Oh, You're SOOOOOOOO Persecuted

Some of you may have heard that the whole sexual abuse scandal has reared its ugly head again for the Catholic Church. It turns out that the current Pope himself, back when he was just a measly cardinal, mishandled a specific case including one priest who abused more than 200 deaf children.

"Protect the church at all costs." That seems to be the rule that required following. More so, say, than, "Let's protect children."

And now that it's become public just how badly the Pope screwed the pooch in this case, the Vatican is doing just what it's supposed to. They are groveling before their parishioners and begging forgiveness.

In other words, they're attacking the New York Times and just about anyone else who dares to wonder why the current Pope once failed to do the right thing when dealing with an abusive priest.

Today is the holiest day in the Christian calendar: Good Friday. Jesus Christ died on this day. It's a mournful, atoning sort of day.

So it only makes sense that a senior Vatican priest would compare this current persecution to the persecution of the Jews. "[Jews] know from experience what it means to be victims of collective violence and also because of this they are quick to recognize the recurring symptoms," he said in discussing a letter from a Jewish friend, who is appalled at the "violent and concentric attacks" against the Catholic Church.

Now I don't know if this is a real letter from a real Jewish person, but even if we assume that it is... Dude, you can't fucking do that. Just because Clarence Thomas and his wife are Tea Party supporters, that doesn't mean the n-bombs thrown by Tea Baggers at members of Congress are okay.

What I'm really saying is this... The Times is reporting on documented facts (there's a paper trail, for crying out loud) about a seriously bad judgment on the part of the Pope and the Catholic Church. Implying that that is somehow the same thing as killing 6,000,000 Jews is fucking offensive. Shame on you. Seriously. Shame on you.

You've handled almost everything about this badly, Catholic Church. And you seem determined to continue to do so. Well done.

We're a Nation of Snow Pussies

I've been a little under the weather this week (See how I took the snow theme and turned it? That's just the sort of quality writing you've come to expect here at B&E!), so I've been working from home.

This morning I woke up feeling a bit better, but because last night the local news outlets were freaking out about the Blizzard of 2010, I opted to work from home again today, as did many of my fine colleagues.

I finally got a chance for a quick walk right around 5:00 PM.

Don't get me wrong: it was a good snow. It was not, however, a blizzard. Why the hell do we get so fucking crazy about a little snow? Was it seriously that big a deal?

Anyway, the city looks nice during a snow.


I love a Smart Car! Look at the Smart Car in the snow! I have to admit that it looks less Smart!


If you need to rest, take a load off on this snow sofa!


And our neighbors made a snowman! Right outside one of my favorite facades in Sunnyside!


Anyway, it was a fun snow.

Things are Fishy on Staten Island

And I don't just mean the stench of the Fresh Kills Landfill!

Today is Groundhog Day (insert movie reference here). I watched the live coverage of Staten Island Chuck on NY1 this morning. Long-time B&E readers may remember previous mentions of Staten Island Chuck. He's New York's answer to Punxsutawney Phil, the notorious weather-predicting groundhog of Pennsylvania.

NY1 reports that in the past 29 February 2nds, Staten Island Chuck has been right 22 times, giving Chuck a better record than Phil over the same period.

Well, I had some observations of today's live coverage that makes me think the whole thing is rigged somehow.

First of all, on a separate but related matter, Staten Island Chuck might be a real dick. Last year he took a chunk out of Mayor Bloomberg's finger. This year Mayor Mike wore super-thick work gloves that I think were made of dragon hide.

Anyway, they tried to lure Chuck out, and we (the TV audience) waited. We waited quite some time. That groundhog wouldn't fucking come out. Finally, some brave mayoral aide (without gloves) reached into Chuck's little hut and yanked him out, handing him to the mayor, who nearly dropped him.

Chuck got fat.

And I'm sorry, but Mayor Mike didn't confer with Staten Island Chuck at all before announcing that Chuck didn't see his shadow.

Anyone watching could tell you that Chuck didn't want to come out of his hovel because he saw nothing BUT shadow. He was freaked the fuck out. And fat.

Meanwhile, in Punxsutawney, Phil saw his shadow. I didn't watch any live coverage, but Phil looked svelte (possibly starved, if you believe PETA, who would prefer that Phil be a robot), and a dude with a funny hat and Rollie Fingers mustache listened carefully to what Phil had to say.

