Miscellaneous Updates

John McCain's Love of Women

John on The View

John McCain - As we have previously noted here, discretely, the book The Real McCain relates a story as told by three Arizona reporters that Mini-Mac once publicly called his wife "the C word" for mussing up his hair and teasing him about going bald. He also called her a "trollop," to the amusement on several bloggers. Well, some Baptist minister in Indiana asked him if it were true, and actually said the word, at a one of those Republican fake "town hall meetings" where the "townspeople" are really carefully selected supporters.

Guess what happened next!

McCain declined to answer the question, and then the questioner was taken outside and questioned by the police and Secret Service.

What particulars of this story, if any, you find troubling could be a sort of fun Rorschach test for what you think is important.

Cindy Lou McCain on crutches. (She walked into a door.)

FLDS update. Facts per the Associated Press.

The number of kids in custody is now somewhere north of 460. The number goes up every time I check in on this story. Apparently one of the FLDS women had a baby and it was taken away immediately and put into state custody. I'm really puzzled over the legality of that. Let alone the nightmare logistics questions. I guess no breast feeding for baby.

At the same time, the original arrest warrant for the alleged husband of the imaginary 16 year old slave bride has been cancelled. Yup, no arrest warrant. Not a single actual charge of criminal behavior.

So the kids are being kept in state custody pending individual hearings that the state says could take months. Who are they kidding? 460 hearings is not that many. My understanding is that in most jurisdictions a criminal suspect gets in front of a judge within 72 hours of arrest for an initial hearing. Get a dozen judges and they could conduct 460 probable cause hearings in less than a week. Maybe even in one day.

And, as my wife, a former social worker, quickly pointed out, what's up with the press showing all of these pictures of the kids? Aren't they not supposed to reveal the identity of sexual assault victims? Since when is it OK to publish photos of children who are sexual assault victims? Just one more piece of this mess that doesn't add up.

Stupid Political Pandering Continues Unabated

John McCain and Hillary Clinton are both promoting a summer gas tax holiday that will be virtually meaningless to everyone except to take another $9 billion out of the US Treasury. Despite immediate and widespread recognition as a really stupid idea, the press is debating the proposed gas tax holiday as a serious issue. Barack Obama is against it, saying, "What? Are you fucking kidding me?"

That McCain and Clinton both support this proposal has raised eyebrows and questions as to whether either of them has a clue about the finances of average Americans, and whether their campaigns are somehow coordinating their efforts against Obama.

John & Hillary - After that "special night"

TV Land Observations

Political Capital keeps getting better and better. Check it out.

Survivor favorite James "The Black Guy With The Muscles" is out for medical reasons. A real heart breaker. He's a nice guy who worked hard and kept his cool. He deserved to win.

Is Mika getting her own news show after Morning Joe? Or is it part of the show? I'm usually eating breakfast while I watch so I miss most of it, but something is definitely going on.

Keith Olberman rules at MSNBC because his show covers a variety of topics. But now that we know the layout, how about less time on teasers and graphics and more on content. The fluff gets tiresome after a while.

I still love Chris Matthews, but he's all politics all the time. So when politics gets boring (like now), his show gets boring. Take an Olberman hint and mix it up a bit. How about a week live from the Green Zone? I'd watch everyday.

Friday's Thoughts & Quiz Day!!!

I'm off to Lasik surgery today. They call it surgery, but it's more like going to the dentist. Natch, I'm stressing that I'll be the 1 in a million who goes blind.


I almost made it through David Brooks today without resorting to the dictionary. But he got me with "pedagogy." It refers to the process or profession of teaching.

David Brooks - Shamelessly Pedagogging

In legal news, the people of the island of Lesbos are suing for an injunction to prevent gay women from calling themselves Lesbians, claiming that title solely for themselves. I was greatly saddened by this news, because I thought Lesbos was an actual island full of Lesbians. Well, apparently it is, but I had in mind an endless topless beach, where off-duty Playboy Bunnies would play volleyball and rub oil on each other's backs, and wistfully hope for the day when a gray haired, middle aged man would appear in their midst, in need of pampering. Why burst my bubble? If they really want to boost tourism, I'd say that this lawsuit is a mistake. They have a great brand, and shouldn't just throw it away.

So where is Lesbos? Somewhere in Greece, the birthplace of salad.


Speaking of geography . . .

It's Worldview Quiz Day!!!!!

Today's quiz is - Where in the World is the US Army?

Simply write the names of the places numbered on the maps below . . . Ready? Go!

(Do it now because the answers are at the bottom.)

Map 1

Map 2

Answers below

So, regarding our Army. "War" - Is that really what this is? I'd say no. And I'll give you my reasons.


It is unfair to call the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In a war you have an enemy who is actively fighting you and whose defeat is definable. We've already done that, and our military won handily. Hats off to our military! Today we have an occupation. Our Army cannot "win" an occupation. That's the job of our diplomats and politicians. Jobs that have been de facto falling to our junior military officers in recent years. Naming these operations a "war" is a disservice to our soldiers. They are providing the dangerous and deadly part of what is a political and diplomatic process, which may very well fail. By calling this a war, it says that this would be a military failure when in truth it would be a political and diplomatic failure. So let's stop all of this nonsense about being a nation at war.

