Danny Doom’s Booze Cabinet

An exciting night, and here we see President Obama hoisting the winning team’s helmet in a fit of exultation. Congrats to the Saints!  And now the gnome shall wear the helmet in honor of the Super Bowl champs. What a display.

Let’s keep it real. I don’t really care who wins the Super Bowl. I want the Saints to win but I believe the Colts will win. But whatevs. The true highlight for me will be halftime, when The Who, as they currently exist, take the field for one of those made-for-t.v. medleys that will no doubt leave me unsatisfied. But still. I’m excited for it. You’ve got to appreciate these guys while they’re still here.

Alright, I’ve got the gals all strapped up and ready to go! Bring it on, baby, bring it on!

I thought I got rid of this guy. Kristol Ball, always wrong, but I guess he still has a forum somewhere, like anyone else. The Economist, thankfully, tackles his ridiculousness in solid form here:

He seems to get most things wrong, but I have a perverse fascination with his logic, largely because it is so unsound.

I know what he means. Someone so off on everything–it’s compelling in a way. But, eh, not that compelling.

You gotta love the title, and so I read this article in Salon but it bored me quickly. Then it reminded me of this other article I somehow landed upon a few days ago, a crazy one about how Stanley Kubrick faked the moon landing and then gave clues to it in his version of “The Shining.” Pure whack-job stuff but I was into it. I can’t really describe it in a way that will do it justice so I suggest you read it and then try and tell me the moon landing wasn’t faked!

No, I’m not much for conspiracy theories, but it’s interesting anyway, and as Fox Mulder used to say, “I want to believe,” even if I don’t. If you don’t want to get into all that, read the article about the article, which is like a sane person writing about a crazy person and kind of being convinced a little.

Yep, I could be writing about all the crazies in politics but this is where I’m at instead.

I didn’t watch the Grammys, but I happened to see a few things before I put in the Harry Potter movie (The Half Blood Prince), and so these are my thoughts–actually just one thought:

I don’t think there was ever a time in my life when I would not have thought the Black-Eyed Peas were anything but total garbage. Not the ten-year old me, not the fifteen-year old me, not the twenty-five-year old me…not the little tiny baby me who had no idea what was good or bad. This is just awful, awful, bad “music” and–please–lyrically an affront to all mankind. I can only imagine what a horror it is to be in the audience for one of their shows…the people who pay money to see them? Ah, the taste of our mass-consuming public. Not embarrassed yet?

We give Obama a hard time on the left for not getting everything we want, but it’s good to read this report and get some perspective:

This Democratic Congress is on a path to become one of the most productive since the Great Society 89th Congress in 1965-66, and Obama already has the most legislative success of any modern president — and that includes Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson … Most of this has been accomplished without any support from Republicans in either the House or the Senate — an especially striking fact, since many of the initiatives of the New Deal and the Great Society, including Social Security and Medicare, attracted significant backing from the minority Republicans.

So yeah, that’s not so bad. Amazing how the media controls the message. But let’s get healthcare going and DADT repealed and we’ll be getting somewhere.

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

I highly recommend this video as an insight to what happens when the spin is gone and lies can be challenged and answered without any shouting heads. This is how it should be. Fantastic. They should do it once a month, or once a week. This is the guy I voted for, able to speak and go back and forth and, yes, school those who are distorting his words and actions.

A New Year’s Eve pic of the old Stella, ah, she was a good one, yes indeed.

I just got in and happened to see the very end of something quite amazing. I don’t know what the deal is, and I will look for the whole thing to go back and see it, but President Obama was talking with the House Republicans, having an open and honest discussion. I’ve only seen Sullivan’s take:

I’ve just watched the president address the Republican retreat in Baltimore. Address is not quite the right word, because it was a genuine – and remarkable – conversation between Obama and his political opponents – transparently on CSPAN … But here’s the key thing: Obama is best at this. He is best at defusing conflict; he is superb at engaging civilly with his opponents.

