“Simply, just did not happen.”
– Herman Cain, yesterday

(Illustration found here).

Yes, indeed — just as simple as that.
In a nutcase presser late Tuesday afternoon, Cain mouthed on and on about the simplicity of the whole nasty sexual harassment bullshit as being beyond a giant lie, re-blubbering what he’d blubbered on Jimmy Kimmel Live Monday night: “The feelings that you have when you know that all of this is totally fabricated: You go from anger, then you get disgusted,” he told Kimmel. “There’s not an ounce of truth in all of these accusations.”
On Tuesday, with all the evidence pouring like a open faucet, Cain stuck to the simple lie.

Simple, however, ain’t gonna cut it.
Late yesterday, another story, one The Dish called a “whole bunch of creepy,” though no sexual harassment was presented.
From the Washington Examiner and a story of repulsive-like feelings felt amongst females in the sense-presence of  a sexual predator, and this telling afternote:

Cain exhibited no inappropriate sexual behavior during the dinner, though he did order two $400 bottles of wine and stuck the women with the bill, she said.
The next time the women heard from Cain was Christmas, when he sent them his gospel CD.

Read the whole piece at the Examiner, it is creepy.

Cain can not just simply walk away from this shit.
And on top of the sex, there’s the female tax problem.
Clarence Page at the Chicago Tribune:

Whichever way Cain’s sexual harassment headache winds up, it takes attention away from his other big “woman problem”: His tax plan would cost working women more overall than it would cost their male counterparts.
…
But an analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution, finds two big problems.
One, it wouldn’t raise as much revenue as the current system, despite its claim that it would be “revenue neutral.”
And, two, it would result in a big tax cut for high-earning Americans and a big tax increase for everyone else.
…
That could have a particularly painful impact on women, since Cain’s proposal would eliminate the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit.
Both offer tax breaks to lower-income earners who tend to be female.
Yet, Cain argues that his bean counters are right and that those at the Washington-based think tank are wrong.
Besides, he points out, 9-9-9 is just a proposal and “we can always tweak it.”
Sure.
But, tweaked or not, your initial proposal shows how much regard you have for fairness in your overall fiscal policy.

Not looking good, Herman.
Well, one must remember, before/after all this sexual shit, Cain is still an idiot.
Reason takes a look:

There’s a lot that Cain doesn’t appear to know, or care to know.
He famously bragged about not knowing the name of the president of “Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan.” (To be sure, I would have to look up the name of the country’s president too; but I’m not a foreign policy wonk, and I’m not running for president.)
Cain then went on to call for an end to “foggy foreign policy” in a speech last Friday, and declared that his own foreign policy was an “extension of the Reagan philosophy” that he described as “peace through strength and clarity.”
How much clarity can there really be if you dismiss the need to know even basic details about a country of substantial strategic importance to American trade?
It’s not just foreign policy that confuses Cain either.
Cain deferred questions about his own signature economic plan to a policy adviser at an American Enterprise Institute event on Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan and a National Press Club Event last week.
Indeed, Cain seems to have frequent trouble figuring out exactly what he does and doesn’t know, even on issues that are presumably chewing up large amounts of his time and attention.
When the first details of the sexual harassment scandal broke last week, reports surfaced indicating that the National Restaurant Association, where he was president during the time the incidents were alleged to have taken place, had ended a complaint with a cash settlement.
Cain denied knowing about a settlement a first, but later changed his story and said that he did know about a settlement.
And then, in response to accusations that he changed his story, Cain declared that, well, he didn’t change his story.
Gotcha.
On the other hand, he’s the only GOP candidate I’ve heard sing at a press conference.

Apparently, the GOP is so against Mitt Romney that it’ll take a complete loser like Cain, hook-line-and-sinker without a question.
The US political system is so off-kanker it’s near hilarious, if there’s any room for funny.
The world has not-so-suddenly become very dangerous, and it ain’t terror, it’s the natural process of so many incompetent, arrogant and foolish policy moves in the last couple of decades coming to their logical, horrifying end.
Not to even consider the entire climate change scenario — the biggest threat on the planet by far, though, some think it will simply just go away.
Cane the Cains — Herman claims he’s victim of a conspiracy.

That’s just simply too bonkers.

Asked what most viewers and observers of Fox News would be surprised to learn about the controversial cable channel, a former insider from the world of Rupert Murdoch was quick with a response: “I don’t think people would believe it’s as concocted as it is; that stuff is just made up.”

Scripted news coverage, not unique to Winston Smith.

