Thursday, March 31
God Bless Harry Shearer
Oh how I love blog buzz.
Wednesday, March 30
Googling for Jesus OR Womenfolk?!?
John Altevogt, a conservative GOP activist from Wyandotte County, also welcomed Coulter. "Ann Coulter is logical, rational and an independent thinker," he said. "In essence, everything the left hates in their womenfolk."
John Altevogt
To stymie political group, opponents seize its name 9-20-2004
After a decade of battling with Mainstream Coalition, a nonprofit with the goal of keeping church and state seperate, Altevogt took matters into his own hands and incorporated their name for $40. The original group was formed by Johnson County residents(Topeka, KS) that were fed up with bullshit, social conservatism in their state. They are pro-choice and pro-gay, so naturally, they were called a "hate group akin to the Ku Klux Klan" by Mr. Altevogt.
Drug Industry Financing Fuels Pro-GOP TV Spots 10-23-2002
Pro-Republican, business-financed groups such as the United Seniors Association and Americans for Job Security are putting up $17 million and $6 million, respectively, dwarfing the roughly $3 million budgets of the Sierra Club and NARAL, which generally favor Democrats. One new organization that declined to reveal its funding sources -- the Council for Better Government, headed by Republican activist, John Altevogt -- has spent about $1 million for ads on black radio stations urging African Americans to consider voting Republican.
Big Spender 10-3-2003
John Altevogt was the head of the Council for Better Government, a 527 group that recieved $1.25 million dollars from the Republican Leadership Coalition in 2003. He used the money to run radio and television ads in 12 states that challened Democratic policies. The ads were directed at minority voters.
From The Note (ABC News): Our attention was called to a series of radio ads broadcast on predominantly black radio stations throughout the Midwest. The spots urge black voters to give the Republican Party a new look and feature discussions of faith based initiatives, Social Security, 401 (k) expansions, home ownership, school vouchers, and other topics. The tag line comes quickly at the end: "Paid For By the Council for Better Government." Though the ads appear to be straightforward, one Democratic reader wrote to us to say he was offended by the insinuation at the Democratic Party took African Americans for granted. To be sure, that's a charge that many Democrats lob at their own party. And Republican political entrepreneurs really do want to increase the appeal of their party, sometimes for political reasons but often because they sincerely believe that Republican issues yoke with the hopes and dreams of African Americans. In one of the ads, a woman narrator complains that:
"Every year, some white Democratic politician says he's going to make black schools work … .he's going to Washington to set high standards; he's going to Washington to teach our kids to read … and year by year the test score gap between the black and white students remains." And: "Republicans favor school choice; under the Republican plan, we parents choose the schools our kids attend … If our neighborhood school has drugs or gangs or bad academics, we'll send our kids somewhere better. That's not stealing from public schools. That's taking care of family business. And that's why I support the Republicans. And I ask the white Democrats: What's wrong with black parents choosing schools for black children. Do you have a problem with that?" So who is this Council for Better Government? What are their motives? Who funds them? Google and Nexus didn't help, so we checked with the IRS's 527 filings. Sure enough, there's a Council for Better Government registered to a John Altevogt of Edwardsville, Kansas. The group very recently filed for 527 status for the purpose of "political communications through radio and television." It did not exist until September 12 of this year. Altevogt, a masters-level sociologist and a former Associate Vice Chair of the Kansas Republican State Committee, has written extensively on reaching out to the black community. "I was reasonably successful in having minority outreach programs when I was the chair of [a county party,]" he said in an interview. "Why is it a concern, basically from Democratic groups, that we talk about issues in the minority community? Do they not want us to present both sides of the story?" Altevogt said the ads would eventually run in 15 states. He declined to disclose the source of his funding, but he denied any coordination with the Republican Party. "I am me. I am not coordinated with anyone," he said.
Tuesday, March 29
Old News
Oh my. This story is a year old, apparently, but news to me nonetheless. Regardless of the date, this is most definitely a pile of horseshit courtesy of Republicans and "Catholics" in Michigan.
I just read about the Conscientious Objector Policy Act that was passed by the Michigan House last Wednesday. Under this bill, health workers can refuse to treat gay patients if their decision was based on moral, ethical or religious grounds. Apparently, dozens of "The Faithful" from Michigan's Catholic Conference looked on from the gallery. The bill now moves to the Senate, which is also controlled by the GOP.
What of the Hippocratic Oath?
What of liberal Catholics?
Friday, March 25
In other news...?
I have nothing to say about Terri Shaivo that hasn't been said a hundred times by talking heads on the left, a handful of sane people on the right, and Jon Stewart.
Moving on...
This week in Ohio:
Kenneth Blackwell had a meeting with a congressional committee to talk about the 2004 election debacle in his home state. The action began when, outside the committee room, Blackwell refused to shake the hand of Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio-11th District Rep). Inside the room, Blackwell claimed that Ohio "had one of the best election administration performances in the country." He also complained about "fabrications and exaggerations" by partisan Democrats and people yammering away on messageboards.
For more on such exaggerations, please check out the Status Report of the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff... (pdf)
Oh, and just for shits and giggles, check out this article published by the WSJ about Bush's current reading habits. I followed the link from a Wonkette post that was accompanied by this fantastic chart:
Thursday, March 24
Wha?
I wish it wasn't 7 in the am.
