There's nothing more exciting than watching a good, old fashioned tasering. It builds character, and strengthens stomach muscles. So here's your Friday video fun: A woman tasered repeatedly by an overweight Ohio cop: Reasonable commentary from CNN on the topic....
I watched the New Orleans Saints lose at home in the Superdome to the Tennessee Titans in the Monday night game. For a minute, I though Rex Grossman had donned a Saints jersey, as the Titans nabbed four interceptions....
Over on Offsprung, an educated, responsible mom tells her first-hand account of taking her children to the soup kitchen. It's powerful and heartbreaking, and it puts a recognizable face on the "working poor." I can't make the turn right here,...
Beyond tasteless, a California fundraising event for Rudy Giuliani is asking for $9.11 per person. Dogged by accusations of politicizing the 9-11 attacks, Giuliani spokeswoman Maria Comella is scrambling to distance the candidate from what she described as "two volunteers...
From a Sept. 5th New York Times piece - What Is John Dingell Really Up To?: After the town hall meeting was over — and he had listened to a couple of hours of questions about timed traffic lights, nuclear...
From a Christopher Hitchens piece - Run, Al, Run - in Slate today: On Oct. 12, we shall hear again from Oslo, and I will be very surprised indeed if the peace prize is not awarded to Albert Gore Jr....
The Stone has excerpts and photos from an oral history of Hunter S. Thompson, whose hilarious and amazingly insightful political reporting inspired POLJUNK. Choice cut: Gene McGarr (lived and worked with Hunter in New York after Hunter was discharged...
When news broke last week that Columbia University had invited Iranian President Ahmadinejad to speak on campus, the right wing blogosphere and talking heads exploded into self-righteous indignation. "How could they legitimize this tyrant by allowing him to speak?" they...
Resident Bush and his Republican friends are disgusted with the advertisement that MoveOn.org placed in last week's New York Times that suggested General Petraeus might be better called General Betray Us. As Salon's Tim Grieve reports, a total of 72...
Growing up in Michigan—which, for those geographically challenged readers, is a border state with Canada—it was always fun to pick on our northerly neighbors and their cute, colorful play money. A Canadian dollar was worth maybe sixty cents here...
In an attempt to jumpstart negotiations on what will replace the Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations is holding "high level" meetings today on addressing climate change. Over 80 heads of state will be attending. True to form, though, President Bush...
Even though they make millions - even billions - of dollars a year, private equity managers pay only 15% of their income in taxes. By comparison, if you're a single person who makes a bit more than $31,000 dollars this...
It's been a rough week here at POLJUNK. We had some technical difficulties that blocked access to the site, and stopped us from posting new stuff until yesterday. But it's been an even rougher 6 1/2 years for the Constitution....
From Paul Krugman's new blog, Conscience of a Liberal: It's just one election, and may not represent a trend (although I think it does.) But the 2006 election was, in fact, a progressive landslide. That's from the second post, The...
Nelson Mandela, January, 2003: "What I am condemning is that one power, with a president who has no foresight, who cannot think properly, is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust." Which is funny, because just a few...
According to a study by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, Barack Obama has picked up the most donations from military personnel so far. On either side of the aisle. And remember he's the one calling for a complete pull...
Alan Greenspan has a new book. He talks about lots of things, including how lowering interest rates to 1% in 2003 was "a decision done right" even though he knew it risked fostering a housing bubble. That was before the...
Here's your Friday video fun. If you haven't checked out the HuffPost and Yahoo! Democratic primary online debate mash up, it's worth a look. Here's a clip, where Bill Maher asks Dodd why marijuana isn't legal, which has been specially...
From the Christian Science Monitor article Joe referenced: Researchers at the University of Chicago compared the global warming impact of meat eaters with that of vegetarians and found that the average American diet – including all food processing steps –...
Bill Maher is asking some good questions of Democratic presidential candidates in the HuffPost and Yahoo candidate mash up. Here's a question he asked John Edwards: "Senator Edwards, you've suggested that Americans should give up their SUVs for the sake...
Joe Romm is a scientist and author. He got his Ph.D in physics from MIT, and was an assistant secretary of energy in the Clinton administration, running the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. He runs the Climate Progress...
The Obama campaign has released excerpts from a speech he's giving today in Clinton, Iowa. Here's a representative passage: "The President would have us believe there are two choices: keep all of our troops in Iraq or abandon these Iraqis....
Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) set up a news conference for Monday in Omaha. The rumor has been that he is going to announce he will not seek re-election in 2008. The AP is now running a story that has a...
Foreclosures are at an all time record high, the real estate industry is shedding agents, and the mortgage banking industry has announced plans to let more than 15,000 employees go in the coming months. Oh, and one of the largest...
Back in 2004, Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and John McCain (R-AZ) asked the GAO to report on how the Department of Interior was combating global warming on federal land - parks, forests, marine sanctuaries, and so on. The report is...
From a speech by Dick Durbin at the Center for National Policy: "More than on either of my earlier visits, I feel overwhelmed by the tragedy we have created—for Iraq, for its neighbors, for America's image around the world, and...
The answer is, of course, no. While he's the most popular Republican candidate right now, he's also probably the least qualified (and that says a lot). He touts his experience with "terrorism," but besides looking good on TV, he did...
On Wednesday, the Washington Post published a piece about Oprah Winfrey taking a larger role in Barack Obama's presidential campaign. I read the piece yesterday, and by this morning, there's links to it all over the blogs and news sites...
Over at our parent site, Glorious Noise, our fearless leader Jake Brown pulls some choice excerpts from the New York Times Magazine profile of Rick Rubin. Rubin is now co-CEO of Columbia Records. Maybe he can save the music industry....
Either God is really angry with what conservatives are doing with His words or the Rapture is much slower and less exciting than I'd hoped. Conservatives are dropping like flies as the following headlines illustrate: Megachurch leader D. James Kennedy...
Fred Thompson's first ad is out and it's, well...empty. To be fair, it's really an ad for his anouncement on Thursday, but you'd think he'd want to come out strong. Instead, we get a West Wing-inspired music bed and a...
"Yeah, yeah, dats the stuff, boss. Ha ha ha, dats real funny, boss. Yer right, yer totally right, boss. Don't listen to 'em. Dere alllllll wet." --Overheard outside the Oval Office this week....
Just when Republicans thought it was safe again to take a dump in a public restroom, Larry Craig says he's re-thinking his decision to resign from the US Senate amid accusations of lewd behavior at the Minneapolis Airport. Craig's spokesman,...
As we all ready ourselves for General Patreaus' report on progress in Iraq, the GAO cockblocks the White House with a scathing review of where we stand on the 18 political and security goals put to the Iraqi government last...
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently began sending instructions to more than 300 public companies that will require them to more fully disclose executive compensation packages. The disclosures will need to be written in "plain English," and must sufficiently describe...
Bruce Fein, conservative constitutional scholar and ex-Reagan Justice official, says the time for impeachment is now: Impeachment precedents fortified by the original intent of the Constitution's makers provide ample justification for a House judiciary committee impeachment inquiry targeting President Bush...
The signs have been there for years. Watch this clip of Craig on Meet the Press back in '99. Then watch Chris Matthews' reaction (he's running the clip on Hardball): Hysterical. I saw the clip on Bill Maher's show. It...
In a post yesterday, I suggested that the biggest problem facing hyper rich investment bankers is "What in the hell do I do with all this money?" Well, a hyper rich guy (don't know if he's a banker) in Connecticut...
The New York Times reports today that investment bankers make more than 10 times what other Americans working in the private sector make. And that multiple is conservative, as it takes into account the secretaries and other office workers who...
Disgraced Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) announced his resignation earlier today. From the news conference: "It is with sadness and deep regret that I announce it is my intent to resign from the Senate effective Sept. 30" ... "The people of...
