Posts by Tana Ganeva

Birther Ad Claims Obama Is British 'Usurper'
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet on December 1, 2009 at 5:30 AM.

You probably thought the Birther nonsense couldn't get any weirder, dumber or more racially charged, right? Wrong.

From Think Progress:

This latest national edition of the Washington Times features a full-page ad that claims that President Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States. The ad was purchased by the anti-Obama website ProtectOurLiberty.org. While the group has placed several birther ads in the Washington Times in recent months, the version that ran this morning contains far more inflammatory imagery — three monkeys, apparently intended to represent the U.S. Congress, courts, and the media:

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Glenn Beck Scoffs at Palin/Beck 2012 Ticket, Doesn't Like Palin's "Yapping"
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet on November 26, 2009 at 3:49 PM.

Is your drunk conservative uncle ranting about our fascist President turning America socialist? You could take the classy route and stay quiet until they exhaust their Glenn Beck talking points. Or, you could taunt them with this: apparently the Beck/Palin 2012 ticket, coyly "not ruled out" by Sarah Palin during last week's publicity blitz, is not to be! Beck -- who just last week somberly upbraided Newsweek for running a sexist picture of Palin -- doesn't want to hear her "yapping" as  "I'm not in the kitchen."

How are these two going to make America great again if they can't get along? Does all hope rest with Michele Bachmann?

From Think Progress:

In recent days, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has indicated that she may be open to a conservative presidential dream ticket in 2012: Palin-Beck (or Beck-Palin). “I can envision a couple of different combinations, if ever I were to be in a position to really even seriously consider running for anything in the future, and I’m not there yet,” Palin told Newsmax. “But Glenn Beck I have great respect for. He’s a hoot.” Fox and Friends plugged the idea yesterday morning and asked Palin whether she would run with Beck. She kept the door open, saying, “I don’t know. We’ll see, we’ll see.”

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Christians Rap About Not Having Sex: 'Gimme That Christian Side Hug!'
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet on November 23, 2009 at 4:00 PM.

Abstinence is hard, even when you really love Jesus. That's why seemingly foolproof methods for preserving the virginity of young, unmarried Christians -- like magic purity rings, or having them go on creepy dates with their dads -- seem to make teens have even more premarital sex: a 2009 study found that rates of teen pregnancy are much higher in religious communities, even when lower rates of abortion were accounted for.

But maybe that's just because most efforts to promote abstinence have one fatal flaw: none have a mechanism for ensuring that the genitals of unmarried Christians never align. Fortunately, some rapping youth pastors are on it.

"AWWWW YEAH! Y'all ready to party all up in here?!" yell the mostly white, Christian rappers in a YouTube clip of a live performance. "Gimme that Christian side hug! Gimme that Christian side hug!" they demand, pumping their fists in the air and bouncing a lot, in a very convincing approximation of what black, secular rappers do.

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Buying Sarah Palin's Book Will Help Save Wolves?
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet on November 18, 2009 at 6:16 PM.

Sarah Palin's new book may serve a purpose beyond keeping the AP busy and relaunching the hilariously petty sniping between Palin and former McCain campaign aides: it can, counterintuitively, help Alaska's wolves. San Francisco's Green Apple books has announced that %100 of the proceeds from sales of Going Rogue will go to the Alaska Wildlife Federation.  From the bookstore's blog: 

With all due to respect to the Republicans who were as overjoyed as I was (for different reasons, of course) by Sarah Palin's nomination to the McCain ticket last year, Green Apple is donating 100% of the profits from sales of Sarah Palin's Going Rogue: An American Life to the Alaska Wildlife Alliance.

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Terrifying: Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly Freak Show Coming to Your Town
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet on November 18, 2009 at 11:21 AM.

Self-proclaimed rodeo clown Glenn Beck and really mean, yelly clown Bill O'Reilly are teaming up and coming to a town near you!

That is, if you're lucky enough to live near Westbury, New York, Tampa, Florida, North Charleston, South Carolina or Norfolk, Virginia. If you live in other places, here's what you'll miss when the "Bold and Fresh" tour, which is probably not intended to sound like an ad for douche, hits the road:

1. Hearing the truth, against your will. The promotional site threatens "Enough is enough -- it's time for the truth from somebody who'll give it to you straight, whether you like it or not."

