Beer...Is There Anything It Can't Do?

Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and Cambridge Police Sergeant James Crowley Spotted Together - wbztv.com

Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and Cambridge police Sergeant James Crowley were spotted at a pub in Cambridge Wednesday night.

The owner of "River Gods" told WBZ the two sat in a booth together and talked for about an hour.

Over the summer, Crowley arrested Gates for disorderly conduct while responding to reports of a possible break-in at Gates' home. Gates accused the officer of racial profiling.

The incident led to a nation-wide debate over racial profiling and race relations, when President Barack Obama commented on the situation - coming to Gates' defense. All three men later sat at a table outside the White House in what became known as the 'beer summit.'

You Paid WHAT?

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Recently, tequila maker Jose Cuervo ­decided to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the company by making a very special "Extra Añejo" blend, which would go for a ­whopping 2,250 bucks a bottle.

I have to say, I was a little taken aback. In the days of my misspent youth, I was known to ­partake of Señor Cuervo's product on occasion, and "premium" is not the word that comes to mind when I reminisce about it. The words that do come to mind are ­"hurling," "psychosis," and, "Oh, God, just let me get through this and I swear I'll never drink again!"

Nevertheless, the pricey tequila, aged in oak barrels for three years, blended with "select aged tequilas from the family's reserves," then aged 10 more months in used Spanish sherry casks, is reported to be a near-religious experience by one drinker. "A beautifully balanced tequila with an elegance you'll find in few sipping ­spirits," wrote Tony Sachs of the Huffington Post.

Well, maybe. But $2,250 a bottle? For that kind of dough, I want more than smooth taste and a good buzz. I want it to make my teeth whiter, my hair shinier and my eyesight better, and give me a singing voice like Van Morrison. And not just to my own ears.

But it got me thinking about conspicuous ­consumption: the quest for not just the best ­product, but the most expensive one. There's just a special cachet that attaches to products that make people go, "You paid what?!"

Take, for instance, the world's most expensive car, the Bugatti Veyron. You might think that $1.5 million is a lot of money for a car. But when you consider that it packs a 16-cylinder engine generating 1,001 horsepower, goes 0-60 in 2.5 seconds, hits 252 mph top speed in less than a minute, and can be ordered with an interior by Louis Vuitton...

OK, it's still a lot of money for a car. So go for one of life's simpler pleasures, like the world's most expensive bagel. Concocted by Chef Frank Tujague of New York's Westin Hotel, the bagel is "topped with white truffle cream cheese and goji berry-infused Riesling jelly with golden leaves."

As it turns out, those white truffles are the ­second most expensive food in the world (with caviar being No. 1). So if you've got a hankering for a nutritious breakfast featuring a tree ­fungus dug up by pigs, hop on up to the Westin. It'll only set you back a thousand bucks.

If want to gloat to your poorer friends and relations that you just dropped a grand on ­breakfast, why not do it on the world's most expensive cell phone? The Swiss company Goldvish SA sells a phone made of 18k white gold and set with 20 carats of fine diamonds. The phone also features Bluetooth, 2 GB of ­storage, FM radio, a digital camera and MP3 playback. What, no bottle opener?

Of course, you're not going to wash a ­breakfast like that down with Sanka. No, you want the worlds' most expensive coffee, the $600-a-pound brew made from the Kopi Luwak beans found in Southeast Asia.

The Kopi Luwak is cultivated, if you can call it that, in a somewhat unusual way. The raw beans are eaten, but not fully digested, by a weasel-like critter called the Asian Palm Civet. Something in the little beastie's digestive tract alters the chemistry of the beans and apparently creates extra deliciousness. When nature takes its course, the natives gather up and sell the beans, then presumably retire to their homes and ­chortle that they just charged some Westerner a premium price for weasel poo.

It just goes to show: There is nothing so ­outrageously priced that someone, somewhere, won't pay for it. Because as it turns out, the Cuervo referenced above isn't even the world's most expensive tequila. That honor goes to a ­bottle of "Super Premium" tequila made by a company called Tequila Ley .925. Price: $225,000. For a bottle of booze.

P.T. Barnum was right. There's one born every minute.

Oh, For God's Sake...

Charles Krauthammer:

The White House has declared war on Fox News.

Oh, bullshit.

