Colbert & Stewart Return

Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart will be back on the air on January 7th. Goddess, I've missed them. Politics without laughter is dreary and depressing stuff.

NEW YORK - "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" will resume production on Jan. 7 without their striking writers, the Comedy Central network announced Thursday.

In a joint statement, Stewart and Colbert said: "We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence."

via Shakesville

Colbert Jon Stewart News Politics Comedy Writers Strike

Clueless in the White House

Quote of the Day

"I go around spreading good will."

--George W. Bush,
Press Conference, 12/30/07

The pResident reveals that he has a psychological disorder. Via Think Progress

Bush Press Conference Republican News Idiot Politics Bushism

TN Rep. Rob Briley Featured on MSNBC'S Dan Abrams Show (Video)

Tennessee State Rep. Bob Briley (D - Nashville) won the Silver Loser Award on MSNBC's Live with Dan Abrams show last night.

Rep. Briley received the award because he was 'busted for leading cops on a drunken high speed chase, allegedly asking them to shoot him in the head twice' . . . and, in his defense . . . 'the liquored-up Democrat said he was just driving himself to rehab.'

Eat your heart out, Stacey Campfield.

Rob Briley Gets More National Press on MSNBC

Briley's Day in Court: "[T]he charges against Briley, other than the DUI, will not be prosecuted. . . since he has not been convicted of a felony, he is able to continue serving as a state legislator."

Kleinheider: Mr. Briley’s Wild Ride
Kleinheider: Irony Is A Cruel Mistress

Rob Briley Democrat Nashville DUI News Arrested Politics Tennessee Dan Abrams Loser Award MSNBC

Nader Won't Support Obama, Maybe Edwards (Video)

Clueless Chris Matthews acts surprised to discover that Ralph Nader won't be supporting Saint Obama. Duh. Nader cites Obama's absence of progressive credentials. Matthews the political expert is apparently stunned. Also, Nader comments on the 2000 election, and Matthews says he sometimes talks to "real democrats." I repeat, Chris Matthews needs to see a shrink.

Ralph Nader on Hardball

Progressive Credentials Ralph Nader Obama Democratic News Chris Matthews Politics John Edwards Gore v. Bush

Mike Huckabee, Necrophilia, Pedophilia, & Homosexuality, Oh My!

Mike Huckabee is one bat-shit crazy man. In his 1998 book, Kids Who Kill, Huckabee appears to equate homosexuality with pedophilia and necrophilia!

The lunatic GOP presidential contender from Arkansas wrote:

"It is now difficult to keep track of the vast array of publicly endorsed and institutionally supported aberrations—from homosexuality and pedophilia to sadomasochism and necrophilia."

Never mind the compelling question of: exactly who is supporting and endorsing necrophilia and pedophilia? (Is Arkansas really that strange?) Huckabee's camp is now struggling hard to say it ain't so -- claiming that Huckabee didn't really mean to equate homosexuality with pedophilia and necrophilia. According to his spokesman, the Republican candidate thinks homosexuality and necrophilia/pedophilia are at different ends of the aberrant behavior spectrum.

Says Andrew Sullivan: "We're not as bad as the corpse-screwers. But we're on the same spectrum."

But who, other than perverts, even thinks about things like necrophilia?

Does Huckabee by any chance happen to know Mark Foley and Larry Craig?

Gawd, isn't it time yet for this insane election to be over?

Lean Left: Huckabee: Touring the Spectrum of Wingnut Insanity
Think Progress: Huckabee Compared ‘Homosexuality’ To ‘Necrophilia’ And Fought For Banning Sodomy

Gay Discrimination Mike Huckabee Republican News Arkansas Politics

Welcome Crooks & Liars Readers

Welcome Crooks & Liars readers, and many thanks to Blue Gal for including us in her blog roundup!

