We enjoyed ourselves muchly last night at a shindig at Arianna’s pad — her real one, not her virtual one. The photo above would be me on the left, some guy named John Amato from some blog named Crooks & Liars in the center, and our delightful hostess on the right.
The party, apparently, was in celebration of Yahoo’s (or would that be Yahoo!’s) deal to distribute Gawker Media’s Defamer blog — one of several in the burgeoning bloglomerate which also includes the erstwhile rumor-monger Wonkette, amongst others.
The party was sponsored by Yahoo! and HuffPo and Arianna had a few words to say in support of the blogosphere, and at the expense of non-blogospherian Bob Woodward who just happened to fall smack dab onto her shitlist yesterday in time for the fete.
Throughout it all — and in the wake of the largely very-rightwing-so-far Open Source Media blog portal which launched yesterday amidst some fanfare as aided by some $3.5 million in startup do-re-mi and various other couplings and consolidations we’ve noted and/or been a party to of late — it seems the ‘sphere may be entering into an interesting new phase.
I was reminded of the dot com ’90’s gold rush which ended in much crashing and a fair amount of burning as the bubble finally burst. And now, as the world scrambles to capitalize and monetize on the blogs as “the next big thing”, I’m fairly certain there will be a considerable amount of crashing and burning ahead in this realm as well.
Nonetheless, we look forward to the corruption of big corporate money any moment. We could use some (both the corruption, and the money). But since it’s the gossip sites of Gawker that brought in the big bucks yesterday, it occurred to me that perhaps we needed a bit more of that sort of thing at BRAD BLOG. So, in that spirit, I considered posting a scandalous piece about some of the glitterati in attendance at Chez Arianna last night. Something along the lines of…
Oh, well. None of that actually happened. But we’re happy to name drop a few of the folks who were there, whether they were making out or otherwise (Maher was actually rather kind and no more noticably stoned than usual.) And as an extra bonus for those who’ve read through this far, here’s an Election-related(!) cartoon from Mamet — who, with William H. “Bill” Macy was a former teacher of mine back in the day (name dropper!) — as just posted over at HuffPo.
Worlds collide. And oh, yes…there will be blood.
UPDATE: Arianna has more, plus lots of pics.
I hope you are all smiling from the enjoyment at seeing our efforts begin to produce some good results to amerian politics.
Bigger days are ahead … rest up.
Oh, yes, there will be blood…
You have no idea. For an echo in history, read "Citizens", about the French Revolution. This is going to be far more awful before it’s over.
The only thing that worries me is how far the neo-cons will go to distract the country now that people are starting to notice the naked emperor.
Flush them all, every single one of them! But keep a plunger handy, these turds are gonna do their best to clog the pipes before they are finally washed into the septic tank.
(Okay, it’s a gross metaphor, but tell me it doesn’t fit! *L*)
JAIL – ORANGE DAY IS COMING !
ORANGE JAIL DAY IS ALMOST HERE !
Get Out Your ORANGE – JUMP SUIT, Threads, Any Thing Orange
…And Bring Your Hand-Cuffs 2 Greet de Bu$h, Family & Friends
.
And WELCOME HOME – BU$HY Boy…
,
the DAY he Returns from CHINA
Dress in ORANGE. 2 WORK, 2 EAT, 2 BED, 2 WALK ABOUT
PS, U Know Buffies, How Great U Look In ORANGE
Thank U, http://www.TheBuffaloParty.com
Thank You, Roger Drowne EC
.
I remember when Arianna was a Repugnantcan hypocrite, losing argument after argument with Al Franken in the Politically Incorrect show days….he used to describe her as "the beautiful – but evil – Arianna"
But now? How much more beautiful is she (or any person for that matter) who can reject dogmatic bullshit in the face of undeniable common sense, reason and truth?
She sure looks wonderful here….how lucky you are, rubbing elbows with such a woman!!!
To everyone at the party. Keep up the good work, we may suffer a setback:
"Eager for a public success, the Bush Administration has strong-armed lawmakers into re-drafting a final Patriot Act bill that actually makes the original law even worse. The new proposals reverse months of bipartisan negotiations and ignore the growing calls for reform from across the political spectrum.
A final vote is expected in the House and Senate THIS WEEK, so we need you to call your Members of Congress as soon as you can. Take action now and and tell them to vote NO on the Patriot Act reauthorization bill."
(link here).
Good point, B.M.I.I. Arianna is a true liberal, i.e., a person capable of changing her mind without losing self-esteem. She’s a person who knows that being wrong isn’t a sign of character weakness, simply a reason to change one’s ideas.