(Illustration found here).

Anyone who pays any attention to Fox News and has any sense at all knows this already: “It is their M.O. to undermine the administration and to undermine Democrats,” says the source. “They’re a propaganda outfit but they call themselves news.”

And apparently, the viewing public does comprehend.
According to Public Policy Polling, Fox’s viewer-ship has greatly declined in the past year, and PBS is now the most trusted news operation in the US.
Liars are in their lairs.

Madness in media is apparently on the upswing and the right-wing is the nastiest of the bunch.
In a study by Tufts University’s School of Arts and Sciences the use of “outrage talk” is getting more and more prevalent in recent years.
Via Science 2.0:

The term ‘outrage talk’ refers to a form of political discourse involving efforts to provoke visceral responses, such as anger, righteousness, fear or moral indignation, through the use of over-generalizations, sensationalism, misleading information, ad hominem attacks and partial truths about opponents.
If you are left wing, think Michael Savage.
If you are right wing, think Keith Olbermann.
…
“Our data indicate that the right uses decidedly more outrage speech than the left.
Taken as a whole, liberal content is quite nasty in character, following the outrage model of emotional, dramatic and judgment-laden speech.
Conservatives, however, are even nastier.”
…
It isn’t just television and radio.
They found outrage language is now common among the nation’s leading newspaper columnists also.
But is it different now, or do older people in journalism and the population simply romanticize the past? Sobieraj and Berry studied 10 widely syndicated columnists during 10-week periods in both 1955 and 1975. They chose these dates to see if the tumultuous period of the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War protests and the Watergate scandal led to greater outrage in newspapers at that time.
They found the answer was no.
“Outrage is virtually absent from both the 1955 and the 1975 columns, in contrast to the columns of 2009 which contain, on average, nearly six instances of outrage per column,” said the Tufts scholars.
“The titans of American journalism in 1955 and 1975 remained restrained in their language despite the impassioned politics of protest.”

One major factor not part of the past: There was no nasty, lying, rumor-mongering Fox News, the direct and biggest outrage outlet in all of history.

Watch and listen to Mississippi asshole Haley Barbour on Fox News this morning and get way-outraged.
Or maybe watch Hadley elucidate and be tickled.

Hilarious — Horse walks into a bar, bartender asks: “Why the long face?”

Horror talk from the wing-nuttery side of our padded room won’t bring much laughter — one GOP nut wants a law to allow guns onto the floor of the US House of Representatives, while another seeks rules NOT to permit guns within 1,000 feet of members of Congress.

Funny or what?

(Illustration: A young, dangerous dork found here).

Guns are as much a part of US history as the Mayflower and Ben Franklin.
Maybe the problem with the proliferation of firearms is that we have taken way too long to do anything about it and those with the biggest mouth can keep the ammunition dry and ready.
Even as the smoke clears in front of a Tucson Safeway, the big-lipped right wing are still screamng to “Take your stinking paws off my M-16, you damned dirty ape!”

And despite the Tucson horror guns-R-US: “I believe, as Americans have believed since the American founding, that firearms in the hands of law abiding citizens make communities safer, not less safe,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) in an interview. “And I understand the human impulse us to look for blame. Heartache does that. But no expressed opinion and no public policy created what happened on Saturday last.”
Creepy.

And even worse creepy…
In spite of the guns and nasty-faced hypocrisy, Townhall, the right-wing magazine, has IDed the Top 50 Most Dangerous Liberals in the U.S., starting with financier George Soros at number one.
From an e-mail sent out recently from Townhall, via Suburban Guerrilla:

Every conservative knows that liberals are working hard every day to recreate this country in their own image, tarnishing our great history and the hard-working people who live here.
While some of the faces of the Left are too clownish to be taken seriously (see Keith Olbermann) others shy away from the limelight in order to push their agenda from behind a veil.
Those people are some of the most dangerous liberals that threaten our way of life.
Not to take away from some of the more obvious liberals, like the Barack Obamas and the Barney Franks of the world, there are many who push the leftwing radical agenda.

And down at #28 on the list — Jon Stewart.
Via TPM:

Political satirist Jon Stewart’s tongue is acid-tipped.
His popular “Daily Show” program regularly slays elected officials for hypocrisy and self-importance, derides political buffoonery and skewers media excesses.
More often than not, it’s bitingly hilarious and decidedly Left-leaning: a potent combination.
…
While acting as a formidable political opinion maker, Stewart inoculates himself against serious criticism by playing the “I’m just a comedian” card.

