Saturday Stuff

Happy belated 75th birthday to boomer icon Mary Tyler Moore (and best wishes for good health too)…



…and I think this is a good question aimed at the presumptive Repug presidential nominee…



…and this, when all is said and done, is probably my favorite tune from the year that is coming to a close (so apropos)…



…and yeah, I think this is a nice tune for ringing in 2012; won’t mind seeing 2011 fade into obscurity (and once more, Happy New Year to one and all).

Friday Stuff

Huffington Post is replaying what it considers some of the funniest political moments on late night TV over the past year, and here is one - I would be inclined to agree (And remember when it was supposedly a big deal that Conan O'Brien was shopping around for a new channel for his show?)...



...and here is another favorite video from the last 12 months.

Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2011 - Pt. 12)

(I know it's hard to believe, but since all good things must come to an end...Part One is here, Part Two is here, Part Three is here, Part Four is here, Part Five is here, Part Six is here, Part Seven is here, Part Eight is here, Part Nine is here, Part Ten is here, and Part Eleven is here.)

RIP

Pete Postlethwaite, Anne Francis, Gerry Rafferty, Matthew Crozier, Federal Judge John Roll, Christina-Taylor Green, Dave Nelson, Susannah York, Josephine Harris, Sargent Shriver, Don Kirshner, Jack LaLanne, David Kato, John Barry, Ernest McCulloch, Brian Rust, Maria Schneider, Ahmad Mohamed Mahmoud, Gary Moore, Rashawn Anderson, Chuck Tanner, George Shearing, Kenneth Mars, Frank Buckles, Jane Russell, Shabhaz Bhatti, David Broder, Rick Martin, Warren Christopher, Bill Winslade, Elizabeth Taylor, Joseph William “Pinetop” Perkins, Geraldine Ferraro, Richard Leacock, Joe Bageant, Sabah al-Bazi, Farley Granger, John Adler, Baruch Blumberg, E.J. McGuire, John Sullivan, Sidney Lumet, William Donald Schaefer, Tim Hetherington, Anton Hammerl, Chris Hondros, Madelyn Pugh Davis. Michael Sarrazin, Phoebe Snow, Don Clark, Marian Mercer, Jackie Cooper, William Campbell, Cornell Dupree, Odell Brown, Jr., Harmon Killebrew, Jeff Conaway, Gil Scott-Heron, James Arness, Andrew Gold, David Mason (trumpet player on “Penny Lane”), Carl Gardner (lead singer of The Coasters), Wild Man Fischer, Clarence Clemons, Yelena Bonner, Peter Falk, Gil Spencer, Margaret Tyzack, Fred Steiner (composer of this theme, among others), Anna Massey, Cy Twombly, Armen Gilliam, Betty Ford, Shannon Stone, Facundo Cabral, Sherwood Schwartz, Sam Denoff, Jerry Ragovoy, Ketzel (meow), Amy Winehouse, G.D. Spradlin, Dan Peek, Bubba Smith, Hugh Carey, Bernadine Healy, Nancy Wake, Jared Hagemann, Albert Brown, Christina Santiago, Ruth Brinker, Nick Ashford, Jerry Leiber, Brad McCrimmon, Pavol Demitra, Mike Flanagan, Casey Ribicoff, David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Kyle Willis, Charles S. Dubin, Cliff Robertson, Charles Percy, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Troy Davis, Wangari Maathai, Ralph Steinman, Steve Jobs, Fred L. Shuttlesworth, Derrick Bell, Bert Jansch, Roger Williams, Dan Wheldon, Paul Leka, Virginia Knauer, Robert Pierpoint, Andy Rooney, Joe Frazier, Bil Keane, Tom Wicker, Harry Morgan, Dobie Gray, Oscar Griffin, Jr., Desmond Ryan, Cesaria Evora, Vaclav Havel, Dan Frazer, Michele O’Callaghan, Jacob Goldman, Kim Geun-tae, Simms Taback, Nicol Williamson

Dregs of the Year

After reviewing all of the evidence, I don’t know how it could be anyone else but this guy, Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News International.

This tells us about the phone hacking scandal that broke open over the summer after the British newspaper The Guardian reported on Milly Dowler, 13, who disappeared on a walk home in a London suburb in 2002. Days later, private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, working for News of the World, allegedly started intercepting Dowler's cellphone voicemail messages, and erasing them to make room for more. The deletion of messages gave Dowler's family and the police false hope that Dowler was alive, until her remains were found in September of that year.

Oh, but News Corp conducted an “investigation” in August that did little more than further cover up phone hacking allegations on both sides of the Atlantic, as Eric Boehlert of Media Matters noted here.

Also, this UK Guardian article tells us, among other things, that 803 phone hacking victims were identified by police, including Sara Payne, whose daughter Sarah was abducted and murdered in July 2000 (Keith Olbermann provides more information here in an interview with British journalist Robert Moore).



So what do Rupert The Pirate and company have to say in response? This tells us about the various denials by News Corp employees that turned out to be thoroughly disproven, and this tells us about the ongoing investigation by the Justice Department (with United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, recusing himself from the office's ongoing investigation into News Corp. because of a longstanding friendship with Viet Dinh, a News Corp. board member). In addition, this tells of the typical Murdoch hubris on display as the investigation unfolded.

For these reasons (particularly the hacking of Milly Dowler, Sarah Payne, and the Iraq and Afghanistan military personnel, all of which took place and more with his approval as far as I’m concerned), Rupert Murdoch is Dregs of the Year (at least).

Do Gooders Of The Year

Time Magazine recently named “the protestor” as its Person of the Year, as noted here; I’m not so sure I would go that far because I still have a “wait and see” attitude towards Egypt and Libya (though I think the movements to depose Mubarak and Quaddafi were basically good developments). However, I definitely would name the “Occupy” movement as Do Gooders of the Year.

