brainrow

Good heavens! Kate Bush turns 50!

Happy birthday, Kate!

I have to agree with Atrios (quote somewhat reformatted):

I’ve never quite been able figure out why the image of the burning twin towers is seen by Republicans as something in their favor. In my universe the timeline goes something like this:

Jan 20, 2001

Bush Inaugurated

Jan 25, 2001

Richard Clarke sends Condi Rice memo, warning about al Qaeda. Rice does nothing.

August 6, 2001

Bush gets memo titled “Bin Laden Determined to strike in US.” Bush responds by telling the briefer, “All right. You’ve covered your ass, now.” Then does nothing.

September 11, 2001

Bin Laden strikes in US.

I would add the transition-team briefing, before Bush was inaugurated, when outgoing Clinton Administration officials warned the incoming Bush team about the danger posed by al Qaeda. Naturally, the Bush people ignored the warnings. If they hadn’t, they might not have this great issue of 9/11 to beat Democrats over the head.

Republican failures show we need more Republicans? Maybe Karl Rove was a genius, after all.

Doctors say Dick Cheney’s heart is healthy:

US Vice President Dick Cheney, who has a history of cardiac trouble, underwent a routine medical checkup on Saturday and his heart was declared in stable condition, his spokeswoman said.

And here I thought Cheney’s heart was black and hard as a lump of anthracite. I guess I should forget about medical school.

Cheney’s black heart — speaking figuratively, of course — is steadily pumping blood. For more than five years, it has pumped American blood into the sands of Iraq.

As vice-president, Cheney has helped pump billions of taxpayer dollars into the pockets of Halliburton and its subsidiaries.

Reporters, when you say this man has a clean bill of health, remember to put quotation marks around “clean.”

Cartoonist Don Asmussen reminds us that, even on the Fourth of July, we must always be on the lookout for people who aren’t patriotic enough.

At a difficult time like today, can we really trust this country to anyone who doesn’t jump through meaningless symbolic hoops to prove his patriotism? And can we trust those who do jump through meaningless symbolic hoops? I mean — maybe it’s all part of some grand master plan to make us believe that they’re patriotic even when their actions hurt the country.

If you get your news from Fox News, it’s really time to stop that:

On the July 2 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends, co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade labeled New York Times reporter Jacques Steinberg and editor Steven Reddicliffe “attack dogs,” claiming that Steinberg’s June 28 article on the “ominous trend” in Fox News’ ratings was a “hit piece.” During the segment, however, Fox News featured photos of Steinberg and Reddicliffe that appeared to have been digitally altered — the journalists’ teeth had been yellowed, their facial features exaggerated, and portions of Reddicliffe’s hair moved further back on his head. Fox News gave no indication that the photos had been altered.

Click the link and watch the video there to see this in context.

The only thing you can be sure of with Fox News is that there is no no-spin zone there.

Cartoonist D.C. Simpson looks at McCain’s job qualifications. (Click to see the whole cartoon.)

I also like this cartoon about the brilliance of Karl Rove. And this one, on a long eight years.