(Illustration of grown-up
Danger Man found here).

And the reason Stewart is so popular among the young set: The MSM is not worth a shit.

As no stranger to alcohol — currently manager of a liquor store and a former brown-bag drunk — I’m not shocked at a new study out of the UK that found that booze is far worse for society than all the usual suspects, like heroin, crack and crystal meth.

(Illustration found here).

Although the usual suspects were bad for the individual, alcohol was far worse for the unwashed masses.
From the BBC:

The findings run contrary to the government’s long-established drug classification system, but the paper’s authors argue that their system — based on the consensus of experts — provides an accurate assessment of harm for policy makers.
“Our findings lend support to previous work in the UK and the Netherlands, confirming that the present drug classification systems have little relation to the evidence of harm,” the paper says.
“They also accord with the conclusions of previous expert reports that aggressively targeting alcohol harms is a valid and necessary public health strategy.”
…
The new more complex system ranked alcohol three times more harmful than cocaine or tobacco. Ecstasy was ranked as causing one-eighth the harm of alcohol.

The study was conducted by the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs and published in the Lancet, the Brit medical journal.

This little report comes in time for Prop 19 here in California — making marijuana legal — and anyone with any decent-enough sense can see that a doobie is far-less harmful than a few fingers of Jack Daniels.
Pot sets the standard for a double-standard asshole view for people in regards to booze.
The AP examines the study:

Experts said alcohol scored so high because it is so widely used and has devastating consequences not only for drinkers but for those around them.
“Just think about what happens (with alcohol) at every football game,” said Wim van den Brink, a professor of psychiatry and addiction at the University of Amsterdam. He was not linked to the study and co-authored a commentary in the Lancet.
When drunk in excess, alcohol damages nearly all organ systems. It is also connected to higher death rates and is involved in a greater percentage of crime than most other drugs, including heroin.
…
Experts said the study should prompt countries to reconsider how they classify drugs. For example, last year in Britain, the government increased its penalties for the possession of marijuana. One of its senior advisers, David Nutt — the lead author on the Lancet study — was fired after he criticized the British decision.
“What governments decide is illegal is not always based on science,” said van den Brink.
He said considerations about revenue and taxation, like those garnered from the alcohol and tobacco industries, may influence decisions about which substances to regulate or outlaw.
“Drugs that are legal cause at least as much damage, if not more, than drugs that are illicit,” he said.

This past July made it 15 years since I’d had an alcoholic drink — I wish it’d been 30 years.
One of my favorite drinking tricks was to put liquor — beer wasn’t my forte — into the freezer and after a little while the shit went down so smooth, and quick.
Never a mixed-drink fan, I chased it with a bit of water.
What a waste.

A late bloomer with marijuana, I was a senior at the University of Florida when I discovered its most wonderful qualities — I can even remember the date, May 15, 1974, because after I left a friend’s house, stoned as a critter for the first time, went home and watched transfixed as CBS News’ Roger Mudd reported on the Ma’alot massacre terror attack on an Israeli school that killed 16 teenagers — and welcome to real reality.
Pot is a much-weaker sister, however, if combined with booze — you didn’t get higher, you just got more drunk.

And from Saturday’s Sanity Rally was my most-favorite sign: “Why Can’t We Just Get A Bong” — number 47 on a top 100 signs at the gathering found here.

Why not: ‘Toke up, Shriners.’

(Illustration found here).

In that sphere of influence, I’m going to see what the big news is today, maybe get pissed off and depressed all at once — it’s become fairly apparent the earth is moving toward some heavy-duty cataclysmic event/events in the extreme-near future, and of course, the US has the torturous midterm elections this Tuesday, which could reveal the upcoming violent underbelly of American war, politics and life.

And to demonstrate the upside down life/reality: The US has as its “most trusted” journalist, Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show, a mock TV news program, who with his nefarious alter-ego, the mocking Stephen Colbert, holding the massive Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear today in DC — Watch the whole thing here — and what’s near-implausible, the event might effect the neurotic US election in three days.
Talking Points Memo, which is usually dead on the weekends, has been carrying some good descriptions of the event from all sources, from iPhones to Tweeter.
And as one reader shared: They were really unprepared for the size of the crowd. No secondary speakers or jumbotrons set up...It’s insane down here.
Knew it!

(Illustration found here).

When I first heard of Stewart’s rally, I felt certain the thing would be enormous and would make last summer’s Palin/Beck grotesque day on the Mall tiny, weeny in comparison — hopefully, the vast number of Americans have sense and will get-in/be-in on the joke.
Many of TPM‘s readers seemingly reflect similar views as this one, a telling detail: My 5 yo and I just bailed because of crazy metro issues, but I can tell you that we were on a train near packed with boomers and older. And they were more excited than anyone else–giddy, even. Definitely an all ages event.
A fun event to keep up with all day, and not surprising, an uplift kind of thing, not so sordid and dispiriting as other shit nowadays.

More later, as I gotta run some weekend-type errands.

When the best news programs on TV are phony mock-ups — WTF!

(Illustration found here).

Of course, the massive, humongous problem is how divided the US, and the overwhelming assholeness of Fox News, the worst example of any kind of news reporting in the history of the world.
And just how divided are we?
Old shits vs all the young dudes.

Viewer age makes all the difference, and the Inter-Webs.
Via Raw Story:

The newest Pew Research Center’s survey of where and how people get their news has been released, and while Fox News is still polling the oldest viewership, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart are pulling the youngest. As Stewart educates his young viewers in the ways of FNC on a nightly basis, it is clear that he is the biggest long term media threat to Fox News.
“The net impact of digital platforms supplementing traditional sources is that Americans are spending more time with the news than was the case a decade ago.
As was the case in 2000, people now say they spend 57 minutes on average getting the news from TV, radio or newspapers on a given day.
But today, they also spend an additional 13 minutes getting news online, increasing the total time spent with the news to 70 minutes. This is one of the highest totals on this measure since the mid-1990s and it does not take into account time spent getting news on cell phones or other digital devices.”

And this despite Newsweek‘s dumb-ass prediction 15 years ago.
Pew Research’s news poll also found:

Speaking of television, Fox News has been able to hold its audience share because Republicans have been fleeing to the network.
In 2002, Republicans were just as likely to watch CNN as they were to watch Fox News, but eight years later, 40% of all Republicans regularly watch FNC. Twelve percent of Republicans watch CNN and 6% watch MSNBC.
Fox News does not lead the cable news ratings because there are more Republicans in the United States. They lead because they have been successful in consolidating the Republican audience.
It is no surprise than that Fox News, just like the GOP caters to an older audience.
Sixty three percent of Bill O’Reilly’s viewers are over 50 years old, and 65% of Hannity’s viewers are over 50. Only 44% of the nation as a whole are over 50 years old, so the over 50 demographic is overrepresented on Fox News.
If the younger viewers aren’t watching Fox News, then what are they watching?
The answer to this question can be found on Comedy Central Monday through Thursday from 11 pm-12 am. Colbert and Stewart’s audiences are young.
In fact, they were the youngest in the survey.
Eighty percent of Colbert’s audience is between 18-49, and 74% of Stewart’s audience falls into the 18-49 demo.
Although their audiences are double the amount of liberals in the overall population, Colbert and Stewart also appeal to Libertarians, as they make up 29% and 27% respectively of their audiences.
Interestingly 53% of Colbert’s audience and 43% of Stewart’s said that they watch these programs for entertainment.
They may come for the entertainment, but they also get a healthy dose of the news.

Dude, where’s my news?

Even with all his funny shenanigans, Soupy Sales appeared as a really nice guy.
His show was one of my favorites as a kid and I loved all the characters he created, including the never-seen ‘naked girl,’ and he seemed to have great fun doing all those crazy things.
See a video of one of his sketches here.

Despite all the clowning around, Soupy worked hard to get the right knack and the right posture as he received his grandstand ploy — a pie in the kisser.
Laugh and laugh again, but now sad.

(Illustration found here).

From the LA Times:

As the star of “The Soupy Sales Show,” he performed live on television for 13 years in Detroit, Los Angeles and New York before the program went into syndication in the United States and abroad.
Ostensibly for children, the show had broad appeal among adults who found Sales’ puns, gags and pratfalls deliciously corny and camp.
His cast consisted of goofy puppets with names like White Fang, Black Tooth and Pookie, and a host of off-camera characters, including the infamous naked girl.
The high point of every show came when a sidekick launched a pie into Sales’ face.
Sales once estimated that he was hit by more than 25,000 pies in his lifetime.
The gag became more than hilarious; it evolved into a hip badge of honor.
Frank Sinatra was first in a long line of celebrities who clamored for the privilege to be cream-faced, including Tony Curtis, Mickey Rooney, Sammy Davis Jr., Dick Martin and Burt Lancaster.

Soupy was the man.