It most definitely is a positive development that the “Occupy” movement has brought the issue of class inequality front and center in this country, doing so by making great sacrifices and with a bit of flair at the same time, concocting stunts such as this “human red carpet” at a Chamber of Commerce soiree in Washington, D.C. (for which the “Occupy” forces have earned the wrath of the “pay no price, bear no burden” bunch, as noted here, which the group should wear as a badge of honor, particularly Iraq war vet Scott Olsen, as noted here).

I think an example of the group’s dedication to change on behalf of the “99 percent” is noted here in K.O.’s interview with Dorli Rainey, the 84-year-old Seattle “Occupy” member who was pepper sprayed by that city’s police force (Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn later apologized – more about the group can be accessed from here and here)…



For all of these reasons and many more, the “Occupy” forces are, collectively, the Do Gooders of the Year (and here is a song for the occasion).



Update: And in the spirit of the season, I give you the following (here)...



Also, in keeping with my annual custom, I want to thank everyone who has taken any time whatsoever over the prior year to visit this site and read and/or comment on what I have to say (particularly my “followers”; I’ll try my best in the New Year to return the favor). There’s more competing with my posting time than ever before, which has definitely cut down on my output (including the congressional vote write-ups – not sure what I can do about that at the moment). I’ll keep you all informed as best as I can on any future developments as they occur.

I hope you all have a great 2012 – in the coming year, let’s keep doing what we can as our means allows to put our country back on track.

Thursday Stuff

What a shame these kids can’t vote – yet (more here and here)…



…and here is another fave from earlier in the year.

Wednesday Stuff

Basically, I don’t give a crap about the hoopla going on in Iowa right now on the Repug side – what I care about is infrastructure, the economy, and the fact that our planet is melting and the Repugs continue to pretend that it isn’t happening; given all of this, why would I even consider voting for any of those clowns?

And with that in mind, I give you the following about the person who will end up as their nominee…



…and here is another video I found this year that I want to show again (though I think it's from '09...oh well).

Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2011 - Pt. 11)

(Not quite at the end, but close...Part One is here, Part Two is here, Part Three is here, Part Four is here, Part Five is here, Part Six is here, Part Seven is here, Part Eight is here, Part Nine is here, and Part Ten is here.)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

I never thought I would end up giving a citation to Dem Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, but I must for going along with Puppy Dog Eyes Paul Ryan and his scheme to drown Medicare in the Grover Norquist bathtub, as it were (here...um, I thought these guys cared about the deficit – but of course, as Atrios as well as many others have pointed out, it’s really all about preserving those stinking tax cuts and making everyone except the richest 1-2 percent in this country suffer).

…and a Do Gooder citation to the Obama White House for this…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

There are a lot of reasons to give a citation like this to a creep like Andrew Breitbart, but here, he was busted by Media Matters for running a Nazi-era cartoon on his web site (would that this would receive a fraction of the coverage that Breitbart, O’Keefe and company received for their bogus “stings” on ACORN, Shirley Sherrod, etc.).

Dregs of the Year Nominees

Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao and the rest of the Repug congressional “leadership” for this (one way to answer is for President Obama to keep touring the country making the case directly to voters in swing states – of course, another way is for idiot voters not to elect Repugs in the first place, though I might as well try to teach my cat to play the piano for all the good wishing for that will do me)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Repug U.S. House Rep Steve King for this (apparently bored by the testimony of fellow Rep Sheila Jackson-Lee of Texas regarding that awful Stop Online Piracy Act…you Iowans who continually vote for this numbskull every two years must be so proud – Jackson-Lee is a Dem, by the way)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominees

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a lower court ruling that a new rule created by the FAA that discounted employees that don't vote in elections to create a union, rather than counting their discounted votes as no votes, was legitimate (a tactic used by the Repugs and their corporate puppet masters for years to make unions look more unpopular than they are; looks like “Man Tan” Boehner has something else to cry about…poor baby - here).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Guy Petroziello, Op-Ed page editor of the Bucks County Courier Times, gets another dishonorable mention, and the reason why is because, in lieu of editorial content that is actually interesting and informative, the paper is instead publishing excerpts from comedy monologues by late-night comedians on a fairly regular basis (as if some of the newspaper’s “Vents” aren’t comical enough).

Yeah, who needs to read actual progressives or writers besides those appearing on the Op-Ed page of the Washington Post (though Gene Lyons is definitely an exception).

I cannot possibly imagine how this newspaper continues to make money (also, nice work to include a writeup on the Op-Ed page called “How to avoid gift wrapping your pet” on 12/22).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Baby Newton Leroy, for saying here that “activist judges” should be arrested…

Here’s your first candidate, Disgraced Former House Speaker (for this).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Little Ricky (“No One Ever Died Because They Didn’t Have Health Insurance”) Santorum here - uh, no…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Mikey The Beloved gets a mention – yet again – for contributing to gridlock – yet again – on the matter of passing the extension of the payroll tax cut proposed by President Obama (here).

"In the 2010 election I heard loud and clear what the people were saying," Fitzpatrick said. "They wanted us to go to Washington and put the country's fiscal house in order. That's what we've been doing. It's difficult finding bipartisan solutions when you're dealing with the Senate, which hasn't passed a budget in three years."

Really, Mikey? Check this out from one of your fellow Repugs…

In an unusually harsh critique of his own party, moderate GOP Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts said House Republicans' opposition to the two-month extension was "irresponsible and wrong" because it threatened to result in tax increases and jobless benefit cuts.

"We cannot allow rigid partisan ideology and unwillingness to compromise stand in the way of working together," Brown said in a written statement.

This is another reason why can be thankful for the U.S. Senate candidacy of Elizabeth Warren, people (oh, and maybe Mikey and his pals should have listened to these people in his party also, particularly his party’s nominee in the last presidential election).

And I’m long past the point of being sick of listening to Mikey whine about the debt. Take a look at the graph in the fourth bullet from here (showing the debt he helped to run up from 2004-2006 when he last took up space in Congress) and tell me why anyone should take him seriously on this subject.

