I haven’t got a chance to read it yet, but I just picked up Who Hates Whom. Looks great. Yay for blogger books. On that random note, here’s your bullshit:

* So, last week there was a march in Washington. Peace is neato. Anyway, the take away from that is that peace groups support murder. Obviously it couldn’t be that conservatives don’t understand that pictures can be manipulated. But remember, the conservatives were there, so they saw banners with their own eyes. And then they beat up a Gold Star father and go to the White House. But don’t worry, because Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week is coming up, and that will present right wingers with a whole new appreciation of make believe pictures.

* Tim Russert thinks that John Edwards’ hair, asking Hillary Clinton about things that will never happen, things that happened in Cleveland in 1978, and all of the candidates’ favorite Bible quotes are more important than the environment. But at least we aren’t racists like the Republican frontrunners.

* David Brooks is actually making me miss Safire. How is that possible?

* Who could have guessed that Fox News were a bunch of hypocrites?

* Lee Bollinger treats dictators differently based on their relationship with the United States. Quite the man of courage.

* The Boner finds it despicable to hide behind children.

Locally:

* Michael Medved doesn’t think slavery is such a big deal. He has 6 reasons and they’re all crazy.

* Littering in the bus tunnel is bullshit, although, I used it on Friday rush hour and didn’t notice anything.

* The Washington Policy Center is upset at the existence of S-Chip and the state minimum wage.

This is an open thread

Time to MoveOn edition.

* So, yeah, I’m about as pissed off as Brad. The country has gone nuts. Seriously, 22 Democrats, fuck the heck (and thank goodness our Senators weren’t among that group)? Of course, nobody seemed to be mad when Republicans you know, did much worse. But at least the liberal media will stand up to this nonsense. And just because we’re pissed off at some Democrats doesn’t mean that the righties and their pathetic excuses get a pass. Anyway, the best way for MoveOn to get into the good graces of the far right is probably to needlessly insult Muslims.

* And if you want to know who hates the troops, the real answer is the anti-sex right.

* And speaking of the anti-sex right, did you know they were anti-sex?

* So how did you spend your International Day of Peace?

* Ann Coulter needs a better fact checker. Or to stop lying, I guess.

* Comcastic

* According to those guardians of the free market, crazy assed Republicans, there’s no difference between price fixing and press releases.

Locally:

* Dave Reichert still isn’t independent or bi-partisan.

* The people who named the South Lake Union Trolley should have thought a bit harder.

* Dino Rossi’s idea man can’t figure out why some people might find the name of the Washington Redskins offensive.

This is an open thread.

Some good bullshit while the bullshitin’s good.

* Alan Greenspan wrote a book, and if it had been a few years ago or so, it would be very insightful. But since he forgot to speak out until Bush has been mired in the 30% range for over a year, and he had been out of office for sometime, it’s too late.

* And speaking of the 30% range, Glenn Reynolds is thrilled that Bush is all the way up to 33%, and hopes that the upcoming bombing of Iran will boost him even more.

* Any notion of attacking Iran is bullshit in and of itself, and it’ll be important that we call bullshit on the enablers of that horrible idea, even if they’re Democrats, and even if we agree with them on most other issues.

* Unfortunately, we know the kind of people who have the president’s ear. Sad pathetic people. People who get all hot and bothered to see the President of the United States act like an ass, especially when talking about Iraq.

* And the President certainly won’t acknowledge the maybe 1,000,000 dead in Iraq.

Locally,

* The Columbian comes out against paid family leave in the state. You see, they didn’t need no family planning in the dark ages, so we don’t need any now.

* Seriously, drinking water? What the fuck conservatives?

* And finally, it may have been mentioned on this blog once or twice before, but Jane Hague is a liar.

This is an open thread

So Geov has a weekly thing on HorsesAss.org that’s better than this one. I could step up and write a better Bullshit post. Or I could just stick to the same old, same old. I chose number two, but that’s probably why he has a long running radio show on KEXP (and even before it was KEXP), and I’m just a guy who swears on the Internet. Anyway, here’s your bullshit:

* President Bush said that he might reduce troop levels in Iraq. And when he says something you know it’s true.

* And as long as I’m stepping on Geov’s toes and talking about Iraq, Riverbend has left. It’s senseless and tragic, and I would hope the people who made stupid accusations against her would re-consider what they’ve been doing. But perhaps a tiny bit of human decency would be asking too much.

* Just in case you were wondering who’s to blame for the Larry Craig mess, it’s the state of Minnesota. And Michael Medved thinks the real tragedy in all this is that Michael Medved hasn’t thought enough about burly men in uniform.

* And finally for national bullshit, it may be safe to say that supply side economics are bullshit.

Locally:

* Seriously, what was the Trib thinking?

* Gary Randal sees a clear line between hate crimes legislation and forcing the Church not to mention Jesus.

* Lou Guzzo wants more booing the National Anthem.

* “Doc” Hastings is upset that MoveOn was able to read things that General Peteraeus has written in the past. And that they were willing to make some obvious predictions.

This is an open thread

So, I kinda missed last week’s “this week”. So even though it’s still kinda sparse, it’s totally two weeks’ worth.

* By now you’ve probably ceased to want to care, but some time long ago, Roger Stone was making the news being a loon. Saying crazy shit about Spitzer. And also, if you want to attack Spitzer, maybe it’s best not to have the quality you ascribe to him in spades.

* Bi-Partisan bullshit: Former Clinton speech writer Michael Cohen is upset about us mean bloggers. But he does acknowledge our right to hate America, so you can see he’s a serious person.

* In case you’re wondering, the fact that Larry Craig tried to have sex in a bathroom proves that it’s the Democrats who are obsessed with sex. Republicans are only obsessed with sex when they can’t see an electoral downside.

* President Bush came to town this week (Did this blog report on that? I just can’t remember.) and he gave a bullshit speech.

Locally, I can only think of two things that are bullshit:

* Phone books.

* and Pudge.

This is another open thread.

A note to the people person sending me bullshit. First, thanks, you rule! Second, I didn’t use it, because I link to the people calling bullshit, not the actual bullshit itself, but I still love ya. Anyway, on with the post:

* You know what proves the war in Iraq is going swimmingly? Glenn Reynolds says it’s the fact that the media hates America and refuses to report all that good news. You would think they would have new shit, but I guess someone told them the old stuff didn’t stink.

* The good Glenn continues to call bullshit on the foreign policy establishment. This time he goes straight to our militarism and the fact that if you don’t think it’s totally awesome, you aren’t allowed to talk about it.

* And the last national bullshit is an extended look at Rich Lowry. Calling bullshit not only on his career and his political leanings, but frankly on his whole life and on his humanity. It’s really quite a read, but don’t start on it unless you’ve got some free time.

Locally:

* Dave Reichert is taking some flack for taking some scratch from crooks. And what I want to know is why he couldn’t find any Eastside crooks. I mean Baltimore, and Alaska aren’t the only places with crooks who would be happy to bribe a Congressman, surely.

* And finally, one of my favorite local loons thinks that because the temperature in the continental U.S. was slightly warmer during the dust bowl than it was in 2005, it totally proves that the planet isn’t getting warmer.

This is an open thread.

President Bush is insisting on more tax cuts in a time of war (and as we’re months away from hitting the debt limit). So expect to hear another round about how taxes are bad for the economy. And all things equal, I guess higher taxes are worse for the economy. But there are some things that are even worse for the economy than corporate taxes:

* Having a bridge fall into the Mississippi river, crippling traffic, and oh yeah, killing a dozen or so people.

* A massive structural debt owed in large part to foreign governments who are threatening to shut off the pipes.

* That power outage that hit the Eastern seaboard a few years ago.

* Sick employees.

* Their sick children.

* New Orleans drowning.

And this idea that tax cuts are the only good things for business is so silly. As if the best thing business could possibly hope for is a crumbling infrastructure, massive government debt, and exorbitant healthcare costs.

Now we can certainly talk about the bad, wasteful spending that goes on: The Iraq war, and our militarism in general. Sending non-violent criminals to prison for too long, and drug offenders there at all. The bridge to nowhere, and other pork.

But at the end of the day, our taxes are so low that bridges are collapsing. Our taxes are so low, that we refuse to help the sick unless they are elderly, very very poor, or children of the poor and working class (or in Washington State thanks to the Democratic legislature last session, children). Our taxes are so low, that an American city drown a few years ago, and we’ll only build the levies back to where they were before. Our taxes are so low that soldiers — American Soldiers, for God’s sake — are scavenging garbage dumps for armor for their vehicles. Our taxes are so low that public transit is pathetic in the Puget Sound region, and worse in the rest of the state.

