Good Jesus freaks

You know how I go off on the Christo-Fascist, Right-wing, bible-thumping, Jesus freaks. Well, there are some good ones out there. Via Melanie at Just a Bump in the Beltway:

Church Folks for a Better America

We are Christians, from different communions.
And citizens who span the political spectrum.

We grieve that our nation is not standing for “liberty and justice for all,” nor treating Iraqis as we would be treated. We believe that accountability begins at home, that wise leaders know their mistakes, and that honest leaders admit them. Fear and resentment will never guide us to a just and lasting peace. Any nation that hopes to be “under God” must live for a positive vision of world community, not a blind response to terrorism that tragically makes others see us as if we were terrorists ourselves.

If you're the God-fearing sort and want to see what level-headed Christians are all about, go see 'em.

Animals

I'm an animal lover so when I see pictures of peoples' pets, I usually steal 'em and post them here. Case in point.

Atrios' cats:




And our little monster's baby picture:

A man of the people

From WTF Is It Now??:

He's a fucking idiot

From Wampum:

Bush on sovereigns and sovereignty..

As I mentioned earlier, at some point this morning I had Bush's appearance before the Unity Conference as white noise in the background as I sat here econoblogging. But I had to wait for the transcript to make sure I hadn't dreamed this passage:

[Q] Good morning. My name is Mark Trahant. I'm the editorial page editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and a member of the Native American Journalist Association. (Applause.) Most school kids learn about the government in the context of city, county, state and federal. And, of course, tribal governments are not part of that at all. Mr. President, you've been a governor and a President, so you have a unique experience, looking at it from two directions. What do you think tribal sovereignty means in the 21st century, and how do we resolve conflicts between tribes and the federal and the state governments?

[BUSH]: Tribal sovereignty means that, it's sovereign. You're a -- you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And, therefore, the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities.

Now, the federal government has got a responsibility on matters like education and security to help, and health care. And it's a solemn duty. And from this perspective, we must continue to uphold that duty. I think that one of the most promising areas of all is to help with economic development. And that means helping people understand what it means to start a business. That's why the Small Business Administration has increased loans. It means, obviously, encouraging capital flows. But none of that will happen unless the education systems flourish and are strong, and that's why I told you we've spent $1.1 billion in the reconstruction of Native American schools.

Ugh. I'm speechless.

This is your President, ladies and gentlemen. You know, in a way I'm happy Cheney is really running the country, bad as it is. Could you imagine what Bush would fuck up all on his own?

Nazis, once more

Why the Hell Robert Kennedy Jr. goes on Sean Hannity's show is beyond me, but at least he got his message out.

Via TBogg:

[. . .]

HANNITY: All right. Let's start with one. First of all, you start with, in your book, page 193, you talk about, "communism is the control of business by government, fascism is the control of government by business. My American Heritage dictionary defines fascism as a system of government that exercises dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of the state and business leadership together with belligerent nationalism. Sound familiar?" Are you accusing this president of being -- and this administration of being fascist like, Nazi-like?

KENNEDY: No, what I -- the point is that if you read that in context, is that Americans have to understand that there's a huge difference between free market capitalism, which is great for a democracy, which democratizes our country, that brings efficiencies, and the corporate crony capitalism that has been embraced by this administration, which is as antithetical to democracy in America as it is in Nigeria. Today, you have polluters running the agencies that are supposed to protect Americans from pollution. The second in command at EPA is a Monsanto lobbyist. The head of the air division at the EPA is a -- is a utility lobbyist.

HANNITY: I...

KENNEDY: Let me finish.

HANNITY: Go ahead. Go ahead.

KENNEDY: Who for his lifetime has been defending the worst polluters in America. The head of the public lands now, Sean, is a mining industry lobbyist. The head of forest service a timber industry lobbyist, and on and on and on.

HANNITY: I understand your point.

KENNEDY: These people did not enter government for public service. They entered to undermine and subvert the very laws that they're charged with enforcing.

[. . .]

HANNITY: And then you say the following: "These governments use provocation of terrorist attacks, continual wars, invocations of patriotism and homeland security to privatize the commons, tame the press, muzzle criticism by opponents, turn the government over to corporate control.

'It's always a simple matter to drag people along,' noted Hitler's sidekick Herman Goering, whether it's a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a parliament or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them that they are being attacked, denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism, and expose the country to danger -- and exposing the country to danger. And it works the same in any country," is what you say.

Then you go on to say -- you're talking about fascism and Nazism -- and the next line in this book of yours says, the White House has clearly grasped this lesson. That is disgraceful to make that comparison.

KENNEDY: Well, you know, Sean in this -- you know, look at the comparisons. Look at our -- what is -- look at the terror alert, for example, that we -- that was...

HANNITY: Nazism and fascism? That we're using the tactics of fascists and Nazists? That's what you're saying about your president? You can't disagree without being that obnoxious?

KENNEDY: We can disagree with each other, Sean, and that's something that we ought to be able to do without calling each other names.

HANNITY: You're the one calling them fascists and Nazis, comparing them to fascists and Nazis.

KENNEDY: Well, I never called the president a fascist or a Nazi.

HANNITY: You found a nice round-about way to compare his tactics to the fascists and the Nazis.

KENNEDY: And the point that I'm making, which is very clear in that book, is that control of government by corporations is as dangerous as control of government by communism.

HANNITY: That is unbelievable.”

[my emphasis]

Years from now, historians will describe the 2000 elections as the Crawford Putsch.

Low-life, rat bastid

This pissed me off. From Kevin T. Kieth at Lean Left:

[. . .]

This asshole fraudulently advertised himself as an abortion service provider and offered abortions at lower cost than local clinics. He also told women who called him that the other clinics were dangerous, and they should deal with him instead. He then systematically misled those women into waiting for an abortion appointment at his "clinic" - which didn't actually exist - making appointments and then canceling them, telling them repeated lies, and continually discouraging them from going to another provider, until they had gotten so far into their pregnancies that they could not afford a (more-expensive) late-term abortion and were forced to carry the pregnancy to term against their will.

[. . .]

His lies and manipulation not only caused women to undergo unwanted pregnancies and deliveries, but stole their personal liberty and demolished their ability to plan for and deal with other difficulties they faced.

[. . .]

Entire post.

Go there and read the whole thing. Makes my fucking blood boil. I want to treat this guy like an Iraqi prisoner.

Deep shit

From Kos:

Cole on outing of Al Qaida double agent
by kos
Sat Aug 7th, 2004 at 04:01:06 GMT

Juan Cole sums it up nicely:

So one scenario goes like this. Bush gets the reports that Eisa al-Hindi had been casing the financial institutions, and there was an update as recently as January 2004 in the al-Qaeda file. So this could be a live operation. If Bush doesn't announce it, and al-Qaeda did strike the institutions, then the fact that he knew of the plot beforehand would sink him if it came out (and it would) before the election. So he has to announce the plot. But if he announces it, people are going to suspect that he is wagging the dog and trying to shore up his popularity by playing the terrorism card. So he has to be able to give a credible account of how he got the information. So when the press is skeptical and critical, he decides to give up Khan so as to strengthen his case. In this scenario, he or someone in his immediate circle decides that a mere double agent inside al-Qaeda can be sacrificed if it helps Bush get reelected in the short term.

On the other hand, sheer stupidity cannot be underestimated as an explanatory device in Washington politics.

People, this is bigger than the Plame Affair (as horrible as that outing was). We are locked in a bona fide war against a shadowy enemy. We finally infiltrate an Al Qaida cell, and our asset is burned in a matter of days either out of political expediency or sheer stupidity.
It boggles the mind.

As Juan Cole, regardless of which it is, the current administration does not deserve to be in power. Kerry needs to make this an issue.

Yay!

Cross posted from The Fixer because I'm a happy camper.

Been trying to sell my science fiction manuscripts for some time now. Got this about an hour ago:

[. . .]

I found the manuscript intriguing and thoroughly enjoyable (I'm a romance writer -- what can I say) and we would be honored to offer a contract for publication -- if the manuscript is still available. At this time, I've slated it in for an August, 2005 release. Luckily, the manuscript needs very little work. In fact, if you give it another thorough read for typos, it may be able to go to print "as is." Honestly, this is the first time I've been able to say that. You did a wonderful job and should be commended.

[. . .]

I'm a happy camper. I'll give out all the details when the contracts are signed. Yay!!!

It's getting worse

From The Head Heeb:

Even as the Chadian government wrestles with the problem of housing and feeding hundreds of thousands of refugees from Darfur, a crisis is developing among another group of refugees in Chad: those from the Central African Republic. Some 27,000 refugees from the CAR fled to Chad during the civil war of 2001-03 and, although a national unity government put in place after the March 2003 coup has restored some stability in the capital region, continued provincial unrest has prevented the exiles from returning home. Now, they are facing starvation because the UN World Food Program has run out of money to supply them. Unless more international aid is forthcoming, the CAR refugees will be forced to rely solely on the host communities for food - and given that Chad can barely feed itself, the prospects of adequate local assistance seem grim.

