The SciFi Channel — what the hell is going on there?

This has got to be the stupidest damn non-conservative-commentator thing I have heard in at least fifteen hundred years, perhaps longer. I just read that the SciFi channel will soon cease to exist as we know it. Not in terms of programming, mind you — we’ll still get our nature-runs-amok-via-lame-ass-CGI movie of the week. No, instead, SciFi the network will disappear and in its place will be… SyFy, the network. Yes, SyFy. Brilliant. No doubt, it took a deep thinker to come up with that one.

SyFy. Uh-huh. DOUBLEYOUTEAEFF?

After Battlestar Galactica airs its series finale (this week), there is no reason to watch this channel. Unless you like professional wrestling. ‘Cause pro rasslin’ that’s some real sci-fi right there, buddy! (For those out of the know, SciFi/SyFy currently airs — on purpose — a professional wrestling program, in addition to a bunch of other weak crap that is not remotely related to science fiction. Or high quality.)

Philosopher Dog – the soundtrack

Here you go, David:

 

GASP – election promise fulfilled!

I wanted to post an article from www.fivethirtyeight.com. It’s well worth reading, as COngressional Republicans and conservative commentators scream about Obama’s budget that was released yesterday, in which the new administration did exactly what they said they were going to do during last year’s presidential campaign… namely, raise taxeds on households making $250,000 annually, and cut taxes on approximately 95% of taxpayers. The sort of philosophy which, by the way, enough Americans agreed with that they went and elected Obama president.

And if you don’t regularly read fivethirtyeight.com, check it out.  High quality.

—

BREAKING: Press Corps Incredulous That Obama Budget Reflects Campaign Promises

It felt like a primal whine from rich reporters. Hasn’t Barack Obama considered that maybe John McCain’s tax policy is the right one? Does Obama not realize that the best way to be a Democrat is preserve conservative Republican tax policy?

Why would Obama raise taxes on people making over $250,000 beginning in two years? If you tamper with trickle-down, the dramatic shift of income toward the wealthy that was the hallmark of George W. Bush’s tax policy, don’t you know it’ll be disaster? It’ll be “class warfare!” (The first questioner: Are you worried that the “class warfare” argument could sink the budget?)

In a remarkable scene, Gibbs patiently and repeatedly explained that, no really, Obama actually won the election, that he’d explained exactly what he was going to do during the campaign, the American people understood and voted on it, and now he’s doing it. During the campaign, Obama had pledged to cut taxes for 95% of American workers and end the catastrophic non-workingness of George Bush’s trickle-down tax policy. Now, among some questioners, there seems to be confusion and alarm that Obama intends to implement that policy.

I actually sort of remember this coming up during the campaign. Those making more than $250,000 will be asked to give a little back, give up the Bush income tax cuts and go back to the marginal tax rates during the Clinton years when the economy was strong and the rising tide lifted all boats.

There were many questions that seemed quizzical about Obama’s budget proposal following in line with his campaign rhetoric, but this exchange between Gibbs and CBS’ Chip Reid is illustrative:

Reid: On jobs, which is the big complaint up on Capitol Hill right now from Republicans, that this plan is a job-killer. I mean, the $787 billion plan was all about jobs, more than anything else. And now you have a plan in place that — how can you possibly tax people making people over $250,000 something like $667 billion over the next ten years and not have a downward effect on jobs?

Gibbs: Well, Chip, how did it work in 1994 and 1995 and 1996 and 1997?

(CONTINUED OVER AT FIVETHIRTYEIGHT…)

McCAIN’S BOCEPHUS CONUNDRUM

So, in answer to your question, yes, I have been in hiding.  I will not come out of hiding until after the election is over tomorrow night… except for this one quick thought.

Cory and I were discussing this today.  Hank Williams, Jr. is allegedly considering a run for the U.S. Senate , giving him a chance to represent the state of Tennessee in our nation’s capital.  Now, there is no question in my mind that Bocephus would win that race if he actually chose to run it.  In fact, I think that the people of Tennessee would vote overwhelmingly for Mr. Buck Naked himself, even if he did not campaign for even one single solitary second.  He wouldn’t need to shake a hand or run a commercial.  The moment he got his name on the ballot, the folks in Washington might as well start changing the sign on the office door, because if Hank Williams, Jr. is on the ballot in Tennessee, my friends, I can assure you: he is going to get elected.  Period.  If you think Barack Obama got out the vote, you have not considered the mighty political machine that would be the fans of Bocephus, pouring out from the mountains in the east to the Mississippi in the west for their chance to Vote Hank 2012.

