Why Won't She Just Go Away?

But the buzz is that Clinton may take it a step further and have her name formally placed before the convention, complete with nominating speeches, seconding speeches and all the hoopla they produce."


(Picture created by the loving plaster encased hands of Driznastic in exchange for 3 PBR and a half a pack of Newports . . . delicious)

Bootleg Sleestacks for McCain!

So our lovely Wonkette posted an email they received from one "Robert S" informing the reader off a YouTube video he posted that is "narrated by Mr. W. McSpeedy, a character I created for the sole purpose of what the video is all about." The email (while hilarious) does not include a link to anything. Instead, it rambles (seemingly) endlessly about this Mr. W. McSpeedy and a certain Sen. Zero whom "holds the opposite political position of that Mr. W. McSpeedy stands for." Fortunately, someone in the "comments" section knows how to use a search box ... here 'tis ... it is truly ... something ...



Serious Warning Message: You will not get the 5:40 minutes of your life back if you choose to watch it in its entirety. However, I do recommend you at least watch until 2:30.

never mind the lyrics

... that track is wack.

Obama campaign criticizes Ludacris

more of that liberal bias in the media

More on the Liberal Media's love affair with Obama, and how they don't give equal time to McCain ...

The number of times Senator John McCain’s new advertisement attacking Senator Barack Obama for canceling a visit with wounded troops in Germany last week has been shown fully or partly on local, national and cable newscasts: well into the hundreds. The number of times that spot actually, truly ran as a paid commercial: roughly a dozen.

on the McCain ad ...

As an announcer says, “He made time to go to the gym, but canceled a visit with wounded troops,” the spot shows Mr. Obama playing basketball — without noting that it was during a visit he made to active-duty troops in Kuwait earlier in the week.

brilliant.

i.d.i.o.t.s.

Why do I feel like 90% of my time on The Bluntest is spent pointing out what idiots people are.

here's my latest find of idiocy, courtesy of "Luke Boggs a writer living in Alpharetta"

his story Obama's frequent regrets may make us sorry

anyone with a 3rd grade education (even an American 3rd grade education) can immediately see through/debunk this "article" ... my heightened annoyance stems from the combination of this being on Google News' main page and me being on my 5th beer. my favorite quote ...

So what jumped out at me was how quickly Obama regretted his decision. And that, in turn, made me wonder how often the senator has regretted other choices. Answer: pretty often. (Googling "Obama" and "regrets" yields more than a million hits.)

(the "decision" Obama regretted was to put his kiddies on the teevee)

Ol' Boggy then goes on to describe exactly three (3) times Obama has "regretted" something. One (1) for each year 2006-2008. First off, 3 regrets in 3 years for someone who is NEW to the scrutiny of the public eye is a pretty good record. Especially since one of the "Regrets" listed was letting his daughters be on Entertainment Tonight, or whatever show it was. I dunno, maybe there's a direct link there to National Security Policy I'm just not seeing. Just because Obama acknowledged making mistakes doesn't indict him as the only politicians who DOES make mistakes. Bush's M.O. has been the political equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and screaming "NAHNAHNAHNAHNAHNAH". Really, all of this makes me wonder; what is with this strange national obsession against a president showing humility? I understand the current precedence (of at least the past 8 years) is that our Commander-in-Chief does what he damn-well-pleases and not-never-no-how apologizes for anything. But ...... I mean, even conservatives don't like Bush anymore, so what gives? Have people already forgotten what happens when a head strong president does what he wants? We end up in 2 quagmire wars with no end and no purpose, a faltering economy and a severely damaged ecological state. If this is the best The Right can come up with against Obama, they should take those McCain campaign bucks and hire Karl Rove back. Though he's so busy ducking subpoenas from Congress he might not have time ...

oh, and i'm just taking a break from freelance work right now ... s'only reason i'm up and mostly sober at 3am ...