Can we stop with the drama queenery for five seconds? Please? No one has "declared war" on anyone, and no one is trying to "shut Fox News down." A couple of administration officials have pointed out, rightly in my opinion, that Fox News toes the Republican Party line and repeats their talking points verbatim, while making up new and ever more bizarre pro-GOP talking points of their own. Remember when the Fox news-bimbo called the Obama's congratulatory fist-bump the "Terrorist fist jab?" Remember the "Obama attended a Muslim terrorist school" story that Fox "broke" and which was almost immediately debunked by every news organization that wasn't asking "how high" when Karl Rove said "jump"?

But pointing that out is not "going to war," and it's not "trying to shut anyone down." It's criticism. That's all it is. You know, free speech?

Presidents have been bitching about the media for years. The Bushistas bitched about MSNBC, not to mention freezing Helen Thomas out for eight years despite the fact she was the most senior member of the White House Press Corps. Nixon bitched about Dan Rather, and so on and so on. Get over it.

As for this whine about "Obama won't come on Fox News shows": The President of the United States is not obligated to go on any one network. His obligation is to talk to the American people. If he wants to do that via NBC, MSNBC, the Mutual Radio Network, the Daily Planet, or by releasing 250 million goddamn carrier pigeons, it's his call.

So spare me your fucking sense of entitlement, Fox News. President Obama doesn't owe you an appearance, any more than he owes one to CBS, ESPN or the Food Network. Grow the hell up and accept that your relentlessly anti-Obama stance means the administration may not always pat you on your head and tell you how wonderful you are. You're not above criticism any more than the President is. Dry your eyes, put on a new pair of Pull-Ups and try not being such a bunch of whiny pricks all the time.

Beyond Parody, Part II

Glenn Beck:

Celebrities are coming together to make it cool to volunteer. Disney gives you a free day at the park. This is all fine, but doesn't it seem a little bit convenient that all of this comes out now at the same time the Obama administration is calling for it? Obama controls the message through the media he holds in his pocket. Or in his little hand. And soon if you disobey, he'll just go [Beck slaps his hand]. Now the message will be embedded in television shows. Isn't this great? Aren't you proud of what we're doing? Oh, this certainly is change.

So let me get this straight. Encouraging people to volunteer to help their community or their country is now a bad thing because Barack Obama and "celebrities" are doing it? Click through and watch the Beck video, if you can stand it. Listen to the tone of Beck's voice. You'll see a conservative spokesman actually sneering at the idea of volunteerism, before claiming that "this is like living in Mao's China" and comparing Ashton Kutcher to Karl Marx for encouraging it.

This is what conservatism has come to. They only have two principles: IBIODI and IOKIYAR. (It's Bad If Obama Does It and It's Okay If You're a Republican).

Chicago's Not Looking like Such a Bad Deal After All Now, Huh?

Police helicopter shot down in Olympic city Rio de Janeiro:

Drug traffickers shot down a police helicopter in a gun battle between rival gangs on Saturday, killing two officers, as the Brazilian city was engulfed in a renewed outburst of violence two weeks after winning its bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

My friend Stephen Blackmoore has a great blog where he passes on some of the crazy shit criminals get up to in LA. But you've gotta admit, actually shooting police choppers out of the sky makes the LA boys look pretty wimpy.

Beyond Parody

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I tell you, folks, it's plumb discouraging.

I've said on several occasions that the problem with doing satire these days is staying ahead of reality. I make up something that's so absurd that I assume people will realize it's a joke, and then suddenly something comes along that makes that absurdity look positively normal in comparison.

Until recently, though, I thought I was doing a decent job of staying ahead.

Not any more.

You may recall that last week, I talked about the rejoicing on the Right over the fact that America wasn't getting the Olympics in 2016. Folks like Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin and Rush Limbaugh were dancing a spiteful jig because President Obama had lobbied to bring the Olympics to Chicago (which, despite what the wingnuts may tell you, really is part of America. Just like Hawaii). If Obama wanted it, their "reasoning" went, then it must be a good thing that it didn't happen.

I went on to suggest that, since Mr. Obama had recently signed an order forbidding federal employees from texting while driving, then obviously the thing for any good tea-party patriot to do was go out there and text away behind the wheel. The absurdity there was that anyone would actually think that it was a patriotic idea to do a dangerous thing because Obama said not to. It was a joke, I swear it.

Little did I know that they really have gone that crazy. As Exhibit One, I give you the de facto leader of the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh.

Mr. Limbaugh recently pitched an epic hissy fit on his nationally syndicated radio show over, of all things, flu vaccine.

Seems that El Rushbo got his rage on because Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius had done the unthinkable: She'd gone on TV and said that it would be a good idea if people got vaccinated against the flu.

