Monday’s Mini-Report

November 20, 2006

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* That ridiculous O.J. Simpson project we’ve all been hearing about? It’s been scrapped. As the AP reported, News Corp. says it has canceled publication of the book and television special “If I Did It.” Rupert Murdoch reportedly decided that the project was “ill-considered.”

* The Bush gang intervened to make sure that outgoing Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R) not become the next chairman of the Republican National Committee, but don’t worry, they have big plans in mind for the failed Senate candidate. According to Bob Novak, the Bush gang is urging Steele to forgo a job in government and instead try broadcasting. “Bush political strategists have told Steele a high-ranking post in the administration’s last two years would curb his independence and cramp his style. Instead, they advised, he could be ‘a black Rush Limbaugh.'”

* I’m not sure why, but people sure are having a tough time coming to terms with Tom Schaller’s thesis about Democrats and the South.

* It’s a few days old, but this take from CBS’s Dick Meyer on House Republican “weirdos” was highly entertaining. Unfortunately, as always seems to be the case, Meyer refrained from telling the public about the problem until after the damage had already been done.

* Bye-bye to Bush’s warrantless eavesdropping program? Perhaps. At a minimum, the administration is going to have to answer a few pesky questions from a co-equal branch of government.

* The Bush administration prefers the phrase “low food security” to “hunger.” Seriously.

* A few House races remain unresolved. As soon as they’re decided, we’ll know who won the Carpetbagger predictions contest.

* Congrats to the Houston janitors, who seem to have scored a big win today.

* I was very sorry to hear that some leading conservatives are prepared to throw my adopted home state out of the Union altogether.

* Fox News’ ratings continue to slide. Badly.

* Speaking of Fox News, I know Bill O’Reilly’s audience tends to be much older than the average talk show, but this is just silly. You can almost hear him saying, “Kids these days with their new-fangled machines….” Seriously, when someone starts lashing out at iPods as contributing to a “staggeringly negative effect” on the country, they’ve reached Official Crank status.

* Tom Noe, sentenced to 18 years behind bars.

* No Child Left Behind is still leaving plenty of children behind.

* Remember the actress who played a bimbo in the racist Tennessee ads against Harold Ford? She now wants to be taken seriously. “I can be serious,” Johanna Goldsmith said. “I can be a mom.”

If none of these particular items are of interest, consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.

* I was very sorry to hear that some leading conservatives are prepared to throw my adopted home state out of the Union altogether.

It was on Salon which is behind an adwall but I saw a moderately funny piece from Garrison Keillor that called for throwing Vermont out of the union. Either that or merging it with New Hampshire as one state.

Garrison Keillor, for anyone who doesn’t know, is the tongue-in-cheek entertainer who does Prarie Home Companion.

  • Instead, they advised, he could be ‘a black Rush Limbaugh.’”

    Alan Keyes must be weeping with rage.

    I could write a multi-volume treatise on how very, very wrong this is but I won’t. Steele is an arse, but he’s no Rush Limbaugh. Maryland does not appoint RL’s to office. And I doubt Steele was pleased with the suggestion that he could have anything (besides gender and species) in common with the blobular drug addict. I bet Rush was pretty pissed too.

    But how exactly would a “black Rush Limbaugh” work? Would he spew out hate against Caucasians along with all people besides African American men? If not, who exactly would be his target audience? Do they think that African Americans will listen to him just because he’s brown?

    Oh wait. I forgot I was dealing with the GOP. Of course they think this. Gods I would pay large amounts of cash to see the look on Steele’s face. Maybe this will push him to become a Democrat (for real, not just on a sample ballot).

    Thanks for the laugh.

  • Schaller’s book is the blueprint not only for the long-term entrenchment of the Democratic Party as the majority party, it is also the blueprint for finally making the South somewhat competitive again. His strategy inherently builds the intellectual and geographic diversity of the party, even as it ignores the South, and that broadened party will become a more attractive home for non-religious right whites in the South who are still influenced by the slowly eroding, 35-year Republican southern strategy that has hovered over the region like a fetid miasma.

  • Give Glenn Beck a floppy hunting cap, and you’ve got the living incarnation of Elmer Fudd. No—really. Just look at the guy’s face, for crying out loud. He reminds me of the fat little bungler, wearing a viking helmet, and singing “Kill the Wabbit” to a Wagner overture.

    Now how in the (*&%^#&*&&%$*&) $$%@# &!!! can I take a little uberschweinen like that seriously?

