“Amber, do you think the Bill of Rights is a good thing or a bad thing?” – Krusty the Klown “Um . . .” – Amber Dempsey “Take your time, dear.” – Krusty the Klown “Good thing!” – Amber Dempsey There is something unnervingly chilling about the sad sack attempt at congratulating Jon Stewart that [...]
Archive for December 2010
Treating Failure as Kitsch
Republic of Thieves
Fanfare for the Common Lobbyist
“Homer, I want you to have my lucky hat. I wore it the day Kennedy was shot, and it always brings me good luck.” – Rich Texan There has been much brouhaha over Haley Barbour’s shameless whitewashing of his youth in segregated Mississippi. Rick Perlstein has the definitive takedown of Barbour’s comments and the willful [...]
Right and Left, Style and Substance
“Hey, welcome to the new ‘Coming Attractions’, where we now emphasize style over substance. We’ll review four flicks, but first, something for the chicks.” – Jay Sherman In response to the latest round of silly playground taunts aimed leftward by the White House, Atrios writes: Personally I don’t mind a bit of hippie punching as [...]
The Tools of War
“Good day shopkeep, I require a hand operated buzz saw capable of cutting through a human sternum.” – Chris/Stewie Griffin We’re barely six months away from the July 2011 date that President Obama invoked as the beginning of the end for the war in Afghanistan back when he announced his decision to escalate it last [...]
Assanges on the Head of a Pin
“How many monkey butlers will there be?” – Nelson Muntz “One at first, but he’ll train others.” – Bart Simpson Charli Carpenter has been a great addition to Lawyers, Guns & Money, and she recently posted a long and well thought out analysis of what it really means if Julian Assange’s transparent world comes about [...]
Lotta Cans on This Road
“We have mocked our economy, and now the economy has cast its vengeance upon us all.” – Randy Marsh There are conflicting reports about whether or not the massive “Tax Cuts for Everybody!” deal is actually going to pass. Plenty of people are hopping mad about it, although for very different reasons. The basic outline [...]
Wikileaks: The Red Menace of the 21st Century
“Hello, Milhouse? Can you keep a secret?” – Bart Simpson “No.” – Milhouse van Houten “Oh well, who cares?” – Bart Simpson All week there has been a steady flow of Wikileaks revelations from the document dump of American diplomatic cables. Unlike the last few times Wikileaks has found itself in the news, most similarly [...]
Symbol Minded
“Wait, you forgot your bear, a symbol of your lost youth and innocence!” – Mr. Burns Sr. One tries to be as cynical as possible. It’s easier than going through life mystified at all the horrible shit that happens. But every once and a while even a practiced cynic encounters something so darkly twisted as [...]
