The First Saturday Of May Thinking About Osama Bin Laden's Home Movies

The first Saturday of May appears to have dawned with a clear blue sky. Even though the sun only recently arrived it has already heated it up out there to 67 degrees, heading to a predicted high of 88.

Tomorrow the predicted high is only 6 degrees short of the century mark.

This morning's Osama bin Laden new news is he made home movies whilst in his sanctuary compound. These are going to be released for the world's viewing pleasure.

Let's just hope none of the bin Laden home movies are of the Paris Hilton sort. That man was a prolific breeder with his multiple wives. I'm sure it got really boring in that Pakistani compound at times.

I've noticed that when Osama bin Laden returned to being the top news story that many of the news sources changed the spelling of his first name from Osama to Usama. I suspect this was done due to the first name similarity of Osama and Obama.

Poor ol' tongue-tied Rush Limbaugh has been having himself a terrible time mixing up Osama and Obama. If only Osama had been Usama from the start, pronounced, You-Som-A, there would be none of this chronic mix up with Obama.

I think I will go swimming now and try my best not to think about Osama bin Laden, Rush Limbaugh or home movies.

Under An Umbrella In A Downpour At Fosdic Lake Pondering Rush Limbaugh Heaping Praise On President Obama

You are with me under an umbrella, in a downpour, looking at Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park, today around noon.

I rather enjoyed walking in the rain under an umbrella. I've not done that all that often in Texas.  Lightning striking made me a little nervous, but the rumbling thunder was slightly in the distance, so I felt slightly safe.

I have been having myself a wet day today. This morning I said I did not think I'd go swimming. And then the rain went into downpour mode, making it suddenly seem fun to go out in it in my swimming suit to go swimming in the rain.

The pool water was quite a bit warmer than the incoming rain and the temperature of the air. Was very pleasant. Except usually I do not get wet from the neck up. That was not possible today.

When the thunder started booming, as I was walking, and the rain started pouring real hard, I thought taking some video might be interesting. I just uploaded a YouTube video of today's walk in the rain.

But, before I get to that, one very strange thing happened today. I turn on my radio to WBAP/96.7, at a bit past 11, to listen to the opening of the Rush Limbaugh show. This is part of my aerobic routine, because usually I find him annoying, which raises my blood pressure. I think.

I was curious how Rush was going to spin the killing of Bin Laden and somehow make Obama a bad guy.

Well, first off, Rush had the same problem I just had. When I typed Obama, it came out Osama. Over and over again Rush made that mistake and then corrected himself, eventually saying he needed to refer to the guy as Bin Laden and end the problem. And then a few seconds later, made the mistake again.

Here's a blurb from today's Limbaugh email newsletter...

"We need to sincerely congratulate President Obama.  He has done something extremely effective -- and when he does, it needs to be pointed out.  He has continued the Bush policies of keeping a military presence in the Middle East.  He did not scrub the mission to get Osama Bin Laden."  -Rush

The above is a mild version of how effusive Rush was in his praising of Obama. I kept waiting for the sarcastic twist, that never came. Yes, Rush did get in some digs about how many times Obama used the words "I" and "me" in his message from the White House last night.

My reaction to the Osama news was odd. I think because it's been such a long time he's been the world's most wanted man. The news seemed somehow anti-climatic. I'd long gotten over the shock of 9/11. So much has happened since then. A lot of it not good. And now Bin Laden is finally dead.

I'm thinking what happened last night is just the start of a new chapter that may take us to some disturbing new places we don't really want to go.

And now my disturbing video of walking in the rain with lightning strikes...

Rush Limbaugh Weighs In On The Texas Super Bowl Week Ice Storm, Rolling Blackouts & Getting Power From Mexico

I listen to Rush Limbaugh for a few minutes every once in awhile while I do yoga. Getting aggravated listening to someone be aggravating is entertaining at times. And might be salubrious for ones blood pressure.

Somehow I often manage to be listening to Rush Limbaugh during one of his episodes when he says something that catches flak. And due to having heard what he actually said I find myself on Limbaugh's side, as I hear how badly out of whack the flak is from what he actually said.

Anyway, I just heard Rush do a little rant about our current frozen situation in Texas. According to Limbaugh, Mexico is helping Texas out of its power problem by sending electricity to Texas.

I did not know the Texas grid is connected to Mexico.

Rush also mentioned the havoc the Ice Storm and freezing temperatures have wreaked on Super Bowl week, mentioning, in particular, the pathetic ESPN scene in downtown Fort Worth where broadcasters broadcast to an empty Sundance Square parking lot while enveloped in the vapor caused by their hot air meeting the frozen air.

Limbaugh also said that nothing like getting power from Mexico ever happened back when J.R. Ewing was running Dallas.

Typing this is not as amusing as it was hearing it.

I've still got him on and he's now taking a phone call from someone in Dallas who is telling Rush how bad the ice situation is here, with freezing pipes breaking, closing down power plants. The caller is now telling Rush that Texas drivers don't know how to drive on ice.

Rush is now defending the Texas drivers, saying no one can drive on solid ice.

Next caller is complaining about the Rolling Blackouts being due to no new power plants having been built in Texas in years.

Rush is continuing to speak well of Texas, most prosperous state in the Union, having to get power from Mexico. And how this must be embarrassing to a lot of Texans.

I'm a transplant. I'm not finding it all that embarrassing to get some electricity from Mexico.

Okay, I've reached my Rush Limbaugh limit for the day.

The Shooting of Gabrielle Giffords; A Commentary

Commentary

When I heard the news yesterday of the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords at a meet and greet in a Tucson supermarket I must admit, I was not shocked. I was saddened to hear of the incident that left Ms. Giffords shot through the head, and six others dead and another 12 people wounded. A man who can best described as a deranged lunatic named Jared Lee Loughner was the alleged gunman. Federal judge John Roll, 9 year old Christina Taylor- Green-the granddaughter of former Phillies manager and Cubs general manager Dallas Green, Gifford's aide Gabriel Zimmermann, 76 year old Dorothy Murray, 76 year old Dorwin Stoddard, and 79 year old Phyllis Scheck lay dead after the scene was sprayed with shots from a handgun that we're told held 30 rounds of ammo in it's magazine.

No, I was not shocked in the least....in fact I said to myself, well, it finally happened. "It" being a violent event so shocking that the entire nation would be talking about it, just like after Virginia Tech, and just like after Columbine. And as in the case of those two horrific incidents, much will be said about guns and gun violence in America, and the examination of the Second Amendment...and ultimately nothing will change.

But this slaughter was different from the others in that it seemed to have a sitting member of Congress as it's target. We know that Ms. Giffords' congressional office in Tuscon was vandalized in the hours after the healthcare bill was passed last year- Ms. Giffords was a supporter of the bill. And we know that Sarah Palin had an image of crosshairs on her website targetting Giffords and 19 others for defeat in 2010 (Palin's aid Rebecca Monsour defended the image in an interview conducted Saturday).

No rational person can say that the angry rhetoric we hear in political discourse everyday was responsible for the shooting. But sometimes irrational people can believe the nonsense that they're hearing and act on it. I've often wondered if Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck actually believe even half of the BS they spew out daily, or are they just throwing it out there to appeal to a lunatic fringe. The extreme voices that talk about "second amendment remedies", and accuse a sitting president of being (pick one) a Communist, Nazi, racist, Marxist-Socialist, a Muslim, or not even being an American citizen didn't pull a trigger that killed six and wounded a dozen others. But they stir a pot that's ingredients are fear, ignorance, and paranoia.

And to certain deranged minds, like that of Jared Loughner, the conspiracy theories and angry rhetoric make perfect sense.

