Saturday Stuff

Kudos to both Ron Paul and Jim Moore for speaking out on behalf of Julian Assange here (the comparison to Daniel Ellsberg is perfectly apt)...



...and here's another seasonal tune.

Friday Stuff

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont delivers one hell of a current events lecture here, and as mcjoan tells us, PolitiFact was asked to do a fact check on what Sanders said, and every word of it is true (though we knew that anyway; more on the filibuster here - kudos to Sherrod Brown and Mary Landrieu, of all people, for doing the right thing and joining in)...



...and after watching the vid, you can do something else by clicking here and signing a petition...



..."Worst Persons" (Bill Sammon and Michael Clemente of Fix Noise get the "bronze" for pushing their poll-tested language...by Frank Luntz, of course...in the runup to the health care circus which, as we know, went on forever, and of course it inflamed opinion against HCR; the "silver" collectively goes to the 41 Repug senators who opposed funding health benefits for 9/11 first responders - I thought this was a good commentary on this issue also; but baseball player Luke Scott of the Baltimore Orioles gets top "honors" for some Beck-esque incendiary language about Obama, with a truly cruel twist at the end...I've got some of this stuff covered in "Do-Gooders and Dregs," so you'll probably be hearing about it again in a couple of weeks, but the first responder funding and Scott's garbage is so bad that it deserves to be mentioned twice, at least)...



...and I'm not sure how you can get into the Christmas spirit after this stuff, but I'll try - this is a seasonal tribute to Otis Redding, who left us on this date 43 years ago today.

Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2010 - Pt. 5)

(Part One is here, Part Two is here, Part Three is here, and Part Four is here).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Reading Phillies GM Scott Hunsicker for his creation, the Ryan Howard Garden Gnome (here – I don’t think it’s racist, but it sure is odd)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

I’d expect “Caribou Barbie,” as a commenter referred to Sarah Palin (heh), to attack author Joe McGinness as a “pedophile” for actually daring to get too close to her so he can do his job (McGinness is writing a book on Alaska’s most notorious waste of DNA), but the citation here goes to Time Magazine for not calling Palin’s attack for what it is – which is potentially libelous and legally actionable – but for calling it “shrewd” instead (h/t Atrios, and as he plaintively asks, “What’s wrong with these people?”)

Non-Story Of The Year

Clinton/Sestak/Specter/Obama/Emanuel/Was-Sestak-offered-a-job-Omigod-I-swear-I-don’t-freaking-care!!!!!!!!! here - and the runners up would be the divorce of the Gores and the competition for basketball player LeBron James between Cleveland and NYC (and the funny part is that he ended up going to Miami)

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

Phillies ace Roy Halladay (speaking of sports) for pitching the 20th perfect game in the history of major league baseball on 5/29/10 (here - he would follow up with a playoff no-hitter against Cincinnati, earning him the National League's Cy Young Award)

Classiest Sports Gesture Of The Year

And in a related story as they say, Jeffrey Loria, owner of the Florida Marlins (the team Halladay pitched his "perfecto" against) had the pitching rubber used by Halladay removed from Sun Life Stadium and sent to the Phillies to be presented to Halladay at a ceremony honoring the Phils’ pitcher at Citizens Bank Park on June 5th (special citation also to the Marlins’ fans cheering Halladay during the final outs while he pitched against their home team)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Pacific Palisades Democratic Club of California withdrew its "Political Courage" award offer here from Military Religious Freedom Foundation head Mikey Weinstein, who has led the fight against efforts by radical evangelical Christian groups to take over the United States military; the reason was because Weinstein served in the first Reagan Administration (this led to Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson returning their awards from the group – as they rightly put it in their letter to the group, “Democrats are not the only ones who demonstrate political courage”).

Ed Asner described this as a “circular firing squad,” and he’s right; I can hardly wait for more wingnut opining from Irrational Spew and the Murdoch Street Journal now about liberal purity tests.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Major league umpire Jim Joyce, who blew the call on what would have been the final out of a perfect game pitched by Armando Gallaraga of the Detroit Tigers here (actually, MLB commissioner Bud Selig is worse for not overturning the call and giving Gallaraga the “perfecto” as Joyce asked Selig to do)…

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

Former Philadelphia Weekly editor Tim Whitaker, who founded “Mighty Writers” here “an after-school program (with) a roster of writing workshops (with) plenty of kids (ages 7 to 17) wanting to participate. We also have a simple credo: There is no straighter route to success than being able to express yourself through words.”

Would that more would do the same (original philly.com link expired)…

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Supremes, again, for this…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

South Carolina State Senator Jake Knotts for this (all class, Repugs – and by the way, an apology from the party isn’t good enough…I want to hear this moron say, “You know what? I was a goddamn flaming asshat for that remark, and I sure as hell am sorry for saying something so stupid.”).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

For all of his legendary political skills, I cannot understand why Bill Clinton campaigned for Dame Blanche Lincoln in the days leading up to her runoff win against Bill Halter in June (and also here). Lincoln had zero support from traditional Democratic constituencies, as well she shouldn’t, and that had a lot to do with why her seat flipped to the “R” column in November.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Dem (!) U.S. House Rep Ike Skelton for this (somehow I think the kids are smarter than this numbskull will ever be - wonder if this had anything to do with his loss in November?)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Adam Burish of the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks for this (a verbal broadside against Chris Pronger of the Flyers that, IMHO, was particularly stupid, a bit beyond the normal "trash talk" - what Frank Seravalli says, and more...Burish later apologized)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Huckleberry Graham for this (oh yeah, we need a “bullhorn” moment from Obama on BP all right; as Jed says, what we REALLY need is for you, Huck, to pull your thumb out and support climate change legislation)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