Update: 16:23:

Matt Yglesias:

Invade Sudan?
What would it take to halt genocide in Darfur? Rather a lot, it seems. I think, though, that this sort of all-or-nothing attitude is counterproductive. If you say that 7,000 troops is desperately inadequate, you're going to wind up getting zero. Meanwhile, it seems that 7,000 troops could probably do a great deal of good.

Sigh, again

Remember this a few days back?

From SKB:

Tennessee fights off Iraqi insurgents
Wednesday August 04, 2004

By way of readers Janet and Peter Jung, Atrios, and about 150 news outlets, you probably heard this news about a group of Iraqis who were denied entry to City Hall in Memphis while there on official business.

It seems the State Department brought the seven Iraqi civic leaders over to tour the U.S. and learn all about democracy and how to operate their government. Memphis city council chairman Joe Brown decided they posed a threat and wouldn't let them attend a scheduled meeting with another city council member.

He said he would have to "evacuate the building and bring in the bomb squads" because they might be dangerous. What a shining example of American values.

Joe Brown is a Democrat and a highly respected community leader and activist. Unfortunately he is now nationally known for being a dickhead who pulls stupid political stunts to get his name in the paper.

OK, then.

Are we that scared?

Well, today Bubba has this:

I'm Goin' to Graceland...
Friday August 06, 2004

...where I have reason to believe that we will all be received. (Sorry, couldn't resist).

Remember the Iraqi delegation who visited Memphis to learn all about freedom and democracy? Not only were they denied entry to City Hall, two of them got robbed in the Beale St. area:

And while the Mayor's apology may have softened the blow, what started as a civil rights tour, some say turned into one slap in the face after another. Adding insult to injury, Memphis police say two of the delegates were robbed at gunpoint Tuesday night on North Main Street.

Mike Hollihan has all the details of the whole embarrassing mess, which the Memphis Chamber of Commerce is apparently and understandably trying to downplay. I was happy to see, however, that they were able to visit Graceland without incident. (By way of SayUncle).

You'd hope they'd go home with a good impression of Americans in this country, especially after we've torn theirs up, but I guess that's not to be. Shouldn't be long before they learn how to say, 'Yankee go home'.

Oh yeah, the economy's fine.

------------------------------------------------------
MSNBC Breaking News
------------------------------------------------------

Jobless rate dips to 5.5% in July, but only 32,000 new jobs created -
The Labor Department says the economy added just 32,000 jobs in July, the smallest gain since December; but the jobless rate dipped from 5.6 percent down to 5.5 percent

Glad things are so rosy in Bush World.

See Kos, A Brooklyn Bridge, and Eschaton for more on the wonderful job information. I thought the White House said they were gonna create 275 or 300 thousand jobs a month? Lying bastids.

Read this

[. . .]

They also show that while some Texas officials aided and abetted Bush's efforts (and others apparently acquiesced to what was happening), there is no reason to question the character of Alabama officials, or Air Reserve Forces personnel as a whole. Finally, the only conclusion that can be reached from an examination of Bush's records for the period after he quit the Air National Guard is that the Air Force attempted to take punitive measure against Bush, but that political pressure prevented those measures from being carried out.

[. . .]

The Farmer at Corrente has much more here. Talk amongst yourselves. Friday-Friday-Fri-day!

Our governor

Governor Pataki. At least other people see him the way we do here in NY. From the Farmer at Corrente:

You know how to be sure something is a posed marketing event? It's when George E. Pataki, the Punxsutawney Phil of Republican Party photo-ops, pops up out of whatever burrow hes been snoozing in, blinks into the bright lights and cameras, has his picture snapped with the mayor, announces the opening of a ski lift or golf course, predicts six more weeks of fabulous NY weather and then scurries back into his hidey hole until the next snapshot "news" filler opportunity rolls around. Most recently he popped up long enough to sniff at the wind and share a friendly NY minute with CNN's Judy Woodruff.

[. . .]

Pataki: And this president understands that you don't just pat yourself on the back and declare a victory. You look to see how you can continue to move forward. And that's what this president is doing.

[. . .]

Entire post.

Yup, that's our little Georgie. Remember 'mission accomplished', putz?

Yeah, I stole the picture too. It's just one of my things, sorry, but I love photgraphic evidence of President Fuckup's fuckups.

Where do you want me to put it?

Sorry, couldn't resist.



Via Reuters.

You're glowing, my dear

From The Talking Dog:

If I don't have that third martini, the terrorists will have won. This seems to be the logic of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's sudden decision to stop publishing nuclear plant safety and security deficiencies, because "it might help the terrorists".

