tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75538492024-03-23T14:24:58.929-04:00The Evil Petting ZooHome of the Rabbit that Bites People's Heads Off and Eddie Izzard's Evil Giraffe Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.comBlogger1842125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-80516439841818167132008-09-19T12:00:00.002-04:002008-09-19T12:10:35.183-04:00I'm Surprised She Doesn't Get Torn In Two<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FOOUVH7oWcw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FOOUVH7oWcw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Yeah, I know, I've been really shitty about updating. I just started a second job that requires I get up at 5:30 in the morning this week, I've got class all afternoon, and homework in the evenings. I'm adjusting, though, so I'll try and be better.<br /><br />So. Last we left the Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, she was taking hypocrisy in new and thrilling directions by <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2008/07/reality-has-jumped-shark.html">calling Obama an "elitist."</a> Now, she's officially hitched her wagons to McCain, and, in trying to articulate the reason for her shift in position, explains why she views Obama as someone who views himself as superior to the common folk -- and, in the process, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/17/new-mccainiac-rothschild_n_127312.html">drops the word "redneck"</a>.<br /><br />Just so we've got it all straight -- the wife of a British aristocrat calls Obama an "elitist" and then, when trying to explain <em>why</em> he's an elitist, insults the very people Obama supposedly insulted during the whole "bitter" clusterfuck. It's like a diamond of hypocrisy -- beautiful, multi-faceted, and deeply, deeply flawed.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-4911143009935457032008-09-12T08:57:00.002-04:002008-09-12T09:09:06.872-04:00So Much For "Never Forget"<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GvliUuXjbL4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GvliUuXjbL4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />So, yeah, I've been busy this week. I moved back into the dorms, and I've started my senior year. Between the classes, the adjusted schedule, and darting out of town so that I can get stuff that was left behind during the initial move-in, I haven't been able to post much.<br /><br />Which means I <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/10/seventh-anniversary-white-house/">wasn't able to post this steaming load when it was dropped</a>:<br /><br /><em>Q But Osama bin Laden is the one that — you keep talking about his lieutenants, and, yes, they are very important, but Osama bin Laden was the mastermind of 9/11 –<br /><br />PERINO: No, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the mastermind of 9/11, and he’s sitting in jail right now.</em><br /><br />Well, good that we know that <em>now</em>, isn't it?<br /><br />Seven years. Seven. Motherfucking. Years. That is the time the Bush administration, nay, the GOP as a whole, has been flying around the flag of 9/11 to enforce its agenda. Iraq? 9/11! Iran? 9/11! Patriot Act? 9/11! FISA? 9/11! But it can't cut both ways, can it? When it turns out that we could have done more to prevent 9/11, Bush ignores the 9/11 Commission Report. When we've gone seven years without capturing the man behind al-Qaeda, the administration just shifts the goalposts.<br /><br />And <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDx80bnFrVs">this isn't going to stop with Bush</a>, not by any stretch of the imagination. At the RNC, which is basically McCain's debutante ball, they air this goddamn monstrosity that hijacks 9/11 to rally the war flag against Iran by connecting the attacks to the hostage crisis. They will keep waving this flag with no sense of shame or humiliation. <br /><br />They have turned one of the worst tragedies in the history of our nation into a joke. Those disgusting bastards.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-13423763799280309812008-09-05T08:45:00.002-04:002008-09-05T08:51:58.306-04:00The Southern Strategy<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/r90z0PMnKwI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/r90z0PMnKwI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Well, after months of "elitist" bullshit and the latest tack towards insulting "<a href="http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=09&year=2008&base_name=community_organizers">community organizers</a>," I'm glad to see we have finally put aside all pretense of attacking Obama for "arrogance" and <a href="http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/westmoreland-calls-obama-uppity-2008-09-04.html">gotten straight to the racism</a>.<br /><br /><em>Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland used the racially-tinged term "uppity" to describe Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Thursday.<br /> <br />Westmoreland was discussing vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's speech with reporters outside the House chamber and was asked to compare her with Michelle Obama.<br /> <br />"Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity," Westmoreland said.<br /><br />Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.”</em><br /><br />That's right. Someone gave him an opportunity to back away from the racist buzzword, but he forged on. Doesn't it feel so much better, getting it out in the open?Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-68810034037827314022008-09-03T12:08:00.002-04:002008-09-03T12:44:31.425-04:00Baked Alaska<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZwvPNXYrIyI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZwvPNXYrIyI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Well. <em>That</em> blew up nicely, didn't it? <br /><br />Y'know, when Palin got nominated, I knew there would be doubts raised about her history. I knew there would be doubts raised about her record (anti-choice, anti-gay, pro-big oil, etc.). I just didn't know there would be a shitstorm on par with Hurricane Andrew tearing through a sewage treatment plant.<br /><br />I mean, where to begin? You've got Palin's pregnant teenage daughter, which serves as an unfortunate testament to the fact that McCain opposed federal money <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/02/mccain-fought-teen-pregna_n_123132.html">for teen pregnancy prevention programs</a>. You've got Palin's close ties to a political party that <a href="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/todd_palin_was_registered_memb.php">believes Alaska needs to secede from the US</a>. You've got her <a href="http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/08/29/did-palin-really-fight-the-bridge-to-nowhere.aspx">being for the Bridge to Nowhere</a> before she was... hell, was she ever <em>really</em> against it? <br /><br />But the best part of this is seeing the wheels slipping off of McCain's campaign. It's not like they've come all the way off, but all attempts to rationalize the Palin pick are proving to be comedy gold. Cindy McCain goes on <em>This Week</em> and argues that Palin has the extensive foreign policy experience of <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/31/cindy-palin-russia/">living closer to Alaska than anyone else</a> (hey, my uncle lives up in Maine, does that mean he gets to sit at the next policy meeting?). A McCain spokesperson goes on CNN to proclaim Palin's experience in handling the National Guard; not only does he get <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/02/mccain-cancel-cnn/">driven into the ground</a>, but McCain cancels his appearance on Larry King that night in retaliation for someone actually acting like a journalist. Meanwhile, McCain shows all signs of keeping his wagons hitched to Palin's, if the RNC speeches are any indication.<br /><br />This is going to be fun to watch, if only for seeing how far it can go forward before falling to pieces.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-39778588215164298292008-08-30T21:46:00.002-04:002008-08-30T21:59:32.093-04:00A Darker Shade Of Horse<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uoM6IM1w7Hg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uoM6IM1w7Hg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />So, unless you've been living under a rock, you'd know that McCain has picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate. First of all, I know my opinion isn't much, but I think McCain made the pick to avoid having to grab "the best of a bad hand," as it were. Look at the people who were being floated as his VP -- Fiorina had the HP scandal, Jindal admitted to <a href="http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/06/jindals_exorcism.html">taking part in an exorcism</a>, Lieberman can't stop rattling the saber, and Romney is... well, he's Mitt Fucking Romney. It's not unexpected that McCain would choose to go outside the pool and pick someone who's an unknown.<br /><br />But, that's the thing. Palin's an unknown. She's spent all of two years as governor of a state that has a smaller population than Austin, Texas. Her nomination basically throws out every sort of appeal of experience the McCain campaign can make. She doesn't really shore up any of the blank spots in the McCain platform... except for, of course, the age thing. So, where Obama's nomination of Biden carries the tone of someone who's trying to fill his gaps on foreign policy and labor, McCain's nomination of Palin carries the tone of, "In the event the first Miss America cannot fulfill her duties..." <br /><br />Still. Either way this race goes, someone's making history.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-31876709200737135192008-08-28T09:51:00.002-04:002008-08-28T09:58:43.369-04:00Your Lips Say Yes, But Your Eyes Say No<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zlcpSYjdLeQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zlcpSYjdLeQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />So, Hillary Clinton finally, <em>finally</em> gave her speech announcing her support for Barack Obama. She announced her unrivaled support for Obama. Hell, she's the one who led the effort to directly nominate Obama for candidacy. Whatever media narrative there was about Hillary's "bitterness" or "rivalry" has effectively been buried.<br /><br />Yeah. <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/27/earlyshow/main4387019.shtml?source=RSSattr=TheEarlyShow_4387019">Try telling the media that.</a><br /><br /><em>In her speech to the Democratic convention Tuesday night, Hillary Clinton urged fellow Democrats to vote for Barack Obama, and she did it in no uncertain terms -- verbally.<br /><br />But did her body language match her words?<br /><br />Body language expert and former FBI agent Joe Navarro says he doesn't think so.</em><br /><br />Yes, you know, we could actually, for once in our lives, just listen to what someone <em>says</em>, but instead, we're going to dig as far down as we can for something, <em>anything</em> that backs up our conclusions. Because we have all the integrity of a wet paper sack. <br /><br />God, sometimes the coverage just makes me want to punch something.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-77011239979689434822008-08-26T13:56:00.002-04:002008-08-26T21:40:46.567-04:00I Stopped Beating My Wife Three Weeks Ago, Thank You<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LMqoXnBJemY&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LMqoXnBJemY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/26/rove-michelle-patriotism/">Karl Rove</a> has the moral integrity of a steaming pile of cattle turds, and FOX News the dignity of a shit shoveler. <br /><br /><em>I don’t think she did too well on saying I love America. That wasn’t adequate enough because, look, people are gonna hear that, and then those that have paid attention to her earlier comments are gonna try and square those two off.</em><br /><br />That would be the man who loved his country he so much he helped out an undercover CIA agent to get revenge on her husband, who helped design a campaign ad that put a war veteran on the same level as Saddam Hussein, claiming that Michelle Obama, who poured her heart and soul out over her family and their dedication to the American dream, didn't do enough to fend off the comments that were blown out of proportion by Rove's own friends and allies. That would be the man who rode the coattails of an administration that fucked the economy, curbstomped civil liberties, and left an American city to drown, claiming that a candidate's wife hasn't done enough to prove that she's a proud American. <br /><br />This man has absolutely no fucking shame, does he?Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-65778855827816645792008-08-24T21:27:00.002-04:002008-08-24T21:32:02.867-04:00Biden Our TimeSo, I'm late once again on this matter, but Obama has declared that Joe Biden will be his running mate. Can't say I'm entirely thrilled -- Biden's had a tendency to trip over his words (especially in <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/31/biden.obama/">relation to Obama</a>) and he really soft-balled the Alito nomination -- but he does have credentials that fill out the gaps in Obama's resume, and he'll bring some fire to the campaign. <br /><br />Yeah, no funny video tonight. Just want to let my meager observation stand alone.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-74123386120802407682008-08-21T21:27:00.003-04:002008-08-21T21:32:51.511-04:00They Should Just Get A Machine To Do It<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KEdZrV0j6zM&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KEdZrV0j6zM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Okay, folks, <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/08/21/mccain_spokesmans_retort_obama.html">let's play Campaign Mad Libs</a>. Here's what I need: an illogical attempt to turn the accusation around at the other candidate -- <br /><br /><em>"We're delighted to have a real estate debate with Barack Obama," said spokesman Brian Rogers, adding that the press should focus on Obama's house. "It's a frickin' mansion. He doesn't tell people that. You have a mansion you bought in a shady deal with a convicted felon."</em><br /><br />-- a defense of McCain's actions that involves the fact that he was a POW, no matter how little that has to do with the subject at hand --<br /><br /><em>He also added: "This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison," referring to the prisoner of war camp that McCain was in during the Vietnam War.