Because I know just about as much as all the others who do it for a living. I'll bet they don't have to work half as hard as a mechanic and make more money too. From what they all said before I went to sleep last night, I was waiting for news of an Obama landslide when I woke up.
I say the same things about weather people. If I did my job with their success rate, I'd be run outta the shop in no time. The highlight of the night was watching Olbermann with 'Noball' Matthews. The striking contrast between intellect and moron was obvious.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Cold day at Foggy Bottom ...
Our Foreign Service people ain't too happy:
Nobody in their right mind can think US foreign policy is sensible. The 'grunts' of the diplomatic world see the same problems with their leadership as the ones in uniform do.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly half of U.S. diplomats who do not want to serve in Iraq say a key reason is because they do not support the Bush administration's policies there, according to a union survey released on Tuesday.
The survey by the American Foreign Service Association, which represents the rank-and-file diplomatic corps, not political appointees, also found that most U.S. diplomats were frustrated by what they saw as a lack of resources. Four out of 10 think Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is doing a bad job supporting them.
...
Nobody in their right mind can think US foreign policy is sensible. The 'grunts' of the diplomatic world see the same problems with their leadership as the ones in uniform do.
An Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove: How American Democracy Relies on Fascism
[A big Brain welcome to Avedon's readers. - F]
Starting with my post below, and expanded on by The Smirking Chimp (pernaps not off his meds like the other guy!), I guess I've got a theme today.
Mr. Rall cites several examples. Here's just one:
A good definition of 'government' is 'those with a monopoly on force'. They're not going to throw the rocks back at the rock throwers. They'll use tear gas, machine guns, kidnapping, murder, whatever it takes to maintain status quo and keep power in the hands of the currently powerful. If the citizens of this country, who outnumber the oppressors 10,000 to 1 in terms of both people and guns, ever feel the need to overthrow a U.S. regime, and who amongst us has not, it will need to be a concerted effort by millions of people all at once, led by people that are not afraid to die for their country, for die many will. They can't be afraid to kill other Americans either, for many on the wrong side will have to die as well. The People can prevail, but they have to go after it like they mean it.
Fat fuckin' chance. As long as most Americans have bread and circuses they don't give a shit about freedom and democracy and won't (and are not) even notice it's been taken away from them.
As a youth I took an an oath to defend this country, its citizens, and the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC. I most decidedly did NOT take an oath to defend the government or any particular regime. As yet, I have not un-taken that oath. If I could do it by myself, it would have been done already.
Starting with my post below, and expanded on by The Smirking Chimp (pernaps not off his meds like the other guy!), I guess I've got a theme today.
What would you do if you learned that Bush Administration officials wanted to round up thousands of Americans and throw them into concentration camps?
For all we know, there is no slippery slope. It's entirely possible that extraordinary rendition, eliminating habeas corpus, and the torture camps at Guantánamo and elsewhere are exactly what the government says they are--tools for fighting terrorists, not domestic political opponents. But how likely is it?
History is clear: Over and over again, the U.S. government places fascists in powerful positions. Once in office, they exploit wars and national tragedies to roll back hard-won freedoms. They're Democrats as well as Republicans.
Mr. Rall cites several examples. Here's just one:
"Lt. Col. Oliver North, for example, helped draw up a controversial plan to suspend the Constitution in the event of a national crisis, such as nuclear war, violent and widespread internal dissent or national opposition to a U.S. military invasion abroad," The Miami Herald reported on July 5, 1987.
So why does a democracy need fascist schemes like Reagan's Rex-84 Alpha Explan (a FEMA plan to put American protesters against a planned war against Nicaragua into camps)? Because American democracy is an iron fist in a velvet glove, a glove that's becoming increasingly transparent.
Threats of repression are rarely carried out. They don't need to be.
If potential opponents are afraid, there's little need for concentration camps. The threat of repression (and actual crackdowns, explained away as exceptional excesses and brushed off with a token apology) creates a chilling effect on people who might pick up a rock instead of a sign.
