Proposed Ground Zero T.G.I. Friday's Fuels Debate, Criticism



Angry relatives of 9/11 victims last night clashed with supporters of a planned T.G.I. Friday's near Ground Zero at a raucous community-board hearing in Manhattan.

After four hours of public debate, members of Community Board 1 finally voted 29-1 in support of the project. Nine members abstained, arguing that they preferred a Chili's.

While the board has no official say over whether the T.G.I. Friday's gets built, already the decision has sent shockwaves throughout the country.

Carrying signs such as, "9/11 Was A Tuesday -- Not A Friday's!" opponents of the proposed casual dining establishment several blocks away from Ground Zero called the plan an insult to the terror-attack victims.

"I mean, have you eaten there lately? It's overpriced crap that tastes like garbage. There's a better way to honor those we lost than the new Jack Daniel's Burger," said a retired FDNY firefighter.

He also raised concerns that terrorists could take advantage of the new restaurant, so close to the location of the largest terrorist attack on American soil.

"I do have a problem with having a T.G.I. Friday's on top of the site where terrorists can sit and enjoy the 3 For $12.99 dinner special," he said, referring to the popular limited-time promotion that includes an appetizer, entree and dessert for $12.99.

Harvey Fakerbean, representing T.G.I. Friday's at the community board meeting, insisted that the restaurant would help "bridge the great divide" between different cultures.

"We have Bruchetta Chicken Pasta, from Italy, the Sizzling Fajitas, from Mexico, Pot Stickers from Asia, the California Turkey Burger and the New York Strip from the United States." Fakerbean said. "We have no higher aspirations than to serve our customers in peace and harmony in this country."

But the crowd got ugly when he added, "Freedom of assembly is the right of all Americans."

Amid boos, one woman shouted, "Not at the World Trade Center!"

Fakerbean's wife, Daisy, followed him to the microphone and pitched the planned restaurant as "much needed party space and much needed dining space" for the area.

She was roundly booed.

President Barack Obama declined to comment on the wisdom of building a restaurant located several streets down and around the corner from the Ground Zero site where tourists buy souvenir t-shirts and commemorative buttons. But he did release a statement saying, "They have a right to build a place of dining and drinking on private property in lower Manhattan. But yeah, I prefer Chili's too. That Awesome Blossom. Delish."

Former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin weighed in on the debate on her Facebook page, challenging the President to take a stronger stand against the red-stripe canopied restaurant.

"We all know that they have the right to do it, but should they?" Palin wrote. "And, no, this is not above your pay grade. If those who wish to build this Ground Zero Friday's are sincerely interested in providing a fun, family-friendly atmosphere and good food at affordable prices, then why haven't they recognized that the decision to build a restaurant at this particular location is doing just the opposite? Plus, they charge for breadsticks now. Breadsticks!"

Before the meeting, the Manhattan Borough President, a supporter of the T.G.I. Friday's, stood in front of the site and said, "What we're rejecting here is outright bigotry and hatred. Friday's was born here. Just because a few of their establishments are bad quality doesn't mean they all are. The one at the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, N.J. is one of my favorites."

Catholic priest Kyle Notreala, of St. Peter's Church, which is a few blocks away, agreed.

"I think they need to establish a place such as this for people from Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths to come together," Notreala said.

"Because after this," he added, "We could all use a few drinks."


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For a more serious article on the Ground Zero mosque, click here.

Also, this great rebuttal on Slate.

Why Is The Media Still Reporting On Sarah Palin?

Since losing the 2008 election, Republican vice presidential nominee and (former) governor of Alaska Sarah Palin has been featured in Vanity Fair, her husband was profiled in Esquire, her daughter has been on the cover of People, and her former son-in-law-to-be was in GQ (also with her naked grandson). She's been on TV seemingly more times than President Barack Obama. Despite not accomplishing one thing in her entire political career, despite not even being a member of the government any longer, Sarah Palin is still very much in the spotlight.

