It’s time to grow a pair Obama…

[via The Awl]

In a move stunning only to the roughly fourteen remaining New Yorkers that expect competent governance from Albany, Republicans retook control on the State Senate today, as two turncoat Democratic senators (from the city, no less!) joined the opposition and voted to kick their own party out of power. What could cause this dramatic political upset that already has Albany awash in such chaos that the Senate’s own TV station went temporarily black? Why, gay people, of course. You have to ask? The Bronx’s Pedro Espada Jr., seen here threatening to run over your dog, and Queens’ Hiram Monserrate (two of the morally corrupt ignoramuses that tried to bankrupt the MTA earlier this year; the latter was also alleged to have slashed his girlfriend in the face) were filled with God’s holy wrath by now-deposed majority leader Malcom Smith and his attempt to bring the gay marriage bill to a fair vote. So, to save straight marriage, they chose to just go ahead and politically murder him, and burn their own party’s house down while they were at it. Now, not only is there approximately zero chance that New York will catch up with that stalwart bastion of liberalism, Iowa, and allow spouses to visit each other in hospitals (just one of many insidious results of gay marriage) but, as some are already wondering, that last-ditch MTA bailout may also be in danger. And let’s let alone any other potentially important legislation coming down the pike in this still-perilous economic climate. To quote Kent Brockman, ‚”I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: democracy simply doesn’t work.”
Ladies and gentleman, start your angry letter-writin’ hands. Here and here.

A good friend of the site just started a weekly wrap-up blog called Democrats Must Be Told. It’s a much needed wake-up call for the increasingly centrist and corporatist Dems, encouraging them to reclaim their progressive roots.

“Since the end of the Clinton years, the Democratic Party’s primary argument has been ‚”we’re not Republicans” – and that’s just not good enough.”

Agreed. Check it out here.

Here’s the back story, in case you missed it.

From the Wall Street Journal:

The Obama administration is weighing plans to detain some terror suspects on U.S. soil — indefinitely and without trial.

Simply reprehensible. And while we’re talking politics, when are you going to stand up for gay marriage? We understand your pragmatism, but come on, take a stand on equal rights for all people. Given the recent victories in New England–not to mention the disappointments in California–now is the time to be a leader.
And what’s up with this?

In a reversal, President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he would fight the release of dozens of photographs showing the abuse of terrorism suspects.

What happened to change, Obama? Boo…. we voted for you, now stop disappointing us.

Over at the Washington Post, Naomi Klein has started a campaign to vote out Wall Street coddler, Larry Summers. We couldn’t agree more and are still perplexed by Obama’s faith in Summers and Geithner. Here’s the case she makes (below) and don’t forget to vote. vote out Summers here.

The criticisms of President Obama’s chief economic adviser are well known. He’s too close to Wall Street. And he’s a frightful bully, of both people and countries. Still, we’re told we shouldn’t care about such minor infractions. Why? Because Summers is brilliant, and the world needs his big brain.
And this brings us to a central and often overlooked cause of the global financial crisis: Brain Bubbles. This is the process wherein the intelligence of an inarguably intelligent person is inflated and valued beyond all reason, creating a dangerous accumulation of unhedged risk. Larry Summers is the biggest Brain Bubble we’ve got.
Brain Bubbles start with an innocuous “whiz kid” moniker in undergrad, which later escalates to “wunderkind.” Next comes the requisite foray as an economic adviser to a small crisis-wracked country, where the kid is declared a “savior.” By 30, our Bubble Boy is tenured and officially a “genius.” By 40, he’s a “guru,” by 50 an “oracle.” After a few drinks: “messiah.”
The superhuman powers bestowed upon these men — and yes, they are all men — shield them from the scrutiny that might have prevented the current crisis. Alan Greenspan’s Brain Bubble allowed him to put the economy at great risk: When he made no sense, people assumed that it was their own fault. Brain Bubbles also formed the key argument Greenspan and Summers used to explain why lawmakers couldn’t regulate the derivatives market: The wizards on Wall Street were too brilliant, their models too complex, for mere mortals to understand.

(more…)

via HuffPo.
Ugh. This is probably why a sitting president has never tried this late night talk show business before. You let rip one unfortunate joke, and it’s all anyone will talk about. Seriously, who thought this appearance was a good idea? In a 40 minute interview on a comedy show, something off-color is bound to slip out, and that’ll be the clip that idiot media outlets like us will replay until the proverbial tape breaks. Retards.

Speaking of Obama’s budget, we’re not usually huge fans of David Brooks, but holy Christ did he nail it here:

We’re waiting for a Kenny the Page mash-up [UPDATE: this is close]. Until then, this will do. Leave Bobby Jindal Alone: