Yeesh

I know people think this way. Hell, I lived in Ft. Worth and the panhandle of Florida, but it still amazes me. From Jesus' General:

[. . .]

Pastor Armstrong says that we shouldn't worry about things like the economy, insurance rates, or other issues (which I took to mean the Eternal War against Brown People) because God will take care of those things if we stop the homos from getting married.

The moral issues are really going to determine whether God blesses this nation, and if God blesses this nation, we don't have to worry about the economy, we don?t have to worry about what our insurance rates are going to be, we don't have to worry about all these other important issues--the bottom line are these moral issues.

[. . .]

How in Hell can we have intelligent discourse on the future of our nation when this is the thinking of the Republican base? God will take care of us, huh? Then why did he give us free will and cognitive thought? Remember, all dogs go to heaven, but God gave us free will so we could choose our Hell. God helps those who help themselves.

Addendum from The American Street:

[. . .]

The Third Right refers to a GOP where the more extreme elements of the Christian Coalition (who draw support by pressing the fear of Armageddon and Rapture around the next corner) have combined with the major capital wielders of the military industrial complex (who also thrive on the politics of fear) to create a political machine more powerful and more corrupt than any coalition in US history.

Similar in its use of propaganda and fear to the Third Reich, they are not Nazis. Ideologically driven as it is, it’s a close neighbor of Naziism, close enough to earn a sobriquet that sounds close, just to serve as a flashing yellow light that we must proceed with caution to prevent its intersection with that ruthless predescessor.

Just to clarify things. [my emphasis]

American Taliban.

Veep debate warm-up

[. . .]

The H-word is indeed likely to be heard from Edwards, as it has been on the campaign trail. Howard Wolfson, a Democratic National Committee (news - web sites) adviser, predicted a tough indictment from Edwards on Halliburton, which he called "a one-word answer to a lot of questions, and a symbol of corporate malfeasance, crony capitalism and poor planning in Iraq."

[. . .]

Story.

I hope Little John slams Cheney's ass on not just Halliburton, but the Enron mess and the California energy crisis. He should also spin it that the big East Coast Blackout of 2003 was somehow Cheney's fault too. Hey, he's a lawyer, he can do it.

Thanks to WTF Is It Now?? for the link.

It STILL is the economy, stupid

From General Glut blogging at The American Street:

The second presidential debate is coming up this Friday and will focus on economic issues. While you can expect all the usual questions about the budget, jobs, economic growth, health care, etc., I suspect one issue you won’t hear much about is the global economy and its effects on the US economy, both now and into the next four years. In particular, Bush and Kerry need to talk seriously about the so-called ‘twin deficits’ this week: both the $420bn federal budget deficit and the $600bn current account deficit. My guess is that the wonkish argument from the first debate over bilateral versus multilateral talks with North Korea won’t make a reappearance. But I’m telling you now, these deficits will have far more impact on your everyday lives than North Korean nukes ever will. [my emphasis]

[. . .]

Read on.

I try to read Brad DeLong and some of the others, and I've learned shit, but the General is the only guy that I can understand the first time through. I could never get my head around economics. That's why Mrs. F handles the money. Before I met her, I spent all my money on beer and pussy.

But one thing I do know is that deficits kill the economy and burden our children and grandchildren with mounting debt. It's time we got somebody in the White House who understands that.

Betty Bowers On The Debate

Betty Bowers, America's Best Christian, does it again:

Honestly, those Poles remind me of surly Jenna Bush sometimes. Invited to the party – and then gets all tetchy because there's a cash bar.

And speaking of poles, I don't think Jenna's pole-dancing for John McCain and the press once her mother had nodded off after her "bonus" Halcyon kicked in helped with our President's concentration during the debate.

This gal's a hoot. Click around and find her thoughts on the Friends Of Our Lord (FOOL) and Bringing Integrity To Christian Households (BITCH).

My tinfoil hat seems to be stuck to my head today.

Pinocchio/Borg Accused of (Gasp!) Dishonesty

This article in Spinsanity is titled "Bush/Cheney Campaign Fails Honesty Test." Duh.

He said he'd attack terrorists who threaten America. But at the debate, John Kerry said America must pass a "global test" before we protect ourselves.
The Kerry doctrine: A global test.
So we must seek permission from foreign governments before protecting America?
A global test?
So America will be forced to wait while threats gather?
President Bush believes decisions about protecting America should be made in the Oval Office, not foreign capitals.

Kerry did say that he believes a preemptive war waged by the US should pass a "global test." But in context, his meaning was quite different than what the Bush campaign is claiming: "But if and when you do it, Jim," Kerry said to Jim Lehrer of PBS, the debate moderator, "you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons."

Clearly, Kerry meant that a President must be able to demonstrate to the world that the preemptive war is being waged for legitimate reasons, not that foreign governments must provide "permission."

How long does your nose have to get before you can't open a door without hurting yourself? Oh, that's right, Bush has people for that. They must communicate with radios, they're so far in front of him.

I heard Sen. Kerry say that and his meaning was clear to me.

Dog Story

This is a good story by Jon Katz(?). I know it's a little long, but I'm getting "debate lights" for my tinfoil hat.

Herding was the thing Homer most loved, and there was no more companionable grazing dog. He quivered with excitement whenever we pulled into Raspberry Ridge, the farm where we herded sheep for my friend Carolyn. When I said, "Let's go get the sheep," Homer exploded with glee and rushed to the barnyard fence.

Homer licked my hand and stared at the sheep.

Sounds like me when Fixer takes me for a walk.

Ho,Ho,Ho

This was on my tinfoil hat when I got up this morning. I couldn't resist. Resistance is futile....

One day, while walking to the store, I passed by a Nursing Home. On the
front lawn were six old ladies lying naked on the grass.

I thought this was a bit unusual, but continued on my way to the store.
On my return trip, I passed the same Nursing Home with the same six oldladies lying naked on the lawn.

This time my curiosity got the best of me and I went inside to talk to the
manager.

"Do you know there are six ladies laying naked on your front lawn?"

"Yes," he said. "They are retired prostitutes, and they're having a yard
sale."

Still More Draftier

In the spirit of our ongoing thread about the condition of our military, I offer this by Cynthia Tucker.

The Bush administration is trying to quash a rumor that keeps cropping up in cyberspace. For several months now, e-mails from an unknown source have warned that President Bush plans to reinstitute the draft if he wins a second term.

Fear of conscription continues to float just below the surface because so many voters understand somewhere in the backs of their minds that Bush's military plans simply don't add up. A Pentagon advisory board recently issued a report stating the patently obvious: The U.S. military won't have enough troops in the coming years to meet its continuing war and peacekeeping obligations.

Amazingly, Bush and his aides continue to engage in a denial that borders on the pathological: The U.S. is winning the war on terror; everything is going swimmingly in Iraq; and, of course, the military doesn't need any more troops. Even more amazing, they've been able to get away with this strange cognitive dissonance. Bush's poll ratings go up even as Iraq melts down.

But I have the feeling that more and more voters are getting the sense that something about Bush's policies just doesn't add up. They might not want to think about it. If nothing else, Bush offers certainty in an uncertain world. But you've got to tamp down a lot of doubts to hang onto that certainty.

Bush'll claim he's creating jobs.

The Supremes

The election on November 2 is also going to decide who deciphers the Constitution for the next 40 years. Read this article by Ellen Goodman.

Say, aren't eight of the nine members on Medicare? Isn't John Paul Stevens 84? Didn't Chief Justice William Rehnquist just turn 80? How is Sandra Day O'Connor, a survivor of breast cancer? And Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had colon cancer? Everybody feeling OK? Anybody ready to retire to a golf course in Arizona

In speeches, the Bush-Cheney team talks in atmospheric terms about “activist judges” and “strict principles.” But on conservative talk shows and in rallies, people talk about overturning Roe v. Wade and getting prayer in the schools, about eliminating affirmative action and turning back gay rights.

Conservatives get it. As a lobbyist for the Christian Coalition said, “If you ask people in this group their top priority, the first thing they would say is changing the U.S. Supreme Court.” Activist Clint Bolick told a reporter, “This election could be a twofer -- we win the White House and the Supreme Court.

In presidential politics we're voting for four more years. In the Supreme Court, we're voting for 40 years.

Just another reason to not elect Dubya&Co. That bunch'll get a court in that'll turn back the clock to 1955. I was alive then and life was beautiful all the time. Unless you were black or pregnant and didn't want to be. The liberal court fixed a lot of problems and the next court might undo it all.

Calling all New Jersey residents!

Today is your last chance to register to vote. If you haven't, you'd better, goddammit. I'm gonna borrow Gordon's tinfoil hat and hunt you down if you don't.

On Bush

From Digby. A must. Melanie at Just a Bump in the Beltway is just as articulate about Bush and Iraq.

The Russians too, Virginia?

Gordon and I have been on a roll lately regarding the environment.

Looks like President Putin fell for that 'junk science' too, huh?

Practically unnoticed in all the hoopla surrounding the presidential debate this week was Vladimir Putin’s signing of the Kyoto Protocol. Although the Russian parliament must still ratify the pact, Putin’s turnaround marks a key moment in the world’s efforts to do something about global climate change, inarguably the most fundamental environmental issue of our time.

[. . .]

From Kos.

Predictions

I found these under my tinfoil hat after a refreshing nap:

The year is 2029-----

Ozone created by electric cars now killing millions in the seventh largest country in the world, Mexifornia formally known as California. White minorities still trying to have English recognized as Mexifornia's third language.

Spotted Owl plague threatens northwestern United States crops and livestock.

Baby conceived naturally . . . scientists stumped.

Couple petitions court to reinstate heterosexual marriage.

Last remaining Fundamentalist Muslim dies in the American Territory of the Middle East (formerly known as Iran, Afghanistan, Syria and Lebanon).

Iraq still closed off; physicists estimate it will take at least 10 more years before radioactivity decreases to safe levels.

France pleads for global help after being overtaken by Jamaica.

Castro finally dies at age 112; Cuban cigars can now be imported legally, but President Chelsea Clinton has banned all smoking.

George Z. Bush says he will run for President in
2036.

Postal Service raises price of first class stamp to $17.89 and reduces mail delivery to Wednesdays only.

85-year, $75.8 billion study: Diet and Exercise is the key to weight loss.

Average weight of Americans drops to 250 lbs.

Japanese scientists have created a camera with such a fast shutter speed, they now can photograph a woman with her mouth shut. (hey! I just sent it. I didn't write it!)

Massachusetts executes last remaining conservative.

Supreme Court rules punishment of criminals violates their civil rights.

Average height of NBA players now nine feet, seven inches.

New federal law requires that all nail clippers, screwdrivers, fly swatters and rolled-up newspapers must be registered by January 2036.

Congress authorizes direct deposit of formerly illegal political contributions to campaign accounts.

Capitol Hill intern indicted for refusing to have sex with congressman.

IRS sets lowest tax rate at 75 percent.

Florida Democrats still don't know how to use a voting machine

Draftier

An article in the NYTimes on Oct. 1 describes how the military is lowering its recruiting standards to help compensate for the current shortfall in applicants for enlistment.

Army officials said Thursday that for the recruiting year that started this week, at least 90 percent of new recruits should be high school graduates, compared with 92 percent last year. And up to 2 percent of recruits can be enlisted even if they scored in the lowest acceptable range on a service aptitude test, compared with 1.5 percent last year.

In 1966, during the Vietnam War, the DoD came up with Project 100,000 in which standards were relaxed to allow Low Aptitude CatIV recruits, those in the 10-30th percentile on the Armed Forces Qualification Test, to enter the service. It was an attempt to elevate individuals out of their circumstances in the War on Poverty. From 1966 to 1971, 456,000 people in CatIV were enlisted or drafted. A high percentage of these went to Combat Arms such as Infantry, Gun Crews, or Seamen. Cannon fodder and deck apes, meaning no offense to my esteemed webfooted brethren.

Read the report to find out how this project, and the servicemen involved, made out.

Since the end of the draft, standards have been high for the all-volunteer force and only the cream of the crop of applicants were accepted. Even the infantrymen are smart. We have advanced to the point where the grasp of technology and its use have superceded the need for cannon fodder. This is a good thing.

It's changing due to the mess that Bush has created in Iraq. The smart kids ain't going for it, and they have to reduce the standards to allow the increased need for warm bodies to be met. By lowering standards incrementally, the military is starting out slower this time. Project 100,000 was sort of all at once. In an effort to forestall a draft, they will lower standards a little bit at a time to generate enlistments, just as they did in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.

Reinstitution of the draft will be political suicide for whomever is on the throne at the time. Bush hopes he can forestall it until his term expires in 2009 and screw whomever comes after. Given his inability to correct the situation in Iraq, this is probably his wisest course.

I think that President Kerry is smart enough that the draft won't have to happen and that's the way I'm betting.

Personally, I will defend this country with a slingshot if I have to, though preferably with an M-14 and bayonet. I would go to Afghanistan in a heartbeat, but not to Iraq, and I don't blame the kids a bit for not signing up.

