if the New York Times were Wikipedia...

I'd tag this weasel word as follows:

Through his budget director, Peter R. Orszag, Mr. Obama committed to seeing that three-quarters of the combined spending and tax cuts would be used within 18 months, to provide the fiscal jolt that economists[who?] say is needed to jump-start the economy.

...of course, there would also be a lot more wrong with the article

The more things change, the more they are Dusty

Manager Dusty Baker confirmed Thursday that Willy Taveras will be the Reds' leadoff hitter.
Naturally, Baker focuses on Taveras' speed rather than his .331 career on-base percentage. "His role is he's our center fielder and our leadoff man," Baker said. "The fact that he's so young, he's going to get better. A lot of people talk about his on-base percentage. I like to think in terms of him getting into scoring position." If you're curious, the "so young" Taveras turned 27 last month.
~

O-bomb-a!

18 killed as suspected U.S. missiles hit Pakistan
Alleged U.S. spy planes attack militant areas in first strikes of Obama era
Associated Press
updated 41 minutes ago

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Two suspected U.S. missile attacks killed 18 people Friday on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border, in the first such strikes since the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

etymology marches on

I was there! We were probably among the very last ones to get through in time.

Purplegate

A serious and preventable error caused by poor planning, derived from the denial of entry to thousands of ticketholders at the Purple Gate on Inauguration Day 2009.

Q: On this, George W. Bush's last day in office, what one word do you feel best describes the past eight years?

A: Purplegate.

John Quincy Adams: wid da tarrists

"I checked. We have never had a president sworn into office without a Bible."
-- Fox News's Glenn Beck, 1/22/09

VERSUS

"According to his own version of his Inauguration, [John Quincy] Adams took the oath upon a volume of law.."
-- Senate inauguration history website
~

But wait til Jimmy Bloheim gets a restraining order because they stole his mantra

There’s no sugar-coating what More Cupcakes thinks of its competition.

The Gold Coast bakery at 1 E. Delaware that made headlines last year with its bacon-lettuce-tomato cupcake (and other odd, savory flavors) says one of its bakers has gone to work for the competition — the newly opened Sugar Bliss Cupcake Boutique at 115 N. Wabash — in violation of a confidentiality agreement.

It has filed a lawsuit against Melanie Rodewald, the baker in question, in Cook County Circuit Court. More was also granted a temporary restraining order that prevents Ms. Rodewald from working at Sugar Bliss. . .

Rock Me Hard Place

Governor: They're 'getting rid of me to raise taxes'

I put this quandary to a co-worker - keep the Governor, or higher taxes. His answer? Ditka.

The new rezzzidence of the former Rezzzidunce?

Bill Kristol: new front-page editor?

NYT A1 today. Spot the logical flaw, or just be attuned to my boldfacing:

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The emergence of a former Guantánamo Bay detainee as the deputy leader of Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch has underscored the potential complications in carrying out the executive order President Obama signed Thursday that the detention center be shut down within a year [that is, during 2009].

The militant, Said Ali al-Shihri, is suspected of involvement in a deadly bombing of the United States Embassy in Yemen’s capital, Sana, in September. He was released to Saudi Arabia in 2007 and passed through a Saudi rehabilitation program for former jihadists before resurfacing with Al Qaeda in Yemen.

So, according to the New York Times's Robert F. Worth: The way the Bush administration let a terrorist go scot-free back to Saudi Arabia in 2007 "underscores the potential complications" in Obama's plan to handle detainees in a completely different way than Bush did.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz(cont)

Palin Wants to Write a Book

The Hollywood Reporter says Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) as apparently enlisted the help of Washington attorney Robert Barnett to sell a book proposal. Barnett has previously brokered book deals for President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. And he's already handling Obama campaign manager David Plouffe's book about the the 2008 campaign.

In contrast to the always wrong Bill "Always Wrong" Kristol, some news outlets had the details more or less figured out

"Mere days from assuming the presidency and closing the door on eight years of Bill Clinton, president-elect George W. Bush assured the nation in a televised address yesterday that 'our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over...'"

"My fellow Americans . . . at long last, we have reached the end of the dark period in American history that will come to be known as the Clinton Era, eight long years characterized by unprecedented economic expansion, a sharp decrease in crime, and sustained peace overseas. The time has come to put all of that behind us."

. . . Bush promised to bring an end to the "severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years."

"You better believe we're going to mix it up with somebody at some point during my administration. . . Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having a military?"

"On the economic side, Bush vowed to bring back economic stagnation by implementing substantial tax cuts, which would lead to a recession, which would necessitate a tax hike, which would lead to a drop in consumer spending, which would lead to layoffs, which would deepen the recession even further."

And there was much rejoicing

Shockingly few witness Obama's swearing-in

The Day

I kept wondering if they flashed back to the podium after the convocation if Justice Stevens was yelling into a dead microphone, "I quit, I quit."

It's a shame Strom Thurmond was not here to witness this day. On the other hand, he would have loved Michelle.

It was a paradigm shift for me today. I was hoping that after Bush left office he would be prosecuted. Or if that failed, shot. Maybe I'm just in a particularly good mood, but I hope they can convict him and members of his administration for all the crimes they committed in office. Whether he or anyone is ever held specifically responsible for it, beyond censure, I'm not sure I care anymore. History will judge him, and he is unreachable, irredeemable and unreformable by any method of punishment that I can fathom.

This is getting ridiculous

Is Wrigley still big enough to host a football game?

On the one hand, Fung might actually go to a 'Cats game if it were that close. On da udder hand, it's Wrigley. Where dreams go to die. Horribly. Why don't you try charging less for a game instead?

Whitey keeping darky down (cont)

Apparently Obama flubbed the oath because Roberts flubbed the oath, thereby throwing him off. I tell you whitey, you never let us have anything.

New Rules

With the new President being black & all, I'm now in charge of this blog. I shall publish new rules shortly. You have been warned.

Spring Cleaning

A whole buncha signs on the right side there are gonna have to come down now... Puzzled, Sad may end up on top...

I will start by removing the ones I'm responsible for. Just need to find new ones...

New President, same media

Wolf Blitzer just described Obama's penmanship as "excellent...really impressive."

The End of THIS ASSHOLE!

Less than 24 hours left for Bush to destroy the universe

If you don't think he's capable of it, read this. It's possible that nobody ever sucked at anything as much as he has sucked at this.

If you hear a BOOM and see a bright flash of light in the sky...

Travis Hafner, who battled shoulder injuries throughout 2008 and had surgery in October, is scheduled to swing a bat Monday. …