</em><br /><br />-- and an attempt to paint Barack Obama as "elitist."<br /><br /><em>"In terms of who's an elitist, I think people have made a judgment that John McCain is not an arugula-eating, pointy headed professor-type based on his life story."</em><br /><br />Huh. That worked out better than I thought.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-57163736603420422352008-08-19T07:46:00.007-04:002008-08-19T10:31:40.438-04:00The Inveterate Veteran<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wjPSyA17h6A&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wjPSyA17h6A&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />We can all agree that John McCain served his country in Vietnam, and went through a great deal of torment in the POW camp. However, by now I think we can also agree that he's a man who's been known to shift positions at the drop of a hat, and who isn't exactly open with the truth.<br /><br />The problem comes when his various campaign tentacles <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/us/politics/18mccain.html?_r=2">use the first fact as a bulwark against the second</a>.<br /><br /><em>Nicolle Wallace, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain, said on Sunday night that Mr. McCain had not heard the broadcast of the event while in his motorcade and heard none of the questions.<br /><br />“The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous,” Ms. Wallace said.</em><br /><br />Yes, apparently time spent in a POW camp completely removes one's ability to lie. It also gives you lactose intolerance and the ability to smell fear. But Ms. Wallace isn't the only one <a href="http://www.johnmccain.com/McCainReport/Read.aspx?guid=181471d0-5456-4434-9f78-2f30ffc39459">offering up logically unsound defenses of McCain</a>:<br /><br /><em>It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman's memory of war from the comfort of mom's basement, but most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others.</em><br /><br />Now, I'll fully cop to being one of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd. However, my mom's basement is probably the filthiest room in the house, which is why I prefer a second-floor bedroom during the summer, a dorm room when I'm at school, and hopefully a not-that-bad studio apartment when I reach LA. <br /><br />But, it's funny that a representative of the Republican party is talking about how most Americans should have "the humility and gratitude" to recognize a veteran's accomplishments. Like Max Cleland, who lost three limbs in Vietnam -- oh, wait, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/2002-11-06-chambliss_x.htm">he was compared to Saddam Hussein and Bin Laden</a>. Or John Kerry -- but, yeah, not only were there the Swift Boaters, but <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/30/gop.purple.hearts/">the mocking of the entire concept of the Purple Heart</a>. Or maybe John Murtha -- oh, right, <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2005/11/yeah-i-wasnt-in-shit.html">Jean Schmidt called him a coward</a>. I'd actually buy that McCain represents a change from these tactics if he wasn't <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/30/mccain-uses-swift-boat-ve_n_110003.html">cozying up to Swift Boaters</a>. <br /><br />No one deserves to be attacked for their service. But they absolutely deserve to be attacked for using their service as a means to deflect all other criticism about them.<br /><br />UPDATE: As Anonymous says in comments, I got Murtha's name wrong. A long time ago, too. Goddamnit, I can be a real idiot some times.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-7595783770930722562008-06-09T13:25:00.003-04:002008-08-19T08:40:44.732-04:00"Sorry, Wendy, I Just Don't Trust Anything That Bleeds For Five Days And Doesn't Die."<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/690k85FQNXs&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/690k85FQNXs&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />As a male, I will never experience a menstrual cycle unless I take some really, really weird drugs. Then again, neither will most advertising executives. As a result, I've often heard women bitch out some of the <em>really</em> stupid advertisements for pads, tampons, and pain relievers, with slogans like, "Have a happy period." <br /><br />And, while it does me (and other feminists) good to see Midol treating a period like, well, a pain... <a href="http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/its_a_mans_mans_midol_world/">isn't the slogan, "Reverse The Curse" a bit too much</a>? I'm not just saying this as a Red Sox fan, but as someone who realizes just how far back the perception of menstruation as "unholy" goes. There are actually passages in Leviticus about how a woman has to be put in a tent out back when she's having her period. <br /><br />Yeah, it's not that big a deal in the long run. But still, you'd think that, after decades of marketing this stuff to woman, all the advertisers involved could reach a nice middle ground between "nothing at all" and "womb-rending horror from the Abyss."Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-72775724045235943992008-07-14T15:00:00.003-04:002008-08-19T08:29:26.914-04:00Four More Years<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/40K2S0-5Xo0&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/40K2S0-5Xo0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Four years. It's been about four years since I started this blog. That's the time between presidential elections, Summer Olympics, and leap years... all of which we will have, or had, this year. Funny how that works.<br /><br />When I started this blog, I just wanted to have a place to comment on weird news articles, bitch about politics, and share events from my daily life like most of the other bloggers and LJers I read. After a while, I guess the blog started to veer towards politics and pop culture, and lately it's been mostly politics, with the occasional bit of pop culture.<br /><br />Of course, it's not like I've been at the top of the game all this time. When I started the blog, I took the position of the "ostrich centrist," the kind of person who thinks, "Oh, <em>both</em> sides have good points, why can't we find a balance?" After a while, of course, I came to realize that playing centrist isn't the most logical position in the world when the majority of one party's insistent on tearing up the Constitution and the leadership of the other party seems to keep saying, "Thank you, sir, may I have another?" I've made incredibly specious arguments on this blog, some in the past year. I've acted like a self-entitled fanboy when it comes to pop culture, passing premature judgment on events or shows that took a slight downturn or did something that seemed disagreeable at the time (though I <em>still</em> hold true to everything I said about <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2007/03/dont-make-mine-marvel.html">the death of Captain America</a>). <br /><br />But over all, I just want to look back at everything that's happened. When I started this blog, I was fearful about what the next school year, my last year at high school, would bring. And I guess the phenomenon's repeating; next year, I graduate at Emerson, and fling myself into the weird, wild world of screenwriting. And this blog will still be here, of course. To record all my fears, my outrages, and my hopes.<br /><br />It's been a good ride so far. Here's hoping it keeps going.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-61708403721455495772008-08-14T10:23:00.002-04:002008-08-14T10:37:58.340-04:00Because Those Damn Polar Bears Will Vote For Obama<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XE5pGeCUM-Y&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XE5pGeCUM-Y&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/08/11/bush.endangered.species.ap/">More ecological wisdom from the world's biggest, proudest polluter.</a><br /><br /><em>Parts of the Endangered Species Act may soon be extinct.<br /><br />The Bush administration wants federal agencies to decide for themselves whether highways, dams, mines and other construction projects might harm endangered animals and plants.<br /><br />New regulations, which don't require the approval of Congress, would reduce the mandatory, independent reviews government scientists have been performing for 35 years, according to a draft first obtained by The Associated Press.</em><br /><br />Yeah, when have those independent, uninfluenced scientific bodies ever been right? Well, except for climate change... <br /><br /><em> Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said late Monday the changes were needed to ensure that the Endangered Species Act would not be used as a "back door" to regulate the gases blamed for global warming. In May, the polar bear became the first species declared as threatened because of climate change. Warming temperatures are expected to melt the sea ice the bear depends on for survival.<br /><br />The draft rules would bar federal agencies from assessing the emissions from projects that contribute to global warming and its effect on species and habitats.</em><br /><br />Oh, it's simple, then. To completely disregard the fact that independent scientific bodies might know better than government officials, you have to disregard the fact that they were right about global warming, which the Bush administration is all too happy to do. <br /><br /><em> The Interior Department said such consultations are no longer necessary because federal agencies have developed expertise to review their own construction and development projects, according to the 30-page draft obtained by the AP.<br /><br />"We believe federal action agencies will err on the side of caution in making these determinations," the proposal said.</em><br /><br />I'm sorry, would that be the same "side of caution" that the EPA erred on when <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/04/02/epa-anniversary/">they delayed on regulating carbon emissions for so long that the Supreme Court had to bitchslap them into doing it</a>? <br /><br />It's not enough that Bush was happy to fuck up our justice system. Now he's gotta fuck up the ecosystem before he leaves office, too. Great.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-28565003314668299882008-08-13T09:48:00.004-04:002008-08-13T13:24:55.600-04:00America Is The New Balkans<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1QS7wWzwak4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1QS7wWzwak4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/furriners-by-digby-on-sunday-cokie.html">Digby has it right</a>; Cokie Roberts's <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2008/08/obama-must-sup-from-font-of-tgi-fridays.html">Hawaiian nonsense</a> is just endemic of a larger, more disturbing thread in American discourse. It seems that these days, you can just write off an entire person or political vein of thought because of where it comes from. Nancy Pelosi endorses "a San Francisco mentality" that is just completely alien. The idea that gay folks should serve in the military is one of the insane gibberings of the "<a href="http://www.bilerico.com/2008/07/cloaked_in_bigotry_and_all_wrapped_up_in.php">San Francisco left</a>." John Kerry's out of touch with this country partially because <a href="http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/2228.html">he's from Boston</a>. If you're not from anywhere that grows corn or tobacco, you've apparently got three eyes and weird ideas about universal health care.<br /><br />Now, <a href="http://www.fuckthesouth.com/">it's not like I'm going to pretend this is totally alien to liberals as well</a>. But it's usually limited to disgruntled bloggers and other Internet voices. It's not like Chuck Schumer is going on TV and saying, "Fuck Florida, they voted for Bush." It's not like Nancy Pelosi is going to refer to offshore drilling as "some Oklahoma City brain fart." But apparently, it's just fine to dismiss a politician or a set of ideals because they come from a more liberal city. Remember the days when we argued things based on facts and not invective?Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-21375102737903822282008-08-12T09:49:00.002-04:002008-08-12T10:01:53.143-04:00An Affair To Dismember<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/t4pWbwWOhGg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/t4pWbwWOhGg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />So, I've said nothing about the revelation that John Edwards had an affair. Well, where the hell do I start? First of all, I'm immensely disappointed. First of all, from a moral standpoint, I find it disgusting. At least <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/08/edwards-affair-elizabeth_n_117864.html">Elizabeth know about the affair</a>, but still, cheating on your wife when she's dealing with cancer? I don't care how fucked up your home life is, some things should not be done.<br /><br />Second of all, from a political standpoint, this was incredibly fucking stupid. Not the affair; that was stupid on its own merits. Edwards went into the primary knowing this affair was a buried secret -- did he really think it wouldn't be dug up at some point? Did he really think that, if he became the candidate, it would just lie quietly? It's a good thing he dropped out.<br /><br />But, despite all this, Edwards is a great advocate for the poor, and I'd hate to see his career destroyed over the same bullshit that Newt Gingrich was able to get away with on multiple occasions.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-28242631503635196452008-08-11T08:14:00.003-04:002008-08-11T08:24:06.368-04:00Obama Must Sup From The Font of TGI Fridays, 24/7<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ATkeoBqSeGE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ATkeoBqSeGE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />You know, I honestly believe that the punditry will not be happy with Barack Obama until he sets most of his money on fire, dresses up in a work shirt and oil-stained blue jeans on all campaign appearances, and takes all his meals at <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2008/06/hes-nothing-like-peasants-in-my-own.html">the salad bar at Applebee's</a>. Then they get to call him a poseur, a radical populist, and maybe even a Communist.<br /><br />Take, for instance, <a href="http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/08/10/cokie-roberts-attacks-obama-for-going-to-hawaii-instead-of-myrtle-beach/">this statement from Cokie Roberts</a>, which is so dense I'm surprised it doesn't spontaneously collapse and form a white hole.<br /><br /><em>Roberts: …going off this week I know his grandmother lives in Hawaii and I know Hawaii is a state, but it has the look of him going off to some sort of foreign, exotic place. He should be at Myrtle Beach and if he’s going to take a vacation at this time. I just think this is not the time to do that.</em><br /><br />"Yes, we <em>know</em> he's visiting a beloved relative, and we <em>know</em> he's not going out of the country, but the idiots in the Midwest -- er, I mean, 'the potential voters' might get Hawaii confused with Fiji! I mean, I have <em>no idea</em> why they'd get that impression..."<br /><br />Yeah, forget the work shirt and blue jeans. I don't think the media bots will drop the elitist bullshit until Obama's wearing a potato sack.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-18087543017276471232008-08-07T20:25:00.003-04:002008-08-07T21:00:12.492-04:00There Ain't No VA For The Culture Wars<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NSggUslXpoo&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NSggUslXpoo&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />You know, the more I think about this <em>An American Carol</em> debacle, the less upset I get about it. <a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/385rlkfy.asp?pg=1">This <em>Weekly Standard</em> article definitely helps</a>, which is funny, because you'd think conservatives championing this film as the great strike against liberal Hollywood would give me more to worry about, but this gives me less to worry about. Sure, I could get upset about the fact that the film has the "good humor" to feature Dennis Hopper as a judge who opens fire on ACLU lawyers who try to take down the Ten Commandments (because after all, we know that eliminationist humor is harmless fun, and has <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2008/07/ive-had-it-with-your-bullshit.html">absolutely no negative repercussions</a>). I could dispute the allegation that everyone in the article treats revealing you're a conservative in Hollywood like revealing you're a Jew during the Inquisition (after all, I hear <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milius">John Milius</a> goes lot to lot clad in sackcloth and ashes, begging disgusted PAs for the chance to deliver a log line). But really, by the time Zucker says he's not going to be original because original doesn't profit him anything, I just can't be arsed to devote more attention to this movie than the few stray thoughts necessary to mock it. At worst, it will be a transitory fascination that makes cultural critics despair for the taste buds of America, like the <em>Scary Movie</em> franchise and its many tentacles, but the most likely result is that its "talking points disguised as jokes" sense of humor ensures it plummets butt-first into the same open grave as <a href="http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2007/02/lunch-discussions-781-and-aliens.html"><em>The Half-Hour News Hour</em></a>. So, really, not a lot to bitch about.<br /><br />Well, okay. One thing to bitch about:<br /><br /><em>[Zucker] adds: "I don't have any desire to be taken seriously. Really, I really don't. But having said that, I really believe this stuff. Why can't I put it out there? And I'm scared to death of Obama. If I didn't do something about it I would feel--My kids would ask: 'What did you do in the war Daddy?'"<br /><br />"I donated my career to stop this s--."</em><br /><br />"What did you do in the war, Daddy?" "Well, I never actually fought in the war -- any war, for that matter -- but I did make a shallow parody movie where George Patton kicks the shit out of a Michael Moore stand-in in the name of patriotism. And then I played the martyr about it when I know I'm in an industry where someone can <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Salva">get convicted of fucking young boys</a> and still have a steady directing career. Yes, son, I put my very soul on the line so that you, too, would have the chance to make jokes about how Rosie O'Donnell is a crazy dyke."<br /><br />You know, if there's one thing I really, <em>honestly</em> cannot stand from people who claim that we are in the great clash of civilizations and must fight at all turns with all available methods to protect our great nation from the terrorist threat, it's when they make a complete mockery of the idea of armed service by comparing it to whatever great endeavors they are undertaking to protect the motherland. From <a href="http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/03/29/hugh-hewitt-the-cowardly-lion/">Hugh Hewitt</a> claiming he's in just as much danger in the Empire State Building as on the front lines to <a href="http://www.santorumexposed.com/serendipity/archives/123-Ask-Not-What-Santorum-Can-Do-For-You.html">Rick Santorum</a> comparing national service to buying one of his campaign bumper stickers, it seems a good number of people who claim to know just how important war is are quick to claim that they risk just as much as the men in uniform. Sure, it's unlikely any of them will encounter an IED on 42nd Street or Sepulveda Boulevard, but it's the thought that counts, right?<br /><br />This is how David Zucker serves his country; by attacking the terrorists with the same comedic genius that spawned <em>Scary Movie 3</em>.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-33250431070268313462008-08-05T21:06:00.002-04:002008-08-05T21:20:07.827-04:00Fuck My Wife, Please<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FYRnyiWYFTc&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FYRnyiWYFTc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/08/04/mccain_gets_bikers_motors_runn.html">That John McCain; he's a man of pure class who's always on top of everything.</a><br /><br /><em>In introducing his wife, McCain noted the ongoing beauty pageant at the event and said that he had "encouraged Cindy to compete. I told her, with a little luck, she could be the only person ever to serve as first lady and Miss Buffalo Chip."</em><br /><br />For those of you who don't know much about the Sturgis Biker Rally, that would be <em>this</em> Miss Buffalo Chip:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rfF7YR6wFMQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rfF7YR6wFMQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />"Go on, honey, suck that banana! If it goes viral, we can count on up to three whole polling points!"<br /><br />Sometimes, you have to wonder if McCain just follows his campaign trail like someone who came into the movie halfway through and doesn't know what the hell's going on.