These arms of mine

http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/fashion/2009-02-26-obama-sleeveless_N.htm

The Today show had a segment on Michelle Obama's arms, and is it appropriate for her to wear sleeveless dresses. In particular, she was criticized for wearing a sleeveless dress to the non Stat of the Union, because other women were wearing suits and pant suits. If those women want to dress that way, so be it. But how nice that she doesn't dress like Barbara or Laura Bush, who were exceedingly matronly and seemed to dress alike. I am sure they swapped fashion tips with each other. What complete foolishness - now there is an issue to get steamed up about. There are also suggestions in some articles about how to get arms like Michelle. So maybe this carping has something to do with a little jealousy. Anyway, the last time I checked she wasn't Orthodox, so what is the big deal?

Will wonders never cease

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/opinion/27krugman.html?ref=opinion

This Paul Krugman piece actually has something positive to say about President Obama (gee, that is awfully nice to write). I used to read Krugman's columns religiously, but I got fed up during the primaries and post election when he never seemed to miss an opportunity to say snarky, mean things, so I now read him selectively, although that is childish I know. I don't know why, but usually Krugman always puts the shiv in whenever he writes about anything Obama does, so when I read the words "...very, very good..." in a Krugman column about the budget I am amazed.

A Plea for Divine Intervention

After Obama's non State of the Union, Bobby Jindal had the unenviable task of giving the Republican response. Unenviable for a multitude of reasons, I mean after all, what can the response be if your party is the one that created the disaster that has befallen the country? What do you say when your party is completely bereft of any ideas? What do you say when Obama has such a strong mandate for change? And how do you follow someone who is one of the strongest orater in memory. Some would argue Ronnie's gifts, but frankly I always thought that he seemed like a simple minded, mean, ignornant, lying fool, irespective of his ideology. I clearly never felt the Ronnie magic. When Jindal walked out to give his speech, he looked like death warmed over, and someone on MSNBC, said either "Oh god," or what I heard, which is probably wrong, is "Oh my god." It is hard to figure which is worse. "Oh god" could mean here comes that insufferable bore, and "Oh my god" could mean, jeez he looks awful and we now have to listen to him. Asking for divine intervention to be spared from the speech was probably a good idea. Jindal was awful. Aside from spouting the mantra of the Republicans, taxcutstaxcutstaxcuts, he had the nerve to talk about the rebuilding of New Orleans as a triumph of volunteerism with no government assistance, completely disregarding that Katrina was the calamitous event that lifted the veil for many Americans to see what no government would mean. The sight of the hapless Bush in his helicopter with his stagey look of concern, as he desperately tried to recapture the 9/11 magic, an obscene thought in itself, was deeply disturbing. It was indeed his Oz moment, when he gave that speech in the eirily empty square in New Orleans. The curtain pulled back to reveal the what the Bush administration was all about - the image of caring, while thousands of people were struggling for survival and begging to be rescued in the richest country in the world.

Strange Bedfellows

I know it is incredibly tasteless to write anything about Travis the chimp, but somehow when I read more about the bizarre relationship between owner and chimp, I can't help myself. The other day I saw a picture of Travis, leaning back with a blanket at his feet. He had a slightly dissipated and louche look, aside from being one ugly chimp. Overweight and seedy looking, perhaps from eating so many lobster dinners and boozing too much has taken a toll on Travis. My husband told me that every night Travis would brush his owners hair before they would would crawl into bed together. I mean, other than Laura Bush, who sleeps with a chimp? Yikes, the damn chimp looks like he is about to light a cigarette.

Another fine example of the liberal bias of press Ha Ha

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/02/20/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4816372.shtml

I think it strange that Rick Santelli is called a reporter. Since when does a "reporter" rabble rouse against government policies? Isn't that called an opinion piece? The whole story is pretty absurd. The sight of him on a trading floor decrying help for people struggling to pay their mortgages. Hmmm hasn't the financial world received the biggest bailout of all? And how much do those traders rake in per year? Now Santelli is being called the Howard Beale of the financial world, a reference to the very overated movie Network. It is strange that he didn't whine about the bailout for the fat cats. I read some piece which I sadly can't find, which talked about the nature of the people that work on the trading floor. The writer had worked on the trading floor, and said that most people were mean spirited, narrow minded, and went to schools like Notre Dame and Seton Hall (these happen to be arch basketball enimies of my children, so these are clearly very flawed people.)

A Post for the Humorless

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7900963.stm

The NY Post cartoon controversy rumbles on. The Post apologized for the offensive cartoon, sort of... Writing "...for those of you (idiots) who were offended, we are sorry..." The subtext is in parentheses. The cartoon is offensive on many levels, first and foremost anyone who doesn't think comparing an African American is not racism is either lying or a fool, although both are possible at the same time. Second, when is it okay to joke about the assassination of a sitting president, especially the first African American president? The standard defense of this is a joke and don't be so sensitive, doesn't quite cut it. Saying that Al Sharpton is a publicity hound is irelavant to the poisonous nature of the cartoon But this kind of racism is endemic to the Murdoch empire.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/19/john-gibson-compares-eric_n_168377.html
To demonstrate the tin ear of their employees, just yesterday John Gibson compared Eric Holder to a monkey with bright blue scrotum. I know, it is hard to imagine how this comparison could possibly come up on the air, but there is video evidence. After all the cartoon controversy you would think that Rupert would encourage his employees to demonstrate a little caution in their metaphors and similes. But I guess they just can't help revealing hemselves, can they.

Satan's handmaidens

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/crime/ny-liinsu196040953feb19,0,4638148.story

I know that Andrew Cuomo is a self aggrandizing, publicity seeking shark, but boy can he pick an issue. First predatory colleges when every parent of a college student feels nickle and dimed after paying huge tuition bills, and now his focus on health insurance companies, is something that many, many people have experienced. Unfortuneatly, my family has had way too much experience with the absurd reimbursement rates for out of network Doctors. The rates have never seemed based on any kind of financial reality, and now several insurance companies have admitted wrong doing. The health insurance industry is completely without scruples. As my husband, who could have devoted his entire life to dealing with getting fair treatment for our family's medical bills, has pointed out, any mistake made by our insurance company is always in their favor. The spectacle of these companies exploiting people at their most vulnerable, makes old Bernie Maddoff stealing from widows and orphans seem tame.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/us/politics/18illinois.html?em

The sad saga of Barack's former Senate seat continues with the latest revelation of Burress, and I paraphrase here: "Oh yes I forgot, I guess I did speak to a relative of Blago's...oh and I guess I forgot, but I did some fund raising, but it is OK because no one coughed up a dime..." Now his initial statements were sworn affidavits, so I fail to understand why he is not up on ethics charges. Here he is, appointed by a corrupt, impeached former governor who was trying to auction off the very seat that Burress is now holding. I read somewhere that this now allows dems thinking of running against him some cover. Why they would need cover defies imagination. I would think that anyone who is considering running against Burress would hardly need cover. The man is a joke, and a bad one at that.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/02/16/2009-02-16_police_pet_chimpanzee_travis_attacks_wom.html

Now this story of mad chimp mauling a neighbor is sure to distract from the important issues of the day - A-rod's upcoming press conference and Michael Phelps descent into reefer madness. This is a pretty gruesome story filled with grisly details and bad ideas, first and foremost being who the hell has a chimp for a pet? Now I happen to know a fair number of people who live on this road and several of them with small children, why a chimp known to be agfressive and who has been clever enough to escape from his owners is beyond me. According to the Daily News, he took the house keys to let himself out, and the owner called her friend to help get him back in the house - another bad idea. Why anyone would give the chimp wine, and out of a stemmed glass no less, is beyond me. My son in law is quite interested in this particular detail. Even though I encouraged him, he is too modest to post so I will quote him:
"So, I am somewhat obsessed with the Chimp story out of North Stamford .... if only because it reinforces that people are bat-shit insane for any number of reasons.

