We're getting there, people, I promise: prior related posts are here, here, here, here, here, and here (and I also posted over here - sorry this is so long, but I'm trying to just about finish this)...Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Klaus Emmerich, the retired editor-in-chief of Austrian broadcaster ORF, for claiming here that African Americans "are not civilised (sp) enough to rule"; must be a paid consultant to Fox Noise (yeah, you guys sure showed a lot of guts during the Anschluss, didn't you? Welcomed your goose-stepping little pal Adolf with open arms as I recall).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Michael Barone, who said that the “Alaska Disasta” herself, Sarah Palin, was attacked by the media because “she did not abort her Down’s Syndrome baby” here (real nice).
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who filed suit to prevent the enactment of Proposition 8 which would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry here
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
Former DC appeals court judge Patricia Wald, who compared the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody to the treatment Bosnian Muslims received at the hands of their Serbian captors, basically accusing Bushco of committing war crimes here
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Collectively, the New York Times (and our corporate media in general) for their woeful “reporting” on the recount in the U.S. Senate contest between incumbent Norm Coleman and Dem challenger Al Franken here (more on this later in this post).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
David Karlson, chief operating officer for PSI, a company that manufactured and resold “flash bang” grenades that they knew were defective and could have been fixed for about $3.72 apiece, as noted in this CNN story; the grenades were first sold to the military, then resold to the FBI, and three agents suffered “severe bruising, a concussion and burns to (their) neck and ears (as well as) hearing loss” when the grenades blew up while they carried them in their vests (Karlson and three others have been indicted for fraud, conspiracy and money laundering).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Minneapolis, MN talk show host Chris Baker, who said that the media has “blood on its hands” for the murder of transgender woman Moses Cannon because it creates “a false sense of reality” (I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about either; I just know that he’s a bigot and a moron in whichever order you choose - here).
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
Departing Repug Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel for taking a shot at Flush Limbore and Hagel's former colleagues here.
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
Staying in that state for now - Nebraska musician Eric Hahn gets the nod for cutting his 27-inch-high Mohawk (and yes, it set a new record for the Guinness Book) and donating it to Locks of Love here – hat tip to “Countdown” for this.
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Madison County, Idaho superintendent Geoffrey Thomas, who blamed “the media” for spreading the story about second and third graders on a school bus in Rexburg chanting “assassinate Obama” here (oh, so what the hell were we supposed to do – ignore something like that?); conversely, kudos to Rexburg Mayor Shawn Larsen for speaking out against it in a local newspaper.
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Richard Peters of Marysville, Washington, who was arrested after his 6-year-old daughter was fatally shot in their Washington state home; Peters allegedly told authorities he had been drinking double shots of vodka while cleaning his guns (two other kids in the home were subsequently removed by Child Protective Services – as a rule, I usually avoid crime stories, but I had to say something about this).
Bogus Lawsuit of the Year
Naming "Deadeye Dick" Cheney in the Texas prisoner abuse case; District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra, the person who included Big Time based on the grand jury indictment, has had his own legal battles (hey, I want to get Cheney too, but it should be over something a lot more substantial than this – Cheney was charged in engaging in an organized crime activity because of his holdings in the Vanguard Group – hey now! – that managed the assets of the prisons where the abuse allegedly occurred; Abu G may actually be on the hook, though, which is totally deserved...here).
Update 12/31/08: And speaking of Abu G. (here - he gets named again later in the post)...
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
George Will, for saying that the New Deal didn’t work here (I swear, the next time these conservatives take another cruise to Alaska, I hope the ship sinks and they all drown; I know I shouldn’t wish ill on these people, but this country is in the biggest mess I’ve ever seen right now due to Repug non-governance, and the right-wing idiots refuse to change their tune in the face of it).
(And just for good - or bad - measure, here's Will again downplaying the current economic crisis; Paul Krugman, who has forgotten more about economics than Will will ever know, has said that, if anything, the New Deal didn’t feature enough public works spending, not that it spent on public works at all and failed, as Will alleges).
Surreal Fourth Estate Moment Of The Year
Smerky in his November 23rd newspaper column tells us here that “I don’t do reporting”..
Um – is that something like a surgeon saying, “I don’t do medicine”?
