Saturday, June 28, 2008
Is this thing on?
The candidate who is aware of the intarwebs can't figure out a cell phone:
Senility - shoulda got used to it with Reagan, ya damn kids!
...
Someone hummed a ditty into the phone. More minutes passed. Finally, at 3:18, McCain came back on the line. "Where did you lose me?" he asked.
"We lost you at the very beginning," he was told. "You gave your whole speech and you didn’t know you weren’t connected to us."
...
Senility - shoulda got used to it with Reagan, ya damn kids!
In defense of marriage ...
The other day I pointed you to Pam's place, noting that the people of Arizona don't want to define marriage as only between a man and woman. Seems a buncha conservatives think they should do it on the federal level to avoid all those messy "states' rights", except, of course, when those "states' rights" help the conservative cause. And guess who's sponsoring this great federal "defense of marriage"? Two of the pillars of "moral values" (you know, the kind the gays don't have):
[Blink, blink]
...
But the funny part is looking over the list of the 10 original sponsors. Most of the names are predictable — Brownback and Inhofe, for example — but there are two others whose names stand out: Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho).
...
[Blink, blink]
"...you have to keep a nice open mind about what the young people go for."
The geezers hadn't quite got it yet in '59. I'm a geezer now and I still don't get it other than I know that, then as now, the main purpose of the whippersnappers' music is to piss the geezers off!
Sweet Baby James
A very pretty treatment of this old song. 'Old' meaning I remember it from my youth.
James Taylor & The Dixie Chicks
The Un-American Lies of Antonin Scalia
A little light weekend reading on Scalia at The Existentialist Cowboy:
Scalia's 'war on logic' is even older. In Bush v Gore, the 'decision that made no law', Scalia argued that 'continuing the recount' would be harmful to Bush. Well, I would hope so! That's the very purpose of elections. The candidate who gets the fewer number of votes is supposed to lose!
Being a disingenuous, snake oil salesmen is one thing. But telling a bald face lie in support of an argument in a decision of the high court is 'intellectual dishonesty' of the highest order.
It's time to impeach Scalia! Scalia doesn't like his job anyway. He thinks himself 'too smart' for it. Let's oblige him by firing his sorry ass.
Let's take the longer view. This government has become illegitimate by every definition of that term. Therefore, according to sound principles practiced by the Barons who forced King John to sign the Magna Carta and, more recently, the principle espoused by such disparate figures as Thomas Jefferson and Che Guevara, it is the right of the people to abolish the government.
It's time to start all over. And when we've done it, when we've plugged up the loopholes that even the disingenuous Scalia can't slither through, then a new government should give Scalia the notice that his 'services' are no longer required. He should have no complaints. After all, Scalia has said that he is 'too smart' for the court!
Nice try, Cowboy, but the American public'll only get off their collective ass for bread and circuses. When our 'government' falls, it will be of its own ponderous weight.
Saturday whorage
Off to Home Depot before the masses get there. The next chapter of Birthright is up at The Practical Press.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Busy, busy...
Pardon the light blogging today, but I was busy over at Fixer & Gordon. Bustedknuckles has a real, er, potboiler up at F&G as well.
When Anonymity Fails, Be Nasty, Brutish and Short
Dana Milbank
Fuck him. We're damned happy about it.
I can only wish for the same end for him as Gollum...
Sounds like he's a little twitchy at his criminality being close to exposure. Good.
This prick is the poster boy for what we need to get rid of in the halls of power. Please read the rest.
Update:
More at Slate.
"No American should think that we're free." Fuckin' beautiful, asshole, but you know this administration as well as anyone. We'll be a lot freer when we're free of them and you.
Throughout the Bush presidency, he toiled in secrecy deep within the White House, a mysterious and feared presence who never stepped into the sunlight of public disclosure.
Until yesterday.
There he sat, hunched and scowling, at the witness table in front of the House Judiciary Committee: the bearded, burly form of the chief of staff and alter ego to the vice president -- Cheney's Cheney, if you will -- and the man most responsible for building President Bush's notion of an imperial presidency.
David Addington was there under subpoena. And he wasn't happy about it.
Fuck him. We're damned happy about it.
He had the grace of Gollum as he quarreled with his questioners. [...]
I can only wish for the same end for him as Gollum...
Think of Addington as the id of the Bush White House. Though his hidden hand is often merely suspected -- in signing statements, torture policy and other brazen assertions of executive power -- Addington's unbridled hostility was live and unfiltered yesterday.
Sounds like he's a little twitchy at his criminality being close to exposure. Good.
Cheney's Cheney continued to dole out the scorn ("You asked that question earlier, today, and I'll give you the same answer") until Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.), the last questioner, inquired about waterboarding. "I can't talk to you -- al-Qaeda may watch these meetings," Addington said.
"I'm glad they finally have a chance to see you, Mr. Addington," Delahunt joked.
"I'm sure you're pleased," Addington growled.
This prick is the poster boy for what we need to get rid of in the halls of power. Please read the rest.
Update:
More at Slate.
Addington also gets in a little fear-mongering: When the torture memos were written, he says, "the smoke was still rising" from 9/11. Actually, by 2003, that was no longer the case. But never mind: Addington's point is that things were different then, "but not as different today as a lot of people may think. … No American should think that we're free, or that the war is over. Because that's wrong." He's the teacher. That's the lesson. Now, go copy it onto the blackboard 500 times, Congress.