…here is more on this whole mess…

…and of course, as has been already noted, the Repugs caved on this one (Do Gooder citations to everyone who contacted these clowns in the House and complained – more like this).

And one last note about Saint Mikey…we received a political mailer from him telling us that “Washington has to tighten its belt” and we should “Respond with your ideas to Congressman Fitzpatrick,” just like the mailer I completed a month or so ago with my ideas that our wet noodle PA-08 U.S. House rep promptly ignored.

Oh, and did I mention that we received Mikey’s mailer on Christmas Eve? As if we don’t have infinitely more important things to accomplish at that moment.

What class.

Update 1/1/12: Oh, and I forgot to note this earlier, but in response to Mikey's garbage about the Senate supposedly not passing a budget in three years, I ask that you read this.

Do Gooder of the Year Nominees

The 30,000 (!) Chinese “Occupy” protestors noted here

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Braylon Edwards of the NFL’s San Francisco Giants – as noted here…

As a Cleveland Browns rookie in 2005, Edwards announced he'd give $10,000 in scholarships to 100 area eighth-graders if they could graduate high school with over a 2.5 GPA and 15 hours community service. Of the 100 who were afforded the opportunity, 79 met the criteria and have begun their first year of college. Many are attending Ohio universities, but the schools represented spread across the country and include Harvard, Cornell and Johns Hopkins.

Basically, given that Edwards will make about $1 million this year, the donations will eat up most of his salary.

Kudos to him for his generosity and not going back on his word.

Update: Oh well, good luck to Edwards anyway (here).

Dregs of the Year Nominees

John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou, hosts of The John and Ken Show on the Clear Channel radio station KFI in California, for giving out on the air the personal cell phone number of Jorge-Mario Cabrera of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA); Cabrera was then subject to “hateful and threatening phone calls” from the single-digit-IQ listeners of the radio show – apparently these two idiots have a history of this sort of behavior (noted here)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Repug Michigan Governor Rick Snyder for this (of course, no taxpayer funds will be wasted in the costly court battle that, quite rightly, will now ensue – of course not)

…also for this (scumbag)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Francis Cardinal George of Chicago for comparing LGBT individuals to the Klan here (um, I hear plenty of demonization of gays from the pulpit, but I don’t hear the same response towards the church from these people trying to obtain marriage rights)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Troy, MI Repug mayor Janice Daniels, who turned down $8.5 million in federal grant money here to build a transportation center in the city and thus create, you know, JOBS (And did I mention that she founded a local teabagger chapter?).

Oh, and check this out about Daniels…

The transit fight is not Mayor Daniels’s first brush with controversy. Earlier this month, it was revealed that she posted a message to her Facebook page last June, after New York State approved same-sex marriage, stating, “I think I am going to throw away my I Love New York carrying bag now that queers can get married there.” In an interview, she said she regretted the online comment.

“Regretted” but did not apologize for, it should be noted (of course).

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Obama FCC gets a dubious mention here for “preparing to relax a longstanding rule that limits the ability of companies to own both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same local market,” thus further consolidating the corporate voice (Now let me see, exactly where did I leave that dictionary? Ah, here it is – I need to look up a couple of words…”hope and change, hope and change”…).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Baby Newton Leroy again, who compared his failure to qualify for the Virginia GOP primary to the attack on Pearl Harbor here (you’re at about 14:50, Mr. GOP Idea Guy…too funny)

…more here…

…also for this…

…and for this too…

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Lou Williams of the 76ers, who managed to persuade a gunman trying to rob him to cease and desist, and Williams even ended up treating the guy to a meal at McDonald’s (no word if charges were pressed – Williams has got more guts than I do...here)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The utterly clueless editorial board of the Bucks County Courier Times gets a mention for complaining about that darn, unruly Internet here for distributing the video of Mikey Fitzpatrick banging the House gavel, ending the session and cutting off Steny Hoyer from making a motion to vote on the middle-class payroll tax cut (and of course, Hoyer gets blamed also for calling out Fitzpatrick as Mikey turns and exits, stage right).

Ever since the PA-08 voters, in their eternal, dunderheaded stupidity, turned out Patrick Murphy and reinstalled this fraud into the U.S. House, he has done nothing but preach this austerity crap while our economy has continued to flounder (yes, I know unemployment is 8.6 percent, a decrease from 9 barely outside the margin for error, but let’s see if it remains at that rate or goes down after those seasonal workers hired for the holidays are done). It’s long past time for him to face the proverbial music as a result.

And of course (as already noted), the tax cut was eventually passed anyway, putting Mikey firmly on the wrong side of the issue along with “Man Tan” Boehner, who faces a very good possibility of losing the role of Speaker of the House because of it.

Of course, you’d never know any of this reading this latest fluff from Mikey’s press service, who, among other faults, will never question Fitzpatrick for meeting only with “job creators” instead of residents of his district who are actually unemployed.

Do Gooder of the Year Nominees

Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of The Who get a mention here for founding the Daltrey/Townshend Teen And Young Adult Cancer Program at UCLA, the first project of its kind in the country. It will build on the work of the UK trust they’ve also sponsored, which has helped fund 19 special teen cancer units in the UK (I guess that’s what you’d expect from two guys who performed songs stating “sickness will surely take the mind where minds can’t usually go” and “every moment has its special charm”…nicely done).

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, a former prosecutor who was appointed to her state’s highest court by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), who became the latest high-ranking official to question whether her state should continue to impose a death penalty (here – use it effectively or get rid of it, and unfortunately, I’ve seen too many problems in its application)

Update: Dregs of the Year Nominee

The Pentagon inspector general who ruled here that it was just fine for our retired generals to shill for themselves and the Iraq war on network TV (I can't imagine how this person lives with himself, or herself)

I'll end this next time, I promise.

