Bush proves yet again that he's a coward. Can you imagine being afraid of poets?
Update: I'm proud to say that the fear of poets link inspired my favorite doggerelist to write Leaves of Crass. Go read it. You'll be glad you did.
I'm glad to see that Ted Kennedy is trying to undue some of the damage his fellow Democrats did when they had a severe case of Irresolution Blues.
Uh-oh! It looks like my pal Skippy's invading my turf. Damn, he's good!
Jeff Cooper's back from hiatus, at last, with a
fine State of the Union post. Which reminds me -- I was planning to pull together a good sampling of commentary about Bush's SOTU speech. But Avedon Carol beat me to it and did a bang-up job.
I don't think Joe Lieberman's gonna like this website. But progressive Democrats who can't figure out what the hell he's doing in our party should find it amusing.
Someone please explain this to me: Why on earth would Bush do a half-hour interview and insist on being identified as a senior administration official? Talk about silly! It's not as if his pearls of wisdom could be mistaken for anybody else.
I took the Hipster Quiz and failed. What a disappointment!
Dubya's speech leaves me ... uh ... speechless. But he did inspire a new toon. I've got to go to sleep now and have me some nightmares.
This new (to me, at least) site looks very valuable. Regulations.gov provides info about pending federal regulations and allows you to submit your objections (okay ... comments) online.
Here's some humor to help get you through the horror referred to in polite company as Bush's State of the Union speech:
Oh my God! Dave Barry is now a blogger. To what do we owe this frightening development? Ken Layne has fessed up to the dirty deed. Welcome to
Weblog Wonderland, Mr. Barry. From now on, when people make fun of me for wasting my time blogging, I'll just say "if it's good enough for
Le Dave, it's good enough for me.
Thanks to Larry Simon for the Dave Barry link. And a huge thanks to Stephen Bates for showing me how to use the title tag to comment on my links, thereby creating a monster. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, allow your mouse to hover over the links in this post for bonus snarkitude.)
The American Dialect Society has named "weapons of mass destruction"
word (or phrase) of the year 2002. "Google" and "blog" were first and second runners up, respectively.
Not bad, although I still think they should have brought back 1990's word of the year: bushlips. As you might guess, "bushlips" means "insincere political rhetoric."
Like Poppy, like son.
Campaign 2000 Acid Flashback reminds us just how obvious Dubya's shortcomings were during the debates, as if we needed a reminder. And Digby's Tim Russert talking heads parody just below it is very funny. (Via the Watch.)
I just emailed the latest edition of my not-even-close-to-weekly weekly newsletter. If you'd like to read it, it's posted here. And subscribe info is here.
Attention fans of liberal humor! One of the funniest fellows on the Net has joined the ranks of progressive bloggers. I'm talking about Stephen Bates, the Doggerel King. He's converted his Yellow Doggerel Democrat site to a Blog/Dog combo he calls BlogDoggerel. So now you get to read his weblog type commentary in addition to witty doggerel treasures like this, this and this, which he produces almost as fast as you can read them.
So be sure to visit him, link to him, and add him to your blog rolls. And tell him not to be mad at me. Cause he told me he didn't want a big announcement. But I just couldn't help myself.
January 19, 2003 (Conservative Bloggers, Time, Affirmative Action)
Public Service Announcement: From now on you can avoid the heartbreaking anguish of reading conservative blogs. Simply read and bookmark CalPundit's handy summary.
On Monday, January 20th, we celebrate the halfway point of Bush's administration. Okay, maybe "celebrate" isn't exactly the right word. But I think the anniversary deserves a song, don't you? And so I offer "Prez From Old New England." Feel free to sing along to "Girl From Ipanema," using this midi link.
Prez From Old New England By Madeleine Begun Kane
Tall and tan and brash and ornery,
The Prez from old New England goes talking,
And when he rants, yes, the Dems he bashes go -- Bah!
When he talks, he jumbles grammar,
Does things so cruel, he's surely mental,
And when he acts out, the Dems he freaks out go -- No!
Ooh, how I watch him so sadly.
How did we get stuck with Dubya?
Yes, he has fouled things up badly.
So each day of his Presidency
Just fills me with dread -- Woe is me!
Tall and tan and brash and ornery.
The Prez from old New England goes talking,
And when he rants, yes, I'm riled at old Forty-three.
Tall and tan with macho attitude,
The Prez from old New England goes plotting,
And when he plots, yes, the Dems who loathe him go -- Bah!
Phony threats and oil fueled war plans,
Didn't pay his dues, but brays judgmental,
And when he acts out, the Dems he freaks out go -- No!
Ooh, how I watch him so sadly.
How were we saddled with Dubya?
Yes, he has mucked things up badly.
And each day of his Presidency
Just fills me with dread -- Woe is me!
Tall and tan and brash and ornery,
The Prez from old New England goes talking,
And when he rants, yes, I'm riled cause old Forty-three
Won't let us be free,
Acts preemptively.
(Caution to Republicans: I accept no responsibility for your elevated blood pressure should you choose to view what Mad has created.)
This just in -- evil woman that I am, I've apparently lured Skippy into the world of comic stripping. Which is only fair, since Larry lured me.
So, will Geitner be next? Will Geitner's Republican readers suffer comic strip induced heart attacks? And will they hire the few trial lawyers Dubya hasn't put out of business to bring tort suits against Geitner and me? Evil tort suits, nearly as massive as their coronaries?
And will... I think I have to stop now.
Greeblie's hosting Carnival of the Vanities this week. So go check out all the great entries. This just in -- the Vanities hot potato passes to the worthy hands of Meryl Yourish next week.
Here's something so cool, I almost can't stand it. You can create comic strips online, even if you're as artistically challenged as I am. (Via Larry Simon) My first effort features my old pal George Dubya.
This weekend I emailed the latest edition of my not-even-close-to-weekly weekly newsletter. If you'd like to read it, it's posted here. It includes the Dubya Quote Quiz, Dubya's Dayly Diary excerpts, my Class Action Song Parody, Mad Searches, site reviews, and my MadLines Quiz. Subscribe info is here.
Shortly before the election, I wrote a satirical Bush/Cheney/Rove dialogue about Harvey Pitt which almost immediately looked off target. Why? Because the premise of Handling Harvey was that the Bush administration was just pretending to consider asking for Harvey Pitt's resignation. And that once the election was over they'd happily keep him on. Pitt's resignation, which took place shortly after I posted my piece, made my satire seem a bit foolish, much to my chagrin.
The board was formally introduced today by Harvey L. Pitt, who remains the chairman of the S.E.C. despite resigning two months ago because of criticism over the selection of the new oversight agency. He continues to serve during one of the commission's busiest rule-making periods in history and plans to remain until the confirmation of William H. Donaldson, who has been selected to succeed him. That process could take months.
Once again, the GOP proves its mastery of the having-their-cake-and-eating-it-too non-resignation resignation. (Remember
Katherine Harris?)
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