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Andrew Ross Sorkin, business writer for the New York Times, who originated the preposterous lie that UAW members make $73 an hour (so noted by K.O. in the third video here)
“F” Blast Of The Year
Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley, after the team won the World Series, let fly at the victory celebration for all to hear; hey, people, the team had just finished playing 162 regular season games, 10 playoff games and 5 World Series games (including the fifth one, split just about in half because of the rain – thanks, Bud Selig), so I would say that they’re entitled to blow off a little steam, OK (I didn't get the link in time before it was deleted - sorry).
(And by the way, a "Dregs" citation goes out here to the 26 people who complained out of probably upwards of a million people who actually heard it - probably the same bunch of fundamentalist tightasses who went crazy over "The Tit That Will Never Die," helped re-elect George W. Bush twice and have no issue with him lying this country into the Iraq war or the gutting of FISA, assuming they even know what FISA is)
The “It Might Be A Good Thing If We In This Country Know About This Story” Citation
The plight of Aafia Siddiqui (here – h/t Avedon Carol)
Dregs Of The Year Nominees
A joint citation to Big Pharma drug merchant Johnson and Johnson and Harvard University psychiatrist Joseph Biederman; as reported here by Miriam Hill of the Philadelphia Inquirer, J&J “gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to a research center run by (Biederman) explicitly to generate data to help expand sales of the company's antipsychotic drug Risperdal in children, according to court documents (side effects of the drug in kids include “weight gain, breast milk production in both sexes, facial tics and muscle tremors”); gosh, I wonder if that fine, upstanding one-time Repug contender for Patrick Murphy’s seat (Tom Manion by name) knew anything of this?
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Catholic pastors (or any religious figure) telling their congregation that they must atone for voting for Barack Obama, as was the case here (he’s “pro-choice,” see; as a McClatchy commenter put it, “No, don't vote for the president who will care about all Americans and will be the first honest decent president in eight years. Just vote for a treacherous lying republican who is a war monger with hateful policies.”)
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
Deborah Lawrence of Seattle, WA, who was asked to contribute an ornament to the White House Christmas tree here; she did so, with the words “Impeach Bush” painted ever so delicately amidst the swirling design (the Washington Post and the AP pointed out the wording, and Laura Bush had the ornament removed – no word on whether or not Lawrence will ever get it back – h/t “Countdown”).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
To WXPN, the public radio station of the University of Pennsylvania in these parts, for their “One Day, Funky Friday” pledge drive on Friday December 5th.
I realize that they need to “put the bite” on us to make payroll and provide their diverse music selection, but I’d just like to point out three things. First, is asking people to contribute during the holidays like this really a good idea when people are spending on seasonal gifts? Why not try a drive like this AFTER the holidays are over?
Second, does the station management read the headlines? Are they aware that over half a million people lost their jobs in November, the highest total job loss in 34 years, and that unemployment currently stands at 6.7 percent (noted here)? If they have to make cuts, it will stink, but we’ll understand.
Third, given all of this, can they please be a little less obnoxious when they ask us for dough (as opposed to radio personality Michaela Majoun whining at us, “Make your call for support NAAAOOOOWWWW”)?
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
U.S. Attorney and Buscho underling Mary Beth Buchanan, who (judging from this Think Progress post) has no intention of resigning her position under the incoming Obama Administration; Buchanan, among her many other sins, hired Monica Goodling, who went on to fire other U.S. attorneys for not prosecuting Democrats on specious charges, as Buchanan herself has done concerning the inquisition of Cyril Wecht (noted in the post).
I’d pay Obama $20 out of my own pocket if he made sure that Buchanan was led out of her office in restraints by U.S. marshals.
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Peggy Noonan, Reaganite and Wall Street Journal Op-Ed writer, who claimed in an Op-Ed here that “at least Bush kept us safe.”
Here’s one response to this absurdity from Glenn Greenwald (and here is another from Eric Alterman).
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
Montana Dem Senator Jon Tester, for the following from here...
Still, some lawmakers said they could only conclude that the automakers were forced to travel an unduly rough road, and that the financial firms got a free pass.Yeah, but he ended up voting against the automaker loan, so I guess I have to put an asterisk next to this one.
At a banking committee hearing on Thursday, Senator Jon Tester, Democrat of Montana, gestured angrily at a chart showing the billions that have been received by the financial firms. “You guys have been put under far more scrutiny, far more scrutiny than the people up here on the board, for far less money,” he told the auto executives.