########ADDENDUM

the folks over at Bad Idea Blog read the same article and had a similar reaction.

maybe i should get a tv

speakin of mccain ... so as previously noted in yesterday's post i had opportunity to watch some tv this past early part of the week ... being in madison at my gal's place and sick i didn't have a whole lot of options or energy so the ol' picture-radio was the way to go ... in addition to the daily show, i watched an episode of the x-files on the sci-fi network, which included a run of ads for the new "battlestar galactica" series currently airing on that network ... it took a few plays of the same ad until i finally realized ... hey! that guy looks like john mccain! not being a fan i had to look him up ... colonel saul tigh ... YOUR gop candidate for 2008 ...





all the fun i miss by not owning an idiot box ...

she might have won the battle ...

but we will win ... the NEXT battle ...

good news for those in the obama camp ... the NYT breaks down the trend of clinton vs obama votes ... things are lookin good!

stole

via wonkette

i chortled burrito upon reading.

"Bitter" Obama, Guns and Religion

How he should have said it recently is how he said it in 2004 on Charlie Rose

I really gotta learn how to embed videos . . . .

It's 3 AM and There's a Phone Ringing . . . .

and it's coming from inside your pants!!!

Ok, so I couldn't find the clip I was looking for.

That little girl wants Obama answering the phone, not Clinton

LOOK AT HIM

click to make big!

he just can't stop dancin!

yeah, ungh ...
on the good foot!

Animation courtesy DryFact; found in Wonkette's comment section

At the end of Lil Bush's press conference to announce his endorsement of McCain, someone starts shouting "One press conference (a year) if your elected senator?" at which point Bush Jr. speaketh "I see we invited some unruly members of the fourth estate here today. I told the senator we would have a nice polite group here today and I'm disappointed in the conduct of some of blahblahblah"

i know it goes without saying, but bush should not be lecturing anyone on poor conduct.

i question that bush even understands what "fourth estate" means.

it is a grand ol' party, ain't it ?

i don't care anymore, the current GOP sucks. its supporters, officials, and pundits are the most hateful, small-minded, bigoted individuals in this country. i can sympathize on some GOP views on fiscal policy, but that's about it. that being said, lets look back at how awesome the GOP has rocked the house lately ...

"All's going to be right with the world when the great prophet from Chicago takes the stand, and the world leaders who want to kill us will simply be singing ["Kumbaya"] together around the table with Barack Obama," Cunningham continued." ... that from bill cunningham, the enigmatic conservative radio host and all around american-style douche bag. he hates the media! and accused the new york times of pushing obama's agenda as well as calling down every other news outlet for unfairly portraying poor bush jr and cheney as bad guys! awww. well, look, when your jesus-god-baby-president has an approval rating 19%, maybe you should stop pointing fingers and start wondering "why?". oh, but mostly... just shut the fuck up.

i know this is weeks old, but i feel it got swept under the rug due to the primaries. its (yet another) shining example of closeted pervs hiding within the GOP ranks in order to appear moral. it's rep rober mckee of marlyand! and guess what! he loves teh child pornos! so much in fact that he was executive director of "Big Brothers Big Sisters" (a child mentoring program) and sponsored bills such as "Child Protection From Predators Act" and a bill to collect DNA from other sexual goof-balls! nice work robby, he must be glad that his diligent efforts to keep our children safe worked so well.

whoa. this is starting to get into a level of conspiracy theory even i'm uncomfortable writing about with sincerity. however, the sources are all cited, "seem credible" and lead to one very disturbing conclusion that many of us know, but don't want to admit. that republican "think tanks" and "advisers" are calling alot more shots then we ever thought. from the supreme court to your local tv.

a very obama valentine's day, pt. 2

your cards for the day



btw, bogardus hunny, that page you posted goes to someone trying to SELL that domain name, you can't actually buy anything there. all the images on there are from someone elses cafepress site or something ... however, i do like the button of obama wearing his own shirt.

UPDATES!

more cards



presenting ... YOUR FEDERAL BUDGET! ... this is awesome, and has a neat lil application so you can zoom in and check the details, just how does the US government squander YOUR tax dollars, find out! its the 2008 Death and Taxes Graph ... oh, and someone should buy that and give it to me. thanks!

a very obama valentine's day

ask and ye shall receive pimpernel ... give one, get one!

