EBS BRD: Where, oh, where, have all the missiles gone?

We'll us folks around HQ decided it was high time to meander into a bunker buried a bit deeper. Unfortunately, it is ferociously difficult to find a U-Haul chain (it's not really that we needed the truck, but we broke the hitch, you see) among the smoking apocalyptic ruins strewn about.

That and those damned cannibal mutants.

I can live with mutants. I can even manage cannibals, provided they're not too hungry.

But damned cannibal mutants.

Bastards won't even help you change a flat.

Nope.

Just 'AArrrgh!' 'AArrrgh?' 'Must Eat Brain, AArrrgh!!'.

All the time.

Bastards

At any rate, once I'm safely enconsed in the new digs, and have a chance for the Queer Eye guys to spruce it up a little bit, I'll start doing with ballistic missiles what monkeys do with feces.

TBM BRD: Error America

Doesn't it strike you as the least bit interesting that the Left Wing answer to Right Wing Talk Radio is called Air America?

Talk about people with selective memories of the Viet Nam era...

Air America was the name of the air component of the CIA's largest ever paramilitary operation - the war in Laos from 1955 to 1974.

"Air America, an airline secretly owned by the CIA, was a vital component in the Agency's operations in Laos. By the summer of 1970, the airline had some two dozen twin-engine transports, another two dozen short-takeoff-and-landing (STOL) aircraft, and some 30 helicopters dedicated to operations in Laos. There were more than 300 pilots, copilots, flight mechanics, and air-freight specialists flying out of Laos and Thailand. During 1970, Air America airdropped or landed 46 million pounds of foodstuffs--mainly rice--in Laos. Helicopter flight time reached more than 4,000 hours a month in the same year. Air America crews transported tens of thousands of troops and refugees, flew emergency medevac missions and rescued downed airmen throughout Laos, inserted and extracted road-watch teams, flew nighttime airdrop missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail, monitored sensors along infiltration routes, conducted a highly successful photoreconnaissance program, and engaged in numerous clandestine missions using night-vision glasses and state-of-the-art electronic equipment. Without Air America's presence, the CIA's effort in Laos could not have been sustained." (Link)

Not entirely unlike Terry McAullife's decision to name the official blog (which in all fairness is a shade or two less whitebread than its Republican counterpart) "Kicking Ass." Or the political rhetoric requiring a politician to "Stand and Deliver" - a demand originally issued by highwaymen to their unfortunate victims (it couldn't be that this says something about the Guardian's views on politics, right?).

Or for that matter, the yellow ribbon thing folks saw as a means to express support for troops - particularly during Gulf '91 - which had its origins in songs about those pining for convicts serving their jail sentences.

It's the kind of goofiness that could only be self-inflicted. I guess it makes COINTELPRO sort of a moot point...

SRBM CVE: Al Franken, Voice of the Left?

I was listening to more Air America today when the disconnect hit me. When, exactly, did a guy who clowned around on Saturday Night Live and whose most memorable line was "...me, Al Franken" get to be the voice of the Left?

I mean, I can kind of trace it. There was the '96 campaign season where he did political commentary/comedy on Comedy Central. He made a name for himself in political circles for being one of the first to note that Buchanen was hurting the Republicans more than he was helping them, especially after that speech at the convention.

Then came Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and more recently Lies, and the Lying Liars who Tell Them. And certainly Lies is a much more serious book than Rush was, but both are so filled with humor (and attempts at humor) that it can be hard to tell when he's joking and when he's serious.

And now he's the lead voice of Air America. Not as much as a leap as the Reagan/Arnold jump from acting to politics, but its still kind of hard to take the guy seriously...especially when he fills his show with goofy antics like the Ann Coulter bit yesterday.

"...me, Al Franken."

I don't know if I buy it just yet.

Editted to correct the famous line...the original line mentioned here was by Dan Ackroid, not Franken. -CVE