It's impossible to express my disgust with the phrase 'war on terror' and the resulting 'We're in a time of war' excuse for every trampling of the Constitution by this Administration and its rubber-stamp Congress, most recently in the chest-thumping and threats surrounding the NYTimes exposure of the White House spying on American citizens, without warrants, voiding at least two constitutional amendments.
So...
1) Please tell me when Terror did not exist in the world. Tell me how we will know when there will not be any more.
2) Since you can't do #1, how's about defining how we will know when we have won the 'war on terror,' so we can go back to reading the Constitution the way it was intended, and stop using it as a door mat at the entrance to the White House.
3) Can't do that either, eh? Then let's declare a similar war, also against a methodology rather than a state or an army.
I propose a Global War on Groin Hits. Anyone who thinks about hitting someone else in the groin should be jailed and tortured, possibly with groin hits. Anyone who thinks someone is thinking about hitting them in the groin has the right to spy on that person, go through their phone calls and bank accounts, to protect their 'family jewels.'
Silly, isn't it? This has always gone on, and will, as long as there are testicles hanging from people who are thought to deserve a good whacking by anyone else.
The difference is, of course, that a groin hit rarely kills the victim, while we've seen terror attacks kill people for hundreds of years, including the WTC attack of 2001.
But the analogy equates a person to a nation, in case you didn't notice. And the WTC attack didn't particularly hurt America as a whole. The economy continues, the political system continues. Trucks navigate roads, children go to school.
But America has changed its behavior towards its citizens, and towards the world. In both cases, for the worse. And in that sense, the terror attack worked, not because of the attack, but because of what we let our government do to us and to our nation, using that attack as an excuse.
The list of what they are doing to us is already long, and sad. And oh, so pointless. Think of what we'll find when the constitutionally-required openness in government and the constitutionally-designed checks-and-balances kick in!
There will be no end to the war on terror, because there is no army to conquer, no enemy to star in a surrender ceremony. But there will be an end to America. And that is when we decide that the idea and establishment of the principles of the Constitution is no longer important.
Because the war is actually one of ideas. And how we continue to treat our citizens and our nation and our international friends and treaties will tell who wins this battle. And we come closer to losing every day that we treat our citizens more like we accuse 'them' of treating people, rather than convincing people they wanted to be treated more like we expect to be under our Constitution.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
I'm back...and feel like I've been through finals and a dissertation proposal defense...neither of which is likely to happen soon, but two weeks of business travel and family guests results in the same effect.
So, before I get back in gear, a quick rundown of the absence:
Three days in Manhattan, seeing The Daily Show, Billy Connolly, and Spamalot. The throat's still raw from laughing, and barely held together in the subsequent three days of policy at the Take Back America conference in Washington from the 12th to the 14th. I reported on the conference for a local AM AirAmerica affiliate's Sunday show, hosted by Barry Gordon. From the opening day, with Robert Redford, through the Hillary/Pelosi/Kerry breakfast the next day, and seeing Russ Feingold, Joe Wilson and Ned Lamont talk Iraq on Wednesday, it was a helluva show. I was interviewed on Father's Day on the BarryGordonFromLeftField Show, while my dad, my favorite Democrat, listened. You can hear the interview here. I'm the first guest, so you only have to suffer the ads. It's AM radio, after all.
Back home, to attend the oldest niece's HS graduation, then enjoy a few days of parents staying with me, including a night for Mom at the local hospital. Note: never test-drive a seafood restaurant with visitors...
All caught up? Look, everyone is focusing on Iraq. The conference was damned near a one-note concert in the full sessions, and only got to other subjects in little break-outs of 100 to 200 people. The best post I've read lately is from the RudePundit, here. So in the interest of change, as well as speed, I'm going to reprise a complaint from this time last year: Have you looked at the Dow Jones Industrial Average today? It's at 11079, after a 104-point rise today. "So what?", you ask, "That's a nice one-day jump." Yea, until you get some context. Remember when Junior wanted to privatize Social Security. Wanted us to do our own investing, to hand our funds over to some brokerage house to manage, (and get a fee for doing so,) even if we kept the funds in something as 'safe' as an index fund, like, maybe, a DJIA Index fund (called Diamonds in the vernacular) for example?
Well, 10218 is stuck in my head. It was the market close of the DJIA on a day in June of 2004, when I drove 12 hours straight through from home to Salt Lake City, to get a car back from a shop that had resusitated it from the ministrations of a drunken Mormon who'd rear-ended it, and me in it, about two months earlier. 10218 was on the air as I got a speeding ticket, because they ticket their own (my SLC rental had Beehive State plates) but not tourists...
Anyway, do the math. Two years, 861 points since 10218. That's a total of 8.4% increase over two years. It would be much less if your broker took his 1.25 percent the first year, which you then wouldn't earn on the second year. After which, the broker takes his 1.25 percent again. So maybe you made 5% over those two years, sitting still and betting on the Dow. You'd have made the same increase, maybe even a tad more, over the same two years if you'd still been in the standard Social Security system. And that's using Junior's own figures. But the important thing, for Junior and his corporate backers, is that 1.25 percent per year they'd make off your money if Social Security was privatized. Because they don't get any of that now. That gets used to pay for your parents, my berieved underage nieces, and the rest of the widows and orphans that expect civility and care from us, and that we, purporting to be civilized, give them through Social Security.
I compare every day's close to that June 2004 close at 10218. And I watch the fascists in the Reaganazi Party, because they won't sleep until they get their hands on that big pool of money called Social Security. 'Cause 1.25% of all the Social Security funds, every year, is...well, it's a whole lot!
So, before I get back in gear, a quick rundown of the absence:
Three days in Manhattan, seeing The Daily Show, Billy Connolly, and Spamalot. The throat's still raw from laughing, and barely held together in the subsequent three days of policy at the Take Back America conference in Washington from the 12th to the 14th. I reported on the conference for a local AM AirAmerica affiliate's Sunday show, hosted by Barry Gordon. From the opening day, with Robert Redford, through the Hillary/Pelosi/Kerry breakfast the next day, and seeing Russ Feingold, Joe Wilson and Ned Lamont talk Iraq on Wednesday, it was a helluva show. I was interviewed on Father's Day on the BarryGordonFromLeftField Show, while my dad, my favorite Democrat, listened. You can hear the interview here. I'm the first guest, so you only have to suffer the ads. It's AM radio, after all.
Back home, to attend the oldest niece's HS graduation, then enjoy a few days of parents staying with me, including a night for Mom at the local hospital. Note: never test-drive a seafood restaurant with visitors...
All caught up? Look, everyone is focusing on Iraq. The conference was damned near a one-note concert in the full sessions, and only got to other subjects in little break-outs of 100 to 200 people. The best post I've read lately is from the RudePundit, here. So in the interest of change, as well as speed, I'm going to reprise a complaint from this time last year: Have you looked at the Dow Jones Industrial Average today? It's at 11079, after a 104-point rise today. "So what?", you ask, "That's a nice one-day jump." Yea, until you get some context. Remember when Junior wanted to privatize Social Security. Wanted us to do our own investing, to hand our funds over to some brokerage house to manage, (and get a fee for doing so,) even if we kept the funds in something as 'safe' as an index fund, like, maybe, a DJIA Index fund (called Diamonds in the vernacular) for example?
Well, 10218 is stuck in my head. It was the market close of the DJIA on a day in June of 2004, when I drove 12 hours straight through from home to Salt Lake City, to get a car back from a shop that had resusitated it from the ministrations of a drunken Mormon who'd rear-ended it, and me in it, about two months earlier. 10218 was on the air as I got a speeding ticket, because they ticket their own (my SLC rental had Beehive State plates) but not tourists...
Anyway, do the math. Two years, 861 points since 10218. That's a total of 8.4% increase over two years. It would be much less if your broker took his 1.25 percent the first year, which you then wouldn't earn on the second year. After which, the broker takes his 1.25 percent again. So maybe you made 5% over those two years, sitting still and betting on the Dow. You'd have made the same increase, maybe even a tad more, over the same two years if you'd still been in the standard Social Security system. And that's using Junior's own figures. But the important thing, for Junior and his corporate backers, is that 1.25 percent per year they'd make off your money if Social Security was privatized. Because they don't get any of that now. That gets used to pay for your parents, my berieved underage nieces, and the rest of the widows and orphans that expect civility and care from us, and that we, purporting to be civilized, give them through Social Security.
I compare every day's close to that June 2004 close at 10218. And I watch the fascists in the Reaganazi Party, because they won't sleep until they get their hands on that big pool of money called Social Security. 'Cause 1.25% of all the Social Security funds, every year, is...well, it's a whole lot!
Thursday, May 25, 2006
I can dream, can't I ??
OK, so Skilling and Lay got the first taste of the rest of the life we having been wishing for them since 2001. Probably a pyrrhic victory for America. I mean, we'll NEVER see the money they made disappear, and if their lawyers are really good, they'll be able to stay out of prison until January of 2009, at which time Junior will pardon them both. He needs to make sure that they won't rat him out over Cheney's Energy meetings and the other collusions amongst the oil men in and out of the White House. After all, the one person Junior can't pardon is.....Junior!
