Weekend photoshops

1961: Walter Cronkite covers mankind's destiny of 'donuts triumphing over the Space Race.' Miss Sarah Palin, "You Are There."



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Glenn Beck is outraged (yeah) over Chris Matthews's use of the term 'balloon head' to describe Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. I think he's got a point, Tweety (well-known for his blank-stare "Of course I believe in equal rights for chicks!" sexism) isn't adding to the conversation in that instance, but then Glenn Beck should talk.

And of course now the story on the right is about how the very angry Glenn Beck "called out" Chris Matthews, rather than how the Tea Party the Republican base wants their politics presented to them by Carol Merrill of The Price is Right Let's Make a Deal. {Thanks commenters for exposing that error.)


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Last day of January and I almost forgot to hold a fundraiser for this here blog. I do this four times a year, just for me and the kids to make a couple ends meet for once, and pay for an extra treat for the kids from time to time.

If you are interested in supporting a financially struggling (aren't we all?) artist and her family, here. And to those of you who've said "Keep it up, Blue Gal" with a small contribution to this blog, words can't say thanks enough. xxx

Our Weekly Podcast - The Professional Left

The button below allows listeners to throw a contribution specifically towards the podcast.

And as promised, here is HOW TO rate and comment on the podcast for iTunes listeners. Go to the iTunes store and search for "Professional Left," as if you aren't subscribing to it just looking for it.   Click on our podcast's icon, and at the bottom of the next screen are buttons to rate and "write a review" for our podcast.  THANK YOU!!!

Tengrain sent the helpful graphic to show how to add/remove stars on the podcast from inside the iTunes interface. He suggests this is probably how most Mac users would do this, and probably a lot of Windows peeps as well.

Thanks for your listenership and support! We really appreciate it!

Thanks again to Frank Chow for the website's graphic (graphic above by Driftglass) 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.

For @Stephenathome, is this INTENTIONALLY funny?

Newt Gingrich's Spanish Twitter Feed.

I'd love to know from some Spanish speakers if this is the real deal or a Babelfish automaton.  Also, Twitter's suggestions for similar feeds includes the English tweets of Paul Ryan, Tom Coburn and guess who.

Reagan's 100th Birthday - Early post

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High Tea with Michele Bachmann

I'm waiting for Michele Bachmann to stop saying "freedom" long enough to publicly reject anyone who makes threats to the life and well-being of elected officials.

I'm waiting for her to stop saying "founding fathers" long enough to call out the birthers as delusional misfits whose case is long-lost and based on nothing but racism.

I'm waiting for her to tell her movement that there is no space at the tea party table for those who would use violence, conspiracy theories, or lies to gain political power.

I think I've got a very long wait ahead of me.

Our Weekly Podcast - The Professional Left

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 website's graphic (graphic above by Driftglass) 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 throwaway entry in Stephen Colbert's Portrait Challenge

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It's a throwaway because, contrary to contest rules, I altered the dimensions of the original.  Contest details are at Colbert Nation 

AND honesty and civility in our discourse means honesty.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Tonal Recall
www.thedailyshow.com

I hope everyone who watches Fox News for "news" watches this clip, starting at 4:50, where a comedian asks the question, "Does healthcare reform actually destroy jobs?"  Good question, and one no one else seems to want to talk about.

Had an email to the podcast this morning re health care:

You guys don't think the repubs are actually going to be successful in repealing the Affordable Care Act, do you? If that's the case - then I'm going to have to resume my plans to relocate to Canada. I have a pre-existing condition, and I refuse to suffer needlessly just to prove my patriotism....

I realize that some of my conservative friends find this hard to believe, but I like to remind them...why I have always been for Universal Healthcare. If everyone has healthcare - which I believe is a basic human right - then there will be more people that are able to work and contribute to society and add to the pot. When I put it this way, they understand why I'm for universal healthcare, even though they still oppose the idea of it.

Rigoddamneddiculous!

My response:

Senator Barbara Boxer and Senator Al Franken are fighting it out as to which of them will block the so-called repeal. Not to mention the President.


'Also too', how many GOP congressmen will vote to repeal, then attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for their Bernie Sanders community health center in their district?


Don't forget that new RNC chairman Reince Priebus was on a committee in his law firm to work on getting more federal stimulus dollars. [note:  most of the links at that Google search are right wing blogs, that are understandably outraged.  Love the one titled "Reince Priebus did not have sex with that stimulus package."]  Honestly you couldn't put this stuff in a RUSSIAN novel, let alone make it a great American one. Though Christopher Buckley has made some pretty good efforts. :D


It's been a very bad week for the GOP. This was 'Constitution-reading and Health-Bill Killing week' and the shooting death of a nine year old girl born on 9/11 ruined all their plans.


PS. And I disagree with one point in your email. With universal health care there will be LESS people working, and especially willing to work full-time. That "hurts" businesses who depend on the health insurance bribe to keep employees working 60 hours a week with no overtime just to keep their insurance. Big time.


Jon Stewart answers the question in a couple sentences.  People will leave the workforce voluntarily if they have health insurance.  That's not a bad thing in an all-too-tight job losing economy.


One bright area of job growth?  Republican web site scrubber.  First Palin, now Priebus?  Betcha that's a no-bid contract Halliburton thingy.  

A question for Reince Priebus, the new RNC Chairman

So Mister Priebus, back at the 2004 Republican National Convention, did you go with the team jersey or the painted chest?

