Hey, remember when John McCain wasn't a partisan hack?

Yeah, I'm finding it harder and harder to remember it, too, but this was surprising...

"So I wonder why we are starting this new Congress with a protracted debate about a foregone conclusion," McCain said. Since Rice is qualified for the job, he said, "I can only conclude that we are doing this for no other reason than because of lingering bitterness over the outcome of the election."

C'mon Senator, you really don't understand why your colleagues, who you've claimed to respect in the past, might have misgivings about Rice given her past performance and weaselly appearance at her confirmation hearings? Of course you don't agree, but feigned ignorance as a rhetorical device? Cheap shots? I expect that crap from Santorum, not you.

Hey, Dubya, I'm a shitty writer, can I get paid too?

C'mon, people, we all knew it wasn't just Armstrong Williams.

I'm sure my Comments box will soon be flooded with Republicans who will temporarily forget partisanship to denounce this irresponsible usage of their tax dollars...

Don't let yourself grow cold, fox in the snow...  

Crystal flows silent as links...

It's time for my occasional cleaning of the links page (sorry Poker Blog Dude), which this time is devoted to pages that certainly don't need my links but wouldn't refuse them out of good manners...

Media Matters has been doing vital work calling bullshit on the major news netwoks. I can't believe people actually have the stomach to watch and document this; ten minutes of CNN now and I can feel pieces of enamel on my tongue...

I've always been a fan of Steve Gilliard, but this past week he's been even better than usual, so the least I can do is give him a link and move him up the ecosystem. Why don't you go and read his stuff now? He's been "beating" Kos AFAIC...

Yep, our electorate, ladies and gentlemen...

I was going to link to this article and comment on how Bush's re-election has hurt our standing in the world, but frankly, it was a lot more fun to read the idiotic comments from the mouthbreathers under "Read/Post Messages".

My favorite subject heading? "EUROPE: WORST COUNTRY EVER"

Sigh. I wish I were kidding.

How long has the CNN Quickvote writing staff been on crack?

I mean, they've had some shitty questions, but this one's a howler. I had to answer "the same", because how the hell could Dubya be less effective this term?

Asshole.

Hey, I didn't vote for the guy, and I never believed him when he said he would usher in a new era of personal responsibility, but those voting for Dubya on those grounds should be kicking themselves right about now.

President Bush said the public's decision to reelect him was a ratification of his approach toward Iraq and that there was no reason to hold any administration officials accountable for mistakes or misjudgments in prewar planning or managing the violent aftermath.

"We had an accountability moment, and that's called the 2004 elections," Bush said in an interview with The Washington Post.

Anyone who voted for him under principles of economic conservatism should be howling that their tax dollars are being used to pay off political pundits; I wonder how many people who felt Clinton's lying was grounds for impeachment will step up and denounce our president now.

I mean, really, I understand Republicans wanting to give their guy the partisan benefit of the doubt, but aren't you getting tired of being lied to all the time?

What-the-fuck-ever.

Are we supposed to be impressed that Bush admitted he's an idiot?

"I don't know if you'd call it a regret, but it certainly is a lesson that a president must be mindful of, that the words that you sometimes say. ... I speak plainly sometimes, but you've got to be mindful of the consequences of the words. So put that down. I don't know if you'd call that a confession, a regret, something."

Yes, the fact that he speaks like a grown-up thalidomide baby is a problem, but it's a small problem compared to his inability to catch terrorists and his desire to raid Social Security...

Liar.

I'm getting tired of Bush's further attempts to scare the shit out of us, but the least he can do is not insult our intelligence...

"I happen to believe people who have been elected to office who ignore problems will face a price at the ballot box," Bush said during a forum with voters who support his goal of creating private investment accounts to partly replace guaranteed benefits.

No, you don't. Your own re-election proves that (Whatsama's his name?)...

Run, Howard, run...

Run, you magnificent bastard.

Things I learned in London...

* Lovely city. There was just too little time to do everything, but we did a lot, mostly visit museums. And if a gun was held to my head and I was forced to choose only one to visit next time, it would be this one.

* When I visited Russia in the mid-90s, I'd always get a bit of schadenfreudistic glee when I exchanged dollars and received thousands and thousands of rubles. Exchanging money in London gives you the opposite feeling. Our dollars are 50p notes.

* I shook the hand of a Welshman, yes I did, yes I did.

* Is there any culinary product in the UK that Jamie Oliver wouldn't deign to place his used-to-be-hunky-but-now-kinda-chunky likeness?