I think I figured out what's going on. In Punxsutawney, they genuinely listen to what Phil has to say about the weather. He sees his shadow; he doesn't see his shadow. They trust Phil.

Staten Island is the most suspect of the five boroughs of New York City. Even people who live there don't really know what goes on there. I don't know if the whole Staten Island Chuck experience is bankrolled by the mob or what, but I have a feeling that the weather prediction is more about the number-runners and money-changers than the goddamned weather.

And it wouldn't surprise me one bit if somehow Mayor Mike is in on the fix. I don't know if he's consulting Poor Richard's Almanack or what, but I do know that he didn't bother to consult with that fat, angry groundhog.

It's suspect, B&E readers. It's fucking suspect.

Okay, I'll Bite

Part of me wants to let it go, but apparently I can't resist...

Mark McGwire admitted steroid use. And man, former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer earned the shit out of his crisis management fee.

Yes, it was a good strategy well-executed by all parties involved, even tears and (perhaps) genuine emotion from McGwire himself, all orchestrated to repair his image and give him a shot at becoming a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, after yet another year of receiving "yes" votes on only 25% of the ballots, when 75% is needed.

Anyway, the whole theater of the mea culpa makes me want to fucking puke.

Still, I'm giving Mark McGwire a pass on steroid use. Not only that, but I'm also giving a pass to anyone who used steroids before 2003. Shit, baseball didn't even ban them until 2003, so no one was breaking rules.

Laws are a different matter, I suppose, and if there are prosecutors who want to waste time tracking down steroid users and their dealers, go ahead. It seems like a fucking waste of resources, but whatever. I don't care.

No, I'm dropping the steroid problem onto the heads of Major League Baseball executives and team owners and management. Fuck those guys. They were the true beneficiaries of steroid use throughout baseball. At best, they looked away. But they were lining their pockets with oodles of cash as baseball hit new heights of popularity, thanks to the very steroid users/home run hitters who saved baseball after the '94 players' strike. That the players are now the fall guys for this steroid "scandal" is fucking bullshit, B&E readers.

I have less sympathy for the players who used steroids in 2003 or later. They were officially breaking the rules then.

Anyway, baseball... Ain't it great?

And for my non-baseball readers, I offer this image of one of Egypt's hunkiest soccer (that's football in Egypt) players, courtesy of blondandeffective, who describes him as a "halal beefcake specimen." Who can't agree with that?

Signs of Life at the FCC?

During the Bush administration (and let's face it: during the Clinton administration too), the Federal Communications Commission never found a merger it didn't like. It also seemed to deregulate just about everything having to do with anything and gave media, phone, and internet companies carte blanche to fuck consumers by any means necessary.

In theory the FCC is supposed to protect consumers. Well done, FCC.

I just caught this headline: FCC asks Verizon Wireless to explain fees.

It's not actually that interesting an article and, frankly, I'm surprised it's news at all. Imagine that: the regulatory body charged with protecting consumers from the communications companies is actually asking a company why it believes it has the right to charge certain fees. This shouldn't be news. This should be the FCC doing its daily duty.

Still, I've rather liked the shift at the FCC of late. They seem to be a little friendlier to ideas like net neutrality, which would keep the internet free and open to the public, something the various internet providers are dead set against.

The big test will be the NBC/Comcast merger. That will be one monster of a media/communications company, which will almost certainly screw consumers in the long run. Has the FCC grown the balls to stop it?

The connections between free and open media and a thriving democracy are undeniable, and if you feel like geeking out on these issues for a while, FreePress.net is your one-stop shop for information about these things.

Ignorance Really Is Bliss

Oh, B&E readers, I love you. But alas, for the time being, I've got limited access to the World Wide Web of information superhighways. This means fewer regular updates, I'm afraid.

There's a byproduct of limiting one's online access (as well as one's access to television, radio, and other media), and it is this: happiness.

I haven't heard reports of wacko extremists fantasizing about violently overthrowing our current president's administration; I haven't read about how our health care reform is bought and paid for by the very corporations causing the problems; I haven't heard or read the names Michelle Bachman, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, or the other Dickheads of the Right.

Indeed, I wake up when the sun pours into my cabin; I stoke a wood fire if it's cold; I make myself eggs laid by the chickens right over there; I write whatever I feel like writing (script, letters, journal); I read whatever I feel like reading; I eat when I feel like eating; I sleep when I feel like sleeping. This is what we call a retreat, B&E readers.

