Bleg for ZombieTime: He (she?) needs someone in DC to go to the library of Congress to check out a single book and snap pictures of the page.

Anyone up for that?

Meanwhile, he (she?) leaves no doubt the this Harry Hay character is deeply involved with NAMBLA.

And Kevin Jennings is reported to have stated he was "inspired" by Harry Hay.

Safe School Czar.

Safe for what exactly?

Posted by: Ace at 10:41 AM | Comments (127)
Post contains 97 words, total size 1 kb.

A full hour (with pauses only for commercials) of Keith Olbermann ranting, raving, calling people "fascist," and swiveling his head heroically to gaze witheringly into Camera B.

The title/subject? I am not kidding about this. The understated title, which does not in any way feed into Olbermann's messiah complex, is:

HEALTH CARE REFORM: THE FIGHT AGAINST DEATH

The fight against Death. Death. We are going to defeat Death.

This is the quavering little basket-case who can't get out of the bathtub to do a tv show. But now he's taking on the Grim Reaper.

It's on, baby. It's on.

This will, however, not be the first time a ridiculous buffoon has fought against Death.

Corrected: Damn, I could have sworn it read "WE Fight Against Death." Instead, it's the slightly less grandiose "THE Fight Against Death."

If I (and the co-bloggers) do this, I need reassurances that the pain will be worth it: Do you guys want this horror show live-blogged? more...

Posted by: Ace at 09:54 AM | Comments (343)
Post contains 185 words, total size 2 kb.

Update: A story all about conservative bloggers' botching of a story, having been deliberately falsified to comport with The Narrative, is now stealth-corrected because conservative bloggers are now pointing out CBS' mistake deliberate falsehood.

As bloggers get on CBS' ass about their misleading story, CBS corrects it to include a reference to the NYT, without alerting anyone to the correction.

Whether there was an error here I don't know. The original statement that the daughter had not had meningitis at all comes from the NYT's own blog. It might well be the case that Michelle did not mean to imply her daughter didn't have meningitis, and that the NYT blog simply botched (badly) her paraphrase, reading stuff into it that wasn't there.

And it's probably true that the paraphrase of her statement shouldn't be relied upon in making a charge of deception; the original statement should have been consulted.

However: The NYT claims it fact-checks everything with multiple layers of painstaking editorial blah blah blah, including, if I'm not mistaken, its blogs. Unless liberals in the Leftwing Media want to make the case that the New York Times is simply too unreliable to treat as authoritative -- a position I heartily endorse -- it's a bit too much to cry "Gotcha!" over the NYT misleading everyone else.

And the NYT was cited prominently as the source of the paraphrase of Michelle Obama's remarks. It is simply not plausible that CBSNews missed this. They knew the mistake -- assuming there was one -- originated with their partner in polling, the New York Times. They deliberately omitted to mention that in order to write a story about conservative bloggers screwing up.

And now that they've been caught at that, they compound the original lie with a fresh one.

By the way: While it's true Michelle Obama didn't say that her daughter had not been diagnosed with meningitis, it certainly does sound like that's what she meant. The NYT blogger should have checked with her before assuming that is what she meant, but, in fairness to that blogger, it does sound like she was saying there was no diagnosis of meningitis.

Still, yes, the NYT blogger should have checked, and I suppose other bloggers should have checked too, because we now know the NYT doesn't check and cannot be relied upon to deliver an accurate paraphrase.

But it is amazing to me that with all these mistakes going on -- at the NYT, and then at CBSNews in "correcting" the alleged mistake -- the focus is of course on bloggers being misled by the supposedly fact-checked-to-death NYT.

By the Way: Meningitis, according to Wikipedia, is classified as an "emergency" situation and a "life-threatening" one at that.

It does seem strange to me that if Sasha really had meningitis that this would be the first time we've heard of it, or that Michelle Obama would speak of it so lightly.

It seems more likely to me that the NYT blogger got the paraphrase right -- that it had only been feared she had meningitis, but the test came back negative (which is, of course), positive.

Which would mean Barack Obama lied about it.

...

Michelle Obama said their daughter was almost diagnosed with meningitis, but was found to be free of the condition. Barack Obama says she was diagnosed with meningitis.

CBSNews fact-checks conservative blogs that botched this story so badly and notes that Michelle Obama didn't quite say in her quote that the daughter had been found free of meningitis. Implied, but didn't quite say, so conservative blogs are way, way wrong on this.

They forget to mention: The reason that conservative bloggers took Michelle Obama's implication to mean she hadn't contracted meningitis is because the New York Times so reported her remarks. The New York Times:

In her speech, Mrs. Obama also told the story of how her daughter Sasha would not stop crying when she was 4 months old. A doctorÂ’s visit revealed she might have meningitis; she ultimately did not, but the illness produced a scare.

Despite the fact that the conservative bloggers being checked by CBS specifically linked and quoted the NYT story, CBS deliberately omits any mention of that newspaper. It's conservative bloggers' mistake, you see.

As for the actual truth of the matter: We don't really know and neither does CBS.