In a country whose legal framework authorizes the government to kidnap, torture and murder them, opponents of U.S. policy must decide whether getting out of line--anything from a letter to the editor to direct action--is worth the risk of getting kidnapped, tortured and murdered.
A good definition of 'government' is 'those with a monopoly on force'. They're not going to throw the rocks back at the rock throwers. They'll use tear gas, machine guns, kidnapping, murder, whatever it takes to maintain status quo and keep power in the hands of the currently powerful. If the citizens of this country, who outnumber the oppressors 10,000 to 1 in terms of both people and guns, ever feel the need to overthrow a U.S. regime, and who amongst us has not, it will need to be a concerted effort by millions of people all at once, led by people that are not afraid to die for their country, for die many will. They can't be afraid to kill other Americans either, for many on the wrong side will have to die as well. The People can prevail, but they have to go after it like they mean it.
Fat fuckin' chance. As long as most Americans have bread and circuses they don't give a shit about freedom and democracy and won't (and are not) even notice it's been taken away from them.
As a youth I took an an oath to defend this country, its citizens, and the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC. I most decidedly did NOT take an oath to defend the government or any particular regime. As yet, I have not un-taken that oath. If I could do it by myself, it would have been done already.
Go Edwama!
This is a possibility I can get behind. Please go read Paul Loeb:
*For those of you who are too young to know what a 'mugwump' is, it's a bird that sits on a fence with his mug on one side and his wump on the other.
Me too, except that I ain't donatin' to anybody just yet, and believe me I've been asked.
It makes me feel like an indecisive mugwump(*), but in the wake of the Iowa caucuses, I've sent money to both Edwards and Obama. In a month, I'll have to choose, but as long as they're backing each other up more than sniping, I want them both in the race.
*For those of you who are too young to know what a 'mugwump' is, it's a bird that sits on a fence with his mug on one side and his wump on the other.
So I was delighted when Obama and Edwards beat her in the Iowa caucuses. But that doesn't mean Edwards should necessarily drop out. His presence pushes Obama to deal with the hard issues of power and wealth in America--ones that, to be honest, Obama has too often skated over in recent years. If voters do develop reservations about Obama, Edwards offers a strong alternative. While Edwards obviously remains a distinct longshot, his numbers are strong enough that voters deserve at least a chance to further weigh his promise--he's more than just a symbolic candidate. And I do want to see Obama tested just at least a bit more before we hand him the nomination.
As long as Obama and Edwards don't rip each other apart (and this week they feel enough like allies for me to dream of the promise of a joint ticket), I'm continuing to donate to both of them, doing my small part to help both offer their visions to America. If I had to vote today, it would be a hard call, but I'd probably still go for Edwards, though in a few weeks I might choose differently. But for now, I'd like to see both these strong voices continue to have a shot at leading America.
Me too, except that I ain't donatin' to anybody just yet, and believe me I've been asked.
"Townspeople armed with scythes and pitchforks..."
Well, not quite, but it won't be long...
From Liberal Talk Radio:
As much as I'd like to add a rather sarcastic and witty comment to this, I... just... can't. Just watch the video.
This is getting better and better! I think I like primary season as a spectator sport. It's kinda like the Daytona 500 - mostly it's boring, but I love to watch the crashes...
From Liberal Talk Radio:
Mob of angry Republicans chase Hannity through streets, chant "FOX News sucks!"
I just can't make this stuff up!
Ron Paul supporters really hate FOX Noise. Here, they let Sean Hannity know how they feel.
As much as I'd like to add a rather sarcastic and witty comment to this, I... just... can't. Just watch the video.
As much as I'd like to add a rather sarcastic and witty comment to this, I... just... can't. Just watch the video.
This is getting better and better! I think I like primary season as a spectator sport. It's kinda like the Daytona 500 - mostly it's boring, but I love to watch the crashes...
