Funny ha-ha number one:

Rusty DePass is under fire for his Michelle Obama gorilla comment on Facebook. The gorilla comment has been since followed by DePass issuing an apology by saying “[t]he comment was clearly in jest”.

DePass, a GOP activist and former chairman of his stateÂ’s elections commission, wrote of the First Lady Michelle Obama on Facebook this weekend.

First, an aide to state Attorney General Henry McMaster had authored a Facebook post about the escape of a gorilla from Riverbanks Zoo Friday. DePass then posted the following response on Facebook:

“I’m sure it’s just one of Michelle’s ancestors - probably harmless”.

DePass reportedly told WIS News thereafter:

“I am as sorry as I can be if I offended anyone. The comment was clearly in jest."

Um, yes, it was clearly in jest, which is immaterial. All jokes are "in jest," by definition. Letterman's tween-rape-fantasy jokes are also "in jest." That doesn't change the fact that some jokes rely on taboo, offensive, or over-the-line suggestions to make their "in jest" point.

Funny ha-ha number two:

Newscoma posted details of a racist email sent from Sherri Goforth, legislative aid for Sen. Diane Black (R-Gallatin). The email depicts the Presidents of the United States with President Barack Obama as a pair of eyes in a black background.

I spoke with Sherri Goforth minutes ago to confirm she sent this email. She confirmed she had sent it and also said she had received a letter of reprimand from her superiors but said she will stay on the job.

...

“I went on the wrong email and I inadvertently hit the wrong button,” Goforth told NIT. “I’m very sick about it, and it’s one of those things I can’t change or take back.”

"Wrong button." Okay.

Eh, I don't feel like launching into a lecture. Either you think this is acceptable public behavior or you don't.

I guess I'd point out that the MSM, and a good fraction of the public, has this image of Republicans as racists, and some Republicans are far more to blame for this state of things than the MSM.

So, yeah, slam the MSM for bias and all that or for highlighting Republican scandals of this sort while giving Democrats a pass. There's truth in that. But no one should have any illusions that this stuff isn't exactly made up out of thin air, and we have a lot of our fellow conservatives and Republicans to thank.

Posted by: Ace at 11:56 AM | Comments (1)
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And your answer: more...

Posted by: Ace at 11:29 AM | Add Comment
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That's Byron York's headline.

Other headlines he considered before settling on this one included:

Will Wolverines Bite You If You Cover Yourself in Marshmallow Fluff and Taunt Them With Your Genitals?

Was Evel Knievel Really "All That," or What?

and

Is Brian Dennehy the Hardest-Workin' Man in Show Business ?

"Yes," is kinda what I'm drivin' at here.

I'm bolding the facts of the matter in case you haven't heard of this. Not sure if a coblogger covered it here.

Can Republicans in Congress get to the bottom of President Obama's sudden -- and suspicious -- decision to fire AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin? The answer is no -- unless some. Democrats show interest in what could possibly be the first scandal, or at least mini-scandal, of the Obama administration.

In dismissing Walpin, the president seemed to trample on the law -- a law he himself had co-sponsored as a senator -- that protects inspectors general from political influence and retribution. In addition, it appears that at least part of the reason Walpin was fired was for the tenacity he showed in investigating misuse of AmeriCorps money by a friend and supporter of the president, Kevin Johnson, the mayor of Sacramento, California. Walpin got the goods -- evidence of Johnson's serious misuse of federal dollars -- and the inspector general ended up getting fired for his troubles.

So the Walpin case is just the kind of thing the watchdogs of good government in the House and Senate might investigate. But Democrats enjoy solid majorities in both houses, and thus control what will be investigated, and how any investigation will proceed. As the minority party, Republicans have little power to do anything.

"We can't move something through a committee," says one Republican Senate aide. "We can't issue a subpoena. But we can write letters, and we can jump up and down."

That's pretty much what Republicans are reduced to doing now.

York notes that Democrats, then in charge of Congress, blocked every effort to investigate the White House Travel Office firings under Clinton. The investigation, of course, only proceeded when Republicans took the Congress.

I wish there were some institution -- say, some privately owned and operated business of some kind that asked questions and filed reports and held the government to task through external pressure, constituting a... well, for lack of a better phrase, let's say constituting an effective "Fourth Branch of government" or something.

You call me crazy, but a man can dream.

UPDATE: ABCNews just announced it would turn over the network for three hours to allow the Obama Adminstration to say whatever it likes about this scandal.

The Obama Administration plans to fill that time by running the "Obama Cut" of The Dark Knight, which is just like the actual version of the movie except with Obama digitally replacing Batman, Lt. Gordon, and Harvey Dent, at least before he goes all kill-crazy, at which point he is digitally replaced by Rush Limbaugh. To add some "zing" to the movie, they'll also be intercutting in exciting World War Two combat footage and hilarious clips of lions and rhinos having sex.

