Who did you see on the list?

Kareem Abdul-Jabar
JJ Abrams
Alan Alda
Christiane Amanpour
Jon Batiste
Big Bird
Cory Booker
Tom Brokaw
Ken Burns
Bill Clinton
Andy Cohen
Francis Collins
Cookie Monster
Bob Costas
Katie Couric
Bryan Cranston
Mark Cuban
Jeff Daniels
Bill DeBlasio
Maureen Dowd
James Franco
Thomas Friedman
Vince Gilligan
Doris Kearns Goodwin
David Gregory
Terry Gross
Mike Huckabee
Arianna Huffington
Dean Kamen
Toby Keith
Henry Kissinger
Nicholas Kristof
Paul Krugman
Alexi Lalas
Cyndi Lauper
David Leonhardt
George Lucas
Yo Yo Ma
Barry Manilow
Senator Claire McCaskill
Tim Meadows
Willie Nelson
Randy Newman
Grover Norquist
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Ric Ocasek
Keith Olbermann
Mandy Patinkin
Stone Phillips
Samantha Power
Pussy Riot
Charlie Rose
Dan Savage
Smaug
Shane Smith
Eliot Spitzer
Gloria Steinem
Jon Stewart
Patrick Stewart
Michael Stipe
Andrew Sullivan
Matt Taibbi
Jeff Tweedy
Neil Degrasse Tyson
Sam Waterston
Elijah Wood

(http://www.vox.com/2014/12/19/7419893/colbert-finale-song)

If They Melded: Gary Busey + Yoda Edition has been added as a related post - related requested by PlayhousePals.

If They Melded: Peter Griffin + He-Man Edition has been added as a related post - related requested by PlayhousePals.

If They Melded: Reese Witherspoon + Steve Buscemi Edition has been added as a related post - related requested by PlayhousePals.

"If They Melded" - Arianna Huffington + Donald Trump Edition has been added as a related post - related requested by PlayhousePals.

*related=http://videosift.com/video/If-They-Melded-Gary-Busey-Yoda-Edition
*related=http://videosift.com/video/If-They-Melded-Peter-Griffin-He-Man-Edition
*related=http://videosift.com/video/If-They-Melded-Reese-Witherspoon-Steve-Buscemi-Edition
*related=http://videosift.com/video/If-They-Melded-Arianna-Huffington-Donald-Trump-Edition

"If They Melded" - Names In The News Video Mashup has been added as a related post - related requested by PlayhousePals.

"If They Melded" - Arianna Huffington + Donald Trump Edition has been added as a related post - related requested by PlayhousePals.

*related=http://videosift.com/video/If-They-Melded-Names-In-The-News-Video-Mashup

*related=http://videosift.com/video/If-They-Melded-Arianna-Huffington-Donald-Trump-Edition

"If They Melded" - Arianna Huffington + Donald Trump Edition has been added as a related post - related requested by PlayhousePals on that post.

Remember, Arianna Huffington created this monster.

Ha... isn't Arianna Huffington one of the crazy people the Rally to Restore Sanity is rallying against?

>> ^NetRunner:
>> ^chilaxe:
I think there's an endlessly rich intellectual world lying beneath the surface of politics, but all we ever see of it is the borderline anti-intellectualism of folks like Arianna Huffington arguing that it's actually good for liberals that Van Jones got pushed out of the White House, because he's too awesome to be constrained by such a job.

I really wish someone in a more mainstream media outlet would tap into the intellectual side of governance and political theory. It can be found all over the web (and I like to think in this particular corner of the web), but it's utterly lacking on TV. I suppose Bill Moyer's Journal occasionally dips into that realm, but I'm not sure if there's anyone but me watching that show.
I'm no fan of Huffington either. Huffpo is a decent news site, but Arianna herself seems devoted to making liberals look hysterical.
Oh, and as to your comment about progressives needing to embrace incrementalism, I agree to a certain point. I think it's important that we have people trying to shift the Overton window to the left, but I'd rather they sound more like Anthony Weiner and Alan Grayson than Michael Moore (though Moore is a good guy to have on our side too).
What I don't think we need is this whole segment of the progressive movement that's decided that the only way to move the Overton window to the left is to constantly badmouth Democrats, largely using the exact same attacks the right uses. I don't get that, but I see it happening all over the blogosphere. Lotsa people who claim to be on the left who can't do anything but talk about Obama being a secret Muslim Republican, and Rahm Emmanuel selling us out, etc.
I don't get it, do they think that driving Obama's unfavorables up is going to move the cause forward?


I could get behind liberalism if there was a movement within it to hold accountable those fellow liberals who sabotage the cause.

Liberals have plenty of sites like 'Crooks and Liars" or Mediawatch to keep an eye on the excesses of conservatives... why can't they do the same to keep an eye on the excesses of fellow liberals?

Next time Michael Moore says he's going to sabotage the healthcare debate by framing it as the US vs. Communism, organize liberals to boycott his short-sightedness. That's a kind of attitude of accountability and honor that I think has broader appeal to moderates.

>> ^chilaxe:
I think there's an endlessly rich intellectual world lying beneath the surface of politics, but all we ever see of it is the borderline anti-intellectualism of folks like Arianna Huffington arguing that it's actually good for liberals that Van Jones got pushed out of the White House, because he's too awesome to be constrained by such a job.


I really wish someone in a more mainstream media outlet would tap into the intellectual side of governance and political theory. It can be found all over the web (and I like to think in this particular corner of the web), but it's utterly lacking on TV. I suppose Bill Moyer's Journal occasionally dips into that realm, but I'm not sure if there's anyone but me watching that show.

I'm no fan of Huffington either. Huffpo is a decent news site, but Arianna herself seems devoted to making liberals look hysterical.

Oh, and as to your comment about progressives needing to embrace incrementalism, I agree to a certain point. I think it's important that we have people trying to shift the Overton window to the left, but I'd rather they sound more like Anthony Weiner and Alan Grayson than Michael Moore (though Moore is a good guy to have on our side too).

What I don't think we need is this whole segment of the progressive movement that's decided that the only way to move the Overton window to the left is to constantly badmouth Democrats, largely using the exact same attacks the right uses. I don't get that, but I see it happening all over the blogosphere. Lotsa people who claim to be on the left who can't do anything but talk about Obama being a secret Muslim Republican, and Rahm Emmanuel selling us out, etc.

I don't get it, do they think that driving Obama's unfavorables up is going to move the cause forward?

My complaint about what Olbermann represents is that he operates under the standard paradigm of 'the harder we push, the more we gain,' as opposed to 'small steps to earn society's trust.' There seem to be continually accumulating mountains of evidence against his paradigm.

Why are Roberts and Alito even on the Supreme Court? Remember that without the 'push harder no matter what' paradigm, passionate liberals wouldn't have turned their back on Gore in 2000, and history would have proceeded the way it was supposed to. No Iraq War for passionate liberals to get upset about, no Guantanamo, etc.

Instead of the argument for healthcare reform being 'we're not advocating socialism; we're just going to make small steps that take the best from the Swiss system," some idiot took a film crew to *Cuba* and said we have to be like the Communists. I hope that's worked out as well as Moore pictured it going in his head.

I think there's an endlessly rich intellectual world lying beneath the surface of politics, but all we ever see of it is the borderline anti-intellectualism of folks like Arianna Huffington arguing that it's actually good for liberals that Van Jones got pushed out of the White House, because he's too awesome to be constrained by such a job.

Fox News may not the bastion of news integrity, but if I were Maddow I wouldn't exactly be calling them out. I've seen my share of terrible work, bias, and sleeping on the job from all the cable news networks. One of my 'favorites' is the Campbell Brown interview of former Governor Jesse Ventura (YouTube vids were pulled ). In comparison to the anchors mentioned by HaricotVert these new guys are, IHMO, a joke.

I've seen enough information (and not from FOX) that imply a great deal of shenanigans going on behind the scenes of Obama's administration. So where is the hard hitting investigative journalism? I tuned in one day (no doubt in a fit of insanity) to find CNN discussing Michelle Obama's White House garden and the plant breakdown. A garden... I think my new favorite clip is Arianna Huffington & Ben Stein asking Wolf Blitzer: WTF is up with you guys covering this Ballon Boy all day? You know there's actually serious shit happening right now (note: i paraphrased a bit there)

If I assume you're even vestigially a liberal (or progressive if you prefer), you find most of what Obama says to be moderate policy proposals draped in liberal-sounding rhetoric about why it's necessary.

If you're like me, you're mad as hell that he's still trying to work with Republicans at all to get legislation passed.

You're also mad as hell that Obama is apparently beholden not to the 50th most liberal member of his caucus, but the 60th "most" liberal member of the Senate, who was a Republican when he was sworn in.

Now, you can look at that situation, and place the entire blame at Obama's feet...or you can direct it at the people who're really standing in the way (i.e. Republicans, and more than a few sellouts in the Democratic caucus in Congress).

I have yet to see anything that really indicates to me that Obama's moderateness is anything like the limiting factor in getting a progressive agenda pushed, unless you're talking about prosecution of the Bush administration for war crimes.

So, when Arianna Huffington uses her platform to apply leftward pressure on Obama to try to get him to be more FDR and less Bill Clinton, she's going to use language like "Obama is just a tool of big business."

But I think a lefty who reads her articles, and comes away declaring Obama progressive enemy #1 is making a mistake.

Look at the things Elizabeth Warren is saying about the Obama regulatory reforms he's proposing (as well as this diarist).

I'm in good company bashing Obama here:


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/why-obama-wont-be-able-to_b_286408.html
quoting arriana Huffington

And that's the way it is with our leaders. They stand on the bridge making theatrical gestures they claim will steer us in a new direction while, down in the control room, the autopilot, programmed by politicians in the pocket of special interests, continues to guide the ship of state along its predetermined course.

quoting arriana Huffington

doing everything in its power to kill things like cramdown legislation, derivatives regulation, and the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency, and the president is asking them to be nicer people. That's like tossing a wounded seal into the middle of a school of Great White sharks and hoping the beasts will nurse it back to health.

yes yes yes, there's this idiot called Glen Beck and I can totally understand if you have to run away now. I think Glen Beck, and other shock jocks have been selectively picking bad news in order to undercut Obama and progressives. Right?

However I like Arianna Huffington's newest blog, she comes right out and says how the Financial Bailout hasn't really helped the most vulnerable Americans.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/states-forced-to-cut-serv_b_244039.html

Well I hope you appreciated this attempt to "mend fences" Won't again soon.

But If I say the assets the Federal Reserve buys as a lender of last resort are worthless, I may be wrong of course, if they are sold later for 85-90% on the dollar.