President Obama for his administration’s relentless pursuit and prosecution of press leaks as noted here (more so than Bushco, if you can believe that – now I know why he won’t support a federal shield law…yes, I’m sure there are the proverbial extenuating circumstances in the Tom Drake case, but I still think we’re witnessing a big overreaction...I think the count is now three Obama Dregs citations and a Do Gooder one also, for anybody keeping score)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Shane Victorino of the Phillies for a $900,000 donation to the Nicetown Boys and Girls Club in Philadelphia (written about by Ronnie Polaneczky of the Daily News, though the link has already expired - heckuva job, philly.com)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The supervisors of the Southland Christian School in Florida here, who fired teacher Jarretta Hamilton because Hamilton admitted that she conceived three weeks before her wedding day (I hope this idiots get sued – I’m sure they will; not the smartest thing for Hamilton not to tell them to pound sand when they asked her about it, but there you are)

The “Not Exactly What He Would Have Done, I’m Sure” Citation Of The Year

The family of David Makoeya, a 61-year-old man from the small village of Makweya, Limpopo province in Johannesburg, South Africa, beat the man to death because he wanted to watch a World Cup soccer game between Germany and Australia; the family wanted to watch a gospel show instead, as noted here.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor gets it for investing in “an exchange-traded fund that ‘takes a short position in long-dated government bonds’ — effectively betting against the U.S. Treasury bonds that the government uses to fund its operation,” as Think Progress tells us here.

I realize that Cantor has the right to put his money anywhere he wants. However, having put it here, he really should shut his mouth about the “stim,” since that creates a financial conflict of interest if the bonds do badly as a result of his statements (though, as TP and the Murdoch Street Journal tell us, the fund is down 31 percent, so Cantor can’t be too bright about this anyway).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Repug Kentucky Senator-elect Rand Paul gets it here, for “urg(ing) Americans who have been unemployed for many months to consider returning to the workforce in less desirable jobs rather than continue relying on government unemployment assistance” (Why don’t you “lead by example,” then? Why don’t YOU try making ends meet with either unemployment or a crap “McJob,” assuming you could even get one because of your skin color, and I mean Caucasian…don’t get me started).

One conservative talking point I’m particularly disgusted with, by the way (in a related vein) is this notion that, if you pursued a B.A. in college, you’re an idiot. And obtaining a business or science degree (or an advanced degree) automatically means that you can talk down to people who aren’t as “textbook smart” as you are concerning career choices.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Daniel W. Nesbitt of Philadelphia who “stripped to his underwear, grabbed some shampoo and took a shower in the reflecting pool of Pennsylvania's official Sept. 11 memorial in Lower Makefield,” in June according to police (phillyburbs link expired)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Missouri farmer David Jungerman, who, despite the fact that he has erected this idiotic sign on his property calling the Democrats “parasites” (his right to do so, I’ll admit), has received over a $1 million in farm subsidies (we’ll be await the return of that money any day now, you asshat)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

The no-longer-Moonie-but-still-hopelessly-right-wing Washington Times for doctoring a photo of Obama Supreme Court Nominee (and eventual confirmed Justice) Elena Kagan here showing her wearing a turban and alleging that she would observe Sharia law, or some such nonsense.

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Sandra Gallant of Morrisville, PA, who courageously shared the story of her struggle with suicidal depression in a Guest Opinion that appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times in June (all the best of luck to her…getting this out in the open is bound to help more people seeking treatment, to say nothing of tolerance from family and friends for their condition...another expired link - sorry)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee (Memorial citation)

I would really hate it if somehow this year came and went without more attention paid to the tragic story of Floribert Chebeya Bahizire, perhaps the best-known human rights activist in the Congo who himself became a casualty of one of the most brutal regimes on earth.

As the New York Times tells us here…

“He was a man who was faithful to his convictions, full of integrity, and not corrupted,” (said Jean-Claude Katende, president of the African Association for the Defense of Human Rights). “For Congo, where corruption is massive, this is very unusual. It’s a shame we had to lose a man like that.”

It truly is – the world needs as much of the courage embodied by Mr. Bahizire as it can get.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

CNBC’s Rick Santelli for this (what a WATB!)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Federal Judge Martin Feldman of New Orleans, who, as noted here, lifted the Obama Administration’s moratorium on deepwater drilling for oil after the BP disaster (and Feldman owns about $15K in Transocean stock – Transocean is an oil drilling company that contracted with BP…guess Feldman didn’t think that little detail was reason enough to recuse himself)

Dregs of the Year Nominee (Yet Another Commemorative Bill Marrazzo Citation)

WHYY’s Bill Marrazzo for this (h/t Atrios)…

Do Gooders of the Year Nominee

The Chicago City Council, which approved a new gun ordinance by a vote of 45-0 here after The Supremes invalidated the old one (in your face, Hangin’ Judge JR!)

Looney Liturgical Idea Of The Year ("Don't Tell The Penguin" Citation)

As noted here, "L'Osservatore Romano," the Vatican's official newspaper, called the film “The Blues Brothers” (yes, the original with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) a "Catholic classic" and said it should be recommended viewing for Catholics everywhere (and I’m sure He would have driven a used Plymouth police car through an Illinois shopping mall at 120 miles per hour, demolishing everything in sight - hey, great movie, but…).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, gets it for not describing waterboarding as torture at the request of Bushco way back when, then saying in July, in response to a Harvard study on how waterboarding had been reported as torture for about 100 years prior to then, that "I think this Kennedy School study -- by focusing on whether we have embraced the politically correct term of art in our news stories -- is somewhat misleading and tendentious."

As Glenn Greenwald points out here, this fits the pattern of the Times also sitting on the NSA spying story until after the 2004 presidential election (h/t Atrios).

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Texas home builder Dan Wallrath, who has given vets injured in Iraq and Afghanistan homes of their own mortgage free as part of his Operation Finally Home project (here)…

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Closer to home, Shane Burroughs of the Synergy Project, begun by the Warminster, PA-based nonprofit organization Valley Youth House in January of this year, gets a note here. Burroughs typically searches for homeless young people between 18-21 and finds about two a week; according to a Bucks County Courier Times story in July (I think), he connects these young men and women with career centers, counseling, food banks, rehabs and shelters. Occasionally, there's room at the Covenant House shelter in Philadelphia, Burroughs said. There's usually a waiting list at the American Red Cross Homeless Shelter in Bristol Township.

Because of the lack of shelters, Burroughs said he often has no choice but to help these young people find a relatively safe place to sleep outside.

