I am....

here.

Soon to be doing this.

No bloggy-blog from me today

Bozo The Spokesman

Gibbs Stands By His 'Professional Left' Critique, Expects Liberals To Vote In 2010:

"'I don't think [liberal voters won't show up],' he said, 'because I think what's at stake in November is too important to do that.'"

Wrong, asshole. And you should check out the primaries from this week. The Dems who WON received fewer votes than the Repubs who LOST.

What a great campaign slogan. 'We suck a little less than the other guys'.

Fuck Gibbs. Asshole.

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The Rude Pundit:

"So, let's get this straight, Bobby G. We on the left warned your boss and the Democrats that every time you reached out your hands to the Republicans, those fuckers would just gnaw on 'em. But you kept on with the effort of bipartisanship, watering down bills and watering 'em down. Anyone with a lick of sense knew that the GOP was just setting you up: force 'em to compromise and then make sure that what gets passed does just a scintilla of what could have been done. On bill after bill these mad negotiations occurred, and now you're accusing us of not living in reality? No, really, truly, fuck you, man."

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AMERICAblog News: Shattered Expectations: My 2 Cents:

"He ran on this incredibly inspirational platform of hope and change. There was a real sense that Obama could be the guy to stop business as usual in Washington and redeem government. I know I'm not alone in believing he recognized the time had come to remind lawmakers whom they worked for - the people - and remind the people that government could be on their side.

However, it's been almost 2 years, and no one feels that way.

What permeates is the sense that the President has compromised his alleged values and backtracked on his campaign promises in a way that jaded insiders would say was to be expected but the general population hoped wasn't the case. We wanted to believe. We really did. I know I did."

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Rep. Grayson Unleashes On Gibbs: "Bozo The Spokesman" (VIDEO)

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No one could have every predicted. Heckuva job, Obama. Heckuva job.

Hispanic media turn on President Obama - Carrie Budoff Brown - POLITICO.com:

"President Barack Obama has lost the most trusted man in the Hispanic media.

Univision’s Jorge Ramos, an anchor on the nation’s largest Spanish-language television network, says Obama broke his promise to produce an immigration reform bill within a year of taking office. And Latinos are tired of the speeches, disillusioned by the lack of White House leadership and distrustful of the president, Ramos told POLITICO."

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The spiritual leader of the Republican party is a hypocritical asshole? Shocking.

Newt Gingrich = Every Republican.

Newt Gingrich's Second Wife Dishes Hard To Esquire: His Money Woes, His Philandering, His Meltdown | TPMMuckraker:

"Esquire goes on to describe the financial pressures faced by the new couple: Gingrich declared keeping a budget 'too stressful,' so Marianne took that over, looking to maintain homes in Georgia and D.C., pay Gingrich's alimony and child support and reduce his massive personal debt. A Vanity Fair article from 1995 indicates that Jackie, too, was in charge of the household finances because of Gingrich's spendthrift ways: in fact, the debt the couple faced when they married in 1981 wasn't paid off until 1994.

In 1997, Gingrich was fined $300,000 by the House for ethics violations related to college courses and a non-profit. He and Marianne didn't have the money, so he began to write a book. But the book didn't turn out as anyone expected: it was a dramatic apology that Marianne described as 'weird.' With his inner circle, she attempted to edit it into something publishable -- but they ended up scrapping the manuscript entirely.

After the book petered out in 1997, Marianne said that his behavior began to deteriorate."

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Heckuva Job

Sans comment:

Daily Kos: If you're trying to convince us NOT TO VOTE FOR YOU in 2010 or 2012, Mission Accomplished:

"Turns out calling me 'F$#^ing retarded' or 'On Drugs' doesn't make me FIRED UP, it makes me think you think I'm an asshole, and that doesn't exactly win my vote, now does it?

Advice for Democrats who want to win WITHOUT 'The Left of the Left' this election season.

Step 1. Get Republicans to phonebank for you, Get Out The Vote for you, go door to door for you, and send donations to you. Get Republican teabaggers to do all that crap for you, because you can only insult Progressives and 'The Professional Left' so many times until we figure out that The Democratic Party wants our money and support, but after that, we can piss off.

