Scott at Laughing Squid points out, "All the performers are deaf."
Month: April 2009
Cheney’s Memos
Philip Zelikow seconds Ali Soufan and adds some context:
Soufan states, accurately, that some of the CIA claims reprinted in the Justice opinions (and recently repeated in the media) are demonstrably false or overstated. Some of the very claims that Soufan describes were also used, while I was in government, in CIA memos defending the program that were submitted to the White House. Therefore, the declassification of those memos, as Vice President Cheney and others have called for, would only raise questions that would have to be answered with still more disclosures. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence appears to be trying to sort this out.
The closed loops of Imaginationland.
Who Wants A Two State Solution?
Everyone and no one. Josh Marshall looks at a new poll:
…both sides are willing to have a two state solution. But both sides expect it to include things that are entirely unacceptable to the other side, which is to say that they're ready for a two state solution on their own terms.
FNC/PJTV Fail
A new AP poll give the right track number a lead over the wrong track for the first time in years:
So far, Obama has defied the odds by producing a sustained trend toward optimism. It began with his election.
The bigger picture:
Ambers' take here.
Last Push For Photos
We are in the final stage of selecting photos for the Window View book, but we still need good candidates from North Dakota, South Dakota, Rhode Island, and Tennessee. Can anyone help? Submission guidelines are here.
Cool (Gross, German) Ad Watch
Konsumterrorismus!
Jerry! Jerry! Ctd.
A reader homes in on the crucial fashion question:
I am so glad you're keeping abreast of this. The entire Levi interview was painful but begs the more important question: who's doing his wardrobe??
Republican Convention: suit and tie
Tyra Banks Show: sweater vest
Larry King Live: half-unbuttoned shirtIs he going to wear a wifebeater at the next interview? Cannot wait!
Me neither.
On Friendship
A study:
Last year, researchers studied 34 students at the University of Virginia, taking them to the base of a steep hill and fitting them with a weighted backpack. They were then asked to estimate the steepness of the hill. Some participants stood next to friends during the exercise, while others were alone. The students who stood with friends gave lower estimates of the steepness of the hill. And the longer the friends had known each other, the less steep the hill appeared.
My essay on friendship as the most under-valued human relationship is the last third of this book.
The Rot Of The Rump
Mark Hemingway argues that our use of waterboarding was much more civilized than that of the Japanese soldier we prosecuted for war crimes: after all, we placed cellophane or cloth over the prisoner's face. A.L. responds:
…the Republican party has allowed itself to become a party of torture apologists. This is the kind of "analysis" that used to spill forth from the politburos of our communist enemies. It's really rather shocking to me that there aren't more conservatives out there who are embarrassed by this, that movement conservatives are so invested in protecting the reputation of the Bush administration that they're willing sign their names to this kind of morally bankrupt rationalization. It's beyond sad.
Malkin Award Nominee
"Plan B—the drug that allows guys to breathe a sigh of relief the morning after using some chick for selfish pleasure—will now be available to 17-year-olds without a prescription.
Who cares that she’s not even old enough to buy a pack of cigarettes legally? Get her drunk on wine coolers, get what you want, then the next morning, take her to CVS to get Plan B and make sure there’s no chance the slut will show up in a few months talking child support payments and DNA tests.
So guys, if you screw a 17-year-old and “forget” to use a condom, remember: Nothing says “thanks a lot, you cheap whore” like the gift of Plan B!," – Robert Stacy McCain, in a post titled, "What next? Over-the-counter roofies?"
(hat tip: Jesse Taylor)
The Dish 