Michele Bachmann: Wingnut or Wingnuttiest?

 

This is one of the latest rants from Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann:

That's why with everything within us we need to literally start banging garbage lids together to create enough noise so that our neighbors and our co-workers realize where the time clock is at this point because the second hand is literally banging up against 11:59 on the clock of freedom when it comes to health care... we cannot rest; we can’t take our marbles and go home.

Bachmann made an appearance on Face The Nation recently [ video ] (Bachmann comes in at about 08:10) and offered her own unique analysis about the health care bill and recent economic legislation:

"Today the federal government has taken either direct ownership or control of banks, the largest insurance company in the United States, A.I.G., Freddie [Mac] and Fannie [Mae]," Bachmann said, offering no sources for her statistics. "The federal government owns over 50 percent of all home mortgages and now the direct student loan industry."
[...]
I went to the House [of Representatives] floor the first thing on Monday and put a bill in that would repeal Obamacare," said Bachmann. "So did my colleagues, Steve King of Iowa. Also Parker Griffith of Alabama."

She added, "The New England Journal of Medicine released a survey the week that President Obama signed Obamacare stating that over 30 percent of American physicians would leave the profession if the government took over health care. That's very serious going forward." (The New England Journal of Medicine has denied it conducted or published the survey cited by Bachmann.)

cbsnews.com

Marbles, indeed.

Minnesota Independent: Bachmann: Tea partiers need to 'literally start banging garbage lids' to defeat health care reform
talkingpointsmemo.com: Bachmann: 'We Need To Start Literally Banging Garbage Lids Together' Against Health Care Bill
talkingpointsmemo.com: Bachmann Continues to Warn That Senior Citizens are in Danger From "Death Panels"
huffingtonpost.com: Bachmann: No Evidence Black Lawmakers Were Harassed
presstv.ir: 'Armed' Minnesotans urged to fight Obama
Minnesota Independent: Bachmann: Nancy Pelosi Hates Me
startribune.com: Michele Bachmann: Wingnut of the Year?
Minnesota Independent: Bachmann says bloody imagery's "not me!"

 

Obamacare vs. Romneycare

 

Romneycare

Obamacare

Those in the Mainstream Media have begun to notice the similarities between the recently passed health care bill and the Massachusetts health care reform measure [ 2 ] that was passed in 2006 when Mitt Romney was governor...

Luckily Mitt Romney has Magical Mormon underpants to deflect any criticism from the GOP and their conservative base!

 

Trololo Cat

 

No time for blogging today! Germaine Gregarious and I are busy fighting off an entire army of tea partying Republican bellhops! (I think that I will just stay and guard the plane until they bring room service, thank you.) In the meantime, you can watch this swell video that features the golden singing voice of Trololo Cat. (I got this awesome video from Professor Derk.)

 

Happy birthday, Speaker Pelosi!

 

Happy birthday, Speaker Pelosi!

Don't cry, Rep. Boehner. We saved you some cake!

 

The Truth About the Obama Administration is Finally Coming Out...

 

Now that the truth [ 1, 2, 3 ] is coming out about the Obama administration...

Perhaps we can finally expect the Mainstream Media to accurately report on the many White House crimes against humanity.

 

Thanks, Speaker Pelosi! :o)

 

We can all thank Speaker Pelosi for the Neapolitan Ice Cream Health Care victory that took place last night...

And certainly celebration is in order right now...

But I'm kind of curious as to how the other side is reacting to last night's extra-large helping of Moonbeams & Marshmallows Dream Cake...

Thanks, Speaker Pelosi!   :o)

 

Deem and Pass! Deem'n Pass!! Demon Pass!!!

 

Nancy of the House of Pelosi is going to ram the health care bill down the american people's throat using the ancient rite of "Deem and Pass", a plot so insidious that it can only be explained by bad science fiction television.

The phrase "Deem and Pass" sounds sort of like "Demon Pass", leading to great fun and madcap hilarity by those on the right side of the aisle. At a tea party event rally on Capitol Hill Republican Representative Louie Gohmert held aloft a copy of the health care bill and called it "an abortion", stating that, "There's a whole lot of demons going on. There's a lot of demons around here apparently."

Get it? "deem and pass" sounds kind of like "demon." (He made a funny!)

firstread.msnbc.com: Explaining 'Deem and Pass'
Ezra Klein: Democrats should stop being clever and pass the bill
washingtonpost.com: Deem and pass strategy #deemed worthy of a hash-tag
truthout.org: "Deem and Pass" Is NOT "Without a Vote"
businessandmedia.org: Bachmann Rips Media for Not Covering Deem and Pass
usatoday.com: Expert: Pelosi 'deem and pass' strategy for health care is not unusual

Pelosi Predicts a Health Bill Within 10 Days
GOP frames Nancy Pelosi as health care villain
Pelosi: We'll Take "as Long as it Takes" to Pass Health Care Bill
Ezra Klein: Democrats Should Stop Being Clever and Pass the Bill
talkingpointsmemo.com: Tea Party Crowd Calls For Pelosi To Be Tried For Treason

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, said she had put "a massive whip operation" [ 1 ] in place to round up votes for the health care bill.

 

The Gold Pants Dance!

 

No time for blogging today! I've had something of a rude awakening this morning. (I've heard of being in bed with the mainstream media, but this is ridiculous!) In the meantime you can watch this swell video, The Gold Pants Dance! (Ack! What is Contessa Brewer doing in my sock drawer!?!?)

 

Removing Jefferson

 

The Texas Freedom Network live-blogged the Texas Board of Education meeting to revise its social studies curriculum:

9:30 – Board member Cynthia Dunbar wants to change a standard having students study the impact of Enlightenment ideas on political revolutions from 1750 to the present. She wants to drop the reference to Enlightenment ideas (replacing with "the writings of") and to Thomas Jefferson. She adds Thomas Aquinas and others. Jefferson's ideas, she argues, were based on other political philosophers listed in the standards. We don't buy her argument at all. Board member Bob Craig of Lubbock points out that the curriculum writers clearly wanted to students to study Enlightenment ideas and Jefferson. Could Dunbar's problem be that Jefferson was a Deist? The board approves the amendment, taking Thomas Jefferson OUT of the world history standards.

Andrew Sullivan

 

Rahmbo: First Blood

 

Regardless of what people in the media are saying as of late, I like Rahm Emanuel. I can respect a man with a taste for blood and a several notches on his attache case.

nytimes.com: The Limits of Rahmism
tumblr.com: rahmblr.tumblr.com
guardian.co.uk: "...as it happens, Mr Massa, yes I do."
washingtonpost.com: Rahm Emanuel in the NYT Magazine
cnn.com: Axelrod urges 'discount' of reports of tension with Emanuel
suntimes.com: Rod Blagojevich talks about Rahm Emanuel with Van Susteren
csmonitor.com: Rahm Emanuel controversy: White House fights image of turmoil

 

Wencke Myhre singing Er Hat Ein Knallrotes Gummiboot

 

No time for blogging today! I am busy ironing out a small difficulty with one of my medical colleagues. (Don't worry about Dr. Erlichman. I calmed him down later with a prefrontal lobotomy.) In the meantime you can watch this swell video of Wencke Myhre singing Er Hat Ein Knallrotes Gummiboot. (Oh, my gosh! Her Gummiboots are inflatable!)

 

Lobster Cat

 
 

Palin/Bachmann 2012!

 

Mark your calendars, boys and girls! On April 7 Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will be the host of a fundraiser for Rep. Michele Bachmann! (Jeepers! I'm getting all goosepimpley!)

huffingtonpost.com: Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann Team Up For Fundraiser
startribune.com: Palin to campaign for Bachmann in her run for 3rd term
politico.com: Sarah Palin raising funds for Rep. Michele Bachmann
thehill.com: Palin to campaign for Bachmann

 

Baumhüter Hosiery Commercial

 

No time for blogging today! I am busy clearing up a little misunderstanding at the local medical school. (Do we really need to get the authorities involved, my dear? It's not even a very good speciman!) In the meantime you can watch this swell Baumhüter Hosiery commercial. (It's funny how uninteresting stockings are until somebody's wearing them!)

 

Lizards From Hell

 
 

Rita Pavone is Awesome!

 

I was perusing the internet tubes and I found this video of Rita Pavone singing "Il geghegè" from a 1966 Italian TV show and I found that was quite taken with the raw energy and powerful stage presence of the singer. (This video is awesome!) I immediately started searching for other videos by Rita Pavone, and found a treasure trove of awesomeness, especially "Your Baby's Gone Surfing" (Go Rita GO!) Datemi Un Martello, Just Once More, Lui [ 2 ], Eyes Of Mine and this song from the film "La Figlia Americane".

I'm surprised that I have never heard of Rita Pavone, because she was certainly famous in her day. According to Wikipedia, "in 1965, Pavone participated as a musician guest in The Ed Sullivan Show, becoming a frequent guest there until 1970. [...] in the United States Rita Pavone sang alongside Diana Ross and The Supremes, Ella Fitzgerald, Tom Jones, Duke Ellington, Paul Anka and a number of singers of the era. It is said that Elvis Presley made a painting of her after she went to Memphis and he met her at a recording studio. Barbra Streisand recorded a duo with her. Pavone sang at Carnegie Hall in New York city during this era."

Rita Pavone also wrote and performed the School House Rock inspired song in this delightful animated video called, "My Name is Potato". The animation was done by Guido Manuli, who also worked on Bruno Bozetto's film "Allegro non Troppo". (I love the evolution sequence in that film.)

I was curious as to what the lyrics in the potato song meant, but this was all I could Google on the subject:

Tu sei la patata oggi rinomata l’accento un po’ straniero dell’americano impero.
You are a potato - today famous - foreign accent from the American empire.
Tu non sei un’animale non mangi la carne ne’ erba ne’ uova tu nutri soltanto di terra sola.
You aren't an animal, don't eat meat nor grass, nor eggs - You live only off the dirt.
Tu sei la patata se ti parlo la tua voce mi risponde stranamente con l’accento straniero.
You are a potato - If you speak your voice responds strangely with a foreign accent.
Potato potato potato.

The Book I'm Not Reading

Rita Pavone seems to have spent a signicant portion of her early career dressed as a boy on a TV show called "Gian Burrasca", playing a male character that always got into mischief and then sang songs about how much he loved his mother, which is a common Italian trope. [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ] (I actually found these videos kind of annoying.)

Because Rita is dressed as a boy in "Viva La Pappa Col Pomodoro", I thought that was merely a continuation of this theme - but I grew curious about it because it is kind of a happy little song that blatantly features Rita awesome dance moves (Ha! Watch this!), and it was apparently about a father figure ('Pappa Col Pomodoro') and not a mother figure.

I was wrong, though. It seems that the title of the song, "Viva La Pappa Col Pomodoro", roughly translates to "Long Live the Mushy Tuscan Tomato Soup Dish That is Made Out of Stale Bread," but upon translating the song it doesn't really seem to be about food at all. (This is how to make La Pappa Al Pomodoro, by the way.) [ 2 ]

As near as I can figure, the lyrics of the song roughly translate to 'history has taught us that people that are hungry start revolutions against dictators', which seems to me to be a very strange message considering the upbeat tempo and enthusiastic dance moves that accompany the presentation.

Along the same lines, Rita Pavone was in a 1967 film called the La Feldmarescialla ("The Girl Field Marshall") in which she seems to be playing a happy, singing Nazi. I can only find three clips, "Rosamunda/Un, Due, Tre (Se Marci Insieme a Me)", "Non Dimenticar le Mie Parole" and "Pippo Non Lo Sa". If you wait until after the brief song "Rosamunda" on this clip, she sings "Un, Due, Tre" while marching along with whole platoon of Nazis. (It's pretty remarkable.) If you listen close, it actually sounds like the back-up singers are Alvin and the Chipunks. (I kid you not!)

"Rosamunda" is sung to the tune of "Roll Out the Barrel".

Rita la Zanzara ("Rita the Mosquito" 1966) [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 ]
Non Stuzzicate la Zanzara (Don't Sting The Mosquito" 1967) [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ]
Little Rita Nel West ("Little Rita in the West" 1968) [ 1, 2, 3 ]

I found two entire Rita Pavone movies, Rita la Zanzara ("Rita the Mosquito"):

"Rita, a vivacious co-ed is in love with her music teacher, a man who leads a double life - bespectacled professor by day and composer of rock songs by night. Will Rita win his heart?" IMDB

And Non Stuzzicate la Zanzara ("Don't Bother the Mosquito"):

"Rita, a vivacious co-ed flees her boarding school with her music teacher, who is also engaged to her. She wants to take part in a singing contest but her father who is dead against it has her kidnapped. He finally gives in when his wife threatens to sing in the contest herself." IMDB

Both of these films were directed by Lina Wertmüller. (I have seen some of her films, including Swept Away.) They also star famous italian film star Giancarlo Giannini sporting a really frightening hairdo.

Although I am sure that my good friend Sleestak would disagree, I would say that Rita Pavone gives Hayley Mills some real competition in the overwhelming, outright-prolonged cuteness department.

Here are some pictures that I found of Rita Pavone. (I like the picture of Rita with the giant cake best! This picture gives you an idea of her height.) If you want to see more of her videos, I have made a Giant HTML Jukebox with 176 Videos of Rita Pavone!

You can also visit Rita Pavone's website.

Rita Pavone is awesome!

 

"Journalism is the Ability to Meet the Challenge of Filling Space." (Rebecca West)

 

Sarah Palin was on Jay Leno [clip 1:30] [full interview 9:53] and Mitt Romney was on David Letterman last night. [clip ±2:00] Try and guess who beat who in the ratings. Both Palin and Romney have managed to make a real splash in the media lately.

That said, the real winner yesterday was Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion with Will Ferrell, Chevy Chase, Ron Howard, Jim Carrey, Fred Armisen, Darrell Hammond, Dan Aykroyd, Maya Rudolph and Dana Carvey. (This clip is awesome!)

 

Republican National Committee: "Putting the Fun Back in FUNdraising!"

 

[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 ]

A confidential Republican National Committee fundraising presentation delivered by RNC Finance Director Rob Bickhart to top donors and fundraisers outlines in very simple terms the Republican's fundraising stratagy in the upcoming election, "Save the country from trending toward Socialism!"

This page calls the present administration "The Evil Empire," and pictures Obama as the Joker from Batman, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as Cruella DeVille and Senate Majority Leaders Harry Reid as Scooby Doo.

The page that I found most amusing strongly advocates the use of "Tchochkes!" to help gain traction with donors. For those that are unfamiliar with the term, Tchochkes refer to those crappy t shirts, logo bearing pens, key fobs and other promotional freebies that are dispensed at conventions and trade shows.

politico.com, via Oliver Willis.

 

Prayer Warriors and Palin Organizing Spiritual Warfare to Take Over America

 

No time for blogging today! Germaine Gregarious and I are on the Moon investigating the local culinary establishments. (I must say that the Green Cheese and Arugula Surprise was excellent, but the restauraunt had no atmosphere!) In the meantime you check out this swell story about how the Prayer Warriors and Palin Organizing Spiritual Warfare to Take Over America, that I found via Seeing Eye Chick. (I think that the moon is going broke - I overheard that it's down to it's last quarter!)

 

"Because In Reality, All Things Imaginable Are But Nouns." (Jonathan Swift)

 

One of the greatest bloggers ever, Jon Swift, has died. Blue Gal has the details from his mother. It is always a grave loss when a parent loses a child.

 

Bunning: "Those Darn Democrats are Wrecklessly Spending Our Money on Poor People!"

 

After enormous unfunded tax cuts for the rich....

And two unfunded wars....

Republican Senator Jim Bunning has finally decided to take a stand!

Bunning let the PAYGO statute expire in 2002, voted against reinstating PAYGO in 2010 but is solidly in favor of PAYGO rules when it applies to Medicare, transportation projects and the unemployed!

ABC Video: "Excuse me! This is a senators-only elevator!" [ 2 ]
wsj.com: One Senator Holds Up Bill, in New Level of Gridlock
washingtonpost.com: Congressional delay forces DOT furloughs

Best quote: "I had a bunning removed from my boehner last night. It was becking painful."

 

Godzilla vs Princess Toadstool and Mario

 

No time for blogging today! I am busy doing some important market research in Japan! (Excuse me my dear - but is that fresh tempura, or are you just happy sashimi?) In the meantime, you can watch these swell videos, "Godzilla vs Princess Toadstool and Mario" and "Godzilla vs The Mushroom Kingdom" (Is it just me, or does Godzilla seem to have gained some weight?)

 

Awesome!

 

Tiny Fantastic Four Sweaters, via Blue Gal.