The Right will say there was anger and vitriol pointed towards the Bush administration and towards conservatives in general. To be sure, there were angry words- but never did members of People For The American Way show up "locked and loaded" with firearms at a Bush political event, nor did any Blue State governor call for secession if we didn't stop using his states' National Guardsmen in an Iraq war he didn't support. There was anger, but the progressives left 19th century remedies where they belong.

And to those who say the words of politicians and extreme media members don't incite people to violence, well aren't some of those the same people who fingered rappers and rockers for lyrical content that they contend lead young listeners to misogyny, drug addiction, and the murder of the nation's cops?

Many years ago I worked in a hotel in Miami. The Speaker of the House at the time, the Democrat Thomas Philip "Tip" O'Neill was a frequent guest with his wife.The Speaker would vacation with his best friend from Massachusetts, the Republican Silvio Conte. Among those in their close circle of friends were Bob and Elizabeth Dole, both Republicans and, and Democratic National Committee Chairman Bob Strauss. That was about 25 years ago, but it was a glimpse as to how things used to work in Washington- lawmakers were like an extended family, with disagreements on certain issues, but in many instances with deep personal friendships when the nation's work ended. It's no coincidence that the wedge that began to divide America was born in the late 1980's with the rise of Right Wing talk radio. The conservative base found a voice with Limbaugh, and he spawned scores of imitators and wannabes.

And the nation changed....and for my money, not for the better.

Below, a special comment from Keith Olbermann.

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Almost 80 Degrees In Texas In Mid December Causing Me To Think About Rush Limbaugh & Millard Fillmore.

77 degrees at 3 in the afternoon this December 15 at my location in Texas.

I've got my windows open. Again. I was running the A/C while driving today up in Hurst. Yesterday I was running the vehicle's heater.

I do not remember opening my windows or running my vehicle's A/C in December in Texas, previously.

Maybe I am remembering wrong.

I listen to Rush Limbaugh for a few minutes every once in awhile.

Ex-President Millard Fillmore, who after getting kicked out of the presidency and the Whig Party, later ran for president on the Know Nothing Party Ticket. The Know Nothings were strongly anti-immigration. I don't know if going on and on about global warming being s hoax was part of their platform, way back then.

But if radio had been around in the 1850s, that being Millard Fillmore's time on the planet, and I was around to listen to it and Know Nothing Millard Fillmore had a talk radio show, I would listen to it just to be entertained by the astonishing buffoonery on display. Just like I do when I listen to Rush Limbaugh for a few minutes.

Yesterday Limbaugh was going on about the record breaking cold temperatures at his location in Florida being proof that there was no such thing as Global Warming. I think a listener, or someone, may have pointed out to him that the actual issue is Climate Change.

I am wondering if Mr. Limbaugh were located in my location how would he spin it being a warm almost 80 degrees today in Texas, with December windows open?

Ironically, with it being short wearing, possible shirt off temperatures, I don't think I am going to be doing any hill hiking today. Just not in the mood....

Limbaugh "Eulogizes" George Steinbrenner; Part II, The "Explanation" (Huh?)

In an attempt to explain his words on the death of George Steinbrenner to an internet site, Rush Limbaugh has only made what he initially said just a bit more bizarre, controversial.....and just a little more whacky.

And of course, he injected more racial overtones into the "discussion"....are there really only three members in the New Black Panther Party ?

Anyway, Limbaugh's rant earned him a place on Keith Olberman's Worst Persons list last night on COUNTDOWN, along with the omnipresent Sharon Angle (GOP candidate for Senate in Nevada), and some blond with no eyebrows who thinks a Glenn Beck presidential run should be mentioned in the same breath with George Washington.

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Limbaugh "Eulogizes" George Steinbrenner; Those Were Accolades.....Weren't They?

America's gasbag strikes again!

While mentioning the death of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, Rush Limbaugh managed to find a way to get a racial angle into it.

What seems amazing to me is on an MSNBC message board the usual "Dittoheads" lined up in Rush's defense.....but do these geniuses realize that the term "cracker" is usually a pejorative used to describe poor whites, mainly from the South? And George Steinbrenner, dead less than 48 hours, is being trashed by Limbaugh, who either consciously chose not to show proper respect for this iconic American because it's "good theater", or he doesn't have the brains or the good manners to know better.

Also, Limbaugh's inferences about Steinbrenner's racial politics.....making ballplayers of color rich while firing white managers "left and right"....are something straight out of an old ALL IN THE FAMILY script. Had Archie Bunker been with us today he'd be an AM talk show host with a 10.0 share. For now, people of his ilk will just have to settle for Rush.

And as for Mr. Limbaugh....the only thing more disturbing than his words are his apologists.

So click the video below (if you dare), and hear Mighty Mouth at his worst.



George Steinbrenner, New York Yankees, Rush Limbaugh,

Smart, Funny, and Irreverant- You Have To See "Tea Party Jesus".

A few days ago I posted the a video of conservative Christian (and 21st century Annie Oakley) congressional candidate Pamela Gorman, and the question was asked....what's with the this conservative Christian fascination with firearms and ammo and more firearms and the Second Amendment and more firearms?

Well, one of my online blogger friends (who runs a non-political blog) sent me a link that explains it better than I could. It's Tea Party Jesus, which uses works of art and stills from motion pictures to have the words of (allegedly) Christian conservative types come directly from the mouth of Jesus Christ.

Quoted are the usual right wing gasbags; Ann Coulter, Michelle Bachmann, Rush Limbaugh, and Tom Tancredo, for example. Above you'll see an example of what you'll find- a quote by Glenn Beck as spoken by Jesus. The quote was a reference to Beck's contempt for the complaints of the victims of Hurricane Katrina, whom he grew to hate faster than families of 9-11. Funny....the nuns and priests always told me God and Christianity was about love.

Amen.

Each picture links to the site from which the original quote was taken, all legitimate publications attributed to working journalists.
Amen (again).

Anyway, if you're offended by parody that some may find offensive, than stay away. But if you want to take a look and laugh at some of the hypocrisy of the right, then take a peek at Tea Party Jesus.

Amen.....and over n' out.

Quick Hits 4/21/10 Video Edition- Gun Guys Gone Wild, NJ Guv Hits The Big Time, and Stewart vs. Goldberg

There were several topics I made a mental note of yesterday that I wanted to touch on a bit later. So Im modifying the "Quick Hits" format for a video presentation, with some comments thrown in as well

(1)Yesterday I was about to do some political commentary regrading the news of the day, and I had the RACHEL MADDOW SHOW on in the background, just catching up on the people, places, and things that were relevant on the day. All was well until she presented her third segment, which consisted of the concurrent Pro Second Amendment rallies in Virginia and Washington DC. I have no problem with these pro gun advocates showing up in mass in a peaceful demonstration, though I am an advocate of gun control. They have a right to freedom of assembly, as guaranteed in the Constitution. I do have a problem with the timing of the rallies, held on the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing by Timothy McVeigh. Though organizers contend that it was in remembrance of Patriot's Day (when the first shots of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington and Concord in 1775), the failure of these gun rights advocates to recognize that holding rallies on the day a fanatic- and fellow Second Amendment zealot- decided to wage war on his own country and murder innocent men, women, and children was to say the least problematic to me, and probably to many other Americans.

Even more disturbing were some of the voices on the Right who refuse to see that actions and words do have dire consequences- among them Limbaugh, Hannity, Bachmann, and The NEW YORK POST- some of whom suggest that President Bill Clinton was responsible the Oklahoma City bombing because of the handling of David Koresh and the Branch Davidians at Waco in 1993 by the Feds. And to see Congressman Paul Broun addressing a Second Amendment rally attacking the federal government- of which he is part- I found more than disturbing and incredibly hypocritical. Mr. Broun might want to take a look at the city he lives and works in, Washington DC, where hundreds of thousands of Americans are denied equal representation in the House and in the Senate because of an oversight by our Founding Fathers- further proof that not even they were infallible. Perhaps Paul Broun, Michelle Bachmann, Steve King, and all others on the Right turning over stones to find misuse of the federal government should start looking under their noses.

By the time the Limbaugh segment of this video came around, I was so angry I turned the TV off....but I took a look at it this morning. Here it is, ladies and gents...a segment of the RACHEL MADDOW SHOW that made me want to blow my brains out.

And by the way....I am a gun owner, but never a gun nut.

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(2) It only took New Jersey Governor Chris Christie a couple of months in office to make Keith Olbermann's WORST PERSONS list. And from the adversarial posturing this formal federal prosecutor has done in his first few months in office, somebody should remind him- he's a governor now, not arguing a case before a jury trying to show that the Other Guy deserves to be punished with a lengthy prison term.

While Christie continues to attack the spending practices of cities, towns, and boards of education.....not to mention the Federal Government and the previous Corzine administration...it seems that the staff payroll under this "cost cutting" Republican fiscal conservative has actually increased under his watch.

For all of his bluster of "shared sacrifice" his payroll has increased from the Corzine administration by $600,000.

From The Home News Tribune- a publication that endorsed Christie's election in 2009- is part of the response of his administration.

They accused Corzine of planting staff in other departments so his own staff's payroll would look smaller. They noted the need to staff the new lieutenant governor's office. And since Christie is married, his wife receives two aides as well.

Fair enough, perhaps. But in the end, even using the administration's own numbers, Christie has still increased the payroll of the governor's staff by about $600,000, with a higher average salary and more six-figure salaries among the employees.

That doesn't sound like shared sacrifice to us.

Also, when Christie was confronted by reporters after voting in yesterday's school budget vote, one of his counter attacks was "shoddy reporting" by the ASSOCIATED PRESS.

Below....Chris Christie makes his entry as #3 on the WORST PERSONS list.

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(3) And finally....after all of this heavy lifting, its time for a laugh. Last week Jon Stewart told Fox News to "go f%#k themselves". And on THE O'REILLY FACTOR Fox mouthpiece Bernard Goldberg got mad, and then decided to get even. Bernie called out Jon, more or less calling him a no talent Jay Leno clone who gets away with using the "F Bomb".

But of course....Goldberg only provided more material for Jon, who gave us this classic counter attack; be patient the last couple of minutes are set to music.



A quick edit.... I removed the video because of a problem with the html; BLOGGER wouldn't save it. But if you want to see Jon Stewart at his best, check out Bernie Goldberg Strikes Back on COMEDY CENTRAL"s Daily Show page


That's all folks! I'll be back later.


Just one more edit.... While on COMEDY CENTRAL I checked out Stewart's interview with John O'Hara, one of the founders of the Tea Party movement....and it was an eye opener. O'Hara came across as an articulate and fiscally responsible concerned citizen- and a conservative libertarian- who seems to be as disaffected by most Republicans as well Democrats, and was able to state his case minus the angry rhetoric and finger pointing.

THE DAILY SHOW is far from being a news program, but there are many times when it can be of more benefit than the 24 hour news machines. Both Stewart and O'Hara were able to sit, talk, and laugh while O'Hara stateed his case about his movement being more than just about angry middle aged Obama hating white guys and assorted wingnuts.

Maybe their movement should showcase him more often and ask Bachmann, Palin, Broun, and all of the assorted other loudmouths to stay home and watch the proceedings from the friendly confines of their rec room couch.

One last edit....no, I really mean it this time.....The usual suspects at Fox are going bonkers about Jon Stewart mocking them. To get a feel for what is being said (and comments by Fox news supporters), take a look at the latest YouTube videos tagged "Jon Stewart". He certainly struck a nerve.

A job well done Jon!

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | Limbaugh Lies About Big Branch Mine: No, Rush, It Wasn’t Union

Rush Limbaugh, aka "America's Great White Gasbag", once again has demonstrated that he's not about to let the truth stand in the way of his version of the story.

Limbaugh has alleged that the United Mine Workers failed to protect their members, whom, he claims were among the 29 miners killed in the blast at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, owned and operated by the Massey Energy Company.

But here's the problem with statement....Upper Big Branch was NOT a union mine.

When challenged about his claim about Upper Big Branch being a union mine, click the video below to hear what Rush Limbaugh said, in his own words.





Alright, Massey did rehire 85 miners in the case mentioned in 2009.

But here's the deal....it was at the Cannelton mine, which is not even in Raleigh County, where the Upper Big Branch mine is located.

Even Fox News got that point right. Rush Limbaugh didn't.

And even if that was the case....how is the onus put on the UMWA for Massey running an unsafe mine? What kind of twisted logic is that?

And calling it logic of any sort is a stretch.

READ MORE....from AFL-CIO NOW BLOG

Senator Blanche Lincoln Ran Ads Saying She Supported AND Opposed Healthcare Reform

In keeping with today's April Fool's Day theme, its another one of those things that only seem to happen in the circus we call American Politics.

From Keith Olbermann on COUNTDOWN and his Worst Persons In The World- Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln. Senator Lincoln has run ads in Arkansas telling her TV audience that she was opposed to the public option and healthcare reform (she voted against it, and also against the fixes after the Bill was returned to the Senate after it was passed by the House). But now Lincoln is running ads saying that she stood by the President for the passage of healthcare reform.

(As a sidebar when you GOOGLE Search "Blanche Lincoln", one of the sponsored links is www.ScraptheBill.org, which is dedicated to the repeal of "Obamacare".)

Ahhh....with friends like Senator Blanche.....

Also included in the "Worst Persons", old reliables Dick Morris and Rush Limbaugh.

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Progressive Eruptions: CONSERVATIVE DAVID FRUM TALKS ABOUT THE HEALTH CARE FIGHT AND THE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE GOP

Conservative columnist and former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum blogs about President Obama and the Democrat's win on healthcare reform and how it has become the "Waterloo" of the Republicans and the Conservative movement. It is reproduced on the Progressive Eruptions blog, with my thanks.



Progressive Eruptions: CONSERVATIVE DAVID FRUM TALKS ABOUT THE HEALTH CARE FIGHT AND THE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE GOP

Quick Hits For February 2, 2010- Groundhog Day Edition

Saturday I was going to catch up on some of the latest news, including Presidents Obama's amazing performance on Friday.....but my cable modem had other ideas.

So lets catch some "brain droppings" in this new edition of "Quick Hits".

(1). On Friday we were given some remarkable theater when President Obama went to a meeting of 140 Republican House members with cable news channels covering the event live- that is, until FOX News broke away when it became apparent that the GOP was getting an old fashioned ass kickin'. This reminded me of a classic western movie when the sheriff (played by Henry Fonda) stands in front of his jail, alone except for his trusty shotgun, and stares down the angry lynch mob and wins the day for truth and justice in America. Amen!

Some Republican leaders told media members off the record that allowing live cameras at the meeting was a huge tactical blunder on their part. The odds were 140 to one but Obama again showed why he is the President- with the camera's rolling and the nation watching he again demonstrated that he was the smartest guy in the room. President Obama confronted critics from the GOP who spend much time, energy, and campaign contributions attempting to demonize him....and laid his cards on the table.




(2). And about FOX NEWS breaking away from the President and the GOP's meeting on Friday. Sunday morning on ABC's This Week Fox News chief Roger Ailes was asked by roundtable panelist Ariana Huffington why Fox stopped their live coverage and switched over to studio commentary. Ailes asnwered "Because Fox is the most trusted name in news".

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Its not about news or trustworthiness.....its about ratings.

(3). And speaking of FOX...."the most trusted name in news" even found its way into the Miss America Pageant, where current FOX AND FRIENDS host and former Miss America Gretchen Carlson served as an on stage co-host. Sitting on the panel of judges was a man who has openly rooted on the President of the United States to fail, who has told his listeners not to contribute to Haitian relief, and has questioned climate change and global warming.

That's right. Rush Limbaugh was a Miss America judge.

One of the Miss America platforms is "going green". And there was a call during the broadcast for contributions for the relief of earthquake ravaged Haiti.

Does anybody else see just a little irony here?

When the Miss America Organization signed on Limbaugh, it might as well be for life. Could you imagine the verbal pounding they would get if they ever tried to dump him? He'd be calling them the biggest Bolsheviks since 1917, and a threat to truth, justice and his version of the American Way.

Oh yeah, I forgot....its about ratings.

Again.

(4) Rex Ryan.....the New York Jets head coach has apologized for flipping the bird to razzing Miami Dolphin fans when Ryan was in South Florida recently. Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams was fined $250,000 for doing a two handed flip-off of Buffalo Bills fans by Commissioner Roger Goodell.



Adams was guilty of multiple two handed flips while Ryan, to the best of our knowledge, only gave a single solitary flip. I counted six flips for Bud, only one for Rex. So if six flips costs 250K, I guess Ryan's Birdie is worth....rounding off....call it 50 grand.

(5). Finally....Punxsutawney Phil was awakened by those idiot humans with top hats, with cameras rolling , and saw his shadow.

The "Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators" has spoken.....well sort of.

Time to wash me long johns.

Orlando Sentinel - The TV Guy – George W. Bush on Rush Limbaugh’s Haiti comments: Now’s not the time to focus on politics

On this morning's FACE THE NATION Bob Schieffer asked former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush about Rush Limbaugh's comments about contributing to Haitian relief

READ MORE....from Hal Boedeker and THE ORLANDO SENTINEL

Rush Limbaugh enters race to the bottom on Haiti | DD Guttenplan | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

How are Rush Limbaugh's comments about Haiti playing out overseas? Here's one example from the UK's GUARDIAN.co.uk.

The author, D.D. Guttenplan, has more disdain for Limbaugh than Keith Olbermann, if you can believe that.

READ MORE....from guardian.co.uk

Gibbs: Limbaugh's Haiti comments 'really stupid' | Politics News | Comcast.net

Way back in the day, when Al Franken was still doing his comedy schtik on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, before his stint on AIR AMERICA radio, he wrote a book called Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot. It was pretty funny stuff....cruel at times, but a guy as divisive as Rush deserved the shots he took.

More than a decade has passed....and Rush is bigger, fatter, and dumber than ever.

Exhibit 151,712A....Rush told his radio audience on Wednesday that he thought money donated through the White House website for Haiti's earthquake relief wouldn't go to its target. Furthermore, Rush told his "Dittoheads" that its not necessary to contribute to the Haitian relief effort, because the Haiti already gets money via American's income taxes.

Today Presidential spokesmen Robert Gibbs called out Limbaugh....



READ MORE....From Comcast.net

Along with "big fat idiot"....I'll add "pathetic excuse for a human being" to Mr. Limbaugh's job description.

Olbermann On Limbaugh, Robertson, and The Haitian Earthquake

Keith Olbermann saying its stronger and more forcefully than I ever could.

Quick Hits- "For The New Decade, And Beyond, Mr. Spock"

To any and all...Happy Twenty-Ten!!!!!

(1). "Y2k"....it seems like only yesterday. And obviously there are a few young readers who have no idea what I'm referring to.

(2) Biggest story of the last decade....obviously 9/11 and its aftermath. Runnerup- the economic meltdown of 2008. Also- Hurricane Katrina, the rise of Barack Obama, the collective Bush Years, Iraq, Afghanistan, the proliferation of "reality TV"....and the how technology changed our lives forever.

(3) Holding that thought about how technology changed our lives- for some reason I was thinking about 2001: A Space Odyssey- probably because we are now in the year of its sequel, 2010. Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick created a scenario in the original 2001 where the computer, "HAL 9000" actually becomes a villain when it senses that the mission of the Jupiter-bound spacecraft is in jeopardy, and begins to kill off the crew members. In the real New Millennium we don't have murderous computers trying to systematically whack us. But what has happened is a dependency on this wonderland of new technology in which we feel lost when we are denied it, even for short periods of time. Do you think that's a stretch? Well, look at what happened a couple of weeks ago with the glitch that prevented Blackberry usage. People seemed lost; some even went into a panic. How many people have the need to have their devices on all of the time, and never- ever- turn them off.

No....mankind has no morphed into robots. But there is a kind of cyborgization that is going on- the technology is starting to rule and dominate lives rather than be there to serve us. And that is dangerous on a psychological level.

"Man does not live by bread alone". But he has voluntarily added a variety of electronic appendages which it seems have taken over aspects of life...."down time" is a thing of the past, and everybody is "on", 24/7. Frankly, I don't think that's a good.....or a healthy....thing.

(4). Charlie Daniels plays a mean fiddle, Ed "Too Tall" Jones is still "too tall", and Elmer Fudd still has trouble with the letter "R". OK GEICO, we get it. The same commercials on again and again and again.

But I suppose we have to live with these new ads. The Cavemen appear to be occupied.

(5). I will give him some credit where it is due- Rush Limbaugh seems to be coming around, if ever so slightly. He was recently hospitalized for chest pains while vacationing in Hawaii. he was treated at Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, and according to a report from ABC News the doctors found nothing wrong.

But here's what I found interesting....at least he is, by implication, admitting that President Obama might be a native US citzen after all.

Stay with me, OK? Limbaugh came out with this quote at his news conference...

"Based on what happened to me here, I don't think there is one thing wrong with the American healthcare system. It is working just fine".

So he admitted to the press that he was treated by the American healthcare system, while in Hawaii; therefore, by implication, the worldly Mr. Limbaugh is saying that Hawaii actually IS part of the United States.

And if that is the case, and Barack Obama has a birth certificate (plus a birth announcement in a local paper) from Hawaii he, our Chief Executive and Commander-In-Chief, must have been born in the United States.

So to any "birthers' out there....your man Rush just dissed you and your moronic theories.

So stop mouth breathing and deal with it!

(6). I went to the Rutgers women's basketball game this afternoon and watched them almost snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. A ten point lead with less than four minutes to go shrank to two with less than 15 seconds left....they survived with 60-57 win over DePaul. They still have a ton of growing up to do.

(7). The destruction in the Sugar Bowl of Cincinnati by Florida 51-24- and record setting performance by Tom Tebow- will give the critics of the Big East more fuel for their fiery rhetoric that the conference is not worthy of an automatic BCS bid. As a Big East fan, it was too much to watch. I turned it off at halftime and watched old reruns of the 1950's western HAVE GUN- WILL TRAVEL with Richard Boone for the duration. Paired with the loss by West Virginia at the Gator Bowl to Florida State 33-21, New Year's Day wasn't so good for the Big East. Today UCONN handled South Carolina rather easily 20-7 in THE PAPA JOHN's, and USF beat Northern Illinois in The INTERNATIONAL BOWL 27-3. Overall the Big East finished the bowl season 4-2. Its nice to have a winning record, and it is good for the conference. But its hard to spin a beating of the conference champion in a BCS game the way Cincy was destroyed- it was men vs boys, the Washington Generals vs the Globetrotters....it was a situation where one team didn't appear worthy of sharing the same space as the other.

And I'm pulling my punches here.

In order for the Big East to regain the respect it had before Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College bolted for the ACC the conference has to schedule out of conference better, and it has to be competitive in BCS games, year in and year out.

And that goes for my beloved Rutgers Scarlet Knights as well...no more two 1AA opponents.

(8). In closing......thank you Coach Bowden! There will never be anyone quite like you again.

"Daddgummitt!"