Yes, Virginia, Even Sadder, Little Billy Kristol Is Going To The NYT

Boy, our poor little Christmas girl can't catch a break.

First, we have to confirm to her that Yes, Virginia, There Is, Sadly, A William Kristol ..., and now this drops on her.

The Huffington Post is reporting that Little Billy Kristol will be taking his craziness to the pages of the New York Times (Bill Kristol To Become New York Times Columnist In 2008), only a week after Time Magazine gave him the boot.

I suppose this was inevitable.

A great deal of Bush Grindhouse water has pooled up since Judy Miller left, so the NYT had a need for another water carrier, someone with a big bucket, someone with "Big Lying" credentials.

Apparently, David Brooks wasn't up to snuff, or that his "body language" thing has even creeped-out his co-workers.

Jonah Goldberg is currently unavailable, too busy sticking his head up his own ass.

They probably could have reached out and pulled in Coltergeist, but why risk seeing the building explode into flames?

Someone should go check on Arthur Schulzberger Jr., just to make sure he didn't hit his head on a SUV sunroof lever.


Bonus Bad News Billy Links

Anonymous Liberal: Kristol's Secret to Success

Anonymous Liberal: Bill Kristol: Pundit Superstar

Creature/State of The Day: The post in which my head explodes

Crooks and Liars: Bill Kristol is rewarded for being “wrong” on everything: NY Times gig is a comin’

Crooks and Liars: Bonus Bill Kristol Highlight Reel

It Takes A Neocon To Raise A Legacy ... They're Drinking The Kool-Aid Again ...

Of Legacy Maintenance - And Corrections! ... David Corn's "REBUTTAL - Why Bush Is A Loser"

As Goes Pakistan, So Goes Iowa ... But I'm Still Putting My Money On Colonel Mustard and Ms. Scarlet ...

Renault: By the way Monsieur, last night, you evinced an interest in Signor Ugarte
Laszlo: Yes
Renault: I believe you have a message for him
Laszlo: Nothing important, but may I speak to him now?
Strasser: You would find the conversation a trifle one-sided. Signor Ugarte is dead
Ilsa: Oh ...
Renault: I am making out the report now. We haven't quite decided whether he committed suicide or died trying to escape.

From the movie, 'Casablanca'

Boy, and we all thought that it was just Iraq that the Bush Grindhouse & Regime was going to leave the next President - and us - as a pile of shit.

Iraq may end up looking like Main Street USA, on July 4th, with what goes down in Pakistan.

And now, The Little Dictator Who Could, and his Pakistani Government, is giving its' citizens their own, and what will be just as enduring, conspiracy, along the lines of Oswald's Magic Bullet, on how Bhutto died.

It wasn't from being shot.

It wasn't from the bomb.

Drum roll, please ... It was from Bhutto ducking down through the sunroof and hitting her head on the sunroof lever.

Got that?

Perhaps, they are looking to avoid being dragged into court, and giving Bhutto's family an out, to sue the manufacturer of the vehicle she was in, for faulty design.

The lever of a sunroof? ... That makes William Holden's death look absolutely dignified!

Along with funding The Little Dictator Who Could, they must be giving the Pakistanis PR lessons - Blame The Victim.

Just as it was the people of New Orleans suffered for up to five-days, stranded on rooftops, and going without food or water, wasn't due to an obtuse government, they just didn't get out of the way when they were told to ... Bhutto, trying to get out of the way, dies because she ducked, as if to say, if she didn't duck, she would still be alive today ...

Ohhh boy! ...

One thing not going ducking or going down, is The Little Dictator Who Could, Pervez Musharraf.

He is the poster boy for Bush Grindhouse brand of democracy.

With The Commander Guy, holding on tightly to his Democracy blankee, calling for the continuation of planned elections, despite the leading opposition candidate being murdered, and the other party indicating they will boycott, in protest, said election, that's democracy folks.

Well ... You don't, necessarily, need to have banana trees to be a banana republic ...

The Condoleezza Rice Ballroom Dancing & Charm School surely didn't have this in their lesson plan. Perhaps, all those countries that came to Annapolis, they should be inquiring about refunds

And I would love to be a fly-on-the-wall the next time Condi makes one her "Democracy Calls". Perhaps the Bush Grindhouse will have to add body armor - and safer sunroofs - to their all-in-one Democracy-In-A-Box kits.

