The Crowbar

In his staggering misinterpretation of Van Jones’ resignation fiasco, unhinged progressive David Sirota screeches on and on about RACISM and RIGHT WING HATRED and LYNCH MOBS, “crazies, tea baggers, Republican congresspeople and other assorted conservative freakshows.”

Does this guy leave any doubt in your mind that he deserves his position on the fringe of humanity?

Sirota is loathed to admit that Jones (and himself) are too fringe for the centrists to stomach. The centrists are Obama’s true concern if he wants to further his socialist agenda. Sorry, Sirota, Commie Truthers just have no place in the White House.

Sirota does leave us with some good news, though:

“Jones was one of the only movement progressives in a policymaking position in the Obama White House.”

One down, a few more to go. Here’s to heaving the rest of the Jones/Sirota-like extremists out the door.

In her “Sunday Roundup,” Arianna Huffington demonstrates just how shallow her understanding of politics is:

The GOP’s Runnin’ Off the Rails tour continued this week with Sarah Palin announcing she will resign, Mark Sanford admitting he “crossed lines” with multiple women (while providing an instant new slang term for sex: “crossing the ultimate line”), James Inhofe welcoming Al Franken to the Senate by saying, “We are going to get the clown from Minnesota,” and John Boehner spending an hour on the House floor reading aloud portions of the landmark climate-change bill he labeled “a piece of shit.” Also this week, U.S. troops in Iraq were finally cause for celebration, fireworks, and dancing in the streets of Baghdad. It turns out it was not our arrival in Iraq that was greeted with flowers and sweets but our departure. It’s an agonizing lesson learned six years, $1 trillion, and 4,321 U.S. deaths too late.

All of the items cited are supposed to prove the GOP is “running off the rails.” It’s just so tiring to see either side of the political spectrum stoop to the extra-stupid strain of populism which declares the other side defunct because of the behavior of a tiny minority of it’s members.

Arianna Huffington is not a serious political commentator, she is a hack.

The Huffington Post as a whole emulates Arianna’s superficial treatment of politics, which is partly why it’s so popular. It’s mostly leftist authors are generally well known and their agenda-driven populist rants go relatively unchallenged.

We can only hope that Alec Baldwin never gets into a serious position of power. In an article that reads like a water cooler politics conversation, Baldwin blames automakers’ resistance to stupid environmental regulations for their current plight:

they spent billions of dollars attempting to bribe the Congress to avoid putting in seat belts and air bags, installing catalytic converters and reaching more ambitious fuel efficiency standards. For the most part, they succeeded. [emphasis mine]

Obviously, the industry did not succeed in it’s resistance to seat belts, airbags and catalytic converters. So, now we know that Baldwin has only green on the mind. More:

I feel horribly for every single man and woman who will suffer as the result of this heartbreaking turn of events. I was the voice of Chevy Tahoe TV spots for five years in the early 90′s. I drove a Tahoe then and loved it. Now, I drive a Prius.

LOL. Yeah, I’m sure he feel sooo “horribly” for them. So now we know that Baldwin drives an ugly fish-like car… er, I mean a Prius. And, finally, we get to the heart of Baldwin’s water cooler screed:

Let energy conservation and fuel efficiency rule the day. Let the carmakers go under.

So here we have Baldwin, who feels “horribly” for all those people “who will suffer” advocating for automakers to go under for the sole reason that they resisted idiotic environmental regulations. Nice. Of course we all know that those people “who will suffer” would be the unions, who are the real reason US automakers are in the mess they are in. Unions are unsustainable in a free market, which is why they always attempt to regulate the market in their favor, etc. Automakers would be wise to abandon an impossible situation. Baldwin’s popularity declined by 2% this week. If his acting is as lame as his attempts at political writing, that might explain it.

Say what you will about Cheney, but the top left bloggers really REALLY hate him with a passion. They’ve recently devoted lots of webspace to their rage: HuffPo’s Borowitz spews out lame satire at Cheney, saying the Former VP is To Travel Around Country In Sound Truck. Groan. DailyKos’ David Swanson verbosely explains the Three Worst Reasons to Delay Putting Cheney in Prison. Like all morally confused liberals, Swanson is SO for “enforcing laws.” Of course, laws only apply to liberal causes, they can be skirted with “empathy” when laws cause “social injustice.” Aside from that, it’s doubtful that any laws were actually broken, and there will never be prosecutions b/c top Democrats would be dragged down, too.  The fringe leftists at Democratic Underground indulge in ancient Cheney-based fantasy claiming Cheney Confirms Iran-Contra Cover-Up; says Cheney:

“I went through the Iran-contra hearings and watched the way administration officials ran for cover and left the little guys out to dry. And I was bound and determined that wasn’t going to happen this time.”