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-69702889727540477362008-08-04T21:52:00.002-04:002008-08-04T22:06:20.931-04:00Do As I Say, Not As I Do<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/x7HwwA2x3Qs&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/x7HwwA2x3Qs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Let us go back to the strange and scary year known as 2005. Hurricane Katrina had yet to brew, Britney Spears had yet to shave her head, and the Democrats were actually showing a spine and threatening to filibuster some of Bush's more whacked-out judicial nominees. At the time, the Republicans in Congress threw a major shit fit, threatening to deploy the "nuclear option" and crying up and down the aisle that the Democrats were being "obstructionist." Obviously, the Republicans did not like anything that gummed up the governmental process.<br /><br />Well, now that the Democrats are actually in power, anyone who's been paying attention would realize that the Republicans only consider it obstructionist when <em>they're</em> not the ones doing it. Case in point: Roy Blunt has suggested that his party will <a href="http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/08/04/roy-blunt-throws-down-the-gauntlet-says-democrats-must-allow-off-shore-drilling-or-repubs-will-shut-down-congress/#more-31546">shut down Congress</a> if the Democrats don't sign off on offshore drilling. You know, if the Democrats had a press machine worth a damn, they could spin this to feed off of the animosity that most people feel towards a do-nothing Congress. But if history has proven anything, it's that Congressional Democrats have a hard time successfully rallying for anything less than <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2007/08/blog-post.html">vacation time</a>.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-54693623035046580112008-08-01T21:04:00.002-04:002008-08-01T21:27:13.689-04:00Michael Moore Is Fat: The Musical<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VlRuC-eVmu4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VlRuC-eVmu4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><em>I trust the guy behind this movie to produce a nuanced, subtle look at American politics, don't you?</em><br /><br />That does it. The next time somebody busts out the "liberal Hollywood" canard around me, <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11959.html">I am going to punch them in the goddamned throat</a>. <br /><br /><em>As with many of Zucker’s earlier films, his latest japefest is loaded with sight gags and a litany of one-liners, but there are few sacred cows. Along with many Muslim terrorists named Mohammed, even severely handicapped children are subject to the film’s screwball comedy. Jimmy Carter shows up for a brief razzing, but far more relevant Dems, including Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, seem conspicuous in their absence.<br /><br />Instead, Zucker (with co-writer Myrna Sokoloff) mocks the usual conservative targets: ACLU attorneys, liberal colleges and anti-war protesters. The movie saves its most severe scorn for the main character, a slovenly documentary filmmaker based on Oscar winner Michael Moore. The attack is literally scorched-earth style: In a climactic scene, Moore’s stand-in (here named “Michael Malone”) finds political clarity at the smoking ruins of the World Trade Center while the admonishing ghost of George Washington (played by Voight) hovers nearby.<br /><br />Anarchist humor and conservative politics make for strange bedfellows. Another “Carol” scene takes place inside a portable toilet stall, where Malone is repeatedly slapped around by real-life Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, accompanied by the spirits of former President John F. Kennedy and World War II icon Gen. George Patton.<br /><br />Using Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” as a loose framework, Scrooge’s holiday humbuggery is replaced with Malone’s anti-American bias. Not only does the character attempt a boycott of the Fourth of July, but he also lends unwitting aid to jihadists plotting to blow up Madison Square Garden. Through the imagined interventions of Patton, the dead presidents and country singer Trace Adkins, Moore’s surrogate travels through history, eventually coming around to embrace patriotic values.</em><br /><br />Yes, folks, one of the producers behind <em>Airplane!</em> has made a movie where Michael <strike>Moore</strike> Malone, well-known traitor to America and hater of all its values who has shown his burning hatred for our country by pointing out the areas where it could use work and our values have been short-sighted, gets the shit beat out of him by conservative figures and is reminded that 9/11 changed everything. Oh, and apparently all Muslims are the same person, and cripples are a laugh-a-minute. But David Zucker, who achieved political clarity around 9/11 (hello, <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2008/07/first-they-came-for-homophobes-and-i.html">Brain Eater</a>!), swears it's all about the American spirit:<br /><br /><em>But Zucker has been mulling a big-screen mauling of Moore for years. He alluded obliquely to his movie project in a 2006 interview with conservative radio host Michael Medved and told the Los Angeles Jewish Journal around the same time, “You have people like Michael Moore going into foreign countries saying Americans are the stupidest people in the world. I want to tell the real America story, that America is a force for good.”</em><br /><br />Okay, here's all I can say to that: fuck you, Zucker. No wait, I can say more, though I can't believe that I have to say it: Just because someone says that America is flawed does not mean that they want to take a shit on the Constitution and burn the White House to the ground. Just because someone says that our fine nation needs work and the people in power have fucked it over does not mean that they think we should dig up George Washington's corpse, burn it, and scatter the ashes to the four winds. Just because someone questions the established order does not mean they are guilty of high treason. <br /><br />And seriously, if America's such a fucking force for good, then why do we keep putting out the <em>Scary Movie</em> franchise?Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-18035630168503502242008-07-31T13:18:00.004-04:002008-07-31T13:42:02.022-04:00First They Came For The Homophobes, And I Said Nothing...<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/87yq372R4Ts&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/87yq372R4Ts&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />There is a phenomenon, noted among the fantasy/science fiction fandom, known as "the Brain Eater." The specifics of the Brain Eater are vague, but many take it to mean when a writer, fueled by success and already bearing at least a few political beliefs that veer off from the center, spirals into full-blown political insanity and starts working these opinions into their writings. This is where you get things like Dave Sim, author of the successful independent comic <em>Cerebus</em>, talking about how <a href="http://www.theabsolute.net/misogyny/sim.html">women are intellectual voids that drain warmth and creativity from men</a>, or the alleged quote from Anne McCaffrey, author of the <em>Dragonriders of Pern</em> series, where she explained how male dragonriders "turning gay" was based on the fact that anyone could be turned gay by <a href="http://www.gayauthors.