Pink-y and the Complete Lack of a Brain

So I see the screeching, ineffectual buffoons from Code Pink -- namely the group's founder, Medea Benjamin -- were at it again today.

In case you were lucky enough to miss it, this time Benjamin managed to somehow grab the spotlight away from her biggest target yet, heckling the President of the United States. Never mind that Barack Obama was holding a press conference whose sole purpose was to explain and clarify U.S. policy on the prosecution of war overseas and to push publicly again for the closure of Guantanamo, that of course wasn't good enough for Benjamin, because DRONES!

What I loved about this moment, though, is that Obama handled it with an almost staggering level of graciousness, certainly much more than Benjamin would've gotten from a president culled from the current crop of Republicans. He let her shriek, let her rant about the CIA and Muslim-killing, even deferred to her, and then calmly continued.

In other words, he made her look like what she is: a fucking jackass.

Related: The Daily Banter: The 60's Brand of Protest Doesn't Work Anymore/2.8.13"

Listening Post

Emma Louise's new album, Vs Head Vs Heart, is a recent favorite of mine, the kind of thing I can't stop listening to.

From that record, this is Boy.

Listening Post

I missed this yesterday, but there's no way I can let it go completely without mention.

The Doors have always been one of my favorite bands. They were something unique in music: darkness, mystery, hedonism, mythology, poetry, and an appreciation for Los Angeles as the edge of Western civilization in all its grotesque glory. Morrison of course died decades ago, but Doors co-founder Ray Manzarek succumbed to cancer on Sunday, taking with him the heart and spirit of one of the greatest rock'n'roll bands in history, but leaving behind plenty of great music.

Here's The Crystal Ship.

Act of Godless

I've been out of the loop for the past few days because I've been spending some much-needed time with my daughter. With that in mind, I really do hate for my first mention of the devastating Oklahoma tornado to be something as seemingly petty as the response of a woman who doesn't believe in God to Wolf Blitzer's idiotic assumption that she does, but those are the breaks, I guess.

I think the reason I'm posting this and not feeling too bad about it is that this morning I listened to NPR do an interview with Republican Rep. Tom Cole -- who's from the town of Moore, Oklahoma, which was almost completely flattened by this F5 tornado -- and when asked what Americans can do to help, Cole answered, "Well, first and foremost, pray for us." Now don't get me wrong: Tom Cole sounds like a really decent guy and I have no doubt he had the best of intentions with his comment, but, really? First and foremost? That's what Americans should be doing to help people who've just had their lives utterly destroyed by what's occasionally known, ironically, as an act of God: Pray?

Maybe that's why I find the reaction of the woman in this interview so refreshing: because it proves that sometimes there actually are atheists in foxholes -- and there are almost always idiots behind cable news microphones.



Adding: This thing of beauty...

Listening Post

New stuff from Vampire Weekend. I still for the life of me can't figure out whether I like these guys or not. It comes and goes.

Here's Diane Young.

I'm going to be almost completely out of the loop for the next couple of days. Inara's in town for a short visit. Talk amongst yourselves.

The Bubble Genius Bob & Chez Show, 5.15.13

This week: The IRS Scandal and Citizens United; John Boehner Demands Jail for Culprits, No Jail Time for Bush and Culprits of Iraq, Torture, Etc; The AP Phone Records Scandal and Watergate; Benghazi-Gate Continues; ABC News "Rocks" the Political World; CNN Discovers ABC News Report Was Seriously Flawed; Benghazi-Gate Screamers Don’t Know Where It’s Located; 935 False Statements About Iraq; and much more. Brought to you by Bubble Genius and the BobCesca.com Amazon Link.

Listen and subscribe for free on iTunes

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Listening Post

Here's a creepy little video featuring new stuff from Queens of the Stone Age.

This is Kalopsia.

Quote of the Day

"I can’t be entirely indifferent to the shitty-ass, reach-around snark of some fellow who rushes to throw under the bus people about whom he has no knowledge whatsoever -- and does so to gain a dishonest point in a fucking tweet war."

-- David Simon on Bravo's Andy Cohen, who insinuated on Twitter that there may be something shady involved in the tax incentives Simon's show, Treme, is getting from the city of New Orleans

After awesomely proclaiming "fuck Twitter" and taking to his blog so that he could go into the necessary detail, Simon proceeded to verbally stomp Cohen for his snotty little passive-aggressive accusation. There are a lot of facts and figures and general financial wonkery to this story, but all you really need to know about the online back and forth -- which by the way also involves Anthony Bourdain, who's a regular writer for Treme -- is who the people involved are.

Andy Cohen is a sycophantic, self-aggrandizing asshole who shamefully carries himself like a gay minstrel show and whose network is responsible for more culturally toxic programming than almost any other on television. David Simon created The Wire. End of story.

Listening Post

I've been waiting for a new album from these guys for three long years -- ever since the release of their 2010 debut record, which just blew me the fuck away.

Finally, new music from Middle Class Rut.

This is Aunt Betty.

Listening Post

From one of my favorite albums of the year so far, here's MS MR -- Fantasy.