It's the official 2008 Barack Obama Valentines Day Cards!

more each day!

vote vote in the moat

i'm being bad today and not voting ... i know, way to set an example, but i moved last year and didn't update my voter registration info so i'm still registered in my old neighborhood which is no where near a train, and a pain to get to on the bus. ya see, i thought when i renewed my drivers license they would also update stuff like that, but i guess not ... i work till 6 and the polls close at 7 ... plus i have rehearsal at 8 ... so get off my back already, god! plus, we all know the Big B.O. got chicago on lock, and thats who'd get my vote ... bros before hos .... ya heard !?

helpful links ...

chicago board of elections
cook county board of elections
the best man for the job
the best woman for the job
there's some other guys running too i heard, but i'm pretty sure they're a bunch of backward-thinking hate/war-mongering fundamentalists, so they get no love.

courtesy of pimpernel who can't post at the moment
rules for the illinois primaries

Race or Gender?

Yeah, more election posts. You're going to keep getting these for almost another year, so save your whining. It's gonna be a long winter . . . .

Gender or race: Black women voters face tough choices in S.C. There's a couple of problems with this article: 1) it assumes that voters can't get past either race or gender; 2) being a white male, I also face the same "problem" when deciding over Obama and Clinton; 3) CNN is already saying Edwards is the last man on a sinking ship of a campaign; 4) I guess there are no black female Republicans in S.C. (quit your laughing, there's gotta be at least a couple, right? A female Clayton Bigsby? You might not want to click on that link if you're at work.)

34+72=awesome

courtesy chicago's own hyde park records (admittedly, i haven't made it down there, but i've heard good things)

and the angels sang ...

have a listen

more on perry's musical career

As Fat Boys become fat men obviously some of the magic that came from their unadulterated youth began to fade. That particular magic had never really been in Stettler’s plans, however. He was a plugger, and he was looking for blatant, shameless ways to cash in, crossover and get that money. The first desperately blatant cash-in project was the 1985 single "CHILLIN WITH THE REFRIGERATOR" (Sutra, 1985). That record seemed more natural than forced, however, as William Perry, star of the media-darlings Super Bowl champ ‘85-86 Chicago Bears, was a joyful, youthful, mammoth novelty star himself. It’s not surprising that they made him "an honorary Fat Boy" on the record, as they sang his praises and honored him by offering Perry "pizza, spaghetti and a pound of veal." Perry posed with the boys for the cover, but doesn’t rap on the record...
info courtesy rocktober
here's the cover

pimpernel, i'm gunnin for yer job as sports-guy of this blog

baby mama drama

and back to politics ... i have a feeling ol' mitt has been left off the bluntest hating because he is just so freakin crazy none of us feel compelled to ridicule ... so i'm doing right by ol' mitt ... especially if you live in michigan, please click that link ... because the GOP deserves the very best

Obama

His concession speech from the NH primary.

If this guy isn't our next president, I really have to question what is going on in the heads or over 50% of America

Who is Mike Huckabee?

Besides having a decidely un-presidential name, who is this man? Sure, he's got some nice endorsements, but where does he stand on these (not so) talked about issues? So, let's go straight to the source . . . .

Here's the one that caught my eye: taxes. So he says he wants to do away with the IRS and all income/payroll taxes. So where would the government be getting the revenue to provide for things such as Social Security, Medicare and also pay for the ever expanding cost of Iraq and Afghanistan?

Answer: The Fair Tax! (If you're too lazy to read the article, it's basically a federal sales tax.)

Ok, so we get that it's fair or it wouldn't be called the Fair Tax. Just like the Patriot Act was the essential act of patriotism, right? (Sorry, too early in the post to start getting snarky.)

To determine if it really is fair, lets see what the consequences of the Fair Tax would be:
All revenue previously acquired by the Feds by the IRS would have to come from the federal sales tax. What does this mean?

The amount you pay in taxes will no longer be determined by how much your total income is, but by how much you spend. For example, if an household makes $50k a year and another household makes $200k a year and they both spend $50k that year, they'll be taxed for the same amount. Household 2 would end up saving that $150k a year without any tax implications.

I pay sales tax at the store everyday, so what?