Step 2. Once you've realized that Republicans WILL NEVER DO SUPPORT YOU, LET ALONE VOTE FOR YOU NO MATTER HOW LOUD YOU SING 'KUMBAYA' AND TRY TO APPEASE THEM, you'll have already lost seats in both chambers of congress. Lots of seats."

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Robert L. Borosage: Gibbs on the Left: Dog Bites the Man

4. The left hasn't been a rebel; it's been too good a soldier. Amazing that the White House would be upset at carping from the beltway left which has embarrassed itself by its willingness to absorb insult and salute. Women rallied to support a health care bill that weakened choice. Progressives supported the bill despite the president's unwillingness to fight for a public option, the taxes on good (read union) health care plans, and the grotesque deal with drug companies to sustain the ban on Medicare getting bulk price discounts. Environmentalists went so far as to embrace off-shore drilling in the failed effort to get the energy bill. Black leaders like Al Sharpton argued against any targeted economic programs, even as the African American community was suffering depression levels of misery in the economic collapse. The anti-war movement gave the president a pass on Afghanistan. Gays have been remarkably patient at delay in repealing the indefensible don't ask, don't tell policy. Progressives pushed financial reform hard, even after the Treasury Department helped defeat amendments to break up the big banks and more.

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Daily Kos: Why the discontent

A year ago at Netroots Nation, President Bill Clinton promised that if health care reform passed, Democrats would see a 10-point bump in the polls the following day. It didn't happen.

Here's why --

In the past, the only contact most people would have with the legislative process was the final product -- big headlines proclaiming that a historic bill had just passed and signed into law by the president. But in this media-saturated world of today, that doesn't happen anymore.

Rather, we got an intimate look at the sausage-making process. We saw what the various pieces of legislation could've been. We saw that the good stuff (like the public option or drug reimportation or job spending or comprehensive immigration support) had a great deal of public support. We saw those provisions stripped away (or ignored), one by one, as various industry lobbyists had their say. We saw people like Joe Lieberman and Max Baucus humored by the Democratic leadership and the White House. We saw Democrats "negotiate" with Republicans who openly scoffed at the idea of compromise, and openly bragged about their delaying tactics. We saw Ben Nelson throw his periodic hissy fits, while (openly!) extracting taxpayer-funded bribes in order to get his support. We saw how "bipartisanship" seemed a more important ideal to Democrats and the White House than "passing the best legislation possible." And we saw our party play the role of "deer in headlights" as the teabaggers took over the debate, on issue after issue.

So when the various pieces of legislation have passed, whether its the health care or financial reform laws or whatever, the sense hasn't been jubilation, but relief.

And relief isn't a positive emotion. It's a negative one.

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Rep. Ellison: 'Gibbs Crossed The Line':

Ellison said that Gibbs's resignation would be an appropriate response. 'I think that'd be fair, yeah. That'd be fair, because this isn't the first time. And, again, people of all political shades worked very hard to help the president become the president. Why would he want to go out and deliberately insult the president's base? And why would he confuse legitimate critique with some sort of lack of loyalty. Isn't this what the far right does? Punishes people who are not ideologically aligned with President Bush?'"

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Yelling At The 'Professional Left' Is One Of The White House's Few Joys:

"In that spirit, let me end by saying I don't pretend to have all the answers to the challenges we face, and I look forward to periodic conversations with all of you in the months and years to come. I trust that you will continue to let me and other Democrats know when you believe we are screwing up. And I, in turn, will always try and show you the respect and candor one owes his friends and allies."

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Gibbs’ Walk-Back: Clueless about “in America” | Emptywheel:

"No matter how many mean names Gibbs calls hippies, the real issue is that he, the voice of the Obama Administration, appears totally clueless about why America isn’t clapping louder about the Administration’s economic “successes.”"

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Daily Kos: Inartful:

"If the White House thinks their problems are reserved among a handful of progressive critics, then I'm afraid, because it tells me they're really out of touch with the undercurrent of discontent faced by Democrats this year.

The unemployment rate is brutal, while high-profile cave-ins to nefarious interests, like the Cornhusker Kickback during the health care debate did more to drive the Democrats' numbers down than any blog post or MSNBC segment ever did.

