Yesterday I went after the administration and our military leadership. Today I want the enablers. You know who you are. You're journalists; not all journalists, but those who have sold your souls and sold out your profession to enrich yourselves. You're lowlife scum, for you are supposed to be our last line of defense. The Founding Fathers wanted . . . no, needed a free press to ensure the future of the wonderful experiment known as the United States of America.
As you all have seen over the past five (some would say thirty-five) years, the built in checks and balances can be bypassed to the point of allowing a dictator to take control of the nation. Do you not think men like Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and Adams knew this might happen? They saw it first hand, at a time when tyrants were the rule rather than the exception. They knew that no matter how many safeguards they put on paper, the freedoms the press enjoyed were the most important.
Those freedoms assure the public knowlege of their elected representatives doings, whether they have lost their focus, become swayed by wealth and power to look to their own interests ahead of their constituents'. Your responsibility is to warn us before they got too powerful and too corrupt so we could vote them out. That is your responsibility and you own this as much as Bush owns Iraq. You, in the White House press corps, the TV news executives, you have sold that responsibility, your souls, to the Republican machine.
The Founders were counting on you, we were counting on you, and you abdicated your Constitutional responsibility. Thanks to you, the Bush administration was given another four years to destroy this nation. Had you done your fucking jobs, he would have been shown for the liar, thief, and con man he is long before he could have sent troops to Iraq. Had you done your fucking jobs, he never would have been President in the first place. Whether through apathy or outright greed, you allowed this to happen.
You allowed the Republican machine to drag Clinton down over nothing but a blowjob and you allowed Bush to commit his crimes against the United States and humanity as a whole. You should be ashamed and you should be held up to ridicule for the rest of your damnable lives. You should never be allowed to work as journalists again. Much as I'd rather see you all in front of a firing squad, charged with treason, writing for the National Enquirer or some other rag to scratch out a meager living is a much better fate for you. No TV pundit gigs, no book deals, no nationally syndicated columns, just reporting on the dirt farmer in Kansas whose daughter was impregnated by aliens.
For the likes of Rupert Murdoch (and anyone who works for Fox News), Rush Lintball, Michael Savage, and the others who are nothing but paid employees of the Republican National Committee in one form or another, you deserve to be strung up from the same trees as your patrons.
And a special note to the editors of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal: The writing is on the wall and when the Bush Era is finally over, you will be too. Of all of the news organizations to buy into the conservative line, you should be the most ashamed of them all. You've taken the reputations of America's flagship papers and wiped your collective ass with it.
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Dad . . .
[NYT] LIKE the Japanese soldier marooned on an island for years after V-J Day, President Bush may be the last person in the country to learn that for Americans, if not Iraqis, the war in Iraq is over. "We will stay the course," he insistently tells us from his Texas ranch. What do you mean we, white man?
[. . .]
The endgame for American involvement in Iraq will be of a piece with the rest of this sorry history. "It makes no sense for the commander in chief to put out a timetable" for withdrawal, Mr. Bush declared on the same day that 14 of those Ohio troops were killed by a roadside bomb in Haditha. But even as he spoke, the war's actual commander, Gen. George Casey, had already publicly set a timetable for "some fairly substantial reductions" to start next spring. Officially this calendar is tied to the next round of Iraqi elections, but it's quite another election this administration has in mind. The priority now is less to save Jessica Lynch (or Iraqi democracy) than to save Rick Santorum and every other endangered Republican facing voters in November 2006. [my emphasis]
[. . .]
Now it's all about saving their collective ass. If any good will come out of Iraq, it'll be that the Republican machine will be crippled for a decade . . . if we're lucky. (Hat tip: Jillian)
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Digby Has an Interesting Thought
From Hullabaloo:
I've been thinking for a while that we might be seeing the beginning of a new trend in American politics --- the anti-military right. Rush is calling marines "pukes," veterans are being called cowards and fakers, disabled vets are mocked for not having the right wounds or getting them in the right way, GOP hags are wearing cute little "purple heart" bandaids on their cheeks. People are selling busts of the president using his lack of combat experience as a selling point saying outright that physical courage is no longer particularly worthy of conservative approbation. Being a veteran buys you no credibility and no respect in today's Real Murika.
This is how they transform Chickenhawkery into a badge of courage.
I've been thinking for a while that we might be seeing the beginning of a new trend in American politics --- the anti-military right. Rush is calling marines "pukes," veterans are being called cowards and fakers, disabled vets are mocked for not having the right wounds or getting them in the right way, GOP hags are wearing cute little "purple heart" bandaids on their cheeks. People are selling busts of the president using his lack of combat experience as a selling point saying outright that physical courage is no longer particularly worthy of conservative approbation. Being a veteran buys you no credibility and no respect in today's Real Murika.
This is how they transform Chickenhawkery into a badge of courage.
Nope, No Politics Here
A fascinating story from Editor & Publisher:
'Wash Post' Hit For Sponsorship Of 'Freedom' March
The Washington Post has no plans to withdraw its co-sponsorship of a controversial Sept. 11 memorial walk being organized by the Department of Defense, according to Publisher Bo Jones. But, he said the paper would pull out if the event turns out to be some kind of pro-war or political march.
"This was part of the memorial of the 9/11 victims and an effort for veterans past and present and that is it," Jones said about the "Freedom Walk" slated for Sept. 11. "This has nothing to do with politics or the war or support of any political position."
Still, Jones added that the paper would withdraw support, which consists of providing public service advertising space in the paper, if the event turns partisan. "If I turns out to be a political event, we would disassociate ourselves from it," he said.
....But Rick Weiss, a Post science reporter and co-chair of the Washington Post unit of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, noted the hypocrisy of the paper's involvement, since it bars reporters from participating in partisan events. "It is dismaying, to say the least, that I can be fired for participating in a peace march while my employer feels free to co-sponsor an event that so blatantly beats the drum of war," Weiss stated.
Weiss stressed that the guild had not taken a position on the issue, but planned to consider it during a leadership meeting on Monday.
John Pike, who has been a defense analyst in Washington for 25 years and runs GlobalSecurity.org, told Knight Ridder, referring to the Pentagon rally, "I've never heard of such a thing." Others worried that it would re-kindle attempts to link 9/11 to the war in Iraq. Read the full story HERE.
'Wash Post' Hit For Sponsorship Of 'Freedom' March
The Washington Post has no plans to withdraw its co-sponsorship of a controversial Sept. 11 memorial walk being organized by the Department of Defense, according to Publisher Bo Jones. But, he said the paper would pull out if the event turns out to be some kind of pro-war or political march.
"This was part of the memorial of the 9/11 victims and an effort for veterans past and present and that is it," Jones said about the "Freedom Walk" slated for Sept. 11. "This has nothing to do with politics or the war or support of any political position."
Still, Jones added that the paper would withdraw support, which consists of providing public service advertising space in the paper, if the event turns partisan. "If I turns out to be a political event, we would disassociate ourselves from it," he said.
....But Rick Weiss, a Post science reporter and co-chair of the Washington Post unit of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, noted the hypocrisy of the paper's involvement, since it bars reporters from participating in partisan events. "It is dismaying, to say the least, that I can be fired for participating in a peace march while my employer feels free to co-sponsor an event that so blatantly beats the drum of war," Weiss stated.
Weiss stressed that the guild had not taken a position on the issue, but planned to consider it during a leadership meeting on Monday.
John Pike, who has been a defense analyst in Washington for 25 years and runs GlobalSecurity.org, told Knight Ridder, referring to the Pentagon rally, "I've never heard of such a thing." Others worried that it would re-kindle attempts to link 9/11 to the war in Iraq. Read the full story HERE.
This Should Make You Feel All Warm and Fuzzy
Group hopes to 'put the fear of God' in ACLU
Coalition working to educate churches, mobilize believers nationwide
The man behind an online effort to rein in the American Civil Liberties Union is taking his campaign to America's churches, hoping to mobilize millions of believers into taking a stand against the legal organization.
As WorldNetDaily reported, Nedd Kareiva's StopThe ACLU.org is dedicated to ending the ACLU's legal victories - from limiting activities of the Boy Scouts to promoting same-sex marriage.
The website exists for one purpose, Kareiva says - "to mobilize millions of God-fearing, patriotic Americans to stand up to the ACLU agenda, and consigning it to the ash heap of history (or exporting it to Communist regions)."
Now, the activist has begun a mailing campaign "to recruit pastors, church leaders and congregations to expose them to the ACLU's agenda. Just as the ACLU has 400,000 members, according to a recent article in the National Journal and another in the Washington Times, we are shooting for 1 million Stop the ACLU members," Kareiva writes.
On the website, Kareiva asks supporters to help him mail letters to churches across the nation. The form letter asks leaders and members "to visit the website and catch a vision of what we are doing." Read the full story HERE.
Coalition working to educate churches, mobilize believers nationwide
The man behind an online effort to rein in the American Civil Liberties Union is taking his campaign to America's churches, hoping to mobilize millions of believers into taking a stand against the legal organization.
As WorldNetDaily reported, Nedd Kareiva's StopThe ACLU.org is dedicated to ending the ACLU's legal victories - from limiting activities of the Boy Scouts to promoting same-sex marriage.
The website exists for one purpose, Kareiva says - "to mobilize millions of God-fearing, patriotic Americans to stand up to the ACLU agenda, and consigning it to the ash heap of history (or exporting it to Communist regions)."
Now, the activist has begun a mailing campaign "to recruit pastors, church leaders and congregations to expose them to the ACLU's agenda. Just as the ACLU has 400,000 members, according to a recent article in the National Journal and another in the Washington Times, we are shooting for 1 million Stop the ACLU members," Kareiva writes.
On the website, Kareiva asks supporters to help him mail letters to churches across the nation. The form letter asks leaders and members "to visit the website and catch a vision of what we are doing." Read the full story HERE.
"I don't link to traitors."
Atrios certainly doesn't need me to stand up for him, but you bet your ass I'll defend Cindy Sheehan. I followed a link from Atrios and found this loser. This is why I don't go to wingnut sites at all. Makes me want to strangle somebody.
Update: 19:20:
More wingnuttia via Atrios. Do you believe this shit?
So every soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine who comes home in a bodybag is a failure? What are the wounded, 'partial failures' or just 'below average'? These are the people our kids are 'failing' for.
Update: 19:20:
More wingnuttia via Atrios. Do you believe this shit?
[. . .]
Obviously Sheehan's son, I forget his name at the moment, didn't die on purpose, and he may well have have had no control over the circumstances that let [sic] to his death.
BUT.
In war, there are no excuses. You find a way to stay alive, whatever it takes - if you're a good soldier. Sheehan's son didn't do that. He paid the price. but he als[o] failed the mission and let down his buddies.
[. . .]
So every soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine who comes home in a bodybag is a failure? What are the wounded, 'partial failures' or just 'below average'? These are the people our kids are 'failing' for.
Disclaimer
I've received a couple emails from people asking if I'm worried about coming afoul of Homeland Security or the FBI calling for an overthrow of Chimpy Inc. My answer:
No.