Now, I don’t particularly like paying taxes, nobody does. But I also don’t like hitting potholes. I don’t like knowing that if the big one hits when I’m on the viaduct that I’ll probably die. I don’t like it when my sick friends and relatives without healthcare don’t see a doctor. I don’t like being in debt to China. I don’t like the fact that the bus system is a joke, especially outside of the city.

* I’m glad that there’s someone calling bullshit on the foreign policy establishment. A desire to attack anyone who didn’t attack us on 9/11 is acceptable, but the idea of getting the people who attacked us is beyond the pale. Odd those serious people.

* Seriously chicken hawks, don’t complain about being called chicken hawks unless you’re willing to get your head handed to you.

* And speaking of chicken hawks, Bill Kristol is impressed with what the U.S. Military is doing in Iraq.

* But at least Kristol isn’t wishing for another terror attack on U.S. soil. You know, for unity sake.

* And in any event, an interviewer’s questions totally proves that all liberals are looking for an Islamic version of creation science.

Locally, the crazies can’t compete with all that. But they’ll try.

* Dino Rossi’s idea man has decided that we should annex Mexico. Just make it a state. Oh and then force them to all speak English. That’s my favorite part of the plan.

* Some conservatives engaged in media criticism.

* Dave Reichert is still neither independent or bi-partisan.

This is an open thread

*Sometimes people say, Carl, they say, why don’t you ever call bullshit on Democrats? And the truth is that I like what the party does. But seriously, what the hell were the Democrats who voted for the FISA law thinking? Not that the Republicans who voted for it get a free pass. Bullshit all around.

* But don’t think it’s all Democrats this week. Victor Davis Hanson is afraid of Muslims.

* And Rick Perlstein reminds us that the bridge collapse in Minnesota is a direct result of a decades long campaign of Republican Bullshit.

* Locally, people spend too much time reading the tea leaves of the New York Times Op-Ed page. Geez.

* Finally, Eric Earling is trying to concern troll Darcy Burner.

Hopefully next week back to full length, this is an open thread.

Kind of abbreviated to deal with real life stuff this week and maybe next.

* If you ask some people, the conflict between Shia and Sunni in Iraq is about to come to an end, just ask the Iraqi parliament. If you ask non-crazy people, you might get a different answer.

* I’m loathe to link to Andrew Sullivan, because he was one of the most vile of the bullshit artists in the lead up to and the first few years of the war. Still, good on him for calling bullshit on the people who can’t even imagine that atrocities happen in war.

*Alberto Gonzales lies to Congress and while it’s nice that the good folks at Sadly No! are calling Bullshit, what might actually get something done is Inslee’s impeachment bill.

*Bill O’Reilly is crazy.

* The Discovery Institutes’s own Patrick Bell is paranoid. I’m hoping that he fills us in on the details of this conspiracy some time soon.

Use this as an open thread

I think you know how this works by now, so let’s get to it starting nationally:

* The bullshit artists sure like to make up things about presidential candidates and potential presidential candidates. Speaking of make up, the fact that Mitt Romney spent almost $700 on one makeup session proves that John Edwards’ haircut is horrible. Hillary Clinton wore clothing appropriate for DC in the summer, so clearly that’s bad. Obama supports teaching children age appropriate sex ed, the horror. And Al Gore’s daughter’s husband’s family had a food that has been available at Whole Foods since 1999, and was, you know, “from one of the world’s few well-managed, sustainable populations of toothfish, and caught and documented in compliance with Marine Stewardship Council regulations” so clearly he’s the devil.

* Hew Hughitt thinks that trying to end the war will hurt Democrats, you know, because he cares about helping us out politically. But maybe the horrible war is, you know, just branded wrong.

* And of course the democrats constantly need to have a Sister Souljah moment. No matter how wingnutty the rightwing base is, no matter how in lock step the top tier is on the most compellingly shitty foreign policy decision in this country in decades and possibly ever, only Democrats ever seem to need to distance themselves from their base. You know, anti-war folks who were either right all along, or who have since come to the right side long ago on again, the most important thing on the election by miles.

Locally,

* Dave Reichert still doesn’t have a record of bi-partisanship or independence. As if there was ever any doubt.

* Darryl and The Olympian are calling bullshit on one of Dino Rossi’s main campaign totally not a campaign themes.

* Will has already mentioned Gary Randall, but tee hee hee.