Why?

The question becomes more baffling when you consider the contempt Sarah Palin has for the media establishment. Just check out these quotes:

“This is to provide notice to ... the Huffington Post, MSNBC, The New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law" -Palin's lawyer, in a letter to media organizations.

"It's a sad state of affairs in the world of the media today, mainstream media especially, if they're going to rely on anonymous bloggers for their hard news information. Very scary. Reporters, especially, not taking one extra step to get to the facts and report the facts, but instead continuing to spread things that are not true. Is it political? Is it sexism? What is it that drives someone to believe the worst and perpetuate the worst?" - Palin in an ABC interview

"The response in the main stream media has been most predictable, ironic, and as always, detached from the lives of ordinary Americans." -Palin on the reaction to her resignation speech

Okay Sarah, we get it. You hate the media. So... stop using them to spread your message. Whatever it is. Apparently, your only message these days is "I hate the media."

Or better yet... why doesn't the media just simply stop reporting on Sarah Palin? She doesn't like the media? Fine. The media will leave her alone. They won't report on her or her family anymore. Her press conferences will go unattended. Her photo-ops will go un-photographed. Palin thinks the media is a bunch of liars? Okay, so they won't say anything at all.

I'm sure Palin will love that.

The truth is, Palin loves the media. The media made her into whatever she is today. If it wasn't for the media, Palin would still be someone no one in the lower 48 states ever heard of.

No, rather, Palin can't stand criticism. She can't stand any bad words against her, even if they're true. It's something that Republicans seem to have in common. If you never criticize them, and accept every word they say as gospel, you're a patriot. But point out the sky is blue, and not orange like they claim, and suddenly you're worse than Osama Bin Laden.

Palin needs the media to survive. But if she keeps biting the hand that feeds her, how long until they tire of her and turn the other way?

Palin's Bailin'



After a busy 4th of July weekend, I'm back to comment on some recent news. No, not Michael Jackson. Nor the beloved Billy Mays (whom I met in person 2 weeks before he died). But rather, Sarah Palin. I had feared that somehow, with all the endless media attention, Republicans would actually take her seriously, and the mockery of the American electoral process that began when John McCain tapped her as his Vice Presidential nominee would continue.

Luckily, Sarah Palin did a great job of torpedoing her future and freeing up the Republicans to find someone actually qualified for the highest offices in the land. Although, they don't have a lot of choices.

According to Sarah Palin, she couldn't sit back and let the media tell everyone how unqualified she was to govern. So, to show everyone that she can govern, she quit being governor.

"It may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down [and] plod along," Palin said. "That's the worthless, easy path; that's a quitter's way out."

Yes, Sarah. Doing your job is the "quitters way out." What do winners do? According to Sarah, they quit.

Now, I'm sure somewhere in Sarah Palin's comely MILFy skull, this logic makes sense. And maybe somewhere in America, there's a person drunk on moonshine and high on crystal meth who thinks, "Gee, that Sarah sure proved to me that she's presidential material." But in the rest of America, the America where people are struggling to find a job that pays $125,000 dollars a year (like Sarah's did), and can't afford to quit in order to prove they're not quitters, that sort of logic doesn't fly. And so ends the tale of Sarah Palin, public servant, and so begins the story of Sarah Palin, joke.

Of course, Sarah became a joke during the 2008 campaign. This merely adds punchlines. "Sarah took 'quit while you're ahead' a bit too literally."

The most insane thing is Sarah's primary reason for quitting. The media. Apparently, their criticism was too much to ignore from the statehouse in Alaska. And this woman wants to be President!?!?! The most powerful person in the world!?!?!?! The person who wants to become the most powerful person in the world QUITS when people say bad things about her!?!?!?!?!?!

Can you imagine....

