January 28, 2012

Here's something I posted about four years ago:

And here's something DU-er Lame54 posted about four years ago:

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The 2008 GOP primary season and Obama's cheatproof margin of victory should have told the GOP leadership that they were stampeding toward a cliff -- and they should have noticed that their voters weren't following them. But instead of giving themselves a strategic makeover, they've tried to fob off the same flabby candidates with the same flabby talking points. Five years ago, one could understand the GOP believing that being defeated by a woman or an African-American was the stuff that dreams are made of. But what's their excuse now -- Fox News? Don't make me laugh.

Whether or not you agree that "Fox News has moved in and essentially replaced the RNC as the driving electoral force in Republican politics today," it isn't Roger Ailes's fault that Perry made Bush Jr. seem lucid, that Cain made Bachmann seem lucid, that Romney is as appealing as a cactus, or that Gingrich called Obama a "food stamp President."

While Fox News should rightfully be considered a branch of Republican party, their role is that of a pipeline to the public. Ailes can only work with what the GOP shovels into Fox News's front end. Suggesting that Ailes is a loose cannon recklessly spewing "relentless paranoia" and "slash and burn tactics" simply enables the Republican crime family values of deflecting blame and avoiding accountability. The blame and accountability lie squarely with "the private face" of the GOP leadership for being too ideologically tone-deaf at best, and too rich at worst, to display any genuine attention -- never mind empathy -- toward the voters.

I agree that it is now "too late" for the GOP, but it would be unfair not to point out that they have also been the victims of bad timing. Even if they do succeed at force-feeding us Romney at their convention, the Occupy/99 Percent movement has turned him into the ultimate one percenter. That is to say, Mitt Romney is the wrong candidate at the wrong time -- once again.


rocktivity

January 9, 2012

It's the Ninth Annual Rocktivity DU/LBN "You Call This NEWS?" Awards!

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Thank you, and welcome to our first awards ceremony from our new DU3 digs!

The last time we held a ceremony against the backdrop of a presidential primary season, both parties had begun the hard slog toward ending up with best nominee. This time around, only the Republicans are in the limelight, and I, for one, am enjoying it immensely!

Just in time, President Obama heard our warnings that he was destabilizing his base. He's pushed back on the payroll tax, issued signing statements against NDAA, started talking tougher and made a recess appointment that gives American consumers a voice in his administration. All of which has the Republicans rocked back on their heels and swinging so wildly, they're starting to destabilize their OWN base.

Case in point: even the mainstream media is having trouble covering for the Republicans and transferring the blame to liberals. Words like "toilet fishing" and "midget mud wrestling" and "clown car" are popping up like weeds while the Republican debates have become a carousel of lie after hyprocrisy after gaffe after delusion after excuse after pure lunacy. Here's hoping the Republicans will "stay the course" as we gather once again to honor those DU posters and responders who have caught the media trying to sneak by stories that are too redundant, outdated, or just plain dumb to be considered news.


[div style="text-align:center"]PREVIOUS AWARD WINNERS
2003 - Bush's Ancestor's Bank Seized (Grandad - Germany/Nazi)
2004 - Cheney May Help or Hinder Bush's Chances


[div style="text-align:center"]PREVIOUS AWARD CEREMONIES
2005 - U.S. Army Report: Military Lost Dominance In Iraq After Invasion
2006 - Iraq On Brink Of Becoming A Failed State
2007 - Iraqis Blame U.S. Invasion For Discord
2008 - Bush sees no recession coming
2009 - Bottled water sales dry up - Industry Asks 'Why?'
2010 - Former Head of FEMA says Bush Administration Downplayed Severity of Hurricane Katrina


[div class="excerpt" style="text-align:center;border: 2px #000000 ridge"]NINTH ANNUAL ROCKTIVITY DU/LBN "YOU CALL THIS NEWS?" AWARDS WINNERS
[div style="text-align:center"]SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Uranus takes a pounding more frequently than thought
Media Source: CosmosTV.org
Posted by: N2doc
Best Post (Other Than Mine): "Mind your own business." -- Rug


[div style="text-align:center"]HONORABLE MENTION
Newt Gingrich takes his fourth 'no-adultery' pledge
Media Source: Washington Post/ABC News
Posted by: Oberliner
Best Post (Other Than Mine): "Newt's been breaking marriages pledges that he made before I was even born. And I was born in 1964!" -- JoePhilly


[div style="text-align:center"]HONORABLE MENTION: THE "TO FIGURE THIS OUT, YOU HAD TO DO A FREAKING STUDY?" CATEGORY
New study: You can't live on minimum wage
Media Source: Detroit Free Press (PDF)
Posted by: Bozita
Best Post (Other Than Mine): "Wait -- aren't Republicans and the media trying to convince people that it's hard to live on nearly 19 times ($250,000) minimum wage?" -- ProSense


[div style="text-align:center"] THIRD RUNNER UP
George Bush angry at Obama's Ground Zero 'victory lap'
Media Source: Daily Mail/New York Daily News
Posted by: Botany
Best Post (Other Than Mine): "I believe Bush will end up being one of Bin Laden's 72 virgins." -- Uncle Joe


[div style="text-align:center"]SECOND RUNNER UP
Savings Rate Is Dropping - Experts Are Puzzled
Media Source: New York Times
Posted by: ShockediSay
Best Post (Other Than Mine): "I don't get it...When I crack wind, I'm not 'puzzled' by the smell." -- SteveM


[div style="text-align:center"]FIRST RUNNER UP
Colin Powell was 'manipulated' by Cheney into justifying Iraq war
Media Source: Raw Story
Posted by: Kpete
Best Post (Other Than Mine): "Trying to unsell a soul is damned hard work." -- Aquart



[div class="excerpt" style="border: 2px #000000 ridge"][div style="text-align:center"] AND THE WINNERS OF THE NINTH ANNUAL ROCKTIVITY DU/LBN "YOU CALL THIS NEWS?" AWARDS:
Wal-Mart: Our shoppers are 'running out of money'
Media Source: CNN
Posted by: Newsjock

Best Posts (Other Than Mine):
"First, kill manufacturing jobs in the US...so those people who lost their jobs are too broke to buy your shit. THEN take over small towns so that all the local small businesses go under, so THOSE people now are too broke to buy your shit. Then pay people who work for you next to nothing...so THEY can't afford to buy your shit...(T)hen you wonder why people aren't buying your shit?" -- Dixiegrrrrl
"To Walmart, I can only say: DUH." -- RKP5637


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Yes, it's our first tie, and -- oh, no she didn't! -- Dixiegrrrrl has won two in a row! I couldn't pick one post over the other because they both identify and deconstruct the evils of corporate personhood and income inequality so artfully (just with a different number of words). With all due respect to the Occupy movement, we DU-ers (as usual) have once again been WAY ahead of the curve. And with the Republicans determined to dig an even deeper hole than they did four years ago, there's reason to be a lot more optimistic (but NOT complacent) about this coming Election Day.

Well, thanks for coming, keep up the good work, and the Coalition for the Homeless has asked me to thank you for the unclaimed clothing you've been leaving behind after our post-awards parties. Until next our tenth anniversary edition next year!

January 6, 2012

The White House Correspondents' Dinner: his "most awkward" moment? Seriously?

Male cattle droppings.



Mark Smith knew EXACTLY what he was getting -- if anything, his ulterior motive was for Colbert to say all the things to the Bush regime that he couldn't. And may I remind the Times that they didn't mention Colbert's appearance AT ALL the next day? Was that their way of being "kind" to him, as if he'd peed on floor?


rocktivity