More bullshit

Your Linguistic Profile:

40% General American English

40% Yankee

15% Dixie

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Thanks to Windy City Lefty.

Backdoor coup

Personally, I thought is was when that woman I was dating finally let me . . . never mind. Glen sees it happening and he has a good point.

Unless you have been in a persistent vegetative state for the past few weeks, you've been aware of the Republicans' assault on one of the foundations of any democracy that does not require quotes: an independent judiciary. DeLay and Cornyn have come just short of endorsing ending judges' terms with extreme prejudice. Tammany Tom the Bugman has called for reorganizing the government, no doubt in his own image: call it the City Upon the Slag Heap (small, unmarked bills, please). Then there's the most frightening (to me) DeLay quote: "The reason we had a right to privacy is because Congress didn't stop them [the courts]." Obviously, we've go to do something about that.

Scared enough? Probably not. This morning, Avedon Carol gave me a jolt better than a caffeine IV.

[. . .]

Health care

I'm not a big fan of socialized medicine. I've seen it in action. My Shaivo-esqe nephew is the result of medical malpractice and there was little recourse through the system. He's 14 now and has to be carried, fed, and is still in diapers. As I say this, I read this from The Talent Show, complete with a fancy graph so simpletons like me can understand it.

[. . .]

That's right, we spend more than twice as much as most of our friends, yet we cover a much lower percentage of our people and have a higher rates of illness and death for preventable diseases . . .

Our system is shot, ladies and gents. We need something different before it, and all of us, go bankrupt trying to fix ourselves and support the pharmaceutical industry.

Thanks to Ezra for the link.

Update: 17:25:

Jeff at The American Street has more.

Passover

To all my Jewish friends and my beautiful wife. Happy Passover. Travis has some excellent accessories for the holiday. Seder at our house tomorrow night by the way.

Colin grows a set

I know I'm piling on along with Gord, but I love Jane's writing:

[. . .]

Do you suppose Colin is feeling a smidge guilty about his own disingenuous performance before the UN that mislead the world about the situation in Iraq, and wants to make it up to them by keeping them from being saddled with an arrogant horse's ass? Or is he still just touchy because he was replaced with congenital liar Condaleezza Rice after he scrapped with Big Dick Cheney, and wants to deliver a little payback to the VP by sacking his boy Bolton?

[. . .]

She has a link to a Laura Rozen post you should follow too.

We only have one

Via Rox, Earth Day Republican style.

Pic courtesy of Relentlessly Optimistic.

Update: 15:15:

Riggsveda:

So it's another Earth Day, and the House celebrates by passing a big ol' mess o' corporate welfare disguised as an "Energy Bill". I mean, who else in this country is more deserving of massive tax breaks and general obsequiousness than the largest, richest, most powerful cartel of industrial greedsters in the world? . . .

Powell advising senators on Bolton

From MSNBC News:

Former secretary of state Colin L. Powell is emerging as a behind-the-scenes player in the battle over John R. Bolton's nomination as ambassador to the United Nations, privately telling at least two key Republican lawmaker that Bolton is a smart but very problematic government official, according to Republican sources.

Those who know Powell best said two recent events provide insight into his thinking. Powell did not sign a letter from seven other former U.S. secretaries of state or defense supporting Bolton, and his former chief of staff, Lawrence B. Wilkerson, recently told the New York Times that Bolton would be an "abysmal ambassador."

"On two occasions, he has let it be known that the Bolton nomination is a bad one, to put it mildly," a Democratic congressional aide said. "It would be great to have Powell on the record speaking for himself, but he's unlikely to do it."

Bolton is the guy who insisted on the Iraq/nuclear connection language for Powell's ill-fated speech to the U.N. Powell's been a "good soldier" for this administration but he knows he got screwed. I wish he'd say something directly as he's got a lot to make up for in my opinion, but this'll have to do for now. Maybe he's still got a pair after all.

Democrats must change everything

James Carville and Paul Begala are two of my favorite pundits, as those things go. They have written this Op-Ed in USA Today:

"Houston, we have a problem." With those words, spoken with a calm that masked the gravity of the situation, astronaut Jim Lovell informed NASA that Apollo 13 was running out of oxygen.
The skinny guys with skinny ties back in Houston, and the crew-cut crew in space, acted. They didn't argue. They didn't second-guess. They didn't blame each other. They acted. And most important, they didn't deny that they had a problem.

But today, too many leading Democratic strategists deny that the party we love has a problem. When you lose to an unpopular president with a soft economy and a disastrous occupation in Iraq — a man who lost all three debates and who, when he's trying to complete a sentence, is like a drunk man trying to cross an icy street — you most definitely have a problem.

Let's be clear what the problem is — and is not.

Read it in its entirety Below The Fold.

He got me again!

Fixer hooked me like a trout. Again. My lip hurts.

Your Inner European is Irish!

Sprited and boisterous! You drink everyone under the table.

Who's Your Inner European?

Irish is the last nationality I would have guessed for myself seeing as how I don't drink. I'd be under constant suspicion as a traitor. Maybe English or Polish. How much stock can you put in a quiz that misspells "Ferrari" anyway?

Piss 'em off some more

Our Canadian neighbors, that is. Cathie's annoyed with Newt, for good reason:

[. . .]

Now, even I read the 911 commission report and know where those terrorists came from. So how stupid is it that Newt Gingrich, who pretends to be a knowledgeable politician and still gives speeches about US foreign policy, actually hasn't bothered to learn about the actual events of the 911 attacks.

[. . .]

You know, it's one thing when your own people know you're a moron. Why must you boadcast it outside our borders and embarass us before the rest of the world?

The dollar . . . again

Froggy:

The story is that China is looking at no longer pegging its currency to the US dollar, which has such enormous implications for our economy it is hard to comprehend. For one thing, the Chinese could very easily ruin the dollar and make it a marginal currency. Don't know what that means to you in your day-to-day life? Figure it out, baby. My fortune cookie says: "Life-style may encounter a significant change." . . .

Read Froggy's post before going to the article.

Blogger sucks wet monkey ass again.

My inner Euro

Another one of these. This time courtesy of Rox:

Your Inner European is French!

Smart and sophisticated. You have the best of everything - at least, *you* think so.

Who's Your Inner European?

More Melanie

She's got a new project:

Welcome to Judging the Future, a project of Bump in the Beltway productions and a progressive, independent voice on judicial nominations issues. All opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of any sponsors unless otherwise noted.

This site is for activists: when we raise an issue, we'll give you something to do far beyond wringing your hands. Come on in, and let's have a little fun taking our country back from the neo-cons and right-wing radicals in Congress.

[. . .]

Go see the preview.

Lemon laws

TCF is talking my language.

[. . .]

Therefore, the sales pitch currently coming from this band of arrogant hucksters on the President’s Energy Bill, assumes they can hoodwink a still credulous constituency.

In TCF’s mind, House Speaker, Republican Denny Hastert is the Marge Schott of politics. He has one face, and it’s not a poker face. It’s incapable of showing credibility, and any sense of integrity fades when standing next to Tom DeLay or Bill Frist.

[. . .]

We should be able to trade this bunch of losers in for something that works.

Left behind

Melanie goes into the newest court challenge to Bush's stupid No Child Left Behind education policy.

[. . .]

This is a legitimate ground for criticism of this lousy law, but no one has really gone into the real core problems with this law. It is mandated federal testing, when control of the schools are supposed to be a state and local affair. It is also just another test to teach to. Wanna know why kids arrive in college with absolutely no critical thinking skills? Mandatory testing. Teachers break up information into little test-sized bits. None of the information is presented holistically, without any sense that there are connections within a discipline much less that there are connections between disciplines. This isn't education, it's atomized information.

[. . .]

This has been the dumbest thing since the stupid tracking experiments they did with us in the '60s here in NY. I was in the advanced track and for two years, they put us in with the special ed kids. They figured we'd learn from each other. I learned to understand the difficulties folks with disabilities have, but I'm afraid we left them in the dust. I doubt they got anything out of the experience but feelings of inadequacy.

I have quite a few teachers as customers, and a kid who used to work for us is now a principal. None, and I mean none, of 'em have anything nice to say about NCLB. It failed in Houston and it's failing nationwide. NCLB is doing our children a great disservice.