Somebody want to bust me for speaking my mind, come get me. I'll have the 6 o'clock news waiting when you come to pick me up. I know far too many lawyers to go quietly; I'll have my say as you drag me off to Gitmo. As President Empty Sack, who isn't half the man I am, says, "Bring 'em on."
Update: 16:40:
The reason I'm so manic about this today is because they released 15 hours of FDNY radio archive from Sept 11th yesterday. Once again I held my wife in my arms as she relived that day, debris and bodies falling from the Towers as she tried to make it to safety, seeing the carnage wrought by these terrorists. A lot of tears were shed yet again and now, 4 years later, the memories of these poor people have been corrupted by these criminals in Washington for personal gain, wealth, and popularity.
No.
Somebody want to bust me for speaking my mind, come get me. I'll have the 6 o'clock news waiting when you come to pick me up. I know far too many lawyers to go quietly; I'll have my say as you drag me off to Gitmo. As President Empty Sack, who isn't half the man I am, says, "Bring 'em on."
Update: 16:40:
The reason I'm so manic about this today is because they released 15 hours of FDNY radio archive from Sept 11th yesterday. Once again I held my wife in my arms as she relived that day, debris and bodies falling from the Towers as she tried to make it to safety, seeing the carnage wrought by these terrorists. A lot of tears were shed yet again and now, 4 years later, the memories of these poor people have been corrupted by these criminals in Washington for personal gain, wealth, and popularity.
Party on 9/11
As you know, it's been all over Left Blogtopia (y!sctp!) lately. Rummy's throwing a party to commemorate the deaths of 3000 of my friends and neighbors in Washington on Sept. 11. All I can say is that they're damn lucky they're not doing this in NYC. They'd have to deal with me. Motherfuckers. Eccentricity:
The Neocons might be rich, but they have all the class of guests on the Jerry Springer Show. They've got some inbred country music moron (probably Lee Greenwood) playing and I'm sure there will be a military parade of some sort, probably will look a lot like this:
Nothing like bringing your poll numbers up by marching across the graves of innocent Americans. Give me one good reason why the members of the Bush administration and the Republican members of Congress should not be strung up from the light poles on the Mall.
Allow me to be the first to call for an overthrow (armed or otherwise) of the government of the United States of America. Today, at 0630 on Saturday, 13 August 2005, I raise the flag of revolution against the 21st Century 'King' George and our so-called 'elected representatives'. You are all culpable for enabling this administration to destroy the nation I love. I want you all out; Democrat, Republican, Independent, and I want a new system put in place. One that does not pander to the folks with the most money.
Update: 14:55:
The inbred country music moron will be Clint Black. My apologies to Lee Greenwood. (Thanks to the Poorman)
[. . .]
Well, I suppose that indirectly 9/11 has given them the upper hand like they haven't had for ages, but really! In principle, it's like celebrating the torching of the White House during the War of 1812 or the slaughter in Lawrence during the Civil War.
[. . .]
The Neocons might be rich, but they have all the class of guests on the Jerry Springer Show. They've got some inbred country music moron (probably Lee Greenwood) playing and I'm sure there will be a military parade of some sort, probably will look a lot like this:
Nothing like bringing your poll numbers up by marching across the graves of innocent Americans. Give me one good reason why the members of the Bush administration and the Republican members of Congress should not be strung up from the light poles on the Mall.
Allow me to be the first to call for an overthrow (armed or otherwise) of the government of the United States of America. Today, at 0630 on Saturday, 13 August 2005, I raise the flag of revolution against the 21st Century 'King' George and our so-called 'elected representatives'. You are all culpable for enabling this administration to destroy the nation I love. I want you all out; Democrat, Republican, Independent, and I want a new system put in place. One that does not pander to the folks with the most money.
Update: 14:55:
The inbred country music moron will be Clint Black. My apologies to Lee Greenwood. (Thanks to the Poorman)
Friday, August 12, 2005
Roll dem bones, niner come eleven
BradBlog has a whiff of a disturbing not-quite-a-conspiracy-yet theory, tying Mohammad Atta to Abramoff and thus to DeLay and Republicans, in my little pea brain anyway.
If the 9/11 killers were in any way associated with Abramoff, DeLay, or the Republicans, there is going to be a literal, well-deserved bloodbath. I'd like to see more investigation of this.
On September 26, 2001, Associated Press writer Vickie Chachere reported that FBI agents probing Atta's connections had turned their attention to SunCruz casinos -- then owned by Abramoff:SunCruz Casinos has turned over photographs and other documents to FBI investigators after employees said they recognized some of the men suspected in the terrorist attacks as customers... Names on the passenger list from a Sept. 5 cruise matched those of some of the hijackers...
Since Abramoff used SunCruz to provide services to Republicans (we may safely presume that the Super Bowl junket wasn't the only occasion), I'd very much like to see that September 5, 2001 passenger manifest. Who was on the boat with the terrorists?
The Toronto Star of September 20, 2002 reported that members of al Qaida were arrested in Buffalo, New York, for participation in a money laundering scheme centered at the Casino Niagara.
We have excellent reason to suspect that a similar scheme prompted Mohammed Atta to hop aboard Jack Abramoff's SunCruz ship.
If -- and based on the current state of evidence, we must stress the word "if" -- if further evidence links Mohammed Atta to G.O.P.-friendly shady operators, then many lingering questions may find an answer. Among those questions: Why was the ABLE DANGER team told to steer clear of Atta?
If the 9/11 killers were in any way associated with Abramoff, DeLay, or the Republicans, there is going to be a literal, well-deserved bloodbath. I'd like to see more investigation of this.
Ugh
ABC News had a segment on this morning about Intelligent Design. The thing that got me was a statistic saying 45% of the American people believe God spat man on this Earth, fully formed, about 10,000 years ago. Nearly half of us. I'm sorry, I'm all for religious tolerance (I come from a long line of Roman Catholics) and respecting others' beliefs, but it is difficult to believe half of us are that stupid.
So, today shit changes. From now on, if anybody uses the word 'God' or 'the Good Lord' or any other euphimism to support their position, I'm gonna walk away. I refuse to argue with people who can't tell the difference between belief and scientific fact.
You are a bunch of fucking idiots, a waste of my good air, and deserve everything this administration will do to you. I am ashamed to call you my fellow Americans. In my book, you're the people who should be rounded up and put in camps, not to be tortured but to be educated. And you shouldn't be let out until you understand how the world really works. Because of you stupid motherfuckers, the nation you claim to love so much is going down the tubes.
And a special note to the people of Ohio, who seem to be the dumbest of the lot. Your young people are dying at an astounding rate in Iraq (more than any state in the union), I saw some of your sons' funerals on the news this morning, and most of you still support the criminals in the White House and this illegal war. Wake up, you stupid motherfuckers, because you're going from a national disgrace to national laughingstock. You're being used and you don't even realize it, morons.
When I read of the stupidity of my fellow Americans, it just makes me want to pack it in and move to Europe. You morons make me ashamed to be an American and I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that would happen.
So, today shit changes. From now on, if anybody uses the word 'God' or 'the Good Lord' or any other euphimism to support their position, I'm gonna walk away. I refuse to argue with people who can't tell the difference between belief and scientific fact.
You are a bunch of fucking idiots, a waste of my good air, and deserve everything this administration will do to you. I am ashamed to call you my fellow Americans. In my book, you're the people who should be rounded up and put in camps, not to be tortured but to be educated. And you shouldn't be let out until you understand how the world really works. Because of you stupid motherfuckers, the nation you claim to love so much is going down the tubes.
And a special note to the people of Ohio, who seem to be the dumbest of the lot. Your young people are dying at an astounding rate in Iraq (more than any state in the union), I saw some of your sons' funerals on the news this morning, and most of you still support the criminals in the White House and this illegal war. Wake up, you stupid motherfuckers, because you're going from a national disgrace to national laughingstock. You're being used and you don't even realize it, morons.
When I read of the stupidity of my fellow Americans, it just makes me want to pack it in and move to Europe. You morons make me ashamed to be an American and I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that would happen.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Feel The Water Gettin' Warmer, Tommy Boy?
Since this doesn't directly involve or indict DeLay, I will only do the Modified Dance of Joy, i.e. with my pants on. From AP:
I think I know how you can get some of that time knocked off, Jackie me boy. The Federal prosecutor will no doubt run the plan by you. Sing loud when he tells you to.
MIAMI - Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a key figure in investigations involving House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on fraud charges arising from a 2000 deal to buy casino boats.
The indictment, returned by a grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, charges that Abramoff and an associate, 36-year-old New York businessman Adam Kidan, used a fake wire transfer to defraud two lenders out of some $60 million to finance the deal for SunCruz Casinos.
Abramoff and Kidan are charged with five counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. Each count carries a penalty of up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
I think I know how you can get some of that time knocked off, Jackie me boy. The Federal prosecutor will no doubt run the plan by you. Sing loud when he tells you to.
Decency vs. Evil
R.J. Eskow at Night Light with a thoughtful piece on Mrs. Sheehan and the Evil she faces in our name:
I doubt that Bush and his cabal have ever known decency, except as a weakness to be exploited in their bloodlust for power and wealth, and to Hell with everyone else.
Sound extreme? Maybe that's just because after so many years of radical conservatism (or pseudo-conservatism serving a class-warfare agenda), we've forgotten what decency looks like.
I doubt that Bush and his cabal have ever known decency, except as a weakness to be exploited in their bloodlust for power and wealth, and to Hell with everyone else.
Smearing Cindy
Here's an article at News Hounds, and another at Crooks and Liars, about Bill O'Ratturd's attempt to smear Mrs. Sheehan by trying to intimidate another Gold Star Mom, Mrs. Kesterson, into saying her son Eric died for a noble cause.
Also, track a lie through the wingnut media at Media Matters.
Also, track a lie through the wingnut media at Media Matters.
Shameless Local Promotion
I was reading the Los Angeles Times this morning, like I do every morning, and discovered that we grow stuff here besides Movie Stars!
Here's an article about the Kiwi, Prune, Egg, Garlic, Clam, Artichoke, Lemon, and Avocado Capitals. Horseradish and some others are mentioned as well, but nothing about the popular edible Cactus. Maybe that's in the Spanish language edition.
We also grow a very popular Herb that some say is our #1 cash crop. The National Park Service isn't very happy about the location of some of the big farms, either, but:
Enjoy.
Here's an article about the Kiwi, Prune, Egg, Garlic, Clam, Artichoke, Lemon, and Avocado Capitals. Horseradish and some others are mentioned as well, but nothing about the popular edible Cactus. Maybe that's in the Spanish language edition.
We also grow a very popular Herb that some say is our #1 cash crop. The National Park Service isn't very happy about the location of some of the big farms, either, but:
Oddly enough, public outcry has been remarkably muted.
Enjoy.
Sacrifices
Mark Shields via C & L:
They know support for the war would evaporate if the Chimp asked Jesuslanders to sacrifice. Their sons and daughters are one thing, because they're all going to Valhalla after they are killed in combat, but by golly, don't take their SUVs away from them.
[. . .]
