Heh...

My kinda bird ... on several levels.

So, is it OK to get a Wells Fargo loan to buy a Probe?

From the EssEffChron:

The conservative Christian group Focus on the Family has closed all its Wells Fargo accounts because the San Francisco bank contributed to a gay rights group that promised to use the funds to "fight ... the anti-gay industry."

Focus on the Family's move follows a recent spate of conservative boycotts and other actions against large companies that support gay and lesbian causes, including Walgreens drugstores and Kraft Foods Inc., both of which contributed to the Gay Games.

"We absolutely made a $50,000 grant to GLAAD, and we're absolutely proud of our support for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community," said Chris Hammond, spokesman for the banking giant, which gives about $2 million a year to gay and lesbian organizations.

I'm not a big fan of Wells Fargo Bank, but this time they done good.

It's gonna take more than money to keep ya outta jail this time, Bugs...

The Houston Chronicle story about the creep veep at DeLay's legal fundraiser.

Cheney missed the White House Christmas party, a celebrated Washington event, to attend DeLay's fundraiser, which attracted about 300 people.

Shit, he probably wasn't invited.

At least one protester infiltrated the event. Diane Wilson of the progressive women's group Code Pink said she paid only $50.

"I guess they needed people inside," she said. "You can get in pretty cheap. I didn't want to give too much."

She briefly disrupted Cheney's speech and rolled out a banner that reads: "Corrupt greed kills from Bhopal to Baghdad."

Wilson was promptly escorted out.

Meanwhile, 21 organizations, among them Veterans for Peace, the International Socialist Organization and Progressive Action Alliance, protested outside.

DeLay's camp said the demonstrators were not local, but planned professional protesters from as far away as San Francisco.

Like that would make a difference, even if it were true?

For a photo of Tommy headin' fer the Hot Tub with a coupla babes, go see Born at the Crest of the Empire.

Update:

What will DeLay's attorney say to him after Tommy tells him he's just run out of money?

"That's OK, Tom. We'll just change your plea to 'guilty'."

In certain hands, even the truth becomes a lie

On the theory that sometimes even a blind pig finds an acorn, here's a paragraph I like from Christopher Hitchens' article on the DoD "We'll pay you to print our bullshit" program. From Slate:

It is, anyway, not so much a matter of fooling people as of insulting them. The prostitute journalist is a familiar and well-understood figure in the Middle East, and Saddam Hussein's regime made lavish use of the buyability of the regional press. Now we, too, have hired that clapped-out old floozy, Miss Rosie Scenario, and sent her whoring through the streets. If there was one single thing that gave a certain grandeur to the change of regime in Baghdad, it was the reopening of the free press (with the Communist Party's paper the first one back on the streets just after the statue fell) and the profusion of satellite dishes, radio stations, and TV programs. There were some crass exceptions - Paul Bremer's decision to close Muqtada Sadr's paper being one of the stupidest and most calamitous decisions - but in general it was something to be proud of. Now any fool is entitled to say that a free Iraqi paper is a mouthpiece, and any killer is licensed to allege that a free Iraqi reporter is a mercenary. A fine day's work. Someone should be fired for it.

Someone? Hmmm. Department of Defense. Lemme see...that would be Rumsfeld.

Ah-nold's an Ass Man

Go see this fun video at DevilDucky.

Bite me

All you militant non-smokers can just bite me. I'm all with not smoking in public and I understand about the health risks, but by golly, fuck you all and your attempts to regulate what I do in my own house.

"Dogs age almost seven times faster than us," Billings said, a junior majoring in psychology. "Secondhand smoke can cause problems fast. I take Jack (to the vet) frequently and he appears to be fine," Billings said. "But they don't do any specific tests to see early signs (of secondhand smoke)."

Let me explain something. If my dog breathing my second hand smoke is the worst thing that happens to her in her life, she's one lucky mongrel. My dog gets treated better than most of you treat your kids. If it weren't for us and the life we've given her, she would have gotten the needle as soon as her hip problems were diagnosed. This is just bullshit.

The facts are out there, and anyone who doesn't know cigarettes are dangerous at this point is probably one of the 51% who voted for the Chimp in '04. You know, I'm tired of people and their crusades, whatever they may be, when they try to regulate what I do in the privacy of my own home, whether it's smoking, sex, my religion, whatever. Worry more about your own lives and a little less about how I run mine and how I care for my dog. Fuck you all and your stupid game-playing.

Diplomacy

Will someone please explain to the Secretary of ShoesState that diplomacy does not consist of lecturing people, whose cultures are far older than ours will ever be (or so it seems lately), that they should ignore what they see with their own eyes. Condi's in Europe.