And tell me once again, Repugs, why it’s more important to give tax breaks to Big Oil and the “banksters” on the one hand, and on the other, cry “poor mouth” to the states when they need help with projects like this one (and yet another busted link from phillyburbs - unbelievable between this site and philly.com)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Repug Minnesota gubernatorial candidate (and eventual loser) Tom Emmer; his brilliant idea to stimulate the economy is to cut the minimum wage of bartenders and waiters (here)

Pundit Asshattery Of The Year Nominee

To Terry Savage of the Chicago Sun-Times (h/t Daily Kos), who uses the excuse of a lemonade stand where the girls running it give away the stuff for free to extrapolate about how bad it is to modify underwater mortgages and extend unemployment benefits (here)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Repug U.S. House Rep (and incoming Oversight Committee Chair - hope you like pointless Obama investigations, because they're a-comin') Darrell Issa of California (who once threatened Henry Waxman here and gave Rahm Emanuel “the finger” for an episode Emanuel doesn’t remember, as noted here) has been getting a lot of press lately for picking fights with the White House; however, given this story that “a bank lender in Ventura County is accusing a bank of selling Issa the building for at least $3 million less than it should have,” maybe Issa should investigate himself (and by the way, Chris Dodd resigned in part over alleged housing improprieties a lot less flagrant that this).

Dregs of the Year Nominees

CNN, for basically firing Octavia Nasr, CNN’s Senior Editor of Mideast Affairs, for using complimentary language in acknowledging the death of Lebanon’s Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah of Hezbollah (her “crime,” I suppose, was not to allege that he was the boogeyman that the wingnuts claimed that he was, when in fact, Fadallah favored some liberalization of horrific Shia law, particularly against women, and was a spiritual guide of sorts to Nouri al-Maliki, the guy in charge of Iraq that we supposedly like - here)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Outgoing Repug U.S. House Rep Bob Inglis of South Carolina, for properly calling out those in his party here…

Dregs of the Year Nominees

All of those who are rich who walked away from their “underwater” mortgages (a good post about that by Jed L. of Daily Kos here)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

“Baby Ruth” Marcus for complaining about Obama and recess appointments when her husband, Jon Leibowitz, benefitted from such appointments under both Obama and Dubya (amazing catch by Jed L - here)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Repug PA Governor-elect (ugh) Tom Corbett for the following from July; he spoke these insulting words in Joe Pitts-land (here)…

At a campaign stop Friday in Lancaster County, Corbett said employers had told him that they have jobs, but can't find workers.

"People don't want to come back to work while they still have unemployment," he said. "They're literally telling him, 'I'll come back to work when unemployment runs out.' That's becoming a problem."

No, what’s “becoming a problem” is idiot politicians like you discussing the worst economic crisis since the Depression in vague generalities so as to promote your conservative bona fides with your fellow wingnuts.

Where exactly are these “jobs,” Tom? Where are people supposed to go to find out about them? Are they “McJobs” that pay at the same rate as unemployment or slightly better, or are they real jobs through which someone can support himself or herself and/or his or her family?

I know Dan Onorato beat Corbett over the head with this until Election Day, but sadly, it wasn't enough (prepare to reap the whirlwind, all you numbskulls who voted for Corbett anyway).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Richard Cohen for this (h/t Atrios – re: the story of the Swiss refusing to extradite Roman Polanski to the U.S. in July)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Here is another citation to Ben Nelson of Nebraska (even though I know what would happen if his seat flipped to an “R,” it would almost be worth it - also for this).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Fix Noise humanoid Megyn Kelly for this (and in response, I give you this)…

Do Gooders of the Year Nominees ("F*ck Yeah!" Citation)

I’m loathe to give the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York credit for anything, but kudos to them for a change for “(striking) down a Federal Communications Commission policy on indecency (in July) saying that regulations barring the use of ‘fleeting expletives’ on radio and television violated the First Amendment because they were vague and could inhibit free speech,” noted here.

Dregs of the Year Nominees

Except for Dem U.S. House Rep Donna Edwards, every single member of the United States Congress for refusing the invitation from Nicole Lamoreaux (who continues to do heroic work) to attend a free clinic sponsored by her National Association of Free Clinics in Washington, D.C. on August 4th (and yes, Congress was in session - here).

Dregs of the Year Nominees

Mississippi Public Broadcasting and executive director Judith Lewis for dropping “Fresh Air” hosted by Terry Gross; as noted here…

…(the last show aired on the Mississippi network featured) an interview with comedian Louis C.K., who self-deprecatingly confided that he always wears a T-shirt in sexual situations, out of consideration for women. When sex occurs on his TV show on the FX cable channel, he added, "There's a rule that I have to be on my back . . . I don't think anyone wants to see me looming over her. I think that's an upsetting image."

The response from Judith Lewis…

"Mississippi Public Broadcasting strives to deliver educational, informative and meaningful content to its listeners. After careful consideration we have determined that Fresh Air does not meet this goal over time. Too often Fresh Air's interviews include gratuitous discussions on issues of an explicit sexual nature. We believe that most of these discussions do not contribute to or meaningfully enhance serious-minded public discourse on sexual issues."

Based on this, though (and alluded to in Lewis’s response), it seems that there’s a history in Mississippi of pulling the show because of “inappropriate content” but then putting it back on the air when listeners complained (good for them).

This is ridiculous (though sadly typical, I realize). Is Mississippi afraid to air legitimate adult content?

If people are afraid that their fragile sensibilities will be hurt, there’s a simple solution; DON’T LISTEN TO THE DAMN SHOW!

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Obama Administration and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, for letting themselves be suckered by Andrew Breitbart once again in the matter of Shirley Sherrod (I guess you could call this ACORN II; gee, people like yours truly exhort the Dem base to get out and work for the party in the elections and also for 2012, and then they pull crap like this - here - Vilsack and the Obama Administration did make amends a bit later, though, as noted here)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Moon Unit Bachmann, for comparing Tea Party wingnuts to WWII heroes here (too far even for her)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Dem U.S. House Rep Charles Rangel of New York gets it here for not taking the hint and retiring after having been quite thoroughly busted by the New York Times here on his “failure to report income from a villa in the Dominican Republic, his acceptance of four rent-stabilized apartments in NYC, and his use of his office to preserve a loophole for an oil company executive who pledged a $1 million donation to a new public policy center to be named after (Rangel).”