Instead of continuing to rain on your parade, allow me to suggest that 'going away' presents would be in order for 'Kenny Boy' Lay. And being a good liberal, wanting the best for my fellow man, let me suggest the following:
Send along an order of condoms (my favorite brand) and some single-use packets of KY (also makes those gas prices easier to take) to Kenny Lay, in care of his legal representative, Danny Petrocelli, at O'Melveny & Myers, in Century City (aka LawyerLand) in LA.
I'm sure he'll be able to pass these gifts along to Ken.
After all, lawyers have a better chance of delivering to the prisoners than the rest of us. It's their job!
Instead of continuing to rain on your parade, allow me to suggest that 'going away' presents would be in order for 'Kenny Boy' Lay. And being a good liberal, wanting the best for my fellow man, let me suggest the following:
Send along an order of condoms (my favorite brand) and some single-use packets of KY (also makes those gas prices easier to take) to Kenny Lay, in care of his legal representative, Danny Petrocelli, at O'Melveny & Myers, in Century City (aka LawyerLand) in LA.
I'm sure he'll be able to pass these gifts along to Ken.
After all, lawyers have a better chance of delivering to the prisoners than the rest of us. It's their job!
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
For the irony-deficient conservatives...
"There is nothing wrong with holding an opinion and holding it passionately. But at those times you're absolutely sure that you are right, go find somebody who disagrees. Don't allow yourself the easy course of the constant 'Amen' to everything you say."
- Condi Rice, 5/22/06, Boston College commencement address
Obviously, she never gave this advice to her boss, because she's still Sec. o' State.
And is that how the cabinet members reply to the utterances of the anointed one? 'Amen'? Do they also genuflect when they enter, or when they exit, or both? And must the eyes be averted?
Just wondering...
- Condi Rice, 5/22/06, Boston College commencement address
Obviously, she never gave this advice to her boss, because she's still Sec. o' State.
And is that how the cabinet members reply to the utterances of the anointed one? 'Amen'? Do they also genuflect when they enter, or when they exit, or both? And must the eyes be averted?
Just wondering...
Monday, May 22, 2006
Competence By Design
New York holds seemingly never-ending design contests (and legal battles) over how to memorialize those lost there on Sept. 11th, and how tall the new target, er, office building should be. Sen Jeff Sessions has weighed in on a preliminary, three-barrier design for the new fence at the Mexican border, and bidding has been opened to Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, so no one will be suspicious when Halliburton gets the primary contract. And yet, if you Google "New Orleans Levees Design Contest" in the news, you get nothing. And THAT's how seriously this nation is taking the idea of bringing back New Orleans.
We've all seen that snarky, but oh-so-telling email that's gone around, the one with the photos of the Thames barrier in England, the mid-ocean barrier that protects the Netherlands, and the new one (after a huge design contest) to protect Venice Italy from sinking, all very high-tech, demonstrating serious, nation-level investment, followed by the weed-covered dirt piles and collapsed concrete panels that were supposed to protect New Orleans.
So, now that Naigin's been re-elected, and the Republicans can't withhold support anymore just to try to swing an election, I think the mayor should announce a design contest. And just shame the damned Army Corps, and the whole Republican Monarchy, by demonstrating that the job CAN be done, as long as it's taken seriously, and done competently, neither of which is possible under the Republican theory of government.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Mary Cheney really tics me off
Mary Cheney really tics me off. She's got a book out, explaining why....why...why her parents could use her sexual orientation to win votes among the Log Cabin Republicans, but she's pissed off that Kerry used it to point up the hypocrisy of her parents, her party, her campaign, HER, in supporting the BushCheney '04 campaign against gays! She doesn't think people (gays) should be one-issue voters, but her Party's whole campaign is to create a union of one-issue voters, whether they're anti-abortion, anti-immigrant, or anti-gay marriage.
One of the little conflicts I'd like her to address is that homo-haters, this administration's supporters, claim homosexuality is either a choice or the failing of the parents. Of course, no one would choose to be treated the way gays are in America, so it must be bad parenting. So which convicted drunk driver is the failing parent here, Dick or Lynne? These two paragons of the Party of Family Values! (I won't even mention those other fine parents, George and Laura.)
The fact is that most evidence says homosexuality is genetic. So which side of the family did it come down to arrive at Mary? Since her older sister's conception date was exactly 2 days after the military lifted the ban on drafting married but childless men, Dick's fifth(!) deferment seems to demonstrate that neither Dick nor Lynne was particularly interested in parenting, just in staying out of Nam (him) and keeping him in better paying jobs (her.)
The answer may lie in Lynne Cheney's "Sisters", a fine novel of women on the American plains.
I'm just saying...