Tuesday Stuff

(Hopefully back to Do-Gooders and Dregs tomorrow - not much more to go...)

Don’t let the door hit you in the ass, “Benator” (here; so let the damn state go Repug, then – if the people living in it don’t have enough common sense to see who’s selling them out, then they get what they deserve)…



…and before the year ends, I want to present some of my favorite videos once more that I happened to come across – here is one.

Monday Stuff

Notwithstanding the utterly cretinous Dana Loesch (And why exactly is she on the show anyway?), I thought this was a memorable New Rules segment from Bill Maher that I wanted to revisit (from here)…



…and Happy Boxing Day (some fun, eh?).

Merry Christmas 2011

From me and Nat...

Saturday Stuff

What would Christmas be without Bing and Bowie…



…and this number from the former lead singer of Johnny and the Moondogs?

Friday Stuff

Giving the political/activist videos a rest for the evening in favor of seasonal stuff…

Yeah, I’m pretty much in the mood to go to church after hearing this little number…



…and I’m sure they didn’t exactly “check their egos at the door,” but I still think they did a good job on this one…



…and to me, it’s not Christmas until I hear two songs: here is the first one…



…and here is the other.

Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2011 - Pt. 10)

(Back after a bit of a hiatus...Part One is here, Part Two is here, Part Three is here, Part Four is here, Part Five is here, Part Six is here, Part Seven is here, Part Eight is here, and Part Nine is here...some bad words in this post, by the way, but they're mostly quotes.)

The “So Who Exactly Does That Make You Then? Jumpin’ Jesus On A Pogo Stick?” Citation Of The Year

Repug U.S. House Rep Mike Kelly of PA compared President Obama to Pontius Pilate here.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

“Man Tan” Boehner for calling an extension of the middle class payroll tax cut “chicken shit” here (besides shaking down fat cats for dough, I always wondered if Boehner was a subject matter expert on anything else, and now, I think I know…and it’s a huge understatement to say that this would bite Boehner in the ass later)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Politifact, for this (God, I get so sick of everyone bending over backwards in the name of trying to establish fake Democratic “equivalency” when the Repugs pull stupid crap)...

…more here…

…and a “Dregs within a Dregs” citation to Bill Adair of Politifact for this in response (RJ Eskow explains why here).

Update 12/24/11: And on the subject of fake equivalency, I give you this good column from Professor Krugman.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Poor Pizza Man Herman Cain earns a raspberry, not for suspending his campaign (which was inevitable, given the revelation of a long-running affair), but for blaming the media for doing so.

Oh sure, it was the fault of “the media” that you shoved a woman’s face into your crotch and asked her if she wanted a job (as one of my senior correspondents reported, did you know that Cain’s full name is an anagram for “Reach in Man”?).

And let’s think about what this says about Not Your Father’s Republican Party, by the way; Cain can be an abuser of women, and that apparently was OK enough for him to continue his campaign, but the moment word breaks of an adulterous affair, he has to quit…just a bit of a head scratcher there for yours truly.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Dr. Erik Fleischman for this (h/t Atrios) – basically, this monster performed “rib-cracking CPR” on a pregnant mother in Tanzania and called his partner who involuntarily tied the woman’s tubes (making her pretty much sterile) “a hero” (and as the Feministe post tells us, Fleischman is pretty well connected, though that doesn’t make him any less of a utter pariah)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Ross Douthat of the New York Times for the stupefying, doctrinal idiocy of this column from earlier in the month, including the following (if you guessed that Douthat is making fun of liberals again, you win a free subscription to The Weakly Standard)…

Yes, Occupy Wall Street was dreamed up in part by flakes and populated in part by fantasists. But to the extent that the movement briefly captured the public’s imagination, it was because it seemed to be doing what a decent left would exist to do: criticizing entrenched power, championing the common good and speaking for the many rather than the few.

The union rallies and the Keystone demonstrations, by contrast, represented what you might call the decadent left, which fights for narrow interest groups rather than for the public as a whole.

The Wisconsin protests didn’t defend American workers’ right to bargain for their fair share of company profits, as traditional union protests have. They defended government employees’ right to negotiate with elected officials over the division of taxpayer dollars — a recipe for profligacy that even liberal icons like Franklin Roosevelt and the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s George Meany once opposed.

This is flat-out bullshit, and the fact that Bill Keller and “The Old Gray Lady” allowed it to see print is a travesty (and publishing a right-wing lie at fifty other right-wing sites doesn’t magically change that lie into the truth, by the way).

As noted here (for about the zillionth time in the blogosphere – and yes, I still hate that word), Governor Hosni Mubarak Walker created his own budgetary distress by shoveling money out the door in the form of tax cuts for his friends. Then, crying poor mouth, he demanded that his state’s public employee unions give up their rights to collectively bargain so he could impose “austerity” (which, as noted here, was an utter con anyway). And THAT is why the protests took place.

Continuing…

Likewise, the Keystone protesters haven’t been defending “the interests of wage-earning Americans,” to borrow the historian Michael Kazin’s description of the historic purpose of the American left. They’ve been harnessing the power of the Democratic Party’s wealthy environmentalist donors to actively kill off American jobs.

Uh, no – as Think Progress tells us here…

...in late October Republican Gov. Dave Heineman (NE) called a special session of the state legislature to address his citizens’ concerns posed by the pipeline, and soon after the Republican-controlled legislature voted to reroute the pipeline so as to avoid the Sand Hills region and the Ogallala Aquifer. It is interesting to note that although TransCanada originally was strongly resistant to alternate routes for the pipeline, after the Nebraska vote the company is already working to find a new one.

Jane Kleeb, who testified today on behalf of BOLD Nebraska, further explained the position of Nebraska landowners in her testimony:

While the permit process may seem like it is taking too long, we still have no proposed route in Nebraska and no study on how tar sands affects our land, water and health. Additionally, if this oil is meant for the United States, then please make an agreement stating as much. Pass a bill saying the oil is for US consumption. It is hard to rationalize how a pipeline carrying oil across our nation to an unknown final destination can be in our national interest. We all know TransCanada and other tar sands companies need to get their oil to various ports in order to sell it to the highest bidder. In the end, we assume all the risks and none of the rewards.

