A cold, cold Fitzmas Eve

At the moment, Fitzmas Eve carries a damp chill, an overcast sky, and the promise of sleet, not snow. From the Wayne Madsen Report this morning (but see below* regarding Madsen’s credibility):

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OMFG Karl Rove indicted ?!

Truthout’s Jason Leopold reports that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald “instructed one of the attorneys to tell Rove that he has 24 hours to get his affairs in order, high level sources with direct knowledge of the meeting said Saturday morning.”

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Where’s the basement?

Bush hits 29% in new Harris Poll, and that’s before the latest bad news on domestic spying — you know, the fact the bastards are sniffing their way through millions of American phone records.

“Domestic data mining” — aw, come on. Call it what it is: domestic spying.

Don’t worry about the government.

D.

Frank Rich behind the firewall: It’s Too Late for United 93

When is Rich scheduled to show up on Colbert? That’s what I want to know. I’m dying to hear Rich’s response to Stephen Colbert’s trademark question, “Sir, why do you hate America?” — which Colbert only asks of true patriots.

B12 Partners Solipsism has posted Frank Rich’s op-ed column in full. Here’s a teaser:

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Has Colbert eclipsed Stewart?

Stephen Colbert’s stock is soaring thanks to his comedic shishkebabery of George Bush at Saturday Night’s Washington Correspondent Dinner. No, really, his stock is soaring. Over at Colbert Nation, every last tee shirt and coffee cup are out of stock.

Oh — and tonight, Morley Safer profiled Colbert on 60 Minutes. Not bad for a weekend’s work.

Colbert didn’t pull any punches at the Washington Correspondent Dinner. You Tube has the video, and Kos has the full transcript. Read the whole thing, please, but for now let me give you a great appetizer:

“Sir, pay no attention to the people who say the glass is half empty, because 32% means it’s 2/3 empty. There’s still some liquid in that glass is my point, but I wouldn’t drink it. The last third is usually backwash.”

Yum!

Colbert gets enormous mileage from a twisty form of humor that has a lot in common with reverse psychology. Say one thing, mean the opposite, like when your Mom told you to eat all the chocolate chip cookies before dinner “because I want you to ruin your appetite.” And you did, too, and it was good, wasn’t it? Here’s Stephen in action, giving the President his cookies:

I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound — with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world.

How did Bush take it? Not well, according to Editor & Publisher:

As Colbert walked from the podium, when it was over, the president and First Lady gave him quick nods, unsmiling. The president shook his hand and tapped his elbow, and left immediately.

Those seated near Bush told E&P’s Joe Strupp, who was elsewhere in the room, that Bush had quickly turned from an amused guest to an obviously offended target as Colbert’s comments brought up his low approval ratings and problems in Iraq.

Back to the question of the hour. Has Colbert surpassed Jon Stewart? I think so. Routinely, Colbert torments his right wing guests by playing into their beliefs. He often gets them to agree to even more extreme positions than the ones they publicly espouse. In contrast, Jon Stewart seems to fawn over his powerful guests.

Remember Stewart’s interview with that former Iraqi general, the one who insists Saddam had WMDs and has written a book to prove it? Stewart gushed like the guy was his long lost grampa. And I’m getting tired of the way Stewart kisses John McCain’s ass.

If you look back at the transcript of Stewart’s famous appearance on Crossfire, it seems like he doesn’t think it’s his job to ask the tough questions. His job is to be funny; he wants the Carlsons and Begalas of the world to do their job and ask the tough questions.

Stephen Colbert knows it’s possible to reveal the painful truths (truthinesses?) and be funny. He proved it Saturday night, and he proves it regularly on his show. It’s not that Stewart fails altogether — the Daily Show nails its asshatted targets with fair regularity — but that he misses too many excellent opportunities to do more.

Perhaps Stewart should pay closer attention to Colbert.

D.

Tearing down the firewall

Is anything on the internet more ridiculous than the NY Times Op-Ed firewall? Thanks to Jurassic Pork and Tennessee Guerilla Woman for reprinting this morning’s Maureen Dowd column, Say Uncle, Rummy. Snip:

The former “Matinee Idol,” as W. liked to call him, is now a figure of absurdity, clinging to his job only because some retired generals turned him into a new front on the war on terror. On his rare, brief visit to Baghdad, he was afraid to go outside Fortress Green Zone, even though he yammers on conservative talk shows about how progress is being made, and how the press never reports good news out of Iraq.

If the news is so good, why wasn’t Rummy gallivanting at the local mall, walking around rather than hiding out in the U.S. base known as Camp Victory? (What are they going to call it, one reporter joked, Camp Defeat?)

Yesterday, I had to suffer through another 45 minutes of Fox News. I work out three times a week, and while I’m shvitzing on the elliptical trainer I’m a slave to whatever is on the box. To be exact, I was reading the third novel of Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus Trilogy (Ptolemy’s Gate), but Fox was on and despite my consistent gym habits most of the other guys there are still BIGGER THAN ME.

Just like high school, dammit.

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More procrastination

I need to catch up on my Tangent review responsibilities today. So what am I doing? Catching up on Jurassic Pork’s activities. Yesterday, he posted Maureen Dowd’s latest, and for Sunday brunch, he gives us a fine Assclowns of the Week. I learned something new regarding Wenyi Wang’s protest, something chilling. Here’s JP:

Of course, the CNN story doesn’t explain the reason for Dr. Wang’s protest, which is organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners while they’re still alive. So, while CNN effectively gagged her by not mentioning the need for the doctor’s protest, what’s even more telling is that a cameraman actually pulled a sign from her hands and literally gagged her by putting his hand over her mouth.

So much for the “liberal media.”

And Dr. Wang’s brief but memorable protest, on the White House lawn and just feet away from both Hu and Bush, automatically forced into light a horrifying story that, until now, had been virtually ignored by the mainstream media (and still is, as I’ve just demonstrated).

Yeesh. Remember Pogo? We have met the enemy . . .

By the way, I see that, after a long and inexplicable absence, Double Plus Mal is back. I think she’s hawt.

D.

PS: Leg of lamb tonight, with focaccia and asparagus. I might do a little radicchio and goat cheese salad, too, if I’m feeling motivated.

For the lamb, I had Karen bone it (you’d think a surgeon could bone a leg of lamb, wouldn’t you? But hey, I’m not an orthopod!) Then I rubbed it with lemon, sprinkled it with salt and pepper, trussed it up, and marinated it overnight in . . . well, let’s see how it turns out, and if it’s good, I’ll let you know.