as bart simpson says “i didnt do it, man”

suspected assailant: mother nature

it’s my bro Matt Welch, author of the timely bio on the Senator, and who this morning wrote an excellent analysis of the alleged scandal.

In his piece, which I highly recommend if youd like to know the real deal, which is really more about journalism than sex or politics, Welchy concludes thusly:

There’s no doubt about it — selling yourself as a preternatural straight-talker while simultaneously participating in the hurly-burly of politics requires almost comical and constant hyperbole.

But what of the charges themselves? Those who really care about such things have known since at least 2000, and likely much earlier, that McCain does favors for campaign contributors, and has not always been the most faithful of husbands. I care not at all about the latter; while the former is one of many constant, low-level irritants people like me experience when reading yet another newspaper editorial about what a saint the guy is. The only thing new today is the name and details of a specific woman deemed by McCain’s 2000 campaign as particularly radioactive for whatever reason.

What about the newspapers? Clearly, there is an interesting story-behind-the-story, which The New Republic says it will detail tomorrow, for whatever that’s worth. I think the Post story kicks the Times’ behind, and was certainly worth printing. But their combined impact, I guess, will mostly be limited to people who haven’t heard stuff like this about McCain before. In the scheme of things, knowing that the 2000 campaign got the heebies about a galpal lobbyist is not the biggest issue in the world.

On Top of the Ticket, the LAT’s most popular blog, Andy Malcolm asks the tough question: is the story fair and/or credible.

And they call us a liberal rag?

Meanwhile the Internets are on fire with this story.

= angryjournalist.com aka the coolest new site around

a sample-

Angry Journalist #669:

Fuck half of you whining bitches on this site. Being a Publisher/Editor/Reporter/Web Designer/Advertising Sales Manager I will say, here, what I can’t tell you to your sniveling faces:

1. Get your own article ideas. I see 150 article ideas every time I walk to the store to get the booze I need to deal with you.

2. Since you can’t spell worth shit in your articles, at least spell properly on this site.

3. Having the title Editor means you need to fucking edit properly. I shouldn’t have to proofread for an Editor.

4. Unless you think I run an international drug ring, yeah I think it’s more important I can buy milk than helping you get a 50″ LCD TV.

5. Most importantly, fuck your favorite professor’s ethics lessons. He should have taught you how to read, write, and type. That would have been more ethical.

To the other half of the whiny bitches on this site:

You sound like me. And that makes me very depressed.

Angry Journalist #668:

I’m angry because there’s a culture war going on in the nation’s newsrooms, it’s not progressing fast enough and it’s slowly tearing us apart.

I’m angry because we have such a wonderful, incredible job to do for the people of this country, but we let our egos get in the way. We compete with each other. We hold grudges. We forget that everyone in a newsroom is working on the same team, and we can’t afford this division.

The reporters don’t understand the Internet department and the Internet department doesn’t understand reporters. The worst part — some of them aren’t even trying. These debates are important; no one has the answers yet. Let’s recognize that. Let’s be frank about that. Let’s talk honestly with our newsroom about the pressures of the online media landscape.

Smile at the members of your Internet department today. Just once. Compliment them on something they produced on your site you think they did well. Tell them an idea you have. Take them out to coffee.

And we’ll all be OK.

Angry Journalist #667:

I am angry that people are angry. People – we have the greatest job in the world. We get to write about all the shit that happens in the world. Somebody’s cat gets stuck in a tree – we’re there. A fat kid gets called fat by his third-grade teacher – we’re there. Can I just once get a freakin’ crime story! I am sick of being the bitch of my news station. Its like they give me these shit stories just so they can laugh at me. Those bastards are really going to be laughing once the fat kid in the third-grade is discovered to be a midget Columbian drug lord, who has taken on this persona to smuggle in cocaine through every orifice in his body to infiltrate our school system. HAHAHAHAHAHA! One day I will have a real story…..

Angry Journalist #666:

wash your damn hands when you come out of the bathroom, you grimy, disgusting bastards. like this newsroom isn’t filthy enough.

a. definitely way more a shaq fan, but ultimately more a lakergirl and phil jackson fan. thus i was very happy with last night’s outcome when shaq started his first game as a sun and his first opponent under that circumstance was his former team.

our laker blog was en fuego, getting close to 700 comments during the game thread which is basically just a place for serious laker fans to talk about the game as it happens in the comments.

my take on the game? shaq looked way better in a heat uniform than this unmanly suns shit. also, i miss him as a laker. as nice a fit gasol is, i miss the big fella and im glad that hes back putting dents into the backboard.

in other LA Times blogs and their comments:

Fashion blog, All The Rage got 63 comments on the post about Lindsay Lohan’s latest photo shoot

our newest blog, LA Now, about the city and state got 36 comments in a morning post about Mayor Tony’s ex girlfriend, but less because of the topic and more because when our blogger quoted the former Telemundo newscaster she quoted the woman verbatim in omg Spanish, hilarity shock racism and rebuttal ensue

LA Now contributer and star columnist Steve Lopez responded to the who-ha in an afternoon post saying if you dont like seeing and hearing Spanish in LA, now would be a good time to vamoose. he got 34 comments.

stay tuned today to Top of the Ticket as it has the scoop that Ron Paul isn’t out of the race yet – (ok now you can call him crazy) but Andy Malcolm aint crazy, watch this post get hella comments as the “Paultards” come out of the woodwork

man time flies.

leah has been one of my favorite bloggers for a long time. for how long? how about since she was 15!

was it a little odd for a 90something year old man be so fascinated by a teenage girl’s blog? sorta but not really. leahs design was awesome, she took lots of pictures of tons of different things, and she wrote All the damn time.

and in a bit of bloggy-foreshadowing, even though she lived in the heart of Texas, she was a transplant of Canada.

on one of my trips to sxsw i got to meet ms leah muse, and boy was i surprised. not only was she way prettier in real life – as in flawless and model-ly – but she couldnt have been nicer. as in perhaps she was the nicest, purest, sweetest person ever.

i felt like the devil standing next to her. she didnt drink, she didnt smoke, she didnt do drugs, and she had the sweetest texan accent.

so of course i immediately took her to a little hotel party featuring booze and weed.

since then i have had the great opportunity to hang out with leah and her husband on several occasions. not only is bro just as sweet and softspoken as his wifey, but if i remember clearly i believe he’s a devout Christian, and he leads one of the best new bands that youve never heard of Quiet Company, a band i could not recommend more highly to you and you and you.

together they are the type of couple that gives you hope for the future. and too bad MTV only cares about scandal and trainwrecks or else they would have a reality show about Leah and Taylor as they tour around the nation to make Quiet Company the next big thing.

people who say you shouldnt meet people off the internet are probably the ones who dont actually read the things these “strangers” write on the web. almost everyone ive had the pleasure of meeting have been solid individuals and the reason i wanted to meet them was because i enjoyed reading them for years, if not years and years and years.

oh, and one thing you should know about leah that i didnt know until i met her… you pronounce her name – lay-uh.

leah’s blog + quiet company + first time i met leah

hey bonus video interview of Leah the last time i was out there

when hillary’s “concession” speech was cut off so that barack could give his speech

personally, i dont see what the big deal is all about. obama is a better speaker. and a winner. and everyone loves a winner.

– why a school banned legos

– dude tries to counterfeit $100 bills… with lincoln’s face? oh zona.

– the new iPhone?

– dude gets roadrage, shoots at the dude driving too slowly in front of him, slow driver drops off the kids, tracks down the roadrager and returns fire. ah florida

– 24-year-old minister’s daughter, who also happened to be a middle school teacher, given 6 years in jail for having sex with several teenage boys. the busblog disapproves of this so called justice system.

– in other sex news, am i crazy to sorta Expect huge rockstars to cheat on their non-wives?

– beware obama, the clintons are allegedly spending $10 million to swiftboat yr black ass

– stanford decides not to charge tuition for students who’s parents earn less than $100k, and gives free room and board for students who’s parents earn less than $60k

– speaking of class, hank aaron is still the class of baseball

massively?

tremendously?

foreverly?

she also has a kickass blog, which is now a month and a half old. omg.

and its only just begun. highlights from the first week of the tiffany network’s most outrageous show, hosted by the chairman’s wife:

just in the last few days… a dude got a blowjob from a “bikini barista”

there was a super huge fight the other night, that was actually sorta sad

this dude was accused of racism and his girlfriend didnt really help his case

but at least earlier he got some valentines day love from her

so basically hes a racist, his gf doesnt know if hes all the way in, and he comes in a minute. bros having the worst week ever

fyi

and the people at obey giant, home of shepard fairey who made the posters, are “disappointed” by the cash grab

speaking of ebay today there was a seller protest thingie because ebay is screwing their sellers hardc0re

speaking of hardcore today kareem wrote about MMA in his LAT blog and Bruce Lee

speaking of nude lindsay lohan photos: mama mia

speaking of new LA Times blogs – lookie here, a new LA Times blog from the Metro desk called LA Now – yay!

speaking of Nirvana, congratulations Gothamist on your 5th birthday where you had The Forms play and they covered one of my favorite tunes… poorly. bad form.

speaking of birthdays, happy birthday Leah and Taylor!!