We will see in the end who will win -- those who worship God or those who deride him. We are ready to face them, we will not let the city down, and with God's help we will teach them a lesson and inflict heavy casualties on them.
Guerrilla fighter in Falluja, quoted by the New York Times.
The marines that I have had wounded over the past five months have been attacked by a faceless enemy. But the enemy has got a face. He's called Satan. He lives in Falluja. And we're going to destroy him.
Lieutenant-Colonel Gareth Brandl, commander of one of the battalions assaulting Falluja
Tuesday, November 9, 2004
Nah
So you don't think the war in Iraq is a Holy War? From Lean Left:
Monday, November 8, 2004
Gillard
It's long, but worth it.
I like this guy a lot, reminds me a bit of Wolcott.
. . . We can think and discuss and argue and get angry with each other for various sins of political incorrectness all day long. And in the end, we're left facing the fact that more people than we thought possible are just plain assholes. They're mean. They're weak. They're cowardly.
They're hateful. And they're fucking stupid.
They just voted in their president. And they're marching us toward a fascist state .
(And it doesn't matter if the election was Diebolded and robocalled and thwarted at the polls, either: it should never have been close enough to steal.)
These people never vote for good government; they don't even believe in government. They're spoiled little toddlers who freak out when they're expected to share. They don't think they have to pay for anything that they take. And they're right--they don't.
We do .
[. . .]
I like this guy a lot, reminds me a bit of Wolcott.
Fallujah and Hue
From TomDispatch:
I have heard comparisons between the battle for Fallujah and the battle for Hue in Vietnam, but the only ones that stick, in my opinion, is that both fights were (are) in urban areas and both were (are being) fought by Marines with little or no help from so-called "allies". I think the Corps is being used because its tribal memory of Hue is relatively fresh. It's even the same outfit, the First Marine Division.
There are major differences. The NVA appeared virtually overnight in Hue at the onset of the Tet Offensive and the VC, who were already there, became active with their arrival. The 'insurgents' in Fallujah, whom we can roughly equate to the VC as far as training, motivation, and military organization, have been active in the city for months and are no doubt dug in hard and ready to meet their maker, as no doubt they surely will. If they are on the ball at all, they will have established defenses in depth, have defined fields of fire, and have mined and booby-trapped everything in sight. I think we'll find some of that HMX and RDX, the hard way.
The Marines, I am afraid, are stepping into a shitstorm. Their recourse will be to use massive firepower from supporting arms, which are organic to the Marine Corps, well co-ordinated and awesome in destructive power. Fallujah will be called Flat-lujah in a matter of days. They did not destroy Hue as it was an old Royal Vietnamese capitol, and home to many of Vietnam's cultural treasures. Fallujah, on the other hand, has been a center of dissent in Iraq and even Saddam trod lightly there. They will have to "destroy it in order to save it."
The Marines, Army, and Iraqi Security Forces have Fallujah surrounded. Nothing should be able to get in or out. It is besieged and cut off from resupply. This was not the case in Hue. The Marines assaulted from one direction and the NVA came from another. It was the first time in military history that the supply lines of the opponents actually crossed one another at right angles.
There are approximately 10,000 American and Iraqi troops assaulting an estimated 3000 to 5000 insurgents. In Hue, about 2000 Marines assaulted, fed in piecemeal as required, against an unknown number of NVA/VC of whom 5,113 were KIA and 89 captured. Nothing is known of the number of their wounded. The Marines lost 147 KIA and 857 WIA seriously enough to be evacuated. Those numbers of KIA are suspect due to the policy of not reporting 'Died Of Wounds (DOW)' as battle casualties if they made it to hospital. The ARVN lost 384 killed and 1800 wounded, mostly during the initial assault by the NVA.
The battle for Hue took place in three distinct phases: The battle to get to the Citadel, the site of the old Imperial Palace; the fight for the Citadel, and the Mop-up. The battle lasted 26 days.
Most of the civilians have left Fallujah. Most of the citizens of Hue remained and thousands were murdered by the VC as 'enemies of the people'. The ones who could get out after the battle started did so, but many could not.
Here's the kicker: U.S. Marines fought and died to regain what the ARVN could not defend. When the fight was over, the U.S. gave credit for retaking Hue to the South Vietnamese to shore them up politically, even though they had little or nothing to do with it. I think the same thing will happen in Fallujah: The Marines will die and then be slapped in the face, again, when the Bush cabal gives the credit to Iraqis. Political pawns indeed.
All wars are bad. This one is criminal.
My source book is Battle For Hue, Tet 1968 by Keith William Nolan.
