Oh, so that's why we can't have gay soldiers!

According to professional prude and bigotry enthusiast Tony Perkins, the reason we have to keep Don't Ask / Don't Tell is. . .

You know, what the president has done is he has urged the Joint Chiefs to make a change at a time of war, undermining, potentially, our nation's security and the effectiveness of our military, and quite possibly opening the door to the draft once again, because we've seen that there are men and women who do serve in the military who have expressed reservations about staying in the military if this change comes about.

(source)


Yep, we need to keep them queers outta the military or else there's a-gonna be a draft!

And according to character assassin and falsehood buff Saxby Chambliss,

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) expressed his concern that repealing the rule would pave the way for allowing "alcohol use, adultery, fraternization, and body art" in the military

Because currently, you know, all members of the military are teetotalers, and none of our troops has tattoos or other-than-marital-sex. I mean, I assume. I've never been in the military, but I figure Gomer Pyle, USMC probably had it about right.

Although, come to think of it, I do remember seeing something in the paper about soldiers drinking. . . . .





hmm, well now I don't know what to think. . .

Anyway, I guess I owe the righties an apology. All this time I thought you were against gay people serving in the military because you think gayness is icky and maybe contagious, and you have the maturity of ten-year olds, but now I see you have perfectly legitimate reasons for your fear of military gaiety.

Sorry.

Townes Van Zandt Cover of the Day

Here's Nanci Griffith covering "Tecumseh Valley" on the Letterman Show.



And Mr. Van Zandt himself:

A new definition of Bi-Partisan

From the increasingly irrelevant Atlanta Journal Constitution:

A bipartisan prescription for national health care reform

By Newt Gingrich and Andrew Von Eschenbach

Okay, so the actual op-ed piece itself is not really important, although you can read it here if you're interested. It's pretty much what you would expect, vague, meaningless suggestions like "make healthcare more affordable," and "make healthcare more available," and (swear to God) "Make healthcare more appropriate." So, basically do nothing and let the free market work its fucking bullshit magic or whatever, but that's not really the point.

Here's the point.

I know who Newt Gingrich is, but I had no idea who this Andrew Von MC Escher guy was, so I looked at the bottom of the piece, where they explain who the authors are and I found this:

Newt Gingrich is the founder of the Center for Health Transformation. Dr. Andrew Von Eschenbach is former commissioner of the FDA and senior strategist at the center.

Yeah, that's right. The AJC's idea of bi-partisan means Newt Gingrich and a guy who works for Newt Gingrich.

Goddamned liberal media!

Pathetic. And they wonder why newspapers are dying.

James O'Keefe does Comedy!

Statement from James O'Keefe

On the Landrieu incident

The government has now confirmed what has always been clear: No one tried to wiretap or bug Senator Landrieu’s office. Nor did we try to cut or shut down her phone lines. Reports to this effect over the past 48 hours are inaccurate and false.

You know, cutting or shutting down her phone lines would actually have made more sense than whatever it is you were trying to do. So would wiretapping or bugging her office. If you weren't there to do any of those thins, why the hell were you even bothering?

But that's neither here nor there, go ahead and do your little comedy routine, Jimmy.

As an investigative journalist,

As an investigative journalist, my goal is to expose corruption and lack of concern for citizens by government and other institutions, as I did last year when our investigations revealed the massive corruption and fraud perpetrated by ACORN.

For decades, investigative journalists have used a variety
of tactics to try to dig out and reveal the truth.

I learned from a number of sources

I learned from a number of sources that many of Senator Landrieu’s constituents were having trouble getting through to her office to tell her that they didn’t want her taking millions of federal dollars in exchange for her vote on the healthcare bill. When asked about this, Senator Landrieu’s explanation was that, “Our lines have been jammed for weeks.” I decided to investigate why a representative of the people would be out of touch with her constituents for “weeks” because her phones were broken.

In investigating this matter, we decided to visit Senator Landrieu’s district office – the people’s office –

we decided to visit Senator Landrieu’s district office – the people’s office –
to ask the staff if their phones were working.

On reflection, I could have used a different approach to this investigation,

It has been amazing to witness the journalistic malpractice committed by many of the organizations covering this story.

The public will judge whether reporters who can’t get their facts straight have the credibility to question my integrity as a journalist.

Today's Townes Van Zandt Cover

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings join Norah Jones to cover "Loretta" with amazing harmonies:




And the original: