Blog Box

July 15, 2005
Compiled by Delilah Boyd, A Scrivener's Lament

Karma Comes Calling

Not a good week for the BushCo bulldozer, was it? Not quite instant karma, but a good start. Media whores tried and failed to distract us from Rove (aka The Smoking Gun), Larry Flynt noted Bolton's group sex fetish, Londoners reacted to tragedy the way we should have, and Jerry Falwell said no to the president.

Cue That Law & Order Pizzicato!

Karl Rove is a national hero. I'm as serious as a stroke here. That's how Republicans are spinning Rove's conversation(s) with Time reporter Matt Cooper. I kid you not. According to Patrick J. Buchanan (on MSNBC's Imus, July 13, 2005), "If you looked out your window during Watergate and saw at least three reporters, you knew you were in trouble."

Times have changed, Pat, and you damned well know it. Sure, you Nixon minions were afraid of the press back then. But what about today? KKKarl writes his own talking points and you guys lather, rinse and repeat them ad nauseum for the corporate-owned media's cameras. National hero, my ass! I'm gonna buy you a fruit basket, Pat.

Krazypuppy asks the best question this week: "In light of the terror attacks in London, doesn't Karl Rove's sabotage for political gain of a secret agent who is part of our defense AGAINST such terrorists become particularly alarming, hypocritical & dangerous?"

Rove, The Smoking Gun?

Scott McClellan learned this week that when you dismiss a Rovian connection to the Plame CIA leak as "ridiculous," you'd better be prepared to have that word crammed down your twinkie-sized throat by a quasi-vertebrate White House press corps that just watched one of its own go to jail for doing what BushCo asked her to do.

Bloggers reacted to Matt Cooper's email (naming Rove as his source) and the White House press corps' "Dance, Scotty! Faster, faster!" routine, questioned Novak's role as the rat, crafted nifty Plame timelines, and even found the time to question Rove's lineage this week. While the big gun liberal bloggers are still parsing Rove/Luskinian syntax, trial attorney and brilliant blogger Seth Abramson at The Suburban Ecstasies posts the definitive must-read analysis of Rove's possible crimes (the crimes of...) and sister crimes (conspiracy to commit...). No wonder Republicans are attacking Joseph Wilson's integrity again.

Bolton's Back, And Larry Flynt's Got Him!

The Left Coaster channels Dirty Harry: "Go Ahead George, Make My Day: Do A Recess Appointment Of Bolton." The Left Coaster figures that senate Dems would resurrect the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees if George W. appoints Bolton during the recess. Hmm. Sounds like a plan to me. Ron at Middle Earth Journal worries that Bolton is more interested in his DC power than the UN:

Two months ago, while his confirmation was in trouble, Bolton began efforts to double the office space reserved within the State Department for the ambassador to the United Nations, according to three senior department officials who were involved in handling the request. Previous ambassadors have kept a small staff in Washington in a modest suite. Bolton told several colleagues he needs more space and a larger staff in Washington because, if confirmed, he intends to spend more time here than his predecessors did.

No Sex Please, We're Republicans

While we've all been focusing on Bolton's official record, Larry Flynt has been busy. Mr. First Amendment thinks we deserve to know the truth about John Bolton's kinky sex habits before George W. hands the guy the keys to the United Nations building.

Corroborated allegations that Mr. Bolton's first wife, Christina Bolton, was forced to engage in group sex have not been refuted by the State Department despite inquires posed by Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt concerning the allegations.

Never Give In! Never, Never, Never!

You'd think the U.S. media would be relieved to learn that British authorities had moved so quickly to solve the London terrorist bombings, wouldn't you? Media whores (especially Fox News) offered non-stop speculation/conjecture terror attack coverage almost equal to their recent Michael Jackson media mania. Talking hairdos even plodded on after George W.'s big print cue cards instructed him to repeat his ridiculous "We fight them over there instead of here at home" crap, which had to piss off the citizens of London, er, royally. How would we feel if the attacks had happened here, and Tony Blair had said that?

Citizen journalism (even though the megalomedia tried its best to kill indymedia once and for all last year) is alive and well and putting the kibosh on BushCo's attempt to co-opt the London attacks for GOP political gain. The UK Guardian Blog kept us up to date while events were unfolding, Wikipedia's real-time coverage was outstanding, DU's forum posts were extremely informative and poignant, and We'reNotAfraid.com has already posted over 60 galleries of pics submitted from both local readers and friends around the globe...

Bloggers with brains (and hearts) also berated Fox news' sickening coverage of the London terrorist attacks. This Londoner's response to the terrorists, posted by CFUCT, should inspire us all to deal with our media's megaterror hype in similar fashion...

What the fuck do you think you're doing? This is London. We've dealt with your sort before. You don't try and pull this on us. Do you have any idea how many times our city has been attacked? Whatever you're trying to do, it's not going to work. All you've done is end some of our lives, and ruin some more. How is that going to help you? You don't get rewarded for this kind of crap. And if, as your MO indicates, you're an al-Qaeda group, then you're out of your tiny minds. Because if this is a message to Tony Blair, we've got news for you. We don't much like our government ourselves, or what they do in our name. But, listen very clearly. We'll deal with that ourselves. We're London, and we've got our own way of doing things, and it doesn't involve tossing bombs around where innocent people are going about their lives. And that's because we're better than you. Everyone is better than you. Our city works. We rather like it. And we're going to go about our lives. We're going to take care of the lives you ruined. And then we're going to work. And we're going down the pub. So you can pack up your bombs, put them in your arseholes, and get the fuck out of our city.

CFUCT adds, "I'm pretty sure this attitude is why they survived the Battle of Britain and The Troubles."

Talibornagain Watch

Discourse.net reports that the 8th district Court of Appeals has struck down that speciously named partial-birth abortion law. For now, at least, Republican congress-critters can't make up such crap laws to control women Old Testament style just because they want to. Grandstanding, like they did during the Schiavo tug-o-war, may appease the fascist fundie fringe checkbook owners, but the vast majority of citizens want control over life and death family decisions.

No Feminazis Or Witches Need Apply

Whom do you ask if you want advice on Supreme Court nominees? Media Girl answers, "Jerry Falwell. (This certifiable nutcase is the one who said 9/11 was God's punishment for America's depravity, which is rhetoric worthy of al-Qaeda itself.)"

One has to wonder why Jerry declined. Maybe he didn't want his (cough) shining (cough) legacy tainted by taking eternal responsibility for George W.'s bogus Supreme Court appointment(s). And how many Americans get away with saying no to the president, anyway? I've never heard of such a thing, have you?

In other Supreme Court news, Rehnywatch writes, "Breaking: Rehny hospitalized for fever... just like Brad Pitt! (This is where the similarities end, however). [Note to Rehny: retiring in hospital gown is not recommend. grosssss.]"

Funnier Than Falwell

From 1115.org...

Adventures in the Wrong Tense How about now? "If you are at a senior level in Washington these days, you inevitably must deal with the media," said Terry Holt, a former spokesman for the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign, speaking of [Karl] Rove. "He has good relationships [with reporters], and he's good at it. He has great credibility with the people that he deals with."

American Errorist wonders if Karl and Rush were separated at birth...

Finally, Left Curve, who's tired of those friggin' magnets, has found the answer to annoying Republican bumper stickers...

Blogging News

Let's hear it for newbies!

The refreshing honesty of newbie bloggers, especially their willingness to question their own personal belief systems, makes blog reading a pure joy. For example, independent voter and newbie blogger Rhodian Attic always believed George W.'s promise to find the White House leaker and bring him/her to justice. Now, she has proclaimed, "I doubt I have ever been so ashamed to be an American."

Tag It Or Lose It

Ever wonder why keyword blog searches turn up many more wingnut than mainstream/liberal results? The answer is "tagging." Rightwing bloggers have begun tagging their posts en masse, while the rest of us ignore tags at our own peril. When you read those posts with "File this under politics, humor, religion, etc.," that means there's a whole lotta tagging going on.

Not that I believe we're all blogging gods, mind you, but our posts don't have to disappear into cyberlimbo, either. Technorati.com's tag codes are simple to use, and they even provide the cut & paste code for you to insert into your posts. If your blogging software doesn't support automatic tag pinging, you can tell Technorati to ping your blog manually. Pinging, by the way, assures that your post shows up in topic searches... which Republican bloggers would prefer, er, not happen. Ever. What better reason to start tagging?

It's becoming more and more obvious that our corporate-owned media is consulting blogs for story ideas and original news angles. As long as truth-seeking bloggers keep up the good work and make sure their posts are noticed by search engines, BushCo's media whores will have to "watch what they say." Karma. Bitchin', isn't she?

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