By the Comics Curmudgeon

What basic human impulse motivates the men and women who stride the corridors of power in our nation’s capital? Is it a desire to advance the interests of their nation? An urge to mold the government to reflect their political ideology? Do they wish to help their fellow citizens? Is it mere lust for power? Ha ha, obviously none of these are the real reason; rather politicians seek to attain and to hold elected office on the federal level because of the insatiable tingling of their naughty parts, because Washington, D.C., is a great big fuckfest for gross, nasty people who would otherwise spend their time masturbating morosely. Cartoons will show you this, though you’ll wish that they hadn’t. MORE »

On Tuesday, Arlen Specter shocked America’s unions by switching sides on the Employee Free Choice Act and promising he would vote “no” if it ever came to a vote, on which he may have been the filibuster-breaking vote, thereby most likely killing the legislation for at least this year. In response, Joe the Plumber has organized a “grassroots” tour across Pennsylvania next week in which he will demand Arlen Specter promise to vote “no” on the Employee Free Choice Act. It’s almost as if Joe the Plumber does not follow the news! ALMOST. MORE »

• SO MUCH FOR THAT ONE: Sen. Arlen Specter has flipped his long-held stance siding with unions on the Employee Free Choice Act and will now vote against invoking cloture on the measure, which is kind of important, because he very well may have been the deciding vote over a filibuster. It may have been to help him win back some conservatives in Pennsylvania, where he will still probably get trounced in the closed Republican primary next year since he voted for the Communist’s stimulus package. And the EFCA is probably done for this legislative session. Take that, remaining people in America who still actually make things! The Fat Cats shall dine on the finest of steaks and potatoes tonight. [National Journal]

Gather ye rosebuds everyone, it’s time to read a magazine, as is our long-standing Thursday afternoon tradition. Let’s see, let’s see. How about The Washington Monthly, which has proudly resisted becoming in any way trendy since its inception. Come now, let’s take a look inside and maybe figure out why. (Early guess: nearly every article title is a pun?) MORE »

Ugh you people David Denby is rolling in his grave, tut-tutting at the lack of fact-checking and basic research going on at the Huffington Post. Yes, we have seen this thing about how Eric Cantor allegedly distributed some video spoof about the union coalition AFSCME after they ran ads about what a bad person he was for opposing the stimulus bill. “The House whip reacted with an ad of his own, depicting AFSCME workers as curse-spewing bullies,” writes HuffPo’s Rachel Weiner, no relation to our own Juli Weiner (as far as we know! Ha, fact checking). MORE »

OK here is the problem with labor/union disputes: they are invariably very complicated and sort of dull to the uninitiated. The articles about these disputes are fiendishly unskimmable, and they often discuss legislation that doesn’t at first glance favor one side or the other until you look into it and realize they are PURE GOOD/EVIL. Thus it is with some trepidation that we even attempt to wade into the Hilda Solis debacle. MORE »

Surprise, surprise: The soviet-muslin Barack Obama has chosen his fancy tuxedo for inauguration day, and it’s coming from the socialist union workers at Hart Schaffner Marx. It will supposedly be Obama’s first new tuxedo in fifteen years. What, you don’t have your own tailored formal wear that you modestly replace every fifteen years? The happy haberdashery is already showing off by offering to make even humble slobs like yourself look “presidential,” if you have a great deal of money, which you don’t, because of the Depression. [Women's Wear Daily]

Socialist villain Barack Obama has been endorsed by another group of Blame America First gay sellouts, those lazy clowns known as “America’s Firefighters.” The International Association of Fire Fighters is endorsing Obama at some fire in Las Vegas today, because the Democratic candidate thinks lazy firemen deserve “collective bargaining,” which sounds pretty communist, so that’s why John McCain is bravely against firefighters getting paid a decent wage. [CNN Political Ticker]

An angry Connecticut Democrat says that he will rent a very large floating rat and display it outside the XCel Energy Center in St. Paul if Joe Lieberman decides to attend the Republican National Convention, which he hasn’t been invited to. This angry guy, Ed Anderson, says he is “ready to apply for permits” and everything, which is tantamount to imminent violence. MORE »

THREE MORE SUPERDELEGATES, PLUS A UNION ENDORSEMENT: Hopey just got a nod from the American Federation of Government Employees and picked up another three superdelegates (including a Clinton traitor). That means Obama is now five (and a half?) superdelgates shy of Hillary’s total. [AP/Yahoo]

No more Hamas waffles for this guy, apparently. Shortly after this unflattering picture was taken, Obama killed the photographer with a left-handed Mauser 66 and continued talking with some nice union representatives about how much money they could get for his abandoned plate of eggs on eBay. [AP/FOX]