As of this writing, 1,827 Americans have been killed in Iraq -- 1,686 of those deaths have occurred since President George W. Bush landed on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln under a banner proclaiming, "Mission Accomplished."
Military service in wartime is not a "job." Recruitment in peacetime mostly emphasizes the benefits of valuable training, college tuition, self-improvement, pay and adventure. Combat and casualties are not part of the pitch.
Not surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of enlistees come from the lower-middle-class and blue-collar families. The affluent stand above and apart from military service, especially from the enlisted ranks -- the privates and the sergeants, from whose ranks have come more than 90 percent of the casualties and fatalities. This class exemption from service and from sacrifice produces an ethical failure that a democratic and moral people cannot tolerate.
Moral logic tells us that when the nation legally goes to war, it is everybody's war and it must be everybody's risk. But the elite of the country seeks to make war little more than a spectator sport.
Citizens on the home front who do not have loved ones in the service are asked to pay no price, to bear no burden. The Bush administration does not even ask us to pick up the cost of the war, already in the hundreds of billions. That burden will be borne instead by our children. We, patriots, will keep our tax cuts. Do our leaders think so little of us that they are afraid to ask us to make any real sacrifice? [my emphasis]
[. . .]
They know support for the war would evaporate if the Chimp asked Jesuslanders to sacrifice. Their sons and daughters are one thing, because they're all going to Valhalla after they are killed in combat, but by golly, don't take their SUVs away from them.
Liberal Intolerance
Sometimes I get lucky and find somebody who says what I think better than I ever could. This one is 99.9+%. Nothing's perfect. By Mark Morford in the EssEffChron:
I liked this one so much I wanted to save it. Please read the rest Below the Fold.
I get this a lot: Hey Mark, you nefarious and perverted liberal commie tofu-hugging sex-drunk San Francisco medical experiment gone wrong from the land of fruits and nuts (or some iteration thereof -- so cute, my hate mail can be), hey, I notice you love to ridicule those creepy Christian megachurches and you enjoy spanking wide-eyed Mormons and tweaking the litigious nipples of the cult of Scientology and you recoil at toxic Bush policy like a vegetarian recoils at undercooked veal.
And I can tell you think Dick Cheney is pretty much the devil in a defibrillator and that America is so desperately on the wrong track it might as well be North Korea, and you clearly tend to wince in savage karmic pain when looking down the rusty barrel of a welfare-happy red state and I just have one slightly nasty and pointed and cliched question for you -- Here it is: Where is your supposed progressive openness? Your liberal generosity of spirit? I thought you Lefties were all mushy and passive and live-and-let-live?
In other words, where is that famous so-called tolerance I thought all you wimpy libs were supposed to possess like some sort of gentle polyamorous smiling hug for the world?
I liked this one so much I wanted to save it. Please read the rest Below the Fold.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
It's all about the fucking
I don't read wingnut shit. It gets me homicidal. But John Lombard does. He reads Ben Shapiro's book (why I have no idea) and finds out it's all about the fucking . . . and school vouchers:
Isn't it amazing that all the bullshit still comes down to guys who are worried about the length of their pricks and and their obsession with making all the rest of us who aren't pay for it?
[. . .]
It offends Ben that people should be able to fuck without consequences. It strikes at the core of his moral being that these tarts should be able to get away with it. He wants to stamp out free fucking, he wants to put an end to this affront to his understanding of the moral order of the universe.
[. . .]
Isn't it amazing that all the bullshit still comes down to guys who are worried about the length of their pricks and and their obsession with making all the rest of us who aren't pay for it?
Actions Have Consequences...HooHah! Do They Ever!
Fixer did a post on safe driving the other day at The Fixer & Gordon. Well, here's one that I found at A Mockingbird's Medley on what can happen to you if you're asleep at the switch and cop an attitude about it. As Mimus Pauly says, listen and learn...
Caution! Swallow your drink and set the rest of it down a safe distance away first!
Bend over . . . once more
The insightful CN Todd:
Shut up, you assholes. Be glad you have a job. It's amazing the shit they get away with, never mind Halliburton, the double standard, everything, and the sheeple just go along with it. Bush is pissing on them, telling them it's raining, and they hold their heads to the sky and stick out their tongues. Good links over there too.
Bad news for America's peasants and wage slaves today as corporate airline giant Delta announces it just cannot figure out how to make money any more. Not to worry, though, since Delta asked its peasant labor to take a $1 billion wage and benefit cut last year when faced with a similar crisis. Analysts predict that the airline may simply ask workers to take home even less.
[. . .]
Shut up, you assholes. Be glad you have a job. It's amazing the shit they get away with, never mind Halliburton, the double standard, everything, and the sheeple just go along with it. Bush is pissing on them, telling them it's raining, and they hold their heads to the sky and stick out their tongues. Good links over there too.
GWB is a pussy
That's what the Chemist says and I agree.
I got no problems with cowards, as long as they act like cowards and everyone can see that. I got a problem with cowards who talk a big line but do nothing to back it up when push comes to shove. Cowards like that get people killed.
I got one of them who comes to the shop. All big talk, 'rah-rah bomb Iraq', 'rah-rah kill 'em all', 'they deserve to be tortured', shit like that. But look at this asshole crosseyed and he runs like a squealing little pig. He wouldn't come to the shop for a month because he was scared after reading a rant I wrote here giving Bush a warning. He was scared the guys in black Crown Victorias would come to get me and he didn't want to get swept up in the raid. The next time I saw him on the street, I spit on his shoes. Figured I'd give him an excuse to take a poke at me. Puh, he ran away. Fucking asshole.
[. . .]
And here's where he shows himself to be nothing more than a cowering little pussy: he won't even come out and face her [Cindy Sheehan]. He's her employee, right? He should face her.
[. . .]
I got no problems with cowards, as long as they act like cowards and everyone can see that. I got a problem with cowards who talk a big line but do nothing to back it up when push comes to shove. Cowards like that get people killed.
I got one of them who comes to the shop. All big talk, 'rah-rah bomb Iraq', 'rah-rah kill 'em all', 'they deserve to be tortured', shit like that. But look at this asshole crosseyed and he runs like a squealing little pig. He wouldn't come to the shop for a month because he was scared after reading a rant I wrote here giving Bush a warning. He was scared the guys in black Crown Victorias would come to get me and he didn't want to get swept up in the raid. The next time I saw him on the street, I spit on his shoes. Figured I'd give him an excuse to take a poke at me. Puh, he ran away. Fucking asshole.
Posting
My posting will be limited the next week and a half. Usually, we close the shop down for the middle 2 weeks in August, but this year we all had different vacation plans. This week and next, Indian is up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, camping with Mrs. Indian. As most of you know, I'm semi-retired and I work from 7 to 1. Leaves my afternoons free for blogging (among other things). This week and next though, I'll be working late to take up the Indian's slack. So bear with me and I'll be back in full rant mode as soon as Ol' Blanket Ass gets back.
Tuesday, August 9, 2005
Bush Vows To End U.S. Oil Dependence
This just in from The Onion:
I feel a lot better now. Gives me something to live for.
WASHINGTON, DC - President Bush unveiled an aggressive initiative Monday that would make the U.S. free of petroleum dependence by the year 4920, less than three millennia from now.
Responding to reporters' questions, Bush admitted that our progeny could face challenges in pursuit of the goal, such as the earth's degrading orbit and eventual destruction of the moon by tidal force, or the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
"Our distant relations will have some hard work to do," Bush said. "But hard work is what built this nation, and I have every faith that they will succeed."
The proclamation comes on the heels of Bush's plans to pay off the national debt by the early 6300s, and win the war on terror by 7450.
I feel a lot better now. Gives me something to live for.
Sticker Shock over Shell Shock
From Truthout, on the VA's unconscionable treatment of Veterans:
Every month in the VFW magazine there are personal ads from Vets of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam seeking old service buddies to help them establish VA claims. I think the VA has caught up with Spanish-American War and WWI claims, because there aren't many ads from those Vets. I'm sure the VA hopes to catch up on claims from later conflicts in the same manner.
A grateful nation speaks: "You did what we wanted you to do. We used you 'til you were useless to us. You suffered terribly. You should be very proud of your service and hold your head high. Now fuck off."
The US government is reviewing 72,000 cases in which veterans have been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, claiming that misdiagnosis and fraud have inflated the numbers. Outraged vets say the plan is a callous attempt to cut the costs of an increasingly expensive war.
To outraged veterans groups, the review smacks of a convenient way to cut costs during an increasingly expensive war and reflects a reluctance by the department to take PTSD seriously. "The V.A. hopes to trim costs for existing war veterans and recently returning war veterans by targeting PTSD," says Steve Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center, a veterans advocacy organization in Silver Spring, Md. "This is a desperate and despicable move by an administration caught without a plan, the money, or the staff to care for our nation's wounded warriors."
What that boils down to, says Robinson, is that veterans caught in the V.A. review are going to have to prove they were hurt all over again. "If you had a claim granted during this time period, you better get out your [military records] and start calling your buddies for evidence of your combat exposure," he says.
Every month in the VFW magazine there are personal ads from Vets of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam seeking old service buddies to help them establish VA claims. I think the VA has caught up with Spanish-American War and WWI claims, because there aren't many ads from those Vets. I'm sure the VA hopes to catch up on claims from later conflicts in the same manner.
In June, the V.A. issued an order that would have made it more difficult to grant veterans 100 percent disability for PTSD by requiring further review of those cases before granting payments. It was rescinded a week later in the face of intense criticism from veterans groups, who wanted equal scrutiny on cases where the department decided to deny a PTSD claim.
"There are a lot of people out there who want to make some changes on the backs of veterans," says Smithson. "This is a really scary time."
A grateful nation speaks: "You did what we wanted you to do. We used you 'til you were useless to us. You suffered terribly. You should be very proud of your service and hold your head high. Now fuck off."
Reefer Madness
AlterNet's DrugReporter has a good article on The War On Some Drugs' continuing misdirection against marijuana. Many good, and some really stupid, comments as well.
We could end all the anti-weed efforts in a New York minute if Sara Lee, HoHos, and Krispy Kreme would kick down some campaign contributions. Their stock would be through the roof with legalized pot.
"We're seeing an increasing number of organizations from all sides of the political spectrum starting to question these policies," explains Mirkin. "We've had reports just in the last six months or so from the Sentencing Project, which tends to be on the left side of the political spectrum, as well as the American Enterprise Institute and Citizens Against Government Waste, who are much more on the conservative side. But they are all essentially saying the same thing: This doesn't make sense. We're pouring money down a rat hole and very possibly doing more harm than good."
We could end all the anti-weed efforts in a New York minute if Sara Lee, HoHos, and Krispy Kreme would kick down some campaign contributions. Their stock would be through the roof with legalized pot.
Home, Home Out Of On The Range...
Wonkette chimes in on Mrs. Sheehan's sun-filled Summer vacation:
I think the "folks" Bush meets with "out in the heartland" are the same big contributors and other assorted snakes that he meets with in DC. Apparently, ordinary citizens (Mrs. Sheehan is anything but ordinary!) aren't allowed within five miles ofDer Fuhrer His Majesty. I think he's scared of his adoring public, let alone the traitors who disagree with him, and is staying out of rifle range.
