You Could Have a Steak at Manny's...

...or you could eat used cat litter. Just saying, the choice is yours....
Posted by Mitch on September 01, 2006 | Read Whole Post | Comments (1) | TrackBack

"'elp! I'm Bein' Oppressed!"

According to George Clooney, the left is "intimidated". OK, liberals - and I know you're out there, a lot of you leave comments - what is it about conservatives exercising their first amendment rights that "intimidates" you? I don't want...
Posted by Mitch on March 14, 2006 | Read Whole Post | Comments (68) | TrackBack

Unclear On The Concept

From a Kos thread the other day:Who better to reveal the Republicans' Orwellian plan that the man who probably leaked highly classified national security secrets to the press, endangering precious lives and secret institutions in the process. [I think she's...
Posted by Mitch on January 24, 2006 | Read Whole Post | Comments (12) | TrackBack

The Healthy Leading The Silly

Remember when you were a kid? If you were lucky, your parents made sure you ate a balanced diet; some protein, fruit, vegetables, whatever passed for "healthy eating" whenever you were a kid. Then you grew up, and moved out...
Posted by Mitch on January 23, 2006 | Read Whole Post | Comments (49) | TrackBack

Good Fascist/Bad Fascist

It's the oldest interrogation trick in the book (at least, among the books I've read); have one questioner come on strong and intransigent, threatening all manner of ugly consequences for not spilling. Then, have the other interrogator - sympathetic, concerned,...
Posted by Mitch on January 20, 2006 | Read Whole Post | Comments (9) | TrackBack

Questions for "Inside Minnesota Politics"

I sent the following email to the folks at Inside Minnesota Politics:Mike Et Al, I'm Mitch Berg. I'm the proprietor of "Shot In The Dark", and a cohost of the Northern Alliance Radio Network. I'm also - it should be...
Posted by Mitch on November 23, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (6) | TrackBack

Question for "Insufficiently-Gifted" Leftybloggers

Since when did every instance of a right-of-center blogger expressing frustration, anger, pique or emotion of any kind become a "meltdown"?...
Posted by Mitch on November 21, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (10) | TrackBack

Bat Spittle Crazies, Delivered To Your Door

MDE and I got a write-up on Democrat Underground the other day. And by "Write-up", I mean "writing" in the same sense that a two-year-old "paints" with an airbrush. "MN Democrats Exposed is a typical hypocritical right-wing blogger. Although he...
Posted by Mitch on October 12, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (8) | TrackBack

Fever Bayou

Halliburton wins a contract to help clean up and repair New Orleans. Over at the Bear Pit, the usual suspects are most exercised. Never mind that Halliburton is one of the best in the biz at... ...oh, never mind....
Posted by Mitch on September 09, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (8) | TrackBack

Litmus of Rage

Dean Barnett wrote an interesting bit in yesterday's Standard, on the new Democrat litmus test. It starts with the Special Election in Ohio, in which an extremely vituperative (but not very Democrat) Democrat ran up against a fairly middle-of-the-road Republican....
Posted by Mitch on August 16, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Fever Swamp Doesn't Like Me!

After I challenged Barbara O'Brien's claims that the Bronx News was "not a real newspaper" in language virtually identical to that used in this piece earlier today, she banned me from her comments section. So let's see; she's logically challenged,...
Posted by Mitch on August 01, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (2) | TrackBack

In Your World

Let's flash back a couple of days. Barbara O'Brien, writing for Kos and her own Mahablog, tried to find a reference to the Bronx News, which published the initial story that the Gloria Wise boys and Girls clubs had gone...
Posted by Mitch on August 01, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (8) | TrackBack

Snark Watch

Katherine Kersten, being the only "out" conservative on the Strib's columnist staff, has come in for a lot of snarky, ugly, shallow, probably-envious attacks from a lot of local leftyblogs. My project for the day: patrol the regional leftyblogs to...
Posted by Mitch on July 28, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Rational

"New Patriot" is one of the precious few blogs from the fantasy-based community that is even occasionally worth a read. Yesterday's piece by Chris Dykstra shows a few of the reasons for this:Roberts does not have the air, academic record,...
Posted by Mitch on July 25, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Thinking Imbiberally

Given a choice between McDonald's and, say, Andy's Garage - I do the Garage every time. Given a choice between Applebee's and, say, the Nook - it's Nook time! If I have to pick between Baker's Square and Muddy Paws...
Posted by Mitch on July 21, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (14) | TrackBack

There Never Was a Memory Hole, Winston

Reading the fantasy-based community's latest trope - that Karl Rove "outed" CIA "agent" Valerie Plame, according to MSNBC "analyst" Lawrence "Stability Is For Wussies" O'Donnell - I took a moment to try to remember all of the scandals du jour...
Posted by Mitch on July 06, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (18) | TrackBack

"Daddy, Why Are You Writhing With Laughter?"

