SUCCESS! Two Percent of Voters Think "Mittens" Is Romney's First Name

Said Mediaite: According to a new poll by Vanity Fair / 60 Minutes, 44 percent of Americans don’t know Mitt Romney‘s first name. (...)

TWO PERCENT THOUGHT HIS NAME WAS MITTENS. MITTENS! MITTENS. I am going to hope so hard that these people were simply trolling. As the kids say.

Only six percent of those who responded knew his real first name, by the way: “Willard.” 

Hey now, hey now. Don't dream it's over. Hey now, hey now. When the world comes in, they come, they come, to make us call him "Willard." We know they won't win.

Gaddafi Had A Crush On Condoleeza Rice

Rebels examine a photo album of former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, which was found in Moammar Gadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli, Libya, on August 24. (Photo by Ammar Abd Rabbo / Abaca, via MSNBC) From Mediaite:

On Tuesday afternoon rebels invaded Muammar Gaddafi’s compound, extracting many strange and opulent artifacts that seemed to perfectly symbolize a peculiar dictator (and in some cases donning golden military caps for interviews with Western media.) But one of the strangest items found was a photo album containing images of former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.

Well, former Secretary of State Condi Rice is kind of adorable in that perky, no nonsense, double-good, minister's daughter kind of way. (Mediaite, MSNBC)

The Debt Ceiling Debate Is An Annoying Flirtation With Disaster

Photo via White House FlickrDon't you just love it when something that has never been a partisan issue and was simply about being able to function becomes tied up in a very partisan debate? Where various financial theories obscure the reality? It's like not putting out a house fire because you're having a philosophical debate whether or not you should let the whole house burn down because the owner didn't install fire alarms. 

More after the jump.

Click to read more ...

Juan Williams Is Writing A Book About Leaving NPR

I sincerely doubt it'll be as good as Eyes on the Prize, but in all honesty, nothing Juan's written since that has been. But, you know? Yay! Book deals! It's a two-book deal with Crown Publishing and the first will be about how hard it is to speak out in America on "sensitive topics." Oh, Juan. You can say whatever you want about anything in America (Freedom of Speech!), but there's no Constitutional amendment guaranteeing your workplace, peers or listeners/watchers/readers will like it. (Mediaite)

Antoine Dodson Viral Vid Makes Way Into Political Attack Ad (Video)

Just watch and wait for it so you too can see what they did there. Also, what the hell? How are you going to work in references to Antoine Dodson's viral video about his sister's near sexual assault in a POLITICAL ATTACK AD!?!?!?! What's next? Ads for bug spray? ("They're climbing in your windows, spreading Lyme Disease, trying to kill you so you better spray the yard! Spray the house! Spray the yard! Spray the house! And use some OFF too because they biting everybody out there!") I give up. I give up on everything. (Via Mediaite)

Going Back to the Porch With Juan Williams

Poor Juan Williams! Do the indignities ever cease? First he's the only black guy half the time on FOX News (they recently fired liberal commentator Marc Lamont Hill). That deserves some form of hazard pay alone, but being in the position that he's often in (sometimes defending Bill O'Reilly, this time arguing over Rush Limbaugh being kicked to the curb by his fellow rich dudes in their group bid for the St. Louis Rams), he is often the target of ... how can we put this delicately? Accusations of a word I loathe -- "coonery." I don't use the term, but Lord knows, Juan should be more than familiar with the pejorative. Especially since fellow yakker Warren Ballentine went there with a "coonery" derivative, telling Mr. Williams to take his ass "back to the porch."

More after the jump.

Click to read more ...

Google Stalking Carlos Watson: Yup, He's Canceled (Update)

My peeps at Mediaite tracked down an MSNBC rep and got the scoop. While Carlos Watson will remain part of the staff his show is "no mas."

Mediaite has learned that Carlos Watson, anchor of MSNBC’s 11 a.m. weekday show, “Live with Carlos Watson,” will no longer be anchoring that hour on the network. An MSNBC spokesperson confirmed the rumor, which we learned via Mediaite columnist Danielle Belton on her website, The Black Snob. MSNBC spokesperson Alana Russo said that yes, Watson’s hour had been canceled, but that he will remain a contributor with MSNBC. She also said that there is no replacement scheduled for the 11 a.m. slot, which will be covered by the MSNBC dayside anchor team.

Pundits Are Not Rap Stars: Rush Limbaugh Tries (And Miserably Fails) At Defending Himself From Jay-Z Diss Track

Seriously. It was like bringing a wooden spoon to a nuclear war.

Jay-Z and Drake have recently put out a little ditty called "Off That" because we all know that Jay-Z is never retiring. In the song he proclaims the many things that we are now "off," including sagging jeans and large chains and making it rain and many other things I've chronicled in my "Limits of Blackness" series where I'm all "WTF, my people. I love you, but I can't go there with you." I'm all for it. Reminds me (content-wise) of Lupe's "Dumb It Down," another favorite track of mine. But the song also disses conservative yak-meister Rush Limbaugh and FOX News talking head/host Bill O'Reilly. You know? Just because.

More after the jump.

Click to read more ...

Meeting With the Folks At Mediaite!

Check out video of me on Mediaite's Office Hours show Thursday. I'm a columnist at the news media site and I visited their offices after a blistering day of walking in the heat in New York City.