Daily Archives: May 8, 2009

It would be a scandal if GOP did it

May 8, 200911:43 a.m.

Obama Economy“The real corruption isn’t what the media are ignoring or downplaying as isolated incidents. It’s what the media are hailing as strokes of bold, inspirational leadership,” wrote columnist Jonah Goldberg. “The White House, as a matter of policy, is rewriting legal contracts, picking winners (mostly labor unions and mortgage defaulters) and singling out losers (evil ‘speculators’), while much of the media continue to ponder whether Obama is already a greater president than FDR. If a Republican administration, staffed with cronies from Goldman Sachs and Citibank, was cutting special deals for its political allies, I suspect we’d be hearing fewer FDR analogies and more nouns ending with the suffix ‘gate.’”

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under President Obama | Comments (79)

Whom would Jesus torture?

May 8, 20096:03 a.m.

jesustortureThe more religious Americans are, the more likely they are to justify torture, according to a new Pew Research Center poll. Huh? Of those surveyed who attend religious services at least weekly, 54 percent said that torture can often or sometimes be justified, compared with 42 percent of those who rarely or never attend religious services. White evangelical Protestants led the way, with 62 percent saying that torture can be justified.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Religion, Terrorism | Comments (581)

Open thread 5/8

May 8, 20096:02 a.m.

thread395

By The Editors | Filed under Open thread | Comments (95)

Who gardens in those clothes?

May 8, 20096:01 a.m.

vilsackgarden“Some sort of record in White House puffery was achieved when Tom Vilsack, the secretary of agriculture, joined first lady Michelle Obama to ‘help’ her plant vegetables in the new White House garden,” wrote St. Louis Post Dispatch columnist Kevin Horrigan. He noted how Vilsack wore a suit and tie, and Obama wore “some sort of L.L. Bean-ish, Lands’ End-ish pink jacket.” Horrigan contends that real gardening attire is “boots, jeans and a T-shirt, all of which you don’t care if they get torn and muddy in your fruitless (also vegetable-less) struggle to persuade the soil in your yard to yield something edible.”

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under American life, President Obama | Comments (11)

Late-night laughs

May 8, 20096:00 a.m.

bidenjoe5“Just a day after saying he wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places like an aircraft or a subway because of the swine flu, Vice President Biden rode a train from Washington to Delaware. You know what that means? Not even Joe Biden listens to Joe Biden.” — Jay Leno

“President Obama may choose a Supreme Court nominee by the end of the week. That’s fast. Nothing against the president, but doesn’t it worry you that it took him 10 times longer to decide on a dog?” — Craig Ferguson

“President Obama attended an early Cinco de Mayo event at the White House, but he mistakenly greeted guests with the phrase, ‘Welcome to Cinco de Cuatro,’ which means ‘five of four.’ Maybe it’s the White House itself that makes people dumb.” — Jimmy Kimmel

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Late-night laughs | Comments (4)