Election Results From Dixville Notch
The Dixville Notchsters get their 10 seconds of fame every four years. OK, I'll play along. Reuters:
I get this visual of a buncha seniors dozing at the polls until 12:00:01, roused, voted, and back to sleep by 12:01. My kind of place, although I marvel at the concept of absentee ballots in a town of 74 people! Some folks just don't wanta stay up late, I suppose.
Sen. Barack Obama won seven of the 10 votes cast for Democrats in the first balloting of the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday in the northern hamlet of Dixville Notch, while Sen. John McCain won the Republican balloting.
Ballots by all 17 registered voters were cast and counted just after midnight on Tuesday in the remote White Mountain town that takes advantage of a state law allowing communities to close polls once voting is over and announce the results.
Other than those for Obama, of Illinois, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards got two votes and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson received one. New York Sen. Hillary Clinton received none.
Among the seven votes cast for Republicans, Arizona Sen. John McCain won four, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney received 2, and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani won one vote.
To speed things up, in an attempt to assure Dixville Notch would be first to finish voting, each of the 13 voters present had a voting booth. Four others voted by absentee ballot. The balloting was over within minutes as 12 Independents, 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats voted.
I get this visual of a buncha seniors dozing at the polls until 12:00:01, roused, voted, and back to sleep by 12:01. My kind of place, although I marvel at the concept of absentee ballots in a town of 74 people! Some folks just don't wanta stay up late, I suppose.
McCain: Agent of Change
Tony Peyser
John McCain claims he has been an "agent of change" for years. This is true. In the 80s, he played footsie with Charles Keating's Lincoln Savings & Loan and many senior citizen investors changed from having life savings to having to go back to work.
Why Does The Government Fear Armed Veterans?
Forget the tinfoil hats! Go get a tinfoil roof and then go read this piece by Alan Stang.
That was the coherent part. The writer makes some good points, but I'm a little worried about him. Then again, I'm a little worried about what is happening to our country as well.
And just so you know, not all the "armed veterans" are youngsters just back from Iraq. Trust me on that one.
Recent passage by the District of Criminals of the legislation known colloquially as the Veteran Disarmament bill raises the question of why the conspiracy for world government would want to disarm returning veterans. The conspiracy trusted these men to use the most devastating ordinance abroad; it does not trust them to keep and bear much smaller weapons here at home. The obvious answer is that these are the millions of well trained military men I was talking about in my recent piece about a possible assassination threat to Dr. Ron Paul.
These are the men the psychos at the top are afraid of, the men who can stick the red dot in their eye from a mile away. The psychos know these men are out there, watching, stewing, temperatures rising every day; they are beginning to understand that they are dying now because the psychos have poisoned them with Depleted Uranium in the field.
They are beginning to realize that the buddies and the limbs they left behind in Iraq were lost not in defense of this beloved country but in behalf of the megalomaniacal nightmare of conquest the psychos think is “normal.” Now the veterans understand that the monsters who sent them half way around the world to get sick are dismantling the system of freedom the Founding Fathers gave us here at home.
So far, they haven’t said much, but the psychos know they are simmering and that something could set them off. So, the Nazis at the top want their guns, because it is very nerve wracking to have to keep watching your chest and tum-tum, hoping that if you see the red dot there soon enough you will have time to hunker down before the round that follows it smashes through your perfumed skull and distributes gobs of your polluted brain all over the haute couture ensembles of the distinguished ladies enjoying cocktails on the balcony of your penthouse.
That was the coherent part. The writer makes some good points, but I'm a little worried about him. Then again, I'm a little worried about what is happening to our country as well.
And just so you know, not all the "armed veterans" are youngsters just back from Iraq. Trust me on that one.
From castrating bitch ...
To weak little woman in the time it takes to boil an egg. There's never a timer around when you need one*.
I see** it's not just me who noticed:
Taylor Marsh says it succinctly:
Yeah, heaven forbid the castrating bitch shows emotion. The talking heads and Rethugs will have to think up other ways to assault her, like calling her 'weak' or implying 'it was staged'. I agree with Taylor that it wasn't. If she's that good an actor, she'd be collecting another Oscar instead of running for President.
