QOTW: Bill Mahrer

On Obama's pretty speeches:

"Muhammad Ali also had a way with words, but it helped enormously that he could also punch guys in the face."

Agreed.

Joe Wilson, presidential heckler, delivers Quote of the Week:

Yelled by S.C. Republican Congressman Joe Wilson at the President during tonight's address to Congress:

"You lie!"

Stay classy, dude.

Quote of the Week

John McCain, at a town hall meeting today, on what he calls a "peaceful revolt*" by Americans opposed to Obama's health care reform plan:

"I've seen involvement and engagement on the part of Americans that I have never seen the likes of which before."

More than, say, the involvement that led to his ass-kicking in November '08? That man's got serious memory impairment. Good thing he's covered by Congress's gold-plated health care insurance plan AND Medicare.

*They're revolting alright.

Whose credit card did the cat use?

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Move over, Sarah Palin. Here comes Katy Abram!

It's a good thing Chris Matthews wasn't hosting Hardball tonight, as there wouldn't be a shred of Ms. Abram left by the interview's end.

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week: Just one more obnoxious thing T.O. said

NFL running back Terrell Owens, on Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision to make recently reinstated NFL quarterback and dog executioner Michel Vick sit out the first few regular season games of 2009:

"I think he’s done the time for what he’s done. I don’t think it’s really fair for him to be suspended four more games," said Owens. "That’s almost like kicking a dead horse in the ground."

Nice choice of words, TO.

Henry's Travels snubbed by the president

President Obama did not invite me to his meeting with "progressive bloggers" in which he asked for help exposing the misinformation about his health care plan. Said he: "I know the blogs are best at debunking myths that can slip through a lot of the traditional media outlets. And that is why you are going to play such an important role in our success in the weeks to come." Snub or no snub, I'm impressed that the president recognizes and appreciates the source of much of our real news.

Get your crack on!

Gay penguin marriages: just as fragile as straight penguin marriages

Straight penguins have no monopoly on divorce (in fact, 50 percent of penguin marriages fail), as proven by the recent dissolution of the same-sex union between San Francisco penguins Harry and Pepper. The pair lovingly raised one chick together, but the marriage apparently could not withstand the machinations of Linda, a widowed penguin with designs on Harry. Henry's Travels hopes that the same-sex marriage of two male German penguins, who are raising a chick of their own, will hold fast. The LGBT penguin community needs all the role models it can find.

War on tobacco

Isn't it bad enough that our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan can't have a beer?

Study recommends total ban on smoking for soldiers.

QOTW, an oldie but goody

Warmonger and never-served-in-the-armed-forces Dick Cheney to Washington Post reporter George Wilson on his deferments and nonservice during the Vietnam War:

"I had other priorities in the '60s than military service."

Racism and the modern Republican party

It's old news how comments on Facebook and other virtual public forums often come back to bite public figures in the ass. What's remarkable is how long it takes the authors to realize they've been ass-bitten and feebly search for a band-aid. Case in point, Young Republican chair hopeful Audra Shay's recent Facebook fiasco (which I'm still not sure she's fully addressed):

“Obama Bin Lauden [sic] is the new terrorist… Muslim is on there side [sic]… need to take this country back from all of these mad coons… and illegals," wrote one of Shay's Facebook friends, Eric Pike."

Replied Shay: "You tell em Eric! lol"

Keep on digging, GOP.

Read all about it in today's Daily Beast.

Obituary of the week

In my newest weekly segment, Obituary of the Week, I bid farewell to Robert McNamara, Harvard grad and so-called “Architect of the Vietnam War”, at age 93. Henry's Travels is pondering why it is that Ivy league schools produce so many infamous architects. (Donnie Rumsfeld, Princeton, Pauly Wolfowitz, Cornell, Georgie Tenet, Columbia, Scooter-y Libby, Yale, and so on and so on).

I'm also wondering why warmongers enjoy such longevity. Henry's Travels is convinced Dick Cheney will live to be 110, and unlike the supposedly regretful McNamara,will still be dominating talk shows and prattling on about the effectiveness of torture.

"Torture. Wahh. Waterboard me now and I'll tell you my secret smoothie recipe. Wahh. OK, I'll tell you anyway. In a blender, mix a can of Ensure, one cup of oatmeal, a dollop of tapioca pudding and a dash of the urine of Beelzebub."

"The President is goddamned wrong on this"

That's the QOTW. Keith Olbermann, last night, on President Obama's pathetic lip service on repealing the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Then today: a story that Robert Gates is proposing a "less draconian way" to enforce that rule.

Reports CNN: "For the first time, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is outlining potential Obama administration plans to enforce the "don't ask, don't tell" rule selectively so that some gays could serve in the military.


credit

"Gates said he is looking at ways to make the policy 'more humane', including letting people serve who may have been outed due to vengeance or a jilted lover. The remarks appeared in a transcript the Pentagon released Tuesday."

Seems like the DOD is stranded in the Land of the Outlandish.

The President is goddamned wrong on this.