November, 2012
PALIN: My fellow Americans. Since you elected me as your President two weeks ago, the media attacks on me and my family have been unending. Just this morning, I read an editorial in the New York Times saying that I should have been tougher on Kim Jong Il after he bombed Pearl Harbor, and my plan to distribute guns to schoolchildren was "deeply flawed." These elite media critics also say that my husband is unqualified to be appointed Secretary of Defense, and that my daughter Bristol is in over her head as my chosen Secretary of State. I can no longer keep my head down and ignore these vicious, baseless attacks. Therefore, I am resigning the Presidency of the United States, effective immediately. I'd like to wish good luck to your new President, my former vice president Bubbles the Chimp.

PRESS: Mr. Bubbles, care to comment?

BUBBLES: (sticks out tongue) Pbffft...

PRESS: Adorable.

I'd like to thank Sarah for stepping so gracefully aside. If only more terribly unqualified leaders would quit their posts and let somebody else give it a try.

How about it, New York State senators?

You Know The Republican Party's In Trouble When...

Sarah Palin is being hailed as the party's future:

Is Sarah Palin the answer for defeated Republicans? After a historic rebuke at the polls, the Republican Party is staggering into an uncertain tomorrow with the White House and Congress in Democratic hands, no certain leader in sight and its membership divided over what it means to be a Republican.

Ever since her selection as John McCain's running mate in late August, Palin, the 44-year-old Alaska governor, was the star of the GOP ticket, though views of her vary wildly across the political spectrum. With the Republican brand corroded and the hunt on for the next Ronald Reagan, Palin could be one of many people competing to influence Republican ideas in the post-Bush era, maybe even as the party's leader.

"Conservatives are still looking for Mr. Right. And maybe Mr. Right turns out to be Ms. Right," said Bill Whalen, a fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution.

Yes, the person "influencing Republican ideas" will be a former beauty pageant contestant who has no idea what a vice president does, who's never read a newspaper or magazine, and who's sole foreign policy experience is governing a sparsely populated state in sniffing distance of Russia.

Already, Republicans are in a tizzy, many blaming Palin for the GOP's losses this election:



Of course, others want to destroy the lives of those who would dare say anything bad about their beloved Sarah:

"We're tracking down all the people from the McCain campaign now whispering smears against Governor Palin... We intend to constantly remind the base about these people, monitor who they are working for, and, when 2012 rolls around, see which candidates hire them. Naturally then, you'll see us go to war against those candidates."

At this rate, its going to be a long time before Republicans are in charge again.

The Anti-Education Republican Party

I've begun to notice a definite disdain among the leaders and pundits of the Republican party for so-called "intellectuals" and "elites." (actually, I noticed it four years ago). This behavior fits with their strategy of trying to woo the "common man," whom the Republican party believes is a plumber named Joe who downs a six-pack of beer every night before bed.

To the Republicans, Joe isn't very smart. Note how McCain, in the second, "town hall" debate, said "You probably never heard of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac before this," to the African-American man who posed him a question about the economy. Some people thought McCain assumed the man wasn't informed because the man was black... I say, McCain was simply doing what the Republicans have become very good at: talking down to a populace that they think are idiots.

In the Republican Party's defense, they may be right. After all, Bush was re-elected. How smart can our country be?

But I digress. The Republican party continually paints science and progress as a bad guy-- enemy of religion, killer of babies, liberal poison designed to turn a generation of schoolchildren into Democrats. Need evidence?

Their support for school vouchers and homeschooling initiatives that take funding away from public schools and puts education in the hands of amateurs.

Support for creationism to be taught in schools.

Denial of global warming.

Deriding legitimate scientific research as "pork spending."

Cutting Pell grants and other ways to help people obtain a higher education.

Forcing medical doctors to adhere to politically-influenced scripts which make no logical, medical sense.

Anointing a VP candidate who doesn't read books, doesn't know the role of a VP, and who believes Alaska will be a final battleground of the apocalypse.