Hillary was correct, lo those many years ago when she spoke of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. Any Dem candidate who, hopefully (I've been a Mets fan for too long to believe anything is a lock), wins the general election in November will be met with the type of personal attacks, mostly in the form of lies, designed to stifle any attempts to undo the mess Bush has made. The next President will have a hell of a time, even with a majority in Congress (which is no sure thing). Just look at what the Clintons put up with, all of the allegations (save a blowjob) untrue.
If you think it's ugly now, wait until the Dem candidate is chosen. The only thing being castrated will be the Dem who wins the general election. The old white men of the Grand Obfuscation Party are sharpening their knives as we speak.
*Apologizing for paraphrasing The American President so shamelessly.
I see** it's not just me who noticed:
...
This pattern of systematic character destruction (and sexism) is not just bad for Senator Clinton, it's bad for all progressives, who are always the victims of the professional rightwing smear institutions and the puerile press corps that can't get enough of this stuff. We need to figure out a way to change this or we are going to be seeing more of our progressive politicians --- many of whom you may like better than Hillary Clinton --- turned into vessels of irrational loathing over time.
...
Matt Stoller, Jane Hamsher, Steve Benen and D-Day below have posts about the revolting pile-on today about her choking up. It's making me sick to my stomach.
...
Taylor Marsh says it succinctly:
...
Like I've been saying, tap into voters with emotion. It's the only way to win. To add, people know when something is contrived. There is no doubt that she's exhausted and the wall politicians usually erect completely falls in this exchange. She shared her honest feelings with the voters, revealing the Hillary people who've known her for years says is behind the politician we see every day. It's a continuation of the "That hurts my feelings," likability moment during the debate on Saturday, which was delivered so flawlessly. There's a part of Hillary Clinton that has not been revealed to the public. It's who she is and people need to meet that part of her. It was a very real moment.
...
Yeah, heaven forbid the castrating bitch shows emotion. The talking heads and Rethugs will have to think up other ways to assault her, like calling her 'weak' or implying 'it was staged'. I agree with Taylor that it wasn't. If she's that good an actor, she'd be collecting another Oscar instead of running for President.
Hillary was correct, lo those many years ago when she spoke of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. Any Dem candidate who, hopefully (I've been a Mets fan for too long to believe anything is a lock), wins the general election in November will be met with the type of personal attacks, mostly in the form of lies, designed to stifle any attempts to undo the mess Bush has made. The next President will have a hell of a time, even with a majority in Congress (which is no sure thing). Just look at what the Clintons put up with, all of the allegations (save a blowjob) untrue.
If you think it's ugly now, wait until the Dem candidate is chosen. The only thing being castrated will be the Dem who wins the general election. The old white men of the Grand Obfuscation Party are sharpening their knives as we speak.
*Apologizing for paraphrasing The American President so shamelessly.
**This is not to say I'm endorsing Hillary or anyone else yet. I still have a lot of questions that haven't been answered. All of the top three say things I like and things I don't like. The guy I really liked (Dodd) is no longer in the running. We'll see who's still standing when the traveling show comes to New York.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Snow Day
I figured what with all the hype on the news about our "crippling" snow storm, I'd show you what really happened, at least at my house, which is the only place I've been since Thursday. It appears that conditions on our mountain roads were bad enough to curtail travel for a day or so to all vehicles except TV news trucks, complete with the on-camera talking head who drew the short straw. They had to talk it up big time to justify the expense, I guess, but our local merchants loved them in the absence of regular visitors. I'm surprised they didn't end up taking pictures of one another!
Here's 'before' taken last week just before the storm:
Here's yesterday after the storm:
See? No big deal.
