Political correctness

She is not a “BABE” or a “CHICK” — She is a “BREASTED AMERICAN.”

She has not “BEEN AROUND” — She is a “PREVIOUSLY-ENJOYED COMPANION.”

He does not have a “BEER GUT” — He has developed a “LIQUID GRAIN STORAGE FACILITY.”

He does not act like a “TOTAL ASS” — He develops a case of RECTAL-CRANIAL INVERSION.”

Thanks to Jeanne.

Pundits Declare the Race Over

Who died and left Tim Russert in charge?

Very early this morning, after many voters had already gone to sleep, the conventional wisdom of the elite political pundit class that resides on television shifted hard, and possibly irretrievably, against Senator Hillary Clinton’s continued viability as a presidential candidate.

The moment came shortly after midnight Eastern time, captured in a devastatingly declarative statement from Tim Russert of NBC News: “We now know who the Democratic nominee’s going to be, and no one’s going to dispute it,” he said on MSNBC.

The New York Times

As she so often does, digby sums it up best:

Who the fuck anointed Tim Russert as the final arbiter of anything? His job is to analyze the political landscape not declare the decision as if he were some kind of Roman Emperor giving a thumbs up or thumbs down. It’s bad enough that these gasbags put those thumbs on the scale as hard as they do, but actually taking the initiative to say when the race is over is even worse. To coin a favorite Village phrase, “it’s not their place.”

There’s a story about LBJ and former Washington Post and Newsweek editor Ben Bradlee. Bradlee was at Newsweek (this was in 1964) and he predicted LBJ was going to remove J. Edgar Hoover as director of the FBI. The White House called a press conference and Bradlee expected to see his prediction announced. Instead, LBJ gave a testimonial about Hoover and exempted him from mandatory retirement. Moments before the announcement Johnson told press secretary Bill Moyers to call Ben Bradlee and tell him, “Fuck you.”

I’m eager for Senator Clinton to drop out, but not right now.

Line most likely to draw lightning from the heavens

Commenting on a potato with a growth inside in the shape of a cross, a skeptic at Bad Astronomy Blog remarked:

“Now, a sweet potato might be more convincing. After all, like He Himself said, ‘I yam that I yam’.”

So who lost on the Yahoo-Microsoft undeal?

Typically the business media is reporting on how much Yahoo! stock was off early this week when the deal with Microsoft fell through. They need to look a little further back.

Microsoft’s intention to buy Yahoo! was announced February 1st.

On January 31st, Yahoo! stock closed at $19.18. Today it’s at $25.30; up 31.9%.

On January 31st, Microsoft stock closed at $32.60. Today it’s at $29.86; down 8.4%.

Five Lessons in Grammar

More lessons in grammar from mental_floss Blog /a> and Patricia T. O’Conner, a former editor at The New York Times Book Review and the author of Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English. Included:

3. That or Which?

Best line of the day, so far

“The Economics Party would be committed to changing its policy recommendation whenever the facts warranted. We’re pro flip-flop when it makes sense. In other words, our brains function properly.”

Dilbert Blog

Adams is proposing a new party: “All we’ll do is agree to vote for the candidate with the best long term economic policy, according to the consensus of leading economists.”

Living With Music

I sampled some of the songs on this playlist by Mark Bowden, the author of “Black Hawk Down,” and liked what I heard.

You may too.

That 99¢ music makes following leads like this so delightful.

Bowden also says this: “Movies have just about replaced the radio as my primary way of discovering new music.”

Movies and Living With Music each week.

No holiday in store for May 7th

U.S. Senator Pete Domenici (R-But Not for Much Longer) is 76 today.

Tim Russert is 58.

Steve Arroyo is 38.

Johannes Brahms and Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky were born on May 7th in 1833 and 1840 respectively.

Poet, playwright and Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish was born on May 7th in 1892.

A poem should be palpable and mute
As a globed fruit

Dumb
As old medallions to the thumb

Silent as the sleeve-worn stone
Of casement ledges where the moss has grown –

A poem should be wordless
As the flight of birds

A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs

Leaving, as the moon releases
Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,

Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,
Memory by memory the mind –

A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs

A poem should be equal to:
Not true

For all the history of grief
An empty doorway and a maple leaf

For love
The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea –

A poem should not mean
But be

Gary Cooper was born on May 7th in 1901. Copper twice won the best actor Oscar and had three more nominations in the category. His wins were for Sergeant York and High Noon.

Edwin Herbert Land was born on May 7th in 1909. Land invented the Polaroid Land Camera.

And Eva Peron was born on May 7th in 1919.