So maybe it's not just the lack of media that's bringing some serious happy. But as I realized I hadn't looked at any of my lefty propaganda sites recently, it also occurred to me that I had no desire to. The world can go right to hell in a hand basket, and I would have absolutely no idea. And something about that feels awfully good.

The only thing lacking is my regular dose of the missus. If we could somehow figure out a way to add her to this equation, it really would be an ideal life.

A life of denial, perhaps, but denial can be powerfully seductive.

This is Front Page?

I don't read the New York Post, but I do occasionally enjoy its headlines. There have been a couple of real doozies over the years. Ones I particularly like include "Ku Klux Kloser" (about John Rocker's anti-7-train comments a few years ago) and "Red Prez Brezh Dead" (when, obviously, Leonid Brezhnev died).

This morning I caught this one: "Only in America: Spitz hooker's mom shocked he's back."

You see, Elliot Spitzer, who was caught with that prostitution ring a while back, which resulted in his resignation as Governor of New York, is thinking of running for office again. Maybe Attorney General, maybe state Comptroller, maybe something else.

I didn't read the article that goes with the headline, but apparently the mother of the hooker who Elliot frequented just can't believe it.

So a woman who was actually completely irrelevant to the original story about a governor and his penchant for prostitutes is shocked.

And does this really happen "Only in America"? Hell, man, when the former president of France Francois Mitterand died, his wife and mistress comforted each other at his grave. And what about that Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi? That guy seems to be about nothing but young, hot chicks. So I'm not sure "only in America" is accurate.

Of course, it's not like my expectations are terribly high for the New York Post, but how slow a news day does it have to be to give the mother of the subject of an old news story front page coverage?

Tap That

Every time, President Obama selects someone to join his cabinet, the headlines announce that Obama's tapped that person. At some point, a young rapscallion in the newsroom should tell the editor-in-charge-of-headlines that there's an alternative meaning to "tap" that makes immature jackasses such as myself giggle.

Jackass 1: Obama totally tapped Sebelius.

Jackass 2: Dude, I wouldn't tap that.

Jackass 1: Are you kidding? I'd tap that. She's a total GILF.

Jackass 2: No way, man, but that Hilda Solis? I'd totally tap that. Hottest Labor Secretary ever. Total LSILF.

Heh, heh... Obama tapped the Governor of Kansas... Heh... Tapped...

Sing It, Baby!

Earlier in the day, the Huffington Post had a headline that read, "Obama sings order to close Gitmo."

We all know President Obama can speechify better than anyone, but how's his singing voice? This vital information was left out of the report.

HuffPo changed it to "signs" later in the day. That made a lot more sense.

Sober

I've noticed a number of news outlets calling Obama's inaugural speech sober, or that the work he faces now is sober or sobering.

He's not Gerald Ford, for crying out loud. Just how drunk do they expect him to be?

Zang! ZzP-POW! Wocka-wocka-wocka!

Yeah, We Might, George Stephanopolopoloupolus

This morning on George Stephanoploupoloulopoulus' round table, they were discussing potential Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers. I waited for someone - anyone - to discuss how as Treasury Secretary under Clinton, Summers had a lot to do with deregulation in the late 1990s.

All four members of the round table spoke of Summers as a positive choice. They didn't defend what he said about ladies (cute as they are) not understanding science the way that men do, but they dismissed it as a stupid hangup by critics.

OK, maybe, but what about this whole deregulation thing he oversaw as Treasury Secretary. No one said anything, until George Stephanopolopolouloupoulus, in the process of changing the discussion topic said something offhandedly like, "Some liberal Democrats might ask tough questions about deregulation."

Yeah, we might. And everyone should, no? Other than the right-wing racists who want to blame the housing crisis on ACORN and the poor black people with mortgages, hasn't pretty much every economist worth just about anything cited deregulation as the primary cause of our current economic meltdown? I mean, hell, even Alan Greenspan had a "Well, who knew that greed would keep people from protecting these corporations?" mea culpa.

Lawrence Summers might be the smartest man on earth, and I'm sure he understands many things about economics I never will. But he was also desperately wrong in the late 1990s. If he's renamed Treasury Secretary, it'll be like Bill Kristol, the pundit most wrong about just about everything he's ever said on television, continuing to get punditry and editorial jobs.

Shit. Lawrence Summers is totally gonna be Secretary of the Treasury.

Anyway, George Stephanopoloupolupolupous, I was very disappointed that you didn't have a voice on your round table who was willing to point out that Summers was so catastrophically wrong in the 1990s.

But then there's Robert Reich, who had a fine little ditty on TPM today. In the article he discusses what he sees as the best remedy for getting us out of our economic funk. And he does a nice job of explaining some basic ideas in terms economic dolts like myself can understand.

As Reich says, he's one of those economic advisers working with the Obama transition team, but I sure hope that his need to publish his thoughts doesn't indicate that his point of view is getting overshadowed in the private sessions.

That First Press Conference

Because I'd taken the day off on Friday, I was able to catch President-Elect (!) Barack Obama's first press conference. He was, perhaps, not terribly relaxed to begin with, but even at his tightest, it was remarkably easy to watch, especially when you consider just how cringe-inducing presidential press conferences have been for the past eight years.

I can't remember the last presidential press conference that left me as relaxed as when it started. Golly, it's refreshing.

The AP Is Very Pleased With Itself

So as you've probably heard, Paris Hilton responded to the John McCain "celebrity" ad with an ad of her own. It's not bad.

The Associated Press has reported on the development of course and offer us this exceptionally clever headline:

Paris Hilton issues tart rebuttal to McCain ad

Tart! Get it? See? It's Paris Hilton! Tart!

Looks like someone at the AP has graduated from middle school!

Oh, We're SOOOOOOO Offended

It's outrageous! Egregious!

Terrorist Obamas--terrorist Michelle dressed like a militant and terrorist Barack dressed like a "Muslim"--doing a terrorist fist-jab in a terrorist Oval Office with a terrorist's portrait on the wall while the terrorists burn an American flag.

A couple days later, and I'm still trying to figure out why anyone cares. People who think it's serious won't be voting for Obama anyway, and people who realize it's satire (and debate whether it's "good satire" or not) think that the people who think it's serious are idiots.

So really: what's the fucking problem?

I'm an Adolescent

Because it's a rainy day, making it difficult to do any work, I'm going to share with you the BBC headline causing my afternoon giggle:

Great tits cope well with warming

It's about birds. Grow up, dear B&E readers.

The BBC lobs it in; feel free to hit it out of the park. As for me, I'm enjoying the wheels churning inside my head more than any of the particular comments I have on the tips of my fingers.

CNN: Bringing God and Dog Together Through Poopie

A most generous bald fella, knowing my fascination and love of all things God- and weenie-dog-related, was kind enough to send me this most fantastic news report from CNN.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Leavings is my new favorite word.

TimesDeselect

I got a bit upset when the New York Times introduced TimesSelect back in 2005. Turns out it wasn't such a good business decision after all. After two years, as of midnight tonight, all the features and op-eds will once again be free. And here's a little link because the Times will no longer charge you for it.

Apparently, there's more money to be made from advertising than from charging readers.

Oh, sweet advertising, you make the world go 'round.

Boy, That's Some Good Shit

Obviously, the departure of Donald Rumsfeld is good news, although I can't help but think that the President is just finally changing out of his Cosby sweater.

Occasionally, when I stop into my local bodega to buy some milk, I take note of the tabloid headlines. They're always good for a giggle or comforting word. For example, after the Mets lost, I think it was New York Newsday (the ugly stepsister of tabloids) that had the best headline: "Ya Gotta Bereave."

This morning, though, it was the usual suspects covering the Rumsfeld ouster with their usual sensitivity. The New York Daily News went with Bush showing Donny the door with the thought bubble, "Don't Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out," a sentiment many of us can relate to.

But it's the New York Post, famous for its Rupert Murdoch right-wing reactionary nature, that wins today's headline war. They kept it simple and to the point. "Rums Felled." On the inside, they're discussing the Midterm Massacre and feature another quality headline: "Cut-n-Rum."

With the AP declaring Webb the winner in Virginia, it's a pretty good week to be a Democrat.

Of course, I still don't feel comfortable calling myself a Dem, so let's just say that it's a good day to be a voter who caucuses with the Democrats.

Edward R. Olbermann

good night good luck
Originally uploaded by dangunderman.

As someone without cable, I don't get the MSNBC network, and because of that, Keith Olbermann has remained in my peripheral awareness as a pundit and commentator. Some of you may have noticed my fascination with baseball, and Keith Olbermann used to be a sportscaster. So my association with Keith goes back to the time that Yankee second baseman, Chuck Knoblauch, suffering from a serious case of the yips, hit Keith's mother in the stands with his errant throw. Keith handled it like a true professional: "I'm going to step out of the booth for a moment. Chuck's throw just hit my mother."

Anyway, Titivil links to Keith's blog and has a well-voiced opinion on the man, and recently, Virgil linked to Keith's 9/11 comment, which Olbermann empassioned directly through the president's thick head.

So while I'm late to the Olbermann political commentary party, I'd like to add my own little link. This tirade, like most of Keith's ending pieces, runs about eight minutes, but it's got all the juice of a Grecian peach.

Some commentary on his commentary...

He calls Bush the worst president since James Buchanan. Keith skips right over Herbert Hoover and Warren G. Harding, two men widely regarded as truly terrible presidents, and goes right back to the man who was personally responsible for fucking up Kansas in the 1850s. Keith's decision to compare Bush to Buchanan pleases me greatly.

Hoover and Harding were inept and corrupt, perhaps, but Buchanan was inept, corrupt, and destructive on a massive scale. Granted, Buchanan's policies affected primarily only our own still-growing country, but he was enormously divisive, and appropriately enough, Karl Rove was Buchanan's Deputy Chief of Staff.

Anyway, it's about time that President Buchanan stops getting his free pass. Except for history geeks, no one knows the awesome power of Buchanan's terribleness. And while Keith didn't explain why the Bush Administration is the worst since Buchanan's, I'm a fan of getting Buchanan's name back in the popular consciousness.

In fact, I think maybe President James Buchanan is, posthumously of course, Dickhead of the Week. (Especially since I don't know how many more postings I'll get to this week.)

One minor complaint about Olbermann's commentary. He ends his tirade with Edward R. Murrow's iconic, "Good night, and good luck." He's great, that Keith, but he's not Edward R. Murrow, and he should consider getting his own tagline. If it's good and catchy, and if Keith can continue to stand up for all that is good and right in this country, then perhaps whatever his tagline is will become iconic in its own right.

One suggestion: "Chuck's throw just hit my mother."

Headline Madness

The venerable New York Times has a headline that reads as follows:

Highway Chief Resigns After Death in Tunnel

If he was dead, how did he resign?
Buddy, a letter would've been good enough!
Walk away from the light at the end of the tunnel!

ZANG! ZZP-POW! WOCKA-WOCKA-WOCKA!

Where's the Colbert?

I ran into Virgil at Sunnyside's new daytime coffee hangout, The Grind (the name's still stupid, but I can work there, as long as I listen to my own music), and he remarked at how little press coverage Anti-Dickhead of the Week Stephen Colbert's speech has gotten. For a full-frontal blistering assault less than ten feet from the president's face, it's shocking that the only buzz on the speech has been left to what is commonly (and sillily) called "the blogosphere."

Well, Virgil, you and I aren't alone in our dismay at the lack of coverage. I guess the press doesn't much like being mocked by a comedian. Stupid, hypersensitive, whiny press.

Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News has been on The Daily Show. He's even been moderately funny. Hey, Brian! Cover Colbert! Or does NBC not let pretty boys decide what's on the news?

Thank You, Guardian UK

camelove512
Originally uploaded by dangunderman.

It's the way they raise the level of discourse that I particularly appreciate.

Plus, camel-fuckin' is funny.

Stupid Sport Similes

frednbarney
Originally uploaded by dangunderman.

I really enjoy reading the sports pages. As I've said before, jocks are stupid assholes, so a dumb quote or a ridiculous anecdote can make me feel superior, since I can't hit a ball over the centerfield fence or throw a split-fingered fastball.

Every once in a while I'm amazed by idiotic sports writing, although I guess I shouldn't be, since many sports writers are really just failed or wannabe jocks. Still, one would think that from the New York Times, generally considered to be the Best Newspaper in the World, one could count on superior sports writing. But Jack Curry wrote something in today's paper that I flat-out don't get. It either makes no sense or proves that I'm a fucking idiot. Here's the quote...