Just for kicks, here are a few remarks Tom DeLay made the other day to the Family Research Council. Warning: This is douchebaggery at its finest:
``One thing that God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo to elevate the visibility of what is going on in America, that Americans would be so barbaric as to pull a feeding tube out of a person that is lucid and starve them to death,'' he said in remarks Friday to a conservative group and made public Wednesday. ``This is exactly the issue that is going on in America, of attacks against the conservative movement, against me and against many others,'' added DeLay, lately at the center of a controversy concerning his overseas travel.I do wish he wasn't such a stain on Texas and politics in general. If you want a bit of light reading, here's Ann Coulter's take on the whole situation. She's such a loon. Randi Rhodes said it best when she suggested removing Ann's feeding tube, so long as one did it in Texas where it's legal to execute the retarded. Time for work!
Tuesday, March 22
BEEP!! What is "pond scum," Alec?
Seriously, Drudge is an absolute joke. This is one of tonight's EXCLUSIVES...
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX TUE MARCH 23, 2005 20:32:45 ET XXXXX HBO MOVIE SHOWS RADIO 'AIR AMERICA' CHAOS **Exclusive** HBO is set to air a behind the scenes look at the launching of liberal radio network AIR AMERICA. The DRUDGE REPORT has obtained a director's cut of LEFT OF THE DIAL, a grossly entertaining docu-drama of life on the other side of the AIR AMERICA microphone. The doubts. The lies. The bounced checks. The heartbreak. The viewer is taken upclose to witness the ugly business of media ambition. The main character, Evan Cohen, founding chairman and main investor, is depicted as a complete fraud. The documentary shows Cohen arriving in the middle of night at AIR AMERICA offices to sign over the company and disappear again, but not before lying about how many ads have been sold and how much money is the bank [zero]. Dead Air. It shows how AIR AMERICA executives lied and lied again about not bouncing checks to their Chicago and Los Angeles affiliate owners. [The network was quickly thrown off the stations.] The film captures AIR AMERICA staff first learning about the Chicago and LA nightmare by reading a DRUDGE REPORT exclusive on their computers. It shows midday host Al Franken at a staff meeting being told there is no money left, hilariously, just moments after ranting about George Bush's ethics. The HBO crew is told to shut down their cameras -- but they don't -- and the 'We're Broke!' meeting is filmed raw. LEFT OF THE DIAL shows an angry meeting of the writing staff being told how money was deducted from their checks to pay for health care -- but the money was never paid to the HMO and they were never covered! Host Janeane Garofalo looks suicidal in nearly ever scene which she appears. "What am I going to do, just ramble on and on," panics stand-up-comic-morning-drive-host Marc Maron, as he deals with the reality of becoming a talkshow host. But every drama must have a hero: Enter Randi Rhodes. Highlight. The camera captures pm drive Rhodes in her classic PMS mood, but this time at home, in her newly rented NYC apartment. Wearing a leopard-spotted robe, bra-less, smoking and crying "I'm so f**ckign lost," the relocated Floridian steals the show. Talking to herself in the bedroom mirror, Rhodes whispers "You can do this." She bemoans throughout how she is not being featured in any AIR AMERICA press. "No CNN. No USATODAY. No YAHOO wire story." How she is the only one hired at AIR AMERICA that's even been on radio before. When she attempts to introduce herself to director Michael Moore [rushing out of a Franken Radio interview], Rhodes quickly realizes he does not even know who she is. The heartbreaking scene is easily a frontrunner for this year's EMMYs. The HBO film is set for air March 31. Developing...Meh... Fag.
She's baaaaaack.
Of course, The Goddess has BEEN back since St Patty's day, but I had a rough weekend and I wasn't able to post much of anything.
I'm still on the emotional side, as one tends to be after a death in the family, so I'll just leave you with Randi's latest blog-post:
Hello Campers,It is great to finally be OUT of the hospital. You will never hear anyone say, "It’s great to be going INTO the hospital." One of the worst things about the hospital besides the cutting, the bleeding, the pain, the stitching, the recovery and more recovery, is the complete sense of helplessness you have. You basically give up all control.
I do not want someone walking me to the bathroom, or telling me to lay right there and do nothing until further instructions. You really feel helpless when doctors bring in interns or other doctors to show off their work. All you can do is lie there. When they stand around your bed you feel like you’re in an episode of “Extreme Makeover the Body Edition.”
The doctor explains everything. “Randi has had this body for years, and as you can see it obviously went onto a state of decline from misuse. You don’t even want to know what the inside looks like. But we’ve worked around the clock and she’s spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to reverse all those years of damage. “First I had to cut her from here to there. Then we did some renovation in this area. This whole section had to be completely redone. It was a big job with all the plumbing and remodeling. I didn't know if we could pull it off, but we worked together, got it done and just made our deadline” --- if you’ll pardon the expression.”
It’s nice to be OUT and back, in control. I’m Randi Rhodes and I approve this message. Ow! Still sore! Still sore!
More later...
Saturday, March 12
Fuck you, FOX (CNN, and MSNBC)
I'm so glad the MSM decided to run the MANHUNT:GEORGIA story all day long.
Also, I'm glad that some other dude killed 7 people AND himself in Milwaukee earlier, because God knows there wont be any news to report tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Sunday's NYT has an amazing piece on the lines that stand between journalism and public relations:
Local affiliates are spared the expense of digging up original material. Public relations firms secure government contracts worth millions of dollars. The major networks, which help distribute the releases, collect fees from the government agencies that produce segments and the affiliates that show them. The administration, meanwhile, gets out an unfiltered message, delivered in the guise of traditional reporting.
Tuesday, March 8
Free Verse
This is from today's WaPo. Reporting at its finest, y'all:
Pelosi, a liberal who has few weapons besides rhetoric to use against the conservatives who control Congress, described the forthcoming report as documenting "devastating details of the profound abuse of power that characterizes House Republicans after 10 years in the majority."
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