“I would love to have those birds in here again because they need to be talked to.”
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
White House press flak Tony Fratto, for claiming here that Bushco's horrific "midnight rule" changes are "transparent," "routine," and "responsible"; I swear, these people couldn't tell the truth if their lives depended on it.
Concern Troll Of The Year Nominee
David Horowitz for this, in which he chastises his fellow conservatives for continuing to agitate over Obama's birth certificate (please), but then states, "What difference does it make to the future of this country whether Obama was born on U.S. soil?
Uh, and what exactly is the question about anyway, David (h/t Arianna Huffington for noticing this on "Countdown").
Denialist Of The Year Nominee
Tom Friedman for this (and I loved kos's line about six more months).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Sean Inanity for claiming here 10 million jobs were created under Dubya (uh, no...that happened under Clinton, and in each of his two terms actually; that's 20 million total, Sean - I wouldn't want you to overwork your brain cell trying to do the math)
The “He Obviously Didn’t Get The Memo That His Fifteen Minutes Were Up” Citation
Joe The Plumber (and let us not forget that he isn’t a plumber, and his name is Samuel, not Joe) tells us here that he was “appalled” by John McCain, which is particularly low because, were it not for McCain – despite it all, a far better man, let’s not forget – “Joe” would be an unknown nothing as opposed to a “known” one.
Most Undeserving Winner Of The Presidential Citizen Medal
Charles Colson here (more on Colson from "Right Wing Watch" here)
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Repug Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina for claiming here that “we’re going to have riots” in Detroit if the bailout for the automakers is passed (he won’t have to worry - DeMint and his fellow knuckle-dragging Repugs in that body of Congress effectively killed it, though a compromise of sorts was reached with Dubya; tells you how much of a no-brainer this issue is that Commander Codpiece was personally involved)
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
Colin Powell for slapping down "Governor Hottie" over her "value system" here (a little late, but kudos for doing the right thing)
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Actually, they could be dregs of the century for a variety of reasons (probably too many to list here), but Bushco gets it here for its role in prisoner abuse (and Lawrence Di Rita, a former aide to Rummy, gets a particular huzzah for his spiteful, childish, propagandistic reaction which is completely typical for this regime...and here's more Di Rita stupidity).
And here's Bushco in action once again (every time I think they can't sink lower)...
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Dem (!) U.S. House Rep Silvestre Reyes for this (Torture is OK? Is he kidding?)
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
DHS Secretary Mike (“City Of Louisiana”) Chertoff for allowing illegal immigrants to pass Secret Service checks and clean his house here (reported by the Inquirer; the paper then asks a good question – if Homeland Security can’t police the home of the person who runs it, how well is it policing our borders?)
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Our Gal Condi Rice, who said in an interview that the Repug Party has brought us to a place "where people can look beyond race" - as Think Progress tells us here, "of the 247 members in the (congressional Republican) caucus, none are African-American and just five are Hispanic" (also for this)
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominees
Workers at the Smithfield Packing Slaughterhouse in Tar Heel, N.C., who fought for 15 years to unionize and finally succeeded, noted in this post - congratulations!
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Former Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL) coach and ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose, who was quoted as saying here that he hopes Tampa Bay "doesn't win another game all year" - go out and buy some more hair gel, Barry; yes, Tampa Bay is a mess, but that's a crappy thing to say (and they just won a Cup about four years ago - man!).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Saturday Night Live, for making jokes about the fact that David Paterson, the governor of New York, is legally blind, as noted here - also for making references to drug use and saying that Paterson's path to the governor's office was "an actual plot from a Richard Pryor movie."
I'm sure "humor" about crippled Iraq war veterans is next - soooo glad I gave up on that wretched show years ago (and yes, I'd say the same thing if Paterson were a Repug).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Senate Repug Bob Corker of Tennessee for, more than anyone else, waging war on the UAW and doing his level best to destroy 10 percent of the American economy, as noted here (and how depressing is it that Harry Reid and Chris Dodd, who stood so tall on FISA...Dodd, that is...need to be reminded of that - Reid is up for re-election in 2010 and has an approval rating below 50 percent, for which he has only himself to blame).
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
Maurice Cheeks, former coach of the Philadelphia 76ers and point guard on the last team of that franchise that won a world's championship in 1983, who blamed himself for getting fired after the team's 9-14 start this year.