Check out the Hartford Courant's take on the story:

http://www.courant.com/news/local/statewire/hc-ap-ct-chimpanzeeattackfeb16,0,1134122.story

I particularly enjoyed the last para:

"At the time of the 2003 attack, police said the owners told them the chimpanzee was toilet trained, dressed himself, took his own bath, ate at the table and drank wine from a stemmed glass."

Who in the hell has a chimp in their house at all, let alone after it was involved in an attack 6 years ago....beyond that, who in the hell has a chimp that they sit at the dinner table with.....and most of all, who in the hell gives a chimp wine, let alone wine in stemmed glass. Seriously, what the f__k?!?!?!? This story is the weirdest thing ever. You haven't lived until you have seen a drunk chimp stagger out of the Long Ridge Tavern!!!

Also, NBC news in New York reported that the woman who was mauled "had her face literally ripped off".....thank you local news for that description.

According to a friend, the four stages of human drunkenness are:

1. I'm rich

2. I'm attractive

3. I'm bulletproof

4. I'm invisible

Which leads me to the four stages of chimp drunkenness:

1. I'm eating a banana

2. I'm swinging from a tree

3. I'm beating my chest in an aggressive fashion

4. I'm ripping the neighbor lady's face off"

According to some local yokel news stations, Travis, the chimp wanted to go for a ride in a car and didn't take it well when the ride wasn't forth coming. His owner gave him a xanax to calm him down, but it had no effect, so as one neighbor so eloquently put it, "He began feasting on the woman's face." Yikes.

Spare me from principled people

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/the-bizarre-burgeoning-legend-of-judd-gregg.php
How I distrust people that boast about themselves as people of principal. Let us take the strange behavior of Judd Gregg. Now, I always thought it was a bizarre appointment - Richardson has to back out, and then a pretty conservative Senator from a pretty tiny state is offered the position. Somehow it doesn't seem like a fair exchange. I have read all sorts of stuff that said that Gregg lobbied hard for the position. I have also read that when he accepted, the Republican party in New Hampshire went ballistic. Republicans excel at venomous attacks, so one can just imagine the hate mail he was getting. The Republicans have apparently decided that their way back to power is to attack and stop anything that Obama wants to do, so Gregg was most likely seen as a traitor to his party. To get back in the good graces of the Repugs he withdraws his acceptance, gives a press conference just as Obama is about to give a speech at a rally. What was different on Thursday than when he had accepted the appointment? Now he is being lauded as a person of PRINCIPLE? Please, give me a break. How about being a person with no spine, like that wacky congressman that went crawling to Rush after he had criticized him. Joe Lieberman thinks of himself as person of great principal, so maybe Joe and Judd can go off and be principled together after their sorry asses are voted out of the Senate.

The New House of Lords

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/11/keep-the-filibuster-say-d_n_166074.html

I understand that the filibuster has been used for good and for ill, but what Barbara Boxer and others ignore, is that the threat of filibuster has crippled Democratic legislative efforts. In other words, when Republicans were in power it was considered obstructionist/non patriotic to threat to block any legislation, but when Democrats are in power they need 60 votes to pass any legislation. This not only creates the soggy middle, but the thought that the Senate, wields so much power is truly terrifying. It is a very undemocratic body, given that some Senators represent states that have tiny populations, and this institution seems to be a most insular and out of touch group. Remember, this is the place where Strom Thurmond the Racist, Jim Bunning the Lunatic and David the Diaper Vitter have been consistently re-elected. Why don't we turn them into an institution like the House of Lords, where they can pontificate for hours, but basically have little power?