Bush the environmentalist

Gordon had a post the other day about the effects of global warming on the native Alaskan village of Shishmaref. Following this, I found a link to Bush's environmental record since he took office. Unbelievable.

Update: 15:20:

Bubba has more on global warming and the TVA.

An Expert's View on Iraq

Thomas Friedman is an actual expert on the Middle East. Excerpts from his Op-Ed in today's NYTimes:

Sorry, I've been away writing a book. I'm back, so let's get right down to business: We're in trouble in Iraq.

What happened? The Bush team got its doctrines mixed up: it applied the Powell Doctrine to the campaign against John Kerry - "overwhelming force" without mercy, based on a strategy of shock and awe at the Republican convention, followed by a propaganda blitz that got its message across in every possible way, including through distortion. If only the Bush team had gone after the remnants of Saddam's army in the Sunni Triangle with the brutal efficiency it has gone after Senator Kerry in the Iowa-Ohio-Michigan triangle. If only the Bush team had spoken to Iraqis and Arabs with as clear a message as it did to the Republican base. No, alas, while the Bush people applied the Powell Doctrine in the Midwest, they applied the Rumsfeld Doctrine in the Middle East. And the Rumsfeld Doctrine is: "Just enough troops to lose." Donald Rumsfeld tried to prove that a small, mobile army was all that was needed to topple Saddam, without realizing that such a limited force could never stabilize Iraq. He never thought it would have to. He thought his Iraqi pals would do it. He was wrong.

Friends, I return to where I started: We're in trouble in Iraq. We have to immediately get the Democratic and Republican politics out of this policy and start honestly reassessing what is the maximum we can still achieve there and what every American is going to have to do to make it happen. If we do not, we'll end up not only with a fractured Iraq, but with a fractured America, at war with itself and isolated from the world.

I may be just a little biased, but the only chance I see to get out of this Mess-O-Potamia at all will begin with President John F. Kerry.

Read the article.

Drafty

From Kos:

With that ominous line, the NY Times WIR opens an article about another subject we know all about, and the public is catching up on... the Draft. Saying, 'yeah, I already knew that' doesn't begin to scratch the surface of the very real angst out there with voters. The 5% of political junkies have been talking about it for months, but now it's conversation everywhere.

Well, I wrote about it here and here.

And in my search, I came across this post, which I wrote this past Memorial Day.

Why I Bitch

You're probably saying to yourself. "Boy, the old Fixer-man is a bigger idiot than usual, bitching about this Memorial Day thing, and Americans forgetting what this weekend is all about."

You know why? Because I dodged bullets for four years in Asia, drug interdiction in South America, and killing a few Cuban Communists in Grenada. I've lost friends over the years, guys (and gals, you politically-correct busybodies) who had the same things to live for that I did, families, hopes and dreams to make something of themselves and a better life for their kids. In short, I hate war.

I am a child of war, but call me the silver lining in the dark cloud of World War II. My mom was a German Army nurse during that war, and my dad was a British paratrooper. They met in Jamaica, Queens in 1953, after dad came back from the Korean Conflict. Yes, the poor bastard moved to the U.S. after WWII and was promptly drafted into the U.S. Army in 1950. They met and married and gave birth to one child, yours truly. In my family, on both sides, going back five hundred years, military service was understood.

I had to be coaxed, at age 17, to enlist (It was either enlist or serve 6 months on a Grand Theft Auto charge). And I'm grateful that my dad convinced the judge to give me a chance to redeem myself. I served eight years total (6 regular AF, 2 active reserve), and I'm proud of the part I played in protecting the country. I'd go again if they'd take this broken down old carcass, and there are many who would also go to protect this country without question. Old bastards like me who love America and would gladly lay down our lives to protect what we have. There are many like me, a couple million of them serving on active duty right now.

They go, without question, to where our leaders send them. They lay their lives on the line every day to do what our leaders say is a noble job. They will do it again and again because they made the commitment, officers and enlisted, generals to privates, they all made their commitments to the noble ideals of the United States of America. It is our leaders' responsiblity to assure the correctness of their sacrifice. People with such commitment do not deserve to have their lives wasted by those who have never looked into the business end of an enemy rifle. Unfortunately, I feel the lives of our boys and girls are being wasted in Iraq, and that pisses me off.

We have a bunch of guys in Washington who've never served in the military. Yes, I include President No Nuts because the only reason he went into the Guard was that there was no other way out. To these guys, the lives of our military personnel are just numbers on a ledger sheet, not exeptionally trained, valuable resources who should not be squandered in pursuit of imperialistic dreams.