If you've got a few minutes, Technorati has one or two more articles on Mrs. Sheehan's situation.
Does anybody remember why it is that Bush went to Crawford for four weeks? Scott McClellan brushed off detractors with this folksy argument:Spending time outside of Washington always gives the president a fresh perspective of what's on the minds of the American people. It's a time, really, for him to shed the coat and tie and meet with folks out in the heartland and hear what's on their minds.
Hey, that's funny, there's someone just outside the ranch who'd love see him!
I think the "folks" Bush meets with "out in the heartland" are the same big contributors and other assorted snakes that he meets with in DC. Apparently, ordinary citizens (Mrs. Sheehan is anything but ordinary!) aren't allowed within five miles of
If you've got a few minutes, Technorati has one or two more articles on Mrs. Sheehan's situation.
Martial Law
Forget the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, the Pentagon already has plans to use the military in case of domestic terrorist attack.
From Newshounds (August 9th):
"Don't Let a Little Thing Like "The Law" Get in the Way
Here's a little tidbit from yesterday's (8/8) FNL that should make everyone sit up & pay attention.
At 12:03pm (EDT) Greg Kelly reported on the US military planning a "domestic military response" in case of a terror attack in the US. Kelly said such duties could include "crowd control" & coping with the aftermath of a WMD attack. He also noted that the Pentagon is in a "delicate position" because they are "by law prevented from" doing this, but the Pentagon believes it "could be used on orders from" POTUS & it "may have to take charge of" certain crisis duties."
[Bold emphasis mine - BaltLen]
And from the Washington Post-via Truthout (august 8th):
War Plans Drafted to Counter Terror Attacks in US
" Colorado Springs - The U.S. military has devised its first-ever war plans for guarding against and responding to terrorist attacks in the United States, envisioning 15 potential crisis scenarios and anticipating several simultaneous strikes around the country, according to officers who drafted the plans.
...The Pentagon's new homeland defense strategy, issued in June, emphasized in boldface type that "domestic security is primarily a civilian law enforcement function." Still, it noted the possibility that ground troops might be sent into action on U.S. soil to counter security threats and deal with major emergencies. "
[Bold emphasis mine again - BaltLen]
Does everyone feel comfy now?
From Newshounds (August 9th):
"Don't Let a Little Thing Like "The Law" Get in the Way
Here's a little tidbit from yesterday's (8/8) FNL that should make everyone sit up & pay attention.
At 12:03pm (EDT) Greg Kelly reported on the US military planning a "domestic military response" in case of a terror attack in the US. Kelly said such duties could include "crowd control" & coping with the aftermath of a WMD attack. He also noted that the Pentagon is in a "delicate position" because they are "by law prevented from" doing this, but the Pentagon believes it "could be used on orders from" POTUS & it "may have to take charge of" certain crisis duties."
[Bold emphasis mine - BaltLen]
And from the Washington Post-via Truthout (august 8th):
War Plans Drafted to Counter Terror Attacks in US
" Colorado Springs - The U.S. military has devised its first-ever war plans for guarding against and responding to terrorist attacks in the United States, envisioning 15 potential crisis scenarios and anticipating several simultaneous strikes around the country, according to officers who drafted the plans.
...The Pentagon's new homeland defense strategy, issued in June, emphasized in boldface type that "domestic security is primarily a civilian law enforcement function." Still, it noted the possibility that ground troops might be sent into action on U.S. soil to counter security threats and deal with major emergencies. "
[Bold emphasis mine again - BaltLen]
Does everyone feel comfy now?
Last throes
WASHINGTON - Anticipating a new burst of insurgent violence, the Pentagon plans to expand the U.S. force in Iraq to improve security for a planned October referendum and a December election.
Although much public attention has been focused recently on the prospect of reducing U.S. forces next spring and summer, defense officials foresee the likelihood of first increasing troop levels.
[. . .]
"The units that are there have been told to expect that," he said. "It's possible that your planned rotation dates back to the U.S. will be affected by the need to keep a higher level for a longer period of time. They understand that."
[. . .]
Pack your wrenches, Gord. You and I are gonna be fixing Humvees soon.
How'd you like to be a local commander and have tell your people their tours have been extended again? About now, I'd be sleeping with one eye open. (Hat tip: The Farmer)
Monday, August 8, 2005
We Can't Make It Here Any More...
Good lyric posted by Dread Pirate Roberts.
And much more.
Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing, both hands free
No one's paying much mind to him
The V.A. budget's stretched so thin
And there's more comin' home from the Mideast war
We can't make it here anymore
And much more.
Threats
Kos via DemVet:
All of you who've been saying Bush and his henchmen aren't Nazis can go fuck yourselves.
Cindy Sheehan phoned me from Texas a few minutes ago to say that she's been informed that beginning Thursday, she and her companions will be considered a threat to national security and will be arrested. Coincidentally, Thursday is the day that Rice and Rumsfeld visit the ranch, and Friday is a fundraiser event for the haves and the have mores. Cindy said that she and others plan to be arrested.
All of you who've been saying Bush and his henchmen aren't Nazis can go fuck yourselves.
Steamy, Sweaty Testosterone in Brown Shirts...
Rick Mercier opines in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star:
Some of these Boy Scouts are eleven years old. They've raised the enlistment age almost to the point where I've got a choice of being a Soldier or a Wal-Mart greeter. I wonder when they'll feel the need to lower it, perhaps offering High School scholarships as a recruiting aid?
SOMEBODY PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one who saw the coverage of the Boy Scout Jamboree arena show Sunday night and thought: Yikes, that's a bit too much like some of the scary weirdness that torments me in my sleep.
I mean, isn't there something nightmarish about our misleader swooping down on a steaming pit of sweat and testosterone and whipping a throng of brown-shirted youths into a nationalistic frenzy?
And what's not surreal about the author of an unnecessary, costly, and wholly counterproductive war claiming that his policies are "laying the foundations of peace for decades to come"?
The extravaganza featuring our commander in chief felt especially creepy coming on the heels of a weeklong effort by the military to turn the jamboree into one big recruitment fair.
But I guess it's fitting that this president would be flown in to wrap up the recruiting blitz. It's thanks to him that the military is in such desperate need of warm bodies.
And there's always more democracy-spreading to be done. It's no secret that some of the ideologues who whisper in the president's ear subscribe to the notion that "everyone wants to go to Baghdad - real men want to go to Tehran."
Likewise, when Bush said Americans could count on the Eagle Scout who runs the Pentagon to "be prepared," everyone was obliged to overlook the fact that U.S. forces were anything but prepared as they headed into combat in Iraq. Thanks to the Eagle Scout, there weren't enough troops, or enough armored vehicles, or enough dependable flak jackets. Thousands of dead and maimed Americans are the result of his preparations.
Some of these Boy Scouts are eleven years old. They've raised the enlistment age almost to the point where I've got a choice of being a Soldier or a Wal-Mart greeter. I wonder when they'll feel the need to lower it, perhaps offering High School scholarships as a recruiting aid?
New Democrats in the Making
From the Binghamton(NY) Press & Sun Bulletin, quoting Paul Hackett of Ohio:
In my opinion, the only way the deaths of our troops will not have been in vain is if they piss Americans off enough that Republicans and Neo-conmen will never, ever, take over this country again.
At the same time, he spoke of Marines and soldiers still in Iraq as "young Democrats in the making." If he's right about that, then Bush and Cheney and the rest of those neocon liars who raved about weapons of mass destruction and a "cakewalk" invasion are going to find themselves in trouble if and when those young fighters come home.
Hackett also said he is ready to return to Iraq if called upon, which appeared to confound Goodman. She apparently doesn't understand Marines.
As for Schmidt, she is fortunate that the election was held the day before rather than the day after those 14 Ohio Marines died in Iraq.
But how many more of those brave men and women need to die before an indifferent public wakes up and demands a workable end to what's happening there, and not just empty slogans coming from an empty head.
In my opinion, the only way the deaths of our troops will not have been in vain is if they piss Americans off enough that Republicans and Neo-conmen will never, ever, take over this country again.
It was bound to happen sooner or later...
From Editor & Publisher:
I wonder if they'd have released the anti-war guy if he had prevailed?
The moral of this story is crystal clear: The first one to clear leather and fire wins. Work on your fast draw.
It was bound to happen sooner or later, and in what newspapers in Kentucky are calling a first, one American has killed another in a dispute over the Iraq war.
It happened at Floyd County flea market on Thursday, when two friends, who were firearms vendors there, drew guns after quarreling about the war. Douglas Moore, 65, of Martin, who backs the war, shot and killed Harold Wayne Smith, 56, of Manchester, who opposed it, according to investigators.
Moore was released without being charged after he convinced police he had acted in self-defense. A grand jury may yet hear evidence in the case.
I wonder if they'd have released the anti-war guy if he had prevailed?
This quickly escalated into an argument, then to a scuffle, and finally both men drew pistols outside a snack shed. The dead man was apparently just a little slower in firing (my bold). Witnesses said he stood for about five seconds before toppling on the walkway.
The moral of this story is crystal clear: The first one to clear leather and fire wins. Work on your fast draw.
Piece of shit
------------------------------------------------------
MSNBC Breaking News
------------------------------------------------------
NASA postpones shuttle landing. -
Discovery astronauts ordered to delay landing until Tuesday due to weather concerns.
Well they're postponing the landing because there are clouds in the area. Let's see, it can't get wet, it can't take a hit from a piece of foam, it regularly loses said foam, and you're sending it into space? I wouldn't go around the block in it if it were a car. Tell me why we should risk the lives of our best and brightest in a piece of shit like this? I'd rather travel to the space station in a '56 Buick, shot out of a cannon.
ANWR and the Energy Bill
John is on the ramifications of the Repubs' Energy Bill:
[. . .]
If it were really about reducing our dependency on foreign oil, we'd be a hell of a lot more serious about reducing our dependency on oil, period. For instance, there wouldn't even be a debate about making SUVs more efficient, because they already would have been.
Unfortunately, the reality is that this Administration has long opposed efforts to curtail our consumption of oil. A recent example is another provision left out of the Energy Bill:
[. . .]
Sunday, August 7, 2005
This Monkey's Kung Fu is Very Strong...
Go see what Kung Fu Monkey has to say about the president and unintelligent design. Recommended.
That's sort of in the middle of a terrific rant. Don't miss it.
I'm not going to rehash the whole ridiculousness of Intelligent Design, or as it's more commonly known: "Creationism Trying to Look Serious By, Say, Squinting -- Like Denise Richards Playing the Nuclear Weapons Expert In That Bond Movie". My pal Orac has all the necessary links. If you don't understand that there's absolutely no contradiction between believing in God and evolution, then frankly I'm not going to waste the time trying to jam a rhetorical screwdriver into your pineal gland's butterfly valve and crank up the air flow. Nor will I trot out another version of I Miss Republicans, although I suspect that a fair number of people out there are pretty rattled, as it's become the number one entry page to this blog over the last day.