On the American side, our troops have been used as pawns in a game of political chess that certainly will leave them more exposed in any battle for Falluja than might otherwise have been the case. Our ultimate threat, of course, is that those 10,000 soldiers backed by air power and artillery will make an example of Falluja, producing an American version of the Roman solution to Carthage. It would serve as a fierce example of what might lie in store for any incompliant Sunni or Shiite city. As the intelligence outfit Stratfor recently put it in a report, "The Politics of Storming Al Fallujah": "[T]he fate of Al Fallujah will likely serve as an example to tribal leaders throughout the country who have remained undecided about their relationships with coalition forces and the IIG [Iraq Interim Government]." In other words, if you can't "liberate" them, crush them.
I have heard comparisons between the battle for Fallujah and the battle for Hue in Vietnam, but the only ones that stick, in my opinion, is that both fights were (are) in urban areas and both were (are being) fought by Marines with little or no help from so-called "allies". I think the Corps is being used because its tribal memory of Hue is relatively fresh. It's even the same outfit, the First Marine Division.
There are major differences. The NVA appeared virtually overnight in Hue at the onset of the Tet Offensive and the VC, who were already there, became active with their arrival. The 'insurgents' in Fallujah, whom we can roughly equate to the VC as far as training, motivation, and military organization, have been active in the city for months and are no doubt dug in hard and ready to meet their maker, as no doubt they surely will. If they are on the ball at all, they will have established defenses in depth, have defined fields of fire, and have mined and booby-trapped everything in sight. I think we'll find some of that HMX and RDX, the hard way.
The Marines, I am afraid, are stepping into a shitstorm. Their recourse will be to use massive firepower from supporting arms, which are organic to the Marine Corps, well co-ordinated and awesome in destructive power. Fallujah will be called Flat-lujah in a matter of days. They did not destroy Hue as it was an old Royal Vietnamese capitol, and home to many of Vietnam's cultural treasures. Fallujah, on the other hand, has been a center of dissent in Iraq and even Saddam trod lightly there. They will have to "destroy it in order to save it."
The Marines, Army, and Iraqi Security Forces have Fallujah surrounded. Nothing should be able to get in or out. It is besieged and cut off from resupply. This was not the case in Hue. The Marines assaulted from one direction and the NVA came from another. It was the first time in military history that the supply lines of the opponents actually crossed one another at right angles.
There are approximately 10,000 American and Iraqi troops assaulting an estimated 3000 to 5000 insurgents. In Hue, about 2000 Marines assaulted, fed in piecemeal as required, against an unknown number of NVA/VC of whom 5,113 were KIA and 89 captured. Nothing is known of the number of their wounded. The Marines lost 147 KIA and 857 WIA seriously enough to be evacuated. Those numbers of KIA are suspect due to the policy of not reporting 'Died Of Wounds (DOW)' as battle casualties if they made it to hospital. The ARVN lost 384 killed and 1800 wounded, mostly during the initial assault by the NVA.
The battle for Hue took place in three distinct phases: The battle to get to the Citadel, the site of the old Imperial Palace; the fight for the Citadel, and the Mop-up. The battle lasted 26 days.
Most of the civilians have left Fallujah. Most of the citizens of Hue remained and thousands were murdered by the VC as 'enemies of the people'. The ones who could get out after the battle started did so, but many could not.
Here's the kicker: U.S. Marines fought and died to regain what the ARVN could not defend. When the fight was over, the U.S. gave credit for retaking Hue to the South Vietnamese to shore them up politically, even though they had little or nothing to do with it. I think the same thing will happen in Fallujah: The Marines will die and then be slapped in the face, again, when the Bush cabal gives the credit to Iraqis. Political pawns indeed.
All wars are bad. This one is criminal.
My source book is Battle For Hue, Tet 1968 by Keith William Nolan.
Welcome
Damn, I'm good. I conned . . . er, bamboozled . . . er, invited Knox Rover to join the team here at The Brain and, in a serious lapse of judgment, she accepted. Silly girl. Another of Bubba's readers that I hijacked to work here. She's also a regular commenter here too. I guess I owe the old boy a commission. So, I expect everyone to welcome her with gusto.
Gord and I decided last week that we needed to fill out the staff a bit, get other perspectives besides we two crusty old farts. Rover is a most welcome addition, a paragon of class and profundity. Welcome aboard, darlin', your addition raises our social standing quite a bit. Tally ho!
Gord and I decided last week that we needed to fill out the staff a bit, get other perspectives besides we two crusty old farts. Rover is a most welcome addition, a paragon of class and profundity. Welcome aboard, darlin', your addition raises our social standing quite a bit. Tally ho!
Senator Hart On Faith
There is a lot of stuff in the papers today about religion and faith, which to me are different. Former Democratic Senator from Colorado Gary Hart opines in today's NYTimes.
He says a lot more in the piece, but I think those two paragraphs sum up a huge rift (one of many) in our national outlook quite nicely.
If we are to insert "faith" into the public dialogue more directly and assertively, let's not be selective. Let's go all the way. Let's not just define "faith" in terms of the law and judgment; let's define it also in terms of love, caring, forgiveness. Compassionate conservatives can believe social ills should be addressed by charity and the private sector; liberals can believe that the government has a role to play in correcting social injustice. But both can agree that human need, poverty, homelessness, illiteracy and sickness must be addressed. Liberals are not against religion. They are against hypocrisy, exclusion and judgmentalism. They resist the notion that one side or the other possesses "the truth" to the exclusion of others. There is a great difference between Cotton Mather and John Wesley.
There is also the disturbing tendency to insert theocratic principles into the vision of America's role in the world. There is evil in the world. Nowhere in our Constitution or founding documents is there support for the proposition that the United States was given a special dispensation to eliminate it. Surely Saddam Hussein was an evil dictator. But there are quite a few of those still around and no one is advocating eliminating them. Neither Washington, Adams, Madison nor Jefferson saw America as the world's avenging angel. Any notion of going abroad seeking demons to destroy concerned them above all else. Mr. Bush's venture into crusaderism frightened not only Muslims, it also frightened a very large number of Americans with a sense of their own history.
He says a lot more in the piece, but I think those two paragraphs sum up a huge rift (one of many) in our national outlook quite nicely.
Bush - Choice Of The Ignorant
Calling the people who voted for Bush the "Retarded Right" may not be very nice but it may be a lot closer to the truth than just sour grapes. Bob Herbert in today's NYTimes:
Very cleverly planted and nurtured "misperceptions", I might add. They were led down the Rose Garden path and bought it hook, line and sinker, because they wanted to and Rove well knew it.
While I agree with the last line, it could get me in trouble. I will say no more on that subject. For now.
Which is exactly why I refuse to participate in so-called "healing" which is just another word for "capitulation", the way it's being used. The ignoramuses need to have their collective ass kicked, or one ass at a time if need be.
It is also the best reason to not try and appeal to these voters by shifting our attitude toward pandering to the "dark side". If we become as phony as the Right just to win, we have lost.
I think a case could be made that ignorance played at least as big a role in the election's outcome as values. A recent survey by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland found that nearly 70 percent of President Bush's supporters believe the U.S. has come up with "clear evidence" that Saddam Hussein was working closely with Al Qaeda. A third of the president's supporters believe weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. And more than a third believe that a substantial majority of world opinion supported the U.S.-led invasion.
This is scary. How do you make a rational political pitch to people who have put that part of their brain on hold? No wonder Bush won.
The survey, and an accompanying report, showed that there's a fair amount of cluelessness in the ranks of the values crowd. The report said, "It is clear that supporters of the president are more likely to have misperceptions than those who oppose him."
Very cleverly planted and nurtured "misperceptions", I might add. They were led down the Rose Garden path and bought it hook, line and sinker, because they wanted to and Rove well knew it.
I haven't heard any of the postelection commentators talk about ignorance and its effect on the outcome. It's all values, all the time. Traumatized Democrats are wringing their hands and trying to figure out how to appeal to voters who have arrogantly claimed the moral high ground and can't stop babbling about their self-proclaimed superiority. Potential candidates are boning up on new prayers and purchasing time-shares in front-row-center pews.
A more practical approach might be for Democrats to add teach-ins to their outreach efforts. Anything that shrinks the ranks of the clueless would be helpful.
While I agree with the last line, it could get me in trouble. I will say no more on that subject. For now.
What the Democrats don't need is a candidate who is willing to shape his or her values to fit the pundits' probably incorrect analysis of the last election. Values that pivot on a dime were not really values to begin with.
Which is exactly why I refuse to participate in so-called "healing" which is just another word for "capitulation", the way it's being used. The ignoramuses need to have their collective ass kicked, or one ass at a time if need be.
It is also the best reason to not try and appeal to these voters by shifting our attitude toward pandering to the "dark side". If we become as phony as the Right just to win, we have lost.
The Crusades, Round 2
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
Forward into battle see His banners go!*
The balloon will be going up on the Fallujah operation probably today or tomorrow and thus begin a period of indeterminate length in which we will lose a lot of good Marines. Take it from me, urban, house-to-house fighting is the worst type of warfare their is. (I chased a sniper into a pitch-black tunnel under the DMZ in Korea and ran down a squad of Cuban infantry through the airport at Fort Georges, Grenada.) As if any type of warfare is good. Natural cover abounds and you don't have enough eyes in your head to keep track of where all the fire is coming from, and a grenade or RPG is your biggest fear. Pray for all of our boys and girls as this operation commences.
