Open Thread

Just watched some of a video called An Engineer's Guide to Cats. Kinda long, but I laughed out loud a couple times around the 3 minute mark when they were talking about "cat hobbies".



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Edwards and Obama on The Colbert Report

Here are the videos, for anyone who missed seeing John Edwards and Barack Obama on The Colbert Report last night...

Update: Apparently the Edwards video was pulled from YouTube. I've removed both videos from this post so that people won't be clicking them in vain--I imagine the Obama one won't stay up for long. Here's a link to the Colbert Report web site, where you can watch segments from last night's program.

There was another candidate on last night's show, I seem to recall.

Oh yeah, this one:
Secretly recorded tape reveals Hillary blasting MoveOn & Democratic activists

Nice one, Hill. Do we need to remind people why MoveOn was founded in the first place?

And click here for audio of both MoveOn Hatin' Hillary and MoveOn Lovin' Hillary.

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Hillary seeking the "Colbert bump"

She's scheduled to appear on The Colbert Report tonight.

It's been taped already, as reported here.

“Are you telling me there is no one in this theater who can fix the mess we’re in?” Mr. Colbert said.

Enter Mrs. Clinton, who strode out on stage, smiling.

“I can,” she said. “I can, Stephen!”

After pausing for applause, Mrs. Clinton said, “Let me handle this,” and squinted up into some imaginary rafters to talk a technician through the problem.

Then she moved onto the issue of Mr. Colbert’s appearance.

“You know what, Stephen?” she said. “Your forehead is a little shiny. Makeup! Makeup! Can we get some translucent powder, please?”

Mr. Colbert said in mock amazement, “Wow, Senator Clinton! You’re so prepared for any situation!”

Mrs. Clinton replied, “That’s O.K., Stephen. I just love solving problems.”

I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.

John Edwards will also be making an appearance on stage, and Barack Obama will be on via satellite.

(I still think a "Colbert bump" sounds like what you get when you're expecting a little Colbert.)

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To What End?

Ten million people watched this debate. Somewhat of an indication that they're interested in the outcome. They were NOT assisted in that aim. . . .

. . . many of the millions who did watch, didn't like what they saw. Including TV critic Tom Shales of the Washington Post and Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News. First Shales:

"It was another step downward for network news — usually dependable anchors, Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, turned in shoddy, despicable performances.

The fact is, cable networks CNN and MSNBC both did better jobs with earlier candidate debates. Cable news is indeed taking over from network news, and merely by being competent."

And from Bunch, an open letter to Gibson and Stephanopoulos calling their performance "a televised train wreck that my friend and colleague Greg Mitchell has already called, quite accurately, 'a shameful night for the U.S. media.'"

Alessandra Stanley of the NYTimes focused on "the veiled ties and tensions between news media stars and political figures" which "sometimes make voters bitter, leading them to cling to political satire by the likes of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert as a way to explain their frustration."

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/politics/abc_debate_reviews_shoddy_televised_train_wreck_excellent_82656.asp

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ICE OUT! (Shout it all together!)

Mid-April snow squalls left fresh snow on Mount Mansfield.



It won't last long.
For on Monday in Vermont the ice in Mallett's Bay
{ where listener and family sail }
broke up and was pushed by the wind to one side!



Now if that would just happen in the political campaign, eh?


This is a Speak Freely Thread. Let the winds of Change blow free!

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People who should know better

Hat tip to Jed Report for reminding us of Hillary's "tea and cookies" remark.

"Those of us who have tried to have a career, tried to have an independent life, certainly somebody like myself...you know, I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas but what I decided to do was fulfill my profession which I entered before my husband was in public life."

I remember when she said that. I sympathized. I was in grad school, and had no plans (at that time) to do the "stay at home" thing. And I hadn't yet developed a real respect for how challenging and rewarding such a choice could be.

But I liked her back then. I recognized that she was treated unfairly. She's the one who talked about a "vast right wing conspiracy", remember? Knowing from personal experience what it's like to be hammered with your own ill-chosen words, she should be the first person to denounce such attacks on her fellow Democrats. Instead, she seeks to profit from them. That's just sad...and wrong.

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Bitter Voters for Obama

New web site just went up...Bitter Voters for Obama.

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"Look how American I am!", continued

Hillary Clinton: "Who do Americans want to have a beer with? Look--I've got photographic evidence right here!"



"What's that? Do shots with you?"

I can totally imagine her TerminatorVision activating at this point, rapidly displaying the probabilities of various outcomes depending on whether she says yes or no. After all of her efforts to convince the regular folks that Barack Obama is the one who is elitist while she "gets" small-town America (having been raised on "pinochle and the American dream"), can she afford to say no?

"Well...(shrug). Down the hatch!"