* I'm a big pussy. We were recommended the Good Mixer pub in Camden (where Blur and Oasis used to hang), but as we approached the smoke-filled pub, packed with rather muscular-yet-lithe patrons clad in Doc Marten Touriststompers, my wife asked if we could pass as she didn't want her clothes to be covered in smoke. Feigning disappointment, I agreed, but secretly glad my clothes weren't to be covered with my teeth...

* I'm a big pussy. We saw We Will Rock You and I liked it...

* When one of my wife's colleagues told me that the food in London was horrible, I thought that he was just being a stereotype-indulgent asshole (good guess given his support of Republicans). But if my experience was any indication, he was kinda right. We sort of abandoned the restaurant idea and just kept getting grub at the local Sainsbury's(endorsed by Jaime Oliver!) And in a pinch, Pizza Express made a decent meal.

* Yeah, I felt like a schmuck for stopping at Starbucks, but at least I wasn't a schmuck with a caffeine-deprivation headache. Anyway, I've never seen such a concentration of Starbucks in my life.

* That Jimmy Carr's a funny guy. Actually, he's rather obnoxious, but ninety percent of the time that's the same for me.

* Didn't see one corgi. Or one MP doing a silly walk. Oh well, can't let life's little disappointments get you down. Can't wait to go back...

Cheerio, old chaps...

We're about to take off for a week in London, so I bid you a fond farewell until 2005!

Happy Holidays!

I wish all of you the happiest of holidays, and I hope you all get what you want.

For some of you Republicans, I'm guessing "new outlets for my fake outrage" is high on Santa's list, so here you go!

Season's Greetings!

But the important question is, are they still great power?

I know it's hard to believe, but a civil rights watchdog group has declared Russia to no longer be a "free" country. OK, it's not a free country anymore, but did they take into account Russia's enormous size superiority?

Screw Texas, anyway...

I know, I know, innocent until proven blah blah blahcakes...

...but I can't believe he's still allowed to do this.

Goddammit, Democrats, stop doing this!

At a recent conference FrankenKerry's campaign manager admits there were mistakes. But she places the blame on her campaign team, instead of saying "I admit that I should have realized that Bush and his scumbag campaign would have kicked puppies to win this thing and that a big chunk of the American electorate might vote as if they were on a lead paint chip diet".

Notice that Mehlman still insists the draft stuff isn't true. 'Cause Repubs have no problem treating the American public like idiots.

Still bitter about Kerry's loss? You betcha. Because I'm pretty sure if Kerry went after our terrorist-lovin' nimrod prez with the same gusto he went after Dean he would have won.

Christ, we're in more trouble than I thought...

I got a mailer from the Army Reserve yesterday, wondering if I'd be interested in becoming an Army of One. I've been promised big bux for college ("Make More Than Spare Change in your Spare Time", I'm guessing the "...and We're Sending You to Iraq" part got left off by the publishers), an additional stipend, "generous textbook allowance", and I get the opportunity to enter the Army as an officer.

Yeah, all of that's persuasive, but I was almost sold thanks to the free T-shirt.

For those of you just tuning in, I'm 33, got my doctorate not too long ago, and slightly more manly than Gene Wilder's character in The Producers.

They've got balls.

Whoa, does Rush kiss his Oxycontin connection w/that mouth?

Atrios has pointed out that Rush used the "d-word" in a broadcast, so to the FCC, everybody!

Oh, if only John Ashcroft were here...

..to save us once again from the horror that is marauding statue titties.

Well, if one could die from poor prose, my ten-strong audience would've kicked it by now...

I'm still in the recovering process from correcting my student papers, and although I'm a relatively inexperienced adjunct, I matched the tenured profs this past week when it comes to complaining about how the kids get worse every semester. No more, though, new rules for next semester. First drafts are now mandatory, and I'm going to make sure the students know the extra five pages they'll need to write are the fault of their peers.

Secondly, exclusively online sources are forbidden. Maybe I only just noticed it, but it seems a lot of students got into trouble this way. The most hilarious example came from a student who Googled Gogol(heh) and used a paper written by a high school student as the primary source. Some students also got around my "don't use my lecture notes" request by using online lecture notes from other Russian lit. professors. Now, they have to crack a book, which will probably result in a lot of footnotes ending with "p. 2".

I've no doubt these new steps will stem the tide of bad writing as effectively as the parasol Wile E. Coyote uses to protect himself against falling boulders.