That's sort of in the middle of a terrific rant. Don't miss it.
Down, Down, Down, In A Burnin' Ring O' Fire
Go see Newsweek's latest poll numbers. Bush keeps dropping. I'll be happy when he drops through the gallows floor.
The myths of Hiroshima
This editorial in the LATimes knocks some big holes in the mythology surrounding the decision to use the atomic bomb on Japan.
There are other reasons we used the bomb, but you have to look kinda deep (foreign documentaries on The History Channel at 3AM) to find 'em:
Justification for the $2,000,000,000 (with a "B") expense.
Plain old-fashioned Revenge, served hot.
Because we could.
Not to justify it, but kindly remember that the Japs killed more civilians at Nanking with bullets and bayonets than were killed with the two A-bombs, not to mention their atrocities elsewhere.
I think it's fortunate for Germany that they surrendered before the bomb was ready, although we may not have used it on them because they didn't sneak-attack us, and they're white. They certainly committed atrocities that dwarfed Japan's.
Americans were also told that use of the bombs "led to the immediate surrender of Japan and made unnecessary the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands." But it's not that straightforward. As Tsuyoshi Hasegawa has shown definitively in his new book, "Racing the Enemy" - and many other historians have long argued - it was the Soviet Union's entry into the Pacific war on Aug. 8, two days after the Hiroshima bombing, that provided the final "shock" that led to Japan's capitulation. (my bold)
The bomb was dropped, as J. Robert Oppenheimer, scientific director of the Manhattan Project, said in November 1945, on "an essentially defeated enemy." President Truman and his closest advisor, Secretary of State James Byrnes, quite plainly used it primarily to prevent the Soviets from sharing in the occupation of Japan. And they used it on Aug. 6 even though they had agreed among themselves as they returned home from the Potsdam Conference on Aug. 3 that the Japanese were looking for peace.
There are other reasons we used the bomb, but you have to look kinda deep (foreign documentaries on The History Channel at 3AM) to find 'em:
Justification for the $2,000,000,000 (with a "B") expense.
Plain old-fashioned Revenge, served hot.
Because we could.
Not to justify it, but kindly remember that the Japs killed more civilians at Nanking with bullets and bayonets than were killed with the two A-bombs, not to mention their atrocities elsewhere.
I think it's fortunate for Germany that they surrendered before the bomb was ready, although we may not have used it on them because they didn't sneak-attack us, and they're white. They certainly committed atrocities that dwarfed Japan's.
It points to competence, your honor
This via Roger Ailes the Good:
Personally, if the guy is trying to redeem his worthless ass by helping kids from Death Row, more power to him. But this shows the kind of idiots who are running the show at 1600. I'm sure it would only have taken a Google search to figure out what this guy was about. It's the same way they planned for Iraq. Chimpy Inc has brought superficiality to an art form.
Update: 12:50:
I did a Google search just to see. Here's his homepage.
A White House council on volunteerism said Friday it's taking another look at how the President's Call to Service Award -- accompanied by a laudatory letter from President Bush -- was issued to Stanley "Tookie" Williams, a California Death Row inmate who has written a series of books warning young people against the gang life.
A spokesman for the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation said that neither the council nor Bush had any way of knowing that the person they were honoring was a condemned multiple murderer. [my emphasis]
[. . .]
Personally, if the guy is trying to redeem his worthless ass by helping kids from Death Row, more power to him. But this shows the kind of idiots who are running the show at 1600. I'm sure it would only have taken a Google search to figure out what this guy was about. It's the same way they planned for Iraq. Chimpy Inc has brought superficiality to an art form.
Update: 12:50:
I did a Google search just to see. Here's his homepage.
Go get him
I love this woman. Reminds me of my mom . . . only younger . . . and still alive.
CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- The angry mother [Cindy Sheehan] of a fallen U.S. soldier staged a protest near President Bush's ranch Saturday, demanding an accounting from Bush of how he has conducted the war in Iraq.
[. . .]
She said she decided to come to Crawford a few days ago after Bush said that fallen U.S. troops had died for a noble cause and that the mission must be completed.
"I want to ask the president, `Why did you kill my son? What did my son die for?" she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "Last week, you said my son died for a noble cause' and I want to ask him what that noble cause is?"
[. . .]
My mom was a tough broad too, and refused to take shit from anybody. I'm glad at least one news service covered this.
Via Cabana Boy.
This is what we're dealing with
Me a year ago (give or take):
Newsweek [link over there] via Attaturk today:
Running a country is NOT a fucking TV show, you idiots.
[. . .]
You know, I write spy novels and some science fiction. The reason I bring this up is not to peddle books, but to make an observation. Bush & Co's actions sound like the plot of a fucking spy novel. It's as if they're taking literary license with the war, the way I would when I ask my audience to suspend their belief in the flow of time and the details. (If writers didn't, novels would be SO long and boring, and filled with minutiae, that no one would want to read them.) But wars don't proceed like novels do. The president is not an omnipotent being, like a writer, who can mold the world so the outcome is in his favor. War, and running a country, involves minutiae on a biblical scale and all the details have to be addressed BEFORE war is declared. It's as if Bush thinks the world works like a TV show or a pulp fiction novel.
Newsweek [link over there] via Attaturk today:
...the White House can at least feel reassured by FX itself, which is part of the Fox TV empire. One of the favorite shows among White House aides has been "24," the Kiefer Sutherland counterterrorism cliffhanger drama. White House aides regularly swap stories about their favorite Sutherland shoot-outs with foreign agents, terrorists and generally bad guys. "Over There" may be a different beast, but it probably appeals to the same crowd. [my emphasis]
Running a country is NOT a fucking TV show, you idiots.
Saturday, August 6, 2005
Dear Mrs. Kerry
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Good letter and a good idea. Read the rest at the Huffington Post. (Hat tip: Colorado Vets)
I'm going to suggest an idea that Bush/Cheney/Rove will hate. That alone should make this post worth reading, shouldn't it?
One year ago tomorrow, August 5th, the sleazy Swift Boat crowd ran their first attack ad on your husband.
[. . .]
Which means if you want justice, you're going to have to do it yourself.
I know what I would do if my spouse was lied about and smeared. I'd spend part of my vast fortune fighting back. And while my vast fortune is not quite in the same league (same universe!) as yours, doesn't that actually make it even more reasonable a suggestion? (Granted, it's totally unfair that I, who don't even know you, make any comment at all -- but that doesn't make this a bad idea.)
After all, 10% of your fortune would buy a huge ad campaign; yet it still leaves you with a decent reserve.
[. . .]
Good letter and a good idea. Read the rest at the Huffington Post. (Hat tip: Colorado Vets)
Oppenheimer's deadly toy
60 years ago today, we learned we can kill people with more efficiency and in greater numbers than we ever could before. Pray we never feel compelled to use them again.
There was a pika, a blinding flash of pink, blue, red, or yellow light -- none of the survivors ever agreed on the color -- brighter than 1,000 suns but coming from a fireball only 110 yards in diameter. In that split second the hypocenter or point of impact reached a heat of 300,000 C. Within a 1,000-yard radius granite buildings melted, steel and stone bridges burned and so did the river below them, roof tiles boiled, and people evaporated, leaving their shadows "photographed" like X-ray negatives on walls and pavements.
[. . .]
Friday, August 5, 2005
How low can you go?
How's 38%? Ha-Ha!
Hat tip: The Farmer
WASHINGTON - Americans' approval of President Bush's handling of Iraq is at its lowest level yet, according to an AP-Ipsos poll that also found fewer than half now think he's honest.
[. . .]
Hat tip: The Farmer
Another Dead Journalist in Iraq
Steven Vincent, a freelance journalist from New York, has become one of more than two dozen journalists killed in Iraq this year. Possibly targeted for his articles, Steven has been published in the Christian Science Monitor, the New York Times and the National Review.
His reports on corruption in Basra quite possibly made him a very big target:
"Then there was the highly-placed official in the Electrical Transmission Directorate who admitted to us that the government pays the notorious Garamsha tribe to protect high-voltage power lines from--well, the Garamsha themselves. A businesswoman complained that if you're not affiliated with a religious party, your low bid--even for projects involving international NGOs--will have difficulty finding acceptance. The owner of a cargo-hauling company described the port of Um Qasr as a veritable On the Waterfront-like scene of smuggling, theft and looting--which, when accused of complicity in the crimes, the former port manager blamed on--who else?--corrupt Americans."
Further reading:
Reality check
His reports on corruption in Basra quite possibly made him a very big target:
"Then there was the highly-placed official in the Electrical Transmission Directorate who admitted to us that the government pays the notorious Garamsha tribe to protect high-voltage power lines from--well, the Garamsha themselves. A businesswoman complained that if you're not affiliated with a religious party, your low bid--even for projects involving international NGOs--will have difficulty finding acceptance. The owner of a cargo-hauling company described the port of Um Qasr as a veritable On the Waterfront-like scene of smuggling, theft and looting--which, when accused of complicity in the crimes, the former port manager blamed on--who else?--corrupt Americans."
Further reading:
Reality check
Trouble in Murdoch paradise?
We can only hope. From Australia:
"Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his eldest son Lachlan, who last week resigned from the family's News Corporation, have denied reports the departure is related to a dispute over inheritances, reports say.
The Australian Financial Review reported that Lachlan's resignation was prompted in part by Murdoch senior's decision to make sweeping changes to his family's shareholding in News Corporation which would substantially reduce the power of his four adult children.
The changes would give Murdoch's two infant children with third wife Wendi Deng an equal interest in the AE Harris Trust which holds the family's 6.17 billion US dollar holding in News Corp., it said without naming sources.
"There is no dispute. All my children will be treated equally and I look forward to the day when Lachlan wants to return to News Corporation," Rupert Murdoch said, according to reports attributed to New Corp's US spokesman.
The company's Australian spokesman, Greg Baxter, also said that Lachlan Murdoch's decision to leave News Corp. was based solely on his desire to return to Australia and begin the next phase of his career.
"There is no relationship between his decision and the speculation and rumours," Baxter told The Australian.
According to the Australian Financial Review, the changes to the shareholdings would invalidate the deal Murdoch struck with former wife Anna during their divorce proceedings in 1999.
That deal granted Anna's three children, Elizabeth, Lachlan and James, as well as Murdoch's daughter from his first marriage, Prudence McLeod, control of the trust in the event of his death.
Under the new deal, Deng will become the most powerful player in the family trust when Murdoch dies because she will act as guardian to her two children, Grace, 3 and Chloe, 2, until they can claim their inheritance at the age of 30.
The review said that simmering tensions among the older Murdoch children about Deng's role had culminated in the resignation of Lachlan, 33, from his position as deputy chief operating officer for the global media organisation on Friday.
News Corp. sources also hinted at disagreements between Rupert and Lachlan over the father's interference in the Fox TV station group run directly by Lachlan.
Lachlan has also felt undermined by senior executives and was at odds with News Corp. chief operating officer Peter Chernin, it said."