Here's what I don't get about that; the team just added Elton Brand, whose star has apparently faded somewhat, though he can still do a lot, but he's also still learning how to mix in with the team (which is a bunch of disparate parts anyway, but that's another story). Also, in the NBA, 9-14 isn't terrible; you could play most of the season slightly below .500 and make a run at the last minute and get into the playoffs. And Cheeks was canned after home-and-home losses to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, not exactly also-rans.
Maurice Cheeks is a first-class person who had the misfortune to be employed with a no-class organization. I'm quite sure he'll land on his feet somewhere else, and I for one wish him all the best.
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
Former Philadelphia Eagles running back Siran Stacy (sticking with sports), whose wife was killed along with four of their five children when a drunk driver in a pickup truck crashed into their van near Dothan, Alabama in November 2007, as noted here; Stacy, who preaches at the Pathway Church in Mobile, Alabama, said of the life form once known as Adam W. Wayman (the person responsible for the carnage who died in the accident also), that "I forgive him."
Wow (by the way, the fifth Stacy child was treated and released, though Stacy himself suffered horrific injuries from which he appears to have recovered - Godspeed).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Georgia (where else?) Municipal Court Judge Keith Rollins, who ordered Lisa Valentine to serve 10 days in jail for contempt of court because she would not remove her Muslim head scarf, as noted here; Kelley Jackson, a spokeswoman for Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, said state law doesn't permit or prohibit head scarves (the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations cited the same judge for also removing a woman and her 14-year-old daughter from his courtroom in December because they were wearing Muslim head scarves...Valentine was released shortly after she was jailed without comment)
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Dem Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas for hinting that she may vote against the Employee Free Choice Act here (just how much $$ is she getting from Wal-Of-China-Mart, I wonder?)
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Sorry, but this country gets it overall for this.
The "Maybe They Should Have Ordered The Herman Goering Streusel Instead" Citation
To Heath and Deborah Campbell of Easton, Pa., who named their little boy Adolf Hitler; as it turns out, they were shocked - shocked! - when a New Jersey supermarket wouldn't make a birthday cake with the child's name on it (here)
Sometimes I wish we had such a thing as a national parenting test to see who would qualify and who wouldn't (I have a feeling, though, that we wouldn't be as surprised as we might think, and I don't mean that in a good way...I know a lot of news organizations have already picked up on this).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Repug U.S. House Rep and former presidential candidate Duncan Hunter once more for claiming that "torture provided 'enormously valuable' information that saved American lives"...uh, no.
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
Robert Redford, for speaking out against the "midnight rule" sale of 110,000 acres of public land in Utah by Bushco to oil and gas producers here; also to the National Trust for Historic Preservation for trying to block the sale also (with Dana Perino clueless as usual)
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Alberto Gonzales again - OK, so let me get this straight; Gonzales claimed here that the CIA had "orally cleared" the bogus Niger uranium claim used as a pretext to the Iraq war (busted by Joe Wilson, leading to Bushco's reprisal against his wife...meaning that it could be used in speeches by Dubya leading up to the war), but the House Oversight Committee has now discovered that the CIA "objected to the uranium claim in (two) speeches, resulting in its deletion from the President’s remarks."
As Atrios says, they lie, then hundreds of thousands die, then they lie about the lying, and "the Villagers" say nothing. But ask them about a $400 haircut or a presidential blow job from an intern, and they'll prattle on all the day long.
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Wingnut statistician (or so he fancies himself) John Lott, for claiming, among other things, that the Minnesota State Canvassing Board decided that four ballots that appeared to show a vote for incumbent Repug Sen. Norm Coleman (in his contest with Al Franken) should be called "No" votes; the problem is that Lott doesn't tell you that - by state law - the votes had to be considered as such because they had "clearly identifying marks, such as signatures"...Lott also misinforms by showing two examples of votes supposedly called for Franken, which were not - wanker (he should stick to his bogus numbers crunching to allegedly show how more guns make us more safe instead...h/t The Daily Kos)
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
John Cloud of Time Magazine - no, I didn't like the way Obama handled the thing with Rick Warren either, but that hardly means that Obama is a bigot, and that's a laughable charge coming from someone who defended Mann Coulter, of all people (here).
