President Obama v Gang of Six: 7 People, 1 Spine

I just wanted to, again, say “I told you so.”  Yeah, it annoys even me, but I can’t help it.  It’s like throwing seeds at a vampire.

Remember when I urged my pal, Lee Stranahan, to relax (while continuing his excellent work) about the President’s urging to stop attacking Blue Dogs on healthcare?  Refresher:

My friend Lee Stranahan’s apoplexy notwithstanding, I have a slightly different read on this, and on the President’s plea to Leave Britney..uh, Blue Dogs Alone!  (That’s not to say that Lee should ease up one bit.  He shouldn’t.)

On the “stop attacking Blue Dogs” thing, I believe the President was more concerned with the nature of some of the ads, and the possibility that liberal groups are arming Republicans to retake those seats.  It’s one thing to say “Senator Wusspants is not listening to the people.”  It’s quite another to say “Senator Wusspants has been bought off!”

Well, as usual, I was right.  The President has begun to train the Blue Dogs to keep their mess off the carpet by targeting their districts with healthcare ads:

Ignoring criticism – namely from Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid – that intra-party targeting was ineffective, Barack Obama’s campaign arm is expanding its health care ad buy into the districts of key conservative House Democrats.

The initial purchase was on national cable and in eight states with critical Democratic and moderate Republican Senators. Now the scope of the campaign is expanding… The ad will appear in the media markets that overlap with the congressional districts of 15 members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Eleven of those districts belong to Democrats…

I don’t think Sam stressed this enough, so I will: this is a clear warning to obstructionist Democrats that they will be disciplined, and not just on policy matters.  The fact that there are ad buys in their districts means that there can be ad buys during Democratic primaries.

Hopefully, the Gang of Six is paying attention.  With public support for healthcare reform at a fever pitch, and Republicans throwing a sinkful of kitchen sinks at the effort, these six wallflowers had better get moving, or they won’t be invited back to the big dance.

Who will prevail in this battle of wills?  My money is on the President.  You might not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but watch him STFU when you take away his bone.

Yeah, You Heard Me: Turkey.Hill.Pop.Corn.Ice.Cream.

Update: It was not Moe, but Leon Wolf.  I’m sure they get us mixed up all the time.

I think it was Moe Lane who was discussing with me, via Twitter, the virtues of Buttered Popcorn Jelly Bellies.  I have discovered the ice cream to end all ice creams (ices cream?).  Another big win for Turkey Hill, who knocked me out last week with their Southern Lemon Pie limited edition, and whose name I put in the headline with every intention of accepting the odd free tub.  Which I will not share with Moe.  Perhaps, next time, you will so quick to ban not be, young Jedi.

NSFW: Pornish Antacid Ad is a Hoax, Banned Sprite Ad Not a Sprite Ad

When we got a too-good-to-check email that’s been circulating about a South African Gaviscon commercial, we just had to ruin the fun by checking:

It illustrates what can go wrong when someone who is ESL (English as a second language) writes the punch line for the advertisement.

The email features screen shots of a heartburn-addled hottie ingesting milky-white liquid firemen, with the tagline “It’s like a Fireman came in your mouth!”

This wouldn’t be the first time that an ad campaign got lost in translation, but the email rumor suffers from some obvious flaws.  First of all, English is the most widely-used of South Africa’s 11 official languages, so it’s not likely that a South African company would hire someone who didn’t speak it well.

Second, and more importantly, if the screenshots are for real, why not just send a link to the video?

Here’s the actual ad.  With thick, white, sentient liquid as its star, that punchline isn’t such a stretch.

Fred Thompson Says President Obama is ‘Hostile to the Jewish State,’ Urges Confrontation

Why couldn’t this guy have stuck to “Die Hard” movies?

Former Senator and GOP Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson sent a tweet this morning that would have looked more at home on HuffPo’s list of offensive Tea Party signs:

The urgency of confronting a President hostile to the Jewish state http://tinyurl.com/nnbfls #tcot #ftrs

Leaving aside the fact that the President’s biggest crime seems to be saying that Israel’s government needs to “engage in serious self-reflection” (a cherry-picked quote from a report about the President’s meeting with American Jewish leaders), it is Thompson’s hyper-inflammatory language to which I object.

Exactly what does Thompson see as the objective of the President’s made-up “hostility?”  More importantly, what sort of urgent “confrontation” is he calling for?  I’ll let you know.

Billie’s Quickies and…Palin Poaching Dead Fish?

An interesting comparison of copyright law then and now that poses the question: “Were we smarter 100 years ago?”

Once upon a time I worked for a business that blocked twitter – and twitter usage should have been the least of its concerns.  This lovely little article examines how “the dirty secret of corporate IT is that its primary mission is to serve yesterday’s technology needs, even if that means strangling tomorrow’s technology solutions.”

The thing that made me LOL yesterday:  “Have abandoned car and country in a dramatic huff and no longer feel like talking about it.”

The United States Military’s top chefs teach you how to cook!  Meet “The Grill Sergeants”

Numbers dude Nate Silver issues a challenge to climate change skeptics….will anyone dare bite?

Hey! Remember when Newt Gingrich suggested Michigan pay teen girls to not get pregnant? You don’t?  Well, here ya go!

Is Sarah Palin stealing colloquialisms from humorous activist Agricultural Commissioners?…..Nah!