That said, many will die on this Holy Crusade and the blood of all involved is on Bush's hands. Are these the moral values the people of Jesusland voted for? Guess what, Jesuslanders, the blood of those Marines who will die in Falluja, and the other half-dozen cities that will have to be pacified, is on your hands now too. He is your prophet and you gave him his 'mandate'. I ask this one question. Would the kind, benevolent Jesus I learned about in my limited Roman Catholic education want this?
*Verse courtesy of Jesus' General.
Perceptions
Melanie at Just a Bump in the Beltway has this:
I love Bob Herbert, another who calls 'em as he sees 'em. Melanie, whose insights I also value, comments thusly:
And she goes on to declare another truism:
Indeed. Gordon sent me this from newsleader.com during the night:
These are excerpts from a letter to the editor, illustrating Melanie's point perfectly. This is the Rovian mindset, the perception of the Democrats as the vassals of Satan among the Jesuslanders. Jeez, the title of the letter is "A vote for Kerry is a vote for Satan". This is the perception they have of us, created by the Republicans and the Christian churches who support them. How do we fight this? How do we get these perceptions, that now have become strongly-held beliefs, to change? We have to change them, ladies and gentlemen, for as long as these people see the battle between Republicans and Democrats as the conflict between all that is Holy and the Ultimate Evil, we will never make any inroads into Jesusland.
As long as we are seen as Lucifer's vassals, the divide will remain. As I see it, our only hope is for 'God's Chosen One' to shoot himself in the foot. We can show them evidence of His fuckuppery but it won't be believed because of their perceptions of us. Facts are for the folks who live in Realitystan. The only way, I think, for us to win the hearts and minds of the Jesuslanders is for God to get fed up with them using him as a campaign prop and send 'em a message. I'd say locusts or a flood should do it.
I think a case could be made that ignorance played at least as big a role in the election's outcome as values. A recent survey by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland found that nearly 70 percent of President Bush's supporters believe the U.S. has come up with "clear evidence" that Saddam Hussein was working closely with Al Qaeda. A third of the president's supporters believe weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. And more than a third believe that a substantial majority of world opinion supported the U.S.-led invasion.[my emphasis]
[. . .]
I love Bob Herbert, another who calls 'em as he sees 'em. Melanie, whose insights I also value, comments thusly:
I think this whole argument is wrong, based on an exit poll that asked a badly worded question. Everybody votes on "values" all the time, asking yourself "Who among these candidates is likely to do the best job?" is a values question, with "best job in my eyes" the value in question.
This whole discussion is another one of the things the media does instead of reporting. It would be silly if it weren't such a serious subject.
I brought you the results of the PIPA survey last month and it appears to me that the election was more about that nasty campaign than anything having to do with faith or facts. [my emphasis]
[. . .]
And she goes on to declare another truism:
Karl Rove is an excellent perception manager.
Indeed. Gordon sent me this from newsleader.com during the night:
[. . .]
Christians have gone from a majority in this country to a minority. Why? We gave it away by sitting back and doing nothing. Shame on us!
If we continue to sit back and do nothing, one day soon, we just might find ourselves being locked up, or worse, for being a Christian. Think about it. It's already happening all over the world.
[. . .]
Please, I beg of you, get fired up. Vote! Get others to vote for Bush! God is still on the throne; woe to our country if we continue to allow him to be taken out of everything he has blessed us with. He owes us nothing, and we certainly deserve nothing. And nothing is what we will end up with if we don't start taking back the ground we gave away.
These are excerpts from a letter to the editor, illustrating Melanie's point perfectly. This is the Rovian mindset, the perception of the Democrats as the vassals of Satan among the Jesuslanders. Jeez, the title of the letter is "A vote for Kerry is a vote for Satan". This is the perception they have of us, created by the Republicans and the Christian churches who support them. How do we fight this? How do we get these perceptions, that now have become strongly-held beliefs, to change? We have to change them, ladies and gentlemen, for as long as these people see the battle between Republicans and Democrats as the conflict between all that is Holy and the Ultimate Evil, we will never make any inroads into Jesusland.
As long as we are seen as Lucifer's vassals, the divide will remain. As I see it, our only hope is for 'God's Chosen One' to shoot himself in the foot. We can show them evidence of His fuckuppery but it won't be believed because of their perceptions of us. Facts are for the folks who live in Realitystan. The only way, I think, for us to win the hearts and minds of the Jesuslanders is for God to get fed up with them using him as a campaign prop and send 'em a message. I'd say locusts or a flood should do it.
