If you needed any further proof that southern conservatives have been waiting 140 years to refight the Civil War, the sudden resurgence of secession talk ever since a black man was elected president ought to seal the deal.
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Friday, April 17, 2009
Quote of the Day
Jill:
Please, Mr. Obama ...
"I was just following orders" did not save the Nazis from the gallows and it shouldn't save these clowns. Not prosecuting is a mistake. Listen to Keith, please:
Transcript below the fold.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
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Indeed we must, Mr. President. And the forces of which you speak are the ones lingering — with pervasive stench — from the previous administration. Far more than a criminal stench, Sir. An immoral one. One we cannot let be re-created.
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Transcript below the fold.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
The Tea Parties: So That Happened:
The Rude Pundit on the tea parties. Strangely bereft of sexual content, there's a little, but still not much for him. I wonder if he's sick, or maybe the thought of gettin' teabagged by Repugs has just put him off his feed...
There's more.
Yesterday, thousands of poor and middle-class people were manipulated into helping rich people keep more of their money. It's sort of like going to a Yankees game, but without the souvenirs.
What is stunning is that yesterday's Tea Party protests were based on a demonstrable, factual lie. It wasn't about interpreting something or opinions. No, what people were protesting was actually a falsehood. They were played for suckers while they thought they were saving democracy. It was a bait and switch, man, a con game that was more dishonest than sidewalk three-card monte.
The whole day was filled with Fox-fanned falsehoods, starting with the whole acronym the protests adopted after "teabag" became the subject of mucho deserved mocking. "Taxed Enough Already" presupposes that taxes will be raised. And it seems that the tea partyers simply think that Barack Obama is lying to them when he says that the taxes for the vast, vast majority of Americans are lower under his plan. (On his radio show, Alan Colmes was screaming at callers who kept insisting that Obama was raising taxes for everyone.) The protests were against some fantasy administration, a sandwich of fascism on a socialism bun covered in a secret sauce of tyranny. It's like prayer: you can't really prove that it matters, but, hey, someone told you it was a good idea to do it, so down on your knees you go.
But it's not just the concept of being "taxed enough" that was a chimera. The Fox "news" hosts built the day around a fantasy America, as if we were all in a 1950s elementary school history class being force-fed the long-disproved myths of the nation.
How goddamned simple-minded this whole tea party thing was. How divorced from reality. What a waste of time, of energy, of paper and ink. All it succeeded in doing was propping up some egos, giving understandably frustrated people a place to misdirect their anger, and allowing there to be an hour of TV that featured Ted Nugent, Penn Jillette, and Janine Turner, like Hell's Tonight Show.
There's more.
Bounce, Honey, Bounce!
Well, our snow is meltin' off pretty good, but it's mud season. Some rare footage of me'n Mrs. G on our way to town. Hey, Fixer, ya think Nunzio's got axles fer these?
Thanks to johnnytenjobs.
How Not To Lose In Afghanistan
Today's 'must read' in Time:
Blindfolded and handcuffed, the man crouched on the ground, surrounded by Afghan soldiers and their U.S. Marine mentors. He had been found with insurgent propaganda and a Taliban flag and had a bruise on his shoulder — the kind the Afghan soldiers recognized from their days of carrying AK-47s while fighting Soviet forces more than 20 years ago. He said he was an illiterate shepherd, but he had a notebook full of writing. He claimed never to have visited Pakistan, but his mobile phone was filled with Pakistani numbers. Most likely, he was an insurgent. But the U.S. service members let him go. "You can't prosecute a guy for having a bruise," explains Howell. "We have to abide by rule of law." The village elders like to joke that the Americans may be infidels, but at least they are honest infidels. If a cow gets caught in a mortar attack, the soldiers pay for it. The hope, says Howell, is that such examples of transparency will eventually be emulated by local leaders. "The locals are justifiably frustrated with the corruption in their government. That has got to change."
Long before the U.S. arrived in Afghanistan, the Korengal was relatively rich. It wasn't farming that sustained the area's residents; the rocky hillsides grow few crops. But a lucrative trade in the region's cedar forests funded satellite-TV dishes and fancy four-wheel-drive trucks. Local lore holds that the fight with the Americans began in earnest when the U.S., acting on a tip from a rival tribe, dropped a bomb on the lumber mill of a local chief, killing some of his relatives and leading to a campaign of vengeance.
That's one reason failure in Afghanistan is not an option. An Afghan businessman adds another. He lived through the resistance to the Soviets in the 1980s, only to see the U.S. abandon Afghanistan when they left. Another betrayal, he thinks, could produce the same blowback that helped lead to 9/11. "If Afghanistan is sold out again," he says, "you would be basically giving 60% of the nation into the hands of the people who want to destroy the West. And I can tell you that these young Afghans are ingenious, they are creative and they know how to use computers. I can guarantee you that they will find infiltration routes into the U.S. and Europe within four years. There won't be another chance for the West to get it right."