What will be Bush's Legacy?

1. Failed to catch Osama bin Laden.
2. 9/11 attacks happened on his watch. Fails to take responsibility.
3. Starts and wins the war in Afghanistan. Decides to occupy indefinitely.
4. Starts and wins the second Iraq War, but fails to win the occupation.
5. More than doubles the US national debt.
6. Adopts torture as US policy but the US Army heroically refuses to do so.
7. Texas Oil Man / MBA President sees oil prices quadruple. Does nothing.
8. Prevented Gay Marriage from spreading. Thank God.
9. Failed to rebuild major US city destroyed by hurricane.

Boy, Bush's Legacy is really a bummer.

Back to the fun . . . Answers to today's Worldview Quiz:

Map 1

1. Iran
2. Turkmenistan
3. Uzbekistan
4. Tajikistan
5. China
6. Pakistan
7. India
8. Afghanistan

Map 2

1. Saudi Arabia
2. Jordan
3. Iraq
4. Syria
5. Turkey
6. Iran
7. Kuwait
8. Persian Gulf or Arabian Gulf

That was a pretty tough quiz. I'd say you're doing decently to get half right.

Have a great weekend.

Late Random Thoughts

Note to tv newsie editors - Jeremiah Wright is Reallllllly Boooooring. Really.

Why no live footage of the big Marine - Taliban battle in Afghanistan this week? What ever happened to Ashleigh Banfield? She would go. I guess the North Carolina primary is more important.

Why is Slate's web site so slow? I always forget, then remember why I don't read it more often. I'm onto Drudge.

From the I'm Old, Not Dead Department:

So my wife won't think I'm the only weirdo who thinks that Nancy Pelosi is kind of hot, Fancy Nancy comes in at No. 4 on The Hill's list to the 50 Most Beautiful People in Washington, DC our nation's capital. There's something about those Catholic girls.

Sweet Caboose!

Check out this Arab pregnant man.

Pregnant Man Abdullah with Husband Ahkbar and Sister-Wife Condi.

From the Don't Know Whether to Laugh or Cry Department:

"You know, I'm really not interested in policies that are long on rhetoric and short on results. I think the taxpayers, as well as the people we're trying to help, need to know our strategy is well-defined, with clear goals, and we hold people accountable."-- George W. Bush

"No Barney! We're fighting the Moslems, not Mormons!"

What is the government doing by taking all of those Mormon kids away from their mothers? Based on an apparent hoax by a 30 something year old crazy woman, posing as a 16 year old unwilling Mormon bride, the State of Texas has arrested over 400 kids and locked them up in some kind of convention center. Where is the probable cause? Where is the due process? Where are the family values? Where is the freedom of religion?

Not in Texas.

Texas Police Diversity Training Film
Buy it Here!

Talk about state terrorism. You want to terrorize me? Don't threaten to shoot me or electrocute me. Threaten to take my kids away. That's what terrorizes me. That's what is happening in Texas.

It turns out that 5 teenage girls in that renegade Texas Mormon group are either pregnant or have a baby already. That's out of 418 kids (now reported as 435 kids - they can't even count them correctly) the state took into custody. Teen pregnancy! Well, we better hurry up and get the rest of those girls away from their parents and into foster care! Then we know they'll be safe. I'd sure feel secure knowing that my kids were safe in the bosom of the Texas foster care system. Note to literalists - not really.

I Need Foster Care!

What this is really about is that the government has a vendetta against the FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, for forcing young teenage girls into arranged "marriages." Jeffs was convicted of "rape by accomplice" after arranging a religious marriage between a 14 year old girl and her 19 year old cousin. The young groom is now facing charges as well.

Warren Jeffs

That was certainly bad. That's why he's in jail. But what it has to do with the 436 kids taken from their mothers has not been made clear. Nobody has been arrested for anything and not a single child has been alleged to be abused. So what's up?

But onto a group that suffers no police harassment -

More Swinger news!

We continue to keep our ear to the ground for more info about the Swingers alleged to be in our area. Keep in mind that I have no idea if any of this is true.

• Another Secret Swinger Signal - put a box of Tide in your window. Though I'm not sure what happens next.
• Apparently there are a couple of "urban" young men who will "host" a Swinger party at the Swingers' homes. Word is that the guys pair up with the ladies while husbands watch. This one really kind of freaks me out. No word on whether the guys get paid for this. The hosts I mean.
• Reported ATL Swinger neighborhoods include Laurel Springs, Three Chimneys, Windermere, and St. Ives.
• The is an introductory course available online (absolutely free!) for new Swingers at http://www.swingersvillage.net/, apparently hosted by Shannen Doherty.
• I even found a Swinger resort on the internet http://swingermarbella.com/en/about-us/. (I hope it's not true that the IT guys can see everything I do on this PC.)

Random TV Land Observations:

Who is Kimora? She may be a nice person, but in the print ads she looks like a Vegas hooker in that gold dress. And why does she have a tv show?

Love 30 Rock and The Office these days.

I hope James wins Survivor.