One of the little conflicts I'd like her to address is that homo-haters, this administration's supporters, claim homosexuality is either a choice or the failing of the parents. Of course, no one would choose to be treated the way gays are in America, so it must be bad parenting. So which convicted drunk driver is the failing parent here, Dick or Lynne? These two paragons of the Party of Family Values! (I won't even mention those other fine parents, George and Laura.)
The fact is that most evidence says homosexuality is genetic. So which side of the family did it come down to arrive at Mary? Since her older sister's conception date was exactly 2 days after the military lifted the ban on drafting married but childless men, Dick's fifth(!) deferment seems to demonstrate that neither Dick nor Lynne was particularly interested in parenting, just in staying out of Nam (him) and keeping him in better paying jobs (her.)
The answer may lie in Lynne Cheney's "Sisters", a fine novel of women on the American plains.
I'm just saying...
Friday, May 12, 2006
Give the NSA something to track
At the NSA.gov site, there are lots of phone numbers you can call, where you can get lots of information.
My high school English teacher always said 'Go to the original sources.'
Why not give them a call about the program? That's the 'Terrorist Surveillance Program,' you little old American (=terrorist?) you!
My high school English teacher always said 'Go to the original sources.'
Why not give them a call about the program? That's the 'Terrorist Surveillance Program,' you little old American (=terrorist?) you!
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Surprise! I'm AGAINST Impeachment !
All these angry people, buzzing about, 'Impeach! Impeach!'
Don't they see what has happened in America? Don't they see how it has happened?
Don't they understand that Junior is just the hood ornament, the cherry on top, the symptom of the disease?
And if they insist, immediately, on the passion play of 'The Impeachment of George Walker Bush,' that no one will have any stomach for the REAL investigations into the real crime, that of one-party rule, collusion among the three branches of government, collusion between the government, the ReagaNaziCorporation (RNC) and corporate America! And with Republicans running a rear-guard action that these additional investigations are just retribution fro Dems being out of power for so long, they'll look like the underdogs.
If they really believe that removing the hood ornament means anything other than that the car goes into the shop for a few days, they're wrong.
I want to put the Republican machine in that car cruncher that OddJob used in Goldfinger. I want every participant as the guy in the trunk of that car when it went into the compactor....
And then I want to put the hood ornament on my mantle as a trophy. Like Franken says, do a quickie impeachment between Election Day '08 and Jan 20 '09, just to show the world the disdain we hold for this petty tyrant.
...and then cancel his Secret Service detail, just for grins....
Don't they see what has happened in America? Don't they see how it has happened?
Don't they understand that Junior is just the hood ornament, the cherry on top, the symptom of the disease?
And if they insist, immediately, on the passion play of 'The Impeachment of George Walker Bush,' that no one will have any stomach for the REAL investigations into the real crime, that of one-party rule, collusion among the three branches of government, collusion between the government, the ReagaNaziCorporation (RNC) and corporate America! And with Republicans running a rear-guard action that these additional investigations are just retribution fro Dems being out of power for so long, they'll look like the underdogs.
If they really believe that removing the hood ornament means anything other than that the car goes into the shop for a few days, they're wrong.
I want to put the Republican machine in that car cruncher that OddJob used in Goldfinger. I want every participant as the guy in the trunk of that car when it went into the compactor....
And then I want to put the hood ornament on my mantle as a trophy. Like Franken says, do a quickie impeachment between Election Day '08 and Jan 20 '09, just to show the world the disdain we hold for this petty tyrant.
...and then cancel his Secret Service detail, just for grins....
Friday, May 05, 2006
It depends on what 'Accomplished' accomplished
During the 'celebrations' earlier this week, of the third anniversary of Junior's landing(?) on the carrier, and of 'Mission Accomplished,' I realized two things:
First, 'Mission Accomplished' was exactly 6 weeks after the start of the invasion. You know, as in "it'll take six days, six weeks...I doubt six months." So this is a celebration not only of their lack of planning for the war, but of their pre-planning for the photo-op. Boy, was Colbert right!
And second, I figured out why Junior's bulge was so large.
Before you think I'm overly-focused on Junior's package, realize that most Fox commentators spent that day remarking on it (listen to Stephanie Miller's podcast of April 28, 2006, reading the transcripts. They're hysterical!) My dad, a WWII Air Force bomber pilot, had duty in England, including teaching flying, and being trained on how to land on a carrier. The Navy then had an unofficial 'Order of the Diaper' for each new initiate into the sheer terror of letting someone else, the flagman on the deck, tell you how to land your plane on a short, pitching airfield in the middle of the ocean.
If you stage a massive, internationally-televised photo op, you don't want your star refusing his big entrance 'cause he's wet himself, do you?! What's your insurance policy?
Can you say 'Depends?'
