Lèse Majesté

Batshit is as batshit does

Michele Bachmann is at again, this time claiming liberals support beheadings while decrying waterboarding. Even with Bill O'Reilly calling torture "dunking" she manages to make him look borderline sane:

John Dean speaks

John Dean (of Watergate fame) has posted his view of the crazy senatorial race in Alaska, where the Tea Party favorite Joe Miller defeated the sitting Republican senator Lisa Murkowski in the GOP primary. Miller's behavioral in this campaign and previously would make a great subject of their own, but fortunately he seems to be self-destructing now, leaving the question whether Murkowski can win a write-in campaign against the Democratic candidate, Scott McAdams. One of Dean's more telling comments:

It is my view that approximately twenty-five percent of the voting population is insane. I do not exaggerate when I say that, and I do not use this analogy to make any comparison with Miller, but this insane element of our population would, without hesitation, vote for Adolph Hitler. Miller will carry these nutcases without a problem. But he needs more than twenty-five percent.

Wow.

The sorry state of constitutional jurisprudence

What an unbelievable hack Clarence Thomas is. He dissented in a Supreme Court decision filed after a prisoner in North Carolina was brutally assaulted by a guard after he asked for a grievance form. The case found his treatment to be a violation of the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

Thomas, along with Antonin Scalia, dissented because "Judges -- not jailers -- impose punishment." They chose to reach back to the 1689 English Bill of Rights to define the word "punishment." Under their view, the cruel and unusual punishment clause only limits the actions of judges - once you're in the penal system, the gloves are off, apparently.

This little tidbit was reported in a Los Angeles Times article which reviews Thomas's ongoing fight to justify torture and brutality, backed by Scalia. And this blog entry builds on that to show his influence in the torture policies of the US government in recent years. Seems most of the lawyers who wrote the justifications for torture were once Thomas's clerks. Good read, both of those pieces.

Pretty much sums up the Tea Party philosophy

What would James Madison think of an endless War on Terror?

"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people. The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and in the degeneracy of manners and of morals engendered by both. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."

–James Madison, Political Observations, Apr. 20, 1795 in: Letters and Other Writings of James Madison, vol. 4, p. 491 (1865)

Bet Against the American Dream

This week's episode of This American Life is about Magnetar, a hedge fund that arguably is at the heart of the economic meltdown we're supposedly recovering from. By way of illustration they included a Broadway-style show tune about the company's manipulation of derivatives, and this video shows the recording of the tune:

As entertaining as it may be, it's pretty derivative itself (you should pardon the expression) of The Producers, and the lead singer does a pretty good Nathan Lane, I'd say. Not surprising since he was one of the actors who took over the role of Max Bialystock after Lane created the role in the Broadway musical version of the show.

The story was a joint effort by This American Life, NPR, and ProPublica. A text version of the story is up now on ProPublica's Web site. Makes for good reading, if it doesn't make you want to head to the ramparts in revolution.

Tweety Bird gets it wrong yet again

The Daily Kos has a good piece on just how badly Chris Matthews got it wrong in discussing the healthcare endgame with Congressman Alan Grayson. Not only gets it wrong, but browbeats the guy who is on the inside and knows the planned strategy:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

What a jerk. Matthew proves himself once again to be the evil love child of Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly, dedicated to embarrassing the left on a daily basis. Care to lay odds whether his colleagues at MSNBC will call him out tonight for being so utterly wrong on this? Or whether he'll provide anything remotely resembling an honest apology to Grayson?

Quote of the week

From Kung Fu Monkey:

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

The April Fools

Too good to be true: Sarah Palin is coming to Minnesota in April to campaign for Michelle Bachmann! It'll be like an intellectual black hole. Will anyone be able to escape the stupidity horizon?

A well-deserved award for Michelle Bachmann

With the end of the year inevitably come awards in all kinds of fields.  Ginandtacos.com has chosen the Anoka lunatic for a well deserved award, albeit one whose name I'm not going to quote here. You'll have to read the official announcement on their site. It's delicious, and takes some lovely swipes at Joe Lieberman along the way.

A few passages from the announcement:

Michelle Bachmann is the new It Girl of Teabagging – the combination sex symbol / Great Conservative Leader for people who think Sarah Palin is a bit soft and a little too book-smart.

Like all great specimens of pure Bircherite insanity, Bachmann forces us to ask repeatedly, "Is this idiot for real?"

Bachmann's award-winning year is more about reliability; no matter what issue becomes salient or what events transpire we can rely on her to represent the lunatic fringe. You can set your watch by her consistent, surreal insanity.