As we know, after Rangel won re-election, he was censured in the House, thereby codifying his malfeasance inasmuch as he will retain elected office.

Yeah, great message to send to the voters in an election year in which Dems otherwise got wiped out, Charlie.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Washington, D.C. “chancellor” of public schools Michelle Rhee, for firing 241 teachers and putting 737 district employees on notice for being “minimally effective” here (that’s a hell of a lot of “underperformance”…and to toss these people, and maybe more, into this wretched economy also - so of course "Governor Bully" offers her a job here)

More later (I think we're past the halfway point)...

Thursday Stuff

Hopefully returning to posting tomorrow - we'll see (yeah I know, tax cuts, blah blah, but this was somewhat amusing)...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Supercuts
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> The Daily Show on Facebook

...and back to the holiday stuff we go.

Wednesday Stuff

Once more, here are two songs to commemorate the day...

Remembering John Lennon

Good stuff in the New York Times today here, here and here (and a prior post is here...and just as the Bucks County Courier Times featured nothing on this on the 25th anniversary, they did likewise today - I thought this was good also)…

And once again, I thought this was a great book.

Tuesday Stuff (updates)

When I think of Elizabeth Edwards, I will think of moments just like this…



…and by the way, Mr. President, I think someone here is being “sanctimonious,” but it isn’t who you think (if I hear that Russ Feingold is mounting a primary challenge, count on me for a few bucks...more here)…



…as K.O. explains in his “Special Comment” (and by the way, for reasons that would take too long to explain, I ended up on the right-wing listserv of Richard Viguerie, and he sent an Email tonight with the following message – “Liberals, You Have Nowhere To Go”…gee, ya’ think the wingnuts are looking to capitalize on this?)…



Update 1 12/8/10: Gary Weckselblatt, Mike Fitzpatrick’s designated stenographer for the Bucks County Courier Times, cited the National Taxpayer’s Union today as a group that basically supported the Obama tax plan. I guess it was too much trouble to note that the group is bankrolled by Philip Morris (here...sorry, no link yet from that miracle of technology known as phillyburbs.com).

Update 2 12/8/10: Oh, so now it's threats, Mr. President? Taking a page out of the playbook of Former President Alfred E. Bush, are we?

…and once again, as a tribute to Elizabeth Edwards (a person who probably would be embarrassed by the outpouring of sympathy at this moment, though it is richly deserved), I’d like to put up this tune which has been running around in my head since I first learned of her passing.

Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2010 - Pt. 4)

(Part One is here, Part Two is here, and Part Three is here).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Larry Eugene North, who apparently had a thing for putting pipe bombs in mailboxes (here - charming)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Bergen County Education Association President Joe Coppola, who wrote a letter joking about the death of governor Chris Christie here (no, I most certainly don’t like Christie either, but Coppola was a numbskull for not thinking this would get out).

Now do you want to know something that is funny (funny “strange” as opposed to funny “ha ha,” I mean)? The fact that our corporate media can work itself into indignation over this, though I recall barely a peep out of them when Glenn Beck once said that he wanted to strangle Michael Moore here (i.e., a different standard for lefties, I mean).

Acidic Stage Production Review Of The Year

Ben Brantley of the New York Times absolutely savaged “The Addams Family” on April 9th here (describing a “baleful ectoplasm”…truly, you have to read this).

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

I know the bar is set really low here, but I have to give it to Repug U.S. House Rep Mike Pence for defending fellow Dem House Rep John Lewis (here).

On the other hand...

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Yep, here's Mike Pence again, calling for a ban on government funding for Planned Parenthood.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Right-wing hate radio vermin Neal Boortz, for stating here that people who support Obama should lose their jobs (of course, firing people for that reason is incredibly illegal)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Mike Huckabee, for comparing gays to drug users here (I can recall all of those corporate media stories about Huckabee and his down-home, “aw, shucks” personality and his little quips – sound familiar? Think of a certain moose-hunting former Alaska governor, as well as a certain 43rd president – when in reality all he was doing was hiding an ugly intolerance that creeps out every so often, such as right now)

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

Roland S. Martin of CNN for “going there” (here) and calling Confederate Civil War soldiers “domestic terrorists” (funny, but when you ask those who support the South what else the Civil War was about besides slavery – well, they come back with the usual “states rights” BS, which is even more ridiculous considering what the Republican Party turned into under Dubya – if they’re so big on “states rights,” then why the hell did Abu G and Ass-Croft care about medical marijuana use in Oregon, for example, or California’s regulation of greenhouse gases? And then “honor, valor, blah blah blah”…but all of that had to be in the name of preserving something, and what else was there to preserve except slavery?)…

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

Conversely, to Repug Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi here, for saying that fellow Repug Southern Governor Bob McDonnell’s omission of slavery in his proclamation honoring the Confederacy was “insensitive (but)… To me, it's a sort of feeling that it's a nit. That it is not significant, that it's not a – it's trying to make a big deal out of something doesn't amount to diddly.”

And by the way, I don’t know who DNC spokesperson Hari Sevugan is, but this was one hell of a comeback…

"Governor Barbour defended the indefensible this morning and in doing so portrayed a Republican mindset that is not only out of touch with this century, but the last one as well,” DNC national press secretary (Sevugan) said in a written statement. “To say that the systematic condemnation of millions to bondage and generation upon generation to servitude is ‘not significant,’ or that the tearing apart of families and the selling of human beings as cattle ‘doesn't amount to diddly’ is outrageous for any public official to say, let alone a man Republicans have placed in a position of leadership.”

Sevugan added, “These comments are unacceptable and should be universally condemned in the strongest terms. A failure to do so will send a strong message to all Americans that Republicans endorse Governor Barbour's sentiments and are content not only to be left behind in another century, but that they deserve to be a small regional party in the permanent minority”

To quote Howard Dean, “YEEEEAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!”