Slate has an excellent article here by Christopher Hitchens about this disturbing trend.

I'm not saying voting for Democrats makes you smarter than voting for a Republican. But if Republicans continue to pander to the segment of society which abhors logic and reason, its only a matter of time before the Republican party becomes the thing it covets.

This May Be The Funniest Political Ad Ever

I didn't see this coming...



I don't know what it is about seeing Sarah Palin laid out by a linebacker that fills me with so much glee, but there's a powerful message in this ad that can't be denied.

Terry Tate, you da man.

Just In Case Your Were Fooled By Tina Fey... I Mean Sarah Palin


Sharing A Cover With Halibut

Sarah Palin gave a pretty riveting speech last night. I have to say, her speechwriters can sure turn a phrase. "In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers, and then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change."

Ooh! You get him Sarah!

Palin spoke a lot about family, seeking to counter perceived attacks against her brood. But as CNN contributor and Democrat Hillary Rosen points out, all of Sarah's talk about family doesn't change the fact that Republican policies are vehemently ANTI-family:

I don't care about how Sarah Palin or John McCain take care of their families. I care about how their policy choices affect my family and millions of other Americans.

McCain and Palin get their health insurance paid for by the government (hers in Alaska and his in Washington). Yet they oppose giving the nearly 46 million uninsured Americans the same access to affordable health care.

John McCain's kids don't have to worry about paying for college. Yet he has opposed every single education support program to help others.

McCain and Palin say they will stand up to oil companies. Yet the only energy policy they support gives millions of dollars in tax breaks to oil companies to do more drilling and he has opposed every piece of federal legislation to explore alternative fuel sources.

McCain and Palin say they will revamp how Washington does business. Yet his campaign is filled with lobbyists and she has cooperated with Sen. Ted Stevens in funneling federal money for useless projects in Alaska for years. And McCain and Palin have no solutions for Americans worrying about their jobs in a fragile economy.

McCain and Palin want us to leave their families alone. Yet they want to make rules for our families by eliminating our right to make our own choices over abortion, eliminate our access to family planning education or domestic partner benefits, and our freedom from discrimination.

They want to control what our kids learn in school about sex and about science. In short, through the policies they promote and the judges they support, they want the government to have more control over our private lives than at any time in history.

McCain and Palin now say their campaign is about change, too. Yet the only real change they have proposed is a change from a suit to a skirt in the vice president's office and one man fighting a misplaced war for another in the Oval Office.

Well put. While the Republicans claim they want "less government," what they actually want to do is make the government MORE INVOLVED in the private lives of American citizens. Your every decision will be subject to a moral standard set by the Republican party. If you're cool with John McCain coming into your hospital room and telling you what to do, then vote for him.

Republicans define "big government" as a government that spends a lot of money. Um... have they been paying attention the last 8 years? The government is BIGGER THAN EVER. The deficit is climbing astronomically. The last time the Democrats were in charge, we had a balanced budget... and oh yeah, the economy was super. It didn't seem like the Democrats formed a goliath government back then.

Sometimes it seems as if the Republicans live in an alternate universe. One where the economy doesn't suck, where the war in Iraq is already won, and where America is safer, stronger, and smarter than ever. Of course, we who actually live in the real world know that none of those things are the case. The Republicans have had not 4, but 8 years to improve this country's standing in the world. Instead, they've pretty much trashed everything.

Don't let McCain, or Palin, or anyone else convince you that shit smells like roses.

Palin's right about one thing. Words are just words. Actions speak louder.

Unfortunately, the actions carried out by 8 years of Bush have left us all begging for earplugs.

Palin On The Dirt



By Robbie Republican

Good afternoon, my fellow patriots. Hope you had a fine Labor Day weekend, although, as I've stated before, it's a Communist holiday designed to disrupt American industry. But I digress. If you're a Republican like me, you already know about the shameful exploitation of innocent megacorporations by evil labor unions. I'm here to talk about a different subject, one of my favorites: Family. Specifically, how John McCain's VP choice, Sarah Palin, is the greatest mother in the world, and how she should, in November, become mother to all Americans.

I admit, at first I was stunned by McCain's pick. A woman? In the second-highest office in the land? I accepted it grudgingly, only because I knew it would really piss off Hillary Clinton.

But now I see. The Demoncrats-- no, that's not a typo-- are all up in arms about Sarah's seventeen year old daughter, who has apparently become pregnant out of wedlock. Those backward-thinking, stodgy old liberals seem to believe that teenage pregnancy is a bad thing. They think that Bristol getting pregnant means that Sarah was a bad parent. I have to say, I'm surprised at their attack. This is, after all, the political party that believes two men should be allowed to raise a kid (which Steve Guttenberg, in his documentary "Three Men and A Baby," proved was impossible).

Some people might think that when your teenage daughter is about to have a baby out of wedlock, it's selfish to run for Vice President and expose your family to media scrutiny. But I take a different view. Sarah wants people to see her daughter-- as a shining example. Sarah clearly believes, like I do, that women should give up their dreams, become full with child and become homemakers. You think the Chinese have a billion people because they encouraged their women to wait until after college to have babies? I don't think so.

If only more of our kids got pregnant at a young age. The younger the better. Because how else will we keep up with the Chinese? Or those Africans for that matter. Up with the birthrate, up with American power, I say.

Sarah could have declined the nomination and kept Bristol's life private... but she chose to share it with the world. You've got to admire a parent who would use their kid to further the pro-life agenda. Demo-rats (not a typo) say Sarah neglected her motherly duties. I say... good. Don't we want someone more devoted to her country than to her own children? I don't want a VP watching her kid's basketball game while Russia's fueling their warheads.

Some people seem to think McCain didn't know about this. But what they don't realize is that Bristol's pregnancy was all part of a carefully orchestrated plan crafted by the McCain campaign. What better way to show the social conservatives that you share their values? Values that state sex before marriage is sinful, sure. But if it does happen, as long as a baby is born, its all good. It's in the Bible, people, look it up.

Sure, when the movie Juno came out, I called it, "a sick celebration of teenage sexuality and teenage pregnancy. Yet another instance where Hollywood promotes hedonistic lifestyles that glorify immorality and sex." I, like Sarah, said that an abstinence-based education was the best way to keep our kids from having sex. And that if teens were getting pregnant, it was because of subliminal messages in Sheryl Crow songs.

But this is totally different. Teen pregnancy is a positive, beautiful thing, that in no way reflects on the parents. And if you can't see that, then you must be a Democrat. It's not worth explaining it to you.

It's a known fact that kids are involved in less crime and drugs when they're involved in an extracurricular activity. And what's more extracurricular than taking care of a child with a meathead who's written on his MySpace profile that he doesn't want kids? Something tells me Bristol won't have time to hit up the keggers at University of Juneau.


When Mom's Away At The Gun Range...

Barack Saddam Hussein Osama Obama predictably exploited the situation, saying "Let me be as clear as possible. I think people's families are off-limits, and people's children are especially off-limits." Typical Osama-speak. I wasn't there to hear the rest of his statement, but I'm pretty sure he said something about needing the blood of Bristol's child to perform satanic rituals. Clearly, Hussein believes that families should be dragged through the mud and tortured by the press. I'm not surprised. What else can we expect from a guy who's from Hawaii? That's not even a real state.

Thank God for Sarah Palin of Alaska. A woman who's not afraid to put her ambitions above her family. A woman who bravely trots out her child with Down Syndrome to prove what a saint she is, and but righteously gets upset when the media starts noticing her other children. A woman who has the experience, knowledge, and most importantly, glasses to help lead this country into the future. A future, which, as a Republican, I hope will closely resemble 1952.

As always my faithful, stay safe, stay strong, stay straight.