Mike Huckabee Theocracy Republican News Radical Right Politics

Chris Matthews' Fear of Castration by Hillary Makes Fox News Look Rational

Chris Matthews' obsession with Hillary Clinton has become so great that he has finally bonded with Tucker Carlson over the irrational fear of castration by Madame President Hillary Clinton. Matthews has become so deranged with misogyny that I now turn to Fox News for rational discourse.

Yesterday, Matthews called male supporters of Hillary Clinton "castratos in the eunuch chorus." As Tucker Carlson explains: "[T]here's just something about her that feels castrating, overbearing, and scary."

A eunuch is: 1) A castrated man employed as a harem attendant. 2) A man or boy whose testes are nonfunctioning or have been removed. 3) An ineffectual, powerless, or unmasculine man.

And there you have it folks. The number one reason Not to vote for Hillary Clinton: The witch will turn all the men into eunuchs! If Hillary is elected to the presidency, Chris Matthews will have to change the name of his foul smelling show from Hardball to Eunuch Balls. And MSNBC will get a show called Ovaries, and it will be hosted by a woman! Oh my Goddess!

John Amato over at Crooks and Liars reports that Matthews has become so unhinged that he has expanded his misogyny to include Carol Hunter at the Des Moines Register:

Chris Matthews’ obsession with Hillary Clinton in recent weeks got even more bizarre after he attacked Carol Hunter for endorsing Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party because she’s a woman. Yep, that’s all. And in Tweety’s inane and simple mind, that’s the only reason the Des Moines Register would have selected Hillary for the job. Insulting much, Chris? I guess their endorsement of John McCain wasn’t enough for him.

C&Lers may disagree with Hunter’s pick, I leave that for you to decide (I like the Democratic field), but Matthews owes Carol Hunter an immediate on-air apology for his misogynistic outlook and very feeble view. The way the media has treated Hillary has been disgraceful since she has been ahead in the national polls, but Matthews couldn’t contain his hatred of Hillary to her alone this time. What does Carol know anyway, right Tweety? She’s just a female, probably with a shrill voice too… Chris should just announce his support for the cop on the street or the Aqua Velva man already and be done with it.

Hillary Clinton was all over tv-land yesterday. She appeared on CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, and even on Fox News and on MSNBC's Morning Joe show, but she wasn't on Hardball. That's because if Hillary ever got that close to nervous Chris, he'd immediately be turned into a little impotent eunuch.

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I used to enjoy Hardball. I even liked Chris Matthews. Nowadays, I cringe whenever I see the misogynist. Fox News should do MSNBC a favor and take Chris Matthews. At the very least, somebody at MSNBC needs to persuade Chris to see a shrink.

Email Matthews / hardball@msnbc.com

Taylor Marsh: 'Castratas' for Clinton
Cliff Schecter: Chris Matthews just called Hillary spokesmen "Castratos".
Newsbusters: Matthews Panel Hates Hillary, Hearts Huckabee
TGW: Chris Matthews Plays the Gender Card: A List
TGW: Hillary Clinton Will Emasculate Chris Matthews

Sexist Chris Matthews Iowa Hillary Clinton News Gender Politics Tweety MSNBC Hardball Misogyny Patriarchy Anxious Masculinity Castration Complex

Huckabee: All You Need is Jesus (Ad/Video)

What Really Matters Is Jesus

Related: Catholic League president slams Huckabee for 'subliminal' cross ad
Mike Huckabee in New Ad: Merry Christmas and I Approve This Message

Update: "Prompted in a Fox News interview to comment on Mike Huckabee's latest Iowa TV spot . . , Ron Paul invokes Sinclair Lewis who said "When fascism comes to America, it will be cloaked in a flag and carrying a cross.'" -- Video - Ron Paul: 'When Fascism Comes To America...'

Huckabee admaker calls cross imagery "absolutely accidental;" Paul says "fascism' will be 'carrying a cross'

Mike Huckabee Theocracy Republican News Radical Right Politics GOP Southern Baptist Fundie Ron Paul

Jesus & Huckabee Are Too Liberal for America, Say Republicans (Video)

Theocratic president wannabe Mike Huckabee is scaring even Republicans. Why else would they come out against Jesus? The following message about "The Tax and Spend Messiah" is brought to you by Conservative Christians Against the Teachings of Christ.

Say what??!!?? (I found it on a conservative blog, honest: Andrew Sullivan.) Oh, and they're also scared of Mitt Romney and Tom Tancredo!

Jesus is too liberal for America


Related -- Tony Snow: ‘The Second War In This Country’ Is ‘The War On God’

Mike Huckabee Theocracy Republican News Radical Right Politics GOP Southern Baptist Fundie Mitt Romney Tom Tancredo

Paul Krugman: Obama Appears Naïve

Atrios pegs Obama with one line: "The system sucks, but I'm so awesome that it'll melt away before me."

Or as Paul Krugman terms it, Obama is "well, naïve."

Probably it was a mistake for Obama to attack our most progressive mainstream media columnist. Obama's attack on Paul Krugman was a move guaranteed NOT to capture the progressive vote.

Krugman has yet another column about Obama:

[I]t’s actually Mr. Obama who’s being unrealistic here, believing that the insurance and drug industries — which are, in large part, the cause of our health care problems — will be willing to play a constructive role in health reform. The fact is that there’s no way to reduce the gross wastefulness of our health system without also reducing the profits of the industries that generate the waste.

As a result, drug and insurance companies — backed by the conservative movement as a whole — will be implacably opposed to any significant reforms. And what would Mr. Obama do then? “I’ll get on television and say Harry and Louise are lying,” he says. I’m sure the lobbyists are terrified. . .

As health care goes, so goes the rest of the progressive agenda. Anyone who thinks that the next president can achieve real change without bitter confrontation is living in a fantasy world. Which brings me to a big worry about Mr. Obama: in an important sense, he has in effect become the anti-change candidate. . .

[N]othing Mr. Obama has said suggests that he appreciates the bitterness of the battles he will have to fight if he does become president, and tries to get anything done.

Update -- Payback by Matthew Yglesias: Barack Obama reaps the harvest of his campaign's idiotic decision to start releasing oppo research on Paul Krugman as the latter unloads on Obama, slamming him as "the anti-change candidate" . .

Obama Paul Krugman Democratic News Health Care Politics Progressive Agenda

Lieberman Gives McCain the Kiss of Death

Update: Joe Lieberman says "not one" Democrat asked for his support. Duh.

Sen. Joe Lieberman will endorse John McCain (R-Ariz) this morning. McCain is already as unpopular among Republicans as Lieberman is among Democrats.

This is supposed to make Republicans like John McCain?

McCain is obviously a very desperate man, and Lieberman is an attention-starved egomaniac. This is truly a lose/lose endorsement.

The two losers will appear at a press conference Monday morning in New Hampshire. The anticipation is putting me to sleep.

John McCain Joe Lieberman Democratic News Republican Politics New Hampshire

Tim Robbins Stumps for John Edwards in Iowa (Video)

Tim Robbins for John Edwards

John Edwards Tim Robbins Democratic News Liberal Politics Iowa

Elizabeth Edwards: 'Republicans Scare Me'

Quote of the Day

"[Huckabee] seems like a nice charming guy [who] doesn’t believe in evolution and has some nutty views about what it is we should do about ending violence in our inner city — we should make sure all of our young people are armed. Republicans scare me."

--Elizabeth Edwards

Elizabeth Edwards' comments on the Republican fright factor were made to Iowa caucus-goers in Dubuque, Iowa, as she introduced Democratic presidential contender John Edwards.

John Edwards is currently featured on the cover of Newsweek: Why John Edwards is still a contender in the presidential race. And in the Wall Street Journal: Not-So-Dark Horse.

And speaking of scary Mike Huckabee:

Lambert at Corrente: Spiky pulls his punches on how Mike Huckabee's son killed that dog
Digby at Hullabaloo: Update On Junior Huck
Newsweek: A Son’s Past Deeds Come Back To Bite Huckabee

John Edwards Mike Huckabee Elizabeth Edwards Republican News Arkansas Politics Iowa

Tennessee Liberal Blog Round-Up

Here's this week's Tennessee liberal blog roundup via TennViews:

• 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera: The Myth of "Curing" Homosexuality, bonus: excellent Friday creature

• Andy Axel: The view is exhausting

• BlountViews: Mayor attacks local paper, again, also doesn't like Russian student/cultural exchange program

• Cup of Joe Powell: More on the AT&T statewide cable franchise bill

• Enclave: Tennessee should ban pre-payment penalties, plus Asterisks

• Fletch: Friday bird blogging, plus CNBC's Mr. Drysdale

• KnoxViews: Homeschooling for religious reasons. plus Anatomy of a toxic radioactive plume (at Facing South by way of KnoxViews)

• Lean Left: Financial incentives that discourage pharmaceutical research, plus: Good argument against FISA immunity

• Left Wing Cracker: Dems in Congress: Dance with who brung'ya

• Loose TN Canon: Why pop music sucks

• NewsComa: Savage political season

• Pesky Fly: Harry on hold, plus: Remembering Ike

• Progress Nashville: If the Tennessee Lottery ran elections, plus The failure of privatization

• Resonance: Shared sacrifice, plus House protects Christmas

• RoaneViews: Tax exemptions, good and bad

• Russ McBee: ORNL data theft and me plus, Theme of the day: contempt

• Sean Braisted: (at TennViews) Sumner Dem v. Diane Black

• Sharon Cobb: The only thing the Democrat Iowa caucus will predict is who won't be president, plus Obama's Nashville HQ opening

• Silence Isn't Golden: Bye bye Freddie

• Southern Beale: Dr. Frist's new spots, plus Talking Jesus Action Figure

• Tennessee Guerilla Women: New Jersey abolishes death penalty, plus Huckabee on the Canadian National Igloo

• TennViews: What reporters should be asking candidates (Pam Strickland), plus UT McNair Scholars program in jeopardy (an update)

• Whites Creek Journal: What rule of law?

• Women's Health News: Fetal mortality rates by race/ethnicity, plus Good grooming

Liberal News Progressive Democratic Politics Tennessee Liberal Bloggers

Mike Huckabee Caught Being Dumb on Canadian Comedy TV (Video)

What Does Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee have to do with the Canadian National Igloo? I'm glad you asked. Canadian comedian Rick Mercer keeps Canadians laughing by talking to dumb Americans. Governor Mike Huckabee was once one of those dumb Americans.

Mike Huckabee has since emerged as one of the Republican front-runner candidates for the presidency. The Canadians are really laughing now. Cause Huckabee's foreign policy expertise is almost as stellar as that of the notoriously dumb Republican who currently resides in the White House.

Talking to Dumb American Mike Huckabee

Toronto Star: DES MOINES, Iowa–You don't want to believe it. You just don't want to believe that a leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, two steps from power in the free world, really thought that Canada had a national igloo.

When Rick Mercer comes on the phone to talk about Mike Huckabee, we expect he'll explain it was a joke. Surely, he'll assure us that the wisecracking former Arkansas governor was just playing along for a laugh in Mercer's now-iconic Talking To Americans television spots.

No, what Mercer tells us should cause shudders in all igloos across the country, from split-levels to bungalows. "He wasn't in on it," Mercer says. "The governor of Arkansas thought there was a Canadian national igloo. The governor of Arkansas would have believed the world was flat."

Mike Huckabee Dumb Americans Republican News Arkansas Politics Canada Rick Mercer Comedy Canadian National Igloo Iowa

New Jersey Abolishes Death Penalty!

Woo-hoo! New Jersey has emerged from the cave and abolished the death penalty. I'm taking this liberal victory as a sign that there are more good progressive things on the immediate horizon. After all, the White House and other high seats of power will soon be fumigated and rid of the toxic Republican "pro-life" killing crowd.