I suspect that’s W.’s problem. He knows deep down that he has cereal for brains. Admitting he’s wrong reinforces his self-doubt and reminds him that the Bush family always thought Jeb was the smart one.
So W. won’t admit he’s wrong, not ever, even if it means we’re in Iraq permanently. That’s also why he surrounds himself with toadies; it puts him on a safe intellectual plane, because everyone is thinking the same thing at the same time. He calls it "loyalty." It’s really sycophancy.
Bush’s personality is stereotypical "dry drunk" behavior – meaning that although he’s not drinking anymore (yeah, I know, but let’s say he’s really not), he still has a cloudiness of thought that goes along with the syndrome – and his thoughts and actions go to extremes.
According to psychologists, "Dry drunk" traits consist of:
Exaggerated self-importance and pomposity
Grandiose behavior
A rigid, judgmental outlook
Impatience
Childish behavior
Irresponsible behavior
Irrational rationalization
Projection
Overreaction
The most telling trait is the fact that once he decides "the sky is red", there is no amount of scientific facts or proof to the contrary that will convince him that the sky is really blue. His entire self image is wrapped up in the illusion he has created, and as a matter of self-preservation, he simply can NOT be wrong.
It’s really sad, because friends and family who don’t want to face the anger of the recovering alcoholic will often play along, keeping the truth from him because they know the affect it will have on him.
….and all this time I thought he was gonna get off for the "mental defect" defense………
:O :confused: 😀
Thanks, Connie. That would explain the conversation he had with Cheney recently. I have it on very good authority it went like this:
Cheney: Hi, boss.
W.: Bad week, eh? Libby indicted, poll ratings in the 30s, Harriet Miers, Democrats saying we lied about Iraq.
Cheney: Yeah. Pretty bad.
W.: But there was good news.
Cheney: Yeah, what?
W.: I just saved a bundle on car insurance by switching to Geico.
What a great picture — Brad you look great! And Arianna becomes more beautiful each year that she becomes more liberal. Yes Bush is a dry drunk, the emperor has no clothes and we all see him clearly — and yes Robert — you are sooo right: having humility, the ability to admit you’re wrong, to change your mind and reflect deeply are all signs of strength. Bush is too invested in covering up his shaky ego.
But if something happens to Bush, at least we have Cheney!!
Robert re:#11 – *L*
Lydia re: #12 – YIKES! What a scary thought!!!
*makes sign of the cross with forefingers*
The passing of the Patriot Act v2 will be the death knell of our democracy and the republic. It won’t matter how unpopular the president is or the war is. It won’t matter one bit at all. All the control will lie with the government and presidency. So go ahead and celebrate while the your freedoms are swept away. Personally, I just feel sick to my stomach….
Dr RW re: #14 – Maybe this will make you feel a little bit better:
Patriot Act Update
Yeah, it’s just a temporary victory, but hey, one step at a time.
We are sooo much further than we were a year ago – in fact, WE are in the MAJORITY!!!
AHA! 🙂
I was overzealous in my comment, and ended it too soon, so the ‘AHA’ seemed to be out there all by itsself. Brad, John and Arianna just look simply fabulous!
Distractions abound today! Lou Dobbs really embarrassed W’s little spokesdummy when she spewed out her spiel. She could hardly put her words together afterwards. A senior moment does not permit me to remember her name at this instant, however, … His poll results 87% voted to say that the US should withdraw the troops within 6 months.)
The actions of the Congress today were, shall we say, of great emotional display! understatement!)
Issues creating problems for the G.O.P. in 2006, in one person’s view of their order of importance (not necessarily the mainstream media’s view):
1) War in Iraq/Fixing of Intelligence/Lies
2) Election Fraud Suspicions/Voting Machines
3) Scandals (Torture of Detainees, Plamegate, Abramoff/DeLay/Ney, Halliburton/Iraq, Ohio Coingate, Weldon-9/11)
4) Federal Deficit/Trade Deficit
5) Global Warming/Weather/Hurricanes-Tornadoes
6) Loss of Jobs to Globalization
7) Cronyism in White House
8) Supreme Court/Roe v. Wade Precedent
The mainstream media pay zero attention to #2, too little attention to #3 and #4, cover #5 only during actual hurricanes and tornadoes (as drama),
pay inconsistent attention to #6, treat #7 as business as usual, and (in one man’s opinion) way too much attention to #8. Because they were so wrong about #1, and are embarrassed about it, they now cover Iraq and the attendant politics without fear of offending Bush. Thank God for that, anyway.
Brad, I’d like to have this picture framed…You could sign it saying , This is a picture of the new MSM Yours, Brad
The Three Titans of Truth- and Arianna is always looking good!
The two on the left make a great couple.