It may be easier to blame the dirty fucking hippies and kick them in the face, but that sure won't address the root cause of Democratic malaise, and it sure as heck won't better motivate base Democrats into helping close this November's intensity gap."

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FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: As Liberals Lose Hope, the White House is Losing Its Cool:

"I don't know whether Gibbs was going 'off-message' out of frustration, or whether the White House has become so jaded that they actually think this was a good strategy. Either way, it speaks to the need for some fresh blood and some fresh ideas in the White House. The famously unflappable Obama is losing his cool."

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Robert Gibbs Clarifies "Professional Left" Criticism, Calls Initial Comments Inartful:

"'There are two big problems with Gibbs outburst - policy and politics,' added Robert Borosage, head of Campaign for America's Future. 'In policy, the left got it right. The president is hurting because his reforms were not bold enough... On politics, the enthusiasm gap comes less from forced compromises than from political malpractice. The destructive health care waltz with Baucus and the supposed moderate Republicans... the White House's infatuation with taxing union health care benefits; the White House's unwillingness from day one to pound on the failed conservative policies that drove us off the cliff... Part of that malpractice, arguably, was on the left as well - as significant energy was devoted to the sausage making of the Congress, and too little resources and energy went towards independent mobilization. There was and is no reason for the ersatz Tea Party right to capture the populist voice.'"

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AMERICAblog News: WH spokesman: I was just out of control and winging it when I criticized the Democratic party base:

"Huh?

The White House spokesman would now have us believe that he wasn't in full control of his faculties when he did an interview with the Hill in which he blasted the Democratic base, and suggested we all needed to take a drug test. Really? He couldn't control himself? Then what is he doing remaining in the job as White House press secretary?"

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Obama: Those who disagree with me are not Real Americans

Thought about a good friend, yesterday who I haven't spoken with in a long time. Looked him up on Facebook to no avail. Then, I searched the web and found that my friend died of a heart attack in October, 2008. Last time we emailed was December 2007. I went back and read all of our past email exchanges.

You were a good guy and a good boss at Kenan Auditorium, Curt Allen-Little. Rest in Peace.

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I actually had a little something nice to say about Obama today until his Administration claimed that I'm not a Real American (Palin's term, mind you. One that she had to apologize for).

Fuck you, Gibbs and Obama. Your work HAS been shit and consider me one of these made-the-fuck-up Professional Leftists.

Democrats, you are on your own in November. Hands are washed.

Shorter, petulant Gibbs: Clap louder, assholes.

White House unloads anger over criticism from 'professional left’ - TheHill.com

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AMERICAblog News: Gibbs: People who are upset with Obama don't live in real America, didn't help get Obama elected:

"Let's put aside for a moment Gibb's adoption of a really nasty, and un-American, Sarah Palin talking point in order to smear the Democratic base (has it really come that?). (And heck, even Palin apologized for using that smear.) Let's look instead at the substance of the smear. Gibbs is now claiming, on behalf of the White House, that anyone who is upset with the way President Obama is handling his job clearly did not organize, campaign, or raise money for candidate Obama back in 2008.

Really? That's the latest White House response to Obama voters who are sincerely concerned about the direction this White House is taking on so many issues. To smear everyone and suggest that they didn't lift a finger to get the President elected? Seriously?"

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Lufthansa Pillow Fight: Passengers Throw Pillows At Flight Attendant (VIDEO)

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Fighters Fighting

The guy on the right (like I need to point his out) should have a statue erected in his honor.

Twitpic - Share photos on Twitter

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This is what I want everyday from every elected Dem. Kick their asses:

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My Kind of Democrat | Talking Points Memo:

"Too many progressives seem to want to sit on the sidelines until someone, a Marquess of Queensberry, comes along and changes the rules of the game to make it more civilized. What they don't seem to grasp is that democratic politics are the Queensberry rules. They replaced mob rule. The fractiousness, unpredictability, and feralness of politics are vestiges that remind us of what the real alternatives to democracy are. The real alternative is not a debating club and smoking jackets.

