven Colbert is the “Greatest Living American.” Official because Google.com tells me it is.
April 18th, 2007
MSNBC.com has a round up of the people that were killed in the V Tech shooting… seeing their faces and learning just a little bit about their lives is incredibly moving…
April 12th, 2007
A great man and a favorite author is dead.
April 2nd, 2007
Here’s just one more example illustrating why David Sirota’s writing is the most lucid embodiment of what I think of as progressive populist:
Berating the entire concept of ideology has become something of a fad in contemporary Washington, D.C. The David Broders lead us to believe that ideology - defined by the dictionary as “a set of beliefs” - is exactly the same thing as rigid, counterproductive dogma that prevents people from compromising. Of course, the chattering class is perhaps the most rigidly dogmatic demographic in America, loyally clinging to a rather strident elitist ideology on everything from trade, to the war and to democracy itself.
Put another way, “ideology” is berated even as an ideological war is being fought by the beraters. And while the conservative movement actually believes in movement politics and rejects the idiotic attack on the concept of having “a set of beliefs,” many Democratic Party elites buy the whole frame hook, line and sinker - for clearly corrupt reasons.
[...]
We are expected to believe that the American people want candidates who stand for nothing but have good “personalities” - that, say, a gameshow host like Alex Trebek or Bob Barker is the ideal Democratic Party candidates. We are expected to believe that you can “sell leadership” without actually SHOWING any leadership. And perhaps most ridiculously of all, we are expected to believe that the way to “reclaim fleeting authenticity” is to eliminate a coherent belief system - the critical ingredient of authenticity itself.
Go read the rest at the HuffingPost.com, and see why Sirota takes Sen Obama’s campaign manager to task for being guilty of exercising "Seinfeld Politics" — that is, the politics of nothing.