Well, the intention is to encourage people to save money and invest it rather than spend it on the house built of golden steel or the diamond car with the platinum wheels. (Yeah, that's a mean sousaphone in the back.) There are two problems with this: 1) when a household cannot afford to save or invest; and 2) there are already tax incentives to save and invest.

When a Household Cannot Afford to Save/Invest
Say a household brings in an income of the poverty level. Under the Fair Tax, the household would receive a check from the federal government each month for the amount of taxes they would pay if they spent their entire income. Every household receives a check for the taxable amount of the poverty level, regardless of their income. The problem is, however, that until they receive that check, they're being taxed. So, for simplicity of math's sake, let's say that the poverty level is $20k and the tax rate is 30%. (The 30% tax rate is what is suggested by Fair Tax proponents, but opponents suggest that it will need to be 34% to equal the same amount of revenue brought in by the government.) Each month they'd be taxed as they make purchases and have to wait for their refund check so they can get by. Essentially it'll create a lower class that is dependent on receiving their tax reimbursement check to get by. Any problems receiving this check could have dire consequences, especially since 30+% is such a large percentage.

Oh yeah, and this whole system would create a RIDICULOUSLY HUGE bureaucracy to mail out checks to every household, figure out who is in what household, when someone has moved, when someone has died, etc. And they'll have to keep this going every single month. I'm guessing that'll be pretty expensive for the taxpayers.

There are Current Save/Invest Incentives
If you have an IRA, 401(k) or any similar defined contribution plan with your employer, you are already taking advantage of some of the tax advantages offered to individuals to encourage saving for retirement as well as encouraging investment of these funds. The money deposited into your 401(k) account is withdrawn from your paycheck before being taxed and deposited in your own personal account where it gains interest without being taxed. It is only taxed when you retired and take the money out of your account.

Now, if you have a Roth 401(k) or a Roth IRA the Fair Tax is pretty much the worst situation. You've already paid your taxes, probably cause you thought that the income tax rate at the time you were going to withdraw your retirement funds would be higher than they are now. Well, with the Fair Tax, the rate would be 0.

As for investing, currently money made through investments are subject to a lower tax rate than ordinary income. Money made through the sale of investment properties are subject to the capital gains tax.

So the Fair Tax is different than the Income Tax. Does that make it bad?
I'm going to say yes. Most people make their money the old fashioned way: getting their ass to work and getting a paycheck at the end of the week. All that money you've saved up (if there is any) has already been taxed by the IRS. If we get this fantastic Fair Tax, as soon as you spend that saved money, you'll get taxed again. And you'll probably get taxed at a higher rate than you did when you first made that money.

The Fair Tax Double Tax
Say you're just some dood who makes his $45k a year. You try to be good and have been squirreling away a little here and little there, trying to get that sweet sweet house in the 'burbs you've always dreamed about. According to the 2007 IRS tax rates , about 25% of your money has already been taken through income taxes by the IRS. Now that you've saved up your 20% of that $200k house, you're ready to make a downpayment. Oh, but wait. The Fair Tax is gonna charge you a 30% take on that downpayment. So get ready to cough up another $60k for that house. Yeah, you've already paid your dues to the IRS, but tough crapola. Thanks Fair Tax!

How has the Fair Tax worked so far?
So former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee thinks the Fair Tax is a much better way to generate revenue for the government. So how has it worked for Arkansas? What's that you say? Arkansas still has an income tax? Maybe it was the AK legislature. What's that you say? Huckabee actually raised income taxes in his state? Makes you wonder why he's trying this grand experiment with the whole country when he wouldn't/couldn't do it with Arkansas.

Conclusion
This post is getting long, but I think you get the point. The Fair Tax is pretty whack. Sure, no one likes the IRS or paying taxes. Sure, paying income tax can be pretty confusing. But it works (kind of). Do you really want to roll the dice with our countries finances? Especially since we're now running a ridiculous deficit? Is this really a good idea or a ploy to get votes?

One thing is for sure though: the duty free section of the airport would be the most popular place to shop!

For some reference sites:
A Pro-Fair Tax Site
An Anti-Fair Tax Site