Whatever it was, I thought it was…unheard of. And great. But anyway, I’ll have to see what all happened and get back to it.

UPDATE:

I just love the sound of this:

In a sometimes-barbed exchange, he said some in the audience have attended ribbon-cutting ceremonies for projects funded by the stimulus package they voted against. Obama also questioned why Republicans have overwhelmingly opposed his tax-cut policies, which he said have benefited 95 percent of American families.

“The notion that this was a radical package is just not true,” Obama said. “I am not an ideologue.”

GOP lawmakers pressed the president to pledge to support a line-item veto for spending bills and across-the-board tax cuts. Obama demurred, saying billionaires don’t need new tax cuts.

UPDATE II:

This has to be a good sign…in looking around for a story on this I couldn’t help but notice that Drudge has absolutely nothing.

UPDATE III:

Here’s a good account of it:

It was amazing television – watchable, interesting, feisty and even a little dramatic … Today, at the caucus meeting, he went right after Republicans on their turf and, in my opinion, owned them.

UPDATE IV:

Ha ha! This just gets better:

So effective was the president that Fox News cut away from the broadcast 20 minutes before it ended.

One other thing, about the Supreme Court being called out by Obama in his speech the other night: some have bitched about the legitimacy and prestige of the court being harmed by the exchange, but, let’s be honest, those qualities were damaged severely in 2000 with the interference of the election process. And with right-wing hacks like Alito now on board, well, what do you expect?  Whether the ruling is good or bad or what, I like that Obama said it in front of them. Screw ‘em.

A quick reaction to some of the speech’s highlights, for me:

At the beginning of the last decade, America had a budget surplus of over $200 billion. By the time I took office, we had a one year deficit of over $1 trillion and projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next decade. Most of this was the result of not paying for two wars, two tax cuts, and an expensive prescription drug program. On top of that, the effects of the recession put a $3 trillion hole in our budget. That was before I walked in the door.

Way to lay it out there. Sad that people need to be reminded; even sadder that they won’t listen.

To Democrats, I would remind you that we still have the largest majority in decades, and the people expect us to solve some problems, not run for the hills.

Um, yeah. That can’t be said enough, loudly enough, again and again. Grow a pair.

I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change…

Nice. A jab to the lower right abdomen.

Do not walk away from reform. Not now. Not when we are so close. Let us find a way to come together and finish the job for the American people.

A little more force would be useful here. It must be done!

We will have all of our combat troops out of Iraq by the end of this August.

Not soon enough!

This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are.

Just make it happen, this is silly.

The more that TV pundits reduce serious debates into silly arguments, and big issues into sound bites, our citizens turn away.

Yeah, they turn to FOX. The number one cable channel! Ah, depressing… Anyway, we just have to ignore the nuts and get the dummies to do something for once. Let’s get it done!

This is big. I think I finally found something that will please both NFL puritans and gnome-lovers…who’s on board with this one? Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

That’s right. I was a standby juror for today. Called the number and they said I wasn’t needed. Sweet! Anyway, I wasn’t sure which one of these pix I liked more, so I’m just gonna put ‘em both up. Dos Equis. The old Double X.

In what universe must someone be living to believe that the Democratic Party is controlled by “the Left,” let alone “the furthest left elements” of the Party?

- Glenn Greenwald

Oh, no need to get into it all, just another common theme that needs to be shattered on a regular basis. Getting tired of this…

The very idea that an administration run by Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel and staffed with centrists, Wall Street mavens, and former Bush officials — and a Congress beholden to Blue Dogs and Lieberdems — has been captive “to the Left” is so patently false that everyone should be too embarrassed to utter it.

Yet no one seems to be! It’s one thing for the usual right wing nuts to run with it but to hear the conservative Democrats…ah, I don’t know what more to say about it. This is the real kicker though:

All that said, and as horrible as the Democrats have been all year, the most amazing — and depressing — aspect of all of this is how Americans have so quickly forgotten how thoroughly the Republicans, during their eight-year reign, destroyed the country.