Danny Doom’s Booze Cabinet

Look, I don’t like churches any more than the next guy, but that doesn’t mean I’m against anyone building them, even when I know the b.s that’s going on inside of them. I just choose not to go in them. It’s real easy. This whole mosque-that-is-not-even-that-close-to-Ground Zero-business is ridiculous. Only really really stupid people could get worked up about–what? Huh?

“There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia. The time for double standards that allow Islamists to behave aggressively toward us while they demand our weakness and submission is over.”

Newt Gingrich. Ah. Yeah, that guy. Whadda dick. What’s with these right-wing nuts thinking they know what New Yorkers want? Ground Zero is not Republican-owned territory, despite what George Bush tried to do with the megaphone act. It’s a place where people from all different countries, backgrounds, religions and beliefs died. End of story.

I like what Joe Klein wrote about Newt yesterday:

Newt Gingrich is clearly running for President. How do I know? He gets dumb and angry when running for office.

Possibly. Or maybe he’s always that way and we’re just not paying attention to him all the time. It’s a good idea, though, to ignore goofs like him. Build the damn mosque, who gives a shit? Jesus Christ!

Map via Matt Yglesias’ blog.

Andrew Sullivan on “The Unwinnable War:

When one weighs the extra terror risk from remaining in Afghanistan, the absurdity of our chief alleged ally actually backing the enemy, the impossibility of an effective counter-insurgency when the government itself is corrupt and part of the problem, the brutality of the enemy in intimidating the populace in ways no civilized occupying force can counter, the passage of ten years in which any real chance at success was squandered … the logic for withdrawal to the more minimalist strategy originally favored by Obama after the election and championed by Biden thereafter seems overwhelming.

When will the president have the balls to say so?

End the war.

Ken Buck, the Colorado Tea Party candidate for the U.S. Senate, thinks birthers are dumbasses:

“Will you tell those dumbasses at the Tea Party to stop asking questions about birth certificates while I’m on the camera,” Buck said to the worker while laughing. “God, what am I supposed to do?”

Haha! You better start acting crazier, Mr. Buck, or you’re gonna lose your people!

It was obvious long ago (for example, on February 26, 2010) that the GOP was going to do whatever it could to sabotage Obama’s presidency. Or, it was not going to participate in any useful way in trying to fix what Bush (and they) broke in the eight years previous. So while I appreciate Howard Dean’s sentiment here, I’m wondering where he and every other progressive has been for the past year or so.

After the year and a half this country has just been through, it is pretty obvious that the right-wing has no intention of cooperating with anyone, and that they will do anything to regain power, just as they were willing to do anything to hold on to it. The only reasonable approach is to stand up to them as you would any group of bullies. Call them out for what they do- or don’t do as the case may be.

You think? Add to this the fact, no matter what, history will lose seats for the Democrats in the mid-term elections. It’s damn-near guaranteed. It happens regardless of the success or failure of the party in power. It’s always cool to vote out the people in! So…why the ball-less approach? What’s to lose?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I can’t say that I watch this show, or any cable news show, with any regularity or really at all, but I’ve certainly seen it. And Rachel Maddow appears to be the most sensible person there is on any of the three mostly terrible networks. This segment, most importantly, kicks ass, and I highly recommend it. If only to put the myth of the Fox News ratings juggernaut into perspective.

UPDATE:

President Obama may want to watch this. Over-reacting to such a small, lunatic segment of America’s right-wing is not going to accomplish much of anything. It really is easy to ignore these folks, I do it all the time. By the way, when I say “President Obama,” what I really mean is “the White House.” I truly don’t believe that Obama himself cares so much about these things but it is obvious that there is a staff mentality that is keeping close watch on these dummies. Why, I have no idea.

