The Blue State

(Video) Murtha calls on McCain to apologize for IED joke

Congressman John Murtha is furious at John McCain for a joke that he made about IED's while appearing on the Daily Show this week.  Here was what McCain said:

STEWART: So what do you want to start with: the bomb Iran song, or the walk through the market in Baghdad?  What do you want to start with?

MCCAIN: Uh, let's see.  Which one have I seen most on your show?  I think maybe, maybe shopping in Baghdad.  I had something really picked out for you too.  It's a nice --

STEWART: Did you really?

MCCAIN: Yeah.  It's a nice little IED to put under your desk.

On the House floor the very next day, Murtha said many of the military families that lost loved ones to IED's would find that offensive.  He called on McCain to apologize:

MURTHA: Let me talk a little about IED's.  In the last four months, we've lost more troops than any other period during this war.  And I'm sorry to hear from a friend of mine's wife, who called me and said there was a joke on one of the shows last night of a Republican presidential candidate who said that he brought an IED back and put it under this guy's desk.  That individual owes an apology to every troop that serves in Iraq.

McCain's campaign is a train-wreck.  It will be very important for him to rebound during the GOP debate on Thursday.

All I know is that if McCain were a Democrat, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh would have gone crazy because of that comment.

(Video) Jon Stewart makes fun of Fox's depiction of Obama

Last night on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart made a complete fool out of the Fox News morning show "Fox & Friends" for its flawed depiction of Illinois Senator Barack Obama:

I normally don't post Daily Show clips on this site, since I assume that most of you watch it anyway.  This was just too difficult to pass up.

"And that...was the way it was."

8/29/06 Morning Clips with Breakfast

I want to make this a routine.  Once each day, I will post a roundup of the most buzz-worthy videos that sum up the latest water-cooler talk in politics.

First Up: Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert raided the Emmy Awards.  Yes, I am one day late for showing this clip -- but there was so much news yesterday.  During their presentation of the award for Best Reality Competition Program, the two reminded us why they are the perfect antidote to the Fox News channel.

Second in Line: Democratic Party ignores a potential opportunity.  Over in California, Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, is under fire for giving out money in exchange for campaign contributions.  The Democrats could challenge him and aggressively fund his opponent.  But as this UNC TV report explains, even though Lewis is now being investigated by the Justice Department, the Democats are too afraid of going after someone with such high status.

Third: Katherine Harris separates mind from sanity.  Jack Cafferty reads through some interesting e-mails that CNN has been getting about Katherine Harris.  If you recall, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Florida was the one who said that "God chooses our leaders," and that not electing Christian candidates means "you are going to legislate sin."

Fourth: Hannity the hurricane man.  During a weather report on Fox's Hannity and Colmes, Hannity seemed rather interested as to whether hurricane Ernesto will to hit Cuba.  Make of it what you want.

Fifth, But Not Least: Maher meet Kos.  This is from Friday.  Markos Moulitsas of the Daily Kos blog appeared on the HBO show Real Time with host Bill Maher.  The two discussed how the Democrats can possibly counter the Republican noise machine.

More clips tomorrow.

Video: Stewart and Colbert give Geraldo the ultimate payback

I think the last person who thought Geraldo Rivera was a liberal left the building hours ago.  After Geraldo's tirade on the O'Reilly Factor a few weeks ago, Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert messed with the Fox News reporter, who has a reputation of taking himself a little too seriously:

Click to watch video clip

---- Partial Transcript ----

COLBERT: "John, why are you closing yourself off from Geraldo?  He came to unlock the vault of your heart; and when he opened it, it was empty.  An empty vault.  And he had a camera crew -- it was very embarrassing."

STEWART: "I really don't understand why --"

COLBERT: "Well maybe if you walked a mile in his shoes."

STEWART: "What?  By fighting Danny Bonaduce for charity?  By giving away troop movements in Iraq?"

COLBERT: "No John.  By walking a mile in his mustache."

In the ongoing battle between Fox News and Comedy Central, I'd say that Comedy Central is getting the better end.

And if you don't recall how this whole thing started, here is the video.
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Other sites blogging about this story: I Never Knew, and my site!

Video: Lieberman could form his own Senate

Last night on the Daily Show, host Jon Stewart and correspondent Samantha Bee illustrated how pathetic Joe Lieberman is by cheating our primary system, and also acting as if Democrats are the ones to blame for all the problems currently facing this country.  Hello, earth to Lieberman: the Democrats are not the ones in control, and never will be as long as you are in the party:

Click to watch video clip

---- Partial Transcript ----

JON STEWART: "Sam, what do you make of Lieberman's decision to press forward in this race as an independent?"

SAMANTHA BEE: "Well John, he's no quitter.  Sources in his campaign tell me if he loses again in November, he'll start his own Senate where he'll name himself Majority Leader of a Democratic Party comprised of Walter Mondale, Mike Dukakis, Jerry Brown, and a zombified Adeli Stevenson.

JON STEWART: "...What is the larger lesson of this result for the fall elections?"

SAMANTHA BEE: "Well, the lesson is that people are mad as hell about the war in Iraq, and they're not going to let Democrats get away with it anymore. (Laughter)  Come November, the party that didn't control government is going to be held accountable.  I mean, who else is there to blame?  Is there anyone more responsible for the war in Iraq than..the Democratic Party?...Joe Lieberman has made up his mind.  If not nominated, he will run.  If not elected, he will serve."