What I like about Weiner, or at least what I see of him in public, is that he's in the game. He doesn't hold himself above it or outside of it. He's in there. He's fighting. A good lesson for Democrats: If you're actually in there fighting, you don't have to worry about 'projecting' to voters that you're a fighter."

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Probably the best Senator we have. Al Franken.

Daily Kos: The most important post you’ll read all day

Al Franken for Senate | Join Al Franken - add your name to save Net Neutrality from the corporate takeover of media

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The only news show worth watching.

Rachel Maddow: Fox News 'Slimeballs,' CNN 'Not Really Trying' (VIDEO)

Daily Kos: Why Rachel Maddow Scares Them: O'Reilly Bites Back on Race Baiting

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The herd will not be culled enough, I fear.

Waxman sees bright side to Nov: 'Difficult' Dems won't be back - TheHill.com

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Uh... this is a contest? Brutal pictures involved.

World Sauna Championships Finalist Vladimir Ladyzhensky DIES At Event (PHOTOS)

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DBT Week in Review - 8/6/10

DBT!

Today, 3:00 P.M Central, DBT's Lollapalooza set will be streamed live and online!

Lollapalooza 2010 Webcast

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Big congrats to the 7th Trucker, David Barbe. UGA done good.

Barbe to lead UGA's music business program || OnlineAthens.com

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Word from the Hood:

Post from Patterson - 8/5/10 - Drive-By Truckers's MySpace Blog |:

"August 4, 2010 (Athens GA, office).

Happy August.

My Mom’s Birthday is tomorrow (8/5). Good manners will prevent me from revealing her age, but we can safely say she’s very young to have a son as old as me (my Father also)."

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In praise of Mike Cooley, the Drive-By Truckers' songwriting genius | Vancouver, Canada | Straight.com

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Homedrone: Patterson Hood's Tour Diary: Part 3 - Flagpole Magazine: Colorbearer of Athens, GA

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Becoming a part of real-time social media whether you want to or not!

Patterson Hood spotted at Athens, Attiki, GR | Realtime Celebrity Photos & Sightings | Pappd

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DBT se complace venir a España!

Drive-By Truckers, Nick Lowe Y Marah, Tres Exlusivas en Espana de Lujo para este fine de semana

"Drive by truckers, �nico concierto en Europa durante este verano Comenzando al rev�s el domingo 8 el Luna Lunera se ha apuntado un tanto de primer nivel en su programaci�n al hacerse con un concierto exclusivo a nivel europeo para presentar su nuevo trabajo The Big To-Do. El grupo que comenzara su andadura all�por principios de los noventa es uno de los ejemplos de perfecci�n para los amantes del rock americano, no en vano fue el grupo elegido por el mism�simo Tom Petty para acompa�arle en la gira en la que en estos d�as est�n inmersos."

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Drive-By Truckers news: Drive By Truckers Live Featuring Bettye LaVette "Jealousy"

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MTV Real World hottie digging on the DBTs.

Twitter / Emilee Fitzpatrick: 18 Wheels of Love - Drive- ...

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Wes Freed (Mudd Helmut)

Wes Freed is a badass and don't you forget it.

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Glossary

Glossary should be one of the biggest bands in the world. Their three records can go up against anybodies three records.

I love this band.

Glossary - Save Your Money for the Weekend from Stewart Copeland on Vimeo.

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Music

Zoey, Feist, Chan and that Natasha Chick... may of the others need to grab a sandwich or 5.

The Hottest Women Of Indie-Rock: Pics, Videos, Links, News

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Wherein my hatred is justified.

AP: Nick Jonas, Jordin Sparks chair Reagan youth | Raw Story

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High Art

Russian Artist Paints With Her Breasts (NSFW VIDEO)

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Note from The Hood

Because lazy bloggers take content from the sites they work on and use for the ol' personal blog.

My personal contribution to today's post: Yay for the Gayz in CA.

Now, here's Mr. Hood who is far more interesting than anything I would have bitched about:

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August 4, 2010 (Athens GA, office).

Happy August.

My Mom’s Birthday is tomorrow (8/5). Good manners will prevent me from revealing her age, but we can safely say she’s very young to have a son as old as me (my Father also).

