BY WILLIAM C. HENRY Last week, Paul Ryan (you remember him, he’s the guy whose selection was sure to put Mitt over the top) proclaimed the following: “Mitt Romney and I lost not because of ideas, but due to ineffective communication. President Obama and Vice President Biden also prevailed because they did a better job with ‘technology and (voter) turnout.’” Hey, Paul, do me a grand favor. Savor those words, cherish them, embrace them, nurture them, memorize them! Above all, promise me you’ll take every opportunity possible to repeat them especially whenever there’s even the slightest chance they’ll be […]
TURNS OUT SHE WAS ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY: Fox News Paid Sarah Palin 15 Times More Per Word Than The Average Reporter In ‘The Lamestream Media’ Makes
SMART POLITICS: Sarah Palin uttered more than 189,000 words over 150 appearances on various FOX broadcasts during her three years as an analyst at the network, or $15.85 per word. With the three-year contract now expired between FOX News and Sarah Palin, there is a wealth of commentary made by the former Alaska Governor and GOP Vice-Presidential nominee to dissect. Palin, who was paid a reported $1 million per year as a contributor to FOX since mid-January 2010 when FOX announced her signing, may not have made quite the splash her employers had hoped during this three-year period, and […]
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: The Best Of The Worst
Illustration by ALEX FINE BY WILLIAM C. HENRY Duly appreciative of the Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, and Pulitzers — all of which are indeed honorable — I believe the time has come to establish a new and entirely different type of awards program. A completely cynical national dishonors program, if you will. One that judges and affords official recognition of and to the worst. The very worst in American politics, that is. I propose to call this new program the American Scumbucket Awards. Nicknamed the Scummys, and represented by a rusty statuette of a smiling, pants-down George W. Bush perched on […]
SCRAPPLE NEWS: With A.P. TIcker
On the subway psycho and guns gone wild!
THE GROUNDHOG DAY OF AMERICAN F*CKEDNESS: The 10 Most Outrageous Political Carryovers From 2012
1. Some $500 billion of hard-earned taxpayer money will be squandered in the next 12 months in the form of corporate welfare and archaic, outmoded, completely useless military overkill. As usual, the giveaway will be perpetrated by literally thousands of the most consistently hypocritical bastards on the face of the earth, i.e., your elected local, state and national representatives. Surprisingly, it will be condoned (in at least one instance) by a somewhat two-faced but nevertheless respected national publication. 2. Under federal law, marijuana use and distribution is still illegal. Period. Just because Colorado and Washington state have taken the […]
REWIND 2012: The Year In Phawker Interviews
Talk is cheap, especially on the Internet, but at Phawker it’s totally free, baby — at least for you, dear reader. Trolling through the vast and dusty Phawker archives, we have dug up fat sack of conversations from the past year that are worth re-visiting: Dick Dale, King Of The Surf Guitar; graphic novelist Charles Burns, the Edgar Allan Poe of right now; photographer Joe Kazcmarek, who tirelessly chronicles the murder-scarred backstreets of North and West Philly; Jim Reid, lead singer of The Jesus And Mary Chain; Anton Newcombe, cult leader of The Brian Jonestown Massacre; Hardball host Chris Matthews; […]
NRA Totally Wastes Nation’s Time With Same Old John Wayne Fantasies, Gets Punked By Code Pink Patriot
ABC NEWS: The National Rifle Association stood its ground today in arguing that the answer to gun violence in schools is an armed security force that can protect students, while blaming the media and violent entertainment and video games for recent deadly shootings. “The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre said in presenting the NRA’s first comments about the Connecticut school shooting since it occurred a week ago today. LaPierre offered no olive branch to gun-control advocates who have called for tougher […]
WORTH REPEATING: California Dreaming
NEW YORK TIMES: “It’s shocking, from my perspective, the number of people that we all know who are recreational marijuana users,” said Gavin Newsom, the lieutenant governor. “These are incredibly upstanding citizens: Leaders in our community, and exceptional people. Increasingly, people are willing to share how they use it and not be ashamed of it.” Marijuana can be smelled in suburban backyards in neighborhoods from Hollywood to Topanga Canyon as dusk falls — what in other places is known as the cocktail hour — often wafting in from three sides. In some homes in Beverly Hills and San Francisco, it […]
There Is A Mass Murder In This Country Every 2 Weeks
USA TODAY: Mass killers target Americans once every two weeks on average, in attacks that range from robberies to horrific public shooting sprees like the massacre Friday of 27 people in Newtown, Conn., a USA TODAY examination found. Using news accounts and FBI records from 2006 through 2010, the most recent years for which complete records were available, USA TODAY identified 156 murders that met the FBI definitions of mass killings, where four or more people were killed. All told, the attacks killed 774 people, including at least 161 young children. The review offers perhaps the most current, complete picture […]
ARTSY: Postering Over The Fiscal Bluff
RELATED: Our country isn’t broke — It’s being robbed. Stand up against cuts to vital programs and demand the wealthy pay their fair share. You’ve probably heard about the political game called “The Fiscal Cliff.” But, it’s actually a Fiscal Bluff — a self inflicted crisis designed to create urgency to make us believe our nation is broke and that we must cut vital programs. This is false and we won’t stand for it. Corrupt billionaires, tax-dodging corporations, and those who serve them have manufactured this crisis and are refusing to pay their fair share. Join us in telling them: […]
WORTH REPEATING: A Well-Regulated Militia
NEW YORKER: Does the Second Amendment prevent Congress from passing gun-control laws? The question, which is suddenly pressing, in light of the reaction to the school massacre in Newtown, is rooted in politics as much as law. For more than a hundred years, the answer was clear, even if the words of the amendment itself were not. The text of the amendment is divided into two clauses and is, as a whole, ungrammatical: “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” […]
How To Disarm The NRA: All You Need Is Love & $38 Mil
BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE PHILLY POST It is a sad testament to the depth of our national indifference that it took the massacre of 20 six year olds in their first grade classroom to finally trigger a united and sustained public outcry for an end to the madness. After 62 mass murders and counting since 1982, we have, it would appear, finally reached the tipping point. On this we can all agree: Never again. In fairness, this complacency was not entirely our own fault, it was, by and large, fostered and fomented by the National Rifle Association, which runs […]
Meet The Man Boy Currently Powning Westboro Baptist
BETA BEAT: Anonymous announced its intention to “destroy” Westboro Baptist Church this weekend following news that the group would be picketing the funerals of children who died in Friday’s horrific school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Now, infamous 15-year-old hacker Cosmo the God of the Underground Nazi Hacktivist Group (UGNazi) appears to have joined the fray. The Twitter account of much-reviled Westboro spokesperson Shirley Phelps-Roper has been hacked, and Cosmo is claiming responsibility. Ms. Phelps-Roper is the daughter of Fred Phelps, who is the head of the WBC. Cosmo and the UG Nazi crew gained notoriety over the past year for […]