Review

One Nation Under George

I finished Z.M. Wagner's satire about a week ago, but haven't had the time to write about it. I generally don't read political books; sorry Kos, sorry Glenn, sorry Dave. They make my eyes glaze over and roll back in my head, sort of like reading about economics. "How can you say that, being a political blogger of some (what kind is up to the judgment of the readers) repute?" you may ask. When I read, I want to be taken to exotic places, engage my imagination in adventurous ways. I can't read policy. That said, I was approached by Wagner's publicist to review this book and if it weren't humor I would have declined. I get my laughs in Blogtopia (yes! skippy coined that phrase!) from the likes of Jesus' General, WTF is it Now??, World O'Crap, Sadly, No!, and TBogg, and Wagner doesn't disappoint.

Wagner begins his story in 2008, as a Regular Joe ("a liberal Jewish man from the East Coast") looking back on the Bush Era. A few pages in, the smile grows on my face as he describes the Neocon/Republican/Bushista rise to power; the little push here, the keywords for the base there, always believing the propaganda. Always from the point of view of the uninformed who don't see Fox News for what it is.

He goes on, Wagner's best chapters in my opinion, explaining how school reform under Bush has transformed the public school system; individuality, violence, teen pregnancy, and drug abuse a thing of the past as accountability is stressed and demanded.

The Army, short on manpower, is also transformed, thanks to Rumsfeld's vision, and a new 'convict army' is sent to Iraq and Iran, avoiding a Draft and fulfilling the need for new recruits. In short, jail sentences served as infantrymen.

In the world of President George, every aspect of life is managed by the government, all to the benefit of the public good. Order is preserved, and the only places liberalism is practiced are in the ghettoes of New York and Massachusetts.

Wagner made me smile, and at the same time scared the living shit out of me. For those unfamiliar, imagine the world of Jesus' General as all too real, and then realize, should the power of the Neocon cabal remain unchecked, it very well could be.

I only had one complaint about the piece, and a minor one at that, and that was with the editing. It's probably more subjective on my part, but I've had experience with lazy editors in my own publishing career. I would most certainly recommend you drop the twelve bucks for a very entertaining fast read.

Kudos

To my fellow New Yorkers, whether transplanted or homegrown, attending John McCain's commencement speech at the New School for standing up and making your voices heard.

Update:

Seth has MoDo.

Don't believe everything you hear...

About Iran. Ron looks at the Rethug disinformation campaign against Iran, no doubt to rile up the American public in preparation for war. I mean, did you know Iran has a Jewish (yes, I said Jewish) member of their parliament? He also links to a Juan Cole article you should read too.

Whaddya do with old bathtubs and microwaves?

Go immediately to The Disgruntled Chemist and click to see his Limey alter egos answer that burning question!

My Spring Break, Part 3 - Real Estate Shopping

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One of the purposes of our trip was to investigate possible retirement locales. Here we are about to check out some affordable homesites in a "Gated Community". For Liberals, perhaps?

Read the backstory here and here.

Tongue way in cheek...

Beer? Nein! Paint Thinner? Ja!

From the Times(UK):

IT IS brown-gold and alcoholic but, then, in the scathing verdict of German beer fans, so is paint thinner.

The Germans are furious that Budweiser will be the official tipple for the World Cup, which starts next month. The American lager has secured a near-monopoly of beer sales inside World Cup stadiums and within a 500m radius of the grounds, supplanting more than 1,270 domestic breweries.

And what most upsets the fans is that Budweiser - advertised as the "King of Beers" in the US - fails to meet the ancient German standards for purity, which stipulate that beer can be brewed only from malt, hops and water. Budweiser uses rice in its production process and therefore does not qualify as a beer in the German sense.

Budweiser's World Cup status is a slap in the face for a country that attaches such importance to beer production. When Germany was a patchwork of principalities and duchies, a sponsored brewery was seen as the stamp of independence. German pride at hosting the tournament is being dented by the fierce marketing of the American beer.

Go read the rest. If I was a German, I'd be pissed-off too. I've always thought most mass-produced American beer could be improved by runnin' it through the horse one more time.

This could mean war!

Primary!

It's a happy day in Connecticut!