First, 'Mission Accomplished' was exactly 6 weeks after the start of the invasion. You know, as in "it'll take six days, six weeks...I doubt six months." So this is a celebration not only of their lack of planning for the war, but of their pre-planning for the photo-op. Boy, was Colbert right!
And second, I figured out why Junior's bulge was so large.
Before you think I'm overly-focused on Junior's package, realize that most Fox commentators spent that day remarking on it (listen to Stephanie Miller's podcast of April 28, 2006, reading the transcripts. They're hysterical!) My dad, a WWII Air Force bomber pilot, had duty in England, including teaching flying, and being trained on how to land on a carrier. The Navy then had an unofficial 'Order of the Diaper' for each new initiate into the sheer terror of letting someone else, the flagman on the deck, tell you how to land your plane on a short, pitching airfield in the middle of the ocean.
If you stage a massive, internationally-televised photo op, you don't want your star refusing his big entrance 'cause he's wet himself, do you?! What's your insurance policy?
Can you say 'Depends?'
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Just What America Needed !
Two quick thoughts, and then off for a well-deserved trip with my honey...
1) They picked Tony Snow because he was dirty from the Sr. Bush Administration. Much has been made of the impossibility of bringing truly fresh (read 'innocent') talent into the Whore House, so haing them use the same old staffing technique, 'Load up from Dad's Administration,' shouldn't have been a surprise. What it DOES confirm is that FOX News is the same as Hudson, Manhattan, American Enterprise, or any of the other 'Institutes' that the ReagaNazis park themselves in when they're out of power...Not just a cheerleader, but an official part of the Party.
2) America needed Bush the Junior. Really!
And while I'm gone, I'm going to put together a justification for that statement that is already several pages long in my head...
1) They picked Tony Snow because he was dirty from the Sr. Bush Administration. Much has been made of the impossibility of bringing truly fresh (read 'innocent') talent into the Whore House, so haing them use the same old staffing technique, 'Load up from Dad's Administration,' shouldn't have been a surprise. What it DOES confirm is that FOX News is the same as Hudson, Manhattan, American Enterprise, or any of the other 'Institutes' that the ReagaNazis park themselves in when they're out of power...Not just a cheerleader, but an official part of the Party.
2) America needed Bush the Junior. Really!
And while I'm gone, I'm going to put together a justification for that statement that is already several pages long in my head...
Thursday, April 20, 2006
A quick thought on the recent shuffle at the White House: BFD!
The two items of real note are as follows:
1) Whether Andy Card jumped or was pushed (I vote 'jumped' as the poor bastard's looked exhausted for months,) he's been working a billion hours a day with no deputy, for almost two years. Karl's been drawing the 'deputy' paycheck, but if you think Karl Rove ever gave Andy the time of day, you're smokin' stuff. So with Bolten coming in to fill Andy's shoes, Bolten needs help or he'll never get up to speed. So they gave him back the 'deputy' slot to fill with a helper. This changes NOTHING at Karl Rove's desk, as getting the Deputy title just gave him 'policy' cover. But, as The Prince Of Aluminum, Sec. O'Neill, called them, the "Machiavellis of Mayberry" never care about policy except as a funtion of politics, and that's ALL Karl cares about.
2) McClellan says it'll be a two or three-week transition to a new 'spokes-hole', but only a moron throws out the old without an idea of who to replace him with. Oh, yea, THAT moron. I forgot...
Y'know, it's tough to find rats who want to jump ONTO a sinking ship, especially when the rats that are already onboard won't trust them to not take one look around the wreckage and flee to the nearest press office to 'rat' them out. (pardon the pun) Especially if there would have to be congressional confirmation hearings, where the incompetence of the outgoing rat, and the shit-pile he or she (can't forget 'Leezza) left behind, could be fully inspected and remarked on by senators in public. God Forbid!
1) Whether Andy Card jumped or was pushed (I vote 'jumped' as the poor bastard's looked exhausted for months,) he's been working a billion hours a day with no deputy, for almost two years. Karl's been drawing the 'deputy' paycheck, but if you think Karl Rove ever gave Andy the time of day, you're smokin' stuff. So with Bolten coming in to fill Andy's shoes, Bolten needs help or he'll never get up to speed. So they gave him back the 'deputy' slot to fill with a helper. This changes NOTHING at Karl Rove's desk, as getting the Deputy title just gave him 'policy' cover. But, as The Prince Of Aluminum, Sec. O'Neill, called them, the "Machiavellis of Mayberry" never care about policy except as a funtion of politics, and that's ALL Karl cares about.
2) McClellan says it'll be a two or three-week transition to a new 'spokes-hole', but only a moron throws out the old without an idea of who to replace him with. Oh, yea, THAT moron. I forgot...
