Greatest. Robot. Chicken. Skit. Ever.
Bonus points to the first person who can tell me what the title of this post means with out using a translation site.
Echo chamber (as defined, in the context of media, by Wikipedia):
Noun: "[A]ny situation in which information, ideas or beliefs are amplified or reinforced by transmission inside an 'enclosed' space."
See also, the buried lede from article in the Times: On the Plane to Texas, Critiques of the Speech
[Mark] McKinnon described Mr. Bush’s spirits as high. “While I expected the president’s mood to be defiant, bitter, defensive or vengeful toward his critics, he was anything but,” Mr. McKinnon wrote. The passengers were shown a 22-minute film produced by Scott Sforza and edited by Laura Crawford celebrating the Bush presidency.
OK...WHAT??? Bush and his closest advisers (including Rove, Gonzales and Harriet Miers) watched a self-congratulatory movie "celebrating" Bush presidency was just hours after said presidency was OVER? Isn't that kind of like watching a graduation video at the prom?
This is the literal embodiment of an echo chamber: a bunch of people who all agree that they are great and have done right by the country, sitting on a enclosed plane, watching a video about how great they are.
We knew that these people were dilusional, but it seems that they are even more delustional than we could have imagined. What was in this video? Surely the "bullhorn address" at ground zero was in there, but did they show the shots from Abu Ghraib or the "Mission Accomplished" speech? No. Why? becuase they are not interested in crtically evaluationing what they did wrong, they are on a mission to justify everything they have done.
Then there is this little nugget from Rove:
[A]s Mr. Bush left Washington, in a last angry frenzy his critics again distorted his record, maligned his character and repeated untruths about his years in the Oval Office. Nothing they wrote or said changes the essential facts.
Yes Mr. Rove, nothing "they" say will change the essential fact that your boss will go down in history as one of the five worst Presidents of all time. You will spend the rest of your life in your echo chamber trying to justify what you have done to our nation and to the world. And luckily for you, as long as you stay in that echo chamber no one will ever tell you that you are wrong.
Hopefully this will be my last post on the 43rd President.
Here's to the future.
Cheney in wheelchair with pull back muscle
Vice President Dick Cheney pulled a muscle in his back while moving boxes and will be in a wheelchair for Tuesday's inauguration ceremony.
Oh this is just too perfect. The evil man has to be rolled out of Washington like an invalid. I am not sure, but I think that this makes him The Big Lebowski (no, not the Dude, the old guy).
Is it wrong that this brings me so much joy, that he will have to sit like an old man in a chair and watch as Obama takes the oath of office in what has to been seen as a repudiation of everything that he stands for? Oh wiat, we are talking about Cheney so that can't be wrong.
In other news, I will show my last tiny bit of respect for President Bush if these truly are the last pardons/commutaions that he issues. He is showing a level of restraint that I would not expect from him.
And in other, other news, it looks like Joe Biden choose a good mate when he married Jill...she's prone to gaffs too.
Happy inaguration eve America. Here's to democracy and here's to hope.
Em and I recently introduced MLTU to online kids games on PBSKids.org. This has only heightened her love of Clifford, the Big Red Dog. So I suppose this little exchange, overheard this morning, was inevitable:
MLTU: Mommy, I want to play a Clifford game on the com-pu-ter.
Em: OK, one game before we go. Let's see...(typing) "P-B-S-Kids..."
MLTU (proudly): Dot org.
Awwww, she has taken her first steps on the information super-highway of life...oh boy.
Justices Say Evidence Is Valid Despite Police Error
In a 5-to-4 opinion, the court upheld the federal conviction of Bennie Dean Herring, who from the court records appears to have been very unlucky as well as felonious in his conduct. In upholding the conviction, the court’s majority came to a conclusion that will most likely please those who complain about criminals going free on “technicalities” and alarm those who fear that the high court is looking for ways to narrow the reach of the exclusionary rule.
What does it say about me that the first thing I thought when reading this article was "Hmmmm...I wonder how long before this is used as a central plot point on a Law & Order episode"?
We are just seven days away from having a President who calls people by their actual names. In honor of that, I give you the list of nicknames that Bush used.
The best part: there are footnotes.
I was reading this article on Obama's plan to get the stimulus bill passed and two passages made me think:
Mr. Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, said: “We’re going to continue to make the choice clear. One course is do nothing and continue to shed millions of jobs and the other course is to begin to invest in creating 3.5 million jobs and American competitiveness. And to do it as quickly as possible.”
Ummmmm...is that "you're either for us or against us" for domestic policy?
And:
There is little doubt on either side of the aisle that Mr. Obama can get Congress to pass a stimulus bill. The question is whether he can create one that can draw enough Republican votes to give the parties shared ownership of a plan, providing a basis for cooperation on other big issues, like health care and global warming — and reducing the partisan recriminations should the plan fail to live up to its promise.
