Scanner : media

Sloppy Seconds: Free Viagra!

Emily Farris — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:01:00 GMT

Spring Awakening—the musical that made more than $57 million in the United States and made anyone who went to see it with his or her parents very uncomfortable—is closing in London after only five months. [FlavorWire]

Um, what kind of high school lets the yearbook team publish an upskirt photo? [BuzzFeed]

A new development in the Jon and Kate Plus Eight saga: Jon may not have been the only one allegedly cheating. Apparently, he had long feared that his wife was having an affair with her married bodyguard. [Us]

Ashley Olsen isn't the only woman modeling men's clothing. [AfterEllen]

Could Johnny Depp play Frank Sinatra in the movies? [Vulture]

Elizabeth Edwards will talk about her husband John's mistress, as long as no one mentions her name. [Yahoo!]

Just because you don't have a job, or health insurance, doesn't mean you shouldn't have your Viagra. Pfizer has s unveiled a new program will let people who have lost their jobs and health insurance keep taking some widely prescribed Pfizer medications—including Lipitor and Viagra—for free for up to a year. [Yahoo!]

Related:

Ashley Olsen Takes Off Men's Clothes to Sell Them

It's Not Looking Good for Jon and Kate

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AZ Gov. Candidate Posts Topless Photo of His Roommate on Flickr

Brian Fairbanks — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:33:00 GMT

John Paul Mitchell, 30, teaches yoga and is studying for his doctorate at the University of Sedona. He is not your typical Republican candidate, particularly since he is running against a newly-ascended state leader, Jan Brewer, who took over for Democrat Janet Napolitano when Napolitano accepted a cabinet post. He also isn't your typical politician-- he maintains a Flickr account, which he updates with campaign and personal photos on the same page.

Normally, this would be no big deal... until a photo of a topless woman appeared on the page.

Mitchell claims that the photo, which was deleted before we could at least see it and tell you what it looked like, is of Mitchell's female roommate. The candidate, who has a girlfriend, says the flatmates share an account on the site and that she posted it and meant to make it private, but forgot to. Or something. It all sounds a bit suspicious-- too many lapses in judgment for that to happen. Obviously, it sounds like he took an illicit picture of his roommate, a woman he admits to sleeping with in the past, and posted it to what he thought was a private, blocked-off area of his Flickr account. Not saying she didn't consent, but that's possible.

In any case, he had to play damage control in the news media all day yesterday:

Why would she post topless photos to the Flickr account?

Because she has hundreds of photographs on there. She uploads pictures from family gatherings, to vacations, to self-taken pictures. What she does in the privacy of our home or elsewhere is her personal business.

Again, the picture was meant to be flagged as private and not viewable by the public.

Why do you have a shared account?

Because I initially set it up for my use, but later allowed her to use the Flickr account to have an online storage space for her photography.

Did you and the woman ever date or have a romantic relationship?

Yes, at one point, we were involved romantically. However, we made a mutual agreement that it was best we remain only friends. Our friendship is going on its sixth year and we consider each other best friends.

At this point, the woman has yet to speak out. One has to wonder what her take on all this is-- is she embarrassed into silence or being asked by the candidate not to comment, for fear of keeping the story going? Or is she secretly furious about the photo ending up on his Flickr account? His account, by the way, can be seen here.

Via AZ Central.

Related:

Candidate for Gov. of GA Admits to Having Sex... with a Mule

Politician Probably Should've Taken Down Scandalous Facebook Profile First

Hey Ireland: Good Luck Stopping Internet Porn

Nevada Governor's Sex Scandal May Top Eliot Spitzer's

Sloppy Seconds: Scarlett Johansson on Plastic Surgery

Emily Farris — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:01:00 GMT

The Obamas finally got a puppy. It wasn't a shelter dog (grr) but it sure is cute. [Yahoo!]