"No American should think that we're free." Fuckin' beautiful, asshole, but you know this administration as well as anyone. We'll be a lot freer when we're free of them and you.
But heaven forbid ...
We piss the Chinese off:
Because had we attacked NK, more than a million DPRK infantry would have gone south, overrunning 7th Cav and 51st Wing before taking the rest of South Korea. Because the Chinese would do the same thing they did when we crossed the Yalu 50 years ago.
And of course:
China could wreck us, be it economically or militarily. China has enough problems with North Korea already, let alone having to to put more money into that failed country thanks to the UN sanctions. It just seems to me the Chimp got the message loud and clear from Beijing. Assume UN sanctions will effectively go away in the near future too.
However, don't think that insane midget won't restart the program again in the future when he wants something else from the UN or China. He did it to Clinton and he did it to Bush, he'll do it again to the next US President. Maybe it's time for the next US President to begin talks with China on the subject of getting that family of psychopaths out of North Korea.
But US anti-proliferation policy aside, the reason we didn't deal with NK the way we are doing with the other two members if the 'Axis of Evil' (attacking Iraq, saber-rattling at Iran) is because they have no oil. Saddam could have stood on his head and made sparks shoot out his ass and we still would have attacked.
Never forget; the war in Iraq has nothing to do with fighting terrorism.
TGIF. See yas later.
...
Now, if the Rude Pundit remembers his recent history (although, truth be told, these days, shit that happened last year seems about as distant as the tadpole days of a dying frog - such is the result of our American dementia), back in December 2002, there was another member of the Axissss o' Eeeeeevil who made a big ol' weapons declaration, when Iraq "delivered a 12,000-page declaration on banned weapons to the United Nations, meeting a Security Council deadline with more than 24 hours to spare. Officials said the documents confirmed, in rebuttal of American and British claims, that Saddam Hussein's government had no weapons of mass destruction and no current programs to develop them." As the ever dickish Ari Fleischer said at the time, Iraq had issued "what it claims is a declaration of its programs to develop chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and other delivery systems."
...
Because had we attacked NK, more than a million DPRK infantry would have gone south, overrunning 7th Cav and 51st Wing before taking the rest of South Korea. Because the Chinese would do the same thing they did when we crossed the Yalu 50 years ago.
... "If we allow the U.S. to occupy all of Korea… we must be prepared for the U.S. to declare… war with China," ... - Mao Zhe Dong to Iosef Stalin 8 Oct 1950
And of course:
...
The Chinese made contact with American troops on November 1, 1950. Thousands of Chinese had attacked from the north, northwest, and west against scattered U.S. and South Korean (Republic of Korea or ROK) units moving deep into North Korea. The Chinese seemed to come out of nowhere as they swarmed around the flanks and over the defensive positions of the surprised United Nations (UN) troops.
...
China could wreck us, be it economically or militarily. China has enough problems with North Korea already, let alone having to to put more money into that failed country thanks to the UN sanctions. It just seems to me the Chimp got the message loud and clear from Beijing. Assume UN sanctions will effectively go away in the near future too.
However, don't think that insane midget won't restart the program again in the future when he wants something else from the UN or China. He did it to Clinton and he did it to Bush, he'll do it again to the next US President. Maybe it's time for the next US President to begin talks with China on the subject of getting that family of psychopaths out of North Korea.
But US anti-proliferation policy aside, the reason we didn't deal with NK the way we are doing with the other two members if the 'Axis of Evil' (attacking Iraq, saber-rattling at Iran) is because they have no oil. Saddam could have stood on his head and made sparks shoot out his ass and we still would have attacked.
Never forget; the war in Iraq has nothing to do with fighting terrorism.
TGIF. See yas later.
So what's his stand ...
On vacation? Seems McCain doesn't like to work weekends. I wonder if he's gonna take 18 months of vacation time like the Chimp did over the past 8 years? Jeff Fecke:
I know John McCain claims he isn't George W. Bush redux. But he sure seems to want to emulate him. The latest case in point? Angry McCranky doesn't work weekends:
...
It's a bit reminiscent of Will Ferrell channelling George W. Bush on "Saturday Night Live," when he promised to work 24/7 for America -- that's 24 hours a week, seven months a year.
...
Quote of the Day
Athenae:
... But this is exactly why most people who've been relatively awake for the past eight years hear "bipartisanship" and "working across the aisle" and "ending the gridlock in Washington" and "getting things done for YOU" and hear the sound of one hand wanking Richard Cohen ...
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Time-Life Issues the Definitive Collection of ‘Bush Scandals’
SPR
No thanks. The 'Bush years' are something we won't need CDs of. We'll be remembering, and trying to undo, the things he has done for generations to come.
"After listening for just two seconds, your foot starts stomping in anger and outrage. From the invasion of Iraq and fake WMDs, torture, illegal spying on Americans, Katrina, and the rank politicization of the Justice Department, you'd have to watch over 200 episodes of Olbermann to get the same aroma of the Bush years, all captured on just these 3 CDs.
"And for the first 500 callers, you'll not only receive free shipping, but the complete collection of McCain flip-flops."
No thanks. The 'Bush years' are something we won't need CDs of. We'll be remembering, and trying to undo, the things he has done for generations to come.
Adios Iran & U.S., hola Paraguay.
Think Progress
He's probably right. If the 'wrong' guy gets elected, Bush will drop this turd in our punchbowl like the whiny, petulant little punk crybaby bastard he is because he can, and because nobody likes him, just before he gets on the plane to Paraguay. I predict he will do this on the morning of Inauguration Day right after he issues a blanket pardon for everybody in his criminal administration.
Fuck Bush, fuck Kristol, fuck Bolton, fuck the Arab states. If the Chimp is allowed to get away with this, it's fuck us. Big time.
Note to SecDef, JCS, and anybody and everybody down the chain of command from them: Stop this from happening. Just say NO.
Bolton: Israel Will Attack Iran After U.S. Election But Before Inauguration, Arab States Will Be ‘Delighted’.
[...] Adopting Bill Kristol’s argument, Bolton suggested that an attack on Iran depends on who Americans elect as the next President:
He's probably right. If the 'wrong' guy gets elected, Bush will drop this turd in our punchbowl like the whiny, petulant little punk crybaby bastard he is because he can, and because nobody likes him, just before he gets on the plane to Paraguay. I predict he will do this on the morning of Inauguration Day right after he issues a blanket pardon for everybody in his criminal administration.
Fuck Bush, fuck Kristol, fuck Bolton, fuck the Arab states. If the Chimp is allowed to get away with this, it's fuck us. Big time.
Note to SecDef, JCS, and anybody and everybody down the chain of command from them: Stop this from happening. Just say NO.
His Master's Voice
You can tell a lot about a person by his taste in music. Go see what's on Obama's iPod.
No word at this time on what's on McCain's wind-up iVictrola, but from the photo below, probably Bush.
No word at this time on what's on McCain's wind-up iVictrola, but from the photo below, probably Bush.
"I can make a diesel sing/Just like Patsy Cline"
All you Emmylou Harris fans go see her appearance last night on Charlie Rose.
Synchronized Flush To Honor Bush
A coupla months back I posted about the proposed George W. Bush Sewage Plant in Frisco. Here's a follow-up from WaPo via Blue Oregon:
It's good to hear that sometimes alcohol is a lubricant for the thought processes instead of just 'stupid oil'!
Yes, a moving wall of crap would definitely be "an appropriate honor for a truly unique president". It will be a wonderful, er, relief to be able to contribute to it the next time I'm in EssEff.
Reagan has his highways. Lincoln has his memorial. Washington has the capital (and a state, too). But President Bush may soon be the sole president to have a memorial named after him that you can contribute to from the bathroom.
The plan, naturally hatched in a bar, would place a vote on the November ballot to provide “an appropriate honor for a truly unique president.”
It's good to hear that sometimes alcohol is a lubricant for the thought processes instead of just 'stupid oil'!
The renaming would take effect on Jan. 20, when the new president is sworn in. And regardless of the measure’s outcome, supporters plan to commemorate the inaugural with a synchronized flush of hundreds of thousands of San Francisco toilets, an action that would send a flood of water toward the plant, now called the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant.
Yes, a moving wall of crap would definitely be "an appropriate honor for a truly unique president". It will be a wonderful, er, relief to be able to contribute to it the next time I'm in EssEff.
Good news ...
From Pam. Seems the folks in Arizona don't believe in marginalizing a group of American citizens because a buncha Jesus freaks think homosexuality is contagious:
You know, allowing the gays to marry will make me leave my wife to bottom for the large black man next door who's hung like a horse.
Unbelievably, I actually think Americans are finally getting it; not getting sidetracked by the hubbub over issues that shouldn't be issues in the first place. I'm getting more hopeful about our chances in November. Barring, of course, the Dems' penchant for shooting themselves in the foot.
Great news -- the Arizona Senate, in a 14-11 vote, rejected the ballot initiative to amend the state's constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. I wonder what McSame will say about his home state turning this away, after all, he backed the bigoted state amendment the first time around -- and it was rejected by voters.
...
You know, allowing the gays to marry will make me leave my wife to bottom for the large black man next door who's hung like a horse.
Unbelievably, I actually think Americans are finally getting it; not getting sidetracked by the hubbub over issues that shouldn't be issues in the first place. I'm getting more hopeful about our chances in November. Barring, of course, the Dems' penchant for shooting themselves in the foot.
There's only one ...
Type of good Blue Dog and that's this one:
For the rest of 'em; either you're a Democrat or you're not. Figure it out before we get you replaced.
Princess Shayna
For the rest of 'em; either you're a Democrat or you're not. Figure it out before we get you replaced.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Quote of the Day
Avedon Carol:
...
Because there is absolutely nothing a Republican can do, no matter how dishonest, incompetent, egregious, or downright evil, that will make our current press corps sound the alarm - but no attack on a Democrat is so scurrilous, so ridiculous, so dishonest, so outrageous, that it can be treated with the derision it deserves.
...
Quandary
Market Watch
I hate to say this, but $2 gas (remember when we thought that was high? It wasn't very long ago.) is probably the worst thing that could happen to us.
Yes, it would ease the financial pain at the pump, which relief is desperately needed by many, but unless buying gas HURTS, the leadership of this country, if we ever get any, will never get around to passing a comprehensive energy policy that takes into account all forms of energy for the increasing and future needs.
Nor will Americans ever change their profligate, wasteful energy habits.
Folks have said for many years that the only answer to this problem lies in high prices so everyone tales this seriously and changes their ways. They are being proven correct.
I heard a guy on Charlie Rose say last night that "oil is the enemy of democracy", and I think he makes a good point. As long as the oil-consuming nations of the world continue to shovel money to the petrofascists that hate us and use our money to undermine us, nothing's going to change.
The price of retail gasoline could fall by half, to around $2 a gallon, within 30 days of passage of a law to limit speculation in energy-futures markets, four energy analysts told Congress on Monday.
Testifying to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Michael Masters of Masters Capital Management said that the price of oil would quickly drop closer to its marginal cost of around $65 to $75 a barrel, about half the current $135.
The creation of a comprehensive U.S. energy policy that tackles issues of increasing domestic supply and reining in consumer demand via conservation should be Congress' focus, Ryan said. "Instead we're on bended knee begging the Saudis to put more oil on the market and talking about shutting down spec trades."
I hate to say this, but $2 gas (remember when we thought that was high? It wasn't very long ago.) is probably the worst thing that could happen to us.
Yes, it would ease the financial pain at the pump, which relief is desperately needed by many, but unless buying gas HURTS, the leadership of this country, if we ever get any, will never get around to passing a comprehensive energy policy that takes into account all forms of energy for the increasing and future needs.
Nor will Americans ever change their profligate, wasteful energy habits.
Folks have said for many years that the only answer to this problem lies in high prices so everyone tales this seriously and changes their ways. They are being proven correct.
I heard a guy on Charlie Rose say last night that "oil is the enemy of democracy", and I think he makes a good point. As long as the oil-consuming nations of the world continue to shovel money to the petrofascists that hate us and use our money to undermine us, nothing's going to change.
McCain Alledgedly Assaulted Wheelchair-bound POW/MIA Advocate
BuzzFlash
You can read the rest, but I don't think we need this hothead for president.
I think the 'ethics' committee only investigates serious breaches of Senate 'ethics' such as not paying off on lobbyist bribes.
As far as treatment of wheelchair folks, my offer still stands to help Chuckie Krauthammer down the Capitol steps any time.
On June 20, 1996, Senator John McCain allegedly assaulted a family member of a Vietnam War prisoner of war (POW) who was missing in action (MIA), as a group of about 15 family members of POW/MIAs watched in astonishment. Within about one month, five ethics complaints had been filed with the Senate Ethics Committee by five eyewitnesses. But the Senate Ethics Committee refused to investigate the matter.
"He went from a smiling, congenial, happy face to a beet red, totally enraged face in an instant," she said. "I have never seen a senator act in this way. We were all dumbfounded how this happened. He threw his arm up, and she goes flying and Jane [who was in a wheelchair] gets pushed aside as he brushes by her. All I see is people flying and I'm behind him [McCain]... This was assault."
You can read the rest, but I don't think we need this hothead for president.
I think the 'ethics' committee only investigates serious breaches of Senate 'ethics' such as not paying off on lobbyist bribes.
As far as treatment of wheelchair folks, my offer still stands to help Chuckie Krauthammer down the Capitol steps any time.
Waiting ...
I'm home today, waiting for my drywall delivery from Home Depot, and to pass the time, I'm yanking the old nails. This is, for me, the worst part of doing a remodel. So tell me, any readers who are professional carpenters, do you guys use plebes, the way I make Sam do all the shitty jobs in the shop, to do the mundane shit like pulling nails, or do you do it as you go along?
That said, Chris Dodd is still standing tall on FISA*. He was my choice to get the party's nom for President.
Update:
Since I'm here "twiddling my thumbs" (this crap just dragged itself up a flight of stairs and stacked itself) I took Deuddersun's advice and watched this video about how corrupt the Chimp's 'Justice' Department has become.
And just a response to Deuddersun's other bit of advice:
Do you think, anal German that I am, that I could sleep at night knowing I left a couple hunnert useless nails in? In 2 years, I'd be tearing everything down again just to get 'em out. Seriously.
That said, Chris Dodd is still standing tall on FISA*. He was my choice to get the party's nom for President.
Update:
Since I'm here "twiddling my thumbs" (this crap just dragged itself up a flight of stairs and stacked itself) I took Deuddersun's advice and watched this video about how corrupt the Chimp's 'Justice' Department has become.
And just a response to Deuddersun's other bit of advice:
Why pull them at all? Just bang them in. who cares? The new drywall will cover them. Screws, now, those can either be reomoved or just broken off flush to the surface.
...
Do you think, anal German that I am, that I could sleep at night knowing I left a couple hunnert useless nails in? In 2 years, I'd be tearing everything down again just to get 'em out. Seriously.
*Link thanks to Mr. Philadelphia.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Appeasers!!!!!!
...
Q Dana, is the United States considering opening an interest section in Iran? How close are we to reaching a decision on that, and why would the U.S. do that?
MS. PERINO: Well, I think that Secretary Rice said it best yesterday when she said that there might be some ideas out -- floating out there, but there's nothing concrete at the moment. In regards to us reaching out and talking directly to the Iranians, President Bush goes out of his way every time he talks about the Iranian issue, which is often; he gets asked about it and he brings it up proactively himself.
...
Holden and his obsession.
The Carla Effect
MoDo on Mme. Sarkozy:
A First Lady like that would make life a lot more interesting, and my collection of nekkid First Lady pictures would benefit. Move over, Eleanor and Mamie...
I don't know why I'm thinkin' about French gals lately. Must be the line dancin'...
If an American first lady, or would-be first lady, described herself as a “tamer of men” and had a “man-eating” past filled with naked pictures, Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton, sultry prone CD covers, breaking up marriages, bragging that she believes in polygamy and polyandry rather than monogamy, and having a son with a married philosopher whose father she had had an affair with, it would take more than an appearance on “The View” to sweeten her image.
It’s hard to imagine the decibel level on Fox News if Michelle Obama put out a CD this summer, as Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is, with songs featuring lyrics like “I am a child/despite my 40 years/despite my 30 lovers/a child”; and this song, “Ma came”: “You are my junk/more deadly than Afghan heroin/more dangerous than Colombian white. .../My guy, I roll him up and smoke him.”
A First Lady like that would make life a lot more interesting, and my collection of nekkid First Lady pictures would benefit. Move over, Eleanor and Mamie...
I don't know why I'm thinkin' about French gals lately. Must be the line dancin'...
Enema Of The People
This could truly serve as the Bush-Cheney memorial.
RIA Novosti
The United States needs a high colonic to cleanse its bowels of this administration. They can insert the tube in the Oval Office and OVP.
RIA Novosti
A statue is to be unveiled to an enema at a health center in the southern Russia's town of Zheleznovodsk, the center director said on Monday.
The 1.5 meter-high bronze monument, weighing 350 kilograms (771.6 pounds), portrays "three angel-like children carrying above their heads a big pear-like enema," the Alexander Kharchenko said.
"This will be the first monument to an enema in the world," he said, adding that the initiative to erect the monument was proposed by the center's administration, where hundreds of similar procedures are carried out every day.
"It is high time a monument to an enema was erected," he said.
The United States needs a high colonic to cleanse its bowels of this administration. They can insert the tube in the Oval Office and OVP.
Maybe it was all the guy could find to cover some rust...
My Wife & I Saw A McCain Bumper Sticker in California -- Finally -- Verse-Case Scenario by Tony Peyser
There on the back of a black gas guzzler
The driver announced his White House choice
(But the letters were in such small print
It was like he didn't want to raise his voice.)
The only reason I bothered with this is because I actually - as in didn't make it up - saw an 'Alan Keyes for President' bumper sticker the other day and just wanted to share. There's a lot of crazies out there and they all have driver's licenses. Heh.
Strategy Session
From P.M.Carpenter:
The swarthy bogeyman strategy had already exhausted its bad GOP-self by the 2006 elections. Now, it's a parody of a caricature wrapped in a burlesque, to paraphrase Winston. And voters just aren't buying it -- not, especially, while being swallowed up by the economic marvels of Bush-McCain, a rather pertinent topic of conversation that sends John staring absentmindedly into the abyss.
Voters, in time, notice these things. They notice when a candidate is but a blank slate upon which nothing immediately relevant to their lives will apparently ever be written. By constantly framing the nation's welfare in singular, foreboding and hair-raising terms, John McCain & Co. merely emphasize what it lacks: a relevant plan.
And the last thing we should want to do is take a guy like Charlie Black -- what with all his thuggish dictator friends and lugubrious references to America's future -- out of action. I think he's delightful.
All McCain has to fear is lack of fear itself. It's all he's got.
How-to ...
So ya wanna be a tin horn dictator in some Third World toilet and you're wondering how to keep power once you get it? No problem. The United States wrote the book:
Ah yes, the United States, bringing freedom and democracy to everyone, whether they need it or not.
And let's be clear here, the Rethugs have been using this manual to run their operations on Americans too. It was Karl Rove's playbook. Aside from the war crimes Chimp & Co. are guilty of, treason also ranks high on the list.
...The leaked manual, which has been verified with military sources, is the official US Special Forces doctrine for Foreign Internal Defense or FID.
FID operations are designed to prop up "friendly" governments facing popular revolution or guerilla insurgency. FID interventions are often covert or quasi-covert due to the unpopular nature of the governments being supported ("In formulating a realistic policy for the use of advisors, the commander must carefully gauge the psychological climate of the HN [Host Nation] and the United States.")
The manual directly advocates training paramilitaries, pervasive surveillance, censorship, press control and restrictions on labor unions & political parties. It directly advocates warrantless searches, detainment without charge and (under varying circumstances) the suspension of habeas corpus. It directly advocates employing terrorists or prosecuting individuals for terrorism who are not terrorists, running false flag operations and concealing human rights abuses from journalists. And it repeatedly advocates the use of subterfuge and "psychological operations" (propaganda) to make these and other "population & resource control" measures more palatable.
The content has been particularly informed by the long United States involvement in El Salvador.
...
Ah yes, the United States, bringing freedom and democracy to everyone, whether they need it or not.
And let's be clear here, the Rethugs have been using this manual to run their operations on Americans too. It was Karl Rove's playbook. Aside from the war crimes Chimp & Co. are guilty of, treason also ranks high on the list.
Great thanks to the Gorilla's Guides for the link.
Kept in the dark ...
And fed bullshit. If you've got any question why the FISA bill is so important, the lovely Avedon can explain it to you:
Someone asked me to explain what the whole FISA thing is about, which surprised me since she's not a low-information sort of person, so here's the simple version ...
Quote of the Day
Cdr. Huber:
One problem with using the rational actor model to forecast what the George W. Bush administration may do next is that the model wasn’t designed to analyze people referred to as "the crazies in the basement." ...
Monday, June 23, 2008
McGovern: Iran attack coming soon
Raw Story
From the editorial:
There's no danger to Cheney and Bush.
Fucking swell. In this Perfect Storm the future of the United States gets to be the Andrea Gail.
Whatever extraterrestrial sky monsters there may be out there, help us. Suck Cheney and Bush to your lair and probe them. Drop us a video. Just stop them from committing this madness.
In a new editorial published by AntiWar.com, former CIA officer Ray McGovern states that he believes "a perfect storm seems to be gathering in late summer or early fall," when the Bush administration and allies in Israel will launch attacks against Iran.
"This time it will be largely the Air Force's show, punctuated by missile and air strikes by the Navy," writes McGovern. "Israeli-American agreement has now been reached at the highest level; the armed forces planners, plotters and pilots are working out the details."
From the editorial:
By all indications, Vice President Dick Cheney and his huge staff continue to control the flow of information to the president.
But, you say, the president cannot be unaware of the far-reaching disaster an attack on Iran would bring?
Well, this is a president who admits he does not read newspapers, but rather depends on his staff to keep him informed. And the memos Cheney does brief to Bush pooh-pooh the dangers.
There's no danger to Cheney and Bush.
Here's the alarming thing: Unlike Iraq, which was prostrate after the Gulf War and a dozen years of sanctions, Iran can retaliate in a number of dangerous ways, launching a war for which our forces are ill-prepared.
The lethality, intensity and breadth of ensuing hostilities will make the violence in Iraq look, in comparison, like a volleyball game between St. Helena's High School and Mount St. Ursula.
In sum, a perfect storm seems to be gathering in late summer or early fall.
Fucking swell. In this Perfect Storm the future of the United States gets to be the Andrea Gail.
Whatever extraterrestrial sky monsters there may be out there, help us. Suck Cheney and Bush to your lair and probe them. Drop us a video. Just stop them from committing this madness.
Bush 'war crimes conference' to convene
Raw Story
A laudable idea, but I fear it'll just be another academic exercise in futility.
On September 13-14, 2008, Lawrence Velvel, the dean of the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover, plans to convene a 'convention' at the school's facilities; the attendees of which will plan strategies to prosecute members of the Bush administration for war crimes.
"This is not intended to be a mere discussion of violations of law that have occurred," stated Velvel in a press release. "It is, rather, intended to be a planning conference at which plans will be laid and necessary organizational structures set up, to pursue the guilty as long as necessary and, if need be, to the ends of the Earth.
"We must try to hold Bush administration leaders accountable in courts of justice. And we must insist on appropriate punishments, including, if guilt is found, the hangings visited upon top German and Japanese war-criminals in the 1940's."
A laudable idea, but I fear it'll just be another academic exercise in futility.
Oh, the irony...
Ironic Times
Fat chance. Inarticulate dumbass punks with an inferiority complex would rather fight to prove the manhood they haven't got. With other people's kids and money, of course.
He can just plagiarize from the memoirs of his former employees. With a ghostwriter of course.
Many more.
Billions More Needed to Secure American Embassies
Only alternative, say experts, is diplomacy.
Fat chance. Inarticulate dumbass punks with an inferiority complex would rather fight to prove the manhood they haven't got. With other people's kids and money, of course.
Bush to Write Memoir
Like others, it'll lay bare the hypocrisy and incompetence of his administration.
He can just plagiarize from the memoirs of his former employees. With a ghostwriter of course.
Chertoff Announces New High-Tech Domestic Surveillance Program
If you've never imagined doing something illegal, you have nothing to worry about.
Many more.
Jackpot Jesus
Seems to me that Betty is following in George Carlin's footsteps a little in her own way. Here she Explains “Prayer” to Everyone Else.
Mainlinin'
Occasionally, the kool-aid wears off of Tom Friedman. Maybe even billionaires don't like $4+ pushmoline.
Yeah, we'll just keep mainlinin' under Bush's oil company administration. Maybe under a real President we can reduce it to skin poppin' until we can get on the Methadone program of a real energy policy.
Some of us know who to blame: a president whose oil 'policy' was to go to Iraq and steal it and couldn't even do that right. He's good at lettin' his cronies and pals steal all they want from us though.
It’s as if our addict-in-chief is saying to us: “C’mon guys, you know you want a little more of the good stuff. One more hit, baby. Just one more toke on the ole oil pipe. I promise, next year, we’ll all go straight. I’ll even put a wind turbine on my presidential library. But for now, give me one more pop from that drill, please, baby. Just one more transfusion of that sweet offshore crude.”
Yeah, we'll just keep mainlinin' under Bush's oil company administration. Maybe under a real President we can reduce it to skin poppin' until we can get on the Methadone program of a real energy policy.
That’s what a real president would do. He’d give us a big strategic plan to end our addiction to oil and build a bipartisan coalition to deliver it. He certainly wouldn’t be using his last days in office to threaten Congressional Democrats that if they don’t approve offshore drilling by the Fourth of July recess, they will be blamed for $4-a-gallon gas. That is so lame. That is an energy policy so unworthy of our Independence Day.
Some of us know who to blame: a president whose oil 'policy' was to go to Iraq and steal it and couldn't even do that right. He's good at lettin' his cronies and pals steal all they want from us though.
Separation ...
Skippy has a post up about how McSame is distancing himself from the Chimp. Heh ...
I'm going to work. I hate Mondays ...
...
president bush prefers the caramel popcorn in a box of cracker jacks; john mccain prefers the peanuts. also, the president gets much more excited about the prize.
...
I'm going to work. I hate Mondays ...
A national treasure ...
The Seven Words ...
Rest in peace, George. He was one of the people who taught me, at a very young age, to always question authority.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs, dirty words and the demise of humanity, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday. He was 71.
...
"I don't have any beliefs or allegiances. I don't believe in this country, I don't believe in religion, or a god, and I don't believe in all these man-made institutional ideas," he told Reuters in a 2001 interview.
Carlin told Playboy in 2005 that he looked forward to an afterlife where he could watch the decline of civilization on a "heavenly CNN."
"The world is a big theater-in-the round as far as I'm concerned, and I'd love to watch it spin itself into oblivion," he said. "Tune in and watch the human adventure."
...
Gotta love a guy who gave everybody the finger.
Update:
Dday has this great Carlin quote:
"Religion convinced the world that there's an invisible man in the sky who watches everything you do. And there's 10 things he doesn't want you to do or else you'll to to a burning place with a lake of fire until the end of eternity. But he loves you! ...And he needs money! He's all powerful, but he can't handle money! [...] I've begun worshipping the sun for a number of reasons. First of all, unlike some other gods I could mention, I can see the sun. It's there for me every day. And the things it brings me are quite apparent all the time: heat, light, food, a lovely day. There's no mystery, no one asks for money, I don't have to dress up, and there's no boring pageantry. And interestingly enough, I have found that the prayers I offer to the sun and the prayers I formerly offered to God are all answered at about the same 50-percent rate. [...] Religion is sort of like a lift in your shoes. If it makes you feel better, fine. Just don't ask me to wear your shoes. And let's not nail the lift to the natives' feet."
Update Zwei:
Dr. Fez-head has this one:
I think that human beings were given great gifts and had great potential and they squandered it all on goods, possession, power, territory and on a superstitious God that watches everything and controls. These things, I think, crippled the human animal to the extend that we never lived up to their potential. The same thing happened in this country. We were given great potential. We were given this great system of self-government, the best one that had been devised so far. And we've given it all up for gizmos, and goods, and toys and possessions, and - in this country - God, overlooking everything and spoiling everything.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Sunday Crazy Redneck Music and Line Dancing French Gals Blogging
I watched Emmylou and that Limey guitar picker on Soundstage on PBS last night, so today I thought I'd like to find and post their very sweetly suggestive call & response gearhead love song "Red Staggerwing" for you. Well, there are 14 videos of it and they all have pretty lousy audio, so I picked this one and posted the lyrics so you can follow along. Sorry, no bouncing ball...
A coupla differences from domestic line dancing, at least to me, one, not near as much junk in the trunk and, two, these folks dance better.
Fixer has said he and Mrs. F would like to retire in France. In this video I see several reasons why, although I have a disturbing visual of a dancing F-Man in a cowboy hat and shitkicker attire. Nothing a bottle or two of Clorox' finest won't cure.
Whoever did the title of the video either can't spell for shit in English or has a sense of humor. Heh.
If I was Staggerwing plane
A Staggerwing painted red
I'd fly over to your house, baby
Buzz you in your bed
If I was a Taperwing
A Taperwing painted blue
I'd be barrel-rolling over you
You're gonna need a rider anyhow
Let me be your rider now
If I was a Maserati
A red 300s
I'd ride around to your house, baby
Give you a driving test
If I was a Mustang racer
White with a stripe of blue
You could ride me, baby
Whenever you wanted to
You're gonna need a rider anyhow
Let me be your rider now
If I was a Fender guitar
A Fender painted red
You could play me, darlin'
Until your fingers bled
If I was one of them Gibsons
Like a '58 or '9
You could plug me in
And play me anytime
You're gonna need a rider anyhow
Let me be your rider now
If I was a motorcycle
A Vincent red Rapide
I'd ride around to your house, baby
Get you up to speed
If I was a short track racer
I'd be an Indian
You could ride me around
And ride me round again
You're gonna need a rider anyhow
Let me be your rider now
You're gonna need a rider anyhow
Let me be your rider now
A coupla differences from domestic line dancing, at least to me, one, not near as much junk in the trunk and, two, these folks dance better.
Fixer has said he and Mrs. F would like to retire in France. In this video I see several reasons why, although I have a disturbing visual of a dancing F-Man in a cowboy hat and shitkicker attire. Nothing a bottle or two of Clorox' finest won't cure.
Whoever did the title of the video either can't spell for shit in English or has a sense of humor. Heh.
If I was Staggerwing plane
A Staggerwing painted red
I'd fly over to your house, baby
Buzz you in your bed
If I was a Taperwing
A Taperwing painted blue
I'd be barrel-rolling over you
You're gonna need a rider anyhow
Let me be your rider now
If I was a Maserati
A red 300s
I'd ride around to your house, baby
Give you a driving test
If I was a Mustang racer
White with a stripe of blue
You could ride me, baby
Whenever you wanted to
You're gonna need a rider anyhow
Let me be your rider now
If I was a Fender guitar
A Fender painted red
You could play me, darlin'
Until your fingers bled
If I was one of them Gibsons
Like a '58 or '9
You could plug me in
And play me anytime
You're gonna need a rider anyhow
Let me be your rider now
If I was a motorcycle
A Vincent red Rapide
I'd ride around to your house, baby
Get you up to speed
If I was a short track racer
I'd be an Indian
You could ride me around
And ride me round again
You're gonna need a rider anyhow
Let me be your rider now
You're gonna need a rider anyhow
Let me be your rider now
A Waste of Paint
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Experts have confirmed that the "McCain Laughing" portrait was painted by Rembrandt in 1628. William Noortman from Noortman Master Paintings, specializing in Dutch and Flemish masters, said it's worth between $5 and $20: "I'm very surprised it sold for more than that at auction." The painting was purchased last October by Cal Thomas for $29.95. When interviewed later about the painting, Senator McCain said "The 1620s bring up of fond memories of my youth, those were the gold old days."
The Pre-Age of Enlightenment Express!
Probably a commission. Even Rembrandt had to eat.
A tip o' the Brain to IWR.
Now That We’ve ‘Won,’ Let’s Come Home
Daddy Frank with a rare 'today's second must read' on McCain and his/Bush's criminal war:
First of all, there's no 'winning' something that was an immoral, criminal act in the first place and a colossal incompetent bungle afterwards.
Second, I doubt if McSame has ten years left in him, let alone 100, but Iraq would be a great place for him to live out his dream.
To finesse this embarrassing record, Mr. McCain asks us to believe that the only judgment that matters is who was “right” about the surge, not who was right about our reckless plunge into war. That’s like saying he deserves credit for tossing life preservers to the survivors after encouraging the captain of the Titanic to plow full speed ahead into the iceberg.
Even so, it leaves him trapped in a Catch-22. If violence continues to subside in Iraq — if, as Mr. McCain has it, we keep “winning” — it will only call more attention to the internal contradictions of a policy that says success in Iraq should be punished by forcing American troops to stay there indefinitely. And if Iraq reignites, well, so much for “winning.”
Not that the Obama policy is foolproof either. As everyone knows, there are no good options in Iraq. Our best hope for a bipartisan resolution of this disaster may be for a President Obama to appoint Mr. McCain as a special envoy to Baghdad, where he can stay for as long as he needs to administer our withdrawal or 100 years, whichever comes first.
First of all, there's no 'winning' something that was an immoral, criminal act in the first place and a colossal incompetent bungle afterwards.
Second, I doubt if McSame has ten years left in him, let alone 100, but Iraq would be a great place for him to live out his dream.
A redneck Veep with two Purple Hearts, three tattoos and spoiling-for-a-fight attitude? Hell yes!
Sometimes the WSJ gets it right. Today's 'must read'.
Has Webb said things I don't agree with? Hell yes. Does it matter? Hell no.
This is a good man and it's time we have more (any!) of those in the White House.
Webb is a long shot to be picked for Veep, or to accept, but he would be a damn good choice. Of course, speaking as a 62-year-old recently tattooed redneck Librul Democrat Marine with an attitude, I might be just the teensiest bit biased...
With his two Purple Hearts, three tattoos and spoiling-for-a-fight attitude, Sen. Jim Webb is emerging as the Democrats' point man on two of the most profound matters facing the electorate this November: national defense and the military.
A spokeswoman says Sen. Webb "speaks artfully about complex issues that many politicians shy away from, and it's his authenticity that is so compelling."
The self-described "redneck" occasionally carries a concealed pistol, and is still suspect to some Democrats for having served as Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration. He speaks fluent Vietnamese with his third wife, a lawyer who fled Vietnam as a girl and whom he calls his "warrior queen." He takes long walks in Arlington Cemetery, stopping recently to place a rock on the headstone of Sen. McCain's father, a tradition that signals respect for the dead.
"When most men hit 60, they buy a red Corvette," says Chris LaCivita, a Republican political consultant. "Jim Webb became a liberal Democrat."
Sen. Webb's latest mission is to expand his influence into what he calls "economic fairness." Calling himself a Reagan Democrat, Sen. Webb says the Democrats, to their detriment, have ignored the military, poor whites and Southerners in recent decades, but that is starting to change.
To broaden his populist appeal, Sen. Webb recently has been talking about financial and consumer issues. In the past week, at a Senate hearing on foreign relations, he criticized the fact that foreign countries have been investing government money in U.S. financial firms. Earlier this month he visited a Richmond, Va., food bank, where he lambasted the rising cost of food and gasoline.
The next morning, as a keynote speaker at the state's Democratic convention, Sen. Webb talked about the recent passage of the GI bill. "Some told me to wait my turn, let others -- more experienced -- do it," he said. "But I didn't back down!"
The crowd began clapping and chanting, "VP! VP! VP!" Sen. Webb pumped his fist in the air and strode off the stage.
Has Webb said things I don't agree with? Hell yes. Does it matter? Hell no.
This is a good man and it's time we have more (any!) of those in the White House.
Webb is a long shot to be picked for Veep, or to accept, but he would be a damn good choice. Of course, speaking as a 62-year-old recently tattooed redneck Librul Democrat Marine with an attitude, I might be just the teensiest bit biased...
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