We're rounded the halfway point, for what it's worth (Part One is here, Part Two is here, Part Three is here, and Part Four is here)...Do Gooder(s) Of The Year Nominee
Roanoke television station WDBJ-TV for refusing to air a National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) ad attacking freshman Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA) for his vote on Waxman-Markey (here; the ad was full of factual inaccuracies – surprised?).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Formula One auto racing boss Bernie Ecclestone, who faced criticism from politicians and Jewish groups after being quoted as saying that Adolf Hitler "got things done" (here - no wonder).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Repug U.S. House Rep Steve King here of New York for calling Michael Jackson a “child molester” and a “pervert” (the man is DEAD, Rep. King – how about letting go, OK? Besides, those accusations were disproven in court…I have my suspicions too, and I always will, but facts are facts)
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
The Valley Swim Club of Huntingdon Valley, PA (just outside Philadelphia), which took $1900 from the Creative Steps Day Camp in NE Philly to let the kids from the day camp swim at the club; the problem is that the swim club is private and they threw out the Creative Steps kids because they were African American (despite what they say, that's what happened...the Valley Swim Club is repugnant for this practice, though I realize they can do what they want if they’re privately funded – at the very least, they should have learned more about Creative Steps before they took their money and not pretended to accept open membership…the best thing would have been for the Valley Swim Club to admit their mistake and let the kids swim, which of course they didn’t do, making the kids feel like pariahs because of the color of their skin…h/t Atrios; the pool would eventually file for bankruptcy here - another story is here, and related posts are here and here)
Waay Too Accommodating Corporate Media Shill Of The Year
As noted here, BoBo of The New York Times tells us that he “sat next to a Republican senator once at dinner and he had his hand on my inner thigh the whole time. I was like, ehh, get me out of here,” with Booman quite rightly noting that, were anyone to try that with him, that person would have no more than 10 seconds to move his hand or lose it.
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Repug U.S. House Rep Todd Tiahrt of Kansas, for suggesting that President Obama’s mother wanted to abort him (here - real nice)
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Not that the American Conservative Union needs much of an excuse to be named, but in this Politico exclusive, we find out that the group tried to shake down FedEx over supporting them with Op-Eds and PR stuff against pending Democratic legislation, but FedEx told them to take a walk, but UPS ended up siding with the ACU on this instead (any honor in sight for conservatives on this, people?).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Dem Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota for laughing at ads aired by the DNC aimed at Senators who, according to the Daily Kos, have been reluctant to support President Obama on health care reform (here...about the type of attitude you would expect from someone who doesn’t have to worry about his coverage being dropped – I guess this is what happens when Ted Kennedy is no longer around to whip gutter snipes like Conrad, Carper, Bayh etc. into line on this issue; here's more)
The “Gee, It Sounds Like The LA Times Including Andrew Malcolm Will Now Have To Write An ‘Expose’ On Chelsea Clinton In Response” Citation
This story tells us how both Jenna and Barbara Bush The Younger gave the Secret Service “fits,” as follows (particularly concerning Jenna, according to a book by the WaPo’s Ronald Kessler)…
Jenna would purposely try to lose her protection by going through red lights or by jumping in her car without telling agents where she was going. As a result, in a total waste of manpower, the Secret Service kept her car under surveillance so agents could follow her."(Insert apple/fall/tree snark here.)
And it wasn't just the twins who stirred up trouble for the Secret Service — Kessler also claims that Jenna's now-husband Henry Hager got so drunk at a 2005 party that agents had to take him to a Georgetown hospital.
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Comedy writer (allegedly) Andy Borowitz (OK, he can be funny at times), for making a joke here about liberal bloggers being unable to convince their moms that they met with President Obama, or something (dude, YOU’RE the one posting at Arianna’s site, not me, OK?).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Repug U.S. House Rep Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee here, for saying that the House should have “PAYGO enforcement” (i.e., any spending increases are offset by spending cuts).