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=9828&pid=69804&mode=threaded&start=">a tent peg up the ass</a>. <br /><br />Orson Scott Card has <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2006/11/yknow-i-never-really-got-into-enders.html">obviously</a> already been visited by some sort of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illithid">illithid</a> (why, yes, I <em>am</em> an absolute geek, how did you guess?), which supped mightily of his brain meats. But <a href="http://mormontimes.com/ME_blogs.php?id=1586">if his recent article</a> says anything, it's that the Brain Eater came back for seconds. <br /><br />Okay, so, it starts out like any other article by him on the topic of homosexuality: gay marriage infringes on straight marriage, legitimizes an illegitimate relationship, those homos are all the victims of sexual abuse who've been perverted in mindset and want to self-perpetuate, blah blah bullshit. Nothing new, I suppose...<br /><br /><em>Why should married people feel the slightest loyalty to a government or society that are conspiring to encourage reproductive and/or marital dysfunction in their children?<br /><br />Why should married people tolerate the interference of such a government or society in their family life?<br /><br />If America becomes a place where our children are taken from us by law and forced to attend schools where they are taught that cohabitation is as good as marriage, that motherhood doesn't require a husband or father, and that homosexuality is as valid a choice as heterosexuality for their future lives, then why in the world should married people continue to accept the authority of such a government?<br /><br />What these dictator-judges do not seem to understand is that their authority extends only as far as people choose to obey them.<br /><br />How long before married people answer the dictators thus: Regardless of law, marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down, so it can be replaced with a government that will respect and support marriage, and help me raise my children in a society where they will expect to marry in their turn.<br /><br />Biological imperatives trump laws. American government cannot fight against marriage and hope to endure. If the Constitution is defined in such a way as to destroy the privileged position of marriage, it is that insane Constitution, not marriage, that will die.</em><br /><br />Yes, you just read a sci-fi author proposing the overthrow of the American government for, of all things, <em>allowing gays to marry</em>. Not torture, not the War in Iraq, not the abuse of civil liberties -- no, Orson has gladly lined up all of these things, as long as they protect us from the dreaded Mohammedans. Nope, righteous rebellion should be triggered because those "dictator-judges" are invalidating marriage by letting the queers get in on it. <br /><br /><a href="http://drownedinink.livejournal.com/924479.html#cutid1">Chad</a>, who makes a perverse hobby of following Card's various brain droppings and dissecting them, of course delivers a point-by-point refutation of the many, many instances of bullshit throughout the article. So, really, there's nothing left for me to do here but point and laugh. Which I shall do, with much vigor.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-72370721720153016122008-07-28T20:29:00.002-04:002008-07-28T21:00:09.820-04:00I've Had It With Your Bullshit<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RGqA1lNXYhg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RGqA1lNXYhg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />So, in case you've missed it by now, a man down in Knoxville, TN, went into a Unitarian Universalist church and <a href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/28/church-shooting-police-find-manifesto-suspects-car/">opened fire</a>, killing two and wounding several. He did this while the church was putting on a children's production of <em>Annie</em>. When the police searched his car, they found a manifesto blaming his recent ills on liberals, and claiming that since he could not attack liberal leaders, he would attack those who voted for them. A search of his home found books by Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Michael Savage. <br /><br />I've got a message, for all those glorious pundits on the right, from Ann Coulter to Glenn Beck to Bill O'Reilly to Michael Reagan to Michael Savage to Michelle Malkin. Here's the message:<br /><br /><em>Choke on it</em>.<br /><br />These are the fruits of your labors. You pretend to jape and joke, and all the while, men like Jim David Adkisson take your words as gospel. You proclaim that <a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200512090014">Howard Dean should be hung for treason</a>, and they listen. You "joke" about <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2005/05/by-to-death-i-dont-mean-fatally-of.html">your desire to choke Michael Moore to death</a>, and they listen. You fantasize about the ways <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2007/01/i-smell-mouse.html">you want to kill liberals</a>, and they listen. You <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2006/07/youre-damn-right-im-angry.html">encourage your readers</a> <a href="http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/10/09/graeme-foster-what-would-you-do-if-this-was-snooping-around-your-house/">to stalk children</a>, and they listen. You open people up for death threats, <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2006/04/death-threats-oh-you-pussies.html">only to mock them when they fear for their safety</a>, and they listen. You talked about <a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200511100008">San Francisco getting righteously destroyed</a>, and they listened. You <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2007/06/what-way-to-start-day.html">"joke" about assassinating</a> <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2006/01/ha-ha-hardly.html">standing politicians</a>, and they listen. And after a while, they start to think it sounds like a good idea.<br /><br />Don't tell me you didn't know this was coming. <a href="http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2006/11/other-kind-of-terror.html">You've known this was coming for a long while</a>. Hell, when it happened, and when one of your fanboys started thinking it was time to scare the shit out of those measly liberals, you <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2006/07/isnt-it-funny-i-want-you-dead.html">cracked wise about it</a>.<br /><br />Well, ha ha. What a funny joke it was. But the joke's over. Now's the time when you show that you've still got something, tarnished and rotten as it may be, resembling a soul. Now's the time that you realize that people listen to what you have to say, and what that leads to may not be good. Now's the time when you realize that us liberals aren't just fucking targets, but your fellow Americans with lives, loves, and dreams. We are not waste. We are not traitors. We are American citizens, just like you. <br /><br />And if you continue on this path, then that's good. That means I get to treat you as the piece of waste that you obviously consider me to be. Makes it easier for both of us.