Blue Gal

Newt gets a visit from his old business partner. [Photoshop]

2012-01-28T20:05:00.000-06:00

click for larger

Ep 112 The Professional Left Podcast

2012-01-27T13:58:00.002-06:00

The Professional Left App is available at the App Store.

Link for this episode:

Five things you probably didn't know about food stamps.

The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Thanks again Marlene at ZMac Consulting and Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for their help. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.

PS the photo I shared with my mom is here.

A response to Newt's "response"

2012-01-25T20:41:00.000-06:00

Ep 111 The Professional Left Podcast

2012-01-20T13:27:00.000-06:00

The Professional Left App is available at the App Store.

Links for this episode:

Religious Right is About Patriarchy, Not Family Values

Andrew Sullivan claims he's been blacklisted by Fox News

The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Thanks again Marlene at ZMac Consulting and Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for their help. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.

Starting to worry about @Stephenathome

2012-01-18T21:04:00.001-06:00

But actually I'm much more worried about the future of political photoshopping. Just let me say that when Buzzfeed says re Callista's hair, they can do it for free? Oh honey, even Callista knows, you get what you pay for. (click image for larger)

A debate on MLK Day? On FOX? Yer kidding.

2012-01-16T14:13:00.001-06:00

My Second Grader Talks about Martin Luther King's Vision

2012-01-16T13:28:00.001-06:00

She's white and nearly all of her friends at school are Black. Thank you, Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ep 110 The Professional Left Podcast

2012-01-13T13:20:00.001-06:00

The Professional Left App is available at the App Store.

You totally need to buy Girl Scout Cookies this year, Liberals.

2012-01-13T12:56:00.001-06:00

Podcast up next, but first....You need Girl Scout cookies! Because the right wing has their panties in a real twist about teaching girls to have enough self-esteem to take care of themselves, and be accepting of others regardless of how they might be different. Because teaching intolerance is much more Christian? I'm not going to use the eff word in a post about the Girl Scouts.

Also, I'm not going to mention how many camp counselors were, um, tomboys at my daughter's Girl Scout summer camp last year. It has ALWAYS been that way, yes, even in the fifties. ESPECIALLY in the fifties. Check out Smith College or any other majority-woman institution. They are where the girls are, and that's not predatory, it's just human. Lesbians and the transgendered are not a threat to our daughters, get over it.

Anyhoo, if a Girl Scout Troop is not available to you and you would like to buy some cookies, email me at bluegalsblog AT gmail and I will hook you up with some delicious self-esteem building tolerance cookies. Apparently there are also websites and even an iPhone app for cookie finding. And several of the cookie varieties are vegan, which, I hear, are very popular with you commies.

You're welcome.

The Future of News Magazines (Satire?)

2012-01-11T21:47:00.000-06:00

A Professional Left Joint.

My mom is an artist.

2012-01-11T08:39:00.001-06:00

Actually both my parents are artists. And yesterday Dad sent me some artwork by my mom, including this:

There are portraits of each family member in charcoal. They're not photographic likenesses, they're better than that. Thanks very much, Mom.

And PS I'm reading a letter on the podcast this weekend, to my mother on the subject of politics. Watch this space.

Nevermind your cancelled show, gimme that bowl of fresh eggs, Martha!

2012-01-09T09:36:00.000-06:00

Time Magazine opines that Martha Stewart's show on Hallmark Channel was cancelled because viewers can no longer "aspire to a lifestyle that seems absurd in this economy." And I was going to make up some fake current-economy Martha Stewart topics, like

"Combining Your Moved-In Relatives' Food Stamps for the Perfect Dinner Party"

"Paper Crafts for Up-cycling Your Resume"

"Cleaning Jewelry for Top Pawn Shop Dollar"

But it turns out Amy Sedaris has already written "Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People."

Hey, at least Martha still has her magazine, complete with her monthly PLANNING calendar.

I realize that in the world of satire Martha Effing Stewart is low-hanging fruit. But in this economy, the only person I want to see add to their Outlook Calendar "Bring a BOWL of fresh EGGS to OFFICE." is John Waters.

RIP, Tony Blankley

2012-01-08T16:12:00.001-06:00

I'm sorry to see anyone die of stomach cancer, and I will always remember Tony Blankley from the October 7, 2011 episode of KCRW's Left Right and Center on the topic of Occupy Wall Street, where he pushed the Occupy Wall Streeters being violent paid anarchists, and the President offering words of encouragement to attacks on police. Transcript from me:

Blankley: I was a little appalled if not surprised that the President seemed to speak words of encouragement to demonstrators that have attacked police, and are calling for, I think, unlawful activity against corporations...I find that wrong.

Host, Matt Miller: What unlawful activity? I hadn't heard that. What are they calling for?

Blankley: Haven't they said rude things about bankers? Suggestions that retribution is in order?

Robert Sheer: [scoffing] I've been saying rude things about bankers for years on this show, Tony!

Blankley: I've seen the news, they sound like they're shouting...

Sheer: That's not a calling for violence! It's an exercise of our democratic rights!

Blankley: [sighing] As long as they're not calling for any violence against people, then they're welcome to lawfully say whatever they want. I'm curious about the origins and the organization. I saw that there was a statement that some of them were paid. I don't think this is a spontaneous demonstration, but I don't know anything about it. We'll have to see how it further develops, but it was odd to hear the President speaking encouragingly about it.

Rest in peace.

Ep 109 The Professional Left Podcast

2012-01-06T12:42:00.001-06:00

The Professional Left App is available at the App Store.

Don't Anyone Say Newt Gingrich is a "Victim" of Citizens United

2012-01-03T18:26:00.002-06:00

As a billion North Koreans go hysterical.

There aren't a billion North Koreans, they aren't hysterical, and "Any ad which quotes what I said is a falsehood."

