Friday, March 14, 2008

Larry Miller: Not This Time, Buster. First of all, isn't five thousand dollars a lot for sex? No, really. That's the first thing I thought. I may not be a porn star with hour-long stamina and foot-long -- well, stamina, but five grand is, come on, a vacation somewhere, or a good used car, or a new kitchen, or the fanciest bar-mitzvah in 1976. But one orgasm? Even two small ones. Are you kidding me? Never mind right or wrong, I just think it's an awful lot of money. Even for the prettiest girl in the world -- and, frankly, what are the odds his "date" was that -- she's just a woman and you're just a middle-aged man with thin hair, and the whole thing is over and done with, and she's getting dressed while you're standing in a shower pretty much like the one you have at home. I know what I'd be thinking: "Five grand. Whoa. I may be the dumbest guy in history. Lucky for me I'm the governor of a big state." Second, if there's a cheesier name in the history of hooking than "Emperor's Club VIP," I'd like to know what it is. A team of comedy writers could work for a month and not beat it. Eucchhh. It even smells a little right through the TV, doesn't it? "Emperor's Club VIP" is so low it makes Telly Savalas for "The Player's Club" look like Twelfth Night. Third -- and this is really the only important thing to me -- I've had it with these guys forcing their wives to stand up there with them. Seriously. There's no reason for it. It doesn't help the family, it doesn't help the state, it doesn't help the country or the culture, and it surely doesn't help the wife. Actually, there is one reason for it: The self-absorbed son-of-a-bitch is still in such deep denial of what he's done, he actually thinks showing his shaken wife might salvage his career. You know what I'd like to see? Just once? I'd like to see the wife interrupt his limp, stupid attempt at grandeur and step forward and say, "Excuse me, folks, but there's something I'd like to say here." Then I'd like her to whip around and punch him right in the nose. Bang. It doesn't have to knock him down, and probably wouldn't, but the look on his face would be worth it. Then she could shout, "You want to lick your wounds? Why don't you get your whore girlfriend to do it? What's she get for that, ten thousand?" Then she could straighten her pearls, raise her chin and walk off stage. I don't think there's a man or woman, young or old, left or right, gay or straight who wouldn't want to see that. Hey, here's a better idea. If Hillary Clinton becomes president, and has an affair while in office -- I'm not saying she should, I'm just saying if -- I think this is the way to guarantee her election. Think about it: If, in the next big speech or debate she says, "I promise to have an affair in my first hundred days -- or a hundred affairs on my first day -- and then hold a big press conference to apologize, where my husband has to stand a few inches behind me with his hands folded looking hurt but supportive. Further, I promise it won't be a fast statement with no questions where the guy turns tail and darts off stage, but I'll answer every question from every reporter -- print, TV, magazines, foreign press, cable access, stringers, free-lancers, bloggers, C-span, hobbyists, amateurs, escaped mental patients, everybody -- including follow-ups. I'll even throw in a bathroom break. During that, everyone can leave their cameras on Bill's face and show me just staring at him. Then we'll all adjourn to the bar at the Mayflower for drinks. On Bill. One of those road speeches of his could keep the press corps drinking for a year, even if you throw in congress. If it goes really well we'll do the whole thing again the next day. Maybe once a week. Invite regular people from every state who aren't even writers. And at the end of every one, I'll smile at him sweetly and say, 'What's the matter, honey? Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.' Then I'll stroll offstage whistling." Forget health care or terrorism or the economy. There isn't one voting American who wouldn't get a kick out of seeing that. And, by the way, the rest of the world would be terrified. Now that's what I call unity. [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com] 3:57:28 PM    comment []

Rep. Steve King Cites Contractor Immunity As Argument For Why Telecom Immunity Would Be A Success. Today, the House passed an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that provides no “retroactive immunity for telecom companies but allows the courts to determine whether lawsuits should proceed.[base ']Äù During a House debate on the bill before the vote, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) argued that the telecom companies should receive the retroactive immunity. As an example of why this solution would work well, he pointed to the existing immunity for contractors: I don[base ']Äôt understand the difference between why we would not want to identify an information company that answered the call to protect America. To me I think those are the closest two comparisons that we can get. We protect contractors when they went to that smoking hole in that war zone. Why wouldn[base ']Äôt we protect telecommunications companies when they stepped up in good faith and believed that they were legally operating under the law? Watch it: <script type="text/javascript"> var flvkingcontractor332024020330 = new SWFObject('/wp-content/plugins/flvplayer.swf?file=http://video.thinkprogress.org/2008/03/kingcontractor3.320.240.flv&;autoStart=false', 'em-flvkingcontractor332024020330', '320', '260', '6', '#ffffff'); flvkingcontractor332024020330.addParam('quality', 'high'); flvkingcontractor332024020330.addParam('wmode', 'transparent'); flvkingcontractor332024020330.write('flvkingcontractor332024020330'); </script> It’s unclear exactly which contractors King is referring to. Across the board, however, contractor immunity has done little other than shield corporations from gross negligence. After 9/11, Congress appropriated $1 billion in federal emergency money to contractors and subcontractors working at or near Ground Zero. They were to use the funds “to set up a new insurance company to cover potential claims.” This insurance company, however, is now refusing to settle claims filed by firefighters and cleanup crews over illnesses caused by unsafe working conditions; the contractors claim they have immunity from any lawsuits. Moreover, as we have seen in Iraq, guards from the private security contractor Blackwater have escaped punishment after killing 17 Iraqis in a Baghdad shoot-out and killing a top Iraqi politician’s bodyguard on Christmas Eve 2006. More than anything, King’s argument shows why telecoms should not be granted immunity. Transcript: (more…) [Think Progress] 3:49:27 PM    comment []

Marc Cooper: Counter-Attacking Fox. Mention the words Barack Obama and the eyes in the heads of the Fox News talking heads began to twitter and roll backward. It's one thing for the conservative news outlet to snipe away at a candidate like Obama. It's quite another to conduct an all-out viral smear campaign. "It's like he's a mammy...he's anti-American...he felt it was OK to come out of the closet as the American insurgent he is...he sounds like Hitler...patriotism has made him a little uncomfortable." No, I'm not making this stuff up. These are just but a few of the greatest hits from Fox talkers pundits trying to dirty up Obama. Wouldn't be so bad if it was all contained within the rather sordid confines of Rupert's flagship network. Problem is, this crud spreads into other media hungry to fill the campaign news hole. The media activists at Brave New Films, however, are trying to stem the tide. They're asking people fed up with this baloney to put some pressure on the Foxistas. Here's the video they put together to get you involved: [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com] 12:17:27 PM    comment []

Is There a Dark Side in All of Us?. Maverick academic Philip Zimbardo says we are all capable of evil. Is he right? [AlterNet.org] 7:44:02 AM    comment []

Dana Perino Disses Helen Thomas On The Daily Show. Dana Perino gets points for bravery, both for going on The Daily Show and for doing so in hot pink — but otherwise last night's interview with the current White House Press Secretary was sort of...uncomfortable. She handled it like a pro, of course — Jon Stewart called her "unflappable" — but otherwise it did little to contradict her image as a smooth spinmeister who remains on message no matter what other human response may be required. (For example, Stewart picked up on last week's headline wherein she said that no one in the briefing room asked her about Iraq anymore; said Perino: "It's gotten better, and therefore it's not as interesting." Spin and a diss on the press! Oh she's good.) Perino also complained that the press corps interrupted her, for which Stewart had little pity, and — in a move that no doubt infuriated many viewers — dissed grande dame of the press corps Helen Thomas by implying that her questions "not based on fact." (Probably those ones about Iraq that Perino used to get and answer so forthrightly.) Best line: "The president has said that he's going to sprint to the finish...can you get him to run faster?" Watch below: Also, ETP could not find the "I Love Ari Fleischer" site. We did look. It does not exist. [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com] 7:36:45 AM    comment []

Inside a CIA Black Site. A Yemeni man has reported to Amnesty International the harrowing three years he says he spent in secret prisons at the hands of the CIA. Without charge, legal representation or even a word to his family, Khaled al-Maqtari says he was abducted, tortured, shuttled from one secret prison to another and ultimately dumped into Yemeni custody, once the U.S. had finished with him. BBC: After nine days of interrogation at Abu Ghraib, Mr Maqtari said he was flown to a secret CIA detention facility in Afghanistan and held there for three months. Amnesty says it has obtained flight records which show that a plane operated by an alleged CIA front company flew from Baghdad to Kabul nine days after his arrest. Mr Maqtari said that while in Afghanistan he was subjected to further torture and ill-treatment, including prolonged solitary confinement, the use of stress positions, sleep deprivation, exposure to extremes of hot and cold, sensory deprivation and disruption with bright lighting and loud music or sound effects. Read more READ THE WHOLE ITEM Related Entries March 13, 2008 Reagan Democrats March 12, 2008 Spitzer’s Shame Is Wall Street’s Gain March 12, 2008 Top Commander for Mideast Resigns March 11, 2008 Why George Bush Loves John McCain March 10, 2008 Bomb Kills 5 U.S. Soldiers in Baghdad [Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines] 7:30:52 AM    comment []