Also an excellent photo gallery of our troopers in the Korengal Valley.
We could have done a lot better in Afghanistan if Bush had wanted to, but he needed al Qaeda and the Taliban to further his agenda and left our guys and diplomacy to wither on the vine for eight years in favor of his criminal war in Iraq. I still want us to. We have a lot of catching up to do, and of course Pakistan is now fully involved and complicates the whole deal no end.
Damn Bush's eyes for this.
Adios Texas: don’t let the door hit you on the way out
Steve at The Last Chance Democracy Cafe, obviously a regular reader of the Brain, follows up on Fixer's post:
Just as an aside, I think Ms. Hutchison would be a big improvement for Texas if she beats Kinky Friedman fer guv, but of course I wonder what they'll send to replace her in the Senate.
Not sad to me! Invigorating! The desperation of Repugs everywhere has filled my soul with delight! After eight years of rule by junta Tejano muy malo I got it comin'!
On the flip side, I am a little concerned that there may be bad results as they flip out of their little pea brains in ones and twos and bunches. They don't seem to understand that 'you lost' means 'you lost' and like the spoiled, rotten little brats they are, they may, in fact are, acting out in unacceptable ways. Tantrums are one thing, shootin' the joint up's another.
Texass secedes? In our dreams.
Texas Governor Rick Perry (nicknamed Governor Goodhair by the late, great and much missed Molly Ivins) has apparently suggested that Texas might just decide to secede from the union. It seems that Perry, who faces a strong primary challenge from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and is thus trying to snuggle up to the extreme right wing nutcase caucus (a/k/a the Republican base), is fed up — FED UP, I SAY! — with Washington placing conditions on the money it sends to the states, and he’s not going to take it anymore!
Just as an aside, I think Ms. Hutchison would be a big improvement for Texas if she beats Kinky Friedman fer guv, but of course I wonder what they'll send to replace her in the Senate.
The response to this suggestion from the left, so far, has actually been somewhat favorable. Both Michael Tomasky and Matt Yglesias seem inclined to let Texas go if it wants. As both note, the departure of the Lone Star State from the union would move the political balance in the United States decidedly to the left.
Besides, one can hardly help but be intrigued by any suggestion that would result in both Karl Rove and George W. Bush having to get a visa in order to enter the country. If Homeland Security does even a half-assed job, we should never have to see either one of them here again.
On a serious note: one has to wonder just how low the Republican Party will have to fall before some semblance of sanity returns. Because the really sad thing here, of course, isn’t that the governor of one of America’s truly great states (its contemporary politics notwithstanding) is willing to engage in this sort of insanity, but the fact that doing so, for a Republican, is now good politics.
Sad, indeed.
Not sad to me! Invigorating! The desperation of Repugs everywhere has filled my soul with delight! After eight years of rule by junta Tejano muy malo I got it comin'!
On the flip side, I am a little concerned that there may be bad results as they flip out of their little pea brains in ones and twos and bunches. They don't seem to understand that 'you lost' means 'you lost' and like the spoiled, rotten little brats they are, they may, in fact are, acting out in unacceptable ways. Tantrums are one thing, shootin' the joint up's another.
Texass secedes? In our dreams.
Tea Part-ay Recap
This is for those folks who go to bed early.
Update:
From "the two most dangerous women on our side". I'm proud to say these gals beat the livin' shit outta them wingtard skanks!
Update zwei:
Jason Linkins at Huffpo on the wingtards whinin' about the double entendre of "teabagging". Many more links:
Ewwwwwww!
Just as an aside, on the same page as the above was this link. For us dirty old men only. Yum.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | M - Th 11p / 10c | |||
| Tempest in a Tea Party | ||||
| ||||
Update:
From "the two most dangerous women on our side". I'm proud to say these gals beat the livin' shit outta them wingtard skanks!
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Update zwei:
Jason Linkins at Huffpo on the wingtards whinin' about the double entendre of "teabagging". Many more links:
One of the things that emerged in the run-up to the Tax Day Teabaggings is that the Tea Party participants helpfully opened the door to allowing everyone to think about their movement in terms of a sex act, common to prisons, which in turn gave rise to some wonderfully detailed bawdy talk and punny double entendres on the teevees. And this was a great, good thing, indeed! And yet, surprisingly, not everyone has managed to find the joy in this! Take the Washington Times' Amanda Carpenter, who has a big old sad about it:
"I'm not offended by it. I expect it. They have responded to popular sentiment across the country by acting like kids on a playground," said RedState's Erik Erikson, who just days ago was earnestly speculating that Levi Johnston and his sister were in an incestuous relationship. As in, STRAIGHT UP BONIN' AND TATTOOIN' ONE ANOTHER, WITH SEX.