Well, no-- what it actually does is allow the nation's (103?) active nuclear plants to operate under an even greater veil of secrecy than they do now. It is interesting to note, for example, that the Indian Point nuclear plant at Buchanan, New York, around 60 miles North of Manhattan, owned by the Entergy Corporation (which ominously has recently been advertising its safety and reliability... as if any of us have a choice about where our electricity comes from) is often touted for the benefits it provides to its local economy, i.e. virtually no property taxes for around 1,000 or 2,000 residents of Buchanan. New York, and a few jobs in the region (and the electricity of course, which otherwise would have to be acquired on the regional power grid, or supplied by other means, or worst of all, perhaps force reasonable conservation measures).

[. . .]

Ah, but the economic damage, not to mention psychological. It is unclear to me how wide an area would have to be evacuated, or for how long. But keep this in mind: after the WTC, most of lower Manhattan was evacuated completely for a few days, and residents nearby, for months-- maybe a half-mile radius. Economic damage estimates are usually put in the $100 billion range.

Pretend instead we're talking evacuating a radius of 50 or 60 miles from a nuclear catastrophe. That's not only millions of people, but potentially the entire New York area-- not merely our largest population center, but the nation's (and probably the world's) leading business center. In short, it would make $100 billion seem like a bargain, compared to the probable economic devastation equivalent to a signfiicant part of our GDP-- especially if the area is uninhabitable for a significant amount of time.

And that's just one nuclear plant: we have over 100 of them up and running.

[. . .]

Entire post.

Another group of Bush friends, the nuclear power industry. Are you surprised?

Truth

From Kos:

Bush finally tells the truth
by kos
Thu Aug 5th, 2004 at 13:44:48 GMT

It was bound to happen. It was clear that Bush would eventually tire of telling one lie after another. So, in a moment of rare frankness, he finally told the truth.

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," Bush said. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

Truer words have never been spoken.

Indeed. Our President is a fucking asshole, period.

From the 'they would never do that' files

From Lambert at Corrente:

Gaslight watch: It just keeps getting better and better!
Now the administration has revealed that part of what really convinced them to go Code Orange in the latest extremely non-political terror alert was not the three- and four-year old files and documents themselves, but—wait for it—the fact that the files were written in perfect English:

[T]he separate flow of information that was arriving at the same time via the Central Intelligence Agency from Pakistan ... was based on information culled from seized computer disks that contained detailed case reports of reconnaissance conducted on buildings in Manhattan, Newark and Washington in 2000 and 2001.

In providing new details about those case reports, senior government officials described them for the first time as discrete documents, each at least 20 pages long and devoted to a particular target, and perhaps most intriguingly, they said, written in "perfect English.''
(via the see-no-evil Times)

Um.

"Perfect English?" Sounds like one of those panty-waisted extreme librul Democrat traitors to me!

The malAdministration has a really bad history with the written word in intelligence matters, you know? Remember the "crude forgeries" (here) on Iraq uranium? Remember the Brits lifting a report off the Internet and cutting and pasting it into their own report?

Hey, maybe the document was written in "perfect English" because... Um... No! They would never do that!

Talk amongst yourselves.

Sigh

From SKB:

Tennessee fights off Iraqi insurgents
Wednesday August 04, 2004

By way of readers Janet and Peter Jung, Atrios, and about 150 news outlets, you probably heard this news about a group of Iraqis who were denied entry to City Hall in Memphis while there on official business.

It seems the State Department brought the seven Iraqi civic leaders over to tour the U.S. and learn all about democracy and how to operate their government. Memphis city council chairman Joe Brown decided they posed a threat and wouldn't let them attend a scheduled meeting with another city council member.

He said he would have to "evacuate the building and bring in the bomb squads" because they might be dangerous. What a shining example of American values.

Joe Brown is a Democrat and a highly respected community leader and activist. Unfortunately he is now nationally known for being a dickhead who pulls stupid political stunts to get his name in the paper.

OK, then.

Are we that scared?

I'm beat

I'm hot and tired so I stole this whole thing from Kos.

Gay marriage victory in Washington state
by pucknomad
Wed Aug 4th, 2004 at 13:52:55 GMT

(From the diaries -- kos)
This morning, a King County Superior Court judge ruled Washington's ban on same sex marriage in violation of the state constitution.

"The Court concludes that the exclusion of same-sex partners from civil marriage and the privileges attendant thereto is not rationally related to any legitimate or compelling state interest and is certainly not narrowly tailored toward such an interest."

This will end up in the state Supreme Court, but still is wonderful news!

Yay.

The best

From Jesus' General:




Read the entire post.