Now, to any reasonable person, this would make sense. After all, the new strain of H1N1 flu is a nasty critter. The family and I had a mild brush with it ourselves, and I can certainly tell you we wish the vaccine had been widely available a couple of weeks ago.

Not Rush, though. He blew a gasket at the very idea. "Screw you, Miss Sebelius!" he shouted on the air. "I'm not going to take it precisely because you're now telling me I must!"

It should be noted that nowhere in any of Miss Sebelius' statements recommending the vaccine did she use the word "must," nor is there any suggestion in any public pronouncement that vaccination should be mandatory. The actual Sebelius quote is: "We strongly urge parents to take precautionary steps. Flu kills every year, and we've got a great vaccine to deal with it."

But apparently, even the suggestion that a swine flu shot would be beneficial to children, coming from an Obama appointee, is tyranny on the same level as the massacre at Tiananmen Square.

"It's not your role, it's not your responsibility, and you do not have that power!" Rush sputtered to a version of Secretary Sebelius that appears to exist only in his head. "How are they gonna make me take it if I refuse to take it? Who the hell do these people think they are?"

Umm ... actually, Rush, public health is actually part of Ms. Sebelius' role and her responsibility. It's the "Health" part of "Health and Human Services." But again, no one is "making" anyone do anything. You want to risk getting the swine flu, have at it, and I wish you joy.

But you folks can see my problem. You have a major leader of American conservatives going on national radio to holler at the top of his lungs that he's not going to do something that no one is trying to make him do.

You have a prominent Republican leader going completely ballistic because a member of the Obama administration "strongly urged" parents (a group to which he does not even belong) to get flu shots for their kids.

How do you even begin to parody these people?

Which Marxisocialliberalfascist Said This?

No Fair Clicking Through Till You've Posted a Guess:

Hint: Glenn Beck and the teabaggers love this writer:

In taking the matter upon this ground, the first principle of civilization ought to have been, and ought still to be, that the condition of every person born into the world, after a state of civilization commences, ought not to be worse than if he had been born before that period.

...

It is a position not to be controverted that the earth, in its natural, cultivated state was, and ever would have continued to be, the common property of the human race. In that state every man would have been born to property. He would have been a joint life proprietor with rest in the property of the soil, and in all its natural productions, vegetable and animal.

But the earth in its natural state, as before said, is capable of supporting but a small number of inhabitants compared with what it is capable of doing in a cultivated state. And as it is impossible to separate the improvement made by cultivation from the earth itself, upon which that improvement is made, the idea of landed property arose from that parable connection; but it is nevertheless true, that it is the value of the improvement, only, and not the earth itself, that is individual property.

Every proprietor, therefore, of cultivated lands, owes to the community ground-rent (for I know of no better term to express the idea) for the land which he holds; and it is from this ground-rent that the fund prod in this plan is to issue...

...I shall now proceed to the plan I have to propose, which is,

To create a national fund, out of which there shall be paid to every person, when arrived at the age of twenty-one years, the sum of fifteen pounds sterling, as a compensation in part, for the loss of his or her natural inheritance, by the introduction of the system of landed property:

And also, the sum of ten pounds per annum, during life, to every person now living, of the age of fifty years, and to all others as they shall arrive at that age.

hat tip to Think Progress.

Thirsty?

PepsiCo draws conservative ire for backing gay rights

A group of religious conservatives, ever on the outlook for another group or entity at which to wag a collective, scolding finger, have ratcheted up rhetoric aimed squarely at PepsiCo for its alleged support of "the homosexual agenda."

The American Family Association, which has been promoting a boycott of Pepsi since January, said in a statement Tuesday it has secured more than 500,000 signatures from those pledging to stop buying Pepsi products, which include soft drinks, salty snacks, juices and oatmeal (as if there were anything less wholesome than oatmeal, for chrissake).

AFA's beef with Pepsi is for what it calls the Purchase, N.Y.-based company's financial support of groups promoting the "homosexual agenda." AFA points to two gay-rights groups in particular: Human Rights Campaign and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, better known by the acronym PFLAG.

PepsiCo didn't respond to queries about the boycott, or whether it donates to these groups. But it does note on its website that it earned a top score, 100 percent, in HRC's 2009 Corporate Equality Index, an annual measure of gay-friendly employment policies. PepsiCo achieved the same score in the 2010 index, along with 305 other companies, according to HRC. PFLAG notes on its site that PepsiCo is among its corporate sponsors.

I think I'll go get me a Mountain Dew.