Nothing wrong with that – however, she then added…
…we're not going to cry 'emergency' every time we have a Katrina, every time we have a Tsunami, every time we have a need for extra spending, that we don't go call for a special appropriation that allows us to circumvent the PAYGO rules.As Jed L. tells us, approximately 1,500 people died as a result of Katrina. But somehow, as far as Blackburn is concerned, that doesn’t justify a “special appropriation” (though I lost count of how many “special appropriations” were passed for Dubya’s Not-So-Excellent Iraq Adventure).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Repug U.S. House Rep John Adams of Ohio, who introduced a bill here that would prevent a woman from having an abortion until she gets written consent from the biological father. As proposed, the bill triggers criminal penalties against women for “providing a false biological father.”
And, somehow, in the Broder-esque world of “bipartisanship,” the Dems are supposed to accommodate these assclowns as we go about the seemingly eternal work of trying to fix this country after six years of near-total Repug misrule (and I wonder how Adams’ infinitely more famous namesake from Massachusetts would respond – probably thrash him to within an inch of his miserable life; actually, I’d pay to watch Abigail tear him to pieces first if I could).
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominees
Dan Rather for fighting back on the whole “Memogate” thing (here - Eric Boehlert was a bit presumptuous, but he still makes good points), and Jackson Browne for not backing down to McCain and winning a judgment and apology for McCain’s illegal use of “Running On Empty” (here, unintentionally apropos).
(And by the way, I think Rather earns a citation here even considering that this occurred...no word on whether or not an appeal is pending.)
The "And Wouldn't You Know It, I Forgot To Order That Late Night 'Indian Farming' Channel From My Cable Provider" Citation
As noted here, farmers in the drought-stricken Indian state of Bihar asked their unmarried daughters to embarrass the weather gods into sending the badly needed monsoon rains by ploughing the fields naked (works for me).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Fluffyhead David Gregory again here, for being one of the loudest complainers of HuffPo’s Nico Pitney’s supposed “access” by virtue of President Obama answering a question from Pitney about the Iranian post-election crackdown, when Gregory, on the other hand, contacted Mark “Don’t Cry For Me, Aregentina” Sanford’s office promising the SC guv an opportunity to frame the debate (or whatever) on Meet The Press.
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
The NY Post here for publishing photos taken through a peep hole of ESPN sports journalist Erin Andrews naked in her hotel room.
And as if that isn’t bad enough, get a load of the Post’s explanation from the CBS News link…
The Post defended its publication of the images, while accusing the sports network of having outed Andrews in the first place.Oh, suuure – nobody would’ve made the connection to Andrews if ESPN had only kept its mouth shut.
Those at the Post who approved publication of the photos instead of immediately turning them over to the police are the lowest vermin that I can imagine.
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee (Special “Errr, Errrrr” (?) Citation)
Departing Repug Ohio Senator George Voinovich, for saying in so many words what I and others have been saying for years here (curiously, Voinovich would pay no price whatsoever for this)
The “Incredible Disappearing Country” Citation Of The Year
Fix Noise had a novel approach to resolving any outstanding issues in Iraq by simply removing the country from the map (here)…
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey here for saying that he “wants the city to require bars to report fights to 911” in the wake of a bar brawl at McFadden’s Pub near Citizens Bank Park that resulted in the death of a patron who was there for his bachelor party (yeah, great move – nothing like diverting scarce needed resources on behalf of a bunch of drunks…I’ve had reservations about Ramsey for a little while now, and I’m starting to remember why).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Lou Dobbs, for resurrecting the Obama “birther” nonsense (so many directions you can go with this guy - take your pick from here)
Unlikeliest Republican Of The Year
Arlo Guthrie (I got a kick out of his reason why here in this New York Times story – yep, the guy who wrote and performed “Coming Into Los Angeles” is a GOPPER, as it turns out)
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Rep. Pete Sessions — the chief of the Republicans’ campaign arm in the House — says on his website that earmarks have become “a symbol of a broken Washington to the American people.”