From ABC's Political Radar:

Clinton stood by the bar and took a shot of Crown Royal whiskey. She took one sip of the shot, then another small sip, then a few seconds later threw her head back and finished off the whole thing.

(Pictures via Huffington Post)

When I saw these pictures of Hillary Clinton last night, my first response was to be disgusted at the pandering. But then I was intrigued. Maybe this situation offers us some lemons with which we can make lemonade.

Fact: Hillary is determined to stay in this thing.
Fact: We can't get her to stop doing John McCain's work for him

Those are some rather disheartening facts. But we should at least be able to get some entertainment out of this. There could be any number of, shall we say, "less than dignified" things Hillary could be persuaded to do on camera to bolster her "real American" cred.

Developing...

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Hillary Clinton, just reeking "small town America"

Hillary Clinton joining the presumptive Republican nominee in an opportunistic tag teaming of Obama was to be expected. But I'm a little disappointed in myself that I didn't see this coming

“You know, my dad took me out behind the cottage that my grandfather built on a little lake called Lake Winola outside of Scranton and taught be how to shoot when I was a little girl,” she said.

“You know, some people now continue to teach their children and their grandchildren. It’s part of culture. It’s part of a way of life. People enjoy hunting and shooting because it’s an important part of who they are. Not because they are bitter.”

The article notes that Hillary and her daddy hunted ducks.


Why yes, I did post this story just to have an excuse to use that picture. Some days, that's just the kind of gal I am. ;)

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Saturday Open Thread

Son in Ohio just pointed out this YouTube video about Pirates and Emperors. (In the tradition of Schoolhouse Rock.)



Update
This is worth a read: Pushing Clinton: CNN's Push Poll on Obama's Remarks

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Seeing the Clintons in a new light. Growing up politically, so to speak.

If you have been following the saga of that very clever blogger from Kansas calling himself John Brown and going after Taylor Marsh....then you will enjoy his post about Bill Clinton. I have found his blog to be humorous and insightful in many areas.

It describes just about I feel as I keep seeing new facets of the former first family emerging. There is something rather sad and wistful about what we are witnessing. There is no joy in it. Just a kind of numbness and fatigue.

I liked Bill Clinton. Then I grew up.

Once upon a time, I thought highly of Bill Clinton. Sure, I had a few reservations about him. Overall, though, I liked the guy. Then I grew up.

It was easy to look past Bill's more highly-publicized shortcomings. He screwed around. He lied about it. I never felt his carnal urges had much of a bearing on his ability to lead the country. I could put myself in his shoes and imagine myself fibbing under oath and parsing definitions of "sexual relations" to stay out of bigger trouble. The guy bullshitted everyone about Monica and is other assignations but, even as a non-cheater, I could let it slide.

I even developed a kind of respect for Bill Clinton. I was impressed with the way he could weather controversy. I was astonished by his ability to charm his way out of situations that would doom most politicians. I think I also liked Bill because the people who were "out to get him" were usually people with whom I disagreed on issues. I, like others, sort of rallied behind Clinton because I despised his foes. Those asshats were more evil and conniving than Bill, but they weren't as good at the game. And, in my estimation, they were on the wrong side.

I liked Bill Clinton. Then I grew up.

Somewhere along the line, I realized that the means were just as important--if not more important--than the ends. I lost my appetite for the fruits of the diseased tree. Winning is important, but the way one wins is just as significant.

The blogger ends with this paragraph which in a way describes the battles our party is fighting right now.

They say that idealism is just for kids. I don't think so. I think it's valuable. I also believe, that in the long run, it's the only thing that makes sense.

There was a statement made by his wife who is running for president now. It was her statement about giving Iraqis the gift of freedom

"And I believe that at the same time that we have to make clear to the Iraqis that they have been given the greatest gift that a human being can give another human being – the gift of freedom. And it is up to them to decide how they will use that precious gift that has been paid for with the blood and sacrifice and treasure of the United States of America."

That statement defined her candidacy for me. It's hard seeing people in new ways, and there is no pleasure in it at all.

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Moar new thread

The "moar" is lolcat-speak, for anyone unfamiliar. I'm tired and feeling a little silly. But thought I'd share this rather well done "Elton John sings for Hillary" parody first. Just discovered it in this thread at Booman.



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Open Thread

Talk amongst yourselves...

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If wishes were ponies...

Also posted at Booman

Via Oliver Willis, I found this post on Salon.com. I recommend going to Oliver's site for the commentary, but you don't want to miss the title of the pro-Hillary piece in Salon. It's classic Hillary-think:

Why Hillary Clinton should be winning

You see, while Hillary is not actually winning, she really should be. But reality is well-known for having a pro-Obama bias.

And the subhead reads: Under a winner-take-all primary system, Hillary Clinton would have a wide lead over Barack Obama -- and enough delegates to clinch the nomination by June.