Not a Republican virtue

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/coleman-lawyer-were-finding-more-votes.php

I see that an appreciation of irony is not a Republican virtue. Here we have Ben Ginsburg of the Florida recount debacle, arguing that votes in the Minnesota Senate race should be counted once, twice and then some more. Unlike in the Florida 2000 election, the votes have been actually recounted. How do these people live with themselves? Easy, they believe that whatever they do to get power is the right thing to do. Meanwhile, the election haggling goes on and on, which is of course what the Republican's want. The longer it goes on, the more it will seem as though Franken's victory is somehow tainted, and the other important benefit is that there is one less Democratic vote, and a liberal one at that, in the Senate. Where is the ethics probe of Norm and why is it languishing? You would think that a business man funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to Norm through his cheezeball wife would make some news, not to mention his sweet rental deal, but these ethics issues are rarely mentioned by the MSM. Al Franken is generally refered to as former SNL performer, why isn't Norm mentioned as Current Senate Grifter?
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/35932

Everyone has secrets

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/opinion/09glanville.html

I was relieved to read this one article that hasn't compared A-rod to Hitlerstalinpuppykiller. I know he is the player that people seem to love to hate, but I have always had a secret fondness for him, which stems from an incident in Boston a number of years ago. Apparently he was in town for a game and walking down the street. A little boy started to fall into the street and Satan, oh I mean A-rod jumped into the street and pulled the boy back to safety. This instinctive action won him huge points in my book. Not everybody would risk their personal safety to immediately rescue someone. This article also asks why no one is concerned about confidentiality issues, which I have concerned me. Why was his name leaked, or any name for that matter? I think that people might be a little more worried about confidentiality, after all, how would they feel if their therapist spilled the beans. Oh yes, Mr. Blogs told me in many sessions that he liked to put on women's underwear and dance the electric slide. Everyone has secrets that the wish to keep hidden. I am also sick of people feigning horror about Michael Phelps. Why don't they ask about how he could have such crappy friends that would post a picture of him with a bong? People seem to love so called heros and then take delight in castigating them for any faling. I'm not condoning steroid use as some minor indescretion, but it is important to look at the culture of baseball at that time which fostered such rampant steroid use among so many top flight players. You have to wonder why someone so clearly talented would risk his career, not to mention his health, for some perceived gain. Not that I thought that A-rod was some kind of saint, after all he has some sort of relationship that I don't care to examine with the terrifying Madona, and frankly an affair of the mind is more disturbing than the other kind. We all do like to have people we admire, and I must say, I do worry that some boy is going to come forward and say that Sully liked to play co pilot with him. And no doubt somebody has "proof" that A-rod's manager pushed the little boy into the street to garner some good publicity for his client.

Misunderestimation

http://www.americablog.com/2009/02/john-mccain-gop-troll.html

I agree with John Aravosis that the Repugs will always be partisan, but I am not so sure that the current battle is a big loss for Obama. I can't remember who said it, but someone wrote that people underestimate Obama at their peril, just ask the Clinton's. Obama has just begun the public relations offensive. He is a clear speaker, very nimble on his feet and far more intelligent than most or perhaps all of the press, so I will be very interested to see his press conference. He has been clear from the beginning that although he wants bipartisan support for legislation, that doesn't mean that he want to repeat the disastrous policies of the previous administration. The big flaw of the Democrats is avoiding a filibuster. I don't think the Repugs would look all that wonderful arguing against firemen, policemen, children and maybe puppies, who are directly affected by the cuts in state aid.

Twittering on Twitter

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20090207/NEWS02/302079944

In the can't make this stuff up department, let us look at the case of Peter Hoekstra and his secret trip to Iraq and Afghanistan as part of a Republican delegation. Seems the ranking Republican on the Intelligence committee decided to post his itinerary on Twitter. Now, I am no techy but even I could figure out that posting a secret trip taken with my colleagues was not a particularly good idea. It would be bad enough, but the fact that he serves on the Intelligence committee makes his posting even more inexplicable, unless he not so secretly hopes for the demise of his Republican friends. I must admit if I had to travel with the reptilian John Boehner, I migh harbor a wicked thought or two.