"ABCNews is committed to presenting all sides of the debate," an ABC spokesman said. "Both Obama's view of the issue, as well as the views of the murderous terrorist The Joker."

A Better Joke: DelD--

Who cares about one lousy inspector general?

Why, just last month Obama saved or created 102,000 new inspector generals.

Posted by: Ace at 11:05 AM | Add Comment
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With the economy collapsing, middle east in disarray, and a prez and VP who apparently "guess" about shit like spending trillions of dollars to stanch growing unemployment, I felt we needed some good old fashioned world class stupidity to brighten up the day.

Enter the new British "anti-stab" knife.

As I behold the ummm...brilliance of this design, I also note that things like files and grinding wheels are still on sale in Britain...so "points" aren't all that hard to restore on a knife if one has more than a handful of neurons firing and is capable of going to the potty without mom's help.

Also, any self defense instructor will tell you its not the stabbers you have to really be concerned about its the slashers. Stabbers are generally amateurs, slashers are pros who know how to fuck you up real bad.

Of course the 50 pound price will likely chase most criminals away and they'll simply opt for a chunk of old sharpened up auto leaf spring with a not so stylish duct tape grip.

So this is the sad state of affairs it has degenerated to in England. A country where the common law was born, where Blackstone recorded that every man had an inherant right to self defense, etc. etc. Now they're selling freaking knives that aren't real and the criminals are laughing their asses off over all this theater more...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 10:49 AM | Comments (2)
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Obama now has "deep concerns" which apparently is more than yesterday's formulation of "troubled". Who knows, by tomorrow he might even be "chagrined".

Grand Ayatullah Husayn (Hossein) 'Ali Montazeri, a leader of the revolution along with Khomeini, under whom he studied, and has long expressed a desire for greater freedoms in Iran has come out in support of the protesters.

And finally, the Supreme Leader appeared on TV and called for unity because ultimately it's not about who is President anyway.

Khamenei was quoted as saying that: "In the elections, voters had different tendencies, but they equally believe in the ruling system and support the Islamic Republic."

Khamenei, Iran's ultimate authority, says that representatives of all four candidates should be present for any limited recount of disputed ballots, which the country's cleric-led Guardian Council said Tuesday that it would be willing to conduct.

Nice to see him admit that.

Also, lots of Twitter reports that today's protests were even larger than yesterday's and were for the most part peaceful.

Interesting story on the technology battle going on in conjunction with the street protests. As the government tries to close down Twitter and other Web 2.0 tools, Iranians and others have taken to attacking official and semi-official Iranian websites.

UPDATE: Via Twitter StopAhmadi Says Khamenei reconfirmed that Ahmadinejad won.

Posted by: DrewM at 10:29 AM | Add Comment
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A week after the Republicans in the New York State Senate wrested control of the chamber from clueless Democrats a lot has happened and yet at the same time, nothing has happened.

The Democrats dumped their leader, Malcolm Smith (generally regarded as a buffoon).

The Democrats have suggested a power sharing agreement. Among the many issues is setting the agenda and who would preside over each session.

Normally the Lt. Governor would preside over the Senate but since Eliot "Client #9" Spitzer resigned and was replaced by David Paterson, the post has been vacant. The job of President Pro Tempore would normally fall to the majority leader. One of the dissident Democrats, Pedro Espadia, got the job last week after the Democrats walked out of the chamber. Democrats went to court to overrule that and a state appeals judge refused to get involved.

Complicating matters even further....one of the dissidents who moved to the Republicans (the one under indictment for slashing his girlfriend with a broken bottle) switched back to the Democrats, which means the chamber is deadlocked 31-31 and even if Democrats recognized the dissident Dem as President of the Senate, Republicans can't muster a quorum now or figure out who would set the agenda of bills to be acted on.

In a further attempt to beclown himself, David Paterson (the architect of the Dems takeover of the Senate in 200 offered himself up as a neutral party to preside over the chamber. I'm guessing the Republican response will be laughter.

So, the Senate can't meet and pass any bills. This seems to upset a lot of people. Personally, I'm good with it.

I bet you feel better about your state government now, don't you?

Unrelated: While I've got the attention of NY morons, any non-NYC readers interested in getting together sometime? I'm thinking anywhere from the Hudson Valley up through the north country and maybe out to Syracuse makes sense.

If so leave contact information in the comments or drop me a note at drewmtips(at)gmail(dot).com (make the usual changes).

Posted by: DrewM at 09:32 AM | Add Comment
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Looks like NBC just got some competition to be Obama's network booty call of choice.

Obama's press conference ratings kept going down but I guess ABC figured this is better than another rerun of What About Jim?

Allow me to sum up ABC's response to Republican demands for equal time...shut up you fucking whack jobs, we are the deciders.

Second, ABC News prides itself on covering all sides of important issues and asking direct questions of all newsmakers -- of all political persuasions -- even when others have taken a more partisan approach and even in the face of criticism from extremes on both ends of the political spectrum. ABC News is looking for the most thoughtful and diverse voices on this issue. ABC News alone will select those who will be in the audience asking questions of the president. Like any programs we broadcast, ABC News will have complete editorial control. To suggest otherwise is quite unfair to both our journalists and our audience.

I don't know what else there is to say about this (I'm sure Ace will have some thoughts). It's not like we don't know the networks are in the bag for Obama, they have been for over a year. It is hardly surprising that ABC is simply trying to get in on Brian Williams' sloppy seconds.

Jake Tapper says he understands hard questions will be asked but I don't think his idea of hard questions is the same as Diane Sawyers but we'll see. Personally, if Tapper were doing this, I'd be all for it. He rips Gibbs to shreds on a daily basis, I'd love to see him go after Obama directly.

It should be fun to watch the daily briefing today. Will the other networks feign indignation at ABC's sell out or will they hold their fire in hopes of getting their own Date Night With Barack?

UPDATE: Former Bush Spokesman Dana Perino says ABC's decision "troubles" her.

I like a robust debate, and finally weÂ’re starting to see some really good reporting on the merits of the presidentÂ’s reform proposals. Judging by the reaction, people donÂ’t seem to like what theyÂ’re learning. And some may feel like theyÂ’ve not been getting the full story about how much the reforms will cost them. Now that that catÂ’s out of the bag, their skepticism is rising. ItÂ’s no wonder the White House wants to open its doors to ABC for a large-scale PR push.

MSM on Obama...Too big and waaaaaayyyyy to dreamy to fail.

Posted by: DrewM at 07:07 AM | Comments (2)
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One of our resident lefties asked that question and today the guys at Powerline have provided the answer in the words of Ronald Reagan. Addressing the Solidarity strikes that threatened to turn into a blood bath and a point of conflict between the west and the Soviet Union, Reagan, as he always did, took the side of freedom.

I urge the Polish Government and its allies to consider the consequences of their actions. How can they possibly justify using naked force to crush a people who ask for nothing more than the right to lead their own lives in freedom and dignity? Brute force may intimidate, but it cannot form the basis of an enduring society, and the ailing Polish economy cannot be rebuilt with terror tactics.

That's just a piece of what he said, go to Powerline to see how a real President speaks up for the oppressed.

Remember when Russia invaded Georgia and how Obama blamed both sides until McCain showed him what to say? Here's hoping that Obama avails himself of a second chance to get this right.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:13 AM | Comments (3)
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Well, as much of a round up as I can muster with such fast moving events.

The Guardian Council has ordered a partial recount of the vote.

The unusual step by the council, several members of which had supported President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's bid for re-election, was quickly rejected as insufficient by the opposition.

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and two other challengers have called on the council to nullify all of the election results and order new balloting. Their supporters said it would be difficult -- if not impossible -- to request a recount comprehensive enough to overturn what the government has said was a landslide in favor of Ahmadinejad.

So far, the council has rejected those demands and said it would recount only those votes where the opposition has evidence suggesting a problem may have occurred.

Huge crowds of Mousavi supporters have massed in the streets of Tehran since Saturday. Seven were killed Monday night when the crowd reportedly tried to storm a compound for volunteer militia linked to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard. Members of the militia, known as the Basij, fired from a rooftop into the crowd.

The BBC reports that the government has banned foreign journalists from covering any stories.

The new restrictions on foreign media require journalists to obtain explicit permission before leaving the office to cover any story.

Journalists have also been banned from attending or reporting on any "unauthorised" demonstration - and it is unclear which if any of the protests are formally authorised.

Press cards have been declared invalid.

Our correspondent says they are the most sweeping restrictions he has ever encountered reporting anywhere.

He says the clampdown comes amid shock and fear among authorities at the show of defiance by opposition supporters who attended Monday's huge illegal rally, insisting the vote was rigged.

The idiot mullahs think the MSM is still the main source of information. Authoriterian regimes are always the last to understand the threats they are facing. Just as fax machines played a major role in the fall of the Soviet Union, it's Twitter, Facebook and Flickr that are the information threats to the mullahs, not ABC or the BBC.

The Iranians are trying to crackdown on these new media but it's a lot harder than locking down a handful of western reporters.

Via Michael Goldfarb's Twitter, Ahmadinejad is feeling pretty cocky, he took off for a trip to Russia.

And finally, John Bolton rightfully throws a bit of cold water on all the unfounded hopes placed on Mousavi.

more...

Posted by: DrewM at 05:51 AM | Comments (6)
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It's far worse than I dreamed.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 04:16 AM | Add Comment
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