Do you know how long it took for me to find the information I linked to above from HuffPo and Think Progress? About five minutes (oh, and by the way, Chunky BoBo, Heineman is a Republican).

But of course, why would Douthat try to do something like that let it get in the way of trying to propagate yet another bogus narrative about Democrats?

I think I said, earlier in these posts, that Douthat was better than Kristol Mess, who he replaced.

I now realize that that’s kind of like arguing that walking pneumonia is better than a migraine.

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Repug presidential nominee Jon Hunstman for telling “The Donald” what he can do here."here (the latter was due to “moderate” the 372nd GOP candidates debate earlier this month, though he ended up backing out…Huntsman basically said that it isn’t serious to have Trump moderate much of anything, though I don’t consider the GOP field to be really that “serious” either)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Fix “Business” for asking if The Muppets are “anti-corporate” here (just stop, OK?)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Drudgico, for naming Puppy Dog Eyes And Watch Him Steal Granny’s Medicare And Social Security Paul Ryan “health care policy maker of the year” (as Hunter at Daily Kos sez here, “Politico proves that in D.C., awards are not given on actual merit, but on what The Village cares about.” – uh, yep.)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

An eight-year-old boy known only as “Elijah” who told Moon Unit Bachmann here that “my mom is gay and she doesn’t need fixing” (appropriate in a season in which we sing “a little child shall lead them”)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Obama Administration earns a dubious citation yet again, this time for overriding the Food and Drug Administration's recommendation to make the contraceptive Plan B available over the counter. The drug is currently available to women of all ages by prescription and over the counter to those who can prove they are at least 17 (here and here).

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius claims she is overruling the FDA because the company that asked to sell it over the counter didn't produce evidence that girls under 17 "can understand the label and use the product appropriately."

As the writer at In These Times noted, “By that logic all over-the-counter medication should be banned because people under 17 might buy it.”

OK, Mr. President, let’s talk. Just you and me for a second, OK?

Listen to me carefully; I’ll say the words slowly so there’s no misunderstanding (yes, you are a smart man, but apparently you have a bit of a mental block in this particular area).

Conservatives…will…never…support…you.

It doesn’t matter how many ridiculous positions you take like this one on “values” issues in an attempt to placate them. And no, it’s not as if they’ll dislike you because you’re African American (though that’s a bonus for their purposes, I’ll admit).

It is merely because you are a Democrat.

So let’s stop this idiotic garbage which, in point of fact, does nothing but alienate further the people who did more to elect you than anyone else.

(And by the way, there has been definitely more blame aimed at Sebelius for this, as noted here, but as far as I’m concerned, the problem on this issue starts with Number 44.)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The 14 Repug U.S. Senators who spoke out against filibusters under Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History, but apparently have no trouble with the filibuster while that “Kenyan Muslim socialist” is in the White House, as noted here (more great stuff from Think Progress)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Jim Matthews (brother of Tweety), who, as I type this, is still a Montgomery County, PA commissioner despite his recent arrest for lying to a grand jury, as noted here (he was replaced by Joe Hoeffel as chairman, Hoeffel being a far better public servant)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Recently retired Chief of Police in West Goshen, PA Mike Carroll gets credit here; he appeared in a full-page ad that appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times on December 8th criticizing Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick for his vote in support of HR 822, “a bill that would force PA to accept concealed carry permits from every other state, even if a carrier is too dangerous to be granted a permit under our own laws,” as Chief Carroll told us (more is here).

I’ve said a few times that our police and emergency medical personnel have to “get in the game” more when it comes to standing up to the NRA, because not enough private citizens will and waay too many politicians would wet themselves before they did that themselves. This is a perfect example of what I’m talking about (Is it fair to add that burden to those who serve us so bravely? No, but that’s the reality.).

Thank you, Former Police Chief Carroll (and of course, Carroll was later subjected to wingnut umbrage in the Courier Times as a result, which Carroll should wear as a badge of honor).

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

I know I’ve given President Obama a few Dregs citations here (including the one a minute ago), and I believe they’re deserved (particularly on issues of state secrets and the fact that, with the recent Defense Authorization, American citizens can now be subject to capture and “rendition” without a court order), but let’s not forget that, with all of the infantile political garbage taking place in Washington, just about entirely because of the Repugs, he has stood tall as someone who has advocated for the consumer financial protection bureau (blocked by the Repugs), the middle-class payroll tax cut (blocked by the Repugs before they finally caved), the jobs bill (blocked by the Repugs), appointing Dr. Donald Berwick to head Medicare and Medicaid services (blocked by the Repugs - he got in as a recess appointment before he had to step down), properly funding the infrastructure bank (blocked by the Repugs…anybody else besides me starting to see a pattern?), and he has even expressed his support for the “Occupy” movement here.

And though I don’t think that, by itself, trumps all of the other Dregs citations, it definitely counts in his favor and comes fairly close.

Update 1/2/12: It should be noted here that President Obama issued a signing statement to the Defense Authorization Bill saying he "will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens" (nicely done, Mr. President).

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board for this (this foul ad never should have aired in the first place)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Baby Newton Leroy Gingrich gets a citation for calling the Palestinians an “invented” people who want to destroy Israel here (again, real hard for me to feel sympathy for the Palestinians since they continually turn to bad actors like Arafat and Hamas for “leadership,” but I don’t see much serious from “Bibi” and his crowd either, particularly on “right of return” and those damn settlements)

Update 1/3/12: And speaking of Baby Newton Leroy, I think this is absolutely precious (hat tip to one of my senior correspondents).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

The amount of wankerific garbage generated by John Harwood of the New York Times is virtually endless, so I have to pick my spots carefully; here, he said the following recently…

In part, these decisions reflect every president’s obligation to take up some fights but not others, to gratify core supporters most of the time but selectively challenge them in the name of reaching a wider audience. President George W. Bush roiled his base on education, Medicare and bailouts while doggedly advancing conservative goals on taxes and national security.

