Mehdi Hasan takes a deep dive into 'The truth about DeSantis’ awful record on covid', a pandemic and primary election update

Now that Ron DeSantis is officially running for President, his record is receiving the kind of scrutiny a candidate for the highest office in the land should get. In this case, Mehdi Hasan took a deep dive into The truth about DeSantis’ awful record on covid.

Ron DeSantis is officially in the 2024 race, leaning on his partisan and polarizing approach to the Covid-19 pandemic. But, Mehdi says, his actual Covid record is nothing to brag about, and we shouldn’t let DeSantis rewrite the history of the pandemic in the Sunshine State.

Mehdi has learned from Republicans, just as much as the radical right has learned from the radical left. In this case, he's following Karl Rove's strategy to attack your opponent's strengths. Good. He's subjecting Ron DeSantis's claims of success during the pandemic by asking "oh, really?" and "at what cost?" Let's look at the numbers. First, here are the top five states with most COVID-19 deaths according to the CDC.


Next, the top twelve U.S. States by population 2020 and 2022 from Wikipedia.


The top five states by official COVID-19 deaths and population are the same. The only difference is that Florida and New York switch places between third and fourth. But there are more important statistics, as Mehdi Hasan pointed out in his tweets promoting this video.

Don't let DeSantis gaslight you on Covid.

Florida has a higher per capita death rate than CA; has had a majority of its deaths since vaccines unlike CA & NYC; & a higher per capita death rate than other states with elderly populations.
I brought receipts:https://t.co/XAAyiNi1S6

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) May 27, 2023

Follow over the jump for his receipts.

'The Daily Show,' Seth Meyers, and James Corden take more closer looks at the State of the Union and Twitter hearings

I'm not done taking closer looks at the State of the Union Address from Seth Meyers and others. For a change of pace, I'm beginning with MTG Screams "Liar!" as Biden Delivers State of the Union Address | The Daily Show with Chelsea Handler as guest host.

President Biden delivers the State of the Union address and gets heckled by Republicans. Plus, Mitt Romney has a heated exchange with George Santos, and the Twitter hearings address Chrissy Teigen's insults directed at Donald Trump.

I miss Samantha Bee, but Handler's breezy style makes for a good short-term substitute for Bee and her unique perspective.

For a more investigative approach, I return to Seth Meyers for Greene and Boebert Unravel at Twitter Hearing While Biden Gloats About SOTU: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at President Biden making a point of focusing on kitchen table issues during his State of the Union address while House Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene focused on things like why Twitter censored Hunter Biden's Nudes.

Seeing Greene together with Lauren Boebert reminds me of this meme that my friend Nonnie9999 made for me.


Given what both of them sounded like at the hearing and what Greene sounded and looked like at the State of the Union, that cartoon strikes me as about right.

I close with "The Late, Late Show" declaring that The State of Our Union Is Pretty Weird.

Gordon Ramsay is on the show tonight and that always puts us in a great mood. But that good mood becomes testy when James and his producers squabble over some calendar math. In the news, LeBron and President Joe Biden broke records. And James gives a State of the Union recap, including Mitt Romney's exchange with George Santos, Kyrsten Sinema's bowtie pasta look and lots of booing.

On the one hand, this clip shows the lack of focus that discourages me from using Corden's clips. On the other hand, what he and his writers planned reinforced the points made in the clip from "The Daily Show": more people cared about LeBron James beating Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record than the State of the Union, Mitt Romney dissed George Santos, who deserved it, whatever Romney said, and Kyrsten Sinema dressed to draw attention to herself. On balance, it was worth embedding.

I've had enough of the State of the Union. Let's see if I can blog about something else tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Elise Stefanik replaces Liz Cheney as House Republican Conference Chair

I told my readers "I'll keep following the story to see who replaces Cheney. I think it will likely be Elise Stefanik, but stay tuned to find out" at the end of House Republicans vote to remove Liz Cheney as conference chair. Sure enough, that happened. CBS News reported House GOP votes Representative Elise Stefanik into leadership.

House Republicans elected Representative Elise Stefanik of New York as the party's new conference chair Friday. The decision came after Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming was ousted from the position earlier this week. CBSN Washington reporter Caitlin Huey-Burns joined CBSN to discuss what the move means for the GOP.

