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The best defense is no defense

Bob Barr, the former Congressman who wrote the “Defense of Marriage Act” in 1996, now writes in the LA Times that it should be repealed. I’m not posting this in Political Irony because of the apparent flip-flop, but because the article — about a subject that can stir up strong emotions and words — is calm, clear, and well reasoned. He explains both what he was trying to do with the original act (and the compromises involved) and why he is now for repealing his own act. We need more Republicans like Barr (who ironically quit the party to become the Libertarian nominee for President in 2008).

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Late Night Political Humor

“Well, let me know what you think of this. George Herbert Walker Bush says that his son, Jeb, would make a great president. And I’m thinking, a third Bush in the White House. Boy, cut me a slice of that, you know?” -David Letterman

“George Bush Sr. recently said he’d like his son Jeb to be president, but that right now is a bad time for him to run. When asked what a good time would be, Bush Sr. said, ‘Eight years ago.'” -Conan O’Brien

“President-elect Barack Obama said he got a little choked up as he left his house in Chicago and headed for Washington, D.C. It was especially painful because as soon as he left, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich sold Obama’s house.” -Conan O’Brien

“And for the next two weeks, President-elect Barack Obama will be living full-time at a hotel right across the street from the White House. This is historic because this is the first time a Democrat has checked into a Washington hotel room under his own name.” -Jay Leno

“Earlier today, Barack Obama’s daughters started at their new school in Washington, DC. Yeah, their teachers are really impressed and said that both girls are already reading well above President Bush level.” -Conan O’Brien

“First Lady Laura Bush has signed a deal to write her memoirs. We have an advance copy right here. It’s called, ‘Another Book My Husband Won’t Read.'” -Jay Leno

“Kind of an awkward moment. They asked President Bush what his New Years resolution was, and he said, ‘Well, sure, our government needs work, but there’s no reason to start a resolution.'” -Jay Leno

“Barack Obama spent his first full day in Washington since coming back from his vacation in Hawaii, but no matter where this guy is, he always manages to work out. Like, today, he spent most of the afternoon running from Bill Richardson.” -Jay Leno

“As you may have heard, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson announced this weekend that he is withdrawing his nomination to be Commerce Secretary because of a grand jury investigation involving some of his political donors. And once again, President Bush, not really following this story. Like, when he heard there was a problem with the governor of New Mexico, he said, ‘Well, he should be deported.'” -Jay Leno

“As you know, Israel is at war with Hamas. Israel says the reason they attacked Gaza was, they were sick of being hit by Palestinian missiles. You know who is really tired of it? The manager of the Target store in Jerusalem. He’s fed up.” -Jay Leno

“And a special holiday message was delivered by the Iranian president. It aired on British TV Christmas Day, and in this message, the Iranian president said that if Jesus were alive today, he would be standing next to him. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I’m sure Jesus would be wearing an ‘I’m With Stupid’ t-shirt, too.” -Jay Leno

“And Congress says this week they are looking into this Bernard Madoff scandal. So The guy that made $50 billion disappear is being investigated by the people who made $750 billion disappear.” -Jay Leno

“Hey, congratulations to Gov. Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol, who had her baby. They named the baby Tripp, which is better than the name Sarah Palin suggested. She wanted to call the kid Joe the baby.” -Jay Leno

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Confidence

Joel Pett
© Joel Pett

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Irony Blotter

Several miscellaneous stories out today that are all ironic:

First off is the news that Samuel Joe Wurzelbacher, better known as “Joe the Plumber”, has a new job. He is going to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative web site Pajamas TV. If you feel you must ask how he is qualified for this job, remember that he isn’t really even a plumber.

Second, remember when Obama asked if he could move into Blair House two weeks early, so his children could start school? The Bush administration rebuffed him, saying that Blair House was already booked. Turns out that the only person staying in Blair house during those two weeks was invited after Obama asked. Do these people even know how to tell the truth?

Finally, Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis have announced that they are going to Congress to request a $5 billion bailout of the adult entrainment industry. Heck, why not? Will they call this a “money shot”?

UPDATE: Adding new meaning to the phrase “dear john letter”, the US Army sent out 7,000 letters to the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, with the salutation “Dear John Doe”.

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Uncle Jay explains 2008 in Christmas Carols

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John Waters gives advice to Obama

John Waters, director of such movies as Hairspray, Pecker, and Pink Flamingos, has recorded a video with some suggestions for Obama. Enjoy!

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Small Town Values?

Yesterday, was a rather bad day for Levi Johnston (supposedly Sarah Palin’s future son-in-law). Not only did he have to quit his north slope oil job because he does not have a high school diploma, but his mother Sherry went to court on drug charges.

What’s sad about the latter is that she appeared alone to face her charges. No friends or family at her side to support her. In addition, nobody helped her find a lawyer. She asked for and received a public defender from the state. Sherry Johnston told the judge that she is in the middle of a divorce, and is living on medical disability payments and child support.

So, where are those small-town conservative values that Sarah Palin likes to talk about? Even ignoring things like illegal drugs, unwed teen pregnancy, high school dropouts, divorce, and “socialist” things like medical disability payments and child support, aren’t those good small town people supposed to lend a helping hand to each each other? I actually feel sorry for Sherry.

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When Bushies Ruled

This video from Ted Rall is in glorious poor taste, of course:

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New Year’s Resolutions

Gary Varvel
© Gary Varvel

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Hypocritical Political Preemptive Attack

I have noticed that the number of articles I have posted with the “hypocrisy” tag has gone down quite a bit since the long presidential campaign. But yesterday’s opinion piece in the NY Times more than makes up for it. In it John “I hate the UN” Bolton and John “I love torture” Yoo discuss the need to limit executive power, saying that Obama needs to submit anything vaguely treaty-like to the Senate. Since treaties require two-thirds approval by the Senate, and the Democrats don’t quite have a two-thirds majority there, this would allow Senate Republicans to block key legislation.

Remember that Bolton himself received a “recess appointment” to become ambassador to the UN in order to avoid trying to get Senate approval, and repeatedly sabotaged attempts to control weapons of mass destruction. Yoo wrote the infamous memos that declared torture legal and denied enemy combatants protection under the Geneva Conventions, completely sidestepping Congress, and formulated version of the “Unitary Executive Theory” that claimed that the President (not Congress or the courts) has sole authority to interpret international treaties (to the point where he claimed that if the president decides to torture someone, including by crushing the testicles of that person’s child, there is no treaty that can stop him”).

So where does this sudden new appreciation for deferring to Congressional authority come from? It is easy to tell, since they don’t even bother to hide their real goal, which is to block any legislation on issues like climate change, restricting land mines, or nuclear test bans. 

As commentator John Cole puts it:

I knew these wankers would do this, I just didn’t expect it immediately and so brazenly. The balls on these people.

Yoo in particular is a classic partisan flip-flopper, having criticized President Clinton for having an “imperial presidency” and then turning around completely during the Bush administration becoming the head cheerleader for executive power, and now attacking Obama for the same thing.

I’m amazed that they aren’t even waiting for Obama to take office before preemptively attacking him for things that they themselves are guilty of. That’s a great trick. The real question is, have the American people woken up enough to reject this kind of political bullshit?

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The Irony Detector

Irony Detector
© W. Rowntree

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Robbing Peter to Pay Paul(son)

Matt Bors
© Matt Bors

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Letterman reviews Bush’s promises

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American Freedom – Made in China

American Freedom - Made in China

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New Year Prohibitions

Andy Singer
© Andy Singer

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