Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Wait, what?

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

“But what about the lurkers?”

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

I don’t recall signing up for living in a dystopian sci-fi novel.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

Fight them, without becoming them!

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

This really is a full service blog.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Consistently wrong since 2002

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

You are here: Home / Archives for 2003

Archives for 2003

The Blame Game

by | 3 Comments

This post is in: 

I think there is absolutely no point trying to pin the blame for 9/11 on anyone other than Al Qaeda, so it really pisses me off when Bill Clinton and the rest of the Clintonista’s as well as the Democrat cadidates run around accusing this administration of not doing enough in the war on terror. In fact, I bet the loudmouth will say something to that effect in just a few hours during that idiotic segment on 60 Minutes. At any rate, when you hear them popping off at the mouth, remember this:

The FBI made secret plans to capture and arrest Osama bin Laden five years ago, long before the terror leader’s deadliest plan came to fruition.

Jack Cloonan, a former FBI agent who is now an ABCNEWS consultant, said that federal agents seeking bin Laden had developed a plan to have a plane fly in and attack a compound in Kandahar, Afghanistan, where the terror leader was believed to have been holed up back in 1998

The Blame GamePost + Comments (3)

Good Week For the Times

by | 1 Comment

This post is in: 

All in all, another stellar week for the NY Times:

1.) New York Times Loses Libel Case

A federal jury ruled today that the New York Times and one of its reporters libeled an Ohio Supreme Court justice in an article about a lawsuit filed by the son of Sam Sheppard. But the jury said it was done without malicious intent and refused to award damages.

2.) N.Y. Times Suspends Reporter – Pulitzer Winner Failed To Give Freelancer Credit

The fallout over the Jayson Blair debacle at the New York Times has hit a far more prominent Times reporter, Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Bragg.

In an editor’s note yesterday, the paper said that Bragg had only briefly visited the Florida town of Apalachicola, from which he filed a story last June, and that most of the reporting had been done by a stringer. That freelance reporter, J. Wes Yoder, should have shared a byline with Bragg, the paper said.

3.) Dowd spawns Bush media myth

An outrageous new falsehood is circulating about President Bush. Last week, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd misrepresented a Bush statement to imply that he said the Al Qaeda terrorist network is “not a problem anymore,” and the distorted quotation has since been repeated by MSNBC “Buchanan and Press” co-host Bill Press, CNN’s Miles O’Brien and others, including numerous foreign press outlets. At a time when the New York Times is under fire for its conduct in the Jayson Blair scandal, Dowd’s creation of an exploding media myth is cause for serious concern.

Impressive. Under Raines the NY Times has gone from the ‘paper of record’ to ‘a paper with a record.’

Good Week For the TimesPost + Comments (1)

I Can’t Take Any More

by | 3 Comments

This post is in: 

I have not mentioned a word about Annika Sorenstom (I just had to look her name up to spell it correctly), but reviewing the sports headlines this morning, I about blew a gasket. Check out some of these headlines:

From ESPN: Sorenstam Misses Cut, But Oh What A Run!

From the WaPo: No Bunker Mentality Here: Guys Give Annika Her Due

And leave it to the NY Times to have the drippiest lede:

Sorenstam Fails to Conquer, but Wins Fans on the Way

By JERE LONGMAN

Annika Sorenstam did not make the cut in her first PGA tournament. But if she could not quite stay on the bull, at least she had grabbed it by the horns.

You would think she had won the Grand Slam. Let’s get something excrutiatingly clear- she lost. Bigtime. She was 96th out of 111, and this was a field missing Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, and Tiger Woods, so you might as well say she finished 99th out of 114. That is not some crowning achievement. It is called a failure, in most books, when you are in the bottom 15%. If your academic performance is in the bottom 15% in high school, chances are you ride in a small bus and get excused from school earlier than the other kids.

I was not against Annika Sorenstam playing this week- she was given an exemption and invited, according to the rules, and she had every right to be there. I did not want her there, not because she was a sexist pig, but because I thought it was gimmicky and she didn’t stand a chance in hell. If anything, she has done irreparable damage to the LPGA. Think about it- I watch golf every week it is on, but I have never watched the LPGA. Never, and I will watch bowling if there is no other sports show on. I can recall even watching a jump-rope competition on ESPN one day because there was nothing else on- but the LPGA? NEVER. That was my attitude before the LPGA sent their best player to the PGA to be ritually slaughtered. If the best their best can do is 96th, why watch them at all? If Tiger Woods went to the LPGA, do you think he would finish 96th?

I wish Annika no ill will- there is no doubt she is a phenomenal athlete and she would kill me on the course any day of the week, but I would like it if we keep this ‘achievement’ of hers in perspective. She failed, and what she did was not that amazing- in fact, 95 other people did it better than her. There is nothing wrong with failure, Annika, so dust yourself off, go back to the LPGA, and take your place in history. And a note to sportswriters- please get a grip.

I Can’t Take Any MorePost + Comments (3)

Axis of Evil?

by | Leave a Comment

This post is in: 

Al Qaeda and Iran:

Iranian officials Thursday told a U.N. representative that Iran has several unnamed al Qaeda operatives in custody, CNN has learned.

The acknowledgment comes as Washington has intensified its accusations that al Qaeda terrorists are inside Iran — something Tehran had previously denied.

U.S. officials said the key question is whether the al Qaeda operatives in custody are allowed to communicate and receive visitors.

Axis of Evil?Post + Comments

The Long and Winding Road, Pt. 2

by | 2 Comments

This post is in: 

The Ny Times is reporting that both the abysmally named Palestinian Authority and Ariel Sharon are both in favor of pursuing the Bush road map to peace in the Middle East.

One of the things that has perplexed me in the past few weeks were all the calls that the so-called ‘road map’ has all but been scrapped because of the recent terrorism. This seems to me to be a silly way to view the peace plan, which has a series of steps that should be acted upon when certain conditions are met. The very first of those is:

In Phase I. the Palestinians immediately undertake an unconditional cessation of violence according to the steps outlined below; such action should be accompanied by supportive measures undertaken by Israel. Palestinians and Israelis resume security cooperation based on the Tenet work plan to end violence, terrorism, and incitement through restructured and effective Palestinian security services.

If these conditions are not met, and an argument could be made that recent events have certainly showed that they may not have been, this does not mean you throw the entire plan out. Instead, it would seem, you shelve the plan until those conditions have been met, and then you proceed forward. Let me try an example:

A college student wants to become a doctor, and one of the preconditions is to take a microbiology course. The student fails the course- should he/she simply scrap the plan to become a doctor? Most of us would simply put that plan on hold, and then take the microbiology course again. Once that condition has met, then we would move forward with the rest of the plan.

Another problem with this sniping about what many view as the stillborn plan is the bizarre perception that plans always proceed according to, well, planning. They don’t. This won’t. I think it is safe to say that reports of the road map’s demise may have been premature.

The Long and Winding Road, Pt. 2Post + Comments (2)

Prediction

by | 7 Comments

This post is in: 

After watching the Democrat candidates for a couple of months, I have decided that Gephardt or Dean are the ones who stand the best chance of winning the nomination. Balloon Juice readers will note that this is a complete reversal for me regarding Gephardt, who months ago I said was completely unelectable. I still think he is unelectable, but he looks better than the rest of the Democrats out there, and he seems to have the Unions wrapped up, as well as securing the endorsements of everyone who matters in Congress.

Dean seems to have a shot because he is strident and angry, and he appeals to the fringe elements of the Democrat party who are just bitter and angry. That counts, for now.

PredictionPost + Comments (7)