Why I'm Watching the World Cup Right Now

Glenn Beck hates the World Cup | Media Matters for America: "It doesn't matter how you sell it to us. It doesn't matter how many celebrities you get. It doesn't matter how many bars open early. It doesn't matter how many beer commercials they run. We don't want the World Cup. We don't like the World Cup. We don't like soccer. We want nothing to do with it. You can package it any way -- you can spend all kinds of money. You can force it on our television sets. We will not enjoy the World Cup."

Okay, I was probably going to watch the US play England, even if Beck hadn't gone off on this rant, which is some truly over the top dickitude, even for Beck. After all, I love my country, and love to see it succeed, especially in things we're not normally known for being good at.

But the fact that the World Cup induces this degree of apoplexy in the man who is to asshats as the Grand Canyon is to holes in the ground is just icing on the cake.

USA! USA! USA!

Dumbass Statement of the Day

From as usual, ABC News: President Obama's harsh words for BP, the largest company in Great Britain and the fourth-largest in the world, have provoked one of the most tense times between America and the U.K. since the American Revolution.

Because we were so chummy with the Brits during the War of 1812.

I mean, really. Is it too much to expect that these idiots will have at least a rudimentary knowledge of American history?

Boehner-rific!

The Washington Monthly reports that John Boehner now says that he doesn't want the taxpayers to help pick up the tab for the BP oil spill. His position now is that "not a dime" of taxpayer money should be used to clean up BP's mess. Not what he said yesterday, but whatever.

Boehner has not, however said if he'd support lifting the liability cap that would limit the damages BP would have to pay. With the cap still on, some of the bill for cleanup would inevitably be sent to you and me.

Meanwhile, the DCCC has put up a website, http://boehnerbpbailout.com/, asking people to sign a petition to "Tell John Boehner, No Bailout for Big Oil."

Boehner's for Bailouts For Big Oil. Has a nice ring to it.

Boehner: Here's A Bat. Will You Beat Me With It Till I Cry?

Boehner: Taxpayers Should Help Pay For Oil Spill :

"'I think the people responsible in the oil spill--BP and the federal government--should take full responsibility for what's happening there,' [Minority Leader John] Boehner said at his weekly press conference this morning.

Boehner's statement followed comments last Friday by US Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue who said he opposes efforts to stick BP, a member of the Chamber, with the bill. "It is generally not the practice of this country to change the laws after the game," he said. "Everybody is going to contribute to this clean up. We are all going to have to do it. We are going to have to get the money from the government and from the companies and we will figure out a way to do that."

So today I asked Boehner, "Do you agree with Tom Donohue of the Chamber that the government and taxpayers should pitch in to clean up the oil spill?" The shorter answer is yes.

So let's review:

The GOP has come out strongly in favor of insurance companies who deny coverage for pre-existing conditions and who drop you when you get sick, and now they're saying you and I need to help pay for BP's clean-up of the awful mess THEY made (while of course. screaming that helping the unemployed and covering children with health insurance is socialism and will bust the budget.)

They're handing the Democrats a Louisville Slugger the size of a redwood and begging "please beat me over the head with this". Will Congressional Democrats have the courage to do it?

We live in hope.

More Like This, Please

The Republicans claim they're going to run this fall on a platform of repealing health care reform. And the Democrats say "bring it":

I'm always gratified when the Democrats show some spine. It doesn't happen often enough, but when they do, it's fun to watch.

Obama Is Not Hysterical Enough

Latest Newspaper Column:

I've gone through a lot of emotions in the past few weeks as I watch report after report on the horrific oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. It started with concern, progressed through alarm, then horror, then dread, then more horror, then outrage, back to dread, then anger, a couple of days of numb shock, and now I've settled into a kind of simmering fury, although to be honest, distinguishing that from my normal mood is a bit tricky.

Were I the president, I'd be ordering Navy SEALs to blast their way into BP's corporate -headquarters, haul the officers and the board of directors out onto the street in handcuffs, and start shooting one an hour until they stopped the leak.

This is why it's a good thing I'm not the president.

The cries for the man who actually is president to "Fix it! Fix it now!" have spread beyond the usual "Blame Barack First" contingent. When pressed for details, however, you can usually get them to admit that, well, it's true, the U.S. government isn't failing to deploy some sort of supersecret well-capping sub that could stop the leak.

And yes, they'll admit when cornered, "kicking BP off the site" would be counterproductive. For good or ill, the oil companies who do the drilling are the only ones who have the deep-sea technology to even try to stop a leak like this.

So, struggling for some way to make this all Obama's fault, they complain that it's not enough to have deployed the Coast Guard, sacked the head of the Minerals Management Service, suspended further deep-water drilling, frozen new deep-water drilling permits and opened a criminal probe into the accident that caused the spill. Because gosh-darn it, he's just not mad enough about it.

James Carville huffed, "This president needs to tell BP, 'I'm your daddy,'" which frankly is pretty creepy even for Carville. Film director Spike Lee urged the president to "go off, one time!" The New York Times' Maureen Dowd referred to him as "President Spock" and complained, "Too often it feels as though Barry is watching from a -balcony, reluctant to enter the fray until the clamor of the crowd forces him to come down."

When assured by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs that the president was "enraged" over what was going on, CBS correspondent Chip Reid eagerly asked, "Can you describe it? Does he yell and scream? What does he do?"

Folks, this is beyond silly.

Part of the reason people voted for this guy is that, in contrast to the mercurial, erratic and often grumpy McCain, Barack Obama was the one who seemed calm, collected and in command of himself. Remember when McCain "suspended his campaign" and rushed back to Washington with his hair on fire over the financial meltdown? Once the big meeting that McCain insisted President Bush convene was over, it was Barack Obama who came out of the fray looking like the guy who ought to be in command.

I voted for Obama because he acted like a grownup, and while I've been disappointed with him in some ways, he hasn't yet let me down on that one.

So when David Broder of the supposedly liberal Washington Post starts comparing him unfavorably to Louisiana Rep. Charlie Melancon, who had to stop a -hearing on the oil spill's impact "because he was weeping so hard," I have to wonder:

With all due respect to Rep. Melancon, exactly what would be the reaction of all of these complainers if they turned on the TV and the leader of the Free World was weeping so uncontrollably he'd lost the power of speech? Or if he were pounding his fists on the lectern and screaming with rage? I suspect it would be divided between "Obambi, in over his head, loses control" and "Oh, lord, this must be even worse than we thought."

I'm reminded of a scene in the movie "This Is Spinal Tap" when, after a particularly hilarious fiasco, the band's manager defends himself by saying he was only following the instructions of their dimwitted lead guitarist. "It's not your job to be as confused as Nigel!" one of the other band members snaps.

Likewise, it's not the president's job to be as crazy with anger and despair as we are. Do we really need a president whose motto is, "When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout"?