With Rush, it's alway about the anal sex, isn't it?

Steve Benen wrote: "One of the top stories on CNN.com this afternoon had this headline: 'Ashton Kutcher squeals as chest is waxed.' I don't think it was an April Fools' joke; I think CNN considered this news."

You are surprised? CNN degenerated into tabloid drivel a long time ago. That's what they mainly do now -- other than the commercials, of course, which fill most of their air time.

Regurgitating scripted Republican talking points comes in third after commercials and brain-dead tabloid BS.

compare and contrast: gordon brown's "slobbering" over obama (which el rushbo finds unseemly) with tony blair's "poodle act" around bush.

I'm still not sold on Obama's gift-giving skills

I suspect that a lot of people who get their news from cable news channels are wondering why the obsession with these gifts. It certainly makes the Villagers look petty. Personally, I like the idea of a President who isn't obsessed with ornate decorations (Oval Office rug) and other pretentious symbols like suits in the Oval Office, gifts to dignitaries, or appearances on Jay Leno. But then, unlike these gift obsessionados, it doesn't bother me that Obama likes arugula or orange juice.

The answer precedes the question?

* Sun-Times Media Group joins the Chapter 11 club.

* Do major news outlets understand what bankruptcy is?

"...Stephen Hadley would wind up with a job somewhere, but I wouldn't have guessed the U.S. Institute of Peace."

That's actually the Ministry of Peace, right? Minipax?

The iPod was only half of the gift. They also gave her a rare Rodgers & Hammerstein songbook signed by Richard Rodgers. Since the Queen and her husband used to hum Rodgers & Hammerstein to each other while they were courting and she's still a big fan of theirs to this day, that one was an extremely thoughtful gift.

Looks like someone got chewed out over the DVD set. Either that, or they made the protocol office watch the tape of Jon Stewart ripping into them for that mistake and let them draw their own conclusions.

Why can't I get excited about tax filing discrepancies? It is my intent when I file my return (or my return is filed for me) that I pay all taxes due. I gave up calculating my own taxes when the IRS came up with the concept of "passive income" for limited partnerships, being involved in several limited partnerships at that time. Two years ago I incorrectly reported to my accountant that a check to the IRS was an settlement of my taxes rather than an advance payment toward taxes (my accountant did not catch this misstatement). This resulted in my owing some $1,600 in penalty, interest, and unpaid taxes (2-1/2 years after the tax filing in question), which I promptly paid. Now, I am retired on a (mostly) fixed income -- if we extrapolate my experience to someone making serious money, we are talking about a filing discrepancy of several thousand dollars.

birth certificate gate may have ended but iPod gate has begun!

It was less than ten years ago, Fall of 2000 to be precise, that CNN was going head-to-head with the BBC for best news website in the world. They had -- what we have lost -- BOOK reviews. A real effort at total news, political and cultural coverage. Now they're the poster child for FARK (and if you don't know what that is, Google it).

And the same WaPo compilation story that mentioned Hadley's Peace initiative (and apparently it's real -- he's working with Sandy Berger) had a piece on Miss Universe touring Gitmo and marvelling at how beautiful and peaceful it is. And, admiring comments about the dogs aside, she's right. Guantanamo Beach, the source of "Guantanamera," the "Girl From Ipanema" of Cuba, was the most beautiful beach in the Caribbean, frequented by tourists, gangsters and Cubans alike. After the revolution, the U.S. stole it in an act of petty revenge and built a naval base, then Bush decided to put his prison there. Maybe one day it can return to what it was. Guajira, Guantanamera.

I really do NOT remember Rush salivating over Tony Blair being a 'lap dog' for King George the lesser!

WTF reason would anyone have for appointing a neocon like Hadley to any outfit that has 'peace' in it's name? Unless they have a major case of irony working.

Are you trying to tell us that Obama was born in the U.S.? Did you forget that Hawaii is a foreign, exotic place?

Hadley at the USIP is like Reagan re-naming the MX Missile the Peacekeeper. Modern-day Republicans are Madison Avenue hucksters who co-opt important concepts like social justice, peace, balanced budgets, human rights etc. and render them as meaningless as Bernie Madoff's monthly Statements of Account.

Kucher should man up and take it like Steve Carell.

"And finally, I figured former Bush national security adviser Stephen Hadley would wind up with a job somewhere, but I wouldn't have guessed the U.S. Institute of Peace."

Daddy( King George) bought(appointed) it for him!

I saw the CNN story about Kuchar. I winced and thought how nice it would be to have parents news coverage.

When I linked through from the Joe the mindless drooling asshole plumber story, one of the posters said that Huckabee had told Joe -"say high to your father" raising the question - who is Joe's father? A quick gooogle and there it is. I didn't know that.

http://celebgalz.com/joe-wurzelbacher-the-plumber-robert-wurzelbacher-related-to-charles-keating/
Excerpt
Robert Wurzelbacher was an executive of American Continental Corporation, the parent company of Charles Keating’s Lincoln Savings. American Continental Corporation is the bank which caused citizens to lose their life savings and cost U.S. taxpayers $3.4 billion. Robert Wurzelbacher pleaded guilty to three counts of misapplying $14 million and served 40 months in prison.

All in the Republican family I guess

Note to all the blogging lawyers, especially Glenn Greenwald, however sound his reasoning: you're supposed to write brief, not a brief. Steve, yer doon jus fine. Probably why you didn't get a mention from Henley. Just remember, rest and exercise. Laptop on the elliptical?

"* Instability in Iraq continues to be a cause for concern."

This was always going to happen. It'll get worse. The "Surge" wasn't what kept the lid on the insurgency, it was buying them off. The new Iraqi government is balking at the program and the fissures will reappear, simple as that. They are simply waiting for the troops to leave. Which was pointed out at the height of The Suge victory party.

Robert Wurzelbacher is also Charles Keating's son-in-law. So what does that make Samuel, I mean Joe? I'd say, a grandson-of-a-son-of-a-bitch.

"come down with anal poisoning and may die from it."

What the fuck does that mean?

Have much experience with "anal poisoning" Rush?

Is that why you needed the Oxycontin?

1. Ashton Kutcher is way cute and rarely vulgar in public
2. Rush is always vulgar and ugly
3. Which reminds me, I should do my tax forms (I didn't make enough money to have a $7k error)
4. Petty crime does not really pay these days, because nobody can afford to buy stuff from the pawn shops where the stuff winds up
5. Bankruptcy .. "It's too late for me Luke, tell your sister you were right about me. You were right!" (Luke drags Vader onto a ship and off they fly) So much for greed as a basis for running an empire, a life, or a media group.

Corporate mafia. Success guaranteed.

NYT (last paragraph!):

Mr. Wagoner will not receive a severance payment but instead will get a pension and other benefits worth about $23 million, to be paid in installments over the rest of his life, according to Equilar, a compensation consulting firm.

Wiki:

He became president and chief executive officer in June 2000 and was elected chairman on May 1, 2003. During his reign, GM shares have plummeted from around $60 in June 2000 to as low as $1.27 in March 2009, a loss of approximately 98%, and GM's share of North American cars sales went from 28.3% to 18.3%
As CEO, Wagoner focused on highly profitable but fuel guzzling sport utility vehicles and light trucks. ... In an interview, Wagoner stated that the worst decision of his tenure at GM was "axing the EV1 electric-car program and not putting the right resources into hybrids. "It didn’t affect profitability," Wagoner claimed, "but it did affect image". In the end, Wagoner's choice did affect more than image in a market with high demand for hybrid and electric vehicles, and led to observations that GM, under Wagoner's leadership, failed to see clearly obvious trends.

Side note: Wagoner got his MBA from Harvard in 1977.

"Mr. Plumber... admitted he knew 'little' about the legislation after being confronted with questions..."

What was the name of the working stiff who confronted him with questions, and how soon until that person is famous, too?

@ koreyel You said it - short term profitability, the only things the overpaid execs understood. Why the fuck should they care when they get rewarded even when they become the living example of the peter principle. Thanks to that dick and his ilk there are no more blue chip stocks which used to represent stable long term investment.

Best April Fool's Prank EVA!

April Fooled: NASCAR Hoax Causes Web Frenzy

Precious.

* Rush Limbaugh: if Gordon Brown keeps "slobbering" over Obama, he'll "come down with anal poisoning and may die from it." Classy bunch, those right-wing leaders.

Rush is just upset that we no longer have a POTUS whose primary goal at intl meetings is to cop a feel of all the female heads of state.

Heh, Rush talking about "anal poisoning" when he dodged Vietnam with an "anal cyst" - John Kerry, Al Gore, and plenty of others took his place.

hells littlest angel beat me to it. Pluswhich it sounds like that phony "balance" shite they're always pulling. Had Clinton's NSA, have to have Bush's NSA, too. But why not Condi? DISCRIMINATION, obviously. (lol)

* I'm still not sold on Obama's gift-giving skills,[...] -- Steve Benen

Agree. A fleet of Humvees (one per G-20 attendee), or even more pedestrian, run-of-the-mill, SUVs would have been *much* better, in the "whole flock of birds with one stone" way. The US automotive industry gets a financial boost, while unloading a bunch of their lemons. European leaders (and their minions) get a car of their dreams which will last for years, since it'll have to stay in the garage (no room to park in the street, and their gas is much more expensive than ours). Obama gets to show we can think *really big*... Everyone's a winner.

An i-Pod, OTOH...

exlibra, the only problem with that plan is that Europeans don't have garages....

"Is the birth-certificate obsession on the right nearly over?"

Heck, I hope not. It's been entertaining me for months.

Someone on the teevee suggested that instead of the iPod the Obamas should have brought gifts for the Queen's Corgis. As a person with an attachment to a dog of that breed, I agree wholeheartedly. They are delightful dogs. And tougher than they look.

I read somewhere that the iPod was filled with songs by the Queen's favorite composers and photos from her trip to the U.S. (making it much more thoughtful and a great present in my opinion), but I have no idea whether that's true, since "I read somewhere" really is the best I can do when it comes to remembering my source for that.

Crime is up in my little corner of Washington DC.

YDV,

Just click to the NYT's article in the link. It states that the iPod has "video and photos of her 2007 trip to the United States, as well as other songs and accessories . . ." Seems like quite a thoughtful gift to me as well as something of a metaphysical bridge between leadership generations.

But c'mon. We're supposed to worry about a fine and touching gift package presented by the Obamas when they get in return a signed picture of the Queen. Cheesy, and not a moment's thought went into it. Her standard gift to visiting dignitaries. Puh-leese.

Give me the DVD package that Gordon Brown got any day of the week.

It's exacly because of silly comparisons like this that we long ago declared a permanent moratorium on holiday gift giving in our family. I suggest world leaders do the same.

The birth certificate thing is still cooking in Florida, where the pubs want a college quarterback to run the party:

http://cfn.scout.com/2/852492.html

(Toward the end is the Obama birthplace issue.)

I have had problems with my tax returns for about a decade. The IRS finds a problem, I pay, then the state says, "Hey!" and I pay again. They find a problem in 2007. Then you do 2005. Then they do 2002. This happens whether I use TurboTax or H&R Block -- I make $50k a year so the amounts are miniscule, but the penalties are usurus. I'm thinking the only way to correct the problem is through a Senate confirmation. Those staffers should start a new business.