Hello, old Booze Cabinet, how are you? Yep, I figured as much. Well you know how it gets around here in summer. Yeah. So anyway, here’s what I’ve seen lately:

Sunset in the Smokies

Treehouse at Buffestalo

Elvis’ car in Pigeon Forge, TN

Chicago from above

And more bridges crossed, this one near Louisville, I believe. More to come…

In the midst of serious summer madness, having set my feet on the ground in Virginia, North Carolina and Wisconsin, and now gearing up for a drive that will lead to the deepest corner of Tennessee. Dollywood, here we come! Add in a trip to Colorado at the end of this month and another to San Francisco in October and we’ll have criss-crossed the country. And there’s even a bachelor party in Vegas that I simply cannot make, which is probably a good idea anyway. Man, oh man…

And so I’ve seen a lot of animals over the course of these journeys, from dolphins and monster jellyfish to crabs and deer and tons of bugs, but then last night at home I hear a scratching in the backyard and look out to see this critter climbing over my fence. He was huge! Bigger than our cats, like a medium-sized dog, and we stared each other down until he finally climbed back into the neighbor’s yard. This is Chicago, buddy! What are you doing? Get outta here!

Nag’s Head, NC

Yes, it is summer and it is busy and stuff. Lots of travel and what not coming up, and of course the constant ongoing celebration of Lord Stanley’s Cup, for the lack of a better reason. But anyway, as the oil spill disaster horrorshow slowly unfolds before us without any sign of stopping and we all watch the images helplessly, it’s easy to get really pissed off. I happened to see just a snippet today where the protester interrupted the testimony of BP CEO Tony Hayward and it made me want to punch this guy in the face–not because of his reaction (there was none)–but for the primal need to inflict pain on this corporate asshole. Someone deserves to be punched for what’s been done, right? And the sight of this woman with painted oil hands screaming at the guy tapped that caveman instinct inside of me. String him up!

But that’s not the way it works. BP will pay, and they will suffer, and possibly go under, but how different are they from every other oil company? I need a goddamn oil change in my car! What the hell am I gonna do? We’re so screwed here. And it’s my fault because I need it just like everyone else. I’m gonna get in a plane soon and then I’m gonna drive the shit outta my van soon and all of this oil is gonna burn and I’ll refill the gas and there’s nothing I can do about it.

It totally sucks. And I have no further revelations or answers, it’s just out there and that’s it.

So then there’s politics and of course I think it’s silly to blame Obama or get worked up about the response, this isn’t Katrina and there aren’t people waiting on rooftops for rescue or dying in the Superdome. The government can’t fix this, they can only get money for it and help the people affected by it, and so that’s what Obama is doing, and has done. I didn’t see his speech and haven’t read much about it but I like Andrew Sullivan’s comments here (“Getting Shit Done”):

Obama’s incrementalism, his refusal to pose as a presidential magician, and his resistance to taking the bait of the fetid right (he’s president – not a cable news host) seems to me to show not weakness, but a lethal and patient strength. And a resilient ambition.

Obama, I don’t worry about; it’s everyone else. I heard that his speech was regarded as too far above the heads of his viewers, too “professorial.” Why not just say “people are really stupid”? We prefer things dumbed down, it’s the American Way. This guy just doesn’t get that…thankfully.

I’m off again, for a while. I’m sure nothing will have changed much when I return…

Let us drink a big giant toast to Lord Stanley’s Cup! And Patrick Kane and Jonathon Toews! Your 2010 Champion Chicago Blackhawks!

Let’s not mince words, let’s not beat around the boooosh, it’s Miller Time, it’s the Lord’s Stanley Cup for the taking, holy shit, could tonight be the night? Let’s do this! Blackhawks! Owooooooooooooooo!

And still, hockey. Hopefully the Hawks can end this thing by Sunday night, eh? It’s aboot time. Lord Stanley awaits!

Dug this one out from a few years back, it’s timely again. Actually, I never posted it, it’s been sitting in the archive waiting for the right moment. Memory like an elephant over here, we never forget!

Note: Not to be confused with this entry. Abbate, Burge, who do we have for “C,” “D,” and “E”?

Been gone, crossing bridges and things, and I would imagine this site will be kind of quiet for some time, or at least much less filled with top notch insight and wisdom. Oh, the horror. Let’s be honest: if you read this site on any kind of regular occasion you’re better informed than most Americans anyway. How much more do you need?

You know I’m kidding, at least partially. At least three-quarters kidding. Two-thirds. An eighth. The Crazies have pretty much hung themselves on their own words anyway, who needs to pile on? I’m looking at you, Rand Paul. And you, Sarah Palin. Drill, baby, drill! Ahh, that oil spill pisses me off and no one can do anything about it. Sucks.