By the way, on the unlimited funding of Mitt v. Newt, don't let anyone tell you Newt is a "victim" of Citizens United.

Citizens United is a producer of nearly every video Callista puts out. They PAY her to make "documentaries" like

TOTALLY NOT A PHOTOSHOP.

So if we go back to the original premise for the Newt Gingrich for President campaign, which is to increase the profile and sale-ability of Callista Gingrich books and videos, the media assertion that Newt Gingrich is the "first victim" of the Citizens United decision is total bull. That he can leave the race claiming to be a victim gives him even more of what he wanted, a claim to relevance. The Citizens United decision just seals the deal on politics as a complete racket.

photo h/t Bildungblog, also totally not a photoshop.

Awesome New Year's Resolution!!!

2012-01-01T11:04:00.000-06:00

Awesome Canadian Blogger RossK wrote us this morning:

Happy New Year Blue Gal et al.--

We just received our transnational ProLeftPod Notepad*** in the mail....

Inspired us to make our first New Year's Resolution.

It's what we all have to do, Ross! Thanks very very much.

*** We send notepads as thank yous to those who donate $15.00 or more at one time to the podcast.

A David Brooks Photoshop for Driftglass

2011-12-31T17:51:00.003-06:00

Because as much as I love Charlie Pierce (they are not the same person thanks for asking) "The Husband" gets first dibs. Apparently David Effin Brooks wrote something 800 words long about how neighbors taking care of neighbors is

is part of a communitarian conservative tradition that goes back to thinkers like Russell Kirk and Robert Nisbet. Forty years ago, Kirk led one of the two great poles of conservatism. It existed in creative tension with the other great pole, Milton Friedman’s free-market philosophy.

So tight communities are a form of the good conservatism we (we?) lost sight of in our pursuit of Milton Friedman profit margins. Oooh kay. Still not sure if DG is going to write this one up, but still.... Has Brooks taken a really CLOSE look at the co-stars of his drama?

CLICK FOR LARGER

Hillary for Vice President?

2011-12-30T20:04:00.000-06:00

I call bullshit. This is to remind everyone, particularly middle-aged "independent" women, that Hillary is in Obama's cabinet. Vice-President would be a huge demotion for her. She's seriously changing the world on a daily basis in her current job. Plus, she really likes to travel.

It's not likely she wants to preside over the Senate. I mean, would you?

"Naah."

Ep 108 The Professional Left Podcast

2011-12-30T12:56:00.001-06:00

The Professional Left App is available at the App Store.

Links for this episode:

Batocchio honors Jon Swift with the Blog Posts of the Year.

Andrew Sullivan searches for "the real bigot" in the GOP.

OMG OMG OMG yer kidding!

2011-12-26T16:09:00.001-06:00

CNN: Newly released documents contradict Gingrich's version of first divorce.

And no, I don't expect anyone reading this blog needs to click on the link. shrug.

Professional Left Podcast Ep 107

2011-12-23T13:37:00.001-06:00

The Professional Left App is available at the App Store.

One more Callista Gingrich photoshop

2011-12-22T14:43:00.002-06:00

A Question I Haven't Heard Asked of Newt Gingrich

2011-12-20T19:16:00.002-06:00

His affair with Callista lasted six years; and he also cheated on Wife Number One with Wife Number Two. He was in Congress from 1979 to 1999. Divorced Wife Number One in 1981. You can say the past is past, but Newt Gingrich lied to his own constituents during re-election campaigns regularly.

How many "family values" campaigns did Newt Gingrich run in the Sixth District in Georgia while bopping a mistress?

By my rough count, he lied to his own constituents in that manner during at least four campaigns, possibly as many as six.

If Republicans want to forgive his affairs because he's too old to have one now, oh well. But people who vote for Newt Gingrich are proving they don't mind voting for proven liars one little bit.

I don't think Gingrich supporters want to beat Obama, nor do they have any interest in governing. They want to beat up Obama, with a stick, and Newt is the meanest stick on the stage, the end.

More photos of the global warming snowman cookies

2011-12-19T10:08:00.002-06:00

Directions here. I used something called "Duncan Hines Amazing Glazes", vanilla, instead of royal icing, and the cookies are break-n-bake, two cookies per snowman smooshed together on the cookie sheet.

Response to the queries about Callista's hair....

2011-12-16T17:14:00.000-06:00

responded on Twitter last night, but here it is in living color:

Christopher Hitchens is greeted by Saint Peter

2011-12-16T13:44:00.002-06:00

click for larger to see the look on 'is face, mate.

...who's been waiting for him for a looong time.

Professional Left Podcast Episode 106

2011-12-16T12:29:00.002-06:00

The Professional Left App is available at the App Store.

I can't watch "Meet The Press" anymore. Ever.

2011-12-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

"Reporting Newt's Controversies" is not the same as reporting the truth. I'm too appalled for words.

Oh, here. Thanks Jon Stewart. After the stoopid ad, fast forward to about 3:20.

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

My entry in the Perry "Strong" Meme

2011-12-11T23:12:00.002-06:00

Ep 105 The Professional Left Podcast

2011-12-09T12:53:00.001-06:00

The Professional Left App is available at the App Store.

Link for this episode:

Mika Brezinski asks T. Boone Pickens to be honest about his tax burden.

Ep 104 The Professional Left Podcast

2011-12-02T13:31:00.001-06:00

The Professional Left App is available at the App Store.

The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Links for this episode: Driftglass's Twelve Days of Zappadan.

And our audiobook review at the end of the show is this book:

Thanks again Marlene at ZMac Consulting and Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for their help. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.

End Welfare for the Rich Except When It Is NOT Welfare.

2011-12-01T18:09:00.001-06:00

A listener to the podcast writes:

Just found you guys two episodes ago. Love it!

I need someone todrive trucks through this.

End welfare for the wealthy by Tom Coburn

I hate this guy, but this seems to make some sense: I agree that we should end these ridiculous tax breaks for thewealthy, but if Coburn says it, I immediately become suspicious.

Short-time listener,

A.B.

Dear A.B.:

Sounds good to slam the rich in every event, right? The razor in the apple of that article is needs-testing unemployment INSURANCE and PENSIONS. Those are items that even millionaires paid for and deserve.

If you're a millionaire and lose your job, you are still entitled to collect on your unemployment insurance, because you paid into it and you have LOST that income due to job loss. That is INSURANCE that you paid for, not welfare.

Newt Gingrich needs to be slapped with that two-by-four as well. Sorry, Newt, it's not welfare to be on unemployment. You are collecting on insurance, just as if you got rear-ended by another car. You pay into unemployment insurance just in case the economy rear-ends your job. You don't have to go work for it, jump through massive hoops (except prove you're looking for work) or feel as if you are a welfare case in order to get it. You paid for insurance. If you make it needs tested, no wealthy individual is going to agree to pay for insurance they are forbidden from collecting if they lose their job.

Also, I like the idea of hitting Newt with a figurative two-by-four, just on principle. But I digress....

Retirement benefits are the same and moreso. It's BS to say that JUST because someone is rich, they shouldn't get the pension they worked for and are entitled to.

This is also Coburn's slippery slope to needs-testing Social Security. Betcha betcha betcha.

Once those basic social safety-nets, (paid for by the recipients!), are taken away from the upper classes, they CEASE to have a constituency that is worth one rat's ass in the Congress. Poor people do not have a lobbyist. And the big reason the New Deal included the upper classes was to make that program an absolute third rail in American Politics, and it has worked.

Thanks for writing! -- BG

More #Zappadan Art for Zappadan 2011

2011-11-30T13:41:00.001-06:00

...Which starts on December 4.

Those are St. Alphonso pancakes and a real poncho, natch. :DAnd a reminder from here in 2009, "Some people say" that the Miracles of Zappadan stuff is a buncha hooey, but I disagree. During the first Zappadan in 2006, John Bolton resigned. Then the year after that, Sandy Underpants went to the registry of motor vehicles during Zappadan and got a new license plate with no lines, no waiting, and free donuts.Expect Miracles.

Is anyone else just completely disgusted at this point?

2011-11-29T22:01:00.001-06:00

Reading RECENT articles about people shopping at WalMart at midnight on the first (which has been going on for years) and at exactly the same time the noon people on MSNBC were talking about NEWT FUCKWAD GINGRICH as if his candidacy is a real thing in the world. I broke down and cried for ten minutes. I have a real hate-love-hate thing with Chris Matthews, but dammit I owe Chris a thank you for saying what needs to be said at least on one day. I still expect Chris Matthews to fail us -- he'll cover this like a horse race no matter how big an asshole the horses are, for RATINGS. Look at how long he rode the Sarah Palin nag. I, too, am very very sad for our Republic.

Ep 103 The Professional Left Podcast - Thanksgiving Letters Episode

2011-11-25T10:04:00.001-06:00

The Professional Left App is available at the App Store.

#Zappadan Art for 2011 (or of course, make yer own)

2011-11-24T20:06:00.001-06:00

click image for larger -- also at flickr

A photoshop challenge: Michele Bachmann's "Core of Conviction"

2011-11-21T18:28:00.001-06:00

Yeah, the white background and black lettering make it pretty easy.

Or you could get creative and show how some other GOP personalities might react to it. Mrs. Palin got kinda jealous and stuff:

What have YOU got? Let us know with a link in comments, and thanks.

Photoshop Meme Overload!

2011-11-21T11:51:00.001-06:00

Click image for larger. h/t Paul Hinrichs

Ep 102 The Professional Left Podcast

2011-11-18T13:38:00.001-06:00

The Professional Left App is available at the App Store.

Links for this episode:

Occupy Cal floats tents over campus.

Verizon Building in NYC gets its own 99%er Bat Signal

David Brooks yearns for that old time religion?

David Gregory's wife is a former Fannie Mae executive?

The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Thanks again Marlene at ZMac Consulting and Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for their help. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.PS our listener Kevin H. made a podcast after dark video. Hilarious!

Bonus Podcast Content - Driftglass on the Radio

2011-11-15T11:54:00.001-06:00

Enjoy!

A certain blogger gets her artwork on the teevee.

2011-11-13T14:30:00.001-06:00

Thanks very much to @hrmelcher at UP with Chris Hayes for his interest, and to Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for the video. This is tonight's open thread at C&L; a compilation of these photoshops, from me and other 'shoppers, is now at Run Oprah Run!

Ep 101 The Professional Left Podcast

2011-11-11T13:19:00.001-06:00

The Professional Left App is available at the App Store.

Links for this episode:

Congressman Walsh screams lies about the housing debacle.

Richard Eskow also thinks that America’s Bullshit detector went off.

NY Times: How a Financial Pro Lost His House

A Minor Edit to the Obama "Made in the USA" Mug

2011-11-09T11:00:00.000-06:00

So there's this Obama 2012 "Made in the USA" mug. Not subtle.

It's just missing one detail:

A new photoshop meme? (click all images for larger)

2011-11-05T22:46:00.000-05:00

Remember this meme? Well, there's a new one. Oprah Fire Walking with Tony Robbins. Or you can leave Tony Robbins out. I did the easy, obvious ones...

Ep 100 - The 100th Episode of The Professional Left Podcast

2011-11-04T13:26:00.000-05:00

The Professional Left App is available at the App Store.

Links for this episode:

Newt Gingrich lauded by Wapo!!!

Rachel Maddow on Paul Wolfowicz

The Pentagon double-dipping on weapons

The Perpetual War Portfolio

The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Thanks again to Frank Chow for the graphic and Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for their help. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.

