Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

So fucking stupid, and still doing a tremendous amount of damage.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

So very ready.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Books are my comfort food!

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Gorelick Wall Flap

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Last week, when the new information regarding Able Danger was released, I incorrectly intimated that this somehow involved Jamie Gorelick’s ‘wall’ decision/enforcement. It does not.

I stand by my other statements regarding Gorelick’s conflict of interest because of her close relationship with the House of Saud.

On a side note, I do find it increasingly pathetic that Thinkprogress is spending all their time demanding that Glenn Reynolds make a retraction for a statement he never made, and to compound that demand with demands he retract statements that remain accurate. Pretty amusing stuff.

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Reid’s Stroke

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Harry Reid suffered either a mild stroke, or a precursor to a stroke:

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, suffered a neurological dysfunction on Tuesday that can be a sign of an impending stroke, his office said Friday night.

Mr. Reid, 65, who was in his hometown, Searchlight, Nev., during the Congressional recess, sought medical attention in Las Vegas after he became lightheaded, according to a statement from his office. A spokeswoman said he had been hospitalized in Las Vegas and has remained in the city. But she declined to discuss the specifics of his treatment.

The statement said Mr. Reid had experienced a transient ischemic attack, which doctors say is sometimes a warning sign of a stroke. Medical tests can usually determine the cause of the attack and the potential risk to a patient’s health. A spokeswoman for Mr. Reid said he felt fine and planned to return to work when the Senate reconvened in September. She said Mr. Reid would evaluate his schedule after the weekend.

Get weel soon. Does anyone know if the risk factor for this type of event includes a background in boxing?

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Hitchens Throws Another Haymaker

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This one is going to give the left the vapors:

When are the bureau chiefs of our newspapers and networks going to snap out of their own vacation-induced trances and send some grown-up correspondents down to Crawford, Texas? For weeks now, Cindy Sheehan has not been asked a single question that is any tougher than “How does it feel?” The media have been acting as her megaphone. After Slate published her real opinions on politics (a weird confection of pacifism with paranoid anti-Zionism) last Monday, she was eventually asked about her statement that her son Casey had been killed in a war for Israel, and she denied ever having made it. So, we must now say that, as well as being a vulgar producer of her own spectacle, and an embarrassment to her family, Cindy Sheehan is at best a shifty fantasist…

What do these people imagine that they are demanding? Would they like a referendum to be held, among the relatives of the fallen in Iraq, to determine the future conduct of the war? I think I can promise them that they would heavily lose such a vote. But what if the right wing were also to demand such a vote and the “absolute moral authority” that supposedly goes with it?

One of three things could then happen. The ultra-right anti-Zionist forces of David Duke and Patrick J. Buchanan, both of whom approvingly speak of Ms. Sheehan’s popular groundswell, would still lose the vote. So would the media fools who semi-automatically identify Sheehan and her LaRouche-like drivel with the “left” or “progressive” forces. This would leave us with a random pseudo-majority, made up of veterans and their relatives. Who wants this to be the group that decides? One might as well live in a populist, jingoist banana republic. Never mind the Constitution, or even the War Powers Act. Only victims and martyrs can decide! Get ready to gather under the balcony of a leader who speaks rotundly of such glory…

Smear merchant! How dare he question Cindy, or, worse yet, how dare he question her supporters or their policy positions? Where is George Galloway when you need him?

*** Update ***

Sheehan was the subject of a Rasmussen poll.

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Tort Reform

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This will surely add to the tort reform calls:

In the first verdict of a Vioxx-related personal-injury lawsuit, a Texas jury found the drug’s maker, Merck, liable and awarded $253.5 million to the widow of Robert Ernst, who died in 2001 after taking the painkiller and arthritis medicine.

After deliberating for a day and a half, the jury of seven men and five women awarded Mr. Ernst’s widow Carol $24.5 million for mental anguish and economic losses. The jury also awarded an additional $229 million in punitive damages after finding that Merck had acted recklessly in selling Vioxx with knowledge of the risks associated with taking the drug. Two jurors dissented from the verdict, which did not have to be unanimous.

Merck plans to appeal the verdict, and such large judgments are typically reduced by higher courts.

Judge Ben Hardin of the Texas District Court announced the verdict on the fourth floor of the Brazoria County Courthouse in Angleton, about 40 miles south of downtown Houston, shortly after 1:45 p.m. Central Time.

Mrs. Ernst, her family and lawyers erupted in cheers and began to hug each other.

“The justice system in America works and it works very well,” W. Mark Lanier, the lead lawyer for Mrs. Ernst, said.

Jonathan Skidmore, a lawyer for Merck, the nation’s third-largest drug maker, said that the company continued to believe it had properly researched and marketed Vioxx.

“We believe the plaintiff did not meet the standard set by Texas law to prove Vioxx caused Mr. Ernst’s death,” Mr. Skidmore said.

With a flood of Vioxx lawsuits soon to reach juries, the size of the verdict may have important implications for both Merck and the entire drug industry, lawyers and analysts said. More than 4,000 Vioxx-related cases have been filed.

I am surprised the case was not brought in WV or Mississippi.

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The Steelers History

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Sorry for the light posting, but what with the benadryl and all, I am lacking energy. At any rate, if you are a Steelers fan (and I say if, even though for me it is inconceivable that anyone root for another team), you have got to get the Pittsburgh Steelers: The Complete History. I just finished the glory days of the 70’s, and still have the 80’s to date to watch.

Truly excellent DVD. Oh, and GO STEELERS!

*** Update ***

Funny how the memories came flashing back when watching from 1979 to present ( I was 9 when we beat the Rams, but I still remember watching it with my folks). But the memories- I forgot how amazing Louis Lipps was, how mean Greg Lloyd, how FAST Kordell Stweart was, how dominating Bettis was in his prime (and still can be), how devastating it was when watch Levon Kirkland hit someone, how it felt like the world had ended when Rod tore his ACL, how much 3 more yards can be, and so on.

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Frist Throws In The Towel

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Looks like our global village full of idiots just expanded by one:

Echoing similar comments from President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said “intelligent design” should be taught in public schools alongside evolution.

Frist, a Republican from Tennessee, spoke to a Rotary Club meeting Friday and told reporters afterward that students need to be exposed to different ideas, including intelligent design.

“I think today a pluralistic society should have access to a broad range of fact, of science, including faith,” Frist said.

Hardly surprising, considering the hammering he took over his departure on stem cell research. Plus, of course, science is hard work and fraught with peril. Why, all those years of medical training and Frist still misdiagnosed Terri Schiavo.

Funny, because my copy of The Republican War on Science by Chris Mooney just came in the mail.

Of course, if you ask this fellow, the reason we reject intelligent design being taught in high schools is because we are a bunch of ‘pussies.’

*** Update ***

As noted in the comments, “So with President Frist, we’ll have funding for stem cell research, but we’ll raise a generation of kids incapable of understanding it.”

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