Sunday, November 7, 2004
This is what I like
Atrios:
Yeah, let's get all that dirty laundry out there. Let's see how many folks in favor of outlawing gay marriage have taken it in the ass. Let's expose the hypocrites for what they are. Anybody got videotape?
[. . .]
If "values" are the new battleground, which I mostly doubt, then I say bring it on, Larry Flynt-style. Let the scarlet A's be handed out, the closet doors swung open, and weekly church attendance records of members of congress and the administration be compiled. If sinning godless heathens are the problem, then let's be clear about who the sinning godless heathens are.
[. . .]
Yeah, let's get all that dirty laundry out there. Let's see how many folks in favor of outlawing gay marriage have taken it in the ass. Let's expose the hypocrites for what they are. Anybody got videotape?
Oh, Maureen! Oooh, Baby......
Ms. Dowd of the NYTimes in today's Op-Ed in a rant about Karl the Nerd and how his insecurity and anger at the 'cool' guys is forcing our 'rush to darkness'. Here's some highlights, but read it all or I'm coming for you.
That's the only question left, isn't it? To Chris Matthews, Tim Russert and all y'all big-ass pundits: This gal's got the balls you left behind in your climb to fame and fortune. Up with her and fuck you.
Just how much did Karl Rove hate not being one of the cool guys in high school in the 60's? Enough to hatch schemes to marshal the forces of darkness to take over the country?
Oh, yeah.
Even as a child, I could feel the rush of J.F.K.'s presidency racing forward, opening up a thrilling world of possibilities and modernity. We were going to the moon. We were confronting racial intolerance. We were paying any price and bearing any burden for freedom. We were respecting faith but keeping it out of politics. Our president was inspiring much of the world. Our first lady was setting the pace in style and culture.
W.'s presidency rushes backward, stifling possibilities, stirring intolerance, confusing church with state, blowing off the world, replacing science with religion, and facts with faith. We're entering another dark age, more creationist than cutting edge, more premodern than postmodern. Instead of leading America to an exciting new reality, the Bushies cocoon in a scary, paranoid, regressive reality. Their new health care plan will probably be a return to leeches.
America has always had strains of isolationism, nativism, chauvinism, puritanism and religious fanaticism. But most of our leaders, even our devout presidents, have tried to keep these impulses under control. Not this crew. They don't call to our better angels; they summon our nasty devils.
The new evangelicals challenge science because they've been stirred up to object to social engineering on behalf of society's most vulnerable: the poor, the sick, the sexually different
Back in 1994, Newt Gingrich said he wanted the government to mold the moral character of Americans and wipe out remnants of the "counterculture McGoverniks." He got derailed, but now he and his pious friends are back in full cry, messing with our psyches and excluding themselves from the rules they demand others follow. They'll eventually do themselves in, but will they do us in first?
That's the only question left, isn't it? To Chris Matthews, Tim Russert and all y'all big-ass pundits: This gal's got the balls you left behind in your climb to fame and fortune. Up with her and fuck you.
Back Door Draft
Just heard this on CNN, but could find nothing to link to yet. [link here - The Fixer] Mr. Miyasato of Hawaii, an Army veteran of the Gulf War, has been recalled to active duty for duty in Iraq due to his critical MOS of fuel truck driver. Mr. Miyasato completed his eight year obligation nine years ago and is not in the Reserves. He is married, a father, and has just started a business.
His Congressman, Rep. Case, has inquired of the Army as to what the hell is going on, but has received no reply, although Mr. Miyasato has been granted a 30-day delay before he has to report to North Carolina for duty.
The Congressman thinks the Army is just trying to get warm bodies anywhere they can. Anybody who falls for this, in my humble opinion, is 'HaHa! Shame on you! Fooled ya, sucka!'
Draft? Oh, no, Fearless Leader wouldn't do that! Wouldn't he? Don't be so sure. His lies are starting to unravel as we speak. Good.
I'm sure there will be more on this later.
His Congressman, Rep. Case, has inquired of the Army as to what the hell is going on, but has received no reply, although Mr. Miyasato has been granted a 30-day delay before he has to report to North Carolina for duty.
The Congressman thinks the Army is just trying to get warm bodies anywhere they can. Anybody who falls for this, in my humble opinion, is 'HaHa! Shame on you! Fooled ya, sucka!'
Draft? Oh, no, Fearless Leader wouldn't do that! Wouldn't he? Don't be so sure. His lies are starting to unravel as we speak. Good.
I'm sure there will be more on this later.
More Whining On The Bright Side
After reading Fixer's post I have to admit something out loud that I've thought for quite a while now. I haven't wanted to because it's unpalatable, to say the least, but now it's unavoidable: Bush's election may very well have been for the best.
