Pistol Annies – Hell On Heels

What’s on your mind tonite…?

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All part of the plan
Even in a profession famous for its insincerity Romney stands as a gigantic fake. Nobody believes a word he says, especially Mitt Romney.

Another series of days another series of bizarre and patently insincere statements from Mitt Romney.

“I know what it’s like to worry whether you’re gonna get fired,” he told about 600 people in an Opera House here. “There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip.”

Yeah, uh-huh. Or this:

The super PAC supporting Mitt Romney blanketed Iowa with millions of dollars in negative campaign ads aimed at Newt Gingrich…But don’t ask Romney about ‘em: said he’s never seen the ads — right before he said he’s seen one and described its content.

Or this:

Early in the debate, Rick Santorum pressed Romney on why he hadn’t run for re-election in 2006, when his first term as Governor expired. Romney suggested it was because politics isn’t his calling…This is, as Newt Gingrich pointed out, ridiculous. Romney left the governor’s office for a presidential campaign that hasn’t stopped since.

Even in a profession famous for its insincerity Romney stands as a gigantic fake. Nobody believes a word he says, especially Mitt Romney.

And in a year where the Right-wing and its wide-ranging need for paranoid screeching dominates the GOP process, being the biggest fake in politics actually is an advantage.

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By Eugene Robinson

Before there was the tea party to define the phrase “far-right fringe,” there was Rick Santorum.

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Since Current TV hired Keith Olbermann last February, the lesser-known cable network has been building primetime programming centered around the progressive heartthrob. But according to recent reports, the relationship is starting to fray. First, Current claimed Olbermann declined their offer…

Said pollster Peter Brown: “With more than half of voters saying they might change their minds and more than 50 percent of them backing candidates perceived as more conservative, Romney could be vulnerable if those voters settle on one candidate.”

More Independents Than Ever Before
Gallup finds that a record-high 40% of Americans identified as political independents in 2011, while 31% said they were Democrats and 27% said they were Republicans.

How Quickly Can Romney Wrap it Up?
Politico: “It’s hard to find anyone in the campaigns or the media who think Romney won’t win the nomination — if not this month, soon. A big reason is the scenarios for unexpected change seem so far-fetched… Romney is protected against these scenarios in part because of lessons he learned from the Bush and Obama campaigns: a rigid headquarters structure, a disciplined message and dogged preparation for months of primaries.”

Wisconsin Democrats Play Expectations Game
The Hotline: “The expectations game is in full swing in Wisconsin. Democrats announced this week that they wouldn’t provide any more updates on the number of signatures collected for the recall drive against GOP Gov. Scott Walker before the Jan. 17 deadline. But don’t assume the silence means recall organizers fear they might fall short in their efforts. Insiders from both sides of the aisle in Madison are confident Walker will face a recall election. By not giving away their current count, Democrats can preserve the wow factor for the unveiling of their ultimate total — and prevent opponents from leaking outlandish figures in an attempt to set impossible expectations.”

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Republican Foreign Policy Mad Libs
It’s the holiday season, a serviceable pretext time for good clean nonsense. Last year I offered my misheard lyrics video for the epic Clash song “Safe European Home” (fairly suitable for work, but funny mainly for Clash fans). Today’s frivolous…

Fox just let us know that Nick Weidenfeld, who produced The Boondocks and Children’s Hospital, will start a programming block to compete with Adult Swim, airing from 11 to 12:30 starting in January 2013, and a program to produce 50 pieces of digital programming a year that could move to network if they’re successful enough. It’s a fascinating move and one that recognizes a new reality where companies like Netflix are serious competitors if they’re treated like networks.

Kevin Reilly, Fox’s entertainment president framed the decision as a response to tech companies like YouTube starting to get into the creative content market. “This is the first time a major broadcast company has an opportunity to seed something in the digital realm. Something that starts in digital could be the next big prime time hit,” he told us. “Some of it is technological. You’re starting to enter the realm of internet-connected television…and you’re seeing those entities beginning to see the value of content. We have an expertise, and a history, and a proficiency, and a prime-time audience base.”

He said that animation was a logical place to start both because it could be done less expensively, and because of the nature of the fans. ” Animation is a very particular audience, it’s a distinct and passionate audience,” he said. “They’re willing to consume things in the digital realm.” This all strikes me as a smart bit of outreach to viewers the network has identified as early adopters. And it’ll also likely mean that Fox will have to make sure its online streaming platforms are in good shape and can handle significant capacity—it’s a way of building a new business that creates benefits for the old audience.

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They are handy shortcuts — there are additional ones for violent and sexual content — as the nonprofit group’s headphone-wearing analysts monitor every network prime-time entertainment broadcast for offensive language, bleeped profanity, flashes of nudity, threesomes and gore.

Read full article >>

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Tony Blankley, a conservative author, columnist and political observer who had been a top aide to House Speaker Newt Gingrich and later headed the editorial page of the Washington Times, died Jan. 7 at Sibley Memorial Hospital in the District.

He was 63 and had cancer, his wife Lynda Davis said.

Mr. Blankley was born in England and spoke with a trace of a British accent, but he was raised in Los Angeles. As a child, he acted in television shows such as “Lassie” and “Make Room for Daddy” before developing an interest in the law and politics as a teenager.

Read full article >>

Chris Christie says Obama is faking anger

EXETER, N.H. — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Sunday called President Obama the “most pessimistic man I’ve ever seen” and said he is faking anger to win reelection.

Christie, appearing alongside GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney at a campaign rally at a high school here, accused the president of a cynical effort to redirect the anger of the American people by appearing angry himself.

Read full article >>

When Do New Year’s Resolutions Stick?
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IT’S still early in 2012, so let’s be optimistic. Let’s assume you have made a New Year’s resolution and have not yet broken it. Based on studies of past resolutions, here are some uplifting predictions:1) Whatever you hope for this year — to lose weight, to exercise more, to spend less money — you’re much more likely to make improvements than someone who hasn’t made a formal resolution.

Obama’s Foreign Policy Failures
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Is Romney McCain Version 2.0?
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GOP’s Peculiar Vocabulary of Race
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