Why I Love the Tea Party (#1)

Via Gail Collins' quiz in this morning's NY Times, I learned this tidbit. A Tea Party favorite in the Texas state House has introduced a bill which makes it illegal, punishable by a fine of $10,000 and two years in jail, to hire an undocumented immigrant.

Exception: your maid and the guy who cuts your lawn.

Details here.

Geronimo!

As soon as I heard it, I flinched. The code name for the mission to get bin Laden (or maybe for bin Laden himself) was "Geronimo." What were they thinking?

I don't want it to take anything away from the great and brave job the Navy Seals' Seal Team Six did. But really. This was predictable.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

From The Writer's Almanac:

Today is Cinco de Mayo, which commemorates the Mexican victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862, but is, in a more general way, a celebration of Mexican heritage and culture in the United States.

After a series of wars in the mid-19th-century, Mexico was reeling. President Benito Juarez announced that payment of foreign debts would be temporarily suspended in 1861, and the French navy showed up to demand repayment. As long as they were there anyway, Napoleon III thought it would be a good idea to replace the current government with one more favorable to French interests -- and France could also establish a base of operations to aid the Confederacy in the American Civil War.

In a David-and-Goliath battle, the 8,000-strong, well-armed French army was routed by 4,000 ill-equipped Mexican soldiers, and though it wasn't a decisive battle in the course of the war, it became a symbol of Mexican pride. It also kept Napoleon from aiding the cause of the Confederacy.

Cinco de Mayo isn't widely celebrated in Mexico outside the state of Puebla, but it has been adopted by many Americans regardless of their heritage, much like St. Patrick's Day and Oktoberfest. It's been celebrated in California since 1863, and grew in prominence in the rest of the country along with the Chicano movement of the 1940s. It wasn't until beer advertisers decided to promote the holiday heavily in the 1980s that American celebration of Cinco de Mayo became widespread.

What They Said

Via Talking Points Memo:

Donald Trump is Very Proud of Himself!

Make sure you listen to the whole thing.

More audio at MyNorthwest.com

And I liked this reply to Trump's "concern" about Obama's grades, from the remarks section of a pathetic Jake Tapper post:

I was president of my law school's law review. At most places, the president doesn't usually publish anything himself.

And all the carping about his grades? He graduated magna cum laude from HLS, where all the exams are read with the identity of the student removed. He got those marks on merit.

Just go ahead and say you think black people aren't capable of being head of the law review and he only got there because of affirmative action. It's what you really mean, right?

Update: I loved this, from Gail Collins,

Donald Trump immediately took credit. “Today I am very proud of myself,” he said. This is in contrast to normal days, when Trump is continually walking around in an existential funk, asking himself why he was ever born.

Beyond the Fringe

Via Paul Krugman, Beyond the Fringe:

Will Humor Work?

Tiresome Facts

I'll be walking to the mailbox today with a check for the IRS. It's the first time in a long time (like, maybe, forever) that I didn't get a refund. And I'm sure it's because Suellen didn't do the taxes this year. I bought TurboTax, but just didn't have the heart to sit down and work through everything. Next year should be different.

Anyway, I came across a fascinating collection of charts and graphs relating to taxes from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Here are two of them:





Take a look at the rest of the charts here.

Then decide if ending Medicare is really the only way out of our budget dilemma, or if maybe – just maybe – it's the not-so-hidden agenda of an Ayn Rand cultist.

Update: As I released the tax payment envelope and saw it flutter into the maw of the mailbox, I realized I had not put a stamp on it. Reason #79 Suellen always did the taxes.

Colbert

Jon Kyl is apparently the best that Arizona can do.

Framing the Debate

Tom Tomorrow casts his eye on Paul Ryan's budget.

This is especially spooky for me because 1) I know a little girl who calls her grandmother "Graham Cracker," and 2) I expect (and ask) that when things get too bad, I will be pointed out into the desert.

Read the cartoon, and you'll see what I mean. Make sure you click on it to get a readable version.