Naturally, we all wanted his madness to end right fucking now! Guess what. Ain't gonna happen and the sooner we realize we had our collective ass kicked by masters, the better off we'll be and the sooner we can plan for the rematch.
When the world hands you lemons, make lemonade. We've been handed the biggest lemon in history, so we oughta be able to make a lot of lemonade. So much that we can make those bastards drown in it. If the Lemon Laws applied to politicians instead of used cars, we'd have 'em by the short n' curlies. But I digress.
It should be obvious to even the most casual observer that the Right does not care about facts, truth, performance, or serious issues to select their "leader". Instead, they care about bullshit issues like their so-called "moral values". Moral values are fine. I have them and voted accordingly for the more moral candidate, but their side believes in selfish, negative, bigoted, intolerant, ritualistic values as opposed to spiritual values. Style over substance. Rove realized this and played to it and it paid off big time.
The Dems made their big mistake, it seems in retrospect, in thinking that Americans do care about what's right about the real issues. If we become more like the Right and pander to the dark side, then we've lost for good and all. Someone once said, "I'd rather be right than President", and that's where we stand now.
What do we do? Good question.
First, we all gotta do a lot of thinking. The better minds among us will come up with something. We've got time now, two or four years.
Second, HAMMER! HAMMER! HAMMER! We gotta keep hammering away at everything we see the bastards do that's wrong, which is nearly everything. We'll have a lot of unwitting help with this from the administration, I am sure. Also, there are quite a few administration insiders that will be bailing soon, like rats leaving a sinking ship. I hope some of them turn on their former masters and let us in on some of the behind-the-scenes shit we need to know to bring the bastards down. It would help if the various media realize what patsies they've been and grow a pair. We need that, but don't count on it. If it happens, it will help a lot, and be a pleasant surprise.
While blogging around, I've noticed that there are generally two responses to our defeat. There are those who say to try and come together and heal the wounds and division in our country. Like that'd work. It's a noble idea but it plays right into their hands. It would help them consolidate their power and, worse, they'd be more convinced they were right. To all who follow this road I say, while you're down there on your knees........
I wish I had the patience to look this shit up, but someone else said, "I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees." This is the other response. We're down now, but by no means out. I've had my ass kicked before, and it always went a lot better on the second go-round. We now know the oppo's strengths as well as their weaknesses. If they try that double-throw-down secret sucker punch again we can be ready for it. Their strength will become their weakness. Political Judo, so to speak. With a little Kung-fu, Karate, and fuck-'em-up waza thrown in, plus the old number tens in the crotch for good measure. This is the camp I am firmly in. I am going to get a copy of "The Art Of War" by Sun Tzu and study it.
This administration may implode from within. That is good, but we gotta help it along.
By the time you read this, I will have thunk up a whole bunch more I wish I had said, so stand by.
I regret that I have but one keyboard to give for my country.
It is most definitely on.
Naturally, we all wanted his madness to end right fucking now! Guess what. Ain't gonna happen and the sooner we realize we had our collective ass kicked by masters, the better off we'll be and the sooner we can plan for the rematch.
When the world hands you lemons, make lemonade. We've been handed the biggest lemon in history, so we oughta be able to make a lot of lemonade. So much that we can make those bastards drown in it. If the Lemon Laws applied to politicians instead of used cars, we'd have 'em by the short n' curlies. But I digress.
It should be obvious to even the most casual observer that the Right does not care about facts, truth, performance, or serious issues to select their "leader". Instead, they care about bullshit issues like their so-called "moral values". Moral values are fine. I have them and voted accordingly for the more moral candidate, but their side believes in selfish, negative, bigoted, intolerant, ritualistic values as opposed to spiritual values. Style over substance. Rove realized this and played to it and it paid off big time.
The Dems made their big mistake, it seems in retrospect, in thinking that Americans do care about what's right about the real issues. If we become more like the Right and pander to the dark side, then we've lost for good and all. Someone once said, "I'd rather be right than President", and that's where we stand now.
What do we do? Good question.
First, we all gotta do a lot of thinking. The better minds among us will come up with something. We've got time now, two or four years.
Second, HAMMER! HAMMER! HAMMER! We gotta keep hammering away at everything we see the bastards do that's wrong, which is nearly everything. We'll have a lot of unwitting help with this from the administration, I am sure. Also, there are quite a few administration insiders that will be bailing soon, like rats leaving a sinking ship. I hope some of them turn on their former masters and let us in on some of the behind-the-scenes shit we need to know to bring the bastards down. It would help if the various media realize what patsies they've been and grow a pair. We need that, but don't count on it. If it happens, it will help a lot, and be a pleasant surprise.
While blogging around, I've noticed that there are generally two responses to our defeat. There are those who say to try and come together and heal the wounds and division in our country. Like that'd work. It's a noble idea but it plays right into their hands. It would help them consolidate their power and, worse, they'd be more convinced they were right. To all who follow this road I say, while you're down there on your knees........
I wish I had the patience to look this shit up, but someone else said, "I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees." This is the other response. We're down now, but by no means out. I've had my ass kicked before, and it always went a lot better on the second go-round. We now know the oppo's strengths as well as their weaknesses. If they try that double-throw-down secret sucker punch again we can be ready for it. Their strength will become their weakness. Political Judo, so to speak. With a little Kung-fu, Karate, and fuck-'em-up waza thrown in, plus the old number tens in the crotch for good measure. This is the camp I am firmly in. I am going to get a copy of "The Art Of War" by Sun Tzu and study it.
This administration may implode from within. That is good, but we gotta help it along.
By the time you read this, I will have thunk up a whole bunch more I wish I had said, so stand by.
I regret that I have but one keyboard to give for my country.
It is most definitely on.
I Thought I Had More Than That...
All I know about currency fluctuation and the state of the dollar is to be able to tell what's going on when I open my wallet and peer inside, but this article in the Washington Post even helped ME understand what's going on.
McCarthyism and ideology
Go read Jeff's latest.
[. . .]
It seems that all that President Bush has to say these days is that America comes first in the world and his audience goes wild! All he has to say is that he wants to spread democracy and freedom to the entire world and his audience again, goes wild!
[. . .]
Bringing in an America vs. the rest of the world political climate that Bush seems to aspire to will MOST DEFINITELY lead to our downfall.
Whining on the bright side
In my cruising around the Blogosphere since 3 Nov, I've noticed a lot of bloggers on the Left complaining about the vote count in certain 'battleground states' (FL & OH), and whether all the votes were counted or not. My 2 cents? Shut up and quit whining. We had a corps of lawyers that was division strength, how come no suits were filed, no restraining orders were filed, nothing? What would be the point, even if there were voting irregularities, to attempt a recount now? The best we could hope for now would be that Kerry actually did win, probably by less of a margin than Bush took Florida in 2000. What would be the point?
Do any of my Left-wing colleagues think that Kerry could actually have gotten anything done with a Repub majority in both Houses of Congress? Don't you think he would have been ratfucked at every turn? Don't you think that four years of gridlock and partisan squabbling would do anything for this country? A draft will be necessary, unless Bush just leaves Iraq and lets it completely degenerate into anarchy. Do we want John Kerry (or any other Dem) to be linked to that? Have we forgotten what Vietnam did to the Democratic Party? No, what we got last Tuesday was a gift, and we just have to look at it that way.
Bush has no excuses, and the Congress neither. If Iraq degenerates even more (and you know it will) do we want a Dem being accused of "screwing up what Bush had started"? You know the Rovians would play that hand. No, now that I've gone from wanting to turn Jesusland into an Air Force (Nellis 2) bombing range, to as much rational thought as I can muster, I see now that the results of this election were the best gift the Dems could have received. Early Christmas. Our hands remain clean as we heckle from the sidelines. And heckle we must, loudly and frequently, to anyone who'll listen.
We have to start framing the issue now (think Newt and the boys when Clinton was elected in '92 and what happened in '94), set up now for a run at the Congress in the '06 midterms. "Look at what the Republicans have done. Iraq, Iraq, Iraq. Deficit, deficit, deficit. They've had X years, what do we have to show for it?" Beat them at their own game. We have to raise an issue and beat them over the head with it. If we keep 'em looking over their shoulders for the next few years, they're bound to make mistakes.
Tell the reality-based folks the truth, but keep it simple for the Jesuslanders, 2 issues for them. Iraq. Do you want one or more of your 12 kids going there as cannon fodder? Deficit. You work 2 jobs to make ends meet. If it keeps going like this, how many jobs will your children have to work in order to keep their heads above water?
So, quit whining and forget about the past. What's done is done and it's time to look toward the future. Remember THE MISSION. By the time we put a Dem in the White House in '08, we want a Dem majority in Congress to welcome him/her. Don't tell me it can't be done. Think Boston and Philadelphia 1776, think Paris 1812, think Appomatox 1865, think MLK a hundred years later. We do want a mandate in '08. Not a Bush (51%) mandate, but a Reagan-Mondale mandate. A thorough beating with at least half of Jesusland receiving redemption in addition to all of Realitystan. That's what we want and will settle for nothing less.
Because it's on.