Yet in 2008, Sessions himself steered a $1.6 million earmark for dirigible research to an Illinois company whose president acknowledges having no experience in government contracting, let alone in building blimps (here).
What the company did have: the help of Adrian Plesha, a former Sessions aide with a criminal record who has made more than $446,000 lobbying on its behalf.
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
Dem Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York, who got at least as fed up as anybody (probably more so) with the Repugs and their idiotic catcalling about “government-run health care” during the legislative back-and-forth on the issue and introduced a bill “to kill government-run Medicare” here (not a single Repug voted for it, of course…I should tell you that I’m as “hetero” as they come, but I love this guy).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Boston Police Officer Justin Barret, who referred to Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (he of the run-in with Sgt. Joe Crowley, who arrested Gates in his home) as a “jungle monkey” here (Barret was placed on administrative leave...this of course preceded the "have a beer" moment with Crowley, Gates, Obama and Biden).
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
Dem Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota (FINALLY!), who did the following when T. Boone Pickens was introduced at a Democratic Party policy lunch (here)…
According to a source, the wealthy oil and gas magnate and author of “The First Billion Is the Hardest” stepped up to introduce himself to Franken in a room just off the Senate Floor after the lunch ended.And what a typical response from the Pickens people here...
Franken, who was seated talking to someone else, did not stand when Pickens said hello. Instead, Franken began to berate him about the billionaire’s financing of the Swift Boat ads in 2004.
According to a source, the confrontation grew heated.
Said Franken spokeswoman Jess McIntosh: “It was a lively conversation.”
“Boone has clearly moved on and is focused on a mission to solve the foreign oil dependency problem that he believes is a national security and economic crisis that America has to confront. Boone’s grateful for the impressive turnout of Democrats at the Democrat Policy Committee yesterday and for the interest they have shown in helping address this problem.”As I pointed out here (aside from his scurrilous support of the Swift Boat Liars), Pickens is really running a game to corner the market on all of the natural energy resources of this planet. He has the right to earn a profit as a businessman, I realize, but not in a way that is so utterly irresponsible concerning our energy assets.
Even a member of the “Democrat” Party like me can see something so plainly obvious, which I’m sure has also occurred to Sen. Franken as well (and by the way, we'll hear from Minnesota's male U.S. senator again).
Do Gooder OF The Year Nominee
Former President Bill Clinton gets the nod here, for flying to North Korea and freeing jailed journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee.
Also, the Clinton Foundation is responsible for the following…
• Two million people in developing countries now have access to low-priced HIV/AIDS medicine, and we’ve just negotiated new pricing agreements that will enable better, cheaper treatments for more patients in the developing world.Dregs Of The Year Nominee
• Thousands of schools across the United States have put healthy-eating and exercising programs into practice, so that more children are leading healthier lives.
• To combat climate change, 40 of the world’s largest cities are making progress in reducing their carbon footprint.
Repug Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa here, for using Ted Kennedy’s brain tumor as a purported reason why government health care (presumably, a public option) is a bad idea – almost too repugnant for words.
Intersection of Karmic Destiny Of The Year Citation
Ben Stein loses his New York Times column over a product endorsement (here) at about the same time that John Hughes dies, the guy who gave Stein his show business break in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (by the way, Stein losing his column was long overdue based on this, if nothing else).
Dem Bleeping #@!hole Of The Year
Rahm Emanuel, for saying here that progressives were being “f$@cking stupid” in running ads pressuring Dem legislators for holding up health care reform (by the way, Rahm, good call to recruit Tim Mahoney in Florida, a guy who was a Repug but changed at the last minute before being voted out of office over a scandal with a mistress...also, I think the decision to "primary" Dem House Rep Donna Edwards of Maryland this year was his dumb idea)
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
South Carolina congressman Bob Inglis here for telling the “teabagger” nuts and other health care protestors to “turn off the TV” when Glenn Beck comes on the air (and did I mention that Inglis is a Republican?)