Good neighbors

Connecticut is a beautiful state. I lived there for about a year. I've hiked the Appalachian Trail through there, from the New York line to Vermont many times and never failed to be enthralled by it's natural beauty. The people have an overly-high opinion of themselves, but I can live with that. They're good neighbors, even if they don't want us to put an electric cable across Long Island Sound. They've become even better neighbors last evening.

The last couple days, I've been starting off my morning rants by praising Republicans. I'm doing it today as well. Republican Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell, good on ya:

(Hartford-AP, April 20, 2005) — Connecticut is now the second state to recognize same-sex civil unions, and the first to do so without court pressure.

Governor Jodi Rell signed the bill about an hour after the state Senate sent the legislation to her desk. The law will allow thousands of gay and lesbian couples in Connecticut to be given the same rights and obligations as heterosexual couples, but not an actual marriage license.

Vermont has approved civil unions and neighboring Massachusetts has gay marriage, but those changes came about only after same-sex couples won court battles.

[. . .]

I know Pam will tell me a civil union isn't the same thing, and the equivalent of the 'separate-but-equal' doctrine toward the blacks in the middle of the last century, but it's a good start. The Legislators and Governor did this on their own (without pressure from a court order from 'activist judges') and deserve to be commended. Ship the Governor off an email or letter, or make a call, telling her how much you appreciate her ability to compromise on legislation long overdue:

Mailing Address

Governor M. Jodi Rell
Executive Office of the Governor
State Capitol
210 Capitol Avenue
Hartford, Connecticut 06106

Telephone

Greater Hartford Area: 860-566-4840
Toll Free: 800-406-1527
TDD: 860-524-7397

E-Mail

Governor.Rell@po.state.ct.us

Note: I just stopped by Pam's to see how she feels about this and she took it better than I thought she would.

Why do I let Fixer sucker me into this shit?

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Second Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Very Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Moderate
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	High
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Moderate
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	High

Take the Dante Inferno Hell Test

I like these things too. They're basically a crock with the result pretty much predetermined by their sponsors, but who cares?

Blanket Ass Wisdom

I get a lot of mail from various American Indian schools and foundations and such. Lemme tell ya, you send just one of 'em three bucks and they tell each other about you. They send me bookmarks, return address labels, and stuff like that. Anyway, I was just reading my e-mail and came across this in the latest attempt by St. Joseph's Indian School to garnishee my wallet:

In Lakota (Sioux) culture, we are all related. Each of us was created and brought together by Wakan Tanka - the Great Spirit.

Because of our universal relation, it is our duty to care for and teach one another ... just as the Creator intended.

What a concept! The oh-so-Godly right would probably call that an anti-American Liberal manifesto.

I'm a bad man

Yeah, I got suckered again, this time by Cmdr. Sue. I love these fucking things. Here's my score:

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Second Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Moderate
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Low
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very High
Level 7 (Violent)	Very High
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	High

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

Wolcott on Joey Rats

Wolcott's a pissah!

His brain warm with Stove-Top Stuffing, Goodwin is one of those phony Sensible Moderates in the Glenn Reynolds/Mort Kondracke mold (and I do mean mold) who is always pretending to lecture and advise liberals for their own good. Forever telling Democrats to tone down their rhetoric, moderate their message, lose Michael Moore, embrace family values, act more hawkish, etc.

Today Goodwin ventures into theology without a map or a clue, treating the Catholic Church as if it were the Bush Doctrine in liturgical vestments.

"When our hearts sink because beloved baseball players are discovered to be chemical freaks or admired merchant princes turn out to be crooks, we can count on the Pope. He will be steady, consistent, unshakable."

I was raised Catholic, and even we never believed anything that moony. We loved Pope John XXIII, but we knew he had a lot of predecessors that didn't trail glory through the record books. The slightest acquaintance with Catholic history turns up popes who were as shady and crafty as the "merchant princes" Goodwin fancies still rustle among us.

So if Pope Benedict XVI continues to stigmatize homosexuals and condemns condom use, resulting in the further spread of AIDS in Africa and elsewhere, he's cool with that? He'd prefer consistency and message discipline over sanity and compassion?

Why am I even bothering to raise the questions? Of course, he would. Floodwaters could engulf both coasts, and Michael Goodwin, wearing a snorkel, would applaud Bush and Cheney for remaining steadfast in denying the existence of global warming.

I have no comment other than Wolcott should be on everybody's "daily read" tour.