But since there’s no real doubt about that, what I wanted you to think about is a little something else that Cory and I discussed tonight.  In all seriousness, do you realize that if Hank Williams, Jr. ran for president of the United States, he would likely win damn near the same number of states that John McCain is going to win tomorrow night?  I’m not kidding.  No, really — not kidding at all.   Think about it.  Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Idaho, Kentucky, West Virginia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Kansas, Montana, Alaska, the Dakotas.  Those states are going to vote Republican in a general presidential election, regardless of who’s running.  If John F Kennedy rose from the dead and declared himself a Republican, he would take Alabama.  Easily.   If by some twist of fate, Hank Williams, Jr. was ever the Republican candidate for president, he would carry the South and Plains, with ease and a straight face.  He would do it.  You know he would.  Is that fucking scary, or what?

TRUTH HURTS.

I found this on another website, but it is well worth sharing.  The Palin-McCain campaign continues to repeat lie after lie, no matter how many times their lies are disproved, and there’s no end in sght.  They have nothing to run on but lies, so why stop now, right?

Just keep repeating, Palin-McCain: I said thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere.  I sold that jet on ebay.  Troopergate is not real.  I do not accept earmarks.  I have no lobbysists working for my campaign.  I wish I’d never heard of the Keating Five.   You can see Russia from Alaska and that’s all you need.   I have the experience.  I can bring change.  The economy is fundamentally sound.  I never voted with George Bush over 90% of the time.  Life is beautiful.  Everything is great.  Thanks for asking.

And now, our guest, The Anonymous Liberal: 

The fact that McCain and Palin continue to tell these tall tales about Palin’s record in Alaska is aggravating–there’s no question–but it also presents the Obama campaign with a golden opportunity. The key to exploiting that opportunity, however, is not to get angry or to join in the lying game. Neither of those tactics ever work well for Democrats. The key to fighting back is to brand McCain and Palin as liars through the use of mockery. I realize that everyone and their brother is playing the role of armchair political consultant at the moment, but please indulge me for thirty seconds.

Here’s how I imagine Obama responding:

“You know, I was listening to Governor Palin today and she repeated–for what must be the 20th time–a claim that every news organization has already disproved. She said she “told Congress ‘thanks but no thanks’ to the Bridge to Nowhere.” Then I heard John McCain speak and he repeated that same false claim, along with several others that have been disproved: she didn’t ask for any earmarks, she sold the plane on Ebay, she fired the personal chef, and so on . . . . and while I was listening to all that, something occurred to me. I’ve been doing this all wrong! You see, I’ve been limiting what I say to things that are actually true. But campaigning is so much easier when can just make stuff up.

So today I wanted to share with you some things I never have before. For starters, did I ever mention that back in my Chicago days I played professional basketball for the Chicago Bulls? It’s true: when Jordan retired, they wanted me to take over at guard, but I said “thanks but no thanks; I’ve got a job to do in the state Senate.” Oh, and I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before either, but my running mate, Joe Biden, he once wrestled a live grizzly bear…and he won! He also once sold the entire state of Delaware on Ebay. I kid you not.

I don’t know about you, but I feel liberated. This whole “telling the truth” thing was really holding me back. Now I know how John McCain feels when he says that I’m going to raise your taxes, even though every independent organization who’s looked at it says that my plan gives you a bigger tax cut than his. Well, I say to you John McCain: two can play at that game.

Did you know that John McCain will raise every American’s taxes by 800,000%? I made that up just now, but it’s as true as anything he’s telling you, so there you go. Oh, and under his plan, if you fall behind on a house payment, Phil Gramm and a team of monkeys show up and take your house away. It’s true. I swear. How do you think he got all those other houses that he doesn’t even know he has?”

Okay, that’s enough. Hopefully you get the gist. The goal is to create a narrative, to brand McCain and Palin as borderline pathological liars. If done effectively, the press would absolutely eat this up and would play the soundbite over and over again. They are suckers for good humor and they already believe the basis of the narrative. This tactic would turn McCain and Palin’s lying into an ongoing joke, one that would pay dividends throughout the remainder of the campaign. If, for instance, either McCain or Palin were to repeat a lie during the debates, all Obama and Biden would have to do is say–in classic Reagan fashion–”there you go again” and everyone would instantly know what they meant. This tactic would work. I’m sure of it.