Delayed a bit because Goldy was filling in for Frank Shires, edition. Let’s start nationally:

* My favorite bullshit this week comes from Michael Chertoff’s gut. I don’t even understand the point of mentioning his gut feeling that, “OHMYGOD!!!!1!!!!! We;re all goinna diez!” But, I for one hope that future presidents at least consider not hiring crazy people to secure the homeland.

* A little bit away from the homeland, remember Republicans, supporting the war in Iraq is the means to victory at the polls. Especially when your argument for the war is reduced to we don’t want to make a general sad. And of course, it helps to be able to put words into the troops’ mouths.

* But never fear, Mitt Romney is projecting the goodness that can only come of attacking Iran.

Locally, a lot of the good bullshit has already been mentioned here on HA. Including by me. Still, there’s other bullshit:

* Eric Earling is concern trolling Darcy Burner.

* And finally this week, Forbes Magazine calls bullshit on the state Republicans. Apparently, since the Dems took total control of the reigns of government, the state has gone up to 5th best business climate. I would avoid thinking that business climate is the most important measure of the health of the state but still, it kind of puts a kink into the Republican claim that they are the best people for business.

So David Postman and Josh Feit have been doing some excellent reporting on Dino Rossi’s Idea Bank. What I find most fascinating is that Lou Guzzo and Matt Manweller of WhackyNation, according to Postman, “review submissions to his Idea Bank,” on a supposedly bi-partisan committee (and apparently have some lousy nettiquette). Now there are some things that Manweller has said that are annoying, like attacking the notion of helping pay for middle class children’s health care and his assumption that if we just impose capitalism on Iraq, then everything will be fine. But Manweller is pretty much a standard issue Republican. He’s annoying, sure, and against most of what Washington voters stand for, but isn’t every Republican in the state? Who I want to talk about is Lou Guzzo!

Feit describes him as a, “former D Governor Dixy Lee Ray staffer” and I’m guessing that’s where Idea Bank’s supposed bi-partisanship comes from. But if you think Rossi’s current employee might make his project a model of bi-partisanship, well let’s take a look at the record. This sampling is by no means complete.

It’s tough to know where to start with Guzzo, but I guess for this post, it might be a good idea to go with his repudiation of the Democratic Party. So, um, he seems to think that most Democrats may be surprised to learn that FDR existed. Oh, and by the way, he was totally a Socialist:

Completely ignored by the columnist and by virtually all of his Liberal mouthpieces in the print and broadcast news media is the fact that the real identity crisis now exists not in the Republican Party but in the Democratic Party, which has obliterated its once-honorable past and assumed a character that is anything but “democratic.”

Frankly, I don’t believe the Left Wing columnists and the rank-and-file in the so-called Democratic Party aren’t aware of what has happened to the party in the past half century, dating back to the days Franklin Delano Roosevelt assaulted the U.S. Constitution with a barrage of Socialist programs.

So you can totally see how he’s bringing balance to Rossi’s Idea Bank. But you know what I bet the ol’ Idea Bank needs? War mongering mixed with some sexism!

Shame on the Democratic Party! With its vote to defy the President’s authority as commander in chief and to withdraw its support for American troops and their mission in Iraq, the Democrats have also tried to destroy our role as the world’s peacemaker and our mission to bring freedom and democratic government to oppressed people.

The howling Democrats, led by their new standard bearer, Big Momma Nancy Pelosi, have also delivered a loud slap to the memories of their own Democratic Presidents of the past — Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy — all of whom pursued Teddy Roosevelt’s philosophy to “speak softly but carry a big stick.”

So now FDR’s brand of Socialism is now a good thing? And by the way, one of Kennedy’s policies he talks about is Viet Nam, and speaking of Viet Nam, oh sweet God.

It was a war we could easily have won. Because of the withdrawal of support at home, our generals, admirals, and Air Force leaders were persuaded to pull back their ground, sea, and air units and to table the final assault they knew could have routed the Communists and put an end to the war in Vietnam. It was clearly a war we could have and should have won. Instead, we permitted the Communists to swallow up South Vietnam, and we begn our humiliating retreat.

And no, “begn” isn’t a word. But don’t worry, that isn’t the only place that Guzzo draws a parallel between Iraq and Viet Nam, but um, not the one you think.

It bears repeating. We should have won the Vietnam War and made it possible for Vietnam to become a democratic republic, instead of the Communist nation it is now. The crucial battle in Vietnam, the Tet Offensive, was actually an American victory and would have led to the defeat of the Viet Cong Communists. But the loud-mouthed peaceniks at home and their allies in Congress withdrew support and funds from our military forces in Vietnam, with the assistance of that traitorous scamp, Jane Fonda — who is at it again today.

