On the November 30 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, host Rush Limbaugh proclaimed: My "cat's taught me more about women, than anything my whole life" because his pet cat "comes to me when she wants to be fed," and "[s]he's smart enough to know she can't feed herself. She's actually [a] very smart cat. She gets loved. She gets adoration. She gets petted. She gets fed. And she doesn't have to do anything for it." Limbaugh has previously stated, on the March 1, 2005, edition of his show, that "[w]omen still live longer than men because their lives are easier"; on January 10, he suggested that some women "would love to be hired as eye candy."
Later the same day on MSNBC's Tucker, guest host Joe Scarborough, in a conversation about the November 29 appearance on ABC's The View by actor Danny DeVito in which DeVito referred to President Bush as "numbnuts," stated, "[W]e're getting so much politics on The View. Shouldn't this be a program at this time of the year about how to make Christmas balls out of popcorn and pine cones?" After Huffington Post media editor Rachel Sklar replied to Scarborough's statement by saying, "I'm just going to forget you said that," Scarborough added, "[I]t is a dayside show for women ... come on."
that's from media matters' 'Limbaugh said he learned about women from his cat, which "gets loved," "petted," and "fed" and "doesn't have to do anything for it".'
on limbaugh, 2 more things his cat doesn't do.
1) ask him to split the oxycotin stash.
2) ask him if he'd consider losing weight.
presumably, he also learned about sex from his cat?
as for joe scarborough, who is his own form of disgust, if any 1 missed it 'too political' has to do with rosie being openly lesbian and not playing like that side of her life doesn't exist.
it has energized the view. getting rid of meredith made it watchable. but with the homophobic star jones out the door and rosie as the anchor, it really is something people are talking about. when i go to t's shop, all the women getting their nails done and their hair done are talking about.
they're not complaining. they're not saying, 'oh too political!' they can't get enough of the show.
and that's not a surprise. women don't like being talked down to. we're not pets.
and what's with that popcorn and pinecombs b.s.? i don't do crafts. i've never done crafts. it sounds like the sort of b.s. scarborough's former law partner would say though, doesn't it?
women at t's shop love the view. and if you think it's lively on the tv screen, you should walk in when t's got it on. every woman there has an opinion she wants to express. funny thing, none of the opinions are about popcorn or pinecombs.
t had told me she had to turn the tv to the view a month or 2 ago. it was just too popular. but i didn't get that until i dropped in tuesday and saw it with my own eyes.
what it reminded me of, the reaction, was the movie tootsie, when dustin hoffman's dorothy michaels is suddenly just energizing all these women and making them feel empowered. it was like those scenes in that movie. as soon as a commercial came on, forget about listening to anything because every 1 was giving her opinion immediately.
i'd be surprised if there ratings were down but what they have right now, regardless of audience size, is a very dedicated following.
it's never really had that before. it was a joke, mad tv and saturday night live made fun of it constantly and that always seemed a little unfair because it was really like picking on the kid who has so many problems.
but now, with the xenophobic meredith gone and the homophobic star evicted, the show's come to life. what's the republican woman's name? elizabeth? she's pretty much booed when she speaks in t's shop. none of the women like her. but they love the show and they love rosie.
rosie was loved before in a warm embrace kind of way because she was sweet. that's probably 1 side of her but she's got more than 1 side and they're really impressed with her on the view today. i think that's partly due to the times.
when rosie shot to tv fame, clinton was president. the country was better off then. but now, the country's pissed off. look at the opinion polls. they're as disgusted with the crap as rosie is. she's the perfect fit and she does reach a lot of viewers.
the show was supposed to be about 5 women (if you count barbara walters who isn't on every show) discussing the topics of the day. that didn't usually happen because meridith was so boring and so self-involved. they also usually ganged up on the youngest woman (debbie and lisa come to mind) telling them that they didn't know yet, they weren't old enough, blah, blah, blah. that was a turn off to me and i wasn't a young woman.
but no 1 sees that day after day and enjoys it, or not many.
then you had pompous star with her 'i'm a lawyer' crap. well, honey, go practice it. (i'm swiping that from t.)
there were times, in the old days, where you would and just feel lisa about to crater because between star and meredith (and sometimes joy, they could dog pile and did), she was just ripped apart and silenced. her opinions were trashed, she was disrespected.
it's really interesting because when meredith was leading slams on women of the left (and i'm thinking of 1 time in particular when i was visiting c.i. and some 1 from abc called and said 'turn on the tv' and we both watched in horror and disgust - barbara walters came on the next day to apologize for that, that's how bad it was) little boy joey scarborough wasn't overly concerned. now he was in congress then (and the aid that died in his local office was still alive, but we're not supposed to mention that, right?) but he didn't issue any statement.
meredith is just human trash. i did watch today for years but i don't watch it now. i know too much dirt on the human trash can and i have no respect for her. she is just a disgusting human being prone to tantrums and screaming matches.
she's not a feminist and she's not supportive of women. she's just disgusting. i hope she and matt lauer get into a boxing match on air. (matt better be prepared to lose.)
that's the thing with certain career women. they want to trade on their queen bee success and get soft press off it but they're not feminists and they're just the most reactionary voices of hate in the world.
they want every 1 to look at their personal success and see it as 'empowerment.' but empowerment doesn't include screaming for a war and trashing those who don't go along.
as soon as the ratings tank for today (they may have already, but they will tank), the spin will be that she looks 'too old' on air. it has nothing to do with age, it has to do with her hatefulness coming across the airwaves. she has 1 of the worst reps in the p.r. business and a woman who used to work for me has a no-meredith policy. she will not have anything to do with that woman because the stories are too well known.
but she's a 'jack welch girl.' that's probably why she got hired. she's exactly like him. election night in 2000, she would have been snarling in the control room, 'call it for bush!' just like he was.
flyboy and i are at mike's for the study group. i'm writing this on smoke breaks and have started and stopped twice in the above so, if it leaps around, that's why.
this is from editor & publisher's 'Nora Ephron Slams George Will's 'Civility' Column:'
Columnist George Will has accused U.S. Sen.-Elect Jim Webb (D-Va.) of bad manners, which led to a strong blog response on the Huffington Post by writer Nora Ephron.According to press reports, President Bush asked Webb at a reception for new Congresspeople how his son -- currently serving in Iraq -- is doing. Webb replied that he hoped U.S. troops would be home soon. Bush said that wasn't what he asked, and again queried Webb about how his son was. Webb said that that was between him and his son.
[. . .]
Ephron, the author and filmmaker, responded: "Washington is a place where politics is just something you do all day. You lie, you send kids to war, you give them inadequate equipment, they're wounded and permanently maimed, they die, whatever. Then night falls, and you actually think you get to pretend that none of it matters. 'How's your boy?' That, according to George Will, is a civil and caring question, one parent to another? It seems to me that it's exactly the sort of guy talk that passes for conversation in Bushworld, just one-up from the frat-boy banter that is usually so seductive to Bush's guests.
good for nora ephron. of course, little joey would probably prefer she make popcorn balls and pine combs. (so he can pad his briefs?) little joey may live in a world where women don't have any thoughts about the world around them, but, if so, he's the sicko living in a fantasy world.
here's c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'
December 1, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, early numbers for November indicate a dramatic rise (another dramatic rise) in the number of civilian deaths, does the puppet of the occupation feel the EARTH . . . MOVE . .. under his feet (nod to Carole King "I Feel The Earth Move"), and the James Baker Circle Jerk continues to raise eyebrows.
Alastair Macdonald (Reuters) reports that the Iraq Interior Ministry has released their statistics for November's death toll in Iraq, 1,850 -- and increase of 44% from their count of 1,289 for October. Macdonald reminds, "Although it does not appear to encompass all violent deaths in Iraq, the Interior Ministry's statistical series has reflected trends".
And for the living? Not much better as Dahr Jamail discussed with Nora Barrows-Friedman on KPFA's Flashpoints yesterday. Dahr explained how the violence was so common, the attacks so rampant, that for fear of their safety, many Iraqis no longer sent their children off to school (approximately 30% was the number given). On the topic of the daily violence and the people effected, Isam Rasheed (Alive in Baghdad) provides a video report from a clinic in Adhamiya where Ahmed Hameed (cigarette vendor) explains how a car bombing resulted in his hand and leg being lost, "I was working and someone left a car bomb. It blew up shortly after they had left. I woke up and found myself thrown against a wall beside my friend Shukri."; Shukri Abdul (owner of the Al-Areesh restaurant) then explains being outside his restaurant speking with an ice vendor when the car bomb went off "And I can remember landing on the ground. I was blown into the air, and when I landed, everything piled on top of me, the pots & corrugated metals." Shurki Abdul also lost his arm and foot and experienced severe damage to his back. This is the daily reality and, as Dahr pointed out, the only area under US control was the Green Zone section of Baghdad but now even the Bremer walls that wall off the section do not translate as 'safe.' Dahr spoke of speaking with a US marine stationed in Ramadi where he was part of 200 US forces expected to provide order to a city of 400,000.
Dahr noted that move to pull forces out of Ramadi and the rest of the Al-Anbar Province in order to send them to Baghdad to secure the capital. Earlier this week, Dafna Linzer and Thomas E. Ricks (Washington Post) reported on a Marine Corps intelligence report entitled "State of Insurgency in Al-Anbar" which tagged the area "a failed province," one that was beyond US control. Also earlier this week, Jonathan Karl (ABC News) reported that, in an effort to 'secure' the capital -- 'crackdown' in any version didn't, the Pentagon is weighing pulling the 30,000 US troops out of the province and redeploying them to Baghdad.
Also addressed by Dahr was the issue of the realignmment on the ground in Iraq's parliament where new alliances are being formed with Muqtada al-Sadr's group and Dahr wondered exactly how much longer the puppet, Nouri al-Maliki, would be in place? CBS and AP report that Tariq al-Hashemi, one of Iraq's two vice-presidents, has stated "he wanted to see al-Maliki's government gone and another 'understanding' for a new coalition put in place with guarantees that ensure collective decision making" while Salam Zikam Ali al-Zubaie (handmaiden to the puppet) has said the fault lies with the presidency (a ceremonial position) and not with the prime minister he (al-Zuabaie) serves under. If the memo Stephen Hadley penned November 8th is taken at all seriously don't be surprised to discover US monies are being tossed around right now in an attempt to ensure that new coalitions will be to the US administration's liking. Tom Hayden (Huffington Post) examines the events and notes "the sudden move by al-Sadr's Shiite bloc, which pulled out of the Baghdad government over al-Maliki's meeting with Bush, provides the anti-occupation coalition with significant, perhaps decisive, power, if they choose to bring down al-Maliki's shaky coalition." [Hayden's earlier reports on the al-Maliki upset are: "U.S. Retreat from Iraq? The Secret Story" and followed that with "Documents Reveal Secret Talks Between U.S. and Iraqi Armed Resistance."]
Did someone say shaky?
Bombings?
Thomas Wagner and Sinan Salaheddin (AP) report a double car bombing claimed one life and left six family members wounded in the Sadiyah section of Baghdad; while mortar rounds "near Muqdadiya" killed three and left 14 wounded; and, in Kirkuk, a car bomb took two lives and left three wounded. CBS and AP note a car bomb in Baghdad ("near a fruit and vegetable market") that killed two and left 16 more wounded. AFP notes, "A bomb exploded in the centre of Baghdad on the east side of the Tigris river, killing three people and wouding 16, while another car bomb killed three people on the outskirts of the capital."
Shootings?
Alastair Macdonald and Ahmed Rasheed (Reuters) report: "Machinegun fire rained from U.S. helicopters in central Baghdad . . . the Interior Ministry said one soldier had been killed and nine people wounded, including five soldiers." Reuters reports three people were killed by gunfire (two police officers, one civilian) in Samawa.
Corpses?
Reuters reports that 20 corpses were discovered in Baghdad and fourteen in Mosul while noting the fourteen had been kidnapped on Thursday.
Kidnappings?Thomas Wagner and Sinan Salaheddin (AP) report that, Thursday, "Hadib Majhoul, chairman of the popular Talaba soccer club" was kidnapped.
In addition, the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldier was killed during combatoperations here Nov. 30." The death brings to 2,888 the total number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war according to ICCC's count and CNN's as well. Twelve away from the 2900 mark.
This as Antonella Cinelli (Reuters) reports that "Italy pulled its last remaining troops out of Iraq on Friday, lowering the tricolour flag at its base in the south of a country where 32 of its soldiers have died since the contingent arrived in June 2003."
Meanwhile, although the Iraq Study Group has released its findings, people continue to ponder the James Baker Circle Jerk. As noted by Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) today, the James Baker Circle Jerk is rumored to call for a 2008 'withdrawal' that is not, in fact, a withdrawal. It's a continuation of the air war that Norman Solomon has been describing for months now. It's also the James Baker Circle Jerk stroking themselves on the public dollar. The onanistic nonsense not only revolves around the air war, it also pushes embedding US forces with Iraqi police squads and forces.
For those who've forgotten how Patrick McCaffrey died and the battle his mother Nadia McCaffrey has had to fight to force the US government to get honest could see the 'suggestion' as worthy of suggesting. (Patrick McCaffrey and Andre Tyson, with the US National Guard, were killed in Iraq. The US government told the families that the two men were killed by 'insurgents.' In reality, they were killed, June 22, 2004, by Iraqi security forces they were training.)
Addressing the James Baker Circle Jerk on this week's CounterSpin, Gary Younge (Guardian of London; The Nation) observed to Steve Rendall,, "The fact that this study group was necessary itself highlights a flaw in American politics. Democracy should have been able to deal with this, not an appointed study group." As Younge explained the responsibility the group was tasked with was Congress' own responsibility . . . until they outsourced it.
In peace news, Aaron Glantz (IPS) reports that the revelations of the US government spying on peace activists is not slowly plans for the march in Washington, DC January 27th. Among the groups spied on were CODEPINK, United For Peace and Justice, Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, the War Resisters League and the American Friends Service Committee.
The War Resisters League will be presenting Sir! No Sir! tomorrow (Saturday, December 2nd) at both seven pm and nine-thirty pm. This kicks off the War Resisters League and the Brecht Forum's Screenpeace: An Antiwar Film Festival that will hold screenings of other films on Fridays during January.
In other activism news, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) are asking for a National "Mandate for Peace" Call-in Day, Monday, December 4th. To sign the petition click here. To phone your rep and senators, you can dial 202-224-3121. PDA notes: "On Election Day, voters said enough is enough -- we want a new direction. Let's make sure Congress hears it again by jamming the switchboards on Dec. 4 with our pleas to bring our troops home immediately."
