So, are you enjoying global warming? I know I am. Although "enjoy" probably isn't the right word. In any event, I'm way too hot and frazzled today to be especially witty. Or even slightly witty. So I thought I'd do the "Slacker Friday" thing. I figure if it's good enough for the terrific Eric Alterman, it's good enough for me.
But unlike Alterman, I'm not going to publish email today. My slacking off will take the form of stealing from myself -- reprinting several liberal site reviews that appear on my Liberal Links page. (This is just a small sampling of the great sites that I review on that page.) Here goes:
The-Broadside.com Happy days are here again for Chadsux.com fans. The folks behind it have built a terrific new liberal site with political satire, commentary, & a Chadsux specialty -- photo-toons.
Evil GOP Bastards Who can resist a site with a great name like that? I sure can't. The goal of this site is: "Exposing the hideously ugly truth about the Republican Party." And they do a fine job of it.
ChillingEffectsClearinghouse This excellent resource contains a searchable database of Cease and Desist orders and "background material and explanations of the law for people whose websites deal with topics such as Fan Fiction, Copyright, Domain Names and Trademarks, Anonymous Speech, and Defamation."
W: The Phantom Presidency If you're not a fan of Dubya, you're sure to enjoy this site "about 'W', a semi-mythical president from a semi-mythical southwestern state in a semi-mythical superpower."
The Dubya Chronicles This very entertaining site features weekly cartoons and political commentary about President George W. Bush and the current political climate.
Although I hate the heat, a certain "just pretend Texan" claims to love it. Here's what he has to say about his recent activities.
Bush knows that not everyone sees the charm of this hot, dry place, but he figures more people get it than do not. "Most Americans don't sit in Martha's Vineyard, swilling white wine," he says.
Come to think of it, he's absolutely right. Mr. Average Guy doesn't swill wine in Martha's Vineyard. He fishes and cavorts at Poppy's multi-gazillion dollar Kennebunkport private peninsula estate.
For some inexplicable reason, I felt compelled to write another song parody about blogging. (My first one is here.) So although it's still summer, I hope you'll enjoy singing Weblog Wonderland to the tune of Winter Wonderland.
Weblog Wonderland (Inspired by Winter Wonderland by Smith & Bernard)
Bloggers zing, are you list'nin'?
Some are vain, some are bristlin'.
The left and the right
Are happy tonight.
Surfin' in a weblog wonderland.
"Bombs away," say the blog hawks.
"War's insane," other blogs balk.
Some sing Bush love songs.
Some shout that he's wrong.
Surfin' in a weblog wonderland.
Some right bloggers like to build up straw men.
Then they brag that they have knocked 'em down.
Daring lefts to parry,
They'll say, "No, man."
"Your reasoning is flawed and you're a clown."
Later on, they'll conspire,
Plannin' posts packed with ire.
They face unafraid
The rantin', the raves.
Surfin' in a weblog wonderland.
In the middle few can be a showman,
While displayin' balance, wit, and clout.
Strong opinions rule the day in blogland.
Until some other bloggers knock 'em down.
Heated prose, ain't it thrillin'
When it flows, when it's chillin'?
Some post every day.
They must have their say.
Surfin' in a weblog wonderland.
Some post every day.
They relish the fray.
Surfin' in a weblog wonderland.
Jim Capozzola over at The Rittenhouse Review has lots of goodies, as always. I especially enjoyed his Mary Matalin comments:
The second howler is really more of a misstatement or an odd Freudian slip. Matalin maintains that the Bush administration is focused on jobs, “it’s all about jobs,” she says. Better yet, the administration wants to make sure “everyone who has a job wants one.”
And thus the pursuit of happiness takes on an entirely new meaning. And a great way to increase unemployment.
I can only add that Matalin has apparently been spending waaaaaaaaay too much time with Dubya.
Will the ABA show some guts re Bush administration policies? I certainly hope so.
Question: Is Bush's anti-lawyer stance tinged by feelings of law-degreeless inadequacy? Or is it just a convenient way to help insurance co. pals, scapegoat issues like soaring health care costs, and appear to be a man of the lawyer-hating people? I vote for all of the above.
Of course Bush is something far more impressive than a mere lawyer/Prez: Dubya's the first MBA/CEO President, inspiring MBAers everywhere to hide their degrees.
Don't miss the trend: the president and his spokespersons are going to do what they can to shift the focus of evil-doing in the economy from business executives to trial lawyers.
Why is it my favorite blog of all time?
Because of the depth of its coverage, its insider savvy, and because life is unthinkable without commentary like this:
Now that the White House has begun to put out the details of the president's economic summit, it isn't too soon to ask: will Mr. Bush be able to pay attention to what goes on even during the limited stretches his advisers plan to make him attend.
The comparisons to Bill Clinton, who sat at these types of thing not only paying rapt attention but orchestrating serious, intense discussion, are going to be in the air.
If you ever saw George W. Bush at a National Governors Association meeting, or at one of the policy events during the 2000 campaign, you know that his attention span for this kind of stuff is about as long as a CNN News Alert.
Once again, Arianna Huffington does a great job skewering the Bush administration. In this column she Huffinizes its Double H offshore tax havens spin. Methinks the White House could use some anti-hypocrisy pills plus some new spinmeisters.