As has been the hallmark of the Bush Grindhouse, it comes down to the "appearance" of doing something, not actually doing it that counts.

Condi pushed Bhutto to come back to Pakistan, to "balance out" the phony democracy thing, all the while her boss has continued to fund Musharraf (and when we say fund, we mean directly - payments of all those billions have gone directly to The Little Dictator Who Could, not to the Pakistan government or treasury).

The Bush Grindhouse Foreign Policy in all its resplendent living color.

And, if you happen to be following this story via the American MSM and Cable News, you can only come away with this is the worst disaster in our history - and they've turned to the absolute, top Pakistan experts to draw this position - the dwarfs, finks, phonies and frauds running for President.

It was been playing out more like a reality TV game show, with the money question being "What would you do if you were President?" ... Answer it correctly to get a big bounce into the final round, being next weeks' Iowa caucus ...

I'm sure all the depressed and bereaved Pakistanis have dollops of hope filling their hearts, knowing that next weeks' Iowa voting will aid moving their country forward, solve all its' problems and, by George, institute all that democracy like it was an episode of Extreme Makeover.

About the only thing the Talking Heads on Cable News didn't indulge in, if it was Colonial Mustard, or Miss Scarlet, who killed Benizar Bhutto ... But the time is young, and it there's still plenty of on-air hours to fill, at least before they drop the story to roll into their canned, New Years' Eve specials.

What a boon for Cable Television ... The lazy, slumbering days between Christmas and New Years, with all those nauseating "Best Lists" and montages who kicked the bucket this year could be shuttered aside - We have HOT News!

It wasn't their standard "missing white woman" but the did apply the "Anna Nicole Smith" principles, so they could roll out all the heavy equipment just the same, to go wall-to-wall with its' coverage.

And with such the controversy over how Bhutto died, it will only be a matter of time, before we see a big, SUV in-studio, on either Wolf Blitzer's monitor-laden set (is he moonlighting for Circuit City?), or MSNBC (we should see a new Doc-Bloc Special, probably, within a month - "Sunroof Deaths"), complete with a Bhutto-sized rally crowd of experts, to dismantle the SUV's sunroof, and roll out a bushel of theories on how it all happened, the angle and speed in which she would have fell, the confusion if the sunroof lever was metal, metal alloy or plastic, only extending the exercise to bring in even more Talking Heads.

For now, we'll just have to wait and see how bad it gets - in Pakistan - and, on our television sets, as to just how far over-the-top they take this.

All those glamor boys, like Anderson Cooper and Matt Lauer, to dispatch to Pakistan ... Brian Williams, all decked out in his best L.L.Bean khakis, doing stand-ups "from the scene, where democracy was attacked" ... Katie Couric's grinning puff pieces, probably getting all her content directly from The Little Dictator Who Could, so we'll know she has the connections, to get the dirt, like a good little tough anchorwoman.

So, for all those expert Presidential candidates, here's some advise, despite what happened to Bhutto, if someone comes running at you while campaigning, wearing a bomb belt and firing a gun, for God's Sake, duck!

Meantime, The Little Dictator Who Could has given the order; "Round up the usual suspects."


Bonus - And Some Must-Read - Links

Juan Cole: Pakistan's 2007 Crises Come to a Crescendo; Benazir Assassinated; Implications for US Security

Larisa Alexandrovna: Now about Pervez Musharraf (and his ISI handlers)...

Digby: Pakistan Crisis For Dummies

emptywheel: Dick Blows Pakistan

Ahmed Rashid: THE GENERAL IN HIS LABYRINTH - America's Bad Deal With Musharraf, Going Down in Flames

Christopher Hitchens: Daughter of Destiny Benazir Bhutto, 1953-2007

Scarecrow: Did Bush Risk Bhutto To Save Musharraf?

emptywheel: Does this Sound Familiar?

Matthew Yglesias: Don't Cry for Me, Pakistan?

Steve Clemons: Implications of the Zbigniew Brzezinski-Anthony Lake Divide

Good Post Alert: Juan Cole's "Top Ten Myths about Iraq 2007"

I suppose, Juan Cole has already started taking notes for next years' list, which will probably be "Top Ten Myths About Democracy In Pakistan".

This hit on Wednesday, before all the news stopped so our media, and presidential candidates, could bloviate about the events in Pakistan, and on Benizar Bhutto's murder, so it probably didn't get as much play as it should have.

While the Bush Grindhouse has held tightly to its' spin, that Iraq is the end-all, dead-center, red-painted-bullseyes for the War Against Terrorism, they will, likely, soon have that ripped from their fingers, overtaken by the Pakistan story and how OSAMA BIN LADEN and AL QAEDA ARE SAID TO BE BASED IN PAKISTAN!

And unlike Iraq (or Iran), Pakistan does have nuclear weapons (Psst ... We helped them get them), so as much as the Neocon choir sings the Iraq aria, the hip-hop-blaring boom box is sitting in Pakistan, and it's only going to get louder.

Read (and suggest you bookmark for future reference) Juan Cole's "Top Ten Myths about Iraq 2007"

Oscar Peterson

This sad news got somewhat muted due to the Christmas holiday.

I can't say much more that I am every so grateful I got to see Oscar Peterson perform his art, live, a handful of times.

On top of the countless hours I have listened to his recordings, no doubt, I will add significantly more in the coming future.

The team of goodness in the world lost one of its' greats... Take a spin through the links and videos below, and, as you can, share them with someone you know, the joy of Oscar Peterson.


















Visit Oscar Peterson's website


Toronto Star: Oscar Peterson dies at 82

Boston Globe: Oscar Peterson, 82; jazz pianist interwove prodigious power with swing

New York Times: Oscar Peterson, Virtuoso of Jazz, Dies at 82

Washington Post: Oscar Peterson, Piano Virtuoso

Don Heckman/Los Angeles Times: Pianist dazzled jazz world with technique, creativity

CBC: Canadian jazz great Oscar Peterson dies

BBC: Jazz legend Oscar Peterson dies

BBC: Tributes paid to Oscar Peterson



















Oscar Peterson Trio '85 - Nigerian Marketplace

The Oscar Peterson Trio performing in the Berlin Philarmonie on July 2, 1985. Oscar is accompanied by the great late Niels Henning Oersted Pedersen on bass and the great Martin Drew, a long time member the Ronnie Scott Quintet on drums. This is a trio that delivers big time.





More Oscar Peterson Videos


Ella Fitzgerald - Just A-Sittin and A-Rockin', UK 1961

Ella Fitzgerald Sings "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin", UK TV 1961, with the Oscar Peterson Trio, Oscar Peterson, piano, Ray Brown, bass, Ed Thigpen, drums.


There Is No Greater Love

Oscar Peterson featuring: Niels Henning Orsted Perdersen & Ray Brown Live in 1977 (less)


Sweet Georgia Brown

Oscar Peterson featuring: Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen & Ray Brown Live in 1977


Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis / Oscar Peterson - The Breeze And I

Very few players could match Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis when he locked this jaw on the tenor's mouthpiece. Add to that the fine company of Oscar Peterson on piano, Ray brown on bass and Jimmie Smith on drums, and you've got a sure-fire recipe for a swing feast of gargantuan proportions. The place is Montreux, Switzerland, the time is July 15, 1977 and the host is Norman Granz, but I believe you know the drill by now, just sit back and enjoy.


Oscar Peterson & NHOP "Here's That A Rainy Day"

Oscar Peterson : Piano
Niels Hennings Orsted Petersen : Contrebasse
21 juillet 1979, Juan Les Pins ; date diffusion TV : juin/juillet 83


YESTERDAY O.Peterson

Boppin' Around The Christmas Blogs (Herb Caen-Dot-Dot-Dot Style) ...

Well, coming off the, seemingly, long holiday break (and being freed from cooking and baking for nearly two-straight days), it's back to posting ... But, we go gently this day, warming up the engine and defrosting the windows, so to speak ... Think of it like stretching before a run or workout ...

While you were unwrapping gifts, downing the eggnog, and otherwise kickin' back, The Garlic was on-duty, taking a stroll through the blogosphere, checking up on who was naughty and who was nice ...

Carol Gee, on her own South by Southwest, as well as The Reaction, offered a wistful (and pragmatic) look at the Christmas holiday .... And Libby Spencer, also crossposting on The Reaction and The Impolitic tells of her own mini Christmas miracle ...