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-61391903813697734192008-07-24T13:12:00.002-04:002008-07-24T13:24:51.757-04:00Amazing What A Donut Gets You These Days<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fMtdvBHq2_A&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fMtdvBHq2_A&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />As I may have noted in the past, I <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2007/09/we-are-professionals-who-sound-like.html">am not</a> <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2006/10/sure-and-they-have-regular-softball.html">a big fan</a> <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2006/10/see-bs.html">of CBS News</a> under the aegis of Katie Couric. Her time on the program has been characterized by a general lack of questions -- barring the occasional expose, she and many of the reporters under her will not look critically at whatever info is handed to them by a politician, pundit, or lobbyist, and instead pass it off as truth. <br /><br />But honestly, <a href="http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/23/cbs-violates-its-own-standards-and-practice-by-altering-online-transcript-of-mccain-interview/">I never thought it would go this low</a>:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zYaXr03vtNE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zYaXr03vtNE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />So, McCain absolutely blew a question on the surge and the Sunni Awakening (the general he mentions <a href="http://attackerman.firedoglake.com/2008/07/22/macfarlandknowsbetterthanmccain/">discussed the start of the Awakening</a> <em>months</em> before the surge had even been announced). But it's not enough to just let the blunder go unquestioned; no, CBS cut the interview so that McCain appears to answer the question with a pat response about how Obama would be willing to lose a war to win a campaign (which, while low, does not make McCain look like someone who knows shit about Iraq). This, in turn, <a href="http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/23/cbs-spokesman-distorts-standard-of-editing-on-couric-mccain-interview-heres-the-proof/">violates the Standards and Practices</a> of CBS News by making it appear like McCain answered Question A with Answer B. <br /><br />It's bad enough that we have a media that's lying down on the job. Does CBS News really have to go all Ministry of Truth on top of it?Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-78145061202982577722008-07-23T13:00:00.004-04:002008-07-23T13:13:03.718-04:00Next We Ask Wolves Why Sheep Don't Want To Be Eaten<embed src="http://www.metacafe.com/fplayer/291638/clayton_bigsby.swf" width="400" height="345" wmode="transparent" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"> </embed><br><font size = 1><a href="http://www.metacafe.com/watch/291638/clayton_bigsby/">Clayton Bigsby</a> - <a href="http://www.metacafe.com/">The funniest videos clips are here</a></font><br /><br />There's an unfortunate tendency in the media to listen to any voice that has enough money and influence behind it on a controversial issue, no matter how ill-suited to talk about the issue or, well, just plain batshit insane the voice in question might be. Some good examples in the past include <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2007/02/blogoversy.html">taking William "Anal Sex!" Donohue seriously when he alleges "anti-Catholic bigotry"</a> and <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2006/12/american-sideshow.html">asking David Duke</a> what he thinks about Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial conference. <br /><br />CNN's airing a special called <em>Black In America</em>, which, one might think, would indicate that they've learned a lesson from the Imus scandal, the various monkey T-shirts, the coverage of Katrina, and so forth -- namely, that racism exists in America, and one should be careful in making sure it doesn't get adopted as mainstream dogma.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/22/obama.hurt.blacks/">Yeah, right</a>:<br /><br /><em> Steve Sailer, a columnist for The American Conservative magazine, wrote last year that some whites who support Obama aren't driven primarily by a desire for change.<br /><br />They want something else Obama offers them: "White Guilt Repellent," he wrote.<br /><br />"So many whites want to be able to say, 'I'm not one of them, those bad whites. ... Hey, I voted for a black guy for president,' " Sailer wrote.<br /><br />Sailer cited another reason why many whites want Obama as president:<br /><br />"They hope that when a black finally moves into the White House, it will prove to African-Americans, once and for all, that white animus isn't the cause of their troubles. All blacks have to do is to act like President Obama - and their problems will be over."</em><br /><br />In case you're curious, that would be the same Steve Sailer who writes for <a href="http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/blackazoids_greatest_enemy/">VDARE</a>, an organization that argues for closing the borders to keep America "pure." He's also put forth the particular argument that blacks just don't have the same capacity for judgment as whites. That's right; CNN just let a white supremacist tell them why whites are primarily motivated to vote for Obama so that they won't be seen as racist. <br /><br />But he has money behind him and writes for a nice respectable organization, so that means he get a voice. They're just not going to pay attention to what it's saying.Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553849.post-33778011338195358142008-07-23T11:59:00.002-04:002008-07-23T12:14:48.808-04:00My Friends In Big Tobacco Tell Me Cigarettes Cure Polio<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/z7n37GME3fw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/z7n37GME3fw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />So John McCain has decided to follow in the steps of Bush once again and endorse the plan for off-shore drilling. And on whose <a href="http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/22/mccain-oil-executives-tell-me-my-energy-plan-is-awesome/">credible testimony</a> is he basing this policy?<br /><br /><em>“My friends, we have to drill off shore. We have to do it. It’s out there and we can do it. And we can do that. The oil executives say within a couple of years we could be seeing results from it. So why not do it?”</em><br /><br />Yes, those would be the same oil executives who <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/28/climatechange.fossilfuels">funneled cash into global warming denial groups until it became unprofitable</a> and <a href="http://cognitopress.blogspot.com/2006/04/vodka-pissing-fat-cats.html">gave each other $400 million retirement packages while the country paid $5/gallon after Katrina</a>. And they're only throwing their support behind a program that would, at the very least, provide them with a new source of government welfare even if it doesn't yield sufficient amounts of oil. I know, I'm amazed, too. <br /><br />But then again, we all know that it's <a href="http://www.365gay.com/news/mccain-ad-blames-obama-for-rising-gas-prices/">Obama</a> who's to blame for high oil prices. Classy, John. Why not blame him for Crocs while we're at it?Justin Cognitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620988778536025195noreply@blogger.com0