Why I love Princess Sparklepony

2011-11-02T22:46:00.001-05:00

Because he analyzes the Fred Harger campaign so very well:

Fred is trying to become the "go-to Republican Gay™" for media appearances, etc. The problem with this, obviously, is that nobody wants or needs a go-to Republican Gay™.

To which I replied:

Well hyuh! If they needed one of THOSE, they could ask Ken Mehlman. Or Mark Foley. Or just call a GOP congressional office and ask the receptionist to put "the new staffer" on the phone.

At least the guy from Log Cabin Republicans doesn't pop his p's.

Today Is My Seventh Blogiversary

2011-11-02T08:52:00.003-05:00

My husband, who most definitely would not be my husband were it not for blogging, reminded me that my blogiversary is today.

When I started podcasting I had to make a decision -- give up writing daily or give my children to some public agency. And yet, my kids consider themselves lucky that this is not a Mommy Blog. And I know they are blessed by my activities -- they compete for mom's attention by seeing who can come up with the best Michele Bachmann joke. The youngest child often wins.

I'm still glad to be here after all these years. Thanks for being here, too.

Happy Birthday to my Husband, Driftglass

2011-10-30T21:19:00.001-05:00

Blogiversary video from a couple years ago....and honey? Thanks for coming to church to hear the girls sing and me read. ( And don't say I never link ya.)I love you. And Andrea can still eat her heart out.

The Professional Left Podcast Ep 99 (Percenter)

2011-10-28T13:24:00.000-05:00

The button above is available in the Cafepress Store.

The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Thanks again to Frank Chow for the graphic and Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for their help. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.

Open Letter to the GOP Field - Take Bachmann Out.

2011-10-28T07:00:00.001-05:00

Perhaps it's because she's doing so badly and you think you kinda need a woman, any woman, on your stage.

Saying that as she sits on the House Subcommittee on Intelligence and she is very concerned that Hezbollah might install missles or training sites in Cuba (no, really, video is at the link) is just one in a long line of embarrassing and insane statements on her part.

There was another candidate, someone who was doing well in Iowa, back in 1988, who tried to pull the crazy shit switch regarding Cuba. His name was Pat Robertson. He said early in the campaign that the Soviets still had missles in Cuba from back in the Kennedy days.

As an aside, Soviet missles would be Intercontinental Ballistic Nuclear Warheads with a minimum range of Cuba all the way to Bachmann's district in Minnesota. On the other hand, the longest range Hezbollah missles are 45 Km, which, may I remind Congressman Bachmann, is about a 36 minute drive from Walker to Park Rapids, if the weather is nice.

approximate range of Hezbollah missile if placed in Walker, Minnesota

To make a long story short, both Jack Kemp and George H.W. Bush called Pat Robertson on his BS, told him to provide proof of his crazy or shut up, and along with the mainstream media, forced Robertson out of the race in a matter of days. It was the responsible thing to do for country and party. But the party of responsibility is dead now, isn't it?

Mormon much?

2011-10-25T16:03:00.001-05:00

Professional Left Podcast Ep 98

2011-10-21T12:59:00.000-05:00

Links for this episode:

Adventus: “People are Messy”

Herman Cain sold his own campaign 100K worth of books.

Occupy the Boardroom

Charles Pierce at Esquire channels Driftglass

I Am Now Officially the Mother of a Teenager

2011-10-21T12:24:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, Junior Dude.

Off topic:

This DIY baby mask thing was designed as a cute way to greet your mother on Mother's Day morning. But my response would be....

Please children, you're creeping me out and making me think of the closing scene of Brazil.

Podcast is rendering. Up in a bit....

In Which The Professional Left Podcast Pulls a Scott Brown

2011-10-18T12:49:00.001-05:00

I'm working on the press release to promote the 100th Episode of The Professional Left Podcast, and I wonder if to save time I could just use the Scott Brown Summer Intern Trick and copy someone else's work. Would any one notice?

THE Internet, somewhere near a cornfield Illinois., Oct 11, 2011 (NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Professional Left Podcast, a pioneer in the development of swearing on i-Tunes known as "podcasting" and now a member of the liberal media cabal, celebrates 100 episodes of operation on November 4, 2011.

"The Professional Left Podcast has played a critical role in the development of many successful commercial, industrial and consumer cuss words early in the 21st Century," said Driftglass, chief executive officer of Professional Left parent company, DGBG Podcast. "The innovative swear words produced by company founders Driftglass and Blue Gal provide an excellent example to all liberal bloggers today."

The Professional Left started out as a small endeavor, producing such precision cuss words as "fucknozzle," "Loesch-lips," and "Brownback." By late 2010, the gearmotor was born when the company mounted a small motor to a miniature speed reducer to provide the display industry with a complete package. Thus the swear word, "You betcha, Palin!" was born.

During World War II, The Professional Left's facilities were, of course, converted to defense production. After the war, the podcast helped develop new automated methods that allowed family farms to be more profane and manufactured cuss words for the vending machine, cup dispensing and pinball industries.

While copying this press release, Blue Gal pointed out to Driftglass that "gearmotor tool," when combined with "fuck" or "dumbass" in myriad combinations, might be implemented by the podcast into any number of names for a GOP Presidential candidate or New York Times columnist.

The Professional Left global podcasting footprint includes Crooks and Liars, Netroots Nation Radio, and Changzhou, China, and they are celebrating their 100th episode with employee events throughout the year.

original here

Another Jobs Bill Email From My Congressman!

2011-10-18T09:43:00.002-05:00

Congressman John Shimkus (R, Coal) poses with

beneficiaries of his "Coal Ash Deregulation Jobs Bill"

Yeah yeah, it's a photoshop. Those kids were digging coal in 1938. Nothing similar between that year and today whatsoever.