Anyway, my great big heart is moved with pity for all of you who cannot enjoy these racy jokings, which, unless you actually enjoy parsing the prion-addled political mind of this movement -- is the only pleasurable product these tea parties have offered anyone.
Also, if you aren't a fan of things like the Maddow/Cox back-and-forth, be warned: you REALLY won't appreciate this article in Detour Magazine, entitled, "Protest Taxes By Stuffing Your Balls Into Sam Wurzelbacher's Mouth."
Ewwwwwww!
Just as an aside, on the same page as the above was this link. For us dirty old men only. Yum.
I don't know ...
But I figure that if I'd have stood outside the White House (and the Chimp still lived there) yelling "Death to the President" yesterday, I'd already be on my way to Gitmo in an orange jumpsuit with a Koran shoved up my ass.
Blogger was dicked this morning, more when I get home from work.
Blogger was dicked this morning, more when I get home from work.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
R.I.M. Job
Shoot The Messenger is a really cool site. Here they are on "Don't ask, don't tell". Liquid alert! More where this came from.
Children of the Taliban
I watched this last night on Frontline World on PBS. Pleae take the time to go see this 37-minute video report and read the synopsis if you want to see true right-wing extremism in action.
It's getting more serious by the day, and Bush gave the Taliban a seven year head start in Pakistan.
We're on the verge of defeating the American Taliban who would make us as ignorant as the AfPak Taliban are doing over there. I hope we can help the Pakis defeat their Taliban before that country is lost to them.
In a village 6 hours from Peshawar, it is the first time that the new deputy leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, has been filmed.
Arriving in an American Humvee his men have just captured in an attack on a NATO convoy, he tells the cameraman, “If America continues bombing the tribal areas… and martyrs innocent people…then we are compelled to attack them.” He also sends a message to Islamabad: “If the Pakistani leaders and army maintain their stance… then we will take control of Peshawar and other cities.”
This is no empty threat. The war has already arrived in the capital and Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi.
The state education system in Pakistan has virtually collapsed, leaving more than 1.5 million children studying at schools like this one. Sitting down to be interviewed, Shaheed explains what Sharia Law has taught him about women.
“The government should forbid women and girls from wandering around outside,” he says calmly. “Just like the government banned plastic bags -- no one uses them any more -- we should do the same with women.”
Leaving Karachi, the reporter tries to make contact with the Taliban leadership in the tribal areas. She wants to talk to the men who are recruiting children from these religious schools for suicide operations.
After lengthy negotiations, she meets with Qari Abdullah, who makes no attempt to hide his face.
“We never used to fight against Pakistan, because we thought the Army were Muslims,” he tells her. “But when they started bombing us, we had to do jihad against them.”
When she asks him about using young children to carry out such attacks, he replies:
“Children are tools to achieve God’s will. And whatever comes your way, you sacrifice it.” He then reveals that he recruits children as young as 5, 6, and 7 years old.
Coming to the end of her bleak journey, Obaid-Chinoy reminds us that there are 80 million children in Pakistan, many of them living in poverty. If the militants continue to expand their war and to recruit children freely, as they do now, then Pakistan may soon belong to them.
It's getting more serious by the day, and Bush gave the Taliban a seven year head start in Pakistan.
We're on the verge of defeating the American Taliban who would make us as ignorant as the AfPak Taliban are doing over there. I hope we can help the Pakis defeat their Taliban before that country is lost to them.
The peasant mentality lives on in America
Matt Taibbi
On teabagging parties:
More stuff I gotta go look up...
When the wingtards find out they've been conned into advocating doing something named after basically just a normal Saturday night in Frisco, they're gonna be pissed! Heh.
Or maybe not:
It's OK to be a peasant. It's not OK to be stupid and let the Masters con you into thinking wrong is right.
On teabagging parties:
What’s next? The Great Dirty Sanchez-In of 2010? A Million Man Felch? (Insert Rusty Trombone joke here).
More stuff I gotta go look up...
When the wingtards find out they've been conned into advocating doing something named after basically just a normal Saturday night in Frisco, they're gonna be pissed! Heh.
Or maybe not:
[...] Beck has an audience that’s been trained that the rich are not appropriate targets for anger, unless of course they’re Hollywood liberals, or George Soros, or in some other way linked to some acceptable class of villain, to liberals, immigrants, atheists, etc. — Ted Turner, say, married to Jane Fonda.
