More half-rightness after the jump.

So, lots of Rush Limbaugh buzz buzzing around! There's that thing about the NFL, which I refuse to understand because the American Sports Industrial Complex is killing children in Africa by diverting spare American dollars into the pockets of men who eat too much and then run into each other. Then there's that other thing, wherein anchors at ABC and CNN, in classic Ron Burgundy style, parroted to their audiences two "facts" about Limbaugh they read in a book that was copied from Wikipedia:

I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.

You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honour? James Earl Ray. We miss you, James. Godspeed.

I can't outdo Toby Harnden for eloquent outrage, because Limbaugh is a bastard assclown and defending him is like openly wanting to be canonized. But I can say this: John Huberman very well could be fucked for starting the horrible, no good, untrue rumor of the week. Three years ago, Huberman wrote the book 101 People Who Are Really Screwing America, and god, who knows, possibly copied everything in the book from the free encyclopedia, including the two made-up quotes above. Where is this guy? I smell an exclusive Q&A! Also, why did it take someone this long to dig up those quotes? Probably because Huberman's book was remaindered right after Christmas. BREAKING: I just realized that there will never be another "TK # of People Who Are Screwing up TK" book ever again; thanks to Internet!

Arts stuff: "Hell awaits for illegal file-sharers"; an ape on a crucifix; the FTC responds incoherently to my antagonistic Internet posts!

• Tim Arango reports in the New York Times that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has partnered with Viacom: "[T]he Gates Foundation is set to expand its involvement and spend more money on influencing popular culture through a deal with Viacom, the parent company of MTV and its sister networks VH1, Nickelodeon and BET. It could be called “message placement”: the social or philanthropic corollary to product placement deals in which marketers pay to feature products in shows and movies. Instead of selling Coca-Cola or G.M. cars, they promote education and healthy living." Creepy? Hell yes. Effective? Next generation's obesity rates will be the judge of that. More here.
• After it was made public that Ben Eason would remain in control of Creative Loafing (which owns the Washington City Paper), CL employees of all persuasions spoke their mind in the biggest e-catfight this company has ever seen. A sampling:

"Hope you guys have life boats and that your president has a nice captain’s uniform——– as the bloggers still blog in the distance and the hull fills with Google web ads.. I bid you all farewell..And good luck ….bring on the next round of layoffs"

Was met with:

"All of you nay-sayers need to find somewhere else to spread your negativity. We are happy and celebrating right now! :)"

Check out the entire thread–which is not only hilarious, but also throws into question the writing qualifications of many of the commenters–here.

• Rush Limbaugh has a (second) cousin who's a liberal and doesn't hate him! At least, that's what Julie Limbaugh said in her Salon piece about growing up in the shadow of Rush and his cochlear implant. It's a fascinating piece, full of love and doubt and various "Good Rusty/Bad Rusty anecdotes," until Julie gets to this part riiiiiight here: "Yet lately, I must admit, being a Limbaugh has been a little tough. When listening to Jon Stewart or just about everyone lay into the latest outrageous thing Cousin Rusty has said, it just doesn't seem like he's in on the act, and that makes it hard for me to separate my cousin from his persona. Maybe it's just me — afraid of facing my student loans in our crumbling economy, or maybe I have officially become one of the "crazy liberals" my uncles always warn me of, but it seems that Rush is no longer just playing the political game he plays so well. Rather, he has been attacking hope, and now it feels like there's little room for that." Ugh–are you kidding me? This graf makes it sounds like it was written by a brilliant 12-year-old.

Ok folks, back to film fest screeners.

Notable matchups include A-Rod vs. Bellichick and Beckham vs. Bonds in the sports division, and Octomom vs. Dane Cook in the entertainment division.

All of which is good clean fun, to my mind. But the Politics Division is a real letdown. I mean, there's a pretty disappointing pattern here: Slightly loudmouthed (OK, sometimes more than slightly loudmouthed) leftist goes up against some sort of heinous, far-right succubus. Observe:

This, to me, is a really, really tepid shot at centrism on the part of the Taco. Are they actually suggesting that Harry Reid is a fouler personage than Ann Coulter? Or that Michael Moore's moderately successful movies are douchier than Bush's warmongering? There's hardly a pairing here that even approximates a level playing field. Arianna Huffington runs a left-leaning publication and writes the occasional middlebrow editorial; Rush Limbaugh jeers dying senators. I'll give 'em the Spitzer/O'Reilly one, though it's a stretch. But come on: Is this fair? How can we commies possibly hope to compete?

By way of a teaser, the Taco is pitting Katherine Heigl against Ryan Seacrest. To wit:

Voting begins noon eastern tomorrow.

Let's review: The White House calls out Limbaugh as the head of the Republican Party. So Republican strategists say the Democrats are stealing tactics used by the Bush administration, which deliberately set up Moore as the face of the opposition party. Then Limbaugh cuts a promo challenging Obama to a debate, knowing it won't happen. And now Moore does a shoot interview saying he's the real people's champion, not Limbaugh.

So let's get ready to rumble: Limbaugh vs. Moore. Pay per view. In a cage. Or at a buffet table. Who's the babyface? Who's the heel? Who will walk away with the belt?

This much we know: It better be a big belt.

It'd draw better than Frost/Nixon.

Hell, Limbaugh/Moore would have a bigger buy rate than Triple H/Orton...

• Greater Greater Washington has the scoop on an emergency tree removal last night that tied up some parking spaces on S St. NW between 15th and 17th:

Last night, residents of S Street NW between 15th and 17th discovered Emergency No Parking signs stating that the trees on the block would be removed. The residents had not known about any tree removal, nor had the local ANC commissioners. The blocks had already lost several mature trees in recent years, and residents worried about losing more.An hour, several DC Council staff, some representatives of the Mayor, and some frantic calls to DDOT's Urban Forestry Administration later, everyone found out the truth. Only three trees on the two blocks were coming down. These trees were either dead or seriously damaged in recent storms, but, according to ANC Commissioner Jack Jacobson, "There was evidently a problem that the contractor had decided timing on removing the trees and had not properly consulted with DDOT, much less the neighborhood."

• Good, honest, hard-working people are turning into blathering idiots. No need to name names, because the Good, honest, hard-working people who have endorsed Rush Limbaugh know who they are (the absolutely batshit wackos, not so much.) Yours truly hasn't managed to put together a less-than-rabid post on Rush without punching himself in the groin–so he's going to stop. Last word: libertarians, classical liberals, et al., should distance themselves from the whole Republican party/Rush Limbaugh/Michael Steele debacle–and if they won't, at least have the good graces to stop bitching about being lumped in with those fucking idiots by the "mainstream media."
• Speaking of libertarians trying to ride the Republican gravy train (ugh), Pete Eyre of Bureaucrash has written a sycophancy-free recap of CPAC (Conservatives Putting Assholes in Charge/Conservatives Pecking At Ciabatta/Conservative Political Action Committee), of which there are very few.

OK, back to 2nd Best Of. (Y'all are gonna love this shit.)