Fight the Power!

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After the International Olympic Committee announced that Rio de Janeiro and not Chicago would be getting the 2016 Olympics, many Americans were disappointed that the event wouldn't be held on our soil. Certainly President Barack Obama was, since he had flown to Copenhagen to lobby personally for his adopted hometown.

Not those good Americans at the conservative magazine The Weekly Standard, though. "Cheers erupt at Weekly Standard world headquarters," wrote Editor John McCormack in an online post titled "Chicago Loses! Chicago Loses!"

Glenn Beck was also beside himself with glee. "Please, please let me break this news to you. It's so sweet," he chortled on his radio show before reporting that a foreign city would be getting the Olympics rather than an American one.

Rush Limbaugh was unapologetic in his joy over America's loss: "I don't deny it. I'm happy," he said.

The right-wing Web site NewsMax, which last week ran an article fantasizing about a military coup against the government, showed us that they were down with that crazy Internet-speak all the kids are using these days. "Chicago PWNED!" they Twittered.

(In case you're not familiar, PWNED is one of those online misspellings that's become so common it's used as a substitute for the actual word. So, PWNED equals OWNED, which equals "decisively defeated.")

Why were they so pleased? Wouldn't hosting the Olympics be a good thing, not just for Chicago, but for the U.S.A.?

Actually, whether the Olympics are that big a boon depends on who you ask. Some cities, such as Barcelona, got a boost in prestige and tourism from the Olympics. Some, like Montreal, reported losing money on the deal, at least in the short run.

But the folks celebrating the loss never reached that argument. To the leaders of the modern conservative movement, whether or not something is good for the country is irrelevant if they think it gives President Obama a black eye.

Rush Limbaugh said it explicitly. "Anything that gets in the way of Barack Obama accomplishing his domestic agenda is fine with me," he said.

"No Obamalympics," Michelle Malkin agreed.

Remember how right-wingers used to be so outraged about "liberals" being happy when America loses (while never being able to actually point to any real people who ever expressed any such joy)? Just look at them now. So much for "country first."

But what's next? After the rich, warm glow of spiteful satisfaction from this loss wears off, where can the concerned wingnut go to show President Obama he won't knuckle under to his Muslimcommiefascist agenda?

I have just the thing for you. Last Wednesday, President Obama signed an executive order forbidding federal employees to text while driving. The order, according to The Washington Post, "covers federal employees when they are using ­government-provided cars or cell phones and when they are using their own phones and cars to conduct government business."

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood claimed that the ban "sends a very clear signal to the American public that distracted driving is dangerous and unacceptable."

On the surface, this may seem like a sensible precaution. But ­remember, anything President Obama supports, whether it be working hard and staying in school, bringing the Olympics to America, or paying attention to where the heck you're going when you drive, is something that you, as a good conservative, must oppose to your last breath.

So make sure your cell phone is equipped to send texts (or, as we'll be calling them from now on, "Freedom Messages"). Then gas up the SUV, get out there on the road, and start tap-tapping away. Spread the word far and wide that you won't be cowed by the foreign-born Islaminazi Marxist and his evil agenda of safety.

And why restrict yourself just to text messages? Twitter. E-mail. Check out the latest funny cat ­pictures on-line. Show everyone that there are still some proud, freedom-loving patriots out there willing to take a stand and push back against anything that President Obama's for.

Wear your dents and accident-related injuries with pride. And if, God forbid, the worst should happen, be sure to leave instructions that your tombstone should read, "I Really Showed YOU, Barack Hussein Obama!"

C'mon. Do it for Liberty.

Now See, This is How You Do It

Republican governor (and 2012 Presidential hopeful) Tim Pawlenty:

I would say regardless of the circumstances, congratulations to President Obama for winning the Nobel Prize. I know there will be some people who are saying “Was it based on good intentions and thoughts or is it going to be based on good results?” But I think the appropriate response is when anybody wins a Nobel Prize that is a very noteworthy development and designation and I think the appropriate response is to say “Congratulations."

More Republicans like this, please.

Meanwhile, the Good Americans at Freerepublic.com side with the Taliban:

We’re truly living in an upside-down world when you have to go to the Taliban to hear a rational, logical, accurate statement.

God bless them, I agree with what they say.

Shoot me now, I agree with terrorists!! :-o

How Does It Feel?

NY Daily News:

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is managing to take a more negative spin on President Obama’s Nobel Prize than Hamas.