(New York, December 6, 2005) - In remarks at the start of a five-day trip to Europe, the U.S. Secretary of State mischaracterized the U.S. government's "rendition" of terrorist suspects to make it appear lawful, Human Rights Watch said today. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the U.S. government had not transported detainees to other countries "for the purpose" of interrogation using torture, but she failed to mention that the United States has transported detainees to countries such as Egypt and Syria where it knows torture is commonplace. The Convention Against Torture, to which the United States is a party, outlaws such a practice.

Secretary Rice also failed to address a central concern of European governments: that the CIA has allegedly held detainees in secret locations in Europe.

...

This is a prime example of Chimp & Co. stupidity. The last place to have secret camps is in Europe but, like the rest of the moronic 51% of our population, they have no respect for the lessons of history.

Jesus H. Christ, have we forgotten about the other camps? It's only been sixty years, and they went by names like Auschwitz, Dachau, and Bergen Belsen. There are still many people in Europe who remember those times. Did Condi think the Euros would actually just sit back and say 'okay' when she says 'trust me'? Five years ago maybe, today they know better.

Those who don't learn from history's mistakes are doomed to repeat them.

Blogger sucks wet monkey ass

Reprinted in its entirety from Lambert, the Blogger's Curse:

O corporate weasels at blogger:

May a bloggers curse fall on your heads:

May you be vested, and may your stock tank. In your arrogance, may you have bought a ton of stock on margin using those same options as collateral, and may margin calls fall upon you. May that inane spinning clock plague your dreams. May your content be irretrievably corrupted. May your templates reveal source. May you lose posts. May you double post, nay triple, nay quadruple post. May you gaze at the friggin' dashboard and a spinning cursor until your eyes bleed. May you be plagued in your cubes with boils. May your bimmers be lemons. May your returns be "0%" in all your endeavours to the end of your days.

And he has a reasonable conclusion:

Fucking billion dollar corporation can't run a server farm...

I know I probably shouldn't bitch because it's free, but Jesus H. Christ, can't they get shit to work correctly? If I worked the way Blogger does, I'd be out of a job forthwith.

I shot a missile into the air...

In today's LATimes:

MOSCOW -- Russia has struck a deal to sell short-range, surface-to-air missiles to Iran, the defense minister said Monday, confirming reports that have raised concern in the United States and Israel.

Gee, Iran must be wise to something. I wonder who they'll be shooting short-range SAMs at?

Who'd they shoot the last SAMs at that Russia sold to somebody? Oh, I remember now...

Those things won't reach high-flyin' B-52s, but they'll do a righteous number on ground-attack aircraft and troop-carrying helicopters.

There's no more Hanoi Hilton, but there might soon be a Tehran TraveLodge.

Are you shitting me?

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is supporting new legislation to criminalize desecration of the United States flag _ though she still opposes a constitutional ban on flag attacks.

...

Now she's definitely not getting my vote for President.

The Revolt of the Generals

In an article somewhat related to my post below, Counterpunch lays out what's going on in the flag ranks, and what the Democrats better do in '06.

The immense significance of Rep John Murtha's November 17 speech calling for immediate withdrawal from Iraq is that it signals mutiny in the US senior officer corps, seeing the institution they lead as "broken, worn out" and "living hand to mouth", to use the biting words of their spokesman, John Murtha, as he reiterated on December his denunciation of Bush's destruction of the Army.

So the Four-Star Generals briefed Murtha and gave him the state-of-the-art data which made his speech so deadly, stinging the White House into panic-stricken and foolish denunciations of Murtha as a clone of Michael Moore.

It cannot have taken vice president Cheney, a former US Defense Secretary, more than a moment to scan Murtha's speech and realize the import of Murtha's speech as an announcement that the generals have had enough.

On to the Republicans' and Democrats' reactions:

Amid this potential debacle, the Republicans' only source of comfort is the truly incredible conduct of the Democrats. First came the Democrats' terrified reaction to Murtha, symbolized by Democratic minority leader Nancy Pelosi's cancellation of a press conference supporting Murtha. This prompted the Republicans to realize that the Democrats were ready to have their bluff called by the Republican- sponsored resolution calling for immediate withdrawal, for which only three Democrats voted, while so-called progressives like Kucinich and Sanders and Conyers ran for cover.

By late summer of 2006, when voters are deciding what they want their Senate and House to look like, if the Democrats have not caught up to public opinion to offer a tangible and quick exit from Iraq, the Republicans will retain control of both chambers of congress.

All that will be left in November is mush from Kerry, Hillary, Biden, Edwards - and Obama's - mouths.

There's an awful lot between all these quotes. You know what to do.

Jesus Joy

Go git ya some!

Certainties

"One thing to keep the economy going is to have certainty in the tax code."