2. Getting bitten by Bill O'Reilly. Here's the second threat of violence: "And you know how they say that some men's "bark" is worse than their "bite?" With Bill... yeah, not so much. As Bill puts it, "My teeth are in good shape."

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'Hit the Bitch': Domestic Violence PSA Goes Very, Very Wrong
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet on November 17, 2009 at 1:15 PM.

A Danish PSA has managed to trivialize domestic violence to a degree unrivaled by our fashion industry, mainstream media and most irritating comedians (and all those people try really hard). HitTheBitch.com gives you a big, meaty hand with which to slap around a scantily dressed model who jabbers at you accusingly in Danish while sad rap music plays in the background. 

With every slap, the model’s face becomes more bruised, and a graphic at the top of the screen marks your progress from Pussy to Gangsta. I’m a pretty big pussy, so I only made it one fourth of the way to Gangsta before I got weirded out and had to stop. But apparently, once you've beaten the crap out of the model, the site totally topples all of your assumptions about intimate partner violence -- you know, that it makes you an offensive stereotype of a black man -- and you are told instead that you are "100% Idiot!"

And teen boys everywhere lean back and thoughtfully consider the relationship between aggressive ideals of masculinity and violence against women.

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Guess What? Americans Don't Like Sarah Palin
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet on November 16, 2009 at 10:30 AM.

As we all know, Sarah Palin really likes ordinary, America-loving Americans. That's because her appeal allegedly lies in being one of them, even though most 'ordinary' Americans are not that rich, and she is very rich. Anyway, she loves patriotic Americans so much that she has dedicated her new book to them, as she writes on her Facebook wall: 

The book tour starts this week, and I look forward to it! I'm most looking forward to meeting many of you, shaking your hands, and telling you,"Thanks for loving America." I'll give you a scoop here and tell you what's on the book's Dedication Page – it's dedicated to you – Patriots – who love the U.S.A. as much as I do.

Really, Palin should be celebrating the America-hating, liberal media that keep that stupid thing in the news. Especially since Palin's love is kind of unrequited. According to a Washington Post/ABC News poll, a majority of Americans don't like her that much, and very few would vote for her if she absurdly ran for President. 

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Murdoch and Murdoch Flak Confused About Racism, Truth
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet on November 11, 2009 at 2:20 PM.

Last week, Rupert Murdoch assured us that race-bating is a News Corps priority, when he said Fox host Glenn Beck was right to call President Obama a racist (in the same interview, Murdoch also declared war on Google, so it was great fun all around). Beck's statement, which has cost the talk show host 80 advertisers, was no less controversial when parroted by his boss. So now some flak has to spin Murdoch's remarks. Their strategy? Claiming Murdoch didn't say what he said.

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Fred Phelps' Church Protesting Outside Sasha and Malia Obama's School
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet on November 9, 2009 at 11:00 AM.

Members of Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church, who think 9/11 was punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality and express their views on that issue by protesting the funerals of dead soldiers, were seen demonstrating outside of the school attended by the Obama girls. TPM reports: 

Protesters were carrying signs with anti-gay, anti-abortion and anti-Obama slogans, slowing down traffic all along Wisconsin Avenue this morning.

[...]

"Quakers?! Are you frigging kidding me? You pretend to be all non-violent, and you allow the most bloody, deceitful, evil, murderous bastard and his shemale sidekick to place their satanic spawn within your four walls?" reads the posting for today's protest at Sidwell Friends, which is a Quaker school.

The appearance is part of a busy schedule that also includes demonstrating at the funerals of the 12 soldiers and civilian killed at Ft. Hood last week.

Would You Pay Sarah Palin $100,000 Dollars to Come to Dinner?
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet on October 29, 2009 at 10:42 AM.

A conservative Iowa organization really wants Sarah Palin to attend an upcoming banquet, because somehow, even post-odd-resignation, post-trashy public flaps with Levi, post-joke book -- Palin is still a draw for social conservatives. So the Iowa Family Policy Center is trying to raise $100,000 to entice the former Governor to the state. But they are meeting opposition from GOP activists, who seem to think they shouldn't pay for the privilage of giving potential Presidential hopefuls a crack at a roomful of influential Iowa insiders. Politico reports:

The Iowa Family Policy Center’s effort to cobble together $100,000 for Palin would represent a striking departure from customary practice in the first-in-the-nation state, these Republicans say, noting that a generation of White House hopefuls has paid their own way to boost their party and presidential ambitions.

But representatives from other Iowa-based political advocacy groups said they would never consider shelling out money for what many politicians see as a privilege: the opportunity to speak to a room full of sure-fire caucus-goers who often serve as precinct captains and can be instrumental to a presidential candidate’s success.

“If somebody tells me they want me to pay an appearance fee, it tells me they’re not very serious about running for president,” said Ed Failor, Jr., president of Iowans for Tax Relief and an influential GOP insider.

As it turns out, Palin might be too busy anyway:

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Conservative Doctor Valiantly Keeps Women From Becoming Sluts
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet on October 26, 2009 at 4:59 PM.

Who says anti-choice extremists don't care about women? A USA Today article on conscience clauses -- legislation that lets health providers deny patients contraception -- quotes a doctor who obviously has only the best interests of women -- stupid, stupid women -- in mind: 

Faced with a request to give an unmarried female patient a prescription for birth control pills, Dr. Michele Phillips looked to her conscience for the answer.

“I’m not going to give any kind of medication I see as harmful,” said Phillips of San Antonio. The drugs would not protect her patient from “emotional trauma from multiple partners,” Phillips reasoned, or sexually transmitted diseases. “I could not ethically give that type of medication to a single woman.”

Unwanted babies, of course, do heal STDs and emotional trauma. 

Via Feminists for Choice (an Feministing)

Former Fox Pundit: I Quit Because Glenn Beck Is Scary
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet on October 25, 2009 at 5:43 PM.

On CNN's Reliable Sources Sunday former Fox News contributer Jane Hall explained why she left the network: basically, she noticed a decrease in debate featuring opposing viewpoints. Also, Glenn Beck is terrifying: 

Jane Hall: “The reason I left is because I think they have less debate than they used to. But you know it’s a fair point to say, how much debate is there on MSNBC? How many Republican strategists? We have a bifurcation of the media that I think is going on ...

Howard Kurtz: The reason you left is because you feel they have less debate than they used to? In other words, it used to be Hannity and Coombs, now it’s just now it’s just Hannity. It used to be Bernie and Jane. Now it’s just Bernie.

Yeah, i think there’s less debate than there was before. And I am frankly uncomfortable with Beck, who i think should be called out, as somebody whose language is way over the top. And it's scary ... 

Kurtz: Was that a factor in your deciding to leave Fox?

Hall: Yeah. It was.

Video of a longer segment after the jump. 

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Glenn Beck's 912 Project Threatens Washington With Giant Snake Monster
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet on October 21, 2009 at 3:08 PM.

Something really terrible happens when you tread on that snake that conservatives don't want you to tread on.

It transforms from this coiled up rattler, crotchety at the prospect of a viable health care system, or maybe higher taxes on the super rich:

To this giant snake monster choking the Capitol:

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Rachel Maddow Mocks Bush's Classy Motivational Speaking Gig
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet on October 21, 2009 at 12:00 PM.

Next week, George W. Bush will cement his legacy as the most successful President ever with his latest gig: motivational speaking at the "Get Motivated!" business seminar. Classy, and fitting.

The seminar, which will also feature Rudy Giuliani and Colin Powell, confidently promises to "INCREASE your productivity and income." 

Rachel Maddow takes aim, after the jump:

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AT&T's Hilarious and Shameless Astroturfing (or Sock-Puppeting)
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet on October 20, 2009 at 1:24 PM.

AT&T has a really good (and democratic) plan to undermine FCC regulations in support of net neutrality: pressuring employees to post anti-regulation talking points on an FCC website while hiding their affiliation to the cable company. Grassroots! 

In an internal company memo obtained by Free Press, AT&T Senior Executive Vice President James Cicconi writes "We encourage you, your family and friends to join the voices telling the FCC not to regulate the Internet. It can be done through a personal email account by going to www.openinternet.gov and clicking on the "Join the Discussion" link." (italics added).

That should totally work, because ordinary citizens are often inspired to make impassioned pleas about ISP regulatory policy.

The memo also helpfully provides talking points "in addition to your own thoughts," such as:

America's wireless consumers enjoy the broadest range of innovative services and devices, lowest prices, highest usage levels, and most choices in the world. Why disrupt a market that's working so well?

An oligopoly totally lacking in transparency? Really, why mess with perfection?

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