Because he used the word “cover,” he has now admitted a “cover-up”? Oy. The ever-excitable Andrew Sullivan has another go at Cheney, implying that Cheney betrayed his oath of office by supporting harsh interrogation of deranged psychopaths bent on killing Americans. Says Sully, “Is Cheney’s ultimate defense is that he didn’t understand the oath he took?” Go ahead and believe that Sullivan, you’re already a lost cause. ThinkProgress works it over hard, trying to make Cheney look bad because he’d choose Rush Limbaugh over Colin Powell. Who in their right mind would choose Powell the Backstabber? Greg Sargent at Plumb Line gets himself all excited when he finds out White House To Declassify “Holy Grail” Torture Report That Could Undercut Cheney. The report supposedly says it’s “difficult to determine conclusively whether interrogations have provided information critical to interdicting specific imminent attacks.” Just because it’s difficult, doesn’t mean it’s impossible, duh. Another secret the White House will give to the terrorists for free. How quaint. Josh Marshall at TPM is so hot and bothered he decided to share a Dick Cheney Deep Thought, “Megalomania is a hard drug to kick.” Save it for twitter, Marshall.  Heather at Crooks and Liars thinks she really has something in taking advantage of Cheney and Limbaugh’s negative poll numbers. Take a look-see at Mary Matalin: Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh Exemplify Conservatism. Heather seems to think that Republican policies have been rejected by a large portion of the electorate. Yep. That would be the self-identified “Democrats.” Brilliant like a stone light bulb. Hilzoy at Political Animal gets dramatically offended by Cheney and decries, “How Dare He?”

Dick Cheney forfeited the right to lecture anyone on their willingness to sacrifice American lives the day he decided to deceive us into an unnecessary war.

Please stop with your Superior Moral SuperForce, Hilzoy, you’re making the chickens nervous.

HuffPo gets wacky with it (as of 9:32 AM 5/8/2009): Here we have the implication that Amazon does not worship (as everyone should for their own good) the Left’s One True Living God With Glistening Pecs: Emperor Obama. How could Amazon NOT consider the EXTREME IMPORTANCE of ensuring the Great One’s name is pronounced correctly? Only those who harbor RAAACIST HATRED would overlook such a detail.  It’s clear that Amazon is on the Angry Left’s hit list, especially after the GLBT book delisting debacle. HuffPo links to a NYT article and even the article acknowledges another instance of the Kindle mispronouncing:

Kindle owners in Boston, however, may want to avoid the sports pages for now. The Kindle pronounces “Celtics” with an initial hard “c.”

This must mean that Amazon harbors deep antipathy toward the Boston Celtics too! Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos debunks the idea that there’s anything amiss:

When asked about the error in pronouncing the president’s name, Jeffrey P. Bezos, chief executive of Amazon.com, said, with his trademark laugh, “that’s unfortunate.” The next day, an Amazon spokesman, Andrew Herdener, wrote in an e-mail message that Nuance Communications, the Massachusetts-based company that licenses its text-to-speech engine to Amazon for the Kindle, had added the correct pronunciation of the president’s name.

Once again, the Angry Left harms their credibility.

There’s lots to challenge in this latest HuffPo post from Bob ‘conservatives please kill yourselves‘ Cesca, but this I found most amusing and disturbing:

On average, the same number of Americans who were killed on September 11 will die from cancer over the next two days. 40,000 people this month. More than half a million throughout the course of the year. Your chances of being killed at the hands of a terrorist, on the other hand, are comparatively remote. Some estimates show the odds at one in 9.3 million.

So what if OTHER Americans get killed in a terrorist attack, it probably won’t happen to you so you need not be concerned. Forget that those odds can fluctuate depending on how well the Obama administration handles homeland security. Forget that another successful terrorist attack would have a disproportionate psychological effect, discouraging Americans and empowering terrorists. Forget the massive economic damage it would likely cause. Just fugettaboutit! Ol’ Crazy Bob and his pals have everything under control. Eeesh.

I was not able to post yesterday, so I made up for it with the following roundup of the top 10 blogs.

Huffington Post > It’s obvious liberals are starting to feel threatened by the Tea Party Movement, they are devoting more webspace trying to kill it. Huffpo blogger Karl Frisch (also a Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America), tries desperately to discredit all of Fox News for allegedly cheer-leading the movement. Fox News isn’t, but their opinion show hosts are. You know, kinda like MSNBC and CNN opinion show hosts drooled over Obama, which Media Matters strangely didn’t cover. It’s a truly lame attempt, but I’m sure lots of hard left HuffPo readers will take it as fact.

Democratic Underground > Trouble for Obama from the suicidal dove faction. DU Poster AmyCamus reposted a story on Alternet by hard left Iraq Marine veteran Benjamin Lewis, who is likely to be court marshaled “for his intention to refuse reactivation.” Lewis is Against Obama’s Afghanistan, and after the usual peacenik screed he expresses his disappointment quite tellingly:

If it was not evident before, it should be apparent by now that Obama is not our savior.

You heard it here at The Crowbar nearly first, folks!

Daily Kos > Kossack Susan Gardner gives us all a preview of what’s to coming this Sunday 4/13 on Kos…

• A lame attack by Michael Lazzaro on the Tea Party Movement pretending that the left/ACORN is DEFINITELY NOT attempting to infiltrate the Movement, really.
• Dana Houle will attempt to discredit Glenn Beck by tying him to “manifestos of the violent radical right”  and saying he “traffics in violent conspiratorial rhetoric of the kind that inspired Timothy McVeigh”
• Gardner will pass on hard left propaganda by David Neiwert bashing talk radio and insulting talk radio listeners.

The Daily Dish | Andrew Sullivan > Sullivan spent the entire day dismissively bashing the Tea Party movement, calling it the “Tea Tantrum movement.” Sullivan puts on his “fiscal conservative” hat (conical with a red puffy ball on top) to give himself false authority to declare the movement “adolescent, unserious hysteria” and proof of the Republican “party’s fast-accelerating nervous breakdown.” Sullivan takes us on an unfantastic journey devoting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 posts to deriding the movement. You see, the mistake the Tea Party Movement made is not consulting Sullivan and his clearly superior British intellect first – the man has a PhD in Government from Harvard, donchya know.

Talking Points Memo (TPM)  > Trouble in paradise, specifically Guantanamo Bay. Harsh reality may be setting for Obama. Seems Obama’s DOJ is stonewalling Gitmo case just like Bush. I guess sending the terrorists to Pennsylvania is no loger viable? In any case, the anger of the Liberalati is rising. Hard left Gitmo lawyer David Cynamon says:

What I have been hoping for, and am getting increasingly frustrated about, is to see that closing Guantanamo be matched with a change in policy at the Justice Department to actually try to get these cases heard to test the evidence and then to determine, if there’s no evidence, to release these people. That part I haven’t seen at all.

Think Progress > Lee Fang nostalgically engages in Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS) by wishing that Bush would hate himself as much as Fang and other BDS sufferers do. In a promo video for Bush’s Presidential library, Bush fails to say that he lied and people died, that he traded blood for oil, that 9/11 was his inside job and that he personally used a weather satellite to aim Katrina at New Orleans because lots of black people live there.

The Conscience of a Liberal >Krugman  ties income inequality with “intense partisanship” in The financial factor  ”But what caused the fall and rise of inequality?… regulation and deregulation.” So Krugman is arguing for more regulation – you’re shocked, I know. The kicker is that he damages his own argument, “OK, correlation does not imply causation yada yada.” Meh.

Crooks and Liars > Nicole Belle writes an open letter to National Organization for Marriage, hoping to affect change by the sheer force of her condescending insults:

I find your stance akin to those bigots who protested for miscegenation…

…unless of course, your marriage is simply not as strong as mine and having others commit would suddenly inspire you or your spouse to up and leave.

…it might actually have more credibility if you could find an actual doctor to claim her job is somehow threatened, rather than using a really, really bad actor.

…you boneheads.

Yours in complete and utter scorn…

Aren’t top liberal bloggers fun people?

Wonkette > It’s correction time as Wonkete jumps to conclusions about a fake YouTube video of “the libidinous fartsack Silvio Berlusconi, who still lives with his mom, assaulting some poor woman who just wanted to write a goddamn parking ticket in peace.”  Isn’t that special. Then comes the correction:

Oh well shit our own former editor Alex Pareene debunked this dumb thing three years ago. Ha ha, fact-checking!

Do you think Wonkette will see how their hyperactive, venomous hatred made them assume the worst even after their own blogger debunked it three years ago? Fat chance. 

Glenn Greenwald > Greenwald spends another day taking on the “Obama DOJ’s inexcusable embrace of some of the most radical Bush/Cheney secrecy doctrines.” Uh-oh, sounds like MORE trouble in paradise. Wait, wait… isn’t criticizing the DOJ racist since Attorney General Eric Holder is the first black man to be appointed to the office? OH, that’s right – Greenwald is a liberal. Different standards, my bad – he’s not racist.

Political Animal | Steve Benen > Benen spends time patronizing Glenn Beck for his speaking style. Benen, unable to hold back his poisonous sneer, accuses Beck of actually being “insane,” “deranged,” and “crazy” and says, “might try to eat his shoes while arguing with mailboxes. Getting dressed and making it to a television studio every day would be difficult.” I’ve no doubt it’s Benen who needs therapy.

Huffington Post blogger and thedailybanter.com editor Ben Cohen has a very low opinion of Libertarians. In his March 24th blog post entitled Libertarian Madness, Cohen is quite upset at British Zoologist Matt Ridley for claiming that African governments are, at best, poor managers of economic development for their respective countries.

Libertarians wield an unusual type of intellect, mostly born out of borderline autistic personality traits, enormous self confidence and a complete lack of connection to reality.

And he thinks that Reason journalist Ronald Bailey is an idiot:

The interviewer from Reason, Ronald Bailey contributed his own idiocy to the discussion…

Why Cohen thinks it is acceptable to treat another person thusly and still claim the moral high ground remains a mystery . Ad hominem there, Mr. Cohen.