The Anatomy of Idiots

Too bad, if this ever gets made into a movie, Otto Preminger and Duke Ellington aren't around to direct and score it.

Catching up from the week, there was a minor fru-fru with the Right Wing Freak Show, over the case of Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein.

Hussein was the recipient of the Bush Grindhouse brand of justice, held for allegedly aiding terrorists (or, a terrorist himself, if you
are in the RWFS, or an official RWFS Flying Monkey).

From Wikipedia;

On September 17, 2006, it was reported that Hussein has been imprisoned by the United States military since April 2006 without publicly known charges or hearing because of "imperative reasons of security" under United Nations resolutions.[1] Hussein was taken into U.S. custody on April 12, 2006 from the Iraqi city of Ramadi and has since been held without charge.[1][2] On November 20, 2007, the US military announced that they would soon be bringing criminal charges against Hussein, and would be turning the case over to Iraqi judges. [3] On April 9, 2008 an Iraqi judicial panel ordered his release, ruling (according to the AP) that he was covered by an Iraqi amnesty law.[4] On April 14, 2008 the US military announced it would release Hussein from custody by April 16, 2008, saying only that "he no longer presents an imperative threat to security".[5] [6]

That's the proverbial "Reader's Digest" version of it.

To get a more detailed account, a most delicious take-down of the RWFS, run, don't walk over to Media Matters and ...

Eric Boehlert's "Michelle Malkin and the warbloggers get everything wrong -- again"

Here's a tease of it;

"What's so amazing -- and truly frightening -- about the Bilal Hussein story is that the U.S. government may have actually turned to warbloggers for information. At least one source even allegedly credited the laughable Jawa Report blog for helping put Bilal Hussein behind bars for two years while the U.S. military in Iraq pondered his fate. That warbloggers are right less often than a stopped clock is one thing. That CENTCOM officials have apparently deputized the clueless Inspector Clouseaus in the War on Terror represents a national embarrassment."

And a "Batman" style POW!;

They all dutifully typed up the military's dark claims about Hussein and pounded their chests about how warbloggers had uncovered a terrorist inside the AP. But when the Army decided Hussein no longer posed a threat, the warbloggers all played dumb. (Trust me, it's an art form for them at this point.)

That's bad enough. And if warbloggers had simply ignored the Hussein news last week, that would have been one thing. Instead, those who did acknowledge the development tried to insist they were still right about Hussein's terrorist ties and that he'd simply been released on a technicality.

Need more?

Here's an endorsement from Pale Rider, over on Blue Girl, Red State;

Eric Bohlert then goes on to give one of the most detailed examinations of the "reality-challenged" crowd--complete with excellent links a-plenty and enough smart commentary and observation to go around. I love pieces like this--you can lose yourself in them for an hour, see documented and detailed lies, distortions and misadventures, and it just reinforces why we do what we do here.

And for a little historical context (actually, Bohlert links to this in the piece) from Glenn Greenwald's "The "credibility" of the right-wing blogosphere";

These right-wing bloggers operate at a level several beneath the National Enquirer, literally. They simply fabricate facts and recklessly and maliciously launch serious accusations against the media whenever doing so advances their political agenda.

Read "Michelle Malkin and the warbloggers get everything wrong -- again".

It will be a good primer, kind of like stretching out and limbering up, before the Fall Election.


Bonus RWFS/Flying Monkey Riffs

A Headshot Guide to the Right-Wing Blogosphere - The Village Voice's visual election-season manual from Tom Tomorrow

Mirror, Mirror ... She's Still The Sickest! ... But The Bush Grindhouse Is Gaining Ground ... Follow-Up On The Graeme Frost Conflagration

There's Sucker's Born Every Minute ...

Where's Ernest Borgnine when you need him?

"The morning after always looks grim if you happen to be wearing last night's dress"