But don’t think it’s just foreign policy. Oh no, Guzzo, a former KIRO 7 commentator and PI Managing Editor has also recently engaged in some media criticism. Basically, why don’t members of the media read people’s minds?

I wonder if the political editors of the print and broadcast news media, the politicos at the national and local levels, and particularly the leaders of the two major political parties are aware of a most interesting pattern of thought that seems to be going on in the minds of all the men and women who have their eye on nominations for the presidency in the 2008 election.

If any of them have glommed onto the “pattern of thought” but are wary of putting words to it for the press and the public, they are doing a good job of hiding it. And just what is the primary name that goes with that pattern of thought these days? It is the name of Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.

Seriously, you can read the whole thing but it won’t make any more sense. But one of the things I especially like is his obsession with Silent Spring. In the less than a year he’s been writing on WhackyNation he’s written at least 7 posts on the subject. Including calling for murder charges for the people who got DDT banned.

After the Carson book was published, the Liberals and environmental fanatics attacked DDT because, they said, it has infected the eggs in eagles’ nests, a fairy tale without substance. And, even if the eggs were affected, how does anyone in his or her right mind prefer 3,000,000 deaths a year to the possible cracks in eagles’ eggs — even though the latter was something of a fairy tale, or nightmare?

I still say the perpetrators of the DDT ban should be put on trial for murder!

Anyway, I’m not sure if any of that is Rossi’s official position, but it’s one of the Idea Bank’s vetters. So you know the project is both non-partisan and totally legit. I’m sure old school Seattle people will remember other things about him from KIRO and the PI, but that’s it for me.

(cross posted)

Welcome the first bullshit of the rest of your life. Good bullshit locally.

* The Office of Professional Accountability has decided that professional accountability is a waste of time.

* Michael Medved thinks that the BBC describing the terrorists who drove a flaming car into the Glasgow Airport as members of, “the disfranchised South Asian community” is political correctness. Because doctors can’t be disfranchised. And they didn’t say Mohammedan, or something.

* Don over at Sound Politics thinks he has psychic abilities for having predicted the Libby pardon would come some time in a 2-year span. And the story proves that the beltway is out of touch with America, but not how you think.

* The final local thing, the Faith and Freedom network is concerned about the fate of the Dutch. Their sad experiment in secular humanism has come to an end, as evidenced by an article that says the most conservative member party of the ruling coalition, “say they are not pushing to banish legalized prostitution or soft drugs.”

And they gots some delectable bullshit nationally.

* Regular readers of HorsesAss.org know more than most about the tainted products from China. But did you know that former (?) coke head and rightwing gas bag Larry Kudlow has some thoughts. Maybe, the Chinese are secretly trying to poison our dogs and our kids. That makes a lot more sense than the problems being the effect of bad trade deals and a lax system of oversight in China.

* Wendy Shalit seems to be making stuff up.

* President Bush missed the chance to go after al Qadea leaders. The right wing doesn’t care all that much.

* And finally, John Edwards gets his hair cut, this is sinister.

The blog ate my homework edition:

I thought it might be a slow week in bullshit locally until Goldy decided to cover Dino Rossi’s bullshit non profit. Still no word from those guardians of electoral integrity over at (un)Sound Politics. Hmm.

It has been a banner week in prudishness from local people. Lou Guzzo doesn’t like that the federal government took over a legal brothel for a short time almost 2 decades ago after its ownership fell behind on their taxes. And Michael Medved saw a study that the kids are having s-e-x and kinda freaked out.

Some famous people came to town last week. Torture boy going anywhere but his impeachment hearing is bullshit. And when Howard Dean came to town, it inspired a bullshit press release from the state Republicans.

Nationally, Jonah Goldberg changed the name of his bullshit book. That he still has written, so there.

In thank God they aren’t in the majority any more news, Pete Domenici and Norm Coleman are trying to weaken the Violence Against Women Act.

Finally, the big piece of bullshit today is the Scooter Libby pardon not quite a pardon. By a man who once said, “I don’t believe my role [as governor] is to replace the verdict of a jury with my own, unless there are new facts or evidence of which a jury was unaware, or evidence that the trial was somehow unfair.” But those were just for people being killed by the state, not as big a deal as say his friend outing a CIA agent.