"Well, son, mainly because I'm reading this exchange between Sisyphus and a local leftyblogger"....
Posted by Mitch on July 01, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Oh, Please, Dear Lord, I'll Be Good The Rest Of My Life...

Note to all leftybloggers: Keep this talk up:Everywhere I go the last couple of days, people are dropping it in casual conversation: "Bush is going to be impeached." Please, Democrats. Do it. Do it now. I'll even send money to...
Posted by Mitch on June 30, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (24) | TrackBack

File Under "Damnation By Faint Praise"

Janeane Garofalo's show blog comes out in support of the Strib.The Star Tribuune [sic] in Minnesota has one of the toughest editorial boards in the country.Where "tough" equals "invincibly leftist, irredeemably elitist, and mortally arrogant" (although to be fair, hiring...
Posted by Mitch on June 30, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (5) | TrackBack

I Think I've Figured It Out

As a part of my ongoing mission to reach out and try to understand left-wing blogs, I followed a tip from Luke at the NewPats, and his recommendation:Sady, No! is one of the funniest blogs on the internet...So, despite the...
Posted by Mitch on June 21, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (12) | TrackBack

Brilliant Parody

I've always wanted to do a parody leftyblog. In my mind, the character would have to be a caricature of leftyblog excess; preeningly pseudo-intellectual, haughty without justification, visibly tingly over the trappings of the urban slacker lifestyle - and above...
Posted by Mitch on April 17, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (8) | TrackBack

Rant Not

I try. I really do. I try to be ecumenical, to achieve the fabled "meeting of the minds" that is supposed to accompany real intellectual well-roundedness. But what if you hold a meeting of the minds, and nobody shows up?...
Posted by Mitch on April 11, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Starting Over

I used to consider Jeralyn Merritt's "Talkleft" to be one of those very, very rare creatures - the intelligent leftyblog. After hearing her appearing with Hugh Hewitt, Ron Reagan and Monica Crowley on Connected: Coast To Coast (MSNBC) (Transcript via...
Posted by Mitch on February 17, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (10) | TrackBack

The Challenge

Luke Francl at NewPat swerves into Lil' Ollie Willis territory, saying saying - the midst of criticizing local conservative bloggers "Kool Aid Report":It's not like we get paid, unlike some right-wing shills I could name.Really? The NewPats have been doing...
Posted by Mitch on February 15, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (10) | TrackBack

The Left and Jordan

Josh Marshall: [crickets] Matt Yglesias: starving crickets] Atrios: [neglected crickets] Oliver Willis: [bored crickets] The giggly fratboys at Pandagon: [crickets playing hackey sack] Kos: [crickets travelling in immense unthinking hordes] I'm just saying....
Posted by Mitch on February 09, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (13) | TrackBack

Silence of the Churls

Hugh Hewitt finished the job I started yesterday, trawling the leftyblogs for comment on the election.Over at TalkingPointsMemo, silence. At The Daily Kos at this hour, the lead post is on Sadr shunning the vote. "So, not all Shias are...
Posted by Mitch on January 31, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Franker

Luke Francl of the New Patriot writes: Johnathan Miller reports that John Hinderaker said that it was "pretty clear" that "the Left has lined up behind the terrorists." Miller went on to say:I agree. I also agree that the Right...
Posted by Mitch on January 31, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Mutton

The increasingly irrelevant Oliver Willis whines:Wizbang attacks me. So does the idiotic and childish Jeff Goldstein (in a post whose vitriol makes Freepers seem calm and collected). My only question is, how much soap does it take to completely scrub...
Posted by Mitch on January 30, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (4) | TrackBack

We Hate You. Keep The Money Coming.

Luke Francl at New Patriotis joining in the local leftyblog and columnist obsession regarding Powerline. No, it's not "Why do these guys kick so much ass, and how can we do some of that ourselves". It's "When does Scott Johnson...
Posted by Mitch on January 28, 2005 | Read Whole Post | Comments (9) | TrackBack

Cracks

In an odd display of almost-synchronicity, Mark Desrosiers at New Patriot asks:Um, so is there any chance we can convince Mark Dayton not to run in 2006? Not that Kennedy would beat him or anything, it's just that after the...
Posted by Mitch on December 05, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Trope Of The Morning To You

Chris Dykstra of New Patriot responds to a Brian "Saint Paul" Ward piece in Fraters, which criticized in turn an earlier New Patriot piece which recycled claims that the US used napalm on civilians in Fallujah. Got all that? Good....
Posted by Mitch on December 02, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (5) | TrackBack

The Graceless Ones

Atrios contributor "Hecate" says about the Bush twins' birthday today:Seems to Me That by the time you're 23, you're old enough to start teaching preschool in Harlem and saving AIDS babies in Africa.. Just sayin'. Oh, and happy g****mn birthday.But...
Posted by Mitch on November 25, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (0) | TrackBack

We Oughtta Be In Pictures

First things first; support your local artistic community. Chuck from Blogumentary has released his blogumentary, entitled Blogumentary. Go see it. I'd like to go see it, actually, although time never permits. A long time ago, Chuck asked the various members...
Posted by Mitch on November 23, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Howzat?

