News Roundup for 7/21/09

"Here y'go, kid. That'll be $1.2 million"

-Headline of the day-
"Hamming It Up."

Or, as I think of it, "Reason not to waste your time with Drudge Report #4,307."

See, DR ran the headline, "2 Pounds of Frozen Ham in Stimulus Bill Cost $1,191,200" and right wing blogs, apparently unfamiliar with the concept of "too bad to be true," went nuts with the story. Of course, it turns out that Matthew Dumbfuckington Drudge got the story all wrong, mistaking seven-hundred-sixty thousand pounds of ham for two pounds -- because 760,000 and 2 are such similar figures. The actual figure works out to a somewhat less insane cost of a buck and a half a pound, which -- for those regular Drudge readers out there -- is less than $1.19 million. The story was linked and twittered and twootled by the gullible masses of wingnut idiots.

And it's looking like the gullible masses of wingnut idiots are who the GOP later decided to appeal to with the story -- with the accent on "gullible" and "idiots." The Hill reports, "Republicans sent blast e-mails of screenshots from the Drudge Report, highlighting the contracts as wasteful spending." It got so out of hand that the USDA had to send out a statement setting the record straight.

Now it may be that the RNC are themselves gullible idiots and that they fell for Drudge's hackwork just like all the other gullible idiots did. On the other hand, it may be that they knew the story was false, but sent the emails anyway because they knew they'd be sent to gullible idiots. As is so often the case when you're talking about Republicans, the only two explanations are that they're liars or that they're stupid -- and one doesn't rule out the other.

"Sure, I realize right-wing bloggers think the Obama administration is some kind of reckless spending machine, so they're inclined to believe the worst," asks Steve Benen. "But $1.19 million on just two pounds of ham? That didn't strike conservatives as implausible? Maybe something that warrants a closer look before publication?"

Dude, where have you been? These are people who were convinced that Saddam Hussein had a freakin' deathray and that Sarah Palin's a genius. "Implausible" isn't in their dictionary. (Political Animal)


-The Treasury of Bobbie Jindal-
Louisiana Gov. Bobbie Jindal made a big deal of opposing the stimulus early this year. People don't need no federal money, because federal money is the problem, not the solution... or some bullshit like that, anyway. Jindal even wrote a recent op-ed for Politico where he called the stimulus a big fat failure that smells like burnt eggs sprinkled with warm blue cheese.

Don't remember what Jindal looks like? That's him toward the middle, impersonating Ed McMahon.



You're already way ahead of me, aren't you? According to the report, "[L]ess than 24 hours before Jindal published his op-ed, Jindal traveled to Anacoco, Louisiana to present a jumbo-sized check to residents of Vernon Parish. The funds included hundreds of thousands of dollars directly from the Recovery Act -- at least $157,848 in Community Block Grant money authorized by the Recovery Act and $138,611 for Byrne/JAG job training programs created by the Recovery Act."

That's not the good part though. "Rather than credit the federal government or the Recovery Act he opposed, Jindal printed his own name on the corner of the massive check," we're told. That's right, all that money came from the Official Treasury of Bobbie Jindal, which is funded with magic beans or by catching leprechauns or something. (Think Progress)


-Straight marriages are destroying marriage!-
If the name -- American Society in the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property -- doesn't tip you off that this is a wingnut group, nothing will. The group (oddly abbreviated as American TFP) is fighting to save your marriage from whatever the hell it is that same-sex marriage is supposed to do to it.

American TFP has started a campaign in Maine to fight the Homosexual Menace currently oppressing that state. But that's not the only way Mainers are being oppressed, they're being oppressed by straight marriages too. "The group says gay marriage is harmful to society because children do not have a mother and father," the report tells us. "They also claim that marriages performed at City Hall, without God present, are not really marriages."

You hear that you pagan Justice of the Peace marriage destroyers out there? American TFP is on to you. In related news, God -- who's supposed to be everywhere -- "is not present" at City Hall. So, if you owe the Almighty some money or He wants you to help Him move, that's where you're going to want to hang out. (Right Wing Watch)