Joe the Plumber is not a fluke. Having perfected the politics of personal destruction Dems and their MSM army of winged monkeys are now employing a more frightening iteration: The politics of workaday citizen destruction.

Last week McClatchy Newspapers reported that advocates of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor “have been urging journalists to scrutinize what one called the ‘troubled and litigious work history’ of firefighter Frank Ricci, who will be testifying at her confirmation hearing about the reverse discrimination case the Supreme Court decided in his favor.

Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick and Talking Points Memo’s Brian Beutler rushed to oblige, each writing posts that quote the same articles from the Hartford Courant and The New York Times:

Lithwick: According to local newspapers, Ricci filed his first lawsuit against the city of New Haven in 1995, at the ripe old age of 20, for failing to hire him as a firefighter. That January, the Hartford Chronicle reported that Ricci sued, saying "he was not hired because he is dyslexic." … That case was settled in 1997 with a confidential settlement in which Ricci withdrew his lawsuit in exchange for a job with the fire department and $11,143 in attorney's fees.

Beutler:  [F]lash back, if you will, to January 25, 1995, when, according to the Hartford Courant Ricci was singing the opposite tune: "A decorated firefighter has filed a lawsuit against the city, saying he was not hired because he is dyslexic."  … Two years later, that case was resolved.

Lt. Ben Vargas, the Puerto Rican firefighter who passed New Haven’s promotion examination with flying colors, is also testifying at Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing. While the MSM is roughing up Ricci’s reputation, so far Vargas – who was physically assaulted several years ago for joining the reverse discrimination suit – is being left alone.

Given that Trig Palin was considered fair game journos and pundits won’t hesitate to abuse a white man with a handicap, but will draw the line at giving a Hispanic man the same mistreatment.

Editorial Note: Vargas - who tells The New York Times “I would have carried the load all by myself,” if none of the others who passed the test had sued to get the promotions they earned - should share his hopes for his three sons with the Senate Judiciary Committee: “I want them to have a fair shake, to get a job on their merits and not because they’re Hispanic or they fill a quota. What a lousy way to live.”

Michael Jackson: The Greatest Entertainer Money-Maker Of All Time?

Is Michael Jackson “the greatest entertainer of all time,” as his friends and fans suggest? Arguably, the most expansive claim one can credibly make is that he is the greatest entertainer of our time – but even then, that depends on how you define “our.” 
 

Consider this friendly banter between columnist Larry Elder and Niger Innis, national spokesperson for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) on a recent edition of “Hannity”:

Elder: He wasn't the world's greatest entertainer. Sammy Davis Jr. was. He could do anything. He could sing, he could dance, he had the timing of a comedian, he could play instruments. He starred on Broadway. I mean, I'm sorry, he wasn't the world's greatest entertainer. Sammy Davis, Jr. was.

Innis: … You're too old, Larry, you're too old.

The first caveman to use two sticks to pound out a beat (video link) instead of making fire was the greatest entertainer of all time – until the next greatest entertainer of all time came along. Jackson is just one greatest entertainer of all time amongst many others who were the greatest entertainers of all time in their time.   

But in Jackson's case, the question of whether he is the greatest entertainer of all time isn’t just an idle water cooler debate. There’s money involved. Lots of it. That’s why Jackson’s reputation needs to be rehabilitated – his Q Score is at stake, as Marketing Daily explains:

According to Marketing Evaluations (a.k.a., The Q Scores Company), the likability factor of celebrities who struggled with some perception problems in life, such as Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, increased greatly after their deaths. The same will likely hold true for Michael Jackson, says Henry Schafer, executive vice president of Marketing Evaluations.

By the time Marketing Evaluations gauges Jackson’s Q score in September, the toxicology report confirming suspected drug abuse will be released, an ugly custody battle for his three biologically unrelated children may be under way, and new details about the child abuse allegations may come out - complicating the merchandizing effort, reports The Christian Science Monitor:

In coming months and years, a number of unheard Michael Jackson recordings are likely to be released. Additionally, the singer's songs could be licensed to movies, commercials, theme-park rides, and video games. And his iconic image may be used to sell merchandise ranging from sneakers to, well, gloves.

The managers of Mr. Jackson's estate will largely control the singer's posthumous output. But there's more at stake than millions of dollars. The custodians have also inherited an artistic legacy dogged by lifestyle eccentricities, allegations of child molestation, and, most recently, rumors of prescription drug abuse. As co-executors of the estate, lawyer John Branca and Interscope records executive John McClain now have an opportunity to reshape the Michael Jackson brand.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), who introduced a 1,500-word resolution in Michael Jackson’s honor (which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi immediately put the kibosh on), and Rev. Al Sharpton, who demanded that the U.S. Postal Service issue a commemorative stamp honoring Jackson – Michael, not Sheila – seem eager to aid in this effort. Sharpton has also made numerous TV appearances arguing that people should stop calling the troubled entertainer a child molester (“Charges were made against Michael Jackson, a mostly non black jury … said he was not guilty of child molestation. … [I]t's reckless and irresponsible to say he's a child molester, as it would be for me to come on here and say Dick Cheney shoots his friends hunting.”) One wonders what’s in it for Sharpton. The Stiletto is waiting for the other shoe to drop.

BTW: The Gibson guitar company (video link) is awarded the first patent for the electric guitar pickup on this day in 1937.

Life Imitates “Watchmen”

In a scene that could have been in the brilliant title sequence of “Watchmen” - a debased America (video link) decides it no longer needs superheroes and locks them up (“The Times They Are A Changin”) - the New York Post reports that Superman and Batman were involved in an epic battle with the NYPD in Times Square: 
 

"The Man of Steel didn't go down with just two officers, it took seven officers!" witness Ryan McCormick said. "He was putting up a good fight. …

"As this was happening, someone is like, 'It's Batman!' I turn around and there's Batman in handcuffs," he said.

Superman, aka Maksim Katsnelson, 23, of The Bronx, was arrested and charged with assault and resisting arrested [sic], police said, accusing him of punching a female officer in the face while she was trying to subdue him. …

Cops cuffed Batman, actually Frank Frisoli, but let him go because he didn't cause any problems, he told The Post.

The Maine resident, who has been visiting the city for two weeks, said the two had dressed up as the super heroes for laughs. …

Their comic-book adventure went awry when cops approached the dynamic duo on 43rd Street to see whether they had the required license to perform in costume in public, Frisoli said.

In light of these events – who knew unlicensed costume-wearing was such a big-deal crime? - it’s a good thing there were no uniformed officers around on Saturday, when The Stiletto and The Heel participated in the “King of Pop Pub Crawl” in Michael Jackson’s memory (a new twist on the concept of “obitutainment”).

There were roughly 35 costumed barflies making their way from the Village Pourhouse to Bar None, Kingshead and other Greenwich Village boîtes (the typical outfit was a fedora - though most of the hats were more Britney-ish than Michael-ish – black pants and a white v-neck T-shirt). Much to the crowd’s approval (judging from the applause we got when we walked into each of the bars, and the number of people who asked us to pose for pix with them), The Stiletto and The Heel had also accessorized with heavy eyeliner and matte red lipstick, plus a dazzling sequin glove (her) and a plush chimpanzee (him). Other standouts: A girl who carried around a baby doll with a blanket on its head, and a couple of cute guys who convincingly executed several of Jackson’s signature moves (though neither of them got inebriated enough to do that disturbing crotch-grabbing thing).

[Hat Tip: The Heel, an Ivy-educated attorney with a prestigious New York firm, and occasional contributor to this blog.]

Great Minds Think Alike

In a recent interview with CNN’s John King, former secretary of state Colin Powell said: 
 

I think one of the challenges that President Obama has now is that he’s got so many things on the table, and these are issues that the American people find important, health care and so many other issues. But I think one of the cautions that has to be given to the president - and I’ve talked to some of his people about this - is that you can’t have so many things on the table that you can’t absorb it all. And we can’t pay for it all.

In a New York Times op-ed, the ever droll economist-columnist-actor Ben Stein makes the same point:

When I think about the economy I think about a plump man who has just been hit by a truck while crossing a street and is in severely critical condition with internal bleeding. Instead of just stabilizing his hemorrhaging, the doctor decides that while the patient is unconscious, he might as well also do a face lift, some coronary bypasses and a stomach-stapling to keep him from gaining weight while he is recovering (if he does recover). After all, a crisis is not to be wasted. [Contextual link added by The Stiletto.]

Karma’s A Bitch

In the late 1970s Osbourne was removed from the offices of a record company after he bit the head off a live dove and spat it on the ground to get the attention of executives.

He also famously bit the head off a bat he thought was rubber while performing at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1982.

Osbourne has also admitted that, at the height of his drug addiction, he shot his family's pets. "I was taking drugs so much I was a wreck. The final straw came when I shot all our cats. We had about 17, and I went crazy and shot them all."

Daughter Kelly Osbourne tweets that her father “is devastated.” If his pyschic trauma is causing physical pain, he will soon feel better if he "talks" (that is to say, curse a blues streak, as is his wont) about his loss. According to a study that will be published in the August 5^th issue of the journal NeuroReport,  cussing helps people better endure pain, perhaps because the body's "fight-or-flight" response is triggered.