The “U Stink U nogood lib terrist n’ Obama Sucks Signed BushLvr” Citation
Idaho state lawmaker Stephen Hartgen (R-Twin Falls) may introduce a bill in the 2009 Legislature to force people to use their real names when commenting on the Internet (here) – he’s a former newspaper publisher (gee, just a bit of payback here, ya’ think?)
The "Shrill, Baby, Shrill" Citation Of The Year
Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman tells us here that he is "in communications" with the Obama team concerning the economy (smart)
The "And Somewhere, The Masked Avengers Are Smiling" Citation
The New York Times published a letter supposedly from Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe opposing Caroline Kennedy's bid for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, but the letter turned out to be fake (here)
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
Judge Ricardo M. Urbina for ruling here against Ralph Nader in his lawsuit claiming that the Dems conspired to keep him off the ballot in the 2004 presidential election (all together now...WAAAAAHHHH!!!!).
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
Former Deputy Attorney General Jim Comey for claiming that Eric Holder should be confirmed here (take that, Snarlin' Arlen!)
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Jon Sinton, former president of Air America Radio, for saying that Flush Limbore is right to decry the Fairness Doctrine here (once more, a liberal dupe and "Third Way" sympathizer validates a right-wing talking point, namely, that Obama wants to bring the "Fairness Doctrine" back, making me wonder yet again why I bother to do this at all, with people like Sinton who claim to represent me)
The "My Fondest Wish For The Incoming Obama Administration And Attorney General Eric Holder (Assuming Confirmation, Of Course)" Citation
That they'll FINALLY resolve once and for all what the #@!# went on in the Anthrax scare and either identify those responsible for sure and arrest/prosecute/convict them or tell us that they're all dead now and there's nothing else that can be done (here)
Dregs Of The Year Nominees
I know this is on a par with beating a horse that is not only dead, but one for which rigor mortis has set in, but I have to nail Fred Barnes and Charles Krauthammer for AGAIN doing their best to propagate the lie that the reason for the financial collapse in this country is...wait for it...the dreaded COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACT!!! (here)
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
KBR, for (allegedly) knowingly exposing our troops, such as James Gentry of the Indiana National Guard, to a deadly toxin while they were stationed in Iraq here (keep telling me again how much better corporate entities have "managed" the utter failure of Iraq better than professionals representing our government...the monstrous deceit and mismanagement of these cretins almost exceeds the imagination)
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Dana Perino, for pledging that Dubya's pardon requests would go through the pardon attorney, Ronald L. Rogers, when that plainly didn't happen in the case of Isaac Toussie here, the Brooklyn developer who served time in prison for masterminding a massive Suffolk (Long Island) real estate scam - Toussie's pardon was revoked soon after the inevitable outcry began (our corporate media will blow over this, of course, but prattle on about Marc Rich all day).
(I read an article in the New York Times magazine recently about incoming Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs in which Perino confessed to having trouble sleeping because of the strain of the job. Yep, a guilty conscience will do that.)
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Tonia Thomas, a “Christian woman (Baptist, who) claims she was fired from her job because she greeted callers with ‘Merry Christmas’," according to this story; her former employer, Counts-Oakes Resorts Properties Inc. of Pensacola, FL, claims they are “a Christian company.”
The story tells us that Thomas has already found another job, though it pays less than the $10.50 an hour she made at Counts-Oakes (of course, a lawsuit is involved here or else no one would have reported this; the federal Equal Opportunity Employment Commission is representing her in her complaint, which alleges that Counts-Oakes “harass(ed) and taunt(ed) Thomas after she was fired by calling the police to watch her pack her belongs and leave”).
Why does this story get me steamed? Well, because Thomas found another job for one thing, which is something a lot of people cannot do in this wretched economy. Also, in this day and age, many of her former customers at Counts-Oakes just don’t observe Christmas, and no one should assume that everyone does.
Finally, she’s mad because the police watched her pack her stuff as she left; I hate to break the news to Thomas, but as cold as that can be, her former employer has that right (many employers don’t even grant their former employees the right to go back to their work areas and claim their stuff after they’re let go).
Basically, Thomas wants special treatment because she’s “a Christian.”
Welcome to reality, lady.
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Rick Warren for this - God, I wish this guy would just shut his pie hole and go away; I hope this is a lesson for Obama, as well as any other pol with an ounce of common sense...NO MORE DAMN PREACHERS, OK??!!