    I vote we unilaterally declare Glenn Beck to be an Al Quaeda operative—and ship his fat carcass to Gitmo!!!

  • Carpetbagger- Whoa. You adopted Vermont? North of Route 2 or South of Route 2 (North of Route 2 is real Vermont, South is the buffer zone we keep for Flatlanders, hedging out New Yorkers and Connecticuters…) ?

  • And really, considering our status as the only State with the constitutional Right to resign from the U.S., I think we would take our independence (and Cabot Cheddar, Pure Maple Syrup, Ben & Jerry’s, etc) way before anyone could imagine kicking us out.

  • “Alan Keyes must be weeping with rage.” – TAIO

    That’s what he gets for being holier than… well, everybody in the Republican’t Party.

    I’m glad they scrapped O.J.. That was just disgusting.

  • Fox is starting a business channel? Are they going with the same format as the supposed business show currently on Fox News every weekday, where they use the Supreme Court interpretation of interstate commerce (i.e. everything) to define “business” and half the stories manage to include photos of scantily-clad females?

  • Yeah, I’m sure that she can give Britney Spears a run for her money for Mother of the Year.

    Well, the craven wetlegs at Blogger are at it again. They caved again the second that fucking assweasel complained about my NY Times articles and they deleted them yet again to cover their sore asses.

    So I’ve been a very busy boy tonight. You want to know where the 120 articles in question are? Email me but I won’t answer unless I know you.

    Anyway, here are my thoughts on Bush’s incredibly ill-timed visit to Vietnam.

  • Progressive Realist is dead-on right (#3).

    Is it just coincidental that all the people who are saying Schaller is wrong are all southerners? Is it just coincidental that all these doubters owe their position of “authority” (and income) to the fact they are southerners and are considered “gurus” of the southern strategy to the leadership of the party? Is it coincidental that these people would lose position/authority/money if Schaller’s strategy became dominant within the Democratic Party?

    Who was it who said it is very hard to get a man to look at facts when not looking at those facts is intimately tied to his position and income? (or words to that effect)

    Poor Ed Kilgore, seen by all (finally) as the professional loser he’s been since he was lucky enough to be in the room when Clinton won. He’s right up there with Snakehead Carville when it comes to being irrelevant.

    As Schaller points out, the critics ignore the following facts (in favor of anecdotes that are demonstrably false):

     85% of Democratic gains at all levels in 2006 came outside the South.

    Exit polls show Democrats winning in every region except the South.

    The only two Democrats who almost lost House seats despite the blue wave–which means we had to waste resources on defense rather than spending it on offense–were in Georgia.

  • “Bush political strategists have told Steele a high-ranking post in the administration’s last two years would curb his independence…”

    My guess would be payback. Remember the scarlet letter thing and that Bush is known to be a little thin-skinned about stuff like that sometimes. Some of Steele’s campaign tactics — the fake sample ballots come to mind — may have also been enough to make even the Bush gang a little nervous. They may have blocked an actual federal investigation for the time being but who knows how long that will last. So they probably want to keep their distance from him in any case.

  • Got a huge chuckle out of this very Fox-like CNN headline which bannered their coverage of the O.J cancellation:

    FOX KILLS O.J.

  • Instead, they advised, he could be ‘a black Rush Limbaugh.’”

    He could, but only by embracing his inner Oreo.

  • I just realized, today was chock full of articles about what Dems will do to run the country with their new majority. This is utterly fantastic. We are finally able to discuss actual policy and shove it in the faces of the ignorant right-wingers who spent their years in power complaining that the left never comes up with any ideas. (Sure we do, it’s just that you never listen, you cretin!)

  • “FOX KILLS O.J.”

    O’Reilly wore the bloody glove on this one. He smelled an issue he could champion, nevermind how many hundreds of thousands of bloody knives he’s used in his short, evil, existence on television.

    O.J. Reilly. Black with evil, on the inside.

  • We should continue to build infrastructure in the South. Maybe only to keep hope alive and to recognize that there are liberals in the South that want to make a difference. We should not set aside Progressive ideas to win the South though.

  • Castor Troy – We are N of Rte 2, but still in Flatlander country (Chittenden County). And they can bite our shiny metal ass for even mentioning kicking us out!

    I hope all the Tarrant & Rainville supporters see this, and start to understand that they should never vote Republican, even if they don’t want to vote Democrat. Stupid Republican party.

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