Update: 07:15:
And one of the talking points for '06 will be the housing bubble, which will surely burst before the end of Bush's reign. When that goes, so will mortgage interest rates, straight up. Let's see what all of these defaults will do the the banking industry. You see, folks, most of the people buying new houses while interest rates were low were just barely affording it. When higher interest rates (thanks to the deficit) blow their budgets out of the water, the banks will be left holding the bag. (Never mind those who have refinanced at variable interest rates.) Let's hammer this too, as hard as possible.
Do any of my Left-wing colleagues think that Kerry could actually have gotten anything done with a Repub majority in both Houses of Congress? Don't you think he would have been ratfucked at every turn? Don't you think that four years of gridlock and partisan squabbling would do anything for this country? A draft will be necessary, unless Bush just leaves Iraq and lets it completely degenerate into anarchy. Do we want John Kerry (or any other Dem) to be linked to that? Have we forgotten what Vietnam did to the Democratic Party? No, what we got last Tuesday was a gift, and we just have to look at it that way.
Bush has no excuses, and the Congress neither. If Iraq degenerates even more (and you know it will) do we want a Dem being accused of "screwing up what Bush had started"? You know the Rovians would play that hand. No, now that I've gone from wanting to turn Jesusland into an Air Force (Nellis 2) bombing range, to as much rational thought as I can muster, I see now that the results of this election were the best gift the Dems could have received. Early Christmas. Our hands remain clean as we heckle from the sidelines. And heckle we must, loudly and frequently, to anyone who'll listen.
We have to start framing the issue now (think Newt and the boys when Clinton was elected in '92 and what happened in '94), set up now for a run at the Congress in the '06 midterms. "Look at what the Republicans have done. Iraq, Iraq, Iraq. Deficit, deficit, deficit. They've had X years, what do we have to show for it?" Beat them at their own game. We have to raise an issue and beat them over the head with it. If we keep 'em looking over their shoulders for the next few years, they're bound to make mistakes.
Tell the reality-based folks the truth, but keep it simple for the Jesuslanders, 2 issues for them. Iraq. Do you want one or more of your 12 kids going there as cannon fodder? Deficit. You work 2 jobs to make ends meet. If it keeps going like this, how many jobs will your children have to work in order to keep their heads above water?
So, quit whining and forget about the past. What's done is done and it's time to look toward the future. Remember THE MISSION. By the time we put a Dem in the White House in '08, we want a Dem majority in Congress to welcome him/her. Don't tell me it can't be done. Think Boston and Philadelphia 1776, think Paris 1812, think Appomatox 1865, think MLK a hundred years later. We do want a mandate in '08. Not a Bush (51%) mandate, but a Reagan-Mondale mandate. A thorough beating with at least half of Jesusland receiving redemption in addition to all of Realitystan. That's what we want and will settle for nothing less.
Because it's on.
Update: 07:15:
And one of the talking points for '06 will be the housing bubble, which will surely burst before the end of Bush's reign. When that goes, so will mortgage interest rates, straight up. Let's see what all of these defaults will do the the banking industry. You see, folks, most of the people buying new houses while interest rates were low were just barely affording it. When higher interest rates (thanks to the deficit) blow their budgets out of the water, the banks will be left holding the bag. (Never mind those who have refinanced at variable interest rates.) Let's hammer this too, as hard as possible.
An' Spliff Too, Mon...
G.D. Frogsdong at Blanton's and Ashton's has a good thought:
I'll buy it. Can I be the one who gets to shoot the Sheriff?
Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights, get up, stand up, don't give up the fight
We need a Bob Marley in this country. Eminem just doesn't cut it for me.
I'll buy it. Can I be the one who gets to shoot the Sheriff?
I Kid You Not
Go read Are You Effin' Kiddin' Me? 'til your eyeballs hurt. Here's a coupla excerpts:
This guy is good. He must be. He links to US!
To put it another way, the animals can now be let out of our cages. There is no more reason to hold us back.
And we will make them curse the day they left the left with nothing left to lose. (my emphasis)
You, dear readers, are hereby drafted as soldiers in the opinion wars. You must strike early, strike hard and strike often. Go for broke (my emphasis).
And where are they getting this data on morals? EXIT POLLS?!? ARE YOU EFFIN' KIDDING ME?!? How can you have one story that says "Exit Polls Blow It Out Ass, Will Never Be Used Again" sitting right next to a story that says "Exit Polls Show Election Was A Referendum On Morals"? H-h-h-h-how?!
Just in case anyone isn't sure, remember what "moral values" means:
Gays shouldn't have rights
"Abortionists" should be killed
The poor do not deserve your help
It's better to be sectarian in all aspects of life
None of the above applies to rich people
This guy is good. He must be. He links to US!
That Explains It
Saw this one on PST, at the bottom of the page:
Read, don't scroll, your way down to it.
"The Cracker Belt hates us because of our freedom."
Read, don't scroll, your way down to it.
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