Y'know, it's tough to find rats who want to jump ONTO a sinking ship, especially when the rats that are already onboard won't trust them to not take one look around the wreckage and flee to the nearest press office to 'rat' them out. (pardon the pun) Especially if there would have to be congressional confirmation hearings, where the incompetence of the outgoing rat, and the shit-pile he or she (can't forget 'Leezza) left behind, could be fully inspected and remarked on by senators in public. God Forbid!
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
They throw like they make war: Badly.
Thank God baseball season has started. I'm a Cincy fan, and THAT's why I like red, and why I HATE that the Reaganazis have stolen my favorite color, my team's color!! Blue is for Dodger weiners...
And what the hell does all this have to do with politics? Well, Junior threw out the first pitch in Cincinnati last week, at the 'Great American Ballpark.' He was invited to do so by the Reds' current owner, who was a co-owner of the Texas Rangers with Junior. He's one of the guys who overpaid Junior in the buy-out of his piece of the partnership. Anyway, the local Republicans cheered him on, his pitch went wild above the plate, but the amazin' Jason LaRue brought it in and saved face for Junior, just like the troops are trying to do in Iraq.
And the home team, MY team, paid the price for showing him off, and covering his mistake.
Reds lost 16-7 !!!
Yesterday, 'Big' Dick Cheney threw out the first pitch at RFK in Washington for the first home game for the Nationals. He was booed from the moment he set foot on the field to the moment he walked off. The booing will be his excuse for pitching from half-way to the mound, and still bouncing it in the dirt in front of the plate. The fact is, he's a wimp and (pardon my insensitivity) I've known 10-year-old girls who throw better. FOX killed the mike during their live feed for the pitch, because they can't take reality.
Nationals lost!!
So, a little hint. Don't let losers lead your team, or your team loses!! QED
And what the hell does all this have to do with politics? Well, Junior threw out the first pitch in Cincinnati last week, at the 'Great American Ballpark.' He was invited to do so by the Reds' current owner, who was a co-owner of the Texas Rangers with Junior. He's one of the guys who overpaid Junior in the buy-out of his piece of the partnership. Anyway, the local Republicans cheered him on, his pitch went wild above the plate, but the amazin' Jason LaRue brought it in and saved face for Junior, just like the troops are trying to do in Iraq.
And the home team, MY team, paid the price for showing him off, and covering his mistake.
Reds lost 16-7 !!!
Yesterday, 'Big' Dick Cheney threw out the first pitch at RFK in Washington for the first home game for the Nationals. He was booed from the moment he set foot on the field to the moment he walked off. The booing will be his excuse for pitching from half-way to the mound, and still bouncing it in the dirt in front of the plate. The fact is, he's a wimp and (pardon my insensitivity) I've known 10-year-old girls who throw better. FOX killed the mike during their live feed for the pitch, because they can't take reality.
Nationals lost!!
So, a little hint. Don't let losers lead your team, or your team loses!! QED
Greenbacks, wetbacks, yellowbacks
Seen the new ten-dollar bill? Looks like a piece of newspaper that got left on the dashboard cooking in the sun all day, all piss-yellow except for the oval in the back. Well, you got a yellow president, what do you expect? It'd look better with Junior's picture on the front, instead of some Jamaican (look it up.) At least then, the yellow streak on the back would be appropriate.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Forebodings about hindsight
I read more than I should. There's a statement that would appall my mother. But I'm all input, perpetual voluminous input, and my output is scattershot and infrequent (look at my posting dates, for example...) Which is why I'd like to refer you today to a piece of laser-tight writing that Steve Coll had in last week's New Yorker. Just read it. As an aspiring writer/analyst, I shake my head in awe. As an American, I weep...
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Republicans REFUSE to learn from Europe
Suddenly, Junior wants to talk immigration, mostly to get everyone off the war, the NSA wiretapping, the CIA covert operative, the (fill in your favorite Junior Admin horror show here!)
Plenty of others are talking about plenty of flavors of this issue, so I'll stick to Section 1 of the 14th Amendment. You know, "All persons born...in the United States..., are citizens of the United States..." (This is also the amendment that Junior is violating with Gitmo and 'extraordinary rendition.' Read up!)
Seems the Republicans want to repeal that Section, cause y'know them wetbacks just keep coming here to have those American babies. And it really conflicts with those Republican family values to break up a family, shipping mom and dad back to TJ while the infant citizen stays here and fends for itself (?)
This, just as France has had fourth and fifth-generation Algerian youth rioting in the streets, burning cars and mugging people, largely because they were born in France, as were their parents, yet French law for many years refused to allow them citizenship. So they are outcasts in the only country they know, with no allegiance to any nation, and no ability to work their way up the ladder of French life.
The same thing's happening in Germany. Just in 1999 were the laws changed to permit many of the Turks born in Germany to be declared citizens. There are still laws on the books there defining 'German' by the mother's bloodline. These go back to 1913. So only 40,000 of the 2,000,000 Turks in Germany have become citizens, even though more than half of these Turks were born in Germany and speak German as natives. They all live in enclaves and most are excluded from voting, or running for office.
Yea, let's get us some more of that racial segregation and artificial underclass here. Apparently the Republicans just can't get enough of that racial hatred...
sing along:
"Should Americans pick crops?
George says 'No!'
'Cause no one but a Mexican
would stoop so low.
And after all, even in Egypt, the pharaohs
Had to import Hebrew braceros"
- Tom Lehrer, 1965 from the song "Senator George Murphy" (elected 1964, California)
SSDG - Same Shit, Different George!
Plenty of others are talking about plenty of flavors of this issue, so I'll stick to Section 1 of the 14th Amendment. You know, "All persons born...in the United States..., are citizens of the United States..." (This is also the amendment that Junior is violating with Gitmo and 'extraordinary rendition.' Read up!)
Seems the Republicans want to repeal that Section, cause y'know them wetbacks just keep coming here to have those American babies. And it really conflicts with those Republican family values to break up a family, shipping mom and dad back to TJ while the infant citizen stays here and fends for itself (?)
This, just as France has had fourth and fifth-generation Algerian youth rioting in the streets, burning cars and mugging people, largely because they were born in France, as were their parents, yet French law for many years refused to allow them citizenship. So they are outcasts in the only country they know, with no allegiance to any nation, and no ability to work their way up the ladder of French life.
The same thing's happening in Germany. Just in 1999 were the laws changed to permit many of the Turks born in Germany to be declared citizens. There are still laws on the books there defining 'German' by the mother's bloodline. These go back to 1913. So only 40,000 of the 2,000,000 Turks in Germany have become citizens, even though more than half of these Turks were born in Germany and speak German as natives. They all live in enclaves and most are excluded from voting, or running for office.
Yea, let's get us some more of that racial segregation and artificial underclass here. Apparently the Republicans just can't get enough of that racial hatred...
sing along:
"Should Americans pick crops?
George says 'No!'
'Cause no one but a Mexican
would stoop so low.
And after all, even in Egypt, the pharaohs
Had to import Hebrew braceros"
- Tom Lehrer, 1965 from the song "Senator George Murphy" (elected 1964, California)
SSDG - Same Shit, Different George!
Monday, March 20, 2006
Mourn on April 30th...
(was on vacation, watching Spring Training. Hope you missed me!)
Lots of noise about the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Marches on the left, Bush stumping to the right. So what?
I'm waiting for April 30th. THAT'S the date that Dems and Progressives ought to focus on. Why?
"[The war] could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."
- Sec of Defense Rumsfeld, 2/7/03.
So, on April 30th, six weeks from now, let's remind everyone of the third anniversary of when this pre-emptive strike was supposed to be over, leaving our troops lanquishing in a diabetic haze of thrown candies, needing their gas masks on to protect them from the heady scents of piles of flowers for the victors.
And remind them of that oh-so-deadly self-delusion that this doddering refugee from the Ford Administration uses for judgement.
My one regret about Rumsfeld is that he'll die long before he is universally recognized for the incompetent he is.
Lots of noise about the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Marches on the left, Bush stumping to the right. So what?
I'm waiting for April 30th. THAT'S the date that Dems and Progressives ought to focus on. Why?
"[The war] could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."
- Sec of Defense Rumsfeld, 2/7/03.
So, on April 30th, six weeks from now, let's remind everyone of the third anniversary of when this pre-emptive strike was supposed to be over, leaving our troops lanquishing in a diabetic haze of thrown candies, needing their gas masks on to protect them from the heady scents of piles of flowers for the victors.
And remind them of that oh-so-deadly self-delusion that this doddering refugee from the Ford Administration uses for judgement.
My one regret about Rumsfeld is that he'll die long before he is universally recognized for the incompetent he is.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Late To the Job Market, Part II
Junior was down in New Orleans a couple days ago, surveying the damage he's responsible for. I have never heard anyone I'm supposed to respect whine so much about how hard the work is as this clown does at almost every press conference. And I'd put money down that Junior is the first US president, at least since Hoover, and maybe before, to use "how hard the job is" as an excuse for mistakes made by himself or his administration.
But I'm not surprised by his whining. He's never had to show up, much less on time, even for the few months he spent hiding out in the Texas Air Nat'l Guard. He's finally got a job that he wants credit for doing, but he doesn't want to do the job itself, because 'it's hard work!' Hard work? Maybe for you, rich, pampered, whining boy! The guy you followed could negotiate legislation, talk peace with opponents on conference calls, AND get a blow-job, all at exactly the same moment, in the Oval Office. That's a whole different kind of 'hard work,' and we NEVER heard him complain!