Let's get one thing straight; I don't turn to Oliver Willis for cogent commentary. There was a time I did - the rationale eludes me, lo these two years later, but... ...but... ...oh, the hell with it. I can't kid...
Posted by Mitch on November 18, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (21) | TrackBack

The Best They Can Do? Part II

So the lefty blogs were tuned into the Veep debate last night. And their vast, throbbing fact-checking prowess was mobilized and sent charging into action by what? Leftyblogs both large and lilliputian aroused their vast ire over......
Posted by Mitch on October 06, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (34) | TrackBack

They Get Paid For This: Part VIII - They're Not As Good As Us

"Atrios" writesabout the notion of democracy in Iraq. He doesn't believe in it....
Posted by Mitch on September 28, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (18) | TrackBack

Operation Shame On You?

Luke Francl from the New Patriot draws our attention to a new project: Kos diarist Cyberactor is launching Operation Shame On You, a letters campaign that will take on newspapers that endorsed Bush in 2000, contrasting their reasoning with what...
Posted by Mitch on September 27, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Quote of the Day

Michele Catalano writes about a comically-slanted piece about bloggers in the NYTimes. That the piece got everything wrong and brought a comical political slant to the contribution of blogs to the arc of the Rathergate story is both obvious and...
Posted by Mitch on September 26, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (11) | TrackBack

They Get Paid For This: Part IX - Are You SURE You Want To Do That?

Oliver Willis - a young blogger who has become less cogent and readable as his traffic and popularity on the left have grown, who is employed by George Soros, did something very dumb yesterday....
Posted by Mitch on September 26, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Good News for Fraters - Bad News for Garofalo

Congrats to the Northern Alliance's pals at "New Patriot", who (sez Chuck Olsen), got a mention on Janeane Garofalo's unlistenable homage to college radio, "Majority Report". However, there's some muted bad news for Air America here....
Posted by Mitch on September 26, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Why Do You DO That, Mitch?

Occasional correspondent GK emailed me:Mitch Why are you spending so much time reading lefty blogs lately? This can't be good for your mental health"You can tell? Seriously, there's a method to my madness. I think....
Posted by Mitch on September 25, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (5) | TrackBack

They Get Paid For This: Part VII - Pesky Semantics

Oliver Willis - who, I remind you, is a blogger I used to mildly admire - notes:These ads should have been running for months. And Fox News Channel, The Official Network of the Swift Boat Vets, refuses to air it....
Posted by Mitch on September 25, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (0) | TrackBack

They Get Paid For This: Part VI - Clueless and Huge

Why do I do this? Reading lefty blogs, I mean? Do I believe that anyone that believes in the tripe that the likes of Atrios and Oliver Willis and Kos write will change their mind over what I write here?...
Posted by Mitch on September 25, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (0) | TrackBack

They Get Paid For This: Part V - Attack of the Giggly Fratboys

I've made a concerted effort, lately, to read more lefty blogs. I've discovered something interesting; while I've publicly wondered about the dearth of good lefty blogs in Minnesota, the local left has an embarassment of riches compared to the national...
Posted by Mitch on September 24, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (1) | TrackBack

They Get Paid For This: Part IV

Oliver Willis is back in the seat of honor! On Monday, in a piece entitled "Bush's Base Speaks Out - (Bush's Base!, mind you!), Willis writes:Click here to watch a video of adulterer/pervert/professional Christian Jimmy Swaggart share his compassionate conservative...
Posted by Mitch on September 23, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (9) | TrackBack

He Gets Paid For This, Part III

I don't mean to keep pounding on the same lefty blogs. But this piece, by Oliver Willis (who I used to blogroll, and consider a fairly reasonable blogger) may be the stupidest thing I've seen from a B-list blogger:Professional hate-monger...
Posted by Mitch on September 22, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (1) | TrackBack

They Get Paid For This: Part II

Atrios - the #2 leftyblog - writes:Nick's right that Dan Rather's "crime" eerily parallels certain mistakes made by a certain commander in chief.Atrios is onto something!...
Posted by Mitch on September 22, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (0) | TrackBack

They Get Paid For This, Part I: Atrios

I have kids. They're verging on teenagerdom. I'm used to arguments that go like this:ME: "I asked you to put away the groceries". CHILD: "I forgot" ME: "Well, it's kinda important..." CHILD: "OH! So you're saying I'm the worst kid...
Posted by Mitch on September 21, 2004 | Read Whole Post | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Has Anyone Told Kos?

Has Anyone Told Kos? - Powerline discusses the latest poll results:It's not a shock, obviously, but the latest New York Times/CBS poll shows President Bush with a 58% approval vs. 33% disapproval rating. This is up from 52% approval just...
Posted by Mitch on December 17, 2003 | Read Whole Post | Comments (1)