Conservatives Hate NPR

"Step one: act like gun-toting racists. Step two: catch NPR exec on tape acknowledging reality of step one. Step three: scandal!" — Tom Tomorrow on Twitter.

This NPR "scandal" keeps popping up in my Google news headlines, so I guess this means the MSM hasn't yet learned to ignore the lying, video splicing, misogynistic accused felon also known as James O'Keefe.

O'Keefe is behind this latest ruse where Ron Schiller, NPR's senior vice president for fundraising, was secretly videotaped conversing with actors posing as members of the fictitious Muslim Action Education Center.

Here is one of Schiller's "scandalous" comments about teabaggers: "Xenophobic, I mean basically they are; they believe in sort of white, middle-America gun-toting. I mean, it's scary. They're seriously racist, racist people."

Funny because that's what I've been saying all along. Wow, he's an elitist liberal just like me, but I didn't know that being caught in the act could cause such a stir.

Let's be clear that nothing illegal happened in this setup. This fact gets buried at the bottom of all these stories, but when the pair of actors wanted to give $5 million to NPR, Schiller refused to take it.

However, he did make some dumb moves. Number one was going to lunch with two unknown men from an unknown activist group. Dumb.

And then Schiller made a comment that will haunt NPR for years. He said NPR "would be better off in the long run without federal funding." This is counter to what the organization believes.

But who would take this off-comment during a shitty prank seriously anyway? The GOP of course. They've destroyed ACORN already and now, with purely political motivation, they're out to get Planned Parenthood, PBS and NPR -- the last two because, you know, real journalism is warfare and they don't want any of that.

Ron Schiller resigned from NPR today. He can be thankful for one thing though. At least O'Keefe didn't invite him onto his dildo boat.

Roy the Forklift Driver

"Uneducated Forklift Driver To Address Nation On Rush Limbaugh Radio Show: Nation Eagerly Awaits Ohio Man's Profound Insight Into Current Events." -- The Onion, May 29, 1993

I can't separate reality from parody any more. It's like the smart people are all gone, and our country is becoming an idiocracy.

I thought I had closed the door on Joe the Plumber (aka Samuel J. Wurzelbacher), but he won't go away. In fact, Joe plans to enjoy a lot more than just 15 minutes of fame. He has signed a management deal meant to keep him around long past this election.

God help us all.

The McCain campaign would like to portray Joe as the common working man. But in reality, Joe is a product of right wing talk radio and eight years of the Karl Rove brand of propaganda. And for some absurd reason, people are asking Joe for his insight into the world's problems.

Hey Joe, let me give you some advice instead: Get a plumber's license and pay your taxes.

But all funniness aside, I see the McCain campaign's obvious strategy. Both Joe the Plumber and Sarah Palin are explicitly communicating to a mostly white, rural, undereducated audience. And underneath all the folksiness there exists a dangerous and irresponsible message. The MSM is largely missing Palin and Joe's calls for extreme actions because they (the elitist media) don't understand the vernacular:

Put simply, if Palin says "Barack Obama consorts with terrorists", she is making the assertion that he supports acts of violence against American citizens and the media will refute this obviously false assertion. If, instead, Palin says he "pals around with terrorists", she's used code-switching to mask the seriousness of the charge, obfuscating her meaning enough to get away with making an assertion that inevitably calls for the imprisonment or even assassination of a political opponent.

I know many people have sensed the underlying motive behind Palin's rhetoric, but when described in terms of code-switching, I realized that words I thought were imprecise (like palling) are actually very precise to the intended audience.

But this entire angry hate-mongering McCain campaign is in sharp contrast to Obama's calm and sensible pitch to the American people last night where he made calls for unity and a brighter future... without even mentioning McCain's name once.

Justice Departed

The New York Times reports today that "Senior aides to former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales broke civil service laws by using politics to guide their hiring decisions, picking less-qualified applicants for important nonpolitical positions, slowing the hiring process at critical times, and damaging the department’s credibility, an internal report concluded on Monday."

One of those aides was Monica Goodling.



So this incompetent, political-hack Monica Goodling studied law at Messiah College, an institution that describes itself as "committed to embracing an evangelical spirit." Yeah, I'm sure she got a fair and balanced education there. In fact, here are some of the questions she asked job candidates:

Tell us about your political philosophy. There are different groups of conservatives, by way of example: Social Conservative, Fiscal Conservative, Law & Order Republican.

What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?

Aside from the President, give us an example of someone currently or recently in public service who you admire.

Why are you a Republican?

I'm sure she thought these questions were completely reasonable. But had she studied at a real college, she might have learned that when justice becomes corrupt, anarchy and tyranny commence.

And so I'd like to plead with our representatives in Washington, "can we prosecute this one? Please? Please? Please?" Oh wait, it seems that when Goodling testified last year, she was under a grant of immunity.

Damn. Well, can we send this one to jail instead?