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There’s no such thing as a fiscally conservative social liberal. No one should ever use this term again, ever

Our Man Palast strikes gold yet again. After reports covering everything from the August 2003 blackout in the Northeastern U.S. power grid, to the November 2000 “black”out of the Southeastern U.S. voter rolls, Greg Palast now documents the insidious effort by several power utility companies to work around a $9 billion recompensation plan due the State of California after all the 2000-era state energy crises, paying particular attention to gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger’s involvement in this malarkey.
You say you owe us one dollar? Let’s help you out, here — why not pay back one cent instead, after ensuring that your Republican candidate gets elected to manage the world’s fifth-largest economy? Wait a second, that makes this scale much larger: you owe nine billion dollars? Pay back nine billion cents! All’s fair in politics!
“But we’re running a deficit!”, you say. Well, we can cut state social programs, because there’s no way we’re taking money from the utility companies! Let’s deregulate!
Bah, humbug.

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Save us all, forgive us our Access Hollywood sins

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It’s more than likely that this is, by now, a familiar image to Los Angeles-area residents and commuters, which can only be a good thing, given the circumstances. If Andre the Giant has a posse, why can’t Arnold the Bodybuilder have a budget deficit to call his own? (By “Arnold the Bodybuilder,” I mean “Pete Wilson 2: The Sequel,” and most definitely not “Cruz the Bustamante”.)

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Hitler could also bench-press 240

arnold16thumb.jpgI admired Hitler, for instance, because he came from being a little man with almost no formal education up to power. And I admire him for being such a good public speaker.Future Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger quoted in a book proposal by George Butler

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The most fun people at any party

The NY Times revealed that the U.S. military has been practicing the craft of shooting down airborne civilian flights, should that ever become necessary, in case, well, you know.
Included is this one line, which seemed a bit more casual than perhaps it ought to have been:
“[The general] said pilots and ground controllers were screened to make sure they would not refuse an order to shoot down a suspicious airliner packed with civilians…”
Yikes. Just imagine how callous and, well, military-esque these people who made it through the selection process must be.

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You better work!

I blame Rupaul:
“As soon as they arrived in Anshan, however, the problems began. They were asked to sign a contract that offered monthly pay far below the advertised level, initially just $24, minus a $13 charge for room and board. Bonuses were promised, but only for those who produced eyelashes above quotas.” – Chinese Girls’ Toil Brings Pain, Not Riches by Joseph Kahn

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Scariest Empty threat since “Wanted dead or alive”

“[I]f there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated the law, the person will be taken care of.
Quiz time: George W. Bush or Tony Soprano?

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Not Reader Mail, but Representative Mail

As October approaches, we thought it fitting to do a “one year later” examination of the events leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in spring 2003. And what better lens through which to examine this than incriminating mail from elected representatives who signed off on the President’s ability to pre-emptively go into the Middle East?

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Grave Unintentionally Hilarious

Unintentionally hilarious photo of the moment, Vol. 2

t_allbaugh_POST2.jpgFollowing up on the post immediately below, meet one Joe M. Allbaugh, the former Director of FEMA. A predictably awful suggested headline may have been, “FEMA DECLARES HAIRLINE A FEDERAL DISASTER AREA”, but that would have been tasteless. So instead, we’ll simply let the image speak for itself, and lest you think we’re picking on this poor chap in an unwarranted manner, take note of the following info snipped from the FEMA site:
“Mr. Allbaugh served as the National Campaign Manager for Bush-Cheney 2000 with responsibility and oversight for all activities related to the Bush election campaign. He had previously served as Campaign Manager for President Bush’s first run for Texas governor.”
See, the guy deserves it! Laugh away!

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Overheard at a Bethesda Denny’s

Joe M. Allbaugh: Damnit, man. Everyone and their mother is making money in Iraq and we’re sitting here with our thumbs in our asses!
Edward M. Rogers, Jr.: You found those xeroxes? I was drunk.
Lanny Griffiths: Shut up, you idiot. Joe’s right: we gotta monetize this Iraq thing now!
Joe M. Albaugh: I got an idea. We should start our own company to hook people up with George.
Edward M. Rogers, Jr.: Like a dating service?
Joe M. Albaugh: No, you idiot. A consulting firm.
Lanny Griffiths: That’s a capital idea.
Joe M. Albaugh: Literally!
Rogers and Griffiths laugh
Edward M. Rogers, Jr.: I don’t get it.
Washington Insiders’ New Firm Consults on Contracts in Iraq
New Bridges Strategies.

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Grave Unintentionally Hilarious

Super-spectacular unintentionally hilarious photo of the moment, vol. 1

capt.cdh10309291322.us_iraq_uranium_cdh103.jpg