Emphasis in bold is mine.
"Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his eldest son Lachlan, who last week resigned from the family's News Corporation, have denied reports the departure is related to a dispute over inheritances, reports say.
The Australian Financial Review reported that Lachlan's resignation was prompted in part by Murdoch senior's decision to make sweeping changes to his family's shareholding in News Corporation which would substantially reduce the power of his four adult children.
The changes would give Murdoch's two infant children with third wife Wendi Deng an equal interest in the AE Harris Trust which holds the family's 6.17 billion US dollar holding in News Corp., it said without naming sources.
"There is no dispute. All my children will be treated equally and I look forward to the day when Lachlan wants to return to News Corporation," Rupert Murdoch said, according to reports attributed to New Corp's US spokesman.
The company's Australian spokesman, Greg Baxter, also said that Lachlan Murdoch's decision to leave News Corp. was based solely on his desire to return to Australia and begin the next phase of his career.
"There is no relationship between his decision and the speculation and rumours," Baxter told The Australian.
According to the Australian Financial Review, the changes to the shareholdings would invalidate the deal Murdoch struck with former wife Anna during their divorce proceedings in 1999.
That deal granted Anna's three children, Elizabeth, Lachlan and James, as well as Murdoch's daughter from his first marriage, Prudence McLeod, control of the trust in the event of his death.
Under the new deal, Deng will become the most powerful player in the family trust when Murdoch dies because she will act as guardian to her two children, Grace, 3 and Chloe, 2, until they can claim their inheritance at the age of 30.
The review said that simmering tensions among the older Murdoch children about Deng's role had culminated in the resignation of Lachlan, 33, from his position as deputy chief operating officer for the global media organisation on Friday.
News Corp. sources also hinted at disagreements between Rupert and Lachlan over the father's interference in the Fox TV station group run directly by Lachlan.
Lachlan has also felt undermined by senior executives and was at odds with News Corp. chief operating officer Peter Chernin, it said."
Emphasis in bold is mine.
Friday Cattle Dog Blogging
Princess Shayna
"When's mom coming home, damn it?"
Cattle Dog note: Notice all the hair on the rug in my office? Australian Cattle Dogs have a dual-layer coat they shed twice a year and boy do they shed (enough for 5 dogs). It takes about 6 weeks. In that time, I leave the vacuum out and plugged in. That rug was vacuumed not 24 hours before this pic was taken. And no, she doesn't get the attitude from me, it's the Dingo blood.
"When's mom coming home, damn it?"
Cattle Dog note: Notice all the hair on the rug in my office? Australian Cattle Dogs have a dual-layer coat they shed twice a year and boy do they shed (enough for 5 dogs). It takes about 6 weeks. In that time, I leave the vacuum out and plugged in. That rug was vacuumed not 24 hours before this pic was taken. And no, she doesn't get the attitude from me, it's the Dingo blood.
Thursday, August 4, 2005
Interoffice Memo
Just got this e-mail from the Mrs.:
"TOWEL HEADS"
Recently I received a warning about the use of this politically incorrect term, so please note, we all need to be more sensitive in our choice of words.
I have been informed the Islamic terrorists, who hate our guts and want to kill us, do not like to be called "Towel Heads," since the item they wear on their heads is not actually a towel, but in fact, a small folded sheet.
Therefore, from this point forward, please refer to them as "Little Sheet Heads."
Thank you for your support and compliance on this delicate matter.
Quote of the Day
From a story at YahooNews about the latest Marines to be wasted uselessly killed in Iraq:
I hope he has his resume ready.
"We are never going to win this thing militarily, that is the bottom line,"
said Lieutenant General John Sattler of the First Marine Expeditionary Force, in a candid conversation in Washington last week.
I hope he has his resume ready.
History Lesson
This has been on other blogs recently, and here, but if you haven't read "Fisking the 'War on Terror'" by Juan Cole, do so now.
That asshole's hand is reaching out of the grave to help Bush fuck up America. I hope he's in Hell.
By giving the Muj weaponry like the stinger shoulderheld missile, which could destroy advanced Soviet arms like their helicopter gunships, Reagan demonstrated to the radical Muslims that they could defeat a super power
That asshole's hand is reaching out of the grave to help Bush fuck up America. I hope he's in Hell.
Iraq Veteran on the "Truth Tour"
This is a coupla weeks old, but well worth reading seeing as how we're climbing Media's frame today. Iraq Veteran Paul Rieckhoff at The Huffington Post (which isn't turning out too badly, I think):
What's a coupla thousand American lives compared to a chance to ingratiate yourself with the White House and further your career? These wingnut deejays are despicable.
In an act of blatant propaganda, half-a-dozen conservative talk radio hosts spent the past week broadcasting from Iraq on a Defense Department-sponsored trip aimed at finding the "good news that the old-line liberal news media won't tell you about." The trip was sponsored by "Move America Forward"--the same idiots who sold "I Love Gitmo" bumper stickers on their website.
Even before arriving in country, the so-called 'Truth Tour' had taken to depicting the conflict in rosy terms. After a barbecue at CENTCOM in Tampa, commentator Howard Kaloogian spoke with excitement about the upcoming, "vacation adventure."
Mr. Kaloogian, take your war tourism and stick it up your microphone. You and your buddies stayed for a mere four days in the luxurious confines of the Green Zone and saw images like these. Real troops are there for a year and see images like these (Note: link is to OpTruth. Original page not found).
This is a war zone, not a photo op. For the Troops in Baghdad, Tikrit and Fallujah, who are being deployed for their second and third tours, this war is far from a 'vacation adventure.' This type of shameless cheerleading and agenda-driven journalism is an insult to those who have sacrificed on the frontlines of this war and experienced its terrible toll.
What's a coupla thousand American lives compared to a chance to ingratiate yourself with the White House and further your career? These wingnut deejays are despicable.
Anonymous Lies From Anonymous Sources
Frances Cerra Whittelsey in The Nation:
I have nothing to add to that.
So now we know for sure. Those "highly placed Bush Administration sources" anonymously quoted over and over again in front-page and cover stories are, in fact, the likes of Karl Rove and Lewis Libby. The Valerie Plame affair has not only outed the chronic propaganda leakers in the Bush Administration; it has also exposed for the public to see the corrupt relationship between the White House and leading members of the national press corps.
It's no wonder George W. Bush has such contempt for the media. His cronies must laugh regularly about how easily they manipulate reporters. Driven by ego and competitive pressure, they are willing carriers of the Administration's propaganda, blinded by feelings of false power because they are close to the people actually pulling their strings.
We need a national shield law, but not to protect promises of confidentiality to some of the most powerful people In the world. We need it to protect reporters who place their jobs on the line--and frequently lose them--when they take the risk of exposing abuses of power by those inside government and without.
No, the first lesson of the Valerie Plame affair should not be about how better to protect reporters like Judith Miller, although reporters clearly need better protection. Instead, let's first make it an occasion for soul-searching about how the mainstream media covers the President of the United States.
I have nothing to add to that.
A Very Intelligent Design...
I would have posted this earlier, but it took awhile for the blood to return to my brain. Greg Moses at Counterpunch has the best idea yet on the teaching of ID:
What a positively fine idea. Go read the rest.
Also in a perfect world, George W. Bush will be spending decades in prison for his part in launching at least one cold-blooded and illegal war. So in the perfect world that Bush is helping to shape, why couldn't he teach intelligent design in prison, too? It will make a fine seminar for war criminals.
What a positively fine idea. Go read the rest.
Intelligent Design
Atrios expresses my feelings on this exactly:
We are at the pinnacle of technological evolution and yet in this day and age, there is still a debate. Incredible. I have zero tolerance for stupid as it is, but this takes the cake.
[. . .]
Kudos to our wonderful media for treating this as a he said/she said issue, where one side is the entire legitimate scientific community and the other side consists of a bunch of good Christian liars trying to dress their religion up as science. They tried once before with "Creation Science" and now they're trying again with "Intelligent Design."
We are at the pinnacle of technological evolution and yet in this day and age, there is still a debate. Incredible. I have zero tolerance for stupid as it is, but this takes the cake.
Wednesday, August 3, 2005
Hackett . . . again
I was gonna post on this but in light of Gord's post below, and in the spirit of not beating a dead horse, I'll just send ya over to Cabana Boy who already did.
How'd I Do, Pop? Huh? Huh?
Go see the picture at Dependable Renegade, another NYC blog. Heh. Thanks, Cleek.
Close, But No Cigar - This Time
If you're following the now-decided Hackett/Schmidt race in Ohio - and who isn't? - it seems even the Reps couldn't cheat the results enough to make it a landslide.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer:
One of the most endearing qualities of Marines is their use of tact and diplomatic language.
And don't miss Billmon:
He then goes on at length about Clermont County's political machinations, you should pardon the pun.
Good point, 'Mon. I wonder if Fitzgerald will be free soon...
Personally, my posting style does not admit to the concept of "planning ahead", but Billmon's sure does. Go read.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer:
The apparent win by Republican Jean Schmidt in Tuesday's 2nd Congressional District election was in no way shocking, but the fact that Democrat Paul Hackett made it a very close election is nothing short of astounding.
Carl Forti, a spokesman for the NRCC, said last Thursday that the party had decided to "bury'' Hackett because of a quote that day in USA Today in which Hackett said he was willing to go to Iraq and serve for "the son of a bi - - - in the White House."
One of the most endearing qualities of Marines is their use of tact and diplomatic language.
And don't miss Billmon:
Paul Hackett easily beat my expectations, as well as those of the Washington punditburo, in Ohio's special congressional election yesterday. He did not, however, beat his opponent, Jean Schmidt, who will now take her rightful place with the other GOP heel clickers in our Chamber of People's Deputies.
If Schmidt's victory margin is in double digits, this tells us that there is not much of an anti-GOP wind in Ohio right now. If the margin is say six to nine points for Schmidt, then there is a wind, but certainly no hurricane. A Schmidt win of less than five points should be a very serious warning sign for Ohio Republicans that something is very, very wrong, while a Hackett victory would be a devastating blow to the Ohio GOP.
He then goes on at length about Clermont County's political machinations, you should pardon the pun.
Of course, none of this proves, or even makes a circumstantial case, that yesterday's election was stolen. Maybe the inhabitants of Clerrmont County really are just unusually witless in their devotion to the GOP cause. I live in a Republican machine county myself, so I know how that goes.
But it's still rather remarkable how often the lightning seems to strike in Clermont -- and at the just the right time, producing just the right amount of votes for an otherwise endangered GOP candidate. Like I said, I'd feel a lot better about it if the party stalwarts who run the county's elections were describing the inner workings of the system to a grand jury -- under oath.
Good point, 'Mon. I wonder if Fitzgerald will be free soon...
Nor is there any reason to be defensive about raising the question. After Florida 2000, Ohio 2004, and everything that's come light since then about the Rovian death grip on power, it doesn't seem too tinfoilish to wonder whether the GOP's approach to close elections in Ohio isn't the same as the party's approach to close votes on the House floor -- in which the count is held open until the leadership gets the result it wanted.