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Tea Party New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino for some, how would you put it, “unprofessional” communication here, particularly in public office (wow, sexism, racism and bestiality all at one – what a trifecta!)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Repug U.S. House Rep Paul Broun of GA, for encouraging people not to fill out their census forms completely (#1, that’s illegal; #2, taxpayers will have to pay for a census worker to make a return trip to someone’s house to make sure everything is filled out eventually, you fool...here)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Part-time songwriter Orrin Hatch here, for opposing full DC representation in Congress (as usual, sane minds tried to compromise with Republican idiots, giving Utah an extra at-large House set to balance things out, but Hatch and his pals oppose anything that would grant DC residents the full “voice” they’re entitled to in their government)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Pulaski County (Arkansas) Judge Chris Piazza, who struck down a law in that state banning same-sex couples from adopting (here)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback (and apparent serial rapist when he’s drunk) Ben Roethlisberger (here)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Matthew Clemmens of Cherry Hill, NJ., the Philies fan who intentionally threw up on the 11-year old daughter of Police Capt. Michael Vangelo of Easton, Pa. and Vangelo himself (way to create all kinds of negative publicity for the club as well as traumatizing this little girl, you thug; also, this probably qualifies Clemmens for a Darwin Award, seeing as how he threw up on a cop…and no way the Phillies are to blame for this - looks like he got what he deserved here).

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

Thomas Mitchell, editor of the Las Vegas Review Journal, who called here for a repeal of the 19th Amendment (yes, this clown actually runs a newspaper – h/t Atrios)

The “Obviously, This Guy’s Never Been Told That He ‘Made The Earth Move’” Citation

An Iranian cleric said that women “who wear revealing clothing and behave promiscuously” in that country were responsible for earthquakes here – too funny

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The College Republicans of Western Kentucky; as noted here, they’ve designated a day every year to honor Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History (apparently, there is no American History curricula to be found in that state’s universities, at least none prepared by an individual with greater than a single-digit IQ)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Repug Arizona Governor Jan Brewer for signing that state's "illegal to be brown" law here (also to Brewer for this)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Huckleberry Graham gets it here for bailing on climate change legislation because he’s unhappy that the Dems are “hurrying” on immigration reform legislation.

And this makes me recall all of the many, many, many corporate media news stories about supposedly moderate Repugs (Olympia Snowe, Mike Enzi, Grassley, and now Graham) who act like they’re going to cooperate with Democrats before they do their “Lucy pulling the football from Charlie Brown” number at the last minute, and as a consequence, the Beltway stenographers (see Broder, David) and chatterers end up tut-tutting about how those bad Democrats are sooo partisan.

Meanwhile, issues of consequence refuse to get addressed and we continue to sink under the weight of political impotence brought on by Repug obstruction.

What country am I living in again?

(Actually, what I’ve learned about this since the story broke was that Graham was hoping to get the bill passed before Fix Noise and the rest of the right-wing noise machine found out, but Harry Reid moved up the immigration bill to help with his re-election prospects and messed up the deal as far as Graham was concerned – still lame, but rational on some level anyway.)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Ben Nelson, for joining Senate Repugs in blocking financial reform legislation (here)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

“Chicken Lady” Sue Lowden running for the U.S. Senate from Nevada as a Repug, of course, here (lucky she lost the Repug nomination to Sharron Angle, or Lowden would probably be in the Senate now)…

…also, she apparently didn’t know if she’d leased a bus for her campaign or it was a gift in excess of $5 grand, which would be illegal (here).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Dr. Pat Bertroche, who favored putting microchips in illegal immigrants (here) - probably had something to do with why he ended up losing the Repug primary…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Stephanie Grace, a third-year Harvard law student who sent out an Email about “the inherent stupidity of black people” (here...h/t Atrios)

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominees

Dem U.S. House Rep Chris Van Hollen and Sen. Charles Schumer, for introducing legislation to try and mitigate the effects of that horrible Citizens United ruling here (unfortunately, it didn't get anywhere because of the usual reasons, and with the bunch taking over the House next year, rest assured they won't do a thing about it)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

U.S. Congressman from Texas (natch – party affiliation necessary?) Ted Poe, for comparing illegal immigrants to grasshoppers (stuff like this makes me wish George Lopez would run for Congress and win since he'd have a great time roasting characters like this guy to his face)...

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Former Repug U.S. House Rep Wayne Gilchrest, for some “straight talk,” if you will, concerning Boehner and Cantor here…

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

Adrian Gonzalez of the San Diego Padres, for saying that he will boycott the 2011 All-Star Game to be held in Phoenix if he is voted to play and Arizona’s “illegal to be brown” law is still on the books (here - San Diego traded him to Boston recently - I'm sure this wasn't related to that)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Anti-gay preacher George Alan Rekers; as TPM tells us here, he was caught with a male “escort” leaving a plane (uh, the guy was helping me with my luggage, and maybe a package…yeah, that’s the ticket)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominees

The NBA’s Phoenix Suns, who wore their “Los Suns” uniforms on Cinco de Mayo to protest that state’s “illegal to be brown” law (here)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Brad Goehring, running for the Republican nomination in California’s 11th congressional district with the election in June, who posted a message on his Facebook wall declaring “hunting season” on liberals (here - this idiot lost the Repug primary to David Harmer, who lost the general to Dem Jerry McNerney...ha ha)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

Jim Inhofe for this and Jim DeMint for this...

Dregs of the Year Nominee

T.J. Rooney of the PA Democratic Party gets a “Dregs” citation for this (seems that everyone counted out Admiral Joe, but he very nearly pulled off what would have been a miracle in this electoral climate; Specter would have done no better, and maybe worse - by the way, a lot of PA voters who cast their lot with "No Corporate Tax" Toomey are going to have one hell of a case of "buyer's remorse").

Dregs of the Year Nominees

Those Maine teabaggers who held one of their little parties in the classroom of King Middle School 8th grade teacher Paul Clifford’s class and proceeded to vandalize it, taking exception to Clifford’s “Four Freedoms” posted, among other items noted here (Yeah, how dare you speak your mind? What are you, a commie libtard or something? U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!)

