When it Rains...

It's nice to be able to report a juicy scandal or two-- look at the players, see how people are taking action against it, that sort of thing. But some days you good a deluge instead of a cloudburst, and this has been one of them.

ThinkProgress.org probably deserves a Blog o' the Day award for covering so many newsworthy stories that aren't making the news, as well as news stories that aren't worthy (although these links are from various sources):

*Another shameless pork play by Alaskan Republican Ted "Bridge to Nowhere" Stevens.
*A Republican Congressman who was aware of conditions at Walter Reed, but stayed mum.
*A report that Bush will veto any bill that requires him to end the Iraq War before leaving
office. Now that's leadership.
*The Judiciary Committee is getting ready with subpoenas over the partisan sacking of US Attorneys. Because the White House appears to have had direct involvement in making it partisan. New Mexico Republican Pete Domenici is getting ready by hiring "Duke" Cunningham's defense attorney. And ABC and CBS's evening news shows hadn't even reported the story as of yesterday evening, in spite of Congressional hearings on the issue.

But as we know, Democrats can be vile and corrupt as well.

*Did you know that ABC and MSNBC have reported on Barack Obama's "first real scandal," even though the story they're citing acknowledges that there's no evidence of any wrongdoing? Or is that his second "real scandal"? As the Boston Globe reports, the scheming senator recently paid parking tickets from Cambridge, MA! Just before declaring his candidacy. As someone in the vicinity, I'm fully aware of Harvard and Cambridge's draconian parking policies. And he paid the fines, of course. But other than that, the fact that he received parking citations makes me seriously doubt his ability to lead. After all, it's not like he killed a guy (Laura Bush) or used political connections to avoid service in a war he supported (G-Dub, Cheney, Ashcroft, et al.).

Then there's Hillary, making the front page of the NY Times for the way she nods. The good news is that a Chicago Sun columnist actually called bullshit on that whole irritating, lazy, and self-defeating game played by the many hacks who infest the press corps.

The story, prominently placed beneath the masthead and above the fold, was titled, "Clinton Shapes Tough and Tender Image for '08." . . .

But, wow, this 2,263-word story was almost as catty as Ann Coulter. (Scratch that, nothing's cattier than Coulter.) The first three paragraphs described in aching detail how Clinton "meticulously" signs autographs " 'H-i-l-l-a-r-y,' 'R-o-d-h-a-m,' 'C-l-i-n-t-o-n' " . . . no stray lines, no wayward marks . . ." . . .

And then, for t-h-i-r-t-e-e-n paragraphs, the piece deconstructed the candidate's head movements. Yes, head movements.

"Mrs. Clinton is a prodigious nodder . . . in an array of distinctive flavors . . . the stern, deferential nod . . . the empathetic, lips pursed nod . . . the squinty, disbelieving nod . . . the blushing nod."

Sure, it's a decade too late, but pointing out that a major paper like the New York Times is pushing bogus stories like this as 'news' is always welcome. Who knows? Someday it could prevent a war.

Finally, for anyone wondering how in the world anyone can continue to support this administration's corruption, extremism, totalitariansim and bloodletting, this article-- and especially the reader responses-- are well worth reading.

Jim Zumbo, who made a name for himself — and developed a large following — writing about big game hunting for the past 40 years, was on a Remington Arms-sponsored Wyoming coyote hunting trip. He learned during a conversation with one of his guides that a lot of people use military style rifles (M-16 and AK-47 knockoffs) to hunt prairie dogs and coyotes. This surprised Zumbo and he wrote about the situation in his Outdoor Life-sponsored blog. In his posting, Zumbo called the knockoffs “assault” and “terrorist” rifles. He also said their use was bad for the image of hunters and that “game departments should ban them from the prairies and woods.”

Within hours, gun owners from around the world were lathered up and sharpening their Internet knives. Remington Arms took the first cuts; they were swamped by messages from people who threatened to boycott Remington products because of their connection to Zumbo. Remington didn’t hesitate, pulling their sponsorship of Zumbo’s television show from the Outdoor Channel. Soon thereafter, other sponsors, including Mossy Oak and Cabela’s, had severed their relationships with him. These were not just symbolic departures ... these were outfits that regularly gave Zumbo money, lots of it, and now it’s gone. Even Outdoor Life, the venerable outdoor magazine for whom Zumbo has written for decades, fired him as their hunting editor.

And somebody should share that with the 30-something, Hispanic Marine (who loves to remind anyone listening that he's currently attending Princeton) who's recently become quite the right-wing darling. Except that his notoriety resulted in a Guckert/Gannon revelation by someone who appreciated him "for his early, smutty work." But he's got the male-escort-turned-White-House-reporter beat. This male esscort who also advertises on the Net also made a number of gay pornographic films. As in he was paid to have sex in front of a camera so that gay men (maybe an unfair assumption on my part) could purchase those films in adult stores or on the World-Wide Web and manually stimulate themselves. I just wanted to make that very clear, because the very same guy was at the AIPAC conference, where he was photographed with Ann "Gore/Kerry/etc. is a faggot" Coulter.

But he'd like you to know that he's the real victim here. And if it weren't for hateful liberals "digging into his personal life" as an actor in commercially available XXX porn and advertising gay escort, he'd be a happy Republican welcomed with open arms by the inclusive and understanding right. Oh, and he'd also like to remind you that he's a student at Princeton. Which is an Ivy-League school.

Again, the reader comments are priceless. But in a very different way from the RNA boosters.