A.H.O.Y. Instant Poll Results

Who talked the most shit in '06? Click and learn. Who are your top 40 finalists for Asshole of the Year? The countdown begins Wednesday. Here are last year's 40.

The New War

I don't have a lot to add to the debate about runup to our next war -- even hyperactive sycophant Chris Matthews is on the case this time around. So I'll just refer you to this piece I wrote, almost four years ago, about the folly of the then-impending war in Iraq.

A few notes:

• The Bush Administration did eventually cough up most of the promised money for New York City. Of course, then they turned around and declared we had no terrorist-target landmarks, and cut our antiterrorism funding. For blatantly partisan reasons, of course.

• Like most people, I took the existence of Saddam's WMDs for granted. It didn't even occur to me that our intelligence system was that badly broken and/or mismanaged.

• I was much too giving to the Administration on the matter of preparations for an attack. When I wrote the essay, I thought that was the weakest part of my argument. This was, of course, prior to the revelation of the famous Presidential Daily Briefing "Bin Laden Determined to Attack within U.S."

• My favorite reply to the column is still, "What a wiener. To his credit, he did manage to get Daredevil shipping on a regular schedule."

It's The First Anniversary Of Batman's 40th Anniversary, The Day I Posted This:

The coolest show in TV history turns 40 today. ABC broadcast "Hi Diddle Riddle," the premiere episode of Batman, on January 12, 1966.

Bat-Signal pix: Batfriend
I was going to link you all over Bat-Hell, as I did last year. Then I saw Mike Sterling's Insanely Bat-tastic Collection Of Bat-Links. He is clearly my better; go there and start Bat-Clicking. But first, here are a few that popped up since his post, and a couple I think he missed:

• Fred Hembeck's Bat-Clippings From 1966 Newspapers & Magazines
  
• Dial B For Blog's Tribute 1 2 3 4 5
  
• Zsa Zsa Gabor, Van Johnson, & Other Surviving Bat-Villains
  
• Fab Argentine Bat-Site
• 1966 Batmobile Paper Model via Broken Glass Makes Me Laugh
  and the essential
  
• McSweeney's Analysis Of The Batman Theme!

Say Hello To John Layman's Little Friend

The Seattle Times decided to publish Wednesday, which was good because Mark Rahner's piece on the John Layman/Dave Crosland Scarface comic began with this sentence:

Midway through this interview, John Layman's cat pukes.

Ford's Widow Locked Out

President Gerald Ford's widow has been denied access to her late husband's home at the order of his lawyer and accountant.

Betty Ford arrived at the California home today to find it padlocked. Lawyer Buddy Dallas and accountant David Cannon were able to prevent Mrs. Ford from entering the property as she did not own the deed to the home.

"This is my home," she said. "I don't have any money. I don't have anywhere to go."

Ford, 93, was the longest living former president, surpassing Ronald Reagan, who died in June 2004, by more than a month.

No End In Sight, Bush To Send Additional Mourners To Ford Funeral

"I understand people are impatient, but we're going to stay until the job is done, no matter how long it takes," the President said.

"Holy Apparition!"

Batgirl Pilot, 1967. Seven minutes. IMDB. [Via Chris Roberson.]

Sugar Bush Squirrel Salutes Saddam Hussein's Death

Link

As Saddam Hussein was sweating it out in his cell reflecting on the heinous crimes he had committed, Sugar Bush Squirrel was volunteering for sentry duty and inspecting the gallows before the punishment was finally carried out.

Stephen Colbert's Big Break

John Layman and I are writing Stephen Colbert's Tek Jansen of Alpha Squad 7, an Oni Press comic based on the visionary space epic created by America's ballsiest pundit. The first issue hits sequential art boutiques in March, which means that now is the time to ask your comicier to order your copy. Make that copies.

Click on the Official Poster to experience the exciting big-enough-to-read version.

"Our Long National Nightmare Is Over. Right, Cheney? Right, Rumsfeld? Guys?"