Concerning Dubya and “national security,” I give you the following (if I didn’t know better, I’d swear Harwood was on hallucinogenic drugs when he wrote that – and yes, I’m going to keep reminding him of that because, no, he has not apologized, nor do I expect him to at this point).

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Former Reaganite Bruce Bartlett for this, including the following...

“Basically we’re still stuck in the situation we were three years ago and we haven’t made any progress at all except that our problems are much worse because of political reasons, because we now have a crazy party in charge of one of the Houses of our Congress and they won’t allow anything to happen because it’s in their vested interest to make things worse,” Bartlett explained in his typically exasperated way. “Plus they have a theory that is completely nuts…. I’m very depressed....The most we can hope for is that a complete crazy person like Newt Gingrich gets the Republican nomination, the Republicans lose so badly that they lose control of the House and don’t get control of the Senate and then maybe in a year we can finally talk about doing something rational...”

Actually, there are a lot of people in this country who don't have a year to wait, but I'll give Bartlett points for speaking truth to stupid anyway.

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The National Lawyers Guild (which, otherwise, seems to be a commendable organization) recently held a phone conference at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia with convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal (who also, astonishingly, is a “VP” of the group) on the occasion of the commutation of Abu-Jamal’s death sentence to life in prison (basically, untold sums of money would have been spent to retry Abu-Jamal and try to obtain a death penalty verdict, but Philadelphia DA Seth Williams – wisely, I think, and with the blessing of Maureen Faulkner, the widow of Officer Daniel Faulkner, who Abu-Jamal murdered – decided not to retry the case and accept the life sentence instead).

Why the National Lawyers Guild treats Abu-Jamal as anything besides pond scum is something I cannot imagine (and as much as I hate to give Mikey the Beloved credit for anything, I have to give him a Do-Gooder citation for writing a letter in protest to the NLG, as noted here).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Scott Bennett, a 45-year-old resident of Brookville, PA, who had an obituary published for his mom so he could get bereavement time from his job; the problem was that his mother was still alive, which he apparently knew (here...I can appreciate how important it is to hang onto a job and to cover yourself when asking for time off, but this move is still ridiculous)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Russell Simmons here, for buying up the remaining ad time for the program “All-American Muslim” that was dropped by Lowe’s after the hardware giant panicked when (presumably) their customers decided they didn’t like the program because the Muslims weren’t portrayed as bloodthirsty terrorists (and definitely a Dregs citation to Lowe’s, a store that I otherwise have patronized…and yes, I’m rethinking that)

…and with that in mind…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Lowe’s CEO Robert Niblock along with all of the other corporate numbskulls who pulled their advertising from the program “All-American Muslim” as noted here, under pressure from a typical “values” group because the Muslims weren’t SCARY enough, I guess (and a Do Gooder citation to all of the companies who kept their advertising on the program, basically telling the group of hateful bigots called the “Florida Family Association” to stick it, as opposed to Niblock and company who utterly caved)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

PA State Senator (and my own, sadly) Chuck McIlhinney for this (re: “voter fraud”)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

No, this isn’t a misprint – Crazy Tom Coburn gets it for this (uh – thanks?)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

Robert Pear and Jennifer Steinhauer (and really, by extension, Bill Keller) for the following propaganda from the New York Times (here)…

WASHINGTON — Defying a veto threat from President Obama, the House on Tuesday passed a bill extending a cut in Social Securitypayroll taxes for 160 million Americans for another year. But the Democratic majority in the Senate vowed to reject the measure because of objections to other provisions, including one to speed construction of an oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast.

The 234-to-193 vote set the stage for negotiations between the House and the Senate that were likely to continue into the weekend.

The vote was a victory for Speaker John A. Boehner.

Really, New York Times? A “victory”?

After you get through about ten or so paragraphs of Republicans boilerplate and self-congratulation in this supposedly hard-news story, you learn the following…

…Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts, said the bill was “loaded up with goodies to mollify the extreme right wing that is in charge of this House.” And the No. 2 House Democrat, Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, urged his caucus to vote no.

“This is a partisan bill sticking a finger in the eye of those who disagree with the policies included, simply for the purpose of energizing a small political base in their party,” Mr. Hoyer said.

Republicans “included things that clearly are unacceptable to the president,” like the (Keystone XL) pipeline, Mr. Hoyer said. “They know this is not going to pass the Senate.”

Want to know more about Boehner’s supposed “victory”? The following was larded up on the bill sent to the Senate with no hope of passage (from here)…

…whether to bar the District (of Columbia) from spending tax money on abortions for low-income women. Also at issue are whether to include language to reverse a decision by Obama to make it easier for Americans to visit relatives in Cuba and whether to include a provision to block new standards for incandescent light bulbs.

Joan McCarter of Daily Kos considers all of this “stupid, Republican ideological shit,” and I completely agree. But as far as the Times is concerned, this is still a Boehner “victory” (though I grudgingly have to admit that this is a “victory” also for Boehner and company, though definitely not for the “99 percent,” as noted here - yet another "cave" by the Democrats).

And funny, but I cannot recall any similar “victories” by the Democrats (at least, as reported by the Old, Gray Lady) when they legislated against the petulant, idiotic will of Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History.

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Vermont (ugh) chapter of fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon gets a dubious mention here; it has been suspended for passing out a survey to its members that asked questions including, “If I could rape someone, who would it be?”

Which is particularly appalling in light of this…

…and all of which, sadly, is timely in light of this…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Joseph Amendola, the attorney for former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, who has been accused on multiple charges of rape of young boys, for saying here that those decrying Sandusky should call 1-800-REALITY; in addition to being an idiotically snide remark, that is also the number for a gay phone sex line (of course, we already know that Sandusky is almost too monstrous for words and deserves every little bit of what awaits him in prison)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Obama AG Eric Holder for this (I asked about this earlier – good for him for following up)

I'm not sure if I'll finish this up next time or not, but I'll give it my best shot.

Thursday PM Stuff

Uh oh, it looks like somebody got spanked (here) – and by the way, how dumb does Mikey the Beloved now look for this…



…and I’ll put up what I think is a clever parody of that Christmas tune, the original of which I will never feature here…



…though I always get a bit of a chuckle out of this…



…and I always liked this version; kind of neck-and-neck with the one by Ed Ames (I hope she’s OK).

Thursday AM Stuff

Hey Democrats, this is how it’s done; try fanning out to all the news networks with initials for names and beating the Repugs over the head with an actual issue the way that bunch does to you over phony ones…



…and isn’t it amazing how far some people will go in a desperate effort to try and remain relevant (more here)?

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

Wednesday Later PM Stuff

I thought this was pretty good, assuming it buffers OK...

How The Gingrich Stole Christmas narrated by Paul F. Tompkins from Paul F Tompkins

...and it bears repeating that that little stunt by Mikey The Beloved today has everything to do with placating the racist sign and funny hat crowd, a bunch that utterly terrifies our wet noodle PA-08 U.S. House Rep...



...on a seasonal note, here is a number from Sweet Baby James...



...and I'm sure "yule" swing with this one - get it?

Wednesday Early PM Stuff

Of all of Mikey The Beloved’s most infamous moments in Congress, this should rise unceremoniously to the top…



...and here’s a little reminder about our PA-08 rep, who insists he isn’t a “career politician.”

Tuesday Stuff

Louise Slaughter provided what I thought was a pretty good response to this morning’s propaganda from Mikey the Beloved that appeared from his PR service on the matter of the middle class payroll tax cut (the only thing these jokers are going to understand – Boehner and his pals I mean – is to vote them back to the minority, or out of Congress altogether, next November)…



…”Worst Persons” (Cassie Wright, this week’s president of the University of Texas College Republicans, brings teh stupid alleging that Number 44 uses drugs, she of course being the replacement for the person in that role who thought an attempted assassination of the president was a joke – what truly great Americans; the NRA “news” team takes the runner-up for doing their part to perpetuate the dreaded “war on Christmas”…yes, there were indeed howls of outrage here in the “boonies” of Bucks County when the Courier Times, that model of journalistic propriety – snark – changed the “Give a Christmas” fund to the “holiday” fund…must be nice to be able to preoccupy yourselves with such drivel; but Hosni Mubarak Walker and his little sock puppet in that commercial of his take top “honors,” and Keith tells us why)…



...and this little number goes out to everyone celebrating the festival of lights beginning tonight...



...and this really isn't meant as a response, but I came across it and thought it was pretty good (once more, a seasonal offering).

Monday Stuff

(Tomorrow looks shaky for Do-Gooders and Dregs – I’ll try for Wednesday.)

Kudos to Lt. Dan Choi for standing up on behalf of Bradley Manning here…



…and I was wondering if and when any protest songs would be coming out over this year’s developments; even though I guess this is an “homage,” it works for me…



...and Seth MacFarlane is a genius in any season, but particularly now…



…and here’s a seasonal favorite from a guy who didn’t need no stinkin’ music videos.

Sunday Stuff

Here is something secular for the season…



…and here is something sacred.

Saturday Stuff (update)

I hope that bastard Chuck McIlhinney in the PA Senate (here) is watching this (more here)…



Update 12/18/11: And I suppose this idiot thinks what McIlhinney and company are doing is just fine (here).



…and yeah, I guess this is sick and twisted – cool (more here)…



…but what would the season be without this?...



…and speaking of sick and twisted…

Friday Stuff

If she were running in P8-08, I guarantee that she’d have my vote…



…and I thought this was a great debunking of Baby Newton Leroy’s code language (h/t Atrios)…

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

…and tomorrow is an international day of support for Pfc. Bradley Manning; K.O. tells us more in an interview with Daniel Ellsberg of the "Pentagon Papers"…



…and there is humor, and there is the immortal Bill Hicks…



…and ya’ gotta love those holiday traditions…



…and I thought I’d mix up the seasonal stuff a bit with this little number (trying not to think about last night’s Shatner clip as I watch this – yes, I know it was a joke).

Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2011 - Pt. 9)

(Part One is here, Part Two is here, Part Three is here, Part Four is here, Part Five is here, Part Six is here, Part Seven is here, and Part Eight is here.)

(Also, I'm going to try and break these up into smaller posts, since I may have a challenge finishing this by the end of the year, for what it's worth.)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Radio host Lisa Simeone, who was fired from her show by NPR for participating in the “Occupy Wall Street” protest here (and a Dregs citation to that supposedly liberal broadcasting network for doing so)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

“Democratic” U.S. Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas for this…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

“Sergeant Pepper Spray” Anthony Bologna – looks like his poor widdle feelins are just hurt soooo bad (cry me a river, jackwad...here)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Iraq war vet Scott Olsen, who joined the Occupy Oakland movement and was critically injured by police here, suffering a fractured skull when mayor Jean Quan approved the jackbooted tactics to roust the protesters (and of course Quan gets a Dregs citation also – as of early December, Olsen had returned to the Occupy Oakland protest…what courage)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Journalist Caitlin Curran gets a nod for assisting the “Occupy Wall Street” movement by helping them with a sign and making a pitch to the producers of WNYC’s public radio show “The Takewaway” to use it for a segment she wanted to do on the protests – not only was she fired from the network and her show (just like Lisa Simeone...ummm, what part of the word “public” in the phrase “public radio show” does WNYC not understand?), but the show ended up using her idea and twisting it in a way favorable to the institution she was trying to hold to account…your “liberal media” at work again, people, here – and yes, WNYC earns a Dregs citation as well.