Joe Gandelman, over on his The Moderate Voice doesn't let us forget Brenda Lee... While Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés (she of the great Burma posts earlier this Fall), also on TMV, details her emotional Christmas Eve...

Dennis Perrin checks in with a post on how Christmas touched him this year ...

The ever-digging Glenn Greenwald, on Salon, posts about the Christmas Political wishes... Digby gives us her A Sec-Prog Christmas Redux, while Spencer Ackerman, on TPMmuckraker, presents A Special Christmas Message from Blackwater...

Think Progress shoots out their Year In Review: The 10 Most Popular Posts Of 2007...

Firedoglake's Jane Hamsher lays out the Mike Huckabee-Rush Limbaugh dust-up... While Larisa Alexandrovna, on her at-Largely (crossposted at Huffpo) fills Jonah Goldberg's Christmas stocking will a well-deserved pile of coal ...

But The Winners Are ....

Plural, as is two, rip-roaring, well-written, hysterical posts ...

James Wolcott's, on his Vanity Fair blog, Distinguished Poet Confronts the Ghost of Christmas Pus, is a fall-on-the-floor laughing dissection of an NYT Op-Ed of Christmas Day (and after you read it, after reading Wolcott, Wolcott's take is even funnier, so pad your floor for the second fall) ...

The op-ed page of The New York Times dropped quite a meatball into the Christmas stocking this morning--a poem by Paul Muldoon titled Myrrh that syrrh was awful. If I didn't have a touching faith in human nature, I'd suspect a put-on, and yet I fear the poem and poet are sincere. It begins:

And our good friend Barry Crimmins rings up Sir! Bah Humbug! Sir! in his ever-brilliant style;

At CNN they even squeezed in their Chief Pentagon Apologist Barbara Starr (you know her, she 's the one with a face that warns: don't lie or you'll end up looking like this) filing her annual report concerning NORAD's heartwarming 'tracking' of Santa's Christmas Eve journey. (He's currently over Australia!). What a charming way for the military to endear itself to impressionable children it can't start openly recruiting until junior high school.

Starr told us the military was tracking the "intruder" but she assured us that Santa's movements would only be monitored. How magnanimous of Pentagon brass not to scramble jets to shoot down St. Nick! Do we ever stop benefiting from a strong military? God bless us, every one!

And to all, a good night ...

Top Ten Cloves: Things Overheard In The Returns Department of Retail Stores Today

News Item: Store rules may mean fewer happy returns

10. I'm sorry, the reason of Jamie Lynn Spears being pregnant isn't one of the acceptable reasons we can accept this return

9. At first, I bought this, to be patriotic, and was just following President Bush's directive to "go shopping" ... Now, I want to return it, because the President says we should give it back

8. Hillary Clinton and Joe Lieberman are launching some kind of culture war and I want to return this so I'm not caught in the middle of it

7. We're sorry, but the "Death Star Galaxy hitting us" is not on our list of acceptable reasons to return an item

6. We're taking the Fran Towsend approach on returns this year - How do we know this item was in the store before you bought it?

5. We might agree with you that Jonah Goldberg is a major asshole, but we can't put him on a list to turn down if he tries to return something

4. It doesn fit, my husband has a wide stance

3. We're sorry, Mr. Libby ... The best we can do is allow you to exchange your gift, give you a store credit or cash ... We can't issue you a Pardon...

2. We are now following the policy of the Vice President. The Returns Department isn't an entity of the store, therefore we don’t have to accept your returned item

1. I'm sorry Mr. Clemens, you can't return the Mitchell Report here ... It has nothing to do with us

Merry Christmas!

Oscar Peterson - A Child Is Born

Happy Holidays - All of Them!

Good Evening Garlic Fans ...

Happy Holidays - All of Them!

We're giving into the demands of the season (cooking, family, et all) and taking a day, or two off (barring breaking news ripe for the pickings).

Being that is has been a rough month on The Garlic's homefront, both time and energy were lacking to come up with new Christmas satire this year.

So, pay attention to our daily feature - Garlic History ... On This Day - sitting over there in the right sidebar. We came up with a few goods last year and you can revisit those posts, or, if you are a new reader, it's your lucky day.

So, have yourselves a very Merry Christmas, with your family and friends and here's hoping peace and love fill the air.

Happy Holidays!
Peace
JTD

Watch and Listen to Diana Krall, swinging away on Jingle Bells