The Garlic: 01/06/2008

Friday, January 11, 2008

Top Ten Cloves: Other Possibilities Being Investigated, As To Iranian Radio Transmission That Threatened U.S. Ships

News Item: The U.S. military inflicts more damage on its own credibility

10. Britney Spears, trying out her Iranian accent

9. President Bush, messing around with the intercom system on Air Force One

8. A couple of sailors, below deck on one of the ships being threatened, playing Battleship

7. When analyzed, second-by-second, could be either John Boehner and Mitt Romney, or Hillary Clinton, crying

6. Someone is reporting Vice President Dick Cheney, alone in the Situation Room, playing with the radios around the same time that the transmission was made

5. Some Iranian, playing with toy boats and rubber duckies while taking a bath, who, inadvertently, left his CB radio on

4. Ashton Kutcher ... U.S. Navy ... You just got punk'd!

3. Rich Little, working on new material, in hopes of being asked to host again, the White House Correspondents Dinner

2. Oops! ... Opie and Anthony did it again!

1. Same, mysterious person that asked Dan Rather "Kenneth, what is the frequency?"

Bonus Links

Top Ten Cloves: Surprising Things About Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's New Blog

Breaking News! New White House Discord Pits Neocons Versus Bush, Baker; Cheney Launches Iran Study Group; Planning To Up Ante, Outgun Baker’s Recommendation; Rumsfeld Installed As Co-Chair; WHIG Moves Into Secret Bunker, As Neocons Draw Line, Choose Sides

Breaking News! Confusion, As Ahmadinejad Claims He's Enrolling In Columbia, Wants "Campus Life Experience"; State Department Says No Defection Or Asylum Requested; Levi's and Girls Gone Wild Videos Factor In Iranian President Decision

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Editor's Note: Another Delay In Posting ...

Good Evening Garlic Fans

We hope this post finds you all well ...

Well, as you can see, with no posts yesterday, or earlier today, you may ask, with all that's going on, what's up?

We have another homefront situation we're dealing with, having to rush my, now 95-year-old (we had a big B'Day bash this past Sunday) aunt to the hospital again, early yesterday (Wed) morning. The diagnosis, without going into unpleasant details, is that she is anemic, and a procedure will be conducted tomorrow to see just what-is-what (She is doing well, and in normal demeanor).

So, I am going to attempt to get a post (maybe two) up later this evening (or early tomorrow morning) but don't hold it against me if I don't.

There's a lot of good posts to catch up with, and, as always, a right sidebar chock full of good things to explore.

And as always, thanks for visiting, reading and supporting The Garlic

Peace
JTD

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Willow Weep For Me ... If Not, Then For Hillary - Or With Her ...

Sad as I can be - Hear me willow and weep for me

Hmmm ... Was it the warm weather or the warm, fuzzy emotions?

She pulled the woman vote, so, maybe her little "The View" moment had some impact ...

If the bulk of the Independent vote is found to have gone over to McCain, Obama can claim that Mitt Romney beat him too ... The Granite Staters were not, under any circumstances, going to let Make-Up Mitt drive back across the border to Belmont with a laurel wreath perfectly placed on his head ... But it may end up that the difference was the woman vote came out for the Clintons

Poor John Edwards ... The year he decides to run on his own, he draws two, mega-death stars to contend with, and even if he is the better candidate, he gets lost in the trail of galaxy matter (The Garlic, if we were have endorsed anyone in the Primaries, it would be Edwards ... Most pragmatic, fighting for the working man, and, perhaps the most normal, regular-type person amongst the motley crew) ... Edwards has to have had the thought cross through his mind, back in 2004, instead of being second-billing to The Dud, he should have run on his own then ... Ahh, but it ain't over yet ... Anything can happen ...

10:32PM: With about 66% reporting, MSNBC called it for Hillary ... CNN waits about another 15-minutes before making their call (Oh, the tension in Wolf's Situation Room) ... Obama gives his concession speech at 11PM ...

Stuck, pretty much with MSNBC most of the night, who all had gales of laughter and tore apart John McCain's victory speech.

What happened there? ... Did McCain pick up a bet - Go out there and read a horrible, disjointed, terrible speech for $100 bucks? ... Somebody check the Straight Talk Express, make sure exhaust, or carbon monoxide, isn't leaking inside ... But if I were McCain, I'd still keep my guard up, and make sure he knows were Oscar the Death Cat is at all times ...

In a foray over to CNN, I was stunned to see Anderson Cooper throw the analysis to ... Ralph Reed, Republican Strategist!

Was there an Indian Casino referendum on the ballot in New Hampshire this evening?

Bill "Will Vice President For Food" Richardson brought in his standard 5% of the vote ... Nobody can round up 5% of the vote like Bill R. ... Perhaps time for El Jeffe to pack it in, before he's embarrassed in being dropped from the next round of debates (and who will chide everyone to be civil, he must be thinking) ... He can leave his card with the remaining candidates and, with one last pitch, tell'em he'll make a great VP ...

11:25PM: On MSNBC, Brian Williams and Little Timmy Russert segue into a two-man Hillary jerk ...

Williams: Greatest Political Upset in American History
Russert: We have Ali-Frazier

Ugh! ... It's only the beginning ... Prepare for the onslaught of pro-Clinton, "It's Hillary!" for the next number of days ...The media and pundits will be falling back in love with her and you'll hear "Comeback Kid" bandied about more often than Pete Rose bet on baseball games ... Wouldn't surprise me to see Hillary and her camp go back into their "incumbent/entitlement" mode ... After all, this was a "Primary" and not a "Caucus" ...

Either that or she starts ballin'-like-a-baby at the drop-of-a-hat ...

More, as they say, as this story develops ... You can visit Memeorandum for all the post spin

- 30 -

New Bush Export - Preemptive Horseshit!

Maybe this is the secret weapon to to steady the faltering economy.

It seems the Bush Grindhouse, led by The Commander Guy himself, are launching a new policy export - Preemptive Horseshit.

The first client buying, or, certainly help shoveling, the horseshit, is Fouad Ajami, who Eric Boehlert called, in Salon, "The media's favorite Arab expert".

If you were wondering what a blow job looks like in the Wall Street Journal, you'll have to read Ajami's "Bush of Arabia", were he offers the hummer of "But Mr. Bush is traveling into the landscape and setting of his own legacy. He is arguably the most consequential leader in the long history of America's encounter with those lands."

It's as wet, to Bush, and Scooter Libby, as his "Fallen Soldier" wet kiss last June.

And, here we have Bush, in a series of interviews with Arab journalists, in preperation of his Legacy Shopping Trip to the Middle East this week, waxing, without a shred of reality present, on his potential legacy, heaping praise upon himself without a hint of modesty.

Here's a gem, a passage, from Dan Froomkin's "Bush's Messiah Complex", in which he says "As it turns out, the president sees himself as quite the heroic figure";

"I can predict that the historians will say that George W. Bush recognized the threats of the 21st century, clearly defined them, and had great faith in the capacity of liberty to transform hopelessness to hope, and laid the foundation for peace by making some awfully difficult decisions," Bush told Yonit Levi of Israel's Channel 2 News. Bush held several interviews with Middle Eastern journalists last week in anticipation of his trip to the region, which starts tomorrow.

"When he needed to be tough, he acted strong, and when he needed to have vision he understood the power of freedom to be transformative," Bush said of himself to Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer of the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot.

As for the people of the Middle East, Bush told Hisham Bourar of al-Hurra Television: "I would hope that they would say President Bush respects my religion and has great love for the human -- human being, and believes in human dignity."

The Bush record, the president told Nadia Bilbassy-Charters of al-Arabiya Television, is one of liberation -- "liberation, by the way, not only from dictatorship, but from disease around the world, like HIV/AIDS or malaria."

Got that?

In the same article, a different view;

"As for real-time views of Bush's legacy, Abramowitz and Knickmeyer write: "In Arab streets, many blame Washington for the plight of Iraqis and Palestinians. Bush's presidency has been 'disastrous,' said Hisham Kassem, an Egyptian journalist who received a National Endowment for Democracy award from him last fall. 'America's neither feared nor loved. It's neither feared by the regimes anymore, and it's hated by the people of the Middle East. . . . That's the Bush legacy.'"

Froomkin wraps it up, most appropriately;

"Bush's view of himself is particularly delusional as he heads to a region that remains traumatized, angry and distrustful on account of Bush's disastrous war in Iraq, his antagonism of Iran and his perceived crusade against Islam."

Go to Froomkin's "Bush's Messiah Complex", it's chock-full of these type of delusions.

And, regarding his Mideast trip, the victory-less, victory-lap, Warren P. Strobel, of the McClatchy Newspapers, has in his report;

"The official Arab view of Bush was summed up inadvertently by a diplomat from a major Arab state, who indicated disbelief that the president will use the trip to renew his drive for Middle East democracy.

"Is that still on?" the Arab official replied sarcastically. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of diplomatic sensitivities.

Bonus Bush Delusional Links

Maha: Welcome to the Asylum

BraveNewFilms: Quote of the week, Bush: "I'll be dead..."

PrairieWeather: Wanking with #43, poor chap

Libby - The Newshoggers: Bush on Bush

Kagro X - The Libby Letters: Fouad Ajami

The Condoleezza Rice Ballroom Dancing & Charm School - Or: Shopping For A Legacy on Cyber Monday

Today's Must Read: Al Giordano's "Damn you, Barack Obama" ... It Lays Out What We Are Seeing Now

If you want to get a good handle on how a ripple of hope has grown into the Obama Wave, we have a "Must Read" for you.

H/T to Barry Crimmins, long a friend (first), fan, and advocate for the journalism of Al Giordano.

In a Crimmins post yesterday;

To appreciate just how far ahead of the field, The Field's Al Giordano is, you have to go back and read his analysis of the current presidential race that he wrote for the Boston Phoenix approximately fifteen weeks ago. It's amazingly on the money, and I mean that in every sense of the word.

"On the money" is an understatement!

Read Al Giordano's Damn you, Barack Obama; Win or lose, Obama's small donors may have already brought a revolution in campaign financing

Visit (and bookmark) Al Giordano's The Field

Visit Barry Crimmins

We Wonder If Rush Lobbied For This, The Way He Did For The Nobel?

One of the leading sites of the Rightwing Freakshow, Human Events, has puffed up "the cheeseburger that sweats (h/t Barry Crimmins)", with their highest honor.

Citing his racism and intolerance towards the handicapped;

"When David Ehrenstein, a Hollywood writer, penned an opinion piece last year in the Los Angeles Times, characterizing Illinois Democratic Sen. Barak Obama as “The Magic Negro,” Rush seized the moment to expose liberal hypocrisy with a parody -- “Barak the Magic Negro” (played to the tune of “Puff the Magic Dragon”). The Rush-haters pounced, claiming falsely that Rush, not Ehrenstein, was employing a racial slur against Obama. No, Rush was ridiculing the left, and once again, it hit home. And when Rush was pressured to stop playing the parody, he defiantly played it over and over again.

Well, Rush would have none of it. He criticized the Democrats’ use of Fox, Fox’s politicization of a medical issue and the dishonesty of the ads. As usual, the Democrats and liberal media distorted Rush’s argument, accusing him of mocking Fox and his ailments. They sought to deflect criticism from their own crude political behavior. But again, they failed.

For this, and all else he does every day to defend our founding principles, HUMAN EVENTS confers on Rush Limbaugh its 2007 Man of the Year Award."

Hmmm ... I wonder what he gets for this? ...

Perhaps a blank, doctor's prescription pad?

Or, did he apply for this, nominate himself, the way he did with the Nobel Peace Prize?

The Garlic's Weekly Poll Is Back!

Well, Well, Well ... We have our Garlic Poll back up-and-running ...

Lo siento for the delay ... While there has been (and continue to be) some minor technical glitches, and my non-blogging time has been a bit burdened lately, that's still no excuse for being so remiss in letting it lag ... Again, my apologies ...