Ike over at tcask weighs in: "Nationally, there is momentum growing for death penalty foes . . We here in Tennessee are proud of the work of New Jersey's abolitionists and will continue to strive forward. As indicated . . we are in the thick of this national abolition trend."

The Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing has more.

The New York Times Editorial Board is happy too:

It took 31 years, but the moral bankruptcy, social imbalance, legal impracticality and ultimate futility of the death penalty has finally penetrated the consciences of lawmakers in one of the 37 states that arrogates to itself the right to execute human beings.

This week, the New Jersey Assembly and Senate passed a law abolishing the death penalty, and Gov. Jon Corzine, a staunch opponent of execution, promised to sign the measure very soon. That will make New Jersey the first state to strike the death penalty from its books since the Supreme Court set guidelines for the nation’s system of capital punishment three decades ago

. . . Their renunciation of the death penalty could prick the conscience of elected officials in other states and inspire them to muster the courage to revisit their own laws on capital punishment.

At least that is our fervent hope.

THE DEATH PENALTY ART SHOW graphic, "Jury Selection - Death Penalty" by Keith Amante via the Texas Moratorium Network

Abolition News Death Penalty Politics State Killing New Jersey Progressive Victory

Al Gore Blasts U.S. from Bali

Al Gore speaks, with passion, an inconvenient truth at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali.

Mr. Gore presents a plan to circumvent the Bushies.

My hero.


Al Gore in Bali (9min)


At Bali Climate Talks, Signs of Compromise: Negotiations were continuing but the tenor of the conference improved markedly from Thursday when, amid growing frustration with the United States, European nations threatened to boycott separate talks proposed by the Bush administration in Hawaii next month. . . Germany’s environment minister, Sigmar Gabriel, who led the criticism of the United States earlier in the week, said Friday, “The climate in the climate convention has changed a little bit.”

Amid the escalating bitterness between the European Union and the United States on Thursday, former Vice President Al Gore told delegates, “My own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali.” He urged delegates to agree to an open-ended deal that could be enhanced after the Bush administration leaves office and the United States policy changes.

“Over the next two years the United States is going to be somewhere it is not now,” Mr. Gore said to loud applause. “You must anticipate that.”

Al Gore News Bali Politics Global Warming Climate Change Conference Bush United States Climate Crisis

Penis Slashings by Women Common in Male Dominated Thailand (Video)

Lorena Bobbitt is in Thailand too? But check out the narrator's voice. Is it just me, or is there something about her tone that suggests collusion with the penis slashers?

"In this male-dominated society, women have few options to assert their rights. . dismemberment rather than death is the preferred method of female revenge."


"Penis slashing by Thai women is so common here that Thai surgeons have become world renowed specialist when it comes to penis re-attachment. . . 'Sometimes they chop into pieces. In those cases we cannot put it back.'"

via Jezebel

Gender News Patriarchy Politics Lorena Bobbitt Thailand Misogyny

Fred Thompson Says His Most Prized Possession is His Trophy Wife

When asked by the Associated Press to name his most prized possession, the response from former Tennessee Senator Freddie Thompson was: his "trophy wife."

Possessions named by the other presidential candidates included baseballs, a pocket watch, a guitar, a car, a photograph and a pair of running shoes.

Maybe Freddie was joking. Hahaha.

Jeri Kehn Fred Thompson Lazy News Sexist Politics Loser Republican Joke Tennessee

Cost of Shredding Secrets Soars By 600% Under Bush Regime

If you've been looking high and low for the U.S. Constitution, now you know where to look.

Federal spending on paper shredding has increased more than 600 percent since George W. Bush took office. This chart, generated by usaspending.gov, the U.S. government's brand spanking new database of federal expenditures, shows spending on "contracts for paper shredding services" going back to 2000.

In 2000, the feds spent $452,807 to make unpleasant truths go away; by 2006, the "Cheney Effect" had bumped that number up to $2.9 million. And by halfway through 2007, the feds almost matched that number, with $2.7 million and counting. via Radar Online


Bush Cheney Democracy News Politics Secret Government Republican United States