Or, as Simon Thompson put it…

I am an unapologetic graduate of Paul Clifford’s eighth grade English class at King Middle School. I participated in the “Four Freedoms” expedition, and I made a poster decrying war quite similar to the one with which the Republicans took issue.

I am not brainwashed, I am not a puppet, I am not anti-American or anti-religious, and I am certainly not stupid. Paul Clifford’s class taught me to think critically, to deductively reason and, if anything, to appreciate America for all the freedoms with which I am ensured on a daily basis.

Clearly, the Knox County Republicans — who took a cherished, pro-Labor poster from Clifford’s room and who now are making slanderous and uninformed claims about Clifford — have a different agenda.

Kudos to Thompson for speaking truth to stupid.

The “Definitely Not What You Would Call An Uplifting Experience...Ba-Dump!” Citation

This story from HuffPo (figures) tells us that a bra-removing contest in China was won by a woman who bested a field of men, unsnapping eight of them in 21 seconds (c’mon you guys!)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

The New York Times for its handling of the Richard Blumenthal story of his military service; as noted by Media Matters here, they didn’t give Blumenthal credit for correctly stating that he served “during Vietnam” as opposed to “in Vietnam” (and good job to carry the story of former Repug House Rep Chris Shays in concern troll mode along the lines of, “well, I heard him say ‘in,’ and I wanted to warn him, but…”).

Also, let's not forget this when it comes to politicians and military service (hat tip to Atrios for the Media Matters links).

…and I read this and can only think of one word – owned.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

KY Repug senatorial candidate (and eventual winner - ugh) Rand Paul for this (meltdown on TRMS)…

And here is something else for the Rand Paul file (I had a feeling it would grow, and it did, as noted here)…

Dregs of the Year Nominees

A rather shocking set of citations to Dem Sens. John Kerry and Maria Cantwell (and re-elected Dem Senator Patty Murray) for protecting tax breaks for the rich at the expense of the unemployed here (when something like this happens, I kind of get the feeling that it was some sort of a parliamentary move gone horribly wrong, and I hope that’s all that this was)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

The little girl who told First Lady Michelle Obama that her mother didn’t have “papers” and faced deportation on 5/19…

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Dregs of the Year Nominee

PA Attorney General (and eventual winner of the gubernatorial election - double ugh!) Tom Corbett for this (h/t Atrios)…

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

U.S. House Rep Dennis Kucinich for introducing a bill banning “the extrajudicial killing of U.S. citizens” (and yes, it is pathetic that it is necessary for him to do that, and yes, it’s also pathetic that our “hopey, changey” chief executive isn’t doing that on his own - here)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Karen Schoenfeld, owner of Yester Years Pub and Grill in Milwaukee, where a statue of President Obama was burned in effigy (here - with the crowd cheering of course...once again, take a bow for the stupidity of replacing Russ Feingold with Ron Johnson in the U.S. Senate)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Repug Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire for his “let them eat cake” attitude towards the unemployed (here)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Snarlin’ Arlen Specter, for voting in favor of Sen. Feingold’s amendment for a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan here (likewise, a citation to Feingold himself…the amendment was voted down 18-80 – maybe Arlen is just “phoning it in” after losing to Sestak, and it’s possible that he wanted to stick this to Obama for maybe thinking 44 could’ve done more for him…even though I disagree – it was over after that commercial…but Specter did the right thing; a Dregs citation to Sideshow Bob Casey for voting No)

More later...

Monday Stuff

This clip of Cenk Uygur from last year gives you a hint as to why I'm not very felicitous towards the tax agreement that was struck tonight by Obama and the Repugs - all he had to do was let the damn tax cuts expire and try to pass his own next year and watch the Repugs try to contort themselves into opposing it.

But as always, they move the goalposts, Obama tries to find a "middle" somewhere between Broderella and Beckistan, and a "compromise" is reached that manages to punch a few hippies and leave the Repugs chortling about how their idiotic notions of governance are rewarded yet again. Mission accomplished (and I suppose we'll have to wait for another president someday to see this kind of urgency on job creation - and yes, I realize that Obama did what he did partly to free up unemployment benefits held hostage by the Repugs)...



...and it's hard to find some holiday cheer at the moment - maybe this will help.

Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2010 - Pt. 3)

(Part One is here and Part Two is here.)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who directed the state’s colleges and universities to “rescind policies that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” on orders of Repug Governor Bob McDonnell here (have fun reaping the whirlwind of this boneheaded decision, wingnuts – McDonnell ended up reversing Cuccinelli, but I don’t give anyone points here since this never should have been considered to begin with)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Iranian “president” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (as if that title in that country actually implies that he has any authority whatsoever) gets it here for calling the 9/11 attacks “a big lie.”

Now I’ll be honest; I still have unanswered questions about that day, and I probably always will have unanswered questions about that day, particularly about Flight 93. But all I have are suppositions; I have no new facts to bring to the discussion here. And from the looks of things, that goes for Ahmadinejad also.

As for the names of the victims, there are ample places where he can learn more about them, including this Wikipedia link. Also, if he ever finds himself in Lower Makefield, PA, he could actually go to the Garden of Reflection and read the names of the 17 people we lost in Bucks County.

This man is an annoying little pipsqueak who asks how high when the mullahs tell him to jump. Nothing he has ever said or done has proven to be of any significance except to further the terrorist cause of Islamic extremism. Usually, I would give him the recognition he is due, and that would be none at all, but this remark hit a nerve with yours truly, among others I’m sure.

(And by the way, a “Dregs within a dregs” citation to The Mittster for this bit of nonsense to go with it.)

The “What’s Next, Then – BOA As A Bubble Gum Cartoon and Goldman Sachs As a Comic Book?” Citation

“Enron – The Musical” debuted on Broadway this spring (here - as noted here, though, it closed in May)

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

U.S. House Dem Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick for proposing a congressional pay cut here…

Dregs of the Year Nominee (And Diversity Training Candidate Of The Year)

NJ Superior Court Judge James N. Citta, who “belittled an immigrant defendant’s poor English skills and compared another defendant to O.J. Simpson” here…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Torii Hunter of the Los Angeles of Anaheim Somewhere In California Wherever The Hell They Are Angels, for referring to Latin American baseball players as “imposters” here (stupid almost beyond words…Juan Marichal, Roberto Clemente, Fernando Valenzuela, Manny Trillo, Rod Carew, etc., etc., etc.)