Here's a Warren backgrounder, for the benefit of anyone who needs to be "brought up to speed" (maybe one or two).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed, who asserted in a column (here) that she "hears rumbles President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is reportedly on 21 different taped conversations by the feds -- dealing with his boss' vacant Senate seat!" Sneed added: "A lot of chit-chat? Hot air? Or trouble? To date, Rahm's been mum. Stay tuned."
I think that’s kind of interesting, since I’VE heard “rumbles” that Sneed “likes to fornicate with livestock and exhibit her private parts for a nominal fee to complete and total strangers.”
Sourcing on that claim? Why, I have none. Just like Sneed on her claim about Emanuel.
The difference is that I don’t get paid to peddle lies for ready consumption by wingnut media, and Sneed does.
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
Gladwyne, PA businessman Todd Carmichael, who journeyed across 700 miles of Antarctica alone, on foot, pulling a sled of supplies in temperatures that reached 35 degrees below zero. It took him 39 days to reach the South Pole and complete the journey - a new record.
Part of the reason for Carmichael's trip was to conduct scientific reporting on global warming (as opposed to other millionaire vanity adventures that do nothing but attract attention to that person and their supposed greatness - see Fossett, Steve...yeah, I know his death was confirmed this year, but he still deserves a shot for all of the man-hours spent trying to rescue him when his balloon inevitably went down or his plane inevitably crashed).
(By the way, if you can access the Inquirer editorial here where they praise Carmichael, please take a shot at trying to figure out their logic on why Ralph Nader's failed '04 presidential bid in PA - speaking of vanity adventures - merits "a well-deserved review of the decision" in which he was disqualified because of bogus signatures on his petition.)
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Chip Saltsman, who distributed a CD containing “Barack the Magic Negro” as part of his campaign to be elected chairman of the Republican National Committee next month, according to this story (he's got my vote - tee hee)
And why is it that so many Repugs are named "Chip" or "Tucker" or "Haley" or "Clayton," by the way?
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
The Bucks County Courier Times in these parts; I don't know how a publisher can claim to produce a Saturday "newspaper" with barely any news coverage, a preponderance of local area school sports (plenty of ads, of course) and, worst of all, no Op-Ed page.
For the longest time, the Courier Times didn't publish on Saturdays, though they started publishing a Saturday paper a year or so ago, but about six months ago I believe, they started publishing this wretched Saturday tabloid-looking product that is practically unreadable.
Either publish a legitimate newspaper or take the day off.
Update 2/6/09: The paper announced today that they're going to an "online version only" for Saturday editions. I'll check it out and see how good it is, but kudos to them for taking the right step here.
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Anyone who subscribes to the notion that a "gas tax" is required to compel consumers to buy more energy-efficient vehicles since they'll have to pay more for gas, as the New York Times did here; this notion is often applauded by those who advocate more spending for mass transit (this isn't a slam at Atrios, by the way - he's fundamentally right to be pushing for SUPERTRAINS).
Here's a thought; how about spending more for mass transit AND making more energy-efficient vehicles and forgetting about the damn gas tax, since the price of gas will fluctuate independent of anything a politician in this country does anyway?
Build the hybrid and price it affordably, and you've got yourself a deal (assuming we all keep our jobs and we'll have enough money to pay, which is another story I realize).
Dregs Of The Year Nominees
Anyone who automatically assumes without question that Israel has the right to pummel Gaza with rockets; I mean, does our lockstep support of Israel in this country mean we've forfeited our obligation to at least think about whether this is the correct course of action (in light of this post from Greg Mitchell of E&P)?
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominees
PA State Rep Josh Shapiro, who has been sponsoring legislation since 2005 that would make it illegal to drive in PA while talking on a hand-held cell phone, and fellow state rep Eugene De Pasquale, who has proposed banning text messaging while driving, as noted here (both Dems, in case you need to ask)
I'll wrap this up next time.
Update 2 1/2/09: I found out a bit late about Celia Chazelle, the chair of the history department at the College of New Jersey and a scholar of medieval history, who teaches the class “Social Justice, History and Practice” at the Albert C. Wagner Youth Correctional Facility in Bordentown (here - definitely a "Do Gooder" nominee).
Update 2 1/28/09: Sorry I couldn't approve your comment, mberenis, lest Blogger flag me for spam again, but I can at least give you a link here.
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