And one of my faithful assistant Tami, who made sure nothing edible that came out of the discharge chute of my snowthrower went to waste:
It was a good storm, but nothing out the ordinary for around here. Cleanup of the driveway was easier than usual just as a matter of blind luck and timing - the town plows had the courtesy to berm me in before I plowed out. There's no feeling like clearing the driveway, getting inside where it's warm, taking off your snow boots, getting your wet clothes in the dryer, and settling back with a nice cup of hot chocolate, going 'ahhhh' a time or two, and just then hearing the 'clankety-clank, scrapety-scrape' that means you have to suit back up and clear a berm before it freezes solid. See my take on berms from last winter.
Folks elsewhere in California and Nevada suffered a lot worse than we did. We had kind of a normal snow storm. They took it in the shorts. We had three or four little power outages, the longest lasting about fifteen minutes, and the shortest just long enough that I had to grit my teeth, cuss, and reset the little-green-number clocks and restart the 'puter.
Folks pay big money to come up here and play in the snow in our winter wonderland. I just step out my front door.
Here's 'before' taken last week just before the storm:
Here's yesterday after the storm:
See? No big deal.
And one of my faithful assistant Tami, who made sure nothing edible that came out of the discharge chute of my snowthrower went to waste:
Click pics to embiggen
It was a good storm, but nothing out the ordinary for around here. Cleanup of the driveway was easier than usual just as a matter of blind luck and timing - the town plows had the courtesy to berm me in before I plowed out. There's no feeling like clearing the driveway, getting inside where it's warm, taking off your snow boots, getting your wet clothes in the dryer, and settling back with a nice cup of hot chocolate, going 'ahhhh' a time or two, and just then hearing the 'clankety-clank, scrapety-scrape' that means you have to suit back up and clear a berm before it freezes solid. See my take on berms from last winter.
Folks elsewhere in California and Nevada suffered a lot worse than we did. We had kind of a normal snow storm. They took it in the shorts. We had three or four little power outages, the longest lasting about fifteen minutes, and the shortest just long enough that I had to grit my teeth, cuss, and reset the little-green-number clocks and restart the 'puter.
Folks pay big money to come up here and play in the snow in our winter wonderland. I just step out my front door.
They're Ba-ack!
LATimes
Gee, ya think?
Good. We need these guys. The presidential candidates in particular have been getting a pass for nine weeks and it needs to come to an end.
In entirely unrelated TV news, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations is starting a run of new shows tonight as well on The Travel Channel. As if I don't get enough smart-aleck Noo Yawkahs around this joint...
Not a moment too soon to help make sense of things, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will be back on duty Monday, ready to mock everything in sight.
The New Hampshire presidential primary scheduled for the next day? A likely topic!
Gee, ya think?
Comedy Central spokesman Tony Fox said, "Stephen and Jon are still figuring out what they're going to do on Monday night's show."
Probably so. But the nation's ruling class, presidential hopefuls and others ripe for ridicule should be all too aware of what's going to happen. Their two-month respite is coming to an end. Stewart and Colbert are on their case again.
Good. We need these guys. The presidential candidates in particular have been getting a pass for nine weeks and it needs to come to an end.
In entirely unrelated TV news, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations is starting a run of new shows tonight as well on The Travel Channel. As if I don't get enough smart-aleck Noo Yawkahs around this joint...
Why Obama is winning ...
Oliver Willis hits it directly on the head:
Indeed. People of every stripe (and plaids too) have had enough of the 'status quo' and Obama represents the farthest thing from it. People see him as an agent of change because he has the most obvious differences with the run of the mill candidates. It's easier to believe Obama will bring change than Hillary, who's been part of the 'machine' for the last 35 years, regardless of her protestations.
Update:
And just a thought before I head to work. That doesn't mean I think Obama is the best thing for the country right now. We are in a deep hole and there is something to be said about having someone in charge who's been on the pointy end of a crisis. Say what you will about Hillary 'only' being a First Lady, but she was there with Bill when he fixed the 'Reagan Economy'. She was there with him in Kosovo and during the peace talks in Northern Ireland. She's right when she says experience counts. Thing is, I can't say Hil would be the ticket either. It's a tough time because the person we choose must be able to provide the leadership to get us out of this mess, not make it worse. We need an FDR right now and I'm not sure either of them is it.
