News Roundup for 7/2/10

In an attempt to shore up his pro-war bona fides, Mike Steele kills an intern

-Headline of the day-
"The Biggest Michael Steele Gaffe of All."

Turns out that the head of the Republican National Committee is a filthy peace-lovin' hippie. There's no other way to say it, I'm sorry. He was out talking to Republicans in the party's Big Tent (yeah, turns out they literally have a big tent they do stuff in) and he told them that Barack Obama should never have declared war on Afghanistan, because war is bad. Especially war in Afghanistan, because Alexander the Great or Napoleon or somebody proved that.

Well, that didn't go over well. A lot of people got all nitpicky about it and pointed out that George W. Bush started this war, not Obama, and that the Republican Party is officially a big fan of war in Afghanistan -- and Iraq and maybe Iran and even San Francisco if they don't straighten up and fly right.

I can understand Mike's confusion, though. The "war in Afghanistan is good" talking point contradicts the "everything Obama does is bad" talking point, so it'd be pretty easy to get everything all balled up. Now people are telling him to resign and things are just bad.

Still, it's not likely that he'll lose his job over this. Chris Good ticks off the reasons and they look pretty solid. Steele will keep his "saying dumb things for a living" job, "largely because it doesn't really hurt the GOP that much when he says unexpected things; the process to remove a chairman is so onerous; it would look bad if he stepped down; and it would look bad if the GOP, with its old-white-guy image, fired its first black chairman because he wouldn't get in line with what everyone else wanted him to do and say."

Which is good news for Democrats. If Steele stepped down, they'd have to start pretending that Louis Gohmert was a big deal in the GOP. (The Atlantic)


-Bush flag porn-
Turns out there's some guy named Carl Malamud whose mission in life is to save government public domain video from disappearing to wherever it is that government public domain video disappears to. His non-profit Public.Resource.Org has, according to the report, saved "2,412 videos in nearly 50 categories." And that includes this Fourth of July-worthy jewel of military/flag/Dubya/Iraq/9-11 porno from the Bush-era Dept. of Defense. I came across this on Reddit, where it's currently being voted through the floor -- because Reddit hates irony. If you're so inclined, go do something about that.

Maybe it's just me, but I find it to be a curious combination of hilarious absurdism and terrifying jingoism -- kind of like the crazy fascist propaganda in Starship Troopers. Your mileage may very.

And so, without any further ado, I present "National Anthem Trailers: Shock and Awe." Try not to have a patriotic orgasm all over your computer screen.

Now go out and find a bald eagle and fuck it. Do it for America. (YouTube, via Mediaite)


-Bonus HotD-
"In another effort to repair its image, BP picks up tab for fireworks show in Colorado."

I know what you're thinking, but they can't have fireworks down in the area affected by the oil gusher or the Gulf of Mexico would explode.

It's the Fourth of July, people. Safety first. Have a great holiday. (Think Progress)