Rupert Murdoch Is King of Grumpy Old Men, Michele Gives Me A Migraine

Dana Milbank

"Congress consistently brings the government to the edge of default before facing its responsibility.This brinkmanship threatens the holders of government bonds and those who rely on Social Security and veterans benefits. Interest rates would skyrocket, instability would occur in financial markets, and the federal deficit would soar. The United States has a special responsibility to itself and the world to meet its obligations.” - Ronald Reagan

"What Obama has offered — and Republicans have refused to accept — is a deal in which less than 20 percent of the deficit reduction comes from new revenues. This puts him slightly to the right of the average Republican voter.

So we learn two things. First, Obama is extraordinarily eager to make concessions. Second, Republicans are incredibly unwilling to take yes for an answer — something for which progressives should be grateful."  - Paul Krugman

The above is a peace offering, proving that history is cyclical, and that President Obama is outfoxing the Republicans when it comes to the deficit deals. By adopting a conservative approach that is more consistent with Ronald Reagan than Paul Ryan, which the Republicans will reject out of hand coming from Obama, he boxes them even farther to the right and shown being stubborn and uncompromising. Not even us old grandparents will vote for a fussy, unruly child who won't talk sense...

But let's talk about the King of Grumpy Old Men, that old fart himself, Rupert Murdoch. So far, he's thrown loyal friends under the bus in the British hacking scandal, one who has worked for him for 50 years, another whom he treated like a daughter. I'm waiting to see if he will abandon his son, who probably is behind most of the bad behavior practices, wanting to show how aggressive a Young Turk can be, embarrass the Brits more than his great-grandfather ever could... If you saw any part of the Murdoch's performances at the investigation, which made our Congress look like rank amateurs, then you know how innocent and clueless they chose to portray themselves, with Rupert in the beginning looking like a befuddled old man, awww don't you feel sorry for him? Here's a link to some quick highlights of the show, courtesy of TPM website. Remember what Soupy Sales said about shaving cream pies? Or the positives of having a much younger, faster wife?

Right now the FBI is investigating whether there is any cause to bring charges against NewsCorp, which is registered as a company in the United States. The charges would be if NewsCorp obtained the phone numbers of any of the 9/11 victims, and hacked into any of their phone calls. This is a felony, and, if true, could affect the licenses all of Murdoch's properties in the US, including Fox. If Rupert were a more lovable figure, the FBI might do what Scotland Yard did with all of their evidence, put it all in file boxes and lock it away in the basement without anyone ever looking at it for over four years.

Despite Rupert Murdoch being a despicable human being and hard-assed businessman, his love of newspapers maybe the only commendable thing about him, even if many of them are scandal sheets bought at the supermarkets... And while ex-employees like Piers Morgan tell what a sweet-heart Rupert really is, and Fox News tries to ignore the whole thing (it makes watching Fox News quite enjoyable (and provides a drinking game how many times do they try to go around the subject), the British Parliament is now complaining that James Murdoch lied to the many times, and that NewsCorp is trying to block their investigations... imagine that.

I don't know, does this story from the LA Times count as a real fight in Congress? Allen West ended up apologizing instead of going back on the floor of the House and continuing the role of Dan Ackroyd on Saturday Night Live - "Debbie, you miserable little slut..."

"A long-standing feud between South Florida House members Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Allen West turned to insults Tuesday after an exchange of speeches on a debt-reduction bill.


Wasserman Schultz chastised West on the House floor for supporting a bill that would cut Medicare and other spending. "The gentleman from Florida, who represents thousands of Medicare beneficiaries, as do I, is supportive of this plan that would increase costs for Medicare beneficiaries -- unbelievable from a member from South Florida," said Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat.


West, a Republican from Plantation who lives in Wasserman Schultz's district, responded with an email to her and House leaders: "Look, Debbie, I understand that after I departed the House floor you directed your floor speech comments directly towards me. Let me make myself perfectly clear, you want a personal fight, I am happy to oblige.


"You are the most vile, unprofessional and despicable member of the U.S. House of Representatives. If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up. Focus on your own congressional district!" To think that this counted as news yesterday... Part of the problem is that none of the House Representatives stay on the House floor. They are in their offices until they are summoned to vote or give a speech, then immediately leave. Only if CSPAN sets up cameras do any of them choose to stay for any length of time. It's not like they are reading proposed legislature, they have staff members do that for them. Maybe we need a better way to find out what our representatives really do all day long, have local bloggers from their districts take turns following them around and reporting back home...


Finally, the fact that Michele Bachmann suffers from migraine headaches may have a negative impact on her candidacy. She supplied us with a doctor's note saying she's OK, but what if she constantly gives ME a headache...? Stay thirsty, my friends...