Personally, my posting style does not admit to the concept of "planning ahead", but Billmon's sure does. Go read.
Like Fish in the Sea
That's how Chairman Mao described guerilla fighters. It's true whether they're "Freedom Fighters" (yours), or "insurgents" (theirs). Gary Brecher has the best article on the subject vis-a-vis Iraq that I've seen lately. Via AlterNet.
If about 65 attacks per day is "taking it slow", I hope the leaders don't cut 'em loose anytime soon.
Do not miss this article.
If you've been following guerrilla wars as long as I have, you have to laugh when you hear Army PR guys say that the Iraqi insurgents are just a teeny-tiny bad apple in a big barrel of shiny Red Delicious Iraqis. One bad apple -- that little beady-eyed Al Qaeda operative Zarqawi -- is supposedly responsible for the whole mess. Sorry, folks, but insurgencies just don't work that way.
Of course, you can't blame US Army guys for doing their job -- lying to the press. But you sure can blame the press for buying it. I can't believe how pig-ignorant reporters are about the basics of guerrilla warfare This planet has been bursting with guerrilla wars for the past century, but the perky, smiley guys 'n' gals reporting from Iraq still know more about hair spray and "Dating Do's & Don'ts" than they do about urban warfare.
Guerrillas start from scratch. They need to collect the materials for a bomb, put it in place, and set it off without attracting attention. Imagine doing that in a crowded, noisy Baghdad street and you'll see that it wouldn't be possible without the cooperation of everybody in the neighborhood, from the Radio Shack guy who donates the trigger to the granny on the corner, timing the US patrols as she waves sweetly at the GIs.
Our GIs may not be able to tell the difference between an Iraqi and a Saudi or Chechen, but the pro-American Iraqi cops sure can. So the only job these foreign jihadis are really fit for is suicide car-bomb drivers. The insurgents keep the foreign jihadis under wraps until the target convoy comes into view. Then you just put him in the driver's seat and point him at the target.
Contrary to what the dumb-ass press keeps saying, the leaders don't need to "fuel" the insurrection. It's got all the fuel it needs. The Iraqis, not just the Sunnis either, are so pissed-off by now that the real leaders' job is mostly persuading the hotheads to take it slow, plan their attacks.
If about 65 attacks per day is "taking it slow", I hope the leaders don't cut 'em loose anytime soon.
Do not miss this article.
A world of our own making
Juan Cole:
A must read. Hat tip: Corrente.
[. . .]
Reagan also decided to build up Saddam Hussein in Iraq as a counterweight to Khomeinist Iran, authorizing US and Western companies to send him precursors for chemical and biological weaponry. At one point Donald Rumsfeld was sent to Iraq to assure Saddam that it was all right if he used chemical weapons against the Iranians. Reagan had no taste in friends.
[. . .]
A must read. Hat tip: Corrente.
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
Rendition
From the Green Lantern:
This is not the nation I put my ass on the line for.
Tell me, if someone were dicing YOUR penis like a tomato, how long before you "confessed" to being an Al Qaida terrorist?
This is not the nation I put my ass on the line for.
Cows Pass Cars as Polluters
From the LATimes:
Boy, that'd be a day at the beach, huh?
When we drive down south, we pass lots of dairies and a huge feedlot that's right next to I-5. I actually kinda like the smell, mostly because it's temporary at 70mph. It'll actually wake my dogs up. They love it.
Make up your own jokes about installing catalytic converters and annual smog checks.
Got smog?
California's San Joaquin Valley for some time has had the dirtiest air in the country. Monday, officials said gases from ruminating dairy cows, not exhaust from cars, are the region's biggest single source of a chief smog-forming pollutant.
The entire exercise of estimating cow emissions has been lampooned on talk radio as "fart science" run amok - although most gas actually comes from the front end of the cow.
"I'd like to challenge the people that came up with this information to enclose yourself in a shop with a cow, and at the same time have someone enclose themselves in a similar shop with a car or truck running," one critic, Steve Hofman of Ripon, Calif., wrote to the Modesto Bee. "Then let me know the results."
Boy, that'd be a day at the beach, huh?
When we drive down south, we pass lots of dairies and a huge feedlot that's right next to I-5. I actually kinda like the smell, mostly because it's temporary at 70mph. It'll actually wake my dogs up. They love it.
Make up your own jokes about installing catalytic converters and annual smog checks.
Bolton and Democrats
Evan Derkacz has a few things to say about the silver lining behind the cloud of Bolton's appointment, and then he starts in on the Democrats. Via AlterNet.
They'll respect you a Hell of a lot more if you set down the fiddle and then play a real "kickass version". On them.
And despite the fact that it would have been nice if Bush had appointed someone whose goal it was to work with the world to, um, work with the world, if it means that Bolton won't be able to pursue his and the administration's agenda to further isolate America, that may not be such a bad thing. A wash, as it were.
Point is not to diss Kerry; a good number of Democrats are guilty of this hemming and hedging. The point is that it's not only ethically bankrupt to avoid firm, or overly compromising positions, it's bad strategy. With their opposition to Bolton the Democrats are beginning to see the value in not compromising, in taking a stance and fighting for it.
Never mind that Bolton was confirmed ... for now, anyway. Despite administration cries that a permanent presence is necessary in that position, Bolton's one and a half year tenure makes him the substitute teacher of UN ambassadors.
In the long run the Republican machinery has a strategy for branding the Democrats and its adherents will swallow it. It doesn't much matter what the Dems do, the strategy isn't going to shift much. But maybe the Dems need to go back and get some of that good old fashioned schoolyard wisdom. If they call you a sissy for playing the violin, giving up the violin will not make the other kids think you're cool. Walk over to the one calling you a sissy, look 'em in the eye and play a kickass version of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." They still may not like the violin but they will respect you.
They'll respect you a Hell of a lot more if you set down the fiddle and then play a real "kickass version". On them.
Let's review
Missouri Mule at Blondie's documents the atrocities over the past week. Required reading and lotsa links.
Contrasts
Via His Highness:
As opposed to:
The difference between real men and wannabe losers.
July 25 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush may consider bypassing the Senate by appointing John Bolton as United Nations ambassador on a temporary basis if Democrats continue to hold up a vote on his nomination, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan suggested.
"If the Senate fails to act and move forward on those nominees, sometimes there comes a point where the president has needed to fill" a vacancy "in a timely manner," McClellan said today at his regular briefing.
[. . .]
As opposed to:
[. . .]
Bolton isn't the first UN ambassador nominee to be stalled by partisan bickering. Richard Holbrooke, who was nominated to the post by President Bill Clinton in 1998, was held up for 14 months before winning confirmation in August 1999.
At one point during the long stalemate, White House officials raised the prospect of a recess appointment with Holbrooke, according to two people who were involved in the matter. Holbrooke refused, saying it would diminish his credibility at UN. [my emphases]
The difference between real men and wannabe losers.
Monday, August 1, 2005
Have a Blast This Summer
Actually, it's all over for this year, but I know you'll want to bookmark it for next year. The University of Missouri at Rolla offers Summer Explosives Camp.
Fixer could probably get a gig teaching the graduate course: "Alcohol, Dynamite, and Fun in the Sun"!
Ever wonder how dynamite works? What about fireworks? At the 2005 Summer Explosives Camp, you will not only learn how these things work, you will actually be able to get hands on experience! You will learn:
1. How to prime and shoot dynamite.
2. Safety precautions when handling explosives.
3. Where explosives are used.
4. The curriculum and department of Mining Engineering at UMR.
5. What careers are available that are explosive related.
6. How underground blasts work.
7. How explosives are used in industry.
8. How to set up and shoot off a fireworks display.
9. And much more!
Fixer could probably get a gig teaching the graduate course: "Alcohol, Dynamite, and Fun in the Sun"!
Not surprised, are ya?
WASHINGTON - President Bush sidestepped the Senate and installed embattled nominee John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations on Monday, ending a five-month impasse with Democrats who accused Bolton of abusing subordinates and twisting intelligence to fit his conservative ideology.
"This post is too important to leave vacant any longer, especially during a war and a vital debate about UN reform," Bush said. He said Bolton had his complete confidence.
[. . .]
Puh!
Oh Fucking Swell...
The TimesOnline has an interesting piece on the recent disappearance of Al Qaida websites. This paragraph got my attention:
I think it's ironic that perhaps our home-grown christo-fascist militant wingnuts are training radical Islamists online. One fundamentalist whackjob is as bad as any other, I suppose, even if they seem to be at cross-purposes.
Ironically, the most readily available sources of accurate online information on bomb-making are the websites of the radical American militia (my bold). "I have not seen any Al-Qaeda manuals that look like genuine terrorist training," claims Clarke.
I think it's ironic that perhaps our home-grown christo-fascist militant wingnuts are training radical Islamists online. One fundamentalist whackjob is as bad as any other, I suppose, even if they seem to be at cross-purposes.
Rove Update
From the August 8 issue of Time:
From Think Progress:
What's that gurgling sound? Could it be Rove circling the drain?
I think I'll schedule an appointment for a wax job so I'll look nice for my neighbors when I do the Dance of Joy!
As the investigation tightens into the leak of the identity of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame, sources tell TIME some White House officials may have learned she was married to former ambassador Joseph Wilson weeks before his July 6, 2003, Op-Ed piece criticizing the Administration. That prospect increases the chances that White House official Karl Rove and others learned about Plame from within the Administration rather than from media contacts. Rove has told investigators he believes he learned of her directly or indirectly from reporters, according to his lawyer.
From Think Progress:
If these revelations are true, the least of Rove and Libby's concerns is perjury. Today's disclosure adds further evidence that the White Hose consciously dug out Plame's identity, used it, and then engaged in a massive cover-up by pinning blame elsewhere. Moreover, it appears far more players were involved in this orchestrated, administration-wide effort than previously believed. The key question, if these revelations are true, is why did these administration officials lie so overtly to the special prosecutor? Knowing hard evidence would come out sooner or later against them (through leaks, emails, etc), the White House officials still chose to lie. What could they possibly be trying to hide? Perhaps this wasn't just a "third-rate smear."
What's that gurgling sound? Could it be Rove circling the drain?
I think I'll schedule an appointment for a wax job so I'll look nice for my neighbors when I do the Dance of Joy!
Double standards
[. . .]
Dov Hikind, state assemblyman of Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish Community: "You look at London. You look at Madrid. You look at every single case of the individuals who were involved. You know, they look basically like this."
Dov Hikind is referring to the printout of the FBI's most wanted list and how the photo should not be ignored as one of the guides in the NYPD bag search policies.
Dov Hikind: "This is what they look like. Now...they surely look like they come from the Middle Eastern country."
The assemblyman from Brooklyn strongly feels police should be able to stop anyone they want even if the individual fits into one particular group. [Link]
[. . .]
I wonder what he'd say if the people they're looking for were Jewish? If the NYPD jacked up every Hasid or anybody wearing a yarmulke. I'd be willing to bet we'd hear the shouts of 'anti-Semitism' from every corner of the city. Didja notice one of the London bombers was black, you idiot? Are ya gonna jack up every brother in New York too? For folks who say 'never forget' some of 'em certainly have.
