Men...again

Cenk Uygur has problems with some (mainly the Republican part) of our gender, just as I do:

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You see, I don't think you're tough at all. I think you're a little coward who is ready to give up all your rights at the first sign of trouble. You're so scared of big bad Al Qaeda, you're willing to cede your liberties to George Bush because he promises to protect your sorry ass. Millions of men have died protecting our freedoms, but you're so frightened by a bunch of guys in a cave in Afghanistan, you're willing to give up many of those freedoms they died for. I am repulsed by your weakness.

Smerconish (the only name in America that might be more ridiculous than mine), you half man, half pussy -- come out, come out wherever you are.

Violence is seldom the answer. But it is in this case. An organized, controlled, consensual beat down. You agree to fight me, and I agree to crush you. Of course, I don't want anyone getting the wrong message. I am not advocating vigilante justice against idiotic conservative talk show hosts. I don't want anyone else to kick Smerconish's ass. Just me.

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Maybe it is time to challenge these enabling assholes to throw down or shut up. I offer (and would be honored) to stand as Cenk's second, just in case this asshole has to bring friends.

Update:

I found this article over at Farnsworth's place and I felt it related. While the armchair warriors of the 101st Fighting Keyboarders sit in mommy's basement, calling all of us who give a shit sissies, the folks who are fighting the war the 101st helped lie us into are having real problems. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the 'warriors' of the 101st don't have to deal with the consequences of killing their fellow man in some of the most horrible ways imaginable:

Less than one-quarter of the U.S. military's Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who show signs of post-traumatic stress are referred for additional mental health treatment or evaluation, a government study finds.

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Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said in a letter to the Army's Surgeon General, Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, that the report's figures represent a health care emergency. She asked him to "take immediate steps to rectify this deplorable lack of care for our men and women in uniform and to notify me as soon as possible for your plans in this regard."

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Use 'em up and throw 'em away, that's the way it goes in Bushworld. Real warriors take care of their own.

Yeah, thanks...

WASHINGTON - The Senate gave final approval Thursday to a $70 billion election-year package of tax cuts that will extend lower rates for investors and also save billions for families with above-average incomes.

The Senate passed the measure by a 54-44 vote, clearing it for President Bush's signature.

The legislation provides a two-year extension of the reduced 15 percent tax rate for capital gains and dividends, currently set to expire at the end of 2008.

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The average American will see a $20 - $50 tax break. Those making around $2mln will receive $82,000. Enjoy that half a tank of gas. Tell me, how's that $300 you got a couple years ago working out for ya?

Sue their asses off...

So, since we got all these sharp legal beagles on our side, how come we haven't gotten a class action suit up against the Telecoms?

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In other words, for every 1 million Americans whose records were turned over to NSA, the telcos could be liable for $1 billion in penalties, plus attorneys fees. You do the math.

They want control of the internets so badly? Make 'em pay for it.

Thanks: Atrios

I'm too pissed off...

For words.

The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.

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Thanks to Shakes for the link. Go wish her a Happy Birthday too.

"Aluminum Overcast" II

Following up on my previous post, go see what my local paper wrote about the event.

"We used to all take a shot of whiskey after each completed mission before interrogation," he said. "After my (last) mission, my whole crew poured theirs into my glass and literally carried me to the train."

But there are ghosts that have followed the combat pilot for well more than a half century. The rear gunners shot and frozen stiff at 27,000 feet ("that's a wake up call"); the flak that came through the cockpit cutting his oxygen mask from its supply ("It didn't scare me then, but now when I think about it - well..."); twice being shot down but making it back to allied territory ("My B-17 was badly shot up with one engine out and low on petrol. The gauges were pegged out at empty and we were running of fumes. The cloud cover was 100 percent and it was getting dark....")

"It never leaves you," he said.

As beautiful as the plane was to see, let us never forget that its original purpose was to kill people and wreck things. Something like 50,000 B-17 crewmen were lost or captured in the attempt.