Says Steele:

“The real question Americans are asking is, ‘What has President Obama actually accomplished?’ It is unfortunate that the President’s star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights. One thing is certain - President Obama won’t be receiving any awards from Americans for job creation, fiscal responsibility, or backing up rhetoric with concrete action.”

Says Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh (via the wires):

“We are in need of actions, not sayings. If there is no fundamental and true change in American policies toward the acknowledgment of the rights of the Palestinian people, I think this prize won’t move us forward or backward.”

The DNC response warms the cockles of my little heart:

"The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists - the Taliban and Hamas this morning - in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace prize," DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse told POLITICO. "Republicans cheered when America failed to land the Olympics and now they are criticizing the President of the United States for receiving the Nobel Peace prize - an award he did not seek but that is nonetheless an honor in which every American can take great pride - unless of course you are the Republican Party.

"The 2009 version of the Republican Party has no boundaries, has no shame and has proved that they will put politics above patriotism at every turn. It's no wonder only 20 percent of Americans admit to being Republicans anymore - it's an embarrassing label to claim," Woodhouse said.

About damn time the DNC got some hair on its balls and gave back some of the “objectively pro-terrorist” crap they’ve been quietly eating from the Republicans for years. I got royally sick during the Bush years of every single criticism of the Administration being answered with: "That sounds like something Hamas/Hezbollah/Osama bin Ladin would say!" Now the shoe's on the other foot, and they really ARE saying exactly the same things (or worse) than Hamas.

I cannot WAIT for the outraged demands for apologies from the exact same crowd of wingnuts who used to toss that accusation around with such abandon. I just hope the DNC sticks to its guns and tells the whiners to go screw themselves.

Huh. I Did Not See That One Coming.

President Barack Obama awarded Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel Committee announced early this morning that President Barack Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” Obama has “created a new climate in international politics,” the committee said in its announcement, referencing Obama’s agenda to reduce the world’s nuclear stockpiles through international institutions, restart peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, and build greater alliances with the Muslim world.

I confess, my first reaction was the same one articulated by my son: "For what?" I mean, the guy was apparently nominated two weeks after becoming President. Of course, that wasn't too early for some people to start declaring his Presidency a total failure, but still.

But as it turns out, the prize isn't just awarded for efforts that have already paid off. According to this piece at CBS.com:

more often, the prize is awarded to encourage those who receive it to see the effort through, sometimes at critical moments.

Interesting. Of course, the "new climate in international politics" bit could be a polite way of saying "we're just so damn glad you didn't elect Bomber McCain and that crazy hillbilly from Alaska who thinks she's Metternich because she can see Russia from some frozen windswept beach."

So, which wingnut's head will explode first?

Brand Pollution

Over at Murderati, Tess Gerritsen tells a story that's scarier than her fiction:

Telling her mother that she wanted to come to the aid of a library under attack, 11-year-old Sydney Sabbagha stood at the podium before the Oak Brook village board.

"I used to go to the library knowing there were people there to help me find a book. Now there is no one to help me," Sydney said solemnly. "It will never be the same without the people you fired."

Sydney nestled back into her seat, but that didn't stop 69-year-old criminal attorney Constantine "Connie" Xinos from boldly putting her in her place.

"Those who come up here with tears in their eyes talking about the library, put your money where your mouth is," Xinos shot back. He told Sydney and others who spoke against the layoffs of the three full-time staffers (including the head librarian and children's librarian) and two part-timers to stop "whining" and raise the money themselves.

"I don't care that you guys miss the librarian, and she was nice, and she helped you find books," Xinos told them.

The story she references goes on to say:

"I wanted that kid to lose sleep that night," a grinning Xinos says Wednesday, as he invites me for a nearly two-hour interview in his Mercedes-Benz in the gated Oak Brook community where he lives. "This is the real world and the lesson, you folks who brought your kids here, is if you want something, pay for it."

"I understand that my philosophy is conservative," Xinos says.

Ah, no, Connie, your philosophy is "I got mine, Jack, fuck you." You are, in short, less of a conservative than you are a complete prick.

At what point are actual conservatives going to try and take their name back from these assholes? For years, Republicans managed to successfully brand "liberals" as weak, foolish and ineffectual, to the point where they ran from the term with euphemisms like "progressive." Is a similar branding going to happen with "conservative," to the point where so many people associate the philosophy with meanness, selfishness and spite that no one wants to be called that any more? We're not there yet, but it seems they're well on their way, and actual principled conservatives don't seem to be doing anything to stop it.

