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Ronald Reagan for Worker’s Rights

Here’s an amazing audio recording of Ronald Reagan, campaigning for Harry Truman for president and Hubert Humphrey for Senate in 1948. How many people know that Reagan was originally a Democrat?

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Holy Christmas

Nick Anderson
© Nick Anderson

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Media Lapdogs

An article in The Guardian gives a scary view at the depths that the US media will sink in order to kiss up to the Bush administration.

The article is about the $70M lawsuit that Dan Rather is bringing against CBS for breach of contract. Rather was fired the day after the 2004 election because of a story he ran about Bush’s military record in the National Guard. Rather suggests that they fired him because CBS’s parent company wanted to curry favor for regulatory issues that were due to come up during Bush’s second term.

Perhaps the most stunning revelation is that the panel that CBS set up to investigate the story was packed with conservatives. Among the people that CBS considered for the panel were far-right broadcasters Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter.

Rather further contends that CBS tried to suppress other stories that were damaging to the government, including reporting on evidence of torture at Abu Ghraib.

The final irony is that you have to read a UK newspaper in order to learn about this. Maybe we will get to hear about it when the case goes to court early in 2009.

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Financial Mess Vacuum

Jerry Holbert
© Jerry Holbert

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Do Conservatives Eat Their Own?

Normally it is the liberals who are doing all the infighting, with conservatives all reading from the same talking points. But James Dobson’s Focus on the Family has pulled an interview with Glenn Beck from one of its websites in response to protest from a group of their followers that claims that “Mormonism is a cult”. Beck, the former CNN host who is moving to Fox News in January, is a Mormon.

The subject of the interview was Beck’s book, “The Christmas Sweater”, which remains at the top of the NY Times bestseller list. Does this mean that Focus on the Family is anti-Christmas?

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And a Bah Humbug to you, too!

Four police officers have been suspended with pay after being caught on videotape stealing toys from the Toys for Tots program in Washington DC. Ironically, this is the first year that the police had been involved in the program.

From WTOP, DCExaminer, and Raw Story.

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Year in Review – Part Two!

Tom Tomorrow
© Tom Tomorrow

I love his panel on Ann Coulter. I never posted that news to Political Irony, because I hate to make fun of other people’s misfortune (even someone as vile as Ann Coulter). But this is panel is a perfect twist to the story that is not only ironic, but is funnier than the original news.

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RNC headlines irony

Sometimes, all you need for irony is a headline:

Candidate For RNC Chair Sends Out CD With Song Called “Barack, The Magic Negro”

Good thing they are working hard to dispel all those rumors that they are secretly racist.

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Using Erections to Fight Terrorism

The Washington Post has an interesting story up about how the CIA is finding creative new ways to pay off informants in the War against Terrorism in Afghanistan. The problem is that giving them weapons often backfires, and giving them money often leads to displays of conspicuous consumption, which reveals to people that they are paid informants. So, what can you give them?

One solution is to give them Viagra. In a country where chieftains and warlords often have four wives (the maximum allowed by the Koran), this seems to be working like magic. As former CIA agent Jamie Smith says, the key is to find a way to meet the informant’s personal needs in a way that keeps him firmly on your side but leaves little or no visible trace.

Of course, there is a long history of spies using sex as a motivator. The Soviets were notorious for using attractive women as bait when seeking to turn foreign diplomats into informants. And the US has often paid informants with the promise of medical care for themselves or their loved ones. So it is no surprise that these two techniques would get combined.

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Journalist admits mistake!

And you know, I think even more highly of Rachel Maddow for taking responsibility for this and discussing it in detail.

Read the LA Progressive article “Why I love Rachel Maddow“.

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A Christmas Classic

Steve Kelley
© Steve Kelley

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The Updated List

Walt Handelsman
© Walt Handelsman

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Late Night Political Humor

“Barack Obama is on vacation in Hawaii right now. And today many newspapers carried pictures of a shirtless Obama playing in the ocean. Did you see that? Yeah. So as you’re thinking of things to be thankful for this holiday, remember, that could have been a shirtless John McCain.” -Conan O’Brien

“President-elect Barack Obama and his family are in Hawaii this week. To which President Bush said, ‘You know, I prefer spending my Christmases right here in the United States.'” -Jay Leno

“It was so cold in Alaska, somebody is putting chapstick on a pig.” -Jay Leno

“It is freezing everywhere. It was so cold in Washington, even Bill and Hillary were snuggling.” -Jay Leno

“The White House staff has been briefing Barack Obama’s team on a series of worst-case scenarios that could face the country after President Bush leaves office. That’s the latest. Yeah. Apparently, the absolute worst case scenario is that Bush doesn’t leave office.” -Conan O’Brien

“NBC is showing, once again, the classic movie ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ See, it is so different today. See, when they made that movie, back then, the government actually asked banks to account for what money was missing.” -Jay Leno

“Insider tip. How many folks still have cars? Anybody here still have a car? You know, you can turn them in, take them in to Washington and they’ll give you your money back.” -David Letterman

“And Ford Motors, by God, Ford Motors is working on a brand new car called the Fusion. It’s a hybrid and runs on a combination of gas and bailout money.” -David Letterman

“One percent of Americans participating in this poll believe believe Dick Cheney is the best Vice President ever. Everybody else in the poll believes that that one percent should be wearing funny hats.” -David Letterman

“The shoe-tossing guy in Iraq, you know, he wrote a letter to President Bush and he apologized. He said, ‘Dear president Bush, I’m sorry I threw a shoe at you.’ And I was thinking, wait a minute. When is President Bush going to apologize for invading Iraq?” -David Letterman

“Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said in an interview on ’60 Minutes’ on Sunday that, if the Constitution allowed it, he would like to run for president. Yeah. Yeah. There’s a switch, a Republican being stopped by the Constitution, when does that ever happen?” -Jay Leno

“The largest donor at the Clinton library turns out to be Saudi Arabia. Yeah. Well, some critics argue that such close financial ties to the Mideast could be a conflict of interest. However, Hillary Clinton says she will not advocate Arab policies. Except, you know, the practice of stoning adulterers.” -Jay Leno

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Stuffed Stockings

Clay Bennett
© Clay Bennett

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Merry Christmas!

someecards

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