A Little More Whine, A Little Less Facts ...

Little Billy Kristol is shaking in his one-piece, footed Batman pajamas.

He sweating and panting,

He's afraid the Germans have already elected Barack Obama.

He's bummed out over a Obama bumper sticker that asks "Got Hope?"

And he is dreading, fearful like that the old bed wetting problem may surface, and to the point of hyperventilation, of a Obama Presidency, presiding over a Democratic-majority Congress;

He's afraid;

"Later that day, I read a report of a fund-raising letter from Obama on behalf of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, arguing that “We must have a deadlock-proof Democratic majority.”

Yikes.

But then it occurred to me that one man’s “deadlock-proof” Democratic majority is another’s unchecked Democratic majority. Given the unpopularity of the current Democratic Congress, given Americans’ tendency to prefer divided government, given the voters’ repudiations of the Republicans in 2006 and of the Democrats in 1994 — isn’t the prospect of across-the-board, one-party Democratic governance more likely to move votes to McCain than to Obama?

So I cheered up once again. For it will become increasingly obvious, as we approach November, that the Democrats will continue to control Congress for the next couple of years. But if the voters elect Obama as president, they’ll be putting Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in untrammeled control of our future.

He later relieved the tension and pressure, with some flailing masturbation, how Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain will raise his dying campaign from the ashes, swat down Obama, and give the German writer a "Dewey Beats Truman" slap in the face.

Now, if you were a 'Brother from Another Planet', just recently beamed down here and happen to read Little Billy's boogeyman swipe, you might think, God, what an awful thing to happen.

But then, someone comes along and presents the reality, apparently overlooked by the NYT Editors, that Little Billy Kristol completely, and disingenuously, ignores in his shaking boots;

GOP Obstruction Has Shattered Previous Record

Such inaction would strike a more depressing note if it were not the norm. Republicans in the Senate have filibustered more than 70 pieces of legislation (73) in the current session of Congress. Not all of these attempts have ended in success. Bills have passed. But the modern rate of obstructionism has been historic, far surpassing the previous record of 62 cloture votes.

And Steve Benen, in his "Congratulations to the record-breaking Senate GOP — Most. Obstructionist. Ever.", points out what those action-taking Republican blocked out;

What have conservatives obstructed this year? Here’s just a partial list:

• Ending the disastrous occupation of Iraq.
• Providing health insurance to millions more kids.
• Empowering Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices.
• Taking away handouts to Big Oil so we can invest in renewable energy.
• Repealing the effective ban on embryonic stem cell research.
• Investing more in health research.
• Making it easier for workers to join unions.
• Investing more in fighting poverty and training workers.
  

Is obstructing all of that popular legislation “working” for Republicans?

And that doesn't take into consideration, the pre-2006, Republican-majority Congress, that rubber-stamped everything and anything the Bush Grindhouse wanted, including dragging us into the false choice of invading and occupying Iraq.

Considering Stumblin Bumblin' John McCain's considerable campaign skills, a convey of bulldozers and payloaders won't "move votes to McCain than to Obama".

If Little Billy Kristol is lucky, Stumblin' Bumblin John McCain will give him a ride in the golf cart, to the nearest cheese aisle and they can commiserate, and just hope the President Obama secures the Iraq-Pakistan border before something really bad happens.

Retro Garlic: Bush Is Batman? ... Holy Batshit!

I, perhaps, must first disclose that I haven't rushed out to be part of the record-breaking box office for the new 'Brokeback Batman', errr, 'The Dark Knight' movie.

However, it seems that one of Rupert Murdoch's minions, Andrew Klavan (once you read the piece, you'll understand he must be related to Cheers' Cliff; Okay, okay, one of them changed the spelling, to disassociate themselves from the other), has penned a wet dream to our Court-Appointed President (h/t Barry Crimmins), with his "What Bush and Batman Have in Common";

A cry for help goes out from a city beleaguered by violence and fear: A beam of light flashed into the night sky, the dark symbol of a bat projected onto the surface of the racing clouds . . .

Oh, wait a minute. That's not a bat, actually. In fact, when you trace the outline with your finger, it looks kind of like . . . a "W."

There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past.

And like W, Batman understands that there is no moral equivalence between a free society -- in which people sometimes make the wrong choices -- and a criminal sect bent on destruction. The former must be cherished even in its moments of folly; the latter must be hounded to the gates of Hell.

That's the first three paragraphs, and, as a warning, it gets more noxious as it goes on.

I hazard a guess that the closest The Commander Guy has come to being Batman is, under the guise and cover of Halloween, he went running around the house in Laura's tights.

Or, maybe they donned costumes in the Bush Grindhouse, when they met to choreograph the torture of suspected enemy combatants.

As you can imagine, bubbling up is a boatload of feedback, dissing and derision on the World Wide Web

Spencer Ackerman, actually, has a good case, calling out Klavan for stealing the idea of his own essay, "Batman's 'Dark Knight' Reflects Cheney Policy; Joker's Senseless, Endless Violence Echoes Al Qaeda"

Read it yourself, but trust me, Ackerman's is leagues better.

Michael Cohen, on the Democracy Arsenal, has THE BEST OP-ED EVER!!!!!

David Neiwert - Must. Stop. Fist … Of … Doom!

Atrios brings it home with his "Bat-tusi"

The Retro Part

The Garlic covered this over two-years ago;

Top Ten Cloves: Difficulties DC Comics' Batman May Have Fighting Osama bin Laden

A little taste;

3. Sidekick Robin will beat-to-death and overuse the "Holy Mushroom Clouds, Batman" phrase