I mean, I know it is meant as satire, but I have this sick uncomfortable feeling that it is true-to-life.

I just posted this note to the right wing noise machine virtual rag, "Townhall." It refers to this article: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?UrlTitle=holy_moly,_mark_foley&ns=BurtPrelutsky&dt=10/09/2006&page=full&comments=true

Monday, October, 09, 2006 5:28 AM

When "facts" are not facts...

I've been hearing regularly from right wing commentators that "Gerry Studds had a relationship with a male page in 1983." Of course that's wrong, and they must know it even as they spin it. In Burt Prelutsky's article, Studds was said to be unapologetic, but of course he wasn't. He admitted it was inappropriate to have a relationship with any page, because they are in fact subordinates to House members. It was said he "turned his back," on his House colleagues, when his reprimand was read for the 1973 affair. Actually, he faced the Speaker. The same commentators must know that. A reprimand is the mildest form of action taken by the committee. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,953990-1,00.html

Then we're told that our hero, Newt Gingrich, demanded the expulsion of both the batchelor Studds and the married Dan Crane for these ancient affairs (Crane's was in 1979). Of course, Newt had an affair with a Congressional ultimate subordinate over which he dumped his second wife. http://www.robertscheer.com/1_natcolumn/99_columns/081799.htm

This adultery and betrayal was about the time Newt engineered the impeachment of Bill Clinton for having an affair with a subordinate.

In 1983, the House Ethics Committee spent eight months dealing with the Crane-Studds matters. In 2004 the Ethics Committee found Tom DeLay guilty of three serious violations and recommended reprimands. DeLay removed the Republican members who voted for reprimand, replaced them with his allies, then changed the rules, which shut down the committee for all of 2005.

It appears that Burt is hoping we're all unread, or retarded or something. Please don't continue to insult our intelligence with spin masquerading as "facts."

No one ever went broke underestimating the absolute stupidity of Americans. If Fox news told them that Liberals made the earth flat and the moon gay, their audience would run outside and angrily protest it.

Oh, this cartoon is clever in its own way. But any attempt to expose the transparent hypocrisy and mendacity of the ruling party will be seen by patriotic citizens capable of reading cartoons as an attack on the Commander-in-Chief who's been successfully keeping us safe for the past six years.

The Democrats will be forced to frantically disassociate themselves from both the cartoon and the philosophy it espouses-- and that can only be a good thing for the Republican Party!

So, are you the guy on the left or the guy on the right?

As for "keeping America safe for six years", that's a strange way to describe the only President to allow a large-scale terrorist attack on his watch - an attack he'd been warned about a month before, but had done nothing to prevent (though his AG did take the step to stop flying commercial aircraft). And six years ago was long before 9/11, but I guess that bit is not important, eh?

Our esteemed going down in flames bush, should be held to task for "cutting and running" in his search for Osama Ben Laden. That, too me, is what the dems should be focused on.

Thank you to This Modern World for taking a lighthearted look at the things that literally make one feel like one's going crazy. It helps to know you're not alone in feeling that "the world" as portrayed by our media is upside down from reality.

And thank you to Salon for continuing to carry such great content. Bravo.

farnsworth is right.

For years now, left-of-center pundits and commentators have been talking about the death of satire since right wing influences have consolidated their hold on the media. In many cases, you can't tell anymore if an article is from The Onion or the New York Times. The most blatant illogicalities are presented, and never a tongue in a cheek can be seen.

Tom Tomorrow, by its cartoon format, makes it a little easier to confirm that, yes indeed, this is satire and not just another Fox News broadcast. No, you're not losing your mind - this stuff really doesn't make any sense. No, your memory is not going - this is the same guy convicted of lying to Congress over Iran-Contra who is now one of our key men in the Middle East. Or the same guy who tried to ruin public broadcasting (NPR, PBS) who has now been expelled from Voice of American for the same antics.

Seriously, articles in The Onion are beginning to make more sense. How many times have I seen links to the classic "Bush Elected - 'Our long nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over!'" article. Some of the best reporting is on Comedy Central.

The current regime is full employment for comedians. All you have to do is quote, or show video or photos of, our self-proclaimed "Commander in Chief" to get the big yucks.

How much more of this genre of humor can the nation stand? Stay tuned for November 7th, when the US portion of the audience votes on who gets thrown off the island.

...Fox News in the fuuny papers! Outstanding!

It really is true that many people - it's the nature of ideology - process things in ways such as figuring that the scandals are a result of the republicans not being given quite ENOUGH power yet, that the remaining democrat presence somehow is keeping the republicans from getting their good, wonderful policies implemented.

The solution? Get rid of the remaining democrats, then things will be better.

I think it has to do with a basic mechanism that people confuse goals and policies - as long as the republicans say they are trying for things people agree with, whatever they sctually do is ignored as just the struggled they are dealing with, or remaining problems from democrats, etc., and of course the old favorite, a few bad apples.

It's why ideology is so dangerous to the nation - it lets the practicers have a free hand without accountability.

It's well-known in marketing circles as FUD, fear uncertainty and doubt - you just get people assuming that as bad as the republicans are, the democrats would somehow be worse, and voila, the republicans are safe in office.

While we may take some glee if they FINALLY lose their majority, it's small reason for celebration after 12 years of getting away with it to our nation's shame and great decline.

The fact that one congressman's sexual behavior affects more votes than the utter corruption for years says it all.