Yeah, Peggy, whatever.

Also, Meet The Press must die, and I mean that in the nicest non-violent no-guns-involved way.  Just cancel it.

And MLK kinda sorta wasn't all "lofty" all the time, Peggy.  Some days he got stoned, in the Biblical way:



Both sides don't have white supremacists, Peggy. And both sides don't defend 33 bullet magazines because their base insists. That's your party. Yours alone.

Our One Year Anniversary Podcast!

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.

Queen Mother (photoshop)

Shorter Sarah Palin (VIDEO)

Blue Gal and Driftglass interviewed on WORT-FM, Madison WI (free player)

Thank you very much to host Mike Moon for the opportunity to appear on his fine show, and to WORT-FM for their permission to rebroadcast this interview.

Chuck Todd says we all need to look in the mirror.

Chuck Todd doesn't write everything, or perhaps anything, in NBC's "First Read" but he tweets about it from his five-bar DC Blackberry.

And this morning's is full of Villager false equivalency, that everyone's rhetoric is equally to "blame" for the shootings this weekend.

And the money quote:

"Of course, this all brings us to Sarah Palin..." Full quote below, emphasis mine:

The spotlight on Palin: Of course, this all brings us to Sarah Palin. What took place on Saturday in Arizona could end up haunting her, if she decides to run for higher office. More than any other public actor, Palin -- the 2008 GOP VP nominee -- has embodied today’s combative political rhetoric (“Don’t retreat, instead reload), and her “target” list to defeat Democratic members who voted for the health-care bill (including Giffords) has received a considerable amount of attention since Saturday. As Politico’s Martin writes, “Whether she defends, explains or even responds at all to the intense criticism of her brand of confrontational politics could well determine her trajectory on the national scene—and it’s likely to reveal the scope of her ambitions as well.”

Great look in the mirror there.

The Politico article [warning, it is a Politico article, and the link sends you to a Politico article] is about how the shooting will force Sarah Palin to "show her hand," and whether she's determined to be...wait for it..."Ronald Reagan or Rush Limbaugh." No, really.

I've said it before: any media person who mentions Sarah Palin's name and does not include

FULL DISCLOSURE: WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HER TO GET RATINGS AND INCREASED HIT COUNTS. OBVIOUSLY THIS WOMAN HAS NO QUALIFICATIONS TO HOLD PUBLIC OFFICE.

is shitting on the future of the United States of America while hiding behind fake journalistic neutrality.

The Real Problem This Weekend

(See my new Twitter hashtag, #BothSidesDONT.)

The left side of the spectrum, of which I am a part, gets hot under the collar and says fuckwad and fascist and many many other nasty words to describe their opponents.

We do not have a gun fetish at the core of our party's base.

The real, hard, cold, problem at the heart of this Saturday's tragedy is a fully-loaded, concealed, semi-automatic handgun in the hands of a seriously crazy young man.

And there is ONE party, one political base, that encourages gun ownership and tantrums over any attempts to temporize their gun fetish under the law.

There is ONE party, one political base, that looks to gun ownership as a sign of leadership. From the RNC Chairman debate of two years ago:



There is ONE party, one political base, that endorses carrying guns as a way to signal political disagreement.



There is ONE party, one political base, that has leaders who tout "second amendment remedies" as a solution to "tyranny" when elections don't go their way.



And yet, there are reports that the shooter on Saturday was motivated by "fighting tyranny" and some vendetta against NASA.

How many "second amendment remedy" Nevadans are today saying "but HE'S crazy!"

No one is crazy to use a second amendment remedy UNTIL SOMEONE DOES. And if there's a 9 year old in the concealed, semi-automatic crossfire, well...

scrub your website. And shriek real loud that the assailant was crazy, and a leftist because he owned copies of both Mein Kampf and The Communist Manifesto!!! No mention that he was a recent COLLEGE STUDENT, probably taking an intro poli sci course to get ready to "fight tyranny with his second amendment rights."

There is ONE party, one political base, that has a serious problem every time there is a politically charged shooting in America. And then we talk about RIGHTS, rather than MURDER.

A day to be quiet.

Very noisy day on the intertubes. I turned off and stayed away from the television after I heard the sad news from Arizona. A better day to stay calm and grateful for my kids than be "informed." I also can't stand the 24 hour news cycle that stays on the air when they have nothing to report. And we sit there and watch it. For hours.

My prayers and love to the victims and their families in Arizona.

Our Weekly Podcast - The Professional Left

The button above is available in my 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.

Pelosi and Boehner as Madonna and Child (photoshop)

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I never liked her apparent willingness to let the Bishops write health policy, but I swear, every day he's Speaker she looks more like a goddamn saint.  And it's only day three, ladies and gentlemen.  

PS.  The original "Our Lady of Good Counsel" is a lovely 19th century painting, and worth the peek.  

Podcast up early this afternoon.  Happy Friday.

Can you tell the difference between these three famous (?) foreheads?

One belongs to the 24-year-old Playboy Playmate who will soon marry 84 year old Hef.

One belongs to the 31-year-old former Hef girlfriend who is so broken up about Hef's marriage she's maintaining a dignified silence until she can talk about her real feelings when her reality show airs.  (Spoiler Alert:  No, really.)

One is Callista Gingrich.

Let them eat Tax Cuts for Billionaires, Part 3

Let them eat Tax Cuts for Billionaires, Part 2

Let them eat Tax Cuts for Billionaires, Part 1