Poor Babies

Lobbyists Annoyed With New Obama Regulations -- Politics Daily

K Street is awash in anger over new regulations designed to limit influence peddling in Washington, CQ Politics reported Monday. The new policy, announced Sept. 23 by President Obama's "ethics czar," Norm Eisen, prevents federally registered lobbyists from serving on "agency advisory boards and commissions" -- private-sector advisory panels created in the 1970s to give input to the government on various issues. The regulations could decimate the ranks of lobbyists who have been serving on the panels, and who the Obama administration sees as special-interest agents with an unhealthy proximity to federal policy...

...the prospect of a mass exodus from the highly prized positions has not made certain lobbyists happy. "There is fury," said a lobbyist who sits on one of the committees. "Absolute fury."

Good. If it makes lobbyists unhappy, that's a plus from where I sit. These boards and commissions should be staffed by people whose qualification is their knowledge of the issue, not the size of their retainer from some corporation.

Remember When?

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Hey, remember back during the Bush administration, when a prominent liberal Web site suggested that it would be ­desirable if the U.S. military staged a "peaceful coup" to rid the nation of its "George W. Bush problem"?

Remember when liberals said that military officers (who do not swear ­loyalty to the president, but who are sworn to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all ­enemies, foreign and domestic") would see the way the Constitution was being trampled on by Bush and Cheney, and would take it upon themselves to "sit down with the president, or with those who control him, and work out the national equivalent of a 'family intervention' with some form of limited, shared responsibility?"

Remember how much outrage and press coverage there was of that?

Do you remember back in the Bush years when a major Web site ran a poll asking "Should George W. Bush be killed?" with responses including "Yes," "Maybe," "If he cuts my health care" and "No"?

Remember when a liberal gathering featured speakers who not only compared Bush to Hitler, but also boldly stated that, had liberals lived in the time of the Third Reich, "We would have fought a bloody battle. So, keep your guns, and buy more guns, and buy ammunition! Take back America!"

Remember how terrible that was? Remember how bitter and divisive and hateful the liberals were for saying stuff like that?

Well, the reason you probably don't remember any of that stuff is because it didn't happen during the Bush administration. It all happened within the past two weeks, meaning the target was President Barack Obama.

The fantasy about a potential military coup to solve the "Obama problem" was a front-page story on the prominent conservative Web site NewsMax. The "should Obama be killed?" poll appeared on the social networking site Facebook. And the call for conservatives to stock up on guns and ammo and "take back America" (aka armed insurrection against the legally elected government) came from the podium at a "Take Back America" event sponsored by Conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly.

The speaker, Kitty Werthmann, titled her talk, "How To Recognize Living under Nazis and Communists," apparently forgetting that the Nazis and the Communists were bitter enemies. But who cares about history when you're really trying to get your rage on?

It should also be noted that the "Take Back America" event also featured up-and-coming conservative poster girl Rep. Michelle Bachmann, who's also fond of telling supporters to be "armed and dangerous."

If any of those things had actually happened during the Bush years, you can bet your bunny slippers we'd be hearing about it to this day from every right-winger who could find his or her way to a keyboard or a microphone.

Heck, I remember people having conniptions over the fact that people occasionally referred to the then-president of the United States as "Dubbya," even though that was a nickname by which he'd been known for years.

I recall that an entry in an online contest to pick a new political ad that compared Bush to Hitler created a firestorm of indignation. That proposed ad (which didn't make the cut in the first round of the contest) didn't come near to advocating the violent overthrow of the government. But that didn't stop the Bushistas from having a years-long attack of the vapors. How dare they disrespect the office of the president that way! How awful! How hateful!

But now, we've got conservatives openly longing for a military coup as a "solution to the Obama problem." We have conservatives calling for armed insurrection. We have polls asking whether the current President should be killed.

Ronald Reagan once said about his former life as a Democrat, "I didn't leave the party, the party left me." I have to ask the Republicans I know who aren't raving lunatics: Hasn't your party left you yet? If not, what's it going to take?

Conservatives Cheer USA Not Getting Olympics...Just Because Obama Was For It

Country First, My Ass.


""For those of you ... who are upset that I sound gleeful, I am. I don't deny it. I'm happy," [Rush] Limbaugh said. "Anything that gets in the way of Barack Obama accomplishing his domestic agenda is fine with me."

"ChicagP\/\/n3D!" tweeted Newsmax, of recent fame for running, then pulling, a column about an impending military coup against Obama.

"Please, please let me break this news to you. It's so sweet," said Glenn Beck on his radio show.

Assholes.