Off to the shop ...
... Undboutedly [sic] people are excited about the prospect of a woman president, but I think it's safe to say that the possibility of a black president would present an even more fundamental shift in the basic fabric of what America is ...
Indeed. People of every stripe (and plaids too) have had enough of the 'status quo' and Obama represents the farthest thing from it. People see him as an agent of change because he has the most obvious differences with the run of the mill candidates. It's easier to believe Obama will bring change than Hillary, who's been part of the 'machine' for the last 35 years, regardless of her protestations.
Update:
And just a thought before I head to work. That doesn't mean I think Obama is the best thing for the country right now. We are in a deep hole and there is something to be said about having someone in charge who's been on the pointy end of a crisis. Say what you will about Hillary 'only' being a First Lady, but she was there with Bill when he fixed the 'Reagan Economy'. She was there with him in Kosovo and during the peace talks in Northern Ireland. She's right when she says experience counts. Thing is, I can't say Hil would be the ticket either. It's a tough time because the person we choose must be able to provide the leadership to get us out of this mess, not make it worse. We need an FDR right now and I'm not sure either of them is it.
Off to the shop ...
Sunday, January 6, 2008
CA Weather
Just go read if you're interested. I'd rather 'be under' 5 feet of snow, which I damn near am, than 5 feet of water.
An inch of rain is roughly equal to 10 inches of snow. Too much math for me.
Here are some local webcams. Some of 'em might even be working!
An inch of rain is roughly equal to 10 inches of snow. Too much math for me.
Here are some local webcams. Some of 'em might even be working!
CheneyCare
CentreDaily
Yeah, the "health insurance" companies woulda dropped The Dick like a hot rock long ago and he'd be pushin' daisies. It's almost a good argument in their favor.
But not quite. We're the ones paying for the DC establishment's wonderful benefits. We should get them too. They're supposed to be workin' for us (Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! - we need to remind them of this on a daily basis, the uppity bastards). It's like buying the best health insurance in the world for the gardener and living without it yourself in order to pay for it.
The California Nurses Association (CNA)/National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) launched a national campaign today in favor of what the group has dubbed "CheneyCare" -- guaranteed, publicly-funded health care for all Americans.
The campaign was inspired by the success of the group's Iowa ads declaring that Vice President Dick Cheney "would be dead" if he did not have publicly-funded health care. A new version of the Iowa ad asking Americans to sign a petition for "CheneyCare" will run today in eight New Hampshire papers before going national in the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today, as well as leading political blogs, on Monday.
"All Americans have the right to the quality of care that our Vice-President, President, and Congress already have," said Rose Ann DeMoro, Executive Director of CNA/NNOC and a vice-president of the AFL-CIO. "All the leading Democratic proposals fall well short of "CheneyCare," keeping insurance companies at the apex of power and allowing them to deny care that can save lives. The Republican proposals are even worse."
Yeah, the "health insurance" companies woulda dropped The Dick like a hot rock long ago and he'd be pushin' daisies. It's almost a good argument in their favor.
But not quite. We're the ones paying for the DC establishment's wonderful benefits. We should get them too. They're supposed to be workin' for us (Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! - we need to remind them of this on a daily basis, the uppity bastards). It's like buying the best health insurance in the world for the gardener and living without it yourself in order to pay for it.
Sounds like a Boozy Floozy too!
Normally I wouldn't link you to a wingnut site, but luckily in this instance, since Ed Rollins is such a righteous asshole, BuzzFlash will:
It is indeed a doozy. Heh.
Conservative Blogger Overhears Iowa Diner Comments of Infamous Huckabee Campaign Manager, Ed Rollins, and Blogs it on Conservative Site, And It's a Doozy
It is indeed a doozy. Heh.
Donuts in the Snow*
*Sounds like something you'd do on a motorcycle after telling the assembled throng "Watch This!"