"In some ways, Clemens, a bigger-than-Texas right-hander, and Pettitte, a spiritual left-hander, are like... Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble. But unlike those comedic characters, Clemens and Pettitte have not been stumbling along to the accompaniment of a 30-minute laugh track."

And that's it. No explanation for the comparison. OK, so Fred Flintstone was a big guy. But was he right-handed? And was Barney spiritual? And left-handed? If this does actually make sense, and I'm a fucking idiot, could someone please explain the simile? Thanks.

Anyone Remember Judith Miller?

Yeah, me neither.

TimesSelect

My primary source of news, The New York Times, began a pay subscription service today for a portion of their online presence. Called TimesSelect, no longer can we read for free Op-Ed pieces or feature articles in most categories (including anything about the Mets not directly related to a game).

Fuck you, too, New York Times.

Get the Padded Room Ready

I think we've lost David Brooks.

Corn? I Don't Remember Eating Any Corn!

Two years ago David Corn, Washington editor of The Nation magazine, was the first journalist to raise the possibility that the White House may have committed a crime with this whole Valerie Plame outing.

As a good lefty, he may be more obsessed with the Rove Scandal than I am, and as a reporter who gets paid to write about such things (and as a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University), he's much better at it than I am. (But I bet I'm better at hitting a curve ball.) I'm sure I'll keep discussing the Mother Dickhead here on B&E, but for much more detailed information, you can follow the ongoing Corn commentary.

Feel the outrage. Fight the Power. I'd like fries with that.

Avril Levigne Could Sing a Song About It

Turns out Matt Cooper didn't actually speak with his source about being allowed to testify.

And with Karl Rove now being known officially by his hip-hop name, "the Source," this whole story gets so complicated -- not to mention dirty, sleazy, and evil -- that my head's about to explode. Surely, someone somewhere can find a reason to send Rove to prison for several decades, no?

Incredible, Indeed

Sarah Vowell, the voice of Violet Parr in "The Incredibles," has an editorial in The New York Times today.

First of all, I'm pleased to see the Times get a woman to replace, at least occasionally and temporarily, Maureen Dowd, who's currently on leave. As I've stated before, there's an embarrassing dearth of women on the Op-Ed pages over there.

Secondly, Sarah Vowell's tone, usually heard in her sardonic stories on NPR, is rare for the hoity-toity Times, so that's nice.

Thirdly, her subject matter surprised me. She's shocked that Pat Robertson could stir admiration in her, and frankly, I'm right there with her. I've always put Pat on par with Jerry Falwell and Pat Buchanan, who are two of the biggest douchebags on the planet. But Pat Robertson says that he supports teaching proper condom use, along with abstinence, in the fight against AIDS in Africa. Until today, I considered this as unlikely as Bush nominating a gay loving abortionist to the Supreme Court.

So, today, I say, "Right on, Pat." Violet Incredible thinks you're incredible, and I couldn't agree more. Now just don't go fuck it up tomorrow by saying the homosexuals are bringing the wrath of God on, well, anywhere, simply because they, say, exist.

Complete Badassedness

The New York Times should be ashamed of itself. Out of eight or ten regular Op-Ed writers, Maureen "Snarkier Than Thou" Dowd is the only woman, and she's on leave right now. Oh, and Barbara Ehrenreich once did a guest stint. But the male domination of the Op-Ed pages at the Times should be a bigger embarrassment to them than it is.

Meanwhile, over at The Nation (my subway reading), about half of the regular column writers, as well as the journal's editor, are women. Katha Pollitt is consistently my favorite -- she's got eloquence, passion, and intelligence surpassed by few writing in the opinion/editorial world. Take her most recent, for example.

Fucking A right, Ms. Pollitt. Testify.

Mr. Throat

I've been reading up on all this Deep Throat/W. Mark Felt stuff, as it's, well, interesting. And with all the different reactions and denials and further conspiracy theories (some of which sound perfectly plausible to me, including that Felt isn't in fact Deep Throat), the thing I'm finding most amusing about it all is that proper journalists, once they call him Deep Throat the first time, simply refer to him as "Throat." As in: first name, Deep; last name: Throat.

Oh, yes, it does please me so.

I Love a Good Scapegoat

Report: Newsweek is now more dangerous to America's reputation abroad than Bush administration policy.

Fuck you, guys. Seriously. Fuck you.