Madonna is still trying to adopt a child from Malwai. [Us]

It's posssssible that a hacker was responsible for the #amazonfail. [Vulture]

Fergie would like a baby in her. Right now. [FameCrawler]

Butt implants can be a real pain in the ass if you're having butt sex. Apparently. [ClayCane]

Scarlett Johansson (well, probably her assistant) is as annoyed with the media's obsession with weight and plastic surgery as we are. [The Huffington Post]

Speaking of if you're Keeping up with the Kardashians, you probably know that one of them is having plastic surgery. [The Remote Island]

Sloppy Seconds: What We Gave Up for Lent

Emily Farris — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:33:00 GMT

I may have moved to the worst city—ever!—for dating, but at least it's the manliest based on "the number of U.S.-made cars driven in the city, number of sports bars and BBQ restaurants, number of home improvement and hardware stores as well as manly salty snacks consumption." [FatCity]

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is one step closer to switching to an online-only publication. [Yahoo!]

Michelle Obama will be the first person other than Oprah herself to ever appear on the cover of O Magazine. [Us]

What's this about a giant blue wiener in "The Watchmen?" Now we're totally seeing it. [Rolling Stone]

Gossip Girl's Matthew Settle (Rufus) is a daddy. [People]

Believe it or not kids, Scanner Emily here, an athiest, gave up sex (or anything beyond kissing, hugging and a back rub if I can get it) for Lent. Some people are giving up texting. Both would probably be good for interpersonal relationships. What are you giving up, if anything? [Tech-Ex]

Billionaires For Bush Say Goodbye... For Now...

Brian Fairbanks — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:45:00 GMT

Unless Jeb Bush runs for Senate in Florida, wins, and mounts a stunning Bush Family-styled comeback for the White House in 2012, it's fairly likely that the Billionaires For Bush will be no more. We counter-protested a 10,000-person strong peace movement rally and march on the RNC last year under the name "Lobbyists For McCain," with slogans like "Loyal to Big Oil," "Proud Bush-McCain Republican," and, of course, "Four More Years."

Well, it ~~worked~~ failed. The unwashed masses voted for Obama, even though our revered corporations and special interests didn't endorse him. And so we begin a new era-- one without Hummers, without tax cuts directed toward the top 1%-- even without gigantic corporate fountains urinating pure Stolichnaya vodka.

With this in mind, the New York Times interviewed the Lobbyists For McCain, i.e. Billionaires For Bush, in Tuesday's paper...

They were getting along just fine, these Billionaires were, when a terrible thing happened.
George W. Bush left office.
It’s hard to be a Billionaire for Bush when there is no Bush. The group might have recast itself as Billionaires for Obama. But that would have required “irony we can believe in,” said Andrew Boyd, who sometimes goes by his Billionaire name, Phil T. Rich.

“Here’s the conundrum,” Mr. Boyd said. “Can you point out that the emperor has no clothes when you like the emperor — and his clothes?”

Not really, although the Daily Show has had plenty of ammunition lately without specifically attacking President Changey Pants.

“I think we were serious about having our brand lose its brand identity,” said Elissa Jiji or, if you prefer, Meg A. Bucks. Mr. Bartlett observed that “it’s not the time for ostentatious wealth.” Even though there are still plenty of potential targets — Bernard L. Madoff and bonus-hungry Wall Street executives, for example — there seems little point going after them when others are, too.

“They’re no longer held in such esteem that they need to be knocked down,” Mr. Boyd said.

For now, the Billionaires have chosen to put away their gowns, toss aside their top hats and leave their badminton rackets in the closet. Soon after the Obama inauguration, a few dozen of them met at a Greenwich Village bar for what Ms. Jiji described as “a last huzzah.” She had “thought we’d be sad,” she said, “but it was very festive.” Mr. Boyd called it a “farewell to arms contracts.”

But bear in mind that “Billionaires never die,” he said. “We just refinance.”

Have no fear about the end of satire in America, though: Plutocrats For Palin does have a certain ring to it for 2012...