Great one!  It's nice to know that the Democratic Party leadership threw its support behind Ned Lamont immediately after the election.  Looks like Joe is all alone in ego land.

 

Video: Jon Stewart explains how the Army is lowering enlistment standards

Last night on the Daily Show, host Jon Stewart reported that the Pentagon is lowering the requirements for enlistees.  Gee, I wonder why?  Could it be that our shoot-from-the-hip foreign policy is making young people too nervous to join?  Jon also came up with what could be an option for the Pentagon if they get even more desperate for help:

Click to watch video clip

-------- Partial Transcript ------

STEWART: "To raise the stress, the Army recently raised its enlistment age limit for the second time in five months to 42 years old, and has lowered the physical requirements to pass basic training...Join the Army, and spend your mid-life crisis in an actual crisis.  By the way, if you're wondering why the cut-off is 42, it's because I'm 43 -- and even the Army doesn't want to go there."

The report also added that the Army is recruiting non-citizens who are promised with citizenship if they join.  It looks like the Administration just found their answer for how to make Americans less interested in our foreign policy.  Not having a draft takes away some of the interest.  Now the goal of recruiting non-Americans to enlist will add to the disconnect.  This is a sickly brilliant idea.  It means that we can fight as many wars as we want and not have local communities outraged over the loss of life.  Others will be fighting, not average Americans.  At least it's encouraging for military contractors that will profit off this new tolerance for war.  How sad.

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Other sites blogging about this issue: Harpers, Clamor Everyday Revolution Blog, Media Mouse, The Democratic Daily, Attwood's Blog, Philosophy from the Left Coast, 60's Now, Crimes and Corruption of the New World.

Video: Who killed the electric car?

Chris Paine, the director of the new documentary film "Who Killed the Electric Car?" appeared on the Daily Show last night.  It is really fascinating to learn about why those cars just all of a sudden disappeared.  Instances like that make wacko conspiracy theorists seem normal:

Click to watch video clip

----- Partial Transcript -----

STEWART: "They would literally say, 'We can't tell you what we're going to do with them?'"

PAINE: "Well, like with my car, I took it in because my brake light went off.  And this is the first time I had any mechanical issue.  And I call up and go, 'Hey is my car ready?'  And they go, 'Well, we took it back.'

It gets more interesting:

STEWART: "So did you find out where they're keeping the bodies?"

PAINE: "We got a tip that...the cars are being taken down to Arizona.  We spent our big three-thousand dollar documentary budget..to rent a helicopter.  And we flew over GM's headquarters in the middle of the desert, and there they were crushing the cars."

I am definitely seeing this movie!

• Click to watch the trailer
• Click to check to see where it is playing near you

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Other blogs writing about this movie: Environmental Valuation, Link Filter, Elena's Journal, Liam Keane.

Video: AllState raises insurance costs for Brooklyners due to hurricanes

Last night on the Daily Show, correspondent Jason Jones filed a report on how citizens in Brooklyn, yes Brooklyn, are facing higher insurance costs because of hurricanes.  Jones makes a supply-side economist look heartless:

Click to watch video clip

---- Partial Transcript ----

STEPHEN MOORE: "There's no law that says Allstate has to provide you with insurance.  Companies are in business to make money."

JASON JONES: "I spoke to this guy Steinfeld, and he was all like, (in a Jerry Seinfeld voice) 'What's the deal with Allstate?  They're supposed to cover all the state.'"

STEPHEN MOORE: "All the what?"

JASON JONES: "All the state."

STEPHEN MOORE: "Right.  Well, if you want to talk about victims here, what about the victims -- the millions of shareholders who own Allstate?  Shouldn't we care about them too?"

JASON JONES: "When I think about what those poor insurance companies went through with Katrina."

STEPHEN MOORE: "Right.  Well, I mean --"

JASON JONES: "Can't you just picture them all cooped up in their boardrooms huddling for wealth?"

What a fool.  I think Moore just hurt his business friends by taking that rhetorical route.

Video: Iraq just a case of bad accounting?

During his news conference yesterday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, President Bush blamed the poor security situation in Baghdad on bad accounting.  Last night on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart joked about Bush's lack of nuance:

Click to watch video clip

------- Partial Transcript ------

BUSH: "There needs to be more forces inside Baghdad who are willing to hold people to account.  In other words, if you find somebody who's kidnapping and murdering, the murderer ought to be held to account."

JON STEWART: "Yes, somebody should tell those folks kidnapping and murder is wrong, and they should be held to account.  That's the problem with Iraq -- very poor accounting."

I sure wish it was as easy as that.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we have mismanaged Iraq ever since the moment we disbanded the Iraqi military right after the invasion.  Of course, no Republican will admit that.
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Other blogs writing about this issue: Beaker Street Blog, Broken Things, The Left Coaster, The Politburo Diktat, Political News, Copeland Institute for Lower Learning, Victoria Kos.

Video: MSNBC turns Middle East violence into a musical

Now this is when you know that the mainstream media has dropped to an all-time low.  As Jon Stewart talked about on Thursday, MSNBC made a musical montage out of the violence in the Middle East, which so far has killed hundreds of innocent civilians:

Click to watch video clip

--------- Partial Transcript -------

JON STEWART: "Yes, apparently the war in the Middle East is also taking place in the middle of a rave...I'm telling you, what are they doing?"

With them, it's all about entertainment and no substance.  Their coverage encourages people to become lazy thinkers.