To the stunned amazement of most Lieberman supporters, Ned Lamont racked up over a third of the votes cast at tonight's Democratic Convention in Hartford's decidedly downscale Expo Center. (Is that the best Joe's millions can do, Nancy?)

...

I got the blues...

Or at least the country does.

The Balloon Seems To Be Descending Rapidly...

Paul Krugman, via Nevada Thunder, on the stock market, housing, gas prices, working stiffs and the general brick wall facing our high-speed economy.

The rise in stock prices that began last fall was essentially based on the belief that the U.S. economy can defy gravity - that both individuals and the nation as a whole can spend more than their income, not on a temporary basis, but more or less indefinitely.

To be fair, for a while the data seemed to confirm that belief. In 2005, the trade deficit passed $700 billion, yet the dollar actually rose against the euro and the yen. Housing prices soared, yet houses kept selling. The price of gasoline neared $3 a gallon, yet consumers kept buying both gas and other items, even though they had to borrow to keep spending (the personal savings rate went negative for the first time since the 1930's).

Over the last few weeks, however, gravity seems to have started reasserting itself.

That's one law even Bush can't break for very long.

I can't resist pointing out that the Bush administration's response to the squeeze on working families has been, you guessed it, to accuse the news media of biased reporting.

As I summarized it awhile back, we became a nation in which people make a living by selling one another houses, and they pay for the houses with money borrowed from China.

Now that game seems to be coming to an end. We're going to have to find other ways to make a living - in particular, we're going to have to start selling goods and services, not just I.O.U.'s, to the rest of the world, and/or replace imports with domestic production. And adjusting to that new way of making a living will take time.

Just like Iraq, economic sanity will probably be left to the next president. Or at least to the next one that has his eyes open.

Bowing To The Police State

Ray McGovern at TomPaine.

Is Congress aiding and abetting the creation of a police state? Recently, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., helped to give the CIA and NSA unprecedented police powers. By inserting a provision in the FY07 Intelligence Authorization Act, Hoekstra has undermined the existing statutory limits on involvement in domestic law enforcement. This comes after revelations in January of direct NSA involvement with the Baltimore police in order to "protect" the NSA Headquarters from Quaker protesters.

Add to this, the disquieting news that the White House has been barraging the CIA with totally improper questions about the political affiliation of some of its senior intelligence officers, the ever widening use of polygraph examinations, and the FBI's admission that it acquires phone records of broadcast and print media to investigate leaks at the CIA. I, for one, am reminded of my service in the police state of the U.S.S.R., where there were no First or Fourth Amendments.

Like the proverbial frog in slowly boiling water, we have become inured to what goes on in the name of national security. Recent disclosures about increased government surveillance and illegal activities would be shocking, were it not for the prevailing outrage-fatigue brought on by a long train of abuses. But the heads of the civilian, democratically elected institutions that are supposed to be our bulwark against an encroaching police state, the ones who stand to lose their own power as well as their rights and the rights of all citizens, aren't interested in reining in the power of the intelligence establishment. To the contrary, Rep. Hoekstra and his counterpart at the Senate, Pat Roberts, R.-Kan., are running the risk of whiplash as they pivot to look the other way.

When the writers of the Constitution envisioned a separation of powers to ensure checks and balances in our government, they were relying on the leaders of those branches to fight to maintain their own power within the system. Fresh from the struggle against King George, they could not have predicted that some of our leaders would voluntarily sign away their own rights to another George who would be king.

Good article. Go read.

My Spring Break, Part 2 - Mother's Day

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Last Sunday, Mother's Day, found us in the high country of Eastern California in the town of Benton (Pop. 164, Elev. 5317) when lunchtime rolled around. In honor of Mrs. G's many years of outstanding and resigned mothering to me and our pups, I decided that nothing was too good for her and blew her to a big feed at what I can positively guarantee was the finest restaurant in town. Reservations were not necessary. I had the Ortega Burger with Swiss and Fries. Mrs. G went for the Mushroom/Swiss combo and shared my Fries. Damn good burgers, cooked by the Native American lady who owns the joint. Her husband and I discussed real estate prices and other man stuff while she did all the work. I think them Injuns are onto something there!

As so often happens when I am enjoying myself, the cops showed up during our meal. There must have been something big afoot of an interstate nature, because there was a Mono County (CA) deputy and one from Mineral County (NV). They chatted awhile and drove away. You have to be big and strong to be a rural cop. These guys were carrying enough personal gear to wage a small war. I guess they have to be able to hold the fort by themselves in case of trouble, as their backup might be an hour away.

The cafe had a "Convenient Store" (that's what it said on the sign) attached. Small, but you could live out of it in a pinch. Not much junk food, but enough first aid supplies and auto parts to get you to civilization. Biggest jars of jalapenos I ever saw. A pretty good Native American jewelry selection as well. Mrs. G loves that stuff. I'm thinking of installing a winch on the pickup to get her out of those places...

The joint was obviously the town meeting place, where we were privileged to overhear the news of the day: "There was a shooting in Chalfant last night. Deputy so-and-so turned off his lights and the guy walked right into the side of his car...". Honest. I couldn'ta made that up, I swear!

Speaking of "reservations" and "holding the fort", there is a Native American presence and heritage all around this part of the country. There is a Paiute-Shoshone Cultural Center in Bishop, which was closed while we were there, as well as a popular local attraction, which was open.

After the way fun and interesting lunch we did stuff too, but enough for now.

Overtaxed National Guard To Use Illegal Immigrants To Guard Mexican Border

Tongue firmly in cheek, I direct you to Opinions You Should Have.

The National Guard, hard-pressed to keep up with its many duties at Iraq and at home, has decided to guard the U.S.-Mexico border with illegal immigrants it enlists as they come across the border. "We see it as a very special guest worker program," explained Guard Commander Sergeant Leon Rocknard.

"Once I learned that we'd be mostly cooking and cleaning, the idea came naturally," he said. He added that another upside of the program was that the workers could be paid "almost nothing." He further justified his decision by insisting that guarding the border was "one of those jobs Americans want done but don't want to do themselves."

Herminio Vasquez, an illegal immigrant who became part of the program after swimming the Rio Grande at 4:00 a.m. last night, praised the plan. "This is the just the opportunity I came to the U.S. for," he said.

Sometimes it's hard to tell irony and satire from the truth these days.

Cosmic Cowboy Music

This is an FYI for those of you with the impeccable musical taste to enjoy "the California Country sound". I never heard of I See Hawks In L.A. before, but I ran across this review at Blue State Jukebox. Sounds good. I'll probably pick it up.

Friday Cattle Dog Blogging

Princess Shayna gives the 101st Fighting Keyboarders a Bronx Cheer.



"My dad was a real warrior, you panty-waist weenies," she was heard to say.

Thanks for telling us

You couldn't have said something in '01? Whoring bitch.

Still With Fox

This is pretty lightweight shit, but it's fun. From News Hounds.

During yesterday's press gaggle (5/17), new Press Secretary and supposed former Fox News employee Tony Snow, referred to ABC in response to a reporter's questions as a "competing network".

Snow: "Well, as I pointed out -- I mentioned this yesterday, and for -- let me see if I can find my quote, because I pulled it out. Chuck Hagel, as you may recall, made a fair amount of news over the weekend when he first said that -- let's see -- "Well, I want to listen to the details and I want to listen to the President," said Senator Hagel -- he said this on "This Week" on a competing network. But I would say this: I think we have to be very careful here. That's not the role of our military, that's not the role of our National Guard." That's what Senator Hagel said on Sunday."

Is Snow still on Fox's payroll? Is ABC "competing" in someway with the Administration? Or has Fox and the Bush Administration finally merged into one entity?

The video can be viewed here.

Perhaps it was just a slip of the tongue? As one of News Hounds' many commenters puts it:

As far as everybody on Faux news is concerened, a slip of the tongue is their stock in trade. A slip right up the asses of this administration.

Couldn't have put it better myself!

'Alpha Male on the Cruise Ship'

Robert Parry on the Chimp's smartass mouth. At Consortium News.

He was like the wise-cracking guy leading a pack of vacationers out of the elevator toward the all-you-can-eat buffet bar, while poking fun at Charlie for getting too much sun on his bald head or at Mildred for putting on a few extra pounds. The others in the group titter with nervous amusement, fearing their ribbing will come next.

Like that dominant male on the cruise ship, Bush exhibits a freedom to mock the appearance of almost anyone, holding up both American citizens and foreign leaders to public ridicule for how they look.

Bush exhibits other physical alpha-male tendencies, such as when he greets another man by cupping his hand behind the man's neck, a sign of both affection and control.

Damn fine way to get to break his arm if anybody had the stones.

Other times, Bush goes beyond playful banter and just tongue-lashes people who have gotten on his wrong side.

In 1986, for instance, Bush spotted Wall Street Journal political writer Al Hunt and his wife Judy Woodruff having dinner at a Dallas restaurant with their four-year-old son. Bush was steaming over Hunt's prediction that Jack Kemp - not then-Vice President George H.W. Bush - would win the Republican presidential nomination in 1988.

Bush stormed up to the table and cursed Hunt out. "You [expletive] son of a bitch," Bush yelled. "I saw what you wrote. We're not going to forget this." [Washington Post, July 25, 1999]

If anyone I like as little as Bush cusses like that in front of my wife, he's gonna get his lights punched out in front of God and everybody, right then and there.

While always ready to deliver insults, the Bush family is famously thin-skinned about receiving them. For instance, George H.W. Bush restricted Newsweek's coverage of his 1988 presidential campaign after the magazine published a cover photo of Bush with the headline, "Fighting the Wimp Factor."

His eldest son, George W. Bush, doesn't even want to take chances with unfriendly audiences. He routinely has his advance teams and Secret Service details weed out people from his speeches who might be inclined to heckle him or ask hostile questions.

Indeed, between his pre-screened crowds and his layers of protectors, Bush has gone through five-plus-years as President with barely a single note-worthy incident of anyone challenging him to his face.

Unlike alpha males in the wild, Bush has managed to mark out his territory knowing that virtually nobody - not another head of state nor a private citizen - is in any position to contest his supremacy.

That's really a shame. With half the secret Service protecting him, he's like a Chimp in a zoo throwing feces, knowing no one can get to him. Once, just once, I'd like to see someone (Pick Me! O, please God, pick Me!) get through his defense cordon, poke him in the chest repeatedly and tell him in no uncertain terms what they think of him. I bet he'd hide behind his mother's skirts and cry. If he rose up on his hind legs like a man, better yet.

There's folks who put it a lot better than I do at "Readers React".

My Spring Break, Part 1 of ...

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U.S. Route 6 starts in Bishop CA and doesn't stop until it runs out of U.S. When I was a kid, it started in Long Beach and ran from sea to shining sea, thus proving that things shrink as they get older. Tell me about it! It is also known as "The Grand Army of the Republic Highway".

Someone either is still sore about the outcome of the Civil War or doesn't like Northeastern Libruls, or both. Note the bullet hole just below the "3205 Miles". Actually, that's not too bad for a Western road sign in deer hunting country. It looks like it's way out in the country, but the business district of Bishop starts about a hundred feet behind where I stood to take the picture. A disgruntled employee at the Ford dealer, perhaps?

New face, same horseshit

Bob Geiger:

Having worked at Fox News prior to his appointment as the new White House Press Secretary, Tony Snow is accustomed to making the case for George W. Bush. So he seemed to avoid the first-day jitters in his initial day of full-time lying for a living. Snow held his first solo press briefing yesterday and, while watching him bob, weave and answer few questions, it was almost as if Scott "The Lyin' King" McClellan never retired to the GOP fibbers hall of fame.

...

Did anybody seriously think anything would change? Did the White House Press Corpse think this administration would finally be a little more forthcoming? The only thing that did change was that Tony the Liar is easier on the eyes* than that little troll Snotty.

Also, if you're interested in all the gory detals, our esteeemed colleague Holden is obsessed with the daily gaggle and brings highlights.

*By a very thin margin.

Trickle down

Didn't work for Reagan, it surely won't work for these inept nitwits. Bush signed that fucking tax cut yesterday. If you're waiting for this to be good for the economy, don't hold your breath. You sure as hell ain't getting shit up front and the people who are will still be buying new Hummers next year. Here's how it breaks down; read 'em and weep.