Important matters

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/02/62471161/1

The economy is in the toilet, we are involved in two disastrous wars, a new president in office, and what is a key concern of the former Chief of Staff whose former boss was the architect of this debacle? OH MY GOD!!! Obama doesn't always wear a shirt and tie or demand that other do in the Oval Office. Dan Bartlett was quoted as saying that he went to the White House one Saturday, not wearing a tie, and Bush screamed at him for fifteen minutes and wouldn't let him in the sacred Oval Office. How psycho is that? At least Barack actually is doing some work, attempting to clean up the mess left by the previous occupant, who insisted on all people, I guess other than him assuming the photos of a jacket Bush playing at President are not photoshopped. He has such tremendous respect for the office of President, he shredded the Constitution and ruined the country, and destroyed our reputation abroad. Who knew that such a small man could make such a huge mess.

More foolishness in Beltway Bubble Land

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/05/AR2009020501622_2.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2009020600080&s_pos=

It is pretty horrible to watch the Senate pontificate and see the so called moderates try to cut the size of the bill down. Many economist, including Paul Krugman, are not only saying that the economic situation is dire, but that the bill is too small, and yet people in Bubble Land are trying to cut out things they deem unworthy, like Head Start, aid to states for Special Education, money for Amtrak, aid to states to fund teachers, policemen and firefighters, and more. Have any of them spoken to the governors of their state's lately? I think not. Ben Nelson of NE and the faintly creepy Evan Bayh are part of this group, and I am sure that the dreaded Lieberman will soon be raising his sanctimonious head. This is the time for arm twisting on the part of the Democratic leadership and tell them, Come on folks, stop thinking you actually have ideas and fall in line.

The Gum Flappers are baaaaack

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/stimulus/2009/02/04/bipartisan-group-of-governors-announce-support-of-obamas-stimulus.html

If you listen to the flapping gums on the Networks, you would think that perhaps only Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi support the stimulus bill. However, many governors, even Republican governors like Charlie Crist the once maybe Republican VP nominee, support the bill. Even my governor, Jodi Rell has come out in favor. Those in the trenches of day to day governing realize how dire the economy is and what effect it is having on the general public. Those in Bubble Land (the Inside the Beltway crowd, which includes the Washington press corps) think it is all strategy/politics/scoring point all the time. I was glad the Barck reminded everyone that the Republican idea (can't say ideas , can I) of taxcutstaxcutstaxcuts coupled with governmentbadgovernmentbadgovernmentbad as an over riding philosophy has been tried and proved to be a dismal failure.

The bliss of local news

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/the-early-word-on-daschles-exit/?ref=opinion

This piece in the Times has some reactions to the Daschle debacle. Some are gloomy, saying that this is a total victory for Republicans, others less so. I thought he was toast when it was revealed that he hadn't informed the Obama team about his tax issues when first being considered for the job. Not understand, I like Tom Daschle, but I have to wonder what planet is he on that he didn't think that it was going to be a BIG issues? Has he been hanging out with the delusional set - John Edwards and Eliot Spitzer, to name a few? He should have never accepted the appointment and the harm he has caused is not insignificant. This is going to delay any kind of health care reform for a long time, and the focus on health care has been diminishing because of the disastrous economic situation. Daschle was picked for his friends on both sides of the aisle and his knowledge of Congressional politics and it hard to think of someone with his credentials. It is also horrible because this is a complete distraction from passing the stimulus package, and it is also is giving gleeful Republicans another excuse for their extremely distructive behavior. The press is in heaven - scandal, scandal, scandal, politics as usual, politics as usual (too bad no sex was involved...). I find the local yokel news a relief, so far all snow
coverage all the time.