And thank the Good Lord I got an email from Mr. Shimkus this morning letting me know that the House of Representatives is on the job, and the subject line of his email, I am not making this up, cut and paste:

5 Bipartisan Jobs Bills Pass the House

You betcha I opened that email. Again, here's a direct, cut and paste quote, emphasis mine:

Last week's passage of legislation to ease the regulatory burdens on the boiler and coal ash industries as well as passage of Free Trade Agreements with Panama, Columbia and South Korea were a major, bipartisan victory for American workers and job creators. I'm exceptionally pleased with all five of these jobs bills and look forward to their speedy passage in the Senate.

I also think Congressman Shimkus is being WAY too modest, not even mentioning all the abortion jobs bills the House is working on.

I guess it's nice for his coal lobbying friends that he got their amendment passed and for now the EPA can't count coal ash as a hazardous waste. I just wonder what kind of House of Representatives travel voucher my kids can get when their jobs bill employment moves them to South Korea.

Update, 9:58 am:

The good news for Michele Bachmann

2011-10-15T09:47:00.000-05:00

Iggy Pop's music will,

at long last,

reveal the full force of his anger.

The Professional Left Podcast Ep 97

2011-10-14T13:59:00.000-05:00

Links for this episode:

Driftglass has a tweet featured on MaddowBlog

Raymond’s resignation from Conservatism on Facebook

Our Weekly Podcast - The Professional Left

2011-10-07T10:48:00.000-05:00

Links for this episode:

Michelle Bachmann’s bad lip reading dub (at Crooks and Liars Open Thread)

Susie Bright on the impact of Steve Jobs

We are the 99 Percent Tumblr blog

The button above is available in the Cafepress Store.

The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Thanks again to Frank Chow for the graphic and Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for their help. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.

There, fixed it.

2011-10-02T21:54:00.000-05:00

This image making the rounds at Tumblr Knitting needed a caption:

I'm fortunate -- I've never been so bitter that I would waste knitting time.

Our Weekly Podcast - The Professional Left Ep 95

2011-09-30T12:32:00.000-05:00

Links for this episode:

Frank Rich channels Driftglass.
Paul Krugman channels Driftglass.
Greg Sargent at Wapo channels Driftglass.
Jay Rosen channels Driftglass.
“SPENT” game from Urban Ministries of Durham.
Bachmann warns of Hezbollah missile sites in Cuba.

The button above is available in the Cafepress Store.

The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Thanks again to Frank Chow for the graphic and Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for their help. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.

She never shrinks from a challenge....

2011-09-29T23:14:00.002-05:00

Because of this.

And because while it's never okay to make fun of poor people, white trash is always in season.

Please read this out loud for fun. But don't ask me to do any shackling photoshops. I save those for Callista Gingrich:

"Through my process of decision-making with my family and my close friends as to whether I should throw my name in the hat for the GOP nomination for 2012 – Is a title worth it? Does a title shackle a person?" Palin said Tuesday night on the Fox News show "On the Record."

"Someone like me who's a maverick? I do go rogue and I call it like I see it and I don't mind stirring it up in order to get people to think and debate aggressively to find solutions to the problems that our country is facing," Palin continued.

"Somebody like me, is a title and a campaign too shackling? Does that prohibit me from being out there and out of a box, not allowing handlers to shape me and to force my message to be what's going on, or what contributors or political pundits want it to be?" Palin said.

It is clear to me that she thinks of the Presidency of the United States as equal to representing Alaska in the Miss USA pageant.

Tough news.

2011-09-28T14:15:00.001-05:00

Driftglass got laid off this morning. Sigh. He's spending next week at the countryhouse... hopefully we can get his resume out to some outfits down here so ProLeft doesn't have to be long distance any more. In the meantime, the good news is that one percent (1%) of our podcast listeners made a $5.00 or more contribution to the podcast this week. That was our goal (up from point three three percent) and we're very grateful to each of you who threw some scratch in the hat. It makes a difference, not just to our bank account, but to our spirits. Thank you.

Spot the difference.

2011-09-27T09:59:00.002-05:00

To paraphrase Orwell, if you want a vision of the future, imagine a police state terrorizing a woman, forever.

Palin threatens to sue about the cocaine thing and the sex with a black NBA guy thing.

2011-09-27T09:19:00.001-05:00

So if she sues, McGinniss's lawyers get to search her personal records for findings to defend their client.

And she has to prove that he lied.

Also, in keeping with her narcissistic M.O., she threatens to sue all the time.

Very few people have defended McGinniss and his piece o' trash. And frankly, I don't care who Palin screwed (and yeah I don't think the euphemism "slept with" is at all accurate) or even what drugs she took back in the 80's. She's screwing the political process by abusing campaign finance laws with her stupid bus tour, and she's screwing the national political dialogue by pretending she has any qualifications to participate in it. Those issues are relevant. McGinniss's hatchet job is not.

And the lawsuit thing? How about we revisit that after we all stop laughing.

What's stopping us?

2011-09-24T09:37:00.002-05:00

click for larger

Click image for larger; text from here.

Our Weekly Podcast, The Professional Left Ep 94

2011-09-23T13:29:00.000-05:00

Links for this episode:

Scooter Libby ignored at the Tucker Carlson website launch party.
Jerry Brown dealing with a new Republican opposition in California.

The button above is available in the Cafepress Store.

The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Thanks again to Frank Chow for the graphic and Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for their help. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.

I am NOT Troy Davis. (click image for larger)

2011-09-22T23:48:00.002-05:00

click for larger

Text from here.

Our Weekly Podcast - The Professional Left Ep 93

2011-09-16T11:04:00.001-05:00

Links for this episode:

David Gergen reports "offensive" debate behavior.

Lawrence O'Donnell goes full Driftglass

David Corn on liars at the GOP debates.

The button above is available in the Cafepress Store. The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Thanks again to Frank Chow for the graphic and Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for their help. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.