I'm going to be a good environmentalist by recycling my remarks about the significance of this swap from Colbert and Meyers take closer looks at replacing Liz Cheney and Arizona audit.

That Elise Stefanik has become the leading candidate to replace Cheney strikes me as ironic if one considers this intra-party conflict is over conservatism. Voteview rates Stefanik's ideological score at 0.229, more liberal than 98% of House Republicans in the 117th Congress, while Cheney's ideological score is 0.515, exactly in the middle of the current House Republican Caucus. Replacing a mainstream conservative Republican with an ideological moderate shows this fight is not over conventional ideas of left and right. Instead, it is about loyalty to Trump, which is odd considering that major American political parties generally move away from losing presidential candidates. Not now — the GOP is sticking closer to Trump than ever.

Shifting gears from serious to silly, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah discussed the irony of replacing a conservative who no longer supports Trump with a moderate who now does in GOP Ousts Liz Cheney and Promotes Elise Stefanik.

Rep. Liz Cheney gets voted out as the House Republican Conference chair. Here’s how her replacement, Rep. Elise Stefanik, got to where she is.

Stefanik strikes me as an opportunist who felt the wind shifting and turned like a weather vane. On the one hand, she's being responsive to her constituents, which is generally a good thing in a legislator. On the other, she shows that she's following instead of leading by telling them when they're wrong. Still, it's working for her so far. Let's see how long that lasts.

Vox explains why it is difficult to collect unemployment benefits in Florida

With the U.S. officially in recession since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, yesterday's news that U.S. GDP fell at an annualized rate of 32.9% during April-June 2020, the worst on record, and U.S. weekly jobless claims were 1.434 million last week should come as no surprise. These bad tidings are putting pressure on Congress and the Administration to pass another relief bill.* Even when one does pass, and it will, eventually, a lot of workers in states like Florida will have trouble collecting on their benefits. Vox explains why it's so hard to get unemployment benefits in the Sunshine State.

It's not the computers. It's the politicians behind them.
...
Millions of Americans across the country have lost their jobs. But whether or not those people can get the unemployment benefits they deserve actually depends on where they live. In some states, more than two thirds of jobless people typically collect unemployment benefits. But in others, like Florida, fewer than one in 10 unemployed people get those benefits.

That massive difference has often been blamed on technology; Florida’s unemployment system is notoriously difficult to use. But technology doesn’t build itself. The real explanation requires a look at the ideology of the people who did.

Last week, I used a Hysterical Raisins paroday poster to dump on Florida's current Governor in Samantha Bee mocks governors' responses to the pandemic in a parody of 'Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives'. This week, it's Rick Scott's turn. Here's the poster Nonnie9999 created for Direct from Scott’s Bowels, which satirizes Scott's role in creating Florida' unemployment system.


I'll let Infidel 753 speak for me in his comment on Nonnie's post.

I pity the newly-unemployed in Florida. Dealing with unemployment insurance here in Oregon (when I needed to last year) wasn’t too bad, but this state has been run by Democrats for as long as I can remember. It really does make a difference which party is in charge, something many people may be just now realizing.

The ultimate goal — which it delivered on — was to lower unemployment taxes paid by Florida businesses

Figures. Republicans.

I second all his emotions.

That's it for July. Stay tuned for the first post of August.

*Never mind that HEROES Act has been sitting on Mitch McConnell's desk for months, but he refuses to put it up for a vote.

Samantha Bee mocks governors' responses to the pandemic in a parody of 'Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives'

It's Thursday, so it's time to see what Samantha Bee, the basic cable John Oliver, made fun of in her show last night. This week, she's following up on last week's Mask Hysteria with a two-part parody of "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" lampooning the responses of governors to the COVID-19 pandemic.* Watch Deniers, Dimwits, and Lies: How Governors Have Responded to the Pandemic Pt. 1.

When it comes to our country’s fractured response to the coronavirus, each state has managed to put its own spin on governing during a pandemic. The results are pretty hard to stomach.

Bee continued her tour in Deniers, Dimwits, and Lies: How Governors Have Responded to the Pandemic Pt. 2.

Individual state responses to COVID-19 have been more chaotic than Guy Fieri’s wardrobe. We need a unified country-wide strategy to combat the coronavirus!

I agree with Bee on almost all of her points about the pandemic response. We need a coordinated nation-wide response, but we're not getting one, so it's up to the states. The result has been really uneven. I've been pleased with Gretchen Whitmer's actions, even though they prompted Operation Gridlock. I'm also happy with New York Governor Mario Cuomo's response, although those graphics look less than professional and not up to the standards of Cuomo's PowerPoint slides. On the other hand, the various Sun Belt governors have been flubbing their efforts or lack thereof to control the pandemic. In my opinion, the worst has been Florida's Ron DeSantis. Nonnie9999 of Hysterical Raisins, who lives in Florida, agrees, making him the subject of her poster in Floridiot!


Infidel753 called him DeSanitize in the comments. I shared the link in a tweet and the person who responded called him MoRon. Put them together and it's MoRon DeSanitize. May that become a meme.

*I approve. As I wrote in 'Queer Eye,' 'Shark Tank,' and 'Tidying Up with Marie Kondo' — diversity in structured reality programs, "'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' is my go-to guilty pleasure. I watched a marathon of it in the hospital as I recovered from my surgery for prostate cancer and I used a clip from the show here six years ago."

White House blocking CDC from testifying before Congress on reopening schools

I wrote "Dr. Sanjay Gupta is right; this has become a political story instead of a health story" in Coronavirus data to bypass CDC and go to HHS plus more pandemic news. I also wrote "the directive for data to bypass the CDC and go directly to HHS (Health and Human Services)...strikes me as a political decision designed to reduce tranparency and accountability. It's also bad science and public health policy." I have the same opinion of a related story that CNN reported yesterday, White House blocks CDC from testifying on reopening schools.

The White House is blocking US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield and other officials from the agency from testifying before a House Education and Labor Committee hearing on reopening schools next week, just as the debate over sending children back to classrooms has flared up across the US.

That disturbs me and should disturb my readers. The Trump Administration is letting politics get in the way of the science, which would actually help to get schools open sooner more safely than what they want to do.

As for what that testimony would look and sound like, CNN provided an example in Ex-CDC chief sounds warning on quickly reopening schools.

Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Thomas Frieden warns against rushing into reopening schools before it is safe to do so, and outlines things we all can do to ensure children can return to their schools safely.

I'm with Dr. Frieden; opening schools too soon will not help in getting the country back to normal. Instead, it will spread the disease more and delay a return to the status quo ante, making the situation worse.

Instead of allowing Congress to hear testimony like that, Bloomberg reports White House: 'Science Should Not Stand in the Way' of Reopening Schools.

"When he says 'open,' he means open in full; kids being able to attend each and every day at their school. The science should not stand in the way of this."

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany defends Trump's push to re-open American schools in the fall.

I'm a scientist and an educator, so I find this appalling, if not particularly surprising. Nonnie9999 at Hysterical Raisins sums up my opinion of McEnany's remarks, as well as the policy behind them in Science Fiction.


Looking at that poster, I realized that I've never mentioned Betsy DeVos here before. Considering that she's an education activist from Michigan, that's quite an oversight. It's about time I did.

Stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature, which might be a double feature tomorrow.

Colbert and Kimmel recap the opening of Episode 3, Season 4 of 'The Worst Wing'

Like watching a train wreck, I can't keep my eyes off the continuing saga of "The Worst Wing."  Yesterday, I posted Meyers and Colbert preview Episode 3, Season 4 of 'The Worst Wing' — the impeachment trial begins.  Today, I checked in with Stephen again, whose monologue's title, Trump Flees To Switzerland While His Impeachment Trial Kicks Off In The Senate, perfectly encapsulated the main events.

Is breaking the law illegal? Now that President Donald Trump's impeachment trial is underway in the Senate, we may soon find out.

Cipollone personified the old adage "If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have the law on your side, pound the law. If you have neither on your side, pound the table."  Cipollone literally pounded the table in that clip.  As for the content of his comments, my friend Nonnie at Hysterical Raisins was less than impressed.


I'm surprised Nonnie didn't make his nose longer.

Before I move on, I'll agree with Stephen; Cipollone could have used a thesaurus.

While Stephen mentioned President Trump going to Switzerland, he didn't quote him or show clips.  That wasn't the case with Jimmy Kimmel in his monologue last night, Trump Impeachment Begins & Pedestrians Lie Again.

We celebrate our 3,000th show, Jimmy reads terrible reviews of our first show ever, all one hundred United States Senators took an oath swearing 'impartial justice' in the impeachment trial, questions linger about whether the Senate will vote to call witnesses, a Conservative Political Action Committee called 'American Action Network' is running commercials with the same actress claiming to be a teacher in multiple states, Trump attended the world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, and we went out on the street for a new impeachment edition of #LieWitnessNews.

Damn, that's a long sentence, but it adequately summarizes the monologue.

I really should say more about Trump's dismissive comments about the environment, but I'll save that for another time.  Instead, I'll note that LieWitness News shows that voters need to be better educated, or at least street smart enough to know when they are being punked.  Sigh.

Stay tuned to watch more of the train wreck of "The Worst Wing."  I know I will be.

Meyers, Colbert, and Noah take closer looks at impeachment moving to the Senate and Parnas evidence to begin season 4, episode 2 of 'The Worst Wing'

After two days covering the January Democratic debate, it's time to check in on episode 2 of season 4 of "The Worst Wing."  Season 2 featured both an expected return to the story line of the second half of season 3, impeachment, along with a plot twist, Lev Parnas being interviewed on both "Anderson Cooper 360" and "The Rachel Maddow Show."  The Late Show with Stephen Colbert opened last night's show with a musical number to make light of the situation, Lev Parnas Sings!

Indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas is no longer working for the President, and he's singing like a bird to the press.

Ha, ha, ha!  That makes for a good introduction to all three talk show hosts examining the past two days' events.

I'll get back to Colbert after I share Bombshell Evidence Emerges as House Sends Impeachment Articles to Senate: A Closer Look from Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Seth takes a closer look at the House voting to send the articles of impeachment against President Trump as damning new evidence against Trump’s henchmen emerges.

Trump has been airing his grievances about light bulbs and toilets since before Festivus, so he's been at it for two months now.  I guess it distracts him and his supporters from impeachment.

Trevor Noah examined most of the same themes the next night in The Senate Impeachment Trial & Lev Parnas’s Maddow Chat | The Daily Show along with his own personal perspective.

Senators get sworn in as President Trump’s impeachment trial begins, and Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas gives a bombshell interview that implicates Trump’s entire team in the Ukraine scandal.

Trevor couldn't resist the toilet and dishwasher jokes, either.  I don't blame him; they're ridiculous.  They also expose Trump's contempt for environmental regulation that inconveniences him.

By the way, my friend Nonnie drew the connection among Parnas, impeachment, and toilets in The First Strike.


I hope Parnas testifies and knocks down the pins, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

To conclude tonight's entry, I'm returning to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.  Watch Parnas Implicates Trump & Co. In Ukraine Crimes, And He Has Receipts.

According to former Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, President Trump "knew exactly what was going on" as Parnas pressured Ukraine officials to take actions that would bolster Trump's chances at being reelected in 2020.

Colbert did a better job of riffing off Parnas's response that every time that Trump denies knowing him, Parnas will release another photo of the two of them together.  The list of Republicans Parnas has met looks very impressive, if not good for them.

That's it for Episode 2 of "The Worst Wing."  Episode 3 should begin next week when the impeachment trial in the Senate really gets going.  Stay tuned.

Two songs and a poster for loser Le Pen

While I've been busy with Star Wars Day, Cinco De Mayo, Revenge of the Sixth, and 'The Walking Dead' vs. 'Westworld' at the 2017 Saturn Awards, France was reaching the climax of its presidential campaign.  Yesterday, it held the election and the result was Macron wins French presidential election over LePen by a landslide.  Take it away, ABC News!

Thousands of supporters waved French flags and cheered in front of the Louvre.

Note the Trump support for Le Pen before the election.  Nonnie9999 mocked that in Le Pen and La Pencildick a couple of weeks ago.


"I'm with Stupid" -- where have I seen that before?  Since I'm a good environmentalist, I recycled the idea in a comment.

“I’m with stupid”–I have a song for that. It’s even about the trans-Atlantic relationships between politicians.


“A moron” and “A billion dollar kid.” Perfect!