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Loudon County, VA Republican Party for this, timed for Halloween (imagine the outcry if lefties did something like this to Bushco)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominees

The six senators behind this (I can think of no legislation more important, nor legislation facing more formidable hurdles)…

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

I never expected to take note of DC Circuit Court Judge Laurence Silberman this way, but he deserves it for this…

Do Gooder of the Year Nominees

The 275,000 individuals who signed a petition here calling for MSNBC to, finally, at long last, dump Pat Buchanan’s sorry ass (long past time for “Uber Alles” to be shown the door)

Update 1/9/12: If this is true, then, wow (long past overdue, though, but still surprising...I didn't think Phil Griffin had it in him).

Update 1/11/12: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The 2,000 or so Penn State students in “Happy Valley” PA who rioted here in response to the firing of legendary football coach Joe Paterno in November (even if they rioted in response to the sex abuse allegations against former coach Jerry Sandusky that Paterno helped cover up – and actually, the riots were apparently in anger that Paterno was dismissed – it was still the wrong thing to do from a school where some alums never miss an opportunity to communicate to the world how much better they think they are than everybody else because that’s where they received a college education)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

Sticking with sports, the Philadelphia Eagles get it for deactivating wide receiver DeSean Jackson for a November game against the Arizona Cardinals for missing a team meeting the day before.

To which I say – duuuhh??!!

Fine him for missing a meeting if you want. Don’t have him start the game – whatever.

But deactivating your most potent offensive weapon for missing a meeting?

Oh, and the formerly 2-6 Cardinals ended up winning the game 21-17.

…

Butt-heads, the whole sorry lot (And for God’s sake, Andy Reid, please don’t say in response that you “have to do a better job.” That was established years ago already.)

And by the way, partly as a result of this, the Eagles now have to deal with another pouting athlete. Am I saying they should give in? No. But they do need to manage these situations better (see T.O. and Donavan McNabb).

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Former legal advisor to Oakland Mayor Jean Quan (Dan Siegel by name) for this (emphasis on former)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Bill (Maybe He Should Attend A Play) Orally for this (re: his book contained so many factual errors on our 16th president that it was banned from the exhibit at Ford's Theater, though apparently it is available in the gift shop, next to the toy Civil War soldiers and the "Lincoln Logs," I'm sure)…

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Retired Philadelphia Police captain Ray Lewis for sympathizing with the Occupy Wall Street protesters here

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Laurene Pierce, President of the College Republicans at University of Texas, for this (i.e.., joking about shooting Obama at about the same time some nut arrested in PA took two shots at a White House window – by the way, I saw from the Democratic Underground I think that Obama gets about 30 death threats a day…dear God)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, the person responsible for this…



…more here…

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The law firm of Stephen L. Baum, the “foreclosure mill” that featured employees dressed as homeless people for Halloween (what fun), earns a dubious mention; turns out that, for this and other reasons, the firm will close (here…so maybe some of the employees won’t have to play “dress up” to find out how some of the “99 percent” lives after all).

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber for this

Dregs of the Year Nominee

AIG’s Hank Greenberg – words fail, truly (the very definition of hubris, I would guess...here)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Fix Noise humanoid Megyn Kelly for this – if you think it’s just a “food product,” then try applying some to yourself, hon, preferably directly into your utterly soulless eyes (and it’s almost not even worth it to reply to Falafel Bill...here)

Megyn Kelly Pepper Spray Thanksgiving - watch more funny videos

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Repug NLRB member Brian E. Hayes, who apparently is going to resign so the board does not have a three-member quorum to implement election rules and thus prevent the growth of unions (here - typical)

…more here…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Bill Looman, who owns U.S. Cranes, LLC in Waco, Georgia (of course) – as noted here, this rocket scientist posted a sign saying he won’t hire anyone “until Obama is gone” (if there’s any justice, Looman will be gone soon and not Number 44…Looman’s company anyway)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Kansas high school student Emma Sullivan, not necessarily for saying that that state’s governor Sam Brownback “blows” (though you could argue that he does, so to speak), but for standing her ground when Brownback’s staff demanded an apology and the school tried to discipline her (here...and as much as I hate to give Brownback credit for anything, I should do so here to be fair when he said that his staff overreacted and that Sullivan’s free speech was protected)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Former Bush Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson for this (if Andrew Ross Sorkin felt any shame, he would find a way to edit “Too Big To Fail” and thus make Paulson look not quite as heroic as Sorkin made him out to be)

The “Sorry, Mommy, I Thought I Had The Safety On – I Apologize For Splattering Donner’s Brains All Over The Mistletoe” Citation

Here

Dregs of the Year Nominee

New Hampshire Repug (of course) House Speaker William O’Brien for this…

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Nick Hanauer, a successful venture capitalist as Think Progress tells us, for this…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Every U.S. House Repug except Walter Jones of N.C. (including Mikey the Beloved) for passing this atrocity of a bill banning public funding from political campaigns (going absolutely nowhere in Congress…the GOP non-jobs agenda staggers on)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Ryan Howard of the Phillies for this…

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Gerard Arpey, departing CEO of the now-bankrupt American Airlines – not giving him credit for failure here, but for refusing to take a severance package after 30 years with the company…

“I believe it’s important to the character of the company and its ultimate long-term success to do your very best to honor those commitments (to the company’s employees and holders of its stock and debt),” (Arpey) said. “It is not good thinking — either at the corporate level or at the personal level — to believe you can simply walk away from your circumstances.”

I’m not the biggest fan of former Dem Senator David Boren (though he’s a titan of intellect and morality compared to his slimy son), but I think the elder Boren was spot-on when he said “This country would be so much better off if we had more people who had Gerard Arpey’s sense of responsibility and character as well as ability.”

More later...