The GOP Jobs Bill Comix

2011-09-15T12:37:00.002-05:00

Via Our Future dot org, "Speaker Boehner to propose more tax cuts for the wealthy, call it a "jobs" plan, at 12:30 PM today, reports Politico."

The GOP Debate I'd Like to See....

2011-09-14T09:17:00.001-05:00

With all "due" respect to Wolf Blitzer, I'd like the next GOP debate to be hosted by Bridal Bling Blue Gal (TM) and Kathy Griffin.

BBBG: Welcome to tonight's debate. I'd like to start by picking up an issue from the last debate, the 30 year old uninsured guy in a coma who the tea party audience wants dead.

Kathy Griffin: I take it his last name isn't "Schiavo."

BBBG: Right. What if an uninsured 30-year-old accidentally fell off a bridge when, in an incident no one could have foreseen, the bridge in a Republican district collapsed underneath him because the Republican Congressional Delegation had cut taxes for billionaires so much, that no one could afford to maintain an existing bridge?

Kathy Griffin: I think the Congressional delegation was so busy de-funding Planned Parenthood they didn't notice the bridge was broken.

BBBG: But what if the uninsured 30-year-old's parents were Roman Catholic culture-of-life types and had purchased several hundred copies of Callista Gingrich's Pope Video?

Kathy Griffin: Or what if the guy himself was a dominionist who didn't have money for health insurance because he gave it all to Pray Away The Gay Ministries?

BBBG: Or what if this bridge collapsed AFTER the repeal of Obamacare, and he didn't have insurance because the insurance company cancelled his coverage due to the pre-existing condition of...

Both: THE CRACKED BRIDGE!

BBBG: We'll just have to put an asterisk next to the repeal of Obamacare, so Republican Donor pro-life Catholic Anti-Gay Ministry types won't have to pay.

Kathy Griffin: They never do.

BBBG: We'll be back after the break, when Kathy and I will ask the candidates about balanced budgets and bringing more freedom to Wall Street.

Choreographed by Marcus Bachmann, Costumes by Reince Priebus and Ken Mehlman.

2011-09-12T16:13:00.000-05:00

Our Weekly Podcast - The Professional Left Ep 92

2011-09-09T12:40:00.001-05:00

Note: I get a little emotional in this episode but my husband talks me down. :)

The button above is available in the Cafepress Store. The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Thanks again to Frank Chow for the graphic and Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for their help. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.

The Happiest Republican Tonight

2011-09-07T20:23:00.002-05:00

Apparently, the "you can't pray at a football game" omgomgomg email is going around again.

2011-09-06T20:19:00.002-05:00

My reply is below, as in, Reply All. And honestly, I don't mind not being on these email lists if people want to take me off. But don't wave this stuff in my email box if you don't want me to reply all, because I have a FIRM POLICY of doing so. This is being forwarded to people from church groups of which I am a part.

It's not illegal to pray at a football game. If the teams playing are at public, taxpayer funded schools, the ruling is that the Principal cannot MAKE students and players say a prayer, or use the public address system to announce prayers to the public school function. Public announcements of religion at these events is Satan's trick to get people to be lazy about their own piety and lack of repentance. Hey, if we're all praying in public, then my own sins are covered. Satan tricks people into thinking if public figures blab about Jesus, we as a nation are all set and don't have to look within at the evil in our own individual thinking. Satan's mission accomplished.

Taking it the other direction, football is such a religion in Alabama that students at the private Baptist institution Samford University can get convocation credit (religious service attendance) for ATTENDING a FOOTBALL GAME. Even if there is a prayer at the beginning, what a joke.

My own sins keep me busy 24/7/365. I'm either doing them or repenting them, and I pray the good outweighs the bad. But I won't be comforted one bit by anyone in a public office, from a school principal to a presidential candidate, giving lip service to Jesus Christ. They can't bring me closer to God than I already am, but they sure can distract me into thinking that by proxy, I don't have to worry about my relationship with my Lord and Creator. Get thee behind me, Satan!

Fran

The Bachmann Button - Photoshop

2011-09-04T13:15:00.002-05:00

Not very original, but someone had to make one, and it fell to me.

Our Weekly Podcast - Episode 91 The Professional Left

2011-09-02T11:47:00.001-05:00

Links for this episode:

Bernie Sanders and Lockheed Martin

US Taxpayers build an unnecessary Iraqi prison.

Daily Kos cartoon on Zip Houses with comment from Blue Gal.

Distribution of Wealth in the US (chart).

The button above is available in the Cafepress Store. The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Thanks again to Frank Chow for the graphic and Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for their help. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.

Where was Eric Cantor in 2003?

2011-09-01T19:16:00.001-05:00

The totally not gay party strikes again.

2011-08-27T17:15:00.002-05:00

Thanks to a commenter at Reddit. If you get a chance please vote this story up.

Our Weekly Podcast - The Professional Left Ep 90

2011-08-26T13:18:00.001-05:00

The button above is available in the Cafepress Store. The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Thanks again to Frank Chow for the graphic and Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for their help. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.

"My Supervisor Sends Me Kenyan Usurper E-Mails"

2011-08-26T08:55:00.004-05:00

I received an email from a podcast listener that his daughter gets "Michelle Obama is using my tax dollars to go on vacation" emails forwarded to her from her work supervisor. I replied:Her supervisor is using work time for this crap. In a perfect world, I would start a paper trail. Print it out, type at the top "I wish Blue Gal to use company work time to read this." and have supervisor sign it.That's why I'm unemployable. :D

Blogging for money? Are you kidding me?

2011-08-25T09:41:00.003-05:00

Time to bring back the panties, married lady blogger! :D Here's my comment responding to this article at Feministing, on the unsustainability of blogging and whether it's a "feminine mistake."

It’s not a feminist problem. It’s a generational one. Those of us younger than boomers were taught from the start of our careers that the top rung was already taken. Add to that the culture of free stuff that the internet insists upon, and the only way out is a trust fund or a day job. I’m on food stamps and living off of my kids’ child support. That said, podcasting is one way that participants in the liberal political dialogue seem to be happy to open their pocketbooks. We usually ask for five dollar contributions and occasionally get more at The Professional Left Podcast. But make no mistake, podcasting is really hard work, even once a week. I’ve had to abandon daily blogging to accomplish this, and there is no way I make minimum wage doing the podcast. That said, the community and lively exchange the podcast provides is amazing. But yeah, it does not pay for itself. As your post points out, the other thing our generation seems really bad at is self-marketing. We’re above it, and we really should not be. Have a contest that is ONLY open to those who contribute five bucks. Give away a t-shirt, buttons, etc. I mail out notepads to anyone who gives us over fifteen dollars. Again THAT IS WORK, and also requires leaving my house and laptop to go to the post office. Don’t tell me to take my smart phone with me. I can’t afford one. Thanks for the post and the opportunity to think about this stuff. I would not trade where I am for a corporate boardroom where I had to worry about my politics showing. Blessings.

The other problem, of course, is that boomer feminists with money are investing it in "the next generation," meaning preparing 25 year olds for leadership positions, entirely forgetting that there are women just a few years younger than themselves who are ready to run for Congress next year. I'm glad to see movements like The 2012 project getting it:

The 2012 Project is a national, non-partisan campaign to increase the number of women in legislative office by identifying and engaging accomplished women 45 and older from underrepresented fields and industries. These include finance, science, technology, energy, health, environment, small business and international affairs.

The 2012 Project does not have to be in conflict with the "lets mentor our granddaughters into unpaid DC internships" movement. Or does it?

The Rick Perry Republican National Convention has already been fully choreographed.

2011-08-23T20:53:00.000-05:00

And Dom Deluise from Blazing Saddles is in CHARGE. Take that, Marcus "sounds like steam escaping" Bachmann.

Too Little Too Late, Newt.

2011-08-21T22:12:00.002-05:00

Department of She Oughtta Know: Callista Gingrich explained to her Facebook friends [warning: ~~Republico~~ Politico link] that eating corndogs should be done in private.

But what if it gets you votes?

and here's a pic of the wedding cake

2011-08-21T08:28:00.002-05:00

Seriously people! When you hire a wedding planner, make sure they can pull off this kind of culinary excellence. It was delicious!

Likening Budget Woes to the Family Budget is BS, but...

2011-08-20T19:38:00.002-05:00

I just hate these "family budget" analogies, but if we're going to use them:

The main breadwinner (American corporations) ran off to the Cayman Islands and took 90% of family budget along. He's got all the family assets and he's never going to contribute to the household again, thanks to the Grover Norquist pledge, but he expects the family to pay for his bodyguards (the US military that protects US factories overseas whenever necessary) his passports, his retirement, and his legal system (companies like Exxon Mobil don't have to pay for their own legal system to protect their oil leases and copyrights).

Then grandma gets sick and brother loses his job. Breadwinner tells the family that Grandma can have a voucher for healthcare but brother can't have any more unemployment benefits because "we're broke." And Fox News acccuses grandma and brother of class warfare.

It's easy to fall into the trap that SPENDING is wrong, because in our own minds we as individuals try not to spend unnecessary funds. But Medicare and Social Security and unemployment benefits in the middle of the deepest recession since the 30's is NECESSARY spending. Promising big oil that they will never have a change in the tax code (who elected Grover Norquist's LOBBYING agency king?) and telling seniors and the unemployed that we're broke is a goddamn sin and a goddamn lie. Period. They are STEALING from us and calling it a gift.

The Last Pre-Marital Podcast - we're getting married today!

2011-08-19T10:13:00.000-05:00

Mentioned in this episode: Alexander Stephen's Cornerstone Speech

The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Thanks Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for her help and to our listeners for all their kind words. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.

Getting a marriage license at the courthouse.

2011-08-18T15:59:00.000-05:00

You know, I think the bride has had a little ...work done.

Trust me, it was the glittered feather extensions actually glued to my neck that were the most trouble.

And then we wonder which judge will marry us tomorrow, and DG starts riffing on a FOX bridezilla / courtroom reality show, "Michele Bachmann - Family Court."

Judge Bachmann presiding....

"Are you here for a happy marriage or a sinful, sinful, civil union?"

"Balliff Marcus, discipline these barbarians!"

This week's podcast is in the can, the ceremony is tomorrow, and we're gonna try to have audio up sometime over the weekend. Thanks for all the kind wishes, folks. You're the best....

Quick! Before she disappears! #Bachmann

2011-08-16T09:36:00.002-05:00

Wow, that was quick.

Watching Hardball yesterday, you would have thought winning the corndog eating championship was no big deal. Chris Matthews practically anointed Rick Perry the GOP nominee.

Before she disappears completely, a note about her appearance on the Sunday Shows, and particularly her assertion that being a tax lawyer is proof of her intelligence and drive, and gives her some special insight into leadership.

Yeah yeah, we get it. Helping corporate clients avoid tax liabilities is the story of your life, Congresswoman. Moving on.

Honestly, Republicans, we've all be unemployed for two years or know someone who has, and you want to talk about deregulation. Sigh.

I won't lift a finger to help Pon Raul (intentional typo), whose anti-abortion speech this past weekend transcended all reality and actually confessed to being accessory to murder of a crying baby. But he's got a legitimate beef about coming in second and being completely ignored by everybody.

I'm also disappointed but not surprised that no one has mentioned that the GOP race begins in one of the white-est places on the entire planet outside of Scandinavia.* It's a circling the wagons mentality in denial that their party is demographically doomed.

*Norway, with its horrible horrible "immigrant problem," is, by latest count, 94% Nordic. Iowa is 91% White.

Our Weekly Podcast - The Professional Left Ep 88

2011-08-12T12:30:00.002-05:00

Mentioned in this episode: Lemkin: Cokie's Law vs. Social Security.

The button above is available in the Cafepress Store. The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Thanks again to Frank Chow for the graphic and Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for their help. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.

Bonus Audio - Barb in Iowa!

2011-08-12T07:15:00.002-05:00

Something Driftglass and I did for kicks. Enjoy!

The Bachmann Eyes - it's a thing. #LastWord

2011-08-09T18:06:00.004-05:00

PS. Tina Brown would drink Hitler's 80-year-old reconstituted piss to sell magazines, the end.

Wedding notes: My "Something Blue"

2011-08-08T17:40:00.002-05:00

My sister-in-law to-be is a knitter the way Van Gogh was a painter. And yeah, the way Driftglass is a photoshopper.

She made me this scarf out of yarn I gave her. I have to admit I de-stashed the yarn because I thought it was kind of boring. I hate being proven utterly wrong, except when I get something so lovely and so surprising and so perfect.

And now I have my something blue for the wedding. It's goooorgeous.

Thanks and much love, Sis! xoxo

Our Weekly Podcast - The Professional Left Ep 87

2011-08-05T11:30:00.001-05:00

Mentioned in this episode: The guy who wants to be in the center, but has no idea who is as extreme as Florida Governor Rick Scott is on the Right.

The button above is available in the Cafepress Store. The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Thanks again to Frank Chow for the graphic and Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for their help. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.

Yes, @Stephenathome, it falls to me to photoshop Rick Santorum's Jelly.

2011-08-04T13:48:00.004-05:00

Rick Santorum promises free jars of homemade jelly to Ames, Iowa straw poll voters.

I'm sorry, that is just self-inflicted injury right there. Nominate his campaign for a Darwin Award.

Has anyone else noticed you cannot get ANY actual Santorum campaign website from the first page of Google results? None. That's a #Fail. And the image below is not a photoshop:

A proposal on the Bush Tax Cut Thingie

2011-08-02T12:05:00.003-05:00

Last night Lawrence pointed out the enormous fail that faces the White House re the Bush Tax Cuts. He has to be willing to raise taxes on the bottom -- 10% rate to 15% rate, in order to raise the rate on the top earners to 35%. Lawrence claims there will be no bill to just raise taxes on millionaires.

I suggest letting the whole thing rise. Go ahead, RAISE MY TAXES.

Don't make any changes to any taxes until the Bush Tax Cuts expire, period.

Then if the Republicans scream, and they will, introduce (drumroll)

THE OBAMA TAX CUTS!!! Full of nutritious pro-middle-class warfare! Under $250,000! Healthy and Tasty!

click image for larger

And let the Republicans vote against them.

[photoshopped from the box of cereal designed by workers in Battle Creek, Michigan, for the President and Vice-President.]

A reader asks BG about the Debt Ceiling Deal

2011-08-01T05:39:00.000-05:00

Reader C. writes:

Hey Driftglass & Bluegal. I really enjoy listening to your podcast every week. In the next couple of days I will be donating to your podcast cause so the shows keeps coming. I was just wondering how you felt about this debt ceiling fiasco. Will the American people understand the dilemma President Obama has been put in with this tea party faction in the House? With this media environment I am not sure if the blame will be properly placed. I realize that he is known for being the 'compromiser in chief' but I'm not sure if he had a way out of this mess. Any thoughts?

Dear C:

I'm sure we'll be talking about this this coming week and of course we were talking about it this weekend -- we agree that if Obama wasn't such a process guy -- if he'd said "negotiate around the debt ceiling, are you kidding? No, pass a clean bill and THEN we'll talk" -- he would have had a stronger position.

He still thinks* of himself as Google plus's Senator plus one, instead of the President. Collegiality may be his secret to "changing Washington," but the Tea Party's secret is a bottle of gasoline and a match. We can all see how this is working out for him.

Best,

Fran / BG

*My disappointment is, I'm finally coming to the conclusion he's not going to change in the second term.

It's a really wonderful day, after all.

2011-07-30T14:35:00.000-05:00

In addition to the great news above, The Professional Left Podcast was mentioned glowingly on The Hal Sparks Radio Program this morning.

And Driftglass got a (nother) link at Vanity Fair by James Wolcott.

I'm beginning to think his laptop is bugged, because not only has Paul Krugman been channeling The Tall One lately, but the thing with Lawrence O'Donnell banning Walsh was straight outta driftglass.blogspot. only a few days ago.

As DG said as we ate barbeque and slaw on pancake sandwiches (actually good) "Oh, it's going to be THAT kind of Saturday."

Congratulations honey. xoxo

Shorter @Lawrence on The #LastWord

2011-07-29T23:06:00.000-05:00

Related: Representative Walsh is banned from The Last Word.

Also take note this is the first but not the last use of the tag below.

Our Weekly Podcast - The Professional Left Ep 86

2011-07-29T11:01:00.001-05:00

Mentioned in this episode: The World According to Chuck, Serenity.

The button above is available in the Cafepress Store. The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast. Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it:

Thanks again to Frank Chow for the graphic and Heather at Crooks and Liars Video Cafe for their help. And don't forget you can listen to our archives for free with no downloads or registration at Professional Left.

Tonight's conversation with my wedding planner, age 9.

2011-07-28T21:25:00.001-05:00

The 9 year old wants to look at wedding cupcakes on my computer.

Me: I can't deal with details right now. I know, I know, I'm getting married in 22 days.

9 yo, deadpan, and without missing a beat: What? You haven't hired the ORCHESTRA yet?

Tomorrow morning I'll break it to her that we're counting on HER and HER ALONE to put together a Full Tilt Bollywood Wedding Extravaganza with a "budget" of "zero."

And yes, the entire wedding party is singing "Ya Ya Ya We're Obama-Bots" at around the one minute mark.