Conflucians Say: Thursday, Wishful Thinking Edition

What are you going to do this summer?

How are you handling the Great Recession of 2009? Are you getting enough sleep? Eating well? Exercising? Wanna talk about it? Join us tonight at 10PM EST for Conflucians Say on PUMA United Radio for the Wishful Thinking Edition, among other things.

I hope we’ll be talking tonight!

Conflucians Say: 10 PM, EDT

Comments open directly after the show

Burn Notice Returns Tonight

The coolest show on television is back.  It’s followed by:

What are you watching?

(This is an open thread)

Go Read Eriposte

Part II of his series “Bloggers on the Bus: A Conversation with Eric Boehlert” is up and it’s a must-read.  Some excerpts:

One of the most interesting things bloggers have told me (often off the record) about the primary season was how clear it became that their readers really did dictate what the bloggers wrote.  […] Meaning, they got tired of fighting with their readers and simply didn’t write certain things because they knew it would create a pie fight within the site.

[…]

But now with the Obama WH, I think it’s clear, and already should be clear from several examples (i.e. torture photos, etc.) that when the WH moves to the center or to the right, it’s going to catch holy hell from the left.

The first passage describes why I will never be an “A” lister.  I will never make it in sales or the corporate world either  because I have an obsessive-compulsive need to say what I think.  I may have the right to remain silent but I don’t have the ability.  But on the upside I don’t need chap stick.

The second passage sounds like the “We’re gonna hold his feet to the fire after he’s elected” strategery we heard so much about last year.  But the evidence so far shows that plan isn’t working out too well.  Obama has morphed into Bush III with nary a peep from the Kool-aid Kingdom.  His supporters won’t hold his feet to the fire out of fear of burning their lips. (although the flames will have to reach higher than his feet to put them in any danger)

There is criticism of Obama coming from the left, but it’s coming from people who were never enamored of Obama in the first place.  Like us.  The sippy-kup kidz are still babbling about “11-dimensional chess” while waiting for their pony to get delivered.  Sorry kidz, real ponies don’t oink.

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UPDATE:

Eriposte added this gem from Boehlert’s book in the comment section:

After the hype died down, even some corporate media observers who had been relentlessly critical of Clinton’s campaign, including some at the Washington Post and Politico, concluded that there was no way anyone could have construed her passing RFK comment as suggesting that she was awaiting Obama’s assassination. Yet lots of bloggers made that leap. Wrote one online writer for the liberal American Prospect, “Hillary Clinton suggests, elliptically at the very least, that she’s staying [in] the presidential race in case Barack Obama is assassinated.”

“I thought it was character assassination,” Digby told me a couple weeks after the RFK controversy had passed. She was exhausted by the toll the campaign had already taken on the blogosphere. She was also aware of the kind of pie-fights that would erupt on her site if she posted a condemnation of those who unfairly attacked Clinton for her RFK comments. So Digby, who never endorsed either candidate, simply passed on the story. “I’m a chicken shit,” she said with a shake of her head.

It makes me wonder “what if?” What if the big bloggers had shown integrity and courage? What if they chose principle over profit?

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” – Mark 8:36

Obama on “Women’s Rights” in His Speech in Cairo, Egypt

Obama's concept of women's rights?

Oh. My. God. Is this man really as clueless as he sounds? Obama on the rights of Muslim women in the U.S.:

…freedom in America is indivisible from the freedom to practice one’s religion. That is why there is a mosque in every state of our union, and over 1,200 mosques within our borders. That is why the U.S. government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab, and to punish those who would deny it.

On what he refers to as “women’s rights”:

I know there is debate about this issue. I reject the view of some in the West that a woman who chooses to cover her hair is somehow less equal, but I do believe that a woman who is denied an education is denied equality. And it is no coincidence that countries where women are well-educated are far more likely to be prosperous.

Now let me be clear: issues of women’s equality are by no means simply an issue for Islam. In Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia, we have seen Muslim-majority countries elect a woman to lead. Meanwhile, the struggle for women’s equality continues in many aspects of American life, and in countries around the world.

Our daughters can contribute just as much to society as our sons, and our common prosperity will be advanced by allowing all humanity – men and women – to reach their full potential. I do not believe that women must make the same choices as men in order to be equal, and I respect those women who choose to live their lives in traditional roles. But it should be their choice. That is why the United States will partner with any Muslim-majority country to support expanded literacy for girls, and to help young women pursue employment through micro-financing that helps people live their dreams.

That is all Obama had to say about “women’s rights” yesterday in his speech to a Muslim audience.

LOONS

The last few days we have done several posts that discussed last year’s campaign, the blogospheric meltdown and Obamanation’s  efforts to rewrite recent history.  These posts have triggered an upsurge in a blogospheric malady known as Lying Obot Optical Neuropathy Syndrome (LOONS).

LOONS is a condition unique to Obama supporters and it is currently unknown whether it is a congenital defect or is chemically induced (or as my grandma would say “Is he drunk or stupid?)  People with LOONS (“loonies”) are incapable of seeing things that are right in front of them and obvious to everyone else. There is speculation that the condition is caused by the use of Kool-aid goggles.

Loonies have much in common with Holocaust deniers. Now I’m not comparing what happened last year to the Holocaust, which was one of the most horrific events in all of recorded history.  But despite massive amounts of physical evidence and eyewitness testimony some people cling to the belief that 6 million Jews committed suicide in a conspiracy to make the Nazis look bad.

According to the loonies, Left Blogistan was a genteel and civilized place until supporters of Hillary Clinton launched an unprovoked racist jihad on peace-loving Obama supporters.  When presented with reams and terabytes of evidence to the contrary the loonies are incapable of seeing it and will stubbornly deny its existence.

Never argue with loonies, it wastes your time and the loonies enjoy it.  They exhibit an obsessive-compulsive need to stalk and harass non-loonies, badgering them with “Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?” attacks.  The only known way to cure loonies involves a sound-proof room, duct tape and a large dead fish.

Other symptoms of LOONS include bad personal hygiene, impaired cognition and logical thinking skills, excessive wanking and permanent virginity.  Many loonies exhibit erotic fantasies involving goats and bizarre S&M fantasies wherein they are dominated by cougars and pumas.  A handful of these loonies also fetishize cuts of meat from the beef hindquarters.  This latter group are called “rump roasters.”

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Your Breakfast Read, Served By The Confluence

Hottest Potato

UPDATE!!!

I decided to avoid any immediate analysis of “The Speech” but I’ll make an exception: Peter Daou got cojones.
Let Women Wear the Hijab: The Emptiness of Obama’s Cairo Speech

I know many will gush over President Obama’s Cairo speech and I’m likely swimming against the tide of the media and my fellow Democrats and progressives.
[…]
If we are to fix America’s image in the world and if we are to heal the planet’s myriad ills, it will not be done through contrite kumbaya speeches about how we are all one world and how we should all coexist peacefully, no matter whether the remarks are delivered in Cleveland or Cairo. It will be done by leading through example, by righting the many wrongs here at home, by seeking justice and fairness for all, by doing what is right, not saying what sounds pleasing to the media elite and the pliable punditocracy.

Obama Speech Seeks to Alter Muslims’ View of U.S.

Obama Calls for End to Cycle of Discord With Muslims

Obama: I’ll personally pursue two-state solution

Shimon Peres: Time is ripe to end the Arab-Israeli conflict

President Obama’s journey to Saudi Arabia and Egypt could be an opportunity. It reflects both the need for an historic change in the Middle East and a unique chance of achieving it.

Obama visits Saudi Arabia, Cairo – why not Israel?

Many Israelis see the president’s decision to bypass Jerusalem as part of a broader shift in US priorities in the region.

Don’t lecture us: Arabs tell Obama

“Obama is just a prettier face. I’m sure his intentions are in the right place but I don’t expect much from the man,” a Cairo electrician said on Wednesday as US President Barack Obama began his much-anticipated Middle East trip.

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The Defining Issue

Obama plan would provide health care for all

President Barack Obama says he’s open to requiring all Americans to buy health insurance, as long as the plan provides a “hardship waiver” to exempt poor people from having to pay.

Obama opposed such an individual mandate during his campaign, but Congress increasingly is moving to embrace the idea.

Obama Shifts on Coverage Mandate

During his presidential campaign last year, Mr. Obama opposed then-Sen. Hillary Clinton’s idea of a health-insurance mandate on individuals. He argued it would put too much burden on low-income families.

A year later, Hillary wins

A year ago today, the final set of primaries made official the foregone conclusion that Barack Obama had won the primary, and Hillary Clinton lost it.

There’s far too much going on today to dwell on an anniversary, but it does seem worth noting one particular piece of news in its light: On the central health care policy debate of the Democratic Primary — which was, to be fair, conducted within a fairly narrow frame — Obama appears to have conceded today to a Senate plan likely to more closely resemble Clinton’s.

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NH Determined to Destroy Marriage

N.H. becomes sixth state where gays can marry

Traditionally conservative New Hampshire today became the sixth state in the nation — and the fifth state in New England — where same-sex couples will be allowed to marry.

In NH and Iowa, gay marriage has political angle

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Dick Wolffe: Typist Extraordinaire

A sheep in Wolffe’s clothing?

It was Barack Obama himself who first proposed that Newsweek reporter Richard Wolffe make a play to be this generation’s Theodore White—the legendary journalist whose insider account of the 1960 election painted John F. Kennedy in heroic light.

In the 2008 version, Obama provided the insider access. And Wolffe lavishly delivered on the heroic-light end of the bargain.

Richard Wolffe, non-writer, butt kisser supreme (Kat has a concise review of the book)

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Badly Needed: Better Press Corps

Rush and Newt Are Winning

When Rush Limbaugh sneezes or Newt Gingrich tweets, their views ricochet from the Internet to cable television and into the traditional media. It is remarkable how successful they are in setting what passes for the news agenda.

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Progressive Movement: Quo Vadis?

Obama Is Just Killing Progressives

For the past few years, liberal activists have gathered in Washington each spring for the Take Back America conference, where speaker after speaker — Obama sometimes among them — would give rollicking denunciations of the Bush administration before packed rooms of partisans.

But now that Obama has actually taken back America, the activists at this year’s gathering feel a bit like the dog that finally caught up with the car. Organizers changed the name from Take Back America to America’s Future Now, but that didn’t prevent a sharp decline in participation.

Gay groups grow impatient with Barack Obama

Gay rights campaigners, most of them Democrats who supported Obama in November, have begun to voice their public frustration with Obama’s inaction, small jokes at their community’s expense and deafening silence on what they see as the signal civil rights issue of this era.

His most important campaign promises repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and the military ban on openly gay and lesbian service-members have not been fulfilled.

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End of a Charade?

Experts: Prognosis grim as Coleman runs out of legal options

The end is near in the U.S. Senate contest. That might seem difficult to believe given that the fight has now dragged on for nearly seven months, but the bottom line is that Republican Norm Coleman is running out of legal options.

Go away Norm! Go Away! MN can survive without you.

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Anti-choice Terrorism

Operation Rescue adviser helped Tiller suspect track doctor’s court dates

Why I Turned Down O’Reilly

O’Reilly knew that people wanted Tiller dead, and he knew full well that many of those people were avid viewers of his show. Still, he fanned the flames. Every time I appeared on his show, I received vitriolic and hate-filled e-mails. And if I received those messages directly, I can only imagine what type of feedback O’Reilly receives. He knows that his words incite violence.

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What’s The SoS Up To?

US urges China to account for those killed in Tiananmen Square

Hillary Clinton calls on China to release those still imprisoned in connection with the protests and begin a dialogue with victims’ families

‘This Week’ Sunday Exclusive: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

It’s her first Sunday show interview as Secretary of State and her first Sunday show since her presidential campaign ended one year ago this week.

A week ago, toe-sucking cretin Dick Morris delivered a pile of horse manure masquerading as column entitled “The Incredible Shrinking Clintons”
Preeti Aroon of the Foreign Policy blog pick that piece of tripe apart:
Hillary Clinton is ‘shrinking by the day’?

“Shrinking Clintons”? Whatever. They’re a 21st-century power couple.

Clinton arrives in Cairo

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Economy Watch

Fed chief calls for deficit control. Why now?

Bernanke warned Wednesday that federal debt as a share of GDP is approaching highest levels since the early 1950s, after the massive borrowing of World War II.

Buffett Is Less Bullish on U.S. Than You Think

Barack Isn’t Talking About The Cost Of Health Care Reform. This Is Dangerous.

Health care reform won’t go anywhere unless Obama does a better job of telling us what it’ll cost.

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Today’s Unnecessary Gloating(h/t Dr BostonBoomer)

Sense of order has been restored

The Red Sox are good.

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Late Night: Twilight Sequel

Twilight sequel is coming out soon, and since I have a p*ssy, I am naturally salivating in anticipation for it.

Any movies you all are looking forward to?