Dave Barry from NH. Do not miss this one!
I like Dave Barry, but what strikes me as particularly funny, besides his political acumen later in his piece, is that he lives in Florida and actually thinks there's a lot of snow in New Hampshire!
I've been watching all the talking heads standing out of doors while they broadcast from up there. I got more snow in my shoes and I'm in sunny California!
Dave Barry from NH. Do not miss this one!
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- And so the eyeballs of the world turn to New Hampshire, a tiny, flinty, gritty, Dunkin' Donuts-intensive state located mostly inside the Arctic Circle. On Tuesday, the voters here will troop to the polls, where -- as they have done every four years since 1952 -- they will turn around and troop back home, because the polls, like virtually everything else here, are under 23 feet of snow.
But a few people, the truly flinty ones, will manage to actually vote, and they will determine the course of this presidential race -- and, yes, America's future -- for approximately two news cycles. Then the eyeballs of the world will turn to either North or South Carolina (nobody is sure which) and the people of New Hampshire will go back to their traditional flinty New England lifestyle of sitting around eating doughnuts and waiting for the August thaw.
I like Dave Barry, but what strikes me as particularly funny, besides his political acumen later in his piece, is that he lives in Florida and actually thinks there's a lot of snow in New Hampshire!
I've been watching all the talking heads standing out of doors while they broadcast from up there. I got more snow in my shoes and I'm in sunny California!
The DC Disconnect
Eugene Robindon
My singing has been ruled in violation of the Geneva Convention, so I must opt for the former. Hint: bare knuckles wrapped around a wrist pin works good. I used to use a roll of quarters but it took too much time to round up all the loose change afterwards.
The word "change" had great resonance in the Iowa campaign. In part, the yearning for change arose because George W. Bush has led the nation down so many dead-end paths. But from the conversations I had with Iowans, it seemed clear to me that change is also shorthand for the disconnect between the Washington state of mind and the widespread expectation, hardly unreasonable, that this city ought to actually get something done every once in a while.
Whether it gets done after a bare-knuckle brawl or a chorus of "Kumbaya" really doesn't matter.
My singing has been ruled in violation of the Geneva Convention, so I must opt for the former. Hint: bare knuckles wrapped around a wrist pin works good. I used to use a roll of quarters but it took too much time to round up all the loose change afterwards.
Who knew ...
George McGovern was still alive? And he's pissed too:
Indeed. Good reading from the former Presidential candidate.
Easy, George, just leave it in the hands of the Republicans.
...
After the 1972 presidential election, I stood clear of calls to impeach President Richard M. Nixon for his misconduct during the campaign. I thought that my joining the impeachment effort would be seen as an expression of personal vengeance toward the president who had defeated me.
Today I have made a different choice.
...
Indeed. Good reading from the former Presidential candidate.
...
I have not been heavily involved in singing the praises of the Nixon administration. But the case for impeaching Bush and Cheney is far stronger than was the case against Nixon and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew after the 1972 election. The nation would be much more secure and productive under a Nixon presidency than with Bush. Indeed, has any administration in our national history been so damaging as the Bush-Cheney era?
How could a once-admired, great nation fall into such a quagmire of killing, immorality and lawlessness?
...
Easy, George, just leave it in the hands of the Republicans.
Great thanks to Scout Prime for the link.
Quote of the Day
Our pal Creature:
But this is the problem I have with Hil. Like Edwards said, she's beholden to the pharmaceuticals and other big business interests. She's 'business as usual'. As far as I'm concerned, Edwards - Obama (in any order) would be the best scenario, though the fact Obama is so close to god creeps me out.
... Hillary, we get it, 35 years of change. Jeez, let up. You will never be the agent of change ...
But this is the problem I have with Hil. Like Edwards said, she's beholden to the pharmaceuticals and other big business interests. She's 'business as usual'. As far as I'm concerned, Edwards - Obama (in any order) would be the best scenario, though the fact Obama is so close to god creeps me out.
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