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
Federal Judge Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who, as noted here “sharply criticized the bonuses that Merrill Lynch hurriedly paid out before it was acquired by Bank of America last year and pointedly questioned a federal settlement that had seemed to put the issue to rest”...also for this
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Sen. Johnny Isakson, the Georgia Republican who authored Senate legislation providing Medicare coverage for end-of-life planning, who first said that “how someone could take an end of life directive or a living will as (meaning “death panels”) is nuts” (re: Sarah Palin), but then, when President Obama rightly noted that the provision was Isakson’s idea, the senator “went ballistic” and said he “vehemently opposes the House and Senate health care bills (including) more government involvement in what should be an individual choice,” thus blaming the House for language he introduced himself about end-of-life planning (all here...and have you guessed that Isakson is running for re-election in 2010? I cited him earlier as a "Do Gooder" for supposedly supporting the public option - I should have known better, I guess).
Dregs Of The Year Nominee
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, who said here that “The union is like having herpes. It doesn't kill you, but it's unpleasant and inconvenient, and it stops a lot of people from becoming your lover,” (and a secondary “Dregs” citation to that worm Lanny Davis here for saying the dustup with Whole Foods, as it were, is an example of “extremes on the left and the right”).
Do Gooder Of The Year
Prof. Stephen Hawking, who suffers from ALS (otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease), and who defended the British National Health Service here in the face of Republican propaganda (see, it’s funded by the “gumint,” so it has to be bad as far as they’re concerned…morons).
Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee
Former head of PR for CIGNA here in Philadelphia Wendell Potter (here), who testified on Captiol Hill against his former industry and on behalf of consumers (and by the way, Bill Moyers himself, noted in the link, should get a Do Gooder citation also for wrapping up an illustrious career this year in investigative advocacy TV journalism)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
The dispatcher for the North Canton, Ohio police department responsible for the Photoshop atrocity that can be viewed from the Think Progress link
Do Gooders Of The Year
I know I should utterly detest the New York Yankees for beating the Phillies in the Series, but they have to get a nod for this story by ESPN's Rick Reilly about how the team entertained the kids from Camp Sundown – as Reilly tells us, the kids…
…live life on the other side of the sun. All of them have the rare disease known as XP -- xeroderma pigmentosum. If kids with XP catch the slightest UV ray, they can and do develop cancerous tumors. Even fluorescent lights fry their skin like boiling oil. Most of them don't live to be 20.And as Reilly tells us, most of the kids with XP don’t live to be 20.
So how could they take the field at Yankee Stadium? Because this was 3 a.m.
Superstar right-handers should be tucked into bed by then, yet there was (pitcher A.J.) Burnett, throwing Wiffle-ball splitters and chasing down line drives.
…
Eleven ghostly-pale XP campers took the field, including Yuxnier Beguebara, who is coming up on 71 operations, and Kevin Swinney, who has had over 200, and the rest of them, grinning through faces operated on so many times they seem to be covered in plastic. Feel sorry for them if you want, but they have one thing most kids will never have: For one night, the Yankees' field was theirs.
They high-fived Derek Jeter, ran madly around the bases and wallowed in the instant carnival the Yankees had set up -- from the magician to the bouncy castle to reliever Alfredo Aceves strolling the yard, strumming his guitar while (Yankees G.M. Brian) Cashman sang the Police's "Message in a Bottle." For one night, at least, these kids found out they are not alone in being alone.
Not that they don't play baseball at Camp Sundown. They do -- at midnight, to the accompaniment of owls and bullfrogs -- against the local fire department. "We're pathetic," says Caren Mahar. "But we always play."
By 3:30, it was time to go, and there was no time to waste. They had to make it back to Camp Sundown before sunup. Welcome to life lived like a vampire.
As I said, it’s hard for me to like the Yankees, but at the very least, they’re owed a tip of the proverbial cap for this (though they have stadium issues to address also, as noted here).
Now good luck trying to repeat next year, you frauds!
More later...
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