Blogging?
Don't know what my schedule will be today. I gotta take a class and test (New York State Vehicle Inspector certification) and I don't know when I'll be home this afternoon. I'm sure the rest of the gang will have some thought provoking posts for ya today though.
More 'moral values'
A Denton County constable drove to a Colorado restaurant on Thursday and called a woman he met through the Internet to let her know he had arrived, according to court papers.
Instead of Marsha showing up with her 8-year-old daughter for a sexual encounter, he met her colleagues - Canon City, Colo., police officers.
Larry Dale Floyd, a 62-year-old constable from The Colony, was arrested on suspicion of soliciting to have sex with a child and was charged with seven related crimes, Canon City police said. [DallasNews.com]
[. . .]
While all I can think about is 'interrogating' this guy for a couple weeks in my own inimitable style, the Sister has a more level headed analysis:
[. . .]
What the hell is it with these people? And exactly how much of this crap am I going to have to read while simultaneously being lectured by the GOP about how they're the party of moral values? Get real, you bullshit artists. Your party is full of men who use your cloak of alleged virtue to hide their depraved proclivities, and until you can purge your ranks of this inordinate number of elected perverts and quit peddling your godliness under the guise of hatred, I don't want to hear anything more about how you're so superior to the rest of us mere mortals, whose greatest transgression is simply not worshipping your hypocrite king.
The same reason these guys flocked to the priesthood is the same reason they flock to the Republican Party. They can hide and do their dirty work. I'm sorry, but pedophiles deserve a bullet, period. With a recidivism rate of close to 90%, there is no rehabilitation for these clowns.
Ethics? Puh!
From Arianna via Atrios:
Let us not allow Judy to hide behind 'journalistic ethics'. The only time she considers ethics is when she's in trouble and needs an out. I hope she rots in jail.
[. . .]
A recurring theme in many of the conversations and e-mails is how Judy [Miller], to the dismay of many of her colleagues, never played by the same rules and standards as other reporters . . .
Let us not allow Judy to hide behind 'journalistic ethics'. The only time she considers ethics is when she's in trouble and needs an out. I hope she rots in jail.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
This is America?
Grandpa Eddie:
Thank you, Republicans. In five years you've managed to take away more of our rights than at any time in American history. Motherfuckers.
[. . .]
Now they have taken this one step further, they don't want their employees to talk, party, have cookouts together, in general gather together outside of the workplace. The security firm Guardsmark had a lawsuit overruled in their favor by the National Labor Relations Board that will allow the firm to prevent their employees from communicating with each other on their own free time away from the job.
[. . .]
Thank you, Republicans. In five years you've managed to take away more of our rights than at any time in American history. Motherfuckers.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Scouts were as prepared for Jamboree as Bush was for Iraq: NOT!
It got quite a few Scouts killed, wounded, and sick too. Not as bad as Iraq of course, but pretty bad for a campout in Virginia. From the LATimes:
Dude, everybody makes mistakes. The trick is to have the clout to cover it up. Haven't you learned anything from the Chimp? We'd have never heard a thing about it if this had happened to the Hitler Youth.
Their motto is: "Be prepared." But as the disaster-riddled National Boy Scout Jamboree carries on following five deaths and hundreds of heat-related illnesses, event planners from across the country are wondering just how prepared the Scouts were.
"It's the most safety-conscious, risk-averse organization I've ever met in my life -- there's a policy for everything," Rudden said. "That's why it's just surprising that this happened. I mean, it's just counterintuitive to all that you're trained. You can't explain it."
Dude, everybody makes mistakes. The trick is to have the clout to cover it up. Haven't you learned anything from the Chimp? We'd have never heard a thing about it if this had happened to the Hitler Youth.
I'm not Fonda Bush either, but I love the comparison...
I'm not going to go into what I think of Ms. Fonda. Suffice it to say that I'm a Vietnam-era Veteran. I saw this article in the LATimes, and after reading a post in a related vein at Adgita Diaries, thought to throw in my 2 Yuan.
LATimes:
Note to Jane from an old mechanic: don't try to run it on straight hummus. It's too thick. Dilute it with oil. Or get way bigger fuel lines!
From AdgitaDiaries:
My favorite line in either article:
Fonda's a lot older and smarter and richer now. Hopefully, she's wiser as well. Whether what she's doing is a good thing, well, that's not for me to say. I hope her actions don't prolong this war and lead to thousands of additional deaths like they did the last time she pulled this kinda stunt. I better not see a picture of her holding an RPG in the company of some grinning insurgents.
LATimes:
Jane Fonda announced Monday that she's heading to Iraq for an anti-war tour in a bus powered by vegetable oil.
Note to Jane from an old mechanic: don't try to run it on straight hummus. It's too thick. Dilute it with oil. Or get way bigger fuel lines!
Doesn't Fonda ever learn? In 1972, after she visited Hanoi and accused U.S. leaders and POWs of war crimes, Fonda became America's most despised anti-war activist. Her Iraq jaunt will only give the hawks something new to snicker about.
But if Fonda learned little from her Vietnam escapades, the U.S. military learned many lessons from both the Vietnam War and the protests it generated.
Many in the armed forces felt bitterly undermined by Fonda's accusations and her cavalier attitude toward American POWs. Although the overwhelming majority of U.S. soldiers served honorably during our terrible war in Vietnam, the military has since come to accept that some of Fonda's points, while exaggerated, were not wholly unfounded.
To U.S. military leaders, one lesson of Fonda's escapades was that preventing war crimes is not only a matter of law and morality, but also crucial to preserving military morale and public support for the troops.
On Monday, Republican Sen. (and former JAG officer) Lindsey Graham released several 2003 memos from JAG Corps leaders to their civilian Defense Department bosses. Unlike the syntax-parsing drivel (my bold) from the Bush Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel - asserting that neither international law nor federal criminal law prohibited the president from authorizing interrogation techniques long viewed as torture - the JAG memos don't mince words.
Rives warned the general counsel's office at the Pentagon that "several of the more extreme interrogation techniques, on their face, amount to violations of domestic criminal law and the [Uniform Code of Military Justice]." His Navy JAG colleague, Rear Adm. Michael Lohr, wrote that at least one of the interrogation techniques suggested by the Justice Department "constitutes torture under both domestic and international law."
The Army's judge advocate general, Maj. Gen. Thomas Romig, said the Justice Department analysis could damage military "interests worldwide... putting our service personnel at far greater risk and vitiating many of the POW/detainee safeguards the U.S. has worked hard to establish over the past five decades."
Although the Bush administration silenced its JAG Corps critics, all their predictions are coming true: The administration's disregard for law has weakened support from allies, provided a propaganda boon to our enemies, and appears to be contributing to lowering the morale of U.S. troops in the field. The JAG Corps itself, which once attracted the best and brightest young military attorneys, has seen its applicant pool diminish substantially in recent years.
In the Vietnam War era, escapades such as Fonda's left American soldiers feeling bitterly undermined by some of their fellow citizens. It's a crying shame that this time around, those undermining the military are in the Bush adminstration (my bold).
From AdgitaDiaries:
Jane's upcoming Corn Oil Truck for Peace has done that for us. With one fell swoop, she has taken her magic wand of misstep and returned to the 60's in away that, without condescention, seems so quaint and charming that its hard to be hard about it.
My favorite line in either article:
You go Jane and please wear a kelvar vest. It's more than our American troops in Iraq are getting. And Barbarella: nail that SOB Duran-Duran Dubya for us along the way. You go girl.
Fonda's a lot older and smarter and richer now. Hopefully, she's wiser as well. Whether what she's doing is a good thing, well, that's not for me to say. I hope her actions don't prolong this war and lead to thousands of additional deaths like they did the last time she pulled this kinda stunt. I better not see a picture of her holding an RPG in the company of some grinning insurgents.
Note to M: If you would like a proofreader who can spell, I come cheap.
You really suck
Kathy at Liberty Street:
If you haven't dropped by Liberty Street, you should. Kathy's another great Jersey blogger in league with Froggy and Tami.
George W. Bush's job approval rating has fallen sharply again, to 44%, after two previous Gallup polls conducted this month had him at 49%. Also, Bush's favorable rating has dropped to 48%: the first time that rating has fallen below 50% since Gallup began tracking it in 1999.
[. . .]
If there's anything we all should have learned from the past decade, it's that "centrist" presidents only lead to far-right Republican presidents. And spare me the revolting calls for "unity." . . .
[. . .]
If you haven't dropped by Liberty Street, you should. Kathy's another great Jersey blogger in league with Froggy and Tami.
On gay rights
TCF has a thoughtful post about the future of gay rights here and elsewhere:
. . . It's not unreasonable to believe that it could be another fifty years before gays and lesbians are afforded the same rights as heteros. And then have wait for a court brave enough to buck the conservative social bigotry with a Brown vs. Board of Education style ruling.
It's difficult to be patient and wait for society to come to grips with its bigotry. Losing battle after battle in an effort to gain equality is a frustrating and exasperating exercise.
Inroads are being made outside of the United States.
[. . .]
Friday, July 29, 2005
Profits
From the Colorado Vets:
How much blood is on Cheney's hands?
Back to work.
Halliburton announces 284 percent increase in war profits . . .
How much blood is on Cheney's hands?
Back to work.
The Twilight Zone
(Hoboken-WABC, July 29, 2005) - Dozens of believers in New Jersey are holding a vigil this morning near a statue that they say - came to life.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus statue is the centerpiece of a nativity scene outside the Jackson Street public housing complex in Hoboken.
Some witnesses say they saw the statue open its right eye, and turn its head toward the crowd.
Many call the event a miracle that could help rescue the neighborhood from problems like drugs and violence.
Words escape me . . .
Back to work.
I'm not here
I'm here, working on the new template. I'll be back tomorrow if my head doesn't explode.
DeLay Could Show Dillinger A Thing Or Two...
From Think Progress:
Yes, DeLay's a scumbag, and now he's pretty much a thief as well. I think he sees the handwriting on the wall and is getting what he can before the hammer, you should pardon the pun, falls. Or maybe he doesn't see it, and is just making sure he greases his district prior to the next election. Either way, he should go to jail.
Tom DeLay thinks the federal treasury is his personal piggy bank. DeLay slipped "a $1.5 billion giveaway to the oil industry, Halliburton, and Sugar Land, Texas" into the energy bill.
But this isn't a normal case of government pork. DeLay has completely dispensed with the democratic process. From a letter Rep. Henry Waxman just sent Speaker Dennis Hastert:
[The provision was inserted into the energy legislation after the conference was closed, so members of the conference committee had no opportunity to consider or reject this measure.]
The $1.5 billion won't be administered by the government [but] by a private consortium in DeLay's district:
Yes, DeLay's a scumbag, and now he's pretty much a thief as well. I think he sees the handwriting on the wall and is getting what he can before the hammer, you should pardon the pun, falls. Or maybe he doesn't see it, and is just making sure he greases his district prior to the next election. Either way, he should go to jail.
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