But actual rich people can’t ever be the target. It’s a classic peasant mentality: going into fits of groveling and bowing whenever the master’s carriage rides by, then fuming against the Turks in Crimea or the Jews in the Pale or whoever after spending fifteen hard hours in the fields. You know you’re a peasant when you worship the very people who are right now, this minute, conning you and taking your shit. Whatever the master does, you’re on board. When you get frisky, he sticks a big cross in the middle of your village, and you spend the rest of your life praying to it with big googly eyes. Or he puts out newspapers full of innuendo about this or that faraway group and you immediately salute and rush off to join the hate squad. A good peasant is loyal, simpleminded, and full of misdirected anger. And that’s what we’ve got now, a lot of misdirected anger searching around for a non-target to mis-punish… can’t be mad at AIG, can’t be mad at Citi or Goldman Sachs. The real villains have to be the anti-AIG protesters! After all, those people earned those bonuses! If ever there was a textbook case of peasant thinking, it’s struggling middle-class Americans burned up in defense of taxpayer-funded bonuses to millionaires. It’s really weird stuff. And bound to get weirder, I imagine, as this crisis gets worse and more complicated.
It's OK to be a peasant. It's not OK to be stupid and let the Masters con you into thinking wrong is right.
It is Jihad!
Heh ... The Republican Civil War has begun. Our pal Montag feels a bit of sadness for the Doughy Pantload though:
Heh ... again.
...
I know I should be happy that they are trying to eat their own, but Boss Limbaugh really does make Jabba the Hut seem like a decent soul.
Heh ... again.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Dead End Quarter ...
No, not a low rent neighborhood in Paris or London; the 25 (thereabouts) percent of Americans who are fucking morons:
...
This same 26-30% keeps cropping up in poll after poll, and they really believe some of the dumbest things in the world.
...
Headline of the Day
Homeland Security Warns of Rise in Right-Wing Extremism
Not exactly rocket science, huh? Pretty amazing, actually, given the source, for which I apologize. Pretty good day for F** Noise - overstate the obvious like it's news, which it probably is to them even though they started a lot of it, and see the next post down. Heh.
Not exactly rocket science, huh? Pretty amazing, actually, given the source, for which I apologize. Pretty good day for F** Noise - overstate the obvious like it's news, which it probably is to them even though they started a lot of it, and see the next post down. Heh.
"Bullshit Becky" poisons the very air around him!
Please forgive me for posting video of this asshole, but it's worth it!
Slow day
Light to none blogging today. Mrs. G has taken control of the big set to do our taxes, and mini-Hal's air card is dealing with a one-bar tower here in town. Slower'n molasses/50-weight in January. I actually called AT&T about it, and the tech brought up our tower and said it was possibly the weakest one in their whole system. Figures.
Anyway, I got a short window while Days Of Our Lives is on.
It's funny, but when me'n Mrs. G got hitched, we lived in an older house that had a bathroom so small that it wouldn't be acceptable in a travel trailer today. I used to think marital happiness was having two bathrooms. Now it's two TVs and two computers. Heh.
It's always been two motorcycles.
Just as a closer, I figured out how to deal with Somalia.
First, since Somalia has the longest coastline of any nation in Africa, find every landing craft and catering truck on the planet. Assemble catering trucks to landing craft and position them just offshore of Somalia up around the tip of the HOA under the protection of the warships of all the nations affected by piracy and tell the Ethiopian and Kenyan armies that there'll be a shore lunch as soon as they can get there. Invite Eritrea and Djibouti too. And bring yer families!
Alternatively, I have a 'two birds with one stone' approach: offer the food to the Somalians and serve it on the landing craft. As soon as they're all chowin' down, back all the boats off the beach and keep going. Let 'em all disembark in Iran. That oughta get 'em to the negotiating table! Heh.
Anyway, I got a short window while Days Of Our Lives is on.
It's funny, but when me'n Mrs. G got hitched, we lived in an older house that had a bathroom so small that it wouldn't be acceptable in a travel trailer today. I used to think marital happiness was having two bathrooms. Now it's two TVs and two computers. Heh.
It's always been two motorcycles.
Just as a closer, I figured out how to deal with Somalia.
First, since Somalia has the longest coastline of any nation in Africa, find every landing craft and catering truck on the planet. Assemble catering trucks to landing craft and position them just offshore of Somalia up around the tip of the HOA under the protection of the warships of all the nations affected by piracy and tell the Ethiopian and Kenyan armies that there'll be a shore lunch as soon as they can get there. Invite Eritrea and Djibouti too. And bring yer families!
Alternatively, I have a 'two birds with one stone' approach: offer the food to the Somalians and serve it on the landing craft. As soon as they're all chowin' down, back all the boats off the beach and keep going. Let 'em all disembark in Iran. That oughta get 'em to the negotiating table! Heh.
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