progressive politics and regressive entertainment. like peanut and butter.
May 10, 2012 1 Comment
After professing my admiration for Jon Oliver’s “Inside the Political Curtain” interview of Herman Cain, several people recommended Oliver’s podcast to me. I had never even heard of The Bugle, which he co-hosts with Andy Zaltzman.
OLIVER (deep voice): I’ve come to fix your photo-copier.
OLIVER (high voice): I don’t have a photo-copier.
OLIVER (deep voice): I know.
April 8, 2012 9 Comments
At times I wonder what the limits are when it comes to conservatives and the issues of race. Most of them have by now adopted the language of racial equality, although they tend to use in the opposite manner from which it was intended. That is, they try to co-opt the language of the Civil Rights movement in order to prevent us from redressing the racial inequities which remain in our society. One prominent recent example is of Newt Gingrich calling President Obama racist for identifying with Trayvon Martin’s family.
But are there still occasions when even conservatives feel that they have gone too far, and can they ever acknowledge racism in their institutions?
March 25, 2012 4 Comments
Newt Gingrich. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Newt Gingrich, in his attack on President Obama’s Trayvon Martin address, is the latest to join Marco Rubio, John Boehner, and scores of other patriots in and out of office to blast the President’s divisiveness. Gingrich pointed out that the speech, in which the President referred to shooting victim Martin’s race, was
nonsense dividing this country up.
March 24, 2012 1 Comment
Rachel Maddow opens up the discussion about the murder of Trayvon Martin by noting how the gun lobby in the United States continues to write legislation that makes more and more and more violence possible, despite events such as the shooting of Gabby Giffords. Bob Herbert joins Rachel to say that we should shouldn’t get caught up in the nonsense (such as Newt Gingrich’s absurd argument that to mention race constitutes racism), but we should focus on the ever-loosening gun laws and the fact that racially-motivated violence remains all too present in this country.
March 20, 2012 17 Comments
Did you hear the one about an ill-humored presidential candidate who got mad at Robert DeNiro for making the following joke?
“Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?” DeNiro said. “Too soon, right?”
Robert de Niro (Photo credit: Siebbi)
March 17, 2012 Leave a comment
MONDAY (March 12, 2012)
Did you see Jon Stewart reveal the Mitt Romney / Jeff Foxworthy connection? That was my favorite part of Monday’s show.
Everything Romney knows about the South he learned from a Jeff Foxworthy routine. I swear to God, it’s like “If you have a working 52 inch plasma TV on top of an also working 52 inch plasma TV, you might be a Romney. If your favorite kind of fireworks is firing people at work…” I mean seriously, where is Romney getting this stuff?
February 28, 2012 2 Comments
The left (and sensible centrists) have been appropriately outraged over the rape facilitation legislation that various Republican state legislatures have take up of late.
Anti-abortion bills. Rachel Maddow took a look at this issue yesterday and her segment made me wonder why the Democrats aren’t better at messaging. Trans-vaginal or not, these ultrasounds are medically unnecessary elements of the Republicans attempt at social engineering. Why not call them out for forced medical experimentation, and make them address the issue of medical necessity?
February 23, 2012 4 Comments
Don’t feel obliged to watch the whole thing, but it’s worth checking out the GOP debate clips played in the beginning of this segment from The Ed Show. Gingrich accusing Obama of infanticide and Romney accusing Obama of assaulting civil liberties.
Is Romney really going to be able to tack toward the center if he wins the nomination? Can he even see the center from where he’s currently resides?
February 19, 2012 2 Comments
This appears to be one of those weeks where I try to catch up on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, mostly by listening in the car as I drive to work and friends, and from work and friends. Oh, and I also drive to the gym.
In Episode 250, Maron returns to do a show in Boston, where he went to college and first got into comedy. There are two highlights of the show for me, one of them an Inside Comedy Moment, and the other a Political Comedy Moment.
February 15, 2012 Leave a comment
You may have missed Adele at the Grammys singing about Newt Gingrich.
February 8, 2012 1 Comment
Upcoming health care reforms will require health care plans to cover birth control…finally. While this is long overdue nationwide, it is not a new concept for many individual states.
In a conference call, Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., who said she spoke as a nurse, mother and grandmother, pointed out that 28 states have similar rules on coverage for birth control.
One of those states? Massachusetts, which had these regulations in place while Mitt Romney was governor.
The Republicans ignore two key points when they gin up outrage over the move to broaden access to health care.
February 7, 2012 2 Comments
Gregory Wallace posted an article on how Newt Gingrich’s communications director, Joe DeSantis, has taken to Wikipedia in order to cleanse any unbecoming — what do they call them? — oh yeah, facts, concerning the Newtster.