Posted by: Ace at 09:12 AM | Comments (125)
Post contains 755 words, total size 5 kb.

Obama's diagnosis of America? We're retarded.

A sea of 150 white-coated doctors, all enthusiastically supportive of the president and representing all 50 states, looked as if they were at a costume party as they posed in the Rose Garden before hearing ObamaÂ’s pitch for the Democratic overhaul bills moving through Congress.

The physicians, all invited guests, were told to bring their white lab coats to make sure that TV cameras captured the image.

But some docs apparently forgot, failing to meet the White House dress code by showing up in business suits or dresses.

So the White House rustled up white coats for them and handed them to the suited physicians who had taken seats in the sun-splashed lawn area.

What, no stethoscopes? No ear-lights? No... reflective-mirror-on-the-headband-thingee?

Why take chances like that? How am I to know these are doctors rather than mere phlebotomists or food-additive chemists?

Picture of the white-coat hand-out at the link, plus that super photo-op, looking absolutely ridiculous, of Obama speaking to props-slash-doctors who apparently think they need to wear a protective lab coat at a garden party. Because, you know, a lot of beaker-work between hors d'oeuvre courses.

Here's President Einstein going to the wrong podium at a speech and needing to be guided to the correct one. You know, as genii are wont to do.

Nothing funny about this president. Not a damn thing.

And if maybe there is? CNN will fact-check the shit out of it.

Posted by: Ace at 08:48 AM | Comments (255)
Post contains 287 words, total size 2 kb.

Awful pick week. I have redefined "suck", taking a little natural ability and refining it into something truly special.

Those of you who actually know what you're doing came out like this:

Peoples Republic of Baltimore 42
Monkey Sleeping 41
Sock Puppet Stever 41
Buzzion 41
NJ Conservative 41
Liberrocky's Losers 41
SCUbapj 41
Rhymes with Right 40
Carthago Delenda Est 40
Doctor Swoop 39
Big Blue 39
The Tards Ninja 39
Superfly TNT 39
Truman the Greek 39
Svenster61 39
Red State NY 39
Dave R 39
Aristomenes 39

Have a great Tuesday everybody. I'm going to go put on a Cowboys helmet and hang out in the breakroom yelling "INTERCEPTED" every time someone comes by for a cup of coffee.

Thanks for pulling the stats again this week Ben.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 06:15 AM | Comments (62)
Post contains 143 words, total size 1 kb.

He was diagnosed back in February and has been undergoing radiation treatment for two months and all seems well.

Petraeus, 56, was diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer, which was not publicly disclosed at the time because Petraeus and his family regarded his illness as "a personal matter" that "did not interfere with the performance of his duties," said his spokesman, Col. Erik Gunhus. President Barack Obama and top members of his administration were informed, he said.

As commander of a region running through the Middle East and across Central Asia, Petraeus did make at least one overseas trip during his treatment.

The Pentagon termed Petraeus' treatment "successful." He was treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Most of think of Petraeus as a very smart guy (and obviously he is) but he's also a very tough guy as he demonstrated when he was accidentally shot by a soldier at Fort Campbell.

Obviously, best wishes to the general and his family.

Posted by: DrewM at 05:59 AM | Comments (49)
Post contains 172 words, total size 1 kb.

The question now is whether President Obama will listen to Gen. McChrystal and fully resource a counterinsurgency strategy, or if we will begin withdrawal under the guise of a counter-terror flag.

There is an important debate underway about what strategy we should pursue in Afghanistan. This decision is important for all Americans, but many don't have a very good understanding of the Population-Centric Counterinsurgency strategy advocated by Gen. McChrystal, the new commander there. The Warrior Legacy Institute had three of it's fellows write an explanation that doesn't require a military background. It is designed for you and anyone you want to share it with. We have not taken a position advocating one strategy over another and we will be releasing a primer on the Counter-Terror option soon as well. We believe that educating the public about the choices will allow them to make informed decisions about what they think is best.

You may download a PDF of the full report here:

A Primer on Population-Centric Counterinsurgency

Posted by: Uncle Jimbo at 05:59 AM | Comments (30)
Post contains 178 words, total size 1 kb.

Tuesday morning news.

Posted by: DrewM at 05:40 AM | Comments (93)
Post contains 11 words, total size 1 kb.

Pretty good impression. Fred Amisen used to bother attempting an impression... when he was portraying Obama in a positive light. Now that he's tasked with doing a negative sketch about Obama, he suddenly seems unwilling to imitate The Messiah.

Kinda letting us know This isn't really Obama at all, in case there was any confusion on the point. (Amisen's own private pre-emptive fact-checking, maybe?)

Anyway, on to Paul Shanklin.

But First... RedEye outdrawing stuff on CNN and MSNBC that's in like prime-time and stuff.

Good for them. more...

Posted by: Ace at 06:05 PM | Comments (61)
Post contains 129 words, total size 1 kb.

I don't have a vested interest in this game.

Except I heard through my sources that LauraW picked the Vikings so I changed my pick.

So I guess what I really mean is this is life or death now.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 05:22 PM | Comments (235)
Post contains 51 words, total size 1 kb.