This brought me right back to something that A Mistake said during the Democratic Primary. Essentially he stated that Sen. Obama wanted to work with the GOP and Sen. Clinton wanted to destroy them. Apparently that was one of the reasons he supported Clinton. It looks like he was right.
I am not an economist so I have a hard time evaluating the nuts and bolts of the plan. But I think that there are two things in Obama's approach that are in conflict: he wants a bill fast and he wants it with a super majority (80 yes votes in the Senate has been mentioned off-hand as a goal).
Mr. President-elect, with all due respect, if you want that many votes, you have to give the minorty party its time in the sun -- all they have going for them right now is mugging for the CSPAN cameras for the folks back home. If you take that away then they are not going to get on board. So you need to decide, do you want it fast or with a lot of support, because its unlikely you'll get both.
The New York Times launched a new blog today that I encourage everyone to check out. My Cousin is the Editor working on it and I am shamelessly trying to get her some traffic.
Enjoy.
$173 Million in Madoff Check Reportedly Found
"Pressing the case that the disgraced financier Bernard L. Madoff should have his bail revoked, prosecutors said in court documents on Thursday that investigators found 100 signed checks worth $173 million in Mr. Madoff’s desk that were ready to be sent to family and friends on the day of his arrest."
I don't understand how this guys is not in jail right now? And just how evil a person is he anyway? Dude, your caught, it's over.
Oh, and then there is the this gem from Madoff's lawyer in response to the accusations that his client sent $1 million worth of personal items to family:
"At a hearing on Monday, a lawyer for Mr. Madoff, Ira Lee Sorkin, told Judge that many of the items were relatively inexpensive, including $25 cuff links and $200 mittens."
Really??? $200 mittens are "relatively inexpensive". This guy makes Jeff Skilling look sympathetic.
It seems that the possible storm brewing over Eric Holder's nomination as Attorney General is about to turn into a real storm. Sen. Arlen Specter called the nomination into question on Tuesday and officially threw down the gauntlet.
I have to applaud Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy for making the same point that I made 5 weeks ago:
“We need the new attorney general to be a person of experience and independence. Any effort to question his character is unfounded. Every Republican voted for Alberto Gonzalez, and felt his character merited confirmation. Certainly Eric Holder exceeds that test.”
Indeed.
Granted, Holder was tangled up in a really bad pardon decision, but it was not his decision, it was the President's decision. I said it before and I'll say it again: Alberto Gonzalez HELPED TO AUTHOR A MEMO THAT JUSTIFIED TORTURE!!!!! He helped find a "legal loophole" to make the Geneva Convention and International Treaties irrelevant under the guise of "protecting America." And this was BEFORE he was confirmed as Attorney General.
If we are going to stack up the legality, ethics and morality of these two men based on these incidents then there is no comparison. What Gonzalez (allegedly) did justified illegal interrogation methods (water boarding), lowered the nation's standing in the world and put lives at risk. Holder rubber stamped the pardon of a uber-wealthy fugitive who didn't pay his taxes, made some really bad business deals with some really bad people and MAY have asked his wife to give some money to the DNC and the Clinton library (then again, she may have done that on her own).
At WORST Holder helped to get a bad guy get off the hook too easy. But Gonzalez helped pave the way for violations of INTERNATIONAL LAW...oh, and then as A.G. he fired U.S. Attorneys for political reasons.
Undoubtedly Specter knows all of this. In fact, when Specter pulled his support for Gonzalez, the A.G. had no choice but to resign. So why put up the fuss? The buried lede in the Politico story is this:
The Pennsylvania senator went on to criticize President-elect Barack Obama for not consulting him prior to announcing Holder's nomination last month. “Had he done so, I could have given him some facts about Mr. Holder's background that he might not have known,” Specter said.
Ohhhh, now I get it. Specter is pissed because no one called him on the phone. This is a play for attention and also a reminder to the President-elect that he is still out there and, as a "moderate" Republican from a blue state, he is one of the key votes that can end a fillabuster on certain issues.
But wait, there's more. Specter also gets the added benefit of standing up to Obama when just about eveyone else is laying down. This tells his base back home that he is not going to roll-over for the new administration -- an important message to send knowing that you had a bitter primary fight four years ago and may have another one coming.
This is really a win-win for Specter: Holder will get confired (especially with Orin Hatch supporting him), so Obama gets his A.G. And Specter gets to show Obama that he is still relvant while pounding his chest for the right-wingers in PA.
I really resent that Specter is doing this, because I think it is a load of horse crap. But I understand why he is doing it and, from a political point of view, it is not a bad move. It just stinks that the politics of all this will further drag Holder's name through the mud.
