Our F.O.O. artist elves have been hard at work; I hope this brings a smile to y'all's faces! Actually, kudos go to Kevin Holsinger {insert standing "o"} here. AND, since we're gonna get enough news tonight to increase the heart beat, blood pressure, sour stomach, and, possibly, the runs, I'm going all silly - at least for this section. :D
I'm beginning with a variation of a holiday song that probably drives most people nuckin' futs, but this is MY diary, dammit, and this little ditty makes me laugh! :D
Seriously, haven't we ALL felt like this at one point during the holidays? If you say you haven't, then you're a big fat liar liar pants on fire. ;D
Let's dive into SPARK for December 7, 2010. If you & someone else in your family have had a bit much "Christmas cheer," DON'T do what these 2 BRILLIANT celebrators did.
And, for the love of all that's holy, DO NOT play a drinking game at your holiday celebration where you down a shot every time you hear "Julian Assange" or "Wikileaks" between now & the new year - and possibly beyond!
Finally, if anyone's doing any shopping on the "Magnificent Mile" these days, make extra sure you behave yourself! YIKES!!
Let's Countdown - Tasers NOT included unless you really really want it. And, if you DO want it, uh...gee...DUDE! ;D
"The Deal" AKA "Bedeviled Details" AKA "Deal & Consequences" - Well, I gather from that exasperated sigh at the beginning of the show that Keith IS NOT a happy camper. I just didn’t have the heart or the stomach to listen to President Obama’s briefing today; I stuck with Sir Patrick Stewart’s version of A Christmas Carol.
So, President Obama admitted that he knew the American people were on his side on this tax extension issue but made the deal he made anyway. O...K... President Obama, you never did "negotiate with the hostage takers." You gave them what they wanted weeks ago; you let the GOBP paint you into the corner of $hitacular options. Apparently, this deal was a means to win back "independent" voters. Huh...OK...what about the rest of us that voted for you?! Barring any significant change to this deal with the GOBP devil or unless the economy makes a rebound of biblical proportions or if, indeed, $aint $arah from Wasilla, is the 2012 GOBP POTUS candidate, I am about 60% sure that President Obama will be a one – term POTUS. He brought up the HCR/public option stuff again. Uh, does he remember that a clear majority of Americans WANTED a public option and that a poll shortly after HCR became law indicated that a majority of the people wanted the HCR law to GO FURTHER?!
Is he serious??!! REALLY???!!! Speaker (for a bit longer anyway) Pelosi had the following to say about how the House Dems – or some of them – are feeling about this deal:
So far the response has not been very good. We have some unease.
And, check out Senator Mary Landrieu!
I’m going to argue forcefully for the nonsensicalness and the almost, you know, moral corruptness of that particular policy.
Golly, I didn’t know "nonsensicalness" was a word! ;D She must be up for re – election in 2 years or something. Senator Bernie Sanders vows "to do what he can" to make sure that the 60 – vote threshold on the tax cut extensions in their current form are NOT met. So, is he and/or other Dems going to actually tarantino or what on the floor of the Senate? Damn! It sounds like there’s a whole mess of Dems on the Hill who are not happy campers! Huh...it’s a little late to get that chutzpah (if it’s real) NOW; said chutzpah was needed around...oh...October or so. Ezra Klein gets to talk the economics of this deal. $56 billion of this deal is for the 13 – month extension of unemployment benefits. $300 billion are for the middle – class tax cuts. $130 billion goes to the tax cuts for the super – wealthy & super – wealthy dead people. $120 billion is for the payroll tax holiday. $40 billion is for the extension of tax cuts that were part of the recovery package. Those unemployed beyond 99 weeks are still SOL & JWF. The White House is banking on the economy being much stronger by 2012. And, if it’s not? I’m telling y’all; it will just be all the more difficult to monkey around with these extensions in 2 years when this nation is rearing its ugly rear for a POTUS campaign. The majority of the details in the deal are what President Obama said he wanted, but giving $130 billion to people who don’t need it ain’t exactly a wise investment. Howard Fineman is in front of the White House to talk the political arena of this deal. Howard thinks President Obama is a bit taken aback at all the criticism he’s receiving about this tax extension deal. House Dems are caucusing again & are not happy campers, either! Damn! There are a whole lot of unhappy campers! Passing this deal will be more difficult than expected but still likely. A whole lot of ideas friendly to Dems might need to get thrown into this sucker to get even the barest majority to vote for the mother.