Running Second in GOP Polls

Don't miss the exchange between Gail Collins and Donald Trump on the momentous issue of whether Barack Obama was born in Kenya.

Gail's first column here.

Donald Trump's response here. Best line: "Her storytelling ability and word usage (coming from me, who has written many bestsellers), is not at a very high level."

Gail's rejoinder here.

Considering that Trump is now running second in GOP presidential polling, is it any wonder Republicans think Paul Ryan is a serious person?

ATM

Long-time fans of godhead will recognize at least one of the actors in this video – the multi-talented Jason Charles Miller.

Get ready to cringe every time the wife opens her mouth.



I'd love to work with the guy who did the lighting for this.

Lewis Black on Donald Trump

Priceless.

The Daily Show
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Republican Buffoonery

Brooklyn Congressman Anthony Weiner congratulates the GOP for taking on the pressing issues of the day.



Thanks to Talking Points Memo for calling my attention to this.

A Little Humor

First, you need to have seen this ad for Apple, featuring the singer Feist, or one like it:



Now see the latest:

Terrifying

So this is what a tsunami looks like:



I'm looking for good reporting on the nuclear reactor issues in Japan. What is the worst case scenario? How far will be the reach? Anybody know?

Here's the latest from the NY Times:

“They’re basically in a full-scale panic” among Japanese power industry managers, said a senior nuclear industry executive. The executive is not involved in managing the response to the reactors’ difficulties but has many contacts in Japan. “They’re in total disarray, they don’t know what to do.”

Feel safe?

Living Planet

Kris and Chicago Ted invited me Shabat dinner on Friday, where we had good conversation which came very close to solving the problems in the Middle East. John and Bev Elmquist were there. John is a remarkable musician-composer. His music is intelligent and often very funny. (He shares a lot of it at Hard Art Groop.)

[Sidebar: John and Bev helped out several times at St. John's Thanksgiving Dinner. Suellen, who ran the show and loved all volunteers, referred to them as "My Lutherans."]

John sent me this link to a slide show by photographer Timothy Allen. What great stuff! Don't miss it.

Leonard Cohen

Apropos of nothing, here's a very nice video of Leonard Cohen doing Famous Blue Raincoat. It does a better job than any of the commercially prepared videos of capturing what his concerts are like. Notice that the audience sings along. Notice that the concert is in Lisbon.

Portugal.

Enjoy

Rahm Emanuel

I think I've mentioned before that several years ago I had the opportunity to sit down and have a one hour, almost one-on-one, conversation with Rahm Emanuel. He was my Congressman for several years, then he went to Washington and did something, can't remember what, and now he's running for mayor of Chicago. Which is all the proof you should need that he's either corrupt or out of his freaking mind.

This Sunday the NY Times will run a little story about Emanuel by the author, Scott Turow. That's another six degrees of separation thing. Scott used to be – I don't know, maybe he still is – an attorney at Sonnenshein, Nath, and Rosenthal (currently has a new name, but who cares what it is), where Suellen worked. And for some reason (there are many to choose from), Scott took a liking to Suellen. We sometimes would go to readings that Scott gave from his latest book, and when he spotted Suellen he would walk over to her and chat with her. I'd hold her coat. She was thrilled and I was jealous. That was a common pairing.

Anyway, Scott's story is here. It's not the greatest political journalism, but it's an easy read.

Emanuel has had some good political ads (brought to you by Axelrod & Co). I'll talk about one of them later.

Joao Silva Update

The earlier vagueness about the extent of Joao Silva's injuries led me to anticipate this: Silva lost both legs when a land mine exploded under him in Afghanistan. He was a "contract photographer" for the Times, which means the Times is probably contractually not responsible for him from now on. Thus, the fund raisers. Welcome to the Reagan Revolution. [Update: See Chip's comment, below.]

Here are the pictures Silva took just before – and after! – the explosion. And a video of his recovery, which is going well.