I surprised Nonnie9999 with the selection.  She loved it, then saw me and raised me.

OMG! I never heard that song before. That was perfect!!!! Here’s another little song for Le Pen and Le Pencildick:

I know that song, having used it in I was in a foul mood until I watched this video after Scott Walker survived his recall.  My opinion of it hasn't changed over the past five years, as I told Nonnie9999 "That’s the perfect song to tell off far-right politicians and media figures."  She agreed.  Now all she and I have to do is get Americans to sing this characteristically British song after every Republican town hall or public appearance.  Wish us luck!

Paulson's Mini-Me nominated for California Governor

When I read a week or so ago that Neel Kashkari was one of the candidates for California Governor, I thought I recognized the name.  It turns out that I read about him at Hysterical Raisins in 2008.  He was former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's Interim Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability, which means he ran the $700 billion mortgage rescue effort during the last year of the Bush Administration.

My friend Nonnie noted his resemblance to both Paulson and Mini-Me, so she created one of her movie poster parodies.  Here's what she and I had to say in comments at the time.

Nonnie: For some reason, kids, the appointment of Neel Kashkari makes me very uneasy. I can’t put my finger on quite why. Is it that his name looks like Cash & Carry? No, that’s not it. OMG!! I remember now!! It’s that company picture that they took together before Paulson left to be Treasury Secretary!!

Nonnie: as soon as i saw cash & carry, the first thing i thought was that he looked like a young clone of paulson. tell you a secret–i only saw the first austin powers movie, but mini me immediately came to mind.
...
Me: Kashkari=looks scary!

Seriously, those piercing black eyes are absolutely unnerving. His nose is also crooked, as if it had been broken in a fight.

However, I think turning Paulson and Kashkari into Dr. Evil and Mini-Me is brilliant! Of course, Bernanke is Number Two, but who would you have playing the rest of the cast?

Nonnie: the title is just a line from the movie that i found when i googled (i didn’t see the film). i thought it fit the theme, so i went with it. i’m like princess sarah and capt underpants–i go with the sound byte, even if it doesn’t hold up to scrutiny

Me: Oh, the sound byte stands up to scrutiny just fine.

BTW, if things go really bad economically, I have a movie suggestion for you–Fight Club.

Nonnie: fight club, starring john mccain and barack obama with one hand tied behind his back to make it more even.

Nonnie missed the point about Fight Club (I was thinking of the final scene, which at the time made for a good metaphor for the financial collapse.), but she did call what has going to happen in the election the next month pretty accurately.  As for my opinion of Kashkari's looks, that still holds.  Here's to Jerry Brown, who is not only married (I never thought I'd see that happen) but married to a woman from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, wiping the floor with Cash And Carry this November.

CNN Money on Occupy Wall Street two years later

In CNN Money on Lehman Brothers five years later, I pointed out that this week was the second anniversary of Occupy Wall Street and to "stay tuned for more clips...discussing Occupy Wall Street."  It's time to follow through.*

First, a retrospective from the producers of "99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film" about how Occupy flamed out, but issues still burning.

Two years after the Occupy Wall Street protests started, documentary filmmakers discuss why their new film on the movement still carries weight.

Next, former Occupy Wall Street protester Mark Bray joins CNN Money's Annalyn Kurtz and her other guests Labor Secretary Robert Reich and former Lehman Brothers VP Lawence McDonald to explain Why Occupy Wall Street fizzled out.

Did the anarchists kill the Occupy Wall Street movement with a lack of organization? Our Occupy panelist defends the success of the protests.

Stay tuned for more from CNN Money on income inequality and organizing fast-food workers.

*To read last year's retrospective, click on Occupy Wall Street one year later.  It has links to all my entries about Occupy Wall Street from my first until I started blogging about Occupy Detroit.

Bad sustainability films for Apophis Day

In Space news for Apophis Day, I mentioned it would be the first of two entries to mark the occasion.  I now present the second, which reflects Apophis not only being the name of a potentially catastrophic asteroid, but also that of a Stargate villain.  Of course, both are named after the Egyptian god of darkness.  It's only appropriate that my wife and I will be spending the night at the Smithee Awards watching scenes from bad movies, most of which will be science fiction, fantasy, and horror.*

Some of these films will feature sustainability themes in very ludicrous and wrong ways, like Birdemic, which won Worst Movie at last year's ceremony.  Here are the movies that have sustainability themes gone wrong among this year's crop of losers.

Global Warming/Greenhouse Gases

Lightspeed

The mass ionic dispersal device will remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, causing a reverse greenhouse effect and instantly freezing everything nearby.

Solar Attack

CMEs & ignition of greenhouse gases

Wyvern

The wyvern is an ancient beast that was imprisoned under the arctic ice as punishment for attacking the Norse gods. But now global warming has released it.

Bad Biodiversity

Leeches!

The swimmers have been taking steroids. They go off to a local party at "the lake," and a few of them emerge with attached leeches. They pull the leeches off each other in the shower room, and kick them down the drain.  Giant steroid leeches emerge a few scenes later.

The Glass Trap

A U.S. Department of Agriculture black ops task force so secret even the President doesn't know about them vs. giant angry radioactive terrorist ants.

Orca: the Killer Whale

He accidentally kills off the pregnant mate of the biggest, meanest, smartest Orca in the whole North Atlantic. This Orca beats the hell out of his ship, kills one of his crew, then swims away to plot revenge.
...
First, the schools of fish vanish from the usual fishing grounds. Then people spot an Orca fin whenever they go out on the water. Then the Orca comes into the harbor and smashes every boat but Nolan's. Then the killer whale burns down half the town. That's one seriously vengeful pyromaniac killer whale.

This will be the ninth year I've gone to the Smithees.  Every one of them has been a great time.  This year looks like it will be no exception.

ETA: I wrote the above on the night of the 12th.  When it came time to go, my wife and I were too tired and went on a less ambitious night out.  However, all is not lost.  The Smithees will be held again at Penguicon in two weeks.  That's much closer to home and not on the same day as an all-day field trip.  We'll try to make it then.

Pizza Man Cain wants a third party for conservatives, never mind three already exist

I thought I'd said goodbye to Herman Cain, but it turns out that he's in the news again. Here's the relevant passage from Salon's GOP civil war: Herman Cain calls for third party.

Appearing on Bryan Fischer’s radio program this afternoon, Cain called for a large faction of Republican Party leaders to desert the party and form a third, more conservative party.

“I never thought that I would say this, and this is the first time publicly that I’ve said it: We need a third party to save this country. Not Ron Paul and the Ron Paulites. No. We need a legitimate third party to challenge the current system that we have, because I don’t believe that the Republican Party … has the ability to rebrand itself,” Cain said.
...
“It is more viable today than it has ever been,” Cain told Fischer today of a third party.

I first heard about this a couple of days ago, so when Hunter at Daily Kos gave me an opportunity to express myself this afternoon, I jumped on it.

Conservatives have *three* third parties already, the Libertarians, the Constitution Party, and the Reform Party (or what's left of it). They don't need another. The dissidents can go pile into one of them and take it over. Cain would probably feel most at home in the Reform Party. After all, it already has a history of being run by an eccentric egomaniac with lots of money and being a haven for ambitious conservatives who don't feel at home in the Republican Party.

If that doesn't work, they can continue to run out the moderates and keep the GOP for themselves. The refugees who won't become Democrats can hijack the revived Whig Party or what's left of Americans Elect.

Either way, they lose power and we win.

G-d, that felt to good to type. I've been waiting to say this since I first heard Cain's foolish remarks.

I mentioned the positives for Cain in joining the Reform Party. I covered the negatives involved in joining the Constitution Party in another comment.

I cover politics here in Michigan and have spoken to Bill Mohr, the head of the U.S. Taxpayers Party, Michigan's state affiliate of the Constitution Party, about their nominees. He told me about how Alan Keyes tried to become their nominee in 2008 and the party rejected him. According to Mohr, they figured out that Keyes was a Trojan Horse for a GOP takeover, or something like that, and rejected him in favor of Chuck Baldwin. I figured something like that would happen to Cain, which is why I recommended he take over the Reform Party. It would be much more to his liking.

As for which Republican politician I would like to see go to the Constitution Party, it would be Sarah Palin. She'd fit right in with their wrapped in a flag and carrying a Bible theocratic vision. Also, she's already familiar with one of its state affiliates, the Alaska Independence Party. She and Todd can be in the same party again.

