It is a mystery to me why some of the dedicated “social media activists” forever scouring the left-of-center for signs of negative deviationism can’t expend some portion of their energies on our actual enemies, like for example, Dead Breitbart’s favorite scavenger James O’Keefe. Jon Chait at NYMag updates us on O’Keefe’s new grift:
… [T]here is no Obamaphone… the phone in question is part of the Lifeline program, dating back to the Reagan administration, in which phone companies give free telephone service to indigent customers who need a telephone for things like contacting emergency services or setting up job interviews. But, having gotten themselves angry about the Obamaphone, conservatives weren’t going to let the fact that there is no Obamaphone get in the way, and it has remained a live issue on the right, even prompting House Republican calls to eliminate the once-uncontroversial three-decade-old program.
The still-lingering whiff of poor black people, viral video, and false accusations against Obama inevitably attracted James O’Keefe, who has produced his latest quasi-journalistic enterprise. It’s an exposé showing that poor people can get discounted phones, which are presented as “Obamaphones,” even if they admit they plan to sell them and possibly use them to buy drugs…
I’m not really sure what this adds to the store of public knowledge about the Lifeline program. In a free market economy, it is possible to sell or exchange goods and services for other goods and services. You can take your free phone and sell it. You can do this with any government benefit. You can do it with money of any kind…
If you give money to, say, James O’Keefe, he might use it to commit burglary or other legally questionable behavior. And yet, now that he is off probation and can travel without permission from a judge, a U.S. attorney, and a probation officer, we generally let O’Keefe have stuff, out of the perhaps naïve assumption that it will not be used to finance illegal activity….
Now that’s some quality snark. (Video at the link, though I can’t recommend you waste five minutes out of your life watching it.)
Baud
Ha! Read that title and thought the post was about me.
Yatsuno
The man violated the terms of his probation several times and never got punished for it. He’s a criminal fucktard who deserves a very long sentence in jail. I only wish he would piss off the wrong person next time and face some real consequences since the legal system isn’t interested in keeping up with him.
JPL
Anne, How did the last debate between Markey and Gomez go?
Baud
The Chait piece assumes that O’Keefe isn’t just lying his ass off like he did with ACORN.
NickT
Speaking of bottom-feeding, looks like the GOP’s quest for diversity has been solved:
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/06/18/19024908-spanning-the-entire-range-of-alabama-republicans-from-lutheran-to-methodist?lite
On the topic of O’Keefe, I still cannot understand how that dirty little rapist-wannabe remains on the loose.
David Koch
Heat holding on by their fingernails.
Yatsuno
@efgoldman: It’s entirely possible. There is a chance he either didn’t report some wingut welfare income or made no estimated tax payments on his various contracts. I’m certain he might have some other exotic shenanigans in there as well. A revenue agent might just be eyeing him closely. Of course there will be a wingnut tax lawyer keeping him out of too much trouble. Maybe.
Mike in NC
Scumbag needs to join Breitbart in a permanent dirt nap.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
So….the House passed the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act”, a.k.a. the Broodmare Act of 2013, along mostly partisan lines as expected.
I know this faces a slow death in the Senate, and a likely Veto even if it somehow passes the Senate, but this still depresses me.
Yatsuno
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik: Why? Let them waste their time on these meaningless exercises. Then the Dems make sure these little facts end up in every House race ad from now until November 2014. Even the tribal moderates have a breaking point.
JPL
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik: The idea that they could pass a bill that would prevent a mother from aborting a fetus that was not viable is obscene. That was the era I grew up it. A friend’s mother-in-law would be asked when her baby was due, while knowing the baby was dead. These are sick people.
lamh35
Ok, so I saw Superman this weekend. I do have a movie review on my blog, but its too long to post here, so please check it out here: http://wp.me/pqDfz-28
Be forewarned, it’s a decidedly female oriented review, so expect lots of hot pics of the new Superman of course…lol
My short review: Hotness: A++++++ (um just take a look at the pics of Cavil I posted).
Overall: Definite A, but with the disclaimer that I may have just been blinded by the awesome perfect hotness that was/is Henry Cavil…soo…LOL!
I definitely recommend it if you’re a Supes fan or not. You will enjoy it.
My sister’s reaction to Man of Steel and Henry Cavil’s Hotness: http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a330/nellybell28/itstoomuch_zpsca2bac8c.gif
FourTen
How come whenever the USMNT is on national TV the game ends up sucking (like this one)? The last game (that I had to go all the way downtown to see) was great.
Thank Nye that the NBA Finals are on tonight, or The Game’s image in the USA would dive like a(n) [insert hated team here] midfielder.
Baud
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik:
This seems to be one of the basic differences between them and us. If liberal Democrats controlled the House and wasted all their time on extreme and useless stuff like this, the Republicans wouldn’t get depressed. They’d be excited about the hay they could make out of it.
Jebediah
@Yatsuno:
He will. It may take a little while, but he will. If he’s lucky he’ll just get smacked in the face.
KG
@FourTen: midfielder? Is that anything like a linebacker?
Yatsuno
@Jebediah: I still wanna see Sherrod take him for every dime he’s worth and then some. Not to mention bankrupting the Breitbart estate.
(That case is still open right? I’m trying to remember if there was a settlement.)
KG
@Baud: lets be honest… They’d make hay out of anything they thought would win them the barest of majorities in the next election. And they would spin everything that didn’t use to be contraversial into something contraversial. You know, kinda like they are doing now
FourTen
@KG:
Let’s not. I’m a football fan who also enjoys soccer. Yes, “soccer.” That is just how you say what is know as “football” elsewhere in the world in American English.
Baud
@KG:
True, that’s their M.O. But every once in a long while, they get something real to hang their hat on, and they ride it for all it’s worth. We get something real from them every day, and we don’t take the same advantage.
James E. Powell
@Yatsuno:
Then the Dems make sure these little facts end up in every House race ad from now until November 2014.
Maybe it’s because every last shred of optimism has been scraped off my bones, but I just don’t see this happening. Democrats, particularly congress-creatures running in any but the bluest of districts, have a paralyzing fear of standing up for abortion rights.
Gin & Tonic
Does anybody use CrashPlan? Positives, negatives, suggested alternatives? Seems like good value for the money.
Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)
Interestingly, Wonkette just posted a review of his new book.
Sarah T
Anyone looking to unload some of those A.C.O.R.N. dollars might consider donating a little bit to this scholarship fund for Troy Davis’ nephew De’Jaun :
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tuition-for-troy-davis-s-nephew
MattR
@Yatsuno: Believe it is still going. Not sure if the appeal to dismiss it on 1st Amendment grounds has been heard yet. But just a couple weeks ago, the dumbest man on the internet’ had a guest blogger demand that Sherrod apologize for her racist comments
jamick6000
don’t know who’s more evil, O’Keefe or the Miami Heat
David Koch
@James E. Powell: Obummer didn’t have a problem blanketing Ohio with pro-choice ads or campaigning with Sandra Fluke in Colorado.
This issue has turned with the emergence of the single-women bloc.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
@efgoldman:
Isn’t that precisely the excuse the media has for why this kind of ridiculous shit really isn’t an issue, and therefore isn’t used to bludgeon the GOP, whereas all Dem slipups are the most catastrophic anti-American crises ever?
@Baud:
See above. It doesn’t help much when the media decides GOP malfeasance should be expected and therefore is unnewsworthy.
FourTen
There it is! USA! USA! USA!
Baud
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik:
Media is unhelpful if not downright hostile to Democrats. Very little we can do about that in the short term. I just hate seeing Democrats internalize that point of view.
ruemara
I may have to kill someone. The ex ate the bacon I made for tomorrow morning. Grrrrrrrr.
sharl
@Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS):
Thank you for saving me the trouble. Along with TBogg or S,N!, Wonkette is the perfect site for dealing with the skipper of the S.S. Dildo.* In fact, O’Keefe appears to be the sole beat for those two Wonkette authors, and they are quite diligent in digging stuff up.
*Google O’Keefe + “Abbie Boudreau” (CNN correspondent) for that reference; I’ve already max’d out mah three-link stay-out-of-moderation limit.
David Koch
Unmarried women voted 67-31 for Dems.
Let the goopers keep cutting their own throats.
Kay
@Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS):
His mission was to “save the 2012 election”
Would you put that in your grift-book if you failed? I would not.
He should have ended the book after ACORN. The high point for him.
I didn’t even know saving the 2012 election was his mission. I don’t think anyone else did either.
Cacti
O’Keefe isn’t quite as virtuous as Edward Snowden. His criminal activity has been confined to misdemeanors.
magurakurin
@FourTen:
uhh, no, in Australia the team is known as the “Socceroos,” Aussies definitely call soccer, “soccer.” Football is generally used for Aussie Rules.
Either way, to me, that sport just isn’t all that. Now, rugby, that’s pretty damn entertaining.
Cacti
As a non-incendiary/non-political observation:
Go Spurs! Beat the Heat!
Eric U.
@sharl: the setup with the boat and the reporter reveals how confused these people are. They can call CNN the “Clinton News Network” all they want, but CNN is about as close to a Republican propaganda operattion as you can get without looking a little too much like Fox. And the obvious intent to sexually humiliate the reporter is pretty shocking, even with what we know about O’Keefe.
lamh35
@efgoldman: naw the it was all him. unlike Clooney in the Batman movie, the abs weren’t built in.
It’s basically spandex and him.