At least World War Two was necessary for the freedom of Democracy and the world.

Turley speaks truth

Turley: Well, first of all this President's theory of his power I think is now so extreme that it's unprecedented. He believes that he has the inherent authority to violate federal law. He has said that. Not just the signing statements and the infamous torture memo-that Alberto Gonzales signed. It was stated that he could in some circumstances order federal officials to violate federal law and this is consistent across the board with this President. Frankly, I'm not too sure what he thought he was swearing to when he took the oath of office to uphold the Constitution and our laws. I've never seen a President who is so uncomfortable in his constitutional skin.

I'm late for work. Go watch the video at Crooks & Liars...of course

Men and boys

You may hear me, from time to time, take exception with members of my gender. I call them 'little men'. These are generally the types who think having stuff makes them men, whether it be guns, or cars, or belittling (or beating on) their women (or other little men). I don't have much use for guys like that.

Example: I have a customer who is a gun nut (nothing wrong with that, one of my closest friends is a collector) who always makes it known he's carrying. He's all about the size of the hole. The larger the caliber of the pistol he's carrying, the more bravado he shows. Thing is, you look at him cross-eyed, he gets all flustered and takes off. He wouldn't come into the shop for two weeks because I wrote something derogatory to the President on this blog (Harry showed it to him) and he was afraid the Secret Service would come to pick me up (bring it on) and he would get caught up in it. I doubt, if push came to shove, he could actually shoot somebody, even to save his own life. He's still an Iraq war supporter too, and he's just an insecure little bastid trying to cover his failings with machismo. A note: There's always somebody bigger and badder than you are, regardless of how big and bad you think you are. Being big and bad doesn't make you a man and respect, like democracy, cannot be demanded at the point of a gun.

I call guys like that cowards. Gilliard gets more sociological on us:

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Because, no matter their age, they're boys(or girls). They believe daddy Bush will save them, and that if they believe he's strong enough, they will be protected and their side will win. They call names, demand everyone take loyalty oaths and act like boys, unaware of how men act and think.

When faced with broken bodies and a failed war, like abused children, they retreat into a fantasy world. They toss words like race-hustler about, rather than admit America's imperfect attitudes towards race, they demean women instead of dealing with them as equals.

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A man, a real man (or woman) would never have to agree to sign something to do the right thing or hide behind words. [T]hey would do it instinctively.

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No doubt.

Puppies!Poppies!

Looks like the 'War on Terra' is at cross-purposes vs. the 'War on Drugs'. Our pal Creature Ted:

According to the British newspaper The Independent, Helmand province in Afghanistan is about to produce "probably the biggest opium harvest in the history of a province that, last year, produced more than 20 per cent of the world's heroin on its own."

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It's to early to even begin to point out that everything the Bush Administration touches turns to shit, or begets the opposite result of what's expected. I could see a sitcom called The Worst Wing. It'd be comical if it wasn't so sad and dangerous.

A thousand words

Hell with the post, scroll down to the pic. It talks to me on many levels.

Bitches

So, Podhoretz says a woman (Hillary in particular) has to be a bitch to be President?

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PODHORETZ: OK, I'll put it to you very simply: The first woman president has to be somebody who has qualities that will convey to people that she can stand up before [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Il, [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, Osama bin Laden, all the worst men in the world, that she can pull the trigger when she has to, that she can negotiate, that she can stand tough and stand tall. Therefore, the first woman president has to be somebody who has qualities that we commonly associate with being unfeminine. She's got to be tough, she's got to be steely, she's got to be adversarial, and she's got to be difficult.

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Lemmie tell ya something, you fat bastid. I'm married to a successful woman who's made it to the top of her field by being competent. She's been called a castrating bitch on more than one occasion, but only by insecure little men who were generally incompetent and threatened by her competence. Hillary might not be my choice to lead this nation, but that's on philosophical grounds, not on the issue of competence. You're one of those little men I speak of who feel threatened by a political operator who knows her stuff (love her or hate her, Hillary does). She is far more comptetent than your little monkey in the Oval Office and certainly more qualified to lead this nation, you asshole.

Update:

And Mrs. F would make a damned good President too.

How's that abstinance thing workin'?

When I hear about abstinance programs passing for sex education these days, I laugh my ass off. I lost my virginity when I was 13 and I ain't stopped yet. Ain't nothing they could have told me would have made me want to abstain once I got my first taste, so to speak. My most excellent blog partner (and the young un' among us) Nina alerts me to an NYT article that proves the point:

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On teenage births, the same differences become clear. In New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, about 5 percent of babies are born to teenage mothers, while in Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming, 10 percent or more of all births are to teenage mothers.

The study also found that the percentage of births to unmarried mothers was highest in the South.

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So, tell me how all that bible thumping, Jesus loving, moral values shit is supposed to work? All I know is, I went through junior high, high school, the military, and the rest of my life up to now without catching an STD or producing offspring. Know why? Because my mother (the responsibility for 'the talk' landed on her because dad spent every waking minute chasing a buck) knew the little horndog I was and she told me that if I was gonna drag it around, I was gonna do it responsibly. Love ya, ma, God rest your soul.

And just another lesson from mom that has paid off over the past 30 years. Make sure your woman is satisfied before you are. Guys take heed.

The party of security...

The White House is now responding to the 9 News exclusive story first reported on wusa9.com.

How much do you think Osama bin Laden would pay to know exactly when and where the President was traveling, and who was with him? Turns out, he wouldn't have had to pay a dime. All he had to do was go through the trash early Tuesday morning.

It appears to be a White House staff schedule for the President's trip to Florida Tuesday. And a sanitation worker was alarmed to find in the trash long hours before Mr. Bush left for his trip. [my em]

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Oh the irony. The Chimp's incompetence is gonna get him killed at this rate. Idiots.

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"I saw locations and names and places where the President was going to be. I knew it was important. And it shouldn't have been in a trash hole like this," he said.

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Everything changed after 9/11. It sure did...for the worse.

Thanks to memeorandum for the link.

Protest Song of the Day

Jackson Browne. Video. When I saw that, I thought he was re-issuing Running On Empty, given the way the country is going under this administration. Don't worry, he's not.

Also, good articles on the resurgence of protest music in Newsweek and The Boston Globe.

It's certainly time, or maybe a little past time for this. It worked to help change things in decades past by bringing them out in the light, and it's certainly needed now. This is a whole new generation, different times, different problems, with a different outlook and different music. 'Twas ever thus and they're welcome to it. Music can rile up the kids* to vote, or stampede, or whatever it is they do. Us ol' farts are already so pissed off we need music to take our minds off it.

Now, if we can just coax Joanie...

*Anybody under about 40. Or me, on occasion.

You want anger? We'll show you anger...

Today's 'must read' is an open letter to Richard Cohen by William Rivers Pitt.

Why the anger? It can be summed up in one run-on sentence: We have lost two towers in New York, a part of the Pentagon, an important American city called New Orleans, our economic solvency, our global reputation, our moral authority, our children's future, we have lost tens of thousands of American soldiers to death and grievous injury, we must endure the Abramoffs and the Cunninghams and the Libbys and the whores and the bribes and the utter corruption, we must contemplate the staggering depth of the hole we have been hurled down into, and we expect little to no help from the mainstream DC press, whose lazy go-along-to-get-along cocktail-circuit mentality allowed so much of this to happen because they failed comprehensively to do their job.

George W. Bush and his pals used September 11th against the American people, used perhaps the most horrific day in our collective history, deliberately and with intent, to foster a war of choice that has killed untold tens of thousands of human beings and basically bankrupted our country. They lied about the threat posed by Iraq. They destroyed the career of a CIA agent who was tasked to keep an eye on Iran's nuclear ambitions, and did so to exact petty political revenge against a critic. They tortured people, and spied on American civilians.

You cannot fathom anger arising from this?

And a Hell of a lot more. You owe it to yourself to read the rest.

Civil Discourse

Many on the Left have bashed on 'journalists' and 'columnists' who carp about the incivility of lefty bloggers. Excellent posts have been written about it and great thought has been put into them:

Here.
Here.

I'll make it short and sweet:

The time for civility is over. Our nation is on the balls of its ass and there is no time to play nice. The gloves are off.

Civil discourse got us into this mess. It's time to clean it up and if it means we do it at the point of a gun, so be it.

Lessons lost....

Over a hundred years ago...

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New to imperialism, the United States in its very first effort was up against a group of people it knew nothing about. Busy with the war in the northern islands, the U.S. initially adopted the Spanish stance toward the Moros, avoiding any actions that might inflame more insurrection. After Roosevelt declared the war over, though, American officers had to figure out some way to integrate the Moros into the colonial government. In 1903 policy makers created the Moro Province, comprising southern Mindanao and the Sulu islands. Given the perceived backwardness of the Moros, this province was set up differently from the others. Not only would the natives have less say in their own government, but in the interests of keeping order, all civil posts would be staffed by U.S. Army officers. Their job would be to train the Moros in civilization and democracy, preparing them to take part someday in the colonial government.

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The Americans, none of whom spoke any of the 13 Moro languages, did their best to make the Moros recognize the Commission's authority, usually by force. As Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood, the first governor of the Moro Province, said, "Firmness and the prompt application of discipline measures will maintain order, prevent loss of life and property and permit good government and prosperity among these people . . . lack of firmness will result in a carnival of crime and an absolute contempt for all authority in this region." [my em]

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Sound familiar? Unfortunately, the murderous General and I share a last name. Seems, regardless of how we think of ourselves, we have not matured very much over the past two centuries.

Big tip o' the Brain to Roger Ailes the Good.

Good advice...

I hope the Dems listen or they'll be relegated to the 'also-ran' category again:

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Many in the establishment believe that Democrats are in grave danger if they ever show they give a damn about anything. It's one of the reasons why people don't feel anything for the Democrats. And for some, the strategy is always the same no matter what the circumstances: when the Republicans are popular, don't make waves. When the Republicans are unpopular, don't make waves.

But think about this. Do the Republicans really want all these scandals being brought up constantly during the campaign? I don't think so. That's why they are trying to manipulate the Democrats into keeping quiet about them. Any six year old could see through this cheap ploy.

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Thing is, the Dem 'consultants' are natural cowards. They're the rats that scurry around the perimeter of the room, scared of the light. As long as they get their share, don't make waves. Don't take a stand. I gather, at this point, the American people would rather more Feingold and less Lieberman.

Pissing it away...

It's your money:

A $2.7 trillion budget plan pending before the House would raise the federal debt ceiling to nearly $10 trillion, less than two months after Congress last raised the federal government's borrowing limit.

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I suggest everybody get out their history books and read about the Great Depression. We'll see another in our lifetimes, probably sooner than later.

Great thanks to Holden.

The Stabbed In the Back Myth

The Green Knight has an interesting post up about an old political tactic rearing it's ugly head these days. It'll look very familiar if you've been paying attention. GK does a very good job of analyzing and filling in the blanks,go read...

"Aluminum Overcast"

I was just out taking the pups for a walk in the woods. Now, I love the sound of radial aircraft engines, so when I hear 'em, I look up. Usually it's a Stearman, an N3N3, a Waco, or something like that. Not today!

Today, it was this. When's the last time you had one of these fly over your head? I've still got goose bumps!

Update:

I live about a mile from the airport. I just heard that thing takin' off. With all those engines on full song clawin' for altitude, it sounded like it was in the next room! More goose bumps.