Someone else mentioned the American Independent Party, to which I replied:

I had to check that one. I counted the American Independent Party as part of the Constitution Party, as they were California's state affiliate of that organization until 2008. They split because of Alan Keyes' failed attempt to become the Constitution Party candidate...So, that means that there are three nationwide, but a fourth one with ballot access in California. Ask Roseanne Barr how being on the ballot only in California worked out for her.

As if that wasn't snarky enough, someone mentioned Cain "going Splitter." That deserved a video.



Reposted at Daily Kos.

Occupy Wall Street one year later

Today marks the anniversary of the day that I first started blogging about Occupy Wall Street in Occupy Wall Street is sequel to Anonymous vs Scientology, in which I opined:

I've seen this movie before. This is the sequel to Anonymous vs. Scientology and it's recycling the first film's plot, but with a bigger budget, more special effects, and a group of villains who are less comic, better known, and more dangerous. At this stage of the protests against Scientology, the long-time anti-Scientologist activists discovered Anonymous and found a way to jump in front of the movement. The same thing is happening here, with Michael Moore and others realizing that there is now a mob they can get in front of and (pretend to) lead. In reality, they're following from the front, which is the opposite of leading from behind.

As for how the first movie ended, it resulted in opening Scientology to reporters investigating the organization like it hadn't seen in a long time and tarnishing its reputation among the young. It also gave the members of Anonymous a taste of organizing and a realization that they can take on something bigger than themselves. Now they're ready for something bigger than a fringe cult that runs themselves like a business. Whether they're up to this task is another question.

As for how this installment of the franchise ends, stay tuned. They may be rehashing the plot so far, but there is no script.

One year later, the participants may no longer be camping out in Zuccotti Park, but they did turn economic inequality into a major subject of conversation, just like Operation Chanology exposed Scientology to public scrutiny. Also, I find it an appropriate coincidence that the 47% video, the highlight of which was Romney addressing the question of inequality in a very condescending way, was released on September 17th, the anniversary of the beginning of Occupy Wall Street.

Follow over the jump to read what Canada's Globe and Mail made of Occupy Wall Street's legacy.

Remember Ted Cruz?

If you don't, maybe this will refresh your memory.

Paul Krugman made a point about how crazy he thought the Right had become in First, they came for the golf courses. There, he linked to the Think Progress article TX Sen Candidate Ted Cruz Spouts Paranoid Fantasy About United Nations/George Soros Conspiracy To Eliminate Golf. Yes, really.

As soon as I read the combination of George Soros, the United Nations, and eliminating golf courses, I knew I was dealing with someone who had bought into the paranoia about Agenda 21. I was right. The Think Progress article quoted a page from Ted Cruz's own website railing against Agenda 21, one with a title so precious that I have to reproduce it here: Stop Agenda 21: The Constitution should be our only "Agenda." I have to hand it to Cruz; that's the perfect framing for someone who wants to run with an anti-Agenda 21 plank.

As for what Cruz wrote about Agenda 21 eliminating golf, here's the section that Think Progress quoted (bolding theirs).

In 1992, the United Nations adopted Agenda 21 to "achieve a more efficient and equitable world economy," outlining a process to eliminate environmental decay and social injustice through micromanaging industries, communities, and culture. They will meet again next year to discuss its "progress" in over 100 nations.

The originator of this grand scheme is George Soros, who candidly supports socialism and believes that global development must progress through eliminating national sovereignty and private property. He has given millions to this project. But he is not the only one promoting this plan; in fact, the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) now consists of over 600 cities in the United States.

Agenda 21 attempts to abolish "unsustainable" environments, including golf courses, grazing pastures, and paved roads. It hopes to leave mother earth's surface unscratched by mankind. . . . Agenda 21 subverts liberty, our property rights, and our sovereignty.

In other words, Cruz is one of the maniacs promising people can keep their cars, McMansions, and commutes this year.

With the Texas Republican Primary yesterday, Cruz is back in the news.

Plan 999 from Outer Space

Tonight, my wife and I will be at the Smithee Awards, an event that honors movies so bad they're good. It turns out that the poster child (literally!) of such movies is "Plan 9 from Outer Space." Here at Crazy Eddie's Motie News, I have my own version of this film, the economic plan so bad it's hysterical, Plan 999 from Outer Space. Not only is this a tag/label for this blog, it was also the eighth most popular search string during the first full year of the blog. It certainly deserves a post of its own.



Original at The Cain Scrutiny on Hysterical Raisins.

Here are all the posts in which this work of bad economic science fiction made an appearance.

Silly Sustainability Saturday: While the world burns, Farmville thrives

Herman Cain on Occupy Wall Street

"Plan 9-9-9 from Outer Space" is really from Sim City

Now Keith Olbermann is calling it "Plan 999 from Outer Space"

Krugman on Countdown, plus bonus Occupy Wall Street and "Plan 999 from Outer Space"

Plan 999 from Outer Space trailer

Goodbye to Herman Cain, the gift who kept on giving

On the subject of bad films, if I'm willing to highlight the best sustainability-related films, am I willing to spotlight the worst? Yes, I am. In fact, it turns out that one of the other films that could claim the crown of "Worst Movie Ever Made" from "Plan 9 from Outer Space" is "Birdemic," which is up for six awards tonight, including Worst Picture. Other sustainability-related terrible films on tap for tonight are "Absolute Zero" (nominated for two awards), "Mega Piranha" (up for six awards, including Worst Picture), and "Locusts: the 8th Plague" (nominated for two awards). It should be a fun evening.

Tonight's song is "Bela Lugosi's Dead" (lyrics here) as performed by Nouvelle Vague. I'm sure Ed Wood wished he'd never heard those particular words during the filming of "Plan 999 from Outer Space."

LOL, Foster Friess=Foster's Freeze

I'm so glad nonnie9999 at Hysterical Raisins is back!



Full-sized original at Brainless Friess on Hysterical Raisins.

Here's a properly formatted version of my comment to nonnie9999's post:

Welcome back! To thank you for your return, I’ll let you in on an inside joke only people from California would know. When I first heard Friess’s name, I thought “this has to be a joke; who the hell is named after an ice cream stand?” Yes, there is a fast food chain specializing in soft serve ice cream in California called Foster’s Freeze. Even better, it used to be called Foster’s *Old Fashioned* Freeze. Here’s the link to the Wikipedia page. You can’t make this stuff up!

Whenever I hear the name of Santorum's sugar daddy major superPAC donor, I don't see him, I see these images instead:







Put the two names together, and the result is this:




Full-sized original at Winnie Toons.

Now you know why there were people in Bill Maher's studio audience snickering at the man's name week before last. They (and I) weren't the only ones giggling at the similarity. So were Dennis Miller and commenters at Crooks & Liars, Democratic Underground, Washington Monthly, and Huffington Post--and that's just from the first page of Google results! As for the best comment of the bunch, I give that honor to Paul the Sax Guy at Crooks & Liars:

"I knew Foster's Freeze, Foster's Freeze was an employer, and he, sir is no Foster's Freeze."

As Karoli at Crooks & Liars said, "Poifect!"

Governor Snyder sued twice this week

That's right, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder got sued twice this week and the suits were filed on successive days, Wednesday and Thursday. Both suits allege that legislation Snyder signed violated the constitutions of both Michigan and the United States.

It's beginning to look a lot like Gingrich

Christopherduva on YouTube: A Merry Gingrich and a Happy Newt Year!!! Tis the season of the GOP Primaries, and they are desparately searching for a Chosen One. I hope this one doesn't have any baggage.

Thanks to Fran in comments at Hysterical Raisins, who wrote, "Consider this a little holiday gift for you & the Raisinettes." As a Raisinette, I say thank you. It's the perfect gift to share with my readers.

Goodbye to Herman Cain, the gift who kept on giving

Original here.

Huffington Post: Herman Cain Suspending 2012 Campaign For President (VIDEO)

Herman Cain announced on Saturday that he is suspending his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

The news comes in the wake of Cain being accused of having an extramarital affair and sexual harassment charges from more than a decade ago resurfacing. The former CEO of Godfather's Pizza has vehemently denied any wrongdoing amid the controversy.

Well, crap. That's disappointing news, as Herman Cain was such fun to blog about. So long, Plan 999 from Outer Space!




I guess Rachel Maddow was right. Herman Cain was a performance artist.