Solders hate war. Anybody who enjoys killing, even in wartime, is a psychopath, period. Ask any general if he wants to put his people in harm's way. he'll tell you that a reality of war is that he has to, but he doesn't want to, and he doesn't want to do it frivolously. The glib frivoloity with which the Bush Administration went to war in Iraq is criminal, and the lack of planning for the aftermath is treasonous. I'm sorry, to the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who have perished in Iraq, to the families who will have an empty chair at future holiday gatherings, to all those who have suffered because of this fiasco, but 800 lives have been lost for NOTHING. You have not sacrificed your lives to protect this great nation and the Constitution, you were murdered by people who only see your lives as a means to an end. Hopefully, some time soon, they will be forced to pay.

Yes, I am one pissed off motherfucker this Memorial Day. 800 of my brothers and sisters are dead, close to 5000 wounded, for NOTHING. They say Bush went to war to avenge his daddy. Well, I want vengeance for our honored dead this past year. Getting Bush out in November is not good enough. I want him in jail.

Well now there are over a thousand dead and the draft might very well be a real possibility. Tell me again how staying the course is the right thing to do.

A job for Gordon

Hey Gord, I came across this:

Any Reno, Nevada bloggers want to volunteer to drive the Pants On Fire mobile? (link is a Quicktime video)

You need a clean driving record to qualify. It just visited Oregon and is headed your way. Anyone anywhere can also apply, though I’d say it’d be put to best use in the time remaining in swing states.

Jerry Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s is behind the promo and its site that emphasizes the Pinocchio Presidency’s litany of lies.

From The American Street.

And so it begins . . .

From The Agonist:

Thousands of Floridians who think they're registered to vote could be turned away at the polls Nov. 2 because their voter registration forms weren't completely filled out, officials said Friday.

Secretary of State Glenda Hood said some groups registering voters are turning in application forms with information missing, such as unchecked boxes asking whether applicants are citizens, mentally incompetent or felons.

A group that's been seeking copies of the incomplete applications in an effort to help people complete them said Hood's office, citing state law, has begun blocking them.

"Clearly, way over the number that could determine the election" won't be able to vote, said Judith Browne, a lawyer with the Washington-based Advancement Project, which promotes multiracial participation in voting. She was referring to President Bush's disputed 537-vote victory in Florida.

[. . .]

Just FYI, Glenda Hood is 2004's version of Katherine Harris, the Florida Secretary of State who facilitated the Crawford Putsch of 2000. This is the Republicans' ace in the hole, key Republicans in swing states who are in a position to influence the vote count. And don't forget Diebold, the corporation who makes most of the digital voting machines and a big Bush/Cheney campaign contributor. Remember, Karl Rove told Sean Hannity that he had some 'surprises' for Kerry.

Update: 13:55:

Pink Bunny of Battle: Return to Sender.

No more Land’s End shirts for this rabbit. [1]

Some Lands’ End employees said Tuesday they were hoodwinked into attending a speech by former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani at the company’s Dodgeville plant.

Viewers said the company told them Giuliani’s speech would be motivational in nature. Instead it was a political speach supporting President George W. Bush for reelection.

[. . .]

They'll do anything to win, including attempting to brainwash their contributors' employees.

Results

Don't ask why I'm up this early after partying my ass off last night. Well . . . the dog had to go. So, while I'm up, I found this over at Kos:

Chatterbugs!!!

The results of wrong war, wrong time, wrong place:

Iraqi civilian fatalities: Uncertain, but at least 12,976

Iraqi military fatalities: Uncertain, several thousand

Coalition fatalities: 1198

U.S. fatalities: 1060

U.S. fatalities in September: 80 (tied for 3rd highest month and highest since May)

U.S. wounded (according to Dept. of Defense): 703

Number of Weapons of Mass Destruction found: Zero

[. . .]

And we should stay the course? I don't give a shit if God came down and told Bush to do this personally, it's still wrong.

Results revisited. From Newsweek:

Oct. 2 - With a solid majority of voters concluding that John Kerry outperformed George W. Bush in the first presidential debate on Thursday, the president’s lead in the race for the White House has vanished, according to the latest NEWSWEEK poll. In the first national telephone poll using a fresh sample, NEWSWEEK found the race now statistically tied among all registered voters, 47 percent of whom say they would vote for Kerry and 45 percent for George W. Bush in a three-way race.

[. . .]

These are results we like to see.