As Oliver points out, "If Senator Clinton wished to run for the nomination of a party with a winner-take-all nomination process, she would be well within her legal rights to do so - she simply needed to have changed her party affiliation to Republican."

Well, yeah. And actually, Demetrius told me a while back that he saw Paul Begala on some cable news show saying the Democrats should have a winner-take-all system like the Republicans, because it has "built-in momentum" or some such.

Wouldn't that be rather, well, "undemocratic"? Especially coming from someone associated with Hillary, who is currently presenting herself as would-be champion of the downtodden, disenfranchised voters in Florida and Michigan.

I also saw this earlier today, via Pho's Akron Pages. Part of the plea Hillary is currently sending out to her mailing list

With 14 days to go until the people of Pennsylvania vote, the Obama campaign has decided to go all-out. They're trying to end the race for the White House with an unyielding media blitz. Right now, we're being outspent 4-1 on Pennsylvania television.

So now, here's what we have to ask ourselves: Have we come this far in our history-making contest for the Democratic nomination only to see the race decided not by the quality of our ideas but by the size of our opponent's media budget?

Maybe I'm misremembering this, but isn't that how Hillary was planning to win the nomination? By crushing any and all challengers under the weight of her mighty campaign war chest?

But, I do understand. What it comes down to is that Hillary Clinton really really wants to be president. She wants it so much that she seems unable to even consider the possibility that it won't happen.

I am reminded of a moms' group I attended when Son and Daughter in Ohio were much younger. One of the other mothers was asking how to respond to her little one's meltdown over being denied something s/he desperately wanted. Like maybe the child wanted a pony, but couldn't have one. The group leader suggested saying something like, "You wish you could have a pony." When I first heard that suggestion, I couldn't help laughing, because it sounded like sarcasm to me. "You wish!" But I learned to say it in a way that didn't feel that way to me. "You really wish you could have..." It was kind of Rogerian, actually. A way of acknowledging kids' feelings and making sure they know they've been heard...even if the answer is still "no".

I'm glad I had some good role models to teach me the importance of showing empathy toward toddlers and preschoolers. The "you can't always get what you want" lesson is a tough one for little kids, and they deserve our compassion as they are learning it.

But when we're talking about 60 year old senators, my patience and compassion wear a bit thin...

Here's your pony, Hillary.

Now get out of the damn race!

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Help Howard

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Open Thread

I is too tired to blog. But here is an open thread.

see more crazy cat pics

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McCain Girls: not a parody. Apparently.

When I saw the "It's raining McCain" video, I initially thought it was a joke. So, it seems, did a lot of other people in the blogoverse. Lead McCain Girl was not amused, and issued a curt, profanity laced 30 second statement to that effect on YouTube. In it, she promised to be back with more McCainy goodness set to music.

And she was true to her word, because here they are again.



I'm beginning to think maybe I judged "Hillary for you and me" too harshly.

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Clinton donors push. Howard pushes back

This primary season certainly puts Howard Dean in a tough spot.

Clinton Donors Press Dean at Fifth Avenue Bundler Summit
More on Clinton Donors Versus Dean

From the second link:

Dean then responded, heatedly, that in his experience, those who sought the intervention of party leadership were motivated by their own particular agendas. And that was not the sort of leadership he intended to provide.

You tell 'em, Howard!

I recall during the 2004 primaries, Terry McAuliffe was not exactly an unbiased arbiter. Working, as Howard Dean has in his tenure as DNC chair, to make sure everyone is treated fairly, is certainly a thankless job. But, as Hillary Clinton's campaign chair, McAuliffe should consider himself damn lucky that the current DNC chair is making a genuine effort to remain neutral.

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When animals *don't* attack

As the article says, of course this scene could have gone horribly wrong, but happily it didn't. And I just couldn't pass up sharing this picture and story. Especially after reading about Glenn Beck's anti-polar bear rant.

Wildlife photographer Norbert Rosing was taking pictures of a team of huskies in Canada's frozen north when a polar bear gatecrashed the party.

Along with dog handler Brian Ladoon, Mr Rosing watched helplessly as the bear and one of the dogs approached each other.

They growled and bared their teeth. But then, instead of fighting, the enemies became firm friends.

First the bear gently nuzzled the husky's neck. The dog responded by rising on its hind legs to lick the bear's face.

The bear then rolled on its back to play as the husky looked on, somewhat bemused.

More here.

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Open Thread

see more crazy cat pics

BTW, I've got a diary at Booman: Hillary: Pledged delegates are "misnomer"

Hillary, for her part, was on Leno last night, joking about sniper fire. This must be part of a "humor offensive" (she writes, fully appreciating the potential double-meaning of the phrase.) How very "Bush pretending to look for WMD" of her.

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