Henry Cavil as Superman
they have video from his training workouts. it was based on Army Reserve training. The whole video is basically a propaganda film for the Reserve, but the few bits with Cavil was interesting.
lamh35
Aww man, no Loki in Avengers 2? Oh well we’ll have to settle for seeing him in new Thor movie this November.
http://t.entertainment.msn.com/loki-wont-be-part-of-the-avengers-2-1
MikeJ
USMNT! 1-0
FourTen
@magurakurin:
I watched a lot of the “Sevens” version of the game (on NBC sports) after hearing that it was going to be in the Olympics, I don’t think I have all the rules and strategy down yet (not sure of the point of the scrums, does any team ever lose one? I’ll hang up and listen for my answer)
Also: WE ARE GOING! WE ARE GOING! WE ARE GOING TO BRAZIL!!!
KG
@FourTen: just giving you a little shit. I’m fairly ambivalent about soccer (America’s game f the future, since 1974… As they say on men in blazers). I’ll watch some international games, including the World Cup, but just don’t have the capacity to care. Then again, my capacity to care as a fan has waned the last few years. I tend to enjoy the games now and don’t generally care who wins
FourTen
@KG: No worries, anti-soccer people can be kinda reactionary (and tiresome to talk to), but no one here would recognize that kind of behavior in people when they see it, amirite? :D
mai naem
On that so called Obamaphone – I know a couple of people who have these phones. Here’s the deal – You get a cheap ass phone – the older small bar phones with little numbers. If you have any visual issues, you might as well forget using one and if you have a problem dealing with a somewhat complicated remote, forget using it either. You get a total of 200 minutes a month. If you use over 200 minutes you have to buy additional time and it’s something like 25 cents a minute. And if you have another phone you can’t get this phone. This phone has to be your only phone and they do check. I know a guy who thought he could get away with it and having a regular home phone, and they did find out pretty quick and disconnected it within a couple of weeks.
Howard Beale IV
Angelina Jolie stunt double sues News Corporation in the US over phone hacking scandal.
Jebediah
@Yatsuno:
I thought it was still open. And i would happily settle for bankruptcy all around – him and Breitbrat Inc.
Shortstop
@Yatsuno: @efgoldman: @Baud: Yes, it will be their loss politically and they’re driving large swathes of voters for the exits, but just the fact that they’re doing this wears out Vagina Americans. It’s 2013, for the love of Pete. I’d love to be engaging in political brinksmanship with something besides my hooter. Women get fucking weary.
Steeplejack
@ruemara:
“Someone”? I suggest the ex.
You need to boot that dawg to the curb.
Shortstop
@lamh35: on the other hand, this woman never gets weary of looking at Henry Cavill. Thanks!
Alison
@FourTen: Well, we’re likely to, but technically it’s not mathematically clinched yet.
magurakurin
@FourTen:
We (me and my wife) only just started paying attention to rugby with last years world cup. That’s the Rugby Union version of the sport. Rugby Leauge games we never get to see here, but the rules are said to make it faster moving. Occasionally we see a Sevens match, but they aren’t so interesting to me when compared to the 15 member team version.
The scrum is very difficult to understand, and apparently it is quite the point of controversy in the game with fans arguing over the merits or lack of within the various rules and changes. The scrum has become so technical and dangerous than the three players in the front of the formation are actually certified to be there and not just any player can take their place. I don’t understand the rule well enough to see it when it happens, but basically the players are trying to get the other team to make a penalty in the scrum since this can lead to a free field goal kick. If the opposing teams players goes down on one knee and collapses the scrum, then your team gets awarded the kick. If you can turn the other team around and move the scrum out of its plane, you get awarded the kick. It’s really hard to tell and I think only the refs and the players really truly understand it. Throughout the game you often hear the ref explaining to the scrum members exactly what he does and doesn’t want to see. Usually as the game goes on he begins to give more penalties if this infractions continue. A lot of the rules have to do with safety since the players are so large and strong now.
But, in Rugby Union anyway, teams definitely lose the scrum and it can often be a turning point in a game.
aimai
@Baud: I dont’ think thats true. Maybe its true of the politicians but I know plenty of republicans who are still depressed and freaked out by the ACA and even the prospect of any Democratic legislation seems to inspire them with terror.
aimai
@Shortstop: Can’t stand the way he looks. The hair! But, oh well.
Amir Khalid
@aimai:
I hate that he isn’t wearing the red underpants. On the outside, as long-standing tradition demands.
Ecks
Guardian headline:
Please let this happen…
Shortstop
@aimai: I admit I’m not fond of the hair.
Jay in Oregon
@Baud:
That’s because the to the Republicans, gov’t not getting shit done is a feature of their philosophy, not a problem.
Jay in Oregon
@Amir Khalid:
Almost 2 years ago, DC Comics “rebooted” almost their entire line of publication and redesigned a number of heroes in the process.
I can tell this is a sign of my impending old-fogeyness that I want them to change back. They ditched the red Speedos on Superman’s costume (which is now actually armor, because of…reasons), and Wonder Woman’s costume has pants.