~ Chimpy today

Yeah, the certainty that his corporate butt buddies won't have to pay taxes if Bush gets his way.

Less Troops, More Profits

In Fixer's post yesterday on potential new SecDef Liebertwat, I made the following comment:

Who d'ya expect Bush to put in as SecDef - somebody that knows about the military? No, they want someone who can economize on troops and pad the pockets of the 'defense' industry.

Damn, I'm good!

This from today's Wall Street Journal:

Pentagon Weighs Personnel Cuts To Pay for Weapons

Nonetheless the shift is good news for the nation's major defense contractors, which appear to have dodged major cutbacks in big-ticket weapons purchases. The Air Force often has been on the defensive under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, whose vision of transforming the military with weapons aimed at countering multiple threats, including terrorists, clashes with some of the service's big aircraft projects. Some of the savings realized through personnel cuts could be used to pay for programs to make the military more adept at fighting terrorists or defending the homeland from attack, defense officials say.

As budget season kicks into high gear and the war in Iraq continues, the Pentagon's calculus reflects its assessment of how to best deploy limited defense resources as well as the spiraling costs of keeping people in uniform. "It can take years for cuts in weapons programs to generate savings," said Loren Thomspon, who runs the Lexington Institute defense think tank in Arlington, Va., and who consults for defense companies. "Cutting people saves money immediately."

I think not sending the 'defense companies' a check might save a lot right now, but then, what do I know? I think perhaps that would alienate a lot of voters who work for them, let alone those fat lobbyist campaign contributions.

Remote-control aircraft? Automated warships? All fine and dandy, I got no problems there.

When they come up with a robotic trigger puller that knows how to use a bayonet and can actually defend this country if need be without bleeding (with no attendant medical cost) and dying, they'll be on to something.

For now, it sounds like they just want to fuck over combat troops in the pursuit of that good ol' government gravy.

Business as usual.

Feel safer?

Four years after 9/11 you'd better think again:

...

Added Lee Hamilton, the former Democratic vice chairman of the commission: "We believe that another attack will occur. It's not a question of if. We are not as well-prepared as we should be."

The five Republicans and five Democrats on the commission, whose recommendations are now promoted through a private group known as the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, conclude that the government deserves "more F's than A's" in responding to their 41 suggested changes. [my ems]

...

The only thing that's safer are the Bush cronies' profits.

On Ford . . . again

All I drive are Ford vehicles, 3 of 'em, and I wouldn't drive anything else. I also worked for Ford and I have a deep affection for the company, but they have to pay the price for their stupidity.

Pic courtesy of the General

On 'The War on Christmas'

My man eponymous says it beautifully:

...

You know, if you're offended by someone wishing you a "Happy Holidays" instead of a "Merry Christmas," it's time to take a look at your priorities...

Amen. Get over yourselves.

Vacation's over

It's 26 degrees out, snow on the ground, and you want me to go to work? I'm so not looking forward to working on cars this morning. Being that it snowed yesterday, I'll probably be out on road calls for the better part of the morning. Oy. Paris already seems like a distant memory.

Update:

Well, I made it through the first day and I still remember how to fix shit. One thing I noticed though. The guys I work with are getting uglier as the years go on.

Wingnuttery

On these physicians and pharmacists who let their religious beliefs get in the way of their jobs. Sis, Pam, and John Howard say it just about right. John:

...If you have moral objections to dispensing legal medications to patients with a valid prescription, then pharmacy is not the line of work for you...

Occupied

Tom Gilroy at HuffPo

Think, for one second, of all this administration has done. Has there been one thing that made you feel safer, that made you feel someone's in charge, that your rights and well-being were secure? Has there been one thing they've done that hasn't been a scandal of mismanagement, corruption or fraud? Has there been one thing - just one - that they've said that hasn't been an outright laughable lie?

That's what it feels like when your country's occupied.

Remember, these are people who have lied about everything and stolen everything in the public coffer that wasn't nailed down. They lied and sent young Americans to die in a uniform they themselves couldn't ever be bothered to put on.

This utter lack of certainty about your life is the absence of freedom. It's what happens when your country has been taken over by a hostile, occupying force. Nothing is safe. You government has been invaded by a cabal of thieves intent upon dismantling all you take for granted, all you've invested in, all you hold dear. That government Grover Norquist wants to drown in the bathtub? That's you.

But you, what are you gonna do? Cut and run? Or will you do what any patriot would do when they realize their family, their town, their kids, their schools, their banking system, their food, their water, their medicine, their transit system, their healthcare - their very way of life - is under siege?

Do what you know must be done before the next disaster strikes.

Impeach them.

This guy is way pissed and as articulate as I wish I could be. Go read the rest.