Megalochenyiacs and more...
Blogressive November 22, 2005
MegaloCheneyiacs
We love a good pun here at The Progressive. Problem is some of us seem to love bad ones too. Luckily many of the worst puns never make it out of the office. (We do have a handwritten list of the worst puns posted on the wall and occassionally add to it.) Today editor Matt Rothschild shared one of his newer creations on a morning call-in show on Wisconsin Public Radio.
You can listen to the entire broadcast here. Hint: Skip ahead to the end if you are only in it for the pun.
Related blogs and sources: Wisconsin Public Radio (Streaming Audio) | Megalomania
RFK
Today is the anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination. November 20th marked the 80th anniversary of Robert Kennedy's birth. Some have noted that RFK's words about poverty, race, and war in the closing months of his life in 1968 carry meaning today. See for yourself:
"What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists, is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents." [Robert Kennedy]
Early in his career he worked alongside Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Related blogs and sources: For lively blog discussion on RFK check out this diary at DailyKos | RFK Memorial | Today in Hidden History
The new face of the GOP. Yeah, that'll work.
The Bush administration shouldn't expect public opinion on the war to swing anytime soon. Many Americans were for the war in 2003 and now they are against it. Telling them that they are wrong probably isn't a winning strategy. But giving Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH), who recently eked out a special election election victory against an Iraq War veteran in a heavily Republican district, a minute to speak is a worse strategy.
As if calling Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), a Vietnam vet, a coward on the House floor, wasn't bad enough. Now it is apparent that she had to distort someone else's words to do so:
"Three days after Rep. Jean Schmidt was booed off the House floor for saying that 'cowards cut and run, Marines never do,' the Ohioan she quoted disputed the comments. Danny Bubp, a freshman state representative who is a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, told The Enquirer that he never mentioned Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., by name when talking with Schmidt, and he would never call a fellow Marine a coward. 'The unfortunate thing about all of that is that her choice of words on the floor of the House - I don't know, she's a freshman, she had one minute. Unfortunately, they came out wrong,' said Bubp, R-West Union." [Cincinnati Enquirer]
Related blogs and sources: Crooks & Liars | Talking Points Memo
Bonus Points:
• The military records of Rep. John Murtha's chickenhawk critics: Vice President Cheney recieved 5 draft deferments. Presidential Adviser Karl Rove, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, Senate Majority leader Bill Frist, and Representative Tom Delay did not serve. [Pacific News]
• In 1988, The Houston Press reported Rep. Tom DeLay's explanation of why he supported the Vietnam war but didn't serve: "So many minority youths had volunteered for the well-paying military positions to escape poverty and the ghetto that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like himself." [Slate]
• If you missed it, check out the Saturday Night Live take on President Bush and Rep. Jean Schmidt.
Blogettes
When Saddam used white phosphorus against the Kurds, the Pentagon called a "Chemical Weapon." From a 1995 Pentagon Intelligence document: "In late february 1991, following the coalition forces' overwhelming victory over Iraq, Kurdish rebels stepped up their struggle against Iraqi forces in northern Iraq. During the brutal crackdown that followed the Kurdish uprising, Iraqi forces loyal to president Saddam (Hussein) may have possibly used white phosphorus (WP) chemical weapons against Kurdish rebels and the populace in Erbil and Dohuk provinces, Iraq.." [ThinkProgress]
Don't ask me, I just work here. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld proves that lying can be habit-forming: "'I didn't advocate invasion,' Rumsfeld told ABC television Sunday, when asked if he would have advocated an invasion of Iraq if he had known that no weapons of mass destruction would be found there. The US Defense chief added: 'I wasn't asked,' when asked whether he supported the March 2003 invasion. [The Agonist]
Surprise! Corporate lobbyists wrong yet again. Raising the minimum wage fails to sink Florida's economy. "Before last year's elections, a political action committee backed by the likes of Publix Super Markets and Outback Steakhouse had some hair-raising predictions about the effect of bumping up the minimum wage." [Tampa Tribune]
Quote of the day : "Scientists discovered how to remove a gene and turn meek mice into daring ones. Apparently, members of the Democratic Party were used as test subjects." [Will Durst]
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