Tax Day with an actual pimp, April 2005.

Jolly Robber Barons: the Billionaire Yacht Club during the Coney Island Mermaid Parade, circa June 2005...

Via the New York Times.

Video of Darin Barry, Andrew Boyd (background), and the author from Minnesota Independent Media.

Related:

FBI Agents Out To Get Democrats

Video of the Day: No You Can't

George W. Bush May Get in Bed With Sleaze, but at Least It's Got a Pretty Face

Sloppy Seconds: Kanye West Dresses Better Than the Gays

Emily Farris — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:01:00 GMT

It turns out T.R. Knight isn't the only actor leaving the cast of Grey's Anatomy. Katherine Heigl is on her way out, too. [Defamer]

Rihanna, who was allegedly beat-up by her boyfriend Chris Brown, has been released from the hospital but is postponing a show she's set to play in Malaysia. [Yahoo!]

We're totally onboard for the Michael Phelps backlash-backlash. [Jossip]

Want to know what the hell kind of fertility clinic would inseminate a 33-year-old single mother of six with eight fucking more babies? [SNAFU-ed]

Britney Spears took her assistant back from the Jonas Brothers. Damn straight. [Us]

Media outlets are looking for sugar daddies to get them through the recession. Come to think of it, we wouldn't mind one, either. [DailyIntel]

Guys, Kanye West is just really secure with his manhood, okay? "There's a lot of gay people that I dress way better than." [MTV]

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Sloppy Seconds: Kanye Will Pose Nude (Don't Worry, He'll Keep His Sunglasses On)

Emily Farris — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 23:01:00 GMT

Earlier this week Patrick Swayze was telling us he had two to five years to live. Today he was hospitalized for pneumonia. [Yahoo!]

Tom Cruise's Golden Globes date? Katie Holmes' dad. Weird. [Us]

Uh! You guys! This is so not fair! The media is being way nicer to Caroline Kennedy than it was to Sarah Palin. (Don't take it personally Sarah, it's just that everyone in media has been laid off, that's all.) [DailyIntel]

Nerve alum Will Doig rounds up the year in sex. [The Daily Beast]

Ummmmmmmmm.... [People]

"I definitely feel like, in the next however many years, if I work out for two months, that I'll pose naked. I'll break every rule and mentality of hip-hop, of black culture, of American culture," Kanye West told Vibe. We can't say we're not looking forward to that. [MTV]

Everybody Stay Calm and Think Positive Thoughts

Kanye West On SNL: Can't Sing, Won't Sing

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The Media Made More Mistakes Than Ever This Year

Brian Fairbanks — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:10:00 GMT

From Regret the Error, here's a list of the worst (and most amusing) slip-ups the media made in 2008... at least until they make some more in the next three weeks, of course...

The first thing we gotta ask is, why does anyone report (as news) the story that a certain person has herpes? And even if that's a wise move, to publicly shame someone for no reason, it still doesn't explain why they'd publish a story about a nobody like David Guest having the STD. Guest, it was claimed, had received the disease from Liza Minnelli as an unintended wedding present. Of course, it's totally fabricated, as the Daily Mail and other papers were forced to admit in print:

In articles published on 23 and 26 May 2008, we gave the impression that Mr Gest had contracted a sexually transmitted infection and alleged that he had Liza Minnelli’s dog killed without her knowledge.
This was wrong. David Gest has never had a sexually transmitted infection and did not have Ms Minnelli’s dog killed.
We apologise to Mr Gest for any embarrassment caused.

Isn't this like LBJ saying, Yes, it's untrue what I said about my opponent, "but make the bastard deny it"? In other words, maybe a few people missed it the first time-- a retraction only reinforces the public awareness of the possibility of the story's truth, as in when you phrase a denial as "No, I did not do that horrible thing," psychologically, many people think, "Hmm, 'horrible thing.' Wonder if he did it."

Ah, never mind, we can't explain it. Just read more:

Here’s how the famous humor writer [Dave Barry] chose to correct a misspelling he made in a column published by the Miami Herald:
In yesterday’s column about badminton, I misspelled the name of Guatemalan player Kevin Cordon. I apologize. In my defense, I want to note that in the same column I correctly spelled Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarak, Poompat Sapkulchananart and Porntip Buranapraseatsuk. So by the time I got to Kevin Cordon, my fingers were exhausted.

Wonder if he spelled "Cordon" with an "n" and an "m." These and more via Regret the Error.

Related:

The Media Thinks It's Finally Figured Out Why Hillary Lost (Hint: It's Not The Media)

73-Year-Old Porn Star a Japanese Sensation, American Media Obsession

Update on That Girl Who IM'd Her Dad About Losing Virginity

Lost Your Penis in the Penal System? Washington State Has 300 G's For Ya

Brian Fairbanks — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:16:00 GMT

This is a story to make your balls retract into your stomach, a la Kurt Vonnegut's "Breakfast of Champions" character.

Charlie Manning (who actually gave his name to reporters for no good reason) just collected a cool 300 grand from the State of Washington, thanks to their terrible prison system. Not bad for less than a year of his time... although, there is that problem of his having left jail without a penis and second testicle...

Washington state has agreed to pay $300,000 to an ex-prison inmate whose penis was consumed by a flesh-eating bacteria while he was behind bars.
Charlie Manning told The Seattle Times Monday he will have $115,000 left after paying attorney's fees arising from his lawsuit and other bills. He expects to get the money this week.
"It's been a nightmare," Manning said. "I figured I should settle for what I could get because I just want it behind me. It's unreal. It's like something from Mars."
Manning, 61, was serving a 13-month sentence for a drunken fight when he became ill. The prison doctor wrongly diagnosed his symptoms as an allergic reaction to medication. It turned out he had necrotizing fasciitis and the bacteria destroyed his penis and one testicle.

Good Lord, what is this, France? No, Charlie, this isn't from Mars-- it's called American Justice, and it's more frightening than the words "Sarah Palin 2012." Remember kids: if you're going to do the crime, make sure you don't end up doing the time in Washington State.

Via 96.1.

Related:

Live From Death Row: A Killer's Last Words, Before His Life Was Spared

Sloppy Seconds: Photos of New Planets, Yay!

Penis Eating Fish Plague Australian Harbor

While You Were Sleeping: Sarah Palin Likes Short Shorts

Dumb Cops Make Mondays Bearable

While You Were Sleeping: Female Charles Manson on the Loose

Sloppy Seconds: Blake-Fielder Civil Escapes (More) Prison (Time)

Scanner Roundtable: What Did We Think About The DNC & Obama's Speech?

Brian Fairbanks — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:01:00 GMT

According to the Huffington Post, Nielsen says that, in addition to the 80,000 people who saw the speech in person, 38 million people watched Obama the nomination last night on television, "more... than watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, the final American Idol or the Academy Awards this year."

Well, John McCain's nap could beat the Academy Awards any day, but the real question is: what did we think of the speech?

Early reports are glowing-- at least from the media. But they don't know a damn thing about the public, as evidenced by every story about the election up until Iowa, their wrong guesses on what Obama would say last night, etc. etc.

If you're like us and think the Democratic leadership is generally made up of whimps who have to play nice with a guy who doesn't play nice back, check out this relatively amusing (although pretty thin) John McCain Honorable Attack Generator.

Image via Code Pink.

Barack Obama Takes It to the Hole in a Pair of Very Short Shorts

Into The Wild: The Last of the Democratic Delegates

Classy Hillary Clinton Nominates Obama To The Tearful Strains Of Her Supporters' Hand Claps

Obama Tells His Staff Not To Go Green

Brian Fairbanks — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:20:00 GMT

Barack Obama warned his staff not to wear green clothing if accompanying him on his current trip to the Middle East. And it's not because he's mad Al Gore won't be his Vice President...

An Obama aide explained to reporters that green is the color associated with the militant Palestinian group Hamas. But while the color does appear on Hamas banners, there is no particular symbolism to wearing green clothes, experts said.

Moreover, green is more generally seen as a symbol of Islam.

Many people believe this has less to do with Hamas than with discredited smears perpetuated by Obama's detractors that he is a practicing Muslim. Obama's campaign, like many Democrats, is choosing to bend over backwards to make sure their enemies have no ammunition rather than fight the lies.

“I’ve been to the Middle East with Secretaries of State and on my own, and I’ve never heard of anything like that,” said New York Sun national security reporter Eli Lake.

Hamas, the group that controls the Gaza Strip, flies a green flag, as do some other Islamist groups. But the color appears on a vast array of official symbols, including the Saudi flag. Jordan’s Queen Rania al-Abdullah has been pictured in green outfits. [Politico]

In other news from the campaign trail, the Republican candidate himself is giving the Democrats plenty of ammo to "smear" him with in some sort of hackneyed attempt at redirecting the media's attention toward him. Today it was reported that McCain referred to an "Iraq-Pakistan border," which does not exist. (He meant "Afghanistan," not Iraq.)

Just in the past three weeks, McCain has also mistaken "Somalia" for "Sudan," and even football’s Green Bay Packers for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Ironically, the errors have been concentrated in what should be his area of expertise: foreign affairs.

The McCain campaign says Obama has had plenty of flubs of his own, including a reference to "57 states" and a string of misstated place names during the primaries that Republicans gleefully sent around as YouTube links.

Via Politico.

The Media Thinks It's Finally Figured Out Why Hillary Lost (Hint: It's Not The Media)

Brian Fairbanks — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:56:00 GMT

It isn't because of this t-shirt.

It isn't because of the Bosnia thing or Obamania or sexism. It isn't because of Geraldine Ferraro or Bill Clinton's dong. It isn't even because she chose a Celine Dion song to bring us into the next four years...

Gail Sheehy's devastating attack on the Hillary Clinton campaign (more so than on Hillary herself-- the article is mostly about how infighting led eventually to the sinking of the ship) in this month's Vanity Fair rehashes many of the rough memories from the primary. For the first time, however, we were ready to read the why's and how's without punching ourselves in the face over the idiocy of Howard Wolfson and Mark Penn, et al...

Sheehy's Reasons Why Hillary Lost (with our notes):

1) Hillary surrounded herself with "brilliant, egocentric, hypercompetitive men." These men were in their 50's and 60's, whereas Obama's staff was younger and were internet-driven-- that is, they were more in touch with the movement.

2) Sheehy comments: "Perversely, in my view, Hillary's chief strategist proved to be an old-fashioned sexist. Penn did not appreciate the strength of her character as a woman." She goes on to note that they tried to make her tough (an attempt to appeal to right-wing-leaning folks who saw her as a liberal do-nothing), then violated a cardinal rule by using her as "her own attack dog, never an appealing role, and one that Senator Obama's surrogates played for him." Plus, "Hillary's loyalists repeatedly challenged Obama's manhood, openly proclaiming to reporters that she was the only candidate with the testicular fortitude to be president."

3) Penn advised Hillary to be "as likable as possible." Somehow, she went from being the most popular person in the party, maybe even more so than her husband, to a symbol of the old, tired guard, willing to attack members of her own party without mercy if it meant winning. "'Now the fun part starts,' she said nonchalantly in December '07, referring to the chance to attack Obama's character. It was a 'cringe moment' for her later pollster, Geoff Garin."

4) Bill Clinton's inability to stay in the background and let the Senator run her own campaign did not help, especially when he veered off message and/or said things that were offensive to black people. Once again, it was men that helped doom Hillary.

5) Sheehy points out Hillary's 20-point lead in October, yet fails to blame that kind of media hype for Hillary's loss. Most supporters agree that the whole "inevitability" angle, pounded into our heads by pundits in the months prior to Iowa, made her loss there a more stunning blow. Had it been presented as a neck-and-neck race, Obama's victory in the first caucus state would have been seen as a squeaker and he may have received a smaller national bounce from it, thus allowing Hillary to snatch up some of the states he eventually did. But maybe not.

6) "Such was the hubris of Hillary's team that they discounted Obama as a passing pop star to non-voters." They also apparently forgot that people still want to read news about Britney Spears, of all people, more than a decade after she first came onto the scene. Think about it.

7) Her campaign spent too much money in Iowa. It "cost Clinton almost $25 million. After that, the Clintons were gun-shy to caucuses." As Joe Trippi points out, this lead to "Obama's entire delegate advantage... [which] is from the caucus states that she didn't contest."

So, just to be clear: Hillary Clinton lost because she picked the wrong team and ran on their wishes, wishes that she run on experience and come off as more hard-line than her opponents, that she appear inevitable, tried and true. It's her fault for not forcing a change in direction and it's their fault for not convincing her it was needed.

They'll be arguing this one for the ages, but if Hillary wants another shot at this, she best look at her own (hiring) decisions and keep these mistakes in mind for the next four years...

Being Chris Matthews' Wife Must Really Suck

Katie Halper — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:34:00 GMT

We feel really bad for the Mrs. Chris Matthews. We always knew Chris had a weird hatred (or could it be a crush in disguise?) for Hillary Clinton. But, as we learned on Real Time with Bill Maher, Matthews has some real marital issues too.

On Real Time with Bill Maher Chris Matthews gave us way too much TMI when he presented his own marital issues as hard solid political analysis. Speaking for all blue collar men in Pennsylvania, Matthews explained that they go to diners in the morning because "they don't want to hang out with their wives for an hour and they want that hour away..."

What is Chris's hang up with women? His Hillary obsession drives him crazy. On at least two instances on Friday night's Real Time with Bill Maher, Matthews showed Real Problems with thinking clearly when it came to Hillary. When Maher asked Matthews: "You have been criticized as being a little sexist about Hillary.... Don't you think she has a point that gender has actually been a bigger factor in this campaign than race?" Matthews responded by saying "No, actually there are more women democrats than there are male democrats. That should help her." That doesn't really answer the question at all. But it looks totally logical alongside what came next. When Maher asked Matthews why Hillary was "doing better with Catholics," he responded by saying

That's a great question, that is a great one... 65% in Pennsylvania right now against 26%. I bet she goes up to 70, 75. I think that's just another word for Catholics, small town, middle class, I don't know I can't quite explain it. I don't know the answer to that.

When Maher said "Wow, I stumped Chris Matthews! I should win something," Matthews surmised

Maybe... Lemme find an issue you agree with the Pope on here. You're both against the war in Iraq. Catholics are generally against the war in Iraq, Hillary voted for it. Maybe that would be a logical reason, I'm not sure it's the real reason. But that would make sense.

What? Anti-war Catholic resentment of a war-voting Hillary WOULD make sense...If Matthews were explaining why Hillary is UNPOPULAR among Catholics. So what is the deal? Is Chris so blinded by a hatred of Hillary? Or is he distracted by a forbidden lust which makes him sleepless and drives him to diners?

Crazy Stalker Attacks Obama

Brian Fairbanks — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:10:00 GMT

A disturbed man who claims he only wanted a picture with Barack Obama stalked the Senator throughout a day of campaigning in Philadelphia today. The man was eventually prevented from reaching the Democratic Presidential candidate by the Secret Service after the stalker confronted Obama three consecutive times.

Why the Secret Service didn't body slam this man on his second attempt to reach the very patient object of his desire is beyond our comprehension. Is it illegal to fuck up idiots who'd waste the free time of the future leader of the free world? And if it is illegal, I doubt anyone would bust them for sucker-punching this punk.

Here is the full, unedited video, which we cannot embed yet for some reason: ABC News. If you can't watch videos or can't understand what this shrill assmunch is going on about so passionately, read the full story here.

We braced ourselves throughout the entire video for a gun to come out and for a very, very horrible moment in history to occur. Why no one else sought fit to raise an alarm until many minutes in is unfathomable.

Woody Allen Sues American Apparel For Exposing His Jewish Heritage

Brian Fairbanks — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:30:00 GMT

Woody Allen is suing American Apparel for a billboard that steals an image of him for their own nefarious purposes.

As other sources have pointed out, AA usually gets served for its founder's constant sexual harassment of staff members and models and for his hilariously bad taste. This time, it's for an ad above a Los Angeles K & K's Donuts, seen below.

Dov Charney, the company's founder, is caught up in a number of lawsuits, including one in which three female employees are named as plaintiffs.

The suits follow a bizarre article last year in the women's magazine Jane. Charney was described as engaging in oral sex with a female employee and masturbating in front of the reporter. Charney doesn't deny taking part in any of the activities described in the article. He says he befriended the writer over the course of the two months it took her to research the piece. "I've never done anything sexual that wasn't consensual," Charney says. The reporter, Claudine Ko, confirmed his take on events to BusinessWeek.

Clearly the dude knows nothing about interviews and PR: never steal a celebrity's image and call him "The Ultimate Rabbi" (or whatever you think the translation is for the text on the billboard), as it may ruin his career if he's connected to the Jewish Hollywood Elite, and never, ever get blown in front of a newspaper reporter.

Getting blown in front of a paparazzi? Well, now... that's just good business.

Photo via Curbed. Stolen photo of Woody Allen via "Annie Hall."

Man Claims He Had Sex With Obama In 1999

Brian Fairbanks — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 01:24:00 GMT

We're warning you now, this video is creepy as hell. And probably a total fraud, since the guy is way too rehearsed and completely unemotional. (Why is he even telling people this and why is he blabbing now?)

Larry Sinclair, who doesn't even bother to explain how he came to even meet then-State Rep. Barack Obama in Chicago in '99, has filed a lawsuit against the Obama campaign for infringing on his right to free speech. He seems to be doing a pretty good job of running his mouth in the above YouTube video, which has been viewed by hundreds of thousands and is being rightfully ignored outside the gossip blogs.

Obama, meanwhile, is looking into rumors that Hillary Clinton's staff has been in contact with Sinclair recently. Of course, they won't find anything and if they do, they would still have to keep it to themselves, lest the MSM (the Mainstream Media, 'scuse us) pick up on it and damage his chances in the next couple days.

In other Obama news, he is looking like a big winner in Wisconsin today and might even pull off an upset in Texas on March 4. Stay tuned... and please post comments on anything you hear on this developing story.

And the Backlash Begins...

Brian Fairbanks — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:11:00 GMT

We know CNN is not exactly known as the bastion of right-wing talk TV (that would be The Colbert Report, of course), but they also are at a loss for words after blabbing about Hillary-Obama for so long. So now, the head dunce himself, Wolf Blitzer, brings us one of the most obnoxious, preposterous, and offensive political stories since the one about George Bush blowing himself in 1984.

But there's always a backlash against a backlash and, as Average Joe says on Crooks and Liars, some people are forgetting their Black History Month:

So, what’s wrong about rallying around someone who actually had a vision[?] I remember another great man who had a vision: something about love thy neighbor. Boy, if we’d only have listened to him.

LiberalNmoderation adds:

These people are truly grasping at straws now…and that to me is a damn good sign!!!

With one day until the Hawaii and Wisconsin primaries, and Hillary Clinton on the attack, Obama needs all the good signs he can get... especially when the media is turning against him...