The next day (August 6th) we will play Lollapalooza in Chicago. It’s one of my favorite cities and I’m grateful to be there for the third time in very recent months. The 6th would also be my Grandfather (Hood)’s 100th Birthday. Happy Birthday Smoky! I will no doubt order a shot of fine scotch and raise a toast to a man I really never knew well enough but have none the less been affected by in ways that become apparent as I too age.

This week marks the 25th Anniversary of my meeting and subsequently forming a band with Mike Cooley. 25 Fucking Years! Wow! I’ve always marked August 1st as the beginning of Adam’s House Cat, even though it was some time later before we actually played our first gig. We basically slugged our way through six years in that band, followed by two years of playing as a duo (Virgil Kane) and attempting another band (Horsepussy) before splitting for a couple of years, during which time I moved to Athens GA and began the process of forming what became DBT. The Truckers were formed with the intent of luring Cooley back into the fold and I have always kinda considered it ‘his’ band, as it has usually been closer to his initial vision of how a band should be than Adam’s House Cat ever was. We will celebrate our Anniversary month by completing our eleventh album (Go-Go Boots) but will hopefully commemorate it in a more definite way sometime in the not too distant future.

It’s been a long and crazy summer. We had a blast opening for Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers last month and look forward to playing one more show with them in Cleveland on the 31st. There aren’t many bands we could open for that have been together longer than us and they are a constant inspiration to us all.

Been doing a little bit of writing. Excited about getting a head start on DBT-12. So much of writing is just waiting and trying to be prepared. I have likened it to building a runway so a plane can land, or building a high enough antenna to pick up whatever radio signals are out there. That’s the technical part but the important part is the signal itself and sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. After all these years (37 and counting) it’s still a mystery and I suppose it always will be.

Summer reading has included re-reading Levon Helm’s incredible autobiography“This Wheel’s On Fire” for the third time. Still great and still heartbreaking all these years later. I got to hang out with him for his 70th birthday and he autographed my copy to Ava Ruth and Emmett. They can someday fight over it when I’m gone. Read a badly written, but interesting account of the Frank Lloyd Wright and the ‘Taliesin Murders’ from August of 1914 and then next day watched an amazing film that took place in Germany that same month. If you haven’t seen “The White Ribbon”, I highly urge it, as it was one of the best films of the last several years and I was left pondering it for days afterward. (It won the Palm d’Or at Cannes last year).

Went to Ciné (Athens’ great little art cinema) and saw “Winters Bone” which won Best Picture at Sundance this year. What an amazing film and if there was any justice, Jennifer Lawrence would win Best Actress at next years’ Academy Awards. I also got to see “To Kill A Mockingbird” there as part of their summer ‘classic films series’. It was great to finally see it on the big screen, having seen it a dozen or so times on the small.

My other summer reading includes “Just Kids” by Patti Smith about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe; and I’m still trying to finish Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian”which is daunting but fantastic. I’m also reading “101 Things I Learned in Architecture School” by Matthew Frederick. I plan to set it to music and dance to it as soon as I finish it.

My listening has included ‘roughs’ for the next Centro-matic album, which may end up being their best yet. I’ve been on a huge binge of listening to The Long Winters, who I saw years ago and have always liked but only recently gotten a-hold of, Bobby Bare Jr.’s new album “A Storm - A Tree - My Mother’s Head”, which he recorded in 2 days with members of My Morning Jacket; and “Brothers” by The Black Keys, which has been in heavy rotation since its release.

In other news: Amazon is running a special on “Murdering Oscar (and other love songs)”, my solo album from last year. MP3 Downloads of it are only $5 for the entire month of August and I’d like to think it’s more than worth it. It’s not quite the bargain of say, buying Newsweek Magazine (the entire thing) for $1, but damned close to it.

Also: “That Evening Sun”, the fine film written and directed by Scott Teems (who this year directed our “This Fucking Job” video) and starring our friend Ray McKinnon is coming out on Blu-ray and DVD on September 7th and PRE-ORDERS can be purchased now. I contributed two songs to it and Hal Holbrook turned in an incredible performance. It also features the last screen appearance from his wife Dixie Carter, who passed away a few months ago.

Don’t miss the new DBT Tour Dates for Fall and stay tuned for more details and dates forthcoming.

Back to packing, as we have Lollapalooza and a quick trip to Spain this weekend. Life is good, albeit busier than hell.

Have a safe and happy rest of summer.

See you at The Big To-Do.

Patterson Hood

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False Equivalencies

Again, if you get your news from the TV, you are not being informed.

Conservatives/Fox has all of the traditional media so cowed at being called 'liberal' (meaning conducting actual journalism and letting the facts fall as they may) that they are forever pushing these bullshit false equivalencies.

There is no Rush equivalent on the left. There is no Beck equivalent on the left. There is not FAUX News equivalent on the left.

Calling Out Anderson Coopers False Left/Right Equivilency

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Another case in point. Dollars to donuts, after this vapors session on those dirty, dirty bloggers, I'm sure the next story by on CNN was based upon an 'unnamed administration official'.

Turn off the TV news if you want to be informed.

It isn't 'news', its 'advertisement'.

CNN anchors attack the scourge of anonymity - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

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This response is a thing of beauty:

Sick of Republican Forwarded Viral E-Mails (UPDATE: A Response)

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The Raw Story | Drinking edges up in US, with beer still favorite:

"There was also a marked difference in drinking habits by education, with college graduates topping people with a high school degree or less by 79 to 58 percent respectively.

Income also mirrored drinking levels, with 81 percent of people making 75,000 dollars per year saying they drank, followed in descending order by lower incomes until only 46 percent of those making less than 20,000 dollars said they drank.

And religion also had a bearing with people attending church regularly drinking the least -- 61 percent of Protestants, 78 percent of Catholics -- compared to 80 percent of non-religious people.

Finally, the Gallup poll found that beer was still the preferred drink of Americans (41 percent), followed by wine (32 percent) and liquor (21 percent)."

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Moon over Birmingham.

Birmingham's Vulcan emerges as long-shot basketball star; guy sinks ball from atop statue (with video) | al.com

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Fuck Blogger

Yet another post delete by bullshit Blogger.

Build the Big F****n' Thing!

Government is about the only entity left in the U.S. that CAN create jobs. Corporate America could give a rats ass about creating American jobs.

Thus, we should go big with a public works campaign and....

Build the Big F****n' Thing!

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We're doing it here in NorCal, even though we imported most of the steel from China (reformatting your resume in Mandarin is a bitch, btw).

Piece of new Bay Bridge tower to go up:

"Crews are scheduled to install the 165-foot, 12,000-ton piece, known as a lift, Wednesday afternoon. The massive piece arrived in the Bay Area from China earlier this month.

It is one of five pieces that will make up the first section of the 525-foot tower, which will be the centerpiece of the new, seismically safe, $6.2 billion eastern span."

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And we roll with our own renewable energy plans, feds be damned.

Sonoma County resists feds on home energy loans

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And it is not like this country isn't looking like some Appalachian, backwoods shack that one strong wind can take out....

Dam fails in eastern Iowa, causing massive flooding - CNN.com

Oil pipeline leak pollutes major Michigan river | Raw Story

Oil spewing from well near La. marsh - U.S. news - Environment - msnbc.com

Officials detail how Tempe Town Lake dam will be repaired

So, stimulate and stimulate BIG, Obama or go home.

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Speaking of hell... I mean, Phoenix... You reap what you sow....

Fleeing Phoenix out of fear of immigration law - Los Angeles Times:

"Reporting from Phoenix — Every time a customer buys some of the large fabric tote bags from the Dollar Store at 43rd Avenue and Thomas Road, Najmuddin Katchi sees another piece of his business vanish.

The purchase of the briefcase-sized shoulder bags means that another one of Katchi's customers, mostly Latino immigrants, is packing to leave the state before what is touted as the nation's toughest law against illegal immigrants takes effect July 29."

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Very cool, but you'd be forced to utilize their email program, I bet.

PilotHandwriting.com

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So awesome.

Flying giants: Incredibly rare display as manta rays leap 3ft out of water into the air | Mail Online

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