Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

What do you do if you're caught on an open mic bragging about your sexual conquests? Why, deny you're a conquerer!

Mike Duvall now seems to be denying having affairs with the two women he was caught bragging about sleeping with.

In a new statement on his campaign website, Duvall writes:

Assemblyman Duvall Denies Reports that He Had Affair

I want to make it clear that my decision to resign is in no way an admission that I had an affair or affairs. My offense was engaging in inappropriate story-telling and I regret my language and choice of words. The resulting media coverage was proving to be an unneeded distraction to my colleagues and I resigned in the hope that my decision would allow them to return to the business of the state.

Newsflash: splitting hairs didn't work out for Bill Clinton. I sincerely doubt it'll work for a two-bit state Con. Not to mention, if this fucktard's to be believed, he turns from Raging Romeo to Lackwit Loser. How pathetic is that?

And it looks like he might have fucked things up for his fornicating friends:

Duvall's resignation will not stop lawmakers from investigating the matter, including whether Duvall traded votes or other influence on utilities issues for sex, according to Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, a Democrat. Indeed, one member of the ethics panel that will oversee the investigation told the Los Angeles Times that it could expand to look at other lawmakers' affairs with lobbyists.

Something tells me he's going to be about as popular as dysentery around there.

Moving on to other shysters, another Bonner & Ass. forged letter on behalf of their dirty energy clients has turned up:

Congressional investigators have discovered that the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity’s (ACCCE) astroturfing effort has impersonated American military veterans in a forged letter sent to Congress. Thirteen other forgeries purporting to be from organizations representing blacks, Hispanics, women and senior citizens. This latest letter, sent in June to influence a swing Democratic legislator on his vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act, impersonates a local American Legion official in Rocky Mount, VA...

Seems they have absolutely no shame. Next we'll see forgeries written in crayon claiming to be from sick kiddies. Mark my words.

We've got a particularly long list of media assclowns to take the Smack-o-Matic to today. Michael Savage, hate radio celebrity, can be spared a further spanking, as he's already suffered a pretty hefty beating:

Earlier today, the conservative blog Patriot Axom noted that far-right radio host Michael Savage has been taken “off the air” from his San Francisco-based flagship station, Talk 910 KNEW. Now, a representative from the station has issued a statement explaining why it will no longer air Savage’s show:

I’m going to answer the very first question many of you have.

“Why did you take Michael Savage off the air?”

Here’s your no-spin direct answer; we have decided to go in a different philosophical and ideological direction, featuring more contemporary content and more local information. The Savage Nation does not fit into that vision.

910 KNEW’s decision is the latest blow to Savage’s efforts to spread hate. Last winter, following a campaign by the Council On American-Islamic Relations and Brave New Films, numerous advertisers ended their relationship with Savage, including Geico, Union Bank of California, and ITT Technical Institute.

Good on KNEW. Now let's hope other radio stations are wise enough to follow suit. The less hate on the airwaves, the better.

In other news, John "Climate Change is a Crock and Young People Shouldn't Vote" Stossel has made the logical move:

After nearly two years of broadcasts, the Fox Business Network is missing an important element: viewers. In June for example, between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m., Fox Business averaged 21,000 viewers. For a blog, 21,000 readers isn't bad. For a cable network that reaches 49 million households, 21,000 viewers is a colossal failure.

So, the Murdoch-owned enterprise decided it was time to adding some higher-profile conservatives to the FBN team. Last week, Don Imus struck a deal to simulcast his radio show on the struggling network. Today, we learn that ABC's libertarian activist/television personality John Stossel is also making the jump.

John Stossel, the longtime ABC News correspondent and co-anchor of "20/20," is leaving ABC to join Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. TVNewser has learned Stossel will host a weekly, one-hour program for the 2-year-old business channel. He's expected to signed a multi-year deal with Fox which will include regular appearances on Fox News Channel during daytime and primetime. He'll also host four, hour-long specials on Fox News, much like the business/consumer specials he'd hosted for years on ABC.

[snip]

At the risk of being unkind, I think ABC is getting the better end of this personnel change. Jamison Foser had an item this afternoon, highlighting some of Stossel's recent gems, which included reports defending price-gouging, denying global warming, denouncing Medicare, and rejecting evidence that women get paid less than men for the same work.

Oh, yes, that should help their viewer problem. Can a channel be watched by a negative number of people? I think we're about to find out.

Elsewhere, idiots in the government are giving Glenn Beck encouragement:

Glenn Beck has struck again.

Yosi Sergant, who recently popped up on Beck's radar for his involvement in a conference call on national service, has been asked to resign as communications director by the National Endowment for the Arts, sources familiar with the move tell the Huffington Post.

[snip]

Beck attacked Sergant and the NEA on his Fox News talk show, accusing the agency of propaganda efforts similar to those used by Nazi Germany. And now Sergant has been tossed overboard, making him Beck's second victim in his campaign to rid the administration of perceived radicals, socialists, communists, fascists, anarchists and all other manner of nefarious influences.

Perhaps not coincidentally, both Sergant and Van Jones - Beck's first takedown - have roots in on-the-ground organizing and were tightly connected with the grassroots progressive community.

Word to the unwise: if Beck attacks one of your own, don't fire them, don't demote them, and don't let them resign. Beck's delusional enough without people caving to his insane demands. Unless the person in question is exposed in flagrente delicto with a bunch of altar boys, keep that person exactly where they are, increase their power, and give them a raise each time Beck makes a peep. Eventually, once that person's reached an annual salary of ten gajillion dollars, he should give up and go away.

Of course, Beck just lost the first battle in his Czar Wars:

Cass Sunstein, President Obama’s pick to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, was confirmed handily by the Senate just now by a vote of 57 ayes to 40 nays. Glenn Beck will no doubt rue this day for as long as he shall live.

That's gotta smart.

James Rucker's right. Time to draw a line in the sand:

But it's not just "czar"-hunting that's at stake here. The right wing media machine, of which Beck is now one of the leading members, is the single greatest force standing in the way of change. They have already helped derail the conversation on health care, elevating accusations of Obama's alliance with the Third Reich to some semblance of credibility. And they will do the same to the upcoming debates over clean energy, immigration, and every progressive policy priority. We simply don't have the luxury of ignoring them. We must challenge them head on, expose their distortions, take away their advertisers, and position their views where they belong: far outside the bounds of any rational political discourse.

That is why ColorOfChange is redoubling our efforts to starve Beck of advertising dollars, and why we hope you will join us. The time has come to draw a line in the sand, not because of what Glenn Beck did to Van Jones, but because of what he could do to our democracy if left unchecked.

Let us do unto Beck as he has done unto Dem appointees, shall we?