OK, I need silly holiday shtick!
"I.O. Who?" AKA "America’s Secret Debt" - No one on either side of the political aisle is willing to fess up as to how much we’re going to have to borrow from other countries to sustain these tax cuts we’re gonna probably get. Speaker Pelosi’s office told the show (on the subject of who we’re gonna owe money to)
We have asked Treasury for guidance on their policies with respect to this issue of disclosure.
You think you’re gonna get that from TIM GEITHNER?! {insert annoying buzzer here} WRONG! Oh, the wonders of videotape; we have President Obama saying in September that we really shouldn’t borrow any more money from China or the Saudis. Well, THAT was in September. Now? Well... Rep. Bobby Scott is anti – tax cut deal & wants full disclosure of who this nation is borrowing from. Yea, good luck with that, honey. VP Biden’s going to meet with the Dem caucus tomorrow. Oye...he better bring some iron underoos or a cup at least!
[Wikileaks Founder in Jail] So, all this hubbub about Julian Assange (no, this ain’t the drinking game!) might be about a couple of ladies who wanted him to get tested for STDs, but he didn’t? That’s a crime? Wow, somebody’s r...e...a...c...h...i...n...g. Apparently, broken condoms are a crime, too. Mr. Assange has been denied bail in London.
"Elizabeth Edwards 1949 – 2010" - I looked on the YouTubes to find that first interview with Elizabeth Edwards where she told Keith about her family, including her deceased son, Wade, gathering to watch Dan Patrick & Keith when they were on ESPN. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it. The look on Keith’s face when she said that is unforgettable. And, of course, Keith referred to it. Thoughts of strength & compassion go out to the family & friends of Elizabeth Edwards.
And, I detest being correct when I said last night that hospice care usually means the end is near; I sure didn’t think it was going to be 24 hours later. Keith, if you or your show peeps are peeking in, post that first interview on YouTube PLEASE?! Karen Finney was a friend of Mrs. Edwards. She suggested to Mrs. Edwards to talk about the ESPN show connection with her son & with Keith!
"Special Comment" - Golly, y’all think Keith’s pi$$ed? "Moronic"? "Amoral"? "Degrading"? THAT’S gonna peeve off some people. And, he brought up that 2012 timing, too! The so – called "99ers" will go up drastically over the next year or so; then, the new 99ers will be SOL & JWF, too. President Obama’s own economic advisors told him the best way to create jobs & stimulate the economy was to make sure the unemployed had money to spend – NOT tax cuts for the super rich. Keith also called the GOBP "blackmailers." Blanchie Lincoln suggested the whole decreasing the tax on the super rich dead? DIDN’T SHE LOSE – BADLY?! President Obama’s taking advice from losers now??!! Son of a *&^%$#@! HELLO?! "Childish" & "irrational"????!!!! Me thinks Keith won’t be getting any White House invites anytime soon. So, are there still going to be "people" out there thinking Keith is President Obama’s water carrier after tonight? And, how ‘bout what that "senior administration official" told Keith yesterday? It’s somehow the fault of the "progressives" for being slow on the uptake on this tax cut extension deal. $hit, if I didn’t know "you know who" is running to be Chicago’s major, I would’ve sworn HE said it. Who else would say it? David Axelrod? Robert Gibbs? President Obama is "goddamned wrong"??!! OK, it’s official; Keith ain’t goin’ to the White House anymore. ;D I hope he stole some White House M&Ms when he was there last time!