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

Barack Obama, for donating all of the $1.4 million he received for winning the Nobel Prize to charity, including groups working to provide earthquake relief for Haiti and supporting military families (here - well done, Mr. President)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Yep, it’s time for the yearly (at least) citation to Bill Donahue of the Conservative Catholic League for defending Glenn Beck-istan over the latter’s idiotic ramblings about “running away” from a Catholic church service if there is a homily about “social and/or economic justice” (here - yes, I know these quotes aren’t exact, but when it comes to two idiots like Donahue and Beck, I don’t care).

And I LOVE Donahue’s remark about “left wing sermons,” by the way. I have never heard a “left-wing sermon” in my life!

Do Gooder of the Year Nominees

Wantagh (NY) Memorial Congregational Church, for their “in your face, hallelujah” response to Beck and Donahue here…

Best Idea Of The Year So Far

So Hangin’ Judge JR and The Supremes issue that horrible Citizens United ruling, then Roberts gets mad when Obama calls him and his pals out over it at the State of the Union (with Roberts expressing his unhappiness in a newspaper interview), so then John Podesta, in response, says here that the Supreme Court deliberations should be broadcast on C-SPAN (which would highlight Clarence Thomas, among others, who in March marked the fourth anniversary of his silence on the bench during deliberations - and speaking of Thomas...).

Dregs Of The Year Nominee (Commemorative Bill Marrazzo Citation)

As noted here...

Roxanne Spillett, president and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, received a total compensation of $988,591 in 2008, according to the charity's tax filings. She got a base salary of $360,774, a bonus of $150,000 and other compensation of $83,152, for a total of $593,926. She also received $385,500 in deferred compensation, most of which went to a retirement plan, and $9,165 in nontaxable benefits.

And she keeps such good company too.

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

Eleven-year-old Marcelas Owens; you can read about him here…

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Departing Dem Senator Ted Kaufman of Delaware, for giving a speech here stating in boldface type, as it were, that “fraud and potential criminal conduct were at the heart of the financial crisis” (But sssh! Don’t wake our corporate media, preoccupied with such weighty stuff as the ratings for Sarah Palin’s “reality” TV show, gossip involving Justin Bieber or what will happen to Lindsay Lohan when she’s released from jail for her latest drug possession conviction)

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominees

The 59,000 Catholic nuns who support health care reform in opposition to the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops because, as they put it, "Despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions" (here - hope none of them are in Providence, RI, because I’m sure Thomas Tobin will now try to deny them communion)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Repug Senators who opposed a jobs bill passed on March 17th but supported corporation-responsible rape, as noted here (and no, I’m not being figurative – wish I were)

Special “Pay Attention, Timmeh Geithner and Ben Bernanke – And Yes, I’m Just Kidding” Citation

North Korea reportedly executed its finance chief for its “botched” attempt at currency reform here…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Repug (of course) U.S. House Rep Randy (“Baby Killer”) Neugebauer of Texas…really hard for me to feel sympathy for Bart Stupak (re: HCR of course), but Neugebauer made me do it here (h/t Daily Kos…oh, and he apologized to Stupak but still used his little stunt to promote himself for re-election – nice guy)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Corey Poitier, running for U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek's seat in Florida (Meek ran for the Dem Senatorial nomination to face likely Repug opponent Marco Rubio, with Rubio winning in November against Meek and Charlie Crist); Poitier called Obama “Buckwheat” here and, by virtue of a non-apology apology, said he made a “mistake” (uh, yep...still better than wingnut queen Sarah Palin, though, who called Obama Sambo and faced no reprisal whatsoever)

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

“Diaper Dave” Vitter introduced a Senate amendment here to deny federal funds to ACORN - Let’s see on how many levels this is dumb, OK?

First, there is the court decision that Congress acted illegally in denying funds to the group (referring to the Johanns amendment, noted here). Second, there is the fact that, due to right wing BS and the group’s own internal difficulties, it is disbanding (I’m sure there are other levels, but I can’t think of any at the moment).

Dregs of the Year Nominee (Obssessive Compulsive Citation)

Former Commander Codpiece, for rubbing his hands on the shirt of fellow ex-president Bill Clinton after Dubya shook hands with Haitian residents here (the two were there to help with Haitian relief, of course, which is commendable…I know 43 has a history of doing stuff like this, but still…)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Adulterer and ethically compromised Repug U.S. senator John Ensign, who whines here that he’s a victim of ’gotcha’ journalism (time to call the WHAAAAA!!-mbulance...lucky for his sorry ass that the Obama DOJ decided to forego charges against him)

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

Giving Larry Kudlow, a guy who once tried a make a funny out of asking Harold Ford, Jr. “Are you now or have you ever been a liberal?” credit for anything is repellent to me, but to be fair, I have to for criticizing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce here for opposing regulation of “too big to fail” financial institutions.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Harry Weisiger of Nashville, TN, who, as noted here, saw an Obama bumper sticker on the car of fellow resident Mark Duren (this is just after HCR passed, let’s recall) and became so enraged that he rammed into Duren’s car and then…

“…pointed at the back of my car,” Duren said, “the bumper, flipped me off, one finger salute.”

But it didn’t end there.

Duren told News 2 that Weisiger honked his horn at him for awhile, as Duren stopped at a stop sign.

Once he started driving again, down Blair Boulevard, towards his home, he said, “I looked in the rear view mirror again, and this same SUV was speeding, flying up behind me, bumped me.”

Duren said he applied his brake and the SUV smashed into the back of his car.
He then put his car in park to take care of the accident, but Weisiger started pushing the car using his SUV.

Duren said, “He pushed my car up towards the sidewalk, almost onto the sidewalk.”

Congratulations, Weisiger, you asshat, You’ve been charged with felony reckless endangerment. I hope you go to jail (and Duren’s ten-year-old daughter was in the car - here).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Tom Grimes, who, as noted here…

…lost his job as a financial consultant 15 months ago, he called his congressman, a Democrat, for help getting government health care.

Then he found a new full-time occupation: Tea Party activist. [...]

As BarbinMD says, please mock (and of course, it would have been nice if the reporter had pressed him on that, but I guess that’s too uncivil for our “respectable” media).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Kathryn Jean Lopez of Irrational Spew, criticizing Obama for a picture of him with his feet on his desk in the oval office (here - and yes, I wish I were kidding)

Idiots of the Year (So Far – “It’s A Scandal, It’s An Outrage!” Citation)

The Oklahoma “Lege” for this item; in trying to strip protections in hate crime legislation from the law (from the federal Matthew Shepard Act), they cited the wrong section of the U.S. code and ”actually passed a statute allowing state law enforcement officials to keep information about crimes motivated by race or religion out of the hands of federal authorities” (the moral of the story here is to let the grownups do their jobs and tell the kiddies not to stray too far from the sand box)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

Everyone associated with right-wing media who defends alleged terrorists arrested by the FBI (here - …and I’m sorry, but I have to give the nod here to Pope Benny here…really sick of this “culture of pity” crap when you hear barely a word from what the victims of pedophile priests had to endure...h/t for both to Atrios)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

PA State Senator Daylin Leach for introducing a bill to abolish PA’s death penalty here (good luck – he’ll need it)

Dregs of the Year (Possibly The Millennia) Nominee

Frederick Poust III – as Ronnie Polaneczky of The Philadelphia Daily News told us on March 30th, he’s the life form who, while driving and dialing on his cell phone, broadsided a car and ended up killing 2-year-old Morgan Lee Pena in 1999; he was back in the news because he allegedly blew through 10 stop signs in Montgomery County and then careened into a turn, striking a Honda Civic and killing passenger Richie Taylor (Poust shouldn’t be allowed to operate any vehicle more sophisticated than a tricycle - link expired).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Norman Leboon, the 38-year-old burnout from Philadelphia who threatened Eric Cantor here (way to legitimize right-wing talking points about supposedly left-wing violence, you idiot)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Outgoing Dem Senator Blanche Lincoln for suggesting here that primary opponent Bill Halter has “a prescription drug problem”; as HuffPo tells us, “The attack has been condemned by Halter aides as ‘desperate’-- mainly because the candidate's service with Threshold Pharmaceuticals was restricted to the board” (Halter wasn't named in the lawsuit against Threshold for misleading investors).

Lincoln definitely had a “desperation problem,” though.

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals for ruling that the family of Marine Matthew Snyder, who was killed in action in Iraq in 2006, must pay the court costs in a civil claim incurred by the Westboro Baptist Church here (the “Thank God for dead soldiers” nut bunch run by Fred Phelps) – I don’t care if this decision was right on the law or not…it still stinks (and if this ends up before Hangin’ Judge JR and The Supremes and they invent another precedent to throw out this decision, I’ll applaud)

…and it is really, REALLY hard for me to give O’Reilly credit here, but I have to (Smerky also put up a link to a site to contribute to Mr. Snyder’s court costs in an April 1 Daily News column, so good for him too)…

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker for refusing to join that idiotic lawsuit among 14 attorneys general (including PA’s own Tom Corbett) over health care reform here (good luck trying to take down the Commerce Clause, you 14 asshats – and of course, Repugs in the GA state legislature want Baker impeached…sounds like “the pits” in the Peach State; would that Corbett and Ken Cuccinelli in VA had an ounce of Baker’s common sense...last I checked, at least two judges had ruled against the suit stating that the Feds can enact HCR)

The “Something Besides My Table Tray Is In A Locked And Upright Position” Citation

As noted here, flight attendants in Spain owed up to nine months' wages by a grounded Spanish airline posed nude for a calendar to draw attention to their plight (apparently there’s no “fear of flying” here – good luck to them).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Paleoanthropologist Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program and curator of anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History, who defended pollution scion David H. Koch as a “philanthropist who is deeply interested in science” (here)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Pope Benny, for comparing what he believes to be the, ahem, inquisition against the Vatican over priest abuse to “collective violence” suffered by the Jews (nope, that one’s not going to work either, Benny – here...h/t profmarcus)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

This is sounding like a broken record I know, but Bunning, Coburn, Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao and any other obstructing Senate Repug gets it not just for holding up an extension of unemployment benefits, but for blocking an extension of flood insurance (here).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

The National Parole Board of Canada, who pardoned convicted sex offender Graham James, a junior hockey coach who abused, among others, former NHL players Theo Fleury and Sheldon Kennedy (here) – the board did this in 2007 (there are some crimes that cannot be pardoned as far as I’m concerned, and this is one of them)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

The Philadelphia Eagles, not for trading quarterback Donavan McNabb (which was overdue, actually), but for doing it in the Phillies’ opening day (yeah, they’ve had weeks to decide on this and could’ve done it closer to the draft, but nooooo – anyone who thinks they don’t try to steal headlines from the baseball team isn’t paying attention…of course, the Phillies have actually won championships in my lifetime, as opposed to Lurie and company)

And by the way, trading McNabb within the division to Washington was pretty stoo-pid also (though he hasn't really fulfilled the 'Skins expectations I realize).

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

Charlie Freret of Chantilly, Va., who discovered a flaw in TurboTax that, according to this NYT story, “may have caused thousands of retired federal employees to overstate their medical deductions and unwittingly underpay the Internal Revenue Service, according to federal officials” (Freret could have kept his mouth shut and no one probably would have been the wiser, but he did the right thing - here).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Dem U.S. House Rep Bart Stupak of Michigan, who continued to blame “the left” for making his job a “living hell” during the whole HCR battle, which is funny when you consider the vile attacks and threats hurled in his direction from the rabid wingnuts, including some “pro-life” people, after he decided to vote for HCR anyway (here - I probably mentioned this already, but why not give it another shot?)…

More later...