Christ, Jan 21, 2009 can't come soon enough!
But I'm not surprised by his whining. He's never had to show up, much less on time, even for the few months he spent hiding out in the Texas Air Nat'l Guard. He's finally got a job that he wants credit for doing, but he doesn't want to do the job itself, because 'it's hard work!' Hard work? Maybe for you, rich, pampered, whining boy! The guy you followed could negotiate legislation, talk peace with opponents on conference calls, AND get a blow-job, all at exactly the same moment, in the Oval Office. That's a whole different kind of 'hard work,' and we NEVER heard him complain!
Christ, Jan 21, 2009 can't come soon enough!
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Late to the Job Market
Why is Junior so irritable?
Wouldn't you be if suddenly you found yourself with a job you were expected to show up for? Where your absences and vacations were national news? And where you couldn't just quit and sell the business to one of your daddy's friends?
Remember, this is Junior's first full-time job. The governorship of Texas doesn't count. It's the weakest of the 'weak-governor' offices in the US, and the legislature only meets for three months every other year. His entire tenure only had two legislative sessions! And the Lieutenant Gov signs most of the real business. Junior kissed babies, shook hands, and laughed at women being executed. Mostly he went to games at his old ball park!
Why'dja think the family parked him in Texas, and put the bright one in Florida?
Personally, I think they got him the presidency so there'll always be someone to take care of him after his folks kick off and can't cover his ass anymore.
At least he'll have Secret Service protection. God knows he'll need it. I figure he may be the first President who'll want to retire to a foreign country. But who'll have him?
Wouldn't you be if suddenly you found yourself with a job you were expected to show up for? Where your absences and vacations were national news? And where you couldn't just quit and sell the business to one of your daddy's friends?
Remember, this is Junior's first full-time job. The governorship of Texas doesn't count. It's the weakest of the 'weak-governor' offices in the US, and the legislature only meets for three months every other year. His entire tenure only had two legislative sessions! And the Lieutenant Gov signs most of the real business. Junior kissed babies, shook hands, and laughed at women being executed. Mostly he went to games at his old ball park!
Why'dja think the family parked him in Texas, and put the bright one in Florida?
Personally, I think they got him the presidency so there'll always be someone to take care of him after his folks kick off and can't cover his ass anymore.
At least he'll have Secret Service protection. God knows he'll need it. I figure he may be the first President who'll want to retire to a foreign country. But who'll have him?
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Building the Republican Wall between Church and State
I swing wildly, from immediate news commentaries to hopefully higher-level pieces of analysis. Case in point today.
I think a part of the Democratic outreach to Christians should point out the Democratic party's incorporation of Jesus's teachings into government's role in people's lives. Feed the hungry, cloth the naked, shelter the homeless, heal the sick, halt and lame, whenever they ask. We are our brothers' (and sisters') keepers, regardless of creed or color. Those are New Deal, Fair Deal, Great Society ethics. By incorporating these into government's relationship to its citizens, this becomes reliable help, not 'random acts of kindness' provided by the local church as best it can with the paltry tithe it gets from its parishioners.
These sure as fuck aren't Republican principles! These are Republican "entitlements for the weak" that need to be cut back to provide more tax money to the already-obscenely wealthy, that top 1/10th of 1 percent, most of whom inherited it. Like our president, for example...
The joke here, I guess, is that a true separation of church and state would mean that we would become truly Republican, cutting off any spending on programs for the health and feeding of children, the poor and the elderly. So I guess the latest ReagaNazi budget proposal is in the most absolutist reading of 'a wall between church and state.'
I think a part of the Democratic outreach to Christians should point out the Democratic party's incorporation of Jesus's teachings into government's role in people's lives. Feed the hungry, cloth the naked, shelter the homeless, heal the sick, halt and lame, whenever they ask. We are our brothers' (and sisters') keepers, regardless of creed or color. Those are New Deal, Fair Deal, Great Society ethics. By incorporating these into government's relationship to its citizens, this becomes reliable help, not 'random acts of kindness' provided by the local church as best it can with the paltry tithe it gets from its parishioners.
These sure as fuck aren't Republican principles! These are Republican "entitlements for the weak" that need to be cut back to provide more tax money to the already-obscenely wealthy, that top 1/10th of 1 percent, most of whom inherited it. Like our president, for example...
The joke here, I guess, is that a true separation of church and state would mean that we would become truly Republican, cutting off any spending on programs for the health and feeding of children, the poor and the elderly. So I guess the latest ReagaNazi budget proposal is in the most absolutist reading of 'a wall between church and state.'
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