We're back with a good one this week.

While other events take center stage, the Bush Grindhouse is out legacy shopping again, so weigh in with your vote.

And, for the handful of diehard poll fans, here are the results of the last two polls.

This years' National Thanksgiving Turkey should ...

1. Look up at the President and ask who really is the turkey in the room Tally 65%

2. Make sure it gets a pardon, and not a commutation Tally 21%

3. Stay as far away from Dick Cheney as possible Tally 7%

4. Run around, making a lot of noise, claiming its been tortured Tally 7%

If Condi Rice is having trouble managing the Dept. of State, she should ...

1. See about ordering the book ''State Department for Dummies'' Tally 59%

2. Ask the President if she can talk to his Higher Father for some advice Tally 21%

3. Volunteer herself for one of the posts in Iraq Tally 10%

4. Sell rights to Donald Trump for new show ''State Department Apprentice'' Tally 10%

This week’s Poll - President Bush's sudden attention to a Middle East Peace Plan likely has to do with ...

Scroll up to the top right corner to place your vote

Monday, January 07, 2008

Clinton Camp, Burnishing Her Experience Resume, Claims David Bowie Song "Changes" All About Hillary

Looking to batten down the hatches, before the Obama wave crashes over them, Hillary Clinton's campaign came out swinging today, dropping a bombshell in an attempt to continue her Saturday Night Debate theme, burnishing her experience credentials'.

David Bowie's song "Changes" was written for, and about, Hillary Clinton.

"Hillary was already battling, and bringing about change when Barack Obama was only changing his diapers," boasted Mark Penn, Clinton's chief pollster and strategist.

"Bowie recognized, early on, Hillary as an agent for change", Penn continued. "He wanted to do something to honor that, to pay respect to it, so he wrote that snazzy song."

"He had a vision, an artists' eye, on how caring and unselfish a politician Hillary would be."

Penn claims it was originally titled 'You're So Change", but that Bowie retitled it, after hearing that Carly Simon was working on an idea, eventually coming out with her hit tune, "You're So Vain".

In just a few days, since her third--place finish in the Iowa Caucus, and her defensive posture last Saturday evening, in the ABC Debate that saw saw Obama and John Edwards shine as much, if not more, than Hillary, the Clinton campaign has had to quickly revamp their efforts to avoid Hillary being pegged by the media as part of the "status quo".

Polls released today show Obama gaining strength, catching a bounce and leading by 10-points in one, 13-points in another.

Penn ignored questions from reporters, citing President Bill Clinton, and his using Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" as his theme, when he ran for President.

Penn quickly sniped "Good band, good tune, but they didn't write that specifically for the President."

Penn also downplayed the incident today, of Hillary weeping or crying during a campaign stop, quickly dismissing the Muskie comparisons, indicating "she was thinking about the song, it was playing in her head, all the change she's brought about and it touched her."

Rachel Maddow, Air America host and MSNBC pundit said that "it was too early to say if Hillary was crying."

Plans, according to Penn, included having the Bowie tune "Changes" blaring at her campaign appearances and, sources say, efforts are on-going to get Bowie to come out, tell the story himself and publically endorse the junior Senator from New York.

Penn would not confirm plans for a Facebook collaboration of a "Changes" party, with Hillary appearing, dressed as Bowie and singing a specially-written version of "Changes", that would include a list of her many accomplishments of leading change.

Asked how relevant David Bowie would be to the youthful Facebook audience, an artist that hasn't had a hit record in years, and, in 2004, only placed 39th in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, Penn would hear none of it.

"We'll just chalk it up to another "change" accomplishment on Hillary's resume."

When reached for comment, an Obama staffer chortled at the news and offered that it "sounds like her campaign is stuttering, just like in the song."

Bonus Hillary Links

Changes - David Bowie

Creature - Hillary for President

Josh Marshall - Where We Are

Attytood - A brief history of crying in the New Hampshire primary

Frank Rich - They Didn’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow