america

What's the Matter With Arizona?

Pareene · 08/24/09 04:12PM

One guy is really "burning up the blogs" with some "controversial wishes for the President," according to MSNBC. Hey, a great excuse to publicize yet more crazy death threats against Barack Obama!

Don't Worry, People Still Hate America!

Richard Lawson · 11/28/08 03:51PM

We had a fun couple weeks there, congratulating ourselves for Barack Obama's historic, Liberals Save America presidential win, accepting other countries' "we're so proud of you" head nods and whatnot. It seemed like the country was back on track for a second, ready to head out into the world beloved for our bold and inspirational choice. Except, um, as it turns out, it doesn't really matter what the World thinks of us. A small, active faction of folks still hate us intensely and it doesn't matter that European people like US tourists again. Things like the current Mumbai crisis still wretchedly play out on big stages the belie their small, insidious roots.

It's Going to Be an Angry Couple Years

Pareene · 10/10/08 02:15PM

The McCain campaign is stirring up something dark and vicious in the national psyche. The economic meltdown that's killing their campaign is also aiding it's rageful death rattle—people are scared, uneasy, and increasingly pissed off. McCain rallies sound this close to turning violent. (Pictured: McCain winces slightly after an audience member calls Obama "a terrorist.") "Responsible" Republicans are weirded out. Irresponsible ones think they can stir the folks up just enough to win this sucker and then we'll all go back to being polite. Fat fucking chance. Ta-Nehisi Coates reminds us of the anger of Jerry Falwell and "legitimate" right-wing attacks on activists like Dr. King:

Nation of Whiners

Pareene · 09/19/08 02:03PM

"It's what America looks like, increasingly. The roads are potholed, the bridges collapsing, metro trains crash and kill as dull-eyed engineers peck text messages, airlines have become Aeroflot, dams and levees busting apart, yearlong waits to get a passport, maimed soldiers sent back to the endless war again and again, and a book-banning big-government cipher from Siberia is briefly popular for being a nasty moron." [Wonkette]

Yet Another Show About The Increasingly Uninteresting World of the Filthy Rich

Richard Lawson · 07/03/08 02:42PM

Oh look. A new show about rich people. It's certainly not a new TV meme, but there's just so much of it these days. What with the Real Housewives and the Gossip Girls and the Super Sweet sixteen-year-olds. One might begin to think there was some sort of canyon-sized poverty gap growing in this country of ours. This newest entry in the genre is about a young writer who takes a job tutoring two spoiled rich heiresses and blah blah blah, people swim in money. The show is slated to be on the CW, where Gossip Girl is housed, this fall. So tune in on your non-flat television set, pour a glass of Fish Eye from a box, and feel terribly, terribly impoverished. It's a good thing poor people just aren't that interesting. A promo clip for the show awaits you after the jump.